No Fluff News

Charlie Sheen’s Video to Obama

rampage — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 02:32:53 +0000

A Must See for Everyone…

rampage — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 04:39:13 +0000

source: The Alex Jones Channel on Youtube.com

The Problem with Obamacare

rampage — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 01:17:01 +0000

“There are two basic points about health-care reform that President Obama wants to convey. The first is that, as he put it in an ABC special in June, ‘the status quo is untenable.” Our health-care system is rife with ’skewed incentives.’ It gives us ‘a whole bunch of care’ that ‘may not be making us healthier.’ It generates too many specialists and not enough primary-care physicians. It is ‘bankrupting families,’ ‘bankrupting businesses’ and “bankrupting our government at the state and federal level. So we know things are going to have to change.’

Obama’s second major point is that–to quote from the same broadcast–’if you are happy with your plan and you are happy with your doctor, then we don’t want you to have to change … So what we’re saying is, If you are happy with your plan and your doctor, you stick with it.’So the system is an unsustainable disaster, but you can keep your piece of it if you want. And the Democrats wonder why selling health-care reform to the public has been so hard?

Again and again, their effort has brought us into a land of paradoxes. Public skepticism is warranted when the President promises to cut costs while simultaneously providing coverage to nearly 50 million uninsured people. It is even more warranted when his congressional allies seek to raise taxes to pay for all the new spending that this cost-cutting entails. We aren’t talking about short-term spending either; this isn’t a trillion-dollar investment in a new system that will ultimately save money. The Congressional Budget Office says the leading health-care-reform proposals will increase health-care spending and make the budget harder to balance in the long run. Yet saving money is the President’s principal stated rationale for reform…”

source: time.com

Holograms become Tangible

rampage — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 00:31:53 +0000

“…Researchers from the University of Tokyo have developed 3D holograms that can be touched with bare hands. Generally, holograms can’t be felt because they’re made only of light. But the new technology adds tactile feedback to holograms hovering in 3D space.

Called the Airborne Ultrasound Tactile Display, the hologram projector uses an ultrasound phenomenon called acoustic radiation pressure to create a pressure sensation on a user’s hands, which are tracked with two Nintendo Wiimotes. As the researchers explain, the method doesn’t use any direct contact and so doesn’t dilute the quality of the hologram. The researchers, led by Hiroyuki Shinoda, currently have the technology on display at SIGGRAPH 2009 in New Orleans…”

source: physorg.com

How our Representatives Love to Listen to Us

rampage — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 02:15:19 +0000

source: youtube.com

Beware of the Propaganda Concerning Town Hall Protests and the Divisiveness of Left, Right Politics

rampage — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 02:09:20 +0000

“The media created myth that the town hall protests raging across the country are artificially manufactured is starting to crack, as the public takes the press to task for parroting the erroneous talking point that the demonstrations are the work of lobbyists and Republican organizations, and that they are fostered by underlying racism.

A caller to C-Span’s Washington Journal show perfectly clarified the issues we have been highlighting all along, that the protesters are not just Republican ‘right-wingers,’ they aren’t being prodded into action by lobbyists, and the anger is not just directed against Obamacare, but against the entire agenda, and especially against Congress passing legislation thousands of pages long without even reading it.

As we highlighted last week, ABC News reported that there was no evidence of lobbyists at the protests. Shortly after this, Obamanoids simply switched their talking point and started to claim that the demonstrations were all being organized by Republican organizations.

The C-Span caller who labeled herself an Independent stated that she only started going to protests as recently as July 4th and before that she wasn’t even political. The caller points out that the protests are growing because, ‘All these massive bills, thousands of pages long that are passed with almost no debate, no time for us to see what’s in it,’ and in complete contrast to promised of transparency on behalf of the new administration…”

source: infowars.com

and now for something to Clarify the Murkiness of Media – Danny Deconstructs the Mainstream Media

rampage — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 01:55:02 +0000

source cvietch on youtube

Boeing helps US Build largest Bomb Ever Made

rampage — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 01:30:11 +0000

“Published reports today say the Pentagon is rattling swords in the direction of North Korea and Iran by speeding the development a 20-foot, 30,000lb bomb known as Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP) meant to annihilate underground bunkers and other hardened (re: long range missile) sites.

