News You Need to Know – Page 65

Settling the Vaccine Debate

I’m not sure what caused it but people have really lost their shit over vaccines in the last week. A huge percentage of my Facebook feed consists of people arguing about whether or not vaccines have helped reduce and sometimes eliminate many terrible diseases or if they’re going to kill us all. The side arguing in favor of vaccines point to a ton of scientific research and data collected about diseases outbreaks and the other side claims that all of the diseases supposedly wiped out by vaccines were in remission before the vaccines were released. It’s an incredibly heated debate with no end in sight. Until now! I’m happy to report that we can finally put the vaccine debate to bed. After all of this angry screaming we can say, one and for all, who is right:

For all of the medieval practices that ISIS imposes on the Syrians and Iraqis living under its rule, there is one area where the terrorist group has so far been tolerant: vaccines.

“An unexpected success of the polio immunization campaigns in Syria and Iraq has been the access granted to vaccinators in territory controlled by the militant group calling itself the Islamic State,” according to the Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN), a humanitarian news service formerly part of the UN.

There you have it, ladies and gentlemen. The Islamic State supports vaccines so we now know that vaccines are Sharia law and therefore a ploy to rid the world of Christians, Jews, and women. If you support vaccines you’re supporting terrorism!

Now that that’s settled we can return to arguing about much more important things such as the dangers of Wi-Fi and the secret Illuminati messages in every Katy Perry video.

Ensuring Only Established Business Can Play

The best thing about having a government is that it can protect the big players from small start ups. One of the biggest threats to established companies such as AT&T, Comcast, and Verizon are small start ups that develop innovating ways to offer superior services for less. Thankfully the state has established a great many regulatory roadblocks between start ups and their already established competitors. For example, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has a monopoly on wireless spectrum. In order to utilize any wireless spectrum you must obtain its permission and it has developed an auction model that ensures its permission is much too costly for anybody besides the already established companies:

(Reuters) – The U.S. Federal Communications Commission raised a record $44.9 billion in the auction of so-called AWS-3 airwaves that closed on Thursday, marking the highest point yet in the wireless industry’s appetite for more spectrum.

Wireless carriers Verizon Communications Inc, AT&T Inc and T-Mobile US Inc, satellite TV provider Dish Network Corp and others vied for new slices of airwaves to satisfy the growing consumer demand for streaming video and other data-guzzling applications.

$44.9 billion. While that’s a significant investment even for the likes of AT&T and Verizon it’s an impossible price for a stat up to meet. The auction model for wireless spectrum ensures only companies will billions of dollars to throw around can buy into the wireless game. Sure, the FCC periodically throws a few scraps to the little guy such as the 2.4 and 5.0GHz bands but those scraps aren’t suited for services such as cellular phone provision.

People always talk about how important government is to prevent monopolies. What they fail to see is that the government is a monopoly and it uses that status to favor specific market actors over others.

Pravda Coming to Indiana

For those who either lived through or studied the Cold War the name Pravda is familiar. Pravda was the state sanctioned news source in the Soviet Union. When you needed to know what was now considered wrongthink you needed only to consult your latest edition of Pravda. For good reason people living outside of the Soviet Union made fun of the fact that the Soviet government had control over news. People living in side of the Soviet Union also made fun of Pravda because they knew anything it reported was almost certainly the opposite of the truth.

Now that the Cold War is over the United States seems hellbent on replicating many former Soviet programs. Indiana just announced that it will be creating its own state run news source:

Indiana Gov. Mike Pence (R) is starting a state-run news agency that will offer pre-written stories to news outlets in the state, according to The Indianapolis Star, which obtained documents about the news service.

The new news service, called “Just IN” will also sometimes offer stories about Pence’s administration. The site is set to launch in the later half of February. Stories will be written by state press secretaries and will be overseen by Bill McCleery, a former reporter for the Star.

