We've already seen the MPAA and the RIAA demanding and receiving rights far beyond those afforded any other groups whose property is stolen, misappropriated, etc. Many of their fishing expeditions would never be tolerated if brought by individuals or smaller groups, even if the thefts were a greater percentage of their bottom lines. And now, we have the allegation that now the MPAA is possibly breaking the law by conspiring to break into at least one website, in complete violation of state and federal computer trespass laws, and rather than criminal felony complaints and RICO triple damage requests, we have a civil suit.

From Sensei Enterprises:

MPAA ACCUSED OF HIRING A HACKER

On May 24th, Torrentspy.com parent company Valence Media filed suit
against the Motion Picture Association of America, accusing it of hiring a
hacker to steal information from a company that the MPAA has accused of
assisting copyright infringers. The suit was filed in the U.S. District
Court for the Central District of California and did not identify the man
the company says was approached by an MPAA executive. The suit calls the
man a former associate of one of the plaintiffs and alleges that he was
asked to retrieve private information on Torrentspy.com, a search engine
that directs people to download links. Torrentspy's complaint includes
claims that the man whom the MPAA allegedly paid $15,000 to steal e-mail
correspondence and trade secrets has admitted his role in the plot and is
cooperating with the company. The allegations came three months after the
MPAA filed suit against Torrentspy and other directories for allegedly
making it easier for pirates to distribute movies over the Internet.
Torrentspy asked the court for unspecified damages and a jury trial. On
June 22nd, Valence Media filed court papers identifying the hacker as
Canadian resident Robert Anderson. The complaint in the case may be found
at http://www.techfirm.com/ts-mpaa.pdf

Posted by mikki at 01:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Seems that not all senators are clueless to the telco's game. Despite the committee rejecting network neutrality provisions, ONE committee member finds the issue important enough to stick his neck out. Hooray for Ron Wyden!

Senate Panel Rejects Net Neutrality - CIO News Alerts - Blog -
CIO:


Late Wednesday, Sen. Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat, said he’ll place a hold on the broadband bill because it lacks strong net neutrality requirements. By placing a hold on the bill, Wyden is saying he may object to the Senate beginning debate on that legislation. A hold on a bill can lead to a filibuster, if Senate leaders aren’t able to fix the senator’s objections.

Posted by mikki at 06:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

If anyone is thinking about opening brokerage or other accounts with Merrill Lynch, or are considering moving your accounts to or from Merrill, perhaps you should know that they can and do, with no prior warning, freeze and close your accounts. I had accounts with Merrill Lynch for over 20 years, yet today I got a form letter from the assistant to our broker (guess the broker himself didn't have the balls to sign his name to it) saying that our accounts were closed. Isn't that sweet.

Needless to say, I do NOT recommend Merrill Lynch.

Posted by mikki at 06:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Sky News: World News, Global News and International breaking News.:


Six British Airways staff have complained they were too tired to work after being kept awake by prostitutes and pimps at their hotel.

The cabin crew are facing disciplinary action over the cancellation of a flight from New York to the UK.

The stewards and stewardesses said they were too tired to fly because they were put up in a hotel being used by prostitutes.

They complained they felt unsafe and unable to sleep.

Some said their doors would not lock and that pimps were trying to get into their rooms, forcing them to erect makeshift barricades.

The crew said that BA was initially sympathetic but later reopened inquiries into the incident.

The British Airways Stewards and Stewardesses Association, which represents the cabin crew, said the six were now facing disciplinary action for alleged misconduct.

A BA spokeswoman said: "We held an initial safety inquiry and found that fatigue did not appear to be an issue.

"Nine other crew stayed at the same hotel and all reported fit and well for work the next day. An investigation is continuing to find out all the facts."

Posted by mikki at 12:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Boing Boing: Nigerian Letter scammer convinced to carve replica Commodore 64:


Nigerian Letter scammer convinced to carve replica Commodore 64
The 419Eater website chronicles the incredible story of a guy who baits "Nigerian Letter" scammers by telling them he has no time to help them free their dead relatives' seized assets because he is so busy sending out $150,000 scholarships for talented carvings to display in his galleries. He actually convinces a 419 scammer to produce a detailed replica of a Commodore 64 computer with the lure of a big cash payout -- then blows him off with a twist ending worthy of The Big Con. Link (via Waxy)

Posted by mikki at 12:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In our "adding insult to insult to insult" file....

Meigs: Chicago Pays $200K To Fight $33K Fine:


"It may be time for the city to re-evaluate this strategy," Laurence Msall, president of the Civic Federation, a budget watchdog group, told Crain's Business News. The FAA levied the $33,000 fine against the city last October for failing to provide advance notice of its intent to close (that is, bulldoze) Meigs Field three years ago. The city has spent even more to fight FAA allegations that it misused $2.9 million in airport development funds, according to Crain's, and claims the fight is about more than money.

Posted by mikki at 12:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Framing Net Neutrality:


Interesting bit of political framing here:

Put another way, if net neutrality passes, the AT&Ts of the world will
be forced to pay for all of their equipment upgrades themselves and
could not subsidize that effort by imposing premium fees for premium
services. If net neutrality fails, they will be able to recoup more of
those costs than they can now from the likes of Google Inc., Microsoft
Corp. and other major users of the World Wide Web.

At its heart, then, the battle is commercial -- over who pays how much
for improvements to the Internet that we all use and sometimes love.

No Neutral Ground in This Internet Battle
By Jeffrey H. Birnbaum
Washington Post
Monday, June 26, 2006; Page D01

Birnbaum makes several points, including this one:

Second, online firms already pay billions of dollars to network
operators. The quandary is, should they be assessed more for additional
or premium services, such as video streaming?

Birnbaum's basic complaint seems to be that television ads about net
neutrality on both sides are dumbed down and print ads aren't much better.
He complains that you have to go to web pages to find out details.
Horrors.
Actually, Birnbaum points out a very good reason for net neutrality.
Yes, television ads are always dumbed down, because they're brief and
have to be tailored for the lowest common denominator,
and have to be carried by media which are mostly already owned by only
a few big corporations, who can choose what to broadcast.
Yes, print ads may be somewhat better, but are still limited in size
and have to be carried by print media which are mostly already owned by only
a few big corporations, who can choose what to print.
The Internet alone provides a medium for distribution of information
as detailed as necessary, in multiple formats for different audiences,
and, with net neutrality, still not yet under the control of any
particular group of companies.

One result of Birnbaum's argument, if you buy it, is to think that
there are two equal sides to this debate.
Actually, there are the big U.S. incumbent telephone companies, who are
the big ISPs stateside now, and pretty much everybody else.
Why it would benefit everybody else to grant oligarchic power over content
to a small group of telecommunications providers is not clear to me.

