June 13, 2006
Asymmetric warfare and the Gitmo inmate PR machine
Image source: www.indymedia.org
The image above may give the impression that the inmates at Gitmo are suffering, but this isn't the case at all. According to Commander Harry Harris, the three suicides the other day were not out of desperation, but "an act of asymmetric warfare". If you find this a little conceptually challenging, try this one for size ... Colleen Graffy, the deputy assistant secretary of state for public diplomacy [sic], told the BBC on Sunday: "Taking their own lives was not necessary, but it certainly is a good PR move to draw attention". The absurdity of these remarks will only serve one purpose; this being to aggravate the already aggrieved to commit more acts of violence against the West.
June 04, 2006
Yah-boo!
Shi Tao (Chinese journalist)
Image source: www.irrepressible.info
Wired Magazine reports this week that a study has revealed about a third of big companies in the United States and the UK hire employees to read and analyse outbound e-mail to "guard against legal, financial or regulatory risk". To protect your privacy, therefore, it is probably wise to send any risque jokes, love notes to your spouse, or any other details relating to your personal life via your private email account. Unless of course, you happen to have a Yahoo account. In China this can be extremely detrimental to one's personal liberty; like 10 years in gaol, for example, in the case of journalist Shi Tao if you happen to email material in support of the pro-democracy movement. This might have been avoided had Yahoo shown themselves to have more of a backbone and not surrendered information to the Chinese authorities. If this sort of thing worries you, please consider pledging your support for Shi Tao at www.irrepressible.info.