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Max Schrems: The Law Student Who Brought Down A Transatlantic Data Pact
Coss replied to Coss's topic in Technology
She looks like a good idea, one of yours? -
Malaysian military attache Mohammed Rizalman arriving at the High Court in Wellington. Photo / Mark Mitchell • Former Malaysian attache admits buying drugs • He has admitted indecently assaulting woman • Claims superior officer put a spell on him • Denies defecating outside woman's house Former Malaysian Embassy worker Muhammad Rizalman has admitted to smoking cannabis, buying synthetic cannabis and that he believes in black magic, but denies defecating outside the victim's house to put a spell on her. The 39-year-old, who admitted indecently assaulting a Wellington woman, has given evidence today outlining his version of events. He disputed aspects of what the Crown says he did in a hearing about disputed facts in the High Court at Wellington. The indecent assault happened at Ms Billingsley's home in the suburb of Brooklyn in May last year. The name of an indecent-assault victim is normally automatically suppressed, but Ms Billingsley has waived this right. Helped by an interpreter, Rizalman was shown a written copy of his account of the night in question before Crown prosecutor Grant Burston began questioning him. Drug use Mr Burston asked Rizalman about a statement he'd made in Malaysia, saying he'd never bought or used synthetic cannabis. After being shown bank records, showing an $18.95 transaction at Cosmic on Cuba on May 2 last year, Rizalman admitted buying the legal high there. Mr Burston said a shop employee had said Rizalman bought the highest-strength cannabis - puff super strength. That costs $15 and cigarette papers costs about $4. Rizalman accepted that. Mr Burston then said the employee's evidence was that Rizalman asked two young female shop assistants if they had a boyfriend and what they were doing later. "Did that happen?" Mr Burston asked. "Maybe," Rizalman replied. Mr Burston then asked if Rizalman asked one of the women for a drink after work. "Maybe," Rizalman replied. One of the women told Rizalman to leave him alone, Mr Burston said. He then tried to grab the young woman's shoulders. "Did that happen?" Mr Burston asked. "I can't remember," Rizalman replied. Nor could he remember if he had had to be ushered out of the shop by a male employee. Rizalman admitted smoking cannabis back in Malaysia last year, six weeks before he went into a psychiatric hospital. He did so to help him relax and sleep. He also toked at secondary school, with friends, and admitted it helped him relax. Mr Burston said Rizalman told a psychiatrist in August this year he had not used any drugs apart from alcohol. "I did not conceal but I did not say because it was not normally done," Rizalman said through the interpreter. "Because I had not used for a long time." But, Mr Burston said, Rizalman had used synthetic cannabis last year. "I don't remember using it but I admit to buying it," Rizalman said. So what was he doing with it? "I'm not sure and I was confused at that time." He said he "maybe" used it to relieve stress at work. Mr Burston then said Rizalman tested positive for cannabis and morphine on his first day in the psychiatric hospital in Malaysia, a country where morphine is sprayed on cannabis to heighten the sensation. Rizalman admitted he tested positive for both on days one and two and cannabis on day six there. He denied smoking cannabis during his stay. Rizalman admitted he believed in "black magic". He also told a psychiatrist he believed a superior officer had put a spell on him. That officer had an uncle who was a shaman. "Do you know of a spell that you can put on a woman to make her fall in love with you by defecating outside her house?" Mr Burston asked. "I don't know because I've never practiced it," Rizalman said. "The reason that you took off your belt and lowered your trousers and underpants outside this young woman's front door, on the patio by her front door, was more about black magic than having to go to the toilet in an emergency?" "No." Interest in women Rizalman was asked about an assessment report in June last year, which said there was information about Rizalman's "increased interest towards women". "You went to a place called Mermaids in Wellington twice when you felt under pressure," Mr Burston said. "Yes," Rizalman replied. "The women were taking their clothes off?" "Only their outer clothes." "The women were topless?" "Yes." "Were you interested in looking at the attractive