cybrpunk.com

Our government: Clueless

Have you seen this yet?

House Passes Telecom Immunity Bill, Expands Domestic Spying Powers

I don’t think any commentary is really necessary on this one. Nice parting shot Bush. Asshole.

You don’t know Jack

Oh, Jack Thompson, you poor deluded old idiot. I know Jack’s disbarment hearing is old news at this point but a lot of my readers don’t follow this kind of news on a regular basis.

Jack Thompson with his favorite video game

Jack Thompson is the florida lawyer who deems himself as a “moral crusader” who has slapped lawsuits against everyone and every thing over the past two decades (at least). He’s the one who got Howard Stern banned from something or other (no big loss there) and the one who flocks to every school shooting and teenage violence case to feed on the carcasses of the families left behind. He’s the worst kind of ambulance chaser because he doesn’t just try and make money off of other people’s tragedies, he parades these people in front of the world as a symbol of his insane fight to try and censor everything that ‘he’ deems improper.

Finally, the public and the government are catching on to this guy and doing something about him and is working to get him disbarred in the state of Florida. He walked out of that hearing. He refused to acknowledge the judge as a judge and accused her of falsifying her credentials among other things. He wrote a 14 page essay against his hearing where he actually stated “You don’t know Jack.” This guy has been a lost cause for a long time but I think he’s completely and clinically cracked at this point.

He’s also made it very clear that he has already applied for the ability to practice law in other states since Florida is obviously just out to get him. I’m hoping that no other states approve him but I’m not sure I have that much faith in the government. It’s hard to say at this point.

Your iPod makes you a criminal

Maybe its just because I’m still reading Atlas Shrugged but the whole deal with Hollywood (MPAA) and the music industry (RIAA) buying the United States government to further their corporate needs just scares the crap out of me.

So imagine my surprise when I read this article: Canadian Politicians Negotiate to Join ACTA, Will Criminalize CD Copies, iPods at Border Crossings Basically this is saying that the border patrols between the United States and Canada (and presumably borders between any countries involved in ACTA) have the authority to decide if you have illegal copyrighted material on your computer/MP3 player/mobile phone/USB drives/etc and confiscate and/or destroy the device in question. No proof on their part would be required if the rumors are true.

So have you even heard of this ACTA (Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement)?  I hadn’t till I read this.  Since then I’ve found that this is being called the Pirate Bay Killer act which goes along with the whole copyright issue.  As stated in the linked article above, when people have tried finding out more about this through the Freedom of Information Act, all they got was the title of the act and everything else was blacked out.  From what little information can be found about this, the governments are being very quiet about this whole deal and the process to create it.

As usual, I encourage people to do their own research and make their own conclusions but this kind of thing honestly scares the shit out of me.  Not because I have anything to fear from it but because of the possibilities of the kinds of violations of rights this kind of act can make possible.  Mix this in with Homeland Security and we may be looking a little more dystopian any day now.

Hong Kong Tales: Wrong Shirt Day

It’s been a busy day at work today, but I had to stop for 15 minutes to get harrassed by a few people here in the office. About my shirt. I’m as confused as you.

Two of my co-workers stopped me and asked, with somewhat shocked looks on their faces, why I was wearing an orange shirt. It’s just a plain, solid-color, bright orange polo-style shirt: nothing fancy. It has an old ink stain on it but it’s hardly noticeable. So I told them why: It was clean. Then they laughed and said to each other “He doesn’t know!” The confused look on my face was threatening to become a permanant fixture.

The Olympic Torch is going through the streets of Hong Kong as I type this. I knew about this because cameras were setup this morning already and traffic was jacked up all to hell. What I didn’t know was that people were wearing Red color shirts to show their support of China and the Olympics in China. People were wearing Orange shirts to show that they are supporting human rights.

So, I’m thinking that supporting human rights isn’t such a bad thing, right? Well maybe. It seems that Orange is also symbolizing being Anti-Chinese and against the China government. Which truthfully I’m not terribly fond of their government but I wouldn’t go so far to wear a shirt that says so. Except today it would seem. I was also told by these co-workers of mine - who all seem to revel in my ignorance of things that go on in China - that a man from Denmark was denied entry into Hong Kong because he was some form of protestor or another. Presumably something to do with human rights, Tibet, the Olympics, Tiananmen Square or some combination thereof which got him pulled aside and give a full body cavity search. I made up that last part about the full body cavity search but these people are pretty thorough over here so there’s no telling really.

