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10/26/2002



End Game: Fierce Gun Battle Inside Moscow Theater :.

The Chechen insurgents began executing hostages, as they had threatened to do. Russian special forces went in immediately. A pitched gun battle ensued for over an hour. Most reports are indicating that all of the Chechens were killed. At least 60 90 120? hostages perished during the siege.

This is what a world without protagonists looks like. This is the face of desperation. Photo 1: Bodies piled high outside of the Moscow theater. Photo 2: Dead Chechen fighters (women).



The fact that several of the Chechen fighters were women is significant. On the one hand you have the Russians, who have to conscript (kidnap) teenage boys to fight in Chechnya. On the Chechen side, because so many men of fighting age---for Chechnya, this means 14 to 60 year olds---are dead, women are now engaged in combat. The war in Chechnya is easier left uncovered by most media. I was, however, impressed with the CNN Presents piece called, "Deadlock: Russia's Forgotten War." CNN occasionally re-runs these shows. I'd encourage everyone to watch for this one. WARNING: Very graphic.

Why are the Russians unwilling to bend on Chechnya?

The short answer is oil.

Moscow also needs to send a message to several other ethnic groups that are contemplating a split from Mother Russia. Remember what happened in the Balkans during the 90s. Russia is potentially a Yugoslavia X 10,000. The U.S. and Europe realize this. Notice how the U.S. and European states remain quiet about Russia's genocidal policies in Chechnya. Chechnya cannot and will not be allowed to split from Russia.

Wider Issues and Pure Speculation:

I wonder, though, if the U.S. and Europe will eventually achieve Hitler's ultimate goal: To control all of Russia. What better way to bring this about than to foment the nationalistic urges of the many splinter groups inside Russia, resulting in a Neo-Drang Nach Osten (Drive to the East), if by other means. Get these groups fighting and bog the Russian regime down in multiple domestic "police actions." Perhaps the U.N. would be called upon to re-establish order. HA! We all know how that scam works... And it would be especially interesting since Russia is a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council.

The indicator that the U.S./Europe is willing to let Russia fall apart will be the moment the U.S. and a major power like Germany, the U.K. or France offers official recognition of a break-away state. Recall, what happened in Yugoslavia:

Instead of attempting to stop the unraveling of Yugoslavia at the most critical moment (Serbia and Kosovo blocking the routine rotation mechanism of the presidency; Croatia and Slovenia threatening to and then actually seceding; Beginning of armed conflict between Slovenian and Yugoslav forces), the EU, bending to German pressure, decided to recognize Croatia and Slovenia. The U.S., in the words of one official, did not, "want to be lashed to the mast of Yugoslav unity when the ship was sinking."

So, is it the height of folly to speculate on the potential Balkanization of Russia? Maybe. I, personally, think it's too terrifying for most analysts to contemplate. And I sincerely hope, for everyone involved, that this analysis and speculation remains just analysis and speculation. Nothing, however, would surprise me at this stage.

UPDATE: With Rescues Like This, Who Needs Terrorists? :.

I understand the Russian government was in a desperate situation, but the details emerging about the "rescue" are very disturbing. The counter terror team deployed some type of nerve agent that caused most people, including the terrorists, to fall asleep or hallucinate. The problem is that nearly all of the hostages killed during the rescue died from exposure to the "special substance" that was pumped in through the theater's ventilation system. Hundreds are still hospitalized and 45 are in critical condition. Is the story of the pitched, hour long gun battle still holding up? I mean, unless the terrorists had gas masks, it seems to me that everyone in the place would have been knocked out by the mystery gas. Why weren't any of the explosives detonated during this hour long gun battle!? Who knows what actually happened?! The Russian government almost makes the U.S. government look honest by comparison.


10/25/2002



Senator Paul Wellstone Killed (Read: Assassinated) :.

If I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times: Assassination via aircraft is one of the most common ways the THEM take people out. I'm not planning on delving into this too heavily because it's obvious what happened here. Wellstone WAS NOT going along with the program. The fact that his wife and daughter were also killed was probably meant to send a message to other senators and representatives: Get with the program, or else. I'll add on a couple of stories about how Wellstone opposed core policies of the Bush regime, etc. But it won't matter. Bodies will continue to drop. This thing is coming down.

I almost have to wonder if the Chechen insurgents are going to follow through on their threat to begin killing hostages at about 9pm PST. If that situation in Moscow blows up into a massive tragedy, this Wellstone event will quickly fall out of media rotation. The focus will then be on something like: U.S. and Russia Team Up to Fight Terror, or some similar nonsense.

