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1/31/2003
Potential Use of Nuclear Weapons in Iraq :.If you back an animal into a corner, there is no way to know what that thing might do. That's what the U.S. is doing to Saddam Hussein: A classified document signed by President Bush specifically allows for the use of nuclear weapons in response to biological or chemical attacks, apparently changing a decades-old U.S. policy of deliberate ambiguity, it was learned by The Washington Times.
posted by Kevin at 6:40 AM
Lighting the Fuse :.U.S. and or Israeli special forces could launch a SCUD and make it look like Saddam is going on the warpath: U.S. intelligence agencies are closely monitoring Iraq's military forces and the ruling Ba'ath party in Baghdad. Spy agencies are looking carefully for signs that Saddam Hussein will start a pre-emptive attack before U.S. military forces can complete their buildup in the region.
"We suspect he will try to do something," one defense official told us.
So far, Iraqi military movements have been limited to some troop deployments that are not considered unusual. Intelligence reports indicate Iraqi forces recently discussed plans for building up defenses, either through trenches or barriers around key facilities.
Potential pre-emptive attacks could include missile attacks on Saudi Arabia or Kuwait, where U.S. forces are deployed. Iraq is believed to have up to 50 Scud missiles that could be outfitted with chemical or biological warheads.
posted by Kevin at 6:27 AM
"Shock & Awe" :.If the U.S. does this thing, it's Miller Time. The karma from this will whack America back so hard it will make 9/11 look like a boyscout exercise: Forget Osama. Forget Saddam. The Pentagon's newest target is the city of Baghdad.
U.S. military strategists have announced a plan to pummel Iraq with as many as 800 cruise missiles in the space of two days. Many of these missiles would rain down on Baghdad, a city of five million people. If George W. Bush gets the war he wants, Baghdad could become the 21st century's Guernica.
On April 26, 1937, 25 Nazi bombers dropped 100,000 pounds of bombs and incendiaries on the peaceful Basque village. Seventy percent of the town was destroyed and 1,500 people, a third of the population, were killed.
The Pentagon now predicts that the Iraq blitzkrieg could approximate the devastation of a nuclear explosion. "The sheer size of this has never been ... contemplated before," one Pentagon strategist boasted to CBS News. "There will not be a safe place in Baghdad."
The Pentagon dubbed its cold-blooded attack plan "Shock and Awe," a bizarre conjunction of trauma and admiration. Related: Shock and Awe: Achieving Rapid Dominancewritten by Harlan K. Ullman and James P. Wade Do you think their wives get together and compare notes on, well, you know? Related: Shock & Awe: Is Baghdad the Next Hiroshima?Have your heard of Harlan Ullman? Everyone in the White House and the Pentagon has. They may very well follow his plan for war in Iraq. He wants to do to Baghdad what we did to Hiroshima.Research Credit: ST, for all of the links in this entry.
posted by Kevin at 6:26 AM
From Thought to Thoughtless Stupor :.Oblivion, it's lovely this time of year: Mass entertainment focusing on emotional and sensory stimulation has put Americans in danger of suffering the fate of the Romans, who entertained themselves into oblivion.
The Roman satirist Juvenal, writing in the first century AD, lamented that "the people that once bestowed commands, consulships, legions, and all else, now meddles no more and longs eagerly for just two things � bread and circuses." Juvenal had the misfortune of living in a time when the civic virtues of the early Roman republic were a distant memory, when the moral dry rot, which eventually destroyed Rome from within, was already far advanced. Juvenal saw that the Roman citizenry had become so addicted to entertainment and pleasure that they had lost the capability of governing themselves. Juvenal�s scornful term "panem et circenses" � bread and circuses � has become synonymous with mindless self-gratification.
Closer to our own time, novelist and futurist Aldous Huxley foresaw a "brave new world" where religious and moral restraints have been completely abandoned, in which the masses are kept in a permanent stupor with recreational drugs, carnal pleasures, and mindless entertainment. Huxley�s novel is not so well known or gracefully written as Orwell�s 1984. But with the benefit of decades of hindsight, we would do well to ponder whether Huxley�s predictions, and not Orwell�s, were closer to the mark.
What Huxley understood more acutely than Orwell is that it is easier to enslave a people by seduction than by coercion. In the words of social critic Neil Postman, "what Orwell feared were those who would ban books. What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book, for there would be no one who wanted to read one.... As Huxley remarked..., the civil libertarians and rationalists who are ever on the alert to oppose tyranny �failed to take into account man�s almost infinite appetite for distractions.� In 1984, Huxley added, people are controlled by inflicting pain. In Brave New World, they are controlled by inflicting pleasure."Research Credit: TR
posted by Kevin at 6:23 AM
Cryptogon Contributor TR Responds to Them Author Mentioned on CNN :.From the CNN piece: The Middle Ages had the Knights Templar. The 18th century had the Masons and the Illuminati.
Our modern age has golf-playing businessmen and 12-foot lizard-men. Or so Jon Ronson was led to believe.
Ronson, a 35-year-old British writer, humorist and documentarian, kept reading and hearing about the "tiny elite[that] rules the world from inside a secret room" -- so he decided to go in search of it.
They may not be the cackling puppet masters the extremists imagine, as Ronson found out when he spoke to a Bilderberg invitee -- "I don't want to rule the world," Ronson was told, "I like to do the gardening and play Scrabble and have sex" -- but they do try to exercise influence, and hope their ideas become policy.TR writes (HAHAHA! This is great!): Well, Mr. Ronson, it works kind of like this: Whenever you leave your 450 square foot bachelor pad, hop in your used Volvo and meet with a billionaire to ask him if he is exploiting people, I'll bet the answer you'll get is "I don't want to rule the world, I like to do the gardening and play Scrabble and have sex." For you see, Mr. Ronson, the billionaire does not "try" to rule the world. When you have a billion dollars in assets, when you are routinely invited to presidential political fund-raisers, when you can hire an army of lawyers and congressional lobbyists, you cannot "help" but rule the world. For the world is, was, and probably always will be, ruled by money--and those who have it rule. The problem is this money is concentrated into fewer and fewer hands. Thus the group who can exert financial power is getting smaller and smaller everyday. The only thing this group really needs is some dupe to come along and spin them to the general public like some regular guys that only want to "do the gardening and play Scrabble and have sex." You see, that way they can do that, while we work our asses off at 80-hour a week jobs and give the money to them. Think about that as you drive back to your tenement building.
posted by Kevin at 6:22 AM
Pig Toys or Jail :.Every once in a while, I come across a story so far out there that I have to say that it's one for the I-Shit-You-Not file. Well, here's one for the I-Pig-Shit-You-Not file: FARMERS throughout the country have 90 days to put a toy in every pigsty or face up to three months in jail.
The new ruling from Brussels, which is to become law in Britain next week, is to keep pigs happy and prevent them chewing each other.
Official instructions to farmers are to give pigs �environmental enrichment� by providing �manipulable material�, which the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs last night defined as balls.
A spokesman said: �We mean footballs and basketballs. Farmers may also need to change the balls so the pigs don�t get tired with the same one. Different colour ones will do. These rules are based on good welfare. We don�t want to come across as the nanny state, but the important thing is to see pigs happy in their environment and they like to forage with their noses.�Research Credit: TR
posted by Kevin at 6:19 AM
1/29/2003
Japan 'Loses' 206kg of Plutonium :.Japan on Tuesday admitted that 206kg of its plutonium - enough to make about 25 nuclear bombs - is unaccounted for.
Government scientists said that 6,890kg of plutonium had been extracted since 1977 from spent nuclear fuel at a processing plant about 120km north east of Tokyo. But that is 3 per cent short of the amount the plant was estimated to have produced.
About 5kg to 8kg of plutonium are needed to make a 20-kiloton atomic bomb similar to the one that destroyed Nagasaki in 1945.
Experts said the missing amount was surprisingly large.Related: U.S. Lost More Than 7,400 Pounds of PlutoniumHey, Israel needed nukes too: According to the Energy Department's own figures, the country's nuclear facilities have lost track of more than 5,000 pounds -- two and a half tons -- of plutonium, and at the Rocky Flats weapons factory near Denver alone, officials acknowledge to Newsweek, some 2,400 pounds of plutonium is unaccounted for.Research Credit: BW
posted by Kevin at 1:01 PM
1/28/2003
On the Road to Basra :.I don't have the energy to keep up with all of the stuff coming out. I think anyone who is capable of seeing what's happening gets the point. If you're new to this site, just check out some of the archives, and you'll see what I mean. I'll continue to post items I find unusually interesting, intense or grimly humorous. I'm shifting my energy into figuring out how I'm going to buy some land far away from where I'm sitting right now. On the road to Basra, ITV was filming wild dogs as they tore at the corpses of the Iraqi dead. Every few seconds a ravenous beast would rip off a decaying arm and make off with it over the desert in front of us, dead fingers trailing through the sand, the remains of the burned military sleeve flapping in the wind.