In other words other news sources better write good things about the Party or face trouble in the form of not receiving exclusive access to politicians and potential lawsuits. Righthaven showed us the kind of legal damage one can wield with access to newspaper copyrights. While Righthaven ultimately feel when it was ruled they had no cases since they didn’t actually own any copyrights Indiana’s version of Pravda will, which could open the door for lawsuits against other news sources that reference it.

Obviously that last part is a worst case scenario but unlikely to hold up in court. But other news sources losing access to Indiana politicians is a very real threat if the state operates its own news source. After all, why would a politician risk talking to a news source that may badger them when they can talk to the news source they control?

Illinois Legislators Approve Law to Requires Students Surrender Social Media Passwords

Further demonstrating that the state believes it owns us, Illinois legislators have approve a law that would require K-12 and university students to surrender their social media passwords to school officials:

However, with the new law that Illinois legislators approved, school districts and universities in Illinois can demand a student’s social media password. The new law states if a school has a reasonable cause to believe that a student’s account on a social network contains evidence that a student has violated a schools disciplinary rule of policy. Even if it’s posted after school hours.

This week some school districts sent home letters to notify parents and students about the new rules. ” To get into a social networking site and it could be at a school or at home. That we would be able to get that password and get onto their account,” said Leigh Lewis Triad Community Unity School District Superintendent.

I wouldn’t have been at all surprised if the law only covered K-12 students. The state does believe that it wholly owns every minor. And if that were the case I would urge any parent to tell snoopy school administrators to fuck off. But the law also covers university students who tend to be adults. So now I must also encourage university students to tell snoopy school administrators to fuck off.

As with all Orwellian laws this one is being sold using fear. We’re told that it’s necessary to stop “cyber bullying” (apparently adding the word cyber to something is supposed to make it scarier). In reality it’s just another tool for school administrators to put the students in their place. The message is very clear, behave or some school administrator is going to do a detailed search of your entire social media presence including private messages. I feel confident in saying this because there is no reason whatsoever for a school administrator to need a student’s password. If a student is the target of harassment they can show administrators the relevant information (and they don’t even have to surrender their password to do it). Screenshots can be taken of any pertinent evidence. It’s very easy.

And since I’m on a kick of turning common statist arguments against them let’s also consider the children. Teenagers have a habit of sending naked pictures to their significant others. There’s no changing it, it’s a fact of life. What’s to stop a creepy teacher who suspects a student has sent or received naked pictures of themselves or others from making up an excuse to demand their password so they can comb through them? Not a damn thing since minors have no real legal rights.

The thing to keep in mind is that this law, like all laws, can be disobeyed. Just because the state says you have to surrender your password doesn’t mean you do. Upon receiving a demand for your password you can just as easily shutdown the account or, better yet, tell the person making the demand to fuck off.

Testosterone So Thick You Need a Knife to Cut It

When somebody criticizes your friend what’s the appropriate response? If you said, “Beat the shit out of them!” then you are a psychopath. Congratulations, you can now join the fraternity of people who get bent out of shape whenever Seth Rogen opens his mouth. It’s true, Seth Rogen insulted Chris Kyle. I don’t pay any attention to what Rogen says because I don’t find his movies funny nor his statements thought provoking. But there are a lot of people who do pay attention to what he says and get really bent out of shape whenever his words disagree with their world view. Take Dean Cain, who is an actor I’ve never heard of before (which isn’t to say he’s not famous, I don’t pay much attention to actors). He’s publicly stated a desire to kick Seth Rogen’s ass for insulting his best friend forever, Chris Kyle:

Actor Dean Cain, who was paired in 2012 with slain Navy SEAL Chris Kyle on NBC’s “Stars Earn Stripes,” had some fighting words for Michael Moore and Seth Rogen after the two made controversial comments about the autobiography film “American Sniper.”

“Seth…I like your films, but right now, I wanna kick your ass,” the former Superman wrote in defense of his friend Monday. “Chris is an American Hero. Period. Go to war. Then we’ll talk.”

