Beyond The Broken Spectrum

WASHINGTON — The revelry of Washington Mardi Gras begins tonight at the Washington Hilton.

Physically, the Hilton is at the intersection of Connecticut and Florida avenues. Metaphysically, the Washington Mardi Gras is at the crossroads of what people like about Louisiana and what they don’t like about Washington, a long weekend bacchanal that unfolds in the twilight glow of good times and ethical questions.

For three days and nights, Washington lawmakers and lobbyists and Louisiana movers and shakers make merry — at a Thursday night party “free” to those fortunate enough to score a coveted wristband, at a $150-per-person Friday night dinner dance and at a $200-a-head Mystick Krewe of Louisianians Ball.

The Mystick Krewe, the governing authority of Washington Mardi Gras, decides who can buy tickets to the dinner and ball. Another group, Louisiana Alive!, run by Wayne Smith, a Washington lobbyist and former chief of staff to Louisiana Sen. John Breaux, distributes the wristbands to corporate sponsors, krewe members and congressional staff.

In a new age of ethical transparency, Mystick Krewe and Washington Alive!, both private organizations, are opaque. The Mystick Krewe was created by Sen. Russell Long in the 1950s to take over responsibility for Washington Mardi Gras. Its membership includes all the members of the Louisiana congressional delegation, who take turns chairing the annual event. This year the honor belongs to Rep. Rodney Alexander, R-Quitman.

For Melanie Sloan, executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, Washington Mardi Gras is Exhibit A of how ineffectual even tightened congressional ethics rules have proved to be. Especially problematic, she said, is tonight’s event. No one buys a ticket and yet they all enjoy a lavish party paid for with corporate money. The purpose, aside from having fun, according to Sloan, is to gain access and influence with members of Congress and especially their staffs.

That it is a Louisiana event is hardly surprising, she said.

“Louisiana is known for a little more relaxed idea of ethics,” Sloan said. “It’s definitely a party place.”

Even with Edwin Edward in prison and Bobby Jindal in the Governor’s Mansion, Louisiana seems disinclined to surrender that reputation. .

“One of the few things we have left to brag about is we know how to throw a party,” said Tulane University historian Lawrence Powell, who has never been to Washington Mardi Gras but believes the professional hair shirts in Washington need to lighten up.� Continued at Nola

by Stephen Gordon

I shore love me some tax cuts, but…

While I hold the highest of respect for former Reagan speech writer Peggy Noonan, she seems to be missing a vital point, right now.� She’s written, IMO, some of the best political speeches of my lifetime.� At times, she’s also been willing to criticize the GOP for fiscal irresponsibility. In her most recent Wall Street Journal article, she made some valid points about the Obama stimulus package du jour.� However, it’s telling that the following terms are missing from her article: deficit, balanced budget, and debt.

Also at the Wall Street Journal, Rush Limbaugh proposes his stimulus plan, which allows Obama to spend $486 billion as he sees fit and for Limbaugh to be able to direct $414 billion toward tax cuts as he sees fit.� To be sure, Limbaugh’s suggestion is a bit tongue-in-cheek, but it is also lacking the same words as Noonan’s article: deficit, balanced budget, and debt.

At issue is whether we should spend a lot of money which we don’t have on “infrastructure” and a bit on tax cuts, or less money we don’t have on “infrastructure” and more on tax cuts.� There is no serious suggestion from either major party to deal with the deficit, decrease government spending, balance the budget, or decrease our debt.

Speaking to Reuters, Arizona Sen. McCain said the alternative plan would include what he described as “more effective tax cuts, such as a payroll tax cut” and spending on projects aimed at immediately creating jobs.

“A group of us Republican senators are working on coming up with an alternative package that I would hope would have some elements to it that Americans would support,” said McCain, who lost the November 4 U.S. election to Obama, a Democrat.

While I agree with him on many issues, former Treasury Department economist Bruce Bartlett is even suggesting that we use borrowed money to “invest” in our future.� I’ve seen Las Vegas gamblers drawing cash advances from their credit cards to invest in their “sure win,” too.

