First Looks category archive

Good news:

An Australian firm and its director have been fined a total of A$5.5m (£2.2m) after it was held responsible for sending out more than 230 million spam emails, 75 million of which were successfully delivered, during a two year spamming blitz.

Wayne Mansfield, and his company Clarity1, of Perth in Western Australia, fell foul of the Spam Act 2003, which came into effect in April 2004. The court action stems from an April 2006 raid of Clarity1’s offices during which investigators seized computer equipment.

This year is the 60th anniversary of the bikini swimsuit.

Let us all raise our glasses in a toast!

Update, 7/30/2006: The local rag’s Elizabeth Wellington reflects on the meaning of the bikini here.

On the Media, which aired today in the Greater Philadelphia Co-Prosperity Sphere, included an interview with .J. Goldberg, editor of the Jewish newspaper The Forward. He discussed U. S. media coverage of the Middle East. Here’s the website’s description of the show:

Whenever news media turn their attention to the Middle East, accusations of bias – from all sides – are sure to follow. This week was no exception. But the story’s a little different than it’s been in the past, and bias aside, American media haven’t quite adjusted to the new realities. That’s the view of J.J. Goldberg, editor of the Jewish newspaper The Forward. He tells Brooke that journalists’ attempts at “scrupulous balance” come at the expense of accuracy.

In the midst of his comments, he stated that left-leaning blogs have been relatively silent regarding the Lebanon-Israel situation.

Not the blogs I’ve seen! I won’t even bother to post any links. Start on my sidebar with the Huffington Post and just go from there.

But I have been silent about it.

Now, I am not a political blogger; I’m a blogger who has politics. I do not do this for political ends; I do it because I like making computers work and I like shooting off my mouth. And I am not afraid to express my opinions.

Nevertheless, I have avoided discussing what’s going on in Lebanon. I am so distressed and appalled at the events there I just do not want to think about them, let alone form opinions. I go to Professor Cole’s site every other day or so, but can’t finish reading the reports of death, destruction, and mayhem.

I fear the opinions I would form, for none of them fill me with optimism.

But it is further evidence that the current Federal Administration’s vision of a Pax Americana enforced with U. S. arms is, at the most charitable interpretation, a fantasy and, at worst (and I happen to believe the worst here), a duplicitous hoax upon the American people and the world.

God help us all.

Update, 7/30/2006: A transcript of the interview is here.

Nothing I can say beats the unvarnished facts:

In a scandal that has shaken the state’s Republican-dominated government, four Ohio politicians pleaded no contest Wednesday to ethics violations.

Lucas County Commissioner Maggie Thurber, Toledo City Councilwoman Betty Shultz, former Toledo Mayor Donna Owens and former state Rep. Sally Perz were fined $1,000 each on misdemeanor charges of failing to report gifts worth more than $75.

They were accused of receiving money from prominent GOP donor Tom Noe, then contributing it to President Bush’s re-election campaign in their own names in an alleged scheme by Noe to skirt laws limiting individual contributions to $2,000.

It’s the GOP’s Contract on America.

Update, 2012-10-22:

Expired link to the Contract on America fixed, thanks to a heads-up from a reader.

This story in today’s local rag left me with profoundly mixed emotions:

On April 28, Catherine Andreacchio, whose son had shipped out for Iraq on March 23, hung a Stars and Stripes – with a U.S. Marine Corps emblem in the center – from the front of her Montgomery Township home.

A few days later, she said, she took it down at the request of the homeowners’ association at her development.

The association said she was violating its rules by flying what it calls a “defaced” flag. And the American Legion says it violates the U.S. flag code.

But on Monday, Andreacchio put it back up and sent a three-page, single-spaced letter to the association protesting its opposition to that version of the flag.

On the one hand, I have nothing but sympathy for Ms. Andreacchio. My older son returned from Iraq in November, where he was dispatched to defend honorably a dishonorable regime. And no doubt he will be returning, because of the incompetence, venality, and corruption of the current Federal Administration. I know her concern and worry.

On the other hand, I believe strongly in observing proper flag etiquette. And a flag of the United States of America with the Marine Corps emblem–or any other emblem–on it is an improper flag.

So, while I honor her emotions, I must state that I have qualms about her actions.

Which leads me to other musings–about those who would ban burning the flag of the United States of America as a form of protest.

As distasteful as I find that act, I believe it shows more respect for the flag than those who favor “flag-burning” amendments show. After all, those who burn the flag believe it means something, and that, by burning it, they make a statement.

