Is going to be heard in Room 133 of the Capitol shortly. The Christian Coalition is making a strong push to get the bill moving again.
Records and documents from the service aren’t subject to open records… cute , you can’t audit the services to see if they are doing what they are supposed to do.
Category Archives: Uncategorized
SB 425 – Email Tax
Filed under Neutral Net, Religion, Uncategorized
Immigration bill gets lots of hits today
There are a number of individuals outside the Capitol today, protesting SB 529, the immigration bill which passed yesterday. A story on the AP newswire indicates leadership’s desire to avoid the public opposed to the bill drove the decision to hurry the bill to a vote yesterday.
Filed under Uncategorized
Some bills just won’t die
We have maybe two days left in this legislative session. Some bills that have struggled to survive are begining to find new life.
SB 596 – A bill that started out banning cloning, now currently names an already existent blood bank. A definition change was made in committee and the bill may be available for floor action in the House on Monday. The bill will then need to go back to the Senate to accept or reject the definitional change. If they reject — I would expect a conference committee to take the bill and then — all bets are off as to what the final product will be.
SB 541 – Will be heard by the Judiciary Committee upon adjournment today. The author is pressing on despite being told by businesses that the law is pre-empted by federal law. The bill will make sending materials to minors, which the minors by law cannot possess, a felony.
SB 425 – E-mail tax — The Author, Sen. Greg Goggans, a dentist, claims this bill protects family, children and schools from internet predators. But, the hearings failed to call upon experts to testify as to the validity of that claim. What the bill does is require you, as a business person, to pay a “vendor” to check your list against a “do not mail” list once every month, and to charge you $10 per thousand names to do so. Now, there is no provision to advertise the existence of the list, no provision to tell business owners that should they send a minor, or anyone else, mail they do not wish to recieve, you would be guilty of a felony.
Just a few minutes ago, the bill was moved from Judiciary to the House Public Utilities Committee. That committee is chaired by Jeff Lewis, who co-chaired the committee that wrote SB 120, which “deregulated” the Internet. I guess now he wants a chance to “regulate” the Internet.
Of course, if you pass SB 541, there is no need for SB 425.
So, why would you want to use technology in Georgia — if all you do is increase your risk of law suits or jail time?
Filed under Uncategorized
Creativity + Knowledge = Global Success
That is the formula found in Friedman’s column today.
My guess is that we’re at the start of a global convergence in education: China and India will try to inspire more creativity in their students. America will get more rigorous in math and science. And this convergence will be a great spur to global growth and innovation. It’s a win-win. But some will win more than others — and it will be those who get this balance right the fastest, in the most schools.
The last line … that is where the prize is…Â
Filed under Education, Uncategorized
Digital Scouts for Digital Literacy
Pip Coburn of Coburn Ventures opines in his columen for Always On about the need for “being prepared” to handle any contingency in the digital age.Â
 This is the Digital World and I am not a Native. I am in little position to “prepare” my eight-year-olds, but rather they will soon teach me—I hope.
I’m not sure yet how to effectively organize the Digital Scouts of the Planet, and I am probably too old even for that task, but I do know that if we want to be prepared, we gotta stop rubbing sticks together and start thinking about fixing our BlackBerrys on the fly.
Using kids to teach the adults is not a new idea. However, systemattically using kids to achieve digital literacy is a new idea.Â
Filed under literacy, Uncategorized
Customer vs. Creator
Scoble relates a comment from a blogger who questions Microsoft’s ability to “wrap its head” around the concept of Web 2.0 while it considers its users “customers” not “creators”.
Kaliya, Identity Woman, says that to Microsoft we are just customers. “It seems to me that their language regarding those of us who use their stuff – customers. Individuals who buy stuff most notably not creators.â€?
So, if you consider every customer a creator who takes your product and service to invent something else — does that change your relationship with that “creator”?
Filed under Models, Uncategorized
Healthy, Wealthy and Wise (accessing, understanding information)
A column in Always On points out how the trend in information needs for healthcare, career development, and life will support continuous education.
Lifelong learning will be a core fundamental to anybody in business in the future. Continuing education will be part of this, but learning new skills and adapting to a global marketplace in a knowledge-based economy will be critical to survive and thrive.
Michael Moe also says services to provide information and learning will help people feel young. Could it be this is the Fountain of Youth for which de Soto searched?
Then comes Google offering a finance section to their search services… Now who will launch an education section?
A Legislative Section? Imagine making tracking legislative changes as easy as watching stocks!Â
Filed under LMI, Uncategorized
Bill Moyers – A Righteous Man
I didn’t know Mr. Moyers was a Baptist Minister. I do subscribe to his beliefs as annunciated in an article in Winston Salem:
Like a revival preacher, Moyers called others to join in the “heresy” of confronting those who have managed to “subvert democracy in the name of God and greed.” We must, he said, practice “the religion of Jesus” rather than “religion about Jesus.” We must challenge “the charlatans and demagogues,” to renew the fight for social justice and to exercise the historic Baptist principle of “soul freedom.” That, he said, means not letting “charlatans and demagogues” hijack Christianity and end the promise of democracy.
You need to read the article. Then, you need to read Kevin Phillip’s new book, American Theocracy, followed by Jimmy Carter’s book Our Endangered Values. And, if you are still up to it, read The Dark Age Ahead, by Jane Jacobs.
Let me know when you are finished — or will that be necessary?
Filed under Religion, Uncategorized
Ignorance is no defense
We have heard the phrase often that “ignorance of the law” is no defense. But, at what point, ethically, morally and legally, is government obligated to inform you of the law. How much effort should government expend to insure that you the consumer, parent, business owner, student, etc, understand the implications of new legislation and how your life is governed by statute, rule or regulation?
Here is a list of bills that can affect you positively, or negatively, without any mechanism, resources or funds to explain those affects to you:
- SB 596 – Umbilical Cord Blood Bank
- SB 425 – UnSpam Bill
- SB 594 –
- SB 534 – Adult Advertising in Emails
- SB 394
- SB 535 – Title Pawn
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Filed under Government Information, Uncategorized
Access and Accuracy
Article in Atlanta Journal Constitution notes that Fulton County does not warranty the information presented on its web site:
 “Fulton County makes no representations or warranties as to the suitability of this information . . . and that to the extent you use or implement this information . . . you do so at your own risk.”
So much for ease of access. If it isn’t accurate, it isn’t accessible.
Filed under Government Information, Uncategorized
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