Halloween blasphemy

Balder posted the below photos in this IPS post. Looking at the last post above it reminded me of a more recent discussion of relative and absolute terms in this post and several following. This is very scary stuff for a metaphysical absolutist, akin to the Christ and Buddha blasphemies below.

 

Proof of ISP fuckery

See this article providing evidence that according to M-LAB, a nonprofit research consortium: "Verizon and Comcast, as well as Time Warner Cable, CenturyLink, and AT&T, are intentionally squeezing data coming from some incoming networks — in particular, networks associated with Netflix, which competes with these companies in video entertainment. Customers of these eyeball networks are getting degraded service that cannot be explained by anything other than business decisions." It's not speculation that this sort of thing might happen; it's happened and will only continue to get worse with the new FCC rules. See the previous post for the new petition on the issue.

Fight for net neutrality

We won the first battle so now the FCC is coming back with another scheme to protect the ISPs, not us. Which tells you where they get their bread buttered. See the below from freepress and consider the petition. My personal petition response was: "I don't get how you will not do the right and simple thing and declare ISPs as common carriers. And it's the simplest solution. Yet you continue to try to swing these deals that benefit the ISPs as the expense of everyone else. We see right through your smokescreen. How about representing the people, which is your job, right?"

From freepress:

Tell Chairman Wheeler: No Frankenstein Net Neutrality. Halloween came early to the FCC: Last night, word leaked1 that Chairman Tom Wheeler's building a new Frankenstein proposal that's not Net Neutrality (NOT Neutrality?). Here's the good news: According to the Wall Street Journal, which broke the story, the truly awful proposal the FCC released in May is dead. Here's the bad news: Now the agency is considering a convoluted plan with too many of the huge problems we've been protesting against all year. Just how bad is it? This new proposal: • Would allow broadband providers to cut specialized deals with companies to reach Internet users. • Still gives us slow lanes and gives users no real protection against discrimination from Internet service providers. • Rests on shaky legal arguments that won’t stand up in court. This isn't what millions of us have been fighting for. And dressing up fake Net Neutrality in a new costume won't work. Tell Chairman Wheeler: Don't Turn the Internet into a Nightmare.

Voter suppression

The regressives have such great policy ideas that they must resort to extending Halloween to election day.

Sage Ebola advice

John Oliver has some sage advice on how to avoid contracting the disease near the end of this short clip.

Sam Harris on meditation without religion

Stewart on Christie's ebola hysteria

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Senator Warren criticizes Governor Christie's ebola quarantine

Warren is having none of Christie's mandatory 21-day quarantine for all health workers that have had contact with ebola patients. She warns him to use science on this, not politics. A regressive use science? That's like asking a Christian to use a pentagram-shaped communion wafer. The regressives have been continually cutting the scientific research budget since forever and all they got to offer now, as usual, is fear based not on fact but ideology.

California leading the clean energy movement in US

See this article. Last week the 25th annual Bioneers Conference was held in Marin. Their energy goals included 3,000 MW of solar power installed in the state by the end of 2016, photovoltaic panels on a million rooftops by 2017 and another million installed by 2020. They also plan on 1.5 million electric vehicles on the road by 2025 and to build 1,000 charging stations for them, as well as reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by at least 80 percent by 2050. All retail electricity suppliers in the state must provide 33% of their power from renewable sources by 2020. If this can motivate the rest of the States and Fed energy policy we just might have a chance.

Gulf oil spill is NOT cleaned up

If we were to accept the media's lack of coverage after the initial spill, or the BP commercials thereafter, we'd think that the Gulf was good as new. But it is far from it according to this recent federal damage assessment research, which estimates that 10 million gallons of oil coagulated on the ocean floor around the exploded rig. 172 million gallons were spewed into the ocean from the spill, with scientists still trying to figure out where it all went and the environmental consequences. All is not well in the Gulf but the oil business proceeds as usual.