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10/11/2003
Grove Says U.S. Is Losing Edge In Tech Sector :.Good. Maybe we'll get our lives back: One of the founding fathers of the nation's high-technology industry warned in dire terms yesterday that U.S. dominance in key tech sectors is in jeopardy, threatening the country's economic recovery and growth.
posted by Kevin at 2:15 AM
Putin: Why Not Price Oil in Euros? :.President Vladimir Putin said Thursday Russia could switch its trade in oil from dollars to euros, a move that could have far-reaching repercussions for the global balance of power -- potentially hurting the U.S. dollar and economy and providing a massive boost to the euro zone.
"We do not rule out that it is possible. That would be interesting for our European partners," Putin said at a joint news conference with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder in the Urals town of Yekaterinburg, where the two leaders conducted two-day talks.
"But this does not depend solely on us. We do not want to hurt prices on the market," he said.
posted by Kevin at 2:13 AM
10/10/2003
Recent Genetic Engineering Experiment Could Have Wiped Out All Plant Life on Continent :.We got lucky this time. Sometimes, I wonder if Divine Intervention is the reason we're all still here. These geneticists have about the same insights into the nature of life as gorillas have into the nature of a crate full of hand grenades. It seems like the only time humans stop to question their actions is about two seconds after the "Oh shit" moment has passed. This seems to go for all human endeavors. And of course, two seconds after the point of no return is too late. I'm sure that most "scientists" involved with genetic engineering think that they are in control the entire time and that their precautions and safeguards work. And they will be able to claim success, until the day they can't claim it anymore, because the thing got loose. Then what? Geneticist David Suzuki understands that what took place was truly ominous 'The genetically engineered Klebsiella,' he says, 'could have ended all plant life on this continent. The implications of this single case are nothing short of terrifying.Meanwhile Monsanto and the other bio-tech companies are eagerly developing all kinds of genetically modified organisms, hoping to bring them to market. How do we know if they're safe? According to Suzuki: 'We don't, and won't for years after they are being widely used.' Recent/Related: Insurance Firms Refuse Coverage to Farmers Growing Genetically Modified Crops :.Research Credit: TR
posted by Kevin at 9:53 PM
Cheney Unfurls: The Day of Horror :. Well, if anyone knows about horror, it's Cheney. I thought about all of the ways I could have Photoshopped the image of Cheney on the right.... I decided, however, that there was nothing I could possibly do to make it any more frightening than it already is in its original state. Man. Just take a look at that guy: "the ultimate nightmare...devastation to our country on a scale we have never experienced. Instead of losing thousands of lives, we might lose tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of lives in a single day of horror."
"Some claim we should not have acted because the threat from [deposed Iraqi President] Saddam Hussein was not imminent," Cheney said. "Terrorist enemies of our country hope to strike us with the most lethal weapons known to man, and it would be reckless in the extreme to rule out action and save our worries until the day they strike."
He added, "As long as George W. Bush is president of the United States, this country will not permit gathering threats to become certain tragedies."Well, there's one problem with that statement. The threats to this country have already gathered and they're sitting in the White House. Related: Cheney's Secret Organ Bank
posted by Kevin at 5:52 PM
The VeriKid Program :.A Mexican company has launched a service to implant microchips in children as an anti-kidnapping device.
Solusat, the Mexican distributor of the VeriChip -- a rice-size microchip that is injected beneath the skin and transmits a 125-kilohertz radio frequency signal -- is marketing the device as an emergency ID under its new VeriKid program.
posted by Kevin at 5:47 PM
Germans Criticize Leaders, Admire 'Arnold Effect' :.Does anyone else find this particularly chilling? The straight-talking Hollywood action star's election win in California has had an electrifying impact on Germany, leading to calls Friday for top politicians to voice clear ideas in simple language or be swept away at the polls.
"The more confused we are by what they say, the greater our longing for a man or woman with simple words," wrote Bild newspaper columnist Franz Josef Wagner. "The only problem is that it's the wrong ones who usually master simple language."
Schwarzenegger's victory in the California race for governor has led to editorials calling for German politicians to abandon their barely comprehensible speaking style in favor of "Klartext" (straight talk).Klartext? How about Arbeit Macht Frei? That's pretty clear.
posted by Kevin at 5:45 PM
Iraq: Your Hearts and Minds, or Else :.Counter insurgency operations make for the ugliest kind of war. The guerilla fighters blend in with the people. THEY ARE THE PEOPLE. When regular military forces are tasked with defeating such an enemy, they are tasked with committing genocide. Look at any of the unconventional wars throughout history and take note of the casualties. Women, children and the elderly represent the largest number of deaths. And so it goes in Iraq: U.S. troops facing fierce resistance from Saddam loyalists in the so-called Sunni Triangle are taking a page out of an old textbook, rewarding Iraqis who cooperate with them, and punishing those who shoot at them by destroying their houses and crops. It didn't work out very well in Vietnam, and it doesn't look like it's working out in occupied Iraq.
posted by Kevin at 5:42 PM
Enron E-mails Confirm Schwarzenegger-Ken Lay Meeting :."You don't meet with America's most well-known corporate crook in the middle of California's biggest financial disaster and not remember," said FTCR's senior consumer advocate Douglas Heller. "Mr. Schwarzenegger should come clean about what happened at that meeting and if he shares Ken Lay's views on energy regulation."
posted by Kevin at 5:40 PM
Pat Robertson: Blow Up the U.S. State Department with a Nuclear Weapon :.I said things were going to get weird, but I didn't know just how weird: Introducing Mowbray on his show, Robertson said that a reader of his book could conclude that the State Department needed a nuclear explosion.
"I read your book," Robertson said. "When you get through, you say, 'If I could just get a nuclear device inside Foggy Bottom, I think that's the answer,' and you say, 'We've got to blow that thing up.' I mean, is it as bad as you say?" Robertson said.
"It is," Mowbray said, although his book never suggests that the State Department should be blown up with a nuclear device.You know, I was looking at pictures of Pat Robertson, and I started thinking.... What if that isn't Pat Robertson.... What if that thing that appears to be Pat Robertson was really something else: Can you see it? I hope they don't routinely eat apple sauce and pudding at the 700 Club. If you don't get my twisted humor, type Heaven's Gate Applewhite into Google.
posted by Kevin at 5:37 PM
Limbaugh: Pill Monster :.It's a shame this imbecile wasn't addicted to any drugs capable of curing acute bloviation: Conservative commentator Rush Limbaugh, who has spent years campaigning vigorously against drug use, acknowledged Friday that he himself is addicted to painkillers, and that he would immediately check into a treatment center for 30 days to try to break the habit.
posted by Kevin at 5:32 PM
Israeli Tanks Move Into Gaza :.The rumors proved true: Israeli tanks rolled into Rafah, in southern Gaza, overnight on a mission to shut down tunnels that Israel says are used for smuggling arms.
Palestinian hospital sources said the fighting killed six Palestinians and wounded at least 40 others.
posted by Kevin at 3:03 AM
Gardner Watts Patented Thermal Energy Cell Process :.Hot water heater!? Man, I want to strap that thing to my Toyota! Gardner Watts have patented their TEC process which produces a large surplus of heat energy from a modified electrolysis cell.
We use a tungsten cathode, platinum anode and the electrolyte is distilled water with a catalyst added at low molar concentrations. A high voltage DC or pulsed current input at high frequency is applied. These conditions result in a plasma being formed between electrodes, the release of monatomic hydrogen and further catalytic reactions, which produce excess heat in the form of water heating and steam.Related: Mizuno Cold Fusion Reactor as Demonstrated by Jean-Louis Naudin :.
posted by Kevin at 2:56 AM
10/9/2003
U.S. Gross External Debt More Than $6 Trillion :.Now, why on earth would countries be considering a move away from taking payments in dollars? U.S. debt owed to foreign governments, central banks, private banks and other investors topped $6 trillion in the quarter ended June 30, the Treasury Department said on Wednesday.
