Posts Tagged ‘activism’

Who Told You These Things?

// September 23rd, 2007 // 4 Comments » // Activism and Awareness, Politics

There is a very moving and intelligent article over at thisisby.us that I think everyone should read. It, um, asks some very interesting questions.

“Who told you this?” I began. “Who told you supporting our troops meant supporting endless war; that disagreeing with our administration’s policies meant turning my back on my country? Who told you that I have to follow our President into the pits of a hell of our own making, never questioning the course though my heart and head scream for sanity? As for our fighting men and women, who told you I’ve no compassion for their sacrifice or respect for their service? As I beg my elected representatives to bring them home, so they might be safe until the day a war of choice becomes a war of necessity – who told you that makes me a traitor?

More on Warrantless Wiretapping

// August 8th, 2007 // No Comments » // Activism and Awareness, Politics, Technology and Gadgets

As if the government didn’t try hard enough to keep us in a state of constant fear, THIS tops almost all (the rest of our civil rights that are currently being violated excluded).

A new law expanding the government’s spying powers gives the Bush Administration a six-month window to install possibly permanent back doors in the nation’s communication networks. The legislation was passed hurriedly by Congress over the weekend and signed into law Sunday by President Bush.
The bill, known as the Protect America Act, removes the prohibition on warrantless spying on Americans abroad and gives the government wide powers to order communication service providers such as cell phone companies and ISPs to make their networks available to government eavesdroppers.

Basically, all phone, internet and Voice over IP service providers (including Skype, Google Talk, and Gizmo Project) can now be ordered to put in back door spying measures for the government, all without warrant. I’ll stick to encrypting sensitive emails and using paper for other sensitive data.

The Evils of Aspartame or Why You Should Eat Tagatose

// May 17th, 2007 // No Comments » // Activism and Awareness, Books, Movies, Music, and TV

Do you know what Aspartame is? I knew it was bad for you, but never knew how bad until Amme showed me a documentary called “Sweet Misery”. Sucralose is just as bad as aspartame, and was discovered to be a sweetner when a chemist making pesticide (yes, pesticide!) spilled some on his hand and discovered it tasted sweet. Antifreeze also has this property, and is fatally poisonous.

Though I am no scientist, this video claims Aspartame was pushed into FDA approval through shady deals and payoffs, and can cause dozens of illnesses, among them brain tumors and Multiple Sclerosis. At the VERY LEAST, it is important to at least consider how safe this chemical is, and whether you should let your loved ones intake it, even if its a a precaution.

I suggest supporting Tagatose, a functional sweetener that is safe for all diabetics, is 92% as sweet, and has only 38% of the calories.

Comments from a Pissed-off Soldier

// April 23rd, 2007 // 2 Comments » // Activism and Awareness, Politics

Just wanted to share this.

Also this,
(requires login, attainable here)

PS: Forgive the metafilter-style non-descriptive links

The Troubled History of the RBOCs

// February 5th, 2007 // 1 Comment » // Personal/Blog News

AT and T plus Cingular equals deathstar

When I took my first Telecom class in college, I learned about the 8 RBOCs or Regional Bell Operating Companies being set up after the AT&T monopoly was ended.

My teacher said although they were all former “Bells”, they had no joint interest. However, I wasn’t so sure. At that time, they had already begun to buy each other and were down from 8 to 4:

  1. SBC (Ameritech and Southwestern Bell and Pacific Telesis)
  2. Verizon (GTE and Bell Atlantic and NYNEX)
  3. BellSouth
  4. Qwest (US West)

I had a scary premonition that day that this would keep up until there was again 1 company, or at least 2 companies with a joint interest…

Mooninite Mayhem

// February 5th, 2007 // 4 Comments » // Personal/Blog News

Err on a Lite-Brite
 

Man, so much to rant about. As far as the Mooninite thing, I was going to be brief but I can’t hold my tongue. Washington, Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, Seattle, Portland, Austin, San Francisco, Philadelphia, and New York all didn’t bat an eyelash at these effin’ lite-brights, and thats all they really were. They weren’t “hoax devices” because there was no hoax. It was marketing. At best you could call them street art, and at worst they are improvised billboards.

Campus Activism Website

// July 12th, 2004 // No Comments » // Activism and Awareness

This is a great activism site: www.campusactivism.org

This interactive website has tools for progressive student activists. We built it, but you must provide the site’s content. You can use it to start a campaign, share activism resources, publicize events, and build networks. Or you can join an existing campaign, get resources, learn about upcoming activist events, and let people find you.