Junkie has noted several times that the internet has played a major role in the public debate over the war in Iraq and to look for future studies of the power of the net. Phil Noble, Editor of Politics Online has written one of the early studies of the power of the net and its use in political issues, focusing on Iraq. Junkies who are interested should read Phil’s analysis and visit his website to get a taste of the developing possibilities of the net in politics. -- Politics Online
FREE SPEECH [Bad]
“Justice Antonin Scalia accepted the Citadel of Free Speech Award on Wednesday from the City Club of Cleveland, which wished to honor him for his devotion to free expression over the years. But Justice Scalia, it turns out, does not favor the free exchange of all speech; specifically, he is a bit touchy about his own. As a condition of appearing at the award ceremony, he insisted that broadcast media be barred from recording his remarks -- thanks to which only those present got to hear what the court's wittiest orator had to say.” – Washington Post
RED ALERT [Ugly]
Ever wonder what would happen when the terror warning system goes to Red Alert. In New Jersey the State would virtually shut down. You will be assumed by authorities to be the enemy if you so much as venture outside your home, the state's anti-terror czar says. ‘This state is on top of it,’ said Sid Caspersen, New Jersey's director of the office of counter-terrorism. . . . A red alert would also tear away virtually all personal freedoms to move about and associate.” – Courier Post
THE REALITY
“We are not cowards, but what is the point? I've got a rifle from World War II. What can I do against American airplanes?” AHMED GHOBASHI, an Iraqi colonel, after surrendering to a platoon of marines. – NYT
ENVIRONMENT INTERFERES WITH WAR ON TERRORISM [Ugly!]
What is “Operation End Extremism. The purpose is to expose ‘the increasing burden U.S. soldiers face on military training bases because of irrational enforcement of environmental laws.’ The whole thing might be dismissed as another ideological stunt from the committee's reactionary chairman, James Inhofe of Oklahoma, were it not for the fact that the Pentagon is trying to do the same thing. With White House backing, the Defense Department has asked Congress to approve a program it calls the ‘Readiness and Range Preservation Initiative,’ which would broadly exempt military bases and some operations from environmental regulation.” – NYT
UPSIDE DOWN [Funny]
This quote was taken from the internet, "You know the world is going crazy when the best rapper is a white guy the best golfer is a black guy, the Swiss hold the America's Cup, France is accusing the US of arrogance and Germany doesn't want to go to war."