Denialism of science

• Denialism (WikiPedia) – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denialism
  • In human behavior, denialism is exhibited by individuals choosing to deny reality as a way to avoid dealing with an uncomfortable truth. … “[It] is the refusal to accept an empirically verifiable reality. It is an essentially irrational action that withholds validation of a historical experience or event”. … group denialism [is defined] as “when an entire segment of society, often struggling with the trauma of change, turns away from reality in favor of a more comfortable lie.”
  • In science, denialism has been defined as the rejection of basic concepts that are undisputed and well-supported parts of the scientific consensus on a topic in favor of ideas that are both radical and controversial. … It has been proposed that the various forms of denialism have the common feature of the rejection of overwhelming evidence and the generation of a controversy through attempts to deny that a consensus exists. … A common example is Young Earth creationism and its dispute with the evolutionary theory.

2014

• “How To Convince Conservative Christians That Global Warming Is Real” by Chris Mooney (Mother Jones; 2014.05.02) – http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2014/05/inquiring-minds-katharine-hayhoe-faith-climate
  • Millions of Americans are evangelical Christians. Climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe is persuading them that our planet is in peril.
  • “Years of Living Dangerously Premiere Full Episode” – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brvhCnYvxQQ
• “Most Americans doubt Big Bang, not too sure about evolution, climate change – survey” By Rik Myslewski (The Register; 2014.04.21) – http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/04/21/most_americans_doubt_big_bang_not_too_sure_about_evolution_climate_change_survey/
  • Science no match for religion, politics, business interests

  

• “AP-GfK Poll: Big Bang a big question for most Americans” (AP-Gfk; 2014.04.21) – http://ap-gfkpoll.com/featured/findings-from-our-latest-poll-2
  • Few Americans question that smoking causes cancer. But they express bigger doubts as concepts that scientists consider to be truths get further from our own experiences and the present time … Americans have more skepticism than confidence in global warming, the age of the Earth and evolution and have the most trouble believing a Big Bang created the universe 13.8 billion years ago….
  • Just 4 percent doubt that smoking causes cancer, 6 percent question whether mental illness is a medical condition that affects the brain and 8 percent are skeptical there’s a genetic code inside our cells. More – 15 percent – have doubts about the safety and efficacy of childhood vaccines …
  • About 4 in 10 say they are not too confident or outright disbelieve that the earth is warming, mostly a result of man-made heat-trapping gases, that the Earth is 4.5 billion years old or that life on Earth evolved through a process of natural selection, though most were at least somewhat confident in each of those concepts. But a narrow majority – 51 percent – questions the Big Bang theory …
  • “Science ignorance is pervasive in our society, and these attitudes are reinforced when some of our leaders are openly antagonistic to established facts,”…
  • The poll highlights “the iron triangle of science, religion and politics,” … And scientists know they’ve got the shakiest leg in the triangle….
  • To the public “most often values and beliefs trump science” when they conflict, … … Political values were closely tied to views on science in the poll, with Democrats more apt than Republicans to express confidence in evolution, the Big Bang, the age of the Earth and climate change….
  • Religious values are similarly important… Confidence in evolution, the Big Bang, the age of the Earth and climate change decline sharply as faith in a supreme being rises, according to the poll. Likewise, those who regularly attend religious services or are evangelical Christians express much greater doubts about scientific concepts they may see as contradictory to their faith … “When you are putting up facts against faith, facts can’t argue against faith,” … “It makes sense now that science would have made no headway because faith is untestable.” …
  • Beyond religious belief, views on science may be tied to what we see with our own eyes. The closer an issue is to our bodies and the less complicated, the easier it is for people to believe, …
  • Marsha Brooks, a 59-year-old nanny who lives in Washington, D.C., said she’s certain smoking causes cancer because she saw her mother, aunts and uncles, all smokers, die of cancer … But when it comes to the universe beginning with a Big Bang or the Earth being about 4.5 billion years old, she has doubts. …
  • Jorge Delarosa, a 39-year-old architect from Bridgewater, N.J., pointed to a warm 2012 without a winter and said, “I feel the change. There must be a reason.” But when it came to Earth’s beginnings 4.5 billion years ago, he has doubts simply because “I wasn’t there.”…
  • Experience and faith aren’t the only things affecting people’s views on science. … “the force of concerted campaigns to discredit scientific fact” as a more striking factor, citing significant interest groups – political, business and religious – campaigning against scientific truths on vaccines, climate change and evolution….
  • … sometimes science wins out even against well-financed and loud opposition, as with smoking. Widespread belief that smoking causes cancer “has come about because of very public, very focused public health campaigns,” … [also, what is very encouraging is] the public’s acceptance that mental illness is a brain disease, something few believed 25 years ago, before just such a campaign.
• “Why climate deniers are winning: The twisted psychology that overwhelms scientific consensus” by Paul Rosenberg (The Salon; 2014.04.19) – http://www.salon.com/2014/04/19/why_climate_deniers_are_winning_the_twisted_psychology_that_overwhelms_scientific_consensus/
  • There’s a reason why overwhelming evidence hasn’t spurred public action against global warming
  • “The reason ‘consensus’ has not appeared to work in society at large to date isn’t because it’s ineffective – it’s because there is a well-funded counter-movement out there that takes every opportunity to mislead the public into thinking that there isn’t a consensus,”
• “How politics makes us stupid” by Ezra Klein (Vox; 2014.04.06) – http://www.vox.com/2014/4/6/5556462/brain-dead-how-politics-makes-us-stupid

Older articles

• “How Do You Get People to Give a Damn About Climate Change?” by Chris Mooney (Mother Jones; 2013.10.18) – http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2013/10/inquiring-minds-kahan-lewandowsky-communicate-climate
  • Experts have come a long way in figuring out which messages can successfully open minds and move public opinion. There’s just one problem: They disagree about whether the message everyone’s using actually works.
• “Scientific uncertainty and climate change: Part I. Uncertainty and unabated emissions” by Stephan Lewandowsky, James S. Risbey, Michael Smithson, Ben R. Newell, John Hunter (Springer) – http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10584-014-1082-7
  • Uncertainty forms an integral part of climate science, and it is often used to argue against mitigative action. This article presents an analysis of uncertainty in climate sensitivity that is robust to a range of assumptions. We show that increasing uncertainty is necessarily associated with greater expected damages from warming, provided the function relating warming to damages is convex. This constraint is unaffected by subjective or cultural risk-perception factors, it is unlikely to be overcome by the discount rate, and it is independent of the presumed magnitude of climate sensitivity. The analysis also extends to “second-order” uncertainty; that is, situations in which experts disagree. Greater disagreement among experts increases the likelihood that the risk of exceeding a global temperature threshold is greater. Likewise, increasing uncertainty requires increasingly greater protective measures against sea level rise. This constraint derives directly from the statistical properties of extreme values. We conclude that any appeal to uncertainty compels a stronger, rather than weaker, concern about unabated warming than in the absence of uncertainty.
• “Scientific uncertainty and climate change: Part II. Uncertainty and mitigation” by Stephan Lewandowsky, James S. Risbey, Michael Smithson, Ben R. Newell (Springer) – http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10584-014-1083-6
  • In public debate surrounding climate change, scientific uncertainty is often cited in connection with arguments against mitigative action. This article examines the role of uncertainty about future climate change in determining the likely success or failure of mitigative action. We show by Monte Carlo simulation that greater uncertainty translates into a greater likelihood that mitigation efforts will fail to limit global warming to a target (e.g., 2 °C). The effect of uncertainty can be reduced by limiting greenhouse gas emissions. Taken together with the fact that greater uncertainty also increases the potential damages arising from unabated emissions (Lewandowsky et al. 2014), any appeal to uncertainty implies a stronger, rather than weaker, need to cut greenhouse gas emissions than in the absence of uncertainty.
• “The pivotal role of perceived scientific consensus in acceptance of science” by Stephan Lewandowsky, Gilles E. Gignac, Samuel Vaughan (Nature Climate Change 3, 399-404 (2013); doi:10.1038/nclimate1720; 2012.10.28) – http://www.nature.com/nclimate/journal/v3/n4/full/nclimate1720.html
  • Although most experts agree that CO2 emissions are causing anthropogenic global warming (AGW), public concern has been declining. One reason for this decline is the ‘manufacture of doubt’ by political and vested interests, which often challenge the existence of the scientific consensus. The role of perceived consensus in shaping public opinion is therefore of considerable interest: in particular, it is unknown whether consensus determines people’s beliefs causally. It is also unclear whether perception of consensus can override people’s ‘worldviews’, which are known to foster rejection of AGW. Study 1 shows that acceptance of several scientific propositions-from HIV/AIDS to AGW-is captured by a common factor that is correlated with another factor that captures perceived scientific consensus. Study 2 reveals a causal role of perceived consensus by showing that acceptance of AGW increases when consensus is highlighted. Consensus information also neutralizes the effect of worldview.

