I'm Calling Aiko The Robot A Hoax

Everyone is covering this robot story now, it's even on CNN. But I'm going on record and calling this thing a hoax. The thing that really looks fake is when the Aiko's "creator" Le Trung holds up a sheet containing a hand-written algebra problem and the robot provides the answer.

Also the name AIKO apparently translates to "Love Child" (?).

Fake.

Why The Auto Bailout Should Die

This is an excellent article from Forbes showing why the automotive bailout is a huge con job.

Is Ghost Adventures A Big Joke?

I'm becoming more and more convinced that Ghost Adventures is a prank being played on the show's audience, in the style of Ghostwatch. It's just getting more and more ridiculous. Not like Paranormal State's brand of flaky pseudo-science ridiculousness, but a kind of self-conscious, leg-pulling ridiculousness. Tonight they played at least 1 "EVP" that was completely indecipherable. I mean it was just noise. It had subtitles underneath it to help you hear it, but it really was just noise. Then they also showed a photograph which looked completely normal, while presenting it as 'evidence' of shadow, which again was not detectable.

That's on top of the bizarre 'taunting' they have been doing on the last couple of episodes. Any time there's supposedly been a hanging, Zak Bagans brings in his own personal hangman's noose and carries it on his shoulder or throws it over a rafter (etc). Tonight's episode had the very bizarre (almost comical) moment where Zak locked one of his crew in a shower area of the Old Idaho Penitentiary where an inmate had been "gang-raped to death". They tauted the 'spirits' by offering up the crew member as a gift(!). Pretty freaking tasteless.

When will they pull the punchline?

The Black Friday Toys R Us Shooting: The Devil Is In The Details

Almost everyone has by now heard about the shooing on Black Friday at a California Toys R Us. What you may not have heard is that the shootings were apparently a murder-suicide. The evidence is piling up that there was only one shooter, Juan Meza, who after killing Alejandro Moreno, shot himself. Apparently there had been a long standing feud between the two families which led up to this confrontation.

The story gets very interesting when you learn about the criminal records of Moreno and Meza. Moreno apparently had been arrested for domestic assault in 1998. Meza, the alleged shooter, however had a much more lengthy criminal record including multiple arrests for gun possession (the latest one only 8 months ago), assault with a deadly weapon and drug possession. Yet Meza had never served any prison time.

How'd he manage that? The Moreno family's attorney, Mark Sullivan has a theory:

I suspect that Juan Meza was a criminal and an informant for the police. The reason I say that is because the judges who sentenced him on all these cases are not lenient judges. They're very tough sentencing judges here in Indio, as they all are. None of the judges nowadays tolerate weapons possessions, especially repeat offenders who have never been to prison a day in their life.

The Sheriff's department for their part had this to say:

"I'm not able to confirm that at all," -Herlinda Valenzuela, a Riverside County Sheriff's spokeswoman

Interesting.....

The Treasury Just Gave Away 1/2 Of Everything Produced In This Country Last Year

Wow. We're now up to $7.7 Trillion??? And to top it all off, much of this money is being given away in secrecy with no oversight.

The TARP program is in danger of becoming the largest financial fraud in history....

Here Come The Crashing Pension Plans

As I noted in my September 18th post, the collapsing pension plan will be the next big new story. Florida announced today that their public employee's pension plan has lost 1/4 of it's value. They say that's "pretty good considering". I bet they're telling the truth on that one too. Many corporate plans are already on the verge of collapse.

I suspect that in the next couple of months, we'll see a few of these pension plans' benefits completely frozen (if not wiped out). The big push will then be a push to fund these plans using taxpayer dollars.

So in essence, these plans represent a huge, unfunded, off-the-books liability for taxpayers that will soon be surfacing.

And you thought it was just going to be $700 billion...

DJIA Prediction: 0/1

Well, my DJIA prediction expires tomorrow...and since that's Saturday, I guess it's up today. The DJIA closed today at 8,497.31. On 10/16/2008 when I made the prediction it closed at 8,979.26.

That's only a 481.95 point loss for the last 30 days.

Truly, I'm at a loss. Could my predictive powers be so bad? Or is it perhaps that the government is manipulating the DJIA and the S&P 500 every time it looks like it's going to tank?

It does seem like every time the market makes some huge drop (like 11/13/2008's -554.11 drop) it makes a remarkable close up the next day (11/14/2008's 324.88 jump). Hmmm.

Could it be bargain hunters? Or could it be the Treasury/FED monster propping up the dead?

Either way, you heard it here first.

Fidel Castro Is Laughing At Us From His Death Bed....

All the years we've had that embargo against him for nationalizing all the 'capitalist' assets in Cuba.

And here we are doing it to ourselves. Soon, the Federal Government will own all the banks, the Washington Metro System, the auto industry, the airline industry, the hospitals....Ad nauseam Maybe Henry Paulson should bring in some of Castro's economics advisors. I bet they could give him some pointers.

Volvo Probably Has Some Sales Going On Right Now

If you're interested. Last month, Volvo only sold 3,717 cars in the entire US. Maybe the economic slowdown is disproportionally impacting yuppies.


But the economy is fundamentally sound (repeat 3x).

10 Year DJIA Gain? A Cool 1.22% Not Bad..

Unless you were hoping to retire at some point....

Link to 10 year performance of the Dow Jones

Prediction: The DJIA Falls to at least 7,500 in the next 30 days

It's got at least another 12% to go before we can talk about a bottom. That was the Jan 1998 DJIA, before the tech bubble...and long before the housing bubble. The scary part is, it might sink lower than that once inflation sinks in and rising mortgage rates cause the housing market to lock up.

Stay tuned and buckle your seat belts....

DJIA Chart

The "English Only" Movement Needs To Take A Good Look At The Law Books

Because it's been completely infiltrated with foreigners. The English Only movement wants to make English the official language of the United States. It seems they have focused their concern mainly on the diffusion of Spanish into US culture, with labels and signs being printed in both languages.

Yet I'm not aware of any outrage against the corruption of our legal language by the Romans. Just look at some of the ridiculous phrases I've found in Virginia law:

• Mutatis mutandis (139 references)
• Guardian ad litem (158 references)
• Sui juris (5 references)
• subpoena duces tecum (83 references)
• subpoena ad testificandum (1 reference)
  

That says nothing to the words and phrases that have already wormed their way into our beautiful language. Words and phrases such as:

• Habeas corpus
• Fiduciary
  
• Affidavit
  

But in all seriousness, why are we still using Latin in our law books? Is it because it's more obscure and therefore more intimidating? Is it because there's a long tradition of using Latin in law (there was a long tradition of not letting women vote also, it doesn't mean it was right).

There are perfectly good English words and phrases that could be used to make the law more understandable to common people. How many non-attorneys have a clue what "subpoena duces tecum" means? I'd bet the number is ZERO unless someone has been subjected to one.

And isn't one of the cornerstones of Western jurisprudence (OMG, there it is AGAIN) that the common people have the ability to read and understand the law?

Washington Is Much Closer To Wall Street Than Maple Street

In order to grease the wheels and get Monday's failed Wall Street bailout bill to pass in the House of Representatives, look what's been added to Senate's version of the bill:

• Increase the FDIC coverage for bank accounts up to $250,000 (up from a mere $100,000 And wasn't FSLIC deposit insurance part of the cause of the savings and loan debacle?? This will just drive us into another reckless investing spree)
• Force insurance companies to cover mental illness just like physical illnesses (Huh? Next they're going to throw in some free movie tickets)

These completely ridiculous amendments just go to show how far Washington is from main street, and how close Wall Street lobbyists are to your "representatives" in congress.

