One writer using the pseudonym 'Le_SigNagE' on the Santarchy! (or also known as the Santacon) website commented, "... after all, this is what Christmas is really about… mindless vandalism and petty theft."

Amen.

40 alleged drunken Santas accused of running amok

A senior at UMass Dartmouth was visited by federal agents two months ago, after he requested a copy of Mao Tse-Tung's tome on Communism called "The Little Red Book."

The student, who was completing a research paper on Communism for Professor Pontbriand's class on fascism and totalitarianism, filled out a form for the request, leaving his name, address, phone number and Social Security number. He was later visited at his parents' home in New Bedford by two agents of the Department of Homeland Security, the professors said.

The professors said the student was told by the agents that the book is on a "watch list," and that his background, which included significant time abroad, triggered them to investigate the student further.

"I tell my students to go to the direct source, and so he asked for the official Peking version of the book," Professor Pontbriand said. "Apparently, the Department of Homeland Security is monitoring inter-library loans, because that's what triggered the visit, as I understand it."

This is over the top. Mao? They sent out federal agents because a college student was reading Mao? Are we really worried about a communist movement in America these days? What the hell is going on?

Utterly horrifying.

UMass Dartmouth senior visited by federal agents for checking out Mao's 'Little Red Book'

Decius wrote:

There is a stupid notion going around that the news media would be better off if anyone and everyone got to make a contribution to it. Blogs and podcasts are examples of this and reader-generated electronic "newspapers" are beginning to spring up. People who should know better see this as democratizing the flow of news and information...

I have been concerned about this new, online "citizen journalism" becoming the source of more disinformation than truth, a concern that actually extends to most of the Internet.

Some people in the media are absolutely giddy about the opportunity to pile a complete and total indictment of the entire Internet on top of this incident. Oh my god! People can express their own views without control from the 4th estate! How will we ever know what is true anymore?!

Check out the headline on this article:

For all its wonders, the world-changing effects of the digital civilization contains a slimy, anarchic undercurrent of democracy run amok.

There is so much that is broken about the perspectives being offered around this incident:

The idea that Wikipedia and encyclopedias are the same kinds of things and their value should be judged by the same criteria.
The idea that Wikipedia must either be 100% reliable or completely useless for any purpose.
The idea that people are not capable of critical thinking and should not be responsible for doing it.
The idea that the alleged connection to the Kennedy Assasination would have been viewed as credible by anyone who isn't nuts.
The idea that internet anonymity is a bad thing.
The idea that "supporting freedom of speech" is compatible with "demanding accountability." (Haven't you people ever heard of the Federalist Papers?!)
The idea that the highly reliable totally awesome 4th estate should be the arbiter of the truth, when in their articles about this VERY incident they have repeatedly twisted this guy's voluntary resignation from his job (which he had to do because of the pressure THEY would put on his employer if he hadn't) so that it appears as if he was fired. "Man looses job over wikipedia prank..."

The biggest problem here is the idea that a national press campaign and the threat of lawsuits are a reasonable way of dealing with a problem on a publically editable wiki! This notion is so irrational that one suspects John Seigenthaler of taking advantage of the opportunity because he wanted to launch a broder attack on the Internet. You gunna sue me for suggesting that, John? Go ahead. Make my fucking day.

Hear hear!

The people that this is pandering to don't even understand it. I mentioned before that he went through all the trouble of a lawsuit when he could have used the talk page or changed the article. The idea of this being turned into a matter of the press versus 'the new media' is absurd.

I'm going to chalk this up to uninformed technophibia.

Again.

P.S, you should change the biafra quote to "The voice of a slimy, anarchic undercurrent of democracy run amok." for a week or so.

RE: Internet Backlash

The music industry is to extend its copyright war by taking legal action against websites offering unlicensed song scores and lyrics.

The Music Publishers' Association (MPA), which represents US sheet music companies, will launch its first campaign against such sites in 2006.

Next up: Oral Tradition retroactively derided as theft, Talmud yanked from circulation.

BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Song sites face legal crackdown

bucy wrote:

Decius wrote:

A new front in the political wars over sex and violence in video games opened Tuesday when Senators Hillary Clinton and Joseph Lieberman called for a new crackdown on the industry by the federal government.

Remember that a vote for Hillary Clinton is a vote for more of this kind of stuff. You know, children who are never exposed to reality and never have to make their own choices about right and wrong do a real good job of taking care of themselves when they go to college.

I guess it isn't really surprising that the whole Parents Music Resource Center flap with Tipper Gore and Jello Biafra from 20 years ago is playing itsself out again in the context of video games...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moral_panic

Everything old is new again.

RE: Senators target 'graphic' video games | CNET News.com

McTeague's worries stem from the concert Jackson had with veteran rapper Jay-Z at the Molson Ampitheatre in 2003 where a young man was shot, in addition to a streak of gun violence Toronto has experienced since the summertime.

However, Volpe has not yet received any requests from the ministry to unauthorize the rap star's entrance into Canada.

Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty also expressed his opinion on the matter, stating gun violence in Toronto is "much more complex than a rapper's lyrics and image". However, there are some students who feel differently.

Somebody think of the children!

MP wants ‘Fiddy’ banned

Transport Canada is road-testing cutting-edge devices that use global positioning satellite technology and a digital speed-limit map to know when a driver is speeding, and to try to make them stop.

When a driver hits a certain percentage above the posted speed limit, the device kicks in and makes it difficult to press the accelerator.

Why write tickets when you can just have your computer take over their car?!

I can't let you do that Dave.

The Globe and Mail: New spyware gives drivers a brake

Printing presses are the prized platform of a public lynch mob spouting liberty but spewing lies, libel, and invective. Their potent allies in this pursuit include Ben Franklin and John Hancock.

In case you missed it Forbes Magazine published an insanely vindictive scare post on bloggers in this month's issue, which claims that bloggers are an untamed lynch mob and suggests all kinds of unethical things for containing them (honestly explaining the truth is not considered). Forbes doesn't let you read the article for free so I'm linking the EFF's response instead.

Forbes 'Attack of the Blogs'