women in the strip club?" "No." "Why did you go to the strip club?" "To listen to music and release tension." Rizalman admitted using cash to enter the Mermaids but said he hadn't bought synthetic cannabis with cash, and the only time he purchased it was recorded on his bank statement. He said he was "maybe" interested in the two young women at Cosmic on Cuba when he asked them for a drink. He was also asked about following a woman in Wellington on one occasion last year. Rizalman was wearing his aviator sunglasses and a dark suit. Mr Burston said the young woman went into the Trade Aid store when she realised she was being tailed. "When she went into the shop you stared at her for a while through the windows, didn't you," Mr Burston asked. "I was looking at the window but I was not actually looking at her," Rizalman said. He said he was looking at the items in the shop. Mr Burston said when the woman was walking she got about a metre past Rizalman and he had spun around, said something and then followed about ten metres behind her. Rizalman said he wanted to get to his parked car. Mr Burston said the woman went into the shop and thought Rizalman would keep walking. "She was shocked, she says, has she got it all wrong Mr Rizalman, you weren't interested in her at all?" "Maybe." Mr Burston said she stayed in the store, went to an area where he couldn't see her and waited five minutes. She checked Rizalman was gone and decided to leave and then crossed the road, heading up Manners St. The woman noticed a car stopped next to her and looked over. "It was you driving the car. You had the front window down, passenger window down and were trying to talk to her," Mr Burston said. "I'm not sure because Manners St, the cars cannot stop on [the] road," Rizalman said. Mr Burston said he was leaning over the passenger seat, motioning for the woman to get in. "I am not sure," Rizalman said. "She kept walking away from you and you kept driving across over Manners St and pulled into a parking bay?" "I'm not sure." "That could have happened, what this young woman has described happening on Thursday, May 8, last year?" "Maybe." "She says it did happen and she went into another store to get away from you again." "I am not sure." Mr Burston said he was suggesting Rizalman was interested in the "attractive young woman". "Maybe I needed somebody to talk about the problems," Rizalman said. He admitted he might have bought her a drink, over which they could talk. "Perhaps it would take the pressure of you if she gave you a cuddle and a little kiss, or something like that?" Mr Burston asked. "No, I just wanted to talk about the problems." "Is that why you were asking the two female shop assistants at Cosmic on Cuba if they would go out for a drink with you, so you could talk about your problems with them?" "Yes, maybe." "If they had been interested in having sex with you, would you have been interested in having sex with them?" "No, I only wanted to talk." "Were you sexually interested in the women who were taking their clothes off in Mermaids?" "No." Mr Burston asked Rizalman about what he told police when he was spoken to by officers outside Ms Billingsley's home on May 9 last year. He first spoke to a female constable, who asked Rizalman why he was on the path by the house. Rizalman told her he'd met a girl at Reading Cinemas."That was a lie?"" Maybe, but it was a misunderstanding because my English is not good." Rizalman said he felt under pressure. "Had you met the victim at the Reading Cinemas that night?" Mr Burston asked. "Outside the shop, not the cinema," Rizalman said."You told the constable that you had watched a movie with her. That was a lie?" "Maybe it was a misunderstanding." "You told the policewoman that you followed the girl home and had something to eat with her. That was a lie?" "Maybe." Rizalman said he didn't watch a movie with the woman or eat with her. He also spoke to a police detective sergeant, when he arrived. Rizalman repeated his story about meeting a woman at the cinema and watching a movie together. Today he said he watched a movie alone. "At that point in time I was confused and I was not in the right frame of mind." Rizalman had told the detective sergeant Ms Billingsley invited him back to her house. Mr Burston said that wasn't true. "When I was outside the shop, the girl was giving me signals, the way she looked at me and the way she smiled at me. It was as if she was inviting me over," Rizalman said. "I'll ask you again, you were making up the girl inviting [you] back to her house to give a reasonable