] Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said Thursday
] that a new consumption tax such as a national sales tax
] could spark the economy as a partial replacement for
] income taxes.

ABC News: Greenspan Touts Consumption Tax

] On the other hand, say you've already established
] something of an online identity, perhaps through your own
] web site, or as a frequent commenter at this or some
] other blog(s). What prevents someone else from coming
] along and posting a comment here, leaving your name and
] your website's URL to identify himself? Put another
] way, how can readers determine the authenticity of
] comments left here?

This is an interesting idea...

PGP-Signed Comments | Musings

] "My story is based on fiction," said Poole, who faces a
] second-degree felony terrorist threatening charge. "It's
] a fake story. I made it up. I've been working on one of
] my short stories, (and) the short story they found was
] about zombies. Yes, it did say a high school. It was
] about a high school over ran by zombies."
]
] Even so, police say the nature of the story makes it a
] felony. "Anytime you make any threat or possess matter
] involving a school or function it's a felony in the state
] of Kentucky," said Winchester Police detective Steven
] Caudill.

There is an obvious comment to make about this jackass but I've been advised not to taunt happy fun ball.

Student Arrested For Writing Zombie Story

] Go the fuck away! I'm working on some bad-ass computer shit
] right now! I have no time for team spirit!

134 installments of get your office space on. I'm sure some of you will enjoy it.

www.mnftiu.cc | my new filing technique is unstoppable

] I had plenty of life experience to draw from while
] working on this record," says Trent Reznor of White
] Teeth, Nine Inch Nails' first album in six years. "I was
] getting sane while the world was going crazy."
]
] Due May 3rd, the follow-up to 1999's The Fragile bristles
] with as much aggression as anything in the NIN catalog
] while adding more live drumming into the mix, courtesy of
] honorary Nailsman Dave Grohl.

RollingStone.com: Nine Inch Nails Bite Back

] In common parlance, left is clearly code for "feckless,
] pseudo-intellectual wiener," while right is code for
] "winner" and "the people who are actually running
] things while you assholes are reading James Joyce."
] Left also emphatically stands for "wrong side of
] history," while right is explicitly understood to mean
] the only remaining legitimate vision for future social
] organization.

In other words, the US has gone so far to the right it has no idea where the center is.

Right Wing, Left Wing, Chicken Wing

] Since most people refuse to pay for WSJ stories, most
] bloggers are reluctant to link to them. It also has an
] impact on anyone who uses the web for research -- and
] there are a lot of us. As importantly, the next
] generation of readers is growing up by accessing news
] over the internet, and one place they are not surfing to
] is WSJ.com. With their habits being formed now, there is
] little chance the Journal will become part of their
] lives, either now or in the future.

I've made this observation many times before.

Wired News: Whither The Wall Street Journal?

] EFF is defending StreamCast Networks, the company behind
] the Morpheus peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing software, in
] an important case that will be heard before the Supreme
] Court of the United States on March 29, 2005.

I had no idea that such a big Supreme Court case was on the near horizon. This is worth being aware of. There is a hell of a lot to read here if you want to become an expert. I haven't read it all.

This is a difficult question. On the one hand I'm pursuaded that what Kazaa did is morally questionable. They designed this system for piracy and sold it for piracy. Thats what its for. There is no use being stupid about that. On the other hand I also think that they maybe ought to be able to release software like that as a matter of academic freedom. The people who are running it know damn well what they are doing. If Kazaa cannot be released then many interesting "hacking tools" that I have loved over the years would also be illegal. Even though they could be applied to perfectly legitimate purposes.

Do you think radar detectors ought to be legal?

EFF: MGM v. Grokster

peekay wrote:
] International opinion? Umm. Since when was international
] opinion a ~formal~ basis for the U.S. Supreme Court? I might
] just have to search LexisNexis for any prior rulings with that
] wording. Hrmm. Cheers, -Pk

Its not entirely new. In recent years Supreme Courts have referenced each other more often. On the other hand, I think your comment is a bit out of context. The court isn't imposing international law here. You can't sum up the reasoning behind a Supreme Court decision in a soundbyte.

1. In recent years technology has made international law and international court opinions more accessible then before.

2. Is the court a political organization, or are they grasping at basic, fundamental truths? Sometimes they are the latter. It seems unreasonable to forbid them from considering ideas that came from outside the U.S. in this role.

3. It is obviously similarly unreasonable for the court to prefer international opinion to domestic opinion in the political realm.

4. I agree with the outcome here. (I haven't read the decision, and probably won't.) I think the fact that we were literally the last country to figure this out reflects poorly on our culture.

RE: US court closes world’s last juvenile death row

10 years later, the CDA might be back!

] Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Stevens said
] Tuesday he would push to apply broadcast decency
] standards to subscription television and radio services
] like cable and satellite.
]
] "There has to be some standard of decency," he said.

No, actually, there doesn't. The whole point of services like Satellite is that the customer has a wide array of choices, and as such there is no need for regulation. You don't have to listen to programming you don't like. You can "protect children" at the receiver side. You don't have to do it at the network end.

] "I think we have the same power to deal with
] cable as over-the-air" broadcasters.

No, you don't. Congress shall make NO law.... The courts cut out a specific exemption to the first amendment for over the air broadcasters that was related to the scarcity of media. That exemption does not apply to cable. Why do we elect people who don't understand or respect the Constitution?

] Stevens said he disagreed "violently" with assertions by
] the cable industry that Congress does not have the
] authority to impose limits on what they air.
]
] "If that's the issue they want to take on, we'll take it
] on and let the Supreme Court decide," he said.

Translation: We'll make you spent a whole lot of money!! We really will! So you better really care about those Constitutional rights because if you're not down for a fight to defend them you're gunna loose 'em whether its really legal or not!

Rep. Joe Barton, from Texas is apparently also on board for this.

Senator wants cable, satellite decency standards - Mar. 1, 2005