mal wrote:
] It was just a matter of time ...
]
] Homeland security wants to decide which college classes get
] funded and they are thinking of excluding classes that teach
] that there even might be dissenting points of view.

I thought I would meme this because it was worth taking a look at. Its interesting. I'm not sure I know exactly what to think of it.

The purpose of federal funding for education is (among other things) to make sure that education conforms to what the public believes education ought to consist of. The idea that you can take public money and use it to tell people not to get jobs in the government because you are opposed to US policy is something that I disagree with. I think its hypocritical. It also crosses the line between exposing students to viewpoints and telling them what to think. I also disagree with school vouchers, for basically the same reasons. I don't want to fund your madrassah, regardless of what nook of the political system you come from. Feel free to teach your kids whatever garbage you want to teach them, and feel free to do it on your own dime.

Furthermore, I'm not convinced that an "advisory board" is really going to be in a position to do anything other then advise. What is wrong with getting a perspective from the intelligence community? I don't see how this equates with eliminating dissenting viewpoints from the educational system. There is a balance that must be maintained. We should expose people to ideas, but they should not have their minds made up for them.

On the other hand, I can certainly imagine this scenario being dangerous in the context where you really did have an intelligence advisory board deciding what things are true and not true. That would be the start of the end as far as I'm concerned. I find myself hard pressed to buy that this is what is going on here. I see the risk but not the reality.

RE: An Advisory Board drawn from Homeland Security will limit university funding.

] Observation this year of Veterans Day comes as about
] 130,000 troops 102,000 active military and 28,000
] reserve — remain on duty in Iraq. As of yesterday,
] according to the Pentagon, 394 have died in the war.
]
] Below are excerpts from among the final letters home of
] some soldiers who died there.

Veterans Day: The Things They Wrote

] Alarmed by the unhealthy choices they make every day,
] more and more Americans are calling on the government to
] enact legislation that will protect them from their own
] behavior.

Americans Demand Increased Governmental Protection From Selves

] FCC Chairman Michael Powell said his
] agency was taking "an important step toward preserving
] the viability of free over-the-air television."

Dude, you SOOOOO blew it...

FCC Approves Internet Anti-Piracy Tool

flynn23 wrote:
] I don't believe there are official transcripts of these
] sessions.

This seems like a worthwhile project/discussion in and of itself. People ought to be able to watch their government operate. CSPAN was a good step in the the right direction, but in general it is a tool for insiders.

Thomas was a hell of a lot more useful, but this is such a minor example of what it possible.

Sessions of federal, state, and local governments ought to be available online in various streaming video and audio only formats, along with text transcripts. The stuff should be broken down by committee and subject. It should be easy to search your local government for issues you are interested in and to follow the legislative process online.

All of this data IS being kept by someone, because judges USE the discussions that occur while a law is being passed to interpret it later.

RE: State DMCA Part 2 - Electric Boogaloo

Mikhail Khodorkovsky, head of oil giant Yukos, was seized by special forces at a Siberian airport Saturday. He was sent to Moscow and charged with a $1 billion (30 billion rubles) fraud and tax evasion.

Yukos -- as well as Russian businessmen and politicians -- said the arrest of Khodorkovsky, whose wealth was estimated by Forbes magazine at $8 billion and has funded two liberal opposition parties, was politically motivated.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Putin bags another Oligarch. He's really consolidating his power. He effectively ended freedom of the press when he toppled Berezovsky's media empire, and renationalized the last independant television station... and then following Nord Ost, he has threatened to revoke freedom of the press for "bad coverage" when he is criticized. Now out goes Xodorkovsky. There will be more to come. Putin will never step down as President. When Bush says he can see into his soul, I believe it. One motherfucker to another.

The Oligarchs are all evil, bad men. Thieves on probably the largest scale the twentieth century has seen. But where Putin conquers, he does not bring reform. He replaces the toppled gang with his own... the FSB. The domestic branch of the former KGB.

