Thanks to the AC for actually looking into the decision. I had not tried. When I did try opening it in Tor browser it did not open, even after disabling NoScript. I could open it in Firefox. However a search of the document did not turn up any instances of "Veronica" or "Isherwood." And I could copy and paste from the document. Hmm. Website or browser weirdness, I guess. I think most of my comment remains valid, though.
There are so many things that had to have gone terribly wrong here. Even after the horrible judgement of the teachers / school administrators:
What kind of power tripping insane prosecutor files these charges? Where is that prosecutor now? Unfortunately, probably still prosecuting.
IANAL, but wouldn't any competent defense attorney file a motion to dismiss the charges? Wouldn't any reasonable judge accept it?
And what are we to make of the judge or jury that decided to convict?
All of this points to another serious flaw in the legal system: When a higher court writes a decision like this, they almost always omit the names of the people who's bad actions they are overturning. They say "the State" without naming the prosecutor. They say "the Court" without naming the judge. They say "the Defense" without naming the lawyer. This can make it very difficult and time-consuming, but not impossible, to to the research and find out who the original players in the travesty were. And they do this intentionally. It amounts to attempting to cover-up miscarriages of justice. More evidence that the whole system is rotten.
Yeah, what Uriel-238 said. It is hard to fix something that is rotten through and through. At some point you must start talking about replacing that something. All of it.
I have wondered about this, too. Sometimes there is clear product placement of real brands / logos (just thinly veiled paid advertising for a product). Sometimes there is use of clearly fictional brand names & logos (like Caf-Pow or Beltway Burgers in NCIS). And sometimes there is use of logos, in particular, that closely resemble actual brand logos, but are altered somewhat, ie very similar design but different text (like the coffee resembling Starbucks® or the hot sauce resembling Tabasco® in NCIS). I always knew the issues involved were paid or not, fair-use or not, etc, but I have always been curious about the details. Particularly the choice between clearly fictional versus look-alike. In the case of NCIS, both Caf-Pow (fictional) and coffee (look-alike) are recurrent, semi-integral parts of the characters / story line. Why the different approaches?
Private prisons are such a bad idea it is hard to know where to start. And the entire law enforcement / prison / industrial complex is full of bad incentives and the predictable bad results.
And this lawsuit was filed on the 27th? Really? C'mon, guys, read the room.
I know, the "entered into the docket" date may not be when it was actually started, but I bet that up until that date Geo lawyers probably could have pulled it (for whatever made up reason) and waited until . . . well . . . anytime but now.
The data on "interactions" may or may not correlate to bias. And the source of any data should always be taken into consideration when attempting to assess the validity of the data. I think a deeper dive would be in order, but that is probably difficult to do.
In the interest of full disclosure: I do not participate in Facebook. Twitter either, for that matter.
That is kind of what I thought, too. But some of the wishful thinking about possible positives included increased preparedness for the next pandemic (and there will be another, it's not "if" but "when"), broader recognition of, and maybe corrections of, deficiencies in the existing health care system, maybe more long-term, JIC (Just In Case) thinking rather than exclusively short term, bottom-line, JIT (Just In Time) thinking etc. These might be some actual positives. To use the broken window analogy, these might be like deciding to play baseball in the park instead of next to the house, or maybe closing the shutters or using a whiffle ball if you must play near the house, as opposed to the fallacious "more work for the glazier helps the economy" stuff. I doubt much of these types of things will happen, and even if they do, I think they will likely be be short-lived, token efforts.
When the corona virus first started becoming a pandemic, rather than a short-term, regionally isolated disaster, it quickly became clear that there would be long-lasting effects and repercussions. While some people tried valiantly to foresee at least some positive results, many agreed that most of the lasting consequences would be negative. As the pandemic has progressed, it has become harder to see much good coming of it, and easier to see more of the seriously bad long-term effects. Add to this the other current events that Tim Cushing has written so powerfully about, and the not-so-short term future looks increasingly grim.
