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"If we do not suppress the Detroit vote, we're going to have a tough time in this election cycle."

-- State Rep. John Pappageorge, (R-Troy, MI) while discussing election strategy at a meeting of the Oakland (MI) County Republican Party

or were you talking about less subtle stuff like this:

THE GREAT FLORIDA EX-CON GAMEHow the 'felon' voter-purge was itself felonious

There are conservative claims that liberals are trying to supress votes, but they so far seem based on handwaving, rather than documented details like the above two. Maybe it's because Dems have favored populist vote fraud efforts: Vote early, vote often. Nobody gets their feelings hurt, nobody gets disenfranchised, and we still win.

http://www.freep.com/news/latestnews/pm628_2004100 5.htm

http://www.freep.com/news/statewire/sw105215_20041 005.htm

http://www.freep.com/news/latestnews/pm628_2004100 5.htm

http://www.freep.com/news/statewire/sw105215_20041 005.htm

Back in May '02 Boeing satellites were used to send copies of Attack of the Clones for digital projection. I'm not sure where this weeks' article gets off saying that Final Cut is the first film to do this, unless they're claiming that 115 screens is the achievement here, and not the actual process of sending the files.

You're talking to a native Detroit boy, bud. Gonna have a hard time convincing me how "responsible" these folks are. Why, look! here's an article from just this week...

Responsible chemical corporation at work

http://www.google.com.au/search?q=cache:rz3TvbWM7y cJ:www.freep.com/news/statewire/sw104732_20040926. htm+&hl=en/ Google Cache of: http://www.freep.com/news/statewire/sw104732_20040 926.htm/

ELF, 30-3000 Hz VLF, 3-30 kHz Oh I'm sorry did all of you overlook the fact that the /entire/ country of USA, and most of the rest of the world is /dependant/ upon 50, 60 and *enter your countries standard here* hertz frequencies? They are emitted daily from antennas in your street or above your street, in and around your house completely covering your family like a big fudging faraday cage!! The earth terminals which save your life /and/ rid the household of static electricity sure as hell look like a mighty fine dipole to me! Especially when you multiply it by, oh, every house in the world with electricity. Lets take a look at a rather interesting report: http://www.freep.com/news/statewire/sw104732_20040 926.htm/ " CONTROVERSY: A federal judge in Wisconsin halted construction of the system in 1984, saying more environmental and health studies were needed. A federal appeals court in Chicago overturned that decision. The Navy said it spent more than $25 million to study the impact of ELF's electromagnetic fields, which were described as similar in nature and strength to those produced by power distribution lines. POLITICS: Within years after ELF was built, Wisconsin politicians, including U.S. Sens. Herb Kohl and Russ Feingold and the congressman who represented the Clam Lake area, Rep. Dave Obey, called for its closure."

September 21, 2004

BY MARISOL BELLO
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER

A majority of the Detroit City Council wants to implement an economic development plan it commissioned for $112,000 that preaches racial isolation and rails against immigration in its bid to gain economic success for poor blacks.

The crux of the plan is the creation of a business district -- dubbed African Town -- that would be funded in part with city money and made up of black-owned businesses catering to a black clientele.

The report also complains that immigrants from Mexico, Asia and the Middle East are stealing resources, jobs and other opportunities from blacks and calls on city leaders to stop the economic shift.

...

I thought NASA's budget was reduced in the last go round on the hill.

If we lose our infrastructure for a manned space program, we may lose the space program all together!

This has never stopped members of the GOP from cutting or withholding highway funds. Funny how we'll do everything we can to ensure cheap petroleum, allow automakers to sell guzzlers with impunity (and even give people tax breaks for buying them) and then neglect highways until it costs 3x as much to completely replace sections than it would to have kept up maintenance. (Now that I think about it, maybe it's really a scan and the road replacement businesses are big contributors...)

While I know of several people who would be happy about that,

How do creationists (particularly those trying to get evolution thrown out of schools) feel about space? Is there a Connection to the Religious Right?

Cutting off manned travel is short-sighted. Without manned travel, we're guaranteeing that the cost of sending probes will always be high

Also casts cold water on my plans for a rocket car, but anway...

