Wednesday, May 02, 2012

BBC America treats Americans as the immature children the probably are

A writer for British comedy The Thick of It has criticised BBC America's decision to censor the show.

Jesse Armstrong described the move to 'bleep' Armando Iannucci's award-winning political satire as an "error".

"They should at least have a conversation with Armando and check what they're going to do with it before they put it out," he told the BBC. "It seems a little odd."

BBC America stood by its decision, despite the show airing at midnight.

Read more here.

Scumbag engineer at Google knew exactly what he was doing

The Google engineer who wrote a program that collected personal data from wi-fi networks told at least two other colleagues, a report has revealed.

Google released the full investigation conducted by the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

It said senior staff on the Street View team were unaware of the plans.

The company was fined $25,000 (£15,300) earlier this month for impeding the FCC's investigation, but was ruled to not have broken the law.

The report came two weeks after a heavily redacted version was released by the FCC at the time of the original fine.

It detailed how one Google engineer, referred to only as "Engineer Doe", produced a computer program capable of collecting data from people's unsecured home wireless networks.

The data gathered included contents of some emails and web browsing history.

Read more here.

China throws yet another tandrum, this time over Chen Guangcheng

China demanded an apology from the United States on Wednesday after a human rights activist emerged from several days of refuge inside the U.S. Embassy in Beijing.

Chen Guangcheng's presence in the U.S. Embassy had prompted a flurry of diplomatic activity between the United States and China. The situation has threatened to overshadow U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's scheduled meetings with senior Chinese leaders this week.

"The U.S. handling of this was interference in Chinese domestic affairs, and this is totally unacceptable to China," Liu Weimin, a spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said in comments reported by the state-run news agency Xinhua.

Read more here.

Tuesday, May 01, 2012

It pays to be rich: Conrad Black to come back to Canada

The Conservative government won't confirm a report saying Conrad Black has been given permission to return to Canada for a year, even though he gave up his citizenship in 2001 and has criminal record in the U.S.

The Globe and Mail is reporting that Citizenship and Immigration Canada has granted Black a temporary resident permit, which would allow him to live in Canada from May 2012 until May 2013.

Black would normally be inadmissible because he isn't a Canadian citizen and has a criminal record.

According to a government website, a temporary resident permit temporarily overcomes inadmissibility.

So does being one of the club...

Read more here.

Harper and Co.: "We’re part of the crusade"

More from the intellectual giants, um, leading us...

The Harper government was privately concerned last fall about costs, delays and the quality of communication it was receiving on the U.S. F-35 stealth fighter project even as its chief spokesman on the file assured Canadians all was well...

...“We will purchase the F-35,” Mr. Fantino told Fort Worth business leaders during his visit. “We’re on record. We’re part of the crusade. We’re not backing down,” the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported him saying.

Read more here.

North Carolinian and his shotgun: Idiot of the Day

Update: one of these gun toting fools, a certain "Chase Young", has had the video pulled from youtube.

Monday, April 30, 2012

Dan Savage causes cherry picking Christian bigots to flee, going LALALALA I can't hear you

During a speech at a high school journalism convention, Dan Savage attacked anti-gay Biblical literalism, which caused some Christian students to walk out

Gee, what a shock...

Read more here.

Entertainment industry wins big victory in its effort to censor the Net in the UK

A victory for them maybe, but it does nothing to stop people despising them.

File-sharing site The Pirate Bay must be blocked by UK internet service providers, the High Court has ruled.

The Swedish website hosts links to download mostly pirated free music and video.

Sky, Everything Everywhere, TalkTalk, O2 and Virgin Media must all prevent their users from accessing the site.

Read more here.

60 Minutes: Torture and war crimes are AOK

60 Minutes interviews CIA torture architect Jose Rodriguez.. "..people don't understand that this program was not about hurting anybody. This program was about instilling a sense of hopelessness and despair on the terrorist, on the detainee, so that he would conclude on his own that he was better off cooperating with us...

Friday, April 27, 2012

Latest attempt by governments to control the Internet: CISPA

The House of Representatives passed cybersecurity legislation Thursday aimed at protecting American companies from hackers who steal intellectual property.

The bill passed 248 to 168, largely along party lines, despite the Obama administration's threats to veto the bill and its claims that the bill falls short in protecting civil liberties

I don't believe for a second the aim of bills and laws like this are solely for the reasons stated. Can't have all this unbridled free speech, now can we...

Read more here.

George Zimmerman raises $200,000 from some very f*cked up individuals

George Zimmerman's attorney said his client's bail might have been set higher if a judge had known about $200,000 US raised by a website and that only came to light this week.

Mark O'Mara said on CNN's Anderson Cooper 360 that he only learned about the money Wednesday and will inform a judge at a hearing Friday.

Zimmerman, who has been charged with second-degree murder in the Feb. 26 shooting of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, was released from jail this week after paying 10 percent of $150,000 bail.

Read more here.

Thursday, April 26, 2012

Jeffrey Miron: Idiot of the Day

Anti-bribery laws hurt U.S. companies! Do away with the law then...boohoohoo

What a moron.

public and policymakers should also consider whether the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act is good policy. And despite good intentions -- particularly, the goal of reducing corruption -- it is not.

The act is difficult to enforce on a consistent basis, since companies that wish to pay bribes can circumvent the law in numerous ways, mainly with minimal risk of exposure. So, most violations go undetected. The act therefore hurts companies that break the law clumsily and get caught, thereby creating a competitive advantage for companies that break the law cleverly and get away with it.

The most likely outcome is therefore that the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act has minimal impact on bribes but enriches the least honest companies. And if the act deters bribes by U.S. companies operating abroad, that is even worse.

Read more here.

Catholic leaders call Paul Ryan a heartless bastard

Or words to that effect...

Rising Republican star Paul Ryan has been condemned by Catholic leaders for saying his controversial budget plan was inspired by church teaching.

Faculty members and priests at Georgetown University said they could not condone a spending plan they said would hurt society's most vulnerable...

...The letter adds: "In short, your budget appears to reflect the values of your favorite philosopher, Ayn Rand, rather than the Gospel of Jesus Christ."

Read more here.

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Jose Rodriguez, Ex-CIA Officer: Sick F*ck of the Day

The retired top CIA officer who ordered the destruction of videos showing waterboarding says in a new book that he was tired of waiting for Washington's bureaucracy to make a decision that protected American lives...

..."I wasn't going to sit around another three years waiting for people to get up the courage," to do what CIA lawyers said he had the authority to do himself, Rodriguez writes. He describes sending the order in November 2005 as "just getting rid of some ugly visuals."

Read more here.

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Nina Easton: Idiot of the Day

Don't blame the 1% for America's pay gap

It's time to end the myth that the nation's wealthy are getting rich off the backs of the poor. Instead let's figure out what they're doing right.

It just gets worse after that...

Read more here.