It seems that the Canadians have another good idea that we seemingly lack - the "No Confidence" vote. Seems like quite a good idea to adapt their concept of a no confidence vote here in the US. It certainly would keep the government on its toes and provide yet another check/balance which would be useful given that our friends currently in power have captured or are in the process of capturing all three branches of government, despite the fact that our Nitwit in Chief has the lowest confidence rating in quite some time.

In Canada, any Prime Minister with such a low rating would likely be the object of a "no confidence" vote in which case new elections would be called, and a new Prime Minister would be elected. The only problem is that their version of Congress calls and executes such a vote. That wouldn't work in the case of a total failure of government in which the people have no confidence in the Congress OR the President. Therefore, OUR "no confidence" vote would have to be one called for and executed by the people themselves, regardless of the fact that our Founders did not trust the people enough to allow them to directly elect the President (which is how we got our Nitwit in the first place).

So, if, let's say one million verified signatures of registered voters were collected on petitions and presented to the Senate, a nationwide election is scheduled for the next month to decide a yes or no question. Do you have confidence in the current government? If no, then EVERYBODY OUT OF THE POOL.

In the Psycho Sensei perfect political world, once they were all kicked out, new elections would be held in which no formerly elected individual would be eligible to run. In fact, if it were left up to me, nobody who wanted the job would be allowed to run for it and people would have to be drafted. A minimum of 10 candidates per position would be required.

Of course, in this fantasy world of the Psycho Sensei, not all has been finalized. When it has, and we take over an island somewhere, the plan will be implemented and all will be well :-).

Posted by mikki at 01:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Inside the Alito Memo:


It is the ultimate "pointy-head" office, as one former top Office of Legal Counsel attorney puts it, and its rafts of memorandums consist of dry and nondescript legal analysis. With his now-infamous 1985 application, Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito Jr. got a post at the OLC. But opponents of his nomination got a concise declaration of conservative principles that single-handedly revived an anti-Alito movement that was already flagging just weeks into his nomination.

Posted by mikki at 11:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Car Trapped in Trees After Plunging Off Beltway Ramp (all right, she wasn't really trying to steal a xmas tree):


BETHESDA, Md. - A woman was trapped in her car after it plunged off a Capital Beltway entrance ramp and was caught in trees, police said.
The unidentified woman, described by Montgomery County fire department spokesman Pete Piringer as about 70 years old, was driving a Lincoln Towncar when it hit the guardrail and jumped off the ramp from the Cabin John Parkway to Interstate 495 south.

The car came to rest perpendicular to the ground with its rear suspended in the trees and its nose barely touching the ground, the police spokesman said.

The exit ramp was closed while rescue workers freed the woman, who was trapped for about 20 minutes but did not suffer any serious injuries, Piringer said.

Posted by mikki at 10:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

And we give this country "Most Favored Nation" status? Why did we have to hear from this from Pravda? Why didn't the US media pick this up?

Paul McCartney boycotts China:


Sir Paul McCartney has said he will never perform in China after watching a secret video of dogs and cats being killed for fur.The ex-Beatle was given a preview screening of undercover footage taken in a fur market in Guangzhou, southern China

Posted by mikki at 10:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Morons in the News: Evolution Education Site Sued by Religious Extremists:


Unhappy that a web site about evolution receives some public
funding, a couple of religious extremists are trying to sue to
make it go away...

The web site Understanding Evolution factually presents
information about evolution, billing itself as "your one-stop
source for information on evolution." The site provides
explanations of what evolution is, how it works, how it affects
our lives,...

Posted by mikki at 10:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Ya think? Maybe? Perhaps? Duh. Shrub's ratings are so low that there's very little chance he'd win this one unless he finishes packing the court with ultra conservative puppets.

Padilla's Lawyers Suggest Indictment Helps Government Avoid Court Fight:


The indictment of Jose Padilla came days before the Bush administration was due to respond to his appeal to the Supreme Court of his lengthy detention, prompting his lawyers to suggest that the government is trying to avoid another potentially losing confrontation in the high court over its anti-terror detention policies.

Posted by mikki at 08:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Yah, I know that Bruce Lee wasn't a Tae Kwon Do guy, but hey, it's a martial art. Deal with it :-)

Bosnia unveils Bruce Lee memorial:


A bronze of martial arts legend Bruce Lee has been erected in the Bosnian city of Mostar - a day before a second statue of him is unveiled in Hong Kong

Posted by mikki at 08:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Why should "cyberterror" be different than any other type of "terror?" With the word being bandied about by anyone who believes it adds emphasis. Just pray that we don't have a "war on cyberterror" where our civil liberties online are curtailed even further.

Cyberterror 'overhyped,' security guru says:


Officials claiming terrorists pose serious danger to computer networks direct attention away from common criminals, expert says.

Posted by mikki at 01:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Got a minor child who uses chat rooms a lot? Be afraid. Be very afraid. May they catch more of these "people" and get them out of society quickly.

10 Arrested Trying to Solicit Minors in Chat Room Sting:


Investigators have charged 36 people with soliciting sex from minors in an Internet chat room sting.

Posted by mikki at 01:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Gee, wonder what happens now, since Potomac Airfield was closed due to "security violations" by our happy fun TSA. Do they get compensated for THAT closing as well?

And how about the rest of the airports whose business dried up within the new ADIZ? Not to mention those of us pilots for whom flying is no longer the fun it used to be. Tough to have fun or train students when you know that certain mistakes can cause loss of license, fighter escort, or death.

Md. Airports to Get Compensation for 9/11 Losses - WTOP Radio:


WASHINGTON - Three small Maryland airports that have faced restrictions since the 9/11 attacks stand to get some compensation under a larger spending bill now awaiting the President's signature.
The bill includes $5 million dollars for College Park Airport, Potomac Airfield in Fort Washington and Washington Executive-Hyde Field in Clinton.

The three airports were closed for a while after the attacks, and all three remain under strict security rules because of their proximity to Washington.

