What is YOUR Terrorism / Crime risk factor?

Almost every day in the news there's something that causes me, for just a second, to lose my breath and wonder, have I dozed off and found myself in some strange dream based on George Orwells 1984?

Today, the Associated Press reported on a system that the US government maintains in which a federal agent will basically arbitrarily assign a score that assesses their risk for being a terrorist or a criminal. They will then keep this rating on file for the next FOURTY YEARS. We, as the voting public, are forbidden from accessing this information. For national security reasons, of course, because naturally "for the protection of the people and the state" certain things must be done, right?

Your terrorist/criminal score is explained by the AP as follows:

The scores are assigned to people entering and leaving the United States after computers assess their travel records, including where they are from, how they paid for tickets, their motor vehicle records, past one-way travel, seating preference and what kind of meals they ordered.

The Homeland Security Department notice called it "one of the most advanced targeting systems in the world" and said U.S. ability to spot criminals and other security threats "would be critically impaired without access to this data."

The next time you fly to/from/around the US, bear this in mind as the immigration/customs/security person gives you a second look after checking their computer screen.

Richard Tomlinson vs. MI6 - Revisited

I have mentioned the Tomlinson vs. MI6 blog on a number of different occasions, and it has received much interest.

As an update, the Original Tomlinson vs. MI6 Blog was predictably shut down by Typepad. When you're a former secret agent, it's not surprising that your former employers would go after you when you start soap boxing.

However, the blog has been re-born right here on Blogger!

The new site:

Tomlinson v. Mi6


also, the archives from the old Typepad site, before they excersised their censorship:
Tomlinson v. Mi6 Archives

For those of you who haven't heard of Tomlinson, he became an MI6 agent in 1991 and was subsequently sacked/fired in 1995... he claims he was wrongfully let go, and has taken his anger with the SIS/Mi6 public, first threatening to write a book (which he was arrested for), then by starting a website where he pointed out some similarities between a former Mi6 plot to kill Slobodan Milosovic and the death of Princess Diana (that site was shut down), then starting a blog, which as I mentioned was also shut down (and he got arrested and had all of his possessions confiscated as well earlier this year I believe). Now he's back blogging, this time right here on blogger.

The interesting thing about this now is Google-owned Blogger itself. Some bloggers post content that governmental agencies view very, very negatively. How far a former Mi6 agent will be allowed to go on blogger will essentially be setting the boundries for the rest of us.

What I wonder is, how much freedom of speech is blogger going to allow when governments come in and start screaming their "National Security" mantra.

Could all that's been won
be lost so soon again
could the ending we've been dreading
only be a matter of when?
did you mean to make them suffer?
did you mean to make them cry?
when you arrived, did you ask them
if they had prepared themselves to die?
Does the future really matter
if we're not around to see it?
When you were young, your future dreams
could this, now, really be it?

The Bush, The Devil, The Lies
don't act like you're surprised.

When you sell out, give in,
give up the fight
you can't just expect
everything to be allright.

Stand up.
Ask why.
Lets not let more children die.

Torture Awareness and Richard Tomlinson vs. MI6

Many weeks ago, an inspired activist by the name of Elendil started putting together a group of bloggers to highlight Amnesty International's "Torture Awareness Month" in June. At the beginning I think there was about 10 of us who signed on, and by the end the blogroll was pages long (just have a look at my sidebar).

A blogger has decided to attempt to raise money for Amnesty International's campaign by blogging for 24 hours straight. You can support him by clicking the link below.

I recently received the following email regarding the campaign:

Hi everyone

Thank you so much for your recent support of Bloggers Against Torture.
Torture Awareness Month may be over, but action against torture
continues. One of our bloggers, Heathlander, has generously
volunteered to go 24 hours without sleep -- blogging continuously the
whole time -- to raise money for Amnesty International USA. It's all
part of Blogathon 2006 (http://www.blogathon.org/), which will be held
across the globe on 29th July.

Would you like to help us out? Here's some things that you can do:

- Join Heathlander and stay up with him for 24 hours of continuous blogging!

If you'd like to help Heathlander stay awake and write posts, leave
a message here.

We're eager to get a small team together to share the load. If you
join up, we'll send you keys to the central blog, and the opportunity
to use your blogging skills for a good cause.

- Sponsor us in the Blogathon

I know it's unseemly to ask for money, so I've put $500 down to get
things started. If you can spare it, even just a few dollars, it will
work towards fighting for this serious issue. Every bit counts, and
generous donor blogs will be acknowledged.

- Let your readers know about our Blogathon

Thanks to your Torture Awareness Month posts, your readers now know
how serious human rights abuse is and their responsibilities towards
it. The enormity of the issue can leave one despondent, but this gives
everyone an opportunity to do something practical. Again, every bit
counts. Your voice can make all the difference.

For Torture Awareness Month we had great turn out with over 200
members joining, and several members participating in the action
activities sponsored by the NGOs. Most pleasing was the high quality
of thoughtful and passionate blog entries denouncing torture. Whether
your blog is big or small, each voice counts towards correcting public
opinion and returning our society back to its true course. Please
consider continuing this work by supporting the Bloggers Against
Torture Blogathon.

Kind Regards,
elendil

For you bloggers out there, the blog Rummy's Diaries is full of useful information for the fight against torture.






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There have been recent news reports regarding a blog by a former agent of MI6 (Britain's version of the CIA, whom the fictional James Bond was meant to work for) that was troubling to the British Government due to a fear of leaks of intelligence.

The Blog is:

Tomlinson vs. MI6

Recently he was said to have supplied an aerial photograph of an Mi6 training camp, he was accused of releasing a list of MI6 agents worldwide (to a website called Cryptome.org), he has had his belongings confiscated, his friend's computer confiscated, and so on.

Perhaps he might be able to provide some information about MI6 agents operating in Iraq and Iran...

American Defensiveness: without an opposing argument.

This is the kind of response you get from neo-con-supporting Americans when you assert that American policies are engendering the kind of anger and resentment that leads to people turning to "extremism" as an avenue for the release of their anger.

(By the way, I made these assertions because I feel betrayed by the American government, and I feel that all people of the world who value human life, and were heartbroken by the events of 9/11, have been betrayed by them as well.)

The response (the one I liked the most):

Misneach: If you will kindly provide your GPS coordinates, the United States government will be happy to respond to your concerns. Trust us, you will have no worries after we do so.Thank you for your attention to this matter, and do not hesitate to contact us again if you have any further questions. (Just post to this blog. We have your IP address and will take it from there.) CIA Email Homepage 06.17.06 - 10:58 am #

People are funny.

"A PR Move"

These people are sick. Absolutely sick.

"A top US official has described the suicides of three detainees at the US base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, as a "good PR move to draw attention"."

from Guantanamo Suicides a 'PR Move' at BBC News


The fact that human life is so trivial to these people that they could describe the fact that "combatants" (more than half of whom were not actually, according to the Red Cross and Human Rights Watch, "combating" against america in any way shape or form) who have been interned for 5 years without charge or trial and subjected to FIVE YEARS OF TORTURE give in and kill themselves as a "PR move" is absolutely repulsive. And this American regime are the same people that Tony Blair describes as engaging in a "fight for values" (he said that in his recent press conference with Bush).

Lets recap: they've been held without trial for five years, they've been tortured for five years, and they cannot take it anymore so they commit suicide, and this is dismissed as "a tactic to further the jihadi cause"?!?!?! Those in charge of these atrocious American policies are either completely brain-dead or pure evil. I genuinely hope it's the former (what a fucking characterisation choice to have to make).



-----------
All of this brings to mind an old Irish song.
From the song Joe McDonnell

The Chorus:

And you dare to call me a terrorist
while you looked down your gun
When I think of all the deeds that you had done
You had plundered many nations divided many lands
You had terrorised their peoples you ruled with an iron hand.
And you brought this reign of terror to my land

The Song:

O me name is Joe McDonnell
from Belfast town I came
That city I will never see again
For in the town of Belfast
I spent many happy days
I love that town in oh so many ways

For it's there I spent my childhood
and found for me a wife
I then set out to make for her a life
But all my young ambitions
met with bitterness and hate
I soon found myself inside a prison gate

Through those many months internment
In the Maidstone and the Maze
I thought about my land throughout those days
Why my country was divided,
why I was now in jail
Imprisoned without crime or without trial

And though I love my country
I am not a bitter man
I've seen cruelty and injustice at first hand
So then one fateful morning
I shook bold freedom's hand
For right or wrong I'd try to free my land

