I’m sure it’s just a coincidence… yeah, a coincidence, that’s it.

Apparently four transoceanic communications network cables have been mysteriously severed. The result of this is that internet traffic in the Middle East has been severely hampered and, according to some reports, completely halted to and from Iran. Even more interesting, what little traffic still exists is being re-routed through the US and UK, but I’m sure there’s nothing fishy going on, it’s probably just a massive series of completely unrelated coincidences.

Here’s more from Monday’s episode of Rocketboom (the pertinent part begins at about 2:15).

Also, on a completely unrelated note, here’s Wikipedia’s page on the USS Jimmy Carter, which says, in part:

Carter is roughly 100 feet (30 m) longer than the other two ships of her class. This is due to the insertion of a section known as the Multi-Mission Platform (MMP), which allows launch and recovery of ROVs and Navy SEAL forces. The plug features a fairing over a wasp-waist shaped passageway allowing crew to pass between the fore and aft sections of the hull while providing a space to store ROVs and special equipment that may need to launch and recover from the submarine. The MMP may also be used as an underwater splicing chamber for tapping of undersea fiber optic cables. This role was formerly filled by the decommissioned USS Parche (SSN-683).

Jimmy Carter, Iran… I’m sure it’s all just a massive coincidence.

Subterranean Homesick Blues

Since JW pointed out the Dylanesque feel of Steve Earle’s Jerusalem video, here’s its inspiration. Compare and contrast, this will be on your exam.

So many classic lines:
‘Johnny’s in the basement, mixing up the medicine.’
‘You don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.’
‘The pump don’t work ’cause the vandals took the handles.’

To Protect and to Serve?

I’m sure many of you are familiar with the events during the May Day Demonstrations in LA.
Everything I’ve seen points to LAPD shutting down what appeared to be a purely peaceful protest (in full riot gear, firing rubber bullets into the crowd). The amazing thing to me is that they (LAPD) didn’t manage to escalate the situation into a full-blown riot, Lord knows they tried. Oh sure, the party line is: “They’re there to prevent a riot.” That sounds good on the surface, but it sure seems to me that at least as many riots are instigated by the police as by those later labeled “rioters”.
Brad, over at the Brad Blog shot some good video, check it out.

Jesus! What sort of police state are we living in? How far do “they” have to push before We the People decide we’ve had enough and start pushing back?

Here’s another well written report of the events, from la.indymedia.org You’ll find plenty more about the events on their front page, as well.

Update 5/4: More from Boing Boing here.

One More Nightwatchman Video

Here he is playing “House Gone Up In Flames” on Jimmy Kimmel Live (4/25).

Countdown to The Nightwatchman’s “One Man Revolution”

If you’ve been here before, and you’ve been paying attention, you know that I’m really excited about the pending album release by The Nightwatchman (Tom Morello’s alter-ego).
That release date (April 24) is almost upon us! Run! Go pre-order it from Amazon now! (I have.) The Nightwatchman will be performing on Jimmy Kimmell Live on April 25, so be sure to set your TiVos for that.

In the mean time, enjoy this trio of Nightwatchman videos:

This last one is more a slide-show set to music, but still very much worth your while.

Paranoia, the Destroyer

So, I was perusing my server logs (like I do) and discovered that someone from the Department of Homeland Security had found their way to my blog, via Google (and this isn’t the first time).

I don’t want to run afoul of “them” and find myself in some secret gulag somewhere being subjected to various forms of “not torture”, so I won’t divulge what search phrase landed them here.

Suffice it to say that given my predilection toward paranoid delusions/flights of fancy this information has made me feel decidedly less secure. Of course, I could just assume that someone in Homeland Security was goofing off at work and found their way here, but where’s the fun in that?

Fight PATRIOT III — write your Senator today!

Boing Boing: Fight PATRIOT III — write your Senator today!

If you are a resident of Kansas, Utah, Ohio, Missouri, Maine, Nebraska, Georgia, Virginia, West Virginia, Michigan, California, Oregon, Indiana, Maryland, or New Jersey, your senator is on the committee reviewing this bill in a closed session on Thursday.

Jeebers, this is scary stuff! I’ll bet if you listen closely you can hear the framers of the Constitution spinning in their graves. Once more, let us refer to the wise words of Mr. Steve Earle:

What if I told you it was done with mirrors
What if I showed you it was all a lie
Better be careful someone might hear ya
The walls have ears and the sky has eyes.

What if I said you were only dreamin’
What you wanna bet that all you gotta do
Is open up your eyes and you will wake up screamin’
When you realize that it’s all come true.

(Conspiracy Theory, from the album Jerusalem)

ACLU Says FBI is Spying on Religious, Protest Groups

Well… Duh! Everyone should give Steve Earle’s “Conspiracy Theory” from the Jerusalem CD a listen. I may not agree with all of Mr. Earle’s politics, but I think he’s spot-on with his “paranoia” about government intrusiveness.

What if I told you it was done with mirrors
What if I showed you it was all a lie
Better be careful, someone might hear ya
The walls have ears and the sky has eyes
What if I said you were only dreamin’
What you want to bet that all you got to do
Is open up your eyes and you’ll wake up screamin’
When you realize that it’s all come true

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The American Civil Liberties Union on Thursday accused the FBI and local police of spying on political and faith-based groups and formally
asked the government for information about such FBI surveillance.

In Freedom of Information Act requests filed in 10 states and Washington, D.C., the ACLU sought information about the FBI’s use of Joint Terrorism Task Forces and local police for what it called political surveillance. It pointed to some documented examples of task forces’ involvement in the investigation of environmental activists and anti-war protesters. “The FBI is wasting its time and our tax dollars spying on groups that criticize the government, like the Quakers in Colorado or Catholic Peace Ministries in Iowa,” said ACLU associate legal director Ann Beeson.

“Do Americans really want to return to the days when peaceful critics become the subject of government investigations?” she said. The ACLU is America’s most prominent independent advocacy group for civil liberties.

The FOIA requests seek FBI files on groups and individuals targeted for speaking out or practicing their faith.

The FBI denied using the task forces — a key element of the government’s efforts to prevent another terror attack like those on Sept. 11, 2001 — to spy on innocent individuals.

Asked about the ACLU action, an FBI spokesman said, “The FBI does not investigate individuals or groups that are engaged in exercising their constitutional rights of freedom of expression.

He added, “Only if they are engaged in criminal activity in support of a cause would we be interested in them.”

In its FOIA request, the ACLU asked for information on procedures used by the task forces for monitoring people based on their race, religious affiliation, organizational membership or participation in protest activities.