jwz: 28-Apr-2006 (Fri)

The United States filed today a "Statement of Interest" in EFF's class-action lawsuit against AT&T, which accuses the telecom giant of violating the law and the privacy of its customers by collaborating with the National Security Agency (NSA) in its massive and illegal program to wiretap and data-mine Americans' communications.
The statement advises "the Court that the United States intends to assert the military and state secrets privilege in this action. In addition, the United States will also move to intervene and to seek dismissal of this case."

Previously.

6 Comments

Tags: big brother, doomed, security

Current Music: The Spores -- Devil's Ass ♬

that's how you know it's working!

17 years ago

So we're watching this band, and I say to Eric, "am I missing something, or are half of his drums not actually there?" The drummer had a big accoustic kit, but a bunch of what he was playing was pre-recorded. (Which struck me as unusual, because when people fake it, they tend to fake it with electronic instruments, not real ones, least of all real ones that they actually brought with them.)

So Eric says, "That's the only thing preventing them from being an alternative rock band!"

And I say, "oh, so it's the faking it that makes it be Industrial?"

7 Comments

Tags: firstperson, music

Current Music: Terminal Power Company -- Slow Motion Riot ♬

Damned Dirty Apes

17 years ago

Socialists: Give apes human rights

The Spanish Socialist Party will introduce a bill in the Congress of Deputies calling for "the immediate inclusion of (simians) in the category of persons, and that they be given the moral and legal protection that currently are only enjoyed by human beings." The PSOE's justification is that humans share 98.4% of our genes with chimpanzees, 97.7% with gorillas, and 96.4% with orangutans.
The party will announce its Great Ape Project at a press conference tomorrow. An organization with the same name is seeking a UN declaration on simian rights which would defend ape interests "the same as those of minors and the mentally handicapped of our species." According to the Project, "Today only members of the species Homo sapiens are considered part of the community of equals. The chimpanzee, the gorilla, and the orangutan are our species's closest relatives. They possess sufficient mental faculties and emotional life to justify their inclusion in the community of equals."

33 Comments

Tags: boobs, monkeys

Current Music: Naked Ape -- For the Sake ♬

mark your calendars

17 years ago

These are the things you should be doing in the next few weeks:

Fri, Apr 28:	Ladytron @ Mezzanine (sold out)
Sat, Apr 29:	A Mighty Ruckus at Lake Hepatitis, 2 PM, @ 1598 Custer & Rankin: Lou Lou & The Guitarfish; Sloatbucket; Casey Neill Band; Simon Stinger; Three Weeks Clean; Gooferman; Fabulous Disaster; The Insaints; Fleshies; The Black Furies; Teenage Harlots; The Grannies.
Sat, Apr 29:	Pop Roxx with The Spores @ DNA Lounge (Besides it being Pop Roxx, The Spores are good!)
Mon, May 01:	The Sounds @ Slim's
Tue, May 02:	Sleater Kinney @ GAMH (sold out)
Wed, May 03:	Sleater Kinney @ GAMH (sold out)
Sun, May 07:	Creepshow Peepshow @ DNA Lounge *(If you miss this, you are a god damned fool.)*
Mon, May 08:	Goldfrapp @ Fillmore
Wed, May 10:	Mentallo and the Fixer / Deathline Intl @ DNA Lounge
Fri, May 12:	Epoxies / Phenomenauts @ Bottom of the Hill
Fri, May 12:	Slick Idiot / More Machine than Man @ Annie's (CW) (SI are lame-like-KMFDM, but MMTM aren't bad.)
Sat, May 13:	Regina Spektor @ The Independent
Tue, Jun 06:	Front Line Assembly / Stromkern / DJ? Acucrack / Deathline Intl @ DNA Lounge
Thu, Jun 08:	The Elm St. Murders @ DNA Lounge
Tue, Sep 12:	Snog @ DNA Lounge

25 Comments

Tags: dnalounge, firstperson, music, sf

Current Music: Terminal 46 -- Night of the Living Bassheads ♬

expected solution: widen the media exclusion perimiter

17 years ago

House Speaker Dennis Hastert of Ill., center, gets out of a Hydrogen Alternative Fueled automobile, left, as he prepares to board his SUV, which uses gasoline, after holding a news conference at a local gas station in Washington to discuss the recent rise in gas prices.
Hastert and other members of Congress drove off in the Hydrogen-Fueled cars only to switch to their official cars to drive the few blocks back to the U.S. Capitol. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)