Troops

Is it possible that our own military leadership is being too aggressive in going after our soldiers for misconduct. I think that we need to be careful and fair to soldiers who would rather be home with their family than in the hostile war zone of Iraq and the Middle East. The following is interesting.

After months of congressional pressure, the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General has opened an investigation of an Army general who tried to bring murder charges against U.S. troops.

The investigation, requested by Rep. Walter B. Jones, North Carolina Republican, will probe whether Lt. Gen. Francis H. Kearney III overstepped his bounds and/or compromised legal proceedings in two Afghanistan incidents, one involving Marines and the other involving two Special Forces soldiers.

Washington's Finest

At 4.30pm today, Harry Reid announced on the floor of the Senate that, given the complexity and contentiousness of immunity (which he says he backs Dodd in opposing) the bill will not come up before the holidays.

A very wise decision. Thanks are due to Senator Dodd, grassroots support, and your own many calls and letters for emphasizing just how dangerous and outrageous step this would be for any politician seeking to preserve the Constitution. We're not there yet, though, so keep the pressure up: write to your representative and demand that immunity not rise again in 2008!

Housing

There are still areas in America where housing is affordable and appreciating in value. The following article is a good indicator that our current housing downturn is just temporary and will stabilize quickly.

Housing Markets That Are Still Thriving-The best-performing housing market in the country during the third quarter was picturesque Wenatchee, a city of more than 35,000 that is the seat of Chelan County, Wash. Prices in the Wenatchee metro area increased by 15.7 percent year over year, according to RealtyTrac.-Home prices also jumped more than 10 percent in second home markets in Utah, Idaho, and Colorado. -"They're doing so well because they're getting the run-off from California, Nevada, and Arizona," says Jeannine Cataldi, senior economist for Global Insight. "When prices got so high [in those states], people said, 'there must be places that are more affordable.’”
Here are the top 10 best performing markets in the country:

1. Wenatchee, Wash.: 15.7 percent
2. Provo-Orem, Utah: 14.35 percent
3. Grand Junction, Colo.: 14.05 percent
4. Ogden-Clearfield, Utah: 13.95 percent
5. Salt Lake City: 13.37 percent
6. Idaho Fall, Idaho: 11.69 percent
7. Austin-Round Rock, Texas: 9.67 percent
8. Beaumont-Port Arthur, Texas: 9.44 percent
9. Asheville, N.C.: 9.44 percent
10. Billings, Mont.: 9.07 percent
11. Source: BusinessWeek, Prashant Gopal (12/10/07)
    

Gatekeepers

It is essential that we keep a watch on the gatekeepers. They are everywhere. The telecoms and regulators are driven by greed. The quest for control and money are motivators for the gatekeepers.

Gatekeepers in Need of a Solution - In mainstream press, Stephen H. Wildstrom, a senior technology writer and editor at BusinessWeek, wrote that he had shifted his position to support Net Neutrality following recent incidents of network gatekeeping. “The behavior of the top telecommunications companies, especially Verizon Communications and AT&T, has convinced me that more government involvement is needed to keep communications free of corporate interference,” he wrote.

Bloggers and the courts

It is essential that all bloggers realize that our government, including our courts, are trying to limit free speech on the Internet. Because, the Internet provides an pathway to the public that the government would like to control. Since information is power, the government wants all the power they can get. Thus, they want to control the Internet.

CDT Joins Brief Urging Liability Protection for Internet Content Venues - The Center for Democracy & Technology joined with other public interest and Internet industry groups to urge a federal appeals court to shield websites from legal action stemming from content their users post.

DOJ is wrong about the Net.

The Net needs to be protected. I worry that DOJ will allow the Net to be manipulated in a way that purges all the voices of dissent in the blogosphere. The following is interesting.

LATEST: September 6, 2007 - the Department of Justice issued a filing with the Federal Communications Commission opposing net neutrality and opening the door for discriminatory, two-tiered pricing systems. The DOJ filing supports telecoms in their efforts to roll back the clock on net neutrality, and would permit telecoms to censor or block users from desired content based on their ability to pay.

Bloggers Beward

It appears that bloggers must be careful. Governments that do not like criticism will attack a blogger. The following report is troubling.

Manalapan, NJ - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) asked a Superior Court judge in New Jersey today to preserve the free speech rights of an anonymous blogger facing legal threats from local government officials.

The blogger, writing as "daTruthSquad" on a site hosted on Google's Blogspot service, has criticized a controversial lawsuit filed by the township of Manalapan, as well as the officials who decided to pursue the case. The township subpoenaed Google for "daTruthSquad's" identity -- as well as for any emails, blog drafts, and other information Google has about the blogger -- claiming that the defendant in the case is actually writing the posts.

Free Speech and Russia

It is obvious that countries that want to control their people will control the Internet. Democracy thrives on the free flow of information. The following report is of extreme interest.

It was also reported that the pro-Western, formerly Soviet country of Georgia shut down private TV stations this week in a claimed attempt to combat Russia’s efforts to undermine the fledging democracy. Even if Georgia’s president is right about Moscow’s intentions, Georgia will never be a “beacon of democracy” (as U.S. President George Bush has said) if it employs Stalinistic tactics to control its people.

A free and independent media is the cornerstone of a free society. To Westerners, this truism is often taken for granted. But savvy rulers are all too conscious of it. It was Joseph Stalin who said, “Ideas are more dangerous than guns.” What better way to control ideas than to control the media? As with Burma, democratic nations around the world must decry, in words and deeds, emergency rule and the suppression of independent media – such actions have no place in a free society.

Save the Internet for Bloggers

We need to be an advocate for free speech on the Internet. Because, there is a movement among many in business and government to limit free speech. The number of motivations are too numerous to count. Some are political in nature where liberals want to shut up conservatives, businesses want to shut up angry consumers, and governments want to control the flow of information.

Bloggers are critical in the free flow of information. This is the reason I support a movement to save the Internet. The Coalition that has been assembled to spearhead this movement is an uneasy group to say the least. Even though I do not agree with the overall make up of this Coalition, the overall goal of this gathering is worthwhile.

The SavetheInternet.com Coalition is more than a million everyday people who have banded together with thousands of non-profit organizations, businesses and bloggers to protect Internet freedom.

The Coalition believes that the Internet is a crucial engine for economic growth and free speech. We are working together to urge Congress to preserve Network Neutrality, the First Amendment of the Internet, which ensures that the Internet remains open to new ideas, innovation and progress.

From its beginnings, the Internet has leveled the playing field for all. Everyday people can have their voices heard by thousands, even millions of people.

The SavetheInternet.com Coalition -- representing millions of Americans from all walks of life -- is working together to ensure that Congress passes no telecommunications legislation without meaningful and enforceable Network Neutrality protections.