explanation for the police as to why you were there?" Mr Burston asked. "No." "You then said to the detective sergeant that you had gone inside and started eating her food. That was a lie?" "Yes, maybe." "You told the detective sergeant that made her angry and she kicked you out because you'd started eating her food?" "Yes." "Maybe that was a lie as well?" "Yes." Mr Burston said Rizalman spoke again to the female constable at the police station, where he was again asked what had happened. Mr Burston said Rizalman told police: "I met that lady at the movies. I follow her back to her place. She lets me in and I ate some food. She invited me back." Mr Burston said Ms Billingsley did not let Rizalman in, she hadn't invited him back and he had not eaten any food. Rizalman said today he was getting signals from the way she smiled at him. But Ms Billingsley had not invited him back to her place. "Not from her speech but from her mannerisms and the way she smiled and the way she behaved" led Rizalman to believe he was invited back to Ms Billingsley's. "In Malaysian custom, if a woman smiles at a man it is deemed that they are happy to know that person." "So that's an invitation to follow them home is it?" Mr Burston asked. "It is an invitation to follow." It wouldn't necessarily mean you go into their house, Rizalman said. How the events unfolded Mr Burston said police evidence had pieced together what Rizalman did on the day he indecently assaulted Ms Billingsley. At 9.32am he bought a ticket to the movie Chef.He went to the 11.20 screening. Rizalman said he remembered going to the cinema and sleeping. About 3pm, he bought a mini bottle of Jack Daniel's. It was found in Rizalman's jacket pocket, but he said today he hadn't been a drinker since before he was married."I don't know why I bought it," Rizalman said, before denying it could be a present for a young woman he hoped to befriend. After 4.57pm, Rizalman's phone diverted all calls to his message. Until 9.38pm that night there were 132 unanswered calls from his wife's cellphone. At 5.31pm he bought a pineapple and chips from a local supermarket. Ms Billingsley bought food there at 5.49pm."You stared at the victim when she went into the shop?" Mr Burston said."I'm not sure," Rizalman said. "She says you were staring at her when she came out?" "When she had crossed in front of me I was sure she had given me a signal, eye contact." He decided to follow. "She described you as being quite creepy?" "I'm not sure."Rizalman maintained Ms Billingsley smiled and gave him a signal to follow her. He said he fell behind her because she walked fast. "If she wanted to befriend you, why didn't you call out to her?" Mr Burston asked. "I was waiting for her to reach a place where I could talk to her," Rizalman said. "Why didn't you run to catch up to her to say hello?" "At the time it didn't occur to me to run towards her." Ms Billingsley told police she didn't know she was being followed. "I'm quite sure she noticed me because she was looking around when she needed to cross the road," Rizalman said. "I suggest you did not want her to know you were following her?" Mr Burston said. "No," Rizalman replied. Ms Billingsley's house was up several steps and paths, well away from the road. But Rizalman didn't call out for her to wait for him. "She didn't know you were there and you didn't want her to know you were there?" Mr Burston said. "I knew that she knew I was following her," Rizalman said. "How would she know that you were following her?" "Maybe because I could see her and I was sure she could see me."But he did nothing to attract her attention. At the house In her house Ms Billingsley made a 111 call at 6.39pm, meaning Rizalman waited outside for 30 to 40 minutes in the dark before he entered her house. Mr Burston asked if it was during that period that Rizalman had an "emergency defecation". Rizalman said he waited for a long time because Ms Billingsley had shut her door and he expected her to invite him in."I expected her to maybe go in, prepare some food. and maybe invite me in," Rizalman said. Inside, he could talk about his problems. Mr Burston wondered why Rizalman didn't knock on Ms Billingsley's door, introduce himself and ask if he could come inside and discuss his problems. Rizalman said he was waiting for an invitation inside. He later told a psychiatrist he'd never had an emergency defecation before. Today he said that was right and the night in question was the only time it had happened to him. Rizalman agreed he only had time to remove his trousers and underpants and go