September 2002 Archives

"TENNESSEE ATTORNEY GENERAL WINS ANTITRUST SETTLEMENT IN LAWSUIT ALLEGING PRICING CONSPIRACY ON MUSIC CDS

Tennessee Attorney General Paul G. Summers announced today that five of the largest U.S. distributors of pre-recorded music CDs and three large retailers agreed to pay millions of dollars in cash and free CDs as part of an agreement on price-fixing allegations. "

$150,000,000 isn't quite chump change, but I wonder if it will have an actual effect on the price of CD's.

"Those soft-on-Saddam appeasers in the liberal media are still busy undermining the White House case for unilateral war. Those blame-America-first types are saying we sold Iraq biological and chemical weapons, and that the President is wrong about Baghdad's nuclear weapons program.

Oh, sorry -- that isn't the liberal media, it's the Washington Times. The ultra-right-wing Beltway daily not only scooped the rest of the press corps, but published an important story last Friday that is highly unfavorable to the President and his position on Iraq. Apparently reporter Joseph Curl called the International Atomic Energy Authority in Vienna to request a damning report cited by Bush on Sept. 7. "

Joe Conason comments and provides some good pointers on the story I mentioned yesterday. 

Protesters, some holding signs that said "No Blood for Oil," blamed Cheney for pushing the nation toward war. Police estimated about 2,500 people turned out for the peaceful event.

Not to be cynical, but I wonder how many of the protesters, attending the recent gatherings around the country, drove.  I'm sure there's no way to find out, but it would make an interesting sociological study I would think.

My Etree list has been updated after a few months of lapsing.  In celebration, a B&P of any item on it for anyone who asks.

In a press conference with Tony Blair on September 7th, Blair cited a new report from the International Atomic Energy Agency showing new activity at an Iraqi nuclear installation. 

"The point that I would emphasize to you is that the threat from Saddam Hussein and weapons of mass destruction, chemical, biological, potentially nuclear weapons capability, that threat is real. We only need to look at the report from the International Atomic Agency this morning showing what has been going on at the former nuclear weapons sites to realize that. And the policy of inaction is not a policy we can responsibly subscribe to. So the purpose of our discussion today is to work out the right strategy for dealing with this, because deal with it we must. "

That same day, the IAEA's spokesman said there was no new report.

Now, the same agency is saying the "Iraq could have a nuke in 6 months" conclusion drawn by Bush and friend is based on another non-existant report

""We've never put a time frame on how long it might take Iraq to construct a nuclear weapon in 1998," said the spokesman of the agency charged with assessing Iraq's nuclear capability for the United Nations."

Oops.  Is anyone at the Whitehouse (or 10 Downing Street for that matter) doing research?

"viameta"

Turkish officials announced Saturday they had seized a box filled with nearly 35 pounds (15 kilograms) of uranium. But Muzaffer Dilek, the mayor of Sanliurfa, a Turkish city near the Turkey-Syria border, said Sunday that the material amounted to only 140 grams -- about five ounces.

Wonder what all the folks screaming that this was the evidence against Iraq will say now.  The rush to judgement on the right was creating a bit of a traffic jam.

"There's a lot of talk about Iraq on our TV screens, and there should be, because we're trying to figure out how best to make the world a peaceful place. There's an old saying in Tennessee -- I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee -- that says, fool me once, shame on -- shame on you. Fool me -- you can't get fooled again. You've got to understand the nature of the regime we're dealing with. This is a man who has delayed, denied, deceived the world. For the sake of liberty and justice for all, the United Nations Security Council must act, must act in way to hold this regime to account, must not be fooled, must be relevant to keep the peace. "

The official transcript of Bush's "foolishness."  At least they didn't change it.

