Saturday, November 24, 2018

Friday's Leftovers

The beer is flat by now, sorry:

"Trouble is brewing at craft beer darling Trillium" by Nestor Ramos Globe Staff  November 21, 2018

Trillium Brewing, the darling of Boston’s booming craft beer scene, is facing an intense backlash online over labor practices that some current and former employees say are beyond the pale.

In online forums and on social media, current and former employees said the wildly successful brewery forced many retail workers to reapply for their jobs and then offered several employees identical positions billed as promotions but paying greatly reduced rates — from $8 an hour to $5 — even as their tips plummeted.

While current and former employees who spoke to the Globe expressed affection for their time at Trillium, they said the decrease in pay has taken a toll.

“We made a mistake,” said JC Tetreault, who founded Trillium in 2013 and owns it with his wife, Esther. “To have people not feel valued, that makes me feel terrible. . . . I’m pretty heartbroken as to how we got to this point.”

He said the pay cuts affected a handful of longtime retail employees who had been hired at Trillium’s previous standard hourly rate for tipped employees of $8.

The brewery dropped the rate to $5 an hour for new tipped employees as their workforce increased in recent years to include a popular beer garden on the Rose Kennedy Greenway in Boston, a new restaurant and brewery in Fort Point, and plans for a farm brewery in Connecticut. Most of Trillium’s approximately 250 employees work out of its large production facility and taproom in Canton.

About two-thirds of Trillium employees are full time and eligible for health care, 401(k) matching, and other benefits.

The state minimum wage for tipped workers is $3.75 an hour.

Of the tipped employees given the pay cut, Tetreault said, only two remained. He declined to say whether their pay would be restored, adding that he planned to meet with them next week.

The controversy originally came to a head Tuesday night on BeerAdvocate.com, a Boston-founded website and publisher where beer aficionados trade notes (and sometimes barbs) about their favorite brews and breweries. There, self-described former employees accused the brewery of cutting wages even as the business grew.

In interviews with the Globe..... 

Let's go somewhere else.

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Remember, readers, don't drink too much or you will pass out.

Then you will be looking for religion the next day in the form of a porcelain god:

"How Mitt Romney could take down Trump: Become the Republican Ralph Nader" by Nestor Ramos Globe Staff  November 15, 2018

The midterms are mostly behind us, and Congress can finally focus on what really matters: the careful consideration of new legislation and dutiful oversight of the executive branch.

Ha ha, just kidding. No, even though the votes from the midterm elections aren’t even all counted yet, it is, of course, time to move on to the next election. And while the discussion so far has focused on which Democrats are running and who among them is best positioned to defeat President Trump, I’ve got the perfect candidate to dethrone the Donald.

It’s Mitt Romney. 

Or maybe Jeff Flake.

I’m asking only that one of these allegedly responsible Republicans — each of whom has unleashed hell upon Trump in the form of a sternly worded speech/tweet/press release/raised eyebrow — run as a third-party candidate. It’s time for one of these supposed independent thinkers who just can’t abide Trump’s dangerous rhetoric to put their considerable monies where their mouths are.

You’re going to have to Nader the guy.

In the 2000 election, Green Party candidate Ralph Nader got nearly 100,000 votes in a Florida contest decided by a few hundred. And in 2016, Jill Stein managed the same feat — gathering more votes than the margin — in key swing states.

Already, the Jill Stein people are typing their e-mails to me, pasting in charts and graphs and exit polls that unconvincingly prove none of this is their fault. OK, fine, save your energy. I’m not blaming anyone for 2016 (or 2000). No, my scheme is strictly forward-looking, and it’s one that people who were voting third-party before it was cool should be able to get behind.

For politicians who like to think they have principles, power, and spines but don’t want to actually do anything, this job is perfect. I’m not looking for someone who could actually be elected president here. Keep your celebrity candidates — your Oprahs and your Schwarzeneggers and your Toms Hank. Because if that the-only-thing-that-can-stop-a-bad-guy-with-a-TV-show-is-a-good-guy-with-a-TV-show plan works too well, we end up with Forrest Gump in the Oval Office. A marginal improvement, sure, but we can do better.

That’s why we need someone who can win over all the suburban dads still lying to their wives about who they voted for in 2016. All we have to do is create a safe, semirespectable place for them to politely set their votes on fire.

To make that happen, all that any of these never-Trumpers needs to do is mount some kind of vaguely credible independent candidacy. Get T-shirts, yard signs, a few TV ads, and enough name recognition to ride the support of confused poll respondents right into the debates. Give a few speeches about restoring civility and good manners and tax cuts for people who own several boats. Come up with polite-sounding names for taking away people’s health care and rounding up immigrants. If someone named Dmitry calls the office, hang up immediately.

Next thing you know, Mitt is harvesting 15 percent of the vote in Michigan behind a campaign made up entirely of a single appearance at an outlet mall. In that scenario, the Democrats could nominate Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s worn-out shoes atop a stack of Karl Marx paperbacks and still coast to victory.

This should be easy. If Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson, who was last elected to public office in 1998, could get almost 4.5 million votes, imagine how much someone with name recognition, a strong jawline, and several million dollars could peel away. You’re telling me Ohio Governor John Kasich — who was wandering around New Hampshire on Thursday, by the way — couldn’t double that?

This mission is not destined for glory. You will not win. You will probably get an even more offensive new nickname. And you will be deeply unpopular on, say, Breitbart. But you’ll have stood up for what you say you believe in. And that’s all you’ve ever wanted to do.

. . . Right?

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Related:

"A man was charged Wednesday with killing one woman and sexually assaulting two others after herding them at gunpoint into the back room of a suburban St. Louis religious supplies shop. The arrest of 53-year-old Thomas Bruce, of Imperial, ended a two-day manhunt that followed the brazen Monday afternoon attack at a Catholic Supply store in another St. Louis suburb, Ballwin. The attack frightened the region and led some schools, churches and businesses to close. At a news conference announcing the arrest, St. Louis County prosecutor Bob McCulloch called the crime “heartbreaking,” a sentiment that was echoed by the county’s police chief, Jon Belmar....."

Also see:

"Dutch police who found $400,000 hidden inside a washing machine have detained a man on suspicion of — what else? — money laundering....."

Leaning Tower of Pisa tilts a little less

You’ll hardly notice.

Speaking of tilted stories:

"Inside the last days of an American missionary killed by a remote Indian Ocean tribe" by Joanna Slater and Annie Gowen Washington Post  November 22, 2018

NEW DELHI — The night before John Chau returned for the last time to India’s remote North Sentinel Island, he struggled with a sense of fear that his death might be imminent.

‘‘I’m scared,’’ wrote the 26-year-old American from Washington state, who had traveled to the island on a clandestine mission to convert its inhabitants to Christianity. ‘‘Watching the sunset and it’s beautiful — crying a bit . . . wondering if it will be the last sunset I see.’’

His initial contacts with the Sentinelese, a tiny tribe of hunter-gatherers who reject contact with the outside world, had not gone well. One teenager shot an arrow at him, which pierced his waterproof bible.

Yet Chau decided to return to the island and try again, galvanized by the feeling that he was God’s instrument.

‘‘Lord, is this island Satan’s last stronghold where none have heard or even had the chance to hear your name?’’ he wrote in a diary of his last days provided to The Washington Post by his mother.

I don't know what this guy was doing under his non-official cover, but the name is pronounced CIAo.

He left the 13 pages, written in pen and pencil, with the fishermen who had transported him to the island. The morning after Chau’s final trip to the island’s shores, the fishermen saw his body being dragged and buried in the sand.

Police in the city of Port Blair, the capital of India’s Andaman and Nicobar Islands, this week sent a helicopter and a team of officers by boat to assess whether it is possible to recover the body. US diplomats are also in Port Blair to lend assistance.

