Congress tweaks US video-privacy law so Netflix can get on Facebook

It looks like Netflix will finally manage to get the small change to US privacy law that it's been seeking for nearly two years now. Last night, the Senate passed a reform to the Video Privacy Protection Act, or VPPA, that Netflix says it needs in order to integrate its services with Facebook.
Right now, the VPPA stops anyone's movie-rental history from being disclosed without specific written consent. Netflix expressed to its shareholders back in July 2011 [PDF] that the VPPA made it "ambiguous" how it could get consent from US users to allow a sharing function on Facebook. Given that online privacy has been a growing area of litigation in the past few years, the concern was warranted.
The reform bill that just passed, H.R. 6671, should clear up Netflix's concerns as well as those of other streaming-video providers that want to reach out to your inner over-sharer. It also shows the contours of what a Netflix sharing function, on Facebook or otherwise, might look like. The bill makes clear that: 1) consent for sharing video-watching history can be granted over the Internet; and 2) consent can be given for a whole period of time, up to two years, and doesn't need to be given every time sharing happens. It also specifies that the disclosure has to be in a "distinct" form. In other words, don't put it in the fine print. Consumers will be allowed to withdraw consent for sharing when they want to, on a case-by-case basis, or altogether.
Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) originally attached VPPA reform to a much larger bill that would force law enforcement to get warrants before snooping on e-mail, a change to the Electronic Communications Privacy Act long sought by privacy advocates. However, the video-rental-privacy part, which is relatively non-controversial, was stripped out of the ECPA bill so that it could be passed quickly according to Politico's Morning Tech (no link available).
The VPPA is something of an oddity in US law. It was passed after the 1988 US Senate debate over the confirmation of Robert Bork to the Supreme Court. Bork, who failed to get Senate approval to join the high court, passed away earlier this week.
During the hearings, a reporter from Washington DC's alt-weekly City Paper acquired the nominee's video-rental history from Bork's local video store, and published a story based on his selections.
Bork's movie-watching predilections were completely unremarkable. They included 12 Alfred Hitchcock flicks; solid Americana like On the Town, The Wild Bunch, and The Right Stuff; and British costume dramas such as The Private Life of Henry the Eighth.
The story got Congress' attention, though. It resulted in the passage of the VPPA, one of the most thorough privacy laws passed by the federal government. Violating the VPPA entails penalties of up to $2,500 per offense.
Now that Netflix can be sure it won't run afoul of such penalties, we can all look forward to a Facebook newsfeed full of friends who broadcast every episode of television they watch.

Ask an inconvenient question...

And you know what the answer is....

Disease that Destroys Countries

It is a self perpetuating cancer that infects and kills its host.

Obama Wan Kenobi

The Barefoot Peckerwood: Zuckerburg: A Modern Day Joseph Goebbels

The Barefoot Peckerwood: Zuckerburg: A Modern Day Joseph Goebbels: via Infowars Facebook is purging accounts that carry pro-second amendment and pro-liberty information in a censorship purge that has ...

Chinese Knife Rampage

Hat Tip: http://itaintholywater.blogspot.com/

The Evolution Of The Batman Logo

 

 

Designed by Cathryn Laver from Calm the Ham, the graphic traces the evolution of the Batman logo from its earliest iterations in the comics of the 1940s through its use in Adam West’s delightfully campy TV take in the '60s, Frank Miller’s dark graphic novels in the '80s, and George Clooney and his nipple suit in the '90s, and ends with the multimillion-dollar Dark Knight films today. The genus is always quite clearly bat, but unique species abound.
Some are simplified illustrations of Batman himself--a few even including his masked mug--while others are stylized versions of the real thing. Some over the years have done double duty as the hero’s nonlethal weapon of choice, the Batarang. Others are decidedly less aerodynamic.
Laver says she drew inspiration from a similar, though less comprehensive image she saw on the web a few years back, as well as a YouTube video showing the icon’s transformation over the years. Her research into the comics and graphic novels turned up a surprising trove of designs, though as she moved into the movie-era and saw Batman becoming an increasingly multifaceted (and consequently diffuse) marketing and merchandise juggernaut, things became thornier. "It was tricky [deciding] which logos to feature as some were on the bat suit and others were the comic and promotional logos," Laver notes. "Quite interesting to see which was used where."

Red Hot Girls with Guns

China wants Obama to ban all firearms.

The Communist Party of China demands the U.S. should disarm. According to Chinese officials, the recent school massacre gave all to understand that one should not wait any longer. The country's leaders believe that the brutality of the Connecticut shooter will ensure the widest public support for arms reduction, Infowars.com reports with reference to China's news agency Xinhua.

Xinhua is, in fact, the press service of the current government of China. This organization is responsible for "the work of the State Council and for the reports of the Party on Chinese propaganda and public information services." In other words, Xinhua is a mouthpiece of Chinese leaders.

Thus, the Chinese government calls Obama "to use the tragedy as a reason to promote the law on the control of weapons." According to Chinese officials, now is the best time to act so, since the president has just been elected for a second term.

They also note that although previous similar shootings did not to any serious actions, the most recent tragedy may serve an important impetus to revise the system of arms control."

According to US-based activist and FBI informant Brandon Darby, "the current Chinese government killed from 40 to 70 million people during Mao Zedong's Revolution. Mao himself said that "political power starts in the barrel of a gun."

China and Obama want to remove political power from the American people and subjugate them to the will of Socialists, Communists and Marxists.

Russia considers banning assault teeth as young cannibal kills and eats 11 people to impress his girlfriend

Ok Russia is not considering banning assault teeth.  They understand that teeth are not to blame for this sick individuals actions. But clearly teeth are dangerous weapons, here is the story:

The police of the Volga region are about to complete the investigation of the criminal case, the materials of which can shock even those with nerves of steel. Twenty-three-year-old cannibal Alexander Bychkov is accused of killing at least nine people. The perpetrator was gutting corpses and eating the insides to impress his girlfriend.