Those who favor “flag-burning” amendments tend to wrap their greasy hair in the Stars and Stripes bandanas, or clothe their fat (rear-ends) in the Stars and Stripes shorts and then sit on it, or put adulterated representations of the Stars and Stripes in the rear windows of their vehicles. and think that, in doing so, they are showing their patriotism.

They dishonor the flag and what it symbolizes far more than Ms. Andreacchio’s adulterated “Marine Corps” flag or those who would burn the flag thinking that it actually stands for something.

A couple of weeks ago, I posted about “bots” and “botnets.”

The law is starting to strike back:

A 21-year-old computer whiz was sentenced to nearly five years in federal prison for taking control of 400,000 Internet-connected computers and renting access to them to spammers and fellow hackers.

Among the machines authorities said Jeanson James Ancheta infected in 2004 and 2005 were those at the China Lake Naval Air Facility and the Defense Information System Agency headquartered in Falls Church, Va.

In other news, “Spamford Wallace” been ordered to pay a multi-million dollar settlement for planting spyware:

A federal court has ordered a man who was at the center of the nation’s first “spyware” case to give up $4 million in ill-gotten gains.

Sanford Wallace was accused by the Federal Trade Commission of running an operation that infected computers with software that caused flurries of pop-up ads. It then tried to sell consumers cures called “Spy Wiper” and “Spy Deleter” for $30

.

Mutation Nation, from Professor Juan Cole:

Late night comedian Conan O’Brian does a shtick where he has a silly computer program meld the faces of two celebrities to see what their kids would look like, only the program works to exaggerate the features of each, so that you always have a freakish result.

The news today makes me think that it would be worthwhile melding Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon to see if the result looked like W. Because George W. Bush faces the weight of a long Asian land war gone badly wrong, just as Johnson did. And he faces the charges of high-level corruption and illegal wiretapping that dogged Richard Nixon. He has become both “Mah feller Amurcans” Bush and “tricky Georgie.” W. has survived all this relatively well, given the dreadful facts of it.

Unlike Johnson, he does not operate a hated draft, but depends on gung-ho volunteers (some of whom are a little too gung-ho and have made a lot of unnecessary trouble in Iraq by shooting a lot of people for DWI, Driving While Iraqi). The volunteers’ families and friends are not clamoring for an end to the war with the fervor that those of the draftees did in the 1960s and early 1970s. Johnson was in the end defeated by powerful challenges from within his own party, which caused him not to seek another term. Bush faced no such challenge in ’04. His party has gone along with him. Of course, Tom DeLay is not exactly a paragon of virtue. The corruption of the party itself, which has few Robert F. Kennedys, has abetted Bush’s continued dominance and free ride for his crimes.

Interesting thought.

Update, 2013-10-07: Link updated thanks to the kindness of a visitor.

Here.

I recommend this one as a starting point. (This link is probably still broken–I’m looking for the updated one, if that video is still on the site.

(Note: Broadband recommended. These are large files.)

A number of folks think that the current Federal Administration’s aversion to legitimatizing its eavesdropping with warrants is that it is not doing targeted eavesdropping, but that it is “data mining.”

This post gives an extremely clear description of data mining:

Most Americans don’t understand what is meant by “data mining,” a digital “fishing expedition.” To clarify what’s happening, I’ve created a hypothetical scenario: Suppose that my daughter is in India visiting her in laws. I call her to wish her a happy birthday. Instead of dialing the country code for India, 91, I dial the country code for Pakistan, 92; and instead of dialing the city code for Bombay, 22, I dial the city code for Karachi, 21. I make a transposition error. As a result, instead of getting my daughter’s extended family, I reach the office of the “Jihad R Us” madrasah. When I am greeted in Urdu, I realize my mistake and hang up. Meanwhile, the National Security Agency computers monitoring international calls note that I have contacted “an organization that is affiliated with al-Qaida.”

In addition to phone traffic, the NSA computers have access to all my personal and financial data. Alerted by my call, their software scans my digital records and finds that I recently made a contribution, by means of my Visa card, to an organization in Pakistan – they don’t care that it was for humanitarian assistance to earthquake refugees. At this point, the NSA computers flag me as a “possible terrorist sympathizer;” their software decision logic, their algorithm looks at my data and computes my “threat score” – much like the FICO score assigned to determine credit worthiness. Because I have a threat score above a certain threshold, the NSA software makes an algorithmic decision to monitor my phone calls, read my email, and check my financial transactions. The NSA computer system goes “fishing” in my personal data. This is “data mining;” looking for patterns in massive amounts of data. In this case the NSA software is looking for actions – phone calls, money transfers – that indicate an al-Qaida supporter.

