Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Monday, July 13, 2009
Cataloging the Frightening New Wave of Nazism: Fast Forward to the 1930's: more links
Cataloging the New Wave of Nazism: Romanians hit by racist attacks in Northern Ireland 'want to go home' - Times Online
Neo-Nazi attacks in Northern Ireland. Please let me know of follow-up articles.
The comments are as frightening as the events.
Romanians hit by racist attacks in Northern Ireland 'want to go home' - Times Online
Shared via AddThis
The comments are as frightening as the events.
Romanians hit by racist attacks in Northern Ireland 'want to go home' - Times Online
Shared via AddThis
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Another Holocaust: Advancing to the fascist 1930's in Hungary
I'll be posting some info concerning Fascism/Nazism in Eastern Europe, particularly Hungary. Another holocaust against Jews and Roma populations is in embryo and the fiendish embryo's kicking hard. Many of us on this western side of the Atlantic are unaware of the gravity of what's going on. This is only one article.
Hungary: What accounts for the success of the extreme right?
By Markus Salzmann
17 June 2009
The gains made in the recent European election by extremist and neo-fascist forces in Hungary and a number of other countries are a serious warning to the entire European working class. Twenty years after the introduction of the capitalist free market in Eastern Europe, fascism is once more raising its ugly head.
In Hungary, the neo-fascist Jobbik party won nearly 15 percent of the vote and three of Hungary’s 22 seats in the European Parliament. In other Eastern European states, as well as in England and the Netherlands, ultra-right parties also increased their share of the vote. In Romania, the Great Romania Party (PRM) received 7 percent of the vote, and in neighboring Bulgaria, the extreme right-wing National Union Attack party won 12 percent and two seats in the European Parliament. In Slovakia, the equally right-wing Slovak National Party (SNS), which has participated in a government coalition with the Social Democrats since 2006, received just 5.5 percent—i.e. just over the five percent hurdle necessary for representation in the European parliament.
Jobbik’s electoral success means that the party, up until now dependent on financial support from a number of rich backers, will be entitled to considerable sums in the form of European Union (EU) subsidies. In the European Parliament the party will be led by 42-year-old Krisztina Morvai. The party campaigned in the European election under the slogan “Hungary for Hungarians,” blaming Jews and Roma for the country’s advanced economic crisis and social decline.
Jobbik is the political arm of the “Hungarian Guard,” a paramilitary organization, which openly agitates against and attacks Jews, Roma, gays and other minorities....
Access link to read the full article. More coming soon.
Hungary: What accounts for the success of the extreme right?
By Markus Salzmann
17 June 2009
The gains made in the recent European election by extremist and neo-fascist forces in Hungary and a number of other countries are a serious warning to the entire European working class. Twenty years after the introduction of the capitalist free market in Eastern Europe, fascism is once more raising its ugly head.
In Hungary, the neo-fascist Jobbik party won nearly 15 percent of the vote and three of Hungary’s 22 seats in the European Parliament. In other Eastern European states, as well as in England and the Netherlands, ultra-right parties also increased their share of the vote. In Romania, the Great Romania Party (PRM) received 7 percent of the vote, and in neighboring Bulgaria, the extreme right-wing National Union Attack party won 12 percent and two seats in the European Parliament. In Slovakia, the equally right-wing Slovak National Party (SNS), which has participated in a government coalition with the Social Democrats since 2006, received just 5.5 percent—i.e. just over the five percent hurdle necessary for representation in the European parliament.
Jobbik’s electoral success means that the party, up until now dependent on financial support from a number of rich backers, will be entitled to considerable sums in the form of European Union (EU) subsidies. In the European Parliament the party will be led by 42-year-old Krisztina Morvai. The party campaigned in the European election under the slogan “Hungary for Hungarians,” blaming Jews and Roma for the country’s advanced economic crisis and social decline.
