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.
posted by Kevin at 11:59 PM

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.
posted by Kevin at 5:50 PM

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."
posted by Kevin at 3:59 PM

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
posted by Kevin at 11:21 AM

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.
posted by Kevin at 1:26 AM

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.
posted by Kevin at 1:18 AM

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.
posted by Kevin at 12:54 AM

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
posted by Kevin at 10:31 PM

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.
posted by Kevin at 10:40 AM

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.
posted by Kevin at 10:30 AM

I can see it now: The bioterrorists will be armed with pasture fed hens and organic vegetables...

* sigh *

When will the bioregional sucessionist movements become armed struggles? In North America, The Republic of Cascadia will probably be the first area to say enough is enough:

THE long-term threat of an avian flu pandemic could be greatly reduced by a project to produce genetically modified chickens that can resist lethal strains of the virus.

British scientists are genetically engineering chickens to protect them against the H5N1 virus that has devastated poultry farms in the Far East, with a view to replacing stocks with birds that are not susceptible to influenza.

The technique should also offer protection against many other strains of flu with the potential to start a human pandemic, such as the H7 subgroup that was responsible for an outbreak in Dutch poultry in 2003.

If chicken populations were to be replaced with transgenic birds that were resistant to flu, it would remove a reservoir of the virus and make it much harder for it to spread to humans and trigger a pandemic.

Related: Bird Flu Scam

Related: USDA's Mandatory Property and Animal Surveillance Program
posted by Kevin at 5:42 PM

Have you noticed a slow down in posts lately? It's because I'm in one of those phases where only the most F-ed up and weird stories register on my radar:

Fake flu shots were given out last week at an Exxon Mobil Corp. health fair and an investigation was under way, authorities said.

Exxon Mobil spokeswoman Treacy A. Roberts said Thursday that the Federal Bureau of Investigation told the company that the shots administered were "definitely not the flu vaccine."

FBI officials did not explain how they found out about the potential fraud, Roberts said.

Exxon Mobil offered blood tests and counseling to the up to 1,000 employees who took part in the health fair at the oil company's vast complex of refineries and chemical plants just east of Houston.

It doesn't appear that the fake shots were harmful, but steps were being taken to ensure workers' safety, U.S. Attorney Chuck Rosenberg said in a statement Thursday.

The FBI and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration are investigating what was in the syringes and whether others might have received the fake vaccine, Rosenberg said.

Jeanne Miller, another Exxon Mobil spokeswoman, said a doctor provided the shots in Exxon's first use of an outside contractor for the health fair. In the past, she said, flu shots at Exxon health fairs have been offered by company medical staff.

Miller declined to identify the doctor because of the federal investigation.
posted by Kevin at 6:03 PM

Last spring, the White House publicly embraced plans by Saudi Arabia to increase its oil production capacity significantly. But privately, some officials and others advising the government are skeptical about some of those Saudi forecasts.

The United States relies on a few producers to maintain enough spare capacity to keep prices and markets stable, even during war or disaster. As oil prices have climbed over the last few years amid surging demand and tight supplies, the Bush administration has looked to the Persian Gulf countries, particularly Saudi Arabia, to pump extra oil.

But doubts about Saudi Arabia's assurances of how much it can expand capacity - and for how long - have been raised in a secret intelligence report and in a separate analysis by a leading government oil adviser, according to a federal government official and the oil expert.

If those skeptical assessments are correct, the administration's hopes of increasing supplies would become still more difficult to fulfill. Washington's expectations about oil production from Iraq and the United Arab Emirates have proved overly optimistic, and the White House has failed to heed advice about both those countries from industry and government specialists, according to documents and interviews.

Research Credit: DR
posted by Kevin at 1:03 AM

Via Ran Prieur:

Stratfor subscribers have been sending us a steady river of requests for our opinion on the bird flu situation. Although we are not medical experts, among our sources are those who are. And here is what we have been able to conclude based on their input and our broader analysis of the bird flu threat:

Calm down.

Now let us qualify that: Since December 2003, the H5N1 bird flu virus -- which has caused all the ruckus -- has been responsible for the documented infection of 121 people, 91 one of whom caught the virus in Vietnam. In all cases where information on the chain of infection has been confirmed, the virus was transmitted either by repeated close contact with fowl or via the ingestion of insufficiently cooked chicken products. In not a single case has human-to-human communicability been confirmed. So long as that remains the case, there is no bird flu threat to the human population of places such as Vietnam at large, much less the United States.
posted by Kevin at 5:18 PM

US military experts are attempting to create an army of super-human soldiers who will be more intelligent and deadly thanks to a microchip implanted in their brains.

Scientists believe the implant will vastly improve the memory of troops so that they can recall every detail of their training and become more effective fighters.

Researchers at the University of Southern California's bio-engineering department have created the chip, which acts in exactly the same way as the hippocampus - the part of the brain that deals with memory.

In experiments, the team removed that section of the brain of dead rats and inserted the chip in its place. The implant sent exactly the same electronic signals as the real thing.

The next stage of the project is to test the implant on live animals. If this work proves to be as successful, experiments could one day be carried out on soldiers.
posted by Kevin at 4:16 PM

Crossing the threshold of 2,000 American military deaths in Iraq on Tuesday added to the pressure on President George W. Bush to show progress in Iraq amid waning public support for the war.
posted by Kevin at 2:37 PM

Anti-tax crusader Irwin Schiff was found guilty Monday of charges including conspiracy, tax evasion and tax fraud.

Schiff, 77, who argues that paying taxes is voluntary, was handcuffed and led from U.S. District Court after a jury found him guilty of all 13 charges.

Judge Kent Dawson could sentence Schiff to up to 43 years in prison and up to $3.25 million in fines, plus unspecified sanctions for outbursts during the trial. He ordered Schiff jailed without bond until sentencing Jan. 20.
posted by Kevin at 2:31 PM

But we gots the most fat people. That counts for sumthin, don't it?

The annual worldwide press freedom index from Reporters Without Borders shows the United States, which is supposedly spreading freedom and liberty throughout the world, is in a fast decline regarding the freedom of its own press.

