More Universities Telling RIAA to Prove It!

For way too long, RIAA and the MPAA have been bullying universities into revealing student identities without due process. Universities are starting to tell RIAA to prove it. In an article from p2p.net, Duke University is telling RIAA to “put up or shut up” by requiring RIAA to prove that there has been a violation before the university will take action.

There can be many reasons a “false positive” can be generated when monitoring P2P networks and cause an innocent person to be charged. There are many unsecure wireless access points to be found anywhere allowing P2P applications to use an unsuspecting person’s network connection. Of course, the IP address will point to the subscriber and not the downloader. RIAA doesn’t seem to care if they litigate the right person or not, just as long as they get someone.

All I’m saying is that RIAA needs to go through the same legal process as anyone else and bear the burden of proof that is on the accuser.
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Tags: Copyright, Downloads, Movies, MP3, P2P, RIAA, Songs

When is a man really a woman?

It was all over the news about the pregnant “man”. But, after all the hype, it was revealed that the man was not a man at all, but a very confused woman. Of course, the media refer to her as a him, but in my way of thinking, if you were female until you were 20, then decided to be male, but keep your female reproductive organs, you are female.

Now, (s)he is pregnant again. It seems to me that if one wants is born with the ability to birth children, and wants to be able to birth children, you wouldn’t want to change to a man. It makes me think that this was all done for publicity. I wonder how confusing it will be if their children try to explain that ‘daddy’ gave birth to them.

Tags: Gender Change, Hormones, Pregnant

How safe is flying? Can you trust your Air Marshal?

Since 9-11, the number of air marshals has grown from 33 to over 3000 and with good reason. However, a USA Today article casts some doubts as to the hiring practices of this agency.

According to the article, more than three dozen federal air marshals have been charged with crimes. This, believe it or not, is not the part that really concerns me. Any agency is going to have problems with a small percentage of their officers and the air marshals are no exception. The important thing is that they deal with the problems quickly and decisively.

The serious problem is not that a small few are stupid, but that the Federal Air Marshal Service does not seem to do enough to weed problems out before they are hired. They also have lessened their hiring standards to the point where it can create a dangerous situation.

According to USA Today, they dropped the requirement that required new recruits to prove speed and accuracy with firearms in close quarters such as an airplane. They still train, but do not need to prove proficiency

Also, they are hiring those with no law enforcement experience at all. This is a dangerous practice because new officers make more mistakes than their seasoned counterparts. That is dangerous enough on the streets, but it can be deadly at 30,000 feet where a marshall must make a split-second decision whether the person he or she is about to shoot is a passenger or a hijacker.

They have suspended requirements that air marshals pass a written psychological test and an interview with a psychologist or psychiatrist. These practices are standard for the hiring of a patrol officer, so they should much more be demanded by those in charge of our safety in the air. There is no backup at 30,000 feet.

Federal air marshals should be the best of the best, an elite force with more law enforcement experience than anyone else. They need to be decisive, fast and accurate with their weapons, and confident. They need to be of impeccable character and professional. They need to be as close to perfect as humanly possible. I don’t think that is asking too much.

The TSA has answered this article in their blog at www.tsa.gov.

Other TSA blog links:
Trollkiller’s World
Official TSA Blog

Tags: Air, LEO, Marshal, Officer, Safety, Travel, TSA

Oops, they did it again – AIG thumbs it’s nose at America

AIG execs once again appear to be flipping America off as they take our money.  Now, to the tune of $343,000, the top execs went to a secret meeting at a luxury resort in Phoenix last week while at the same time begging for another $40 billion in loans.  The hotel staff was forbidden to use or say anything that would identify AIG as being there – no logos, no signs, and according to one report, couldn’t even say the name AIG.  So, apparently, they were hiding out because they knew they were doing something that the American taxpayers would not approve of.

I, for one, am tired of them taking my hard-earned money and then telling me that they will do what they damn well please with it.  Company officials say that they will recoup much of the cost from product sponsors, so they apparently have a solid revenue stream.  If they can afford to waste $343,000 on a conference, they can afford to pick themselves up out of debt without any help from the taxpayers.  Wanton spending is one way they got themselves into this mess, they need to do what other Americans are doing and cutting back on everything.

The execs say that things like this are necessary for their business, maybe so.  But in hard economic times, we have to change some things around.  A meeting can be held anywhere there is a room large enough, and I’m thinking there are plenty of conference rooms at AIG’s headquarters.  And, they should require that all the attendees actually attend the meeting, not work out at the spa while others attend meetings, as Art Tambaro, president of AIG’s Royal Alliance Associates allegedly did.

There are plenty of Americans who have over-extended themselves that would love a bailout of their own.  I wouldn’t mind an extra $100k to pay off all of my debt.  American families are having to do without new cars, new clothes, vacations, electronics, etc.  We are having to cut our budgets, change our lifestyles, and do without.  We are watching our retirement accounts driven into the ground.  We should ask no less of the companies coming to us with their hands out, begging.

It is time for the feds to cut AIG off – now.  No more bailout for AIG, or any other entity who is behaving as irresponsibly.  Cut them off and demand immediate restitution.  Cut them off and demand the resignation of their CEO and other top managers, without golden parachutes and bonus packages.  Bailing out this company is offensive to me and to Americans.  They are spitting in the faces of those they are begging from.

Cut them off, break them up, and sell them off.

Tags: AIG, Bailout, Corruption, Waste

Hug a vet!

Today is the day we celebrate those who have picked up their country’s call to not only defend our borders, but defend the defenseless here and abroad.  Whether or not we support this war or that, we should support our military men and women are removed from their homes and families to serve their country.

So, today, go out of your way to thank a veteran, shake his or her hand, and maybe even hug them.