Airport officials say those rules have hurt business.

President Bush is expected to sign the overall bill.

(Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Posted by mikki at 10:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I don't know what's stupider - attempting to infect people's computers in the name of the FBI, or that some people are so damn lame that they believed that the FBI actually logged their IP numbers on "illegal websites" and then sent them an Email attachment they were supposed to fill out. Sheesh!

"Scam E-mails" Not from FBI, Agency Warns...:


"Scam E-mails" Not from FBI, Agency Warns in Public Statement

Posted by mikki at 10:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Gee, with all these Aides doing such naughty things and taking the fall for their bosses, when are we going to see the actual bosses indicted?

Ex-DeLay Aide Pleads Guilty in Conspiracy:


WASHINGTON-Michael Scanlon, a former partner to lobbyist Jack Abramoff, pleaded guilty Monday to conspiring to bribe public officials, a charge growing out of the government investigation of attempts to defraud Indian tribes and corrupt a member of Congress.

Posted by mikki at 10:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In a world where it is all too easy to think "all Moslems are terrorists" and secretly thinking that the majority of Moslems somehow support the terrorists, stories like this often go unnoticed. The family in Islam is a very powerful unit. For a family to denounce one of their own is remarkable and important.

Aljazeera.Net - Family severs ties with al-Zarqawi:


Family severs ties with al-Zarqawi
Sunday 20 November 2005, 18:40 Makka Time, 15:40 GMT  

Al-Zarqawi's real name is Ahmed Fadheel Nazzal al-Khalayleh

Family members of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi have renounced the Jordanian-born Al-Qaida in Iraq chief, telling King Abdullah II that they would "sever links with him until doomsday".

Al-Zarqawi, whose real name is Ahmed Fadheel Nazzal al-Khalayleh, claimed responsibility for the 9 November deadly attacks on three Amman hotels, which killed 59 people.
 
He took his name from the city of Zarqa, 27km northeast of Amman.
 
In half-page advertisements on Sunday in Jordan's three main newspapers, 57 members of the al-Khalayleh family, including al-Zarqawi's brother and cousin, also reiterated allegiance to the king.
 
Al-Zarqawi had threatened to kill the king in an audiotape on Friday.
 
"As we pledge to maintain homage to your throne and to our precious Jordan ... we denounce in the clearest terms all the terrorist actions claimed by the so-called Ahmed Fadheel Nazzal al-Khalayleh, who calls himself Abu Musab al-Zarqawi," the family members said.

Posted by mikki at 12:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Whether they need it or not, Sunday morning is the doggies bath club. Having 10 doggies, this can be a significant problem of logistics, materials, planning, and aftercare. Luckily for us, we have a very large shower that can, in a pinch, accommodate all 10 dogs (including the big black rare Egyptian Chicken Hound) and the human designated to be the washer person.

So here's how it is planned to go. Step one is to ensure that nobody else is running water in the house. We are on well and septic, and our bathroom is at the far end of the chain. Step two, run the water til it gets warm. Step 3, herd the dogs into the bathroom. Step 4, shove the dogs into the shower. Step 5, wash dogs. Step 6, dry dogs. At least this is how it's SUPPOSED to be.

Today, the Psycho Sensei was more Psycho than Sensei, and forgot some important safeguards. One was to close the doors between Step 2 and Step 3. Subsequently, when rounding up dogs, they went immediately into the running shower (quite unlike them) then decided to exit, the temperature not being to their liking, tracking most of the topsoil from the back yard with them. This necessitated a change in plan, complete with "HERE PUPPIES" in many different tones and volumes, which, of course, they ignored. It is amazing how one can begin to read the various dogs' footprints in the mud all over the bathroom. Having finally procured the puppies and penning them in the shower, the washing could begin.

Also luckily for me, our shower has one of those shower heads on a hose that can be easily brought down to doggie level. This is a necessary thing when one is zeroing in on one target dog amidst the chaos of 40 legs attempting to get as far away from the water as possible. Target dog is chosen, water is applied, dog is covered in shampoo (different types for hairless and puffs...must be sure to get these straight or strange looking creatures appear) dog is rinsed, and the process is repeated. Sounds easy, right?

Well, it WOULD be easy if these dogs weren't amateur botanists, collecting samples from everything possible in their fur. Leaves of all sorts, berries, brambles, thorns, brush, etc. all must be expertly removed. Then one must attempt to identify the dogs properly under all that mud and cruft to ensure that one does not wash a dog 3x and allow its little friends to remain crufty. Sounds easy, except that the puffs all look alike when they are wet. Also fun.

Today also had its escape. One of the little darlings figured out how to open the shower door, and before I could grab them, 4 sopping wet creatures pushed out the door and into the greater bathroom area, where they proceeded to spray water everywhere, dig up the towels and bathroom rugs, frolic and otherwise cause consternation.

Once everyone was washed, then came the lovely drying attempts. One hand held hair dryer, many towels, and dogs running and shoving each other to get under the dryer, under the towels, under my feet, under my bathrobe, into my slippers, or anywhere else they could wipe themselves. Cresteds seem to love the idea of smearing their wet bodies across anything they can find, moving or otherwise.

Then the second mistake. While herding them out onto the deck where they could become more dry, SOMEONE left the door open to the living room, where several wet doggies ran, leaping onto the poor sick Wessiepooh who was resting on the couch, and covering him with wet doggie and many doggie kisses. I am lucky the neighbors didn't call the police from the sound emitted from the Poofles.

After finally capturing the last of the escapees, closing all the doors properly, and flopping down to rest, the Bath Club concludes. Until next Sunday.

Anyone want to adopt a Crested Puff or 4? :-)

Posted by mikki at 11:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

NewsFromRussia.Com U.S. judge orders woman to spend night in woods after she abandons kittens there:


U.S. judge orders woman to spend night in woods after she abandons kittens there

00:39 2005-11-20
An animal rescuer who abandoned 35 kittens in two parks has been sentenced to a night in the woods without food or shelter.

