American Community Survey - WFT?

Should I be worried about throwing away this wildly intrusive, quasi-census form?

Frankly, they should be paying me for the time it would take to fill out not to mention all the valuable consumer info it attempts to cull.

Most alarming thing I've read this year

(From a CNN.com piece on the search and seizure of electronic devices by US Customs)

Russ Knocke, a spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security, equates searches of electronic devices to those of papers in briefcases.

'You forgo your right to privacy when you are seeking admission into the country,' he says. 'This is the kind of scrutiny the American public expects.'"

Just so I have it straight: to preserve our freedom, we need to give up our freedoms. Is that right?

Read more.

UK RFID Passports: Cracked

Gee, what a surprise. Apparently it took all of 48 hours.

"The reader - I bought one for £250 - has to say hello to the chip and tell it that it is authorised to make contact. The key to that is in the date of birth, etc. Once they communicate, the conversation is encrypted, but I wrote some software in about 48 hours that made sense of it.

"The Home Office has adopted a very high encryption technology called 3DES - that is, to a military-level data-encryption standard times three. So they are using strong cryptography to prevent conversations between the passport and the reader being eavesdropped, but they are then breaking one of the fundamental principles of encryption by using non-secret information actually published in the passport to create a 'secret key'. That is the equivalent of installing a solid steel front door to your house and then putting the key under the mat."

A Friendly Reminder: Renew Your Passport Now

As we mentioned about a year ago, you may still have time to get a non-RFID chipped passport. I don't know about you, but I do enough to telegraph that I'm an Uhmurican while travelling without carrying around an actual radio beacon to do it for me.

We Own The Internet

[hat tip: Ken W.]

Huge Campaign Finance Savings Coming Soon To An Election Near You

Politicians soon will be able to divert campaign war chests to a different focus: Finding the best people available to rig the local Diebold voting machines.

Apparently all it takes is a screwdriver. Awesome.

Management by Scandal

It's been a few weeks since the last piece of Bush incompetence. and as this White House prefers, the next scandal has arrived like clockwork to unseat all the previous ones. The President would appreciate if all journalists would now abandon the ramifications of all previous topics including:
- Those two kids who were personally slaughtered in Iraq by Zarqawi's replacement
- The murder of Iraqi civilians
- Bush's blind journalist gaffe
- etc.

Let's all get on the same page and half-assedly wonder about the next issue with faux-probing, never-answered ethical questions. The scandal du jour is:
"We've been secretly observing your financial transactions!"
Democrats are instructed to continue wimpering and spinning their wheels.

Jefferson wouldn't recognize this country.
Stalin would!

Our Technologically Advanced Founding Fathers

Story

Movie

Doesn't this sound familiar...

"But the climate of those years was so grim that half the Washington press corps spent more time worrying about having their telephones tapped than they did about risking the wrath of Haldeman, Ehrlichman, and Colson by poking at the weak semas of a Mafia-style administration that began cannibalizing the whole government just as soon as it came into power. Nixon's capos were never subtle; they swaggered into Washington like a conquering army, and the climate of fear they engendered apparently neutralized The New York Times along with all the other pockets of potential resistance. Nixon had to do everything but fall on his own sword before anybody in the Washington socio-political establishment was willing to take him on."

-- Hunter S. Thompson, in the October 10, 1974 Rolling Stone

Christmas continues to come early

Lying Liar George W. Bush on the topic of wiretaps, circa 2004. (3.5 MB QT)

via boing boing

FBI Use of Patriot Act Concerns Lawmakers

Under the Patriot Act, the FBI issues more than 30,000 national security letters allowing the investigations each year, a hundred-fold increase over historic norms, The Washington Post reported Sunday, quoting unnamed government sources.

The security letters, which were first used in the 1970s, allow access to people's phone and e-mail records, as well as financial data and the Internet sites they surf. The 2001 Patriot Act removed the requirement that the records sought be those of someone under suspicion.

US intel on Iraq-Qaeda ties 'intentionally misleading': document

This may sound like old news to us now, but the facts are finally coming home to roost.

US military intelligence warned the Bush administration as early as February 2002 that its key source on Al-Qaeda's relationship with Iraq had provided "intentionally misleading" data, according to a declassified report.

Nevertheless, eight months later, President George W. Bush went public with charges that the Iraqi government of Saddam Hussein had trained members of Osama bin Laden's terror network in manufacturing deadly poisons and gases.

These same accusations had found their way into then-secretary of state Colin Powell's February 2003 speech before the UN Security Council, in which he outlined the US rationale for military action against Iraq.

