i could talk about what team i am going to be on and all that stuff... but i would rather talk about how the President has authorized the NSA to illegally spy on thousands of americans (check the NY Times)... seemingly benign?... but in view of recent developments concerning other seemingly benign elements of the patriot act, the rise of fundementalism and the general comportment of the executive branch and the right wing kabal, i just have one thing to say... BEWARE THE INCEPTION OF THE SECRET POLICE IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA... freedom isnt free my friends... it costs time and vigilance against THE MAN...
the bottom line is that i dont trust authorty... i wonder what the hell happened to the good old-fashion republicans who mistrusted government authority and were more libertarian than they are the days... people have just gone crazy...
there was a good debate about related issues on TO THE POINT a few days back... it was more about torture regulation.. but the ideas also could be applied to holding folks responsible for secret police type actions- which, by the way are contrary to the tenants of a free and open society... duh...
21 comments:
I had a good chat recently with a lawyer friend who was telling me about how virtually the entire section of Federal Entrapment laws (you know, the ones that say you can't be legally charged with a crime if law enforcementleads you to commit it) has been re-written to add:
...except in times of "National Crisis", "suspicion" of acts of "endangerment" or "terrorism", or for acts compromising the security of the nation. (i.e. Federal Crimes)
(quotation marks are mine)
I'm a scientist by training, so I accept that I use language in a very different way, but I count at least four counts of nebulous terms that leave holes you could drive a paddy wagon through and one circular reference loop.
Even if you're not a fan of Defense Law, this kind of language takes out ALLOT of the checks and balances that keep cops/feds from becoming vigilantes or, worse, self-appointed judges of their own Kangaroo courts.
Jeez, I need to shut up..
Yeah... this whole deal is PRETTY complicated. And I am a firm believer that, while there are laws in place to protect the citizen, if the government REALLY wants to do something, they pretty much will get their way; especially with a President like George Bush and his minions in power.
And since the Patriot Act has stopped so many terrorist attacks etc., as a citizen, I wouldn't mind seeing a list of what attacks were halted, and where... some details please. Would it be naive of me to ask that of my government??? On a similar thread, I saw a bumper sticker yesterday: "Is It 2008 Yet?" Unfortunately, no. I wouldn't put it past Bush to try to change the rules so Presidents can have more than two terms. That might be enough to get him assassinated. Not that I support that idea... (-; Oops! Patriot Act. You never know who is reading/watching/listening.
Check out the new Jimmy Carter book. It is an easy read and makes alot of sense concerning fundamentalism and the separation of church and state.
If you don't trust authority, why do you trust the authority that is the New York Times?
...very scary topics. But rather than worry about who's listening in on my conversations because I don't think I can do anything about them (sad), I'd rather talk about who you're riding for next year! Ha! I live in a "la la fairyland" where my main concern is bikes, that I'm riding them, that my husband is racing them, that I am selling them, etc...even if I am in the most miserable-for-riding bikes locale right now. After years of school focusing in on political science/corporate and international law, I mostly learned that this country, while being the best possible choice for me to live in, is still less than perfect and even scary sometimes, it is best not to be impressed or appalled anymore about this government---unless I want to do something about it.
So, what team what team????
Doesn't take much to figure out what team your going to be on based on the bikes your selling on your site....Congrats on getting a ride
i dont trust the NY times that much either as of late... but this story seems to have corroboration from other sources... like some reports that relevant congressional comitees were briefed on this authorization to perform illegal survailance and like the pentagon promising to investigate these types of allegations where military intelligence is concerned last wednesday, which also implies a certain level of credibility... and in a few days its likey that we will have government officials commenting publicly on this...
in this specific allegation, under these specific circumstances it can be successsfully argued that it is necessary to do... and thats fine... as long as we all agree that its illegal and prosecutable even if we decide not to prosecute anyone because of the extrordainary circumstances of the times... but once it becomes legal and institutionalized in the government beurocracy we have a big problem... i can see that thre are people who would be very interested in creating a soviet style secret police in this nation... what does that mean for the future?(ORWELL)... its not fiction, that shit happens everyday... the history of these kinds of things isnt very good... so be wary...
The interesting thing about the NYT article is that the author of the article has a book coming out:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0743270665/qid=1134786381/sr=53-1/ref=tr_273151/102-2916523-4204160?n=283155
James Risen is also the author of the NYT piece. Shameless self-promotion anyone? Except that the NYT doesn't disclose that the author has a book coming out. Interesting note: If you search for the book at Amazon, you get this:
Results for State of War:
Pre-order the book behind the breaking news, State of War : The Secret History of the C.I.A. and the Bush Administration by New York Times Reporter James Risen
If it's breaking news, how'd he have time to write a book? Simple answer: The timing of the article is to help sell the book. So much for timely news.
contrary to the tenants of a free and open society... duh...
