We have no privacy. The genie is out of the bottle. There's relatively little left to protect.

I once saw a demo of a data mining product that integrated commercial and public data to lay bare anyone's private life. You gave someone's SSN or name & address and a whole life history came out, with social networks and all. It was shocking.

Total Information Awareness is already here whether we like it or not. It's really just a matter of degree from here on end. The problem is: it is in the wrong hands.

I agree with the concept in Mike McL's diary: we need to turn the table and strip our political appointees and their own appointees of their privacy in the conduct of our business, and I would say with few caveats for national security.

[Updated title and added contact links as suggested in comments (Thanks!)]

I was listening to "All Things Considered" on National Public Radio yesterday on my way  to picking up my son at school. They had a segment on the Gore utility bills pseudo-scandal.

What I heard made me so angry that I turned off the radio and sputtered with rage.

I just read this Harper's article about poems by prisoners still held at Guantanamo Bay.

One of the poems is given in full. It is immensely powerful. I can't shake the sadness.

On June 7th, Michael S. Greco, the president of the American Bar Association, gave a speech at the Commonwealth Club of California entitled "Living Within the Law: Next Steps in the War on Terror".

This landmark, must read speech, podcasted here and transcribed here, is an utterly devastating indictement of the Bush administration.

Now understand. The ABA is the world's largest voluntary professional organization with a membership of over 400,000 lawyers and judges. And Mr. Greco speaks for them. This is huge. The Corporate Media, of course, ignored it completely.

So what do you call 400,000 lawyers (and judges) speaking out against the abuses of the Bush administration? I call it a Good Start.

Highlights of the speech over the jump...

I am reading "The Great Influenza" the fascinating book by John M. Barry on the 1918 Spanish Flu. In it Barry vividly describes the events leading to the worst pandemic in recorded history. Of particular interest is the year 1917.

Prior to 1917, President Woodrow Wilson had opposed entering the United States into World War I. When he could no longer, he turned this country into a white hot weapon of war.

How he did that should give everyone pause. Keep in mind that W. finds affinities with President Wilson. It may not be the Wilson we choose to remember (the League of Nations etc.).

This is the lead article in the Weekly Homeland Security Newsletter:

Super Bowl Sunday Terror Chatter High (WorldNetDaily) "There is a high likelihood of a major terrorist attack [this] Sunday, say international terror analysts and intelligence sources," and "the warning is made on the basis of several factors, according to Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin:

• There is increased `chatter' in the terrorist world about a major new attack in the West--a sign often leading to an impending strike;


• The date Feb. 5 has been specifically referenced in some of this chatter;


• The date is significant to Osama bin Laden;


• Much of the western world will be watching television that day;


• The release of al-Qaida videotapes seems to provide clues about the dates of future attacks and, in this scenario, Feb. 5 becomes the most likely near-term terror strike date.

It was bound to happen. The database of all Google searches you and the whole world made since way back when is the target for the next massive invasion of privacy.

Here's how you can protect yourself...

(DISCLAIMER: I am not saying in this diary that vote fraud happened, only that e-voting makes it much, much easier. I am sure this has been said here many times but maybe I'll say it a bit differently. Anyway the issue needs to remain front and center.)

Whether or not electoral fraud can be proved, the most important issue is whether the current electoral system can be trusted.

Clearly it can not. The GAO report is unequivocal. Electronic vote tampering is not only possible, it is down right easy. It can be pulled off with relatively little effort. Whether or not we believe that the 2004 election was stolen is not the point here. My point is that because of the way e-voting is implemented, the electoral system is ripe for unprecedented abuse and we need to do some serious hell raising. Quickly.

I love satire. The kind that's edgy and unafraid. A good satire is more powerful than the best of rants. Smart, good-humored satire quietly deconstructs prejudices, official lies and irrational beliefs while we are being entertained. Satire can undermine the Powers That Be more surely than a litany of op-eds. Think The Daily Show.

I recently found this absolute gem: The Old Negro Space Program:, a scathingly funny assault on racism and a friendly dig at Ken Burn's documentary style. The short film is apparently a big hit at the Kennedy Space Center. It's the funniest thing I've seen in a long, long time.