Spitzer withdraws Licenses-for-Illegals plan

After weeks of combat for himself and weeks of derision for Hillary Clinton for seeming to support the plan, Elliot Spitzer has withdrawn his controversial bill to grant driver's licenses to illegal aliens. He refuses to see this as a defeat, and still believes that some kind of program is essential to provide New York with safe roads. I find this particular quote most disingenuous.

"What we are trying to do, first of all, is address a problem that the federal government has created, which is that there are one million people here in New York state alone who are not here with proper documentation," he said.

"We want security. We want our roads to be safe, which is the initial impetus behind letting them get a license so we know who they are, where they are. They can get insurance, everybody is safer."

(Emphasis is mine.) Because it ignores the simple fact that for decades New York (along with most other large states) has refused to report illegal aliens to the Federal Government when they are discovered. This is like blaming your landlord for a mouse in the house, and then refusing to let them put down traps, poison, or get a cat.

The Dangers of Social Networking for Kids

I have been amazed at my church and work to see the cavalier attitude many parents have toward MySpace and Facebook. The same parents would not allow their children to have an independent e-mail account will often allow them to spend hours unmonitored on social networking sites. You may have heard the stories about predators stalking children on MySpace, but what about stories like this one of stupid adults messing with the mind of an impressionable youth.

"(She) stated in the months leading up Meier's daughter's suicide, she instigated and monitored a 'my space' account which was created for the sole purpose of communicating with Meier's daughter.

"(She) said she, with the help of temporary employee named ------ constructed a profile of 'good looking' male on 'my space' in order to 'find out what Megan (Meier's daughter) was saying on-line' about her daughter. (She) explained the communication between the fake male profile and Megan was aimed at gaining Megan's confidence and finding out what Megan felt about her daughter and other people....

"According to (her) 'somehow' other 'my space' users were able to access the fake male profile and Megan found out she had been duped. (She) stated she knew 'arguments' had broken out between Megan and others on 'my space.' (She) felt this incident contributed to Megan's suicide...

Parents need to be reminded again and again that the internet is NOT a safe place for children. It should not be considered a fenced-in backyard, but a city square or busy mall in which a stranger can easily target your child, whether from malice or stupidity, and do damage that can never be recovered from. This is not a MySpace problem. It is a problem of naive parents.

Android (GPhone) SDK is out

It has been released for Windows, Linux, and Mac. Check out the linked video, which shows off the features pretty well.

Pssst! OLPC laptop now "for sale"

It is now official. You can place your order for one of the "$100 laptops" from the One Laptop Per Child program. Of course, you are paying over $400 for the laptop, so that one is bought for you and one is donated to a third-world child. I will be interested to see how many are sold before Christmas.

Veterans Day Observed

Thanks to All Who Served or Are Serving

Let's not forget those currently in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere now on this Veterans Day.

Defeating Giants

I thought our Mod-Blog readers might enjoy seeing some photos from an event last Friday produced by frequent Mod-Blog commenter "Nick". It was a time of storytelling, mime, and interpretive dance which was really fascinating. Click on the image below for the whole set.