Looking back on this 4th of July to a time when the country was united in a cause that no one could deny. (Uhh, we’re united in this one, right? Mostly?) Credit goes to … somewhere on Facebook.
Happy 4th of July! If you’re working today (or worse, tonight) and not getting anything more than standard wages, consider whether you and your co-workers ought to consider doing something about that! Labor solidarity really used to upset Hitler!
Use this as an Open Thread for Holiday and Patriotism and Hitler-related (not involving Obama) themes.
WOO HOO! Americans waving their flags made in China!
Want o see your NSA or FBI file?
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/06/11/1215421/-Want-to-See-Your-NSA-or-FBI-File-Here-s-How
The OC Political guys just reprinted the Declaration of Independence, which reminds me of when I made an illustrated version of it five years ago today (2008, end of Bush years)
Check it out, I remember “anon” liked it a lot….
http://www.orangejuiceblog.com/2008/07/declaration-2008/
Two reflections on the Fourth of July. One by the Indian-American journalist Fareed Zakaria:
“July 4 in America is a good time to reflect on the glories of U.S. democracy – especially given the turbulence in so many democracies these days, from Egypt to Brazil to Turkey.
As we watch these protests around the globe, we should keep in mind that the distinctive feature of the American system is actually not how democratic it is, but rather how undemocratic it is.
What do I mean? Well, we have three co-equal branches of government and the one with the final say on many issues, the Supreme Court, is composed of 9 unelected men and women. The American senate is the most unrepresentative upper house in the democratic universe, with the exception of Britain’s House of Lords, which is utterly powerless. California’s 38 million people have the same representation in the Senate as do Wyoming’s 576,000. State and local governments battle federal power constantly. Private businesses and other non-governmental groups are also part of the mix.
Now there are aspects of this system that many Americans don’t like – especially the abuse of the system by largely invented practices like the filibuster – but the basic system of checks and balances, as the famous phrase goes, has worked well.”
http://globalpublicsquare.blogs.cnn.com/2013/07/04/america-the-undemocratic/?
Carlos Fuentes, Mexican novelist:
“If patriotism is a value, it manifests itself quietly, in acts of care and solidarity, in love for things both great and minute in one’s heart, but without ever ceasing to discover the values one loves at home in other peoples and in other lands. But patriotism is more voice than silence, more criticism than irrational approval. You only criticize what you care for. Criticism and dissent can be a greater act of love than cheers and raised fists or stiff-armed salutes.”
This Week in ‘Nation’ History: The Fourth of July and the Meaning of Patriotism |
No, I do not want to see my NSA file or FBI File or what my girlfriend really thinks of me. Denial is key to happiness.
Nor do I wish they read what I write, double eye. I disagree about denial however.
The US however isn’t the only country who has an eavesdropping program, seems La Monde has outed the French DGSE, as reported by the BBC including the British DGSE. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-23178284
I am willing to bet good hard metallic bullion that every major and most minor countries have had such programs running for some time. Countries like Israel, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, and certainly the other majors like India, China and Russia as well. The basic difference is, so far at least, they have kept theirs secret.
It’s been long known to those of us with digital savvy that things like e-mail, Facebook, and other social media are forever. That anyone, given enough computer power and time can decrypt just about any algorithm devised.
Archiving “everything” and simply going back and finding the raw data, one can reconstruct a vast majority of communications, their content and hence build, at the very least, the history of who and what was communicated when. The fly in the ointment, at least at this point, is the limitations of those who are involved in the analysis of this information, along with the map of who’s information needs to be recalled.
Since the internet started as ARPAnet it really shouldn’t be a great surprise to anyone who really thinks things through. It is after all the information age. Most folks have nothing to fear, at this point at least, since there are simply too many of us for all of us to be selected for review…but that might not last long.
The greatest hurdle we now face is how we want to see the Genie and how much we want the Genie to see and when. It’s like the realization that you really have no privacy in your backyard as the photo-recon satellites circle overhead. Nobody cares if your laying naked in the backyard sunning yourself like a lizard, but you don’t want them gawking at YOU!
We all however want the bombers stopped, we all want the mass shootings to stop, we all want basically them same things, our own privacy BUT we also want our public servants to keep us safe from harm.
The devil is in the details however. Let the public speak out, let the legislators regulate and throttle back those in the NSA/HS and whatever other alphabet soup agency is involved and keep them on a leash. Not that I believe for a heartbeat, that they wont stretch those rules and cherry pick whatever data they want to actually come up with all the information they need.
If you had no clue all this was going on, then you really weren’t paying attention to the graffiti that kept appearing on the walls.
As for the political fault, it’s not and never has been one party or the other. They both share in the blame and both of them should be spanked hard for their complacency and participation!
That should have been the British GCHQ, my apologies for the error.
*We think it is better to reflect onthe 90 people in Newport Beach arrested on the 4th of July for drunkedness and causing trouble. And how in the world were only 12 people arrested in Huntington Beach? Good Lord, they have that many folk urinating
in public on every block…..don’t they?
It’s tougher to make the arrests from a drone, so HBPD had fewer arrests.
I don’t think NBPD uses them do they? (yet)
See how well drones work out for PD use.
*They should spray ink from the drones to make sure the bad guys don’t get away….or maybe skunk scent?
The *fireworks* legal and illegal in my vicinity started 6:30 pm and lasted non-stop until 10 pm. It wasn’t just one group blowing up stuff…it was at least 5 different ones, judging from the sounds. I had to close my windows and turn up the tv full blast and was still drowned out by the noise. I don’t live near Disney (I would expect noise from them)…this was the worst noise I EVER experienced and my dogs were so stressed out they wouldn’t even go outside this morning. What’s up with Americans and their love of blowing sh*t up??? Unbelievable!
I haven’t heard anything like last night in California — certainly not in the last five years of living here.
I live on Knott and Ball in Anaheim. There were people setting off fireworks inside my condo complex and in back of our complex in the housing tract. Hubby saw fireworks going off across the street east of Knott…like the ones Disney uses…they didn’t go as high in the air but they looked the same…I doubt they were the “safe and sane” ones sold 2 blocks down in Stanton.
Our love of blowing s*it up made us great, Inge!
The dog shook like a leaf and panted all friggin night long, even with his anxiety reducing shirt thingy on. I also blared the stereo and made him listen to Crosby, Stills and Nash and Lynrd Skynrd. (He hates Southern Cross…) Maybe when cities pass fireworks laws in the future they should include funding for doggy day care for residents with dogs-ha!