Re: republicans Vs Science; the Environment: global warming
[EMAIL PROTECTED] noted that Senator James Inhofe today told colleagues of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee that the science shows natural variability, not human activity, is the overwhelming factor influencing climate change. ... The IPCC panel ... says that atmospheric concentrations of CO2 have increased to a level higher than at any time during the last 420,000 years. If the Senator is right, this means that it is more important to act immediately to restrict human-produced greenhouse gases, and to do so strongly, in order to try to compensate for damaging and costly natural changes. The greenhouse gases whose output we can determine to some extent are: carbon dioxide, methane, the nitrous oxides, and the chlorofluorocarbons. If, as the Senator says, current human inputs of these greenhouse gases do not have much effect, even though they are known to have some effect, then to protect us against more natural disasters, we will have to reduce greenhouse gases even more than most scientists suggest. If the tool is weaker, we have to act more strongly. That is the best we can do. Otherwise, people in Sen. Inhofe's home state of Oklahoma, as well as elsewhere, will suffer from droughts, floods, storms, cold spells, and heat waves. (I think it is well understood that no one will notice a small change in average temperature, but everyone will notice, and pay for, worse weather.) -- Robert J. Chassell Rattlesnake Enterprises http://www.rattlesnake.com GnuPG Key ID: 004B4AC8 http://www.teak.cc [EMAIL PROTECTED] ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Irregulars question: Milky Way
From: Alberto Monteiro [EMAIL PROTECTED] [BTW, is it Milky Way or Milky-Way ?] Milky Way What is the width of a spiral arm? Using http://www.anzwers.org/free/universe/milkyway.html as a reference, roughly 5500 ly Not only does that page have nice pictures but it's got links to the data to back it up. To get the 5500 number I measured in pixels across the Sagittarius arm, from the middle of the inter-arm gap on one side to the other. IIRC, the density of stars in the arms vs. gaps is the same, it's just that the arms have a higher concentration of younger, brighter stars. BTW, the recent versions of Celestia allow you to not only zoom through the solar system and nearby space but all the way to nearby galaxies and look back on the Milky Way. http://www.shatters.net/celestia - Chris Laurel, the author, is an old friend of mine. Joshua (still lurking, but avoiding politics) _ Add photos to your e-mail with MSN 8. Get 2 months FREE*. http://join.msn.com/?page=features/featuredemail ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Irregulars question: Milky Way
Alberto Monteiro wrote: [BTW, is it Milky Way or Milky-Way ?] Milky Way. According to the web search I did, the Way in Milky Way means road -- something I didn't realize until now. Like that Roman road named the Appian Way, it wouldn't have a hyphen. What is the width of a spiral arm? After eyeballing this picture of a spiral galaxy from above: http://www.astro.psu.edu/users/stark/ASTRO11/lab11-12images/spiral-face/aat017.jpg ...If the Milky Way is about 100,000 ly across, then I'd say they're in the neighborhood of 10,000 ly wide. __ Steve Sloan . Huntsville, Alabama = [EMAIL PROTECTED] Brin-L list pages .. http://www.brin-l.org Chmeee's 3D Objects http://www.sloan3d.com/chmeee 3D and Drawing Galleries .. http://www.sloansteady.com Software Science Fiction, Science, and Computer Links Science fiction scans . http://www.sloan3d.com ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: The seven habits of highly ineffective list-subscribers
- Original Message - From: Erik Reuter [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Saturday, August 09, 2003 12:53 AM Subject: Re: The seven habits of highly ineffective list-subscribers On Fri, Aug 08, 2003 at 10:37:19PM -0500, Robert Seeberger wrote: Especially when Try can be equally viewed as a request. Try shutting up, Rob. Sure! Anything for my pal Erik! xponent Working On The Trade For Brendan Now Maru rob ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
irregulars: how to split c++ class between multiple files
I have a c++ class that is very large (90k lines) that I need to split up between multiple files. The way it is now I have a header file with all the declarations x.h, and a c++ source file that contains all the functions in y.cpp. I need to be able to split the functions up between two files like y.cpp and z.cpp. The primary reason being that the VC++ IDE doesn't work with lines after line 65535 and doesn't allow debugging any function or parts of functions after line 65535. -TIA ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
RE: good olde fashioned bible burning
At 07:35 PM 8/6/03 +0530, Ritu wrote: At first sight, the subject header appeared to say ' good old fashioned bride burning'. Maybe that's why in Utah they frequently have wedding receptions at the stake center . . . -- Ronn! :) ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
RE: Politics, was [L3] Re: fight the evil of price discrimination
