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I could provide more context, but where’s the fun in that, eh?
Back to the future,
This is dF
Sep. 26th, 2009
I could provide more context, but where’s the fun in that, eh?
Back to the future,
This is dF
TELEVISION: DRUG OF A NATION
Sep. 26th, 2009 04:53 pmNo surprise, really.
Still, it’d be interesting to know how much of that is (1) time shifted/catch-up viewing, and (2) done whilst doing other things (web surfing, messaging, Facebooking, checking email, reading books, playing PSPs, etc).
The sun always shines on TV,
This is dF
Still, it’d be interesting to know how much of that is (1) time shifted/catch-up viewing, and (2) done whilst doing other things (web surfing, messaging, Facebooking, checking email, reading books, playing PSPs, etc).
The sun always shines on TV,
This is dF
THE 4TH AMENDMENT: THAT’S NOT FUNNY
Sep. 26th, 2009 05:33 pmI’ve seen quite a few people circulating the story of Senator Al Franken reading the 4th Amendment out loud to David Kris, assistant attorney general of the Justice Department’s National Security Division, who was testifying to the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Amusing as the story is, it’s worth remembering the context in which the story took place: the reauthorization of expiring provisions of the USA Patriot Act regarding wiretaps, which – you may like to know – Team Obama actively supports.
Threat Level has a good rundown here of which provisions are expiring, the revisions of the provisions beiong proposed by Sen Russ Feingold (a.k.a. the only member of Congress who had the sense to vote against the Patriot Act in the first place) and why all this matters:
Some additional context for you: Wired.com reports that the FBI has been building a huge data-mining system containing tens of thousands of records from private corporate databases, including car-rental companies, large hotel chains and at least one national department store, all with no Congressional or public oversight. The system is supposed to be used for terror investigations but has been used for other purposes.
So naturally, the conservatives currently freaked out over Obama’s plan to dismantle the Constitution and turn the country into Cuba are focused on jackbooted census takers with GPS-enabled devices who are geotagging houses on GoogleMaps in advance of next year’s census so Obama can use the coordinates to enable New World Order Predator drones to launch missile attacks on “undesirables”.
No, really.
Not that I’m saying the Patriot Act and the FBI NSAC are part of a conspiracy. They’re not. They’re just really bad ideas born out of politics and fear that contribute to the erosion of civil liberties and make it easier for govt entities to abuse their power without even giving us the tradeoff of making the country safer from terrorism.
So would it kill the teabaggers claiming to be against intrusive govt power to actually call attention to something that’s actually happening instead of weird batshit fantasies about Obama der Fuhrer sending drone missiles to yr fucking house?
Of course, that would require admitting that these things were thought up by conservatives in the first place (though most Democrats didn’t exactly oppose them). Which is awkward, I know. But c’mon – the guys at Fox News contradict themselves all the time. Why can’t you?
Search and seizure,
This is dF
Amusing as the story is, it’s worth remembering the context in which the story took place: the reauthorization of expiring provisions of the USA Patriot Act regarding wiretaps, which – you may like to know – Team Obama actively supports.
Threat Level has a good rundown here of which provisions are expiring, the revisions of the provisions beiong proposed by Sen Russ Feingold (a.k.a. the only member of Congress who had the sense to vote against the Patriot Act in the first place) and why all this matters:
A 2007 Inspector General Report showed that the FBI circumvented that law to acquire access to records “that weren’t relevant to any authorized FBI investigation.”
What’s more, a July report from the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts showed that just three of 763 black-bag searches authorized by the Patriot Act involved terrorism. A black-bag search in this context means the target may never get notified that the search took place. About 65 percent of those warrants involved concerned drug cases, the report said.
What’s more, a July report from the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts showed that just three of 763 black-bag searches authorized by the Patriot Act involved terrorism. A black-bag search in this context means the target may never get notified that the search took place. About 65 percent of those warrants involved concerned drug cases, the report said.
Some additional context for you: Wired.com reports that the FBI has been building a huge data-mining system containing tens of thousands of records from private corporate databases, including car-rental companies, large hotel chains and at least one national department store, all with no Congressional or public oversight. The system is supposed to be used for terror investigations but has been used for other purposes.
