NIMBY Trolls

“I have little left in myself ― I must have you. The world may laugh ― may call me absurd, selfish ― but it does not signify. My very soul demands you: it will be satisfied, or it will take deadly vengeance on its frame.” 

― Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre

The Supreme Court Heard Its First Social Media Harassment Case

"Once you've killed the family pet, that threat on Facebook has so much more meaning."

1 DECEMBER 2014 VICE MARY EMILY O'HARA

On Monday the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a case that could define whether or not ​online threats are taken seriously by the legal system. The case is ​Elonis v. United States​, and an impending SCOTUS decision could set the bar for future prosecutions of abusive partners and Gamergate trolls alike.

According to court papers, after Pennsylvania's Anthony Elonis's wife and two children left him in 2010, he began posting violent threats about her on Facebook. Elonis was no angel before that: After sexually harassing two of his female co-workers, he went on to post a Facebook photo of himself holding a knife to a female coworker's throat (taken at a Halloween event) with the caption "I wish." He was fired the next day.

.. Elonis refused to back down, challenging his conviction all the way to the Supreme Court on the basis of "free speech."

.. The case would determine whether the US cyberstalking law Section 875(c) could be expanded to require proof of "subjective intent" to threaten. As the law currently stands, a person can face federal charges, up to five years in prison, and a $250,000 fine for threatening to injure someone over the internet, via telephone, or any other kind of interstate or international communication.  Read More

South Korea Approves 'Christmas Tower' Near North Korean Border
In a move likely to anger North Korea, the South Korean Defense Ministry has approved a new, temporary “Christmas tower.”
3 DECEMBER 2014 DIPLOMAT ANKIT PANDA

... “We accepted the request to protect religious activities and to honor the group’s wish to illuminate the tower in hopes of peace on the Korean Peninsula,” said Kim Min-seok, a spokesman for the South Korean defense ministry. The ministry’s decision this week lends credence to the official reasoning for scrapping the tree in October. Back then, South Korean officials cited the poor structural integrity of the tower as the reason it was dismantled. The government was nonetheless criticized by South Korean Christian groups for interfering in the activities of civic groups.

By allowing another tower to be built, the South Korean government is able to deflect some of this criticism. Despite the threat of North Korean retaliation for the Christmas tower, the South Korean government never took formal action to ask civic groups to cease their activities — similar to the government’s reaction to other South Korean Christian groups that, for example, send leaflet-carrying balloons over the border.  Read More

Most popular pet names in Japan for 2014 suggest owners obsessed with food
4 DECEMBER 2014 ROCKET NEWS 24 JESSICA

... Without any further ado, here are the top 15, with English meanings in parenthesis where necessary:

1. Choco (as in chocolate)

2. Maron (chestnut)

3. 獅夢 (read as Shimu or Reon, the characters mean lion and dream)

4. Leo

5. Coco

6. Cocoa

7. Sachi (good luck)

8. Mocha

9. Milk

10. Sakura (cherry blossom, also eaten in Japan)

11. Momo (peach)

12. Azuki (as in the bean)

13. Sora (sky)

14. Momo (same as #11, but spelled with katakana)

15. Hana (flower)

There’s a whole lot of tasty things on that list, but I’m sure our furry and feathered friends don’t have anything to worry about. I mean, it’s just a name, right?

…RIGHT?!

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