We're guaranteeing that we'll run out of raw materials in less than a century.

Petro probably, but other materials? Nope, they're just starting to havest much of Russia and former Soviet Republics, now that investment (if you're not afraid of another Yukos happening to your investment...) being possible.

we're guaranteeing that we will NEVER reach another star system.

I'm sure we can find all the Stars we need on American Idol, however, which probably (and even sadly) has a larger following than space exploration.

To those of you who think a manned space program is a waste of resources because exploration happens more effectively with robots: You are a selfish bastard planning your own demise.

I think disease or famine and maybe a nasty war will thin the herd at some point. If you'd like to consider space colonization, you might read the first few chapters of The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress by Heinlein, the author does go into a bit of the logistics and realities of space colonization...the rest of the book I gradually lost interest in, but may pick up again later.

With the federal budget in the sickly shape it's in, it's going to be tough to get additional funds to repair (and reasonably upgrade) the facilities.

Yes, it probably is a bit silly. I think it's fear, probably irrational, and it drives behaviour.

And, in my bad moods, the fear seems justified. I can't find the story now, but there was an NPR piece on how local district attorney were suddenly and unexpectedly being investigated by internal affairs type people if they even dare mention that they weren't being given any support to fight the 'war on terror'. I can only find this story http://www.freep.com/news/locway/probe17_20040117. htm right now. Doesn't that sound like it could be classic intimidation to you? Tell me straight out, have I gotten to jaded to be able to see the situation for what it is: an extreme swing in one direction of the political pendulum?

Did I mention I have my tinfoil hat on extra snug today?

Not quite. I believe they are coasting here also. The quality of constuction of thier printers seems to be going down hill also. Everything I've seen since around the 4000 and on is getting cheaper and cheaper. I was unboxing some 4200's and I broke the back door off of one of them when the plastic bag it was shipped in got caught on it as I was pulling it off. The front door on another unit pulled off and the spring went flying when I was removing the HP orange tape they put on it to keep things closed in transit (anyone who ever unpacked an HP printer knows what tape I am talking about). The newer HP printers have more features and are faster but they sure seem to be lacking the rock hard construction they used to have. I believe the days of the million plus page counts of the 5si with little to no maintenance on whatever paper you decide to feed it are gone.
As someone else further up stated, HP's days are numbered. HP is no longer thinking any more then the next quarters numbers and the firing of three executives earlier this month shows that big time. You can only coast on a name so long. A quote contained in the link above:
"You have to be concerned about the leadership at Hewlett-Packard, every quarter, it seems to be a different explanation for what went wrong."

I was reading slashdot, and he left a message for me.

Give me all your money - I know who you are. ps. I accept paypal

So I clicked away as fast as I could and started reading fark - but he was one step ahead.

If you don't give me all your money I'll disable your SETI@home account!

I was terrified. This guy was good. So I thought I'd try something else, I went to google news - how was he doing this? There in the headlines:

iraqWarDeathToll++;
Stem Cells blocked by extremists citing Satan - Christopher Reeve unavailable for comment.
I Said Send Me Your Money.
jobsAvailable--;

I'd had enough, I turned off my computer and ran to a newspaper.

95% of the money in the world controlled by 5% of the population, 50% controlled by 1%.
Economic middle-class taxes and expenses rising - wages stagnant.
Super-rich get tax break on overseas investements.
Incumbent campaigns to convince citizens that they will be rich - fights for lower taxes.

And I realized there wasn't anyone stalking me. The messages weren't directed at me alone, but at me as a member of the economic middle-class. I thought I was a bully's target, and I guess in a way I am. I'm personally affected by every corrupt policy, every writ of habeas corpus, every war, every genocide.

VOTE, if you care.

A year or two back Marshall Mathers (aka recording artist Eminem) was sued by a childhood bully for defamation. The judge delivered a standard legalese ruling, and also, a rap of the ruling.

I shit you not.

Further case details here.

A year or two back Marshall Mathers (aka recording artist Eminem) was sued by a childhood bully for defamation. The judge delivered a standard legalese ruling, and also, a rap of the ruling.

