Pirate radio is a topic of interest to Amateur Radio operators on several levels. One is the potential for on-air interference to our legal operations, another is the attractively outlaw nature of the endeavor itself. Who amongst us has not at least fantasized about broadcasting our favorite music and opinions to the unwashed multitudes?
The theory has been advanced that Web 2.0 is the new pirate radio. Why? Because it has a low entry price, it requires a minimum of equipment to function and it will take your message to the hearts and minds of those who might otherwise be kept from it, for whatever reason.
Having been employed in the radio broadcasting industry at the time of Radio Caroline’s original operations, I found the reference to her in the post called “Is the Web 2.0 Community the Next Pirate Radio?” on The Quincy Cove blog to be quite interesting. The purpose for banning Radio Caroline and the current banning of information going to and from totalitarian nations have many similarities. However, the solution may be different. Yesterday the solution was pirate radio, today it seems to be the Internet.
If you need no other motivation for energy conservation and the use of non-petroleum based fuels, then consider this example of the culture of Saudi Arabia, which is treated by the United States as a most favored nation because of its ability to provide us with the oil we so desperately need.
60 Lashes for Saudi Woman Journalist
By Sebastian Usher
BBC News
A female journalist in Saudi Arabia has been sentenced to 60 lashes over a TV show in which a Saudi man described his extra-marital sex life.
The programme, made by Lebanese satellite network LBC, caused a huge scandal in conservative Saudi Arabia when it was shown several months ago. The journalist is one of two female LBC employees who have been arrested.
Mazen Abdul Jawad, the Saudi man who talked about how he picked up Saudi women for sex, has already been jailed. The original programme was part of a series called Red Lines, made by the popular LBC network.
Saudi Owner
It examined taboos in the Arab world. Unmarried sex in Saudi Arabia amongst Saudis - rather than expatriates - is one of the biggest.
Mazen Abdul Jawad provoked outrage by describing his techniques for meeting and having sex with Saudi women. He tearfully apologised but was jailed for five years and sentenced to 1,000 lashes.
Three of his friends who appeared on the show got two years each. Mr Abdul Jawad blamed LBC producers for tricking him.
The station’s offices in Saudi Arabia were closed down and two of its producers - both female - put on trial. LBC has made no comment about the cases.
It has long been attacked by Saudi religious leaders for being at the forefront of Arab satellite stations broadcasting programmes into the kingdom featuring scantily clad Arab singers and actresses.
Ironically, however, LBC is part-owned by the Saudi media mogul and billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal.
SOURCE: BBC News
They say that “freedom of the press belongs to the man who owns the press”. Well, this is my blog and I don’t do this very often, so please bear with me.
I have a bone to pick with the self-righteous, self-proclaimed “Christians”, who are willing to outright lie in order to to gain a financial advantage for their campaign contributors.
Sarah Palin comes immediately to mind. She quit the office of Governor of the state of Alaska in midterm, one jump ahead of the sheriff, rather than to face the charges of ethics violations leveled against her. She is now presenting herself as the possessor of great wisdom and morality which must be shared with the masses.
With no apparent compassion for the millions of Americans who have no access to the health care industry other than the federally mandated right to have their injury, or disease, “stabilized” before they are booted out the door of a hospital, she is acting as a propagandist for that health care industry. Nothing wrong with that, you say? OK, how about the fact that she, and many other so called “Christians” are also spending an inordinate amount of time and energy in lying to us about the proposed national health care system. (more…)
On July 10, 2009 Representative David Wu (OR-1) signed on as a co-sponsor to HR 2160 — The Amateur Radio Emergency Communications Enhancement Act of 2009 — bringing the total number of co-sponsors to 15.
Click here for information on how to encourage your Congressional representative to sponsor HR 2160.
SOURCE: the American Radio Relay League
This is the sort of thing that John Ashcroft had in mind for us. China seems to have chosen to further silence dissent by blocking access to Twitter, Flickr, and a handful of other services.
On the eve of the anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, China has cracked down on online discussion of the event by blocking Twitter and a number of other Internet services. Users based around China have begun reporting that they can’t access the popular 140-character liveblogging service as chatter about Tiananmen Square has ramped up in recent days, nor can they get onto photo sharing service Flickr, Hotmail, or Live.com/Bing.com.
