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North Coast Voices
This blog is open to any who wish to comment on Australian society, the state of the environment or political shenanigans at Federal, State and Local Government level.
✨👌#auspol #bringthemhere #Manus #Nauru pic.twitter.com/sGngaVOIHy
— popcon sentimonies (@CohCon) March 25, 2018
Posted by clarencegirl at 00:16 0 comments
Labels: #TurnbullGovernmentFAIL, Australian society
"the average tax evader may be financially better off even after they're caught and penalised" [Chris Leech, writing about low tax evasion penalties applied by the Australian Taxation Office in an unpublished study, quoted in The Age, 24 March 2018]
"Civil disobedience and protest are vital in a democracy. They open up political space for communities to intervene when the doors of governments are closed to them, and the price of entry to corporate boardrooms and political party fundraisers is beyond reach." [Barrister Julian Burnside writing in The Sydney Morning Herald, 25 March 2018]
Labels: ATO, people power, taxation
Corporate tax cuts lead to 'jobs and growth' in Australia? Pull the other one!
This Business Council of Australia survey was apparently mothballed when initial results indicated that it would reveal the truth about outcomes flowing from the Turnbull Government's planned corporate tax cuts - a distinct lack of jobs and wages growth.
Financial Review, 27 March 2018:
Fewer than one in five of Australia's leading chief executives say they will use the Turnbull government's proposed company tax cut to directly increase wages or employ more staff, according to a secret survey conducted by the Business Council of Australia.
More than 80 per cent said they would either use the proceeds to boost returns to shareholders or invest in the company.
The explosive revelation comes as the government is still struggling to secure the final two Senate votes needed to pass the remainder of the $65 billion package.
The survey follows a letter to all Senators last week by the BCA and 10 of the nation's top chief executive officers in which they pledged to reinvest the proceeds of the tax cuts with the ultimate aim of increasing wages.
"If the Senate passes this important legislation we, as some of the nation's largest employers, commit to invest more in Australia which will lead to employing more Australians and therefore stronger wage growth as the tax cut takes effect," the letter said.
But The Australian Financial Review has learned that the BCA directly surveyed the chief executives of its 130-plus members about a company tax cut this year, in the wake of the company tax rate cut in the United States.
The chief executives were asked which of four options they would nominate as their preferred response to the company tax cut in Australia.
These were: returning funds to shareholders; more investment; increasing the wages of their existing workforce; or increasing employment.
More than 80 per cent nominated one of the first two options while only 16 per cent to 17 per cent nominated higher wages or employment.
The survey results are understood to have been tightly held but were reported on internally in a memo entitled "the good news and the bad news".
A spokesman for the BCA confirmed the survey to the Financial Review on Monday but downplayed its significance…….
This lobby group has now decided that 'spin' is more important than fact and senators have all received a BCA video appeal promising well-paid and meaningful jobs and wages growth that only growing investment can deliver if the comapny tax cits are passed.
A neat trick given that its members are also arguing before the Fair Work Commission Annual Wage Review 2017-18 that the minimum wage should remain as is or only be increased by 34-35 cents an hour which represents no growth in real wages.
The vague, slyly worded non-promise to lift workers wages received by Senators
via @Tony_Burke
Google some of the businesses on this short list and one finds an unflattering employer history with regard to employee wages and job terms & conditions.
Labels: government policy, industrial relations, jobs, Liberal Party of Australia, lobby groups, mates rates, National Party of Australia, taxation, Turnbull Government, wages
Federal Liberals continue to behave badly in 2018 - Part Two
Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Bligh Turnbull still continues (as late as Wednesday 28 March 2018) to deny any part in the Barnaby Joyce scandal…..
The Sydney Morning Herald, 28 March 2018:
A key adviser to Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull helped to formalise a job transfer for the partner of Barnaby Joyce, according to new details about the controversial decision to secure the new position in a ministerial office.
The letter from Mr Turnbull's senior governance adviser was signed on May 9 last year and gave official clearance to the new role for Vikki Campion, who was in a relationship with Mr Joyce at the time and is due to give birth to their baby next month.
The role played by the Prime Minister's office triggered detailed questioning in Parliament last month amid an uproar over the relationship and the way the government moved Ms Campion from one office to another to manage the matter….
A spokesman for the Prime Minister said on Wednesday, "The email simply confirms what we have always said: as is usual practice, the PMO performed a purely administrative role passing on the documents to the relevant department."
The extent of Mr Turnbull's knowledge of the affair and the job transfer has been the subject of furious debate for weeks, given reports that Mr Joyce's former chief of staff, Di Hallam, took steps in late 2016 to inform the Prime Minister's office of the romance and arrange a job transfer for Ms Campion.
Sacked former Australian Prime Minister and Liberal MP for Warringah,Tony Abbott, doing his best to ensure Malcolm Turnbull leads the Coalition to defeat at the forthcoming federal election. Rumour has it that he sees himself as Leader of the Opposition for a second time around.......
The Conversation, 27 March 2018:
Former prime minister Tony Abbott has said that if people had been more willing to heed the message of those like Pauline Hanson over the last two decades, "we would be a better country today".
In a speech loaded with praise for the controversial One Nation leader, Abbott described her as "a remarkable and a resilient presence in our public life for more than two decades".
He also said the only way the Coalition could win the next election was to harvest Hanson preferences. "If I can make that more likely, that is a very positive contribution that I can make to the prospects of the Turnbull government." He said the Coalition should preference One Nation above Labor and the Greens, because the government had been able to work constructively with it in the Senate.
Launching a book of her speeches, Pauline: In Her Own Words, Abbott referenced a "lot of dirty water under the bridge" between them in the past. When he was a member of the Howard government, Abbott was involved in moves that ended in Hanson being jailed for electoral fraud. She said after she was released: "Heaven help this country if Tony Abbott is ever in control of it. I detest the man."
At the launch Abbott praised Hanson's "willingness to let the past be the past".
While over in Western Australia a nasty Liberal mano a mano war has erupted.....
The West, 28 March 2018:
A factional war inside the WA Liberals has boiled over with Federal MP Ian Goodenough suggesting a rival should face criminal charges for misleading the Australian Electoral Commission.
The AEC confirmed it had removed long-time Liberal player Simon Ehrenfeld from the electoral roll after complaints from Mr Goodenough and his allies about Mr Ehrenfeld not actually living at the address he had registered.
Mr Ehrenfeld is the vice-president of the party's Moore division and president of the Liberals' Hillarys branch.
Mr Goodenough claimed Mr Ehrenfeld could face investigation for misleading the AEC.
He said other senior Liberal Party members could also face action for giving statements to the commission asserting Mr Ehrenfeld lived at the Kallaroo address.
"The AEC should take steps to prosecute him if they deem it necessary," Mr Goodenough said.
"Obviously it is more serious if two or three people have conspired."
Labels: Liberal Party of Australia, political probity, West Australia
Mainstream media continues to amplify racist dog whistles in 2018
In September 2017 the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA) published the new Code of Conduct for Nurses and Code of Conduct for Midwives. The codes took effect for all nurses and midwives in Australia on 1 March 2018.
These codes set out the legal requirements, professional behaviour and conduct expectations for all nurses and midwives in all practice settings.
The new codes for nurses and midwives can be found here.
These codes passed without much comment until far-right Senator Cory Bernardi began to bay about "political correctness" on 31 January 2018 and claim that Nurses must acknowledge white privilege and voice this acknowledgment if asked.
According to ABC Media Watch he was followed by the Murdoch media running with this blatant dog whistle, followed by Andrew Bolt, Peta Credlin and various radio shock jocks.
Misleading media coverage culminating in a truly appalling piece of journalism by Channel 7 which elicited this response…………..
Luke Pearson writing at @IndigenousX on 24 March 2018:
THE TRUTH BEHIND THE NURSING CODE OF CONDUCT LIE
"BUT FIRST TONIGHT, THE CONTENTIOUS NEW CODE TELLING NURSES TO SAY 'SORRY FOR BEING WHITE' WHEN TREATING THEIR INDIGENOUS PATIENTS..
That's how Today Tonight Adelaide began last night.
Catch Up: Having to apologise for being white – the controversial new code for nurses treating Indigenous Australians. #TTAdelaide pic.twitter.com/yViiqkw67F
— TodayTonightAdelaide (@TodayTonightSA) March 23, 2018
It continued:
"Now, it's the latest in a string of politically correct changes for the health industry, but this one has led to calls for the Nursing Board boss to resign."
It was followed by a five minute story with the new code being condemned by someone you've probably never heard of, Graeme Haycroft, explaining that: "According to how the code is written, the white nurse would come in and say, 'before I deal with you, I have to acknowledge to you that I have certain privileges that you don't have" followed by Cory Bernardi calling it divisive.
It goes on in this vein for a full five minutes before it cuts back to the presenter, who finally says, "The Nursing and Midwifery Board has told us that the code was drafted in consultation with Aboriginal groups and has been taken out of context as it's not a requirement for health workers to declare or apologise for white privilege".
And just to reinforce that point, the entire premise for the segment was false. There is no requirement for nurses to apologise for being white, which would be very awkward for the more the more than 1500 Indigenous nurses across Australia, and the countless others who also aren't white to begin with. But, even for the nurses who are – THERE IS NO REQUIREMENT FOR THEM TO APOLOGISE FOR BEING WHITE.
So, why on Earth would Today Tonight run such a story?
Why would they base a story off the demonstrably false allegations of this Graeme Haycroft person?
To answer that, it might useful to cut back to a 2005 Sydney Morning Herald story about Mr Haycroft:
"A member of the National Party and the H.R. Nicholls Society, he (Mr Haycroft) boasts that, because of a tussle he had with the Australian Workers Union 15 years ago, the union does not have a single member shearing sheep in south-western Queensland today.
Now he runs a labour hire firm with a thriving sideline in moving small-business employees off awards and collective agreements and onto the Federal Government's preferred individual contracts, Australian Workplace Agreements.
…Mr Haycroft's business stands out because he is targeting lower-skilled, lower-paid workers, often with poor English – the people unions say have much to fear from individual contracts."
Cut back to 2018, and Graeme Haycroft now runs the Nurses Professional Association of Queensland, which promotes itself as an alternative to the Qld Nurses Union.
So, a man with a long history of fighting Unions, who 'saved' the mushroom farming business by showing businesses how to move "small-business employees off awards and collective agreements and onto the Federal Government's preferred individual contracts, Australian Workplace Agreements."
According to the 2005 article, "Mr Haycroft said workers had been more than happy to sign on, most with their penalty rates, holiday pay and other conditions being rolled into a flat rate."
