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Liberty and Justice for All

2006-06-26

Net Neutrality - Good or Bad?

Everyone (myself included) seems to be struggling over the Net Neutrality debate. Exactly what is Net Neutrality and what does it mean?

It seems clear that if you're one of the nation's biggest telecommunications firms - Verizon, AT&T or Bell South - you would likely be overly enthusiastic for charging for preferential access since you'd be benefiting from it. Or shall I say "profiting" from it...

The big telecoms and some cable firms, are the strongest opponents of the Congressional effort to establish a "net neutrality" law, the Internet Freedom Preservation Act (S. 2917), which forbids front-of-the-line access for a fee. Their theme is that government regulation would stifle innovation and hamper the speed and betterment of the Internet; we are starting to demand a lot from the Internet, and they claim that they'll need to invest in expansion and someone must pay for the huge improvements necessary to deliver innovative services into our offices and homes.

But what about us - the people who rely on the Internet for business, news, education, entertainment and other services?

This video by proponents of the Net Neutrality bill attempts to explain why discrimination on the Internet is a problem and will continue to be as long as net neutrality rules are not enforced.

On the face of it, both sides of the issue seem to make sense to me. I understand that expansion is necessary and there are costs involved for any business who wishes to branch out. Furthermore, I'm not keen on more government regulation and interference in business, most especially more policing of the Internet.

Having paid a premium for better Internet access, I don't want my broadband provider cutting deals that could put my favorite sites at the tail end of the pipeline. And web-based companies shouldn't be forced to pay more just to continue delivering what they already deliver.

Maybe it's my suspicious nature, the long-time monopoly enjoyed by Ma Bell, and/or the lobbying of special-interest groups that lead me to believe there's is a bit more to big-business opposition of this bill than "the betterment of the Internet." It's definitely not reassuring to see where AT&T CEO Ed Whitacre has been spending his own money this campaign and election cycle.

And considering their track record, I'm just not sure that we can safely conclude that in government acting to "protect" us, it is for the betterment of We the People, or the Internet as a whole.

Alas, my struggle continues.

Gina Weiss

2006-06-13

DOJ Asks for Dismissal in Lawrence Tax Fraud Case

Indicted by the US Department of Justice on three counts of willful failure to file a 1040 form, and three felony counts of income tax evasion, Robert Lawrence was to stand trial in Peoria, Illinois on May 15, 2006. That is, until Wednesday, May 10, when Lawrence’s defense attorney, Oscar Stilley, threatened to expose the IRS’s efforts to defraud the public.

In response to the DOJ’s discovery demands, Stilley's documents revealed to them that Lawrence was basing his entire defense on the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA).

The PRA requires that all government agencies display valid OMB control numbers and certain disclosures directly on all information collection forms that the public is requested to file. Lawrence's sole  defense was that he was not required to file an IRS Form 1040 because it displays an invalid OMB control number.

In a major turn of events, on May 12, 2006, the attorney for the DOJ requested the court to dismiss all charges against Robert Lawrence in federal District Court. The federal Judge dismissed all charges with prejudice; the DOJ cannot charge Lawrence with those crimes again.

Hmmm...

Did government officials know that if the case went to trial, it would expose a fraudulent 1040?

Could it be that they knew that a trial would expose an ongoing conspiracy between OMB and IRS to publish 1040 forms that these agencies knew were in violation of the PRA?

Would the trial have raised the issue that Form 1040, with an invalid control number, is being used by the government to cover up illegal enforcement of a  direct, unapportioned tax on the labor of working Americans?

Is the IRS in Violation of the Paperwork Reduction Act?

It seems the court won't be deciding this issue anytime soon; at least not in this case. You be the judge.

Gina Weiss

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2006-06-02

MSG Addiction and Obesity Claims Spur the "Cheeseburger Bill"

In the aftermath of the takeover of the tobacco industry and the banning of smoking in many public areas in the guise of "protecting us from addiction", government is working on a bill to protect those who knowingly bring us addiction in the very food that we eat.

As you read this, a Bill is being pushed through Congress called the "Personal Responsibility in Food Consumption Act" also known as the "Cheeseburger Bill" or H.R. 554. This law will ban anyone from suing food manufacturers, sellers and distributors, even if it is found they purposely add an addictive chemical to their foods.

Their contention is that it will help to curb the growing problem of "frivolous lawsuits" in the United States and presents an important opportunity to prevent continued abuse of the legal system.

The FDA claims MSG is safe to eat in any amount but John Erb, a research assistant at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada, made a discovery while going through scientific journals for a book he was writing - that MSG will cause obesity and is highly addictive. Scientists, in studies around the world, create obese mice and rats to use in testing and because no strain of rat or mice is naturally obese, the scientists have to create them. How do they do this? By injecting them with MSG. The MSG triples the amount of insulin the pancreas creates; causing rats to become obese.

PubMed, of The National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health contain over 100 articles that seem to substantiate Erb's findings. Just type "MSG obese" in the search box there and you can read them yourself.

Is the media covering this up, fearing legal issues with their advertisers? Have the food producers and restaurants been addicting us to their products for years?

Is the "Cheeseburger Bill" an unsavory attempt to protect corporate profits at the expense of American health?

Gina Weiss

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