Historically speaking, it seems to me that what has permitted the
Internet to grow as fast and as large as it has and to provide
such varied content to so many users is exactly its decentralization
and distribution, one of the main aspects of which is net neutrality.
So it seems to me that the burden of proof for changing net neutrality
should be on the small group of U.S. incumbent providers that want to do so.
Unfortunately, they've already changed the previous U.S. regulations that
enforced it, and now they're opposing changing it back.
It's time for all those concerned to speak up.

-jsq

Posted by mikki at 12:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Supreme Court gets it right regarding whether or not the Administration can "make it up as it goes along" regarding what to do with those incarcerated at Gitmo. It's quite an important ruling argued by a young attorney named Neal Katyal who can today be very proud of his handling of the case. Here are some articles that I especially liked concerning the ruling:

Hamdan Summary -- And HUGE News:

As I predicted below, the Court held that Congress had, by statute, required that the commissions comply with the laws of war -- and held further that these commissions do not (for various reasons).

More importantly, the Court held that Common Article 3 of Geneva aplies as a matter of treaty obligation to the conflict against Al Qaeda. That is the HUGE part of today's ruling. The commissions are the least of it. This basically resolves the debate about interrogation techniques, because Common Article 3 provides that detained persons "shall in all circumstances be treated humanely," and that "[t]o this end," certain specified acts "are and shall remain prohibited at any time and in any place whatsoever"—including "cruel treatment and torture," and "outrages upon personal dignity, in particular humiliating and degrading treatment." This standard, not limited to the restrictions of the due process clause, is much more restrictive than even the McCain Amendment. See my further discussion here.

Decisions: Hamdan decided, military commissions invalid:

The Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that Congress did not take away the Court's authority to rule on the military commissions' validity, and then went ahead to rule that President Bush did not have authority to set up the tribunals at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and found the commissions illegal under both military justice law and the Geneva Convention. In addition, the Court concluded that the commissions were not authorized when Congress enacted the post-9/1l resolution authorizing a response to the terrorist attacks, and were not authorized by last year's Detainee Treatment Act. The vote against the commissions and on the Court's jurisdiction was 5-3, with the Chief Justice not taking part.

The Court expressly declared that it was not questioning the government's power to hold Salim Ahmed Hamdan "for the duration of active hostilities" to prevent harm to innocent civilians. But, it said, "in undertaking to try Hamdan and subject him to criminal punishment, the Executive is bound to comply with the Rule of Law that prevails in this jurisdiction."

Today's opinions themselves:
Today's Opinions:

Today's opinions can be found here (Hamdan v. Rumsfeld) and here (Clark v. AZ).

Court Holds in Hamdan that Geneva Convention Applies to Detainees:


The Supreme Court issued a much anticipated decision in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld this morning. The case addressed the Bush Administration's power to establish military tribunals for Guantanamo detainees. Marty Lederman, writing on SCOTUSBlog, looked to what he saw as the...

Posted by mikki at 12:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Stolen laptop with veterans' info recovered | News.blog | CNET News.com:


An official announcement was made Thursday that a laptop computer containing the personal information of around 26.5 million veterans and military personnel has been recovered, CNN reports.

The laptop disappeared from a government employee's home in May in what could be one of the biggest thefts of Social Security numbers ever. The employee who took home the laptop, which also included veterans' and their spouses' dates of birth, did so in violation of Department of Veterans' Affairs policy.

Veterans' Affairs secretary Jim Nicholson says there have been no instances of identity theft reported to date.

Posted by mikki at 12:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A constitutional amendment to limit our rights is a very frightening thing. Even more frightening is the rationale that "the flag is an inspirational banner that helps the troops fight." The Congress was ever so quick to invoke our troops serving in harm's way, while conversely refusing to pay the 75.00 each it would take to upgrade their helmets and save countless lives.

Amending the constitution to prevent free speech while refusing to mandate that the United States not use torture is another ridiculous pantomime of justice. Wasting time on amendments like this rather than reading free trade bills that turn our ports over to foreign governments or allowing 3000 foreign workers into the US to rebuild the Gulf Coast when there are thousands of unemployed already in that area, and STILL not producing an appropriate bill for dealing with illegal aliens is just plain ridiculous. Wake up, Americans. Kick them all out.

cbs4.com - Senate Rejects Amendment To Ban Flag Desecration:


(AP) WASHINGTON A constitutional amendment to ban flag desecration died in a Senate cliffhanger Tuesday, a single vote short of the support needed to send it to the states for ratification and four months before voters elect a new Congress.

The 66-34 tally in favor of the amendment was one less than the two-thirds required. The House surpassed that threshold last year, 286-130.

President Bush, who supports the amendment, called the failed vote unfortunate and commended Republicans and Democrats who voted to move the ratification process forward. In a statement, Bush said he continued to believe that "the American people deserve the opportunity to express their views on this important issue."

The proposed amendment, sponsored by Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, read: "The Congress shall have power to prohibit the physical desecration of the flag of the United States."

Posted by mikki at 07:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

You kinda have to love that word, "balderdash." It is, in fact, the perfect word to use to describe what many believe Wiccan and Paganism is all about. It is discriminatory, hurtful,and ignorant but alas, it is a common misperception of "alternative religions."

To quote just a few example, one person on a message board proclaimed that Wiccans perform human and animal sacrifices. A Wiccan on the board responded in the negative, explaining that Wiccans revere life in all its forms, and therefore would not deliberately harm an animal or human. The response was that once you get into the higher levels, then the secret true nature of Wicca comes out and these sacrifices are revealed. Well gee, I'm a high priestess and a tradition co-head and I haven't yet been told this secret true nature. Sheesh.

Another example is of a co-worker who, despite having an advanced technical degree, was convinced that Wicca is akin to Satanism, likely because his pastor told him so. Despite denials, people who have placed all of their religious trust in a pastor or other such leader will not believe the truth about Wicca regardless of what proof is offered. This, despite the actual fact that in order to believe in "Satan" as an evil entity, one MUST believe and buy the entire Christian package of heaven and hell, good and evil, and the biblical story of casting down the naughty Lucifer. The fact that we don't believe in the Christian paradigm is completely lost on those who "know" that we're really a front for all evil that they can imagine.

The fact that a University Administration, supposedly made up of learned individuals, would buy into the comic book and chick tract fiction should not be terribly surprising, however it underscores the need for education, provided by the "normal people" who are members of the Wiccan community, who do not arrive dressed like Stevie Nicks, throwing flower pedals as they walk, smelling of stale nag champa (or worse) and wearing 20 different silver pendants while invoking unicorns and dragons.