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Related:

• “Climate change – or not” – https://eikonal.wordpress.com/2010/08/06/climate-change-or-not/
• “Antivaccination movement” – https://eikonal.wordpress.com/2014/03/19/antivaccination-movement-and-other-lunacies/
• “We don’t need stinking renewable energy …” – https://eikonal.wordpress.com/2014/04/21/we-dont-need-stinking-renewable-energy/

Killing intelligent life (Taiji Cove Massacre)

The annual dolphin slaughter in Taiji, Japan

• Sea Shepherd Conservation Society – http://www.seashepherd.org/
• “Opinion: Real Tragedy of Taiji Is Our Inhumanity Toward Animals” by Vigrinia Morell (national Geographic; 2014.02.02) – http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/02/140202-dolphins-taiji-japan-whales-marine-animal-altruism-science/?google_editors_picks=true
  • Researchers are learning that animals exhibit empathy, altruism, and other emotions we used to call “human.”
• “Taiji’s Dolphin Hunts Continue” (SeaShepherd; 2014.01.29) – http://www.seashepherd.org/news-and-media/2014/01/29/taijis-dolphin-hunts-continue-1549
• 60-65 Striped Dolphins Brutally Massacred in the Cove Yesterday; Risso’s Dolphins Taken Captive & Slaughtered Today
• “Not Only Dolphins. Japan Keeps Killing Whales, Too” by Bruce Einhorn (Bloomberg Businessweek; 2014.01.22) – http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-01-22/japans-dolphin-hunt-ends-for-the-year-and-the-whale-hunt-continues
• “Pictures: Scenes From Taiji Dolphin Roundup in Japan” by Tim Zimmermann (National Geographic; 2014.01.21) – http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/01/140121-taiji-dolphin-hunt-pictures-video-cove-japan/
  • Fishermen in Taiji, Japan, have reportedly killed or captured 93 bottlenose dolphins.
  • The yearly Taiji dolphin hunt, in which fishermen from the small Japanese village round up pods of dolphins for sale to marine parks and for slaughter for meat, has been a source of global controversy since the Oscar-winning documentary The Cove drew attention to the event in 2009.
• “Japan officials defend dolphin hunting at Taiji Cove” by Yoko Wakatsuki and Madison Park (CNN; 2014.01.21) – http://www.cnn.com/2014/01/20/world/asia/japan-dolphin-hunt/
• “Japan hits back over Kennedy criticism of dolphin slaughter” (The Sydney Morning Herald; 2014.01.21) – http://www.smh.com.au/world/japan-hits-back-over-kennedy-criticism-of-dolphin-slaughter-20140121-hv9cx.html
  The dolphin hunt isn’t the only blot on Japan’s global image from its pursuit of cetaceans. Just as bad is the annual whale hunt, now underway in waters off the coast of Antarctica. Every year, Japan gives permission for hunters to kill about 1,000 whales, the vast majority of them minke whales but also some humpback and fin whales, thanks to a loophole in the international whaling convention. The agreement, which dates back to 1946, permits governments to grant “any of its nationals a special permit authorizing that national to kill, take and treat whales for purposes of scientific research.”
• “To the Japanese fishermen of Taiji from Yoko Ono Lennon, 20 January 2014.” – http://imaginepeace.com/archives/20166
• “Japan Defends Dolphin Hunt After Criticism From U.S. Ambassador” by Gerry Mullanyjan (The New York Times; 2014.01.20) – http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/21/world/asia/japan-defends-dolphin-hunt-after-kennedy-criticism.html
• Collection of 21 videos on YouTube – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ey4tB2mK03I&list=PLBqmOuqoIErOMgEFgeVoMmXm_673kVwLh
• “The Cove” – a documentary movie (2009)- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mc2arU61LSg&feature=youtu.be | http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7J7j7MAA-uk
  • movie’s home page – http://www.thecovemovie.com/
  • at WikiPedia – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cove_%28film%29
• “Dawn to Death” – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wk1xLXhk0vI
  “Shown many times in the documentary “the cove” this film is more updated and concise. Everthing is now hidden, all their barbaric deeds are done under concealment but we managed to get cameras into places they (fishermen) wouldn’t look in. The say they kill dolphins humanly yet this film will show you that it is untrue. Dolphins die in the worst possible way and are tortured in front of their own families. Babies are allowed to swim in their mothers blood. This film shows the proceedings in Taiji from Dawn to death. Filmed over 3 years.”
• “Champions for Cetaceans” – http://championsforcetaceans.com/
  A site where supporters of whales, dolphins, and porpoises can network, share information, and join forces to help save Cetaceans

Faroe Islands’ Pilot Whales Slaughter

• “Whaling in the Faroe Islands” (WikiPedia) – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whaling_in_the_Faroe_Islands
• “‘Denmark Whaling Shame’ Protest Email” (Hoax-Slayer) – http://www.hoax-slayer.com/denmark-whaling.shtml
• “Dolphin Hunt” (Snopes.com) – http://www.snopes.com/photos/hunting/dolphinhunt.asp

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More at this blog: Intelligence in Earth’s nonhuman life – https://eikonal.wordpress.com/2011/05/23/intelligence-in-earths-other-life/

Facebook sinking even deeper

• “Why I’m quitting Facebook” by Douglas Rushkoff (CNN; 2013.02.25) – http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/25/opinion/rushkoff-why-im-quitting-facebook/index.html?iid=article_sidebar
  • I have always argued for engaging with technology as conscious human beings and dispensing with technologies that take that agency away.

    Facebook is just such a technology. It does things on our behalf when we’re not even there. It actively misrepresents us to our friends, and worse misrepresents those who have befriended us to still others. To enable this dysfunctional situation — I call it “digiphrenia” — would be at the very least hypocritical.

  • Facebook does not exist to help us make friends, but to turn our network of connections, brand preferences and activities over time — our “social graphs” — into money for others.
  • The true end users of Facebook are the marketers who want to reach and influence us. They are Facebook’s paying customers; we are the product. And we are its workers. The countless hours that we — and the young, particularly — spend on our profiles are the unpaid labor on which Facebook justifies its stock valuation.
• “Facebook Is Recycling Your Likes To Promote Stories You’ve Never Seen To All Your Friends” by Anthony Wing Kosner (Forbes; 2013.01.21) – http://www.forbes.com/sites/anthonykosner/2013/01/21/facebook-is-recycling-your-likes-to-promote-stories-youve-never-seen-to-all-your-friends/
• “Why are dead people liking stuff on Facebook?” by Bernard Meisler (ReadWrite > Social; 2012.12.11) – http://readwrite.com/2012/12/11/why-are-dead-people-liking-stuff-on-facebook

This is getting tiresome: Facebook never stop monkeying with its users

• “Why I’m quitting Facebook” by Douglas Rushkoff (CNN; 2013.02.25) – http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/25/opinion/rushkoff-why-im-quitting-facebook/index.html?iid=article_sidebar
  • I have always argued for engaging with technology as conscious human beings and dispensing with technologies that take that agency away.

    Facebook is just such a technology. It does things on our behalf when we’re not even there. It actively misrepresents us to our friends, and worse misrepresents those who have befriended us to still others. To enable this dysfunctional situation — I call it “digiphrenia” — would be at the very least hypocritical.

  • Facebook does not exist to help us make friends, but to turn our network of connections, brand preferences and activities over time — our “social graphs” — into money for others.
  • The true end users of Facebook are the marketers who want to reach and influence us. They are Facebook’s paying customers; we are the product. And we are its workers. The countless hours that we — and the young, particularly — spend on our profiles are the unpaid labor on which Facebook justifies its stock valuation.
• “Facebook Is Recycling Your Likes To Promote Stories You’ve Never Seen To All Your Friends” by Anthony Wing Kosner (Forbes; 2013.01.21) – http://www.forbes.com/sites/anthonykosner/2013/01/21/facebook-is-recycling-your-likes-to-promote-stories-youve-never-seen-to-all-your-friends/
• “Facebook: the most congenitally dishonest company in America” – http://www.scholarsandrogues.com/2012/06/26/facebook-the-most-congenitally-dishonest-company-in-america/

