Image via Wikipedia

Late Friday TechCrunch broke the story that Criagslist had apparently shuttered CENSORED the entire Adult Services section for each U.S. location.  However, those same service are apparently still available OUTSIDE the U.S.

It appears that Craigslist went tits up on its erotic services section after being strong-armed by a coaltion of state Attorney’s General, lead by wannabe senator, war record exaggerator and Conn. AG Richard Blumenthal. Despite the fact that the ads appearing in this section of Craigslist can be found on numerous other free websites and, indeed, in every free paper in major city in U.S., Craigslist was targeted.

In the past Craigslist has staunchly defended itself, saying that,  Section 230 of Communications Decency Act provided it with a safe harbor that protects it (and any other website or service that hosts user-generated content) from any liability rising from user-generated.  The courts, time and time again have agreed, upholding Section 230 as the cornerstone of free speech online.

But don’t tell that to Blumenthal and his pack of his moralistic thugs, they simply aren’t interested in the truth (kind of like Blumenthal himself was never interested in telling the truth about his service in Vietnam).

Blumenthal said in a statement:

We welcome any steps toward eliminating the adult services section and prostitution ads on Craigslist, as we have urged, and we are seeking to verify the site’s official policy going forward. If Craigslist is doing the right thing voluntarily in response to our coalition of attorneys general, it could set an example for others.

That “we” he’s talking about is a coalition of AGs that have had a hard on for Criagslist for many months now.  It is chilling to see Blumenthal claiming credit for sending Craigslist scampering into some dark corner of the Net, afraid of the consequences of standing up his group of moralistic thugs.   Breathe deep… that’s the smell of free expression being shredded on the Internet.

This is a bad moon rising.  If it does “set an example” for others free expression is doomed.  And if it’s happening HERE, in the U.S., you can believe that tyrants across the globe will gladly use such incidents as political cover for taking action to squash online free speech as well.

Related articles:

• Eric: Craigslist stops offering links to ‘adult services’ ads (washingtonpost.com)
• Craigslist Removes Adult Services Section (nytimes.com)

John Wooden, the UCLA basketball coach who became an icon of American sports while guiding the Bruins to an unprecedented 10 national championships in the 1960s and ’70s and remained in the spotlight during retirement with his “Pyramid of Success” motivational program, has died. He was 99.

Wooden died Friday evening of natural causes at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, the university announced. He had been hospitalized since last week for dehydration.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Legendary UCLA basketball coach John Wooden dies at 99 (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• UCLA: Former UCLA coach John Wooden comfortable (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• Ex-UCLA star Jamaal Wilkes: John Wooden alert but frail (ballhype.com)

WASHINGTON – The top American commander in the Middle East has ordered a broad expansion of clandestine military activity in an effort to disrupt militant groups or counter threats in Iran, Saudi Arabia, Somalia and other countries in the region, according to defense officials and military documents.

The secret directive, signed in September by Gen. David H. Petraeus, authorizes the sending of American Special Operations troops to both friendly and hostile nations in the Middle East, Central Asia and the Horn of Africa to gather intelligence and build ties with local forces. Officials said the order also permits reconnaissance that could pave the way for possible military strikes in Iran if tensions over its nuclear ambitions escalate.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Gates keeps up pressure on Iran with Gulf visit (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• Pentagon Plan to Upgrade Afghan Base Near Iran May Rile Regime (businessweek.com)
• U.S. Is Said to Order Further Clandestine Military Action (nytimes.com)

Here’s the video:

When Google (finally) stood on its hind legs and told the Chinese government to go fuck itself after years of bending over a couch and taking it in the ass at the behest of the country’s censor happy control freaks, we all cheered as if Superman finally came out of a Kryptonite induced coma to save the day.  What we real should have been saying is, “What took you so fucking long?”

