| Wednesday, May 21, 2003 |  |
| Eclipsed Moon Montage | 0 comments |
 21 May 2003 @ 22:27 Credit and Copyright: Sebastien Gauthier Explanation: After watching this month's lunar eclipse, amateur astronomer Sebastien Gauthier carefully composed this montage of telescopic images of the Moon sliding through planet Earth's shadow. While the deepest part of the total eclipse corresponds to the central exposure, the play of light across the lunar surface nicely demonstrates that the planet's shadow is not uniformly dark as it extends into space. In fact, lunar maria and montes are still visible in the dimmed, reddened sunlight scattered into the cone-shaped shadow region, or umbra, by Earth's atmosphere. For this eclipse, the Moon's trajectory took it North of the umbra's darker core, seen here cast over the Moon's cratered southern highlands. Gauthier's telescope and camera equipment were set up near the Trois-Rivieres College Champlain Observatory in Quebec, Canada. |
| UN Human Rights Expert Slams Israel | 0 comments |
| 21 May 2003 @ 18:39 UN Human rights expert slams Israel on violations of the right to housing UNHCHR, Report, 17 May 2003 Ruins of the house of 'Adbul Karim Abu Mustafa which was destroyed by Israeli occupying forces during an incursion into Khan Yunis refugee camp The Special Rapporteur on adequate housing of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, Mr. Miloon Kothari, has expressed concern over the sharp rise in the destruction of property and land in the occupied Palestinian territory (OPT) since the build-up to the war in Iraq. In a report submitted to the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, in connection with the consideration of the second periodic report of Israel, Mr. Kothari writes that the war against Iraq and current Israeli methods of occupation demonstrate a disturbing pattern of military conduct that targets civilian infrastructure as if it was a legitimate military objective. The right to adequate housing, including access to civic services and infrastructure, has emerged as a common casualty of this abhorrent conduct, the report says. The human rights situation over the past years in the occupied Palestinian territory (OPT) has deteriorated substantially. The international community has repeatedly condemned Israel’s illegal collective punishment against the Palestinian people in the OPT, its policy of demolition of Palestinian houses and civilian property, massive confiscation and destruction of Palestinian land, deprivation of livelihoods (through closures and curfews), killing of Palestinian civilians, and the deteriorating condition of the Palestinian infrastructure and economy. These Israeli actions breach international human rights and humanitarian law, the human rights instruments Israel has ratified, the Geneva Conventions and Hague Resolutions as well as various binding UN resolutions. However, Israel has completely ignored the position of the international community and its laws concerning the behavior of States. The Special Rapporteur on adequate housing of the Commission on Human Rights is particularly concerned that these acts have left thousands of residents homeless and harmed the livelihood of thousands more. In his reports (see E/CN.4/2003/5/Add.1) and statements (most recently at the Commission on Human Rights on 4 April, 2003), the Special Rapporteur has consistently reiterated the need for the international community strongly to condemn and seek remedy for these crimes in this region of the world. The latest resolutions passed by the Commission on Human Rights on 15 April 2005, also strongly condemned these Israeli actions (see Commission resolutions 2003/6 and 2003/7). To assist the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in its consideration of the second periodic report of Israel by the, the Special Rapporteur also submitted a report. The Special Rapporteur has previously emphasized the tremendous difficulties being faced by the Palestinian population, including the women, children and elderly. Israeli targeting and demolishing of Palestinian homes and other civic infrastructure, including PNA buildings, medical facilities, schools, mosques, factories and workshops, farms, water channels and sanitation facilities, and electricity and communication networks, illegal implantation and expansion of settler colonies, and parallel incursions into Palestinian areas and imposition of curfews and closures and obstruction of humanitarian and development assistance have not only an immediate impact on the Palestinians, but also a severe long-term impact – physical, material, economic as well as psychological. During the past few months when the international community’s attention had been diverted to the build-up to the war in Iraq, there had been repeated fears from various quarters that the state of Israel would use the opportunity to further perpetrate and escalate its international law and human rights violations in the OPT. Unfortunately, the fears have been proved only too right, as the Israeli activities increased exponentially during the build-up to, as well as during the forced war on Iraq. The focus on the unnecessary war and consequences in Iraq has diverted donor attention away from the Palestine at a time when UNRWA has issued its most dire call for humanitarian assistance to date, the Special Rapporteur says. Citing numbers by NGO sources the Special Rapporteur points to the clear extent of escalation of Israeli destructive activities. Until the middle of March 2003, Israel had destroyed about 886 homes, 176 commercial and industrial facilities, damaged thousands of other houses and buildings, and razed about 1,458.5 dunums of agricultural land, and arrested hundreds of people. In Gaza, UNRWA reports that the Israeli army damaged 1,483 homes in 2002, of which 694 were refugee shelters. The total of Palestinian homes damaged there at end-2002 was at least 2,424. The number of Gaza homes that the army completely