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5/13/2006

Bill Clinton Bows Down Before George Bush :.

TR Sends: "What is thy bidding, my master?"

I hope all the dumbsh*t limousine liberals and KoolAid swilling Democrats like it. Yep, I'd say this one is suitable for framing. The black robes are a nice touch:

What is thy bidding, my Master?

Former President Bill Clinton bows to former President George H. W. Bush after he receives a honorary degree during the Tulane University Commencement in New Orleans on Saturday May 13, 2006. Former President Clinton also received a degree.(AP Photo/Alex Brandon, Pool)



Fool Me Once: Iran: Euro to Replace Dollar as Oil Currency :.

This is definitely one for the I'll-Believe-It-When-I-See-It file, after repeated nonsense taunts out of Iran re: the oil bourse. If they're going to do it, they should stop saying they're going to do it, and do it.

But who knows what has been happening in the back channel? The U.S. hasn't attacked Iran and the oil bourse hasn't opened... Maybe it's a Mexican standoff, involving China and Russia as well.

In any case, the latest utterances out of the Iranian regime indicate July for the opening of the oil bourse.

Go figger':

In July Iran will ditch the dollar in favour of the euro as the currency in which it will accept payments for its oil and natural gas exports, Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced Friday.

The switch, first mooted months ago, was expected but Ahmadinejad's decision comes just as Washington is stepping up pressure on other United Nations Security Council members to act against Tehran for flouting agreements taken with the UN's nuclear watchdog.

Ahmadinejad's announcement, made in Baku, Azerbaijan where the Iranian leader is attending a regional economics conference, appears aimed at weakening the United States' resolve to seek sanctions against Iran if it does not comply with the UN International Agency for Atomic Energy's demands.

Some observers beleive the Iranian move could deal a severe blow the the American currency as many central banks from oil importing nations could choose to stock up their currency reserves with euros rather than dollars.



Feds Want Hacker's Genetic Code :.

I miss the Adrian Lamo stories from the old days, when you couldn't be sure if the guy was even real:

Hacker Adrian Lamo is in trouble again, this time for failing to give the federal government his DNA.

On Tuesday, federal probation officer Michael Sipe filed a notice of violation in a Northern California court accusing Lamo of refusing to submit a blood sample, in violation of Sipe's instructions and a 2-year-old federal law.

"He reported to the probation office as instructed; however, he refused to provide a blood sample for DNA testing, in violation of the general condition of supervision requiring compliance with federal law," the filing reads.

Lamo is nearly 18 months into a two-year probation sentence for hacking The New York Times in 2002.



Military Plans Tests in Search for an Alternative to Oil-Based Fuel :.

It's easy to think, "the military is full of idiots" for looking at alternatives that include natural gas. As any Peaknic will tell you, natural gas is a dead end. My guess is that this is just a dog and pony show, and it strengthens the argument that They already have a more viable solution that They will role out at Their whim.

Coal... HA! That's a good one. The U.S. knows all about turning coal into oil! After all, who do you think taught the Nazis how to do it? (The U.S. would probably have to use nuclear power to pull it off properly, though, at this late stage in the energy game.) Germany couldn't have menaced the world without American coal-into-oil technology during World War II. And since the U.S. is now taking so many pages from the Third Reich's playbook, maybe the choice of coal to fuel war efforts makes sense:

The Air Force may not be in any danger of suffering inconveniences from scarce or expensive fuel, but it has begun looking for a way to power its jets on something besides conventional fuel.

In a series of tests - first on engines mounted on blocks and then with B-52's in flight - the Air Force will try to prove that the American military can fly its aircraft by blending traditional crude-oil-based jet fuel with a synthetic liquid made first from natural gas and, eventually, from coal, which is plentiful and cheaper.



The U.S. Dollar Takes Pounding Over Deficit :.

The US dollar suffered a severe sell-off on Friday, taking it to its weakest level against a trade-weighted basket of currencies since October 1997, in a tumble that helped to trigger falls across world equity markets.

Worries about US inflation, which have intensified since the US Federal Reserve's rate-setting open market committee met on Wednesday, sparked further sharp losses for US stock markets.


5/12/2006

Bush Expected to Send National Guard Troops to the U.S.-Mexico Border :.

Why now? Maybe it's to make sure that the narcotics trafficking doesn't get botched up by the citizen militia:

President Bush is expected to announce plans Monday to send thousands of National Guard troops to the U.S.-Mexico border to help stop illegal immigration.