�Just for the record,� the cameraman said to me. Of course. Because ITV would never show such footage. The things we see � the filth and obscenity of corpses � cannot be shown. First because it is not �appropriate� to depict such reality on breakfast-time TV. Second because, if what we saw was shown on television, no one would ever again agree to support a war.
posted by Kevin at 2:25 PM
Frodo Has FailedAll that's left to do is laugh... TR adds: Bush's State of the Union Speech: Iraq has all our oil and WE WANTS IT! My precious. Must get Rumsfeld to smash the evil Iraqitses. Take back our precious.Submitted by: GL For the bots: george bush failed frodo ring picture Update: This is a joke, this is not real!I had a reader write in, wondering if this was intended to be real or a joke. Folks, come on. We need to be able to make jokes out of this stuff once in a while. If we don't laugh about it, what's left to do? I don't have that many tears.
posted by Kevin at 3:21 AM
1/27/2003
SQL Slammer WormCryptogon became unreachable at about 10PM PST on Friday 1/24/02. I also noticed that my DNS lookups were very slow. I didn't think too much of it at first. Later that night, Cryptogon was still down. I decided to call the 24 hour support number for the webhost. They said, "Our primary and secondary OC-3s are down. Two different ISPs." I said, "Whhhhaaaaat?" "Yeah, they both said they have taken their backbones down. We have no ETA on when they'll be back up." I immediately started to think that something was very wrong. I checked global packet loss and reachability averages and, WOW, something was wrong alright. Here are the charts from the height of the SQL Slammer attack. Now, the reason I'm mentioning this is because it relates to an essay I wrote months ago on information warfare. In Cyberwar: How Terrorists Could Defeat the U.S. and Why They Won't (requires Acrobat 5), I wrote that if terrorists, or anyone else, were interested in REALLY hurting the U.S., they wouldn't fly planes into tall buildings, but rather attack the information infrastructure that U.S. corporations use to move money. The key component of my essay was that a crippling attack could be carried out by using unsophisticated physical and EMP (Electromagnetic Pulse) attacks on fiber optic circuits, switches, routers and servers. The physical attacks would coincide with various cyber based attacks (such as SQL Slammer) running on the nodes left standing. Global packet loss for the Web reached 22% with just the SQL Slammer worm in operation. Here's the thing to remember: THERE WERE NO CUT FIBER LINKS OR POPPED CORE ROUTERS! When I first released my cyberwar essay, some readers thought I was overstating the importance of the Internet in our daily lives. This SQL Slammer incident, with no physical attack component, shows that, if anything, I understated things. Imagine something like SQL Slammer running in conjunction with physical attacks on fiber and other network infrastructure: Bank of America ATMs Disrupted by VirusBank of America Corp. said on Saturday that customers at a majority of its 13,000 automatic teller machines were unable to process customer transactions after a malicious computer worm nearly froze Internet traffic worldwide.
Bank of America spokeswoman Lisa Gagnon said by phone from the company's headquarters in Charlotte, North Carolina, that many, if not a majority of the No. 3 U.S. bank's ATMs were back online and that their automated banking network would recover by late Saturday.
Web traffic slowed suddenly and dramatically worldwide for hours after a fast-spreading computer worm clogged pipelines of the global network carrying data, Web pages and e-mail, officials said.
"We have been impacted, and for a while customers could not use ATMs and customer services could not access customer information," Gagnon said.Related: ATMs, ISPs Hit by Slammer Worm SpreadIn the essay, I said that I didn't believe that the unthinkable scenario of a physical/cyber infowar attack would occur because that would seriously threaten the economic base of the United States. Since I believe the "terrorists" are actually CIA assets, they wouldn't do anything to bite the hand that feeds them. But with all intel assets, there is the chance that they will decide to do their own show regardless of what the script says. (This may have been the case with 9/11, but I doubt it. I think that thing went off according to a carefully devised plan.) But if the U.S. starts actually turning the screws on the rest of the world, the enemies we create CAN cause very serious damage to the U.S. via the information infrastructure vector. NOTE: Perhaps the initial SQL Slammer phase was simply intended to recruit "zombie" systems that may now be targeted for DDOS (Distributed Denial of Service) attack purposes. All of those compromised systems may "phone home" at some point to take orders from the operator who let that thing loose in the first place. The Micro$oft patch will fix the vulnerability, but how trustworthy are those hAx0rEd boxes now? Did SQL Slammer install any Easter Eggs that the admins aren't yet aware of? Human readable version: We may not have seen the end of SQL Slammer. This entry started out as premium content. If you found it informative, you should tip Cryptogon a buck or two, if you haven't already.
posted by Kevin at 1:23 AM
1/26/2003
The Nuclear Option in Iraq :.End Days: One year after President Bush labeled Iraq, Iran and North Korea the "axis of evil," the United States is thinking about the unthinkable: It is preparing for the possible use of nuclear weapons against Iraq.
At the U.S. Strategic Command (STRATCOM) in Omaha and inside planning cells of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, target lists are being scrutinized, options are being pondered and procedures are being tested to give nuclear armaments a role in the new U.S. doctrine of "preemption."
According to multiple sources close to the process, the current planning focuses on two possible roles for nuclear weapons:
attacking Iraqi facilities located so deep underground that they might be impervious to conventional explosives;
thwarting Iraq's use of weapons of mass destruction.Related: Iraq Equipping Troops For Chem/Bio WarfareIraq acknowledged on Sunday it had equipped its troops with protective suits against chemical and biological attack for use if such weapons were employed by the United States and its allies.
Opponents of Saddam Hussein have said equipping troops with protective gear for chemical and biological warfare could be a sign the Iraqi president might use such weapons if attacked.
Washington has warned it would punish any soldier or general who ordered the use of chemical or biological weapons in the event of a war.
But Iraq's Deputy Prime Minister Tareq Aziz told Britain's Channel 4 television the suits were "part of our preparations for the aggression. And any army you see, any modern army, does have clothes and masks for chemical and biological weapons."
"We are doing that to protect ourselves from the other side," he said.
Asked by the interviewer whether he could guarantee "no first use" of chemical or biological weapons, Aziz answered quickly: "Yes. Because we don't have them."
posted by Kevin at 5:22 PM
.mil Domain Registration System Left Wide Open :.From The Register: Care to register a .mil Web site of your own for free? The DoD has gone out of its way to make it a snap. An unbelievably badly-protected admin interface welcomes you to register whatever domain you please (http://Rotten.mil anyone?), or edit anything they've already got. The interface is so ludicrously unprotected that it's been cached by Google and fails to mention that you must be authorized to muck about with it. Incredibly, default passwords are cheerfully provided on the page. The Register doesn't mention where the page is located. Luckily for you, dear reader, Cryptogon begins where the rest leave off. The DoD page in question is: http://www.nic.mil/cgi-bin/domain I didn't make that a link because I'd like to avoid hundreds of referral hits in their log from Cryptogon.com. If you .mil bozos get any funny ideas about how I found this, calm down, I found it in the comments section of this Slashdot piece. Go bother those guys. (I like some of the suggestions: peace.mil and antiwar.mil, etc.) Oh yeah, in case you don't possess the stones to cut and paste that link into your browser and have a look for yourself, I've taken a snapshot of the page and made a locally hosted PDF of it. WARNING: Messing around with any functionality on www.nic.mil/cgi-bin/domain is a very bad idea. Back out of that domain, go to, www.nic.mil and you will see, for your convenience, your IP address displayed at the upper left. ;)
posted by Kevin at 5:06 PM
World Jobless Rate Hits Record High :.Unemployment around the world has reached a record figure of 180 million and is likely to continue rising, according to the International Labour Organisation (ILO).
The Global Employment Trends report released by the ILO in Geneva says the number of jobless worldwide now stands at 6.5% of the labour force.
In addition, the numbers of working poor have risen dramatically.
The ILO report describes the world employment situation as alarming and warns that it is continuing to deteriorate.
posted by Kevin at 4:53 PM
Seems Like Something Is About to SnapBack in December, this site indicated that the beginning of the U.S. war for the conquest of Iraq would occur at the end of January to the Beginning of February. The rhetoric and events of the previous few days seems to both confirm and refute that analysis. I was about to post an entry saying that I think I got it wrong by about a few weeks. BUT, weird stuff has started to happen over the past several hours. It's getting impossible to tell what is happening, which leads me to believe something big could be imminent: State Department Issues Warning to All Americans AbroadThis is the first time in history that such a warning has been issued: The State Department sent a cable to embassies around the world on Friday telling Americans abroad to be ready to leave their resident country quickly in an emergency, its first such blanket warning.
A senior State Department official made no comment when asked if the cable was related to a possible military campaign against Iraq, which Washington has threatened with war if it fails to give up its suspected weapons of mass destruction.
The message to U.S. citizens advises them to have a supply of prescription medicines on hand, keep their passports up to date and maintain adequate stocks of food in the event of political unrest, natural disasters or "terrorist" attacks.
"The Department is asking all U.S. embassies and consulates worldwide to send a warden message to local American communities with advice on preparedness for an emergency," said State Department spokeswoman Susan Pittman.
U.S. embassies often send such "warden messages" to update Americans abroad on threats and to offer advice on protecting themselves, but the State Department said "this is the first time it has recommended posts issue a warden message regarding the personal preparedness of individual American citizens abroad."More... U.S. Plans Unimaginable Missile Blitzkrieg on IraqIf the U.S. does this, Iraqi civilian losses could easily run into the hundreds of thousands. The primary blasts from the weapons will kill many, but the secondary explosions and fires could turn all of Baghdad into a raging inferno. Also, consider that by lighting off 800 Tomahawk missiles in 48 hours, the U.S. government will incinerate about 1 billion dollars worth of taxpayer money. (Hey, the U.S. brand of genocide isn't cheap.) The time table for this nightmarish plan is sometime in March. But is it really that far off? And will this even be the plan? Obviously, this story could be pure PSYOPS. If so, the goal must be to cause elements of the Iraqi military to flinch and switch sides: The battle plan is based on a concept developed at the National Defense University. It's called "Shock and Awe" and it focuses on the psychological destruction of the enemy's will to fight rather than the physical destruction of his military forces.
"We want them to quit. We want them not to fight," says Harlan Ullman, one of the authors of the Shock and Awe concept which relies on large numbers of precision guided weapons.
