Which brings me to Iran…

Now, before you go thinking that I’m some kind of hippie peacenik, know that I am quite fond of blood and guts and gore and veins in my teeth. Even as someone whose foreign policy views verge on realpolitik, I recognize the threat of a nuclear Iran to Middle East stability. I’m also aware that our options are limited.

But this isn’t about geopolitical choice so much as the language that shapes how we perceive choice itself.

Exhibit A: US Fears Israel Will Hit Iran Without Warning

“Whoever says ‘later’ may find that later is too late,” Israeli Defense minister Ehud Barak said. (The Post notes he switched from Hebrew to English when saying the words, “Later is too late.”) Leon Panetta, meanwhile, declined to refute a report that he was worried about an Israeli attack.

It’s probably unsurprising that Israel is trying to convey a sense of inevitability here. Still, one wonders if Israel has the capability of neutralizing the below-ground, concrete-reinforced facilities that comprise Iran’s nuclear workshops. In which case, the drum beating may be a nudge to the US to hurry up and complete work on its Massive Ordnance Penetrator, which may or may not be up to the task. (Either way, the MOP can be seen as a major advancement in military hardware as phallic symbol.)

Exhibit B: U.S. Intel: Iran Willing To Attack on American Soil

You can’t say the ruling Mullahs don’t have a sense of humor. In response to US demands that Iran return a RQ-170 Sentinel stealth drone that went down over the eastern part of Iran, the country’s leaders have agreed to send back a toy version worth about four bucks.

The drone’s capture back in December 2011 sparked some debate in intelligence and military circles about whether to launch an operation to destroy it, or simply leave it in Iranian hands. The former was decided to be too risky, so the US ultimately chose to send a formal letter requesting the drone be returned. The same week they also sent letters requesting Justin Bieber stop being so damned adorable and for Tim Tebow to convert to Satanism.

Meanwhile, Iranian officials claim to have finished extracting data from the unmanned aircraft. They also plan to file a lawsuit against the United States in US courts for alleged invasion of their airspace. Good luck finding a friendly bench, fellas.

All of this makes one wonder why, with such sophisticated technology, there isn’t some kind of destruct mechanism on these drones. I suppose the lack of such a failsafe is why “military intelligence” remains an oxymoron.

Ah well, at least the President will have an interesting new paperweight for his desk in the Oval Office.

I live in Washington, DC and work in tech policy (as it relates to creative content). This means I have the dubious privilege of seeing how the sausage is made when it comes to the laws that shape our digital future. Increasingly, I’m witnessing a convergence of some pretty hairy issues that previously had limited public impact. And, for better or worse, policymakers — domestic and international — have started to pay attention.

There are three core concerns that will have an outsized effect on how we all experience technology. The first one encompasses the other two, which are of nearly equal importance. Bookmark this page, and we can talk about it in 10 years (provided we’re all still here).

1. Internet freedom
2. Intellectual Property Enforcement
3. Data Privacy/Security

Before I explain how these issues are converging, let’s look at what each means individually.

Internet Freedom
This is the mother of all tech-policy debates, and the one with the most potential to impact every facet of your online experience. The internet is essentially a packet-switching information exchange network that uses a simple protocol to allow all these interconnected machines to “talk” to each other. Its process is, by and large, neutral with regard to content. This is what has allowed it to become the most powerful engine for democratic speech in the history of humanity. That speech may very well be 90 percent LOLcats, but it also includes political speech and practically every other flavor of expression. In the United States, this means that our First Amendment rights are automatically ported over to this digital conduit. That may not be the case with other countries, which is why you see a lot of high-falutin’ talk from the State Department about the importance of maintaining global networks where free expression can flourish.

Unfortunately, recent American trends giving corporate speech unparalleled weight means that your own online speech could depend on how deep your pockets are. This is the crux of the so-called “net neutrality” debate, in which the Internet Service Providers (ISPs) want to charge a premium for the faster delivery of content, sites and services. Without clear rules of the road, speech that does not benefit the ISP’s bottom lines — or those of their corporate partners — may be delayed, or worse still, blocked. There has been progress in achieving at least some protections here. But these rules — promulgated by the Federal Communications Commission — are currently in danger of being stripped away by Congress.