In other words, they are looking for anything.

And they haven’t found it.

As we say in the computer biz, it’s led to a flood of data, but no infomation. But it gives the current Federal Administration the masturbatory idea that it’s doing something useful.

Face it, these are folks who don’t read.

They sacrifice our privacy to their incompetence.

And the sad truth is that, when they take our privacy, it does not reduce their incompetence.

Ralph Reed, of the Christian Coalition, seems to be running into some trouble with his campaign for the Republican nomination for Lt. Governor of Georgia:

DAWSONVILLE, Ga. — Ralph Reed, candidate for lieutenant governor, had just finished his opening statement to the Dawson County Republican Party when retired pulp paper executive Gary Pichon sprang from his seat with a question that cut to the chase:

“Did you accept any gifts, commissions or other payments of any kind from Mr. Abramoff, and are you likely to be a party in the unfolding investigation?”

Ralph Reed’s ties to former lobbyist Jack Abramoff have hurt what has been a promising political career for the former head of the Christian Coalition.

Abramoff, the once-powerful lobbyist at the center of a wide-ranging public corruption investigation, pleaded guilty Jan. 3 to fraud, tax evasion and conspiracy to bribe public officials in a deal that requires him to provide evidence about members of Congress.

Silence enveloped the 60 or so Republicans in the auditorium, and Reed’s cheerful manner turned tense. “No,” he replied. “No to all these.”

Mr. Reed’s website’s lead story as of today is that

Reed Campaign Makes History, Shatters Fundraising Records

$1.8 Million Raised Gives Reed Largest Cash Advantage for any Lt. Governor Candidate, Republican or Democrat, Entering Election Year in Georgia History

They leave out the part that, as details of the Abramoff affair have spread, Mr. Reed’s fundraising has started to tail off (follow the link to the Washington Post story for details).

Later on in the story, a citizen who was interviewed on the street said this (emphasis added):

“Ralph Reed? He’s a politician,” said David Loudenflager, a Republican who retired after working 32 years for the Arrow Shirt Company. “He was involved with Jack Abramoff and the Indians and all those.”

Loudenflager does not like the Democratic Party — “they give away everything” — but he puts no stock in the Christian Coalition: “All these people running around telling you how good they are, and how right they are. You better be careful and hold on to your wallet.”

Mr. Louodenflager’s is good advice.

I have always found it wise to be careful of those who break their arms patting themselves on the back.

From the annals of the Geek Squad:

The first two stops of the day for Meade and Gudusky had nothing to do with holiday exigencies. They were networking problems – folks who had recently switched to high-speed cable Internet service were having trouble hooking up, or were trying to link one or more computers wirelessly. Flashing their badges at the door, the Geek Squad set right to work. In both cases, they encountered unforeseen obstacles (an overheating hard drive, an outdated operating system); such is the rule, not the exception. “Solving problems is what we do,” Gudusky said. “That’s the fun of it.”

Robert J. Samuelson, never one to be accused of being liberal, or, in some cases, of being moderate, has a recipe for curing the deficit:

Makes sense to me. As one nearing retirement age, I could easily support each of these proposals. Even the Medicare drug benefit (that reminds me: I forgot to take my blood pressure medicine today; better stop reading the news) was ill-conceived, ill-enacted, and, with its provision that the government could not negotiate drug prices, more a gift to Big Pharma than a benefit to the needy.

And I must note that all of the legislation he would undo was enacted under the current Federal Administration and the current Republican Congress. None of it was initiated by the so-called “tax and spend” liberals. It all resulted from the “spend and spend” conservatives.

I’m not going to wade into the fray on this, but I have to cite, courtesy of Suburban Guerrilla, the single wittiest comment I’ve seen on the topic, for our political discourse could use far more wit (it has precisely half what it needs):

Tom DeLay found the one law about fundraising in Texas and broke it.

—Molly Ivins

The theme of today’s episode of A Chef’s Table on WHYY-FM was competition and food, such as recipe contests, bake-offs, and competitive eating, which I discussed earlier this week, including references to the Wing Bowl and the Black Widow and an interview with a Cookie Jarvis, a professional competitive eater.

You can listen to it here this week. After this week, you should be able to find it in the Archives section of the website.

Only in America (and, apparently, Japan).