Details were still under discussion at the White House Friday evening, but administration officials said Bush was considering deploying at least several thousand troops as part of a broader effort to beef up border security. The president will outline his plans on Monday night in a prime time TV address to the nation.



Rove Informs White House He Will Be Indicted? :.

On the one hand, I'll believe it when I see it. On the other hand, who cares?

Within the last week, Karl Rove told President Bush and Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten, as well as a few other high level administration officials, that he will be indicted in the CIA leak case and will immediately resign his White House job when the special counsel publicly announces the charges against him, according to sources.



Bush Motorcade Aims Assault Rifles At Protesters In Florida :.

Oh yeah, keep waving those signs! It's really making a difference!



Satan is My Co-Pilot :.

A weird new survey shows that one in five Americans actually believes The Devil is responsible for books and movies that poke holes in Christianity.

Related: The Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster



NSA Whistleblower: "People Are Going to Be Shocked." :.

No. Not really. If they were going to be shocked, Tice would have already been executed, along with his family and probably his dog.

But why bother with all of that wet work!?

Rather, allow Tice to do his thing, sit back and watch as the zeitgeist in Jesusland casually drifts back to Freedom Fries and Amerikan Idol.

Tice will have his say, his life will be ruined (at best) and nobody will care. In fact, the most creepy NSA projects will probably have their budgets doubled next year.

This is the mistake that idealistic individuals make... If 'the people' only knew _________, they would be shocked into taking action...

Wrong. Wrong. Wrong:

A former intelligence officer for the National Security Agency said Thursday he plans to tell Senate staffers next week that unlawful activity occurred at the agency under the supervision of Gen. Michael Hayden beyond what has been publicly reported, while hinting that it might have involved the illegal use of space-based satellites and systems to spy on U.S. citizens...

[Tice] said he plans to tell the committee staffers the NSA conducted illegal and unconstitutional surveillance of U.S. citizens while he was there with the knowledge of Hayden. ... "I think the people I talk to next week are going to be shocked when I tell them what I have to tell them. It's pretty hard to believe," Tice said. "I hope that they'll clean up the abuses and have some oversight into these programs, which doesn't exist right now." ...

Tice said his information is different from the Terrorist Surveillance Program that Bush acknowledged in December and from news accounts this week that the NSA has been secretly collecting phone call records of millions of Americans. "It's an angle that you haven't heard about yet," he said.



Poll: Most Americans Support NSA's Efforts :.

It was nice knowin' ya, America. Well, not really:

A majority of Americans initially support a controversial National Security Agency program to collect information on telephone calls made in the United States in an effort to identify and investigate potential terrorist threats, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll.

The new survey found that 63 percent of Americans said they found the NSA program to be an acceptable way to investigate terrorism, including 44 percent who strongly endorsed the effort. Another 35 percent said the program was unacceptable, which included 24 percent who strongly objected to it.

A slightly larger majority--66 percent--said they would not be bothered if NSA collected records of personal calls they had made, the poll found.



New Zealand Firm Makes Bio-Diesel from Sewage :.

A New Zealand company has successfully turned sewage into modern-day gold.

Marlborough-based Aquaflow Bionomic yesterday announced it had produced its first sample of bio-diesel fuel from algae in sewage ponds.

It is believed to be the world's first commercial production of bio-diesel from "wild" algae outside the laboratory - and the company expects to be producing at the rate of at least one million litres of the fuel each year from Blenheim by April.


Research Credit: PV



You Consented to Have Your Records Turned Over to NSA :.

One government lawyer who has participated in negotiations with telecommunications providers said the Bush administration has argued that a company can turn over its entire database of customer records -- and even the stored content of calls and e-mails -- because customers "have consented to that" when they establish accounts. The fine print of many telephone and Internet service contracts includes catchall provisions, the lawyer said, authorizing the company to disclose such records to protect public safety or national security, or in compliance with a lawful government request.

"It is within their terms of service because you have consented to that," the lawyer said. If the company also consents, "and they do it voluntarily, the U.S. government can accept it."


Related: Original Washington Post Article



NSA Kills Inquiry Into NSA :.

Wednesday, H. Marshall Jarrett, of the Justice Department's Office of Professional Responsibility, notified Democratic Rep. Maurice Hinchey of New York that his staff was ending its investigation into the NSA, because the very same agency refused to grant them security clearance.

"We have been unable to make any meaningful progress in our investigation because OPR has been denied security clearances for access to information about the NSA program," Jarrett wrote in a fax.

