Passed: On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass, as Amended: H R 5319 Deleting Online Predators Act

This is a much nicer resource on who not to vote for then the earlier list I passed. The blue areas on this map are the areas where Congress is completely fucking stupid.

GovTrack: H.R. 5319: Deleting Online Predators Act of 2006(Vote On Passage)

"ATLANTA -- Officials announced Friday they have charged Michael William Ledford with the brutal murder of Jennifer Ewing along the Silver Comet Trail earlier this week."

Comforting that they caught someone. Hopefully they have the right guy.

Convicted Rapist Now Charged in Death of Jennifer Ewing

Later, on the same day Kennelly's opinion was filed, the Department of Justice sent out Tice's subpoena. The date on the subpoena is July 20th, before Kennelly's decision was filed, but the issue in the Terkel case was so pregnant that it would be easy for the government to anticipate the ruling and only issue the subpoena to Tice if necessary. It has now become necessary, and the government seems to be moving to put pressure on Tice not to reveal information that would confirm the electronic surveillance program at issue in Terkel by threatening him with investigation and possible indictment.

27B Stroke 6: Government threatenning potential NSA whistle blowers

Web sites like MemeStreams may soon be inaccessible for many people using public terminals at American schools and libraries, thanks to the U.S. House of Representatives.

By a 410-15 vote on Thursday...

You're not protecting the children, you're totally eviscerating their civil rights!

This is why I can't support either political party. For all the Democrat's discussion of civil liberties and the Republicans discussion of minimal government, when push comes to shove neither political party gives a damn about the fundamental rights that are at the heart of the Constitution. The first amendment protects a right to freedom of speech and a right to freedom of association. These aren't just laws, they are good ideas! There are few values that are more central to this country's identity then these protections, and these ideas ought to be upheld even when the Constitution doesn't explicitly require it.

Congress isn't acting in a way that is narrowly crafted to protect children from online predators, they totally removing children's ability to speak and associate as they desire to the maximum extent they are legally able to!! This demonstrates a massive disrespect for the core values of this country, and sends a clear message to libraries and schools that aren't federally subsidized, as well as parents, that this is a reasonable approach that others should follow.

This is not a reasonable approach. It is an intollerable violation of the fundamental rights of citizens taken without any consideration as to its impact for wholly selfish political marketing reasons. The people who voted for this ought to be ashamed. Some may ask who will protect the children from predators, I ask who will protect the children from this legislature!

MemeStreams banned by federal law | Tech News on ZDNet

My neighbours are stealing my wireless internet access. I could encrypt it or alternately I could have fun.

Upside-Down-Ternet

In Grand Theft Auto, you can steal cars and make money by doing gang missions. In Grand Theft Auto: Saskatchewan, you can watch you dog run away for three days straight.

A lot of these are funny.

Worth1000.com | Photoshop Contests | Never Released Video Games

Or: How Acidus [*] learned how to port scan company intranets using JavaScript!

Imagine visiting a blog on a social site like MySpace.com or checking your email on a portal like Yahoo’s Webmail. While you are reading the Web page JavaScript code is downloaded and executed by your Web browser. It scans your entire home network, detects and determines your Linksys router model number, and then sends commands to the router to turn on wireless networking and turn off all encryption. Now imagine that this happens to 1 million people across the United States in less than 24 hours.

This scenario is no longer one of fiction.

You can visit the proof of concept page he created and test drive it now.

This is really, really, really scar^H^H^H^H cool!

Detecting, Analyzing, and Exploiting Intranet Applications using JavaScript

Three-judge panel unanimously says that border police may conduct random searches of laptops without search warrants or probable cause. These searches can include seizing the laptop and subjecting it to extensive forensic analysis.

This really isn't anything new. Travel outside the country has always implied a complete sacrifice of civil liberties. I'm not convinced that this is a good idea. The Constitution prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures. In an environment where people are constantly streaming across borders, random intrusive searches for any evidence of any crime goes far beyond the notion of border protection for national security purposes and becomes exactly the sort of dragnet that the Constitution was intended to prohibit. This seems rather obvious when you are talking about random forensic analysis of computers.

Frankly, I'm also becoming concerned about the war on child pornography possession. Although possession of child pornography certainly should be illegal, 10 and 15 year manditory prison sentences for clicking on the wrong website seems unreasonable. When you pile on the specter of random computer forensic analysis at border crossings and long term data retention requirements, the result is that you have something which threatens to do far more damage to civil liberties then the drug war ever did. Is this really necessary to protect children, or is it a political system running amuck with an emotionally charged issue?

Police blotter: Laptop border searches OK'd | CNET News.com

Police say they suspect foul play in the death of a 54-year-old woman along the Silver Comet Trail. Jennifer Ewing was found dead on Wednesday morning just across the Paulding County line. Ewing went cycling on the trail on Tuesday and never came home.

Random murder on the Silver Comet Trail

I like this one better...

Alexander said it is difficult for the NSA to keep its operations secret when Wyckham and other Americans do not take advantage of potentially enormous savings with a good long-distance plan.

NSA Wiretap Reveals Subject May Be Paying Too Much For Long-Distance