"So that you have this simultaneous effect, rather like the nuclear weapons at Hiroshima, not taking days or weeks but in minutes," says Ullman.More... Japan Tells Its Citizens in Iraq: Get Out NowThe Japanese government Friday urged all Japanese citizens to leave Iraq as soon as possible because of a possible U.S.-led strike on Saddam Hussein.More... Mike Ruppert Seems to Think It's Coming Down Very SoonI just got this urgent flash from Mike Ruppert's list. Maybe the End-Of-January-Beginning-Of-February theory will prove to be correct after all: FTW URGENT BULLETIN
Serious international developments are indicating that the first stages of the U.S. invasion of Iraq will begin unilaterally no later than next Wednesday and most likely as the President delivers his State of the Union address to Congress on Tuesday night.Some sources are indicating Bush will use to State of the Union speech to issue some sort of deadline. I don't think the U.S. will issue a deadline because then Saddam will be able to wire up his oil wells to blow the day before. My guess is that the U.S. will be saying one thing, and then do the exact opposite, in order to have a better chance of securing the oil wells. Of course, that's just a guess. In any event, after the Stupor Bowl is over, and with the national economic collapse continuing, the public will soon be ready for yet another dazzling circus. I have no doubt that one will be provided. Unfortunately, the cost of the next one will be tens to hundreds of thousands of people dead, at a minimum, with the potential to touch off World War III. Oh yeah, cross fingers for no terrorist incidents at the Stupor Bowl.
posted by Kevin at 3:04 PM
1/24/2003
Impeachment Resolution Against President George W. Bush :.In the conduct of the office of President of the United States, George Walker Bush, in violation of his constitutional oath faithfully to execute the office of President of the United States and, to the best of his ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States, and in violation of his constitutional duty to take care that the laws be faithfully executed, has attempted to impose a police state and a military dictatorship upon the people and Republic of the United States of America by means of "a long Train of Abuses and Usurpations" against the Constitution since September 11, 2001. This subversive conduct includes but is not limited to trying to suspend the constitutional Writ of Habeas Corpus; ramming the totalitarian U.S.A. Patriot Act through Congress; the mass-round-up and incarceration of foreigners; kangaroo courts; depriving at least two United States citizens of their constitutional rights by means of military incarceration; interference with the constitutional right of defendants in criminal cases to lawyers; violating and subverting the Posse Comitatus Act; unlawful and unreasonable searches and seizures; violating the First Amendments rights of the free exercise of religion, freedom of speech, peaceable assembly, and to petition the government for redress of grievances; packing the federal judiciary with hand-picked judges belonging to the totalitarian Federalist Society and undermining the judicial independence of the Constitution's Article III federal court system; violating the Third and Fourth Geneva Conventions and the U.S. War Crimes Act; violating the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination; reinstitution of the infamous "Cointelpro" Program; violating the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, the Convention against Torture, and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; instituting the totalitarian Total Information Awareness Program; and establishing a totalitarian Northern Military Command for the United States of America itself. In all of this George Walker Bush has acted in a manner contrary to his trust as President and subversive of constitutional government, to the great prejudice of the cause of law and justice and to the manifest injury of the people of the United States.
Wherefore George Walker Bush, by such conduct, warrants impeachment and trial, and removal from office.If you scroll down to the bottom, there's a link to an interview with Francis A. Boyle, the author of this impeachment resolution. The host, Mike Malloy, reads from the resolution at the beginning. The interview with Mr. Boyle begins at 33 minutes. Excellent stuff.
posted by Kevin at 12:22 AM
Invisible Giant: Cargill and Its Transnational Strategies :.Industrialized agriculture is one of the main components of our invisible prison. This book Cargill looks very interesting: Not only had the number of global corporate players shrunk alarmingly, but they have virtually eliminated competition between themselves through complementary strategies and business activities while at the same time forming joint ventures and partnerships amongst themselves, again to reduce the inefficiencies of competition.
Cargill has played this game with great skill and dedication. Its reward last year was sales of US$51 billion derived from having some component of just about everything we eat pass through its hands at some point in its journey from farm to supermarket.
My purpose in writing this book is not, however, to overwhelm the reader-eater with indigestion and despair. I remain convinced that as corporations such as Cargill get bigger and bigger, and appear to exercise ever greater control over the global food system, their sheer size limits their agility and activity. By understanding the rules they play by and the businesses they are involved in, we can gain an understanding of how we should proceed if we want a different game and a different kind of business, one in which the goal is to ensure that everyone is adequately nourished while living respectfully and harmoniously with all Creation.Research Credit: JH
posted by Kevin at 12:21 AM
1/23/2003
Perception Management: U.S.A. Made in China :.When President Bush gave a speech touting tax breaks for small businesses today, he stood against what appeared to be a backdrop of cardboard boxes stamped "MADE IN U.S.A."
But the boxes in the south St. Louis warehouse had actually been painted on a large screen behind the president. The real boxes in the warehouse were stamped "Made in China," although someone tried to obscure the stamps by plastering over them with blank white labels.
posted by Kevin at 4:15 AM
Wave Your Flags: Images of U.S. Slaughter in Iraq :.Research Credit: JH
posted by Kevin at 3:55 AM
Rumsfeld Shows His True Colors :.The depraved dark lord Rumsfeld had a moment of clarity. You see, the scam is coming apart. They are having trouble maintaining appearances because the openly criminal nature of it all has become absurd. Watch the Lord of the Rings films and compare them to current events and political figures! Saruman has more respect for his genetically engineered Uruk-hai army than Rumsfeld has for U.S. military personnel! Guys got drafted to fight in Vietnam, lost arms, legs, their eyesight, etc., or were splattered all over the place, and filthy Rumsfeld said that draftees added "no value, no advantage, really, to the United States armed services over any sustained period of time." In other words, the only value those guys had was to make sure the meatgrinder, sometimes known as Vietnam, ran as long as possible. Could good ole' Rumsfeld possibly harbour such thoughts?! Hmmm, you tell me what you think he's capable of:
posted by Kevin at 2:41 AM
U.S. Begins Secret Talks to Secure Iraq's Oilfields :.The US military has drawn up detailed plans to secure and protect Iraq's oilfields to prevent a repeat of 1991 when President Saddam set Kuwait's wells ablaze.
The US state department and Pentagon disclosed the preparations during a meeting in Washington before Christmas with members of the Iraqi opposition parties.
Iraq has the second biggest known oil reserves in the world producing, in their current run-down state, about 1.5m barrels a day. But experts contacted by the Guardian predict this could rise to 6m barrels a day within five years with the right investment and control.
At the meeting, on the future of a post-Saddam Iraq - details of which have been disclosed to the Guardian - the state department stressed that protection of the oilfields was "issue number one".
posted by Kevin at 2:39 AM
Guilt-Free War Criminals :.There will be no surgical strikes tonight. The artillery this soldier can unleash with a single command to his mobile computer will bring flames and screaming, deafening blasts and unforgettably acrid air. The ground around him will be littered with the broken bodies of women and children, and he'll have to walk right through. Every value he learned as a boy tells him to back down, to return to base and find another way of routing the enemy. Or, he reasons, he could complete the task and rush back to start popping pills that can, over the course of two weeks, immunize him against a lifetime of crushing remorse. He draws one last clean breath and fires.
Pills like those won't be available to the troops heading off for possible war with Iraq, but the prospect of a soul absolved by meds remains very real.
posted by Kevin at 2:37 AM
New JobI'm starting a new job (new "career" actually), so there may be fewer updates on Cryptogon for the foreseeable future. When I'm pressed for time, I'll just post the most outrageous stories. I'd love to be able to focus on this stuff full time, and work on possible solutions, but unfortunately, that's just not possible under current circumstances.
posted by Kevin at 2:34 AM
1/21/2003
Cryptogon Takes First Known Hit From Raven Rock :.This is a good one. It appears to be from the Alternate National Military Command Center, i.e. Cheney's Secret Organ Bank! Greetings, gentlemen: Tue Jan 21 03 at 03:18:46 PM Y cryptogon.com Direct Access 207.133.9.142 pc9142.ajcc.army.mil This offers information on a hardened US military communications facility, Site R (Raven Rock) Alternate Joint Communications Center (AJCC), located beneath Raven Rock mountain, near Waynesboro, PA, reported to be the bunker used by Vice President Cheney during the months after 9/11.I thought repeated hits from lucasfilm.com was a good thing, but Cheney's Secret Organ Bank!? Cryptogon is exceeding all expectations!
posted by Kevin at 4:12 PM
Reader Submitted Essay: We Are On the Road to Destruction :.TR is a personal associate of mine and frequent contributor to The Cryptogon. He holds a BS in Computer Science and is about to earn a PhD in Psychology. It is requisite, when posting the type of essay that follows, to make sure the reader is also aware of Bill Joy's, Why the Future Doesn't Need Us. Additionally, if the concept of externalization of costs is new to you, please research that further as it provides one of the keys to understanding the structure of global political and economic power. David Korten's, When Corporations Rule the World, is the single best reference on globalization that I am aware of. From We Are On the Road to Destruction: Consider that human civilization is only 6,000 years old and that we've only had jet planes, atomic weapons, computers and television for the last 50. And we are now developing new, more powerful technology at an exponential rate. Nanotechnology, nuclear power, robotics, and genetic engineering are currently progressing by leaps and bounds. Any one of these new technologies alone has the power to destroy all life on this planet. Together their impact on our lives will be devastating. Now I ask, who controls and funds all these technologies? Mom and pop? No, it is large, greedy, tyrannical institutions. And in the hands of these institutions, these technologies will never serve humanity. They will enslave it, or destroy it. Technology developed to serve the interests of large institutions simply accelerates us toward fascism and self-destruction.
posted by Kevin at 3:19 PM
Pork Greases U.S. Weapons Program :."We have a bloated, corrupt and unaccountable military industrial congressional system that thrives on a policy of perpetual war for perpetual peace," said David Theroux, president of The Independent Institute, a nonpartisan think tank. "Weapons procurement systems are in reality not linked to need or accountability ... they are primarily pork programs for congressional districts, defense bureaucracy and defense contractors."
posted by Kevin at 1:06 PM
Massachusetts Freemasons Present CHIP (CHild Identification Program) :.Here's one for the I-Shit-You-Not file. Masons acclimatize your spawn to biometric ID methods! The Masonic CHIP Program is the most comprehensive service of its kind anywhere. CHIP is provided free of charge to the public, with all of the identifying items generated during the events given to the child's family.
