14 August 2010

Feds - Online 'Sextortion' of Teens on the Rise - NYTimes.com

Feds - Online 'Sextortion' of Teens on the Rise - NYTimes.com:
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- The nightmare began with a party: three teenage girls with a webcam, visiting an Internet chatroom and yielding to requests to flash their breasts. A week later, one of the girls, a 17-year-old from Indiana, started getting threatening e-mails.

A stranger said he had captured her image on the webcam and would post the pictures to her MySpace friends unless she posed for more explicit pictures and videos for him. On at least two occasions, the teen did what her blackmailer demanded. Finally, police and federal authorities became involved and indicted a 19-year-old Maryland man in June on charges of sexual exploitation.

Federal prosecutors and child safety advocates say they're seeing an upswing in such cases of online sexual extortion. They say teens who text nude cell phone photos of themselves or show off their bodies on the Internet are being contacted by pornographers who threaten to expose their behavior to friends and family unless they pose for more explicit porn, creating a vicious cycle of exploitation.
Series tie-in: Although minors sharing personal porn is still illegal, 2030's society in general is much more transparent. People are constantly recording and sharing every manner of personal antics. Couples frequently share their home security video of their first time, even if it is a one night stand.

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Apple's Paul Shin Devine Cited In Alleged Kickback Scheme

WSJ: Apple Employee Cited In Alleged Kickback Scheme - WSJ.com:
An employee of Apple Inc. (AAPL) was arrested Friday for allegedly receiving more than $1 million in kickbacks from six companies in Asia that serve as suppliers to the Silicon Valley company.

Paul Shin Devine, a global supply manager at Apple, was charged in a federal grand jury indictment of offenses that include wire fraud, money laundering and unlawful monetary transactions. The indictment also names Andrew Ang, an employee of one of Apple's suppliers.

Apple also named Devine in a civil suit filed Friday in U.S. District Court in San Jose, Calif., which includes allegations of fraud and violations of racketeering laws. He is scheduled to make a court appearance Monday.

Slashdot has additional details.

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NJ blogger convicted of threatening Ill. judges - U.S. news - Crime & courts - msnbc.com

NJ blogger convicted of threatening Ill. judges - U.S. news - Crime & courts - msnbc.com:
NEW YORK — A right-wing New Jersey blogger was convicted at his third trial Friday of making threats against three federal judges in Illinois in retaliation for a ruling supporting gun control.

A Brooklyn jury deliberated less than two hours before finding Hal Turner guilty of making death threats.

A judge jailed Turner, of North Bergen, N.J., following the verdict. His attorney declined comment.

Patrick J. Fitzgerald, the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, thanked the jurors for their service.

'There is no place in society for threatening federal judges with violence. Period,' he said in a statement. 'We are grateful that the jury saw these threats for what they were and rejected any notion that they were acceptable speech.'
I think he went too far also:

Authorities said he crossed the line by writing: "Let me be the first to say this plainly: These judges must die. Their blood will replenish the tree of liberty."
Series tie-in: In the 2030s the right of Americans to keep and bear arms is settled law. Written and voiced threats are taken seriously too, as well as actions in furtherance of the threat.

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Congratulations Brad Keslowski!

Brad Keselowski wins Michigan Nationwide Series Race in the Discount Tire number 22! Lots of others were in Danika Patrick's race too.

Suki Series tie-in: In the series, John is a fan of SASCAR (South American Stock Car) and watches the races weekly, in both book series.
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Proposition 8 backers ask for permanent hold on gay marriage ruling - latimes.com

Update here, 8/17/2010. Hold is on until around December.

Proposition 8 backers ask for permanent hold on gay marriage ruling - latimes.com:
In an emergency appeal now before a federal court, the backers of Proposition 8 have asked for a permanent hold on last week's 'egregiously selective and one-sided' marriage ruling, contending it flouted the law and ignored the evidence.

The request to prevent the resumption of same-sex marriages in California next week is being considered by a three-judge panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. Two of the judges were appointed by Democrats, the other by a Republican. The panel has ordered all arguments to be filed by Monday.
Series tie-in: Same sex marriage is legal and becoming more common in the future. Same sex romances are common even if they do not result in marriage. In the Suki With A Twist series, Patricia and Samantha are a married couple.

