Sen. Patrick J. Leahy introduced the "Anti-Phishing Act of 2005" to impose fines of up to $250,000 and jail terms of up to five years against anyone convicted of creating fake corporate Web sites and fraudulent e-mail messages designed to fleece consumers. The legislation would prevent online parodies and political speech from being prosecuted as phishing.
I could not find the full text of this bill, but last year he introduced a similar bill, and its text is here. Related (but not identical) legislation is the Internet Spyware (I-SPY) Prevention Act of 2004 (Passed by the house and received in Senate from House)[H.R.4661.RDS]
Wednesday, March 02, 2005
Phishing Bill
Blogs, vlogs, and moblogs
As the The New York Times indicated blogging (online text journals) are expanding, and now there are video blogs, or vlogs, which incorporate moving images, and camera cell phones are being used to create mobile blogs, or moblogs.
As the article indicated, Some vloggers are further blurring the lines between journalism and blogging by producing news reports of local interest. Steve Garfield of Boston, a self-described citizen reporter, took a video camera to investigate, among other things, whether election campaign workers were following the law by staying 150 feet from polling stations. He posted his report here.
Warning: I tried viewing his video, and my computer locked up. I suspect it is a conflict between Real Player and something else on my system, so it will probably work for you, but just to be safe make sure to save any open documents before you try it.
As the article indicated Dozens of free Web-based services, including Blogger.com (owned by Google and host of this blog), Microsoft's MSN Spaces, LiveJournal.com and Blog-City.com, enable people to create a blog within minutes.
Most free services provide only basic features, like posting text, and limit the photos, audio and video that users can upload. But these sites typically offer premium services for $2.50 to $5 a month that provide far richer features.
Not Sir Bill
MacCentral: Bill Gates picks up honorary knighthood from Queen Microsoft Corp. Chairman and Chief Software Architect Bill Gates will receive an honorary Knighthood from the U.K.'s Queen Elizabeth II in a ceremony at Buckingham Palace on Wednesday.
Gates has been awarded the title KBE, or Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, for his contribution to enterprise, employment, education and the voluntary sector in the U.K., and for his efforts to reduce poverty in the developing world, including parts of the British Commonwealth.
As part of the ceremony to present the decoration, Gates will kneel before the monarch, who will tap him on the shoulder with a sword. The motto of the order of chivalry is "For God and the Empire."
Under a system established in 1917, Gates cannot use the title "Sir" because he is not a U.K. or Commonwealth citizen, but he can write the letters KBE after his name."
Ronald Reagan, George Bush Senior, Rudolph Giuliani, Gen. Tommy Franks, former Secretary of State Colin Powell. Bob Hope, and Steven Spielberg have received the KBE.
Once Bill Gages receives this "free upgrade", I wonder if he will be equally generous with upgrades from Microsoft.
Tuesday, March 01, 2005
Call for freedom
Telegraph reports Arab world squirms at impact of Bush's call for freedom. In the few weeks since President George W Bush declared in his inaugural speech that America would defend itself by promoting "the expansion of freedom in all the world", his speech appears to be having a revolutionary impact on the Middle East.
Iraqis have defied the bombers to go to the polls, Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak has announced multi-party presidential elections, Palestinians will unveil a democratic reform package in London today and, last night, Lebanon's prime minister resigned in the face of "people power" on Beirut's streets.
They left out the democratic election in Afganistan and the revote in the Ukranian elections, but maybe the Arab world did not notice them.
But I guarantee you that the rest of the world noticed all of it, including the oppressed majority in Iran, and the "Arab Street" in many other countries.
God Bless President Bush, and may God be with the people in all of the Islamic countries, both Arab and non-Arab.
Hat tip to Paul at Blogs for Bush
Best and Worst Governors
The Club For Growth announced their list of Best and Worst Governors for 2004. First place went to Arnold Schwarzenegger with a score of 84 and a grade of A. Oklahoma's Brad Henry (D) got a score of 65 and a grade of C, which put him in 16th place.
4 governors (all Republicans) received a grade of A, 11 governors (7 Republicans, 4 Democrats) recieved a grade of B, 11 governors (7 Republicans, 4 Democrats) received a grade of C, 12 governors (4 Republicans, 8 Democrats) received a grade of D, and 4 governors (1 Republican, 3 Democrats) received a grade of F.
The grades of the governors of some of America’s most populous states are Jeb Bush of Florida, B; George Pataki of New York, B; Rick Perry of Texas, B; and Jennifer Granholm of Michigan, D.
