And so much more.
We vary the usual order, just because.
We begin with a cause of insecurity in the state where we started out back in the late Neolithic, via the Los Angeles Times:
Kansas governor removes protections for LGBT employees
In a move that shocked progressive advocates in Kansas, the state’s Republican governor on Tuesday issued an executive order to remove discrimination protections for gay, lesbian and transgender state employees.
State employees in Kansas can now legally be fired, harassed or denied a job for being gay or transgender, critics said.
Gov. Sam Brownback said an 2007 executive order by Kathleen Sebelius, then the state’s Democratic governor, went too far by not getting legislative approval to bar job discrimination for sexual orientation and gender identity.
From the Associated Press, what could we possibly add?:
Paris votes to sue Fox News for damage to its reputation
Paris City Council authorized Mayor Anne Hidalgo on Wednesday to sue U.S. broadcaster Fox News for reporting there are “no-go zones” in the French capital where non-Muslims and police fear to venture.
City officials voted to file a lawsuit at a French court for defamation regarding comments on Fox News and a map it broadcast with eight such so-called off-limits areas circled in red. The report came when Paris was on high alert after attacks by Islamic radicals last month.
Fox was widely mocked for that report and for comments describing the English city of Birmingham as “totally Muslim.” The broadcaster later apologized for “some regrettable errors.”
Hidalgo vowed to “save Paris’ honor,” and stressed the importance of image for a top world tourist destination.
From the New York Times, boots rapidly approaching ground:
Obama Sends Letter to Congress Seeking Authorization of ISIS Fight
President Obama on Wednesday formally asked Congress to authorize a three-year military campaign against the terrorist group the Islamic State that would avoid a large-scale invasion and occupation but in addition to air power could include limited ground operations by American forces to hunt down enemy leaders or rescue American personnel.
A proposal sent by the White House to Capitol Hill on Wednesday would formally give the president the power to continue the airstrikes he has been conducting since last fall against the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, as well as “associated persons or forces.” The measure would set limits that were never imposed during the wars of the last decade in Afghanistan and Iraq by expiring in three years and withholding permission for “enduring offensive ground combat operations.”
But in a letter to Congress accompanying the proposal, Mr. Obama, who has said there would be no boots on the ground in Iraq and Syria, envisioned limited ground combat operations “such as rescue operations” or the use of “Special Operations forces to take military action against ISIL leadership.” He also said the legislation would allow the use of ground forces for intelligence gathering, target spotting and planning assistance to ground troops of allies like Iraq’s military.
From The Hill, sadly predictable:
Rubio: ISIS war measure should be unconditional
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) says any authorization for military action against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria should be free of any restrictions.
The prospective presidential candidate harshly criticized President Obama for making a request that would limit authority to three years, and ban “enduring offensive ground operations.”
“There is a pretty simple authorization he could ask for and it would read one sentence: ‘We authorize the president to defeat and destroy ISIL.’ Period. And that’s what I think we should do,” Rubio said on the Senate floor Wednesday.
More on ISIS after the jump. . .
From Reuters, why aren’t we surprised?:
Obama administration weighs Afghan request to slow withdrawal of U.S. troops
President Barack Obama is considering a request from Afghan President Ashraf Ghani to slow the pace of the withdrawal of U.S. troops in Afghanistan, a senior administration official said on Wednesday.
“President Ghani has requested some flexibility in the troop drawdown timeline and base closure sequencing over the next two years, and we are actively considering that request,” the official said, speaking on background.
Ghani will travel to Washington next month to meet with Obama. Last month, the Afghan president spoke publicly about the U.S. plan to halve the number of troops in Afghanistan in 2015 and cut them further in 2016. He made clear he would prefer a longer timeline and said: “deadlines should not be dogmas.”
From the Associated Press, job security for the man who knew too much?:
Ousted Secret Service No. 2 to mystery Homeland Security job
What new job in the Homeland Security Department is the ousted No. 2 official at the Secret Service doing? Nobody’s saying.
