as of just now 3 blocs
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We believe that the NSA mass data collection program is unconstitutional.
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We're excited to see more attention given to diversity in holiday representation.
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Congrats to the >chinese for their lunar landing! They join only us and the former Soviet Union in accomplishing a soft-landing on the moon. May humans continue to explore space in peaceful cooperation.
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I and other people of color (aka non white identifying) struggle with this daily. There is still a perception of a level of measure being applied to normative culture as it being set by white Americans. Even if hiphop and other powerful native cultures to the Americas like the various Latino cultures are increasingly influential. The images we see, that are advertised or the social norms we adopt are heavily influenced by the anglo-american. This largely has to do with who controls most of the wealth in this country, but also there is a psychology of all american people to normalize to this level of whiteness in order to avoid persecution or oppression by being outside of the larger society because of political, sexual, religious or vocational choices. "White America is desperately searching for its soul because it has for so long benefited from a belief that it is apart from the rest of us, blank of experience..."
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I think it may be time to surf the internet in privacy mode. "Today, an FBI agent can open an intrusive investigation with no reason to suspect criminal activity, and any resulting information can be kept for 20-30 years, even if it has no relationship to the investigation. Similarly, the FBI keeps so-called "suspicious activity reports" that are determined to have no relevance to terrorism – but may reflect Americans' constitutionally protected speech or other activities – for 30 years in a widely-accessible database."
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Rationally it doesn't make sense to do something like this. I'm wondering what the reasoning was. Are these recent cases all going to be explained away by psychosis or someone being chemically unstable ? When it happens in other countries it's considered revolutionary...or self-sacrafice to explain the human struggle.
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Shutdown plurality voting! - Government shuts down, due to - Ideological fundamentalism in Congress, due to - Ideological fundamentalists voted into Congress by the American people, due to - Dysfunctional, big money, two-party political system generating few election options, due to - Widespread use of simplistic, poorly-representative, winner-takes-all, Plurality Voting system based on single-mark ballots, due to - It being used when the country was founded and now being ingrained in our culture, due to - Single-mark ballots being easy to tabulate by hand. Yes, in 2013, after landing rovers on Mars, sequencing the human genome, and creating a machine than can beat humans on Jeopardy!, Americans still use a simplistic system based on single-mark ballots and plurality voting because historically they were easier to count by hand! Fortunately the Constitution (and local and state law) can be changed. ;) That means it's actually on us. Do we want to move to more evolved, robust systems, such as Preferential Voting (ranked voting) or Proportional Representation (wherever possible), to create a more representative, satisfactory, efficient government? Or do we want to keep our 'merican gladiator system that produces ideological meatheads who'd rather fight on camera than solve problems? More info: - http://en.wikipe
dia.org/wiki/Pro portional_repres entation - http://en.wikipe dia.org/wiki/Sin gle_transferable _vote NGO worth checking out: http://www.fairv ote.org/ Reference -
Congress... You idiots.
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Codenamed Marina. A year's worth of metadata is collected from internet users whether or not they are of interest to the NSA. Think that metadata is harmless information? Think again.
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We believe >iranians want to peacefully coexist with us, despite the rhetoric and actions of t...
original
"To gain relief from sanctions aimed at Iran’s support of terrorism, its nuclear program, and its human rights violations, Iran would have to undertake enormous reforms across the board. The Iranian government would have to prove that it has not supported terrorism in the past six months; it would have to release unconditionally all political prisoners in the country, end its human rights violations, and establish an independent judiciary; and it would have to assure the world that its nuclear program is designed only to provide peaceful nuclear energy. These are not changes that anybody expects to see in the short term from the current Iranian government, if ever."
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Three cheers for New Jersey!!!
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We believe >iranians want to peacefully coexist with us, despite the rhetoric and actions of their government in recent history. We only want the same, so we are cautiously optimistic about the recent developments. However, until we understand what has brought about this change, we will remain guarded and skeptical.
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Just found this new online drafting tool for those who like to compose long, thoughtful posts for their online spaces. This gives you a home base to draft/publish them from instead of crosspublishing across platform in the broken ways I've experienced it so far. Wordpress to tumblr to twitter. Now I can pick and choose and have different drafts depending on the destination. Or however you wanna creatively use it. Check it out! From what I've heard it's like a Github for writers (of the online nature). https://draftin.com/
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We support those who use their time and talents for the public good. Code for America is an excellent example as they use technology to make governments more responsive. As an example, San Mateo County in California has one of the lowest rates of food-stamp participation in the country, due to a difficult application process. Changes in the process would require 18 agencies to overhaul their data-processing software. The participants want to create a program that would ask simple questions to applicants and use the answers to populate the complicated government form.