where he stood, not having time to move away from the front door over to the lawn. He said he didn't know who was inside the house and he had not looked inside to see who was there. He denied taking off his pants and underpants because he wanted to have sex with Ms Billingsley. "I went to the house because I wanted to clean myself." "The young woman wasn't interested in having sex with you. She was terrified, wasn't she?" Mr Burston asked. "I didn't have any intention to have [a] sexual relationship with her," Rizalman said.He agreed that after listening to her 111 call, he knew Ms Billingsley was scared, but maintained: "I went into the room in desperation because I wanted to ask to use the bathroom" "I still felt that she wanted to be friends with me and as a friend I approached the door, I knocked on the door and I asked for permission to go in." Rizalman said he didn't get the chance to ask where the bathroom was. As he entered the house, he had left his trousers and underpants in a sunroom. Mr Burston suggested Rizalman could have used a towel from a drying rack to cover his nakedness, before "marching up to the foot of the bed". Rizalman said that didn't occur to him. After his altercation, he put his suit trousers on without his underpants. But Mr Burston said there was no faecal staining on those. "What I put to you Mr Rizalman is you took your trousers and underpants off because you were hoping that the attractive young woman inside the house would be interested in having sex with you," Mr Burston said. "No, not at all," Rizalman said. "That is the reason why you had followed her all the way from the food market to her home and were waiting outside, before you made the decision to go in," Mr Burston said. "No, I only wanted to befriend her and talk about my problems," Rizalman said. Defence lawyer Donald Stevens, QC, asked Rizalman about a positive urine test he'd returned for cannabis, when he was a corporal. A subsequent blood test returned a negative result. Rizalman was then asked why he was interested in the two young women in Cosmic on Cuba. "Because I wanted to make friends with them and talk about my problems," Rizalman said. Doing so would relieve stress. He said when he spoke to police at Ms Billingsley's, he was stressed about what had happened and confused. "I think you told one of the police officers, maybe two, that you were losing your mind?" Dr Stevens asked. "Yes." "What, Mr Rizalman did you mean by that?"He said he'd felt for some time he was losing his mind."I didn't know what I'd done and where I was. I was feeling tired and sleepy," he said."I was not really conscious of what I was saying." He felt confused and had been under pressure since he arrived in New Zealand in September 2013. He'd had no such problems in Malaysia but in Wellington saw a doctor. After he indecently assaulted Ms Billingsley, he consulted another doctor. On one of those visits he was prescribed medication, but his wife wouldn't let him take it. He was also referred to a psychiatrist. Expert evidence Professor Graham Mellsop was asked by Mr Burston about psychiatrists in Malaysia attributing Rizalman's stay in hospital there to drug use. Two months after his offending, no mental illness was identified. Prof Mellsop said the report in which those conclusions were made was logically presented and had included a wide variety of information sources. He said Rizalman had scored highly on what's known as the L-scale, or lie-scale, and the F-scale, the faking scale. "The higher lie-scale score is consistent with their conclusions from other evidence that [Rizalman] did not always tell the truth. "The higher F-scale score is consistent with the idea that he was exaggerating his symptoms." Prof Mellsop said the broad range of symptoms described by Rizalman or those in contact with him could have been caused by synthetic cannabis. There was evidence in reports about Rizalman suggesting he told "lots of lies", Prof Mellsop said. He agreed with Dr Stevens that legal highs could cause hallucinations and other psychotic symptoms. Dr Stevens asked Prof Mellsop if he thought Rizalman's wife was exaggerating when she was concerned about his behaviour. Rizalman's wife said her husband was sleepy, tired, difficult to wake in the morning and not alert to his surroundings. He was confused and would get lost looking for his car. "I think she was making correct observations to a substantial degree, whether or not it was exaggerated by her anxieties I don't know," Prof Mellsop said. "I believe she thought she was telling the truth." Dr