Well done Daily Show.

[video]

As you’re at home carving bird (or fake bird as some of my veggie eating friends are doing today) and watching the game, the Godfather marathon, the Rocky marathon, or actually speaking to the assorted relatives around the dining table, remember to give thanks that you ARE at home, and not currently caught up in one of the following world-wide ordeals.

• At least 125 are dead, and over 300 wounded in India following a massive terrorist attack on 3 locations in Mumbai. The attacks also saw hostages taken, with the gunmen reportedly seeking specifically U.S. and British citizens.
• There’s an increased police presence in and around New York City subways and trains due to a potential terrorist attack that could take place during the holidays according to an FBI memo.  The threat is being listed as “plausible but unsubstantiated”, however it is still being treated with the utmost seriousness.
• In better news the Iraqi Parliament has backed the security agreement with the U.S. by a substantial majority. The agreement will see the complete withdrawl of ALL American troops by 2011, following a withdrawl from cities and in 2009 to specified military bases.  All that remains now is for approval by the 3 member Iraqi Presidential Counsel.
• And in the most random “war” to take place, Axl Rose of the infamous Guns N Roses is launching an assault on Dr. Pepper accusing them of not living up to their promise of a free Dr. Pepper for all Americans if the album Chinese Democracy was released by the end of 2008.  To make it even more interesting, the album which has been in the works for 14 years is also under attack by the Chinese State Media who, being Communist are not thrilled about the album title and the title track.

I know that neither of those last two links are really all that important or meaningful in the grand scheme of things, but it seemed a friendlier note to end on than some of the other newsbites.

Happy Thanksgiving, I’m going to go eat some turkey now.

Twitter is the latest in Web 2.0 social networking applications that allows users to send messages to a maximum of 140 characters (or Tweets) across the web at lightening fast speed.

In fact, Twitter users were able to report the L.A. earthquakes from last July faster that official news outlets could.

So why is the U.S. Army saying that terrorists are using Twitter to expand on their dastardly deeds?

“Twitter has also become a social activism tool for socialists, human rights groups, communists, vegetarians, anarchists, religious communities, atheists, political enthusiasts, hacktivists and others to communicate with each other and to send messages to broader audiences,” the report said.

Hacktivists refers to politically motivated computer hackers.

“Twitter is already used by some members to post and/or support extremist ideologies and perspectives,” the report said.

“Extremist and terrorist use of Twitter could evolve over time to reflect tactics that are already evolving in use by hacktivists and activists for surveillance,” it said. “This could theoretically be combined with targeting.”

The report outlined scenarios in which militants could make use of Twitter, combined with such programs as Google Maps or cell phone pictures or video, to carry out an ambush or detonate explosives.

“Terrorists could theoretically use Twitter social networking in the US as an operation tool,” it said. “However, it is unclear whether that same theoretical tool would be available to terrorists in other countries and to what extent.”

I’m doubtful that terrorists would use Twitter, which is essentially a PUBLIC forumn, to post messages to each other about secret terrorist plots.  There’s gotta be a more private way to communicate like standard text messaging.

Regardless, the government’s keeping an eye on your Tweets.  Be forewarned.

Speaking of Twitter users, follow me!  I promise I’m not a terrorist:

It’s time now in the campaign for the various contenders to start wearing down their opposition.  Right now the biggest target would have to be Barack Obama, who is widely viewed to be in the lead position in the race for the Presidency.

Obama showed he could stand toe to toe with McCain in a debate in the same week that McCain rushed off hurriedly to the capitol (sort of) to cement the Bailout (didn’t) putting his campaign on hold (not really) then turning it back on to make the debate (theatrics anyone?).

His running mate Biden withheld from tearing Palin into tiny little pieces, but intead let her ramble awkwardly without answering questions, and letting his own responses prove that he had a vast wealth of knowledge on all the topics currently plaguing our country.  Palin was unqualified in every way to be taking part in that debate (or this election in general) and knew it.  Winking and pandering, giving shout outs like a reality TV contestent, the entire performances was in truth… depressing.  The only victory she and her party can count is that she didn’t crumble under the pressure.

So, as the big day draws nearer, and the Reps have realized they can’t really stand up to the Dems on any issues (especially the economy it would seem, though, really everyone seems to be trying to avoid talking much about that) they’ve going back to the old tactics.  Dirt and fear.

