Hail Dubyas!

Another federal leak case, but this one isn’t like Plame

from Salon.com

The Justice Department is launching an investigation into the disclosure of the existence of the NSA’s program to eavesdrop on Americans’ telephone calls and e-mail messages. At this point, details of the investigation are unknown, but if this thing goes anything like that other recent leak investigation, you can expect it to get quite messy — reporters at the New York Times and elsewhere may once again face jail, and government officials, whether in Congress or the administration, may face tough questioning and also possible charges.

As the investigation unfolds, though, it’d be wise to remember one thing. Though Bush has called the leak of details of the NSA program “shameful,” this leak was morally and ethically quite different from the leak of Valerie Plame’s identity. In that case, someone in the Bush Administration was talking to reporters about Plame and her husband Joe Wilson in an effort to damage them; it was a scurrilous act, and the journalists who dealt with those officials weren’t very easy to defend.

The eavesdropping leak, though, was just the opposite: The leakers here were disclosing something of vital interest to Americans. The journalists here were trying to get that story to the public. The real story here doesn’t have to do with the press, or with the whistleblowers — the real story is the Bush plan to wiretap Americans without legal oversight. As we go down the rabbit hole of another leak investigation, let’s keep that in mind.

– Farhad Manjoo

FISA Court Modified and Denied Wiretap Requests

Government records show that the administration was encountering unprecedented second-guessing by the secret federal surveillance court when President Bush decided to bypass the panel and order surveillance of US-based terror suspects without the court’s approval.

Hundreds of Children Still Missing after Katrina

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/122605Q.shtml
Controversy brewed Friday over FEMA’s reluctance to release information
on evacuees, data that some agencies have said could speed up the
process of finding children missing since Hurricane Katrina. It was not
until the FBI began requesting information that FEMA this month turned
over the records, which are protected by privacy laws.

The Vertical Farm

Z-Axis Urban Agriculture: The Vertical Farm Project

At humankind’s current rate of growth, it is estimated that by the year 2050, the planet will be host to three billion more people than it is today, making for a 40% increase over Earth’s current population. Yet at present, over 80% of the planet’s arable land is already in use, which leaves one to wonder how such a large number of people will be fed. No doubt improvements will be made in the efficiency of farming techniques, but only so many calories can be coaxed out of the fertile portions of the Earth each year.

Dr. Dickson Despommier of Columbia University has been leading an effort to address that very problem before it becomes a crisis, and his proposed solution is interesting and well-researched… it involves a series of high rises in urban areas where fruit, vegetables, and livestock can be raised by utilizing greenhouse growing methods and recycled resource year-round, allowing cities of the future to become self-sufficient. This concept is called the Vertical Farm

I figure there’s a chance that this may come in handy as an idea in the near future. If not, it’s still a good idea. I’d rather it NOT be neccessary. But, we can all see where this shit is going.

Need a new mp3 player/organizer?

sikCube is an mp3 player
for the
modern generation. It helps you just listen to what you want to hear,
while offering innovative features not seen elsewhere. For the
technical user, musikCube is based on an embedded SQL database engine
known as sqlite. For the non technical user, that means its fast.
Really fast. “Dynamic playlists” allow fully automatic, randomized
playback of songs based on your observed listening habits. The more
you listen, the smarter it gets. It also features browsable, user
reorderable playlists.

    Cube also makes transferring
audio between home and
work very easy with it’s unique support for
removable storage devices. A “removable storage device” is any flash
memory, thumb drive, or portable mp3 player that acts as a hard disk
when you plug it in.

http://www.musikcube.com/

It may just be the best opensource music player/organizer

A President above the Law

A President above the Law

Civil libertarians say the latest revelations of Bush’s vow to continue secretly spying on Americans adds to their frustration with the Bush administration. “If we are a nation of laws, then the president must be bound by the rule of law,” said Lisa Graves, senior counsel at the ACLU in Washington. “This is clearly in violation of FISA and a violation of the Constitution. The president, no matter who he is, does not have the power to decide which laws he will follow.”

Zogby says thinks look brighter for Dems in year-end poll.