Law-vs-technology

Sites

• ArsTechnica: Law & Disorder – Tech Policy News – http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/ | Intellectual Property – http://arstechnica.com/discipline/intellectual-property/ | Privacy – http://arstechnica.com/discipline/privacy-2/
• Berkman Center – http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/
• Center for Democracy and Technology – https://www.cdt.org/ | Blog – https://www.cdt.org/blog
• COMMERCE AND TECH LAW blog – http://www.bna.com/ecommerce-tech-law-blog/ | RSS – http://www.bna.com/rss.aspx?fid=12884902166
• FOSS Patents – http://www.fosspatents.com/
• Groklaw – Digging for Truth – http://www.groklaw.net/
• Lauren Weinstein’s Blog – http://lauren.vortex.com/
• Michael Geist’s Blog – http://www.michaelgeist.ca/
• NXT – Internet policy and governance dissected – http://news.dot-nxt.com/
  • ITU and WCIT (World Conference on International Telecommunications) watch – http://news.dot-nxt.com/United%20Nations/ITU
• Policy by the Numbers – http://policybythenumbers.blogspot.com/
• Techdirt – http://www.techdirt.com/
• The Technology Liberation Front – http://techliberation.com/
• The Volokh Conspiracy – http://volokh.com/
• Web Policy blog by Jonathan Mayer (Stanford University)- http://webpolicy.org/ – “a blog about technology, policy, and law“.
• World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT) leaks – http://wcitleaks.org/

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Related here: Information disclosure sites – https://eikonal.wordpress.com/2010/02/25/information-disclosure-sites/ | WikiLeaks – https://eikonal.wordpress.com/2010/12/29/wikileaks-2010/ | ACTA – https://eikonal.wordpress.com/2010/07/16/acta/

Oh well

• “How Republicans are being taught to talk about Occupy Wall Street” by Chris Moody (Yahoo! News; 2011.12.01) – http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/republicans-being-taught-talk-occupy-wall-street-133707949.html
• “The shocking truth about the crackdown on Occupy” by Naomi Wolf (The Guardian; 2011.11.25) – http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2011/nov/25/shocking-truth-about-crackdown-occupy
  • The violent police assaults across the US are no coincidence. Occupy has touched the third rail of our political class’s venality
  • DHS coordinated violent attack on Occupy Wall Street protests in 18 cities.
  • The mainstream media was declaring continually “OWS has no message”. Frustrated, I simply asked them. I began soliciting online “What is it you want?” answers from Occupy. In the first 15 minutes, I received 100 answers. These were truly eye-opening.
    • The No 1 agenda item: get the money out of politics. Most often cited was legislation to blunt the effect of the Citizens United ruling, which lets boundless sums enter the campaign process.
    • No 2: reform the banking system to prevent fraud and manipulation, with the most frequent item being to restore the Glass-Steagall Act – the Depression-era law, done away with by President Clinton, that separates investment banks from commercial banks. This law would correct the conditions for the recent crisis, as investment banks could not take risks for profit that create kale derivatives out of thin air, and wipe out the commercial and savings banks.
    • No 3 was the most clarifying: draft laws against the little-known loophole that currently allows members of Congress to pass legislation affecting Delaware-based corporations in which they themselves are investors.
• “Reporters Meet the Fists of the Law” by Michael Powell (The New Yrk Times; 2011.11.21) – http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/22/nyregion/nypd-stops-reporters-with-badges-and-fists.html
• “Poet-Bashing Police” by Robert Hass (The New Yoirk Times; 2011.11.19) – http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/20/opinion/sunday/at-occupy-berkeley-beat-poets-has-new-meaning.html
• “Caught on Camera: 10 Shockingly Violent Police Assaults on Occupy Protesters” (AlterNet; 2011.11.19) – http://www.alternet.org/story/153134/caught_on_camera:_10_shockingly_violent_police_assaults_on_occupy_protesters/
  Probably 97 percent of police act professionally toward protesters. But the other 3 percent are armed and dangerous, and know that they’re unlikely to be held accountable.
• “Retired NY Supreme Court Justice Karen Smith Roughed up by Cops for Intervening in Brutal Beating of ‘Occupy’ Protester’s Mom” (Moral Low Ground blog; 2011.11.17) – http://morallowground.com/2011/11/17/retired-ny-supreme-court-justice-karen-smith-roughed-up-by-cops-for-intervening-in-brutal-beating-of-occupy-protesters-mom/
• “Homeland Security Coordinated 18-City Police Crackdown on Occupy Protest” (Washington’s Blog; 2011.11.16) – http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2011/11/homeland-security-coordinated-18-city-police-crackdown-on-occupy-protest.html
  Remember when people were freaking out over the Patriot Act and Homeland Security and all this other conveniently ready-to-go post-9/11 police state stuff, because it would obviously be just a matter of time before the whole apparatus was turned against non-Muslim Americans when they started getting complain-y about the social injustice and economic injustice and income inequality and endless recession and permanent unemployment? That day is now, and has been for some time. But it’s also now confirmed that it’s now, as some Justice Department official screwed up and admitted that the Department of Homeland Security coordinated the riot-cop raids on a dozen major #Occupy Wall Street demonstration camps nationwide yesterday and today.
• “Did Mayors, DHS Coordinate Occupy Attacks?” by Allison Kilkenny (In These Times; 2011.11.16) – http://inthesetimes.com/uprising/entry/12303/mayors_dhs_coordinated_occupy_attacks/
• “Raids on OWS coordinated with Obama’s FBI, Homeland Security & others” (News from Undeground; 2011.11.15) – http://markcrispinmiller.com/2011/11/raids-on-ows-coordinated-with-obamas-fbi-homeland-security-others/
• “Journalists obstructed from covering OWS protests” (CPJ [Committee to Protect Journalists]; 2011.11.15) – http://www.cpj.org/2011/11/journalists-obstructed-from-covering-ows-protests.php

New Facebook machinations

• Facebook Privacy section at EPIC (Electronic Privacy Information Center) – http://epic.org/privacy/facebook/
  • Facebook and the Facial Identification of Users – http://epic.org/privacy/facebook/facebook_and_facial_recognitio.html
• “Facebook to alter privacy practices following FTC ruling” by Greg Masters (SC Magazine; 2011.11.29) – http://www.scmagazineus.com/facebook-to-alter-privacy-practices-following-ftc-ruling/article/217775/
  • Users were deceived by Facebook, and now the social media giant is paying the price.
  • “Facebook is obligated to keep the promises about privacy that it makes to its hundreds of millions of users,” Jon Leibowitz, chairman of the FTC, said in a statement. “Facebook’s innovation does not have to come at the expense of consumer privacy.”
  • The FTC charges chronicle a number of misleading or untrue assertions about privacy that Facebook made, but did not keep, including: not warning users when a change to its “Friend List” allowed private information to be exposed; stating that third-party apps would not access personal information beyond what they needed to operate; claiming that the “Verified Apps” program certified the security of participating apps; promising users it would not share personal data with advertisers; and insisting that it complied with the U.S.-European Union Safe Harbor Framework that governs data transfer between the United States and certain European nations.
• “Facebook Settles FTC Charges That It Deceived Consumers By Failing To Keep Privacy Promises” (FTC; 2011.11.29) – http://ftc.gov/opa/2011/11/privacysettlement.shtm
  • In December 2009, Facebook changed its website so certain information that users may have designated as private – such as their Friends List – was made public. They didn’t warn users that this change was coming, or get their approval in advance.
  • Facebook represented that third-party apps that users’ installed would have access only to user information that they needed to operate. In fact, the apps could access nearly all of users’ personal data – data the apps didn’t need.
  • Facebook told users they could restrict sharing of data to limited audiences – for example with “Friends Only.” In fact, selecting “Friends Only” did not prevent their information from being shared with third-party applications their friends used.
  • Facebook had a “Verified Apps” program & claimed it certified the security of participating apps. It didn’t.
  • Facebook promised users that it would not share their personal information with advertisers. It did.
  • Facebook claimed that when users deactivated or deleted their accounts, their photos and videos would be inaccessible. But Facebook allowed access to the content, even after users had deactivated or deleted their accounts.
  • Facebook claimed that it complied with the U.S.- EU Safe Harbor Framework that governs data transfer between the U.S. and the European Union. It didn’t.
• “24 year old student lights match: Europe versus Facebook” by Kim Cameron (Identity Weblog; 2011.10.13) – http://www.identityblog.com/?p=1201/li>
• Europe vs Facebook – http://europe-v-facebook.org/EN/en.html
  • Facebook’s Data Pool – http://europe-v-facebook.org/EN/Data_Pool/data_pool.html#Target
  • europe-v-facebook.org YouTube channel – http://www.youtube.com/user/europevfacebook#p/c/8ED10AB2E76CD62E
• “Facebook Ireland accused of creating ‘shadow profiles’ on users, nonusers” by Laura Locke (CNet; 2011.10.21) – http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-20123919-93/facebook-ireland-accused-of-creating-shadow-profiles-on-users-nonusers/
• “Facebook Patent to Track Users Even When They are Not Logged In to Facebook” by Bruce Scheier (2011.10.24)- http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2011/10/facebook_patent.html