Chau’s diary reveals a portrait of a young man obsessed with the idea of bringing Christianity to the Sentinelese, who number in the dozens and have lived largely without contact from the outside world for centuries, protected from visitors by Indian law.

It also shows that Chau knew his mission was illegal. He wrote of maneuvering to avoid the Indian authorities who patrol the waters near North Sentinel Island.

‘‘God Himself was hiding us from the Coast Guard and many patrols,’’ he stated in a description of the boat journey.

He had told no one about his plan to hire local fishermen to take him to the tribal area because ‘‘he did not want to put others of his friends at risk,’’ one of his associates, Bobby Parks, wrote his mother after his death, according to an e-mail she shared with The Post.

Chau’s fateful expedition has caused widespread outrage in Hindu-majority India, where Christian evangelicals are often viewed with anger or suspicion. Critics say his brazen violation of Indian law was selfish and put the fragile tribe at risk — potentially exposing them to modern diseases they have no immunity for.

An avid traveler who graduated from Oral Roberts University, Chau had visited the Andaman and Nicobar Islands four times before and was awed by the area’s natural beauty and isolation.

On the boat to North Sentinel Island — traveling at night to avoid detection by authorities — Chau wrote of seeing bioluminescent plankton under a canopy of stars as fish jumped in and out of the water like ‘‘darting mermaids.’’

After paddling in a kayak to the island, Chau tried to engage the inhabitants by offering gifts of fish, scissors, and safety pins and singing ‘‘worship songs.’’ A section of his diary is devoted to his impressions of the Sentinelese: He jotted down details of their language (“lots of high-pitched sounds”) and gestures.

Toward the end of the journal, Chau wondered whether he should abandon his quest or return to the island and risk the consequences.

‘‘I think I could be more useful alive . . . but to you, God, I give all the glory of whatever happens,’’ Chau wrote. He asked God to forgive ‘‘any of the people on this island who try to kill me, and especially if they succeed.’’ 

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Related:

"An American adventurer who kayaked to a remote Indian island populated by a tribe known for shooting at outsiders with bows and arrows was killed, police said Wednesday. Officials said they were working with anthropologists to recover the body. Dependera Pathak, director-general of police on India’s Andaman and Nicobar Islands, identified the American as John Allen Chau, 26. He was apparently killed by arrows. Chau arrived in the area on Oct. 16 and stayed in a hotel while he prepared to travel to the island. It was not his first time in the region......"

He signed the register CIAo.

Sorry for the Echo:

"When your gadgets snitch on you" by Hiawatha Bray Globe Staff  November 22, 2018

Did Timothy Verrill murder Christine Sullivan and Jenna Pellegrini in 2017? I have no idea, I suspect the Amazon Echo in Sullivan’s home probably doesn’t know either, but New Hampshire prosecutors want to interrogate the Echo anyway, just in case the voice-activated smart speaker was listening in when the murders occurred.

Echoes and other devices that connect to the “Internet of Things,” or IoT, now number in the millions. The smart thermostat in your living room, your smart TV, your intelligent light bulbs, or your Internet-connected home security cameras — all these and many more record valuable information about their users.

“These are snitches in our homes that can talk about our habits and our activities in the most sensitive setting in our lives,” said Antigone Peyton, an attorney specializing in technology litigation at Protorae Law in Tyson’s Corner, Va.

Our machines have been ratting us out ever since cars first sported fancy electronics. Nothing new there. What’s new is how many of our machines do it. If you combine the data from all of them, there’s the story of your life.

Nobody knows this better than law enforcement.

Your smart TV set or cable box keeps tabs on what you’ve been watching — and when.

Not only that, they can see you even when the television is off!

I’m not sure how an e-mail from your washing machine could get you in trouble, but Fitbit data has factored into at least two murder cases Just last month, police in San Jose, Calif., arrested 90-year-old Anthony Aiello in connection with the death of his 67-year-old stepdaughter. The victim’s Fitbit’s heart rate monitor provided police with the exact time of death, and nearby surveillance cameras placed Aiello’s car at the home at the same time.

Even IoT-connected medical devices can squeal on us. In 2016, Ohio resident Ross Compton claimed he was sound asleep when his house caught fire. But suspicious police obtained a data readout from a digital pacemaker embedded in Compton’s chest. The data proved he was up and around when the fire began. Compton is now awaiting trial for arson.

For law enforcement, the most enticing gadgets are the ones with cameras or microphones. Hence the interest in Christine Sullivan’s Echo. Last week a judge in Strafford County Superior Court commanded Amazon to hand over any voice data captured by the device around the time of the murders.

Amazon declined to reveal its next move, but issued a rather surly statement: “Amazon will not release customer information without a valid and binding legal demand properly served on us. Amazon objects to overbroad or otherwise inappropriate demands as a matter of course.”

If the Echo works as Amazon says it does, the investigators will probably find nothing. The device is supposed to record sound only after it detects a “wake-up word,” usually the name “Alexa.” So unless the victim shouted something like, “Alexa, help!” forget about it.

That's because they don't want the product to be exposed as eavesdropping device!

While on the topic, I've noticed a massive push in the advertising to gift your family with tyranny this year, from the record-low prices of Ancestry DNA kits to the Alexa (what the record low prices tell you is no one is buying them).

Some civil libertarians worry investigators will scour every IoT device in our homes until they find something, anything, but Megan Brown, a cybercrime specialist at the law firm Wiley Rein, downplays this possibility.

One reason, ironically, is the sheer volume of IoT data. Collecting and reviewing it all is a lot of work. “I don’t think we’re going to see lots of blanket requests for lots of data, without the possibility that it’ll advance the ball,” said Brown.

That's what AI is for.

In addition, recent rulings from the Supreme Court have made it much harder to get certain kinds of electronic data. Stuff like cellphone records that could once have been obtained with a simple subpoena now require a full-fledged search warrant, with a judge agreeing that the suspect has likely committed a crime, and even then, they can only search the items specified in the warrant. No fiddling with my Fitbit unless the judge said so. 

Good?!!?

I mean, think of how long things take to wind their way through the court system after the government violates your rights. They do it, and then worry about the consequences over which they will have some measure of control. 

Antigone Peyton, the attorney specializing in technology litigation, isn’t nearly as confident.

Oh.

Of course none of this is a problem for those who only purchase dumb thermostats, ignorant TVs, and audio speakers that only speak and never listen, but if you can’t resist stuffing your home with IoT devices, remember to break the law someplace else. Otherwise your gadgets may rat you out.....

Hey, if you aren't doing anything wrong and have nothing to hide..... you know.

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Related:

"A New Hampshire judge has ordered tech giant Amazon to provide authorities with recordings from an Echo smart speaker with Alexa voice capability that investigators seized from a Farmington, N.H., home where two women were killed last year. The Nov. 5 order was issued in the case against Timothy Verrill, 36, who’s charged with killing Christine Sullivan and Jenna Pellegrini in January 2017in a house on Meaderboro RoadStrafford County Superior Court Justice Steven M. Houran wrote that the Echo device may have captured the chilling moments when Sullivan was stabbed repeatedly. Pellegrini was also stabbed multiple times. The 6-foot-2-inch, 280-pound Verrill has pleaded not guilty to murder charges and several lesser counts stemming from alleged crime scene tampering. “The court finds there is probable cause to believe the server[s] and/or records maintained for or by Amazon.com contain recordings made by the Echo smart speaker from the period of January 27, 2017 to January 29, 2017,” Houran wrote in his two-page ruling, “. . . and that such information contains evidence of crimes committed against Ms. Sullivan, including the attack and possible removal of the body from the kitchen” during that period. Mason Kortz, a clinical instructor at the Harvard Law School Cyber Law Clinic at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society, said it’s telling that Houran used the probable cause standard, which is the “highest standard for electronic searches,” in weighing the government’s request to obtain the Echo speaker data. The use of that standard, rather than the lower reasonable suspicion standard that applies for other types of searches, shows Houran is “taking seriously the fact that there is a privacy interest that falls under the scope of the Fourth Amendment constitutional right against unreasonable search and seizure,” Kortz said. Houran ordered Amazon to “produce forthwith to the court any recordings made by an Echo smart speaker with Alexa voice command capability, FCC ID number ZWJ-0823, from the period of January 27, 2017 to January 29, 2017, as well as any information identifying cellular devices that were paired to that speaker during that time period.” A public defender for Verrill couldn’t immediately be reached for comment. Asked for comment on the order, Amazon said in a statement that the company “. . . . Amazon will not release customer information without a valid and binding legal demand properly served on us. Amazon objects to overbroad or otherwise inappropriate demands as a matter of course.” State Police currently have possession of the Echo speaker, which investigators maintain was lawfully seized from the grisly crime scene at 979 Meaderboro Road, according to court papers. Police are attempting to scour electronic devices for evidence with increasing frequency, said Mark Bartholomew, a professor at the University of Buffalo School of Law who specializes in cyberlaw. “More and more, police and prosecutors are viewing household smart devices as evidentiary treasure troves,” Bartholomew wrote in an e-mail. “This is only natural given how ubiquitous smart speakers have become in American households. I don’t think you can expect prosecutors to avoid asking for these digital records out of privacy concerns, particularly in a case like this double murder that has captured the public’s attention.” Bartholomew said the “real question is whether the tech companies can resist these orders. This is new territory for the courts. Tech companies worry about any moves by the legal system that make their products seems less like helpful assistants and more like unwanted snoops. As a result, they sometimes publicly resist rulings like these. If push comes to shove, the tech companies may end up building more safeguards into their systems so that records become impossible to obtain without some sort of code or digital fingerprint from the smart device’s owner.” As for the New Hampshire case, the details are stark. State Attorney General Gordon J. MacDonald’s office said in a statement last year that Verrill allegedly stabbed Sullivan and Pellegrini and struck Sullivan in the head “with a blunt object.” Verrill is also accused of concealing the bodies by wrapping them in tarps and coverings and placing them under a porch on the property; pouring Prestone Driveway Heat ice melt onto a blood stain on the porch; and stashing a bloody sheet, Pellegrini’s belongings, and other blood-stained items in trash bags in the basement, the release said. Jury selection in the trial is currently scheduled for late April, records show."

It would seem like they have enough evidence without the Amazon snoop (remember when they told us they weren't listening?), and if that doesn't convince you to let Amazon and the government eavesdrop on you, I don't know what will.

I'll let you pick over the rest: Editorial & Opinion


Former Mount Ida College students and staff are trying to move forward

At least the anger has dissipated.

"Harvard University junior Angel Onuoha spent his adolescence anticipating a career as a doctor. He worked hard, skipped two grades, and was poised to receive acceptance letters from prestigious premed programs, but the life plan his mother carved out for him never came to fruition. Instead of getting ready to scrub up, Onuoha has cofounded an education-focused, nonprofit capital management firm called BLK Capital Management Corp....."

You could become the ‘Mayor of Southie’ for this year’s St. Patrick’s Day parade.

Uh, no thanks, because the service doesn't end well.


Related:

"The elderly driver whom State Police said triggered a horrific crash on Interstate 495 late Wednesday allegedly made a U-turn on the highway and drove the wrong way down the northbound side for several miles before striking two cars, a preliminary investigation has found....."

They sent over a new female police captain to investigate.

Claims she saw a Ghosn:

"Nissan was swift to call for the ouster of Carlos Ghosn. Mitsubishi’s board will meet on Monday. Renault has been more cautious, saying Ghosn remained its chairman and chief executive....."