tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.post8464848076953652281..comments2024-01-02T22:01:12.976+00:00Comments on Avedon's Sideshow: On the internetAvedonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04702100335744054401noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.post-36005166327016029572013-01-17T18:10:14.155+00:002013-01-17T18:10:14.155+00:00Thanks for the link, JC.Thanks for the link, JC.stuart_zechmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14817215761981204304noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.post-73386645000331755652013-01-17T05:50:12.660+00:002013-01-17T05:50:12.660+00:00I tell you, we've just got to find more target...I tell you, we've just got to find more targets for all these drones:<br /><br />http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2013/01/a-broken-foreign-policy-establishment-turns-to-mali/267231/Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.post-91008360385471304692013-01-17T04:30:10.734+00:002013-01-17T04:30:10.734+00:00Today's my birthday and this is what conservat...Today's my birthday and this is what conservative industrialist <a href="http://welcomebacktopottersville.blogspot.com/2013/01/while-youre-blowing-out-your-candles.html" rel="nofollow">Cyril Blubberpuss</a> says about it.jurassicporkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01673461210301442978noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.post-57508924849007984922013-01-16T08:17:34.890+00:002013-01-16T08:17:34.890+00:00The US Secret Service is the lead agency on comput...The US Secret Service is the lead agency on computer crime in the USA, and has the people with the specialised skills to supervise such things as the handling of evidence. In the early days, it looks as nobody really knew what they were doing. Twenty years later, having a Secret Service agent involved would seem to be pretty routine.<br /><br />That doesn't make their presence a good thing, but it is less significant that some think.<br /><br />I'm reminded that the UK's legal system still has a split between the people who prepare cases, and the people who argue cases in court. That's not entirely a good thing: the people with the court experience will kill a bad case, but they don't get to see it until late in the process. But a British Barrister, who might be a very specialised lawyer, not just an advocate in court, follows a set of professional rules which mean he will act for both prosecution and defence (in different cases, of course).<br /><br />The British system and the American system diverged before a recognisable modern system emerged. That is partly why the US Constitution has some of the clauses it does, trying to block some of the potential for abuses. In Britain, William Garrow was changing, by personal example, how trials were conducted. Were elected prosecutors that good an idea? It was, I suppose, seen as a counter to tyranny. The British system, with the Judges picked from a large pool of experienced trial lawyers, doesn't seem to have gone for such things as Plea Bargains: imagine what a good defence lawyer could make of the sort of prosecutorial threat that Aaron Schwartz faced, and remember that in Britain the prosecutor in court, and the Judge, have experience of defending cases.<br /><br />Neither system is perfect. But, when they interact, as with the attempts to extradite Gary McKinnon showed, the differences and the politics combine is a rather ugly mess. The persistent US efforts, and the apparently exaggerated charges, combined with the scope of the penalties being talked about, sat uneasily with the questionable mental health of McKinnon. It shifted from legal issues to political, but the possible 70-year sentence, compared to less than four years for a guilty plea, doesn't look like justice from the top of the Clapham omnibus.<br /><br />It's not just this case. It's not just this prosecutor. There's an ugly pattern in the US justice system, and petitions aimed at removing a single bad-apple from the barrel ignore a stinking, rotten, mass of strange fruit.<br />zhochakahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06653786360841345602noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.post-63647323635205650872013-01-15T20:52:45.857+00:002013-01-15T20:52:45.857+00:00Marcy Wheeler on Lanny Breuer:
If we want to fix ...<a href="http://www.emptywheel.net/2013/01/15/ok-but-can-we-also-fire-lanny-breuer/" rel="nofollow">Marcy Wheeler on Lanny Breuer:</a><br /><br /><i>If we want to fix the injustice that was done to Aaron Swartz, we need to fix the aspects of the system that rewarded such behavior. We need to fix the law that empowered the prosecutors gunning for him. We need to put some breaks on DOJ’s power. And we should start by getting rid of the guy who has fostered this culture of abuse for the last four years.</i>ksixhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15406854618914127269noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.post-28378108331985858232013-01-15T18:11:36.171+00:002013-01-15T18:11:36.171+00:00The outrage over Swartz's case should serve as...The outrage over Swartz's case should serve as a reminder that movement liberals are not Big Government statists.