As yourself this question: How many people do you know now that have (or are even close to) $100,000 in the bank? Keep in mind, IRAs are already covered up to $250,000 and have been since 2006.

Why not add in something to provide FDIC insurance to working people's 401(k)? After all, since were bailing out other investors and going completely socialist, why stop just short of the dissaperaing middle class (and growing lower class)?

On the flip side, I bet there are a lot of Wall Street robber barrons who need that extra $150,000 in cash coverage right about now.

$25 BILLION In Auto Loans Part Of Bailout

Incredibly, it's not just houses that are in desperate need of help. Auto manufacturers also are in need of a helping hand. $25 billion worth. Who's going to pay that? It's like the government just got laid off and is forced to use their credit card. Once they get done with this, we'll have $15 billion in there for new shoes too.

Just wait until we have to pay the first minimum payment to the Bank Of China.

EPA Says Rocket Fuel In Your Drinking Water Is Not A Problem

Seriously?? Does the government have any credibility left?

So we should mix up some Perchlorate baby formula with some rocket fuel water and put it in our Bisphenol-A baby bottle. Add some fluoride in their too for good measure.

EPA against limiting rocket fuel ingredient in water

Congress Balks At Massive Corporate Welfare

Wall Street will be sure to punish them shortly with a horrendous roller coaster ride for their reluctance. Then they will then quickly relent (probably before the week is out) and give their 'approval' for something that is already completely outside their control. Clearly the Fed is running the show here, with the ability to buy up massive corporations and chain US taxpayers to the debt. As Ron Paul said, Congress should just go home since they've abandoned their duty to the populace.

In the end, it won't matter. This bail out plan wont' fix whats wrong with the world's economy. What's wrong is that there are too many houses that were priced in a fantasy world, over leveraged by their current owners and now out of reach of most buyers. Add to that new due diligence on behalf of lenders, and you've got yourself a pyramid scheme that's reached its apex. The fed thinks if they can just get new suckers to buy into the fantasy pricing everything will be 'ok'. It won't.

The only way to fix this is to lower housing prices by either devaluing the dollar or letting the housing market crash because what supported it previously was fraud, plain and simple. Devaluation has it's own problems, as we've seen with the oil markets. Not to mention inflation will cause mortgage rates to rise, so in the end, it will be self defeating.

The only thing Paulson's plan will do is give some on Wall Street a chance to take back their gambling bets. To be sure, it will only hurt you and me. But as Paulson sees it, that's going to happen anyway, so he might as well try to help his buddies.

Bankrate Says: If the Ship Is Sinking, Rent More Deck Chairs

Tonight on the local news I saw a BankRate authored piece about how you shouldn't panic in the face of the current market 'volatility' and that you should instead use this time as a way to "dollar cost average". This has been the standard response to jittery investors: If the price is dropping and the stock is fundamentally sound, it's a great time to buy more!

But the devil is in the details. Nothing in this current market is fundamentally sound. They even trotted out the old "If you'd invested all your money in 1950, even with all the ups and downs you would have made this huge sum of money!" They of course, never mention what would have happened if you'd invested all your money on Monday October 28, 1929.

And sadly, that is the type of unusual event we're looking at. It's not as if there's been some huge price shock to our economy. The 70's oil embargo explained the economic downturn then. What explains this one? Alan Greenspan's "JUST GIVE IT AWAY!!!" monetary policy clearly shares a large part of the blame. He kept interest rates so low for so long it was inevitable there would be a bubble of some sort (in this case, a real estate bubble). I have to chuckle every time I see him on TV saying that this is a once in a lifetime event while making it appear he had nothing to do with it.

The fundamental problem that is haunting our economy (and by extension, the world's economy) is that the US is broke. It's hard to imagine, but we're borrowing money left and right from other countries like China. All the wars, all the bailouts mean that the taxpayer, the engine of the economy, is being saddled with more and more debt when they can't pay back what they already owe. China and Arab nations, now flush with dollars which are loosing value every day, are looking to purchase more and more of the US's remaining assets. Although, for the life of me I can't understand why anyone would buy a failing, poisoned bank and not, say, a milk production company or perhaps some of our coal mines/natural gas fields.

Peter Schiff, who has consistently been correct in his predictions of the US economy (despite being called a "prophet of doom" and just an overall 'buzzkill') thinks that foreign stocks priced in foreign currencies (he recommends Asian securities...no surprise) are a good place to stick your money. Maybe. But if banks fail because their borrowers don't pay back, our lenders (China principally) are going to be in trouble too.

In short, there's nothing normal about the current economic climate. And in spite of all the bad news, the market was actually up today. Why? Because the government has floated the idea that it will create an 'entity' that will take their bad loans off of their hands. How incredibly ridiculous is that??? So the government takes on bad debt. Then what? They will be paying the banks dollars in exchange, which will then spread the illness further to our already declining currency. The ridiculousness of these ideas should be enough to demonstrate just how desperate the situation has become.

And in the tradition of the Grand Master, I predict the next big shoe to drop will be the sudden confessions of multiple companies and government agencies that their retirement/pension plans are catastrophically underfunded. And the 401(k) lawsuits are just starting too. Fun.

Can It Get Worse? Yes!

The FDIC is now going bankrupt. And we haven't even started to see major banks fail yet.

Everyone! Make An Orderly Line At The Trough!!

Uncle Sam is giving away cash! Actually, he's giving away your cash. CNN is reporting that AIG is the latest recipient of a government gift. A mere $85 billion "loan" (apparently that's what you call it when you give it to a compulsive gambler who's luck has temporarily gone bad). In return the government gets an 80% stake in the company. There's something strangely ironic about an insurance company that made money hand over fist for assuming risks then -when things go bad- they pop their golden government parachute. Kind of like discovering that Mili Vanili didn't really record that album you bought (....you know it's true).

And this brings up an interesting question. Why are we still angry at Fidel Castro? We're nationalizing the private sector faster than he ever dreamed of. In 1997 dollars, he only nationalized $6 billion in US assets in 1960. We're way beyond $6 Billion just this week. So much for the free market, eh? Maybe the US should get into the automotive, airline and home construction businesses too.

These giveaways currently add up to a total of $900 Billion in giveaways in less than a year. And man, Paulson's just getting started! It's interesting to note that Paulson has close, personal ties with China. Maybe he's the economic Manchurian Candidate?

But to be fair, it was our friends and neighbors (and perhaps "us"?) who got us into this mess. The True Believers who thought the housing market could only go up. and up and up. So why not take out that 3rd home equity loan and take a 6 month tour of Africa? We can't lose!

So, in the next few weeks, I'm sure the sound will get louder and louder....The Giant Sucking Sound of the American Dream being foreclosed upon and the collapse of America's free market facade.

Nancy Grace has Leonard Padilla On Right Now

He seems about as smart as she is. At least Leonard now realizes Casey Anthony is guilty. Something everyone else figured out about 2 months ago.

2 mins of Nancy Grace is better than Ipecac

When Did DIGG Turn Into An Obama-Biden LoveFest?

