if slightly better than him. Also has her quirky bits, such as her anti-Greens attacks (much to the disappointment to her own supporters). She is, however, on the record for opposing offshore immigration detention and has criticized Israeli policy on Palestine.

Richard Marles (MP for Corio) - parachuted into a safe seat, and is now effectively invisible in his electorate as he seeks to advance his own career. A yes man if nothing else.

Michael Danby (MP for Melbourne Ports) - arguably belongs in the Liberal Party, given his tendency to indicate preferences to them ahead of other progressive parties and candidates during election times. Is basically a seat warmer until a credible challenger comes along and unseats him, which will be a delight to most rank-and-file Labor Party members.Sunday, March 27, 2011

Not since AT&T whistleblower Marc Klein's 2006 revelations that U.S. telecommunications giants were secretly collaborating with the government to spy on Americans, has a story driven home the point that we are confronted by a daunting set of invisible enemies: the security and intelligence firms constellating the dark skies of the National Security State.

As echoes from last month's disclosures by the cyber-guerrilla collective Anonymous continue to reverberate, leaked HBGary emails and documents are providing tantalizing insight into just how little daylight there is between private companies and the government.

The latest front in the ongoing war against civil liberties and privacy rights is the Pentagon's interest in "persona management software."

A euphemism for a suite of high-tech tools that equip an operative--military or corporate, take your pick--with