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June 30, 2005
First Convictions in Voter Fraud Scandal
Today, 5 individuals were found guilty of election fraud.
As far as known, these 5 are the first charged and convicted of election fraud from the 2004 election. One of the individuals was a party poss for the area in which the fraud took place.
With all the talk of Ohio, one wonders if the Democrats will talk about their PARTY LEADERSHIP in East Saint Louis being CONVICTED of trying to rig elections. Next time a Democrat talks about stealing elections, it may be just because they know best on how to do it.
Hat Tip: Capitol Fax
Posted by John Bambenek at 1:30 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
June 29, 2005
Which is it, was Outing Plame a Big Deal or Not?
The NYT writes:
The case was about the "outing" of an agent - supposedly covert, but working openly at C.I.A. headquarters - in Robert Novak's column two years ago by unnamed administration officials angry at her husband's prewar Iraq criticism.
To show its purity, the Bush Justice Department appointed a special counsel to find any violation of the 1982 Intelligence Identities Protection Act. That law prohibits anyone from knowingly revealing the name of a covert agent that the C.I.A. is taking "affirmative measures" to conceal. The revelation must be, like that of the 70's turncoat Philip Agee - "in the course of a pattern" intending to harm United States intelligence.
Evidently no such serious crime took place. After spending two years and thousands of F.B.I. agent-hours and millions of dollars that could better have been directed against terrorism and identity theft, the prosecutor, Patrick Fitzgerald, admits his investigation has been stalled since last October. We have seen no indictment under the identities protection act.
What evidence of serious crime does he have that makes the testimony of Judith Miller of The New York Times and Matthew Cooper of Time magazine so urgent? We don't know - eight pages of his contempt demand are secret - but some legal minds think he is falling back on the Martha Stewart Theory of Prosecution. That is: if the underlying crime has not been committed, justify the investigation by indicting a big name for giving false information.
However, the Democrats have a portion of their old website that was dedicated to Plamegate (the cached version is here and I'm not sure for how long). It includes several quotes from the NYT and other papers about how horrible and terrible Plamegate was. Well which is it?
The NYT, when they didn't think they had any skin in the game, was talking up the crisis as worse than Watergate. But when it turns out that one of their own reporters can finger the culprit, they start singing a new tune. Which part is the spin? The first part, spinning for the benefit of the Left, or the second part, spinning to cover their complicity. You make the call.
Posted by John Bambenek at 11:22 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
Seperation of Church and State an Invention of the KKK, not Jefferson
Many people cite Jefferson for the "wall of seperation" doctrine regarding religious matters and its relationship to the state. This interpretation is novel and interesting, but unconvincing. (At the founding the official state church of Massachusettes was Puritanism and that was A-OK). The real development of this doctrine was in the 1940s as a part of sweeping anti-Catholic bias of the KKK (they didn't just go after blacks, after all).
The phrase found it's first use in the opinion of the court written by Klansman Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black in Everson v. the Board of Education. This ruling specifically targeted Catholic schools as he was worried about a coup from Catholics.
It is a wonder if the ACLU realizes that they generally defend a KKK invented legal doctrine that was used as a part of religious discrimination.
Posted by John Bambenek at 11:12 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
The George Ryan Defense
George Ryan has defended his corruption with saying he commuted death sentences in Illinois so he can be tried for illegal acts...
Apparently Judy Topinka is planning her defense of "I support GLBT, so you can't try me".
Posted by John Bambenek at 10:46 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
June 28, 2005
Best Eminent Domain Suggestion Yet
New York City should take that prime beef real-estate that the UN occupies and turn it into something useful... like a museum of all the human rights violations that members of the Human Rights Commission have committed.
Posted by John Bambenek at 9:36 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
At Least SOMEONE Is Sticking Up For the Illinois Pension System
But, he's leaving the job anyway
Posted by John Bambenek at 7:38 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
It's Called Karma
Let's see if eminent domain lasts when it's a Supreme Court Justice's house on the line.
Posted by John Bambenek at 7:07 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
It's Not the Lack of Evidence...
US suspected of keeping secret prisoners on warships: UN official
Quote:
The UN has learned of "very, very serious" allegations that the United States is secretly detaining terrorism suspects in various locations around the world, notably aboard prison ships, the UN's special rapporteur on terrorism said.
While the accusations were rumours, rapporteur Manfred Nowak said the situation was sufficiently serious to merit an official inquiry.
Since when were rumors meritorious of anything? Does this mean the UN wants to put the US under investigation for every piece of unfounded propaganda Al Qaeda puts out? There is no evidence but the "seriousness of the charge" demands an investigation.
Ok, here's a charge... Kofi Annan beats his wife. Can we get an investigation please?
Posted by John Bambenek at 7:01 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
June 27, 2005
Swearing in the Historical Context
Two things have brought this subject to mine. The first, was a thread on a mailing list about the use of a particular offensive expression, how it was particularly ungentlemanly like to use where women would read, and so on. The second is a song I hear on the radio from time to time that uses the phrase G.D. (Use your imagination). The interesting thing is the radio does censor it, but only one word. It silences the God part, not the damn part. Apparently it is more offensive to say "God" on the air, than "damn" (which is a swear word in and of itself). Not surprising, considering our society, the ACLU, and recent Supreme Court decisions.
However, the history of swearing is interesting. Until somewhat recently historically, swearing was blasphemy pure and simple. There were no "swear words" per se, but it was various iterations of sacrilege against the name of Jesus, Mary, saints, or various holy things. Today, this has largely been replaced by what is the most popular (and apparently the most versatile word in the English language) curse word, the omnipresent f-bomb.
That word is commonly understood as a reference to sex, not usually of the most pure variety. It's an interesting development, that swearing went from blasphemous religious expressions to involving sex. Considering our society, one could say that sex has become a religion in and of itself anyway. Perhaps the change in swearing only demonstrates how that statement might be true.
