(Shoutout to Eastwind Books of Berkeley for featuring the book and inviting the authors to a public event in February.)
I've decided to read a chapter a day and share some some comments.
Get a copy and read along with me!
Chapter One
Aha! Putting two and two together. The author Pratap Chatterjee is (at the time the book begins) with the Bureau of Investigative Journalism -- the prime source of information on what's really happening with drone warfare -- especially civilian victims of drone attacks.
Main takeaway for me from Chapter One: the number of outlets of all different types that need to work together to get the word out to the general population about the carefully crafted hidden nature of modern warfare!
(Very "meta"! Verax itself is a demonstration of that fact!)
Bonus reading: search for content on mainstream media response to the problem of drones
Chapter Two
Remember when everyone was up in arms about the NSA?
Main takeaway for me from Chapter Two: I've been paying attention to how out of hand surveillance and information technology are getting ... in theory ... but I (and all of us) need to start to deal with it seriously as part of our daily routine. Starting right now ....
Bonus reading: another tale of scientists who did work for the government and then expected the government to be grateful for their warnings: Unfinished Business in Chicago (Nuclear disarmament, that is)
True, true, true . . .
Main takeaway for me from Chapter Three: I flashed back to CODEPINK's 2012 "Drone Summit: Killing and Spying by Remote Control" in Washington, DC. That's where I saw Shazad Akbar speak, and it was after that that I came home determined to Make Drone Killing 100% VISIBLE!
Bonus reading: There was a period in 2014 when it seemed as if members of Congress might succeed in getting the US government to come clean with the facts on drone killing.
Chapter Four
It's all about software? That makes it hard for most ordinary citizens to get interested in. (And that's exactly the way the government likes it . . . . )
Main takeaway for me from Chapter Four: I know a little bit about tech . . . AND . . . every day I crawl a little further away from it, because it is so "boring." We need to do anything we can to get people to care about how technology is being used.
Bonus reading: Give science fiction a chance . . . These classics are painfully relevant today ("science fact"): 1984 . . . I, Robot . . . Ender's Game . . . Hunger Games . . . .
Chapter Five
Do not pass GO. Do not collect $200. Go directly to watch CITIZENFOUR.
Chapter Six
Well this was supposed to be a paced read of a chapter a day but it's now getting into the breaking of the Snowden revelations (per CITIZENFOUR) and pretty un-put-downable . . . .
(Oh, and a line spoken by Snowden in CITIZENFOUR that made me feel sheepish about my book recommendations two chapters back: "It's not science fiction. It's happening right now . . . . ")
Chapter Seven
Reading this chapter (and watching CITIZENFOUR) brought back memories of when the Snowden story first broke. At that time, it felt to me as if he was living what Jesus experienced -- the risk, the fear . . . . (I called him "The 365-Day Man.") We're coming up on Holy Week this year and I think it is worth reflecting on what it means in today's world to go up against Empire.
By the way, I thought Khalil's illustrations in this chapter were a great example of how comics can be used to convey the spatial and temporal relationships between a complicated combination of events.
 |
| About to break the Snowden story . . . in Verax . . . . |
Chapter Eight
As someone who has spent a lot of time in hotel rooms in Hong Kong, the main feeling I had reading this chapter (and watching CITIZENFOUR) was, "The world is so small. You think you're a world away from them catching up with you, but when they decide to, they can pounce on you in an instant . . . . "
I also thought: "Hong Kong isn't home but at least I can imagine hiding out in Hong Kong. What I can't image is . . . where do you go from there?"
Chapter Nine
How well I remember Edward Snowden's arrival in Russia:
 |
| Edward Snowden's Russian lawyer, Anatoly Kucherena |
Do you remember the story about Snowden's lawyer and the Dostoevsky novel? I wrote "Edward J. Snowden's lawyer didn't give Snowden a copy of Crime and Punishment to help him better understand himself. He gave it to him so he could try to understand where he came from." (See Reflecting on America's Split Personality (Moscow Airport Summer Reads). )
That was in 2013. In a way, it was the gift that kept on giving. Here I am on Crime and Punishment again, in 2016: Crime Without Remorse: A USA Specialty.
To be continued . . . .
Please share this post . . . .
No comments:
Post a Comment