Author Archives: Chris

The 2012 Primary and Election in Texas

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Remember the old saying “Truth is stranger than fiction?” Why should this election-year be any different. In a strange twist of fate the congressional district maps were argued over and redrawn and fussed-with until we past our traditional Primary date in March. So, they set the new Primary date to May 29! Most of the other “winner takes all” (electorate) states had their primaries already so ours doesn’t mean much. That being said, I think there is still plenty to vote for.

U.S. President

2012 Candidates

* It’s 99% certain that Mitt Romney will be the Republican nominee for President.

U.S. Senate (Texas)

* Hutchison is retiring at the end of this term. As of May 1, the biggest candidates to replace her are former Texas Solicitor General, Ted Cruz (R) or Lt. Governor David Dewhurst (R).

2012 Candidates

  • Ted Cruz (R)
  • David Dewhurst (R)
  • Grady Yarbrough (D)
  • Sean Hubbard (D)
  • Addie Dainell Allen (D)
  • Paul Sadler (D)

U.S. House of Representatives (District 17)

I find it interesting that Chet Edwards (D) lost to Flores in 2010 and now there is no Democrats opposing Flores, but there is one Republican from Austin opposing him – maybe.

2012 Candidates

Texas Senate (District 5)

2012 Candidates

* Ogden is retiring at the end of this term. He has already endorsed Dr. Schwertner, a current State Representative. Here is another race without a Democratic opponent. Maybe without an incumbent Bius has a chance.

Texas House of Representatives (District 14)

  • John Raney (R) Next Election: 2012

2012 Candidates

Democratic Referenda

Ref. 1: Any graduate of a Texas high school, who has lived in the state for at least three years and lived here continuously for the last year, should be eligible for in-state tuition at state supported colleges and universities and given the opportunity to earn legal status through a higher education or military service.

Ref. 2: Because a college education is increasingly necessary for jobs that allow our citizens to achieve middle class lifestyles and become the entrepreneurs who create the jobs that our economy relies on, we call on the Texas Legislature to fund colleges and universities such that tuition and fees can be affordable to all Texans.

Ref. 3: Should the Texas Legislature allow the people of Texas to vote to legalize casino gambling with all funds generated being used only for education

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CISPA is the latest threat to internet free speech [UPDATE]

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Keep your eyes & ears open for CISPA. Beware of any bill that has “Protection” in the title, and is “for other purposes.”

Just because SOPA and PIPA, the infamous internet “kill switch” bills, are largely dead does not mean the threat to internet free speech has become any less serious. The Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act CISPA, also known as H.R. 3523, is the latest mutation of these internet censorship and spying bills to hit the U.S. Congress — and unless the American people speak up now to stop it, CISPA could lead to far worse repercussions for online free speech than SOPA or PIPA ever would have. Source: SOPA mutates into much worse CISPA, the latest threat to internet free speech.

UPDATE:
The House of Representatives passed the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA) (H.R. 3523) with a 248-168 vote on April 26. The silver lining is that the Obama administration issued a veto threat against CISPA if kept in its current form. Now, there are two bills before the Senate that deal with cyber security, ”SECURE IT” (S. 2151) and “Cybersecurity Act of 2012″ (S. 2105). Source: CISPA passes the House, privacy battle moves to Senate, The Washington Post.

Teamsiems Zeitgeist Seventh Blogoversary

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On this day in 2005 I posted my first blog entry and defined the direction of this website: Zeitgeist Defined

I still hold true to my mission: publication of the intellectual, moral, and cultural climate of this era. I also think it is important to develop and defend your personal brand. With the tag line “a team of Siems making observations,” I believe I both define and defend the teamsiems brand. I will continue to do so as long as I am able.

The Day the Internet Went Dark

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LOS ANGELES (AP) — In a move that heightens the growing tension between Silicon Valley and Hollywood, Wikipedia and other websites went dark Wednesday in protest of two congressional proposals intended to thwart the online piracy of copyrighted movies and TV programs. Source: Protest exposes Silicon Valley-Hollywood rivalry – Yahoo! News.

SOPA Getting Makeover But Still Alive #stopSOPA

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I wrote the following on the PopVOX website.

I oppose H.R. 3261: Stop Online Piracy Act because…it will punish every Internet consumer. First, everyone should know that the Internet removed barriers to both legitimate and illegitimate business around the globe. Second, America is a large part of the global economy and the Internet. If Hollywood or US pharmacies want to fight piracy and fraud they need to do that on their own terms and not punish the global economy. I can sympathize that they loose billions, but every industry looses to global competition – that is a consequence of globalization. America can no longer put up barriers to global commerce.

There is a link at the bottom of the Huffington Post article, “SOPA, PIPA Headed For Major Makeover“, that goes to PopVOX.

