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Ever wonder what our elected officials are thinking? Do they really think they are working for a common good or are they just trying to make headlines so people don't forget their names in hopes of getting re-elected.

Check out these news stories and make up your own mind. If you want to find out more, here are some good resources for finding out more things like this and what you can do to help make some changes.

Electronic Frontier Foundation
How to contact your Representatives
Congress .ORG

Listed on: Friday, April 14th, 2006

Is the NSA Using AT&T to Listen to You?

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2006-04-13-att-spying_x.htm

Well, chalk up another possible government eavesdropping scandal to the Bush Administration. Yet another story has broken that the US Government is likely illegally listening to the conversations of US citizens. Now, it's not bad enough that this is taking place, but based on this story, it would appear that AT&T allowed the NSA to setup shop in several of its network operations centers giving the NSA access to not only electronic communications (email, chat, web, etc.), but also phone communications.

Now, maybe we're being silly here... Maybe we should allow our government to listen to everything that we say and do... Ok, maybe we're not being silly... Personal privacy is rapidly going out the window and if we let it go too far out that window, we'll never have a hope of getting it back. It's virtually impossible to undo something that has already been done if we do nothing about it.

Let your elected officials know how you feel about this type of behavior.

In an oddly related story... MS-NBC is running poll right now asking if President Bush should be impeached... 86% in favor when last checked...
Cast your Vote
Being an MS-NBC poll, there is no telling how long the poll will be posted.

Listed on: Wednesday, April 5th, 2006

Just how much is a Billion? Consider This...

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1153AP_Congress_Katrina_Iraq.html

Recently, it was reported that the USA is spending approximately $6 Billion per month on the war in Iraq. It has been estimated that it could cost up to $250 Billion to rebuild from hurricane Katrina. A current bill pending would increase the amount of money headed for both military operations and Katrina rebuilding. Just how much is a BILLION of something, let alone dollars?!

The next time you hear a politician use the word "billion" in a casual manner, think about whether you want the "politicians" spending your tax money. A billion is a difficult number to comprehend, but here are some figures that may give some perspective on a BILLION.

a.. A billion seconds ago was 31.7 years ago.

b.. A billion minutes ago was 1,902.5 years ago - almost when Jesus was alive.

c.. A billion hours ago was 114,155 years ago - our ancestors were living in the Stone Age.

d.. A billion days was 2,739,726 years ago - humans may have started to evolve as a species.

e.. A billion dollars ago was about 8 hours and 20 minutes, at the rate our government is spending our tax dollars.

Why don't we all let our representatives know that a Billion Dollars actually means something to those of us that are paying the bills.

Listed on: Sunday, April 2nd, 2006

National ID Cards Coming to the UK

http://www.no2id.net

"If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy." - James Madison

A noteworthy quote from one of our Founding Fathers.

Well, it might not be the USA, but this type of thing has been talked about by some of our politicians already, so it seemed worth pointing out just in case it actually gets tried here. The UK is working on National ID Cards for all of the legal residents. If this site is correct, the cards would be issued after what functionally comes down to an interrogation by state personnel along with a fee being paid for the 'privilege' of being input into the State Database.

Lose your card, go to jail. Don't have your card on you when asked for it, who knows what might happen to you. This seems more than a little amazing for a country that fought exactly this type of oppression in WWII. Apparently, the memories of those times have already faded in the name of 'protecting' the population.

Why not let your representatives know BEFORE anybody seriously tries this in the USA that it's simply NOT a good idea.

Listed on: Friday, March 31st, 2006

Baucus Bill Thinks it will Protect Our Kids

http://baucus.senate.gov/newsroom/details.cfm?id=252959

The Baucus Bill is a piece of current legislation that thinks the Internet is simply a USA item, that somehow, there are no websites located outside the USA. How silly is that?!

Part of the bill mandates that the owners of Adult oriented websites in the USA change their domain names to use a .XXX domain. They seem to think that this will make it easier for parents and filtering software to protect kids from adult content.

Nothing could be further from the truth. This would only provide a false sense of security for people that don't know any better. The Internet is a global resource and there are adult websites all around the globe. None of the sites hosted outside of the USA would be obligated to use the .XXX domain and hence would not be caught in any of the filters that 'should' catch adult sites.

In addition to creating a false sense of security for many parents, it would also penalize legal businesses in the USA by forcing them into a restrictive business model that other businesses in a global economy do not have to use. Many of these sites have been around for several years and have invested large sums of money branding their sites. With this .XXX domain requirement, they would be forced to give them up and start over. Their former .COM or .NET domain names could then be purchased by foreign companies to capitalize on and take US dollars overseas.

In addition to this, the International Organization that controls these top level domains (ICANN) has declined the creation of a .XXX top level domain based on opposition from many different countries - including our own USA Government. They voted on this March 30, 2006.

Take a few minutes to let your representative know that your feel the Baucus Bill will not protect our kids and that you are in favor of it's intent, but it's methods simply will not work.

Listed on: Sunday, March 26th, 2006

Use a Dildo - Go to Jail

http://www.nashvillescene.com/Stories/News/Political_Notes/2006/03/02/Down_With_Dildos_/index.shtml#

Just when you thought our state representatives could not address less important issues... the state of Tennessee proves us wrong once again...

A couple of their elected representatives are attempting to outlaw dildos in the state. It's a good thing there is no crime or other problems in Tennessee since they have time to spend on the real issues like what adults might do in the privacy of their own homes.

Let's hope the good people of Tennessee see fit to let their representatives know how silly things like this really are and that they should be working to solve problems in their state.

Listed on: Sunday, March 26th, 2006

Is the Government playing the Godfather?

http://www.tampatrib.com/MGBF6Q6R1LE.html

Are areas of our Government making offers that you just can't refuse?

Some people would give that a most definite YES! How would you like to have charges stacked up against you putting you at risk of serving 30 or more years just for running a business. Now mind you, it's a legal business... you pay your taxes... you don't bother anybody other than possibly the morals of some conservative people that happen to think they are representing the interests of the local community...

Think this could not happen in your community? Don't count on it. Make your voice heard to help make sure it does not happen.

Listed on: Sunday, March 26th, 2006

Supreme Court Confirms Gov Runs CP Site

http://www.supremecourtus.gov/opinions/05pdf/04-1414.pdf

Ever wonder who is running CP sites on the Internet? Well, the US Supreme Court inadvertently confirmed that our very own US Government does!

Yes, the link does go to the official site of the US Supreme Court and the PDF is a decision from this case presented.

UNITED STATES v. GRUBBS
CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
No. 04-1414. Argued January 18, 2006-Decided March 21, 2006

In the decision around the top of the third page, you'll find that a US Postal Inspector ran a CP site as part of a sting operation. Although it does not constitute entrapment, does it really seem to be an appropriate use of Government funds or time?!

Consider this... Lots of police arrests use confiscated drugs and other items in many different kinds of arrests, but in those, the contact made with people they are attempting to arrest is isolated to those people - they don't expose the general public to the drugs or whatever else!

In this case, the US Government created a CP site AND sold CP for the sole purpose of arresting anybody who purchased it. A PUBLIC WEBSITE?! We're all for arresting ANYBODY connected with CP, but there has got to be a better way to find them. CP is NOT a victimless crime - the subjects of any images will always be the victims and so long as those images still exist they continue to be victims.

If you are like we are and think that the US Government should NOT behave like this, then feel free to pass this information to any news agency you like - we think the public needs to know about these kinds of things.