Prosecutors often are a cop’s best defenders in police misconduct cases. They have the budgets to be able to afford to hire expert witnesses, who are often well-known, professional “police apologists” or “police exonerators,” knowing full well the testimony they will provide will be extremely favorable for the defense. They can ask questions of these and other witnesses that will lead them to testify in ways that are favorable for the defense. And, of course, they can avoid calling witnesses who they know will provide testimony unfavorable to the defense.
Judges can also greatly assist in the cop’s defense, with their rulings on what evidence or testimony is, or is not, admissible, and with their instructions and statements to the jury.
When you have the defense lawyers, the prosecutors, and the judges all actively working to defend the accused, it is a wonder that any cops ever get convicted of anything at all.
There is currently an alternative to the two existing government factions, and her name is Jo Jorgensen. A better option than either of the two same old, same old.
There is no need for me to speak against the two government candidates. They do that most effectively themselves, as TD consistently point out.
Our Federal government seems to fail at every task . . .
Otherwise known as the Inverse Midas Touch (everything the government touches turns to $#|t). This is why the less the government touches, the better off we will all be.
BTW, there is currently an alternative to the two existing government factions, and her name is Jo Jorgensen. A better option than either of the two same old, same old.
I am convinced we will not see any meaningful progress in the area of privacy until it becomes painfully personal (the prison and permanent poverty kind of painful), first to policymakers and then to the bigwigs of the companies that violate the policies. And, as Karl and others have said, I think this will only start with a scandal of historic proportions, one that hits the policymakers and / or the bigwigs en masse.
Re: Re: I guess there's always Takedown claims to Youtube
Hell, if legislators had integrity they would return copyright to a much simpler time, with much shorter terms, and many fewer rights for those who manage but did not create.
Yes, this! Unfortunately I thing the ". . . legislators had integrity. . ." part is what sinks this particular ship.
companies need to put in a penalty box for an extended timeout.
No, the CEO's, COO's, presidents, vice-presidents, etc need to be put in a penalty box for an extended timeout.
It is unfortunate, but many people don't care about their company, stockholders or whatever, as long as they can count on their golden parachutes. Prison or poverty are the only things that mean anything to these types of people. And by poverty, I mean "living in public housing and bagging groceries for a living" type poverty. Fining companies is usually meaningless, and giving victims the "opportunity" to waste time, and possibly spend lots of money, over many years of civil litigation is equally nonsensical.
I have sent several communications to my Senators and Reps regarding various aspects of the privacy issue, so I am 'caught up' that front. However, I am not sure that an additional government agency is the answer to anything. They always seem to cause more problems than they solve, and cost us more to create those new problems. Do you have any suggestions for those of us who firmly believe that the government has a permanent case of the Inverse Midas Effect, ie everything the government touches turns to $#|t?
On the post: Wisconsin Court Dumps Conviction Of Middle School Kid Who Drew A Picture Of A Bomb
Re: Re: There should be more to this story
Thanks to the AC for actually looking into the decision. I had not tried. When I did try opening it in Tor browser it did not open, even after disabling NoScript. I could open it in Firefox. However a search of the document did not turn up any instances of "Veronica" or "Isherwood." And I could copy and paste from the document. Hmm. Website or browser weirdness, I guess. I think most of my comment remains valid, though.
On the post: Wisconsin Court Dumps Conviction Of Middle School Kid Who Drew A Picture Of A Bomb
There should be more to this story
There are so many things that had to have gone terribly wrong here. Even after the horrible judgement of the teachers / school administrators:
What kind of power tripping insane prosecutor files these charges? Where is that prosecutor now? Unfortunately, probably still prosecuting.
IANAL, but wouldn't any competent defense attorney file a motion to dismiss the charges? Wouldn't any reasonable judge accept it?
And what are we to make of the judge or jury that decided to convict?
All of this points to another serious flaw in the legal system: When a higher court writes a decision like this, they almost always omit the names of the people who's bad actions they are overturning. They say "the State" without naming the prosecutor. They say "the Court" without naming the judge. They say "the Defense" without naming the lawyer. This can make it very difficult and time-consuming, but not impossible, to to the research and find out who the original players in the travesty were. And they do this intentionally. It amounts to attempting to cover-up miscarriages of justice. More evidence that the whole system is rotten.