So naturally, the conservatives currently freaked out over Obama’s plan to dismantle the Constitution and turn the country into Cuba are focused on jackbooted census takers with GPS-enabled devices who are geotagging houses on GoogleMaps in advance of next year’s census so Obama can use the coordinates to enable New World Order Predator drones to launch missile attacks on “undesirables”.
No, really.
Not that I’m saying the Patriot Act and the FBI NSAC are part of a conspiracy. They’re not. They’re just really bad ideas born out of politics and fear that contribute to the erosion of civil liberties and make it easier for govt entities to abuse their power without even giving us the tradeoff of making the country safer from terrorism.
So would it kill the teabaggers claiming to be against intrusive govt power to actually call attention to something that’s actually happening instead of weird batshit fantasies about Obama der Fuhrer sending drone missiles to yr fucking house?
Of course, that would require admitting that these things were thought up by conservatives in the first place (though most Democrats didn’t exactly oppose them). Which is awkward, I know. But c’mon – the guys at Fox News contradict themselves all the time. Why can’t you?
Search and seizure,
This is dF
While we’re on ineffective ways to fight Teh Al Qaedas – the Patriot Act, massive data mines, etc – here’s another way Bush (and by extension, Obama) may have got it wrong – invading Afghanistan.
The justification, of course – apart from the widespread visceral belief right after 9/11 that someone had to be made an example out of and get their ass kicked, preferably someone without money or nukes – has always been that al Qaeda had training camps there, Osama bin Laden was hiding there and the Taliban wouldn’t let us look for him, so fuck ‘em, let’s overthrow the whole fucking country so al Qaeda won’t be able to hide.
Turns out that probably was for nothing, too.
For a start, al Qaeda left Afghanistan years ago. The fight there now is about keeping the Taliban from taking the country back and making it a terrorist haven again. However, according to Paul Pillar, deputy chief of the counterterrorist center at the CIA from 1997 to 1999, the role of terrorist training camps isn’t really all that big in al Qaeda’s operations these days:
Oops!
What are we fighting for,
This is dF
The justification, of course – apart from the widespread visceral belief right after 9/11 that someone had to be made an example out of and get their ass kicked, preferably someone without money or nukes – has always been that al Qaeda had training camps there, Osama bin Laden was hiding there and the Taliban wouldn’t let us look for him, so fuck ‘em, let’s overthrow the whole fucking country so al Qaeda won’t be able to hide.
Turns out that probably was for nothing, too.
For a start, al Qaeda left Afghanistan years ago. The fight there now is about keeping the Taliban from taking the country back and making it a terrorist haven again. However, according to Paul Pillar, deputy chief of the counterterrorist center at the CIA from 1997 to 1999, the role of terrorist training camps isn’t really all that big in al Qaeda’s operations these days:
Consider: The preparations most important to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks took place not in training camps in Afghanistan but, rather, in apartments in Germany, hotel rooms in Spain and flight schools in the United States.
In the past couple of decades, international terrorist groups have thrived by exploiting globalization and information technology, which has lessened their dependence on physical havens.
By utilizing networks such as the Internet, terrorists' organizations have become more network-like, not beholden to any one headquarters. A significant jihadist terrorist threat to the United States persists, but that does not mean it will consist of attacks instigated and commanded from a South Asian haven, or that it will require a haven at all. Al-Qaeda's role in that threat is now less one of commander than of ideological lodestar, and for that role a haven is almost meaningless.
In the past couple of decades, international terrorist groups have thrived by exploiting globalization and information technology, which has lessened their dependence on physical havens.
By utilizing networks such as the Internet, terrorists' organizations have become more network-like, not beholden to any one headquarters. A significant jihadist terrorist threat to the United States persists, but that does not mean it will consist of attacks instigated and commanded from a South Asian haven, or that it will require a haven at all. Al-Qaeda's role in that threat is now less one of commander than of ideological lodestar, and for that role a haven is almost meaningless.
Oops!
What are we fighting for,
This is dF