The CHIP program includes the following:
VIDEOTAPE: A brief videotaped interview that can be
quickly distributed to the media in order to reach a huge audience.
FINGERPRINTING: Fingerprinting is a well-known means of identification. Resourceful parents keep fingerprints available should the need arise.
TOOTHPRINTS: A toothprint bite impression is quick and easy. Teeth, like fingerprints are unique. A dental imprint gives both accurate and important information for identification purposes.I wonder if CHIP will soon encourage the use of the chip. Hey, why not? It's for the children! The next thing you know, a convicted felon will be running a secret surveillance agency that has a Masonic all-seeing-eye, sitting atop a pyramid, as its insignia...
posted by Kevin at 12:21 PM
Bungling Medical System Destroys Woman's Life :.A couple of days ago, I wrote this: If you see any type of MD, take NOTHING at face value. Question everything. Look for alternatives. Just because someone attended college for several years doesn't mean they know anything. Well, they know a lot about selling you FDA approved drugs and procedures that, if used, may injure or kill you.You guys all know how I feel about establishment medicine. It's a big fraud. If Linda McDougal got as sick as she did, from a surgery she didn't even need, what would have happened to her if her immune system was actually as suppressed as her doctors believed? Do you guys get the point? The surgery alone NEARLY KILLED HER. If she actually had the cancer, the extra stress on her system from the toxic surgery might have killed her. And then the doctors would drive away in their Porsches and Mercedes, thinking they had done their best to save her. It's a huge crock. Search Google for black salve cancer, cancell protocel, vitamin c cancer, green tea cancer, l-lysine cancer rath, etc. Hint: Don't take vitamin C with Protocel. Like the wider political and economic systems, the medical establishment is a seething vortex of fraud. Luckily for the so-called experts, Bush is trying to limit malpractice judgments to $250,000. What is Bozo going to do for his next trick, attack a sovereign country and steal its oil for fun and profit??? If enough people have their lives destroyed by the toxic nightmare of conventional medicine, perhaps others will seek out the alternatives. Believe the quacks at your own peril: Linda McDougal was told she was suffering from an aggressive form of breast cancer. Her breasts, she was told, would have to be removed.
She was told wrong.
A paperwork mistake cost Linda McDougal both her breasts and left her suffering infections, facing more surgeries and trying to rebuild her life.
posted by Kevin at 10:15 AM
1/20/2003
Peace Rallies Over, Everyone Back to WorkPeace marches are fine, but what do they accomplish when the participants return to the same jobs that empower our collective waking nightmare come Monday morning? Hey, don't get me wrong, if the big, group hug effect floats your boat, definitely go for it. Big crowds debilitate me, so maybe that's why I opted for a web site. But let's get real, people! Open air rock concerts on the weekends are not going to cut it any more than running web sites like Cryptogon would. I've been reading, The $50 & Up Underground House Book, and I'm having trouble maintaining appearances, if you know what I mean. If you were inspired by hundreds of thousands of people packing city streets over the weekend, take a look at Mike Oehler's brand of activism. Independence on a budget is more of a threat to the dominant paradigm than any number of legally sanctioned "group hug" protests, or web sites like Cryptogon. Until we get to a point where we can start seriously thinking about getting self sufficient (and small group sufficient), the usual suspects will continue to rob us blind and enslave us. So, protest in the streets. Maintain web sites. This type of stuff is positive, even if it's only useful for making us feel like we're doing something other than nothing. But remember: We are at a point in history when bold action is necessary. The conventional tools and methods available to dissidents and revolutionaries simply won't work. If you're really serious about doing something to make a tangible difference, I'd start thinking long and hard about your situation and how to make a transition to a lifestyle that doesn't support transnational corporations and the governments that serve them. Related: King Family: Don't Just Wait for Another LeaderForget about large organizations and individual leaders. Decentralized networks of small groups is the way. There is no leader, savior or government capable of helping us. People are slowly waking up to this reality, including Martin Luther King Jr.'s family: In the 34 years since Martin Luther King Jr.'s death, people have watched for a new leader to emerge who could carry the banner for political and social justice with as much influence among American blacks.
But as the nation commemorates the civil rights leader's life, his family and activists say counting on a single charismatic figure may be counterproductive.
"I think that what Martin would be happy with is that every person would follow his teachings and not depend on a leader," said his widow, Coretta Scott King. "What he wanted to do was elevate the whole of human kind and (have) individuals understand that they can make a difference."
posted by Kevin at 12:15 AM
1/18/2003
GPS Jamming for $50 :. I would tuck this one away in a safe place. You might need it someday soon: A low cost device to temporarily disable the reception of the civilian course acquisition (C/A) code used for the standard positioning service (SPS)[1] on the Global Positioning System (GPS/NAVSTAR) L1 frequency of 1575.42 MHz.
This is accomplished by transmitting a narrowband Gaussian noise signal, with a deviation of +/- 1.023 MHz, on the L1 GPS frequency itself. This technique is a little more complicated than a simple continuous wave (CW) jammer, but tends to be more effective (i.e. harder to filter) against spread spectrum based radio receivers.Related: Homemade GPS Jammers Raise ConcernsGovernment officials and communications experts are assessing the public safety and security implications of a newly posted online article that provides directions for making cheap devices that can jam Global Positioning System (GPS) signals.
Information in the article that appears in the current issue of the online hacker magazine Phrack potentially puts at risk GPS devices used for commercial navigation and military operations, authorities said.
posted by Kevin at 8:42 AM
1/17/2003
Kissinger Running Back Channel Scams for Bush :.This is like the Mafia getting all their ducks in a row before a big hit. The various mob bosses are figuring out how they're going to carve up Iraq after they whack Saddam Hussein and take his oil: HENRY Kissinger, the man George W. Bush wanted to investigate the September 11 attacks, will meet John Howard to discuss Australia's involvement in a possible war on Iraq during a low-key visit to Sydney next week.
Dr Kissinger, 79, a former US secretary of state, has approached a cluster of high-ranking politicians for private discussions during his visit to Sydney on Monday and Tuesday, including Mr Howard and Foreign Minister Alexander Downer.
While Dr Kissinger will not visit in an official capacity, the opportunity for a one-on-one discussion was seized by the Prime Minister.
posted by Kevin at 4:42 PM
Let Them Eat Frankenfood: Accept America's Genetically Engineered Food, or Else :.Membership in the World Trade Organization is all fun and games, until corporations start undermining the most basic requirements of life. Europe, for the most part, is complicit with U.S. hegemony. Europeans want to have their cake and eat it too. They want the benefits of U.S. hegemony without the costs. They are courtiers to an evil king. Well, the king has changed the menu, and substitutions are not optional. Fascists routinely make arguments for policies that pull on the heart strings of ignorant people. So, according to the latest newspeak, people who are against the proliferation of genetically engineered foods are responsible for starvation in Africa!? Wow. Is this the most compelling argument that Robert Zoellick, the chief U.S. trade representative, could come up with? Someone put a green wig and big red nose on this guy. I think the circus is hiring bozos: The Bush Administration's top trade official has announced that he wants to file a case against the European Union for its ban on genetically modified food, saying the European position was "Luddite" and "immoral" and was leading to starvation in the developing world.
Robert Zoellick, the United States's trade representative, said he lost his patience with the EU over the safety of American GM food last year when starving African nations refused to accept American food aid because the grain was modified.
"The European anti-scientific policies are spreading to other corners of the world," Mr Zoellick said on Thursday.
"It has been used by political leaders in Africa to not eat the food that you and I eat, and rather let their people starve. I think that is a rather serious development."
In the strongest statements made by an Administration official on the topic, Mr Zoellick said: "I find it immoral that people are not being able to be supplied food to live in Africa because people have invented dangers about biotechnology. That puts it rather high on my scale to deal with."One can't deny the diabolical genius of this. The U.S. and Europe created Africa's nightmares, with centuries of genocide, pillage and economic rape. Now, U.S. corporations want to end world hunger by selling people patented food and seeds with end user license agreements! Why doesn't Mr. Zoellick mention the lack of programs that aim to get people growing their own food, with non genetically engineered seeds, so they don't need to be dependent on food and seeds controlled by transnational corporations. Oh, woops, that takes profits away from the corporations selling the food and seeds. Oh yeah, don't get caught with any of those copy protected crops growing on your land. A Monsanto spook could show up in your field and determine that you are illegally using their intellectual property without paying. "But, but, I didn't plant any of that stuff," you say. "We don't care. Pay up," says the Man. Oh, but wait, it gets better. Try to grow anything from the offspring of genetically engineered "terminator" seeds and you will find that the wizards of industry have inserted a "kill switch" into the seeds. They will only yield one generation of harvestable crops. If you think this isn't happening, and if you think U.S. Trade Representative Zoellick actually cares about the plight of Africans, read, Terminator Technology Threatening African Farmers' Rights: Long controversial genetic modification has been called an infringement of basic human rights since it prevents farmers from saving, replanting and exchanging seeds, practices going back thousands of years that are still essential to food security.
Multinational food and biotechnological corporations, armed with patent rights and terminator technology have invaded developing countries under the guise of working towards improving food security.
