Court Ruling Permits Major Privacy Case Against Google To Continue

Judge Jay Bybee
(Image: UNLV Law School)

In a day when Apple presented new iPhones the NSA can effortlessly monitor, a three-judge federal court panel allowed the continuation of a lawsuit alleging privacy violations by Google.

According to a story in today's technology section of The New York Times, the litigation involves Google's collection of personal data during its controversial Street View project. The court, the Times noted, "found little merit in Google's legal maneuverings, stating at one critical point that the company was basically inventing meanings in an effort to declare its actions legal."

One curiosity in the story is Judge Jay Bybee, who wrote the ruling. During the George W. Bush administration, Bybee was an assistant attorney general. His claim to fame? He signed the Torture Memos is 2002, which authorized "enhanced interrogation" techniques.

"Peace On Earth" White House Ornament On Sale Now

Just in time for a proposed military strike on Syria, the White House has released its 2013 holiday ornament. The pitch? According to a story in the financial blog zerohedge.com, the ornament "Peace on Earth" is available for sale now. The price of peace? $18.95.

Alberto Moravia, Italian Fascism, and the NSA Security State

Alberto Moravia
(Image: raistoria.rai.it)

Lately, I've been reading about the life and work of the 20th century Italian novelist Alberto Moravia. His novels and short stories, often exploring middle-class puzzlement or conformism in the face of Fascism, seem eerily connected to today's political and social situation in the United States. Two years ago, The New York Times' Rachel Donadio wrote a telling piece about Moravia's work and Silvio Berlusconi. As with the United States under the NSA shadow, the Berlusconi regime had taken, as Donadio noted, "all the oxygen out of the room."

Donadio cites a passage from Moravia's Two Friends, in which a character "attributes his lack of conviction -- about his career, his lover, his politics -- to his formation under Fascism." To quote Moravia's work, it had

wormed its way into his blood, not in the form of political allegiance, but rather as a kind of torpor and moral passivity, like a poison that slowly intoxicates and weakens the body. He was confronted once again with his feeling of impotence, but this time it not only affected his personal life but encompassed the destiny of the nation and humanity as a whole.

Torpor and moral passivity? Sounds like the American public's response to the devaluation of personal privacy, brought to you by the Feds and the military-technological complex.

Moravia's books remain in print. Many are translated into American English. The works of the author who wrote The Conformist remain strong and vital today. Can we say the same about our own society?

Baratunde Thurston's Internet "Detox"

Baratunde Thurston

Creating an online recollection of one's detox "vacation" from the digital world takes a combination of imagination, chutzpah, and time. The writer Baratunde Thurston produced such a work, which appeared in fastcompany.com and is featured in recent editions of The Washington Post.

It would be easy to pick apart the inconsistencies in Thurston's approach, such as having a "chief of staff" handle his timely professional contingencies during his sabbatical. How many mere mortals have the equivalent of an industry valet? In fairness, he's aware of them and does consider them in his entertaining piece. What's far more interesting is his discovery of the difficulty fully disconnecting from the digital networks. Thurston discovered that the principal social media firms make adieu from their data empires nearly impossible to execute. This awareness seems much more ironic now, in the wake of our sense of the depths of data mining undertaken by the military-technology complex (to restate Dwight Eisenhower's famous characterization).

Thurston's story embraces plenty of wit, a warm sense of humanity, and self-awareness that's mostly refreshing and occasionally promotional. You should read it before you decide to unplug, either temporarily or permanently.

World's Biggest Volcano Found Beneath Pacific Ocean

Computer Schematic of World's Biggest Volcano
(Image: National Geographic)

Have you ever seen a volcano? I've seen some dormant ones, such as those in the Pacific Northwest and the guardians of Mexico City. I've been in the neighborhood of one live volcano: Vesuvius. (It's easy to forget that Italy is a very active seismic zone.) However, many of the world's biggest volcanoes are not exactly readily available for the layperson to view. That's because they're under water.

In fact, the world's biggest volcano is somewhere off the coast of Japan, according to a Pierre Barthelemy blog posted in the French newspaper Le Monde. (For those who can't read French, the blog's story is based on a recent piece in the publication Nature Geoscience.) The volcano's striking dimensions seem like a flight of fantasy more akin to King Kong than a sedate Saturday night PBS science program. The article is a humbling reminder that humans still know very little about the marine world and the ocean's depths.