destroyed in 2002 totaled 704, leaving 23,122 people homeless, including a majority of children. In the Northern Gaza governorate alone, the destructive pattern over the 1st 70 days of 2003 has involved: Homes destroyed in 70 days – 439 Homes destroyed in the 1st two years of Intifada – 339 Commercial stores destroyed in 70 days – 13 Commercial stores destroyed in the 1st two years of Intifada –21 Industrial facilities destroyed in 70 days – 8 Industrial facilities destroyed in the1st two years of Intifada –21 Land razed in 70 days – 1200 dunums Land razed in the 1st two years of Intifada – 6131 dunums This represents a sharp 1,140% increase over the 2001–02 rate of destruction. The most recent available figures on house demolitions and land confiscations confirm this sharp raise in violations. From 1 April to 7 May a total of 70 homes, 635 dunums of planted agricultural landed in the West Bank and the Gaza strip were destroyed. The Special Rapporteur once again strongly condemns this long escalation of violations against the Palestinian people and reiterates his position that Israel has used the current crisis of the war against Iraq and its aftermath to consolidate its occupation of the OPT. The Special Rapporteur calls for an immediate cessation of the Israeli violations, as well as strongly posits the need for an end to the occupation and for the immediate deployment of an international protection force in the region. In the present era when the international community is striving to move toward a more just, civilized, orderly and peaceful world, it will be impossible to make progress toward this goal unless the Israeli occupation ends and all States behave responsibly under law. |
| Energy From Hydrogen Atoms | 0 comments |
 21 May 2003 @ 18:30Take water and potash, add electricity and get - a mystery By Robert Matthews Science Correspondent news.telegraph.uk (Filed: 18/05/2003) British researchers believe that they have made a groundbreaking scientific discovery after apparently managing to "create" energy from hydrogen atoms. In results independently verified at Bristol University, a team from Gardner Watts - an environmental technology company based in Dedham, Essex - show a "thermal energy cell" which appears to produce hundreds of times more energy than that put into it. If the findings are correct and can be reproduced on a commercial scale, the thermal energy cell could become a feature of every home, heating water for a fraction of the cost and cutting fuel bills by at least 90 per cent. The makers of the cell, which passes an electric current through a liquid between two electrodes, admit that they cannot explain precisely how the invention works. They insist, however, that their cell is not just a repeat of the notorious "cold fusion" debacle of the late 1980s. Then two scientists claimed to have found a way of generating nuclear energy from a similar-looking device at room temperature. The findings were widely challenged and the scientists, Martin Fleischmann and Stanley Pons, accused of incompetence, fled America to set up labs in France. "We are absolutely not saying this is cold fusion, or that we have found a way round the law of energy conservation," said Christopher Davies, the managing director of Gardner Watts. "What we are saying is that the device seems to tap into another, previously unrecognised source of energy." According to Mr Davies, the cell is the product of research into the fundamental properties of hydrogen, the most common element in the universe. He argues that calculations based on quantum theory, the laws of the sub-atomic world, suggest that hydrogen can exist in a so-called metastable state that harbours a potential source of extra energy. This theory suggests that if electricity were passed into a mixture of water and a chemical catalyst, the extra energy would be released in the form of heat. After some experimentation, the team found that a small amount of electricity passed through a mixture of water and potassium carbonate - potash - released an astonishing amount of energy. "It generates a lot of heat in a very small volume," said Christopher Eccles, the chief scientist at Gardner Watts. The findings of the Gardner Watts team were tested by Dr Jason Riley of Bristol University, who found energy gains of between three and 26 times what had been put in. In a written report, Dr Riley concluded: "Using the apparatus supplied by Gardner Watts and the procedure of analysis suggested by the company, there appears to be an energy gain in the system." In tests performed for The Telegraph, the cell heated water to near-boiling, apparently producing more than three times the amount of energy fed into it. Scientists admit to being astonished by the sheer size of the energy increase produced by the cell. "I've never seen a claim like this before," said Prof Stephen Smith of the physics department at Essex University. "In the case of cold fusion, people talked about getting a 10 per cent energy gain or so, which could be explained away quite easily but this is much too big for that." Prof Smith said he was sceptical about the theory put forward by the company. He conceded, however, that scientists had also been baffled by the source of energy driving radioactivity, as the key equation involved - Einstein's famous E=MC2 - had yet to be discovered. According to Prof Smith, if there is a flaw in the company's claims, it lies in the measurement of the amount of electrical energy pumped into the cell. It is possible that, as sparks pass between the electrodes, there is an energy surge which would not be picked up by the instruments measuring the electrical input. Prof Smith said: "This needs to be very carefully checked, as there could be far more energy going in than the makers think." Prof Smith's views were echoed by Dr Riley, who said: "There's no doubt that there was a heat rise but I'd like to see a more thorough investigation of the electrical energy supplied into