When looking at the typical family checkbook, most reasonable people realize that when they are egregiously overspending, there is a really simple solution: reduce spending.� Spending reductions to balance the family…. Continued At The Next Right

by Amber Gunn

H.B. 1718, nebulously titled “Reducing greenhouse gases in Washington,” was introduced two days ago and is scheduled for a public hearing tomorrow at 8 a.m.

The bill has been scheduled without the five-day public notice required by House Rule 24. Not only that, but legislators have elected to hold the hearing without bothering to calculate the cost to taxpayers. No fiscal note has been posted, no OFM analysis has been completed and the bill report was just posted this afternoon.

The arrogance of these legislators who would purport to be the “peoples’ representatives” while not bothering to give us the notice they claimed they would or telling us how much the bill will cost is unmatched. Not only that, but it is fiscal insanity that they would consider passing such a costly bill without even bothering to measure how it would impact the state budget or taxpayers’ wallets.

How will this bill terminate jobs? Let me count the ways.

The bill is a MASSIVE power grab by the Department of Ecology. It’s the kind of command-and-control, centralized bureaucracy approach that is the stuff that fascist regimes are made of.

Under the authority granted under this bill, Ecology may designate any product it deems to have an environmental, health or climate change impact (among others) as a “covered product” which means that the producers of that product must “collect, transport, and recycle” the product when people don’t want it anymore, “free” of charge, meaning the cost will have to be passed onto� consumers anyway in the form of higher prices.� The bill particularly targets producers of carpet, mercury-containing lightbulbs (i.e. energy efficient), paint and rechargeable batteries…… Continued at Liberty Live

By Sandra Ami

How� would� you feel to see a child’s face terrified with fear, with tears flooding their cheeks, arms reaching out for help “MOMMY! MOMMY! DADDY! DADDY!”� The child is being pulled away by strangers, the pain and pure agony of fear.� The screams so piercing they draw a crowd.� It not only breaks your heart but makes one think.

Where is the compassion and where was the law?

I’ve seen this far more often that I would have ever liked, more often than I would have ever chosen, far more often than I could have ever imagined possible.� But it happens every day.� Each day thousands of children and parents are going through this same painful torture.

It all starts with a report made to Children and Family Services.� Perhaps a neighbor that you’ve gotten into an argument with over a barking dog, or the methods of a teacher you challenged or you showing your disapproval of the teacher locking the children in the classrooms during school hours. Maybe it’s because of your husband’s new wife who doesn’t like you or doesn’t like having to pay child support to your children.� Or even a mother who files a complaint against the father out of anger or jealousy.� The reasons are endless but the results are the same.

When a mother calls in to report the father (or visa-versa), she’s cutting her nose off to spite her face.� She doesn’t realize that not only are they writing up reasons to alienate the father, but they are also writing up reasons to take the children from the mother for “Neglecting to protect the children.”

CPS, DHS, DCFS, DYFS, whatever name they go by in a particular county, they are still one in the same.� Their only intention upon any report is to put children up for adoption.� When a call comes in it is handled just as a sales call.� If any one of you have ever worked as a sales person, or owned a business, you� know how valuable a call in to place an order is.� The “department” is no different.� Each call that is made into their offices is a valuable financial, incoming call.

The Social Workers� are not interested if there was any actual abuse or neglect, they get a bonus to place children up for adoption. They use the calls as their guideline, on how the reports will be written up.� But, those reports will also have added allegations, accusations and almost always the SW will put in the report that one or both of the parents have “mental issues that prevent the mom (or dad) from parenting their child(ren).” The mental statements on the reports are to cause the parents more obstacles to prevent them from getting their children back and are rarely ever mentioned by anyone. The parent may never have seen a psychiatrist or therapist, and may never have been diagnosed with such conditions.

