If you’ve been a long time reader around here, you know that I spend my days pointing out all the problems caused by our government, and the devastating toll they take on all of our lives. I don’t always point out the solutions, though. So today I’m going to propose some solutions.
Archives: April 2006
U.S. asserts state secrets privilege in AT&T lawsuit
Posted: April 29, 2006 2:52 pm
Updated: May 1, 2006 12:09 am
The U.S. government will use the state secrets privilege to interrupt a class-action lawsuit brought against AT&T by the Electronic Frontier Foundation alleging that the company illegally cooperated with the National Security Agency in implementing President George W. Bush’s terrorist surveillance program.
Dispatches from the Drug War
Posted: April 28, 2006 7:13 pm
The War on Drugs isn’t really a war on drugs. It’s a war on people. In fact, it’s a war on poor people, minorities and Democrats. Let’s take a look at what happens when Rush Limbaugh, a rich, white Republican, gets arrested for illegal drugs.
CIA restricts political speech of former employees
Posted: April 28, 2006 3:22 pm
In a reversal of long-standing policy, the Central Intelligence Agency has issued new restrictions on political speech made by former employees of the agency who are still serving as CIA contractors.
Army’s debt collection adds insult to injury
Posted: April 27, 2006 10:58 pm
Long-standing problems in the Defense Department’s payroll systems have resulted in thousands of soldiers being underpaid or overpaid while serving in the global war on terrorism. But the military’s focus seems to have been on those who were overpaid, as thousands of soldiers who returned home found the Army — or collection agencies — going after them for debts they frequently didn’t even know they owed. Rep. Tom Davis (R-Va.) called it “financial friendly fire.”
Senate committee: Get rid of FEMA
Posted: April 27, 2006 7:02 pm
A bipartisan Senate investigation into the government’s response to Hurricane Katrina has found that government failed at all levels to provide an appropriate response to one of the worst disasters in American history, and called for the Federal Emergency Management Agency to be abolished. I would be cheering, except for what they recommend to replace it.
Supreme Court: State can’t take property without notice
Posted: April 26, 2006 4:57 pm
The Supreme Court ruled 5-3 today that the state of Arkansas was wrong to take away a Little Rock man’s home due to non-payment of property taxes.
DHS official proposes global ID
Posted: April 25, 2006 4:58 pm
Updated: April 25, 2006 7:23 pm
The national ID was just the beginning, even if it hasn’t quite begun yet. Now officials in the Department of Homeland Security are talking about a global identification system.
Voting for cognitive dissonance
Posted: April 24, 2006 6:38 pm
There’s a theory in modern politics that says if you don’t like the current bastards, you can always vote them out and replace them with new bastards. Scientists have discovered, however, that it might not be so easy to vote the bastards out after all.
Should immigration into the U.S. be allowed?
Posted: April 24, 2006 3:39 pm
Immigration seems to be one of the most contentious issues of this decade. I say “seems” because much more is going on than immigration itself, and the issue isn’t a single issue, but encompasses a wide variety of issues all across the spectrum.
I asked my readers if they thought immigration into the U.S. should be permitted, and the results are in.
Bits of homeland stupidity
Posted: April 23, 2006 8:02 pm
It’s been a very slow news week. As it turns out, Congress was in recess (read: on yet another vacation), so not too much was going on. Here are three leftover headlines which you might have missed while the talking heads were trying to figure out what to talk about.
HDTV and HD-DVD encryption not intended for security
Posted: April 22, 2006 12:37 am
The Digital Millennium Copyright Act, passed in 1998 at the behest of the music and movie industries, has done little to benefit anyone except a select group of companies who have used its provisions to establish, maintain and expand a virtual stranglehold on the entertainment industry. The cartel which has arisen after this act does not benefit consumers at all; rather, it gouges them for as much money as they can possibly suck out, corrupts modern technology, and sets back the state of the art.
The remainder of this message is encrypted using an algorithm which provides virtually no security, but which (if I were so inclined) would open you up to lawsuits if you decrypted it without my permission.
Citizen journalist 1, MSM 0
Posted: April 21, 2006 11:51 pm
Is there anything that moves slower than a government bureaucracy?
Actually, it seems that there is: the mainstream media.
Dispatches from the Drug War
Posted: April 21, 2006 11:16 am
Updated: April 21, 2006 11:52 am
The reefer madness continues this week as the federal government puts out more false propaganda aimed squarely at convincing people who might be sitting on the fence that drugs are bad, mmmkay? And only the federal government can tell you which drugs you’ll be allowed to use, science or no science.
Bits of homeland stupidity
Posted: April 20, 2006 2:26 pm
It must be Week of the Weird. This week I’ve gathered three of the strangest examples of stupidity of government officials ever to cross my desk.