Painesville Municipal Court Judge Michael A. Cicconetti, known for handing out unusual punishments, sentenced Michelle M. Murray to the spend the cold night alone when she begins her 15-day jail sentence next week.

"How would you like to be dumped off at a Metropark late at night, spend the night listening to the coyotes coming upon you, listening to the raccoons around you in the dark night, and sit out there in the cold not knowing where you're going to get your next meal, not knowing when you are going to be rescued?" the judge asked. "That's what you're going to do."

Murray, 25, pleaded guilty last month to abandoning domestic animals, a second-degree misdemeanor. The kittens were recovered but many had upper respiratory infections and nine died.

She apologized and has previously said she was experiencing family problems when she dumped the kittens.

Murray must report to jail Wednesday where a park ranger will drop her off at a remote location.

Cicconetti previously sentenced a man who called an officer a pig to stand on a city sidewalk for two hours in a pen next to a 350-pound (160-kilogram) hog along with a sign reading, "This is not a police officer," reports AP.
O.Ch.

Posted by mikki at 10:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

So are they also going to repair the computers they screwed up?

Sony Allows Exchange of CDs with Copy-Protection...:


Sony Allows Exchange of CDs with Copy-Protection Technology

Posted by mikki at 04:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Good. Perhaps capital punishment should be next.

EarthLink's pursuit lands spammer in can | CNET News.com:


A Florida man known as the "timeshare spammer" was sentenced to a year in prison on Thursday for clogging in-boxes with millions of unsolicited e-mail messages, in one of the first criminal prosecutions under federal anti-spam laws.

Peter Moshou plead guilty in June to violating the U.S. Can-Spam Act after EarthLink sued him in January. In its suit, EarthLink alleged that Moshou sent millions of junk e-mail messages in 2004 and 2005 offering brokerage services for people interested in selling their timeshares. The suit charged Moshou with numerous Can-Spam violations, including falsifying the "from" field in e-mail addresses, using deceptive subject lines, failing to identify the sender, and failing to provide an electronic unsubscribe option.

In addition to prison time, the court ordered Moshou to pay $120,000 in restitution.

In a separate case, the Internet service provider won a $15.4 million judgment against Florida resident Craig Brockwell and his company, BC Alliance, on Can-Spam charges. According to that suit, Brockwell sent hundreds of thousands of unsolicited e-mails advertising discounted inkjet printer cartridges. The ruling, issued last month, also prevents Brockwell and his company from illegally spamming any Internet user, regardless of the ISP they use.

Posted by mikki at 11:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Yet there's more terror now than there was 4 years ago. How many more do we have to arrest?

Terror war detainees total passes 83,000; some held for years:


WASHINGTON-The United States has detained more than 83,000 foreigners in the four years of the war on terror, enough to nearly fill the country's largest football stadium.

Posted by mikki at 12:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Wow! Good ole redneck Virginia :-)

Mere hand-rolled cigarette won’t support probable cause:


The fact that a defendant was holding a hand-rolled cigarette won’t provide the probable cause needed to conduct a search, according to a new case from the Supreme Court of Virginia.

Posted by mikki at 11:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This is fabulous! If it truly works, and can truly be made so cheaply, and if corporations get behind it, and buy them and send them to those who need it, we could certainly spread literacy, education, and learning around the world. How cool!

BBC NEWS | Technology | UN debut for $100 laptop for poor:


A prototype of a cheap and robust laptop for pupils has been welcomed as an "expression of global solidarity" by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan.

The green machine was showcased for the first time by MIT's Nicholas Negroponte at the UN net summit in Tunis.

He plans to have millions of machines in production within a year.

The laptops are powered with a wind-up crank, have very low power consumption and will let children interact with each other while learning.

"Children will be able to learn by doing, not just through instruction - they will be able to open up new fronts for their education, particularly peer-to-peer learning," said Mr Annan.

He added that the initiative was "inspiring", and held the promise of special and economic development for children in developing countries.

Posted by mikki at 11:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

So, when are these people ever going to learn that there is a BALANCE to be struck. Our "leaders" have already proven themselves dishonest and without ethics. So what do those we elect to represent us do? They give them MORE power, all in the name of a "War on Terrorism" that has already fallen on its face, given that so many of the obvious "holes" have been ignored, and because the attacks continue throughout the world. The FBI has been shown to have abused the powers it was given, already going beyond them, so now we continue to give them MORE power rather than reign them in. Gee, that makes sense... NOT.

PATRIOT Renewal Falls Short on Privacy, Civil Liberties:


House-Senate negotiators have agreed on a PATRIOT Act renewal bill that falls far short of balancing the legitimate demands of national security with the need to preserve the privacy and civil liberties of ordinary, law-abiding Americans. There was bipartisan support in Congress for fixing the PATRIOT Act, but at the last minute the reforms got watered down. While the new bill includes some additional oversight measures, Congress is going to have to return to these issues soon and develop some genuine limits on the PATRIOT Act and other surveillance powers, especially because changing technology is exposing more personal information to government access.

Posted by mikki at 11:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

So, what do you think? Is it ok for a company to screw up so many computers, installing crap without your permission, opening the door to new viruses, not testing it properly before deployment, and causing tangible damage and harm, to not be held completely responsible for their actions because they happen to be Sony? Could be an interesting set of class action suits out there regarding just how much they will be held accountable.

Sony Folds Tent, Recalls CDs:


Pummeled into submission by angry consumers and the media, Sony BMG agrees to pull all CDs containing copy-protected software and provide fixes for computers affected by the technology -- and hopes the whole mess just goes away.

Posted by mikki at 11:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

MIT Is Crafting Cheap -- But Invaluable -- Laptops:


Kids in Poor Nations Would Benefit
By David A. Fahrenthold
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, November 16, 2005; Page A03

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Nov. 15 -- A riddle: What has the durability of a sneaker, the smarts of a computer, the color scheme of a lunchbox and the potential to alter almost everything about the way schoolchildren in the developing world learn?

