Happy Independence Day

Well, we have the press bias on the Martin case, the press bias on a woman who is a celebrity because she wants babies dismembered because they might live, a government that has a low grade persecution of church related groups because they won't fund abortion pills, a Supreme court that ignores biology and sociology to proclaim anyone who disagrees with them is because they are a bigot, a government who spies on everyone and a google that collects your private data, and a president who is telling Africans they don't need airconditioners.

Almost makes you wonder who is spying at you via your webcam when you get on line every morning...

So let's go to the tech blogs for relief...or maybe not.

From ZDNET: from David Gewirtz

Your tax dollars at work: State Dept blows $630K on Facebook Likes

There's just nothing about this story that's going to make you feel good. Sorry.

Celebrating independence in a land that spies on its citizens

As we come to this Fourth of July, some citizens are up in arms over what some might call another "long train of abuses and usurpations," as it was originally written in the Declaration. I'm speaking, of course, about the NSA/PRISM stink.

 Dear Mr. President: now might not be the best time to say you were pawing through records of my email addresses

After spending weeks reading about the NSA mess, getting a note from the President's fundraising team telling me they were looking at records associated with my email address just raised the hairs on the back of my neck.

DNetGovWeek: another week, another NSA leak, paranoid fraidy cats, and gov around the world

So here we are, another week gone by in NSA leak land. Are you suffering from NSA weariness? We have more NSA coverage, some brutal words about a nation of fraidy cats, and lots of gov news from across the ponds.

published 2 days ago by David Gewirtz

Comments Vote

Facebook vs. NSA: which is worse?

Data collection, regardless of who is doing it, is a potentially dangerous genie when let out of the bottle.

June 24, 2013 by David Gewirtz

44 Comments 1 Vote

ZDNetGovWeek: More NSA fun, tin foil hats, Google slapped in UK, and more

There's nothing more fun than government news, and nothing that puts humanity's foibles in clearer light. This week, the NSA story continues, we gently mock those wearing tin foil hats, Google's Street View is once again in view, and all around the world, governments are keeping us entertained (and worried).

June 24, 2013 by David Gewirtz

1 Comment Vote

America needs a Cyber Bill of Rights

The time has come for a Cyber Bill of Rights — a clear, concise, powerful, understandable, and relevant governance guide to our modern age.

June 19, 2013 by David Gewirtz

49 Comments Vote

ZDNetGovWeek: NSA chaos continues, big tech fights back

The ongoing chaos that is the NSA story continues. Google, Microsoft, and Facebook try to get permission to tell the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. That doesn't work out so well, and all we get are aggregated numbers and more aggravation.

June 17, 2013 by David Gewirtz

4 Comments Vote

ZDNetGovWeek: Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean the NSA isn't spying on you

Unless you've been living under a rock, you know that there's been a whole lot of news about the NSA spying on regular Americans. It's a long and winding story, and our team has been covering it end-to-end.

June 10, 2013 by David Gewirtz

4 Comments Vote

The great paradox of our national security

Freedom vs. security. It's a challenge as old as the nation. It's a great paradox, perhaps the greatest paradox in the history of civilization. How do we retain our privacy and our freedom while still defending against horrific threats?

June 7, 2013 by David Gewirtz

17 Comments Vote

uh, maybe we should target/profile folks?

In medicine, the rule is "If you hear hoofbeats, think horses, not zebras".

But political correctness means we have to treat everyone the same, so 80 year old Filipino World War II vets get frisked at the airports...