Pintmaster

Allofmp3.com has been making a lot of noise in the news lately. I heard about it several years ago when they were just starting out, but discounted the service because of the lack of good (subjective) music. I took a look again after hearing how Russia’s entry into the WTO was being blocked because of Allofmp3.com. Im an iPod and iTunes Music Store user so that will be my baseline comparison.

Interface

Allofmp3.com is your standard website interface. It’s not overly fancy with Ajax etc… it just works. You can preview songs without having an account and they have their bestseller lists organized by region. Though the site is based in Russia, they have spent the time to make it seem like it could be an American owned site. It’s not as nice as the iTunes Music Store interface, but it does its job.

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A while ago, I found out about Factcheck.org. They are an organization that essentially calls bullshit when politicians start mudslinging.

From the horses mouth:

We are a nonpartisan, nonprofit, “consumer advocate” for voters that aims to reduce the level of deception and confusion in U.S. politics. We monitor the factual accuracy of what is said by major U.S. political players in the form of TV ads, debates, speeches, interviews, and news releases. Our goal is to apply the best practices of both journalism and scholarship, and to increase public knowledge and understanding.

I strongly encourage to sign up on their site to get their email updates. They are especially relevant around election time as sort of a gut check to see if the jerk you are planning on voting for is really honest. Most arent

All the buzz around the watercooler has been about the battle for our Ports, the latest theater in the war on terrorism. CNBC is now talking about the coming backlash on the ports deal that will no doubt create investor pessimism in our economy – smart move sheep in congress. The only guy with the cojones to do the right thing for the country (Dubai Ports World is not a threat to our national security) – surprisingly was President Bush - read this article for more info.

The interesting thing however is that the idea of foreign operators running ports is not one that our wonderfully open and free economy is unique in offering (generally). The Dubai Ports World website is down, however, if you take a look at the PSA (Port of Singapore Authority) website, http://www.internationalpsa.com/, a government run company in Singapore, you will see that they operate 19 ports in 11 countries: http://www.internationalpsa.com/factsheet/map.html. I believe that Dubai Ports World also has a similar configuration.

Be aware of the facts so that when people say “The US is so open – no one else would even let a foreign entity operate their ports”, you will understand that this is a common thing- an important fact that is being left out of the news reports.

Things to consider
Before jumping on the bashing Arab countries bandwagon, think about a few things

1. Is receiving an injection of capital into our economy from an Arab country a bad thing?
2. Will foreign nationals be screening cargo for nuclear weapons, drugs, etc… (answer is no - this will be done by American union workers)
3. What is the real impact of a foreign company operating our ports?

Some critics are suggesting President Bush was as least partly responsible for the flooding in New Orleans. In a widely quoted opinion piece, former Clinton aide Sidney Blumenthal says that “the damage wrought by the hurricane may not entirely be the result of an act of nature,” and cites years of reduced funding for federal flood-control projects around New Orleans.

Our fact-checking confirms that Bush indeed cut funding for projects specifically designed to strengthen levees. Indeed, local officials had been complaining about that for years.

It is not so clear whether the money Bush cut from levee projects would have made any difference, however, and we’re not in a position to judge that. The Army Corps of Engineers ‚Äì which is under the President’s command and has its own reputation to defend ‚Äì insists that Katrina was just too strong, and that even if the levee project had been completed it was only designed to withstand a category 3 hurricane.

Factcheck.org does a thoughtful analysis of the suggestion that the catastrophic flooding in New Orleans may not be the sole responsibility of Hurricane Katrina.

The New York Times is reporting on a new technology that Homeland Security would like to use in the airports to give underskilled screeners a free peek at passenger’s privates! The ACLU will have a field day with this one. I guess that in the “post 9-11 world”, even your privates are not private.

I am looking at a copy of an ad that ran in the back of comic books in the 1950’s and early 1960’s. “X-Ray Specs! See Thru Clothing!” blares the copy, which is illustrated with a cartoon of a drooling geek wearing the amazing toy goggles and leering at a shapely woman.

Now, any kid with half a brain knew that X-Ray Specs were a novelty gag that didn’t really work. But time marches on and technology makes the impossible possible. Stand by, air travelers, because the Homeland Security Department is preparing to install and test high-tech machines at airport checkpoints that will, as the comic-book ads promised, “See Thru Clothing!”

Get ready for electronic portals known as backscatters, expected to be tested at a handful of airports this year, that use X-ray imaging technology to allow a screener to scan a body. And yes, the body image is detailed. Let’s not be coy here, ladies and gentlemen:

“Well, you’ll see basically everything,” said Bill Scannell, a privacy advocate and technology consultant. “It shows nipples. It shows the clear outline of genitals.”

The Homeland Security Department’s justification for the electronic strip searches has a certain logic. In field test after field test, it found that federal airport screeners using metal-detecting magnetometers did a miserable job identifying weapons concealed in carry-on bags or on the bodies of undercover agents.

Read the rest of the article

According to US Import information, in December 2004, the US corporations imported 8,293,641 barrels of Iraqi crude oil from Basrah. At $50 per barrel, the current price of crude, these shipments are worth: $414,682,050.00 (415 million)

HoustonChronicle.com - ‘Green’ power offers energy at rate matching Reliant

It is good to see rising energy prices as long as they arent yours. Veronique and I made the decision to go with renewable wind energy in the “Energy Capital of the World”. We were paying a little more per KwH, but according to this article, it seems that Reliant and other dirty energies are catching up to us! Conscionable capitalism does pay off sometimes!