søndag den 3. august 2008
mandag den 28. juli 2008
fredag den 25. juli 2008
torsdag den 24. juli 2008
onsdag den 23. juli 2008
Democracy and deferrence
Mark Slouka har bedrevet en meget interessant, vellykket og forfriskende anti-autoritær op-ed for Harper's om hvorledes den amerikanske samfundsform, har forvandlet sig fra selvstændighed til tyranni.
Uddrag:
"The real problem we face is not the Bush Administration’s imperial pretensions, its quasi-cultish stress on loyalty, or its instinctive suspicion of debate and dissent but the extent to which the administration’s modus operandi is representative of a society increasingly conversant with the protocols of subservience. In the long term, it is this tilt toward deference, this willingness to hold our tongues and sit on our principles, that truly threatens us, even more than the manifold abuses of this administration, because it makes them possible.
[...]
Tyranny isn’t something up ahead; it’s right here. It’s in the soil, in the very air we breathe. It’s the other climate change, and no less real. The old tyranny, from which we emerged as a nation, has been transformed by the wonder-working ways of time and advertising into a powdered wig, a tricorn hat, and the God-given freedom to burn hot dogs; the new tyranny, meanwhile—infinitely more dangerous, Made in America—looms just ahead, so large as to be very nearly invisible.
[...]
Lincoln had it right: “If destruction be our lot we must ourselves be its author and finisher.” We’re off to a fine start."
Resten kan læses her: http://www.harpers.org/archive/2008/06/0082039
Uddrag:
"The real problem we face is not the Bush Administration’s imperial pretensions, its quasi-cultish stress on loyalty, or its instinctive suspicion of debate and dissent but the extent to which the administration’s modus operandi is representative of a society increasingly conversant with the protocols of subservience. In the long term, it is this tilt toward deference, this willingness to hold our tongues and sit on our principles, that truly threatens us, even more than the manifold abuses of this administration, because it makes them possible.
[...]
Tyranny isn’t something up ahead; it’s right here. It’s in the soil, in the very air we breathe. It’s the other climate change, and no less real. The old tyranny, from which we emerged as a nation, has been transformed by the wonder-working ways of time and advertising into a powdered wig, a tricorn hat, and the God-given freedom to burn hot dogs; the new tyranny, meanwhile—infinitely more dangerous, Made in America—looms just ahead, so large as to be very nearly invisible.
[...]
Lincoln had it right: “If destruction be our lot we must ourselves be its author and finisher.” We’re off to a fine start."
Resten kan læses her: http://www.harpers.org/archive/2008/06/0082039
tirsdag den 22. juli 2008
mandag den 21. juli 2008
fredag den 18. juli 2008
Garbage Warrior i Independent
Interview med Michael Reynolds (Garbage Warrior) om Earthship Biotecture.
“Imagine a home that heats itself, that provides its own water, and grows its own food,” says Reynolds. “Imagine that it needs no expensive technology, it recycles its own waste, and it has its own power source. And now imagine that it can be built anywhere, by anyone, out of the things that society throws away.”
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/green-living/earthship-enterprise-the-ultimate-ecohouse-869591.html
“Imagine a home that heats itself, that provides its own water, and grows its own food,” says Reynolds. “Imagine that it needs no expensive technology, it recycles its own waste, and it has its own power source. And now imagine that it can be built anywhere, by anyone, out of the things that society throws away.”
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/green-living/earthship-enterprise-the-ultimate-ecohouse-869591.html
torsdag den 17. juli 2008
Britterne på kanten af en altomfattende politistat.
Det britiske indenrigsministerie har iflg. Daily Mail forleden fremsat forslag om, at det i fremtiden bør være muligt for staten at overvåge alle telefonopkald, mails, sms'er, internetsøgninger og online køb.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1035361/Big-Brother-database-recording-calls-texts-e-mails-ruin-British-way-life.html
"It is thought the scheme would allow the police or MI5 to access the exact time when a phone call was made, the number dialled, the length of the call and, in the case of mobile phones, the location of the handset to within an accuracy of a few hundred yards.
Similarly for e-mails, it would provide details of when they were sent and who the recipients were. Police recovering a suspect’s computer would then be able to trawl through hard-drive records and recover particular messages. The content of telephone calls could not be recovered unless they were being intercepted at the time."
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1035361/Big-Brother-database-recording-calls-texts-e-mails-ruin-British-way-life.html
tirsdag den 15. juli 2008
Orwell Rolls in His Grave
Hvis man ønsker at forstå den amerikanske politiske sfære, bliver man nødt til at forstå den amerikanske medievirkelighed indgående, i denne henseende er denne dokumentar et absolut must. Den bedste jeg hidtil har set.
Download den fra et torrentsite istedet for at se den online. Syncen er dårlig på video.google.com
Olie-undertrykkelse i Nigeria
Den som regel læseværdige og ligeledes som regel retfærdigt indignerede Johann Hari fra The Independent, havde i går en kommentar i avisen der belyser omkostninger blandt Nigerias fattige befolkning, for at StorBrittanien kan få olie til deres indenrigs forbrug. Udpumpningen af olie under befolkningens jorder sker uden nogen som helst kompensation til disse mennesker, selvom olieudslip har ødelagt det fiskeri de tidligere levede af, og selvom forurening har kostet dem dyrt.
