What we need is a filter ? Butterflies and Wheels

Cath Elliott writes about What it?s like to be a victim of Don?t Start Me Off?s internet hate mob.

Note from Helen Lewis, who republished the post on her New Statesman blog:

Note from Helen: Cath Elliott?s Blog, An Occupational Hazard, was one of the pieces which inspired me to collect together the experiences of female bloggers about online abuse. I thought Cath was incredibly brave to write about the hatred she was subjected to ? particularly since it was deliberately as humiliating and obscene as possible.

Funnily enough, her internet tormentors were from a site called Don?t Start Me Off! ? which was taken offline last week by its owner after the unwelcome glare of publicity fell on it when Mary Beard spoke out about the thread about her posted there. As Richard White, the site?s owner, is now claiming that he has been badly misrepresented, I thought it was important to hear what it was really like to be harassed by DSMO. Here?s Cath, in a post originally published on her blog yesterday.

Yes Richard White who said ?we never try to hurt people?s feelings.? He actually said that.

In his sniveling non-apology to Professor Mary Beard, who has recently been the victim of the DSMO hate mongers, White also stated: ?We do not go out to be offensive?. He then implied that the only reason Beard had seen the vile comments about her was because she?d obviously gone on to the Internet specifically to look for them.

According to White, the trolls at DSMO were never actually trolls in the true Internety sense of the word because they never went after anyone off the site. They didn?t for instance harass anyone on Twitter or Facebook; they all stayed safely within the confines of the DSMO comment threads.

Well, as I?m sure you?ll understand when you see the nearly two years worth of abuse and harassment I?m about to detail here, I read that Guardian interview with White with a mounting sense of disbelief.

So did I, though at the same time I read it also with a sense of weary, disgusted familiarity. Yes of course he bullshits, yes of course he denies it, yes of course he?s dishonest and self-serving.

In the piece I posted back in April 2011 ? An Occupational Hazard? ? in which I detailed the abuse I?d received on that site, I said: ?Of course I realise that by posting this piece I?m no doubt giving them enough ammunition to start the whole sick cycle off again, but so be it.? And I was right: that?s exactly what they did.

In the comment thread under the original piece someone claiming to head the moderating team at DSMO posted what looked very much like an apology: ?Firstly I wish to apologise to Cath if some of the comments did offend her? he said, ?I, for one, will try to watch out for the comments that upset Cath so much, but such is the nature of some people on the internet I feel we can only do our small part to stop the maliciously intent.?

And yet two months later, in June 2011, just when I thought things were starting to die down over DSMOgate, here?s the comment that Richard ?Ricardo? White, the site owner remember, tried to post to this blog:

?Hi Cath I just thought that I?d clarify that the semi-apology on this page didn?t come from me. I think maybe you thought it did. For the avoidance of doubt, I wouldn?t apologise to you if I were tied to a chair and about to be beaten to death by a gaggle of your acolytes, armed to the teeth with heavy duty dildos.

You see, you?re in the criticism business and we all know you just love to dish it out. I?m in that business too and as any primary school child knows, if you dish it out, you have to be prepared to take it too. You seem to be unfamiliar with this concept. I?ve been on the receiving end more times than you could imagine. Rightly so, too.

Unlike you, I don?t expect never to be challenged. Does this bother me? I can honestly say, not one iota. Your brand of hilarious left-wing nincompoopery is absolutely ripe for ridicule. You love to portray yourself as the victim, but you?re nothing of the sort. You and your fellow arch ?Liberals? are in truth the least liberal people on earth. You ruthlessly defend your own opinions and will not accept any criticism or suggestion that you may be wrong. Is this the free society you long for? Is freedom in Cathland purely selective? It would seem so. I imagine that, to you, Joseph Stalin was just a cuddly, misunderstood champion of the poor. So here it is, Cath. I don?t give a shit if you?re offended. As long as you?re dishing it out, you?re going to be taking it too, whether you like it, or not. Now, polish those shoes, straighten that blazer and tie and get ready for assembly.?

Uh huh. It?s all there. The ?you write in public so you deserve anything we feel like dishing out? bit. The confusion of ?challenging? with trashing, insulting, degrading, and similar bullying tactics. The unabashed announcement that ?you?re going to be taking it.?

And then there are the comments. There?s a guy there persistently interpreting Elliott?s claim that rapists aren?t somehow radically and obviously different from the normal guy in the street as a claim that all guys in the street are rapists. Oy.