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Related here: Facebook privacy? What Facebook privacy? – https://eikonal.wordpress.com/2010/04/30/facebook-privacy-what-facebook-privacy/ | Facebook foolies – https://eikonal.wordpress.com/2011/05/12/facebook-foolies/ | Unending stream of Facebook privacy news – https://eikonal.wordpress.com/2010/11/22/unending-stream-of-facebook-privacy-news/ | More Facebook news – https://eikonal.wordpress.com/2010/10/08/more-facebook-news/ | Facebook monkeying again with user trust model – https://eikonal.wordpress.com/2010/09/22/facebook-monkeying-again-with-user-trust-model/ | Scan for your Facebook privacy – https://eikonal.wordpress.com/2010/05/23/i-want-you-to-scan-for-facebook-privacy/ | Facebook leaks users IDs to advertisers – https://eikonal.wordpress.com/2010/05/22/facebook-leaks-user-ids-to-advertisers/ | Facebook mulls U-turn on privacy – https://eikonal.wordpress.com/2010/05/19/facebook-mulls-u-turn-on-privacy/ | Mark Zuckerberg’s birthday present: Facebook in crisis – https://eikonal.wordpress.com/2010/05/16/mark-zuckerbergs-birthday-present-facebook-in-crisis/ | Temptest in a teapot – https://eikonal.wordpress.com/2010/05/15/1202/

Millennialism and other religious catastrophisms

General

• Millennialism (WikiPedia) – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millennialism
• Catastrophism (WikiPedia) – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catastrophism
• “Apocalypse Now? A Christian Understanding of the End Times” by Matthew L. Skinner (The Huffington Post; 2011.03.27) http://www.huffingtonpost.com/matthew-l-skinner/apocalypse-now-or-later-o_b_839878.html

2011.05.21 – Rapture that was not

• “Harold Camping Insists That Judgment Day Did Actually Happen on Saturday” (New Yorker Magazine; 2011.05.24) – http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2011/05/harold_camping_insists_that_ju.html
• “An Autumn Date for the Apocalypse” by Jesse McKinley (NY Times; 2011.05.23) – http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/24/us/24rapture.html
• “Judgment Day Predictor Harold Camping Speaks Out” (Huffington Post)” – http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/23/harold-camping-speaks_n_865867.html
• “Prophecy Fail – What happens to a doomsday cult when the world doesn’t end?” by Vaughan BellPosted (Slate; 2011.05.20) – http://www.slate.com/id/2295099/
  “If more people can be persuaded that the system of belief is correct, then clearly, it must, after all, be correct.”
• “The excuses discredited doomsday prophets make” by Jonathan Easley (Salon; 2011.05.22) – http://www.salon.com/news/religion/?story=/politics/war_room/2011/05/22/harold_camping_and_end_of_the_world_excuses
• “Apocalypse believers await end, skeptics carry on – May 21 comes and goes, with no End Times in sight” by Garance Burke (Salon; 2011.05.21) – http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2011/05/21/us_apocalypse_saturday/index.html
• “It’s Happening: Top 10 Rapture Bomb Pics” by Charlie White (Mashable; 2011.05.21) – http://mashable.com/2011/05/21/rapture-bomb-pics/
• “‘Rapture’: Believers perplexed after prediction fails” (BBC News; 2011.05.22) – http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-13489641 – Followers of an evangelical broadcaster who declared that Saturday would be Judgement Day are trying to make sense of the failed prediction.
• “No Dogs Go to Heaven – But they don’t go to hell, either.” by Julia Felsenthal (2011.05.20) – http://www.slate.com/id/2295093/
• “In the end, rapture believers weren’t going anywhere” – by Christopher Goffard (Los Angeles Times; 2011.02.22) – http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-rapture-20110522,0,5118540.story – To many who put stock in Harold Camping’s prophecy about the end of the world, disillusionment was profound. It ended up being apocalypse … not.
• “As hours tick by, “Judgment Day” looks a dud” (Reuters) – http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/05/22/us-apocalypse-prediction-idUSTRE74I3KS20110522
• “It’s NOT the end of the world as we know it” (CNN; 0211.05.21) – http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/05/21/doomsday/?hpt=C2
• “Doomsday Believers Mull Unfulfilled Apocalypse” (NPR; 2011.05.22) – http://www.npr.org/2011/05/22/136549351/doomsday-believers-mull-unfulfilled-apocalypse

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Related: Religious opression – https://eikonal.wordpress.com/2010/09/10/religious-opression/

Reputation management

• Vanish – self-destructing digital data – http://vanish.cs.washington.edu/
• FaceCloak – Protect user privacy on Facebook – http://crysp.uwaterloo.ca/software/facecloak/index.html – FaceCloak is an architecture for protecting user privacy on social networking sites, as introduced in the following paper:
  • Luo, W., Xie, Q., and Hengartner, U., FaceCloak: An Architecture for User Privacy on Social Networking Sites. Proc. of 2009 IEEE International Conference on Privacy, Security, Risk and Trust (PASSAT-09), Vancouver, BC, August 2009, pp. 26-33. – http://www.cs.uwaterloo.ca/~uhengart/publications/passat09.pdf
• Reputation.com – online reputation management – http://www.reputation.com/
• uProtect –

Facebook foolies

• “Facebook Admits Hiring PR Company for Google Smear Campaign” (International Business Times > San Francisco edition; 2011.05.13) – http://sanfrancisco.ibtimes.com/articles/145361/20110513/facebook-admits-hiring-pr-company-for-google-smear-campaign.htm
• “‘Facebook has sparked open warfare in dotcom land’” (The Telegraph; 2011.05.13) – http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/facebook/8512730/Facebook-has-sparked-open-warfare-in-dotcom-land.html – A leading public relations executive has defended Facebook’s recent attempt to smear Google in the US press using a top PR firm, saying dirty tricks are not unusual.
• “How big firms bash their rivals, in public and private” by Robert Plummer (BBC News; 2011.05.13) – http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-13387807
• “Update: Facebook says no ‘smear’ campaign intended” by Tim Mullaney (USA TODAY; 2011.05.12) – http://content.usatoday.com/communities/technologylive/post/2011/05/report-facebook-launched-smear-campaign-against-google/1
• “Facebook’s Stealth Attack on Google Exposes Its Own Privacy Problem” by Steven Levy (Wired; 2011.05.12) – http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2011/05/facebook-privacy-problems/
• “Facebook vs. Google fight turns nasty” by Julianne Pepitone (CNNMoney > Tech; 2011.05.12) – http://money.cnn.com/2011/05/12/technology/facebook_google/
• Compromising email exchange – http://pastebin.com/zaeTeJeJ
• “Smear Story Source Speaks: Facebook Wanted to Stab Google in the Back” (BeatBeat; 2011.05.12) – http://www.betabeat.com/2011/05/12/smear-story-source-speaks-facebook-wanted-to-stab-google-in-the-back/
• “Facebook Hired PR Firm to Run Smear Campaign Against Google” by Chloe Albanesius By Chloe Albanesius (PCMagazine; 2011.05.12) – http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2385263,00.asp
• “Facebook’s Embarrassing Secret Campaign To Discredit Google Revealed (UPDATE)” (The Huffington Post; 2011.05.12) – http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/12/facebook-google-smear_n_860942.html
• “The Irony of Facebook’s Secret PR War Against Google” by Adam Clark Estes (The Atlantic Wire; 2011.05.12) – http://www.theatlanticwire.com/technology/2011/05/irony-behind-facebooks-secret-pr-war-against-google/37619/
• “Sleazy PR Firm Throws Scummy Facebook Under The Sordid Bus” by MG Siegler (Tech Crucnh; 2011.05.12) – http://techcrunch.com/2011/05/12/swallowing-puke/
• “Facebook Loses Much Face In Secret Smear On Google” by Michael Arrington (Tech Crucnh; 2011.05.12) – http://techcrunch.com/2011/05/12/facebook-loses-much-face-in-secret-smear-on-google/
• “PR FIRM: Facebook Asked Us To Do Something Sleazy And We Never Should Have Done It” by Henry Blodget (Business Insider; 2011.05.12) – http://www.businessinsider.com/burson-marsteller-facebook-2011-5
• “Facebook Embraces J. Edgar Hoover: Anti-Google Lie Campaign Revealed” by Lauren Weinstein (Lauren Weinstein’s Blog; 2011.05.12) – http://lauren.vortex.com/archive/000852.html
• “Facebook Busted in Clumsy Smear on Google” by Dan Lyons (The Daily Beast; 2011.05.12) – http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2011-05-12/facebook-busted-in-clumsy-smear-attempt-on-google
  The social network secretly hired a PR firm to plant negative stories about the search giant, The Daily Beast’s Dan Lyons reveals—a caper that is blowing up in their face, and escalating their war. …
• “Burson Marsteller, Facebook, Scandal: B-M Says Facebook Assignment “Should Have Been Declined”” by Tonya Garcia (PRNewser; 2011.05.12) – http://www.mediabistro.com/prnewser/b-m-says-facebook-assignment-should-have-been-declined_b20772
• “Attempt to Involve Me in Anti-Google “Astroturf Lies” PR Campaign” by Lauren Weinstein (Lauren Weinstein’s Blog; 2011.05.11) – http://lauren.vortex.com/archive/000850.html
• “BUSTED: Former CNBC Tech Reporter Jim Goldman Caught Spreading Lies About Google For Unnamed PR Client” by Henry Blodget (Business Insider; 2011.05.10) – http://www.businessinsider.com/busted-former-cnbc-tech-reporter-jim-goldman-lies-about-google-2011-5
• “B-M Pitch on Behalf of Unnamed Client Raises Ethical Questions” by Tonya Garcia (PRNewser; 2011.05.10) – http://www.mediabistro.com/prnewser/b-m-pitch-on-behalf-of-unnamed-client-raises-ethical-questions_b20643