Stevens said Rizalman's wife said her husband would be found wandering the street, not knowing where he was. Prof Mellsop: "I'm suggesting it's a technically incorrect observation, which she thought she was accurately making." Rizalman's wife also said he was a devout Muslim who would pray five times a day, until "all of a sudden" he forgot the words, Dr Stevens said. "Same answer as the last question," Prof Mellsop replied. He accepted Rizalman's behaviour had changed and he was sleepy, "which I attribute to more regular or frequent substance injection". Dr Stevens said one of the doctors Rizalman had visited said he suffered from anxiety and depression. Rizalman was prescribed anti-depression medication. In mid-April 2014, Rizalman's wife took him to another doctor at a medical centre in Johnsonville. The doctor was told Rizalman was stressed at work and was no longer playing football. He was sleeping excessively and well, but was still tired, Dr Stevens said. He said Rizalman had said he was stressed because in New Zealand he didn't have other officers to help him at work, as he did back home. Prof Mellsop said: "His account of his difficulties differs according to whom he is talking, and at different times." The Crown summary of facts It says about 6.30pm on Friday May 9, 2014, Ms Billingsley was at her flat. "She was the only one home at the time and was watching a movie on her laptop in her bedroom," the summary says. "Before entering the address, the defendant, Rizalman, removed his trousers and underwear." He entered the flat through a closed but unlocked door. In the kitchen, he took off his jacket. Rizalman then knocked on Ms Billingsley's bedroom door and pushed it open. "He spoke to the victim, saying, 'Can I come in?' The victim looked up from her bed and observed the defendant standing in the entranceway to the bedroom, wearing only a shirt and naked from the waist down," the summary says. Ms Billingsley got up and began yelling and screaming for Rizalman to get out. He approached her and grabbed her shoulders and the pair struggled. Ms Billingsley managed to push Rizalman out of her room. After removing him from the flat she locked the door and ran into the bathroom to call the police. A neighbour heard screaming and called a flatmate, while a flatmate's boyfriend who lived nearby came to help. He arrived to find Rizalman standing by the front door. "By this time he had put his trousers back on," the summary says. "The defendant was confronted, but eventually began walking away from the address on to the pathway." Ms Billingsley suffered marks to her arms and "considerable emotional trauma". Rizalman told police the pair had been to a cinema together. He claimed she invited him to her house but became angry when he ate her food. Who is Rizalman? Rizalman began today by answering questions from his lawyer Donald Stevens, QC, about his background. Rizalman is a "warrant officer 2" in the Malaysian military. He signed up in June 1994 and his Wellington appointment began in September 2013. Rizalman said he was a staff assistant to the defence attache, who was a lieutenant colonel. He's never had any instances of misconduct in the military, nor had any criminal convictions anywhere. Rizalman said he was married with a son, aged 9, and two daughters, 2 and 7. Other arguments Before he gave evidence, Justice David Collins heard arguments from media organisations looking to film Rizalman today. The judge decided to allow the first 10 minutes of his evidence to be filmed. If he decided it was causing Rizalman undue stress, he would order filming to stop. Dr Stevens opposed the filming, saying Rizalman suffered from anxiety and it would be "humiliating" for him. "It would not be at all surprising if it would adversely affect the quality of his evidence," Dr Stevens said of the filming. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11555881
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I'm of the opinion that reasonable, well behaved people should be able to have guns for sport, protection etc. And when the people are not reasonable and well behaved, they shouldn't. As a non-American, my objective view of Americans, is that there are increasing numbers of them that are not reasonable and well behaved, so they shouldn't have guns. The whys and wherefores don't enter into it. So imagine a room full of people with no guns - no shooting occurs. Now put some guns in the room, if shooting occurs, remove the guns (and the folk who used them), if no shooting occurs, then leave the guns. Quite simple really.