Jarrett says that beginning in January he and his staff made repeated requests for clearance. On Tuesday they were denied.

"Without these clearances, we cannot investigate this matter and therefore have closed our investigation," Jarrett wrote.


5/11/2006

Dow Tumbles 130 Points in Afternoon Trade :.

I didn't do it:

Stocks plunged Thursday as surging oil and commodities prices fueled investors' uncertainty about inflation and higher interest rates, sending the Dow Jones industrial average falling 130 points.

Related: Nasdaq Has Worst Day Since January



BARRICK GOLD MINE OUTPUT TO FALL 50% :.

Holy sh*t. Now this is starting to get good:

Gold production from the world's largest deposit, a South African mine run by Barrick Gold Corp., will be 50 per cent lower than forecast this year because of damage to the main shaft at the site, its partner in the project said.

"Initial estimates are that the main shaft will be out of commission for nine to 12 months," Gill Marcus, chief executive officer of Western Areas, which owns the other half of South Deep, said yesterday from Johannesburg. The mine was forecast to produce about 562,000 ounces of gold this year and is currently producing at half its planned rate through an older shaft, she added.

The accident will slash output at a time when gold breached $700 an ounce for the first time in 25 years. Developed by Western Areas and Placer Dome Inc. before it was bought by Barrick, South Deep cost more than $1-billion (U.S.) and was three years late starting production. At more than three kilometres, it's Barrick's deepest mine, making it more dangerous to operate than shallower pits.



NSA has Massive Database of Americans' Phone Calls :.

The National Security Agency has been secretly collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans, using data provided by AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth, people with direct knowledge of the arrangement told USA TODAY.

The NSA program reaches into homes and businesses across the nation by amassing information about the calls of ordinary Americans - most of whom aren't suspected of any crime. This program does not involve the NSA listening to or recording conversations. But the spy agency is using the data to analyze calling patterns in an effort to detect terrorist activity, sources said in separate interviews.

"It's the largest database ever assembled in the world," said one person, who, like the others who agreed to talk about the NSA's activities, declined to be identified by name or affiliation. The agency's goal is "to create a database of every call ever made" within the nation's borders, this person added.

For the customers of these companies, it means that the government has detailed records of calls they made - across town or across the country - to family members, co-workers, business contacts and others.

The three telecommunications companies are working under contract with the NSA, which launched the program in 2001 shortly after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the sources said. The program is aimed at identifying and tracking suspected terrorists, they said.


5/10/2006

The New Road to Serfdom and the Coming Real Estate Collapse :.

If you have an electronic version of this article, kindly email it to me. Reader AS is the man! Thanks AS!

The New Road to Serfdom: An Illustrated Guide to the Coming Real Estate Collapse
by
Michael Hudson
Harper's, May 2006




U.S. SHIPMENT OF 200,000 AK47 ASSAULT RIFLES: VANISHED :.

Looks like "the terrorists" are going to be furnished with some new smoke poles, courtesy of Uncle Sam (and your tax money)!

Gather 'round children, you're about to see the veil between worlds become thin:

SOME 200,000 guns the US sent to Iraqi security forces may have been smuggled to terrorists, it was feared yesterday.

The 99-tonne cache of AK47s was to have been secretly flown out from a US base in Bosnia. But the four planeloads of arms have vanished.

Orders for the deal to go ahead were given by the US Department of Defense. But the work was contracted out via a complex web of private arms traders.

And the Moldovan airline used to transport the shipment was blasted by the UN in 2003 for smuggling arms to Liberia, human rights group Amnesty has discovered.

It follows a separate probe claiming that thousands of guns meant for Iraq's police and army instead went to al-Qaeda.

Amnesty chief spokesman Mike Blakemore said: "It's unbelievable that no one can account for 200,000 assault rifles. If these weapons have gone missing it's a terrifying prospect." American defence chiefs hired a US firm to take the guns, from the 90s Bosnian war, to Iraq.

But air traffic controllers in Baghdad have no record of the flights, which supposedly took off between July 2004 and July 2005. A coalition forces spokesman confirmed they had not received "any weapons from Bosnia" and added they were "not aware of any purchases for Iraq from Bosnia". Nato and US officials have already voiced fears that Bosnian arms - sold by US, British and Swiss firms - are being passed to insurgents. A Nato spokesman said: "There's no tracking mechanism to ensure they don't fall into the wrong hands. There are concerns that some may have been siphoned off." This year a newspaper claimed two UK firms were involved in a deal in which thousands of guns for Iraqi forces were re-routed to al-Qaeda.


