Follow-up to May 1 story on Government snooping in data retention...

Here's the latest endorsement, by more Republican's, of government snooping of the ISP records...

WASHINGTON--A key Republican in the U.S. House of Representatives plans to find a way to force Internet providers to keep records of their customers' activities, an aide said Friday.

The aide said Rep. Joe Barton of Texas, who chairs the House committee responsible for writing Internet and telecommunications law, has pledged to work on legislation related to mandatory data retention--a concept recently endorsed by the Bush administration as a way to crack down on child pornographers.

"We have made a commitment with the congresswoman to address that issue," David Cavicke, general counsel to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, said at the Computers, Freedom & Privacy conference here. Cavicke was referring to Rep. Diana DeGette, a Colorado Democrat, who has drafted legislation making it unlawful for an Internet provider to delete certain types of customer information.

The Link:

http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9595_22-6069210.html?tag=sas.email

MyWorld66

Via Nick at The Rule of Reason, here's my map of states visited, so far. I've only been to one foreign country, Bermuda.
32 and counting...



create your own personalized map of the USA
or check out ourCalifornia travel guide

Special Treatment....again

WASHINGTON - Rep. Patrick Kennedy (news, bio, voting record) says he'd taken a prescription anti-nausea drug that can cause drowsiness, but consumed no alcohol, before crashing his car near the Capitol.

In a statement, Kennedy, D-R.I., said the attending physician for Congress had prescribed Phenergan to treat Kennedy's gastroenteritis, an inflammation of the stomach and intestines.

Louis P. Cannon, president of the Washington chapter of the Fraternal Order of Police, who was not on the scene, said the congressman had appeared intoxicated when he crashed his Ford Mustang into a barrier on Capitol Hill.

Cannon said the officers involved in the accident were instructed by an official "above the rank of patrolman" to take Kennedy home and no sobriety tests were conducted at the scene. [Italics mine.(If this were you or me, I can hear those handcuffs clicking on our wrists as I write this...)]

Kennedy said that after working Wednesday evening he went home and took "prescribed" amounts of Phenergan and Ambien, another drug that he sometimes takes to fall asleep.

In his statement, Kennedy said he was apparently disoriented from the drugs when he got up a little before 3 a.m. Thursday and drove to the Capitol thinking he needed to be present for a vote.

"At no time before the incident did I consume any alcohol," he said.

A letter written by a Capitol Police officer to Acting Chief Christopher McGaffin said Kennedy appeared to be staggering when he left the vehicle after the crash about 3 a.m. The letter was first reported by Roll Call, a Capitol Hill newspaper.

Kennedy reportedly told the police he was late for a vote, but the final vote of the night had taken place some six hours earlier.

The Capitol Police did not return phone calls for comment.

Kennedy spent time at a drug rehabilitation clinic before he went to Providence College. He has been open about mental health issues, including being diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

New Hampshire can stop the coming federal police state

Has anyone heard the outcome of the Senate vote in NH?

Excerpt:


THE NEW HAMPSHIRE Senate will soon vote on what might be the most important bill to protect our freedoms in many years. House Bill 1582, which the House overwhelmingly passed last month, would preclude New Hampshire from participating in the REAL ID Act, a federal law passed last year establishing a de facto national ID card.

The REAL ID Act was passed by Congress in 2005 as a part of a "must-pass" military appropriations bill, though it had nothing whatsoever to do with the military. It requires that all states comply with certain federal requirements in the creation of driver's licenses, and would likely include a microchip containing information such as a digital photo, Social Security number and digital biometric information like the fingerprint or retinal scan of the license holder. It would force the repeal of several important privacy protections currently in New Hampshire law.

If a state doesn't comply with REAL ID, its residents risk being forced to purchase passports just to drive in other states or enter federal facilities. Thus, it reveals itself to be a Soviet-style internal passport.