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/johann-hari/johann-hari-our-cry-for-cheap-oil-is-crude-and-deadly-866899.html
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/johann-hari/johann-hari-our-cry-for-cheap-oil-is-crude-and-deadly-866899.html
Bill Moyers om den amerikanske medievirkelighed
Den legendariske mediepersonlighed og journalist Bill Moyers, der blandt andet har vundet over tredive Emmy Awards, har i denne udgave af In These Times artikelen "Is the Fourth Estate a Fifth Column?" hvori han forholder sig særdeles pessimistisk til den amerikanske medievirkelighed, og ultimativt ledes til at konkludere, at de amerikanske medier er gået fra at være den fjerde statsmagt til at være femte kolonne virksomhed.
http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/3790/is_the_fourth_estate_a_fifth_column/
http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/3790/is_the_fourth_estate_a_fifth_column/
mandag den 14. juli 2008
Frihedsfjendtlighed i EU og USA.
Udhuling af den amerikanske forfatningen.
The 4th amendment i den amerikanske forfatning sikrer - eller rettere, var ment til at sikre - borgerne mod indgreb fra administrative organer i deres personlige frihed, da ransagninger ikke kan foretages uden forudgående udstedelse af en kendelse.
"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."
For tre år siden kom det som bekendt frem at Bush-administrationen havde afflyttet titusinder af amerikanere i al hemmelighed med hjælp fra de store teleselskaber. Dette kunne man forvente ville skabe en del furore samt give oppositionen brændsel, men guess what, igår underskrev kongressen en lov som udover fuldstændig at udhule the 4th amendment, også giver de teleselskaber som var med på en lytter, retroaktiv immunitet, hvilket vil sig at de ikke kan retsforfølges. Både Barack Obama og John McCain er underskrivere af den nye lovgivning.
Det udtrykte en professor i forfatningsret fortvivlelse over for et par dage siden på MSNBC:
Den tidligere højtstående embedsmand under Reagan, Paul Craig Roberts, udtrykker rammende tingenes tilstand i "verdens største demokrati": "Retroactive laws are unconstitutional. But, alas, the US Constitution does not make campaign contributions, and telecommunication companies do." i en anbefalelsesværdig artikel Information ClearingHouse artikel som kan læses her:
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20276.htm
EU og USA vil samarbejde om at overvåge borgerne.
EU og USA er tilsyneladende i gang med at samarbejde om at overvåge indbyggerne i EU.
"An internal report leaked to The New York Times yesterday said the EU was on the verge of agreeing to give US law enforcement and security agencies information about all EU citizens."
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article4232264.ece
Over en million amerikanere på terror watchlists.
Den amerikanske borgerrettighedsorganisation ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) skriver på deres website, at der nu er mere end 1 million amerikanere på de såkaldte watch-lists over folk som menes at udgøre en terrortrussel i en eller anden grad. læs mere om dette:
http://www.aclu.org/privacy/35968prs20080714.html
The 4th amendment i den amerikanske forfatning sikrer - eller rettere, var ment til at sikre - borgerne mod indgreb fra administrative organer i deres personlige frihed, da ransagninger ikke kan foretages uden forudgående udstedelse af en kendelse.
"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."
For tre år siden kom det som bekendt frem at Bush-administrationen havde afflyttet titusinder af amerikanere i al hemmelighed med hjælp fra de store teleselskaber. Dette kunne man forvente ville skabe en del furore samt give oppositionen brændsel, men guess what, igår underskrev kongressen en lov som udover fuldstændig at udhule the 4th amendment, også giver de teleselskaber som var med på en lytter, retroaktiv immunitet, hvilket vil sig at de ikke kan retsforfølges. Både Barack Obama og John McCain er underskrivere af den nye lovgivning.
Det udtrykte en professor i forfatningsret fortvivlelse over for et par dage siden på MSNBC:
Den tidligere højtstående embedsmand under Reagan, Paul Craig Roberts, udtrykker rammende tingenes tilstand i "verdens største demokrati": "Retroactive laws are unconstitutional. But, alas, the US Constitution does not make campaign contributions, and telecommunication companies do." i en anbefalelsesværdig artikel Information ClearingHouse artikel som kan læses her:
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20276.htm
EU og USA vil samarbejde om at overvåge borgerne.
EU og USA er tilsyneladende i gang med at samarbejde om at overvåge indbyggerne i EU.
"An internal report leaked to The New York Times yesterday said the EU was on the verge of agreeing to give US law enforcement and security agencies information about all EU citizens."
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article4232264.ece
Over en million amerikanere på terror watchlists.
Den amerikanske borgerrettighedsorganisation ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) skriver på deres website, at der nu er mere end 1 million amerikanere på de såkaldte watch-lists over folk som menes at udgøre en terrortrussel i en eller anden grad. læs mere om dette:
http://www.aclu.org/privacy/35968prs20080714.html
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