(CNN) -- Democratic Sen. Paul Wellstone, his wife Sheila and daughter Marcia died Friday in a small plane crash near Eveleth, Minnesota, Democratic sources said.

The sources said three staff members and two crew members also died in the crash.


UPDATE: NTSB Official Concludes Crash Was an Accident :.

This is incredible. Do you see how ridiculous this is!? Even at the very beginning stages of the investigation, there isn't even a possibility that the plane crashed due to sabotage! How does Carol Carmody, acting chairwoman of the National Transportation Safety Board, know it was an accident if the investigation has just started!? She couldn't know, but by constraining the possible outcome in this way, she is indicating how the result MUST come down. Any evidence that isn't consistent with the accident scenario will be spirited away in FBI vehicles, never to be seen again:

Carol Carmody, acting chairwoman of the National Transportation Safety Board , said the first priority for a 16-member NTSB team that arrived at the crash site late Friday was finding the chartered plane's cockpit voice recorder.

"This is a serious accident," Carmody said. "Eight people were killed. Sen. Wellstone was a very important national figure. Of course we want to send a full team to do everything we can to find out what happened."


Hint: Why were the contents of the 9/11 voice recorders never released??? Curious, aint it?





Get Chipped! :.

No comment necessary:

The maker of an implantable human ID chip has launched a national campaign to promote the device, offering $50 discounts to the first 100,000 people who register to get embedded with the microchip.

Applied Digital Solutions has coined the tagline "Get Chipped" to market its product, VeriChip.

The rice-size device costs $200. Those implanted must also pay for the doctor's injection fee and a monthly $10 database maintenance charge, said ADS spokesman Matthew Cossolotto.

The VeriChip emits a 125-kilohertz radio frequency signal that transmits its unique ID number to a scanner; the number is used to access a computer database containing the client's file. Customers fill out a form detailing the information they want linked to their chip when they undergo the procedure, Cossolotto said.

Earlier this week, ADS announced that the FDA had ruled that the VeriChip was not a regulated device when used for "security, financial and personal identification/safety applications."


10/24/2002



Nightmare Situation Unfolding in Moscow :.

The sniper arrests in the U.S. are mostly blotting out the hostage situation in Moscow. Indications are that this is going to end in a very bad way. BBC is reporting that a young woman, who was shot dead, had her wrists and fingers broken. If the attackers think that torturing and killing young women is going to "shock" Russians into giving up the campaign in Chechnya, they are, I'm afraid, gravely mistaken. Terror has never worked against the Russians. Historically, they are known to respond with unimaginable brutality; killing the family members of known terrorists, sending the heads of dead terrorists to family members, etc.

As this disaster unfolds, what will be the result? The bottom line: Russia will be on board the War on Terror freight train to doom. Look at what has happened over the last couple of weeks! France is now on board. It just took one oil tanker blast to turn them around. Australia is on board in the wake of the Bali outrage. I'm now waiting for Germans to experience some of this insanity. Along with Britain, which has been on board from day one, the nexus of a Western Empire, with the U.S. as ringleader, would be formed. Add Russia to this and you have a basically Christian phalanx fighting terrorists (Muslims) in every nook and cranny of all countries with any sizeable deposits of useful raw materials.

Photos indicating that a bad end is probably imminent at the Moscow theater: Photo 1: Dead woman, possibly tortured, pulled from the area. Photo 2: Since when did heavy machine guns become weapons of choice for hostage rescue missions? These types of weapons have no application in tactical situations and close quarters battle (CQB), especially with hundreds of "friendlies" in the area. What a mess. Pray, meditate, knock on wood, whatever you can do, because the people in that theater are in deep trouble.



UPDATE: Some Confirmation of Above Analysis :.

"I think our Chechen policy will be greatly toughened after this," says Vyacheslav Nikonov, a former Kremlin aide and chair of the independent Reforma think tank in Moscow. "After all, were the Americans interested in appeasing Osama bin Laden after Sept. 11?"

"Our relations with the US are likely to improve as a result of this," says Yury Kryshin, president of the official Military History Research Association. "A sense of solidarity with Americans will grow, and this will certainly influence our position on Iraq."





Alex Jones Goes on the Record: Sniper is a Covert Op :.