And what was this Danish man wearing when he was being questioned with rubber hoses and thumbscrews? A freaking Orange shirt. So now - much to the confusion of foriegners and color blind people everywhere - orange shirts have become a symbol of civil unrest and rebellion towards the Chinese government. I was warned to steer clear of police and military people and to definitely avoid going to the Olympic Torch route. Which is funny because I stood along that very same route for over 30 minutes this morning waiting for my bus to work.

So I was down in the mall that connects to our office building (because no self respecting office building in Hong Kong can be more than walking distance to a shopping center) and contemplating the purchase of another shirt for my long commute home. It was then that I saw a local delivery man wearing his company polo-style uniform shirt. It was bright orange. So I figure that if their company doesn’t think that orange shirts are a problem then I shouldn’t have anything to worry about. And I’ve never even been to Denmark.

If I don’t make it home tonight… someone please come looking for me. I’ll be the white guy with the chin beard sitting in a cell with a bunch of Chinese anarchists wearing orange shirts.

The death penalty

The U.S. Supreme Court this week hears arguments about whether the death penalty can be imposed for child rape.
OK, honestly… who has a problem with this type of sentence?  Who thinks that a person who rapes a child deserves anything less than the most brutal and painful torment and death that can be conceived by the most depraved minds in the world?  I, for one, would be happy to give them suggestions on how to torture child molesters and would be happy to be their executioner.

So I guess you can tell where I stand on Capital Punishment.  I am all for it and I believe it should be a simple cut and dry process.  No languishing in prisons once the sentence is passed down.  Just do it right there on the spot and viewable on national TV.

• Rape a child (and probably kill the child): then we execute you.
• Commit cold-blooded murder: then we execute you.
• Torture animals: then we execute you.
• Cancel another TV show as good as Firefly: then we execute you.

But no, there always has to be some tree-hugging pacifist who thinks that we should spend millions of dollars every year keeping these bastards alive.  Feeding them three meals a day, providing them with workout equipment, basketball courts, satellite television, etc.  The best punishment we can hope for for their time in prison is perhaps the occasional beating  and/or ass-raping for the convict.

Why do we have so much crime?  That’s an easy one to answer.  Our legal system is broke or at least severely fractured.  Sure justice is served from time to time, but people are willing to take the risks that they do in committing crimes because they know all they have to do is pay for a good lawyer and if necessary go whining to the various ‘humanitarian’ groups.  People who are inclined to commit crimes are not afraid of the system and that’s where the downfall is these days.  And if you are a celebrity you already know that the laws don’t apply to you in the same way.

What happened to the public execution?  Entire cities used to turn out to watch the beheading of criminals.  When people were strung up to hang from their necks in the middle of a town square, everyone was reminded of the consequences of bad deeds.  When was the last time you saw a person die by execution?  Probably never in real life.  People are no longer faced with the very real consequences of evil deeds.

So my answer to crime in general is more executions IF they are publicly viewable on television, YouTube, HD satellite broadcast.  Start with those that have been rotting in our prisons for decades like Charles Manson.  Use the money that would have been spent to guard, feed, entertain, administer and heal him and others like him and use that money to setup an execution with advertising on the SuperBowl.  Why not?  It’s not like we are EVER going to let people like him out and yet we just can’t bring ourselves to kill the poor wretch.  It’s not his fault, it was his mother/his father/society/rock & roll/drugs/insanity/war/whatever.  Kill him.  Plain and simple.

But it will never happen.  And that’s why we will continue to see gangs on the streets because they know if they kill a baby in a drive by shooting they only have to go away for ten years and hang out with others from their gang and make more contacts for when they get out.  That’s why we will see random killings and hate crimes because there is no fear.  The system is a joke people and the more easily offended our society gets and the more politically correct everyone is forced to be because someone can’t handle reality the worse it’s going to get.

Food for thought: Every time I fly to Malaysia, the announcement before landing reminds everyone that anyone caught smuggling any illegal drugs into the country is subject to capital punishment.  I bet Malaysia doesn’t have the same drug problems that the United States does.  I wonder why?

China vs The Weather

Here’s a strange headline: China Seeks to Control Olympics Weather With AA Guns, Rocket Launchers

And it’s serious. China is actually deplying Anti-Aircraft emplpacements, rocket launchers and various chemicals to try and keep it from raining during the olympics in Beijing that will be help in August. Go read the article because I wouldn’t believe this either if I hadn’t read it.