Scotland on Sunday - Opinion - Letters - Balderdash of pagan rights:


I am a proud member of the Pagan Society at St Andrews University, in my opinion the most friendly and unique society on campus. Please believe me when I say the article 'Pagans get equal rights at St Andrews' (June 18), failed to adequately portray either the situation or the society.

Firstly, the "equal rights" we have just been afforded are no more than a rarely used and hidden grassy space for outdoor rituals, lobbied for by our hard-working committee.

Secondly, I feel the ridiculous university prohibitions against us ought to be denounced as the stereotype-encouraging balderdash that they are. (Should we be so inclined, they stipulate, we may not raise the dead, invoke Satan, use a Ouija board, or dance naked.)

Had anyone bothered to do research, they might have realised that necromancy, parlour games and satanism are not aspects of our religious practice. You might as well tell the numerous Christian societies that they aren't allowed to burn anyone at the stake; and at least that has some basis in the town's history.

Julie Thomson,
Pittenweem

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

Thanks, Gaige. This is just too funny for words. What a loser.

NEWS HILTON'S FLIGHT DRAMA Music, movie & Entertainment News:


Socialite PARIS HILTON was forced to drive from Las Vegas, Nevada to Los Angeles after airline officials told her she couldn't bring her six pets on her planned flight home.
The hotel heiress brought her monkey, tiger and her ferrets

to Sin City for a weekend of partying and was unimpressed when she realised she would have to spend the long drive with all the animals.
Hilton says, "I bought, like, a monkey, a tiger and some ferrets. I tried to bring them on a commercial flight and they wouldn't let me fly with all the animals. They said it wasn't a travelling circus.
"So I had to drive all the way home from Vegas in the limo with all these animals, there was like six. It was a lot."

Posted by mikki at 12:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Finally, someone who is not a "shill" for the ISPs or for those insane free speech weirdos with something interesting to say about Net neutrality. Gaige is a cool guy so you really oughta read this :-).

Gaige's Pages - Network neutrality is about control:


Whereas the rhetoric is certainly intended to incite and not to inform (I don't believe that either side of any argument uses a slogan to inform, by the way), it isn't just empty fluff. In particular, as you noted earlier in the piece, the costs for services will eventually be borne by the customers regardless of who they pay for them and how they're provided. The purpose of the net neutrality folks is to put the control of paying for service in the hands of the consumers, where a customer who wants to use any number of services that consume large amounts of bandwidth pays for a higher quality, higher bandwidth, and probably higher-priced connection. This does two things: first, it makes the payments transparent, since the users know they are using bandwidth to watch television or movies, or other things that either take a long time or involve a high level of interactivity; second, it provides an avenue for innovative, high bandwidth services to get a start in the world.

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

Guess that we have more to fear on plane flights than bad food and surly flight attendants.

WTOP: Plane Diverted to JFK After Altercation:


NEW YORK (AP) - A flight to Puerto Rico was diverted to John F. Kennedy Airport shortly after takeoff early Sunday because a fight broke out on board, officials said.


Three women were questioned and one was briefly detained, FBI spokeswoman Christine Monaco said. The FBI was still investigating and would decide later whether charges would be filed, Monaco said.


It appeared that one woman had started a fistfight with the other two, said Steve Coleman, a spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the area's airports.

The fight took place on JetBlue Flight 561, which had taken off from Newark Liberty International in New Jersey and landed at JFK about an hour later, said airline spokeswoman Jenny Dervin. The plane took off again from JFK about an hour later with the remaining 147 passengers and six crew members, she said.

Posted by mikki at 11:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Just redefine it. You don't have to worry about protecting confidential personal data if there IS none. All your base are belong to us. Yeah, that's the ticket.

AT&T rewrites rules: Your data isn't yours:


AT&T has issued an updated privacy policy that takes effect Friday. The changes are significant because they appear to give the telecom giant more latitude when it comes to sharing customers' personal data with government officials.

The new policy says that AT&T -- not customers -- owns customers' confidential info and can use it "to protect its legitimate business interests, safeguard others, or respond to legal process."

The policy also indicates that AT&T will track the viewing habits of customers of its new video service -- something that cable and satellite providers are prohibited from doing.

Moreover, AT&T (formerly known as SBC) is requiring customers to agree to its updated privacy policy as a condition for service -- a new move that legal experts say will reduce customers' recourse for any future data sharing with government authorities or others.

Posted by mikki at 01:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Ok folks, what's wrong with this picture? Our Justice Department is touting the fact that it is prosecuting more people for intellectual property crimes, but what about violent crimes against people? What about car thefts, burglaries, terrorism, kidnappings, etc.? I do not understand why we spend SO much money, time and effort for intellectual property crimes while not providing the same for violent crimes against people or threats of terrorism.

Free Press News : Printable Format:


The Justice Department Tuesday is issuing a status report on protection of intellectual property in the digital age, saying it has almost doubled the number of defendants prosecuted for intellectual property crimes.

Even Court TV has been part of the solution, according to the department.

In its 104-page progress report, the Task force on Intellectual Property says it has implemented recommendations made in October 2004, when it issued its initial report about what steps needed to be taken.

Among the progress it is reporting:

•Boosting the number of prosecutors of intellectual property crimes by a dozen.

•Creating an intellectual property educational program for young people (including distributing information on college campuses).

•Increasing the number of defendants prosecuted for intellectual property offenses 98% (from 177 in fiscal year 2004 to 350 in 2005).

•Training over 2,000 prosecutors in other countries and boosting efforts in Asia and Eastern Europe.

•Partnering with the Patent Office to put $900,000 over three years into piracy prevention efforts.

•Teaming with Court TV, which has covered a number of events on intellectual property rights.

Prosecuting the theft of DISH’s satellite signal by a man who made over $300,000 selling pirated and re-programmed devices.

Content providers, arguably led by NBC Universal Chairman Bob Wright, have been pushing for stronger copyright protections and stepped-up pursuit of IP pirates, arguing they threaten hundreds of billions of dollars across a host of sectors, from counterfeit drugs to stolen TV shows, and could impede the transition to digital content distribution.

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

America's problem is again a usurping king called George

Bush's determination to impose his own reading of new laws amounts to a power grab and subverts the US constitution

Martin Kettle
Saturday June 17, 2006
The Guardian

Imagine a country with a different kind of monarch from the one we are used to. Forget the nation-binding human monarch whom Archbishop Rowan Williams praised so deftly this week. Imagine instead a monarch who, like many of Elizabeth II's ancestors, routinely reserved the right to override laws passed by the legislature, or who repeatedly asserted that the laws mean something they do not say. Imagine, in fact, King George of America.