"However, [there is always a 'however'], Mr Haycroft was stripped of his preferred provider status with the Office of the Employment Advocate on Thursday, after a Sydney picker, Carmen Walacz Vel Walewska, said she was sacked after she contacted the Australian Workers Union for advice on AWAs."
With that track record, it's hard to imagine why nurses would want to leave their current union in favour of his 'professional association'.
It seems as though, once again, Indigenous people have become a political football and a convenient scapegoat for issues that have nothing to do with us.
Queensland has a long history of political success found through anti-Aboriginal sentiment, so what better way to undermine a Union and recruit new members to a professional association than to accuse the Union of 'racism against white people' and 'political correctness gone made' by spreading the blatantly false and misleading accusation that white nurses now have to apologise to Aboriginal people for being white?
And just like Dick Smith's anti-immigration campaign, Blair Cottrell's anti-African 'community safety group', and Prue McSween's call for a new Stolen Generation, it seems Channel 7 is always more than happy to ignore the facts and sensationalise issues about race and racism.
There is always one more thing.
We, and others, will soon publish articles explaining what the Code of Conduct actually calls for, and explain why cultural competence and cultural safety are important (editor's note: we did, here's one of them), but I can't help but be reminded of this quote from Toni Morrison:
"The function, the very serious function of racism is distraction. It keeps you from doing your work. It keeps you explaining, over and over again, your reason for being. Somebody says you have no language and you spend twenty years proving that you do. Somebody says your head isn't shaped properly so you have scientists working on the fact that it is. Somebody says you have no art, so you dredge that up. Somebody says you have no kingdoms, so you dredge that up. None of this is necessary. There will always be one more thing."
So, instead of working on the very real business of ensuring best practice within the nursing industry, our Indigenous experts in this area will have to take a few days away from this important work to explain that no one is asking for white nurses to apologise for being white.
Just like we have to explain that not all Aboriginal parents abuse their children, or that we don't want to steal white people's backyards, or that we had (and have) science, or that Australia wasn't Terra Nullius, or, as Malcolm Turnbull suggested last year, that acknowledging Indigenous history and addressing the issue of colonial statues and place names across Australia is not a "Stalinist exercise of trying to wipe out or obliterate or blank out parts of our history".
So long as Australian media and politics finds value, profit and opportunity in promoting racism, there will always be one more thing.
So, I might as well clear up a few others while I'm here, and empty a few more buckets out of the endless ocean of racist misinformation.
Child abuse isn't a 'cultural' thing.
Police are not scared to arrest Aboriginal people out of fear of being called racist.
We don't get free houses.
Aboriginal people using white ochre on their faces in dance and ceremony is not the same thing as white people dressing up in blackface.
We don't get free university.
The Voice to Parliament is not a third chamber of parliament.
We are not the problem.
We aren't vampires?
We don't shoot laser beams out of our eyes?
We aren't secretly developing a perpetual motion machine that runs on white tears?
I'm sure I, and countless others, will undoubtedly need to keep adding to this list because, as Toni Morrison tells us, there will always be one more thing.
Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia, Response to Media Watch, 23 March 2018, excerpt:
Do nurses under the new code have to announce their 'white privilege' before treating indigenous patients?
It is not a requirement of the codes of conduct for nurses and midwives to announce or apologise for white privilege. Any claim that nurses and midwives need to announce or apologise for white privilege is completely untrue. The recent criticisms from Mr Haycroft are based on completely untrue statements. The requirements for nurses when working with Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Peoples are clearly outlined in section 3.1 of the code.
Are nurses encouraged to announce their 'white privilege' before treating indigenous patients?
Is there any requirement to acknowledge or announce 'white privilege' before treating a patient?
Can a nurse be sacked for NOT declaring or addressing their 'white privilege' to a patient?
AUSTRALIAN NURSING AND MIDWIFERY FEDERATION, AUSTRALIAN COLLEGE OF NURSING, AUSTRALIAN COLLEGE OF MIDWIVES AND CONGRESS OF ABORIGINAL AND TORRES STRAIT ISLANDER NURSES AND MIDWIVES JOINT STATEMENT, 23 March 2018:
Cultural safety: Nurses and midwives leading the way for safer healthcare
In response to Graeme Haycroft's recent comments, we welcome the opportunity to provide further information on how important cultural safety is for improving health outcomes and experiences for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples.
It is clear from the 2018 Closing the Gap Report tabled by Prime Minister Turnbull in February 2018 that Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Peoples still experience poorer health outcomes than non-Indigenous Australians. It is well understood these inequities are a result of the colonisation process and the many discriminatory policies to which Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Australians were subjected to, and the ongoing experience of discrimination today.
All healthcare leaders and health professionals have a role to play in closing the gap.
The approach the NMBA has taken for nurses and midwives (the largest workforce in the healthcare system) by setting expectations around culturally safe practice, reflects the current expectations of governments to provide a culturally safe health system. (For more information please see the COAG Health Council 4 August 2017 Communiqué).
Culturally safe and respectful practice is not a new concept. Nurses and midwives are expected to engage with all people as individuals in a culturally safe and respectful way, foster open, honest and compassionate professional relationships, and adhere to their obligations about privacy and confidentiality.
Many health services already provide cultural safety training for their staff. Cultural safety is about the person who is providing care reflecting on their own assumptions and culture in order to work in a genuine partnership with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples.
Nurses and midwives have always had a responsibility to provide care that contributes to the best possible outcome for the person/woman they are caring for. They need to work in partnership with that person/woman to do so. The principle of cultural safety in the new Code of conduct for nurses and Code of conduct for midwives (the codes) provides simple, common sense guidance on how to work in a partnership with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples. The codes do not require nurses or midwives to declare or apologise for white privilege.
The guidance around cultural safety in the codes sets out clearly the behaviours that are expected of nurses and midwives, and the standard of conduct that patients and their families can expect. It is vital guidance for improving health outcomes and experiences for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples.
The codes were developed through an evidence-based and extensive consultation process conducted over a two-year period. Their development included literature reviews to ensure they were based on the best available international and Australian evidence, as well as an analysis of complaints about the conduct of nurses and midwives to ensure they were meeting the public's needs.
The consultation and input from the public and professions included working groups, focus groups and preliminary and public consultation. The public consultation phase included a campaign to encourage nurses and midwives to provide feedback.
The Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation, the Australian College of Nursing, the Australian College of Midwives and the Congress of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Nurses and Midwives all participated in each stage of the development and consultation of the new codes. The organisations strongly support the guidance around cultural safety in the codes for nurses and midwives.
Lynette Cusack Chair Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia
Ann Kinnear CEO Australian College of Midwives (ACM)
Kylie Ward CEO Australian College of Nursing (ACN)
Janine Mohamed CEO Congress of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Nurses and Midwives
Annie Butler A/Federal Secretary Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation
Labels: health, media, racism, right wing politics
Turns out that Facebook Inc is the biggest baddie of all on the Internet
"The FTC is firmly and fully committed to using all of its tools to protect the privacy of consumers. Foremost among these tools is enforcement action against companies that fail to honor their privacy promises, including to comply with Privacy Shield, or that engage in unfair acts that cause substantial injury to consumers in violation of the FTC Act. Companies who have settled previous FTC actions must also comply with FTC order provisions imposing privacy and data security requirements. Accordingly, the FTC takes very seriously recent press reports raising substantial concerns about the privacy practices of Facebook. Today, the FTC is confirming that it has an open non-public investigation into these practices." [US Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Statement, 26 March 2018]
It may have been the Cambridge Analytica-Facebook situation as first set out by Carole Cadwalladr at The Guardian & The Observer (UK) that recently alerted the average Internet user to the issue of digital privacy on social media and, it was certainly the situation which caught the eye of the US Federal Trade Commission which is now investigating.
The story of that data harvest so far.....
The Guardian UK, 25 March 2018:
The story of how those data made the journey from Facebook's servers to Cambridge Analytica's is now widely known. But it is also widely misunderstood. (Many people were puzzled, for example, by Facebook's vehement insistence that the exfiltration of a huge trove of users' data was not a "breach".) The shorthand version of what happened – that "a slug of Facebook data on 50 million Americans was sucked down by a UK academic named Aleksandr Kogan, and wrongly sold to Cambridge Analytica" – misses an important point, which is that in acquiring the data in the first place Kogan was acting with Facebook's full knowledge and approval.
In 2013, he wrote an app called "Thisisyourdigitallife" which offered users an online personality test, describing itself as "a research app used by psychologists".
Approximately 270,000 people downloaded it and in doing so gave their consent for Kogan to access information such as the city they set on their profile, or content they had liked, as well as more limited information about friends who had their privacy settings set to allow it. This drew more than 50 million unsuspecting Facebook users into Kogan's net.
The key point is that all of this was allowed by the terms and conditions under which he was operating. Thousands of other Facebook apps were also operating under similar T&Cs – and had been since 2007, when the company turned its social networking service into an application platform.
So Kogan was only a bit player in the data-hoovering game: apps such as the insanely popular Candy Crush, for example, were also able to collect players' public profiles, friends lists and email addresses. And Facebook seemed blissfully indifferent to this open door because it was central to its commercial strategy: the more apps there were on its platform the more powerful the network effects would be and the more personal data there would be to monetise.
That's why the bigger story behind the current controversy is the fact that what Cambridge Analytica claimed to have accomplished would not have been possible without Facebook. Which means that, in the end, Facebook poses the problem that democracies will have to solve. [my yellow highlighting]
However, it is not the only way Facebook is collecting personal information to enrich Zuckerberg and his shareholders.