The report ranked the United States in 44th place, an atomic drop from a favorable position of 22nd held last year, and from a handsome 17th place in 2002.
posted by Kevin at 1:47 AM

Make your time:

Then Barrack launches into a parable. "I feel totally safe playing polo on a field full of pros," says the bronzed 58-year-old. "But when amateurs are all over the field, someone can get killed. They have more guts than brains. They charge after every ball and don't know when to hold back." It's the same with the U.S. real estate market right now: "There's too much money chasing too few good deals, with too much debt and too few brains." The amateurs are going to get trampled, he explains, taking seasoned horsemen, who should get off the turf, down with them. Says Barrack: "That's why I'm getting out."
posted by Kevin at 1:30 AM

Rosa Parks, whose act of civil disobedience in 1955 inspired the modern civil rights movement, died Monday in Detroit, Michigan. She was 92.

Parks' moment in history began in December 1955 when she refused to give up her seat on a bus to a white man in Montgomery, Alabama.

Her arrest triggered a 381-day boycott of the bus system by blacks that was organized by a 26-year-old Baptist minister, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

The boycott led to a court ruling desegregating public transportation in Montgomery, but it wasn't until the 1964 Civil Rights Act that all public accommodations nationwide were desegregated.
posted by Kevin at 1:25 AM

The storm slammed across the state in about seven hours Monday, causing billions in insured damage and leaving 6 million people without electricity.
posted by Kevin at 1:23 AM

Accounts of this nonsense, circulating for months in the backwaters, is mainstream news now:

Facing the darkest days of his presidency, President Bush is frustrated, sometimes angry and even bitter, his associates say.

With a seemingly uncontrollable insurgency in Iraq, the White House is bracing for the political fallout from a grim milestone that could come any day: the combat death of the 2,000th American G.I.

Last week alone, 23 military personnel were killed in Iraq, and five were wounded yesterday in a relentless series of attacks across the country.

This week could also bring a special prosecutor's decision that could shake the foundations of the Bush government.

The President's top political guru, Karl Rove, and Vice President Cheney's right-hand man, Lewis (Scooter) Libby, are at the center of a two-year criminal probe into the leak of a CIA agent's identity. Many Bush staffers believe indictments are likely.

"He's like the lion in winter," observed a political friend of Bush. "He's frustrated. He remains quite confident in the decisions he has made. But this is a guy who wanted to do big things in a second term. Given his nature, there's no way he'd be happy about the way things have gone."

Bush usually reserves his celebrated temper for senior aides because he knows they can take it. Lately, however, some junior staffers have also faced the boss' wrath.

"This is not some manager at McDonald's chewing out the help," said a source with close ties to the White House when told about these outbursts. "This is the President of the United States, and it's not a pleasant sight."
posted by Kevin at 1:20 AM

Do you get it yet?

Foster City, CA, January 3, 1997 - Gilead Sciences Inc. (Nasdaq: GILD) today announced that board member Donald H. Rumsfeld will assume the position of Chairman, effective immediately. Mr. Rumsfeld succeeds Michael L. Riordan, M.D., who founded Gilead in 1987 and has served as Chairman since 1993. Dr. Riordan will continue to serve as a director on the board.

"Gilead is fortunate to have had Don Rumsfeld as a stalwart board member since the company's earliest days, and we are very pleased that he has accepted the Chairmanship," Dr. Riordan said. "He has played an important role in helping to build and steer the company. His broad experience in leadership positions in both industry and government will serve us well as Gilead continues to build its commercial presence."

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
posted by Kevin at 9:39 AM

Known as "Prussian Blue" - a nod to their German heritage and bright blue eyes - the girls from Bakersfield, Calif., have been performing songs about white nationalism before all-white crowds since they were nine.

"We're proud of being white, we want to keep being white," said Lynx. "We want our people to stay white ... we don't want to just be, you know, a big muddle. We just want to preserve our race."
posted by Kevin at 3:24 PM

As I suspected six months ago, U.S. military and Bush administration civilian officials confirmed last week that U.S. forces have invaded Syria and engaged in combat with Syrian forces.

An unknown number of Syrians are acknowledged to have been killed; the number of Americans -- if any -- who have died in Syria so far has not yet been revealed by the U.S. sources, who by the way insist on remaining faceless and nameless.

Related: ENTIRE 101ST AIRBORNE DIVISION DEPLOYING TO IRAQ
posted by Kevin at 1:33 AM

It's official: as of October 18th, the National Debt has risen to over eight trillion dollars. Incidentally, it was back in December 2003, less than two years ago, that the Debt surpassed a "mere" seven trillion dollars.
posted by Kevin at 1:26 AM

Saturday became a historic and meaningful day for hurricane trackers and weather buffs when Tropical Storm Alpha formed south off the Dominican Republic as a record 22nd named storm for the Atlantic season. It marked the first time forecasters had to turn to the Greek alphabet for names in almost 60 years of naming storms. The previous record of 21 named storms had stood since 1933.
posted by Kevin at 1:18 AM

Open Office 2.0 is great. Give it a try!
posted by Kevin at 10:42 AM

Do you get it yet?

The National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC) is calling the "Biodefense and Pandemic Vaccine and Drug Development Act of 2005"(S. 1873), which passed out of the U.S. Senate HELP Committee one day after it was introduced "a drug company stockholder's dream and a consumer's worst nightmare." The proposed legislation will strip Americans of the right to a trial by jury if harmed by an experimental or licensed drug or vaccine that they are forced by government to take whenever federal health officials declare a public health emergency.
posted by Kevin at 1:47 AM

Let them eat freedom fries:

President George W. Bush, hit by a series of domestic woes that have eroded his popularity, said on Thursday he was focused on his job and not on what he called "some background noise."
posted by Kevin at 1:33 PM

Looking for a definition of sh*t eating grin?
posted by Kevin at 1:11 PM

SkyBuilt Power recently captured the world's imagination with news that the CIA's venture capital firm, In-Q-Tel, has invested in their company and has a development agreement with them. SkyBuilt is an energy solutions company that makes innovative renewable energy systems. One product on the drawing board is a wind-solar hybrid power unit that can be parachuted to a rugged location and deployed within a few hours by two people.
posted by Kevin at 1:04 PM

They have given up well-paid jobs in the cities in search of the good life. With no previous experience, but equipped with degrees, idealism and the skills acquired in the corporate world, they are breathing new life into the countryside.