Continued at Amiablyme

I cannot take credit for this and do not know the author: peacefreedomprosperity.com

The new element, Governmentium (symbol=Gv), has one neutron, 25 assistant neutrons, 88 deputy neutrons, and 198 assistant deputy neutrons, giving it an atomic mass of 312.� These 312 particles are held together by forces called morons, which are surrounded by vast quantities of lepton-like particles called peons.� Since Governmentium has no electrons, it is inert.

However, it can be detected, because it impedes every reaction with which it comes into contact.� A tiny amount of Governmentium can cause a reaction that would normally take less than a second, to take from 4 days to 4 years to complete.� Governmentium has a normal half-life of 2 to 6 years.� It does not decay, but instead undergoes a reorganization in which a portion of the assistant neutrons and deputy neutrons exchange places.� In fact, Governmentium’s mass will actually increase over time, since each reorganization will cause more morons to become neutrons, forming isodopes.� This characteristic of moron promotion leads some scientists to believe that Governmentium is formed whenever morons reach a critical concentration.� This hypothetical quantity is referred to as critical morass.� When catalyzed with money, Governmentium becomes Administratium (symbol=Ad), an element that radiates just as much energy as Governmentium, since it has half as many peons but twice as many morons.

Stephen Gordon – The Liberty Papers

According to Rasmussen, “62% of adults say there should be a nationwide ban on smoking in all public places, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey. Thirty-three percent (33%) disagree, and five percent (5%) are not sure.”Here comes the money line:

Republicans, who usually frown on government restrictions, are more emphatic about the need for a nationwide smoking ban than Democrats, 66% to 59%. Sixty-one percent (61%) of those not affiliated with either party agree.

Sixty-four percent (64%) of whites favor such a ban, compared to 50% of African-Americans.

In mid-December, 22% of U.S. voters said the federal government should outlaw tobacco smoking.

Somehow, I’m not at all surprised about these data.

Here’s a quick thought for the Nannystatists (of any political persuasion) out there:

When the Nannystatists came for the smokers,
I remained silent;
I was not a smoker.

When they locked up the drinkers,
I remained silent;
I don’t drink alcoholic beverages.

When they came for the sex toys,
I did not speak out;
I don’t use sex toys.

When they came to ban guns,
I remained silent;
I don’t like guns.

When they came to ban free speech,
I didn’t say a word;
As I no longer had a gun to protect myself.

When they came for me,
there were so few individual liberties or civil rights remaining, there was no way for me to defend myself from the government.

Yahoo – A California appeals court has ruled that a Christian high school can expel students because of an alleged lesbian relationship.

The 4th District Court of Appeal in Riverside on Monday upheld California Lutheran High School’s right as a private, religious organization to exclude students based on sexual orientation.

Two girls sued claiming they were discriminated against after they were expelled from the Wildomar school in 2005. A lower court said the school isn’t bound by the same anti-discrimination laws as a business establishment.

John McKay, attorney for California Lutheran, says the school’s goal is to educate based on Christian principles.

The attorney for the girls could not be immediately reached Tuesday.

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Yet again, our judicial system has squashed these student’s civil rights by handing down this ruling. This school is charging to educate students, therefore they are a business, regardless of whether or not they are a religious organization. Since this school is a business, it is subject to the laws that businesses must follow regarding discrimination. I hope these girls appeal this ruling and ultimately end up sueing the school for discrimination.

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After mulling this issue over, I have come to the conclusion that I do not have a legal leg to stand on in this matter. Even though the school is a business as it gives a service in return for money, laws governing any sort of learning institution holds private schools to different standards then other businesses.

This school is backed up by law in their choice to do this, however I believe the law should be looked at and changed so that a private school must adhere to the same policies that a business does. This would prevent private schools from infringing on civil rights. If a business cannot deny service to someone based on their sexuality, then a private school shouldn’t be able to either.

Whether Hoffman will collect, however, is questionable.

The defendant, C&D Dock Works, filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in May because of the incident, said its former owner, Charles Brunty. A judge in November 2007 ruled that the company was negligent.

