muddysmind.com

Back Up

My web hosts "planned" maintenance that nobody knew about is over and I'm back up. Yea!

Now back to business.

Yahoo! puts the slap down on Trillian

It seems my Trillian at work started crashing as if it's broken, after several installs and de-installs and fooling with it I figured it out. I renamed the yahoo.ini file to old_yahoo.ini and like a miracle Trillian started to work again.

It seems after reading a recent article on CNET News.com that Yahoo! is taking all it's toys and going home.
Tired of third parties being used instead of their messenger they are now blocking every messenger including the older versions of their own. Makes no sense to anyone but Yahoo! as some folks are happy with their third party and older yahoo messenger software.
I'd suggest everyone dump Yahoo and use Jabber: Open Instant Messaging as it is a open source IM system.

Mass. Wants to Use Linux-Type Systems

From Yahoo! News

Massachusetts the last state still in court suing Micro$oft over antitrust violations has taken that all important step.

Open Source.

As many local and state governments are looking for ways to cut budgets and save some serious cash, Linux and Open Source is looking more ideal.

" Kriss said the state's decision was driven by a desire to reduce licensing fees but also "by a philosophy that what the state has is a public good and should be open to all," Kriss told The Associated Press. He characterized the decision as the "most visible concrete action by a state government" to move toward open standards."

Let's take a look at this, your IT folks have 100% access to the code your systems are running. It's monumentally cheaper than closed source products and it's far more reliable.

Makes sense to this geek. However the following from the article was no surprise to me.

" A Microsoft spokesman had no immediate comment."

Sometimes silence speaks volumes.

Power Failure Brings Italy to Standstill

From Reuters

Sun September 28, 2003 06:11 AM ET
By James Crawford

ROME (Reuters) - A nationwide power cut plunged Italy into darkness early Sunday in one of the country's worst blackouts, which authorities blamed on the breakdown of electricity lines from France and Switzerland hit by storms.

The early morning blackout hit virtually the entire country, stranding more than 30,000 train passengers, forcing airlines to cancel flights and leaving people sleeping on the streets.

There were no reports of fatalities directly linked to the fourth major power breakdown in Western economies in two months.

It was Italy's worst blackout in nearly a decade and hit all of the country except the island of Sardinia and some small pockets of the mainland, officials said.

Eight hours after the power went out, huge sections of the country were still without electricity including Rome, where stranded subway and train passengers slept on the ground.

"It's chaos, and until the electricity comes back on it will continue to be chaos," said policeman Fabio Bragazzi, 21, at Rome's main Termini train station.

Italian authorities said the near simultaneous failure of power lines from neighboring Switzerland and France, which provides about one fifth of Italy's electricity at night, triggered the cut at 3:20 a.m. (0120 GMT).

"It was an exceptional, extraordinary event," Andrea Bollino, chairman of national grid operator GRTN, told Reuters.

"There was a problem with the connection in Switzerland which then caused a problem with our connection with France and then affected Italy," Bollino said.

French authorities said severe storms apparently cut two 400,000 volt lines connecting the two countries. Sunday morning the two lines were reconnected, restoring power to large parts of northern and central Italy.

"The origin of the main failure is not French. There was a failure between Switzerland and Italy around 3 a.m. (0100 GMT)," said Patrick Larradet, a spokesman for French grid operator RTE.

He said two French power lines came down shortly afterwards, around 3:25 a.m. (1025 GMT) -- most likely due to storms in the region -- but electricity was soon restored.

Power was expected to be up in the rest of Italy by Sunday afternoon, Industry Minister Antonio Marzano said.

"WE'RE NOT HAPPY AT ALL"

The outage brought an early close to an all-night party in the capital where shops, tourist sites and museums were meant to stay open until daybreak. Cash machines in Rome went on the blink.

Patrons in one Rome cafe without power to run the coffee machine turned to liqueur instead.

"We're not happy at all. Everything was fine until about 3:30 a.m. (0130 GMT). Then it all happened at once and now we're angry and wet," one sodden party-goer said.

About 110 trains with some 30,000 passengers were stranded when the power went out. "Almost all trains that were blocked are now brought into the stations," a spokesman for the state railway firm said.

Italy, which relies on a constant supply of imported power, especially from France, suffered several power outages over the summer as temperatures soared.

About five million consumers in eastern Denmark and southern Sweden were left in the dark last Wednesday in the worst blackout there in 20 years.

That followed last month's huge outage that left 50 million North Americans without power for up to two days and a shutdown which paralyzed London for several hours.

Luther Out in Theaters

LUTHER the new film by Eric Till starring Joseph Fiennes is about the life and journey of Martin Luther. Mrs. Muddy and I will be going to see this asap and will have a full review for you soon. However visit the official web site until then to view the trailer.

Western Press Review: The Bush-Putin Summit, New Atomic Inspections In Iran, And Bosnia's Economic Challenges

From Radio Free Europe

Prague, 26 September 2003 (RFE/RL) -- A review of coverage in major media outlets today finds a look at Iran's nuclear ambitions as UN inspectors prepare to head to the country, analysis of U.S.-Russian relations as leaders of the two nations prepare to meet at Camp David near Washington, Bosnian economic challenges, and the selection of Jaap de Hoop Scheffer as NATO's new secretary-general, among other issues.

THE WASHINGTON POST:

"The Washington Post" in an editorial remarks that Russian President Vladimir Putin likes to compare Russia's war against Chechen separatists with U.S.-led antiterrorist campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan.

But the paper says in reality, "the comparison is obscene. In Chechnya, Russian troops have wiped out a democratically elected government, killed tens of thousands of civilians, forced others out of refugee camps and back into the war zone, reduced the capital and every major town to rubble, indiscriminately rounded up the entire male populations of dozens of villages for torture or summary execution and so shattered the country's civil society that previously marginal Islamic extremists now are a major force."

After launching the war in Chechnya four years ago "in an effort to bolster his own presidential ambitions, Mr. Putin has found himself trapped," the editorial says. "[Thousands] of Russian soldiers have been killed and Mr. Putin has repeatedly declared the war over, [but] the bloodshed relentlessly goes on."

Elections scheduled for October had offered some hope of political progress. "If a credible Chechen leader had been chosen to replace the deeply unpopular Kremlin appointee, [Akhmed-hadji] Kadyrov, meaningful negotiations on the republic's future might have been possible."

But instead, Putin "chose the Stalinist route of eliminating Mr. Kadyrov's main opponents" and rendering the upcoming election a mere sideshow.

THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR:

On 28 September, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors will return to Iran for the first time since setting a 31 October deadline for Tehran to prove it is not manufacturing weapons-grade nuclear material. "The Christian Science Monitor" says if the country's conservative mullahs block inspections or miss the deadline, the IAEA might recommend that the UN Security Council levy economic sanctions on Iran -- "much like the sanctions on Iraq that never really worked."

Nevertheless, the paper says, the U.S. and the UN's atomic-energy agency "are working together -- in contrast to the UN-U.S. split over Iraq." In Tehran, a "lively debate" has begun over how to respond to the IAEA request.

Western powers "may try using both sanctions and incentives to bring Iran around. In fact, France, Britain, and Germany have offered to help it develop safe nuclear [power]. But there's tension over whether to keep one card on the table: the threat of a military strike on Iran, or at least on its nuclear facilities."

The paper says the U.S. and Europe "should avoid splitting over this issue and do everything short of war to make Iran comply."

THE ECONOMIST:

"The Economist" says Iran's strategy of choice when confronted over its nuclear ambitions has been "to play for time." But this approach "backfired badly last week when the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) expressed its collective exasperation with Iran's evasive attitude" by setting a 31 October deadline to come clean on its nuclear program.

The magazine says Tehran "mistakenly pinned its hopes" on European nations blocking any U.S.-backed proposals. But "[concern] over Iran's nuclear activities has been mounting on both sides of the Atlantic," "The Economist" says. The end result "was a diplomatic disaster for a country that has made a priority of courting Europe as a buffer against America."

