Category: z-Exclude

  Ah, remember Parler? They were the first of the “alternative” social media companies targeting the Trumpist crowd, in which I pointed out that their whole “we don’t moderate” schtick wasn’t going to work. The company speed ran the content moderation learning curve faster than most. But even from the beginning, the Trumpists who joined admitted it was just no…

Charles Taze Russell è il servitore fedele e saggio (pag. 4) 2. Gesù diede a Russell la chiave per comprendere i misteri di Dio negli ultimi giorni (pag.6) 3. Gesù è l’Alfa e l’Omega in Apocalisse 1:8; 21:6 e 22:13 (p.15, p.318, p.336) 4. L’avventista Nelson Barbour mostrò a Russell la prova biblica che Gesù era presente dal 1874 e…

It doesn’t look like Fox News is going to get away with badmouthing Dominion Voting Systems for weeks following Donald Trump’s unsurprising loss in the 2020 election. Evidence already handed over to Dominion in its libel lawsuit shows many Fox News executives — as well as anchors and commentators — were aware the claims were false but chose to give…

On Thursday, April 13 at 19:30 GMT: Colombia topped the list for human rights defenders killed in 2022, according to the latest report from the rights group Front Line Defenders.

There’s growing evidence that passing a comprehensive privacy law at the state level is a multiyear endeavor. There are anomalies among existing laws on the books, but most legislatures take two years or more to pass a bill.

Indiana is the latest example of how the process plays out, as it’s on the verge of adding to the pile of comprehensive state privacy laws. The Indiana House took a unanimous 98-0 vote to grant final passage to Senate Bill 5 on consumer data protection a year after the bill stalled in the same chamber.

The Indiana Senate, which already voted 49-0 to approve SB 5 on 9 Feb., will vote on concurrence, a perceived formality before the bill heads to Gov. Eric Holcomb, R-Ind., for a final signature. Holcomb has seven days upon transmission to act on the bill, with a definitive veto the only way it will not become a law.

E-commerce giant Amazon has recently banned the sale of the Flipper Zero portable multi-tool for pen-testers, citing its potential use as a card-skimming device. The move has prompted Flipper Devices’ CEO Pavel Zhovner to ask Amazon to reconsider its decision, insisting that the device is incapable of such illegal activity.

The Flipper Zero is a compact, portable, and programmable pen-testing tool that enables users to experiment with and debug various digital and hardware devices using multiple protocols, including RFID, radio, NFC, infrared, Bluetooth, and more. Since its launch, users have showcased its capabilities, including activating doorbells, conducting replay attacks to unlock cars and open garage doors, and cloning a wide range of digital keys.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday officially declared Evan Gershkovich to be “wrongfully detained” by Russia. The Wall Street Journal reporter was arrested in Yekaterinburg last month and charged with espionage. “Journalism is not a crime. We condemn the Kremlin’s continued repression of independent voices in Russia, and its ongoing war against the truth,” State Department spokesman Vedant Patel said in a statement. Blinken’s designation means that the State Department will now involve its office that negotiates the release of “wrongfully detained” Americans abroad, and provide “all appropriate support” for Gershkovich.

Thousands of Israelis, including ministers in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing government, marched to an evacuated Jewish outpost in the West Bank on Monday in support of settlements viewed as illegal under international law. As tensions mounted between Israelis and Palestinians, Israelis from across the country travelled to the outpost of Evyatar while waving Israeli flags and chanting religious songs…

A video published by the Defense Ministry showed dozens of soldiers being driven home in buses and provided with food and fresh clothes. Some of them are visibly overwhelmed with emotion, while others appear exhausted. According to the Russian ministry, the soldiers included in the latest swap were in “mortal danger” while in Ukrainian captivity. The ministry did not provide…

Russian airline Aeroflot [Russian Airlines] has sent its aircraft to Iran for repairs for the first time in its history amid Western sanctions.

Source: Kremlin-aligned news outlet RBC, citing two sources close to the airline

“An Airbus A330-300 wide-body airliner with registration number RA-73700 flew to Tehran on 5 April, where the aircraft will be serviced by technicians from Mahan Air, i.e., Iran’s largest airline,” the statement said.

The mayor of Baltimore called for a summer curfew after two teenagers were shot while police were attempting to break up a large crowd of minors.

Gov’t orders Gordon Kricke to leave country within 48 hours for ‘non-respect of diplomatic customs’, ministry says. Chad’s government has ordered the German ambassador to leave the country within 48 hours, it said in a statement. “This decision of the government is motivated by the discourteous attitude and the non-respect of diplomatic customs,” the country’s communication ministry said on Twitter…

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa Attorney General’s Office has paused its practice of paying for emergency contraception — and in rare cases, abortions — for victims of sexual assault, a move that drew criticism from some victim advocates. Federal regulations and state law require Iowa to pay many of the expenses for sexual assault victims who seek medical…

A California-based owner of a Tesla vehicle has sued the electric carmaker in a prospective class action lawsuit accusing it of violating the privacy of customers. The lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California on Friday. It came after reports on Thursday that groups of Tesla employees privately shared via an internal…

  MOSCOW (AP) — Jailed Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich has been charged with espionage in Russia and has entered his official denial, Russian state news agency Tass reported Friday. Tass said a law enforcement source informed the news agency that Russia’s Federal Security Service officially charged the American journalist with espionage. Tass did not specify if the action…

Anthony Joseph Damiano and his funeral service companies—Funeral & Cremation Group of North America, LLC, and Legacy Cremation Services, LLC (doing business as Heritage Cremation Provider, Evergreen Funeral Home and Crematory, and Carolina Central Crematory)—will pay civil penalties and abide by strict requirements on how they communicate with customers to resolve a lawsuit filed on behalf of the Federal Trade Commission by the U.S. Department of Justice.

The DOJ and FTC filed their complaint against Damiano and his companies in April 2022, alleging that they misrepresented their location, leading consumers to believe they were a local provider, advertised deceptively low prices, illegally threatened and failed to return cremated remains to bereaved consumers, and failed to provide disclosures required by the Funeral Rule.

“Lying to consumers about critical information including price and location of services when they are dealing with the loss of a loved one is outrageous and illegal,” said Samuel Levine, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “Our actions in this case show the FTC’s commitment to enforcing the Funeral Rule to protect consumers and honest funeral homes.”

The complaint alleged that the defendants claimed to be local funeral or cremation providers when speaking with customers, failing to disclose that the services would be contracted to a third party, sometimes hours away from loved ones. The complaint also alleged that when consumers were presented with undisclosed fees and higher prices, the defendants in some cases withheld the remains of their loved ones to extract payment.

The proposed court order, which was agreed to by the defendants in the case, would require the defendants to:

Share important info on their website: The order requires the defendants to disclose key facts on their website, including their actual physical location and a general price list, as well as a notice when funeral goods or services will be provided by a third-party company not owned by the defendants.
Disclose their price list upfront: The defendants are required to provide consumers with a general price list either during or immediately after their first interaction with a consumer about funeral goods or services, whether online or by telephone, and before any discussion of price occurs.
Provide info on third parties: The order requires the defendants to give consumers the name, address, and contact information for any third-party provider that will provide funeral goods or services.
Pay a civil penalty: The order requires the defendants to pay $275,000 in civil penalties.

The staff attorneys on this matter are Thomas Harris and Rebecca Plett.

The Department of Justice filed the order and civil penalty judgment on behalf of the Commission in the U.S. District Court for the District of Florida. NOTE: Consent judgments have the force of law when approved and signed by the District Court judge.