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It's Representative Bono. She represent's California 45th District which includes parts of East LA County, the Palm Springs area, and Riverside County. California is represented by Senators Boxer and Feinstien, who if I remember correctly are also in the pocket of the entertainment industry.

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It's Representative Bono. She represent's California 45th District which includes parts of East LA County, the Palm Springs area, and Riverside County. California is represented by Senators Boxer and Feinstien, who if I remember correctly are also in the pocket of the entertainment industry.

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The first third of John Ross' book contains a lot of history about the various firearms laws starting with the 1934 National Firearms Act. It is well worth reading just for that and the contrast between now and before the Firearms Act of 1968. It reminds me a lot of Atlas Shrugged if it had been written by Tom Clancy.

Another similar book is "Kings of the High Frontier" by Victor Koman which I originally bought in HTML form online to read on my Palm Pilot IIIx. The plot basically places civilian aerospace against the U.S. government and NASA. I do not know enough about events in civilian aerospace to gage what is based on real history. Many of the characters are recognizably based on people who are now involved in the current X-Prize. If you think some of the events in this story are far fetched, how long did it take NASA to destroy the Delta Clipper after it was turned over to them? To quote Mr. Koman, "Range safety is very important." Incidentally, the industrial smuggler in his book reminds me a lot of Hank Reardon.

At one time I might have thought just fixing the election system in the U.S. would correct the problems that we face. Now I am not so sure. Voting by plurality is definitely a mistake from a representation point of view but human nature may be too much to overcome for it to matter in the long term.

Image yourself back in Rome before the rise of the Caesars. You know what is going to happen over the next few hundred years and wish to prevent the fall of Roman civilization. What would you do? What would you do back before World War II in Germany to prevent the rise of the Nazi Party? Keep in mind that being an effective annoyance to the authorities is likely to just get you killed or worse. It is the prisoner's dilemma: all stand to benefit but those who shout, "The emperor has no clothes!" are the ones who will pay the individual price. John Ross actually brings this issue up at the end of his book.

It is helpful to recognize the difference in changes to a society versus changes to a nation from a global perspective. Paul Kennedy's "The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers" discusses the later and is very instructive regarding world events and where the great nations are headed. The U.S. would seem to be on the route of destroying the basis of the society that made it successful for the sake of maintaining an inherited empire that is going to be lost anyway.

A Republic, If You Can Keep It

At the close of the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia on September 18, 1787, a Mrs. Powel anxiously awaited the results, and as Benjamin Franklin emerged from the long task now finished, asked him directly: "Well Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?" "A republic if you can keep it" responded Franklin.

The founding fathers were certainly aware of these problems at some level and given the tools at their disposal, I can hardly fault them for not having more foresight.

SlashJames, may I introduce you to Ron Paul, R-TX. Sadly, he may very well be the only one.

Fortunately the French don't have the government eating out of industry's hands.

That's because they own, or just bailed out, the industry.

And FWIW, fair use is not written into the Constitution. (See Article I, Section 8, clause 8; noting, of course, that the "limited time" portion of that has pretty much flown out the window WRT copyright.)

Then, read James Lowen's _Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your High School History Texbook Got Wrong_ to see how your mind has unknowingly been filled with nationalist and consumer crap (despite your technical proclivities). Also check out Howard Zinn. Learn to live simply and frugally so you have more options:

If you have started doing all that, by now you are primed to begin to question what education really means.

And further, to even question why people need to work and what it should mean to do useful things.

You'll have time to read great minds like Bertrand Russel and Freeman Dyson.

Then you can accept you are still stuck in a stupid system.

But you'll be positioned to make the best of it and yet still see how the world can be a made better place to for the bulk of humanity and other creatures.

Always remember in your darker hours to at least ask yourself the question, "Can life be made worth living?" And in your brighter hours, remember to ask yourself if you are playing a finite (to win) game or an infinite (to play) game?

And, finally, for continual inspiration, read _Voyage From Yesteryear_ by James P. Hogan.

Now go out and take some educated risks to try to make life worth living -- despite your future happiness possibilities already almost being ruined by being convinced you that you are "bright" just because you know some technical things (same thing almost happened to me).

