Posts by Graybyrd 76 publicly visible posts • joined 27 Apr 2017
"WHy do we get so many stories about american cops this or that ?"
Easy... since the streets became filled with smart phone cameras, and cops began wearing cameras, America's cops have earned an international reputation... and it ain't much to brag about. So, the price of fame, perhaps?
"A warrant would typically be very specific about what they want to access, and is concerned only with the result. "
Ummm... more typically it goes something like this: any cop shop worth their donuts has a 'friendly' judge on call.
_Yer honor, we need a warrant or three, we got's a drug op going."
_Is this gonna bounce back on me, officer Jones?_
_No way, Judge, we're good on this."_
_"Okay. The clerk has some pre-signed. Don't take more than six. We're low on forms."_
Easy-peasy. And if the cops run out of warrants, they can always lie about having one. Flash a paper.
(The result of a misspent life reading too many news articles here in the U.S.)
EV proponents who fancy the EV as a "one solution to rule them all" should make a test drive across Wyoming's Elk Mountain on I-80 in a January blizzard, or across the Red Desert region in July-August. Be sure to take lots of survival supplies and a good pair of hiking boots.
Those living on the compact & smallish UK turf have little conception of a Western US region where rural roads often have signs warning gasoline-fueled vehicle drivers that the "next station" is XX miles ahead. Fuel up now.
Ex-Navy ET here (electronic tech). Navies of the world have solved the salt water, electronics, corrosion, moisture-proofing ship-board problem decades ago. It must be that these engineers have neglected basic sea-going practices and/or are procuring and installing components on the cheap.
Texas is just one of many Trump-inflamed U.S. states to engage in an accelerating movement to seize political control of the nation. The ability to whip up hysteria in their "base" is essential to the mental conditioning to accept the unacceptable: lies are the new truth and hate is love. The big push among the Trump-GOP movement is state legislative power to establish electoral commissions empowered to review election results, nullify them on the basis of "fraudulent votes" and then rule to select alternate candidates of their own choosing. In effect, to solidify one-party rule of the nation. T'is a perfectly fitting goal if one accepts the premise that ex-President Trump won the election and President Biden is an illegitimate successor who took office on the back of a massive election fraud. Under the new "rules of truth," that seems a perfectly plausible argument, if one is careful not to let reality interfere with delusional argument.
carefully designed where it's not enough to click OK | OK | OK to get around the baseline security. You have to go online and research, then go into System Preferences and change some setting, then go back to your downloaded application and click Do-It-Anyway. The ignoramuses trip over the research step, and only the educable get to override the default security.
Yeh, a real boon for the average user. LIke a "smart" refrigerator (internet-connected, of course) with an LCD panel that "beeps" and alerts that the insertion of a plate of left-over meatloaf is "hazardous" and the refrigerator door locks open until the user 1) enters the CDC URL and references "safe food storage practices" and 2) opens the LCD panel "authorization screen" and checks off a list of answer boxes to assure the device that the user will comply with programmed safeguards.
Such a feature! It will sell millions! And think of the lives saved!
"no signalling makes roundabouts in France worthless."
Turn signals serve a different purpose here in the U.S. They inform the driver(s) behind to hurry & speed up to get past before you can move in front of them. Either lane, doesn't matter. Also gives the local cop an opportunity to cite the signalling driver for "improper lane change" if he insists on completing his lane change in front of the on-coming speeders. (Anything less than 15-over is not speeding in practical US driving. It's considered obstructing traffic.)
It was a common sight from my truck mirror to see the cars behind "squat down" when the drivers jammed the accelerator pedal to the floor when I signaled for a lane change.
"It’s a really hard problem to solve given the complexity of modern software development environments and the subtlety of very advanced nation-state attackers," he said."
Well, that settles it then. As a mere citizen and daily computer and internet user, I can only conclude that we're all well and truly plucked.
Back to sleep, then. Nothing's changed.
As a life-long resident of the rural western US, my cynical self believes that we rural residents will have competitive broadband internet access along about the same time that we also have affordable universal health care services in rural America: in short, the day after Hell freezes over. Nowhere in the US are the rural regions seen as sufficiently rich markets. The FCC priority is not service to the people; it keeps score by the Billion$.
So "americans" do not like the idea of being paid apallingly bad wages and doing many hours of back breaking labour. And then they complain about people taking american jobs!."