I shit you not.

Further case details here.

Looks like the Federal circuit is fractured on this issue

It's bullshit, I don't see how any of you can think this is a good ruling!? If I own a domain name, I can do *WHATEVER* I want to do with it. If someone has a problem with it, they should have bought the domain name before I did. If you want to "settle" it, then bring out the pocketbooks because it will be one hell of a pretty penny.

However, this is a bad ruling because it confllicts with at least one other case where a domain name (Lucas Nursery) taken out to criticize someone using the name of the party being criticized is a valid First Amendment use and they have no right to stop you from using that domain name (with their name as part of it) to do so.

This is the sort of issue - courts in different circuits giving different results on identical issues - that makes the issue ripe for the U.S. Supreme Court to take on the issue. That may happen. And if it does, I suspect that Falwell will lose. It wouldn't be the first time Falwell has lost in the Supreme Court over someone saying something about him that he didn't like.

Here are a few:

http://www.freep.com/news/nw/pat14_20040714.htm

http://www.wcpo.com/news/2004/local/07/15/patriot_ act.html

http://www.wkyt.com/Global/story.asp?S=2041760

http://www.iht.com/articles/529347.html

Most Arab terrorists he studied were well-educated, married men from middle- or upper-class families, in their mid-20s and psychologically stable, said Sageman, a psychiatrist at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. Many of them knew several languages and traveled widely.

Fewer than 1/5 lacked a high school education, seventy percent had some college.

The enemy here is VERY different than we'd expect.

After you prosecute Halliburton* and every other US defense, technology and financial company for doing the same thing for 150 years or so and to the tune of trillions of dollars - come to think of it, isn't that the whole thing that the Bush Administration doesn't want people to know from Moore's 911? Come on, when the bribe you were caught giving was 180 million how many and for how much were there that didn't get publicized - it would be like saying there is only one bug because it is the only one that was reported.

* How about today I saw a blurb on Bloomberg news that Halliburton and others are using their offices in the Cayman Islands so they could make deals with countries that the US labels as "terrorist"

Brown and Root's Candidate
Most Unpatriotic US Company
Halliburton to stop Soldier's emails during 2004 summer
Empty trucks crossing Iraq to increase profits
Libyia
The Dresser merger also raised ethical questions. The United States had concluded that Iraq, Libya, and Iran supported terrorism and had imposed strict sanctions on them. Yet during Cheney's tenure at Halliburton the company did business in all three countries. In the case of Iraq, Halliburton legally evaded U.S. sanctions by conducting its oil-service business through foreign subsidiaries that had once been owned by Dresser. With Iran and Libya, Halliburton used its own subsidiaries. The use of foreign subsidiaries may have helped the company to avoid paying U.S. taxes.
and on and on...
Halliburton: We like third world people - for slaves
mining and oil are controlled by a small elite group that know no national boundaries

Mercedes is coming out with a mini-SUV model SMART car, and are supposed to start selling it here in a few years. Maybe it will lead to the rest of the line being sold here as well. A quick google turned up these articles:

Nice photo on that second one.

Video games should only be played by true professionals, there is just such a high level of danger involved.
Just look at this list of injuries:
dizziness, altered vision, muscle twitches, loss of awareness, disorientation, motion sickness, Eye Strain, Back Injury, Photosensitive Seizures, hand-arm vibration syndrome, blisters, friction burns, lacerations, carpal-tunnel, "Nintendo Thumb", bruises, electric shock, the many horrors of DDR, and now heart attacks.
In the wrong hands video game consoles, and computers running video games are death machines!

You jest, but it already happens.

A quote: "I'm not going to be so naive as to say an officer hasn't seen a pretty girl and run her plate," said Carey, who also was once chief in Troy.

Former Memphis Police Chief Phillip Ludos said the practice is so common it is known simply as "Running a plate for a date."

Broadly speaking, we have a society that is divided into those who 'own' and those who don't. For the majority of society, that is not the owners, life is structured around working to survive.

When something is done in a new and more efficient way then in a sense, society benefits. However, those who really benefit are 'owning' segment of the population, not the 'workers.'