Alvin “A.T.” Smith, who ran day-to-day operations at the Secret Service during its most embarrassing scandals, resigned under pressure as deputy director earlier this week. In what appears to be a highly unorthodox employment shuffle, Smith — who earned as much as $183,000 a year — was permitted to take an unspecified job inside the highly regarded Homeland Security Investigations unit in U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement. Both agencies are part of the Homeland Security Department.
But no one will disclose Smith’s new job title, his responsibilities or how much public salary he’s earning. It’s a mystery whether Smith is investigating cases, shuffling paperwork behind a desk or supervising agents.
From the Guardian, and does “national security” mean simply that the truth could lead to loss of security through violent reactions?:
UK redactions to CIA torture report were made for national security, MPs rule
Inquiry concludes redactions to report were not made to cover up UK role in mistreatment of detainees
Allegations that UK intelligence agencies ordered redactions to a US report on CIA torture in order to cover up its role in the mistreatment of detainees are unfounded, MPs have ruled.
An investigation by the British parliament’s intelligence and security committee (ISC) has concluded that redactions to documents in December’s report into CIA torture were all made on the grounds of national security and not to avoid embarrassment to the UK authorities.
A statement from the committee said its staff had visited the UK and US intelligence agencies, inspected the relevant files and questioned their heads directly. “From the evidence we have seen and heard, we conclude that these allegations are unfounded,” it states.
Thought crime, Italian style [and we think Holocaust deniers suffer from self-made idiocy, many maliciously so], via TheLocal.it:
Italy Senate moves to outlaw Holocaust denial
Italian senators on Wednesday voted in favour of a bill criminalizing Holocaust denial, following changes to the proposed law to protect freedom of speech.
A total of 234 senators voted for the bill, while eight abstained and three voted against the new law, Il Sole 24 Ore reported.
Under the law people will face a three-year sentence for promoting, inciting or committing acts of racial discrimination based in part or entirely on the denial of the Holocaust. Crimes against humanity and war crimes are also covered in the bill, which now needs to pass through Italy’s lower house before it can become law.
British National Health Service whistleblowers promised protection, via the Guardian:
Jeremy Hunt promises legislation before election to protect NHS whistleblowers
Health secretary accepts recommendations of report Freedom to Speak Up report that details shocking treatment of whistleblowers
People seeking NHS employment will be protected from being discriminated against because they are known to be whistleblowers, under legislation to be introduced within weeks, the government has pledged.
Jeremy Hunt vowed to change the law by the end of this parliament after an independent review commissioned by the health secretary detailed shocking treatment of whistleblowers, with some victimised to the extent that their careers were left in tatters and their families torn apart, and causing some people to have suicidal thoughts or even attempt to end their lives.
The Freedom to Speak Up report, published on Wednesday, also said that patients’ lives were put at risk by whistleblowers’ concerns being ignored.
From Nikkei Asian Review, something that oughta be done for plutocrats, too:
Global task force looking for strict policies against terrorist funding
Amid a string of high-profile terrorist acts, an international task force is evaluating measures to combat terrorism financing in some 190 countries and regions and will name those that do not meet its standards.
“We … urge all countries to speed up their compliance with the relevant international standards” regarding terrorist assets, read a communique released Tuesday after the Group of 20 meeting of financial ministers and central bankers in Istanbul. In response, the Financial Action Task Force will strengthen its recommendations for policies to counter terrorism financing and announce them at the G-20 meeting to be held in Peru in October.
The task force has started on its fourth round of mutual evaluations. It sends personnel to each jurisdiction to talk with regulators and financial institutions and assess whether anti-terrorism-financing measures are strictly enforced. It also looks at their effectiveness, including the number of cases pursued related to illicit funds.
After the jump, ISIS volunteers keep coming, some Belgian volunteers face prison time, Syria lays some blame on Jordan, no search warrants needed for your old emails, Windows wide open, hacks block government sites in Holland, Native American traditional names banned by Facebook, a major Malaysian Twitter truncation, Tokyo and Washington to tighten military ties, Japan mulls future overseas military hostage rescues, tensions rise as a Japanese publisher comes out with the Charlie Hendo cartoons — sort of, a Southeast Asian anti-terror alliance mulled, and allegations of coral reef damage from an American base move on Okinawa, Yoga pants InSecurity, HairNet — precursor to SkyNet, and another robotic danger as well. . .
