Lawful Interception by Cory Doctorow

Lawful Interception, Cory Doctorow.  New York:  Doherty, Tom Associates, LLC., 2013.  ebook, novella, 121 pps.

Cory Doctorow can be found on Twitter as @doctorow.


Cory Doctorow characterizes Lawful Interception as a Little Brother story on the book cover.  It is that and a bit more.  The setting is San Francisco and Oakland across the bay.  The main characters are Marcus Yarrow and his sidekick Ange.  This is during and after a Seneca earthquake.  Parts of the city are a mess.  FEMA is there-- a bunch of suits with paperwork and desks; as is OccupySeneca-- regular folk with determination to get done what needs to be done without all the red tape.  In Occupy, the people help each other.  The Anons are in evidence also.  A paste dump is made that reveals Oakland's not so humane plans to bulldoze what rubble remains of the project housing units and replace them with units that the rich and affluent would snap up.

The cops are in evidence and trouble is caused.  Kettling is explained to the uninitiated.  Drones fly around and QR codes are put to good use.  And there is a hackerspace, or a Makespace.  It's all glorious and chaotic but a bit scarey too.  Marcus Yarrow has a psychological awakening involving a feeling of helplessness which melds nicely within the circumstances.  A less skillful author would not have gotten away with that little extra tantalizing bit.  Under Doctorow's hands, it serves to remind us that Marcus and Ange are human, just like us. 

sapphoq reviews says: Lawful Interception is a masterful short novella for us nerds.  As in all of Cory Doctorow's fiction, evidence of developing technology being used for nefarious ends are right there.  The future that Doctorow paints is already happening.  Part fiction but also part instruction manual, Doctorow continues to serve up the radical cyber dishes which I fully enjoy.  Highly recommended.

The Prehistory of Occupy Wall Street 1890-1925 by Jasper Gregory

The Prehistory of Occupy Wall Street 1890-1925, Jasper Gregory.  Self-published, 2012.  e-book, 65 pps.


Just when I think I understand some small thing about the Occupy movement, Jasper Gregory comes along and blows everything out of the water.  At least one other book led me into using the word "demand" along with the word "Occupy" in the same sentence.  Jasper Gregory tells me it just ain't so.  And then goes on to recite a bunch of history in such a manner that it makes sense.  The stuff I learned in school-- the bare bones was there-- was skeletal and rotting.  Jasper Gregory makes history quite heady stuff and ties it in well to Occupy.  The Prehistory of Occupy Wall Street 1890-1925 was too short and a bit abrupt in beginning and ending.  That is the only complaint that I have.  I hope Jasper Gregory writes more.

sapphoq reviews says:  Jasper Gregory does a fine job of telling the history of the people, movements, philosophies, thoughts and revolutions from 1890-1925.  He traces the Occupy movement back to its roots.  A fine, if too short book, by a fine but unrecognized historian.  Absolutely highly recommended for anyone who wishes to know more about Occupy.  And for anyone interested in a solid history of the years covered in this book.

The Occupy Manifesto by The People and For the People

The Occupy Manifesto, By The People and For the People.  [self-published], Smashwords: 2010.  e-book, 14 pages.

Did you really think I was done with Occupy literature?  There are two parts to The Occupy Manifesto.  Part 1:  The Problem and Part 2:  What We Demand.  The Occupy Manifesto is a white paper and it is very well written. 

The problem is defined as corporate greed and lists the problematic decision by the Supreme Court granting "Personhood" to corporations.  I also have a problem with this decision.  It disgusts me that large corporations now have more constitutional rights than extra-legal civilians in our American society.  By extra-legal civilians I am talking about folks who identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual, asexual, transsexual, transgendered, intersexed, and queer.  Other folks can also be included in the label of extra-legal civilian: anyone who has been hassled or arrested for being out in public or even in a car driving while black, poor folks, folks who work for big corporations for wages that are not living wages, folks who are told that their Catholic employer does not have to provide birth control coverage because it hurts their corporate feelings [in spite of the facts that not all folks who work for Catholic employers are Catholic, that there are medical reasons for needing birth control unrelated to procreation, that the Catholic Church as a corporation is filthy rich.  Note: An insurance company having to put into place a mechanism to provide said birth control to those employees "for free" incurs extra expenses in terms of putting such a mechanism into place and man-hours occured in reaching out to said employees] and so on.  Extra-legal is more than the have-nots rebelling against the haves.  Extra-legal means that some classes of ordinary citizens for a variety of reasons are not afforded the protections of the legal system that other classes of ordinary citizens take for granted.

