Crime:
The Good: (Follow Up) Golden State Killer Found
Last week, Emceenetwork.com reported on the missing identity of the infamous Golden State Killer with the headline “The Bad: Golden State Killer Still At Large”. We’re happy to announce that the “Original Night Stalker” has been found and prosecuted for his crimes. Investigators allege that Joseph James DeAngelo, 72, a former California police officer is responsible for at least a dozen murders, and 50 rapes over the course of ten years. Ventura County District Attorney Greg Totten told reporters that investigators used DNA found in DeAngelo’s trash to match him to his alleged crimes. He is currently facing capital punishment and is being held without bail. DeAngelo is a former Auburn county police officer who was fired for shoplifting and has gone mostly unsuspected of his crimes for decades. Recent interest in the almost “cold case” shed new light on the details of the crimes, allowing investigators to utilize new technology and fresh eyes to catch the predator.
The Bad: Guru Found Guilty
This week an Indian court found religious icon Asaram Bapu guilty of raping a 16 year old girl who was a follower of his religious practices in 2013. After reviewing the case, Bapu was sentenced to life in prison. Although armed with staunch supporters, (some of whom are even willing to act violently against police), a spokesperson for Bapu, Neelam Dubey remains hopeful that the appeal’s process will not only free Bapu but exonerate his name. Since the ruling, a high court in anticipation of a violent outbreak have restricted gatherings of more than 4 people until April 30th. Police have also increased their presence around the victim’s home as well as the jail where Bapu is being held. “We have full respect for the courts. If the lower court verdict doesn’t go our way, we will approach the High Court or Supreme Court.” said Bapu’s lawyer.
Entertainment:
The Good: Meek Mill Released
Yesterday social media went wild when Philadelphia rap artist Meek Mill was released from prison after a very controversial case involving crime, celebrity and corruption. Meek has said for years that his initial probation sentence of 8 years, for his 2008 gun charge was heavy handed which mostly went unheard by the public until it came to light that not only did the judge presiding over Meek’s case acted unethically but the officer who arrested Meek had been investigated by the FBI for corruption. The judge in question, Genece Brickley reportedly requested Meek change his current management RocNation to a local Philadelphia manager named Charlie Mack whom she knew personally. She also asked Meek to create a rendition of an old song with an ode to her included in exchange for his freedom. After several months behind bars, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ordered for Meek’s immediate release. Soon after his release Meek tweeted: “To the Philly District Attorney’s office, I’m grateful for your commitment to justice. I understand that many people of color across the country don’t have that luxury and I plan to use my platform to shine a light on those issues.”
The Bad: Kanye West Fans Happy, Sort Of…
This week Kanye West returned to social media after a sabbatical from Twitter sending out a stream of his thoughts on new music, politics, art and life. Although most of Kanye’s tweets were received well, such as several new album announcements, certain tweets rubbed fans and political enthusiasts the wrong way. Wednesday, West tweeted: ”You don’t have to agree with trump but the mob can’t make me not love him, We are both dragon energy. He is my brother. I love everyone. I don’t agree with everything anyone does. That’s what makes us individuals. And we have the right to independent thought.” Social media quickly commented on his feelings towards the President of The United States and didn’t hesitate to vilify the Chi-town legend for his opinions and previous “meeting” with Trump several months ago. Although Kanye made it clear that he doesn’t agree with everything that Trump wants to do, or has done, West is clearly looking to build a report with the entrepreneur and controversial celebrity. Trump, who almost seems to find peace within chaos tweeted West calling his support: “very cool”.
Business:
The Good: Google Employee’s Fight Pentagon
This week the petition circling the offices of Google Inc. came to light that showed employee’s concern for privacy and human rights. The petition which aims to cancel Google’s dealings with the Pentagon has since gone viral with plenty of American citizens feeling paranoid and exposed. The current partnership would allow for the Pentagon to use Google’s artificial intelligence technology to better tracks citizens or targets. The petition also includes a stipulation that Google never create “warfare technology”. Last month it was announced that the pentagon would be using Google’s new technology in their Maven program to aid in drone strikes which began a spark of outrage amongst the tech community. Google issued this statement regarding it’s involvement in the Maven program:
An important part of our culture is having employees who are actively engaged in the work that we do. We know that there are many open questions involved in the use of new technologies, so these conversations – with employees and outside experts – are hugely important and beneficial.
Maven is a well publicized DoD project and Google is working on one part of it – specifically scoped to be for non-offensive purposes and using open-source object recognition software available to any Google Cloud customer. The models are based on unclassified data only. The technology is used to flag images for human review and is intended to save lives and save people from having to do highly tedious work.
Any military use of machine learning naturally raises valid concerns. We’re actively engaged across the company in a comprehensive discussion of this important topic and also with outside experts, as we continue to develop our policies around the development and use of our machine learning technologies.
The Bad: China Calls Latest U.S. Tariffs Unacceptable
As contention continues between the U.S. and the rest of the world continues, the Chinese government recently made comments concerning the U.S.’s newly proposed taxes on Chinese imports that can negatively affect a major chinese tech corporation “ZTE” as well as many U.S. businesses. Although officials from ZTE are calling the ban unfair, the United States Commerce Department stands by its decision to ban the telecommunications company after an earlier investigation showed the company had illegally shipped equipment to “blacklisted” countries and lied about the punishments dealt to those responsible. Since the tariffs, China and the U.S. have been embroiled in a trading war with each side threatening to impose greater restrictions upon each other in an effort to affect each others economic bottle lines.
