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8/10/2002



Finally, They Will Have an Explanation for Chemtrails :.

Well, folks, this is pretty much the biggest "Game Over" type story I've seen in quite some time. At least several days, anyway.

In an attempt to stem the spread, Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., said she planned to ask the Air Force next week to send in a special operations squadron to spray insecticide in hard-hit regions. The operations group of the 910th Flight Wing, based in Ohio, specializes in insect control.

What do you want to bet that the spray patterns will look something like this, or this? If you're not yet aware of chemtrails, sit back and start reading.





Feds Open 'Total' Tech Spy System :.

The purpose of the IAO is actually related to political control! Please read this, if you haven't already.

On Wednesday, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) will begin awarding contracts for the design and implementation of a Total Information Awareness (TIA) system.

It's a system which, it hopes, will ferret out terrorists' information signatures -- clues available before an attack, but usually not correctly interpreted until afterwards -- and decode them prior to an assault. It's a task, the Information Awareness Office (IAO) says, that is beyond "our current intelligent infrastructure and other government agencies."


8/8/2002



Consumer Dystopia Coming to a Store Near You :.

Johnny Q. Consumer walks into a national chain store, picks up diapers, pays in cash. He does not walk alone. One store camera captures his face, while another network of cameras traces his stroll through the aisles. The pressure-sensitive floor panels note how he lingers and nervously shifts his feet while browsing in the diaper section.

At the store's national headquarters, perhaps a thousand miles away, a machine quietly notes in Johnny's file that he may be a new father. That bit of data goes into an algorithm that a few days later cross-references birth records and finds that, indeed, Johnny has just become the proud father of twins. A card is sent out and special discounts will be offered the next time he enters the store.





Royal Endorsement of Global Economic Rape :.

I'm actually going to hold my tongue on this one. Apoplexy doesn't make for good commentary. Let it suffice to say that if this isn't prima facie evidence that the End is near, I don't know what is:

WASHINGTON �� He won't get to call himself "Sir Alan" but Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan � often known as the second most powerful man in the United States � will get another title: knight.

Queen Elizabeth II has approved an honorary knighthood for Greenspan's "outstanding contribution to global economic stability," the British Treasury announced Tuesday. A copy of the release was distributed in Washington.


Think of the economic debacles currently unfolding all over the planet and say, "Outstanding contribution to global economic stability" outloud a few times. Just let that sink in a bit...





Rand Analyst Just Doesn't Get It :.

"The Saudis are active at every level of the terror chain, from planners to financiers, from cadre to foot-soldier, from ideologist to cheerleader," said Laurent Murawiec, a Rand Corp. analyst. What he failed to mention is that several Saudis, including the bin Laden family, have invested millions of dollars in George Bush's (Senior) armaments manufacturing mutual fund managed by the Carlyle Group.

(If you're interested, this is a good primer on the fascist connections of the Bush Dynasty.)

Muraweic also described Saudi Arabia as, "the kernel of evil, the prime mover, the most dangerous opponent" in the Middle East. HA! And what was the U.S. relationship like with Iraq up until the point Saddam Hussein annexed Kuwait? Cozy, my friend, very cozy.

It is also interesting to note that Henry Kissinger, a notorious war criminal, is still managing to fiddle around in U.S. foreign policy circles. Simply incredible.





U.S. Seeks to Block Enforcement of Anti-Torture Treaty :.

Torture should be added to the list of evils that the Bush administration is defending, in accordance with a foreign policy based on unilateral American domination of the globe. On July 24, the American delegation to the United Nations Economic and Social Council (UNESOC) tried and failed to table an anti-torture protocol, losing the vote 29-15. The protocol was then approved by a 35-8 vote and goes to the fall session of the UN General Assembly for ratification. Since it is not a Security Council resolution, the measure is not subject to US veto.

The target of the US diplomatic assault was a measure negotiated over the past ten years to implement the International Convention Against Torture, a treaty that went into force in 1987 and was ratified by the US Congress in 1994. The anti-torture treaty, like most international human rights agreements, lacks an enforcement mechanism, because those regimes that are engaged in human rights abuses are willing to sign a treaty, but oppose any serious measures to implement its provisions. This is precisely the position of the US, which is now on record as opposing the implementation of the treaty on torture.


Research credit: TR


8/6/2002



Microsoft Windows is Hopelessly F*cked :.

We could be days, hours or minutes away from catastrophic hack-attacks and it's all due to the fact that Microsoft's operating systems are critically flawed. And these bozos expect all of us to go along with their plan for secure computing/secure vending machines!? Uhhh, I don't think so.

Foon, I salute you:

This paper presents a new generation of attacks against Microsoft Windows, and possibly other message-based windowing systems. The flaws presented in this paper are, at the time of writing, unfixable. The only reliable solution to these attacks requires functionality that is not present in Windows, as well as efforts on the part of every single Windows software vendor. Microsoft has known about these flaws for some time; when I alerted them to this attack, their response was that they do not class it as a flaw - the email can be found here. This research was sparked by comments made by Microsoft VP Jim Allchin who stated, under oath, that there were flaws in Windows so great that they would threaten national security if the Windows source code were to be disclosed. He mentioned Message Queueing, and immediately regretted it. However, given the quantity of research currently taking place around the world after Mr Allchin's comments, it is about time the white hat community saw what is actually possible.

