March 31, 2003

News from the Hobbs Ranch

We closed on a house today. All of the long hours of looking at houses for sale in subdivision after subdivision, scanning realtracs, getting our Realtor to spend his Saturdays showing us home after home after home, each time trying to imagine what it might be like to live there and, more importantly, raise two children there, trying to picture our family in that house... all the rationalizing about a too-long commute, or too few bedrooms, or too small a yard, all the raised and dashed hopes, all the long hours of indecision and wondering if we'd ever find just the right house in just the right neighborhood with just the right school for our precious kids and, finally, it all comes to an end in the simple ceremony of signing a few papers spread on a conference table in an office, and the ceremonial handing over of the keys and garage door openers.

The American Dream comes with a Michael Moore-sized debt. But it's worth it. We found the right house. The Franklin outpost of the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy will soon be moving here:

Casa del Hobbs
Now.. where is the nearest Home Depot...

(If this post doesn't move you to drop something in the tip jar, nothing will.)

Tennessee Lawmakers Threaten Internet

For years, Tennessee has taken pride in being proactive in wiring the state and its schools and libraries for Internet access, and millions of dollars of state funds have been expended for that purpose. Now, Tennessee lawmakers are putting much of that at risk with silly legislation that could render the Internet useless in Tennessee by outlawing "firewalls" and other software and hardware that are crucial to the operation of the Net. Several other states are also considering similar legislation, including South Carolina, Colorado, Massachusetts and Texas - and the bills - textually similar - are apparently are intended to extend the national Digital Millennium Copyright Act, explains Edward Felten.

Here is one example of the far-reaching harmful effects of these bills. Both bills would flatly ban the possession, sale, or use of technologies that "conceal from a communication service provider ... the existence or place of origin or destination of any communication." Your ISP is a communication service provider, so anything that concealed the origin or destination of any communication from your ISP would be illegal - with no exceptions. If you send or receive your email via an encrypted connection, you're in violation, because the "To" and "From" lines of the emails are concealed from your ISP by encryption. (The encryption conceals the destinations of outgoing messages, and the sources of incoming messages.)

Worse yet, Network Address Translation (NAT), a technology widely used for enterprise security, operates by translating the "from" and "to" fields of Internet packets, thereby concealing the source or destination of each packet, and hence violating these bills. Most security "firewalls" use NAT, so if you use a firewall, you're in violation. If you have a home DSL router, or if you use the "Internet Connection Sharing" feature of your favorite operating system product, you're in violation because these connection sharing technologies use NAT. Most operating system products (including every version of Windows introduced in the last five years, and virtually all versions of Linux) would also apparently be banned, because they support connection sharing via NAT. And this is just one example of the problems with these bills. Yikes.

The legislation being pushed by Sen. Person and Rep. Briley is bad legislation pushed by politicians who don't know enough about the Internet and how it works - otherwise, they would realize that the impact of this law would be to render the Internet either illegal or inoperable in Tennessee. Go here for more information on it.

UPDATE: I found the Tennessee version of the legislation. Senate Bill 213, sponsored by Sen. Curtis Person, and House Bill 457, sponsored by Rep. Rob Briley. Both bills have been moved to their respective judiciary committees. Let's hope they die there.

Meanwhile, if you have any information on the Tennessee legislation, who is lobbying for it, and relevant campaign contribution information involving the key House and Senate sponsors, please forward it to me at bill-at-billhobbs.com.

March 28, 2003

Lance Armstrong, All-American

American cyclist extraordinaire Lance Armstrong, who has won France's signature bicycle race four times in a row now - something akin to a French football team winning the Super Bowl - has issued an intelligent statement regarding the Iraq war.

In my opinion it's not really the place of an athlete to take a position here. And I do think there should be a strong deliniation from sports, war, diplomacy, and politics. I am getting asked this question repeatedly over here because a) I'm an American like the President, b) I'm a Texan like the President, and c) I am a friend of the President's. The war seems to be very unpopular here (lots and lots of protests) and it's normal that the press tries to get a quote regarding this. What I will say, and have said many times, is that NOBODY wants a war. Not me. Not President Bush. Not Tony Blair. No one... but sometimes it may be unavoidable. I absolutely support the President and absolutely support our troops.

Embedded Communists Update

National Review's Dave Shiflett is turning the national spotlight on communist connections to the anti-war protests .

Indeed, the state's most revered and self-congratulatory peace activists have been exposed, by talk radio, as being deeply in bed with the Communist party. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. The fun began when local talk-radio sensation Phil Valentine (familiar to NRO readers for leading the anti-state income-tax movement in Tennessee) decided to have a look at the Nashville Peace and Justice Center's website. The group has been sponsoring peace rallies in the area, and is also trying to send a delegation to see Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist. Valentine wanted to find out exactly who's who in the center's pro-peace coalition. Many of the members were hardly a surprise. What caught Valentine's eye, however, was the acronym CPUSA - the Communist party. Holy cow. What are the commies doing there? After all, about the only peace they've provided is the peace of the grave. Valentine's antennae were twitching as he went to the CPUSA's main website, scrolled down to the "contact the CPUSA" section, and found the listing for the Middle Tennessee Chapter.

"I couldn't believe it," says Valentine. "The street address for the Tennessee chapter of the CPUSA is the exact same address as the Nashville Peace and Justice Center." Sensing his readers might benefit from this information, Valentine took the story on air last Friday. Not everyone was happy he did so. "Matt Leber, the peace center's director, called in," Valentine told me. "At first he denied any affiliation with the Communist party. He said they weren't any Communists within ten miles of him. I pointed out they have the same address as his organization. There was stunned silence. Then he admitted that the CPUSA is a member organization, but said that didn't mean anything."

