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The record industry is too anachronistic to have the foresight to create this solution themselves and are still obsessed with selling a solid medium (LPs, tapes, CDs), while treating its customers as criminals and artists as expendable commodities that can ignore paying royalties if they can help it

A brief look at the practices of the record industry reveals that they are the dishonest lot:

Apple earns less than a nickel per iTunes track

States settle CD price-fixing case

RIAA Continues Distributing Dud CDs to Satisfy Settlement

A music industry case study Shows how little the artist makes thanks to middle men like the record industry

Wal-Mart Wants $10 CDsRemember when CDs first came out and people said it was too expensive and the record industry promised that it would go below $10 eventually. Never happened

How Apple saved the music biz

FTC: Labels charged with price-fixing - again

Music Firms to Look Harder For Artists Owed Royalties Spitzer announced a settlement in which the nation's five largest recording companies promised to do a better job of tracking down and paying $50 million in unclaimed royalties to thousands of performers.

Finally, last night 2005-Sep-29 on Nightly Business Review (NBR) was a four part series on the music industry. It shows how iTMS allowed one relatively unknown electronica artist sell directly to her consumers with the iTMS . Her music was featured on NPR and then people all over the world wanted to download and listen to her music. Stores like iTMS are the great equalizer from years of abuse from the greedy record labels. "The Business of Music,"-Part 4: The Down Low On Download Distribution

From the Washington Post

From the Harvard Buisness School

From New Scientist

There are tons more out there.

Google's stock offering has been very carefully structured to give Larry and Sergei a lot more control[1] than the ordinary shareholding public (and besides, Google is still relatively closely held - the main shareholders of Google are its investors and they trust the founders+Eric Schmidt implicitly). In fact, the non-founding shareholders (mostly Kleiner Perkins and Sequoia) likely know that Google's 'goofiness' makes for good press and share price, and as long as the party continues they're unlikely to rock the boat.

[1] WaPo: After IPO, Google Founders Plan to Remain in Control

and now I'm in med school, training for a job that can't be outsourced.

Reality Check, let alone potential visa doctor attacks. H1B's are not just for computers.

Snippets:

        Three months ago, Howard Staab learned that he suffered from a life-threatening heart condition and would have to undergo surgery at a cost of up to $200,000 -- an impossible sum for the 53-year-old carpenter from Durham, N.C., who has no health insurance.

        So he outsourced the job to India.

        Taking his cue from cost-cutting U.S. businesses, Staab last month flew about 7,500 miles to the Indian capital, where doctors at the Escorts Heart Institute & Research Centre....replaced his balky heart valve....Total bill: about $10,000, including round-trip airfare and a planned side trip to the Taj Mahal.

        "The Indian doctors, they did such a fine job here, and took care of us so well," said Staab...

        Last year, an estimated 150,000 foreigners visited India for medical procedures, and the number is increasing at the rate of about 15 percent a year, according to Zakariah Ahmed...

        Although they are equipped with state-of-the-art technology, hospitals such as Escorts typically are able to charge far less than their U.S. and European counterparts because pay scales are much lower and patient volumes higher, according to Trehan and other doctors. For example, a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan costs $60 at Escorts, compared with roughly $700 in New York, according to Trehan.

        Moreover, he added, a New York heart surgeon "has to pay $100,000 a year in malpractice insurance. Here it's $4,000."

. . . .

True, it may not eliminate the entire need for local doctors, but it could glut the market for a long time.

because there isn't any 'other side'. ALL members of congress are on the take from special interests and nobody is going to seriously propose stopping it. And even if they did, the rest come down HARD on anyone who even speaks out of line

I just don't get it. Multi-billion dollar projects and/or pork just sail through Congress, but something that's actually producing some unique and useful (redundant?) data has to struggle for a few million dollars.

Must...stop...now...rant...coming...on...and...p olitical...aaarrrrgggg!

"How likely is it that Saddam Hussein was personally involved in the September 11 terrorist attacks? Would you say that it is very likely, somewhat likely, not very likely, or not at all likely?"

