Whispers and Warnings for 03/16/2017

Whispers and Warnings for 03/16/2017

IN CHINA – Insulting others can be illegal
China makes it illegal to insult ‘heroes and martyrs’ of its Communist Party
“Chinese president Xi Jinping has emphasised the need for the party to have faith in its own version of history, pointing to the Soviet Union’s collapse as a warning to cadres about what happens if revolutionary leaders are denounced.”

Amazon/Audible to be named in class action suit.
Class Accuses Audible and Amazon of a Bait & Switch
“Like defendants’ other misrepresentations concealing key facts about Audible’s plans, Audible uses the label of ‘credit’ to conceal what is otherwise an illegal gift card scheme,”

Protestors attack college professor.
Middlebury College professor injured by protesters as she escorted controversial speaker
“During this confrontation outside McCullough, one of the demonstrators pulled Prof. Stanger’s hair and twisted her neck,” Burger continued. “She was attended to at Porter Hospital later and (on Friday) is wearing a neck brace.”

Thank God for our 1st Amendment!!
Journalist jailed over Facebook comments
“Najjar was detained in December 2015 and charged with violating the UAE’s cybercrime law over Facebook comments in which he criticised the United Arab Emirates, among other countries, over the 2014 Gaza war, according to rights groups Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.”

Technology gets the thumbs down!
Ebook sales continue to fall as younger generations drive appetite for print
While sales through shops increased 7% in 2016, ebook sales declined by 4%. It is the second year in a row that ebook sales have fallen, and only the second time that annual ebook sales have done so since industry bodies began monitoring sales a decade ago.

A report on AMAZON by Institute for Local Self-Reliance
Amazon’s Stranglehold: How the Company’s Tightening Grip Is Stifling Competition, Eroding Jobs, and Threatening Communities
“Amazon has quietly positioned itself at the center of a growing share of our daily activities and transactions, extending its tentacles across our economy, and with it, our lives. Today, half of all U.S. households are subscribed to the membership program Amazon Prime, half of all online shopping searches start directly on Amazon, and Amazon captures nearly one in every two dollars that Americans spend online.

Amazon is going to kill more American jobs than China did
Amazon and other online sellers have decimated some sectors of the retail industry in the past few years. For instance, employment at department stores has plunged by 250,000 (or 14%) since 2012. Employment at clothing and electronics stores is down sharply from the earlier peaks as more sales move online.

Fake “cancer survivor” gets slammed by court.
Judge says author lied about having cancer, donating to charity
Federal Court Justice Debra Mortimer ruled that Gibson’s deceptive and misleading claims about her charitable donations from the sales of her cook book “The Whole Pantry” and a related app constituted unconscionable conduct under Australian law.

 

 

 

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