Monthly Archives: January 2003

President-select Bush’s state of the union speech is a topic that deserves great attention for various reasons. It is because of this that I will be posting several times on this topic. Let us start out with the basics…

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/2693925.stm Earlier today, a worm type virus brought down many servers running, yes, you guessed it, Microsoft software, in this case Microsoft SQL. Once again proof that you’re better of running a Linux machine with Apache, which, as the article suggests, 63% of all servers out there already do.

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/23/politics/23FAIT.html?todaysheadlines If new legislation proposed by the president-select goes through, religious groups will also be eligible for building grants if the money they recieve goes toward non-religious parts of the building. While this in theory might sound fair, I can easily imagine how in practise this will be quite a different matter. I mean, how [...]

http://buffaloreport.com/030121holstun.html The above report details some of the unjust activity that has been going on in Lackawanna, NY in relation to the arrests of several Yemeni-Americans there last year. Not only has the FBI been bothering the residents but they have also set up a surveillance camera in front of the mosque.

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/22/technology/22MUSI.html?todaysheadlines In yet another blow to Internet users’ privacy, Verizon was ordered to turn over the identity of one of their subscribers who had been sharing mp3s on Kazaa. I must say I find it funny how a case like this can get so much attantion while the larger invasions of privacy and removal of [...]

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/21/business/21AUTO.html?todaysheadlines This is yet another example of how the Bush administration continuously rewards the oil industry. If Bush’s newest proposal goes through, business owners will save a lot of money if they buy very fuel inefficient vehicles by being able to deduct larger amounts from their taxes than if they went for a fule efficient [...]

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/21/technology/21MONI.html?todaysheadlines This article discusses the interesting question whether convicted cyber criminals should be allowed to use the Internet again after being allowed to be free on probation.

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/21/education/21RACE.html?todaysheadlines Recent studies have found that as desegregation orders are lifted in more and more districts across the nation, segregated schools have started to reappear. I believe it is important to avoid scapegoating anyone in particular as endorsements for segragation seem to come from both minorities and majorities.

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/19/international/middleeast/19SAUD.html?todaysheadlines Saudi Arabian leaders have recently been advocating a different method of removing Hussein from power, exile. While this does sound like a reasonable idea in that it could avoid an attack on Iraq by the US it reeks too much of a back up plan established by the Bush administration which they could use [...]

http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=15016 Just like another online magazine (with a name I can’t recall right now), it’s now Salon.com‘s turn to try to find out if people will pay for content. They reckon this is a revolution, but I’m still not sure if the majority of web surfers are ready.

http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=14999 Since taking charge of all levels of the federal government, the GOP has been waging a new war: The war on women’s right to choose. Although their efforts have been rather sneaky so far they are bound to become more intense. In a way, they’re like the RIAA there. Abortion, just like music “piracy”, [...]

http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=15012 Not only is international support for Bush’s wars fading, but “his” people are also starting to wake up and realize how little he cares about them. Let’s just hope that something other than Bush-y activity comes out of this.

http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=15007 This artcile describes the circumstances of a lawsuit that was recently brought against Yale University alledging that they treat their applicants unfairly in that those that are related to alumni or other supporters of Yale get admitted despite lacking academic records.

http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=14956 This article details how the Pittsburgh office of the FBI has been systematically bothering large parts of the local Arab community there in their efforts to “get to know them”.

http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=14972 This artcile explains how the war on Iraq, successful (in the eyes of the administration of course) or not, and the lack of action regarding North Korea on the administration’s behalf could result in the decline of the US’s imperium.

http://www.eatthestate.org/07-09/PeaceonEarth.htm Unbeknownst to most people, the US administration has been at war with other nations / groups in many more countries than the ones that are talked about in the media. While almost everyone knows about the pending attack on Iraq, not many are aware of the administration’s involvement in places like Colombia or Venezuela.