The 70% figure included the people that said both "very likely" and "somewhat likely". Of course, the media turns around and spins the results to say that 70% "believe the link"

Here is the source.

China is becoming one big free speech zone, George Bush style

The truth is that most of the "Asian Tiger" economies were under autocratic control during the initiation of their massive economic growth (South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore). However, all of those countries reached a point of economic development where autocratic control was no longer compatible with continued economic growth.

I suspect in about 10-20 years, China will reach that same level of economic development when the pressure to democratise will be unstoppable.

Already we see protests in China (more here) about environmental and labor issues. It is a matter of time...

"Sponsors insist that adding DNA from people arrested or detained would lead to prevention of some crimes, and help solve others more quickly." That is what concerns me. One of the tenets that the American legal system is built on is that the person is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. That right there shows me that we're guilty until proven innocent in the eyes of our legislators. ""What we're seeing over time is the equivalent of mission creep: Cases that would not be terrorism cases before Sept. 11 are swept onto the terrorism docket," said Juliette Kayyem, a former Clinton administration Justice official who heads the national security program at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government. "The problem is that it's not good to cook the numbers. . . . We have no accurate assessment of whether the war on terrorism is actually working.""
Taken from Washington Post
Out of all the so called terrorists arrests since 9/11 and the Patriot Act, there have been 180 cases that were brought to court that had no ties to terrorism at all. Out of the 142 that have been brought, only 39 have actually brought convictions. And only 14 of those convicted had any clear links to any kind of terrorist groups. The Patriot Act is nothing but a farce that allows for American civil liberties and rights to be stepped on.
This little exercise is another step in that direction. If I commit a crime and convicted of it, then feel free to add my DNA to a database that is intended for CRIMINALS, not CITIZENS, of the United States.

specific examples

four cases

Police and prosecutors blocked all attempts at DNA testing while Johnson was alive

prosecutors blocked dna testing of hair

prosecutors have successfully blocked the testing of DNA before an execution and then fought posthumous tests just as vigorously.

Why did the DA stop new DNA tests ?

frank lee smith

How about beatings and murder? http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/artic le/2005/09/23/AR2005092301897.html http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/artic le/2005/08/02/AR2005080201941_pf.html http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=163323 &pid=13644944

How about beatings and murder? http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/artic le/2005/09/23/AR2005092301897.html http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/artic le/2005/08/02/AR2005080201941_pf.html http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=163323 &pid=13644944

Putting panties on head is torture? A naked pyramid is torture? (I've known people who have paid for more) Where are the American rape rooms? How many hands of "dissidents" has GWB cut off.

Or beating him a uniformed officer for days, then smothering him to death: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/artic le/2005/08/02/AR2005080201941_pf.html

Or the stuff listed in Maj. Gen. Taguba's report:

• Breaking chemical lights and pouring the phosphoric liquid on detainees;
• Threatening detainees with a charged 9mm pistol;
• Beating detainees with a broom handle and a chair;
• Threatening male detainees with rape;
• Allowing a military police guard to stitch the wound of a detainee who was injured after being slammed against the wall in his cell;
• Sodomizing a detainee with a chemical light and perhaps a broom stick.
• Using military working dogs to frighten and intimidate detainees with threats of attack, and in one instance actually biting a detainee.

All under the supervision of unamed government agencies and "private" contractors. What kind of lunatic Army outsources military intelligence? Answer -- they don't. It's all just a dodge to get the dirty deeds out from under the military code, or CIA rules.

Dammit! Smug bastards like you drive me mad. You're so tough, signing off on the rough things that need to be done, without ever facing up to reality. Just google 'US' and 'torture' -- unless you believe the entire world and internet is involved in a conspiracy to smear the good name of Uncle Sam. http://www.cbc.ca/cp/world/050925/w092528.html http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/08/26/10934 56748705.html http://www.newsday.com/news/opinion/ny-ophar234437 651sep23,0,6341987.story?coll=ny-viewpoints-headli nes http://www.nwherald.com/MainSection/other/29837079 9741982.php We don't even need to go into the torture training in Paraguay, Uraguay, and at the School of the Americas.

