President Obama ordered flags be flown at half staff. Governors of many, if not all, states ordered the same.

Obviously what happened Thursday at Ft. Hood was a tragedy. Just as obviously, Sgt. Kimberly Munley who got shot while taking Hasan out is a hero. So are others who helped the wounded as the firing continued. So, flying the flag at half staff seems a reasonable tribute to the fallen and the heroes. But…

Why isn’t the flag flown at half mast for the soldiers killed or wounded daily in combat? Don’t they deserve the same tribute for their sacrifice? Aren’t their injuries and deaths just as tragic under their heroic circumstances? Or has the flow of coffins from overseas been too steady from unpopular wars for us to even bother with… them?

I do feel we should be honoring those who died, were wounded and took action under fire at Ft. Hood. I just wonder what it says that we don’t accord the same to the others.

Should Government Flags Be Flown At Half Mast ONLY For The Fort Hood Dead? Yes No Undecided View Results Create a Poll

While the reason for this may be reasonable, how many others are in jail, even been executed, because prosecutors are immune from answering, like the rest of us, for their actions? Perhaps it’s time to have their offices wired with cameras and mics like police cars that catch dirty cops in the act. What’s that line about power corrupting?

In July 1977, retired police captain John Schweer was shot and killed while working as a night watchman at an Oldsmobile dealership in Council Bluffs, Iowa. Two teenagers, Curtis McGhee and Terry Harrington, were convicted of the murder based on evidence they allege was knowingly fabricated by prosecutors.
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Now both men are suing the Pottawattamie County prosecutors, claiming they coerced and coached witnesses, fabricated evidence and arrested them without probable cause. But according to federal law supported by numerous legal precedents, prosecutors have immunity for anything they do during a trial. Richter and Hrvol say they were just doing their job.

“If a prosecutor knowingly introduces false evidence at trial, that prosecutor is absolutely immune from lawsuit,” explains Stephen Sanders, an attorney representing Richter and Hrvol. The rationale is that if prosecutors could be blamed for errors in a trial, they would become vulnerable targets for any litigious convict with an ax to grind.

“This means that some people who are genuinely wronged by a prosecutor [are not] able to recover,” Sanders concedes.
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Hrvol and Richter cannot be tried for knowingly putting a dishonest witness on the stand. They don’t have to own up to the fact that they presented false evidence or coerced a witness’s testimony. But fortunately for McGhee and Harrington, they did something on which the law is not completely clear — they didn’t just present the evidence at trial, but also helped gather it. In an unusual move, the prosecutors aided detectives by canvassing the neighborhood and interviewing witnesses, and so their actions may not be covered by absolute immunity. That is what the Supreme Court will decide.

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Fertility is falling and families are shrinking in places— such as Brazil, Indonesia, and even parts of India—that people think of as teeming with children. As our briefing shows, the fertility rate of half the world is now 2.1 or less—the magic number that is consistent with a stable population and is usually called “the replacement rate of fertility”. Sometime between 2020 and 2050 the world’s fertility rate will fall below the global replacement rate.

At a time when Malthusian worries are resurgent and people fear the consequences for an overcrowded planet, the decline in fertility is surprising and somewhat reassuring. It means that worries about a population explosion are themselves being exploded—and it carries a lesson about how to solve the problems of climate change.

Today’s fall in fertility is both very large and very fast. Poor countries are racing through the same demographic transition as rich ones, starting at an earlier stage of development and moving more quickly. The transition from a rate of five to that of two, which took 130 years to happen in Britain—from 1800 to 1930—took just 20 years—from 1965 to 1985—in South Korea. Mothers in developing countries today can expect to have three children. Their mothers had six. In some countries the speed of decline in the fertility rate has been astonishing. In Iran, it dropped from seven in 1984 to 1.9 in 2006—and to just 1.5 in Tehran. That is about as fast as social change can happen.

On the other hand:

The Malthusians are right that the world’s population is still increasing and can do a lot more environmental damage before it peaks at just over 9 billion in 2050.

On a vaguely related topic, many Chinese never learned how not to get pregnant.

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Maybe he’s reading too much into Ballmer’s lack of enthusiasm. Maybe’s Steve’s mellowing. Maybe he was bummed out about having to lay off more people. Maybe he was coming down with swine flu. Or maybe “Window 7 has done quite well” isn’t “quite well” enough.

Shy and retiring Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer seems to be having trouble finding something nice to say about Windows 7’s launch.

Analysts seem to think Windows 7 has done quite well, but the man who knows all the figures seems to be keeping uncharacteristically quiet.

When hacks at ComputerWorld asked Ballmer how Windows 7 was doing, he said “er… its fantastic… er, in Japan.”

“It is helping to spur PC sales… um… in Japan. We’ve had a great response… in Japan. The first ten days were bigger than the first ten days of XP or Vista or any other Windows launch that we have done… in Japan.”

True he was talking to a Japanese news conference, but it is rare that the great man is that specific. If it was really doing well in Japan and everywhere else we would expect him to start waving his arms, flinging chairs and shouting, “I rule the world, baby!”