Of that, about $1.270 trillion in principal and another $53.73 billion in interest is due within the next 3 months, according to a new report on the U.S. external debt position issued by Treasury.In other words, more than half of the $2 trillion that the U.S. government took from Americans in 2002 is about to paid out as debt service to foreign interests over the next three months. Hmmm. You might be wondering how the U.S. government will pay for debt service in the quarters that follow. Simple: The U.S. Treasury will float more paper. HA! This scam is winding down. Related: U.S. National Debt Clock :.To the penny...
posted by Kevin at 4:23 PM
ALMOST CERTAINLY NOT CREDIBLE: Reverse Passover :.I'd say there's about a 1% chance that this is credible. The source is purely from the lunatic fringe. And coming from me, that ought to tell you something. So, why post it? I'd feel pretty dense if something actually did come down and I left this information sitting unused in my inbox: "Among the various criminal plans being considered for October is the following plan, which in the parlance of the cabal is called 'a finalist.' The plan -- starting on or just ahead of October 11th -- long-slumbering operatives, or sleepers, will be awakened and then triggered to strike fear into the hearts of all those who are associated with Jewish schools, day care centers, Hebrew schools ( or Schuls ), and those Temples with affiliated schuls, et cetera.Research Credit: NF
posted by Kevin at 3:28 PM
Rainbow Money Hits the Streets :.It's a setup for the coming devaluation. It's a lockdown to prevent you from moving your money into some other currency or instrument that hasn't collapsed yet. Yeah, yeah. Like just about everything else on this site, it sounds like bullshit... until it happens: Patterson calls the new notes "crayola currency" and claims they will circulate domestically while the normal green currency that we've grown accustomed to will circulate offshore all over the globe. According to commentator Terry Savage, "Two-thirds of the U.S. paper currency is circulating in foreign countries." With the coming two-tiered currency system, foreigners will continue to be allowed to use the greenback while U.S. citizens will be stuck with the "crayola currency" which cannot be exchanged.
Patterson forecasts the coming use of foreign exchange controls for the U.S. dollar domestically, which would prohibit Americans from transferring capital to any other world currency. More: Dollar Battered Again :.They are letting it slide: The dollar plumbed three-year lows against the yen and 3-1/2 month lows versus the euro on Thursday on growing views the U.S. and European authorities would let it weaken to correct a ballooning U.S. current account deficit.
posted by Kevin at 2:08 PM
Insurance Firms Refuse Coverage to Farmers Growing Genetically Modified Crops :.I love the irrational overconfidence of the dabblers, tinkerers and charlatans with PhDs who would like to believe they have attained peer status with God. Keep it up, you idiots. When the smackdown comes, when all of this nonsense finally blows up in your faces, you won't be able to get a job slinging coffee at Starbucks with your PhD in genetics. In fact, one might be able to get rich by selling tar and feathers to the angry mobs that show up to the university campuses and corporate headquarters after they have finished burning all of the GM crops! Plans for the future of GM crops in Britain suffered a massive blow today as insurance giants issued dire warnings about the unknown dangers posed by the supercrops.
Insurance firms are refusing to offer cover to farmers who want to plant GM crops because they fear a public health disaster and huge compensation payouts.
Such is their concern that they are comparing the use of GM crops to the so-called wonder drug Thalidomide which led to �100 million in payouts to babies born with deformities in the Sixties.
A study on behalf of farmers reveals that none of the top five farming underwriters is prepared to risk insuring farmers against accidental contamination with GM crops.
posted by Kevin at 1:52 PM
10/8/2003
Bad Print or Hackers? Dow Jones Industrial Average Shows Massive LossI took a screenshot of it. Look to the right. The DJIA shows down -1206.50.
