It is very interesting on how different partisans view dissent as the rulers changed in Washington DC. As the party not in power, those against the war in Iraq said that dissent was the highest form of patriotism. Now that the Democrats are in power, I guess that dissent no longer is patriotic. There have been many stories out there where various public officials do not want and fear protests on the health care "reform" that is working through the House of Representatives. People like Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reed, and others have called the protestors Swastika Carrying, Brown Shirt Wearing, and otherwise scolded for protesting.
Where is the freedom that was given to the anti-war protestors. Former President Bush had Cindy Sheehan protesting outside his personal property for 2 years. But if an individual protests the growth of spending in the Federal government (see TARP and Stimulus programs) and especially the Health Care reform bill, they are corporate organized, racists, Nazis, among other things. Even if you find a site that might disagree with the health care reform, our executive branch wants you to report them to flag@whitehouse.gov. That tactic should be controversial, since there is a freedom of speech in this country, at least according to the First Amendment. How a lawyer that was elected to the White House doesn't think about it being a borderline issue is beyond me.
They must be so afraid of public dissent. That explains why they try to rush and pass bills without allowing the public to read (against Obama's campaign promise).
What is in the health care bill do they need to rush through? Analysis here, and bill here.
You decide....
Received my latest book for my enjoyment, and it is even in dead tree format. I picked up the 10th Anniversary edition of User Friendly, my favorite geek comic strip. With over 1000 pages of strips, it will be great "light" reading for days and weeks to come.
Boy, what a week for computer security...and it isn't even Friday yet. Let's look at the different headlines just from the Internet Storm Center.
Let's see...Internet Explorer and Firefox is approximately 85% of the browser traffic out there, so millions are likely affected by these. I also have seen recent patches released by Apple for both Safari and Itunes, so if you haven't patched recently on any of your systems, please take some time this weekend and patch patch patch.
Here comes another good reason to avoid Internet Explorer as your web browser. There is Zero-day (meaning no patch yet) for the combination of Internet Explorer and Office 2003 and earlier reading Excel documents within the web browser. The vulnerability is serious enough for the Internet Storm Center to raise the alert level to yellow. More information at http://isc.sans.org/diary.html?storyid=6739
Over the past 4 weeks or so, I have been listening to an audio version of Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged. It is a very interesting read in this day and age, where our Federal Governemnt has interfered in the bankruptcy of General Motors, Chrysler, and likely some of the financial institutions (probably Citibank). I can imagine such characters such as Wesley Mooch, Mr. Thompson, Jim Taggart, and other various characters and directives for the governnment for the whole good of the people.
One reaction that I couldn't help but hear was the reaction to the temporarily stay on the Chrysler bankruptcy. If you read the following Wall Street Journal Article, the implications are as follows:
"By refusing to make the relatively small sacrifices that would avert a calamity, the pension funds will instead create a great catastrophe, which is the same kind of shortsighted thinking that got us into the Great Depression," Dingell said in a statement. "Make no mistake: If these pension funds can't see past their own pain, they threaten to create a kind of agony for their state and the nation that is difficult for most people to imagine or condone."
People should sacrifice for the common good??? Come on, Congressman. What country are you living in?