the cell." While many scientists are trying to solve the mystery of the thermal energy cell, its huge commercial potential has already caused interest. Cambridge Consultants, one of Britain's most prestigious technology consultancies, has teamed up with Mr Davies and his colleagues to develop a working prototype. "We've had a multi-disciplinary team working on this, and we're perplexed," said Duncan Bishop, head of process development at Cambridge Consultants. "We are offering to risk-share on it, as it will need about £200,000 to prove the principle behind it." According to the Gardner Watts team, it will take about six months to carry out tests putting the reality of the effect beyond all doubt. The company then plans to develop a prototype capable of turning less than one kilowatt of electrical power into 10 kilowatts of heat. Mr Davies said: "The technology could be licensed by a company making household boilers for the domestic market. " He added that the plan is to have the first thermal energy cell devices on the market within two years. |
| Radical spy plan nearly sneaks in under the radar | 0 comments |
 21 May 2003 @ 12:30Radical Spy Plan Nearly In Sneaks Under The Radar By ROBYN E. BLUMNER Times Perspective Columnist St. Petersburg Times published May 11, 2003 It all happened behind closed doors, like government mischief typically does. The Bush administration and Republican leaders in Congress attempted to sneak through a provision in the intelligence authorization bill pending before Congress that would give the Central Intelligence Agency and the military the ability to investigate Americans. Word of the pending amendment was brought to light last week through a leak to a public interest organization. (Thank you, whoever you are.) The amendment would allow the CIA and Pentagon to issue administrative subpoenas or national security letters to order businesses such as telephone and credit card companies and financial institutions to turn over their records on customers - all without court approval. Up until passage of the USA Patriot Act in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks, the FBI could use national security letters under highly circumscribed conditions: to obtain information for counterterrorism or counterespionage investigations only when there was reason to believe the person whose records were sought was a foreign agent or terrorist. But the Patriot Act wiped away those specificity and suspicion requirements. Now the FBI can demand whole databases of records on every customer without any individual suspicion as long as it is in the context of an authorized antiterrorism or intelligence probe. That means all our credit card data, Internet logs and other records are there for the taking upon the signature of the attorney general or his designee. According to published reports of a private Senate Intelligence Committee meeting on May 1, when Democrats were alerted to the measure expanding this authority to the CIA and the military they objected and it was pulled from the bill. Though the CIA now says it is no longer pursuing the power, the New York Times reported that Republican Sen. Pat Roberts of Kansas, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, has indicated he doesn't intend to let the matter drop. Giving law enforcement the ability to conduct a search of personal records without judicial oversight is problematic enough in the hands of the FBI. But the notion that it should be offered to two institutions that do not generally operate within constitutional constraints is so patently ignorant of the checks built into our system of limited government that it is hard to believe the proposal wasn't just a bad joke. As flagrantly irresponsible as Bush and his inner circle have been relative to the separation of powers, they have to know it is sacrosanct to American liberty to keep both the CIA and the military from intelligence gathering on our soil. As Kate Martin, director of the Center for National Security Studies, says, "the whole point of the CIA is to operate outside the law." You remember, don't you? Assassination attempts, supporting military coups to protect overseas business interests and markets, a network of spies with no warrants required. When the CIA was created in 1947 it was purposely given a wide berth to operate overseas, but as a safety valve for American freedom it was prohibited from engaging in internal security or law enforcement functions. Protections such as barring the CIA from exercising subpoena power were put in place in part because Harry S. Truman was concerned about creating another Gestapo. Similarly, constraints on the military were established to keep it from becoming a tool of repression for the federal government. The armed forces have been explicitly prohibited from engaging in law enforcement since 1878 under the Reconstruction-era Posse Comitatus Act. Former Georgia congressman Bob Barr, a Republican and persistent opponent of mingling the military with police work, puts the reason bluntly: "When we send the Marines overseas we don't have them carry a copy of the Miranda rights." The military seems to have absorbed this vital distinction. Ken McClellan, a Defense Department spokesman, said all domestic intelligence gathering is referred to the Justice Department. And as to giving the military access to national security letters, McClellan said as far as he knows "no one from here drafted that language." It seems the desire for this additional authority came from the CIA and the administration. If so, it is an astounding admission that the CIA and the FBI are still not cooperating in a way that was demanded after Sept. 11. Jim Dempsey, executive director of the Center for Democracy and Technology, notes that the CIA claims it needs this power because the FBI isn't acting quickly enough to get it information or isn't sharing information. "And yet that was one of the fundamental failings identified that contributed to 9/11, and one of the fundamental reforms was breaking down the wall (between the agencies.)" Remarkably, says Dempsey, the response is not to fix the problem but to codify it. Giving the CIA the capacity to get its own information will virtually ensure that the turf-protective culture within each intelligence agency will be perpetuated - a response that clearly makes us less safe. There is hope within the civil liberties community that we've seen the last of this untenable idea in the near term. But who knows what the other side is capable of? Our leaders almost unleashed the CIA and military on Americans during a closed-door meeting with no public debate. Thank goodness for the watchdogs and the brave members of Congress who forced a retreat. Where would we be without them? |
