Category — politics

Beautiful photographic summary of preparations for Obama’s inauguration tomorrow:
Inaugural preparations - The Big Picture - Boston.com

You know what I miss? I miss 1960. Not the part about my face turning overnight into the world's most productive zit farm. What I miss is the way the grown-ups acted about the Kennedy-Nixon race. Like the McCain-Obama race, that was a big historic deal that aroused strong feelings in the voters. This included my parents and their friends, who were fairly evenly divided, and very passionate. They'd have these major honking arguments at their cocktail parties. But unlike today, when people wear out their upper lips sneering at those who disagree with them, the 1960s grown-ups of my memory, whoever they voted for, continued to respect each other and remain good friends.

What was their secret? Gin. On any given Saturday night they consumed enough martinis to fuel an assault helicopter. But also they were capable of understanding a concept that we seem to have lost, which is that people who disagree with you politically are not necessarily evil or stupid. My parents and their friends took it for granted that most people were fundamentally decent and wanted the best for the country. So they argued by sincerely (if loudly) trying to persuade each other. They did not argue by calling each other names, which is pointless and childish, and which constitutes I would estimate 97 percent of what passes for political debate today.

What I'm saying is: we, as a nation, need to drink more martinis.

Dave Barry: And the winner is . . . the man with the martini (MiamiHerald.com)

It seems the Chinese government doesn’t like the content of this site, and blocks access to it from Chinese computers.

You can test your own URL at GreatFirewallOfChina.org.

(found via Kobayashi Maru)

At Las penas del Agente Smith I read that the guys that run El Manifestómetro [1] have launched Lo prometido es deuda, a wiki to track politicians’ electoral promises. The initiative has already made it into the mainstream media: El Pais has published an article about it.

A wiki containing quotes from politicians’ promises, with accompanying evidence, searchable by campaign and candidate name seems an interesting way to engage citizenship in an attempt to hold politicians responsible for their promises. I can imagine plenty of interesting ways of using the data: computing politicians with the most un-fulfilled promises, politicians that promise the most, trends in the kinds of things being promised, etc.

As the site becomes more mainstream, the amount of spamming and “improving” of entries will give the editors a hard time keeping the wiki honest. So if you are Spanish-speaking, and have some minutes to spare, have a look at the suggested tasks for editors, and sign up!

–
[1] El Manifestómetro tracks participation in Spanish demonstrations, to keep politician’s “improved” participation numbers in check.

A good friend of mine, Ali, has started posted regularly in his blog, xawaaTir, about current events in Lebanon (his home country). For those interested in a different perspective on the current Israeli attacks on Lebanon (different from the one you will get from CNN, that is), it might be an interesting read.

I was reading Ali’s latest post, and I was reminded of all those surprised Americans we saw on TV on the days after 9/11. They stared wide-eyed into the camera and wondered “Why would someone want to hurt us?” I suppose if they read more posts like some of Ali’s, they would understand why. Not that Ali advocates physical aggression in any way. Not that physical aggression is ever justified.

As I said, an interesting read.
xawaaTir

The US Supreme Court, despite recent progressive gestures such as the recent uncovering of Justice’s tit (which Ashcroft had had previously covered), ruled today that P2P network providers can be liable for illegal activities of their users. It is like ruling that the maker of a knife is guilty of any murder that is commited with that knife. But in the P2P case it is even worse, as it means that virtually anyone who provides a new technology can be liable for any illicit activities others might use it for.

The media is all over the ruling. Here go some quotes:

BBC NEWS - File-sharing suffers major defeat:

Michael McGuire, from analyst firm GartnerG2, said: “It’s something of a surprise. It will be interesting to see how record labels respond. It could be argued that these peer-to-peer services were the most efficient way to deliver rich media.”

The decision could also have an impact on any technology firm developing gadgets or devices that let people enjoy media on the move.

If strictly interpreted the ruling means that these hi-tech firms will have to try to predict the ways people can use these devices to pirate copyrighted media and install controls to stop this infringement.

The ruling could also prompt a re-drafting of copyright laws by the US Congress.

El Pa?ɬ?s - El supremo de EE UU dictamina que se puede responsabilizar del pirateo a las redes P2P:

La justicia norteamericana ha desestimado un fallo de un tribunal de apelaciones y considera que las redes P2P como Emule, Grokster o BitTorrent, pueden ser procesadas por violar los derechos de autor, independientemente de que estas mismas redes se puedan utilizar adem?ɬ�s para intercambiar todo tipo de archivos, legales o ilegales.

Wall Street Journal - High Court Sides With Studios in Grokster Case:

The Supreme Court ruled unanimously today that Grokster can be sued if consumers use its file-sharing software to illegally swap songs and movies while also deciding in favor of cable companies seeking to deny rivals access to broadband lines.

[...]

The justices reviewed an August ruling by the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals that file-sharing companies aren’t liable for copyright infringement that takes place within their networks. Three appellate judges found that file-sharing software has some legal uses, and the file-sharing companies can’t control whether consumers are using it for legal or illegal uses.

News Factor Network - Supreme Court Rules Against P2P Networks:

Monday’s ruling gives the entertainment industry another legal option to the more costly and less popular route of going directly after millions of online file-swappers believed to distribute songs and movies illegally.

It’s unclear how much the decision will actually deter the widespread problem of piracy since software programs created abroad won’t be subject to the tougher U.S. copyright laws. Still, analysts say the court’s stern rebuke should provide a boost to many file-sharing services that offer legal downloading for a fee.

Industry observers have said a ruling against Grokster could also prompt stiffer enforcement from European regulators, who were watching the case for guidance on tackling copyright questions in their countries.

Recording companies in the United States have already sued thousands of individual users; at least 600 of the cases were eventually settled for roughly $3,000 each.

New York Times - Court Rules File-Sharing Networks Can Be Held Liable for Illegal Use (free registration required):

But there was widespread concern that the court, which provided little in the way of describing what might qualify as behavior aimed at encouraging infringement, has opened up the door to prohibitive legal battles that just might stifle future innovations.

“The court has now given as precedent to the whole world of digital technology companies a very difficult road to follow,” said Richard Taranto, the lawyer who argued the case on behalf of Grokster and StreamCast before the Supreme Court.

“The immediate impact for the future of our case is not clear,” he said, but the impact on future technologies “is a chilling one.”

The Register - Supremes protect P2P technology, then punt:

Following the decision, CDT Staff Counsel David Sohn explained, “We never felt that Grokster and StreamCast were innocent parties that should get a free pass, but there’s a principle at stake here that’s much larger than the peer-to-peer issue. Since 1984, the rule has been that developers of technologies that have legal uses aren’t liable when users misuse those technologies to infringe copyright.”

“This decision offers a framework for the courts to distinguish bad actors from those who merely distribute innovative technologies,” he added.

As for what comes next, it is possible that the case will end up back before the Supremes, if the ambiguity of their current definitions of inducement should leave the forthcoming district court decision open to appeal. And it is all but certain that the entertainment industry will be lobbying Congress ruthlessly to outlaw P2P software outright, since the Supremes have declined to do so. We can expect new life for the Inducing Infringement of Copyrights Act (Induce Act), but certainly not before the mid-term elections.

If you want even more coverage of the case, have a look at Google News.

Death and Taxes is a great visual representation of how the US discretionary budget is spent. Here is a selected bit:

(via Infocult)

I just want to report that Chema’s latest googlebomb suggestion has succeeded. A google for “Liberales Desquiciados” gives as a first result to their recent article about Microsoft’s press announcement with Firefox screenshot. If you are wondering what is this all about, you can visit yoursfelf Liberales Desquiciados and see what he meant.

In his “EU diary”, the BBC’s Angus Roxburgh writes about an exhibition, sponsored by the Dutch government, about the history of the EU and a projection into the future. A snippet:

A few years from now, the euro becomes the world’s favoured reserve currency, rather than the dollar.

In 2007 the EU is joined not just by Bulgaria and Romania but by Iceland, Norway, Croatia and Switzerland. Others, from Armenia to Albania, apply to join.

In 2015, “the southern half of the Roman Empire returns” - with Morocco, Algeria, Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, Jordan, Israel and Palestine joining. The EU becomes known simply as “The Union”.

And how serious are the authors of this vision?

Well, in 2012, they say, to simplify things Chinese is chosen as the EU’s “single language”. Ah, I see!

Comments, anyone?

The International Herald Tribune runs a nice article titled Will Turkey join the EU club? where they review the main positions on the possibility of Turkey joining the EU.

Some, like Ana Palacio, say that letting Turkey into the EU would be a significant strategic gesture towards the muslim world. Governments that support Turkish EU aspirations include Spain, Britain, Italy and the Netherlands.

Others say that Turkey’s religious and cultural heritage, as well as its bad democratic and human rights record, is incompatible with the EU. It would also cost 11.3?���� billion per year in agricultural subsidies.

IHT, North Korea beats up on Bush:

In Monday’s tirade, Pyongyang’s diplomatic spokesman called Bush “an idiot, an ignorant, a tyrant and a man-killer.”

“Bush’s assumption of office turned a peaceful world into a pandemonium unprecedented in history, as it is plagued with a vicious circle of terrorism and war,” continued the statement. “The president’s aides and allies are a typical gang of political gangsters.”

The spokesman concluded darkly that the U.S. president was “a bad guy.”

IHT reports about a “Feminist uproar in Spain over Vogue photos”. The September issue of Spanish Vogue runs an article about the 8 female ministers in the Spanish government. The report is called “8 women for history” and talks about the political views of each of them and their reflections about the role of women in modern society. The article is accompanied by a photo session were the ministers pose in designer suits.

Some feminist groups are now outraged because of the ministers posing as models. I can understand, to some extent, that posing in expensive designer suits of prizes of up to 5.000 EUR does not help to bring the ministers “close to the voters”, but what I strongly disagree with is this ‘feminist’ message that ‘looking good’ is anti-feminist and old-fashioned. Apparently, caring for their image and posing for some elegant fashion pictures means that the Spanish ministers are un-professional and generally incompetent. So what then, to look professional a woman in Spain has to look as plain as possible?

A group picture from the Vogue article can be seen in this ‘El Mundo’ article.

Steve Earle has written a love song dedicated to Condoleezza Rice. The words are pure poetry:

You be the flower and I’ll be the bumblebee
Oh she loves me; oops, she loves me not.
People say you’re cold, but I think you’re hot.
[...]
They say you’re too uptight, I say you’re not
Dance around me spinnin’ like a top
Oh, Condi, Condi, don’t ever stop.

Wonderful article by Kurt Vonnegut. You may disagree with him, but you can’t deny that he is still a great writer.
From Cold Turkey:

“Here?��Ǩ�Ѣs what I think the truth is: We are all addicts of fossil fuels in a state of denial, about to face cold turkey.

And like so many addicts about to face cold turkey, our leaders are now committing violent crimes to get what little is left of what we?��Ǩ�Ѣre hooked on.”

Just look at the French part of this label.