Google and Censorship

One thing about having lived abroad is that you get a fresh perspective on the cherished values of your homeland. One thing I cherish greatly is that on the Internet as an embodiment of freedom of speech and press, I have access to enourmous amounts of information, that is unfettered and uncensored (for the most part). We take this for granted here in the U.S.. Whenever a news story breaks, we can pull up any number of websites and get a pretty good idea what is going on. We expect the press to be honest and reasonably fair. I know I know some people claim the press is biased, but if you know what those biases are then it is less of problem. The basic information still gets out. We are an informed public if we choose to be.

When 9/11 occurred, we were sitting in our apartment in Germany watching it on CNN. CNN being what it is didn't have every bit of information. So, by having access to the Internet over there, we were able to pull up any number of U.S. and international news sites to see just wtf was going on. People were freeking in our apartment building. Our neighbors (all german) were more distressed than we were. One man was ready to go out and beat some heads. The point was we had ALL that we needed to know in order to deal with the crisis. That is freedom!! Bless the Europeans for holding similar values as we do. We may not always agree on some things, but freedom of speech, the press, and the open Internet are universal in the West.

This is not so in China. As a person who has a very real possibility of being sent to China, the issue of Google and others willingly collaborating with the Chinese regime to censor the Internet looms large.

Step back to April of 2001, if you recall, a certain U.S. spy plane was forced to land in China. A major dispute ensued. Nationalist riots erupted in every major Chinese city. American consulates and the Embassy were beseiged by protesters. Hundreds, maybe thousands, of American's deemed it prudent to leave at that point. Staff families were evacuated. I would imagine it was a nervous time to for any American to be in China during the following months.

If I were in China then, I would probably be desperate to find accurate information on what was unfolding. Would I have gotten it? Would I have even been able to reach U.S. news sites in english? Would I have been able to read any news that would have been anything other than the nationialist party rhetoric? Think NOT. This would surely have only added to our distress.
We might well have said, thats it .. we are going home.

Fast forward to a few months back. Remember the chemical spills on the river in northern China? If you recall, the Chinese officials were not exactly forthcoming to the public (ours and theirs) as to the danger they were in. In some cases they were not informed at all. Where would I, an American have gotten my information? I would have turned to the free press of the West, which did its best to cover the story despite efforts of the Chinese government to squash it. Would I have gotten that information? Google it? Apparently not.

I accept that, China is a sovereign country. I understand, that they make their own laws, and enforce them accordingly. If I am put in danger by a their government due to their practice of censorship, then at least I know who the enemy is. But the thought that I could be put into danger, by my fellow Americans, by them collaborating with the Chinese to deny ME my freedoms, is downright TREACHEROUS! American's should not do this. No American company should be complicit in activities that are contrary to OUR fundamental values. This practice of being complicit to Chinese censorship would seriously deter me from doing business there if I were an entrepeneur. It will also make us think twice, thrice, four times over, before committing to an overseas position there. I don't care how damn big their market is. If we cannot reinforce our values there, and feel that our values are protected by our fellow Americans, then we should not be there.

Google is wrong. Any other company that willfully complies with Chinese (or any other country's) censorship is wrong. You undermine the very values we hold dear.

Backflow woes

Part of the problem with living in an older neighborhood, is that you have older plumbing. Some may remember last summer about the Illinois river, and the water coming from it, having a foul smell and higher levels of bacteria associated with fecal matter. Yum... Likewise you will recall that many years ago the Federal government mandated separate sewer and storm systems. Like many old cities Peoria has not exactly complied with this.

Anyways, we have been having backfloe issues with our sewer/storm drain. It's is a unified line here. In asking around about this, I found from the city that most of the East and West Bluffs, and 'down the hill' all are STILL on the unified system. I don't have the option to tap into a separate sewer line. So... when it rains, shit happens. We have since closed off the basement floor drain, which is not an ideal solution.

Now... GPSD and the City of Peoria have a program for Backup Relief. New homes today are not supposed to be built with a 'gravity' system but rather are supposed to have some sort of pump or whatever to prevent backup. Older homes can get some assistance to convert over. From the GPSD website:

The Sanitary District recognizes that backups of wastewater into basements do occur despite regular cleaning and maintenance of the sewer system. In response, in 1994, the District adopted a policy to prohibit gravity sewer service to basements for all new construction. That same year the District also established a cost-sharing program to assist property owners in modifying building plumbing to eliminate gravity sewer service to basements in existing buildings. This is an effective method to eliminate sewer backup under almost all conditions. The cost-sharing program assists property owners in bringing older construction into compliance with current practice and pays 75% of the conversion costs up to a maximum District contribution of $3,500 per location. This cost-sharing program was communicated to property owners in the spring of 2001 and winter of 2001-2002 along with the user charge bills. The District’s solution to the basement backup problem is this cost-sharing program. Please contact the District’s Engineering Department at 637-3511 extension 631 for further information.

As I said it is a joint effort with the City. For the West Bluff, administration is with the city, call Mike Taylor @ 494-8821 for information,

L'eggo my Eggo

Remember the old Eggo waffle commercials with the catch phrase " L'eggo my Eggo"? Didn't you sometimes think Lego Bricks? Well its coming true...