These are the findings of a new report published today examining the astonishing impact that organic farming is having on England's rural economy. Such is the influx of new blood, it is estimated that one in three of all new organic farmers has no previous farming experience. Six out of 10 organic producers have worked outside traditional farming at some point, bringing a much-needed injection of fresh ideas, the report said.

...

As well as being younger they are also happier, said Dr Lobley. "We think this reflects an increasingly popular lifestyle trend which is in part helping to shape the rural economy. They are working hard, but they seem to be happy with their way of life because they have made a positive choice to do it, and are not doing it by default."

Research Credit: cafemateo.com
posted by Kevin at 10:37 AM

US soldiers in Afghanistan burnt the bodies of dead Taliban and taunted their opponents about the corpses, in an act deeply offensive to Muslims and in breach of the Geneva conventions.

An investigation by SBS's Dateline program, to be aired tonight, filmed the burning of the bodies.

It also filmed a US Army psychological operations unit broadcasting a message boasting of the burnt corpses into a village believed to be harbouring Taliban.

According to an SBS translation of the message, delivered in the local language, the soldiers accused Taliban fighters near Kandahar of being "cowardly dogs". "You allowed your fighters to be laid down facing west and burnt. You are too scared to retrieve their bodies. This just proves you are the lady boys we always believed you to be," the message reportedly said.

"You attack and run away like women. You call yourself Taliban but you are a disgrace to the Muslim religion, and you bring shame upon your family. Come and fight like men instead of the cowardly dogs you are."
AdvertisementAdvertisement

The burning of a body is a deep insult to Muslims. Islam requires burial within 24 hours.

Research Credit: Mark
posted by Kevin at 8:40 AM

Maybe "bin Laden" will swoop low over Jesus Land, dropping fire and pestilence from his magic carpet...

* poof *

What indictments?

The special counsel in the C.I.A. leak case has told associates he has no plans to issue a final report about the results of the investigation, heightening the expectation that he intends to bring indictments, lawyers in the case and law enforcement officials said yesterday.
posted by Kevin at 1:57 AM

Via hereticfig, Apocalypse Soon:

Laboratories, some hope, may someday replace slaughterhouses and even now, researchers are working feverishly to pull steaks and hamburger out of their pipettes. Their goal is the development of giant bioreactors where butcher shop wares are grown out of cell cultures, potentially forever relegating mass-production chicken farms, veal calf production and pigsties to agriculture museums. One day, say some scientists, meat incubators could become standard kitchen equipment, allowing consumers to grow their own liver pâté and meat balls, turkey sausage and smoked salami.

Related: USDA's Mandatory Property and Animal Surveillance Program
posted by Kevin at 1:38 AM

Since when did hurricanes start going from Category 1 to Category 5 in under 24 hours?!? WTF!?

Hurricane Wilma strengthened into a Category 5 monster early Wednesday packing 175 mph winds, and forecasters said a key reading of the storm's pressure showed it to be the most powerful of the year.

...

The storm's power multiplied greatly over the last day. It was only Tuesday morning that Wilma grew from a tropical storm into a weak hurricane with 80 mph winds.
posted by Kevin at 1:24 AM

Ran writes:

"Sustainable, clean energy that you can't cheaply gather in your back yard is the worst technology possible, because it will enable the systems that enslave us to continue forever."

Here's my long-winded version of what Ran just said:

Very few people are willing to accept the fact that our only real chance of survival is to leave the system and re-establish right human relationships, and a balance with the natural world, outside of the societies currently in existence---BEFORE THEY COLLAPSE. This is the only option that offers even a slim hope for the survival of the human race in any form we would like to see.

My advice to anyone who is serious about doing something real and meaningful: RUN FOR YOUR LIFE, RIGHT NOW. Run for your life. It's that simple.

If you try to run after "it" happens, you might as well forget it. If you have a place "in the hills," you should already be there. Think hard about what you should take with you. Build an arc with the things you think are important to the survival of the human race. Take an encyclopedia with you. Take some of the books I have listed on the right side of this webpage. Take some heirloom seeds with you. Have kids out there and tell them what happened and why they MUST NOT allow it to happen again.

Yes. This means you should stop voting, stop working at the job you hate and stop buying sh*t from WalMart. This also means that you may not have much money, but chances are, you don't have much money anyway. And what do you care if you are self-sufficient, or getting close to it?

Oh, but wait, Kevin, if "it" comes down, that will mean that there will be chaos, violence and, and, and... I won't get any new DVDs or that neat sweater or the new video game...

Hey, nobody said it was going to be easy, but it just might be paradise compared to what this thing is about to become. Besides, if this society doesn't come down, if the genetic engineering, artificial intelligence, robotics and surveillance research all continue apace, your children are going to inherit a dystopia that is so incomprehensible that science fiction authors will be struck dumb by it. A total, systemic collapse would be extremely bad, and it's the best of all possible outcomes at this point. Pray for it.

Yeah, I'm nuts. I know. But... it's time to throw in the towel on the Democrats, the Republicans, the Greens, Pinks, Blues and Reds. This system is down. D.O.W.N. Nobody is coming to save you or me or anyone else.

If you're afraid, that's fine, you should be. Now get over it and figure out how you're going to get your land. And if you're lucky enough to have land, by God, you had better be getting proficient in the skills you need to live off of that land. You have an obligation to the human race to learn those skills and to pass them on to others.

People are making the mistake of squirting out babies in toxic, polluted cities that are, quite literally, on the verge of collapse. Friend, don't disconnect your brain from your biological predisposition to multiply. What's the point of having a child in a prison? Sure, go forth and multiply! But do it in a place where you and your children will have a fighting chance to not just survive, but to prosper. Build a new society outside of this doomed society, rebuild the culture, before you are forced to do these things under the yoke of chaos and starvation. Choose your wife/husband, friends and neighbors wisely. You're going to need their help, and they're going to need yours.

@ssholes and elbows, people!
posted by Kevin at 4:57 PM

Take your obese, diabetic, attention deficit, hyperactive, smacked up Satan spawn to the asylum:

Nintendo has struck a deal with McDonalds to enable Nintendo DS users to log on to WiFi networking for free at 6,000 McDonald's restaurants. Wayport, a provider of WiFi Internet access in public places, will opeate the WiFi networks for Nintendo. The free service for Nintendo DS users will begin on Nov. 14.

