How patent abuse crushes innovation

"When Patents Attack!" is the title of a recent episode of This American Life, a program produced by Chicago's National Public Radio affiliate WBEZ Radio. This one-hour episode is an expose of a new and parasitic industry that's burst on the scene in recent years, namely the "patent troll" industry. It also takes a look at the current patent war under way between the giants in the tech sector.

Patent trolls buy up patents, particularly software patents, often by the thousands. They have absolutely no intention of developing new and innovative products or services. Their business is to either litigate or extract cash in the form of licensing fees from those who actually do innovate. Patent trolls frequently make their home in eastern Texas, an area of the world with the most patent troll-friendly courts on the planet.

The simple truth is that very little computer software is new. What is new and innovative is developing new ways to combine many previous software ideas to create a new programme.

Many software ideas have patents that are controlled by patent trolls. Others are controlled by large software corporations or industry consortia. What makes it even more complicated is that many software patents conflict or obviously have been covered by prior art. Since the 1990s, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has been flooded with software patent applications, to the point where very few of them have actually been examined in detail before a patent was issued.

Pat Robertson: Crack In Washington Monument A Sign From God, Earthquake Signals Coming Of Christ

Televangelist Pat Robertson suggested Wednesday that cracks in the Washington Monument caused by the August 23 earthquake could be a sign from God, and the natural disaster “means that we’re closer to the coming of the Lord.”

To explain the rare east coast quake, Robertson pointed to the Biblical prophecy of the end of the world, which claims there could be potential devastation from natural disasters leading up to Jesus' return to Earth.

On his television show, "The 700 Club," Robertson said:

"I don't want to get weird on this, so please take it for what it's worth, but it seems to me the Washington Monument is a symbol of America's power. It has been the symbol of our great nation, we look at that monument and we say this is one nation under God. Now there's a crack in it."

Steve Southerland, Florida GOP Congressman: $174,000 Salary 'Not So Much'

According to the U.S. Census Bureau the median household income in 2009 was $49,177, almost $98,000 less than what a member of the House of Representatives makes. But that's apparently not enough for Rep. Steve Southerland (R-Fla.).

During a town hall meeting in Florida on Wednesday, when asked about his pay, the congressman told his constituents that his yearly salary of $174,000 was "not so much" -- especially once you account for the number of hours he works, the fact he had to sever ties with his family's funeral home business upon assuming office, and the heightened danger he faces as a public official.

"By the way, did I mention? They're shooting at us. There is law-enforcement security in this room right now, and why is that?" Southerland told his constituents, according to the Tallahassee Democrat. "If you think this job pays too much, with those kinds of risks and cutting me off from my family business, I'll just tell you: This job don't mean that much to me. I had a good life in Panama City."

U.S. Cities Criminalize Homelessness, Violate Human Rights Agreements

The challenges poor and homeless Americans often face accessing clean drinking water and restroom facilities violate international human rights standards, according to a report issued by a United Nations investigator this month.

Catarina de Albuquerque, a U.N. Special Rapporteur on the Human Right to Water and Sanitation, visited the United States in late February at the invitation of the U.S. government.
She found homeless individuals around the country not only struggle to access running water and restroom facilities but increasingly face criminal and civil sanctions when they improvise solutions.

The right to safe drinking water and restroom facilities is a part of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. The U.N. report's findings detail just a few of the ways that U.S. cities and counties are failing to meet these obligations because of how they opt to deal with homelessness, said Eric Tars, human rights program director at the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty.

Jack's Canada vs. today's 'other' Canada

What an exit! What a classy way to go out. Canada will not soon forget the last words in his very last public communication: "My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear."

Would such sentiments even have occurred to any other politician as their last will and testament? Would any other politician have been taken seriously had they written such words? Jack Layton's final letter, I'm sure, will find its way into history books for decades to come -- a sense of what Canada could be at its very best.

What a Canada he wanted us to become -- a dominion of love and hope, of justice and equity, of inclusiveness and tolerance, of fairness and peace. On every issue he was on the side of the little guy, the underdog, and they knew they could always count on him.