The nuclear row has also "exposed the limits [of] authority" of reformist President Mohammad Khatami's government. Some reformists claimed the EU's strong stance would give "ammunition" to Iran's hard-line conservative clerics. But there "is little sign that the reformists have the final say on the issues that matter to the rest of the world, and the gap between Iran's words and actions could no longer be overlooked."

The magazine says even the most avid supporters of the EU's constructive-engagement policy on Iran are now forced to question its efficacy. And now that even Paris and Washington are standing "side by side" on this issue, "The Economist" says Tehran "has managed to produce the seemingly unattainable: trans-Atlantic unity."

THE MOSCOW TIMES:

In a contribution to "The Moscow Times," Sergei Markov of the Institute of Political Studies and the Civic Committee on Foreign Affairs says U.S. troubles in Iraq "have given rise to 'schadenfreude' among certain sections of Russian society."

Meanwhile, in the name of advocating an "immediate transfer of power to the Iraqi people, world leaders would wash their hands of responsibility, and power in Iraq would quickly be seized by Islamic radicals."

Markov says U.S. President George W. Bush did make "a big mistake by going into Iraq, but if he cuts and runs, the consequences will be tragic" for both the U.S. and Russia. Now that the United States "desperately needs help" in Iraq, there is another chance "to forge a genuine alliance" between Moscow and Washington. "In Russia, there is a growing conviction that Russia and America should be strategic allies."

"There is, however, a problem," Markov writes. "The United States, proud of its role as the one and only superpower, is incapable of appreciating the concessions made by other countries. As a result, many in Russia, even those who understand the imperative of helping the Americans, are in favor of waiting for the United States to get further bogged down in Iraq. Given the widespread distrust of the United States in the Russian establishment, the best chance for a deal lies in the personal friendship and trust" between Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL EUROPE:

An editorial in "The Wall Street Journal Europe" says the choice of Dutchman Jaap de Hoop Scheffer to replace the outgoing Lord George Robertson as NATO secretary-general "suggests the old trans-Atlantic military alliance has plenty of life left in it."

As a career diplomat, de Hoop Scheffer "may lack the military background that Robertson, a former defense minister, brought to Brussels. But the Dutchman has proved to be a deft advocate of close trans-Atlantic ties. The Netherlands put troops on the ground in Afghanistan and Iraq, backing up its words with action."

Robertson "leaves the alliance in reasonably good shape, all things considered. NATO took over the Afghan mission last month and might have a future role in Iraq." And the editorial says de Hoop Scheffer "seems well-qualified to build on NATO's recent achievements."

FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE ZEITUNG:

In the "Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung," Friederike Bauer looks at the little-noticed anniversary last week (18 September) of Germany's 30 years of membership in the United Nations.

She says: "When the world organization's founders gathered in 1945, the atrocities of Nazi Germany were fresh in everyone's minds -- indeed, finding a way to avoid a similar catastrophe was a major motivation for them coming together."

In remembering this, says Bauer, "it is easy to appreciate the long road the country has taken, from being an 'enemy state' to being a divided one, then unification and today -- 58 years after the war's end -- a rotating member of the UN Security Council confident enough to press for permanent membership."

Most important for postwar Germany's continuing development as a "normal country" was its decision to participate in UN peacekeeping missions. For historical reasons, Germany was for decades unwilling to send soldiers abroad. Only following a Federal Constitutional Court ruling in 1994 was Germany able to participate in collective security missions.

Since then, the number of German "blue helmets" -- UN peacekeepers -- has risen steadily, to 8,200 at present. Most importantly, says Bauer, "Germany continues to see the United Nations as its preferred stage as it sets about enlisting allies to advance its international objectives."

THE ECONOMIST:

"The Economist" weekly says many aspects of life continue to improve in Bosnia. There is now one Bosnian passport, and movement throughout the country is unrestricted. Many of the war's refugees have returned home or reclaimed their property.

"Yet all this progress may still be reversed," the magazine says. "Opinion polls show that the ethnic rivalry that tore the country apart a decade ago no longer bothers ordinary people as much as it did. What they worry most about is jobs. And some fear that the economy is so bad that it could again create ethnic tension and revive the political fortunes of violent nationalists."

Foreign aid "is drying up." Many companies and institutions in Bosnia are mired in debt. Poverty is worsening, and government revenue is shrinking. The magazine cites Gerald Knaus of the Berlin-based European Stability Initiative as saying that the huge amount of foreign investment that has been pumped into Bosnia has been a success, but that new policies are needed to ensure all that money -- estimated at $19 billion -- does not go to waste.

Knaus suggests the European Union should get involved, applying policies similar to what it has done to spur reform in Greece, Bulgaria, and Romania. The EU is now undertaking a feasibility study on this prospect, but "The Economist" says Bosnians "want EU handouts fast."

LE MONDE:

An item in France's "Le Monde" says Russian President Vladimir Putin adopted "a low profile" so as not to offend Washington in his speech at the UN General Assembly yesterday (25 September).

Putin called for the "direct participation" of the UN in the reconstruction of Iraq, while stopping short of demanding a timetable for a U.S. withdrawal and the full return of Iraqi sovereignty, as Paris and Berlin have insisted. The French daily notes, however, that Putin did allow his foreign minister, Igor Ivanov, to say that a "calendar" of some sort is necessary for a transfer of power and a troop withdrawal.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, meanwhile, announced that there would be a further reduction in UN staff in Iraq, following another attack on 22 September seemingly aimed at the UN mission in Baghdad. He emphasized, however, that this was not an evacuation of UN workers, merely a decrease in the active duty workforce in Iraq.

Up to 600 UN workers were in the country before the 19 August attack that killed the world organization's special envoy to Iraq, Sergio Vieira de Mello, and 21 others. The number of UN workers now stands at 42 in Baghdad and 44 others in northern Iraq. The paper says even this partial retreat comes as a major blow for the United States, which is fervently seeking increased UN involvement to assist their efforts in Iraq.

FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE ZEITUNG:

A commentary in the "Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung" debates some of the moral issues underlying the refusal of 27 Israeli Air Force reservist pilots to carry out air strikes in Palestinian territories, on the grounds that such attacks are "illegal and immoral."

The paper says Israel has launched military operations that "are unworthy of a democratic state even in the position of an occupier." The reaction of the pilots, and the many others who share their opinion, makes amply clear that a section of the Israeli population questions the morality of attacking a civilian population.

To be rid of this moral burden is yet another reason why a peaceful solution to the Israeli-Palestinian problems must be found. It is clear that neither side can win this war. Apart from the many casualties on both sides, "the moral damage" should be taken into consideration, says the commentary. "It is possible to rebuild damaged houses and reconstruct communications. But wounded souls cannot be quickly healed."

Au Revoir, Islamists

From FrontPage magazine.com

While France has tried to maintain a cozy relationship with the Islamic world, French Interior Minister Nicholas Sarkozy said in Paris the government might expel all Muslim clerics disseminating militant views.

The minister also said France will not hesitate to close down mosques preaching Islamic fundamentalism.

The minister, who spoke to the daily La Figaro, said among others: "Mosques where fundamentalism is preached will be shut down. Imams that express radical views will be expelled and speakers who do not guarantee respect for the republic's rules will see their entrance visas refused."

France has a Muslim population of 5 million, mainly of North African descent.

Sarkozy also said: "I do not negotiate with extremists. I have a dialogue with the Muslim community in France as it is, in all its diversity." The minister also said he has no regrets if his words are making the Islamic community unhappy.

In an earlier statement made last April, the minister also cautioned the Union of Islamic organizations in France to refrain from agitation. This came after the militant organization showed strong election results of fundamentalist views within the fledgling French Muslim Council.

"We want to rid Islam in France of foreign influences," the minister told Europe 1 radio. "Imams who make statements that run contrary to the values of the Republic will be deported."

Liberals have criticized the UOIF, saying it has close links with the Muslim Brotherhood -- the originally Egyptian movement, which calls for Islamic rule via personal purification and political action -- and should have no official place in a secular country like France.

France is not alone among European nations showing concern over the increasing population of Muslims and their rising militancy. Denmark's right-wing government just published a plan to curb the activities of radical religious leaders, which politicians said was aimed at Islamic clerics.