Another thing to keep in mind is that the FCC established separate rules for the “wired” web vs. internet accessed on mobile devices. This distinction, to me, is arbitrary and pointless. There is ONE internet, regardless of how you connect to it. Having a tiered internet for wireless may end up impacting those whose speech has historically been at the greatest disadvantage, as underprivileged and minority communities are more likely to access the internet via mobile devices.

It will be very interesting to see how the American virtue of free expression plays out on our domestic networks, especially as we promote open technology platforms as a means of democratic participation overseas.

2. Intellectual Property Enforcement
Wikipedia defines Intellectual Property (IP) as “a term referring to a number of distinct types of creations of the mind for which a set of exclusive rights are recognized… common types of intellectual property rights include copyrights, trademarks, patents, industrial design rights and trade secrets in some jurisdictions.”

IP is big business. REALLY big business here in America. Which is why there are so many large stakeholders pushing for stronger intellectual property laws on the internet. I have no problem with this in theory, as I am a copyright holder myself, and believe that I should have exclusive rights over how my expression is capitalized upon in the marketplace – that is, for a limited term, which was the balance struck by Congress when it devised our laws governing this part of IP. There are different rules for trademarks and patents, on which I am no expert. So I’ll stick with what I know.

Increasingly, copyright law is coming to loggerheads with the consumptive behaviors of internet users. This is something I’ve written about and spoken on extensively in my professional life. In the interest of space, and without picking sides, I can say this: rightsholders are currently pushing hard on Congress to pass laws that, to my reading, look like blunt instruments when it comes to protecting IP online. And by this I mean legislation currently proposed could, at worst, restrict legitimate speech and compromise the underlying security of the internet. For further details, I point you to my DC colleagues, Public Knowledge. (Full disclosure: my wife works for them.)

3. Data Privacy/Security
Which brings me to my final issue, data privacy/security. Again, I can’t claim to be an expert here, but on the other hand, not many can. Here, we have everything from domestic defense to corporate espionage to individual rights and even First Amendment concerns. Some may have heard Eric Schmidt of Google‘s statement on total data transparency being the key to informational security. I’m sure the NSA would agree, so long as they are the ones with “total” access to the data. I bring this up because at no other point in history has informational privacy been of such import — perceived and actual. I can remember people on the street where I grew up being hesitant about having their name listed in the phone book. Now, everything we do and say online leaves a digital trace. Before you get yourself in some Philip K. Dick psychological tailspin, keep in mind that there’s a big difference between personally-identifying data and non-personally-identifying data. The former can be used to target, track and harass individuals; the latter is basically why Amazon knows what books you might be interested in reading next. Still, there is a lot of grey area with regard to how this information is collected, shared and exploited. And, at the moment, US privacy law is a patchwork of state-by-state regulations and jurisprudence. That might not be the case forever, as Congress has shown interest in establishing a federal privacy standard. Obviously, that could cut both ways.

Data security is the other side of the coin. Here, we reach the queasy intersection of defense, espionage — corporate and state — and hackerdom. Much of what occurs in the world of data security happens privately, or though private-public contracts between government and IT wizards. Obviously, any breach of US information security comes with pretty severe (domestic) penalties, but that doesn’t mean that hackers here and abroad aren’t trying to break into our informational infrastructure every second of every day. A serious breach is practically guaranteed, as is the subsequent crackdown. I believe this is what is referred to as the “Internet 9/11.”

The US isn’t just playing defense here. I’ve followed closely reports of how the administration very seriously considered a cyberattack on Libya’s air defense network in the lead-up to the NATO engagement. We ultimately decided against it, likely for a combination of reasons: one, we may not have wanted to be the first country to open the Pandora’s Box of cyberwar; two, we didn’t have enough time to pinpoint and exploit weaknesses in the Libyan network before airstrikes were scheduled to commence; and three, there were lingering legal questions about whether cyberattacks are considered “hostilities” subject to Congressional oversight within the War Powers Act. I guarantee these questions will soon be answered one way or another. And this will undoubtedly impact the evolution of global information networks.