From the Associated Press, volunteers:
US intel: IS militants drawing steady stream of recruits
The U.S. bombing campaign in Iraq and Syria has failed to slow the pace of foreign fighters flocking to join the Islamic State and other extremist groups, including at least 3,400 from Western nations among 20,000 from around the world, U.S. intelligence officials say in an updated estimate of a top terrorism concern.
Intelligence agencies now believe that as many as 150 Americans have tried and some have succeeded in reaching the Syrian war zone, officials told the House Homeland Security Committee Wednesday. Some of those Americans were arrested en route, some died in the area and a small number were still fighting with extremists.
Nick Rasmussen, chief of the National Counterterrorism Center, said the rate of foreign fighter travel to Syria is without precedent, far exceeding the rate of foreigners who went to wage jihad in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Yemen or Somalia at any other point in the past 20 years.
And some Belgian volunteers face prison time, via Al Jazeera America:
Belgium court convicts dozens on terror charges
Ringleader of Sharia4Belgium sentenced to 12 years in prison for encouraging people to join armed groups in Middle East
A Belgian court sentenced the head of Sharia4Belgium to 12 years in prison on Wednesday, ruling that his group was a “terrorist organization” that brainwashed young men into joining armed groups in the Middle East.
Fouad Belkacem was led into the Antwerp court in handcuffs by police in body armor and smiled as he listened to the judgment. Dozens of other members of his group received lower sentences in what was the country’s largest-ever trial of alleged terrorists.
Unlike most of the defendants, Belkacem, 32, did not fight in Syria. However, Judge Luc Potargent said he was the driving force in the organization. Prosecutors had asked that he be sentenced to 15 years.
From the Los Angeles Times, Syria lays some blame on Jordan:
Syria accuses Jordan of sponsoring terrorist groups on its soil
The Syrian government on Monday issued a scathing rebuke of Jordan, accusing its southern neighbor of sponsoring terrorist groups on Syrian soil despite Amman’s stepped-up aerial bombardment of the militant faction Islamic State.
Syria also said it categorically rejects the idea of Jordan or any other nation dispatching ground troops into the country to fight Islamic State, which has overrun large parts of Syria and neighboring Iraq.
“I will clearly say that we are committed to defending Syrian sovereignty, and we will not allow anyone to breach our national sovereignty,” Foreign Minister Walid Moallem said at a news conference in Damascus with his counterpart from Belarus, Vladimir Makei.
“We don’t need land forces to enter and fight ISIS; the Syrian Arab army is conducting this task valiantly,” Moallem said, using a common acronym for Islamic State.
From the McClatchy Washington Bureau, no search warrants needed for your old emails:
Government wonders: What’s in your old emails?
If you’ve been remiss in cleaning out your email in-box, here’s some incentive: The federal government can read any emails that are more than six months old without a warrant.
Little known to most Americans, ambiguous language in a communications law passed in 1986 extends Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable search and seizure only to electronic communications sent or received fewer than 180 days ago.
The language, known as the “180-day rule,” allows government officials to treat any emails, text messages or documents stored on remote servers – popularly known as the cloud – as “abandoned” and therefore accessible using administrative subpoena power, a tactic that critics say circumvents due process.
As you rush to purge your Gmail and Dropbox accounts, however, be forewarned that even deleted files still could be fair game as long as copies exist on a third-party server somewhere.
From Threatpost, Windows wide open:
Microsoft Group Policy Vulnerability Affects All Windows Computers
Enterprises that support remote workers need to prioritize a Microsoft security bulletin released yesterday that addresses a critical vulnerability in Group Policy.
The vulnerability exposes Windows machines, all the way back to Windows Server 2003, to man-in-the-middle attacks and remote code execution. Setting off more alarm bells was news that Microsoft was required to do some re-engineering of Windows components in order to rectify the situation, which was reported to Redmond 13 months ago.
JAS Global Advisors, a Chicago-based consultancy, found the bug while working on a project for ICANN looking into security issues surrounding the release of new generic Top Level Domains and Top Level Domains. The Group Policy issue was discovered during the research phase of this project, but is unrelated to new gTLDs or TLDs, the company said.