The convention has been to use religion as swearing. The question is, has the convention changed, or simply the underlying religion?
Posted by John Bambenek at 10:09 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
An Insurgency in it's "Last Throes"
Belmont Club has a some of the transcript between Sen. Levin and Gen. Abizaid about Dick Cheney's comments about the "last throes" of the insurgency. Skipping past trying to corner a military officer into criticizing the Vice-President (an illegal act), soemthing important gets missed. "JOHN ABIZAID: In terms of comparison from six months ago, in terms of foreign fighters, I believe there are more foreign fighters coming into Iraq than there were six months ago."
From M-W.com the defintion of insurgent is:
1 : a person who revolts against civil authority or an established government; especially : a rebel not recognized as a belligerent
2 : one who acts contrary to the policies and decisions of one's own political party
The problem is in characterizing foreign fighters as insurgents. They aren't insurgents, they are invaders. It isn't their government they are fighting for and they aren't rebeling against the civil authority to which they are subject (their home countries). These people are invading with either the complicity of their home states or their home states are turning a blind eye.
If the "insurgency" has the same strength, but the number of foreign fighters is increasing then it is obvious the Iraqis are getting less interesting in fighting the US. I would say that an insurgency that can't recruit locals and has to find people from other countries is an insurgency in its "last throes". I would also say that this is less an insurgency and more becoming international armed conflict.
Posted by John Bambenek at 12:06 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
June 25, 2005
Rehnquist Retirement Monday?
It'd be interesting to see the obstruction over a replacement that won't change the composition of the court.
If they were smart, they'd let it slide so they could say they have been cooperative. We'll see if they're smart.
However, if Rehnquist is smart, he'll have O'Connor (or someone else) retire with him. A 4-4 court isn't a good thing, but a 4-3 court could at least still take care of business.
Posted by John Bambenek at 11:58 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Review: Snort Cookbook
Anyone in information security knows the de facto standard for network intrusion detection is Snort. The problem is that while the documentation for Snort is ok, many of tha add-on functions, plugins, and associated applications is lacking or non-existent. This book tries to bring into one place all the things one could want to do with Snort and put it in one place. In a large part it succeeds.
It does miss a few things along the way, such as management tools like BASE (the replacement for ACID which is not being developed anymore), and sguil. It also tends to more explain how to do things than why to do things and I believe the section on sensor placement could be expanded. Lastly, I think the portion on legal aspects of intrusion detection and evidence can be expanded, but that might need to be taken with a grain of salt because I am a legal wonk. To be fair, a book of this type can't cover everything in great detail.
As someone who does run snort and has been working on ways to expand some of the data I get to it, it has proven to be a valuable resource which far outweighs the few things I found lacking. It is the only resource of its kind I know to exist. It brings to light some tools which I haven't thought of using the way it suggests, like perfmonitor and clamav. I came away from reading this book with solid ideas and tools which I plan to add into snort. If you are looking for solid documentation on Snort and the tools and tricks you can use with it, this is your book.
Posted by John Bambenek at 12:24 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Review: Mr & Mrs. Smith Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
To be honest, I haven't actually seen the movie yet but I do have the CD. My first comment would be that if my wife were to overhear my listen to it, she'd say "It's better than the crap you usually listen to", and she'd probably be right. (Either techno/dance or celtic/bagpipe music pretty much).
The CD consists of love and anti-love songs, per the theme of the movie (happy married couple of two contract killers who then have to fight each other because one was contracted to off the other. Moral of the story, before you except your next contract killing job, take a look at a photo first). The songs are all older that most everyone is likely to recognize (who can forget "You've Lost that Loving Feeling" of Top Gun fame) and puts them into a one-stop listening collection.
The songs flow together nicely and compliment what it seems they were trying to accomplish. The songs chosen have all had staying power and while you might not here them on the radio anymore, I enoyed them at least.
All in all it's a nice light CD if you are looking for some good love songs... or for some good anti-love songs. You can use it no matter which side you fall on Valentine's day.
Posted by John Bambenek at 11:04 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
A Party Concerned With Consolidating Party and Establishing One-Party Rule
Posted by John Bambenek at 9:47 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
June 24, 2005
Friday Fax / All Pro-Lifers Left Behind
Apparently having pro-life voices at the UN is too much to be allowed for an inclusive organization concerned with giving voices to all people everywhere. Some would criticize saying the UN is an organization that has given up on peace-keeping and has concerned itself with killing babies everywhere. Stunts like this reinforce such notions.
=============
UN Excludes Pro-Life Groups from Important UN Meeting
For the last two days, hundreds of UN-picked international lobby groups have gathered in New York for discussions with the UN General Assembly about the upcoming Millennium Summit +5. Numerous pro-life, pro-family groups applied to participate, but all were rejected by a handpicked panel of the United Nations. As a result, yesterday's sessions consisted of repeated and unopposed calls for more access to abortion and homosexual rights through the Millennium Development Goals.
The UN's "informal interactive hearings" with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are the first of their kind. Ominously to pro-life groups, Deputy Secretary-General Louise Fréchette opening remarks called them a "significant new step in the way the United Nations relates to civil society." UN bureaucrats and radical NGOs have sought for years for a way to keep pro-life groups out of UN negotiations but they have largely failed. This new approach has succeeded.
Participating NGOs for this round of negotiations were chosen by a task force under Jean Ping of Gabon, President of the General Assembly. Aside from Ping and his staff, the task force included ten lobby group representatives, including the radical feminist group Women's Environment and Development Organization (WEDO).
