Tennessee Law Bans Posting Images that ‘Cause Emotional Distress’
June 10th, 2011Via: Ars Technica:
A new Tennessee law makes it a crime to “transmit or display an image” online that is likely to “frighten, intimidate or cause emotional distress” to someone who sees it. Violations can get you almost a year in jail time or up to $2500 in fines.
The Tennessee legislature has been busy updating its laws for the Internet age, and not always for the better. Last week we reported on a bill that updated Tennessee’s theft-of-service laws to include “subscription entertainment services” like Netflix.
The ban on distressing images, which was signed by Gov. Bill Haslam last week, is also an update to existing law. Tennessee law already made it a crime to make phone calls, send emails, or otherwise communicate directly with someone in a manner the sender “reasonably should know” would “cause emotional distress” to the recipient. If the communciation lacked a “legitimate purpose,” the sender faced jail time.
The new legislation adds images to the list of communications that can trigger criminal liability. But for image postings, the “emotionally distressed” individual need not be the intended recipient. Anyone who sees the image is a potential victim. If a court decides you “should have known” that an image you posted would be upsetting to someone who sees it, you could face months in prison and thousands of dollars in fines.
If you think that sounds unconstitutional, you’re not alone. In a blog post, constitutional scholar Eugene Volokh points out just how broad the legislation is. The law doesn’t require that the picture be of the “victim,” nor would the government need to prove that you intended the image to be distressing. Volokh points out that a wide variety of images, “pictures of Mohammed, or blasphemous jokes about Jesus Christ, or harsh cartoon insults of some political group,” could “cause emotional distress to a similarly situated person of reasonable sensibilities,” triggering liability. He calls the bill “pretty clearly unconstitutional.”
The New, NEW Transparency: NSA Declassifies 200 Year-Old Book
June 10th, 2011Via: Wired:
A cryptology instruction book… 202 years old. A photograph of the U.S. Army’s cypher bureau… from 1919. A breakdown of Russian electoral districts… circa 1948. Schematics for a magnetic tape memory system… nearly half a century old.
These are just some of the items that, had you seen them, would have irreparably damaged U.S. national security. These are just a few of the documents, mere citizen, that for decades were far too sensitive for your uninitiated eyes.
At least, that’s what the American intelligence community would have you believe. Earlier this week, the National Security Agency announced that it had declassified and released to the National Archives “over 50,000 pages of historic records,” according to an agency statement. The document dump was “the first in a series of releases planned over the next two years” as part of NSA’s “commitment” to comply with President Obama’s January, 2009 memo demanding more transparency from federal agencies. Last month, the CIA released a trove of allegedly-explosive information from World War I, including the 90 year-old German formula for invisible ink.
Drake Strikes Plea Bargain
June 10th, 2011Related: The Secret Sharer
Via: AP:
A federal judge in Baltimore dismissed Espionage Act charges against a former official with the National Security Agency accused of leaking classified documents, accepting his guilty plea to a single misdemeanor.
Thomas Drake’s plea deal pleased civil-liberties advocates but is a setback for the Obama administration’s effort to crack down on leakers. The administration is pursuing charges against four other accused government leakers under the Act, regarded by critics as vague and overbroad.
The 54-year-old Drake pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to the unauthorized use of a government computer and the government dropped 10 felony counts.
The lesser charge carries a penalty of up to a year in prison and a $100,000 fine. But the Government Accountability Project, a whistleblower advocacy group, said it expects the prosecution to recommend Drake spend no time in prison nor pay a fine.
Hillary Clinton to Run World Bank?
June 10th, 2011Via: Telegraph:
Hillary Clinton has been in discussions with the White House about stepping down from her job as Secretary of State to become head of the World Bank, according to reports.
Mrs Clinton, the former First Lady, Senator for New York and rival to President Barack Obama in the 2008 Democratic primary race, is said to be eager to become the first female president of the World Bank should the post become vacant next year.
“Hillary Clinton wants the job,” a source close to Mrs Clinton told Reuters, which broke the news of the possible move.
Robert Zoellick, a former Bush administration official, is believed to be ready to step down as president at the end of his term in the middle of next year.
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More: Denials
Via: AFP:
Top US administration officials vehemently denied suggestions Thursday that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was in talks to lead the World Bank.
“It’s 100 percent untrue,” Philippe Reines, a close advisor to Clinton, told AFP.
