No Internet Tax

The Senate just passed a bill to extend the ban on internet taxes (for 7 more years). The bill is expected to be signed by President Bush.

The U.S. House of Representatives today approved a bill that would extend the soon-to-expire moratorium on Internet taxes by seven years, the final step before the legislation heads to President Bush for his signature.

The House voted 402-0 to accept a version of the moratorium extension bill that was passed by the Senate last Thursday. The Senate proposed the seven-year extension, amending an earlier iteration of the bill that the House had approved with a four-year extension.

The current ban on access taxes and other Internet-only levies is scheduled to expire on Thursday. The moratorium, which doesn't prevent the imposition of online sales taxes, has been in effect since 1998, except for a lapse during most of 2004.

Bush is expected to sign the extension bill, which is officially -- and awkwardly -- named the Internet Tax Freedom Act Amendments Act. The president has supported the idea of an outright ban on Internet taxes, and he signed the last extension of the moratorium after it was passed by Congress in late 2004.

Hooray for democracy!

Google Not Invincible?

Newsweek article on Google.

It is threatened by a massive worldwide effort to build a better search, involving giant high-tech rivals, governments in Europe and Asia, and hundreds of tiny start-ups founded by academic wunderkinders much like Sergey Brin and Larry Page, the Stanford graduate students who founded Google in 1998. And it's also dependent on an online public that may make up the most fickle market in history, an audience whose interests are already showing signs of wandering outside the search box.

Google search for "The Stark Tenet".

Where I found this article:
RealClearPolitics

Writers Guild of America Prepares for War

How is it going to hurt us? Here is an article on how it will affect the entertainment industry.
Excerpt below:

If you enjoy television and movies, the scariest day of the year could arrive at midnight on Halloween.

On Nov. 1, the contract the Writers Guild of America has with the TV networks and film studios runs out. And though the impact won't be as immediate for filmgoers, within a couple of months a strike would have a serious impact on the small screen. If a strike drags on for some time -- and the last writers strike, in 1988, lasted five months -- 2008 could be very painful for entertainment consumers.

Well that sounds...fun.

I did find this quote pretty funny, from the creator of Lost.

"[I'll] catch up on all the shows sitting on my TiVo!" Lindelof said. "How's that for irony?"

Hopefully everything gets sorted by the time 24 and Lost come back on.

More Frankie Machine Info

You know that De Niro film that no is talking about though should be, Frankie Machine? More news coming out that Michael Mann is going to direct.

Robert De Niro is returning to his Mafia roots -- and Michael Mann is taking him there.

In what sounds like very good news for fans of 1995's Heat, the last film De Niro and Mann worked on together, Variety reports that the director has committed to develop an adaptation of Don Winslow's The Winter of Frankie Machine for Paramount.

Can't wait.

Where I got the article:
Rotten Tomatoes

States are stepping up

Here is an article about States stepping up in regard to greenhouse gas emissions. Why does the federal government always got to rub its nose in everything?
Excerpt below:

New York is one of more than a dozen states, led by California, preparing to sue the Bush administration for holding up efforts to regulate emissions from cars and trucks, several people involved in the lawsuit said on Tuesday.

The move comes as New York and other Northeastern states are stepping up their push for tougher regulation of greenhouse gases as part of their continuing opposition to President Bush’s policies....

The lawsuit against the E.P.A. was expected to be filed on Wednesday, but will be delayed until next week as California continues to deal with wildfires, aides to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger of California said Tuesday.

A big tsk to the federal government.

Rudy

Here is an article about the Presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani and his obsession with an Iran war.
Excerpt below:

Giuliani ought to recognize that he is no longer the big-mouthed mayor of New York but a serious contender for the White House. All that his talk can accomplish is to make Iranian moderates rally around Ahmadinejad. That's a pity. Iran's economy is weak, and even many Iranians know their president needs his meds. His agnosticism regarding the Holocaust -- maybe it happened, maybe it didn't -- has to strike educated Iranians as deeply embarrassing. But Ahmadinejad does not actually rule the country. The mullahs do.

