posted on April 4, 2003 08:16:47 AM new
As we all know, the internet has become today's lifeline to information and we've seen various attempts at censorship. As long as we have access to information around the world, not to mention within our own country, it's extremely difficult for any political group or coalition of groups, to control what we know, and thus what we think. The assess to information through media, and especially the internet, more than any other factor was instrumental in creating the social unrest that led to the downfall of soviet totalitarianism and is a continuing battle for the Chinese.
I've read the articles, as I'm sure that you have about the governments' attempts to "regulate" Paypal through its "illegal" handling of gambling transactions. I thought this somewhat surprising when I read about it, so I was interested in Cheryl Seal's views about the reasons and implications that she sees. By bringing into play The Patriot Act in this particular case and with the very loose and propagandistic use of the word "terrorist," constantly employed by the extreme right and members of the present administration to describe political dissent, or simply sometimes even actions or speech which in and of themselves are nonpolitical in nature, then I can easily see how this and other recent events are likely an attempt to broaden government control of expression.
JOHN ASHCROFT GOES AFTER THE INTERNET
I am not a gambler and I think gambling is an addiction, like any other addiction. However, I am appalled to learn that John Ashcroft is "going after gambling" as a way to start dismantling the Internet as we know it. The Bush administration's greatest enemy is the Internet, because it is here that people can access the noncorporate truth, can safely communicate and organize quickly (the peace protests relied on Internet organizing). However, the popularity of the Net has made it difficult for the Bush Reich to find a chink in its armor that would not outrage the public. Now Ashcroft is trying an angle he imagines to be his "foot in the door" : gambling. To this end, he is going after PayPal as the broker of onling gambling funds.
HOWEVER, if Ashcroft were really going after online gambling for what it is - a vice, then the FBI vice people should be going after it - at least what's left of the domestic crime-fighting FBI. If the issue was unregulated money transfer, then the SEC should be on the case. But no, Ashcroft is accusing PayPal of violating the PATRIOT ACTS!!! More outrageous still, the charges originate from transactions that occurred BEFORE the Patriot Act was made law!! Even more suspicious, the case is focused on Missouri - Ashcroft's home state, where, as a former corporate-fed senator, he has all sorts of "markers" he can call in to try to rig his case and make it stick.
So, if he succeeds in making online gambling a violation of the Patriot Act, you can rest assured that this will be but the toe in door. By this time next year, nearly everything short of using email to send notes of support to G.W. Bush will be considered a "violation of the Patriot Act."
Just in time for his next war.
Don Quixote is the neoconservative prototype.
sp edit
[ edited by antiquary on Apr 4, 2003 03:43 PM ]
posted on April 4, 2003 11:14:26 AM new
A Canadian Author's View
What Happened To America?
A Letter, A Lament
Margaret Atwood
exerpt...
I won't go into the reasons why I think your recent Iraqi adventures have been -- taking the long view -- an ill-advised tactical error. By the time you read this, Baghdad may or may not look like the craters of the Moon, and many more sheep entrails will have been examined. Let's talk, then, not about what you're doing to other people, but about what you're doing to yourselves.
You're gutting the Constitution. Already your home can be entered without your knowledge or permission, you can be snatched away and incarcerated without cause, your mail can be spied on, your private records searched. Why isn't this a recipe for widespread business theft, political intimidation, and fraud? I know you've been told all this is for your own safety and protection, but think about it for a minute. Anyway, when did you get so scared? You didn't used to be easily frightened.
You're running up a record level of debt. Keep spending at this rate and pretty soon you won't be able to afford any big military adventures. Either that or you'll go the way of the USSR: lots of tanks, but no air conditioning. That will make folks very cross. They'll be even crosser when they can't take a shower because your short-sighted bulldozing of environmental protections has dirtied most of the water and dried up the rest. Then things will get hot and dirty indeed.
You're torching the American economy. How soon before the answer to that will be, not to produce anything yourselves, but to grab stuff other people produce, at gunboat-diplomacy prices? Is the world going to consist of a few megarich King Midases, with the rest being serfs, both inside and outside your country? Will the biggest business sector in the United States be the prison system? Let's hope not.
If you proceed much further down the slippery slope, people around the world will stop admiring the good things about you. They'll decide that your city upon the hill is a slum and your democracy is a sham, and therefore you have no business trying to impose your sullied vision on them. They'll think you've abandoned the rule of law. They'll think you've fouled your own nest.
