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Using the FOIA
mgaiman writes "Lucy Dalglish, Executive Director of The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, spoke at my school today. She discussed the state of journalism in the post-9/11 world. She said, among other things, that this administration is the most closed she has seen since Nixon. The organization itself is a non-profit journalist rights group. Their site features such things as Homefront Confidential, a chronicling of changes to the openness of information since 9/11, and a guide to using the Federal FOI Act to get access to information. While most /.ers aren't journalists, I thought it would be of interest nonetheless."
One of the interesting uses of FOIA that I have seen has been the release of VistA, the software that runs the hospitals for the department of Veterans Affairs.
VistA is a huge suite of programs, and something that would not normally otherwise make it into the public domain. Billions of dollars of investment have gone into this, and there is hope that it can be used more widely.
VistA is written in "M" (sometimes called "Mumps" and with the GPL of the Linux version of GT.M, a compiler and database server for "M" by Sanchez, the whole shooting match is doable on an open-source platform.
More information about VistA hardhats.org and sourceforge and VistA Documentation Library
The level of functionality available from this project is incredible, and in some areas is unmatched by commercial offerings costing hundreds of millions of dollars.
there is no doubt that things have tightened up since 9-11,
Absolutely. But I think the argument is valid that much of the tightening up of information has been done rapidly in a knee-jerk fashion (which, albeit, is the way the government typically operates).
I'd like to see some rational analysis applied to those policies because I believe that open sources of information are vital to the functioning of a well-informed citizenry as a democracy.
The alternative is to migrate completely to the model used in the People's Republic of China, where various bits of information on AIDS cases, suicide rates, stock ownership by the Red Army commanders, etc. are considered "state secrets".
"Provided by the management for your protection."
There were 3000 Americans killed on American soil...
Really? We haven't heard. That makes all the difference in the world! It just doesn't compare to any other event in American history.
This time it's a whole new ball game. Who needs freedom of anything? My God! The enemy is everywhere!
I'm just so sick of this. How long will be have to use 911 to be the justification for everything? Yeah. 3000 people. A lot more than that die every day from all kinds of things nobody gives a shit about. Big deal. 16 acres in a big city. It was a crime, not an act of war.
Wrap yourself around a flag and you're untouchable, divine. And when that doesn't work, you can always fall back on that old favorite, "It's for the children!"
All we get from DC are more "Freedom from Information Acts". Loose lips sink ships, my ass.
We're turning into a nation of sheep, led by a moron.
Love you all,
AC