Wednesday, December 11, 2002

How To Post Absolutely Anonymously?. The year is 2007. The "war on terrorism" has gone on for years and there is no end in sight. FBI investigations of "suspicious persons" at American companies and the media frenzy about Middle Eastern terrorists has gotten to the point that many Muslim Americans have lost their jobs because they are considered "security liabilities." Word leaks out that the all-seeing eye of the Information Awareness Office, headed by Bush's crony John Poindexter (the Reaganite of Iran-Contra fame), is using its powers to spy on "leftist radicals," which in actuality is just about anyone criticizing Bush, Israel, American foreign policy in the Middle East, reading Chomsky, or sympathizing with the plight of Muslims. It is the new McCarthyism, and you do not want to be its next victim. What do you do? [kuro5hin.org] At this point, I have no interest at all in posting anonymously. If I get in trouble for speaking out, so be it. I don't think we've fallen to that point - yet. Admittedly, I have certain advantages - I'm not exactly going to be racial-profiled any time soon, I can afford legal representation if needed, etc... but it's because of those advantages that I consider it important that I speak out publicly and identifiably. If Cisco decides they don't want me working here because of my political views or because I've criticized the corporation for selling censorware to the Chinese government, well, I'm pretty sure that's wrongful dismissal. I'm not afraid, and refuse to be afraid. That said, if things get worse - which they could - I'm prepared. It's not a bad idea to get your hands on a copy of PGP or GPG now, to give yourself encryption capabilities before a serious attempt is made to restrict them or ban them completely.

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Off to see the Izzard. Cross-dressing comedian Eddie Izzard on big breaks, serious roles and talking crap. [Salon Headlines] I love love love Eddie Izzard...maybe the funniest stand-up working today. You haven't lived 'til you've heard the Action Transvestite bit.
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Rumsfeld Said to Back Brigade of Light Armor. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld will recommend $1.5 billion in next year's budget to field the Army's fourth brigade of light armored Stryker vehicles. By Thom Shanker. [New York Times: National] Oh god. This is the most terrifying piece of Army news I've seen in a long, long time. It looks like even the Army has fallen into the trap of Cool Misspellings. Or trademarkable misspellings. Either way, I'm frightened. It starts with the "Stryker" vehicle. Next it'll be "l0010ant". We're doomed, I tell you.

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Lott Remarks on Thurmond Echoed 1980 Words. Criticism Unabated Despite Apology for Comment on Former Dixiecrat's Presidential Bid Twenty-two years ago, Trent Lott, then a House member from Mississippi, told a home state political gathering that if the country had elected segregationist candidate Strom Thurmond to the presidency "30 years ago, we wouldn't be in the mess we are today." The phrasing is very similar to incoming Senate Majority Leader Lott's controversial remarks at a 100th birthday party for Thurmond last week. [Blog Left: Critical Interventions] Don't forget that Lott also filed an amicus brief in support of Bob Jones University's "right" to practice racial discrimination in 1983... McCain, Chafee, Hagel - I'm looking at you. Step up and kick this man out of power. He simply should not be in the position he's in. The three senators I listed are Republican senators that I admire. I may not agree with them on everything, but everything I've seen suggests that all three of them are men of principle. If that's the case, it's time to show it: throw out Lott now.

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Preemptive Strikes Part Of U.S. Strategic Doctrine (washingtonpost.com). Following Richard's posting below on US threatened nuclear strike as retaliation for nuclear strike, here's another scarcy report leaked from Bush administration that they are prepared to launch preemptive strikes against countries that even possess so-called weapons of mass destruction and that they have a secret list of countries that they are ready to hit "with overwhelming force." This administration is overwhelmingly aggressive and scary! Preemptive Strikes Part Of U.S. Strategic Doctrine (washingtonpost.com) [Blog Left: Critical Interventions] Why are we surprised? I mean, c'mon - shouldn't we expect Nixon/Reagan administration-style behavior from an administration controlled by two guys from those groups (Rumsfeld and Cheney)? Of COURSE we're going to threaten to nuke everybody. It worked with the USSR, didn't it?

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