Stop trying to save the world

Över 2 000 demonstrerade för offentlig fotografering - Fotosidan

Nyhet I lördags hölls en demonstration i London mot de anti-terror-lagar som ger brittisk polis rätt att hindra fotografering på offentliga platser. Dubbelt så många fotografer som förväntat dök upp.

Man väntade omkring 1 000 deltagande fotografer, men över 2 000 deltog i den lyckade manifestationen på Trafalgar Square i London i lördags.

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while the photographers themselves focused on the fact that they were not terrorists, too few other people were focusing on the fact that our own rights to surveillance in public places will gradually be squelched to virtually zero while simultaneously embracing public surveillance cameras in the name of solving crimes such as child abduction or rape.

trying to limit public access to space and information is a typical knee-jerk reaction is in some ways reminiscent of the pirate radio days, where the right-wing bastards that would rule over us squelched freedom of the airwaves for a short while. Freedom of the photons is something that will not be readily stopped in this age of increasingly miniaturized quality video devices, mobile data transmission, anonymous peer-to-peer networks etc. etc.

the attempt to do so anyway, in order to gain a monopoly on information regarding movements of individuals and other objects in certain geographical locations, seems to be a typical “war on terror” exploit, and we should not accept it and gradually regard it as normal, as we have done with restrictions on our right to travel freely.
some would argue that the presence of modern suicide bombers in our midst anywhere on the globe, (as opposed to marketplaces in dusty Middle Eastern war zones) requires that we all are carefully monitored about our respective governments, but this is a woeful solution, as it will result in the world that nobody really wants to live in, nor will it stop the fundamentalist martyrs from bombing us and each other anyway

—Janis Abens

Block That Bonus! - Forbes.com
Block That Bonus!
Brian Wingfield and Joshua Zumbrun, 03.17.09, 07:00 PM EDT
While the White House hunts for ways to halt the AIG payouts, lawmakers roll out their own ideas.

WASHINGTON, D.C.–Wednesday, AIG chief executive Edward Liddy will trek to Capitol Hill to atone for the deeds of his company.

He’ll face the fury of a House subcommittee, irate about $165 million in bonuses paid to company executives while AIG (nyse: AIG - news - people ) survived on $170 billion in taxpayer life support. Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, gave an early taste of what Liddy can expect when he suggested that those at AIG who take the cash should either “resign or go commit suicide.”
… FINALLY SOMEONE SAYS IT
“What happens if you lose an executive who understands a billion-plus position?” she says. “I think the biggest interest of U.S. taxpayers is in getting the money that’s gone into AIG repaid.”

IMHO, if execs refuse to work keeping the gears moving according to new rules without huge remuneration plans regardless of performance, they should be jailed and fined.