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12 Nov, 2015

$1million for Tor users identities

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Operators of the Tor network accuse Carnegie Mellon of accepting up to $1million from the FBI to help help track users running illegal operations on websites. Tor director Roger Dingledine questions the university’s ethics

We think it’s unlikely they could have gotten a valid warrant … [since it] appears to have indiscriminately targeted many users at once… The mere veneer of law enforcement investigation cannot justify wholesale invasion of people’s privacy… If academia uses ‘research’ as a stalking horse for privacy invasion, the entire enterprise of security research will fall into disrepute.

 

8 Nov, 2015

Rossi claims Spanish ‘stitch up’

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Rossi says he was denied his win by a Spanish ‘stitch-up’’. Rossi say Lorenzo is a deserving champion but he could not understand why Honda should want to see a Yamaha rider win. He accuses Márquez of being a ‘biscottone’ – an expression used in football when two teams play out a mutually beneficial draw to the detriment of another – but said he expected no less.

I did what I could but it was a strange situation having Márquez as the bodyguard of Lorenzo. It is embarrassing for the sport. Hopefully the sport’s authorities will be able to sort it out. It is an ugly end to what has been an attractive championship. It has not been a true championship and this should not happen in sport.

Márquez responds that it is ‘a lack of respect’ to suggest he had not tried to win:

I always give everything and I know there will be people that will say that I have been second because I wanted Lorenzo to win.

Lorenzo, however, says that the Spaniards may have helped each other:

The fact that they knew what I was going for and that they are Spanish has helped me and in another race they may have tried everything to overtake. Dani did well because he could have tried a crazy overtake. We are Spanish and the title remains in Spain. If it had been in Italy and with two Italians behind Rossi then it would have been the same.

23 Oct, 2015

Two new accusers

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Allred introduces a further two women who say they were assaulted by Cosby. The first, known only as Dottye, said she was working as a actress in 1984 when she sent Cosby her headshot and was invited to audition privately at his New York City brownstone. When she declined a welcoming drink, she says he insisted, saying one drink wouldn’t cause any harm. After taking a few sips, Cosby suggested they do an exercise and spun her around. She immediately felt dizzy, sick, disoriented, and vomited on his rug.

Things got foggy thereafter, but I do know he took my clothes off and put them in his washing machine. I don’t remember too much of the shower, or walking back down the steps back to the second floor.

She says Cosby leaned her against a chest in the hall, raised her robe and raped her, continuing the assault in the dining room. She says she could not understand at the time why she could not fight him off. Bartlett, the second accuser, says Cosby grabbed her from behind at a University of Pennsylvania track, saying:

Hey, back that thing up here girl, back it on up!

Barrett said as she struggled to get away, Cosby pulled her to him and she felt his “private parts” against her back. Barrett said she complained to her teammates and officials, but that no one knew what to do. Allred:

We will never stop until the last courageous victim who wishes to come forward and speak her truth has done so. Only then will it be enough.

2 Oct, 2015

Accuses Bon Jovi of ‘standing with Israeli oppression’

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In an op-ed for Salon, Waters accuses Bon Jovi and his band mates of standing “shoulder to shoulder” with Israel before listing many of the casualties suffered by the Palestinians at the hands of the Israeli government.

I won’t waste my time drawing parallels with Apartheid South Africa and the moral stand that so many artists took then and that thousands are taking now in the face of decades of Israeli oppression of Palestinians. So the die is cast, you are determined to proceed with your gig in Tel Aviv on October 3. You are making your stand. You stand shoulder to shoulder

With the settler who burned the baby
With the bulldozer driver who crushed Rachel Corrie
With the soldier who shot the soccer player’s feet to bits

The dead can’t remind you of the crimes you’ve ignored. But, lest we forget, “To stand by silent and indifferent is the greatest crime of all.”

18 Sep, 2015

Accused of altering forms

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The attorney for Brian Mason, one of Davis’ deputy clerks, says he believes Davis has again violated her federal court order by altering marriage license forms by removing her name, making Mason initial the form instead of sign it, and then requiring the form to be notarized. The attorney says it is “really bizarre” that Davis would alter the forms.

A notary has nothing to do with it. Unless she’s got a really good reason, and I’ll certainly be patient and wait to hear it, the only inference I personally can draw from it is she is trying to circumvent the court’s order.

In a separate filing, ACLU attorneys for the gay couples who sued Davis say that the changes on the form require Mason to issue the licenses “in his capacity as a ‘notary public’ rather than a deputy clerk of the Rowan County Clerk’s Office,” changes that “do not comply” with the court’s order to not interfere with her employees who issue the licenses.

These alterations call into question the validity of the marriage licenses issued. Plaintiffs are exploring legal options to address these material alterations.

17 Sep, 2015

Suspended

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Valcke is put on leave and released from his duties as Secretary General until further notice, after newspaper allegations implicated him in a scheme to sell World Cup tickets for above face value. Valcke denies the allegations saying they are:

Fabricated, outrageous.

