wubwub

Lawmaker Blocking Countrywide Subpoena Received Loans From Firm

He apparently is getting two special loans from Countrywide, but his spokeswoman claims “We have no reason to believe there is anything to this matter.”

No, nothing wrong. After all, in America we don't call it bribery or corruption, we call it lobbying.

I know its beating the long-dead don't-use-electronic-voting-machines horse, but it still bears repeating until we get rid of this first batch of clearly corrupt batch of machines.

Bounced from The Brad Blog, at a public hearing about how incompetent Diebold was, the Western Region Manager for Diebold admits that their machine will delete ballots with no alert, no verification, and no logging.

Every time I read another article about how incompetent these machines are I really just can not fathom the depths of stoopidity this company must have plumbed to find project managers and coders that would design it this way. I would think that a CIS 101 student would be smart enough to design a better system and I know that any coder worth their salt would be embarrassed to have released such a shoddy product.

The worst part of all this is that good vote counting software is incredibly easy to write (HINT: Write only tables) and adequately secure counting software is not that much harder (HINT: change the default passwords), but because of the criminally corrupt nature of this round of product it will be decades before the public will trust another electronic system.

So the take away message is that if you have to vote for anything, make sure you do it by hand on paper. And if your local district wants electronic machines, make sure the machines are open to full testing by anyone, not just corrupt company shills.

Is it really a big surprise for anyone outside of the paid-politicians in D.C that entrenched energy companies don't think new energy ideas are feasible in the near-term??

For the past decade we've been funneling money to the current energy producers to "encourage" them to do research into new energy solutions. And not surprisingly, very little has come of the money.

Is it really that fucking surprising to anyone? Of course these companies are slowing down research. The research could point to new technologies that will undermine their core business. Technologies that will undoubtedly be embraced by younger, more nimble companies that will eventually usurp the old fossils.

Now that Obama has a new green energy policy, the old companies are basically saying "slow down there, nothing new is coming soon". And of course its not coming soon from them. They have an extremely vested interest in it not coming anytime soon. The farther off new tech is, the longer they can wait before spending any money to modernize. The longer they can keep off competition, the more they can make now.

Just imagine what we could be seeing now if, instead of spending money on the group that does not want change and improvements, and instead invested it like venture capital for new-tech start-ups.

The big companies will be part of the new tech world, but not until they are forced to face real competition from companies offering real new solutions. And they wont have to face competition until we start sending money to companies that know we can do it now, not later.

I just got a call from a Congress-Being (well, one of the Congress-Being's minions).

The call was about an email I had sent earlier this year. She dug into the info more and gave me a few updates on the issue as well as a link to the USDA site.

The USDA [not the FDA! dumb mistake on my part there] regularly inspects dead cows at meat packing plants for mad cow. Using some statistical gamesmanship, they determine the whole supply is ok for US consumption based on sampling some small percentage (what they call a "statistically valid" sample size).

The Creekstone Farms Premium Beef in Kansas wanted to test all its cows rather than some small percentage as an extra stamp of assurance. This kind of "going the extra mile" is a normal part of the ways businesses try to distinguish themselves from their competitors. Its why people think paying lots more for a Mercedes is better than paying less for an "equivalent" Ford. (In particular, Creekstone wanted to try and sell the meat overseas, and overseas markets are very nervous about mad cow these days.)

To do the testing, the USDA has these very expensive tests. Creekstone offered to buy the tests and do the testing itself in-house but the USDA said no. And a district court agreed with the government.

The USDA's claim is that 1) Creekstone's people weren't qualified to do the testing and 2) the tests would give a false assurance of safety...

Errrr... this is all well-and-good, but if the people aren't qualified to do the testing then the USDA should make a way for them to get qualified and/or offer to do the tests for a certain amount and then let Creekstone decide if they wanted to pay. The testing is done by contractors anyway, so why can't Creekstone just hire the same contractors to do more testing of its meat?

But the second point bothers me more. If the tests would give a false assurance of safety, then why are we using the same tests to give US citizens assurance that our meat is safe?


So while the call was great, and its nice that occasionally someone in DC listens to their emails, the problem still is there that the USDA should not be in the business of setting a maximum level of safety if the company wants to go that extra mile.


Here are some links from the USDA on mad cow...

Since I didn't include a contribution of $100,000, I don't expect my concerns to get anywhere. But what the hell, might as well complain anyway...

I just was reading a decision by the DC federal court of appeals supporting a FDA USDA [of course the USDA would deal with this not the FDA like I previously commented... duh!] decision preventing a meat packer company from testing all of its cows for mad-cow.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2008-08-29-mad-cow_N.htm

Why is the FDA USDA _preventing_ a company from bringing a more-safe product to its customers? Why is it _preventing_ a company from going above-and-beyond what is required by law?

The only reason for the FDA USDA to prevent a company from doing more than what is asked is because the FDA is more concerned for the interests of big-business meat packers than they are for the interests of the citizens.

The FDA USDA can and should provide minimum guidelines for food safety, but "maximum guidelines"???

Perhaps I should "contribute" $100,000 so that my concerns might get heard and not just the concerns of the corporations...

Followup to an earlier posting wondering just who the FDA works for which I can not find now which is really annoying tho perhaps I just never got around to blogging it in the first place...

Really, what the fuck?? First, we have the FDA telling a company that it can-not test all of its cows for mad-cow. Now a court has agreed that the government can restrict how safe people can be...

I'm usually complaining about how the government over-regulates safety, but here they are telling a company that it has a maximum amount of safety it is allowed to provide???!!!