C&D was the general contractor on the job, to which Hoffman was sent by a temporary labor agency. Brunty said he hasn’t worked for months and could not afford a lawyer, so no one defended the company in court.

“There was no negligence on my part,” Brunty said. There was a rail at the edge of the water, he added, indicating a potential danger.

“Why he went into the water, I don’t know,” Brunty said. “There’s got to be some common sense, too.”

The accident happened while Hoffman was waiting for a sea wall to harden. Accounts diverge. In one, Hoffman’s boss and co-workers put up money — either $10 or $20, according to varying versions — to goad him to enter the chilly water. In another, Hoffman offered to jump into the river in exchange for the money.

It is undisputed that he fell about 10 feet into about a foot of water and landed on his head, breaking his neck between his fifth and sixth cervical vertebrae.

Hoffman tried to get workers’ compensation payments, but the claim was denied in 2005 because the agency he worked for had no workers’ comp insurance, both sides said. His family has no health insurance, and he owes $1.5 million to hospitals, Van Dingenen said.

Before the accident, Hoffman hoped to work with reptiles at a zoo and was planning to get married and eager to have children. He and his fiance parted not long afterward, Van Dingenen said. Now, Hoffman is totally dependent on others.

“He hopes for a better day and a better life if he can collect on a judgment,” Van Dingenen said. “He hopes to be able to walk one day.”

http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/01/16/teen.strip.search/index.html

WASHINGTON (CNN) — A 13-year-old Arizona girl who was strip-searched by school officials looking for ibuprofen pain reliever will have her case heard at the Supreme Court.

The U.S. Supreme Court will decide whether school officials were right to strip-search a student over ibuprofen.

The justices accepted the case Friday for review. They will decide whether a campus setting gives school administrators greater discretion to control students suspected of illegal activity than police are allowed in cases involving adults in public spaces.

Arguments are expected to be heard in April.

At issue is whether school administrators are constitutionally barred from conducting searches of students investigated for possessing or dealing drugs that are banned on campus.

A federal appeals court found the search “traumatizing” and illegal.

Some parents say older children deserve the same constitutional rights as adults, but educators counter that a school setting always has been treated differently by the courts. They say a ruling against them could jeopardize campus safety.

The case involves Savana Redding, who in 2003 was an eighth-grade honor student at Safford Middle School, about 127 miles from Tucson, Arizona. Earlier that day the vice principal had discovered prescription-strength ibuprofen pills in the possession of one of Redding’s classmates. That student, facing punishment, accused Redding of providing her with the 400-milligram pills.

The school has a zero-tolerance policy for all prescription and over-the-counter medication, including the ibuprofen, without prior written permission.

Redding was pulled from class by a male vice principal, Kerry Wilson, escorted to an office and confronted with the evidence. She denied the accusations.

A search of Redding’s backpack found nothing. Then, although she had never had prior disciplinary problems, a strip-search was conducted with the help of a school nurse and Wilson’s assistant, both females. According to court records, she was ordered to strip to her underwear and her bra was pulled out. Again, no drugs were found.

In an affidavit, Redding said, “The strip-search was the most humiliating experience I have ever had. I held my head down so that they could not see that I was about to cry.”

With the help of the American Civil Liberties Union, Redding and her family sued, and a federal appeals court in San Francisco, California, ruled against the school.

The court wrote: “Common sense informs us that directing a 13-year-old girl to remove her clothes, partially revealing her breasts and pelvic area, for allegedly possessing ibuprofen … was excessively intrusive.”

The court said the school went too far in its effort to create a drug- and crime-free classroom. “The overzealousness of school administrators in efforts to protect students has the tragic impact of traumatizing those they claim to serve. And all this to find prescription-strength ibuprofen.”

In its appeal to the high court, the school district said requiring a legal standard of “probable cause” to conduct student searches would cast a “roadblock to the kind of swift and effective response that is too often needed to protect the very safety of students, particularly from the threats posed by drugs and weapons.”

