Just Because You're Paranoid...

I've been thinking a lot about the whole NSA - Edward Snowden dustup. And what it and the responses mean for privacy. Then I had a chat with Dad where he stunned me by supporting PRISM, and things like speed and red-light cameras.

OK, without going too screed-y, here's what I think about some types of surveillance. Please note that I completely support pretty much any technique so long as it's used for a specific target and their connections and there's some kind of oversight into the info collected. I know full well information is extremely valuable and time is of the essence in tracking and stopping ne'er-do-wells. But there have to be limits too. The Constitution and all...

* PRISM, as described by Snowden (pretty much all major email/social networks providing data (not just meta) to some sort of massive data warehouse/analytics beast):

  Not cool, if it's going to build full electronic profiles on pretty much every net-connected citizen dating to whenever it got turned on. That kind of time machine and "into the diary" access is too much. The same system working in real-time aggregating full data on selected targets and then ceasing once the job's done is awesome tho'.

  PRISM-the-time-machine could too easily be used at a point in the future to prosecute and perscute past actions: "retro-crime" if you will. Or actions against a group that was once accepted but falls out of favor or makes enemies...

* PRISM and Echelon, automated keyword/connection detectors which alert human analysts when something triggers a threat alarm:

  Cool - these make sense, don't seem to have massive privacy implications and should restrict deeper dives to those who actually do something in the present.  Of course, this could still be misused, but as stated above, I'm expecting real oversight.

* Widespread public CCTV networks (think London):

  Cool - these really seem to work when tied to human enforcement on the ground ready to respond when something bad happens. It's a bit oppressive and could certainly be used to suppress public demonstrations and the like, but on the balance of public safety, right to movement and public security, I find them satisfactory.

* Drone-based surveillance:

  For me, it depends on whether these drones are automated or human-piloted. I'm generally accepting if there's a human operator making decisions on events unfolding. I can also accept automated droning if they try their best to keep the recordings/live feeds restricted to public spaces. But if they start collecting data on private places without warrants and oversight, especially collected in bulk and stored, then I don't like it,

* Red light and speed cameras:

  I'm torn - on the one hand, assuming everything is functioning properly, if you get popped by one of these it's because you actually violated a law. My problem is that these two types of tech-based law enforcement have really lent themselves to third parties selling towns on the safety and revenue opportunities, and then pocketing a lot of cash.

  That in itself isn't a problem, but far too many cases [citation needed] of unfair manipulating of the yellow light timing, or placement of speed limit changes just before the cams and so on have been documented. Florida in particular has raised a stink over yellow-light tweaks out of compliance with FDOT recommended timings. There was no reason or impetus to change the timings until the cams went in.

  This irritates me for the same reason many speed traps with human officers do. The police and city council types gas on about public safety but it's easy to believe it's really about revenue. Especially because resistance to things like speed traps and red light cameras seems to fade or be ignored when the town budget shows up in the red.

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So anyway, given that we're already well down the path of omnipresent electronic surveillance, here's hoping and praying those with the keys use it responsibly!

On Roadblocks

'Morning!

After making solid progress with my personal life I thought I'd be energized to tackle some things that need to be settled and take on new challenges:

* Get our household budget under control
* Get into crafting in a serious way (both clothcraft and culinary)
* Fix Shiroma's rear suspension
* Umm...

So, as part of my process, I posted two things here earlier this month. They're quite personal, at least based on /my/ standards of sharing details about my real life. And I certainly know that once it's out on the Internet, there's no going back. (There might be a way back but there are no guarantees what you want to retract hasn't been cached elsewhere)

I figured once I'd made some things clear to myself and said them aloud that the magic would happen.

Nope.

I'm doing well with work and with Ape and the fam, but other than that I have nothing left. And I don't think it's a DoT from my depression, which is in check right now. Of course, I'm wary about how depression lies (thanks, Bloggess!) but I don't think that's it at all. I'm quite content actually, aside from my lack of motivation.

I think the Jawas let me off the crawler with a bad one.

In any case, I'm still plugging away. And hoping my really nice sewing machine isn't hosed up from sitting idle. I wonder if my teacher is still doing "Stitch & Bitch" sessions...

Binary Systems

Good evening, Dear Reader!

I had something else in mind here, a followup to the previous post which ended with a solid outline of a study into the effects of internetworking on the development of imagination and roles. It's a good companion piece, and after some tweaking I think I'll add it to the "research collection".