Come on, I dare _anyone_ to defend this ruling and the initial decision...

The _only_ reason for the original FDA ruling preventing the company from doing all the testing it wants is because then consumers would start wondering why all companies weren't doing more testing and that would cut into the profits of big meatpackers.

The original dispute was purely a bought-and-paid-for decision by political appointees. If we had even a remotely functioning government there would be bribery investigations going on, but unfortunately all we get is more of the same crap while the government does more to support big-business than to protect citizens.

What a load of crap!

The Mythbusters (also) love to tear apart and show how things work (or don't work as the case may be). They don't take other people's word for it on claims of what works.

The vulnerabilities of RFID are widely known on the 'Net and to anyone with a lick of common sense, but RFID companies have so far been successful at keeping the general public in the dark about how vulnerable their information and safety is.

The Mythbusters would have helped spread the news of RFID's weaknesses, but they were shut down by companies who place their own bottom lines over any idea of security or safety.
Just sad...



Via boingboing

Follow up to my earlier post on Border Agents Gone Wild and the new rules about seizing laptops without warrants.

Here's a post with some more analysis on the issue at hand and wondering if the vague and seemingly open-ended rules now in place can be used to search all internet traffic.

In that sense, it would seem to make little difference if the information is "imported" into the US via a physical laptop or via a VPN, or for that matter by a web connection. The right to search a laptop for information, then, is equivalent to the right to tap any and all international connections, without a warrant or probable cause.

And, of course, its only reasonable that the government gets all VPN keys so it can check up on that information flowing so freely across the border... :-/

Well, its official: Minimum-wage, power-goons at the border can take your electronics and keep them forever, share the data with anyone they want, and never give it back... and all do any of the above without cause and for no reason at all. At least that's what the official DHS policy says.

I'm sure most agents take their work seriously and honestly believe they are doing an important job. But the policies covering them are overly broad, have no oversight, and there is no recourse for anyone caught up in the idiocity.

Billions of dollars wasted and all we have to show for it are stories of people dealing with inconveniences, random destruction and idiots at the border causing delays and trouble.

DEA bust of a medical marijuana dispensary, and one of the agents is wearing Blackwater gear???
WTF?

Crucified frog sculpture near Pope's summer holiday base provokes protests

Its just a plastic frog people... sorry you find it upsetting, but its not our fault your myth deals with a crucified figurehead...

Not like my voice will be heard (after all, I didn't contribute $100,000 to his re-election campaign), but I just sent a message to my Congress Being, Rob Wittman and a copy to speaker Pelosi.

Last night (6/9/8) Rep Kucinich introduced articles of impeachment for George Bush. I urge you to work to have these articles heard and treated with the respect they deserve and the respect you are bound by duty to give them.

Only a full hearing will ensure that the articles are properly handled and addressed.

If the allegations are false, then they should be scrutinized and rebutted, not just dismissed and brushed under the table. If the articles can not stand up to the light of day then only by shining the full light of Congress on them can they be dispatched.

However, if the articles withstand public scrutiny then it is your Constitutional Duty to accept them and act on them.

It is _only_ through public scrutiny that these issues can be addressed, not through back-room and under-table dealings.

Do not shirk your sworn duty. Whether or not you agree with the articles, you are bound to uphold the rules established in the Constitution and give them a fair hearing.

Write your Conress Being

I'm a big supporter of sunlight laws that would open up the process of legislation and make it more transparent so citizens can know just what our politicians are up to.

In this article about a sunshine law being proposed in Texas, a lobbyist makes a very telling statement

"Are we going to let the American people decide our defense policy, our trade policy, our immigration policy?"

Well, since these are all laws that affect Americans, and since those politicians lobbyists are lobbying are supposedly working for those Americans, why can't Americans know more about these laws or be given the opportunity to voice an opinion?

I've long equated lobbying with bribery and government corruption. By expressing concern for public input, he only confirms my sentiment. Lobbyists that they aren't there for our interests, but for their own and they certainly don't want us to know more about what they are doing or how badly it impacts us.

What a surprise here... Just as Congress gets ready to force them, the cell phone industry is starting to actually care about its customers. In this case, AT&T is going to start prorating early termination fees, claiming that they want to make it more flexible for the customers.

What bullshit. For decades now the companies have charged the full amount even if you terminate 1 day before the end of the contract. They would have been more than happy to keep doing that till the end of time. They are not in the least bit caring about their customer's wants, they are just trying to do whatever they can to keep Congress from doing what it should have done a _long_ time ago. It is only now that Congress is about ti finally step in and reign in rediculous fees that the industry is starting to see the light and start behaving.

Well, hopefully Congress won't be culled by these weak face-saving attempts and will actually force some regulations on the oligarcy.

What the fuck is this??? Gov't fights to keep meatpackers from testing all slaughtered cattle for mad cow (also here).

Seems that Creekstone Farms, a little meatpacker in Kansas, want to make their product more distinct by testing 100% of their cows for a disease that is fatal to humans (the USDA goes out of its way to test a whole 1% of our meat).

Well, some of the bigger meatpackers are upset because they might look bad, and testing all their meat might cost lots of money (oh no, we wont make record proffits anymore!).

Unbelievably, the government is fighting the testing! I can't even comprehend why other than it might point out just how horribly they are doing their job watching our meat supply.

And even after a Federal judge said that the government had no business telling them _not_ to test, the government filed an appeal just to keep the clock ticking and to put off the testing further.

Corrupt people rarely like anything that points out their corruption...