Our bon Jack, un vrai mensch.

Ottawa reverses shutdown of water monitoring stations in NWT

Environment Canada’s plans to shut down most of the federal water monitoring stations in the Northwest Territories have been quickly reversed after an outcry from territorial politicians and aboriginal leaders.

“That was not authorized and the Minister (of Environment) has ordered those to be started back up again,” Prime Minister Stephen Harper said of the monitoring stations during a stop in this community on the edge of Kluane National Park.

It was revealed earlier this month that Environment Canada plans to cut nearly 800 jobs as part of a cost-cutting effort and the department has warned that more cuts will come as it tries to meet budgetary demands imposed by the Conservative government.

But it appears that cuts to water monitoring were not what the federal government had in mind.

NATO nations set to reap spoils of Libya war

It looks like the more telling news on Libya has migrated to the business pages.  With jubilant reporting of Gaddafi's imminent downfall seizing headlines, it's the financial pages that have the clinical analysis. So, for instance, it is in this section that the Independent reports a "dash for profit in the post-war Libya carve up".

Similarly, Reuters, under the headline, "Investors eye promise, pitfalls in post-Gaddafi Libya" noted that a new government in that country could "herald a bonanza for Western companies and investors".

Before Tripoli has completely fallen, before Gaddafi and his supporters have stepped down and before the blood dries on the bodies that have yet to be counted, Western powers are already eyeing up what they view us just rewards for the intervention.

Canada-Texas oil pipeline moves forward

The proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada to the Texas Gulf Coast would not have "significant impacts" on the environment, the State Department has concluded, removing a major barrier to construction of the $7-billion project.

The 1,700-mile-long pipeline has been a contentious issue in part because the oil would be extracted from oil sands in Alberta. Oil sands are an unconventional source of crude oil that needs to be mined from the earth, which environmentalists say would lead to the pollution of waterways and the destruction of vast stretches of Alberta's forests.

The conclusion on the pipeline's potential impact caps a final environmental statement the State Department published Friday as part of its review, required because the pipeline crosses a national border.

The final environmental impact statement is not the last word on the project. The State Department now needs to determine whether Keystone XL is "in the national interest," which entails consideration of economic, diplomatic and energy security concerns, as well as public input from hearings to be held along the proposed pipeline corridor. A final decision on the permit is expected by year's end.

China expanding its nuclear stockpile

China is expanding its nuclear forces with a new multiwarhead mobile missile and keeps its strategic stockpiles in deep underground bunkers, the Pentagon disclosed in its annual report to Congress on the Chinese military.

China is thought to have up to 75 long-range nuclear missiles, including hard-to-find, road-mobile DF-31 and DF-31A intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), according to the report, which was released Wednesday. China also has 120 intermediate- and medium-range missiles.

“China is both qualitatively and quantitatively improving its strategic missile forces,” the report states. “Beijing will likely continue to invest considerable resources to maintain a limited nuclear force … to ensure the [People’s Liberation Army] can deliver a damaging retaliatory nuclear strike.”

Rick Perry, the Republicans’ Messiah?

Rick Perry’s rapid lead over previous Republican front-runner Mitt Romney was predictable. But it is not a good sign for Republicans hoping to reclaim the White House and further highlights the crucial battle within GOP circles: Who is the godliest of us all?

That’s the mirror-mirror question for Republicans. Forget charisma, charm, intelligence, knowledge and that nuisance, “foreign policy experience.” The race of the moment concerns which candidate is the truest believer.

Talk about a perfect-storm, composite candidate. Combine Elmer Gantry’s nose for converts, Ronald Reagan’s folksy confidence and Sarah Palin’s disdain for the elites — and that dog hunts.

Perry doesn’t just believe, he evangelizes. He summons prayer meetings. He reads scripture while callers are on hold. Not incidentally, he’s a successful governor. Perhaps most important, he’s a wall-scaling fundraiser whose instincts make him a force of nature in the political landscape.