US patent system does not want to spend the time/money

The problem is that Congress won't give the USPTO the money it requires to do its job. This is on its way to changing with the new fee bill H.R. 1561, but it may take some time. It is still largely a step in the right direction.

And from http://energycommerce.house.gov/107/feedback.htm :

The Committee on Energy and Commerce
2125 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
(202) 225-2927
The Committee does not have a public fax number.

*****

FWIW, the action is at http://energycommerce.house.gov/108/subcommittees/ Telecommunications_and_the_Internet_Action.htm

What the fuck do you think happens on election day? You walk into a booth and check either Bush or Kerry and then walk out? There are other races, other candidates. You can have an effect on all of them.

No independent candidate has ever even come close to winning the election for president. Independents in the Senate are outnumbered 99 to 1. Independents in the House are outnumbered 434 to 1(source).Voting for an independent candidate, or worse, writing one in, has no more effect than not voting.

You're lazy and apathetic and just looking to excuse it.

Ad hominem. If you can't attack the argument, attack the man.

Bill Clinton was first elected by less than half of the voters. George Bush was also likely elected by less than half of the voters. Perot and Nader changed the outcome of elections. What was the result of this?

The result was we got Presidents that more than half the voters thought were not the best men for the job.

Rep Coble, Howard [NC-6]

And these guys were corrupt enough to join in:

Rep Smith, Lamar [TX-21] - 10/8/2003

Rep Hobson, David [OH-7] - 10/8/2003

Rep Greenwood, James C. [PA-8] - 10/8/2003

Rep Tauzin, Billy [LA-3] - 10/8/2003

Rep Sensenbrenner, F. James [WI-5] - 10/8/2003

Rep Wexler, Robert [FL-19] - 11/20/2003

Rep Turner, Michael [OH-3] - 11/20/2003

Rep Portman, Rob [OH-2] - 11/20/2003

Rep Delahunt, William. [MA-10] - 11/20/2003

These people should be trusted as much as the Régime de Vichy.

Rep Coble, Howard [NC-6]

And these guys were corrupt enough to join in:

Rep Smith, Lamar [TX-21] - 10/8/2003

Rep Hobson, David [OH-7] - 10/8/2003

Rep Greenwood, James C. [PA-8] - 10/8/2003

Rep Tauzin, Billy [LA-3] - 10/8/2003

Rep Sensenbrenner, F. James [WI-5] - 10/8/2003

Rep Wexler, Robert [FL-19] - 11/20/2003

Rep Turner, Michael [OH-3] - 11/20/2003

Rep Portman, Rob [OH-2] - 11/20/2003

Rep Delahunt, William. [MA-10] - 11/20/2003

These people should be trusted as much as the Régime de Vichy.

Rep Coble, Howard [NC-6]

And these guys were corrupt enough to join in:

Rep Smith, Lamar [TX-21] - 10/8/2003

Rep Hobson, David [OH-7] - 10/8/2003

Rep Greenwood, James C. [PA-8] - 10/8/2003

Rep Tauzin, Billy [LA-3] - 10/8/2003

Rep Sensenbrenner, F. James [WI-5] - 10/8/2003

Rep Wexler, Robert [FL-19] - 11/20/2003

Rep Turner, Michael [OH-3] - 11/20/2003

Rep Portman, Rob [OH-2] - 11/20/2003

Rep Delahunt, William. [MA-10] - 11/20/2003

These people should be trusted as much as the Régime de Vichy.

Rep Coble, Howard [NC-6]

And these guys were corrupt enough to join in:

Rep Smith, Lamar [TX-21] - 10/8/2003

Rep Hobson, David [OH-7] - 10/8/2003

Rep Greenwood, James C. [PA-8] - 10/8/2003

Rep Tauzin, Billy [LA-3] - 10/8/2003

Rep Sensenbrenner, F. James [WI-5] - 10/8/2003

Rep Wexler, Robert [FL-19] - 11/20/2003

Rep Turner, Michael [OH-3] - 11/20/2003

Rep Portman, Rob [OH-2] - 11/20/2003

Rep Delahunt, William. [MA-10] - 11/20/2003

These people should be trusted as much as the Régime de Vichy.

