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06/22/2003 Archived Entry: ""

From the cartoon department: The latest from Drew Sheneman entitled "Criticizing the Patriot Act Is Against the Patriot Act" is worth a gander. Mark Fiore's "Recall the Governor!" is a bit disappointing -- perhaps because I rather like the campaign to oust Davis. Meanwhile Ted Rall's offering, "The Angriest Liberal in the World," is a good chuckle. And there is always the inimitable Tom Tomorrow with "Christians -- Not All Bad!"

Sunni Maravillosa, editor of Free-Market.Net's "Freedom News," has an interesting review of "The Matrix Reloaded," in which she comments, "Ultimately, what holds Reloaded back from being a really good film is not so much a sequel jinx, but the bridge effect: we know a third movie, The Matrix Revolutions, is already in the can, and that's when things ought to really be coming together. Much like The Two Towers, most of the little plot in Reloaded involves filling in and making necessary introductions -- necessary work, but not always the most fun stuff to watch." Hmmm...Brad and I have tentatively scheduled a drive-in movie fest for tonight, complete with picnic basket, and one of the flicks on the menu is Matrix Reloaded. Of course, I have to make sure that deadlines won't be compromised first. :-( Work, work, work!

I can hardly wait 'til Monday when a copy of "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" will be delivered to our front door! Both of us are great fans of the series and some peaceful manner must be worked out to determine who gets to read the book first. Over 760 pages of guaranteed pleasure! I sit, wriggling my toes in anticipatory delight.

This just in...the new catalog from McFarland Books lists the latest "Carl Watner with Wendy McElroy" book, which is entitled "NATIONAL IDENTIFICATION SYSTEMS: Essays in Opposition." The description reads, "Throughout history, governments have sought more efficient ways to count, tax, allocate, monitor and order the activities of their citizens. Watner and McElroy have compiled a collection of essays that present the historical, religious, moral and practical arguments against government identification. The articles look at several government naming practices and the census and discuss how the collection of seemingly innocent data could be used to commit abuses. Section one recounts the history of what we now call national ID. Section two covers contemporary technologies, such as microchips, email tracking and camera-based surveillance systems, applying to each the test, 'How would this catch terrorists or other criminals without destroying the rights of peaceable people?' Section three imagines a future of rebellion against a government tracking its citizens in the name of security, but offers some hope that American culture does not lend itself to the fanatical control that a high-tech national ID system could make possible."

Snippet from yesterday's fav email...
...the media giants are still pushing hard to make "pay per use" the norm. They have quietly attempted to resurrect "DivX" by slipping features into the "small print" of the new MPEG4 standard and license agreement to support making disks unplayable after a fixed number of plays or a fixed amount of time. (Disney, in particular, is pushing "Disposable DVDs".)

Best to all,
mac