Now we find out that Facebook Inc is scraping information from Android devices such as mobile phones and adding phone logs to its Big Brother database.
Global News, 25 March 2018:
In the same week Facebook found itself in the middle of a massive data scandal, recent reports indicate that the social media giant has also scraped records of phone calls and SMS data from its users with Android devices without explicit permission.
New Zealand-based software developer Dylan McKay tweeted earlier this week that upon downloading his Facebook data in zip file (which is an option for all users) he claims to have discovered records of phone calls and a historical data of every contact on his phone., including contacts he no longer had, from a period between 2016 and 2017.
Downloaded my facebook data as a ZIP file
Somehow it has my entire call history with my partner's mum pic.twitter.com/CIRUguf4vD
— Dylan McKay (@dylanmckaynz) March 21, 2018
After he made the discovery, McKay set up a Google poll to gather evidence from other users who've been affected.
So far, just under 900 people have responded to the poll, and more than 20 per cent confirmed they found call records and/or text metadata in their Facebook data archive. Another 74 people responded to the poll saying that MMS data was collected, 106 people responded saying that SMS data was collected, and 104 responded saying that cellular calls were collected.
READ MORE: Here's who's using your Facebook activity to get inside your head
The story was first published by the tech news website Ars Technica on Saturday, who interviewed several Facebook users, and had a member of its staff download their Facebook data archive. Following, this, the site could confirm that the data file downloaded by the staff member contained call logs from a device that individual used between 2015 and 2016, as well as SMS and MMS message data.
Several Global News staff members also requested their data archives as well in the preparation of this story and some found that the contact lists from their mobile devices were recorded in the file. No one noted any text message or call logs in the data files they downloaded.
Ars Technica reached out to Facebook for comment before the publication of its story, who said that the practice was a common one among social networking and messaging apps.
"The most important part of apps and services that help you make connections is to make it easy to find the people you want to connect with. So, the first time you sign in on your phone to a messaging or social app, it's a widely used practice to begin by uploading your phone contacts."
Following McKay's tweets, other users came out on social media expressing similar concerns about what they discovered after downloading their data archives.
Oh wow my deleted Facebook Zip file contains info on every single phone cellphone call and text I made for about a year- cool totally not creepy.
— Mat Johnson (@mat_johnson) March 23, 2018
I've just looked at the data files I requested from Facebook and they had every single phone number in my contacts. They had every single social event I went to, a list of all my friends (and their birthdays) and a list of every text I've sent.
— Emma Kennedy (@EmmaKennedy) March 25, 2018
…In recent years, the company has updated this process to clarify that when requesting access to your contact list, it intends to access all call logs and SMS text messages as well, but Android users in the past may have unknowingly given Facebook access to this data. [my yellow highlighting]
It is also wise to remember that even Internet users who do not have a Facebook account have their PC or other digital device scanned for information each time they click on a link to Facebook.
Facebook image via ZDNet, 3 January 2014
ZDNet on 3 January 2014: By "content" Facebook means "anything you or other users post on Facebook". By "information" Facebook means "facts and other information about you, including actions taken by users and non-users who interact with Facebook". [my yellow highlighting]
Nor should we ignore this report about Facebook's surreptitious activities.......
Law360 (March 2, 2018, 7:02 PM EST) -- A California federal judge held Friday that Facebook can't shake a proposed class action over its allegedly unlawful collection and storage of non-users' facial scans, declining to toss the matter for lack of standing, just as he recently did in a related suit involving users of the site.
U.S. District Judge James Donato rejected Facebook Inc.'s renewed motion to dismiss litigation led by Frederick William Gullen for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction, pointing to his Feb. 26 decision in a related proposed class action accusing the social media... [my yellow highlighting]
Then there is the lobbying to discourage federal regulation of Facebook.......
According to SOCIAL MEDIA CASEROUNDUP (selected cases) in April 2015, by 2013 Facebook Inc had spent more than US$1 million on lobbying efforts to water down the US Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). It was particularly concerned about any change of status of third party "add ons"/"plug-ins" which might by default make platforms like Facebook legally liable for any harm to a minor/s which occurred, as well asbeing resistant to any increase in general protections for minors or any expanded definition of protected "personal information" being included in the Act.
Quartz, 22 March 2018:
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said yesterday that the company welcomes more regulation, particularly to bring transparency to political advertising online. But in recent months, Facebook has been quietly fighting lawmakers to keep them from passing an act that does exactly that, campaign transparency advocates and Congressional staff tell Quartz.
The Honest Ads Act was introduced last October to close a loophole that has existed since politicians started advertising on the internet, and was expected by many to sail through Congress. Coming as Congress investigated how Russia used tech companies to influence the 2016 election, it was considered by many in Washington DC to be the bare minimum lawmakers could do to address the problem.
The act introduces disclosure and disclaimer rules to online political advertising. Tech companies would have to keep copies of election ads, and make them available to the public. The ads would also have to contain disclaimers similar to those included in TV or print political ads, informing voters who paid for the ad, how much, and whom they targeted.
"The benefit of having disclaimers on all political ads [is] the more suspicious ads would be more identifiable," said Brendan Fischer, the director of federal and Federal Election Commission reform at theCampaign Legal Center (CLC) in Washington.
In a vote of confidence from bitterly-divided Washington, the act was rolled out by a bipartisan group of senators—John McCain, the Republican from Arizona, and Democrats Amy Klobuchar from Minnesota and Mark Warner of Virginia—and it currently has the support of 18 senators. But it hasn't moved from the committee on "Rules and Administration" since was first introduced, thanks in part to Facebook's lobbying efforts.
Fischer, who is a co-author of a CLC report on US vulnerabilities online after the 2016 election, accuses Facebook of "working behind the scenes using the levers of power to stop any legislation from moving forward."
Facebook's lobbying clout
Lobbyists for the company have been trying to dissuade senators from moving the Honest Ads Act forward, some Congressional aides say.
Facebook's argument to Congress behind the scenes has been that they are "voluntarily complying" with most of what the Honest Ads Act asks, so why pass a law, said one Congressional staffer working on the bill. Facebook also doesn't want to be responsible for maintaining the publicly accessible repository of political advertising, including funding information, that the act demands, the staffer said.
Facebook spent nearly $3.1 million lobbying Congress and other US federal government agencies in the last quarter of 2017, on issues including the Honest Ads Act according to its latest federal disclosure form. It also signed on Blue Mountain Strategies, a lobbying firm founded by Warner's former chief of staff, an Oct. 30, 2017 filing shows.
It's part of a massive uptick in lobbying spending in recent years. [my yellow highlighting]
Despite all its lobbying Facebook Inc is not immune from official censure for its deceptive business practices.
Take this analysis of a 2011 binding agreement between the US Federal Trade Commission and Facebook Inc.....
Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 233 / Monday, December 5, 2011 / Notices
FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION [File No. 092 3184], 2 December 2011:
The Federal Trade Commission has accepted, subject to final approval, a consent agreement from Facebook, Inc. (''Facebook'')……
The Commission's complaint alleges eight violations of Section 5(a) of the FTC Act, which prohibits deceptive and unfair acts or practices in or affecting commerce, by Facebook:
* Facebook's Deceptive Privacy Settings: Facebook communicated to users that they could restrict certain information they provided on the site to a limited audience, such as ''Friends Only.'' In fact, selecting these categories did not prevent users' information from being shared with Apps that their Friends used.
* Facebook's Deceptive and Unfair December 2009 Privacy Changes: In December 2009, Facebook changed its site so that certain information that users may have designated as private— such as a user's Friend List —was made public, without adequate disclosure to users. This conduct was also unfair to users.
* Facebook's Deception Regarding App Access: Facebook represented to users that whenever they authorized an App, the App would only access the information of the user that it needed to operate. In fact, the App could access nearly all of the user's information, even if unrelated to the App's operations. For example, an App that provided horoscopes for users could access the user's photos or employment information, even though there is no need for a horoscope App to access such information.
* Facebook's Deception Regarding Sharing with Advertisers: Facebook promised users that it would not share their personal information with advertisers; in fact, Facebook did share this information with advertisers when a user clicked on a Facebook ad.
* Facebook's Deception Regarding Its Verified Apps Program: Facebook had a ''Verified Apps'' program through which it represented that it had certified the security of certain Apps when, in fact, it had not.
* Facebook's Deception Regarding Photo and Video Deletion: Facebook stated to users that, when they deactivate or delete their accounts, their photos and videos would be inaccessible. In fact, Facebook continued to allow access to this content even after a user deactivated or deleted his or her account.
* Safe Harbor: Facebook deceptively stated that it complied with the U.S.-EU Safe Harbor Framework, a mechanism by which U.S. companies may transfer data from the European Union to the United States consistent with European law.
The proposed order contains provisions designed to prevent Facebook from engaging in practices in the future that are the same or similar to those alleged in the complaint.
Part I of the proposed order prohibits Facebook from misrepresenting the privacy or security of ''covered information,'' as well as the company's compliance with any privacy, security, or other compliance program, including but not limited to the U.S.-EU Safe Harbor Framework. ''Covered information'' is defined broadly as ''information from or about an individual consumer, including but not limited to:
(a) A first or last name;
(b) a home or other physical address, including street name and name of city or town; (c) an email address or other online contact information, such as an instant messaging user identifier or a screen name;
(d) a mobile or other telephone number;
(e) photos and videos; (f) Internet Protocol (''IP'') address, User ID, or other persistent identifier; (g) physical location; or
(h) any information combined with any of (a) through (g) above.''
Part II of the proposed order requires Facebook to give its users a clear and prominent notice and obtain their affirmative express consent before sharing their previously-collected information with third parties in any (a) through (g) above.'' Part II of the proposed order requires Facebook to give its users a clear and prominent notice and obtain their affirmative express consent before sharing their previously-collected information with third parties in any way that materially exceeds the restrictions imposed by their privacy settings. A ''material . . . practice is one which is likely to affect a consumer's choice of or conduct regarding a product.'' FTC Policy Statement on Deception, Appended to Cliffdale Associates, Inc., 103 F.T.C. 110, 174 (1984).
