Boundaries of Knowledge, Liberty, War & Politics: Orwell, Maher Arar, torture, secrecy, biometrics
February 3, 2004
Boundaries of Knowledge
Liberty, War & Politics
Boundaries of Knowledge
Deception in the Name of Science?
Gene Callahan, LewRockwell.com, January 17, 2004
How Galileo was wrong about comets.
“And it was Galileo who was spinning a mere fancy, based on his faith in Copernicanism, while his Jesuit opponents explicitly contradicted the Catholic Church’s favorite natural philosopher, Aristotle, based on their scientific studies…”
Liberty, War & Politics
Americans Prepare To Elect New Idols
Steven Greenhut, LewRockwell.com, January 23, 2004
Bush under fire over ‘runaway spending’ (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;$sessionid$HYRVBJHV5TTXHQFIQMGCFFOAVCBQUIV0?xml=/news/2004/01/23/wbush23.xml&sSheet=/news/2004/01/23/ixworld.html)
Alec Russell, www.telegraph.co.uk, January 23, 2004
“President George W Bush is facing mounting anger from the conservative Right who accused him of letting government spending run out of control…”
“”The Republican Congress is spending at twice the rate as under Bill Clinton and President Bush has yet to issue a single veto,” said Paul Weyrich, the chairman of one group, Coalitions for America…”
The conservative movement in both Canada and the U.S. has utterly failed to reduce the size and influence of government.
The Horserace
The race for the White House – who cares?
Justin Raimondo, Antiwar.com, January 23, 2004
“While Dean is not “antiwar” in the sense that he wants us out of Iraq and out of the empire business altogether, unlike “frontrunner” Kerry he did speak out before the President launched his fateful invasion, and has especially focused on the process by which we were lied into war. For this alone, he has been marked for destruction by the War Party, which explains the bipartisan coalition that has developed to crush him.”
Also discusses alternative political parties. Criticism of the Libertarian Party’s campaign against Bob Barr.
Make-Believe ‘Crime’ News
Bail for bomb-joke student (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;$sessionid$5KKXGMYU4LYUJQFIQMGSFF4AVCBQWIV0?xml=/news/2004/01/21/ubomb.xml&sSheet=/portal/2004/01/21/ixportaltop.html)
www.telegraph.co.uk, January 21, 2004
“A British student who faces up to 15 years in jail in America for allegedly joking that she had bombs in her aircraft baggage has been released on bail…”
“The Miami-Dade State District Attorney’s Office said she faces a maximum of 15 years in prison if convicted, although any punishment is likely to be far more lenient.”
George Orwell and deaths of the innocents
Ray Cassin, Publication, www.theage.com.au, January 19, 2004
Orwell takes some criticism in this article. Nobody’s perfect.
“Debate about the morality of bombing German cities began, in Britain at least, almost from the time that the RAF started doing it, and Orwell used his Tribune column “As I Please” to attack wartime critics of the bombing campaign…”
America: The real danger lies within (http://www.canoe.ca/Columnists/margolis_jan4.html)
Eric Margolis, Toronto Sun, www.canoe.ca, January 4, 2004
Also here at ericmargolis.com
“Lies and propaganda that were packaged in the best tradition of Soviet agitprop as news, then force-fed by a servile media to an ill-informed public …”
Canadian military scaling back foreign missions
CTV.ca News, January 17, 2004
“Defence Minister David Pratt says it’s time to scale back Canada’s commitment to international missions in Afghanistan and other countries…”
“…hopes a new white paper on the Canadian forces due by the end of 2004 will help to spell out the future of Canada’s military.”
It’s good the Canadian government is actually going to rethink the purpose of Canada’s military. They should reserve the military for the defense of Canadian sovereignty only.
More on Maher Arar
Arar suing Washington over Syrian deportation
CTV.ca News, January 23, 2004
“Maher Arar is suing the American government, alleging they deported him to Syria knowing he would be tortured there…”
“”My own government is not without responsibility,” he added. “We know now that the Canadian government sent information to the United States about me.”..”
CCR Investigates Case of Torture Survivor Maher Arar (original: http://www.ccr-ny.org:80/v2/reports/report.asp?ObjID=NydViALvVC&Content=300)
The Center for Constitutional Rights, www.ccr-ny.org
“Mr. Arar was deported to Syria despite the fact that he is a Canadian citizen and has resided in the country for 17 years. He pleaded with officials to allow him to go to Canada; those pleas were ignored. The fact that officials did not place Mr. Arar in Canadian custody is extremely troubling…”
P.M.: Canada “Not a Police State” Despite Evidence to the Contrary
RCMP raids reporter’s offices over Arar case (http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1074704091441_70113291?s_name=)
CTV.ca News, January 22, 2004
“Searching for evidence in connection with an alleged leak of confidential information in the Maher Arar case, the RCMP turned its attention to a veteran journalist in Ottawa on Wednesday…”
“Ten Mounties searched Ottawa Citizen reporter Juliet O’Neill’s house for more than five hours Wednesday morning…”
“…charges could mean a possible 14-year jail sentence…”
“Under the Security of Information Act, passed in the wake of Sept. 11, 2001, it is illegal to communicate leaked secret documents.
“Scott Anderson, the [Ottawa] Citizen’s editor-in-chief, said the RCMP search was being conducted under Section 4 of the act. “
[Anderson:] “This is a government that wants to shut down reporters on a case that is embarrassing to them and this new legislation seems to give them the power to do that in a police-state manner””
Driver’s Licenses and Fingerprints
Technology, Politics Pose Biometric Bottlenecks (http://www.computerworld.com/governmenttopics/government/legalissues/story/0,10801,67596,00.html)
Patrick Thibodeau, www.computerworld.com, January 22, 2002
Story from 2002
“…Historically, U.S. citizens have balked at the idea of instituting a national ID card or including more personal data on licenses. For instance, under Michigan law, it’s illegal to put fingerprints on a driver’s license, and legislation to make fingerprint identification illegal is pending in Washington state and Alabama…”
“..But privacy groups are already on the offensive, and even some IT managers are uncomfortable with the idea of companies storing such data.”