| George W. Bush Resume | 2 comments |
 21 May 2003 @ 12:21Though I'm kind of sick of all the Bush bashing, this (if accurate) gives some indication of his character, loyalties and agenda. For me it's not so much about what's wrong or right but more about evaluating an individuals response-ability in times of crisis and challenge. We must look at ourselves with equal scrutiny as we do our leaders. We all have impact on our sphere of influence This document analysis was complied and published by Kelly Kramer and is presented here under the Fair Use Act for educational purposes. George W. Bush Resume Past work experience: ·Ran for congress and lost. ·Produced a Hollywood slasher B movie. ·Bought an oil company, but couldn't find any oil in Texas, company went bankrupt. ·Bought the Texas Rangers baseball team in a sweetheart deal that took land using taxpayer money. Biggest move: Traded Sammy Sosa to the Chicago White Sox. ·With fathers help (and his name) was elected Governor of Texas. Accomplishments: Changed pollution laws for power and oil companies and made Texas the most polluted state in the Union. Replaced Los Angeles with Houston as the most smog ridden city in America. Cut taxes and bankrupted the Texas government to the tune of billions in borrowed money. Set record for most executions by any Governor in American history. ·Became president after losing the popular vote by over 500,000 votes, with the help of my fathers appointments to the Supreme Court. Accomplishments as president: ·Attacked and took over two countries. ·Spent the surplus and bankrupted the treasury. ·Shattered record for biggest annual deficit in history. ·Set economic record for most private bankruptcies filed in any 12 month period. ·Set all-time record for biggest drop in the history of the stock market. ·First president in decades to execute a federal prisoner. ·First president in US history to enter office with a criminal record. ·First year in office set the all-time record for most days on vacation by any president in US history. ·After taking the entire month of August off for vacation, presided over the worst security failure in US history. ·Set the record for most campaign fundraising trips than any other president in US history. ·In my first two years in office over 2 million Americans lost their job. ·Cut unemployment benefits for more out of work Americans than any president in US history. ·Set the all-time record for most foreclosures in a 12 month period. ·Appointed more convicted criminals to administration positions than any president in US history. ·Set the record for the least amount of press conferences than any president since the advent of television. ·Signed more laws and executive orders amending the Constitution than any president in US history. ·Presided over the biggest energy crises in US history and refused to intervene when corruption was revealed. ·Presided over the highest gasoline prices in US history and refused to use the national reserves as past presidents have ·Cut healthcare benefits for war veterans. ·Set the all-time record for most people worldwide to simultaneously take to the streets to protest me (15 million people), shattering the record for protest against any person in the history of mankind. http://www.hyperreal.org/~dana/marches ·Dissolved more international treaties than any president in US history. ·My presidency is the most secretive and unaccountable of any in US history. ·Members of my cabinet are the richest of any administration in US history. (The 'poorest' multimillionaire, Condoleezza Rice has a Chevron oil tanker named after her). ·First president in US history to have all 50 states of the Union simultaneously go bankrupt. ·Presided over the biggest corporate stock market fraud of any market in any country in the history of the world. ·First president in US history to order a US attack and military occupation of a sovereign nation. ·Created the largest government department bureaucracy in the history of the United States. ·Set the all-time record for biggest annual budget spending increases, more than any president in US history. ·First president in US history to have the United Nations remove the US from the human rights commission. ·First president in US history to have the United Nations remove the US from the elections monitoring board. ·Removed more checks and balances, and have the least amount of congressional oversight than any presidential administration in US history. ·Rendered the entire United Nations irrelevant. ·Withdrew from the World Court of Law. ·Refused to allow inspectors access to US prisoners of war and by default no longer abide by the Geneva Conventions. ·First president in US history to refuse United Nations election inspectors (during the 2002 US elections). All-time US (and world) record holder for most corporate campaign donations. ·My biggest lifetime campaign contributor presided over one of the largest corporate bankruptcy frauds in world history (Kenneth Lay, former CEO of Enron Corporation). ·Spent more money on polls and focus groups than any president in US history. ·First president in US history to unilaterally attack a sovereign nation against the will of the