Conches

Who are we, PII?

Will we watch this deteriorate in to all out war?  Will we fuel it or will we work to quell? 

What defines us as civilized? What binds us as human? 

I have no illusions about the mystical powers of capitalism's democracy. Spending does not constitute engagement. "Our" wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are choices we made, lives we elected to spend. We are still unclear as to what our lives are buying. "Ask not what your country can do TO you..."

Who are we...?

clipped from news.bbc.co.uk

MDC urges intervention in 'war'

Zimbabwe's opposition is suspicious of the motives for the recount

 

African leaders and the UN must act to ensure democracy triumphs in Zimbabwe, says a key opposition figure.

MDC secretary general Tendai Biti said Zimbabwe was now "in a war situation" following disputed polls on 29 March.

He said 10 people had been killed, hundreds injured and thousands displaced in post-election violence.

After a request from the ruling party, electoral officials are conducting a partial recount of the parliamentary vote, won by the MDC.

Votes are being recounted in 23 constituencies, a process election officials say could take more than three days to complete.

Three weeks after polls were held, the presidential result is still unknown.

The opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai - who has fled the country - insists he won the presidential vote outright, and has demanded that the results be released.

Poverty and Hunger: Who are We?

The front pages are full of evidence of failed policy across the world.  In the San Francisco Chronical, a study confirms that poverty is bad for you.  The NY Time describes a global food shortage.  Our global policy is driven by avarice.  How can we move to globe that serves the people who live on it.

 

clipped from www.sfgate.com

Study spotlights bleak effects of poverty

Elizabeth Fernandez, Chronicle Staff Writer

Friday, April 18, 2008

Oakland -- A black child in West Oakland is much more likely to be born prematurely and into poverty than a white child in the Oakland hills. In school, he's less likely to read at grade level and more likely to drop out.

As an adult, he's more prone to diabetes, heart disease, cancer or stroke. And he can expect to die nearly 15 years earlier.

Illustrating the profound societal impact of chronic poverty, a new report released Thursday by the Alameda County Public Health Department documents health disparities by neighborhood, income and race. It highlights a widening social, economic and health gap in the county - as poverty goes up, life expectancy goes down.

"The data are overwhelming," said Dr. Tony Iton, the county's public health director. "It is shocking. It is not unique to West Oakland. You see it in Bayview-Hunters Point, in Richmond, in Cleveland and Detroit."

clipped from www.nytimes.com

Across Globe, Empty Bellies Bring Rising Anger

Tyler Hicks/The New York Times

In a garbage dump in Port-au-Prince, people recently scavenged for food. More Photos >

By MARC LACEY

Published: April 18, 2008

 

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Hunger bashed in the front gate of Haiti’s presidential palace. Hunger poured onto the streets, burning tires and taking on soldiers and the police. Hunger sent the country’s prime minister packing.

Haiti’s hunger, that burn in the belly that so many here feel, has become fiercer than ever in recent days as global food prices spiral out of reach, spiking as much as 45 percent since the end of 2006 and turning Haitian staples like beans, corn and rice into closely guarded treasures.

Why Aggressive Public Criticism of China Should Continue

A shipment of arms was sent from China to Zimbabwe.  There is no context in which this is supportable. The fact that the US is, also, a bad international citizen is not a good enough, or even a elevant reason to withhold criticism.

A huge thank you to the South African Transport and Allied Workers Union for defying the official S. African position not to intervene.

clipped from news.bbc.co.uk

Mugabe attacks opposition and UK

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has denounced the opposition and former colonial power Britain in his first speech since the disputed elections

South African dock workers are refusing to unload a shipment of arms from China destined for Zimbabwe.

The South African Transport and Allied Workers Union said it did "not agree with the position of the government not to intervene".

Reports say the Chinese cargo ship An Yue Jiang, anchored off Durban, is carrying 3m rounds of ammunition, 1,500 rocket-propelled grenades and 2,500 mortar rounds.

The difference between Obama and Clinton by L. Lessig

Watch this presentation (http://lessig.org/blog/4obama.mov) by Lawrence Lessig on the difference between Hillary Clinton and Barrack Obama.  This is the first time I have heard anyone lay out real. meaningful differences.  What do you think?

Rumsfeld calls for new US propaganda agency

This is insane.  Could it be that he will get traction with this idea?   

clipped from reclaimthemedia.org Rumsfeld calls for new US propaganda agency                                    Submitted by jonathan on Mon, 2008-02-04 11:03.     Propaganda and War | Newswire Full Story: by Sharon Weinberger, Wired 'll just let Rumsfeld speak for himself: Private media does not get up in the morning and say what can we do to promote the values and ideas that the free Western nations believe in?... ...There are all kinds of opportunities. We do not with any systematic organized way attempt to engage the battle of ideas and talk about the idea of beheading, and what it's about and what it means. And talk about the fact that people are killing more Muslims than they are non-Muslims, these extremists. They're doing it with suicide bombs and the like. We need to engage and not simply be passive and allow that battle of competition of ideas.

Barack Obama on Technology

With this post, I am officially endorsing Barack Obama for president.  I fully expect this news to blanket the blogosphere in the next couple of  hours.     

