Posts tagged “government”

I don't think PRISM is a big deal, but here are eight things that genuinely threaten democracy: whistleblower persecution, National Security Letters, gutting the Voting Rights Act, partisan redistricting, corporate personhood, SuperPACs, attacks on abortion rights, and enshrining anti-gay discrimination in state constitutions. (Update: I was wrong about PRISM. Shut it down.)

I defended PRISM on Twitter and caused a shitstorm. My position: surveillance isn't inherently abusive, the government has been doing this for a decade without evidence of misuse, and the real outrage should be Bradley Manning's treatment. If they can read our emails, we should be able to read their cables.

I support Wikileaks, though quietly, out of genuine fear of reprisal. That fear itself is damning. The cables and war diaries served real public interest, were handled responsibly, and the US government's heavy-handed response has done far more damage to America's reputation than the leaks themselves ever could.

I outline my wish list for Obama's national CTO: mandate that government IT actually improve efficiency, require open APIs so agencies can share data without redundant collection, move all paperwork online with real digital capture, and consolidate physical offices into universal "Department of Getting Stuff Done" service centers.

London elected Boris Johnson as mayor while I was away. Mildly horrified, though it does mean fewer Schwarzenegger comparisons. At least Arnie ran a successful business.

Trinidad's PM Manning claims to know who's behind four bombings but admits he has no courtroom-worthy evidence. That's not knowing anything. Don't grandstand about "Mr Big" when you can't back it up. Embarrassing.

The Hutton report was a complete whitewash. Both sides clearly shared blame, yet the conclusions absolved the government entirely. The BBC lost two top executives over what amounts to a journalistic error, while the government faced zero consequences. This threatens BBC independence and leaves me furious.

Anyone could register .mil domains, including pentagon.mil, with no password required, thanks to two completely open pages on the military's own servers. The Register broke it but stayed coy about details. Slashdot didn't. Neither will I. Go nuts before they fix it.