January 2004 Archived Blogs

		w January 27, 2004
		Infiltration of files seen as extensive By Charlie Savage WASHINGTON -- Republican staff members of the US Senate Judiciary Commitee infiltrated opposition computer files for a year, monitoring secret strategy memos and periodically passing on copies to the media, Senate officials told The Globe. From the spring of 2002 until at least April 2003, members of the GOP committee staff exploited a computer glitch that allowed them to access restricted Democratic communications without a password. Trolling through hundreds of memos, they were able to read talking points and accounts of private meetings discussing which judicial nominees Democrats would fight -- and with what tactics. Read More

		w January 24, 2004
		Media Monopoly-- No MoveOn.org Ad on Super Bowl Sunday CBS (owned by Viacom) recently thwarted efforts by the MoveOn Voter Fund to air a 30-second spot during the Super Bowl criticizing the Bush Administration's economic policies. Censorship of political debate represents one of the greatest threats to democracy. And censor they can: Viacom and a handful of other giant media corporations control most of what you see and hear, narrowing the range of debate, focusing on celebrity over policy, reducing elections to horse races, and barraging us with advertising. Read More

		w January 14, 2004
		Brazil Seeks to Bypass Fingerprinting By LARRY ROHTER RIO DE JANEIRO, Jan. 13 ì Brazil on Tuesday ratcheted up its campaign to be exempted from a new American program that requires those foreign visitors who need visas to be fingerprinted and photographed on arrival in the United States. The effort followed a meeting late Monday night in which President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva personally appealed to President Bush to suspend the measure. "If there are already 27 countries, then why not 28?" Mr. da Silva was reported by Brazilian officials to have said to Mr. Bush during the meeting, which occurred at a conference of Western Hemisphere heads of government in Monterrey, Mexico. The Brazilian president, a left-leaning former factory worker and labor leader, was referring to a group of mostly European nations whose citizens are largely exempted from the new security measures. In response to Washington's new policy, Brazil began Jan. 1 to fingerprint and photograph all American citizens arriving here. A judge in the remote state of Mato Grosso said the action was necessary because American policy was "xenophobic and worthy of the worst horrors of the Nazis," and the Foreign Ministry endorsed his order, arguing that "reciprocity is a basic element of foreign relations." Read More

		w January 7, 2004
		Jess in cab. One of my first mobile phone photos. Fun stuff...

		w January 5, 2004
		In Security Push, U.S. Begins Fingerprinting at Airports By CHRISTINE HAUSER The United States began finger-printing and photographing foreigners at airports and seaports in the United States today in a pilot program that Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said was intended to keep borders open and the country more secure. The program was launched at 115 airports and at cruise ship terminals at 14 seaports, Mr. Ridge told a news conference in Atlanta this morning.... The program, known as "U.S.-Visit," is the first in a series of steps that American officials will take at borders this year. Citizens from 28 countries will be exempt from the new program, mostly European nations whose citizens are allowed to come to the United States for up to 90 days without visas. But Mr. Ridge told CNN that in October this year, everyone will be required to present machine-readable passports and other forms of biometric identifiers. Read Full Article

		w January 1, 2004
		HAPPY 2004!!! View of Empire State from my window.