All three of these issues intersect in myriad ways. The economics of digital entertainment is related to open networks vs. walled gardens, and also bumps up against data privacy/security on both the consumer and corporate end of the spectrum. Participatory democracy depends on open tech platforms and access to robust data pipelines and mobile spectrum. Overly-broad IP enforcement has the potential to limit exactly that openness while sending the signal to other nations that censorship is OK. Digital networks can also be exploited by despots (and even less-nefarious governments) to monitor the speech and movement of a populace. And around and around we go.

Taken together, as they are destined to be, these three issues represent the last tech-policy debate. How we respond will shape human interaction for decades, if not centuries to come.

It has been noted that this is no ordinary economic downturn. One of the reasons it seems unlikely that the American economy will emerge from current conditions anytime soon is that there are no sure bets for growth. Some would suggest that we can magically repair the damage by reducing the deficit; not a bad idea, but this will have a negligible impact on, say, jobs — especially in the short-to-medium term. How did we get here? An almost religious conviction in systems that should have been recognized as unsustainable.

This has happened before, albeit on a smaller scale. The bad news is, when a collapse of this size occurs, recovery doesn’t happen overnight. Just ask the music industry, which has been trying to go back to its heyday of control and collusion for more than a decade. The problem is, the more they cling to their old systems, the worse it is for the actual creators. Just like the more policymakers attempt to peg progress to Wall Street’s whims, the more American workers are imperiled.

Had anyone made the connection, the music industry’s response to its paradigm shift could have told us a lot about how to deal with the financial meltdown. The root causes are more similar than not: a misguided belief in the ability to engineer permanent growth. In fact, Peak Music was a part of the very same Wall Street philosophy that pushed us to the brink of disaster.

The record industry in the 1990s was rapidly consolidating, with large multinational corporations getting into music as a portfolio-enhancing diversification. From there, executives sought new ways to produce shareholder growth. The music business became like the movie business, but instead of s’plodey movies with big opening weekends, you had spendy boy bands with huge debut Tuesdays. Manufacturing consumer consent was fairly easy, especially with distribution locked down and broadcast media owned by just a handful of companies. You could practically plot a year’s returns with just a handful of guys in a room.

With radio a hyper-concentrated market dominated by payola and retail under the thumb of the major labels, the consumer became trained to accept what was spoon fed to them. $18.98 a CD with a single good song on it? No problem!

Then the unexpected happened. The Internet came along.

The recorded music industry, like Wall Street following the banking crisis, had no clue how to respond. Most kids, when they find out that there is no Santa Claus, go through a period of grief and disaffection, but then they get over it. The music industry has been trying to find a new Saint Nick for more than a decade. I worry that our policymakers will do the same with the American economy.

The old ideas won’t work. That’s the nature of paradigm shift. You can’t build anything lasting according to the previous blueprint. No matter how hard you try, no matter how much money you throw at the problem (or at policymakers), any edifice constructed using the old engineering will not stand. Sure, you can prop it up for a little while, or set to rebuilding over and over and over, but the exercise is ultimately fruitless. Eventually, the way forward will reveal itself, but the will be little continuity between the old and the new, other than the fact that the replacement construct will eventually fail, too.

Repeat after me: you cannot engineer away failure.

But you can prolong the mighty crash by accepting the natural rhythms of growth and contraction. Had the Wizards of Wall Street not entered the dangerous game of financial derivatives, we surely would have experienced recession-like events, but there’s would have been far less danger of a total systems collapse. Had the music industry focused on offering the best product in a reasonably open marketplace, they may have been able to retain some consumer loyalty when the internet came along (their response to the technology itself is its own separate topic).

At the end of the day, the true tragedy is who bears the brunt of these traumas. In the music business, it’s largely the creators (though I do know for a fact that a lot of good people in the industry lost out, too). With the overall American economy, it’s the majority of the public.

None of this was an inevitability. Something for the next generation of wizards to consider.

Let’s not beat around the bush anymore: this is a depression. America’s current economic situation is beyond grim, and there are few political or market-based prospects for a turnaround anytime soon. The room for error has never been slimmer, yet our political system seems incapable of action.

Meanwhile, climate change deniers are oblivious to the fact that an increase in unpredictable weather could create additional pressures on our economy and general security. Even those who accept what science tells us are unwilling or unable to produce policy results. On the other hand, it’s probably too late anyway.