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The War on Terror encompasses a war of attrition on civil liberty. Two recent TSA stories show this. In the first, a person is held for 6+ hours by the TSA, guilty of having bed-bug spray on him, practicing an unfamiliar religion (Hindu) and being of color. <http://orenhazi.
com/defeated.html> In the second, an individual legally opt-out of the (arguably invasive) submillimeter body scan, only to stand waiting for a pat-down indefinitely. After 30 minutes, America one; the man subjected to submillimeter scan. <http://orenhazi. com/defeated.html> These stories should never have occurred, but they're mundane enough for us to simply accept them, maybe as necessary evils. To do so is to be desensitized to an inversion of power wherein the government does not serve its people, but the people serve their government. It's up to every individual to hold steadfast to a vision of a better possible world, despite the plethora of pernicious actions and policies encouraging us to let go. -
New or a rehash of the same old ? I'm hoping for something fresh and it just launched today. I will give it a week of steady watching, but some suspect it to be a more polished version of CNN... Al Jazeera English had an bias - but it's always nice to see an outside America or more critical perspective. This show will be funded by money from outside the US, but made by those who reside in the US. I hope a beneficial combination for those who are able to subscribe to this channel. They started off on a bad foot though, banning content basically from the other Al Jazeera networks around the world... america.aljazeer
a.com Reference -
The British government (aka the US’s very own Mini-Me) has taken to intimidating the *friends and family* of disruptive journalists! This appalling, abusive violation of free speech resembles the very worst from repressive democracies like Russia! So, when's our first gulag opening?
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>egyptians, what's the history behind the distrust between the Muslim Brotherhood and the Egyptian military? And do you believe that a political military is compatible with a pluralistic democracy? The >americans hope you find a way to build toward a sustainable peace quickly.
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True, NYC hasn't been this safe in decades. But it's worth nothing if everyday privacy and dignity are the cost.
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Apparently local law enforcement agencies use privileged data to trigger investigations. They then conspire to cover this up by fabricating a fake basis for the investigation. It's frustrating to think that the people that actually carry out these procedures daily believe they are doing it for the greater good. Their conception of liberty is so misguided and far from historical perspective, they don't realize they're destroying exactly what makes this country great. But capitalism has made convenience the dominant pillar of our culture. Corporations take care of our dreams, religions take care of our fears, and politicians take care of the dissent.
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So the NSA has all this surveillance data of American citizens and other law enforcement agencies want to get their hands on it. We're not willing to applaud the NSA just yet for (allegedly) withholding that data. And we can't help but wonder how long it will be before all this infighting leads those other agencies muscle their way into telecom and ISP equipment to get their own piece of the action. We must continue to apply political pressure to end the madness. Those legislators that want to gut the NSA deserve our support!
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Stand Your Ground laws make no basic sense! It's illogical, unfair, unjust to hold that a person has a right to start a fight with another and, if the fight turns starkly in favor of the other, to then kill that person. Such laws need to be repealed!
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Why wouldn't one comment on something that is open to the public for review? I'm not surprised that this codes implementation has happened, it's just the lack of transparency bothers me. 'Vines wouldn’t say whether the agency’s work on Android and other software is part of or helps with Prism. “The source code is publicly available for anyone to use, and that includes the ability to review the code line by line,” she said in her statement. '
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If we are >americans-for-liberty do we trust companies that we send a lot of personal and real time information to - through paid or free services through contract - or is it because the government is storing this information in secret that our reaction is so averse? Has our relationships with private interest and government interest completely changed ? Which gives us more liberty ? https://medium.c
om/surveillance-state/a3f8a9988... "The state uses ever more advanced surveillance technology to watch us, and our own ever-greater use of personal technology makes it possible. On the other hand, technology has fundamentally destroyed the state’s ability to control our access to information, and exposed its bureaucracy to unprecedented scrutiny. This may be the death of privacy, but perhaps it’s also the death of secrecy and impunity. In that respect, fortunately, Orwell was wrong. Thanks to technology, Big Brother may be watching us, but we’re watching him too." Reference -
We the >americans-for-liberty believe that the NSA wiretapping program should be much more limited in scope, and that Snowden should not be prosecuted. http://www.youtu
be.com/watch?v=U fUi5C7WdrA Reference -
Hey >brazilians! What are the issues leading to your riots right now? What do you hope to change? Inquiring Americans want to know!
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When the branches of government collaborate to set a few well-placed wrenches in its innermost works to break the mechanisms of public accountability, civil disobedience becomes a moral necessity. So, indeed, Edward Snowden /is/ a hero.
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This breach of trust can't be overstated. The American government itself is guilty of moral treason. Game theory tells us we can't expect any entity to act but in their rational self-interest, but I am incensed all the same. One must only assume, therefore, that this exposure will not diminish surveillance, but drive it further beyond the sight and reach of the public. I do have faith however that Americans (and not just corporations) will use their freedom to protect their freedom, and strive to invent private means of communication that remain beyond the sight and reach of Big Brother.
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The new web page attachment feature allows us to show a summary of a webpage along with the vox, ...
originalWe love this new feature! It will heighten the political discourse and accountability throughout the land for decades to come! (This is an example of a "Reply" post, which encourages and supports long-lasting topical discussions between groups--all driven by democratic processes.)
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Progress toward justice: George Zimmerman charged with second-degree murder!
