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Monday, I got an email from them saying,

To all recipients on this list:

The Commission on Presidential Debates appreciates your interest in covering the debates. However, at this time, your application has been denied. Applications are declined due to security concerns, space limitations, or other reasons.

Thank you,

The Commission on Presidential Debates

To the best of my knowledge, CPD didn't give credentials to any other Indy Media reporters either. So that means that we can't cover it, because we won't even be admitted to the event.

To all recipients on this list:

The Commission on Presidential Debates appreciates your interest in covering the debates. However, at this time, your application has been denied. Applications are declined due to security concerns, space limitations, or other reasons.

Thank you,

The Commission on Presidential Debates

See also http://www.ucimc.org/newswire/display/20590/index. php and http://stlouis.indymedia.org/

See link. "800 prison camps in the United States, all fully operational and ready to receive prisoners. They are all staffed and even surrounded by full-time guards, but they are all empty. These camps are to be operated by FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) should Martial Law need to be implemented in the United States" More Follows... http://www.utah.indymedia.org/news/2003/07/5561_co mment.php?theme=default/

The fact is that the Israeli's have got to the point that they simply aren't prepared to risk any more. They are building a fence and they don't care what anyone says about it. They will demolish any houses needed to do that. Protesting westerners will not stop them. Since they get shot at by some while they do this, they use tanks and armored bull-dozers with very limited visibility. The driver may not have seen Rachel, or he may have assumed that she would jump out of the way at the last second, (as many protesters probably do). I would guess that drivers have been to drive on regardless of protestors and that they will "jump out of the way at the last second". Or he may have decided to drive over her because he wanted to and reversed over her for good measure. I don't know what was in his mind, although I hope it is the first scenario.

But there are a couple of facts that won't change no matter what you do. The Israeli's will bulldoze houses and they will drive them forward expecting any protestors to get out of the way. They will not stop just because someone stands in front. You can rail against that, but it won't change a thing. If you think the Israeli government is doing the wrong thing in this situation, please find a way to protest that doesn't involve getting yourself killed for no effect. Sacrificing yourself to save lives is good, sacrificing yourself for nothing is just sad.

This is the real world. It's ugly world in many ways. Pray for peace.

It also has a tendancy to provide a one-sided viewpoint of israel/palestine news, although I expect this is a result of successful lobbying rather than explicit policy.

more info here

http://indymedia.org/

http://mediaemergency.org/

ahh, hello?

Blackboxvoting.org is the best source for any election-machine info (such as which party's contributors run Diebold).
Greg Palast is an American living in England who writes news for the London Sunday Observer.

I also check out, Indymedia, CNN, The BBC, and Google News.

The fact is that Every source you turn to is biased. I'm of the opinion that there is no such thing as unbiased journalism becuase journalists are people with finite amounts of time on their hands and finite column-inches to fill. They have to decide who they interview and how much of that material to use. I doubt that most of them (save those at Fox News) go into it with a definite story in mind and ignore all evidence to the contrary. Nevertheless, biases appear in reporting. Couple this with the fact that all news outlets have a distinct audience and that their preceptions of that audience shapes their reporting to the extent that they wish to attract new audience members and avoid losing old ones. This qorks out differently for Indymedia than it does for CNN but the pressure is still there.

The bottom line is that all you can do (as others have pointed out) is to cast as diverse a net as possible and then to look, as much as is possible, for the nuggets of truth in each one. Just be wary for many people the line between reality and fiction is no longer a barrier.

As to government documents, I wouldn't diss them. They are the one true source of info that we have about the workings of our government. And, so long as Some People can be held in check

According to the Senate, the S-89 bill (search for "S 89" or "HR 163") was introduced by Senator Ernest F. Hollings (D). Information regarding his voting record can be found at the archive section of theAmerican Civil Liberties Union:

The Bill HR-163 was introduced by:
Congressman Charles B. Rangel (D)
Congressman Jim McDermott (D)
Representative John Conyers, Jr. (D)
Congressman John Lewis (D)
Congressman Pete Stark (D)
Congressman Neil Abercrombie (D)

As Mr. Adam Stutz so clearly points out,this legislation would not take effect until Spring 2005. Just what, exactly, does the Democratic party have in store for us?

How likely is a draft?

Doubtful at best. The first rotation of personnel in Iraq was supposed to be 6 months. It was extend by 6 months to be a total of 12. They are in the process of arriving home as the Army and National Guard Reserves go in. They are scheduled for a rotation of 12 months. My friend who is a Captain anticipates that it will be extended to 18 months. The maximum time you can be activated is 24 months. I don't remember how much time they are required to give you off, but with the anticipated 18 months the active Army will have off they will be fresh and ready to go back should the situation warrant it. This is one of the things the system was set up for.

The original Iraq war back in 1991 caused fear and concern about the draft. This was just before President Clinton came into office. Funny how fear of the draft comes lately whenever a Republican president is in office and there is an election on the horizon. Coincidence? I don't think so.

Investigate the history of Adam Stutz and you will be investigating the motives for the story.

It was mentioned in the article that they couldn't post the URL for some unknown reason. Perhaps they are stupid.

In searching the Project Censored website there was no information available on the article. Perhaps it is only on their print version or something.

It sounds like typical left wing propaganda to me. Oh, and the positions on the draft board are long term positions that are due to be refilled, not being filled up from having been empty or anything like that. They are coveted positions because the persons there rarely have to do anything at all.

Text of the article is below:

US Preparing for Military Draft in Spring 2005 by Adam Stutz
Wednesday January 28, 2004 at 09:50 AM

The current agenda of the US federal government is to reinstate the draft in order to staff up for a protracted war on "terrorism." Pending legislation in the House and Senate (twin bills S 89 and HR 163) would time the program so the draft could begin at early as Spring 2005 -- conveniently just after the 2004 presidential election!

Reinstatement of the draft

Dear Friends and Family,

I urge you to read the article below on the current agenda of the federal government to reinstate the draft in order to staff up for a protracted war on "terrorism."

Pending legislation in the House and Senate (twin bills S 89 and HR 163) would time the program so the draft could begin at early as Spring 2005 -- conveniently just after the 2004 presidential election! But the administration is quietly trying to get these bills passed NOW, so our action is needed immediately. D

According to the Senate, the S-89 bill (search for "S 89" or "HR 163") was introduced by Senator Ernest F. Hollings (D). Information regarding his voting record can be found at the archive section of theAmerican Civil Liberties Union:

The Bill HR-163 was introduced by:
Congressman Charles B. Rangel (D)
Congressman Jim McDermott (D)
Representative John Conyers, Jr. (D)
Congressman John Lewis (D)
Congressman Pete Stark (D)
Congressman Neil Abercrombie (D)

As Mr. Adam Stutz so clearly points out,this legislation would not take effect until Spring 2005. Just what, exactly, does the Democratic party have in store for us?

How likely is a draft?

Doubtful at best. The first rotation of personnel in Iraq was supposed to be 6 months. It was extend by 6 months to be a total of 12. They are in the process of arriving home as the Army and National Guard Reserves go in. They are scheduled for a rotation of 12 months. My friend who is a Captain anticipates that it will be extended to 18 months. The maximum time you can be activated is 24 months. I don't remember how much time they are required to give you off, but with the anticipated 18 months the active Army will have off they will be fresh and ready to go back should the situation warrant it. This is one of the things the system was set up for.

The original Iraq war back in 1991 caused fear and concern about the draft. This was just before President Clinton came into office. Funny how fear of the draft comes lately whenever a Republican president is in office and there is an election on the horizon. Coincidence? I don't think so.

Investigate the history of Adam Stutz and you will be investigating the motives for the story.

It was mentioned in the article that they couldn't post the URL for some unknown reason. Perhaps they are stupid.

In searching the Project Censored website there was no information available on the article. Perhaps it is only on their print version or something.

It sounds like typical left wing propaganda to me. Oh, and the positions on the draft board are long term positions that are due to be refilled, not being filled up from having been empty or anything like that. They are coveted positions because the persons there rarely have to do anything at all.

Text of the article is below:

US Preparing for Military Draft in Spring 2005 by Adam Stutz
Wednesday January 28, 2004 at 09:50 AM

The current agenda of the US federal government is to reinstate the draft in order to staff up for a protracted war on "terrorism." Pending legislation in the House and Senate (twin bills S 89 and HR 163) would time the program so the draft could begin at early as Spring 2005 -- conveniently just after the 2004 presidential election!

Reinstatement of the draft

Dear Friends and Family,

I urge you to read the article below on the current agenda of the federal government to reinstate the draft in order to staff up for a protracted war on "terrorism."

Pending legislation in the House and Senate (twin bills S 89 and HR 163) would time the program so the draft could begin at early as Spring 2005 -- conveniently just after the 2004 presidential election! But the administration is quietly trying to get these bills passed NOW, so our action is needed immediately. D

Sam Walton died in 1992 and his book came out the same year.

Now, it's a friendly book y'all but it's also 13-year-old news. Wal*Mart is not in business to just survive. They're quite ruthless toward competitors, vendors, and even the cities in which they appear. The company devotes considerable energy to increasing its bottom line without too much worry about nicey nicey new age synergistic relationships, cuz it's a bit too powerful now to care about that stuff.

I'm not sure that involuntary euthanasia by excessive workloads is really the way to deal with the problem.

Our leaders have already tackled this problem and they came up with the idea of the 20-80 society and tittytainment.

Full Text of Interview by Wired News of Subpoena'd IndyMedia ISP
http://nyc.indymedia.org/feature/display/115023/in dex.php

The phony claims from the Secret Service about alleged voter intimidation by some poster on Indy revealing the names and hotels of RNC delegates pales in comparison to the very real intimadation carried out by Repugnican operatives. Here are but a few documented incidents:

Philadelphia, PA, 2003: Voters in African-American neighborhoods were systematically challenged by men carrying clipboards, driving a fleet of some 300 sedans with magnetic signs designed to look like law enforcement insignia. [NAACP/PFAW 2004].

Michigan, 2004: One of Bush's Michigan advisors, State Rep. John Pappageorge (R-Troy) was quoted as saying "If we do not suppress the Detroit vote, we're going to have a tough time in this election." [Detroit Free Press, 7/16/04]

Louisiana, 2003: Flyers were posted in public housing projects which read "Vote!!! Bad Weather? No problem!!! If the weather is uncomfortable on Election Day (Saturday December 7th) Remember you can wait and cast your ballot on Tuesday December 10th." [Times-Picayune (New Orleans), 12/12/02]

Sooooo, is the SS looking into this? We don't think so! But even if they are, why are they wasting additional taxpayer dollars chasing shadows on Indymedia? Hey! Why not ask them!

http://www.secretservice.gov/contact.shtml

from: http://nyc.indymedia.org/newswire/display/117545/i ndex.php

Police Ready Sound Weapon For GOP Convention

author: Relay Forget the megaphones. Police will have a much more high-tech -- and louder -- option to make themselves heard over the din of Manhattan traffic and noisy protesters outside the Republican National Convention.

(Not in the habit of this sort of posting, but folks wishing to attend should be forewarned of what could be in store for them.)

Associated Press | August 19 2004

It's called the Long Range Acoustic Device, developed for the military and capable of blasting warnings, orders or anything else at an ear-splitting 150 decibels.

Authorities on Thursday unveiled a mini-arsenal of devices and counterterrorism equipment they're getting ready for the convention, which opens a week from Monday.

The sound machines are being tested at an airfield in a remote section of Brooklyn along with other devices such as hand-held radiation detectors -- for a possible "dirty bomb" -- and mechanical barriers strong enough to stop a moving vehicle in its tracks.

At the Brooklyn training site on Thursday, police practiced disarming a truck bomb at a checkpoint. Scores of officers also made mock arrests of police academy cadets who posed as protesters.

Chanting "no justice, no peace," the cadets surrounded a bus full of "delegates" before officers in riot gear raced in, slapped on plastic "flex cuffs" and led them away to vans.

The demonstration was intended to show how the nation's largest police department hopes "to put a comprehensive security net over Madison Square Garden and the rest of the city," said Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly.

"I think you'll see we're prepared."

The department recently bought two of the 45-pound acoustic sound machines for $35,000 apiece, and plans to mount them on Humvees posted outside Madison Square Garden. It would mark the first time the instrument -- which can beam sounds for 300 yards or more -- has been used by a civilian force.

"We believe we'd be able to use them in a number of scenarios ," said Paul Browne, the police department's chief spokesman.

The alternatives to the mainstream media already exist, and people that want alternatives readily find them. Barriers to entry simply are not an issue with the media. Sure it may irritating to be bombarded by the Scott Peterson trial and all but thats why I read magazines like The Economist. If I was a right wing wackjob, I would get a subscription to National Review or watch Fox News listen to Rush on the air, and if I was a far left loon, I would be reading IndyMedia.

The local newsstand generally has all of these publications from all ends of the political spectrum. Hell, the Maoist international newspaper (which regularly denounces modern China as a far right regime that betrayed Mao's legacy) floats around where I live. While I do find sensationalism in the media irriating, I believe that this demonstrates that barriers to entry are simply not an issue. It might be different if you want to make a living, but frankly broadband will not help that.

Having said all that, assuming that I'm wrong and barriers to entry are an issue, why do you think that we will become more liberal? It seems that for every 60% tax ceiling universal healthcare type, you have a gun nut or a religious wacko.

For exactly this reason.

You can listen to streams of the RNC protest news Here (Portland IMC) and Here (A-Noise)

As I write, hundreds of people from the war resistors league march are being arrested, without a dispersal order or any charges.

Joshua Kinberg is now being charged with vandalism. -- Third comment down.

He was arrested, and charged with vandalism. I suppose you're correct: he wasn't arrested for vandalism; he was arrested, and later charged with vandalism. (Although, the remainder of the post I'm quoting makes it sound as if the police arrested him for vandalism, and just didn't state the charge when he was arrested.)

I'm forced to put up with advertising that is shoved in my face everywhere I go, and I get no say about it.

Honestly Slashdot, this got modded up? That is just embarrassing. Ironically, I've found people like this are often the first to complain about restrictions on free speech. A small revelation might be: if people have control over their private property (aka freedom) they can use if for their own speech, or to advertise, they are one and the same.

I've talked with enough people of this 'indymedia' type mentality to know what the conversation typically goes like:

Anon: I'm so sick of being bombarded with this advertising against my will
Me: But wait, isn't most of this in TV or Radio. Don't you voluntarily listen to these things? More over, most of it is provided free to you, because of advertising. Couldn't you just stop watching?
Now, this is the time I point out, I only listen to NPR and I don't own a TV ( this is the honest truth). It is possible to forgo these things, if you decide they aren't worth it to you. This point will have to be conceded, because it only leaves 'Anon' to realize they are just whining... their argument becomes "This stuff should be just provided to me" Which is only a function of their typical false sense of entitlement. This means they are only left with this recourse...

