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Thursday, January 19, 2012

Letters from the Internet Censorship Front


Well, the Battle for the Internet is now officially in full swing.

In an earlier post on this blog, we reported how two bills in the United States Congress, (now officially regarded as SOPA in the House of Representatives, and PIPA in the Senate), had been proposed in order to reign in the offenders of internet piracy, and how the passage of either bill threatens due process in terms of the legal proceedings necessary to that end.  We also mentioned how the Federal Government wasn't necessarily waiting for passage of the bill before getting a head start in siezing domain names. The bills themselves have still yet to be voted on, but let there be no doubt that some web-based companies aren't waiting for passage of the bill, either, before making their voice heard in opposition to them.  And because so much more internet traffic is directed through these companies than through Federal sites, their voices speak many decibels higher.

Yesterday, Wikipedia went completely dark, while Google and other well-known sites included prominent links to sites providing for users a media allowing for dissent to be heard by those in power.  We're sure most of you, dear readers, are aware of this, as we're sure that if you happen upon this blog, you are no doubt familiar with Wikipedia and Google.

What is pleasantly surprising, is that apparently the voices of the internet are being heard.  Some prominent senators, including PIPA's co-sponsor Marco Rubio, have renounced their support of the bill, and Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell is now calling for the bill to be shelved.  Even in tonight's Republican Presidential debate in South Carolina, every candidate on stage stated opposition to the legislation.

Nonetheless, the Feds remain dedicated to stopping internet piracy, and so, just as Wikipedia was powering back up, they were shutting down the mega-popular, New Zealand-based Megaupload, carrying out a federal grand jury indictment processed earlier this month, with all the intention of extradicting and prosecuting those associated with the filesharing site.  Subsequently, and currently, however, hackers associated with the group, Anonymous, are retaliating, declaring openly that they are taking down websites at the Department of Justice, Universal Music Group, the U.S. Copyright Office, and EMI, just to mention a few.

The War for a free internet is now on.

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Excercising Our Freedom of Speech


Forgive us, if tonight we opine.

We about spit out our coffee this morning, after reading an article that reported the following:

"Under the National Operations Center (NOC)’s Media Monitoring Initiative that came out of DHS headquarters in November, Washington has the written permission to retain data on users of social media and online networking platforms.

Specifically, the DHS announced the NCO and its Office of Operations Coordination and Planning (OPS) can collect personal information from news anchors, journalists, reporters or anyone who may use 'traditional and/or social media in real time to keep their audience situationally aware and informed.'"

This applies to us bloggers.  In fact, it applies to this very blog.  It even applies to this very post.  Yes, the Feds are now authorized to spy on all media operations.  Not even Brian Williams is immune.  Heck, not even government officials making public statements are immune.

Ladies and gentlemen, Big Brother is now official.  Does this not yet confirm that we now live in a police state?

Historians, especially this historian, is not wont to opine on current events, as opinions themselves are neither history, nor history-making.  But anyone with even a minor understanding of the United States Constitution can see this as an infringment of the first amendment, which states, "Congress shall make no law [...] abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press."  This is not to say that we bloggers are about to be rounded up "for the sake of national security."  But it does provide all the information the Feds would need in order to accomplish such an end.  It also puts bona fide journalists, public officials, and otherwise innocent bloggers in a state of fear for saying anything that may be considered a potential threat to national security, all in the name of the "war on terror".  Hence, though our opinions here may not be history-making, this news most certainly is.

Although the United States is increasingly becoming a police state, this American blogger, for one, refuses to live in a state of fear.  Thus, now aware that the government has free access to our identity, and at risk of being classified and possibly arrested as "terrorists", we in this office hereby, and publicly, defy and refute all government efforts to limit our freedom of speech.  We have nothing to hide.  We are not terrorists.  Our conscience is clear, and our honor, our dignity, our integrity are intact.  We shall continue to report historical events such as this one, come hell or high water.  Come and get us.

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Predictions from a Historian


One of our favorite tag lines here has always been George Santayana's oft-quoted, "those who cannot remember the past, are condemned to repeat it."  Yet, the older we get, the more we realize how easily people forget the past, (if they ever really understood it all) and so, how often history repeats itself.  This is why there are repeating patterns to all of human history.  The details might be different, but the underlying motives are no less different now than they were at any another point in history--success; glory; honor; ego.  That said, one of the very reasons we who study history look to our past, is so that we might be better able to glimpse our future. 

We now find ourselves at the beginning of a new year, many of us looking out at its prospects with a heavy heart.  Generally, and globally speaking, those prospects for a happy and prosperous 2012 do not bode well, and certainly no better than the history of 2011 would inform us:  currently, Europe is on the verge of an economic meltdown; economically significant countries in Europe, as well as the United States are mired in such increasing debt as to put them on the verge of veritable bankruptcy; wars and the threat of more wars continue in the middle east; and politicians have become ever more disconnected to the plight of the average citizen, while they grow ever wealthier in the process.  Seriously--does anyone really think 2012 will be any better than 2011?

Though of course, no one can predict the future with any accuracy, given how human history tends to repeat patterns, and given the situation we all find ourselves in, after a fairly bleak 2011, we can nonetheless prognosticate a few things.

1. The war against Iran (which we have already intimated is covertly underway) will escalate, and likely become more visible.  The circumstances that will signal its official commencement is anyone's guess, but rest assured that whatever that particular event may be, all participants will blame the other side for initiating hostilities.

2. Crude oil will likely reach $200 per barrel.  Because of the escalating tensions in the middle East, average gasoline prices in the U.S. will increase to at least $5.00 per gallon.

3. The U.S. Presidential election will be, for most people, and once again, a choice between the lesser of two evils.  Seems the only Republican candidate who has any significant support is Dr. Ron Paul, but no one seems to think he can win, and the Republican establishment is sure to make sure he won't.  Hence, the Republican electorate will only nominate someone they think can beat Barack Obama.

4. Whether the economy gets better or worse, the Federal Reserve will print more money.  As the dollar is continually devalued, retail prices for goods and services will continue to increase, as "Helicopter Ben" Bernanke follows through on the anti-deflation doctrine he established before being confirmed as the U.S. Fed Head.

5. Civil liberties in the United States will continue to erode through continued Congressional legislation geared to combat the presumedly perpetual "war on terror".  Nations must always have an enemy, and even if the enemy is tactic, it serves the powers-that-be to maintain that enemy in order to strengthen their power.  Just read Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four.

Never have we in this office hoped more that we were wrong in our prognostications.  And, perhaps, we go out on a limb just in making them.  We certainly want not to extinguish all hope for a better year.  But, in light of the current events now facing us, and in light of the history of western thinking, we consider it more beneficial to inform the public of impending maladies, than to elicit a false sense of hope through an irrational positivity.

Whatever happens, we nonetheless harbor the wish that everyone can make the best of it, and have a truly prosperous new year.