Court Allows Government Fishing Expedition

Justice Department Rejects Google's Privacy Issues

We can all rest happily now that the Justice Department has decided that the government can request as much information from a company that it wishes, so far as the information is not personally identifying. Does the government need a search warrant? No. Does the government need to pay the company for the hours manpower it will take in compiling the information? No. Does the government need to explain in depth why they want or need the information? No. So, if you own a company, be prepared. You could be next on the government's fishing expedition list.

I believe that Google tried to defend this case from the wrong direction. Instead of "protecting customers' privacy" they should have taken the position the government was making an unlawful search and seizure. The request from government for information on a week's worth of searches without suspicion of any person or company being involved in unlawful activity certainly does not fall under the "reasonable doubt" area of searches and seizures. I equate this request by the government to a request for information on all the activity of families from a certain neighborhood for the period of one week. This would include any phone calls made and received, any mail sent and received, usage of the Internet, all movement into and out of the house, usage of vehicles, pictures taken, converstaions within the neighborhood, etc. Suspicion of crime committed? None. Persons suspected of criminal activity? None. This is just a random sweep to see if the government can find evidence that might imply illegal activity and therefore prove that there is a need for further searches - with or without a warrant. "1984" was a not fiction - it was a prediction. It is coming true.

Bush is a Thief - Not President

Florida Votes Time-Date-Stamped Two Weeks before Election

Voting machines are proving - just as many warned - that Bush stole the elections. He did not win them. How many citizens, reporters, Representatives, Senators, and law enforcement personnel will continue to sit on their hands dispite the appearance of this new evidence? If you care anything about our country and the freedoms we are afforded under the Constitution, please do not let this news pass quietly.

Is Kinkos/Fedex Plug-in Spyware?

Use this link to put the rss feed from this blog on your site: http://passgo.blogspot.com/atom.xml
I just recently uninstalled what I thought would be a very useful plug-in for my Windows Office Suite (on Windows XP Pro - SP2). It is the Kinkos/Fedex Printer driver. However, after installing it, I had nothing but problems with the software, and so I called Fedex for help with it. The representative was very courteous and instructed me to uninstall the old version (1.0) and install the new version (2.0). I figured they had worked out some bugs, so I obliged. No go... after ridding the machine of the first version and installing the second, I had more problems. In fact, the the installer would not even finish the process. I called Fedex once more for help and was eventually told that I would have to manually remove the software by getting rid of the program files (very easy) and the registry entries (not so easy). I was told to do a search in the registry under the "local machine" entries for anything with "kinkos" in it. I found the entries and deleted them - over 30 of them. My question is this, why does a small plug-in program with one system dll file need over 30 registry entries? I have much larger, more complex programs on my computer that have only a few registry entries. My hope is that a "super geek" will investigate this and report on the purpose for all those entries. My advice on the plug-in? Skip it. Go to http://docstore.kinkos.com and save yourself the headache.

US Troops Seize Award-winning Iraqi Journalist

Use this link to put the rss feed from this blog on your site: http://passgo.blogspot.com/atom.xml

What is Bush hiding now? Ordering troops to storm the home of an award-winning journalist to seize tapes that could be damaging to his administration hits a new height in the abuse of power by this president. Bush has committed more impeachable offenses than were even implied against Clinton, yet the U.S. Congress does NOTHING. Instead, our elected representatives disgrace us with their acceptance of bribes for votes. Say goodbye to self-governance and welcome the New World Order. This is the beginning of the end.

DianaKrall.com - The Official web site of Diana Krall

Although I am a musician and a lover of any music performed well, I have not (up to this point) done music critiques. I am not certain why I have decided to begin doing them now. Whatever the reason, I hope that others find my critiques helpful.

