For those who may be unaware, there’s a group that calls itself LulzSec that has been hacking up a storm lately (most famously targeting PBS) for, well, the LULZ.

Here at the Big Bad Blog, we have been scratching our heads trying to figure out what to make of them. After reading this article by Patrick Gray, we think that we will just co-opt his position:

So for the last ten years I’ve been working in media, trying to raise awareness of the idea that maybe, just maybe, using insecure computers to hold your secrets, conduct your commerce and run your infrastructure is a shitty idea.

No one who mattered listened.

…

So why do we like LulzSec?

“I told you so.”

That’s why.

We aren’t security professionals here at the Big Bad Blog, but that resonates. Because we are sufficiently technically literate to say — at least now that LulzSec has turned on the light — well, yeah, obviously.

Furthermore, this reflects the truth about how we treat our society’s insecurities beyond the computer: The security theatre that we witness at airports, for example. We all know that it does nothing to keep us safe, but governments just keep making more grand, visible gestures, rather than taking any steps to make flight more secure.

Photographers being harassed for taking photos in public places, as a “counter-terrorism measure”. The Patriot Act in the USA.

All these things smell the same. It’s a shame that LulzSec-style graffiti about Tupac in New Zealand doesn’t exist in these contexts, and there is no similar loud, visible way to demonstrate what is masquerading as security all around us every day.

Image by Frankie Eiknarf.
Webcomic is Invisible Bread, by Justin Boyd.

In what most be the least surprising legal ruling of all time, a British court found that people cannot be detained without access to food, water, shelter, or toilets without cause.

The practice, known as Kettling is an increasingly common tactic used by police at protests. That the tactic is illegal in a country where citizens have the right to protest and the right to due process under the law seems obvious.

The police are appealing; they should drop their appeal. They should be protecting the people, rather than fighting for permission to abuse us.

Photo is of the I Fly Like Paper installation by Dawn Ng.
Webcomic is Mr. Lovenstein by J. L. Westover.

Perhaps the most bizarre recurring stories in the news are those that centre around Anna Chapman. (Not pictured above. That’s Scarlett.) Ms. Chapman is, if you will recall, the “sexy Russian spy” who was caught in suburban America and sent back home to Russia in a prisoner swap.

Weird enough.

Then she becomes engaged in Russian politics, which keeps her in the papers, but is not really that noteworthy. Russian spies-turned-politicians are not exactly new. But now she is making a break into television, hosting a TV show called Mysteries of the World. Based on this BBC article, it sounds like a Russian version of Unsolved Mysteries.

If you are asking yourself what?, then you’re right there with us.

What happened to the good old fashioned spies? The ones who would fall in love with the people they were spying on, resulting in grossly unprofessional — but story-worthy — conduct? What’s that? They now work for the police in Britain?

Alright, then.

Photo is of Scarlett Johansson, found at Things that excite me. Origin unknown.
Webcomic is Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal by Zach Weiner.

The BBC reporter conducting the interview found here ought to be fired. During the student protests here, Jody McIntyre, a student with cerebral palsy, was dragged from his wheelchair.

Here, a BBC reporter interviews Mr. McIntyre, apparently trying to blame him for being beat up by police. McIntyre is intelligent, rational and composed throughout. Well worth watching.

(Found here.)

The Supreme Court of Canada is deciding whether or not linking to libellous material is, in itself, libel. If it turns out that this is the case, the Internet will essentially become illegal in Canada.

So those airport scanners that see through your clothing and possibly give you cancer? They don’t find hidden explosives.