Geotracking and surveillance

And everyone else (and his dog) is on the game, too …

• http://yro.slashdot.org/story/11/05/02/1724231/Tom-Tom-Sells-GPS-Info-To-Dutch-Cops
  “As smartphones with GPS capabilities wear away at the dedicated GPS market, vendors like Tom Tom need to find new revenue streams. Tom Tom decided it would be a good idea to ‘share’ (i.e., sell) aggregated data from their users to Dutch law enforcement. The company claims they assumed that the data would be used to improve traffic safety and road engineering, and were shocked, shocked to discover that instead the police used it to figure out the best places to put speed traps.”
• “Tom Tom’s sleazy way to make up GPS revenue shortfall” by Chris Nerey (IT World; 2011.04.29) – http://www.itworld.com/mobile-wireless/160861/tom-toms-sleazy-way-make-gps-revenue-shortfall
  … TomTom NV, Europe’s largest navigation device maker, went into damage control mode Wednesday after it emerged that Dutch police have been using data collected from drivers who use the company’s products to set speed traps.

  Earlier, TomTom had reported weak first quarter earnings in which it cut 2011 sales forecasts and said it was seeking to compensate for a decline in demand for personal navigation devices by growing service revenues, including selling traffic data to governments. …

• “GPS Maker TomTom Submits Your Speed Data To Police” (SlashDot; 2011.04.28) – http://yro.slashdot.org/story/11/04/28/1719247/GPS-Maker-TomTom-Submits-Your-Speed-Data-To-Police
  “The GPS systems in TomTom’s Live range all feature built-in 3G data cards, which feed location and route information back to a central server. According to CNET, this data, along with users’ speed information, is being made available to local governments and the police.”
  From the article: “Knowing the cops can see where you’re driving and how fast you’re going is eye-opening stuff, but TomTom says the data is anonymous and can never be traced back to an individual user or device. Ordinarily, we’d be reassured by this, but we recall Apple saying something similar before the location-tracking excrement hit the phone-carrying fan.”
• “TomTom admits to sending your routes and speed information to the police” by Rory Reid (CNET UK; 2011.04.28) – http://crave.cnet.co.uk/cartech/tomtom-admits-to-sending-your-routes-and-speed-information-to-the-police-50003618/
  … The sat-navs in TomTom’s Live range all feature built-in 3G data cards, which feed location and route information back to a central server, which allows TomTom to create a map of congestion hotspots. It’s now emerged that this data, however, along with a user’s speed, is being made available to local governments and authorities.

  TomTom CEO Harold Goddijn revealed the information on the company’s website. “We are now aware that the police have used traffic information that you have helped to create to place speed cameras at dangerous locations where the average speed is higher than the legally allowed speed limit,” he says.

  Knowing the cops can see where you’re driving and how fast you’re going is eye-opening stuff, but TomTom says the data is anonymous and can never be traced back to an individual user or device. Ordinarily, we’d be reassured by this, but we recall Apple saying something similar before the location-tracking excrement hit the phone-carrying fan.…

• “TomTom admits police used data for speed traps” by Toby Sterling (Forbed/AP; 2011.04.27) – http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2011/04/27/business-telecommunications-equipment-eu-netherlands-earns-tomtom_8438128.html

Androids, too …

• “Your Location ‘Extremely Valuable’ To Google” (SlashDot; 2011.05.02) – http://tech.slashdot.org/story/11/05/02/0438206/Your-Location-Extremely-Valuable-To-Google
  • “Your location ‘extremely valuable’ to Google” (International Business Times; 2011.05.01) – http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/139985/20110501/your-location-extremely-valuable-to-google.htm
    … Then, just weeks ago Los Angeles-based researcher Samy Kamkar illustrated that Google Android based smartphones were sending precise GPS location and other data back to Google “several times an hour.”…
    … The company is using this information to create a digital databases that include the physical location of hundreds of millions of Wi-Fi access points. Smartphones use those databases as a kind of electronic map to chart their own location. …

    … Moreover, beyond improving services like maps for end-users, it also positions the company in front a fast-growing location-based advertising market.…
    … The problem, however, is if the data fall into the wrong hands, or if the data is compromised. …
    … The data is precise enough that Kamkar says Google can correlate timing and frequency of phone usage to pinpoint an Android owner’s home address. …
    … “If your phone is at the same location during night hours, they know where you live,” says Kamkar. “If your phone location is on the move, they can guess that you’re in a car and even calculate how fast your car is moving.” …

• “Google Defends Way It Gets Phone Data” by Jennifer Valentino-DeVries (The Wall Street Journal; 2011.04.23) – http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703387904576279451001593760.html
• “Apple, Google Collect User Data” by Jennifer Valentino-DeVries (The Wall Street Journal; 2011.04.22) – http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703983704576277101723453610.html
• packetlss – Android location service cache dumper – https://github.com/packetlss/android-locdump
• “Android phones keep location cache, too, but it’s harder to access” by Chris Foresman (Ars Technica; 2011.04.22) – http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/news/2011/04/android-phones-keep-location-cache-too-but-its-harder-to-access.ars
• “Android Phones Track Users Locations, Just LIke iPhones” by Jesse Emspak (International Business Times; 2011.04.21) – http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/137143/20110421/android-phones-track-users-movements.htm

iPhone doing surveilance, on whose behalf?

• “IPhone Stored Location in Test Even if Disabled” by Jennifer Valentino-DeVries (The Wall Street Journal; 2011.04.25) – http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704123204576283580249161342.html
• “Why you should care about the iPhone location-tracking issue” by Brian X. Chen and Mike Isaac (WIRED; 2011.04.25?) – http://www.cnn.com/2011/TECH/mobile/04/25/iphone.tracking.wired/
• “The scoop: Apple’s iPhone is NOT storing your accurate location, and NOT storing history” by Peter Batty (geothought blog; 2011.04.24) – http://geothought.blogspot.com/2011/04/scoop-apples-iphone-is-not-storing-your.html
• “The Week in Tweets: Your iPhone Is Watching You” by Sara Yin (PC Magazine; 2011.04.25) – http://www.pcmag.com/slideshow/story/263506/The-Week-in-Tweets:-Your-iPhone-Is-Watching-You
• “3 Major Issues with the Latest iPhone Tracking “Discovery”” by Alex Levison (at his blog; 2011.04.21) – https://alexlevinson.wordpress.com/2011/04/21/3-major-issues-with-the-latest-iphone-tracking-discovery/

  • 1) Apple is not collecting this data.
  • 2) This hidden file is neither new nor secret.
  • 3) This “discovery” was published months ago.

• “So What If iPhones Spy User Locations” by George Hulme (Information Week; 2011.04.21) – http://www.informationweek.com/news/security/privacy/229402104
  And, it appears, phones based on the Android operating system do the same thing, essentially. The location information is stored in files named cache.cell and cache.wifi.
• “iPhone Location Tracking Brouhaha in Perspective + Personal Status Note” by Lauren Weinstein (Lauren Weinstein’s Blog; 2011.04.21) – http://lauren.vortex.com/archive/000843.html
  Some observers (many of whom seem to be rather hardcore Apple “fanboys”), appear to be attempting to minimize the seriousness of this situation, suggesting that it really isn’t a big deal since Apple reportedly isn’t routinely sending the collected location data to their own servers — some apologists even parroting the tired and dangerous meme that “if you aren’t doing anything wrong you have nothing to fear from such data being gathered.”
  
  There’s also considerable speculation regarding the whys and wherefores behind Apple’s deploying this data mechanism.
  
  None of this substantively changes the bottom line.
  
  This isn’t rocket science. The collection of this data on these devices, especially in unencrypted form, is incredibly dangerous, stupid, and disrespectful of Apple’s customers.
  