Oklahoma ranked 8th in Real per Capita Spending Increases,1991 –2002 (99% increase), Henry got a 78 Soending Score and a grade of B with -3.4% for Average Annual Recommended Change in Real per Capita General Fund Spending through 2005, and -2.9% Average Annual Change in General Fund Spending per $1,000 Personal Income 2002 – 2005. He got a 60 Tax Score and a grade of C with 2.1% Average Annual Recommended Tax Changes as % of Prior Year’s Spending through 2005, -0.2% Average Annual Recommended Change in General Fund Revenue per $1,000 Personal Income through 2005, and 0.2% Average Annual Change in Real per Capita General Fund Revenue 2002 –2005, 0.0 Change in Top Corporate Income Tax Rate (%point), 0.0 Change in Top Personal Income Tax Rate (%point), 13.0 2004 Combined Top Income Tax Rates (personal plus corporate), 0.0 Change in Sales Tax Rate (%point), 0.0 Change in Gas Tax Rate (cents per gallon), 77.0 Change in Cigarette Tax Rate (cents per pack).
The report says Governor Brad Henry scored an upset electoral victory over conservative favorite Steve Largent by a narrow margin. Compared with Largent, Henry looked like a status quo candidate: the GOP contender had proposed eliminating the state income tax, while Henry sang the praises of his plan to institute a state lottery. The idea of eliminating the income tax was promoted vigorously by outgoing Republican governor Frank Keating, and it’s a testament to his leadership on tax cuts that gubernatorial candidates of all political stripes—including Henry’s primary opponent and the independent candidate—endorsed some version of that idea. All except Brad Henry, that is. But to his credit, in 2003 Henry refused to endorse a 1-cent sales tax increase strongly supported by the teachers’ unions. His FY04 budget included no broad-based tax increases but did include a cigarette tax increase. Henry’s main strength on this report card is spending control, at which Keating did a terrible job. Henry’s budgets have grown substantially more slowly than population plus inflation. Henry’s best tax proposals were a freeze in the top income tax rate at 6.65 percent and the elimination of the capital gains tax for Oklahoma-based property held for five years or more. Both of those represent strong supply-side tax policy that Henry should be encouraging. More of that could earn him a higher grade in 2006.
Supreme Court Bars Death Penalty for Juvenile Killers
As the The New York Times reported the Supreme Court Bars Death Penalty for Juvenile Killers.
Missouri resident Christopher Simmons was 17 years old when kidnapped a neighbor, hog tied her, and threw her off a bridge, killing her. Simmons was sentenced to death for the crime.
Now the Supreme Court has ruled that juveniles may not be sentenced to death. Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote the majority opinion and noted that the trend among states was to abolish the practice of imposing the death penalty on juvenile criminals and said, "Our society views juveniles ... as categorically less culpable than the average criminal."
The decision is available (in PDF format) here and here
As Mark Noonan with BlogsForBush indicated Justice Scalia disagreed with the decision, "arguing that there has been no clear trend of declining juvenile executions to justify a growing consensus against the practice."
On GOPbloggers Mark indicated As an opponent of the death penalty I find the ruling bizarre - if its cruel and unusual to execute a 17 year old murderer, then its cruel and unusual to execute an 18 year old murderer. Thing is, the death penalty is never, ever cruel and unusual - it is, in my view, just not the most effective way to punish, with the additional problem of the possibility of executing the innocent. Rather than death, I'd sentence our worst criminals to a very, very hard life term.
Morons.org has some additional information
PowerLineBlog noted that Justice Kennedy relied on international law and practice to "confirm" his view that the juvenile death penalty constitutes cruel and unusual punishment. He also cited the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which the U.S. signed only subject to the reservation of its right to impose the death penalty for crimes committed by persons below eighteen years of age.
In NRO's The Corner Shannen Coffin noted that SCOTUS cited an unratified treaty as reasoning for it's decision. No one, however, has directly addressed the implications of Scalia's comment that (paraphrasing) "the court now joins and ratifies treaties."
Opinio Juris noted I am not sad to see the juvenile death penalty go away, but I do think it is odd that treaties to which the U.S. government specifically reserved the question at issue (the international legality of the juvenile death penalty) are being used as evidence of what the U.S. Constitution requires.
Personally I am not sure I understand the difference between being killed by a 17 year old and an 18 year old; it seems one is just as dead, and some very bad crimes are being committed by people under 18.
But the thing that disturbs me the most about this decision is that an unratified treaty was used to make the decision.