But in the meantime, I'm changing gears a bit and going more personal.  It's something I've discussed in therapy which I'm calling "owning my identity." After much discussion with Ape, I'm at the point where I get to solidify concepts about myself which have been floating around and are more focused now.  In order to do that, I need to explain something I've observed, and seen echoed by many people. This something is an obstacle I still haven't found a route around.

In my experience, our world is still built around the notion of two sexes. This may seem somewhat self-evident, but it doesn't seem to work so well anymore. Before anyone I know personally begins hyperventilating, let me explain what I mean. Surely the general trend of acceptance for love, and lately marriage, among those of the same sex hasn't escaped your notice. I am all for that and have long felt that love is love. End of story.

But even if tomorrow came and there was no bigotry against same-sex couples being together, another issue would remain and one I think is actually the cause of people opposing marriage equality. The world I know is designed around the notion that there are only two genders, and that sexual identity equals gender identity.

This is where the world and I disagree.  A primer:

Sexual (or biological) identity - your biological parts. And this covers male, female, and intersex (androgyny, hermaphrodism).

Gender identity - what you feel you are. For most people, this matches their sexual identity. For others, there's a difference. It doesn't have to mean one is the polar opposite of the other. There can be a blending (a form of androgyny) or neither (asexuality).

Oh, almost forgot... Sexual orientation  - What identity you're attracted to. Again, does not have to be the polar opposite of one's own identity. This can also include multiple levels of "male" and "female" or neither - someone who is attracted to nothing.

For the purposes of this post, I'm skipping sexual identity and orientation. I'm really interested in how the world accommodates gender identity. Or doesn't as the case may be.

Now I'm getting to the point:

Think about hairstyles. Flip through a good fashion mag and look at hair. How many hairstyles would you say are exclusively for one sex or the other? Or look so "different" on one or the other sex as to lead "the average resident in Peoria" to reject its suitability?

We can do this with kids' toys. Dateline pulled a "What Would You Do?" with a dad and son duo where the son wanted a doll and dad resisted. Some other shoppers commented that letting him play as he wished wouldn't corrupt him. There's a YouTube video of a little girl in a toy store lamenting the binary state of toy design.

What about accessorizing? Barrettes / scrunchies, bracelets, belts, shoes, etc.

Or nail treatments? Other than the Goth kids at Hot Topic, how many guys have painted nails?

Then there's body care, like lotions, scents and scrubs.

And that's just the "fashion" category. What about things like sewing (guilty), reading fantasy/romance novels (really guilty) and dancing (sort of guilty)? Yes, I LOVED Twilight. I love Merry Gentry (but LKH seems to want to write more Anita, lol). I really want to make things for Bells and I want to finally do my cosplay. I've line-danced (one of the few makes AND one of the youngest too at our Y), do DDR quite well and am getting into Just Dance on the Wii.

Why can't these just be fun and rewarding activities? Why do I have to worry about sharing these things with most people? Do I have to worry?

My problem is that I want to pick some things from Column A and a few from B. But I doubt the level of acceptance amongst my extended family and coworkers would be high enough to make the gamble.

It's really frustrating. Especially since my orientation isn't at stake here - Ape can vouch for that. This is about personal identity and nothing more. And I'm not asking the world to completely forget centuries of history, family tradition and expectations.

What I *am* asking for is an explanation of why certain things (that you may have already thought of yourselves above) are acceptable for both genders. Yes, I'm going to bring up the double-standard of male items borrowed by the ladies. I'm not going to go through an exhaustive list, but there are certainly enough things that used to be really male that can be used by both sexes without consequence. Maybe not in everyday public situations but certainly in more personal settings, among peers. These appropriations don't raise eyebrows but if a guy tried the reverse appropriation there would likely be static.

And that stinks.

I've known I wasn't like everyone else since maybe age 7? 8? I grew up thinking the world was a certain, idealistic way only to have reality knock the rose-tinted glasses from my face. I desperately *want* the world a certain way but I'm realizing it just won't be that way anytime soon.

And that makes me a sad Mithra.

The other day, I saw a great cosplay and realized that no matter hard I tried I would never be able to succeed as well as that player. And I also realized that until the world learns to separate biological identity from gender identity and move beyond binary systems, I'm fighting a losing battle. I could dig in my heels and press on. I might even win a few rounds. But I suspect I'd ultimately lose by winning such a Pyrrhic victory.

The winds of change are blowing. I can see it for myself. But how long will it take for society's attitudes to tack in a more open direction?