The Pot Calling The Kettle An Infringement On Your Civil Liberties

In the ongoing controversy about the NSA gathering information about everyone at every time and at every place, the ACLU recently filed a lawsuit against four of the top officials in the Obama administration.  The case, known as ACLU v. Clapper, asks a federal judge to declare the program, which was recently made public by the ex-patriot Edward Snowden, unlawful, stop the program entirely, and eliminate all record gathered by the program.  On Wednesday, this controversy took an interesting turn.

On Wednesday, Wisconsin representative Jim Sensenbrenner filed an amicus brief with the court in relation to this lawsuit.  In this brief, Rep. Sensenbrenner writes:

"The vast majority of the records collected will have no relation to the investigation of terrorism at all. This collection of millions of unrelated records is built-in to the mass call collection program. Defendants’ theory of “relevance” is simply beyond any reasonable understanding of the word. And it certainly is not what amicus intended the word to mean."

"Defendants do not explain why Congress would have enacted such meaningless provisions. The bulk data collection program is unbounded in its scope. The NSA is gathering on a daily basis the details of every call that every American makes, as well as every call made by foreigners to or from the United States. How can every call that every American makes or receives be relevant to a specific investigation?"

To summarize, in this brief Jim Sensenbrenner makes the case that the NSA mass data collection program is too broad and infringes on a person's civil liberties.  This is an interesting opinion coming from the guy who wrote the Patriot Act.  Yes, Representative Jim Sensenbrenner is the representative who introduced the Patriot Act, a law which some would argue is too broad and infringes on a person's civil liberties.

In other news, Representative Ryan Pot (D-FL), pictured above with the blue background, was overheard engaging in an argument with Senator David Kettle (D-NE), pictured above with the beige background.  The two were arguing about the colour of Sen. Kettle's suit.  Rep. Pot was heard to have said:

"Look, I understand you making that mistake, but the simple fact is, that colour is black.  I don't claim to be an expert in many things, but I do know my colours, and, Ryan, that colour is, without a doubt, black."

Playing Poker During A Important Meeting? Really?

Yesterday evening, stories started circulating about John McCain getting caught playing poker during an important Senate hearing about the use of force in Syria.  Then the Washington Post posted a picture, seen above, of John McCain actually playing poker during the important Senate hearing about the use of force in Syria.  Since then John McCain has been recieving criticism because HE WAS FUCKING PLAYING FUCKING POKER DURING A FUCKING IMPORTANT SENATE FUCKING HEARING ABOUT THE FUCKING USE OF FORCE IN FUCKING SYRIA!!!  

However, John McCain is not the first politician to be caught doing inappropriate things during important functions.  Here is a short list:

Senator Mike Lee was caught playing Infinity Blade during a meeting about the Health Care Affordability Act.

Marco Rubio was caught playing Where's The Water during a meeting of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee concerning the situation involving the Lord's Resistance Army.

Representative Andre Carson was caught playing Ticket To Ride during a meeting of the House Transportation Committee.

Anthony Weiner was caught using Snapchat during a sexual harassment seminar.

Senator David Vitter was caught using a Bank Of America banking app during a meeting of United States Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship

Senator Orrin Hatch was caught using the Ancestry app during a meeting of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Bob Filner was caught watching pornography of a bus.

Finally, Utah State Senator John Valentine was caught using the Mixology app during a meeting of the Utah Department of Alcohol Beverage Control.

HMZ-T2 Rumors

This morning, two European tech news sites, Eurogamer.net and Computerandvideogames.com, published stories detailing a virtual 3D headset that Sony is planning to release alongside their hotly anticipated Playstation 4.  The CVG article states that the plan was to reveal this device at Gamescom, but plans fell through at the last minute.  The Eurogamer article draws comparisons between the rumored device and a device that Sony has already put out, the HMZ-T2, as well as drawing comparisons to the Oculus Rift.