Of the top 10 stories on DIGG, 7 are pro Obama and anti-McCain. I'm pleased to see that 1 is a pro Ron Paul story. Now I know how all those people felt when the Paulites took over Digg.

Check out these current DIGG titles. I'll be happy when DIGG goes back to the nerd crowd (will it ever??)

• Palin's church says Jews deserve to be victims of terrorism

• FactCheck: McCain Ad Continues Lies about Obama's Tax Plan

• 8 More Shocking Revelations About Sarah Palin [Perhaps she is hiding other people's babies??]
  

• Palin Slashed Funding for Teen Moms

• McCain's New Palin Strategy: Blame The Media

• Sarah Palin's Corrupt Mis-Management of Dairy in Alaska

Wow... A Decent Episode Of A Paranormal Show

I really enjoyed the episode of Ghost Hunters that aired tonight. Episode 414, "Iron Island"...check it out if you get a chance.

Out of all the paranormal shows, Ghost Hunters is probably the best, mainly because of their mostly skeptical attitude. I might watch the next one.

Paranormal State on the other hand, just gets flakier and flakier.

The Internet Finds A Conspiracy With Sarah Palin

So the latest tabloid story on the internet revolves around the seemingly odd time-line of the birth of Sarah Palin's most recent child. "Liberal" bloggers have really ramped up the story that Sarah Palin's most recent child was actually her grandchild, and that there's a massive conspiracy to cover up the teenage pregnancy of her own daughter. It's interesting to note that the allegations are not new. People were making them as early as March of 2008.

There are some unusual circumstances. True or not, we need to remember that it was the Daily Kos that pushed the story. It's a big gamble for them. If it's true, they'll look like the Drudge of 2008. If they're wrong, they'll be branded as the site that dragged a candidate's children into the fray (including an infant child with a serious health condition), which will make them look really, really sleazy.

Ostergren Prevails In US District Court

Betty Ostergren has prevailed in the US District Court in Richmond. Ostergren sued the Attorney General of Virginia (Robert McDonnell) to block the new Virginia law that had been specifically crafted to prevent her from re-posting social security numbers on her website. She had been doing this to bring attention to the fact that the Virginia government was aiding identity thieves and was burying their head in the sand when the problem was pointed out to them.

I haven't had time to read the opinion (Link to PDF) in its entirety, but it appears the court agreed with her First Amendment argument that the state could not prevent her from republishing "public" information.

Will there be an appeal? Hopefully Virginia will just fix the problem that got us here in the first place: Posting SSNs on government websites.

Obama Picks A Loser. McCain Is Handed A Golden Opportunity

Let's face it, any way you could spin it, Joe Biden is a loser. He represents everything about politics that we all hate. A card carrying member of the old (white) boys club, a career politician with a history of ethics problems. It's hard to imagine a worse pick by Obama.

But now, McCain has been given a golden opportunity to upstage Obama. He could pick a woman VP like Kay Bailey Hutchison, who has strong conservative appeal and, well let's face it, she's a woman.

Unfortunately, while this would be the smart choice, I have little faith that McCain will make the right choice. Instead he'll probably pick a dark horse with a brief history of Klan membership (which will come out right before the election). I guess we'll see soon enough.

"Red State vs. Blue State" Is Designed To Control Your Political Choice

If you haven't figured it out yet, the whole Red vs. Blue concept is a media ploy designed to make you feel that there are only two political choices out there: RED or BLUE.

The truth is, that Red Vs. Blue is the media's own concoction (specifically Tim Russert's) designed to limit the choices they need to cover. They don't have to worry about covering too many political conventions for example, because after all, there's only the Red one and the Blue one.

Resist the media's attempt to dumb down the American political process.

Will Russia Deploy Nuclear Missiles To Cuba?

I think they might after reading this. What would we do in response to that?

"It's 1961 again and we are piggy in the middle
while war is polishing his drum and peace plays second fiddle

Russia and America are at each other's throats
but don't you cry just get on your knees and pray, and while you're
down there, kiss your arse goodbye"

Rolling Stone becomes Tiger Beat

The last issue of Rolling Stone had the Jonas Brothers on the cover (looking very Greenday).

Tiger Beat magazine (which caters to pre-teen/early teenage girls) has also had them on the cover looking very Menudo (and is also running a special Jonas Brothers section on their website).

What does this mean? It means Rolling Stone has finally come clean that they're catering the Disney and Nickelodeon market.

So much for the "Rock & Roll" image they try to project. At least we now know where they stand (or kneel as the case may be).

Google's New Experiment: See How Far We Can Push Our Fans Before They Bail

Sometime last week, Google changed my personal page (www.google.com/ig) to it's new "experimental" system. And guess what? Amazingly it sucks. It's hard to fathom that Google can mess up anything. They seem to have a golden touch when it comes to the web.

But this thing is just awful.

I've been using Google's personal page as my RSS reader for probably two years now, and during that time, it's been virtually unchanged. Seeing that I was 'selected' for the experimental version got me excited. Google's 'experimental' stuff is usually leaps and bounds cooler than the regular stuff. But my excitement faded fast. What makes it worse is that I wasn't given a way to go back to the old one. I am stuck (or I thought I was...see below) with the new version. The problems with the new version:

• It's significantly more difficult to read anything. It's way too noisy. the font is smaller and now, instead of seeing just headlines, I'm seeing the first few lines of the story. That sounds like a good idea, but everything becomes a sea of words...even the headlines fade into the noise.
• I used to be able to move widgets around to other tabs. This no longer works. So one of the primary ways of organizing news articles is now gone.
  

And I'm not alone. Apparently there's something of a mini-revolt going on in the Google forums.

To make matters worse, Google let it be know that the whole thing was a "controlled experiment" and was not giving people the ability to opt out ON PURPOSE!

I also found this gem. If you wan to go back and forth between the version follow the instructions below:

- Show quoted text -
> When you click on the address bar the entire text is selected, so when
> you paste something everything should be replaced with the new
> content.

> After going to iGoogle, paste:
> javascript:_dlsetp('v2=0');

It works.

Water Is Added To The MMHOD

Or actually, the lack of water.

MMHOD

Prince George's County Police Handle Another Case "Properly"

This one is all over the news (and now on Drudge), but in case you haven't heard, Prince George's County (Maryland) Police basically broke into a town mayor's house, shot his dogs, cuffed his wife and mother-in-law, and then realized they made a mistake. Apparently the 'mistake' was doing this to the mayor and not doing this to some poor inner-city minority. I say that because as the details are coming out, it appears the Police knew the mayor had done nothing wrong (and was a hapless pawn in a drug distribution scheme), but still insisted on bursting through his door, ninja-style just for kicks. Oh, and the warrant they had was not a no-knock warrant, but that's what they did anyway. "Warrant? We don't need no stinkin' warrant"

Don't hold your breath for something like justice to happen either. PG County is notorious for this sort of thing. Apparently killing family pets is part of their Standard Operating Procedures. That's done little to stem the abuse.

DNA Science May Be Flawless, But Lab Workers Are Not

A frightening case from Australia: A man convicted of murdering a mother and then raping and murdering her young daughter in 1984 was exonerated because police realized that a sample of the man's DNA (obtained elsewhere) had been accidentally mixed with DNA from the crime scene. Now Australian police will reexamine over 7,000 convictions where DNA evidence was used to see if there were other errors. What do you want to bet this is not just an Australian problem?

