Albener Pessoa

Animação 3D de Taiwan para explicar os protestos no Brasil! (via @RioGringa)

Lessons from Japan's response to Aum Shinrikyo:

Yet what's as remarkable as Aum's potential for mayhem is how little of it, on balance, they actually caused. Don't misunderstand me: Aum's crimes were horrific, not merely the terrible subway gassing but their long history of murder, intimidation, extortion, fraud, and exploitation. What they did was unforgivable, and the human cost, devastating. But at no point did Aum Shinrikyo represent an existential threat to Japan or its people. The death toll of Aum was several dozen; again, a terrible human cost, but not an existential threat. At no time was the territorial integrity of Japan threatened. At no time was the operational integrity of the Japanese government threatened. At no time was the day-to-day operation of the Japanese economy meaningfully threatened. The threat to the average Japanese citizen was effectively nil.

Just as important was what the Japanese government and people did not do. They didn't panic. They didn't make sweeping changes to their way of life. They didn't implement a vast system of domestic surveillance. They didn't suspend basic civil rights. They didn't begin to capture, torture, and kill without due process. They didn't, in other words, allow themselves to be terrorized. Instead, they addressed the threat. They investigated and arrested the cult's leadership. They tried them in civilian courts and earned convictions through due process. They buried their dead. They mourned. And they moved on. In every sense, it was a rational, adult, mature response to a terrible terrorist act, one that remained largely in keeping with liberal democratic ideals.

Sharon Terlep, Dennis Berman, and Shira Ovide, reporting for the WSJ:

Microsoft Corp. was recently in advanced discussions with Nokia Corp. about a purchase of the Finnish company’s device business, according to people familiar with the matter, in a marriage that could have reshaped the mobile-phone industry.

The talks have faltered, they said. One person said talks took place as recently as this month but aren’t likely to be revived.

(More coverage from Techmeme.)

Zoe Lofgren and Ron Wyden:

Vagueness is the core flaw of the CFAA. As written, the CFAA makes it a federal crime to access a computer without authorization or in a way that exceeds authorization. Confused by that? You’re not alone. Congress never clearly described what this really means. As a result, prosecutors can take the view that a person who violates a website’s terms of service or employer agreement should face jail time.

So lying about one’s age on Facebook, or checking personal email on a work computer, could violate this felony statute. This flaw in the CFAA allows the government to imprison Americans for a violation of a non-negotiable, private agreement that is dictated by a corporation. Millions of Americans — whether they are of a digitally native or dial-up generation — routinely submit to legal terms and agreements every day when they use the Internet. Few have the time or the ability to read and completely understand lengthy legal agreements.

Hoje não tem tirinha sobre protesto… Mais ou menos.

O post Mentirinhas #456 apareceu primeiro em Mentirinhas.

I broke the law yesterday and again today and I will probably break the law tomorrow. Don’t mistake me, I have done nothing wrong. I don’t even know what laws I have broken. Nevertheless, I am reasonably confident that I have broken some laws, rules, or regulations recently because its hard for anyone to live today without breaking the law. Doubt me? Have you ever thrown out some junk mail that came to your house but was addressed to someone else? That’s a violation of federal law punishable by up to 5 years in prison.

Harvey Silverglate argues that a typical American commits three felonies a day. I think that number is too high but it is easy to violate the law without intent or knowledge. Most crimes used to be based on the common law and ancient understandings of wrong (murder, assault, theft and so on) but today there are thousands of federal criminal laws that bear no relation to common law or common understanding. The WSJ illustrates:

Last September (2011), retired race-car champion Bobby Unser told a congressional hearing about his 1996 misdemeanor conviction for accidentally driving a snowmobile onto protected federal land, violating the Wilderness Act, while lost in a snowstorm. Though the judge gave him only a $75 fine, the 77-year-old racing legend got a criminal record.

Mr. Unser says he was charged after he went to authorities for help finding his abandoned snowmobile. “The criminal doesn’t usually call the police for help,” he says.

Or how about this:

In 2009, Mr. Anderson loaned his son some tools to dig for arrowheads near a favorite campground of theirs. Unfortunately, they were on federal land….

There is no evidence the Andersons intended to break the law, or even knew the law existed, according to court records and interviews. But the law, the Archaeological Resources Protection Act of 1979, doesn’t require criminal intent and makes it a felony punishable by up to two years in prison to attempt to take artifacts off federal land without a permit.

The Anderson’s didn’t even find any arrowheads but the attempt to find was punishable by imprisonment. Under statutes such as the Lacey Act one can even face criminal prosecution for violating the laws of another country. Ignorance of another  country’s laws is no excuse.

If someone tracked you for a year are you confident that they would find no evidence of a crime? Remember, under the common law, mens rea, criminal intent, was a standard requirement for criminal prosecution but today that is typically no longer the case especially under federal criminal law .

Faced with the evidence of an non-intentional crime, most prosecutors, of course, would use their discretion and not threaten imprisonment. Evidence and discretion, however, are precisely the point. Today, no one is innocent and thus our freedom is maintained only by the high cost of evidence and the prosecutor’s discretion.

One of the responses to the revelations about the mass spying on Americans by the NSA and other agencies is “I have nothing to hide. What me worry?” I tweeted in response “If you have nothing to hide, you live a boring life.” More fundamentally, the NSA spying machine has reduced the cost of evidence so that today our freedom–or our independence–is to a large extent at the discretion of those in control of the panopticon.