Anon: Fine, but I am forced to watch billboards and ads on buildings... I can't 'change the channel' on those.
Me: Fine, but do you believe in freedom of speech?
Anon: Yes, but that doesn't mean advertising should be allowed
Me: Fine, so if I own property, the government should be allowed to say what I put on my barn? Or if I put a billboard up to make extra money on my farmland?
Anon: Yes
Me: (Ok, so now individual freedom of speech is out.. or at least people aren't allowed to see it. The argument could be made that you could just restrict 'commercial speech'.. so I will allow this and explore it:) So should businesses be allowed to put up signs? (If not, how the hell will anyone know where anything is?)
Anon: Yes, fine.. but just identifying ones, on the business, saying what business it is.
Me: There we have it... now what you've just done is made high-traffic real-estate unattainably expensive. Since now the only people will only know about businesses that are in well known locations. Now only big 'corporate' chains can afford to start a new store, because the good (aka exposed) land is insanely expensive. The question is... when someone starts a new business, how do they succeed? They can't afford high traffic land, and without that, no one will come to their business because no one will know about it. Think life is irritating now because you have to suffer the 'extreme discomfort' of glancing at a billboard? Imagine a world where only Walmart can afford to open a new store.

Nothing's legit unless money transfers hands.

Again, this is embarrassing. Do you think if a billboard donated space to this guy he would be arrested? Of course not. Stop saying such drivel and making the entire left wing seem like a bunch of whiney upper class college kids with a false sense of entitlement and no critical thinking skills

Some useful links:

Free Radio Santa Cruz http://audio.str3am.com:5110/

Enemy Combantant Radio http://mirror.enemycombatantradio.net:8030/

Portland Indey Media Web Radio http://radio.portland.indymedia.org:8000/

CSPAN has a video feed on CSPAN 1 check http://www.cspan.org/

Come on you people have got to mod this up so people can see it!

Josh was arrested at the RNC yesterday evening, because the cops said they couldn't remove the chalk from the sidewalk.

The bike was confescated, and Josh & friends are working on a replacement. They have spare parts, but need some quick cash. You can give some quick cash via the Paypal link at the
top of http://www.bikesagainstbush.com/ . $5 or more, I'm sure anything will help.

http://publish.nyc.indymedia.org/feature/rate/1060 15/index.php#106015

-= Flarg

also, good thing for the Bush regime that lying to the American people isn't considered to be perjury, or Gitmo would be holding mssers Bush, Cheney, Powell, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, Feith et al...

despite the legal spinning and political bs, the facts remain:

Clinton lied about a blowjob in the Oval Office--total monetary cost to the American people--$80 Million

Bush lied about the 'clear and present danger' of Saddam Hussein--total monetary cost to the American people: $130 Billion and growing

hope you're getting your money's worth!

By putting their advertisers' interests above their readers', news sites risk alienating their core customers. Without us, there wouldn't be any advertisers to appease.

This is one more reason why anyone who cares about the content of the news they read should ensure that they read some non-corporate news sources.

As a reader, you should demand that your media keeps your interests in mind, not just the interests of people who want to sell you things.

Look at this hot girl those fucking ragheads blew up this morning. If this isn't a reason to go Hitler on the sand-niggers I don't know what is.

there is currently a huge humanitarian crisis in Sudan.

What you really need to be worried about is Tlalnepantla (a true atrocity) and other such police activities.

there is currently a huge humanitarian crisis in Sudan.

What you really need to be worried about is Tlalnepantla (a true atrocity) and other such police activities.

I'm going to ignore your accusations that the majority of the protestors hate American troops, because it's not getting us anywhere.

Oh, incidentally, check these out. These are new.

"Solidarity with Iraqi Resistance Against Occupation by all means necessary LEAVE IRAQ ALONE"

"Call for Mutiny of US FORCES in Iraq"

"Support the Iraqi Resistance Movement!"

"Solidarity with the Iraqi Resistance! Solidarity with Anti-Imperialism Everywhere!"

"Support the Iraqi resistance. Australian troops out of Iraq." (Apparently Oz has problems with traitors, too.)

Gee. I wonder where I could have ever gotten the idea that "protesters" advocate the killing of American troops.

Reasonable Suspicion can also come up in a political sense. Say I'm at a protest, standing around peacably but I or someone around me is wearing black, or lookingat the cops, or looking at the sky, etc. That would probably be enough to provoke "reasaonable supicion" that I am committing a crime, have just committed a crime or am about to commit a crime since I am, after all engaged in a protest.

At this point the cops would be free to demand my name and thus compile a list of "troublemakers" or arrest me for refusing to identify myself when I have done nothing wrong. This sounds like a handy tool for the suppression of dissent and the shutting down of peaceful protests.

Before anyone argues that this wouldn't happen I would point out that a) in the 1960's the FBI ran a program called COINTELPRO In which they devoted a great deal of time to spying on peaceful civil rights protestors especially Martin Luther King who they sought to "neutralize" as a civil rights leader.

