Letters to the Editor
The Voice of Reason
Published Letters: 373 Editor's Choice: 40
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A police protest
[Read the article: Not taking it to the streets]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I think you for articulating my own experience. I'll add that in early protests I was completely turned off by "professional protesters" hijacking of the protest. I suddenly found myself surrounded by bull horn shouting, banner carrying Answer people yelling about Palestine. I wasn't there to take on Israel. WTF? Then looking left and right I was appalled at the lack of seriousness in the participants. They treated the whole thing like it was a fun - burning man - dress up and jump around thing. Even the code pink women pissed me off. What is with all the self attention seeking activity on the part of the new generation of protester? I was also taken back by the Anti-Bush vitriol. As if our current figurehead is responsible for the military/congressional/industrial complex. As if bush invented the idea of war for oil. As if the president was the only person getting the snowball running down the hill. Very few people,like Ron Kovic, supplicated themselves to the gravity of the situation. At this point I realized, these people are not with me. If the state decides to use the police to trample this crowd, they would not stand. I could not trust a one of them to look out for me, or stand with me. I was in a sea of self serving individuals. At home, sitting on their couches were a sea of self serving passive non participants. "Keeping the peace" were a sea of police willing to let loose a world of aggression without thought, at the command of their leaders (As they demonstrated in Los Angeles Macarthur Park against women and children.)
I really felt alone.
I haven't been back to any protest. I don't see the point. Stand next to a guy with a paper maché puppet head who couldn't point out Iraq on a map? Let myself be herded by the police state into quiet, well organized, marches? Have my picture taken by all the federal agents sent to spy on the dissenters? No thanks. This nation has it's war on, and we the people are spectators.
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Pile on the propagandist
[Read the article: Follow-up on the Col. Steven Boylan e-mail exchange]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]As long as we are doing some internet forensics...
I surfed over to the good Col. Steven Boylan's web headquarters and ground zero for dissemination of his web press releases. Did everyone know the Iraq war has it's own web site? And a nice looking one at that. http://www.mnf-iraq.com/ Interestingly it uses open source software. Who could have known that the good programmers of open source software projects would have made their own contribution to the "war against evildoers." Unfortunately only a skilled person would be able to know that this is open source software, because the required copyright notice is missing from the code. O.K. not as egregious as the content of the site itself, but definitely exemplary of the whole clumsy gang of propagandists. Where is some copyright protecting body like the RIAA when you need them? Should the police or the FBI be sent to kick in their doors and confiscate their computers? Or should the copyright holder, Open Source Matters, just hit them with an expensive lawsuit that they can't afford?
On another note, it seems as though Col. Steve's abrasive personality inspires others as well: http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=11582&archive=true
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Open source propaganda
[Read the article: The case of the angry colonel]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Col Boylan and Iraq war has a web site.
http://www.mnf-iraq.com
Who knew? Ground zero for web based military propaganda on the war. It uses open source software, yet it doesn't adhere to teh software's licence agreement. According to the GNU licence the software is under:
1. You may copy and distribute verbatim copies of the Program's source code as you receive it, in any medium, provided that you conspicuously and appropriately publish on each copy an appropriate copyright notice and disclaimer of warranty; keep intact all the notices that refer to this License and to the absence of any warranty; and give any other recipients of the Program a copy of this License along with the Program.
This is the line required in the code:
The web site does not include this. Basically it is "stealing" the software by not crediting the ownership of code to the authors.
Hopefully the RIAA or some other copyright protecting body will pressure the FBI to kick in their doors and confiscate their computers. Maybe they can subpoena the military for the full information on the users that have logged onto the site. Perhaps they will engage the military in an expensive lawsuit and offer to drop if for an arbitrary fee.
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As long as we are making ties to Iran Contra...
[Read the article: The sad decline of Michael Mukasey]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]John Negroponte was the ambassador to Honduras at the time of the Iran Contra scandal. We ran the contras out of Honduras. Negroponte was "our man" down there.
Since then baby bush as appointed him:
U.S. ambassador to the United Nations
United States Ambassador to Iraq
Director of National Intelligence
and is currently United States Deputy Secretary of State
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His bots will have to wait their turn
[Read the article: Are you part of Ron Paul's botnet?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I emailed my Senator Barbara Boxer with a question about an issue. Never having opted on to any mailing list of hers I began getting weekly updates on her 'activities.' She must have thought my two emails and one phone call asking her to take me off her list, and reminding her that sending unsolicited emails in the state of California is illegal...as a request for more mail. Her campaign gave my email address to anyone and everyone involved in anything remotely democrat. It is deluged daily with demspam of all sorts. Idiots+technology+politics = polispam.