Reporters Sans Frontieres

October brought the annual Press Freedom Index from Reporters Without Borders. The index is compiled every year with input from journalists and media outlets around the world.

Not surprising to me (or anyone who is aware of my love for Finland) was the group of Nordic countries topping the list. Congratulations, Scandinavia, on your transparency. Equally interesting is the high position of the three Baltic nations - Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. History will attest to their independent spirit and I think it is admirable that less than 20 years after declaring freedom from the USSR, they are considered to be some of the most open countries to emerge from behind the iron curtain.

The report includes information about how the index was compiled, along with the questionnaire which was used by journalists and media outlets.

Does the position of any country surprise you?

Obama continuing Bush's domestic spying policies???

     The Bush presidency appears to be the gift that keeps on giving. Just when we think we've heard the worst, someone like Wayne Madsen comes along and tells us that there is more...from the Obama Administration. Madsen, a political journalist, is claiming that domestic spying under the Bush administration may now have been even bigger, and started earlier, than previously thought. That's scary, but predictable. What's wierd is that this horror show doesn't end with Bush apparently. Madsen's NSA contacts are saying that Obama is now ordering DOJ attorneys to pressure US Judge Vaugn Walker to drop the lawsuit against the Bush Administration for his warrantless wiretapping program. We can also add to that the support for telecom legal immunity AND the continued love affair the infamous "states secrets" legal defense. Why? Because it all works so wonderfully! Seriously. That's the reason according to NSA insiders. Furthermore, this stuff might actually still be going on.
    
    Are we to believe this? Well, so far Obama seems to have done very little in the way of scaling back the excesses of Presidential power exerted by Bush.  The Electronic Frontier Foundation published an article in April of this year reporting that the Obama Administration was using the "states secrets" defense to get a case thrown out of court. Only 3 months after inauguration. He's supporting this stuff practically right out of the gate. By the way, look at his campaign counter terrorism fact sheet and see what it says.  Or I can spare you the time and tell you that it says what he didn't do where these matter are concerned. Does this mean Obama is untrustworthy? Not necessarily.  Some of this may also be that he is simply surrounded by all the wrong people.  Nonetheless, I'm starting to feel like we've been played, or are being played, for fools.
    
    I started out with this blog by essentially saying that this country didn't have real information policy, but I suspect that I was wrong on that bit. We do have an information policy: Your information is fair game. Policies were made; just not in the interests of American citizens' rights.