The British used to have a myth about King Arthur. He wasn't dead, but sleeping in a cave, it was said; in the country's hour of greatest peril, he would return. You, too, have great spirits of the past you may call upon: men and women of courage, of conscience, of prescience. Summon them now, to stand with you, to inspire you, to defend the best in you. You need them.
posted on April 4, 2003 12:47:36 PM new
Good article. Atwood is a fine writer.
You're torching the American economy.
This statement will eventually become painfully clear I'm afraid. Quite a few economists have advocated for a while now that our economic problems run deep and Iraq will not solve them.
Morgan Stanley Forecasts World Recession
Reuters
Friday, April 4, 2003; 7:34 AM
LONDON (Reuters) - U.S. bank Morgan Stanley said on Friday it was cutting its forecast for the global economy to recession, citing war, geopolitical uncertainties and most recently, the impact of the SARS virus on Asian growth.
And the reason that we are trying to get UN aid for post-war Iraqi while pretending to not want it.
Iraq Costs Will Overwhelm U.S., U.N. Official Say
By Colum Lynch
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, April 4, 2003; Page A31
UNITED NATIONS, April 3 -- A senior U.N. relief official said today that the overwhelming financial and political costs of rebuilding Iraq after the war would force the United States to eventually grant the United Nations and the international community a broader hand in shaping the country's future
posted on April 4, 2003 02:41:01 PM new
Talking about lifeline to information...
Bill Moyer's NOW tonight will be talking about the FCC and a ruling that will be made in June. Fatcats may be able to gather up even more communication venues if it passes.
Fred Fiske (sp?) today in a NPR commentary gave comments on this. Should be on the NPR site already, possibly under Morning Edition.
He talked about, among others Clear Communications, mentioning the CEO or Owner (from Texas) who will gain from this ruling. The owner of Clear apparently bought the Texas rangers from Bush, or sold it to him (couldn't care less about football/baseball?) and know him well.
Fred mentioned Clear had paid for a pro-war protest and most likely had a lot to do with the Bush campaign.
Heck, we end up with just a few large companies owning all we view, listen to or read.
A good commentary from Fiske. The show tonight should be worth viewing.
Sometimes I am unhappy I finally gave in and became a member of NPR but during other times, like these, I am glad I don't watch something like Fox the channel who stages News stories.
posted on April 4, 2003 02:41:30 PM new
Controlling the flow of information on the net is a must for the Bush government...I have my doubts how successful they will be..there are many ways to go beneath the radar online..if people are willing to learn how..all they will probably end up doing is stifling online commerce, hurting the world economy that much more.How convenient, you can charge almost anybody who commits an online sin with a violation of the "Patriot Act", making them look to the gullible public like a traitor, in addition to whatever else they may have done.
Does being a compulsive gambler make one a traitor?...It won't be long before those who speak out about the government's interference with the net are branded as "un-American".
[ edited by profe51 on Apr 4, 2003 02:43 PM ]
posted on April 4, 2003 03:16:51 PM new "It won't be long before those who speak out about the government's interference with the net are branded as "un-American".
Just wait a few minutes. LOL!
BTW...I just found an interesting M.I.T. forum...when you have some free time, you may enjoy the Robert Fisk topic...dealing with media control...He has a great sense of humor!
http://web.mit.edu/tac/www/past-forums/2002-2003forums.html You will need real player to listen.
"Ask All You Like about 9/11, But Just Don't Ask Why!"
Robert Fisk Middle East correspondent for the London Independent
posted on April 4, 2003 03:33:13 PM new
The Pnac report mentions control of "space and cyberspace" as vital. Al Jazeera is having trouble finding a company to host its new English language website.. it had contracted with an American company to do it, and then the American company backed out. As of my reading of a few days ago, they still haven't been able to find a host.
Al Jazeera is a satellite tv station. I suppose our long term plan is to control all satellite communications. First we'll knock them off the net, then we'll knock them off the air.
posted on April 5, 2003 05:00:02 AM new
Gore should be able to do something about this. He did invent the Internet.
Didn't he?
Al Jazeera could easily have it's own servers. They are not a small company.
There are many Internet hosting companies in many countries. Where do you think all the porn is hosted?
Anti-American people are anti-American people.
Many are upset about anything that infringes on the Internet. It's a free zone now. I'm sure something's will change.
How do you people feel about the government surfing to find child porn hosts, users and servers?