""Jam band" began as a simple jazz phrase describing musicians who got together to improvise, free from the rules of everyday gigs. Today it refers to about 200 artists. Many are acutely aware of a bizarre backlash against the term and - like every emo and hair metal and teenpop act that ever resented its "File Under" destiny - some have been reluctant to cop to it. "Please write about us in Relix and on Jambands.com, and please have us on your radio show Jam Nation," mocks Jambands.com writer Jeff Waful. "But don't call us a jamband.'" "

A good article on the jamband "genre" and the upcoming Jammy Awards in the Village Voice.  It attempts a definition at what jamband means, since many bands that get stuck in this pigeonhole resist the label:

"Ranging from consistently high-grossing, arena-sized tour stars to up-and-coming local unknowns, jambands share something, but it's not a sound. They're a stylistically disparate bunch, rooted in bluegrass, blues, rock, jazz, techno, country, and funk, but all connected by an invisible, indefinite thread. Online community, open taping policies, intricate light shows, long songs, varied set lists, constant tour schedules? Some of the above, usually."

Jacob Fred is up for the "New Groove" award.  They're up against amazing pedal steel guitarist, Robert Randolph and master of every style of guitar on earth, Fareed Haque's Garaj Mahal though, so I don't hold out much hope, as both of those bands have a much wider following (and are both VERY good, although in a somewhat more predictable way than the Fred's masterful team improvisation)

"The contemplation (of a new war) is enough to make me cry," Bissell said. Surveying the crowd that filled two blocks of the 16th Street Mall, he observed that "this is very much like the beginnings of the Vietnam War protests - mostly young people and people of color. But it will overwhelm Bush like it overwhelmed Nixon and Johnson. He's not paying attention to what people are saying."

A good article from the Denver Post on the protest yesterday.

Just returned from Boulder where I saw the Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey play.  This is the 6th time I've seen them live, and they get better and better each time I see them.  If you are at all interested in improvised music, you must see them when they come to your town.  To get a taste of what they're like live, you can grab their latest CD, "All Is One Live in New York".  In addition, if you buy the CD and support the band, I'll be happy to B&P (follow the instructions exactly if you want to get something back) any Jacob Fred show off my live show list.  Email me if you are interested.

The IMF protests in Washington were estimated at 2000 people.   They get all sorts of press because of the violence, but a larger peaceful protest in Denver, where the President is speaking seems to have gotten no national coverage.  This is what is wrong with the media.

Bush spoke today in Denver at the Adam's Mark Hotel, across the street from my office.   Approximately 3000 protesters showed up, making it the largest peace protest in Denver since Vietnam.  I wonder if anyone noticed?

Progressive jazz fusionists MMW, an acronym for Medeski, Martin and Wood, were formed in New York City, New York, USA, in the early 90s. At the beginning their shows together were regarded as part of a "connoisseur's scene' at clubs such as the Knitting Factory.

I never thought I'd see the day, but MMW's Uninvisible video is available on mtv.com.  I've seen the video once on MTV2, but the idea of MMW being streamed from MTV's web site is a little odd.

"Like many Democrats, I share the administration's goals in dealing with Iraq. Some in my own party have criticized me for that support. But this is a case that deserves to be made on the basis of policy, not politics. It's clear that in a world plagued by terrorism, protecting our national security means worrying about where terrorists could get their hands on weapons of mass destruction. Around the world, Iraq is the No. 1 candidate for spreading those weapons. We must deal with this diplomatically if we can, but militarily if we must."

Dick Gephard responds to Bush's recent actions.  Looks like he got Bab's fax.

"Members of Congress! Be faithful to your oaths of office and to the traditions of your branch of government. Think of the country, not of your re-election. Assert your power. Stand up for the prerogatives of Congress. Defend the Constitution. Reject the arrogance--and the ignorance--of power. Show respect for your constituents--they require your honest judgment, not capitulation to the executive. Say no to empire. Affirm the Republic. Preserve the peace. Vote against war in Iraq. "

A (hopefully) thought-provoking open letter to Congress from The Nation admonishing the whole bunch for failing to provide a voice of opposition to the imperial plans of George the II.

"viameta"

Madeleine Albright, the US secretary of state under Bill Clinton, on Thursday accused some members of the Bush administration of an "irrational exuberance for this conflict" with Iraq.

