KDE 3.2 is Here

The latest version of the KDE desktop was released today, version 3.2. There are a lot of new features, and in a very rare case for software, the new version is actually faster than previous versions. I've been using betas of 3.2 since November and I think it's proof that Linux will soon be ready for the average desktop. It's certainly ready for the geek desktop.

[via Gadgetopia]

New Scholarship: Copyright as Welfare
Professor Tom Bell has posted an article entitled "Authors' Welfare: Copyright as a Statutory Mechanism for Redistributing Rights," analogizing copyright to welfare. From the abstract:

Both welfare and copyright primarily aim to correct the market's failure to sufficiently support a particular class of beneficiaries. Both encourage rights-based claims to the entitlements that they create, too. The welfare system and the copyright system each uses statutory mechanisms to redistribute rights - rights to wealth in the first instance, rights to chattels and persons in the second - from the general public to particular beneficiary classes - the poor and authors, respectively. Each also includes special exceptions designed to avoid inefficient or inequitable redistributions. The charitable gift deduction and other tax code provisions limit the welfare system's scope, whereas copyright law offers fair use and other defenses to infringement claims. Perhaps those and other similarities between welfare and copyright mean little. After considering various critiques, however, the paper concludes that we can learn important lessons from understanding copyright as a statutory mechanism for redistributing rights. Most notably, understanding copyright as a form of authors' welfare suggests the need for, and potential shape of, reforms to end copyright as we know it.

[via LawMeme]

Can I just ask ....

.. what the hell this is? Must be one of the craziest sites I've seen. I especially like this graphic.

On a different note, I asked for a coke today from the food delivery guy, and I got a pepsi instead. Where's my iTune?

Paragraphical Quote of the Entry:
"I just wanna say one thing ... Janet Jackson has got some weird taste in nipple apparel.

Maybe I'm a prude, but that sunburst thing looks like it would hurt like h-e-double hockey sticks if you're going to be dancing around like a spaz on stage.

And personally, I was more offended by Nelly and his persistent jock itch during the Super Bowl than I was by a brief split second of seeing Janet's boobie from a distance.

Nelly.

Sweetheart.

It's called "Cruex".

Snap some up at your local pharmacy today."
- Uncle Bob

Fed Refuses Requests To Trace U S Dollars Found In Saddam's Stash
Posted by: Anonymous on Feb 03, 2004 - 03:57 PM
Martin Mayer, Associated with Brookings Institution, author of "The Fed" (if you haven't read it...your fate will be greatly sealed!) His comments appear in the New York Times,

"Tracing the U S Dollars Found In Saddam's Stash" Connecting the U S Mint to a dusty spider hole is a trail of currency transfers-but the Fed is mum"

Excerpts:

"AMong Saddam's possesssions when he was captured was three-quarters of a million dollars in U S currency in crisp "NEW" (emphasis supplied by Zorro) bills. Whence (ahhh, a gentle-writer I adore!) came the gentleman's stash? Answering this question would help our understanding of terrorist financial networks. And if the cash is squentially numbered (editor-Saudi-1 thru Saudi 750,000 eg) , as is likely, then the question could be easily answered. (editor-of course the answer could prove to be very embarrasing if the cash came through Homeland Security-read advertising budget--connections within 10 days of Saddam's alleged surprise capture!)

All U S currency is printed by the U S Mint, to the order of (by request) one of the 12 banks in the Federal Reserve System. It comes into circulation through a bank that has an account at the Fed for which it was specifically printed. The Fed deducts the face value...and an armored car takes them to their new owner. (Tom Ridge?)

The regional Federal Reserve Bank that records the transfer on its records identifying the purchasing bank. (So we all know which Saudi Prince lives closest to it for the pick up--just kidding! Everyone knows Saudis print their own money!) When they (a banding of bills) is found all together, it means that the bank that purchased the bills did not feed them out through from a teller window or cash machine but delivered them to a specific customer. (According to Zorro's sources about 90% of all cash is dispensed from hand to hand at a bank--so big hog-choking clumps are extremely simple to trace!)

And the bank knows who that customer was, say between the Philadelphia Federal Reserve and Iraq, there is no doubt a chain, perhaps involving banks in the Cayman or Channel Islands, in Abu Dhabi or Dubai. (not to mention Dub-ya)

ALthough Saddams' govt had many sanctions against it, it may well be that no laws were broken in the passage of the Federal Reserve notes from the Mint to Tikrit. Bit it would be interesting to know which banks were collaborators in getting the cash to the tyrant of Iraq.

UNFORTUNATELY, (can you Fed-Haters guess where this is going, yet?) the search for those collarborators cannot even get started , because the Federal Reserve Board (read-Saudi Hand-Puppets) will not permit regional banks to reveal the identity of the purchasers of large blocks of US currency (how convenient for the Bush family Robber-Sons!) . There is no law that prohibits such disclosure. It's simply a Fed policy.

(Insert--Remember that the Presidency sets money policy through Treasury..not Congress!)

The Fed has ALWAYS resisted (shall we say "refused") placing (read-allowing) U S (subservient) Banks to reveal skullduggery (read-nasty Fed Policy that the Fed wants to keep hidden from the U S population) whether it involves drug smuggling, commercial fraud, terrorism or other international conspiracy. Banks are NOT, the Fed insists, law enforcement agencies.