The high court has had a mixed record over the years on students’ rights. The court could now be asked to clarify the extent of student rights involving searches, and the discretion of officials over those for whom they have responsibility.

President Obama warned Republicans on Capitol Hill Friday that they need to quit listening to radio commentator Rush Limbaugh if they want to get along with democrats and the new administration. At one point during a meeting between Obama and republican leaders, a critic spoke up about their objections to Obama’s stimulus plan, Obama simply replied “I won, I will trump you on that”.

Last I checked, Rush Limbaugh was a radio commentator, paid to discuss his views and opinions. I didn’t know he was so much of a problem for someone such as the president. I guess when you have a different opinion about something, there’s no way that you can get along with someone else that has a different opinion. Thats what I’m led to believe by President Obama’s statements. I could very well be wrong, but I don’t remember a point in time when a president denounced a radio talk show host or any sort of other editorialist and labeled them a troublemaker. I also don’t remember a time when a president so smugly retorted “I won”, especially in such a childish manner.

I listen to Rush on occasion, and there are times when I’m nodding my head in agreement and others when I’m yelling at the radio at what a moron he is. Rush is simply a talk show host who people listen to in order to hear a different perspective. He doesn’t command legions of drones, he has an audience that sometimes agrees with him, and at other times they don’t. Sure there are some listeners out there that idolize him and believe everything he says, but that can be said for just about any talk show host, and Obama himself.

Many people have been claiming that Rush has been saying, “I hope Obama fails”. Then all of these people have proceeded to blast him for what he’s said. However, as I’m sure many other people have already said, his words are consistently being taken out of context in an effort to start some mudslinging against him and put him in a bad light. If people were to actually listen to what he has to say instead of listening to sound bytes, you would quickly realize that people have been taking his words out of context. Rush has consistently repeated the fact that he hopes Obama’s socialist agenda fails, not that he hopes that Obama fails as president. Rush is trying to drive a wedge between Obama and his policies while others are portraying him as driving a wedge between Obama and conservatives, which Obama really needs no help with, as his actions to keep up heavy government spending and expanding government have conservatives outraged, and rightly so.

I have my radio tuned to the station in Texas that broadcasts people such as Rush and Hannity, two very conservative talk show hosts. Why do I have my radio tuned to this station? I’m basically a conservative and I agree with some of the things they say, while at times I scoff at some of the other things that spew from their mouths and even their caller’s mouths. I find myself changing the station at different points during the day after I’ve had enough of listening to the crap that they sometimes talk about. I’ve also heard liberal talk show hosts that are just as guilty of being ignorant at times as the conservative talk show hosts that many people loath. If these people are a problem for a president, then I’m not sure that person has any business being the president.

I find it odd that Obama speaks of unity and working together, yet denounces people for listening to a talk show host. If we want to accomplish anything and if we want to get along with the democrats, we have to stop listening to certain people. When I say we, I’m not talking about conservatives or republicans, I’m talking about everyone who isn’t in line with the democrat agenda. This is a two way street, and I will not advocate that someone stop listening to a certain person if they are to get along with me. It seems to me that instead of compromising, Obama wants us to just come to his side instead of meeting in the middle.

I am a Libertarian and I think and act for myself, no radio commentator is going to command me or any other person that chooses to think for themselves. I support the closure of gitmo, I support abortion, I opposed the bailout and all of the heavy spending that both democrats and republicans are doing, and I didn’t vote for McCain or Obama. I didn’t vote for nor did I support what Bush did either, however Kerry and Gore are just as bad of choices as Bush was. It’s pitiful that we run with a two-party system that systematically puts us in heavy debt and oppresses our rights while they hardly ever gives us good candidates to choose from. I am against the patriot act and against foreign aggression except in a defensive manner. I support a war on terror, not the war on terror. I don’t dictate with my bible or believe that everyone should be equal in a material sense. I believe that gay people should have the same exact rights as everyone else and that affirmative action is a load of bullshit. I don’t think the government is the solution to most problems and ultimately causes most of the problems they rush to “fix”. However, I do believe that regulations and laws are needed to provide a fair and free society.

