In Sacramento, a Publisher’s Questions Draw the Wrath of the Crowd: ‘… a commencement speaker (the publisher of the Sacramento Bee)

was booed off the stage for calling for the

protection of civil liberties in the

government’s response to terrorism. (…)

“It was scary,” said Bob Buckley, a computer sciences professor and

president of the faculty senate. “For the first time in my life, I can see how

something like the Japanese internment camps could happen in our country.” (…)

“We’ve always known that if you took the Bill of Rights to the street and

asked most people to sign it, you would be unable to get a majority of

Americans to do so,” said Ramona Ripston, executive director of the

American Civil Liberties Union chapter in Los Angeles.’ NY Times [via Adam]

Weblog Accessibility:

• Why should you care?
• It’s much easier than you think it is.
• Eight key principles
• Links to other resources for accessibility in web design.

This makes some good points that hadn’t occurred to me about the design of my site. My readers who are webloggers themselves, at least, ought to be interested in this blink. And if there are any readers using audio or Braille readers to access my page (if you haven’t given up in disgust long ago), I’d love it if you would care to write me with your reactions to this article and your experiences with the accessibility of FmH. [thanks, David]

Nat Hentoff: Rescuing the Constitution: “There is insistent public opposition from civil

libertarians, both on the left and the right; but the

attorney general’s often unilateral, scorched-earth

approach to the Bill of Rights takes on new

dimensions so frequently that his critics have been

able only so far to react. There hasn’t been time to

organize pressure nationwide so that Congress will

awaken to the separation of powers that is at the

core of our system of governance.” Jewish World Review

Networks and Netwars: The Future of Terror, Crime, and Militancy ‘Summary:

The fight for the

future is not between

the armies of leading

states, nor are its

weapons those of

traditional armed

forces. Rather, the

combatants come

from bomb-making

terrorist groups like

Osama bin Laden’s

al-Qaeda, or drug

smuggling cartels like

those in Colombia and

Mexico. On the

positive side are

civil-society activists

fighting for the

environment,

democracy and

human rights. What

all have in common is

that they operate in

small, dispersed units

that can deploy

anywhere, anytime to

penetrate and

disrupt. They all

feature network

forms of organization,

doctrine, strategy,

and technology

attuned to the

information age. And,

from the Intifadah to

the drug war, they

are proving very hard

to beat.’ A report from the Rand Corp., published Nov. 2001. Each chapter is downloadable from the blinked page in .pdf format.

Brace Yourself for the Segmented Internet ” Nothing can stop the spread of the Internet—but as the influence of the Internet

spreads, governments (sometimes reflecting popular opinion) are becoming increasingly

dissatisfied with the de facto policies it brings. They will never cut

off Internet access to the outside world because they need it for commercial,

academic, and other informational reasons. But they may be tempted to form a

kind of local area network for Internet users, enforcing their own particular

policies with clearly demarcated gateways to the outside world. The result will

be reminiscent of how private organizations segment their local area networks,

so I call this possibility the segmented Internet.”WebReview

“…(C)onservative hysteria has made America all-but ungovernable

for anyone but conservatives…” ‘Objectivity’ RIP. Eric Alterman, in The Nation, meditates on Dan Rather’s abandonment of all pretense of journalistic impartiality in his Letterman appearance, ABC President David Westin’s cave-in to conswervative [sic: this was a typo but I kind of like the effect, so it remains. –FmH] attack after a brief attempt to maintain some objectivity, and other evidence that “there ain’t nobody here but us chickens” in the media.

“Most infuriating about the right’s capture of the media since the war is the fact that,

according to the Pew study, nearly three-quarters of the respondents say they want news

that includes the views of America’s enemies, and just over half say reporters should dig

hard for information rather than trust official sources. So just why are the media wimping

out exactly when tough, critical reporting is not only crucial for the functioning of

democracy but is also being demanded by their audience?” [thanks, Adam]

In Sacramento, a Publisher’s Questions Draw the Wrath of the Crowd: ‘… a commencement speaker (the publisher of the Sacramento Bee)

was booed off the stage for calling for the

protection of civil liberties in the

government’s response to terrorism. (…)

“It was scary,” said Bob Buckley, a computer sciences professor and

president of the faculty senate. “For the first time in my life, I can see how

something like the Japanese internment camps could happen in our country.” (…)

“We’ve always known that if you took the Bill of Rights to the street and

asked most people to sign it, you would be unable to get a majority of

Americans to do so,” said Ramona Ripston, executive director of the

American Civil Liberties Union chapter in Los Angeles.’ NY Times [via Adam]