Cohen highlights the real picture in Iran, not the absurdity most of the presidential candidates are spewing.

If we move closer to a war with Iran, Reformists in the country are more likely to see hard-line positions as more attractive. We can't overlook this. We can at least attempt to work with the Reformists in the future.

Giuliani, the best for America?

Updated 7/08: Obviously at this point Giuliani is no where near the point he was when I wrote this post, and overall ran an entirely ineffective campaign. However, I would like to take note of Iran and its intentions. Now I wouldn't characterize myself as falling into lock and step in the vision Giuliani had during his campaign, yet I will say that Iran did and has for a long time posed a legitimate threat to not only American interests but also to our ally, Israel. It has repeatedly tested our defenses and is sending mixed messages. I would just like to simply point out that I may have been a little harsh on Giuliani and his foreign policy platform and wrong about his judgment.

McCain on Woodstock

This was at the Fox News Republican debate in Florida:

While hippies were smoking pot and grooving to "peace", McCain was getting tortured in a POW Vietnamese prison.

Things are about to get worse...

Here comes Turkey...

Dozens of Turkish military vehicles loaded with soldiers and heavy weapons rumbled toward the Iraq border on Monday after an ambush by rebel Kurds that killed 12 soldiers and left eight missing.

The guerrilla ambush on Sunday outraged an already frustrated public. Demonstrations erupted across the country and opposition leaders called for an immediate strike against rebel bases in Iraq, despite appeals for restraint from Iraq, the U.S. and European leaders.

and this...

Turkey will launch military action against Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq despite frantic appeals for restraint from America and Nato, its Prime Minister has told The Times.

Speaking hours before the PKK, the Kurdish Workers’ Party, killed at least 17 more Turkish soldiers yesterday, Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Turkey had urged the US and Iraqi governments repeatedly to expel the separatists but they had done nothing. Turkey’s patience was running out and the country had every right to defend itself, he said. “Whatever is necessary will be done,” he declared in an interview. “We don’t have to get permission from anybody.”

Hopefully we can prevent northern Iraq from falling into chaos (since that is the most stable region in Iraq right now). Hopefully.

War?

Where I found these articles/the photo:
Drudge/My Way News

Turkey Looking at War

Troubling news that could only get worse if something isn't done. Turkey is looking more determined to strike in Iraq. Things have been heating up this year between Turkey and Iraq, with the PKK attacking targets inside Turkey.

Parliament on Wednesday overwhelmingly approved a possible cross- border offensive against Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq, although the government appears willing to give diplomatic pressure on the U.S.- backed Iraqi administration more time to work.

Lawmakers voted 507-19 in favor of empowering the government to order the military to cross into Iraq over a one-year period. Turkish leaders have stressed that an offensive against the rebels of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, would not immediately follow the expected authorization.

How can things get worse in Iraq?

Where I found this article:
Drudge

Hillary Clinton on Foreign Policy

Again, another article on Foreign Policy, this time by Hillary Clinton.
Excerpt below:

To lead, a great nation must command the respect of others. America has been respected in the past as a powerful nation, a purposeful nation, and a generous and warm-hearted nation. In my travels around the world as senator and as first lady, I have met people from all walks of life. I have seen firsthand how many of our past policies have earned us respect and gratitude.

The tragedy of the last six years is that the Bush administration has squandered the respect, trust, and confidence of even our closest allies and friends. At the dawn of the twenty-first century, the United States enjoyed a unique position. Our world leadership was widely accepted and respected, as we strengthened old alliances and built new ones, worked for peace across the globe, advanced nonproliferation, and modernized our military. After 9/11, the world rallied behind the United States as never before, supporting our efforts to remove the Taliban in Afghanistan and go after the al Qaeda leadership. We had a historic opportunity to build a broad global coalition to combat terror, increase the impact of our diplomacy, and create a world with more partners and fewer adversaries.