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Max Schrems: The Law Student Who Brought Down A Transatlantic Data Pact
Coss replied to Coss's topic in Technology
I reckon that unless you've got the ear of someone important, like Eon Musk or such, the Marketing Dribbles will absorb the ideas, you and I come up with, and when they've made the rounds of sufficient conferences, they'll be picked up by some Marketing Dribble who's slightly braver than the others and be thrashed as their own idea. Buts that just my bitter, twisted winge. -
plan or coordinate the elements of (a situation) to produce a desired effect, especially surreptitiously. "the situation has been orchestrated by a tiny minority" synonyms: organize, arrange, put together, plan, set up, bring about, manage, mobilize, mount, stage, stage-manage, mastermind, choreograph, coordinate, direct, engineer; rare - concert "he threatened to orchestrate a campaign of civil disobedience"
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Somewhat Daesh related http://www.khaosodenglish.com/detail.php?newsid=1449152163§ion=12&typecate=06
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336 days, 355 mass shootings The shooting in San Bernardino yesterday, where 14 people died, brought the number of mass shootings in the US to 355 this year. It was the third mass shooting in the country since last Friday, when a gunman opened fire on a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado, killing one police officer and two civilians. The figure of 355 comes from the Mass Shooting Tracker maintained by the Guns Are Cool subreddit. The Reddit tracker defines mass shootings as incidents in which four or more people, who can include the gunman, are killed or injured by gunfire. The Mass Shooting Tracker is different from other shooting databases in that it uses a broader definition of mass shooting - the old FBI definition focused on four or more people killed as part of a single shooting... Speaking after the Colorado Springs shooting last week, President Obama urged Americans to not let this type of violence "become normal". But the data shows this type of incident already is normal. There have been more mass shootings than calendar days so far this year. more at - http://www.nzherald....jectid=11555556
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Supreme Court not allow Yingluck to leave kingdom The Nation December 2, 2015 5:40 pm The Supreme Court's Criminal Division for Political Office Holders has rejected a request by former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra to travel to Europe at the invitation of European Parliament members. In its order, the court said the invitation was insufficient reason for Yingluck to leave the country at this time and therefore her request, filed with the court earlier this week, was turned down. A copy of the court order was seen by The Nation Wednesday. European Parliament members Elmar Brok and Werner Langen, in their letter dated October 7, invited Yingluck to exchange views on the Thai political situation either in Brussels, Belgium, or Strasbourg, France. The invitation letter was just publicised last week. Yingluck is facing a legal case to be tried by the Supreme Court in connection with her government's corruption-plagued rice-pledging scheme.
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I voted Yes, but not Yes or Yes, for personal reasons.
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A house full of pipe bombs and bomb making gear demonstrates a certain aforethought... Lots of travel including to Saudi, Saudi the place that is known to play both sides of the current problems in Middle East et al. Becoming difficult not to see this as linked to some sort of Daesh.
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What about all the folk what bought cars on the credit cards?
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In case they think this has gone unnoticed: http://www.economist.com/blogs/gulliver/2015/12/thai-bind http://www.bbc.com/news/business-34981372
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Max Schrems: The Law Student Who Brought Down A Transatlantic Data Pact
Coss replied to Coss's topic in Technology
I've always thought that Facebook would eventually fail, when people suddenly woke up to the way it worked, behind the facade they paddle in. This chap seems to be bringing that awakening forward somewhat. Now is the time for another social network. I once pitched a "Travel Notebook" to company I worked for, basically an online space for travellers to post photos and links and messages for and with their family and friends, the Marketing Dribbles, didn't want a bar of it, then there was Myspace, then Facebook. Oh the chagrin... -
Max Schrems: The Law Student Who Brought Down A Transatlantic Data Pact
Coss replied to Coss's topic in Technology
Max Schrems launches new legal broadside at Facebook Facebook can't protect Europeans' data from U.S. spying, says man who brought down Safe Harbor pact http://www.computerworld.co.nz/article/590077/max-schrems-launches-new-legal-broadside-facebook/ After bringing down the U.S.