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Ronn!Blankenship Sent: Friday, August 08, 2003 5:29 PM To: Killer Bs Discussion; [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: Politics, was [L3] Re: fight the evil of price discrimination snipsnip I'm in complete agreement with this. Since someone had mentioned this, I thought I'd post it. http://webapp.cdc.gov/sasweb/ncipc/mortrate.html Will give US accidental gun death statistics for years through 2000. For 2000 Number of Deaths 776 Population 275,264,999 Crude Rate 0.28 Age-Adjusted Rate** 0.28 If the asterisks are supposed to refer to a footnote, the footnote is missing. What do crude rate and age-adjusted rate refer to, and what is the difference between them? Erik already posted an answer (and enhanced the statistics, too. Thanks!) but I'm sorry I missed that, Ronn. Jon Le Blog: http://zarq.livejournal.com ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
ignorance is strength: the W administation Vs science, Report
http://www.house.gov/reform/min/politicsandscience/ Overview The American people depend upon federal agencies to develop science-based policies that protect the nations health and welfare. Recently, however, leading scientific journals have begun to question whether scientific integrity at federal agencies has been sacrificed to further a political and ideological agenda. At the request of Rep. Henry A. Waxman, the minority staff of the Government Reform Committee assessed the treatment of science and scientists by the Bush Administration. The report Politics and Science in the Bush Administration (.pdf) http://www.house.gov/reform/min/politicsandscience/pdfs/pdf_politics_and_s cience_rep.pdf finds numerous instances where the Administration has manipulated the scientific process and distorted or suppressed scientific findings. Beneficiaries include important supporters of the President, including social conservatives and powerful industry groups. This website is an ongoing record of interference with science by the Bush Administration. Example In the summer of 2002, CDCs Advisory Committee on Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention was preparing to confront the controversial issue of whether to expand the diagnosis of lead poisoning to include children with lower levels of blood lead. For more than a decade, the committee had advised intervention if levels measured 10 micrograms per deciliter or greater. While the lead industry has opposed lowering the standard, recent research has suggested that the cognitive development of children may be impaired at levels of 5 micrograms per deciliter or lower. As the committee prepared to consider changing the standard, HHS Secretary Thompson removed or rejected several qualified scientists and replaced them with lead industry consultants. Examples The Bush Administration has manipulated, distorted, or interfered with science on health, environmental, and other key issues. Find your issue below and read more. [How Issues Were Chosen] Abstinence-Only Education Agricultural Pollution Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Breast Cancer Condoms Drinking Water Education Policy Environmental Health Food Safety Global Warming HIV/AIDS Missile Defense Oil and Gas Reproductive Health Stem Cells Substance Abuse Wetlands Workplace Safety Yellowstone National Park ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: The seven habits of highly ineffective list-subscribers
--- Erik Reuter [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: On Wed, Aug 06, 2003 at 03:47:01PM -0700, Jan Coffey wrote: By worthwile I assume you mean worth wile. (you left out a space.) Actually, I left out an h, not a space. I should have written worthwhile. And I see that the answer is, no. And talk about a lack of courage. You wouldn't dare kill-file me on-list because you know you might miss something that would make you look silly, and I stopped reading here. I probably won't read much of what you write from now on, Jan, since it is such a waste of time. I don't killfile anyone (at least not yet), but I do tend to delete many posts from some people without reading them as I scan subject and author lines. Feel free to make me look silly. I would never do that. You do such a good job of it all on your own. Of course you read the rest of that post why else would you claim not to have. = _ Jan William Coffey _ __ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software http://sitebuilder.yahoo.com ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: leave the constitution alone
At 11:43 AM 8/10/03 -0400, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: So does Ms. Tucker think we should restore the original wording of the Constitution by removing the right to privacy interpretation of the 14th amendment on which the SCOTUS based its decision in _Roe v. Wade_? Or, given that she is black, how about repealing the entire 14th amendment? What the hell does this have to do with what she was talking about? She wasn't saying, Don't ever amend the Constitution, she was saying, Don't do it in _this particular case_. What it has to do with what she was talking about is that the same leave the Constitution alone argument she used in the article could be used by someone else for a different issue, such as the ones I used for illustration. Her argument is not Leave the Constitution alone, period as the headline of the article might suggest, but more like Leave the Constitution alone except for issues I agree with. I didn't say that a Constitutional amendment defining marriage such as she describes in the article is necessarily a good idea or a bad idea: I simply pointed out that the same argument she makes against it in the article could have been and indeed has been made by those opposed to such things as the decision in _Roe v. Wade_, etc. -- Ronn! :) ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: [L3] Re: fight the evil of price discrimination
On Monday, August 4, 2003, at 10:53 pm, Deborah Harrell wrote: --- Julia Thompson [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Deborah Harrell wrote: William T Goodall [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Deborah Harrell wrote: snipped paragraph of lingua-babble head jerks up from obfuscationist-babble- induced near-coma That's not obfuscationist babble, that's jargon! The Chomsky Hierarchy Regular languages- Finite automata Context-free languages- Pushdown automata Context-sensitive languages - Linear bounded automata Recursively enumerable languages - Turing machines scratches head And if I understood your response, would I understand the jargon? ;) Possibly. It made *some* sense to me, anyway. However, I'm not sure on the pushdown automata and the linear bounded automata myself. Anyone care to explain? :) And since he's a professor of linguistics, what are we humans classified as? Or is his hierarchy for computers only? It's a classification of languages. Human languages (natural languages) are about equivalent to context-sensitive languages AFAIK. -- William T Goodall Mail : [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web : http://www.wtgab.demon.co.uk Blog : http://radio.weblogs.com/0111221/ How long a minute is depends on which side of the bathroom door you're on. ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Dubya with Kung Fu Grip
I swear I've seen a big stone one of Lincoln, sitting down. You mean that it WON'T come to the defense of Liberty when a rabbi writes the word on its forehead? I dunno. Was Lincoln Jewish? If not, why would a statue of him pay any attention to what a rabbi does? There is the 17th century Jewish legend of the Golem, an inanimate figure resembling a man (only bigger and stronger) that comes to life when a knowledgeable rabbi writes the secret name of God on a piece of parchment and affixes it to the Golem's forehead. The Golem then goes forth and fights against the Jews' oppressors. Tom Beck www.prydonians.org www.mercerjewishsingles.org I always knew I'd see the first man on the Moon. I never dreamed I'd see the last. - Dr Jerry Pournelle ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Politics, was [L3] Re: fight the evil of price discrimination
In a message dated 8/3/2003 12:54:16 AM Eastern Daylight Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Now, I think both of them are very important figures, because they are extremely influential. One is the single most cited living intellectual. The other edits the most important magazine of th Left. They influence opinion. But they are also indicators of opinion - and the fact that people who believe what they believe are so adulated by a fragment of the political spectrum - and so completely immune from criticism from _their own side_, as opposed to from the other side, tells us something really important Chomsky is one of the most important thinkers of our time but it his contributions to linguistics not his political views that have influence. Ironically his contribution (that humans are born with an inate ablilty to create and use language - a language learning module if you will) has been used more by what would superficically be considered part of the right wing approach to human existance. It it is one of the pillars of the nature side of the nature versus nurture debate. Now the characterization of nature advocates (see Steven Pinker,s The Blank Slate and Matt Ridley's Nature Via Nuture for a more nuanced discussion of this topic) as conservatives is actually unfair but Chomsky's work has not translated into a political agenda. As far as I can tell it is viewed as something seperate from his work and it is his work not his politics that are influential. ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: leave the constitution alone
(J Which is why I also asked if she$B".(J would have said "Leave the (BConstitution(B (J alone" in 1866 when the Fourteenth Amendment was proposed to give rights to(B (J former slaves . . .(B (J (B (B (JYour attitude appears to be on the lines of, If you oppose any particular (B (Jproposed amendment for whatever reason, you must therefore oppose ALL amendments (B (Jno matter what they propose. Which, I'm sorry, is ridiculous. Why can't we (B (Jchoose which proposed amendments to support and which to oppose based on their (B (Jindividual merits (as we see them)? (B (B (J(By the way, it's the 13th Amendment that freed the slaves, not the 14th. The (B (J14th Amendment guarantees no deprivation of liberty or property except by due (B (Jprocess of law; also, it does declare that anyone born in the US is a (B (Jcitizen, which has the effect of declaring native-born former slaves and anyone (Bborn (B (Jin the US as a citizen; but the 13th directly negated slavery.)(B (B (JThis woman opposes amending the Constitution for the sole purpose of (B (Jrestricting a right from a very select and relatively small group of people (so do (BI). (B (JThe 13th Amendment gave rights to a very large number of people who had been (B (Jabysmally and despicably repressed and exploited for more than 2 centuries (B (J(and, to free whom a war had just been fought). Why would ANYONE oppose the 14th (B (JAmendment (other than a die-hard slaveholder)? Again, I simply do not (B (Junderstand your point. (B (B (B (B (JTom Beck(B (B (Jwww.prydonians.org(B (Jwww.mercerjewishsingles.org(B (B (J"I always knew I'd see the first man on the Moon. I never dreamed I'd see the (B (Jlast." - Dr Jerry Pournelle(B (B___ (Bhttp://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Dubya with Kung Fu Grip