Rep Coble, Howard [NC-6]

And these guys were corrupt enough to join in:

Rep Smith, Lamar [TX-21] - 10/8/2003

Rep Hobson, David [OH-7] - 10/8/2003

Rep Greenwood, James C. [PA-8] - 10/8/2003

Rep Tauzin, Billy [LA-3] - 10/8/2003

Rep Sensenbrenner, F. James [WI-5] - 10/8/2003

Rep Wexler, Robert [FL-19] - 11/20/2003

Rep Turner, Michael [OH-3] - 11/20/2003

Rep Portman, Rob [OH-2] - 11/20/2003

Rep Delahunt, William. [MA-10] - 11/20/2003

These people should be trusted as much as the Régime de Vichy.

Rep Coble, Howard [NC-6]

And these guys were corrupt enough to join in:

Rep Smith, Lamar [TX-21] - 10/8/2003

Rep Hobson, David [OH-7] - 10/8/2003

Rep Greenwood, James C. [PA-8] - 10/8/2003

Rep Tauzin, Billy [LA-3] - 10/8/2003

Rep Sensenbrenner, F. James [WI-5] - 10/8/2003

Rep Wexler, Robert [FL-19] - 11/20/2003

Rep Turner, Michael [OH-3] - 11/20/2003

Rep Portman, Rob [OH-2] - 11/20/2003

Rep Delahunt, William. [MA-10] - 11/20/2003

These people should be trusted as much as the Régime de Vichy.

Rep Coble, Howard [NC-6]

And these guys were corrupt enough to join in:

Rep Smith, Lamar [TX-21] - 10/8/2003

Rep Hobson, David [OH-7] - 10/8/2003

Rep Greenwood, James C. [PA-8] - 10/8/2003

Rep Tauzin, Billy [LA-3] - 10/8/2003

Rep Sensenbrenner, F. James [WI-5] - 10/8/2003

Rep Wexler, Robert [FL-19] - 11/20/2003

Rep Turner, Michael [OH-3] - 11/20/2003

Rep Portman, Rob [OH-2] - 11/20/2003

Rep Delahunt, William. [MA-10] - 11/20/2003

These people should be trusted as much as the Régime de Vichy.

Rep Coble, Howard [NC-6]

And these guys were corrupt enough to join in:

Rep Smith, Lamar [TX-21] - 10/8/2003

Rep Hobson, David [OH-7] - 10/8/2003

Rep Greenwood, James C. [PA-8] - 10/8/2003

Rep Tauzin, Billy [LA-3] - 10/8/2003

Rep Sensenbrenner, F. James [WI-5] - 10/8/2003

Rep Wexler, Robert [FL-19] - 11/20/2003

Rep Turner, Michael [OH-3] - 11/20/2003

Rep Portman, Rob [OH-2] - 11/20/2003

Rep Delahunt, William. [MA-10] - 11/20/2003

These people should be trusted as much as the Régime de Vichy.

Rep Coble, Howard [NC-6]

And these guys were corrupt enough to join in:

Rep Smith, Lamar [TX-21] - 10/8/2003

Rep Hobson, David [OH-7] - 10/8/2003

Rep Greenwood, James C. [PA-8] - 10/8/2003

Rep Tauzin, Billy [LA-3] - 10/8/2003

Rep Sensenbrenner, F. James [WI-5] - 10/8/2003

Rep Wexler, Robert [FL-19] - 11/20/2003

Rep Turner, Michael [OH-3] - 11/20/2003

Rep Portman, Rob [OH-2] - 11/20/2003

Rep Delahunt, William. [MA-10] - 11/20/2003

These people should be trusted as much as the Régime de Vichy.

