Obama threatens to veto CISPA cybersecurity bill, citing privacy concerns - The Washington Post: The White House threatened on Wednesday to veto cyber-legislation that is widely expected to pass the House this week, asserting that the bill would put Americans’ privacy at risk and give a pass to companies that fail to secure their computer networks.
The bipartisan Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA) enjoys wide industry support, and its sponsors said they had lined up more than 200 votes as of Tuesday. But the legislation has drawn stiff opposition from privacy advocates, who have called it a “cyber-spying” bill.
ED: My tip: Obama flip flop
Monday, April 30, 2012
CISPA Is Ridiculously Hideous (And It Just Passed The House) - Business Insider
Let me put this into perspective for you:
- If the government suspects you are a genuine "bad guy," like a cyberterrorist, human trafficker, drug kingpin, etc... they can already seize all of this online activity information about you. It's called obtaining a warrant. CISPA does away with that. It supercedes ALL existing federal privacy laws. As Techdirt's Leigh Beadon put it, "Basically it says the 4th Amendment does not apply online, at all. Moreover, the government could do whatever it wants with the data as long as it can claim that someone was in danger of bodily harm, or that children were somehow threatened—again, notwithstanding absolutely any other law that would normally limit the government's power."
- Online banking and trading: dead as we know it. Who is going to use online banking services, knowing that anyone from a local police department snoop, to a federal spy agency, to even random private companies might be watching your every trade, and your purchase history, without a warrant or court involvement of ANY kind.
- The 'adult entertainment' industry: dead as we know it. Big Brother is watching you. If CISPA becomes law, which it appears on the fast-track to do, who will watch knowing that others are watching you.
- Online health databases and discussion forums such as WebMD: dead as we know it. Who will ask intimate health questions, knowing that your identity is not even semi-anonymous any more?
- Online suicide helplines, depression forums, political discussion communities: dead as we know it. Same reason as above.
- Legitimate criticism of the government: dead as we know it, especially if you are a "job seeker" who doesn't want any blemishes on your record to get in the way of surviving.
- Online communities like Reddit: dead as we know it. So much for the semi-anonymous, crowdsourced hivemind brilliance of multi-million user social communities.
- If the government suspects you are a genuine "bad guy," like a cyberterrorist, human trafficker, drug kingpin, etc... they can already seize all of this online activity information about you. It's called obtaining a warrant. CISPA does away with that. It supercedes ALL existing federal privacy laws. As Techdirt's Leigh Beadon put it, "Basically it says the 4th Amendment does not apply online, at all. Moreover, the government could do whatever it wants with the data as long as it can claim that someone was in danger of bodily harm, or that children were somehow threatened—again, notwithstanding absolutely any other law that would normally limit the government's power."
- Online banking and trading: dead as we know it. Who is going to use online banking services, knowing that anyone from a local police department snoop, to a federal spy agency, to even random private companies might be watching your every trade, and your purchase history, without a warrant or court involvement of ANY kind.
- The 'adult entertainment' industry: dead as we know it. Big Brother is watching you. If CISPA becomes law, which it appears on the fast-track to do, who will watch knowing that others are watching you.
- Online health databases and discussion forums such as WebMD: dead as we know it. Who will ask intimate health questions, knowing that your identity is not even semi-anonymous any more?
- Online suicide helplines, depression forums, political discussion communities: dead as we know it. Same reason as above.
- Legitimate criticism of the government: dead as we know it, especially if you are a "job seeker" who doesn't want any blemishes on your record to get in the way of surviving.
- Online communities like Reddit: dead as we know it. So much for the semi-anonymous, crowdsourced hivemind brilliance of multi-million user social communities.
- Facebook: dead as we know it (although they don't seem to care). Who will use the service, knowing that countless other companies could be watching and logging every profile and photo you view, every message you send or receive, and every connection you've ever made...
Again, allow me to stress the fact that CISPA enables snooping without a warrant or court involvement. It is absolutely ludicrous insanity. The minds behind this in Congress should be forced to resign, immediately -- they are acting in the interests of weird lobbying groups and defense contractors. They aren't acting in the interests of Internet users, the economy, nor even the health of the Internet itself.
For those hoping President Obama will wave his veto pen and make this nightmare go away: remain vigilant. He also issued a veto threat on NDAA, and then reversed that, signing it into law on New Year's Eve with almost no media attention given to it. This President, and all future Presidents, now have the ability to order the U.S. military to imprison American citizens, without trial nor access to an attorney.
Strange times.
Again, allow me to stress the fact that CISPA enables snooping without a warrant or court involvement. It is absolutely ludicrous insanity. The minds behind this in Congress should be forced to resign, immediately -- they are acting in the interests of weird lobbying groups and defense contractors. They aren't acting in the interests of Internet users, the economy, nor even the health of the Internet itself.
For those hoping President Obama will wave his veto pen and make this nightmare go away: remain vigilant. He also issued a veto threat on NDAA, and then reversed that, signing it into law on New Year's Eve with almost no media attention given to it. This President, and all future Presidents, now have the ability to order the U.S. military to imprison American citizens, without trial nor access to an attorney.
Strange times.
Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: [It] is threatening the rights of people in America, and effectively rights everywhere, because what happens in America tends to affect people all over the world. Even though the SOPA and PIPA acts were stopped by huge public outcry, it’s staggering how quickly the US government has come back with a new, different, threat to the rights of its citizens
Sunday, April 29, 2012
Bill bans bosses from wresting your Facebook password — RT
Bill bans bosses from wresting your Facebook password — RT: A bill that would forbid employers from demanding their potential workers’ social networking login and password has been submitted to the US Congress. The spread of the dubious practice alarmed the public last month.
Saturday, April 28, 2012
Fukushima: Hanging by a Thread :
Fukushima: Hanging by a Thread :: While our government would love us all to believe that the nuclear problems in Japan are under control, nothing could be farther from the truth. Engineers for Tokyo Electric Power Co. (Tepco) say readings of airborne radiation inside reactor No. 2 showed almost 73 sieverts per hour this week.
To put that into perspective, exposure to that amount of radiation would kill a normal person within minutes. These levels are some of the highest readings since the beginning of the disaster and there is no one telling us that this nuclear contamination will lessen.
To put that into perspective, exposure to that amount of radiation would kill a normal person within minutes. These levels are some of the highest readings since the beginning of the disaster and there is no one telling us that this nuclear contamination will lessen.
Activist Post: Syria, Waco, Occupy, and Los Angeles: Correlations They Hope You Never Make
Activist Post: Syria, Waco, Occupy, and Los Angeles: Correlations They Hope You Never Make: So why is the West holding Syria to standards they themselves have demonstratively rejected? It goes beyond hypocrisy - it is a declaration to the world that the "international rule of law" exists solely as a means to justify the expansion of the West's global hegemony. It is naked military conquest hiding behind the fig leaf of "humanitarian concerns." Syria, as does any sovereign nation or individual on Earth, has the right to defend itself and restore order within its realm
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Fukushima is Falling Apart: Are You Ready? :
Fukushima is Falling Apart: Are You Ready? :: The Tokyo Electric Power Company, or TEPCO, has only recently confirmed that there were three meltdowns, and they have been ongoing, unabated, for thirteen months, and no effort has been made to contain them.
Food bank - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Food bank - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: A food bank or foodbank is a non-profit, charitable organization that distributes mostly donated food to a wide variety of agencies that in turn feed poor people. The largest sources of food are for-profit growers, manufacturers, distributors and retailers who in the normal course of business have excess food that they cannot sell. There is considerable overlap with food salvage, food rescue and gleaning although not with freeganism or dumpster-diving.
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Gilad Atzmon - Writings - 'Never Again' is an Empty Slogan
Gilad Atzmon - Writings - 'Never Again' is an Empty Slogan: The United States must resolve that ‘never again’ is not just an ‘empty slogan’, said U.S. President Barack Obama on Thursday, in a statement marking Holocaust Remembrance Day. Yet, I am left bewildered, what does president Obama refers to? Is ‘never again’ a universal message pointing at genocides in general or did he refer to Jewish suffering only? With 1,455,590 dead Iraqis due to an Anglo American criminal war, it seems as if the USA is actually complicit in an actual genocide.
Vermont Legislature Calls for a Constitutional Amendment to End Corporate Personhood and Doctrine of Money as Speech | Move to Amend
Vermont Legislature Calls for a Constitutional Amendment to End Corporate Personhood and Doctrine of Money as Speech | Move to Amend: Vermont Becomes First State to Call for Amendment that Would Remove Corporations From Constitution
MONTPELIER, VT – With yesterday’s vote in the state house, Vermont is now the first state to call for an amendment to abolish the doctrine known as “Corporate Personhood” which gives corporations constitutional rights meant to protect people.
MONTPELIER, VT – With yesterday’s vote in the state house, Vermont is now the first state to call for an amendment to abolish the doctrine known as “Corporate Personhood” which gives corporations constitutional rights meant to protect people.
MF Global: The Untold Story of the Biggest Wall Street Collapse Since Lehman | Economy | AlterNet
MF Global: The Untold Story of the Biggest Wall Street Collapse Since Lehman | Economy | AlterNet: MF Global: The Untold Story of the Biggest Wall Street Collapse Since Lehman
There are plenty of lessons to be learned from MF Global, all of which we can count on Congress to ignore at the behest of Wall Street money until the next financial crisis.
April 20, 2012 |
Only on Wall Street can you bankrupt a company; misplace $1.6 billion of customers’ money; lose 75 percent of shareholders’ money in two weeks; speed dial a high priced criminal attorney and get a court to authorize the payment of your multi-million dollar legal tab from the failed company’s insurance policies; have regulators waive your requirements to take licensing exams required to work in the securities and commodities industry; have your Board of Directors waive your loyalty to the firm; run a bucket shop out of the UK; and still have the word “Honorable” affixed to your name in a Congressional investigations hearing.
There are plenty of lessons to be learned from MF Global, all of which we can count on Congress to ignore at the behest of Wall Street money until the next financial crisis.
April 20, 2012 |
Only on Wall Street can you bankrupt a company; misplace $1.6 billion of customers’ money; lose 75 percent of shareholders’ money in two weeks; speed dial a high priced criminal attorney and get a court to authorize the payment of your multi-million dollar legal tab from the failed company’s insurance policies; have regulators waive your requirements to take licensing exams required to work in the securities and commodities industry; have your Board of Directors waive your loyalty to the firm; run a bucket shop out of the UK; and still have the word “Honorable” affixed to your name in a Congressional investigations hearing.
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