"This agreement with Wayport will bring countless people together to play games in a single, simultaneous wireless community," says Reggie Fils-Amie, executive vice president of sales and marketing at Nintendo of America, in a statement. "Nintendo WiFi connection is simple to use. Beginning with free access at participating McDonald's, we have removed one of the major barriers that have kept people from going online to play games."

Research Credit: TP
posted by Kevin at 12:45 PM

A new account of the CIA leak scandal rocking the White House suggests top US presidential aides were seriously concerned about a dissident faction inside the US spy agency that appeared to work even behind the back of the CIA director to debunk the notion Iraq had weapons of mass destruction.
posted by Kevin at 12:23 PM

Did the Third Reich confiscate guns before or after the expulsion of foreigners?

The U.S. has left its borders open from the beginning, but now it's time to expel millions of people...

If you are planning to leave the U.S., get out now. If you are planning to stay, God help you:

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said his department aims without exception to expel all those who enter the United States illegally.
posted by Kevin at 11:23 AM

Live it up!

U.S. producer prices rose in September by the most in 15 years as higher crude oil and gasoline prices stemming from Hurricane Katrina filtered through into increased costs for chemicals, steel and plastics.

The 1.9 percent surge in prices paid to factories, farmers and other producers was more than forecast and followed a 0.6 percent rise in August, the Labor Department said today in Washington. The core measure, which excludes fuel and food, rose 0.3 percent after no change a month earlier.

Higher costs for raw materials such as crude oil and partially finished goods including lumber and chemicals are raising concerns consumer inflation will eventually accelerate. With some companies such as General Electric Co. boosting prices to cover their costs, Federal Reserve policy makers will keep raising interest rates through early 2006, economists said.

"Slowly but inexorably, inflationary pressures are building across the economy," said Joel Naroff, president of Naroff Economic Advisers in Holland, Pennsylvania. "While I've said on many occasions that the pathway from wholesale to retail prices is hardly direct, the broad-based nature of the increases is worrisome."
posted by Kevin at 8:21 AM

Horowitz is currently defending Susan Polk, who stabbed her husband, famous psychologist Felix Polk, 15 times in their mansion ... just 5 miles from where Horowitz discovered his slain wife.

Susan Polk's defense included tales of ritual abuse, Satanic cults and narcotics. Her 70-year-old husband was a cocaine-crazed lunatic who hypnotized his wife and children to make them obey his "sinister orders."

Related: Rigorous Intuition
posted by Kevin at 1:01 AM

This will probably become law. Why not? Most Americans think food comes from McDonalds or WalMart. So, who cares? The people who want to have control of their own food are obviously terrorists, or insane, or both, or WORSE! God bless America. Wave your flags.

Why stop with animals? I wouldn't be surprised if home gardens were outlawed completely. Well, maybe, if you're a good citizen, you will be allowed to grow some Monsanto terminator-gene vegetables, if, of course, the correct permit is obtained beforehand.

HA! I wonder how many cops are going to risk their lives to make sure that farmer Joe has diligently chipped all of his chickens?

By January 1, 2008, the NAIS will be mandatory. (Plan, pp. 2, 10, 17.)

Every person who owns even one horse, cow, pig, chicken, sheep, pigeon, or virtually any livestock animal, will be forced to register their home, including owner's name, address, and telephone number, and keyed to Global Positioning System coordinates for satellite monitoring, in a giant federal database under a 7-digit "premises ID number." (St., pp. 3-4, 10-12; Plan, p. 5.)

Every animal will have to be assigned a 15-digit ID number, also to be kept in a giant federal database. The form of ID will most likely be a tag or microchip containing a Radio Frequency Identification Device, designed to be read from a distance. (Plan, p. 10; St., pp. 6, 12, 20, 27-28.)

The plan may also include collecting the DNA of every animal and/or a retinal scan of every animal. (Plan, p.13.)

The owner will be required to report: the birthdate of an animal, the application of every animal's ID tag, every time an animal leaves or enters the property, every time an animal loses a tag, every time a tag is replaced, the slaughter or death of an animal, or if any animal is missing. Such events must be reported within 24 hours. (St., pp. 12-13, 17-21.)

Third parties, such as veterinarians, will be required to report "sightings" of animals. (St., p. 25.) In other words, if you call a vet to your property to treat your horse, cow, or any other animal, and the vet finds any animal without the mandatory 15-digit computer-readable ID, the vet may be required to report you.

If you do not comply, the USDA will exercise "enforcement" against you. (St., p. 7; Plan, p. 17.) The USDA has not yet specified the nature of "enforcement," but presumably it will include imposing fines and/or seizing your animals. There are no exceptions -- under the USDA plan, you will be forced to register and report even if you raise animals only for your own food or keep horses for draft or for transportation.

Research Credit: AH
posted by Kevin at 2:29 PM

An Ohio woman was arrested after she didn't pay just more than $1 that she owed in income taxes, WLWT-TV in Cincinnati reported.

Deborah Combs owed the city of Loveland $1.16 last year, but she also hadn't filed her city income tax forms in five years, the television station said.

She said officers pulled her over and acted as though she were a violent criminal.

"One sheriff approached my car with his hand on his gun," she said. "Another from the other side of the car leaned in and said, 'Are you Deborah Combs?' He said, 'We have a warrant for your arrest.' I was absolutely shocked."
posted by Kevin at 10:42 AM

Here we go again:

Oil leapt by around $1 on Monday as another tropical storm gathered strength in the Caribbean and menaced U.S. rigs and refineries already rocked by the most active hurricane season in decades.

Tropical Storm Wilma, the 21st named storm this year, formed from a depression in the Caribbean and could move into the oil-rich Gulf of Mexico by the end of the week, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said on its website.

The last time there were so many named storms was 1933. Vulnerable oil platforms and refineries along the Gulf of Mexico have already battled an onslaught from two major hurricanes, and six plants are still completely shut.
posted by Kevin at 10:20 AM

A senior British military police officer in Iraq involved in the investigation of alleged abuse of Iraqi civilians by soldiers has been found dead at a camp in Basra.

The body of Captain Ken Masters, the commander of 61 Section of the Special Investigations Branch (SIB), was found in his bed at the airport at the weekend. The death is being investigated by the SIB.