Hacks block government sites in Holland, via TechWorm:
Hacking attack blocks Dutch government websites
Dutch government websites were knocked out after being subjected to a DDoS attack by unknown actors. “The Public and Communications office, part of the Ministry of General Affairs, in conjunction with Centric/Prolocation and the National Cyber Security Center (NCSC), are evaluating the attack,” the government said in a statement.
Websites went down around 0900 GMT and the disruption lasted well into Tuesday evening, the statement added, noting other communications like phone lines were not affected.
Initially Hosting provider Prolocation and advertising network Platform IQ said that the outage was caused by a failed fibre optic cable . This was before evidence was found of the DDoS attack.Rijksoverheijd.nl and Government.nl, the government’s Dutch and English websites crashed in the morning around 10 am and stayed that way till the evening. The Dutch blog site GeenStijl.nl and Telfort, a telecommunication firm also suffered from outages that lasted over 7 hours.
Many years ago, when we serving as city editor of the late Oceanside Blade-Tribune, we had a very good reporter, an Oglala, named Irving Jumping Eagle — who nowadays would be block from Facebook. Via the Independent:
Native Americans blocked from using Facebook when using ‘fake’ indigenous given names
Facebook locked out Native Americans from using the social network after deeming their names to be fake
Users from indigenous tribes have received messages asking them to change their legal names to ones that do not “violate [the company’s] standards”.
A woman called Lone Hill, whose first name is Dana, had sent three forms of identification to Facebook so the company could “investigate” whether she was a real person, according to a report by Colorline.
The company took it upon itself to change the account name of Oglala Lakota Lance Brown Eyes to “Lance Brown” upon receipt of his identification documents.
He was only allowed to use his given name again after he had threatened to sue Facebook, who issued him an apology – wrote Lone Hill on her Last Real Indians website. A petition has also been set up to challenge the decisions.
The New York Times covers a major Malaysian Twitter truncation:
Malaysian Police Official, Cracking Down on Dissent, Turns to Twitter
Malaysian authorities have detained a cartoonist and ordered an investigation into two prominent politicians in an intensifying crackdown on dissent after the country’s highest court upheld a five-year prison sentence for the leader of the opposition, Anwar Ibrahim.
The government for decades has been accused of using draconian and archaic laws to sideline and intimidate its critics. But the latest cases come with a modern twist: The country’s highest police officer, Khalid Abu Bakar, is using his Twitter account to issue warnings to government critics and to order his subordinates to track and investigate dissenting voices.
Zulkiflee Anwar Ulhaque, a cartoonist who goes by the name Zunar, was taken into custody on Tuesday after posting on Twitter a series of cartoons and messages critical of the high court’s handling of Mr. Anwar’s highly politicized trial on sodomy charges.
Tokyo and Washington to tighten military ties, via Kyodo News:
Japan, U.S. to revise defense cooperation guidelines in April: sources
Japan and the United States are making arrangements to revise the two nations’ defense cooperation guidelines in late April before Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s planned trip to the United States, sources close to Japan-U.S. relations said Wednesday.
The revision is expected to feature an expansion of the scope of the Japanese Self-Defense Forces’ activities based on the reinterpretation by Abe’s Cabinet last July of the pacifist Constitution to enable the exercise of the right to collective self-defense, or defending allies under armed attack even when Japan itself is not.
The revision to the guidelines, which delineate the roles of the U.S. military and the SDF in the event of a contingency, is expected to be decided at a meeting of the two countries’ foreign and defense ministers in Washington, the sources said.
Japan mulls future overseas military hostage rescues, via the Mainichi:
Japan governing parties to debate SDF use of lethal force in hostage rescues
Citing the terrorist threat to Japanese citizens abroad, the parties of Japan’s ruling coalition are set to kick off debate on whether to reduce limits on the use of force by the Self-Defense Forces (SDF) to allow them to mount hostage rescue operations.
The discussion comes after the deaths of two Japanese citizens at the hands of the so-called Islamic State (IS) militant group.