The Problem With Cell Phone Cameras

Cameras are everywhere these days. check out Flickr and you'll soon see that camera phones are one of the most popular cameras out there. The iPhone was responsible for over 17,000 of the pictures uploaded just yesterday. In fact, the top 5 camera phones were used to upload nearly 40,000 picutres yesterday. Video is everywhere as well, as most camera phones have video capability. The police have started to realize that a lot of the time they are on the street, they're being watched and possibly recorded.

So this brings us to the point of this post. Where are all the pictures of the ghosts and monsters? A recent scan of the recent 'ghost' pictures has led me to a sad reality. About 80% of paranormal 'ghost' pictures these days are of the orb variety. Orbs, if you're not aware, are basically photos of dust particles in the air passed off as weird paranormal sightings. I'm not sure when these lame photos began to be passed off as ghosts, but it was a sad day for the hard working paranormal investigator. Another 19% of the pictures are equally lame lens flair pictures which are passed off as 'ectoplasm'. I hope the last 1% is something more interesting, but I really haven't seen it yet. Take a look and let me know if you find anything interesting.

And where are the pictures of the Loch Ness Monster, Bigfoot and UFOs???

12 Years On, America Must Come To Terms With A Stranger In The House

It's hard to believe, but on August 6th JonBenét Ramsey would be turning 18. As a sad irony, her parents and brother were finally cleared of her murder by police just a few weeks before. Until the announcement last week that newly developed Touch DNA had cleared her family, they had lived under a crushing cloud of suspicion and innuendo for nearly 12 years. Sadly, Patsy Ramsey died before she was able to reclaim her good name and position as a victim rather than a murder and/or co-conspirator.

It's interesting to note that the DNA discovered by the newly developed Touch DNA process was not new. It matched DNA found in a standard 1998 DNA test on material that was found on JonBenét's underwear and under her fingernails. All of this DNA matched an unknown male, who is all but certainly her killer.

So now, other than starkly factual reports of the DA's proclamation of innocence, there's a deafening silence from the media. Pundits who either open or subtly accused the Ramseys are noticeably silent.

Perhaps the reason why the world was so quick to pass judgment on John and Patsy Ramsey is that the alternative was just too horrible to comprehend: An unknown, faceless predator entering a big, safe home in the middle of the night to carry out unspeakable horrors, staging a kidnapping (while lurking in the house for what was likely hours) then slipping away in the night while the parents slept. Where is he now? How many more victims have there been? Will there be? How much time have we wasted chasing dead-end leads?

I guess we'll have to wait for that horrible truth to fully sink in before we hear any apologies.

How's Your 401(k) Doing?

I love this quote from the Wall Street Journal:

Exactly 10 years ago, the Standard & Poor's 500-stock Index was at 1164; it closed Friday at 1239. That's an annualized average return of 0.63%. At that rate, it will take you 111 more years to double your money in the stock market.

0.63%?? Maybe you would have been better off putting that money into a savings account?

Netflix Just Said Sorry

For giving us the finger last week. We accept. Let's move past this small trouble and get back to the awesomeness that is Netflix. You really should get an account. No, seriously.

"Ostergren's Law " Heads To Federal Court

The Virginia Law that was crafted to prevent Privacy advocate B.J. Ostergren from pointing out the gaping security hole in Virginia's public (i.e. government) websites is now moving to federal court.

Ostergren's lawyers filed a lawsuit to stop the new law before it goes into effect 7/1/2008. The new law will prohibit the dissemination of any SSNs posted on public websites. Ostergren's lawyers claim that if the government disseminates the information in a public forum, they cannot stop it's re-publication by citizens under the First Amendment.

Keep in mind, the SSN's are posted on public websites (usually tax websites, or court websites), because the state is too lazy to redact them. Ostergren is trying to force the state to either redact them or remove them from the web. Instead, in their infinite wisdom, the Virginia Legislature passed a law (now at issue) making it illegal to re-post the SSNs on another website which is what Ostergren had been doing to bring attention to this huge problem.

So rather than fix the problem, the legislature passed a law saying no one can talk about the problem. Brilliant.

Of course, as Virginia law is irrelevant outside the United States, the Russian mafia is still free to pull your SSN from a Virginia website (oh yes, the 'tubes' run all the way to Russia) and engage in massive identity theft. But the Virginia Legislature thinks if we all cover our eyes, nothing bad will happen. And you Virginia residents pay this think tank's salary. Now get back to work.

Cliff Notes for D.C. vs. Heller

Today the Supreme Court issued it's long awaited ruling in the District of Columbia Et Al. Vs. Heller case (pdf). It should finally put to bed (but sadly probably won't) the rediculous argument that the 2nd Amendment some how only protected the right of the federal government to form an army (militia). It also destroyed several other tired myths that gun-control groups have tried to pass off over the last 45 years. For example:

The 2nd Amendment only protects the right to own 18th century firearms only:

Some have made the argument, bordering on the frivolous, that only those arms in existence in the 18th century are protected by the Second Amendment. We do not interpret constitutional rights that way. Just as the First Amendment protects modern forms of communications, and the Fourth Amendment applies to modern
forms of search,the Second Amendment extends, prima facie, to all instruments that constitute bearable arms, even those that were not in existence at the time of the founding. (D.C. vs. Heller - pg 8).

The 2nd gives the right to bear arms, but congress can take it away by amendment:

We look to this because it has always been widely understood that the Second Amendment, like the First and Fourth Amendments, codified a pre-existing right. The very text of the Second Amendment implicitly recognizes the pre-existence of the right and declares only that it “shall not be infringed." (D.C. vs. Heller - pg 19).

That the last 'big' 2nd Amendment case, United States v.Miller, 307 U. S. 174, 179 (1939), confirmed that the 2nd Amendment didn't apply to ordinary citizens:

Miller did not hold that (that the 2nd amendment was only for state sponsored militia members -subleum) and cannot possibly be read to have held that. The judgment in the case upheld against a Second Amendment challenge two men’s federal convictions for transporting an unregistered short-barreled shotgun in interstate commerce, in violation of the National Firearms Act, 48 Stat. 1236. It is entirely clear that the Court’s basis for saying that the Second Amendment did not apply was not that the defendants were “bear[ing] arms” not “for . . . military purposes” but for “nonmilitary use,” post, at 2. Rather, it was that the type of weapon at issue was not eligible for Second Amendment protection." (D.C. vs. Heller - pg 49).

That the Second Amendment is about hunting (and no one really hunts anymore):

Third, when the able-bodied men of a nation are trained in arms and organized, they are better able to resist tyranny. (D.C. vs. Heller - pg 24).

All-in-all, the majority delivered a through and well founded opinion, laying out why the Second Amendment is just as important and individual a right as the 1st and 4th. Interestingly, the court did not touch on the issue of gun licensing/registration, primarily because the petitioner (Heller) only asked that the District process his license request. Scalia noted:

Because Heller conceded at oral argument that the D. C. licensing law is permissible if it is not enforced arbitrarily and capriciously, the Court assumes that a license will satisfy his prayer for relief and does not address the licensing requirement. (D.C. vs. Heller - pg 3).

That of course leaves open the question of whether or not the government is allowed to require a license in order for a citizen to exercise a right enumerated in the Bill of Rights.

