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16 December 2005

Politics d'jour

Where to start?

The Patriot Act failed reauthorization. While I am sure people will make it out to be a "us vs. them" thing, it should be noted (per the article) that some republicans voted against it and some democrats voted to extend it.  The comment about blaming democrats if it fails to go through is complete rubbish though... for those who don't remember why:
Benjamin Franklin:They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security, deserve neither liberty or security
The fact is that anyone who believes in liberty and privacy is against the Patriot Act -- it is not party-line specific.

Another piece of politics today is that Hillary Clinton is trying to make the ESRB have as much authority as the RIAA or MPAA (which shouldn't have any power anyways). Basically, she introduced a bill that would allow a private company to dictate the behavior of an entire market (thus the RIAA/MPAA comment).  Not only is this completely stupid, this is the exact kind of thing that hackers across the world are likely to start breaking even if they didn't before -- just because of the politics involved.  Hey Hillary, I have a company -- why not put it in charge of what foods you can eat?  No more veggies for you kids, now you HAVE to eat twinkies and drink coke, or we'll sue you.

Last but not least, it looks like some NSA officials are blowing the whistle on the illegal survellience done here in the US (because of the Patriot Act)... A lot of good it will do, since everyone knew they were doing it anyways, but what the hell -- worth mentioning.


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