-EU Safe Harbor data transfer agreement, Max Schrems is turning his legal guns on the other mechanisms that enable the transatlantic commerce in Europeans' personal information -- and Facebook is in the line of fire again. Schrems wants Ireland's privacy watchdog to order Facebook to keep his data in Europe, along with that of other Europeans, and maintains that there is no legal basis on which it can safely export it to the U.S. He has filed two new complaints about Facebook's handling of his personal data, and updated another, he said Wednesday. The new complaints are with the Belgian Privacy Commission and the Data Protection and Freedom of Information Commissioner in Hamburg, Germany. He also updated the complaint, filed with the Irish Data Protection Commissioner, that ultimately put an end in the Safe Harbor Agreement. What's bothering Schrems is that Facebook Ireland, the entity through which Facebook operates its business outside the U.S., is transferring personal information about him to the U.S. in a manner that he maintains is illegal. European Union privacy law requires that companies only export the personal data of Europeans to countries that provide an adequate level of privacy protection, a level that includes freedom from illegal surveillance by government bodies. U.S. and European privacy laws differ significantly, yet many of the world's biggest data processors are based in the U.S. While the EU's 1995 Data Protection Directive provided a number of ways to reconcile the two legal systems -- including the use of model contract clauses, binding corporate rules or the obtaining of informed and unambiguous consent from the persons whose data is processed -- these mechanisms add costs and delay the flow of information. To make it easy for U.S. companies to serve European customers and comply with EU privacy law, in July 2000 U.S. officials and the European Commission brokered the Safe Harbor Agreement, under which companies could register and self-certify that they would respect EU standards of privacy protection when processing data in the U.S. But Edward Snowden's revelations in 2013 about the U.S. National Security Agency's PRISM data-gathering program and other intelligence service activities showed that such activities were above the law -- or at least above the laws governing Safe Harbor participants. Facebook was one of the companies named on NSA slides describing PRISM leaked by Snowden, although the company has issued carefully worded denials that it was involved in the program. This prompted Schrems to file a complaint about Facebook's handling of his data -- in Ireland, because that's where the Facebook subsidiary legally responsible for European users' personal information is based. The Data Protection Commissioner dismissed his complaint, and Schrems, unsatisfied, appealed to the High Court of Ireland, which in turn referred questions about the interpretation of the 1995 directive to the Court of Justice of the European Union. The CJEU replied very broadly to the Irish court's questions, affirming that national data protection authorities had not just a right but an obligation to investigate complaints like that of Schrems even if they called into question deals made by the European Commission such as Safe Harbor Agreement -- and then declared that agreement invalid. The European Commission and the national data protection authorities put a brave face on it, saying that they were close to finalizing a stronger data protection agreement with U.S. authorities, giving companies reliant on Safe Harbor a three-month grace period in which to make alternative arrangements -- and reminding everyone of the alternate legal mechanisms that Safe Harbor was brought in to simplify. While the CJEU's ruling specifically targeted Safe Harbor, it raised doubts in the minds of legal scholars about the validity of the other legal mechanisms to protect data transfers. German regional data protection authorities like the one in Hamburg were so concerned, they refused to issue new authorizations to use such mechanisms, and said they would audit and even prosecute companies that did not have appropriate protections in place. The safest place for Europeans' data, they said, is in Europe. Schrems' latest complaints make that same point, seeking to demonstrate that no legal mechanism available to Facebook Ireland can oblige or enable its U.S. parent company to protect his personal information to the extent required by EU law. Facebook has repeatedly said it is not concerned by the demise of Safe Harbor because it relies on other legal mechanisms to enable the export of its customers' data, while declining to specify what those mechanisms are. It now appears, though, that since November 2013 the company has been relying on a binding corporate rule, which it updated on Nov. 20. A few days before Schrems filed his updated complaint -- and some six weeks after he requested the information -- Facebook provided his lawyers with a copy of its contract with Facebook Ireland governing the exchange of data. Facebook did not respond to a request for comment on Schrems' complaint, or to questions about its response to the CJEU's ruling. -
You truly have no taste, I'm envious.
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In order to save face, one discontinues one's routes to L.A. when one is notified that there will be a down grade. This allows one to say, "This does not affect me".
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The Special Ops Forces that got Bin Laden, Saddam, and Zarqawi are finally being sent by the dozens to go after the Islamic State’s leaders. Can these troops turn the tide? The Obama administration is dispatching a targeting force of elite U.S. special operations troops into northern Iraq, after top U.S. defense and intelligence officials warned the ISIS network is growing faster than the coalition that’s fighting it, senior U.S. officials tell The Daily Beast. The new special operations task force is aimed at denting the so-called Islamic State Group’s popularity by decimating its leadership, and gathering the intelligence needed to cut off more of its operations before they can launch. It will be roughly 200 strong, based in northern Iraq, according to a senior defense official. more - http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/12/01/obama-unleashes-hunter-killers-on-isis.html
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Are You A Man Who Cannot Get A Woman Without Purchasing One?