But hey, it’s Google, the digital age corporate equivalent of the teflon President Ronald Reagan–nothing stuck to that pompous, self-aggrandizing, astrology believing S.O.B.  Nothing sticks to Google and frankly, if it does, they shake it off like a Lab shakes off water after good swim in the lake.

But Google, and other Internet giants, have gotten a free ride from us for far too long.  The company wields a power that is a Bill Gates wet dream.  If the company unleashed the Code Warriors on its payroll and said “sic ‘em” there are few governments, and likely no private industry, that could withstand the assault (you can damn well better believe that the NSA was knocking on Google’s door after the company outed China for hacking into gmail accounts and dozens of U.S. companies) [EDITORIAL UPDATE, Feb. 4:  When I wrote this blog post, I had no idea my prediction of the NSA running to Google was, literally, being carried out in real time.]  Yes, I believe they hold that “Mighty Right Hand of God” type power.  I also believe that the simple fact that they don’t use that power on a regular basis means they are living up to their mantra of “Do No Evil.”  Because, brother, if Google wanted to rain down a shit storm on anyone, anywhere, it would not be pretty.

OK, enough of the voodoo rhythm routine… what has gotten me all riled up today is an excellent blog post from an acquaintance of mine, Lauren Weinstein.  In Lauren’s most recent blog post he takes on the touchy issue of whether there isn’t more Google can do to help thwart the rampant dissemination of horrendous (I’ll just call them obscene) images of unspeakable accidents.  For years the family of an 18-year-old girl what was decapitated in a car accident–the images actually show her head cleaved in two–has tried in vain to erase on-site accident photos from being displayed on the Net.  Allegedly, someone with the California Highway Patrol leaked the images and they went viral.  A California appeals court just ruled that the lawsuit the family brought against CHiP can proceed.

Now, anyone that knows my background knows I’m foursquare against censorship; in fact, I was one of the original plaintiffs in Reno v. ACLU that succeeded in having the Communications Decency Act declared unconstitutional.  But with the proliferation of these accident images, we’re into a whole other argument.

Lauren writes much more logically and even-handed about this than I can.  He writes:

A simple search on the victim’s name in Google Images yields seemingly endless copies of the exceedingly gruesome photos, even when Google SafeSearch is set to its most strict setting.

Let’s be very clear. I’m not suggesting that the photos be banned. And indeed, Google is merely indexing and archiving imagery that is by definition actually posted and hosted at external sites not under Google’s control.

But even given these facts, would it be fair to say that Google has no role to play in the exploitation and monetization of these images, and in the continuing grief that they cause the victim’s parents and other family members? … Google is almost certainly the primary mechanism through which the vast majority of persons discover and locate these images.

There are some relatively simple amelioratory steps that I’d suggest in this specific case.

Google could take a more proactive stance to avoid having such images being so openly displayed when not in completely unfiltered SafeSearch mode. My hunch is that flagging most of these specific accident photos as posted — even on an ongoing basis (based on keywords and Google’s advanced image analysis algorithms) — would be relatively straightforward given Google’s resources.

More broadly, this case brings into focus a class of issues representing extremely difficult ethical dilemmas that often aren’t subject to improvement through engineering alone.

Going back to my rant:  finding a solution for to this problem should be child’s play for Google.  Pulling out of China was a decision no more difficult than walking out on a Quentin Tarantino movie; taking on an issue that rides the razor’s edge of censorship takes real balls.  We should demand Google grow some of brass.

The video referenced below has an out-of-breath, unknown photographer providing real time commentary on the earthquake as seen from a distance, in the mountains.  It is chilling.  At the very end of the video we hear, in English:  “The world is coming to an end!”

The following comes from Global Voices:

The Caribbean blogosphere is busy tonight, discussing very sad news – an earthquake measuring 7.3 on the Richter Scale struck off the coast of Haiti, causing major damage and loss of life in the already besieged island nation.