History has shown that national identification systems are one of the critical pieces of infrastructure needed to foist complete tyranny upon a nation. They are used as the basis for tracking movements, purchases and monitoring activities

Full Article:

http://www.unionleader.com/article.aspx?articleId=f4cf7065-257b-4950-849e-5bfd2f5b5284

Feds set 'cover' for possible government invasion of ISP records

Excerpt:

Last week, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, a Republican, gave a speech saying that data retention by Internet service providers is an "issue that must be addressed." Child pornography investigations have been "hampered" because data may be routinely deleted, Gonzales warned.

Now, in a demonstration of bipartisan unity, a Democratic member of the Congressional Internet Caucus is preparing to introduce an amendment--perhaps during a U.S. House of Representatives floor vote next week--that would make such data deletion illegal.

Colorado Rep. Diana DeGette's proposal (click for PDF) says that any Internet service that "enables users to access content" must permanently retain records that would permit police to identify each user. The records could not be discarded until at least one year after the user's account was closed.

Here's the whole story:

http://news.com.com/Congress+may+consider+mandatory+ISP+snooping/2100-1028_3-6066608.html

Completely slipped my mind...

...but last friday, April 14, marked my Two Year Anniversary as a blogger!

Thanks to all my readers and friends who visit. This is a great venue and one I hope is left free to operate without government oversight.


OK, now I really am outta here!

Vacation

I'm headed on vacation early this week and probably won't even get online, let alone post here. Be back on or around May 1.

See ya!

A new breed of paternalists is seeking to promote virtue and wisdom by default. Be wary.

The latest issue of The Economist has, as its cover story, The 'Soft Paternalism' of the state. Those who want to oversee our health and virtue!
Here's an excerpt:

But a new breed of policy wonk is having second thoughts. On some of the biggest decisions in their lives, people succumb to inertia, ignorance or irresolution. Their private failings—obesity, smoking, boozing, profligacy—are now big political questions. And the wonks think they have an ingenious new answer—a guiding but not illiberal state.


What they propose is “soft paternalism” (see article). Thanks to years of patient observation of people's behaviour, they have come to understand your weaknesses and blindspots better than you might know them yourself. Now they hope to turn them to your advantage. They are paternalists, because they want to help you make the choices you would make for yourself—if only you had the strength of will and the sharpness of mind. But unlike “hard” paternalists, who ban some things and mandate others, the softer kind aim only to skew your decisions, without infringing greatly on your freedom of choice. Technocrats, itching to perfect society, find it irresistible. What should the supposed beneficiaries think?

The Link:

http://www.economist.com/opinion/displaystory.cfm?story_id=6772346

The Islamist Challenge to the U.S. Constitution

From the Middle East Quarterly:

The Islamist Challenge to the U.S. Constitution
by David Kennedy Houck

Excerpt:

The Internal Muslim Enclave

The internal Muslim enclave proposed by the Islamic Center for Human Excellence in Arkansas represents a new direction for Islam in the United States. The group seeks to transform a loosely organized Muslim population into a tangible community presence. The group has foreign financial support: it falls under the umbrella of a much larger Islamic group, "Islam 4 the World," an organization sponsored by Sharjah, one of the constituent emirates of the United Arab Emirates.[5] While the Islamic Center for Human Excellence has yet to articulate detailed plans for its Little Rock enclave, the group's reliance on foreign funding is troublesome. Past investments by the United Arab Emirates' rulers and institutions have promoted radical interpretations of Islam. [6]

The Islamic Center for Human Excellence may seek to segregate schools and offices by gender. The enclave might also exercise broad control upon commerce within its boundaries—provided the economic restrictions did not discriminate against out-of-state interests or create an undue burden upon interstate commerce. But most critically, the enclave could promulgate every internal law—from enforcing strict religious dress codes to banning alcohol possession and music; it could even enforce limits upon religious and political tolerance. Although such concepts are antithetical to a free society, U.S. democracy allows the internal enclave to function beyond the established boundaries of our constitutional framework. At the very least, the permissible parameters of an Islamist enclave are ill defined.