Defence sources said the death was "not due to hostile action and also not due to natural causes".

However, it is believed that investigators have not found a suicide note, nor firearms related to the incident. Capt Masters was not receiving any medical or psychological treatment.
posted by Kevin at 8:22 AM

Reading about pseudo operations and counter insurgency:

Though fraud in other activities may be detestable, in the management of war it is laudable and glorious, and he who overcomes the enemy by fraud is as much to be praised as he who does so by force.

Niccolo Machiavelli, Arte Della Guerra

- - - - -

The U.S. should be serious about deception. Strategic deception is but one of the panoply of instruments that a state disposes and orchestrates to assert, retain, and aggrandize its power. Deception operations should be an integral component of peacetime and wartime national security.

The Military Perspective on Strategic Deception, Captain Jane G. Dalton, JAGC, U.S. Navy; Conference on Strategic Deception in Modern Democracies: Ethical, Legal, and Policy Challenges, Chapel Hill, NC, 31 October -1 November 1, 2003, sponsored by the Triangle Institute for Security Studies, The United States Army War College, The United States Naval Academy, and Duke University's Kenan Institute for Ethics

- - - - -

Urban zones are often densely populated with noncombatants, and among the most intractable of challenges in urban operations is the task of acquiring, identifying, engaging, and neutralizing adversary elements while they circulate among that civilian populace. Combatants with links to the local population in an urban conflict enjoy a tremendous advantage in intelligence gathering; communications networks; freedom of movement; anonymity and concealment; and availability of food, fuel, ammunition, medical treatment, and other vital resources. Combatants who are perceived as foreign bodies (or worse yet, hostile foreign bodies) in the corpus of the city suffer the opposite set of consequences: their senses are dulled; their communications are degraded or made more fragile; their actions are clumsy and exposed; and their logistics and resupply are more difficult. Given the disparity between these two states, it is an obvious priority for individual or small-unit urban operators to develop effective techniques for penetrating, co-opting, and installing themselves in population centers.

Unweaving the Web: Deception and Adaptation in Future Urban Operations by Scott Gerwehr, Russell W. Glenn; Rand Publication: MR-1495-A; 2003

posted by Kevin at 4:29 PM

Do you get it yet?

Eight British soldiers killed during ambushes in Iraq were the victims of a highly sophisticated bomb first used by the IRA, The Independent on Sunday can reveal.

The soldiers, who were targeted by insurgents as they travelled through the country, died after being attacked with bombs triggered by infra-red beams. The bombs were developed by the IRA using technology passed on by the security services in a botched "sting" operation more than a decade ago.

This contradicts the British government's claims that Iran's Revolutionary Guard is helping Shia insurgents to make the devices.

The Independent on Sunday can also reveal that the bombs and the firing devices used to kill the soldiers, as well as two private security guards, were initially created by the UK security services as part of a counter-terrorism strategy at the height of the troubles in the early 1990s.

Related: Two British SAS Soldiers Dressed as Arabs, Shoot at Iraqi Police
posted by Kevin at 12:23 PM

Frequent Cryptogon contributor, MW, is doing his part to help Tony fire it up. Thanks MW!
posted by Kevin at 12:20 PM

No-till farming builds top soil (heals the earth), controls weeds and much much more.

Then there's this global warming news:

University researchers and Oak Ridge National Laboratory scientists in Tennessee say no-till farming helps store carbon in fields and that can help countries meet targeted reductions in atmospheric carbon dioxide, reducing the effects of global warming.

Some carbon is found in soil as organic matter and no-till farming can potentially increase the accumulation of organic carbon in soil.

Related: No Till Farming
posted by Kevin at 10:53 AM

I'm not a pilot. Maybe someone who is a pilot can enlighten us all. It's a simple question:

Wouldn't a jet flying in the U.S., without a flight plan, with the transponder turned off, evoke a military response? [Answer: It depends on the type of airspace.]

In any event, this story is like taking a glimpse into the Twilight Zone:

The plane landed undetected, possibly because Wolcott flew low enough to avoid detection and may not have activated the Cessna's transponder, which would identify the aircraft's make and ownership.

Discuss
posted by Kevin at 4:39 PM

This is one for Tim and Jeff, but I couldn't resist:

With increasing numbers of people believing not only in the possibility of intelligent life on other planets, but even claiming encounters with aliens, it is not surprising that the Catholic Church is beginning to explore what effect the discovery of sentient ETs might have on Christian theology.
posted by Kevin at 2:50 PM

Bird flu is getting a lot of press lately. Reports from various sources as diverse as the President of the United States and the head of the World Health Organization, say it is a new disease that is going to have us all dropping dead at any moment. It has already been announced as a pandemic. There is a mad scramble to get stocks of medicines assembled. Plans are being made for bringing the military into the picture. Something is seriously wrong here and it isn't the flu. We have a bureaucratic disease and it promises to be far more dangerous than any flu epidemic.
posted by Kevin at 1:35 PM

Samsung, the world's largest maker of memory chips for computers and other electronic gadgets, has agreed to plead guilty to price fixing and pay a $300 million fine, U.S. officials said Thursday.

The penalty is the second-largest criminal antitrust fine ever and caps a three-year investigation into the largest makers of dynamic random access memory computer chips, a $7.7 billion market in the United States.
posted by Kevin at 11:46 AM

Man, I just knew this was going to get really weird:

Refco Inc., reeling from the disclosure that its chief executive officer hid unpaid debts, today blocked clients from withdrawing funds and said one of its units doesn't have enough liquidity to keep doing business.
posted by Kevin at 11:36 AM

With all of the avian flu nonsense floating around at the moment, I found this hit interesting:

The Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu user (host: usdtc1.deloitte.com, ip: 167.219.0.140) conducted the following Google search: dead microbiologists.
posted by Kevin at 5:28 PM

A man who said he was heeding a call from God when he gunned down his parents and used a chainsaw to cut up his mother's body pleaded guilty Monday to first-degree murder.

Related: Bush Says God Told Him to Invade Iraq
posted by Kevin at 3:18 PM

Make your time:

The former chief executive of Refco Inc., one of the world's biggest commodities brokerages, was charged with securities fraud Wednesday.