The proposal is part of a package of strict new immigration laws the government announced last week.

It has the support of the government's far-right ally, the Danish People's Party, and the opposition Social Democrats and is therefore expected to sail through parliament in October.

The rules oblige religious leaders to be financially self-sufficient, speak Danish and respect "Western values" or risk being declared persona non grata.

They are apparently designed to deter radical Islamic clerics from establishing bases in Denmark and clip the wings of those already living in the tiny country.

Although the new rules do not specifically target Islamic leaders, which would leave the government open to accusations of discrimination, politicians confirmed they were aimed at Muslim clerics, or imams.

Integration Minister Bertel Haarder told the Jyllands-Posten newspaper some imams would be forced to leave Denmark because they would not be able to comply with the new rules and would therefore be refused residence permits.

"I think the most fundamentalist of the imams, who are poorly educated and speak Danish badly, will end up having to go back home," he said. "The imams have a very negative influence on both parents and young people," he added.

Back in France, the education minister said he is opposed to a law banning headscarves in public schools but wants, instead, legislation that includes a "vigorous" reminder of the principle of secularism. The minister, Luc Ferry, told a commission examining the issue of secularism that a legal ban on wearing the traditional Muslim head covering in the classroom risks creating "martyrs."

President Jacques Chirac created the commission on secularism in July amid a heated debate on Muslim headscarves in schools. The commission is to present its findings by the end of the year.

The headscarf issue has simmered in France since 1989 when two Muslim girls in Creil, outside Paris, defied school orders to remove their headscarves. It was reawakened this spring when Sarkozy reminded a gathering of Muslims that headscarves are forbidden on national identity photos.

The Council of State, the highest administrative body, has ruled that headscarves in schools should be banned when they are "ostentatious" or risk provoking confrontations. But it left that assessment in the hands of schools. Ferry noted that the Council's opinion "allows for a very firm position in case of difficulty."

Overcoming mutual misconceptions

From Arab News Newspaper
By Raid Qusti

A year has passed since an evil act was perpetrated in New York City. Nineteen men, 15 of them misguided Saudis, had it in their hearts and minds that the United States was the root of evil in the world and the cause of injustice and corruption, and as such deserved to suffer such atrocities. Their mission was not only to attack Americans, but also to shatter the historic friendship between the United States and Saudi Arabia.

As a young Saudi, I would like to offer my condolences to the families of the victims of Sept. 11 and share with them a moment of mourning. So many families lost loved ones on that day: A wife, a husband, a son, a daughter, a relative or a friend. The people who died in the Twin Towers had nothing to do with politics. They had nothing to do with the military. They were ordinary people of various nationalities, all just going about their daily routine.

I grew up in the United States. I received part of my education there, at a public school. I studied the same textbooks as American children. I attended plays and field trips; I took my lunch like American children. I grew up in an American social environment, celebrating with my American friends their birthdays and attending their social gatherings. I was exposed to the same television and print media as Americans. And I had many American friends whom I regularly visited.

At the same time, I maintained my Muslim identity to the extent that when I moved back to Saudi Arabia to live in Makkah I felt like that was home too.

I have been asking myself since Sept.11 : Do Americans think I am evil just because I am a Saudi national? That is what the smear campaign in several American media outlets over the past year would like us to believe is true. But the American mainstream media do not speak for all the American people. America is one of the greatest nations on earth, not only because of its constitution, but also because of its extraordinary diversity. And I have concluded that it would be wrong to believe that a nation of over 200 million people who come from every ethnic background we can think of — European, Asian, Hispanic, African, and Arab — hate me because I am a Saudi because of what appears in the editorials of some of their newspapers, or even because of what 15 other Saudis did. The American people know better than that.

One of the many things that we have learned after Sept. 11 is how ignorant Saudis and Americans are of each other. Many Americans I have spoken to, for instance, were amazed to discover that many Saudis have different backgrounds, that those who live in the Hejaz region are often descendants of families who came here hundreds of years ago from other Arab countries — and even from Russia, India and Indonesia — to settle in the Arabian Peninsula for religious or economic reasons. All this happened long before the modern Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was established in1932 .

But are we to blame only Americans for this ignorance? Would it not be appropriate to at least partly put the blame on ourselves? It is the responsibility of Saudis, and Saudis alone, to open up as a society, and properly represent ourselves and our culture to the world. The fact that we have not done so in the past is what has left us vulnerable to the hate campaign when it became clear that 15 of the hijackers were Saudis. Ignorance is at the root of all hatred. We are now hated because people did not understand, and still do not understand, who we are and what we are about.

I think it is about time we Saudis realized that we can no longer isolate ourselves from the rest of the world in fear that globalization will change our culture for the worse. Islam can withstand any change, is indeed defined by its very timelessness. As Saudis, we are part of the global community, whether we like it or not. Globalization, for all its faults, is a one-way train: You either get on it, or it leaves you behind.

The other thing I have noticed throughout the last year is how many Saudis have falsely assumed that they understand what America is. Saudi writers produce columns in the local press full of judgments about America based only on what they experienced while living there as students or on a private visit. They presume that they have a full understanding of Americans and American politics. Many might find this hard to believe, but we Saudis are probably more ignorant about Americans than Americans are of us. There are Arab and Islamic study centers scattered all over America. Any American can, if he so chooses, learn everything about our Arab culture and our Islamic religion. Dare we ask how many centers for American studies, and other religions, there are here? Dare we also ask the so-called experienced analyzers of the West who appear on our TV shows if they ever studied American politics?

Yes, after Sept. 11 my generation does indeed dare to ask, and we will continue to ask until we get answers. After Sept. 11 we Saudis have a grave responsibility to make the whole world — and not America alone — understand that the hijackers do not represent the reality of Saudi society.

I was queuing in the airport at the end of my holiday a month ago in a European city. Another Saudi, who was wearing traditional clothes and seemed to be very pious, was in front of me. A white woman in front of him was struggling to lift a heavy suitcase onto the X-ray belt. She asked the pious Saudi for his help. At first he ignored her by pretending not to hear. When she asked again, he yelled in her face: “No!”

Of course, I made a point of helping her and I can only hope she does not stereotype all Saudis as being like that as a result of this experience.

Two Saudis standing in a queue at a European airport. One refuses to help a white lady, presumably because she is a woman and a Christian. Another helps her because, first and foremost, she is a human being.

Which image do we want the world to have of Saudis after Sept.11 ? And how would we prefer to see ourselves?

***

(Raid Qusti,27 , is Assistant Public Relations Manager at the Kingdom Holdings Company. He is a regular contributor to Arab News and his work has appeared in The Washington Post.)

University Shuts Down Anti-Affirmative Action Bake Sale

From FOXNews.com

DALLAS — Southern Methodist University (search) shut down a bake sale Wednesday in which cookies were offered for sale at different prices, depending on the buyer's race or gender.

The sale was organized by the Young Conservatives of Texas, who said it was intended as a protest of affirmative action.

A sign said white males had to pay $1 for a cookie. The price was 75 cents for white women, 50 cents for Hispanics and 25 cents for blacks.

Members of the conservative group said they meant no offense and were only trying to protest the use of race or gender as a factor in college admissions.

Similar sales have been held by College Republican chapters at colleges in at least five other states since February.

A black student filed a complaint with SMU, saying the sale was offensive. SMU officials said they halted the event after 45 minutes because it created a potentially unsafe situation.

"This was not an issue about free speech," Tim Moore, director of the SMU student center, said in a story for Thursday's edition of The Dallas Morning News. "It was really an issue where we had a hostile environment being created."

The sale drew a crowd outside the student center and several students engaged in a shouting match, Moore said.

David C. Rushing, 23, a law student and chairman of Young Conservatives of Texas at SMU and for the state, said the event didn't get out of hand. At most, a dozen students gathered around the table of cookies and Rice Krispies treats, he said.

"We copied what's been done at multiple campuses around the country to illustrate our opinion of affirmative action and how we think it's unfair," he said.

Matt Houston, a 19-year-old sophomore, called the group's price list offensive.

