Link Roundup May 2018

Someone Please Tell the Times That Incels Are Terrorists

One reason, of course, that these ideas are so thinkable — for the incels, and for their staunchly anti-abortion colleagues in the mainstream press — is that the government already exercises significant control over women’s bodies. A dystopia for women is not merely confined to the overheated male imaginary. Ross Douthat wrote his column the day Iowa passed a “fetal heartbeat” bill with the avowed intent of overturning Roe v. Wade. If even this is too abstract for you, consider that in 2012, the Virginia legislature passed a bill mandating penetrative transvaginal ultrasounds for women seeking abortions. The future male columnists laughingly imagine — the systemic control and torture of female bodies — is already present.

PENTAGON QUIT THE AVENGERS BECAUSE OF ITS 'UNREALITY'

Moviegoers and comic fans know that S.H.I.E.L.D., led by Samuel L. Jackson's super-spy Nick Fury, is an international peacekeeping/global surveillance/crisis response/quasi-military organization. But its relationship with the United States is murky. And that basically stopped the U.S. military, which is normally eager to cooperate with the film industry on blockbuster movies, from teaming up with the Avengers.

Everything you need to know about the net neutrality resolution coming to Congress next week

Once the vote is scheduled, the CRA also lets senators sidestep the traditional filibuster, requiring only a bare majority to pass. Advocates say they already have 50 votes confirmed — all 49 Senate Democrats, plus Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) — and eyes are on Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) or Sen. Dean Heller (R-NV) as a possible 51st. If either flips, Markey’s resolution will make it through the Senate.

Electronics-recycling innovator is going to prison for trying to extend computers' lives

The appeals court upheld a federal district judge's ruling that the discs Eric Lundgren made to restore Microsoft operating systems had a value of $25 apiece, even though the software they contained could be downloaded free and the discs could only be used on computers that already had a valid Microsoft license. The U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals initially granted Lundgren an emergency stay of his prison sentence, shortly before he was to surrender, but then affirmed his original 15-month sentence and $50,000 fine without hearing oral argument in a ruling issued April 11.

European Copyright Law Isn't Great. It Could Soon Get a Lot Worse.

Voss proposes that the beneficiaries of the link tax should include press agencies (who often provide the raw information based upon which other journalists write stories), and that libraries should also be responsible for paying extra fees to publishers in "compensation" for their rental and lending activities.

California net neutrality bill that AT&T hates is coming to New York, too

Wiener and Hoylman will try to convince lawmakers in more states to pass legislation similar to theirs, their announcement said. If successful, the strategy could address the broadband industry's complaint that ISPs shouldn't have to face a "patchwork" of different state laws.

McInnes, Molyneux, and 4chan: Investigating pathways to the alt-right

Many of those who were eventually radicalized by 4chan came there relatively innocently. One user said memes led them to 4chan in the mid-2000s, but they eventually found their way to overtly racist /pol/ after Obama was elected for a second term. Others noted they “ironically” looked at /pol/, or they were led there by the more absurdist “random” board, /b/. One wrote that their friend, who they specified was not right-wing, told them to “surf /pol/ for fun.” “Humor is a powerful drug,” explained a poster who came for the political discussions but “stayed for the racist memes.”

Blacks Were Enslaved Well into the 1960s

I saw time and time again, people were afraid to share their stories. They were afraid to give this information to me, even behind closed doors decades later. They believed that they might somehow get sent back to a plantation that wasn’t even operating anymore. As I would realize, people are afraid to share their stories, because in the South so many of the same white families who owned these plantations are still running local government and big businesses. They still hold the power. So the poor and disenfranchised really don’t have anywhere to share these injustices without fearing major repercussions. To most folks, it just isn’t worth the risk. So, sadly, most situations of this sort go unreported.

How Much Tax Do America's Undocumented Immigrants Actually Pay?

