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You can contact the Senator here, though it might be useful to restrict comments to civil discourse about things like due process and vigilante-ism rather than just name-calling and ranting.

From:

Senator Hatch married the former Elaine Hansen of Newton, Utah. They are the proud parents of six children and have twenty grandchildren.

I wonder how many of his kids' and grandkids' PC's would be wrecked?

"Washington Post reports that the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Orrin Hatch from Utah, said Tuesday he favors developing new technology to remotely destroy the computers of people who illegally download music from the Internet. A notably quote: "If that's the only way, then I'm all for destroying their machines. If you have a few hundred thousand of those, I think people would realize [the seriousness of their actions]". Hatch has a personal interest, since I'm sure his music is pirated on a regular basis. ;)"

Just thought people might appreciate other links and such...guess I should've submitted it a couple minutes earlier....oh well :)

DAILY REMINDER: Hillary Clinton doesn't just stand by...she actively works to offshore American High-Tech!

DAILY REMINDER: Hillary Clinton doesn't just stand by...she actively works to offshore American High-Tech!

There is a tax sweet spot that maximizes GDP growth.

On the contrary, plotting the tax rates of various jurisdictions against their growth rates yeilds a correlation below 0.1.

It sure the hell isn't 70% like it was in the bad old days.

Where, on Neptune?

DAILY REMINDER: Hillary Clinton doesn't just stand by...she actively works to offshore American High-Tech!

A US-only law would still shut down at least half of the worst spammers. But more importantly, Senator Schumer is proposing both a US law and an international treaty.

If you'd like to see it passed, ask your Senator to cosponsor

DAILY REMINDER: Hillary Clinton doesn't just stand by...she actively works to offshore American High-Tech!

Maybe the fact that there is no available information about this hearing means that it's not really important.

Or the lack of available info on this may show that it was trying to be slipped in under the radar of those who are speaking about the "Dark Side" being not as dark as they think. I'm sure there are tons of committee hearings that we don't hear about on /. afterall. This one just happens to be about a subject talked about here frequently, and a bunch of Senators are getting to talk about it. I can't think of a reason the time and place of it should be posted here. After all, no one on /. can see what Senators are on the committee and call them, no one on /. lives in DC, and no one watches the news anyway.

It's not like we can do anything to contribute. Much better to moan about it on /.

DAILY REMINDER: Hillary Clinton doesn't just stand by...she actively works to offshore American High-Tech!

DAILY REMINDER: Hillary Clinton supports the offshoring of American High-Tech! Fuck you, Hillary!

Go here. Joe should be able to do something.

Thank you Senator Byrd for your patriotism through challenging
the Bush regime

Cheers,
W00t

Senator Brownback supports legislation the protect our rights to copy DVDs, but at the same time, supports legislation to abolish our rights to copy Humans.

Hey, it's my DNA, if I want to rip it to another fleshpod, that's my right. d00d!

Well I for one sent Senator Brownback a nice note.

I may not be one of his constituents, but I figure maybe if he gets enough of a possitive response
he'll know it's in his best interest to keep supporting the little guy, and hopefully some other politicians will get the idea.

You can send him email here:
http://brownback.senate.gov/CMEmailMe.htm

Either Verizon, as others have mentioned, or perhaps his older children (scroll to the bottom for a family photo).

"Daddy, you and your buddies are making lousy laws. Stop it!" in that whiney teenage voice can be pretty persuasive. "I'll promise to get off the phone more if you do something about it". "Repeal the DMCA or I'll pierce my tongue, and YOU CAN'T STOP ME".

we should write to thank him. his senate home page is here.

He seems to be quite good, and in many ways opposite certain cenators such as Hollings. (doesn't mean I think hes the greatest at all, but from our evolution-not-required state, certainly beats some states.)

This is also known as guilty until proven innocent, for those of us that may show up as a false-positive on the illegal P2P scale.

Even more interesting, as mentioned in the News.com article, is a related story from yesterday morning that I missed. It seems the Republicans are getting it right... or at least are trying to. Republican Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas is seeking to regulate how digital rights management (DRM) is incorporated into consumer products. Also, the proposed bill would require that a copyright holder gets permission from a judge before receiving the name of any alleged illegal P2P user.

Of course, DRM goes against everything I believe in, but any kind of regulation of how this technology is deployed is a step in the right direction. Allowing the marketplace to intelligently decide what amount (if any) of copy protection is reasonable is a Good Thing.