Phillip R. Bennett was charged in a criminal complaint unsealed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan. A day earlier, Refco announced that a $430 million debt to the company owed by a firm controlled by the ousted chairman and chief executive was hidden through secret transfers to an unnamed customer account.

On Monday, Refco said it must restate earnings back to 2002 and delay filing its next quarterly report, originally scheduled for next week.
posted by Kevin at 11:32 AM

On occasion, the veil between worlds becomes thin and details of active covert operations splash across the news wires:

Crime scene technicians have investigated the interior of the plane, and Moloney said there is no evidence that there were weapons or drugs on it.

"We've ruled out anything diabolical or sinister," he said. "We didn't find anything threatening on the plane."

...

The Federal Aviation Administration is probing its own traffic system to see if there is any record of the plane flying during the time in question, FAA spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen said.

Moloney said there were not yet any suspects and it was not known whether more than one person was involved in the theft. But officials said the person who took the plane is likely an experienced pilot.

Planes are easy to steal if you know how to fly them, because they usually do not require a key to start the engines, Gwinnett County Police Sgt. D. Mattox told the Gwinnett Daily Post.

Ray had no comment on whether this latest incident raised larger questions of security at the airport, which is the fifth-busiest in Georgia. Two of the Sept. 11 hijackers, Mohamed Atta and Marwan al- Shehhi, trained there for a time.

Oh sure, people who know how fly jets steal them and go for joy rides all the time... That's standard operating procedure for petty criminals, don't ya know?!

A stolen jet, Arkansas, Florida and an airport that two members of the September 11th Flying Circus used to frequent. Hmm. * shaking head * I like how the cop indicates that no weapons or drugs were on board. What in the hell was on board? Or, maybe we don't want to know. Just as long as nothing diabolical or sinister was involved, everything is just peachy!

Related: See Compromised, by Terry Reed, for a description of how the CIA used stolen aircraft for covert operations.
posted by Kevin at 4:44 PM

This is an interesting article. I don't agree with the author's guess that the Saudis are buying U.S. debt at these levels. The Saudis know, just like the Europeans and the Japanese, that the U.S. will have no choice but to eventually dilute the dollar. Facing that inevitability, how does buying U.S. debt represent a sound capital preservation strategy for the Saudis (or anyone else, for that matter)?

(Forget, for a moment, about America's dire debt situation. The potential for a Euro-based oil bourse in Iran should be enough to severely weaken the hands of those holding any U.S. dollar denominated assets. And what's Japan doing? Buying gold.)

When I think of large, private capital accounts in London and the Bahamas, where the bulk of recent U.S. debt purchases are originating from, I think of narcotics money. Lots of narcotics money. So, with Europe and Japan yielding to the profligacy of the U.S., to me, it looks like the Them are now having to spend their own ill-gotten gains to keep the band playing. As the U.S. debt curve goes vertical, don't get caught without a chair when the music stops:

Since early 2004 there has been a gradual decline in the monthly purchase of U.S. Treasury bonds by foreign governments. In fact since the first of this year foreign governments have purchased an average of only $5 billion in T-Bonds each month. This represents only 29% of the level of their average bond purchases during the calendar year 2004.

This leads to two questions:

1. What are foreign governments doing with their trade-won dollars if they are buying fewer T-Bonds?

2. Who is buying these bonds if not foreign governments?
posted by Kevin at 2:44 PM

If this comes as a shock, you haven't been reading Cryptogon closely:

Heating bills are headed through the roof, expected to average 50 percent higher this winter for homes that use natural gas. People in parts of the Midwest are likely to pay even more - as much as $1,600 for the winter months if the weather is especially bad.
posted by Kevin at 2:20 PM

Refco Inc., on Tuesday said its recently removed chief executive took steps to inflate its balance sheet, in a scandal that has caused the commodities and futures broker's shares to fall 52 percent in two days.

The announcement shed more light on a complex transaction disclosed two months after the company raised $583 million in an initial public offering.

New York-based Refco on Tuesday also said it voluntarily contacted the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the New York Stock Exchange about the accounting matter, and is cooperating.

The Wall Street Journal in its online edition said the SEC has launched an inquiry into Refco, citing an unnamed person with knowledge of the probe.

Refco on Monday announced the removal of Phillip Bennett as chairman and chief executive, and said the $430 million owed by a company he controlled was repaid that day. It also said its financial statements since 2002 should not be relied upon.

"The company and Mr. Bennett will be in trouble for not revealing the related-party nature of the receivable," said J. Edward Ketz, an associate accounting professor at Pennsylvania State University. "By anyone's book, that's just not kosher."
posted by Kevin at 2:06 PM

There's just no end to the good news about genetic engineering!

GM crops contaminate the countryside for up to 15 years after they have been harvested, startling new government research shows.
posted by Kevin at 11:53 PM

Post Asian earthquake focus... Or something else? Or nothing?

UPDATE: 2:56PM PST. It's red. I've never seen that before.

UPDATE: 4:45PM PST. It has been green for a while now. Move along. Nothing to see here...

Related? Gold Closes at 18 Year High
posted by Kevin at 2:10 PM

The article states that the purpose of this research is to make, "Warfare safer for humans."

Mike Davis, in an article entitled, The Pentagon as Global Slumlord, lays bare the actual goal of military robotics and artificial intelligence research:

Military theorists are now deeply involved in imagining how the evolving capacity of high-tech warfare can contain, if not destroy, chronic "terrorist" insurgencies rooted in the desperation of growing megaslums.

The idiot savant computer nerds who are building this crap are too blind to see the big picture. Your grandchildren will pay the price for their sins (assuming the system stays up that long, which would be assuming a lot):

A driverless Volkswagen was declared the winner yesterday of a $2 million race across the rugged Nevada desert, beating four other robot-guided vehicles that completed a Pentagon-sponsored contest aimed at making warfare safer for humans.

Related: Film Festival Entry Offers Glimpse at Our Hellish Future
posted by Kevin at 11:30 AM

On Saturday, I wrote, "I wonder if GM will be allowed to go down..."

From today's Reuters:

General Motors Corp. shares fell sharply on Monday after the automaker warned that a bankruptcy filing over the weekend by auto parts giant Delphi Corp. could cost it as much as $12 billion.

One brokerage said Delphi's bankruptcy increased the risk that GM itself might take the same step.

