Monday, April 12, 2004

Open Letter to TPM Re: Martial Law and Delayed Elections? Hi Joshua, I’m a regular regular reader who really appreciates your viewpoints, thx! This weekend a friend of mine pointed me to this article "Will the 2004 Election Be Called Off? Why Three Out of Four Experts Predict a Terrorist Attack by November" http://www.buzzflash.com/farrell/04/04/far04011.html Now, this may be a far left viewpoint, but I wonder if there is any meat to it? And if so, does it help or hurt to start talking/blogging about it? Is there any law that spells out what a sitting president can or cannot do in such a scenario? Peace deeje 6:19:20 PM    trackback []

	Wednesday, March 24, 2004

The Loop is the Problem The lead summary from this evening's uber-insider Nelson Report ... Clarke Terrorism Charges...White House must head-off before it gets "outside the Beltway" Summary: the 9/11 Commission has always been a high risk potential for the Bush Administration, hence the very careful limits put on official cooperation. Hearings this week, "bombshell" book by former WH staffer Richard Clarke, have high risk potential to change attitudes "outside The Beltway". Polls consistently show the public still puts "trust" in double digits for Bush over Kerry on terrorism war. So White House reacts quickly, and very very firmly, to anything resembling a credible criticism of Bush...see the deconstruction of ex-Treas. Sec. O'Neill, UN inspector Blix, and now Clarke. The White House's top terrorism expert going back to the Reagan Administration provides anecdotal and eye-witness testimony apparently corroborating many other sources that Iraq was THE fixation, at the expense of all else. VP Cheney's rebuttal that Clark "out of the loop" is confusing, if Clarke was given the terrorism oversight job by NSC chief Rice. This one will bear watching...the polls will tell the tale. More soon. And later, the gaggles start flowing ... [Talking Points Memo] It seems to me that Cheney's assertion that Clarke was "out of the loop" speaks to the very problem being uncovered here, that the Bush administration had its own loop, its own agenda. Clarke should have been in the loop, but was excluded in favor of Wolfowitz's zeal to take down Hussein. And Bush, being lazy or slow, relies far more on his advisors than a president should. 11:26:18 AM    trackback []

	Monday, March 22, 2004

WARNING: Assertion of First Amendment Rights fuck. 7:00:17 PM    trackback []

Breasts Article on SFGate today about a woman who was breastfeeding at the Marin JCC, and was asked to cover up by the staff. This is illegal. Gessner insists the center's policy is consistent with the law. "We just requested that she cover up," Gessner said. "If she didn't want to comply, that's her decision. We didn't ask her to leave the building or go somewhere else. I breast-fed my child both in public and in private. There is a discreet way to do it. We feel our policy is a responsible position." Here's the answer: your policy should be to tell patrons who complain about breastfeeding that "It is legal, and encouraged, to breastfeed children. Period." If the complaining patron doesn't like it, the complainer can leave. As the articles noted, what's most disturbing is that this happened in a health and fitness JCC. The irony... 11:12:00 AM    trackback []

	Thursday, February 19, 2004

the spreading virus of IP law So after being battered down again and again, the database bill is back. Congress is again being pressed by IP extremist lobbyists to "solve" the "problem" of "inadequate legal protection" for databases by adding a raft of IP lawyers into the mix. This is an awful law, and were the attention of good people everywhere not focused upon the many awful things happening in DC, it would be dead on arrival. But unfortunately, it lives. PublicKnowledge is doing its part to stop it. Please do something to help stop it again. [Lessig Blog] Can't amplify this enough! 11:39:26 AM    trackback []

	Tuesday, February 17, 2004

Kill Bill, Vol. 3 Word on the street was correct: Brandy Karl, who has previously written @ FindLaw about our export of American-style copyright restrictions abroad via free trade agreements, now has a new piece up explaining why it's necessary to kill in its infancy the proposed Database and Collections of Information Misappropriation Act (DCIMA): In short, "[The] DCIMA is patently unconstitutional. In addition, from a policy perspective, it is a mistake--and the way it is currently drafted only worsens that mistake." [Copyfight: The Politics of IP] This is worth amplifying. Please syndicate on your weblogs to get the message out there... 1:57:53 PM    trackback []

	Friday, January 30, 2004

Good Reason to Google on the First Date I sure don't missing being single these days... The Cincinnati Enquirer reports that a New York City woman decided to Google a man she met on the Internet before meeting him for dinner. Turns out, there was an FBI warrant for his arrest and that he had eluded police for more than a year. She called the FBI, and he ended up in custody at an Applebee's restaurant on Long Island. "We had surveillance there to see if the tip was good, and lo and behold, the tip was good," said Jim Turgal, spokesman for the FBI in Cincinnati. [this is a summary - go to our web site for the complete entry, links, comments and categories] [Up2Speed] 1:43:10 PM    trackback []

	Monday, January 26, 2004

MoveOn has launched a campaign to convince... Another amplification: MoveOn has launched a campaign to convince CBS to change its policy. Here’s the polispam they’d like people to send: Subject: The ad CBS will not air Dear friend, During this year’s Super Bowl, you’ll see ads sponsored by beer companies, tobacco companies, and the Bush White House. But you won’t see the winning ad in MoveOn.org Voter Fund’s Bush in 30 Seconds ad contest. CBS refuses to air it. Meanwhile, the White House and Congressional Republicans are on the verge of signing into law a deal which Senator John McCain (R-AZ) says is custom-tailored for CBS and Fox, allowing the two networks to grow much bigger. CBS lobbied hard for this rule change; MoveOn.org members across the country lobbied against it; and now the MoveOn.org ad has been rejected while the White House ad will be played. It looks an awful lot like CBS is playing politics with the right to free speech. Of course, this is bigger than just the MoveOn.org Voter Fund. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) submitted an ad that was also rejected. We need to let CBS know that this practice of arbitrarily turning down ads that may be “controversial” – especially if they’re controversial simply because they take on the President – just isn’t right. To watch the ad that CBS won’t air and sign the petition to CBS to run these ads, go here MoveOn.org will deliver the petition by email directly to CBS headquarters. Thanks. [Lessig Blog] [my weblog] 8:52:18 PM    trackback []