General Discussion

DirkGently

(12,151 posts)

10. An open letter to Civitas from a protester / Law professor

Reply to nashville_brook (Original post)

Fri Jul 5, 2013, 07:18 PM

Jul 2013

About Your Banging Blacklist: An Open Letter to the Civitas Institute

Jedediah PurdyProfessor, Duke Law School; Author, 'A Tolerable Anarchy'
Thanks for including me in your Moral Monday Protesters database. I'm sure I speak for many of those arrested for civil disobedience protesting North Carolina's Tea Party legislature who are happy to find our name, residence, and employer are usefully listed on the Internet.

I'd like to thank your funder, Art Pope, for making this project possible and giving it that personal touch. Linking to our mug shots is a nice detail; otherwise, your readers might not be able to recognize us on the street. Also, it has that great Rogues' Gallery effect. I mean, everyone looks like a criminal in a mug shot.

You really enrich the picture by listing arrestees' "interest-group affiliations," such as NAACP, People of Faith Against the Death Penalty, and, of course, Occupy Raleigh. But maybe the best grace note is the column devoted to noting everyone whose driver's license address doesn't match their voter registration address. Could that mean rampant voter fraud? You report, we decide.

You've made some really solid aesthetic choices here. The dull, column-ruled, sans-serif layout that we have to click through ten names at a time, like we were turning the pages of a Registry of Deeds? So retro. It's like 1950s public record in a county courthouse. And that little throwback is so of the moment. I mean, hipsters are using "boss" to mean awesome and belting their corduroys high around their waists. Everything old is new again, with a little ironic twist.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jedediah-purdy/about-your-banging-blackl_b_3471691.html

Edit history

Please sign in to view edit histories.

Recommendations

0 members have recommended this reply (displayed in chronological order):

95 replies

= new reply since forum marked as read

Highlight:

METADATA HYPERBOLE? Moral Mondays protestor shaming site by NC-GOP operative (govt help?) [View all] nashville_brook Jul 2013 OP

Hey, blacklists are the new black! DirkGently Jul 2013 #1

they're completely harmless as long as you are. nashville_brook Jul 2013 #2

Right. Just don't sign the wrong petition, or anything. DirkGently Jul 2013 #4

and to be clear...they're looking for anything that can be used as a cudgel. nashville_brook Jul 2013 #9

It was used against my next-door-neighbor RainDog Jul 2013 #15

they say that 'paranoia' was all the intellectual style of the 70s nashville_brook Jul 2013 #31

Not mention it's 1/4 of the voters in the entire state. DirkGently Jul 2013 #19

once they have the information, they just release it and wait for the crazies to act on it nashville_brook Jul 2013 #45

It's exactly the kind of information -- pictures, employment -- malicious people seek. DirkGently Jul 2013 #46

yes, we see them here with their cameras all the time :) nashville_brook Jul 2013 #47

They've been known to say, pick through people's trash for DirkGently Jul 2013 #53

now they can pick through your trash from the comfort of their parents' basement. nashville_brook Jul 2013 #62

Of course, dgibby Jul 2013 #29

from where we stand now, a GOP (zombie) apocalypse wouldn't seem unexpected nashville_brook Jul 2013 #34

to go with their blackshirts! n/t RainDog Jul 2013 #8

and jack boots to finish the look nashville_brook Jul 2013 #32

Nothing to see here folks, just move along. Uncle Joe Jul 2013 #3

:) nashville_brook Jul 2013 #27

Holy crap. For PROTESTING? magellan Jul 2013 #5

And that's just how public information can be collated & used. DirkGently Jul 2013 #6

Yes. But we're libertarians to point that out. nt Pholus Jul 2013 #58

lately i've been told by folks that they feel conservatives want people to fight nashville_brook Jul 2013 #7

It only took one incident with a rwer to convince me they'd go that far magellan Jul 2013 #12

it doesn't even have to be a protest. public testimony, letters to the editor, talking to reporters. nashville_brook Jul 2013 #20

Yes, it can be used in many ways magellan Jul 2013 #33

i fear for our country too...but in a one state at a time kinda way nashville_brook Jul 2013 #37

I suspect this fear of citizen retribution explains dixiegrrrrl Jul 2013 #76

And think what would happen to a would-be whistleblower who reported corruption JDPriestly Jul 2013 #66

Well, if it were my member of Congress, Alan Grayson magellan Jul 2013 #67

What I meant was that a whistleblower could be discovered by a check of his/her metadata. JDPriestly Jul 2013 #69

Sorry, yes, you're right magellan Jul 2013 #71

An open letter to Civitas from a protester / Law professor DirkGently Jul 2013 #10

"noting everyone whose driver's license address doesn't match their voter registration address" nashville_brook Jul 2013 #48