Firefox Still Gaining on IE
Technology News reports Firefox Still Gaining on IE But Uptake Slowing, indicating For Internet Explorer, the 90 percent market share level was expected by some analysts to be a tipping point of sorts. However, the current usage is just one-hundredth of a point below that level and when only Windows-based browsers are considered, IE's share rises to around 93 percent.
p2pnet.net News reports he pace is slackening off with its market share growing just 15% in the five weeks leading up to February 18. In the six weeks prior, it grew at 22%.
Gee they both seem respectible levels, and you can't always maintain extremely high levels.
HTML Fixit notes Recently both Websidestory and Onestat released their findings that although Firefox usage was still growing, it’s uptake was slowing down a little. I don’t believe that is the full story and I’m about to tell you why. The first thing to keep in mind, is that Onestat collect their statistics from users of their various online counter offerings. Websidestory apparently get their statistics from several big sites like Disney, Sony, Best Buy and Liz Claiborne.
The problem is is that both of these methods miss a crucial (vast) and growing Internet population, namely the power users. In the case of Onestat with their online counter systems, the problem is that generally only two types of clients use this type of service, newbies and occasionally businesses. In the case of Websidestory, the big sites they monitor are not those likely to be those visited by power Internet users, if you are one yourself, do you remember the last time you visited Disney or Liz Clairborne?
That skips a vast portion of the Internet’s users, namely the techies and power users. These guys know what they want online, they know where to go, and a vastly higher number of them use the Firefox web browser.
As one of those power users I think one reason power users are moving to Firefox are because of its LiveBookmark support for RSS feeds, as I covered in January and the Tabbed Browsing I covered in February
DigitalHomeCanada reports The Mozilla Foundation, which recently made Firefox 1.0.1 available, says there have been 25 million downloads of the Firefox browser in the first 100 days since its release.
As Software Journal noted They came, they conquered, than they created a mess and now it is the time to clean up the mess. Microsoft released their Internet Explorer browser free in the times when Netscape ruled the World Wide Web with their Netscape Navigator. They hit the competition so hard when they integrated Internet Explorer with Windows 98 that Netscape had to give away their browser application for free. However, it was a step taken too late as Internet Explorer dominated the computers all around the world and reached a stage where it touched the market share of more than 90%.
However, recent days have seen Firefox hitting Microsoft in the same market where Microsoft practically killed all sort of competition. Firefox gave the web users an alternative, which was free, secure and worked nicely. Moreover, people are embracing it with open hands.
If you have not tried Firefox yet, why not give it a try
Crossing Over
RCox wrote a very interesting account of being a credentialed blogger at CPAC. As far as I know this is one of the first events when bloggers were officially recognized and credentialed, but as RCox indicates, whatever colored "tag" bloggers are given by the credentialing people (green at CPAC), we are still not treated as media when it comes to access to newsmakers. This seems particularly distrubing, since as RCox indicated Unlike when I am sitting in my pajamas plotting the downfall of yet another news anchor, at CPAC I had to wear pants and everything. Gee, you would have thought that by wearing pants, it would have been easier for him to be able to interview people. <grin>
At least the CPAC bloggers had their own laptops. John Fund, highly respected Wall Street Journal columnist, apparently did not have his own, and did not want to wait in line in the media center to use one of the machines TownHall.com provided for the press, so he went into blogger's corner and took over a blogger's laptop twice.
Mission based on love
Dems have been fighting President Bush's Faith Based Initiative because they oppose anything related to faith. Today in his speech:
to the Faith-Based Agenda at Leadership Conference, President Bush said Government has got to find ways to empower those whose mission is based upon love in order to help those who need love find love in society.
The Dems are opposed to expressions of faith. I wonder if they are also opppsed to expressions of "love", and helping those who need love find love in society.
World's greatest argument against raising the wage cap
Hat tip to Social Security Choice for noticing the World's greatest argument against raising the wage cap.
Paul Krugman wrote an article Just Say No in which he said "As a result, an increase in the payroll tax maximum would make it much harder to pass other tax increases"
I have always assumed that passing other tax increases was the main objective of Democrats, but I want to thank Paul for confirming that for me.
Paul indicated that some Republicans are reported to be talking about a compromise in which they would agree to some kind of tax increase, probably a rise in the maximum level of earnings subject to the payroll tax. They would offer to use the revenue from that tax increase, rather than borrowed funds, to establish private accounts, thereby assuaging fears about the huge debt buildup that would take place under the administration's plan.