I mentioned Valentine's work exposing the communist connections of the Nashville Peace and Justice Center here on Wednesday and provided a link to the Google cache version of the organization's old website, which clearly described the Communist Party USA's Nashville chapter as a "member organization" of the NPJC. Shiflett's article includes a link to the organization's current website, from which the organization erased CPUSA from its list of member organizations. And, as it turns out, the latest version of the organization's old website has not been altered to conceal the fact that the Communist Party USA's Nashville chapter is a "member organization" of the NPJC.

Keep up the good work, Phil

March 26, 2003

Embedded Communists

WLAC radio talker Phil Valentine is doing yeoman's work outing the communist connections of the Nashville Peace & Justice Center, which has been sponsoring anti-war rallies in Tennessee's capital city in recent weeks. Now, the NPJC has altered its website to remove references to the Communist Party USA and the Democratic Socialists of America, and to remove evidence that the Nashville chapter of the Communist Party USA shares the same address as the NPJC.

Too bad the NPJC doesn't know about Google, and how it keeps past version of web pages in its "cache." You can see the old version of the incriminating page of the NPJC's website here. NPJC's listing in CitySearch whitewashes the organization's communist sympathies.

NPJC's address is 1016 18th Avenue South, Nashville, TN 37212. A listing of regional offices of the Communist Party USA doesn't have their address, only an email address, but the Google cached version has their address. It's 1016 18th Avenue South, Nashville, TN 37212

By the way... regular readers of this site know we keep you updated on the push for an income tax in Tennessee. NPJC is a part of that effort.

It's fine to be anti-war and pro-income tax if that's what you truly believe. But now you know that, when you protest at an NPJC event, you are helping communists.

UPDATE: The Tennessean rushed to the defense of the NPJC with a story Thursday. You'll notice the story includes comments only from NPJC director Matt Leber, who makes the dangerous charge that Valentine is trying to "instill fear and mistrust." The story says Valentine could not be reached for comment - but Valentine is on the air for several hours a day, and sends an email newsletter to more than 4,000 people every day. The Tennessean had no quotes from Valentine because it didn't want to quote him.

Too Bad We Can't Bomb al-Jazeera

The allies bombed Iraq's state-run television network's satellite service yesterday, knocking it off the air. The enemy's state-run TV is a legitimate target in a war. Somebody hacked Al-Jazeera's English-language website yesterday, knocking it offline, at least in the U.S. Good for them. Al-Jazeera is the mouthpiece of radical Islamofacism. It is not an Arab CNN, an independent news network for the Arab world. It is, as Little Green Footballs has dubbed it, "Jihad TV."

Walid Phares. a professor of Middle East studies and comparative politics at Florida Atlantic University, and author of several books on the Middle East, says this of Al-Jazeera:

The network functions essentially as a high-tech madrassa, broadcasting the ideology of jihad to millions around the world. Every development is thoroughly analyzed from a jihadist angle. One example was the Iraq campaign. Months before the U.S. engagement began, two audiotapes were aired by Al-Jazeera in which Osama bin Laden called on Muslims to fight for Baghdad as the "second capital of Islam" - not as the center of Saddam's Baath. Al-Jazeera was to use the term repeatedly, slowly building up the illusion that such a jihad would be fought for Iraq, not for Saddam. Interviews with religious fundamentalist leaders multiplied. The pressure eventually led al-Azhar, the Vatican of Sunni Islam, to call for jihad if Baghdad were to be attacked. That call, now "news," in turn was broadcasted by Al-Jazeera.

March 25, 2003

Blogging from Northern Iraq

Time magazine reporter Joshua Kucera is also reporitng from the Kurdish regions of Northern Iraq via his blog, called The Other Side. Updates are infrequent, but always worth reading. Kucera's blog is mentioned in yesterday's Boston Globe story about journalists blogging the war. The Wall Street Journal also has a story on journalists and non-journalists blogging from Iraq, but you'll need a subscription to WSJ's website to read it. Here's a summary of it, with a link if you have a subscription. The WSJ also has a really nice story about how members of the 101st Airborne are keeping connected to their families at home via email and instant messaging...

Up to 300 soldiers have one colleague to thank for this service: Dustin Price, a 21-year-old private from northern Michigan. Since arriving here at Camp New York three weeks ago, he has spliced together nearly two miles of abandoned wires and modems left behind by a U.S. tank division. A crucial piece of the project: A hub-switching box - hooked into a government network - that he and his tent-mates originally brought so they could duel in computer games such as "Return to Castle Wolfenstein" and "Warcraft III."

Pvt. Price has wired 11 tents, providing e-mail and limited Internet access, as well as follow-up service. He takes no fees, save for a supply of anti-inflammatory pills the medics gave him to curb swelling in his right knee. The tents he has wired are crammed with as many as two dozen soldiers, many sleeping on the floor. The tents, usually equipped with one or two laptops, host constant visitors, who call them "Internet cafes." Other tech-savvy soldiers have linked into Pvt. Price's lines, creating more connections.

Still, many tents aren't wired, and with winds blasting up to 50 miles per hour, service does go down. Camp New York also has an official e-mail tent, where soldiers can use computers, but waits there can stretch to 90 minutes. As battles loom, soldiers have less time to send messages home. But as more elements of the 101st head into Iraq, Pvt. Price has a plan to follow them with e-mail service, via satellite. He cautions that service may be limited, at least initially. "It all depends on how much CAT-5 I can get," he says, referring to the Ethernet cable he is trying to obtain from other units.

March 22, 2003

An Iraqi : Life is Better Here

Abdul Al-Timimi fought for Saddam in the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war, but when asked to rejoin the army for the 199 invasion of Kuwait, he fled with his family, ultimately landing . Today's Tennessean finds Al-Timimi likes it better here.