The terminator technology has been widely condemned by civil society, scientific bodies and many governments as an immoral application of agricultural biotechnology. If commercialized, it would force farmers to return to the commercial seed market.
posted by Kevin at 3:05 PM
U.S. Military Will Rule Iraq After War, Troops Will Remain for Years :.U.S. military commanders will likely rule Iraq for at least several months in the aftermath of a U.S.-led ouster of President Saddam Hussein, according to Bush administration blueprints for Iraq's future that outline a broad and protracted American role in managing the reconstruction of the country.
The administration's plans, which are nearing completion, envision installing a civilian administration within months of a change of government, U.S. officials said. But the officials said that even under the best of circumstances, U.S. forces likely would remain at full strength in Iraq for months after a war ended, with a continued role for thousands of U.S. troops there for years to come.Related: U.S. Executing Plan to Expand Hegemony
posted by Kevin at 1:48 PM
1/16/2003
Former U.S. Marine Recruits Human Shields :.As war with Iraq seems to edge ever closer, former US Marine Kenneth Nichols O'Keefe - who fought in the Gulf War - plans to lead a group of Westerners to be human shields.Research Credit: DG
posted by Kevin at 8:00 PM
Israeli Operatives Will Assassinate People Inside the U.S. and Other Allied Nations :.BW submitted this story and wrote, "I am getting sick of the Israelis and their bullshit. If Bush allows this he should be put on trial for treason." I couldn't have said it better myself. Theocracies breed the most frightening fascist regimes because they think their abhorrent and ridiculous behavior is endorsed by God: Israel is embarking upon a more aggressive approach to the war on terror that will include staging targeted killings [this means assassinations] in the United States and other friendly countries, former Israeli intelligence officials told United Press International.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has forbidden the practice until now, these sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The Israeli statements were confirmed by more than a half dozen former and currently serving U.S. foreign policy and intelligence officials in interviews with United Press International.
posted by Kevin at 7:01 AM
Total Information Awareness Program Hits Snag :.Have no doubt about it: TIA, and much worse, is going to happen because people who speak the truth about fascism are a far greater threat to the established order than any of the fabricated boogiemen we are conditioned to fear. The dissidents who are refusing to go along with the program need to be monitored and, if necessary, eliminated. If any effective legislative resistance could be mounted against the ascension of the police state, "terrorist" incidents will silence any voices of reason, and even more draconian legislation will sail easily into law. Imbeciles will wave flags, bombs will fall, and so it goes. At some point, of course, the entire show will fly off the rails, but until then, we're in for a slow and painful grind toward overt fascism: A Pentagon antiterrorism plan to link databases of credit card companies, health insurers and others--creating what critics call a "domestic surveillance apparatus"--is encountering growing opposition on Capitol Hill.
Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wisc., is planning to introduce a bill on Thursday to halt the Pentagon's Total Information Awareness program. A representative said on Wednesday that if passed, the legislation would suspend the TIA program until Congress can "review the data-mining issues."
posted by Kevin at 6:59 AM
ACLU: It's Almost 1984 :.An ACLU report released Wednesday warns that the United States "has now reached the point where a total 'surveillance society' has become a realistic possibility."
The problem, said ACLU analysts, is twofold: Increasingly sophisticated technologies make advanced surveillance a snap, while the erosion of constitutional protections in the wake of Sept. 11 threatens the legal safeguards shielding Americans from excessive government snooping.
"Given the capabilities of today's technology, the only thing protecting us from a full-fledged surveillance society are the legal and political institutions we have inherited as Americans," said Barry Steinhart, director of the ACLU's Technology and Liberty Program, who co-authored the report. "Unfortunately, the Sept. 11 attacks have led some to embrace the fallacy that weakening the Constitution will strengthen America."Research Credit: RS
posted by Kevin at 6:57 AM
Prozac for Everyone! :.There is too much happening for me to focus on medical fraud and the quackery of conventional medicine, but this is too much! Time asks, with a straight face, "If Prozac can make you feel better even if you are not depressed, why shouldn't we all be taking it?" HA! What ever happened to Victory Gin? Let it suffice to say that Psychiatry is a criminal enterprise. If you see any type of MD, take NOTHING at face value. Question everything. Look for alternatives. Just because someone attended college for several years doesn't mean they know anything. Well, they know a lot about selling you FDA approved drugs and procedures that, if used, may injure or kill you. If a quack tries to put you or a loved one Prozac, please read, Talking Back to Prozac: What Doctors Won't Tell You About Today's Most Controversial Drug by Peter R. Breggin.
posted by Kevin at 6:36 AM
More Kids on Psychoactive Drugs Than Ever :.The number of American children taking psychiatric drugs rather than psychotherapy has soared in 15 years because health insurers want cheaper options, a study says.
More than 6 per cent of children use drugs, including Prozac and Ritalin. Between 1987 and 1996 the number of children prescribed such drugs increased threefold and researchers say that rate of increase shows no sign of abating. The study's authors say cost-saving techniques introduced by insurers, and marketing by the pharmaceutical industry, push children and parents towards the use of such drugs rather than more costly therapy.
posted by Kevin at 6:33 AM
Study: Surgery Tools Left in 1,500 Patients a Year :.When I covered a similar story previously, I took the opportunity to slam conventional medicine. If you are suffering from any chronic disease, including cancer, or know someone who is, you might want to check out this entry. Surgical teams accidentally leave clamps, sponges and other tools inside about 1,500 patients nationwide each year, according to the biggest study of the problem yet.
The mistakes largely result not from surgeon fatigue, but from the stress arising from emergencies or complications discovered on the operating table, the researchers reported.
It also happens more often to fat patients, simply because there is more room inside them to lose equipment, according to the study.
posted by Kevin at 6:31 AM
1/15/2003
The United States of America Has Gone Mad :.I have no idea what kind of people read Cryptogon, so just in case you're not familiar with him, John le Carr� is one of the most famous spy novelists of all time: America has entered one of its periods of historical madness, but this is the worst I can remember: worse than McCarthyism, worse than the Bay of Pigs and in the long term potentially more disastrous than the Vietnam War.
The reaction to 9/11 is beyond anything Osama bin Laden could have hoped for in his nastiest dreams. As in McCarthy times, the freedoms that have made America the envy of the world are being systematically eroded. The combination of compliant US media and vested corporate interests is once more ensuring that a debate that should be ringing out in every town square is confined to the loftier columns of the East Coast press.
The imminent war was planned years before bin Laden struck, but it was he who made it possible. Without bin Laden, the Bush junta would still be trying to explain such tricky matters as how it came to be elected in the first place; Enron; its shameless favouring of the already-too-rich; its reckless disregard for the world�s poor, the ecology and a raft of unilaterally abrogated international treaties. They might also have to be telling us why they support Israel in its continuing disregard for UN resolutions.
But bin Laden conveniently swept all that under the carpet.
posted by Kevin at 7:43 AM
Announcing Premium Content on CryptogonOn occasion, I will be offering articles for sale. The cost of these in-depth articles is $2 each. The reason I'm not going with a subscription based service for premium content is because I don't know how long I'm going to keep doing this. The small number of readers who previously made contributions to Cryptogon through Paypal will receive premium articles free of charge. Q: How many premium articles will there be?A: There will be at least one, since it's already written. I may never write another one, or I may write one per day. Q: How does one pay for the articles?A: Paypal. Q: Is there a physical mailing address to send payments for those who don't have/refuse to use Paypal.A: Unfortunately, no. Q: How does one receive the articles?A: I will send them to you in email. Q: What other premium content will be available?A: I may do an occasional zine/newsletter thing that will cost $5 per issue, but don't hold your breath.
posted by Kevin at 6:38 AM
U.S. Military and Intelligence Activities Involving the InternetThis essay examines evidence of possible U.S. military and intelligence activities involving public information gathering (open source intelligence) and psychological operations (PSYOPS). CNN recently reported that the U.S. government was using email as a PSYOPS tool against Iraq. What follows greatly expands on the CNN story by offering insights into other information the U.S. government appears to be searching for online, as well as technical details of how they can cover-up their tracks. Cryptogon Premium Content HTML document, 5 printed pages Cost: $2 USD
posted by Kevin at 6:12 AM
1/14/2003
DARPA: Monsters, Inc. :.Pentagon dark lord Donald Rumsfeld is shoveling billions of tax dollars into the research furnaces of federal laboratories and private universities across the land in the wide-ranging effort to spawn "super soldiers," fired by drugs and electromagnetic "brain zaps" to fight without ceasing for days on end. The work is being directed by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) -- yes, the same outfit now laboring under convicted terrorist-conspirator John Poindexter to build the "Total Information Awareness" network that will allow the government to monitor the electronic records and communications of every citizen.
The DARPA "war fighter enhancement" programs -- an acceleration of bipartisan biotinkering that's been going on for years -- will involve injecting young men and women with hormonal, neurological and genetic concoctions; implanting microchips and electrodes in their bodies to control their internal organs and brain functions; and plying them with drugs that deaden some of their normal human tendencies: the need for sleep, the fear of death, the reluctance to kill their fellow human beings.
posted by Kevin at 11:48 PM
Riot Police Break Up Baby Shower :.A massive police response to a report of a riotnear a Roslyn Heights community center left residents angry yesterday and questioning a police policy of using anti-terrorism tactics against what locals said was a peaceful gathering of people for a baby shower.
Residents said the incident started with a simple verbal argument between a man and a woman as the shower ended about 7:30 p.m. Saturday. It ended amid clouds of pepper spray after about 50 police officers from four precincts, including mounted police, highway patrol officers, a helicopter and Nassau's Bureau of Special Operations, mobilized when a police sergeant called in to report a riot.
The residents said there was not a riot, nor any violence at all - except that brought by the police.