The greater American Muslim community's unapologetic and public manifestation of belief in a separate but equal ideology does not bode well. In September 2004, the New Jersey branch of the Islamic Circle of North America rented Six Flags Adventure Park in New Jersey for "The Great Muslim Adventure Day." The advertisement announcing the event stated: "The entire park for Muslims only." While legal—and perhaps analogous to corporate or other non-religious groups renting facilities, the advertisement expressly implied a mindset that a proof of faith was required for admission to the park. In his weblog, commentator Daniel Pipes raises a relevant and troubling question about the event: because it is designated for Muslims only, "Need one recite the shahada to enter the fairgrounds?"[7]

Here's the link to the full article:

http://www.meforum.org/article/920

Happenstance II

Dateline Sunday April 2, 2006 3:50pm EST.

Went to Barnes and Noble to buy a couple of books for a friend that I thought I'd lost contact with, who recently sent me a letter, and that's a good thing. [A four year absence].
While at the bookstore, I just happened to be in the aisle that Rand's books were opposite where I was looking, when a tall drink of blonde fox stepped in the aisle as the clerk showed her where Miss Rand's books were. I didn't catch it till I turned around and she had the trade edition paperback of The Fountainhead in her hand and was speaking to her mother about it. I waited for a break and said, "that's a great novel. You won't regret reading it". She smiled and continued looking thought it and talking to her mom about it. As they read the back cover,her mom cooed about 'the romantic angle'. As they left with book in hand, she turned back to me and I said, "Good luck with it" and smiled. She smiled and went on her way.

Just another day in the life...

I'm thinking about changing my name to Rand's Babe Magnet. Whaddya think? Heh.

Hooray for me! ;-)

ARI: The Fear To Speak Comes To America's Shores

Europeans are all too well acquainted with the fear of criticizing Islam.

To cite just a few of depressingly many examples: a painter, Rashid Ben Ali, is forced into hiding after one of his shows "featured satirical work critical of Islamic militant's violence"; a politician, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, must go underground after it becomes known that she has renounced her Islamic faith; and a film director, Theo van Gogh, is savagely stabbed to death for making a film critical of Islamic oppression of women. And most recently, of course, there were the Danish cartoons. When the Jyllands-Posten, in order to expose and challenge this climate of intimidation, printed an article and accompanying cartoons, some of which portrayed Mohammed in a negative light, the response was torched embassies, cries for government censorship, and death threats.

It appears that we should now begin to get used to a similar climate in America.

Borders and Waldenbooks stores have just announced that they will not stock the April-May issue of Free Inquiry magazine because the issue reprints some of the cartoons. Is the decision based on disagreement with the content of the magazine? No, not according to Borders Group Inc. spokeswoman Beth Bingham. "For us, the safety and security of our customers and employees is a top priority, and we believe that carrying this issue could challenge that priority."

Borders Group's capitulation to Islamic thugs is understandable given the pathetic response of our and other Western governments.

Has any Western government declared that an individual's freedom of speech is sacrosanct, no matter who screams offense at his ideas? No. Has any Western government proclaimed each individual's right to life and pledged to hunt down anyone, anywhere, who abets the murder of one of its citizens for having had the effrontery to speak? No--as they did not when the fatwa against Rushdie was issued, American bookstores were firebombed, and Rushdie's translators were attacked and murdered.

On the contrary, our government went out of its way to say that it shares "the offence that Muslims have taken at these images," and even hinted that they should not be published. The British police, Douglas Murray reports, told the editor of a London magazine that they could not protect him, his staff, or his offices from attack--so the magazine removed the cartoons from its website. (A few days later, Murray notes, "the police provided 500 officers to protect a 'peaceful' Muslim protest in Trafalgar Square.")

In the face of such outrages, we must demand that the U.S. government reverse its disgraceful stand and fulfill is obligation to protect our right to free speech.