On April 30 the Boston Globe journalist Charlie Savage wrote an article whose contents become more astonishing the more one reads them. Over the past five years, Savage reported, President George Bush has quietly claimed the authority to disobey more than 750 laws that have been enacted by the United States Congress since he took office. At the heart of Bush's strategy is the claim that the president has the power to set aside any statute that conflicts with his own interpretation of the constitution.

Remarkably, this systematic reach for power has occurred not in secret but in public. Go to the White House website and the evidence is there in black and white. It takes the form of dozens of documents in which Bush asserts that his power as the nation's commander in chief entitles him to overrule or ignore bills sent to him by Congress for his signature. Behind this claim is a doctrine of the "unitary executive", which argues that the president's oath of office endows him with an independent authority to decide what a law means.

Periodically, congressional leaders come down from Capitol Hill to applaud as the president, seated at his desk, signs a bill that becomes the law of the land. They are corny occasions. But they are a photo-op reminder that American law-making involves compromises that reflect a balance between the legislature and the presidency. The signing ceremony symbolises that the balance has been upheld and renewed.

After the legislators leave, however, Bush puts his signature to another document. Known as a signing statement, this document is a presidential pronouncement setting out the terms in which he intends to interpret the new law. These signing statements often conflict with the new statutes. In some cases they even contradict their clear meaning. Increasing numbers of scholars and critics now believe they amount to a systematic power grab within a system that rests on checks and balances of which generations of Americans have been rightly proud - and of which others are justly envious.

More here

Posted by mikki at 12:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

U.S. secretly tracks world's money web / Looking for evidence of terrorist activity, Treasury Department uses subpoenas to spy on suspicious wire transfers between banks:


The U.S. government, without the knowledge of many banks and their customers, has engaged for years in a secret effort to track terrorist financing by accessing a vast database of confidential information on transfers of money between banks worldwide.

The program, run by the Treasury Department, is considered a potent weapon in the war on terrorism because of its ability to clandestinely monitor financial transactions and map terrorist webs.

Current and former officials at multiple U.S. agencies acknowledged the program's existence but spoke on condition of anonymity, citing its sensitive nature. "We're very, very protective of it," said a senior U.S. official. "It is extremely valuable."

After the Los Angeles Times and other media outlets reported the existence of the program Thursday night, the Treasury Department issued a statement describing the broad subpoenas used to collect the financial records as "a legal and proper use of our authorities."

The program is part of an arsenal of aggressive measures the government has adopted since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks that yield new intelligence, but also circumvent traditional safeguards against abuse and raise concerns about intrusions on privacy.

Posted by mikki at 11:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I want THESE for Solstice!!!!

Geek Toys : IR Control Daleks:

Price: $54.99

Posted by mikki at 11:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

So, do you think that the Administration will turn over the information? Or how quickly will they invoke security concerns? Is it permissible for one branch of government to keep its actions "secret" from another branch of government? If so, under what circumstances? Nixon attempted this, and it almost caused a constitutional crisis, but then it was the Judiciary vs. the Executive. Are there different rules when we are talking the Legislative vs. the Executive?

House Judiciary Committee Demands NSA Records:


In a surprise move Wednesday, the House Judiciary Committee passed a resolution that demands the Administration turn over requests made by the NSA and other federal agencies to phone companies to obtain information about ordinary Americans without warrants. The resolution had the support of Chairman James Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.), who promised to seek a vote on the resolution from the full House if the Administration does not comply with his requests for information.

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

So I suppose that we could get hold of this type of technology and perhaps, stop the paparazzi, or maybe even shut off those all annoying traffic ticket producing cameras when we drive by? Oh, that would be "WRONG" would say the Cartel....

Disabling Digital Cameras:


Georgia Tech is touting some new research for its film industry sponsors on ways to disable digital cameras in small spaces, such as movie theaters. I'm reasonably confident that by the time this makes it into commercial production the camera technology will have gotten smarter and pirates will be able to hide their cameras from simple scanners.

However, more troubling is this as evidence that the Cartel hasn't swayed from its "we are the law" mentality. Remember, these are the guys who tried to get their Congressional sock puppets to pass a law allowing them to break into and cripple your computer if they thought you were sharing music without permission.

Also problematic are some of the other proposed uses, such as stopping people taking pictures of their own kids in spaces like malls. When, exactly, did we cede THAT right to the Cartel?

Posted by mikki at 01:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

If you bring your rolex watch to the jeweler for repair, you sign a series of papers and take a receipt with you when you leave. Your watch is then in the care of the jeweler, and if it is lost or destroyed, the jeweler's insurance will replace it for you. Why is it that when we turn over something even more valuable, the caretakers seemingly have no responsibility whatsoever to you for its loss?

Your jeweler keeps your watch in a locked cabinet in a locked store with alarms and sometimes security guards. Where is your personal data kept? Do you even know? Every time a credit card company asks you for your social security number, or a health insurance company demands it to write you a policy, ask them what procedures they have in place to protect your data from identity thieves. Your name and SSN is all it takes to go through and get all kinds of information about you, which can be used to access your money, your medical records, your personal property, etc.

So what's my point? If each and every company who requires you to give your personal data to them was required to use their best efforts to protect that data from unauthorized access, and if there were sanctions against companies who do not, including the companies being solely responsible for cleaning up your credit if that information is misused, you would see a significant change in the way your data is collected and stored.

I firmly believe that once responsibility is transferred from you to a random company, a number of changes would take place. First, the amount of personal data required would be lessened. Second, the data that IS required would be encrypted, and would not be transferred to employees laptops where it could be stolen. Backup tapes would be transferred with greater security, as is other valuable property. Third, and related to the first point, perhaps companies would stop attempting to identify individuals by use of their social security numbers, and would instead issue random numbers for identifiers.

It really isn't rocket science. Day after day we hear of yet more personal data being compromised by ridiculous carelessness of employees of companies and/or agencies who should know better (sometimes in direct violation of company or agency procedures). Day after day we hear of those who have been victimized because of these breaches. Yet when do we hear of the data collection organizations stepping up to the plate to further protect our information, or to help clear up a credit report that has been trashed? It's time to shift the burden and create a standard of care for our personal data that is at least as extensive as that for valuable personal property.

Posted by mikki at 11:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Support Grows for Wicca Marker on Soldier's Grave -- Beliefnet.com:


The space where the memorial marker of Sgt. Patrick D. Stewart, a decorated American soldier who was killed last year in Afghanistan, should stand is empty because his Wiccan faith is not one of 30 approved for such designation by the federal government.

