The acronym business in DC has gotten entirely out of hand. I don't know when it started, but the whole "let's come up with a cute name for our pet project" idea has gone way too far. From Wednesday's Washington Post:
The Department of Homeland Security is testing a data-mining program that would attempt to spot terrorists by combing vast amounts of information about average Americans, such as flight and hotel reservations. Similar to a Pentagon program killed by Congress in 2003 over concerns about civil liberties, the new program could take effect as soon as next year.
But researchers testing the system are likely to already have violated privacy laws by reviewing real information, instead of fake data, according to a source familiar with a congressional investigation into the $42.5 million program.
Bearing the unwieldy name Analysis, Dissemination, Visualization, Insight and Semantic Enhancement (ADVISE), the program is on the cutting edge of analytical technology that applies mathematical algorithms to uncover hidden relationships in data. The idea is to troll a vast sea of information, including audio and visual, and extract suspicious people, places and other elements based on their links and behavioral patterns.
ADVISE . . . it sounds like such a nice benign little name. It brings to mind Dear Abby, your friend who will answer honestly when you say "tell me what you really think," or the high minded consideration the US Senate gives to treaties and nominations. Who could be against a wise sage ADVISE-ing us?
This obviously harks back to its predecessor, the USA PATRIOT act: Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism. Yep, it's patriotic to want to tear down the constitutional limits to searches and seizures.
ADVISE . . . USA PATRIOT . . . Oh, please.
Orwell might like the "turn the meaning on its head" aspect of these acronyms, but he wouldn't be even remotely impressed with the poor language and diction. Where's the poetry? Where's the beauty of the words tripping off the tongue?
Now that the Democrats control the House and Senate, we need some great acronyms to go with legislation to roll back and rein in the runaway Bush administration. It's not enough to have a great program – you've got to have the sappy acronymn too.
We've been holding in the snark all week, though it has been slipping out more often as the week has worn on, and I say, Enough! It's Friday, it's beer-thirty somewhere, and we'll be tapping our feet waiting for the jury all weekend. It's time to pour yourself a festive beverage, raise your glass, and cut loose on the snark.
Maybe you've got a program, in search of an acronym. Maybe you've got a great word, but it needs a program to go with it. Or maybe, just maybe, you've got both. Anyone for some legislation called JUSTICE WINS? It's the title I'd love to see on a bill to shut down the war in Iraq: "Just Us, Standing Tall In Celebration of Ending W's Incompetent NeoCons' Silliness?"
And if you need some more inspiration, just ask yourself this — WWDSD? That is, What Would Dr. Seuss Do? It's his birthday, you know!
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Fitz!
Army Secretary steps down.
Madness, Madness, Madness!
Dos o tres?
sangemon @ 2
Steps down? I think the word they are looking for is “pushed”.
I would send Marcy in with a weedwhacker, if I could.
Perhaps someday soon our leaders might explore the implications of this acronym for ‘PEACE’- ‘Perfect Expressing Abundance, Create Experience’. Hint: in this instance, ‘Perfect’ is a verb.
FITZ!!!
Madness was a great ska band from England in the late ’70’s – early 80’s. Their first hit was “one Step Beyond, IIRC.
anwaya @ 5
PhD: Piled higher and deeper.
(I’ve been known to dive into the weeds myself, even before going back to school for that degree.)
Having spent most of my life in windowless offices staring at pages of numerical data, I can tell you that this program is utterly useless (as a terrorist-fighting tool) without a lot of data about how actual terrorists behave.
This
is marketing-speak. The reality is that unless you have lots of “tagged” true terrorist data (i.e. data you know for a fact, independent of this dataset, comes from actual terrorists), you have an analytical tool that applies advanced mathematical algorithms to a vast sea of information to generate completely random and useless outputs.
If the terrorists have in fact been so kind as to mail in their credit card bills with a note of explanation that they actually are a terrorist, we probably wouldn’t need advanced “mathematical algorithms” to catch them.
(There is a famous example of “network analysis” that came out shortly after 9/11 that purported to show that this worked, but as one of my colleagues used to say on another topic, it was “so wrong, you can’t even see wrong from there.”)
CHristy
JUSTICE WINS? It’s the title I’d love to see on a bill to shut down the war in Iraq: “Just Us, Standing Tall In Celebration of Ending W’s Incompetent NeoCons’ Silliness?”
nice one!
OT: I finally got my snapshots back from my trip to DC.
OK, I tried to edit my above comment, but did not succeed.
(How does one do that?)