Part III of the proposed order requires Facebook to implement procedures reasonably designed to ensure that a user's covered information cannot be accessed from Facebook's servers after a reasonable period of time, not to exceed thirty (30) days, following a user's deletion of his or her account.
Part IV of the proposed order requires Facebook to establish and maintain a comprehensive privacy program that is reasonably designed to:
(1) Address privacy risks related to the development and management of new and existing products and services, and
(2) protect the privacy and confidentiality of covered information. The privacy program must be documented in writing and must contain controls and procedures appropriate to Facebook's size and complexity, the nature and scope of its activities, and the sensitivity of covered information. Specifically, the order requires Facebook to:
* Designate an employee or employees to coordinate and be responsible for the privacy program;
* Identify reasonably-foreseeable, material risks, both internal and external, that could result in the unauthorized collection, use, or disclosure of covered information and assess the sufficiency of any safeguards in place to control these risks;
* Design and implement reasonable controls and procedures to address the risks identified through the privacy risk assessment and regularly test or monitor the effectiveness of these controls and procedures;
* Develop and use reasonable steps to select and retain service providers capable of appropriately protecting the privacy of covered information they receive from respondent, and require service providers by contract to implement and maintain appropriate privacy protections; and
* Evaluate and adjust its privacy program in light of the results of the testing and monitoring, any material changes to its operations or business arrangements, or any other circumstances that it knows or has reason to know may have a material impact on the effectiveness of its privacy program.
Part V of the proposed order requires that Facebook obtain within 180 days, and every other year thereafter for twenty (20) years, an assessment and report from a qualified, objective, independent third-party professional, certifying, among other things, that it has in place a privacy program that provides protections that meet or exceed the protections required by Part IV of the proposed order; and its privacy controls are operating with sufficient effectiveness to provide reasonable assurance that the privacy of covered information is protected. Parts VI through X of the proposed order are reporting and compliance provisions. Part VI requires that Facebook retain all ''widely disseminated statements'' that describe the extent to which respondent maintains and protects the privacy, security, and confidentiality of any covered information, along with all materials relied upon in making such statements, for a period of three (3) years. Part VI further requires Facebook to retain, for a period of six (6) months from the date received, all consumer complaints directed at Facebook, or forwarded to Facebook by a third party, that relate to the conduct prohibited by the proposed order, and any responses to such complaints. Part VI also requires Facebook to retain for a period of five (5) years from the date received, documents, prepared by or on behalf of Facebook, that contradict, qualify, or call into question its compliance with the proposed order. Part VI additionally requires Facebook to retain for a period of three (3) years, each materially different document relating to its attempt to obtain the affirmative express consent of users referred to in Part II, along with documents and information sufficient to show each user's consent and documents sufficient to demonstrate, on an aggregate basis, the number of users for whom each such privacy setting was in effect at any time Facebook has attempted to obtain such consent. Finally, Part VI requires that Facebook retain all materials relied upon to prepare the third-party assessments for a period of three (3) years after the date that each assessment is prepared.
Part VII requires dissemination of the order now and in the future to principals, officers, directors, and managers, and to all current and future employees, agents, and representatives having supervisory responsibilities relating to the subject matter of the order. Part VIII ensures notification to the FTC of changes in corporate status. Part IX mandates that Facebook submit an initial compliance report to the FTC and make available to the FTC subsequent reports. Part X is a provision ''sunsetting'' the order after twenty (20) years, with certain exceptions.
The purpose of the analysis is to aid public comment on the proposed order. It is not intended to constitute an official interpretation of the complaint or proposed order, or to modify the proposed order's terms in any way.
By direction of the Commission.
Donald S. Clark, Secretary. [FR Doc. 2011–31158 Filed 12–2–11; 8:45 am [my yellow highlighting]
Labels: Big Brother, big data, ethics, Facebook, information technology, Internet, law, privacy, safety
North Coast Voices no longer allows the Facebook Button sited at the end of each blog post to activate when it is clicked on by a reader.
This button has been deactivated because it has become clear that Facebook Inc. is not now and has never been a corporation genuinely committed to principles of digital privacy and security of Internet users' personal information and other associated data.
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The Universal Declaration of Human Rights Article 19
Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers. [Adopted and proclaimed by United Nations General Assembly resolution 217 A (III) of 10 December 1948]
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Hi! My name is Boy. I'm a male bi-coloured tabby cat. Ever since I discovered that Malcolm Turnbull's dogs were allowed to blog, I have been pestering Clarencegirl to allow me a small space on North Coast Voices.
A false flag musing: I have noticed one particular voice on Facebook which is Pollyanna-positive on the subject of the Port of Yamba becoming a designated cruise ship destination. What this gentleman doesn't disclose is that, as a principal of Middle Star Pty Ltd, he could be thought to have a potential pecuniary interest due to the fact that this corporation (which has had an office in Grafton since 2012) provides consultancy services and tourism business development services.
A religion & local government musing: On 11 October 2017 Clarence Valley Council has the Church of Jesus Christ Development Fund Inc in Sutherland Local Court No. 6 for a small claims hearing. It would appear that there may be a little issue in rendering unto Caesar. On 19 September 2017 an ordained minister of a religion (which was named by the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in relation to 40 instances of historical child sexual abuse on the NSW North Coast) read the Opening Prayer at Council's ordinary monthly meeting. Earlier in the year an ordained minister (from a church network alleged to have supported an overseas orphanage closed because of child abuse claims in 2013) read the Opening Prayer and an ordained minister (belonging to yet another church network accused of ignoring child sexual abuse in the US and racism in South Africa) read the Opening Prayer at yet another ordinary monthly meeting. Nice one councillors - you are covering yourselves with glory!
An investigative musing: Newcastle Herald, 12 August 2017: The state's corruption watchdog has been asked to investigate the finances of the Awabakal Aboriginal Local Land Council, less than 12 months after the troubled organisation was placed into administration by the state government. The Newcastle Herald understands accounting firm PKF Lawler made the decision to refer the land council to the Independent Commission Against Corruption after discovering a number of irregularities during an audit of its financial statements. The results of the audit were recently presented to a meeting of Awabakal members. Administrator Terry Lawler did not respond when contacted by the Herald and a PKF Lawler spokesperson said it was unable to comment on the matter. Given the intricate web of company relationships that existed with at least one former board member it is not outside the realms of possibility that, if ICAC accepts this referral, then United Land Councils Limited (registered New Zealand) and United First Peoples Syndications Pty Ltd(registered Australia) might be interviewed. North Coast Voices readers will remember that on 15 August 2015 representatives of these two companied gave evidence before NSW Legislative Council General Purpose Standing Committee No. 6 INQUIRY INTO CROWN LAND. This evidence included advocating for a Yamba mega port.
A Nationals musing: Word around the traps is that NSW Nats MP for Clarence Chris Gulaptis has been talking up the notion of cruise ships visiting the Clarence River estuary. Fair dinkum! That man can be guaranteed to run with any bad idea put to him. I'm sure one or more cruise ships moored in the main navigation channel on a regular basis for one, two or three days is something other regular river users will really welcome. *pause for appreciation of irony* The draft of the smallest of the smaller cruise vessels is 3 metres and it would only stay safely afloat in that channel. Even the Yamba-Iluka ferry has been known to get momentarily stuck in silt/sand from time to time in Yamba Bay and even a very small cruise ship wouldn't be able to safely enter and exit Iluka Bay. You can bet your bottom dollar operators of cruise lines would soon be calling for dredging at the approach to the river mouth - and you know how well that goes down with the local residents.
A local councils musing: Which Northern Rivers council is on a low-key NSW Office of Local Government watch list courtesy of feet dragging by a past general manager?
A serial pest musing: I'm sure the Clarence Valley was thrilled to find that a well-known fantasist is active once again in the wee small hours of the morning treading a well-worn path of accusations involving police, local business owners and others.
An investigative musing: Which NSW North Coast council is batting to have the longest running code of conduct complaint investigation on record?
A fun fact musing: An estimated 24,000 whales migrated along the NSW coastline in 2016 according to the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service and the migration period is getting longer.
A which bank? musing: Despite a net profit last year of $9,227 million the Commonwealth Bank still insists on paying below Centrelink deeming rates interest on money held in Pensioner Security Accounts. One local wag says he's waiting for the first bill from the bank charging him for the privilege of keeping his pension dollars at that bank.
A Daily Examiner musing: Just when you thought this newspaper could sink no lower under News Corp management, it continues to give column space to Andrew Bolt.
A thought to ponder musing: In case of bushfire or flood - do you have an emergency evacuation plan for the family pet?
An adoption musing: Every week on the NSW North Coast a number of cats and dogs find themselves without a home. If you want to do your bit and give one bundle of joy a new family, contact Happy Paws on 0419 404 766 or your local council pound.
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Tweet from one of life's monumental failures
Federal Liberals behaving badly in 2018
The president doth protest too much, methinks
The tweet Malcolm Bligh Turnbull thought it was wi...
Turnbull Government, business and industry still o...
Wealth Inequality in Australia – something to thin...
The large-scale personal data release Facebook Inc...
The 'new' business model in politics
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Australia Post-Port Arthur Massacre
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Australian personal investment portfolio profiles ...
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What a farce is the Dept of Home Affairs under Pet...
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The Turnbull Government's anti-democratic slide ha...
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Nine Policy Briefs to help inform policy agenda in next decade
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text:
namespace blink {