United Nations and the world community. ·First president to run and hide when the US came under attack (and then lied saying the enemy had the code to Air Force 1) ·First US president to establish a secret shadow government. ·Took the biggest world sympathy for the US after 911, and in less than a year made the US the most resented country in the world (possibly the biggest diplomatic failure in US and world history). ·With a policy of 'disengagement' created the most hostile Israeli-Palestine relations in at least 30 years. ·Fist US president in history to have a majority of the people of Europe (71%) view my presidency as the biggest threat to world peace and stability. ·First US president in history to have the people of South Korea more threatened by the US than their immediate neighbor, North Korea. ·Changed US policy to allow convicted criminals to be awarded government contracts. ·Set all-time record for number of administration appointees who violated US law by not selling huge investments in corporations bidding for government contracts. ·Failed to fulfill my pledge to get Osama Bin Laden 'dead or alive.' ·Failed to capture the anthrax killer who tried to murder the leaders of our country at the United States Capitol building. After 18 months I have no leads and zero suspects. ·In the 18 months following the 911 attacks I have successfully prevented any public investigation into the biggest security failure in the history of the United States. ·Removed more freedoms and civil liberties for Americans than any other president in US history. ·In a little over two years created the most divided country in decades, possibly the most divided the US has ever been since the civil war. ·Entered office with the strongest economy in US history and in less than two years turned every single economic category heading straight down. Records and References: ·At least one conviction for drunk driving in Maine (Texas driving record has been erased and is not available). ·AWOL from National Guard and Deserted the military during a time of war. ·Refuse to take drug test or even answer any questions about drug use. ·All records of my tenure as governor of Texas have been spirited away to my fathers library, sealed in secrecy and unavailable for public view. ·All records of any SEC investigations into my insider trading or bankrupt companies are sealed in secrecy and unavailable for public view. ·All minutes of meetings for any public corporation I served on the board are sealed in secrecy and unavailable for public view. ·Any records or minutes from meetings I (or my VP) attended regarding public energy policy are sealed in secrecy and unavailable for public review. ·For personal references please speak to my daddy or Uncle James Baker (They can be reached at their offices of the Carlyle Group for war-profiteering.) More > |
| World's Five Worst Conflict Zones | 0 comments |
 21 May 2003 @ 11:45Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) are among the world's five worst conflict zones in which to be a woman or a child, according to a new report issued by international non-governmental organisation Save the Children, ahead of Mothers' Day to on 11 May. "Women and children in these countries endure terrible suffering as a result of armed conflict and insecurity," the NGO reported, naming the other three countries as Afghanistan, Angola and Sierra Leone. According to Save the Children's report, titled State of the World's Mothers, some four million women and six million children under 15 years are "imperiled by war in these five countries alone". The report featured a "conflict protection scorecard" that analysed 40 ongoing conflicts in the world, indicating where the safety and security of mothers and children were most at risk. The scorecard addressed types of protection needed by women and children in war zones. These included protection from sexual violence, trafficking and prostitution, military recruitment of children, psychological trauma and family separation. Among other recommendations, the report urged the United States Congress to pass, and President George Bush to sign into law, the Women and Children in Armed Conflict Protection Act of 2003, which the NGO said would set aside $45-million so that US government agencies that provided humanitarian aid would include a women's and children's protection component "every time they give emergency help". Read The State of the World's Mothers report here Daily Mail & Guardian Date: 08 May 2003 13:29 |
| The 14 Defining Characteristics Of Fascism | 1 comment |
 21 May 2003 @ 11:45The 14 Defining Characteristics Of Fascism Free Inquiry Spring 2003 5-11-3 Dr. Lawrence Britt has examined the fascist regimes of Hitler (Germany), Mussolini (Italy), Franco (Spain), Suharto (Indonesia) and several Latin American regimes. Britt found 14 defining characteristics common to each: 1. Powerful and Continuing Nationalism - Fascist regimes tend to make constant use of patriotic mottos, slogans, symbols, songs, and other paraphernalia. Flags are seen everywhere, as are flag symbols on clothing and in public displays. 2. Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights - Because of fear of enemies and the need for security, the people in fascist regimes are persuaded that human rights can be ignored in certain cases because of "need." The people tend to look the other way or even approve of torture, summary executions, assassinations, long incarcerations of prisoners, etc. 3. Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause -The people are rallied into a unifying patriotic frenzy over the need to eliminate a perceived common threat or foe: racial , ethnic or religious minorities; liberals; communists; socialists, terrorists, etc. 4. Supremacy of the Military - Even when there are widespread domestic problems, the military is given a disproportionate amount of government funding, and the domestic agenda is neglected. Soldiers and military service are glamorized. 