They may not admit it, but I would bet dollars to dumplings that they will have caches of standard munitions within easy reach of each of these ‘weather controlling’ weapons. You know, just in case someone tries to fly a plane into their weird Bird’s Nest stadium.

I’m not sure wether to be amazed at their ingenuity or dumbfounded by their bizarre display of military.

What do you think?

Politics and gaming

There are a lot of issues to watch for during the coming months of debates and lies and muck-raking that is the U.S.A. Presidential election process.  However one issue that may seem quite trivial to many of you out there is where each of the candidates stands on video games.  I’ve always thought this was a much bigger issue than it is made out to be, but I could never really express why I felt that properly or figure out a way to analogize it.  Then I read this article today that compared the potential of government intervention in video games to the horrible censorship imposed on comic books enforced by the Senate.  That link above gives the gist of the information but if you want the full story, take a look at the end of the longer article that contributed to the former link.

I used to be an avid comic collector and I always wondered what happened between the sometimes gruesome comic stories of the World War One and Two eras and the 1980’s and 90’s when I was purchasing new comics off the shelf.  When going back through the back issues there were many times I realized that the comics from the 50’s, 60’s and even 70’s were so much tamer and generally distorted compared to new titles I read at the time and the old war and detective comics from before those time periods.

What I didn’t know about was the Comics Code Authority and it’s government authority over comic book content.  Sure those times passed but they took decades to do so.  If the same thing happens to video games what’s to stop it from encompassing all media: movies, music, books, magazines, television, newspapers, web sites, blogs.  Do a little research on this on your own and see what conclusions you come up with.  And the next time you hear someone saying that the government needs to step in and keep games like Grand Theft Auto and Manhunt out of the hands of not only children but everyone and anyone… think about this before you agree or disagree.  It’s time people started to remember that it’s OK to have their own opinions based on their own thoughts, feelings and research.  Don’t take my word for it.  Find out for yourself.

Here are a few more articles to start you off:
Presidential Hopefuls: Tech Friendly Candidates
Anti-Game Candidates Fare Poorly in Iowa Caucuses

The TSA is your friend. Obey your friend.

I, along with others, think that the idea of the TSA starting up their own blog is something along the lines of idiotic and insane instead of helpful. Especially if they aren’t going to reply to comments or setup some kind of FAQ or forum or something.

I’ve been reading the posts and comments and the only thing I’ve learned so far is that there are far more people pissed at the idiotic TSA rules and inconsistencies than there are people applauding. And considering they are using the Blogger back-end for their blog, it makes me wonder how serious they are about this. Blogger is the worst interface and management system for blogging that I’ve seen. There may be worse, but I wouldn’t know it.

I’m assuming that this is more of a public relations scheme of some sort than it is a place to be helpful and distribute information. But it’s still new and hopefully evolving. I hope it comes together.

Maybe someday

Maybe someday we’ll see a presidential campaign (hell, any campaign) that was fought and won by the merits of each individual candidates strengths and weaknesses, their political track record and the values that they truly believe in. Wouldn’t that be nice? I think so.

But we really know that something like that will never happen.

Poor, poor Mitt Romney gets caught in a lie at a Staples store speech. Oh wait no, that’s not a lie, that a “technicality”. His campaign isn’t “run” by lobbyist Ron Kaufman, it’s run by his campaign manager. The fact that he has a lobbyist at his side at all times just means that… you know… he must be just there for his witty jokes and bartending skills. No I’m sure he has nothing to do with the campaign at all but he most certainly doesn’t “run” the campaign.

Now I do believe Romney when he says that Kaufman is an unpaid advisor. I believe that because politicians do not pay lobbyists money. Lobbyists pay politicians money. So maybe a more realistic statement would be that Romney is a paid advisor of whatever Kaufman supports. I’m sure there’s a technicality to explain away everything though.

The headline says it all

The headline says it all…

Bush to ask Congress for extra 50 bln usd for Iraq - report

But for those of you too jaded or lazy to read that article, let me share the two most important quotes from the above:

“If approved, the bid would bring US spending on the Iraq war to more than three billion dollars per week.”

“The 50 bln usd would be in addition to the 460 bln in the fiscal 2008 defense budget and 147 bln usd in a pending supplemental bill to fund the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.”

So… I’m still wondering why no one has figured out a way to get this idiot out of the White House yet. And the political community is actually acting surprised that this is the first time in history that candidates have started campaining and debating this far in advance of an election. Maybe its because its really that important that Bush is removed from the White House one way or another.