PG&E Agrees to Buy Power from Canadian Firm’s Proposed ‘Wave Park’
December 24th, 2007Via: San Francisco Chronicle:
Ocean waves pack immense energy in a small area. Tapping even a fraction of it could provide large amounts of electricity without pumping greenhouse gases into the air. And because the energy is so concentrated, the machines needed to tap it, in theory, don’t have be as big as a wind farm or a large-scale solar plant.
As a result, wave power could one day be cheaper than those other energy technologies.
“Wind and solar are very diffuse sources – you have to cover a lot of area to collect energy,” said Roger Bedard, leader of ocean energy studies at the Electric Power Research Institute. “Waves carry a lot of energy in a small space. Smaller machines cost less than bigger machines.”
Police Begin Fingerprinting on Traffic Stops
December 24th, 2007See, the pigs need the biometric ID to protect you, to make sure they only issue bullshit revenue generating tickets to the right slaves.
Why not just get the eye scan, ear lobe and gate recognition data too?
Via: wbay:
If you’re ticketed by Green Bay police, you’ll get more than a fine. You’ll get fingerprinted, too. It’s a new way police are cracking down on crime.
If you’re caught speeding or playing your music too loud, or other crimes for which you might receive a citation, Green Bay police officers will ask for your drivers license and your finger. You’ll be fingerprinted right there on the spot. The fingerprint appears right next to the amount of the fine.
Police say it’s meant to protect you — in case the person they’re citing isn’t who they claim to be. But not everyone is sold on that explanation.
“What we’ve seen happen for the last couple of years [is] increasing use of false or fraudulent identification documents,” Captain Greg Urban said.
Police say they want to prevent the identity theft problem that Milwaukee has, where 13 percent of all violators give a false name.
Hoover Planned Mass Jailings in 1950: He Wanted to Suspend Habeas Corpus and Detain 12,000
December 23rd, 2007“The past is never dead. It’s not even past.”
—William Faulkner, Requiem for a Nun
Via: San Francisco Chronicle – New York Times:
A newly declassified document shows that J. Edgar Hoover, the long-time director of the FBI, had a plan to suspend habeas corpus and imprison some 12,000 Americans he suspected of disloyalty.
Hoover sent his plan to the White House on July 7, 1950, 12 days after the Korean War began. It envisioned putting suspect Americans in military prisons.
Hoover wanted President Harry Truman to proclaim the mass arrests necessary to “protect the country against treason, espionage and sabotage.” The FBI would “apprehend all individuals potentially dangerous” to national security, Hoover’s proposal said. The arrests would be carried out under “a master warrant attached to a list of names” provided by the bureau.
The names were part of an index that Hoover compiled over many years. “The index now contains approximately twelve thousand individuals, of which approximately ninety-seven percent are citizens of the United States,” he wrote.
“In order to make effective these apprehensions, the proclamation suspends the Writ of Habeas Corpus,” it said.
Habeas corpus, the right to seek relief from illegal detention, has been a fundamental principle of law for seven centuries. The Bush administration’s decision to hold suspects for years at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, has made habeas corpus a contentious issue for Congress and the Supreme Court today.
The Constitution says habeas corpus shall not be suspended “unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion, the public safety may require it.” The plan proposed by Hoover, the head of the FBI from 1924 to 1972, stretched that clause to include “threatened invasion” or “attack upon United States troops in legally occupied territory.”
After the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, President Bush issued an order that effectively allowed the United States to hold suspects indefinitely without a hearing, a lawyer, or formal charges. In September 2006, Congress passed a law suspending habeas corpus for anyone deemed an “unlawful enemy combatant.”
Research Credit: PW
Cryptogon Reader Signs Up for Hosting with Blue Host
December 23rd, 2007Thanks to the owner of Marginal Way House for signing up for webhosting services with Blue Host. Cryptogon received $65 as a result.
Statement Introducing the Free Competition in Currency Act
December 23rd, 2007The man is taking his life in his hands.
Via: U.S. House of Representatives:
Statement Introducing the Free Competition in Currency Act
13 December 2007
Rep. Ron Paul, M.D.