Russia markets rocked by arrest: Putin bags another Oligarch

I apologize for the cross posting. Hope everyone had a good time @ PN7. Unfortunetly, I could not attend due to a broken left clavicle. The Oxycodone gave me the same effect though. ;-)

In case you've been living under a rock this summer, the fight against the MPAA, RIAA, and monopolistic telecom providers is still raging. We achieved a small victory at the end of last spring's session to have the issue deferred and put into 'summer study session'. We are now _in_ 'summer study session' and hearings are beginning to commence.

What's at risk? Well, do you use MythTv or Tivo? Do you burn DVDs or VCDs of television content? Have a NAT box on your cable or DSL line? Use VPN from home? Or God forbid, do you have a splitter on your cable line in your home? Doing, possessing, or even TALKING about any of these activities could render you a felon in the state of Tennessee if this bill passes. Even better than jail time, you could be sued into bankruptcy without even being convicted. Civil penalties can be assessed at up to $50,000 per DAY per DEVICE in your possession (no need to have used it in the act). That's right kids. If you have 2 splitters on your line for one year and they go after you, the _minimum_ penalty you will receive is $876,000. That doesn't include fines or attorneys fees.

What can you do? Spend a few hours of your life sitting on your ass in a hearing room. Seriously. Just showing up was perhaps THE KEY reason why this bill was not passed last spring. There are two hearings this week. Day 1 is basically the 'Bad Guys'. Day 2 is the 'Good Guys'. Tuesday's agenda is as follows:
Tuesday, October 28, 1:00 p.m.

Stacy Briggs, Executive Director
Tennessee Cable Television Association

Brian Allen, Director of Corporate Security
Time Warner Cable

Todd Flournoy, Counsel and Director of State Legislative Affairs
Motion Picture Association of America

Jeff Yarbrough
Tennessee-based Charter Cable Operator

Jim Spears, Vice-President of Government Relations
BellSouth

Ross Loder
Tennessee Municipal League

Wednesday's agenda is:
Wednesday, October 29 at 9:00 a.m.

Jonathan Band
American Library Association, Association of Research Libraries and the American Law Library Association

Scott Lyon or Scott Kozicki
Tennesseans for Digital Freedom Association (sic) Tennessee Digital Freedom Network)

Arnold Grothues, Vice President of Industry & Government Affairs
Radio Shack Corporation

Both of these hearings should be held in the 12/14 Legislative Plaza hearing rooms, HOWEVER, if they are still under construction, they may be moved. Ask anyone at the Plaza and they should be able to redirect you. For specifics, you can contact Sen. Trail's office for exact instructions: 615.741.1066. Ask about the "Joint Committee on Communications Security" hearing. Yea. We thought it was about cable theft too.

If you wish to be actively involved, please call me or email as soon as possible. 615.429.4502.

Cheers,
Scott

State DMCA Part 2 - Electric Boogaloo

] After years of silence, a teenager is accusing the
] founder of a popular sci-fi convention of long-term
] sexual abuse.
]
] The new accusation against DragonCon founder Ed Kramer,
] 41, comes on the eve of his trial on child molestation
] charges involving two other boys.

Yuck...

Third teen levels molestation charges at Ed Kramer

] At the CIA, the official designated to talk to me denied
] that Wilson's wife had inspired his selection but said
] she was delegated to request his help. He asked me not to
] use her name, saying she probably never again will be
] given a foreign assignment but that exposure of her name
] might cause "difficulties" if she travels abroad. He
] never suggested to me that Wilson's wife or anybody else
] would be endangered. If he had, I would not have used her
] name.

I get the impression that both sides are lying...

Robert Novak: The CIA leak

] So the fact that she's been undercover for three decades
] and that has been divulged is outrageous because she was
] put undercover for certain reasons. One, she works in an
] area where people she meets with overseas could be
] compromised. When you start tracing back who she met
] with, even people who innocently met with her, who are
] not involved in CIA operations, could be compromised. For
] these journalists to argue that this is no big deal and
] if I hear another Republican operative suggesting that
] well, this was just an analyst fine, let them go
] undercover. Let's put them overseas and let's out them
] and then see how they like it. They won't be able to
] stand the heat [...]

Daily Kos: Plame's former classmate vents