Day: April 26, 2006

Update: feel free to call 202-456-1111 (the White house comment line) and quote any or all of this post, or simply make your own statement of concern/disappointment.

I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.

I was not certain that Iraq was the right war at the right time when that adventure began. I had even graver doubts about the wisdom of the Administration’s prosecution of that adventure when Bremmer began botching the victory won, nevertheless, I have remained a supporter of President Bush and even of the Iraq adventure, because I could see where things could work out to our advantage. And indeed, things are lately going pretty much for the better there.

But the rest of the Global War on Terrorism (I steadfastly refuse to use the hideous term “War on Terror” to refer to anything at all—black mark on the Administration for using that abortion of the English language. *heh*) is being poorly prosecuted at best. The Saudis’ feet are scarcely being held to the fire they have stoked; the TSA (and indeed much of the “Homeland Security”-related bureaucracy) is a mess at best and horrible infriongment on a free peoples’ rights at worst; the failure to clearly state the message that our true enemy IS Islam—all are among the many failures of the Bush Administration, and President Bush personally.

Nevertheless, I have steadfastly supported both the president and his policies because they have at least, for the most part, been better than the alternatives.

But his complete surrender to the reconquistadores is the straw now breaking this camel’s back. It’s just one thing too much. The Bush Administration’s committment to NOT actively pursue enforcing our borders and the laws on the books renders it illegitimate. He and his administration have broken faith with the American citizenry, he has voided his pledge to uphold the Constitution and the laws of the land and he has abandoned all principle in the face of political correctness.

And he has shown complete incompetence in so doing.

Heck, simply enforcing laws against the hiring of illegal aliens alone would “deport” millions of illegals over the next few years. If at the same time, his administration actively protected and enforced our borders, the tide would soon turn.

And that’s with no new laws, no extraordinary measures.

Instead, he thumbs his nose at the majority of Americans who KNOW our porous borders are a national security risk. He mouths instead foolish, and patently false, proclamations that we cannot deport the millions of illegals who are already here, and he cedes our sovereignty to (largely) Mexican citizens whose own country does rigidly protect its own borders.

Heck, if Mexico can (and it does) rigidly enforce its own borders, President Bush NOT doing so here is an admission of defeat. Might as well cede the U.S. to Mexico.

(image from Rumormillnews)

Entonces podríamos todos aprender español, eh?

Update: feel free to call 202-456-1111 (the White house comment line) and quote any or all of this post, or simply make your own statement of concern/disappointment.

Nailing this thesis to the Conservative Cat’s door and at Diane’s Stuff.

Look, spyware, viruses, worms and trojans are bad enough, but paying money for software to protect against these things and finding out the software is crap can be even worse.

Recently, I found another anti-spyware product that I feel fits the category of crapware. Now, keep in mind, the software I’m about to opine about is “highly rated” by some computer mags. Maybe that ought to tell you something about computer mags, as well…

I subscribe to a lot of computer newsletters, RSS feeds from comp mags, etc. Some are better than others. Brian Livingston, for example, has one of the best Windows-related newsletters out there, one that is about as transparent as you can get when it comes to his process of arriving at recommendations, etc.

Others are not so transparent. Sometimes it takes a while to weasel out the financial incentives a newsletter or mag may have for handing out a recommendation for a product, often a product not worth recommending.

Such a product, IMO, is Spyware Doctor. It advertises (often in a thinly-disguised “review-ad” that does little more than parrot company propaganda) all over the web, including in so-called newsletter “reviews.” as offering a free download and scan for spyware.

I’ve tried this piece of crap out and here’s what happened: it scanned my computer and found 16 spyware problems. Oh, my! Not good. Except… each of the problems it found were false positives. Each and every “problem” was related a legitimate, spyware-free piece of software. Not one legitimate problem was discovered, although one was labeled a “high risk” (yep: it was a legitimate piece of software).

After delivering the alarming news, the software offered to rid me of these legitimate pieces of software if I would only pay to register it.