posted by Kevin at 8:46 PM
Russia Might Price Its Oil in Euros :. Why hold dollars when all they represent is an impossibly huge debt obligation incurred by lots of fat, stupid Americans? Toilet paper has more intrinsic value than U.S. currency. There's one problem with this. The global economic system bought into the dollar myth ( the first hit of crack was free) and now some of the largest economies in the world are strapped to the mast of a sinking ship called the American Consumer. Foreclosures on the rise. Bankruptcies at record levels. Persistent unemployment. Americans are slathered in debt, basted in debt, and, by the way, would you like to take out a home equity loan to pay for your cafe latte? Now that Joe and Jane Sixpack are less able to consume, the smart money players are divesting themselves of dollars and circling the wagons. One note of caution on this story: It could be a tactic by criminal currency traders who are already short the dollar. Just as more traders start selling dollars, don't be surprised if the entire thing turns out to be bullshit. I doubt it, but it's something to keep in mind: Russia is increasingly looking at pricing oil sales in euros instead of dollars, reflecting the euro's growing role as a reserve currency, German government sources said Wednesday.
"The question is taking on increasing significance," a person travelling with German Chancellor Gerhard Schr�der on an official visit to Russia said.
A switch into euros by Russia, the second-biggest oil exporter behind Saudi Arabia and holder of the world's largest natural gas reserves, would represent a major shift in the balance of currencies behind the world's most traded commodity.
posted by Kevin at 8:10 PM
Election Math :.Reader TR uses basic math to demonstrate the nature of "democracy" in the U.S., generally, and California in particular: Population of eligible voters in CA: roughly 24 million
Number who voted: 7.8 million or 32.5%
Number who voted for Arnold: 3.6 million or 15%
So 15% want Arnold for Governor and we get Arnold for Governor. Welcome to the democracy.
posted by Kevin at 3:33 PM
10/7/2003
Argentina: Forclosing on a Country :.HA! Just wait until this happens to the U.S. Maybe we won't have to pay because we have nuclear weapons: Argentine Finance Minister Roberto Lavagna used the high-profile forum of the annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, to unveil on Sept. 22 Argentina's long-awaited proposal to restructure some $94.3 billion in public debt, on which the government had defaulted in December 2001. Lavagna's proposed "solution" to the world's longest-running and biggest public debt default, was to write off 75% of the debt's face value, and service the remaining 25% somewhere down the line.
Howls of outraged protest exploded from spokesmen for Argentina's international creditors, especially the speculators widely referred to as "vulture funds," which now hold most of the defaulted bonds. "This is not a serious offer," blustered Christian Stracke, head of emerging market research at CreditSights. "Scandalous, offensive, morally unacceptable," fumed Italian bondholder and lawyer Mauro Sandri, without a trace of irony.
Then came the threats of legal action. "There is no way Argentina will avoid going to court with this offer," warned Stracke. London's Financial Times reported that "frustrated Japanese investors are trying to seize government land in Argentina's Patagonia, and German investors are trying to appropriate Argentine-embassy assets to recoup losses." Rumors even began to swirl that the Argentine Presidential jet would shortly be seized.
posted by Kevin at 5:48 PM
Seige Heil: The Bush-Rove-Schwarzenegger Nazi Nexus and the Destabilization of California :.I think it's going to get really weird, really fast: George W. Bush's grandfather helped finance the Nazi Party. Karl Rove's grandfather allegedly helped run the Nazi Party, and helped build the Birkenau Death Camp. Arnold Schwarzenegger's Austrian father volunteered for the infamous Nazi SA and became a ranking officer.
Together, they have destabilized California and are on the brink of bringing it a new Reich. With the Schwarzenegger candidacy they have laid siege to America's largest state, lining it up for the 2004 election.
posted by Kevin at 5:32 PM
Arnold Won, YawnThe orientation of the American flag in this AP photo basically says it all:
posted by Kevin at 5:23 PM
The Emergence of Bio Warfare Script Kiddies :.This is how the world ends, not with a bang, but with a gene sequencer: Automated commercial instrumentation handles an increasing fraction of laboratory tasks that were once the sole province of doctoral level researchers, reducing labor costs and increasing productivity. This technology is gradually moving into the broader marketplace as laboratories upgrade to new equipment. Older, still very powerful instruments are finding their way into wide distribution, as any cursory tour of eBay will reveal. These factors are contributing to a proliferation that will soon put highly capable tools in the hands of both professionals and amateurs worldwide. There are obvious short term risks from increased access to DNA synthesis and sequencing technologies, and the general improvement of technologies used in measuring and manipulating molecules will soon enable a broad and distributed enhancement in the ability to alter biological systems.Related: GAO: Pentagon Sold Biolab Gear :.
