blackhead, black dome MT 7 (7) [NY]: photo by dan Kong, 29 May 2015
Joseph Ceravolo: The Catskills
I climbed to the top of Blackhead Mountain
My mind had been thinking
of the world below.
I was only eighteen.
Suddenly overcome with her,
I studded the imagination
with backtracks into life.
The scene below became a distant lagoon.
O dreams of migration!
dreams of migration
sneaking up behind me.
I was only eighteen.
She touched my neck:
it lifted my insides into flames,
and me not thinking what I'd do
sprang from the top
toward the endless field below.
I was only eighteen.
Joseph Ceravolo (1934-1988): The Catskills, from Millenium Dust (1982)
North-West at Blackhead Mountain Range [NY]: photo by Andy Arthur, 2 May 2010
Sheridan Mountain Beyond Devil's Clove | Blackhead Mountain Range [NY]: photo by Andy Arthur, 8 May 2010
South Mountain Ridge | Blackhead Mountain Range [NY]: photo by Andy Arthur, 8 May 2010
(Have I mentioned that when the events narrated above occurred, I was 118 years old, had still not received even the most elementary instruction in English - then a barbaric tongue employed only by northern savages - and the Renaissance was coming on toward me like a runaway ghost train, promising to invalidate and delegitimize the very ground upon which, trembling pitifully as I leant huncht upon a crooked stick, I had always laid out the cloth for a refreshing picnic lunch, in traversing the Alps?)
Is only human even in that burgeoning season, when, as I crossed the mountains, I paused to look back from the place where Petrarch wrote something or other, and found myself suddenly, and embarassingly, unable to remember what that thing was, nor to understand nor to speak English, nor any other language then known to me, suddenly.
Sheridan Mountain Beyond Devil's Clove | Blackhead Mountain Range [NY]: photo by Andy Arthur, 8 May 2010
Joseph Ceravolo: The Catskills: An Interpretation
In that burgeoning season, as I crossed the mountains, I paused to look back from the place where Petrarch wrote his letter to Laura, and the sight of the long valleys stretching out behind me, over which Vergil had passed, reminded me that what sprang from the top, in that season, was always a certain not thinking what to do, which in that season I was accustomed to permit myself. For so I had been taught. But now, as the sun began its slow descent from zenith, when I looked down into the distant bluish-green valleys rolling away into hazy purple twilight mists and fields already in shadow far below, I fell into vertigo. It was in this state that I took up pen and paper.
South Mountain Ridge | Blackhead Mountain Range [NY]: photo by Andy Arthur, 8 May 2010
(Have I mentioned that when the events narrated above occurred, I was 118 years old, had still not received even the most elementary instruction in English - then a barbaric tongue employed only by northern savages - and the Renaissance was coming on toward me like a runaway ghost train, promising to invalidate and delegitimize the very ground upon which, trembling pitifully as I leant huncht upon a crooked stick, I had always laid out the cloth for a refreshing picnic lunch, in traversing the Alps?)
Is only human even in that burgeoning season, when, as I crossed the mountains, I paused to look back from the place where Petrarch wrote something or other, and found myself suddenly, and embarassingly, unable to remember what that thing was, nor to understand nor to speak English, nor any other language known to me or anyone, suddenly.
What more can be hoped than that some kindly pilgrim lost in the mountains will come upon one, and take one by the hand, and after a while grow hungry, and wonder about lunch, but have the good manners not to bring that up, at a time like this.
What more can be hoped than that some kindly pilgrim lost in the mountains will come upon one, and take one by the hand, and after a while grow hungry, and wonder about lunch, but have the good manners not to bring that up, at a time like this.
Even Superman
Is only human even in that burgeoning season, when, as I crossed the mountains, I paused to look back from the place where Petrarch wrote something or other, and found myself suddenly, and embarassingly, unable to remember what that thing was, nor to understand nor to speak English, nor any other language then known to me, suddenly.
fire at will, heroes! and be sure to send in your friends' photos of themselves in interesting swimwear!!
Not true. Call it what it may, but if a country invaded and occupied your homeland and stole your home and property at gun point, not only would you want to get rid of occupying forces and protect your livelihood and identity, but it's actually your patriotic duty to do that.: image via MaroB @MaroB2018, 22 May 2018
Not true. Call it what it may, but if a country invaded and occupied your homeland and stole your home and property at gun point, not only would you want to get rid of occupying forces and protect your livelihood and identity, but it's actually your patriotic duty to do that.: image via MaroB @MaroB2018, 22 May 2018
ould you want to get rid of occupying forces and protect your livelihood and identity, but it's actually your patriotic duty to do that.: image via MaroB @MaroB2018, 22 May 2018
Not true. Call it what it may, but if a country invaded and occupied your homeland and stole your home and property at gun point, not only would you want to get rid of occupying forces and protect your livelihood and identity, but it's actually your patriotic duty to do that.: image via MaroB @MaroB2018, 22 May 2018
DSC_2491: photo by Bronfer, 16 May 2018
Facebook has deployed a feature of California law, designed to protect freedom of speech, to argue that the case should be dismissed. Six4Three is opposing that motion.