Jobbik is the political arm of the “Hungarian Guard,” a paramilitary organization, which openly agitates against and attacks Jews, Roma, gays and other minorities....
Access link to read the full article. More coming soon.
Friday, July 10, 2009
Thursday, July 09, 2009
Performance at Soho Gallery Wednesday JULY 15, 2009
Please join me and my Iranian-born writer friend Amir Parsa, and others, next Wednesday at:
Engendered Festival 09
PURDAH 2.0
Closing Night Engendered 09, Purdah 2.0: Body Matters
July 15, Halvai Gallery, 75 Grand St @ Wooster, NY, 7pm Onwards
Now, Then, and Forever:
revolutions, politics, literature, contestation
Creative-Critical-Contemporary
Come to see, hear and discuss the works of some of the leading
avant-garde writers of our time
Canto XIV - Dusk's Ether with Ashes
the bassadiga
Interactive Readings and Discussions
Amir Parsa
With
Joe Brent & Amir ElSaffar
Kaveh Bassiri
Sarah Husain
Carol Novack
Rodrigo Toscano
7 Prelude | 7:30 Bassa | 8 Fragments | 9 Party
Canto XIV - Dusk's Ether with Ashes
Parafrags (parallel fragments) to Canto XIV at Halvai Gallery unfolding on:
1. Engendered.org: Canto XIV Narraflow
2. Twitter (amparsa): Canto XIV Narratweet
3. Bassadiga: Canto XIV Oralities/Readation,
4. +
A bassadiga is a short interventionist interlude with minimal props meant
to present inroads into artistic and/or literary innovations and
alternatives. The bassadiga consists of readings, oral expressions and,
occasionally, brief mini-lectures and minimalistically performative
interactions and discussions.
*About Amir Parsa:* An internationally acclaimed writer and poet, Amir
Parsa is the author of over ten literary books, most recently* Drive-by
Cannibalism in the Baroque Tradition*, and *Erre*. An uncategorizable body
of work, Mr. Parsa's literary oeuvre - written in English, French and
Persian - constitutes a radical polyphonic enterprise that puts into
question national, cultural and aesthetic attachments and discourses while
fashioning new genres, forms and even species of literary artifacts (*Fragment
*and *Ifs & Co.*). He was included in the anthology of new French and
Francophone poets (Ed. Huguet 2004). Born in Tehran, Mr. Parsa holds degrees
from Princeton and Columbia and currently lives in New York, where he is a
Lecturer and Educator at the Museum of Modern Art. His work is featured in
Purdah 2.0: Body Matters as a site specific installation and constitutes one
fragment of canto XIV.
Purdah 2.0: Body Matters
*The Second Annual Arts Exhibition at Engendered*
June 25th-July 16th, 2009 | Halvai Gallery, 75 Grand Street, NY
*Opening Reception: June 30, 2009 7 p.m.*
After the inaugural edition of Purdah - the unprecedented transcultural
exhibition on art, gender and sexuality last year, Engendered presents
Purdah 2.0: Body Matters.
Curated In Two Parts by:
*Amina Begum Ahmed & Priyanka Mathew*
Exhibition Director :
*Myna Mukherjee*
Body Matters is a contemporary & provocative exploration both of why the
body matters and what matters of the body are, have been and could become.
Across cultures, how do we find a visual and aesthetic language to engage
with the body as simultaneously a site of refuge, resistance, tradition,
freedom, sorrow, solace, desire, pain, rebellion, and rage? Body Matters
investigates the body as a site for contestations of power & violence,
perception & reality, memory & loss, and finally, station & displacement -
especially within urban ecologies and the ever morphous shifting boundaries
of personal and political geographies.
Ahmed brings together diverse artists whose stories and experiences form a
narrative that excavates, personalizes and reclaims the 'body' that has been
subsumed by the dominant normative . On the other hand, Mathew's curation of
artists explores the human form as an agent/catalyst to dissect political,
social and metaphysical dialogues on sexuality, gender and the relationships
in the grey areas that don't qualify neatly in either category.