posted by Kevin at 3:49 PM
BREAKING: Hillary Clinton Running for President 2004? :.Yet another nightmare scenario for 2004....
posted by Kevin at 2:59 PM
Expect Terrorist Attacks on Global Financial System :.Long ago, when I wrote Cyberwar: How the Terrorists Could Defeat the U.S. and Why They Won't, I said: If a terrorist group was actually interested in taking down the United States, they wouldn't go for the Lex Luthor style diabolical displays that make for good television. If they were serious, really serious, about delivering a kill-shot to the U.S., they would physically target the computers, and the data communications media, routers and switches that interconnect the networks.Fedwire and Fednet were two terms that I specifically left out of the essay because I feared that the Fedpigs would accuse me of writing a terrorist manual. Well, now that Phil Williams has said it, I don't see why I can't say it too. I, however, don't believe terrorists will attack the information infrastructure because the elite are the terrorists, and the elite need to be able to move money around in order to swindle. Now, I suppose we could begin to speculate that if a financial collapse was imminent (which it is), They might decide to crash the thing and make it look like Al Qaeda did it. That might be a cunning plan, given the circumstances, but I would still tend to doubt it. If they take the thing down, how do they bootstrap back up? The ensuing chaos would be unmanageable. Besides, they need the networks to spy on us all: A successful terrorist attack on America's financial infrastructure could bring the US and global economies to a standstill, and the real surprise is that it hasn't been attempted yet.
"We've gone after al-Qaeda's finances, and it would strike me that in a sense, we can expect retaliation in kind," Dr Phil Williams said during his keynote address at the annual conference of the Centre for Conflict Studies at the University of New Brunswick in Atlantic Canada.
Williams says the attack, when and if it comes, would likely focus on what he calls key nodes in the US financial infrastructure: Fedwire and Fednet. Fedwire is the financial funds transfer system that money exchange among US banks, while Fednet is the electronic network that handles the transactions. The system has one primary installation and three backups.
"You can find out on the Internet where the backups are. If those could be taken out by a mix of cyber and physical activities, the US economy would basically come to a halt," Williams said. If the takedown were to include the international funds transfer networks CHIPS and SWIFT then the entire global economy could be thrown into chaos.
posted by Kevin at 1:58 PM
60 Minutes: First ECHELON Now Skull and Bones :.I used to think, "If only the TV networks would run a story about ECHELON in primetime....." People would wake up, petards would be manned, the revolution would be on, etc. HA! Then 60 Minutes did a segment on ECHELON. A decent one. And what happened? America closed one eye and farted. Well, now it's Skull & Bones. This mainstreamification of freak knowledge is disturbing. I'm going to be out of a job here. What's next, for 60 Minutes? Barry Seal, the most notorious narcotics trafficker in the history of the world, and a CIA contractor, getting blown away as he sat in his car with George H.W. Bush's phone number in his trunk? Don't do it, 60 Minutes. I need my chump change, cigarette butts and bottle caps generated from my work on Cryptogon. If all these good people can sit comatose in front of their boob toobs and get the same information, what will become of me!? What? Nobody cares either way? Oh.
posted by Kevin at 4:41 AM
Vote for ArnoldNobody I know is voting in this election, including me, and I have voted in every election since I was 18. Two days ago, it hit me like a ton of bricks: We should all vote for Arnold to accelerate the already imminent collapse of this despicable system! I started out by writing a small essay on why we should all vote for Arnold. The small essay turned into something else. Something I don't know if I can post. Basically, our only hope is that this system collapses before They finish the implementation of the personal surveillance and tracking systems and unleash the next terrorist incident to justify using it all. It's starting to look like the system will collapse into chaos if simply left alone. But I think we should do everything in our power to speed that along. Electing Arnold will speed up the onset of chaos. And Bush Cheney in 2004! All the way. Let it rip and bring it down! Give these guys what they want. Let them keep taking it all. In addition to several readers sending emails that say things like, "Game over," and, "We're fucked," TR, it seems, came to the exact conclusion that I did, at the same exact time. He sent me these quotes from the Tao Te Ching: To reduce someone's influence, first expand it;
To reduce someone's force, first increase it;
To overthrow someone, first exalt them;
To take from someone, first give to them.
