I really hate to turn into a news filter but I cannot help it. I am so angry after reading this Washington Post article that I can't even believe it. Immigrants that are working within the legal system are being treated worse than we would treat animals. People being intimidated, threatened and assaulted during appeals. During deportation, they've been forced to take psychotropic drugs that last for days at the doses being administered. Some of these people are being deported to countries where they will be imprisoned or murdered; this is why they came to the United States to petition for asylum in the first place and even if we reject their plea to stay, is it right to send them to their death or imprisonment?

What can we actually do to stop this? Judge order after judge order is ignored. The system isn't working, it's broken down, it's crossed too many lines. I am so upset after reading that article. I just want to find the people responsible and expose them.

When I showed the above article to a friend in Argentina, he responded with:
"During the dictatorship here in Argentina, one of the main ways that people were 'disappeared' after interrogation is they were drugged with tranquilizers and put into a military plane and then dropped into the ocean."

Is that how close we are to the brink of insanity? That we as Americans can defend ourselves by saying: "We, at least return them by plane?"

This isn't the America I grew up in. What happened to this place? Why is this happening? How can anyone stop it? What can I do?

Last week, monochrom and the BLF teamed up for a sculpture mob. The result was an art piece called The Great Firewall. The BLF press release is priceless.

My photos of the engagement are here and here.

I couldn't let today pass without making note of The Great Debian OpenSSL bug. It is a serious pain and it is going to bite so many people in the ass. I spent hours dealing with this on my own systems.

Why, Debian, Why!?

In response to this New Yorker page on the drug war, one of my good friends made a statement: "Organ donation should be an opt-out system."

Thoughts?

Bill and I are in the latest Boing Boing TV: BBtv "Hacker HOWTO": Cold Boot Encryption Attack.

According to the US Census population clock, we've hit a remarkable number:

One of my best friends that I've known for my entire life is traveling to the UK for the first time. He's perhaps a little worried about not knowing anyone. I'd like to help introduce him to some friends and perhaps even some strangers. He's a really stylish graphic designer, he's a wildly brilliant artist, a solid human on every front and humorous at the right times.

He'll be in London around the 24th of May and he's planning to travel to Scotland sometime during his trip. I believe he'll fly out of London on the 8th of June to return to California.

If anyone reading this has an interest in meeting a great guy, I'd really appreciate it. I'm certain he would too. Drop a note here and I'll give you proper introductions...

I'm sitting on top of the sensor board for 2piR at the Maker Faire in San Mateo. I just finished putting the final touches on the Debian machine that controls everything. We're in the process of hooking up the ignition system and the sensors to the controller board. Soon we'll do a leak test and then we'll burn some fuel off!

If you're in the San Francisco bay area this weekend, I highly suggest you come down to the Maker Faire on Saturday evening (find us in the fire area of the map) to play with our interactive fire project!

Sometimes there are moments so great that it can only be accurately described with a euphemism from another century.

"It's the bee's knees"
"The cat's whiskers"
"The cat's pajamas"
"The eel's ankle"
"The elephant's instep"
"The snake's hip"

I've decided that this is the year that I will go to Japan. This is a big deal for me. I've wanted to do this for a very very long time. I have lots of things in my head and I'm sure I won't be able to accomplish all of them.

I will visit with some of my friends who live in Japan. I'm going to see about staying long enough to study Aikido at the first Aikido dojo. I want to try to meet and possibly photograph my very favorite Japanese artists. I also want to start studying Japanese in both written and verbal form far before I even land.

This is the obligatory post stating that this has begun.

If you have advice about Japan, Japanese culture, learning to read and write Japanese (such as things that are useful, schools you'd suggest, etc) or anything Japan or Asian culture related (even specific history books) - Please let me know!

I gave notice today at Kink. I have two weeks left and hopefully I'll be able to hire someone to replace me.

I have a lot to say about why I left, where I'm going, what I'm doing with my time, about the experiences I've had here and how I feel about leaving.

I imagine that they'll replace me, if anyone is looking for a Senior Unix Administrator position with a focus on security, drop me a line.

I'm kinda sick and at ToorCon Seattle. I love the weather here. ToorCon is great.

I'm guessing this art process and project will upset nearly everyone.

Yesterday was rough. Somehow it took in excess of 25 hours to return to my house after leaving Graz. Ugh. I am quite jetlagged. As a result, I am flying to Seattle on Friday evening to speak at ToorCon and returning to the bay area on Sunday night:

Depart Apr 17 Thu Nonstop OAK-SEA 979 Depart Oakland (OAK) at 4:25 PM
Arrive in Seattle (SEA) at 6:20 PM
Return Apr 20 Sun Nonstop SEA-OAK 436 Depart Seattle (SEA) at 9:50 PM
Arrive in Oakland (OAK) at 11:50 PM

I went to the Neubauten concert with Audrey, Anika, Annika, Johannes and a few of Annika's friends. It was really quite low tempo, relaxing and beautiful. We were in the front row and it was picture perfect. The last time I saw Neubaten play they were selling CDs of the live concert and this time was the same. I think the CD is going to be pretty wonderful. I also managed to have an off by one error with my clean clothing. So I bought a shirt too.

Seeing Neubatuen was a nice end to my trip to Europe, holding Audrey five feet from Blixa singing was pretty dreamy. While I'm sad that I was unable to extend my stay, I really enjoyed improving my German and I look forward to working on it more when Audrey returns. She's going to be even better by the time that we see each other again. I was also quite happy to see everyone in Vienna, Prague and Graz. It was great to see Daniel and Anika with their first baby. It was also awesome to visit the Metalab and to spend time doing laser graffiti with Michi. Soon some of monochrom will come to San Francisco and we'll get to spend more time together. I'm really looking forward to seeing everyone again so soon.

In just four hours I must wake up (though it's unlikely that I will sleep) and head to the train station in Graz. I'll take the train to the Südbahnhof in Wien and switch trains for another station. Hopefully Michael will meet me with a few cases of Club Mate and I'll be able to check it into my luggage at the CAT station. I think if I don't drink a Mate, I will be very silly by the time I get to the airport.

In the next few weeks, I think good things will happen. Big changes are coming in my life and I hope they're as good as I believe them to be. I'm going to miss Audrey but I'm certain that things will be even more wonderful when we see each other next.

I think this t-shirt is pretty much the best play on Lennon ever made: