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 Tuesday, March 11, 2003
Bush backs plan for better DNA tests. MSNBC Mar 11 2003 7:40PM ET [Moreover - moreover...]
It is way to late for Houston (see below). This still needs to be passed by Congress. This will pay out about $200 million a year for 5 years. There are about 120 centers (from the article). This works out to $1.5 million each. This is nice to have but will do nothing to really overcome the huge backlog. And it still has yet to become real money. So far they just talk a good story. 8:32:21 PM 
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My Wife just did not believe that this was real. Amongst all the mess we are in, I am sure glad that those Representatives are worried about someting SO important. Wrapping yourself in patriotism is what always happens when you have no new ideas. The House is a joke. 8:01:29 PM
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Nice to see how we treat our allies. Anyone who disagrees with us becomes 'cheese-loving surrender monkeys'. At least this is a little better than the warning the US ambassador gave to Mexico. It was almost like sending someone called Vito who said 'Gee, this is a nice establishment you have hear. Shame if it burnt down." To say that Bush loves Mexico and would do nothing no matter how it voted, but that Congress could do all sorts of bad things. Maybe instead of Mexican food, Congress will rename it Southwestern Style or maybe Freedom Food. This Congress does not do anything without the approval of the Bush White House. The White House demonstrated this by getting Lott replaced with their guy. His father said it best at Tufts just a few weeks ago: You've got to reach out to the other person. You've got to convince them that long-term friendship should trump short-term adversity. 7:48:40 PM
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Bear market to continue, Buffett says. The world's premier investor doesn't see a quick end to the current bear market in stocks. [Business]
What Rebound? Tech Firms Still Slashing Jobs. If the economy is rebounding, no one seems to have told tech companies. They're still laying off people left and right, and some are afraid we're headed back into another recession. The overall rate of layoffs has slowed, but that's partly because there are only so many people you can actually lay off. If the tech companies saw the light at the end of the tunnel, they would likely try to hang onto workers a little longer, but that doesn't seem to be the case.
[Techdirt]
300,000 lost jobs. We are still a long way from any sort of a recovery. 6:23:24 PM
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DMCA hits Journalism. Unhappy targets of journalism, especially those in the technology industry, are using the DMCA to stop leaks from turning into published material. As you know, journalists often find themselves in the possession of information that others would very much like to stop them from publishing (Pentagon Papers, leaked memos, technology specs, the works). But the "power of the press" has ensured that whoever wishes to stop them simply can't - they don't control the printing... [bIPlog]
This is interesting. Could the government have prevented the Pentagon Papers from being published on a web site by using the DMCA and claiming copyright? DMCA does not require that the claimant actually prove they hold the copyright before a takedown occurs. You could have had anyone provide the request. This is what we see with a poorly conceived law that must be changed. And propbably would be if we were not distracted by bread and circuses. 5:31:11 PM
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Groove as Warware. Mitch Kapor has left Groove (see NYT story) whilst I agree with others who are impressed with an unusual show of ethics in the technology sector, I like Rick Klau's speculation:
The far more interesting question for me: what are the implications of Microsoft being among the largest shareholders in a company that is providing domestic surveillance software to the Pentagon? And who raises this kind of bubble money in today's economy?
Here's my guess: Ray Ozzie has many relationships within the government, and Groove's COO (Chuck Teubner) "began his career as a programmer, analyst and manager of application development for the Defense Department" and later held an executive management position with Martin Marietta. Microsoft has a few exemptions to their antitrust settlement with the DOJ dealing with national security. Whatever business plan is being shopped around to investors, I guarantee you that Groove is presented as a company with a growing lock on the burgeoning homeland security market. Groove as groupware may be interesting to the average user. Groove as warware appears to be terribly interesting to investors. And guess which constitutency will win? I think that is the lesson of Mitch Kapor's departure.
[MonkeyX - Hairy Thoughts]
Groove is really interesting software but is rapidly entering the X Files realm of conspiracy theories. 5:23:17 PM
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Review of DNA Clears Man Convicted of Rape. Josiah Sutton was convicted for rape after a Houston laboratory told the jury that his DNA matched the rapist's. But new testing has confirmed otherwise. By Adam Liptak. [New York Times: Science]
Science can not overcome incompetant, even criminal behaviour by the prosecution and its crime labs. Any case that uses up all the evidence in DNA testing, preventing it from being used by the defense for their own testing, should be thrown out.This is even worse than throw-down guns used by police. This is something that was done coldheartedly by those that ran the crime labs. They should have criminal charges brought against them. This is a major problem when underbudgeted city departments just do not do their jobs. Well, actually, this department apparently did. They got convictions. Now they will get major lawsuits.Pay me now or pay me later. Let's hope no one has been wrongly executed because of this. 12:05:05 PM
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