The Week So Far with Yvonne Ridley – Kylie, Khashoggi and kissing in California

Scales of US justice tip balance to Trump’s right

Hours and hours of debate took place before Brett Kavanaugh was finally confirmed as a Supreme Court judge, but who are the winners and losers?

Obviously, Kavanaugh is a clear winner but the biggest loser is America and its citizens, especially women, who did not want to see that man take up the position in the Supreme Court for life.

The law or judicial system is supposed to be blind when it comes to gender, skin colour, position and politics and judges are expected to be equally impartial but …. Read the full article by Yvonne Ridley here

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Why my KISS could be illegal in California!

Admittedly I’m a bit of a Luddite when it comes to technology. I like to KISS – Keep It Simple Stupid!

So imagine my horror at finding out that default passwords such as “admin” and “password” will be illegal for electronics firms to use in California from 2020.

And we all know that whatever happens in America usually finds its way across the Atlantic.

California’s lawmakers have passed a law that sets higher security standards for net-connected devices made or sold there. The new legislation means each gadget must have a unique password when it is made.

As someone who prefers easy passwords such as 1234 or 0000, I’m horrified by this news. No doubt fans of weird and wonderful passwords containing alphanumeric sequences with a sprinkling of symbols like +$$!!@# will be cheering but I will not be among them.

Yes, I know that cyber attacks on Twitter, Spotify, and Reddit happened because criminals took advantage of poor passwords on lots of internet gadgets including webcams and other so-called smart home hardware.

But can the geeky brains not come up with something more simple than a complicated password for dinosaurs like me?

Especially for Kylie: Get well soon 

I hear Kylie Minogue has been forced to cancel gigs in Dublin and Belfast due to illness. The Australian singer should have taken to the stage in Dublin on Sunday night and then headed for Belfast for Monday’s concert.

Her forlorn tweets on Sunday revealed she may have a vocal strain caused by a throat infection. The good news is she will be able to reschedule the dates. In the meantime we all wish, I’m sure, the pocket pop princess a swift recovery

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Shut up Elon, beg investors

So not only has Elon Musk been forced to resign as CEO of Tesla because of a joke tweet, some Tesla investors are wishing someone would pull the plug on his twitter account as they say his online rants are costing them megabucks.

If someone does come up with a way to silence Musk on Twitter please make it public as there are millions of us who’d like to have a Trump-free zone on Twitter, too.

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Tweet of the Week

There are two Brett Kavanaugh’s, at least! The less famous Brett Kavanagh, who identifies himself as a customer guide at Goodson Clothing and Supplies company, as well as being a Carolina Panthers fanatic, based in Kentucky says with great understatement that this is not a good time to share the same name as the new Supreme Court judge.

After giving us all a good laugh at his own expense he’s now had nearly a million retweets. We feel your pain, Brett, really we do.

This is a terrible time to be named Brett Kavanagh

— Brett Kavanagh (@Brett_Kavanagh) October 6, 2018