Speaking before the Senate committee on foreign relations, Ms Albright said: "It is not an American trait to want war.

"And it is not a sign of sound leadership to understate the risks of war or to offer constantly shifting rationales - as this administration has - for undertaking such a venture," Ms Albright said.

More Democratic opinions on the war.  I think this reflects my general feelings on the issue.  I don't understand why Bush, and some of his supporters, seem almost gleeful at the prospect of beating Saddam down.

"viadrudge"

" Today, Arab intelligence sources believe they have the answer. They assert that Jarrah was not part of Al Qaida. Instead, he was lent by a secular Palestinian terrorist group to help in the 9/11 attack in evidence that could provide the smoking gun of Iraqi involvement. "

This is a subscription only article, but demonstrates why I've purchased a subscription.  Not everything they mention turns out to be true, but they do seem to have a pretty good track record (WorldTribune, the publisher, and collaborator Middle East NewsLine are frequent sources of Matt Drudge).  The basic message, from an unamed Arab intelligence source, is that Ziad Samir Jarrah, raised Catholic, not at all interested in Islamic extremeism, and one of the Flight 93 hijackers has demonstrated links to a Palestinian terror group supported by Libya, the Fatah Revolutionary Council.  The leader of this group was none other than Abu Nidal, the Palestinian uber-terrorist that recently "commited suicide" in Baghdad.  Abu Nidal has been supported (in retirement) by Iraq since the Gulf War, and the contention of the article is that Iraq was covering tracks by staging Nidal's suicide after being tipped off that the US was building a case against Iraq through the ties to Jarrah. 

I have no idea if its true, since its all based on unamed sources.  I'm not going to cover the whole article, since its a subscription service, but I encourage you to subscribe and take a look for yourself.

"Mr Buffett said: "We're in a long correction, because we had an incredible 'mass hallucination', 'bubble', whatever you want to call it. That carries a price with it, which has not been fully paid but which we've made a good downpayment on so far."

He added: "It's only in the rinse cycle that you find out how dirty the laundry's been. We're in the rinse cycle now.""

Warren Buffett on the continuing slide of the economy.  Not something I normally comment on, but I loved the quotes above.

"viadrudge"

Sharply stepping up the political rhetoric about Iraq, Democrats and Republicans traded shots Wednesday over whether the Bush administration was exploiting the possibility of war for political gain.

Looks like the Democrats, inspired perhaps by Gore, are stepping up to the plate to provide a bit of opposition.  Joe Conason agrees.

While going through my referers, I've noticed a lot of people linking to me as Woz.  I'm Wozz, Woz is different.

Salon has brought together a nice summary of international opinion on Bush's foreign policy aims.

A good summary of the main points of Tony Blair's dossier.

"Imagine driving a car that not only doesn't pump out any greenhouse gas emissions, but also acts as a generator to power your house at night, and feeds any excess energy back to the power grid. It's a dream that goes by the name of "distributed generation" and it's based on the idea that hydrogen is the next great power source. "

A good interview on Salon with Jeremy Rifkin , the author of "The Hydrogen Economy" discussing the impending appearence of hydrogen fuel cells in our homes and cars, and some of the barriers in the way.

"The anticipated dossier of British intelligence on Iraq's arsenal and intentions contained little new. According to Tony Blair, Saddam is trying to obtain nuclear materials in Africa, wants to extend the range of his handful of missiles (which now can't reach beyond 400 miles), and plans to use chemical weapons again if threatened. As Maj. Charles Heyman of the authoritative Jane's World Armies remarked, "It does not produce any convincing evidence, or any 'killer fact', that says that Saddam Hussein has to be taken out straight away. What it does do is produce very convincing evidence that the weapons inspectors have to be pushed back into Iraq very quickly." "

As Joe Conason points out on Salon, Blair's dossier has provided no new evidence of Saddam's imminent danger to the free world.  In fact, according to Jane's, it would seem to enforce the UN's case for immediate inspections.