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Ella, Morning After Pill Approved By FDA

Ella, Morning After Pill Approved By FDA:
A new morning after pill, also known as an emergency contraception pill, called Ella (ulipristal acetate) has been approved in tablet form by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). It has been approved as a prescription-only-product, and prevents pregnancy if taken within five days after unprotected sexual intercourse or contraceptive failure.


The FDA stresses that Ella is not intended for routine use as a contraceptive.

Series tie-in: In the future, contraception is in more widespread use than today. Longer lasting feminine contraceptives are more effective, quicker. Morning-after contraception is also more effective. Sexually transmitted diseases are on the rise, but easily cured.

Abortion rates are on the decline with the advent of harvesting embryos for re-implantation and adoption by willing parents.

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Obama on the Florida Gulf Coast: 'Our job is not finished' - The Oval: Tracking the Obama presidency

Obama on the Florida Gulf Coast: 'Our job is not finished' - The Oval: Tracking the Obama presidency:

President Obama began a weekend on Florida's Gulf Coast today by saying that while the BP oil spill has been capped, 'our job is not finished and we are not going anywhere until it is.'

'I made a commitment in my visits here that I was going to stand with you not just until the well was closed, and not just until the oil was cleaned up, but until you have fully recovered from the damage that's been done,' Obama said after meeting with Coast Guard officials, residents, and business officials in Panama City, Fla.

The president, first lady Michelle Obama, and daughter Sasha are also visiting Florida to show that Gulf Coast beaches are 'clean, safe and open for business,' Obama said.
President Obama and family take a 27 hour vacation in Panama City, Florida on their way to their real vacation in Martha's Vineyard, off the coast of Massachusetts. While in Panama City, Obama is taking the time to bash BP about the cleanup that the federal government obstructed for almost two months.

Series tie-in: In Suki IV: Finally a Vacation, John and Suki vacation at Eglin Air Force Base just a few miles to the west of Panama City while recovering from their brutal assaults in Suki II and Suki III.

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Oracle Wields Java as a Weapon - PCWorld

Oracle Wields Java as a Weapon - PCWorld:
Last week, when Oracle announced it was suing Google for alleged infringement of Oracle's Java patents, my initial reaction was one of resigned realization: when Oracle bought Sun Microsystems last year, I always wondered if it was just to get control of MySQL, arguably Oracle's once-biggest potential threat. They weren't doing anything with OpenSolaris, after all, and just this week at LinuxCon, praised Linux to the heavens.


Ellison, the gift that keeps on taking.

Um, book tie in: In the future, Open Source tools are king.

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Girls Gone Wild - Daily Brickbats : Reason Magazine

Girls Gone Wild - Daily Brickbats : Reason Magazine:
Janet Lovett is suing the city of Tavares, Florida, after she was arrested outside a city-owned water park. Tavares and her husband took their 7-year-old son to the park, but when water splashed on her T-shirt making her bra visible, a city employee told her to she was not dressed appropriately and would have to change into a bathing suit. When she left, a police officer demanded her name. According to the officer's report, Lovett did not answer fast enough, so she was arrested for suspicion of obstructing justice and resisting arrest. Prosecutors later dropped the charges.
Typical journalistic slight-of-type, this bit of information was missing from the AOL article and not uncovered by Reason:
It's not clear why authorities were called, but park employees told police it was the third time in recent days that Lovett was asked to leave the park because of a wet T-shirt. via the Orlando Sentinel
Note: The city name is Tavares and it does not have a husband. Maybe Lovett does not look ethnic enough for news writers.

We have water park employees, charged with keeping the place tolerable for all when the occasional errant patron won't behave appropriately. A frequent flouter of the park standards. A cop showing up new to the situation and the woman who caused all the fuss refusing to identify herself the first time she is asked her name. Now, she is all lawyered up and we are supposed to think she is a victim?

My first question is, what the hell is the city running a water park for to begin with? If there were such a demand for that sort of thing there would be some private concern running one and making a profit.

Suki series tie in: Water parks will be a private concern in the 2030s.

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13 August 2010

Obama Defends Ground Zero Mosque - CBS News Video

Surprize! Obama Defends Ground Zero Mosque - CBS News Video:
Speaking before a group of Muslims dining at the White House , President Obama defended the mosque and community center planned to be built near ground zero in New York City.