WEDO is circulating a document today at the UN which calls for the +5 Summit to "reaffirm that universal access to sexual and reproductive health by 2015 and protection of reproductive rights are critical for achieving the MDGs." Another WEDO pamphlet states that "Right-wing forces everywhere invoke culture and religion to deny women's rights," and blames "cultural and religious fundamentalism" for blocking women's "reproductive health and rights." Terms such as "reproductive rights" are misused at the UN to include abortion.
C-FAM and numerous other pro-family, pro-life groups, most with official UN status, applied to participate in the hearings, but were rejected by the task force. Selected NGOs include the International Planned Parenthood Federation and other pro-abortion groups such as the National Youth Network for Reproductive Rights and Family Care International.
Thursday's sessions saw repeated calls for "universal access to sexual and reproductive health services and a full recognition and protection of reproductive rights," by participants such as the Association for Women's Rights in Development. The Europe Youth Network for Sexual & Reproductive Rights and other groups also called for greater access to abortion for young people.
Several groups also stressed the protection of rights based on "sexual orientation." The representative of MADRE, an Argentine group, stated that gays and lesbians must have their "sexual rights, gender identity and gender _expression" protected. "No religion...can be excused for these violations."
The hearings were partially funded by Canada, Finland and Norway.
Copyright 2005 - C-FAM (Catholic Family & Human Rights Institute).
Permission granted for unlimited use. Credit required.
Catholic Family & Human Rights Institute
866 United Nations Plaza, Suite 427
New York, New York 10017
Phone: (212) 754-5948 Fax: (212) 754-9291
E-mail: c-fam@c-fam.org Website: www.c-fam.org
Posted by John Bambenek at 10:28 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
This is why we are careful about foreign aid
Nigeria squanders and rips off foreign aid
Throwing more money to thieves tends not to help the poor who need it.
Posted by John Bambenek at 10:17 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
An honest question...
Can someone tell me why it is so freaking hard to find an honest mechanic? Or why car manufactures make the Check Engine light go one because the stupid external themometer that tells you the outside temperature is broken leading to you dropping $200 bucks because you have to fix it or when there is a serious problem causing the check engine light to come on, you'll miss it?
How about two lights. One, "Something stupid is broken that you probably don't give a crap about" and "Something is seriously wrong, take the care in so a mechanic can juice you for every penny you have and give you the car back in worse condition then when you brought it in."
I got 140,000 miles on my truck, runs great, but has stupid shit wrong with it that takes multiple trips to the mechanic just to get them to confirm that what I told them was wrong, is in fact wrong.
How many more trips and how much more money does it take to get them to actually FIX something?
Posted by John Bambenek at 9:37 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
June 23, 2005
No Need To Resign For Calling a Duck a Duck
So Karl Rove suggested that liberals and some Democrats treat the War on Terror as a law enforcement action and they demand a resignation. They equate Dick Durbin's stunt and subsequent non-apology ("I'm sorry if you misunderstood me") and say Karl Rove should go through the ringer.
The problem is he was just telling it like it is. The following is the list of Senators that demand trials that are illegal under the Geneva Conventions:
And of course, Hillary, Bill, Kennedy, and others. When you talk about how we need to try these guys in the criminal system when we caught them on the field of battle, you might just have to forgive them for thinking you view this as you wanting to treat this as a criminal action.
They cry foul when Rove suggested their concerns are at understanding the terrorists, yet their OWN 2004 party platform says that is what they want. Quote: Increasing public diplomacy to promote understanding and prevent terrorist recruitment. At the core of this conflict is a fundamental struggle of ideas: democracy and tolerance against those who would use any means and attack any target to impose their narrow views.
The fact of the matter is, Rove was 100% spot-on, and the Democrats know it's a loser to face their views head on.
Posted by John Bambenek at 6:12 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
At Least in the US They Still Have to Pay You When They Take Your Home
Supreme Court Rules Cities May Seize Homes
I would have thought this would have gone the other way, certainly with all the carping I hear on campus about property rights being the only rights not whittled away by the vast neo-con conspiracy.
The only bright light here is that they still have to pay you, but in the end the government now has the right to decide for the people whether or not they can live where they want to. Let's be honest, I think everyone across the spectrum can agree on this... the rich and powerful will always have "better" ideas of what to do with your land than you do. Now they've just been enabled.
IlliniPundit has more, as I'm sure half the blogosphere does by now as well.
Posted by John Bambenek at 6:04 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
June 22, 2005
Web Attacks Using Blog Traffic Exchanges
This is a theoretical, but something I just thought about.
There are a few attacks of late that can infect your machine (or outright own your machine) by getting you to go to a webpage that installs "evil" code on your machine. Some of these will use images that can have this "evil" code in it, some just silently installs when you go to a wrong webpage.
The problem with those kind of things is how to get people to go to the malicious webpage. Enter blog traffic exchanges (or any traffic exchange for that matter). Here you have people surf random sites which can include bad images or bad code imbedded (or the bad image could be a banner ad).
Think what would happen if you did this to say, blogexplosion and their memberships... lots'o'infections... assuming your bad code worked to begin with...
Posted by John Bambenek at 10:23 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Student Loans and "Mortgaging Your Future"
I've heard this quite a few times, on how student loans are oppressive and mortgaging your future. I've had student loans for my time here, and my wife had loans for her undergrad. (As an aside irritation, I funded all of my undergrad on my own, and when married paid for the last 2.5 years of my wife's. Not once did I get subsidized. However, now that I just started grad school in theology, NOW I get subsidized loans. GRRRRR).
Since my wife graduated in May, we consolidated her loans at 1.6%!!! For the uninitiated, that interest is about half of INFLATION. If that's mortgaging my future, I'll be doing that all day long. I'll refinance my house with those loans.
