“I can build you a perfectly safe city, but it will look like a prison,” he warned.
Excuse me, sir, but if you think prisons are safe, you are an ass. In 2011, there were 274 homicides in local jails and state prisons...not to mention suicides, poor medical care, and accidents.
Sadly, no one is voting them out. It is a depressing reality that people vote as corporate money dictates. A corporate CEO could be standing on a voter in spiked shoes, spikes driven all the way through their gut, and the voter would still vote for the person promoted by the most ads.
Watch Trump: He just called immigrants racists and murderers, but he will win the Hispanic vote because his money can buy an ad screaming, "You won't have a job."
Re: Re: DNA collection has been going on for years
"The newborn screening laboratory is located at Princess Margaret Hospital for Children. When testing is completed, the cards are stored securely [at the hospital] for two years and then destroyed."
There's an ugly little half-truth associated with that quote: perhaps the card is destroyed, but you just point me to where it says the data resulting from the screening are destroyed.
See, for DNA matching, the authorities only need the DNA profile data. They don't give a flying f**k about the Guthrie card, once the profile has been extracted.
"Welcome to your new FOIA app. It is designed to help you submit to your government as quickly and easily as possible."
"Just enter your name and address, select a category, and type in the details of your request. Then click submit. At this point, the request will be submitted directly to our in-action file, where you will be investigated as quickly as possible. It could happen in mere seconds, possibly even before you click 'Submit.'"
"Assuming your request should meet our lenient criteria for issues of national security, unless of course it is a matter of national security, we will be providing the information to you as soon as possible."
"Of course, there may be a fee for providing the information. Be sure to update our app as soon as the next version comes out that supports in-app purchases. Once we determine the amount due, you'll be able to submit your personal payroll by merely clicking the 'Red-Action' payment button."
"Once your payroll is in hand, we will rush to redact the required documents as soon as possible. You could receive our response in as soon as twenty leap days, which is hardly any time at all."
"So enjoy your new app, and remember that, after you submit, the investigators could be responding instantly to a location near you."
If we had a nickel for every "representative association" that doesn't represent the members of the association, we could pay off the national debt.
These associations grow up ostensibly to represent their members, but then they act like independent corporations, representing their own selfish interests even when those clearly conflict with the aims and needs of their members.
I'm giving odds the Justice Hammer™ used in this case will be made of foam rubber. This reeks of company-collaborating-with-government to sell a little spy-spy ware to a target foreign government.
Well, it used to be history was a dropped pot--dropped in the trash heap and no one cared. We learned a lot from those shards, because the shards were physical.
These days, with automatic software cleanup, short retention policies, the obscurity of software data storage, inability to search for anything over a week old, and transient nature of ISPs, well...
No one still cares, but after the improvements of modern technology, there won't even be shards to look at.
Even though Comcast broke its last set of merger promises worse than a Faberge egg crushed by a steamroller, the government will say, "Oh, so long as you make promises, go ahead with your thing then." [Stage instruction: hand waving dismissively]
Then, maybe in another ten years, the government will notice these new promises were broken worse than a Faberge egg under a pile driver, and threaten to fine Comcast for a dollar...and, boy, will that ever teach Comcast a lesson!
It should be clear to everyone that distance doesn't matter in the modern digital age.
But time does.
Possibly no technology in the history of man has been so efficient at eliminating the current moment--burying it, destroying it--so that the next moment can happen in complete novelty.
Right to forget is just the start: soon it will be, "no right to remember." Everything you see will be without antecedent; and will evaporate to nothingness, never to be seen again.
I think one of the passages needs the corrections I have indicated, because it incorrectly indicates appropriate punishment:
Proof of deliberate destruction of evidence [needed by the defense] is the sort thing routinely [punished by the tickling feather] by the DOJ and the administration, both of which will probably allow the DOD to investigate itself and offer various plans to prevent future malfeasance, should it somehow manage not to clear itself of any wrongdoing.
"Looking at 'data' at leisure" is the whole aim of the security agencies here and abroad. They don't want something they can dig through now; they want all the data so they can dig through it forever.
