Thursday, May 22, 2003

Big Brother by any other name . . .

The Total Information Awareness program has now been changed to the Terrorist Information Awareness program. The government has figured out that its citizens don't care to have every available fact about about them stored in a central data base. Of course, the scope of the program has not changed. Despite the slight-of-hand name change, ordinary people (yes, you) will be catalogued . . . not just terrorists or suspected terrorists, as the new name suggests.

We learned from the recent Texas Democrat incident that the government is more than willing to exploit the Department of Homeland Security for its political purposes. Think of the temptation it would be to have all the information provided by TIA on your political opponent. (Or will politicians be exempt?)

posted by Walter Reade at 7:12 AM

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Tuesday, May 20, 2003

I thought we were going to shoot looters

[Aid workers] in the area claim that US forces have spray-painted the remains [of the Sumerian city of Ur in southern Iraq] with graffiti and stolen kiln-baked bricks made millennia ago. As a result, the US military has put the archaeological treasure, which dates back 6,000 years, off-limits to its own troops. Any violations will be punishable in military courts. (Article)

(Via War on Iraq)

posted by Walter Reade at 6:53 AM

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Monday, May 19, 2003

Three Reasons Not To

The May 26, 2003 issue of Time magazine poses three concerns about Bush's plan to develop "bunker buster" nukes. (1) Even a tiny 1-kiloton weapon exploding 50 ft. deep in rock would spew radioactivity across a wide swath of the planet. (2) Arms-control advocates worry that possessing smaller and more precise nuclear weapons would scuttle efforts to stop worldwide proliferation. (3) Said Senator Dianne Feinstein last week: "This Administration seems to be moving toward a military posture in which nuclear weapons are considered just like other weapons."

posted by Walter Reade at 8:52 PM

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Sunday, May 18, 2003

Terra Incognita

Some tidbits from the June 2003 issue of Liberty Magazine (p. 54):

• The Cameroon health minister has deemed it necessary to warn people that drinking urine may not be good for your health.
  
  
• The latest singles fad in New York City is dining completely in the dark. (The waiters wear night-vision goggles.)
  
  
• The New York Post reports that a restauranteur can pay up to $2,000 in fines if someone smokes tobacco in their establishment. If that same person smokes marijuana, the restauranteur pays no fine, and the customer is fined $100.
  

posted by Walter Reade at 9:58 PM

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