BBC Gets its knickers in a twist.

BBC NEWS | Americas | US plans to 'fight the net' revealed

This IS an interesting article. It addresses a couple of issues that may be of importance:

1) The US has spent some time and effort exploring how the Internet changes information dissemination in the modern era.

2) The US would like to be able to shut down communication (phone, cell, networks) wherever it wants.

The first item is remarkable only in that it makes the Pentagon appear somewhat more tech-savvy than most people would have guessed. The second item, which the BBC piece seems to be terrified by could only come as a surprise to people that don't understand anything at all about warfare. OF COURSE they want to be able to shut down all communications in any and all locations they deem operationally important. Every military through history has sought that capacity.

Why the BBC acts like it's some totally unreasonable and heretofore unheard-of objective is beyond me. Unless, of course, what you really want to do is a little Anti-American muck-raking...

Click here to read the rest of the article!

Not you'll be surprised, but:

ACLU releases documents it says show government spied on Georgians

That would be GA Georgians, as in peaches and peanuts.

Click here to read the rest of the article!

Facts are those irritating things that keep getting in the way.

Democrats and Republicans Both Adept at Ignoring Facts, Study Finds

Confirms something we probably already knew at some level.

Click here to read the rest of the article!

Untitled

News Hounds: Al Gore's Speech January 16, 2006, Part 2 - Fox's cut; White House response; Gore's response

Yet again, FOX news takes the time and care to make sure their viewers aren't accidentally exposed to anything that might shake to world view of their viewers. You know, ya' just can't GET that kind of TLC at most news outlets.

Click here to read the rest of the article!

More on the NSA Domestic Spying Issue

Security Agency Whistleblower Warns Domestic Spying Program Is Sign the U.S. is Decaying Into a “Police State”

Quoted in the article:

SEN. PATRICK LEAHY: This warrant-less eavesdropping program is
not authorized by the PATRIOT Act, it's not authorized by any act of
Congress, and it's not overseen by any court. According to the reports
it’s being conducted under a secret presidential order, based on secret
legal opinions by the same Justice Department, lawyers, the same ones
who argued secretly that the President could order the use of torture.
Mr. President, it is time to have some checks and balances in this
country. We are a democracy. We are a democracy. Let's have checks and
balances, not secret orders and secret courts and secret torture, and
on and on.

quote />

That's good stuff there. He's got one hell of a point: Secret courts and the like breed corruption.

Click here to read the rest of the article!

BioD in the Big Apple?

N.Y. governor wants drivers to fill up with ethanol or biodiesel | CNET News.com


Looks like Pataki is going to jump-start biodiesel and ethanol availability in NY. I'm not so sure about ethanol, but I think biodiesel is really going to end up being an important part of our national energy supply.

Click here to read the rest of the article!

Good site for info on the Abramoff Scandal

:: Jack in the House :: How Jack Abramoff bought Congress ::

You know, sometimes it's disheartening to realize how dirty and inbred our political system really is. We've set up a system where the only way to win an election is to take a bunch of money from people that want to buy you. By definition, that makes all of our elected officials up for sale. How is this smart?

Click here to read the rest of the article!

Elvis, Nixon and Cats with Microphones in Their Butt. (ok, maybe that last part is conjecture)

NPR : Wresting Secrets from the U.S. Government

A great interview on NPR's Fresh Air about the National Security Archive. They're the folks that file bunches of Freedom Of Information Act requests to get previously secret documents released into the public. It's really worth a read/listen.

Click here to read the rest of the article!