Anyway, ever since Fitz said, “Madness, madness, madness!” I’ve been meaning to point this out.
TRex @ 13
HAHA! That’s great!
National Intelligence director McConnell telling Carl Levin that Iran is arming the Shia and the Syrians are arming the Sunni. Levin kept pounding him until he admitted that “other countries around the Gulf” might also be arming the insurgency.
C-SPAN 2
TRex @ 13
you have a lovely smile, TRex !
I put Peterr into an acronym generator, it returned Practical Erasable Turbo Equipment Retrieval Register.. So there.
Professor Foland @ 11
And, I would add from my experience in similar windowless offices with lots of numbers (in my pre-seminary days), it assumes that the actual terrorists will continue to behave in the same way tomorrow as you think they behave today.
HotFlash @ 18
HotFlash, the link doesn’t seem to work.
HotFlash @ 18
Glad to hear that part about practical. Sure beats being theoretical (or hypothetical)!
Elliott @
17
I brush and floss twice a day.
TRex @ 13
Is that you in the background?
TRex @ 13
Nice shot. It’s a shame Scooter got in the way just as that guy was taking a picture of you singing your big number. ;-)
TRex @ 22
And so trim – you must pass on all those between meal CHOMPS!!!
Professor Foland @ 11
Yup, it’s a grant proposal. Bet there’s a big fat no-bid contract at the end of it.
I briefly had some clients who were setting up a data-mining company, supposedly for marketing. The backers were Mafia — yeah, they really were. Who wants to know?
TRex–
Took my kids to see “Meet the Robinson’s”.
You were hysterical! Love your work!
I Investigate
M Mendacious
P Presidential
E Endeavors
A And
C Cancel
H Him
Mafia?
Mathematicians
Against
Funnibusiness
In
Asia?
Members of an Army class at Fort Benning during the ’60’s were told that as a moral building exercise we were to shout “WETSU” at every occasion. (disclosure-I was in the class.)
It meant We Eat This Shit Up.
We were cautioned that if an officer unknown to us asked, we were to say “We Endeavor To Strive Universally”.
Your left..right..WETSU!
Your left..right..WETSU!
TRex–
Took my kids to see “Meet the Robinson’s”.
You were hysterical! Love your work! ;^)
even though just a lurker lately, always loving you all and biting my nails at this fuckin jury
the visual reminded me of another scrabble funny
http://tinyurl.com/2q82bn
The “semantic enhancement” part makes me think that the main purpose is to uncover propagandically useful patterns in data…
One power the president should not have is the power to pardon. I didn’t like Bush one’s pardons in the Iran-Contra business. I disliked intensly Clinton’s pardon of Marc Rich. I don’t think Ford should have pardoned the ‘tricky one’ either. And assuming a Libby guilty verdict, I am going to detest Bush II’s pardon of Scooter. Pardons are way too political and not fair to the rest of us. High profile convicted defendants who might be considered for a presidential pardon have the means ($), and connections to have their cases appealed certiorari to the SOTUS ultimately. Down with presidential pardon power! Presidential pardons have no place in a democracy.
EvilDrPuma @ 33
“Semantic enhancement” sounds like something sold via a late night infomercial. “And if you call now, we’ll throw in a couple of FISA wiretaps at no extra charge.”
Sharkbabe @ 30
{{{{{{{ Sharkbabe }}}}}}}
I read it as: What would David Schuster do?
TRex @ 13
707!!!!
Oklahoma kiddo @ 34
Really? What if, in January 2009, the incoming President were to pardon everybody who has been harassed and needlessly incarcerated by BushCo’s immigrant and “national security” crackdowns?
I grant you that this power is abused far more often than it is used as intended, but that doesn’t make it inherently evil or anti-democratic.
Peterr @
35
not available in stores.
agree so strongly, ok kid – prez pardon a vestige of bullshit divine right of kings – why
if it weren’t for prez pardons, we wouldn’t be in this mess, perhaps
we must also abolish the electoral college
Sharkbabe @ 32
I’ve been missing your pithy commentary. Nice to see you!
Oklahoma kiddo @ 34
Every time I start to think like this, I think of the folks pardoned in Illinois after so many innocent folks had their convictions overturned when additional evidence turned up. Sure, it can be abused, but it’s also the ultimate safety valve in an imperfect system of justice.
Peterr @ 35
Exactly! I wonder if they’re also working on “syntactic enhancement” for Dubya’s future speechifying?
This one’s for Abu Gonzales:
WWYD – What Would Yoo Do?