enum ShadowComponentIndex : unsigned {
  ShadowX,
  ShadowY,
  ShadowBlur,
  ShadowSpread,
  ShadowColor,
  ShadowComponentIndexCount,
};

class ShadowNonInterpolableValue : public NonInterpolableValue {
 public:
  ~ShadowNonInterpolableValue() final {}

  static PassRefPtr<ShadowNonInterpolableValue> create(
      ShadowStyle shadowStyle) {
    return adoptRef(new ShadowNonInterpolableValue(shadowStyle));
  }

  ShadowStyle style() const { return m_style; }

  DECLARE_NON_INTERPOLABLE_VALUE_TYPE();

 private:
  ShadowNonInterpolableValue(ShadowStyle shadowStyle) : m_style(shadowStyle) {}

  ShadowStyle m_style;
};

DEFINE_NON_INTERPOLABLE_VALUE_TYPE(ShadowNonInterpolableValue);
DEFINE_NON_INTERPOLABLE_VALUE_TYPE_CASTS(ShadowNonInterpolableValue);

bool ShadowInterpolationFunctions::nonInterpolableValuesAreCompatible(
    const NonInterpolableValue* a,
    const NonInterpolableValue* b) {
  return toShadowNonInterpolableValue(*a).style() ==
         toShadowNonInterpolableValue(*b).style();
}

PairwiseInterpolationValue ShadowInterpolationFunctions::maybeMergeSingles(
    InterpolationValue&& start,
    InterpolationValue&& end) {
  if (!nonInterpolableValuesAreCompatible(start.nonInterpolableValue.get(),
                                          end.nonInterpolableValue.get()))
    return nullptr;
  return PairwiseInterpolationValue(std::move(start.interpolableValue),
                                    std::move(end.interpolableValue),
                                    start.nonInterpolableValue.release());
}