The slogan "I am the 99 Percent" is explained as it relates to how the richest 400 Americans acquisitioning more wealth than the bottom half of the country.  In other words, the uber-rich are really really rich.  The white paper then defines the problem as an issue of "economic injustice" rather than an issue strictly limited to being a leftist, Democratic, liberal, righty, conservative, Republican or any other political label.  The Occupy movement is now worldwide.  The issue of extreme economic disparity itself is worldwide and not just the problem of disgruntled leftist twenty something Americans.
How I first understood Occpy was exactly that-- I thought it was a movement among disgruntled leftist twenty to thirty years old Americans.  I no longer think that.

The demand of the [American] Occupy movement can be said in four words: End extreme wealth disparity.  The Occupy Manifesto then explains how to do so:
1).  Government regulating corporations toward restraint.  In other words, a return to regulation rather than a continued path of de-regulation;
2).  Goverment breaking up media conglomerates [not numbered in the book but it is #2].  This will prevent news from being reported via the lenses of corporations and their paying advertising sponsors;
3).  Government closing tax loopholes and shelters for the rich, and taxing everyone fairly;
4).  Government creating fair usury [interest rates] law in all of the U.S.A.-- high interest rates on loans would then become illegal;
5).  A constitutional amendment that overturns Corporate Personhood;
6).  Government taxation on companies who send their jobs overseas;
7).  Goverment institution of a living wage law for all workers-- increasing the minimum wage so that anyone earning minimum wage can afford a one bedroom apartment.  Strengthen unions as a way to do this until it gets done.

sapphoq reviews says:  Mandates require money.  There is no such thing as a free lunch.  How any of these demands get into federal legislation [if any of them do] will be interesting to watch.  Of personal importance to me is the Corporation as Personhood garbage.  I would like to see that one be flushed.  [#5].  Anyone who wishes a clear explanation of the United Statesian Occupy movement demands-- regardless of one's take on the issues-- should get this e-book.  Book uses big words and requires some adult reading literacy.  If you are stuck at Reader's Digest level [Grade 5], you will probably need some help in understanding The Occupy Manifesto. 

Occupy LOL Street, Volume II by Travis Haan

Occupy LOL Street Volume II, Travis Haan.  [self-published] Smashwords, 2011.  e-book, 178 pps.

Occupy LOL Street Volume II pleased me greatly by being longer than Volume I.  One of the tubed cats startled me by being very similar looking to one of my kitties.  [Note: I don't care if it actually is a tube of one of my kitties or not.  He is beautiful and he knows it and wants the world to know it too].  The five chapters open with some cats writing a song called "A For Anonymous" in Zucchini Park.  The LOL cats go on to explain S.O.P.A. to the readers.  The next morning there is a police car at Zucchini Park.  The LOL trio is advised that loitering in the park is a-okay but that protesting in the park is not.  The cats go on a papering Op across the country with some posters that explain some of the talking points of the Occupy movement.  The rest of the comic book is dedicated to explaining how Occupiers come to a consensus, going to jail and meeting some Occupy humans, the four footers and the two footers raising money, talking to folks about some Occupy demands, going to jail again, the mean dog food factory owner selling out to "Bane of Your Existence Capital" whose C.E.O. sounds a little bit like Mitt and promptly ships the operation off to really cheap labor sweatshops in China, and ending with an activist during a meeting of some Occupiers who are working on free education getting murdered by a Jesus Freak.

sapphoq reviews says: Occupy LOL Street Volume II goes into more of what the Occupiers want and the hurdles faced in direct actions.  The informed reader is familiar with what the Occupiers want but I will list a few of them here anyway: 
     The end of Corporate "Personhood;"
     Higher Tax Rate for the Rich;
     Free Education;
     Legal Protection for ALL protesters;
     and; Outlawing of Political Bribery [lobbying groups?].

If you loved Volume I, you will totally love Volume II.  Get them; and also an e-book called The Wise Sloth which is over 900 pages of good solid wisdom by Travis Haan.  I am still reading The Wise Sloth and I will cover that in a future review.

Occupy LOL Street Volume I, Travis Haan

Occupy LOL Street Volume I, Travis Haan.  [self-published] Smashwords, 2011.  e-book, 41 pps.

