Legislature Unanimously Passes Chelsea's Law

Monday, the California State Assembly passed Chelsea's Law unanimously, 72-0. Chelsea's Law calls for mandatory life sentences for violent sex crimes against children under the age of 14.  The law was created in the aftermath of the awful rape and murder of two San Diego teenagers.

The legislation is named after Poway teenager Chelsea King. She was raped and murdered in February by John Albert Gardner.

The bill now has to be passed into law by Governor Schwarzenegger, who has said he will sign the bill into state law.  Read more at www.modernmom.com

http://www.lifewithoutlimbs.org/ Aug 20 2010 Many of you have asked about Nick on Facebook, we now have the... Official Nick Vujicic Fan Page on Facebook!

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See more at djkraz.amplify.com

Suit alleges Disney, other top sites spied on users

A lawsuit filed in federal court last week alleges that a group of well-known Web sites, including those owned by Disney, Warner Bros. Records, and Demand Media, broke the law by secretly tracking the Web movements of their users, including children.

Attorneys representing a group of minors and their parents filed the suit Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, records show. The suit alleges that Clearspring Technologies, a software company that creates widgets and also offers a way to serve ads via widgets, is at the center of the wrongdoing.

Web site operators such as Disney, Playlist.com, and SodaHead are "Clearspring Flash Cookie Affiliates," the plaintiffs allege in their suit. Clearspring set "Flash cookies on (affiliate site) users' computers...online tracking device(s) which would allow access to and disclosure of Internet users' online activities."

A similar lawsuit was filed last month against Clearspring rival Quantcast, as well as a host of that company's clients, including ABC and NBC. The same law firms that filed that suit--Parisi & Havens, and the Law Office of Joseph Malley--were responsible for filing the recent complaint.

The Web sites working with Clearspring knew users weren't just tracked at sites owned by affiliates, but were followed without their knowledge wherever they went online, the defendants wrote in their suit.

All the news lately about Web privacy--or the lack thereof--is enough to make anyone paranoid about logging on. The Wall Street Journal recently published an expose on Web privacy and concluded that "one of the fastest-growing businesses on the Internet...is the business of spying on Internet users." And we've seen controversies over privacy at Google and at Facebook. While Congress is looking into improving privacy protections for Web users, it would seem some people are going to take up the issue in court.

The suit against Clearspring was filed one year after researchers from UC Berkeley issued a report on how more than half of the Internet's best known Web sites use Adobe's Flash technology to surreptitiously gather information about their users, according to a story in Wired.com.

"What's even sneakier," Wired.com reporter Ryan Singel wrote then, is "several services even use the surreptitious data storage to reinstate traditional cookies that a user deleted, which is called 're-spawning,'" This means that a user may kill a cookie, but some technologies will bring it back to life by assigning that cookie's unique ID to a new cookie.

The report from the Berkeley researchers named two companies that reinstate cookies: QuantCast and Clearspring.

Clearspring makes the ubiquitous AddThis tool, which enables users to share links via e-mail or social-networking sites. According to the report from Berkeley, Clearspring has resurrected cookies for AOL.com, Answers.com, and Mapquest.com.

The kind of information Clearspring and its affiliates gathered was personal and far reaching, the plaintiffs wrote in their complaint. They allege the data was obtained by tracking users as they moved "across numerous Web sites, even spotting and tracking users when they accessed the Web from different computers, at home and at work. Read more at news.cnet.com

Users need to be aware that the way they get these services (such as Google, Facebook, Disney etc) for free, is because the firms are making money of their profile data and behavior to drive advertising revenue or collect marketing information that they can sell. It's that simple. What's a user supposed to do ? Do you really have to exchange your privacy in return for using these services. We offer users a free solution that can let them to continue to use these services - but keep their private information protected. And this is done without relying on the kindness of the service provider. Users can simply CLOAK (encrypt) those parts of their postings, emails, appointments etc. right in their browser before they send it. And since their information is stored in an encrypted form at Disney and other sites, they cannot read your posting. You select the part of their posting or email to be kept private, pick a keyword and encrypt it. You still use the Facebook/Disney/Google service as you do today, but only people who you've shared your keyword with can read your CLOAKed information. Both the CloakGuard Firefox plugin and online version that does not require a software instal are free. Free Download -- https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/194385/ Free Online version -- http://cloakguard.com/tryitfree.php Demo -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSiKgesit4Q Read more at news.cnet.com