TSA Screener Online Job Application
Posted: April 20, 2006 1:21 pm
The Transportation Security Administration expects to hire hundreds or even thousands of screeners this spring in order to cover shortfalls in several airports across the U.S. If you want to apply for a job as a TSA screener, you need to read this.
The CIA is probably reading your blog too
Posted: April 19, 2006 4:46 pm
I want to take a moment to give a warm welcome to our newest readers, the Open Source Center of the Central Intelligence Agency. Welcome to Homeland Stupidity!
You’ll need a license to leave the planet
Posted: April 19, 2006 10:12 am
Government too oppressive? Can’t find a free country anywhere on the face of the Earth anymore? What’s a freedom-loving person to do? Leave the planet, of course. But the Federal Aviation Administration wants to require any U.S. person or company offering spaceflights from anywhere in the world to get an FAA license.
Bad cop, no donut
Posted: April 19, 2006 9:39 am
Updated: April 19, 2006 12:25 pm
The antics of the police are usually tragic, but sometimes, the stupidity that law enforcement officers exhibit is entirely funny. Here are two examples.
Marc Ecko tagged Air Force One
Posted: April 18, 2006 1:53 pm
Marc Ecko of Ecko Unlimited broke into a government facility where one of the Boeing 747 planes which serve as Air Force One was parked, and tagged it with graffiti. Ecko then posted video of the tagging online, along with a video statement of “why I tagged the President’s plane.”
Dispatches from the Drug War
Posted: April 18, 2006 7:57 am
Updated: April 18, 2006 12:11 pm
Reefer madness is real. Don’t let anybody tell you differently. Marijuana has gotten millions of people to do crazy things they never would have done otherwise, ruining countless people’s lives. These millions of people infected with reefer madness are politicians and law enforcement officials.
2006 Pulitzer Prizes announced
Posted: April 17, 2006 8:25 pm
The 2006 Pulitzer Prize winners were announced Monday at Columbia University in New York City, and among the winners were the New Orleans Times-Picayune for its coverage of Hurricane Katrina and the two reporters from the New York Times who broke the story in December of President George W. Bush’s terrorist surveillance program.
Windows less secure than Linux: The FSM proof
Posted: April 17, 2006 6:09 pm
The Flying Spaghetti Monster has proved, once and for all, that Windows is less secure than Linux.
Potty stupid zoning board
Posted: April 17, 2006 4:44 pm
“The more corrupt the state, the more numerous the laws.” — Tacitus
So reads a sticker on one of fifteen toilets in the back yard of Anderson Twp., Ohio, residents Robin Sutton and Allen Lade.
After the city decided to install a sidewalk running along their property, the couple wanted to put up a fence, for privacy and the safety of their grandchildren. The township denied their request for a zoning variance, though, and in protest, up went the toilets.
Advanced online privacy protection
Posted: April 17, 2006 3:51 pm
Updated: April 17, 2006 5:06 pm
The U.S. government seems to have a dizzying array of programs, both already running and in the pipeline, to gather vast amounts of data on virtually everyone, store that data for who knows how long, and do who knows what with it. One thing they’re doing is data mining, looking for “suspicious” patterns in the data trying to find potential threats. Not only does data mining not work, there’s a chance it could identify you, even if you aren’t doing anything wrong.
Other countries are already putting in place even more Orwellian surveillance on their own citizens. And some countries, as we all know, arrest, torture and kill dissidents or anyone they just don’t like.
Fortunately, there are things you can do to protect yourself from all of these threats.
ISPs to be required to spy on customers
Posted: April 17, 2006 12:49 pm
Congress has been considering requiring Internet service providers to record the activities of their subscribers, store the data and make it available to government officials upon request.
Bits of homeland stupidity
Posted: April 16, 2006 10:30 am
Freedom is not usually lost all at once, but rather in small increments which, like drops of water into a bucket, sooner or later will overflow. And if the leak isn’t repaired early, it becomes much harder to deal with later on. Here are three increments of lost freedom from the last week.
Customs system left open to virus threat
Posted: April 15, 2006 9:02 am
Last August, Customs and Border Protection computers responsible for processing international travelers entering the U.S. failed for several hours due to a Windows computer virus, resulting in long delays in processing visitors. Now it comes out that the Department of Homeland Security could have prevented it, but decided to let it happen.
Marine placed on no-fly list
Posted: April 14, 2006 9:32 am
Marine SSgt. Daniel Brown, who had just returned to the U.S. from eight months in Iraq, was delayed from his final flight home Tuesday because his name appeared on a Transportation Security Agency “no-fly” list.
