Hidden Nook
"Because in Cyberspace, no one can hear you scream."
Thursday, March 30, 2006
Google Courting The GOP?
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(Published on Blogger News)Apparently April fools is still 48 hours away (as of this post) and it appears that the search engine king is cozying up to the GOP.
For a company known to have stronger roots in the Democratic party than Hillary's own campaign staff, this news seems as a shocker from the Twilight Zone.
(CNET News) Google appears to have embraced the rules of the so-called K Street Project. For a decade or more, Republicans in Congress have used the K Street Project to strong-arm businesses to hire only Republican lobbyists and to make donations only to GOP candidates.
Google has hired Washington powerhouse lobbying firm Podesta Mattoon. Though known as a bipartisan firm, Podesta Mattoon will probably hand this account to Lauren Maddox, a former staffer for Newt Gingrich.
Google is apparently "teaming up" with the GOP in order to influence government policy, especially after their sting by bloggers and the government over the China issue.
(CNET News) "The folks I've talked to," Clark told The New York Times, "everybody recognizes that the employee contributions were weighted heavily toward Democrats, and they're waiting to see a course correction." (Since 2001, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, Google employees have donated $361,294 to federal candidates, parties and political action committees, with all but roughly $10,000 going to Democrats or their allies.)
Despite their neutral approach towards search, Google is probably realizing that they are not making too many friends with the conservative party, with some bloggers refusing to click on Google Ads as it may support "Demville."
Google is hiring GOP lobbyists in order to help curb what it sees as emerging threats to its internet rights.
(NewsMax) Google's emerging army of advisers "would help it fight fires along several policy lines, including copyright law, access to the Internet and privacy issues like its successful court fight this month to narrow a Justice Department subpoena over disclosure of its users' searches," according to the Times. (Media Source*)
Although some may disagree, this is perhaps a wise strategy for Google. The search engine king must find ways to reach out towards the Republican party--especially if they win the Whitehouse again in 2008.
Thursday, March 23, 2006
Four Options For Afghanistan
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(Published on Blogger News and Freedom's Zone)Many, many moons ago Americans spilt their blood for a people living far, far away in the hopes that one day, peace and freedom would blossom in a land only known for violence and hate.
Unfortunately freedom (specifically freedom of religion) was not part of the "packaged deal" when Afghanistan was liberated, leaving the post-Taliban democracy with four options when it comes to the trial of Abdur Rahman.
(MSNBC) KABUL, Afghanistan - Senior Muslim clerics said Thursday that an Afghan man on trial for converting from Islam to Christianity should be killed regardless of whether a court decides to free him.
Abdul Rahman, a 41-year-old former medical aid worker, faces the death penalty for becoming a Christian under Afghanistan's Islamic laws. [...]
Diplomats say the Afghan government is searching for a way to drop the case, and on Wednesday authorities said Rahman is suspected of being mentally ill and would undergo psychological examinations to see whether he is fit to stand trial.
Facing pressure from abroad as well as within, the Afghan government has several options it can choose, each one with serious consequences.
- Execute Abdul: This would satisfy the "moderate voices" of tolerance, at least from the clerics who seem to have a better understanding of the brain than Afghan's psychologists (see next point).
Of coarse, this may cause the "return of the Taliban" as multi-national forces would be inclined to withdraw. - Declare Abdul Insane: This would satisfy most diplomats and relieve internal pressure. Although a nice loop hole, handing down a sentence like this would reduce the nation's medical society as to having the IQ of a box of rocks.
Even the Taliban were smarter than that. - Free Abdul: Would bring about many smiles across the west but probably increase terrorist recruitment levels ahead of the US military (but then again, so will the first option).
It may also cause religious riots--that is unless... - We Free Abdul via Koranic verses: Believe it or not, CAIR (Council on American-Islamic Relations) has the best solution. This would establish freedom of faith in principle and alleviate the pressure to riot in the streets.
Only time will tell which door Afghanistan will choose, although the "insanity plea" will not hold up towards public opinion (Christian, Atheist and Muslim). Unless freedom to worship (or not) is demonstrated in the Muslim region, Abdul "Deja vu" could happen again in Iraq.
Tuesday, March 07, 2006
Google News, Kosher Style
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It looks as if the Google team has finally launched a Hebrew version of their Google News site, Kosher style.(Google Blog) We're launching Google News in Hebrew! Google News Israel aggregates articles across Hebrew-language newspapers and presents them side by side so you can read what all of them are saying in one view.
It's been fun and challenging to create this edition, having to accommodate text that reads right to left, and adjusting our algorithms to work with a whole new set of papers. [...]
Meanwhile, with the recent opening of our Israeli office, we look forward to offering many more products to our friends there.
Google's presence in Israel will help raise the status of the Jewish nation and hopefully encourage more employment within it as well. Despite the terrorism that the land is frequently known for, Google's appearance will hopefully draw attention to the normal way of life most Israeli's experience outside of terrorism. END
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