On the DEWLine 2.0: Dwight Williams

EmptyWheel notices the time frame of Tucker Carlson's FOIA request re: the FBI:

https://twitter.com/DewlineO/status/1422983520566317057

Slashdot re: gadget ownership:

https://news.slashdot.org/story/21/07/10/0120236/by-2030-you-wont-own-any-gadgets

A WTH moment re: the Ontario government under Doug Ford:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/covid-19-ontario-august-4-lecce-back-to-school-plan-1.6128910

Slashdot notices Putinist efforts to redefine "cybercrime" at the UN. Oh, and they want "backdoors" into all our computers every-damn-where:

https://tech.slashdot.org/story/21/08/04/1642259/russia-tells-un-it-wants-vast-expansion-of-cybercrime-offenses-plus-network-backdoors-online-censorship

Spark on Privacy:

https://www.cbc.ca/radio/spark/tech-titans-like-google-and-facebook-are-built-on-a-house-of-cards-says-oxford-philosopher-1.5893760

We make note of the anniversary of the first US broadcast of the first episode of the original Star Trek series "The Man Trap". The worlds, indeed, have never been the same since then.

*"Live Long and Prosper" hand gesture to the worlds at large*

And in addition to the Star Trek anniversary we've just noted as private citizens of our respective nations, I draw our attention to the fact the UN officially recognizes September 8th as International Literacy Day. It strikes me that the two occasions may be of help to one another.

https://www.un.org/en/events/literacyday/

Ummm...no. I have to disagree on at least one point in your "statement, not a discussion".

SHIELD works for the UN.

Marvel/Disney gets away with saying it flat out in the comics for reasons unclear to me, but in the movies they have to call the people that SHIELD's Director reports to the "World Security Council". Otherwise, the UN's trademark/copyright-defence lawyers get all cranky. Therefore, not a "shadowy cabal". Putting the Security Council members in shadow in Avengers was a nod to how Fury Sr.'s bosses used to be depicted in the comics, but explaining that further involves a lot of continuity stuff that people don't like to make newcomers get into.

There was a similar fuss over UNIT in Doctor Who a few years back, as Whovians will definitely recall. The UN didn't want their name to be part of the full spelling-out of that fictional organization's acronym anymore after that TV series was revived.

Also, one of the long-haul arcs of Agents of SHIELD on TV appears to be the organization's process of learning how to live and work in the open, as spearheaded by the regular cast. I wonder if Coulson's roving field team has realized that this is what they're doing, but at least one other reviewer's made an interesting case over at tor.com.

Whether or not the organization as depicted across the TV/Movie is a "secret police" regime...well, some of the characters are going to want it to be exactly that. That's part of the point of Winter Soldier next spring: having that argument play out amongst the characters. A battle for the soul of SHIELD...one that's been playing out for decades in the comics themselves.

My opinion: He's right to say what he did.

Did you know that August 9th was National Peacekeepers Day in Canada?


http://www.flickr.com/photos/dwight_ew/sets/72157621989525086/