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China think tank calls for a more 'democratic' internet governance. And that means what, exactly?

Cate Cadell
Raw Story
Mon, 04 Dec 2017 17:08 UTC
China Internet
© REUTERS/Edgar Su
China ranks fifth among 38 nations globally in standards of cyber governance, a top state-backed internet think tank said on Monday, calling for a 'democratic' internet governance system to eradicate inequalities it said marginalized developing nations.

China has pushed strongly for a unified cyber governance regime, but other countries, business groups and firms have criticized its strict stance. Officials have sought a greater role for China in strengthening global internet governance.

China ranks after the United States, Japan, France and Estonia, the Chinese Academy of Cyberspace Studies said in a report released at China's World Internet Conference in the eastern town of Wuzhen.

Comment: This report is extremely vague. It could be a call from China to export its internet censorship world-wide or it could be a response to the net neutrality issue currently being debated. It would be nice if the reporter here was able to elaborate more on what is actually being said instead of picking out hot-button keywords like "democratic", "cyber governance regime" and "censorship".

Assuming it's about net neutrality, here's the latest:

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Cell Phone

Feminist Imam accuses Danish Islam critic of 'revenge porn'


Sputnik
Mon, 04 Dec 2017 12:01 UTC
Sherin Khankan
© FP 2017/ Linda Kastrup / Scanpix Denmark
Sherin Khankan
Sherin Khankan, the founder of Scandinavia's first female mosque, has accused Conservative MP Naser Khader, known as one of Denmark's staunchest critics of Islam, of threatening her with releasing "deeply personal" photographs of her dating back from their times in a romantic relationship in the late 1990s.

By Sherin Khankan's own admission, Naser Khader attempted to intimidate her into silence by hinting that he would publish her intimate photos. According to Khankan, she and Khader had a short relationship in 1999, during which she sent the now Conservative MP numerous private photos.
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Network

Why Google algorithms should not rule our lives

Bruce Bialosky
The Townhall
Sun, 03 Dec 2017 11:41 UTC
Google
The internet has provided tools to improve the world that are, in a way, indescribable. For example, understanding the multitude of medical challenges people face becomes easier with the internet. Improving your language skills and understanding a foreign language is infinitely simpler. But there are severe challenges that come with the ease of the internet. Google and others cannot go unchallenged.

This all began as something to explore for me when within a month I had a chance to spend an extended period of time with two different biochemists on two different continents. Both of these men are utterly brilliant individuals and it was fascinating to have the chance to have prolonged dialogues with both.

The first is a retired college professor who is not really retired. He is in the middle of writing four textbooks at what most people would consider an advanced age.

He expressed complete faith in science and mankind's ability to develop scientific solutions to every task at hand. He longingly saw the day when driverless cars were roaming the streets asserting complete confidence in them being a solution to our transportation problems. In his mind, we can develop an algorithm for every problem we face.

Comment: And that's just the beginning of the problems with Google:

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Newspaper

Longtime conductor James Levine suspended by Met Opera after sexual abuse accusations


Fox News
Mon, 04 Dec 2017 11:53 UTC
James Levine
© AP Photo/Michael Dwyer, File
New York’s Metropolitan Opera says it will suspend its four-decades-long relationship with its longtime conductor, James Levine, amid investigations into sexual misconduct.
New York's Metropolitan Opera suspended its longtime conductor, James Levine, 74, after three men came forward with accusations he sexually abused them decades ago when they were teenagers.

Peter Gelb, the general manager of the Met, said the opera company was halting its four-decade relationship with Levine, and stopping the former music director's upcoming conducting engagements, The New York Times reported.
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Rainbow

Australian MP Proposes to Partner During Same-Sex Marriage Debate


Sputnik
Mon, 04 Dec 2017 11:42 UTC
Tim Wilson Australian MP marriage proposal
A same-sex marriage bill has been introduced to the Lower House of the Australian parliament. The move came after earlier, in November, a majority of Australians voted in favor of legalizing same-sex marriage in a national post survey.

Lawmaker Tim Wilson proposed to his long-term partner Ryan Bolger in the Australian House of Representatives, in a move believed to be the first of its kind in the lower house.


Comment: Talk about grandstanding. It's this kind of unnecessary behavior from the homosexual community that will ultimately provoke exactly the opposite reaction that they claim to be trying to achieve among the vast majority of the population that is NOT homosexual.


Wilson has been engaged to his partner for nine years and reaffirmed his proposal during a speech shortly after a same-sex marriage bill was introduced in the parliament on Monday.

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Attention

Police in Los Angeles, NYC, London overwhelmed by growing mass of sex cases

Colleen Long and Michael Balsamo
Yahoo!
Sun, 03 Dec 2017 00:01 UTC
Harvey Weinstein
© Vince Bucci/Invision/AP, File
In this Feb. 22, 2015, file photo, Harvey Weinstein arrives at the Oscars at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. Sexual assault allegations against the media mogul have been keeping police in New York and Los Angeles busy but he isn't the only influential man police are looking at on similar charges. Police in Los Angeles, New York and London are working to untangle an ever-growing mass of allegations of sexual assault and harassment against powerful men.
Police in London, Los Angeles and New York are working to untangle an ever-growing mass of sexual assault and harassment complaints against powerful men, creating challenges even for big cities used to handling celebrities.

Most of the cases stem from claims against media mogul Harvey Weinstein - but authorities say they've also taken complaints made against other men in power.