It's not just an opinion poll, it's a legislative proposal designed to make real reforms. The petition gives populists cluebies something to work with. Ideally when you write your congressperson you can point to a specific piece of legislation. That is far more effective than just expressing your opinion an issue that in all likelihood has not even registered as blip on your congresscritter's radar.

You can search for bills here.

If you REALLY care about this, and you're a U.S. citizen, don't just sign an online petition - write (or at least call) your Congresscritters. The websites for the House of Representatives and Senate will both help you immediately find who your representatives are and how to contact them.

According to Salon (ad clickthrough required), John McCain has scheduled a hearing of the Senate Commerce Committee for this Wednesday. All 5 commissioners including Powell will be there. Your opinions can be sent to Sen. McCain here. The Commerce Committee's listing is here. While it does include Fritz Hollings (D-Disney) It also includes such high-profile opponents as Olympia Snowe (Maine) and Ted Stevens (Alaska). Congress can still stall this. It isn't over yet.

According to Salon (ad clickthrough required), John McCain has scheduled a hearing of the Senate Commerce Committee for this Wednesday. All 5 commissioners including Powell will be there. Your opinions can be sent to Sen. McCain here. The Commerce Committee's listing is here. While it does include Fritz Hollings (D-Disney) It also includes such high-profile opponents as Olympia Snowe (Maine) and Ted Stevens (Alaska). Congress can still stall this. It isn't over yet.

The U.S. spends a fraction of its budget on defense. The U.S. spends more than half the budget on Social Security and Medicare, which are "feeding people" by your definition.

* Total spending will grow from $2.140 trillion in 2003 to $2.229 trillion in 2004, an increase of $89 billion or 4.2 percent.

* Total revenues will grow from $1.836 trillion in 2003 to $1.922 trillion in 2004, an increase of $86 billion or 4.7 percent. (These figures include an "adjustment for revenue uncertainty" of -$25 billion in 2003 and -$15 billion 2004).

* The projected budget deficit of $304 billion in 2003 (2.8 percent of GDP) will grow to $307 billion in 2004 (2.7 percent of GDP), before eventually falling to $190 billion by 2008 (1.4 percent of GDP). Deficits in every year are well below historical highs of the 1980's (6 percent of GDP in 1983) and the 1990's (4.7 percent of GDP in 1992).

* Publicly-held debt will equal $3.878 trillion by the end of 2003 (36.1 percent of GDP) and $4.166 trillion by the end of 2004 (36.9 percent of GDP), eventually reaching $5.003 trillion by the end of 2008 (36.4 percent of GDP).

* Total discretionary spending will grow from $751.8 billion in 2003 to $782.2 billion in 2004, an increase of $30 billion or 4 percent, no faster than the average family's income will grow.

* Defense discretionary spending will grow from $382.2 billion in 2003 to $399.2 billion in 2004, an increase of $17 billion or 4.4 percent.

* Homeland security discretionary spending will grow from $26.7 billion in 2003 to $28.2 billion 2004, an increase of $1.5 billion or 5.5 percent.

* All other discretionary spending will grow from $342.9 billion in 2003 to $354.8 billion in 2004, an increase of $11.9 billion or 3.5 percent.

President George W. Bush in his State of the Union address spoke of the bold steps our nation must take to meet the many challenges we face: to create and sustain economic growth in the aftermath of a recession, a dramatic stock market decline, and corporate scandal; to win the ongoing war against terrorism; to improve and strengthen our homeland defense; and to provide high-quality affordable health care for all Americans. The President's budget request translates those bold steps into the reality of dollars and cents.

* Total spending will grow from $2.140 trillion in 2003 to $2.229 trillion in 2004, an increase of $89 billion or 4.2 percent.

* Total revenues will grow from $1.836 trillion in 2003 to $1.922 trillion in 2004, an increase of $86 billion or 4.7 percent. (These figures include an "adjustment for revenue uncertainty" of -$25 billion in 2003 and -$15 billion 2004).

* The projected budget deficit of $304 billion in 2003 (2.8 percent of GDP) will grow to $307 billion in 2004 (2.7 percent of GDP), before eventually falling to $190 billion by 2008 (1.4 percent of GDP). Deficits in every year are well below historical highs of the 1980's (6 percent of GDP in 1983) and the 1990's (4.7 percent of GDP in 1992).