I've been thinking it, but I haven't been saying it. I don't have any proof of it, neither does Jones. But he's going with it anyway. I admit, this thing stinks. Bad.

On April 24, 2001 the Baltimore Sun and ABC News reported on a shocking, declassified Pentagon document, titled Operation Northwoods. In Operation Northwoods the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff called for hijacking jet airliners, attacking US military bases, blowing up US ships and wounding civilians in Miami, Florida and Washington, DC using paramilitary sniper teams. Page eight of the formerly Top Secret Pentagon plan stated that �casualty lists in US Newspapers would cause a helpful wave of national indignation.� The opening paragraph in the Baltimore Sun read �US leaders proposed in �62 a secret plan to commit terrorist acts against Americans and blame Cuba to create a pretext for invasion.�

Forty years after the Northwoods plan was rejected by John F. Kennedy, we see striking similarities between the sniper attacks and the terrorist activities called for in the Northwoods plan. Whereas the Northwoods document planned to create a pretext for war with Cuba, the sniper attacks are being used as a pretext to put military on the streets of America and to push for gun control. Now, White House officials are saying that there�s a good chance that al-Qaeda or Iraq are behind the sniper attacks and are warning the American people to look for similar attacks in other cities, thus creating a timely pretext justifying military action to capture Middle Eastern and Central Asian oil supplies in a war with Iraq.





1st Amendment: U.S. Comes in 17th on Freedom of Press Index :.

I routinely compare present U.S. media to a Stalinist nightmare. It's not quite that bad. Yet.

The first worldwide index of press freedom has some surprises for Western democracies. The United States ranks below Costa Rica and Italy scores lower than Benin. The five countries with least press freedom are North Korea, China, Burma, Turkmenistan and Bhutan.


10/22/2002



DDOS Attack on Root DNS Systems Called Largest Ever :.

Those of you who actually took the time to read my essay, "Cyberwar: How Terrorists Could Defeat the U.S., and Why They Won�t," (requires Acrobat 5, not 4.) might get chill running up your backs when you read this. I'm still sticking to my original thesis, however: The Internet won't be brought down by terrorists because corporations and governments need it, and the terrorists serve the interests of corporations and governments. Regardless, I hope this DNS attack isn't a prelude to a bigger operation. Note how they say that it just ran for an hour and then stopped! Note this story, which detailed the creation of attack zombies with P2P capabilities, allowing them to be targeted at will. Also note that a top infrastructure protection analyst was just killed by the Maryland area sniper! And within a couple of days of her death, we see the largest DDOS attack on root DNS systems ever!? (Long Pause) Keep a sharp eye out for weirdness, folks, something BIG might be coming down:

Here's what I wrote back on September 14, 2002:

Maybe the terrorists start taking out some or all of the thirteen root domain name server systems (I think there are still 13) or interrupting communications to those root servers [today's DDOS incident]. (Thankfully, a couple of these systems are located in places that have people with guns guarding them.) These root servers are used by thousands of other lower level domain name systems and receive about 300 million requests per day.

Domain name systems are used to translate human readable URLs, like www.cryptogon.com into machine usable IP addresses like 209.115.132.59. There is much concern about the root DNS systems. Many articles on this topic are easily accessible. Much of the concern, however, is focused on hackers DOSsing the root servers. Again, this misses the point.

What is the physical security like at the non-military root DNS facilities?

I�ve driven by one of the buildings hundreds of times because I used to live near it. It looks just like any other small office building. How long would this place hold up against a few armed terrorists who were willing to die TO BRING DOWN A ROOT DNS NODE? Think about it. The same goes for the data centers mentioned previously. Surely these places should have armed security. But even if they did, are they prepared to stop terrorists who have no intention of ever getting out alive?


Here's what just happened:

The heart of the Internet sustained its largest and most sophisticated attack ever, starting late Monday, according to officials at key online backbone organizations.

Around 5:00 p.m. EDT on Monday, a "distributed denial of service" (DDOS) attack struck the 13 "root servers" that provide the primary roadmap for almost all Internet communications. Despite the scale of the attack, which lasted about an hour, Internet users worldwide were largely unaffected, experts said.

FBI officials would not speculate on who might have planned or carried out the attack.

David Wray, a spokesman for the FBI's National Infrastructure Protection Center (NIPC), said the bureau is "aware of the reports and looking into it."

DDOS attacks overwhelm networks with an onslaught of data until they cannot be used. According to security experts, the incident probably was the result of multiple attacks, in which attackers concentrate the power of many computers against a single network to prevent it from operating.

