Blackhacker

eWeek

Study: Blogs Haven’t Displaced Media
By Ellen Wulfhorst, Reuters
May 16, 2005

NEW YORK (Reuters)—Web logs, or blogs, may be a powerful new force in U.S. politics but they have not displaced traditional media in terms of information and influence, a study by the Pew Internet & American Life Project revealed on Monday.

But I knew this already.

Ever since I blogged this article about JP Morgan’s link to slavery I have been geting a lot of google ads for “slave” or “sex slave.” Links don’t go anywhere so why do I get them ?

Samuel Butler

“All progress is based upon a universal innate desire on the part of every organism to live beyond its income.”

Showdown in the Senate has been avoided as a deal is struck that paves the way for an up or down vote on three Judicial Nominees. No Commitment on the other two, and the “Nuclear” is taken off the table.

NYTimes

Bipartisan Group in Senate Averts Judge Showdown

By CARL HULSE
Published: May 24, 2005

WASHINGTON, May 23 - A bipartisan group of 14 senators struck a last-second agreement on Monday that defused - at least for now - a potentially explosive parliamentary showdown over eliminating Senate filibusters against judicial nominees

After reading the article it looks like nobody is getting what they want… This MUST be the right solution. Of course everyone reserve the right to return to “DEFCON 1″ if somebody is not upholding their end of the bargain.

Brinkmanship … It’s like living back 80’s again (only no Russians).

Beta News

MCI Employee Data Stolen
By Ed Oswald, BetaNews
May 23, 2005, 1:09 PM

MCI revealed on Monday that a burglary at a financial analyst’s home resulted in the loss of a laptop with approximately 16,500 names and social security numbers of current and former employees. According to MCI, the laptop was password protected, but the company did not say if the data was encrypted.

The question is begging to be asked: What the HECK is Employee personal info doing at somebodies house?
Stupid Stupid Stupid Stupid Stupid !!!

FreeBSD 5.4 came out yesterday

The Release Engineering Team is happy to announce the availability of FreeBSD 5.4-RELEASE, the latest release of the FreeBSD Stable development branch. Since FreeBSD 5.3-RELEASE in November 2004 we have made many improvements in functionality, stability, performance, and device driver support for some hardware, as well as dealt with known security issues and made many bugfixes.

And it has a torrent!!!!

This story caught my eye the WSJ this morning and I did some Googling to get a broader context.

BAW

JP Morgan’s Slave Ties Disclosed, Response Offer Called ‘Insulting’

Date: Sunday, January 30, 2005
By: Michael H. Cottman

JP Morgan Chase, the nation’s second-largest bank, has acknowledged that prior to the Civil War, thousands of slaves were accepted as collateral for loans by two banks that were later linked to the banking conglomerate.

In a company-wide letter, the New York-based bank apologized for contributing to “a brutal and unjust institution” and announced that it was setting up a college scholarship fund for black students in Louisiana to compensate for slavery.

BBC

JP Morgan admits US slavery links
House on plantation in southern US
The US’s economic history hides some unpleasant truths
Thousands of slaves were accepted as collateral for loans by two banks that later became part of JP Morgan Chase.

The admission is part of an apology sent to JP Morgan staff after the bank researched its links to slavery in order to meet legislation in Chicago.

WSJ (ca-ching)

A Historian’s Quest Links J.P. Morgan To Slave Ownership
Bank’s Distant Predecessor
Took Human Collateral
For Rich Client’s Debt

By ROBIN SIDEL
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
May 10, 2005; Page A1

COVINGTON, La. — Hired by J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., historian James Lide descended on this quiet hamlet last year and began digging into the 170-year-old records of Citizens Bank of Louisiana, a predecessor of the New York bank.

After 3,500 hours of research, he confirmed what his client didn’t want to hear: Between 1834 and 1861, Citizens had secured loans with mortgages on land — and thousands of slaves.

A little back ground. In 2003 Chicago passed an ordnance that make any company doing business with the city must investigate and disclose its ties to slavery. Bank One did some bond work for the city and it was acquired by JP Morgan. After the investigation this what came up.

For those whose business it is to be outraged they are of course outraged at the reaction of JP Morgan. I am not. I think it is a good first step. I think what is more interesting though is we see through this one local ordanance how much the entire country profited from the worst Human rights crime in US History. Especially for those who think they have nothing to do with slavery, that it remains was in the passed, and that they owe no reparations.

Court overturns broadcast flag

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled on Friday that the Federal Communications Commission did not have the authority to prohibit the manufacture of computer and video hardware without the so-called “broadcast flag.”

Whoo Hoo !!!!!

Real ID pretty much sailed through the House. Will most likely do the same in the Senate and signed in to Law. C|Net has got FAQ detailing everything you need to know about this bill. Including a link to how each Congressman voted.

What’s going to be stored on this ID card?
At a minimum: name, birth date, sex, ID number, a digital photograph, address, and a “common machine-readable technology” that Homeland Security will decide on. The card must also sport “physical security features designed to prevent tampering, counterfeiting, or duplication of the document for fraudulent purposes.”

Homeland Security is permitted to add additional requirements–such as a fingerprint or retinal scan–on top of those. We won’t know for a while what these additional requirements will be.

One might note that easiest way to “prevent tampering, counterfeiting, or duplication of the document for fraudulent purposes” is to NOT PUT IT ON THE CARD.

Another Little gem

You said the ID card will be electronically readable. What does that mean?
The Real ID Act says federally accepted ID cards must be “machine readable,” and lets Homeland Security determine the details. That could end up being a magnetic strip, enhanced bar code, or radio frequency identification (RFID) chips.

In the past, Homeland Security has indicated it likes the concept of RFID chips. The State Department is already going to be embedding RFID devices in passports, and Homeland Security wants to issue RFID-outfitted IDs to foreign visitors who enter the country at the Mexican and Canadian borders. The agency plans to start a yearlong test of the technology in July at checkpoints in Arizona, New York and Washington state.

RFID. What the heck does that mean? That mean that ANY PERSON with an RFID reader can send a signal to my drivers license and get the info on it. If a person wanted to tamper with, counterfeit, or duplicate the document for fraudulent purposes he wouldn’t have to rummage though my garbage, a get me to download spy ware on to my computer, I would just have to WALK down the freaking street.

Note to self: I see a future for wallets lined with aluminium foil.

From: “Neateye”
To: “Bh”
Subject: Gouranga
Date: Wed, 4 May 2005 21:54:53 +0100

Call out Gouranga be happy!!!
Gouranga Gouranga Gouranga ….
That which brings the highest happiness!!

definition or
GTA Ad ?
Some
other
gourangaed
people.

Scratching my head too.