Wear that website like a badge of honor. mick063 Jul 2013 #11

The fact they'd try to shame them is really enough. DirkGently Jul 2013 #13

There is a similar circumstance, I am opposed to. mick063 Jul 2013 #16

how about sex offenders? nashville_brook Jul 2013 #50

Sex offenders are convicted criminals mick063 Jul 2013 #55

perhaps the greater good has to do with safety? nashville_brook Jul 2013 #63

I am certainly in agreement with you mick063 Jul 2013 #64

i'm not disagreeing -- the thing about sex offender registries is a big issue nashville_brook Jul 2013 #75

All it takes is a call to an employer stating Mojorabbit Jul 2013 #57

makes you wonder what the equal and opposite data-dump reprisal might be nashville_brook Jul 2013 #14

Civitas apparently fears even having their names known. DirkGently Jul 2013 #17

IIRC Civitas then pulled most information about its own staff from the website struggle4progress Jul 2013 #18

they sure did...b/c you know, it's not safe to have that information out there. nashville_brook Jul 2013 #36

Yep, this is a BIG problem with the NSA story..... socialist_n_TN Jul 2013 #21

I think it makes them targets. For nuts and general political malice. DirkGently Jul 2013 #23

Not that I necessarily disagree, but... socialist_n_TN Jul 2013 #25

i've quit jobs b/c of my politics...it was a luxury to do so nashville_brook Jul 2013 #35

nonphysical money's laundered, why not actual data? nt MisterP Jul 2013 #28

EXACTLY. It's capitalism, so it's inevitable that it WILL... socialist_n_TN Jul 2013 #30

not sure what laundering data would look like... nashville_brook Jul 2013 #61

this incident was exactly what I had in mind--government data given to private contractors MisterP Jul 2013 #87

I live in Charlotte, NC, headquarters of Bank of America. octoberlib Jul 2013 #22

It was BOA to whom HBGary was pitching its "destroy Glen Greenwald" DirkGently Jul 2013 #24

I remember reading about that. It's certainly not good for democracy . nt octoberlib Jul 2013 #26

the other HBGary conspirator was the Chamber of Commerce, who'd LURVE for activists to be silenced. nashville_brook Jul 2013 #44

Gee. No wonder Cass Sunstein wants to shut down discussion of government conspiracies. Octafish Jul 2013 #38

i'd forgotten about that whole episode...what a turd bucket. nashville_brook Jul 2013 #39

He's a busy guy, now that he's back in the pirate sector... Octafish Jul 2013 #40

endorsed by Ted Olson, Ken Starr and Eugene Scalia. yihesssh. nashville_brook Jul 2013 #42

"Pirate sector" Democracyinkind Jul 2013 #70

Mmmm. Good thing THAT was never put into practice. Haha. DirkGently Jul 2013 #43

***pseudo-�independent� advocates to �cognitively infiltrate� online groups and websites*** nashville_brook Jul 2013 #49

Because then, you'd see ridiculous contortions of logic. Bad rhetoric. Ad hominem. DirkGently Jul 2013 #51

you might need someone to draw you a map of that. nashville_brook Jul 2013 #52

K&R woo me with science Jul 2013 #41

But it's just metadata! As long as it keeps us safe! Pholus Jul 2013 #54

reality has a well-known liberal bias nashville_brook Jul 2013 #59

Let this stuff get entrenched and prepare to BE well-known liberals I guess... Pholus Jul 2013 #60

Wow! nt Mojorabbit Jul 2013 #56

Funny, I wouldn't figure those protests to be Charlie Daniels's scene. Warren DeMontague Jul 2013 #65

I would love to protest at my state Capitol, Blue_In_AK Jul 2013 #68

Florida has about the same problem with fewer miles nashville_brook Jul 2013 #73

Metadata hyperbole is what this is, alright. Bolo Boffin Jul 2013 #72

And you're confident all that data stays "anonymized?" DirkGently Jul 2013 #79

I'm certain that most of it does, simply because of the sheer amount collected Bolo Boffin Jul 2013 #84

Of course you're defending Civitas; you're pointing out facts. baldguy Jul 2013 #80

'hate fest' is a strawman claim directed at shutting down discussion nashville_brook Jul 2013 #81

Equating the US under Obama with the worst examples of faux democracies baldguy Jul 2013 #89

Funded by scumbag right-winger Art Pope, klook Jul 2013 #74

And now he's NC's "chief budget writer." Hoorah. DirkGently Jul 2013 #77

thanks for the Art Pope info! nashville_brook Jul 2013 #78

Excellent post, thank you marions ghost Jul 2013 #82

I fucking cannot wait for the chance to vote McCrory out. Jamastiene Jul 2013 #83

it's good that the lawlessness, at least, is getting covered...the gerrymandering is another story nashville_brook Jul 2013 #86

That sucks. NealK Jul 2013 #92

I get to cover them nadinbrzezinski Jul 2013 #85

This is why protests need to be felix_numinous Jul 2013 #88

Should be illegal marions ghost Jul 2013 #91

But they won't use the data that way. Savannahmann Jul 2013 #90

great post. Really shows why we need privacy protections. limpyhobbler Jul 2013 #93

I wouldn't blame teapartiers. NYC_SKP Jul 2013 #94

But this is one little example, in a small state run by republicans... Safetykitten Jul 2013 #95