Unless, of course, they are Americans age 50 yrs or more who are engaged in the new American retirement plan: living in camper vans, enrolled in Amazon's "Camperforce" program, doing 12-hour warehouse shifts stowing and retrieving holiday sales stock. They are the new "migrant labor" resulting from the American 401K retirement system and the collapse of the Middle Class since the 2008 "oops" moment in American Capitalism.
Education? Disclosure? Persuasion? Right... ! Whatever you say. The annals of history bear the effectiveness of _that_ approach. Damned fools. Please recall that all politics are tribal; once we've settled in and gotten comfortable with our group opinion there's no facts or arguments that do anything more than solidify our conviction that we are right and you are not only wrong, but need dealt with!
Laws or by-laws relating to noise abatement have proven pretty much worthless here in the U.S. First, we're told that it's very difficult to determine at what exact decibel level noise is "too noisy." Second, we're told it takes precise measurement to determine a violation, at the time it is occuring. So very expensive sound meters must be acquired. Third, only an officer with extensive training to operate the sound measuring device is required to obtain data that will stand up in court. So... given that, guess how many noise violations are successfully prosecuted in court? Five less than the number of digits on your left hand, assuming you still have five. Add to that, Google's probable argument that all noise irritation is "highly subjective, defiant of scientific measure, and therefore not a credible factor to restrain its lawful business operations."
No big surprise here. Drones are the next great advance in surveillance, interdiction, and suppression. Drone swarms are already an advanced military weapon. So along come silent discovery and tracking drones to alert interdiction and suppression drones followed by, perhaps, a lethal termination drone as a sought-after populace control system. So, in advance we get sanctions to cut off civilian reaction at the ankles? No big surprise there.
To be completely sinister about this, we've fully experienced federal troops in camouflage uniforms devoid of names or unit identification patches, wearing full face masks, unleashed upon civilian demonstrators on U.S. city streets. Agencies deny responsibility. How much more convenient to use swarms of unidentified drones, carrying video cameras, other unleashing gas cartridges? None are identifiable; how convenient. Blame can be pointed wherever convenient.
Yeh, that guy. Dickens. Who wrote stories about when it was a crime to be poor in England. Our ruling class over here admired that concept so much that we've adopted it. We've made corporate-owned & contracted prisons our fastest-growing economy in our rural areas. They make furniture for the government offices even cheaper than third world countries. So that thing about taping and handing over lawyer-client conversations? Just a convenience. Dickens would have made a good story out of that.
Happy now? Not to belittle Emily, mind you.
First, consider the estimate (past news articles) that some 95% of felony convictions in the U.S. criminal justice system are the result of prosecutorial coercion to accept a plea bargain and receive a lesser sentence, or fight the system and receive the maximum sentence upon conviction. This officially-sanctioned efficiency measure to ease the log-jam of the American court system rather makes a grim circus of the entire process. So... in the context of the article, it's perfectly reasonable that jailers, police, prosecutors and judges would see little remiss in illegally obtained recordings between a prisoner and his defense attorney. As for the officers of the court benefiting from ill-gotten fruits of illegal process... why, ignorance is a wonderful defense, and who said the wiretapped protected conversations were ... wrongly obtained? It's all a marvelously efficient system to deal with such a huge burden of crime and punishment.
Such a Dickinsonian web we've woven for ourselves. A word to the wise: avoid lengthy stays in the U.S. You don't really understand our systems.
Here in Trumpica, states have long worried about declining revenues. Electric vehicles and now, social distancing 'stay at home' shutdowns, and soaring budget deficits have the states frantic for new $$ources. Already proposed and seriously considered: "per mile" tax in lieu of (or in addition to) the per-gallon fuel tax. So... what better way than to legislatively tap into the auto cloud data. Recorded speeding? Compare to limit at GPS location; auto-send the violation. Serial incidents? Escalate the fine schedule. Miles driven per day/week/month/year? Auto-assess the road-mile tax. Location and chrono data? Compare with crime reports. Auto-investigate for possible link. Travel to proscribed areas? Illegal border crossing? Leaving quarantine area? Gathering with other "suspect" vehicles for clandestine meetings? And so on... and on. Total integration with assorted agencies.