My thanks to all who serve in our armed forces.  Happy Veteran’s Day.

Suck it, AIG!

Kudos to New York’s AG Andrew Cuomo. Finally someone in governmnet has the spine to stand up and say “Enough”! The New York AG office sent a cease and desist letter to AIG telling them not to spend any more taxpayer money on lavish retreats, partridge hunts and the like. And, he indicates that he is going to recover all “past unreasonable expedentures.”

Needless to say, I’ll be watching this one.

For more information, see the ABC news article.

Tags: AIG, Bailout, Corruption, Fraud, Greed, Waste

Current Student Testing Needs to be Left Behind

Standardized tests are the backbone of tracking student progress. Each year, students in certain grades are subject to a variety of tests to determine their progress. Schools and teachers are also measured with the scores of their students. Schools and teachers do need to be held to a high standard when they have such a stong influence on the future of our country. However, the standards must be fair.

Is the current testing accurately reflecting a teacher’s ability and a school’s success?

The current testing procedure does not track individual student progress, instead, it takes a look at the scores in the same grade level year over year. Any educator can tell you that there is a distinct generational difference between, say, this year’s 6th grade and last year’s 6th grade. Each year of students having their own unique needs. You end up comparing apples to oranges.

Instead of tracking entire grades of students, we need to focus more on tracking individual student progress. Instead of looking at the entire 6th grade and concluding that 85% the students pass this year instead of the 90% who passed last year constitutes a failure on the teacher and/or school, we need to look at the students individually.

If in the 5th grade, little Johnny was reading on a grade 3 level, but now in the 6th grade, he is reading on a grade 5 level, then he’s made great progress and that should reflect on the teacher and the school as a positive. True, he’s still below grade level, but it is not only difficult, but unfair to expect a teacher or a student to improve 3 grade levels in just one year. Especially when you have at least 20 other students on different levels and different aptitudes.

It’s true that teachers and schools must be able to serve students who range from very low to very high, and most do this very well. However, the current standard of testing does not take into account that the majority of last year’s class were high-level students, but the majority of this year’s class are lower-level students. Each year, the individual student may have made adequate progress, but the class as a whole, when compare to last year’s class, did not. So, which is the more accurate picture?

By tracking an individual student’s progress, educators can target lessons to address weaknesses and challenge strengths.

If we truly want to leave no child behind, then we need to update our evaluation systems.

Tags: Education, Students, Teachers, Testing

TSA – Help or Hindrance?

We constantly see news reports of new threats and steps that the Transportation Security Administration are supposedly taking to mitigate these risks.

We also see reports where the TSA makes huge mistakes, trying to make their agents immune to security measures, or just plain not doing their job.

Aside from the pain in the rear end of having to take shoes off, I really haven’t had any problems directly with any of the TSOs or checkpoint procedures. The longest I’ve had to wait was in Seattle and that was about 10 minutes. But there are plenty of horror stories out there.

A few interesting blogs I’ve found:
Trollkiller’s World
Official TSA Blog

Tags: Air Travel, Safety, Security, Travel, TSA

AIG Execs Need a Different Kind of Retreat

When a company is in trouble and requires the Federal Government to bail them out, maybe the fluff should be the first to go. Executives of companies bailed out by the feds, and ultimately the taxpayers, should be living under a microscope.

Days after AIG received $85 billion from the Federal Reserve, AIG spent $440,000 entertaining executives. Now, they’ve paid $86,000 for a hunting trip in England just after they recieved another $37.8 billion in taxpayer funded loans. According to AIG execs, though, these trips were already planned months before any bailout or loans and therefore were necessary and allowable.

Big Deal. How many families have had to put their vacations on hold just to make the mortgage payment, put gas in the car and food on the table? How many of these families have seen the main breadwinner suddenly unemployed. I’m sure the mortgage company didn’t say “Go ahead and take your vacation. By the way, here’s a loan to help you fuel your car and buy groceries, use it in Hawaii. Pay it back when and if you can.”

This is just another example of how these huge companies are laughing at Main Street America.

Maybe a different kind of retreat is in order. I’m thinking a bit of time as guests of the federal or New York penal systems may help out. I understand they have an excellent fitness program as well as massages (if you find the right roommate).

An interesting Fox News article can be read at Fox News.

Tags: AIG, Bailout, Corruption, Fraud, Waste

Up Like a Rocket, Down Like a Feather

Well, according to news sources, the last time oil was at $87.00/barrel, gasoline was averaging $2.77 nationally. It is averaging about $3.40 per gallon now. So, why the disparity? I guess I can’t complain too much, I bought gas at $2.73/gallon yesterday. But it always seems that when oil prices go up, gasoline prices follow closely, however, when oil prices go down, gasoline is slow to follow.

I’m assuming that the reason the national average is still hanging in there is because of the ultra-high prices in the Southeast. If that’s the case, then the average should drop like a rock sometime next week.

Anyway, according to oil-price.net, the price for oil is down to a little less than $80.00/barrel. Of course, the experts who were all doom and gloom about high oil prices are down doom and gloom about them falling and how it will hurt the economy. Um, in case they haven’t noticed, the economy is already in a big hurt…

But, I’m thinking lower gasoline prices, while may be bad for the oil companies (who, by-the-way, raked in BILLIONS of extra profits over the past few years) would be good for the overall economy. Lower fuel prices will encourage those who’ve been staying close to home to travel a bit more. This also means staying in hotels, eating out, and spending money that Americans have been a bit reluctant to spend. It should also mean that all other prices (groceries, dry goods, etc.) that went up because fuel went up should start coming down. But, that probably will be feather-like, too.

Tags: economy, gasoline, oil