This is the subtlety by which the weak overcome the strong:
Fish should not leave their depths,
And swords should not leave their scabbards.-- Tao Te Ching (verse 36)Their time is almost up. There is one thing that is truly knowable about these people: They have no concept of enough. They will continue to rat fuck us all, and when they can't rat fuck us anymore, they will turn on each other. And that will be our chance. So, to those of you voting in this thing, vote for Arnold and let's stop messing around. Hey, They stripped the nut when They put Bush in the second time. Let's not let Them back it off a quarter turn in 2004! Make them go all the way through with The Plan with Bush for a third time. None of this kinder-gentler fascist Democrat nonsense. Let's get the American Flag Armband brigades fired up, cops in every classroom, Freedom Fries for all, etc. Hint about what I was writing: When chaos finally does breakout, and it will, you better make damn sure the federal authorities do not manage to implement the Continuity of Government (COG) and the accompanying martial law contingency plans (CABLE SPLICER, REX84 BRAVO, etc). If you know cops, judges, city government people, do anything you can to convince them to refuse the federalization order when it does come down. Stay out of groups that advocate violence. They are honeypots to attract radicals. They will be taken down in lightning strikes and all members will be arrested/killed individually. The feds run the organized insurgencies and never forget that. Resist, refuse, recycle. I'll leave it at that for now. More: Orwell on Voting for ArnoldReader NF sends a quote from 1984: Chapter 4 Part 1
Both of them knew that it was lunacy. It was as though they were intentionally stepping nearer to their graves. As he sat waiting on the edge of the bed he thought again of the cellars of the Ministry of Love. It was curious how that predestined horror moved in and out of one's consciousness. There it lay, fixed in future times, preceding death as surely as 99 precedes 100. One could not avoid it, but one could perhaps postpone it: and yet instead, every now and again, by a conscious, wilful act, one chose to shorten the interval before it happened.More: Arnold Wearing an American Flag Patch on His ArmThis entire scene is starting to resemble a drug enduced nightmare of the type described by Hunter S. Thompson in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Where are the sausage creatures and the lizard men? When I made that "arm band" comment above, I was being sarcastic in the extreme. Uh, but then I saw this. Oh yeah, the man of the people also wears a $20,000 wrist watch. From Audemars Piguet: In 2003, Audemars Piguet is once again accompanying Arnold Schwarzenegger in his latest adventures. After End of Days in 1999, it is in the new film Terminator 3, Rise of the Machines that the actor wears a new interpretation of the famous Royal Oak. Named the Royal Oak Offshore T3 chronograph, it is the largest model in the Offshore line ever made by the master watchmakers of Le Brassus.
posted by Kevin at 3:47 AM
U.S. Alone in Standing by Israel After Attack :.Only the United States stood behind Israel tonight in the face of international condemnation of the reprisal air raid on Syria that plunged the Mideast into deeper turmoil.
posted by Kevin at 3:01 AM
10/6/2003
Microsoft Moving Windows Into BIOS :.The End: Microsoft has expanded its relationship with BIOS maker Phoenix Technologies in a deal designed to more closely integrate the basic building blocks of the PC with the Windows operating system.