"My reaction was disgust because of the ignorance of some SMU students," said Houston, who is black. "They were arguing that affirmative action was solely based on race. It's not based on race. It's based on bringing a diverse community to a certain organization."

The group sold three cookies during its protest, raising $1.50.

In June, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled universities could use race as a factor in admissions under limited conditions. In Texas, universities had been banned from using race as a factor under a 1996 decision by a lower court.

Federal Court Rules Against Do-Not-Call List

From FOXNews.com

OKLAHOMA CITY — A federal judge handed down bad news to those expecting their dinners to be forever free from interruptions Wednesday, ruling that the Federal Trade Commission (search) didn't have the authority to slap telemarketers with a national "do-not-call" list.

The decision came in a lawsuit filed by telemarketers who challenged the list of 50 million people who said they do not want to businesses to solicit them at home via telephone calls. The list was slated to take effect Oct. 1.

The telemarketing industry has said the list could reduce its business by half, costing it up to $50 billion in sales each year.

U.S. District Judge Lee R. West said the case hinged on the issue of "whether the FTC had the authority to promulgate a national do-not-call registry. The court finds it did not."

House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Billy Tauzin, R-La., and Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., issued a statement Wednesday saying they were confident the ruling would be reversed.

"Contrary to the court's decision, we firmly believe Congress gave the FTC authority to implement the national do-not-call list," they said. "We will continue to monitor the situation and will take whatever legislative action is necessary to ensure consumers can stop intrusive calls from unwanted telemarketers."

Calls to the FTC were not immediately returned.

Direct Marketing Association Inc., one of the plaintiffs, said it was happy with the ruling while acknowledging "the wishes of millions of U.S. consumers who have expressed their preferences not to receive telephone-marketing solicitations — as evidenced by the millions of phone numbers registered on the FTC list."

The suit was filed by DMA, U.S. Security, Chartered Benefit Services Inc., Global Contact Services Inc. and InfoCision Management Corp.

More than a dozen states with do-not-call lists planned to add their lists to the national registry this summer, the FTC said.

Telemarketers would have to check the list every three months to see who doesn't want to be called. Those who call listed people could be fined up to $11,000 for each violation.

Nemo has been Found!

After much searching and millions of dollars I have finally found Nemo. I'm sad to say he was not in the condition that we were hoping for but he was tasty nonetheless.

:-)

$20B Iraq Plan Call for Museum, ZIP Codes

From Kansascity.com

WASHINGTON - President Bush's $20.3 billion proposal for rebuilding Iraq includes money to establish ZIP codes there, help Iraqi workers learn English and start a museum of former leader Saddam Hussein's atrocities, an administration document shows.

The report, obtained by The Associated Press, was distributed to members of Congress as the administration began its Capitol Hill defense of Bush's Iraq policies. The $20.3 billion is part of Bush's $87 billion proposal for Iraq and Afghanistan, which is dominated by his $66 billion request for U.S. military activities in both countries and elsewhere.

"Creating a sovereign, democratic, constitutional and prosperous Iraq deals a blow to terrorists," L. Paul Bremer, the U.S. administrator in Iraq, told the Senate Appropriations Committee on Monday.

Since terrorists "thrive in chaotic environments with little or no effective government," rebuilding Iraq "will serve American interests by making America safer," Bremer said.

Bremer told the senators that so far, 61 countries have pledged $1.5 billion to help reconstruct Iraq, which U.S. officials estimate will cost $50 billion to $75 billion.

Congress is expected to approve something much like Bush's overall $87 billion plan with strong support from both parties, perhaps next month.

Even so, Democrats have criticized the $20.3 billion portion for Iraqi reconstruction, noting it comes as the United States struggles with record federal deficits.

The request "gave Americans sticker shock and awe," said Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., in a play on the name officials gave the U.S. bombing campaign that opened the war. "We don't have a lot of money in the bank. It is red ink."

Democrats also contrasted the proposal with their demands - resisted by Bush - for increased domestic security spending.

"The administration fought against a $200 million boost for America's police officers, firefighters and paramedics," Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., told Bremer. "But Iraqi first responders would get $290 million."

Appropriations Chairman Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, however, promised his full support and cast the plan as one that would serve American interests.

"The sooner a new Iraqi government is formed and effectively functions, the quicker our soldiers, sailors and all Americans can come home," Stevens said.

The administration's 53-page report, written by the U.S.-led Coalition Provisional Authority that runs Iraq, said Iraqi police "are supposed to be performing patrolling duties but are reluctant to do so as they have no means to call for assistance." It estimates the cost of establishing a communications network for police, fire and other emergency workers at $150 million.

In a recent coalition survey of 700 miles of power lines, one-fourth of the 2,554 towers were destroyed. Repairing them, building generating plants and otherwise re-establishing an electrical system will cost an estimated $2.9 billion, the paper says.

Other projects and their estimated costs listed in the report include:

_$9 million to modernize Iraq's postal system, including establishment of ZIP codes.

_$30 million to provide half-day classes in English for 5,000 workers.

_$1 million for a museum and information center to document past atrocities by Saddam's regime.

_$100 million to protect - and perhaps relocate overseas - 100 witnesses and their families who testify against former government officials, terrorist groups or organized crime figures.

_$67 million to hire, train and equip 20,000 guards to protect Iraqi government facilities.

_$100 million to retain 500 experts to investigate crimes against humanity by Saddam's former government.

_$99 million to build and modernize 26 jails and prisons for 8,500 inmates.

_$55 million for an oil pipeline repair team that can respond quickly to new reports of sabotage or other problems, as part of a $2.1 billion effort to rebuild Iraq's oil industry.

_$130 million to construct 10 major irrigation and drainage projects.

_$125 million to rebuild railroad tracks.

_$100 million for housing, including starts of 3,528 new houses next year.

_$150 million to start building a new children's hospital in Basra.

Sex.com Owner Wins Right to Sue VeriSign

From PCWorld.com

Registrar may be held liable for transferring site ownership to forger.

Gary Kremen, the original owner of the Sex.com Web site, has won the right to sue VeriSign's Network Solutions division because it transferred ownership of the site to a con man without verifying the transfer with Kremen.

The ruling, which was issued July 25 by the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, reverses a trial court decision that said VeriSign wasn't liable in the dispute because a domain name was "intangible property."

In this decision, a panel of three judges disagreed with the trial court decision, saying that a Web address is indeed property and that VeriSign should be held liable for giving it away without Kremen's permission.

"Like other forms of property, domain names are valued, bought and sold, often for millions of dollars," Judge Alex Kozinski wrote on behalf of the panel of judges. "Exposing Network Solutions to liability when it gives away a registrant's domain name on the basis of a forged letter is no different from holding a corporation liable when it gives away someone's shares under the same circumstances. The common law does not stand idle while people give away the property of others."

Domain Debacle

The case originated in 1995 when Stephen Cohen sent a forged letter to registrar Network Solutions, which VeriSign purchased in 2000, requesting that the Sex.com domain be transferred to his name. Network Solutions transferred the domain without verifying the move with Kremen, and Cohen proceeded to build a thriving pornography business around the popular domain.

Kremen sued Cohen in 1998 for the unlawful conversion of his property, although courts have generally held that under the tort of conversion, property must be tangible.

The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California ordered the domain name returned to Kremen in 2001 and hit Cohen with a $65 million judgment. The court rejected Kremen's claim against VeriSign, however, so he appealed that decision.

Cohen fled the country, and Kremen wasn't able to collect the money from him, so Kremen went after VeriSign. But VeriSign claimed that a domain name wasn't property and that therefore it wasn't responsible for the transfer, according to Sex.com.

A VeriSign spokesperson said the company doesn't comment on ongoing litigation.

Coupling Comes to the U.S.

Coupling, for those who don't watch BBC America or PBS (late nights) is a witty, raw and very funny comedy.
My wife and I have been fans for about the last year or so and were shocked to find NBC was coming out with a show this fall called, you guessed it, Coupling.
Now being a fan of the original Coupling on the BBC I was interested in this rip-off that NBC is whipping up.

