Covered in Soot
April 6th, 2006Climbing through a chimney sweep will leave you covered in soot, and sweeping through the day’s events might leave you a little dirty, too.
Sometimes Truth is stranger than Fiction, and Arizona’s State Senators are Sicker than Sin. “The son of state Senate President Ken Bennett admitted in court Monday to assaulting middle school boys with a broomstick in their rectal areas, but a judge allowed charges against him to be reduced from 18 to one, and he may avoid jail.” Our Justice system is disgusting, too, if it would let these charges be swept away so easily.
The government deals with a lot of sensitive information relating to its citizens, and it’s worth wondering how successful they are at protecting our privacy. Ask the GAO, and the answer will be not to your liking.
But those agencies often do not limit the collection and use of information about law-abiding citizens, as required by the Privacy Act of 1974 and other laws. The agencies also don’t ensure the accuracy of the information they are buying, according to the GAO report. That’s in part because of a lack of clear guidance from the agencies and the Office of Management and Budget on guidelines known as “fair information practices,” the report said. At the same time, the contractors are not bound by those “fair information practices,” and they often don’t comply with all of them, the report said. Companies do not notify individuals when information is collected, for instance. They limit individuals’ access to records about themselves, and they generally do not have provisions for correcting mistakes, the report said.
The solution is simple. Sweep away the current regulations (or lack thereof) and replace them with clear guidelines so as to verify accuracy and protect privacy. I’d recommend that you contact Representative Chris Cannon, who held a hearing on the matter, to encourage him and help prompt legislation. I did. Change starts at the grassroots.
Ann Coulter said that Tom DeLay is an “incredibly honorable man.” In other news, my cats love me because I feed them and give them snacks. Much like big oil loves the government for the same reason. Except that now, for once, the government is coming after big oil for defrauding Alaskans, although I doubt the government’s committment since the EPA refuses to confirm or deny much. We’ll wait and see how this turns out, but a big part of me believes that the Administration won’t, ah, be indicting people in BP anytime soon.
A Congressional investigation, spearheaded by Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur, is looking into whether or not a Bush “Campaign Pioneer” (big money donator) used a plump position given to him (surely solely on his own merits, and not because of the said donations) to direct money toward his own pocket. The man is said to have defrauded the US mint, and it’s people like him that make me want to be a Prosecutor. Or a chimney sweeper.
A Republican Congressman attacked his Democratic challenger over his daughter’s brain tumor hospital stays. Did you get that? He’s criticizing him for the hospital he chose for his daughter. It sure looks like someone has soot for brains to me.