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Daily Archives: October 6, 2013

Report – Only 2% of Counties Responsible for Majority of U.S. Death Penalty

“Contrary to the assumption that the death penalty is widely used in the U.S., only a few jurisdictions employ capital punishment extensively, according to a new report released today by the Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC). Only two percent of the counties in the U.S. have been responsible for the majority of cases leading to executions since 1976. Likewise, only two percent of the counties are responsible for the majority of today’s death row population and recent death sentences.

“Eighty-five percent of the counties in the U.S. have not had a single case resulting in an execution in over 45 years,” said Richard Dieter, DPIC’s Executive Director and author of the report. “The relatively few prosecutors who drive the death penalty create enormous burdens for those outside their district. The rest of the country is paying a high tariff on behalf of the small percentage of the counties that are actually using the death penalty.”

The top ten counties among the two percent of counties responsible for more than half of the nation’s death row population are: Los Angeles County, CA; Harris County, TX; Philadelphia County, PA; Maricopa County, AZ; Riverside County, CA; Clark County, NV; Orange County, CA; Duval County, FL; Alameda County, CA; and San Diego County, CA.”

Guardian – NSA, GCHQ target Tor network that protects anonymity of web users

One technique developed by the agency targeted the Firefox web browser used with Tor, giving the agency full control over targets’ computers by James Ball, Bruce Schneier and Glenn Greenwald “The National Security Agency has made repeated attempts to develop attacks against people using Tor, a popular tool designed to protect online anonymity, despite the… Continue Reading

Cyberattack on Adobe includes information on 2.9 million customers

Adobe Blog – “Cyber attacks are one of the unfortunate realities of doing business today. Given the profile and widespread use of many of our products, Adobe has attracted increasing attention from cyber attackers. Very recently, Adobe’s security team discovered sophisticated attacks on our network, involving the illegal access of customer information as well as… Continue Reading

Pew – Technology Adoption by Lower Income Populations

Presentation: Technology Adoption by Lower Income Populations – Oct 8, 2013 at American Public Health Services Association “Aaron Smith, Senior Researcher at the Pew Research Center’s Internet Project, discusses the Project’s latest research about internet usage, broadband adoption, and the impact of mobile connectivity among lower-income populations.” Continue Reading

Committee Inquiry on Electronic Mass Surveillance of EU Citizens – Sixth Hearing

LIBE Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs. 07-10-2013: LIBE Committee Inquiry on Electronic Mass Surveillance of EU Citizens – Sixth Hearing – Programme “Session I focuses on the impact of mass surveillance programmes on the rights of EU citizens to data protection, either these programmes are implemented by third countries or by EU Member States.… Continue Reading

Excerpt from forthcoming report – The Obama Administration and the Press

“Leonard Downie, a former executive editor of The Washington Post, is the Weil family professor of journalism at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State University. This article is based on his report The Obama Administration and the Press, forthcoming Thursday from the Committee to Protect Journalists. “With the passage of the Patriot… Continue Reading

NYT – Selling Secrets of Phone Users to Advertisers

Selling Secrets of Phone Users to Advertisers – by Claire Cain Miller and Somini Sengupta,  October 5, 2013 “Now, smartphones know everything — where people go, what they search for, what they buy, what they do for fun and when they go to bed. That is why advertisers, and tech companies like Google and Facebook,… Continue Reading

Learning from Economic Downturns: How to Better Assess, Track, and Mitigate the Impact on the Health Sector

Learning from Economic Downturns : How to Better Assess, Track, and Mitigate the Impact on the Health Sector, by Hou, Xiaohui; Velényi, Edit V.; Yazbeck, Abdo S.; Iunes, Roberto F.; Smith, Owen. October 4, 2013] “Many countries around the world are moving toward universal health coverage, while navigating through periods of economic crisis. The impact… Continue Reading

Study – Eye Contact Increases Resistance to Persuasion

In the Eye of the Beholder – Eye Contact Increases Resistance to Persuasion by Frances S. Chen, Julia A. Minson, Maren Schöne, Markus Heinrichs. Published online before print September 25, 2013, doi: 10.1177/0956797613491968. Psychological Science September 25, 2013 0956797613491968. “Popular belief holds that eye contact increases the success of persuasive communication, and prior research suggests… Continue Reading