Putting panties on head is torture? A naked pyramid is torture? (I've known people who have paid for more) Where are the American rape rooms? How many hands of "dissidents" has GWB cut off.

Or beating him a uniformed officer for days, then smothering him to death: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/artic le/2005/08/02/AR2005080201941_pf.html

Or the stuff listed in Maj. Gen. Taguba's report:

• Breaking chemical lights and pouring the phosphoric liquid on detainees;
• Threatening detainees with a charged 9mm pistol;
• Beating detainees with a broom handle and a chair;
• Threatening male detainees with rape;
• Allowing a military police guard to stitch the wound of a detainee who was injured after being slammed against the wall in his cell;
• Sodomizing a detainee with a chemical light and perhaps a broom stick.
• Using military working dogs to frighten and intimidate detainees with threats of attack, and in one instance actually biting a detainee.

All under the supervision of unamed government agencies and "private" contractors. What kind of lunatic Army outsources military intelligence? Answer -- they don't. It's all just a dodge to get the dirty deeds out from under the military code, or CIA rules.

Dammit! Smug bastards like you drive me mad. You're so tough, signing off on the rough things that need to be done, without ever facing up to reality. Just google 'US' and 'torture' -- unless you believe the entire world and internet is involved in a conspiracy to smear the good name of Uncle Sam. http://www.cbc.ca/cp/world/050925/w092528.html http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/08/26/10934 56748705.html http://www.newsday.com/news/opinion/ny-ophar234437 651sep23,0,6341987.story?coll=ny-viewpoints-headli nes http://www.nwherald.com/MainSection/other/29837079 9741982.php We don't even need to go into the torture training in Paraguay, Uraguay, and at the School of the Americas.

Cities, due to their density have much lower tranportation costs. It is much cheaper, per person, to get water and gas services to a single apartment building than 100 rural farms, or even 100 suburban homes. Virtually anything done in a city is cheaper per person than it is in rural areas.

Urban taxes pay for the network of roads and highways that make suburbs possible. Urban taxes pay the farm subsidizes. Urban taxes pay for public transit outside of cities. Urban taxes pay for rural schools and hospitals.

http://www.ewg.org/reports/gastaxlosers/analysis.p hp
http://www.ers.usda.gov/Briefing/Infrastructure/ov erview.htm
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/artic le/2005/07/05/AR2005070500594.html
http://www.techliberation.com/archives/015244.php
http://www.blueoregon.com/2005/03/joined_at_the_h. html

Several scientists and biological warfare experts said yesterday they were surprised by the revelation that a U.S. Army installation in Utah has been producing dried preparations of the Ames strain of the anthrax bacterium, the same strain found in letters to Sens. Thomas A. Daschle and Patrick J. Leahy.

Most said they believe the research was justified for defensive purposes. But several expressed dismay that the Army had never mentioned the work publicly before...

"If one can grow the Sterne strain in these units, one could also grow the Ames strain, which is quite lethal."

A clue ffor the clueless. Safe strains of anthrax are not nuclear. Just so you know and in case you are getting mixed up between "Nuclear" and "Safe Anthrax"

After all - the army lost a lot of anthrax four years ago.

Gotta replace it - never know when it'll come in handy!

The U.S. had best invade South Korea now. The combat robot plans are way, way ahead of where Iraq's nuclear weapons program was when Little George decided to invade. I mean, they've already got data in computers! All Iraq had was a few sheets of notebook paper.

That has more to do with /. than either of those two papers. They have reported on it, those articles just were just not linked to. Unless you are writing from China where these results may have been censored, a quick Google search reveals:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/artic le/2005/09/10/AR2005091001222.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/18/opinion/18sun3.h tml

The story was originally broken by the Washington Post (some sort of registration required, I suspect). They cite an FBI memo. At least at the Post they can spell correctly.

The Post says that many individual agents find this pretty ridiculous and humorous, and most of the body of the article is spent giving various people their say on how relevant the search for porn is. But one thing it does confirm is that this is going after regular porn ("obscenity") and not just the clearly criminal porn.