Now, how many folks do you think fall for this? Naive users who download, scan, discover “problems” (some of which could potentially be legitimate problems on some users’ computers), PAY for the license and then “clean” their computers of legitimate programs?

Enough to keep the software available.

My advice? If you MUST try these things, first do an anti-spyware scan with Spybot Search and Destroy, Adaware (the real one from lavasoftusa.com) and even Microsoft Anti-Spyware. With that as a baseline,

1.) Create a Restore Point
2.) Download the software you want to try and SCAN IT with an up-to-date anti-virus (heck, scan it with another anti-spyware product before and after installation, too)
3.) Perform a scan, and when it returns results, don’t just accept its identification of problems
a.) copy the file names listed
b.) search the web using your fav search engine for
references to that file name
c.) note all the characteristics of the file listed in your
web search and compare to the files as found on
your computer

You may discover, as I did, that the “problems” found are false positives (or simply fake problems to get you to buy the product?).

BTW, even legitimate anti-virus software can register some false positives, although I’ve found the problem to be most prevalent with Microsoft’s Anti-spyware software (it keeps insisting, for example, that VNC is spyware. Go figure. Maybe M$ should take it up with Bell Labs. *heh*).

Noted at Bacon Break — those bastards!

“Every new sweeping tax law Congress enacts — always called a ‘reform’ — makes the job even more complicated and, if possible, more confusing. And the tax code longer. But we’re all supposed to swear, on penalty of perjury, that we’ve done our best to find it… Is tax reform the answer? It’s more like the problem, since every reform tends to complicate tax law only more. And the longer and worse the tax code gets, the less chance there is of really reforming the thing. What to do? Don’t mend it, end it. Abolish the tax code and start all over. Think about it: Would anybody starting from scratch come up with a system as indecipherable and counterproductive as the one we’ve got? So why not opt for a clean break with the past? Abolish the Internal Revenue Code and begin anew.” —Paul Greenberg

“[The tax code] is a monstrosity and there’s only one thing to do with it. Scrap it, kill it, drive a stake through its heart, bury it and hope it never rises again to terrorize the American people.” -Steve Forbes

I can think of not one single person who thinks that the income tax is not broken. As Paul Greenberg asks above, “Would anyone starting from scratch come up with a system as indecipherable and counterproductive as the one we’ve got?” Not hardly. The only question is, what do we replace it with? This week we’re going to keep it short and simple, because you have a homework assignment.

We can argue till the cows come home about the relative benefits of the Fair Tax, the Flat Tax, and the Income Tax (are there benefits to the Income Tax?), but “the proof is in the pudding”, as they say.

Please take the time you might spend reading a longer post, and visit The FairTax Calculator. There are eight (8) fields to complete, you’ll probably need your income tax return and a current paycheck for yourself and your spouse (if you’re married). After doing that, click “Submit” to get your results. Don’t forget to read the note at the bottom of the screen regarding your FICA (Social Security) taxes!

Then comment on this blog regarding the results. Would you like to see the FairTax implemented? I’m betting the answer will be a resounding Yes!

This is Wednesday’s Open Trackback Alliance post. Link to this post and track back. See more info at the foot of this post.

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Seen the article, “Meeting Doctor Doom,” in The Citizen Scientist? It’s no real surprise that radical greens hold the views described there, but that the person described recieved an award as 2006 Distinguished Texas Scientist from the Texas Academy of Science at the meeting where he gave the speech reminded me of the vast chasm that sometimes seems to lie between the current crop of “Academia Nuts” and most other folks…

“…But there was a gravely disturbing side to that otherwise scientifically significant meeting, for I watched in amazement as a few hundred members of the Texas Academy of Science rose to their feet and gave a standing ovation to a speech that enthusiastically advocated the elimination of 90 percent of Earth’s population by airborne Ebola. The speech was given by Dr. Eric R. Pianka, the University of Texas evolutionary ecologist and lizard expert who the Academy named the 2006 Distinguished Texas Scientist….”

You really must read DL’s post about this at TMH’s Bacon Bits, if you have not already.

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Also note the other fine blogs featuring linkfests at Linkfest Haven.