Madame Speaker, I rise to introduce the Free Competition in Currency Act. This act would eliminate two sections of US Code that, although ostensibly intended to punish counterfeiters, have instead been used by the government to shut down private mints. As anti-counterfeiting measures, these sections are superfluous, as 18 USC 485, 490, and 491 already grant sufficient authority to punish counterfeiters.
The two sections this bill repeals, 18 USC 486 and 489, are so broadly written as to effectively restrict any form of private coinage from competing with the products of the United States Mint. Allowing such statutes to remain in force as a catch-all provision merely encourages prosecutorial abuse. One particular egregious recent example is that of the Liberty Dollar, in which federal agents seized millions of dollars worth of private currency held by a private mint on behalf of thousands of people across the country.
Due to nearly a century of inflationary monetary policy on the part of the Federal Reserve, the US dollar stands at historically low levels. Investors around the world are shunning the dollar, and millions of Americans see their salaries, savings accounts, and pensions eroded away by rising inflation. We stand on the precipice of an unprecedented monetary collapse, and as a result many people have begun to look for alternatives to the dollar.
As a proponent of competition in currencies, I believe that the American people should be free to choose the type of currency they prefer to use. The ability of consumers to adopt alternative currencies can help to keep the government and the Federal Reserve honest, as the threat that further inflation will cause more and more people to opt out of using the dollar may restrain the government from debasing the currency. As monopolists, however, the Federal Reserve and the Mint fear competition, and would rather force competitors out using the federal court system and the threat of asset forfeiture than compete in the market.
A free society should shun this type of strong-arm action, and the Free Competition in Currency Act would take the necessary first steps to freeing the market for competing currencies. I urge my colleagues to support this bill.
No Trial, No Conviction: FBI Steals Millions of Dollars Worth of Gold from Individuals on Deposit with Liberty Dollar, Plans Auction
December 23rd, 2007That the cops have stolen people’s gold and intend to sell it isn’t news to me, but rather a real world lesson on why I keep my gold in a vault in Switzerland. The U.S. is “behind enemy lines” in my opinion. People in the U.S. are in grave danger. It’s not complicated, if you’ve been paying attention. Of course, the majority of Americans don’t see this, and won’t. They’ll dig their own holes, with smiles on their faces, when the pigs hand them the shovels.
“Don’t taze me bro, I’ll dig faster.”
When you buy physical gold, you’re REALLY hurting the machine. It gums up the works, and bad! It unravels the ponzi scheme because your money has now disappeared into a chunk of yellow metal that They can’t lend to other suckers as credit. Ouch. That’s you kicking bankers in the nuts and gouging out their eyes.
Here’s the problem with the Liberty Dollar: People were actually using the thing in commerce. That is a FAR more serious threat to the machine than simply converting your money into gold. To actually be able to go about your daily life, conducting any amount of business in a precious metal based currency, won’t be allowed. Unthinkable. Unless They created it, and control it, They’ll stop it by any means necessary.
And no, the hippie alternative currencies aren’t a threat to Them if the hippie communities work within the state/federal framework, meaning that the transactions are taxed and the taxes are paid in U.S. Dollars/Fiat Paper of the Realm. The problems occur when a group of people thinks up some alternative currency outside the federal government system—it doesn’t matter what the medium is—and it starts to catch on. This is what happened to the LibertyDollar people. It didn’t matter that they wrote:
REMEMBER: The Liberty Dollar is a PRIVATE inflation proof currency and is NOT United States government currency, ‘legal tender’ or a ‘coin’. Using the Liberty Dollar as barter for products and services at businesses across the country is voluntary.
What’s not voluntary is that Uncle $am wants a piece of it, whether you’re using paper based free love hippie dollars, gold, silver or sea shells. If people are conducting commerce using the alternative currency and that thing isn’t paying up the pyramid, the feds will show up.
I never liked the LibertyDollar because it was clear to me that they were headed for a confrontation with the Government that I was sure they would lose. And in this case, even people who had their gold on deposit are now having to sue the government in an attempt to recover their metal.
Via: LibertyDollar:
Unfortunately, the draconian raid/seizure/forfeiture by this government is SOP – Standard Operating Procedures! In fact, the more you learn, the worse it is. Once raided, the victim need not be arrested or even charged with a crime before his/her property can be forfeited and auctioned. This is so common that the police often refer to the seized property as “their” property. After all, like any common thief, they stole it… its “theirs”! Or so they would have you think!
Wait! It is not quite that simple with the Liberty Dollar. You see, I considered this dirty, stinking government trick when I designed and developed the Warehouse Receipt (WR) program. And although I didn’t think they would really be this bad or simply ignorant… there is no doubt now. For that reason I am not the signatory on the Warehouse Receipt. Nor could I sign the WR because I am not the Warehouse Official. I don’t even work for the warehouse. Remember the warehouse is totally independent and the official issuer of the warehouse receipt. NORFED, Liberty Services, myself, everybody who uses them are simply distributors of the receipts.
But the worst news is “economic persecution”. Now we have to fight for your property… with nothing because they took everything in the raid. If we hadn’t received some donations to get a new computer, we wouldn’t even be able to send out this cry for help.
No Charges, No Trial, No Conviction: Cops Steal a Couple’s Life Savings Over a Small Amount of Marijuana
December 22nd, 2007Via: LimaOhio.com:
Two robbers who broke into Luther Ricks Sr.’s house this summer may have not gotten his life savings he had in a safe, but after the FBI confiscated it he may not get it back.
Ricks has tried to get an attorney to fight for the $402,767 but he has no money. Lima Police Department officers originally took the money from his house but the FBI stepped in and took it from the Police Department. Ricks has not been charged with a crime and was cleared in a fatal shooting of one of the robbers but still the FBI has refused to return the money, he said.
“They are saying I have to prove I made it,” he said.
The 63-year-old Ricks said he and his wife, Meredith, saved the money during their lifetime in which both worked while living a modest life.
A representative of the FBI could not be reached for comment.
During the fatal shooting incident inside the house June 30, Ricks and his son were being attacked by two men and his son was stabbed. Ricks broke free, grabbed a gun and shot to death 32-year-old Jyhno Rock inside his home at 939 Greenlawn Ave.
Police originally took the money after finding marijuana inside Ricks’ home, which Ricks said he had to help manage pain.
“I smoke marijuana. I have arthritis. I have shingles, a hip replacement,” he said.
Ricks, who is retired from Ohio Steel Foundry, said he always had a safe at home and never had a bank account.
American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio Legal Director Jeff Gamso said Ricks has a tough road ahead, not impossible, but tough to get back his money.
“The law of forfeiture basically says you have to prove you’re innocent. It’s terrible, terrible law,” he said.
The law is tilted in favor of the FBI in that Ricks need not be charged with a crime and the FBI stands a good chance at keeping the money, Gamso said.
“The law will presume it is the result of ill-gotten gains,” he said.
Still Ricks can pursue it and possibly convince a judge he had the money through a lifetime of savings. Asking the FBI usually doesn’t work, he said.
“The FBI, before they would give it up, would want dated receipts,” he said.
If the FBI does keep the money, it would be put toward a law enforcement use, if the city of Lima does not fight for it because the city discovered it, Gamso said.
Lima Law Director Tony Geiger said he has not been asked to stake a legal claim for the money.
Fed to Offer Emergency Loans to Banks for as “Long as Necessary”
December 22nd, 2007Via: Bloomberg:
The Federal Reserve will conduct biweekly emergency auctions of loans as “long as necessary” as part of a global attempt by central bankers to restore faith in the money markets.
The Fed and European Central Bank loaned $30 billion in 35- day funds today at an interest rate of 4.67 percent, 2 basis points more than the initial special auctions four days ago. The rates are less than the 4.75 percent banks are charged to borrow directly at the Fed’s discount window, suggesting the central bank is making progress in alleviating the credit crunch.
“The Fed finally gets it,” said Andrew Brenner, co-head of structured products in New York at MF Global Ltd. “This allows the Fed to postpone easing, which they prefer due to inflation.”