U.S. Marines and British commandos were fighting to take Basra, and Al-Timimi was standing inside his Nashville garage, one not very different from the shop he kept in southern Iraq - the one he had, that is, before Saddam's government took it. Sure, he'd like to go back to see his hometown and his old garage, "'but only to visit." The U.S. soldiers, he predicted, would be warmly welcomed by the civilians in Iraq. "I guarantee it, 100%. No, no - 1,000%. I promise you 1,000% that the people will be happy. There are only maybe 5,000 people who need Saddam Hussein in that country - the people, you know, who are close to him." The rest of Iraq, he said, will be glad to see him go.

March 21, 2003

Hope and Fear in Tennessee

After you've watched the video of the aerial "shock and awe" bombardment, it's worth remembering one of the reasons we are fighting in Iraq: to free an oppressed people. Today's Tennessean has a solid story featuring some Iraqis living in the Nashville area who are watching the war unfold with a mixture of hope and fear...

Nawzad Hawrami, another survivor of Saddam's gas attacks on Kurdish cities, said he blames only Saddam for his people's suffering. Hawrami said he survived the attack by wrapping his face with wet towels, but 25 members of his family were killed. Hawrami, 39, of Nashville, president of the Salahadeen Islamic Center of Nashville, said he worried that Saddam will launch more attacks against the Kurds as the U.S. invasion escalates. He said he has talked to family members still in Iraq, and they say they are fleeing the cities and heading for rural villages. ''Saddam Hussein is like a cancer that has to be treated, or it will just continue to grow. I hope this will be the end of the days of his life and of his time in Iraq.''

While Hawrami said he supports the U.S.-led invasion, he said he wishes that the international community had responded to the Kurds' call for help sooner.

March 20, 2003

At War With Journalists

Somebody shoot me, please, before I have to listen to more reporters unencumbered by actual brains ask stupid questions and issue inane speculation - and before I have to hear Dan Rather state the plainly obvious as if it were a revelation of God, and then report repeatedly all the things he doesn't know. And then there's the reporterette who just asked Ari Fleischer if President Bush hoped last night's attack on the Iraqi leadership would speed up the completion of the war or make it easier. No, Little Miss Stupid, he hoped it would make the war last longer and be more difficult to win.

And then there's Judy Woodruff. While other networks were explaining how the videotape of Saddam was possibly taped before the airstrike, and might even be of a Saddam lookalike, and there was no confirmation yet of who was or wasn't in that Baghdad bunker and no confirmation yet of whether Saddam was alive, dead, or sunning himself on the coast of Brazil, Woodruff at one point stated that the video showed the attack on the leadership had obviously failed.

No, Judy. It's not obvious. That tape could be one of six things:

1. The real Saddam, taped after the airstrike, and he's alive.
2. The real Saddam, taped before the airstrike, and he's alive.
3. The real Saddam, taped before the airstrike, and he's dead or injured.
4. A Saddam double, taped after the airstrike, and the real Saddam is alive.
5. A Saddam double, taped before the airstrike, and the real Saddam is alive.
6. A Saddam double, taped before the airstrike, and the real Saddam is dead or injured.

Not long after that bit of genius from Ms. Woodruff, she asked a retired general serving as a military "analyst" for CNN the following question regarding the launch of a few Iraqi scuds against Kuwait: Doesn't that show that, contrary what we were led to believe, Iraqi troops in southern Iraq are not demoralized and ready to surrender? The general noted that it was still too early to make that assessment and he expected there would be many who surrendered and some who decide to fight.

Not done yet, Woodruff then asked if missing Saddam in the bunker - she just assumes we missed - proves our intelligence service is a failure. The general replied no, but that intelligence is never perfect. The truth is, we could have been right that Saddam was in the bunker, hit the bunker, and he managed to survive the hit. Or he might have left just before the bombs arrived. Or maybe he was never there, but we vaporized his kids. Neither is an "intelligence failure."

Woodruff, on the other hand, appears to be facing an intelligence failure of her own.

March 19, 2003

The President Speaks

President George W. Bush has just finished speaking to the nation a few minutes ago, announcing the beginning of the liberation of Iraq. I have never been prouder to be an American, and have never been prouder of an American president than I am right now.

The President's speech:

My fellow citizens, at this hour, American and coalition forces are in the early stages of military operations to disarm Iraq, to free its people and to defend the world from grave danger.

On my orders, coalition forces have begun striking selected targets of military importance to undermine Saddam Hussein's ability to wage war. These are opening stages of what will be a broad and concerted campaign. More than 35 countries are giving crucial support - from the use of naval and air bases, to help with intelligence and logistics, to the deployment of combat units. Every nation in this coalition has chosen to bear the duty and share the honor of serving in our common defense.

To all the men and women of the United States Armed Forces now in the Middle East, the peace of a troubled world and the hopes of an oppressed people now depend on you. That trust is well placed.

The enemies you confront will come to know your skill and bravery. The people you liberate will witness the honorable and decent spirit of the American military. In this conflict, America faces an enemy who has no regard for conventions of war or rules of morality. Saddam Hussein has placed Iraqi troops and equipment in civilian areas, attempting to use innocent men, women and children as shields for his own military - a final atrocity against his people.

I want Americans and all the world to know that coalition forces will make every effort to spare innocent civilians from harm. A campaign on the harsh terrain of a nation as large as California could be longer and more difficult than some predict. And helping Iraqis achieve a united, stable and free country will require our sustained commitment.

We come to Iraq with respect for its citizens, for their great civilization and for the religious faiths they practice. We have no ambition in Iraq, except to remove a threat and restore control of that country to its own people.

I know that the families of our military are praying that all those who serve will return safely and soon. Millions of Americans are praying with you for the safety of your loved ones and for the protection of the innocent. For your sacrifice, you have the gratitude and respect of the American people. And you can know that our forces will be coming home as soon as their work is done.