* Publicly-held debt will equal $3.878 trillion by the end of 2003 (36.1 percent of GDP) and $4.166 trillion by the end of 2004 (36.9 percent of GDP), eventually reaching $5.003 trillion by the end of 2008 (36.4 percent of GDP).

* Total discretionary spending will grow from $751.8 billion in 2003 to $782.2 billion in 2004, an increase of $30 billion or 4 percent, no faster than the average family's income will grow.

* Defense discretionary spending will grow from $382.2 billion in 2003 to $399.2 billion in 2004, an increase of $17 billion or 4.4 percent.

* Homeland security discretionary spending will grow from $26.7 billion in 2003 to $28.2 billion 2004, an increase of $1.5 billion or 5.5 percent.

* All other discretionary spending will grow from $342.9 billion in 2003 to $354.8 billion in 2004, an increase of $11.9 billion or 3.5 percent.

* The President's request includes $15.5 billion for NASA, a $469 million (3.1 percent) increase over the 2003 request.

* The request includes $6.1 billion for Space Flight (less than a 1 percent increase), $4 billion for Space Science (15.5 percent increase), $1.6 billion for Earth Science (3.6 percent reduction), $973 million for Biological & Physical Research (6.6 percent increase), $959 million for Aeronautics (1.1 percent increase), and $170 million for Education (6.3 percent increase).

* The President requests $500 million for the Election Assistance Commission in 2004, a 25 percent increase above the amount the President requested last year for 2003. The funds would be issued to states in the form of grants to purchase modern voting equipment.

we need your help

About a month ago, I started sounding optimistic about getting a bill introduced into Congress to help right the wrong of the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act. I was optimistic because we had found a congressperson who was willing to introduce the bill. But after pressure from lobbyists, that is no longer clear. And so we need help to counter that pressure, and to find a sponsor.

The idea is a simple one: Fifty years after a work has been published, the copyright owner must pay a $1 maintanence fee. If the copyright owner pays the fee, then the copyright continues. If the owner fails to pay the fee, the work passes into the public domain. Based on historical precedent, we expect 98% of copyrighted works would pass into the public domain after just 50 years. They could keep Mickey for as long as Congress lets them. But we would get a public domain.

The need for even this tiny compromise is becoming clearer each day. Stanford's library, for example, has announced a digitization project to digitize books. They have technology that can scan 1,000 pages an hour. They are chafing for the opportunity to scan books that are no longer commercially available, but that under current law remain under copyright. If this proposal passed, 98% of books just 50 years old could be scanned and posted for free on the Internet.

Stanford is not alone. This has long been a passion of Brewster Kahle and his Internet Archive, as well as many others. Yet because of current copyright regulation, these projects -- that would lower the cost of libraries dramatically, and spread knowledge broadly -- cannot go forward. The costs of clearing the rights to makes these works available is extraordinarily high.

Yet the lobbyists are fighting even this tiny compromise. The public domain is competition for them. They will fight this competition. And so long as they have the lobbyists, and the rest of the world remains silent, they will win.

We need to your help to resist this now. At this stage, all that we need is one congressperson to introduce the proposal. Whether you call it the Copyright Term Deregulation Act, or the Public Domain Enhancement Act, doesn't matter. What matters is finding a sponsor, so we can begin to show the world just how extreme this debate has become: They have already gotten a 20 year extension of all copyrights just so 2% can benefit; and now they object to paying just $1 for that benefit, so that no one else might compete with them.

If you believe this is wrong, here are two things you can do: (1) Write your Representative and Senator, and ask them to be the first to introduce this statute; point them to the website http://eldred.cc, and ask them to respond. And even more importantly, (2) blog this request, so that others who think about these issues can get involved in the conversation.

I have given this movement as much as I can over the past four years, and I will not stop until we have reclaimed the public domain. Stay tuned for more litigation, and more ideas from Creative Commons. But please take these two steps now.

I just wish Larry would mention Gutenberg more...

The iLoo marks one attempt to create an environment where the internet is everywhere. It was a brave attempt - other attempts have focussed on relatively unusable systems such as bringing the internet to pocketable phones, an exceedingly expensive mechanism that does not deliver what it attempts to do due to the limitations of the medium. Airports have experimented, with moderate success, at providing Internet terminals, and also at 802.11 based systems - though in that case, taking advantage of the high number of laptops owned corporately and the high number of corporate users of air travel. More universal 802.11 solutions are doomed - at least until the development of a $199 Apple iBook.