And let’s not forget the preponderance of pro-apocalypse politicos who are actively agitating for the End of Days. Because Jesus ain’t gonna return under any other conditions.

So what can the rest of us do? You know, the ones who have difficulty with the idea that spiritual faith requires a commitment to hate homosexuals and eradicate the public sector? Real Americans like you and me, who recognize that science might be a pretty handy tool when it comes to understanding the universe? Folks who might not have been born into money and who therefore realize the benefits of a basic social safety net?

Seriously, I’m asking you guys. Because I have no frigging idea.

I had the occasion to visit Detroit over the weekend, and was utterly fascinated by what I saw. There’s no doubt that the city has long occupied its own place in the American Myth, from automobiles to Motown. Music is a huge part of Detroit’s identity, with dozens, if not hundreds, of name-checks in popular song. (Of those that I’ve heard, David Bowie‘s “Panic in Detroit” best captures the freaky vibe of the modern Motor City; Christian Death‘s cover perhaps more so.)

Detroit is a study in contradictions: part urban wasteland, part entrepreneurial experiment. I was there to give a talk on technology and creative communities to an audience of artist fellows of a well-known philanthropic organization. So many of the people I interacted with had very strong feelings about what it means to survive — and perhaps even thrive — in a city left behind. Everywhere I looked, there was evidence of DIY enterprise and risk-taking. There was also blight on a scale that’s hard to reconcile with notions of American exceptionalism and opportunity.

How could a U.S. city decay to such an alarming degree? Parts of Detroit look like Sarajevo without the bullet scars (and I’m sure there’s some of those, too). Looming over the city are hulking testaments to industrial and domestic catastrophe. Empty factories, warehouses and domiciles pepper the landscape, which is eerily vast and devoid of people. From what I’ve been told, the city of Detroit is big enough to hold the entirety of San Francisco, New York and Boston, but it is home to a mere 713,777 humans. The population fell 25 percent between the years 2000 and 2010. And it doesn’t look like most of them will be returning anytime soon.

Yet some do go to Detroit to make a life. Maybe it’s the fact that in some cases, you can buy a house for less than a grand. But I like to think that it’s about the chance to build. To do something perhaps small, but lasting. To participate in the most uncertain experiment in urban renewal since New Orleans got creamed by Katrina. Maybe ever.

It’s gonna take a lot of work. Even to an outsider, the challenges seem insurmountable. Detroit has some amazing architecture, remnants of a great industrial and cultural past. Unfortunately, much of it is in a state of advanced deterioration. And no one is building anything to the previous scale, which means any new construction is guaranteed to be dwarfed by epic atrophy. There is no greater testament to this than Michigan Central, which looms mightily in decomposing grandeur. Its crumbling edifice utterly dominates the nearby Michigan Visitors’ Center, and is flanked by lesser — but still impressive — examples of civic ruination. They film apocalyptic movies here, many of which take place in some dystopian future.

For Detroit, it is an inescapable present.

You’d expect to see this kind of thing in certain former Iron Curtain villages, but not in one of the America’s most storied cities. Even the pockets of life and light — and there are some — only add to the feeling of monumental calamity. It’s like a Grant Morrison or Warren Ellis comic came to life, minus the cheery bits. Yet even amidst the deserted domiciles and too-wide-to-be-empty streets, there is hope. Development shoots up wily-nilly from the pockmarked landscape like brightly-colored flowers poking up from cracked concrete. Cautious optimism is reflected by those making their lives among the ruins of the 21st century.

Detroit, I pity you. I fear you. And I admire you.

HAPPY RAPTURE!

The Contrarian Media and LUX ETERNA wanted to take this moment to celebrate your imminent ascendancy to His Kingdom.

What’s that? Not getting Raptured? Well we’ve got the perfect consolation prize.

Here’s a brand new track from Strange Angels just in time for End Times:

I’ll be in Paris. For real. That is, if I don’t get spirited away to my Father’s Kingdom along with the rest of the pious bigots faithful. Yesiree, Saturday, May 21 is the day — at least according to religious radio broadcaster Harold Camping, who came up with the latest apocalyptic meme to sweep the globe.