Body Matters brings together figurative, conceptual, experiential and also
site specific works by some of the most leading, iconic and emergent
transcultural artists from India, Pakistan, Iran, U.S & China.
For more info: admin@engendered.org
visit www.engendered.org
Sunil Gupta along with -
Performance Poetry Talks Screenings Education Anwar Saeed Marcus
Leatherdale Ayesha Durrani Abir Karmarkar Raghava KK Fareeda Batool Khalil
Chishtee Dong Ming Guang Shailja Gupta Amita Bhatt Srinivas Kuruganti Amir
Parsa Pritika Chowdhry Noelle Williams Salman Toor Ariane Lopez-Huici Marco
Guerra & Yasmina Alaoui
In collaboration with
[image: Tucker Robbins]
Halvai]
Engendered Festival 09
PURDAH 2.0
Closing Night Engendered 09, Purdah 2.0: Body Matters
July 15, Halvai Gallery, 75 Grand St @ Wooster, NY, 7pm Onwards
Now, Then, and Forever:
revolutions, politics, literature, contestation
Creative-Critical-Contemporary
Come to see, hear and discuss the works of some of the leading
avant-garde writers of our time
Canto XIV - Dusk's Ether with Ashes
the bassadiga
Interactive Readings and Discussions
Amir Parsa
With
Joe Brent & Amir ElSaffar
Kaveh Bassiri
Sarah Husain
Carol Novack
Rodrigo Toscano
7 Prelude | 7:30 Bassa | 8 Fragments | 9 Party
Canto XIV - Dusk's Ether with Ashes
Parafrags (parallel fragments) to Canto XIV at Halvai Gallery unfolding on:
1. Engendered.org: Canto XIV Narraflow
2. Twitter (amparsa): Canto XIV Narratweet
3. Bassadiga: Canto XIV Oralities/Readation,
4. +
A bassadiga is a short interventionist interlude with minimal props meant
to present inroads into artistic and/or literary innovations and
alternatives. The bassadiga consists of readings, oral expressions and,
occasionally, brief mini-lectures and minimalistically performative
interactions and discussions.
*About Amir Parsa:* An internationally acclaimed writer and poet, Amir
Parsa is the author of over ten literary books, most recently* Drive-by
Cannibalism in the Baroque Tradition*, and *Erre*. An uncategorizable body
of work, Mr. Parsa's literary oeuvre - written in English, French and
Persian - constitutes a radical polyphonic enterprise that puts into
question national, cultural and aesthetic attachments and discourses while
fashioning new genres, forms and even species of literary artifacts (*Fragment
*and *Ifs & Co.*). He was included in the anthology of new French and
Francophone poets (Ed. Huguet 2004). Born in Tehran, Mr. Parsa holds degrees
from Princeton and Columbia and currently lives in New York, where he is a
Lecturer and Educator at the Museum of Modern Art. His work is featured in
Purdah 2.0: Body Matters as a site specific installation and constitutes one
fragment of canto XIV.
Purdah 2.0: Body Matters
*The Second Annual Arts Exhibition at Engendered*
June 25th-July 16th, 2009 | Halvai Gallery, 75 Grand Street, NY
*Opening Reception: June 30, 2009 7 p.m.*
After the inaugural edition of Purdah - the unprecedented transcultural
exhibition on art, gender and sexuality last year, Engendered presents
Purdah 2.0: Body Matters.
Curated In Two Parts by:
*Amina Begum Ahmed & Priyanka Mathew*
Exhibition Director :
*Myna Mukherjee*
Body Matters is a contemporary & provocative exploration both of why the
body matters and what matters of the body are, have been and could become.
Across cultures, how do we find a visual and aesthetic language to engage
with the body as simultaneously a site of refuge, resistance, tradition,
freedom, sorrow, solace, desire, pain, rebellion, and rage? Body Matters
investigates the body as a site for contestations of power & violence,
perception & reality, memory & loss, and finally, station & displacement -
especially within urban ecologies and the ever morphous shifting boundaries
of personal and political geographies.