Can the government require a citizen to obtain a permit before exercising his Second Amendment right to own a firearm? Clearly, given D.C.'s post-decision statements, that exactly what they plan on doing. Given that the majority spent 64 pages explaining how the right to keep and bear arms was a right on the same level as the First and Fourth Amendments, it would seem contradictory that they would then claim "oh, but you need a permit from the government to exercise this one" unless the government is also able to require permits prior to speaking, publishing a newspaper or in order to petition the government for a redress of grievances. Or the more extreme example, a permit needed to exercise your right to be free of unreasonable searches and seizures. Alas, this is another area that will have to be ironed out over the coming years.

For it's part, D.C. is guaranteed to do everything in it's power to minimally comply. The District's Attorney General, Peter Nickles provided a glimpse of their strategy:

We are going to strictly regulate the registration of handguns. There will be no authorization of automatic or semi-automatics.

Which to me seems like a very questionable legal strategy. Primarily because the SCOTUS opinion clearly says handguns are protected because they are common and popular self-defense weapons.

Whatever the reason, handguns are the most popular weapon chosen by Americans for self-defense in the home, and a complete prohibition of their use is invalid. (D.C. vs. Heller - pg 58).

And semi-automatics are the most popular type of handgun. Sadly, this is not unexpected from the AG that declared that D.C. roadblocks were clearly constitutional. And oh, and he was on the wrong side of the Heller case as well.

Original Fluoride City Considers A Re-examination Of Its Safety

Grand Rapids Michigan was the first city in the world to fluoridate it's water. They even have a monument dedicated to it. Now the city in pondering whether or not it was a good idea. Some 63 years later, Grand Rapids is considering dropping fluoride from it's water due to concerns surrounding unanswered questions raised by recent studies that link fluoride to bone cancer and thyroid problems.

In the past, it has been common to stereotype the anti-fluoride movement as a group of nuts in tinfoil hats. It's getting harder and harder to do that, especially when the lead researcher of the US Government's own 2006 National Academy of Sciences report (who had been tasked with reviewing Fluoride's safety at 4ppm) noted that:

We were not able to rule out a carcinogenic effect of fluoride. We reported that fluoride exposure is plausibly associated with a number of other health effects, including neurotoxicity, gastrointestinal problems, and endocrine problems, and that even though these effects are not necessarily specific to fluoride exposure, the associations cannot be ruled out and need further study. (PDF Link)

Think about that statement, along with the fact that the government never safety tested fluoride before adding it to drinking water. The NRC report noted that the current FDA limits for water fluoridation were clearly not safe and were likely leading to an increase in bone fractures, a particular problem among the elderly. Overall, there was consensus among the committee that there is scientific evidence that under certain conditions fluoride can weaken bone and increase the risk of fractures (PDF Link).

Netflix Just Gave Their Customers The Finger

So this is what happens when you destroy all of your competitors and become the only game in town? Netflix today announced that they would be discontinuing subscriber's ability to divide their movie queue into multiple 'profiles' (so called Netflix Profiles). If you don't have Netflix, what this means is that your wife, husband, child, etc, used to be able to have their own queue and as they send back their movies, a new movie ships from their queue. Now, Netflix subscribers will be limited to just one profile, just one queue. That means that there will be a lot of figuring out who get's the next movie in your house, and moving that to top of the queue. It also means you're going to get recommendations based on your rental history of Disney films and seasons 1 & 2 of Blue's Clues.

Why did Netflix do this? No one knows. They're keeping their cards close to the vest on this one. They did tell us that "While it may be disappointing to see Profiles go away, this change will help us continue to improve the Netflix website for all our customers."

Huh? Did profiles prevent you from improving the website for 'all' your customers? What about all the ratings that were linked to a profile that will be deleted? Does that improve the website?

I've been a Netflix customer for over 3 years. One of the amazing things about them is how their service got better and better over time. Now, with this 'final decision' they have taken a huge step back. I can only think of one reason why they would do this: MONEY. Yes...everyone's favorite reason to screw people over.

If Netflix does away with the queues, they're hoping that customers who lose their queue will open their own account. Thus an unlimited, 3-at a time plan goes from $16.99/month to $18.98 (for 1 and a 2 at a time unlimited account). So for that $2.00 pricing change, Netflix just gave all their customers the finger. What brilliant fresh-out-of-college MBA came up with this idea? The Hacking Netflix Website posted this story (in shock like the rest of us) at around 9pm. Over the last two hours, there have been over 100 comments posted. That's probably more than any other story they've ever posted.

Here's an idea, in protest, every Netflix member should downgrade their account to one of the cheaper plans.

Did they cover customer backlash in your MBA course?

GM lost $39 Billion in 2007

It's a good thing they canceled that electric car program back in 2003. Who on Earth would ever want to buy an electric car?

Two Very Good Reasons To Take Care Of Your Teeth And Gums

This week, two studies were released that demonstrated the importance of taking care of your teeth. In one study (Lancet Oncology. 2008;9:550-558) periodontal disease (gum disease) was associated with a small yet significant increase in cancer risk. An earlier study (1/2007) found a link between periodontal disease and pancreatic cancer.

The second study showed that when type 2 diabetics took care of their gums, they were able to control their diabetes much more effectively.

It's important to note that that gum disease is virtually symptomless until the later stages when it's too late to do much about it. If you don't floss you're teeth and see gum bleeding or visit the dentist often, it's very likely you wouldn't notice a problem until your teeth began to loosen in their sockets.

Keep in mind, that when you get old, you don't have to have false teeth! If you take care of your teeth now, they can last you a lifetime. Remember to floss daily and get yourself a good electric toothbrush. They're cheap now (under $20) so that if you're reading this, you can afford to get one.

The Baltimore Sun Lives Up To Their Abbreviation

The "BS" shows you can never stoop too low in an effort to sell newspapers.

An eye-catching headline like this is bound to sell some papers:

Illicit guns flow into Maryland: In '07 crimes, 44% of firearms were imported

What difference does it make if that's a completely unsubstantiated claim?

The article, claims that 44% of the guns used in Maryland crimes were from other states, and then continues on to quote various Maryland officials who pat themselves on the back and take credit for the high percentage. Why? Because it clearly shows that Maryland's gun laws are so tough, criminals are going outside the state to buy their guns. Of course they don't take credit for the fact that the majority of guns are still purchased in Maryland. Only politicians have spines so flexible.

But what about that percentage? Turns out, if you actually look at the study(PDF) their story was based on, the facts are oh so different.

The study is based on gun serial number traces. It shows that in Maryland there were 7,517 gun traces (usually by law enforcement) in 2007. Of those, in only 4,397 traces were the ATF able to tell where the gun was originally purchased. Of those, 44% came from a state other than Maryland.

The front page of the study clearly states the following two very important facts the Baltimore Sun doesn't want you to know:

1. Law enforcement agencies may request firearms traces for any reason, and those reasons are not necessarily reported to the Federal Government. Not all firearms used in crime are traced and not all firearms traced are used in crime.
2. The firearms selected do not constitute a random sample and should not be considered representative of the larger universe of all firearms used by criminals or any subset of that universe.
   

So how does the BS determine that 44% of guns used in Maryland crimes came from other states when we don't know if any of those guns were used in crimes? And even if they were, the study's own authors (ATF) state that they are in no way, shape or form representative of all firearms used in crimes in Maryland.

So what does that mean about the BS' statement of "In '07 crimes, 44% of firearms were imported"?

The Baltimore Sun completely made that up. Why? The only answer I can come up with is that it supports an agenda either the Baltimore Sun and/or reported Annie Linskey has. There can be no other explanation.

