[Actioned] Email, dangerous attachments etc.

There is a thread in the Science section about a university being "hacked" and the major weakness the hackers exploited was getting people to open and/or preview an attachment in an email.

That's got me a thinking. With the ease of virtualisation on Windows 10 would it be possible to build a email client that the preview window is actually a virtual Windows 10 instance? Would this not be a good firewall between your actual installation and malicious emails?

I can see some issues with attachments needing to be saved onto your PC, but I can think of a few ways to overcome that issue.

Would this idea work or am I a cup of The TEA away from waking up?

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School throws child out for complaining too much about bullies

By "throws child out", I don't mean "expelled"; I meant they literally forced him out of the building - without a jacket, in 40-degree weather - and then, get this, reported him truant.

Quote:

Yvonne Pinkston said her son was in 4th grade at Fiske Elementary last year, after moving to Chicago from Indiana, and was bullied from the start, first by students and then by staff after he complained. Her attorney, Dan Herbert, released surveillance video from the school, which shows a security officer dragging the boy into the principal’s office, and then forcing him out of the building as the school counselor and principal appear to supervise. Herbert said it all happened after the boy complained about being bullied. “They throw this kid out on the street in Englewood, and they leave him there, and to make matters worse, they called the police and they reported that there’s a missing child. They report that some kid ran out of the school,” Herbert said. The video showed the boy wearing only a polo shirt and khakis, while the security guard, a school counselor, and another adult who were there when the boy allegedly was kicked out were wearing sweaters and jackets inside. The boy’s family said it was only 40 degrees outside at the time. The boy’s grandmother, Hope Pinkston, who said she works as a security officer for CPS, said the school’s counselor and principal called her the day of the incident, and claimed her grandson had run out of the school. She claimed, when she asked if any adult was with her grandson after he left the building, the principal told her she directed her staff “not to chase after him,” even though he was only 9 years old, and alone on the streets of Englewood. Herbert said school officials also lied to the boy’s parents, claiming he had been fighting, scratching, and kicking other kids. “It didn’t happen,” he said. Pinkston has filed a federal lawsuit against the Chicago Board of Education, the principal, the school counselor, and the security guard, accusing them of excessive force, unreasonable seizure, intentional infliction of emotional distress, creating a hostile educational environment, and more. Sources said the district was first made aware of the allegations on Tuesday, and the security guard has since been removed from his position, and CPS is investigating the principal’s actions, as well as why district leadership was not previously notified of the incident.

Before too many people jump on the "we only have one side of the story" bandwagon, I would assert that the other side of the story doesn't actually matter in this case. Forcing a child out of the building without a coat in low-temperature is nothing less than reckless endangerment; and certainly isn't anything close to an appropriate, valid, or acceptable punishment for anything the child may have done.

Further, the school are the proven liars in this case; they told both the police and the boy's grandmother that the boy had "run out of the building". There happens to be surveillance video of his removal from the building; it plainly shows him being escorted to the doors and obviously being compelled to leave the building by adults who then stand there The-Tribe-Has-Spoken style, making it clear that staying inside is not an option, and he (reluctantly, it honestly looks like to me) follows their instructions. He did not "run out of the building" in defiance of the rules, nor was he being dragged out in the midst of an out-of-control tantrum. This makes everything the school has said and will say about this case suspect, including that he was removed for "fighting, scratching, and kicking other kids", which I simply cannot believe is accurate as a result of their already-established lies.

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Anatomy of a cyber attack

This is fascinating, and more than a little disturbing.

It's a breakdown of what happened during a six-week long cyber attack on the Australian National University, in nontechnical terms so that anyone can understand what was done. There are still a lot of questions about the attack that remain unanswered, but this shows how dedicated and sophisticated cyberwarfare agents have become.

Check it out:

Inside a massive cyber hack that risks compromising leaders across the globe

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The ISF Trial of Donald J. Trump

Hear ye! Hear ye! Here opens the case of Lots of People on the Internet vs. Donald Trump. No judge presiding, except the mod squad to keep things from going too far off the rails.

Ok. I don't know if this is going to work, or even whether the mods will allow it. What I want this thread to be is a discussion of strictly the legal issues that surround Donald Trump. Has he committed crimes for which he could, as a private citizen, be prosecuted and convicted? Has he committed high crimes and misdemeanors for which he could be impeached and convicted.

I put this in Trials and Errors because I want it to focus only on the legal issues, and not just become another "Trump Sucks" thread. If we can keep to that, this thread will be different from several others focusing on Trump and/or impeachment. If not, there's no point to it and the mods should shut it down.

So, please, stick to that narrow focus. Try to avoid discussion of whether Donald Trump is stupid, or insane, or senile. He could be all of those, but they aren't the topic. Try to avoid discussions of whether it is politically wise to pursue impeachment, indictment, or any other legal remedy. Try to be aware that no matter how bad a policy is, whether it be racist, or stupid, or likely to cause a war, or cruel, or many other things that are said about Trump and his policies, none of those things matter in this thread unless they are also criminal.