Ahmed brings together diverse artists whose stories and experiences form a
narrative that excavates, personalizes and reclaims the 'body' that has been
subsumed by the dominant normative . On the other hand, Mathew's curation of
artists explores the human form as an agent/catalyst to dissect political,
social and metaphysical dialogues on sexuality, gender and the relationships
in the grey areas that don't qualify neatly in either category.
Body Matters brings together figurative, conceptual, experiential and also
site specific works by some of the most leading, iconic and emergent
transcultural artists from India, Pakistan, Iran, U.S & China.
For more info: admin@engendered.org
Sunil Gupta along with -
Performance Poetry Talks Screenings Education Anwar Saeed Marcus
Leatherdale Ayesha Durrani Abir Karmarkar Raghava KK Fareeda Batool Khalil
Chishtee Dong Ming Guang Shailja Gupta Amita Bhatt Srinivas Kuruganti Amir
Parsa Pritika Chowdhry Noelle Williams Salman Toor Ariane Lopez-Huici Marco
Guerra & Yasmina Alaoui
In collaboration with
[image: Tucker Robbins]
Halvai]
Wednesday, July 08, 2009
Drunken Boat | 10 | Spring 2009
Video based on my poem "In the beginning is," created by Orin Buck, music/sound by Paul A. Toth, and recitation by Mad Hatter editors Austin Publicover and Amy Bucciferro. Wondering who's going to find this video, as our photos didn't make the shots of DB contributors on the DB issue homepage and apparently, the video isn't going to be shown at the NYC launch of the "anniversary issue." But... I hope that someone enjoys this collaborative effort!
Drunken Boat | 10 | Spring 2009
Drunken Boat | 10 | Spring 2009
Sunday, July 05, 2009
The Obama Deception
This needs an update. Everyday, there's something to rage about. Eg, Mountaintop removal coal mining is the worst environmental tragedy in American history. When will the Obama administration finally stop this Appalachian apocalypse? http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/02/AR2009070203022_pf.html
Wednesday, July 01, 2009
Four Variations is now online
Four Variations
for (the late) Sir James George Frazer
by Carol Novack
Hear this read by the author, with music by Benjamin Rush Miller
I
Sisyphus
He gripped a corner of the sky and peeled it off the walls of the world to go where no man has gone before. Behind the sky was the same sky, same dry/wet, blue/gray variations, the mesmerizing metamorphics of clouds. Being and nothingness as always being and nothingness. Isn't there more? He asked, peeling the sky off the walls again and again, always the same sky.
LINK
for (the late) Sir James George Frazer
by Carol Novack
Hear this read by the author, with music by Benjamin Rush Miller
I
Sisyphus
He gripped a corner of the sky and peeled it off the walls of the world to go where no man has gone before. Behind the sky was the same sky, same dry/wet, blue/gray variations, the mesmerizing metamorphics of clouds. Being and nothingness as always being and nothingness. Isn't there more? He asked, peeling the sky off the walls again and again, always the same sky.
LINK
Monday, June 29, 2009
Thursday, June 25, 2009
BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | 'Stoned wallabies make crop circles'
The alien crop circle theory is bunk, say the wallabies. I'm wondering if hops would have the same affects as poppies.
BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | 'Stoned wallabies make crop circles'
BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | 'Stoned wallabies make crop circles'
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Environmental Defense:
If you aren't sure why global warming is our top priority, please read this report and call to activism from Environmental Defense - click on the link to send a message to the elected:
Moments ago, the White House released a detailed scientific report forecasting devastating impacts of global warming in the United States if we don't take dramatic steps now to cut our global warming emissions.