Remember that the next time some 'news' source quotes some statistic. In this case, the BS story was absent any details (or even a link to the source). That should always tell you there's something really wrong with what they're telling you and their only option is to hide the truth from you.

Peon Pulpit Paranoia #2

Clear Channel Communications, the largest owner of radio stations in the United States (1,200 stations according to Wikipedia) is also a major investor in XM Satellite Radio. Maybe that explains why radio sucks so bad. Could it be that Clear Channel programs crappy 'terrestrial' radio stations so that you will think to yourself, "Man, this radio station sucks! I really should just get that XM" ?

Thus, Clear Channel could convert non-paying customers (like you) into paying subscribers. Think about it.

Peon Pulpit Paranoia #1

If the government wanted to spy on your computer, wouldn't your anti-virus software make a really good cover for it? It watches everything that happens on your computer then 'phones home' at least once a day. If you wanted to motivate people to buy and install the software, you would just periodically write a couple of nasty viruses that would wreck any system without anti-virus software. Think about it....

Who Thought Schapelle Corby's Excuse Was BS?

If you think Schapelle Corby's excuse of "Those are not my drugs!" was unbelievable, perhaps you should take a look at this story. A Japanese police officer stuck 1/3 of a lb of pot into some unsuspecting passenger's suitcase at Tokyo Airport in order to test out his drug dog. The dog failed to find the pot, and the cop couldn't remember which bag he put it in.

Oops. Now someone is traveling around with 142 grams of pot in their suitcase. I hope they're not on their way to Indonesia.

Peon Pulpit's Best Shows On Television

With all the crap on television we sometimes forget there are a few good shows out there. Here they are:

The Peon Pulpit's Best Shows On Television (2008)

1. Best Reality Series - The First 48 (A&E)
2. Best Educational Series - How It's Made (Science Channel/Discovery Channel/Ztele)
3. Best Drama Series - Lost (ABC)
4. Best Documentary Series - Frontline (PBS) Runner Up: VH1 Behind the Music (VH-1)
   
5. Best Comedy Series - The Office (NBC)
6. Best News Show - The Daily Show (Comedy Central)
7. Best Political Show - Real Time with Bill Maher (HBO) Runner Up: The McLachlan group (TMG)

Updated 5/21/2008

Seafood Is Added To The MMHOD

The seafood crisis keeps popping up on the radar...enough so that it's been inducted into the MMHOD.

Fox News Story On Shaving Your Pubes

Yeah, that does sound like a joke, doesn't it? But it's not. Another example of why Fox News is a complete joke.

It's True: Hollywood Secretly Hates The Environment

In a reprise of my earlier post Peon Pulpit Tips To Save The Environment I thought it might be good to see what the movie industry has done to curb their oil burning, tree cutting behavior in pursuit of the almighty dollar. As I noted in my earlier post, the DVD industry produced approximately 214,289,319 lbs of plastic in 2005. We now have new numbers for 2007. In 2007, Hollywood produced 431,114,394 lbs of plastic! Hollywood has increased their plastic dumping by more than 100% in just TWO YEARS!!! That's 195, 550 metric tons. An average car weighs about 1 metric ton, so imagine the weight of 195,550 cars and you have an idea of how much plastic Hollywood produces. So much for the love.

PRODUCTION OF PLASTIC FOR DVD'S
Year	# Of DVDs with Cases Produced	Weight Of Plastic (grams)	Weight (LBS)	Gallons Of Water Used (2.4 gal/lb)	% Change
2005	1,200,000,000	97,200,000,000	214,289,319	514,294,365
2007	2,414,200,000	195,550,200,000	431,114,394	1,034,674,546	101.18%

Shaving Tips For Newbs

Shaving for the most part is pretty harsh on your face. Dragging a steel blade across your face every (or nearly) morning doesn't really sound all that gentle, does it? To avoid having problems with ingrown hair, try out the suggestions below and let me know what you think. I guarantee you will have fewer problems.

Understanding the problem

• Hair grows out of your face typically in a downward direction. This is called the ‘grain’ of your face, much like the grain of a piece of wood. Shaving ‘with the grain’ means to shave in the direction that the hair is growing out of your face (for most people, this is downward, from cheeks to chin). However, your face may be different, and your neck almost certainly is. Take a good look at your face and figure out your unique ‘grain’ pattern. You will need to know this.
• Hair tends to retract into the follicle when it is pulled. Anyone who’s ever tried to tweeze out a hair has probably seen this. If you pull a hair almost all the way out, but loose your grip on it, it will frequently retract below the skin. This same effect is present when you shave, and is one of the primary causes of ingrown hair. Once the hair is under the skin, it is likely that it will grow into the surrounding skin, causing the hair to become ingrown. The primary focus in minimizing ingrown hair is to prevent this retraction from happening, or to minimize it’s effect. The curlier your hair is, the more likely it is that a retracted hair will become ingrown.
  

Minimizing the Damage

1. Shave with a standard razor. Ditch the electric. Electrics have problems with the way they cut as to make them a bad choice for people with ingrown hair problems. For example, most electrics require you to shave against the grain (any foil electric does). This makes the hair as short as it can possibly be, and with the associated pulling/tugging on the hair as it is cut, is guaranteed to make it retract below the skin. And electrics pull the hair much more than a sharp razor.
2. Don’t go for a razor that will give you the cleanest shave of your life. The closer the top of that final hair is to the skin line, the greater the risk for ingrown hair. I would recommend using a 2 bladed razor like the Sensor Excel rather than a Mach3 for that reason, but if you have the Mach3, it's probably fine.
3. Shave in the shower. This is critical. You need to make the hair as soft and as easy to cut as possible. When you get in the shower, gently wash your face to remove the oils from your beard. Oils on the hair will prevent them from soaking up the water, and you want them to be waterlogged. Make shaving the last thing you do, to maximize this soaking process.
4. Before shaving, try to get the hair to retract into the skin. The best way to do this is to try to ‘pull’ the hair. I've found a Buff Puff (yeah, I know..just get your girlfriend/wife to buy it for you) works very well for this as it will grab the hair as you run it across your face (against the grain). Remember, the effect you're after is to cause the hair to retract as much as possible before shaving so it won’t retract any further when the razor pulls/cuts it.
5. Shave with the grain of your face. Never shave against the grain. Make as few passes as you can, and unless your beard is super heavy, this means you will make (1) pass for each 1 ½ “ strip of your face. Touch up if you must, but remember, it’s better to have 5 o’clock shadow than a bunch of ingrown hair.
6. You'll find that in the shower, it's not that necessary to rinse your blade frequently. Rinsing your blade should be done as little as possible to avoid wearing out the lubricating strip on the top of the blades. The truth is, you can probably shave your whole face without rinsing at all.Use your razor for at most (7) shaves. You can modify this if you want, but I use mine for only (6) shaves before I replace it. The duller the blade, the more it will pull the hair before cutting it.
7. Try to shave at the same time every day. For some reason this seems to help, but it’s not critical. I take one day off of shaving a week (Sunday) and I don’t have any problems. But even if you take a day off shaving, don't take a day off of the Buff Puff.
8. Don't bother with the after shave. All it really does is hurt. If your skin is dry, you might put some moisturizer on your face while it's still damp from the shower. Apart from that, just pat your face dry and be done with it
   

That's pretty much it. Please let me know if you've found something that works that's not listed here. I'd be interested to hear what everyone else is doing.

shaving tips ingrown hair

What Happens When You Hand Your Car Keys Over To A Complete Stranger?

