Announcement: Short-content feeds

Phillip Winn — Sun, 26 Aug 2007 12:00:00 EDT

Sunday, August 26, 2007, marks the switch of all Blogcritics.org article feeds from full-content to short-content. This is the result of several converging factors, and is unfortunately a permanent decision (as permanent as any decision can be on the web, that is). We are aware of all of the reasons that this is a Bad Idea, and we are aware that some of you will be quite upset about having to click on something to read the free content, and we're sorry. Unfortunately, despite great effort, full-content feeds are not currently economically viable. Two other factors are involved: full-content feeds have resulted in an unprecedented level of content theft, with BC content appearing on many websites, usually spam sites, without attribution or permission. This duplicate content causes a cascading set of problems, not the least of which is that search engines generally aren't favorable to duplicate content, and don't always guess correctly. Finally, our RSS advertising partner is strongly in favor of short-content feeds. We hope that you'll continue to subscribe to BC via RSS, and when an article grabs your eye, it's only a click away, still free on the BC website. Thank you for your understanding.

Homeland Security Takes A Bite Out Of The Big Apple

Tettrabyte — Wed, 14 Jun 2006 23:28:42 EDT

I’ve seen two things that seriously bother me in the last few weeks; one being budget cuts to New York City’s Homeland Security Funding and the other being pork barrel spending for Homeland Security needs. It is appalling that after the 9/11 tragedy our national security priorities are getting muddled up in partisan patronage. I seriously don’t feel safer knowing that it’s very possible that the country isn’t receiving the best protection, because a congressman wants to swing money to businesses in his district. We need the best and brightest working on keeping our homeland secure. The official reason that the money was removed from NYC Homeland Security budget was the lack of national landmarks, which I find to be a preposterous reason. While New York may not have any national monuments (the Statue of Liberty doesn’t count?), it is the financial capital of this country and the world for that matter. It is home to over 8 million people and receives more than 40 million visitors a year. I cannot fathom any reason why New York should be losing money, while much smaller municipalities are gaining funds. Every city this country should be safe, but that doesn’t mean that money needs to be distributed equally to every area of the country. Priorities should be made, because a terrorist attack on New York is going to be far worse than an attack on Lawrence, Kansas. Many of these cities are not even using the funds for counter-terrorism measures. Too much time is wasted on this one-size-fits-all approach in National Security. Bill Maher often laments on how it’s ridiculous that a 70-year-old grandmother gets her shoes searched at the airport. And I agree, we need to focus on the threats and not worry about being politically correct or hurting the feelings of others. New York deserves more Homeland Security money than any other city in this country, primarily because it is the only city to be attacked twice within 10 years. In the other area of my concern, I recently found a New York Times article regarding a Congressman from Kentucky. The esteemed Hal Rogers of Kentucky has decided to intervene in the appropriation of Homeland Security funds used to produce new tamper-proof IDs. Where the problem occurs is the fact that the Kentucky plant he is trying to shift production to does not have the most advanced technologies, but Homeland Security Subcommittee Chairman Rogers preserves, regardless of that fact. "The committee does not want T.S.A. to develop new technologies if existing ones, already developed by other federal agencies, are good enough," a 2002 Appropriations Committee report, signed by Mr. Rogers, said, referring to the Transportation Security Administration.Language added in 2003, again in a report submitted in Mr. Rogers's name, urged the agency to use "existing government card issuance centers" to make the card, which Homeland Security officials said, in their view, referred to Corbin. The law blocked spending until the department bowed to the mandates.Two former Homeland Security officials said they were confounded. They had already identified a more flexible and secure technology known as a smart card, which relies on tiny computer chips embedded into the identification card. Most other federal agencies were moving toward this approach rather than the technology used for the green card, in which data are recorded on a reflective optical stripe affixed to the card."- New York Times So I’m confused why on earth would a US Representative want to use inferior technology to protect our airports and shipping ports? Well, I know why — so he can look good in his next re-election battle. But I again appeal to the seriousness of national terrorism, when considering such pork-filled moves. We need the best and brightest at work, when it comes to protecting our country — not the most convenient and politically beneficialIt is my hope that someone wakes up and notices that there is a good chance that they are no safer than they were pre-9/11. Because I’m fairly certain that we are all living with a false sense of security. I hope that we don’t suffer any more attacks, but I’m sure there is a high likelihood of another attack. Let’s just hope we really are safer with Homeland Security in place.

Tettrabyte is a Political Science and Philosophy double major at the University of Kentucky. He enjoys Photography, Music, Movies (especially Foreign Films), and books. He has worked as a Legislative Intern for the Kentucky General Assembly and plans to pursue other opportunities in politics.

Blogcritics Author: Tettrabyte

Announcement: Short-content feeds

Homeland Security Takes A Bite Out Of The Big Apple