The answer: well, nothing yet.

The prototype of the $100 laptop has a hand crank, for students in developing countries. (Getty Images)
But now, scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology say they're close to creating a device that would fulfill this ambitious vision -- a tough, kid-friendly laptop that could be sold to poor countries for $100.

A prototype of this computer will be unveiled Wednesday at a U.N. conference in Tunisia. Its designers concede that the prototype is still missing some crucial features, such as a cheap display screen and a hand crank that would provide power.

But high expectations are already standard.

"It will change . . . the way children everywhere think about themselves in relation to the world," said Seymour Papert, a professor emeritus of education and media technology at MIT, believing that the result may be less violence and dissension as kids plug into education and international culture.

The laptop project has garnered some doubters, who wonder how useful its wireless connections will be in villages where access to the Internet is expensive or nonexistent. Some have also expressed concern about whether, despite their distinctive coloring, millions of the laptops will really get to and remain in the hands of children.

The leaders of the "$100 Laptop Initiative" said they wanted a machine that would substitute -- at one stroke -- for computers, textbooks, libraries, maps and movies that may be missing from poor children's lives.

Posted by mikki at 05:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The engines canna stand the strain:

The last flight of Enterprise engineer Montgomery Scott (aka the late James Doohan) into the final frontier will have to wait until repairs are done at starbase. The Falcon One rocket, which was scheduled to send Doohan's ashes into space next month, will not get off the pad until January -- engine trouble.

Posted by mikki at 04:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

So gee, whatever happened to disallowing patents for OBVIOUS extensions of current technology? This stuff is pretty dangerous if you think about it.

All your reviews belong to Amazon.com | The Register:


All your reviews belong to Amazon.com
Patent grab triple whammy
By Andrew Orlowski in San Francisco
Published Saturday 12th November 2005 05:04 GMT
Get breaking Internet news straight to your desktop - click here to find out how
Amazon.com has been granted three detailed patents covering purchase circles, consumer reviews, and search results in the form of products from multiple product categories.
It's a sweeping landgrab which puts e-commerce rivals on the alert. The techniques granted to Amazon.com by the patent office are already ubiquitous on commercial and social networking web sites.

Patent 6,963,848 filed March 2, 2000 and granted November 8, covers "Methods and system of obtaining consumer reviews".
Patent 6,963,867, filed on March 31, 2003, covers "Search query processing to provide category-ranked presentation of search results".
Patent 6,963,850, filed on August 19, 1999 covers "Computer services for assisting users in locating and evaluating items in an electronic catalog based on actions performed by members of specific user communities".

Posted by mikki at 09:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Someone please tell me why, after just about every airplane crash, some bonehead questions the safety of the airport? They talk about closing airports, they talk about making it more difficult to fly, etc. etc. Conversely, whenever there's an accident on the Beltway, the ROAD itself is not analyzed, nor is driving made more difficult.

Despite Crashes, Leesburg Airport Considered Safe - WTOP Radio:


Despite Crashes, Leesburg Airport Considered Safe
Updated: Friday, Nov. 11, 2005 - 9:34 AM

LEESBURG, Va. -- The fatal crash near the Leesburg Executive Airport Wednesday was the fifth in three years. Nine people died in those crashes. So is there a problem at that airport?
"This is a very safe airport," said Chris Dancy of Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association. "At this point it's far too early to know if there's any trend."

The airport handled 94,000 takeoffs and landings in each of the last three years - a 10 percent increase since the regional air space restrictions went into effect after the Sept. 11 attacks.

Dancy said Leesburg has a good safety record, even without a control tower or instrument landing system.

Posted by mikki at 02:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We've always known that the entertainment cartel has a "special place" in the hearts of American legislators. And now, it looks like their already "special place" in US jurisprudence is becoming more "special" by the minute.

So what is "attempting to infringe a copyright?" Does this mean if you mistype your password 3x to iTunes, you will go to jail? Why don't we have a reciprocal law against "attempting to curtail Fair Use Rights?" Sony's Board of Directors and a lot more of our entertainment big wigs would be sharing cells.

And, of course, this lovely Attorney General has tied piracy to terrorism. Next thing you know, 12 year olds and old grannies who are accused of downloading songs will be declared "enemy combatants" and put in jail without being charged or given an attorney.

If you think that's far fetched, that's what I thought when the SBA announced they were going to be showing up at businesses with the police to go through computers to find pirated software. Next shock was the criminal penalties for "cybersquatting." Now this. One might think that the Justice Dept. has nothing better to do, like preventing violent crime perhaps?

Justice Dept. pushes stiffer antipiracy laws | CNET News.com:


WASHINGTON--The Bush administration announced on Thursday that it is lobbying for new laws that would bump up criminal penalties for pirates, expand criminal prosecutors' powers and punish anyone who "attempts" to infringe a copyright.

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, speaking at an antipiracy summit here hosted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said the Department of Justice recently submitted to Congress a "legislative package" aimed at toughening up intellectual-property enforcement amid evolving technology.

>According to the proposal (click for PDF) being circulated by the department, the measure would create a new crime called "attempting to infringe a copyright" and subject it to the same penalties as more serious infringement offenses.

The proposal would also permit authorities to seize and destroy pirated and counterfeit goods--with a special nod to music, movies and digitally obtained materials. Also on that list are any goods used to produce pirated or counterfeit material, as well as property obtained with proceeds from the sale of pirated or counterfeit material.

Posted by mikki at 02:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I knew we were in trouble when the judge kept checking his watch:


The ongoing patent dispute between Research In Motion and NTP may be headed for a nasty conclusion, at least as far as RIM is concerned. This morning U.S. District Judge James Spencer said he would review whether the contested settlement deal between the two companies can be enforced, and then decide, quickly, whether or not to impose an injunction against RIM. That could spell bad news for RIM, which risks seeing its BlackBerry service shut down across the United States, its biggest market (see "Worse comes to worst, we'll spin it as a CrackBerry detox program"). "I intend to move swiftly in this," Spencer said. "I've spent enough of my life and time on NTP and RIM." Haven't we all (see "What's this 'asinine patent legislation' charge doing on my RIM bill?" "RIM, NTP attorneys resume construction on beach homes" and "What's 'You're screwed' in Norwegian?" ).