Bush: "We do not torture"

What crack does he think we're smokin'?

Item 1: Abu Ghraib photographs
Item 2: Cheney lobbies to release CIA agents from anti-torture rules
Item 3: UN and Red Cross Inspectors are denied access to detention facilities
Item 4: Newly disclosed "secret" detention bases of which not even Congress has been informed

My fellow Americans, your candy sucks!

'Nuff said.

Better renew that passport now

'cause after October 2006, they'll all have RFID chips implanted in them. This is a colossally stupid idea.

Over the last year, opposition to the idea of implanting RFID chips in passports has grown amidst worries that identity thieves could snatch personal information out of the air simply by aiming a high-powered antenna at a person or a vehicle carrying a passport. Out of the 2,335 comments on the plan that were received by the State Department this year, 98.5 percent were negative. The objections mostly focused on security and privacy concerns. (emphasis mine)

Oh, that wacky Bush Administration, protecting us from ourselves again...

Help squash the Broadcast Flag

The EFF needs your help to kill the Broadcast Flag in Congress. Write your representative and tell them what you think of crippled, big brother-infected technology.

Unhappy Birthday

Buzzkills Time Warner want you to know that every time you wish your friends a loved ones a happy birthday by singing the song "Happy Birthday" and DON'T pay royalties to ASCAP, god kills a puppy. Or something.

So, Winster, if your co-workers want to wish you a happy birthday after work, have 'em buy you a shot instead of singing some lameass song. Otherwise, your bosses might have to bring the hammer down and start garnishing wages.

(via boing boing)

Merry Christmas™

Don't worry, I have a YuleCo EULA.

via more like this

I watched the debates last night, and Bush had nothing.

question: The minimum wage is at the lowest it has been in terms of real dollars for 50 years. Do you favor raising it?
Bush: Uhm, actually my no child left behind program is kind of like an economic plan...

Yeah, we've heard of it. It's a good idea, but it hasn't been funded and as a result has been a failure resulting in more children left behind.

But as bad as Bush was, Kerry left his big guns at home. There was one issue in the room that was left largely untouched. The budget. While Bush acccused Kerry of being a tax-and-spend liberal, Bush himself has been spending like a drunken sailor.

Bush claims that it's not his fault, given that the economy was already slowing and that even with the help of England, Poland, et al we have had to fund the lion's share of two foreign wars. That's true Mr. Bush, but according to figures released by the bipartisan Congressional Budget Office, the real culprit is Bush's tax cuts.

The cost of of Bush's tax cuts is nearly THREE TIMES as great as the cost of a) the two-front war, b) the increased spending for homeland security and c) rebuilding after September 11th -- COMBINED!

And here's just a few of the details on the Bush tax cuts so far (as of fall 2003)

In 2003 here's the breakdown on income tax.
the lowest 20% of the american population got 2 billion in personal income tax cuts
the second 20% got 10 billion
the middle 20% got 17 billion
the fourth 20% got 31 billion
the next 15% got 48 billion
the next 4% got 21 billion
and the top 1% got 28 billion

Translation: the top 1% of the population gets as much money back in personal income taxes as the lowest 60% of the american population combined! But if you look beyond straight income tax, and look at other tax structures, the favoring of the super-rich goes further.

In 2003 the lowest 60% of the american population gets to share $1 billion in dividend and capital gains tax cuts, while the top 1% gets $11 billion.

In 2003 the lower 95% of the population gets $0 in estate tax cuts which were reserved exclusively for those that don't need them. The super-rich top 1% gets $6 billion in estate tax cuts.

Take a look at the graph above if you are still clilnging to the old trickle-down economics theory. Is a rich person going to start churning up money in the economy because they have 11 million dollars versus 10 million? I don't think so. Buying an extra Bentley aint exactly going to help the country.

Even if you believe that the rest of Bush's domestic poilicies are working, which they aren't, his economic policies alone have set our nation on a course for doom.

Bush Approval Rating / Terror Alert Chart

Found here.

This is why I don't shave

Boycott Gillette uncovers Gillette's nefarious plans to track and photograph people who buy their products.

Jpeg was right!

Thanks Adream!

Please Help Identify...

#15. Please identify the person in this picture.

The Dean of Students Office is interested in identifying individuals responsible for the violence and damage to property that occured after the UConn Men's and Women's Final Four victories. UConn students are expected to live up to the community standards set forth in Responsibilities of Community Life: The Student Code. Unfortunately, a small number of individuals embarrassed our community, while thousands of their peers celebrated responsibly.