"A parade of celebrities including Eagles members Joe Walsh and Glenn Frey, rocker Tom Waits, Backstreet Boys Kevin Richardson and Howie Dorough and country singer Clint Black are scheduled to appear at a hearing before California lawmakers Tuesday to help press their case.

The artists contend that musicians are deprived of millions of dollars in royalties each year because industry accounting is riddled with mistakes and based on antiquated formulas delivered in vague language. The Recording Artists Coalition, whose members include Madonna, Sheryl Crow and Beck, is among the groups seeking legislation that would impose penalties on record companies for accounting errors."

I mentioned this here before.  Today's hearings are focused on the lack of good accounting practices in the music industry and the lack of penalties for underreporting royalties to artists.  Artists hope a good law passed in California could influence national practices.

"viablogcritics"

"The United States will outline plans today to transform Nato from a defensive military pact into an alliance with a 20,000-strong rapid reaction force able to tackle rogue states and terrorist threats."

What, you expected us to take over the world by ourselves?

"He blasted Bush for failing to stabilize Afghanistan, nine months after routing the Taliban from power. He accused Bush and the Republicans of cynically using Iraq as a political issue in the weeks leading up to November's midterm elections. He charged that Bush's stated policy of unilateral action is turning even allies against the United States. And he warned that the new doctrine announced last week by the administration, asserting the right of the United States to take unilateral, preemptive action against any country perceived as a threat, would set a precedent encouraging other countries to take preemptive action, creating a global "reign of fear." "

Salon's take on Gore's comments.

"On Tuesday the British Government issues a dossier on Iraq's arms programme which it will use to justify military action against President Saddam Hussein, and there are a number of key factors to look for. "

Tomorrow's the day we find out what we're trying to take over the world for.  Hope its good stuff.

"Three retired four-star American generals said today that attacking Iraq without a United Nations resolution supporting military action could limit aid from allies, energize recruiting for Al Qaeda and undermine America's long-term diplomatic and economic interests."

Not that this will dissaude the chickenhawks, but when the guys that make their living fighting tell you to think twice, you should think twice.

"On the other hand, here in OpenBSD land we will continue to strive to make our software more and more free. We've been squishing odd license terms which contain non-free restrictions throughout the source tree for about 2 years now.

once again, i think it is time to fork OpenSSL. It's obviously run by a bunch of people who don't think through the legal implications of their actions. they should NOT have accepted that code without it being 100% free. This donation is not free code.

Shame on you Sun, and double shame on you OpenSSL."

I've used OpenBSD for years (since the first release on CD), and if there's one thing I've learned in that time, it's that Theo Deraadt, good or bad, sticks by his guns.  He has dedicated the last few years to ensuring that OpenBSD stays "free," avoiding licenses that would restrict the use of the end product in ANY way.  He had a spat with Darrren Reed about a year ago over IPF, the definitive packet filter of the time.  Darren decided to insert some license terms which were in conflict with the BSD license.  At the time it seemed a bit reckless on the part of Theo as there was no sufficient replacement in sight, but the OpenBSD team, along with Daniel Hartmeier, managed to get a fully functional IPF replacement into OpenBSD in a few months.  Not only was it fully functional, but it was, in many ways, better than IPF, which has stagnated over the last few years due to its dominance in the arena.

Now Theo is crying foul over Sun's contribution of Eliptical Curve Cryptography to OpenSSL, an integral part of OpenBSD.  The specific language in contention is as follows:

  /* crypto/engine/tb_ecdh.c */
  /* ====================================================================
   * Copyright 2002 Sun Microsystems, Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
   *
   * The Elliptic Curve Public-Key Crypto Library (ECC Code) included
   * herein is developed by SUN MICROSYSTEMS, INC., and is contributed
   * to the OpenSSL project.
   *
   * The ECC Code is licensed pursuant to the OpenSSL open source
   * license provided below.
   *
   * In addition, Sun covenants to all licensees who provide a reciprocal
   * covenant with respect to their own patents if any, not to sue under
   * current and future patent claims necessarily infringed by the making,
   * using, practicing, selling, offering for sale and/or otherwise
   * disposing of the ECC Code as delivered hereunder (or portions thereof),
   * provided that such covenant shall not apply:
   *  1) for code that a licensee deletes from the ECC Code;
   *  2) separates from the ECC Code; or
   *  3) for infringements caused by:
   *       i) the modification of the ECC Code or
   *      ii) the combination of the ECC Code with other software or
   *          devices where such combination causes the infringement.
   *
   * The ECDH engine software is originally written by Nils Gura and
   * Douglas Stebila of Sun Microsystems Laboratories.
   *

The question is, is this going to furthur maginalize OpenBSD, which has been criticized over its rejection of IPF, or could they perhaps improve on OpenSSL, as I believe they've done with PF.  OpenSSL, as an integral part of Apache's secure solution, and the core of OpenBSD's own OpenSSH project, has a much wider reach than IPF did.  I'm not sure which way this will go, but I've always credited Theo for his convictions, which are largely responsible, despite recent problems, with the overall security of OpenBSD.  I hope this works out well for all involved.  In any case, I will continue to recommend OpenBSD where it's use is appropriate, and I'd suggest to anyone looking for a secure, open source solution to do the same.

In his first major speech on the Iraq situation, the once and possibly future Democratic presidential candidate accused Bush of abandoning the goal of a world where nations follow laws.

"That concept would be displaced by the notion that there is no law but the discretion of the president of the United States," he said.

"If other nations assert the same right, then the rule of law will quickly be replaced by the reign of fear," and any nation that perceives itself threatened would feel justified in starting wars, he said.

Gore comes out swinging.  Later in the article it says he'll be deciding in December if he'll be running in 2004, so I imagine he's feeling out public opinion on the issue.   I'm looking forward to hearing more of what he'll have to say, since if nothing else, he doesn't appear to fear floating "new" ideas.  Now if only we could figure out where Ralph Nader's gone.

I'm a few days behind on this one, but thought it was important enough to get caught up on.  Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC) promises to take a lot of the heavy lifting out of strong cryptography.  Currently the most popular public-key algorithms used in protocols like SSL are based on the difficuly of factoring large integers, and require a fair amount of CPU power to work.  ECC provides a computationally simpler path to the same end result.  Sun's providing this to the OpenSSL people should hopefully speed its acceptance in the real world and result in better encryption on smaller platforms.

"The specter of America's deepening weakness seems counter-intuitive to what people see and experience in a time of apparent continuing prosperity--and contradicts everything they are told by authoritative voices. But the quicksand is real. We are already in up to our knees. "

A good article in The Nation by William Greider discussing how plans for Empire America may run into a slight financial problem.  Very enlightening, and in an odd way, comforting.

"Prominent members of the U.S. Congress warned on Sunday that a unilateral U.S. attack on Iraq could draw in Israel and lead to a wider Middle East war."

Joe Biden, Richard Shelby, Carl Levin, and unnamed others speak on the danger of U.S. action.  Its good to see our elected leaders thinking clearly again.

"SECRET PLANNING DOCUMENT SEES EXPANSION OF U.S. MILITARY ROLE ABROAD"

So far, this is the best reference to the Defense Planning Guidance draft leaked in 1992 to the New York Times.  I wonder how the New York Times feels about the fact that the Baobob Press has their articles from 1992 available, but the Times doesn't.

Stuff from Wozz
... [kuro5hin.org]. One of the more amusing passages: The polite fiction of the porn
section is that, while people do generally use porn ... They appear to be Estonian. ...
blogs.salon.com/0001019/2002/07/28.html - 28k - Puhverdatud - Sarnased lehed

I have no idea why I'm listed as the #1 link for Estonian Porn on Google.  I get hits from this search at least once a day.  I wasn't aware Estonia had its own identifiable style of porn.  You learn something new every day.

