Of Net Neutrality
For those who don't understand why "net neutrality" is a critical issue, this editorial [NYT] explains the issue, and why a recent episode involving Verizon is a warning bell in the night for anyone who wants our electronically-mediated society to remain free and democratic.
Unless, of course, you trust your local cable/internet/telecommunications monopoly to make all your political decisions for you.
Wednesday, October 03, 2007
Friday, September 28, 2007
Your tax dollars at work
Want to know where your tax dollars are going? Check out this 2005 "trophy video", from Aegis, a mercenary gang on the US payroll in Iraq. Fair warning: You'll see mercenaries, on your payroll and officially immune from all military and legal oversight, cruising along the highway casually machine-gunning cars and their occupants completely at random to the cheerful accompaniment of American rock music.
"Why do they hate us?" Oh, yes, I forgot. "Because they hate our freedoms," right?
It's almost as shocking that, despite following Iraq-related news fairly closely, I neverheard of this video until now. It appears that the Christian Science Monitor carried the story, but so far as I can tell it was the only US major media outlet to have considered video evidence of US mercenaries casually murdering Iraqi civilians at random to be newsworthy. A little digging in online databases reveals that UPI and the New York Times carried short squibs about it, but they were apparently inconspicuous enough that I didn't see them. (UPI NewsTrack (Nov 27, 2005); "Shots on Web Draw Inquiry." The New York Times (Dec 10, 2005): A10(L).)
But, hey, you're far more interested in some dimwitted, drug-addled Hollywood pop-tart's latest hair malfunction than in documentary proof that your nation is committing acts of random terrorism against civilians, aren't you? Ooh! Ooh! OJ Simpson!!! And.. and.. there's a cute woman missing somewhere! Look, we have her college yearbook photo! And a cute puppy-dog video! Look! Look!
You're a good American. You watch TV obediently. Are you doing your part in the everlasting, ever-expanding "War On Terra" by going shopping? And watching what you say?
Meanwhile, while the corporate media spew out a steady stream of distraction and disinformation, billions of your tax dollars are funding the development of murderous paramilitary mercenary gangs that answer to no one but their paycheck and blithely slaughter civilians whenever they feel like it. They're already been employed as substitutes for Iraq-assigned National Guardsmen in the aftermath of Katrina, and further deployments to the United States are planned. Meanwhile the Bush administration keeps the military and the National Guard, which are at least nominally sworn to respect the Constitution and the rule of law, tied up in a distant overseas quagmire. (As noted in the New York Times, Bush is demanding a larger 2008 budget for his ongoing adventure in Iraq than in any previous year. So much for any talk about troop withdrawals, as favored by the majority of the population in our purported democracy.)
Naomi Wolf has a theory about this. But of course it would an irresponsible conspiracy theorizing to propose that there could be any connection between these events. Nah, that sort of thing never happens. La la la.
UPDATE: a summary of the federal tax dollars shoveled out to Blackwater USA during the Bush Administration can be found here.
Want to know where your tax dollars are going? Check out this 2005 "trophy video", from Aegis, a mercenary gang on the US payroll in Iraq. Fair warning: You'll see mercenaries, on your payroll and officially immune from all military and legal oversight, cruising along the highway casually machine-gunning cars and their occupants completely at random to the cheerful accompaniment of American rock music.
"Why do they hate us?" Oh, yes, I forgot. "Because they hate our freedoms," right?
It's almost as shocking that, despite following Iraq-related news fairly closely, I neverheard of this video until now. It appears that the Christian Science Monitor carried the story, but so far as I can tell it was the only US major media outlet to have considered video evidence of US mercenaries casually murdering Iraqi civilians at random to be newsworthy. A little digging in online databases reveals that UPI and the New York Times carried short squibs about it, but they were apparently inconspicuous enough that I didn't see them. (UPI NewsTrack (Nov 27, 2005); "Shots on Web Draw Inquiry." The New York Times (Dec 10, 2005): A10(L).)
