First, Catch Your "War on Terror"....

Watch this trick:

The Maryland State Police classified 53 nonviolent activists as terrorists and entered their names and personal information into state and federal databases that track terrorism suspects, the state police chief acknowledged yesterday.

Police Superintendent Terrence B. Sheridan revealed at a legislative hearing that the surveillance operation, which targeted opponents of the death penalty and the Iraq war, was far more extensive than was known when its existence was disclosed in July.

First, create a nebulous threat to the nation; call it something grand like, oh, "war on terror". Pass a set of wide-reaching laws that let you do anything to "fight" it. Then, redefine anyone who opposes you as a "terrorist" (after all, you are in favour of the "war on terror"; they are against you; therefore, they are against the "war on terror", and thus against the country). Apply previously created laws to the hilt.

Voilà! No more opposition. (Via Slashdot.)

Microsoft's Monopoly: "Indisputably Resilient"

Well, well:

In what appears to be a surprise move, four state attorneys general who previously praised the effectiveness of Microsoft's antitrust settlement with the feds are now changing course.

In a nine-page court filing with U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly on Thursday, officials in New York, Maryland, Louisiana and Florida said they were joining a group of six states, led by California, and the District of Columbia in calling for extending oversight on Redmond until 2012.

And listen to this:

The New York group's filing centers largely on what it calls the "indisputably resilient" monopoly that Microsoft holds in the operating system realm. The attorneys general said they were "mindful" that Windows' approximately 90 percent market share in client operating systems is not the only test for how successful the antitrust agreement has been. But they added, "the absence of meaningful erosion in Windows' market share is still problematic for the public interest."

What a fine phrase that is: "indisputably resilient". I think I could really get to like using that....