I had quite a shock when yesterday I saw a preview of the show and it's verbatim the exact same set, lines and situations as the BBC hit. I was outraged to say the least.
How un-original I thought, they could not even come up with their own scripts, they stole it straight from the BBC.
I did some more research into this and found that a few months ago the BBC posted a news release on their site stating that they sold NBC the rights to produce Coupling for American TV. In fact the shows creators are here working with NBC on it.
That being said I'm not so much shocked now that NBC "ripped" Coupling off but that the shows creator gave in to NBC's money and whored the show out.
From what I've seen of the American version it's not funny. What is funny is it's almost an exact duplicate of the BBC original and yet it's nowhere as classy or funny. (from the short clips I've seen)
I suppose we'll have to wait to see how this turns out Thursday as the 25th is the premiere.

I agree 100% with Sarah Alexander who plays Susan on the BBC hit who put it so honestly.
"While it's about thirtysomethings, it's also British. So, if you Americanize it, essentially you're taking all the Britishness out of it, which is perhaps its success, or it's little sparkle. I think that's where it sort of starts to fall down. Some of the British jokes won't work in America, and when you Americanize them it's not the same joke, it becomes a different one. So, I think by transferring it to America you lose the essential ingredient that makes 'Coupling' a success."

Stay tuned for the final verdict after Thursday's premiere.

Sources :
Zap2it.com

BBC.com

NBC.com

Galileo Probe to taste Jupiter before demise

(click to enlarge image)
September 21st will mark the end of a 12 year mission to Jupiter with the planned crashing of the space probe Galileo into Jupiter. Scientists are concerned that the probe, which is running out of propelent, will crash into Jupiter's moon Europa, and contaminate it with Earth scum. Europa is thought to one day harvest extra terestrial life, or be a space substation for humans in the distant future.

For the Galileo probe to reach Jupiter it had to use the gravity of Earth, and Venus, to propel into the outer reaches of our solar system. Galileo lanched in October of 1989 and witnessed many events, including a close up of the astroid, Ida, and the Shoemaker-Levy comet's dramatic end into Jupiters atmospher.

In all, Galileo took over 14,000 photographs of Jupiter, its rings, and many of her moons. Before the fatal crash into the Jupiter atmospher, the space probe will have traveled 2,878,053,500 miles.

Ask not what telemarketers can do to you

From The Miami Herald

There's just over a year to go before the 2004 presidential election, and everybody in the nation is extremely excited. Except of course the public. The public, shrewdly, pays no attention to presidential politics until all of the peripheral dorks have been weeded out, and it's finally time to make a selection between the two main dorks left over.

So what does the public care about right now? Telemarketers. The public hates them. It hates them even more than it hates France, low-flow toilets or ''customer service.''

We know this because recently the Federal Trade Commission, implementing the most popular federal concept since the Elvis stamp, created the National Do Not Call Registry. The way it works is, if you are a member of that select group of people (defined as ''people with phones'') who do not wish to receive unsolicited calls from telemarketers, you can go to www.donotcall.gov and register your phone number. Starting Oct. 1, any telemarketer who calls you will be locked in a tiny room with a large, insatiable man who will force the telemarketer, repeatedly, at all hours of the day and night, to change his long-distance provider.

No, sorry, that was the original concept. But the law is pretty strict: For each call to a registered number, telemarketers face an $11,000 fine. This program is a huge hit with the public. Already 30 million American households have registered; this figure would be even higher if it included all the Florida residents who tried to register but accidentally voted for Patrick Buchanan instead.

And how has the telemarketing industry responded to this tidal wave of public hostility? It has issued this statement: ''Gosh, if these people really don't want us to call them, then there's no point in our calling them! We'd only be making them hate us more, and that's just plain stupid! We'll try to come up with a less offensive way to do business.''

No, wait, that's what the telemarketers would say in Bizarro World, where everything is backward, and Superman is bad, and telemarketers contain human DNA. Here on Earth, the telemarketers are claiming they have a constitutional right to call people who do not want to be called. They base this claim on Article VX, Section iii, row 5, seat 2, of the U.S. Constitution, which states: ''If anybody ever invents the telephone, Congress shall pass no law prohibiting salespeople from using it to interrupt dinner.''

Leading the charge for the telemarketing industry is the American Teleservices Association (suggested motto: 'Some Day, We Will Get a Dictionary and Look Up 'Services' ''). This group argues that, if its members are prohibited from calling people who do not want to be called, then two million telemarketers will lose their jobs. Of course, you could use pretty much the same reasoning to argue that laws against mugging cause unemployment among muggers. But that would be unfair. Muggers rarely intrude into your home.

So what's the answer? Is there a constitutional way that we telephone customers can have our peace, without inconveniencing the people whose livelihoods depend on keeping their legal right to inconvenience us? Maybe we could pay the telemarketing industry not to call us, kind of like paying ''protection money'' to organized crime. Or maybe we could actually hire organized crime to explain our position to telemarketing-industry executives, who would then be given a fair opportunity to respond, while the cement was hardening.

I'm just thinking out loud here. I'm sure you have a better idea for how we can resolve our differences with the telemarketing industry. If you do, call me. No, wait, I have a better idea: Call the American Teleservices Association, toll-free, at 1-877-779-3974, and tell them what you think. I'm sure they'd love to hear your constitutionally protected views! Be sure to wipe your mouthpiece afterward.

In closing, here's an:

IMPORTANT REMINDER -- Mark your calendar with a big ''X'' on Sept. 19, which is the second annual National Talk Like A Pirate Day. This is the day when everybody is supposed to talk like a pirate for very solid reasons (see www.talklikeapirate.com).

Last year, the first National Talk Like a Pirate Day was a huge success, as measured by the number of messages on my answering machine consisting entirely of people going ''Arrrrr.'' So if you're feeling depressed -- if you think the world is in terrible shape, and one person like yourself can't make a difference -- remember this: You're right. So you might as well talk like a pirate. It's easy! For example, when you answer the phone, instead of ''Hello,'' you say ''Ahoy!''

Then you hang up. Scurvy telemarrrrrketers!

Iraqis Now College Sports Fans

Ok So your an Officer of the 101st Airborne Division, you have orders to paint the local water tower. No one has said what to paint it, so you being from Tennessee decide it's best to show support for the University of Tennessee Volunteers.

Now it's not only funny but news. I'm seeing Iraqi sports bars packed with people on Saturday nights (day here but time difference would be night there) showing their support for the Vols. Cheering Casey Clausen as he leads the team down the field to victory. You'll see Orange T-Shirts popping up everywhere in Iraq now.

Next you'll see some crazy Buckeye fan or Gator fan painting their water towers. After that who knows, maybe they will start their own football league.

The AFL or Arab Football League will someday Rival the NFL and we'll really have a World Champion. ;-)


Anyway, full story (not my fantasy) is @ Metro Pulse.

After 531 years, world's oldest wine in a barrel still has fine aroma

From Yahoo! News

STRASBOURG, France (AFP) - As hosts of Europeans turn out for "Heritage Day" celebrations this month, a French wine is making its own claim on history -- after 531 years, the world's oldest wine in a barrel is said to still have a fine aroma.
(left - A bottle containing the oldest wine in the world, a white wine from Alsace, in Strasbourg eastern France(AFP/File/Olivier Morin) )

With its bright shades of golden-amber and its aromas of vanilla, hazelnut or camphor, the 1472 vintage of white Alsace wine has been ageing for over 500 years now in the cellars of the Strasbourg Hospice in eastern France.

After so many centuries in a barrel "it is simply extraordinary that it is still wine," said Philippe Junger, who is in charge of the historic cellars to be opened to the public this weekend for the yearly Heritage Days.

In France, a country proud of its past, 11.5 million people turned out last year for the two-day event when thousands of historic sites and buildings are thrown open for a once-a-year peak to the public. Some 14,000 sites will be involved this year for the 20th edition.

In 1994, tests conducted on the old wine by the office in charge of policing products and preventing fraud, the DGCCRF, concluded that "the old thing has maintained an astonishing sprightliness" and "a powerful, very fine aroma."

The white wine, tinted with the amber shades oak, has an alcohol content of 9.4 percent and has a particularly high percentage of dry matter (the solids in a wine), which, according to Junger, is a guarantee of the persistence of the original wine.

