Proving once and for all that they are unabashed corporate whores, the Bush Administration has decided to let Hillary Rosen write Iraq's post-Hussein IP laws. They're not even being subtle about raping the world anymore. I can think of nobody more inappropriate (save for maybe Jack Valenti) to write IP laws. Watch fair use and all non-DRM media go out the window. Watch for them to plug the analog hole by forcing people to wear blinders and earplugs unless they pay the RIAA to be able to take them off. Watch Ronald Reagan suddenly appear 35 years old in all of his portraits...sort of reminds me of a particular finctional work:

 
And if you question the RIAA, that's doubleplusunpatriotic. I can only hope that Rosen gets caught up in a friendly fire incident...

It's official. Michael Powell and the FCC are corporate whores. So now the RBOCs are being given an unregulated monopoly over lines that the public paid for. And they're doing this in the name of encouraging investment? Now maybe I'm missing something, but can't the RBOCs sit back and make a handsome profit off the existing (paid-for) infrastructure without incurring any risk? Even under the 1996 regulatory structure, the competing DSL providers had to pay the RBOCs a "competitive" fee for access to those lines. The RBOCs would then set that fee ridiculously low so that their broadband units could show a profit and they could complain to the FCC about losing money on leased lines. Say goodbye to any decent DSL service like Speakeasy. Say goodbye to Covad and Earthlink. And say hello to major increases in prices for broadband service. I guess it's back to dialup for me. This is something we need to be up in arms about. I'm salivating at the thought of people throwing molotovs outside SBC's headquarters. Of course, this is America, where our rights and interests are trampled by corporations and we stand by and suffer.

God save the Queen
the fascist regime,
they made you a moron
a potential H-bomb.

God save the Queen
she ain't no human being.
There is no future
in England's dreaming

Don't be told what you want
Don't be told what you need.
There's no future
there's no future
there's no future for you

God save the Queen
we mean it man
we love our queen
God saves

God save the Queen
'cos tourists are money
and our figurehead
is not what she seems

Oh God save history
God save your mad parade
Oh Lord God have mercy
all crimes are paid.

When there's no future
how can there be sin
we're the flowers
in the dustbin
we're the poison
in your human machine
we're the future
you're future

God save the Queen
we mean it man
we love our queen
God saves

In the 1970's, England had The Clash (RIP, Joe) and the Sex Pistols to save them. In the 1980's the US had bands like the Dead Kennedys, Bad Religion, and others. In the 1990's, the US had Rage Against the Machine and underground bands like Anti-Flag. Who will step up in our current decade and become a hero against the evil corporatists who run our country?

There are some obvious choices, like Ralph Nader, but I don't know if he can beat the Democrat's assinine rhetoric about how he (and not our antiquated electoral system) supposedly cost Al Gore the presidency. There are others (like Dennis Kucinich, Peter Miguel Camejo, and several cultural figures) who will certainly take the mic and shout for all to hear that our system, the people who run it, and the people who sponsor it are the cause of most of our pain...but will they be heard?

I don't claim to have the answers...just posing a question. I know the libertarian-leaning /. crowd (if they bother to read this) won't hesitate to rip it, but what the hell...more free speech is better than less.

Slashdot. The great online community. Wow. I'm actually part of a community. Maybe I should become a politician.

I really don't know what to say here. Maybe that's the beauty of it: I can say whatever I want or nothing at all.

I'm getting bored here. I think I'll go write some code.