Hillary Clinton says email scandal was just one reason she lost

Found on CNet News on Thursday, 01 June 2017
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The Democratic presidential nominee's hourlong chat dissecting tech and politics seemed more like a therapy session as Clinton is back in the public eye discussing what she's been doing since her defeat. Meanwhile, issues Clinton said she struggled with during the campaign -- fake news and Russian hacking -- continue to make headlines.

"That really influenced the information that people were relying on," she said. "I believe that what was happening to me was unprecedented."

Clinton was also asked why she delivered paid speeches for Goldman Sachs, which were eventually leaked by WikiLeaks. Clinton took offense, saying she gave many speeches to a wide range of groups from health care executives to camp counselors.

She did everything right, but everybody else is to blame for her loss. Of course.

Hillary Clinton tweet-sniffs at media after Macron win

Found on CNet News on Monday, 08 May 2017
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She took to Twitter on Sunday to muse: "Victory for Macron, for France, the EU, & the world." Many might see it this way. He was definitely not the candidate that many believe to be overtly racist.

Still, Clinton wasn't done. She added: "Defeat to those interfering w/democracy. (But the media says I can't talk about that)."

Looks like the "blame everybody else" statements aren't over yet.

French candidate Macron claims massive hack as emails leaked

Found on Reuters on Saturday, 06 May 2017
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Leading French presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron's campaign said on Friday it had been the target of a "massive" computer hack that dumped its campaign emails online 1-1/2 days before voters choose between the centrist and his far-right rival, Marine Le Pen.

It urged the media to be cautious about publishing details of the emails given that campaigning had ended, and publication could lead to criminal charges.

If Macron has done nothing (morally or legally) wrong, this leak should not damage him at all. Given the respone of his team, they don't seem too happy about them going public for unexplained reasons.

It's Russian hackers, FBI and Wikileaks wot won it – Hillary Clinton on her devastating election loss

Found on The Register on Wednesday, 03 May 2017
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Hillary Clinton today gave her first full interview since dramatically losing the US presidential election – and has placed the blame for her downfall on Russian hackers, FBI director James Comey and Wikileaks.

Just for good measure, she also blamed the media and woman-hating for her failure to take the top job.

Even now, having lost in the most spectacular fashion to probably the least-qualified US presidential candidate in history, Clinton is unable to see her and her team's own failings.

If you have lost against Trump, it means you have really lost. There is no sugarcoating it, and interviews like this clearly show why she lost: because everybody else is to blame, except herself. That's not how you take responsibility.

Trump will make America stupid, tweet-rages DeGrasse Tyson

Found on CNet News on Sunday, 19 March 2017
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In a storm of tweets on Sunday, the astrophysicist offered his own grim criticism of Donald Trump's budget. To lighten the mood, he made use of the president's most famous campaign slogan.

"We all want to Make America Great Again. But that won't happen until we first Make America Smart Again," he tweeted.

The mass media cana nd should be blamed for this too since they have been dumbing down people for years with cheap and usless shows for couch potatoes. Panem et circenses at its finest.

Germany’s Flawed Plan to Fight Hate Speech by Fining Tech Giants Millions

Found on Wired on Saturday, 18 March 2017
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Heiko Mass, Germany’s minister of justice and consumer protection, said this week that he will propose a law that would fine social media companies up to €50 million ($53 million) for not responding quickly enough to reports of illegal content or hate speech.

“Google, Facebook, and Twitter are US companies,” says Stefan Heumann, co-director of Stiftung Neue Verantwortung, a Berlin-based think tank focused on technology and public policy. “The rules they set regarding speech reflect US constitutional and cultural values—freedom of speech is treated as nearly an absolute right.”

The Internet does not end at a border; and if Germany can demand content to be taken down it consideres bad, so can Russia or Saudi Arabia.

Trump says Obama wiretapped his phone, offers no evidence

Found on CNet News on Saturday, 04 March 2017
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"Terrible! Just found out that Obama had my 'wires tapped' in Trump Tower just before the victory," tweeted Trump. "Nothing found. This is McCarthyism!"

"How low has President Obama gone to tapp [sic] my phones during the very sacred election process. This is Nixon/Watergate. Bad (or sick) guy!, he sniffed.

This is politics. You never know what to believe. It might look like a perfect example for fake news, but on the other hand, several three-letter-agencies have spied on almost everybody.

Op-ed: Mark Zuckerberg’s manifesto is a political trainwreck

Found on Ars Technica on Saturday, 18 February 2017
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Zuckerberg begins by claiming we're in an historic moment similar to "our great leaps from tribes to cities to nations." Then he adds that we need social media to "reach the next level." That next level is some kind of ill-defined global community which will come into being by using Facebook as a platform.

But coming on the heels of his comments about politicians with Facebook engagement, he sounds like he's floating the idea of turning Facebook into the infrastructure for managing elections.

Voting on FB? Seriously? On the antisocial network which collects every bit of data it can get about you to make as much money as it can with your profile? On a network which routinely ignores your rights for privacy?

The Register's guide to protecting your data when visiting the US

Found on The Register on Tuesday, 14 February 2017
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In practice, tourists have been stopped in national parks and asked to show their visitation paperwork, or stopped when driving down the road.

When it comes to safeguarding your personal data on devices, CBP has considerable leeway in what it can demand and copy – basically everything is up for grabs. The CBP told The Register it reserves the right to check "computers, disks, drives, tapes, mobile phones and other communication devices, cameras, music and other media players, and any other electronic or digital devices."

"All persons, baggage, and merchandise arriving in or departing from the United States are subject to inspection, search and detention," a spokesperson said.

Simple solution? Just don't fly there. Easy.

Israeli PM summons US ambassador amid UN vote row

Found on BBC News on Sunday, 25 December 2016
Browse Politics

The reprimands came after Israel vowed to take retaliatory steps for what it called a "shameful" act by the UN.

In remarks on Saturday night, Mr Netanyahu said Israel would work to get the resolution rescinded, adding that allies in the US Congress and the incoming administration had promised to "fight an all-out war" against the measure.

He said he had already halted Israeli funding to five UN institutions "that are especially hostile to Israel", and warned of further steps to come.

One would think that Israel would be the nation that should understand best what it means to have everything taken away from you and being forced to move away from the place you've spent your life. It looks like it is only illegal when others do it.