Lego brick shaped Eggo waffles are coming to a store near you... very soon ! We got a coupon in the mail for them.

Excellent !!!

39 cents postage

Couldn't the Postal Service have just rounded it to 40 cents? It would be so much easier if it were. Less change would have to be put in the vending machines... less change behind the counter.

More on Internet extortion.. oops I mean content charges.

BellSouth is moving forward on charging content providers extra so that their stuff gets speedily through the next check point. One has to wonder what exactly the content providers are paying for when they pay their monthly ISP charges. They get billed HUGE sums, as they already get charged extra for their 'traffic'.

It's not like other western countries are having similar problems... their not.

Slip em another benjamin.


I can see this argument unfold.

Dear Blizzard customer service man, my connection to Warcraft is terrible, can you help me?

Blizzard: Talk to your ISP, its not on our end.

Dear SBC customer service man, my connection to Blizzard servers is terrible, can you help me?

SBC: Blizzard has not paid the content charge that we demand of them, until they do, your connection will continue to stink.

Dear SBC: Um what exactly am I paying for on a monthly basis?

SBC: There is nothing we can do, talk to Blizzard.

Dear Blizzard: Um... SBC wants more money?!?

Blizzard: We can't pay their content charges and remain competitive. Or we would have to charge you more for the service and then they would want more and then... you get the idea.

Dear SBC: I pay $50 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! a month for GOOD service... I cancel. [SBC loses $50 a month]

Dear Blizzard: I can't play so... no $15 a month for you. I cancel. [Blizzard loses $15 a month]

Who wins? NO ONE. Content charges are anti-competitive.

World of Warcraft

If any readers play World of Warcraft, I am on the Maelstrom server, alliance player: Murgel.

Rural property taxes to rise? Bring on the sprawl !!

Surely there is another story behind this story from Tuesday's Journal Star. I would be looking for what developer wants to buy what farmland and where. Property taxes hurt farmers. For many farmers, earnings are slim and property taxes don't help. Property taxes have done a great deal of harm to farms surrounding growing communities, forcing farmers out of business and then selling to developers. The developer buys the 'undeveloped' land at a favorable rate and then builds big expensive houses. I don't know of any farmer who wants to be out of the business. Sometimes tho, you are forced out. Property taxes, ironically, can be a tool to do just that. Want to develop a new stretch of land? Get it reassessed, upward !!

Back in October, in an article entitled, Chasing Ground, the New York Times, took a look at sprawl. They paid special attention to a major national developer, Toll Brothers. Buried amongst all the good info, was this nugget from the owners themselves. They felt that property taxes were a principle driver in sprawl !!!!! It worked in their favor. Enabling them to buy land that would not otherwise be available. It drove communities to push developments to drive tax dollars for schools and other 'must have' projects. It all worked to drive sprawl and business to companies like Toll Brothers.

If you want to fight sprawl, something needs to be done with property taxes. Oddly, I could stand with conservatives and say, remove them. There has to be a better way to get revenue that better serves the community.

Get the lead out

You know why lead is still a problem in Peoria? Back in late December the Journal Star profiled one resident's experience. The tab to abate his house came to $12,000 !!!!!! The article seems indicate that, that was just the windows !!! What if .... more needs done? That is a LOT of money. Drive around the parts of town where lead is the greatest problem. It would seem obvious that having $12,000 to fix a house, isn't forthcoming. Heck, the bill might be worth more than the house ! Of course the Journal Star points out that there are federal programs to help pay for that. But does everyone qualify? Mmmm NO! Take a look. So if a family of four makes more than $47,700, they are out of luck. Nevermind what other obligations they might have. Even if the federal program reduced the cost to $1200, that could still be a BIG burden for many low income families. Maybe even an impossible burden.

For those better off, well... $12,000 as a starting cost to abate lead, would go a good ways on a down payment for a lead free house in say... Dunlap? At 4 figures I might fix the problem, at 5 figures, I may start looking for another house. The problem doesn't get fixed, just passed on, possibly, even likely, to someone who is less able to deal with the costs.

If the government wants to get serious about lead abatement, the program needs to be open to everyone and perhaps, the costs scaled better so that low income folks can get 100% coverage.


Oh... and you can get lead test kits at Nena Hardware on Forest Hill for about $8 a pop.

For those following the municipal wi-fi debate...

The various phone companies want to have more control over what passes over their phone lines. In essence they want content providers (like yahoo, google, etc) to pay them (the phone company), for the privilege of giving them preferential network access. Think of it as a commuter lane on the freeway. You know the ones where if you buy a card in advance you can just fly through the toll booth. Yep, the phone companies want a piece of the action. It is not being planned as a favor to you, the customer.

Google does something similer in that companies can pay google to give their sites a preferential search response.

The New York Times did a nice piece on this 1/15/06: Hey, Baby Bells: Information Still Wants to Be Free.

I personally see it as a bad thing and another incentive to promote municipal wi-fi.

Go to school, win a phat hooptie !!

Miss me? Not likely... move along...

Down in Rockingham N.C., a high school began a program where students could win a car if they got good grades and good attendence. The principal claims it is working !!

Hit It !

Would this work for District 150? A brand new car can be a powerful motivator for a sixteen year old. Especially if getting a car at all is unlikely. Surely some local dealerships would be willing to offer something up.