September 2010
12 posts
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Just so we’re clear:
The New York Times reported this morning that the federal government wants to “make it easier to wiretap the Internet”:
Federal law enforcement and national security officials are preparing to seek sweeping new regulations for the Internet, arguing that their ability to wiretap criminal and terrorism suspects is “going dark” as people increasingly...
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Joining Trend, 3rd Circuit Upholds Jails' Blanket... →
For decades, it was well settled in federal law that jails cannot employ a blanket strip-search policy that includes even those arrested on minor offenses whose behavior would not trigger any reasonable suspicion of the need for such an intrusive search.
Those days are over.
The pendulum is now swinging in the other direction and the law is very much in flux as illustrated by Tuesday’s...
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Transparency Report | Google.com →
FYI.
It’s self-reported, and provides limited detail, but still, its a bandwagon I’d love to see other ISPs jump on.
Writes Lance Whitney at cnet:
Although the data doesn’t let you peek behind the scenes to show whether Google challenged any of the government requests, the company said in its FAQ that it hopes to provide more of that type of detail in the future. … In...
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“America is one of the most free places in the country.”
– U.S. Senate candidate Christine O’Donnell (R-Del.) explaining her position on immigration policy during a debate. (via officialssay)
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Speaking Too Freely: What did Stephen Breyer mean... →
If what Breyer meant to say was that burning the Quran is not protected by the First Amendment, then that’s flat-out bananas.
…
If they signify anything, Breyer’s strange musings about Quran burning illustrate the danger of allowing Supreme Court justices to go on live television for their book tours.
As is often the case Dalia Lithwick is awesome.
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In Russia, a "soft" censorship
A new report from the Committee to Protect Journalists documents how chaotic Mexico has quickly become one of the most dangerous countries in which to do journalism.
In the meantime, however, it’s worth noting that Russia has quietly continued to be a world leader in government intimidation in opposition of freedom of speech. I recently noted Prime Minister Putin’s less-than-tolerant...
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U’s transition to Google apps advances to second... →
Hey, guess what? The U’s switch to Google Apps seems economically motivated, and administrators seem to have given short shrift to the negative implications for student and faculty privacy and intellectual property!
(But Paaaaatrick! It’s just sooooo much better than Gophermail!)
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Ok FINE.
Yesterday I hoped that Jim Jam would “mash another tater into (but not over) the Overlook section” since I would be sitting there. Well I’ll be darned if the contumacious ol’ slugger didn’t do exactly what I asked him not to do.
And, of course, I was about as gleeful as it gets to watch the ball sail over my head.
If you look very, very closely at the video I...
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“It never ceases to amaze you that the guy is setting records all over the place,...”
– - Cuddy, on Jimmers.
I’d appreciate it very much if he’d mash another tater into (but not over) the Overlook section tonight, since we’ll be in the third row. I’m not picky though, I’ll take one from Kubel too.
But if the Royals hit one to me, don’t expect me to...
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“Amid this battle for big bucks stands Steve Pooch, who ran the fair’s...”
– - Jim Spencer’s article “Stopping Cheaters in the Show Ring,” in the Strib, is one of those fascinating “who knew?” types of articles that reminds you why we have journalists. 