Akin to my last post, here a few political-related posts of potential interest. I find the Florida primary an interesting story. On the one hand, I'm a little surprised by Clinton's margin of victory. On the other hand, I'm greatly amused that Florida may not be allowed to send any delegates to the DNC convention, so it doesn't necessarily matter. I really hope that Obama does much better on "Super Tuesday" next week. I just can't see another 4 years with the establishment - even if her first name is Hillary. The recent campaign antics by ex-pres Bill should be proof enough that he won't be able to stay out of the way if she gets elected. Not to mention that I really feel like we absolutely must put someone into office who has fewer ties and debt owed to the establishment. Anyway, that being said, the few links of interest:
* We Must All Do Our Part To Preserve This Climate Of Fear
* Department of making my brain hurt, Clinton/McCain edition
* Did Hillary Clinton really win in Florida?
* RIAA Wants $1.5 Million Per CD Copied
* Senate lawmakers pass $161 billion stimulus bill (with a bonus link that you'll want to read)
Thoughts and comments inline below...
We Must All Do Our Part To Preserve This Climate Of Fear
I love satire, and The Onion generally does a pretty good job. This article mocks the lack of FUD and panic experienced and accepted by the public, pointing to the weakening of Washington's power over the huddled masses. Good stuff! :)
Department of making my brain hurt, Clinton/McCain edition
Marc Andreessen is one of those tech startup gurus with a track record that includes the likes of Netscape. He's been particularly active on his blog lately, leading me to believe that he may also be bored (clearly I am - being between client gigs for too long is not a good thing!). At any rate, if the first quote doesn't prove that Clinton is not fit for office and that she would not represent a necessary shift, than I don't know what will. You don't get much more establishment than McCain, and here she's good buddies with the guy. Ugh. Not that I think he's a bad person, necessarily, but just that he represents so much of what is so wrong with the country right now. And, I'm not convinced that she's not part of the problem. Anyway...
Did Hillary Clinton really win in Florida?
The Salon has done a good job here explaining why the Florida primary may be nothing more than a big joke. It also explains why Hillary won so easily. It seems that Michigan and Florida went against DNC rules and set their primaries for too early in the year. As a result, the DNC requested that candidates skip those states. Obama withdrew completely from Michigan, and it doesn't sound like he campaigned much, if at all, in Florida. Hillary, on the other hand, ignored the DNC and went to those states anyway. I suppose that was nice of her, but it doesn't really give us a very accurate view of things.
RIAA Wants $1.5 Million Per CD Copied
I don't know how anybody can take orgs like the RIAA seriously any more. Perhaps politicians will wake up soon and see the fine print, realizing that copyright law in its current incarnation is just plain old pathetic and, more importantly, repressive to the creative process. Too many sellouts have expanded copyright law over the year to protect their corporate sponsors (*cough*Disney*cough*) that it's patently ridiculous. Copyright was never intended to provide infinite protection for creators, but to provide them short-term protection so that they would have an advantage in making a profit off their work. It's changed considerably since then, and not for the better.
Senate lawmakers pass $161 billion stimulus bill
Hooray for the Senate, they've passed their own version of the stupendously dumb stimulus bill. Of course, it's different from the House version. So, into conference it will go, and where it stops, nobody knows. My prediction: in an election year, we'll all be getting rebates from the government.
But wait, there's more: It seems that these stimulus bills would likely provide rebates to illegal immigrants. Err, wha?!?! The last time Congress acted so hastily, we ended up with the ill-conceived USA Patriot Act, I believe. From there the government decided they had a blank check to infringe upon the civil liberties of citizens and to ignore fundamental laws like habeas corpus. What a great time to be an American, eh? *sigh* Hopefully someone will raise this issue to the political mushers so that they can fix a rather poorly placed loophole.