Oklahoma kiddo @ 34
Undeserved pardons seem a small price to pay if this marks the end of the Republican era.
((((hotflash)))) wow, as it happens, I’m having one of you right now :)
sharkbabe
missed yer teeth too
^_^
Badwater @ 46
so long as they dont end up serving in future administrations
(see Poindexter, et al)
Peterr @ 41
1.) Peterr, where those *presidential* pardons?
2.) I have more trouble with the ‘president’ part than with the ‘pardon’
Hiya Sharkbabe– nice to ’see’ you!
Sharkbabe @ 41
Hey there sharkbabe, nice to see you lakeside! I agree, pardons are abominations in our system. As for the Electoral College, I think its a necessary compromise, but could work better if we moved away from winner take all state votes to Congressional district assignment of votes within it.
EvilDrPuma @ 39
Perhaps we shall just have to disagree on this. ;0)
Sharkbabe @ 45
Keeps the house heating bill low, though.
Peterr @ Every time I start to think like this, I think of the folks pardoned in Illinois after so many innocent folks had their convictions overturned when additional evidence turned up. Sure, it can be abused, but it’s also the ultimate safety valve in an imperfect system of justice.
Those were pardons by the Gov., no? and for a reason?(innocence) Those are a lot different than the Prez letting his minions / rich buddies off the hook.
Seconded.
Sharkbabe @ 45
And can I have a Sharkbabe? ;)
Dana Priest on Hardball.
Dru @ 55
Those were pardons by the Gov., no? and for a reason?(innocence) Those are a lot different than the Prez letting his minions / rich buddies off the hook.
IL Gov Ryan issued a blanket commutation of all of Illinois’ death row inmates, because a high number of folks had their convictions overturned when additional evidence was turned up by journalism students at Northwestern University. One error in a capital case can be called a mistake, two are a problem, but when multiple cases were found to be faulty, Ryan called a halt to it and converted everyone else’s sentences to life in prison.
Not a full pardon, but using the same power at the governor’s level to change the sentence imposed at trial.
And yes, this is different from letting your buds walk instead of doing time. But unless you can come up with something that allows something like what Ryan did while preventing abuses, I guess I’d rather live with the possibility for abuse.
Dru @ 55
Those were pardons by the Gov., no? and for a reason?(innocence) Those are a lot different than the Prez letting his minions / rich buddies off the hook.
Gov yes
Motivation
1 Strong evidence that many convictions were aquired via dubious means
2 Strong need for some sort of legacy other than “Most corrupt Official in Illinois History”
3 (2) didn’t work for Fitz
I think Peterrs point is well taken. IMO, with Balance of Powers
balanced , the pardon is a powerful tool in the balance. In the absence of balance, every tool is subject ot abuse.
The issue is not the tool, but the absence of balance.
Peterr @ 43
Disagree respectfully. There are solutions perhaps. Such as more public money for public defenders. More and better judges. More highly trained investigative personnel and more, and here’s the key, better trained DA’s. Also, perhaps borrow a bit from the British justice system of ‘pooling info’ in criminal cases to better assist at arriving at justice and therefore fairness. And how about judicial panels set up to specifically replace presidential pardons. ;0)
jayt @ 45
fucking brilliant
News to me…
Keith to interview Valerie Plame Wilson at Manhattan’s Tishman Auditorium…
http://www.radaronline.com/exc…..e.php#more
EvilDrPuma @ 39
Hi EDP, normally I agree with you down the line, but here I can’t. People who have been needlessly or illegaly incarcerated should be release because their incarceration is illegal, not because the Pres waves a wand. Everything, *everything* ought to be done by due process of law, nothing by fiat.
Re the Illinois *commutations* — this is not a pardon, this is a change of sentence. I read this not as an argument for pardons, but as an argument against capital punishment.
And a sign that the Illinois justice systems could use a good scrutiny. BTW, what color were the death row guys?
Hotflash says:
That’s just it– there should be NO fiat here, not in these United States of America.
Checks and balances.
HotFlash @ 64
Due process says, “once your case reaches its end of its appeals, its done.” The possibility of a pardon says that if you find something exculpatory, even after that last appeal is exhausted, you still have a shot at getting out.
It is so disgusting the way those liberal bloggers use such dirty words.
http://thinkprogress.org/2007/…..r-edwards/
Ladies and gentlemen, yooouuur Republican party!
angie @ 66
there’s an “I’ll Varoom” A-hole in the White House
Sara over at THE NEXT HURRAH posted this back on February 21 Has Dana Priest given us our next issue?