Your car gets stolen. Imagine that. Another 'win' for valet parking.

The 57-year-old Port Charlotte resident told deputies that when she returned to the parking lot after visiting her sick husband on Tuesday afternoon, a man approached her and identified himself as a valet parking employee. He said there was a problem with the valet parking service and requested she give him her valet receipt for inspection

That's what happens when you are conditioned to believe it's ok to give your (probably) most valuable possession to a stranger....

Polycarbonate Pandæmonium

Well, my world got a little bit more complicated last week. It happened when I read that Health Canada, the Canadian version of the Centers For Disease Control, announced that Bisphenol-A would be declared a 'dangerous substance' as a result of an in-depth study of the chemical.

Bisphenol-A (AKA: BPA) is a chemical used in the production of polycarbonate plastic. Polycarbonate is a hard, clear plastic that is very popular in the consumer realm. It's most known for being the plastic that is used for those cool Nalgene bottles hikers (or psudo-hikers) carry around their water in.

Opps. That was probably a 'not-so-great' idea. As it turns out, several studies have shown that Bisphenol-A leaches out of polycarbonate and into whatever it contains, even at room temperature. That wouldn't be so bad if it weren't for the fact that BPA is an endocrine disruptor that mimics the hormone estrogen in humans. It has been linked to the following effects in mice:

• Permanent changes to genital tract
• Changes in breast tissue that predispose cells to hormones and carcinogens
• Prostate cells become more sensitive to hormones and cancer
• Lower bodyweight
• Early onset of puberty (this recent phenomenon has been puzzling scientists for a some time)
  
• Decline in testicular testosterone
• Insulin resistance
• Decreased maternal behaviors
• Damage to eggs and chromosomes
• Reversed the normal sex differences in brain structure and behavior

And the list goes on. Some of these effects were known as early as 1993. Finally, Health Canada stood up and said, "Um..hey guys, this stuff looks pretty bad, eh?" (something neither the CDC nor the FDA has yet to find the balls to do).

Immediately, a slew of retailers said they'd pull polycarbonate baby bottles off the shelf (Wal-Mart will only take a year to do it). Nalgene said they're abandoning the stuff (declared on the front page of their website).

So, you say, your babies drink from Pyrex bottles and you've never been hiking. So what do you care? Well it also turns out that polycarbonate film is in just about every canned good you can think of, from chicken soup to sodas. Even more disturbing is the sheer number of products I use every day which are either clearly polycarbonate, or are suspiciously like polycarbonate (which is usually designated with the recycling code [7], but not all #7's are polycarbonate. The hard, clear plastic is the dead giveaway). For example:

• My Brita pitchers. Are they polycarbonate? They sure look like it but this site says they DO NOT contain BPA. They're made from the safe-sounding "styrene copolymer methylmethacrylate" I'll keep using them until I hear otherwise I guess.
  
• My Turvis Tumblers that I drink hot tea from every night. On the website, they're proudly listed as being polycarbonate.
• Those super-cool Rubbermaid Premier food containers....Polycarbonate (to Rubbermaid's credit, they're very upfront about the issue).
  
• Compact discs and DVDs
• Plastic dinnerware
• Composite dental fillings (ironic...everyone went to these fearing the mercury in amalgam)
• Some of the aluminum water bottles are lined with polycarbonate (just when you thought you got away...)
  

Basically, the stuff is everywhere. On the upside, we may be close to figuring out what's caused the big increase in breast cancer. On the downside, how are we going to get rid of all of it?

PC Magazine lists 157 Free Software Applications

The 157 are listed as the "Best Free Software", and some of the titles I have also listed in my (now old) freeware list. Much of these are for Windows, but some are for OS X and Linux. Enjoy:

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,2260070,00.asp

Zone Labs (ZoneAlarm) - What are you doing???

Apparently this is not new information. But I recently discovered that ZoneAlarm wanted to install a 'ZoneAlarm spy Blocker" with it's most recent update (the option box was pre-checked). I noticed it because the antivirus program (ESET) on one of my computers identified the ZoneAlarm update installer as containing malware. After looking around on the net, it turns out the 'malware' label is given because the spy blocker installs an Ask.Com toolbar in your browser. It does appear a bit deceptive, because when I installed the update, even though I unchecked the "spy blocker" option, it got installed anyway. Nowhere does it actually mention the ask.com search toolbar. It just says it's a "spy blocker'. ZoneAlarm what are you doing? Anyway, this annoyed me enough to uninstall ZoneAlarm and try out a free competitor product, Comodo Firewall Pro. So far, so good. I'll let you know how it turns out. I've used zone alarm for years and years...but this kind of behavior is a big red flag. It now makes me question the purpose of all the recent updates they've been pushing out.

Did The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints Just Get "Swatted"? Uh-Oh

It looks like the phone call that initiated the CPS raids at the Texas polygamist ranch (aka, 'compound') might have been a hoax. Swatting, as it's called, is when someone spoofs a caller ID number pretending to be someone calling from a specific location. Usually the result is a SWAT team descending on some unsuspecting victims. However, there have been a couple of cases where CPS was called, so this wouldn't be the first time.

Is the Texas Polygamist ranch just another victim of swatting? After reading about the court 'room' debacle in trying to get the kids their '5-day' hearing, I really hope not. I guess the publicity of this practice might be enough to stop this practice (Swatting) once and for all. People who do it need to go to prison for a long time.

Thank God For Stupid Criminals

Take a good look at these people, these are real life morons:

(click for larger image)

These thugs ganged up and beat a girl unconscious. Then when she came to, the continued to beat her. And oh, they videotaped it so they could post it to YouTube and MySpace. Well, it's on YouTube now, but the Sheriff's office posted it. And they've been charged with felony battery and three of them (Brittni Hardcastle, Brittany Mayes and Mercades Nichols) are charged with felony kidnapping.

Side note to these morons: That felony battery is going to look really good on your record. I'd say you're pretty much screwed, since the world doesn't even need gas station attendants anymore. Thanks for videotaping it Cara Murphy, BTW. She's the one saying "Ooh, yeah, baby. Ooh, yeah!" in the background. I wonder if Cara will say something cool like that when the judge sentences her?

So Edison *Was* A Hack?

That's what Nikola Tesla would have told you. But now it comes out that the first recorded human voice pre-dates Edison's phonograph by about 20 years. Of course, Edison's invention was the complete package, both sound recording and playback, which wins him the golden crown. But Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville will now have to be credited with making the first recording of a human voice (....at least for now), but it took 150 years to figure out how to play it back. All in all, one of the most interesting stories I've read in a long time. <Link - along with audio of the 1860 recording>

British Regulators Are Upset That GlaxoSmithKline Hid Paxil Study

UK drug regulators are upset after finding out that drug maker GlaxoSmithKline withheld a study from the public that showed their own anti-depressant Seroxat (AKA Paxil) increased the risk of suicide in teenagers by an amazing 6 TIMES! GlaxoSmithKline conducted the study in the hopes of being able to prescribe the drug to teens, but then filed it off in a dark corner of the company's library when the horrendous results appeared. British law only requires drug companies to show a drug study if it impacts any group for which the drug is or will be recommended. Since GlaxoSmithKline had not (yet) suggested that Seroxat/Paxil be prescribed to teens, they were free to shred the study. However, in the UK as in the US, doctors can prescribe drugs 'off-label' to anyone they think might benefit. It's unclear how many teens have been prescribed the drug, but the number is likely in the tens of thousands.