But, hey, you're far more interested in some dimwitted, drug-addled Hollywood pop-tart's latest hair malfunction than in documentary proof that your nation is committing acts of random terrorism against civilians, aren't you? Ooh! Ooh! OJ Simpson!!! And.. and.. there's a cute woman missing somewhere! Look, we have her college yearbook photo! And a cute puppy-dog video! Look! Look!
You're a good American. You watch TV obediently. Are you doing your part in the everlasting, ever-expanding "War On Terra" by going shopping? And watching what you say?
Meanwhile, while the corporate media spew out a steady stream of distraction and disinformation, billions of your tax dollars are funding the development of murderous paramilitary mercenary gangs that answer to no one but their paycheck and blithely slaughter civilians whenever they feel like it. They're already been employed as substitutes for Iraq-assigned National Guardsmen in the aftermath of Katrina, and further deployments to the United States are planned. Meanwhile the Bush administration keeps the military and the National Guard, which are at least nominally sworn to respect the Constitution and the rule of law, tied up in a distant overseas quagmire. (As noted in the New York Times, Bush is demanding a larger 2008 budget for his ongoing adventure in Iraq than in any previous year. So much for any talk about troop withdrawals, as favored by the majority of the population in our purported democracy.)
Naomi Wolf has a theory about this. But of course it would an irresponsible conspiracy theorizing to propose that there could be any connection between these events. Nah, that sort of thing never happens. La la la.
UPDATE: a summary of the federal tax dollars shoveled out to Blackwater USA during the Bush Administration can be found here.
Monday, September 24, 2007
God Hates the World (He Hates You!)
A musical message from Fred Phelps' congregation, via YouTube.
This would be simply stupid and comical if it weren't recognizably just an amplified form of the literal worship of hatred and sadism that has hijacked segments of most major religions. As Harold Bloom memorably put it in The American Religion, reading the words of certain fundamentalist religions makes you realize that their authors and adherents should never be left unattended with small children or helpless animals.
For a corrective, one might consider actually reading the Bible, rather than just waving it about like a mute leather-bound idol (to steal another memorable image from Bloom).
A musical message from Fred Phelps' congregation, via YouTube.
This would be simply stupid and comical if it weren't recognizably just an amplified form of the literal worship of hatred and sadism that has hijacked segments of most major religions. As Harold Bloom memorably put it in The American Religion, reading the words of certain fundamentalist religions makes you realize that their authors and adherents should never be left unattended with small children or helpless animals.
For a corrective, one might consider actually reading the Bible, rather than just waving it about like a mute leather-bound idol (to steal another memorable image from Bloom).
Silly rabbit. Civil liberties are for Republicans!
From the New York Times:
Larry Craig's Great Adventure: Suddenly, he's a civil libertarian
From the New York Times:
Larry Craig's Great Adventure: Suddenly, he's a civil libertarian
... After his arrest, Mr. Craig was called hypocritical for his longstanding opposition to gay rights in Congress. His legal defense, though, presents a different inconsistency. He joins a long list of conservatives who believe in a fair legal system only for themselves.....Just another variety of the IOKIYAR syndrome.
The American Civil Liberties Union has come to Mr. Craig’s defense. It says the law he was convicted under — criminalizing “offensive, obscene, abusive, boisterous, or noisy conduct” that tends to “alarm, anger or disturb others” — is unconstitutionally vague, and makes a lot of perfectly harmless speech illegal. It’s right. If boisterous conduct that disturbs others is a crime in Minnesota, the state must be planning mass arrests of the speakers at the 2008 Republican National Convention, which is being held in Minneapolis-St. Paul....
Mr. Craig is hardly alone in deciding that he likes defendants’ rights after he became a defendant. Among law-and-order conservatives, it’s the norm. Oliver North got his Iran-contra convictions thrown out, with the A.C.L.U.’s help, on a relative technicality. This year, an official of the National Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee, James Tobin, got his conviction for jamming Democratic Party lines in New Hampshire on Election Day reversed on a fine point about what his “purpose” was....
Train runs through Bangkok market
This is bizarre. Or bazaar. At any rate, it puts a whole new intepretation on the phrase "urban mixed use".
(Note: link is to www.ifilm.com with embedded video clip.)
This is bizarre. Or bazaar. At any rate, it puts a whole new intepretation on the phrase "urban mixed use".