I wish somebody would invent a filter. A really good, effective filter.

?

Source: http://freethoughtblogs.com/butterfliesandwheels/2013/01/what-we-need-is-a-filter/

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Harry's Afghan downtime: movies, candy trades

	Essential News from The Associated Press

? ?Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2013-01-27-Britain-Prince%20Harry/id-ec67deec94d44acca8a85280eab88f23

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The Yeshiva World VIDEO: R' Amnon Yitzchak Speaks Out ...

[VIDEO IN EXTENDED ARTICLE]

Following the election defeat of his Koach L?Hashpiah party, which failed to pass the minimum threshold to enter the 19th Knesset, Rav Amnon Yitzchak speaks out, in the form of a video, speaking of the ?sheker?, the lies that accompanied the election campaign and the Shas officials ?who preferred the chilonim Yair Lapid who closes kollelim and drafts Bnei Torah instead of the person who brings people back to teshuvah.

In the 17 minute video, Rav Amnon speaks of the grief caused to Maran HaGaon HaRav Ovadia Yosef Shlita, and the chilul Hashem and unacceptable actions of the Shas officials. He speaks of the insults to Maran and the Torah due to the actions of Shas leaders, who acted inappropriately, as well as the attacks and insults against him.

?Shas officials preferred voting for Arabs instead of me.? He explains how the Shas rabbonim never bothered to inquire, to probe and verify if indeed the harsh allegations against him were founded, which of course they were not.

Rav Amnon says he does not forgive any of them for the spilling of his blood and pain and suffering caused.

Rav Amnon speaks of many cases in which they detected voter fraud, the tricks that took place, the threats, those who saw Shas people outside asking voters ?who are you voting for?, the distribution of cash and even distribution of cell phones free of charge, all to pull people from voting Koach L?Hashpiah.

The vehicles driving around Rosh Ha?ayin and Rehovot announcing that Koach L?Hashpiah closed and that Rav Amnon instructed voters to return to Shas. The rav speaks of how Shas ignored the rulings of Central Election Committee officials, conducting a campaign that was ruled illegal and unacceptable.

Rav Amnon laments how the actions of Shas leaders and supporters actually pushed some people away from being frum, not wishing to be associated with Jews like this, citing the foul play and tactics that have become Shas, actions that are not seen among the most left-wing secular party in Israel.

Rav Amnon speaks of how 30,000 rabbonim, roshei kollel and their followers used all their energy against one man, who was simply acting upon the instructions of HaGaon HaRav Aaron Yehuda Leib Shteinman Shlita, and instead, Yair Lapid has 19 seats.

?Lapid is good for Shas while Amnon Yitzchak is very bad. Can someone please explain this to me? he adds.

Click HERE to watch this video from a mobile device.

Have you checked out?YWN Radio?yet? Click?HERE?to listen!

(YWN ? Israel Desk, Jerusalem)

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Source: http://www.theyeshivaworld.com/?p=154367

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Third-grader takes loaded gun to Detroit-area school

INKSTER, Mich. (AP) ? Authorities say a third-grade student brought a loaded handgun to his Detroit-area school but was stopped before he walked through the doors.

School district spokeswoman Val Hughes says the principal at Daly Elementary School in Inkster was tipped by a phone call before school started on Friday morning.

She says the principal met the boy at the school's entrance. The boy and weapon were removed from school grounds around 9 a.m.

Hughes says no one was harmed and that other students weren't aware of what happened.

No details were released about how the boy got the gun or why he took it to school.

Inkster police told The Associated Press that they couldn't release any information about the incident.

Inkster is about 15 miles west of Detroit.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/3rd-grader-takes-loaded-gun-detroit-area-school-005048354.html

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Wierd laptop display when warming up. - Computers, Math, Science ...

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Source: http://www.wrongplanet.net/postt222125.html

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Court Refuses To Allow Copyright Troll To ?Ensnare? Innocent ...

Court Refuses To Allow Copyright Troll To ?Ensnare? Innocent Subscribers

In another victory against copyright trolls in the United States, a court has effectively ruined an adult movie company?s chances of screwing any money out of potentially innocent Internet subscribers. The case, involving the identities of 110 alleged BitTorrent pirates, was kicked out by a judge after the plaintiff failed to explain how it would safeguard its IP address-based evidence from ?ensnaring? innocent Internet subscribers.

So-called copyright troll cases in the United States, United Kingdom and Germany in particular, are causing misery for hundreds of thousands of people.