That part is consistent with the Dems opposition to doing anything about creating private accounts in Social Security, but Paul is so opposed to it that he goes on and says "They might even agree to make private accounts an add-on to traditional benefits, not a replacement. But it would still be a bad deal. Creating private accounts in the current environment, no matter how they are financed, would be a mistake."
Even the AARP encourages people to have their own private investment accouts, they just back the Democrats in opposing them within in Social Security.
Hat tip to Social Security Choice
TCS leaders and their spouses
In the past six months the Tulsa Computer Society lost a former President Bruce Carson and the spouse of another former President Ruby McKee
The Making Of A 9/11 Republican
SFgate.com ran an opinion piece by Cinnamon Stillwell entitled The Making Of A 9/11 Republican.
Having been indoctrinated in the postcolonialist, self-loathing school of multiculturalism, I thought America was the root of all evil in the world...... So, what happened to change all that? In a nutshell, 9/11. The terrorist attacks on this country were not only an act of war but also a crime against humanity. It seemed glaringly obvious to me at the time, and it still does today. But the reaction of my former comrades on the left bespoke a different perspective. The day after the attacks, I dragged myself into work, still in a state of shock, and the first thing I heard was one of my co-workers bellowing triumphantly, "Bush got his war!" There was little sympathy for the victims of this horrific attack, only an irrational hatred for their own country.
Thoroughly disgusted by the behavior of those on the left, I began to look elsewhere for support. To my astonishment, I found that the only voices that seemed to me to be intellectually and morally honest were on the right. Suddenly, I was listening to conservative talk-show hosts on the radio and reading conservative columnists, and they were making sense. When I actually met conservatives, I discovered that they did not at all embody the stereotypes with which I'd been inculcated as a liberal.....
So I became what's now commonly known as a "9/11 Republican." Living in a time of war, disenchanted with the left and disappointed with the obstructionism and lack of vision of the Democratic Party, I threw in my hat with the only party that seemed to be offering solutions, rather than simply tearing away at our country. I went from voting for Ralph Nader in 2000 to proudly casting my ballot for George W. Bush in 2004.
See other writings by Cinnamon Stillwell
Hat tip to LittleGreenFootballs
Monday, February 28, 2005
Lieberman Can Still Think For Himself
ThinkProgress is upset, because it appears that Joe Lieberman can still think for himself on the issue of Social Security.
In 1998 he realized I think in the end that individual control of part of the retirement/Social Security funds has to happen
In 2000 he backtracked and said For a while I was drilling into this idea of privatization of Social Security. It requires taking as much as a trillion dollars out of the Social Security fund. The independent analysts have said that would put the fund out of money in 2023, or if it’s not out of money, benefits will have to be cut by over 50%. That’s just not worth doing.
In 2005 he started thinking for himself again Some of these centrists, such as Sen. Joe Lieberman, D-Conn., have been meeting with Republican colleagues to discuss whether there is a middle ground.
Lebanese ministers resign office
BBC News reports Lebanese ministers resign office
Lebanon's Prime Minister Omar Karimi has announced he and his government are resigning, two weeks after the murder of former PM Rafik Hariri.
The move comes as crowds protest in Beirut, calling for Syrian troops to leave the country.
Hat tip to Drudge
Yahoo ran a Reuter's report from 42 minutes ago
As PowerLine said "It seems that Middle Easterners may not be so different from everyone else after all: when they see an opportunity to live normal lives, they seize it. Next stop, Iran?"
As Andrew Sullivan said: I think even the fiercest critics of president Bush's handling of the post-liberation phase in Iraq will still be thrilled at what appears to me to be glacial but important shifts in the right direction in the region. The Iraq elections may not be the end of the Middle East Berlin Wall, but they certainly demonstrate its crumbling. The uprising against Syria's occupation of Lebanon is extremely encouraging; Syria's attempt to buy off some good will by coughing up Saddam's half-brother is also a good sign; ditto Mubarak's attempt to make his own dictatorship look more democratic. Add all of that to the emergence of Abbas and a subtle shift in the Arab media and you are beginning to see the start of a real and fundamental change. Almost all of this was accomplished by the liberation of Iraq. Nothing else would have persuaded the thugs and mafia bosses who run so many Arab nations that the West is serious about democracy. The hard thing for liberals - and I don't mean that term in a pejorative sense - will be to acknowledge this president's critical role in moving this region toward democracy. In my view, 9/11 demanded nothing less. We are tackling the problem at the surface - by wiping out the institutional core of al Qaeda - and in the depths - by tackling the autocracy that makes Islamo-fascism more attractive to the younger generation. This is what we owed to the victims of 9/11. And we are keeping that trust.