Posted by John Bambenek at 10:17 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
The Case Against DeLay: Case Studies in Falling Apart
You've heard the story. DeLay (along with 2 other Democrat congressman, but you wouldn't know that from the press) took trips that were paid for on Abramoff's (a lobbyist) credit card. The newest problem is that the FEC and lawyers for the House of Representatives OK's the setup.
So not only is DeLay being singled out for something that Democrats were on the same trip and did, but for taking a trip that the FEC and the lawyers for the House also OK'd as legit.
Now over 200 Representatives are running around getting their travel docs straight over a made up scandal. If you want the ethics committee to investigate something, maybe they should start with why they are giving apparently bad advice.
Posted by John Bambenek at 11:39 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
June 21, 2005
NYT: Christians Are Blue-Collar Idiots
Dawn Eden takes the New York Times to the mattresses over the article suggesting Christians are working class nobodies... (from the side of the political spectrum supposedly defending the working class).
Posted by John Bambenek at 2:23 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Credit Card Theft, National IDs, and Strong Authentication
The NYT has this on Credit Cards being openly traded on the web.
It's not news to me, at least. (See this and this for examples of how easy it is to do and this was a year ago). The information is not hard to get and some sites are out there that show you how to "social engineer" the information out of merchants and people. This doesn't include things like Citibank getting their tapes stolen, the Mastercard theft, and others.
The problem is that credit cards are easy to use by people who are not the holder of the card. Ultimately, identity theft is also easy for the same reason. The privacy crowd crows that we don't want to have a national ID card, but the problem is, we already have one.
You need this ID to set up a bank account, get a job, get credit, go to the doctor, and a variety of mundane tasks. The ID is your social security number, and with that number you basically own the identity of the person.
The problem with both social security numbers and credit card numbers is that they both do not use strong authentication before using. Credit cards, for instance, use things like zip codes, the security number on the back, or your mother's maiden name to verify the information. The problem is, all that is public information or already on the card itself.
Strong authentication or two-factor authentication more appropriately, takes two things, something you have and something you know in order to authenticate you. The reason it takes both is that it is easy to steal things, but hard to steal knowledge. One can lift a wallet easy enough, or use the various technological means out there to pilfer a credit card number. If it requires something that only you know also, then having the number alone is useless. With that something you know being information like a zip code that is easily knowable by others, it becomes useless (or a lot less useless for security reasons at least).
The credit card industry needs to find something else (and I'll have a paper on the topic shortly), and we either need to ditch social security numbers as a national ID, or come up with something better.
Posted by John Bambenek at 12:52 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
NYT Krugman Exposes Republican Corruption... Except It Is Democrats Involved
The Krugman Truth Squad has the latest on Krugman's Friday column that exposes rampant corruption in Ohio. He names names and calles them Republicans. Problem is... turns out they are Democrats.
Oops.
Posted by John Bambenek at 9:53 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
June 20, 2005
I am amused
D.C. Police Chief's Car Stolen
Reality is often more amusing than fiction...
Posted by John Bambenek at 7:12 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Reuters Distorts Vatican View on Fertility Treatment
Vatican may campaign abroad against IVF - expert
The Roman Catholic church is liable to launch a global offensive against infertility treatment following its victory in an Italian referendum last week, a leading expert said on Sunday.
Um, IVF is one type of infertility treatment and there are many others, including things like fertility drugs and hormone therapy which do not fall afoul of the Vatican or Catholic teaching.
Let's be direct. When I bring my child into the world, I don't want to say it started by me looking at some porn in a side room of the doctor's office while masturbating into a dixie cup so a doctor can make a cocktail in a petri dish to inject into my wife. That's just not such a fun story to tell your kids when they are older. "Well, son, Vasoline and Playboy had much more to do with your conception..."
The other irony is that the Church is accused of wanting its members to breed like rabbits, yet somehow isn't for "infertility" treatments that would yield to more kids. Strange, isn't it? Which stereotype is it again?
Here is what the Cathechism has to say on the issue:
2375 Research aimed at reducing human sterility is to be encouraged, on condition that it is placed "at the service of the human person, of his inalienable rights, and his true and integral good according to the design and will of God."[165]
2376 Techniques that entail the dissociation of husband and wife, by the intrusion of a person other than the couple (donation of sperm or ovum, surrogate uterus), are gravely immoral. These techniques (heterologous artificial insemination and fertilization) infringe the child's right to be born of a father and mother known to him and bound to each other by marriage. They betray the spouses' "right to become a father and a mother only through each other."[166]
2377 Techniques involving only the married couple (homologous artificial insemination and fertilization) are perhaps less reprehensible, yet remain morally unacceptable. They dissociate the sexual act from the procreative act. The act which brings the child into existence is no longer an act by which two persons give themselves to one another, but one that "entrusts the life and identity of the embryo into the power of doctors and biologists and establishes the domination of technology over the origin and destiny of the human person. Such a relationship of domination is in itself contrary to the dignity and equality that must be common to parents and children."[167] "Under the moral aspect procreation is deprived of its proper perfection when it is not willed as the fruit of the conjugal act, that is to say, of the specific act of the spouses' union .... Only respect for the link between the meanings of the conjugal act and respect for the unity of the human being make possible procreation in conformity with the dignity of the person."[168]
Emphasis mine.
It's just THIS FORM of infertility treatment that is condemned, not all forms. And there is more than one treatment but you wouldn't know that from reading this news article.
Posted by John Bambenek at 2:54 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Do You Support the Geneva Conventions or Not?
You've heard the claims that we violate the Geneva Conventions at Gitmo under various (incorrect) theories. Let's assume for the sake of argument they are correct. The interrogation methods are wrong, the facilites are illegal, and so on.
The same people say we need to have trials for these individuals and try them in civilian courts because military courts are obviously insufficient. If they haven't committed a crime, they should be released. The problem is, under the Geneva Conventions we can't try them, it would be illegal. And in the few circumstances that we could try them, the Geneva Conventions require a military court. Here are the appropriate quotes from the 3rd Geneva Convention.