"This was the largest and most complex DDOS attack ever against the root server system," said a source at one of the organizations responsible for operating the root servers.





Growing Discontent Spawns Alternative Communities :.

Many people, including myself, have come to the conclusion that this society is devolving rapidly and is beyond repair by any standard means. We know the legislative process is gone. We know violence is not an option. We know protesting is good for little more than getting your head beaten in by cops. So, what is left to those of us who want to affect a change?

Here's what I think should happen: Individuals need to take responsibility for their lives and create their own realities which are outside of the corporate defined mythology under which most of us currently exist. I will be writing an extended piece on this, but this basically means that conscious people need to accrete into loose, self-sustaining, or semi-self sustaining, communities. These communities grow their own food and provide their own clean power. The local production of limited to moderate amounts of consumer goods would de-emphasize the need for products produced by corporate tyrannies. Profits from labor are kept local, as opposed to being extracted from communities as in the current system. Goods and services are paid for with a local currency, such as in Ithaca, New York. If you can't help yourself, go down to Wal-Mart when you need to. The point is: You may find that you no longer want or need to go down to Wal-Mart. Opt out of what you see before your eyes as much as you can and think about what could be possible.

Nobody is talking about barefoot people wearing potato sacks! The goal is to appropriate technologies that make us free, enhance our lives, and connect us to others. The goal is to be able to raise children in nurturing conditions, and to instill within them our values, not a corporate agenda based on lies and fear. The goal is to recover our time so that we may do as we please.

I, personally, wouldn't live anywhere that didn't have an high speed Internet connection. (In fact, many people involved with this movement are technologists.) Abundant clean power can come from wind, solar and hydro technologies. Once I looked into this stuff, I couldn't stop thinking about it. Besides being a sane solution to many economic, environmental and social problems, this stuff is just plain fun.

If enough people made a switch to this type of life, transnational corporations would go bankrupt and the Federal Reserve and U.S. government would collapse due to lack of tax revenue. You, dear tax payer, support the grand fraud and death machine simply by existing. (Think of Morpheus holding up the battery in The Matrix.) The federal income tax is the mechanism that makes all of the sickening nonsense possible. What do you get for the 30% to 50% of your income that they steal from you? I'm not saying to stop paying your taxes. That's illegal and people with guns will bother you. I'm saying to STOP playing the game THEIR way.

You, me, your wife, your husband, your parents and everyone else you know has been sold a bogus bill of goods by a system intent on keeping you asleep. If you think about this for a few minutes, chances are, you will see the truth in that statement. Many of you will instantly recognize it as a fact.

I could go on and on, and I will, in fact, be writing about this in more detail. But don't wait for me, because thousands of really smart and interesting people are already doing this! I see myself being a part of one of these communities within the next couple of years (assuming this planet doesn't experience any extinction level events ha!).

Most people wouldn't call Slashdot mainstream media, but this recent post is the largest exposure that alternative type living has received that I know of. The Freestate Project is interesting because their aim is to actually gain control of the legislative process in the state they select and focus on 10th Amendment rights. If I wasn't headed for Oregon, I'd probably sign up for this. From previous posts on Slashdot, I can say that there is A LOT of interest in alternative living from that community of readers. Now that the Freestate Project has been on Slashdot, they should be close to reaching their 20,000 person target. Interested parties should also check out Intentional Communities for smaller scale communities.

The Free State Project is a plan in which 20,000 or more liberty-oriented people will move to a single state of the U.S. to secure there a free society. We will accomplish this by first reforming state law, opting out of federal mandates, and finally negotiating directly with the federal government for appropriate political autonomy. We will be a community of freedom-loving individuals and families, and create a shining example of liberty for the rest of the nation and the world.

Note: This story is fast on its way to becoming one of the most discussed topics on Slashdot: EVER.


10/20/2002



Sniper Took Out Top Infrastructure Protection Analyst :.

Coincidence?

An armed lunatic plaguing the Washington, DC area has managed to do more harm to American cyber-defence with a single .223 caliber bullet than an entire squadron of PLA hackers could hope to accomplish, Vmyths editor Rob Rosenberger points out in a recent rant.

FBI National Infrastructure Protection Center (NIPC) cyber-analyst Linda Franklin became the Beltway sniper's eleventh victim shot and ninth victim murdered last Monday as she loaded her car with merchandise in a suburban DC shopping mall.




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