Register Your Generic Top Level Domains

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Starting tomorrow you can register your own top-level domain (TLD) name, e.g. http://chris.siems

ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers), the organization that manages website domain suffixes, opened up top-level domains to be whatever the domain owner wants – for a price of course. They will accept applications for these new custom TLDs between January 12 and April 12. ICANN expects that the first batch of new gTLDs will be operational at the beginning of 2013.

The non-refundable price to apply is $185,000. If your domain is accepted you can expect to pay a $25,000 annual maintenance fee.

Like everything new and shiny and expensive, I’ll wait for the price to drop before I register chris.siems.

Source: ICANN Approves Custom Generic Top Level Domains – eWeek.com.

2011 In Review

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Looking back over 2011, my blogs were certainly more active than previous years. Here is the top 9 on teamsiems.com:

  1. How To Install Custom Ringtones on Samsung Galaxy S (T-Mobile Vibrant)
  2. Before You Forward Chain Email “Interesting about McDonalds”
  3. Windows Movie Maker for Windows XP SP3
  4. Social Media Effects On Student Writing
  5. Mobile Applications for Higher Education
  6. UPS vs FedEx (again)
  7. Hi! I like that you’re the kind of person who scans codes on people’s shirts
  8. National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) – S.1867
  9. It’s Turkey Time

It’s worth noting that only 1 of these posts was written in 2011 and in December none the less.

My adventures in flying blog saw a lot of traffic looking for reference information about FSX airplanes. Here is the top 9 of aif.teamsiems.com

  1. Mooney M20M “Bravo”
  2. Beechcraft Baron 58
  3. de Havilland Beaver DHC2
  4. Grumman Goose G21A
  5. Piper J-3 Cub
  6. Maule M-7-260C Orion
  7. Cessna Skyhawk SP Model 172
  8. DG-808S Competition Sailplane
  9. Water Runways and Seaports

This year we also added the Noms For The Win blog at http://nomsftw.teamsiems.com/ It’s still new and doesn’t get a lot of traffic yet.

My other blog at http://tweets.teamsiems.com/ isn’t really a blog but more of a tweet catcher. It gets some traffic, mainly from Google.

National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) – S.1867

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Like SOPA, people are going nuts over what they think this bill means to their freedoms – or loss of freedoms. I had to react. They think S.1867 (PDF) will give the government the power to lock you away forever, without trial. I beg to differ. Read it for yourself then you can complain to your congressman. I’ve re-printed the most controversial section below, Sec. 1031, for your perusal:

National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012 (S.1867)

Title X, Subtitle D, SEC 1031

Subtitle D – Detainee Matters

SEC. 1031. AFFIRMATION OF AUTHORITY OF THE ARMED FORCES OF THE UNITED STATES TO DETAIN COVERED PERSONS PURSUANT TO THE AUTHORIZATION FOR USE OF MILITARY FORCE.

  (a) IN GENERAL. – Congress affirms that the authority of the President to use all necessary and appropriate force pursuant to the Authorization for Use of Military Force (Public Law 107–40) includes the authority for the Armed Forces of the United States to detain covered persons (as defined in subsection (b)) pending disposition under the law of war.

  (b) COVERED PERSONS. – A covered person under this section is any person as follows:
    (1) A person who planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001, or harbored those responsible for those attacks.
    (2) A person who was a part of or substantially supported al-Qaeda, the Taliban, or associated forces that are engaged in hostilities against the United States or its coalition partners, including any person who has committed a belligerent act or has directly supported such hostilities in aid of such enemy forces.

  (c) DISPOSITION UNDER LAW OF WAR. – The disposition of a person under the law of war as described in subsection (a) may include the following:
    (1) Detention under the law of war without trial until the end of the hostilities authorized by the Authorization for Use of Military Force.     (2) Trial under chapter 47A of title 10, United States Code (as amended by the Military Commissions Act of 2009 (title XVIII of Public Law 111–84)).
    (3) Transfer for trial by an alternative court or competent tribunal having lawful jurisdiction.
    (4) Transfer to the custody or control of the person's country of origin, any other foreign country, or any other foreign entity.

  (d) CONSTRUCTION. – Nothing in this section is intended to limit or expand the authority of the President or the scope of the Authorization for Use of Military Force.

  (e) AUTHORITIES. – Nothing in this section shall be construed to affect existing law or authorities, relating to the detention of United States citizens, lawful resident aliens of the United States or any other persons who are captured or arrested in the United States.

  (f) REQUIREMENT FOR BRIEFINGS OF CONGRESS. – The Secretary of Defense shall regularly brief Congress regarding the application of the authority described in this section, including the organizations, entities, and individuals considered to be ''covered persons'' for purposes of subsection (b)(2).

One section in particular, 1031(e), has people running for the hills. To me that paragraph means this bill does not preclude other laws.