Media Blackouts

Climategate is being furiously hushed up by the big media to the point where typing it into google revealed no auto-populating suggestions. You could type in climateg and get "climate guard" and then all the way to climatega and still get "climate guard" and "climate guatemala". Typing in the entire word "climategate" resulted in a blank suggestion form.


Google's main page has changed this as of 12/04/09 @ 1631 EST. But their browser-integrated search engine still shows yesterday's hush-up.

Sounds almost conspiratorial, but as it registers some 6-20 million hits, it's a pretty big thing to disappear. Contrast the other suggested results, as well as the stories about it on various tech-savvy blogs.

http://talkingabouttheweather.wordpress.com/2009/12/02/google-gate/
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2009/11/28/climategate-surpasses-global-warming-on-google-autosuggest-still-blocked/
http://rantingstan.blogspot.com/2009/12/curious-case-of-climategate-and-auto.html
And a parallel here:
http://eureferendum.blogspot.com/2009/11/googlegate.html

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Now on to the new blackout, this one from Washington:

Riehl World picked this up a couple days back, and HotAir mentioned it, but beyond that, I haven't heard this elsewhere. I certainly haven't seen it in any major media outlet. Perhaps that shouldn't be a surprise, since it's leftists trying to ensure that they control all that you see and hear.

http://www.riehlworldview.com/carnivorous_conservative/2009/12/feinstein-durbin-seek-to-limit-citizen-journalism.html

http://hotair.com/archives/2009/12/03/democrats-criminalizing-dissent/

S.448 Title: A bill to maintain the free flow of information to the public by providing conditions for the federally compelled disclosure of information by certain persons connected with the news media. Sponsor: Sen Specter, Arlen [PA] (introduced 2/13/2009) Cosponsors (10) Latest Major Action: 12/3/2009 Senate committee/subcommittee actions. Status: Committee on the Judiciary. Date of scheduled consideration. SD-226. 10:00 a.m.

AMENDMENTS intended to be proposed by Mrs. FEINSTEIN (for herself and Mr. DURBIN )

Viz:

In section 10(2)(A), strike clause (iii) and insert the following:

(iii) obtains the information sought while working as a salaried employee of, or independent contractor for, an entity—

(I) that disseminates information by print, broadcast, cable, satellite, mechanical, photographic, electronic, 1or other means; and

(II) that—

(aa) publishes a newspaper, book, magazine, or other periodical;

(bb) operates a radio or television broadcast station, network, cable system, or satellite carrier, or a channel or programming service for any such station, network, system, or carrier;

(cc) operates a programming service; or

(dd) operates a news agency or wire service;

In section 10(2)(B), strike ‘‘and’’ at the end.

In section 10(2)(C), strike the period at the end and insert ‘‘; and’’.

In section 10(2), add at the end the following:

(D) does not include an individual who gathers or disseminates the protected information sought to be compelled anonymously or under a pseudonym.
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Short version - citizen journalists like O'Keefe & Giles, and anonymous bloggers who like to practice some degree of OPSEC - can find themselves targets.

Perhaps I should change my legal name to Format C:.

Their attempt at using the law to criminalize citizens' first amendment rights not only violates their oaths of office, will be rendered unconstitutional, and is making leftists do even more mental gymnastics than usual to assert that Feinstein and Durbin really aren't statist thugs - but this law, the attempt to make it, and the intent with it is a violation of 18 USC 242. (It just so happens to be my favorite statute.)