We’re not all sheep as many politicians believe, and we do have ideas and opinions that are going to be different, and we shouldn’t be denounced for that. We have the right to say what we wish and listen to those say what they want as we wish. No politician should ever even hint at attacking our rights in such a way, as I feel that President Obama has. Why is everyone scared of the big bad radio commentator?

A student of a Burlington, Conneticut high school was barred from running for re-election for her secretary position as a class officer after her school found comments that she had made towards the school on her blog. She still won the election with a write in vote, however the school did not allow her to serve.

The comments were distasteful, however what she did was perfectly legal. She wrote the comments on her blog from her home on her personal computer, none of this was done during school or on school property. The school still felt the need to overstep it’s bounds and unjustly used their authority to censor this girl’s freedom of speech from her own home. The government doesn’t have the power to infringe on our freedom of speech, but it sure seems that our schools have no problem doing this.

The girl then decided to take the school to court over the issue, however a lower federal court sided with the school. U.S. District Judge Mark Kravitz, denying Doninger’s request for an injunction, said he believed she could be punished for writing in a blog because the blog addressed school issues and was likely to be read by other students. The case is now before an appeals court, however after arguments, the three judge panel did not issue a ruling.

I hope that this girl and her lawyer keep pressing, even if it takes them to the supreme court. A school is allowed to regulate what a student does while on campus or under school supervision, however after hours, a school does not have the authority to regulate what a person says or does. If cases like this are allowed to stand, then it will only add to the erosion of our rights.

Fox News Article

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Upon further review, this girl was a representative of her school as a class officer and can be held liable by the school for any public remarks she makes while holding her office of secretary. Otherwise, the school wouldn’t be able to do anything about a student making comments on their blogs off campus.

I believe and hope that we can find a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian problem, and while I’m not sure how this will play out, I have an idea of how it should. Something has to be done about this at some point or else we will never get the stability that we are looking for.

This will require first and foremost the cessation of hostilities against both sides. Yesterday a man and girl were walking along a beach and were injured by an artillery shell from an Israeli navy vessel who said they were firing warning shots at a fishing boat that had gone into restricted area. Incidents such as this cannot happen if there will be a solution. Hamas also must cease their aggressions towards Israel.

Next there will have to be a prisoner swap. Israel must release any palestinians that have not been convicted of a crime or have served half of their sentence. This will be very controversial in Israel as most all of it’s citizens are opposed to this. In return, Hamas has to release any Israeli prisoners and dead soldiers that they have captured. This would be a significant step in the process of mending relations and getting Gaza back on its feet.

Egypt must put an end to smuggling in Gaza and both Israel and Egypt must open their border to goods so that the rebuilding effort can begin in Gaza. The UN must control the entire rebuilding effort. It is international aid being used to rebuild the territory, therefore the UN as the representative of all nations should have complete control over spending and building. Hamas has demanded that any money used to rebuild Gaza be sent to Hamas to decide how the money is used. That cannot be allowed to happen.

Elections must take place in three months that will be completely monitored by a massive UN delegation to ensure that the elections are free and fair. This will establish who the authority is over the different seats of the government. All government held seats will be up for election. With the Palestinian state being split into two un-connected territories, a governor must be elected for both the Gaza strip and the West Bank. The seat of president would also be up for election and in this case the combined votes of each territory will select the new president. The new president will then be able to decide if the new federal government will be in West Bank or Gaza. Keep in mind this is the most optimal approach but I doubt it will be anything like this. However, elections that are monitored and work properly must be held.

Until the elections, the UN will have to be the administrator of Gaza, and after the elections, the UN will work with the new president to help finish the rebuilding of Gaza. No matter the outcome of the election, the entire world must recognize the country of Palestine and the legitimately elected leaders of each state and federal government. The borders will then be completely opened to everything except military grade weapons, which only the Palestinian government would possess. Relations would then be established between Israel and Palestine and both sides would put every effort they can into ensuring peace between the two countries.