BRO_5946-6: photo by Bronfer, 18 May 2018
Zuckerberg set up fraudulent scheme to 'weaponise' data, court case alleges: Facebook CEO exploited ability to access data from any user’s friend network, US case claims: Carole Cadwalladr and Emma Graham-Harrison, The Guardian, 24 May 2018
The papers submitted to the court last week allege Facebook was not only aware of the implications of its privacy policy, but actively exploited them, intentionally creating and effectively flagging up the loophole that Cambridge Analytica used to collect data on up to 87 million American users.
The lawsuit claims to have uncovered fresh evidence concerning how Facebook made decisions about users’ privacy. It sets out allegations that, in 2012, Facebook’s advertising business, which focused on desktop ads, was devastated by a rapid and unexpected shift to smartphones.
In its latest filing, Six4Three alleges Facebook deliberately used its huge amounts of valuable and highly personal user data to tempt developers to create platforms within its system, implying that they would have long-term access to personal information, including data from subscribers’ Facebook friends.
Vice-President Mike Pence’s reference to ‘the Libyan model’ which ended in Muammar Gaddafi’s death sparked an angry response from North Korea which Donald Trump cited in his letter cancelling the summit.: photo by Rex/Shutterstock, 24 May 2018
מסוריה הלילה From Syria tonight: image via nir dvori @ndvori, 24 May 2018
Area of #Quseir Airbase (Dabaa) bombed, allegedly by #Israel. Missiles fired by S-200s.: image via Roman Tusk @roman_tusk, 24 May 2018
Not true. Call it what it may, but if a country invaded and occupied your homeland and stole your home and property at gun point, not only would you want to get rid of occupying forces and protect your livelihood and identity, but it's actually your patriotic duty to do that.: image via MaroB @MaroB2018, 22 May 2018
Not true. Call it what it may, but if a country invaded and occupied your homeland and stole your home and property at gun point, not only would you want to get rid of occupying forces and protect your livelihood and identity, but it's actually your patriotic duty to do that.: image via MaroB @MaroB2018, 22 May 2018
ould you want to get rid of occupying forces and protect your livelihood and identity, but it's actually your patriotic duty to do that.: image via MaroB @MaroB2018, 22 May 2018
Not true. Call it what it may, but if a country invaded and occupied your homeland and stole your home and property at gun point, not only would you want to get rid of occupying forces and protect your livelihood and identity, but it's actually your patriotic duty to do that.: image via MaroB @MaroB2018, 22 May 2018
DSC_2491: photo by Bronfer, 16 May 2018
Facebook accused of conducting mass surveillance through its apps: Company
gathered data from texts and photos of users and their friends, court
case claims: Carole Cadwalladr and Emma Graham-Harrison, The Guardian, 24 May 2018
Facebook used its apps to gather information about users and their
friends, including some who had not signed up to the social network,
reading their text messages, tracking their locations and accessing
photos on their phones, a court case in California alleges.
The claims of what would amount to mass surveillance are part of a
lawsuit brought against the company by the former startup Six4Three,
listed in legal documents filed at the superior court in San Mateo as
part of a court case that has been ongoing for more than two years.
A Facebook spokesperson said that Six4Three’s “claims have no merit, and we will continue to defend ourselves vigorously”. Facebook did not directly respond to questions about surveillance.
Documents filed in the court last week draw upon extensive
confidential emails and messages between Facebook senior executives,
which are currently sealed.
Facebook has deployed a feature of California law, designed to protect freedom of speech, to argue that the case should be dismissed. Six4Three is opposing that motion.
The allegations about surveillance appear in a January filing, the
fifth amended complaint made by Six4Three. It alleges that Facebook used
a range of methods, some adapted to the different phones that users
carried, to collect information it could use for commercial purposes.
“Facebook continued to explore and implement ways to track users’
location, to track and read their texts, to access and record their
microphones on their phones, to track and monitor their usage of
competitive apps on their phones, and to track and monitor their calls,”
one court document says.
But
all details about the mass surveillance scheme have been redacted on
Facebook’s request in Six4Three’s most recent filings. Facebook claims
these are confidential business matters. It has until next Tuesday to
submit a claim to the court for the documents to remain sealed from
public view.
The developer is suing Facebook over the failure of its app Pikinis,
which allowed users to zero in on photos of their friends in bikinis and
other swimwear.