All the interviews tool place after his death

"Lipscomb became involved in the project after receiving a call from Moore's company. Staffers had read a magazine article that mentioned her son's death. She met with Moore, a Davison native, at her house. "

Actually, at least in Michigan, the lawsuit winners don't get a dubious victory, they get jack squat. For example, many of the CDs are going to troops in Iraq, which isn't a bad thing, unless you were expecting some of the settlement.

The article only covers a small part of the CDs, but according to WNEM, the settlement CDs are also being placed in all the public non-emergency vehicles in the state (which would include the personal cars of most of the state politicians, refuse collection trucks, mosquito-sprayers, and so on), being given to state employees, and so on. Those people who were to actually benifit from the settlement get a big old goose egg.

A relative few independent souls (on the west coast) listened to Wolfman Jack after midnight on XERB, a 50,000 watt station out of Tijuana.

The Big 8

And even if only 1% of the guys'n'gals here are crazy enough to take you up on your offer (which I would say is a very conservative estimate),well let's just say you're going to get to know your postman very well!

On second thoughts, it would be quite handy, I know I have tons of stuff I don't use any more, but I hate throwing stuff away, I would be glad to donate it to a worthy cause. You could maybe set something up with Oxfam or somebody to donate stuff even you don't want to third world countries or something? Maybe you have something after all...

Oh wait, that address is Alan Ralsky's right?

I vote we all go out and try this on a large scale to see if it works. I will be glad to compile the results when we're done.

Sincerely,

Alan Ralsky
CEO, Email Clearing House

In case any of you got that "May 19th is Gasoline Boycott Day!" e-mail, here are some articles on why it won't work:

Article by Matt Helms

Snopes Article

If all the idiots don't get gas tomorrow, just means less of a wait for me!

Actually Texas is the only place in the world (that I know of) where the law supports killing someone for vandalism or purse-snatching.

That certainly can't be true. We LOVE our guns here in Michigan. LOVE them. However, in the time I've lived here (my whole life) I've never heard of large groups of people getting together to shoot at each other, so I'm not certain how the two are connected.

Actually Texas is the only place in the world (that I know of) where the law supports killing someone for vandalism or purse-snatching.

That certainly can't be true. We LOVE our guns here in Michigan. LOVE them. However, in the time I've lived here (my whole life) I've never heard of large groups of people getting together to shoot at each other, so I'm not certain how the two are connected.

At eBay you see only some sure_I_m_honest@hotmail.com address and that's only thing you really know about other end.

Well, that, and the feedback.

Take off the tinfoil hat. If someone has great feedback, you're just as safe trusting them as you would be trusting the stranger you just met at the flea market. Moreso, in fact, because you have no idea if the flea-market guy's customers are satisfied. OK, OK, with one notable exception.

Actually, they have two in custody (see this article.

Here's an article from the tech writer at the Detroit Free Press. He focuses more on the big companies whose relays were abused.

Right, and the chairman of Ford would like a federal increase in gas taxes in order to drive more people to purchase this SUV. Nothing better than a federal subsidy to increase profits, nosireebob.

Yet, it is Man using vaccines and antibiotics incorrectly that is causing us the greater problems today. We have incorrectly weakened vaccinations causing infections in children, including polio. We have drug resistant strains of bacteria, because humans can't be trusted to follow orders, and either undermedicate or overmedicate with the wrong phage, leading to even more powerful versions of bacteria like strep.

I don't have anything against stem-cell research, but I do have a strong objection to fetal stem-cell research that involves the destruction of embryos. Even more so when there is evidence that we can take cells from adults, and culture stem cells out of those, with no loss of life, and no donor rejection problems. It is the ethically sound choice given the current options available to us.

I would argue to you that research done in spite of ethics does not legitimize it as the preferred course of actions. Religions were developed as guidelines for societies by early cultures for how to behave among each other; I could kill you, and there's nothing you could do to stop me, but if I believe "something" is out there powerful enough to take vengence on me, I wont do it. Yet its not the religion that's important, it's the not killing part... what I'm trying to say is, we need to separate "religion" from "ethics" and recognize that there are things out there that are just wrong to do (no, I do not support moral relativism). I see fetal stem cell research as one of those things, violating the rights of the fetus to survive, and that wonton destruction in the name of science, with no regards for ethics, only legitimizes other more horrible "studies" in the name of science.