Kind of like secret laws?
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2005_12/007752.php
President Carter was a terrible president. I voted for him and he let the whole country down, far beyond his Ridiculous boycott of the Olympics. His errors in judgement destroyed rural america.
I would not believe one word that man has to say, let alone buy his book
Yeah, political leaders and government I dont like. Especially after getting hit by a fire Truck and our city mayor driving drunk and crashing his car twice the legal limit.
Anonymous said...
Check out the new Jimmy Carter book.
I second that. His interview on "Hear and Now" on NPR was excellent. I'm looking forward to delving into that book and re-reading Barry Glassner's "Culture of Fear" (thanks for the reminder, Andrew) this Christmas, and then crying myself to sleep under the blankets until 2008.
(when Mit Romney will probably win, shudder)
I never thought I'd see the day when some pro bike-riding jock from the Cali Desert references an Orwellian Brave New World, and some fairly eloquent critically thinking "PoliSci/International Law" buff trapped in Minnesota express complacency over domestic US politics.
It must be all that Soma the CIA is seeding the clouds with.
Doesn't creating mistrust of the media and keeping the population in fear sound like the raison d'etre of a dictator?
Should we not trust the reports that came from Abu Grahib (sp?), or Guantanomo Bay or the inner workings/dealings of Scooter Libby, or the debacle that Clinton created in Solmalia?
on the candyass times' report & self-promotion (at the least)--
http://www.counterpunch.org/cockburn12172005.html
mdm
Bush confirms NSA eavesdropping:
http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/12/17/bush.nsa/index.html
My wife flies back and forth to Jerusalem, Ethiopia, Sudan, Ghana, etc.
When I call her I dial in to her Satellite Phone, which uplinks to a bird owned by the Saudis. You can bet your Chamoised ass the NSA's got my file...
Geez, bike geeks, get on the stick. "Brave New World" was written by Aldous Huxley, not George Orwell, and it was not about a terror society at all.
Anyway, the US is unlikely to ever be a police state. I had a co-worker in Cambridge, MA who grew up in Germany during WW2. When he turned 12 he was compelled to join the Hitler Youth. They were teaching him how to shoot an anti-tank gun (panzerfaust) when the war ended. I asked him what the chance was that the US would ever become that sort of a state. He laughed out loud at that. No, he said, thanks to what he called, "the All-American Fuck You attitude." We are populated by people who rejected the regimentation of the old world; it's in our blood.
I know a bit about police states myself. Here's a little teaser. It's January, 1972 in Moscow, USSR. It's 20 below zero on the streets, but I'm very warm indeed, as I'm sitting in a small white tiled interrogation room five floors below the street beneath the Lubiyanka Building (KGB HQ). As I await the arrival of my three interrogators, I remember something I read (in Solzenitsyn I think); why are the rooms in the Lubiyanka done in white ceramic tile? Answer: it's easy to clean up the blood spatter.
Parke- You better stop importing Ethiopian coffee or the CIA will throw you into a Romainian safehouse (not that they exist) for trying to educate the the taste buds of the US population!
Yeah, they actually did freak out in Amsterdam (of all places) becaues Coffee is a popular way to throw off the dogs from the scent of something more illegal.
Anyway, I sent Erik an email, but I don't know if it's reached you yet...
Whatcha' want:
Green beans (3 weeks from auction, take about 2 hours to roast in a Cast Iron Skillet, Wok, or Popcorn Air-popper)
Medium Roast (1 mo. from auction, 2 weeks after roast, allot of Ethiopians buy this and then roast in a pan on med-low heat for 15 minutes to get to full Asaam roast)
Dark Roast (1 mo. from auction, 2 weeks after roast), look to be pretty good and ready for espresso grind)
Continued:
http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/12/19/bush/index.html#wiretappin
BIG DARK ROAST!!
Bike Geezer said...
Geez, bike geeks, get on the stick.
Yeah, you caught me, my bad. I should (and do) know better.
The fact is I was being lazy with my shorthand. These days I kind of lump all those Dystopias into one category: "books I read when I took things WAY too seriously".
(Orwell's the guy with the pig who befriends a spider, right?)
Coffee's on its way, happy Christmahanukwanzika B(i)lly!
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