Rep Coble, Howard [NC-6]

And these guys were corrupt enough to join in:

Rep Smith, Lamar [TX-21] - 10/8/2003

Rep Hobson, David [OH-7] - 10/8/2003

Rep Greenwood, James C. [PA-8] - 10/8/2003

Rep Tauzin, Billy [LA-3] - 10/8/2003

Rep Sensenbrenner, F. James [WI-5] - 10/8/2003

Rep Wexler, Robert [FL-19] - 11/20/2003

Rep Turner, Michael [OH-3] - 11/20/2003

Rep Portman, Rob [OH-2] - 11/20/2003

Rep Delahunt, William. [MA-10] - 11/20/2003

These people should be trusted as much as the Régime de Vichy.

Back in the late eighties and early nineties we actually had a wide range of platforms and real choices when it came to computing. The Amiga was one of those choices, and were it not for some bad business decisions in the early nineties, perhaps it would remain a mainstream, if niche, platform today.

But it's hard for a platform to get noticed today. Just look at Linux. Despite overwhelming support from the PC establishment, it barely exists on more than 2-3% of desktops, with servers - used and operated primarily by geeks who know what they're doing - being the only area it's doing well in. The problem is that PC manufacturers are unwilling to cater for niche markets, and by doing so they're harming themselves and harming innovation. They're harming themselves by not producing something that will attract greater profit margins because it's sufficiently different from the mainstream to compete on somehting other than price, and they're harming innovation because without choices, innovation suffers. Apple has proven, by being the richest computer hardware company in the world, that you can profit in the niche. But it takes a will to get there. Why did Gateway not exploit the Amiga niche while they still had it?

This quagmire of artists, consumers, and PC manufacturers being unable to diversify in the platforms available will not disappear by itself. Resources need to be devoted, and unless people are prepared to actually act, not just talk about it on Slashdot, nothing will ever get done. Apathy is not an option.

You can help by getting off your rear and writing to your congressman or senator. Tell them that a diversity of platforms is important to you. Tell them that you appreciate the work being done by the hiers to the Amiga source and the work by the GNU/Linux community to create an infrastructure that will support true choice in the computing community, but that if PC manufacturers continue to be unable to overthrow their conservatism, instead disappearing into the void that is commodity hardware, you will be forced to use less and less secure and intelligently designed alternatives. Let them know that SMP may make or break whether you can efficiently deploy OpenBSD on your workstations and servers. Explain the concerns you have about freedom, openness, and choice, and how the lack of platform choices harms all three. Let them know that this is an issue that effects YOU directly, that YOU vote, and that your vote will be influenced, indeed dependent, on their policies on platform diversity.

You CAN make a difference. Don't treat voting as a right, treat it as a duty. Keep informed, keep your political representatives informed on how you feel. And, most importantly of all, vote.

David Goodstein, Vice Provost of CalTech on the collapse of the PhD pyramid scheme which drives science education in the USA and started to fail in the 1970s and, in his words: http://www.house.gov/science/goodstein_04-01.htm [house.gov] " In the course of a career, a professor in a research university turns out, on the average, about 15 Ph.D.'s. Many of these would like, themselves, to become in turn professors in research universities and turn out 15 more Ph.D.'s. After all, these were the gems that were selected at each stage of the mining and sorting operation. Becoming a professor seems to many of them the natural culmination of their successful educations. That is obviously one of the principal engines of the exponential growth that lasted for a hundred years in America. Those students are bitterly disappointed when they find out the jobs they want aren't there, and their disappointment seeps down through the ranks, turning younger students away from science. ... The problem, to reiterate, is that science education in America is designed to select a small group of elite scientists. An unintended but inevitable side effect is that everyone else is left out. As a consequence of that, 20,000 American high schools lack a single qualified physics teacher, half the math classes in American schools are taught by people who lack the qualifications to teach them, and companies will increasingly find themselves without the technical competence they need at all levels from the shop floor to the executive suite."

If I'm going to be terrorized by someone, I'd rather it be by actual terrorists than by my own government. If they're going to take down my country, they're going to have to do it one building at a time, dammit, and I'll be casting votes based on it. I'm going to law school in Chicago in the fall, my rep is Danny Davis from the IL 7th. He voted against the PATRIOT Act, one of 66 NAY votes. Maybe you should check up on your rep and see how they're doing.