Stewart, a 34-year-old native of Fernley, Nev., was killed Sept. 25 by a rocket-propelled grenade. His body was cremated and he was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star.
His widow, Roberta, held her own Memorial Day service this past May 31 to protest the government's policy. She has refused a temporary marker at the Northern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery until she gets a permanent recognition of her late husband's faith.

"I feel like my country has let me down," she said in a telephone interview. "I have two children who have no way to remember their father."

Now, several secular and religious organizations -- including Americans United for Separation of Church and State, and Christianity Today magazine-- say Stewart's widow should be allowed to have the Wiccan pentacle placed on his marker.

In a letter to Secretary of Veterans Affairs Jim Nicholson and Under Secretary for Memorial Affairs William Tuerk, Americans United said Wiccans have been trying to get the pentacle, a five-pointed star in a circle, on the list of approved religious symbols to no avail. The group says this is a direct violation of the First Amendment and has asked the VA to respond within 30 days to avoid litigation.

"A brave man died in service to his country," said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United. "The federal government has a duty to allow his widow to honor his chosen faith."

Stewart says her husband was always an accepted member of the military community, and said Wicca has been recognized by the armed forces; the Pentacle star was on her husband's dog tags.

An editorial in Christianity Today, a respected voice for American evangelicals, has also come out in favor of the Wiccan cause.

"Whatever one's opinion might be about the Wiccan faith, there should be no doubt in anyone's mind that the First Amendment to our U.S. Constitution provides for religious freedom for all individuals of all faiths -- whether they are Christians, Jews, Muslims, atheists, Wiccans and others," writes constitutional attorney John W. Whitehead in the June 5 edition of the magazine.

"... The only way that freedom can prevail for Christians is for Christians to stand up and fight for the minority beliefs and religions of others."

Currently, memorial markers can include a host of religious imagery, including several types of crosses, a Buddhist wheel of righteousness, a nine-pointed Baha'i star, the Mormon angel Moroni, the flaming chalice for Unitarians or the Islamic star and crescent.

The Rev. Selena Fox, the senior minister of the Circle Sanctuary, one of the oldest denominations of the Wicca faith in the United States, said Wiccan churches have submitted similar requests trying to get the pentacle approved for memorials by the VA since 1997.

Fox said two other Wicca widows have worked on the issue, including a Utah woman whose husband died during the Korean War, and another from Ohio who lost her husband in Vietnam.

Wicca is a nature-based religion that believes in supernatural powers -- often known as magic -- and in both male and female deities, with a special emphasis on seasonal observances.

The Wiccan pentacle represents the four earthly elements of earth, wind, fire and water, and the fifth element of "spirit."

Jo Schuda, a VA spokeswoman, said the Wiccan symbol was not traditionally accepted because the faith lacked a central headquarters or hierarchy. Those rules were relaxed in October, and Schuda said there are currently two applications under consideration.

Posted by mikki at 12:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Thou shalt not commit stupidity:

United States of America: Georgia Representative Lynn Westmoreland co-sponsored a bill which would mandate the display of the Ten Commandments in the US House of Representatives and Senate. Steve Colbert interviewed him about this and asked him to recite those Commandments. Interestingly, he knows fewer of them than I do! Stephen Colbert and Congressman (YouTube link - Flash video) (via The Woolamaloo Gazette).

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

Today I got to see the inside of Supreme Court of the United States. Although I've lived in the DC area for about 20 years now, and went to law school about 6 blocks away, I never actually went INSIDE the place. This morning a group of alumni from Georgetown Law Center were led through the "Bar Members" entrance, through security, and to a waiting area to eventually be brought before the Justices to be sworn into the Supreme Court Bar.

Like everything else with the law, it's all about the protocol. In order to become a member of any of the state bars and practice law in that state, one must either pass the bar exam or waive in (by passing a reciprocal state's bar exam...and not all states allow for waiving in) then hop through the hoops which usually require appearing in a group to be sworn in. Today makes my third swearing in ceremony, and obviously the most impressive.

The building itself is utterly amazing, and interestingly enough, filled with Pagan symbolism. From the statue of the Three Fates weaving the thread of life outside, to the elementals of earth, air, fire and water on the flagpole bases outside, to the Goddess Liberty over the entrance, there are many interesting sculptures and frescos depicting ancient scenes and semi-religious interpretations. Inside the room where we were waiting hung two enormous chandeliers, each with five pointed stars hanging at the bottom. Ironic that this is the same symbol we would like for the headstones of fallen Wiccan soldiers. The ornamentation of the rooms was rather awesome, with fine woodwork, inlaid beautiful flooring, and beautiful ceilings with gold colored floral medallions and beautifully intricate painted designs all around.

The main courtroom was smaller than I'd expected, with enormous marble pillars, irreplaceable woodwork, and carved marble dental molding. We sat in wooden chairs in front of the gallery, all 150 or so of us from different law schools, and listened to the marshals telling everyone to be silent before the arrival of the Justices. At precisely 10, the Court was in session, and the 9 members ascended the platform to their high backed leather chairs. It was amazing to see how small they looked in relation to the room, and to the office they held.

Chief Justice Roberts announced the opening of the Court's business for the day, and we listened to the Justices read their opinions and dissents in two important cases. The first case read was a splintered court regarding wetlands regulations. Unfortunately, by a 5-4 decision, a plurality decided that the federal government doesn't have the authority to regulate certain wetlands, as Justice Scalia recited through rather twisted reasoning, that the "waters of the United States" aren't really all of the waters of the United States unless they are directly connected to waterways. This basically paves the way for those who want to fill in wetlands to destroy habitats if, for example, it's a pond. We see both of Dubya's appointees joining the majority in this anti-environment opinion. 5 of the 9 Justices wrote opinions on this case.

The next case involved what type of evidence is allowed in cases where the victim does not testify. The Court decided that testimonial evidence from the victim may not be admitted if the victim does not testify, as that violates the defendant's right to confront his/her accuser. However, other testimony, such as a 911 call is not testimonial, as it is what is happening right then, and may be admitted.

After these cases were read, it was time for admissions motions. After some individuals were moved and admitted, our law school Dean stood up to ask for our admission, and we stood as each name was read out to the Justices. The motion was granted, and we sat down. Three more groups were admitted in the same manner, then we all stood and were administered the oath to practice before the Supreme Court.

Pictures here.

