That Was Close?

US Senate Killed Cybersecurity Act

A few days ago the Cybersecurity Act of 2012 reached the US Senate. Apparently, the bill didn’t pass, making activists and privacy rights supporters happy.
The supporters of the bill were urging the Senate to pass the law as national security, but their wish didn’t come true. Before this failure, the media reports said that the risks to the US were real and immediate, adding that the White House didn’t see the bill as a partisan issue, but more as a matter of national security.

If passed, the act would give the authorities the legislative elements it needed to tackle hacker attacks: data sharing between the government and the industry, better protection of critical infrastructure, and the right to unite federal resources to lead the cybersecurity team. The proposed legislation was supposed to enable the authorities to prevent the attacks, not only respond to them. But the American Senate dismissed the bill from the very beginning.

Republicans who opposed to the law claimed that the proposed cybersecurity standards would have allowed for too much government regulation. When the legislation was passing through the Senate, one of its articles cause the panic, because Internet service providers could have been able to block such tunneling services as TOR and VPNs.

In the meantime, the bill’s opponents asked citizens to contact their representatives and talk about their civil rights and how the legislation may affect them. After getting about 500,000 responses, the senators decided to prioritize the privacy rights of the users.

So, the bill failed to achieve cloture, which means it won’t proceed to a final vote. In the past months, members of the civil liberties and online freedom outfits had sent over half a million emails to the Senate urging the legislators to stand up for online freedom and privacy when discussing cyber-security bills. The matter is that the privacy activists were concerned about potential for the bill to allow ISPs to monitor their subscribers’ data. They pointed out that there was a newly empowered base of online activists across the country, and alongside them stood a newly-strengthened corps of pro-privacy senators whom they looked forward to working with to fight any future online attacks.

On The Beach?

For Italy mafia fugitive, trip to the beach proves costly

Alleged mafia boss Roberto Matalone evaded the police for two years, but a trip to the beach in southern Italy on Thursday proved to be his undoing.
Accused of being part of the inner circle of the Pesce clan, one of the most powerful branches of the Calabria mob, he is married to the sister of boss Francesco Pesce, who was arrested last year hiding in an underground bunker.
But Matalone, 35, turned out to be less shy than his brother-in-law. Surveillance footage released to the media on Friday showed him heading to the beach in shorts and a baseball cap, with a towel over his shoulder.
Police arrested him as he raised his umbrella soon after arriving at the beach in Joppolo, in the toe of Italy, with his family.
The arrest is the latest in a crackdown by Italian police on the 'Ndrangheta mafia, which according to Italian authorities controls 80 percent of drug trafficking into Europe in a business worth 27 billion euros a year.
According to the website of Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, his beach reading material was prophetic - a book called "Mafia Hunters" about how Italian police track mafiosi.

Lost Baggage?

Drunk tourist who fell asleep on airport baggage belt is X-rayed

Airport security guards checking for suspicious packages had a shock when a human body showed up on their X-ray machine.

They went to the baggage conveyor belt – and found a tourist curled up in a drunken sleep.
The 36-year-old man had travelled for 15 minutes after getting on the belt next to an unmanned check-in desk.
Police are said to have had difficulty waking the unnamed Norwegian, who was still sleeping in the foetal position,  when they responded to the security breach at Fiumicino airport in Rome.
He was taken to hospital to be checked over because of concerns he may have been injured by exposure to the powerful X-rays. He is now being investigated for causing alarm.
An airport official said: ‘It’s impossible to avoid a situation like this if there’s no employee at the check-in desk.’ The man reportedly arrived at Terminal 3 with a rucksack and a can of beer in his hand to check in for a flight to Oslo.
He appeared to have been drinking heavily.
Denying the unscheduled trip had exposed lax security, another official said: ‘The Norwegian could have carried on going round the main belt, but he could never have ended up in sensitive areas of the airport.’

Don’t Disturb!