http cookies only track people on the website that cookie belongs to. so if youre on amazon.com, an amazon.com http cookie will track every page you viewed at what times. there are very few websites these days that dont use http cookies, so disabling them will make web browsing difficult. third-party cookies, on the other hand, track you across websites. for example, if two websites have ads from the same advertising companies, lets say Clearspring Technolgies, then Clearspring can track the same user across websites it has ads on. these days, browsers have options to disable third-party cookies, but like http cookies, it removes functionality from websites. now, this all wouldnt be a problem if the user would just clear cookies every time they open or close their browser. which brings us to Local Shared Objects (LSO), better known as flash cookies because right now only Adobe Flash makes use of it. however, when HTML5 becomes standard, H.264 will make use of LSO as well. right now, Adobe doesnt allow flash cookies to read across domains, so for now, we dont have to worry about privacy issues on that front. i very much doubt HTML5 will come with the same guarantee. now, the main issue with flash cookies was that companies were using them to bring back their http cookies after they were deleted. so if you deleted the Disney http cookie, but not the flash cookie, then the flash cookie would put the http cookie back on your computer, hence the name "zombie cookies." this was a major privacy issue and is the main reason Clearwire is being sued. i hope i made things clearer and not more confusing. Read more at news.cnet.com

If you use Firefox as your browser there is an add-on called BetterPrivacy that deletes flash based cookies or "super cookies" manually or automatically depending on how you have it configured. These Super cookies can't be deleted by the browser's privacy settings or conventional cleaners and they stay on your system indefinitely. You could have dozens of them installed and not even know it! For instance Yahoo installs two of them when I check my email. Read more at news.cnet.com

SuperAntiSpyware can find and delete Flash cookies. Read more at news.cnet.com

Surgery for Afghan woman mutilated by Taleban

A mutilated Afghan woman who ignited controversy by appearing on the cover of Time magazine is to undergo surgery in the US to rebuild her face.

AFP reported the 18-year-old, identified only as Aisha, would meet with surgeons to discuss options for replacing her nose, which was cut off by the Taleban after she fled her abusive in-laws.

Her ears were also sliced off in the 2009 attack. She was then taken in by the American Provincial Reconstruction Team for Oruzgan and non-governmental organisation Women for Afghan Women (WAW) after being left for dead.

The Grossman Burn Foundation, a non-profit hospital in California which provides surgery to victims of serious injuries from around the globe, told AFP Aisha would be treated for free.

"The Grossman Burn Foundation is covering additional cost related to Bibi Aisha."

Aisha became a symbol of the US mission in Afghanistan, with Time arguing that the teenager's case demonstrated why the Taleban should never be allowed to return to power. Read more at www.nzherald.co.nz

Father and Three Sons Killed by Drunk Driver in St. Petersburg - Press Conference Video

Calling the deaths of an Orlando father and his three sons in St. Petersburg over the weekend a horrible tragedy that was caused by one poor decision, family members held an emotional press conference to discuss the four lives cut short at the hands of a drunk driver.

The widows and relatives of Elroy McConnell II., 51, and his sons, Elroy McConnell III, 28, Nathan McConnell, 24, and Kelly McConnell, 19, wept loudly Tuesday as each one tried to recall the type of people each man was. Three were fathers, and two leave behind wives and young children while the youngest leaves behind a mother and girlfriend.

During the press conference Elroy McConnell II's ex wife, and mother of the two oldest men, passed out and had to be helped from the press conference by relatives.