True. However, this current subthread started with the following: I swear I've seen a big stone one of Lincoln, sitting down. You mean that it WON'T come to the defense of Liberty when a rabbi writes the word on its forehead? So? He got confused, since, in the legend, the rabbi makes a clay figure and animates it, he does not do it to an existing statue. He had the right idea but applied it wrongly. Interestingly, in his novel Snow in August, set in Brooklyn in the late 1940s, Pete Hammill has a rabbi who is a refugee from Nazi Germany teach a Catholic teenager he befriends how to create the Golem. Good book. Tom Beck www.prydonians.org www.mercerjewishsingles.org I always knew I'd see the first man on the Moon. I never dreamed I'd see the last. - Dr Jerry Pournelle ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: More Fiber
On Mon, Aug 04, 2003 at 05:19:19PM -0700, Deborah Harrell wrote: since the recommended daily dosage was recently raised from 25 to a throat-choking 38 grams. The obvious ... Fill your juice glass with nectar instead of a watery juice from concentrate. Nectar is apricot, peach, pear, or papaya juice, mixed with fiber-rich pulp. It packs more than a gram (g) of fiber per 8-ounce glass... 2g (assume 2 glasses) ...Shower your pizza with oregano or basil. A teaspoon of either spice gives you an extra gram of fiber. Order it with mushrooms and you'll get one more. 2g Build your burger with a sesame-seed bun instead of the plain variety. Sesame seeds add half a gram of fiber per burger... 0.5g ...Cook your broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots and you'll take in 3 to 5 g fiber per serving, up to twice what you'd have gotten had you eaten them raw. (Heat makes fiber more available.)... 5g TOTAL: 9.5g Not even enough to get from the previous 25 to the current 38. Do you eat 38g of fiber per day? -- Erik Reuter [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.erikreuter.net/ ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: good olde fashioned bible burning
On Wed, Aug 06, 2003 at 01:20:18PM -0400, Jon Gabriel wrote: It would truly suck to be a groom in Utah then. No sex before OR after the wedding. Didn't the Clinton case establish that that sort of thing WAS sex? -- Erik Reuter [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.erikreuter.net/ ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Brin: the next wave in IT outsourcing: chimps
In a message dated 8/5/2003 2:28:36 AM US Mountain Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Primate Programming Inc, of Des Moines, Iowa has leveraged this innate talent to teach programming skills to primates and to resell their services. If you thought Russian programmers were too cheap, you'll lose the plot with Primate Programming. Its charge-out costs for software maintenance and report writing start at 69 cents per hour. Software testing, it says, requires less skill and this service starts at 45 cents per hour. You can find out more about this fascinating company at Primate Programming Inc: The Evolution of Java and .NET Training. http://www.newtechusa.com/ppi/main.asp In response to Primate Programming Inc., I want to start up a company called: Digital Options, Domestic Overseas, Unlitimited. For every PPI there Should be a DODOU. William Taylor (Remember your Sundiver) and NOW you can change the i to ! in the subject line. ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Question on Religious Matters
Question: What was the difference between Noah's ark and Joan of Arc? [scroll down for answer] Answer: Noah's ark was made of wood. Joan of Arc was maid of Orleans. ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
RE: good olde fashioned bible burning
Ronn!Blankenship wrote: Oh, but the grooms can get married again. And anyway, the bride is burnt only after a few days/weeks/months have passed. Given that the population of Utah continues to grow, I'd say that it would have to be a matter of at least years, as she would have to have more than one child to replace her and then increase the total population . . . You'd be wrong, methinks. :) Take Delhi for instance. Each year, there are at least 3,000 dowry deaths or bride burnings. That is the official record, the real number is bound to be higher. And they are all killed within months of getting married. The population still increases. I guess sooner or later, the grooms find someone whose parents are rich enough to pay the dowry and then these longer-lived wives bear more children than the burnt brides put together. Ritu ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Politics, was [L3] Re: fight the evil of price discrimination