"It's an international phenomenon," NYPD Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce said when asked about investigations into Weinstein. "These ladies were sexually assaulted, harassed, and they acquired psychological damage, so we have to move very cautiously with anyone who comes in - and that's what we're doing."

Comment: For the latest on the Weinstein hullabaloo, see:

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Heart - Black

Sweden puts off sexual offences against children for lack of police resources


Sputnik
Mon, 04 Dec 2017 10:22 UTC
child abuse
© CCO
Despite a suspected rise in the number of perpetrators getting in touch with children via social media, the Swedish police have neither the resources, nor the necessary IT skills to properly investigate these crimes.

Due to a dramatic lack of resources and competence, investigations of sexual offenses against children are being increasingly put off in Sweden. This comes amid a sharp spike in unsolicited contacts with children through social media, reported by all five of the Barnahus offices ("Children's House"), a Nordic multi-disciplinary intra-agency service model to support child victims of violence.

The police themselves have admitted to having problems in keeping up with the investigations.
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Cardboard Box

Intolerable working conditions at Amazon's newest warehouse - UPDATE

Andrew Levy
The Daily Mail
Sun, 26 Nov 2017 17:06 UTC
amazon sleeping 1

Amazon's staff are falling asleep on their feet because of extremely tough working conditions
Amazon's staff are falling asleep on their feet and being taken away in ambulances as they struggle to meet warehouse targets, an investigation has claimed.

Cameras monitor every move as employees try to process up to 300 items an hour, it has been alleged. Screens remind them if they are falling short.

Exhausted staff are said to cover clocks so they are not reminded how long there is to go on their shifts, and have to walk up to a third of a mile to use the toilet.

The claims in a newspaper were made about the online retailer's newest warehouse - which the company refers to as a 'fulfilment centre' - in Tilbury, Essex.

The packing plant is the biggest in Europe, the size of 11 football pitches, and is due to ship 1.2million items this year.

amazon sleeping 2

Amazon workers were seen asleep on the job as they complained about intolerable working conditions at the firm's Tilbury warehouse
But the investigation, by an undercover reporter for the Sunday Mirror who spent five weeks there, suggested workers suffer mentally and physically as they try to meet demand.

He said that some of his colleagues were so tired from working 55-hour weeks that they would 'sleep on their feet'.

Comment: See also: Hard pressed Amazon workers found sleeping in tents near UK's largest fulfillment center

UPDATE:
Staff were offered two miniature chocolates in a desperate bid to boost morale - bosses hoping scandal will 'blow over'

Neil Drinkwater, who recently quit the company, says the gesture was 'insulting' - while others in the delivery giant say they've heard NOTHING about how conditions will be improved

Miserly Amazon bosses reacted to the Sunday Mirror's investigation into its shocking working conditions - by giving out tiny chocolates.

Staff on gruelling 10-and-a-half-hour shifts were given one Celebration sweet in the first half of their day and another in the second half.

The bizarre gesture is revealed today by former employee Neil Drinkwater - who quit after his partner read our exposé and realised for the first time what he had been enduring.

He told us: "This week our managers started coming round with a box of ­Celebrations for the first part of the shift, and gave us a chocolate each.

"Then they did the same at the second part of the shift. Me and my colleagues were saying this was down to the Sunday Mirror. We all thought it was an insult."

Neil, who had spent a month on nights at Amazon's plant near Manchester, handed in his resignation after ­Wednesday's night shift.
He told how he asked a supervisor whether Amazon had any plans to improve conditions for workers.

Neil said: "I asked, 'Did you read that article in the Mirror?' He said yes, and that they'd had feedback off Amazon to say if anyone asks about it they should say they're reviewing the target system and their procedures.

"I said, 'What do you think?' and he said, 'I think it's dire. The way they work you guys is terrible'."

But Neil said the manager told him that Amazon bosses are secretly hoping the scandal will simply blow over.

He said: "They told me the chocolates were given out to try to raise spirits, to get everybody on board. It's a couple of sweets per shift to get morale up and make them think they care about us. I found it quite insulting, to be honest."


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Laptop

The dark underbelly of Women Who Code and Google Women Techmakers

Marlene Jaeckel
Medium
Mon, 04 Dec 2017 10:25 UTC
women gossiping art
In a letter from 1796, George Washington, First President of the United States, stated that "to speak evil of any one, unless there is unequivocal proofs of their deserving it, is an injury for which there is no adequate reparation."

I often reflect on these words, because for months, I've been the target of a malicious smear campaign, and while I doubt that there would ever be adequate reparation for the amount of damage that the defamation of my character has caused, I've finally decided to share my story publicly.

It's a story about being punished for wrong-think by a group of women in technology, who, ironically, consider themselves the victims of an unfair patriarchal system designed to suppress female voices.
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Cupcake Choco

Illegal immigrants found superglued in UK lorry subsisting on Belgian chocolate


RT
Mon, 04 Dec 2017 10:27 UTC
truck
© Martin Barraud / Getty Images
Eleven illegal immigrants, super-glued into the back of a lorry by traffickers, have been discovered near Warminster, Wiltshire after travelling into the UK from Europe. They survived by munching the pricey Belgian chocolate the driver was transporting.

Ten Iraqis, six minors among them, and one Afghan national were found quite by chance. The lorry pulled into a lay-by and people in a nearby cafe heard some "shouting," The Telegraph reported.
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