I have come to call the citizen news media “the 5Th Estate”. That includes bloggers and the people that use their cell-phones and YouTube to film news as it breaks. This kind of instant reportage is unprecedented and a breath of fresh air. It must also scare the powers-that-be half to death and they are pushing back hard.

A headline and story in The Washington Post today:
“Local Police Want Right to Jam Wireless Signals”
I can’t imagine that limited range jamming takes much equipment and a device to do so probably could become part of the typical police officers’ tool belt or built into the electronics of a squad-car. I see this as an assault on the 5Th Estate and whatever oversight of local law enforcement by the citizenry cell phone technology facilitates.

I write the White House website and leave a comment at the “Contact” page at least every other day.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/
This story and my opposition to allowing this tool local use was my comment for today.

England has never embraced the robust free expression and free media traditions as the United States. Preferring to show benign application of the laws. The Crown laws are enough to throw a civil libertarians into a fetal position. I have never understood why such an educated and advanced nation would allow such restrictions to continue. The English seem to prefer an Damocles sword hanging over the heads of the media by a thread. This law is another example of the need for the international media to call England to account for its treatment of the fourth estate.

England is already the country with the greatest level of survailence of its citizens and the abuse of that technology and mindset makes the British papers regularly. I follow online editions of British papers and the stories of abuse just keep coming up.

I am not for any law in the US that might weaken the (too few) methods of oversight of the police.

http://www.google.com/search?num=50&hl=en&q=bill+to+make+camera+phones+beep+when+taking+pictures&btnG=Search

This isn’t supposed to be about ‘drumming up business’.

However, if you act now, Mojo’s Mighty Bicycle Machines are on sale at participating Wal-Mart stores. Get yours before they’re gone!

I never thought you were hear to drum up business. I value your contributions a great deal and I hope you keeping posting. Although we do not always agree, I ALWAYS value your thoughts.

Case in point,’Sally’ links to eBay. Obviously, she doesn’t own eBay…

It happened to me, once, after updating Firefox – ???

Seeing posts mysteriously appear much later after posting and/or disappear, has been happening for a couple of months now- also, not new.

I,of course, blame the usual (un)timely upsets on Mercury Retrograde
- since January 11…

Watch out this weekend as it flips forward on 2/1 and for the next
few days.

I did not mean to imply that. I meant it in a social manor and if business comes up so much the better.

I believe that the http://n/a is in the box for your website already and has nothing to do with what server you are using. Another instance of liberal confusion. I think Prof. Turley has allowed us if we are so inclined to post our web adresses vis a vis Mike Appleton, if you click on his name you are directed to his web site. I think JT actually thouhgt his site might be used for some networking among the legal profession and other businesses but because of Buddha and Mike S and some others (I will include me in this although I have been here a short time) most people get scared and leave. What with Buddha wanting to put the Bruce Lee to them and calling everyone a Nazi he disagrees with.

My apologies to Prof. Turley for my contribution to the madness.

‘this town is coming like a ghost town.’

Rapidly becoming just what Orwell and Moore envisioned.

Congratulations on being added to the list of country’s that won’t get my tourism dollars. It wasn’t just this one thing. You’ve had it coming.

On the positive side, the act may be useful in serving as legal cover for the periodic round-up of especially obnoxious American tourists.