Camping is basing his end-times prediction on a numerological formula of his own device. Meaning, all the billboards loudly proclaiming “the Bible guarantees it!” are utter bullshit. In fact, the Good Book explicitly says the opposite: “Of that day and hour knoweth no one, not even the angels of heaven, neither the Son, but the Father only.” [Matthew 24:36].

That hasn’t stopped Camping’s ministry from driving paranoid Christians into a tizzy. So what’s the math behind his claim? It’s kinda complicated, even to Scientific American. Apparently, it has to do with the date of Christ’s crucifixion, which is conveniently unverifiable. But not to this wackadoodle:

Camping takes Christ’s crucifixion to be April 1 in 33 AD. Come May 21, 2011, Camping says, 722,500 days will have elapsed since that occurrence. And 722,500 is (5 x 10 x 17) x (5 x 10 x 17). Those numbers are important, according to Camping, because 5 symbolizes atonement, 10 represents completeness, and 17 is for heaven.

Why does 5 symbolize atonement? Here we turn to Exodus 30:15: “The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less than half a shekel, when they give an offering unto the Lord, to make an atonement for your souls.” For those of you who prefer fractions, “half a shekel” would be 1/2 shekel; the decimally minded might favor 0.5 shekel. Camping is evidently in the latter camp; he takes this verse as evidence of 5′s association with atonement.

Blarbity-blarb, derp-derp. Is anyone even taking any of this seriously?

Turns out, yes. Some Christians are even taking that job and shoving it in anticipation of Armaggeddon. I assure you, this is not why I’m going on vacation. Total coincidence.

Organized atheists are also taking advantage of the insanity. According to DC rag Roll Call:

A group of self-described Godless Americans is defying predictions of the Rapture to kick off a new campaign this week against the religious right. As some Christians quit their jobs this week to prepare for the end of the world, the Secular Coalition for America headed to Capitol Hill with an ambitious task: reducing the influence of religious interests on government. The lobby group — created in 2000 to unite atheists, humanists, nontheists and nonbelievers of all stripes — chose this weekend to meet because of its significance to a small faction of Christians. For followers of religious radio broadcaster Harold Camping, Saturday marks the beginning of the end of civilization and the return of Jesus Christ as predicted in the Bible.

Getting ready for a three-week vacation is actually not that different from preparing for the Rapture, come to think of it. We have four cats and a bunny, which makes it difficult to plan a holiday. Imagine if you were taken by God? Thankfully, The Creator has a plan for our furry friends (or at least his followers do). It’s called After the Rapture Pet Care, and it’s an honest-to-Jehovah business.

If the Rapture does come this weekend, I guess most of our readership will be “left behind.” Which leads me to my final point: if there’s a lack of posts here over the next few weeks, it’s because I’m ON VACATION, not sharing fondue with Sarah Palin and Moses.

Unless, of course, I am…

Titor claimed that in the year 2038, a computer-based mainframe error called the UNIX 2038 problem would wreak havoc upon the world and only an original 1975 IBM 5100 computer could solve the problem. Titor claimed that the 5100’s BASIC and APL programming languages held the key to future salvation and he was a soldier sent back in time to retrieve one in working condition.

Think of it as an uber-geeky Terminator, with Titor as the Michael Biehn character.

When asked about his year-2000 pit stop, Titor said that he dropped in to pick up some family photos lost during the “second Civil War” and to warn us of a cattle-based disease outbreak that would kill millions of people.  He also hinted at future historic events, scientific laws yet to be discovered and breakthroughs that would change human life as we know it — including time travel technology (his machine was nestled in the trunk of a 1975 Chevette). Like some Nostradamus firing off prophecies from a local Starbucks, Titor lit up scientific message boards for months with vague announcements hinting at the world to come.

Titor offered to answer any direct questions asked of him but refused to repeat himself. He confirmed the Everett-Wheeler Model of Quantum Physics and claimed that this discredited the Grandfather Paradox. The enigmatic man from the future kindly responded to most queries with a keen sense of duty and patience, but occasionally got peeved at naysayers. Eventually, the fatigue from being called crazy and the repeated denial of his warnings made Titor bow out of the message boards in March of 2001 — leaving us to the mercy of fate (or destiny).