Posted by mikki at 04:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

So, perhaps it's time to hold the companies who make money off of our personal information liable? They make billions of dollars each year by collecting and selling information that belongs to US (after all, it IS our information). The least they could do it PROTECT it. And if they don't, THEY should be liable. WE should not have to run around calling everyone we can think of to cancel our cards and re-issue new ones, and go through all the bulloney of proving to others that the thieves who ruined our credit weren't us, etc. etc.

Data on 3,000 Consumers Stolen With Computer:


Social Security numbers and other information about more than 3,000 consumers were stolen recently from TransUnion LLC, one of three U.S. companies that maintain credit histories on individuals, in the latest of many security breaches that have focused congressional attention on identity theft and fraud.

The data were housed in a desktop computer that was stolen last month from a regional sales office in California, TransUnion said. On Oct. 21, the company sent 3,623 notices to consumers alerting them to the breach and offering free monitoring of their credit reports for a year.

Posted by mikki at 10:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Of course, the difference in this case is that it isn't a "fair use" issue, since they wish to use the bulk of the scientists' work for the textbooks, and most authors do not wish their work to be associated with hand waving hokey nonsense, and thus have the right to opt out of such associations. It is quite interesting that copyright law is being used to assure the "moral rights" of the authors' works, which is far different from using copyright law as a club (a la RIAA and MPAA) to take Grannies and 12 year olds to court.

Wired News: Evolutionists Are Wrong!:


Where are the copyright liberals when right-wing conservatives need us?

Last week, the National Academy of Sciences, or NAS, joined with the National Science Teachers Association, or NSTA, to tell the Kansas State Board of Education that it would not grant the state copyright permission to incorporate its science education standards manuals into the state's public school science curriculum because Kansas plans to teach students that "intelligent design" is a viable alternative theory to evolution. Kansas is scrambling to rewrite its proposal to win over the NAS and NSTA.

I agree with the vast majority of scientists who believe that evolution is the strongest and most comprehensive explanation for the diversity of life on Earth. I also agree with the vast majority of scientists who think that intelligent design, the theory that the complexity of life must be derived at least in part from a supernatural intelligence, is junk. I support the two scientific organizations in their mission of teaching legitimate theory, rejecting specious sermonizing in schools, and promoting the scientific method for studying observable phenomena.

Yet it concerns me that the NAS and NSTA are using their copyrights to bring wayward Kansas educators into line.

In the United States, intellectual property, or IP, law ensures that creators and inventors will get paid for their work, while doctrines like fair use and time-limited rights leave enough breathing room for the next innovator to use existing creations to comment, critique or make something new. But we have increasingly seen owners leverage their IP rights to get control rather than to get paid.

Posted by mikki at 09:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Well gee, this makes sense! Perhaps that's why it's not passed EVERYWHERE! Too many people, stop building houses. Well, DUH!

New Law Could Signal Shift to Slow Growth - WTOP Radio:


New Law Could Signal Shift to Slow Growth
Updated: Monday, Nov. 7, 2005 - 4:43 PM

ROCKVILLE, Md. - A new Rockville law that allows the city to reject development proposals if they would strain schools, police and local infrastructure, is a sign of dissatisfaction with the pace of growth in the region, according to some officials.
Passed last week, the ordinance blocks new residential developments near schools with enrollment of move than 110 percent of capacity. That designation now covers five public schools in the city of 52,000 people. A sixth is projected to reach that point in the next five years.

Rockville's action shows that residents in the heavily populated and fast-growing Washington suburbs may be leery of the way the region is being developed, said Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D.-Md.

Posted by mikki at 07:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Secret courts. Secret letters. Secret secrets....except when we want to disclose them to "out" our enemies.... What's wrong with this picture?

NSLs on the rise: Reporter's sleuthing is no substitute for government transparency:

Barton Gellman of the Washington Post has a terrific article: The FBI's Secret Scrutiny, on the rising use of National Security Letters, the secret subpoenas the government can use to collect information on communications and transaction information. The constitutionality of NSLs was challenged before the Second Circuit last week.

The Post did some careful sleuthing to find the details of of some recent NSL uses:

The Washington Post established their identities -- still under seal in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit -- by comparing unsealed portions of the file with public records and information gleaned from people who had no knowledge of the FBI demand.

When more than 30,000 NSLs are served each year, on mere suspicion that the records sought will be relevant to terrorist investigation, it's likely some of the demands will overreach. Yet the total, perpetual secrecy that enshrouding the demands prevents the public from learning enough to challenge them. The government can dismiss the stories that do come out -- like the demand for records of all visitors to Las Vegas in December 2003 -- as aberrations, and the public can do little to verify that the situation has changed.

The examples the Post collects are more than anecdotes: the Connecticut library asked for all records of a particular computer's use, records that could include books checked out, emails composed in a webmail system, or web pages visited, perhaps with patron-identifying details; the North Carolina school asked for all records pertaining to a former student who was later exonerated from any suspicion but whose records the government will not expunge; the Las Vegas hotels and casinos asked to rat out all their guests. Without systematic government accountability for NSLs, we can only assume that these examples are the norm. The government has never pointed to a case in which evidence gathered by NSL helped thwart or prosecute terrorism, the Post adds.

The ACLU argued forcefully for the NSL statute's unconstitutionality last week. The statute's secrecy provisions deny those with the most incentive to challenge it -- those whose data is gathered -- the knowledge that they have a challenge to raise. Perpetual secrecy denies the public the ability to evaluate tradeoffs between liberty and security. By peeling back the veil of secrecy just a bit, this Post story shows how much of the debate we're missing -- and why the entire secrecy statute should be declared unconstitutional.