This is win, win, win, for the reality based communities. The continuous clips of young amputees visually expose the
incredible banalityemptiness of “support the troops” rhetoric that getspumpedshoveled out of the WH. The narrative works literally and as a metaphor to destroy WH credibility. This story and the cover-up will dominate the MSM’s coverage on the Sunday talk shows. We haven’t had this kind of a story since DeadEye shot Harry in the face.Bipedal
Intelligence
Tracking
Exercise,
Moronically
Evil.
BITE ME
Got to disappear for a bit, to fulfill a promise to The Kid.
Please pardon me for ducking out.
(now, just ducking)
newtonusr @ 63
$150 a ticket, I believe.
http://www.kintera.org/site/apps/ka/r…..gPWKmI1KpK
Peterr, I think, is overreacting. The 4th Amendment is vastly overrated. Besides, there’s not much of it left anyway.
Also Joe Lieberman chairs the Homeland Security Committee so he’ll no doubt be all over this.
Hope, this eases any undue concerns anyone might have.
so enjoyable to delurk du Lake
are Jane and Marcy and Pach in shorts and tank tops? they should be…amazing warmth in DC area suddenly
I thinks Marcy’s back in MI
(no tank tops out of doors at least in the midwest)
Peterr,
With respect, your example was “everybody who has been harassed and needlessly incarcerated by BushCo’s immigrant and “national security” crackdowns”. The whole point here is that these people have been incarcerated without due process. Our Constitution and laws should protect everyone from from harassment and incarceration under the law. Instead the courts are abrogating rights declared to be ‘inalienable’ by the Constitution. The remedy is not pardons.
If the system doesn’t work, fix the system. What’s happened here is that the system has been broken to the point that the only hope of justice is to have some President ‘fix’ individual cases by special decree. That is not how a country of laws should work.
Professor Foland @ 11
We have talked about this before I think. Rule One of finding a needle in the haystack: Don’t add more hay.
This is just a piece of historical data, dredged from the dark recesses of my memory (so take with the appropriate grain of salt), but if I recall correctly, the acronym business in DC first started with Franklin Roosevelt and the New Deal. Federal agencies started being given three-letter acronyms (like FHA). This is why Roosevelt is often referred to as FDR, the first to be referred to completely by an acronym. All previous presidents are referred to by their last names. It is only post-FDR (Democratic) presidents who are remembered by their initials (see JFK, LBJ)
TRex @ 13
Which one is you, TRex?
There is a natural, pleasing cadence to 3 initials. For example EPU ;-)
Hello, your omniscience — but you knew I’d say that.
Time to renew my member ship at People Angry and Sometimes Trembling at Each and Every Acronym To Eliminate Rusty Scuppers, or, P.A.S.T.E. E.A.T.E.R.S. for short.
Evil Parallel Universe @ 81
mine are ww2
Evil Parallel Universe @ 81
egr
TRex @
13
Nice likeness!
So am I to understand that Dubya is 2 letters short of an acronym and why am I not surprised?
mc @ 68
that’s one classy fucking bitch.
EPU’d from a couple threads below.
Rayne @ 373
Rayne–no one’s answering the phone in the main office for some reason, and it isn’t kicking over into voicemail either. I’ll try again later.
We are either approaching the realities of Orwell’s 1984 or in many ways we have long passed that.
IIRC there are others who, IMHO, are also not blameless as to this issue. Damn, the phone is ringing… BRB.
Ahhh.h…Son of TIA. Yes!
Y’see, if we just had ALL of the hay, we’d know EXACTLY where the Terrists are. They’re RIGHT THERE IN THE HAY!!!!
I did my part right at the outset.
_
late to the post and one comes to mind immediately, even though its acro free..
KMA hint K = kiss
We have to flat out defund these mad scientists and congress critters who think we are all their mf’in lab rats.
I saw a bumpersticker: WTFWJD
Has anyone noticed that the logo for Total Info Awareness was the same logo used for the news reports in the movie version of The Handmaid’s Tale? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:IAO-logo.png
My thoughts on the Walter Reed scandal from the perspective of one who has spent decades in hospital finance.
twolf
what the fuck – where’s Jack Daniels?
HotFlash @ 77
My example of what? When did I say anything like “never mind the system, just pardon everyone Bush did in”? (Perhaps you’re confusing me with EDP @ 39.)
OK Kiddo raised the general argument against the power to issue pardons, and I replied with the general argument in favor of keeping the power. Ryan couldn’t change the system by himself, but he forced it to stop and take a look at itself.