ETA: My original was way too long. Let me make a much more concise summary now.

I don't believe he has committed either an ordinary crime for which he could be prosecuted, or a "high crime and misdemeanor" which ought to result in Senate conviction in an impeachment trial. Try to convince me I'm wrong.

I will preview my arguments by saying that I don't think the examples given in the Mueller Report could ever be used to gain a conviction on Obstruction of Justice. Specifically, the usual problem would be in establishing "corrupt intent".

I have a lot more to say about this subject, and if you read the OP in the few minutes between the time I posted it and the time I wrote this edit, you've seen some of it. For the rest of you, I spared you the wall of text, but I'll explain my reasoning if this thread works the way I want it to.

"The way I want it to" means no discussion about whether Trump is stupid, dangerous, insane, or senile. No discussion about whether he or his policies suck. No discussion about the political expedience of pursuing or not pursuing impeachment. I want a narrow focus on the strictly legal issues. Otherwise, it's just another Trump thread.

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John Sandford/ Lucas Davenport

Lately, I have been binge reading John Sandford's series, with the character, a cop named Lucas Davenport. The complexities in the crimes is amazingly intricate, undertones of involved details and clues, additional crimes that seem unrelated, but are. Eventually.

I love books that are difficult to put down. I started his Eyes of Prey yesterday morning, and finished it this morning.

Can anyone suggest other authors that are somewhat in the same vein? Thanks.

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Resolved: Trump Era Republicans Are Uniquely Bad in American Political History

I've presented this challenge in a couple of other threads; no one chose to take me up on it. I claim what the title says. For starters, I've never seen an American political party that so brazenly lies about such easily checked facts (and without a hint of evidence to support their position) regarding such matters as: Birtherism, Clinton Murder Spree, Climate Change, and Millions of Illegal Voters, to name but a few.

If you disagree, I challenge you to find me a comparable example of such blatant disregard for the Truth.

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| PETA is absolutely useless | My letter to them |

Note before you read : This is my first post and I am only 14 years old so please forgive my brevity. Also, you can criticize me. I don’t have left-wing journalists to defend me like Greta Thunberg

My name is Aadil and Im 14 years old. Not old enough to pay taxes but old enough to say…

Your organization is hypocritical.

One of your main missions is to help animals, correct? PETA stands for “People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals”.

At the same time you’re saying this, you are also euthanizing, also known as killing, 80 percent of the animals you take in.[1]

This is so much that you can’t lawfully call yourself an animal shelter. You’re a euthanization clinic. Tell me, knowing this, if I or anyone else would really support an organization who kills thousands of animals a year.

You also try to spread misinformation. In this article here, 45 Signs You're a Vegan and Just Don't Know It Yet | PETA [2] , the writer tries to convince you you’re a vegan by answering a couple questions. Such as:

Would you sometimes hang out with animals rather than people?
How does this make someone a vegan? Because you like animals? I’d sincerely like to know.
Are you a feminist?
How is this in any way relevant to veganism? They’re two completely different topics.
Would you refuse to eat your dog?
Show me one person who wouldn’t refuse to eat their dog.
Do you support oppressed communities and recognize that supremacist viewpoints are whack?
Seriously?
Would you help a dog left in a hot car?
Just because I would help an animal that’s slowly suffering and dying doesn’t mean I won’t eat meat from a farm. And yes, my family gets meat from local farms.
Did your childhood BFF’s include your stuffed animals?
What?

Then at the end, you say this:
Not answering yes to half, or 1/3, answering yes to any of them.

In the footnotes is a link to one of the pamphlets that are promoted to children [3]



Some of you might be thinking this is fake and made by someone else, but it’s not.

PETA's Comic for Kids Takes Aim at Dads Who Fish | PETA [4]

From PETA’s official website, talking about how your Daddy kills animals.

you also promote violence against people, as well as killing animals.

Here’s a direct quote from PETA’s campaign manager.

"If we really believe that animals have the same right to be free from pain and suffering at our hands, then, of course, we're going to be blowing things up and smashing windows. For the record, I don't do this stuff, but I advocate it. I think it's a great way to bring about animal liberation, considering the level of suffering, the atrocities."

"I think it would be great if all of the fast-food outlets, slaughterhouses, these laboratories and the banks who fund them exploded tomorrow. I think it's perfectly appropriate for people to take bricks and toss them through windows. Hallelujah to the people who are willing to do it."
-- Bruce Friedrich, PETA Campaign Director, Vegan Campaign Coordinator, Animal Rights 2001 Conference, July 2, 2001

I’m sure that there are some people out there that support PETA, but you are highly misinformed.

Be honest with me, do you support them?


P.S. Couldn’t put sources here because I don’t have 15 posts (yet)

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