http://www.eatthestate.org/07-09/OperationProvokeWar.htm This artcile details how one could construe the administration’s recent moves around Iraq as an effort to provoke the Iraqi into attacking US forces and therefore having a “viable” reason to go in and attack them.

http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=14922 This article makes it clear how instead of helping the economy, as Bush falsely claimed, his new tax cut will only harm the economy. The only benefit is the increase in the size of the super-rich’s bank accounts

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2672809.stmhttp://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/2672865.stm And once again the whole world is opposing Bush’s attack on Iraq and the New York Times is ignoring it. I like the idea of opposing pre-emptive strikes with pre-emptive protests. The sad part is though that the protests will have hardly any effect on the president-slect’s actions. He has already shown over and [...]

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/15/opinion/15DOWD.html?todaysheadlines Despite his claims to be his own man in terms of politics, it looks as though Bush junior is repeating the mistakes of his father. The article mentions this based on a recent poll that concluded that the president-select’s approval ratings were falling. While this is a postitive development I hardly think it will [...]

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/14/education/14BERK.html?todaysheadlines It appears that the restrictions on free speech recently put in place by the US administration have indeed taken effect in the academic environment. UC Berkley recently refused to mail out fundraising materials for a project related to Emma Goldman, an anti-war critic of the eraly 20th century.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2651567.stm According to this article the UN inspectors may need a year to complete their work in Iraq. This backs up the theory that the US administration will not let the inspections work but attack based on a premature judgement.

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/12/international/asia/12ASSE.html?todaysheadlines President-select Bush’s recent ignoring of North Korea’s renewed nuclear arms program clearly shows that Bush is not after Iraq’s weapons but its oil. While it is true that you can’t fight a war on two fronts effectively, the administration’s indecisiveness has hopefully made more than a few congressmen suspicious.

http://www.vh1.com/news/articles/1459492/01122003/bee_gees.jhtml Only a few weeks after Joe Strummer, another icon of classic rock music has passed away. Maurice Gibb, a key member of the Bee Gees died after surgery in Miami last week.

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/10/opinion/10KRIS.html?todaysheadlines Like I’ve said before, leave your religion at home. Bush still does not understand that concept, pretty much like the majority of Christians out there. Under his supervision, ths US government has now begun to discourage condom use on the basis of false claims that condoms don’t work. The only good thing I can [...]

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/09/national/09DETA.html?todaysheadlines A federal appeals court recently ruled that it is lawful for the president-select to strip “enemy combatants” of all their rights as he is a “wartime president”. This is wrong in two ways in that we are not at war and Bush is not an elected president. Developments like this worry me. If not [...]

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/08/politics/08STAT.html?todaysheadlines This article explains how besides benefitting the rich, the president-select’s new tax cuts could also significantly hurt state budgets.

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/06/international/middleeast/06IRAQ.html?todaysheadlines This lengthy article describes in detail how the administration plans to invade and take over Iraq. The paragraph on the oil doesn’t really go into enough detail but it’s clear anyways that this invasion will be carried out to regain some ofrm of control over Iraqi oil and not because Saddam Hussein is any [...]

http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=14907 This article does a great job of explaining precisely how the president-select is failing to improve our economy and why the newest round of “tax cuts” is once again merely a present for the rich.

http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=14877 The above article explains very well how the justifications the US government has used for its wars against Iraq have just been a huge pile of disinformation.

http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0302/hentoff.php This article looks at how Bush’s violations of the constitution pose a serious threat to future interpretations of constitutional rights. I would also say that this further backs up the theory that we are in the beginning stages of a police state. When an unelected government dicatets laws like the Bush administration has been [...]

http://www.talkleft.com/archives/000831.html#000831 While browsing through a few politics blogs I found the above excerpt from a newspaper article listing some of the most pressing changes to people’s rights in the US since 9/11.

http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=14873 The article above is an interesting sum up of some of the more and some of the less plausible consipracy theories of last year. Definitely an interesting read as I personally think a lot of them could very well be true as they make quiet a bit of sense.