Rights can't be taken, but you can lose them

Our society is obsessed with Rights. We invoke them at every turn to justify all kinds of stupid and antisocial behavior. So, it is nice every once in a while to be reminded that even the most sacred rights can be lost, if you actively abuse them. The Right to an Attorney is one of the most basic rights in the Constituion, guaranteeing fair trials, but even that is not absolute.

Monson, 28, already charged with attacking two defense attorneys, allegedly stabbed his third attorney Tuesday.

Snohomish County Superior Court Judge David Kurtz refused to declare a second mistrial. Instead, the judge ruled Monson has forfeited his right to be represented by counsel because of his courtroom behavior. The judge cited case law. He told Monson he's on his own in a trial on a felony drug charge.

Remember, folks, Rights aren't magic words that automatically get you out of trouble. They are cherished protections offered by God or by Law, to preserve freedom and ensure justice. Respect your Rights, or be ready to lose them!

OLPC continues its descent into madness

I was very excited about the potential of the OLPC (One Laptop Per Child) project at its outset. The dream of putting a working, low power computer into the hands of poor children to empower education was exciting. And the prospect of escaping a world of $1000+ portable computing was engaging as well.

But the reality of OLPC has been depressing. The OLPC XO-1 was delivered underpowered (both in terms of CPU and battery life) and overpriced. It failed to make serious inroads in poor nations, and generally wound up becoming expensive doorstops and showpieces for donors to the "Get One Give One" program. It's real legacy was showing computer makers that there was a demand for low-priced, highly portable computers, which lead to the Netbook revolution and ultimately set the stage for game-changers like the iPad.

But still, the OLPC project's founder continues to dream dreams with no connection with reality. The newest brainstorm of Nicolas Negroponte? Throwing tablets out of helicopters onto unsuspecting villagers in poor nations. No, really. The expectation is uneducated tribespeople would welcome these new and exciting tools... ignoring the fact that many have probably never seen a computer.

Oh, well. OLPC lost my faith - and my donations - years ago. Here's hoping they do more good than harm before the charity is finally forced to admit its failure and fold.

Are extreme tax hikes during a recovery brave or foolish?

CT Governor Dannel Malloy has released his budget and it is a doozy. In an attempt to close the budget gap, he is proposing huge tax increases on nearly everyone and everything.

In one of the largest and most wide-ranging tax increases in Connecticut history, taxes on income, cigarettes, alcohol, gasoline, and estates would all increase under Gov. Dannel P. Malloy's budget proposal to be unveiled Wednesday.

The current 6 percent sales tax would also rise for the first time since the state income tax was created in 1991 - to 6.25 percent...Malloy is also seeking to eliminate the sales-tax free week, which is popular among families as it is held in August for back-to-school shopping. Overall, Malloy is proposing more than 50 different tax changes in a package that would increase taxes by $1.5 billion in the first year and $1.34 billion in the second year.

The taxes are so wide-ranging that they would touch anyone who earns a salary, drives a car, gets a haircut, buys clothing, sleeps in a hotel, takes yoga lessons, pays for a manicure, smokes cigarettes, drinks alcohol or takes a poodle to get a haircut.

I am not sure what to think of the governor at this point. On the one hand, this is a courageous move in the era of the Tea Party. While CT is about as blue as they come, there are plenty of anti-tax protesters ready to come out in force. On the other hand, this seems sure to stifle any nascent economic recovery in the cradle and drive businesses out of the state altogether.

Then again, "brave" and "foolhardy" are not always mutually-exclusive terms. Here's hoping the CT Congress can moderate these terms into something the state can live with. Otherwise, it may be time to think about checking out job opportunities elsewhere.

Continental Express Misdirects Unaccompanied Children

I have always thought parents who sent children by plane without a responsible adult were putting their children at risk. I know there are rare circumstances where it is the only choice, but these are RARE cases. Recently, Continental Express proved just how dangerous it is by misrouting two children in two days.

Taylor Williams of College Station, traveling alone on a Continental Express commuter flight departing from Bush Intercontinental Airport, went to Fayetteville, Ark., instead of her destination of Charlotte, N.C., where her father was to meet her.
The next day, 10-year-old Miriam Kamens boarded a Continental Express plane at Boston’s Logan airport and landed in Newark, N.J., instead of her intended destination of Cleveland to visit her grandparents.
The two Continental Express flights were operated by ExpressJet under contract with Continental.
In a statement Tuesday, Continental spokeswoman Kelly Cripe said both incidents occurred when flights with different destinations were loaded simultaneously from the same doorway and that “miscommunication among staff members resulted in the child being boarded on the wrong aircraft.”

To be fair, the airline took care of the children the whole time, and eventually got them where they were supposed to go. But let's honest here - unless you have absolutely no other choice, sending a child alone on an airplane is a bad idea. Be responsible parent and either go with them, or find someone who can.