Twitter emerged as the fastest, most time sensitive vehicle through which to report on the catastrophe; Facebook was also full of wall comments on the disaster, from both French and English-speaking Caribbean netizens. One user in Trinidad and Tobago was already collecting “foodstuff, blankets & clothing for Haiti”, asking donors to “label all bags”. Others, like Jamaica-based Annie Paul, quoted lyrics from calypsonian David Rudder‘s ode to the island: “Haiti, I’m sorry…but one day we’ll turn our heads, restore your glory”, following up with links to video of the earthquake, which she found posted on YouTube:

And “Behind Blondie Park” is carrying some compelling images and accounts as well.

Related articles:

• Relief Efforts for Haiti (firstthings.com)
• Haiti Earthquake: Hundreds Feared Dead (news.sky.com)
• Experts warned of earthquake risk in Haiti (cnn.com)
• Haiti Earthquake Relief: How You Can Help (huffingtonpost.com)

I found it provided a reasoned road map for the fog of my own mental wandering when pondering the fact that, almost out of the starting gate, the Obama Administration has failed to cultivate any significant percentage of that digital alchemy the campaign managed to conjure.  That failure alone deserves a book; this blog post provides a jumpstart on such a book, in my opinion.

Micah writes:

The problem for Obama and the Democrats today, as they head into 2010, is that much of their activist base appears to have swallowed too much of the wrong half of the myth: they thought that Obama would be more of a change-agent, and never really embraced their own role.

That paragraph sets up the entire question.  Here are other excerpts:

But the question raised by Plouffe’s book is, given the grassroots base he helped develop in support of Obama and how powerful it became by the fall of 2008 (raising $150 million in the month of September alone, including more than $10 million the night of Sarah Palin’s acceptance speech), why he didn’t do more to keep that muscular organization going into Obama’s presidency? To put it another way, why did Plouffe discount his own grassroots strategy in favor of the dusty old playbook used by White House insiders for decades? Why wasn’t more done to extend that sense of ownership meaningfully into the life of the Administration? If you could trust your volunteers to carry the campaign in all sorts of important ways, why not also give them a real say in how they could shake up Washington?

The answer, ultimately, is that Plouffe and the rest of Obama’s leadership team, wasn’t really interested in grassroots empowerment. Instead, they think they’ve invented a 21st century version of list-building, and to some degree they’re right. (It’s for that reason that I think of the Obama campaign as the first 21st century top-down campaign, while McCain’s was the last 20th century top-down version). For Plouffe, the gigantic Obama email list, its millions of donors and its vibrant online social network were essentially a new kind of top-down broadcast system, one even better than the old TV-dominated system.

[snip]

When it came to planning for being in government, it turns out that Plouffe, along with David Axelrod, was a chief advocate for bringing in then Rep. Rahm Emanuel as Obama’s chief of staff. He writes, using a baseball analogy: “Rahm was a five-tool political player: a strategist with deep policy expertise, considerable experience in both the legislative and executive branches, and a demeanor best described as relentless.” (p. 372) Note that nowhere in that vital skill-set is any sense of how to work with the largest volunteer base any presidential campaign has developed in history. Rahm Emanuel came up in politics the old-fashioned way; organizing and empowering ordinary people are the least of his skills.

When I started to write those goals this year they just, well, came out different.  Some will say these sound like “affirmations,” or “positive thinking” or… whatever… I just started writing and here’s the result, I thought I’d share it with you:

Yeah, I’m Going to…

Learn how to love better, forgive faster, talk less and listen closer.  I’m going to think twice–no, three times–and buy once.  I’m going to concentrate on friendships and “the little things,” instead of the things I want.  I’m going to look less critically at myself and a lot closer at “who I am.”  I’m going to become reacquainted with the magical properties of shadow and light and put them to good use on a regular basis.

I’ll going to, mostly, be honest with my God and myself.  I’ll bring my better angels to every fight and hold the darker angels in reserve because I just know I’m going to need them down the road.