The cannibal was killing homeless people. According to investigation, the killings and cannibalistic feasts were taking place presumably in the Penza region. The insane killer buried the remains of half-eaten corpses near the town of Belinsky, in the south-west of the region. To kill the homeless, the murderer used a common kitchen knife.

Human remains were indeed uncovered at places of burial during investigation. "In two cases, after the murder he separated the heart from the body to eat the human heart later," law-enforcement officers said. It was also reported that the perpetrator was eating the livers of his victims too.

The perpetrator "formed a negative attitude towards the people, who abused alcohol and lead a beggary, roguish lifestyle," experts said.

The cannibal would conduct meticulous preparations for his crimes. He carefully scrutinized criminal literature. Alexander Bychkov "developed a criminal plan, prepared a weapon and studied the examples of similar crimes committed by serial killers." He also mastered "various strategies and methods to conceal crime traces, including the bodies of the victims."

In January 2012, Alexander Bychkov broke a window of a hardware store, from which he stole money, kitchen knives and other items in the total sum of about 10,000 rubles ($300). The man was caught; police began to question him about the theft. However, the thief suddenly began to tell officers about the corpses, which he buried behind his house.

The cannibal's diary of crimes was found in his home. The man described all his crimes in detail. According to his records, Alexander Bychkov had killed 11 people, but the remains of two victims have not been found yet.

The cannibal was reading crime novels and watching crime TV shows. He was committing the crimes only during warm months.

Alexander Bychkov grew up in a dysfunctional family and was brought up by single mother. His childhood was difficult. The boy grew up and became a cowardly, but a cruel young man.

Psychologists say that Bychkov was committing atrocities to gain credibility in the eyes of his girlfriend, Svetlana. According to local newspapers, he said that the killings instilled self-confidence in him. He stopped being shy with his girlfriend, who would often criticize him for his softness and call him a doormat.

According to lawyers, if found sane, Bychkov may well expect a life sentence. Psychiatrist, PhD, Igor Yanushev, told Pravda.Ru:

"Such shocking crimes occur on a regular basis, even in much more socially advantaged countries than Russia. Foreign cannibals can be much more sophisticated in their perverted crimes than Russian ones. In Russia, believe me, cannibalism is much more prosaic, but its scale is more impressive. Every year, police catch several cannibals, and it goes about proved cases only. Usually, cannibals are mentally ill individuals.

"In most cases, cannibals get into medical, rather than penitentiary institutions after verdict. A person, when recognized mentally ill, undergoes compulsory medical treatment until he or she is healed - it doesn't last for life. After treatment, their case is reviewed again, and that's when they can face a criminal punishment.

"I personally know several cases when mental patients were recognized healed and were released to freedom right from the courtroom - the statute of limitations expired. They can be released to freedom, despite the fact that they may commit their hideous crimes in 80 percent of cases."

The Broken American Economy

The future is dystopic because the present is dystopic, we just do not know it yet because of epic manipulation by the fed and media malpractice by the Ministry of Truth American media.  When you think about where to invest your money to keep it safe, there is nowhere.  Now people who make their money on investing your money will tell you otherwise, but there is no safe haven.  Bonds used to be safe, they no longer are, there was a time real estate was safe, it no longer is, the stock market has become a pyramid scheme tantamount to gambling, Gold may be the answer but at the current high rates it is also scary.  When you think about it, prepping may be the safest option, you can always use the food, and good clean water will only become more important in the future.  It is a scary economic climate the world over.

I love Zero Hedge, here is a recent article on Fed mismanagement:




From Zero Hedge:
Monetary Malpractice: Deceptions, Distortions & Delusions

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 12/26/2012 - 12:04
By the Deceptive means of Misinformation and Manipulation of economic data the Federal Reserve has set the stage for broad based moral hazard. Through Distortions caused by Malpractice and Malfeasance, a raft of Unintended Consequences have now changed the economic and financial fabric of America likely forever. The Federal Reserve policies of Quantitative Easing and Negative real interest rates, across the entire yield curve, have been allowed to go on so long that Mispricing and Malinvestment has reached the level that markets are effectively Delusional. Markets have become Dysfunctional concerning the pricing of risk and risk adjusted valuations. Fund Managers can no longer use even the Fed's own Valuation Model which is openly acknowledged to be broken.


(you can find a link to zero hedge in my blog list)

Bug Out Location Porn

What would you do if you had a couple million dollars to spare?

If you’re a prepper, than you’d likely be looking to put yourself in a home like this one on the outskirts of Warsaw, Poland.  At first glance, you wouldn't think much about it, other than it being a nicely built country home. It’s stylish with the architectural design based on Polish “cube” homes of the 1960′s:

If the world ever goes SHTF/TEOTWAWKI, it quickly transforms into an impenetrable maximum security safe house through the use of sliding walls, a roll-top door and a draw bridge.

The outer cube of the home is constructed with steel and concrete, and has an outer perimeter wall for added security.

Few details have been provided about the home’s interior, but we suspect that anyone who has gone to the trouble of building this ultimate prepper bug-out safe house would also have built a multi-level basement and perhaps even a secret escape tunnel or two. Our thinking is if you’re gonna’ blow a million or two on construction you might as well go full-prepper and throw in all the bells and whistles.

Dare to dream. The possibilities are endless when you have the money and your very own concrete and steel-reinforced survival cube.

(Photos: Aleksander Rutkowski/Robert Konieczny – KWK Promes)

Hat tip Jonny V and Tess Pennington