meta-roj

T-Mobile Says Hacker Penetrated Computer Network [reuters, january 13, 2005]

A California man faces felony charges of hacking into cell phone company T-Mobile’s computer network to steal hundreds of names and social security numbers, according to court documents released on Wednesday.

because t-mobile has a lot of reasons to keep social security numbers?

is this a good time to propose that companies that keep and compromise data that they do not need for business be forced to pay for all the updates and upgrades that their customers will have to go through?

it’s been a while since i’ve shared a business model with my loyal readers, but i am inspired by the vermont teddy bear company which will only be competing for a limited time.

Strait-Jacketed Teddy Bear Brings Protests [ap via abc news, january 12, 2005]

The Vermont Teddy Bear Co. said Wednesday it would continue selling its strait-jacketed “Crazy for You Bear” through Valentine’s Day, despite protests from mental health advocates.

…

The company said it would discontinue the bear, but not before Feb. 14.

yeah, ok… so some people will be offended. some people can’t handle the cute. but if you’re worried about “a tasteless use of marketing that stigmatizes persons with mental illness,” just you wait until i come out with the whole line of psych-med drug bears. of course, to avoid lawsuits from the pharmaceutical companies (unless, of course, they’re interested in being sponsors….), i’ll probably have to go with generic names (and avoid prozac), so allow me to introduce:

fluoxetine-bear, pimozide-bear, risperidone-bear, clozapine-bear, fluphenazine-bear, haloperidol-bear, loxapine-bear…

… and we’re just getting started. plenty of other psychoactive meds already on the market, and even more in the pipeline.

each one, of course, will come with a pill bottle, some evidence of mental issues (now safely under-control) and common side-effects of their particular prescription. for example, the obsessive-compulsive disorder bears might include no fur below the elbows, and vomiting and flatulence sound (adverse reactions of fluoxetine hydrochloride).

the vermont people went at this market all wrong. nobody sees straighjackets anymore (ok, well, not many), but we’ve got millions of medicated people – even children – among us all the time. this isn’t a dig at mental disorders, of course, it’s something for the kids to relate to. “see? fluoxetine bear has a grumbly tummy just like yours… now take your meds.”

White House Fought New Curbs on Interrogations, Officials Say [ny times, january 13, 2005, registration]

The Senate had approved the new restrictions, by a 96-to-2 vote, as part of the intelligence reform legislation. They would have explicitly extended to intelligence officers a prohibition against torture or inhumane treatment, and would have required the C.I.A. as well as the Pentagon to report to Congress about the methods they were using.

…

In interviews on Wednesday, both Senator Susan Collins of Maine, a Republican negotiator, and Representative Jane Harman of California, a Democratic negotiator, said the lawmakers had ultimately decided that the question of whether to extend the restrictions to intelligence officers was too complex to be included in the legislation.

so, the senate stepped up to this job, 96-2, but ultimately it was canned by leadership because it was “too complex”? i thought the whole point of having senators and representatives was to deal with issues that were too complex for me to understand with the busy life i lead.

of course, i haven’t seen the language (anyone feel like diggint that far?), so i’m working on second- and third-hand accounts, but i think the issue is pretty clear.

in fact, the issue is so simple, our president has spoken directly to the question…

president george w. bush, june 27, 2003

The United States is committed to the worldwide elimination of torture and we are leading this fight by example. I call on all governments to join with the United States and the community of law-abiding nations in prohibiting, investigating, and prosecuting all acts of torture and in undertaking to prevent other cruel and unusual punishment.

do as we say, not as we do, right? this is how america leads by example in the 21st century?

it’s an inside joke. you had to be there.

[now playing: “big in japan” – alphaville]

Search for Banned Arms In Iraq Ended Last Month [washington post, january 12, 2005 – registration]

The hunt for biological, chemical and nuclear weapons in Iraq has come to an end nearly two years after President Bush ordered U.S. troops to disarm Saddam Hussein. The top CIA weapons hunter is home, and analysts are back at Langley.

In interviews, officials who served with the Iraq Survey Group (ISG) said the violence in Iraq, coupled with a lack of new information, led them to fold up the effort shortly before Christmas.

the hunt is over, and the the results are in – which are basically the results we saw back in september with the preliminary report. no stockpiles, and no active programs.

15229 to 17443 dead civilians later, and the iraqi people haven’t exactly welcomed their new overlords with flowers and chocolate.

well, at least we’ve taught them something [reuters, january 11, 2005] since the invasion.

economic thinkers

spice

o doubt, buried with a #2 pencil

once upon a time, in a land so near to here, in jackson and george counties, mississippi, someone found some naked supreme court justices. and panicked.

Some Miss. Libraries Ban Jon Stewart Book [ap via abc news, january 9, 2005]

Library officials in two southern Mississippi counties have banned Jon Stewart’s best-selling “America (The Book)” over the satirical textbook’s nude depictions of the nine U.S. Supreme Court justices.

“I’ve been a librarian for 40 years and this is the only book I’ve objected to so strongly that I wouldn’t allow it to circulate,” said Robert Willits, director of the Jackson-George Regional Library System of eight libraries in Jackson and George counties.

it’s just a start. soon, we’ll be able to protect children all over this great land from naked humor.

Sudan, Southern Rebels End 21-Year War [reuters, january 9, 2005]

Bare-chested warriors danced and turbaned heads bowed in prayer when Sudan’s Islamist government and southern rebels sealed a comprehensive peace agreement on Sunday ending Africa’s longest-running civil war.

i know most of the world is still focused on south asia, but this was worth mentioning.