Art. 83. In deciding whether proceedings in respect of an offence alleged to have been committed by a prisoner of war shall be judicial or disciplinary, the Detaining Power shall ensure that the competent authorities exercise the greatest leniency and adopt, wherever possible, disciplinary rather than judicial measures.
Art. 84. A prisoner of war shall be tried only by a military court, unless the existing laws of the Detaining Power expressly permit the civil courts to try a member of the armed forces of the Detaining Power in respect of the particular offence alleged to have been committed by the prisoner of war.
In no circumstances whatever shall a prisoner of war be tried by a court of any kind which does not offer the essential guarantees of independence and impartiality as generally recognized, and, in particular, the procedure of which does not afford the accused the rights and means of defence provided for in Article 105. (Hint: We try military members in military courts when they run afoul of their duties. The only time they hit the civilian system is when they are off-duty doing something off-base in the general population. And even then, they usually get a hearing in the military system also. No detainee has been in the US to commit such a crime).
Art. 99. No prisoner of war may be tried or sentenced for an act which is not forbidden by the law of the Detaining Power or by international law, in force at the time the said act was committed. (I'm still waiting on what law they've violated. They haven't been in the US, and for the most part, were captured on the field of battle, so by and large almost the entire USC doesn't apply.)
Art. 118. Prisoners of war shall be released and repatriated without delay after the cessation of active hostilities. (Hint: Al Queda is still fighting. There is fighting going on in Iraq, and to a lesser extent, in Afghanistan. Even if we tried them and convicted them, they'd still remain in general custody until hostilites have ended)
So what is it guys, do you support the Geneva Conventions or not? You can't have it both ways where you support it only in X circumstance, but expect us to make up laws and crimes to try them and then release them contrary to the same Conventions you hold so dear.
Posted by John Bambenek at 2:24 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
Forgeries Abound!
Just when you thought it couldn't get worse for the MSM, it does. Captain's Quarters has the latest on the fake Downing Street Memo that was distributed and the subject of those "make-believe" impeachment hearings and the usual rancorous thundering from the left. Turns out that by the author's OWN ADMISSION that the documents are not originals typed on an old typewriter and the originals were burned making it impossible to authenticate anything. This is not a rumor going around, this is what the author, Michael Smith himself, said to the AP. As CQ makes clear there is a difference between fakes and frauds. The documents are clearly fakes as the author himself states. But that certainly calls into question whether they are frauds as well.
That brings us to story two. Remember the Dishonorable Traitor Dick Durbin calling the US Military nazis based on a FBI memo? Turns out that Durbin was also lying about the memo too. Myopic Zeal brings the quote from Fox News that states:
One knowledgeable official familiar with the memo cited by Durbin as well as other memos said the FBI agent made no such allegation and that the memo described only someone chained to the floor. Anything beyond that is simply an interpretation, the official said.
So it looks like Durbin also was lying about the comments of a confidential memo because he knows they probably won't release it and he'll get away with it (much the same is true in the Downing Street Memos, they can't release it so they can be mischaracterized without the government being able to adequately defend). Blogs for Censure is up and running calling for the Dishonorable Traitor Dick Durbin to be censured. I don't think he should be censured... I think every GOP commercial should feature this man's comments and if Democrats don't explicitly condemn it, they should be ipso facto unqualified for any office anywhere in this nation.
Enough is enough. There is plenty to criticize about America. The Democrats have moved beyond that to make up stories to criticize. First it was Dan Rather, then Isikoff, the Amnesty International, then the Downing Street Memo, now a U.S. Senator. The entire party has made it clear to the nation they are not interested in constructive solutions, they are interested in fabricating charges. It's time to throw them out of office. I don't want censure... as an Illinois vote, I want a recall.
Posted by John Bambenek at 11:12 AM | Comments (5) | TrackBack
June 18, 2005
Book Review: SSH, The Secure Shell: The Definitive Guide
If you've managed Linux/Unix machines recently you are probably familiar with SSH, or secure shell. It replaces popular commands such as telnet, rsh, rlogin, and ftp with secure and encrypted applications that do the same thing. If you login to remote machines or transfer confidential data over the Internet you cannot afford not to know about SSH.
This book, as it is titled, is the definitive guide to SSH. It not only covers the various clients and servers available for SSH (and operating systems), it covers many different applications and uses of SSH. From connection tunneling to SOCKS proxies to automated batch jobs, any administrator will find novel and new uses for SSH in this book.
Having received this book to review from O'Reilly, I read it cover to cover. I do not suggest you do this (if you value your sanity). It is by no means designed to be that kind of book. However, this book is invaluable as a reference to SSH where few other books exist. The organization is straight-forward and lends itself to reviewing specific functions without having to mine the entire volume to get the knowledge you seek.
If you administer systems you can't afford not to know about SSH and this book is the best one around to learn it.
Disclaimer: I got a free copy of this book from O'Reilly to review it as a promotional item.
Posted by John Bambenek at 11:16 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
June 17, 2005
First-Hand Testimony About the Conditions at Gitmo
Cal Skinner put this in a comment to my earlier post (I invoke Godwin's Law). I thought this should be posted in its entirety...
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FROM: Reverend Kent L. Svendsen
Ordained Elder
United Methodist Church / Northern Illinois Conference
Dear Women's Division
General Borad of Global Ministries
United Methodist Church
I understand that you about to start a campaign relating to among other things human rights protections and the detainees held in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
I can speak with some authority on the subject since I served as the chaplain to the Joint Detention Operation Group in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba from May 2004 until March 2005.
As a United Methodist I have a keen sense of world justice and while serving in Cuba sought to be faithful to our social principles and their concern for social holiness.