Well, see, we have an often ignored Constitution that says that powers not explicitly granted to the federal goverment (Education isn't mentioned in the constitution) are given to the state.

Yes, that's correct.
Yet, the federal government has imposed a very large number of unfunded mandates(read: *the law of the land*) on the States through the No Child Left Behind Act (and other laws), leaving the States to pick up the slack.
In most States, the federal government picks up only a relatively small amount of funding.

There were misleading statements and lies that were known lies at the time of being spoken based on what was actually known.

Couldn't reply to your blog, so I'll reply to your sig here. You might find income tax distribution to be insteresting. Most interesting thing to note: taxpayers with the highest 1% of incomes paid 22.6% of all federal taxes (for 2001).

Also, Congress needs to hold hearings on this... just maybe, someone will get a clue.

Ha ha! Don't hold your breath! Not if the Subcommittee On Courts, The Internet, And Intellectual Property has anything to do with it. They, along with the help of Jack Valenti, et. al., came up with the novel idea of linking copyright violaters with terrorists!

On a Windows based machine:
Step 1: Click on file
Step 1: Press Control-C
Step 1: Press Control-V

IANAL, but I don't think copyright law has any bearing on doing something like that, if there is no distribution. However, if I were doing that to copy the files to a public ftp server or p2p share directory or something, then it copyright law would have bearing on this. It's all about context and what the effect of the copying is.

I don't think you are violating copyright law by using hymn, unless you distribute the songs to other people(ie, I think your fair use rights prevail here over your TOS). But regardless, currently, because of the DMCA, that is moot, you violated the DMCA by circumventing protections, and that will be the case until this bill is enacted(hopefully soon).

Forget the amendments, how about something in the actual constitution itself? Something so important that the Found Fathers put it in Article I - the first Article of the US Constitution. The right of Habeas Corpus.

Don't depend on the linked news articles. You can read transcripts of Wednesday's hearing.

Speakers whose comments are already online include:
Lawrence Lessig, You know who he is.
Gary Shapiro, Consumer Electronics Association
Jack Valenti, MPAA
Cary Sherman, RIAA
Miriam Nisbet, American Library Association
Robert Holleyman, Business Software Alliance
Chris Murray,Consumer's Union
Gigi Sohn, Public Knowledge
Robert Moore, CEO of 321 Studios
and more.

There were enough people there who understand the issues and who can explain them clearly that if this subcommittee came out of there unconvinced that this is a good law, then I can only conclude that they are completely beholden to moneyed special interests, and don't give a whit about the public interest.

Don't depend on the linked news articles. You can read transcripts of Wednesday's hearing.

Speakers whose comments are already online include:
Lawrence Lessig, You know who he is.
Gary Shapiro, Consumer Electronics Association
Jack Valenti, MPAA
Cary Sherman, RIAA
Miriam Nisbet, American Library Association
Robert Holleyman, Business Software Alliance
Chris Murray,Consumer's Union
Gigi Sohn, Public Knowledge
Robert Moore, CEO of 321 Studios
and more.

There were enough people there who understand the issues and who can explain them clearly that if this subcommittee came out of there unconvinced that this is a good law, then I can only conclude that they are completely beholden to moneyed special interests, and don't give a whit about the public interest.

Don't depend on the linked news articles. You can read transcripts of Wednesday's hearing.

Speakers whose comments are already online include:
Lawrence Lessig, You know who he is.
Gary Shapiro, Consumer Electronics Association
Jack Valenti, MPAA
Cary Sherman, RIAA
Miriam Nisbet, American Library Association
Robert Holleyman, Business Software Alliance
Chris Murray,Consumer's Union
Gigi Sohn, Public Knowledge
Robert Moore, CEO of 321 Studios
and more.

There were enough people there who understand the issues and who can explain them clearly that if this subcommittee came out of there unconvinced that this is a good law, then I can only conclude that they are completely beholden to moneyed special interests, and don't give a whit about the public interest.

Don't depend on the linked news articles. You can read transcripts of Wednesday's hearing.

