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Sunday, September 22, 2002

It's time to embrace big brother This is the way we lose our rights, one step at a time. From Peter Maas' excellent weblog (wth no RSS feed, alas), this pararaph:  A sign of the times: a high school in southern California is using wireless cameras to track every person and car arriving on campus. Hall monitors will soon carry wireless computers to access the database, and the school is considering an upgrade to face-recognition software. According to The Los Angeles Times, these measures are a response to the twin fears of terrorism and school shootings. Jerry Parli, who has two granddaughters at West Hills High School, doesn’t mind: "It's a terrible thing, but it's time to embrace Big Brother." 5:00:36 PM  Permalink  comment []

All the Laws But one Justice Rehnquist's Ominous History of Wartime Freedom. If William Rehnquist the jurist sees the world as Mr. Rehnquist the historian does, there is cause for concern. By Adam Cohen. [New York Times: Opinion] This is scary stuff.  Justice Rehnquist's selective blindness is most evident in his discussion of the worst denial of civil liberties in American history, the internment of 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry at the start of World War II. He lavishes pages of detail on the military reasons for the roundup. Against that, he offers a single sentence about the hardship imposed on those put in the camps. His account is as dubious as it is brief: he writes that there was "no physical brutality," but historians report that some prisoners were beaten and shot. Justice Rehnquist endorses only part of the Japanese internments, but he seems far more accepting than many scholars who regard the entire episode as a disaster. It would be harder for the reader to accept his conclusions if he had included details about the men, women and children who were rounded up, and the economic, physical and emotional toll imposed on them. 4:50:40 PM  Permalink  comment []

This Virtuoso Has Returned, No Question. If the elegant Bach recordings that the pianist Murray Perahia has been making in recent years are not sufficient proof that he has fully recuperated from the serious finger injury involving a bone spur that sidelined him for five years in the 1990's, his impressive new Sony Classical release of the complete Chopin Études should end all doubts. By Anthony Tommasini. [New York Times: Arts] 4:44:29 PM  Permalink  comment []

To the chagrin of the administration A Place to Find Out for Yourself About the War. With all the speculation about American intentions for Iraq, there has been one place where, to the chagrin of the administration, people can find a few hard facts. By Eric Umansky. [New York Times: Technology] I haven't seen this yet; the site is http://www.globalsecurity.org/, and it's worth a good explore. You gotta like the Times' "to the chagrin of the administration." 2:04:18 PM  Permalink  comment []

Banned Books Week Begins Today [The Virtual Acquisition Shelf and News Desk] 11:50:21 AM  Permalink  comment []

This is an amazing CD: Dead Man Walking, the soundtrack from that excellent movie. It includes music from Bruce (who sings the title track), Johnny Cash, Suzanne Vega, Lyle Lovett, Eddie Vedder with Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan (two great tunes by them), Tom Waits, Michelle Shocked, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Steve Earle, and Patti Smith. MIchelle Shocked sings a powerful Quality of Mercy -- fitting and poignant. This CD should be in your collection. [Doug's Austin Radio Weblog] Nice reminder from Doug. This is a terrific CD; I haven't heard it in quite some time. I think I have a cassette of it around somewhere. 11:41:12 AM  Permalink  comment []

© Copyright 2004 Steve Michel.