Freedom of speech means the right to express one's ideas without danger of physical coercion from anyone. This freedom includes the right to make movies, write books, draw pictures, voice political opinions--and satirize religion. This right flows from the right to think: the right to observe, to follow the evidence, to reach the conclusions you judge the facts warrant--and then to convey your thoughts to others.

In a free society, anyone angered by someone else's ideas has a simple and powerful recourse: don't buy his books, watch his movies, or read his newspapers. If one judges his ideas dangerous, argue against them. The purveyor of evil ideas is no threat to those who remain free to counter them with rational ones.

But the moment someone decides to answer those he finds offensive with a knife or a homemade explosive, not an argument, he removes himself from civilized society.

Against such a threat to our rights, our government must respond with force. If it fails to do so, it fails to fulfill its reason for being: "to secure these rights," Jefferson wrote, "Governments are instituted among Men." And if it fails to do so, we the people must hold it to account.

We must vociferously demand that our government declare publicly that, from this day forward, it will defend by force any American who receives death threats for criticizing Islam--or religion--or any other idea. We must demand that the government protect the stores and employees of Borders, of Waldenbooks, and of any other organization that reprints the cartoons.

We must demand this, because nothing less will prevent America's climate of freedom from disintegrating into Europe's climate of fear.


Copyright © 2006 Ayn Rand® Institute. All rights reserved.

Op-eds, press releases and letters to the editor produced by the Ayn Rand Institute are submitted to hundreds of newspapers, radio stations and Web sites across the United States and abroad, and are made possible thanks to voluntary contributions.

How to Call the Police [True Story]

HOW TO CALL THE POLICE:


George Phillips of Meridian, Mississippi
was going up to bed when
his wife told him that he'd left the
light on in the garden shed,
which she could see from the bedroom
window. George opened the back
door to go turn off the light, but saw
that there were people in the
shed stealing things.

He phoned the police, who asked "Is
someone in your house?" and he
said no. Then they said that all
patrols were busy, and that he
should simply lock his door and an
officer would be along when
available. George said "Okay," hung up,
counted to 30, and phoned
the police again.
"Hello. I just called you a few seconds
ago because there were
people in my shed. Well, you don't have
to worry about them now
hung up.
Within five minutes, three police cars,
an Armed Response unit, and
an ambulance showed up at the Phillips'
residence. Of course, the
police caught the burglars red-handed.
One of the policemen said to George: "I
thought you said that you'd
shot them!"
George said, "I thought you said there
was nobody available!"

Harry Binswanger posts @ Immigration Daily

Dr. Binswanger has an essay favoring open immigration over at Immigration Daily. Here's an excerpt...[It's excellent. Read it all].

An end to immigration quotas is demanded by the principle of individual rights. Every individual has rights as an individual, not as a member of this or that nation. One has rights not by virtue of being an American, but by virtue of being human.

One doesn't have to be a resident of any particular country to have a moral entitlement to be secure from governmental coercion against one's life, liberty, and property. In the words of the Declaration of Independence, government is instituted "to secure these rights"--to protect them against their violation by force or fraud.

A foreigner has rights just as much as an American. To be a foreigner is not to be a criminal. Yet our government treats as criminals those foreigners not lucky enough to win the green-card lottery.

Seeking employment in this country is not a criminal act. It coerces no one and violates no one's rights (there is no "right" to be exempt from competition in the labor market, or in any other market


Here's the link to the full article:

http://www.ilw.com/articles/2006,0329-Binswanger.shtm

[HT:Charlotte Capitalist]

An Interview with Lee Sandstead

Objectivist Art Historian Lee Sandstead sat still long enough to give this interview and I call it to your immediate attention. I've known Lee for almost a dozen years, perhaps longer, as I was living in central Tennessee at the time and he showed up at our Objectivist gatherings.
It's always great to see younger people succeed and I am proud of him and the work he's doing.

Don't miss this interview. You'll be glad you read it.

http://www.monumentlight.com/interview/interview.html

Some General Observations...