(Note: link is to www.ifilm.com with embedded video clip.)
Saturday, September 22, 2007
Update re. Blackwater USA massacre of civilians
The Independent, a UK newspaper, reports more details of the massacre, which US new outlets are apparently refusing to cover. The death toll is now apparently 28 and expected to rise further. Discussion rational and otherwise here.
Blackwater USA, of course, claims that they are blameless. A video of the incident reportedly says otherwise. But who are you going to believe? Right-wing militarist/theocrat Erik Prince and his corporate mercenaries, or your lying eyes?
Your tax dollars at work. "Why Do They Hate Us?"
The Independent, a UK newspaper, reports more details of the massacre, which US new outlets are apparently refusing to cover. The death toll is now apparently 28 and expected to rise further. Discussion rational and otherwise here.
Blackwater USA, of course, claims that they are blameless. A video of the incident reportedly says otherwise. But who are you going to believe? Right-wing militarist/theocrat Erik Prince and his corporate mercenaries, or your lying eyes?
Your tax dollars at work. "Why Do They Hate Us?"
Friday, September 21, 2007
No comment really necessary on this one
"God" responds to legislator's lawsuit (CNN)
The return fax number should have been no surprise. Any well-schooled Christian can tell you that God resides in the Body of Christ.
It is somewhat odd that the photograph of the legislator who filed the lawsuit appears to have a halo around his head.
"God" responds to legislator's lawsuit (CNN)
The return fax number should have been no surprise. Any well-schooled Christian can tell you that God resides in the Body of Christ.
It is somewhat odd that the photograph of the legislator who filed the lawsuit appears to have a halo around his head.
Thursday, September 20, 2007
All your ISBNs are belong to us
Ah, those Ivy League schools. They're so advanced. So far out in front of the rest of society, in research, in science, in intellectual resources.
And, it appears, in wildly ambitious interpretations of intellectual property. The Harvard Crimson reports that the campus co-op bookstore expels students who take notes and compare prices on textbooks. The bookstore claims that the ISBNs of the books on the shelves are its intellectual property.
Discussion, paranoid and otherwise, at Slashdot. I can't wait until car dealers follow suit and decide that the specifications of the cars on their lots are "intellectual property", and that their customers therefore are not allowed to take notes and compare prices at other dealerships.
Ah, those Ivy League schools. They're so advanced. So far out in front of the rest of society, in research, in science, in intellectual resources.
And, it appears, in wildly ambitious interpretations of intellectual property. The Harvard Crimson reports that the campus co-op bookstore expels students who take notes and compare prices on textbooks. The bookstore claims that the ISBNs of the books on the shelves are its intellectual property.
Discussion, paranoid and otherwise, at Slashdot. I can't wait until car dealers follow suit and decide that the specifications of the cars on their lots are "intellectual property", and that their customers therefore are not allowed to take notes and compare prices at other dealerships.
Uh-oh.
Fears of dollar collapse as Saudis take fright (Telegraph.co.uk)
Fears of dollar collapse as Saudis take fright (Telegraph.co.uk)
Saudi Arabia has refused to cut interest rates in lockstep with the US Federal Reserve for the first time, signalling that the oil-rich Gulf kingdom is preparing to break the dollar currency peg in a move that risks setting off a stampede out of the dollar across the Middle East....China threatens 'nuclear option' of dollar sales (Telegraph.co.uk)
Two officials at leading Communist Party bodies have given interviews in recent days warning - for the first time - that Beijing may use its $1.33 trillion (£658bn) of foreign reserves as a political weapon to counter pressure from the US Congress....
Yet another scam to be wary of?
Beware of e-mail scam offering to rescue friends.
Beware of e-mail scam offering to rescue friends.
... This new scam has seen bogus e-mails claiming that a common friend is attending a conference in Africa on "Empowering Youth to Fight Racism, HIV/AIDS, Poverty and Lack of Education". Then the person - whose e-mail account has been hacked - is portrayed as being stranded in Africa after forgetting in a taxi a "little bag" that contained "money, passport, documents and other valuables".
Friends who write back to the hijacked account are replied to and told to send the $3,500 urgently....