“To be crystal clear,” he added in a second statement, “Secretary Clinton has not had any conversations with the president, the White House or anyone about moving to the World Bank.
“She has expressed absolutely no interest in the job. She would not take it if offered.”
White House spokesman Jay Carney also chipped in, saying: “The story is completely untrue.”
Argentine Lab Clones Cow to Produce Human-Like Milk
June 10th, 2011Via: AFP:
An Argentine laboratory announced that it had created the world’s first transgenic cow, using human genes that will allow the animal to produce the equivalent of mothers’ milk.
“The cloned cow, named Rosita ISA, is the first bovine born in the world that incorporates human genes that contain the proteins present in human milk,” Argentina’s National Institute of Agrobusiness Technology said in a statement on Thursday.
Russia Halves Belarus Power Supply Over Unpaid Bills
June 10th, 2011Via: BBC:
Moscow has halved electricity supplies to Belarus over unpaid bills, piling on pressure for it to privatise lucrative assets.
A source at Russia’s energy export monopoly said supplies – which account for 10% of the country’s needs – might stop completely on 19 June.
Confirming the cut, Belarus said it owed $54m (£33m).
Gripped by an economic crisis, it is seeking a Russian-led $1.2bn bail-out which Moscow is tying to reform.
It has also asked the IMF for an emergency loan of up to $8bn.
The country, with its Soviet-era command economy, is grappling with its most severe balance of payments crisis since the collapse of the USSR.
It has announced it is raising its main interest rate from 14% to 16%, and is freezing prices on a number of staple foods until 1 July, amid panic-buying of goods by its citizens as prices soar.
Research Credit: minerva
Americans’ Equity in Their Homes Near Record Low
June 9th, 2011Via: AP:
Falling real estate prices are eating away at home equity. The percentage of their homes that Americans own is near its lowest point since World War II, the Federal Reserve said Thursday. The average homeowner now has 38 percent equity, down from 61 percent a decade ago.
The latest bleak snapshot of the housing market came as mortgage rates hit a new a low for the year, falling below 4.5 percent for a 30-year fixed loan. But even alluring rates have failed to deliver any lift to the depressed housing industry.
The Fed report is based on data from the first quarter of this year. Another report last week found that home prices in big cities have fallen to 2002 levels.
Farmageddon
June 9th, 2011Via: Farmageddon:
Farmageddon Trailer from Kristin Canty on Vimeo.
Research Credit: R
Surprise: Cost of War in Libya Exceeding Estimates
June 9th, 2011Via: Financial Times:
US military operations in Libya are on course to cost hundreds of millions of dollars more than the Pentagon estimated, according to figures obtained by the Financial Times.
Robert Gates, the outgoing secretary of defence, said last month that the Pentagon expected to spend “somewhere in the ball park of $750m” in the 2011 fiscal year as part of efforts to protect the Libyan people.
But according to a Pentagon memo which includes a detailed update on the progress and pace of operations, by mid-May US operations in Libya had cost $664m, a figure confirmed by the Department of Defence.
The document, entitled the “United States Contribution to Operation Unified Protector’’, adds that US costs are running at a rate of about $2m a day or $60m a month. The memo has been circulating on Capitol Hill since last week. The DoD declined to comment on the increased costs of the operation.
Britain: Attorney General Rules Against Dr. David Kelly Inquest
June 9th, 2011Drug Expert Claims David Kelly Was Murdered
Secret Knife Evidence Points to Murder
Via: BBC:
The attorney general has rejected calls for an inquest into the death in 2003 of government scientist Dr David Kelly.
Dominic Grieve said the evidence Dr Kelly killed himself was “overwhelming” and rejected claims of a “cover-up”.
Dr Kelly was found dead after he was exposed as the source of a BBC story which led to a row with the then Labour government over Iraq intelligence.
But a group of doctors say the subsequent Hutton inquiry ruling that he committed suicide was “unsafe”.
Dr Kelly’s body was found in woods near his home in Oxfordshire, after he was exposed as the source of a controversial BBC report casting doubt on the government’s claim that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction capable of being fired within 45 minutes.
An inquest was opened but was then suspended – when the Hutton Inquiry was set up to look into the circumstances of his death.
A group of doctors have mounted a long-running campaign for the inquest to be re-opened, claiming the evidence did not point to suicide.
But Mr Grieve said his department had thoroughly investigated their complaints and could not find any legal basis for referring the case to the High Court, which has the legal authority to order an inquest.