The relationship, announced this week, is designed to make PCs simpler and more reliable, the companies said. The move is likely to put consumer rights advocates on their guard, however, since both Microsoft and Phoenix are involved in plans to integrate digital rights management (DRM) technology at the operating system and hardware level. DRM is designed to give copyright owners more control over how users make use of software and content, but has been criticized as eroding consumer rights.
posted by Kevin at 8:28 PM
FBI Sent Hamas Money in Late 1990's :.The governments support the terrorists. The governments control the terrorists. The governments think of the use of terrorism as the continuation of policy by "other" means: While President Clinton was trying to broker an elusive peace between Israelis and Palestinians, the FBI was secretly funneling money to suspected Hamas figures to see if the militant group would use it for terrorist attacks, according to interviews and court documents.
The counterterrorism operation in 1998 and 1999 was run out of the FBI's Phoenix office in cooperation with Israeli intelligence and was approved by Attorney General Janet Reno, FBI officials told The Associated Press.
Several thousand dollars in U.S. money was sent to suspected terror supporters during the operation as the FBI tried to track the flow of cash through terror organizations, the FBI said in a rare acknowledgment of an undercover sting that never resulted in prosecutions.
"This was done in conjunction with permission from the attorney general for an ongoing operation, and Israeli authorities were aware of it," the bureau said.
posted by Kevin at 8:02 PM
GAO: Pentagon Sold Biolab Gear :.As pregnant women are fondled at airport security checkpoints: The Defense Department sold equipment to the public that can be used for making biological warfare agents, according to a draft report by the General Accounting Office.
The Defense Department agency responsible for the sale of excess property to the public, the Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service, halted the sale of such items September 19 while the practice is reviewed.
"Many items needed to establish a laboratory for making biological warfare agents were being sold on the Internet to the public from DoD's excess property inventory for pennies on the dollar, making them both easy and economical to obtain," the GAO draft report said.
"As requested, GAO established a fictitious company and purchased over the Internet key excess DoD biological equipment items and related protective clothing necessary to produce and disseminate biological warfare agents."
A congressional source said the GAO front corporation was able to buy evaporator, incubator and centrifuge equipment that can be used to produce biological warfare agents.
It also bought 300 to 400 protective suits required for the production of biological agents, the source said.
The fictitious GAO company spent "a little over $4,000" for equipment that the Defense Department originally bought for some $46,000, according to the source and the report.
"That's less than 10 cents on the dollar," the source said.
posted by Kevin at 4:24 PM
Coke Plans To Track Contest Winners With Satellites :.If you think this is simply a dumb gimmick, think again. This is a pure psyop. They are going to associate satellite tracking with "winning it big!" Now what could possibly be so bad about satellite tracking? After all, it's as American as Coca-Cola! Coca-Cola is working on a new promotional contest where consumers who purchase special cans will be found by satellites.More: The Dark Side of Coke :.Early on in their history, The Coca-Cola Company assisted the U.S. in espionage. When the company set up bottling plants and distribution facilities in a new country, sent in were spy operatives.Research Credit: NF and AL
posted by Kevin at 3:30 AM
Gaze Upon It!
posted by Kevin at 2:51 AM
Spending Our Way to Disaster: The Consumer Debt Bubble in the United States Could Make the Stock Bubble Seem Like Nothing :.That is the title of a CNN news article! This isn't from some fringe backwater (many of which have been saying this for years). They're coming out and saying it. The Show Is Almost Over: The American consumer has become deeply addicted to spending, running up ever higher levels of debt in order to live in a fashion that is beyond his means. And the world has become equally addicted to the consumer continuing to burn through cash.
It's a dangerous situation -- potentially a bubble that dwarfs even the U.S. asset bubble that burst in 2000 -- and it will be a challenge for policy-makers to keep it from ending badly.
The perseverance of consumer spending over the past several years is credited with keeping the economy afloat, but it didn't come without consequence. In order to keep on living in the manner they became accustomed to during the boom years, Americans went deeply into hock.Research Credit: TR
posted by Kevin at 2:43 AM
10/5/2003
Israel Attacks Syria :.The state of Israel is out of control: Israel bombed a target inside Syria that it claimed was an Islamic Jihad training base, striking deep inside its neighbor's territory Sunday for the first time in three decades and widening its pursuit of Palestinian militants.