At 10:57 PM 8/10/03 +1000, Ray Ludenia wrote: Ronn!Blankenship wrote: C) everyone [who wants to own a gun and who has not been convicted of a violent crime or diagnosed with a serious mental or emotional illness] should [be allowed to choose to] have a gun. Can we all agree with that? Most definitely not! Anyone who wants to own a gun demonstrates a mental or emotional illness and has delusions of inadequacy. Furthermore, they are very likely to commit violent crimes because they can, even though they are just pussycats without the artificial enhancement of a gun. I thought it was because of the special radio transmitter chip built into the grip of every gun at the factory which continuously broadcasts a subliminal message which cannot be heard consciously but works on the subconscious mind until the owner or someone else finally picks up the gun and kills him/herself or someone else. Regards, Ray. PS: Are the legs getting longer yet??? Daddy longlegs is starting to look like Cotton Hill. -- Ronn! :) ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Politics, was [L3] Re: fight
(And no, I'm not going to purchase a gun until I feel a lot more comfortable around one than I am. And generally, the rattlers just kinda park themselves in the road, so there's time to get the ammo out of the separate locked box, load the gun, and go back out to do it in. And I've heard that rattlesnake tastes like chicken.) Julia Very bony chicken. The meat is there, just not fun to get to. Kevin T. - VRWC Greater than 80% chance I'll eat some this weekend. ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Most Dangerous States
--- William T Goodall [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: In fact the whole of Europe has much lower homicide rates than the USA, and much stricter gun control. -- William T Goodall _But_, just to complicate things a bit (I'm an agnostic in this particular debate) it has higher levels of violent crime overall (a fairly recent phenomenon), and a far more homogenous population, with massive underreporting of crimes committed against minorities (i.e. Arabs in France). = Gautam Mukunda [EMAIL PROTECTED] Freedom is not free http://www.mukunda.blogspot.com __ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software http://sitebuilder.yahoo.com ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Dubya with Kung Fu Grip
At 06:57 PM 8/8/03 -0400, David Hobby wrote: The United States should NOT have action figures of a sitting president. No, an _action_ figure should be portrayed as standing. -- Ronn! :) Professional Smart-Aleck. Do Not Attempt. ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Most Dangerous States
- Original Message - From: Doug Pensinger [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Sunday, August 10, 2003 6:40 PM Subject: Re: Most Dangerous States Robert Seeberger wrote: But I did explore the site and found its conclusions bizarre and/or unexpected. frex? Nothing special or pointed. Just which states were dangerous and which were safe. Or which states were smartest. Lots of interesting lists on the site. But I will note that there was nothing to indicate a lack of bias. It could all be BS AFAIK. xponent Trust No One Maru rob ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Dubya with Kung Fu Grip
- Original Message - From: Ritu [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: 'Killer Bs Discussion' [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Sunday, August 10, 2003 10:12 PM Subject: RE: Dubya with Kung Fu Grip Ronn!Blankenship wrote: I swear I've seen a big stone one of Lincoln, sitting down. You mean that it WON'T come to the defense of Liberty when a rabbi writes the word on its forehead? I dunno. Was Lincoln Jewish? If not, why would a statue of him pay any attention to what a rabbi does? Ah, but would Lincoln think of rabbi as a jewish figure of authority and ignore him or would be consider the rabbi a man of God and listen to him? I'd have to answer yes to that question. Dan M. ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: shoelaces, concetration, stingy reactions andRe:dyslexiaandtinted lenses
Jan Coffey wrote: So, DONT USE FLORESENT LIGHTS, and DON'T TURN THE LIGHTS ON BRIGHT!!! Amen, brother! When we were building our house, Dan's father was encouraging him to just use fluorescent lighting everywhere. I get headaches being under them for too long -- if I'm in an office that uses them and I'm in control and there's enough natural light coming in through the windows, I kill the lights. Sammy was displaying sensitivity to them at that time, as well, and that kind of nailed it. We have 4 fluorescent fixtures in the house -- one over a kitchen counter (and Dan insisted on that one, I don't like it), one in the laundry room, and one in each of the master bedroom closets, and I'm not entirely happy about *that*, either, but I don't spend enough time in my closet for it to be a major problem. What's better than having lights on bright is having the light focused properly on just the task you need it on. We have a few lamps that are very good for that. Julia ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Irregulars question: Milky Way