The problems are many. The cash claims from copyright holders against those they claim have unlawfully shared their content online are not only aggressive, excessive and cynical, but worse still they often target the innocent.

Copyright trolls, many of them from the adult industry, know they are targeting the subscribers of Internet connections when they seek to discover who is behind an IP address. They also know that there is a significant chance that the bill payer isn?t the actual infringer.

Sadly, they really don?t care, so with this in mind it?s always nice when a court does.

In the case of Third Degree Films v Does 1-110, the adult studio went to the District Court in New Jersey seeking discovery of the identities of 110 alleged BitTorrent pirates. As usual the company wanted the judge to order the Does? ISPs to hand over their personal details including names, addresses, telephone numbers, e-mail and MAC addresses. What would follow is the usual pay-up-or-else threats.

The first problem highlighted by the judge was on the issue of joinder. Citing an ?almost identical? earlier case presided over by Judge Faith S. Hochberg, Judge Mark Falk said he agreed entirely with the decision to disallow joining all alleged infringers in one lawsuit. On this basis he kicked out 109 of the 110 Does in the Third Degree complaint.

So, with just one potential defendant left, could the adult studio pull back a late win against this lone individual? In one word, no. Judge Falk, like a growing number of judges in other jurisdictions, recognized that an IP address does not identify an individual.

?Indeed, the infringer might be someone other than the subscriber; for instance, someone in the subscriber?s household, a visitor to the subscriber?s home or even someone in the vicinity that gains access to the network,? he wrote in his ruling.

Worse still, Judge Falk wrote, the weak nature of this kind of evidence has the potential to lead to the identification of a person who is entirely innocent.

?Plaintiff?s sought after discovery has the potential to ensnare numerous innocent internet users into the litigation placing a burden on them that outweighs Plaintiff?s need for discovery as framed,? the Judge wrote.

?Granting Plaintiff?s motion has the potential to permit Plaintiff to obtain detailed personal information of innocent individuals. This could subject an innocent individual to an unjustified burden.?

Recognizing that copyright trolls do face challenges when trying to identify actual infringers, Judge Falk threw Third Degree a lifeline in their attempts to properly identify the single remaining Doe.

?The Court will permit Plaintiff to submit a new motion for expedited discovery as to John Doe 1 setting forth a detailed plan that addresses the Court?s concern regarding potentially innocent individuals, as expressed in this Order,? he wrote.

In other words, if the movie studio could convince the court they were asking for the identity of the actual infringer and not just the person who pays the Internet bill, they might be successful in getting permission to extract their details from their ISP.

But it seems that was beyond Third Degree films? abilities. The very next day they withdrew the entire case. Trolls 0, Common Sense 1.

Source: http://torrentfreak.com/court-throws-out-109-of-110-alleged-bittorrent-pirates-then-kicks-out-110th-too-130125/

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Aurora Health Care To Lay Off Employees Because Of Obamacare

It looks like Obamacare is having some negative effects on the industry it was intended to help.

Dr. Nick Turkal, CEO of Wisconsin-based non-profit health care provider Aurora Health Care, announced earlier this month that his employer would be cutting jobs due to Obamacare, The Journal Times reports. In a letter to employees he wrote that the company would be receiving $13 million less in government reimbursements forcing it to make ?position eliminations plus discontinuation of some positions in the coming weeks.?

The cuts will be small considering Aurora?s 30,000 current employees but things could get worse in the future. Already, staff has been instructed to cut costs by avoiding making color copies; physicians serving Medicare patients may receive a cut in payments.

?We don?t want people to be afraid, but things are different,? Aurora spokeswoman Myrle Croasdale told the Journal Times.

Aurora isn?t the only one in the health care industry to claim Obamacare is forcing layoffs. Orlando Health, a Florida network of community and specialty hospitals, said it would be laying off 400 employees due to new Obamacare costs, One News Now reports. Likewise, small medical device company ADM Tronics says Obamacare will mean the company will have to lay off employees for the first time in over a decade, according to Fox News.

Obamacare has had positive effects on the health care industry, as well, however. While these companies have reported increased costs, hospitals and insurance companies alike are expected to receive a large influx in payments due to the new health law, Forbes reports. As a result, investors are betting that the industry will see big profits, already driving stocks of various health care companies in the S&P 500 up 7.3 percent this year, The Washington Post reports.

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/26/aurora-health-care-obamacare_n_2559120.html

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