The only reason I’m writing a post about this is because I want to address two things. First I want to address the concept of violence as a method of dealing with criticism. Most of the people who see Chris Kyle as a paragon of America have resorted to either threats of violence against or wishing tragedy on his critics (not in jest, mind you). Nothing shows that you’re a mature, well-adjusted adult like threatening violence and wishing tragedy on others who have nothing more than disagree with you.

Second I want to address the whole “Go to war.” comment made by Mr. Cain. This is an idiotic rebuttal. It doesn’t refute Rogen’s criticisms. And saying critics of war need to go to war is the same as saying critics of murder need to commit murder. You can criticize something that you haven’t directly participated in. In fact almost everybody does. How many people who bitch about homosexuals have actually had sex with somebody of their own gender (come to think of it, many of them probably have and feel ashamed that they enjoyed it)? How many people have criticized referees at professional football games but have never been a referee at a professional football game? How many people criticize rapists but have never raped anybody? Saying somebody can’t criticize war or soldiers because they’ve never gone to war is fucking pathetic. It’s not even an argument. If you’re that butthurt over something that somebody has said and can’t come up with a good counterargument then maybe you should consider reevaluating your life.

Bloomington Police Department’s Desperate Attempt to Punish the Mall of American Protesters

Just before Christmas a group held a protest at the Mall of America. The police overreacted to say the least and had a ton of officers on site in riot gear hoping the opportunity would present itself for them to thumb some skulls. Since the protesters could be goaded into a fight the officers didn’t get to play their violent game. All in all the protesters really made the Bloomington Police Department look silly and, in my opinion, completely pathetic. Not surprisingly the police want revenge and they’re seeking it by charging some of the protesters with ridiculous offenses. Just read some of these charges:

— Aiding and abetting trespassing

[…]

— Aiding and abetting unlawful assembly

[…]

— Aiding and abetting disorderly conduct

[…]

— Aiding and abetting public nuisance

How can aiding and abetting public nuisance be an offense? Seriously. Public nuisance is already such a minor offense that it’s hardly worth noting so aiding and abetting somebody who is a public nuisance is even less noteworthy. At most the protesters could be charged with trespassing, although the Mall is a receiver of stolen tax money so I would actually argue that every Minnesotan is a partial owner and therefore the Mall is a public space. The rest of these charges, no matter how you look at them, are trite bullshit.

Without Police Who Would Harass the Homeless

Can you imagine a world without heavily armed goons with no accountability? Without the men and women in uniform we wouldn’t have no-knock drug raids leaving trails of dead family pets in their wake. And we all know that the police are a critical component of most city’s attempt to “fix” their homeless problem by making the lives of homeless people so miserable they migrate elsewhere. Proving once again that police are not held accountable and you can beat the charges but you can’t beat the ride a homeless man got to enjoy a night in jail because he had the audacity to charge his phone in a park electrical outlet:

SARASOTA – A homeless man spent the night in jail Sunday after police arrested him for charging his cellphone in a public picnic shelter at Gillespie Park.

Darren Kersey, 28, was charged with theft of utilities after Sarasota Police Sgt. Anthony Frangioni spotted him charging his phone at about 9:20 p.m. Sunday. Unable to come up with the $500 bail for the misdemeanor, Kersey had no choice but to stay in jail.

In his arrest report, Frangioni wrote that he told Kersey that the “theft of city utilities will not be tolerated during this bad economy.” Frangioni also told Kersey that he should charge his phone at local shelters, according to the report.

But Monday morning Circuit Judge Charles Williams threw the case out, saying Frangioni lacked the legal justification to make the arrest.

Some would point to the fact that the charges were dismissed as an example of the system working. But the system still allowed a police officer to kidnap a man and hold him in a cage without any consequences. That is a major issue with our “justice” system. The officer, in my seldom humble opinion, should be fired immediately at the very least and realistically charged with kidnapping and unlawful detainment or whatever crimes you and I would be charged with for this kind of behavior.

