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11/4/2005

Bush: Making Friends and Influencing People :.

What will 'god' tell him to do next?

Nearly six in 10 Americans, 58%, said they had doubts about the president's honesty, a 13% rise in 18 months. Only 32% believed Mr Bush was handling ethical issues well, a significantly worse score than Bill Clinton achieved in his last scandal-besmirched year in office. His overall popularity has plunged to 39%, a new low for the Washington Post/ABC survey.

Mr Bush is no more popular in Argentina, where a protest by several thousand demonstrators turned ugly. In the coastal city of Mar del Plata, where he is attending a regional summit, protesters set fire to a bank, looted stores and battled riot police.

Earlier, the tone was struck by the former football star Diego Maradona, who wore a "Stop Bush" T-shirt to an anti-Bush "counter-summit" that drew some 4,000 protesters from around the world and easily eclipsed the official summit in the public's attention. "I'm proud as an Argentine to repudiate the presence of this human trash, George Bush," said Maradona.

Maradona's anti-Bush sentiment was replicated across a country driven to a near standstill by tens of thousands of people angry at the Iraq war and the US president's push for a region-wide free trade deal. Hospital and subway workers went on strike in Buenos Aires.

The latest popularity poll was published after Lewis "Scooter" Libby became the first White House aide for 130 years to be indicted in office. He appeared in court on Thursday to plead not guilty to five charges of lying to investigators.



RoundUp Ready 'Weeds', Free of Charge to Monsanto Customers :.

HA! Becky wants an amaranth grove on our farm. She will love this story:

...these 'weeds' with natural genetic resistance to herbicides are doing quite well, thankyouverymuch. thanks to farmers who'd been idiotically planting round-up ready soybeans every year since 1996, test plants in tennessee withstood a full 22 oz shot of roundup, and some even survived a double dose of 44 oz.



Hell: Made in China :.

Smuggled images from inside one of China's largest slave labor camps:

Inside the Lao Gai

The Lao Gai are the largest gulags of our times, providing the slave labour helping to propel China's economy. Rare images smuggled out reveal the brutal conditions inside the camps.


Related: Chinese Billionaires on the Rise


11/3/2005

Apple Ramping Up TPM Lockdown on Intel Platform :.

Sometime next year, that a-hole Steve Jobs is going to walk out onto a stage at some Apple keynote presentation. He will yammer about ipods and maybe some other consumer crack for two hours. That's when "it" will happen.

Jobs will proceed to remove the mask.

* gasping noises rise from the audience as Jobs unfurls *

Moments later, B Gates will gaze out over the shocked crowd with a glimmer in his eye.

"And now, one more thing..."

Although the TPM restrictions are still protecting the OS as of this writing, the word on the street is that hackers have already begun dissecting Apple's new security measures. We are told that the TPM protections in 10.4.3 are significantly stronger, indicating that Apple has used the previous two releases to refine their mechanism for hardware control.

Related: Watch Steve Jobs Unfurl



U.S. Fears Prospect of Saudi Coup, Weighs Invasion Plans :.

I think Saudi Arabia, not Iraq, is the actual crown jewel in the eyes of U.S. geostrategists... Saudi Arabia WILL NOT be allowed to come under control of a radical Islamic regime. Absolutely, positively, will not. However, the House of Saud knows it's in dire trouble. I would not be surprised, at all, if the U.S. military was introduced into Saudi Arabia to, in effect, insure the "stability" of the criminal Saudi Regime. Is there anyone out there who thinks that the establishment of U.S. Central Command less than three hundred miles from Riyadh is a coincidence?

- Cryptogon, 2002
Flash forward to today:

The United States has raised the prospect of a military invasion of Saudi Arabia.

The House Armed Services Committee considered the possibility of a Saudi coup and U.S. response during a hearing on Oct. 26.

Saudi Arabia, with 200,000 military and National Guard troops, is the largest oil producer and exporter, with an output of nine million barrels of oil per day, according to Middle East Newsline. The Arab kingdom is the third largest supplier of oil to the United States, with more than 1.55 million barrels per day.

The scenario was outlined by Michael O'Hanlon, a senior fellow of the Brookings Institution, who cited a Saudi coup as one of several threats to the United States.

"How should the United States respond if a coup, presumably fundamentalist in nature, overthrows the royal family in Saudi Arabia?" O'Hanlon asked. "Such a result would raise the specter of major disruption to the oil economy."



FRENCH RIOTERS SHOOT AT POLICE, FIRE CREWS :.

Sooner or later, poverty will become a national security problem. Case in point, France:

Rioting youths shot at police and firefighters Thursday after burning car dealerships and public buses and hurling rocks at commuter trains. France's government faced growing pressure to curb the violence, fueled by anger over poor conditions in suburban Paris housing projects.



War by Remote Control :.

SkyNet v1.0:

As opposed to the expectations of many, the disengagement has not brought about real progress toward peace, but undoubtedly caused a revolutionary change in the way war is conducted. The violence of body touching body and eye meeting eye, the friction saturated with hatred at the checkpoints and in the alleyways, and the sight of spilled blood - the intimate violence of conflicted communities - is changing in front of our eyes, and has become a push-button war, shooting via TV screens, robots and computers, and long range artillery.

There's no more need to occupy territory and fill it with soldiers; it's possible to position a battery of cannons and mark out "killing zones" that are no less effective than the occupation in practice, and allow sticking to the fiction that "the occupation of Gaza is over." Land forces are envious of the air force, and also want to fight by pushing buttons. They also want to feel like the former air force commander and current chief of staff, who said, "I feel a slight knock in the plane as a result of releasing the bomb, and a second later it passes and that's all." True, innocent people are killed, but on the TV screen it doesn't look so terrible.

Therefore, the commanders of the ground forces devised a driverless armored vehicle, which patrols under remote control command and opens fire on the order of a youth sitting in front of a TV screen, who "identifies the enemy." Spanish TV recently broadcast a report on the arsenal of robots - on land and sea and in the air - that is turning the Israeli-Palestinian conflict into a kind of computer game, of course, on condition that you're on the Israeli side. And if you're Palestinian, you should be grateful that at least you won't have to see the occupier at the Rafah crossing.



U.S. Leads Way in Medical Errors :.

Patients in the United States reported higher rates of medical errors and more disorganized doctor visits and out-of-pocket costs than people in Canada, Britain and three other developed countries, according to a survey released on Thursday.



Israel Terrorizes Palestinians with Sonic Boom Air Raids :.

Israel is deploying a terrifying new tactic against Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip by letting loose deafening "sound bombs" that cause widespread fear, induce miscarriages and traumatise children.

The removal of Jewish settlers from the Gaza Strip opened the way for the military to use air force jets to create dozens of sonic booms by breaking the sound barrier at low altitude, sending shockwaves across the territory, often at night. Palestinians liken the sound to an earthquake or huge bomb. They describe the effect as being hit by a wall of air that is painful on the ears, sometimes causing nosebleeds and "leaving you shaking inside".

The Palestinian health ministry says the sonic booms have led to miscarriages and heart problems. The United Nations has demanded an end to the tactic, saying it causes panic attacks in children. The shockwaves have also damaged buildings by cracking walls and smashing thousands of windows.


11/2/2005

Michael Moore Owns Halliburton Stock :.

Limousine liberals ARE the problem. Pull the mask off of any limousine liberal and you'll find youself gazing at Cheney:

Michael Moore, the biggest mouthpiece of the anti-hypocrite left, constantly denounces Republicans as racists for opposing affirmative action. Schweizer reports that Moore almost never hires black people. Moore insists, "I don't own a single share of stock." He denounces clever Enron style schemes to conceal wealth and rails against Haliburton as the Mother of All Evils. He told C-Span's Brian Lamb in his best prolier-than-thou voice that he wanted nothing to do with the stock market. "That's the rich man's game."

Well, it turns out Moore's got another game going. As Schweizer reports, Moore told the IRS his home is the headquarters of his tax-free foundation, to which he contributes some of his millions for the write-off. The foundation, in turn, not only bought stock --- its holdings are a Who's Who of "greedy" corporations, including Halliburton.



Bird Flu Threat May Spur U.S. to Recommend Vaccinations for All :.

Unfurled!

The U.S. should recommend the largest annual vaccination program ever undertaken as a way to prepare against the threat of an avian influenza pandemic, public health officials said.

An annual flu vaccination campaign led by the federal government that targets every American would ensure the U.S. can rapidly produce and administer enough shots to protect the country against a lethal contagion, said Rex Archer, president of the National Association of County and City Health Officials.

President George W. Bush's flu pandemic plan announced yesterday may help increase vaccine production by protecting drugmakers such as Sanofi-Aventis SA, GlaxoSmithKline Plc, and Novartis AG against lawsuits. A universal flu shot recommendation would provide drugmakers an additional economic incentive to build the vaccine plants needed in a pandemic.

Flu shots for all Americans would be "would be a massive program, delivering more vaccine than all other vaccines combined," said Benjamin Schwartz, senior science adviser to the U.S. National Vaccine Program Office, at a conference in Atlanta Oct. 25.


Related: Donald H. Rumsfeld - Former Chairman of Gilead Sciences

Related: Tamiflu

Related: Bird Flu "Pandemic" Antidote: Wash Hands

Related: Spain: Bird Flu Sparking Human Epidemic Is 'Science Fiction'

Related: STRATFOR on Bird Flu: Calm Down



CIA Operates Soviet Era Gulag, Other Secret Prisons :.

I sh!t you not!

The CIA has been hiding and interrogating some of its most important al Qaeda captives at a Soviet-era compound in Eastern Europe, according to U.S. and foreign officials familiar with the arrangement.

The secret facility is part of a covert prison system set up by the CIA nearly four years ago that at various times has included sites in eight countries, including Thailand, Afghanistan and several democracies in Eastern Europe, as well as a small center at the Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba, according to current and former intelligence officials and diplomats from three continents.

The hidden global internment network is a central element in the CIA's unconventional war on terrorism. It depends on the cooperation of foreign intelligence services, and on keeping even basic information about the system secret from the public, foreign officials and nearly all members of Congress charged with overseeing the CIA's covert actions.

The existence and locations of the facilities -- referred to as "black sites" in classified White House, CIA, Justice Department and congressional documents -- are known to only a handful of officials in the United States and, usually, only to the president and a few top intelligence officers in each host country.



Unrest Spreads to Nine French Towns :.

Unrest spread across troubled suburbs around Paris in a sixth night of violence as police clashed with angry youths and scores of vehicles were torched in at least nine towns, local officials said.

Police in riot gear fired rubber bullets late Tuesday at advancing gangs of youths in Aulnay-sous-Bois -- one of the worst-hit suburbs -- where 15 cars were burned, according to officials in the Seine-Saint-Denis region.


11/1/2005

End of Fundraiser for Tony's Crusty Roadshow :.

I spoke with Tony last night. I can confirm that he is settling into an ecovillage somewhere in Western Oregon. (His mobile phone was barely holding a signal.) Man oh man, from what he told me, it sounds like they have fired up and incredible community. I don't want to steal any of Tony's thunder, so you're just going to have to wait to hear about the organic gardens, yurts, shacks, hovels, compost heaps and the biodiesel truck with its own ecosystem of mosses and plants.

He wasn't able to resurrect his laptop, so he's still without access to the Internet. Thanks in part to the generosity of the following Cryptogon readers, Tony will be back online soon:

DB $25 AB $20 KH $25 AH $25 DG $30 PT $25 KL $25 MW $20

Well done, people. We raised $195, plus my $50. That's a grand total of $245!



October U.S. Sales at GM and Ford Drop 23% :.

General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. both reported 23 percent declines in October U.S. sales on Tuesday, as high gasoline prices further undercut demand for big sport utility vehicles.


10/31/2005

U.S. Colonel Killed in Iraq :.

When was the last time a U.S. colonel was killed in combat?

Col. William Wood, commanding officer of the 1st Battalion, 184th Infantry Regiment, died last week, the highest-ranking U.S. officer to be killed in combat in the Iraq war, the U.S. military said Monday.



Sony CD DRM Installs Rootkit on Windows :.

The entire experience was frustrating and irritating. Not only had Sony put software on my system that uses techniques commonly used by malware to mask its presence, the software is poorly written and provides no means for uninstall. Worse, most users that stumble across the cloaked files with a RKR scan will cripple their computer if they attempt the obvious step of deleting the cloaked files.



Ameriquest: Proud Sponsor of the American Dream, and Other Swindles :.

Ameriquest Capital Corp. has spent hundreds of millions to build name recognition for its mortgage companies over the last two years --- inking high-profile deals with pro baseball, football and auto racing, and sponsoring the Rolling Stones on their current U.S. tour.

The slogan for its Ameriquest Mortgage unit --- "Proud Sponsor of the American Dream" --- pays homage to its business of making home loans.

What neither the slogan nor the branding campaign says, however, is that Orange-based Ameriquest is almost entirely a supplier of "sub-prime" refinancings for homeowners who may not be able to get lower-cost prime loans because of bad credit, an inability to document their income or other financial issues.

Consumer advocates have complained for years that some people with good credit are often steered into more expensive sub-prime loans. The Ameriquest branding campaign --- with its broad slogan and lack of references to its sub-prime specialty --- is likely to attract many prime-worthy borrowers who don't realize that the company doesn't offer traditional mortgages, said Norma Garcia, a senior attorney for Consumers Union.

"They are clearly advertising to the prime market," Garcia said. "They're saying that they are for everyone --- and I think that's true. They're not going to turn anyone away just because they could qualify for a better prime loan."



Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping :.

HA! If you're going to be a freak, you might as well make a good show out of it:

Let The Heralds Sing!
Is Reverend Billy Coming to your Town?
THE SHOPOCALYPSE TOUR
November 27th to December 25th



Final Day: Tony's Crusty Road Show Fundraiser :.

The last I heard, TR was making his way to an ecovillage somewhere deep inside the ecotopia of Western Oregon. If you haven't already, please consider throwing a few bucks in the jar to help TR get a working computer.



Is Mortgage Interest Tax Deduction in Peril? :.

The U.S. may be entering the Mexican standoff phase:

Is there really any chance that Congress could take away mortgage interest and state and local property and income tax deductions from homeowners?

A presidentially appointed bipartisan commission is expected to urge precisely that Tuesday when it delivers its final report to the Bush administration.



A Remote Control that Controls Humans :.

This was the most submitted story to Cryptogon---ever. I was shaking my head, thinking, "This is old news, guys." I thought for sure that I'd already covered this one. I couldn't, however, find it in the archives. Maybe I got confused with the remote controlled rats from a few years ago...

Anyway:

Prepare to be remotely controlled. I was.

Just imagine being rendered the rough equivalent of a radio-controlled toy car.

Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corp., Japans top telephone company, says it is developing the technology to perhaps make video games more realistic. But more sinister applications also come to mind.

I can envision it being added to militaries' arsenals of so-called "non-lethal" weapons.

....

Timothy Hullar, assistant professor at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Mo., believes finding the right way to deliver an electromagnetic field to the ear at a distance could turn the technology into a weapon for situations where "killing isn't the best solution."

"This would be the most logical situation for a nonlethal weapon that presumably would make your opponent dizzy," he said via e-mail. "If you find just the right frequency, energy, duration of application, you would hope to find something that doesn't permanently injure someone but would allow you to make someone temporarily off-balance."

Indeed, a small defense contractor in Texas, Invocon Inc., is exploring whether precisely tuned electromagnetic pulses could be safely fired into people's ears to temporarily subdue them.


10/30/2005

New Zealand Update: We Bought the Farm

Several of you have written in to ask about the move to New Zealand. Becky and I have been actively working toward our goal, and today is an especially appropriate day for me to update you guys on our progress.

Earlier this afternoon, Becky and I received emails from our lawyer in New Zealand. The purchase of our 5 acre farm is complete. Mum (Becky's mom and my future mummy in law) picked up the keys.

Done. Finished. Sorted. It's ours.

I've already bought my airline ticket: Straight shot, Los Angeles to Auckland, one way! My brand new U.S. passport (old style, RFID free---not that it matters) arrived in the mail yesterday.

Wait until we set up our farm website. Man, that's going to be a good show. Our neighbors are hard core permaculture/local farmer's market folks. They have permaculture "open house" at their farm (which is next to ours) for the community to see what's going on. They already let us know that they will supply us with cuttings and heirloom seeds as soon as we are ready to get started.

All in all, great news!

Related: Grass Under Renovation and Fleeing the United States



Can You Hear Me Now? :.

What insurgent picks up a satellite phone and thinks, "This is a secure line?" Or are we expected to believe that Uncle doesn't monitor each and every call made over that network?

This is either a UKUSA-sanctioned command and control comlink, or a honey pot. Take your pick:

BRITISH diplomats had a satellite phone stolen in Baghdad...and only noticed it was missing after a bill for FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND POUNDS was run up.

The invoice shows thousands of phone calls made to Yemen and Saudi Arabia, bases for al-Qaeda terror networks. MI6 spy chiefs fear the "Thuraya" phone was used by insurgents to plot a wave of suicide bombings across Iraq.

Now furious Foreign Secretary Jack Straw has launched a major investigation into how the theft was allowed to happen - and why nothing was done until the huge bill was uncovered.



For Sale: Britain's Underground City :.

It covers 240 acres and has 60 miles of roads and its own railway station. It even includes a pub called the Rose and Crown.




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The Good Life
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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.