The airstrike - a retaliation for a suicide bombing Saturday that killed 19 Israelis - alarmed the Arab world and deepened concerns that three years of Israeli-Palestinian violence could spread through the region.More: Syrian Terrorists Using Israeli Weapons?!In the video of the "Syrian terrorist camp" making the rounds on the agitprop TV networks (CNNFOXMSNBCetc), I spotted one IMI (Israeli Military Industries) UZI (sub machine gun) and what I believe were several Galil SARs (assault rifles). Does anyone else find this a bit weird? If not, consider this: The illegal trade in firearms is run by state intelligence agencies. (No, you weren't absent that day in your university level international security studies classes.) So, where would the gun runners supplying the Syrian terrorists acquire military grade light arms made by Israeli Military Industries, a company run by the Israeli government? Let's pretend for a moment that this "camp" was run by the Syrians. Where did the Syrians get Israeli weapons? I'd ask Ariel Sharon and his chief spook, General Meir Dagan.
posted by Kevin at 4:54 PM
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:. Reading
 Fatal
Harvest: The Tragedy of Industrial Agriculture by Andrew Kimbrell
Readers will come to see
that industrial food production is indeed a "fatal harvest"
- fatal to consumers, as pesticide residues and new disease vectors
such as E. coli and "mad cow disease" find their way
into our food supply; fatal to our landscapes, as chemical runoff
from factory farms poison our rivers and groundwater; fatal to
genetic diversity, as farmers rely increasingly on high-yield
monocultures and genetically engineered crops; and fatal to our
farm communities, which are wiped out by huge corporate
farms.
 Friendly
Fascism: The New Face of Power in America by Bertram Myron Gross
This is a relatively
short but extremely cogent and well-argued treatise on the rise
of a form of fascistic thought and social politics in late 20th
century America. Author Bertram Gross' thesis is quite straightforward;
the power elite that comprises the corporate, governmental and
military superstructure of the country is increasingly inclined
to employ every element in their formidable arsenal of 'friendly
persuasion' to win the hearts and minds of ordinary Americans
through what Gross refers to as friendly fascism.
 The
Good Life
by Scott and Helen Nearing Helen
and Scott Nearing are the great-grandparents of the back-to-the-land
movement, having abandoned the city in 1932 for a rural life based
on self-reliance, good health, and a minimum of cash...Fascinating,
timely, and wholly useful, a mix of the Nearings' challenging
philosophy and expert counsel on practical skills.
 Silent
Theft: The Private Plunder of Our Common Wealth by David Bollierd
In Silent Theft, David Bollier
argues that a great untold story of our time is the staggering
privatization and abuse of our common wealth. Corporations are
engaged in a relentless plunder of dozens of resources that we
collectively own—publicly funded medical breakthroughs,
software innovation, the airwaves, the public domain of creative
works, and even the DNA of plants, animals and humans. Too often,
however, our government turns a blind eye—or sometimes helps
give away our assets. Amazingly,
the silent theft of our shared wealth has gone largely unnoticed
because we have lost our ability to see the commons.
 The
Self-Sufficient Life and How to Live It: The Complete Back-To-Basics
Guide by John Seymour The
Self Sufficient Life and How to Live It is the only book that
teaches all the skills needed to live independently in harmony
with the land harnessing natural forms of energy, raising crops
and keeping livestock, preserving foodstuffs, making beer and
wine, basketry, carpentry, weaving, and much more.
 When
Corporations Rule the World by David C. Korten
When Corporations
Rule the World explains how economic globalization has concentrated
the power to govern in global corporations and financial markets
and detached them from accountability to the human interest. It
documents the devastating human and environmental consequences
of the successful efforts of these corporations to reconstruct
values and institutions everywhere on the planet to serve their
own narrow ends.
 The
New Organic Grower: A Master's Manual of Tools and Techniques
for the Home and Market Gardener
This expansion
of a now-classic guide originally published in 1989 is intended
for the serious gardener or small-scale market farmer. It describes
practical and sustainable ways of growing superb organic vegetables,
with detailed coverage of scale and capital, marketing, livestock,
the winter garden, soil fertility, weeds, and many other
topics.
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