Since his disappearance, John Titor’s predictions toppled one at a time — each failing to come true even as his legend continues to grow. His forecast of the 2004 Civil War never materialized; its escalation to near-apocalypse status in 2008 also proved false. Although some suggest Titor did hint at such events as September 11 and Hurricane Katrina, his failures overshadow any authentic augury. And now we wait for the 2015 Russian nuclear attack that destroys all major US cities, leaving Omaha, Nebraska as our nation’s capital. Why should we believe this prediction? Well, Titor’s followers — and he does have them — claim that his arrival in our time changed the path of history and steered us away from these horrific events.

Like another enigmatic modern-day folk hero, DB Cooper, who became a symbol of his time, John Titor holds a place in our own culture. Titor reflects our desire for online anonymity coupled with an urge to berate and harass from behind the impersonal architecture of message boards. When Titor reached out to our imperiled society with a desire to help — or maybe just to get some attention — we, in typical fashion, mocked and drove away.

According to his own posts, in 2011, the 13-year-old John Titor lives in Florida and is training with the “Fighting Diamondbacks” in preparation for the upcoming Russian conflict. Perhaps we should track him down and apologize before we run out of time…

• Serial Killer of the Week: Many people think of serial killing as being a behavior exhibited only by the male gender. It would surprise these folks to learn that #5 on the list of history’s most prolific killers was a woman: Elizabeth Bathory (August 7, 1560 – August 21, 1614). It should be noted, however, that her guilt is debated by historians to this day. Some believe she was the victim of malicious rumors and slurs. Unfortunately, we may never know the whole truth as her life story was quite complex and not objectively or meticulously documented. An impenetrably murky jumble of history stands between us and this notorious woman. Bathory was convicted of murdering 80 young women, but was thought to have killed 650 or more in elaborately bloody ways. The most commonly repeated story is that she bathed in the blood of virgins in order to retain her youth. But was she actually the target of conspirators? She was rich, intelligent, extraordinarily well educated (even more so than most of her male aristocratic peers), and a Protestant at a time when it was quite dangerous to be anything but Roman Catholic. Her accusers stood to gain a great deal in the event of her downfall. Not only that, but those who prosecuted, imprisoned and killed her were also the ones writing the history books. There were no investigative journalists, sympathetic biographers or advocacy websites in 17th century Hungary.

Here is the Crime Library website, which details the typical (and some say mythical) account of her life and alleged crimes. But many Hungarian historians have devoted long hours of research to uncovering the whole story and come to the conclusion that Bathory was innocent of all charges. There is an article from the Hungarian Quarterly which touches upon this research, but more complete text is difficult to find because little of it has been translated to English. Sadly, I think people are too comfortable with the intriguing and titillating tale of the Blood Countess to be interested in learning that it may not be true.

• Fetish of the Week. This week I recruited my boyfriend to help with the S&M report. I handed him my old copy of The Encyclopedia of Unusual Sex Practices and told him to pick a fetish for you. He settled on the snake-centric zoophilia subset, ophidicism! From Wikipedia: “Ophidicism is a sexual act in which a woman inserts the tail of a snake or eel in her vagina, and receives pleasure as it wriggles to get free. It can be dangerous in that some reptiles carry salmonella. Ophidicism has been documented as being practiced (as well as many other sexual acts) in Ancient Greece. Variations include inserting the snake/eel headfirst. The snake is an ancient symbol of fertility, and sexuality.”

• Religion of the Week: The Brethren (AKA Garbage Eaters). From ReligiousTolerance.org, “This Christian faith group actually has no formal name. Members refer [to] it as a church, spiritual community, or assembly. It has been called “The Brotherhood,” “Brothers and Sisters,” “The Roberts Group,” and “The Brethren.” Counter-cult groups, disaffected parents of Brethren, and others frequently call them by the derogatory term “Garbage Eaters.” This name apparently is derived from their practice of searching through supermarket dumpsters for over-ripe produce and food that is beyond their recommended expiry date.”

Links!

• What did Corey Feldman have to do with Osama bin Laden’s death?
• I feel like “grisly” is a conservative choice of adjective in this case.
• 2005 Samurai sword decapitation case finally set to conclude.
• Speaking of decapitation, this is how you one-up flag burning.
• Freedom of religion does not extend to setting children on fire. I somehow doubt that is a widespread voodoo practice.