The world we choose to live in ...

as revealed by this little anecdote:

http://www.mybottlesup.com/2009/10/tsa-agents-took-my-son/

... and if you thought airport security makes us safer ...

Check this out, safety freaks!:

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2010/11/tsa-screenings-kill-americans-highways/

So is your dead body better off smeared on a highway or a runway?

Do those who choose to restrict your freedom actually increase your safety? Seems not.

Consider this article which points out that radiation poisoning from the scanners is just as likely to kill you as a terrorist's bomb:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/article-1331185/Airport-body-scanners-just-likely-kill-terrorist-bombs.html

The principle of unintended consequences comes to the forefront once more.

As I heard in an old cowboy movie way back when, "Ain't nothin' more peaceful than a dead man!"

Cower on in pious oblivion, you obsequious sheeple.

We're all in this together

... and then they came for me, and there was no one to ...

http://news.cnet.com/8301-27080_3-20023341-245.html

Enjoy your freedom!

Note to self:

Glenn Greenwald once agan posts a good summary of the state of our tawdry world:

http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/2010/11/17/gates/index.html

The above deals with military and empire costs vs life in a civilized world, and torture as a tactic that is legal only in the exceptionally cowardly US.

Here's one for the security-conscious ladies

I don't make this stuff up, ... ... honest.

"A Gizmodo investigation has revealed 100 of the photographs saved by the Gen 2 millimeter wave scanner from Brijot Imaging Systems, Inc., obtained by a FOIA request after it was recently revealed that U.S. Marshals operating the machine in the Orlando, Florida courthouse had improperly-perhaps illegally-saved images of the scans of public servants and private citizens."

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2010/11/tsa-sees-sanitary-napkins-body-scans/

Creepy.

Maybe I'm just old-fashioned, but, ... ... really!!?

Here is one suggestion on how to deal with all this:

"

Since the Department of Homeland Security ordered enhanced screening measures, anyone who refuses their random assignment to the backscatter machines has been subject to invasive pat-downs that, in many cases, have seen screeners groping passengers' genitals and breasts. Not even children are exempt.

Many fliers choose to opt-out over concerns about the health effects of exposure to x-rays, or because they do not wish to be seen in the nude by a stranger.

Techniques being employed against American travelers are actually more invasive than methods used by the US military to screen Afghan civilians. Military policy holds that overly invasive searches of Afghans might inflame anti-American sentiment and violence in the region. That's apparently not a concern with Americans.

The "superfantastic" twist to "National Opt-Out Day": If you feel the screenings are humiliating, let the government share your embarrassment (pun intended) by wearing a kilt. And if you're, ahem, ballsy enough, join the protest wearing it like a true Scotsman, sans underpants.

The idea was first suggested by The Atlantic's Jeffrey Goldberg, who writes:

Think about it -- if you're a male, and you want to bollix-up the nonsensical airport security-industrial complex, one way to do so would be to wear a kilt. If nothing else, this will cause TSA employees to throw up their hands in disgust. If you want to go the extra extra mile, I suggest commando-style kilt-wearing. While it is probably illegal to fly without pants, I can't imagine that it's illegal to fly without underpants. If you are Scottish, or part Scottish, or know someone who is Scottish, or eat Scottish salmon, or enjoy Scotch, or have a vestigial affection for "Braveheart" despite Mel Gibson, you can plausibly claim some sort of multicultural diversity privilege -- the term "True Scotsman" refers to soldiers who honor their tradition and heritage by wearing kilts without drawers underneath.

The snarky and unsanitary proposal seems to evoke images of recent stories, like the man in San Diego who told TSA screeners, "I'll have you arrested if you touch my junk," only to be escorted out of the airport and threatened with a $10,000 civil lawsuit."

“mendocracy. As in, rule by liars.”

Here's a fun bit of reading:

http://www.alternet.org/story/148826/16_of_the_dumbest_things_americans_believe_--_and_the_right-wing_lies_behind_them

How many of these concepts do you believe in?

Canada'a national embarrassment - it's PM

Mindless acceptance of fealty to Israel - ...

http://toronto.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20101108/harper-israel-101108/20101108/?hub=TorontoNewHome

Why doesn't Harper just pack up a go to Israel if he's such a fan of the newest fascist/pirate state in the mid-east? Even Israelis are allowed to bad mouth the Israeli gov't in Israel, but Canadians can't do that here.

A familiar story in this new age of security

How do you like this stuff?

http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/2010/11/09/manning/index.html

Where have we heard this before ...

http://news.antiwar.com/2010/11/08/justice-dept-no-legal-authority-for-court-to-oversee-obamas-assassinations/

This is the very definition of an absolute dictatorship, at least so far as I understand such a system.

