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Reuters: "State attorneys general pressing the antitrust case against Microsoft on Friday asked a judge to order the company to offer a cheaper, stripped-down version of its Windows operating system.. The stripped-down version of Windows would come without Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser, as well as its e-mail and media player software."  News.Com: States get tough in Microsoft case. "..requiring Microsoft to ship a stripped-down version of Windows; compelling the software giant to ship Java with Windows XP; replacing a three-person oversight committee with a special master; requiring Microsoft to continue offering Office for the Macintosh beyond the August expiration of an existing deal; and requiring Microsoft to develop a version of Office for Linux." The full text of the proposed settlement. PDF. My comments on the proposed settlement. LA Times: "Disposable cell phones can be purchased and used anonymously." Rafe Colburn: "How dare he attempt to make people feel ashamed for criticizing the government." 802.11b News: "The mainstream media is treating Wi-Fi the way the Internet was treated originally. The technical details coupled with scattered widespread and disparate methods of adoption and deployment lead to articles that try to exemplify a trend, but only illuminate a tiny aspect of it." I'm getting the best mail I've ever gotten. The most poignant comment -- Bush should fire Ashcroft for saying what he said yesterday. I agree. What gives me the goosebumps is to find out that I am not alone. That we've stayed silent for so long on this is indication, I think, of how scared we are. Two years ago today, pictures from the Seattle WTO meeting. A warning, it can happen here. I don't trust Ashcroft  Yesterday I mentioned the unmentionable. Then I watched Ashcroft's testimony at the Senate, and heard him say that this kind of talk is unpatriotic and that it undermines their efforts to make the US safe. Their pitch is basically this -- give us a blank check with freedom, and trust us to do the right thing, and keep your mouth shut or be labeled a traitor. Well, I don't trust them. Perhaps if he had paid some lip service to the value of freedom, I might have some doubt about it. Or if they were clamping down on sales of semi-automatic weapons at US gun shows. But he did the opposite, no lip service, and no gun controls. How long before there are military tribunals for US citizens to keep them from criticizing the Bush Administration or gun advocates. Hey it chilled me to see Kennedy, Leahy and Feingold tiptoeing around the big question. Why should we trust you, Ashcroft? What do you stand for? Further, they have said it over and over -- they can't make the US safe, and I agree. This is an open and vulnerable country. So we have the worst possible situation. We know that we can be hit, and probably will be hit again. And at the same time, all that's worth preserving in this country is being thrown away. I know I keep saying this, but my grandfather, who ran from the Nazis, warned me about this when I was a kid, and I will keep passing on what he told me. It's at this point that we can do something. Later there won't be anything we can do. The US is a special place, despite what the detractors say. Some of us will have to die to keep it special. Keep things in perspective. A few thousand people died on Sept 11. Why are those deaths more valuable than all the people who died to make the US a free country? I gave this a lot of thought -- and will give it more. What you do depends on whether you think Bush and his people are trustworthy. Look in your heart and find the answer for yourself. I can't tell you what to think. But I can tell you this. A few thousand people read Scripting News yesterday, and no one flamed me for comparing Sept 11 to the burning of the Reichstag. |
 
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© Copyright 1997-2005 Dave Winer. The picture at the top of the page may change from time to time. Previous graphics are archived. Previous/Next |
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