The Defense Threat Reduction Agency which has overseen the development of this monster since 2007, says it is designed to be carried aboard B-2 and B-52 bombers and deployed at high altitudes where it would strike the ground at speeds well beyond 2X the speed of sound to penetrate the below ground target.

The Boeing-built MOP won’t be the heaviest conventional bomb ever made. The US military built the T-12, which weighed about 44,000lbs, in the 1940s. Meanwhile the 21,700-lb Massive Ordnance Air Blast (MOAB) bomb, better known as the ‘Mother Of All Bombs’ is still in the US arsenal. The MOAB was developed to replace the 15,000lb ‘Daisy Cutters’ from the Vietnam Ware era. The Soviets claimed a “Father of all Bombs” in 2007 but some experts think the bomb was a hoax or stunt and questioned its true power…”

source: networkworld.com

Blackwater Represents Degeneracy of US Culture

rampage — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 01:20:55 +0000

“The former President of Blackwater, the security firm now notorious for its excesses against Iraqi civilians, has since resigned as the company’s president but still leads as Chairman of the Board of Directors…

Since then a series of court allegations have been made against Mr. Prince and Blackwater by two former employees who accuse him and his employees of murder, weapons smuggling, condoning child prostitution, an ongoing wife-swapping and sex ring, smuggling, money laundering and worst of all, the deliberate slaughter of unarmed civilians…

He also accused Blackwater guards of boasting of kills, taking mind-altering drugs, steroids and using child prostitutes. Prince is further alleged of smuggling illegal weapons into Iraq on his private aircraft and allowing his guards to use illegal exploding bullets ‘to inflict maximum damage on Iraqis’…”

source: examiner.com

Congress needs their Comfort Despite Air Force Reccomendations

rampage — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 01:04:58 +0000

“Congress plans to spend $550 million to buy eight jets, a substantial upgrade to the fleet used by federal officials at a time when lawmakers have criticized the use of corporate jets by companies receiving taxpayer funds…

…The congressional shopping list goes beyond what the Air Force had initially requested as part of its annual appropriations. The Pentagon sought to buy one Gulfstream V and one business-class equivalent of a Boeing 737 to replace aging planes. The Defense Department also asked to buy two additional 737s that were being leased.

Lawmakers in the House last week added funds to buy those planes, and plus funds to buy an additional two 737s and two Gulfstream V planes. The purchases must still be approved by the Senate. The Air Force version of the Gulfstream V each costs $66 million, according to the Department of Defense, and the 737s cost about $70 million.

Geoff Morrell, the Pentagon press secretary, said the Department of Defense didn’t request the additional planes and doesn’t need them. ‘We ask for what we need and only what we need,’ he told reporters Wednesday. ‘We’ve always frowned upon earmarks and additives that are above and beyond what we ask for.’”

source: wsj.com

Why does it take 400 Australian Police to Arrest 4 So-Called Terrorists?

rampage — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 03:18:02 +0000

“Hundreds of police swooped on suspected terrorists in Melbourne early today amid fears suicide attacks were about to be launched on army bases in Australia. Police from around the country were quietly moved to Melbourne before launching their raids on homes in at least seven suburbs. Several men of Somali and Lebanese backgrounds were arrested and were expected to appear in court later on terrorism-related charges.

Police sources said it would be claimed the men were planning to attack a barracks in western Sydney and other defence bases in Victoria. The suspected terrorists were said to be plotting to force their way into the bases to kill as many soldiers as possible before turning guns on themselves. The arrested men are believed to have links to al-Qaeda…

Four people, all Australian citizens of either Lebanese or Somalian backgrounds, had been arrested. Police have begun interviewing two men aged 25, a 26-year-old old and a 22-year-old. These are the same age ranges as suicide bombers who have committed atrocities in Indonesia…”

Come on people wake up, see through the propaganda. Notice the key phrases; terrorists, al-Qaeda, suicide bombers, stop placing your fears in scapegoats of the government/media, you should fear government and their control over you.

source: dailymail.co.uk

and now for Something Entertaining and Insightful – Everything is OK on the Happy Carriage

rampage — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 01:42:32 +0000

source: cveitch on youtube.com

US Government’s Einstein 3 is Spying on You

rampage — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 01:02:25 +0000

“U.S. President Barack Obama’s administration needs to answer several questions about the privacy implications of a new version of a computer intrusion detection system that can reportedly read e-mail, a privacy and civil rights advocacy group said. The Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT), in a report released Tuesday, called on the Obama administration to release information about the legal authority for the so-called Einstein intrusion detection system, a version of which has been rolled out at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.>br/>
The CDT report also asks the Obama administration to release information about the role of the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) in the development and operation of Einstein 3, a new version of the software reportedly being developed. The second version of Einstein is deployed at the DHS and is being rolled out to other U.S. agencies. While Einstein 2 is able to detect malicious code during predefined code signatures, Einstein 3 will also be able to read e-mail and other Internet traffic, according to recent press reports.

‘This raises serious privacy concerns,’ the CDT report says. ‘While its predecessor merely detected and reported malicious code, Einstein 3 is to have the capability of intercepting threatening Internet traffic before it reaches a government system, raising additional concerns. According to press accounts, Einstein 3 will operate inside the networks of the telecoms …’”

source: cio.com

Possible Meteorite Found on Mars

rampage — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 00:41:22 +0000

“The Opportunity rover has come across an odd-shaped, large, dark rock, about 0.6 meters (2 feet) across on the surface of Mars, which may be a meteorite. The rover team spotted the rock called “Block Island,” on July 18, 2009, in the opposite direction from which it was driving. The team then had the rover do a hard right (not really, but you know what I mean) and backtrack some 250 meters (820 feet) to study it closer. Oppy has been studying the rock with its alpha particle X-ray spectrometer to get composition measurements and to confirm if indeed it is a meteorite…

Block Island really does have a meteorite-like look to it. Stu suggested on his blog that it looks like several meteorites found on Earth, such as one of the Derrick Peak meteorites found in Antarctica, shown below. The Derrick Peak meteorites are iron meteorites, and about 27 were found in one location in Antarctica. Researchers believe they all came from one meteor shower…”

source universetoday.com

US Military is Looking for Internment Specialists

rampage — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 00:37:15 +0000

“Doubt the government plans to impose martial law and round up dissidents and other malcontents? Well, the Army National Guard is advertising for qualified personnel to work as Corrections Officers and Internment/Resettlement Specialists. ‘As an Internment/Resettlement Specialist for the Army National Guard, you will ensure the smooth running of military confinement/correctional facility or detention/internment facility, similar to those duties conducted by civilian Corrections Officers,’ a classified ad posted on the web states. ‘This will require you to know proper procedures and military law; and have the ability to think quickly in high-stress situations. Specific duties may include assisting with supervision and management operations; providing facility security; providing custody, control, supervision, and escort; and counseling individual prisoners in rehabilitative programs.

The term ‘rehabilitative programs’ is key. Glenn Beck and the corporate media may attempt to discredit the fact there are FEMA camps, but military documents demonstrate the government plans to herd people into internment camps. Army Regulation 210-35, entitled ‘Civilian Inmate Labor Program,’ provides ‘guidance for establishing and managing civilian inmate labor programs on Army installations. It provides guidance on establishing prison camps on Army installations.’