Sweden, which this year tried to put a Pentecostal pastor in jail for anti-gay (i.e. traditional Christain) views.

Canada, of course, where the most extreme form of political correctness is now law (is that country run by Vietnam-era draft dodgers and their descendants)?:

Advertisers in Canada also must adhere to a strict set of guidelines adopted voluntarily by the industry, but no less effective than the government regulations. Under their dicta, a national restaurant chain was recently forced to pull a television spot showing a helpless dad trying to prepare dinner for the kids (he eventually gives up and takes them out for burgers and fries). A hearing officer ruled that the commercial "reinforced negative stereotypes" about men that "cannot be excused by an attempt to engage in humor."

Washington Post, Steven Perlstein, December 12, 1999

Sadly even Britain is now about to pass a religious villification law. Even Slashdot referred to it though of course almost no-one here got the larger gist of the story.

Please remember my post when Slashdot again runs the yearly report from "Project Censored" about "under-reported" storied or the latest yearly index from Reporters San Frontiers which puts the US at 22 because reporters can be subpoenaed by courts (jailing anyone for "hate speech" doesn't matter when it comes to freedom of speech in neo-feudal Europe, I guess).

Does the Washington Post, or any other mainstream media outlet, publish a story whenever an exploit is released in the wild for Internet Explorer? In the last year, maybe if it is actually affecting some media companies. Otherwise no.

God, it appears we have to go all the way back to... well last month to find the last story about an unpatched security flaw on IE on the same washingtonpost.com blog by Brian Krebs, which frequently discusses security flaws.

Stop getting all defensive, just because he wrote about your beloved Firefox. It's not becoming.

Thanks, I've always been terrible at names. Allen was the big one that hit S Texas in 1980.

And TS Allison was responsible for the 2001 floods.

I was thinking of the 1983 Alicia that was Cat 3 when it hit. I had just moved to Dallas but my girlfriend still ived in Houston, and I visited the weekend after. There was not much loss of life but there was ankle-deep broken glass downtown, and lots of trees were still blocking minor streets.

Good historical summary here:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/weather/hurri cane/info/histhurr.htm

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A268 77-2005Mar11.html This article is a bit outdated but it was the first one I came across. The release time between theatrical release and the DVD release is growing shorter and shorter. The primary reason seems to be to save money on the huge marketing costs for theatrical release and DVD releases. $30 million seems to be average for big budget movies. If you look at http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=island05.h tm The Island's costs and performance you can see they lost a lot of money. The studio/distributor gets about 50% of the gross box office sharing the rest with the theater chain. The studio gets something like 80% of the opening weekend revenue and the percentage slides down each following week. But you've got to figure with all of the commercials you saw for this movie that the marketing cost at least $30 million. Stealth was another example of a poor performer. Both are likely candidates for a quick DVD release so that the studio can capitalize on people's memory and spend less on DVD marketing.

So, to make a long story short, expect a lot more movies on DVD in three months time.

It isn't just the cost; Georgia's scheme is seriously flawed in a number of ways. For example, there is currently no place in the city of Atlanta to get one of these cards. They have plans for opening one location in the near future. All told, there are roughly 150 (if memory serves) locations in the entire state where you can get these cards.

Let's say you're 68 years old and you live forty miles from the nearest ID registration area. You have no car, and you're living on a fixed income. There is no mass transit in your area, and to hire a cab would cost you three weeks' worth of "disposable" income. What do you do?

Let's say you're a twenty-two year old mother of two; your husband is stationed overseas. You're lucky to have time to brush your teeth in the morning, let alone spend seven hours of buses and queueing to get this ID card you'd only ever use to vote. Is it really worth sacrificing one rare day of vacation in the pursuit of a voter ID card rather than in the company of your kids?

The reality of life for millions upon millions of people in our country is that something that is so seemingly trivial to you or I is actually a fairly significant task. It just so happens that the folks who have the most trouble with this kind of thing tend to be poor, old, overworked and non-white.