So I am not speaking to you as a military chaplain but as an Ordained United Methodist.
I have a great concern for our news media sources today. There was a day when the truth and protecting our nation from harm took precedence over being the first to break a story. Now it seems that accusations, no matter how harmful, no matter the source, no matter the possible consequences, are enough to use them as weapons upon the innocent as well as the guilty.
I am also grieved that there seems to be not only an automatic assumption of guilt when the accusations are aimed at our military and our government, but that any explanation aimed at proving them innocent is also automatically viewed as a "cover up". And that when those who are guilty of violations are uncovered, prosecutated, and punished there is a tendency by some to want to use that as evidence that the violations were policy instead a violation of the standing orders and policy. What the new media and groups like the Woman's Division needs to understand is that accusations cause harm and create damage that a retraction and an admission of error later cannot repair. (I don't think we will ever really know exactly how many died after Newsweek made the false accusation of a Koran being flushed
down a toilet.)
There are those who would use accusations such as those recently made against our military as weapons to gain political power. They count on the fact that people will believe something if its said enough times and said by people and organizations they respect. It was the case in the past that our nation's opponents tried to prevent our culture and news sources from reaching their people. After all, the ideas of freedom, democracy, and equality for all doesn't play well in some parts of the world. So since modern technology cannot be stopped and "world news" is now also news to the world there is now a new strategy. They use it to their advantage as a weapon against our nation.
The accusations are flying fast and furious. If your organzation would be interested in knowing about my experience. (I cannot talk about the day to day activities in the camp but I can either verify or deny many of the accusations that are being made.)
Here's a list that might help you if your willing to listen to an Ordained Elder who knows the facts rather than accusations made based on speculation. I'll respond here specifically to some of the one's I've heard.
1. The detainees have direct access to the International Red Cross represenatativies contrary to the accusations that they have no outside contact. Also, all the detainees are allowed to write and receive mail from family.
2. The detainees have their food prepared according to Islamic guidelines. The call to prayer is broadcast for them to go to prayer. Each detainee has the direction to Meccah painted in their cell. They are allowed to practice their religion wihtout interference and are given the religious items they need to do so. They are allowed to observe Ramadan.
3. There are strict guidelines and training concerning human rights protections. If a service member sees a violation they are to report it and if asked to violate someone's human rights they are to consider it as an unlawful order. Those who violate are subject to prosecution.
If you are interested in more information please contact me. There is also an article about my work in Cuba which was published in the July issue of Esquire magazine.
Kent Svendsen
Chaplain (Major) USAR
Posted by John Bambenek at 5:06 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
A Compromise on Illinois Attacking Pensions
So Illinois decided to divert 2.2 Billion from the pension system that they underfund to plug gaps in the budget which cost ultimately around 22 Billion. The beneficiaries of the pensions complain because their contracts establish those pensions as well as the Constitution of the state says "the benefits of which shall not be diminished or impaired." (Article X Section 5). When presented with this, lawmakers threaten an amendment to the Constitution instead.
Here is a compromise I think will work. Lawmakers, the governor and other executive officers get pensions too. I propse that before a single dollar in benefits gets taken out of a public employee's pension, that all legislators and executive officers have to have completely drained THEIR pension benefits first. i.e. until their benefits get reduced to zero, they can't touch anyone else's. Seems fair to me, they're breaking it to begin with, they should suffer first.
Posted by John Bambenek at 2:47 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
I Invoke Godwin's Law
Much has already been said about Durbin unable to vocalize any intelligent contribution on what prisoner treatment should be and instead calls the US military a bunch of Nazis. Michelle Malkin beat me to doing some comparisons on what exactly was the prison conditions in those regimes.
I don't want to give the man much more space except to say this:
1) Thanks for telling us what the Democratic party is. The party that hates the military, that hates the country, and that has no contribution except flaming.
2) Thanks for showing us the Democrats have no grip on reality and no desire to contribute to the process of governing.
That being said, it's time to ignore them and leave them behind. If they don't want to run with the big dogs they can remain on the porch and piss with the puppies. They've been given enough attention, let the temper tantruming kids kick and scream in their room... alone.
Posted by John Bambenek at 1:54 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Let's Play a Game: Gitmo or Cook County
Captain's Quarters has this about some torture much worse than Gitmo happening in Durbin's OWN STATE that he's oddly silent on...
Posted by John Bambenek at 1:43 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Friday Fax - Calls For Major Reforms at the UN
At first I thought it was talking about the US federal bureaucracy, but then I realized there is even something worst than a federal agency when it comes to staff sitting around doing nothing collecting paychecks and never being held to account on actually producing anything...
The bigger the bureaucracy, the more waste there is.
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US Panel Calls for Major United Nations Reform in Scathing Report
A bipartisan task force of the Untied States Congress released a report on Wednesday stating that that the UN is in "urgent" need of "sweeping reforms." The report finds "tragic failures" in peacekeeping, a Human Rights Commission that is "a blot on the [UN's] reputation," "systematic hostility" towards Israel, and poor management with "bloated staffing" and a lack of accountability and transparency. The report endorses the UN Secretary-General's proposed reforms in his recent "In Larger Freedom" while also suggesting additional reforms.
The Task Force on the United Nations is one of seven ongoing US investigations of the UN, and is chaired by Newt Gingrich, Republican former speaker of the House of Representatives, and George J. Mitchell, Democratic former majority Senate leader. The US, as the "largest donor to the United Nations system, contributing 22 percent of the regular budget and nearly 27 percent of the peacekeeping budget," has a significant interest in UN effectiveness. The U.S. "paid an estimated $3.845 billion in contributions to the UN system in 2004."
