Showing posts with label information. Show all posts
Showing posts with label information. Show all posts

VIDEO: A Banned Segment From Saturday Night Live



The 1998 Robert Smigel animated short film "Conspiracy Theory Rock", part of a March 1998 "TV Funhouse" segment, has been removed from all subsequent airings of the Saturday Night Live episode where it originally appeared. NBC claimed the edit (critical of their parent company) was done because it "wasn't funny". NBC is owned by General Electric/Westinghouse.

Denver Concedes Distributing Jury Nullification Pamphlets Near A Courthouse Is Constitutionally Protected Speech

by Jacob Sullum.  But, it still won't drop charges against those arrested for doing so.   Yesterday a federal judge in Denver issued a preliminary injunction protecting the First Amendment rights of activists who want to distribute jury nullification pamphlets outside the Lindsey-Flanigan Courthouse. Two activists, Mark Iannicelli and Eric Brandt, did  ... MORE

AP: Federal Court To Hear Challenge To Jury Nullification

Free speech under assault.     A federal judge is scheduled to hear evidence in a lawsuit arguing that a Denver judge cannot bar people from telling potential jurors outside a courthouse that they have a right to ignore laws they believe are wrong. Attorney David Lane filed a lawsuit against the city and Denver police, asking a federal judge to   ... MORE

Zeynep Tufekci: Why ‘Smart’ Objects May Be A Dumb Idea

Creating vulnerability.   A fridge that puts milk on your shopping list when you run low. A safe that tallies the cash that is placed in it. A sniper rifle equipped with advanced computer technology for improved accuracy. A car that lets you stream music from the Internet. All of these innovations sound great, until you learn the risks that this type of connect-   ... MORE

Paul Rosenberg: Why You Must Dump Microsoft NOW

"they redefined their operating system to be spyware."   I’ve written about dumping Microsoft before – and I stand by those comments – but the newest outrage from Redmond forces me to it again. I don’t care how “inconvenient” you think it may be, you have to stop enriching Microsoft. NOW. Yes, I have serious issues with Apple too, but   ... MORE

Leaked TISA Documents Reveal Another Privacy Threat

by Emma Woolacott.    Under the draft provisions of the latest trade deal to be leaked by Wikileaks, countries could be barred from trying to control where their citizens’ personal data is held or whether it’s accessible from outside the country. Wikileaks has released 17 documents relating to the Trade in Services Agreement (TISA), currently    ... MORE

Farai Chideya: Your Data Is Showing -- Breaches Continue To Wreak Havoc While the Government Plays Catch-Up

Government's incentive is to infiltrate, not protect.      When Kansas City, Missouri, real estate appraiser Dave Markus learned he was one of about 80 million people whose personal data was exposed in the Anthem health insurance breach discovered at the end of January, he immediately signed up for an identity protection service. But   ... MORE

Chriss Street: The Sun Is Engaging In Climate Change Denial

Another problem for Al.  The sun is known to be the main driver of all weather and climate. With 99.86% of the mass in our solar system, the great ball of violent fire in the sky has recently gone quiet in what is likely to be the weakest sunspot cycle in more than a century and actually flatlined in recent days. Weak solar cycles, like the current one,   ... MORE

How 10 years Of YouTube Transformed The Internet

A laissez-faire approach to copyright.     It all began with a 19-second video clip recorded at a zoo. One of the founders of YouTube, Jawed Karim, uploaded the video on April 23, 2005, showing him describing the length of an elephant's trunk. "Anyone could be a star and there was no gate keeper," CNET.com senior editor Bridget   ... MORE

NY Times Gets Confused About Minimum Wage Again

by Tim Worstall.    The editorial page has been dumbed down. There was a glorious time, when America was young again, that the New York Times actually had the right idea about the minimum wage. The rate should be zero of course. No, really, here’s their headline: "The Right Minimum Wage: $0.00." That’s not an Op/Ed, that’s an editorial.  ... MORE

OK To Leak Government Secrets If It Benefits Politicians

by Trevor Timm.  When it comes to classified information, some leaks are more equal than others. If you are a whistleblower like Edward Snowden, who tells the press about illegal, immoral or embarrassing government actions, you will face jail time. But it’s often another story for US government officials leaking information for their own     ... MORE

NSA Doesn’t Need To Spy Your Calls To Learn Your Secrets

by Bruce Schneier.   Governments and corporations gather, store, and analyze the tremendous amount of data we chuff out as we move through our digitized lives. Often this is without our knowledge, and typically without our consent. Based on this data, they draw conclusions about us that we might disagree with or object to, and that can impact    ... MORE

Should Hotel Registries Be Open To Warrantless Searches?

by Rory Little.  How does requiring a warrant interfere with surprise police searches of hotel guest registers? The first case argued Tuesday morning, City of Los Angeles v. Patel, was about whether a Los Angeles ordinance that requires motel operators to allow the police to examine hotel guest registers, without seeking a warrant first, is     ... MORE

NY Times Editorial: The President's Weak Privacy Proposal

Codifying bad behavior.    President Obama has said that the country needs a strong privacy law so consumers can protect personal information from advertisers, Internet firms, employers and other businesses. But the country is not going to get it from Mr. Obama. The bill his administration recently offered will do little to help individuals while giving   ... MORE

Google Works To Rank Sites Based On ‘Truthfulness’

by Maxim Lott.  In a step that critics worry will inject political bias into search results, a Google research team released a report this month on ranking search results based on how factual websites are. They propose eventually using that to change Google rankings, which are currently based on website popularity. The Google researchers give, as an     ... MORE

John Stossel - Raping Culture

Another one of those social "epidemics."  Apparently, new laws are needed because at colleges, sexual assault is "epidemic." Rape is so common that there is a "rape culture." I hear that a lot. It is utter exaggeration. Fortunately, AEI scholar Christina Hoff Sommers is around to reveal the truth. "This idea of a rape culture was built on     ... MORE