Our nation enters this conflict reluctantly - yet, our purpose is sure. The people of the United States and our friends and allies will not live at the mercy of an outlaw regime that threatens the peace with weapons of mass murder. We will meet that threat now, with our Army, Air Force, Navy, Coast Guard and Marines, so that we do not have to meet it later with armies of fire fighters and police and doctors on the streets of our cities.

Now that conflict has come, the only way to limit its duration is to apply decisive force. And I assure you, this will not be a campaign of half measures, and we will accept no outcome but victory.

My fellow citizens, the dangers to our country and the world will be overcome. We will pass through this time of peril and carry on the work of peace. We will defend our freedom. We will bring freedom to others and we will prevail.

May God bless our country and all who defend her.

Safaa Albadran, your people's long wait for liberty is almost over.

The Liberation of Iraq Has Begun

So says this report from a London newspaper.

British and American troops were involved in fierce fighting near Iraq's main port today as the war to topple Saddam Hussein began. The firefight broke out near Basra as men of the Special Boat Service targeted the strategically vital city and the oilfields in southern Iraq. At the same time allied troops were flooding into the demilitarised zone on the Iraqi border with Kuwait 40 miles away to take up positions for an all-out invasion.

I've often wonder how I would have felt on D-Day, when the Allies began the main push to liberate France and the rest of Europe from Hitler's heavy heel. Now I know. This is the same kind of momentous day, a day that will live in glory as the start of another American-lead liberation of millions from oppression and tyranny. This is what America does best.

I feel immensely proud of my country. We're doing the right thing.

P. Casey Daley/Tennessean staff-file photo
Safaa Albadran, 4, stands outside the Nashville Convention Center under a banner held by her father Karim, an Iraqi immigrant who opposes Saddam Hussein’s government, left, proclaiming "Saddam: Out - Democracy In."

March 18, 2003

"High Tech GI-Joe"

Clint Black's song Iraq and Roll warns Saddam of the "high-tech GI-Joes" headed his way. He's not kidding.

Hurtling over hostile, unfamiliar landscapes at speeds exceeding 500 miles per hour, today's combat pilots have just seconds to identify their targets. "When you're going a mile every six seconds you don't really have a lot of time. You need to rapidly figure out: That's where the target area is, that's where the friendlies are, and that's where I'm going to put my weapon. That's all the time you have," said Joe, a U.S. Marine Corps aviator preparing for conflict with Iraq. The last time the United States waged a major military campaign in the Persian Gulf region, pilots prepared for missions by studying detailed photos and maps. But in the 12 years since Desert Storm, the Pentagon has invested tens of millions of dollars in new technologies that let pilots actually "pre-fly" combat missions in a three-dimensional environment. One of these systems is Topscene, developed by the U.S. Navy using technology from Mountain View, Calif.-based Silicon Graphics Inc. Pilots use Topscene to explore vast computer models of enemy environments to familiarize themselves with the quirks of the landscape - training that can help undermine the enemy's home-field advantage.

March 14, 2003

A Song From A Better Man

Don't miss Clint Black's new song, Iraq and I Roll, downloadable from his website. Lyrics here. Best line: "It might be a smart bomb, they find stupid people too. If you stand with the likes of Saddam, one just might find you."

Seems that Clint is anti-idiotarian, pro-liberation, and smarter than your average Dixie Chick.

Parsing the Chick's Cheeping

Dixie Chicks singer Natalie Maines is trying to undo the damage done by her rude slam of President Bush in front of a London audience. Here is here statement - and the between-the-lines translation:

What she said:

As a concerned American citizen, I apologize to President Bush because my remark was disrespectful. I feel that whoever holds that office should be treated with the utmost respect. We are currently in Europe and witnessing a huge anti-American sentiment as a result of the perceived rush to war. While war may remain a viable option, as a mother, I just want to see every possible alternative exhausted before children and American soldiers' lives are lost. I love my country. I am a proud American.

As an American citizen concerned that I just put millions of dollars in future earnings at risk, I apologize to President Bush because my disrespectful remark has angered country music fans all across America and I respect the fact that radio stations are pulling the Chicks off the air, fans are destroying Chicks records and, while I thank God I waited to insert my booted foot in my mouth until after we sold $49 million worth of summer concert tour tickets, I know we're going to be hurt financially long term if I don't fix the situation. We are currently in Europe, playing concerts for fans who paid a lot of money for tickets and a lot of them are having anti-American feelings right now, and we're from Texas so I took a gratuitous slap at President Bush in order to ingratiate myself further with our European cash-cow fans. While war may remain a viable option, our viability as a hit country band back in the states is less certain. I just want to exhaust every possible alternative to keep us from losing sales to American children and American soldiers. I love my country - where else could a fat chick like me make a zillion dollars singing other people's songs. I am a proud American. So please welcome us home. Please...

The Dixie Checks

Give the audience what they want. Apparently, that's advice the Dixie Chicks have ingrained, because while playing a show in London lead Dixie Chick singer Natalie Maines said she was ashamed of President Bush and sorry he was from Texas - the Chicks' home state. She later expanded her comment with some generalized anti-war comments in a brief statement to the press. The Chicks are currently making a zillion bucks off of "Traveling Soldier," a hit song that tells the story of an American soldier doing his duty in Vietnam and his girlfriend back home. But in Europe, where anti-Americanism is running high, Maines felt free to criticize America. That's her right - just like it's your right to not spend money on the Chicks' music.

It's called playing to the crowd. But playing to the crowd is tough when there are two crowds, and they like different things. In America, the Chicks' core audience is country music fans, a group that largely leans to the right in politics and is filled with flag-waving Bush supporters who likely favor the coming liberation of Iraq by American military forces. In Europe, the audience is likely more anti-American. Maines' comments wouldn't have been nearly as enthusiastically received in Oklahoma City - and Oklahomans don't much like Texans, either.

