Just another example for why we need federal monitoring and regulation of certain industries and services. Stuff like this would go on all the time if there wasn't oversight and corresponding accountability. Just look at the presidential administration for an example.
Tags: Accountability, Courts, Regulation, Water Contamination
The new law requiring better compliance with the Freedom of Information Act has been effectively neutered by a sneaky move from Bush.
"Bush proposed shifting a newly created ombudsman's position from the National Archives and Records Administration to the Department of Justice. Because the ombudsman would be the chief monitor of compliance with the new law, that move is akin to killing the critical function, some members of Congress and watchdog groups say."
"Justice represents the agencies when they're sued over FOIA . . . It doesn't make a lot of sense for them to be the mediator,"
Yeah America.
Tags: Accountability, George Bush
So not only was Diebold dumb enough to use a universal key for all their voting machines, and not only did they sell those keys off their website (though supposedly only to "authorized people" as if we could trust them to handle who's authorized or not), but they posted a picture of the keys on the Internet which allowed at least one researcher to make a perfect working copy at home with a key blank bought from the store and a file.
This story came to light a while ago, but there's been some updates such as:
In a classic Diebold bury-the-evidence move, they've now replaced the entire page in their online store featuring the mechanical, copyable key with a page featuring a "Smart Card, Security Key Card." A digital key card. Same link, different key entirely. Which can only be done, given the database they use for their online store, quite deliberately in order to try to fool folks again. Par for the course. And, of course, shameless.Whee.
Tags: Accountability, DieboldIn a new law that passed that contains a provision barring any funding for permanent bases in Iraq, Bush's signing statement shows that he plans to break the law by ignoring it. Will anything be done about it? Probably not.
Tags: Accountability, George Bush
Even though the chair of the FTC has clear financial interests in the merger of Google and Doubleclick AND she was on the board deciding if the deal could go through AND she refused to recluse herself, the merger has been approved and there's no sign of any accountability on the way.
But it wasn't a unanimous decision. The Register tells of at least one dissenting member of the FTC who sees vast privacy implications in the future. No kidding.
Tags: Accountability, Big Business, FTC, Google
Over 10 Million e-mails were deleted during historically important time periods (also periods where corruption and incompetence have been alleged). How convenient that they're "missing".
Either way, count another law broken by the Bush administration.
Tags: Accountability, Congress, Corruption, George BushThis covers it pretty well. In case you don't know what I'm talking about, watchdog groups sued the Whitehouse for records that they believe will prove that Bush and company lied and generally did bad things. The Whitehouse claims to have deleted all e-mail records from that time.
Imagine that.
Tags: Accountability, Corruption, George Bush
Blackwater, a private security firm (read: mercenaries) is in trouble for having shot some people (I apologize for the huge over-simplification).
Anyway, the State Department is offering them immunity. Here's the problem: immunity means that it doesn't matter if they're guilty or innoncent, there will be no consequences for their actions. Even if you were to assume that the Blackwater guards were put there with little actual training and couldn't be held to the same standards as our military, there should be consequences for the people who made the decision to send them there in the first place.
Bush is threatening to veto any wire-tapping bill that comes to him without language that retroactively provides immunity to the telecommunication companies (like AT&T) for their part in the illegal spying fiasco.
Has anyone else noticed or is refusing to sign a law because of a provision that technically has nothing to do with said law considered blackmail? If it's not, it's certainly a tantrum at the least.
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