Posted by mikki at 10:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

FBI Pushing Patriot Act Powers:


As the Patriot Act comes up for renewal, lawmakers react to a Washington Post report of the FBI's use -- and possible abuse -- of the law to gain access to private phone and financial records of ordinary citizens.

Posted by mikki at 09:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I don't get it. After DNA testing, after years spent acting male, and after many nasty plucking incidents, one of which required surgery, we now find that C2 the cockatoo is actually a girl. The egg at the bottom of the cage was the clincher, clearing up any doubt, unless, of course, the cockatoo is a hermaphrodite.

The egg, obviously a cockatoo egg (yes, I've seen them, in fact raised C2 FROM the egg) sat on the bottom of the cage, carefully laid (not dropped from the perch) by the little pink bird known as the "crazy cockatoo." Now we finally know the extent of the bird's insanity.

So, either the testing company mixed up C2's results, the test was in error, or the cockatoo changed genders magickally. In any case, I am most confused. And this is a difficult state for the Psycho Sensei, trust me.

Posted by mikki at 09:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Great. No privacy possible, even in the library. One has to wonder what kinds of true terrorist threats are being ignored in this country while the FBI and other agencies spend so many resources on these fishing expeditions. Then what happens with the records they find of how your 12 year old was playing on neopets for 3 hours on Tuesday?

The FBI's Secret Scrutiny:


The FBI's Secret Scrutiny
In Hunt for Terrorists, Bureau Examines Records of Ordinary Americans
By Barton Gellman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, November 6, 2005; Page A01

The FBI came calling in Windsor, Conn., this summer with a document marked for delivery by hand. On Matianuk Avenue, across from the tennis courts, two special agents found their man. They gave George Christian the letter, which warned him to tell no one, ever, what it said.

Under the shield and stars of the FBI crest, the letter directed Christian to surrender "all subscriber information, billing information and access logs of any person" who used a specific computer at a library branch some distance away. Christian, who manages digital records for three dozen Connecticut libraries, said in an affidavit that he configures his system for privacy. But the vendors of the software he operates said their databases can reveal the Web sites that visitors browse, the e-mail accounts they open and the books they borrow.

Patriot Act Primer
The USA PATRIOT Act, approved overwhelmingly by Congress after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, greatly expanded the government's power to monitor, search, detain or deport suspects in terrorism-related investigations. Christian refused to hand over those records, and his employer, Library Connection Inc., filed suit for the right to protest the FBI demand in public. The Washington Post established their identities -- still under seal in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit -- by comparing unsealed portions of the file with public records and information gleaned from people who had no knowledge of the FBI demand.

The Connecticut case affords a rare glimpse of an exponentially growing practice of domestic surveillance under the USA Patriot Act, which marked its fourth anniversary on Oct. 26. "National security letters," created in the 1970s for espionage and terrorism investigations, originated as narrow exceptions in consumer privacy law, enabling the FBI to review in secret the customer records of suspected foreign agents. The Patriot Act, and Bush administration guidelines for its use, transformed those letters by permitting clandestine scrutiny of U.S. residents and visitors who are not alleged to be terrorists or spies.

The FBI now issues more than 30,000 national security letters a year, according to government sources, a hundredfold increase over historic norms. The letters -- one of which can be used to sweep up the records of many people -- are extending the bureau's reach as never before into the telephone calls, correspondence and financial lives of ordinary Americans.

Issued by FBI field supervisors, national security letters do not need the imprimatur of a prosecutor, grand jury or judge. They receive no review after the fact by the Justice Department or Congress. The executive branch maintains only statistics, which are incomplete and confined to classified reports. The Bush administration defeated legislation and a lawsuit to require a public accounting, and has offered no example in which the use of a national security letter helped disrupt a terrorist plot.

Posted by mikki at 09:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Yeah, and the stupid Psycho Sensei who thought it would be a great idea to look at trackback pings to see who was linking to her stuff, instead found THOUSANDS upon THOUSANDS of spam pings pointing to the same spam sites. The spammers also send super long URLs that make it almost impossible to delete them without going through a total nightmare. Needless to say, what could have been a useful tool had to be shut down because of abusive imbeciles who steal MY work, bandwidth, and time in order to sell THEIR crap. Psycho Sensei does NOT like this in the least.

A New Place for Spam's Same Old Pitches:


A New Place for Spam's Same Old Pitches
By Yuki Noguchi
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, November 4, 2005; Page D01

Now that Web logs -- blogs, for short -- are a popular online pastime for millions of people, scammers are finding new ways to exploit them as vehicles for junk advertisements.

The Internet has even coined a term -- splog, a combination of spam and blog -- for a phenomenon that follows in the footsteps of rogue advertising such as spam e-mail, junk mail, junk faxes and adware. The new forms of spam can show up on blogs as fake comments posted by readers that actually have nothing to do with the subject at hand. Instead they are advertising pitches or attempts to get you to click on an unrelated Web site.

washingtonpost.com talk
Share Your Thoughts  
Spam
"Spam" e-mail continues to clog users inboxes more than a year after Congress passed a law intended to restrict unwanted mailings. State law enforcers have responded by targeting the worst spammers for lengthy jail terms.

They also can be set up as bogus blogs; go looking for a blogger talking about, say, bathroom renovations, and you could wind up on a Web site that has a few random renovation-related words but that mainly tries to get you to click on links to advertisements.

For the most part, the ads are new pitches for old schemes -- gambling, porn -- and are posing enough of a customer nuisance that Internet giants such as Google and Yahoo are developing tools to clamp down on them.

Posted by mikki at 06:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

There is so much more at stake than just whether your CD works with your iPod. The fact that you are paying for a product that you can't USE any legal way you want to use it, is quite scary. You can't make an archival copy, which the copyright act allows you to do. You can't play it on your computer. You can't play it on your iPod, and sometimes the company puts stuff on your computer that you don't even know about. That's all rather dangerous, IMHO.