One hopes that the court will stand up against the call for such blatant tyranny.

A Khadr summary

FYI:

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/10/30-6

Every person who supports the Nuremburg trials and subsequent international treaties regarding war crimes and child soldiers should be very disturbed by the state of our society now that Omar has had his day in an American 'court'.

I wish I knew how to get Canada's Treaty obligations enforced. There is certainly no entity in our current government/legal structure who seems the slightest bit interested in doing what these laws, treaties and the Supreme Court of Canada say is required.

A Republican speaks the truth!!???

This is from Ron Paul:

"Some will argue that these arms deals are international trade which we should encourage and applaud. Sadly, the United States does not build much that we can export these days. But the fact is that the U.S. weapons industry is underwritten by the American taxpayer. From research and development to acquisition by the U.S. military, the costs of the U.S. arms industry are borne by American citizens. But, as so-called private companies, the enormous profits they make selling weapons to countries like Saudi Arabia are of course privatized. So the costs are socialized and the profits are privatized. There is a word for this arrangement, and it is not “capitalism.”"

Think about it the next time you yell 'Support the troops".

Khadr situation update

Now that a guilty plea has been entered, here's what's left to consider:

http://www.fff.org/comment/com1010f.asp

Are we all proud of our government and their friends now? Is this the sort of legal world for which our 'heroes' are fighting? Thanks, but no thanks!

Here is the paragraph from Mr Worthington's article which is particularly reprehensible;

"Despite signing the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict on July 7, 2000, and advocating on the world stage for the rights of child soldiers from other countries, the Canadian government acted illegally in sending interrogators to interview Khadr at Guantánamo in 2003, and violated his rights under Canadian law."

The Supreme Court of Canada issued the decision that declared our government's actions illegal, and thus this issue is not a matter of opinion but of Canadian jurisprudence. Do you support the rule of law or not?

A refreshing attitude from an unexpected quarter

Why hasn't a single Canadian judge, MP, police official, or media star acted similarly to this Israeli politician in order to preserve the rule of law and uphold the Nuremburg legacy? Check this out:

http://www.jpost.com/International/Article.aspx?id=192696

Today's history lesson

Here's something I hadn't heard before regarding Tricky Dicky:

http://consortiumnews.com/2010/101510.html

More reason to distrust your friendly neighbourhood politician, and the governing system they create. Back-room deals to get elected always cost the country big time.

Wikileaks forever!!

Canada was first ...

... to suppress all civil liberties and suspend basic human rights, lest we forget:

http://original.antiwar.com/henderson/2010/10/17/trudeaus-war-measures-act-a-reminiscence/

The Yanks just do it in a more blatant way.

Manipulating the media for the new feudal system? ...

Paul Krugman, Nobel laureate in economics, offers some thoughts on money & power:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/04/opinion/04krugman.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

I seem to recall something similar in Atlas Shrugged about toady politicians being foisted upon the public by vested interests.

It's not at all about left versus right, it's much more primordially thuggish than that.

A civics lesson ...

Jacob Hornberger elucidates the essence of what the liberal western democracies used to regard as their judicial system:

http://www.fff.org/blog/jghblog2010-10-13.asp

I am certain that rogues like Omar Khadr can appreciate the distinctions described in the article. Unfortunately most of the citizens of Canada don't get it.

Rule of Law

Glenn Greenwald writes about how to deal with terrorism suspects, using a 57 year old Kenyan precedent regarding the Mau Mau uprising as one example:

http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/2010/10/02/assassinations/index.html

Why are our governments so afraid of the liberal tradition which arose from the Nuremburg trials?

Quaint morality concepts

Glenn Greenwald elucidates some ideas about our society that have been coagulating in my thoughts for a while.

He writes quite well:

http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/2010/09/25/secrecy/index.html

Jason Ditz examines Obama's latest court filings:

http://news.antiwar.com/2010/09/26/justice-dept-assassinations-up-to-executive-branch-not-courts-to-decide/

... Justin Raimondo explains the reasoning behind recent FBI raids:

http://original.antiwar.com/justin/2010/09/26/the-obama-boomerang/

You can be sure that our government is involved in similar acts and plans. There are many in CSIS who drool over the possibility of getting at the RIM database discussed here:

http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/2010/09/27/privacy/index.html

You should all feel safer after reading all of the above. Do you not?

... and the winner is ...

Not us:

http://original.antiwar.com/roberts/2010/09/24/it-is-official-the-us-is-a-police-state/

I hope those who support gov't power will be happy with their choices.

Here's the overseas version of this process:

http://www.chris-floyd.com/articles/1-latest-news/2025-murderers-cowards-morons-and-thieves-portrait-of-an-empire-in-a-political-season.html