Month: February 2004

No Law Broken in JetBlue Scandal. The privacy officer of the Homeland Security Department says officials at her department didn’t break any laws by pushing JetBlue to hand over passenger data. But they shouldn’t have done it. By Ryan Singel. [Wired News]

In fact the government clearly broke this law:

bq. The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Fourth Amendment, Constitution of the United States

Jet-powered Nausicaa Glider Project [Slashdot]

The test flight video is pretty impressive. I wonder how well it would work with a human pilot, though. I rather doubt that they’ll be able to find a test pilot with Nausicaa’s abilities.

My film scanner finally got back from the Nikon service center today. It took two weeks to repair, which seems a bit unreasonable to me. When I send my laptop to Apple for repairs I can expect to get it back two days later. On the other hand, when my film scanner came back it worked, whereas my laptop doesn’t work about half the time, so I guess the longer repair time isn’t totally without benefit.

Japan Raises Security Amid Troop Dispatch [AP World News]

Japan is sending 1,000 air, sea and ground forces for the mission in Iraq, its largest military deployment since World War II. An advance team of 30 soldiers is already in Iraq.

Many fear that dispatch could draw terrorist attacks in Japan, and last November an alleged al-Qaida operative threatened to attack Tokyo if it sent troops to Iraq. Japan issued a series of travel advisories and alerts for citizens living abroad late last year.

There are some pretty obvious implications for US foreign policy there, although I can confidently predict that those implications will be completely ignored by the mainstream media.

Guns and Marriage. A Redondo Beach, California, gun rights activists pens a satirical letter to San Francisco law enforcement officials, analogizing his marginal social role as a gun-owner with that of homosexuals, and wondering if their willingness to ignore the law in regards to gay marriages in their city would be extended to him as well. An excerpt:bq. You have shown progressive thinking and tolerance for that which the majority condemns. So I was thinking of coming up to San Francisco and exercising my right to keep and bear arms, maybe showing up at City Hall with a state-banned AR-15 and a couple 30-round magazines, and also carrying several pistols concealed without a permit.

Yes, I know, it will be a violation of California laws, but you’ve shown that you’re willing to disregard those when it serves your goals. And because I am a peaceable citizen, I should easily meet Judge Warren’s criterion that no immediate damage would be done by allowing this.

So what do you think, if I visit your city and proudly display my lifestyle choices, can I count on your support? As a private citizen, don’t I have as much right to disregard laws I find reprehensible as you public officials? Isn’t that what equality is supposed to be all about, where no class of citizen enjoys privileges and immunities not extended to all?

Hilarity ensues, including calls from the San Francisco police and two Redondo Beach police cars showing up at his house. [Hit & Run]

The letter-writer makes a good point. It would be a mistake to think the mayor of San Francisco is some kind of pro-freedom hero making a stand–as the response from the San Francisco police demonstrates.

RIAA Countersued Under Racketeering Laws [Slashdot]

bq. The woman’s attornies are arguing that “…by suing file-swappers for copyright infringement, and then offering to settle instead of pursuing a case where liability could reach into the hundreds of thousands of dollars, the RIAA is violating the same laws that are more typically applied to gangsters and organized crime.”

I happen to agree that the RIAA is engaging in extortion. However, I suspect this countersuit is doomed, because the entire system of civil suits today is based on this kind of extortion. I don’t believe the legal professionals involved in the case will allow that sort of threat to their livelyhoods to prevail.

Paranoia. Greg Costikyan has licensed his classic role playing game, Paranoia, to a British firm that will produce a new XP edition.

“Player: Are you using the d20 rules system?”

“The Computer: No. PARANOIA is fun. D20 games are not fun. The Computer says so.”

” PARANOIA’s second edition rules were, of course, perfect. The new PARANOIA XP expunges certain imperfections introduced by subversive elements, and will be even more perfect.”
Costikyan can write. He’s got a nice piece in the new Tekka on “Games for Smart People”. [Mark Bernstein]

I used to play Paranoia when I was in high school. It was pretty funny, although I suspect that it would be less so now–America has moved pretty far towards the game’s setting in the past 15-20 years.

#
Dudley Hiibel –

PapersPlease.org :: Hiibel – a Nevada man was arrested for
refusing to show ID. He was smoking a cigarette outside of the truck
that his daughter was driving. This happened back in May of 2000. It
will come before the Supreme Court on March 22. If the Supremes find
in favor of the state of Nevada, “Papieren Bitte” (Papers, Please)
will become the order of the day in the United Soviet States of
America (USSA). The site includes the police video and court
documents. Amicus briefs on behalf of Mr. Hiibel have been filed by
The American Civil Libertires Union, The Cato Institute, The
Electronic Frontier Foundation, The Electronic Privacy Information
Center, The National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty, National
Coalition for the Homeless, Judge David L. Bazelon Center for Mental
Health Law, National Alliance to End Homelessness, National Health
Care for the Homeless Council, National Coalition for Homeless
Veterans, PrivacyActivism, Cyber Privacy Project, and
FreeToTravel.org. Briefs supporting the state of Nevada have been
filed by the Solicitor General, The National Association of Police,
and The Criminal Justice Legal Foundation. [lrtdiscuss] [End the War on Freedom]

I have a pretty good idea how this is going to turn out. It’s sad, because I can remember when “your papers please” was a cliched movie line used to show that a character was a member of the Gestapo or KGB.

Debka has some interesting analysis that indicates that the US is in a bind.  The recent moves to empower Iraqi defense forces to take control of city centers is premature (as proved in the brazen attack in Fallujah yesterday).  At the same time the US is committed to a shift of power this summer and the UN is talking about elections this fall.  There are three potential outcomes for this:

• A full civil war that draws in adjacent powers.


• Democracy and stability under Sunni leadership. 


• More US occupation but with increasing resistance.

How would you assign the odds (in percentages) for each outcome? [John Robb’s Weblog]

I think the odds are: civil war 20%, more occupation 80%, no chance of democracy and stability under Sunni leadership. Note however that stability under Sunni leadership would be possible, if the Feds decide to install their own version of Saddam. I suspect there’s actually a pretty good chance of that happening.

Family Crisis… [Baghdad Burning]

Riverbend writes about how her cousin’s husband was abducted and held for ransom. Fortunately he was returned after the ransom was paid!