Monthly Archives: May 2002

Politics — Comments Off on Your taxes at work supporting our warlords
31
May 02

Your taxes at work supporting our warlords

Found via the ever wonderful Ethel the Blog:


    In a just-released report, the General Accounting Office informed Congress that its auditors found a number of “seemingly unneeded expenditures” made by the Air Force and Army in 2000 and 2001.
    …

    The Air Force was also criticized for an array of what the GAO deemed unjustified and excessive spending, including:

    • At al Dhafra Air Base in the United Arab Emirates, the service bought a $2,200 coffee table.
    • At Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia, it bought a $24,000 loveseat and arm chair and $9,800 worth of Halloween decorations.
    • At al Jaber Air Base in Saudi Arabia, the questionable spending included an $1,800 “executive high-back” pillow, a $3,000 computer tutorial titled “The Intelligent Investor” and $19,000 worth of decorative “river rock.”
    • At various Air Force installations in the Persian Gulf region, the service bought a $35,000 golf cart, a $16,000 corporate golf membership and $5,333 in golf passes.

    Military experts claim that such recreational items can be a useful tool for building good relations with officials of a host country, whom base officers can invite for, say, a friendly round or two of golf.
    …

General — 1 Comment
31
May 02

Census Coolness

Check with the US Census bureau to see how common your last name is. Well, shoot. My name didn’t even come up. Maybe my family isn’t having enough sex or something. It’s not very common, but come on!

General — Comments Off on Well, fuck them too
31
May 02

Well, fuck them too

According to this article some mullah in Egypt has declared a fatwa against piracy. In other words, this one idiot has declared ‘piracy’ or copying things as a crime against Islam. Piracy is the real expression of free-market principles. We need more piracy not less. Strong copyright is detrimental to civilization. Thousands of years ago when ships would land at the port of Alexandria city officials would confiscate all books on the ships and would have them sent to scribes to be copied and added to the Great Library. Once copied they would be returned. Freedom of information is a cornerstone of democracy and a pillar of society. Supporting strong copyrights has resulted in a stupid population and libraries that are chronically underfunded.

General — Comments Off on Finally a little good news
31
May 02

Finally a little good news

From the Washington Post:

Court Strikes Down Capitol Demonstration Ban

A federal appeals court today struck down a 30-year-old ban that keeps protesters from gathering on the east steps of the Capitol, ruling that concerns for security do not outweigh First Amendment constitutional rights that are “a centerpiece of our democracy.”

General — 1 Comment
30
May 02

Goosestepping into the future

New FBI to Monitor Websites, Libraries, Churches:

“The FBI is now telling the American people, ‘You no longer have to do anything unlawful in order to get that knock on the door,’ ” said Laura Murphy, director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s Washington office. “You can be doing a prefectly legal activity like worshiping or talking in a chat room, they can spy on you anyway.” …

The new rules will allow agents to surf the Internet for Web sites that might give hints to terrorist activity, according to the description. The new guidelines will allow investigators to seek out and “identify sites and forums in which bomb-making instructions, preparations for cyberterrorism, child pornography, and stolen credit card information are openly traded and disseminated.”
 

Bomb-making instructions:

  1. Get some explosive material.
  2. Put it in something.
  3. Detonate it. Presto.
Politics — Comments Off on Cheney = Corrupt sonofabitch
30
May 02

Cheney = Corrupt sonofabitch

Apparently, while Dick Cheney was at the helm of oil exploration giant, Halliburton, raking in the dough his company engaged in the same economic strategy as Enron. In fact, the toothless SEC is investigating the ‘fuzzy math’ Halliburton used when cooking its books.

In a statement Tuesday night, Halliburton said the S.E.C. was investigating a change in its accounting practices that enabled the company to postpone possible losses of hundreds of millions of dollars. Halliburton did not reveal the change to investors for more than a year after instituting it.

General — Comments Off on Legal Pot Leads to Less Crime
29
May 02

Legal Pot Leads to Less Crime

Well, duh. Decriminalizing marijuana in London leads to 50% less violent crime in just six months from the BBC

General — Comments Off on DVD code breakers: Copyright in a High Tech World
25
May 02

DVD code breakers: Copyright in a High Tech World

Siva Vaidhyanathan, author of Copyrights and Copywrongs, faces off against MPAA demon Fritz Attaway, the Executive Vice President and Washington General Counsel of the Motion Picture Association of America, Inc. on the NPR program Justice Talking. Fascinating.

General — Comments Off on Venezuelan coup leader flees
24
May 02

Venezuelan coup leader flees

BBC: Carmona, coup-leader and president for a day, is seeking asylum in Colombia. They need to get his ass back and throw the book at him. No doubt the US will attempt to make him safe possibly flying him to the US or a third country.

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