"About one percent of the volume evaporates each year, it's the angels' share, so we add a bottle of dry white wine every three months. But in this barrel there is dry matter from at least 300 litres of 1472 wine, so it remains a 1472 vintage."

Junger, a former chef, said the vintage had survived notably because of its acidity.

"It is a wine with a lit of aroma, very acidic on the palate. It is extraordinary but should be drunk sparingly," said Junger, one of the happy few to have tasted a wine said to be the oldest in the world "until someone proves the contrary."

Celebrated as early on as in the 17th century, the wine is the topmost "treasure" of the cellars of the Hospice, which each year make a profit of tens of thousands of euros (dollars).

In centuries past the hospital would exchange vines against medical help and make its own wine in the old cellars built in 1395. But around a decade ago, the hospice signed an agreement with some 40 top Alsace wine-makers to hand over their best vintages for ageing in the cellar's gigantic old barrels.

The result are 150,000 bottles each year of titillating "Hospices de Strasbourg".

Microsoft blow as Ford signs up for Linux

From Scotsman.com

FORD is joining the ranks of governments and local authorities across the world that have switched from Microsoft software to the free open-source alternative Linux.

The car giant will run its sales operations, human resources, customer relations management and the rest of its infrastructure operations on the upstart technology.

Until now, defectors to Linux have largely been national governments such as China and local authorities in countries like Germany concerned that Microsoft’s Windows operating systems represented a security risk by not allowing them to inspect the source code, the systems’ software foundations, for weaknesses.

But government is a small part of Microsoft’s custom and it is its almost total domination of the business market that has made it the world’s leading software company. That makes Ford’s defection to Linux the biggest potential threat to Microsoft in the software developer’s 28-year history.

Business software applications can now run as easily on Linux as on Microsoft’s Windows operating systems.

Swedes vote no on euro shift

From azcentral.com

Matt Moore
Associated Press
Sept. 15, 2003 12:00 AM

STOCKHOLM, Sweden - Swedes rejected adopting the European common currency in a Sunday referendum overshadowed by the killing of Foreign Minister Anna Lindh, an ardent euro supporter, days earlier.

The vote came as a blow to Europe's currency and to European integration, and it provided a boost for euro opponents in Britain and Denmark, still using their own currencies.

Despite the setback, the second since 2000 in Scandinavia, the European Commission reiterated its faith in the euro and held out hope that Sweden would eventually adopt it.

"We're confident the Swedish government will choose a way forward to keep the euro project alive in Sweden," the commission said in a statement.

European Central Bank President Wim Duisenberg said the decision would not change the euro's position or bank policy.

"It will not affect the ongoing cooperation between Sveriges Riksbank (Sweden's central bank) and the European Central Bank," Duisenberg said from Germany.

With all votes counted from the Scandinavian country's 5,967 precincts, 56 percent of the more than 5.4 million ballots cast were against the euro, while 42 percent voted in favor of it. Remaining ballots were blank. More than 7 million Swedes were eligible to vote. No minimum voter turnout was required.

"We have evidently not been able to firmly establish the European idea among the voters," said Alf Svensson, leader of the Christian Democrats and a euro supporter. "People still seem to believe that we live in a Europe with national borders and national currency, but the reality is something else."

The results countered analysts' predictions the stabbing death of Lindh would emotionally sway voters to adopt the currency used by 12 of the 15 European Union members. They also ran contrary to polls in the final days.

Prime Minister Goeran Persson said late Sunday that opinion polls were read too optimistically. "We could have had a referendum at a better time. Europe is in a deep recession."

Wednesday's attack on Lindh, which police said did not appear politically motivated, came during the final stages of campaigning on whether Sweden should join the European Monetary Union.

Lindh was stabbed repeatedly by an unknown assailant at a Stockholm department store. She died early Thursday after surgery.

Updates

Fellow Authors since I had to recover and rebuild this site I'm not sure if you guys will be able to post articles or not. So let me know if you can't log into the site.

Also I've been tweeking the site tonight, wanted to thank Mikey for the tip on the Deep Freeze article.

A big Thanks to Girlie for the comments code as well.

While I'm babbling on, a big wake UP to Willie Anderson, I need your address so I can send you a clue.
LOL, Like that one Mikey?

Wife’s body kept in freezer for years

From MSNBC.com

Elderly man hoped she could someday be brought back to life.

PHOENIX, Sept. 12 — A 75-year-old man stored his wife’s body for nearly six years in his backyard, twisted and upside down in an old freezer, because he hoped she could someday be brought back to life, authorities said.

WHEN POLICE went to Edwin Rowlette’s home after receiving a tip from his daughter, they found dozens of cats along with feces and urine inside the house. The backyard, where one of the daughter’s friends discovered the body, was cluttered with garbage, debris, insulation and furniture.
Authorities found Marcia Lynn Rowlette’s body packed in dry ice and insulation and stored along with the bodies of ten dead cats. Rowlette told police he used the cats for research.
Rowlette was arrested last week on a felony charge of crimes against the dead. Investigators are trying to determine if he legally acquired his wife’s body from a funeral home and whether he submitted the proper documents.
“One of the areas that we’re looking at is if he had committed a fraud in obtaining the body,” said Prescott police Sgt. Michael Kabbel.
Prescott, a pine-studded town of about 33,000, is located 90 miles north of Phoenix.

HOPE FOR SCIENTIFIC BREAKTHROUGH
Rowlette told police he was keeping his wife’s body frozen in hopes that someday science could bring her back to life.
Marcia Rowlette was wheelchair-bound and lived in a nursing home before she died Dec. 15, 1997, of respiratory failure. The 38-year-old woman had a history of rheumatoid arthritis and musculoskeletal problems.
“She had a lot of congenital anomalies that made it difficult to do anything,” said Karen Gere, medical investigator with the Yavapai County medical examiner’s office.
After her death, Marcia Rowlette’s body was transferred to a funeral home. The body was released to the McCandless Research and Development Foundation after Rowlette submitted documents showing his wife’s body was being donated for scientific research.
Rowlette said he created the foundation in 1985 and bills it as an organization that supports scientific research and humanitarian causes. Police are investigating whether the foundation is legitimate.
The president of the Scottsdale, Ariz.-based cryonics facility said to be storing the body of baseball great Ted Williams said he was unfamiliar with Rowlette’s organization.
Alcor Life Extension Foundation president Jerry B. Lemler also noted that cryonics is generally performed with liquid nitrogen, not dry ice, because liquid nitrogen is colder.
“I hate to be the one to burst the bubble on this man’s dream,” Lemler said. “He had a dream that we share here at Alcor. But I don’t think his methodology was very thought out.”

Open source: A nonproprietary world

From CNET News.com

Open-source software has underlying source code--the instructions that programmers write--that may be freely seen, changed and redistributed. This contrasts sharply with proprietary software from companies such as Microsoft or Oracle, which typically control source code privileges tightly.

The best-known open-source project is Linux, a Unix-like operating system, begun by Linus Torvalds and now embraced by most of the world's top computing companies.

Businesses have a handful of reasons to look to open-source software. It's free to try out and can be lower-cost to use, although products often aren't as full-featured. And open-source software presents an alternative to customers that fear buying proprietary software will lock them into a relationship with the company that sold it.

The open-source movement is an offshoot of the work of Richard Stallman, whose Gnu's Not Unix (GNU) project to clone Unix introduced the General Public License (GPL) that provides a legal framework governing many open-source projects. GNU also provided many important tools that the best-known open-source project, Linux, used and built upon.

Boosted by companies such as Red Hat and SuSE Linux, Linux began spreading across the computing world in the late 1990s, putting pressure both on Microsoft and on Unix vendors. IBM in particular put its considerable muscle behind Linux, bringing it even to its vaunted mainframe server line; market researcher IDC says $2 billion worth of Linux servers were sold in 2002.

While Linux is popular on servers--powerful networked computers that handle round-the-clock data processing and storage tasks--it's not widely used on desktop machines. It's considered too technically difficult by most observers, although Linux backers have begun pushing it for corporate desktop computers used only for a limited range of tasks.