Sleeping Swimmer Mistaken for Drowning Man

Onlookers reported seeing the man floating face-up in a lifejacket

A man floating on a central Pennsylvania river was mistaken for a drowning victim — until he sat up.
WNEP-TV reports police and a coroner arrived at the scene Thursday along the Susquehanna River near Williamsport.
Onlookers reported seeing the man floating face-up in a lifejacket just below a dam. The area has seen drownings before.
Turns out the man had fallen asleep while cooling off on a hot summer day.
Swimmer Joseph DeAngelo says he had no idea what was going around him until a dragonfly landed on his nose. Then he sat up.
DeAngelo apologized for the confusion, but says he was living life the best way he knows how.

Good Vibrations?

Vibrator giveaway in NYC back on after premature withdrawal
A condom company's free vibrator giveaway is back on after it had to prematurely withdraw the promotion in New York City.
Hundreds of women - and some men - came out to get the free Trojan sex toys, 10,000 of which were being distributed from "pleasure carts" at hot spots around the city.
But a city official showed up at one of the giveaway locations and pulled the plug because the size of the crowd had swelled to the point it was impeding pedestrian and street traffic, according to the New York Post.
The mayor's office said in a statement to the paper that the event was stopped because it didn't have a permit.
Thousands were left empty-handed when Trojan announced on its Facebook page around 5 p.m. the giveaways had been "postponed."
But the company will get to finish what it started.


Trojan posted an update , saying it had "official NYC permits in hand" and had reloaded the pleasure carts.
"(Wednesday) was just the foreplay...our toe-curling, record breaking Trojan Vibes giveaway will climax today at 5 p.m," the post said, with an invitation to pick up a complimentary vibrator while supplies last: "First come, first served."

Health & Safety Gone Mad!!

Metal paper fasteners banned by Health and Safety

Metal paper fasteners have been banned by Health and Safety officials.

NHS Trust officials in Manchester have excluded the stationary because many members of their staff have cut their fingers while using them.

An email was sent out to workers that stated: "Due to recent incidents, NHS Manchester has decided to immediately withdraw the use of metal paper fasteners.

"Please ensure any that remain in use be replaced by similar plastic fasteners. The use of metal fasteners is prohibited and must be carefully disposed of immediately. Thank you for your cooperation."

Some of the staff have branded the new rule as nannying. One worker said: "It is ridiculous. They're vaguely sharp, like drawing pins and fountain pens.

"I can only assume that the top brass think that they've employed idiots who need nannying through the working day."

A spokesman for NHS Manchester said the rule had been created after one member of staff cut their finger but took it no further.

This rule comes in a long line of others put into place for Health and Safety reasons in Manchester workplaces.

Crushed!!

Handy??

Man had hand bitten off by alligator … got charged with feeding it

When a man from Florida had his hand bitten off at the wrist by a hungry alligator, he probably thought it couldn't get much worse, then he was charged unlawful feeding of an alligator.

Airboat captain Wallace Weatherholt had been giving a family a tour of the Everglades when the accident happened shortly after spotting the 9-foot alligator.

It's been reported that Weatherholt held a fish over the side of the boat in a bid to provoke it, which is when he lost his hand at the wrist.

Authorities later tracked an killed the gator, and retrieved the hand from its stomach, but doctors were not able to reattach it.

Feeding an alligator is a second-degree misdemeanor, which can be punished with a fine of up to $500 and possible jail time.

Aussie Signs!!

Controversial 'Don't drive like a...' road safety campaign causes stir in Oz

A controversial road safety campaign featuring 'offensive' signs has sparked a war of words between Australian MPs, with one calling for their removal.

Three giant billboards used in the campaign have caused particular offence, with one informing Australian motorists 'not to drive like a knob'.
The signs, placed prominently on a motorway running between South Australia and Victoria, have attracted a host of complaints from residents.
It prompted independent MP Bob Such to write a letter to road safety minister Jennifer Rankine, on behalf of his constituency, calling for their removal.