But he won’t because he wears a magical liability shield and the person he wronged was homeless and therefore somebody hated by the state.

The Government is Quite a Trickster

The United States government is pretty famous for its ability to trick the populace into believing lies. But bullshit unemployment numbers aren’t its best trick. That honor would go to its ability to convince people that the United States is no longer at war:

The holiday headlines blared without a hint of distrust: “End of War” and “Mission Ends” and “U.S. formally ends the war in Afghanistan”, as the US government and Nato celebrated the alleged end of the longest war in American history. Great news! Except, that is, when you read past the first paragraph: “the fighting is as intense as it has ever been since the U.S.-led invasion in 2001,” according to the Wall Street Journal. And about 10,000 troops will remain there for the foreseeable future (more than we had a year after the Afghan war started). Oh, and they’ll continue to engage in combat regularly. But other than that, yeah, the war is definitely over.

This is the new reality of war: As long as the White House doesn’t admit the United States is at war, we’re all supposed to pretend as if that’s true. This ruse is not just the work of the president. Members of Congress, who return to work this week, are just as guilty as Barack Obama in letting the public think we’re Definitely Not at War, from Afghanistan and Somalia to the new war with Isis in Iraq and Syria and beyond.

What’s sad is that I know people who buy into this fairytale. I’ve heard from several friends that Obama ended Bush’s wars. When I point out that we’re still bombing people in the Middle East they either cover their ears, stick their heads in the sand, of call me a neocon. More and more I realize that people don’t care about the truth but only choose to believe what they want. And you know what? I don’t blame them. Because the truth is fucking horrible.

Fingerprints Still Suck as Authenticators

I do find Touch ID to be convenience but fingerprints are still terrible authenticators. This is, in part, because you leave them everywhere. Another problem is once an attacker as obtained your fingerprint there’s no way for you to change it. As technology improves the ability to obtain a target’s fingerprint becomes easier. The Chaos Computer Club demonstrated that this week when one of its members explained how he was able to replicate a politician’s fingerprint from a photograph:

Jan Krissler says he replicated the fingerprint of defence minister Ursula von der Leyen using pictures taken with a “standard photo camera”.

Mr Krissler had no physical print from Ms von der Leyen.

[…]

He told the audience he had obtained a close-up of a photo of Ms von der Leyen’s thumb and had also used other pictures taken at different angles during a press event that the minister had spoken at in October.

Biometric technology often wins favor due to its cool factor. Seeing a device unlock from a fingerprint reader or a retinal scanner is very neat to witness. But cool factor does not equal secure. If fingerprints can be replicated from standard photography today it won’t be long until they can also replication retinal patterns.

Arrests Apparently Down in New York City

Let me preface this post by saying that the source in the New York Post so take it with a grain of salt. But according to the Post arrests are down in New York City. Apparently the police officers of thew New York Police Department (NYPD) are slacking off in response to two of their fellows being killed:

Angry union leaders have ordered drastic measures for their members since the Dec. 20 assassination of two NYPD cops in a patrol car, including that two units respond to every call.

It has helped contribute to a nose dive in low-level policing, with overall arrests down 66 percent for the week starting Dec. 22 compared with the same period in 2013, stats show.

Citations for traffic violations fell by 94 percent, from 10,069 to 587, during that time frame.

Summonses for low-level offenses like public drinking and urination also plunged 94 percent — from 4,831 to 300.

Even parking violations are way down, dropping by 92 percent, from 14,699 to 1,241.

A lot of people are talking about this as if it were a bad thing. The only thing bad about this is that it sends a message to the people of New York City that if they want to reduce the rate of extortion they suffer they need to kill a couple of cops. But any reduction in the rate of extortion is a good thing and people should be happy to see NYPD scaling back operations. Especially when you see that the laws they’re not enforcing rigorously are the victimless ones such as traffic violations and public drinking.

Hopefully NYPD continues to slack off and even slacks off more. When the biggest and most violent gang in a city starts tapering off everybody wins.