June 28, 2014 archive

Jun 28 2014

I won’t hold my breath…

Is this the beginning of the end of the age of legal government spying?

Trevor Timm, The Guardian

Saturday 28 June 2014 07.45 EDT

The US supreme court’s unanimous 9-0 opinion this week requiring police to get a warrant before searching your cellphone is arguably the most important legal privacy decision of the digital age.

…

One of the most contentious issues in courts high and low right now is the extent to which your cellphone location information should fall under the Fourth Amendment’s protection against unreasonable search and seizure. Whether you’re on a call or not, your phone emits a signal to cell towers that pinpoints your exact whereabouts, 24/7. And the cops believe – as they do for most things digital – that they can get that information without a warrant. Two appeals courts have, sadly, agreed with them, but two weeks ago, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals issued an important decision: yes, your location information should be protected.

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Roberts did throw a wrench into the NSA’s main defense for what it does: self-policing. The NSA’s argument has always been essentially this: we don’t need court oversight over our massive surveillance machine because our internal privacy controls are so good.

Roberts, however, ridicules this theory in his Riley opinion: the government promised the court it would create “government agency protocols” and make sure not to abuse its power if allowed to continue searching cellphones without a warrant. “Probably a good idea,” Roberts wrote after going into detail about the historical origins of the Constitutional right to privacy, “but the Founders did not fight a revolution to gain the right to government agency protocols.”

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(T)he cloud has always terrified privacy advocates because of what’s known as the “third party doctrine”, devised by the supreme court in the pre-digital era. The theory, as law professor Daniel Solove explained this week, “holds that if data is known to a third party, then there is no reasonable expectation of privacy in that data (and, as a result, no Fourth Amendment protection at all).”

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But Roberts called into question this distinction when he wrote that it “generally makes little difference” whether data in your cellphone is stored locally or in the cloud. This may seem like a throwaway line, but it could hold significant sway down the road.

…but it would be nice if so.

Jun 28 2014

Cartnoon

Jun 28 2014

On This Day In History June 28

Cross posted from The Stars Hollow Gazette

This is your morning Open Thread. Pour your favorite beverage and review the past and comment on the future.

Find the past “On This Day in History” here.

Click on images to enlarge.

June 28 is the 179th day of the year (180th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 186 days remaining until the end of the year.

In common years it is always in ISO week 26.

This date is the only date each year where both the month and day are different perfect numbers, June 6 being the only date where the month and day are the same perfect number.

On this day in 1919, Keynes predicts economic chaos

At the Palace of Versailles outside Paris, Germany signs the Treaty of Versailles with the Allies, officially ending World War I. The English economist John Maynard Keynes, who had attended the peace conference but then left in protest of the treaty, was one of the most outspoken critics of the punitive agreement. In his The Economic Consequences of the Peace, published in December 1919, Keynes predicted that the stiff war reparations and other harsh terms imposed on Germany by the treaty would lead to the financial collapse of the country, which in turn would have serious economic and political repercussions on Europe and the world.

snip

A decade later, Hitler would exploit this continuing bitterness among Germans to seize control of the German state. In the 1930s, the Treaty of Versailles was significantly revised and altered in Germany’s favor, but this belated amendment could not stop the rise of German militarism and the subsequent outbreak of World War II.

In the late 1930s, John Maynard Keynes gained a reputation as the world’s foremost economist by advocating large-scale government economic planning to keep unemployment low and markets healthy. Today, all major capitalist nations adhere to the key principles of Keynesian economics. He died in 1946.

Governments ignore Keynes at their own peril.

Jun 28 2014

The Breakfast Club (Goodbye To All That)

Quick, what do these things have in common besides being music related?

Karl Michael Ziehrer – Das dumme Herz

Sergei Prokofiev – Violin Concerto No. 1 in D Major

Richard Strauss – Alpine Symphony

Maurice Ravel – Piano Trio in A Minor

Edward Elgar – Sospiri

Tanbûrî Cemil Bey – Nihâvend Şarkı

(Well, maybe.  Best I could do.)

Ottorino Respighi – Sinfonia Drammatica

Charles Ives – Violin Sonata No. 3

Maybe this will give you a hint-

More, including the answer and obligatories. below the fold.

Jun 28 2014

Late Night Karaoke

Jun 28 2014

Random Japan

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Japanese Twitter users square off in Adios Guy Photoshop Championship

   Master Blaster

With the Japanese national team’s hopes of winning the World Cup championship dashed far too early this year. Japan’s soccer fans were left with mere scraps of enjoyment they once had in the tournament. Luckily though, every World Cup has its ancillary breakout star.

Last time, we saw the mystical talents of Paul the Octopus, and now the world finds itself staring in wonder at the phenomenon Japan has dubbed Adios Ojisan (Adios Guy). For those not familiar, Adios Ojisan was a guy in the audience of the Chile/Spain match (among others) holding up an iPad which read “Adios Spana.”

And so, with Team Japan out of the running, let us enjoy some highlights from the Adios Spana Photoshop Championship currently being held on Twitter!

Jun 28 2014

Health and Fitness News

Broccoli, Stems and All

Broccoli, Stems and All photo recipehealthpromo-tmagArticle_zps18f8c7fa.jpg

Once upon a time, when you bought broccoli you bought the whole vegetable, stems and crowns. Then it became customary for grocery store produce departments to separate the crowns from the stems and to sell the crowns at a premium.

I’m not a fan of this practice, because I like both parts of the broccoli plant. The stems and crowns are equally nutritious when it comes to calcium, iron, magnesium, potassium, protein and vitamin A. The only nutrient that appears to be more concentrated in the crowns is beta carotene.

~Martha Rose Shulman~

Pre-Summer Greek Salad With Shaved Broccoli and Peppers or Beets

Uncooked, paper-thin broccoli keeps its shape and color, but absorbs a dressing.

Stir-fried Broccoli Stalks and Flowers, Red Peppers, Peanuts and Tofu

Cutting broccoli stalks into two-inch julienne is almost like adding yet another vegetable to this quick stir-fry.

Pan-Fried Broccoli Stems

A swift way to turn broccoli into an irresistible snack or side dish.

Pasta With Mushrooms and Broccoli

Cooked separately, broccoli stems and flowers have different textures and shades of green.

Spring Rolls With Shredded Broccoli Stems, Vermicelli and Red Pepper

You can save time on these light, pungent spring rolls by using the already shredded broccoli stems available in some supermarkets.

Jun 28 2014

Reclaiming Our History

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Forty-five years ago tomorrow, just after midnight, when the NYPD raided the Stonewall Inn, the police handcuffed transgender women, sex workers, and homeless youth, who were herded out of the bar and loaded into paddy wagons.

That was all routine.  What was not routine was that the people being rounded up fought back.

TransJustice, sponsored by the Audre Lorde Project celebrated today as the 10th Annual Trans Day of Action for Social and Economic Justice, gathering at Christopher Street Pier from 2pm to 5pm.  Representing Trans and Gender Non-Conforming (TGNC) People of Color, TransJustice insists, among other items, that it is time for TGNC people to take back Stonewall from its whitewashed history.

We live in a time when oppressed peoples including people of color, immigrants, youth and elders, people with disabilities, women and TGNC people, and poor people are underserved, face higher levels of discrimination, heightened surveillance and experience increased violence at the hands of the state.  We must unite and work together towards dismantling the transphobia, racism, classism, sexism, ageism, ableism, homophobia and xenophobia that permeates our movements for social justice, while also celebrating the victories and strides for the rights of TGNC POC.  Let’s come together to let the world know that TGNC rights will not be undermined and together we will not be silenced!