  In an age when U.S. Customs and now even local police departments are claiming the right to use specialized equipment to drain smartphones and laptops of their stored data without any kind of warrants or court orders, the presence of such comprehensive location data in these devices represents a treasure trove for everything from completely unreasonable law enforcement “fishing expeditions” to aggressive and nosy divorce attorneys.
• “Researchers say iPhones can track users’ movements” 9BBC news; 2011.04.21) – http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-13162893
• “Why and How Apple Is Collecting Your iPhone Location Data” by Brian X. Chen (WIRED; 2011.04.21) – http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2011/04/apple-iphone-tracking
• “What Your iPhone Knows About You” by Jennifer Valentino-DeVries (The Wall Street Journal; 2011.04.20) – http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2011/04/20/what-your-iphone-knows-about-you
• “Got an iPhone or 3G iPad? Apple is recording your moves” by Alasdair Allan (O’Reilly Radar; 2011.04.20) – http://radar.oreilly.com/2011/04/apple-location-tracking.html – A hidden file in iOS 4 is regularly recording the position of devices.
• “iPhone Tracks Your Every Move, and There’s a Map for That” by Brian X. Chen (Wired; 2011.04.20) – http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2011/04/iphone-tracks/
• “Report: iPhones secretly track their users’ locations” by John D. Sutter (CNN Tech; 2011.04) – http://www.cnn.com/2011/TECH/mobile/04/20/iphone.tracking/
  The unauthorized surveillance started in June 2010, when the latest version of Apple’s mobile operating system was released, according to two researchers who say they discovered a hidden tracking file and posted it out of concern for users.
• “iPhones Secretly Track Your Every Move, Researchers Say” by Catharine Smith (The Huffington Post; 201.04.20) – http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/20/apple-iphones-tracking-users_n_851532.html
  According to The Guardian, Warden and Allan discovered that devices running iOS 4 keep a record of time-stamped coordinates in a file called “consolidated.db.”
• “Apple Users, Beware: iPhones Secretly Tracking Location, Experts Warn” by Maxim Lott (Fox News; 2011.04.20) – http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011/04/20/apple-iphone-users-beware-location-tracking/
• “Got an iPhone or 3G iPad? Apple is recording your moves” by Alasdair Allan (O’Reilly Radar; 2011.04.20) – http://radar.oreilly.com/2011/04/apple-location-tracking.html – A hidden file in iOS 4 is regularly recording the position of devices.
• “iPhone keeps record of everywhere you go” by Charles Arthur (Guardian; 2011.04.20) – http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2011/apr/20/iphone-tracking-prompts-privacy-fears
• iPhone Tracker – http://petewarden.github.com/iPhoneTracker/

Old and unrelated (or, is it?):

• The Snitch in Your Pocket (Law enforcement is tracking Americans’ cell phones in real time—without the benefit of a warrant), by Michael Isikoff (NEWSWEEK; Feb 19, 2010.02.19; from the magazine issue dated 2010.03.01): http://www.newsweek.com/id/233916

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Related: Geolocation – https://eikonal.wordpress.com/2011/04/08/geolocation/

Anti-scientism

• “Science Is Not Your Enemy – An impassioned plea to neglected novelists, embattled professors, and tenure-less historians” by Steven Pinker (New Republic; 2013.08.06) – http://www.newrepublic.com/article/114127/science-not-enemy-humanities
  • “No, Science Doesn’t Have All the Answers” by New Republic Literary Editor Leon Wieseltier (New Republic; 2013.08.07) – http://www.newrepublic.com/article/114172/leon-wieseltier-scientism-and-humanities | = Leon Wieseltier on the Value of the Humanities – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GevfKLmmMr0#at=110
  • “The Trouble with Scientism – Why history and the humanities are also a form of knowledge” by Philip Kitcher – http://www.newrepublic.com/article/books-and-arts/magazine/103086/scientism-humanities-knowledge-theory-everything-arts-science
  • “Science’s Sacred Cows (Part 1)” by Dave Pruett (Huffington Post; 2013.01.02) – http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dave-pruett/sciences-sacred-cows-part-1_b_2392381.html?
  • “Time to Separate Scientism and State” by Wesley J. Smith (2012.12.24; national Review online) – http://www.nationalreview.com/human-exceptionalism/336436/time-separate-scientism-and-state
    • “Politicians must not elevate mere opinion over science” by Brian Cox and Robin Ince (NewStatesman; 2012.12.18) – http://www.newstatesman.com/sci-tech/sci-tech/2012/12/brian-cox-and-robin-ince-politicians-must-not-elevate-mere-opinion-over-sc
  • “The Folly of Scientism” by Austin L. Hughes (The New Atlantis; 2012 Fall) – http://www.thenewatlantis.com/publications/the-folly-of-scientism
  • “Philosophy Is Not a Science” by Julian Friedland (The new York Times; 2012.04.05) – http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/04/05/philosophy-is-not-a-science/
  • “The New Intolerance” by melanie Phillips (Standpoint; 2012.05) – http://standpointmag.co.uk/text-may-12-the-new-intolerance-melanie-phillips-secularism-religion-intolerance-atheism-islamism-scientism
  • “Defending Freedom” by george Lakoff (New Repoblic; 2006.10.16) – http://www.newrepublic.com/article/politics/defending-freedom
  • “Block That Metaphor” by Steve npinker [- a review of “Whose Freedom?: The Battle over America’s Most Important Idea” by George Lakoff (The New Republic; 2006.10.19)] – http://www.powells.com/review/2006_10_19
  • “Frame Game” by The New Republic staff (The New Republic; 2006.11.04) – http://www.newrepublic.com/blog/open-university/frame-game

USA:Anti-Evolution

• “Tennessee Bill Helps Teachers Challenge Evolution” (SlashDot; 2011.04.08) – http://science.slashdot.org/story/11/04/08/1353249/Tennessee-Bill-Helps-Teachers-Challenge-Evolution
  “In a 70-28 vote yesterday, the Tennessee House of Representatives passed HB 368 (PDF), a bill that encourages science teachers to explore controversial topics without fear of reprisal. Critics say the measure will enable K-12 teachers to present intelligent design and creationism as acceptable alternatives to evolution in the classroom. If the bill passes, Tennessee would join Louisiana as the second state to have specific ‘protection’ for the teaching of evolution in the classroom.”
• “Bill Allowing Teachers to Challenge Evolution Passes Tennessee House” by Sara Reardon 9Science; 2011.04.07) – http://news.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/2011/04/bill-allowing-teachers-to-challenge.html

USA: Anti – Climate Change

Geolocation

• “SimpleGeo Makes Location Data Free, Complicates Smartphone Tracking Worries” by Kit Eaton (Fast Company; 2011.04.22) – http://www.fastcompany.com/1749262/simplegeo-makes-location-data-free-complicates-smartphone-tracking-worries
• “Involuntary Geolocation To Within One Kilometer” 9SlashDot; 2011.04.08) – http://yro.slashdot.org/story/11/04/08/1245244/Involuntary-Geolocation-To-Within-One-Kilometer
  Schneier’s blog tips an article about research into geolocation that can track down a computer’s location from its IP address to within 690 meters on average without voluntary disclosure from the target. Quoting: “The first stage measures the time it takes to send a data packet to the target and converts it into a distance – a common geolocation technique that narrows the target’s possible location to a radius of around 200 kilometers. Wang and colleagues then send data packets to the known Google Maps landmark servers in this large area to find which routers they pass through. When a landmark machine and the target computer have shared a router, the researchers can compare how long a packet takes to reach each machine from the router; converted into an estimate of distance, this time difference narrows the search down further. ‘We shrink the size of the area where the target potentially is,’ explains Wang. Finally, they repeat the landmark search at this more fine-grained level: comparing delay times once more, they establish which landmark server is closest to the target.”
• “Internet probe can track you down to within 690 metres” by Jacob Aron(NewScientist; 2011.04.05) – http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn20336-internet-probe-can-track-you-down-to-within-690-metres.html
  Online adverts could soon start stalking you. A new way of working out where you are by looking at your internet connection could pin down your current location to within a few hundred metres.
• “Pinpointing a Computer to Within 690 Meters” by Bruce Schneier (2011.04.08) – http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2011/04/pinpointing_a_c.html

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Related here:

• iPhone (and Androids, too) doing surveilance, on whose behalf? – https://eikonal.wordpress.com/2011/04/21/iphone-doing-surveilance-on-whose-behalf/:
  • packetlss – Android location service cache dumper – https://github.com/packetlss/android-locdump
  • iPhone Tracker – http://petewarden.github.com/iPhoneTracker/

Broken patents system

• “Google lawyer: Why the patent system is broken” by James Temple (San Francisco Chronicle; 2011.06.11) – http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/11/05/BUQP1LQN3V.DTL&ao=all
• “Start-ups in the maze of software patents” (StormDriver; 2011.03.28) – http://www.stormdriver.com/blog/start-ups-in-the-maze-of-software-patents/
  “Let me give you a stark example, that something is wrong with the current patent system: Microsoft is a patent giant of IT world, and holds 17258 valid patents, even though it didn’t develop a single important software innovation over the course of all its history – just check this very interesting list [http://www.dwheeler.com/innovation/innovation.html].”

