Mass surveillance has been the norm for decades, and is growing rather than shrinking even as public knowledge of it increases. Spy agencies surveil entire countries the world over, targeting political dissidents and minorities more than terrorists and subverting the free expression essential to democratic processes. These practices harm liberty and security alike according to…
The Science Creative Quarterly
By Vera Wilde
Vera Wilde is an artist, hacker, and scholar from the obscure third-world nation of Al-Abama. After escaping from a postdoctoral gig during which she slept on the floor while working at Harvard, she found peace, love, and hackers in the Europes.
REFUGEE SCREENING: A BRIEF INTRODUCTION (AND A REQUEST FOR EQUIPMENT)
In an increasingly chaotic world, people fleeing life-threatening chaos—refugees—are a growing group. Today over 65 million displaced people—representing the biggest wave of mass displacement since World War II—seek safer, better lives in new countries, cultures, languages, fields, and communities. Many are climate refugees—people displaced by the effects of climate change. This group will probably grow by an order of magnitude in the coming decades, unless countries and corporations achieve global collective action to reduce carbon emissions and otherwise stem the effects of what we are already experiencing as climate departure. Refugees face many challenges, from life-threatening violence and other disaster…
SURVEILLANCE SONNET #73
Light comes in many colors: ROYGBIV, above, below, between. Cables bring light across borders, so we’re closer than we’ve ever been. Optical fiber cables carry light with digital information. That info contains the phone, Net, and TV of a nation. That time of history thou mayst indeed behold In which kings and soldiers take back…