More recently New York City began denying permits to protestors during the period of the Republican National Convention (aa here, Boston Announced plans to shut down roughly 40 miles of roads in and around the city for "security reasons" See also here here also for the choice quote "What is about to happen in Boston is the continuation of the democratic process and the American way, at a time when the country is at war,"

Lastly, during the G8 summit in Georgia, the governor declared a State of Emergency before the summit even began. This executive order made it possible for U.S. Military units to operate in the city and to photograph and harass all residents. See here, here, and here to see how peaceful protestors are treated in San Francisco.

Reasonable Suspicion can also come up in a political sense. Say I'm at a protest, standing around peacably but I or someone around me is wearing black, or lookingat the cops, or looking at the sky, etc. That would probably be enough to provoke "reasaonable supicion" that I am committing a crime, have just committed a crime or am about to commit a crime since I am, after all engaged in a protest.

At this point the cops would be free to demand my name and thus compile a list of "troublemakers" or arrest me for refusing to identify myself when I have done nothing wrong. This sounds like a handy tool for the suppression of dissent and the shutting down of peaceful protests.

Before anyone argues that this wouldn't happen I would point out that a) in the 1960's the FBI ran a program called COINTELPRO In which they devoted a great deal of time to spying on peaceful civil rights protestors especially Martin Luther King who they sought to "neutralize" as a civil rights leader.

More recently New York City began denying permits to protestors during the period of the Republican National Convention (aa here, Boston Announced plans to shut down roughly 40 miles of roads in and around the city for "security reasons" See also here here also for the choice quote "What is about to happen in Boston is the continuation of the democratic process and the American way, at a time when the country is at war,"

Lastly, during the G8 summit in Georgia, the governor declared a State of Emergency before the summit even began. This executive order made it possible for U.S. Military units to operate in the city and to photograph and harass all residents. See here, here, and here to see how peaceful protestors are treated in San Francisco.

Ever hear the old saying, "There is a little truth in everything." and since Orwell was mentioned, this might be a fitting watch or listen to, if you have about 2 1/2 hours to spare.

Although I do not personally agree with all of what is presented, I feel it is on topic with this discussion in regard to direction.

The following is in streaming RealVideo format and titled The Road To Tyranny by Alex Jones.

I have no affiliation with this site or its content, I just feel it is something to 'stick on the mental shelf'.

As highlighted by slashdot.org, according to a mailing list posting (mirror):

From: Lauren Weinstein

[...] Subject: Warning to IP Readers: When "The Debate Show" Calls -- Hang Up!

[...] They wanted me to debate a known spammer (who they wouldn't identify at the time) regarding the scourge of spam. It would be fun she implied, since the audience would of course be on my side.

[...] Crossballs is a rigged "reality" show, where real guests, who have been kept in the dark about the show's real format, are paired off against actors (playing the debate opponents) for the amusement of the live audience. The stories I read from persons recently on the show included descriptions of crude, sexually-oriented verbal attacks (and worse, like being handed various sexual "apparatus") and concerns that their reputations would be ruined once the shows aired.

The nature of Crossballs is confirmed by a couple of other sources. According to a gopusa.com commentary:

This show is not "The Debate Show," as advertised and the name they use to procure panelists, but "Crossballs" a newly produced show for Comedy Central, owned by Viacom and MTV networks, and is a spoof of political debate shows that seeks to mock conservatives with actors posing as some of the panelists.

One such real panelist, who thought the show was going to be a serious debate show, was a conservative activist from California who prepared to appear on the show to talk about the 2nd amendment. Jim March, whose account we have attached, is a 2nd amendment activist and was mocked and ridiculed by a "psychologist" who said he had sexual issues and offered him a two month supply of penis enlargement pills if he gave up his guns.

Nowhere in the material for "The Debate Show" and the press releases for the upcoming "Crossballs" do they make the connection, or let you in on the joke that the "actor panelists" debate the real panelists, complete with props and "live feed" video designed to mock and make fun of the real panelists and their conservative views.

And according to a June 15, 2004 story from digitalspy.co.uk, an entertainment newsblog:

Debate shows on US cable news channels such as CNN's Crossfire and MSNBC's Hardball are to be "skewered" by a new Comedy Central show, Crossballs.

The new show will feature comedians posing as experts debating real people who don't realise that the show is a sham.

"Shot in front of a live audience, Crossballs is a smart, comedic spoof of programs such as Crossfire, Hardball with Chris Matthews, and the entire Fox News Network," explains Comedy Central.

The show premieres on Tuesday, July 6 at 7:30pm ET and will air for eight consecutive weeks.

In similar display of mockery, according to a Jun 5, 2004 dc.indymedia.org story:

A small but determined group of about 60 demonstrators displayed their anger and disgust in front of the offices of Arlington defense contractor, CACI last week.

CACI is the firm recently implicated in the report by U.S. Maj. Gen. Antonio M. Taguba. CACI employees "were either directly or indirectly responsible for the abuse at Abu Ghraib," according to the report. Taguba strongly reco

Who honestly cares about or uses Ogg?

I care. Some media activists care. All artists definitely should care. And, most importantly, some great hackers care as well.