Government drives milk prices up again
Posted: April 12, 2006 7:02 am
Updated: April 12, 2006 7:30 am
Hein Hettinga had a really bad day yesterday. He’s having a really bad day today. And if you live in Arizona or California and drink milk, you’re about to have a really bad day, too.
What does a REAL ID look like?
Posted: April 12, 2006 4:09 am
Updated: April 12, 2006 4:33 am
The REAL ID Act, passed in 2005, will require state governments to issue drivers’ licenses which conform to federal standards starting in 2008. But the Department of Homeland Security hasn’t yet figured out what those standards will be.
Bad cop, no donut
Posted: April 11, 2006 2:53 pm
My web browser has been filling up lately with stories of police run amok. Maybe they ate too many donuts? Perhaps they should switch to decaf. Whatever the problem, it’s clear that not all the men and women in blue are wearing the uniform to protect and serve. Here are four examples from the last week.
Come back with a warrant
Posted: April 11, 2006 6:58 am
Updated: April 17, 2006 7:28 pm
I may have nothing to hide, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to show it to you. Come back with a warrant.
Ohio poll workers indicted for fudging 2004 recount
Posted: April 11, 2006 6:24 am
Three Cuyahoga County, Ohio, election workers have been indicted on charges that they improperly conducted the recount of ballots after the 2004 election.
Carnival of Liberty XL
Posted: April 11, 2006 2:00 am
Welcome to the 40th weekly Carnival of Liberty! As always, the Carnival is full of amazing attractions with fun-filled adventure for the whole family.
This is the first time the Carnival has been here at Homeland Stupidity, and I have to say that the hardest part of hosting the Carnival was keeping all of these excellent posts hidden away until Tuesday. And now that they’re here, come one, come all, and enjoy the Carnival!
The quite public no-buy list
Posted: April 10, 2006 11:21 pm
Updated: April 11, 2006 1:20 am
The United States Department of the Treasury has an Office of Foreign Assets Control. It’s responsible for implementing and enforcing economic sanctions against foreign individuals, companies, governments, terrorists, etc. I’ve covered some of the strange things they do here before, such as censoring foreign dissidents. One of the other strange things they do is to maintain what security expert Bruce Schneier calls the no-buy list.
AT&T cooperated with NSA surveillance
Posted: April 9, 2006 11:34 pm
AT&T installed specialized surveillance equipment in its digital switching centers to allow the National Security Agency to conduct surveillance on telephone calls and Internet traffic, according to a former AT&T employee.
Dispatches from the Drug War
Posted: April 9, 2006 2:25 am
Updated: April 9, 2006 2:54 am
If you all like this, I’ll be featuring stories about the War on Drugs here on a weekly basis. Let me know what you think.
Today I have four stories about the War on Drugs and its true impact on our society.
Bits of homeland stupidity
Posted: April 8, 2006 10:02 pm
Bits is a bit shorter this week, as I’m experimenting with yet another new format (which you’ll see shortly). In the meantime, here are four news headlines from the last week showing just how dumb your government is.
Operator treats 911 call as prank, woman dies
Posted: April 7, 2006 7:13 pm
On occasion I run across a story which illustrates in horrifying detail why relying on the government to protect you can be deadly. Today was one of those occasions.
Sherrill Turner, 46, of Detroit, Mich., collapsed in her kitchen Feb. 20. Her son Robert, who was 5 at the time, called 911. What happened next is truly sickening.
Lizard expert calls for 90% of people to die of Ebola
Posted: April 7, 2006 8:12 am
Updated: April 9, 2006 12:40 am
Updated Mark Twain said that “Truth is stranger than fiction.” The Chinese have a curse: “May you live in interesting times.” I’d say we certainly do live in interesting times, and here’s some very strange truth that bears that out. A University of Texas herpetologist went completely off his rocker and called for the eradication of 90% of living humans.
Generally, I try not to devote too much time to talking about insane wackos who need to be locked up in white padded rooms. But this particular insane wacko drew the ire of one of my childhood heroes, and is drawing praise from almost every confused college student who hears him speak.
DoD: Only 2% crap in military intelligence database
Posted: April 7, 2006 5:23 am
Of some 13,000 entries in a classified Defense Department database used to track threats against military assets, almost two percent, or 260, were either wrongly retained or never should have been reported in the first place, according to a DoD memo dated March 30.
Michigan to outlaw knowledge of methamphetamine
Posted: April 7, 2006 1:41 am
Updated: April 7, 2006 2:06 am
The ridiculous lawmakers in the state of Michigan want to outlaw the dissemination of information on how to make methamphetamine. The bill, approved by the state Senate, now goes to the House. Under the bill, the state attorney general could sue web sites which provide information on how to make methamphetamine, according to WOOD-TV.
So I’m going to tell you how to make methamphetamine.