One Linux software company, originally named Caldera and now called SCO Group, failed to make a business of Linux. It acquired much of the Unix intellectual property in 2001 in an attempt to expand its business, but when that didn't work out either, it began a new strategy to profit from that Unix intellectual property. After hiring high-profile attorney David Boies, SCO began arguing that Unix source code and extensions are illegally used in Linux. Its opening salvo in March was ambitious: a lawsuit against IBM alleging that Big Blue violated its Unix contracts with SCO when it moved its own Unix extensions to Linux. Now SCO has begun asking all Linux users to pay it hundreds of dollars each.

SCO's actions haven't been received warmly. IBM countersued SCO in August, bringing four patent infringement claims as well as a vigorous defense of the GPL, and Red Hat sued SCO the same week in an attempt to lay the matter to rest as quickly as possible. Linux advocates have scoffed at SCO's charges, industry analysts have questioned the merits of their arguments, and intellectual property attorneys have advised companies to wait for legal ruling before agreeing to SCO's demands.

Meanwhile, the open-source world moves on. While volunteers and hobbyists are widespread, more mature projects such as Linux often are run by programmers paid for their work. Among other important open-source projects are Apache, which is used to host Web sites; OpenOffice, a competitor to Microsoft Office; MySQL, a database program; Sendmail, server software for delivering e-mail; and FreeBSD, a Unix derivative used in Apple's Mac OS X.

Hope..

Well, I'm getting the site back up and running.. let's hope It all works.

Assembly Oks Bill Allowing Illegals To Get Drivers' Licenses

From FOX40 KTXL

The Bill Would Allow Undocumented Immigrants To Submit A State-approved Form Of Identification To Apply For A Drivers License

SACRAMENTO -- A bill that would allow undocumented immigrants to obtain drivers' licenses, an issue that has worked its way into the debate surrounding the attempt to recall Gov. Gray Davis, passed the state Assembly on Tuesday.

In a debate in English and Spanish, Republicans and Democrats argued about whether the bill would harm or help public safety before approving it by a 44-30 vote and sending it back to the Senate for consideration of amendments.

The legislation, by Sen. Gil Cedillo, D-Los Angeles, would help undocumented immigrants get drivers' licenses by allowing them to submit a federal taxpayer identification number or some other state-approved form of identification to the Department of Motor Vehicles instead of a Social Security number.

The U.S. Internal Revenue Service issues taxpayer identification numbers to tax filers who cannot qualify for Social Security numbers, which authorize a person to work legally in the United States.

Davis has vetoed two similar bills since he became governor, citing law enforcement's concerns about the legislation. After he vetoed the bill last year, the Legislature's Latino caucus refused to endorse him for re-election.

Last month, at an anti-recall rally in Los Angeles, the governor said he would sign the latest bill "in a heartbeat" if it reached his desk.

Aides said he wanted to sign the bill all along and that a number of law enforcement officials are now comfortable with the legislation.

Republicans have accused Davis of agreeing to sign the bill to try to win Hispanic votes to defeat the recall and contend it would raise security concerns in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

"Why is he willing to put the state at risk, the country at risk, the electorate at risk? It's his last grasp at keeping the governorship," said Assemblyman Dennis Mountjoy, R-Monrovia, who claimed the bill would "open the road" to a movement to reclaim parts of the southwestern United States for Mexico.

Another opponent, Assemblyman Doug La Malfa, R-Biggs, said the bill was "an invitation for voter fraud. Why don't we just rescind the need for citizenship? That's where we are going with this."

But Democrats said up to 2 million illegal immigrants are driving without proper licenses already and that someone who wants to obtain a fake drivers' license can get one now on big-city street corners.

Cedillo's bill, they said, would improve public safety by helping ensure that all drivers pass a driving exam and have insurance.

"I want to have everybody behind the wheel to have been tested and I want them to be carrying insurance," said Assemblywoman Jackie Goldberg, D-Los Angeles. "And I don't want any more of this foolishness that this is about homeland security.

"What this is about is there are certain people you just don't want to have on the road, to have any rights," she told Republicans. "That is just wrong."

Assemblyman Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, said the bill would actually help law enforcement by giving them a way to identify illegal immigrants.

"If an individual is here in the country illegally, law enforcement has no means of identifying that person," he said. "But if the bill passes we'll have a database on persons who currently cannot otherwise be tracked."

Assemblyman Juan Vargas, D-San Diego, contended the bill's opponents were motivated by "such hatred, such vehemence against these people that we cannot trust on the road. Yet we entrust our parents, our children, our homes to them. We entrust our food to them. We entrust everything to them except for our rights."

But Assemblyman Ray Haynes, R-Murrieta, said the opposition "had nothing to do with race."

"If you enter this country illegally you're not supposed to be working here," he said. "It's been that way for quite some time."

Universal Slashing CD Prices

From TechNews.com

The world's largest music company said yesterday that it will lower prices on compact discs to lure back customers who get their music digitally, and often free, over Internet file-sharing services.

Universal Music Group, which accounts for about 30 percent of all music sales worldwide and is home to stars such as Eminem, Shania Twain, Nelly and U2, said that beginning in the next few weeks it will put a sticker on almost all newly pressed CDs suggesting a $12.98 retail price -- about $6 less than the current sticker.

At the same time, the company will drop its wholesale cost to retailers from $12.02 to $9.09 per CD, except on releases from top-selling artists, such as Eminem, which will drop to $10.10 wholesale for the first few months of their release and then drop to $9.09.

The music industry has suffered from slumping sales over the past few years, blaming the drop on the rise of free Internet song sharing, or copyright-violating piracy, as the industry calls it. Shipments of new CDs to stores dropped 10 percent in the first half of 2003 compared with last year, the industry said in late August, mirroring the yearly decline since the late '90s when a program called Napster introduced the mainstream to online song swapping.

The record industry, led by its lobbying group, the Recording Industry Association of America, is mounting a vigorous legal defense of its copyrighted work and will unleash hundreds of lawsuits against song sharers in the coming weeks.

The industry has drawn criticism for trying to stop piracy without offering viable alternatives. Yesterday, Universal Music chief executive Douglas Morris said his company's price slashing was part of the industry's strategy, mentioning the lawsuits as well as legal Internet sites, such as Apple's iTunes, where fans can buy digital music for 99 cents per song.

"Given the difficulties we have experienced, we are convinced it is time to do something dramatic to jump-start sales," Zach Horowitz, president of Universal Music, said during yesterday's announcement. "Many of the people who are acquiring music are simply not paying for it. We are besieged by rampant piracy. But these same services have shown the tremendous appeal of music."

Universal Music, which is owned by French media giant Vivendi Universal, said it expected that retailers will begin selling the lower-priced CDs as early as Oct. 1.

Retailers are under no obligation to follow a manufacturer's suggested retail price. If such a price sticker is already posted on a CD, however, consumers may react negatively if they see a retailer has marked up a CD. For many retailers that do not rely on music for primary revenue, such as Best Buy, CDs are "loss leaders," meaning the store sells them at a loss in hopes of enticing consumers to buy pricier items such as television sets.

As the largest music company, however, Universal already enjoys some muscle with retailers, which includes getting prime shelf space for its new CD releases.

"Frankly, I think because of the market forces, the retailers are going to abide" by the new pricing structure, said Jim Urie, president of Universal Music and Video Distribution. Because Universal Music is dropping its wholesale cost, retailers should continue to make money on CDs even at $12.98 apiece, he said. It costs 75 cents to $1.10 to create each CD, Urie said.

Universal Music said retailers would be advised by e-mail beginning yesterday afternoon of Universal's price cutting.

Several major retailers contacted after yesterday's announcement said they were unaware of the plans. Only Best Buy said it knew Universal Music's announcement was coming, but it would not say whether it would slash prices in accordance.

In an interview after the announcement, Morris said he was hopeful that the four other major music companies -- Sony Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group, BMG Entertainment and EMI -- would drop their prices, as well. Owing to antitrust laws, Morris said, he had not discussed Universal Music's price-slashing plan with the other companies.

Sony and Warner Music had no comment on Universal Music's move, though many in the industry knew it was coming. Morris said the plan has been in the works for about six months.

Brussels hits out at France's budget deficit

From FT.com

Tensions were heightened on Monday night when Paris revised upwards this year's deficit forecast to 4 per cent of gross domestic product, well above the stability pact's 3 per cent ceiling.

Pedro Solbes, EU monetary affairs commissioner, revealed that France's worsening finances could cause the overall deficit level for the 12-country eurozone this year to exceed 3 per cent.

"Given the fact that France seems to have gone off the rails a bit in 2003, the eurozone deficit will be around 3 per cent, or exceed the 3 per cent figure," Mr Solbes's spokesman said.

The symbolism will not be lost on many smaller EU member states, which run tight public finances and blame larger countries such as France and Germany for undermining the euro by running large deficits.

While Germany and Portugal have promised to bring their deficits below 3 per cent in 2004 - an outcome doubted by many economists - France has not disguised the fact that it is unlikely to stay within the rules.

Noelle Lenoir, France's European minister, yesterday said it would be "difficult to substantially reduce the deficit next year".

Alain Lambert, budget minister, said France valued the stability pact but that the government's first responsibility was to foster a return to growth.

European Commission officials claim that while German economic policy reflects its obligations to its single currency partners, the French debate is almost devoid of a sense of European solidarity.

"Germany is doing everything possible to stay within the rules," said one official.

The praise lavished on Germany - whose deficit could reach 3.8 per cent this year - partly reflects the fact that the Commission will need Berlin's support if it is forced to take on Mr Chirac's government.

Finance ministers from France's 11 eurozone partners will have to vote on any Commission recommendation for Paris to impose spending cuts or tax rises, possibly in November.

Germany will then have to choose whether to side with the Commission and its attempts to uphold EU budgetary discipline, or to show solidarity with its neighbour.

Russia: Putin's Signal Of Support For U.S.-Led Multinational Iraq Force An 'Important Favor' For Bush

From Radio Free Europe

Washington has signaled it is ready to begin negotiations in the United Nations Security Council to authorize a multinational force under U.S. command. But the U.S. may have to mend fences with some fellow council members who opposed the war in Iraq. Ironically, it is one of the staunchest critics of the U.S. invasion, Russia, that is bolstering Washington's hope for success. In an unexpected policy turnaround during the weekend, Russian President Vladimir Putin said he supported the idea of a U.S.-led international force in Iraq. RFE/RL speaks to a leading Russian analyst about the Kremlin's new stance.

Prague, 3 September 2003 (RFE/RL) -- Amid continuing terror attacks and mounting U.S. casualties in Iraq, it was a rare moment of good news for U.S. President George W. Bush. His Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, announced during the weekend he would support a multinational force in Iraq -- even one under U.S. command.

Speaking at a press conference in Italy on 30 August, Putin said, "we don't see anything wrong" with the possible participation of international forces in Iraq under U.S. command. The Russian president stressed, however, that such a force must be authorized by the United Nations Security Council.

Russia, together with fellow permanent council members Germany and France, formed a staunch axis of opposition to the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. Putin's new turnaround may prove valuable to the U.S. as it moves to win broader international backing for its post-Saddam Hussein occupation. A draft resolution on a multinational force may be presented to the Security Council by the end of this week.

Viktor Kremenyuk is deputy director of the USA-Canada Institute, a Moscow-based foreign-policy think tank. He told RFE/RLthat Putin has done Bush an "important favor," and that a UN-authorized force could go a long way toward alleviating Washington's burden in Iraq.

"Maybe [the U.S.] is counting on the hope that the degree of resistance coming from the Iraqis will diminish substantially, because the UN is associated with the idea of aggression to a lesser degree than the Americans and their troops. And so it would be possible to have fewer victims, fewer [military] casualties, and -- something that Bush is very interested in, in light of his re-election campaign -- less criticism of U.S. policy," Kremenyuk said.

Putin's remarks come just weeks ahead of a scheduled summit meeting between the two presidents. Kremenyuk said a successful summit will reflect well not only on Bush, but also on Putin, who hopes to solidify his control of the Russian State Duma (lower house of parliament) in parliamentary elections this December, and will himself run for re-election next March.

But the strain of the Iraqi crisis will be hard for Washington and Moscow to overcome. Kremenyuk said a gesture of personal support may be the best way for Putin to get his relations with Bush back on track. "Relations between Russia and the United States aren't really based very much on existing agreements, [common] organs, or bilateral mechanisms, but on the personal friendship of the two presidents," he said. "Because of this, Russia's position during the [Iraq] crisis means [this relationship] could be lost. Bush took Russia's position very much to heart, and he practically hasn't forgiven Putin for it."

It is not the first time Russia has appeared to soften its stance on Iraq. Officials in Moscow had sometimes muted their criticism of the U.S. posture -- a move analysts say was meant to drum up Washington's support for the restitution of Russia's financial interests in prewar Iraq. In addition to a pending $6 billion oil contract, Russia was also hoping to collect on Iraq's $8 billion Soviet-era debt.

Now, Kremenyuk said, Putin's nod to a U.S.-led multinational force may mean that Russia has given up hope of seeing its financial claims honored. "Russia lost everything it had in Iraq -- the debt incurred by the [former] Iraqi regime, the prospect of contracts that were promised. All that is lost. I don’t think anyone will restitute anything," he said. "I think Moscow knows this, and that’s why they don’t mention it."

Energy giant LUKoil, which heads the Russian consortium waiting to activate its contracts in Iraq, appears to be ready to concede defeat. The company's vice president, Leonid Fedun, said the U.S. has "explained the reasons" why Russia cannot proceed with extraction projects on Iraq's West Kurna oil field. Fedun added that the consortium's West Kurna contract included a force majeure "war and occupation" clause. Such a clause would presumably nullify the contract.

IBM, Linux to Power Library of Congress Archive

From atnewyork.com

With Linux finding its way into larger slices of mainstream America, it makes sense that the open source operating system has also found favor among a swath of scholarly pursuits.

IBM Wednesday aired its latest Linux-oriented win when it announced that the University of Washington, Rutgers Universities Libraries, and the Georgia Institute of Technology Interactive Media Technology Center have opted to run Linux on Power4 chip architecture to build an online catalog of film, television and digital video for the Library of Congress.

The $900,000 catalog, called the Moving Images Collections Portal Project (MIC), will house roughly 80,000 images from libraries, national archives, museums and broadcasting companies all over the world. The MIC will work like an Internet search engine, albeit modified to find only moving images, where users can find what they need with just a browser.

Standout footage includes archives in the national Smithsonian and video from the Hubble telescope, as well as footages from filmed natural disasters and the terrorist attacks from 9/11 nearly two years ago.

The universities feel MIC will be a big help to those searching for visual footage -- from scientists to researchers, authors, educators, students and the general public -- because of the sheer size of the online catalog.

The University of Washington and Rutgers University will use IBM eServer pSeries systems running Linux to develop the directory and catalog databases of digital images. Georgia Institute of Technology will use the pSeries machines to create the Web portal where users will access the Internet from their browsers.

The MIC databases and Web portal will be powered by two IBM eServer p630 servers, which start at $13,720 and two p610 machines, which cost $6,829, running SuSE Linux Enterprise SLES 8 and IBM's directory server. When users pin down the video they need, they can contact the content providers to obtain permission to view or reference the images.

The news demonstrates two distinct points: that there is money to be made from Linux and that digital, Internet-based footage is becoming increasingly common the world over. A $900,000 grant was given to the universities from the National Science Foundation to pay for the lengthy project.

The Library of Congress will host the MIC, after it is completed in 2004 and the Association of Moving Image Archivists (AMIA) will influence its growth and design.

For IBM, the contract is still an indication of the blooming popularity of Linux as an alternative to proprietary systems such as Unix or Microsoft Windows. It also cements the company's status as a leading provider of Linux products.

The University of Washington said it chose Linux on IBM servers because it could be custom coded and could adjust to the requirements of the MIC project.

Other systems vendors doubling as Linux enthusiasts such as HP and Dell have been angling for such big contracts, but IBM, with its multi-billion-dollar Linux push, is leading the pack.