Enforce our Bill of Rights
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is ordering federal agencies and departments to stop using software produced by Russian firm Kaspersky Lab, citing potential risks to U.S. national security.
The department says it’s concerned about ties between certain Kaspersky employees and the Russian government. Continue reading “DHS bans Kaspersky software in federal agencies”
Krebson Security – by Brian Krebs
It remains unclear whether those responsible for stealing Social Security numbers and other data on as many as 143 million Americans from big-three credit bureau Equifax intend to sell this data to identity thieves. But if ever there was a reminder that you — the consumer — are ultimately responsible for protecting your financial future, this is it. Here’s what you need to know and what you should do in response to this unprecedented breach.
Some of the Q&As below were originally published in a 2015 story, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Embrace the Security Freeze. It has been updated to include new information specific to the Equifax intrusion. Continue reading “The Equifax Breach: What You Should Know”
WASHINGTON — Apple’s new security features will make it harder for local police to retrieve digital evidence they need to solve crimes.
While great for consumers, without the ability to bypass enhanced security such as facial recognition, investigators said it will delay justice.
“Face ID is the future of how we unlock our smartphones and protect our sensitive information,” said Apple senior Vice President of Marketing Phil Schiller during the tech giant’s announcement Tuesday, Sept. 12.
Continue reading “Police: New Apple technology will delay justice in DC area”
I’d like to be on this jury, so sad.
26-year-old Tennessee woman has been arrested after she shot a homeless man who asked her to move her Porsche, Nashville metro detectives allege.
The Tennessean reports that 54-year-old homeless man Gerald Melton was critically injured this week when he was shot twice by Katie Quackenbush, who was driving a Porsche SUV near the area where he was trying to sleep. Continue reading “Nashville woman shot homeless man who asked her to move her Porsche — then left him to die: police”
Six people are dead after Hurricane Irma knocked out air conditioning at a nursing home in Hollywood, Florida, according to ABC affiliate WPLG.
While the causes of their deaths were not immediately clear, the facility, Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills, was evacuated due to the cooling issues.
Dr. Randy Katz, director of emergency services at Memorial Regional Hospital, which is next to the nursing home, said there were extremely hot temperatures on the nursing home’s second floor. Continue reading “6 dead after Irma knocks out air conditioning at Florida nursing home”
Fellowship of the Minds – by DCG
Why is following the law so hard for folks to understand? I hope this series bombs.
From LA Times: By all appearances, Rafael Agustin had been the all-American high school student: he was class president, prom king and an honor roll student. But there was one hitch: he was also in the country illegally.
It was a discovery Agustin learned while applying for college in 1998 — before there was a program like the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). Continue reading “Hollyweird is stuck on stupid: Gina Rodriguez’s “Dreamers” series hopes to rid America of the term “illegal””
College Fix – by Andrew Johnson
As colleges across the country struggle with questions related to free speech on campuses, some schools have implemented policies that appear to give administrators significant latitude to discipline students for speaking in unpopular ways.
Most recently, the dean’s office of Utah Valley University, a public institution located in the north-central part of Utah, distributed a guidance letter to all faculty encouraging them to report to the school’s Behavior Assessment Team any students who use “inappropriate language,” are “argumentative,” or who speak “loudly.” Continue reading “Professors told to report students who make campus ‘less inclusive’ to Behavior Assessment Team”
A video showing a UC Berkeley bicycle officer citing a bacon hot dog vendor on campus and removing cash from his wallet for operating without a permit has gone viral.
In the video, taken by alumnus Martin Flores on Saturday afternoon, a UCPD officer is seen pulling cash out of the vendor’s wallet and folding it into his hand.
The vendor objects and stands by as the officer puts the money away and begins to write a citation. Continue reading “UC Berkeley Police ticket and seize hot dog vendor’s money”
Campus Reform – by Toni Airaksinen
Duke University is recruiting male students for a nine-week program that pledges to “destabilize masculine privilege” and “interrogate masculinity.”
The program, known as the Duke University Men’s Project, seeks to help men examine how their masculinities exist “often in toxic ways” while beginning “the work of unlearning violence.” Continue reading “Duke recruits men for program to fight ‘toxic’ masculinity”
BOSTON (AP) — Self-driving cars may not hit the road in earnest for many years – but autonomous boats could be just around the pier. Spurred in part by the car industry’s race to build driverless vehicles, marine innovators are building automated ferry boats for Amsterdam canals, cargo ships that can steer themselves through Norwegian fjords and remote-controlled ships to carry containers across the Atlantic and Pacific. The first such autonomous ships could be in operation within three years.
One experimental workboat spent this summer dodging tall ships and tankers in Boston Harbor, outfitted with sensors and self-navigating software and emblazoned with the words “UNMANNED VESSEL” across its aluminum hull. Continue reading “Self-driving boats: The next tech transportation race”
NORTH HAVERHILL, N.H. (AP) — A Rhode Island man accused of fatally shooting his mother in the intensive care unit of New Hampshire’s largest hospital was set to be arraigned Wednesday on murder charges.
Travis Frink signed into the visitor center at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon on Tuesday afternoon and went to the intensive care unit, authorities said. Soon after, Lebanon police received an emergency call reporting shots had been fired there. Continue reading “Man accused of killing his mom in hospital to be arraigned”
NEW YORK (AP) — A puzzling study of U.S. pregnancies found that women who had miscarriages between 2010 and 2012 were more likely to have had back-to-back annual flu shots that included protection against swine flu.
Vaccine experts think the results may reflect the older age and other miscarriage risks for the women, and not the flu shots. Health officials say there is no reason to change the government recommendation that all pregnant women be vaccinated against the flu. They say the flu itself is a much greater danger to women and their fetuses. Continue reading “Study prompts call to examine flu vaccine and miscarriage”
WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans would get health coverage simply by showing a new government-issued card and would no longer owe out-of-pocket expenses like deductibles, according to legislation Sen. Bernie Sanders released Wednesday charting a stem-to-stern reshaping of the country’s health care system.
But the Vermont independent’s description of his measure omitted specifics about how much it would cost and final decisions about how he would pay for it. Sanders was releasing his bill the same day Republican senators were rolling out details of a last-ditch effort to repeal and replace President Barack Obama’s health care law. Continue reading “Sanders bill expands Medicare for all, lacks details on cost”
Illinois Policy – by Amy Korte
On Sept. 5, two lawsuits were filed in Cook County Circuit Court alleging that Wow Bao, a restaurant chain owned by Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises Inc., and gas station and convenience store chain Speedway LLC violated Illinois’ Biometric Information Privacy Act, or BIPA, by collecting and storing people’s biometric, or biologically derived, information without complying with the consent and notice procedures mandated by the law.
In the suit against Wow Bao and Lettuce Entertain You, the plaintiff has alleged the restaurant violated the BIPA by improperly collecting and storing customers’ facial scans through self-order kiosks. Continue reading “Two More Companies Sued Under Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act”
A judge on Tuesday dismissed criminal charges against the engineer in an Amtrak derailment in Philadelphia that killed eight people, citing a lack of evidence in a case that prosecutors initially refused to pursue.
Brandon Bostian, 34, had faced charges that included involuntary manslaughter and reckless endangerment after his Washington-to-New York train rounded a curve at more than twice the speed limit and flew off the tracks in a violent derailment that crumpled cars and flung passengers into the woods. About 200 people were hurt. Continue reading “Judge tosses charges against Amtrak engineer in deadly wreck”