My friend Simon over at Capitalist Solutions in Hong Kong has some general observations, including this little gem:

Over 500,000 students demonstrated in France last week against labour reform, but only a handful protested against Islamic threats to free speech.


Here's the link. Go. Read.

http://www.hkcapitalist.com/hkcapitalist/2006/03/some_general_ob.html

Atheists identified as America's Most Distrusted Minority

University of Minnesota study concludes, among other things...



From a telephone sampling of more than 2,000 households, university researchers found that Americans rate atheists below Muslims, recent immigrants, gays and lesbians and other minority groups in “sharing their vision of American society.” Atheists are also the minority group most Americans are least willing to allow their children to marry.

Even though atheists are few in number, not formally organized and relatively hard to publicly identify, they are seen as a threat to the American way of life by a large portion of the American public.

“It seems most Americans believe that diversity is fine, as long as every one shares a common ‘core’ of values that make them trustworthy—and in America, that ‘core’ has historically been religious."

Here's the whole article:

http://www.ur.umn.edu/FMPro?-db=releases&-lay=web&-format=umnnewsreleases/releasesdetail.html&ID=2816&-Find

Noam Chomsky: Closet Capitalist?

Noam Chomsky, the man who endlessly speaks of class warfare, who claims that tax 'havens' are 'allowed' so the brunt of the tax burden is laid on the poor...has decided to put his growing wealth [$2 million] in a Trust Fund of his own!

Hey Noam, contradictions cannot exist.

Here's the story:

http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/story.html?id=1385b76d-6c34-4c22-942a-18b71f2c4a44&k=53758

The Teaching Company Lectures

I remember some time back, when Diana [Noodle Food] mentioned she'd been racing through the lecture series she'd purchased from the above company. I thought, that's interesting, and promptly forgot about it.
Last month, I got one of their sale catalogs and boy, I ordered three series of lectures. Ancient Greece, History of Jazz, and Plato's Republic. As you might guess, I couldn't stop there, last week, I ordered FIVE more series.[!] Luckily, these are all 'sale' prices, or I would be bankrupt. Heh. The five new ones are: Science and Religion, Aristotles Ethics, Argumentation and Rhetoric, The Aeneid by Virgil, Einstein's theory for non-scientists. Quite a line-up, I must say.
One thing I've noticed is that the majority of these lectures [or, at least, the ones I have so far,] are "Catholic-centered." In a way, since Catholics are more philosophical than most all other religions [I think] it is a good test of Objectivist epistemology, and my own thinking skills, to listen, learn and compare. I am currently listening to the Science and Religion course, where Dr. Principe denounces that there was/is a schism between faith and reason. Can you guess, though, where 'reason' is placed in this equation? Right. As the 'handmaiden' of faith. One simply can't exist without the other according to him.

These courses are first rate, high quality lectures that can sharpen your thinking and reasoning skills, and when on sale, are a wonderful augment to any college or university training you may have, or have had in your life. Some courses are as low as $19.95, regularly $130. So you can get some bargains, and you have a money back guarantee.

Here's Diana's link:
http://www.dianahsieh.com/blog/2004/10/teaching-company-loves-me.html

Carnival of the Objectivists: # 1!

Nick over at 'The Rule of Reason' has posted his first edition of the Carnival!

WHAT A LINEUP!!!! I am honored to be included in this illustrious company! Although I'm sitting here at home in Connecticut, my 'spirit' is in Denver at the Law conference there. Hope there are many more of those kind of gatherings.

Sadly, no new 'babe' spottings at the bookstore :-(
But I remain ever vigilant. Heh.

Here's the Carnival link:

http://ruleofreason.blogspot.com/archives/2006_02_26_default.htm#114148875229409634

Huge 'Hat Tip' to all of us!!!!

My Blog's Worth...

...over Nine Grand! Okay! Now, I wonder if my bank will let me use my blog as collateral? I've always wanted to go to the US Virgin Islands ;-) Nine grand should give me a wicked good time!!!!! HA.

[Hat tip: Gus via Literatrix]