A recent Wall Street Journal story notes that the Dixie Chicks, like many acts, have started selling tickets for their summer concert tours much earlier than usual, in part because of the struggling economy and uncertainty over the war. Where the Dixie Chicks are concerned, the story is filled with irony:

March is traditionally the month when musicians and concert promoters make their plans for the key summer season, when most concerts are scheduled. But this year, with war pending and the economy in bad shape, concert promoters are approaching their critical summer season even more aggressively. The industry's goal: Lock in its share of people's summer spending money as early as possible. Last week, the first handful of the biggest summer tours went on sale. Departing from standard industry practices, the Dixie Chicks put all but eight of their 59 upcoming tour dates on sale on the same day - an unusual practice in ticketing, which traditionally has staggered on-sale dates. In three days, fans grabbed 870,000 tickets, ringing up nearly $49 million in sales.

Simon Renshaw, who manages the Dixie Chicks, says the group's decision to blitz their fans was part of a carefully timed plan to get maximum leverage out of several recent high-profile appearances, including singing "The Star-Spangled Banner" at the Super Bowl.

UPDATE: Reader Stan B. writes to say he plans on showing his contempt for the Chicks' anti-Bush statement by not buying their merchandise, and he was looking for a way to email the band or their record label. I couldn't find an email address for the Chicks, but their official website has a message boards section where, presumably, you could voice your opinion - but only after you pay the Chicks $30 for an annual fan club membership. The message thread regarding the controversial anti-Bush remarks Maines made in London was quite long - more than 2,400 comments.

UPDATE: Go here for a follow-up. And there's more here and here and here.

Irritating the 'Naifeh 11' The

The Knoxville News-Sentinel has an intriguing story about infighting in the state House Republican Caucus over the so-called "Naifeh 11," the turncoat Republicans who voted for Democrat Jimmy Naifeh for Speaker of the House at a time when, it was thought, the GOP could perhaps force the election of someone else as speaker by allying with Democrats upset by Naifeh's heavyhanded rule. Naifeh was re-elected and purged the House leadership and key committees of members who opposed Naifeh's income tax legislation. He also put nine of the Naifeh 11 on the powerful Finance Committee.

The Naifeh 11 are Reps. Michael Harrison of Rogersville, Russ Johnson of Loudon, Joe Kent of Memphis, Steve McDaniel of Parkers Crossroads, Bob McKee of Athens, Chris Newton of Cleveland, Doug Overbey of Maryville, Bob Patton of Johnson City, W.C. "Bubba" Pleasant of Arlington, Dennis Roach of Rutledge and Raymond Walker of Crossville.

Of the 11, three - McDaniel, Patton and Walker - are committed income tax supporters.

Of the 30 members of the Finance committee, 16 voted for Naifeh's income tax legislation last year, including the three committee officers. And a 17th member, Rep. Jere Hargrove, has been a supporter of the income tax plans in the past, although he voted against the Naifeh plan. All three Republicans who voted for Naifeh's income tax last session and were elected to the current legislature were rewarded with seats on the Finance committee.

War Updates

War Updates
Donald Sensing thinks maybe the UN slowdance is actually working in our favor - providing cover for a slow-motion takeover of Iraq that is already underway. Writes Sensing: More pleading with the UNSC is pointless. But I wonder whether Bush and Blair are quite happy with its pointlessness, because it does not matter. They have already initiated the "serious consequences" that UNSCR 1441 promised. So the blathering and posturing in the UNSC can continue with no problem, until one day the delegates in it open the New York Times to read that Saddam's regime has fallen and allied forces control the country.

And Victor Davis Hanson says it's time we rethought our alliances. Says Hanson: The American people are not naifs who yearn for isolationism, but they are starting to ask some hard questions about the way we have been doing business for 50 years, and it may well be time to grant the French, Canadians, Germans, Turks, South Koreans, and a host of others their wishes for independence from us: polite friendship — but no alliances, no bases, no money, no trade concessions, and no more begging for the privilege of protecting them.

Online Sales-Tax Losses Are Overstated, Study Says

That kaboom you hear is the sound of a myth being exploded.

U.S. states lost $2.8 billion last year in uncollected Internet sales taxes, which is much less than previously estimated, according to a new study released this week. The study, by the Direct Marketing Association, contradicts and criticizes a series of University of Tennessee studies that had predicted much higher losses of sales tax revenue due to e-commerce. Those UT studies confused different types of online transactions and relied on fuzzy numbers and wildly-exaggerated estimates to arrive at its inflated figure.

The amount of potential revenue that cash-strapped states are missing out on has been grossly overstated, says Peter Johnson, a DMA economist. "The Internet is not creating a massive leak in state coffers."

The DMA report estimates the states will miss out on $4.5 billion in tax revenue in 2011. The University of Tennessee economists had previously estimated that states will lose $54 billion. That's a difference of nearly $50 billion.

Why is UT's much-higher - and much-hyped - estimate wrong? UT's studies used sales estimates compiled by Forrester Research at the height of the dot-com bubble, while the DMA used actual sales figures compiled by the Commerce Department and relied on a more conservative growth estimate, the report said.

You can read the DMA's economic study for yourself. It is groundbreaking new analysis, based on U.S. Department of Commerce data, which proves that previous claims for the amount of potential state tax losses due to online sales were, at best, wildly overstated.

The analysis, entitled "A Current Calculation of Uncollected State Sales Tax Arising from Internet Growth," clearly shows that potential uncollected revenue to the states is about 85 percent less than predicted in prior studies. In 2001, for example, the states claimed that approximately $13 billion went uncollected due to their inability to force out-of-state retailers to act as their unpaid tax collectors, while in fact the total amount potentially uncollected was about $1.9 billion.

