November 5, 2008
HOPE
If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer.It’s the answer told by lines that stretched around schools and churches in numbers this nation has never seen, by people who waited three hours and four hours, many for the first time in their lives, because they believed that this time must be different, that their voices could be that difference.
It’s the answer
[…] continued
October 29, 2008
FIVE MORE FRIENDS
October 1, 2008
FIVE FRIENDS
March 23, 2007
NSL GAG ORDERS
On March 9 the Justice Department’s inspector general revealed that the FBI has been systematically abusing its expanded power to issue “national security letters” and obtain private information about US citizens and residents from telephone companies, Internet service providers, banks, credit providers, and other businesses.
Between 2003 and 2005 the FBI issued more than 140,000 specific demands, without a showing of probable cause or prior judicial approval, to obtain potentially sensitive information about U.S. citizens and residents. That number was significantly underreported to Congress each year.
Among the problems identified by the report are sloppy and inconsistent recordkeeping by the […] continued
October 6, 2004
THE INTERNET AND THE VICE-PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE
An amusing technology note from the debate last night. Dick Cheney responded to charges about Halliburton by urging viewers to go to “factcheck.com, an independent Web site sponsored by the University of Pennsylvania, [to] get the specific details with respect to Halliburton.”
Cheney misspoke. He meant “factcheck.org.”
The owner of factcheck.com is not a Bush fan. When they learned about the misstatement, they immediately caused a click on factcheck.com to be redirected to georgesoros.com, with the banner headline, “Why we must not re-elect President Bush: a personal message from George Soros.” (Update Weds evening: Soros […] continued
November 25, 2003
MASTER & SLAVE
I’m a fan of politically correct speech. I think it’s important to avoid using expressions that perpetuate stereotypes, even if it’s reasonably clear that the words are meant kindly or inoffensively.
But.
Following complaints by someone within the bureaucracy, the County of Los Angeles has ordered vendors to discontinue use of the words “master/slave” to describe two hard drives sharing a cable.
Amazing, just amazing.
September 30, 2002
THINGS TO WORRY ABOUT
MSNBC has a wonderful article about an unexpected side effect of global warming – huge ice blocks, 22 lbs or more, which form in the upper atmosphere on clear days and fall to earth, smashing car windshields and ripping holes in houses. Don’t look at me like that – I’m serious. Here’s the article if you don’t believe me.
July 10, 2002
CYBERTERRORISM (NOT)
More interesting reading at The Register: a deeply cynical article bashing the press for repeating stories about alleged threats of cyberterrorism. The government is beating the drums about the likelihood that al-Quaeda technology whizzes are about to level cities from their computers, or something like that. The press is repeating the stories without any investigation, corroboration, or thought. As a result, the stories too often are the equivalent of urban legends – anecdotes that appear out of thin air and only appear substantial because they’re repeated so often.
Administration officials are pouring out a torrent of vague threats and […] continued
February 27, 2002
TAUZIN/DINGELL PASSES
According to the Center for Responsible Politics, the Bells – Qwest, BellSouth, SBC Communications and Verizon – have contributed about $19.4 million to congressional campaigns since 1999.
Slightly less huge companies such as AT&T, Sprint and Worldcom have spent about $12.6 million over the same period.
Congress today gave away the store to the bigger contributors. The House passed sweeping legislation today to let the four Bell telephone giants sell Internet access nationwide and to relieve them of state and federal regulation. The bill would remove requirements in the 1996 Telecommunications Act that the regional Bell companies first open their […] continued
January 22, 2002
POLITICS: ENRON AND WHITEWATER
I thought this was a particularly good discussion of the unfolding Enron scandal, well worth keeping in mind as the various players stake out their positions on the front page for the next six or eight months. It begins as a comparison of Whitewater and Enron at the same stage:
“I would argue that Enron is neither worse nor better than Whitewater at a similar stage of development. It’s the same. A year into Clinton’s first term, Republicans were pursuing a variety of Whitewater investigations as aggressively as they possibly could, despite the lack of any compelling evidence of
[…] continued
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