Under the current Self-Defense Forces Law, SDF participation in overseas operations is limited to “transport” functions, and SDF troops are only permitted to use lethal force in self-defense or during emergency evacuations.
Tensions rise as a Japanese publisher comes out with the Charlie Hendo cartoons — sort of, via the Asahi Shimbun:
Anger, unease arise as book with Mohammed caricatures goes on sale
A Tokyo publisher’s decision to sell a book featuring reprinted caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed that originally ran overseas has split the Japanese public and angered Muslims in the country.
Sales of “Islam hate ka fushi ka” (Is it hate against Islam or satire?) started on Feb. 10. Publisher Daisanshokan has received orders for about 3,000 copies from around 500 bookstores.
The book reprints 48 caricatures published in Europe and the United States that poke fun at various religions. Many were run in Charlie Hebdo, the French satirical weekly that was attacked by gunmen in Paris on Jan. 7.
The faces of Mohammed in the caricatures have been blurred out in the book.
A Southeast Asian anti-terror alliance mulled, via the Japan Times:
Japan and ASEAN to start dialogue on transnational crime and terrorism
Japan and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations plan to launch a high-level dialogue later this year to explore ways to cope with transnational organized crime and terrorism, a Japanese government official said on Wednesday.
The dialogue, to be launched in Malaysia as early as June, comes as travel between Japan and ASEAN countries, some of which have groups that support Islamic State militants, is on the rise.
The announcement follows the recent killing of two Japanese nationals by the Islamic State group and reflects Japan’s desire to ensure security for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics.
And a case of reef-er madness, via the Asahi Shimbun:
Anti-base group: Anchors in Futenma relocation survey damaging coral reef
Massive concrete blocks used in a seabed survey for the relocation of a U.S. military air station are destroying the coral reef off the Henoko district of Nago, Okinawa Prefecture, a group said.
Nago-based Heri Kichi Hantai Kyogigai (group opposed to building a heliport and military base) said its members took underwater pictures of the damage near government-designated off-limit zones earlier this month.
They said they found the concrete block anchors, each weighing 10 tons to 45 tons, at several spots.
Yoga pants InSecurity, from the Associated Press:
Montana lawmaker says yoga pants should be illegal
A Montana legislative panel moved to kill an indecent exposure bill Wednesday after the lawmaker who introduced it said he thinks yoga pants should be illegal.
Members of the House Judiciary Committee voted unanimously to table House Bill 365, which Rep. David Moore introduced Tuesday.
The proposal would have expanded the definition of indecent exposure to include garments that give the appearance of a person’s buttocks, genitals, pelvis or female nipple.
HairNet, precursor the Skynet, via the Guardian:
South Korean woman’s hair ‘eaten’ by robot vacuum cleaner as she slept
The woman was sleeping on the floor of her home when the robotic cleaner ingested her hair leaving her in agony
When a South Korean woman invested in a robot vacuum cleaner, the idea was to leave her trustworthy gadget to do its work while she took a break from household chores.
Instead, the 52-year-old resident of Changwon city ended up being the victim of what many believe is a peek into a dystopian future in which supposedly benign robots turn against their human masters.
The woman, whose name is being withheld, was taking a nap on the floor at home when the vacuum cleaner locked on to her hair and sucked it up, apparently mistaking it for dust.
Unable to free herself, she called the fire department with a “desperate rescue plea” and was separated from the robot’s clutches by paramedics, according to the South Korean newspaper the Kyunghyang Shinmun.
And another robotic danger as well, via Associated Press:
Maine firm faces fines for dangerous robots, violations
A Maine fabric manufacturing company faces more than $100,000 in federal fines for safety violations including the use of robots that could harm workers.
Maine Public Broadcasting Network (http://bit.ly/19at2WC ) reports the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration is citing Formed Fiber Technologies Inc. in part because of dangerous robots used to trim carpeting. OSHA spokesman Ted Fitzgerald says the robots had arms that could extend “beyond a safe perimeter” and strike a worker.
Another violation is that equipment used in the production process wasn’t properly shut down and locked to stop it from starting during cleaning.