Steve Sloan II wrote: [BTW, is it Milky Way or Milky-Way ?] Milky Way. According to the web search I did, the Way in Milky Way means road -- something I didn't realize until now. Like that Roman road named the Appian Way, it wouldn't have a hyphen. No, the Roman road was named Via Apia, like the Via Lactea :-) [and Galaxia comes from the Greek word for Milk, too] Alberto Monteiro if I am Latin American then I speak Latin ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
RFID lobby wants RFID declaredas_'antiterrorism_tech'_and_lawsuit_protectection
http://www.wired.com/news/privacy/0,1848,59624,00.html Claim: RFID Will Stop Terrorists By Mark Baard | Also by this reporter Page 1 of 1 02:00 AM Aug. 08, 2003 PT Facing increasing resistance and concerns about privacy, the United States' largest food companies and retailers will try to win consumer approval for radio identification devices by portraying the technology as an essential tool for keeping the nation's food supply safe from terrorists. The companies are banding together and through an industry association are lobbying to have the Department of Homeland Security designate radio frequency identification, or RFID, as an antiterrorism technology. In addition, they are asking members of Congress and other influential figures to portray RFID in a favorable light. Companies like Procter Gamble, Wal-Mart and Johnson Johnson see RFID technology as a godsend. By implanting tiny radio transponders in their product packaging, the companies can instantly track their goods from factory floors all the way to retailers' warehouses. What's more, retailers can get a 100 percent accurate inventory of products on their shelves instantly with RFID detectors. Taking inventory now involves countless hours of overnight work with inaccurate results. Experts estimate industry could save billions of dollars each year in inventory and logistical costs with RFID. Trouble is, privacy advocates see RFID as a massive invasion of privacy. They say the technology would let retailers, marketers, governments or criminals scan people -- or even their houses -- and ascertain what they own. The technology hasn't been rolled out widely yet, but already it's causing controversy. Earlier this summer, Wal-Mart caved to protests and pulled radio-tagged items out of a store in Brockton, Massachusetts. To win the hearts and minds of consumers, retailers and food and drug companies may portray the technology as an antiterrorist tool. They say the technology can help them keep precise track of all goods and help in recall efforts should their products be contaminated or laced with poison during a terrorist attack. The Auto-ID Center, an RFID consortium, presented its technology to Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge in Washington, D.C., last year. In fact, many Auto-ID Center sponsors consider Ridge's blessing to be key to public acceptance. An internal presentation by Fleishman-Hillard, the powerhouse PR firm that advises the center, lists Ridge as a top-tier opinion leader. And the minutes (PDF) of another meeting, attended by a representative of the Department of Defense, records a group statement that the technology will catch on when the government mandates it for homeland security reasons. The center also has targeted Sens. John McCain and Patrick Leahy, and Reps. Charles Dingell and Billy Tauzin, for recruitment to help Americans overcome their suspicions about RFID tags on consumer goods. Members of the privacy rights group Caspian uncovered the Auto-ID Center documents, which are marked confidential, in early July. With Ridge's approval for RFID, the food and drug companies and retailers hope to win over a wary public. They also may get legal protection under the Safety Act of 2002 -- a tort-reform law that offers blanket lawsuit protections to makers of antiterrorism devices, should those devices fail during a terrorist attack. If we get a declaration from Homeland Security that this is the step we need to take to protect the food supply, that's the step it will take to move this technology forward, said Procter Gamble supply-chain executive Larry Kellam at an RFID industry conference in June. Procter Gamble and other Auto-ID Center sponsors -- including Sara Lee, Kellogg, Nestle, Coca-Cola, Pepsico, Johnson Johnson and Pfizer -- lobbied lawmakers and officials last year for the lawsuit protections that they now hope will apply to RFID technology. We have been working with legislators to make sure the right regulations are in place to make RFID tags commercially feasible, said Stephanie Childs, a spokeswoman for the Grocery Manufacturers of America, which lobbied on behalf of the food and drug companies and retailers. But not all legislators on Capitol Hill are buying into RFID tags, especially when they see companies playing the terrorism card to gain acceptance for the technology. We would never support legislation to prevent businesses from using RFID the way they want to, said Jeff Deist, a spokesman for Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas), who is a staunch privacy rights advocate. That's a question for the marketplace. But once the Homeland Security Department gets involved, that's another story entirely. ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