This has to do with a fundamentally broken mindset: Where you or I might temporarily suspect someone of something, for them suspicion is a permanent condition. Where you or I might try to investigate and, finding nothing supportive, shrug our shoulders and move on; for them, an inability to prove their suspicions means they do not possess enough information.
So they're horribly concerned that, if they don't possess all information forever, someday they might not be able to prove Abu Uba is a money-laundering drug lord terrorist, by digging through and discovering something Abu's great grandfather's cousin's best friend might have said.
Yes, we understand this is a completely blank piece of paper. But imagine if there had been the form of a search warrant here, and information about the person and place to be searched, and a probable cause, and a judge's signature: Then it would have been perfectly valid!
But...but...we pulled it out of a fresh ream, and everything!
But here's the question: would it protect Muslims?
It wouldn't surprise me a bit if, in its haste to punish Lenio, the Montana prosecutors never even thought of that. It also wouldn't surprise me, if a need for such a case comes up, the prosecutors hem and haw and plead helplessness.
On the post: 9th Circuit: Amazon's Search Results Too Useful, Must Be Trademark Infringement
Re: Re: Only in the 9th Circuit
The cynic in me says I hope this ruling stands, so MTM can be sued for not showing links to their competitors.
On the post: DHS Head Jeh Johnson Recognizes The Privacy/Security Tradeoff, But Seems Unlikely To Make The First Concession
Safe prisons
Excuse me, sir, but if you think prisons are safe, you are an ass. In 2011, there were 274 homicides in local jails and state prisons...not to mention suicides, poor medical care, and accidents.
On the post: White House So Desperate To Get TPP Approved, It Agrees To Whitewash Mass Graves & Human Trafficking In Malaysia
Re:
Watch Trump: He just called immigrants racists and murderers, but he will win the Hispanic vote because his money can buy an ad screaming, "You won't have a job."
On the post: White House So Desperate To Get TPP Approved, It Agrees To Whitewash Mass Graves & Human Trafficking In Malaysia
Human fodder
So this is hardly unexpected: it's just an add-on human cost of doing business.
On the post: The Latest In The 'Collect It All' Collection: An Entire Nation's DNA
Two more words: Falsified DNA
Also, read the Wikipedia "DNA profiling" article section "Fake DNA evidence".
On the post: The Latest In The 'Collect It All' Collection: An Entire Nation's DNA
Re: Re: DNA collection has been going on for years
There's an ugly little half-truth associated with that quote: perhaps the card is destroyed, but you just point me to where it says the data resulting from the screening are destroyed.
See, for DNA matching, the authorities only need the DNA profile data. They don't give a flying f**k about the Guthrie card, once the profile has been extracted.
On the post: How China Tamed The Country's Top Bloggers, And Took Back The Net
On the post: If You're Looking For A Laborious, Unresponsive Way To File FOIA Requests, The DHS Has An App For You
Welcome to Your New DHS FOIA App
"Just enter your name and address, select a category, and type in the details of your request. Then click submit. At this point, the request will be submitted directly to our in-action file, where you will be investigated as quickly as possible. It could happen in mere seconds, possibly even before you click 'Submit.'"
"Assuming your request should meet our lenient criteria for issues of national security, unless of course it is a matter of national security, we will be providing the information to you as soon as possible."
"Of course, there may be a fee for providing the information. Be sure to update our app as soon as the next version comes out that supports in-app purchases. Once we determine the amount due, you'll be able to submit your personal payroll by merely clicking the 'Red-Action' payment button."
"Once your payroll is in hand, we will rush to redact the required documents as soon as possible. You could receive our response in as soon as twenty leap days, which is hardly any time at all."
"So enjoy your new app, and remember that, after you submit, the investigators could be responding instantly to a location near you."
On the post: Venture Capital Trade Association Hires Patent Troll Lawyers, Fights Against Patent Reform... Even As Most VCs Want Patent Reform
Representative Associations
These associations grow up ostensibly to represent their members, but then they act like independent corporations, representing their own selfish interests even when those clearly conflict with the aims and needs of their members.