Related: Two British SAS Soldiers Dressed as Arabs, Shoot at Iraqi Police

Not Quite Forgotten: Italy Seizes 8,000 Kalashnikovs Headed to U.S.



GOLD CONTINUES RISE, SHRUGS OFF FED RATE HIKE :.

The profit taking round could be brutal. I'd look for support around $685. Anyone considering strategic shorts on the Dow?

The price of gold rose to a fresh 25-year high Wednesday as investors sought a safe haven amid a weakening U.S. dollar and worries over the West's confrontation with Iran.


5/9/2006

Mushroom Cloud Blast in Nevada Delayed :.

The federal Defense Threat Reduction Agency claims the explosion will help design a weapon to penetrate hardened and deeply buried targets. Critics have called it a surrogate for a low-yield nuclear "bunker-buster" bomb.



U.S.: HIV Tests for All! What's HIV? :.

Tell me another one!

Federal health officials say they would like HIV testing to be as common as a cholesterol check.

The guidelines for routine testing would apply to every American ages 13 to 64, according to the proposed plan by the U.S. Centers for Disease control and Prevention.


Must Read: Vaccine for HIV? What's HIV?

Must Read: No FDA Approved HIV Test



The Housing Bubble Has Popped :.

Don't get caught without a chair when the music stops:

The story went on to note that many formerly hot markets in California, Arizona, Washington, D.C., and Florida are now "languishing without buyers or even prospects. Many once-booming markets are seeing double-digit declines in sales." The magnitude of the drop in Florida home prices (once the frothiest market in the country) is striking. Single-family home sales declined 20% in February, year-over-year. Similarly, California sales dropped 15%. Some of the hottest towns in those states were off twice as much.

I loved the point that what seems to be really alarming is how "real-estate agents in some of these formerly red-hot markets have been surprised at how suddenly (my emphasis) market conditions have deteriorated in the past few months." Of course, that's what happens when manic markets and bubbles turn. Prices change radically and, seemingly, for no reason.

...

After having leveled off for a while, the real-estate market is now starting to slide. We're seeing signs of sales slowing and inventory accumulating, which are all quite classic, even though the timing of when this would begin was not possible to predict in advance.



GOLD $701, PLATINUM, COPPER, ALUMINUM RECORDS :.

Gold spiked up to a new 25-year high above $700 an ounce on Tuesday on dollar weakness, while platinum set a new record on strong industrial demand and fund buying.

Other precious metals also gained from the bullish environment in commodities, which saw copper setting a new record and aluminum surging to an 18-year peak.


Related: U.S. Dollar Dump



Who Killed the Electric Car? :.

I'm suffering from activist-produced-documentary fatigue, but I would love to see this, for the sheer entertainment value. Hopefully, this film will show up in New Zealand some day.

Related: Trailer



Flying Robot Attack "Unstoppable" :.

HA! That's actually the headline. I didn't make it up.

Why would the "terrorists" play around with remote control toys when they could easily deliver a strategic blow to the United States by targeting the undefended information infrastructure that allows corporations to swindle?

Makes you wonder about who the "terrorists" really are:

It may sound like science fiction, but the prospect that suicide bombers and hijackers could be made redundant by flying robots is a real one, according to experts.

The technology for remote-controlled light aircraft is now highly advanced, widely available -- and, experts say, virtually unstoppable.


More: Forum Topic

I posted this in the forum, maybe it belongs out here, on the main page:

I've noticed, since moving to a beautiful, rural area, that all of this nonsense, fear inducing crap, means nothing to me now. I post the stories on Cryptogon and my wife asks, "What did you post about?" and I have to scratch my head and think about it. I can't even remember. Then we go for a walk and look at the cows.

If you live in a place with stop lights and 711s and smog, spend some time in a green place, where it rains, with clean air, and then read the news.

Doom, blah, Apocalypse, blah, Fear, blah.... I laugh and say to myself, "Gee, that's nice, I think I'll go turn the compost pile."



HELEN CLARK: WORLD NEAR PEAK OIL PRODUCTION, IF NOT ALREADY THERE :.

That's a head of state saying it.

New Zealand is probably going to take the initial hits when things start to collapse, and I wouldn't want to be anywhere else in the world.

Research Credit: Becky


5/8/2006

Electronic Smog :.

Invisible "smog", created by the electricity that powers our civilisation, is giving children cancer, causing miscarriages and suicides and making some people allergic to modern life, new scientific evidence reveals.

The evidence - which is being taken seriously by national and international bodies and authorities - suggests that almost everyone is being exposed to a new form of pollution with countless sources in daily use in every home.


5/7/2006

Email to Wrightspeed :.

Do you have any plans to produce a more affordable, pure electric vehicle?

While the grotesque whims of wealthy people make for profitable endeavors, as you have no doubt determined, you must also know that there isn't a single affordable pure EV on the market. People with modest incomes are in desperate need of an affordable pure EV. Why not step into that massive market?

Thanks,
Kevin
cryptogon.com



Even Mr. Bill Knew the Levees Wouldn't Hold :.

This is almost one for Jeff, but I couldn't help it:
MR. BILL: Gee, kids, I'm not sure we can do our show today because it looks like Hurricane Sluggo is headed right for us here in America's wetlands.

WALTER WILLIAMS, MR. BILL CREATOR: That's right, Mr. Bill. And since New Orleans is below sea level, if a hurricane hit us directly, it could push the water over the levees and fill it to the top.

BILL: Well then we'd better leave.

WILLIAMS: Well it's too late to evacuate since all the roads are jammed and under water.

BILL: Then where can we go that's safe?

WILLIAMS: Here this should work.

BILL: Gee, I hope it doesn't get much higher.

WILLIAMS: Well, Red, the alligator, doesn't seem too worried.

BILL: Yes, that's because he can swim. You know I don't do that too well.

WILLIAMS: Well in that case, Red says he'll have one of his buddies come and give you a lift.

BILL: That's OK. Maybe you could mind the water wings or something. Oh, get me out of here! No, wait, no, no, ohhh!

WILLIAMS: Let's act now before it's too late.



A Day No Pigs Would Die and Robert Peck's Faker Shakers

My Mother in Law checked out, A Day No Pigs Would Die, by Robert Newton Peck, from the library and gave it to me to read. Perhaps she saw the bacon post...

Becky only vaugely remembered the story from her childhood, so we decided to read it together.

I was enjoying the book, but I didn't know anything about the Shakers. They made chairs, or something, right!? Literally, that was the extent of my Shaker knowledge. The book constantly refers to The Book of Shaker. I thought I'd look it up online and find out a bit more about Shakers, in general.

Long story short, Peck's portrayal of Shakerism is a total fabrication. The only thing it shares in common with real-life Shakers is the name. There is no Book of Shaker, and Shakers, in reality, behaved nothing like Peck's Shakers. I won't go into all of the problems of Peck's portrayal of Shakers, but if you're interested, read Robert Newton Peck and Shaker Beliefs:
A Day the Truth Would Die
.

What I find most interesting is the absorption of the meme, by the general public, that the book, though fictional, provides an accurate portrayal of Shakerism! I read reviews on Amazon that said things like, the book seems to provide an accurate portrayal of what it was like to grow up in a Shaker household.

Say what!?

This book, I learned, is read by millions of elementary school kids. Are the teachers even aware of the fact that the descriptions of the Shakers in the book have nothing to do with Shakerism?

It's fiction. Who cares? Right?

Yeah, but people come away from reading that book believing a total crock of nonsense about a real organization with an easily verifiable history. As a naturally inquisitive adult, I got to the bottom of Peck's Shaker fraud---which the book's dust cover helps perpetrate---in a matter of about two minutes with the help of the Internet. What about the millions of kids who read the book? Will they do the same thing? I don't know, but the kids probably have a better chance of sorting it out than the teachers who assign this book.

Am I making a mountain out of a molehill? Maybe, but this is where the disturbing thoughs started to creep into my mind. (And this is my main point, in case you were wondering.) If millions of people read this book and thought they were getting an accurate picture of Shaker life, imagine what they could be made to believe when targeted by profesionally engineered proprganda and disinformation.

I think I'll just go read some more of Peck's faker Shaker pig story.



Vatican Astronomer: Creationism Dismissed as Paganism :.

I wonder how this will go over in Jesus Land:

BELIEVING that God created the universe in six days is a form of superstitious paganism, the Vatican astronomer Guy Consolmagno claimed yesterday.

Brother Consolmagno, who works in a Vatican observatory in Arizona and as curator of the Vatican meteorite collection in Italy, said a "destructive myth" had developed in modern society that religion and science were competing ideologies.

He described creationism, whose supporters want it taught in schools alongside evolution, as a "kind of paganism" because it harked back to the days of "nature gods" who were responsible for natural events.




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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.