8 Sep, 2015

Accuses EPA of lying about spill amount

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During a speech to a crowd of high school students in the Navajo Nation city of Shiprock, NM, Brockovich accuses the EPA of not telling the truth about the amount of wastewater that fouled rivers in three states after spilling from a Colorado mine.

They did not tell the truth about the amount. There were millions and millions of gallons.

30 Aug, 2015

Calls Cyrus a ‘bitch’

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Minaj calls Cyrus a bitch at the VMAs.

And now, back to this bitch that had a lot to say about me the other day in the press, Miley what’s good?

The taunt is in reference to Cyrus’ New York Times interview where she said Minaj’s Twitter spat with Taylor Swift was about herself as opposed to the real issues.

You made it about you. Not to sound like a bitch, but that’s like, ‘Eh, I didn’t get my VMA’…If you want to make it about race, there’s a way you could do that. But don’t make it just about yourself. Say: ‘This is the reason why I think it’s important to be nominated. There’s girls everywhere with this body type’.

Cyrus replies:

We’re all in this industry. We all do interviews and we all know how they manipulate shit. Nicki, congratu-f-ckin-lations.

The camera cuts back to Minaj who seems to mouth back, “Bitch.”

12 Aug, 2015

Three accusers come forward

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At a press conference in Allred’s Los Angeles office, Whitedeer, Hughes and Tirl say they were victimized by Cosby. Whitedeer says she met Cosby in the early ’70s when she was on a movie set with Cosby, who told her, he was going to interview her in the director’s office.

I felt Cosby’s left hand gently grab my long hair behind my head … his giant frame blocked the door so if anyone should try to enter, they would not be able to see what he was doing. As I looked up his penis was out of his pants and he shoved it in my mouth. His attack was fast with surgical precision and surprise on his side…When Cosby was done, there was a horrible mess of semen all over my face, my clothes and in my hair. He took out a Kleenex to try to wipe off my face. I was bordering between vomiting and passing out. He was mumbling that I had been blessed with his semen as if it was holy water. [He] gloated over my humiliation.

Hughes says she met Cosby while she was an American Airlines flight attendant in the early ’70s on a flight to L.A. They went to her hotel room so she could shower and change clothes and, when she emerged, Cosby had ordered appetizers and champagne which she claims Cosby drank out of her shoe. After she drank a glass of champagne, the last thing she claims to remember was Cosby attempting to hold her hand, after which she woke up hours later.

My clothes were thrown all over the room and I felt semen on the small of my back and all over me. Bill obviously did not use a condom and there was no lunch and he was nowhere to be seen.

She says that when she reminded the comedian of the alleged incident a year, when she saw him on another flight, he “turned pale and said ‘did you ever report that to anyone?'” She replied that she had not. Tirl says that after shooting an episode as a police officer on The Cosby Show on its fifth season she was ushered to Cosby’s dressing room where he locked the door. Although no sexual attack took place, Tirl says:

There was a palpable shift of power. I lost my breath…I had handled being ‘hit on’ many times in the industry, this had far surpassed that. I felt dominated.

2 Aug, 2015

Illegal lion kill accusation

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Zimbabwe accuses Seski of illegally killing a lion. The wildlife authority says Seski killed the animal — without approval — with a bow and arrow on land where it was not allowed. A Zimbabwean landowner, who conducted the hunt, was arrested and is assisting police with their investigation. Although Seski added his name to a government database when he arrived in Zimbabwe, he was not granted permission to hunt lion. The wildlife authority:

When hunters come into the country they fill a document stating their personal details, the amount they have paid for the hunt, the number of animals to be hunted, the species to be hunted and the area and period where that hunt is supposed to take place. The American conducted his hunt in an area where lion hunting is outlawed. The landowner who helped him with the hunt also did not have a quota for lion hunting.

29 Jul, 2015

Accuses airport officer of sexual assault

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Morrissey accuses a male San Francisco airport officer of sexually assaulting him during a search on 27 July:

Before I could gather my belongings from the usual array of trays I was approached by an “airport security officer” who stopped me, crouched before me and groped my penis and testicles. He quickly moved away as an older “airport security officer” approached. The officer who sexually assaulted me was identified as the General Manager On Duty.

He claims the incident was witnessed by two British Airways staff members, who encourage him to file a complaint. Before he does so, he confronts the officer:

Morrissey: You have just sexually groped this man.
Officer: That’s just your opinion.
Morrissey: What you have done is illegal.
Officer: That’s just your opinion.
Morrissey: You have no right to do what you have just done.
Officer: That’s just your opinion.

Apart from “that’s just your opinion”, he would not comment, even though, since the penis and testicles were mine and no one else’s, then my opinion must surely have some meaning. But, of course, what the airport security officer was saying was: your opinion will never count in the eyes of the law.