Seriously, as much as I constantly feel insulted by the bloody ignorance of profanum vulgus, or unwashed masses, if you will--please don't mind if I take offence to you outrageously ignorant remark--I don't really care who cares about the software I use--be it Debian, OpenBSD, EROS, PostgreSQL, Perl 6 or Ogg Vorbis--as long as the developers care. We don't need large user base to break even, now do we?

Music is very important to me, almost as important as the freedom I have. And it's not about the price, mind you. I write it listening to another version of Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1 in B flat minor, Op. 23, I couldn't resist to buy today on a new and expensive CD with all the money I had. I don't care about the proce of free software. For me it's all about freedom. I do believe quite a few people think that way.

Really. I have yet to even contemplate it. Sure I have the codec on my machine, but I haven't used it. Nothing is out there in the format that I am interested in or have even ran across accidently. I like portability of my music so I use MP3. [..] I have no intention of recording anything into the format, so it would be a poor choice for me to use it. How many people is it a good choice for? Why?

Actually, the reason is quite simple.

Radio4all and Indymedia have been providing space to upload radio programs for years. And they don't even charge stations to download the shows.

I would estimate the yearly expenses of those projects to be an order of magnititude less than $1.5m. Oneworld Radio also offers upload space for programs and is networked internationally. I would guess their costs are a bit less than $1.5m but in a similar ballpark.

Hard-left radio stations have been using the A-Infos Radio Project and the IMC Radio Project for some time to distribute content. The quality of the productions range from excellent to useless, much like anything else. The productions are almost all politically-oriented, so not having read the article (a grand Slashdot tradition), I don't know if PRX also carries a larger proportion of music and PSAs.

Just in case there are still some Slashdotters who do not yet know dyne:bolic, please let me quote dyne:bolic website:

"dyne:bolic is shaped on the needs of media activists, artists and creatives, being a practical tool for multimedia production: you can manipulate and broadcast both sound and video with tools to record, edit, encode and stream, all using only free software!"

"dyne:bolic is a GNU/Linux distribution simply running from a CD, without the need to install anything, able to recognize most of your devices and periferals: sound, video, TV, network cards, firewire, usb devices and more."

"It is optimized to run on slower computers, turning it into a full media station: the minimum you need is a pentium1 or k5 PC 64Mb RAM and IDE CD-ROM, or a modded XBOX game console - and if you have more than one, you can easily do clusters."

Therefore, as you can clearly see, asking about dyne:bolic should be the very first question a self-respecting journalist would ask in any interview "on Linux art and usability." Otherwise such an interview is not even worth the screen it is printed on. For more interesting informations please visit dyne:bolic and media activists websites. There are many artists already using dyne:bolic. More informations about "GNU GPL free and opensource software by a rastafari programmer lost in babylon pioneering multimedia on GNU/Linux since 2000" can be found on the Rastasoft website. I believe Metin Amiroff should include the above informations in the next interview. I might add that simply googling for Linux art and following some links before making the interview might have found dyne:bolic in the first place. We certainly need more articles and interviews on the subject.

However, of note about VoteHere is that the E-voting activist Bev Harris (http://blackboxvoting.com) has few nice things to say about the company. San Francisco Indymedia is carrying her account of a recent encounter with the Secret Service over an alleged VoteHere hack.

And here's Bev Harris's opinion of VoteHere:

Okay, a word about VoteHere: This is the company that has no visible means of support. It doesn't seem to sell anything. Its board is heavily infested with defense industry types -- a former CIA director (Robert Gates, now heads George Bush School of Government); it had Admiral Bill Owens, also Vice-Chairman of SAIC and a member of the Defense Policy Board with Perle and Wolfowitz, a very close friend of Cheney; currently headed by former Washington Secretary of State Ralph Munro.

VoteHere announced that it would be releasing its software for review, back in July 2003. It was planning to release it in September, and was supposed to do so to Dr. David Dill's web site. It never released the code, just a bunch of literature about its product. (It did release some, but not all, of its code this month, making a big splash about it). About a week into October, I got solicited with an email "click this link" for VoteHere software.

Now who would fall for that? Why would anyone in their right mind grab the stuff in some clandestine manner when it was being released into the open momentarily? And this is a company that never sells anything. Who gives a sh*t anyway, what its software does? It now is trying to peddle yet another alternative to a voter verified paper ballot, an idiotic solution where we turn over auditing of the vote to a handful of cryptographers who work for a private company with defense industry ties. No one I know thinks that is even a viable concept, so why would we care to examine the software these cryptographers make up?

Well that 100 a year is also to protect you from some of our more insidious programming. We can release Pamela Lee Anderson at anytime, and the cad we "do not claim him as an original american but he does run a small state" Gov'ner Arnie. Who might as well be doing a television show with all the press he gets in sacramento.

"Let us hope that this sets a precedent to Americans to not litigate ourselves out of the science and technology markets"

For example, yet another lawsuit against the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant (what is this the tenth, twentieth, thirtieth?). The truth of the matter is that this is exactly the reason that the nuclear industry has shut down. Insurance costs are too high because people are sucessful at suing a plant so that it will never make any profits (Diablo Canyon) or voting it closed (Racho Seco Nuclear Power Plant).

Video of that quote and the Daily Show's coverage of it. (Appologies for Real Media format.)