Posted by mikki at 02:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Microsoft's Calling Home Problem: It's a Matter of Informed Consent:


No doubt many of you saw on Slashdot the article "Microsoft Talks Daily With Your Computer" or in Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols article for eWeek titled, Big Microsoft Brother, about allegations that Microsoft's Windows Genuine Advantage validation tool phones home daily to report information to Microsoft about you on each boot. Lauren Weinstein broke the story on his blog. Microsoft has now put out a statement, asserting that the Windows Genuine Advantage tool is not spyware, that they're going to change it some, and that one thing that distinguishes it from spyware is that they get consent before installing it. I question the accuracy of the statement. David Berlind did a fabulous job of discovering that in fact the tool has two parts, one of which is new, the Notification part, as you can see in his helpful series of screenshots. First, he explains how the applications actually work. His research indicated to him that Microsoft asks permission for only one of the two, but the wrong one. I think it's muddier even than that, after reading the EULA. Thanks to Berlind's work, I see a legal problem with consent, which I noticed by reading the EULA. I also see a problem with the statement Microsoft has issued with regard to what information it collects. And something in the EULA needs to be explained, because it doesn't match Microsoft's statement. Let me explain.

Posted by mikki at 03:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It is interesting how one's emotions fluctuate in the wake of a loved one going into the unknown world of those affected by cancer. When you receive good news, the elation with just a little bit of fear is so markedly different from the trepidation. And today, we found that mom's lymph nodes were all negative except for the sentinel node. This, of course, is fantastic news. Our road, though still long, is brighter. We are much more hopeful and much less afraid.

Posted by mikki at 07:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

My Submission to the House Small Business Committee's Hearing On ICANN:

Here's a pointer to my statement (pdf, 7 pages) to the House Small Business Committee for tomorrow's hearing on ICANN.

It amazes how people who ought to know better fall for Verisign's siren song about its vaunted infrastructure.  In reality what Verisign has assembled is a suite of relatively easily replicable DNS servers backed by a transaction system that is tiny in comparison to that of many banks.  The cost to replace Verisign's registry system and its suite of name servers for .com is really only a tiny percentage of the revenue stream that ICANN has gifted unto Verisign via it's $7 per name per year registry fee.

Posted by mikki at 10:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Yes, we're still waiting. But now other faiths are taking notice and getting involved, realizing that we must not allow the state to decide which religions are "worthy" and which are not when a person gives his or her life for their country. Every veteran deserves to choose their own emblem of religious belief to be placed on their tombstone in the unfortunate event of their death. It's the least we can do to repay them for the ultimate sacrifice.

Stand Up, Stand Up for Wicca - Christianity Today Magazine:


Amidst a sea of memorial plaques at the Northern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery, one space remains blank.

That space is waiting to be filled by a plaque honoring the life and sacrifice of 34-year-old Sgt. Patrick Stewart, who was killed in action on September 25, 2005, when his helicopter was struck with a rocket-propelled grenade as it flew over Afghanistan. But it may be some time before Sgt. Stewart is remembered with a memorial plaque. That's because his war widow and the Department of Veterans Affairs are at odds over the Stewart family's request to have the Wiccan pentacle, a five-pointed star surrounded by a circle, placed on the plaque. As of May 31, 2006, government officials have refused to allow the Wiccan symbol to be placed on Stewart's plaque.

Sgt. Stewart identified himself as belonging to the Wiccan faith. Although Wiccans are not considered part of America's mainstream religious establishment, they are a growing minority. According to 2005 Defense Department statistics, approximately 1,800 active-duty service members identify themselves as belonging to the alternative religion that subscribes to magical activities and Earth worship.

According to federal guidelines, only approved religious symbols—of which there are 30—can be placed on government headstones or memorial plaques. Included among the 30 approved symbols are those that represent such mainstream religions as Christianity, Judaism, Islam and Hinduism. The list also includes more obscure religions like Konko-Kyo Faith and Seicho-No-Ie. And while the list does not include a symbol for the Wiccan faith, incredibly enough, it does include symbols for atheism and humanism.

Whatever one's opinion might be about the Wiccan faith, there should be no doubt in anyone's mind that the First Amendment to our U.S. Constitution provides for religious freedom for all individuals of all faiths—whether they are Christians, Jews, Muslims, atheists, Wiccans and others.

The United States Supreme Court has routinely held that viewpoint discrimination by the government against particular expressions of religion is unconstitutional. In the Supreme Court's 1963 ruling in Sherbert v. Vernor, Justice William J. Brennan observed, "The door of the Free Exercise Clause stands tightly closed against any governmental regulation of religious beliefs." In that same opinion, Justice Brennan wrote that "Government may neither compel affirmation of a repugnant belief, nor penalize or discriminate against individuals or groups because they hold religious views abhorrent to the authorities."

Yet by refusing to place the Wiccan symbol on Sgt. Stewart's memorial plaque, while permitting symbols of other religions and non-religions, the government is clearly engaging in viewpoint discrimination—which is a shoddy way to treat someone who has died in service to his country.

Having posthumously awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart to Sgt. Stewart, the U.S. government intends that he should be remembered for his bravery and sacrifice. Yet what his widow, Roberta Stewart, will remember is the fact that her husband died defending the country that is denying him the right to express his religious freedom.

Hours before official Memorial Day ceremonies were set to begin at the Northern Nevada Veterans Cemetery, Patrick Stewart's widow gathered at a park a few miles away to hold an alternative service in honor of her husband, his faith and his service to his country. Speaking to a gathering of approximately 200 friends and family, Roberta Stewart declared, "This is discrimination against our religion. I ask you to help us remember that all freedoms are worth fighting for."

How do we remember?

We do so by renewing our resolve to preserve and protect our freedoms. As President Ronald Reagan remarked as he looked out upon a sea of headstones at Arlington National Cemetery on a Memorial Day many years ago:

The sight before us is that of a strong and good nation that stands in silence and remembers those who were loved and who, in return, loved their countrymen enough to die for them. Yet, we must try to honor them—not for their sakes alone, but for our own. And if words cannot repay the debt we owe these men, surely with our actions we must strive to keep faith with them and with the vision that led them to battle and to final sacrifice.
If we are to keep faith with Sgt. Stewart and the other brave men and women who have died in service to the United States, then we must remember that all rights hang together. That is both the genius and the strength of the American system.

Although our country was founded on a Judeo-Christian base, the Framers of the U.S. Constitution understood that religious freedom was for everyone, not just Christians. In other words, the only way that freedom can prevail for Christians is for Christians to stand up and fight for the minority beliefs and religions of others.

Without it, freedom will most likely be lost. And we will be left wondering whose freedoms we are really fighting for.

Constitutional attorney and author John W. Whitehead is founder and president of The Rutherford Institute. He can be contacted at johnw@rutherford.org. Information about The Rutherford Institute is available at www.rutherford.org.