Lest one think this far-fetched (maybe, a bit) realize that for decades now, every commercial carrier truck on the highways carries GPS-location data record/transmit systems (think "Qualcomm") that the NTSB and ICC have absolutely lusted to get their hands on. Only very strong industry lobbying and reluctant (paid-for) legislators have kept that data-trove sealed as "private & privileged" corporate info. That, and the fact that slavish adherence to federal regulations would put most drivers off the road, most rigs in parking lots, and most shippers screaming for rate relief.
But we all know.... if the means is there, and big eyes are lusting for it, it will eventually happen. Yeh, our car is 21 years old. They still make parts for it. Our local shop greets us like family. And my pickup truck is even older. My diesel mechanic sends me Christmas cards. BUT... there is NO tracking or spyware in either vehicle. Just the auto-triggered license plate reader on the WSP Trooper vehicle down the road that ID's my plate every time I drive by. I wave. He scowls. I guess it's the world we've come to accept. Ain't progress great?
Woz was the spirit of Hypercard, the software Erector set that let everyone devise their own solution to personal information problems. For a time it came free (free as in 'beer') to Apple users. For a time, it sparked a huge groundswell of educational and home "stacks" for everything from cookbooks to lesson plans and geography almanacs. Then Steve Jobs killed it. And he lied about killing it. The word was, he despised the "tasteless" outpouring of some users.
And a huge part of the wistful dream that a personal computer could be malleable to the average non-programmer, home or schoolroom user, died when Jobs killed Hypercard and any follow-ons that might have been.
I used Hypercard, a lot. And loved it. And never forgave Jobs for his vindictive dishonesty. And never trusted Apple again, except to do the avaricious thing. Woz is right: most things are far more valuable than making gobs of money. It's how one goes about it that counts.
If Ted Cruz and Lindsay Graham favor this bill, then obviously they see an opportunity to reveal the evil-doers. After all, if you got nothin' to hide, why then do you insist on hidin' it from the law with unbreakable encryption? (Seems it's gettin' closer to time to cancel all my online payment & banking accounts here in the U.S. Oh, damn. Trump is about to kill the US Postal Service. So, that's a double-whammy, then. Next up: Trump Courier Services?)
Can anyone truthfully say that replacing the "N-word" with "N-word" really eliminated the N-word? When one hears "N-word," what is the first thing that pops into their head? Or the C-word. or F-word?
And isn't it cute when somebody says, "I was effing pissed!" Sometimes silence is truly golden.
Sure the FCC may levy fines... HUGE fines... collectible in 2120. Subject to administrative appeal and internal adjustments, based on industry input.
We solved the problem: we answer no landline calls directly. All calls go to the answering machine. Most robo calls don't respond to the prompt; anyone seriously needing to talk to us will leave a message. Ulcer factor is now down to tolerable levels.
Also, to flee the increasing assault of innumerable mosquito-bite taxes, we dropped POT copper-link service and went totally VOIP. The morass of taxes exceeded the basic phone service three times over! We realized an immediate reduction of 80 percent local and state taxes for basic phone service. FCC? Just another agency led by self-justified self-serving pack'o'useless obstructionist bureaucrats in suits, comfortably indolent and self-enriched.
Pity the poor whistle blower. By the time the US Justice system and Oracle get through with him, in retaliation, smears, and insanely protracted court proceedings and stratospheric attorney costs, this will be yet another example of why trying to do the "right" thing in the US is insanely self-destructive. Did I say "justice" system? Sorry, I should have said "legal" system. Any connection with justice is purely unintentional.
We in the US are also getting closer to port-of-entry check stations at all state border crossings for every traveler, not just commercial truck traffic. All the better to 'protect' us from the criminals, fugitives, malcontents, and anti-government internet radicals in our midst. Facial recognition along with the fruit transport inspections. Much more efficient; so much more comprehensive.
Which definitively explains why mouse brain pattern analysis at long last provides the final corrective element for American TSA terrorist screening software as used in airport security scans to, at long last, properly identify human female mammaries as breasts and not as explosives-packed 1965 VW Beetle boots. Critics had suggested that the elongated lifting handle at the boot's lower edge was a significant clue but TSA technical experts assumed the scans were of elderly subjects.
"I see that's a digital device you got there. And you got a shifty look about you; nervously glancing about I'd say. Hey, Chief, don't you think this guy's got a shifty look?"