Top News Article | Reuters.com:


LOS ANGELES (Billboard) - Complaints continue to mount regarding a controversial CD copy-protection initiative by Sony BMG Music Entertainment.

Artists and consumers' initial concern was that the digital rights management technology does not work with iPods. Now a growing number of music fans charge that the security software behaves like spyware and may create security vulnerabilities in users' computers.

The matter drew increased attention in technology circles October 31, when software developer/computer security expert Mark Russinovich began blogging the details of problems he experienced after using his computer to play the copy-protected CD of "Get Right With the Man" by Van Zant, a Southern rock act signed to Columbia Records.

Russinovich posted that Sony BMG's DRM drained resources from his computer processor, even when the CD was not being played, and was extraordinarily difficult to locate and uninstall. When he finally deleted the software, his computer's CD player stopped working. "This is a clear case of Sony taking DRM too far," he wrote.

Within 24 hours, online tech-news sites including SlashDot and CNet had posted news about Russinovich's account. And by November 2, Sony BMG had posted instructions on its own site (cp.sonybmg/xcp) for removing the DRM.

Posted by mikki at 06:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Ok. Let me get this straight. Rather than teach TSA workers about all the various names that we Americans have, and to learn how to figure out variations of those names, the burden is placed on Muslim Americans, who are asked to fill out forms providing highly sensitive information, and provide 3 government issued IDs, in order to not be harassed while flying on aircraft in their home country? Of course, caucasians, hispanics, etc. etc. are not being asked to register in order to fly on aircraft. Only the Muslims. And...they are asked to provide a LOT more identification than the rest of us are, to be treated the same way. What's wrong with this picture? It's bad enough that we have to provide our "papers" without proper legal justification in order for us to travel domestically (and yes, I agree with Jon Gilmore - it is unconstitutional to force me to provide "my paper" in order to travel domestically), but Muslim Americans get to do this x3. And this was suggested by TSA's head of Civil Rights?!?!?!

It's more than time for an attitude adjustment at TSA.

Aljazeera.Net - US Muslim travellers urged to register:


The head of civil rights for the US Department of Homeland Security is urging Muslim air travellers to register with the federal government before flying to reduce the chances they might be stopped at an airport.


The reasons for this may be because their name is on or similar to names on an anti-terrorism watch list.

Registering by completing a form and providing copies of documents will not eliminate the chance that a Muslim traveller will be singled out for closer scrutiny before or after flying, but the department wants to improve its relations with Muslims and Arab-Americans, said Daniel Sutherland.

"We need to listen to their concerns," he said at a seminar on Homeland Security sponsored by the Knight Centre for Specialised Journalism.

Posted by mikki at 05:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Seeking a Degree of Separation From Scalia:


The White House and its backers began a concerted effort last week to decouple Samuel Alito Jr. from Justice Antonin Scalia in the public's mind -- although, for many, linking the two would be a compliment. Even Alito seemed to further distance himself from Scalia when a democratic senator asked the high court nominee to name his favorite justices. Among those Alito cited: the late liberal lion William Brennan Jr., who was also singled out for praise by David Souter during his own confirmation hearings.

Posted by mikki at 09:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | Tweety the bird rescued by robot:


Tweety the bird rescued by robot

These remote-control robots are usually used for disarming bombs
A robot built to disarm bombs was put to an unusual use on Friday, rescuing a pet bird from a Sydney apartment block.
Tweety the cockatiel was stranded for two days after the building partially collapsed, undermined by a new tunnel.

No-one, including Tweety's owner Karen Bruce, was allowed into the building because police deemed it too dangerous.

But help came in the form of a remote-controlled robot, which emerged from the building carrying Tweety in her cage.

Ms Bruce immediately ran to take Tweety out for a cuddle.

"Tweety is a hand-reared cockatiel who likes daily contact," she explained.

"It's fantastic to have Tweety back," said Ms Bruce, who has yet to get any other possessions from her flat.

She said she would take the bird to a vet to be checked out, but that so far she did not seem to have suffered too much from the ordeal.

"I don't know. I'm not a vet, but she's had a bit of seed... so she is quite content," Ms Bruce said.

Posted by mikki at 09:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

When will people give up attempting to call their beliefs "scientific" and shoving them down the throats of the rest of the world? In a time when even the Vatican is against them, these fundies are using our children as a battleground for their ridiculous, completely non scientific assertions. "A rose by any other name...."

CNN.com - 'Intelligent design' trial goes to judge - Nov 4, 2005:


HARRISBURG, Pennsylvania (AP) -- A lawyer for eight families urged a federal judge on Friday to overturn a policy that requires the discussion of "intelligent design" in biology classes, saying it improperly promotes religion in schools.

A lawyer for the school board defended the policy, explaining that it was intended to call attention to a new "science movement."

The families' attorney, Eric Rothschild, said the concept promotes the Bible's view of creation with its belief that evolution cannot fully explain the origin of life or the emergence of highly complex life forms.

"Intelligent design became the label for the board's desire to teach creationism," Rothschild said in closing arguments.

Patrick Gillen, a lawyer for the Dover Area School Board, argued that the concept was intended to call attention to "a new, fledgling science movement."

The policy requires students to hear a statement about intelligent design before ninth-grade biology lessons on evolution.

Posted by mikki at 09:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Mars, Venus Reign This Month:


Mars and Venus present a treat to sky gazers in November, marking two memorable points of light at opposite ends of the sky. Mars reaches its brightest point early in the month and will be easy to find even while in the city. See our neighboring red planet now because it will not be this brilliant until 2018.

Look for Mars in the eastern sky after dark, as it is a brilliant, unmistakable orange-red. You can find it in the south after midnight, and you can see it in the western sky in the early morning hours.

Officially, the red planet reaches opposition on Monday, which means that from Earth's point of view, Mars is opposite from the sun. In other words, when the sun sets in the west, Mars rises in the east. Interestingly, the nearly full moon and Mars rise together Nov. 14.