The global financial system is gazing down the barrel of nearly $300 billion worth of GM debt. I can assure you that the GM situation is more of an international security matter than a run-of-the-mill corporate collapse.

Related: S&P Cuts GM Ratings Deeper Into Junk

Related: GM Can't Go Down
posted by Kevin at 10:27 AM

You can't wield it, Ray. That thing serves one master, and guess what: It aint you.

By any measure, Kurzweil has had an exceptional career. Now, however, he has a new project: to be a god. And not just because he thinks he can live forever. Within decades, he predicts, he will be billions of times more intelligent than he is today, able to read minds, assume different forms, and reshape his physical environment at will. So will everyone. Today's human beings, mere quintessences of dust, will be as outmoded as Homo Erectus.
posted by Kevin at 10:07 AM

No matter which team wins, humanity loses:

Three driverless vehicles have crossed the finish line and entered the history books after traversing 210 kilometres of desert terrain guided only by laser sensors and onboard computers.

Related: Why the Future Doesn't Need Us
posted by Kevin at 12:08 AM

The U.S. will probably attack Iran before March 2006. That's when the Iranian oil bourse is scheduled to open. That thing poses a much greater threat to U.S. hegemony than Iran's nuclear research efforts.

In any event, when looking to see where the smart money is headed, it's nothing but @ssholes and elbows toward the exits:

Iran's government and Parliament held emergency meetings this week on the country's plummeting stock market, where prices have declined nearly 30 percent since Sept. 24. The decline began after the International Atomic Energy Agency passed a resolution referring Iran to the United Nations Security Council for violating its nuclear obligations.
posted by Kevin at 6:55 PM

I wonder if GM will be allowed to go down...

Auto parts maker Delphi said Saturday it filed for bankruptcy after warning for months that a filing was in the cards.

Delphi is the largest U.S. auto parts maker. The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for itself and 38 U.S. units in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York. Delphi's non-U.S. units were not included.
posted by Kevin at 6:31 PM

Pakistan and India were shaken by a magnitude 7.6 earthquake, one of the biggest to strike the region. Government officials said they fear widespread damage to life and property.
posted by Kevin at 12:45 AM

You guys are kicking @ss on this thing! Thanks DB!
posted by Kevin at 6:03 PM

Albrecht and McIntyre make a staggering accusation in Spychips: that Philips, Procter and Gamble, Gillette, NCR and IBM are conspiring with each other and the federal government to follow individual consumers everywhere, using embedded radio tags planted in their clothing and belongings.

The businesses, who form the center of the RFID industry, hope to wirelessly monitor the contents of consumers' refrigerators, medicine cabinets, basement workbenches -- even their garbage pails, the book claims.
posted by Kevin at 12:10 PM

The Pentagon would be granted new powers to conduct undercover intelligence gathering inside the United States---and then withhold any information about it from the public---under a series of little noticed provisions now winding their way through Congress.

Citing in part the need for "greater latitude" in the war on terror, the Senate Intelligence Committee recently approved broad-ranging legislation that gives the Defense Department a long sought and potentially crucial waiver: it would permit its intelligence agents, such as those working for the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), to covertly approach and cultivate "U.S. persons" and even recruit them as informants---without disclosing they are doing so on behalf of the U.S. government. The Senate committee's action comes as President George W. Bush has talked of expanding military involvement in civil affairs, such as efforts to control pandemic disease outbreaks.
posted by Kevin at 10:17 AM

We're making good progress! Thanks KL!
posted by Kevin at 11:58 PM

Looks like Italy is down:

Looking out over the cobblestone streets of Rome's Borgo Pio neighborhood, Maurizio Savoni says he's closing his Internet cafe because he doesn't want to be a "cop" anymore.

After Italy passed a new anti-terrorism package in July, authorities ordered managers offering public communications services, like Mr. Savoni, to make passport photocopies of every customer seeking to use the Internet, phone, or fax.
posted by Kevin at 4:14 PM

Officials tell ABC News the alleged spy worked undetected at the White House for almost three years. Leandro Aragoncillo, 46, was a U.S. Marine most recently assigned to the staff of Vice President Dick Cheney.
posted by Kevin at 4:11 PM

Officials of a poor, predominantly black Florida town plan to relocate about 6,000 residents to make room for a billion-dollar yachting and housing complex.

The coastal community of Rivera Beach in Palm Beach County may use eminent domain, if necessary, to claim 400 acres of land for the project, The Washington Times reported Monday.
posted by Kevin at 10:45 AM

This is one for the I sh*t you not category. International terrorists are shipping cars---that have been stolen in America---to Iraq to be used in suicide attacks.

(Let that sink in for a minute.)

Yes, friends, this must be part of the SAS Pimp My Ride Program:

Investigators believed the cars were stolen by local car thieves in US cities, then smuggled to waiting ships at ports in Los Angeles, Seattle, and Houston, among other cities. Terrorism specialists said they believed Iraqi insurgents preferred American stolen cars because they tended to be larger, blended in more easily with US convoys, and were harder to identify as stolen.

I think this is the most ridiculous piece of propaganda related to the Iraq war that I have seen to date. HAHAHA! This story should be right next to the one about the rocket car on snopes. What idiot is going to believe this one!? A flotilla of ships, just waiting in several major American ports... to carry the stolen cars to the terrorists in Iraq!? HAHAHA! THAT'S A GOOD ONE!

Related: See Compromised, by Terry Reed, for a description of how the CIA used stolen aircraft for covert operations.
posted by Kevin at 7:35 PM

Long time Cryptogon supporter, PT, is helping Tony fire it up! Thanks PT.
posted by Kevin at 7:19 PM

Alex Jones is running a story about Dell installing hardware keystroke loggers in laptops. This is an old hoax. Someone tried to pass that one off on me nearly a year ago.

Google: dell key logger hoax
posted by Kevin at 6:05 PM

You either buy your food from WalMart, or you're with the terrorists!

Thompson and the owners of the house at 602 W. Rawhide Ave. in Gilbert, his mother and stepfather, Ann and Richard Carlisle, say they are proud and enthusiastic about their homegrown organic produce. They say it's the key to their health and longevity, the reason they don't need any prescription or over-the-counter drugs.