Palin playing to a decidedly pro-Palin crowd (Joe Six-Pack in the house son) in Florida, a notoriously painful state for the Dems, went well out of her way to paint Obama as foreign and different from Americans.  Obama is alien, views our country differently, and associates with people who do not have our well being in mind.

Her Quote-

“I am just so fearful that this is not a man who sees America the way you and I see America, as the greatest force for good in the world. I’m afraid this is someone who sees America as ‘imperfect enough’ to work with a former domestic terrorist who had targeted his own country.”

The “domestic terrorist” in question being Bill Ayers of the Weather Underground, a militant-radical group formed in protest of the Vietnam War and other social issues of the time.  Currently his is employed as a Distinguished Professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago, where it was natural that as an activist for education reform he would come across the, at the time, newcomer to the political scene- Barack Obama.  The two worked together (with many others as well, it wasn’t like a dynamic duo kind’ve ordeal) on that topic as well as issues of combatting poverty.  Obama has said numerous times that he opposed the way Ayers fought violently for his held beliefs during his time in the Weather Underground and really has no connection to any of those acts given that he was only 8 years old at the time.

But still comes the question, is Obama patriotic?  Is he “like us”?

I have to say, if he’s not like us, perhaps we should seek to be more like him.  Because Patriotism is NOT blind loyalty and raising your hand to chant “USA USA” at every given opportunity.  Questioning our country is one of our greatest rights as Americans, the greatest gift of living in a free Democracy.  We are permitted, hell, encouraged to speak openly and ask questions of our country and it’s representatives.  But don’t just take my word for it, I now hand it over to people far wiser than I.

“We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty. When the loyal opposition dies, I think the soul of America dies with it.”- Edward R. Murrow

“No matter that patriotism is too often the refuge of scoundrels. Dissent, rebellion, and all-around hell-raising remain the true duty of patriots.”- Barbara Ehrenreich

“The notion that a radical is one who hates his country is naïve and usually idiotic. He is, more likely, one who likes his country more than the rest of us, and is thus more disturbed than the rest of us when he sees it debauched. He is not a bad citizen turning to crime; he is a good citizen driven to despair.”- H. L. Mencken

“I love America more than any other country in this world, and, exactly for this reason, I insist on the right to criticize her perpetually.”- James Baldwin

“To announce that there must be no criticism of the president, or that we are to stand by the president, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public.”- Theodore Roosevelt

I personally will more willingly stand by the individual who asks questions and defends my right to ask them, than I will someone who values blind obedience, and I truly hope that the American public knows better than to fall for the easy trap of being swayed by fear and negative campaigning.

I wouldn’t call myself a Libertarian (mainly because socialized health care doesn’t seem like such a bad idea to me), but when we start hearing about certain powers being granted to Federal agencies that directly opposes an individuals personal rights…. I get a little worried:

The Justice Department is finalizing rules that would allow FBI agents to solicit informants and use other new techniques to bolster the agency’s intelligence-gathering operation in the United States, officials said Friday.

The changes would expand rules the department enacted after the Sept. 11 attacks that permitted the FBI to conduct “assessments” of threats of terrorism and espionage even in instances where little or no proof existed of criminal activity.

Such assessments are separate from formal investigations, which can involve more invasive investigative methods but which require harder evidence.

Justice officials said the FBI had been hamstrung in carrying out the earlier mandate because the agency had been limited to “overt” intelligence-gathering techniques, such as permitting agents to conduct interviews only when they identified themselves.

But the proposed revisions have raised concerns among civil liberties groups that the FBI would have too much latitude to collect information on U.S. residents and would be allowed to track people based on their race or ethnicity.

But the most concerning change is this:

In assessing possible terrorist threats, agents now are limited to conducting interviews and gathering data through public sources, such as the Internet. The changes would allow them to conduct physical surveillance in a public location, recruit and deploy informants, and conduct interviews without identifying themselves.

Here’s an example:

The official cited a hypothetical example in which the FBI receives a tip about illegal activity in a bar.

If a tipster claims that a patron is dealing drugs, the guidelines for criminal investigations allow agents to conduct more intrusive preliminary interviews and take other action.

If the tipster claims the patron is raising money for a suspected terrorist group, an obvious national security concern, the alternative guidelines limit investigators to the more public methods, absent more evidence.

In the second example, the FBI could conduct interviews (uhh.. interrogations?) without identifying themselves.

See also, the Bush Doctrine.