Putting the Internet everywhere will be a difficult task. An environment needs to be fostered where relatively expensive equipment can be placed in public safely and profitably. This means thinking laterally, and Microsoft has, for once, done so with the iLoo. Systems may eventually be developed that provide usable Internet terminals on public transport or in shops or photobooths. The ideas about where cannot be limited except by trying and failing. But it's inevitable that ideas will not be tried if they're laughed at before they can even be tested. This quagmire of laterally thought ideas not being raised for fear of ridicule will not disappear by itself. 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 the Internet is important to you, and that universal access, both geographically and sociologically, is vital to the Internet's future and to the many billions of people who rely upon the Internet in their daily lives. Tell them that you appreciate the work being done to bring the Internet out of the offices and homes to where it can be reached by everyone, by groups such as Microsoft, VoiceStream, Palm, and Apple but that if they are unable to bring ideas even to the prototyping stage, 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 cramping creativity when it comes to opening the Internet 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 polices on Universal Internet Access .

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.

Let's not forget that Billy Tauzin was one of the two Congressmen involved in the Tauzin-Dingell bill, which was previously covered on Slashdot. If you recall, this was the bill that would make it legal for the Baby Bells to offer DSL over their own lines, but not open their lines to other providers, such as Covad.

Tauzin is unfortunately pretty much in the pocket of telecom and marketing companies. If you don't agree with this seemingly pro-spam legislation, call your congressional representatives today!

Some synopses:

• REDUCE: Rep. Zoe Lofgren and Professor Lawrence Lessig's plan to set a bounty for citizens catching spammers
• CAN-SPAM: Sen. Conrad Burns et al, requires valid headers and working opt-out, but doesn't allow private lawsuits
• Do-Not-Spam: Sen. Chuck Schumer's proposal covers everything from CAN-SPAM plus has a national do-not-email registry and bans address harvesting.

Some synopses:

• REDUCE: Rep. Zoe Lofgren and Professor Lawrence Lessig's plan to set a bounty for citizens catching spammers
• CAN-SPAM: Sen. Conrad Burns et al, requires valid headers and working opt-out, but doesn't allow private lawsuits
• Do-Not-Spam: Sen. Chuck Schumer's proposal covers everything from CAN-SPAM plus has a national do-not-email registry and bans address harvesting.

> Too bad he's going down such a low path so soon in his carear.

He's an attourney offering his services to a client who thinks it has been damaged. I think his client is a scumbag, and perhaps he is too, but I would probably do the same thing if I thought it would help my career, since I don't think it's unethical to offer a fair trial. Let the courts decide the laws. Unfortunately for him, I think he is going to fall flat on his face with this one.

There are forms of peaceful protesting you can do to encourage those who would support the spam "industry", like signing affilated individuals up for as much spam as you can find. It might not change anything, but at least you can be assured they have to deal with the garbage they are defending.

You could always write your senators or representatives.

[Quoted from a former Slashdot post:]

Do yourself a favor. When writing your congressperson or representative:

1. Don't troll
2. Don't flame
3. Don't start with "I didn't vote..", or, especially, "I didn't vote for you, but..."
4. Above all, write intelligently.

Computer games can affect people on many different levels. There's the meta-effect, where a person sees something occur in a computer programmer and thinks "What the blazes?" and is inspired to work out how it works, how it can be replicated, how the technique can be used in other applications. There's the deliberate effect, where a game can promote a point of view or a a view of the world that makes someone's mind click and say "I understand that". The great strategy games, with Sid Meyer standing proudly in the center, have influenced me there, but other, more ordinary games, can often influence in much the same way. Games can also mentally challenge - Lemmings taught us to solve puzzles in real time, adventures did similarly, and the games that have followed Doom and forerunners like Hired Guns have provided us with a new level of real time problem solving.

The mind is exercised by those flashes of light on screen. Like a lightbulb appearing over one's head, computer games can illuminate the dark crevises of the mind, putting them to work for all of us. Unfortunately, not everyone sees the world that way. Efforts are often made to discredit computer gamery as a mind device. Attacks from procensorship groups are common, and while the games industry is not yet as heavily regulated (voluntarily or otherwise) as, say, the movie industry, it's merely a matter of time. Already computer games are typically more regulated than the music industry, and without an RIAA like organization to defend computer game manufacturers, that trend is likely to get worse. Indeed, whereas the RIAA, and Hilary Rosen, has done an astronishingly successful job of countering lobbying to censor music through a combination of token solutions ("Parental Advisory" labels and such) and aggressive pro-speech counter lobbying, the ASPA and ESPA and other similar groups have gone far beyond even the MPAA on self-labelling and have done little to promote the notion that games, like music, films, and literature, are a form of speech; indeed that you cannot "censor" without there being speech to censor.