But we lost that opportunity by refusing to let the UN inspectors finish their work in Iraq and rushing to war instead. Moreover, we diverted vital military and financial resources from the struggle against al Qaeda and the daunting task of building a Muslim democracy in Afghanistan. At the same time, we embarked on an unprecedented course of unilateralism: refusing to pursue ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, abandoning our commitment to nuclear nonproliferation, and turning our backs on the search for peace in the Middle East. Our withdrawal from the Kyoto Protocol and refusal to participate in any international effort to deal with the tremendous challenges of climate change further damaged our international standing.

Clinton and Company.

Where I found this article:
RealClearPolitics

McCain on Foreign Policy

Here is a link to McCain's view on Foreign Policy.
Excerpt below:

Since the dawn of our republic, Americans have believed that our nation was created for a purpose. We are, as Alexander Hamilton said, "a people of great destinies." From the American Revolution to the Cold War, Americans have understood their duty to serve a cause greater than self-interest and to keep faith with the eternal and universal principles of the Declaration of Independence. By overcoming threats to our nation's survival and to our way of life, and by seizing history's great opportunities, Americans have changed the world.

He underlines some serious challenges that face our nation and what needs to be done.

His points include: a League of Democracies, a restructure of the military, more participation in humanitarian efforts, a closer relationship with our allies and an international focus on free trade.

Sounds good, but can he get elected?

Where I found this article:
RealClearPolitics

Turkey and Iraq

Problems on the Turkish-Iraqi border.

The simmering conflict between Turkey and Kurdish guerrillas headquartered in neighboring Iraq may be getting close to a boil. On Sunday, after 13 Turkish soldiers were killed by rebels, the government in Ankara announced that it had shelled suspected hideouts of the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK), which wants some form of Kurdish self-rule in southeast Turkey. It was the worst number of casualties sustained by the Turkish army in nearly a decade. Just a week ago, a minibus was ambushed by suspected Kurdish rebels, killing 13 people, including a seven-year-old child.

That's the last thing we need, a Turkish invasion.

Three Story Sunday

First is an article about Global Warming and the idea of bringing sense into the debate:

I point this out not to challenge the reality of global warming or the fact that it's caused in large part by humans, but because the discussion about climate change has turned into a nasty dustup, with one side arguing that we're headed for catastrophe and the other maintaining that it's all a hoax. I say that neither is right. It's wrong to deny the obvious: The Earth is warming, and we're causing it. But that's not the whole story, and predictions of impending disaster just don't stack up.

It's about time someone says something. Hysteria isn't going to solve anything.

Second is an article about McCain's recent joke about Alan Greenspan:

Republican John McCain said Thursday that as president he would appoint Alan Greenspan to lead a review of the nation's tax code - even if the former Federal Reserve chairman was dead.

"If he's alive or dead it doesn't matter. If he's dead, just prop him up and put some dark glasses on him like, like 'Weekend at Bernie's,'" McCain joked. "Let's get the best minds in America together and fix this tax code."

Now how is that offensive, because...Greenspan is old? Give me a break.

Third is an article about the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and how they have influence in the current Iranian government:

In recent weeks, as Washington ratcheted up pressure to designate Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization, officials throughout Iran sprang to its defense. The sermon by Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati last month was typical. The corps "is not separate from the people," Mr. Jannati told the congregation. "Are you introducing the 70 million people living in this country as terrorists?"

This public embrace makes devising effective sanctions against the corps problematic. Still, the United States must find a way to contain the Guards – they help run Iran's nuclear program, have a hand in killing US soldiers in Iraq, and are playing an increasingly prominent role in Iranian politics.

Very troubling indeed.

What do all of these have in common...nothing.

Putin Experimenting with Power

Here is a NY TIMES article describing Putin's plans after his term is over. Excerpt below:

President Vladimir V. Putin announced today that he would be the leading candidate on the list of Russia’s dominant political party in parliamentary elections in December, and said he might become the country’s prime minister next year...

Mr. Putin’s statements strongly suggest what most analysts had already assumed — that he plans to maintain a hold on much of the power he has accrued during his eight years in the Kremlin, a period during which Russia’s economy and international influence have expanded and many Russians have seen their living conditions improve.

Who didn't see this coming?