On the post: Let's Stop Pretending Peaceful Demonstrations Will Fix The System. 'Peace Officers' Don't Give A Shit About Peace.
Re: How to stop police brutality
Yeah, what Uriel-238 said. It is hard to fix something that is rotten through and through. At some point you must start talking about replacing that something. All of it.
On the post: Let's Stop Pretending Peaceful Demonstrations Will Fix The System. 'Peace Officers' Don't Give A Shit About Peace.
Keep the pressure on, Tim!
As you pointed out, not many are willing to write the truth clearly and plainly, and fewer still are willing to publish it.
I, too, saw Trevor Noah's selfie video a few days ago. Very powerful stuff!
On the post: Private Prison Company Sues Netflix Over Use Of Logo In 'Messiah'
Re: Private Logos on TV
I have wondered about this, too. Sometimes there is clear product placement of real brands / logos (just thinly veiled paid advertising for a product). Sometimes there is use of clearly fictional brand names & logos (like Caf-Pow or Beltway Burgers in NCIS). And sometimes there is use of logos, in particular, that closely resemble actual brand logos, but are altered somewhat, ie very similar design but different text (like the coffee resembling Starbucks® or the hot sauce resembling Tabasco® in NCIS). I always knew the issues involved were paid or not, fair-use or not, etc, but I have always been curious about the details. Particularly the choice between clearly fictional versus look-alike. In the case of NCIS, both Caf-Pow (fictional) and coffee (look-alike) are recurrent, semi-integral parts of the characters / story line. Why the different approaches?
On the post: Private Prison Company Sues Netflix Over Use Of Logo In 'Messiah'
Bad incentives yield bad results
Private prisons are such a bad idea it is hard to know where to start. And the entire law enforcement / prison / industrial complex is full of bad incentives and the predictable bad results.
And this lawsuit was filed on the 27th? Really? C'mon, guys, read the room.
I know, the "entered into the docket" date may not be when it was actually started, but I bet that up until that date Geo lawyers probably could have pulled it (for whatever made up reason) and waited until . . . well . . . anytime but now.
On the post: New Study Finds No Evidence Of Anti-Conservative Bias In Facebook Moderation (If Anything, It's The Opposite)
The data on "interactions" may or may not correlate to bias. And the source of any data should always be taken into consideration when attempting to assess the validity of the data. I think a deeper dive would be in order, but that is probably difficult to do.
In the interest of full disclosure: I do not participate in Facebook. Twitter either, for that matter.
On the post: New Study Finds No Evidence Of Anti-Conservative Bias In Facebook Moderation (If Anything, It's The Opposite)
Re: Re:
I think of it as something like the effect you get when you have two mirrors facing each other,
On the post: Bangladeshi Government Decides There's No Time Like The Present To Censor/Arrest More Journalists
Re: Re:
That is kind of what I thought, too. But some of the wishful thinking about possible positives included increased preparedness for the next pandemic (and there will be another, it's not "if" but "when"), broader recognition of, and maybe corrections of, deficiencies in the existing health care system, maybe more long-term, JIC (Just In Case) thinking rather than exclusively short term, bottom-line, JIT (Just In Time) thinking etc. These might be some actual positives. To use the broken window analogy, these might be like deciding to play baseball in the park instead of next to the house, or maybe closing the shutters or using a whiffle ball if you must play near the house, as opposed to the fallacious "more work for the glazier helps the economy" stuff. I doubt much of these types of things will happen, and even if they do, I think they will likely be be short-lived, token efforts.
On the post: Bangladeshi Government Decides There's No Time Like The Present To Censor/Arrest More Journalists
When the corona virus first started becoming a pandemic, rather than a short-term, regionally isolated disaster, it quickly became clear that there would be long-lasting effects and repercussions. While some people tried valiantly to foresee at least some positive results, many agreed that most of the lasting consequences would be negative. As the pandemic has progressed, it has become harder to see much good coming of it, and easier to see more of the seriously bad long-term effects. Add to this the other current events that Tim Cushing has written so powerfully about, and the not-so-short term future looks increasingly grim.
