A three-month investigation by the Senate’s top law enforcement officer found a systematic downloading of thousands of Democratic computer files by Republican staffers over the past few years as well as serious flaws in the chamber’s computer security system.

…Some Republicans on the committee — and many conservative groups on the outside — said the Senate should have probed the contents of the memos, which they contended demonstrated the collusion between Democrats and liberal advocacy groups, rather than how the memos ended up in Republican hands.

GOP Aides Implicated In Memo Downloads (Washington Post).

Let’s get this straight:

1. Some Republicans downloaded Democratic memos that were thought secure.
2. They say that it’s weak security’s fault.
3. They say the investigation should delve into the contents of those memos.

Don’t you just love the absolute lack of principal here? They sound like your average script kiddie cracker.

“If you don’ t think me going after Bush got me thrown off those stations, you got another thing coming,” said Stern. “This has nothing to do with anything I said.”

Stern Feels Bush-Whacked End Is Near (FMQB).

You would think by the tone of my site I’d say, “About time!”, to news that Clear Channel is suspending broadcasts of Howard Stern. You’d be dead wrong.

1. People who tuned into the Super Bowl got a half time show they didn’t expect.

2. People who tune into Howard Stern know exactly what to expect. It’s not family entertainment and it’s not ment to be.

It’s a huge difference. One that matters.

There is political hay being made over this and other social issues – an uproar that is being encouraged – a fire given fuel – turning our attention away from missing WMDs, missing jobs, missing anthrax suspects, missing Bin Laden, missing future Social Security and so much more.

They are getting away with it and I’m afraid of what’s becoming of our country.

If you don’t like Stern, at least ask yourself: why now?

More details at Classless Warfare. Turns out the offensive word was never even heard on the air and that Stern has been directing more attacks Bush’s way.

You can read more over at Jeff Jarvis’s or Oliver Willis’s.

Howard Dean has spoken strongly against the Election Spoiler. Dean just scored a few points on the integrity meter for me. via BuzzMachine.

Just as the Democrats are showing signs of having a spine and coming together (Philadelphia Inquirer) – Nader comes along and wants to steal the spotlight (Yahoo!). I’m disgusted. I look forward to the day of a strong third party, however, Nader will hurt the effort to replace George W. Bush in the White House. If he wanted to be of help – the very best thing he could do is inform the public on why Bush must go and why Kerry or Edwards is the better choice. Instead he is an asshole. Bush is probably having a happy day just by hearing the news.

Kerry and Edwards, instead of attacking each other, have spent most of the campaign focusing on the end goal. That’s why they are still both in the race.

Speaking of Kerry, early on he looked like a goner, but he bet it all on Iowa (Philadelphia Inquirer) and won big.

Doing well makes you a target. If you are looked at as a legitimate threat, you should expect slings and arrows to come your way. So the right wing spent the last week slinging shit (MediaChannel) in Kerry’s direction to see if any of it would stick. From doctored-up photos (Snopes) to spreading false rumors (NYPress) of infidelity (who cares if they hurt someone’s reputation (NY Observer) in the process?), the mouth pieces of the right tried hard last week to bring him down. So far they’ve failed and each time my confidence in Kerry rises. He’s handled the past week with class and dignity.

lost remote has a terrific, sarcastic and honest post on how to cover such rumors on the net. The sad thing is hundreds of webloggers and news organizations were already following the advice.

The job market is always transforming and missing from the statistics are whole classes of job growth (NYTimes). Reminds me of a point made in Fast Company: “Boom-Time Buzz: Free Agent Nation is a utopia. The Brand Called You makes you more marketable than ever. Cold Reality: Free Agent Nation is a jungle. The Brand Called You is the only way to survive.” In any case, according to a study by Council of Economic Advisers, outsourcing actually leads to job growth (NYTimes). That’s when there are new classes of jobs to move to and trained/educated people to fill them. Does anybody have confidence in the current public education system?

Finally tech training schools (AP) that preyed on so many are starting to feel the sting.

The Bush Administration has been trying to censor science findings (NYTimes) in various reports. Scary.

Like Oliver, I’d like to give my thanks to Howard Dean. Thanks for helping the Democrats regain our spine. Thanks for encouraging the development and use of tools to self organize and find one another on the net and in real life. The campaign will be remembered.

Dean is doing the right thing by pledging support to the other Democratic candidates. Now if Nader could just get past his ego…

Looks to me like it was some kind of trial balloon and it there was too much light cast on it for it to proceed. Score one for the First Amendment: Subpoenas against university, antiwar activists dropped (Boston.com).

If it was just a trespassing investigation, why seek the membership records of the National Lawyers Guild?” asked Ben Stone, executive director of the ICLU.

This was all too frightening. People must keep watch.

Along with Garret I’d like to offer my thanks to General Clark for his time in the Presidential race. I think his entry had a role in re-energizing the Democratic party and helped some, like myself, believe Bush can be beaten.

Many other webloggers are pointing to the news that Iowa university has been ordered to turn over records on activists (Philadelphia Inquirer).

Hopefully there is more to this then being reported.