Much-cited studies from the University of Tennessee erroneously relied on data from the Internet boom years and made flawed assumptions about ecommerce that resulted in their vast over-estimates," says the DMA. Among the flaws in the UT studies:

1. Assuming Internet growth rates of 38 percent annually - which might have seemed plausible during the dot.com bubble era, but which subsequent economic experience has invalidated.
2. Failing to separate business-to-business Internet activity from pre-existing business-to-business ecommerce
3. Using an excessively low rate of business compliance on sales tax remittance
4. Failing to note the decline of "pure-play" online retailing in favor of bricks-and-clicks.

Regular readers know I am often critical of attempts to tax online sales, based on constitutional and other objections. And I long ago dismissed the UT study's estimate as inaccurate hype. In fact, here is a link to the first things I ever posted on this blog. They're about online sales taxes. And here's one of the most recent.

The DMA study is a bombshell, destroying a myth that has persisted for several years because of a deeply flawed study published by the University of Tennessee. We in Tennessee long ago learned to be suspicious and skeptical of any tax-related economic research that comes out of the University of Tennessee, especially if it has Dr. Bill Fox's name on it - which UT's sales tax study does - because of Fox's laughably bad track record of forecasting economic growth and tax revenues in Tennessee over the past decade. Now, the rest of the country is starting to learn the same thing.

The WaPo story today on the DMA study points out that the UT study was bought and paid for funded by the Institute for State Studies, a Utah-based think thank that favors online sales taxes. The ISS was founded by Utah Gov. Michael Leavitt (R), one of the leading figures lobbying for mandatory Internet sales taxes. As I've reported here before, the ISS has links to the Streamlined Sales Tax Project, which is itself an arm of the National Governors Association. The three groups favor online sales taxes. As they were paying for the study, you can't blame Fox and his crew for obliging the client with a report that appears to support the client's pre-determined position.

The good news is, it no longer stands alone as the definitive study. The DMA study has blown a giant hole in the carefully crafted myth.

March 13, 2003

Information Capitalism

Donald Sensing has an excellent response to and expansion of the ideas in my post immediately below this one on whether blogs are journalism. Blogs are "information capitalism in the marketplace of ideas," says Sensing. The expansion of ideas and concepts through blogging's multi-writer evolving conversation - what I call "collaborative peer-reviewed journalism" is one feature blog-journalism has that traditional journalism does not.

He also makes mention of the blog-ubiquitous "tip jar," adding "hint hint." I'd never stoop that low to get you to pay a visit to the Amazon tip jar of mine that's right over there, just waiting for you to show your appreciation for this blog by dropping a few dollars in it. ;-)

Are Blogs Journalism?

Journalist and "New Media Musings" blogger J.D. Lasica explores the relationship between journalism and blogs and comes up with a rather satisfying answer:

We're seeing more random and not-so-random acts of journalism taking place in the blogosphere these days. I'm constantly astounded at the breadth and depth of expert knowledge displayed by bloggers on subjects as diverse as digital media, wireless networking, copyright infringement, Internet video, and much more, all written with a degree of grace and sophistication.

What does it take to be an online journalist? You don't need a professional publication with a slick web site behind you, though it doesn't hurt. All you really need is a computer, Internet connection, and an ability to perform some of the tricks of the trade: report what you observe, analyze events in a meaningful way, but most of all, just be honest and tell the truth. All of this makes a lot of people in Big Media nervous. I worked in newspaper newsrooms for 19 years, and I think it's fair to say the attitude of most old-school journalists can be summed up in the pithy phrase, What the hell is a weblog? Or, if they have heard of blogs, they airily dismiss it, saying none of this is journalism, or at least not real journalism.

I think, ultimately, they're wrong. We need to get away from the notion that journalism is a priesthood that's inaccessible to the masses. The No. 1 rule of journalism, really, is simply this: Tell the truth. Report something as accurately and faithfully as possible. Can bloggers tell the truth? I suspect so. Over time, they build up a track record, much as any news publication does when it starts out. Reputation filters and circles of trust in the blogosphere help weed out the nonsense. We all need to fine-tune our bullshit meters. But as one someone once said of the blogging masses, "We can fact-check your ass."

As for me, a longtime newspaper, magazine and online journalist and blogger, I believe blogging indeed is journalism, sometimes. And sometimes it is better than journalism. And sometimes it isn't journalism at all.

Blogging is just using an online publishing tool, folks. Asking if blogging is journalism is like asking if typing on an IBM Selectric is journalism. It's the wrong question about the wrong thing.

A good rule of thumb is this: blogging is journalism when it's journalism. And when it's not, it's not.

March 12, 2003

Lawmakers Weigh In on Budget

Here's a running roundup of state lawmakers' reactions to Gov. Phil Bredesen's budget proposal:

State Sen. Bill Clabough, a Republican, tells the Maryville Times the Bredesen budget will be a tough vote for legislators, and that "TennCare continues to be a hole we can't fill up." In recent years, Clabough has been a ready vote for the income tax. back in 1999 Clabough stood ready to vote for the income tax bill in a Senate committee, a crucial step toward passing one, according to a Tom Humphrey column in Tennessee Politics back in 1999. But he considers voting for a balanced budget that doesn't raise taxes to be a tough vote.

State Rep. Chris Newton, a Republican, tells the Daily Post-Athenian that he favors the budget's spending reductions, but is concerned by the reduction in state-shared taxes - the revenue that goes to cities and counties.
Elected officials from different parts of the state are already lobbying against that reduction, and "telling us exactly what taking 9 percent of state-shared revenues means to them,” Newton said. “Right now, there is no one presenting an alternative. But I can tell you, after the next few weeks there will be some other ideas presented.” Newton also said this: "It is very difficult for me to support taking state-shared revenues away from our local governments.”

In the same newspaper article, State Sen. Jeff Miller, a Republican, said he felt “vindicated” after Bredesen’s budget presentation to the General Assembly Monday night. Miller introduced a budget bill last year that included a 4 percent across-the-board cut in state spending. “I was ridiculed and told I was out in left field,” Miller said. “Here we are this year and 9 percent is palatable in the Legislature. So it is funny how things can turn around with a new head coach.”