On the post: New Zealand Parliament Overwhelmingly Decides Free Speech Must Take A Backseat To Cyberbullying Concerns
Principle 1
Politicians may not discuss an opponent's family, health condition, or sexual proclivities.
Principle 2
Politicians shall no longer suggest their opponents shall be shot.
Principle 3
Politicians shall no longer suggest offensive things like abortionists are murderers, or death panels, or any of that offensive stuff.
Principle 5
Do politicians do anything else in mud-slinging ads?
Principle 6
No more calling your opponent a thief, a charlatan, an incompetent.
Principle 7
No more mentioning your opponent's business deals.
Principle 8
No more fanning the flames of the committees or the base, to get them to smear the opposition.
Principle 10
Every politician in the country is going to be locked up about three seconds after election campaigns start.
Ummm...now that I think about it, maybe this IS a good thing.
On the post: Hacking Team Hacked: Documents Show Company Sold Exploits And Spyware To UN-Blacklisted Governments
Re:
On the post: Hacking Team Hacked: Documents Show Company Sold Exploits And Spyware To UN-Blacklisted Governments
Re:
On the post: Missing Document From FISA Court Docket Suggests Yet Another Undisclosed Bulk Records Program
Less right to know about secret programs?
On the post: Techdirt Podcast Episode 30: Does Distance Matter In The Digital Age?
Re: Re: Time matters, not distance
These days, with automatic software cleanup, short retention policies, the obscurity of software data storage, inability to search for anything over a week old, and transient nature of ISPs, well...
No one still cares, but after the improvements of modern technology, there won't even be shards to look at.
On the post: Charter Hires Leading Net Neutrality Advocate To Write Its Net Neutrality Commitments, Promises To Go Further Than FCC Rules
Same story coming up
Then, maybe in another ten years, the government will notice these new promises were broken worse than a Faberge egg under a pile driver, and threaten to fine Comcast for a dollar...and, boy, will that ever teach Comcast a lesson!
On the post: Techdirt Podcast Episode 30: Does Distance Matter In The Digital Age?
Time matters, not distance
But time does.
Possibly no technology in the history of man has been so efficient at eliminating the current moment--burying it, destroying it--so that the next moment can happen in complete novelty.
Right to forget is just the start: soon it will be, "no right to remember." Everything you see will be without antecedent; and will evaporate to nothingness, never to be seen again.
On the post: Judge Looking Into Alleged Destruction Of Exculpatory Evidence By Pentagon In Thomas Drake Prosecution
Punishment a bit lower than indicated
On the post: GCHQ Dinged For Illegally Holding Onto Human Rights Groups Emails Too Long, Not For Collecting Them In The First Place
Re:
This has to do with a fundamentally broken mindset: Where you or I might temporarily suspect someone of something, for them suspicion is a permanent condition. Where you or I might try to investigate and, finding nothing supportive, shrug our shoulders and move on; for them, an inability to prove their suspicions means they do not possess enough information.
So they're horribly concerned that, if they don't possess all information forever, someday they might not be able to prove Abu Uba is a money-laundering drug lord terrorist, by digging through and discovering something Abu's great grandfather's cousin's best friend might have said.
On the post: Narcotics Team 'Loses' $294,000 In Seized Cash Because It Omitted The Location To Be Searched From Its Search Warrant
But, your honor...!
Yes, we understand this is a completely blank piece of paper. But imagine if there had been the form of a search warrant here, and information about the person and place to be searched, and a probable cause, and a judge's signature: Then it would have been perfectly valid!
But...but...we pulled it out of a fresh ream, and everything!
On the post: Montana Prosecutors Push For Idea That State's Criminal Defamation Statute Outlaws Disparaging Religious Groups
Muslims
It wouldn't surprise me a bit if, in its haste to punish Lenio, the Montana prosecutors never even thought of that. It also wouldn't surprise me, if a need for such a case comes up, the prosecutors hem and haw and plead helplessness.
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