The U.S. central bank had scheduled four special auctions, with the final two slated for Jan. 14 and Jan. 18. The central banks, along with those in Canada, Switzerland and the U.K., announced plans on Dec. 12 to move in concert to alleviate the credit squeeze threatening global growth, in the biggest act of international economic cooperation since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
FBI Prepares Vast Biometrics Database
December 22nd, 2007I have a running hypotheses that the plan is to physically track each individual’s position on the ground, at all times. In AT&T Invents Programming Language for Mass Surveillance, I speculated that the mobile phone data might be the way that it is being done.
Well, there’s no need to speculate about what They want to do. The Washington Post article blurts it right out:
At the West Virginia University Center for Identification Technology Research (CITeR), 45 minutes north of the FBI’s biometric facility in Clarksburg, researchers are working on capturing images of people’s irises at distances of up to 15 feet, and of faces from as far away as 200 yards. Soon, those researchers will do biometric research for the FBI.
Covert iris- and face-image capture is several years away, but it is of great interest to government agencies.
In other words, once you have been declared and enemy of the state, there will be no way to hide. You won’t see the eye scanners, or know when one has provided the state with your present location.
Here’s another interesting coincidence:
The FBI is building its system according to standards shared by Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
The countries that run ECHELON, the largest civilian communications surveillance program in the world, have developed unified standards for biometric identification.
See how this might look in the future by looking at Iraq. That’s the beta testing phase for what’s in store for the rest of us. See Mobile Labs to Target Iraqis for Death Using Biometric Data.
Via: Washington Post:
The FBI is embarking on a $1 billion effort to build the world’s largest computer database of peoples’ physical characteristics, a project that would give the government unprecedented abilities to identify individuals in the United States and abroad.
Digital images of faces, fingerprints and palm patterns are already flowing into FBI systems in a climate-controlled, secure basement here. Next month, the FBI intends to award a 10-year contract that would significantly expand the amount and kinds of biometric information it receives. And in the coming years, law enforcement authorities around the world will be able to rely on iris patterns, face-shape data, scars and perhaps even the unique ways people walk and talk, to solve crimes and identify criminals and terrorists. The FBI will also retain, upon request by employers, the fingerprints of employees who have undergone criminal background checks so the employers can be notified if employees have brushes with the law.
“Bigger. Faster. Better. That’s the bottom line,” said Thomas E. Bush III, assistant director of the FBI’s Criminal Justice Information Services Division, which operates the database from its headquarters in the Appalachian foothills.
The increasing use of biometrics for identification is raising questions about the ability of Americans to avoid unwanted scrutiny. It is drawing criticism from those who worry that people’s bodies will become de facto national identification cards.
…
“It’s going to be an essential component of tracking,” said Barry Steinhardt, director of the Technology and Liberty Project of the American Civil Liberties Union. “It’s enabling the Always On Surveillance Society.”
If successful, the system planned by the FBI, called Next Generation Identification, will collect a wide variety of biometric information in one place for identification and forensic purposes.
GAO Says Government Failed Yet Another Financial Audit
December 21st, 2007Yeah, but the Government gets high marks in transferring public wealth to a small number of private, blood soaked hands. Besides the atrocities, does that count for anything?
Via: Government Executive:
For the 11th straight year, the federal government failed its financial audit, GAO announced Monday, in a widely anticipated finding that Comptroller General David Walker used to underscore the government’s troubled fiscal health.
“If the federal government was a private corporation and the same report came out this morning, our stock would be dropping and there would be talk about whether the company’s management and directors needed a major shake-up” Walker said this afternoon in a speech at the National Press Club.
Just before his address, GAO issued a statement saying it could not express an opinion on the government’s fiscal 2007 consolidated financial statements, mostly due to the Defense Department’s financial management problems. In an announcement this morning, the agency also pointed to the government’s failure to account for intergovernmental activity and balances between agencies and federal agencies’ “ineffective process for preparing consolidated financial statements.”
Research Credit: Eileen