"Yes. Grab that laptop and search it. He's a shifty one, alright"
- - -
Case before the US Supreme Court: probable cause at the border. Five "Conservative" Justices; Four "Outvoted" Justices. Hmm.. wonder which way that decision is likely to go... Oh, and as for those 700K "Dreamers?" 2020 is the year to start packin' their bags; the Court has already signaled they're gonna be leavin' on a Jet plane if they can afford the ticket; otherwise, the Tijuana bus will do.
'Tis unfortunate that I'd not had the time nor space to elucidate the burden under which our Dear Leader functions daily. As the White House BHDD* prepares for his morning duty, all rooms and hallways in the White House trigger flashing red lights and alarm klaxons: "Extinguish all pilot lights, turn off all electrical applicances, and ABSOLUTELY NO SMOKING!"
It seem that the combination of extra-strength tanning lotion (the fumes) and a full TWO cans of ultra-hold hair spray create an explosive atmosphere that the normal HVAC system cannot evacuate sufficiently fast to prevent a very real possibility of an explosion. Seriously!
T'ain't easy keeping that forward/upward thrust combover in place during those helicopter TV news quips!
*Beautician/Hair Dresser Droid
Hey, it's just another FUD* policy ordered up by our wannabe Emperor. It's also worth noting that Harvard has been cautioning its foreign-born scholarship students NOT to leave the US for any reason, lest they be denied re-entry.
But WAIT! There's one even better, just reported today (27 Aug): furriner children here in TrumpLand who were granted LEGAL 'deferred action' status to receive treatment for life-threatening health conditions (typically not available to them in their home country) are now receiving Immigration Agency letters ordering them out of the country within 33 days -- or else! His Orange Self has spitefully cancelled a long standing humanitarian policy that's been in force for years.
So... or else, what? Defy the order, stay here, get incarcerated and [hopefully] receive medical treatment while in Alien Prison? Or obey and leave, and die for certain. Maybe the Immigration officers will organize a flying squad to raid the hospitals, unplug wires and tubes and hustle them sick kids onto the next flight leaving the country?
In Oz the scarecrow had no brain; the cowardly lion had no courage; and the tin woodman had no heart. Here in 'merica, if taken all together, they'd make a Trump!
So how do we explain the heartless, brainless, and cowardly sycophants who enforce his policies?
*FUD: fuckin' ugly discrimination
Diehard Luddite here. Dumped mainstream cellular years ago when a) lack of towers here on the island, and reception at our rural residence so weak we had to drive a quarter-mile down the road to get a signal; b) charges creeping upward, c) spam calls increasing exponentially. We dumped it and went to pay-as-you go phones, used only for hours away from home. Now spam & robo calls pile up on 'messages' screen. Multi-select; multi-delete! Also dumped Frontier Co. landline, went to VOIP modem & service; that eliminated $25/month state & local taxes. Spam calls average six to eight per day. We never answer phone directly; let it go to answering function of VOIP modem. Screen 'em & dump each evening. So... as long as FCC & teleco's don't run us down, pin us to ground, and rifle through our pockets... we're "safe," at least for the time being.
The FCC justification has always been that the airwaves are a priceless public resource, thus subject to stringent government control with strict allocation policies. Historically, the FCC has been extremely punitive against any infringement, levying draconian fines and punishments against violaters of the airwave rules. Thus, "pirate" radio is regarded with the same contempt, fear and loathing as a turd on a State Dinner serving plate.
Community "free" radio gets an equally harsh regard; rules allowing limited range, low-power license-free community FM broadcasting are so stringent as to be a practical prohibition.
The FCC regards the US broadcast spectrum as its private fiefdom, doling out licenses and auctioning spectrum only to suitably qualified (wealthy) Corporate Oligarchy. It's an insanely paranoid and jealous, locked down bureaucracy ruled by autocratic overseers.
Imagine the FCC Commissioners' frustration that they have not yet succeeded in controlling the internet in similar fashion. View their actions through the lens of radio airwaves history and all becomes crystal clear.
Here in the US, we don't need no steenkin' satellites! What we need is for the corporate-ensnared droids at the FCC to relax the rules to allow rural towns and counties to acquire and operate their own community broadband systems! There are any number of innovative ways to evade the cable monopolists, but the FCC forbids community competition. As for satellite, we already have two commercial providers. More of a last resort for desperate ruralites: exceedingly expensive, severely limited, and hugely unsatisfactory. So why would we want yet another? Insanity is defined as doing the same useless thing over & over, hoping maybe to finally get lucky. No thanks.