Family friend Burlin Webster said, “Like a thief in the night, this tragedy took these four men away from their wives, their mothers, and the people they loved. This tragedy could have been avoided. This was a decision made by one person." That one person was Demetrius Jordan, 20, who police in St. Petersburg say was drunk when he blew through a red light at Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Street and 22nd Avenue North early Sunday at 85 MPH and slammed into the family's car cutting it in two. All four men were killed instantly. The posted speed limit was 35 MPH. Jordan admitted to Police Officers after he was read Miranda rights that he had been drinking several alcoholic energy drinks and smoking marijuana that evening. Jordan and his passenger were taken to a St. Petersburg area hospital in serious and critical condition. Elroy McConnell the thirds wife Sandie held her son, Elroy the fourth, as she spoke directly to viewers across America and said, "This drunk driver didn't just steal his life from him, but from his friends and family. I hope and pray that the next time you go drinking and driving, you stop to think about this tragedy." McConnell's wife went on to say her six month old son asks for his daddy every night and she doesn't know how to tell him he's dead.

Calling her husband her "heart and soul, the beat of my heart and light of day, the air that I breathe. He was not just my husband, but my best friend," Sandie went on to say, "We all know people who drink and drive, but ultimately, this is the result. It could be any one of you. Your spouse. Your child. It could be your life. Because of this poor decision, now we are widows and kids have to grow up without daddies." The family was on vacation in Pinellas County over the weekend to celebrate Kelly's 19th birthday on July 30th and hold a family reunion. McConnell and his sons were returning to their hotel from seeing a movie when the accident happened around 2AM.

Elroy the second was a popular pop-warner football coach in Orlando and each of his sons played football throughout their lives from elementary school to high school. Elroy II's sister Lorraine McConnell said her brother was a charitable man who went out of his way to help those who didn't have money or were down on their luck. McConnell often reminded family members to help others since they were in a position to help those who needed it. "I can't think of a person on this Earth who he hasn't helped," Lorraine McConnell said. "He was my strength; my rock." Jordan remains hospitalized at Bayfront Medical Center in serious condition Monday and made his first court appearance by telephone Monday afternoon. Jordan is facing four counts of DUI manslaughter and one count of DUI with bodily injury. His bond has been set at $220,250.

A family spokesman said the family wants to forgive the driver the same way each man was taught to forgive through their church, but they also want justice to be served.

Each family member implored the viewing audience to think the next time they decide to drink and drive and to save another family, or their own, the heart break drunk driving can cause.

A celebration of the men's lives will be held at 2PM on Monday August 9th at University Carillon United Methodist Church, 1395 Campus View Court, Oviedo, 32765. For information, call the church at (407) 359-2112. The family is setting up an account at Bank of America to assist with funeral services and college trust funds for Elroy McConnell II's grandchildren. Read more at www.examiner.com

Court OKs Fetus Wrongful Death Car Crash Suit

In what looks to become a slippery slope, a Wisconsin 4th District Court of Appeals gave the green light for a man to sue his unborn child's mother's insurance company for wrongful death, after the woman's negligent driving played a part in a car accident. Following the accident, the mother gave birth to a stillborn fetus.

Shannon Tesar, the father of the fetus, is seeking damages from the mother's insurance company based on the death of his unborn child, reports the Associated Press. Tesar's case was originally denied when the lower court ruled that the mother did not owe a legal duty to the fetus. The reversal has brought up some real concerns that the court is opening the door to other types of suits against mothers for nearly any action that can harm unborn children, such as poor dietary habits.

To put it simply, Tesar could argue that the fetus was like a passenger in the car, and was killed as a result of the accident. This argument rests on the fact that the fetus was a stillborn at the hospital, and therefore at a developmental stage capable of living on its own. One of the threshold questions in this case may be whether the fetus was viable for purposes of affording the unborn child the status of a person in the eyes of the law. Whether or not the fetus is viable will serve to determine if the mother breached her legal duty to the fetus. Should viability not be an issue, this case would likely play out as if the unborn child had already been born at the time of the accident, essentially sitting shotgun when the accident occurred.

Many states do not allow suits based on the wrongful death of a fetus for this very reason- damages are impossible to calculate to any degree of certainty. Courts often return a modest award for children and elderly, as it is much more difficult to quantify life at the beginning and ending states without becoming overly speculative in nature. A successful wrongful death action requires a showing of negligent or intentional conduct of another that brought about a death. In this case, Tesar needs to prove that negligent driving brought about the death of the fetus, and that he has suffered a financial loss.

Tesar is not alleging that the mother intended to kill the fetus, but that her negligent actions played a role in the death and he deserves to be compensated for his loss. Read more at blogs.findlaw.com