It's worth reading both of those pages, especially the first as it is far more succinct.
posted by JWL at
2:35 AM |
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As long time fans of RAW will know, this is not the first time RAW has died, and he is no doubt highly amused by the whole thing....
posted by JWL at
2:40 PM |
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Whew. I feel safer.
I've thought for a long time that one should not base governmental policy on fiction, much to the dismay of Christian neocon nutjobs who think the Bible should tell us how to run society. So the Dems are really making a difference. Have they revoked the Patriot Act? Have they sought a true investigation into the events of 9/11 (not that it matters, but it would be nice for SOMEONE in the government to say that the 9/11 Commission report is fiction)?
No.
Instead, they will intrude upon privacy even more, as now every shipping container that enters the US is eligible to be searched without warrant.
On another note, I ran into a christian Bu$hite supporter the other day. This doesn't often happen to me in Maine, in the circles I travel in. Whenever I encounter someone claiming to be both a Christian and a Bush supporter, I ask them this question: Can you name me one single, tangible thing that George W Bush has done in office that is in line with Christ's teachings in the Bible?
Not one of these people has ever come up with one single answer. They always evade my question.
I can't imagine why....
posted by JWL at
1:00 AM |
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Context is everything.
As I'm sitting here next to my wide-open window enjoying this bizarre weather, I read about how ExxonMobil was waging a tobacco-like disinformation campaign on global warming science:
"ExxonMobil has manufactured uncertainty about the human causes of global warming just as tobacco companies denied their product caused lung cancer," said Alden Meyer, the Union of Concerned Scientists' Director of Strategy & Policy. "A modest but effective investment has allowed the oil giant to fuel doubt about global warming to delay government action just as Big Tobacco did for over 40 years."Very much worth reading. At least today "everyone" recognizes that smoking tobacco is harmful to one's health. When will we realize that burning too much oil is harmful to the planet's health?
posted by JWL at
2:20 PM |
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First, a blatant example of what happens when you blend draconian Information/IP policies with a neoliberal, globalized economy. From Britain:
Britons flying to America could have their credit card and email accounts inspected by the United States authorities following a deal struck by Brussels and Washington. By using a credit card to book a flight, passengers face having other transactions on the card inspected by the American authorities. Providing an email address to an airline could also lead to scrutiny of other messages sent or received on that account.Hardly surprising, though. Gee. America wants to snoop on you. Go figure.
Second, and this is the fun one, the RIAA is suing a website called AllofMP3 for 1.65 trillion dollars. That's not a misprint:
As part of their claim, the labels are seeking $150,000 USD for each of the 11 million songs that were downloaded from June to October 2006 from the AllofMP3.com website.Interesting question of jurisdiction, no? If Russian companies are subject to American laws, then truly we do live in an age of Empire."AllofMP3 understands that several U.S. record label companies filed a lawsuit against Media Services in New York," an unnamed "senior company official" stated. "This suit is unjustified as AllofMP3 does not operate in New York. Certainly the labels are free to file any suit they wish, despite knowing full well that AllofMP3 operates legally in Russia. In the mean time, AllofMP3 plans to continue to operate legally and comply with all Russian laws."
posted by JWL at
11:56 PM |
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