While reading about proxy abuse I noticed someone on Digg pointing out some disturbing security issues at a “liberal arts” college in the US:

Using proxies and other methods to bypass firewall restrictions, etc, aren’t just useful for viewing Myspace. I’m about to graduate from a liberal arts college with Baptist affiliations. When I started school here, it was a well-regarded school in the South, and the religious convention was only loosely associated with it Then the fundamentalist cultists came along, and that all changed. Now, the school uses its IT dept. not to set up decent Internet access or upgrade computers, but to block methods of reaching the anti-administration forum that was set up by students.

Over 80 faculty and staff have been terminated, forced into retirement, or have resigned because they couldn’t stand to see the school turned into a Southern Baptist madrassa. Guess I’m venting, but when college administrators lie, violate SACS policies with impunity, and destroy academic freedom, even a dinky little proxy is a satisfying (but small) way to speak out.

What’s the matter with education in the US? Here is another example:

While students in campus owned housing are living with mold, rats, and other dangerous conditions (due to a lack of funds, according to res-life) — our tuition money is now being spent on appliances to actively support the RIAA and MPAA, two private entities which have no legal authority. Additional money is being spent on hardware to actively block Access Points on campus, which unfortunately blocks AP’s for off-campus residents in the surrounding neighborhood as well. Due to a lack of response from [the VP of IS], this situation is now being reported by the victim to the FCC and other state and federal agencies as we speak, as this is completely illegal per Title 18 of the COMPUTER FRAUD AND ABUSE ACT and referenced multiple times in the USA PATRIOT ACT.

I also keep hearing about translation tricks, both language and format (e.g. mobile devices). I’m not talking about residents in Communist countries learning English, I’m talking about Americans using foreign languages to evade corporate controlled information feeds to read the news. Even an attorney I met at a social the other day told me s/he was using it to bypass a firm’s overly harsh restrictions on browsing.

Perhaps the most interesting thing about this Japanese holiday, traditionally celebrated on April 29th, is that it was “renamed” this year as Showa Day while a new Greenery Day was established on May 4th. Not sure why they say it was renamed when they could just say it moved. Maybe the rules prevent moving holidays.

And what ever happened to the People’s Day of May 4th? Apparently “Greenery” is a veiled reference to the Emperor’s love of greenery, so the effect has been to create a double holiday for the same guy separated by only a few days.

Showa Day now openly acknowledges the infamous Emperor Hirohito’s rule during the 1940s.

…critics say the move will upset other nations, especially China and the two Koreas, who will say it glorifies Japan’s often brutal militaristic past.

A similar bill was abandoned in the past, due to political pressure.

But this time the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan backed the bill, which was proposed by the ruling coalition.

The opposition said it now accepted the idea that the holiday would encourage public reflection of the turbulent 63 years of Hirohito’s reign, rather than glorify the emperor himself.

I think they should have stuck with Greenery, and left the People’s Day alone, as they already provide plenty of reflection.

There is something terribly wrong when you compare how these two news reports have been written. First, the story from last month:

ABC News has learned that Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi plans to visit Syria next week to meet with President Bashar Al-Assad. The visit will make Pelosi the most senior U.S. official ever to meet with President Assad.

White House spokesperson Dana Perino strongly criticized Pelosi’s planned visit, saying, “We think it is a really bad idea.

“People should take a stop back and think about the message it sends and the message it sends to our allies,” Perino said.

Pelosi will be traveling to Syria has part of a congressional delegation with five other members of the House of Representatives, including one Republican.

Ok, I’m taking a step back and thinking about the message. Am I supposed to be worried because she is a Democrat, that she was elected by popular vote, or that no one but the President is allowed to make positive change?

And now, today’s message:

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has held a ground-breaking meeting with Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem at a summit in Egypt.

Mr Muallem said the highest-level talks between the two countries in several years were “frank and constructive”.

Ground-breaking? The Bush administration first bashes those in office who try to reach out to Syria and then steps in and tries to take credit for following behind?

Here is an even more insightful comparison:

As the weblog Think Progress noted, during a March 30 White House press briefing, deputy press secretary Dana Perino attacked Pelosi for her decision to spend time in Syria as part of a Mideast tour. Perino stated: “I know that Assad probably really wants people to come and have a photo opportunity and have tea with him, and have discussions about where they’re coming from, but we do think that’s a really bad idea.” But the White House did not criticize Republican lawmakers who were separately slated to visit Syria. Indeed, on April 1, Reps. Frank Wolf (R-VA), Joseph R. Pitts (R-PA) and Robert Aderholt (R-AL) traveled to Damascus and met with Assad, two days before Pelosi’s scheduled trip.

What’s with the glaring double-standards and slimy propaganda? Rove at work again? I think Bush was simply trying to make his own party look good by bashing someone doing something good for the country and trying to prevent them from getting any credit. The bottom line is the Iraq Study Group called for discussions with Syria and so Pelosi was doing her job, despite all the partisan muckraking, to improve America’s security.