Posted by mikki at 10:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

My mother has breast cancer. We are only now beginning to realize what that actually means. Of course, other women have gone through this through varying degrees of difficulty and with various outcomes, but that was always someone else, not entirely real or at least quite separated by "distant friend" or "friend of a friend" or "oh, she was old anyway and likely to get something like this." We all know it's an awful disease. We all see the pink ribbons, the walks against breast cancer, the survivors on TV, and we think that it's great that they fought this creature and won, but it likely won't touch ME. MY family won't be sitting in the waiting room listening to the doctor's details of what was taken out and what you do next.

I've been wrong before, but rarely have the consequences been so problematic. Perhaps the most difficult part is that the news comes in stages, with waiting periods in between. The first bad news comes when the surgeon tells you that the sentinel lymph node was positive for tumor. That means that the lymph nodes had to be taken along with the lump. This necessitates another waiting game, to find out if the other lymph nodes are also positive or negative. This will determine the course of further treatment. So the patient (in this case my mother) has to wait about a week wondering what stage the cancer is in, how aggressive, how invasive, and how badly the upcoming treatment is going to poison her body as well as hopefully kill the monster growing inside her.

So the waiting game begins, along with the often destructive pain of "what if?" Only this time, no longer does one think that it can't happen to them. Reality sets in. Hopes change from best case scenario towards a hope for something down the middle. And you realize somewhere inside that this could indeed be you, your sister, your mother, your aunt going through that week of hell, with a petrie dish determining your fate, asking their husband or daughter or you to empty their surgical drain and go pick up their medications. And then you look at the reflection of yourself in their eyes and you know that you both have changed in ways you have yet to imagine.

Posted by mikki at 11:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Pilot suffering heart attack makes emergency landing before dying:


BRIGHAM CITY, Utah — A pilot suffering a heart attack made an emergency landing on a highway, saving his three passengers shortly before he died.
Jack Francis, 61, president of Francis Trucking in Brigham City, took off from Jackpot, Nev., and was headed home with his wife and another couple when he suffered a heart attack Sunday morning, Utah Highway Patrol spokesman Derek Jensen said.

He landed the single-engine Cessna 185 on Utah 30 near Park Valley and was taken to Bear River Hospital in Tremonton, where he died, Jensen said.

The plane went off the highway and hit a fence before coming to a stop, but the passengers were not injured.

"He basically saved these other three peoples' lives by landing the plane on the highway,'' Jensen said.

Posted by mikki at 10:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This is rather scary

Tech Law Advisor : blog : My First Cease & Desist*:


I haven't received it yet, but it's already drafted and waiting in a special postal bin at corporate headquarters to be mailed.** It's dated June 5, 2014 and reads as follows:

Dear Mr. Heller,
It has come to our attention that your son is gifted in the visual arts. It also appears, that according to your Time Warner and Comcast Cable records for the period 2002 to 2006, that he watched approximately 250 hours of Disney licensed content.

The purpose of this letter is to inform you that any "original works of authorship fixed in any tangible medium of expression" created by your son will be considered an infringement of our copyrights, which do not expire until 3008**, since any work would have been clearly inspired by our content.

Therefore, we request that you complete the attached Work Made for Hire/Assignment Agreement to avoid any eventual protracted litigation in the future and return it to us at your earliest convenience. In consideration, we would like to offer you the opportunity to purchase one DVD from our catalogue at cost.

Sincerely,

* My First Cease & Desist is a soon to be registered trademark; all rights reserved.

** As per the recently enacted Millennial Minus One Copyright Amendment.

Disclaimer: This is merely a pre-cautionary tale.

Posted by mikki at 10:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Contrite former spammer touts anti-spam services:


Poacher turned gamekeeper

A prolific spammer has agreed to sell his house in order to settle a million dollar fine levied after Microsoft and the State of Texas sued him over his prolific junk mail activities. Ryan Pitylak, 24, of Austin, Texas, is selling his $430,000 house, a BMW luxury car and other assets to help pay the fine and legal bills after settling a law suit brought for violation of the US's CAN-SPAM Act, AP reports.…

Posted by mikki at 12:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

ACSBlog: The Blog of the American Constitution Society: 11th Circuit to Webmasters: Telling Someone To Go Away Doesn't Make Them:


The Eleventh Circuit in the case of Snow v. DirecTV held that a webmaster may not exclude certain persons from his site merely by telling them their access is unauthorized.

In this case, Michael Snow was the webmaster of Stop Corporate Extortion, a "private support group website for "individuals who have been, are being, or will be sued by any Corporate entity." In order to access Snow's site, a user was required to register a username and password, and to agree to a statement affirming that the user was not associated with DirecTV, inc. He claimed that several agents of DirecTV ignored this warning and accessed his site. According to Snow, such unauthorized access violated the Stored Communications Act (SCA), which forbids accessing an electronic communication "without authorization."

The Eleventh Circuit rejected this claim. According to the court, the SCA does not apply to communications which are "readily accessible to the general public." On Snow's site, any member of the general public could access the site by merely registering with a username and password and clicking on the words "I Agree to these terms." Such an easily surmountable barrier to access is, according to the court, insufficient to make a site not "readily acessible to the general public."

While the court did not explain just what sort of security measures would invoke the SCA, it did hint that a webmaster who "screens the registrants before granting access" would have a stronger claim than one who merely asks his registrants to "self screen[ ]."

Posted by mikki at 12:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Defending your company against patent bullies and trolls:


In the world of patents and patent litigation, not fully understanding the licensing landscape can cost your company money, and plenty of it. Developing a strategy for your patent portfolio and understanding the players in the patent community can pay off if you need to defend against patent trolls or bullies.

In the microelectronics industry, patents and licenses that are involved in any product—a cellphone, an MP3 player, or a computer, for example—will number in the thousands or even in the hundreds of thousands. It is simply not possible to design a modern semiconductor chip or develop a microelectronics-based product without using a vast amount of as yet unlicensed patented technology. To function successfully within this patent thicket, semiconductor and microelectronics licensors need to be increasingly aware of the potential of their patent assets. An effective patent strategy that includes a defensive component is an essential piece of any successful and sustainable company's strategic plan.

Recently, there has been a perceived increase in activity in both patent licensing and patent lawsuits. The number of patent lawsuits filed in the United States between 1990 and 2004 more than doubled. In fact, the growth in lawsuits merely tracks the growth in patent applications and grants, which have also doubled in this period. We believe that the overall awareness of the value of intellectual property (IP) has increased with a corresponding increase in patent filing, patent licensing and patent lawsuits.

