bush

Should YouTrust Big Brother

This entry was posted in ashcroft bush Constitution Domestic Terrorism Libertarianism Privacy War on Terrorism on by

Jeralyn Merrit wonders:

We don’t know why people aren’t screaming bloody murder about this.

The this is CAPPS II, the new airline passenger screening system currently under development.
Yes, why aren’t we up in arms about this? Go read Jeralyn’s post and the related links. CAPPS II looks like Total Information Awareness is alive and well not something 5 years away as Fox News argues:

Any real development of TIA technology is more than five years away, so concerns that the technology will be abused are speculative, at best.

Well, since Fox’s 5 year forecast is clearly speculative why would we expect it not to be abused.
Gosh, just imagine, you are headed to New York next summer to provide peaceful input to the GOP convention but, oops, your color is red and you don’t get to go. What set of data in the fed files might cause this to happen?
Even though the absence of information may be as problematic as the information the feds have you just might want to start making yourself a little less visible by learning how to use cash again.

Looking for Aliens

This entry was posted in bush Humor on by

Many papers have been carrying this article about the search for extraterrestrial life. As more planets are discovered interest in this effort increases:

But after four decades of frequent ridicule, the astronomers seeking signs of life in the heavens are gaining some respect. Since 1960, when Tarter’s colleague Frank Drake first pointed a radio telescope at a pair of nearby stars in hopes of dialing in an alien broadcast, there have been about 100 searches for ET signals.
No aliens have been found. But new planets have, more than 100 outside our solar system since the first was discovered in 1995.
Whether those distant worlds teem with life, let alone intelligent life, remains unknown. But each new discovery further energizes the search for ET.

Many of the current efforts have as their target extraterrestrial intelligence, e.g., the SETI Project.
Things would move much more quickly if just a little bit of effort were spent looking for ETUI, or extraterrestrial unintelligence. For instance this speciman* was photographed two days ago and the astute observor should easily find more examples of infestation.
*Photo from Yahoo/Reuters.

Libertarian on Bush

This entry was posted in bush cheney Iraq Libertarianism US Foreign Policy War on Terrorism on by

Lew Rockwell is a libertarian but I wouldn’t call him a conservative as does Ken Macleod. Ken is right, though, in saying that this is a pretty radical essay:

There is something grossly immoral about a regime that saunters into town, bankrupts its host country and destroys a few others in the process, making mess after mess and still not being held accountable for it. Making matters worse is the reality that it and its friends in industry will take off with all the loot. After all, all this money is going somewhere, and it isn’t to average Iraqis!

Rockwell chews the bushite actions and policies and spits them out in little pieces.
Some of you may not like everything he says but you should, nevertheless, read the entire piece!

Aiding and Abetting?

This entry was posted in ashcroft bush Constitution Domestic Terrorism Libertarianism War on Terrorism on by

rumsfeld tells the world:

… opposition to the U.S. President was encouraging Washington’s enemies and hindering his ‘war against terrorism’.

Is he accusing the opposition of aiding and abetting the enemy? And will this prompt another round of talk show blathering about critics of bush policy being treasonous?
According to that great upholder of civil liberties ashcroft:

Peaceful political discourse and dissent is one of America�s most cherished freedoms, and is not subject to investigation as domestic terrorism. Under the Patriot Act, the definition of �domestic terrorism� is limited to conduct that (1) violates federal or state criminal law and (2) is dangerous to human life. Therefore, peaceful political organizations engaging in political advocacy will obviously not come under this definition. (Patriot Act, Section 802)

Just how big a step is it from rummies words to the FBI knocking on your door.
It must be time to step up the dissent even more.
Via a Scott at The Gamer’s Nook.

Profiteers Card Deck

This entry was posted in bush cheney Iraq US Foreign Policy War on Terrorism on by

In the ongoing deck of cards theme there is now the War Profiteers card deck. Part of their intro:

The War Profiteers Card Deck exposes some of the real war criminals in the US�s endless War of Terror. This is no Sunday bridge club. These are individuals and institutions that stack the deck against democracy in the rigged game of global power.

David Novak, the two of diamonds, is the subject of this post by Major Barbara at Open Source Politics.
Read’m and weep.
Via The Gamer’s Nook.