The games industry lacks an affective defender, and without one, attacks on "violence" and sex in computer games will continue until a legislative disnification of games becomes inevitable. The choice between Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo will become a fight where only the names are different.

This quagmire of games becoming censored in the absense of an affective lobbying organization which becomes more unlikely to be effective as games become more and more censored will not disappear by itself. Unless people are prepared to 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 computer games are a form of speech, that they impart ideas and ways of thinking, and that they inspire people to do things they'd otherwise never do. Tell them that you appreciate the work of groups like the ASPA and ESPA to combat attempts at censorship by the imposition of voluntary ratings but that if groups like these continue to fail to focus on the speech aspects inherent in computer games, and as such games merely become more and more neutered, you will be forced to use less and less secure and intelligently designed alternatives. Tell them that you believe the world would be a better place with more groups following the lead of successful free speech lobbyests like the RIAA. 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 censorship everywhere, in computer games a

This is my Frist post.

Sincerely,

Senator Bill Frist
Write Your Senator

Ever heard of Federal Prison Industries? They don't do software, but they undercut the private sector in plenty of other commercial markets.

>Look, I'm a lot more likely to accept claims made by people with PhDs and 60 years of experience in this stuff than random slashdotters as far as how much food we have for people, BUUUT, that being said, I was only posting quotes from the show.

Granted. Regardless of what alphabet soup you have trailing your name, its hard to fully quantify how much food is made worldwide, its not like everyone who makes food reports to a central authority or anything. I've heard estimates both ways.

Yeah, Greenepeace is probably a little overzealous. I'm trying to remember where it was that I heard someone talking about the wisdom that his father had passed on to him, that it's necessary to have extremists to some extent on both sides to help keep the majority of the population in check... with only arch-conservative or only ultra-liberal factins who speak out (which is really what the majority of the world doesn't do, and that is speak out) the people wouldn't have a difference of opinion to choose from. Anti-government and anti-capitalist forces are necessary, I think anyway, to continually challenge existing systems so they don't become decadent.

>Greepeace is a corporation themselves, and they suck, in too many ways to describe. I think the biggest one is, though, that they LIE, and not just a little, a LOT and OFTEN.

Greenpeace is not for profit organization, which isn't to say that they don't have an agenda (they do) or that they always tell the truth (they don't) but they don't really have a product to sell. They're an activist group like the ACLU on the libertarian side politically or the Christian Coalition on the authoritarian side. As for the lying, not to use the excuse that "everyone does it" but the truth is everyone in politics and economics does do it, intentionally or unintentionally, since they have an adgenda and varying degrees of ethics in achieving said adgenda. I don't think its right to hold them to a higher standard than, oh, another few entities.

I know they're just quotes, but I think it was Orwell who said something about blind reproduction of quotes, stastics, and figures lets others do the thinking for you. Food for thought ^_^.

The worst of the bunch, Fritz Hollings is a Democrat. This is not a republican vs. democrat issue. It's us against them!

I don't think Congress should be regulating the Internet at all; besides the fact that any American laws have little to no effect outside of the US, letting Congress decide what information can flow freely seems like the start of a slippery slope.

Please define INFORMATION. I read this bill as simply outlawing a kind of fraud: false or misleading subject headers or transmission headers. (Read US Senate Bill 877.) What exactly is the objection to this?

Express your view of this legislation by writing a US Senator. If you have US Senate representation, please : write your senators Encourage others to write.

For you Americans out there who plan to talk with their Senators & Representative (or staffers thereof), it'll probably be a good idea to tell them the problem is with

DARPA Grant F30602-01-2-0537,

After the phone calls (or instead of, for The Majority Of The World), send money to the OpenBSD donation site (It's the third ``purchase'' from the top). You can even buy yourself a goodie or two while you're there.

My money's on the way already. I wonder how much of the grant we can replace. Now for those phone calls...

Best wishes,

Max Hyre

There are a couple of good sites.

