Outis

Guillermo Fariñas

Jose — Tue, 19 Dec 2006 09:14:53 +0000

Is my hero.

Transparency vs. privacy

Jose — Sat, 02 Dec 2006 18:58:36 +0000

Slashdot: FBI Taps Cell Phone Microphones in Mafia Case.

I had no idea the FBI could turn on the microphones in the OnStar system. Can they do the same with the Nintendo DS? jk.

The take-away, from another source:

The last thing that ought to happen is that these matters get decided without public awareness, let alone debate. If our Government thinks it has good reason to start monitoring our actions and collecting and storing detailed data about how we live our lives — including the millions of citizens suspected of no crimes — then it ought to say what it wants to do and we can then debate if it ought to have that power. Why is that proposition controversial? …

Aggressively investigating what the administration has been doing over the last five years, behind the impenetrable wall of secrecy it erected, is not an option, and it isn’t something to do for drama, political gain, or emotional retribution. It is vital because our democracy can only function if citizens know what its Government is doing.

Now that’s diplomacy

Jose — Sat, 02 Dec 2006 17:18:53 +0000

NPR : U.S. Embassy in Berlin Reaches Out to Muslims

Zen and the Art of Wii

Jose — Wed, 22 Nov 2006 17:25:54 +0000

A Wii Experience:

A lot of games seem “angry” nowadays. You are a criminal; a soldier; a great injustice has been committed and you need revenge, etc. These are all fine, and you get a sense of “accomplishment” in these games. However, there seems to be a movement towards “egoless” games lately. Wii Sports is like that. No room for ego!

Cuban “Minus” American

Jose — Mon, 20 Nov 2006 15:37:31 +0000

The often cited Glenn Greenwald profiles Mel Martinez, a monumental hypocrite. He joins the rogues gallery of Cuban-Americans with historical amnesia alongside, for starters, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen.

Without the contradictions rife in the Batista regime, Castro could never have laid claim to the cause of freedom. If not for the injustice of colonization, the Soviets could not have appealed to the nascent nationalism of independence movements throughout the Third World.

The bad guys claim to power not just by force, but by exploiting frustration and pessimism.

More on language and power.

Jose — Mon, 13 Nov 2006 22:54:35 +0000

A follow-up to my previous post:

Boing Boing, NPR “Xeni Tech”: Tech Solutions to Iraqi-U.S. Language Barrier

Viva Mexico

Jose — Mon, 13 Nov 2006 00:27:41 +0000

SF Gate: Editor Found Dead in Mexican Hotel Room. Par for course.

post-election round-up

Jose — Sat, 11 Nov 2006 15:29:43 +0000

I don’t have the energy to synthesize – and why take my word for it – but reading at least the last six posts (they’re short, think “breath mints”) on the following blogs should give you an impression of one compelling consensus view on the election. Ranked in order.

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/

http://glenngreenwald.blogspot.com/

For an interesting take on who the U.S. Congress should investigate first, along with similarly clever observations on strategy in practice, try http://plumer.blogspot.com/.

Finally, and via Digby above, The American Prospect Online documents the many dirty tricks employed by the Republicans to tamper with the U.S. election. (Evidence of equivalent Democratic activity welcome but I’m not holding my breath.)

p.s.

Some keywords: realignment, the South, the North, clarity, emergence, lying, lies, data, polls, truth, retreat, epoch, shift, pendulum, consensus, conservative movement. Does this do it?