Are terms of service now the law?

A woman has been indicted on 4 felony counts for using Myspace account she created with a fake name to harass a young girl (a former friend of her daughter) who then killed herself based on the harassment.

Obviously, this woman is not a good person, but no laws were broken.  At most, simple harassment, which is not even a misdemeanor in most states.

Federal prosecutors are now trying to stretch the law to say that if you violate the Terms of Service (TOS) of a website or online service, that in itself could be a criminal act.  In this case, part of their indictment hinges on the fact that the accused used a fake name for the MySpace account.  

So what the prosecutors are saying is that if a website tells you to use your real name, and you enter an alias, you are breaking the law.  This reading of the law is rediculous.  Websites have all kinds of crazy TOS's.  Some say that you cannot even send a link to the website to a friend.  Should that be a criminal act too?

I feel bad that a young girl lost her life, but we should not be giving any company the right to make new laws by updating their website.  

FYI - Google, who hosts this blog, actually has a very reasonable Terms of Service.  You can view it here.

CA overturns gay marriage ban

Some states get it right. Today California legalized gay marriage.

What really gets the point across are what the opponents say, that "the state, by design, should not deny a child both a mother and a father."

Well, in order to have a child, biologically you need both a mother and a father. So the opponents mean that the state should make sure that both a mother and a father are around. The only way a state could do that is to also prohibit divorce, which is the reason the majority of children grow up in single parent households.

Even (republican) governor Schwarzenegger agrees, saying that he would not support an amendment to the constitution to overturn the court.

Edwards endorses Obama

John Edwards endorsed Barack Obama today. His endorsement is one of the most coveted out of all democrats. Why? Because he was running as the backer of the "working class white voters" before Hillary Clinton seized on this demographic. In fact, Edwards got a non-trivial 7% of the vote in WV (he dropped out of the race in Feb but remained on the ballot).



With him standing behind Obama, he brings a consituency to the campaign that they probably don't even need to beat McCain, but it will help in certain states, such as NC, VA, OH, PA, and others.



Weeks ago it was expected that Edwards would endorse Clinton, but he knows a losing bet when he sees one. This pickup should also help Obama in Kentucky, which feels like an Edwards state.

Bob Barr - First Thoughts on his LP Run

Bob Barr just threw in his hat in the (crowded) Libertarian Party race. Our candidate in 2004 was embarrassing (Michael Badnarik, not even his mother would vote for him). Ron Paul ran for the LP way back in the 80s. Barr will go toe-to-toe with Mike Gravel, formerly running as a democrat, and the other weirdos the LP fields every year.

Barr is the biggest name recognition we’ve had for a while. He is a former Congressman for Georgia, and made a guest appearance in Borat (he was seen eating cheese and almost threw up). I’m not really sure what to make of Barr. He is the guy who really pushed impeachment proceedings against Bill Clinton, authored the Defense of Marriage Act (a gay bashing bill), strongly supported the War on Drugs, and voted for the USA PATRIOT Act. He was even against medical marijuana.

For him to join the LP is absurd. But he did join the LP 2 years ago and is immediately the front runner. In a way, he is like a George W Bush reborn as a Ron Paul.

While he will not be getting my vote, I think that he may do well enough to give Obama the win. McCain only got 75% of the vote in PA and around the same in IN. Barr could function as a Ross Perot / Ralph Nader and eat up just enough of the angry Republican vote (Dems won’t vote for him with such a good candidate like Obama) to give the dems the win in some key swing states.  

You can visit his website here: http://www.bobbarr2008.com/

He is collecting donations now and has a neat live counter, just like Ron Paul did for a while.

Bob Barr may not be the perfect LP candidate, but let's face it, John McCain is a nightmare and I'd much rather cast a vote for Barr than McCain, if I had to pick between the two.  It's also refreshing to see the LP have the potential to have a non-loon running for them.

Full disclosure: I am a card carrying member of the Libertarian Party, but have not paid dues for many years.

McCain's Green Thumb

The Green Revolution is no longer a one-party issue. Today John McCain became the first republican presidential candidate to talk about the environment, global warming, and carbon emmissions. I think that this is long overdue. Regardless of how much of the global warming talk you believe, we can all agree that black skies are a bad things. We don't want to breath it, we don't want to screw up the Earth.

Interestingly enough, McCain and Obama have practically the exact same plan when it comes to the environment.

McCain's plan is available here.
Obama's can be read here.

