INFORMATION OF UTMOST IMPORTANCE

In order to condense my viewpoints/interests and consequently maintain an active log thereof, I decided to create this diary of sorts. It will have science, technology, politics, and maybe humour (!!1!). It will probably also have pictures of my cat.

By no means are my sources guaranteed to have complete accuracy. As an average person, my intake of world events is funnelled through the media – newspapers, television, and internet articles. I will try to wade through the rubbish or strategically reword the presentations to reflect my viewpoints and mine alone. This may or may not be accompanied by LOLwhatever(s) and gratuitous punctuation.

By no means are you obligated to read my ramblings if you are a) a sensible person, b) a non-sensible person, c) French, d) sensitive to empty and thoughtless jokes about the French, e) sensitive to sunlight, f) a gardener, g) a protester against lengthy alphabetised lists, h) a purveyor of numbered lists, rather, or i) someone who likes their information presented somewhat like a three-year-old’s breakfast, with oatmeal and Froot Loops and orange juice all mixed up into Mt. Carbohydrate and subsequently thrown on the floor. However, my entries may pertain to you from time to time, so you might want to read anyway. Or you might not. Or you may actually want to go to France, whereupon I say allons-y! I'll get my toothbrush.

In matters of politics, I do not consider myself overtly liberal or radically conservative. I also do not have picket-prints on my rear from fence-sitting; that is, I tend to jump the fence at every possible opportunity in order to remain as confusing as possible and to strengthen my calves.

There is little humanity in being of one mind, and this diary is dedicated to the pursuit of information from various sources, many of them opposing, to avoid falling victim to the Orwellian nightmare.

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And sometimes I use it to be completely vain and/or post pictures of my cat.

Monday, March 29, 2010

29 March 2010 - Moscow Bombings.

Today’s attack on the Moscow subway by two female suicide bombers (I note here that “female” is specified in the report, presumably to either show that a) it takes all sorts, b) now we get to be afraid of everybody, or c) both a and b) is completely unrelated to Al-Qaeda (those responsible for the 2001 attack on the WTC et al); however, NYC is tightening security anyway. (Source: Reuters. http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE62S33V20100329)

I’m quite partial to feeling secure during travel, and I have a habit of being paranoid while sharing a cramped space with a bunch of strangers. However, this brings up several questions with regard to privacy, or how far we should be expected to comply with stricter security regulations that require us to sacrifice our personal space in order to feel safer. It instigates an endless cycle of misplaced or mishandled trust, wherein we provide personal information about ourselves to the appointed individuals in order to protect ourselves from others. Then, suspicions are aroused that the appointed individuals are using our information against us, so we resort to paranoia and distress. I wonder if I sound like a conspiracy theorist when I half-jokingly suggest that it’s a ploy to keep us frightened, as if by the dog that herds the sheep in and out of the pasture. I’m sure it’s true in few, isolated cases, but I’m almost certain that the people who instigate these measures of security are just as frightened as we are of plane hijackings, subway bombings, or identity theft, which are all classified by now as forms of terrorism. (Source: FBI. http://www.fbi.gov/congress/congress02/idtheft.htm)

My only suggestion to protect privacy and still remain secure is to know your rights, and know the limit of the law. Report suspicious behavior, yet be mindful of your own right to anonymity.

And for God’s sake, don’t try to be John McClane. There can be only one.

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