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Two mothers were charged with multiple counts of child endangerment after three toddlers fell out of a moving vehicle Sunday evening on Bruce Street near Owens Avenue, Las Vegas police said.

One-year-old twins were taken to University Medical Center. One of them was in critical condition this morning, and the other was being held for observation. Another child who fell from the vehicle, a 3-year-old boy, suffered a cut above an eye and was treated and released.

[...]The 3-year-old’s mother, Nancy Lopez, 28, was booked into the Clark County Detention Center on seven counts of child endangerment, seven counts of having an unrestrained minor in a vehicle, driving under the influence, driving on a suspended license, having an open container in a vehicle and a headlights violation.

The twins’ mother, Vanessa Ramirez, 19, was booked on seven counts of child endangerment. Lopez was driving the vehicle, which police said was carrying 10 people. According to police, Ramirez was aware that her children were in the car with Lopez. It is unknown if Ramirez also was in the car.

Police spokesman Bill Cassell said that shortly before the children fell out of the car, officers responded to a fight in the area that involved someone in the vehicle.

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Taking the green thing too far

Never realized there were electric bikes until I stumbled across something that mentioned the Federal tax credit for them. Which led me to the Zero Motorcycle Company. Apparently, they are ultra quiet, like a Prius. I wonder if Al Gore rides one. Have any of you?

The Zero S is a high performance supermoto motorcycle that is revolutionary because it is fully electric. Imagine instant torque and power from a standstill. Imagine smooth acceleration as you race out of turns. Then, imagine never needing to stop at the gas station.

Developed to aggressively take on urban environments and encourage the occasional detour, the Zero S integrates revolutionary technology with innovative motorcycle design. Using Zero Motorcycles’ proprietary Z-Force power pack and aircraft grade alloy frame, the Zero S features an industry leading power-to-weight ratio that increases its range and maneuverability.

Instant acceleration and a lightweight design enable the Zero S to take on any city street, hill or obstacle. Whether accelerating onto the highway or out of the turns, the Zero S is designed for performance.

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The MPAA and RIAA want ISPs to police their traffic for pirated material. Others wants them to police for child porn. Now this. When are phone companies going to be held liable for chuckleheads drunk dialing when I sleep? When are cable companies going to be held liable for allowing stations to up the volume on commercials or playing bad shows? This is just idiotic, irresponsible, pointless lawmaking on so many levels.

The House Financial Services Committee has approved a bill, the Investor Protection Act, which requires to Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to block any traffic on their networks which fraudulently invokes the Securities Investor Protection Corporation, Failure to do so will make the ISPs subject to court injunctions and liable for any damages that result from the fraud.

The SIPC’s job is to protect investor assets when a brokerage firm fails. The committee found that fraudulent actors on the Internet and elsewhere sometimes represent themselves as legitimate.
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Note that the rules include any data simply routed through the network. This amounts to a requirement that all data on the network be subject to deep packet inspection and contextual analysis. This is an enormous, potentially crippling burden for ISPs, both large and small. Even if representations are found that someone represents the SIPC, it’s not clear how the ISP is supposed to determine if it’s fraudulent. And the bill doesn’t appear to make any allowances for data encryption, which would probably make the ISPs duties impossible to implement.

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This article is written from a Canadian perspective, but at the end includes links to reactions from other countries. The talks are designed to create a world wide set of American-style, MPAA & RIAA-wanted (although, of course, not specifically mentioned), draconian and invasive Internet laws that would override many country’s laws. How did we let these two organizations’ lobbyists get so much power that they can get our government to do their bidding on the world?

The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement negotiations continue in a few hours as Seoul, Korea plays host to the latest round of talks. The governments have posted the meeting agenda, which unsurprisingly focuses on the issue of Internet enforcement [UPDATE 11/4: Post on discussions for day two of ACTA talks, including the criminal enforcement provisions]. The United States has drafted the chapter under enormous secrecy, with selected groups granted access under strict non-disclosure agreements and other countries (including Canada) given physical, watermarked copies designed to guard against leaks.

Despite the efforts to combat leaks, information on the Internet chapter has begun to emerge (just as they did with the other elements of the treaty). Sources say that the draft text, modeled on the U.S.-South Korea free trade agreement, focuses on following five issues:
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The Internet chapter raises two additional issues. On the international front, it provides firm confirmation that the treaty is not a counterfeiting trade, but a copyright treaty. These provisions involve copyright policy as no reasonable definition of counterfeiting would include these kinds of provisions. [...] When combined with the other chapters that include statutory damages, search and seizure powers for border guards, anti-camcording rules, and mandatory disclosure of personal information requirements, it is clear that there is no bigger IP issue today than the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement being negotiated behind closed doors this week in Korea.

Found by Brother Uncle Don.

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Admirable idea, and those who served deserve better from this country, but can we afford it? And are the non-vets in the identical condition less worthy? And what about the unemployed bankers? And…

Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric K. Shinseki is expected to unveil a five-year plan to end homelessness among veterans as he, other VA officials and community outreach specialists come together for the Homeless Veteran Summit here beginning Nov. 3.

Secretary Shinseki’s team has made homelessness a leading issue since he took charge of VA in January. Department officials estimate that about 131,000 veterans are homeless today in the United States, down from the 2003 estimate of nearly 200,000.

In several speeches this year, Secretary Shinseki has noted that to end homelessness among veterans, the VA and the nation must do better in terms of psychological health care, education and employment opportunities, and addressing substance abuse.

VA programs such as the Post 9/11 GI Bill, which became law Aug. 1, may not have an immediate impact on homelessness, but better education opportunities can decrease homelessness in the future.

“To do this well, we’ll have to attack the entire downward spiral that ends in homelessness,” Secretary Shinseki said in an August speech at the American Legion convention in Louisville, Ky. He cited the need to offer veterans education, jobs and safe housing, and to treat depression and substance abuse. “We must do it all,” he said.

Kidney donors may face huge medical bills because having one kidney may constitute a pre-existing condition under which coverage is denied, officials confirm.

A Texas hospital official said organ donors are told, but only orally, that having one kidney may be a pre-existing condition affecting insurance.

Philip Knisely, 53, of Austin, Texas, who donated a kidney to a co-worker a year ago, has received more than $18,000 in related medical bills, and said he was not informed that if he ever lost his employment-related insurance, insurers might consider his having a single kidney an uninsurable pre-existing condition, the American-Stateman reported Sunday.

Best health care in the world!

It says something about the powers that be at the time that no one was watching for this crap, Madoff, etc.

In 2006 and 2007, Goldman Sachs Group peddled more than $40 billion in securities backed by at least 200,000 risky home mortgages, but never told the buyers it was secretly betting that a sharp drop in U.S. housing prices would send the value of those securities plummeting.

Goldman’s sales and its clandestine wagers, completed at the brink of the housing market meltdown, enabled the nation’s premier investment bank to pass most of its potential losses to others before a flood of mortgage defaults staggered the U.S. and global economies.

Only later did investors discover that what Goldman had promoted as triple-A rated investments were closer to junk.

Now, pension funds, insurance companies, labor unions and foreign financial institutions that bought those dicey mortgage securities are facing large losses, and a five-month McClatchy investigation has found that Goldman’s failure to disclose that it made secret, exotic bets on an imminent housing crash may have violated securities laws.

“You? Want this? Hahahaha!”

Vaibhav Bedi, 26, is seeking £26,000 from [Lynx] parent company Unilever for the “depression and psychological damage” caused by the lack of any Lynx effect.

Court officials in New Delhi have agreed to order forensic laboratory tests on dozens of his half-used Lynx body washes, shampoos, anti-perspirants and hair gels.

Lynx – marketed as Axe in India – is famous for its saucy ads showing barely clothed women throwing themselves at men.

But Bedi says in his court petition: “The company cheated me because in its advertisements, it says women will be attracted to you if you use Axe. I used it for seven years but no girl came to me.”

This clown couldn’t possibly have a case, could he?

India’s leading compensation litigator Ram Jethmalani warned: “There is no data to substantiate the supposition that unattractive and unintelligent men don’t attract women.

“In fact some of the best looking women have been known to marry and date absolutely ghoulish guys. I’d suggest that the company settles this issue out of court.”

Time for a class action lawsuit, right, shlumpy guy in the corner smelling like Ol’ Spice?

You might not like what the Democrats are doing, but can anyone actually say they think the Republican party is worthy of public office? It’s like they keep pulling dirty tricks but end up being the ones caught. Potential supporters who oppose Obama & Co. only see jack-booted clowns running the Republican show.

Barack Obama’s most devilish political move since the 2008 campaign was to appoint a Republican congressman from upstate New York as secretary of the Army. This week’s election to fill that vacant seat has set off nothing less than a riotous and bloody national G.O.P. civil war. No matter what the results in that race on Tuesday, the Republicans are the sure losers. This could be a gift that keeps on giving to the Democrats through 2010, and perhaps beyond.
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That this pastoral setting could become a G.O.P. killing field, attracting an all-star cast of combatants led by Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck, William Kristol and Newt Gingrich, is a premise out of a Depression-era screwball comedy. But such farces have become the norm for the conservative movement — whether the participants are dressing up in full “tea party” drag or not.

The battle for upstate New York confirms just how swiftly the right has devolved into a wacky, paranoid cult that is as eager to eat its own as it is to destroy Obama. The movement’s undisputed leaders, Palin and Beck, neither of whom have what Palin once called the “actual responsibilities” of public office, would gladly see the Republican Party die on the cross of right-wing ideological purity. Over the short term, at least, their wish could come true.

Admittedly, there are few more pointless topics for media distraction than Octomom, but it’s Halloween, a fitting day for such as her and her puffed up lips. So, add to this that there are talks about an (un)reality show about her dating Jon Goesslin, an equally pointless person, and you have the American media freak show at it’s ‘finest’.