HAPPY BIRTHDAY

AMERICA


If you are an American sports figure, a celebrity, listed on Forbes or Fortune, then the odds are you have had your privacy violated by government workers and government contractors with access to restricted gov't computer systems. Especially those of the US State Dept. Some individuals files have been accessed thousands of times, even though there is only a necessity to access only once every 5 years. The article deliniates what possible crimes could be used for prosecution but the wording is so vague that a good defense attorney would easily acquire an acquittal.

Viacom, the media conglomerate, won a court decision forcing Google/YouTube to release all information about its users. Google is trying to get the court to allow it to delete any info that could be used to identify individuals.

One thing that McCain and Obama have in common. They are both "southpaws".

The detention center at Gitmo is going to be closed. Thats a given. But exactly when is unknown. Some prisoners will be returned to their native country. Some will be charged with crimes but 120, or so, are a problem. The gov't feels they are too dangerous to release but there will probably never be enough evidence to convict them of any crime. The gov't doesn't want them released but don't our laws require a person to be charged with a crime to remain in detention? Unlike our Civil War, when Lincoln suspended the rule of habeas corpus, that rule is still in effect and must be adhered to.

I haven't found an embeddable version of this video, yet, but an amateur camera man videoed a van full of oxygen tanks and gasoline explode when the driver lit a cigarette. The van's driver is in the hospital and is expected to recover from his burns. No one else was injured.

ICANN, the organization that assigns the names, numbers and domains for websites had it own site stolen yesterday.

Thank you for taking the time on our national holiday to stop in for a visit. I'll have more later.


"Let's all be careful out there!"