Run away from the scary brown people!
That's exactly what the Republican party seems to be doing, as evidenced by the reported refusal of all the major presidential candidates to appear at an upcoming nationally televised debate focusing on "minority issues".
No matter what one thinks of "racial politics", this seems like a bad strategy for a political party that wishes to remain relevant in a nation where the number of Hispanic, Asian, Indian, native-American, and African or African-American people in the population is increasing. Quoth Jack Kemp, the party's 1996 vice-presidential candidate: “What are we going to do, meet in a country club in the suburbs one day?”
Addendum: Discussion at DailyKos.
That's exactly what the Republican party seems to be doing, as evidenced by the reported refusal of all the major presidential candidates to appear at an upcoming nationally televised debate focusing on "minority issues".
No matter what one thinks of "racial politics", this seems like a bad strategy for a political party that wishes to remain relevant in a nation where the number of Hispanic, Asian, Indian, native-American, and African or African-American people in the population is increasing. Quoth Jack Kemp, the party's 1996 vice-presidential candidate: “What are we going to do, meet in a country club in the suburbs one day?”
Addendum: Discussion at DailyKos.
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
WWGD: What Would Greenspan Do?
Apparently he wouldn't vote Republican. At least not for the current crop of R's.
Apparently he wouldn't vote Republican. At least not for the current crop of R's.
Robert Jordan
His demise is not exactly a surprise, since he announced in March of 2006 that he had been diagnosed with a deadly illness. Still, both he and his fans would certainly have hoped for more time to finish his epic "Wheel of Time" series. (Thanks to Fiend, who is much more in tune with the news of the day than I usually am, for initially mentioning it to me.)
His demise is not exactly a surprise, since he announced in March of 2006 that he had been diagnosed with a deadly illness. Still, both he and his fans would certainly have hoped for more time to finish his epic "Wheel of Time" series. (Thanks to Fiend, who is much more in tune with the news of the day than I usually am, for initially mentioning it to me.)
Especially for Carlos
... since he's looking for a place to live somewhere out in the burning deserts of the Southwest. How 'bout Arcosanti?
... since he's looking for a place to live somewhere out in the burning deserts of the Southwest. How 'bout Arcosanti?
Exactly as planned
There seems to be mass confusion about how Blackwater USA mercenaries, on the payroll of the US government, ended up shooting several Iraqi civilians in Baghdad recently. Eyewitnesses unconnected to Blackwater state that the mercenaries were not provoked. Or, possibly, that they panicked in response to a distant explosion. Or maybe they got cranky because of rush hour traffic. The official report states they were responding to small arms fire. Blackwater claims that in any case, the mercenaries' killing of eight civilians was lawful, and that they are immune from any and all legal consequences.
And you know what? They may be right.
Ain't it wonderful having a privately-owned and operated mercenary army that doesn't have to follow either US law, Iraqi law, or international law?
Blackwater USA is also aggressively seeking contracts to provide "homeland security" in the United States as well. And of course they're in line to cash in on the ever-profitable War On Drugs. Won't that be fun?
There seems to be mass confusion about how Blackwater USA mercenaries, on the payroll of the US government, ended up shooting several Iraqi civilians in Baghdad recently. Eyewitnesses unconnected to Blackwater state that the mercenaries were not provoked. Or, possibly, that they panicked in response to a distant explosion. Or maybe they got cranky because of rush hour traffic. The official report states they were responding to small arms fire. Blackwater claims that in any case, the mercenaries' killing of eight civilians was lawful, and that they are immune from any and all legal consequences.
And you know what? They may be right.
Ain't it wonderful having a privately-owned and operated mercenary army that doesn't have to follow either US law, Iraqi law, or international law?
Blackwater USA is also aggressively seeking contracts to provide "homeland security" in the United States as well. And of course they're in line to cash in on the ever-profitable War On Drugs. Won't that be fun?
Especially for Pablo
Vampire Population Ecology: a statistical analysis of the vampire population dynamics of Sunnyvale, California.
Vampire Population Ecology: a statistical analysis of the vampire population dynamics of Sunnyvale, California.
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