Do you have a Hotmail.com, Live.com or MSN.com email account? Ever wondered what data, exactly, Microsoft retains from your email? From your Live ID (formerly Passport) account? Windows Messenger? MSN groups? Office Live? XBox Live? Ever wondered what Microsoft's policy was when the police, FBI, CIA or DHS came knocking?

Thank goodness we have a president that isn't going to perpetrate the worst of the previous administration. From the New York Times WASHINGTON – With much of his legislative agenda stalled in Congress, President Obama and his team are preparing an array of actions using his executive power to advance

Of course, my thoughts bear no resemblance to the “literacy tests” that were used until recently to prevent blacks from voting. Just suppose…. A national committee — maybe from the Smithsonian — puts together a list of 25 questions and answers regarding federal office and government. A similar committee in each state

Public relations firm Murray Hill, which has a history of representing unions, environmental groups and other progressive organizations, has decided to take the US Supreme Court's recent ruling on corporate personhood to the next logical (sic) level: the firm has announced that it's corporate self is running for Congress. From

From the Associated Press article via the Seattle Times: J.D. Salinger, the legendary author, youth hero and fugitive from fame whose “The Catcher in the Rye” shocked and inspired a world he increasingly shunned, has died. He was 91. Salinger died of natural causes at his home on Wednesday, the

Yet another big, steaming pile of "change we can believe in." Taken at face value, Senator John Ensign's amendment which was included in the final Senate healthcare bill sounds pretty decent: by meeting "wellness" standards people can receive discounts on their employer-based healthcare premiums. Stop smoking–pay less. Hit a certain

They will do this by eliminating science labs, seen as a bastion of white priviledge. From the East Bay Express: Berkeley High School is considering a controversial proposal to eliminate science labs and the five science teachers who teach them to free up more resources to help struggling students. The

From the Wikipedia entry on vaporware: The term is usually applied to products which fail to emerge after having well-exceeded the period of development time that was initially claimed or would normally be expected for the development cycle of a similar product, or when the release date is delayed repeatedly

Too damned funny. In short (snark), the Republican Party created a “branded” link-shortener, GOP.am (Go Pam?), similar to the well known bit.ly. Immediately, people were using it to create shortened links to porn sites, sites selling sex toys and the web presence of groups like the American Communist Party. This,

From this morning’s Seattle Times: Watered-down ‘public plan’ emerges in Senate They may still call it a “public plan,” but private insurers – not the government – would offer coverage under a compromise Democrats are considering to win Senate passage of President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul. The latest idea