In fact, America’s undocumented immigrants likely pay more in taxes than Donald Trump. According to a report from The Institute on Taxation & Economic Policy (ITEP), they pay a hefty amount of state and local tax, just like other people living in the United States. Collectively, America’s undocumented immigrants pay an estimated $11.64 billion in state and local taxes every year with at least 50 percent of undocumented immigrant households filing tax returns using Individual Tax Identification Numbers.

These Lizards Are Full of Green Blood That Should Kill Them

Animal blood comes in a rainbow of hues because of the varying chemistry of the molecules it uses to carry oxygen. Humans use hemoglobin, whose iron content imparts a crimson color to our red blood cells. Octopuses, lobsters, and horseshoe crabs use hemocyanin, which has copper instead of iron, and is blue instead of red—that’s why these creatures bleed blue. Other related molecules are responsible for the violet blood of some marine worms, and the green blood of leeches. But the green-blooded lizards use good old hemoglobin. Their red blood cells are, well, red. Their green has a stranger origin.

Ajit Pai’s Ties to Sinclair Broadcasting Under Investigation At FCC

The FCC’s inspector general is investigating whether Ajit Pai, the agency’s chairman, improperly used his power to benefit Sinclair Broadcasting. The television conglomerate has pushed its local news stations to run commentary segments that praise the Trump administration, and is currently seeking a merger which would vastly expand its reach.

California Murder Suspect Said to Have Trained With Extremist Hate Group

Two of the three people who described Woodward’s affiliations are friends of his; the other is a former member of Atomwaffen Division.

An Unbelievable Story of Rape

In 2008, Marie’s case was one of four labeled unfounded by the Lynnwood police, according to statistics reported to the FBI. In the five years from 2008 to 2012, the department determined that 10 of 47 rapes reported to Lynnwood police were unfounded — 21.3 percent. That’s five times the national average of 4.3 percent for agencies covering similar-sized populations during that same period.

Google Employees Resign in Protest Against Pentagon Contract

There are other reputational concerns factoring into employees’ decisions to leave Google. The company’s recent political fumbles, like its sponsorship of the Conservative Political Action Conference and its struggle to address internal diversity concerns, have also played a role.

DNA of every baby born in California is stored. Who has access to it?

Like many states, California collects bio-samples from every child born in the state. The material is then stored indefinitely in a state-run biobank, where it may be purchased for outside research.

Supreme Court Decision Delivers Blow To Workers' Rights

Writing for the majority, Justice Neil Gorsuch said that the 1925 Federal Arbitration Act trumps the National Labor Relations Act and that employees who sign employment agreements to arbitrate claims must do so on an individual basis — and may not band together to enforce claims of wage and hour violations.

Trump administration preparing to hold immigrant children on military bases

Families with children and unaccompanied minors made up 10 percent of illegal border crossers five years ago, Nielsen told senators in testimony Tuesday. Today, they account for 40 percent of those detained by U.S. border agents, she said.

MALE SUPREMACY

Male supremacy is an ideology with many faces. Its unifying thread is virulent, at times violent misogyny, and the practice of blaming women and a large feminist conspiracy for the ills of (mostly white) men today. Like other hate groups, male supremacist hate groups propagate conspiracies that see the world as a matriarchy propped up by “cultural Marxism” meant to eradicate or subjugate men. It is driven by the belief that men are entitled to a superior place in society than women, which are biologically and intellectually inferior — as a result, any advancement that women might have obtained is nothing more than a usurpation. Like white supremacy, male supremacy is driven by fear and anger at the loss of white male status.

Muslims forced to drink alcohol and eat pork in China’s ‘re-education’ camps, former inmate claims

The re-education system, Eldost said, classified internees into three levels of security and duration of sentences. The first group typically consisted of illiterate minority farmers who had committed no ostensible crimes other than not speaking Chinese. The second class was made up of people who were caught at home or on their smartphones with religious content or so-called separatist materials, such as lectures by the Uighur intellectual Ilham Tohti. The final group was made up of those who had studied religion abroad and come back, or were seen to be affiliated with foreign elements. In the latter cases, internees were often were sentenced to prison terms of 10 to 15 years, Eldost said.