Moving a lot of new currency?

Be sure to wrap it in tinfoil. The newly designed bills contain RFID chips. Just don't microwave it. Technology, Ho!

via boing boing

Very scary, indeed

John Ashcroft is a certified whackjob. Read this Feb. '04 Vanity Fair article. *shudder*

via boing boing

TSA: Thousands Standing Around

Latest entry to the Shit List: The Transportation Security Act fuckos who broke our luggage on our way to Mexico last month.

Why do you bother even having a lost/damaged report to fill out if your Bureaucrat Drone Bosses have absolved everyone of any liability?

Their Auto-Generated Response Fuck Off Email at least states that the TSA certainly "apologize[s] for any difficulties you may have experienced." You bet! I pay your fucking salary asshole, and now you owe me a suitcase.

Related: US Aviation Safety "smoke and mirrors"

Because Conservatives care...

...as long as you pretend you believe in their values. Machiavellian George Bush wants to spend $1.5 billion to talk the poor into getting married so he can funnel millions into religious organizations that provide premarital and marriage counseling. Religiously sanctified boning among the poor will help the douchebag sleep at night...

The usual crap: Programs that counsel gay and lesbian couples would be excluded.

Soon he'll legislate everything off TV except the Donna Reed Show and Leave it to Beaver, to move the country back to the 50's.

House 8 Public Service Announcement

In reply to this post:

U.S. District Judge Edward W. Nottingham in Denver ruled that the telemarketing "do not call list" violated free speech. I'd like to call him at home, when he is sitting down to dinner, and tell him that I disagree. it's unfortunate that google can't give me his home phone number.

Contributor: type55
When: 12:20 am on 26 Sep 2003

We don't have his home phone, but we can give you this:

Hon. Edward W. Nottingham, Jr. U.S.
District Judge U.S. District
Court District of Colorado
U.S. Courthouse 1929 Stout St., Room C-224
Denver, CO 80294
Phone: 303.844.5018
Fax: 303.335.2155
E-mail: nottingham_chambers@cod.uscourt.gov

Feel free to contact the good judge, oh, 50 or 60,000 times.

That is all.

Google Yourself

So I got one of those hysterical emails that was forwarded 100 times with a dire warning on it, and in the spirit of the internet I played along. Only this one is for real.

If you go to Google and type in your area code and phone number, chances are you'll show up. A quick mapquest search would give some nefarious character (who overheard your number) a map with a star on it indicating your house. Not good.

So, if this bothers you, go to this here page and see about getting yourself easily removed.

FedEx Gump: Man Mails Himself Home

Federal officials are investigating how a man managed to hide inside a crate that was flown by a major cargo carrier from New York to Dallas, Texas.

Charles McKinley wanted to go to his father's house in Dallas and decided to "ship himself rather than pay for a ticket," said Transportation Security Administration spokeswoman Suzanne Luber.

McKinley secured himself in the crate, apparently with some help, along with his computer and some clothes.

_{He was arrested on outstanding warrants when the terrified delivery guy called the cops. I don't know about you, but I'm glad we're spending all this money to make the skies safer. Sheesh.}

Bush Admin: War IS Peace / Freedom IS Slavery

In a double-speak zinger that would make Orwell quiver, this article states that a big portion of the country still believes that Saddam Hussein had a role in 9/11, "even though the Bush administration and congressional investigators say they have no evidence of this."
What the ...? Those are some giant brass balls! Treat your saber-rattling deception like it never happenend. Ignore that a limp piece of televised persuasion from Colin Powell ever occured.
and the WMD weren't really that important...

Ahhhhh the Bush White House, where the truth is always just one more lie away.

Do You Like Your Job? (Depends)

Supermarket cashiers in Argentina are being forced to wear diapers to keep them from taking toilet breaks at work, a union says.

National Do Not Call Registry

Hallelujah and pass the peanuts!

via Squara

Mike Hawash charged

In an update to this, looks like Mike Hawash is in deep shit.

Anyone register www.stringmikehawashupbyhisshortandcurlies.com yet?

His friends still think he's innocent, though. And, according to KATU in Portland, are poking "wholes" in the FBI case.

via Qtip

Free Mike Hawash dot org

Unfortunately, I don't think this is an April Fool's joke.

via boing boing

Chinese Try Mobile Death Vans

A woman is taken away for execution after being sentenced to death in Beijing in 2001.

---------

When a bullet in the head too messy, just roll up in one of these vans... then roll up your sleeve.

Gay Pride Twenties, coming soon to a wallet near you

Does anyone besides me think this is weird?

