Enjoy your freedom:
- Freedom from warrantless surveillance
- Freedom of speech (link fixed!)
- Freedom to travel (and late-breaking bonus!)
- Freedom to sleep under bridges … at least for a couple more years.
Recent Bluessky Posts- Jotwell TechLaw: Stacy-Ann Elvy, Crossroads: Privacy Law and Copyright Law in the Age of Artificial Intelligence, JOTWELL (Feb. 9, 2026), cyber.jotwell.com/crossroads-p.... February 9, 2026 Jotwell
- I wrote about my grandmother's warning at Rose Burawoy, Political Scientist – www.discourse.net/2003/09/rose... Back in 2003, recalling it from years earlier, I was still dubious. That was then. February 9, 2026 Michael Froomkin
- US helping Russia in Ukraine comes to mind February 9, 2026 Michael Froomkin
- Today's efficiency: ignoring the super bowl and the winter Olympics at the same time. February 8, 2026 Michael Froomkin
- Deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Dave Farber. He was a true pioneer who had major influence on the architecture of the Internet and tech policy. Rest in peace to one of the most "Interesting People" our field has ever known. mailarchive.ietf.org/arch/msg/iet... February 8, 2026 Joseph Lorenzo Hall, PhD
Thx for this & happy new year anyway. BTW I think yr Freedom of Speech link needs an “http” prefix to work right.
Thanks. What concerns me is the slow erosion of freedoms over time. It happens on a regular pace but just slow enough that people get side tracked by so many other shiny objects. We still have the best country in the world IMHO. Once talked to a guide from Thailand who told me he wasn’t even allowed to visit the United States without a VISA. Not only did it cost money but he needed a valid reason to travel. Just going for fun and vacation wasn’t enough to be approved to leave his country. That to me .. is scary!
I was not aware that Thailand had exit visas (and a very quick Google search didn’t find anything about them). Could it be perhaps that this was an ENTRY visa requirement imposed by the US? In which case the approval wasn’t to leave his country, but rather to enter this one.
I wasn’t aware either but the guide we had that day who also worked for the Thai Navy … he did specifically tell me he needed a Visa to exit the country. I flat out asked him “so you need a Visa to exit, you have to pay for it and saying you just want to see the United States for vacation isn’t a good enough reason?”
He confirmed that was true. He had to pay for a Visa and he would need a better reason than a vacation request.