By all means, we’ve got to work on fixing the system. But I’m enough of a realist to say the even with the best system we can come up with, there will still be those cases that fall through the cracks and need the remedy of a pardon available, if there is to be justice.
CancerCures @ 97
no, When Timmeh Falls (and breaks his foot), Walton’s Jury Deliberates
CancerCures @ 97
there is a fair amount in my stomach at the moment. Does that count?
twolf1 @ 94
Don’t know about bumperstickers, but the t-shirts, boxers, and such are available here.
Perhaps this might help figure out twolf1’s acronym:
W-T-F W J D
Tucker is on now and did not open his second airing with the Scooter comment.
I tried to email Dan Abrams at the email provided on the previous thread and it came back as email disabled.
pwright – was it dabrams@msnbc.com ? That worked for me in the past.
Eureka Springs, AR @ 104
No, I will try that one. Thanks.
Intellectually
Mindless
President
Ends
American
Constitution’s
Habeas
OT – here is an interesting article from a Toledo, Oh newspaper about war profiteering. http://http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs……-1/OPINION
No
Abominal
Surveillance
Tolerated
You hear?
Larry @
90
I’m re-reading it right now. Should be required reading in high school.
twolf1 @
94
I saw a license plate 4NICK8
Terry Olson @
109 re: 1984
It was required reading in mine.
OT via Froomkin,
Best Bush quote I’ve seen on the aftermath of Katrina.
So his staying away from New Orleans for 6 months wasn’t neglect but just so he could better see the progress. He’s so misunderstood, you see.
bdu @ 111
I had a choice to read it in my advanced placement class. I took it out of curiousity. It unfortunately wasn’t required for the lower level classes. But it was on my list of ‘you chose 9 books off this list yada yada yada’ stuff. What i read never left me.
GVILTY?
Guilty Verdict In Libby Trial Yet?
Peterr @
98
Hi Peterr,
Your comment was zigged with EDP’s statement (quoted) so I assumed (not unreasonably, I submit) that you were continuing with the same example. And the topic is *presidential* pardons, not pardons in general. I have to go to a gig so don’t have time to check other examples of presidential pardons, but the ones I recall are all highly political. The absolution of cronies of crimes that arguably constitute treason subverts and perverts justice. Although (she muyttered darkly) they do make handy trade goods for outgoing presidents, even Democratic ones, who need a few extra $ for retirement.
Great find Hugh. File it with the lost photos of Bush on a runaway Caterpillar in St. Louis, chasing journalists.
Listening to ABC Nightly News. A brief soundbite from tomorrow’s radio address. WH flacks saying Bush takes this seriously. “This” being the situation at Walter Reed.
You know what I heard in the radio address?
Nothing.
No emotion at all. Just a scriptreader.
All the spin in the world can’t mask the cold hard truth.
This president feels nothing for the people he sends into war.
aliasofwestgate @ 113 re: 1984
It came up as required reading (well, we’ve got a fair amount of lefty teachers here in the bay area) right as all the Clinton crap was going down (yes, I was in HS then), it was the perfect time to be introduced to the concepts therein.
I bought a copy for the personal library and reread it shortly after 9-11, as I could see it was needed again…
Terry Olson @ 110
Years ago, someone in my neighborhood had this vanity license plate: CRE 8 IVE
I left a note on his windshield: PRE 10 TIOUS
Terry Olson @ 109
Was required reading in my Highschool English Lit class back in ‘85.
Institute
To
Stop
The
Ignorant
Mining
Efforts
Fast
Of
Republican
Tyrants’
Hellbent
Evil
Motives
Toward
Overtaking
Government
O!
Jumping in late and I have to post and run but a couple of things:
First, they aren;’t really ‘acronymns’ but more properly, ‘bacronyms,’ which term is itself a neologism of obvious etymology.
Second, since this must needs be a drive-by posting, could someone look up which congreff-critter said something like “We should have known just from having to give it the name ‘Patriot Act’ that it was a baaaad bill.
Finally, putting on my mathematician/computer scientist hat, there are indeed lots of reasons why ADVISE and the like are probably not going to be very good at doing what they claim it is for, there are also lots of reasons to think it will be very good at what the evil bastards actually intend to use it for.
Don’t misunderestimate either their mal-intent nor their ability to make the tools they need to achieve their ends.
Hint: look deeply into a little company called Raytheon, especially their software people in a Pennsylvania college town smack dab in the center of the state.