I didn't believe this story when I initially read it.  In the months and years before the Playstation 4 and Xbox One were revealed, there were many different rumors going around about what those consoles were going to be, what accessories they were going to have, and what grand and spectacular things those devices were going to be able to do.  Most of those rumors turned out to be false.  Some of those rumors turned out to be laughably false.  Since the articles referenced above referenced a virtual 3D headset, I thought this would turn out to be one of those rumors that would be laughably false.  However, as I dug around, the story started to become more real to me.

Most of the rumors about the Playstation 4 and the Xbox One that turned out to be laughably false sites as sources posts on Reddit, Neogaff, or other sites where rumors spread like wildfire.  People now believe that the laughably false rumors were either plants made by Microsoft or Sony to see where leaks were coming from, or an elaborate joke by some internet prankster.  The stories posted this morning reference none of these sources.  The CVG article sites several sources who wish to remain anonymous, as well as an interview they did with Sony Worldwide Studios boss Shuhei Yoshida.  The Eurogamer article sites multiple sources, as well as detailing a demonstration involving Evolution Studios' upcoming title DriveClub, a studio which they note has been involved in 3D development before.

There's also the question of the headset.  The Eurogamer article references a device called the HMZ-T2, the name of which brings up memories of the action-blockbuster Terminator 2.  The thing is, the HMZ-T2 is real.  Not only that, Engadget is reporting about a third iteration of this product, set to be unveiled at a Sony event to be held tomorrow.  Leaks the day before a product unveiling are not uncommon, as it is significantly harder to keep news from coming out about a product that it was in the 80's and 90's.

So this may turn out to be real.  Sony may be putting out a virtual 3D headset alongside their hotly anticipated Playstation 4... or they may be coming out with a new product that will not be successful.  Remember, the HMZ-T2 has not been much of a success, and the new iteration of this product may not be so much a Playstation 4 accessory, but an accessory that can hook into most modern video playing devices, including the Playstation 4.  If the rumors are true, we may see tomorrow what this product actually is.  Is it the wave of the future that some think that it is, or is it the thing that will slowly collect dust on the shelf of that rich guy you know who blows all his money on the latest tech?  Well will soon see.

The G-Word

In the course of the normal news reading that I do in the morning, I came across an article from The Age, a daily newspaper out of Melbourne, Australia.  The article quotes a prominent member of the Australian-Chinese community named Jieh-Yung Lo.  In talking about the upcoming Team Bondi project "Whore Of The Orient", Mr. Lo objected to one of the words being used in the title of the game.  The Age gives the following quote from Jieh-Yung Lo:

''It's the use of the word 'Orient', more even than the word 'whore', that is the issue.''  ''The O-word is very similar to the N-word for African-American communities. It's a 19th century racial-colonial conception and it's especially painful for older people in the communities. That was a very bad time in China, and people don't want or need to have that dragged up.''


After reading this article, and the apparent outrage being felt among members of the Australian-Chinese community, I feel the need to speak out about something I saw recently as a part of my normal grocery shopping experience.

Late last year, the Salt Lake valley saw the opening of it's first Trader Joe's location.  I went to this store, located in downtown Salt Lake City, and saw a great amount of intriguing products. And then I saw this:

You are seeing that right, Fresh G-Word.  This is something that hit me deeply.  I am aware that the G-Word is something that doesn't have much of an impact on most people, but this word has a deep impact on me.  The sight of that word brought back memories of Junior High, High School, College, general internet experiences, South Park, and even experiences I've had at work.  As I tried to put away those memories from my mind, I ran into other uses of this most troubling word.

I had to quickly leave Trader Joe's in order to not have a public breakdown at the frequent and flagrant use of the G-Word.  People need to realize the impact that the G-Word can have.  In certain communities, the G-Word can have the same impact as the N-Word, the O-Word, the R-Word, and the X-Word in the communities to which those words refer to.  I would strongly advise Trader Joe's, as well as other retailers, to cease their use of the G-Word, and instead use the more proper term, Zingiber officinale.  I look forward to once again shopping at Trader Joe's once this issue is resolved.