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Students Protest Debt as Student Loan Debt Collectors Make a Billion http://www.commo
ndreams.org/head line/2012/03/26... Freedom isn't free.. -
GOP delegate voting chairman in Missouri (a Santorum supporter) admits that he broke the rules at the delegate convention on purpose to squelch the votes of delegates supporting other candidates. He says he believe it was the right thing to do because the other candidates didn't get as much of the popular vote, so he didn't think the other candidate's delegates should have much of a voice for fear that they may get many delegates onto the state convention (which they are allowed to per GOP rules). Video on youtube captures his blatant disregard of the delegate's opposition (which he, as chairman, is suppose to respect), and instead adjourn the meeting. This is not right!
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American free speech is being threatened by the president and congress, again. New law passed that makes it a felony to protest in the general vicinity of anyone protected by the secret service. The secret service now have, at their discretion, the ability to arrest anyone who protests near government officials while under secret service protection. This is a felony charge with a 1 year prison sentence. The president is always under secret service protection. So protesting the president while he is around can mean a prison sentence.
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The Stream: Is the US ready for a three-party system? http://www.youtu
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Where is history anymore. Is what matters most the things that are happening now? Shall the past not inform our current opinions any more? Education really seems to now really be indoctrination, or selective learning influenced by the local community. Can it be any other way, when we have the world of information at our finger tips now? Is knowledge democratized currently? If so, why haven't we expressed our collective power of democracy. Each one representing themselves, instead of voting their responsibility away.
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Kudos to NPR! Last month they released updated journalistic guidelines that state "if the balance of evidence in a matter of controversy weighs heavily on one side, we acknowledge it in our reports." It does not serve the public good for the media simply to be enslaved as an amplifier for voices of manipulation. Any kindergartner is capable of repeating someone else's words. And it's time journalists stopped fearing the worst, most hypocritical offender and manipulator of media markets: Fox News Channel. One giant leap for journalist kind... one small step for American political awareness.
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"U.S. soldier in Afghanistan goes on a shooting rampage." If anything is surprising about this, it's that it took so long to happen. We have a culture that glorifies violence, and praises aggression as the American way to solve problems. Our educational system is completely devoid of tolerance and diversity instruction, has failed to equip students with adequate job skills, and completely down-plays the greatest of American traits, a overriding respect for the content of one's character. And then we fill the frontlines of our military, literally the faces of our nation to those countries who are at greatest ideological odds with us, with the most extreme personifications of these problems. We weren't surprised 10 years ago, and we're not surprised today. It's time we re-learned what it means to be American.
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Yesterday President Obama lambasted Republican presidential candidates for their vague, amorphous criticisms of weakness in his handling of Iran. While it's reckless, premature, and dangerous for these candidates to imply the need for war, they force the President into a sticky situation. While we support his desire for a diplomatic resolution, we do feel the President must take care to balance his political desire to point out the flaws in the Republicans' rehetoric, with the nation's strategic need to be extremely assertive with Iran. Specifically, he must craft his statements about Republicans not to signal to Iran that military force is completely out of the question. Otherwise, he can embolden Iran and ironically bring us closer to war. More: http://www.nytim
es.com/2012/03/0 7/world/middlee... -
Kudos to the Russian people for not going down under Putin's rule without a fight. The only way Putin can hope to be re-elected (a whopping six years from now due to constitutional changes in 2008) without resorting to all out fraud, will be to incite fears of "the West". It's now in his interest to drive relations with the U.S. into the ground, which won't help our ability to militarily confront terror threats. While on the one hand that is scary, on the other hand it may hopefully force U.S. foreign policy to be more bilateral.
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For the second consecutive year China boosted their defense budget over 10%; now topping $100 billion. Buy "made in China" and we arm a soldier. Buy "made in USA" and we give our neighbor a job.
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I just noticed in the workspace for the vox, it is hinted that I use "we" instead of "I" - as Americans, we need to shed some of our individualism in this iCulture.
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What is necessary for the American mindset to lose it's hubris is opening itself to listening to and encouraging the criticism of the rest of the world. But, this also applies to the Western mindset in general no matter where on this Earth it is established systematically. This world may be controlled by money for now, but ideas are the currency of the future. I believe that online we must seek out ways to dialogue with other world citizens in a more organized forum, and I feel like combining news and information items in a more collaborative, open and uncensored environmentalists is necessary. Without fear of reprisal or intervention of law enforcement. It's not about secrecy or privacy, but liability and freedom of expression. I enjoy watching http://stream.al
jazeera.com/ for a slightly more global, but less hierarchical discussion of world events. This horizontal form of communication is necessary everywhere online and in the flesh. Work, school and inter-communally. Hopefully bloc vox can become one of those tools! -
It makes sense that the Afghans are irate at us. Even in the midst of this fallout, there's very limited coverage on the news, and practically no average Americans (or college-educated ones for that matter) has a clue what's going on over there, much less feels guilt or indignation. It's time for us to get a little integrity, from the bottom up.