(Zorro agrees, but don't U S citizens have a moral obligation to report crimes? Oooops...you dont' mean to tell me that banks aren't controlled by US Citizens do you! You don't think the Fed Reserve system has a hidden agenda, do YOU! I think it is fascinating that the Fed secretly profits by the transfer in the ordinary course of business of hundreds of billions of dollars in terrorist funds, drug smuggling, and international conspiracies such as the Saudi Princes selling kidnapped (sorry, I mean forced patriation victims) 11 year old Yemeni girls to Saudi Princes?. Does that mean the Fed doesn't have to account for that money either?)

The may be that the FBI (read Homeland Security & CIA) has access to the Fed's records...but it is not clear that the FBI has authority to continue such searches beyond American borders.

(Stupid, crazy old retired consultant Zorro wants you to know that funds in the Federal Reserve system are "...behond American borders." What's in your wallet, American?)

The Fed's manual on the Bank Secrecy Act says that, ...while desirable...such rules "should not interfere with the relationship of the financial institution with its good customers."

(So, there you have it. The Federal Reserve System is NOT an American institution, it has no law except the law of secrecy and respects not ethics or morals except for "CASH"! It should be remember that the Federal Reserve Bank in Florida is one of the "healthiest" in the Nation due to Florida's even LESS RESTRICTIVE laws on secrecy, especially those of "international banking" customers. You see, the Federal Govt isn't allowed to regulate the relationship between Florida's international banking community (headed by Jeb Scampit?) and it's very valuable arms dealling billions. Florida even has a very fancy name for secrecy that makes Swiss Bank Law look like gossipy fishmogers...It's is called "Private Banking" and it prohibits tracing ANY funds in international funds. It sure is lucky that the RepubliKKKans have such a wonderful governor like Jeb Bush...a regular man made wonder!)

(Before I resume the article would you like to know which banks in Florida hold the most Saudi Money? Citigroup, HSBC(HongKongShangHaiBankCorp), and IBN! Ahh..the Bermuda Triangle of Terror Cash@!MOre at 11:00)

Sens Grassley and Max Baucus, chairman and ranking members (read Republicans) of the Finance Committee (what a joke!) complained to the Treasury Dept (Read-Saudi/Pentagon ATM Card---The Fed is the actual money dispenser!) that not enough has been done to keep the financiers of terrorism from paying their bills through the American financial system.
(I think it's sad when perfectly good Republicans get ignored by the very government they bought and paid for...don't your?)

Perhaps Congress should tell the Fed to release its hold on information about which banks supply the bundles of cash that facilitate international crime.

END

[via Memes.org]

US Govt Makes Times New Roman 14 Official Font

pollux03 writes “According to ABC news, ‘In an internal memorandum distributed on Wednesday, the department declared “Courier New 12” - the font and size decreed for US diplomatic documents for years - to be obsolete and unacceptable after February 1. “In response to many requests and with a view to making our written work easier to read, we are moving to a new standard font: ‘Times New Roman 14’,” said the memorandum. ’ The report goes on to cite a few exceptions to the rule including official telegraphs.”

[via AlterSlash]

Public Service Announcement

Public Service Announcement

Just don't tell them you went to a Community College, that's a deal breaker. Hey, I'm just lookin' out for you.

Sperm Donors $600-$900 Per Month

The Palo Alto Branch of The California Cryobank is seeking men of all ethnicities to participate in our anonymous sperm donor program.

By participating in our program you will receive a comprehensive health and semen analysis free of charge. You will help others fulfill dream of parenthood. In addition, upon becoming a qualified donor you will reimbursed up to $900 a month for your time.

Please apply ONLY if you meet the following criteria:

-You are betwen the ages of 19 and 38
-You hold a bachelors degree or higher, OR
-You are currently attending and have completed one year at a 4 year University (Stanford, San Jose State, Santa Clara, etc) We cannot accept applicants attending community or trade colleges.
-You are over 5'9" and in good health
-Your sexual partners have been exclusively female
-You are a US citizen or allowed by law to work in the US

If you are interested in becoming a donor please visit us on the web at:

www.cryobankdonors.com

to read more about the program and fill out an online application.

Or, to speak with a recruiter please call 800.231.3373 ext 41.

[via Fsck That Job!]

Wardrobe Malfunction Scores Highest Reaction Ever ... Wardrobe Malfunction Scores Highest Reaction Ever on TiVo.

SAN JOSE, Calif., Feb. 2 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Justin Timberlake and Janet Jackson top the show during Sunday's Super Bowl, attracting almost twice as many viewers as the most thrilling moments on the field, according to an annual measurement of second-by-second viewership in TiVo households.
    The Jackson-Timberlake moment drew the biggest spike in audience reaction TiVo has ever measured. TiVo said viewership spiked up to 180 percent as hundreds of thousands of households used TiVo's unique capabilities to pause and replay live television to view the incident again and again.  Overall, the halftime extravaganza had a powerful grip on viewers. According to TiVo's analysis of aggregated data from an anonymous sample of 20,000 households, viewership of the game's intermission increased by 12 percent compared to last year's halftime show.

[via what's in rebecca's pocket?]