In Mao’s China, the government established a sprawling system of administrative detention centers — known as Laogai — designed to reeducate dissidents and other social misfits through forced slave labor. In the Soviet Union under Stalin, a network of gulags — a Russian acronym for The Chief Administration of Corrective Labor Camps and Colonies — were established, primarily for political prisoners and as a mechanism for repressing political opposition to the Soviet state.’”

source: infowars.com

Obama’s Kenyan Birth Certificate?

rampage — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 04:02:42 +0000

“California attorney Orly Taitz, who has filed a number of lawsuits demanding proof of Barack Obama’s eligibility to serve as president, has released a copy of what purports to be a Kenyan certification of birth and has filed a new motion in U.S. District Court for its authentication. The document lists Obama’s parents as Barack Hussein Obama and Stanley Ann Obama, formerly Stanley Ann Dunham, the birth date as Aug. 4, 1961, and the hospital of birth as Coast General Hospital in Mombasa, Kenya. No doctor is listed. But the alleged certificate bears the signature of the deputy registrar of Coast Province, Joshua Simon Oduya. It was allegedly issued as a certified copy of the original in February 1964. WND was able to obtain other birth certificates from Kenya for purposes of comparison, and the form of the documents appear to be identical.

Last week, a counterfeit document purporting to be Obama’s Kenyan birth certificate made the rounds of the Internet, but was quickly determined to be fraudulent. The new document released by Taitz bears none of the obvious traits of a hoax. Taitz told WND that the document came from an anonymous source who doesn’t want his name known because ‘he’s afraid for his life.’

Taitz’s motion, filed yesterday in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, requests the purported evidence of Obama’s birth – both the alleged birth certificate and foreign records not yet obtained – be preserved from destruction, asks for permission to legally request documents from Kenya and seeks a subpoena for deposition from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.’I filed the motion with the court asking for expedited discovery, which would allow me to start subpoenas and depositions even before Obama and the government responds,’ Taitz told WND. ‘I am asking the judge to give me the power to subpoena the documents from the Kenyan embassy and to require a deposition from Hillary Clinton so they will be forced to authenticate [the birth certificate].

‘I’m forcing the issue, where Obama will have to respond,’ she said. ‘Before, they said, ‘You don’t have anything backing your claims,” Taitz explained. ‘Now I have something. In fact, I have posted on the Internet more than Obama has. My birth certificate actually has signatures.’

Taitz’s most celebrated case involved a military officer, Maj. Stefan Cook, whose order to deploy to Afghanistan was revoked when he challenged Obama’s eligibility to hold office. That case has now been refiled in federal court in Florida, raising the specter of a class-action claim among members of the military that their orders aren’t valid because of questions surrounding Obama’s constitutional eligibility. Taitz told WND she plans to file additional paperwork with the Florida court tomorrow, adding the alleged Kenyan birth certificate to Maj. Cook’s case…”

source: worldnetdaily.com

US Citizens or Covert Agents Detained in Iran

rampage — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 03:58:11 +0000

“Three US nationals who crossed into Iran via Iraq have been arrested, the state-owned Al-Alam television has reported. ‘An informed Iranian source confirmed the arrest of three Americans after they infiltrated through the Iraqi border,’ the Arabic-language television station said on Saturday. The two men and a woman entered Iranian territory a day earlier from Iraqi Kurdistan despite repeated warnings not to do so, a Kurdish official said.

A fourth American originally with the hiking party had not joined the trek due to illness, said Beshro Ahmed, a media adviser for the general security department in Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish region. He named the three as Shane Bower, Sara Short and Joshua Steel, while Shaun Gabriel Maxwell stayed behind in their hotel in the autonomous Kurdish region’s second-largest city of Sulaimaniyah.”

source: aljazeera.net

Venezuelan Government Closing down 34 “Bourgeoisie” Radio Stations

rampage — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 03:53:44 +0000

“he Venezuelan government has ordered the closure of 34 radio stations, the head of the national telecommunications regulator, Conatel, has said. Diosdado Cabello, who is also minister of public works in the government of Hugo Chavez, the Venezuelan president, said the closures were due to the stations’ inability to meet legal operating requirements, and warned that more closures may follow.