The report, Global Climate Change Impacts in the United States, breaks down climate impacts region-by-region
The Northeast:
*
Hartford and Philadelphia could average 30 days of 100+ temperatures per year while Boston could see more than 20 100-degree days per year;
*
Native maple, beech, birch, spruce and fir forests could be almost entirely lost;
*
The climate of New Hampshire could resemble the climate of North Carolina.
The Southeast:
*
Much of Florida and southeast Texas could see more than 180 days in the 90s per year while other southeastern states could see more than 100 90-degree days per year;
*
Spring and summer drought has already increased by 12 percent and 14 respectively over the last 30 years. The frequency, intensity and duration of droughts in the region are likely to increase;
*
Sea level rise and stronger storm surges could inundate and ultimately flood coastal communities along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts.
The Midwest:
*
The climate of Michigan could resemble the climate of Oklahoma and the climate of Illinois could resemble the climate of Texas;
*
Deadly heat waves like the one that killed more than 700 people in Chicago in 1995, will become more frequent. Under higher emission scenarios, Chicago could experience up to three such heat waves every year;
*
Higher emissions scenarios would cause a water level drop of 1-2 feet in the Great Lakes, threatening shipping, infrastructure, beaches and ecosystems.
Illinois climate impact:
As example of the kind of impacts we can expect in a warming world, the climate of Illinois could resemble the climate of Texas by the end of this century.
The Great Plains:
*
Hotter, drier summers will threaten the already overused High Plains aquifer, which irrigates 13 million acres and provides water to 80% of the people in the region;
*
Increased temperatures and higher carbon dioxide levels will threaten farming activities with more drought, pest infestations, and faster weed growth;
*
Under higher emission scenarios, North and South Dakota, which currently see only a handful of 100-degree days, could see 50 or more days of 100+ temperatures per year.
The Southwest:
*
Under higher emission scenarios, the southern half of Arizona, southeastern California and Las Vegas could see more than 120 days with 100+ temperatures;
*
Most of the region could see precipitation levels decline by more than 40%, pushing already water-strained areas over the edge;
*
Southwestern forests will be decimated with less water, more wildfires and more invasive pests. Under higher emissions scenarios, California's mountain forests could decline by 60-90%.
The Northwest:
*
Mountain snowpack runoff, critical water needs, could run 20-40 days earlier, threatening water resources in summer months;
*
Declining summer streamflows and warmer water temperatures could push salmon and other cold water fish species, already stressed by human activities, over the brink;
*
100-degree days are rare today in the Northwest. Under higher emission scenarios, much of the region could see 30-40 days of 110+ temperatures per year.
Without action, this is the future that awaits our children. We can't let it happen.
The good news? The U.S. House could vote on a landmark energy and global warming bill as soon as next week. We're doing everything we can to pass this bill and keep the pressure on the Senate to move a bill of its own.
Here are three things you can do now to help:
1.
Take action to urge passage of the bill in the House.
2.
Forward this email to all your friends and family.
3.
Share facts about your region on Facebook or Twitter. Please include a link to our action alert: http://support.edf.org/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=118
Thanks for all you do,
Environmental Defense Fund
P.S. In addition to the human toll, this report reinforces the dire threat American wildlife face in a warming world. Go to our Warming and Wildlife campaign to meet and see seven "ambassador" species that face a bleak future in a warmer world.
Environmental Defense:
Moments ago, the White House released a detailed scientific report forecasting devastating impacts of global warming in the United States if we don't take dramatic steps now to cut our global warming emissions.
The report, Global Climate Change Impacts in the United States, breaks down climate impacts region-by-region
The Northeast:
*
Hartford and Philadelphia could average 30 days of 100+ temperatures per year while Boston could see more than 20 100-degree days per year;
*
Native maple, beech, birch, spruce and fir forests could be almost entirely lost;
*
The climate of New Hampshire could resemble the climate of North Carolina.
