Netflix lobbies to remove movie viewing privacy

Naturally the GOP controlled House passed the bill, which now moves onto the Senate. This is the typical actions of the 1% who are convinced that your privacy is irrelevant and that you're only on this planet to help them flog their products. Let them go exploit someone else for profit. Unless Netflix is willing to make movies free for everyone in exchange for this valuable information that only benefits Netflix, let them go Cheney themselves. NY Times:

Netflix is backing a bill in Congress that would amend the Video Privacy Protection Act, a 1988 law that requires a video services company to get a customer’s written consent when it seeks to disclose that client’s personal information, such as rental history. The new bill, passed by the House last Tuesday, would allow consumers to give one-time blanket consent online for a company to share their viewing habits continuously.

In a social networking ecosystem where sharing information about personal activities is already ubiquitous, the bill may seem to be a no-brainer. After all, Foursquare already shares its members’ locations. Spotify already shares the titles of songs its members are playing with their Facebook cohorts. And Facebook publishes links to articles that its members’ friends have read. So, Netflix executives argue, it’s high time for a bill that would give members of video services the same option to divulge their personal details.

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Gordon Gekko: "You’re not naïve enough to think we’re living in a democracy, are you, buddy?"

Krugman in a recent column (my emphasis):

Almost a quarter of a century has passed since the release of the movie “Wall Street,” and the film seems more relevant than ever. The self-righteous screeds of financial tycoons denouncing President Obama all read like variations on Gordon Gekko’s famous “greed is good” speech, while the complaints of Occupy Wall Street sound just like what Gekko says in private: “I create nothing. I own,” he declares at one point; at another, he asks his protégé, “Now you’re not naïve enough to think we’re living in a democracy, are you, buddy?”

Yet, with the benefit of hindsight, we can see that the movie went a little off at the end. It closes with Gekko getting his comeuppance, and justice served thanks to the diligence of the Securities and Exchange Commission. ... [A]ccording to the prediction market Intrade, there’s a 45 percent chance that a real-life Gordon Gekko will be the next Republican presidential nominee.

On the other hand, our Democratic president "gets it" as this speech amply shows. That $1 billion ad campaign is going to be financed entirely by ... small people. Violà, democracy.

Thus I abuse Krugman, who has a different point to make:

The truth is that what’s good for the 1 percent, or even better the 0.1 percent, isn’t necessarily good for the rest of America — and Mr. Romney’s career illustrates that point perfectly. There’s no need, and no reason, to hate Mr. Romney and others like him. We do, however, need to get such people paying more in taxes — and we shouldn’t let myths about “job creators” get in the way.

Of course, he's also right.

GP Read the rest of this post...

Is Syria planing a massacre in Homs?

A disturbing report from Juan Cole:

Reports that the Syrian military is bringing up armor and heavy weapons to Homs has sparked fears that the regime intends to invade the city, as happened in 1982 when the military brutally went into nearby Hama to crush a Muslim fundamentalist revolt. Some 10,000 or more persons were killed in that action, most of them non-combatants, and there are fears of a similar massacre at Homs today.

About 12 of the some 40 civilian demonstrators who were killed by Syrian security forces on Friday were in Homs, and another 5 were in nearby Hama. Some of those killed on Friday were children.

2011 is not 1982. Covering up a massacre is much harder in an age where there is a video camera in every other pocket. Read the rest of this post...

Romney offers Perry a $10,000 bet: Is Romney sunk?

The endless debates were bound to end in tears. Now the GOP candidate who had the best chance of winning the Presidency if nominated has shot his credibility trying to one-up Rick Perry.

Perry was attacking Romney during last night's GOP debate for changing his book from the hardcover to the softcover edition.  Perry says that the hardcover mentioned that the country should adopt Massachusetts's health care reform, which included an individual mandate, while the softcover deleted that reference.  Romney said it's not true, and offered to bet Perry $10,000 that he couldn't prove it.

Stick a fork in the 50 cent billionaire: He is done. That $10K bet just reminded voters that Mitt is just like the rest of us, only with more money, a lot more money, much, much, much more money, way more money than anyone needs or should ever want. Ten grand to Romney is like ten bucks to the 99%.

#what10Kbuys is trending on the Twitter.

As with the 'Dean Scream', it is a flub that a strong candidate would probably just shrug off. But Romney is no longer the front runner and is behind in every state poll other than New Hampshire. Throwing his wealth around to score a point may not damage his poll showing very much but it will make it much harder for him to recover. Read the rest of this post...