Actually, the only thing he's "right" about is to continue holding the line on the FBI's (and LE in general) PM* with demands for FM*. To deviate from toeing the hard line, demanding open access, is to forego law enforcement's habitual self-embellishment and righteous posturing.
Of course, these days, nothing remains beyond the realm of unthinkable stupidity. Our esteemed Congress currently ranks somewhere between pissants and cockroaches in the American public eye.
*PM: pissing and moaning *FM: effing magic
Well, obviously the solution becomes one of getting rid of all those unproductive minimum wage people (who also constitute a burden on government services) by removing certain artificial props such as health care (we're well along that path in the US), food subsidies, rent subsidies, free public education, and other undeserved handouts. Hopefully they'll soon get a clue and up themselves via their own bootstraps (assuming they have boots) or they'll die off. Our esteemed Utah Senator, the Honorable Orrin Hatch (R) essentially said as much: "People don't deserve what they cannot pay for!" He was mostly referring to health care: no gelt for insurance, no healthcare. And don't EVEN ask about subsidies!
Problem solved. Then it becomes an "equality issue" of who's richer than whom. Gates vs Zuckerberg, et. al. Sorry, Sen. Hatch, you're not even in the same universe. Better luck next incarnation.
Of course, this may result in a bit of market distortion... but it's a free market, right?
Given this evening's New York Times revelation that Boss Trump ordered the special investigator Bob Mueller fired... (but the WH Counsel McGahn refused the order, with a threat to quit) the day is coming ever closer where the Republican Party will be faced with swallowing that Turd or flushing the decks clean. Either way, Pai's days as a cling-on are numbered. Shackled with his FCC track record, he'll be lucky to be considered as anything other than Toady-in Chief in the future. All of this is little more than the expected stench from the Swamp that Never Got Drained.
I've lived most of my life in isolated, US rural areas. When it comes to government actions, we're damned grateful if we're at least offered vaseline before they bend us over the barrel.
Too true. Easily verified. Also:
She also noted that FCC chairman Ajit Pai had yet to visit the island and called for hearings.
Pai has probably not been approved for "foreign" travel by the WH; also, Trump disdains the disruptive loser hordes on that tiny, offshore, foreign island. He did make an effort to bolster their morale by tossing paper towels to eager hands, but then noted that they were obliged to fix their own problems. They haven't, so he's not responsible for losers on a shit-hole island!
Proof that Trump considers PR "foreign?" Why else did he impose the offshore 12% import-export tax on them following the disaster. The San Juan mayor exploded in protest: "He is destroying our economy!" Now, to discourage PR residents from turning to alternate electrical sources, he's just increased the cost of solar gear by 30% with an import tariff.
Perhaps PR's people should read "The Mouse that Roared," except with Trump, he'd most likely nuke the island as a military exercise.
Has anyone ever been prosecuted for making pattern spares for vehicles out of production?
Here in the US, prosecution would most likely result from failure to obtain the obscure but required federal and state agency permits, and for neglecting to submit an EIS* performed by an accredited firm. For software patches, the EIS may not be required.
Abandonware: logical follow-on to Caveat Emptor. "Oh, you thought we'd support that forever? And no, we won't release the code. We own it (lost it, sold it, destroyed it, misfiled it somewhere...)
*Environmental Impact Statement: months to perform @ multi-K $
According to Conaway, the aim of the bill is to protect the US government from efforts by the Chinese administration to use the products of its largest companies as a way to collect intelligence on America.
If the good lawmaker follows the established career path, the next move will be to "retire" from Congress, set up an office in Washington, D.C., and become a megabucks Consultant/Lobbyist for HuaWei to "facilitate" their entry into the US market.
Not that elected office in the US is to be considered a stepping stone to rewards & riches, mind you. "Public Servants" they are, each & every one...
In summary, the Consultancy produces volumes of word vomit seeking to disguise the American-based multinational corporate Employment Plan Revisions, wherein the choice becomes: to reduce everyone's pay while demanding no decrease in production; or to reduce the staff and double up the surviving employees' workload. Or balance a combination of Plan A with Plan B. Sift through all the verbal crap. The end result rarely varies.
Ah, yes... softly hum the hymn of "Compelling New Features!"
And shun, nay, excise all memory of the rotting remains of versions past.
Lest we forget... the sad fate of the Flagship Achievement of Microsoft Past:
http://www.graybyrd.com/graynest/commentary/disgraced.html
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