Some of their neighbors are less-than-thrilled, however, and have complained to Gilbert officials. One Town Council member, Dave Crozier, asked the town attorney to rule whether Thompson's garden is a code violation. If that fails, Crozier has talked about changing the ordinance that allows it.

Research Credit: hereticfig.com
posted by Kevin at 5:54 PM

Yeah...

President Bush, increasingly concerned about a possible avian flu pandemic, revealed Tuesday that any part of the country where the virus breaks out could likely be quarantined and that he is considering using the military to enforce it.

"The best way to deal with a pandemic is to isolate it and keep it isolated in the region in which it begins," he said during a wide-ranging Rose Garden news conference.

Research Credit: GS
posted by Kevin at 11:17 AM

The new indictment, handed up by a grand jury seated Monday, contains two counts: conspiring to launder money and money laundering. The latter charge carries a penalty of up to life in prison. Last week, DeLay was charged with conspiracy to violate campaign finance laws.

More Family Values: Republican Man Boy Lover
posted by Kevin at 7:04 PM

President Bush is ready "to do whatever it takes" including, if necessary, tapping government stocks of heating oil to counter supply shortages this winter, his energy secretary said Monday.

Samuel Bodman said the twin hurricanes Katrina and Rita have dealt "a very significant blow" to the country's energy infrastructure" with almost all of the Gulf Coast's oil production, nearly 80 percent of the region's natural gas supplies, and a fifth of the country's refining capacity still shut down.
posted by Kevin at 4:30 PM

The call for action went out and the initial response from the Cryptogon community has been incredible!

AB $20
KH $25
AH $25
DG $30

Great work, ladies and gentlemen!
posted by Kevin at 12:11 AM

What is it about Republican minions and buggery? Let's hear some more about God and family values:

Now Nielsen's meteoric rise is apparently over. It's not a pretty way to escape the closet, but his arrest two years ago forced him finally to acknowledge that he's gay. Nielsen has pleaded not guilty to six criminal counts of repeatedly molesting a 14-year-old Westminster boy. He's free on $10,000 bail but faces potentially more than six years in prison if convicted.

His situation grew worse in March when authorities added a new charge: possession of a huge, illegal cache of man-boy pornography. Many of the images show men having sex with prepubescent boys.
posted by Kevin at 11:50 PM

Officer stole pens...

An officer who has claimed that a classified military unit identified four Sept. 11 hijackers before the 2001 attacks is facing Pentagon accusations of breaking numerous rules, charges his lawyer suggests are aimed at undermining his credibility.

The alleged infractions by Army Lt. Col. Anthony Shaffer, 42, include obtaining a service medal under false pretenses, improperly flashing military identification while drunk and stealing pens, according to military paperwork shown by his attorney to The Associated Press.

Shaffer was one of the first to publicly link Sept. 11 leader Mohamed Atta to the unit code-named Able Danger. Shaffer was one of five witnesses the Pentagon ordered not to appear Sept. 21 before the Senate Judiciary Committee to discuss the unit's findings.

The military revoked Shaffer's top security clearance this month, a day before he was supposed to testify to a congressional committee.

Research Credit: Sploid
posted by Kevin at 11:35 PM

Over the years on Cryptogon, you may have noticed quotes and research from a source I have referred to as TR. Tony is a friend of mine. We met and worked together at a biotech company back in 2001. I was the IT department for the company. Tony was a software engineer.

Tony is an interesting guy. He has a PhD in Cognitive Science. His undergrad degree is in Computer Science. His research has been published in leading scientific journals. I think he has something like 15 years of programming experience. He has worked for Silicon Valley PHBs, Fortune 500 swindlers and crackpot upstarts from inside the asylums of academia and elsewhere. All in all, Tony has done a decent job of maintaining appearances over the years...

Friends, Tony's days of maintaining appearances are over.

You see, he's had it. To make a long story very short: Toiling in a cubicle, in the service of evil, isn't living. He can't play that game anymore. His immediate hopes for buying land in Oregon were dashed by the diabolical behavior of his last PHB. Stuck between a landlord---demanding a rent check---and having to sell himself to the next criminal PHB, Tony was facing some tough choices.

Folks, as of today, October 1, 2005, Tony is living in a mid-1980s era, 23-foot-long RV that he just purchased with a few thousand of the dollars that he managed to save up. His immediate plans range from outlaw parking lot camping to staying at an ecovillage to squatting on BLM land...


Which brings me to the point of this post:

I spoke with Tony a couple of days ago. His five-year-old laptop is in the process of dying. The motherboard has a power problem and a few of the keys aren't working. He tried taking it to a PC repair place, but they told him to junk it. He has dissected the system in a futile attempt to check connections and clean contacts, etc.

When Tony isn't learning how to make paper or sewing up a pair of homemade pants or teaching himself Latin and Ancient Greek, he will have all kinds of weird and interesting wisdom to share with the world. He's going to need a way of getting his message out of the verdant ecotopia of Western Oregon and onto the Internet for the rest of us to see.

I proposed the idea of holding a fund raiser on Cryptogon to see if we could get $500 together for a new computer. Tony thought I was kidding at first. But I thought about those good, old fashioned barn raising parties. Why not? Many hands, people. Many hands make light work.

If we all pitch in just a little bit, Tony will be able to get a reliable computer system. He's aiming for either an Apple Mac Mini or a Dell Inspiron 1200 (upon which he would immediately install Linux). I want to try and get him $500 toward the purchase of a system.

When Tony decides to fire up a site, I will be able to host his domain on the vast Cryptogon datacenter. (HA!)

$500 is a very ambitious goal, but we have the entire month of October to reach it. So come guys! Let's all lend a hand and get Tony a reliable system so he can share his insights, wisdom and crust with the rest of the world.

I'm going to kick this thing off right and throw $50 into the jar.

Many hands, people. Many hands.

Note: If you happen to be looking for a land custodian in the Eugene, Oregon area, Tony is the guy for you. He's looking for an arrangement where he can exchange some amount of labor for the ability to park his RV without fear of being busted by cops. He has experience with organic agriculture, horses, chickens and has recently been acquiring wood working and carpentry skills. He may (or may not) be willing to do C/C++/java/php/mysql development, Linux networking, high level algorithm design, signal processing, neural networks, etc. if your goals are not overtly evil and your land is extraordinarily beautiful.
posted by Kevin at 6:32 PM