<br /><br />Movement liberals are for adversarial checks and balances between powerful public and private interests, not for state power for its own presumed benevolence.<br /><br />Establishment liberals, on the other hand...stuart_zechmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14817215761981204304noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.post-42221616881904788832013-01-15T07:52:56.735+00:002013-01-15T07:52:56.735+00:00So depressing about Swartz, but I don't feel s...So depressing about Swartz, but I don't feel sorry for him. He did the right thing, and I think he's better off now. As for the country and world we're left it, I really can't say they deserve someone as brave and idealistic as that.<br /><br />And as contemptible as Heymann and Ortiz are, this has Bambi's fingerprints all over it. He's the perfect Oreo of evil: Cheney and Emanuel evil hellbent on vengeance on the inside, with a thin veneer of Cosby that still seems to sucker the masses. There is no point fighting the Antichrist, he has been given dominion over the world. The only rational response is to withdraw from the world and his evil.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07867213921113050064noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.post-58436966125941329092013-01-15T06:04:35.674+00:002013-01-15T06:04:35.674+00:00On another another topic. I went with two of your ...On <i>another</i> another topic. I went with two of your recommendations and they did the trick in bridging the digital divide -- thanks again.CMikehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13481861530761114492noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.post-59101963096543415082013-01-15T00:45:17.182+00:002013-01-15T00:45:17.182+00:00Sure looks the establishment doesn't want to t...<i>Sure looks the establishment doesn't want to talk much about Aaron Swartz and what his story means.</i><br /><br />I scanned a few mainstream newspapers and only found mentions of him in the Boston Globe and the LA Times. Not even McClatchy, which did find space for Chandra Levy.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.watermakesmoney.com/index.php/en/the-trial" rel="nofollow">This</a> is a more intelligible version of the Veolia article from the English language version of the website (which I wish I'd seen earlier).ksixhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15406854618914127269noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.post-89597580926888335222013-01-15T00:10:46.837+00:002013-01-15T00:10:46.837+00:00Dammit, these mindo-s keep creeping in! I knew th...Dammit, these mindo-s keep creeping in! I knew that!Avedonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04702100335744054401noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.post-74588290086486525422013-01-14T22:19:04.135+00:002013-01-14T22:19:04.135+00:00Barack Obama and Social Security: back in 2008, en...Barack Obama and Social Security: back in 2008, enthusiastic Obama supporters insisted that his comments about reforming entitlements had nothing to do with Social Security. It was all about getting universal health care, they said. When I pointed out that he was saying nothing of the kind, they insisted that he was saying what he had to say to get elected, but then it would become clear that he was talking about universal health care, not about Social Security. <br /><br />It was the damnedest thing. Before Bush, I don't remember that "saying what you have to say to get elected" was acceptable. I thought knowing that "he really meant the opposite of what he said" was a ludicrous Bush fan characteristic. Now it seems the way politics are done. The politician is like a movie star -- his function is to focus the fantasy life of his fans.<br /><br />On another topic, Brad Miller is from North Carolina.nihil obstethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02336022385130880362noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.post-42454581066627931262013-01-14T21:16:48.021+00:002013-01-14T21:16:48.021+00:00aaron was a hero. thank you for putting him top o ...aaron was a hero. thank you for putting him top o the page. <br /><br />the important thing about his death is a lesson i hope all of us, esp younger people learn. which is yes, they will go after you for as little as a blog post or facebook wall, and throw the whole weight of the state behind the effort to ruin you. <br /><br />think about that. chicago dykehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16679908774337228752noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.post-40514412958103162232013-01-14T19:59:44.446+00:002013-01-14T19:59:44.446+00:00Sure looks the establishment doesn't want to t...<i>Sure looks the establishment doesn't want to talk much about Aaron Swartz and what his story means.</i><br /><br /><br /><br />Do you think Fluffyhead, The Chuckster(aka Chuck Todd), Brian Williams or Jake Tapper even know who Swartz is/was? They're more concerned about getting invited to Sally Quinn's mansion for cocktails. Phil Perspectivehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13540815981930702517noreply@blogger.com