The three LOL cats in this comic live on LOL street.  They are a trio of tabbies with gray fur and black stripes.  The cats and other non-human animals in this delightful book are tubed from real life photos, giving them that adorable kitty look that it is virtually impossible to replicate in a cartoon.  The three LOL cats work at the dog food factory and are barely surviving.  They scrimpt and save.  On Christmas, a dog in a beat-up car crash into the cats in front of their house.  They are forced to use their savings to pay for medical bills, and forced to work even harder after that.  They are forced to work the next Christmas.  A series of misfortunes result in the trio joining the Occupy movement.  In the five included chapters, the LOL cats go to a constitutional convention, become homeless, and some other stuff like that.  There is also a mean guy who owns the dog food factory. The LOL cats become more political and more politically aware as they become more involved in the Occupy movement.

sapphoq reviews says: Although a tad predictable in places, Occupy LOL Street Volume I does an excellent job of explaining the Occupy movement.  The cats and other four footeds are adorable and political.  Most excellent for those who are looking for an explanation of what Occupy is all about.  Also excellent for anyone who enjoys the LOL cat phenomenon and for those who want the politicians to respond TO THE PEOPLE instead of to special interests lobby groups with oodles and oodles of money.

Twitter

"All of the Anons and the Feds have moved to Twitter." - sapphoq reviews

I never understood the appeal of writing blurbs that use 140 characters and spaces (or less).  The rest of the world disagrees with me as I found out recently by shoulder surfing someone near and dear who tweets.  For the uninitiated, "tweeting" is what the folks using Twitter do.  And "tweets" is what they write.



What I haven't found is folks detailing the minutiae of their mundane lives.  What I did find was a lot of news bullets from Al Jazeera, the F.B.I., and AnonOps.  Some notable personalities hold court at Twitter as well: The Flying Spaghetti Monster, Penn of Penn and Teller, P.Z. Myers, and Jesus With Issues.  There are  rather interesting exchanges between Team Jesus and Team Atheist, little bites from President Obama and Connie Rice (or their press agents), and a bunch of "women" whose sole purpose is to get you to click on a link to porn videos.  The latter are rather annoying.  First they follow all new folks.  Some new folks will follow them back, not realizing their game.  Pretty soon, they post a link to a vid that they "just made."  The Twitter interface does have the option for a tweeter to block someone.  But the naughty women arrive in droves.  As soon as one account is suspended, at least five more sign up.


The Twitter interface is a bit jarring at first.  There is the difficulty of finding any direct messages to the tweeter and then there is the difficulty of finding out how to throw the messages into the trash.  Twitter uses @ in front of the two syllable names of the users (with no demand for something that resembles a name).  The new tweeter is then transported to a page where they can agree or decline to import their entire address book from their e-mail client in order to find known people in the mob.  The other way to find folks to follow is to type in an interest using hash marks.  Thus one can search for #news, #anon, #anonops, #occupy, #science, #evolution...and so on. A successful search of a #interest will yield the top twenty five tweets of that interest.  To follow one of the tweeters, one clicks on their tiny icon and is presented with the last three tweets.  The option exists to see more of their tweets.  To block a tweeter, such as the spamming video ladies, one selects "block @so-and-so" from the drop down menu.  Icons across the top of the page denote one's profile page, one's usually non-working mailbox, and "write a new tweet."


Twitter is a gift for folks with short attention spans.  The A.D.D. or A.D.H.D. adult can gleam a decent idea of today's current events and click on the shortened links, embedded U-tube vids, and pictures to find out more.  The feed runs rapidly enough and times flies even for the most mercurial.  Over each tweet are options to reply or re-tweet.  Re-tweeting is like sharing on Google+: it's what one does if one wants to spread the word to one's own followers.  A tweeter also has the option to "favorite" a tweet.  The tweet is then stored in the "favorites" section of the profile.


And yes folks, the anons and the feds have all moved to twitter.  It is easier there to sign up as an organization and there is no silly demand for your wallet name or for a name that resembles wallet names.  Unfortunately, Twitter-- like so many other services these days-- has yielded to self-censorship in order to aid governments that censor.  If something is not allowed to be viewed in one's host country, one is now made aware of blocked tweets.  The oldies at Twitter complain about the interface changing.  I can't speak to that as I have only shoulder surfed one relatively new user.  Twitter does work if one is behind a proxy.  And unlike G+, many of the tweeters actually do care about those activists who are not allowed Internet access in the traditional manner.  G+ users will say, "Oh but this platform is not written with those people in mind."  Tweeters have a hashed interest for using Tor to help folks behind the aluminum curtain.


sapphoq reviews says: As long as the radicals remember that the Feds and other watchers are also on Twitter, Twitter can be a useful and somewhat enjoyable tool for keeping up with the news and having some pithy discussions.  Worth a look for those who are curious.  Just don't forget to check on your followers periodically and block all the sexpot ladies.