This one is for Bowhunter

This may easily be the funniest and most painful thing I have read in months. Only click thru if you have no problem delighting in the pain of others. Luckily, Looney Tunes and Itchy and Scratchy prove few of us have a problem with this. Bowhunter has to read this either way!

As I sit here behind this laptop, I now realize that this definitely wasn’t the brightest idea I have ever had. I was going to rope a deer, put it in a stall, feed it up on corn for a couple of weeks, then kill it and eat it...The first thing that I learned is that, while a deer may just stand there looking at you funny while you rope it, they are spurred to action when you start pulling on that rope.

That deer EXPLODED.

The second thing I learned is that pound for pound, a deer is a LOT stronger than a cow or a colt. A cow or a colt in that weight range I could fight down with a rope and with some dignity.

A deer– no chance.

NBC and Apple at War over iTunes

This is insane. NBC - the most successful and profitable of the iTunes Music Store's TV show suppliers - has cancelled their contract with Apple. This means NBC would no longer sell their shows thru the iTMS as of December 31. Their side intimated that Apple was unreasonable in their pricing policies and refused to allow NBC to bundle shows (The Office) with movies (Evan Almighty). Then Apple came back and claimed that the reason for the impasse was that NBC wanted to charge $4.99 per episode for TV shows. Then Apple announced they would not be carrying any of NBC's new shows in the Fall. Thus NBC loses out on the profits from 6 months of selling The Office and Heroes.

Let me be very clear. I am quite perturbed about this. I want the ability to download Heroes this season, but also have an EyeTV device and am NOT afraid to simply record the show, edit out commercials, and transfer them to my AppleTV, iPod, and iPhone at will. NBC, Please do what is necesary to get Heroes back onto the iTMS. And "what is necesary" can NOT be $4.99 per episode. I won't buy ONE episode at that price, especially when I know I can get it on DVD for about $1 per episode in the end.

Sigh. Such foolishness

Sprint Divorces from Customers Who Call Them

In the age of the internet, companies more and more hate dealing with people on the phone. It is inefficient, expensive, and requires staffing to be available 24/7. But, I find it highly ironic that a cell phone company whose whole business is selling the technology to make voice calls is cutting off customers who actually call customer service.

On June 29, 2007, Sprint sent letters notifying some customers that their service would be canceled by the end of July due to excessive calls to customer service.

"Our records indicate that over the past year, we have received frequent calls from you regarding your billing or other general account information," the letter reads. "While we have worked to resolve your issues and questions to the best of our ability, the number of inquiries you have made to us during this time has led us to determine that we are unable to meet your current wireless needs."

"Therefore after careful consideration, the decision has been made to terminate your wireless service agreement effective July 30, 2007."

The one upside to this letter is anyone who got it has no early termination fee, and their account balance is set to $0 by Sprint. I can't help wondering how many customers will use this opportunity to jump to AT&T for the iPhone. Still, it seems like shortsighted bad business, rather than being a company that puts the customer first.

What are our reader's experiences with Sprint and their customer service?

Prediction: XM Loses Major Value Next Week

This past week, XM radio suspended Opie and Anthony - their online shock jocks - for comments made on their program about Condoleeza Rice. After this move, fans of Opie & Anthony (of which I am not one) decided to make a statement and began cancelling their accounts in droves. The idea was to send a message to XM Radio that the whole reason they bought into satellite radio, which is independent of most FCC regulation, was to have a radio show with more creative freedom. OK, fine. Statement made and move on, right? Well, maybe not. XM protesters are finding, upon reviewing their account statuses, that in fact XM is either suspending the account (i.e. leaving radios active but holding up billing) or giving them credit for the accounts to cover the months that Opie and Anthony will be off the air, but leaving the accounts entirely active.

From listening to the second link above, it appears to me that this may not be sinister but merely an incompetent off-shore call center staff. However, the last time a company did things like this - AOL - it lead to a huge media firestorm and a major red face for the company. To present, XM executives appear oblivious to the issue, and since it is now the weekend it is unlikely any action will be taken until Monday. But by Monday, you can be assured some major media outlet will have picked this up and will run it as a major story. This will lead to an XM Radio stock selloff, and likely a major loss in value.

Be watching. I doubt XM is done shooting themselves in the foot quite yet.

Leave Alec Baldwin Alone

Now, I may be the one person in America who enjoyed his performance in The Shadow, but I am not a fan of Alec Baldwin. He is talented, especially at deadpan humor, but his political rants are legendary and generally offensive if you have even the slightlest Rightward lean. However, I still think he is being ill-treated over his comments toward his daughter released as part of his ongoing divorce proceedings with Kim Basinger. The comments are awful, but they are part of a private conversation between father and daughter. Let his friends, family, and spiritual advisors work to chastise, correct, or forgive This is not something that should be played out on the public stage!