5. Rampant Sexism - The governments of fascist nations tend to be almost exclusively male-dominated. Under fascist regimes, traditional gender roles are made more rigid. Divorce, abortion and homosexuality are suppressed and the state is represented as the ultimate guardian of the family institution. 6. Controlled Mass Media - Sometimes to media is directly controlled by the government, but in other cases, the media is indirectly controlled by government regulation, or sympathetic media spokespeople and executives. Censorship, especially in war time, is very common. 7. Obsession with National Security - Fear is used as a motivational tool by the government over the masses. 8. Religion and Government are Intertwined - Governments in fascist nations tend to use the most common religion in the nation as a tool to manipulate public opinion. Religious rhetoric and terminology is common from government leaders, even when the major tenets of the religion are diametrically opposedto the government's policies or actions. 9. Corporate Power is Protected - The industrial and business aristocracy of a fascist nation often are the ones who put the government leaders into power, creating a mutually beneficial business/government relationship and power elite. 10. Labor Power is Suppressed - Because the organizing power of labor is the only real threat to a fascist government, labor unions are either eliminated entirely, or are severely suppressed. 11. Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts - Fascist nations tend to promote and tolerate open hostility to higher education, and academia. It is not uncommon for professors and other academics to be censored or even arrested. Free expression in the arts and letters is openly attacked. 12. Obsession with Crime and Punishment - Under fascist regimes, the police are given almost limitless power to enforce laws. The people are often willing to overlook police abuses and even forego civil liberties in the name of patriotism. There is often a national police force with virtually unlimited power in fascist nations. 13. Rampant Cronyism and Corruption - Fascist regimes almost always are governed by groups of friends and associates who appoint each other to government positions and use governmental power and authority to protect their friends from accountability. It is not uncommon in fascist regimes for national resources and even treasures to be appropriated or even outright stolen by government leaders. 14. Fraudulent Elections - Sometimes elections in fascist nations are a complete sham. Other times elections are manipulated by smear campaigns against or even assassination of opposition candidates, use of legislation to control voting numbers or political district boundaries, and manipulation of the media. Fascist nations also typically use their judiciaries to manipulate or control elections. They Thought They Were Free By Milton Mayer "They Thought They Were Free: The Germans 1933-1945", University of Chicago Press. Reissued in paperback, April, 1981. As Harpers Magazine noted when the book was published in 1955 (U. of Chicago), Milton Mayerâsextraordinarily far-sighted book on the Germans is more timely today than ever• This crucial book tells how and why 'decent men' became Nazis through short biographies of 10 law-abiding citizens. An American journalist of German/Jewish descent, Mr. Mayer provides a fascinating window into the lives, thoughts and emotions of a people caught up in the rush of the Nazi movement. It is a book that should make people pause and think -- not only about the Germans, but also about themselves. More > |
| Matrix As Messiah Movie | 8 comments |
 21 May 2003 @ 11:27Interesting comparison and chart of how "The Matrix" movie parallels the life of Jesus. Here's the intoduction: Please understand,...I'm not saying that The Matrix is THE Messiah Movie! But it is A Messiah Movie! And remember that The Matrix was released the weekend of Easter 1999 (and if you don't mind a rhetorical question,....What is it that is celebrated at Easter.....?). That release date turns out to be very significant! Please keep that in mind as you consider these points as parallels with the life story of Christ: Here's the Compaative Chart More > |
| Some Quotes To Ponder | 0 comments |
 21 May 2003 @ 11:18"Those who have the solutions more often than not create the problems in the first place" - anonymous "It is better to look for what works before you focus on what's broken." - C.W. Metcalf "The chief cause of problems is solutions." - anonymous "Reality is what refuses to go away when I stop believing in it." - Philip K. Dick "Technological progress has merely provided us with more efficient means for going backwards." - Aldous Huxley "It's not what you think, it's what you think about" - me |
| Human Barcoding | 4 comments |
 21 May 2003 @ 11:13My friend Greg Hurley sent me this email and article. His editorial is something to think about. "Let's see...hmmmmm...GPS tracking, banking records, medical records, criminal records, tax records...i.e. mark of the beast? - 'if you don't pay your taxes we'll shut you off'. Is this SECURITY? Does it PROTECT YOU? - hell NO!" "Sacring you into compliance so that all your privacy is owned (tracked/recorded/managed) in a central database - effectively like cattle" "This company has already come under scrutiny for initially calling this chip the 'digital angel', so they later changed it to verichip." -------------------------------------------------------- From the Boston Globe Barcoding Humans The era of implanting people with identity chips is up on us By Angela Swafford Globe Correspondent 5/20/2003 The painless procedure barely lasted 15 minutes. In his South Florida office, Dr. Harvey Kleiner applied a local anesthetic above the tricep of my right arm, then he inserted a thick needle deep under the skin. ''First we locate a prime spot,'' he said. ''The next thing is to release the button that triggers the injection