A brief history lesson for those who aren’t familiar: in 1989, demonstrators gathered in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square to protest China’s authoritarian government. The group was led mostly by students, but over a period of days, it’s estimated that several million people joined the students in the Square. The government was irked by this "social chaos" and tried to convince protesters to leave, but did not succeed. Long story short, tanks eventually rolled through Tiananmen Square and fired on unarmed protesters. China has never released an official death count, but estimates range from hundreds to up to 7,000. Read the rest of this entry »
SOURCE: ars technica
This bill will definitely be worth watching as it progresses through the legislative process.
On Wednesday, April 29, Representative Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-TX) introduced HR 2160, the Amateur Radio Emergency Communications Enhancement Act of 2009 in the US House of Representatives. This bill, if passed, would "promote and encourage the valuable public service, disaster relief, and emergency communications provided on a volunteer basis by licensees of the Federal Communications Commission in the Amateur Radio Service, by undertaking a study of the uses of Amateur Radio for emergency and disaster relief communications, by identifying unnecessary or unreasonable impediments to the deployment of Amateur Radio emergency and disaster relief communications, and by making recommendations for relief of such unreasonable restrictions so as to expand the uses of Amateur Radio communications in Homeland Security planning and response." The bill has been referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce.
This post from the Ann Arbor Chronicle is intended for the benefit of those of us who might have too young, or too distant to have been there in Ann Arbor, MI in March of 1970 for the teach-in and its tie-in to Earth Day. It is important to have knowledge of events such as this because, after nearly forty years, there has been little, or no change in many areas of our treatment of our environment. To quote a popular phrase of the day, “Keep on pushing”.
The sixties are known for being one of most turbulent decades in American history. Ironically, however, perhaps the most turbulent year of the sixties was actually the first year of the seventies. Before it was even half over, the Weathermen had blown up a townhouse in Greenwich Village, killing five of their own number (including former Ann Arborite Diana Oughton), the unlucky Apollo 13 moon shot had ended in failure, Nixon had invaded Cambodia, four students had been killed at Kent State while protesting the invasion, and a week later, two more students had been killed at Jackson State in Mississippi. Even the Beatles broke up that fateful spring. Read the rest of this entry »
SOURCE: the Ann Arbor Chronicle
I have a problem with this article because sales taxes are the most regressive form of taxation. Unfortunately, it is repeatedly chosen as a form of revenue generation by those who have no understanding that it will be much less equitable than will be an incremented income tax.
If a little-known but influential alliance of state politicians, large retailers, and tax collectors have their way, the days of tax-free Internet shopping may be nearly over.
A bill expected to be introduced in the U.S. Congress as early as Monday would rewrite the ground rules for mail order and Internet sales by eliminating what its supporters view as a "loophole" that, in many cases, allows Americans to shop over the Internet without paying sales taxes.
Currently, Americans who shop over the Internet from out-of-state vendors aren’t always required to pay sales taxes at the time of purchase. Californians buying books from Amazon.com or cameras from Manhattan’s B&H Photo, for example, won’t pay sales taxes at checkout time that they would if shopping at a local mall.
Read the rest of this entry »
SOURCE: CNET News
Continue reading about Tax-Free Internet Shopping at an End?
Here is a very strong reason to support the ARRL, the only national organization that is representing the interests of the Amateur Radio Service in Washington.
In March 2009, the FCC invited comments via a Public Notice concerning the establishment of a comprehensive rural broadband strategy as part of the Department of Agriculture’s Food, Conservation and Energy Act of 2008, commonly known as the 2008 Farm Bill. Per the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act), Congress required the FCC to develop a "comprehensive national broadband plan." According to the FCC, they, Congress, and the Secretary of Agriculture "have repeatedly recognized the importance of ensuring access to advanced telecommunications and information services to all Americans, with a special focus on rural and hard-to-serve areas." The opportunity to comment on the Public Notice provided the ARRL to express concerns about broadband over power lines (BPL) that the FCC has yet to satisfactorily address.
Florida’s director of the Division of Emergency Management since 2001, Craig Fugate has been chosen by President Obama to head the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The appointment of a Republican who has been critical of the agency would seem to indicate that this is not just another political payback appointment that we have seem way too many of.
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano called Fugate one of the most experienced emergency managers in the country. "The work he’s accomplished in Florida serves as a model for other states," Napolitano said in a statement. "He will be a tremendous asset to FEMA and it’s employees."
The complete Associated Press story from the Miami Herald is here.
My name is Bob, and I am a ham radio operator, freelance web developer and a retired commercial radio personality. It turns out that I also enjoy blogging...