Was it counter-productive for the UK to reject Europe?

The UK had done alright with their own currency until their banking industry tumbled, which then put the pound on more equal terms with the euro. The UK economy has had it's own share of problems though they've still had to be involved in some of the bailouts in the EU. They didn't get involved because they're nice, but because they still to had a lot to lose, like other governments in the region who are deeply tied together. British bank exposure in Europe is significant.

With the banking industry in decline, the more critical issue for the UK is boosting trade with Europe. Europe currently accounts for 47% of British exports, making it it's largest trading partner by far. While it sounds nice in theory to be removed from the tangled mess in the eurozone, is it actually possible and does it make sense? Also, it's not practical to restructure your economic focus overnight during a recession. That is just one more problem to go along with the many other problems.

The all or nothing move by Cameron seems un-British, undiplomatic and ultimately counter-productive. What country really wants to be removed unnecessarily from discussions about trade with your largest trading partner, as has been the case for years? The complaints by the Liberal Democrats are not likely to come to anything, as they sold their souls long ago, so Cameron is not going to fall immediately. British exporters though should be concerned as they're about to be left in the dark. They have to know that there will be a political payback at some time, probably when it's the most damaging to the UK.

This wasn't an "either/or" situation, but Cameron made it one. Now he's going to have to live with it, as will the rest of the country despite it not having to be that way. Knee-jerk reactions were the hallmark of the Bush years and look how well that worked out for the US over time. Read the rest of this post...

Reagan's reputation 30 years after the El Mozote massacre

When you hear some Republican waxing lyrical about Reagan the fearless champion of democracy, tell them about the El Mozote massacre which took place 30 years ago today. 733 civilians were mudered in cold blood by an army unit trained and supported by the US government. The Reagan administration bears as much blame for the attrocity as the soldiers who comitted it.

El Mazote was only one of many massacres perpetrated during the civil war in El Salvador. It is the most well known because there was a survivor, Rufina Amaya, whose eyewitness account describes a massacre organized in the same manner of the NAZI holocaust massacres.

The men were separated from the women and taken for torture, interrogation and execution. Then the women were raped, then executed using machine guns. Finaly the children were murdered.

The death squad that carried out the massacre were units from the army's Atlacatl Battalion, a rapid reaction force trained in counter terrorism by the US. Reagan supported the Salvadorean government with arms and weapons, apparently indifferent to the numerous attrocities that the army was perpetrating.

The story broke in the Washington Post and New York Times on January 27 1982. Almost immediately the Reagan administration and the conservative press began a campaign to smear and discredit the accusers. The full range of Fox News techniques were used to supress discussion of the massacre and discredit those telling the truth about it.

Reagan had the power to act. The Salvadorean government was supported by weapons and supplies provided by the US. There would have been no need to supply the government if it had not already been on the brink of collapse.

El Mozote then is the true legacy of the 'great communicator'. He is not the hero who stood for freedom. He is the willing accomplice of a mini holocaust. He was the Pope Pius XII of the attrocities: he had the power to act but found it inconvenient to do so.

Ronald Reagan was an evil man and we should never forget that.

[typos fixed] Read the rest of this post...

John Lee Hooker - Boom, Boom, Boom

It's a fun recording that is a real time piece, including the crowd.

More sunshine here this morning but I'll be having none of it. Still sick (even worse) today so it's going to be another day laying in bed and watching more of Season 4 of Homicide. Read the rest of this post...

Russian protests larger than expected

It takes dedication to go out and protest against someone like Putin, especially during a Russian winter. They're not likely to get new elections but they're definitely putting their mark on politics for the future. The Guardian:

Up to 50,000 people braved the cold and snow on Saturday to turn out for the largest ever protest against the rule of prime minister Vladimir Putin.

Bolotnaya Square, across the river from the Kremlin in central Moscow, was filled to overflowing with thousands standing shoulder-to-shoulder on the bridges and along the riverfront leading to the site. Tens of thousands of police and interior troops were deployed around the area, but protesters had been allowed by officials to gather in an unprecedented show of discontent.

Shouts of "Russia without Putin!" and "Freedom!" were mixed with demands that the Kremlin annul a disputed parliamentary election that saw Putin's United Russia party gain nearly 50% of the vote despite widespread accusations of fraud.

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