The dominos are falling
Battle beween lefties
The Washington Examiner printed a very funny exchange of emails between University of Southern California professor Susan Estrich and Michael Kinsley, opinion and editorial editor at the L.A. Times.
Hat tip to Andrew Sullivan
Update 3/7/05:
As Pete The Elder noted, Deacon at Powerline suggests the Susan Estrich start a blog, but as Junk Yard Blog reports she already tried that.
JunkYardDog indicated LATimesBias at one time appeared to be Susan Estrich's blog (it is no longer a blog), and as B. Preston said If "Stop the Bias" is Susan Estrich's blog, it would explain quite a bit. On the blog she writes in all caps, often, a sign that she cannot make her points without resorting to the internet equivalent of yelling at the top of her lungs. Her sentences go nowhere and often make no sense. She can't carry an argument past the first clause in a sentence, let alone sustain it for an entire post. There is no logic to any of the posts there other than a kind of "I am woman, here me roar" schtick that wore old circa 1978. So if "Stop the Bias" is Susan Estrich's blog, the mystery of why the LA Times doesn't publish her editorials is solved: The Times doesn't publish Susan Estrich because she is a lousy writer. Period.
Immigration
Michaelle Malkin referred to a post by PoliPundit which she says is a simple, humane, effective plan. It was based on some questions from The Hedgehog Blog.
What is your plan, and how will you get it enacted?
PolPundit wants to crack down on employeers who don't check social security numbers by using a pilot program for an Internet-based Social Security number verification service that can verify up to 10 SSNs instantaneously.
Gee that sounds nice. Fake document producers will have an ability to run 10 numbers through the system to find one that will check out, and then they can make up a false social security card for an illegal.
Clearly this will not work until we get identification cards that are not so easy to forge.
Do you really think the American public has the stomach to see 10 million people deported, many of whom have been here all their lives?
We are making a mistake if we worry about whether we should kick out illegals or whether we should let them stay. We need a system with an ID card that is difficult, if not impossible, to forge, and then make sure employeers check for that ID card. I really don't care whether we provide them that card here in the US for an illegal that has been here all his life, or whether he has to get it at the border coming in. He should not be able to get a job without it, and it should indicate whether he is a citizen or not, and if he is not a citizen we should be able to track him.
If the public is not ready to do that, are you prepared to see the Republican Party spend the political capital necessary to convince them?
I really do not care whether we deport the 10 million that are here now and make them come through the border again to get a secure ID card, or whether we provide it here in the country.
I have no problem with Bush's Guest Worker program. But whether the workers for that program are here already or come over to fill a need, they should have an unforgable ID card that says whether they are citizens or not.
Sunday, February 27, 2005
13 States to Raise High School Standards
As GOP Bloggers indicated "13 States to Raise High School Standards"
This is very good news, and it ties in with Bush's Education Initiative
For recent news items related to Education see my site
The education system has been going downhill for years. I am 62, and when my Mother was in college she was called in by the Dean of the College of Education and chewed out for cutting classes. She told him she never cut any of the important classes; the only classes she cut were the Education classes. He was not amused, but my mother realized that the garbage they taught in the Education classes was just not worth while.
We need to test teachers for what they know about the subject they are to teach, and ignore the garbage about HOW to teach.
Terri Schiavo
Most of the bloggers on this subject, including Michael Bates and Powerpundit and Discarded Lies seem to question Michael Schiavo's right to say that Terri would not want to be kept alive in her situation. I agree with Blogs for Bush it is unfortunate that she did not put her desires down in a Living Will, and hopefully her situation will prompt people to make one out, regardless of whether you would want to be kept alive in a situation like Terri's or whether you would want to be allowed to die.
But I wonder two things.
- Since February 1990 when Terri collapsed in her home and has been kept alive despite her husband's statement she would not want to be kept alive under circumstances like this, how many babies have been killed by doctors just because that was their mother's CHOICE, without anone considering what the baby's choice might be
- How much money has been spent on hospital and doctors charges keeping Terri alive since February 1990, and how many people who are conscious and who clearly say they want to live but who die anyway could have been kept alive with that money
Encouraging Signs
As BatesLine says in The dash (to the right) of Cinnamon there are encouraging signs as the Democrats' vacillating response to Islamofascism are driving otherwise liberal voters to become "9/11 Republicans".
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