Yet, it is Man using vaccines and antibiotics incorrectly that is causing us the greater problems today. We have incorrectly weakened vaccinations causing infections in children, including polio. We have drug resistant strains of bacteria, because humans can't be trusted to follow orders, and either undermedicate or overmedicate with the wrong phage, leading to even more powerful versions of bacteria like strep.

I don't have anything against stem-cell research, but I do have a strong objection to fetal stem-cell research that involves the destruction of embryos. Even more so when there is evidence that we can take cells from adults, and culture stem cells out of those, with no loss of life, and no donor rejection problems. It is the ethically sound choice given the current options available to us.

I would argue to you that research done in spite of ethics does not legitimize it as the preferred course of actions. Religions were developed as guidelines for societies by early cultures for how to behave among each other; I could kill you, and there's nothing you could do to stop me, but if I believe "something" is out there powerful enough to take vengence on me, I wont do it. Yet its not the religion that's important, it's the not killing part... what I'm trying to say is, we need to separate "religion" from "ethics" and recognize that there are things out there that are just wrong to do (no, I do not support moral relativism). I see fetal stem cell research as one of those things, violating the rights of the fetus to survive, and that wonton destruction in the name of science, with no regards for ethics, only legitimizes other more horrible "studies" in the name of science.

Do you think that the only thing that students are using their laptops for is to type up reports in Word? There is a LOT more that goes on in schools with Student Laptop Programs than just composition, though increasing writing is an important part of improving student achievement.
A number of recent studies have shown that 1:1 laptop ratios can have a very positive effect on student achievement rates (as well as increasing student engagement, reducing drop-out rates and school truancy...)

If you implement right (plan it fully, have professional development ready for teachers, fully communicate to students AND parents what appropriate use is for the machine - e.g. no games, no IM, etc. - and enforce it), laptops can positively impact schools.

Sources:
Detroit Free Press
New York Times
Montana Associated Technology Roundtables
Public Policy Institute: Laptop for Every Student?

1. I submit that an individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and willingly accepts the penalty by staying in jail in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the very highest respect for the law.
2. 4/16/63

No, he agreed to host it for free. Then, as soon as it became popular (and the cops came to rely on it), he started saying that he will shut it down unless they pay him an obscene amount of money. If he offered a reasonable price or offered to hand over the website to the department, he would be all right. That's not what he did, however.

Erm... no, you don't have it quite right.

"As soon as" -- well, after two years of running the site for free, he told them he couldn't afford to keep doing it, and asked to negotiate a price. Then, after a YEAR of getting nowhere with that, and trying to fund the site via advertising revenue, he pulled the plug. He brought in the $300k figure, apparently, to tell them what they *would have* paid for the site over the three years he'd been running it if it *hadn't* been donated, which was a tool of negotiation. $300k for three years of maintaining and hosting an interactive site with over 600 pages to it seems like a fairly reasonable price, though maybe a bit high. It doesn't amount to extortion, however.

The article in the Detroit Free Press is a bit more informative. One thing they bring up is that the Macomb sheriff's department didn't want to pay *at all* for the site, no matter how much... otherwise, they would have used the County's hosting.

Well, that's one way to look at it.

Another way to look at it is that:

- Rather than backcharging, he's brought up the $300,000 as the cost of the site if he *hadn't* been doing it pro bono for the last three years, i.e. the value of what he's given them.

- He spent a year trying to get them to move over to a compensation system, but they weren't willing to pay *anything*, much less what it actually costs to have a site like what they apparently had.

- After unsuccessfully trying to fund the site with advertising revenue, he pulled the plug. Not feeling particularly friendly toward the guys who didn't think his work was worth anything, he didn't hand it over for nothing.

The article in the Detroit Free Press (thoughtfully provided by another user) gives a bit more insight into the story. My favorite part is when the sheriff says that he didn't want to use the County's hosting because it would cost taxpayers money. Doesn't sound like they were negotiating in good faith about this issue.

