eBay = Big Brother
Submitted by Bill St. Clair on Wed, 24 Sep 2003 12:00:00 GMT
billstclair.com/usdocs/ now contains links to my copies of the
founding documents of the United States,
The Declaration of Independence,
The Constitution,
The Bill of Rights, and
Amendments 19-27.
Jeff Quinn at Gunblast - Kimber Pro CDP II .45 Auto - a review of Kimber's "Custom Defense Package" 1911.
The main feature that sets this gun apart from, and way above, most other 1911 style guns on the market is the total absence of any sharp edges on the exterior of this weapon. The best word to describe the feel of this pistol is "smooth". If you run you hand across most 1911 pistols, you can feel several sharp edges that can cut your hand or quickly wear out holsters and clothing. Those edges are smoothly rounded on the CDP. It is much like the feel of a used bar of soap. All external edges of the frame and slide are rounded. Raking your hand across the top of the slide, it will glide smoothly across the sights and ejection port. This can be very important if you ever have to eject a bad round during a stressful situation.
The Kimber Pro CDP II was tested using a variety of ammunition, both hand loaded and factory new. As expected, the Kimber fed, fired, and ejected every round without failure. I have been criticized in the past for feeding empty cases through a new pistol during testing. My critics have stated correctly that a gun was never meant to feed empty cases, only live ammunition. However, I have found that if a pistol will feed an empty case from the magazine smoothly into the chamber, it will feed any type of ammunition. The Kimber feeds empties smoothly, every time.
The Liberty Committee - Statement of Congressman John J. Duncan, Jr. (R-Tennessee): September 10, 2003 - A good explication of the difference between a conservative and a neo-con. Unfortunately, he doesn't hold Bushnev responsible for the policies promoted by his staff.
There is nothing conservative about the U.S. policy in Iraq.
...
I have expressed my views in regard to Iraq without once ever criticizing President Bush. In fact, I continue to believe that this war came about because he is surrounded by big government Neo-Cons in key foreign policy positions rather than traditional conservatives.
Many, possibly even most, Republicans in the House have expressed misgivings and concerns about our policy in Iraq but have reluctantly gone along with the White House.
Yuval Dror at Haaretz via Crytome - Big Brother is watching you - and documenting - eBay tracks everything you do there, remembers it forever, and gives away everything they know about you to any JBT who asks. [cryptome]
"I don't know another Web site that has a privacy policy as flexible as eBay's," says Joseph Sullivan. A little bit later, Sullivan explains what he means by the term "flexible." Sullivan is director of the "law enforcement and compliance" department at eBay.com, the largest retailer in the world.
Sullivan was speaking to senior representatives of numerous law-enforcement agencies in the United States on the occasion of "Cyber Crime 2003," a conference that was held last week in Connecticut. His lecture was closed to reporters, and for good reason. Haaretz has obtained a recording of the lecture, in which Sullivan tells the audience that eBay is willing to hand over everything it knows about visitors to its Web site that might be of interest to an investigator. All they have to do is ask. "There's no need for a court order," Sullivan said, and related how the company has half a dozen investigators under contract, who scrutinize "suspicious users" and "suspicious behavior." The spirit of cooperation is a function of the patriotism that has surged in the wake of September 11.
...
"We don't make you show a subpoena, except in exceptional cases," Sullivan told his listeners. "When someone uses our site and clicks on the `I Agree' button, it is as if he agrees to let us submit all of his data to the legal authorities. Which means that if you are a law-enforcement officer, all you have to do is send us a fax with a request for information, and ask about the person behind the seller's identity number, and we will provide you with his name, address, sales history and other details - all without having to produce a court order. We want law enforcement people to spend time on our site," he adds. He says he receives about 200 such requests a month, most of them unofficial requests in the form of an email or fax.