Speakers whose comments are already online include:
Lawrence Lessig, You know who he is.
Gary Shapiro, Consumer Electronics Association
Jack Valenti, MPAA
Cary Sherman, RIAA
Miriam Nisbet, American Library Association
Robert Holleyman, Business Software Alliance
Chris Murray,Consumer's Union
Gigi Sohn, Public Knowledge
Robert Moore, CEO of 321 Studios
and more.

There were enough people there who understand the issues and who can explain them clearly that if this subcommittee came out of there unconvinced that this is a good law, then I can only conclude that they are completely beholden to moneyed special interests, and don't give a whit about the public interest.

Don't depend on the linked news articles. You can read transcripts of Wednesday's hearing.

Speakers whose comments are already online include:
Lawrence Lessig, You know who he is.
Gary Shapiro, Consumer Electronics Association
Jack Valenti, MPAA
Cary Sherman, RIAA
Miriam Nisbet, American Library Association
Robert Holleyman, Business Software Alliance
Chris Murray,Consumer's Union
Gigi Sohn, Public Knowledge
Robert Moore, CEO of 321 Studios
and more.

There were enough people there who understand the issues and who can explain them clearly that if this subcommittee came out of there unconvinced that this is a good law, then I can only conclude that they are completely beholden to moneyed special interests, and don't give a whit about the public interest.

Don't depend on the linked news articles. You can read transcripts of Wednesday's hearing.

Speakers whose comments are already online include:
Lawrence Lessig, You know who he is.
Gary Shapiro, Consumer Electronics Association
Jack Valenti, MPAA
Cary Sherman, RIAA
Miriam Nisbet, American Library Association
Robert Holleyman, Business Software Alliance
Chris Murray,Consumer's Union
Gigi Sohn, Public Knowledge
Robert Moore, CEO of 321 Studios
and more.

There were enough people there who understand the issues and who can explain them clearly that if this subcommittee came out of there unconvinced that this is a good law, then I can only conclude that they are completely beholden to moneyed special interests, and don't give a whit about the public interest.

Don't depend on the linked news articles. You can read transcripts of Wednesday's hearing.

Speakers whose comments are already online include:
Lawrence Lessig, You know who he is.
Gary Shapiro, Consumer Electronics Association
Jack Valenti, MPAA
Cary Sherman, RIAA
Miriam Nisbet, American Library Association
Robert Holleyman, Business Software Alliance
Chris Murray,Consumer's Union
Gigi Sohn, Public Knowledge
Robert Moore, CEO of 321 Studios
and more.

There were enough people there who understand the issues and who can explain them clearly that if this subcommittee came out of there unconvinced that this is a good law, then I can only conclude that they are completely beholden to moneyed special interests, and don't give a whit about the public interest.

Don't depend on the linked news articles. You can read transcripts of Wednesday's hearing.

Speakers whose comments are already online include:
Lawrence Lessig, You know who he is.
Gary Shapiro, Consumer Electronics Association
Jack Valenti, MPAA
Cary Sherman, RIAA
Miriam Nisbet, American Library Association
Robert Holleyman, Business Software Alliance
Chris Murray,Consumer's Union
Gigi Sohn, Public Knowledge
Robert Moore, CEO of 321 Studios
and more.

There were enough people there who understand the issues and who can explain them clearly that if this subcommittee came out of there unconvinced that this is a good law, then I can only conclude that they are completely beholden to moneyed special interests, and don't give a whit about the public interest.

Don't depend on the linked news articles. You can read transcripts of Wednesday's hearing.

Speakers whose comments are already online include:
Lawrence Lessig, You know who he is.
Gary Shapiro, Consumer Electronics Association
Jack Valenti, MPAA
Cary Sherman, RIAA
Miriam Nisbet, American Library Association
Robert Holleyman, Business Software Alliance
Chris Murray,Consumer's Union
Gigi Sohn, Public Knowledge
Robert Moore, CEO of 321 Studios
and more.

There were enough people there who understand the issues and who can explain them clearly that if this subcommittee came out of there unconvinced that this is a good law, then I can only conclude that they are completely beholden to moneyed special interests, and don't give a whit about the public interest.

Don't depend on the linked news articles. You can read transcripts of Wednesday's hearing.