The Citizen-Tribune in Hamblen County is reporting on a nice impact there from the Bredesen budget: county commissioners are being encouraged to hold the line on spending. Hamblen County Executive David Purkey says asking for more money during such lean economic times would essentially be a waste of time, the paper reports. "Everybody needs to be put on notice .... It's not going to happen this year," says Purkey, who says he refuses to submit an unbalanced budget to the commission and will propose a budget with the assumption county government will lose $281,000 in state-shared funds. "We've just chosen not to whine about it. Everyone needs to recognize we're losing money, we're not gaining money. We're losing money in a slow economy."

State Rep. Glen Casada, a Republican (and my representative) has emailed an update on the budget, in which he says this: "There are only three states in the Union who are not suffering from budget problems. When we solve TennCare, Tennessee will be the fourth state. Our economy is strong, we have good job growth and a rising personal income level. We live in a very desirable state. ... I support the across-the-board cuts, and would like to see us be very cautious on any new expenditures. I don't like, but will support the governor's cutting of local funds. It was not our local officials that got the state in financial trouble, and thus we as state legislators should not expect the cities and counties of Tennessee to carry the responsibility or expect them to pass on the tax increases."

March 11, 2003

Ugh: "Unbudgeted Dollars"

The Bredesen administration has made a good start at restoring the credibility of the governor's office and the honesty of the budget process that were left shredded by his predecessor. Changing how it handles surplus dollars would be a good next step. And if the administration won't fix it, the legislature should.

In recent years I have written critically several times, in newspaper columns and online, of the Sundquist administration's use of the term "unbudgeted dollars" to artfully describe surplus revenue without using the word surplus. As longtime readers know, the Sundquist administration one year spent nearly $300 million in "unbudgeted dollars" while claiming the state faced a "shortfall" in the coming fiscal year. It could have saved that surplus for the next year, but instead chose to spend it, preferring the next year's "shortfall" be large enough to increase pressure to pass an income tax.

Even more than fiscally stupid, the Sundquist approach was constitutionally suspect. The administration spent the money without getting the legislature to appropriate it, although the state constitution requires every single dime the state spends be appropriated by the legislature, and spells out that the appropriations process involves passing a law. Instead, the Sundquist administration used a legislature-created loophole to simply advise a few key lawmakers that it was spending the money. Under the loophole, legislative consent was not required. Spending "unbudgeted dollars" became so ingrained in the Sundquist administration's way of doing business that, in response to several columns of mine criticizing the process on both fiscal and honesty grounds, Sundquist's finance commissioner Warren Neel inserted a highly defensive explanation of the process in its budget summary. It's on page A-65 of the FY 2002-03 budget and says this:

When notice of unexpected revenue is received by an agency, the Commissioner of Finance and Administration may submit an expansion report to the chairmen of the finance committees for acknowledgement. Upon the chairmen's acknowledgement of the expansion report, the Commissioner of Finance and Administration may allot the additional departmental revenue to implement the proposed or expanded program. This expansion procedure is not used to increase allotments funded from state tax revenue sources. No appropriations from state tax sources may be increased except pursuant to appropriations specifically made by law.

Article 2, Sec. 24 of the state constitution says verbatim: "No public money shall be expended except pursuant to appropriations made by law." Laws are made in Tennessee by majority vote in both houses of the Legislature, subject to normal signature or veto/override.

All that is background to some very bad bad news buried deep within the Bredesen budget. Bredesen's finance commissioner, Dave Goetz, did not delete Neel's defensive explanation of the constitutionally dubious spending practice. It's still in there, on page A-56 of the Bredesen budget document.

Perhaps in the rush to complete the budget, Goetz merely copied that section from last year's budget. Let's hope so, because the Bredesen administration needs to stop the practice of spending "unbudgeted dollars" and "unexpected revenue" without a legislative appropriation. The Bredesen administration needs to start calling "unbudgeted dollars" what they are - surpluses - and reserve them until the legislature passes a law appropriating them. In fact, lawmakers should demand reform. After all, right now they're left out of the loop. The finance commissioner and the governor get to spend millions of "unbudgeted" dollars by merely notifying the finance committee chairman in the House and Senate - not even getting their approval. Lawmakers have no say and no control. They ceded that power to the governor's office and it's time they take it back.

March 10, 2003

We've Been Here Before

These are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered.

- Thomas Paine, The Crisis, December 19, 1776

But conquer it we must, for the sake of
Safaa Albadran and 24 million other Iraqis who deserve freedom for their homeland. Incidentally, I'm a big fan of Thomas Paine who used media as a weapon to help defeat British tyranny more than 200 years ago. If he was writing today, he'd have a blog.

Happy Thoughts

I must admit, I copied this idea for a "Happy Thoughts" photo of the day from South Knox Bubba. My Happy Thought photo comes from The Tennessean a few months ago. It's a picture of Safaa Albadran, 4, the daughter of Iraqi exiles. She was photographed standing outside the downtown convention center under a banner held by her father, Karim, left, proclaiming "Saddam: Out - Democracy In," during a pro-war demonstration by Iraqis living . My happy thought is that one day the 24 million people still living under murderous tyranny in the Albadrans' home country will be free, just like Safaa is today. And if it takes the U.S. military to make it so, that's fine with me.

How Do You Explain America

A few weeks ago, our five-year-old daughter let it be known that her new favorite song is the Dixie Chicks' recording of "Traveling Soldier," which tells the story of a U.S. solider doing his duty in Vietnam, and the girl he left behind. Our daughter, it turns out, didn't know what a "soldier" was. My wife took her to the National Guard Armory to meet some soldiers, and now she is fascinated by them, fascinated that soldiers are on the front of the newspaper, and on the TV news. Fascinated that the soldiers in the desert have a Baskin Robbins to go to way out there in the desert (and can we go there, she wants to know).