Where to begin... with my latest purchase, I think. Diana Krall - Christmas Songs. There have been many rave reviews of this album. Unfortunately, mine will not be another one. Being a fan of Ms. Krall, I truly wish I could write glowingly about the entire album, but there are only a couple of songs that shine in this collection. "Jingle Bells" is one of them. Ms. Krall seems to have a lot of fun with this song and the band certainly does make it swing right down to the guy shaking the bells. Her "scat" near the end of the song is very cool as the band seems to be in conversation with her. So, what is missing from most of the other songs? In "I'll Be Home For Christmas," Ms. Krall's smokey voice and gift for seducing every consonant come through. However, it feels like most notes are being cut short, almost as if the singer is out of breath. At some brief moments, her voice takes on a quality of someone who has sung too much heavy metal or yelled at a college basketball game the night before the recording, as it scratches near her "break." This shortness of breath and scratchiness of voice are apparent in most of the other tunes as well, so I will not belabor the point by going through the entire album song by song. I hope that Ms. Krall has not developed nodules on her vocal cords as happened with other singers, Billy Joel, Elton John, and Julie Andrews, and that we will continue to hear great things from her in the future. As for the band, it is fantastic and certainly compliments Ms. Krall making the album worth the price on its own. But sadly, I do not find this to be Ms. Krall's best work.

Is Killing the People of Iraq FUN?

Do you believe that we are doing “good works” in Iraq? If so, watch the following video in the format that works best with your system.
QuickTime DSL | 56K Windows Media DSL | 56K RealMedia DSL | 56K

Santorum = Arrogant Hypocrite

Santorum’s hypocrisy is exceeded only by his self-righteous arrogance. He speaks as if he is the only authority from the right-wing on every issue that comes before Congress and the Supreme Court. So, how he managed to force out even a half-hearted criticism of the Bush Administration, I’ll never know. I guess the fear of not being re-elected is enough to make even the biggest armchair hawk turn against his Supreme Leader.

Government showdown could break up Internet

The arrogance of the Bush Administration knows no bounds. To assert that the U.S. should retain sole oversight authority on technical and administrative infrastructure of the Internet is the height of egotism. If the United States is to exist as part of the world community, it must behave as a good neighbor – something for which this administration has neither aspirations nor skill. Our country cannot afford another day – let alone another year – of this administration’s ineptitude. Write to your Representative and Senators to tell them that the Internet belongs to the world, not the United States, and ask them to take measures to stop the Bush Administration from pulling the plug on our connection with the rest of the world. You can find your Representative and Senators by clicking here and choosing to ignore the ad. Do not wait.

Republican = Hypocrite

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051110/ap_on_go_co/leaks_investigation
If this didn’t have such important implications for the future of our democracy it would be hilarious. The Republicans in Congress are going to investigate whether there were laws broken in the leak about “Secret Prisons” created by the CIA in allied nations (which the administration will not admit exist), but will not investigate the prewar intelligence on Iraq. The hypocrisy SCREAMS from this Republican controlled Congress. If you care anything for this country, call your Representative and Senators to demand that the truth be brought to light about the intelligence that was used as a basis for the war in Iraq. Do NOT let them turn our democracy into a corporate controlled despotic regime. The military-industrial complex needs to be dismantled… NOW.

CBS News | Fed Hikes Interest Rate | November 1, 2005�14:42:08

This is brilliant. Because of inflation concerns, the Fed raises interest rates. Why is inflation a problem? ...because of oil prices. Why are oil prices so high? ...because Bush wouldn't release oil reserves until supplies were so depleted that he had no other choice. Who gets hurt most by high oil prices? ...the poor and middle class, especially rural America. So, how does the Fed intend to fix it? ... by raising interest rates, an action which once again hurts the poor and middle class the most.

Bush
1. Sits quietly after being told that the World Trade Centers had just been attacked.
2. Leads us to war based on false information.
3. Lets oil prices more than double before touching the nation's reserves.
4. Keeps FEMA director on payroll after FEMA's "too little, too late" appearance in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina.

The list goes on and the citizens of the United States sit on their backsides and watch it happen.

Way to go, America.