Five men were arrested, and several of the estimated 50 people at the scene were treated for exposure to pepper spray, police said.
posted by Kevin at 2:29 PM
More on Radio Frequency Identification :.Cryptogon covered RFIDs long ago. I guess they're starting to garner attention in other circles: A technology called RFID (radio frequency identification) consisting of miniscule microchips the size of a single grain of sand that listen to a radio query and respond by transmitting their unique ID can make this possible. Most RFID tags use the power from the initial radio signal to transmit their response and hence can be placed anywhere imaginable. Retailers are adoring this concept and soon everything more expensive than a Snickers bar will sport RFID tags making tracking possible through our own personal possessions. The privacy threat comes when RFID tags remain active once you leave a store and currently the RFID industry seems to be giving 'mixed' signals about whether the tags will be disabled or left enabled by default.
posted by Kevin at 1:27 PM
1/13/2003
Email ListsThe email lists of top Iraqi generals, officials and staff. Email for private clubs in Sudan. Email addresses for Iranian government. Email Saudi Arabia. Email Yemen. Email Qatar. Email Jordan. Email Pakistan. Email Syria. Email North Korea. Kurdish top traders. Standby for details.
posted by Kevin at 8:43 PM
Greatest Danger to World Peace: Shocking Poll Results :.Remember, this isn't me, running a poll on my little, backwater website, with you guys skewing the results. This is Time.com, with Joe and Jane Sixpack for readers: Research Credit: CW
posted by Kevin at 3:57 AM
Helen Thomas Isn't Maintaining Appearances :.The only person with any balls in the White House press corps is an 81 year old woman: MR. FLEISCHER: Helen, if you think that the people of Iraq are in a position to dictate who their dictator is, I don't think that has been what history has shown.
MS. THOMAS: I think many countries don't have -- people don't have the decision -- including us.
posted by Kevin at 3:53 AM
1/10/2003
Taking the Message to the Streets Freeways :. This is a great idea! For the past two weekends peace activists have lined freeway overpasses in Washington State with an anti-war message. There have been people on at least 20 overpasses along a 95-mile stretch of interstate from Seattle to the Canadian border. Those involved think that this action is very effective and are suggesting we take it nation-wide over the next three Saturdays (Dec. 28, Jan. 4 and 11) from 11 AM to 1 PM. Activists in Oregon have already begun to plan their participation in the action.
posted by Kevin at 6:07 AM
Rise of the American Reich :. If Attorney General John Ashcroft himself had sat down to write a legal opinion that supported President Bush's immense power to strip a U.S. citizen of his constitutional rights, he probably could not have penned one more powerful and sweeping than the 54-page ruling offered Wednesday by the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. More: The Camps The internment camps issue is being floated with increasing frequency. Take, for example, this passage from The American Empire (Get Used to It), New York Times Magazine, January 5, 2003: Detaining two American citizens without charge or access to counsel in military brigs, maintaining illegal combatants on a foreign island in a legal limbo, keeping lawful aliens under permanent surveillance while deporting others after secret hearings: these are not the actions of a republic that lives by the rule of law but of an imperial power reluctant to trust its own liberties. Such actions may still be a long way short of Roosevelt's internment of the Japanese, but that may mean only that the worst -- following, say, another large attack on United States citizens that produces mass casualties -- is yet to come.They are softening us up for the next hit, folks. They know it's going to happen because They are probably going to do it---just like They did 9/11. When the U.S./U.K. attack on Iraq radicalizes a billion Muslim people around the world, though, and paints a bull's eye on all of Western Civilization (including Japan), maybe the terrorism will be real at that point. Either way, we are about to move to the next phase of this show, and that will probably involve internment camps in the U.S. Note this from the ABOUT section of this web site: I think it would be wise to bear in mind that the events of 9/11 will probably pale in comparison to the diabolical plots that may be hatched in the near future. I say that because, even as bad as 9/11 was, it wasn't enough to polarize the world. Something else is going to happen that will require a bold move by the G8 states. I don't know what that event will be, but it will be transformational in nature, changing the way we think about freedom of speech and movement, money, surveillance, state sovereignty and many other factors.MR sent in an excellent summary piece on the camps, Domestic Terrorism: General Ashcroft's "Enemy Citizens," Martial Law and Internment Camps: Given General Ashcroft's zeal to create camps for U.S. citizens he deems to be "enemy combatants" (although FEMA's public claim is to handle millions of displaced persons in the event of a terrorist attack), it is not unreasonable to expect such camps will be employed to intern Americans. What would be Ashcroft's grounds for internment? Many people will go to the streets to challenge the brazen and continued aggrandizement of power in the hands of the Chief Executive and his officers if another alleged terrorist attack supplies them with more justification to identify and lock up enemy citizens. In case you're not getting the point, here is some simple advice: If soldiers or cops tell you to get on trucks or trains, don't.
posted by Kevin at 5:55 AM
Sobering Documentary on American and British Warmongering :."Yes, I think we�ve gone off the rails. I think American policy has changed. Indeed it clearly has changed in this determination to achieve what they call regime change, and I think that the British government have effectively fallen into line and I think that�s a serious mistake."Sir ANDREW GREEN British Ambassador to Syria, 1991-94 and Saudi Arabia, 1996-2000 If you know anyone who actually supports the upcoming boondoggle/genocide in Iraq, have them watch this Panorama episode. The link to the Realvideo feed is here, for the moment. Research Credit: DG
posted by Kevin at 5:43 AM
1/9/2003
Video: Smoak Family Terrorized by Police :. This is follow-up coverage to the Smoak family nightmare. The Tennessee Highway Patrol terrorized this family and blew their dog away with a 12 gauge shotgun. Original Cryptogon coverage with commentary is here. I am not posting this video to shock or sicken the readers of this site. I want you to send this video to everyone you know who thinks the warnings about fascism and the emerging police state are simply paranoid ramblings. They will get more of a lesson in politics than any amount of words could ever provide. Moving pictures are different than words. When you read, you have to consciously process the information and think about meanings and concepts. When you watch video or film, you just "get it" without having to think about it. As you watch this, your hair may stand on end, your pulse may quicken and you may feel a knot in your stomach. Those are normal reactions to terrorism. WARNING: Video contains graphic and potentially disturbing images. Viewer discretion is advised. Video provided by Tennessean.com.
posted by Kevin at 7:32 AM
Donations to Cryptogon and Boobs :.
To date, Cryptogon has received $70 in direct donations, plus several pints of beer purchased by reader DG at two different bars. Trying to wake people up by running a site like Cryptogon definitely doesn't motivate too many people to kick in a few bucks to the effort; even supposedly active and informed readers such as yourselves. Just remember, nothing is free, not even boobs: Those readers who still have a bit of Xmas charity in their wallets might like to consider the heartbreaking appeal of college girl Michel, a lady very much in need of a new-year boost.
Michel, 24, has launched a website asking for contributions to transform her "itty-bitty boobies" from a modest 34A to a mouth-watering pair of "big tatas (o)(o) !!!"Do you think this material is inappropriate for posting on this site? I don't. Not at all. Take a good long look. Apparently, this is where peoples' priorities are. This is where people put their money. Afterall, she has collected $470 as of 1/8/03, and she has only been at it since the end of November. I get between 80 and 180 hits per day. She's getting 1000 hits per hour. Fantastic. Related: This person blew $20,000 on crap: Maybe it was too many morning lattes that pushed me over the edge, maybe it was the Prada pumps that I bought on eBay.Then she started a site and people contributed enough money to pay off her credit cards!!! So, just to make sure we're all on the same page: - An imbecile fulfils her vapid whims and runs up a $20,000 tab (the one above is asking for fake boobs, I thought I'd ask, too). - Random people on the Internet pay for her irresponsibility and childish behavior. - Meanwhile, back at the ranch, I'm sitting here, cooking my retinas in front of this CRT, focusing on all this depressing nonsense. The page is read by all of .mil and most of .gov. Someone at Lucasfilm hits this thing regularly. Bank of America. Forbes. Boeing. Microsoft. TRW. Etc, etc. The result: two guys contributed a total of $70, another guy, a friend of mine, donated beer and my FBI file is probably three inches thick. I'd be crying if I wasn't laughing my ass off! I keep telling myself it's worth it to keep doing this, but when I'm reminded about how handsomely stupidity is rewarded in this society, it makes a guy wonder if he's going about things the right way... I mean, should I start selling pornography on this site? Does anyone think that will help? Let me put it this way: What would get you to donate? What would get you to give, say, one dollar per month? A buck a month!? I mean, it sounds ridiculous to be asking this from people who use something everyday, like, say, THIS WEBSITE! You should just do it because it's the right thing to do. Just like I should be maintaining this site because it's the right thing to do. The bad karma is on you lurkers, you quiet, frightened, dead weight, free-loading bastards! I'm trying to fire it up and most of you aren't contributing shit to the effort! To you guys who link to Cryptogon, mention it on newsgroups and message lists etc., thank you! To the rest of you who take continuously and give nothing back, get your ass down to WalMart and stick another American flag on your car. In other words: DO ABSOLUTELY NOTHING! You're not wanted here.
posted by Kevin at 2:37 AM
Cops Bust People for Public Drunkenness---Inside Bars :.Fairfax County, Virginia: People who failed sobriety tests INSIDE BARS were arrested! No, I'm not kidding: During the holiday period, undercover agents went to 20 bars in Reston and Herndon looking for examples of bartenders "overserving" customers. Police ultimately raided three bars and arrested nine patrons who failed sobriety tests. They were charged with public drunkenness and spent the night in jail.
posted by Kevin at 2:33 AM
For the Children: School to Use Eye Scanner for Lunch Fees :.These kids will grow into adults who have been conditioned to their biometric shackles: A new high school said Wednesday its students will be charged for their lunches with a retina scanning device to prevent poor children who eat for free from being ridiculed in the cafeteria.
posted by Kevin at 2:32 AM
Appeals Court Affirms U.S. Treatment of "Enemy Combatants" :.The government has broad authority to hold U.S. citizens as enemy combatants without the constitutional protections found in civilian courts, an appeals court ruled Wednesday.
