October 16, 2006
Who Knew?
Who knew that a seemingly simple pastime like planespotting could make international headlines and help the public become aware of secret CIA installations across the world? This article brings into perspective the harsh reality that is the war on terror. Midnight kidnappings, prisoners whisked away to various international locales for interrogation, or worse... torture. For what? Good question. What happens when the United States arrests you and takes you to an undisclosed location in the middle of nowhere, holds you for a seemingly random amount of time, and then releases you into who knows where? Another good question; this article may help you, but you'll have to formulate your own answers to those questions, because you won't be able to aks anyone directly.
Planespotting by Trevor Paglen & A. C. Thompson
Posted by djkay at 10:12 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
August 24, 2006
Why Is It So Hard To Understand?
In the United States we simply assume that we can pretty much do what we want. And to a large degree that is true, but after reading this story I'm not so sure anymore. A young Arabic man traveling through JFK airport wearing a shirt with Arabic script and English reading "we will not be silent" was told he would not be able to board his flight without changing his shirt because "people are feeling offended." I think the way it was handled was extremely poor; my biggest beef is with the officials statements about why he was being made to change his shirt. Here's what the inspector said when pressed:
you can't wear a t-shirt with Arabic script and come to an airport. It is like wearing a t-shirt that reads "I am a robber" and going to a bank
Here's the article which links to other sites with more info about the incident <link>. Stuff like this makes me sick sometimes.
Along the same lines with respect to flying is my take on the latest banning of liquid items in carry-on luggage. Currently if you go through security and purchase a beverage at a duty-free shop near the gates you can then not bring that beverage on the flight without drinking the entire thing before boarding. What's the deal with that?! Some airports are going as far as providing a delivery service from the shop where you purchased your drink to the gate of your airline! I mean, if you're drinking from a bottle wouldn't it make sense that it's not a liquid that could be used to make an explosive?! Last time I checked most of the common ingredients to make an explosive were pretty toxic!
Posted by djkay at 12:38 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
May 17, 2006
P2P and Fearmongering
TechDirt points to an interesting article by a Canadian politician on his blog about an interview he had with lobbyists for the RIAA who say that the Internet is a:
highway of stolen goods and child pornography that goes into the bedroom of every kid in this country.
p2pnet.net - the original daily p2p and digital media news site
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March 3, 2006
End of the World...
Well, it's official: the end of the world is near: US Congress approves the renewal of the Patriot Act. Now there is nowhere safe for anyone to go without fear of being spied on and followed; having their digital data tracked and analyzed without their knowledge.
Each day that we allow these types of laws to stick around we move closer and closer to 1984.
Posted by djkay at 10:45 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)