‘They will have to cease transmission once they have received the order’, Cabello said on Friday. ‘This is about legitimate authority of the government to manage the radio spectrum… We are only implementing what the law says…’”

source: aljazeera.net

Examining the Giant Star, Betelgeuse

rampage — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 03:21:06 +0000

“The giant star Betelgeuse churns out gas bubbles that match its own size — and that’s how it can shed an entire solar mass in 10,000 years. That according to the sharpest-ever images of Orion’s second-brightest star, released this week by the European Organisation for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere (ESO)…

Betelgeuse, the second brightest star in the constellation of Orion (the Hunter), is a red supergiant, one of the biggest stars known, and almost 1,000 times larger than our Sun. It is also one of the most luminous stars known, emitting more light than 100,000 Suns. Red supergiants still hold several unsolved mysteries. One of them is just how these behemoths shed such tremendous quantities of material — about the mass of the Sun — in only 10,000 years. With an age of only a few million years, Betelgeuse is already nearing the end of its life and is soon doomed to explode as a supernova. When it does, the supernova should be seen easily from Earth, even in broad daylight.”

source: universetoday.com

Geithner Says Taxes will Increase for the Middle Class

rampage — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 03:14:34 +0000

“To get the economy back on track, will President Barack Obama have to break his pledge not to raise taxes on 95 percent of Americans? In a ‘This Week’ exclusive, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner told me, ‘We’re going to have to do what’s necessary.’ Geithner was clear that he believes a key component of economic recovery is deficit reduction. When I gave him several opportunities to rule out a middle class tax hike, he wouldn’t do it.

‘We have to bring these deficits down very dramatically,’ Geithner told me. ‘And that’s going to require some very hard choices.’ ‘We will not get this economy back on track, recovery will be not strong and sustained, unless we convince the American people that we are going to have the will to bring these deficits down once recovery is firmly established,’ he said…”

source: abcnews.com

Understanding there’s no Anonymity in the Technological Age

rampage — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 03:02:24 +0000

“Don’t think for a second that cleaning out your browser cookies, hoisting that firewall, and installing identity theft software makes a dent in protecting your privacy in the new digital world.

Every time we activate our cell phone, swipe a credit card, or use EZ-Pass to sail through toll booths, we leave a record of our whereabouts and clues to our behavior for others to tap that never even existed 20 years ago. All that Web browsing you do on your Android or iPhone device, all the weather updates you may get via that connected GPS unit—these things not only tell someone somewhere what data matters to you but also reveal where you accessed it. As the Web moves off the desktop and into every niche of the physical world, with it goes all of the privacy concerns that still aren’t resolved online. Clean out those Firefox cookies if you like, but Web privacy is only the beginning. At the same time the privacy front evolves, experts in the field are also rethinking the ramifications of these mountains of data. In the future, they warn, governments and corporations may be able to violate your privacy without even having to identify who you are.

‘It has grown by orders of magnitude since the birth of the Internet and our use of cell phones,’ says Stephen Baker, BusinessWeek journalist and author of a new book on digital data gatherers, ‘The Numerati.’ From email replacing letters to downloading music from iTunes instead of purchasing CDs, our habits, tastes, and movements now are recorded in ways that can be connected…”

source: computerpoweruser.com

UK Plans to Install CCTVs in 20,000 Brit’s Homes, for the Children…

rampage — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 02:38:50 +0000

“THOUSANDS of the worst families in England are to be put in “sin bins” in a bid to change their bad behaviour, Ed Balls announced yesterday. The Children’s Secretary set out £400million plans to put 20,000 problem families under 24-hour CCTV super-vision in their own homes. They will be monitored to ensure that children attend school, go to bed on time and eat proper meals.