InterpolationValue ShadowInterpolationFunctions::convertShadowData(
    const ShadowData& shadowData,
    double zoom) {
  std::unique_ptr<InterpolableList> interpolableList =
      InterpolableList::create(ShadowComponentIndexCount);
  interpolableList->set(ShadowX,
                        LengthInterpolationFunctions::createInterpolablePixels(
                            shadowData.x() / zoom));
  interpolableList->set(ShadowY,
                        LengthInterpolationFunctions::createInterpolablePixels(
                            shadowData.y() / zoom));
  interpolableList->set(ShadowBlur,
                        LengthInterpolationFunctions::createInterpolablePixels(
                            shadowData.blur() / zoom));
  interpolableList->set(ShadowSpread,
                        LengthInterpolationFunctions::createInterpolablePixels(
                            shadowData.spread() / zoom));
  interpolableList->set(
      ShadowColor,
      CSSColorInterpolationType::createInterpolableColor(shadowData.color()));
  return InterpolationValue(
      std::move(interpolableList),
      ShadowNonInterpolableValue::create(shadowData.style()));
}

InterpolationValue ShadowInterpolationFunctions::maybeConvertCSSValue(
    const CSSValue& value) {
  if (!value.isShadowValue())
    return nullptr;
  const CSSShadowValue& shadow = toCSSShadowValue(value);

  ShadowStyle style = Normal;
  if (shadow.style) {
    if (shadow.style->getValueID() == CSSValueInset)
      style = Inset;
    else
      return nullptr;
  }

  std::unique_ptr<InterpolableList> interpolableList =
      InterpolableList::create(ShadowComponentIndexCount);
  static_assert(ShadowX == 0, "Enum ordering check.");
  static_assert(ShadowY == 1, "Enum ordering check.");
  static_assert(ShadowBlur == 2, "Enum ordering check.");
  static_assert(ShadowSpread == 3, "Enum ordering check.");
  const CSSPrimitiveValue* lengths[] = {
      shadow.x.get(), shadow.y.get(), shadow.blur.get(), shadow.spread.get(),
  };
  for (size_t i = 0; i < WTF_ARRAY_LENGTH(lengths); i++) {
    if (lengths[i]) {
      InterpolationValue lengthField =
          LengthInterpolationFunctions::maybeConvertCSSValue(*lengths[i]);
      if (!lengthField)
        return nullptr;
      DCHECK(!lengthField.nonInterpolableValue);
      interpolableList->set(i, std::move(lengthField.interpolableValue));
    } else {
      interpolableList->set(
          i, LengthInterpolationFunctions::createInterpolablePixels(0));
    }
  }

  if (shadow.color) {
    std::unique_ptr<InterpolableValue> interpolableColor =
        CSSColorInterpolationType::maybeCreateInterpolableColor(*shadow.color);
    if (!interpolableColor)
      return nullptr;
    interpolableList->set(ShadowColor, std::move(interpolableColor));
  } else {
    interpolableList->set(ShadowColor,
                          CSSColorInterpolationType::createInterpolableColor(
                              StyleColor::currentColor()));
  }

  return InterpolationValue(std::move(interpolableList),
                            ShadowNonInterpolableValue::create(style));
}

std::unique_ptr<InterpolableValue>
ShadowInterpolationFunctions::createNeutralInterpolableValue() {
  return convertShadowData(ShadowData(FloatPoint(0, 0), 0, 0, Normal,
                                      StyleColor(Color::transparent)),
                           1)
      .interpolableValue;
}

void ShadowInterpolationFunctions::composite(
    std::unique_ptr<InterpolableValue>& underlyingInterpolableValue,
    RefPtr<NonInterpolableValue>& underlyingNonInterpolableValue,
    double underlyingFraction,
    const InterpolableValue& interpolableValue,
    const NonInterpolableValue* nonInterpolableValue) {
  DCHECK(nonInterpolableValuesAreCompatible(
      underlyingNonInterpolableValue.get(), nonInterpolableValue));
  InterpolableList& underlyingInterpolableList =
      toInterpolableList(*underlyingInterpolableValue);
  const InterpolableList& interpolableList =
      toInterpolableList(interpolableValue);
  underlyingInterpolableList.scaleAndAdd(underlyingFraction, interpolableList);
}

ShadowData ShadowInterpolationFunctions::createShadowData(
    const InterpolableValue& interpolableValue,
    const NonInterpolableValue* nonInterpolableValue,
    const StyleResolverState& state) {
  const InterpolableList& interpolableList =
      toInterpolableList(interpolableValue);
  const ShadowNonInterpolableValue& shadowNonInterpolableValue =
      toShadowNonInterpolableValue(*nonInterpolableValue);
  const CSSToLengthConversionData& conversionData =
      state.cssToLengthConversionData();
  Length shadowX = LengthInterpolationFunctions::createLength(
      *interpolableList.get(ShadowX), nullptr, conversionData, ValueRangeAll);
  Length shadowY = LengthInterpolationFunctions::createLength(
      *interpolableList.get(ShadowY), nullptr, conversionData, ValueRangeAll);
  Length shadowBlur = LengthInterpolationFunctions::createLength(
      *interpolableList.get(ShadowBlur), nullptr, conversionData,
      ValueRangeNonNegative);
  Length shadowSpread = LengthInterpolationFunctions::createLength(
      *interpolableList.get(ShadowSpread), nullptr, conversionData,
      ValueRangeAll);
  DCHECK(shadowX.isFixed() && shadowY.isFixed() && shadowBlur.isFixed() &&
         shadowSpread.isFixed());
  return ShadowData(FloatPoint(shadowX.value(), shadowY.value()),
                    shadowBlur.value(), shadowSpread.value(),
                    shadowNonInterpolableValue.style(),
                    CSSColorInterpolationType::resolveInterpolableColor(
                        *interpolableList.get(ShadowColor), state));
}

}  // namespace blink

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


A fun, sometimes wild espionage drama, Quantico has a lot to offer: a fast pace, a generously stuffed conspiracy plot, and a stellar performance from its lead actress, Priyanka Chopra.
The show's creator Joshua Safran pitched it as "Grey's Anatomy meets Homeland" and you can see elements of both series here: The attractive cast with relationship issues, the choices of pop songs on the soundtrack and the slightly soapy feel echo that famous medical series. While the timely, terrorism-themed plot, young lead actress and long arc conspiracy story are pure Homeland.
Like any other long arc, cliffhanger show, much of the fun in Quantico lies in the revelations, so we won't go beyond episode one: We initially meet fifty eager new FBI recruits as they're starting their training – learning how to shoot, tackle assault courses, and do other montage-friendly activities.
They're assigned with investigating classmates, finding out the one fact omitted from their files, and interrogating them to extract that admission. We don't know which of these characters' secrets are relevant, but some of them will be, as the show flash-forwards nine months to a horrific terror attack perpetrated by one (or more) of the new recruits.
It's a satisfying mix, jumping back and forth in time from the days in training to the terror attack and its aftermath. Alex (Chopra) is a prime suspect and a fugitive, but at least one of her FBI superiors believes her to be innocent.
This is a slick show, with its network budget clearly onscreen (ABC, owned by Disney, foots the bill). But its biggest asset is Chopra herself. A huge star in her native India, Chopra has the vulnerability and strength that her complex role demands, as well as old-fashioned screen presence. This is the moment before she becomes a major star, as she'll soon be starring alongside The Rock in a big screen reboot of Baywatch.
Quantico touches on some topical issues, but don't expect docudrama realism. Instead, it's a punchy, zippy and sometimes soapy thriller, with a FBI-sized budget and a charismatic lead actress.
Quantico, the complete first season, is available now on Virgin TV.
Experience every twist and turn yourself.
Watch Quantico, and enjoy the thrill ride.


Minister for Indigenous Affairs and Country Liberals Senator for the Northern Territory, Nigel Scullion, was in Gunbalanya today and joined the local Remote School Attendance Strategy (RSAS) team on their first morning school run for the year.
"Education is critical to the lives of all Australians, no matter where they live, which is why I am so committed to ensuring all remote children, right across the Territory and across the nation, have access to a quality education.
"Despite education being a state and territory responsibility, the Federal Coalition Government established the RSAS programme in frustration at the declining rates of school attendance.
"Education is the key to overcoming so many of the challenges and unlocking so many of the opportunities in our regional and remote communities.
"The Gumbalanya RSAS team does a wonderful job encouraging kids to go to school and stay in school every day and I have no doubt that the team is making a real difference to the lives and futures of the children.
"By the end of 2017, the Gunbalanya RSAS team supported a 13 per cent increase in school attendance over the past 12 months demonstrating the success of our Government's commitment to working in partnership with Indigenous communities.
Minister Scullion said the success of RSAS was a testament not only to the local RSAS team but also for parents and broader Gunbalanya community.
RSAS operates in 78 schools in 74 communities and supports 14,500 remote students get to school everyday.


Witnessed by the supreme global hairdressing institute in the late of the twentieth century, four Taiwanese young talents, Yeh Wen-Ya, Wang Shu-Chuan, Lai Hui-Chuan and Huang Ting-Wei, created the revolutionary technique without precedent in history, i.e."Vern Both-Handed Faultless Cutting Technique System." Hoping to make some dedication for the Asian hairdressers to stand at the world fashion frontier, they went back hometown and set up the studio. Vern Hairdressing Style College was then formally established in 1996 and the extraordinary technique was greatly promoted hereafter. Understanding the importance of the professionally categorized hair cutting tools, they then earnestly invite the old master with decades' experiences in manufacturing world top scissors. Upon receiving numerous orders from hairdressers, Vern then established the producing line in making scissors of limited quantity and well set the foundation for the birth of the other revolutionary invention, "Vern Intelligent Combined Scissors", later on.
In the early 21st century when marketing Vern Scissors in the domestic market went mature, one performance record video of Vern was circulated to Europe and caused a great sensation among the global hairdressing industry. After that, Vern was overwhelmed by numerous show invitations. Through the biennial HairWorld all over the world and the annual Salon International in London, UK, Vern started to spread her fame and especially appointed Yanni Co., Ltd to take care of the trading work. Vern expects to dedicate the two world-patented creations of breakthrough to the global hairdressers and make the biggest efforts in leading the intercontinental hairdressing industry into a brand new era of techniques and services.


text:
Floyd Mayweather says NFL was too hard on Ray Rice
The professional boxer maintained his innocence of recent claims of domestic violence while saying the NFL was wrong in how it handled Ray Rice's suspension.
By James Dator Sep 10, 2014, 11:09am EDT
Share All sharing options for: Floyd Mayweather says NFL was too hard on Ray Rice
Floyd Mayweather believes the NFL was "overly influenced" by the video that emerged Monday of Ray Rice assaulting then-fiance Janay Palmer, saying the league should have kept the running back's suspension at two games.
Speaking in Las Vegas ahead of his fight against Marcos Maidana, Mayweather offered his opinion on Rice's suspension by saying the league "overreacted" based on surveillance footage from the elevator in Atlantic City.
"I think there's a lot worse things that go on in other people's households, also," Mayweather said. "It's just not caught on video, if that's safe to say."
Mayweather was arrested and served two months in prison in 2012 stemming from a domestic violence charge in which the boxer attacked his former girlfriend in front of their children. He maintains he was innocent of those charges and last week was cited in a separate civil case by Shantel Jackson, an ex-fiancee who claims Mayweather assaulted her and prevented her from leaving his Las Vegas mansion.
During his media session Tuesday, Mayweather claims a lack of evidence supports his version of events.
"Like I've said in the past, no bumps, no bruises, no nothing," Mayweather said. "With O.J. and Nicole, you've seen pictures. With Chris Brown and Rihanna, you've seen pictures. With (Chad) Ochocinco and Evelyn, you' e seen pictures. You guys have yet to see any pictures of a battered woman, a woman who says she was kicked and beaten (by Mayweather). So I just live my life and try to stay positive, and try to become a better person each and every day."
Rice has been indefinitely suspended by the NFL and released by the Baltimore Ravens as a result of his assault, while commissioner Roger Goodell said the running back was "ambiguous about what actually happened," which led to the revised suspension.
Ray Rice is reinstated to NFL after winning appeal
Rice's domestic violence charge dropped
Ravens knew what was on Rice video

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


A new report from New Frontier Data is quantifying the energy consumption of legally and illicitly grown cannabis across the United States. The report shows electricity use is outpacing previous estimates and is expected to grow by 167% by 2022. The study also articulates how cities across California, Colorado, Oregon and Canada are establishing policies to help mitigate energy usage, which is consuming up to 4% of all usage in cities such as Arcata, CA in Humboldt County.
This is the first nation-wide analysis which shows how cannabis cultivation practices are impacting energy usage in legalized adult-use cannabis states. Interestingly, electricity pricing spikes are occurring, which affect all residential consumers in communities which contain either legal or illicit cannabis grows. The study shows cannabis cultivation is 70 times more energy intensive than commercial office buildings, with much of the energy being used for lighting and HVAC requirements, both of which can be mitigated by more efficient lighting.
Fluence's director of global business operations, Corinne Wilder, contributed and reviewed data from the report, ensuring the committee understood how LED technology will enable more efficient energy usage in the cannabis industry in the coming years ahead.
As the cannabis industry looks to understand the efficiency and efficacy of high-quality, high-yield plant production, Fluence will continue to collaborate with analysts, influencers and policy-makers to ensure the benefits of LED technology is well understood.
To learn more about why LED technology will lead to a brighter and energy-efficient future for cannabis cultivation, please visit our technology page here.


Here are some common performance tuning concepts that I frequently run into. Please note that this really is only a basic introduction to performance tuning. For more in-depth tuning, it strongly depends on your systems, data and usage.
For tuning InnoDB performance, your primary variable is innodb_buffer_pool_size. This is the chunk of memory that InnoDB uses for caching data, indexes and various pieces of information about your database. The bigger, the better. If you can cache all of your data in memory, you'll see significant performance improvements.
For MyISAM, there is a similar buffer defined by key_buffer_size, though this is only used for indexes, not data. Again, the bigger, the better.
query_cache_size – This can be very useful if you have a small number of read queries that are repeated frequently, with no write queries in between. There have been problems with too large a query cache locking up the server, so you will need to experiment to find a value that's right for you.
innodb_log_file_size – Don't fall into the trap of setting this to be too large. A large InnoDB log file group is necessary if you have lots of large, concurrent transactions, but comes at the expense of slowing down InnoDB recover, in event of a crash.
sort_buffer_size – Another one that shouldn't be set too large. Peter Zaitsev did some testing a while back showing that increasing sort_buffer_size can in fact reduce the speed of the query.
Use a 64-bit processor, operating system and MySQL binary. This will allow you to address lots of RAM. At this point in time, InnoDB does have issues scaling past 8 cores, so you don't need to go out of your way to have lots of processors.
Speaking of RAM, buy lots of it. Enough to fit all of your data and indexes, if you can.
If you can't fit all of your data into RAM, you'll need fast disks, RAID if you can. Have multiple disks, so you can seperate your data files, OS files and log files onto different physical disks.
Finally, though probably the most important, we look at tuning queries. In particular, we make sure that they're using indexes, and they're running quickly. To do so, turn on the Slow Query Log for a day, with log_queries_not_using_indexes enabled as well. Run the resulting log through mysqldumpslow, which will produce a summary of the log. This will help you prioritize which queries to tackle first. Then, you can use EXPLAIN to find out what they're doing, and adjust your indexes accordingly.


Undercurrents on The Wall in the Thames Gallery at the River & Rowing Museum in Henley-on-Thames.
Undercurrents is a five metre-long section through an imaginary river of words. Colour flows across ten canvases to suggest the narrative flow of a story. Each canvas is 120cm tall and 50 cm wide.
Undercurrents draws on my previous experience as an environmental planner, my current career as an artist and my ongoing experience as a student of creative writing.
One of my land planning projects was the strategic plan for a flood alleviation scheme. We drew many sections across and along a proposed new river channel. For Undercurrents I imagined myself standing in a river channel with stories flowing downstream all around me, the water's surface just above my head. I filled the channel with quotations about the flow of water, of words, of creative expression.
The installation was developed in response to the exhibition space The Wall in the Thames Gallery of the River & Rowing Museum in Henley-on-Thames. The exhibition opened in November 2007 and ran for three months. Undercurrents has travelled to the Grandstand at Royal Windsor Racecourse and to other exhibitions of mine, both group and solo.