The ruling by the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a federal judge's order that Yaser Esam Hamdi, 22, be allowed to see a lawyer and that the Defense Department be required to produce more information to justify his detention.
The ruling stopped short of approving the same powers over Americans arrested on U.S. soil, which legal experts said left a major question for courts to settle.
posted by Kevin at 2:28 AM
70% Efficient Solar Cells? :.From Slashdot: "Back in 1984 a patent was granted for silicon chip micro rectennas, which would convert visible photons into electricity in the same way that ordinary rectennas convert microwaves into electricity, at perhaps 70% or greater efficiency. Nobody could make such solar cells back in 1984, but we certainly can today, with sizes of antennas that would capture everything from infrared to the edges of UV -- and the patent has expired. So, where are they?" Currently the most popular type of solar technology is photovoltaics, however PV technology only has an efficiency of about 7-17%. With the potential gains claimed by the technology in the cited patent, has anyone even tried to build one of these units to see if it can live up to the given promise, or at least prove to be a technology than we should be exploring?
posted by Kevin at 2:25 AM
1/7/2003
CDC Researcher: "I Guess You Could Say We're Fat and Drunk" :.Victory Gin* for everyone! Supersize it! More than one in five American adults could be classified as obese in 2001, up almost 6 percent from the year before. And more than one in four Americans engage in bouts of binge drinking -- defined as five or more drinks at one sitting with the goal of getting drunk -- up 35 percent from 1995.
"I guess you could say we're fat and drunk," said Timothy Naimi, a researcher at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (news - web sites) in Atlanta, summarizing a pair of studies based on a huge telephone survey of more than 200,000 adults.
"We're a society that is somewhat taken with excesses," Naimi said.Naaaaahhhhh. Taken with excesses? Personally, I think the 1,000 horsepower engine in the new Cadillac is barely sufficient. We're just lucky Dubya is going to commit genocide in Iraq so the whims maniacs can be fulfilled without question. United We Stand! Oh ya, don't forget the 500 horsepower motorcycle that costs $250,000. Taken with excesses? Hey, buddy, love it or leave it! The growing fad of "supersizing" bar drinks has become as common as fast-food franchises' expanded portions of fatty French fries.Fantastic! * Drink of choice in Orwell's 1984.
posted by Kevin at 5:17 AM
Woman Considered an "Economic Threat" to Government Forced to Wear GPS Tracking Device :.Calling her an "economic threat" to the government, prosecutors persuaded U.S. Magistrate Judge Patrick J. Walsh last spring to issue an order requiring Meredith to shut her Web site and stop selling books on the tax code. The judge also barred her from associating with We the People employees and ordered that her movements be tracked by satellite.I, personally, wouldn't attempt to fight the government on this level. The courts are utterly corrupt. The government will lie, cheat and steal to do this woman in. The judge hearing the case will prevent her and/or her counsel from speaking about certain matters in court. The judge will simply hold them in contempt if they persist. Whether she realized it or not, Lynne Meredith started a blood feud with an enemy that CAN'T afford to lose the battle. The income tax revenue is the lifeblood of The Matrix. When she stopped allowing them to steal from her, she mortally wounded them. When she started getting others to do the same thing... Well, guys with guns and sledgehammers showed up. Now, there are several ways of going about the task of disempowering the beast. (None of them is particularly easy, but nobody said any of this was going to be easy.) As this case shows, Meredith chose a direct confrontation by trying to make legal arguments against taxes, and getting others to follow suit. Her strategy was flawed from the beginning.Ask yourself this: Since when did crime syndicates ever concern themselves with the law? The purpose of the law is to maintain the appearances of legitimacy. But as soon as exigencies require that the law be flung out the window...Watch out. The law is a velvet glove on an iron fist. When that thing hits you in the teeth, it's not going to matter whether you're right or wrong. THE SYSTEM WILL DO YOU IN WHEN YOU BECOME A BIG ENOUGH THREAT TO THE SYSTEM. Do you get it, people? The U.S. government is using your labor as a mechanism to funnel wealth away from you into the hands of a small group of individuals and corporations THAT RUN THE MATRIX. This isn't a conspiracy. THIS IS THE SYSTEM. Meredith can't win. They can't and won't allow her to win. It doesn't matter what she says or does, the quality of her argument, or prowess of her legal team. Even if someone comes up with a compelling argument, the IRS can retroactively change the law! (Betcha didn't know that one.) That's the problem with The Matrix when you get too close to the core. The thing is so robust and advanced that it will change and morph to protect itself from your attack. What's the smart thing to do in the movie version of The Matrix when you come face to face with an Agent? (I can see all of your lips speaking the words.) Unless you're Neo, unless you're the One, you better run your ass off. If you don't, you're going to lose a fight with an Agent. Just like Meredith is going to lose her fight with the IRS. My strategy, and the strategy of many others, is based on a passage from Sun Tzu's The Art of War: For to win one hundred victories in one hundred battles is not the acme of skill. To subdue the enemy without fighting is the acme of skill.Get into a situation where you can live well on MUCH less. Make less, pay little or no tax. Get your life back. We have the tools to bring The Matrix down without having to attack it directly. And one of the added benefits of going about the transformation in this way is that the tax man can't bust you because you haven't done anything wrong. As the tax revenue dries up, The Matrix will crumble and the curtain will come down on this horror show. (We must have local systems and economies in place, but that's another essay.) Now, as the Them get more desperate, They will make EVERYTHING illegal. Rejoice, because at that point, even the average person on the street will realize that They have lost control and a new beginning is close at hand. Note: The U.S. Treasury (treas.gov) has been viewing my site recently. I have no idea why, but if I disappear without warning, well... I'm just glad I've paid all my taxes and even used professional tax preparation services to make sure it was done right. Dissident Rule Number 1: Don't give Them an easy way to shut you down.
posted by Kevin at 3:19 AM
1/6/2003
Massachusetts Grand Jury Subpoenas Cryptome's Logs :.They asked John to keep the subpoena secret because it was part of a criminal investigation. He immediately posted the entire thing on his site. Asking John Young to keep something like that secret would be like asking the Sun not to rise in the morning, or the wind not to blow through the trees. John responded to the State of Massachusetts via PGP signed message on his website.
posted by Kevin at 9:31 PM
The Real U.S. Economic Stimulus Package, Nazis and the Plan to Rape Iraq :. and Iraq: Linchpin of a New Oil Order :.The New York Times is floating details of the U.S. imperial plan for Iraq. Michael Renner, of Worldwatch Institute, recently wrote analysis that, with the appearance of this New York Times piece, appears to be right on target. His analysis fills in the blanks that the Times omits (criminally, in my opinion). I will draw on Renner's piece as I touch on two stunning points from the lengthy New York Times article. First point: Forget all the nonsense about easing the tax burden of rich people. That's just the opener. The real economic stimulus package is much more diabolical. Individuals in the Bush regime have direct links to the corporations that will benefit the most from the U.S. imperial occupation of Iraq. Look at what Renner had to say about the Bush regime's connections to oil: The Bush administration�s ties to the oil and gas industry are beyond extensive; they are pervasive. They flow, so to speak, from the top, with a chief executive who grew up steeped in the culture of Texas oil exploration and tried his hand at it himself; and a second-in-command who came to office with a multi-million dollar retirement package in hand from his post of CEO of Halliburton Oil. Once in office, the vice president developed an energy policy under the primary guidance of a cast of oil company executives whose identities he has gone to great lengths to withhold from public view. Since taking office, the president and vice president have assembled a government peopled heavily with representatives from the oil culture from which they came. These include Secretary of the Army Thomas White, a former vice president of Enron, and Secretary of Commerce Don Evans, former president of the oil exploration company Tom Brown Inc, whose major stake in the company was worth US$13 million by the time he took office. The plan is for the U.S. to take control of Iraqi oil output in order to pay for reconstruction of the country! Are you clear on that!?!? The U.S. is going to bomb Iraq, already a 4th world country, literally into the stone age, steal its main natural resource and use the profits to further enrich the corporations with the closest ties to the Bush regime! Billions of dollars worth of rockets and bombs will be used to destroy Iraqi infrastructure and buildings that will cost billions of dollars to rebuild. It just so happens that U.S. companies build those rockets and bombs, and other U.S. companies are going to get the major infrastructure and construction contracts even before the dust settles. Again, look at Renner's comments: The pariah state of Iraq, however, is a key prize, with abundant, high-quality oil that can be produced at very low cost (and thus at great profit). At 112 billion barrels, its proven reserves are currently second only to Saudi Arabia�s. The Energy Information Administration (EIA) of the US Department of Energy estimates that additional "probable and possible" resources could amount to 220 billion barrels. And because political instability, war, and sanctions have prevented thorough exploration of substantial portions of Iraqi territory, there is a chance that another 100 billion barrels lie undiscovered in Iraq�s western desert. All in all, Iraq�s oil wealth may well rival that of Saudi Arabia.
At present, of course, this is mere potential - the Iraqi oil industry has seriously deteriorated as a result of the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq War, the 1991 Gulf War and inadequate postwar investment and maintenance. Since 1990, the sanctions regime has effectively frozen plans for putting additional fields into production. It has also caused a severe shortage of oil field equipment and spare parts (under the sanctions regime, the US has prevented equipment imports worth some $4 billion). Meanwhile, questionable methods used to raise output from existing fields may have damaged some of the reservoirs and could actually trigger a decline in output in the short run.