At least this article get it right in that it states he was not asking for the $300,000 in payment, but just said that is how much it would have cost the county to have the site for those three years. He are the $300,000, but wanted the county to take over the future costs. Detroit Free Press Article Of course, the Sherrif says the money was a DEMAND. Well after a year or more of trying to come up with some sort of agrement and getting no response, he had to shut the site down. The article even points out what both sides agree on certain points: "Both sides agreed on a few points: that Richard started running the site for free a few years ago; that his site became so popular, the Sheriff's Department -- and the public -- came to rely on it. And that Richard decided the site was too costly to run for free any longer. " He got screwed. Period. No due process, no court orders, just a straight up jacking.

It's not Macon County, Georgia, it's Macomb County, Michigan - as in Detroit.

But even if it was a complex, graphically intensive site, the bandwidth bill for such a site would be tiny. I host several similar sized sites on a 10 dollar a month shared hosting account without the slightest problem. In short, the idea of this level of traffic generating a $300,000 bandwidth bill is laughable.

His "bill" may not have been for bandwidth. Here's the article from the Detroit Free Press. That's not to say that he deserves it - on the face of it, I don't think that he does - just that he seems to be asking for more than bandwidth money.

-h-

I think some of you relied solely on the poorly written and sheriff-friendly article at the Macomb Daily.

Why don't you see what a real newspaper like the Detroit Free Press has to say about the situation?

Mr. Richard did not ask for $300k. He only cclaimed that to be his previous investment. The only thing he asked for was help in the future.

He gave 12 months formal notice, and more than two years of informal notice, that he needed help financing HIS site. The sheriff refused to help. The site went down. Simple.

I'd like to set a few things straight. I'm closely involved with this case and I see some misrepresentation.

Mr. Richard was not arrested. He was not jailed. He is being charged with 4 felonies with penalties up to 50 years in prison and over $50,000 in fines.

Mr. Richard never asked for nor demanded $300,000. That figure was an estimate of the total cost of building, hosting and maintaining that site for three years.

Mr. Richard simply told the sheriff he could no longer afford to provide this sevice for free. He gave the sheriff 12 months to figure out a way to help pay for bandwidth and hosting.

Mr. Richard did NOT seek to recover ANY past charges. He simply said he could no longer do it for free.

For that, he is being charged.

A more recent article was written by the Detroit Free Press this morning

I submitted a story about how Howard Stern has been suspended. You can get the scoop here. Perhaps your information will be useful to people who lost the show.

I'm wondering if this would just breed resistance to having body parts susceptible to sonic disruption. After all, mosquitoes breed in incredibly large numbers, so in very few generations, resistance to this should develop.

This would be like expecting humans to breed resistance to bullets or bombs. While this would be nice, what with our "War President" and all, it seems a mite unlikely.

Nice one, Microsoft

NASA last heard from Spirit early Wednesday. Since then, it has returned just random, meaningless radio noise - and only then sporadically, scientists said. Initially, the scientists said they believed weather problems on Earth caused the glitch. They now said they believe the rover was experiencing hardware or software problems.

``This is a serious problem. This is an extremely serious anomaly,'' project manager Pete Theisinger said.

NASA last heard from Spirit as it prepared to continue its work examining its first rock, just a few yards from its lander.

...snip...

Since then, Spirit has transmitted just a few beeps to Earth in response to attempts to communicate with it. It has also skipped several scheduled communications opportunities, either directly with Earth or by way of two NASA satellites in orbit around Mars.

Engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory worked to pinpoint the yet-unknown problem.

``It's not clear there is one cause ... that would explain the observables we're seeing,'' deputy project manager Richard Cook said.

Here is Washington we have a turd of a DJ named Jon Ballard on local cock rock station DC101 and one day when I was visiting Detroit on a business trip I heard him there too. WTF?!
The Detroit Free Press has a story about it Not so much that he's on two stations, just that he's such bad DJ that the world gets cursed at least twice with his presence.

Corporate Radio Sucks...Listen to this instead