Your Friendly Neighborhood INS Agent

From the "so disturbing it's just gotta be true" dept.:

Indian-born Canadian citizen sent packing back to India after O'Hare INS agent thinks her passport "looks funky." (Well, Canucks are kinda funky, after all...)

"We have very high-tech technology out there to detect these kinds of tampered documents," said Gail Montenegro. (emphasis mine)

WTF?!? Maybe this should be a new reality show: Where's The INS Going To Erroneously Deport You?

All I can say is, I thank my lucky stars every day people like Ms. Montenegro are guarding our borders. Say, that sounds like one of dem foreener names. Where you from, lady?

via boing boing

Nokia Picture Phone IDs Lurking Villains

Police in Italy have recorded what is thought to be the world's first conviction thanks to a tip-off using an image sent by a mobile picture phone.

"Handshake Man" hands Bush letter "from God."

As if orange terror alerts weren't enough to worry about, now we've got really happy ministers waltzing through presidential security.

via tmn

Bush to appoint Bob Jones University homophobe to panel

Jerry Thacker, who characterized HIV and AIDS as a "gay plague," will be appointed to the Presidential Advisory Commission on HIV and AIDS.

"Be compassionate to those caught up in this sinful deathstyle," the Bob Jones summary said. "Only when homosexuals know it is a sin can they repent."

How's that for progress? This guy is a whackjob.

This just in: he dropped out. Thanks, Q.

via the morning news

Bush calls for protection of 'children waiting to be born'

Bush went on to say that any living person in Iraq can be killed at his discretion.

Details at 11.

Ha! Ha!

via one.point.zero

Rest stop caretaker to be evicted

Stories like this always make me wonder what the Charles De Gaulle Airport guy is up to these days...

(But in truth, it's a shallow excuse to get in on the cheese eating surrender monkeys action.)

via obscure store

Yet another reason to hate AOL

So now they want to CHARGE for FREE CONTENT? Could they BE bigger assholes? Sorry -- this makes me mad.

via zena, whose job is probably in danger

How a Global Media Empire Was Built on a Lie

The virtuous image of the Bertelsmann media empire has been destroyed by a devastating historical study into the company's Nazi links that exposes its post-war success as built on a lie.

-------------

Hey, if they'll give me Napster we'll call it even...

DEA Raids Two California Medical Marijuana facilites

...referring to the use of automatic weapons to raid a "hospice," Nadelmann said such actions indicate a worrisome rogue mindset as the White House and Congress define the limits of sensible homeland security.

...Bitter at the loss of so much medicine, Ms. Corral said, "...with a court-appointed president, this is what you get."

via Brad G.

There's No Place to Hide

The next word in security is a system so thorough that it will reveal even the contents of a cigarette pack hidden in your coat pocket.

Developed by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory , the scanner uses holographic imaging technology to provide full-body, 360-degree coverage of a person in near real time. Unlike the technology displayed in Schwarzenegger's sci-fi thriller Total Recall and most of today's scanning devices, this 3-D Body Holo Scanner doesn't use X-rays to obtain its comprehensive images.

Prelinger Archives "ephemeral" movies

Ephemeral films are educational, industrial, advertising, and amateur films and home movies Ñ genres that film historians and archives have largely ignored, despite their profound influence on the minds of spectators. They provide unparalleled evidence of the visual appearance and ambiance of their time, and function as rich, evocative, and often entertaining documentation of the American past.

The full list is fairly intimidating. For a good laugh, go straight for any instructional (behavioral, gender roles, etc.) film produced by Coronet Instructional Films. They are priceless. Mac users may be SOL unless you're on a really fast connection. The AVIs won't play without a divx codec, and even then the audio is choppy.

via boing boing

`But Officer, I Didn't Do Anything!'

They call it a "Voluntary Roadside Interview."

But for hundreds of motorists flagged down by state troopers Monday on Interstate 4, there was nothing voluntary about it.

Off-duty troopers, hired at $30 an hour, picked motorists at random and directed them to pull off the interstate into a rest stop, where Palm Pilot- toting interviewers waited.

No, this roadside checkpoint wasn't looking for drunken drivers. The survey, which will cost about $150,000, was commissioned by the Florida High Speed Rail Authority to gauge public interest in riding a proposed 120 mph bullet train.

--------------------

As frightening as that may be, it's nothing when you consider we're all gonna die anyway. You can watch the countdown here.

my name is...

Seen the new Apple "Switch" commercial?

via Gil "3rd degree" Burns