Day: January 26, 2006

…when I see something like coming out soon.

The SONY Reader (that’s the official product site, with specs):

Apparently they’ve managed to resolve the problems of screen-reading (low-res, flicker, backlighting, etc.), by something they call “e Ink,” which provides relatively high contrast, no backlight, no screen flicker and good resolution.

Plus, It also appears that SONY has ditched the digital rights management (DRM) for this reader (the previous one was proprietary). This one appears to let you choose from among different formats, allowing you to read downloaded web pages, PDF files, and more.

Once things like this start becoming as regular as iPods, being a PDF publisher is going to be a Very Good Thing indeed.

So, today at his Press Conference, Frutex Minimus Caesar flat-out admits to breaking the law: Official transcript from the White House here.

The segment in question (bolds added for emphasis):

————
Q: “Mr. President, though — this is a direct follow up to that — the FISA law was implemented in 1978 in part because of revelations that the National Security Agency was spying domestically. What is wrong with that law if you feel you have to circumvent it and, as you just admitted, expand presidential power?”

THE PRESIDENT:” May I — if I might, you said that I have to circumvent it. There — wait a minute. That’s a — there’s something — it’s like saying, you know, you’re breaking the law. I’m not. See, that’s what you’ve got to understand. I am upholding my duty, and at the same time, doing so under the law and with the Constitution behind me. That’s just very important for you to understand.

Secondly, the FISA law was written in 1978. We’re having this discussion in 2006. It’s a different world. And FISA is still an important tool. It’s an important tool. And we still use that tool. But also — and we — look — I said, look, is it possible to conduct this program under the old law? And people said, it doesn’t work in order to be able to do the job we expect us to do.

And so that’s why I made the decision I made. And you know, “circumventing” is a loaded word, and I refuse to accept it, because I believe what I’m doing is legally right.”
————

Scary shit. He flat-out admits that there is a law, that it “doesn’t work” for what he wants to do, and that’s why he “made the decision.”

JESUS FUCKING CHRIST, PEOPLE: HOW MUCH MORE EVIDENCE DO YOU NEED???

The President just admitted on national TV that he broke an existing law. Why the hell isn’t anybody doing anything?

Oh….and another thing—they could have done this legally, under a bill that was before Congress in 2002. But they opposed it:

Even as warrantless U.S. eavesdropping was being conducted, the White House opposed easing rules on the issue in 2002 to avoid public debate. The Bush administration told Congress they opposed lowering the legal standard for intercepting the phone calls of foreigners who were in the United States, even while the administration had secretly adopted a lower standard on its own.

Uncovered by a blogger, buried on the back pages of the Washington Post and the L.A. Times. That’s all the media attention it will receive, I’m sure.

What the fuck is happening to this country?