The fundamental part of both their plans is what's known as a "cap and trade" program. Here's an example:

I own a factory that spews 10 tons of carbon into the air per year.
You own a factory that spews 15 tons of carbon into the air per year.

The government sets a limit of 8 tons per year. My factory is relatively new, so with a few minor adjustments, it now only spews 5 tons of carbon per year. Yours is another story, it is very inefficient, so you can only get it to 11 tons per year.

The new law would allow me to sell you 3 tons of carbon per year. This is a great free market policy, despite what many republicans will say. While it could result in some modest price increases, it is the lowest cost solution to cut down on pollution.

Despite the merits of this plan, it will likely be disastrous for McCain. Conservatives have been looking for any issue to attack him on, to paint him as a liberal maverick. This environmental policy has them drooling at the mouth right now. It will also turn off a lot of the back country republicans, who will see McCain as a traitor. I'm not saying these people will vote for Obama, but I think they may not vote at all.

What's up with WV?

One of the last primaries of the season is in West Virginia.  Not a primary that usually has any major impact, this year the state is in the spotlight, even though the impact from their primary will still be minimal.  

Against the grain of most of America, Hillary Clinton leads the polls in WV by 43 points.  Yes, 66% are going towards her, while 23% are going for Obama.  I suspect that the results will show Obama getting 30+% of the vote, as many more Clinton supporters than Obama supporters will stay home on election day, since her chances of winning the nomination are not good.  

That being said, I've tried to figure out exactly what makes WV (and to a lesser extent Kentucky, who holds its primaries on May 20) democrats so different from the rest of America.

West Virginia is one of those states, like Missouri, that isn't quite part of a geographic region of the US.  Despite its breakup from VA during the War Between the States, it does not feel Northern.  Most of it feels like the South crossed with the Rust Belt, which is a pretty accurate description of Appalachia in general, although certain regions (like the Eastern Panhandle) resemble the other states surrounding it.  Unlike most of the South, WV is 93% white.  It is also less college educated than any other state, ranking 50/50, behind Arkansas and Mississippi.  Only 15% of West Virginians hold a bachelor's degree.  One interesting foot note, West Virginia does have a historically black college (West Virginia State), but enrollment is now over 90% white.

I think it would be safe to say, that West Virginia is the densest population of less educated whites in the United States, a demographic that generally supports Hillary.  Add to this mix the fact that West Virginia has the second lowest GDP per capita in the country, and you have a perfect storm for a Clinton supporting state.

I don't think the Wright Controversy, Bittergate, or any of the other recent developments really affect the spread in WV.

All of this is speculation, but I think that rural, small-town mentality allows propaganda to run amok unchecked.  News reports still show many of these voters focusing on the whole "Obama is a Muslim" bullshit.  In order to convince someone that this is not true, you first have to explain to them that Obama did live in Indonesia, which is a Muslim country, but that he went to a public school.  This school obviously had a large Muslim student body, just as a school in the USA will have a large Christian student body, even though it is not religious.  While easy for you and I to comprehend, to someone who has never left his home state and will never have a passport in his life, merely visiting a Muslim country will be viewed with suspicion (unless its for military purposes).  

Citizens of a rural town in West Virginia are unlikely to read up on things online.  One guy might get the bogus email about something bad Obama supposedly did in this past (such as being a Muslim) and he'll tell everyone in his coal mine about it.  Are they going to go online to verify his claim?  Unlikely.  In small towns, rumors run wild.  

And not to knock on the President Pro Tem too much, but West Virginia has elected a former Klansman to the senate since 1959.  It seems plausible that Senator Byrd has since changed his mind on race, but have the people who elected him?  Do they spend their time reading about the bills he's voted on?  Or do they remember him to be the good 'ole boy who kept those blacks in their place during the 60s?

Lastly, to a small town voter, some of Obama's rhetoric may be depressing.  They hear about us improving our image around the world.  They will never leave their county, so these types of issues don't matter to them.  They hear Obama talk about bringing the races together when all that matters to them is their coal mine going out of business.  They hear a candidate talk about cutting spending on wasteful pork, when that wasteful pork is what pays for many of the rural services they use on a daily basis.

It is easy to forget about Appalachia.  It is a sparsely populated piece of America that most of us just pass through.  What we all should do though, is reach out to these fellow citizens where we can and share with them our vision of America.  It is only through our mutual understanding of each other that we can truly help some of our neglected states.