I'm more than familiar with those links. The fact is NZ would love one of these even if this is the price to be paid.

You may also not be aware of this application causing a bit of a world wide stir.

If you had browsed the MED site a bit further you would have found this statement:

"IPONZ, when deciding whether or not to grant a patent, must give applicants the benefit of the doubt, and can only refuse to grant a patent if it is "practically certain" that a court would find the patent invalid. As a result patents which might be likely (but not almost certain) to be held invalid will be granted. The uncertainties and expense of challenging the validity of a patent mean that few patents are ever challenged. If patents are granted that the courts would find to be invalid, the rights enjoyed patent owners are greater than they are entitled to. These greater rights have the potential to restrict competition and raise prices to consumers, and may restrict the activities of local businesses that lack the resources to challenge the validity of the patent"

In summary, cheap and cheerful to get a patenthere and start setting a world precident/portfolia - pain in the arse and expensive to challenge it once granted.

Can you elaborate ?

What exactly leads you to think the Pentagon report may be wrong ? Why do you think I am jumping to conclusions bonehead ? I just said it could be the cause.

They said weather changes will come sooner than almost everybody expected.

The fact is that our weather is changing. Can you deny that ?

It's been happening for some years already. Read this, from 1999.

From there, things are getting worse. Islands in the South Pacific abandoned by their residents as their ground water turns salty; Connecticut-size bergs calving off the antarctic ice mass; record floods in Europe followed by more record floods. Across northern India this year, record-breaking heat storms arrived before the monsoon, raising the temperature to 123 degrees in the shade--so hot that the birds were dropping dead from the trees. You can read it all here

So, please, explain to me why I am a shallow thinker.

Trust me. You're safe. Hold your marches.

A look at the videos linked on this page will change your opinion.

That agreement was with the U.N. Are we the U.N.?

Attempt to assassinate Bush Sr.

Was that a response to us attempting to assassinate Saddam? Or, Kaddafi, or Castro, or [insert long list of U.S. successful and unsuccessful attempts to assassinate foreign leaders from South America to Asia]?

Giving aid and comfort to terrorists

Who? The U.S.? If it were that, then why not invade North Korea, or Iran, or Pakistan, or Saudi Arabia...etc? The answer is below.

Refusing to cooperate with the UN.

Again, are we the U.N.?

Being a rat-bastard tyrant

Finally, the honest answer. But, only partially honest. His daddy was made a fool by Saddam, and everyone knew that if Shrub got into office, the Iraqis would pay. Shrub's Secretary of the Treasury reports that plans for invading Iraq were in the making only within a few days of Shrub's theft of the election. If it were simply a matter of being a rat-bastard, there are plenty of others further along the road to bastard-hood: North Korea's loony leader for one. The problem is, no oil there, so no business drive to get there. Afghanistan proved a perfect, inarguable cause. Not for the one you think. True, Bin-Loonie was there, but that was simply the inescapable argument for invasion. If we could tame that country (only an asteroid dropped from space could achieve that), we could finally lay that oil pipeline we've been planning on for the past 30 years. Unfortunately, CNN and FauxNews channels don't cover this little bit of history, but we've been in a chess game with the Russians and Chinese for this bit of inhospitable land for quite a while. By the way, this is also why we're "friends" with Pakistan.

Simple failture of Washington/Baghdad diplomacy

No. Simple failure of Shrub Administration/U.N. diplomacy. His daddy was better at it, but this numbskull couldn't control his trigger finger. His only half-way feasable argument (even Powell had to excise some of the outright lies from the deceptive rhetoric he was forced to spew to the U.N.'s collective face) of Weapons of Mass Destruction have vanished into thin air, leaving a unpleasant odor that the rest of the world blames us for.

'they're trying to get nukes'

Again, why not invade Saudi Arabia, Iran, North Korea, or Pakistan? They're the biggest terrorist threats outside of Afghanistan. They've been attempting to get nuclear long before Iraq, and have actual terrorist ties. The reason is this was a personal vendetta and business agenda, and he used to this country to fulfill it. If he should force Iraq's oil wells within U.S. corporate controls in the process of taking revenge, all the better. This monkey has to go come November.

You're right in that Shrub didn't attack Iraq simply for Weapons of Mass Destruction. That's just what he used to sell it.

The truth is, the rest of the world was behind us going into Afghanistan because that's where t

The media only runs this because their corporate sponsor, Clorox, issues a press release about a study they happened to underwrite. Unlike reputable news sources, these so-called "media outlets" take the bait hook, line and sinker.

Every year we get a Fair and Balanced (don't sue me, Fox News Channel!) look at corporate-sponsored "studies" that do nothing but arouse fear in the genitals of normal citizenry.

I'd like to announce my continuing boycott of CNN and all other media outlets.

Sincerely,

College and Canada will not be options. In December 2001, Canada and the US signed a "Smart Border Declaration," which could be used to keep would-be draft dodgers in. Signed by Canada's Minister of Foreign Affairs, John Manley, and US Homeland Security Director, Gov. Tom Ridge, the declaration involves a 30-point plan which implements, among other things, a "pre-clearance agreement" of people entering and departing each country. Reforms aimed at making the draft more equitable along gender and class lines also eliminates higher education as a shelter. Underclassmen would only be able to postpone service until the end of their cur-rent semester. Seniors would have until the end of the academic year.