Speakers whose comments are already online include:
Lawrence Lessig, You know who he is.
Gary Shapiro, Consumer Electronics Association
Jack Valenti, MPAA
Cary Sherman, RIAA
Miriam Nisbet, American Library Association
Robert Holleyman, Business Software Alliance
Chris Murray,Consumer's Union
Gigi Sohn, Public Knowledge
Robert Moore, CEO of 321 Studios
and more.

There were enough people there who understand the issues and who can explain them clearly that if this subcommittee came out of there unconvinced that this is a good law, then I can only conclude that they are completely beholden to moneyed special interests, and don't give a whit about the public interest.

Certainly! As I understood the executive summary of the bill, it covers what your average slashdotter would consider "fair use" i.e. making backups but also converting the media to another format or decrypting it for personal use.

There is a well-worded form letter that you can fill out and have emailed or faxed to your US Representative urging them to support the bill. (Automated too so you just enter your address and it sends it to the right Rep.) The entire text of the bill itself is available here.

Worthless in America. Unless you have CA$H you have no representation. Besides my senator and house rep are stupid fucking republicans (yes I have contacted them, no they don't care).

Senate

House

At least Uncle Tom (JCWatts) is gone.

Jose Serrano (D-NY, 16th Bronx) is also a good choice to support, especially when it comes to protecting the 1st Amendment.

Dont just post here. Write your reps and congressmen.

House
Senate

We need to show them that this is something that people care about. Sure we dont have Disney dollars, but we can still make some noise.

The problem is that many want a black and white solution to gray problems. The problems facing todays educators cannot be solved with one solution. A few years back both the Wall Street Journal and 60 Minutes looked at one of the best public schools systems in the nation: The Department of Defense schools for military families.

At first, you would think that they would be one of the worst performers. The students are uprooted every few years as their parents are transferred. A majority of the students come from families that live just above the poverty line.

But the students rank among the best in the nations when it comes to test scores. The gap between minority and white students is almost non-existant with a high percentage of the students being minorities. Eighty percent of students go to college.

How do they do it? Some answers given:

More money is spent per student than in most public schools. Parents are heavily invovled with the education. Discipline is almost never a problem. A higher percentage of teachers have masters than most other schools. All these factors intertwine.

The one cosponsor of the bill that matters - Rep. Joe Barton. He's the chairman of the full Energy and Commerce committee, and he's got complete control of what happens in his committee. While having a hearing in this subcommittee is a great first step, the bill can't progress without Barton's support - the fate of HR 107 is up to him. He NEEDS to be /.ed!

You can contact him here

Take 5 minutes to go to the house of representatives and write your rep about your feelings on this topic (only if you hate the DMCA, that is).

I believe he might have been thinking of the Mitrokhin Archive, collected by Vasili Mitrokhin, who worked in the foreign intelligence archive of the KGB. He eventually defected to the UK (he wasn't an agent and hadn't contacted the west at any time previously) with his trunk of files.

One of the revelations concerned buried stashes of weapons, explosives, radios, etc. supposedly for equipping sleeper cells. Targets included dams, power lines (hit it in a remote, difficult to work in place), pipelines, etc. I keep finding references to some stashes found (through the archive materials) in Austria and, i think, Belgium. Apparently one of the Austrian ones was booby-trapped. If anyone has more specific info about those, i'd be grateful. It doesn't surprise me though - there were several caches unearthed in the 80s or 90s. They were buried by the Americans for use if the Soviets moved west in a hurry.

Here's an interesting doc about the suitcase nukes. That's the text from a Congressional hearing on the subject. Evidently, there may be a few in North America. And General Lebed, who told 60 Minutes and the US Govt that there were some several dozen of them missing, was, unfortunately, killed in a helicopter crash.

Also, there's a shot of one of those atomic shells being howitzered across a valley in Errol Morris' latest, The Fog of War. Very creepy - you see the howitzer fire and, a moment later, *flash* and a mushroom cloud. Quick way to deal with a couple of armored divisions bottlenecking in some german valley, i guess. For the impatient, i think it's in the quicktime trailer.

