Tuesday, November 28, 2006
Monday, November 27, 2006
Saturday, November 25, 2006
Thursday, November 23, 2006
Wednesday, November 22, 2006
good news
California Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Free Speech on the Internet
an excerpt: "In what is a victory for free speech on the Internet, the California Supreme Court ruled today that no provider or user of an interactive computer service may be held liable for putting material on the Internet that was written by someone else. In doing so, the Court overruled an earlier decision by the Court of Appeal.Today's ruling affirms that blogs, websites, listservs, and ISPs like Yahoo!, as well as individuals like defendant Ilena Rosenthal, are protected under Section 230 of the federal Communications Decency Act (CDA), which explicitly states that "[n]o provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider."
"By reaffirming that Congress intended to grant protection under Section 230 to those who provide a forum for the views of others, the Court has ensured that the Internet will remain a vibrant forum for debate and the free exchange of ideas," said Ann Brick, staff attorney at the ACLU of Northern California. "Any other ruling would have inevitably made speech on the Internet less free." "
Sleep: a functional enigma
Get ready for 24-hour life. A new drug, Modafinil, is now making it possible to have 48 hours of continuous wakefulness with few, if any, ill effects. The stories are compelling, as are the warnings. This could be the drug that amphetamines, ritalin, cocaine, caffeine and other stimulants have always tried to be. Has anyone tried it?
Cultural Learnings of America
Rolling Stone lands a great interview with the man behind Borat, Sacha Baron Cohen.
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
Monday, November 20, 2006
fyi: A Liberal's Pledge to Disheartened Conservatives
by Michael Moore
To My Conservative Brothers and Sisters,I know you are dismayed and disheartened at the results of last week's election. You're worried that the country is heading toward a very bad place you don't want it to go. Your 12-year Republican Revolution has ended with so much yet to do, so many promises left unfulfilled. You are in a funk, and I understand.
Well, cheer up, my friends! Do not despair. I have good news for you. I, and the millions of others who are now in charge with our Democratic Congress, have a pledge we would like to make to you, a list of promises that we offer you because we value you as our fellow Americans. You deserve to know what we plan to do with our newfound power -- and, to be specific, what we will do to you and for you.
Thus, here is our Liberal's Pledge to Disheartened Conservatives:
Dear Conservatives and Republicans,
I, and my fellow signatories, hereby make these promises to you:
1. We will always respect you for your conservative beliefs. We will never, ever, call you "unpatriotic" simply because you disagree with us. In fact, we encourage you to dissent and disagree with us.
2. We will let you marry whomever you want, even when some of us consider your behavior to be "different" or "immoral." Who you marry is none of our business. Love and be in love -- it's a wonderful gift.
3. We will not spend your grandchildren's money on our personal whims or to enrich our friends. It's your checkbook, too, and we will balance it for you.
4. When we soon bring our sons and daughters home from Iraq, we will bring your sons and daughters home, too. They deserve to live. We promise never to send your kids off to war based on either a mistake or a lie.
5. When we make America the last Western democracy to have universal health coverage, and all Americans are able to get help when they fall ill, we promise that you, too, will be able to see a doctor, regardless of your ability to pay. And when stem cell research delivers treatments and cures for diseases that affect you and your loved ones, we'll make sure those advances are available to you and your family, too.
6. Even though you have opposed environmental regulation, when we clean up our air and water, we, the Democratic majority, will let you, too, breathe the cleaner air and drink the purer water.
7. Should a mass murderer ever kill 3,000 people on our soil, we will devote every single resource to tracking him down and bringing him to justice. Immediately. We will protect you.
8. We will never stick our nose in your bedroom or your womb. What you do there as consenting adults is your business. We will continue to count your age from the moment you were born, not the moment you were conceived.
9. We will not take away your hunting guns. If you need an automatic weapon or a handgun to kill a bird or a deer, then you really aren't much of a hunter and you should, perhaps, pick up another sport. We will make our streets and schools as free as we can from these weapons and we will protect your children just as we would protect ours.
10. When we raise the minimum wage, we will pay you -- and your employees -- that new wage, too. When women are finally paid what men make, we will pay conservative women that wage, too.
11. We will respect your religious beliefs, even when you don't put those beliefs into practice. In fact, we will actively seek to promote your most radical religious beliefs ("Blessed are the poor," "Blessed are the peacemakers," "Love your enemies," "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God," and "Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me."). We will let people in other countries know that God doesn't just bless America, he blesses everyone. We will discourage religious intolerance and fanaticism -- starting with the fanaticism here at home, thus setting a good example for the rest of the world.
12. We will not tolerate politicians who are corrupt and who are bought and paid for by the rich. We will go after any elected leader who puts him or herself ahead of the people. And we promise you we will go after the corrupt politicians on our side FIRST. If we fail to do this, we need you to call us on it. Simply because we are in power does not give us the right to turn our heads the other way when our party goes astray. Please perform this important duty as the loyal opposition.
I promise all of the above to you because this is your country, too. You are every bit as American as we are. We are all in this together. We sink or swim as one. Thank you for your years of service to this country and for giving us the opportunity to see if we can make things a bit better for our 300 million fellow Americans -- and for the rest of the world.
Signed,
Michael Moore
mmflint@aol.com
www.michaelmoore.com
fundamentalism v. passion
Richard Dawkins, Elvis of atheists, explains why he is so hostile towards organized religion.
Friday, November 17, 2006
Thursday, November 16, 2006
quote of the day
"Ann Coulter [is] a travesty of humanity, as unacceptable a hank of flesh draped on a hanger ever to be foisted upon an ignorant populace hungry for more ignorance."
so cool, so needless
Has anyone seen this virtual laser keyboard for the Treo? It is fascinating. It uses a laser to project a QWERTY keyboard onto any flat surface, and as you tap the 'keys' optical recognition detects your keypresses and transfers them to the Treo, complete with realistic tapping sounds.
100 Hours
Mary Pat and I heard the Democrats' "100 Hours" commitment on NPR the day after the election, and I thought it noble and worthy. I post it here because we need to remember what we've been promised by those we've put in office.
Our New Direction begins with a commitment to integrity, civility, and fiscal responsibility. We will break the link between lobbyists and legislation. We will govern the House of Representatives under bipartisan administration, so that the voice of every American will be heard. And we commit to no new deficit spending, with pay-as-you-go budgeting. These are the principles by which we will govern. And under these principles we will take our country in a new direction, with priorities that address the urgent needs of the American people.In the first 100 hours:
» We will start by cleaning up Congress, breaking the link between lobbyists and legislation and commit to pay-as-you-go, no new deficit spending.
» We will make our nation safer and we will begin by implementing the recommendations of the independent, bipartisan 9/11 Commission.
» We will make our economy fairer, and we will begin by raising the minimum wage. We will not pass a pay raise for Congress until there is an increase in the minimum wage.
» We will make health care more affordable for all Americans, and we will begin by fixing the Medicare prescription drug program, putting seniors first by negotiating lower drug prices. We will also promote stem cell research to offer real hope to the millions of American families who suffer from devastating diseases.
» We will broaden college opportunity, and we will begin by cutting interest rates for student loans in half.
» We will energize America by achieving energy independence, and we will begin by rolling back the multi-billion dollar subsidies for Big Oil.
» We will guarantee a dignified retirement, and we will begin by fighting any attempt to privatize Social Security.
We will introduce this legislation on the first day of the new Congress, we will pass it within the first 100 legislative hours. This new direction represents the priorities of a unified Democratic Party. This is our pledge to the American people.
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
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