It claims the social media company lured developers and investors on
to the platform by intentionally misleading them about data controls and
privacy settings. As part of the January filing, it claims Facebook
tracked users extensively, sometimes without consent.
On Android phones, the company was able to collect metadata and
content from text messages, the lawsuit alleges. On iPhones it could
access most photos, including those that had not been uploaded to
Facebook, Six4Three claims.
Other alleged projects included one to remotely activate Bluetooth,
allowing the company to pinpoint a user’s location without them
explicitly agreeing to it. Another involved the development of privacy
settings with an early end date that was not flagged to users, letting
them expire without notice, the court documents claim.
In a submission to the court, an “anti-Slapp motion” under Californian legislation designed to protect freedom of speech, Facebook said: “Six4Three is
taking its fifth shot at an ever-expanding set of claims and all of its
claim turn on one decision, which is absolutely protected: Facebook’s
editorial decision to stop publishing certain user-generated content via
its Platform to third-party app developers.”
One court filing, referring to a period in 2013 and 2014, alleges:
“Facebook made partial disclosures around this time regarding privacy
settings, but did not fully disclose that it had caused certain settings
to lapse after a period of time.”
The lawsuit claims the ability to read text messages on Android
phones was also partially disclosed, presented to users as a way to make
logging in easier, but Facebook deployed it to collect a range of other
messages and the associated metadata.
It also collected information sent by non-subscribers to friends or
contacts who had Facebook apps installed on their phones, the court
documents claim. Because these people would not have been Facebook
users, it would have been impossible for them to have consented to
Facebook’s collection of their data.
“Facebook disclosed publicly that it was reading text messages in
order to authenticate users more easily ... [but] this partial
disclosure failed to state accurately the type of data Facebook was
accessing, the timeframe over which it had accessed it, and the reasons
for accessing the data of these Android users,” the complaint alleges.
“Facebook used this data to give certain Facebook products and
features an unfair competitive advantage over other social applications
on Facebook Platform.”
Facebook
admitted recently that it had collected call and text message data from
users, but said it only did so with prior consent. However the Guardian has reported that it logged some messages without explicitly
notifying users. The company could not see text messages for iPhone
users but could access any photos taken on a phone or stored on the
built-in “camera roll” archive system, the court case alleged. It has
not disclosed how they were analysed.
Facebook has not fully disclosed the manner in which it pre-processes
photos on the iOS camera roll, meaning if a user has any Facebook app
installed on their iPhone, then Facebook accesses and analyses the
photos the user takes and/or stores on the iPhone, the complainant
alleges.
Facebook
has an option to “sync” photos taken on the phones with the app
downloaded, which it says users need to opt into to use.
BRO_5946-6: photo by Bronfer, 18 May 2018
BRO_5946-6: photo by Bronfer, 18 May 2018
BRO_5946-6: photo by Bronfer, 18 May 2018
BRO_5946-6: photo by Bronfer, 18 May 2018
Mark Zuckerberg faces allegations that he developed a “malicious and fraudulent scheme”
to exploit vast amounts of private data to earn Facebook billions and
force rivals out of business.
A company suing Facebook in a California court claims the social
network’s chief executive “weaponised” the ability to access data from
any user’s network of friends – the feature at the heart of the Cambridge Analytica scandal.
A legal motion filed last week in the superior court of San Mateo draws upon extensive confidential emails and messages between Facebook senior executives including Mark Zuckerberg. He is named individually
in the case and, it is claimed, had personal oversight of the scheme.
Facebook rejects all claims, and has made a motion to have the case dismissed using a free speech defence.
It claims the first amendment protects its right to make “editorial
decisions” as it sees fit. Zuckerberg and other senior executives have
asserted that Facebook is a platform not a publisher, most recently in
testimony to Congress.
Heather Whitney, a legal scholar who has written about social media companies for the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, said, in her opinion, this exposed a potential tension for Facebook.
“Facebook’s claims in court that it is an editor for first amendment
purposes and thus free to censor and alter the content available on its
site is in tension with their, especially recent, claims before the
public and US Congress to be neutral platforms.”
The company that has filed the case, a former startup called
Six4Three, is now trying to stop Facebook from having the case thrown
out and has submitted legal arguments that draw on thousands of emails,
the details of which are currently redacted. Facebook has until next
Tuesday to file a motion requesting that the evidence remains sealed,
otherwise the documents will be made public.
The developer alleges the correspondence shows Facebook paid lip
service to privacy concerns in public but behind the scenes exploited
its users’ private information.
It claims internal emails and messages reveal a cynical and abusive
system set up to exploit access to users’ private information, alongside
a raft of anti-competitive behaviours.
Facebook said the claims had no merit and the company would “continue to defend ourselves vigorously”.