24 Jul, 2015

Price gouging investigation

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The US Department of Transportation is investigating five airlines (Delta, JetBlue, American, United and Southwest) for increasing fares following the Amtrak 188 crash of May 12th. The letter is due in 30 days and there is a separate investigation by the Justice department. According to a copy of the letter sent to Delta’s chief counsel the DOT wants a spreadsheet of the average fare by market, day, and fare class for flights on routes in the corridor from April 28th to May 26th. It also wants the number of tickets sold and passengers carried, as well as comparison data from last year, as well as ten other requests. Transportation Secretary Foxx:

The idea that any business would seek to take advantage of stranded rail passengers in the wake of such a tragic event is unacceptable. This department takes all allegations of airline price-gouging seriously, and we will pursue a thorough investigation of these consumer complaints.

The airlines have denied wrongdoing and have pledged to co-operate.

Accuses McConnell of lying

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Cruz accuses McConnell of lying to him, after McConnell says there will be a vote on whether to renew the federal Export-Import Bank, after telling Cruz there will be no such vote.

Not only what he told every Republican senator, but what he told the press over and over and over again, was a simple lie. It saddens me to say this. I sat in my office, I told my staff the majority leader looked me in the eye and looked 54 Republicans in the eye. I cannot believe he would tell a flat-out lie. We now know that when the majority leader looks us in the eyes and makes an explicit commitment that he is willing to say things that he knows are false.

22 Jul, 2015

Vows to recover crude oil funds

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Buhari alleges that 250,000 barrels of crude are being stolen every day, with the profits going into individual bank accounts. He tells an audience at the Nigerian Embassy in Washington that the United States and other countries are helping us to trace such accounts now.

We will ask that such accounts be frozen and prosecute the persons. The amount involved is mind-boggling. Some former ministers were selling about one million barrels per day. I assure you that we will trace and repatriate such money and use the documents to prosecute them.

15 Jul, 2015

Claim: Funds anti-climate politicians, lobbyists

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Despite a 2007 promise to stop funding anti Climate Change researchers and activist groups, Greenpeace claims that ExxonMobil has paid $1.87 million for every Republican in Congress who actively denies climate change. An additional $454,000 went to ALEC. In an email response to The Guardian newspaper the Company says:

ExxonMobil does not fund climate denial…We are taking action in a range of ways – by reducing greenhouse gas emissions in our operations, helping consumers reduce their emissions, and by supporting research at leading US universities into both increased emissions reduction capability and research into alternative energy sources…I don’t believe we underwrite specific Alec functions, and, as should be abundantly clear from my past statements to you, we believe climate change is real and warrants action, we’re taking steps to address it, which I’ve also provided you voluminous detail on, and we don’t embrace the views of those who deny climate change or think it isn’t a serious matter…Because The Guardian has abandoned objective journalism and has a clear agenda regarding climate change, it can no longer be trusted to do the job its readers have a right to expect, which is to provide accurate and unbiased coverage on this important topic.

 

14 Jul, 2015

Questions Froome performance

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As Froome dominates the Pyrenees Mountain stage of the Tour, Armstrong questions if he is cheating

1. Clearly Froome/Porte/Sky are very strong. Too strong to be clean? Don’t ask me, I have no clue.

@danieljcastille I’m not accusing anyone In fact, quite the opposite. I’m not interested (nor do I have the credibility) to opine there.

10 Jul, 2015

App backs up photos without users’ knowledge

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A user reports that Google’s Photos app, a default on many new Android devices, backs up new photos even if the app is disabled. The issue occurs when users enable the backup feature on their devices, then remove the app – new photos are still sent to Google’s servers, and are visible if the Photos app is reinstalled by the user at a later time. When he contacts the company they say:

The backup was as intended.

9 Jul, 2015

CDC security failures

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A report shows CDC fails to prevent power outages between January 2013 and July 2014, leading to staff evacuation to prevent pathogen exposure. The report indicates one incident in Building 23 of Atlanta, Georgia where a lightning strike lead to airflow failures, the inability to open hallway doors, and loss of phone communication. The report also includes instances of worker pathogen exposure by needles, maintenance workers opening doors to restricted areas, and malfunctions in gear that protect scientists from pathogens. However, the report lacks comprehensive details. Biosafety Consultant:

This is not a comprehensive list. I look at these documents, and it’s very clear to me that leadership has not defined for the workforce what is a reportable incident or accident.

Colorado Representative:

It is unacceptable that the CDC, our nation’s premier institution committed to preventing the spread of infectious disease, has not resolved these problems after years of oversight and attention. It is more vital than ever that the CDC, from leadership on down, commit to a strategy that will prevent future lapses in safety.

Low-flying pilot was tired, ill

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Investigators release a report stating that the pilot who flew too low on a landing at Melbourne was tired, hungry and also had a cold. Qantas has promised to review its protocols and training after the report.

While backup systems worked as they should have, including the intervention by the first officer and the automated warning from the on-board computer, we certainly don’t take this incident lightly