On the post: Let. The Motherfucker. Burn.
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
I see the article more as acknowledging justified self defense. The government may not see it that way, but I do.
On the post: Let. The Motherfucker. Burn.
"First they came ..."
There are many versions, but they all end the same.
On the post: Let. The Motherfucker. Burn.
Prosecutors and Judges working for the defense
Prosecutors often are a cop’s best defenders in police misconduct cases. They have the budgets to be able to afford to hire expert witnesses, who are often well-known, professional “police apologists” or “police exonerators,” knowing full well the testimony they will provide will be extremely favorable for the defense. They can ask questions of these and other witnesses that will lead them to testify in ways that are favorable for the defense. And, of course, they can avoid calling witnesses who they know will provide testimony unfavorable to the defense.
Judges can also greatly assist in the cop’s defense, with their rulings on what evidence or testimony is, or is not, admissible, and with their instructions and statements to the jury.
When you have the defense lawyers, the prosecutors, and the judges all actively working to defend the accused, it is a wonder that any cops ever get convicted of anything at all.
On the post: Let. The Motherfucker. Burn.
Re: Re: Swallowing pride can go a long way in healing
An article title in Reason summed it up: Nation's Cops Seem Determined To Demonstrate Why People Are Protesting Them in the First Place
On the post: Joe Biden Wastes A Huge Opportunity To Support Free Speech; Still Wants To 'Revoke' Section 230
I know this is repetitive, but . . .
this article cries out for it:
There is currently an alternative to the two existing government factions, and her name is Jo Jorgensen. A better option than either of the two same old, same old.
There is no need for me to speak against the two government candidates. They do that most effectively themselves, as TD consistently point out.
On the post: In The Midst Of A Pandemic And Widespread Unrest, Senate Republicans Think It's Time To Use Copyright To Make The Richest Musicians Richer
Re:
Otherwise known as the Inverse Midas Touch (everything the government touches turns to $#|t). This is why the less the government touches, the better off we will all be.
BTW, there is currently an alternative to the two existing government factions, and her name is Jo Jorgensen. A better option than either of the two same old, same old.
On the post: Arizona AG Sues Google For Location Data Failures, After Telecom Got A Wrist Slap For Far Worse Behavior
I am convinced we will not see any meaningful progress in the area of privacy until it becomes painfully personal (the prison and permanent poverty kind of painful), first to policymakers and then to the bigwigs of the companies that violate the policies. And, as Karl and others have said, I think this will only start with a scandal of historic proportions, one that hits the policymakers and / or the bigwigs en masse.
On the post: District Court Mostly Refuses To Terminate The Litigation Testing The Copyright Termination Provision
Re: Re: I guess there's always Takedown claims to Youtube
Yes, this! Unfortunately I thing the ". . . legislators had integrity. . ." part is what sinks this particular ship.
On the post: Can You Protect Privacy If There's No Real Enforcement Mechanism?
No, the CEO's, COO's, presidents, vice-presidents, etc need to be put in a penalty box for an extended timeout.
It is unfortunate, but many people don't care about their company, stockholders or whatever, as long as they can count on their golden parachutes. Prison or poverty are the only things that mean anything to these types of people. And by poverty, I mean "living in public housing and bagging groceries for a living" type poverty. Fining companies is usually meaningless, and giving victims the "opportunity" to waste time, and possibly spend lots of money, over many years of civil litigation is equally nonsensical.
On the post: Fighting The Free Speech Digital Divide Requires Interoperability and Privacy Protection
I have sent several communications to my Senators and Reps regarding various aspects of the privacy issue, so I am 'caught up' that front. However, I am not sure that an additional government agency is the answer to anything. They always seem to cause more problems than they solve, and cost us more to create those new problems. Do you have any suggestions for those of us who firmly believe that the government has a permanent case of the Inverse Midas Effect, ie everything the government touches turns to $#|t?
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