This followed on the heels of the previous day’s presentation of the Free Software Awards to Let’s Encrypt, Jim Meyering, and Clarissa Lima Borges, along with Free Software Foundation (FSF) executive director John Sullivan’s announcement of a new FSF-sponsored working group to document and address the problem of proprietary communication tools. Just like the first day, the FSF coordinated with remote speakers and viewers from around the world via a fully free streaming setup which,…
The University of Washington has cancelled all in-person classes. This is understandable, but it also makes it especially crucial that the university allow students to do this with free software. Until now, it seems that students had the option of attending classes. With that option cancelled, they may face the choice of running nonfree software, or flunking out. If I were a student, I’d drop out rather than yield to that. But schools should not…
From prisoners making hand sanitizer to people forgoing testing because of cost, the coronavirus has exposed the social rot in American society. But we don’t have to live this way — we can transform society for the better. A USPS worker is seen wearing a mask while delivering mail as the coronavirus continues to spread across the United States, on March 14, 2020 in New York City. (Jamie McCarthy / Getty Images) “The coronavirus,” Joe…
External feed Read More at the Source: https://jacobinmag.com/2020/03/coronavirus-joe-biden-united-states-health-care-italy/
COVID-19 can seem like a paper tiger, when looking at bare mortality rates. The far greater problem is the increase in fatalities as health systems are stretched to the limit. With thousands of patients presenting all at once, hospitals quickly run out of beds and resources and suddenly, normally survivable conditions become life threatening. One Italian hospital found themselves in such a position, running out of valves for a critical respirator device needed to save…
On Friday, an exhausted-looking election official in Arizona was speaking at a press conference about the state’s upcoming primary when he gave up, mid-speech. “I’m sorry, I can’t do this,” said Maricopa County election day director Scott Jarrett, before he left the platform, and the room. It had been a difficult week. Arizona election officials were organizing a vote while also figuring out how to protect voters from the novel coronavirus. State officials fought in…
California Governor Gavin Newsom issued an executive order that will allow the state to take over hotels to house coronavirus patients in case hospitals are overloaded. From The Los Angeles Times: Under the order, the California Health and Human Services Agency and the Office of Emergency Services will be able to execute agreements to commandeer hotels, or medical facilities that are not in use, to quarantine, isolate and treat COVID-19 patients or those with a…
External feed Read More at the Source: https://boingboing.net/2020/03/12/california-governor-issues-ord.html
Chelsea Manning, photographed in Washington, D.C., in January 2018. Photo: Jesse Dittmar/ReduxOn Thursday afternoon, a District Court judge in Virginia ordered that Chelsea Manning be released from jail, where she has been held since last May for refusing to testify before a grand jury. The ruling itself is striking in what it fails to recognize. “The court finds Ms. Manning’s appearance before the Grand Jury is no longer needed, in light of which her detention…
External feed Read More at the Source: https://theintercept.com/2020/03/12/chelsea-manning-judge-order-released/
All your face are belong to US The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is suing Uncle Sam’s Homeland Security, and multiple government agencies, claiming the g-men stonewalled on what they are doing with people’s faces scanned at US airports. The civil-rights warriors hope to extract information from the organizations via the courts.…
External feed Read More at the Source: https://go.theregister.co.uk/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2020/03/12/facial_recognition_lawsuit/
Per recommendations of city and state authorities, all DNA Lounge events have be cancelled for at least the next three weeks. This is a huge disappointment to all of us but the health and safety of our community must take priority. We will be making announcements about rescheduled dates and/or ticket refunds as information becomes available.Stay safe, and wash your damned hands!Now would be a great time for you to contribute to our Patreon or…
External feed Read More at the Source: https://www.dnalounge.com/backstage/log/2020/03/12.html
The Green Party of Maryland, and the Libertarian Party of Maryland, have issued this press release. Both parties are engaged in petitioning to get back on the ballot. They say the corona virus problem has made petitioning much more difficult, … Continue reading →
Imagine an Internet where the law required every message sent to be read by government-approved scanning software. Companies that handle such messages wouldn’t be allowed to securely encrypt them, or they’d lose legal protections that allow them to operate. Take Action Stop the Graham-Blumenthal Attack on Encryption That’s what the Senate Judiciary Committee has proposed and hopes to pass into law. The so-called EARN IT bill, sponsored by Senators Lindsay Graham (R-GA) and Richard Blumenthal…
It is indefensible that people should have to fear eviction during a health crisis. Coronavirus calls for emergency controls on the housing market now. Hospital staff at the Norwood Hospital work to set up a tent from a trailer in Norwood, MA on March 11, 2020. David L. Ryan / Boston Globe via Getty As the reality of the coronavirus takes hold globally, our capacity — or lack thereof — to deal with the crisis…
External feed Read More at the Source: https://jacobinmag.com/2020/03/coronavirus-housing-security-rent-freeze-eviction/
British comedy duo Mitchell and Webb created their “The Quiz” sketch format years ago, depicting a dilapidated and miserable TV game show broadcast in the wake of an apocalyptic “event” that means you really should stay indoors. Prophetic!
External feed Read More at the Source: https://boingboing.net/2020/03/12/post-apocalypse-game-show-h.html
On May 12, the New York Supreme Court, Niagara County, invalidated the hostile ballot access changes made by the Public Campaign Finance Commission late last year. Hurley v Public Campaign Finance & Election Commission, E169547/2019. The order says, “The line between administrative rule-making (which can be delegated) and legislative action (which cannot be delegated) has clearly been transgessed. Here is the eleven-page order. Last year, the legislature gave the Commission the authority to re-write the…
A data privacy bill in Washington State has gained momentum. The bill, 2SSB 6281 (also known as the Washington Privacy Act, or WPA), has received widespread support from big tech companies. It’s no wonder they like it because, as currently written, the WPA would be a weak, token effort at reining in corporations’ rampant misuse of personal data. The WPA didn’t come from nowhere, and it didn’t come alone. A number of industry-friendly groups have…
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External feed Read More at the Source: https://www.jwz.org/blog/2020/02/cdc-does-not-approve-of-dali/
This looks like an advertisement for AMD Epyc processors until you get to that bright yellow “solutions available today” box and realize we’re talking about Intel. [credit: Intel Corporation ] At Intel’s Security Day event on Tuesday, the company laid down its present and future vision for security-focused features in its hardware. Intel’s Anil Rao and Scott Woodgate opened their presentation with a present-and-future discussion of Intel’s SGX (Software Guard Extensions), but their coverage of…
External feed Read More at the Source: https://arstechnica.com/?p=1656441
Rival presidential candidates have been attacking Sen. Bernie Sanders over the advocacy groups boosting his campaign, accusing the Democratic frontrunner of taking untraceable dark money and contributions from super PACs and from the nonprofit he founded in 2016, Our Revolution. The problem with the charge: It’s not dark money, and it’s not big, either. The issue arose most recently during the Nevada debate, when Sen. Elizabeth Warren said that everyone onstage besides her and Sen.…
External feed Read More at the Source: https://theintercept.com/2020/02/26/our-revolution-bernie-sanders-donor-contributions/
The Fourth Circuit wants oral argument in Kopitke v Bell, 19-2355. This is the lawsuit challenging North Carolina’s March petition deadline for independent candidates, and the requirement that they collect approximately 70,000 valid signatures if they are running for statewide … Continue reading →