Six4Three lodged its original case in 2015 shortly after Facebook
removed developers’ access to friends’ data. The company said it had
invested $250,000 in developing an app called Pikinis that filtered
users’ friends photos to find any of them in swimwear. Its launch was met with controversy.
The papers submitted to the court last week allege Facebook was not only aware of the implications of its privacy policy, but actively exploited them, intentionally creating and effectively flagging up the loophole that Cambridge Analytica used to collect data on up to 87 million American users.
The lawsuit also claims Zuckerberg misled the public and Congress about Facebook’s role in the Cambridge Analytica scandal by portraying it as a victim of a third party that had abused its rules for collecting and sharing data.
“The evidence uncovered by plaintiff demonstrates that the Cambridge
Analytica scandal was not the result of mere negligence on Facebook’s
part but was rather the direct consequence of the malicious and
fraudulent scheme Zuckerberg designed in 2012 to cover up his failure to
anticipate the world’s transition to smartphones,” legal documents
said.
The lawsuit claims to have uncovered fresh evidence concerning how Facebook made decisions about users’ privacy. It sets out allegations that, in 2012, Facebook’s advertising business, which focused on desktop ads, was devastated by a rapid and unexpected shift to smartphones.
Zuckerberg responded by forcing developers to buy expensive ads on
the new, underused mobile service or risk having their access to data at
the core of their business cut off, the court case alleges.
“Zuckerberg weaponised the data of one-third of the planet’s
population in order to cover up his failure to transition Facebook’s
business from desktop computers to mobile ads before the market became
aware that Facebook’s financial projections in its 2012 IPO filings were
false,” one court filing said.
In its latest filing, Six4Three alleges Facebook deliberately used its huge amounts of valuable and highly personal user data to tempt developers to create platforms within its system, implying that they would have long-term access to personal information, including data from subscribers’ Facebook friends.
Once their businesses were running, and reliant on data relating to
“likes”, birthdays, friend lists and other Facebook minutiae, the social
media company could and did target any that became too successful,
looking to extract money from them, co-opt them or destroy them, the
documents claim.
Six4Three alleges up to 40,000 companies were effectively defrauded
in this way by Facebook. It also alleges that senior executives
including Zuckerberg personally devised and managed the scheme,
individually deciding which companies would be cut off from data or
allowed preferential access.
The lawsuit alleges that Facebook initially focused on kickstarting
its mobile advertising platform, as the rapid adoption of smartphones
decimated the desktop advertising business in 2012.
It later used its ability to cut off data to force rivals out of
business, or coerce owners of apps Facebook coveted into selling at
below the market price, even though they were not breaking any terms of
their contracts, according to the documents.
A Facebook spokesman said: “When we changed our policy in 2015, we
gave all third-party developers ample notice of material platform
changes that could have impacted their applications.”
Facebook’s submission to the court, an “anti-Slapp motion” under Californian legislation designed to protect freedom of speech, said: “Six4Three is taking its
fifth shot at an ever expanding set of claims and all of its claims turn
on one decision, which is absolutely protected: Facebook’s editorial
decision to stop publishing certain user-generated content via its
Platform to third-party app developers.”
David Godkin, Six4Three’s lead counsel said: “We believe the public
has a right to see the evidence and are confident the evidence clearly
demonstrates the truth of our allegations, and much more.”
Sandy Parakilas, a former Facebook employee turned whistleblower who
has testified to the UK parliament about its business practices, said
the allegations were a “bombshell”. He claimed to MPs Facebook’s senior
executives were aware of abuses of friends’ data back in 2011-12 and he
was warned not to look into the issue.
“They felt that it was better not to know. I found that utterly
horrifying,” he said. “If true, these allegations show a huge betrayal
of users, partners and regulators. They would also show Facebook using
its monopoly power to kill competition and putting profits over
protecting its users.”
A trial date for the case has been set for April 2019.
Vice-President Mike Pence’s reference to ‘the Libyan model’ which ended in Muammar Gaddafi’s death sparked an angry response from North Korea which Donald Trump cited in his letter cancelling the summit.: photo by Rex/Shutterstock, 24 May 2018
מסוריה הלילה From Syria tonight: image via nir dvori @ndvori, 24 May 2018
"The Catskills"---terrific poem. When I was 16, I spent the summer in the Catskills, and the same thing happened to me.
ReplyDeleteLooking at some of the photos sent me searching for a Palestinian film based on the Deir Yassin massacre. Couldn't quite find the thing (there's a fair few documentaries). Saw it at a local cinema on a very ropey print.
ReplyDeleteThe eyes of Mike Pence harry sleep away.
a certain not thinking what to do - such a lovely cluster of words
All of a sudden I want to be 16, and in the Catskills!
ReplyDeleteThe moment of not thinking what you'd/I'd/anybody'd do is the decisive moment. The moment we always miss most! The moment very few poets ever have the courage to capture!