I’m going to hold my tongue, hug my kids and wrestle with the dogs.  I’m going to remember I have a kid in me somewhere and I’m going to teach him about the curious, creative and fearless man I’ve become and wish that he had been.

I’m going to wrap my head around philosophies I’ve had no time for, academic pursuits I’ve felt too stupid to achieve and compassions I’ve ignored for no other reason than it was just too easy to turn the page, turn off the TV or walk away from the radio.

I’m going to write that love letter for the ages that starts something like… [no chance you get to see this].

I’m going to remember how great it felt last year to be reacquainted with my high school friends and I’m going to remember to stay in touch, even if they don’t.

I’m going to remember that there is more good in people than bad and if that statement isn’t true, I’m going to believe it anyway.  When I say “I’ll keep you in my prayers,” I’m going to actually offer up a pray to “keep them in.”  I’m going to inconvenience myself to help others, assist a stranger or just sit and talk with someone so lonely and alone that you can feel their ache across the room.

I will drink less. Wait…

I’m going to be a better dad not because I have to but because I want to, because my three grown sons and their families are right in the sweet spot of their young lives only to find the world crashing around them–all the time–and they can’t see it or feel it, and I want to be living proof that when shit happens life still goes on and that no matter what happens, in 24 hours a new day starts and new opportunities present themselves.  I’m going to tell each of them that they can do anything for a year if they have to.

I’m going to be a better dad because I don’t care who you are, how important you think you are or how many books and degrees you have, “quality time” is a distant cousin of “face time,” and because I have only 1,460 more days with my youngest son and 2,190 days with my daughter before they leap from being children to adults in less time than it takes to sing a chorus of “Happy Birthday.”

I’m going to show and tell my kids things they will think are the stupidest ideas they have ever heard… so that on that one day, that one time, that one instant they are jammed up and “don’t have a clue” they will suddenly remember “how Dad did it.”

When I admire something, receive extraordinary service, when I am moved or inspired or feel comforted by someone or something I’m going to to make sure to thank them.  I’m going to be thankful for my job every day.  I’m going to “kick out the ladder” at work and watch all the good things that happen.  I’m going to live in gratitude and look for grace in unexpected places.  I will not be a hostage to this list, nor will I pretend it was only an interesting exercise.

I’m going to reuse more, waste less and give a rat’s ass about whether or not global warming is true because I’m going to be doing all I can to keep my corner of the world more clean and less polluted; I’ll pick up someone else’s trash, turn out the lights others leave on and just use less.

And despite all my good intensions, I’m likely going to fail more than I succeed at all of this, but that’s okay, because I’m going to let go of my attachment to the outcome and just accept what is.

Meeks out…

The FBI gathered nearly 30 pieces of evidence for its investigation; the most interesting pieces of this are the underwear in which the device was concealed and device itself.  Here’s how the FBI put it:

The underwear worn by the bomber was modified to provide storage of the main charge which was anatomically congruent, possibly to avoid detection during screening. The underwear sustained thermal damage. Blue jeans worn by the bomber also sustained thermal damage (scorching) on the inside with small spots of melted plastic on the outside surface.

The phrase “anatomically congruent” probably jumped right out at you, didn’t it?  The FBI was afraid to say, “the device was jammed into a condom and stuffed into the front of his pants so that he’d look like he was hung like a horse.” Ok, maybe that’s a loose interpretation of what they Bureau might have said.

Here’s an official FBI shot of the “thin soft ‘plastic’ flim-like material” that held the explosive:

Official FBI Investigative Photo

And here’s another official photo showing the <ahem> deployment of the device:

Photo: FBI

The Bureau wants you to know that the above image is “rigged” in that the “plastic flim-like” device wasn’t actually <ahem> inserted into the underwear when found… the lab guys were just joking around and someone snapped the photo.

The Wall St. Journal turned out a pretty slick little video about the whole episode right here: