All posts by brucebecker

Corruption

Corruption probe into Cuomo, de Blasio expands

There’ been an interesting twist in the ongoing corruption investigation swirling around New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and Governor Andrew Cuomo. The Mayor has apparently had enough of all these pesky questions and he’s no longer going to cooperate with any such lines of inquiry. That might not normally be newsworthy since these are no doubt uncomfortable questions to answer, but the unique aspect of the story is who the Mayor is blaming. You see, this isn’t some Vast Right Wing Conspiracy seeking to take him down – at least as de Blasio tells it – but rather an attack from Democrat Andrew Cuomo’s office. (New York Post)

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General Information

So … Now the Government Wants to Hack Cybercrime Victims

THREE NEW CHANGES in federal court rules have vastly expanded law enforcement’s ability to hack into computers around the world.

The changes, to a federal court procedure known as Rule 41, were announced last week by the Supreme Court. They would let magistrate judges routinely issue search warrants to hack into computers outside their jurisdiction. The changes would also let magistrates issue a single search warrant for numerous computers in multiple jurisdictions, saving law enforcement the burden of having to obtain a separate warrant for each computer. This means a judge in Virginia could issue a single warrant for computers in California, Florida, Illinois and even overseas.

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General Information

I-TEAM: Hundreds of Errors Found in FDA Data on Essure Problems

Since it hit the market, doctors have reported hundreds of problems with a form of birth control called Essure. But a new analysis of those alleged problems, known as adverse event reports, shows many have been mislabeled.

Physicians and nurses have reported more than 300 problems with Essure since August of last year, according to Madris Tomes, a former Food and Drug Administration analyst. In most cases, the data field for the reporter’s occupation doesn’t say “physician.” It says “other.”

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Corruption

NY Governor to launch investigation of corruption in his own office

If you live in New York State, this story probably bring echoes of times not all that far in the past. Governor Andrew Cuomo ran for the highest office in the state on a promise to clean up the endemic corruption in Albany and the results of his efforts were, shall we say… mixed at best. (More on that below.) But with new corruption stories showing up in the press on a weekly basis, Cuomo has announced that even though some of the allegations involve activities in his own office, he’s all over this one, guys. (Journal News)

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