Co-Sponsoring an amendment to FISA to eliminate telecom immunity because  telcos need to responsible for their role in protecting our civil liberties.

clipped from firedoglake.com Barack Obama Statement on FISA                     By: Jane Hamsher Monday January 28, 2008 10:00 pm           Photo via -ART-. Statement of Senator Obama: I strongly oppose retroactive immunity in the FISA bill. Ever since 9/11, this Administration has put forward a false choice between the liberties we cherish and the security we demand. No one should get a free pass to violate the basic civil liberties of the American people - not the President of the United States, and not the telecommunications companies that fell in line with his warrantless surveillance program. We have to make clear the lines that cannot be crossed. That is why I am co-sponsoring Senator Dodd's amendment to remove the immunity provision. Secrecy must not trump accountability. We must show our citizens – and set an example to the world – that laws cannot be ignored when it is inconvenient.

Advocating for Net Neutrality on freedom of speach grounds...

clipped from www.techcrunch.com

November 14 2007

Barack Obama’s Google-Friendly Technology Platform

Erick Schonfeld

Supports Net Neutrality  (Google will like this plank.  But Obama also argues for it on the grounds of protecting free speech.  Interesting.)

A key reason the Internet has been such a success is because it is the most open network in history.  It needs to stay that way. Barack Obama strongly supports the principle of network neutrality to preserve the benefits of open competition on the Internet.  Users must be free to access content, to use applications, and to attach personal devices.  . . . Because most Americans only have a choice of only one or two broadband carriers, carriers are tempted to impose a toll charge on content and services, discriminating against websites that are unwilling to pay for equal treatment.  . . . Such a result would threaten innovation, . . .. It would also threaten the equality of speech through which the Internet has begun to transform American political and cultural discourse

AT&T: what are they thinking?

Evidently asking the telco's (AT&T in particular) to self-regulate their network neutrality stance isn't going to work.  Already seeing absolutely no repercussions for their role in the NSA wiretapping (other than not getting paid for the illegal service), AT&T is now eager to sniff traffic for copyrighted material.

clipped from bits.blogs.nytimes.com January 8, 2008,  7:07 pm AT&T and Other I.S.P.’s May Be Getting Ready to Filter By Brad Stone Tags: at and t, CES, content filtering, Copyright, digital fingerprinting, NBC, piracy UPDATED For the last 15 years, Internet service providers have acted - to use an old cliche - as wide-open information super-highways, letting data flow uninterrupted and unimpeded between users and the Internet. But I.S.P.’s may be about to embrace a new metaphor: traffic cop. At a small panel discussion about digital piracy at NBC’s booth on the Consumer Electronics Show floor, representatives from NBC, Microsoft, several digital filtering companies and the telecom giant AT&T said discussed whether the time was right to start filtering for copyrighted content at the network level.

clipped from www.slate.com

jurisprudence: The law, lawyers, and the court.

Has AT&T Lost Its Mind?A baffling proposal to filter the Internet.

By Tim Wu
Posted Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2008, at 10:15 AM ET

Chances are that as you read this article, it is passing over part of AT&T's network. That matters, because last week AT&T announced that it is seriously considering plans to examine all the traffic it carries for potential violations of U.S. intellectual property laws. The prospect of AT&T, already accused of spying on our telephone calls, now scanning every e-mail and download for outlawed content is way too totalitarian for my tastes. But the bizarre twist is that the proposal is such a bad idea that it would be not just a disservice to the public but probably a disaster for AT&T itself. If I were a shareholder, I'd want to know one thing: Has AT&T, after 122 years in business, simply lost its mind?

Three Reasons Why Diane Fienstein is a Republican

Most recently, she made a public statement backing legal immunity for telco firms in wiretap cases.  For an excellent explication why this is just another case of Diane selling out watch the video from Countdown with Chris Dodd of Mark Klein, former AT&T technician who testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee, the committee where Ms. Feinstein represents the swing vote in a 10-9 Democratic majority. 

clipped from www.mydd.com

No Telecom Immunity

by Todd Beeton, Thu Nov 08, 2007 at 09:56:48 AM EST

If you saw Countdown last night, you saw Mark Klein, a former AT&T technician who is testifying today in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee that

AT&T had technology which helped the Bush administration spy on emails.

And not just e-mails abroad or from suspected terrorists... everything. On a practical level, granting these firms immunity will halt the lawsuits that are currently filed to demand to know exactly what these telecoms have done and whose communications and information has been compromised. That's unacceptable.

Matt at the Chris Dodd campaign interviewed Klein yesterday, check out what he has to say for yourself.

TechNet Innovation Summit

Just sat sat through a taping of the Charlie Rose Show at Zellerbach Hall and sponsorred by TechNet and billed as an Innovation Summit. Participating were John Chambers, Chairman and CEO, Cisco Systems; John Chen, Chairman, President and CEO, Sybase; and Laura Tyson, Professor Haas Business and Public Policy Group, UC Berkeley.  I was stunned by the broad agreement on two things: 1) K12 education is broken and it must be fixed, 2) social networking, web2 tools represent the next wave of innovation that will increase productivity in the neighborhood of 5%.

Simple Network Visualization for the Left and the Right

I hope to write more in the near future on networks, specifically how physical networks (first tier, consumer, ethernet, wireless, freeway, buildings, trails, etc) relate to human networks and relationships.  For now, I wanted to explore something very straight forward.