mechanism, and that's it, the cargo's been delivered.'' The ''cargo'' was a half-inch-long microchip inside a glass and silicone cylinder that carries my permanent identification number. For an instant, I remembered the famous scene in the movie ''Fantastic Voyage'' in which a miniaturized Raquel Welch and her companions are inserted, submarine and all, into the vein of a patient. In my case, the tiny chip inside me can transmit personal information to anyone with a special handheld scanner. Theoretically, this VeriChip will allow doctors to call up my medical records even if I'm too badly hurt to answer questions. It is also supposed to allow me to get money from an automatic teller machine by flashing my arm instead of punching in my PIN number. Or reassure airport security that I am a journalist, not a terrorist. And, though the VeriChip strikes critics as Orwellian, its makers think the surgically implanted IDs could be the Social Security numbers of the future in a nervous world. ''I believe the day will come when most of us will have something similar to the VeriChip under our skin,'' said Scott Silverman, president of Florida-based Applied Digital Solutions. ''People will regard that its benefits -- in terms of financial, security, and health care -- far outweigh the possibility of loss of privacy.'' Right now, I am part of a very small club, the 18th person in the world -- and the first journalist -- to get ''chipped.'' Most of the others are ADS employees along with one Florida family who have been jokingly dubbed ''the Chipsons'' in a play on the old Jetsons cartoon. The idea of a system that gives emergency workers and others immediate access to potentially lifesaving information is exactly what drew the Jacobs family of Boca Raton to the VeriChip. At the request of their 14-year-old son, Derek, the Jacobses got chipped last year. ''My husband has cancer and we've experienced the frustrating delays of trying to provide urgent medical history information every time he is rushed into the emergency room,'' says Leslie Jacobs. Since the attack on the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, she continues, ''we know that our lives are increasingly vulnerable. If we want increased safety, security, and peace of mind, we need to take positive steps. We've decided that having a VeriChip is one way to do just that.'' But critics see surveillance technology like the VeriChip as a growing threat, giving potentially dangerous new power to businesses and government alike. In a report issued in January by the American Civil Liberties Union, Jay Stanley and Barry Steinhardt warned that an explosion of technology has already created a ''surveillance monster.'' ''Scarcely a month goes by in which we don't read about some new high-tech way to invade people's privacy, from face recognition to implantable microchips, data mining, DNA chips, and even `brain wave fingerprinting,' '' they wrote. ''The fact is there are no longer any technical barriers to the Big Brother regime portrayed by George Orwell [in his novel `1984'].'' The VeriChip is similar to the more than 25 million chips already embedded in animals all over the world acting as ''pet passports,'' allowing customs officials to monitor those animals that do not need to go into quarantine, or to identify your stray dog. But, at least for now, the VeriChip does much less: it's mainly for demonstration purposes, carrying only an identification number and the capacity for about three paragraphs of information. Only 10 hospitals and doctors in Florida have the scanner to read the chips. And the Food and Drug Administration has not yet approved the chips for use in health care, so they cannot be used to access medical records. However, ADS officials say this is just the beginning. They want to build a chip that can store loads of information, or act as the key to a central database that stores information about the user. Ultimately, the company hopes to be able to track the movement of people with chips worldwide using global positioning satellites. The company is field testing its Personal Locator Device, or PLD, which ADS says could help track lost children, sick elderly family members, mountain climbers who get lost, or kidnap victims. Company officials say they have been inundated with requests from private companies in Latin America, especially Mexico and Colombia. The PLD is still years away from wide use, according to Keith Bolton, ADS's chief of technologies. The working prototype is rather large -- 2 1/2 inches in diameter -- and would require major surgery for implantation (though it appears some Israeli secret service agents already carry something similar). It is powered by a pacemaker battery, and, just like in a Tom Clancy book, it would let anyone with access to the PLD system follow the wearer anytime, anywhere in the world, at the click of a mouse. ''The PLD would also monitor the vital signs of the wearer, and the environmental conditions around that person, and it could be a great way to protect a family member with a disease such as Alzheimer's,'' says Bolton. Businesses already use technology to track their products around the world, but we should stop and think about the implications before starting a human tracking system, cautions Mohan Tanniru, professor of information systems at the University of Arizona. ''I am not going to put a chip on my kid thinking that she could be kidnapped,'' he says, ''unless I know the chip will be activated only if I report that my kid is lost. But how do I know that the police are only going to activate it when I say so, and not when they feel like it? You can't just say that technology is bad just because it is there. So it is a matter of deciding what trusting agency should be given that responsibility.'' Tanniru actually thinks that human tracking might be welcome in certain cases, such as following criminals on probation or making sure foreign nationals don't overstay their visas. In