UK regulators are preparing to change the law to make all studies available to regulators. We'll see. Something tells me the lobbyists will have their say (Link to AP story).

Bad Problem Solving Skills: The Virginia Legislature Presents Example #3

If you were the Virginia Legislature, what would you do in this situation?

You pass a law in 2002 requiring all local courts to post their land records on the Internet by July 2008. Then, a concerned citizen alerts you to the fact that many of those documents contain people's social security numbers and are now published on the net for the world to see (and identity thieves to use).

Do you:

1. Immediately shut down the document websites until the SSNs can be redacted.
2. Force the localities to handle (and pay for) the fix as they see fit, with a strict deadline.
   
3. Make it illegal for any citizen to point out that there are SSNs posted on the web, but do nothing about the fact that there are now SSNs posted on the web.

If you said #3, amazingly you'd be right. The concerned citizen in this case is Betty Ostergren who runs The Virginia Watchdog website. The law the legislature passed was know colloquially as "The BJ Ostergren Law" but is officially an amendment to The Personal Information Privacy Act. How does this act protect your privacy? Well, in a nutshell, it protects you from criminals who might want to post your SSN on a website. Of course, the fact that they already have criminal intent clouds that logic, but hey, why be a buzz-kill with the whole "logic" thing?

What Betty was doing that got her noticed, was posting the SSN's of famous/political people on her website in order to draw attention to the fact that those very SSNs were available on a government website. So rather than fix the privacy problem, Virginia has opted to pretend like there is no problem. And anyone who says there is a problem, is a fool, a Communist (to paraphrase Bill Hicks) and now, a criminal. Betty's method may not have been the most subtle way of getting attention, but clearly it worked. However, the legislature can't seem to think their way out of a paper bag long enough to see that REMOVING the SSNs is the ONLY solution to this problem

So now, we're left with this uniquely 'Virginia' legislative solution. The state publishes public information (many with SSNs) on a public website, but the public is not allowed to use that information in any way that might be construed as 'communicating' it, lest they be convicted of breaking this new law. So the Virginia Freedom of Information Act has essentially been 'amended' to say "Here's the public information, you can't talk to anyone about it". Nice.

And as if the irony wasn't thick enough, the patron of the bill was Sen. R. Edward Houck, (D-Spotsylvania), who is also chairman of the Virginia Freedom of Information Advisory Council. Sen Houck offered this very anemic analogy of Ms. Ostergren's attention getting tactics:

"That would be like trying to make it illegal to shoot someone with a firearm and the way you do that is to go out an get an AK-47 and mow down a bunch of people in a parking lot."

Allow me to offer a better analogy.

Sen. Houck's bill is like trying to prevent house fires by disabling smoke alarms. Because if there's no alarm, there's no fire!

Genius! Now I know why we pay these people!

Oh, and Senator Houck? You do know the Internet is global right? So what happens if a Russian organized crime group gets the SSNs?

Butter Flavored Popcorn Ingredient Causes Lung Cancer

The FDA announced that Diacetyl, the ingredient in microwave popcorn that gives it its buttery taste, does cause lung cancer. Multiple workers in factories that produce butter-flavored popcorn have come down with the life threatening lung disease (now known as 'popcorn lung') and at least one consumer has as well.

Many people don't know that the bag used in microwave popcorn also contains a suspected carcinogen, Perfluorooctanoic acid, or PFOA. PFOA is a primary ingredient in Teflon and is also used to coat the inside of microwave popcorn bags as well as fast food packaging materials to make them grease resistant (typically these packaging items have a glossy, wax-like surface).

These two chemicals highlight some of the dangers of eating pre-packaged foods. If you love microwave popcorn, there is a way to make it with a plain paper bag, popcorn, a couple of staples and some oil. Check out this recipe. I use this all the time in order to avoid all the salt in pre-packaged microwave popcorn and this works very well.

Breathalizer Battle Heats Up In Minnesota

One of the more novel legal defenses to be used recently has centered around DUI cases. All over the country, from Florida, to Minnesota, people accused of DUI on the basis of a 'breath test' have requested that the court allow them to closely examine the device that said they were drunk. In most cases, the device is some version of the Intoxilizer made by CMI of Owensboro, KY. The Intoxilizer is probably the most popular 'breathalizer' in the US and as it's use has grown, it's scientific validity has been largely taken for granted. Until now.

Scores of DUI defendants have asked to see the source code of these devices to see what makes them tick, and more importantly, to see if there are any bugs or flaws in the device's programing code. Any bug could be used to instill doubt that the device has accurately recorded the blood alcohol level of a defendant. Additionally, if the device seemed at all capricious about how it determines if someone is, say a .07 vs. a .08 BAC, it would be a 'get out of jail free' card for all these DUI defendants.

Which leads us to the latest development in Minnesota. Multiple courts in Minnesota (including the Minnesota Supreme Court) agreed that the defendants had a right to view the code and asked CMI to turn it over to the defendant's lawyers. CMI refused, stating that the source code was proprietary. This was in spite of the fact that the state contract to purchase the Intoxilizer devices mandated that CMI would provide the source code to the state if asked. Of course, they never did until now, which means it's likely that no one outside of CMI has any idea how the device actually works.

On Monday, the Minnesota Department of Public Safety sued CMI in U.S. District Court to force them to turn over the source code. The DPS needs to code or else they will face a court backlash (which has already begun) in which judges wholesale dismiss DUI cases. CMI for their part, has held fast, but this is the first time that CMI has been the target of a suit.

The more CMI delays and looks reluctant, the more it looks like there might be something really wrong with that source code. No doubt, CMI has a lot to lose. One small bug and DUI cases get thrown out all over the country...and their product becomes the new Quadro Tracker. Refuse to give up the code (or get the court to say they don't have to) and the device becomes questionable in court and useless to their biggest customer, law enforcement agencies.

The $600 billion Housing Fraud

Today an analyst, Geraud Charpin, who is the head of European credit strategy at UBS in London, predicted the losses from the sub prime mortgage collapse will reach at least $600 billion. This, after AIG, the world's largest insurer announced they lost $5.3 billion in the last quarter, in no small part due to the $11 billion in write downs they took last year on mortgage backed (read:sub-prime) assets they held.

And the write-downs are just starting, as more and more companies come out of the closet and fess up to owning sub-prime junk. $600 billion....just vanished somewhere in the market. How will the world's economy cope with this one?

I fear that somewhere out there, right now, a major retirement fund manager is wringing his hands wondering when would be the 'right' time to announce the huge write down. The DJIA lost 315 points today. Soon that will seem minor.

Virginia Supreme Court Says 'No' To Regional Taxes

The Supreme Court of Virginia, which is known (by me at least) for or it's no-nonsense rationality, struck down the power of the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority (NVTA) and the Hampton Roads Transportation Authority (HRTA) to tax without representation by 'the people'. The opinion can be found here (PDF)

The Virginia Legislature should take notes from the VASC on how to read....and start with the Virginia Constitution.

See: A few Lucky Virginians Have Another Nasty Surprise In Store -- Compliments Of The Legislature