That makes it official: Blogging is the new “Fourth Estate” which has completely replaced the old media.

- The Cat

LimeyGeek on January 31, 2008 at 11:30
If Juan gets to be Pres. he’ll get his revenge on the blogs for his amnesty failure for sure.

blankminde- who’s talking about requiring regulation? This is about war gaming using technology, and one of the groups spreading bad information is bloggers. It’s done so they can practice for similar, real life events. Not to implement regulations.
It seems to me the gist of the post is that it is shocking and/or laughable the wargamers would consider bloggers would do such a thing.

It certainly can be. It can also be spreading rumors, debunking rumors, or outright lying for your own (or others’) purposes. It can be malicious or it can be good.

MayBee on January 31, 2008 at 1:14 PM

That’s sort of my point. I can say whatever I want, assuming it isn’t libelous and against a private citizen, and its protected speech. While people often spread rumors and in blogs they aren’t breaking any laws as long as the person they’re talking about is a public figure. As a result we are all responsible to check facts when we talk to people – on blogs and anywhere else. I just don’t see how this could possibly require regulation.

What does the bit about revealing the locations of hazardous materials mean, though?

It might just be poor wording/reporting on the AP’s part. “Bloggers” might be their word for anyone spreading information via websites (e.g., jihadi websites). I really wouldn’t take one article’s wording as indicative of anything. Reporters, like bloggers, are known more for their speed than their accuracy.

Obviously, if the confluence of WMD and terrorism creates a dangerous world, the internet magnifies the danger immensely.–petefrt on January 31, 2008 at 12:58 PM

…linking the NYT’s front page carrying an AP wire story which quoted an unnamed DHS official.–Dusty on January 31, 2008 at 12:05 PM

Unnamed official “sources” are as fabricated as the words spun by the pen as clarion.

It is liberty’s odious fate to suffer the worst from the best.

Is blogging really anything other than speaking your mind?

It certainly can be. It can also be spreading rumors, debunking rumors, or outright lying for your own (or others’) purposes. It can be malicious or it can be good.

Are they suggesting bloggers would do this … intentionally? As in, a genuine fifth-column scenario?

Not sure what they’re suggesting. But for my part, I’m counting on it happening. I see it coming both from the subversive left within, and from bloggers/infiltration from abroad.

Obviously, if the confluence of WMD and terrorism creates a dangerous world, the internet magnifies the danger immensely.

Read the above sort as sort of a contemporary Mein Kampf – the State has promised to scrutinize you; and the State will eventually carry out its promises.

What does the bit about revealing the locations of hazardous materials mean, though? Are they suggesting bloggers would do this … intentionally? As in, a genuine fifth-column scenario?

Who are the bloggers? I think it’s weird when bloggers act like there’s some unique quality or ethics that bloggers have. If a person or people would do something, then a blogger would do it.

the collective intelligence of the ’sphere would help to debunk rumors, not spread them.

The problem is there is no ‘collective intelligence’ of the ’sphere. There are unique clusters of intelligence/rumor spreading that don’t necessarily intermingle. Sure, you might be here debunking some DKos (or alQaeda blogging group) claim, but if those 900,000 viewers never come here, nothing has been debunked.
How many people do you think read that White Phosphorous caramelizes the skin, and still think it?

It would be dangerous for the wargame not to include bloggers.

but if anything, the collective intelligence of the ’sphere would help to debunk rumors, not spread them.

The rumors tend to make more of an impression than the debunking.

http://www.imao.us/archives/000567.html#000567

“Bloggers reveal locations of railcars with hazardous materials.”

Of course the agents in bunny suits who found the post failed to notice it’s was linking the NYT’s front page carrying an AP wire story which quoted an unnamed DHS official.

Bloggers reveal locations of railcars with hazardous materials.
Has the New York Times started a blog?

Tzetzes on January 31, 2008 at 11:06 AM

Hitting the nail on the head.

Seriously? Over the long-term maybe, but in the middle of a crisis? No way.

The “collective intelligence” of internet users was supposed to make Wikipedia as reliable and authoritative as any traditional encyclopedia, maybe even more so. Didn’t quite work out that way, did it?

F the Constitution!

What does the bit about revealing the locations of hazardous materials mean, though? Are they suggesting bloggers would do this … intentionally? As in, a genuine fifth-column scenario?

There must be some? We here on the right, Kos/Huff on the left… isn’t it already known that the enemy uses cyberspace (Cyberspace? Oh, look at the little William Gibson fan; how cute!)? There must be some out there, same as the Japanese used “tourists” and phoned ordinary citizens with unusual questions prior to Pearl Harbor…