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11/21/2002
U.S. Marines Engage in Domestic Law Enforcement Activities :.I was so shocked when I read this, I made a PDF of the actual CNN page because this is so far out I just don't think it will stay up for long: About 40 miles north of Conway, sheriff's deputies, state police and U.S. Marines are searching an 850-square-mile area along U.S. Highway 17 for any sign of the missing woman.For those of you who don't know, the use of regular U.S. Military personnel for law enforcement purposes is, basically, not allowed. See the following, from the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878: 10 U.S.C. (United States Code) 375
Sec. 375. Restriction on direct participation by military personnel:
The Secretary of Defense shall prescribe such regulations as may be necessary to ensure that any activity (including the provision of any equipment or facility or the assignment or detail of any personnel) under this chapter does not include or permit direct participation by a member of the Army, Navy, Air Force, or Marine Corps in a search, seizure, arrest, or other similar activity unless participation in such activity by such member is otherwise authorized by law.I'm not a lawyer, but it appears that the last sentence is key. Which law has been passed that authorizes the use of regular U.S. Marines in a domestic law enforcement capacity?
posted by Kevin at 2:06 PM
Pentagon to Track American Consumer Purchases :.Can you guys even believe this stuff? A massive database that the government will use to monitor every purchase made by every American citizen is a necessary tool in the war on terror, the Pentagon said Wednesday.
Edward Aldridge, undersecretary of Acquisitions and Technology, told reporters that the Pentagon is developing a prototype database to seek "patterns indicative of terrorist activity." Aldridge said the database would collect and use software to analyze consumer purchases in hopes of catching terrorists before it's too late.
"The bottom line is this is an important research project to determine the feasibility of using certain transactions and events to discover and respond to terrorists before they act," he said.
Aldridge said the database, which he called another "tool" in the war on terror, would look for telltale signs of suspicious consumer behavior.
Examples he cited were: sudden and large cash withdrawals, one-way air or rail travel, rental car transactions and purchases of firearms, chemicals or agents that could be used to produce biological or chemical weapons.
posted by Kevin at 1:31 PM
Tinkering with the Power of Creation :. Bill Joy is a smart man. His essay, "Why the Future Doesn't Need Us" sent shockwaves through technical and scientific communities because he said that the real threat to life on this planet was posed, not so much by nuclear weapons, but by robotics, biotechnology and nanotechnology. Joy is the Chief Scientist at Sun Microsystems: Part of the answer certainly lies in our attitude toward the new - in our bias toward instant familiarity and unquestioning acceptance. Accustomed to living with almost routine scientific breakthroughs, we have yet to come to terms with the fact that the most compelling 21st-century technologies - robotics, genetic engineering, and nanotechnology - pose a different threat than the technologies that have come before. Specifically, robots, engineered organisms, and nanobots share a dangerous amplifying factor: They can self-replicate. A bomb is blown up only once - but one bot can become many, and quickly get out of control.Bill Joy wrote those words in April of 2000. Today, scientists are about to create a synthetic organism that is capable of self-replication. Keep Joy's words in mind as you read the following: J. Craig Venter, the gene scientist with a history of pulling off unlikely successes, and Hamilton O. Smith, a Nobel laureate, are behind the plan. Their intent is to create a single-celled, partially man-made organism with the minimum number of genes necessary to sustain life. If the experiment works, the microscopic man-made cell will begin feeding and dividing to create a population of cells unlike any previously known to exist.
To ensure safety, Smith and Venter said the cell will be deliberately hobbled to render it incapable of infecting people; it also will be strictly confined, and designed to die if it does manage to escape into the environment.
More worrisome than the risk of escape, they acknowledged, is that the project could lay the scientific groundwork for a new generation of biological weapons, a risk that may force them to be selective about publishing technical details. But they said the project could also help advance the nation's ability to detect and counter existing biological weapons.
posted by Kevin at 5:54 AM
11/20/2002
Benjamin Franklin Saw This Nightmare ComingTR sent in the following. There's nothing new under the sun, folks: I've been reading the Anti-Federalist papers and the Constitutional Convention Debates and they are a MIND BLOWER. These people were escaping from a horrifying tyranny and they were deathly afraid of establishing another one. They knew that if money and power were mixed, disaster would soon follow. This article, written by Benjamin Franklin, is as American as apple pie, yet it is diametrically opposed to the modern day United States.
Benjamin Franklin, excerpt from Anti-Federalist #5, June 2, 1787:
Sir, there are two passions which have a powerful influence on the affairs of men. These are ambition and avarice; the love of power, and the love of money. Separately each of these has great force in prompting men to action; but when united in view of the same object, they have in many minds the most violent effects. Place before the eyes of such men, a post of honor that shall be at the same time a place of profit, and they will move heaven and earth to obtain it.
And of what kind are the men that will strive for this profitable pre-eminence, through all the bustle of cabal, the heat of contention, the infinite mutual abuse of parties, tearing to pieces the best of characters? It will not be the wise and moderate; the lovers of peace and good order, the men fittest for the trust. It will be the bold and the violent, the men of strong passions and indefatigable activity in their selfish pursuits. These will thrust themselves into your Government and be your rulers.
Generally indeed the ruling power carries its point, the revenues of princes constantly increasing, and we see that they are never satisfied, but always in want of more. The more the people are discontented with the oppression of taxes; the greater need the prince has of money to distribute among his partisans and pay the troops that are to suppress all resistance, and enable him to plunder at pleasure. There is a scarce king in a hundred who would not, if he could, follow the example of Pharaoh, get first all the peoples money, then all their lands, and then make them and their children servant: for ever. It will be said, that we don't propose to establish Kings. I know it. But there is a natural inclination in mankind to Kingly Government. It sometimes relieves them from Aristocratic domination. They had rather have one tyrant than five hundred. It gives more of the appearance of equality among Citizens, and that they like. I am apprehensive therefore, perhaps too apprehensive, that the Government of these States, may in future times, end in a Monarchy.
posted by Kevin at 5:13 AM
Smallpox: Pay-Day for Vaccine Companies :.The people in the White House either perpetrated 9/11 or, at a minimum, allowed it to happen. Now they want to stick you with needles full of poison, to supposedly protect you against an organism that probably originated in a U.S. weapons lab? And enrich their fascist buddies in the pharmaceutical companies while they're at it?! And nobody can sue after the smoke clears? If you take this vaccine, you ought to have your head examined! End of story: The Bush administration, voicing increased fears over the threat of a biological attack, has quietly moved one step closer to a voluntary national smallpox vaccination program by offering full legal protection to manufacturers and medical personnel who administer the vaccine.
A provision belatedly tucked into the homeland security bill, which is now pending before the Senate, eliminates the single remaining major obstacle in a yearlong push to improve the nation's readiness to deal with one of the deadliest viruses in history.
If a smallpox attack is launched, federal health officials aim to vaccinate all 280 million Americans within a week. That effort would take at least 1.5 million volunteers, many of them doctors and nurses employed by private hospitals, clinics or state health departments. A growing chorus of medical professionals warned they would not give the vaccine without guarantees they would not be held liable for the serious, sometimes fatal, complications that can occur.Update: Flu Shot Paralyzes Man :.Two weeks after his flu shot, Mr. Claman awoke with a pounding headache and a strange feeling in his feet. The doctor was reassuring, telling the 47-year-old businessman that the symptoms were probably related to stress.
His condition deteriorated, so he made his way to a hospital emergency room. His body was gradually going numb.
Doctors immediately recognized the tell-tale signs of Guillain Barr� syndrome, a baffling, potentially fatal condition that resembles polio.
By afternoon, Mr. Claman was completely paralyzed. He was placed in intensive care and put on a respirator.
posted by Kevin at 5:12 AM
Australia Moves to Implement Warrantless Searches :.It's coming down all over the world: Police will have the power to search without a warrant and without reasonable suspicion under proposed new terrorism laws released by the NSW Premier Bob Carr today.
"Police only exercise these powers in the wake of a credible threat or a terrorist strike and even then they would need to be renewed - in the case of a terrorist strike after 48 hours," said Premier Bob Carr at Parliament House today.
"The increased police powers mainly involve the power to search. I would argue they are entirely reasonable given the kind of threat that post-Bali we face."Research Credit: AM
posted by Kevin at 5:01 AM
Meet Your New Big Brother :.I'm not going to go too heavily into this right now. We've seen this coming for months, and will no doubt never hear the end of it. The fact that an agency like this was even contemplated in the U.S. should have been enough to indicate that we were in deep trouble. Now that it's a reality, well, just put another check in the "U.S. Is Doomed" column: Capping months of debate, the Senate on Tuesday approved 90 to 9 a bill that would create a Department of Homeland Security -- a massive reorganization of the federal government sparked by the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
President Bush praised the Senate in a statement issued shortly after the vote and said he looked "forward to signing this important legislation."
"This landmark legislation, the most extensive reorganization of the federal government since the 1940s, will help our nation meet the emerging threats of terrorism in the 21st century," Bush said.
posted by Kevin at 4:59 AM
You Better Be Sitting Down For This One :.Just when you thought you wouldn't be able to stand to look at one more SUV with waving American flags and stickers made by slave labor in China, you better not let those imbeciles in your neighborhood hear about this: And, yes, believe it or not, this is a real sign.
posted by Kevin at 3:10 AM
11/18/2002
Secret Court OKs Broad Wiretap Powers :.In a victory for the Bush administration, a secretive appeals court Monday ruled the U.S. government has the right to use expanded powers to wiretap terrorism suspects under a law adopted after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
The ruling was a blow to civil libertarians who say the expanded powers, which allow greater leeway in conducting electronic surveillance and in using information obtained from the wiretaps and searches, jeopardize constitutional rights.
In a 56-page ruling overturning a May opinion by the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, the three-judge appeals court panel said the Patriot Act gave the government the right to expanded powers.
Sweeping anti-terror legislation, called the USA Patriot Act and signed into law in October last year after the hijacked plane attacks, makes it easier for investigators and prosecutors to share information obtained by surveillance and searches.
posted by Kevin at 6:53 PM
Checkpoints Here, Checkpoints There, Checkpoints Everywhere :.A driver�s license checkpoint at the busy tri-city exchange between Eustis, Mount Dora, and Umatilla yielded nearly 1,000 vehicles.
Eustis Police Det. Elena Breedlove, who orchestrated the checkpoint, called the four-hour Friday night operation a success.
Breedlove said the area needed the proactive measure to remind citizens that Florida statutes require motorists to have in their possession a valid driver�s license. �It helps promote safety in the neighborhood,� she said. The check point stopped traffic in all four directions of the intersection of County Roads 44 and 452, near the Lake County Fairgrounds.
posted by Kevin at 6:51 PM
Terrorist Flight School and Narcotics Trafficking :.The FBI knew terrorists were training at flight schools in Florida. Why didn't they move in? The call from CIA HQ probably sounded something like this: "U.S. Intelligence assets are operating out of those facilities. The activities are sanctioned by CIA and related to U.S. National Security." In other words: Move along gentlemen, there's nothing to see here: Mounting evidence in the investigation into the terror flight schools in Venice FL is raising questions of whether an officially-sanctioned drug trafficking operation there discouraged the FBI from taking action against the terrorists that might have averted the World Trade Center disaster.
The dark specter of the drug trade is throwing an increasingly long shadow across the terrorist conspiracy's activities in Venice, where Mohamed Atta and his close associates, many of whom were German, frequently used cocaine. According to a credible eyewitness, when their supplies ran low they would procure more from a flight school at the Venice Airport.
posted by Kevin at 7:10 AM
Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Chips Everywhere Soon :.Asset tracking, or tracking your ass, these nanoscale ID chips need no power, cost next to nothing and can be placed on just about anything: Alien Technology Corporation is working with the Auto-ID Center and leading technology partners to deploy electronic product code (ePC) tags inexpensive enough to let virtually every product communicate, both locally and globally, throughout its life cycle.
By incorporating ePC tags into your supply chain, warehouse operations, and retail stores, you can cut operating costs and eliminate stock-outs while reducing inventory and billing errors.
Using the Auto-ID Center's open protocol, Alien delivers high performance at the lowest possible cost. The blue-chip membership of the Auto-ID Center, including leading global retailers and consumer goods companies, ensure that the protocol will see broad application and will be supported by major software and technology companies.
Even the simplest ePC tag is a powerful tool, with a user-programmable 64-bit code representing standard barcode data plus individual unit identification. Built on proven UHF technology, Alien's low-cost ePC tags and readers provide the range, speed, and robustness required for logistics and asset tracking.
posted by Kevin at 7:05 AM
London Lock-Down :.The U.S. is following Britain's lead when it comes to using technology for political control. Whether Americans like it or not, we can look at present day Britain and see where the U.S. will be within a couple of years, probably sooner. I'd have fewer reservations about visiting Beijing than I would about visiting London: The Mayor of London is demanding that the drivers waive certain rights under the Data Protection Act to obtain a discount on the �5 daily charge. Motoring groups said that the monitoring scheme �smacks of Big Brother�.
More than 83,000 people living inside the congestion charging zone and 218,000 disabled-badge holders in London are being told that they must agree to have their movements monitored. Transport for London, the mayor�s transport authority, plans to use a network of more than 200 cameras to identify any �suspicious movements� by those who may have fraudulently obtained a discount. Each vehicle will have its numberplate read by a camera three or more times while it is inside the eight-square-mile zone, which comes into force on February 17 next year. A central computer will check the numberplates against a list of those who have paid or who are exempt. Anyone not on the list will be sent an �80 penalty notice.
posted by Kevin at 6:54 AM
U.K.: Pedophiles may get Chipped :.Pedophiles today, soccer moms tomorrow: ELECTRONIC tracking devices could be implanted into convicted paedophiles under plans being considered by the government.
Microchips would be surgically fitted beneath the skin under local anaesthetic, enabling officials to follow abusers� movements and monitor their heart rate and blood pressure.
The tagging technology is similar to that used to locate stolen cars. It works by using satellites or a mobile phone network to pinpoint the person on an electronic map via a signal from the implant.
posted by Kevin at 6:50 AM
Socialist France? :.In the U.S., wealthy people have been barricading themselves behind gates and armed guards for decades. After all, fear of poor people (and being poor) is part of the American way. But in France?! Yep, apparently, socialist France is changing. Increasingly, people with a few Francs to rub together are choosing to live in walled and gate guarded private communities: French society is changing, with a growing rift between underprivileged masses surviving on welfare (supplementary benefit, job creation schemes) and a prosperous, highly qualified minority. The proliferation of gated communities in France is an illustration of this. French towns have traditionally been the scene of social interaction, with different classes and communities co-existing. But segregation is increasingly common. France's gated communities are pursuing an urban ideal, similar to those in the US, in which people choose to live with others as fortunate as themselves. Toulouse's engineers, scientists, barristers, architects and journalists are opting out of urban life to be among equals and leave public spaces to the poor that they fear.Research Credit: JH
posted by Kevin at 6:34 AM
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:. Reading
 Fatal
Harvest: The Tragedy of Industrial Agriculture by Andrew Kimbrell
Readers will come to see
that industrial food production is indeed a "fatal harvest"
- fatal to consumers, as pesticide residues and new disease vectors
such as E. coli and "mad cow disease" find their way
into our food supply; fatal to our landscapes, as chemical runoff
from factory farms poison our rivers and groundwater; fatal to
genetic diversity, as farmers rely increasingly on high-yield
monocultures and genetically engineered crops; and fatal to our
farm communities, which are wiped out by huge corporate
farms.
 Friendly
Fascism: The New Face of Power in America by Bertram Myron Gross
This is a relatively
short but extremely cogent and well-argued treatise on the rise
of a form of fascistic thought and social politics in late 20th
century America. Author Bertram Gross' thesis is quite straightforward;
the power elite that comprises the corporate, governmental and
military superstructure of the country is increasingly inclined
to employ every element in their formidable arsenal of 'friendly
persuasion' to win the hearts and minds of ordinary Americans
through what Gross refers to as friendly fascism.
 The
Good Life
by Scott and Helen Nearing Helen
and Scott Nearing are the great-grandparents of the back-to-the-land
movement, having abandoned the city in 1932 for a rural life based
on self-reliance, good health, and a minimum of cash...Fascinating,
timely, and wholly useful, a mix of the Nearings' challenging
philosophy and expert counsel on practical skills.
 Silent
Theft: The Private Plunder of Our Common Wealth by David Bollierd
In Silent Theft, David Bollier
argues that a great untold story of our time is the staggering
privatization and abuse of our common wealth. Corporations are
engaged in a relentless plunder of dozens of resources that we
collectively own—publicly funded medical breakthroughs,
software innovation, the airwaves, the public domain of creative
works, and even the DNA of plants, animals and humans. Too often,
however, our government turns a blind eye—or sometimes helps
give away our assets. Amazingly,
the silent theft of our shared wealth has gone largely unnoticed
because we have lost our ability to see the commons.
 The
Self-Sufficient Life and How to Live It: The Complete Back-To-Basics
Guide by John Seymour The
Self Sufficient Life and How to Live It is the only book that
teaches all the skills needed to live independently in harmony
with the land harnessing natural forms of energy, raising crops
and keeping livestock, preserving foodstuffs, making beer and
wine, basketry, carpentry, weaving, and much more.
 When
Corporations Rule the World by David C. Korten
When Corporations
Rule the World explains how economic globalization has concentrated
the power to govern in global corporations and financial markets
and detached them from accountability to the human interest. It
documents the devastating human and environmental consequences
of the successful efforts of these corporations to reconstruct
values and institutions everywhere on the planet to serve their
own narrow ends.
 The
New Organic Grower: A Master's Manual of Tools and Techniques
for the Home and Market Gardener
This expansion
of a now-classic guide originally published in 1989 is intended
for the serious gardener or small-scale market farmer. It describes
practical and sustainable ways of growing superb organic vegetables,
with detailed coverage of scale and capital, marketing, livestock,
the winter garden, soil fertility, weeds, and many other
topics.
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