/Hafta go into hiding “off the net” for a few months now…
I saw a great bumper sticker on wagon-drivin’ mom:
No Child life a dime
er, that’s
No child left a dime
Peterr @
59
IL Gov Ryan issued a blanket commutation of all of Illinois’ death row inmates, because a high number of folks had their convictions overturned when additional evidence was turned up by journalism students at Northwestern University. One error in a capital case can be called a mistake, two are a problem, but when multiple cases were found to be faulty, Ryan called a halt to it and converted everyone else’s sentences to life in prison.
Not a full pardon, but using the same power at the governor’s level to change the sentence imposed at trial.
And yes, this is different from letting your buds walk instead of doing time. But unless you can come up with something that allows something like what Ryan did while preventing abuses, I guess I’d rather live with the possibility for abuse.
A nice little amendment excluding anyone who served under, donated to or worked on the campaign of a
President from receiving a pardon from that President should do the trick.
poor dr. seuss! the man is quite dead!
he’s dead in his toes! he’s dead in his head!
he’s dead in his finger! he’s dead in his knee!
he’s deader than deadlio-deady can be!
it’s not really his birthday, ‘cuz he’s not really here,
it’s only his birth anniversary, my dear!
tho we loved the guy so, all his books we have read,
but he’s deadlio-deadiest-deadier-dead!
chaboard @ 125
Or from his VP, if that person should later hold the power of the presidency. But as a whole, I think your modification is a better way of dealing with the abuse of pardon power than eliminating that power altogether.
bdu @ 111
Mine, too…or, in any case, the AP English teacher used it. Thank God for Mrs. Kopecky.
It would no doubt be more honest to call the program Seeking Political Advantage by Spying on Murkins. That seems to be the whole of BushCo’s national insecurity policy.
Is Admiral Poindexter involved with this?
amilius @ 6
Where were we? Here: Now, my father the minister, in Carnaby, loving it, and sort of and loving me; away from the crowd. I like it!!!!!!! I’ll never forget, and his death meant so much. Ode on the Anniversary
The corrupt Republicans first roll-out Total Information Awareness, which sounds like some intelligence gathering program the Communists or East Germans (or any other totalitarian police state) might establish.
An uproar ensues.
Then, the corrupt Republicans change the name and start trying to hide the program from public scrutiny, at the same time crying “national security, national security.”
We all know what’s up.
The corrupt Republicans, especially Alberto Gonzales, view anyone that disagrees with their hardcore, right-wing beliefs and policies as a “national security” threat…to them.
Thus, this latest mutation of Total Information Awareness will go after any Islamic, hardcore, right-wing religious terrorists lurking about (hey, no problem with that), but will also go after the druggies, the pornies, and even any anti-Bushite, anti-fascism bloggies (like at FDL), as well as anyone politically opposed (as in Democratic, Libertarian, Green, moderate Republican, etc) to the hardcore, right-wing nutjobs in the RNC and Bush administration.
This was easy to predict. All conservatives around the world (Republican, Communist, Islamicist, etc) cannot tolerate having anything not under their control, well, not under their control. And the internet fits this description perfectly.
So, the conservative Communists in Red China data-mine and try to shutdown anything on “their” internet that threatens their control, including shutting down pornography as much as possible. (But I thought they were atheists). The conservative Islamicists have tried to limit access to the internet, while also conducting data-mining, especially going after pornography, too, just like the Communist Red Chinese.
So, the conservative Republicans? The same. Limit access. Data-mine. Go after the pornography. And punish anyone who doens’t “get with” the conservative Republican agenda for America…which hardly has anything to do with freedom, privacy or the right of all U.S. citizens to be free from tyranny.
What? The Communist Red Chinese leaders conservative? I thought they were lefties? Then why do the Communists keep acting like Republicans and the Republicans keep acting like Communists, especially in regards to the internet? Conservative control-freaks are the same all over the world.
(And even Democrats are susceptible to this. Video games? Alcohol? Drugs? Pornography? Cigarettes? Guns? Meat-eating? What do you feel should be censored and eradicated to make the world a better and safer place? Well, join the crowd. You’re a conservative. And all conservatives believe that limiting the freedom of others somehow enhances their own freedom, even though the opposite effect always occurs. In other words, the loss of freedom by one invariably entails the loss of freedom by all, including the loss of freedom for future generations.)
cows tail,
There is not much soul in an acronym conjured up out of the black fog of bureaucratic bumbling is there.
amilius @
6
Now that deserves an amen again again