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Related here: One more example of reactive social role of patent system – https://eikonal.wordpress.com/2010/07/09/one-more-example-of-reactive-social-role-of-patent-system/ | Lawsuits in mobile space – https://eikonal.wordpress.com/2010/10/08/lawsuits-in-mobile-space/

Privacy articles

• Report: “Dispelling the Myths Surrounding De-identification” (Anonymization can still work) by Lauren Weinstein (Lauren Buzz; 2011.06.16) – http://bit.ly/lbH5PE by Information and Privacy Commissioner of Canada [PDF]
  “Recently, the value of de-identification of personal information as a tool to protect privacy has come into question. Repeated claims have been made regarding the ease of re-identification. We consider this to be most unfortunate because it leaves the mistaken impression that there is no point in attempting to de-identify personal information, especially in cases where de-identified information would be sufficient for subsequent use, as in the case of health research. The goal of this paper is to dispel this myth – the fear of re-identification is greatly overblown. As long as proper de-identification techniques, combined with re-identification risk measurement procedures, are used, de-identification remains a crucial tool in the protection of privacy.”
• AOL search data scandal (WikiPedia) – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AOL_search_data_scandal
• “What the know” series of articles (The Wall Street Journal) – http://online.wsj.com/public/page/what-they-know-digital-privacy.html
• “The privacy covenant is an illusion: How to regain control” by Chad Perrin (Tech Republic; 2011.04.18) – http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/security/the-privacy-covenant-is-an-illusion-how-to-regain-control/5351?tag=nl.e036

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Related pages here: Privacy and digital liberties – https://eikonal.wordpress.com/2010/11/01/privacy-and-digital-liberties/|Personal computer security – https://eikonal.wordpress.com/2011/02/28/personal-computer-security/ | Online privacy tools – https://eikonal.wordpress.com/2010/12/25/online-privacy-tools/ | Unending stream of Facebook privacy news – https://eikonal.wordpress.com/2010/11/22/unending-stream-of-facebook-privacy-news/ | TSA folies – https://eikonal.wordpress.com/2010/11/16/tsa-folies/

Taboo

• “What You Can’t Say” by Paul Graham (2004.01) – http://paulgraham.com/say.html
  • “Re: What You Can’t Say” – http://paulgraham.com/resay.html
• “The Motion Picture Production Code of 1930 (Hays Code)” (in Reformation of the Arts and Music) – http://www.artsreformation.com/a001/hays-code.html
• “What You Can’t Say Will Hurt You” By Geoffrey R. Stone (NYT; 2005.08.15) – http://www.archub.org/stone.txt
• “A Civic Duty to Annoy” by Wendy Kaminer (1997.09) – http://www.archub.org/civicduty.txt
• “Stanley Milgram: The Perils of Obedience” (at Paul Graham’s web site) – http://paulgraham.com/perils.html
• “Mark Twain: Corn-pone Opinions” (at Paul Graham’s web site) – http://paulgraham.com/cornpone.html
• “A New Blacklist for “Excuse Makers” ” (FAIR; 2005.07.27) – http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=2598
  New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman has urged the U.S. government to create blacklists of condemned political speech–not only by those who advocate violence, but also by those who believe that U.S. government actions may encourage violent reprisals. The latter group, which Friedman called “just one notch less despicable than the terrorists,” includes a majority of Americans, according to recent polls.
  Those who think Iraq War sparks terror are “despicable,” says Friedman
• book “The Ten Things You Can’t Say In America, Revised Edition” by Larry Elder (Amazon) – http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0312284659/
• “Stratagem XXXII” from “The Art Of Controversy” by Arthur Schopenhauer – http://coolhaus.de/art-of-controversy/erist32.htm
  If you are confronted with an assertion, there is a short way of getting rid of it, or, at any rate, of throwing suspicion on it, by putting it into some odious category; even though the connection is only apparent, or else of a loose character. You can say, for instance, “That is Manichaeism” or “It is Arianism,” or “Pelagianism,” or “Idealism,” or “Spinozism,” or “Pantheism,” or “Brownianism,” or “Naturalism,” or “Atheism,” or “Rationalism,” “Spiritualism,” “Mysticism,” and so on. In making an objection of this kind, you take it for granted (1) that the assertion in question is identical with, or is at least contained in, the category cited – that is to say, you cry out, “Oh, I have heard that before”; and (2) that the system referred to has been entirely refuted, and does not contain a word of truth.

People killed to harvest their organs

• “Is the mud sticking?” (The Economist; 2011.02.24) – http://www.economist.com/blogs/easternapproaches/2011/02/kosovos_organ-trafficking_scandal?fsrc=scn%2Ffb%2Fwl%2Fbl%2Fmudsticking
  “A summary of the witness statements in the first document states that between June and October 1999, 100-300 people, mostly Serb men, were abducted and taken to Albania. Between 24 and 100 of them were then taken to secondary detention centres, from where they were moved again to a “makeshift clinic” where “medical equipment and personnel were used to extract body organs from the captives, who then died.” The organs were then taken to Tirana airport and flown to Turkey and other destinations.”
• “Gangsta State: Kosovo’s Drugs, Slaves, and Organ Farms” (Pacific Free Press; 2010.12.21) – http://www.pacificfreepress.com/news/1-/7627-gangsta-state-kosovos-drugs-slaves-and-organ-farms.html
• “Mafia State: Kosovo’s Prime Minister Accused of Running Human Organ, Drug Trafficking Cartel” (Antifascist Calling blog; 2010.12.21) – http://antifascist-calling.blogspot.com/2010/12/mafia-state-kosovos-prime-minister.html
• “Report Names Kosovo Leader as Crime Boss” by DOREEN CARVAJAL and MARLISE SIMONS (NYTimes; 2010.12.15) – http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/16/world/europe/16kosovo.html?_r=1
• “Inhuman treatment of people and illicit trafficking of human organs in Kosovo” (Parliamentary Assembly of EU – Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights; 2010.12.12) – http://assembly.coe.int/CommitteeDocs/2010/20101218_ajdoc462010provamended.pdf

Scientology

• “List of Scientology Security Checks” – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Scientology_Security_Checks
  A security check resembles the confessional in traditional religions. However, it also differs from them in that it is not voluntary and that it explicitly gives power to the auditor to scrutinise and control individual Scientologists. Hubbard told security checkers that “you are not merely an observer, or an auditor, you are a detective.”
  Susan Raine of the University of Alberta observes that the questions asked in security checks show that L. Ron Hubbard was intensely preoccupied with scrutiny, surveillance and betrayal. She notes that this intense form of surveillance makes sense from a bureaucratic perspective as a way of making sure all individuals follow (and internalize) the organisational goals. Bent Corydon, an ex-Scientologist, compares security checking to the use of thought police in the novel Nineteen Eighty-Four. He writes that Scientologists are punished for having negative thoughts about Hubbard or Scientology and so learn to think only positively. David Mayo, another former member, reported that sec checks included the question, “Have you ever had any unkind thoughts about LRH?” and that such “discreditable thoughts” could land a follower in trouble.
• FACTnet (F.A.C.T.net Inc. = Fight Against Coercive Tactics Network Since 1993) – http://www.factnet.org/ – Since 1993, Discussion, Resources and Support for Recovery from the Abusive Practices of Religions and Cults
• Scientology Critical Information Directory – http://www.xenu-directory.net/
  • Security Check (Sec Check) – http://www.xenu-directory.net/practices/seccheck1.html
• Ask the Scientologist – http://askthescientologist.blogspot.com/
• Infinite Complacency / Violence and Abuse in Scientology (Jonny Jacobsen) – http://infinitecomplacency.blogspot.com/
• Leaving Scientology (Jeff Hawkins) – http://leavingscientology.wordpress.com/
• Scientology v. Armstrong (Gerry Armstrong) – http://www.gerryarmstrong.org/
• The Wog Blog (Mark Bunker) – http://www.xenutv.com/blog/
• Xenu Directory’s Weblog (xenu-directory.net) – http://xenudirectory.wordpress.com/
• “The Apostate – Paul Haggis vs. the Church of Scientology” by Lawrence Wright (The New Yorker; 2011.02.14) – http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2011/02/14/110214fa_fact_wright?currentPage=all
• “Tom Cruise and Church of Scientology investigated by FBI” by Lucius Wilson (Examiner.com; 2011.02.08) – http://www.examiner.com/celebrity-icons-in-national/tom-cruise-and-church-of-scientology-investigated-by-fbi
• “Scientology & Tom Cruise Give Us More Reasons to Be Afraid” by Kim Conte (The Stir; 2011.02.08) – http://thestir.cafemom.com/in_the_news/116017/scientology_tom_cruise_give_us
• “What You Need to Know About The New Yorker’s Paul Haggis–Scientology Article” (Vulture magazine; 2011.02.07) – http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2011/02/paul_haggis_scientology.html
• “Paul Haggis and the New Yorker Scientology piece: What will be the fallout?” (LA Times; 2011.02.08) – http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/movies/2011/02/paul-haggis-scientology-hubbard-new-yorker-wright-miscavige.html
• “True Grit star Josh Brolin calls Scientology F**king bizarre!” by Lucius Wilson (Examiner.com; 2011.02.07) – http://www.examiner.com/celebrity-icons-in-national/true-grit-star-josh-brolin-calls-scientology-f-king-bizarre
• “Paul Haggis now says he isn’t cooperating on Scientology book” (LA Times; 2011.01.13) – http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/movies/2011/01/paul-haggis-not-involved-scientology-book.html
• “How much will a Paul Haggis book hurt Scientology’s image?” [Updated] (LA Times; 2011.01.06) – http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/movies/2011/01/paul-haggis-scinetology-book-tom-cruise-will-smith-church.html

Art of rulling

Overthrowing non-compliant weak states = making future vassals

• “Shy U.S. Intellectual Created Playbook Used in a Revolution” by Sheryk Gat Stolberg (The New York Times; 2011.02.16) – http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/17/world/middleeast/17sharp.html
  • Gene Sharp’s ideas were used by series of movements used to overthrow governments of Georgia, Serbia, Ukraine, Tunisia and Egypt.
  • “When Egypt’s April 6 Youth Movement was struggling to recover from a failed effort in 2005, its leaders tossed around “crazy ideas” about bringing down the government, said Ahmed Maher, a leading strategist. They stumbled on Mr. Sharp while examining the Serbian movement Otpor, which he had influenced.“
• “From Dictatorship to Democracy” by Gene Sharp – http://www.aeinstein.org/organizations/org/FDTD.pdf [PDF]
• “198 Methods of Nonviolent Action” by Gene Sharp – http://www.aeinstein.org/organizations103a.html
  • These methods were compiled by Dr. Gene Sharp and first published in his 1973 book, The Politics of Nonviolent Action, Vol. 2: The Methods of Nonviolent Action. (Boston: Porter Sargent Publishers, 1973). The book outlines each method and gives information about its historical use.
  • Source: Gene Sharp, The Politics of Nonviolent Action, Vol. 2: The Methods of Nonviolent Action (Boston: Porter Sargent Publishers, 1973) – http://www.aeinstein.org/organizations3e7d.html
• Lessons for the Future of Civic Resistance: Georgia and Ukraine” (United States Institute for Peace) – http://www.usip.org/publications/lessons-future-civic-resistance-georgia-and-ukraine

Movers

• Albert Einstein Institution – http://www.aeinstein.org/ – Mr. Sharp’s front end
• United States Institute for Peace – http://www.usip.org/

Client/instrumented movements

• Serbia 2000: Otpor (= “Resistance!”) movement:
  • at WikiPedia – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otpor
    “Otpor members were instrumental in inspiring and providing hands-on training to several other civic youth organizations in Eastern Europe and elsewhere, including Kmara in the Republic of Georgia (itself partly responsible for the downfall of Eduard Shevardnadze), Pora in Ukraine (which was part of the Orange Revolution), Zubr in Belarus (opposing the president Alexander Lukashenko), MJAFT! in Albania, Oborona in Russia (opposing the president Vladimir Putin), KelKel in Kyrgyzstan (active in the revolution that brought down the president Askar Akayev), Bolga in Uzbekistan (opposing Islom Karimov) and Nabad-al-Horriye. in Lebanon. A similar group of students was present in Venezuela against Hugo Chávez. In 2011, an April 6 Youth Movement emerged in Egypt during the 2011 Egyptian protests using the same symbols as Otpor.“
  • Otpor’s challenge to Milosevic (BBC News; 2000.05.15) – http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/749469.stm
• Georgia 2003/2004: Kmara movement = “Rose Revolution”:
  • Kmara at WikiPedia – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kmara
  • Rose Revolution at WikiPedia – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rose_revolution
• Ukraine 2004: Pora (=”it’s Time!”) movement = “Orange Revolution”:
  • Pora at WikiPedia – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pora
  • Orange Revolutionat WikiPedia – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orange_Revolution
  • “The Orange Revolution” by Paul Quinn-Judge and Yuri Zarakhovich (Time Magazine; 2004.11.06) – http://www.time.com/time/europe/html/041206/story.html
  • “Book Excerpt: The Orange Revolution” by Adrian Gostick and Chester Elton (Business Week; 2010.09.24) – http://www.businessweek.com/print/managing/content/sep2010/ca20100924_731486.htm
• Belarus

Arab winter 2011

• Tunisia
• Egypt
• Lybia
• Algeria
• Jemen
• Bahrain

• “What name will history give the Middle East Revolution?” – http://sahibagill.wordpress.com/2011/02/06/what-name-will-history-give-the-middle-east-revolution/
• “Colour revolution 2.0 …” (Bet Aljazair’s Chronicle; 2011.02.14) – http://bentaljazair.wordpress.com/2011/02/14/808/

More:

• “The last of the colored revolutions goes south” by Ian Bremmer (The Foreign Policy; 2010.04.08)- http://eurasia.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2010/04/08/the_last_of_the_colored_revolutions_goes_south

Ruling vassals

• From: “Tunisians Drive Leader from Power in Mass Uprising” (Cryptogon.com; 2011.01.15) – http://cryptogon.com/?p=19903| also in “Egypt Protests: America’s Secret Backing for Rebel Leaders Behind Uprising?” (Cryptogon.com; 2011.01.29) – http://cryptogon.com/?p=20232.
  Excerpt: At times like this, it’s generally a good idea to keep a copy of The Grand Chessboard: American Primacy And Its Geostrategic Imperatives by Zbigniew Brzezinski handy:
  • As the imitation of American ways gradually pervades the world, it creates a more congenial setting for the exercise of the indirect and seemingly consensual American hegemony. And as in the case of the domestic American system, that hegemony involves a complex structure of interlocking institutions and procedures, designed to generate consensus and obscure asymmetries in power and influence. American global supremacy is thus buttressed by an elaborate system of alliances and coalitions that literally span the globe. …
  • American supremacy has thus produced a new international order that not only replicates but institutionalizes abroad many of the features of the American system itself.

  He writes that two steps are required for the, “Formulation of American geostrategy for the long-term management of America’s Eurasian geopolitical interests.”

  • First, to identify the geostrategically dynamic Eurasian states that have the power to cause a potentially important shift in the international distribution of power and to decipher the central external goals of their respective political elites and the likely consequences of their seeking to attain them; and to pinpoint the geopolitically critical Eurasian states whose location and/or existence have catalytic effects either on the more active geostrategic players or on regional conditions;
  • Second, to formulate specific U.S. policies to offset, co-opt, and/or control the above, so as to preserve and promote vital U.S. interests, and to conceptualize a more comprehensive geostrategy that establishes on a global scale the interconnection between the more specific U.S. policies.
  • In brief, for the United States, Eurasian geostrategy involves the purposeful management of geostrategically dynamic states and the careful handling of geopolitically catalytic states, in keeping with the twin interests of America in the short-term preservation of its unique global power and in the long-run transformation of it into increasingly institutionalized global cooperation. To put it in a terminology that hearkens back to the more brutal age of ancient empires, the three grand imperatives of imperial geostrategy are
    1. to prevent collusion and maintain security dependence among the vassals,
    2. to keep tributaries pliant and protected,
    3. and to keep the barbarians from coming together.

• The Grand Chessboard
  • Amazon – http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0465027261
  • Wikipedia – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Grand_Chessboard
  • quotes – http://www.takeoverworld.info/grandchessboard.html
  • http://sandiego.indymedia.org/media/2006/10/119973.pdf
  • http://www.hollings.org/Content/Zbigniew.Brzezinski_Grand.Chess.Board.pdf

Declawing Cookies

• “Flash to Offer More Control Over Cookies” by Keir Thomas (PCWorld; 2011.01.13) – http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/216681/flash_to_offer_more_control_over_cookies.html

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Disabling Flash cookies (LSOs)

• 1) Go to http://www.macromedia.com/support/documentation/en/flashplayer/help/settings_manager03.html. You should see something like:
  

• 2) Disable the “Allow third-party Flash content to store data on your computer” check-box:
  
  Since you are here, disable also “Store common Flash components to reduce download toimes.”, too.