Then one cold October morning
trapped in a lion's den
I found myself in prison once again
I was committed to the H-blocks
for fourteen years or more
On the Blanket the conditions they were poor

Then a hunger strike we did commence
for the dignity of man
But it seemed to me that no one gave a damn
But now, I'm a saddened man
I've watched my comrades die
If only people cared or wondered why

May God shine on you Bobby Sands
for the courage you have shown
May your glory and your fame be widely known
And brave Francis Hughes and Ray McCreesh
who died unselfishly
And Patsy O Hara and the next in line is me

And those who lie behind me
may your courage be the same
And I pray to God our lifes were not in vain
Ah but sad and bitter
was the year of 1981
For everything I've lost and nothing's won.
©Brian Warfield


-----------


What a state this world is in...

Tomlinson vs. MI6

Have a look while you can!
Here's the story as I understand it. This gentleman, Tomlinson, used to work for MI6. He has had a row (fight) with them that's been going on for a decade, and in his frustration has started a blog.
I cannot verify the accuracy of any of this, but here it is anyway.

A story in the Observer that brought this to my attention:
Leaks Feared as Sacked MI6 Spy Launches Blog

The Blog itself:
Tomlinson vs. MI6
-------------------------
UPDATE

That blog location is gone.
However Tomlinson v MI6 is not gone.

Find out more on the latest post on the subject available through this website here.
We'll see how long the blog stays up...

Smoking

I'm a smoker. I've narrated this fact into posts before, but I generally try to avoid discussing personal issues in this particular (news-based) forum. The fact is, though, that smoking itself is a political issue (Politics is defined as "the total complex of relations between people living in society" by Webster's dictionary, and smoking very much affects people's relations in society) so I think I can sneak it in.

I'm quitting smoking. It has started, now, already. I've gone a few days without having to light up more than once a day, so I think I'm making progress. I need to quit smoking. Full stop. There are the usual reasons: the lung cancer thing, other dangers to my health, that unique "smoker smell" that permeates my clothes and my being, the fact that it's an unnecessary waste of money, etc. To be honest though, these aren't the issues that have finally pushed me to the point of wanting to become a non-smoker.

The Truth is that we smokers know how dangerous smoking is, we just don't care. It's a highly addictive drug, and one that also CALMS US DOWN immensely. My blood pressure jumps when my nicotine level drops. Just one day without cigarettes and I'm almost overcome by this irrational rage towards anything and everyone around me. It's a drug, I'm an addict, and quitting isn't easy. It must be done however.

Most smokers are well aware that cigarettes/tobacco kill more people each year than cocaine, crack, and heroin combined. What many fail to recognise, however, are the other inherent dangers of smoking. Not only is every cigarette we smoke doing us damage, but also every pack we buy damages the environment, increases a world perpensity towards dismissal of basic human rights, removes personal freedoms, and increases growing threats to not only world peace but also the very survival of our species. What I'm referring to here is the fact that American "Conservative" (a misnomer, but commonly used; I would prefer the term "Fascist") politicians have been in bed (so to speak, any sexual congress is purely speculation) with the tobacco industry ever since there was a tobacco industry. Just to give one example, Altria (formerly Philip Morris) which owns the Philip Morris brand (which produces the brands I most often buy, Marlboro and L&M) has donated nearly 7 million dollars to the republican campaigns in the U.S. for the 2000-2004 elections. The tobacco industry in general has donated countless millions to the campaigns of many prominent republican representatives, which at one point even included the terrifyingly dangerous Jesse Helms.

In the words of the late great Bill Hicks:

"The Surgeon General's warning [on cigarette packs] ought to read:
'Smoking has been determined to cause cancer, heart disease, and Rednecks with seniority.' "

And, we need not even mention to current regime and their constant attacks on all things that sustain life on this planet (peace, the environment, etc.). So every time I buy these (delicious relaxing) carcinogen sticks I'm throwing another dollar into the "lets destroy life on earth!" fund, and I won't do it anymore!


Fight The Power! Quit Smoking!

Death and a beginning

It's been a rough day. I found out today that a friend from school died this month in Iraq. He was a good man, with a good heart and strong morals, and it's sad that he died fighting a cause that was morally corrupt and heartless. I wonder if the government official who sponsored him to join the army also voted for the war, and if so, did he know that such an exemplary individual would lose his life in the process, and for what?