The full moon -- and that can mean any full moon -- is always opposite the sun. By Thanksgiving, Mars sets earlier and rapidly becomes dimmer.

Facing south, when night arrives and Mars begins to enter stage left, Venus is exiting stage right. Find Venus deep in the south-southwestern sky at dark. While Mars has a distinctly orange-red tint, Venus is a very bright white.

Saturn rises in the east-northeast around 11:30 p.m. now, and by mid-month the great ringed planet will ascend the eastern heavens in the 10 p.m. hour. You can find this gaseous, giant planet in the constellation Cancer.

Jupiter races through the morning sky just ahead of the rising sun in the east-southeast. In the middle of the month, this gaseous giant planet rises about 6 a.m., and by month's end climbs the eastern horizon about 5:15 a.m. It's should be easy to see from the city.

The fleet Mercury follows Jupiter toward the end of the month and makes a cameo appearance ahead of the rising sun. Look for it hugging the horizon. This is not a good year for the reliable mid-November Leonid meteors, which are likely to be washed out by the moon.

Posted by mikki at 09:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Perhaps someday, people will realize that those who want technology like the "broadcast flag" indeed wish to maintain the wealth of the corporate masses, while ensuring that those young upstart companies with better technology are never able to make it to market.

Content Protection on the Hill:

The Berkman Center asked me a few questions about yesterday's broadcast flag hearing. Messrs Glickman and Bainwol spoke in favor of greater control, while Ms. Sohn and Mr. Petricone talked of the need to protect innovation and fair use, and the public's concerns were picked up by Reps. Boucher and Lofgren. See the Berkman Center site for more.

The question that left Dan Glickman cold came from Rep. Meehan, asking about the compulsory licensing of technology standards: (paraphrase) Do you think tech companies should have to surrender their intellectual property to protect yours?

Posted by mikki at 09:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Ok, now how strange is THIS? When are they going to introduce sticks and pucks into boxing?

Court Rules Fighting Is an Integral Part of Hockey:


Ty Jones was, in hockey terms, an "enforcer" -- sent to the ice to protect smaller, more skilled players or to rough up opponents who needed an attitude adjustment.

Posted by mikki at 10:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Not even the weekly pilgrimage to the Temple of the Home Despot is safe anymore. Beware, young homefixer, beware....

CNN.com - Glued to toilet, man sues Home Depot - Nov 3, 2005:


DENVER, Colorado (AP) -- Home Depot was sued by a shopper from a Colorado store who claims he got stuck to a restroom toilet seat because a prankster had smeared it with glue.

Bob Dougherty, 57, accused employees of ignoring his cries for help for about 15 minutes because they thought he was kidding.

"They left me there, going through all that stress," Dougherty told The Daily Camera, of Boulder. "They just let me rot."

The lawsuit, filed Friday, said Dougherty was recovering from heart bypass surgery and thought he was having a heart attack when he got stuck at the store in Louisville, Colorado, on the day before Halloween 2003.

A store employee who heard him calling for help informed the head clerk by radio, but the head clerk "believed it to be a hoax," the lawsuit said.

Home Depot spokeswoman Kathryn Gallagher said she could not comment on pending litigation.

The lawsuit said store officials called for an ambulance after about 15 minutes.

Paramedics unbolted the toilet seat, and Dougherty, "frightened and humiliated," passed out as they wheeled him out of the store, court papers said. The toilet seat separated from his skin, leaving abrasions.

"This is not Home Depot's fault," Dougherty said. "But I am blaming them for letting me hang in there and just ignoring me."

Posted by mikki at 09:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Or could it be an intergalactic Congress, debating space based intellectual property rights?

A step closer to identifying that monster in the Milky Way:


Could the mystery object at the galaxy's center be a supermassive black hole?

Posted by mikki at 08:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

And this is a surprise? I mean really folks, the more you build stuff where the deer live, the more they are going to become confused (especially during running season) and appear on your doorstep. Perhaps the answer is curbing a little of that growth. Maybe even planning things just that little bit more.

Another Deer Makes Way into Store:


First Georgetown, now Germantown -- deer in the Washington region are popping up in some strange places.

Posted by mikki at 08:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

How much fun can one person stand? The Psycho Sensei is far from prudish, but you know...when you're a judge and all that, shouldn't the law be kind of important? Just perhaps? :-)

Judge With Three Wives Wants His Job Back Despite Polygamy:


A small-town Utah judge ordered removed from office because he has three wives says his polygamy should not be grounds for removing him from the bench. But those pursuing the case against Judge Walter Steed say his plural marriage creates a conflict: After taking an oath to uphold the law, he shouldn't be breaking it. Although bigamy is a felony in Utah punishable by up to five years in prison, the judge's attorney says authorities have declined to prosecute his client.

Posted by mikki at 08:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Wired News: Fatal Flaw Weakens RFID Passports: "In 2004, when the U.S. State Department first started talking about embedding RFID chips in passports, the outcry from privacy advocates was huge. When the State Department issued its draft regulation in February, it got 2,335 comments, 98.5 percent negative. In response, the final State Department regulations, issued last week, contain two features that attempt to address security and privacy concerns. But one serious problem remains.

Before I describe the problem, some context on the surrounding controversy may be helpful. RFID chips are passive, and broadcast information to any reader that queries the chip. So critics, myself included, were worried that the new passports would reveal your identity without your consent or even your knowledge. Thieves could collect the personal data of people as they walk down a street, criminals could scan passports looking for Westerners to kidnap or rob and terrorists could rig bombs to explode only when four Americans are nearby. The police could use the chips to conduct surveillance on an individual; stores could use the technology to identify customers without their knowledge."

(Via Wired.)

Posted by mikki at 10:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

So, just think... perhaps the 98.5% of the people who didn't want RFID might have been right after all?

Fatal Flaw Weakens RFID Passports:


State Department staffers take steps to make the new documents safer from attack. But a grave error in the design shows they still don't understand the technology. Commentary by Bruce Schneier.

Posted by mikki at 10:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)