Coss replied to Fiery Jack's topic in Nightlife
I'm gonna have to wear me chastity device, next time we're out drinking...- 26 replies
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- tom hanks
- swimming goggles
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Lamborghini driver calmly texts while hanging out of car after fatal crash http://www.stuff.co....ter-fatal-crash (tragic - too privileged to get out of the car on his own... texting for help as locals beneath his contempt) A driver uses his mobile phone as he hangs out of his crashed Lamborghini that killed one person and seriously injured two others. A driver has been filmed using his mobile phone while hanging out the window of his wrecked supercar after three pedestrians were mowed down in the crash. Police in Surabaya, East Java, in Indonesia, have arrested the driver, Wiyang Lautner, and claimed the ugly early morning crash occurred during an illegal street race with a Ferrari. The Daily Mail reported that Lautner's Lamborghini crashed into Mujianto, 44 and Srikanti, 41, while her husband Kuswanto, 51, was killed as his body was dragged several metres by the supercar. Online footage of the crash aftermath shows Lautner texting and speaking on his phone as he tries to get out of the wreck which is wrapped around a tree. The two pedestrian survivors suffered broken legs. Lautner, 24, reportedly suffered only minor injuries from the shattered glass. He has said one of his tyres locked and car veered left as he attempted to overtake his friend's Ferrari and smashed into the roadside stall and a motorcycle. Police are yet to locate the driver of the Ferrari. Footage of the aftermath can be viewed below. WARNING: VIDEO CONTAINS GRAPHIC CONTENT. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkPc9xsIZyw
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U.S. aviation body downgrades Thailand over safety issues The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on Tuesday downgraded Thailand's safety ratings after its civil aviation body failed to tackle flaws in its commercial aviation standards. Thailand's Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) was taken to a category 2 from 1 because it "did not comply" with its standards, the FAA said in a statement. That means Thai airlines are prevented from launching or expanding services to the United States, either directly or as code-share partners. Although none of the kingdom's airlines currently fly to the United States, the lower safety rating could hurt the image of a country with a thriving tourism industry and a long-established commercial air travel sector that handles scores of domestic and international routes. Bangkok is a regional airline hub that has forecast some 30 million tourist arrivals this year. In July it was given 65 days by the FAA to take make improvements over what the it said were critical omissions in safety standards. Prior to the announcement, a DCA source told Reuters the FAA's inspections detected "some three or four" unresolved issues and the DCA "cannot meet the deadline." The FAA did not specify where Thailand had failed, but said its category 2 rating would apply to an aviation authority that "is deficient in one or more areas, such as technical expertise, trained personnel, record-keeping, or inspection procedures". It follows a series of red flags and concerns that have put Thailand's air safety standards under the microscope this year. The Montreal-based International Civil Aviation Authority, a division of the United Nations, downgraded the kingdom to category 2 from category 1 in June. Its January audit found Thailand had a shortage of technical officers and certification problems in transporting hazardous goods. South Korea, Japan and China had previously stopped Thai-based airlines from flying charters and new routes over safety worries that emerged in an international audit. Those restrictions have since been relaxed. Thailand had been given time to take corrective measures over what the FAA said were critical omissions in its safety standards. Patee Sarasin, chairman of low-cost carrier Nok Airlines told Reuters the FAA decision would hurt the local industry's reputation and may also lead to countries like South Korea or Japan limiting flights and routes by Thai operators. Flag carrier Thai Airways, however, said its business would not be affected. "There is no commercial or customer impact as THAI had already ceased operations to its only U.S. destination of Los Angeles," its president, Charamporn Jotikasthira, said in a statement. { in other words the commercial and customer impact has already kicked in } ----- http://uk.reuters.co...N0TK4J920151201