Category: Ignorant or unreasonable

Monsanto Behind GOP Effort to Defund Cancer Researchers

IN 2015, the World Health Organization’s cancer research arm, the v, classified glyphosate, an active ingredient in the herbicide Roundup, as a “probable carcinogen,” setting off a global debate about the world’s most popular weedkiller.Over the last four years, Republicans in Congress have excoriated and pushed to defund the IARC, casting their defense of the chemical as a quest on behalf of small American farmers. Rep. Frank Lucas, R-Okla., has written that his outrage over the cancer research is on behalf of the “farmers and food manufacturers who rely on traditional farming methods to produce the food that fuels America — and the world.”But according to a recent trove of documents, the ongoing political assault on the IARC has been scripted in part by Monsanto, the St. Louis-based chemical and seed conglomerate that produces Roundup and Roundup-resistant crops.

Source: Monsanto Behind GOP Effort to Defund Cancer Researchers

Ring asks police not to tell public how its law enforcement backend works | Ars Technica

Ring device owners are often unclear on what information, specifically, police can see and how they can use it. That secrecy is entirely by design, CNET reports today, as Ring has a list of features its police partners are explicitly not supposed to share with the public.Documents security researcher Shreyas Gandlur obtained through a FOIA request include a communication from Ring to police in Bensenville, Illinois, saying that “Neighbors Portal back-end features should not be shared with the public, including the law enforcement portal on desktop view, the heat map, sample video request emails, or the video request process itself as they often contain sensitive investigative information.”

Source: Ring asks police not to tell public how its law enforcement backend works | Ars Technica

Elsevier Tries To Lie About University Of California’s Contract Negotiation; UC Shows Its Receipts | Techdirt

You may recall that, back in March, we were excited to hear the news that the University of California had cancelled its Elsevier subscription, after Elsevier was unwilling to support UC’s goal of universal open access to all of its research (while simultaneously cutting back on the insane costs that Elsevier charged). Apparently the fight between Elsevier and UC has continued, and it’s getting nasty.

Source: Elsevier Tries To Lie About University Of California’s Contract Negotiation; UC Shows Its Receipts | Techdirt

Ferrari Wants Instagrammer To Remove Pics Of His Car Because It’s Delusional About Who Buys Ferraris

Oh, Ferrari. You make such lovely, fast cars. But, damn, are you in some serious denial right now. The Italian automaker is currently involved in a stupid tiff with a wealthy German fashion designer whose aesthetic sensibilities seem to be based on the result of mixing Red Bull and puréed Euro notes with the collected crotch sweat from a Berlin discotheque. Ferrari wants the designer, Philip Plein, to remove pictures of his own cars from his Instagram account, because they feel his feed “tarnishes the reputation of Ferrari’s brands.”

Source: Ferrari Wants Instagrammer To Remove Pics Of His Car Because It’s Delusional About Who Buys Ferraris

Court: No Immunity For SWAT Team That Hurled A Flash-Bang Grenade In The General Direction Of A Two-Year-Old Child | Techdirt

It usually takes very extreme behavior from law enforcement officers to punch holes in the qualified immunity shield. Fortunately/unfortunately, there’s seems to be no shortage of extremely-badly-behaving law enforcement officers.

Source: Court: No Immunity For SWAT Team That Hurled A Flash-Bang Grenade In The General Direction Of A Two-Year-Old Child | Techdirt

FAA Reportedly Delegated Oversight of Critical 737 Max Flight System to Boeing

The Times wrote that after “intense lobbying to Congress by industry” resulted in the FAA delegating more authority to manufacturers in 2005, an approach that FAA officials believed would streamline approvals, some staff became concerned that they were no longer able to track what was happening inside Boeing. According to the Times, interviews with over a dozen current and former FAA and Boeing employees have shown that regulators “never independently assessed the risks of the dangerous software known as MCAS [Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System] when they approved the plane in 2017.”

Source: FAA Reportedly Delegated Oversight of Critical 737 Max Flight System to Boeing

Small Towns In Alaska Are Staffing Their Police Departments With Convicted Criminals | Techdirt

In Stebbins alone, all seven of the police officers working as of July 1 have pleaded guilty to domestic violence charges within the past decade. Only one has received formal law enforcement training of any kind.The current police chief pleaded guilty to throwing a teenage relative to the ground and threatening to kill her after drinking homebrew liquor in 2017. (Alcohol is illegal in the village.) He was hired a year later. He declined to answer questions in person and blocked a reporter on Facebook.Two men who until recently were Stebbins police officers pleaded guilty to spitting in the faces of police officers; one was the subject of a 2017 sexual assault restraining order in which a mother said he exposed himself to her 12-year-old daughter.

Source: Small Towns In Alaska Are Staffing Their Police Departments With Convicted Criminals | Techdirt

Appeals Court Says No Rights Were Violated When A Cop Shot At A ‘Non-Threatening’ Dog But Hit A Kid Instead | Techdirt

“while the children were lying on the ground obeying [Vickers’s] orders . . . without necessity or any immediate threat or cause, [Vickers] discharged his firearm at the family pet named ‘Bruce’ twice.” The first shot missed, and Bruce (a dog) temporarily retreated under Corbitt’s home. No other efforts were made to restrain or subdue the dog, and no one appeared threatened by him.

Eight or ten seconds after Vickers fired the first shot, the dog reappeared and was “approaching his owners,” when Vickers fired a second shot at the dog. This shot also missed the dog, but the bullet struck SDC in the back of his right knee. At the time of the shot, SDC was “readily viewable” and resting “approximately eighteen inches from . . . Vickers, lying on the ground, face down, pursuant to the orders of [Vickers].”

Source: Appeals Court Says No Rights Were Violated When A Cop Shot At A ‘Non-Threatening’ Dog But Hit A Kid Instead | Techdirt

Those facial recognition trials in the UK? They should be banned, warns Parliamentary committee • The Register

“The legal basis for automatic facial recognition has been called into question, yet the government has not accepted that there’s a problem. It must. A legislative framework on the use of these technologies is urgently needed. Current trials should be stopped and no further trials should take place until the right legal framework is in place.”

Source: Those facial recognition trials in the UK? They should be banned, warns Parliamentary committee • The Register

Again I Must Remind You That Dealing With a Hit Man Is Fraught With Peril – Lowering the Bar

There are a number of reasons for this. Here are four:Murder is illegal;Hiring someone else to do it is also illegal;You will probably just have to accept the form contract the hit man gives you; andEnforcing that contract if breached is going to be problematic.That last one is because (1) the hit man is presumably just as willing to kill you, and (2) you can’t exactly go to the authorities for help.And yet people do.

Source: Again I Must Remind You That Dealing With a Hit Man Is Fraught With Peril – Lowering the Bar