The House web site has a contact your congressman page, where you plug in your zip+4 and it tells you who to write to.

Not a bad idea, but there are a few simple rules to make your vote actually count...

First, read the f'ing bill. It's here

Use the telephone. You'll probably never get through to your congressman, but getting through to staff is actually more important. Call the office in DC (http://www.house.gov/house/MemberWWW.html) and ask to speak to the STAFF MEMBER who's tracking HR 107. If no one's following it, ask for the staff member who handles IP, technology, or computer issues.

There's no more powerful statement to make than "I'm your constituent, and if this passes it's a problem for me", except for...

"This is so important that it will impact how I'm going to vote in November." But you damn well better believe it if you say it, because that's the easiest lie to detect. (Hey, if your guy's from the wrong party, but does the right thing here, why aren't you voting for him?)

Stay on message. Resist the urge to talk about Iraq, or software patents, or anything else. The point is for the staff member to say, "I got 50 calls today abut HR 107, they're mostly from people in the district, and they all said it's important that the bill gets through". Hard to believe, but if a party whip isn't demanding a position, this generally determines how somebody's gonna vote.

And don't take a lot of time. In the first three minutes, you've made your case or not. In any case, your call has already been recorded as for or against, and is going to be in tomorrow's daily brief. Once you state your case, all you can do is fuck up, unless the staff member starts asking you questions.

Follow up with a fax. It should go to the DC office, the closest district office, the sponsor (Boucher), and if you're feeling creative, all of the bill's cosponsors -- there's actually bi-partisan support. (Available from the bill link above.) Staff tally these things, and it goes into the decision matrix.

BTW, if anybody's from Rhode Island, Patrick Kennedy was a co-sponsor, but withdrew his support.

Don't bother with email. These guys get slashdotted every day (imagine a half million people knowing your email address), so the sad fact is that nobody on the hill reads email.

Follow up, part II: a personal note to the staff member. It may not help this time, but a note card saying "Thanks for taking the time to talk with me today" goes a long, long way the next time you need to talk to your representative. Tip O'Neil got to be Speaker that way, and you can make the case that George H.W. Bush got to be president that way. The legislative process is all about relationships.

Finally, Stay polite. The staff member (or the congressman) may be a pinhead, but if you get belligerent, he might vote the other way because you're seen as an asshole. Bite your tounge, especially if they're stupid.

Note: If your Congressman's a Congresswoman, use your favorite word processor to adjust the genders referenced above. Reread, lather, rinse, repeat.

Now that it really does not take much effort you better write a letter or at least an email.
If you enter your state and zip code here(you shouldn't need a +4, unless your in a really gerrymandered district. You can either send an electronic message or get your representative's name. Then take that over to this page and you can see their little house page which has contact info for sending a fax, phone, or snail mail message. If you write a letter be sure to address them as Hon. or Rep. [last name] and try to be respectful and logical ie. this bill protects consumers from getting discs that do not meed the CD standard, and allows research that will improve current digital security. Also try to appeal to their desire to be bipartisan if your rep is a Republican or appeal to their party if they are Democrats. Since this is a house bill, I didn't provide the look up for your Senator. You should know which state our are in and there are two senators per state.
Also, all of these house members are up for election this year, unless they are retireing, so you might want to spend a bit of time on their page to see what they are for and against.

Now that it really does not take much effort you better write a letter or at least an email.
If you enter your state and zip code here(you shouldn't need a +4, unless your in a really gerrymandered district. You can either send an electronic message or get your representative's name. Then take that over to this page and you can see their little house page which has contact info for sending a fax, phone, or snail mail message. If you write a letter be sure to address them as Hon. or Rep. [last name] and try to be respectful and logical ie. this bill protects consumers from getting discs that do not meed the CD standard, and allows research that will improve current digital security. Also try to appeal to their desire to be bipartisan if your rep is a Republican or appeal to their party if they are Democrats. Since this is a house bill, I didn't provide the look up for your Senator. You should know which state our are in and there are two senators per state.
Also, all of these house members are up for election this year, unless they are retireing, so you might want to spend a bit of time on their page to see what they are for and against.