If some how after this a militant group, mainly Hamas, starts causing problems and tries to overthrow the government, the Palestinian government should be backed by both Israel and Egypt with support to sustain a legitimate government. If Hamas does win the seat of President and abuses this power to attack Israel, it should be the duty of both Israel and Egypt to do everything necessary to eliminate Hamas once and for all.

It all sounds a bit far fetched, but its possible.

Fox News Cited

A U.S. District Judge has ruled that the mandatory moment of silence in Illinois schools is unconstitutional, citing that it crosses the boundaries of church and state and subject children at an impressionable age to contemplate religion. An Illinios talk show host Rob Sherman and his daughter who attends highschool, filed the lawsuit in an attempt to bar Illinois schools from enforcing the Silent Reflection and Student Prayer Act. The article does go on to state that he is an outspoken atheist, however I don’t believe that has any bearing on the matter.

While I do agree that this law is unconstitutional, I do believe that schools have the right to have a moment of silence for their students to reflect upon anything of their choosing, so long as no one is forced to participate. There should be no prayer sessions sponsered by the school, however groups of students may hold prayer sessions as they wish, so long as it is held at a time that does not conflict with class schedules.

People at both ends of this spectrum have been blowing this issue way out of proportion. There is no reason a moment of silence should offend anyone, and participation is optional. If you feel that because most everyone else is taking advantage of a moment of silence, you are being subjected to a religious experience, you should sweep those thoughts from your head. Perhaps you should take a moment to reflect on something in your life, it could be very positive, no one can mandate that you reflect on a certain subject. On the other hand, if you are taking advantage of the moment of silence and you are having religious reflections, please consider that others may not feel the same as you, and that isn’t a bad thing. We’re all different and should be observant of other people’s rights, just as you would expect them to observe your own rights.

The main problem though, is generally no one is willing to compromise, both assume they are right, and that the other is wrong and can’t be right. This is the root problem in most cases like this and even in many other unrelated cases and will continue to be a problem as long as people are passing laws that coincide with their morals more then common sense and fairness to others.

Yahoo Tech
Judging from the complaints and questions filling my inbox, Windows security looks like it’s already on track for its worst year this decade. The latest attack is a worm called Downandup, Downadup, Kido!, or Conficker (all the same thing), and it primarily seems to be being delivered via infected USB drives.

How’s it work? By tricking you into running the virus by modifying the way “autorun” works when you plug in a drive. Look closely at the screenshot above and you’ll see two entries for “Open folder to view files.” The one at the top is a phony entry that actually installs the virus on your machine… but of course it’s the default selection that pops up when you plug in a drive. Once installed, the virus spreads like crazy via a separate flaw in Windows networking system (now patched, so be sure to run Windows Update if you haven’t lately) and can quickly infect a whole office. F-Secure has more analysis on the clever way it tricks you into installing the malware yourself.

How bad has it gotten? Estimates range from 3.5 million infected in the first four days after it bean spreading to 9 million impacted… and gettng worse. By now I figure the numbers could top 15 or 20 million.

From an antivirus standpoint, fixing Downandup isn’t easy. The worm is particularly problematic because of the tricky way it involves the user in installing the software, bypassing auto-installation safeguards, plus its sophisticated way of avoiding detection, as it morphs its code constantly (using randomized elements) to make traditional, signature-based detection almost impossible.

Your best strategy for avoiding Downandup? Turn off AutoPlay/AutoRun on your computer (with Windows XP, TweakUI is the easiest way to do it). If you do see an AutoPlay dialog box like the one above, just close it and eject the disc or thumbdrive; browsing the drive manually for individual files should keep you uninfected, but you’re best off not using the drive at all. And of course, make sure your system is fully patched via Windows Update.

What if you already have Downandup infecting your machine? Try your standard antivirus utility as a fix. If that doesn’t work, F-Secure has a removal tool that should get rid of it. Good luck out there.