It's amazing to me the amount of surveillance we are subjected to every day of our waking lives. Everything is recorded in one form or another. Many of these recordings we're aware of, and don't give a moment's thought to them. When we enter a shop, we're obviously on closed-circuit television and being recorded. Our credit-card transactions are monitored and logged. When we call any company at all, our phone call "may be monitored for quality-assurance."
But what about those times when we're unaware? Sure, you may see the tiny little camera at the top of the stop-light, silently watching
Come One, Come All into Nineteen Eighty-Four
by Jason Lightner January 24th, 2011 
Independent Ideas, Political Opinions
People OK With Murdering Assange
by Jason Lightner January 17th, 2011 Independent Ideas, Political Opinions
Here's a quaint little collection of disgusting rhetoric and venom: People OK With Murdering Assange is a website that displays quotes from government officials and media personalities who want Assange dead. It's surprising to me just how many people in positions of power are openly calling for the man's death, when we're supposed to be a nation that prides itself on due process and just punishment.
Let's get one thing perfectly clear: This man has done nothing to bring about harm to any innocent person. What he has done, however, is put in place a method by which government corruption
Let's get one thing perfectly clear: This man has done nothing to bring about harm to any innocent person. What he has done, however, is put in place a method by which government corruption
Sudan
by Ronald A. Rowe January 10th, 2011 World Politics
Sudan is the largest nation in Africa, and the tenth largest in the world. The country now stands on the brink of massive, dynamic change that could alter the course of the region for many years to come. This week, the people of Southern Sudan will have the opportunity to cede from the North to form their own nation, free from the tyranny of the genocidal, fundamentalist Islamic zealot that has plagued them for over twenty years.
Omar al-Bashir named himself President of Sudan upon deciding that Chairman of the Revolutionary Command Council for National Salvation , Chief of State,
Omar al-Bashir named himself President of Sudan upon deciding that Chairman of the Revolutionary Command Council for National Salvation , Chief of State,
How to Get People to Vote Against Their Own Best Interests
by Jason Lightner January 3rd, 2011 Independent Ideas, Political Opinions
There are many ways of getting people to vote against their best interests. President Mugabe of Zimbabwe knows this all too well. His methods include threats of violence or confiscation of land, and general exploitation of a majority that is uneducated and misinformed. The method I want to talk about, though, is a personal favorite of mine, and by that I mean that it makes me want to drive a pen knife through my carotid any time it comes up in serious debate.
Wedge issues are those issues that polarize a group of people, making them align with one single
Wedge issues are those issues that polarize a group of people, making them align with one single