The PenOpticon

Hmmm. Plug the blue cable into the mixer — that’s microphone 1, right? Or is it the black cable? Blue or black. Black or blue? I have no idea — let’s go with the black one. Oops! Maybe that’s what happened. Or maybe the Russians wanted the exchange to be leaked. Either way, Condoleeza and Sergey got to share a frank in camera conversation today because a private audio feed was somehow plugged into CNN’s mixing board. CNN has been airing snippets of the pair’s faltering attempts to concoct a common response to the recent assassination of four Russian diplomats in Iraq. Given the amount of surveillance activity that is now routinely conducted as part of the “war on terror”, it’s a tad ironic that these two were spied upon in such a public fashion. During the exchange Rice referred to the Iraqi people as “hapless” victims of the insurgency. I guess Condee proves that we’re are all hapless at least some of the time.

The recent New York Times story on the SWIFT program — a secret collaboration between a financial industry co-operative known as Swift, the CIA and the Treasury department — misses an important point. The issue is not simply that the U.S. government is sifting through the financial records of its own citizens. In fact, one could argue that government oversight of major financial transactions within and across its borders is a good thing. The real problem is that Swift, an exclusive private sector co-operative, owns and operates its own global financial data-mining system (even if it is merely a byproduct of the group’s other financial services). But now that the Times has let the cat is out of the giant money bag, some Swift executives have qualms about collaborating with U.S. agents and are insisting on stricter access to their data. Their solution, as reported in the Times, is to place Swift representatives alongside intelligence officials while they search through mountains of financial data. These representatives could then “block any searches considered inappropriate”. Really? And who watches over Swift during the rest of the year, when the CIA is not parked in front of their terminals?

Now consider the level of surveillance experienced by the majority of citizens (a group that will never transfer money to offshore bank accounts): When I walk down any urban street a camera may be watching. When I put gas in my car, get cash from an ATM, buy junk food from the local convenience store or walk into any mall or big box store, the cameras are rolling. If, as a law-abiding citizen, I am to be subjected to the probing eyes of a thousand surveillance cameras, then I want real-time data-mining and forensic-accounting reports on all national and international money transfers. Why the hell not? If someone is laundering money through an offshore Andorran bank or transferring copious amounts of cash to Saudi Arabia, I wanna know about it. I would love to be able to browse a web site to learn the intimate details of Conrad Black’s financial dealings. Or Kenneth Lay’s. Or Dick Cheney’s.

Although some groups are opposed to all forms of surveillance, it seems the cameras are here to stay. More serious is the fact that every American citizen already endures widespread surveillance of personal data through private companies such as Acxiom Corporation that correlate data from a variety of government and financial sources. So, if data surveillance can’t be abolished because “9/11 changed everything”, then let’s up the ante and shine as much light as possible on all large national and international financial transactions. This little light ‘o mine — I’m gonna let it shine. This little light ‘o mine…

[update] - Yesterday Canadian media reacted to Privacy International’s decision to take legal action against SWIFT for disclosing global bank transaction records to the CIA.  SWIFT has done plenty of good work over the years in bringing attention to surveillance issues and other global threats to democracy such as policy laundering.  I don’t particularly like surveillance, but arguing that people should be able to hide large sums of money all over the world is to argue for a right that can only be enjoyed by the wealthy. If we must live in a surveillant culture, then let us distribute the cameras, the microphones and the data-mining systems equally among the wealthy, the middle class and the poor.

President Bush looked out his window this morning and saw that a large elm tree had fallen over a laneway at the White House. Assuming he then tuned into CNN, his eyebrows must have knitted together — knitted into a large brain-clamping singularity. Think George, think! There is sporadic flooding in the Washington, D.C area today and the forecast calls for five more days of precipitation. The Justice Department building and IRS headquarters had to be closed and the Washington Metro service was disrupted because of water in the tunnels. It all sounds like an echo of Kim Stanley Robinson’s “Forty Signs of Rain”, a great read that sets a major flood in D.C. against a backdrop of climate change politics and the strained relations between science and government. It’s worth noting that Robinson’s book was written before Katrina. Even Frank Luntz, the guy with the crazy memos has apparently seen the light about climate change. Perhaps Bush will also have an epiphany when he sees thousands of Washingtonians canoeing around the National Mall.

While perusing energy.buzz today, I learned that some SUV owners are so completely fed up with the cost of driving these behomoths they are cutting their losses by setting them on fire to collect hefty insurance settlements. It is shocking and sad to think these owners would commit insurance fraud — especially when it has only been a few months since the PenOpticon launched its widely acclaimed Save the SUVs campaign. Give it a chance people! Ya try to be helpful, but some folks just like to play with fire, I reckon. Anyhow, this was all news to me today, but it seems this story has been plastered across the net for a few weeks. Here is a smattering of stories covering this, um, burning issue:

Don’t set the car on fire yet
Disgruntled SUV owners torch trucks
SUV owners burn their own expensive vehicles

Whether it is better to immolate your SUV’s mortal ignition coil now or suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous gas prices for a few more years is a question that depends on your religious outlook. In other words, the burning question for some is “What would Jesus drive?”. This issue has been debated hotly ever since the Reverend Jim Ball launched the WWJD tour in 2003 and a group of happy-go-lucky (gruntled?) SUV enthusiasts countered by promoting their own personal Jesús Rivera (who drives an SUV). So it’s a complicated issue, I’m sure, but if you dig a little deeper, you may find this very helpful scholarly discussion of the topic. Me? I’ll stick with my million-dollar Viva limo for the foreseeable future.

We met this character a few weeks ago, but this is a much better photo IMHO. During a lunchtime walk, I saw him hanging around a storm pond — what I call a “Fear Factor” pond. He flew off into the trees a minute or so after I had taken some photos of him from the far side the pond. Luckily, he flew up into a tree that I had to pass on the way back out. When I stopped for a few more pictures, he was tap-dancing nervously on this branch, while giving me the Evil Eye, and then he flew back to his fishing hole after I passed by.