Judy, Judy, Judy

Doc Searls pointed this extremely insightful piece in the February 16 Issue of The Nation.

Judy, Judy, Judy: "The ongoing public inquest into Dr. Judith Steinberg makes me see, however, that we need First Ladies: Without them, American women might actually believe that they are liberated, that modern marriage is an equal partnership, that the work they are trained for and paid to do is important whether or not they are married, and that it is socially acceptable for adult women in the year 2004 to possess distinct personalities--even quirks! "

America as a One-Party State. Robert Kuttner.

This kind of stuff is starting to worry me.

America as a One-Party State. Robert Kuttner. : "Today's hard right seeks total dominion. It's packing the courts and rigging the rules. The target is not the Democrats but democracy itself. "

Perhaps I need to go looking for some good news, and just bury my head in the sand.

Trip With Cheney Puts Ethics Spotlight on Scalia

This scares me it shakes me to the core. I fear that it may truly may be possible to loose all things we Americans hold as a right of citizenship.

Trip With Cheney Puts Ethics Spotlight on Scalia : "WASHINGTON — Vice President Dick Cheney and Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia spent part of last week duck hunting together at a private camp in southern Louisiana just three weeks after the court agreed to take up the vice president's appeal in lawsuits over his handling of the administration's energy task force.
"

A solution for Aunt Julie

Over on Can You Hear Me Now? a Hillbilly Philosopher complained about our loss of freedoms and liberties in the homeland security act. And then someone going by Aunt Judie says:

"A former boss taught me a very valuable lesson. He said if I had a complaint about the way something was being done that I was welcome to come to his office and express it, but only if was prepared to recommend an alternative solution."

Please forgive me because I must have misunderstood, and I held off responding to the Aunt Julie says post for better than a day, as it makes me very angry, truly flustered when someone is flippant about giving away our liberties and freedoms. I find it impossible to understand how they shrug their shoulders as if and claim it doesn't matter enough to put some thought and effort into finding out what is going on in the world around them. And at the bear minimum sharing complaints, concerns, and fears to their circle of friends is far better than suffering in silence. It takes many voices to effect change.

A solution for Aunt Julie, oh yes I have a solution.
But before I share my solution, let me introduce myself and tell you where I come from. I am a Citizen, I am a Father, and a Grandfather, who is disabled. My grandfather (the son of a immigrant) my Father, and then I served in the armed forces to protect our nation. Today both of my sons stand and serve doing their part to protect our way of life.

I have felt and seen terrorism far to close for any kind of comfort, the death and destruction, acts of irrational anger. On the morning of April 19, 1995 I felt the shock wave, tasted the fallout in the air. Later I stood distraught in helpless tears as rescue teams picked through the rubble. I counted myself lucky as no member of my family was lost. At least I lost no family. Oklahoma City is not so large that with the loss of 168 people, it touches your circle of friends. I feel pain and have fears about terrorism.

Bush and his Republican party are spitting in the face of everything the United States of America has stood for from its rag tag beginnings. Members of my family and some of my friends have died in defense of the liberties and freedoms that this so called homeland security act is taking away. As a Nation we have lost the respect of people from around the world and It will take many generations to earn back some of the losses that Bush has caused. I'll try and forget the debt Bush has rang up. Because the money he is burning is by far the least of many bad things he will be rembered for. Just take a look at his actions concerning the environment. God help us please.

What is my solution?
Bush and all of his self serving cronies must be go.
And if possible, I would like to see them punished for their crimes, but that may be too much to ask for.

Bush in 30 Seconds

I laughed then I cried. Bush in 30 Seconds

Forget the spin, taping is not killing music

Peter Martin, a former Treasury official in Australia, has a nice piece worth the quick click over.

Burning is not killing music:
"When something is stolen there is normally something missing. A dent of 62 million in CD sales in stores each year should be easy to spot. Except for this problem. CD sales in Australian stores have hardly ever been that high. They peaked at 63 million in 2001.


If, as the industry suggests, each of the CDs made on a home computer was indeed created at the expense of one sold in a store the entire industry would have been wiped out.


In fact while 2001 was the industry's best year on record, 2002 was its second-best year, with sales only a few per cent lower"

It will be nice when the main stream press here in America figures this out. I doubt if the record industry ever gets a clue.

GrokLaw - And the Future?

Pamela Jones amazes me almost ever time she post an article. Today she nailed what we all should understand about open source technology if you want to move forward.

GrokLaw - And the Future?: "Yes, hard to stop. Hard for SCO. And hard for Microsoft, who must adapt in order to be part of the future. I think it's a given that no one wants a wireless product that can only legally connect to one PC predetermined during setup. Not after somebody sent the mayor an email from a bike in Union Square station in NYC. Or even read about it. Once you have the concept and you see what is possible, you know what you know, and Brand X doesn't work for you after that. Like the song says, there's nothing like the real thing."