fact, Pro Tech Monitoring of Tampa already makes an externally worn tracking device for parolees that alerts authorities if the wearer enters a forbidden area, such as a school zone. For ADS's Silverman, both the VeriChip and its future GPS-based version are a matter of individual choice. ''No one is forcing you to have a VeriChip. If you want a chip in your right arm you are going to know it is there because you will see it injected. When you look at the events of 9/11 and the way people measure their own personal security today versus the way they did a few years ago, there is a much higher concern to make sure that family members are safe and sound, and some people now put that above privacy rights.'' So far, ADS's technology gamble has not translated into profits. In 2002, ADS lost $112 million on revenues of $96 million, though this loss is significantly lower that that of the previous year. As far as I am concerned, having a chip with a code in it is not giving me the chills. I think it would be nice to use it to get cash or pay for gas, and I wouldn't mind paramedics having access to my health records in the blink of an eye. Besides, I know it would never get lost. I did, however, have a few questions about its health hazards. So I asked Dr. Kleiner. ''The VeriChip is extremely safe,'' he says. ''Pacemakers are hundreds of times larger and more complicated and nobody has problems with them. To prevent the chip from migrating to another part of the body there is a little polymer at one end of the capsule that will adhere to the skin and hold it in place. At his office, my arm was like a barcoded product at a supermarket cash register: It beeped every time the scanner prodded the chip. It worked even through my clothes. Displayed on the screen was a long number with many zeroes. For good or bad, I thought, this chip may be quietly heralding a time when people will literally have technology under the skin. More > |
| Itsy Bitsy IC | 0 comments |
 21 May 2003 @ 11:03Follow-up to human barcoding technology Itsy Bitsy IC Hitachi Ltd's prototype super-micro wireless automatic recognition IC chips, or "mu-chips", are shown on a fingertip in Tokyo. The world's smallest class 0.4-mm IC chip, which can be incorporated into various materials -- even paper -- will make new business development possible in data management, authentication of luxury goods and currencies, and medical treatment, among other uses. |
| Ancient Nicaraguan Society Found | 2 comments |
 21 May 2003 @ 10:55Ancient Nicaraguan Society Found By Richard Black BBC science correspondent Archaeologists have discovered what they describe as a previously unknown ancient civilisation in Central America. The site, near the Atlantic coast of Nicaragua, dates from before the Mayan era, and relics include what appears to be a centre for mass production of ceremonial columns. Researchers have been working on the site at El Cascal de Flor de Pino, near the town of Kukra Hill for six years. They've found evidence of an ancient town and several outlying villages, which developed around 2,700 years ago and lasted for a thousand years. There are monuments, petroglyphs (rock carvings) and pottery, and most remarkably, an area where many huge columns were formed out of rock - columns which may have been used at burial sites. Extends Range "The pottery is similar to pre-classical pottery found at sites of similar age in Belize," Dr Ermengol Gassiot, of the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, Spain, told BBC News Online. "And the columns resemble those found at Mexican sites where they had ritual uses. "The society had political centres. Kukra Hill, we believe, was a small town, and at least three villages lay around it and were dependent on it." The newly discovered civilisation is similar to the societies that preceded the Mayan civilisation further to the north. Independent experts say this shows that the process that led to the founding of the Mayan cities, such as Tikal, Palenque, or Copan (in Guatemala, Mexico, and Honduras respectively) covered a much larger geographical region than archaeologists have supposed up to now. Time before Much research remains to be done at El Cascal de Flor de Pino but it promises to reveal a vast amount about the various societies and customs which were eventually assimilated into the great culture of the Mayas. Commenting on the discovery, Jeremy Sabloff, Williams Director of the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, US, said: "This site sounds very exciting and full of potential. "We're learning lots now about the pre-classical era - the groups which came before the Maya - and this discovery greatly extends the range of these pre-classical civilisations." In addition to researchers from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), the Kukra Hill archaeological team includes members from the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Nicaragua (UNAN-Managua), and the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC). More > |
| Google To "Fix" Blog Noise Problem | 0 comments |
 21 May 2003 @ 10:46Google To "Fix" Blog Noise Problem By Andrew Orlowski in San Francisco Posted: 09/05/2003 at 01:04 GMT Google is to create a search tool specifically for weblogs, most likely giving material generated by the self-publishing tools its own tab. CEO Eric Schmidt made the announcement on Monday, at the JP Morgan Technology and Telecom conference. 'Soon the company will also offer a service for searching Web logs, known as "blogs,"' reported Reuters. It isn't clear if weblogs will be removed from the main search results, but precedent suggests they will be. After Google acquired Usenet groups from Deja.com,it developed a unique user interface and a refined search engine, and removed the groups from the main index. After a sticky start, Usenet veterans welcomed the new interface. Google recently acquired Blogger, and sources suggest this is the most likely option. The Register, UK |