In light of Bush's recent interview I figured I ought to go back and meme something I ignored last time. This is a collection of "pork" projects from a recent spending bill. Some of them you will find that you like, but thats not the question. The question is whether they ought to be publicly or privately funded.

These are not the programs Bush cut, but they are examples of the sorts of things we are paying for that conservatives would like to cut. Bush has also claimed that many of the programs that he has cut are programs that are redundant. Even if you like them, its possible that other, similar things are getting money. This is ONE appropriations bill. These things add up...

In reading this, part of me thinks, damn, if these idiots are getting federal funding I'm sure I can. I ought to learn to write grant proposals! :)

[Politech] Heritage Foundation's federal pork taste test

] The U.S. Congress is hard at work trying to punish
] Internet users who value their privacy.
]
] That's not how Capitol Hill politicians describe a new
] bill introduced last week, of course, but that's what it
] would accomplish if it becomes law.

Declan speaks out against last weeks Whois hearing...

Privacy reduction's next act | CNET News.com

JLM says: Freedom of the press in action. The word 'skewer' comes to mind. Looking back, this interview will be seen as a turning point.

I say: This oped is sharp.

Mr. Bush's Version (of History? of the Present? of Reality?)

There is much to comment on in this interview. Too much, perhaps.

Its clear he is really spinning hard on this intel commission out of the gate.

I wouldn't be pissed off about his comment about not testifying. Its a matter of fact. Same rules applied to Clinton.

The war issue is something I've already discussed. Iraq was a threat. Iraq was not an imminent threat. Thats what they sold. They were wrong. Now they have to explain it. This doesn't mean that going into Iraq was a bad idea. He explains clearly what the benefits were. He is being honest there. The primary problem that I have with it was related to the international law issue. Not what we did but how. Bush misrepresents what he did when we talks about going to the international community. They drove the international community away, and they did so intentionally. They set a poor precedent for international relations. But I have a hard time saying they were wrong about the war per say. Its hard to say for certain. The world is clearly a safer place without Saddam Hussein, but there have been costs.

I greatly appreciate his careful respect for the armed services, and for the families connected to them. This guy is calling families every day. You can tell it has effected him.

I think he is playing the wrong card when he talks about jobs. The unemployment rate is not a good indicator of the health of the jobs situation in the country. If I were running for president I would promise to create new data points which more accurately include the number of people who are underemployed or who have left the job market.

I am also skeptical of what he has done for small business, and innovation. He isn't specific. Tax cuts on dividends coupled with expensing stock options have clearly cost the innovators. I look forward to hearing what the hell he is talking about.

As far as the deficit is concerned, this is DIRECTLY connected to the issues of international law I raise above. You don't have the sort of economic assistance from allied powers that you had with the Gulf War. Possibly Bush is attempting to avoid his father's fate? Bush Sr. said "no new taxes" and then ended up having to raise them because of the Gulf, and lost an election because of it. Bush Jr. is really juggling to pull this off. The reality is, raise or lower taxes, he's pretty much fucked either way. The fiscal conservatives listed (SIC, Cato is not a "conservative" group!) are wrong in the sense that Bush has proposed DEEP cuts in regular spending. Moreso then anyone in recent memory. This is a complex fish to fry and Bush deserves credit and blame alike. You show me a candidate with Bush's general fiscal responsibility along with Clinton's diplomacy and I'll show you America's first libertarian president.

Bush is not responsible for the country becoming more partisan. Bin Lauden is responsible. The interviewer really nails him in the end with the polling, but conspiracy theories about skull and bones is a little silly for MSNBC. Its a public service organization. Get a fucking grip. You sound like Robert Anton Wilson!

In the final analysis, I have mixed opinions about Bush, but he has a clearer message then John Kerry.

I too have a question I would have asked that was glaringly missing. I wonder if mine is the same as Jeremy's. I can sum it up in one word, which I piped to md5sum and posted here:

fa599b3d72699e176dec80a2739e5115

NBC -- Meet the Press with GWB

] Stratton Sclavos, chief executive of VeriSign Inc., told
] investors in a conference call last month that the
] company might relaunch its "Site Finder" service as early
] as April.

washingtonpost.com: VeriSign Reconsiders Search Service

Comprehensive coverage of O'Reilly's Emerging Technology Conference and other news stories related to the key topics covered there. Looks very good...

Blogging ETech - etech.weblogsinc.com

] If big pharma price-discriminates rationally, it
] guarantees the following query from some representative
] in some committee hearing: "How come a hospital in Lagos
] spends $1 for this pill, but the local Catholic hospital
] in my district must pay $5,000?" And, of course, in the
] Inquisition that is congressional testimony, there is no
] effective way to answer such a question.

Wired 12.02: Lessig says access to drugs in the third world not an IP issue

] Agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Cyber
] Crime Squad have been approaching O'ahu computer-repair
] specialists, network consultants and software developers
] and asking them to report any overtly criminal activity
] they find in customers' computers.
]
] The FBI primarily is looking for purveyors of child pornography, software used in
] the piracy of movies and music, and threats to national security.

Next time you send your computer in for repair you better hope the guy who repairs it doesn't think he's a junior FBI agent. Kazaa is right there on the list, between the kiddy porn and the terrorism.

The Honolulu Advertiser - Computer Repair Shops and the FBI

What those blurry/anime/cropped photos *really* mean.

Humor: Interpreting Friendster (Orkut) Photos

] After suffering a legal defeat in December, the Recording
] Industry Association of America (RIAA) is modifying its
] approach to pursuing online file swappers, but pushing on
] with its program to stop illegal file trading with
] lawsuits, RIAA President Cary Sherman said Wednesday.

Somehow I missed this. This is great news. This means that the RIAA, and other claimants, must obtain a judge's approval before they can turn an IP address into a name and billing address. The DMCA subpoenas they were issuing last summer, which did not require a court, have stopped. This is a system which cannot be abused by stalkers and other kinds of criminals. Apparently, Ed Felton has argued that Congress might pass a new law which creates the subpoena right that the RIAA thought they had last summer, but it remains to be seen.

InfoWorld: RIAA sues 532 'John Doe' file swappers: January 21, 2004: By : E-business Strategies