Religious freedom? Does this ass ever speak out for Christian kids to pray in school? Has he ONCE spoken out for Churches being limited by zoning all over the USA? NO and NO!

Hope you had a good iftar, B. Hussein Obama.

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Slashdot | Narco-Blogger Beats Mexico Drug War News Blackout

Suki usually does Slashdot stories. However, this caught my eye when I was checking for an unrelated item.

Slashdot | Narco-Blogger Beats Mexico Drug War News Blackout:
'An anonymous, twentysomething blogger is giving Mexicans what they can't get elsewhere — an inside view of their country's raging drug war. Operating from behind a thick curtain of computer security, Blog del Narco in less than six months has become Mexico's go-to Internet site at a time when mainstream media are feeling pressure and threats to stay away from the story. Many postings, including warnings and a beheading, appear to come directly from drug traffickers. Others depict crime scenes accessible only to military or police.'
Suki series tie-in: In the 2030s world I write about, drugs are legal. The only controlled recreational drugs are powerful anesthetics and hypnotics, which are still illegally obtained and used.  In Sarah's fanfiction, a 'designer drug' celebrity is featured, but all if her stuff is legal and in demand. In Suki III: Never Let Us End, Nancy works for John & Suki's therapist and has access to powerful, still controlled, hypnotic drugs.

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This Country Has Ayn Rand Written All Over It - Hit & Run : Reason Magazine

This Country Has Ayn Rand Written All Over It - Hit & Run : Reason Magazine:
How far would you go to tell people to read Ayn Rand? For Nick Newcomen, the answer is measurable down to the mile: Newcomen drove 12,238 miles across 30 U.S. states to pen a message using GPS tracking that can only be read using Google Earth. The message? “Read Ayn Rand.”


Suki series tie-in: The character Suki reads Atlas Shrugged annually.

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Suki's Islam Friday News

Okay gang, get your hijab on, it's Ramadan! (that link not safe for work)

On Faith Panelists Blog: Iftar? Shabbat. - Nathan Diament:
President Obama will be continuing the White House tradition (begun by President Bush) of hosting an Iftar dinner to break a fast day of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.


Like last year, the Obama White House has sought, in the American spirit, to have a religiously diverse group of guests join with American Muslim leaders and Arab diplomats in this event.
At lease one of the invited guests is a PLO official.

Heard today on WABC-AM, New York, New York: The band Kiss has vowed to play daily across the street from the Ground Zero Mosque and hand out BLT sandwiches.  Did you know the Ground Zero "in yo face" 'cultural center' will have a swimming pool?

More Islamic whine:
But in other parts of the United States, controversy and in some cases verbal and other symbolic attacks have broken out against the faith of Islam in response to the approval of the Cordoba House mosque and interfaith community center, a 13-story building that is expected to be built about 600 feet from Ground Zero in New York City where the September 11, 2001 attacks took place.


Now we see more of where this Reason crackpot gets some of her ideas.


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San Francisco: A Free Market in Parking Begins

Human Transit: san francisco: a free market in parking begins:
American parodies of San Francisco as leftist and socialist may soon need some revision. San Francisco will soon have the most libertarian, free-market parking policy in the nation. And it should become easier to find parking.

Conventional American policy says that parking should be made available at subsidized discounts, or even for free. The fact is, 12 square meters of real estate in a dense city has a land value, and that means it has a fair rental value. What's the value? Easy. Ask the market.
via Reason Morning Links

Series tie-in: Not addressed at all in either series. However, this is how I envision future parking in general. Now that the idea is in my head it will probably find its way into a book.


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Kimmel? Not my Buck Naked from the Joan Rivers Show, plus Gwar

'twas watchin' the Jimmy Kimmel show tonight and they had "Bucknaked" as their musical guest. Sorry, no cigar.

Rock on the Wild Side, too wild for MTV. PornoBilly artists Buck Naked and the Bare Bottom Boys:


Part 2, the sitdown interview:



Bonus: Gwar!




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We're Having a Party - Hit & Run : Reason Magazine

We're Having a Party - Hit & Run : Reason Magazine:
I think my favorite allegation against Rangel is the one where he's not in trouble because he offered hundreds of millions of dollars in tax breaks to companies in exchange for a donation to the City College of New York to support a new wing named in his own honor. He's in trouble because he solicited those donations on official House stationery.
OMFG! That is clever.

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