US Preparing for Military Draft in Spring 2005

$28 million has been added to the 2004 Selective Service System (SSS) budget to prepare for a military draft that could start as early as June 15, 2005. SSS must report to Bush on March 31, 2005 that the system, which has lain dormant for decades, is ready for activation. Please see website: http://www.sss.gov/perfplan_fy2004.html to view the SSS Annual Performance Plan - Fiscal Year 2004.

The Pentagon has quietly begun a public campaign to fill all 10,350 draft board positions and 11,070 appeals board slots nationwide.. Though this is an unpopular election year topic, military experts and influential members of Congress are suggesting that if Rumsfeld's prediction of a "long, hard slog" in Iraq and Afghanistan [and a permanent state of war on "terrorism"] proves accurate, the U.S. may have no choice but to draft.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article 51 46.htm

Congress brought twin bills, S. 89 and H.R. 163 forward this year, entitled the Universal National Service Act of 2003, "To provide for the common defense by requiring that all young persons [age 18--26] in the United States, including women, perform a period of military service or a period of civilian service in furtherance of the national defense and homeland security, and for other purposes." These active bills currently sit in the Committee on Armed Services.

US Preparing for Military Draft in Spring 2005

Mod parent +1 funny.

Since when do "independent news sites" need "business" at all?
Last time I checked indymedia was doing quite fine. Kuro5hin and others seem to do okay, too (some banner ads here and there, but that's just normal when you get some traffic).

Apparently in Texas the saying is: Fool me once, shame on... shame on you. ... ... You fool me, can't get fooled again.

Some coverage: Chicago Police case, Google News on the recent Iowa/Drake U thing

Don't be so sure of that. Powell's is currently suspect of screwing their workers over in regards to health benefits. I grew up in Portland, so I would usually default to ordering from Powell's (Portland folk are pretty loyal to their hometown). A few months ago, during the height of the socal grocery strike (laughable mess that it is - I know, I live in San Diego and got to watch the whole thing unfold first-hand), I found an independent media website that claimed the same behavior was occuring at good ol', loveable Powell's. That might not be true, but the behavior displayed by Powell's execs in response to a couple demonstrations was enough to raise my eyebrows. Puts a kink in your ideal, doesn't it. Next thing you know, the Kettle Chip family will be discovered supporting neo nazis ("Ein potato, ein bag, ein chip!"), Gardenburger will be fined for testing their patties on cute, furry animals, and the Coffee People folks will sell out to some Starbucks wannabe like Deidrich and trade in their campervans for Hummers. This is giving me flashbacks of that shitty Don Henley song, The Boys of Summer.

The link to the Boeing Solar Power Tower explains more of what you are looking for, but here's a quick bullet list:

1. It doesn't use solar panels, it uses concentrated solar heat at roughly 70% efficiency
2. It stores the heat in a reservoir of molten salt so it can continue to generate electricity under cloudy conditions and at night.
3. The basic infrastructure is exactly the same as a coal or gas fired plant. The cost today of a coal or gas plant is about $1/watt. The pilots of the power towers are running about $1.5/watt and are easily reduced to $1/watt under greater economies of scale.
4. The energy doesn't have to be distributed solely as electricity. Much of it could be converted to hyrdrogen and shipped or piped around the country.
5. Boeing is looking to sell these as peak-hour booster add-ons to existing gas, oil and coal plants. This will help buffer them against peak demand both in terms of energy demand and spot price so it helps them save money.
6. Of course it also helps to bridge the "valley of tears" between our current oil based economy and whatever we decide to replace it with.

Either oil is a finite resource or it's not. If it is, and we claim to know what are global reserves are, then knowing our current burn and growth rates combined with well understood economic models of what happens once you pass the half way point, we have a very good idea of what is going to happen in the next ten to twenty years.

Also, let's not forget:
To pump the water for our highly industrialized agriculture your nee quite a bit of energy
You need petrochemicals to create the fertiliers
You need lots and lots of diesel for the massive combines.

It's not a question of running out completely or getting down to 1/3 of reserves left. It's a question of getting to 1/2 of reserves left (where we are today) and what effect that has on the price (as you are fond of pointing out).

Many economists of the '80s and '90s (and still today) argue that for the United States to have a robust economy the price of a barrel of oil must stay at or below US$25. Well, how long has it been at $28, $30, $35? How long has this recession been going on? This is a cake-walk compared to what's coming.

Remember the thing spoken and agreed to in the privacy of the boardroom isn't a conspiracy, it's simply good business. ;-)

And as everyone knows, a coverup is not necessary, the credulity, ignorance and attention span of the American populace is enough.

One of the greatest things George W. Bush has done for us as a country and society is to have removed much of that credulity. Now all we have to do is solve the ignorance and attention problems.

"But I know if we don't find more product (oil) we're going to have a problem. "
George W. Bush

regards,
jsms iii