• thomas
• senate

Since foreign diplomats owe NY City $22 Million in back parking tickets I don't think anybody should complain about the timeliness of US dues.

Left or Right or Wrong, it doesn't matter. Okay, so Republicans ultimately favore life over liberty, and Democrats ultimately favor liberty over life (this is an oversimplified generalization given the comments I've read here so far). Neither is more admirable than the other, and the constant bickering between the two sides is exactly what our system of government is designed to facilitate.

The result is a continuous national awareness of threats to both our lives and liberties, and therefore the best possible protection of either given assaults on the other. Sure, the balance fluctuates, but it is exactly that flucuation that keeps us aware of our political discontents. Isn't this exactly what we want?

I found the submission extremely biased and full of rhetoric. Congressional Republicans? Give me a break. I don't see Democrats fighting for my rights any more than Republicans. Look for yourself, Democrats passed the Patriot Act too. Remember we can get screwed from both sides of the isle.

And finally, please do not just complain and Slashdot, write a letter to a Congresscritter, inform others, and vote. The system will not fix itself.

Getting feedback to companies like DirecTV is a tricky situation as it's rarely easy to determine who the information should go to. As if this isn't enough, for the most part any large company has little chance of telling apart sincere customer requests from background noise. If many customers suddenly demand a product be released, or another dropped, what's to say that this isn't because of a mention on talk radio, or because of the behaviour of a competitor?

This quagmire of companies being unable to ask all the questions they need, and of customers being unable to provide the kind of feedback giant corporations need to continue to provide quality goods and services at affordable prices will not disappear by itself. 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 choice, quality services, and economical pricing is important to you, and that you worry that many businesses are crippled by being unable to understand what it is that their customers want. Tell them that you appreciate the work being done to promote loops of feedback, through clearly marked feedback email addresses and constant customer surveys but that if corporations continue to be unable to supply you with what you want and need because of a lack of awareness, 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 poor communications, bad feedback loops, and talk radio 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 ability to make giant, unaccountable, corporations provide the goods and services that make this country great.

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.

So yes, Bush ahd a LOT to do with this particularly foul piece of legislation.
Fact: PATRIOT enjoyed nearly unanimous support in congress. The Senate had only one vote against PATRIOT (roll call here). The House had four votes against PATRIOT.(roll call here). Incidentally, one Democrat and four Republicans voted against PATRIOT.

In other words: the left have as much to be ashamed of on this one as the center and right. Stop being a political shill and start thinking for yourself. Bush-hating and liberal-bashing are two sides of the exact same coin: substituting soundbites for substance. Don't accept the "party line" because 9 of 10 times it's horse poo-poo.

$G

Here.

Or here.

Regardless though, one one should be surprised. This is from an administration that employees criminals like Poindexter. The US is also in a war, and has regarded itself as being in one since the September 11 massacre. To win wars, civil liberties are infringed upon.

You can be upset, but don't pretend to be surprised.

Then who was in favor of the USAPATRIOT act?
Everyone but Russ Feingold (D) in the Senate. Four Republicans voted against in the House (I guess the right was the smallest bit more opposed). There were a total of five votes against Patriot - four "right wing" and one "left wing".

There you go , thats his contact page

http://wyden.senate.gov/contact.html

A small appreciation can go a long way.

Need "prof"? (Or is it "prooof"? We seem to be playing fast and loose with vowels today) Check out figure 2 of this article. U.S. Energy Consumption per Dollar of Output has been dropping since the early 70s. In particular, the US GDP now requires only 7000 BTU per dollar of production versus 15000 BTU in 1973.

The big reason for this has been the change in the US economy from an industrial/manufacturing economy to one that is more service and intellectual-property based. In other words, the US doesn't directly rely as much on resources such as steel and oil as it once did, because our major industries don't require as much as they once did.

This isn't to say that the US doesn't require these raw materials, and sure, if all the petrochemicals in the world suddenly magically disappeared, then the US (and everyone else) would be hurting, but my point is that the US economy is better able to tolerate changes in supply/price in these prices.

The articles that were linked to in the posting that I responded to claimed that the US is only invading iraq in order to secure oil resources in order to finance that US military. But in the 70s and 80s, when the US economy was MUCH more sensitive to oil price shocks, the US economy was still able to support a higher percentage of defense spending. Today, with a smaller percentage of defense spending, and less sensitivity to oil price changes, then claiming that the US is only going in to save its own economy is ludicrous.