I'm all for pulling ones' self up by the bootstraps, but you gotta have the boots in the first place. Go visit at our inner cities. Go visit our rural backwaters. Go speak to these Americans, and witness first hand just how hard life can be for your fellow countrymen. There exist people who, through no fault of their own, simply cannot afford to spend the time or money necessary to jump through hoops that you or I consider mere inconveniences.

Georgia's scheme is disenfranchisement coated in a thin layer of identity verification. Why else would a ten-year ID card ($35) cost significantly more than a five-year card ($20)? Shouldn't it cost the state less if they only need to process a voter once every 10 years rather than twice?

"Really? Name one. I'll wait.
Still waiting."

Jesus, give me a chance!

Ok, a quick Google srearch turns up:

How we survived jail hell (Observer, respected, non-tabloid British newspaper)

Britain frees all five former Guantanamo detainees (USA Today)

Returning Afghans Talk of Guantanamo (Washington Post)

British Guantanamo Terror Suspects Released Without Charge (ATSNN (?))

Men Held at Guantánamo Months After Deemed Innocent (New Standard News (?))

Guantanamo Bay Prisoners Complain of A Year Long Torture by US Military (globalpolicy.org (?))

And that was just on the first page.

Do I get my apology now?

"You're not going to get ANYWHERE arguing that individuals who have engaged in covert military action against the US aren't enemy combatants."

No, of course many of them were. However, the correct term for an opposing fighter taken prisoner in a war is "prisoner of war".

Classifying them as "enemy combatants" is a weak legal loophole designed solely to avoid the US's Human Rights obligations under the Geneva Convention.

"The "loophole" you describe has been used by other countries before"

As you said, name one.

You'll also not I'm not automatically assuming you're wrong, merely asking you to prove it. Because I don't know for sure you aren't.

This is careful and rational argument, and not just arrogantly assuming I'm automatically right. We try to do this where I'm from, although I know the US isn't big on it at the moment.

"and quite frankly, the people who are being detained violated the Geneva Conventions themselves by not clearly identifying themselves as combatants. When they did that they forfeited their protections."

I don't recall a passage or clause under the Geneva Accords that says you have to clearly identify yourself as a combatant, but if you show me an excerpt I'll concede this point.

Nevertheless, this is what a trial is for - to establish whether or not the person actually is guilty. If they're all denied a trial, how can the innocent ones be freed?

"C. If they're US citizens, then their first protection should be the CONSTITUTION, not some ridiculously weak loosley related aggreements between previously (and sometimes currently) warring countries."

How many of them are actually US citizens? As a member of "the rest of the world" (you guys remember that place, right?) you can do what you like with your own citizens, but as I recall most US-native citizens captured were dealt with quickly, and there were barely any of them. Likewise, citizens of other western powers had an expedited release or repatriation for judging in their own countries.

The remaining prisoners are mostly Afghani (or other nationalities that the US feels safe in upsetting), and they aren't going anywhere, not even to trial.

Oh, and the Geneva Convention rights aren't "weak" - they state explicitely what's allowed and what isn't. Humiliation, torture and unlawful imprisonment aren't allowed.

The only reason you think they're weak is because your government has (illegally and immorally) tried so damn hard to weasel out of them, and nobody else is big enough or brave enough to take on the biggest, most nuked-up, violent and paranoid bully in the world at the moment.

"You're a partisan shill. And the worst part

Sen. Dick Durbin from Illinois actually made reference to this guilty plea in Judge John Roberts' confirmation hearings in the Senate today.

What is this world coming to?

On an even lighter note, some of this kids' buddies - including AOL hacker YTcracker - have made up a pretty entertaining rap song about him.

In other words, not very much. Not all prisoners will ever be given the opportunity for a review - the Pentagon has already said as much and has said that it expects some to remain prisoners for life with no possibility of any court review, even on an internal level., Those who have been "processed" have been denied knowledge of the charges against them or the evidence against them. Indeed, nobody other than the top brass and the judges themselves know if any charges or evidence even exists in these cases. That falls a bit short of a right to a hearing.

Well, I am sure that you will be happy to hear that after much criticism from Amnesty International and the Democratic party, the DOD is planning to release roughly 80 percent of the detainees held at Guantanomo. I am sure that the detainees will be overjoyed to be going home to their native countries where they will be most definitely be treated in the most humane fashion (egypt, syria, saudi arabia, morroco). As they are sitting in their new filthy cells trying to pass the time between their regular torture sessions; I am sure that they are very grateful to all who protested their detention! They don't have to worry though; certainly all those who fought so viciously for their 'release' will be there, even though there is no political reward, to ensure they are treated well in their native lands. Ha.

Why don't you idiots understand that those people we are holding in Cuba are POWs? Do you think that we have them there for fun? During WWII, were there people like you calling for trials and the release diehard Nazi soldiers, or any german soldiers for that matter, before the war was over?

The Magna Carta is magnificent, as is our Constitution, but I fail to see how either document applies directly to enemy combatants. That being said, we have gone out of our way to make sure that we are not detaining anyone who is not a threat, Each detainee's status is routinely Administrative Review Board, and the detainee can appeal the ARB's decision by calling for a Combatant Status Review Tribunal. What more do you want?

The whole "war on terror" is one huge unholy mess. Hey, fighting terrorism is a good idea, but you can't fight terrorism with the weapons of terror. You've got to use other methods, where at all possible. The problem is, GWB has no interest in "other methods", which makes me think that he is more interested in the fighting than in the resolving.

So what weapons do you propose we fight with? A little love, and a little understanding? A little diplomacy? Against an enemy that has already proven its desire to see us annihilated? There is no mistaking the threat this time. The threat is a reality, Is your memory that short?

The following is the wording of the printed statement that Neville Chamberlain waved as he stepped off the plane on 30 September, 1938 after the Munich Conference had ended the day before:
"We, the German Führer and Chancellor, and the British Prime Minister, have had a further meeting today and are agreed in recognizing that the question of Anglo-German relations is of the first importance for our two countries and for Europe. We regard the agreement signed last night and the Anglo-German Naval Agreement as symbolic of the desire of our two peoples never to go to war with one another again. We are resolved that the method of consultation shall be the method adopted to deal with any other questions that may concern our two countries, and we are determined to continue our efforts to remove possible sources of difference, and thus to contribute to assure the peace of Europe." Chamberlain read the above statement in front of 10 Downing St. and said:
"My good friends, for the second time in our history, a British Prime Minister has returned from Germany bringing peace with honour. I believe it is peace for our time... Go home and get a nice quiet sleep."

U.S. Can Confine Citizens Without Charges, Court Rules
By Jerry Markon/Washington Post Staff Writer/Saturday, September 10, 2005; Page A01
A federal appeals court yesterday backed the president's power to indefinitely detain a U.S. citizen captured on U.S. soil without any criminal charges, holding that such authority is vital during wartime to protect the nation from terrorist attacks.
The ruling, by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit, came in the case of Jose Padilla, a former gang member and U.S. citizen arrested in Chicago in 2002 and a month later designated an "enemy combatant" by President Bush. The government contends that Padilla trained at al Qaeda camps and was planning to blow up apartment buildings in the United States. Padilla has been held without trial in a U.S. naval brig for more than three years, and his case has ignited a fierce battle over the balance between civil liberties and the government's power to fight terrorism since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. A host of civil liberties groups and former attorney general Janet Reno weighed in on Padilla's behalf, calling his detention illegal and arguing that the president does not have unchecked power to lock up U.S. citizens indefinitely.

I feel safer already.

Note that this is a ruling against a defendant, an American citizen, whose detention began in 2002, and who has not been charged. This ruling is not contingent on a formal declaration of war by Congress, since there obviously hasn't been one in this case. We are at war if the president says so, and once we are at war, he can throw any American citizen in jail for as long as he wants. He doesn't need to charge you with anything. (And while it may not be germane to this particular case, he can also have you tortured.)

And here's something else to note:

The 4th Circuit decision could also play a role in the debate over whom President Bush will nominate to the Supreme Court seat to be vacated by Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. The decision was written by Judge J. Michael Luttig, a favorite of conservative groups who is considered to be among the leading candidates for the nomination. He was joined in the ruling by judges William B. Traxler Jr. and M. Blane Michael, both Clinton administration appointees.

Sean Rushton, executive director of the conservative Committee for Justice, which was formed to support Bush's judicial nominees, said he doubted that Luttig's ruling would affect his chances. He pointed out that Luttig has issued strongly pro-government decisions in other terrorism cases since Sept. 11, including in the prosecution of convicted conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui.
"I'm not sure that we really knew anything new about Michael Luttig from this case," Rushton said.
But Cover said groups opposed to a potential Luttig nomination will carefully review the decision. "This gives our group, and I think many others, very serious concerns about his views on civil liberties and presidential powers," Cover said.

That name- J. Michael Luttig- is one to watch. (The other two judges should be ashamed of themselves, but as Clinton appointees I doubt they would seriously be considered for SC appointments.)

So much for "activist judges handing out rights that aren't in the Constitution". Even if they are in the Constitution they aren't handing them out these days!

printable version, all one page
coral cache

FEMA and the Federal government wanted to be there quicker, but the Constitution prevented them from acting.

You sir are a

fucking
brain-washed
moron.

The last link is to an article published by the Washington Post that repeats lies from an anonymous senior White House source that the Democratic governor Blanco was slow to declare a state of emergency. But the Washington Post was forced to issue a retraction that you can see at the top of the page.

The White House total fucks up the disaster relief ( Google "golden 72 hours"), then publicly denounces others for playing the "blame game" while an anonymous White House source spreads lies blaming the local and state governments.

Now almost a week later you are trying to spread the same lies on Slashdot. Shame on you!

If I could get "my" president to sign anything, it would be a letter of resignation.

Not sure if you've been paying attention, but our rights as citizens ain't what they used to be.

If I could get "my" president to sign anything, it would be a letter of resignation.

Not sure if you've been paying attention, but our rights as citizens ain't what they used to be.

"the U.S. population has a pretty open Christian community that respects a lot of views."


Like this?

and this?

and this?

and this?

and this?

and this?


Please, save your propaganda for people who are retarded enough to buy it.

What if it's not even the system being heterogeneous the problem? In this similar article it looks like it is the system's fault, not the configuration. I work with web development and I can say the different versions of products may always cause some headache. Maybe the so called D.C.Stars System is poorly developed, or wasn't tested properly, or both.

Large parts of the D.C. city government are both corrupt and incompetent. Think of it as New Orleans on the Potomac. Remember this is a population which saw videotape of Mayor Marion Barry smoking a crack pipe in a hotel room with his mistress and then re-elected him when he got out of jail.

In example, the officers and members of the Teacher's Union did not notice that five million dollars was missing. They didn't figure out something was wrong until union leaders were coming in to work wearing mink coats. Stuff like this happens all the time in D.C.

Teachers' Union Trial Nears End
URL:http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/a rticle/2005/08/18/AR2005081801769.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/artic le/2005/08/18/AR2005081801769.html

In the USA we are losing our constitution as well. The constitution is a piece of paper which has the value of toilet tissue. The real constitution is money.

A perfect example can be found here U.S. Can Confine Citizens Without Charges, Court Rules

Face it, the USA and the UK are a monarchy, or at least a monarchy of sorts. They always have been, voting never had anything to do with who wins or loses elections except perhaps on the local levels. He who controls the voting machine controls the elections, he who controls the money controls the voting machines, and the banks control the money.

If you want freedom, become a banker, become a stock broker, major in economics or business, get your MBA, and join the workforce. If you want to be a surf or a peasant, then keep losing your job and looking for new ones every few years.

Times are changing, and civil liberties are dead, accept it or move to another country.

You are assuming the EU emissons have declined. They haven't. In spite of all the Kyoto rah-rah, the EU and US emissions have risen virtually the same since 1990.

Japan and Canada's CO2 emissions have far outpaced the USs emissions in that same time period.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/artic le/2005/06/28/AR2005062801248.html

Actually the Washington Post confirms it via retraction.. but hey whatever you want to say.. you must know more since you live "in the general vicinity"..

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/artic le/2005/09/03/AR2005090301680.html

You didn't bother to read it obviously...
It indeed points to a retraction in a source I am sure you normally have no problem with:

from TFA: "The Post, citing an anonymous "senior Bush official", reported on Sunday that, as of Saturday, Sept. 3, Blanco "still had not declared a state of emergency"... when, in fact, the declaration had been made on Friday, August 26 -- over 2 days BEFORE Katrina made landfall in Louisiana. This claim was so demonstrably false that the paper was forced to issue a correction just hours after the original story appeared."

Here's a link to the retraction since you are apparently lazy:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/artic le/2005/09/03/AR2005090301680.html

But hey, cover your ears and start saying "la la la" I'm SURE it's not what you wanted to hear..

worried about waiting for approval from a clueless governor or a mayor who was stuck in a location with limited communication capacity

Look at the photo with the WaPo article (hint: look at the license plate).

Until a bipartisan investigation is complete, I'm hesitant to draw conclusions, but this article discussing Army Corps of Engineers funding in Louisiana makes some interesting points.

For example:

The Corps had been studying the possibility of upgrading the New Orleans levees for a higher level of protection before Katrina hit, but Woodley [administration official overseeing the Corps] said that study would not have been finished for years.

and...

Before Hurricane Katrina breached a levee on the New Orleans Industrial Canal, the Army Corps of Engineers had already launched a $748 million construction project at that very location. But the project had nothing to do with flood control. The Corps was building a huge new lock for the canal, an effort to accommodate steadily increasing barge traffic.

Except that barge traffic on the canal has been steadily decreasing.

How about...
Bloomberg, ZDnet, Financial Times, BBC, Reuters, USAToday, or Washington Post?

What would happen if it said "Sorry but because you're black you can not use this website" ?

Yeah, that would be an issue...

I hope that last line was sarcastic, because to be honest, George Bush simply doesn't care about black people. Except when they pose a threat to him, in those cases, he'll deny them their legal rights.

Some may think this is flame-bait, but I'm being deadly serious. When he doesn't care about black people, what makes you think he's going to care about an even smaller minority (the non-IE users) of America?

Have you tried CNN.COM or The Palm Beach Post or Newsmax or The Washington Post or how about USA Today.

In case you think any of those are too Bush friendly try out the New York Times.

Outside of media sources there is also the Wiki entry.

As for the panhandle disenfranchisement try:

Newsmax again.

Or the US Senate investigation.

As for the disenfranchisement of voters through poorly created criminal lists try:

Common Dreams (reprinting a Palm Beach Post article)

John Lott (you can read the whole thing but his conclusion sections should do)

Essentially the criminal lists did little to affect the vote, and most calls of African American disenfranchisement (the Democrats backbone support) were actually due to a disproportionally high vote rejection rate in 'Black districts', not the lists. But as several reviews have shown, these were do to voter error in marking their ballots, not any particular attempt to actively disenfranchise them. And before you try to make a case that they used different style ballots in 'Black Districts' (which was the case in some areas) remember, those districts, being predominately Democrat, were run by Democratic election boards who designed those ballots.

There was a good site that summarizes all the various debates, but I can't seem to find it right now. If I do I'll reply with a link. As for the Supremes roll in all this, it's pretty much a a moot point but if you want to dig further at least 7 justices saw some problem with the way the Florida Supreme Court had ordered the count to go forward, and at least 3 saw the December 12th deadline as an important part of their decision. They vast majority had issues with the lower courts rulings but each of the SCJs had a different idea as to what the solution should be.

The Washington Post thinks that "This service is an embarrassment to the company that gave the world the Walkman.".

The impact however, which Sony has on culture, society and laws is certainly no laughing matter.

*) Don't bother if you are not using IE; I quote from the link:

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