"Can Joss Whedon create a third genre-busting television series to march alongside the twin titans of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel? Can he pull off the hat trick and transform himself into the fantasy world's Aaron Spelling; except with, you know, talent?

That was the question last night as Firefly, Whedon's new "science fiction Western" debuted on Fox. And as a longtime Buffy / Angel fan, I had high hopes. Those two gems keep my television action-drama desires vaguely satiated, but ever since Babylon 5's conclusion, there has been a gap in my heart where a good, edgy science-fiction show should be. (Sorry, never got into Farscape --- though I admittedly never gave it enough of a chance and hear nothing but good about it --- and both Voyager and Enterprise have generally left me cold). "

Good review of the Firefly premiere on Blogcritics.  I was impressed enough with the first episode that I will be returning for seconds.

The Bush 'fool me once' video seems to be fairly popular.  As such, here's a better copy (high, low) of the video, including commentary from the Daily Show with Jon Stewart.

"The report is the first Bush has issued under a 1986 law requiring the president to present Congress with an annual strategic statement. Overall, it gives the United States a nearly messianic role in making the world "not just safer but better.""

Comments on Bush's National Security Strategy from the Washington Post

""If one were to compare the scraps of information the government had before Sept. 11 to the volumes we have today about Iraq's pursuit of [weapons of mass destruction], Saddam Hussein's history of aggression and hostility toward the United States, and factor in our country's demonstrated vulnerability after Sept. 11, the case the president made should be clear," Wolfowitz told the committee. "

Now you see bin Laden.  *Poof*   Now you don't.

This is a bit sickening.  Wolfowitz and Armitage are visiting the committee to discuss the 9/11 attacks and manage to flim-flam the committee's focus onto Iraq.  Good article though.

"So what's Iraq about? In the end, it's not about that nasty man or the nasty things he's collecting. It's about what the policy wonks call "destabilization." It's about taking the next step into a regional and a global chaos that could wreck this planet.

So what do we do when the government's careening toward disaster, the anti-war movement's comatose, and the media keep us on perpetual spin? For starters, we dare to risk unilateral rationality. Which tells us that we've yet to begin to develop an effective strategy for coping with terrorism and weapons of mass destruction, let alone the imminent fracturing of dozens of nations. "

A very insightful article by a former Marine intelligence officer on the mess we are in.  It pretty effectively summarizes my feelings on the current situation as well.  He has a book too, which is now on my wish list.

An interesting thread on Plastic about Oil's influence over US foreign policy.

Internet infrastructure experts yesterday lent their support to White House adviser Richard Clarke's recommendations that companies should make securing ubiquitous internet protocols a priority, but said cost and red tape is slowing down deployment, writes Kevin Murphy.

Article which touches on some of the good points of Bush's Cybersecurity strategy:

• Securing BGP
• Securing DNS
  

James Lewis was one of the two CSISers I quoted in that article as wanting more laws. He had said: "Cybersecurity is too tough a problem for a solely voluntary approach to fix. Companies will only change their behavior when there are both market forces and legislation that cover security failures. Until the U.S. has more than just voluntary solutions, we'll continue to see slow progress in improving cybersecurity."

Good analysis of Bush's Cybersecurity strategy from the Center for Strategic & International Studies.

Microsoft’s XML extensions form the basis for the Passport single sign-on service but are fundamentally inconsistent with SGML principles. In contrast, Plan 9’s factotum authentication management offers an elegant and effective open source alternative

Good article from LinuxWorld on the battle over the future of Single Sign On.

"On Friday, the Bush administration will publish its first comprehensive rationale for shifting American military strategy toward pre-emptive action against hostile states and terrorist groups developing weapons of mass destruction. The strategy document will also state, for the first time, that the United States will never allow its military supremacy to be challenged the way it was during the cold war."

Analysis from the NY Times.

Bush's "National Security Strategy" was released today.  It advocates pre-emptive strikes against "emerging threats before they are fully formed".  I haven't read it closely, and have yet to see any serious analysis of it, but as I do I will update.