The Southeast:
*
Much of Florida and southeast Texas could see more than 180 days in the 90s per year while other southeastern states could see more than 100 90-degree days per year;
*
Spring and summer drought has already increased by 12 percent and 14 respectively over the last 30 years. The frequency, intensity and duration of droughts in the region are likely to increase;
*
Sea level rise and stronger storm surges could inundate and ultimately flood coastal communities along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts.
The Midwest:
*
The climate of Michigan could resemble the climate of Oklahoma and the climate of Illinois could resemble the climate of Texas;
*
Deadly heat waves like the one that killed more than 700 people in Chicago in 1995, will become more frequent. Under higher emission scenarios, Chicago could experience up to three such heat waves every year;
*
Higher emissions scenarios would cause a water level drop of 1-2 feet in the Great Lakes, threatening shipping, infrastructure, beaches and ecosystems.
Illinois climate impact:
As example of the kind of impacts we can expect in a warming world, the climate of Illinois could resemble the climate of Texas by the end of this century.
The Great Plains:
*
Hotter, drier summers will threaten the already overused High Plains aquifer, which irrigates 13 million acres and provides water to 80% of the people in the region;
*
Increased temperatures and higher carbon dioxide levels will threaten farming activities with more drought, pest infestations, and faster weed growth;
*
Under higher emission scenarios, North and South Dakota, which currently see only a handful of 100-degree days, could see 50 or more days of 100+ temperatures per year.
The Southwest:
*
Under higher emission scenarios, the southern half of Arizona, southeastern California and Las Vegas could see more than 120 days with 100+ temperatures;
*
Most of the region could see precipitation levels decline by more than 40%, pushing already water-strained areas over the edge;
*
Southwestern forests will be decimated with less water, more wildfires and more invasive pests. Under higher emissions scenarios, California's mountain forests could decline by 60-90%.
The Northwest:
*
Mountain snowpack runoff, critical water needs, could run 20-40 days earlier, threatening water resources in summer months;
*
Declining summer streamflows and warmer water temperatures could push salmon and other cold water fish species, already stressed by human activities, over the brink;
*
100-degree days are rare today in the Northwest. Under higher emission scenarios, much of the region could see 30-40 days of 110+ temperatures per year.
Without action, this is the future that awaits our children. We can't let it happen.
The good news? The U.S. House could vote on a landmark energy and global warming bill as soon as next week. We're doing everything we can to pass this bill and keep the pressure on the Senate to move a bill of its own.
Here are three things you can do now to help:
1.
Take action to urge passage of the bill in the House.
2.
Forward this email to all your friends and family.
3.
Share facts about your region on Facebook or Twitter. Please include a link to our action alert: http://support.edf.org/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=118
Thanks for all you do,
Environmental Defense Fund
P.S. In addition to the human toll, this report reinforces the dire threat American wildlife face in a warming world. Go to our Warming and Wildlife campaign to meet and see seven "ambassador" species that face a bleak future in a warmer world.
Environmental Defense:
Ten Politically Incorrect Truths About Human Nature | Psychology Today
Saturday, June 13, 2009
American Civil Liberties Union:
It's time for some sanity when it comes to security.
Planning a vacation? Thinking about traveling outside the country?
If you travel outside the United States, you can kiss your right to privacy, and perhaps your laptop, digital camera and cell phone, goodbye.
With no suspicion and no explanation, the U.S. government can seize your laptop, cell phone, or PDA as you enter the United States and download all your private information -- including your personal and business documents, emails, phone calls, and web history.
And what happens if you refuse to let the agents download your personal photos? Or if you have encrypted your private information? Then Border Patrol -- which is now an agency of the Department of Homeland Security -- can simply copy your entire hard drive or even take your device and hang on to it indefinitely.
Tell Congress: it’s time to rein in travel abuses by the Department of Homeland Security. FOLLOW THE LINK TO TAKE ACTION!
Unfortunately, seizing laptops and cameras at the border isn’t the only travel security measure that infringes on our civil liberties.
