I can’t say anything else…
Archive for the 'national' Category
I don’t get it. Since when has guerrilla marketing been a terrorist act? I don’t know what caused the happy people of Boston to go totally off the deep end, but it baffles me. Katie sent me this link on Wednesday. Who knew that a few little lighted sheets of metal with a battery could cause mass chaos. Ted Turner certainly didn’t think so, well it was probably the PR people that had no clue. Bruce Schneier has an excellent overview on his blog.
What has really happened is that the Cult of Terror has won. People are now so scared that random, should-be-funny events are taken totally out of context. This is not the America that I grew up in. I mean, I grew up in a not-the-best sort of neighborhood with sirens wailing at any and all hours of the day, and I never thought that it was possible for our society to become comfortable with this level of fear.
I spent a summer in Israel when I was 16. I suppose that this was during a lull in the first Intifada. The Israelis had already become used the climate of terror that had infested Israel. The bomb squad came in and “disposed” of a suspicious package more than once in the time that I was there. Soldiers walked around the streets and took trips on buses with rifles in their hands. In reality, I never felt safer in my life – because this was not an abnormal experience in Israel.
But that was Israel, not the United States of America. It will take many years of living in this climate of fear and terror for us to become used to it. But the question to me is, when that happens how many of our liberties and rights have to be surrendered? Another question would be will the new America resemble the one I grew up in?
Oh yeah, almost forgot about this little blurb over at Techdirt…
Found this on Boing Boing: Chertoff: The internet is turning people into terrorists
I think it takes quite a leap to go from the dissemination of information to creation of terrorists. The Internet is a soap box from which people can voice their disparate views, thoughts and ideas. In certain ways, it is not much different from speaker’s platforms in parks that have made an appearance since before the American War of Indepence and also in the 1960’s. In certain ways, the Internet also bears resemblance to the free press that we are guaranteed by the Constitution, in the 1st Amendment.
I feel that the statement by Chertoff may show the direction that the current administration could be planning. We, as the American society, have already proven that we are willing to give up our rights and liberties for the appearance of safety. I point to the USA Patriot Act.
Benjamin Franklin said it best – “They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” Historical Review of Pennsylvania (1759)
Declan McCullagh of Politech and CNET News.com has an article at News.com about a Turkish hacker that provided information that has lead to the arrest and conviction of two U.S. citizens on child porn charges.
While I applaud the conviction of two pedophiles, what I find interesting is that one man has found a way to take matters into his own hands. Technology often creates opportunities for advances in culture and society that the law (and law enforcement) have a difficult time keeping up with. It is clear that law makers, while acting with good intention, create flawed laws that lack clarity and enforcibility with the potential for misapplication.
One man, acting alone, took it upon himself to use tools that are normally used maliciously for a good purpose. I am not saying that the ends justify the means, obviously we live in a world that has rules – be they right or wrong – and the rules have been created by society (in the case of the U.S. through our legislative system) in order protect society from its fringe elements. Society must find a quicker way dealing with those fringe elements that cause damage while protecting the freedom that we all enjoy.
That said, it’s pretty cool that a hacker got a couple of pedophiles convicted of a crime.
Wow.
Really, all I can say is wow. I don’t even know what else say about yesterdays news that several suspected terrorists were arrested in England and that there was even someone arrested in Pakistan.
Now we have increased security at airports. Water, cologne, makeup, and toothpaste have all become suspect. Some airlines have even begun to ban cell phones, iPods, laptop computers, and portable game systems.
It makes me wonder how much freedom and liberty we will give up for the appearance of safety. I’ve already had a friend, who just happens to have a skin color other than white, be subjected to a secondary screening on his way back from a business trip. It is unfortunate that we have a group to victimize, a group that can become isolated and treated like pariahs, a group that we can readily profile.
While we should be focusing on “subjects of interest” not the everyday business traveller, the unfortunate fact is that in the current situation profiling is a valid tool. Is it realistic to think an 80 year old white woman with a bottle of water is going to blow up an airplane? It would be much more realistic to think (unfortunately so) that a 20 – 35 year old man with a beard and darker skin is a terrorist. Unless you include one little fact that I heard briefly on the radio today – 2 women and a few white guys were among the 24 people arrested in the England.
So, what’s the answer? I think we go about things normally. We let the terrorists know that we can continue to go about our lives in a normal manner without fear. They are attempting strike fear into our hearts. We need to reject their fear mongering and continue as normal. Governments can increase their intelligence gathering, but the citizenry needs to continue as normal.
We also need to avoid causing division within our communities by treating the other people around us like untouchable criminals just because their religion, country of origin or skin color is different than our own.