Zogby Year-End Poll: Democratic Prospects Brighten Heading Into 2006 – GOP lags

* McCain’s Star Burns Bright; Hillary’s,Too
* More Say They Are Better Off
* War in Iraq Dominates Issues
* Wanted: Candidates Moving to the Middle

A key measurement of partisan advantage in the United States Congress shows Democrats with a substantial lead in public opinion as the nation heads into 2006 and the important mid-term election season, a new Zogby International survey shows.

Asked if they would “definitely� or “probably� vote for the Democrat or Republican in next year’s fall congressional election, 48% said the Democrat would get their support, compared to 40% who said they would vote for the Republican. While 3% said they plan on supporting a third-party candidate, 9% said they were unsure.

The year-end survey by Zogby International included 1013 interviews nationwide, and carries a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.

The poll shows weakness for Republicans among demographic groups that are typically supportive. In “red� states that favored George W. Bush in the presidential election last year, generic congressional Republicans hold a 46% to 43% advantage over their generic Democratic counterparts. But in “blue� states won by Democrat John Kerry last year, the Democratic lead is much larger – there the congressional Democrat leads by a 54% to 34% margin.

Republicans hold a narrow 45% to 43% lead over Democrats among married respondents, who typically favor Republicans by much larger margins. Catholics, whose support for Mr. Bush last year was of key importance, now support congressional Democrats by ten percent, 45% to 35%.

The survey shows that, should President Bush campaign for a congressional candidate, 51% of self-identified independents would be less likely to support that candidate, while just 22% would be more likely to support him. Vice President Cheney has a similar effect.

The one Republican with real appeal across the political spectrum is Arizona Sen. John McCain. If he campaigns for a candidate, 55% of Republicans, 53% of Democrats, and 58% of independents would be more likely to support that candidate.

“That’s remarkable,� said Mr. Zogby. “This next year, look for John McCain to be coming to a theater near you.�

Zogby International has conducted public opinion surveys for Mr. McCain in the past.

For Democratic counterpart Hillary Clinton, the news is not as good. Appearing for another congressional candidate, 63% of Democrats would be more inclined to support that candidate, but she would scare away more independents than she would attract, the poll shows.

While it is very early in the 2008 presidential sweepstakes, the poll shows Sens. McCain and Clinton ahead in primary match-ups against others. McCain narrowly leads former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice among Republicans, while Clinton laps the Democratic Party field, more than doubling the support of second-place John Edwards, the former senator from North Carolina.

In a McCain-Clinton presidential face-off, McCain wins easily, 52% to 37%, with 11% either unsure or favoring another candidate.

More people than not feel their personal financial situation here at the end of the year is now better than it was 12 months ago. While 27% said they were better off, 20% said they were worse off, and 52% said they were about the same as a year ago.

But optimism abounds heading into 2006, as more than twice as many respondents said they expect to be better off than worse off one year from now. Fully one-third (34%) said they expect things to get better in the coming year, while just 14% predicted things will get worse. One in two said things will remain about the same.

The survey showed the war in Iraq is far and away the most important issue to voters. A majority of Democrats (60%) say they “strongly oppose� it, as do 41% of union households and 40% of those households containing a member of the military.

“President Bush wanted his presidency to be all about the war in Iraq, and that’s exactly what it is,� Mr. Zogby said.

Asked if the war was worth it, the nation is badly split. While 78% of Democrats said “no,� 54% of independents said “no,� but just 14% of Republicans said it was not. A plurality (48%) said the U.S. should begin a phased pull-out from Iraq in the next few months, while just 13% said a withdrawal should start immediately because U.S. soldiers are now the target of the insurgency. Another 37% said U.S. troops should stay until Iraqi soldiers are trained to deal with insurgents because to do otherwise would encourage the insurgents and could lead to a terrorist state there.

A majority (54%) said they believe the war in Iraq will be won by the U.S., and the same percentage believe the U.S. will win the war on terror.

Democrats want their leaders to make modest compromises on their principles in order to win over voters from the middle of the political spectrum, while most Republicans want their leaders to stand firm on issues, even if it means losing moderate support, the poll shows. While 61% of Democrats agreed it was better to compromise to win broader support, just 44% of Republicans agreed. Independents, by a 58% majority, agreed that softening some ideological stances to attract moderates was the best strategy.

The survey showed that 93% of Independents, 63% of Republicans, and 79% of Democrats wanted candidates who were independent of party leaders and were willing to compromise to get things done.

(12/14/2005)

OK

got my computer back. We’re up and running. Sort of.