Social Security numbers and other personal information for as many as 2.2 million U.S. military personnel -- including nearly 80 percent of the active-duty force -- were among the data stolen from the home of a Department of Veterans Affairs analyst last month, federal officials said yesterday, raising concerns about national security as well as identity theft.
The department announced that personal data for as many as 1.1 million active-duty military personnel, 430,000 National Guard members and 645,000 reserve members may have been included on an electronic file stolen May 3 from a department employee's house in Aspen Hill. The data include names, birth dates and Social Security numbers, VA spokesman Matt Burns said.

Hotel.com had info stolen too in the last few days. Is there some fancy new trick to stealing info or are these just flukes?

Data Theft Affected Most in Military

The Decider's decision to whip up a phony crisis over same-sex marriage -- Values under attack! Run for your lives! -- is such a transparent ploy that even conservatives are scratching their heads, wondering if this is the best Karl Rove could come up with. Bush might as well open his next presidential address by giving himself a new title: The Distracter

Distracter in Chief

The book focused on how couples could use the internet to increase communication, to explore fantasies and to improve their offline relationships. The press gleefully whipped up a controversy, accusing Deborah of encouraging people to use the internet to cheat on their spouses

Interesting article. We are too hung up about sex in this country, so it's always nice to see people that are fighting the fight to ensure kids start growing up sex positive, healthy and informed. I'm doing my best with my four kids to do the same. It's a tough fight though, when you have an ultra-religious ex-husband and a school system that doesn't bother to teach sex ed! I asked about the district office about this, but they just let me know they do AIDS education in 5th grade and that's it.

Hmmm. AIDS education without sex ed? The hell? So this summer, we're having a family sex ed course wherein I do my damnedest to ensure my kids are going to be comfortable asking questions, whether to me and my boyfriend, or to their future partners in experimentation, and that they know that some unknown god isn't going to smack them down for, um, smacking themselves down, if you catch my drift ;)

~Heathyr

Wired News: Happy Sex Is Healthy Sex

Hawaii Sen. Daniel K. Akaka thinks Hawaiians should be allowed to govern themselves as Native Americans and Alaskans do, and after seven years of pushing a bill to start the process, the Senate is expected to take it up this week.
Mr. Akaka says the bill is a way to give "indigenous" Hawaiians a sense of pride and a chance for sovereignty for the first time since 1893, when Queen Liliuokalani was deposed and lands were illegally seized by U.S. Marines and a cadre of sugar-plantation businessmen.

Hawaii is awesome !

Senate to consider letting Hawaiians pursue sovereignty?-?Nation/Politics?-?The Washington Times, America's Newspaper

WASHINGTON, June 6 — The Central Intelligence Agency took no action after learning the pseudonym and whereabouts of the fugitive Holocaust administrator Adolf Eichmann in 1958, according to C.I.A. documents released Tuesday that shed new light on the spy agency's use of former Nazis as informants after World War II.

Oh, the list goes on and on...

C.I.A. Knew Where Eichmann Was Hiding, Documents Show - New York Times

After carefully examining the evidence, I've become convinced that the president's party mounted a massive, coordinated campaign to subvert the will of the people in 2004.

Memeing this because it demands commentary. Rolling Stone often has good political articles, but for something this serious I dare say its the wrong forum. Partisan conservatives, most of whom have certainly never read Rolling Stone, are likely to laugh out loud at the idea that a Kennedy accused them of fraud in a rock and roll magazine. If, say, a law professor accused them of fraud in a dry academic journal, and the results were publicised elsewhere, that would be a very different thing.

In any event, a little bit of fraud might get you 1,000 votes here or 1,000 votes there. If you have enough local political power to pull it off, you can sustain a small margin this way. You can't convert a large margin. Can you produce 2 million votes?

In any event, I think the greatest injustice of our system is that a 2 million vote difference grants broad power to the nutjobs who make up each party's respective "base." America is moderate.

Rolling Stone : Was the 2004 Election Stolen?

The Chicks were giving a concert in London, where popular opinion generally saw the impending invasion as pure madness. Maines committed the crime of speaking her mind. "Just so you know," the golden-haired, golden-voiced Texan told the audience, "we're ashamed that the president of the United States is from Texas."

Back home, the Chicks were denounced as traitors on right-wing talk radio. Country music deejays, apparently seeing jingoism as a good career move, not only denounced the Chicks but refused to play their music. Some said they were just responding to listeners who threatened to boycott stations that dared to broadcast the Dixie Chicks' sweet harmonies.

Its so nice to occassionally see people get what they deserve. The Dixie Chicks have a number one record, and all those DJ's who denounced free speech during the war effort look like fools. (With bad taste in music.)

Chicks and Balances

The Justice Department is asking Internet companies to keep records on the Web-surfing activities of their customers to aid law enforcement, and may propose legislation to force them to do so.

I'm not sure why this would be so useful for them. It sounds like an expensive and complicated way to gather information regarding only a small percentage of crimes. Anyone care to explain?

U.S. Wants Companies to Keep Web Usage Records - New York Times

Gawker Media is looking for a programmer to join our tech team. You’re a CSS, JavaScript, PHP scripting junky that understands blogs, RSS, analytics, and is able to solve technical problems on your own and on the fly. Things move pretty quickly around here, so you ought to be a fast learner, too. The position is full-time and based in New York City.
To apply, please write a paragraph about yourself and a paragraph about your experience. Resumes are OK if pasted in plaintext; any applications with attachments will be deleted and you’ll be dead to us. Please send to techjobs@gawker.com.

Any takers?

Help Wanted: Gawker Media Seeks Geeky Genius - Gawker

Charles McGee, the former executive director of the state Republican Party, pleaded guilty to conspiracy and served seven months for his part in the scheme to have a telemarketer tie up Democratic and union phone lines in 2002.

He's back at his old job with a Republican political marketing firm, Spectrum Monthly & Printing Inc., and will be helping out at the firm's "GOP campaign school" for candidates.

Business at usual for the GOP...

Lead figure in phone jam to advise GOP contenders