National Pork Service
Posted: April 6, 2006 9:13 pm
Citizens Against Government Waste has released its 2006 Congressional Pig Book, detailing almost 10,000 pork barrel projects discovered in the eleven appropriations bills for fiscal year 2006. These bits of pork cost you $29 billion.
Why I’m not a journalist, and how I’m biased
Posted: April 6, 2006 4:06 am
In college I majored in computer science, with a minor in mass communications. That encompasses a wide range of media, including movies, music, television, and print media. My school, in fact, specializes in the recording industry, and some of the recording artists you know of today went to school there and/or recorded music there at some point. For me, though, it was television and print media.
I believed at the time (1990) that computers had the potential to become a completely new medium, blending the depth of print with the immediacy of television. Moreover, I believed they had the potential to transform how ordinary people communicated with each other. And having experienced the beginnings of that transformation for myself, I wanted to understand where media had come from in order to apply those lessons to where I believed media was about to go.
The news just keeps breaking
Posted: April 5, 2006 7:48 pm
These updates to stories previously covered at Homeland Stupidity focus exclusively on election and voting issues, a major issue with the 2004 elections still in doubt and the 2006 elections fast approaching.
Homeland Security deputy press secretary arrested for child solicitation
Posted: April 4, 2006 9:55 pm
Updated: April 5, 2006 10:53 pm
The deputy press secretary for the Department of Homeland Security was arrested Tuesday for trying to seduce someone he thought was a 14 year old girl over the Internet. However, it wasn’t a 14 year old girl, but a Polk County, Fla., sheriff’s deputy.
Carnival of Liberty XL call for submissions
Posted: April 4, 2006 4:53 pm
Updated: April 5, 2006 4:22 pm
The 39th Carnival of Liberty, a traveling collection of weekly posts on topics of individual liberty and the reduction of state interference in people’s lives, has been posted at Below the Beltway. And next week, for the first time, the 40th Carnival of Liberty will be right here at Homeland Stupidity.
Daylight stupid time
Posted: April 3, 2006 6:19 pm
Yesterday I set all the clocks ahead an hour. Those that didn’t set themselves, anyway, like the computers’ clocks. And this morning I was up far too early. And next year, it’s going to get worse. Why are we still using daylight saving time?
Is it the fact that daylight saving time saves energy? Or is it the fact that … wait a minute. That’s not a fact.
Students sign petition to end women’s suffrage
Posted: April 3, 2006 10:25 am
Going to a private Catholic high school is no guarantee of getting a good education, as several students of Padua Academy, a girls’ school in Wilmington, Delaware, found out, when boys from Salesianum School, the Catholic boys’ school across town, came over and asked Padua students to sign a petition to end women’s suffrage and videotaped them doing it.
McVeigh had help from white supremacist group, others in Oklahoma City bombing
Posted: April 3, 2006 4:08 am
A Utah man whose brother died in federal prison ten years ago has been trying to find out why ever since. A federal judge ruled Wednesday on his latest attempt to get information from the Federal Bureau of Investigation regarding his brother’s death. As it turns out, the FBI does have information, and it’s closely tied to the April 19, 1995, bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Okla.
Bits of homeland stupidity
Posted: April 2, 2006 6:12 am
People are, at their very core, stupid. While they are capable of intelligent, rational thought, they frequently choose not to actually do so. This is especially true when they let their emotions cloud their judgment, a very common occurrence. Here are a few examples.
Congress votes to repeal Bill of Rights
Posted: April 1, 2006 12:38 pm
Updated: April 1, 2006 7:02 pm
The House of Representatives and Senate both voted Saturday in favor of a Constitutional amendment to repeal the Bill of Rights, the first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution. The proposal had overwhelming bipartisan support, receiving a 371-55 vote in the House, and a 91-8 vote in the Senate. The proposed amendment now goes to the states for ratification.
Create your own terrorist threat
Posted: April 1, 2006 10:57 am
We have plenty of terrorist threats to worry about already. They could pack a bus full of explosives, or blow up a subway with a baby carriage, or release deadly chemicals from crop dusters. But the truth is, Americans just aren’t afraid enough, so we need your help to create some more terrorist threats.
Bush calls for evil tax cuts to be made permanent
Posted: April 1, 2006 9:54 am
Updated: April 1, 2006 7:00 pm
“Who knows best how to use your money — the politicians in Washington, or you?”
That was the question President George W. Bush asked in his weekly radio address this morning.
The answer, of course, is the politicians in Washington.
Dick Cheney goes skeet shooting
Posted: April 1, 2006 3:11 am
Updated: April 1, 2006 6:59 pm
Vice President Dick Cheney will go skeet shooting at the Quantico Shooting Club on the Quantico Marine Corps Base today, Homeland Stupidity has learned.
