Sure, you gotta wonder about the General letting a Rolling Stone reporter roam around freely for a month.
Is he arrogant, stupid, crazy like a fox (I'm voting fox)? And, it's all about that Rolling Stone article. Not the war, not the General's job performance. It's all about what has been reported in that magazine interview that hasn't even hit the stands yet.
You can read the full text of Rolling Stone interview of General McChrystal in its entirety now. Rolling Stone has wisely already released it as an online publication.
But here's my prediction: McChrystal's not gonna be fired.
Let's see if I'm right.
6/23/2010
6/21/2010
Federal Control of the Web for Purposes of Homeland Security: Threat of Terrorism or Threat of Revolution?
In today's news, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano is pushing for federal control of the internet -- just as the FCC is fighting for control of internet service providers. The Federal Communications Commission just opened comments on whether broadband should be reclassified as a telecommunications system -- and therefore, under the same regulatory control as telephones, etc.
All, apparently in the name of a growing threat of "homegrown terrorism."
In a recent speech to the American Constitution Society for Law and Policy, Secretary Napolitano pointed to foreign terrorists who use the World Wide Web to communicate with their cohorts here in the United States. She is quoted as saying, "[t]he First Amendment protects radical opinions, but we need the legal tools to do things like monitor the recruitment of terrorists via the Internet."
Napolitano pointed to our known foreign enemies -- we are in two wars, of course -- and in this context, monitoring our enemies' ability to conspire with spies (sounds melodramatic, but nevertheless, it's accurate) seems to make sense.
Lots of Homegrown Political Groups Organizing on Meetup.com
However, something interesting occurred the same morning that I was reading about this push to federalize the Internet -- over at Meetup.com.
You know Meetup.com. It's the cool site where people of shared interests coordinate group meetings over the web. Hikers, Dog Lovers, Poker Players, Business Networking Groups -- they're all there at Meetup.com. I was looking for writer groups to join, maybe a book club.
This morning, I was surprised to see the number of groups that have sprouted in the two months or so since I last visited San Antonio's Meetup.com that are politically charged. Some may be Tea Party groups. Some may be other things -- there was one here in San Antonio established to prepare for an inevitable Martial Law.
Going by the name US Martial Law and Financial - Instant Alert System, there are 327 members as of today's date. Think of that. The local Scrabble club has 34.
The Martial Law group is Libertarian, they're apparently supporters of Ron Paul, and is part of the "Constitutionalist" groups numbering 299 worldwide. Now, these groups appear to be Tea Party connected, too, so go figure.
Who Does the Federal Government Want to Monitor?
I'm a native of San Antonio. During the three years I represented kids in the San Antonio CPS courts, I learned a lot about border activities. First of all, I learned that the federal government simply isn't doing that much to protect our border with Mexico.
Here in San Antonio, I've talked with coyotes (professional human smugglers) and Texas Rangers and Border Patrol officers. Here, quite frankly, the consensus is that we feel pretty much on our own - and it's understood that it's not just Mexican Nationals that are entering our state. Nope. All sorts of nationalities are crossing into Texas these days. If they've got the cash, then there's a coyote willing to smuggle them (at great risk, of course).
So, what's the real concern here on internet regulation and control? Is it really the foreign threat? Or is it an internal one?
This agency - or executive branch - desire to grasp the reins of the internet needs to be carefully considered by all of us. Our civil liberties are paramount. Men and women have died, and are dying, for mine and yours.
I'm pondering all this today, and thought I'd share it with you. I'm suspicious that it's my fellow citizens that are the true targets of this intentional violation of civil liberties, not foreigners.
We're a country that revolted in the 1700s and again in the 1800s. Some would say the 1960s came close to a third revolution. How real is a threat of revolution today? It's something to ponder.
All, apparently in the name of a growing threat of "homegrown terrorism."
In a recent speech to the American Constitution Society for Law and Policy, Secretary Napolitano pointed to foreign terrorists who use the World Wide Web to communicate with their cohorts here in the United States. She is quoted as saying, "[t]he First Amendment protects radical opinions, but we need the legal tools to do things like monitor the recruitment of terrorists via the Internet."
Napolitano pointed to our known foreign enemies -- we are in two wars, of course -- and in this context, monitoring our enemies' ability to conspire with spies (sounds melodramatic, but nevertheless, it's accurate) seems to make sense.
Lots of Homegrown Political Groups Organizing on Meetup.com
However, something interesting occurred the same morning that I was reading about this push to federalize the Internet -- over at Meetup.com.
You know Meetup.com. It's the cool site where people of shared interests coordinate group meetings over the web. Hikers, Dog Lovers, Poker Players, Business Networking Groups -- they're all there at Meetup.com. I was looking for writer groups to join, maybe a book club.
This morning, I was surprised to see the number of groups that have sprouted in the two months or so since I last visited San Antonio's Meetup.com that are politically charged. Some may be Tea Party groups. Some may be other things -- there was one here in San Antonio established to prepare for an inevitable Martial Law.
Going by the name US Martial Law and Financial - Instant Alert System, there are 327 members as of today's date. Think of that. The local Scrabble club has 34.
The Martial Law group is Libertarian, they're apparently supporters of Ron Paul, and is part of the "Constitutionalist" groups numbering 299 worldwide. Now, these groups appear to be Tea Party connected, too, so go figure.
Who Does the Federal Government Want to Monitor?
I'm a native of San Antonio. During the three years I represented kids in the San Antonio CPS courts, I learned a lot about border activities. First of all, I learned that the federal government simply isn't doing that much to protect our border with Mexico.
