Month: October 2014

I’m really glad I didn’t get FIOS

~ susie ~ 1 Comment

Especially after reading this:

Verizon Wireless has been subtly altering the web traffic of its wireless customers for the past two years, inserting a string of about 50 letters, numbers, and characters into data flowing between these customers and the websites they visit.

The company—one the country’s largest wireless carriers, providing cell phone service for about 123 million subscribers—calls this a Unique Identifier Header, or UIDH. It’s a kind of short-term serial number that advertisers can use to identify you on the web, and it’s the lynchpin of the company’s internet advertising program. But critics say that it’s also a reckless misuse of Verizon’s power as an internet service provider—something that could be used as a trump card to obviate established privacy tools such as private browsing sessions or “do not track” features.

Jacob Hoffman-Andrews, a technologist with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, wants Verizon to stop using the UIDH. “ISPs are trusted connectors of users and they shouldn’t be modifying our traffic on its way to the Internet,” he says. He calls the UIDH a “perma-cookie,” because it can be read by any web server that you visit and used to build a profile of your internet habits.

Israeli cop fires on AP photographers

~ susie ~ 1 Comment

Ni'lin

They must hate witnesses:

JERUSALEM (AP) — Two photographers, including one working for The Associated Press, were struck by rubber-coated bullets fired at close range by an Israeli border policeman. Neither photographer was seriously hurt in Sunday’s incident, which came during protests that followed the funeral of a 14-year-old Palestinian boy killed in a clash with Israeli soldiers.

It was the latest incident in which journalists have been injured by tear gas, stun grenades and rubber bullets fired by border police, a paramilitary unit often sent in to quell violent demonstrations. AP said it planned to protest to the Israeli military, police and government. John Daniszewski, senior managing editor for international news, said the shooting showed “reckless disregard for the safety of journalists who were doing their job in a lawful way.”

AP photographer Majdi Mohammed said he was among several photographers who took up positions near the protests in the West Bank town of Silwad. Mohammed said they were not ordered to leave and the area had not been declared closed.

As he was taking pictures, an armored jeep pulled up behind him, a border policeman stepped out and fired directly at him from a distance of 10 to 20 meters (10 to 20 yards), Mohammed said.

Home-grown terrorists collecting names

~ susie ~ 2 Comments

sovereign

The real threat in America, which the media ignores:

Sovereign citizens groups are scary. For police officers, they’re violent extremists. Now at least one group of sovereign citizens duped young people into collecting the addresses of police officers and other first responders in Austin, Texas.

An FBI alert from the bureau’s San Antonio Division — obtained in August by the non-profit Web site Public Intelligence — details the creepy scheme.

Through late July of last year, small teams of “young individuals” combed through neighborhoods in Austin knocking on doors, according to the alert. When someone answered, the canvassers explained they worked for a fundraising group that helps students master public speaking.

As part of their training — the teams explained — they needed to learn about the professions of the people they spoke with.

The canvassers were then awarded points based on the job of the person they talked to. Different jobs were worth different points. The kids carried yellow note cards that referenced the 15 jobs worth points and their value. The list included professions such as nurse, doctor, and firefighter.

Police officers were worth 2,000 points, the highest value.

In exchange for points, the organizers promised cash prizes and scholarships. More cops and firefighters meant more money.

The alert also explained that the students, “carried a paper card stating the individuals who were in possession of the card were allowed to be doing what they were doing per constitutional law and they were not required to show any identification or be restricted from their duties by state or local officials.”

The card carried no contact information for any organization. The canvassers showed the card to anyone asking questions.

In truth, there was no group geared towards improving the public speaking skills of young people. There were no scholarships or money. A sovereign citizens group — the FBI believes — conned the kids into doing their dirty work. This whole thing was just a clever way for domestic extremists to collect the addresses of first responders.

There’s that justice system again

~ susie

This is so common, yet most families don’t have the resources to sue their schools:

Called “gay” and “faggot” for years, 14-year old Eric Martin was bullied so severely that one day, he fought back. Several of his classmates beat him into unconsciousness and he spent nearly two weeks in the hospital.

Now, the school is pressing charges – against Eric. He is facing two charges of assault despite suffering a traumatic brain injury, multiple contusions, and a broken arm, while his assailants were largely unharmed. If convicted, he could face jail time and fines.

The big honkin’ loophole in the ACA

~ susie ~ 2 Comments

I’ve noticed this — I’ve been getting all kinds of charges for things I was never charged for before! Gee, if only we had politicians that could actually fix this:

Leo Boudreau of Massachusetts was thrilled to find a psychologist in his insurance network to treat his teenage daughter for emotional stress related to a medical condition. The therapist worked out of a local hospital.

But he was surprised when the bill for each visit contained two charges: the approximately $100 he expected to see for the therapist — and a similar fee for the room, which was not covered.

“How could it be that the doctor was in network and the hospital was in network, but I had to pay separately for the room?” Mr. Boudreau said.

As insurers ratchet down payments to physicians and hospitals, these providers are pushing back with a host of new charges: Ophthalmologists are increasingly levying separate “refraction fees” to assess vision acuity. Orthopedic clinics impose fees to put an arm in a cast or provide a splint, in addition to the usual bill for the office visit. On maternity wards, new mothers pay for a lactation consultant. An emergency room charges an “activation fee” in addition to its facility charges. Psychologists who have agreed to an insurer’s negotiated rate for neuropsychological testing bill patients an additional $2,000 for an “administration charge.”
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