Bits & Pieces

First, some good news - the US is dropping the pressure on Israel to freeze settlements.  The US never had any business butting into what Israel did, let alone what they can do in their own country.

The WikiLeaks documents leak has caused some to consider re-thinking putting all medical records in electronic format.  Good.  I've seen too many screw-ups to think that enshrining the supremacy of the electronic record is a good idea.  I've seen physicians and other health professionals ignore the live patient's protests that the record was inaccurate, and cause harm.  Of course, I'm also concerned about privacy.  I'm kind of a grinch about privacy - when I get calls from telemarketers or credit agencies, I just tell them, "send me the information in hard copy.  I do NOTHING - not give them ANY information, nor "pledge" a donation, nor sign up for electronic payment, NOTHING over the phone.  I'm the same way about political calls - I just tell them I'm for their candidate, and promise to vote for him/her.  Then, with luck, they leave me alone.

Rep. Joe Barton is taking the FCC to school.  He sent a letter pinning Copps ears back - GOOD - in fact, DOUBLE GOOD!  The FCC is all too fond of butting its nose in where it doesn't belong.

According to Copp,

"It's a pretty serious situation that we're in," Copps told BBC Washington correspondent Katty Kay last week. "We are not producing the body of news and information that democracy needs to conduct its civic dialogue, we're not producing as much news as we did five, 10 years, 15 years ago and we have to reverse that trend or I think we are going to be pretty close to denying our citizens the essential news and information that they need to have in order to make intelligent decisions about the full direction of their country."

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/12/07/congressman-blasts-fcc-commissioner-proposed-media-regulations/#ixzz17TZAG82u

Dear Mr. Copp, I know this will come as a complete surprise, but Americans don't need to be spoon-fed the "essential news and information" - we're a whole lot smarter than you give us credit for.

Do you know the acronym FERC - it stands for Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.  They're the folks that want everyone to pay for wind and solar energy projects - WHETHER or NOT they will ever benefit from them.  Read more at the link.

Did you know that some of your people in Congress have a financial interest in the "porn" scanners that the airports are now using?  Of course, George Soros is a big investor, too.

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