John P. Conley and Ali Sina Onder write (pdf):

We study the research productivity of new graduates of top Ph.D. programs in economics.  We find that class rank is as important as departmental rank as predictors of future research productivity.  For instance the best graduate from UIUC or Toronto in a given year will have roughly the same number of American Economic Review (AER) equivalent publications at year six after graduation as the number three graduate from Berkeley, U. Penn, or Yale.  We also find that research productivity of top graduates drops off very quickly with class rank at all departments.  For example, even at Harvard, the median graduate has only 0.04 AER papers at year six…

The indicating post is from Angus, thanks also to Stan T. for a pointer.

For US$249 a company in the United States is promising to send curious and competitive players of computer games an unusual headset. The device, the company claims, will convert electronic gamers into electronic-gamers. At the touch of a button, the headset will send a surge of electricity through their prefrontal cortex. It promises to increase brain plasticity and make synapses fire faster, to help gamers repel more space invaders and raid more tombs. And, according to the publicity shots on the website, it comes in a choice of red or black.

The company is accepting orders, but says that it will not ship its first headsets to customers until next month. Some are unwilling to wait. Videos on the Internet already show people who have cobbled together their own version with a 9-volt battery and some electrical wire. If you are not fussy about the colour scheme, other online firms already promise to supply the components and instructions you need to make your own. Or you could rummage around in the garage.

Here is more, with further interesting points, via Michelle Dawson.

O Jornal da Tarde está sendo processado após ter chamado manifestantes de vândalos. O fato é que descendentes de tribo germânica conhecida como Vândalos se sentiram ofendidos por esta acusação: “Desde o Império Romano que associam a gente à destruição, criminalidade. São milhares de anos sofrendo preconceito, é revoltante.”

O jornal se retratou e disse que buscará novos adjetivos para se referir aos manifestantes violentos. No site do jornal há uma enquete da qual você também pode participar. As opções disponíveis são: a) baderneiros; b) arruaceiros; c) corintianos.

Leonardo Lanna e Vinícius Antunes

Dedicated to zombie fan Brandy C. – happy birthday Brandy!

Here are more zombie chickens!

Update: Here are the sketches I drew while working on this comic!

********

Cada vez que olho para esse quadro do Javier Ruiz Perez, fico impressionado como o sujeito ao fundo, de pé, se parece comigo. Ele é só mais gordinho ou eu, depois de várias Leia mais...

What’s better than drinking hot coffee and driving? Brewing hot coffee while you’re driving, with the Roadpro 12-Volt Coffee Maker.

“But I’m still hungry!” you cry, shooting down the interstate at 78 miles an hour, while you try to dump coffee grounds into the precariously-balancing Roadpro Coffee Maker. Then I offer to you the Roadpro 1.5 Quart Slow Cooker. One jerk of the wheel and you’re not only covered in scalding coffee, but in piping-hot chili, soup, or stew.

If the Ender's Game movie is a success, then maybe the floodgates will open for other classic space opera books to hit the big screen and rock our universe. What classic space opera novel (or book series) do you think would make a fantastic movie nowadays?

Read more...

majesticsock:

virtualbatgirl:

jawbreakerjett:

ihatepeacocks:

Remember the Stuebnville Rape Case? Well, we certainly do as we have been following it from day one. The Anonymous member who gathered and released the social media evidence against the rapists could face up to 10 years in prison for doing so. The 2 rapists that were convicted only got 2 years each. That is bullshit.
Read up on this and if you find it as appalling as we do, please see what you can do to help KYAnonymous.

Article on Gawker

Article on PolicyMic.com

The KYAnonymous Fan/Support page on Facebook

The Whistle Blower Defense League Fund

Most Importantly, do whatever you can, whenever you can to put an end to Rape, to fight against Rape Culture, stand up for the rights of Rape Victims and put an end to Victim Shaming.

 

SO fucked up

That this guy is at risk for going to prison for longer than the men whose true actions and mindset he revealed?

Ridiculous.

ahahahahahaha.

i am disappointed in the law.

Um vídeo flagrou o PM Carlos Henrique Fagundes dando um tiro na própria cabeça para culpar os manifestantes do Movimento Passe Livre. Segundo relatos, o interesse era provar que a manifestação era violenta. Seus colegas que estavam ao lado foram detidos e confessaram que tiraram na purrinha quem teria que morrer para justificar a repressão.

As imagens ganharam as redes sociais. A família do policial lamentou o fato: “Pobre Carlos, morreu em vão. Hoje em dia a internet tá fazendo muito mal à sociedade, divulga tudo, até o que não era pra ser divulgado. É a ditadura do excesso de liberdade!”

Os ônibus não são os únicos que estão na mira dos manifestantes. A polícia se preocupa com o alto preço das vidas extras em Candy Crush. Para a psicóloga Angela Santos, o movimento Candy Crush é positivo. “Pelo menos o pessoal que fica no Facebook está protestando fora da rede social”, disse ela.

A manifestação pela queda dos preços em Candy Crush é pacífica. Os manifestantes só destroem a gelatina. Ou tentam destruir…

Leonardo Lanna

Se o Brasil já estava tenso por conta das manifestações pela redução das passagens, agora o problema se tornou mundial. Os EUA acabaram de descobrir uma fábrica de vinagre na Coréia do Norte e poderá deflagrar a Terceira Guerra Mundial a qualquer momento.

Como todos os brasileiros sabem, o vinagre é uma substância altamente tóxica, destruidora e mortal tendo levado milhares de pessoas às prisões brasileiras por portá-lo em manifestações. O mais perverso é que segundo denúncia norte-americana, os coreanos jogam vinagre nas saladas que alimentam milhares de pessoas, inclusive idosos e crianças.

computerheroboy:

Adult Swim making an unholy amount of sense.