A Lamborghini Batman Would Have Enjoyed

Lamborghini Veneno Roadster
(Image: topspeed.com)

In case you've won the lottery recently and were contemplating how to spend your newly minted millions, consider purchasing a new automobile. Well, not just any...ahem...car. How about a nifty Lamborghini? Ah, but not just any Lamborghini. The "Lambo" that's a propos for someone who has everything resembles a Batmobile -- a very fast Batmobile.

According to a story that zerohedge.com picked up from American Luxury magazine, the car's trade name is Veneno Roadster. Given that only four of these vehicles were manufactured, it's likely you'll be the only person on your block with one.

In case you're thinking of paying on the installment plan, consider the price tag. It's $4.4 million dollars. Even by New York standards, that's a lot of money for something on four wheels.

Raindance Film Festival Selects Julian Assange as a Juror

Julian Assange

Julian Assange, who has time on his hands while he lives at Ecuador's embassy to the Court of Saint James, has a new activity to look forward to. London's Raindance Film Festival, which specializes in showcasing edgy, independent international films, has chosen the Wikileaks founder as an event juror. According to a BBC article on Assange's selection, DVDs of nominated movies will be sent to the rogue Swede. There's no word on whether Assange intends to leak news of his vote to the entertainment press.

US Economic "Recovery": A Tale of Two Workforces

It's fascinating to explore perceptions of the US economic situation. Many people assert the country has "recovered" from the financial disaster called the Great Recession. Things "are better now," is the common phrase. Major league insiders repeat this message via the media. Rather than believe their own eyes, some folks uncritically repeat what these hired corporate hands and their political allies disseminate.

Graph: motherjones.com

Living in the New York area, with its high concentration of one-percenters and those culling favor with that group, one could be convinced of the "recovery" by the drumbeat of supposedly good economic news, and signs (such as filled restaurants) suggesting a surfeit of disposable income. However, the shadow of the "others" who "did not participate in the recovery" lingers like muggers lurking in society's dimly lit streets. The dimensions and human qualities of the non-participants are inconvenient and largely ignored by those enjoying the continued, relentless, and ruthless wealth transfer from the have-somethings to the have-plentys.

A story in today's San Jose, California-based Mercury News discusses the phenomenon of the have-less, and focuses on issues "older workers" face. The bleak news, quietly tucked away on a low readership national holiday weekend, is sobering. The article summarizes its points as follows:

• A recovery that for many older workers doesn't feel like one.
• Two-thirds of baby boomers between ages 55 and 64 who found work after losing it in the recession are making less than they did in their previous jobs.
• Their median salary loss is 18 percent, compared with a 6.7 drop for 20- to 24-year-olds.
• The re-employment rate for this older age group is 47 percent, and 24 percent for those over 65, versus 62 percent for 20- to 24-year-olds.
• Finding another job takes far longer, too: 46 weeks for boomers, compared to 20 weeks for young workers.

The Mercury News piece cites a recent report from the California Budget Project to deliver these unpleasant facts and conclusions. Economic "progress," the story notes

is complicated by a triple whammy of wage stagnation, a dramatic growth of low-wage jobs in hospitality and food services, and the staggering number of jobs lost in California during the recession -- 1.4 million, nearly half of which have yet to come back.

The California report could easily be repeated in nearly every other state in the Union. Does this sound like "progress" to you?

Uber Drivers Sue Over Company's Tipping Policy

This year, car-service firm Uber has become a darling of the tech/services crowd. The San Francisco-based enterprise, which recently received a $200-plus-million cash infusion from Google, features a unique selling proposition is its use of an application to arrange rides. Well, that sounds fine until one looks under the hood at who receives what cut of the passenger payment pie.

A lawsuit was recently filed alleging Uber is not paying tips that drivers believe they have earned. The story, initially reported by Bloomberg reporter Joshua Brustein, appeared in yesterday's sfgate.com. The plaintiffs assert that passengers in Uber's taxi service are charged a twenty percent tip. Somehow, according to the litigation, Uber drivers don't ever get the money; Uber pockets it. (The firm faces similar litigation in two other cities.)

Uber has dismissed the lawsuit as "frivolous." What's more interesting is Uber's use of the Amazon defense, i.e., their business is consumer friendly and bad guys are trying to "stifle innovation." Meanwhile, unregulated Uber is muscling into turf that is highly regulated and occupied by connected, entrenched interests. At the same time, Uber keeps the unregulated tips, thus improving margins as Amazon did by not charging state sales tax on transactions.

What's "frivolous" is Uber's claim that consumer friendliness is its business raison d'etre. Uber's assumption that "disruption" is an unqualified benefit is a spurious one. It's fine to compete: it's bullshit to drape ruthless competition in the falsely virtuous cloak of technological progress.