Media Watch

Saw the movie Wednesday night and have been processing it last couple days. It didn't change my mind -- and from the movie I can draw no conclusions. I was against Bush in 2000 and against the war in 2003. I think Bush is a poor leader and his circle engages in questionable practices. Will Conservatives stay with Bush? Of course they will. Will the movie convert a few conservatives into independents? I hope so.

Ellisblog

The nation obviously regards piping petroleum and natural gas products as more critical to human sustenance than water.  We spends billions on pipelines to deliver fossil fuels that destroy our environment and bring man to war, yet oxygen and water are given a backseat. On the other hand, why should I be surprised that government leadership that can't create a safe and reliable transportation infrastructure would act differently in this case?

If your computer’s acting up today, showing errors or shutting off completely, it might be infected with “Sasser”, a worm that hit computers this weekend. It does not use email to propagate, but it copies itself onto random vulnerable computers directly. Industry analysts suggest Sasser may have started in Russia. Microsoft is offering 250-thousand dollars in reward money for the identity of the author. Last year’s Blaster worm cost companies millions to fight, but Sasser may not have it so easy, due to acute awareness of such threats. In fact, Microsoft released a patch more than two weeks before the worm struck, that protects Windows computers from the worm. Speculation abounds that the very act of publishing a patch alerts would-be hackers and inspires attacks. The best defense against such threats? Keep your security patches up to date, use anti-virus software and put a firewall between you and the Internet.

A good download site... Tucows Downloads - Download freeware and shareware software

I want to tell an Iraqi person how I feel as an American. I am naive. I learned about America in text books. I learned about the world from text books. I have been given so much by our society and have put back so little in comparison. I volunteered for our military service as a promise and comitment to defend freedom, liberty and our American values. Luckily, I was not asked to fight in any war. I am truly a lucky individual. I was born into and inherited the principles of The New World, a place where freedom was born. We are not an old European country. We make no apologies for that. We are America! We are the United State of America. We are free people because our fathers and forefathers fought and died to establish it and maintain it. Freedom and liberty were gifts left by generations past. We came here to escape many injustices and built a land that is the envy of people of many lands. I am proud of my heriatage and I couldn't imagine living in another.

I was reading THE JEFFERSON MUZZLES the other day and it brought back a Dr. Phil quote from a couple years ago that has stuck with me, and it goes to the heart of secrecy. The thing that protects our liberties and freedoms most of all is the free speech principles of the First Amendment, which is responsible for keeping the government out in the open for all to observe, and thereby keeping it honest. If the government is permitted to operate under a veil, then it will most certainly be corrupt. One of the underlying themes of our form of government is distrust. Maintain a healthy distrust for the government, because when you start to trust it to provide for you, it will take away from you. Freedoms, liberties and money. But wait. That's already happening!