Private security guards will also be sent round to carry out home checks, while parents will be given help to combat drug and alcohol addiction. Around 2,000 families have gone through these Family Intervention Projects so far. But ministers want to target 20,000 more in the next two years, with each costing between £5,000 and £20,000 – a potential total bill of £400million. Ministers hope the move will reduce the number of youngsters who get drawn into crime because of their chaotic family lives, as portrayed in Channel 4 comedy drama Shameless. Sin bin projects operate in half of council areas already but Mr Balls wants every local authority to fund them…”

source: express.co.uk

US Troops to be Deployed in the Event there is a Flu Pandemic

rampage — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 02:24:25 +0000

“According to CNN, the Pentagon is ‘to establish regional teams of military personnel to assist civilian authorities in the event of a significant outbreak of the H1N1 virus this fall, according to Defense Department officials.’

‘The proposal is awaiting final approval from Defense Secretary Robert Gates.
The officials would not be identified because the proposal from U.S. Northern Command’s Gen. Victor Renuart has not been approved by the secretary.
The plan calls for military task forces to work in conjunction with the Federal Emergency Management Agency. There is no final decision on how the military effort would be manned, but one source said it would likely include personnel from all branches of the military.
It has yet to be determined how many troops would be needed and whether they would come from the active duty or the National Guard and Reserve forces.
Civilian authorities would lead any relief efforts in the event of a major outbreak, the official said. The military, as they would for a natural disaster or other significant emergency situation, could provide support and fulfill any tasks that civilian authorities could not, such as air transport or testing of large numbers of viral samples from infected patients.
As a first step, Gates is being asked to sign a so-called “execution order” that would authorize the military to begin to conduct the detailed planning to execute the proposed plan.
Orders to deploy actual forces would be reviewed later, depending on how much of a health threat the flu poses this fall, the officials said.’ (CNN, Military planning for possible H1N1 outbreak, July 2009)

The implications are far-reaching. The decision points towards the establishment of a police State. The Pentagon is already planning on the number of troops to be deployed in the case of a pandemic. A nationwide vaccination program is is already planned for the Fall. The pharmaceutical indsutry is slated to deliver 160 million vaccine doses by the Fall…”

source: infowars.com

For the next Lunar Landing…

rampage — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 02:02:27 +0000

“Engineers at the Charles Stark Draper Laboratory in Cambridge, MA, are developing a guidance, navigation, and control system for lunar landings that includes an onboard hazard-detection system able to spot craters, slopes, and rocks that could be dangerous to landing craft. In the Apollo missions of 40 years ago, astronauts steered the lander to a safe spot by looking out the window; the lander itself “had no eyes,” says Eldon Hall, a retired Draper engineer and one of the original electronics designers for Apollo’s navigation computer.

That meant there were some close calls with Apollo, says Tye Brady, the technical director for lunar landing at Draper, who demonstrated his team’s automated-landing and hazard-avoidance technology at last week’s celebration of the 40th anniversary of Apollo 11…”

source: technologyreview.com

Napolitano Continues Bush’s Federalization of Local and State Law Enforcement

rampage — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 01:56:57 +0000

“Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano traveled to New York to deliver a speech to the boss today. She told the Council on Foreign Relations there will be no departure from the Bush administration in regard to homeland security. It will be the same agenda with a few minor changes — for instance, the color-coded threat advisory will be chucked.

‘Napolitano sang the praises of counter-terrorism intelligence being shared between federal, state and local agencies through arrangements known as fusion centers,’ writes Frank James for NPR. Napolitano said she plans ‘to make them a top priority for this department to support them, build them, improve them and work with them.’

Translation: the feds will continue the full-steam ahead effort to federalize state and local law enforcement, an effort that began in earnest under Bill Clinton and picked up critical momentum during the reign of George W. Bush. ‘Napolitano sounded just like her predecessors Ridge and Michael Chertoff,’ James continues. ‘And she talked about educating the populace about how to be the eyes and ears of counter-terrorism and also how to respond to the aftermath of man-made or natural disasters,’ or for that matter government contrived false flag operations. Napolitano told the internationalist cabal in New York that the American people suffer from ‘complacency’ and this is a ‘threat in the United States.’ In order to combat complacency, the government has to do more to ‘educate’ the public on the threat posed by terrorists and other miscreants. In other words, Napolitano admitted the incessant warnings of impending doom — from dirty bombs in major cities to bad guys taking out nuclear plants — have not worked…”

source: infowars.com

Hillary Clinton Signs Arms Agreement with India

rampage — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 01:26:12 +0000

“Ever since the exit of George W. Bush from the White House, his admirers in India have been a worried lot. They have been wondering nervously about the fate of the “strategic partnership” and the future of dangerous regional rivalries promoted during his days. They are happier after US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s recent visit to the country. They seem less concerned on both counts.

What has dispelled their gloom is a document signed during her visit: an end-use monitoring (EUM) agreement on US military supplies to India. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s government has not tabled the text of the agreement in Parliament or shared it with the public so far. But a fair idea of its content is available from disjointed statements, official and quasi-official, made in the course of discussions.

The agreement is based on section 40 (a) of the US Arms Export Control Act, which asks the US administration to ensure, ‘to the extent practicable, (that) such program shall be designed to provide reasonable assurances that the recipient is complying with the requirements imposed by the United States Government with respect to the use, transfers, and security of defense articles and monitoring of U.S. arms transfers, and security of defense articles and services’…”

source: truthout.org

How to Protect Yourself from Big Brother on the Internet

rampage — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 00:35:02 +0000

“…The Internet remains one of the most powerful means ever created to give voice to repressed people around the world. Unfortunately, new technologies have also given authoritarian regimes new means to identify and retaliate against those who speak out despite censorship and surveillance. Below are six basic ideas for those attempting to speak without falling
victim to authoritarian surveillance and censorship, and four ideas for the rest of us who want to help support them…

1. Understand Risk Assessment
2. Beware of Malware
3. Choose the Least-Risky Communications Channels
4. Use Encryption to Prevent Surveillance and Censorship of your Web Usage
5. Be Careful of What and Where You Publish
6. Should I use a Tor Bridge…”

source: eff.org

Motorhome Diaries Denied Entry into Canada

rampage — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 00:18:52 +0000

source: youtube.com

Technology Executives Itching for their Piece of the Iraq Pie

rampage — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 00:02:56 +0000

“As the CEO of MeetUp, Scott Heiferman usually spends his days meeting with staff and brainstorming product strategy. But today the 37-year-old New Yorker, wearing a combat helmet and armored vest over a black business suit, is crammed into a battered C-130 transport plane headed for Iraq. Military and diplomatic personnel aboard are warily eyeing him and the others in his party, all similarly attired, as the C-130 begins its steep, corkscrew descent into the Baghdad airport. And Heiferman is thinking, ‘What am I doing here?’

It’s only been a few weeks since he got an email from a State Department policy planner named Jared Cohen inviting him to join the first tech delegation to post-invasion Iraq. Now he’s strapped in with eight other Silicon Valley executives, mostly in their thirties, from Google, Twitter, YouTube, Blue State Digital, WordPress, Howcast, and AT&T. When Twitter cofounder Jack Dorsey got his invitation, ‘I just said yes,’ he recalls. YouTube’s director of product management, Hunter Walk, had to go down to his basement to find a suit to wear, because Cohen insisted that the group dress like diplomats to show respect for their hosts. Others worked their spouses for approval, repeating Cohen’s assurances that the security situation in Baghdad was much improved. Howcast CEO Jason Liebman’s mother thinks he’s on a trip to LA…”

source: wired.com

Ron Paul Addressing Opposition to H.R. 1207

rampage — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 01:12:43 +0000

source: youtube.com