Warri, Nigeria: Militant group the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) on Friday denied being in talks with Nigeria's government to end attacks on key oil facilities that have cut output and hammered revenue.
President Muhammadu Buhari said on Thursday his administration was negotiating with the rebels through oil companies and security agencies.
But the NDA said on its website that the "truth is that we are not aware of any peace talks".
"If there is any such peace talk, it means the president is talking to their mercenaries set to disturb the genuine struggle of the agitators," it added.
The rebels have previously scoffed at claims they are involved in back-channel discussions and accused the government of not being sincere.
"If we are to engage in any peace talk we made it clear that the international community must be part of it," the statement added.
"The president knows our demands. So they should stop deceiving the international oil companies, the general public and the international community."
Meanwhile the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC), an umbrella body for youths in the southern Niger delta region, also dismissed the government's claim of dialogue.
"President Buhari and the federal government of Nigeria should stop deceiving Nigerians and the international community about talks with Niger Delta militants on how to stop attacks on oil facilities in the Niger Delta region as this is highly ridiculous and laughable," the IYC said in the southern port city of Warri.
The group said it was "embarrassing" for Buhari to say oil majors were negotiating on behalf of government as "the issues at stake are completely beyond the capacity of oil companies to resolve".
The Avengers have claimed a string of devastating attacks against the state-run Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) as well as oil majors Shell, Chevron and Eni since February.
The attacks have reduced output at a time when Nigeria is struggling with low global crude prices which have hammered government revenues, weakening the naira currency and pushing up inflation to near 11-year highs.
The rebels want oil majors to leave the Niger delta, blaming them for contributing to widespread poverty and under-development of the region.
The Avengers are believed to have sympathies for Government Ekpemupolo, alias Tompolo, a fugitive former militant leader wanted for corruption charges by government.
Ekpemupolo was the leader of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), the high-profile militant group that wreaked havoc on Nigeria's oil infrastructure in the 2000s until a 2009 amnesty ended the unrest in the region.
The former oil warlord said in an open letter to Buhari on Friday that his 84-year-old father had been brutalised by the military during a recent hunt for the Avengers in his community in southern Delta state.
He said his father's leg had to be amputated after his ordeal in the hands of the rampaging soldiers.
"Sadly, one of his lower limbs was amputated two weeks ago. From the doctor's report, it will be a thing of miracle if he survives this incident," he said.
He appealed to the government to stop the assault on his family, denying he had any links with the militants.
"Is this 84-year-old man also a member of the Niger Delta Avengers that they brutalized to the point of death?" he asked.


Who steals bikes? Where do they go?
America is broke. It seems only Ron Paul tells this fact. Alas, and he's called a "nut" by most folks.
One Best of Utah award was mistakenly left on the cutting-room floor this year during the production process.
Can car static kill you?
The wide, weird world of eating disorders. Warning: NSFL (not safe for lunch).


• May 21-29: No renewals online or at kiosks.
• May 23-25: No tag or title services at tag offices.
• May 27: Closed for Memorial Day.
More than 15,000 Gwinnettians have birthdays from May 21st to May 29th. While vehicle owners can renew tags up to 60 days in advance, the vast majority wait until their birthday, as depicted in the chart to the right. Renewal notices for May birthdays have been mailed, and owners can renew them now.
• Online – for renewals without changes from previous registration; convenience fees apply; decals arrive by mail.
• Kiosks – for renewals without changes from previous registration; convenience fees apply; receive decal immediately.
• Tag Offices – for all renewals; no convenience fees; five offices county-wide.


Kano Pillars forward Junior Lokosa and Heartland head coach Ramson Madu have been named the NPFL Player and Manager for February respectively by the League Bloggers Awards (LBA).
Lokosa and Madu distinguished themselves in the month under review to come out tops in both categories of the award. Lokosa saw off challenges from Kwara United striker Stephen Alfred, Wikki Tourists defender Isaac Giwa and Enugu Rangers goalkeeper Femi Thomas to emerge the top performer among players for the month of February.
The Kano Pillars forward scored three goals in four games as his club finished unbeaten in February. He also showed he can hold his own in big games, scoring against MFM FC, Enyimba and Rangers. Lokosa is currently the top scorer of the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL).
Lokosa has now won the LBA back-to-back after claiming the player's prize in January – the first of this NPFL season. Madu has had quite a topsy-turvy spell overall as Heartland manager but February remains the best period for his team as he guided them to pick nine points out of 12, which was only rivalled by Rivers United who had to achieve that with an extra game last month.
He led Heartland to an away win at Niger Tornadoes and enjoyed successes at home against Kwara United and Wikki Tourists with his men's only blemish in February happening in the Oriental Derby at FC Ifeanyiubah.
Meanwhile, nominees for March will be announced first week of next month.


Singapore – October 2018 – The Nintendo Switch version of DARK SOULS™: REMASTERED which was co-developed by BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment, FromSoftware and Virtuos was officially released on October 18.
DARK SOULS™: REMASTERED is a remastered version of action RPG 「DARK SOULS」which was released in 2011. It keeps thrilling game play of the original version and pursues essential fun of RPG game such as nervousness of exploring dungeons, fear of encountering enemies, excitement of new discoveries. Available now on the PlayStation 4 computer entertainment system, Xbox One and PC via STEAM.
DARK SOULS™: REMASTERED is the third released title which Virtuos has developed on Nintendo Switch. On this title, we pushed the boundaries of optimization and resolution on this platform and optimized by adding new adjustments. The team enhanced the graphics to support 1080P resolution in TV mode and added new functions such as gesture-based controls, HD rumble and amiibo. And now with the Nintendo Switch version, you will be able to enjoy this classic dark fantasy game filled with despair and threaded by hope anytime and anywhere.


text:
Q: Why does the OTA installation fails for iOS apps in IBM MobileFirst Quality Assurance The OTA installation of iOS apps is failing in iOS devices. Is there any prerequisite for OTA distribution of iOS apps in IBM MobileFirst Quality Assurance?

A: There might be many reasons on why the installation is failing. Most important of them all is the following two reasons:

*

*Not using a secure connection to the server for OTA installation. Make sure that you use (https) and also install the SSL certificate on the device.

*Not registering the device within the provisioning profile. The device needs to be registered.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Q: Setting the User_id into the create action rails I'm new to rails, so sorry for the silly question.
I have 3 models an employee, employer and keychain model.
A keychain belongs to both and employee and employer.
and the employee and employer has many keychains
I'm wanting to set the employee_id in the create action but I'm having trouble.
class Keychain < ActiveRecord::Base

 validates :title, :presence => {:message => 'cannot be blank'}

 attr_accessible :employee_id, :employer_id, :issued, :revoked, :title

 belongs_to :employer
 belongs_to :employee

end

This is the create action for the keychain
  def add_keychain

  @keychain = Keychain.create(params[:keychain])
  @keychain.employer_id = current_employer.id
  @keychain.employee_id =
  @keychain.title = params[:title]

  @keychain.save

  redirect_to employees_path

end

Schema
create_table "keychains", :force => true do |t|
t.string   "title"
t.date     "issued"
t.boolean  "revoked"
t.integer  "employee_id"
t.integer  "employer_id"
t.datetime "created_at",  :null => false
t.datetime "updated_at",  :null => false

end
The form is in the show action of the employees. and i can get that current employee's id by <%= @employee.id%>
But i can't get the id in the create action.
Again sorry for the novice question.

A: The technique I have used for passing foreign keys like employee_id is to use a hidden field in the form.
Maybe something like this in your Employees controller:
  class EmployeesController < ApplicationController
    def show
      @employee = Employee.find(params[:id])
      @key_chain = @employee.key_chains.build() #@key_chain has @employee's id now.
    end
  end

This embedded form for keychain in your Employees#Show view:
<%= form_for(@key_chain) do |f| %>
  <%= f.hidden_field :employee_id %>
  <%= f.label "Title:" %>
  <%= f.text_field :title %>
  <%= f.submit %>
<% end %>

The form as I configured it routes to the KeyChains#Create controller:
  def create
    @key_chain = KeyChain.new(key_chain_params)

    respond_to do |format|
      if @key_chain.save
        format.html { redirect_to @key_chain, notice: 'Key chain was successfully created.' }
        format.json { render :show, status: :created, location: @key_chain }
      else
        format.html { render :new }
        format.json { render json: @key_chain.errors, status: :unprocessable_entity }
      end
    end
  end


Beautiful Views! Amazing back deck on seasonal Creek-Beautifully treed area! Great location in Hidden Valley Ranch just minutes from downtown Prescott. This 4 bedroom home has a double master split plan with 2 additional bedrooms and 3 full baths. Immaculate and very welcoming floor plan. Large master bedroom with plenty of closet space and a private entry to the back patio. Newly REMODELED master bath with beautiful granite, plank style flooring, tiled shower and surrounds, and separate tub. Game room with pool table for entertaining your guests. Kitchen features breakfast bar, large pantry and stainless appliances - great bay window overlooking the front entryway. Formal dining area adjacent to kitchen. Home is fully furnished- don't miss out on this amazing opportunity- See this house!