Posted by mikki at 12:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Buzz Machine can have some quite interesting stories. This one plays on the often ignored theme of "do what's right"

Fingerpointing while Rome burns:

Incredible and downright disgusting story in this morning’s Times: The Department of Homeland Doltishness is blaming New York for getting less money for terrorism because the city didn’t fill out forms properly.

In a flurry of charges and countercharges, federal officials said yesterday that the city not only did a poor job of articulating its needs in its application, but it also mishandled the application itself, failing to file it electronically as required and instead faxing its request to Washington.

How about trying to do what’s right and necessary to protect citizens from terrorist murderers. I thought that’s what a Department of Homeland Security was supposed to do.

Posted by mikki at 10:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

WAVE 3 TV Louisville, KY :: Pilot Grabs Snake, Lands Plane:


(CHARLESTON, W.Va.) -- The much-talked-about movie "Snakes on a Plane" doesn't open until August. But Monty Coles doesn't have to see it. He's lived it.

Three-thousand feet in the air on Saturday, he discovered a four-and-a-half-foot black snake peering out at him from the instrument panel of his Piper Cherokee.

He'd already been preparing to land in southern Ohio after a flight from West Virginia.

He tried to swat the snake. But it just fell to his feet under the rudder pedals, and then darted to the other side of the cockpit.

So, while flying the plane with one hand, Coles grabbed the snake behind its head with his other hand, even as it coiled around his arm.

Next, he told the control tower he needed emergency landing clearance -- and that he had "one hand full of snake and the other hand full of plane."

He says he was cleared right in.

Coles made a smooth landing, then posed for pictures with the snake, before letting it loose.

Posted by mikki at 10:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Morgan Stanley takes domain name from cat | The Register:


A cat has lost its bid to retain a controversial domain name after a multinational investment bank took it to the National Arbitration Forum.

Baroness Penelope Cat of Nash DCB, who is listed as the owner of mymorganstanleyplatinum.com and was given some assistance in the case by Michael Woods, lost control of the domain to Morgan Stanley.

A key part of the case rested on whether or not Baroness Penelope was truly the owner of the domain. The first indication that the decision was unlikely to veer cat-wards came in the written decision of Arbitration Forum Panellist Richard Hill.

"Respondent maintains that it is a cat, that is, a well-known carnivorous quadruped which has long been domesticated," summarised Hill. "However, it is equally well-known that the common cat, whose scientific name is Felis domesticus, cannot speak or read or write."

Baroness Penelope argued in its submission that "the registration information is not false; there are an immense number of Domain Names registered by non human beings".

Hill was not to be swayed, however. "A common cat could not have submitted the Response (or even have registered the disputed domain name)," he wrote. "Therefore, either Respondent is a different species of cat, such as the one that stars in the motion picture 'Cat From Outer Space,' or Respondent's assertion regarding its being a cat is incorrect."

"If Respondent is in fact a cat from outer space, then it should have so indicated in its reply, in order to avoid unnecessary perplexity by the Panel."

In order to retain the domain name, Baroness Penelope had to fulfill three criteria. Having failed the first two, the case rested on whether or not having a cat as a registered owner of a domain constituted "bad faith". Hill ruled that it did.

Baroness Penelope was uncontactable for comment at the time of going to press.

See: the ruling

Posted by mikki at 12:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

New York Daily News - Home - Offensive, moronic, stupid:


State Controller Alan Hevesi issued groveling apologies yesterday - saying it was "remarkably stupid" for him to inexplicably declare Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) "will put a bullet between the President's eyes."
The Democrat made the stunning gaffe at the Queens College commencement as he praised Schumer's work in Washington and the senator's willingness to take on the White House.

Dressed in a ceremonial gown, Hevesi called Schumer "the man who, uh, uh, how do I phrase this diplomatically, will put a bullet between the President's eyes if he could get away with it."

Later at a hastily called news conference, Hevesi ate a huge helping of crow.

"What I intended to say was that Chuck Schumer is incredibly smart, courageous, willing even to stand up to the President of the United States," Hevesi said.

"What came out of my mouth was that Chuck Schumer is smart and brave and capable of putting a bullet between the President's eyes."

Hevesi called his comment "incredibly moronic," "totally offensive" and "remarkably stupid" - assessments his GOP foes echoed.

He apologized publicly to President Bush and also phoned Schumer with a private mea culpa.

So far, the Queens pol said, he hasn't gotten a call from the Secret Service. There was no immediate reaction from the White House.

Posted by mikki at 12:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! - May 30, 2006:


MAY 30--Zoinks! A Minnesota drug dealer was busted last week on felony drug charges after his 6 year-old son turned up at school with a Scooby-Doo backpack filled with his daddy's marijuana stash. According to the below criminal complaint filed in Ramsey County District Court, when a teacher asked Corey Randle's son to check his bag for a folder, the boy pulled out a sandwich bag containing 25 baggies of pot. School officials quickly seized the weed and called St. Paul police, but not before Randle--pictured at right in a Ramsey County Sheriff's Office mug shot--realized his boy had the drugs. The 29-year-old father, who beat a hasty path to the school and left with his son, was tracked to his home where he told cops he used his drug dealing money "to pay for cigarettes." According to a prosecutor with the county attorney's office, an additional misdemeanor child endangerment charge has also been filed against Randle.

Posted by mikki at 05:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

RGJ.com: Crowd joins widow to seek memorial for Wiccan soldier:


In a park in rural Northern Nevada, bells chimed Monday in memory of Sgt. Patrick Stewart, who died last September in Afghanistan but who has been denied a veteran's memorial plaque that recognizes his religion.
The bells, his widow Roberta Stewart said, are part of the Wiccan faith. It's a belief in the divine in nature, but it's a religion not among the 38 -- including atheism -- recognized by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
Stewart said that in the nine months since her husband died fighting for freedom, the Veterans Affairs department has continued to deny him the freedom of religion guaranteed under this country's Bill of Rights.
"Today, we have honored his memory and the freedom of all faiths in the manner in which he would have wanted," Roberta Stewart told the group of about 300 people gathered in the Out of Town Park in Fernley for the Sgt. Patrick Stewart Freedom for All Faiths Memorial Service.
"In that spirit, we call for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to end its discrimination and be held accountable for upholding the freedom of religion ... (that has) been granted to all of us as unalienable by the rights of the United States' Constitution."
The Rev. Maj. Bill Chrystal, a retired U.S. Army chaplain, said Sgt. Stewart took seriously his right to worship as he chose, and that Stewart and other soldiers have died to protect that right for all Americans.

Posted by mikki at 05:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)