This paper is a step-by-step walkthrough of how to exploit one example of this class of flaw. Several other attack methods are discussed, although examples are not given. There are many ways to exploit these flaws, and many variations on each of the stages presented. This is just one example.


See also: Slashdot piece on this topic and the rather ironic ad running on that story when I viewed it.





Double Warning Against Iraq War :.

Clearly, the Bush administration is going to have to find some sort of Iraqi link to the 9/11 situation if the U.S. hopes to maintain any semblance of legitimacy as it sets out on a premeditated crusade to depose Saddam Hussein/take over Central Asia and the Middle East. U.S. history is replete with patsies, lone nuts and useful idiots who have taken the fall for incredible crimes. Every once in a while, however, international figures need to go down in order to maintain appearances. Now that the specter of bin Laden is fading from the scene, it's time to ratchet up the nonsense to a feverpitch and resurrect the greatest boogieman of them all: Saddam Hussein. Whether or not he had anything to do with 9/11, he's going to pay. Well, actually, the Iraqi people are going to pay.

Throughout all of this, I would implore people to keep in mind that the U.S. imposed death grip on Iraq (via "sanctions") has resulted in one of the most stunning acts of genocide in the history of the world. And just as basic civilian infrastructures in Iraq are limping toward recovery, the place is about to be pulverized again by the terrifying might of the U.S. military.

As the bombs fall on Iraq again, as the indiscrimate incineration of civilians ensues, we should all be asking ourselves: What could THEY possibly have in mind for the next act? China? Maybe a coup in Russia will necessitate a return to the bad old days of the Cold War!? That would expand the Axis of Evil to staggering proportions! *gasp* Something closer to home, perhaps? Who knows???

Brent Scowcroft, who remains close to the Bush family, urged the President to concentrate on trying to broker peace between the Israelis and Palestinians while separately pursuing terrorist threats to the United States. But he said that by going to war with Iraq without linking President Saddam Hussein and September 11, Washington was risking a conflagration in the Middle East that would also engulf its efforts to defeat global terror groups.

His warning came as a former British Chief of Defence Staff said that Britain risked being dragged into a �very, very messy� and lengthy war if it supported a US military assault on Iraq. Field Marshal Lord Bramall called on Tony Blair to exercise caution, saying that an invasion to topple Saddam may not be morally or legally justified.

�You don�t have licence to attack someone else�s country just because you don�t like the leadership,� he told BBC Radio 4�s World This Weekend. �We are supposed to be taking a lead on the moral issues of the world.�


See the related story below.





Boiling Frogs and Getting Used to Digital Shackles :.

People have been writing for years about how the technologies with the greatest potential to set us free may just as easily be used to enslave us. The most stunning aspect to stories like this is that there is no outrage, no raising of fists, no stunned reaction. Average humanity is no different than a bunch of frogs in a pot of steadily warming water. (In case of link death, search: boiling frog syndrome.)

We need to draw a line in the sand. We need to say "ENOUGH!" when it comes to our bodies, our genes and our minds. Just refuse to play the game any longer. And keep this quote in mind the next time some imbecile tries to biometrically shackle you:

"If you will not fight...when you can easily win without bloodshed...you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all the odds against you with all the odds against you and only a precarious chance for survival. There may be a worse case. You may have to fight when there is no chance of victory, because it is better to perish than to live as slaves."

-Winston Churchill

. . .

It's down with passwords and up with thumbs for a school in Iowa trying to keep its data safe.

While the plan to use thumbprint scanners by the West Des Moines campus of the Des Moines Area Community College might sound like Big Brother to some, students seem unfazed by the idea. Even students at the University of California at Berkeley, with its reputation for protest, shrugged at the thought of logging into a school computer with their thumb....

"It's going to be mandatory that all students and faculty submit their thumbprint," Paustian said. "This offers more protection for the individual than just having numbers and passwords. Basically, our system will be no less secure than what a government or military system would have."


8/5/2002



Feds Lose Guns and Laptops :.

Your tax dollars hard at work:

WASHINGTON (AP) - Five agencies under Justice Department jurisdiction, including the FBI and DEA, have reported 775 missing or stolen weapons and 400 missing laptop computers, says a report released Monday.

Some of the weapons were used to commit crimes and the classification level of 218 of the missing laptops is unknown, said the audit report by the department's Office of Inspector General, an internal investigative unit.

The bulk of the missing laptops and weapons belonged to the FBI and the Immigration and Naturalization Service.

The report noted that "it is possible that the missing laptop computers would have been used to process and store national security or sensitive law enforcement information that, if divulged, could harm the public."




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