If you have ever wondered why dialup sounded so strange, this video has the answers!
“The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.” - United States Constitution, Amendment I.V.
Earlier today the United States House of Representatives voted in favor of the bill titled “FISA Amendments Act of 2008.” To become law, all that is now needed is for the Senate to also vote in favor of the bill, plus the president’s signature. Given the fact that it is the administrative branch that introduced this bill, there is no chance that George W. Bush will veto it, and it is also highly unlikely that the Senate will stand against it.
Don’t let the word “foreign” in “Foreign Inelegance Surveillance Act” fool you: this law claims to give the Feds permission to spy-on/search anyone they want. However, this goes directly against the Forth Amendment to our Constitution. Our legal system provides methods for changing and removing things from our Constitution, and those methods have been used 27 times in the past. Not one of the subsequent 23 Amendments have altered the 4th, therefore making today’s legislation unlawful.
What does this say of the people who voted for this unlawful legislation? There are many opinions on this, but I would say that it makes the people who voted in support of it criminals, as they have violated our laws. Criminals by our law are unfit to hold an elected position in our government.
I sent an email to my representatives yesterday, telling them that I would actively campaign against them if they voted for this legislation. This is just the beginning of my fulfillment of that promise:
- The Honorable Lamar Alexander: (202) 224-4944
- The Honorable Bart Gordon: (202) 225-4231
Just a few minutes ago I discovered a rather interesting looking piece of collaboration software software known as Dimdim. From the website:
Image copyright Linux.com
Dimdim is a free web conferencing service where you can share your desktop, show slides, collaborate, chat, talk and broadcast via webcam with absolutely no download required for attendees.
Basically, the software lets you create a virtual meeting place online. In a meeting you can communicate via text, voice and chat. The software also gives the presenter the ability to present power point presentations and share PDF files with the viewers. All attendees have access to a “white board” where they can draw (diagrams and slimy faces, I suppose), and presumably take notes.
The software comes in three versions, the first being the full blown proprietary version (which must be paid for, of course), the free hosted version, and the “Community Edition“, which is licensed under the GPL V3.
I haven’t had the chance to test it out yet, but Dimdim certainly seems worth looking into. What do you think? For those YWAMers who are reading this post, do you think that this program might be useful for digital communication within our mission (aka, comment section below)?
Photo by vgm8383.
It may come as a surprise to many a citizen of the United States that our elected officials in the Congress and Senate do not actually read the laws that they vote on. And with bills that are usually hundreds of pages long, I don’t blame them… almost.
It is actually common practice for our elected officials to skip their duty to read what they vote on, and simply skim over a one-page sheet summarizing the legislation only a few minutes before the vote. Even worse, it is common practice for the people sponsoring the bill to change/add key parts to the text, no more than an hour before the vote, therefore sneaking laws into our legal system. This is how the much loved Patriot Act became law in our nation.
Just today I Stumbled Upon the Read the Bills Act, which is a piece of attempted legislation by the Downsize D.C. activist group, aimed at making our elected officials actually read what they vote on. Among other things, it would require that any bill due to be voted on would be posted on the Internet a week before the voting, and that during that time it could not be edited in secret.
The idea behind this act is so simple, I see no reason why anyone would vote against it. However, that is exactly what will happen if the lobbyist crowd in D.C. is more active about this issue than we are. It is important that we make our voices heard on this issue.
If you would like to let your senator or congressmen know where you stand on this issue, please click here. You’ll be taken to a simple form where you can fill out your contact info, and personalize the email that will be automatically sent to your elected officials.
I’ve written about this before, but I just found this great video that summarizes the issue quite nicely. Be sure to check it out.