Just last month, the U.S. government's "terrorist watch list" surpassed 1,000,000 names and is growing by over 20,000 names per month. The watch list includes the names of prominent people, like Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA), plus hundreds of thousands of ordinary Americans many of them with common names like Robert Johnson and James Robinson. Your name might be on the list. But there's no way to know for sure until you are delayed or even detained for hours in a back room. If you discover your name is on the list, it's nearly impossible to get off. It actually took an Act of Congress to get Nelson Mandela off the list. No joke. An Act of Congress.
These abuses have something in common: They make all of us into suspects, with no rule of law and no accountability.
Tell Congress: it’s time to rein in travel abuses by the Department of Homeland Security.
It’s hard to know what surveillance-state bureaucrats will come up with next. For instance, many airports are using scanners that are so invasive that they are like a virtual strip search! See-through body scanning machines are capable of showing an image of a passenger's naked body .... (image at ACLU website). Security measures like this are extremely intrusive -- and should only be used when there is good cause to suspect that an individual is a security risk.
And recently, the TSA expressed interest in having every traveler wear an "electro-muscular disruption" bracelet that airline personnel or marshals could use to shock passengers into submission. Unless something is done, this plan may not be as far-fetched as one would think.
Traveling shouldn’t mean checking your rights when you’re checking your luggage. It’s time for some sanity when it comes to security. Please, speak out now.
American Civil Liberties Union:
Planning a vacation? Thinking about traveling outside the country?
If you travel outside the United States, you can kiss your right to privacy, and perhaps your laptop, digital camera and cell phone, goodbye.
With no suspicion and no explanation, the U.S. government can seize your laptop, cell phone, or PDA as you enter the United States and download all your private information -- including your personal and business documents, emails, phone calls, and web history.
And what happens if you refuse to let the agents download your personal photos? Or if you have encrypted your private information? Then Border Patrol -- which is now an agency of the Department of Homeland Security -- can simply copy your entire hard drive or even take your device and hang on to it indefinitely.
Tell Congress: it’s time to rein in travel abuses by the Department of Homeland Security. FOLLOW THE LINK TO TAKE ACTION!
Unfortunately, seizing laptops and cameras at the border isn’t the only travel security measure that infringes on our civil liberties.
Just last month, the U.S. government's "terrorist watch list" surpassed 1,000,000 names and is growing by over 20,000 names per month. The watch list includes the names of prominent people, like Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA), plus hundreds of thousands of ordinary Americans many of them with common names like Robert Johnson and James Robinson. Your name might be on the list. But there's no way to know for sure until you are delayed or even detained for hours in a back room. If you discover your name is on the list, it's nearly impossible to get off. It actually took an Act of Congress to get Nelson Mandela off the list. No joke. An Act of Congress.
These abuses have something in common: They make all of us into suspects, with no rule of law and no accountability.
Tell Congress: it’s time to rein in travel abuses by the Department of Homeland Security.
It’s hard to know what surveillance-state bureaucrats will come up with next. For instance, many airports are using scanners that are so invasive that they are like a virtual strip search! See-through body scanning machines are capable of showing an image of a passenger's naked body .... (image at ACLU website). Security measures like this are extremely intrusive -- and should only be used when there is good cause to suspect that an individual is a security risk.
And recently, the TSA expressed interest in having every traveler wear an "electro-muscular disruption" bracelet that airline personnel or marshals could use to shock passengers into submission. Unless something is done, this plan may not be as far-fetched as one would think.
Traveling shouldn’t mean checking your rights when you’re checking your luggage. It’s time for some sanity when it comes to security. Please, speak out now.
American Civil Liberties Union:
Saturday, June 06, 2009
The 10 Best Conspiracy Theories
from a zealous fan of conspiracy theories, as conspiracies are as common as houseflies (as i always say). get 3 people together, and 2 will conspire against the third.
Apollo Moon Landing
Apollo Moon Landing
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