Here in San Antonio, I've talked with coyotes (professional human smugglers) and Texas Rangers and Border Patrol officers. Here, quite frankly, the consensus is that we feel pretty much on our own - and it's understood that it's not just Mexican Nationals that are entering our state. Nope. All sorts of nationalities are crossing into Texas these days. If they've got the cash, then there's a coyote willing to smuggle them (at great risk, of course).
So, what's the real concern here on internet regulation and control? Is it really the foreign threat? Or is it an internal one?
This agency - or executive branch - desire to grasp the reins of the internet needs to be carefully considered by all of us. Our civil liberties are paramount. Men and women have died, and are dying, for mine and yours.
I'm pondering all this today, and thought I'd share it with you. I'm suspicious that it's my fellow citizens that are the true targets of this intentional violation of civil liberties, not foreigners.
We're a country that revolted in the 1700s and again in the 1800s. Some would say the 1960s came close to a third revolution. How real is a threat of revolution today? It's something to ponder.
6/18/2010
Peggy Noonan Compares Obama to Carter, Calls Him "Snakebit"
In today's Wall Street Journal, Peggy Noonan gives a new perspective on President Obama, "A Snakebit President" -- it's worth the read.
6/16/2010
6/10/2010
Abby Sunderland, 16, Lost at Sea While Sailing Around the World Solo - What's the Legal Implication Here?
Teen sailor Abby Sunderland, 16, isn't communicating with anyone -- but her sailboat shouldn't be completely underwater according to her brother, since an alarm for that event hasn't sounded. Sixteen years old, Abby is determined to circumnavigate the globe alone in Wild Eyes, her sailboat. (For details on her story, check out the details at SailWorld.com, which includes photos of the sailboat with Abby at the helm.)
Abby turned on emergency beacons before 6AM this morning
However, no one has heard from Abby since early this morning, when Abby was somewhere in the Indian Ocean, closest land being Reunion Island in Madagascar. She turned on a couple of beacons around dawn.
Rescue operations are underway. Boats are headed toward the spot that everyone thinks Abby will be, but they'll need around 40 hours to get there, and seaplanes are also (hopefully) in route.
Family Updating Her Blog With Rescue News
It's a sailboat that the family reports on Abby's Blog today was built with 5 air-tight bulkheads (which will keep the boat afloat even if there has been major damage). Wild Eyes, moreover, was built to right itself if it were tipped over.
And it may well have tipped over, since Abby already reported that the sails have dunked into the ocean waters twice during rough weather that included 25 - 30 foot high waves.
The family is updating folk with posts on Abby's Blog - where Abby was posting regularly until this event. They are asking for prayers and support.
And I will pray for Abby and her family -- but as a lawyer, especially one that represented children for several years, I gotta wonder.
Are the parents legally responsible here in the event that Abby has been lost at sea?
One does have to ask: what the heck is a 16 year old teenage girl doing out there, doing this? No matter her skill level, under the law she is a child.
Legally, these parents are responsible for whatever happens to their minor child (at least they would be in Texas). If something happens to Abby, is there criminal liability?
Danger is Danger
Having represented children in the local's Children's Court in abuse and neglect cases - as their attorney ad litem, where Child Protective Services had become involved in the child's situation - my perception of this event may be different than some others.
Most of the kids that came thru Children's Court were from socioeconomic lifestyles that are at the opposite end of the continuum from the way of life that Abby Sutherland's sailing family enjoys.
However, danger is danger. Putting your child in a life-threatening, dangerous spot is not acceptable: if you do it intentionally, it's abuse; if you do it unintentionally, it's neglect.
The opinion of the Backseat Lawyer is this: no 16 year old teenager should be alone on a sailboat in the middle of the Indian Ocean no matter how cool they think it is, or no matter how lucrative that adventure might be.
For updates: Abby's Blog
Abby turned on emergency beacons before 6AM this morning
However, no one has heard from Abby since early this morning, when Abby was somewhere in the Indian Ocean, closest land being Reunion Island in Madagascar. She turned on a couple of beacons around dawn.
Rescue operations are underway. Boats are headed toward the spot that everyone thinks Abby will be, but they'll need around 40 hours to get there, and seaplanes are also (hopefully) in route.
Family Updating Her Blog With Rescue News
It's a sailboat that the family reports on Abby's Blog today was built with 5 air-tight bulkheads (which will keep the boat afloat even if there has been major damage). Wild Eyes, moreover, was built to right itself if it were tipped over.
And it may well have tipped over, since Abby already reported that the sails have dunked into the ocean waters twice during rough weather that included 25 - 30 foot high waves.
The family is updating folk with posts on Abby's Blog - where Abby was posting regularly until this event. They are asking for prayers and support.
And I will pray for Abby and her family -- but as a lawyer, especially one that represented children for several years, I gotta wonder.
Are the parents legally responsible here in the event that Abby has been lost at sea?
One does have to ask: what the heck is a 16 year old teenage girl doing out there, doing this? No matter her skill level, under the law she is a child.
Legally, these parents are responsible for whatever happens to their minor child (at least they would be in Texas). If something happens to Abby, is there criminal liability?
Danger is Danger
Having represented children in the local's Children's Court in abuse and neglect cases - as their attorney ad litem, where Child Protective Services had become involved in the child's situation - my perception of this event may be different than some others.
Most of the kids that came thru Children's Court were from socioeconomic lifestyles that are at the opposite end of the continuum from the way of life that Abby Sutherland's sailing family enjoys.
However, danger is danger. Putting your child in a life-threatening, dangerous spot is not acceptable: if you do it intentionally, it's abuse; if you do it unintentionally, it's neglect.
The opinion of the Backseat Lawyer is this: no 16 year old teenager should be alone on a sailboat in the middle of the Indian Ocean no matter how cool they think it is, or no matter how lucrative that adventure might be.
For updates: Abby's Blog
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