The report notes that the Oil-for-Food program, "flawed by a combination of incompetence, gross mismanagement, and alleged corruption and criminality," created a "rare opportunity" for major UN reform, and the U.S. should "bring its considerable diplomatic leverage to bear to take advantage of this opportunity."
According to the report, the UN is weighed down by a "deadwood of useless programs" because once programs are mandated, they "face little scrutiny and can live on forever without having to justify their existence." The report recommends the creation of an independent audit committee, as currently "there does not appear to be an effective system to monitor results nor to link those results back to budgetary decisions."
The UN also has a "heavy load of staff who lack the skills or the motivation to perform their duties, or whose duties are no longer necessary," and there is a "high level of discontent, distrust and pessimism among staff concerning the integrity of the organization." "Morale is dismal," according to the report.
The report recommends that the Human Rights Commission "be abolished" because it has become "so distorted" that "countries with appalling, even monstrous, human rights records . . . could be seated there." To replace the Commission, the report endorses Kofi Annan's proposal for a Human Rights Council as "a body ideally consisting of democracies committed to upholding and promoting the highest standards in human rights."
The report also says that the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) be "reoriented towards a useful function." ECOSOC has been "greatly weakened" by the addition of more "autocratic governments," and currently has "scant impact on its mandated issues" of "fundamental human rights," "social progress" and "larger freedom." Its deliberations are often "redundant," as ECOSOC "hashes and rehashes pronouncements and resolutions, including those espousing ideas antithetical to US interests." Moreover, the General Assembly's committees "largely replicate" the purposes of ECOSOC.
Copyright 2005 - C-FAM (Catholic Family & Human Rights Institute).
Permission granted for unlimited use. Credit required.
Catholic Family & Human Rights Institute
866 United Nations Plaza, Suite 427
New York, New York 10017
Phone: (212) 754-5948 Fax: (212) 754-9291
E-mail: c-fam@c-fam.org Website: www.c-fam.org
Posted by John Bambenek at 1:18 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
June 16, 2005
Anti-Union??
Unions unhappy with AFL-CIO Organizing needs more emphasis, new coalition says
Pulaski said the governor's anti-union initiatives include a measure that would make teachers wait five years rather than two years to achieve tenure.
Another would force unions to obtain members' consent before using their dues for political purposes.
A third would authorize a panel of retired judges to redraw state legislative boundary lines.
The first isn't directed at unions at all but teachers and making it harder to get tenure where they can't be fired.
I could buy the second, but that doesn't attack the power of the union, that enables the member to have MORE of a say in the union... why is democracy bad.
The third is the most ludicrous of them all. What in the world does legislative boundary lines have to do with unions at all?
Sloppy writing? Maybe. A B&W session because they have nothing better to say? Probably.
Posted by John Bambenek at 10:42 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
In Maine It's Murder to Kill a Pregnant Woman, To Kill Her Child Is Apparently Legal
Maine Family Unhappy With Compromise on Unborn Victims Bill
Maine's legislators apparently compromised on the fact that killing a pregnant woman is a little more serious than killing a non-pregnant woman. They did not, however, add a second charge to killing the unborn child. You still can only be charged for the first murder, but the fact that the child died is only a consideration during sentencing.
This, however, goes to show that an unborn child is something of consequence to people not simply a blob of cells. No one minds getting warts lasered off (another type of cell blobs) but when you kill an unborn child it somehow makes a murder worse...
If life didn't start until birth, then why do so many people support punishing people who criminally attack pregnant woman and injure the child (despite the fact in this case they don't recognize a second charge)?
Posted by John Bambenek at 3:13 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
ACLU: Legalize Child Porn, Think of the Pedophiles
The case is New York Vs Ferber, 458 U.S. 747. The ACLU in an amicus brief to the Supreme Court argued that the possession of child pornography should be legalized. Twilight of Liberty summarizes:
" The ACLU's position is this: criminalize the production but legalize the sale and distribution of child pornography. This is the kind of lawyerly distinction that no one on the Supreme Court found convincing. And with good reason: as long as a free market in child pornography exists, there will always be some producers willing to risk prosecution. Beyond this, there is also the matter of how the sale of child pornography relates either to free speech or the ends of good government. But most important, the central issue is whether a free society should legalize transactions that involve the wholesale sexploitation of children for profit." ACLU objects to the idea that porn movie producers be required to maintain records of the ages of its performers; this would be "a gross violation of privacy."
To the ACLU, violating an 8 year old on tape is bad, but to support the production of that tape by buying it is ok. Needless to say the Supreme Court rejected this obvious stupidity, but it makes it clear that this organization doesn't see a problem with supporting the child porn industry because legal regulations would be a "gross violation of privacy".
Sounds like Planned Parenthood's arguments when covering up for child rape. We would hate for the privacy of pedophiles to be violated, afterall. That's much more important than protecting kids.
Posted by John Bambenek at 11:17 AM | Comments (10) | TrackBack
June 14, 2005
What is it With Morgan Reynolds?
Many people are commenting on Morgan Reynolds's comments that the WTC collapse was controlled demolition and not the planes flying into the towers. Let's take a look at some facts...
- Almost every engineering school in the country has either been looking into the collapse or using it as a case study. No college (not even Texas A&M who released this statement) has gone on record saying anything different about the collapse. This means either, they are correct or the next generation of engineers who will be building our buildings aren't qualified to put up woodsheds. I find it unlikely that we've universally trained a generations of idiots incapable of understanding gravity, at least not at the college level. K-12... well... let's not go there.
- Dr. Reynolds has a degree in economics. It's simply not accurate to call him a liberal as he writes in support of concealed carry, privatization, and other conservative or at least pro-capitalist issues for the Heartland Institute. He was or is also a member of the National Center for Policy Analysis which isn't exactly a Soros-Approved 527. In fact, he apparently once wrote an article for the National Review.
- In order to have a controlled demolishing of a building, it requires a large effort that would be very hard to keep secret and certainly take very long to set up if it were to be kept secret. For instance, there would be no way to set it up in 8 months if it were Bush or someone who came to office with him. I know, however, if I saw people carrying boxes of dynamite in the building back when I was working in the Sears Tower, I would have started working from home.
- Gag order or no gag order, I refuse to believe that the entire police and fire departments of New York would honor them and simply stay quiet about it. There has been no media organization that has received any "anonymous leaks". Both of those organizations lost people on 9/11, and I know if I were a cop and someone bureaucrat gave me a gag order like that I would arrest him. He'd be lucky if I got to him first. (Any cops want to back me up on that? Would you stomach someone telling you to shut up about your cop friends getting blown up by the man?)
- He did work for the Department of Labor but I can't find any real information on what he did. I'm not convinced he was necessarily appointed by Bush (but could be wrong). What I am more interested in is the terms of his departure from Labor.
This guys expertise is in the economics of crime and punishment that is clear. It's doubtful that he's got any experience in demolitions or civil engineering. Why would he say stuff like this? Maybe he was booted out of Labor on bad terms, maybe he wants attention (it worked for Ward Churchill), who knows. 9/11 conspiracies have become a cottage industry thought. What I do know is that this scenario is highly unlikely and if it was an "inside job" it would have had to be started before Bush got into office.
Other bloggers writing on this: Vox Popoli, Daimnation, LGF, Hit and Run
Posted by John Bambenek at 7:55 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
Happy International Webloggers Day
Happy International Webloggers Day
Posted by John Bambenek at 4:17 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
June 13, 2005
My Opinion on the Jackson Verdict?
My opinion is that it's about time it was over... now maybe we can get back to more serious issues...
Posted by John Bambenek at 4:34 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Oil Jumps to $56 a Barrel as Jackson Verdict Nears
Oil has jumped to $56 a barrel on reports that the Jackson verdict is in...
Developing...
Posted by John Bambenek at 4:06 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
June 10, 2005
Mental Note: Never Take a Summer I Class Again
Summer I, a four week term. A three hour class meets for three hours a day 4 times a week.
Never again. Though the class was good, regardless.
Posted by John Bambenek at 2:48 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
June 8, 2005
What's the best RSS aggregator?
I'm looking to change how I read blogs... right now I use Thunderbird on my PC but if I'm away, then I get backlogged...
Is there something better online, like feedster, except updated on a regular basis?
Posted by John Bambenek at 11:07 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
Friday Fax / Let's Keep Trying the Same Failed Strategies til We Get Different Results
Despite the fact that these programs have no ability whatsoever to contain AIDS, they keep trying them anyway, expecting different results. The only difference is that want even MORE money with which to fail with. That's the UN for you, the potential for so much good, but insists on being a big hole in the center of Manhattan you sink money into and never get any results.
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UN Calls for Closer Links Between AIDS Prevention Programs and Abortion
Yesterday the UN wrapped up a high-level conference to evaluate the progress achieved in combating the spread of HIV/AIDS since the 2001 Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS. While the UN acknowledged a failure to make significant progress and admitted that it was unlikely to reach its original goal of containing the disease by 2015, the blame was apportioned to insufficient funding rather than ineffective strategies. The UN called for more financial support for its current strategies, including the integration of HIV/AIDS prevention programs and "reproductive health services," which in UN speak include abortion.
The UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan admitted that HIV/AIDS is still expanding at an accelerating rate, and last year saw more new HIV infections and AIDS-related deaths than ever before. There are now 39.4 million people worldwide living with HIV. The hardest-hit region continues to be sub-Saharan Africa, which accounts for 64 percent of all HIV infections. In Swaziland, the most affected country, 42.6 percent of pregnant women tested HIV-positive last year.
Jean Ping, the President of the General Assembly, also stated that the threat of HIV/AIDS today is far greater than four years ago. By the end of 2006, 11 countries in sub-Saharan Africa are expected to lose more than 10 percent of their workforce due to AIDS.
Speakers focused on the shortfall of funding for current efforts rather than questioning the effectiveness of current UN strategies to battle HIV/AIDS. Peter Piot, the Executive Director of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), claimed that UN programs would succeed if the current amount of funding were doubled from $8 billion to $14-16 billion annually.
Access to conference proceedings was mostly restricted, and the final recommendations were not made public but were summarized at the closing session by Jean Ping, the President of the General Assembly. However, the proceedings merely reaffirmed the need for a scaling-up of current UN efforts, rather than recommending new strategies.
The preparatory document on HIV/AIDS prevention stressed the need for "linking sexual and reproductive health and HIV/AIDS." According to Ping, the actual discussion recommended the breaking down of "taboos" regarding sexuality and high-risk behavior, and called for a closer link between "sex, hygiene and procreation" programs and HIV/AIDS prevention efforts.
Among the papers circulated at the conference was the Stockholm Call for Action, a radical manifesto created on April 12 at a conference sponsored by the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) and the Government of Sweden. This Call declares that "access to reproductive and sexual health information and services is integral to efforts to curb the HIV/AIDS epidemic" asks for young people to have "access to gender-sensitive reproductive and sexual health . . . education and services," and supports the inclusion of "universal access to reproductive health by 2015 as a target for MDG 5" at September's Summit at the UN on the Millennium Development Goals, the UN's current major initiative.
Copyright 2005 - C-FAM (Catholic Family & Human Rights Institute).
Permission granted for unlimited use. Credit required.
Catholic Family & Human Rights Institute
866 United Nations Plaza, Suite 427
New York, New York 10017
Phone: (212) 754-5948 Fax: (212) 754-9291
E-mail: c-fam@c-fam.org Website: www.c-fam.org
Posted by John Bambenek at