Thus began an ongoing conversation about soldiers and war and Sept. 11 and Iraq and the bad man named Saddam.

Our daughter wasn't yet 4 on Sept. 11, and until a few weeks ago had no real concept what had happened. We had shielded her from the images of planes flying into buildings. Indeed, six months ago when the news was on and showed file video clips of al Qaeda terrorists training in the Afghanistan desert by running obstacle courses and swinging across monkey bars, she reacted only to the monkey bars. She likes monkey bars and is quite good on them. Where we saw terrorists, thought of Sept. 11, and looked forward to the day when our soldiers put an end to al Qaeda and the regime of Saddam Hussein that supports Islamic wacko terrorists, she saw only the monkey bars.

But now she knows about Sept. 11, albeit in very general terms. Some bad people crashed some airplanes and hurt a lot of innocent Americans. And now our soldiers are going over there (it's a long way away, don't be scared, you're safe, we tell her) and our soldiers are going to fight the bad man and make him go away. She thinks the 101st is going to kick Saddam in the behind and make him run away. That's good enough for now.

The harder thing to explain to her is why the bad man and his bad friends want to hurt Americans. I told her last night that it is because America is the greatest place to live on the whole planet, and the bad people don't like us because we are free. But does she get it? Does she understand? How do I explain to her the greatness of America - freedom and liberty - in language a 5-year-old can truly understand. I told her that the bad man and his bad friends are mean to little girls and don't let some of them go to school, and they don't let little girls to grow up to be firefighters or ballerinas (her two big dreams right now). I told her the bad man takes the peoples' money and builds big houses for himself while they starve, but she thinks "starving" is waiting 30 minutes to go to Sonic.

It's easy to explain why Saddam is a bad man - even without being graphic and scary. It's harder to explain to her why America is good and, in fact, the greatest nation on earth, and why sometimes we must send soldiers to fight keep us safe.

So, I need your help. How would you explain to a five year old why America is the greatest nation on earth? I'll be glad to publish your suggestions here - just email them to me at bhhobbs-at-comcast.net.

Maybe there are no words. But when the soldiers come back from liberating Iraq, I promised her that I'll take her to the homecoming parade. That way, she'll remember it - and one day, she'll understand why it was such a wonderful and special day.

March 6, 2003

The First Amendment & The Mall 2

Lots of updates posted to yesterday's running commentary on two anti-war protestors arrested for disruptive activity at a mall in Albany, N.Y. Go here and scroll down past the stuff you read yesterday. The development of that commentary is, I think, representative of the way blogs are changing journalism...

Before blogs, the story would have remained a brief item in the local Albany press, perhaps recycled as a wire story in other papers, providing readers with only a cursory look rather than a detailed exploration of the incident and its implications for free speech rights.

Here's an example of the kind of poor-quality coverage you get from traditional media - an MSNBC story that's all heat, but no light. The reporter didn't even bother to explore First Amendment issues even after one of the people - at the mall to protest the arrest of the two men - is quoted in the MSNBC story raising that very issue:

Organizers say they still consider the day a success, and that they got their message across: that everyone should be able to exercise their first amendment rights, even on mall grounds.

The original news story got a small mention on South Knox Bubba's site, followed by a brief comment on Instapundit. Next, I weighed in on the First Amendment implications, writing from the perspective of a professional journalist, while UCLA law professor Eugene Volokh posted expert legal commentary on the First Amendment and freedom of speech implications. Soon after, readers supplied additional information, while Instapundit provided a law review article on malls and free speech, plus the text of the mall's press release on the incident (supplied to Instapundit by a reader). And then another blogger dug up police records from the Albany incident, providing a truer picture of what really happened at the mall. And, reacting to readers’ questions, Volokh dug into what the New York constitution and legal precedent says about the Albany incident. In the end, between Instapundit, Volokh and me, a well-developed story emerged exploring all of the nuances of the incident in its constitutional and legal context.

Collaborative peer-reviewed journalism producing a higher quality product: that, my friends, is how the blogosphere works.

March 4, 2003

The Peacemakers

The always phenomenal James Lileks climbs all over both George Clooney and a peace education plan being pushed in his daughter's pre-school:

This week the big binder had a newsletter from an organization that preaches peaceable parenting, and as someone who has freely chosen not to model my parenting skills after Mike Tyson, I was interested. There was a section on explaining the war to your children. Ready?

What if your child asks this: What about bad people who try to hurt us, like Saddam Hussein? The answer to this question will vary according to the age of your child. Young children need lots of reassurance. Tell them that Mom and Dad will always protect them and when they are in school, their teachers and principal will do everything possible to keep them safe from any threat. Then, tell them about the United Nations, and stress that the UN was formed to help the countries of the world live together in peace. Let them know that the United Nations is working on exactly that right now. Also tell them about the World Court and how this was set up to bring bad people to justice.

Now. What's missing? Class? Anyone besides Martin? Right: the United States government is missing. The author just skips over that one, because it might lead to an uncomfortable discussion about soldiers, and that would defeat the entire point of peaceable parenting. (As well as rev up all the boys who are pointing paintbrushes at each other and shouting BANG.) Children do not need to know there are soldiers who will defend them. They need the sort of ironclad, monster-proofed, nightmare-banishing power that the WORLD COURT can provide. Don’t worry about the boogeyman under the bed, honey; daddy will petition some Belgian jurists to issue an injunction, and if you really think there's a monster in the closet we can send in some inspectors. What’s that? The monsters are invisible? Well, we'll have muscular, robust inspections, then. Eh? Leave the hall light on? Well, we’ll put it to a vote, but I hope you understand that some people think the monster has a valid claim to your closet, and if we keep the closet closed we can contain him. Now go to sleep.

It gets better...