The Naked Crowd: Reclaiming Security and Freedom in an Anxious Age

"Laura" <[email protected]> Wed, 17 Mar 2004 12:50:28 -0500
Newsgroups gmane.culture.religion.muslim.progressive
Message-ID <006d01c40c48$56d69aa0$7de8d143@cmb17z3r>
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Salaam Alaikum,

I attended the lecture on privacy which was based on Jeffery Rosen's =
latest book.  I did leave  6:00 pm so I missed the very last of the =
talk.  Mr. Rosen discussed issues in Florida like the Naked Machine at =
Orlando Airport which can x-ray through clothes to detect possible =
weapons.  At present it is voluntary to go through the machine.  He =
discussed the cameras in Ybor City that were finally taken out because =
of their lack of efficiency.

One of the bad points of Rosen's lecture or book is that he appears to =
be in support of the Patriot Act.  He stated that in polls that 50% of =
Americans felt the Patriot Act is appropriate, 20% felt it didn't go far =
enough, and he stated that only 20% are opposed.  He used Ybor City as =
an example that the public does have control over privacy issues.  =
However, he stated that his conclusion,  in the book, was that the =
public in Britain who were for cameras have created a ridiculous =
situation because they favored the use of cameras despite the fact that =
they were not efficient to catch terrorists.  He went on to say that =
congress should be trusted with the affairs of the government and the =
few minority libertarians keep the congress in check.

He stated that he met John Ashcroft for an interview.  Mr. Rosen =
described Ashcroft as politician whose views change when his voter's =
views change.  John Ashcroft made some clumsy jokes during the interview =
which Rosen said were "endearing".  Mr. Rosen claims that Ashcroft is =
just an everyday politician. =20

The good points of Mr. Rosen's book was his discussion of new =
technologies and that the technologies need to be efficient.  He stated =
that problems with some of the invasions of privacy, such as the large =
number of cameras in England, were that innocent people, or =
non-terrorists, were questioned and felt humiliated.  Another problem is =
that the technology would then be used to target low-level criminals or =
used to expose embarrassing personal situations such as adultery, etc =
and eventually become "big brother".

I found it disturbing that he didn't mention any of the innocent people =
being humiliated with the Patriot Act.  He didn't address the issue of =
racial and/or religious profiling although I did bring it up.  His =
response was that definitions of terrorism may need to be revisited or =
redefined.  He also minimized the possibility of a "big brother" =
situation developing in the U.S.

Unfortunately I needed to leave so I was unable to hear the rest of the =
discussion.  If someone else from MSA was there I would love to get the =
rest of the story.

Laura Hussain


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<DIV><FONT size=3D2>Salaam Alaikum,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2>I attended the lecture on privacy which was based on =
Jeffery=20
Rosen's latest book.&nbsp;&nbsp;I did leave&nbsp; 6:00 pm so I missed =
the very=20
last of the talk.&nbsp; Mr. Rosen discussed issues in Florida like the =
Naked=20
Machine at Orlando Airport which&nbsp;can&nbsp;x-ray through clothes to =
detect=20
possible weapons.&nbsp; At present it is voluntary to&nbsp;go through =
the=20
machine.&nbsp;&nbsp;He discussed the cameras in Ybor&nbsp;City that=20
were&nbsp;finally taken out because of their lack of =
efficiency.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2>One of the bad points of Rosen's lecture or =
book&nbsp;is that=20
he&nbsp;appears to be in support of the&nbsp;Patriot Act.&nbsp; =
He&nbsp;stated=20
that in polls that 50% of&nbsp;Americans felt the&nbsp;Patriot Act is=20
appropriate, 20% felt it didn't go far enough, and he stated that only =
20%=20
are&nbsp;opposed.&nbsp; He&nbsp;used Ybor City as an example that the =
public=20
does have control over privacy issues.&nbsp; However, he stated that his =

conclusion,&nbsp; in the book, was that the public in Britain who were =
for=20
cameras have created a ridiculous situation because they favored the use =
of=20
cameras despite the fact that they were not efficient to catch =
terrorists.&nbsp;=20
He went on to say that congress&nbsp;should be trusted with the affairs =
of the=20
government and the few minority libertarians keep the congress in=20
check.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2>He stated that he met John Ashcroft for an=20
interview.&nbsp;&nbsp;Mr. Rosen described=20
Ashcroft&nbsp;as&nbsp;politician&nbsp;whose views&nbsp;change&nbsp;when =
his=20
voter's views change.&nbsp;&nbsp;John Ashcroft made some&nbsp;clumsy =
jokes=20
during the interview which Rosen said were "endearing".&nbsp; Mr. Rosen =
claims=20
that Ashcroft is just an everyday politician.&nbsp; </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2>The good points of Mr. Rosen's book was his =
discussion of new=20
technologies and that the technologies need to&nbsp;be efficient.&nbsp; =
He=20
stated that problems with some of the invasions&nbsp;of privacy, =
such&nbsp;as=20
the&nbsp;large number of cameras in England, were that innocent people, =
or=20
non-terrorists, were questioned and felt humiliated.&nbsp;&nbsp;Another =
problem=20
is that the technology would then be used to target low-level criminals =
or used=20
to expose embarrassing personal situations such as adultery, etc and =
eventually=20
become "big brother".</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2>I found it disturbing that he didn't mention any of =
the=20
innocent people being humiliated with the Patriot Act.&nbsp; He didn't =
address=20
the issue of racial and/or religious profiling although I did bring it =
up.&nbsp;=20
His response was that definitions of terrorism may need to be revisited =
or=20
redefined.&nbsp; He also minimized the possibility of a "big brother" =
situation=20
developing in the U.S.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2>Unfortunately I needed to leave so I was unable to =
hear the=20
rest of the discussion.&nbsp; If someone else from MSA was there I would =
love to=20
get the rest of the story.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2>Laura Hussain</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV></BODY></HTML>

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