But once the facilities are rehabilitated (a lucrative job for the oil service industry, including Cheney�s former employer, Halliburton) and new fields are brought into operation, the spigots could be opened wide. To pay for the massive task of rebuilding, a post-sanctions Iraq would naturally seek to maximize its oil production.All of this is referred to as "democratizing" and "reconstructing" Iraq in the New York Times piece. *Someone give me an American flag to wave. United we sta--- Pause while I vomit into the trash can.* Not even I envisioned such a sinister plot. I have to wonder if U.S. foreign policy officials make and distribute snuff films in their spare time. That activity is the moral equivalent of what they have in mind for Iraq. It's not enough to destroy Iraq and steal the oil, killing God only knows how many innocent people. They also plan on funneling billions of dollars into the construction and infrastructure companies!? My head is spinning. Wow. The second point I want to touch on is related to this passage from the Times article: Officials, referring to the ruling Baath Party, say "de-Baathification" of the nation will be at least as complex as de-Nazification was in Germany.If the U.S. is as successful at the "de-Baathification" of Iraq as it was with the de-Nazification of Germany, the CIA is about to have a massive influx of Arab speakers. Take a walk down memory lane with me, won't you?  
General Reinhard Gehlen was Adolf Hitler's Chief of Foreign Armies East (1942-45). There he is, on the left, reviewing troops. He ran spy networks for the Third Reich that were tasked with operations related to the USSR. Immediately after World War II, Gehlen and his top lieutenants went to work for U.S. intelligence. In 1956, control of the Gehlen organization shifted from the CIA to the BND (Bundesnachrichtendienst), West Germany's Intelligence Service. The photo on the right is also of Gehlen, except this time he's being roasted at Yale University for his service to the United States. If you have any doubts about any of what I'm saying, just start reading. So, if de-Nazification of Germany meant that the most valuable Nazis went into the highest ranks of the U.S. intelligence and military research agencies, what will the "de-Baathification" of Iraq entail? <--- Rhetorical question. None of this matters because the entire system is doomed, but in case you feel like doing some how-we-got-here-from-there reading, here is some literature on the recruitment of Nazis into U.S. intelligence and military circles. The Secret War Against the Jews is the only one still in print: Blowback: America's Recruitment of Nazis, and its Disastrous Effect on Our Domestic and Foreign Policy, by Christopher Simpson. Secret Agenda: The United States Government, Nazi Scientists, and Project Paperclip, 1945 to 1990, by Linda Hunt The Old Boys: The American Elite and the Origins of the CIA, by Burton Hersh. The Secret War Against the Jews, by John Loftus and Mark Aarons.
posted by Kevin at 2:59 AM
Maniac Cops Terrorize Family for No Reason, Kill Dog :.We should expect this type of incident to become increasingly common as the Ministry of Love takes shape in the U.S. Children that experience trauma like this, at the hands of the state, often make it their mission in life to destroy the state when they grow older. This undeniable fact can be verified by examining any society in which the level of socio-political cohesion drops to a point at which the state begins to treat the population at large as an enemy. (See Buzan's, People, States, and Fear: An Agenda for International Security Studies in the Post-Cold War Era.) When cops and soldiers terrorize people, especially children, they create terrorists, or freedom fighters, depending on your perspective. If you want to see where this type of behavior leads, you don't have to look any further than a just posted story from the Guardian about the Palestinian situation. Allowing this type of behavior to stand in the U.S. today will almost definitely lead to an armed rebellion in the future. Cops and soldiers, remember, just following orders leads to tyranny: It was the most traumatic experience the Smoak family of North Carolina has ever had, and it happened yesterday afternoon as they traveled through Cookeville on their way home from a vacation in Nashville.
Before their ordeal was over, three members of the family had been yanked out of their car and handcuffed on the side of Interstate 40 in downtown Cookeville, and their beloved dog, Patton, had been shot to death by a police officer as they watched.
What was their crime?
There was no crime.Related: Video of the incident. WARNING: Video contains graphic and potentially disturbing images. Viewer discretion is advised.
posted by Kevin at 1:03 AM
Mother Earth News :.As many of you know, my long term goal is to start a new life somewhere in the Pacific Northwest, living totally off-grid in a yurt, geodome, earthship, staw bale house, Hobbit hut or other alternative dwelling. TR, a regular Cryptogon contributor and personal associate, has similar plans. He recently introduced me to an absolutely incredible magazine called Mother Earth News. If you are also considering "a new start" focused on self reliance and conscious living, you will definitely enjoy this magazine: In every issue of MOTHER EARTH NEWS you'll find inspiring and practical information about:
Building better homes - Growing your own food - Using sustainable energy - Raising livestock - Being healthy naturally - Choosing green products - Doing more with less - Creating great communities - Living wisely
posted by Kevin at 1:02 AM
1/5/2003
INS: Americans Must Submit Detailed Personal Information for International Travel :.The U.S. is borrowing more and more pages from the Soviet and Nazi playbooks, and at an accelerating rate. Remember creeping fascism, you know, how our system was before 9/11? Well, fascism isn't creeping anymore. It's large, in charge and running wild: Millions of travelers arriving and departing the United States will have to submit detailed personal information this year under rules proposed by the federal government Friday as part of the war on terrorism.
The rules proposed by the Immigration and Naturalization Service, once they are finalized, seek more information from travelers than under current law and for the first time extend the requirements to U.S. citizens and others previously exempted.
All airlines, cargo flights, cruise ships and other vessels carrying crew or passengers will be affected, with the exception of ferryboats. The information will be sent electronically to the government before a traveler arrives in the United States or departs from it, giving officials a complete manifest of exactly who is on board.
posted by Kevin at 6:26 PM
Desperate Attempt to Free the Xbox :.Brute forcing a 2048 bit private key isn't going to be easy. But, think of it this way: There is no way to win the Lotto if you don't buy a ticket. And maybe there isn't actually 2048 bits of entropy in this key. Considering how flawed Microsoft's implementations of security related mechanisms have been in the past, a brute force attack may be possible on this thing. I ran the SETI client for years on various machines. So did millions of other people. Talk about a shot in the dark! At least, with this task, we know there is a solution, and we might get lucky. So, download the Neo client and let it rip! Use Team ID: cryptogon. HeHe. Oh, and if you have to ask, "Why bother with this?" try to remember back to when you were a kid and you didn't ask such questions; you just did stuff because it was there to do, and that was reason enough.
posted by Kevin at 4:59 PM
Sydney Airport to Scan Faces of All Travelers :.Authorities are trialling concealed high-tech, computer-linked video cameras that can film the face of every passenger arriving in Australia at Sydney Airport to help identify terrorists and other undesirable travellers.
Customs is also testing a world-first computerised face-recognition system that scans the faces of all passengers as they present their passports.
As part of the security trial, cameras have been set up in the arrivals hall to scan for terrorists or criminals.
The cameras, which have wide-angle lenses, sweep across the faces of all arriving passengers and send the images to a computer which matches the faces with pictures of wanted people stored in its memory.Research Credit: AM
posted by Kevin at 4:05 PM
1/3/2003
More on what We Already Knew: The U.S. Armed Iraq, and Assisted with War Crimes :.The fact that this article appeared in a major U.S. publication at all is shocking. While the author, Michael Dobbs, touches on many points accurately, he still manages to serve as an apologist for multiple and egregious U.S. blunders and high crimes. The general nature of what went on between the U.S. and Iraq is thrashed out in this Washington Post article. But if you want the really ugly and fascinating details, please read Spider's Web: The Secret History of How the White House Illegally Armed Iraq written by Alan Friedman. Excerpts from the article and analysis follows: High on the Bush administration's list of justifications for war against Iraq are President Saddam Hussein's use of chemical weapons, nuclear and biological programs, and his contacts with international terrorists. What U.S. officials rarely acknowledge is that these offenses date back to a period when Hussein was seen in Washington as a valued ally.
Among the people instrumental in tilting U.S. policy toward Baghdad during the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war was Donald H. Rumsfeld, now defense secretary, whose December 1983 meeting with Hussein as a special presidential envoy paved the way for normalization of U.S.-Iraqi relations. Declassified documents show that Rumsfeld traveled to Baghdad at a time when Iraq was using chemical weapons on an "almost daily" basis in defiance of international conventions.
The story of U.S. involvement with Saddam Hussein in the years before his 1990 attack on Kuwait -- which included large-scale intelligence sharing, supply of cluster bombs through a Chilean front company, and facilitating Iraq's acquisition of chemical and biological precursors -- is a topical example of the underside of U.S. foreign policy. It is a world in which deals can be struck with dictators, human rights violations sometimes overlooked, and accommodations made with arms proliferators, all on the principle that the "enemy of my enemy is my friend."
The administrations of Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush authorized the sale to Iraq of numerous items that had both military and civilian applications, including poisonous chemicals and deadly biological viruses, such as anthrax and bubonic plague.A couple of notes on this. The technical term for "enemy of my enemy is my friend" in the White House at the time was, "active neutrality." How's that for double plus good newspeak? You can thank the dead criminal and notorious former CIA Director Bill Casey for that one. The Chilean front company was Industrias Cardoen, and the article mentions this. What it fails to mention is that the CIA moved the plans for the U.S. Rockeye cluster bomb down to Chile so Carlos Cardoen could make the cluster bombs Iraq needed. The U.S. also reclassified a fully functional munitions factory as scrap metal and sent it down to Cardoen! The U.S. couldn't send the weapons to Iraq due to export restrictions, so they brought in a proxy to manufacture them instead. Oh, and then there's the South African connection. Read Friedman's book. The article ends with this ridiculous passage: "Everybody was wrong in their assessment of Saddam," said Joe Wilson, Glaspie's former deputy at the U.S. embassy in Baghdad, and the last U.S. official to meet with Hussein. "Everybody in the Arab world told us that the best way to deal with Saddam was to develop a set of economic and commercial relationships that would have the effect of moderating his behavior. History will demonstrate that this was a miscalculation." Everybody was wrong in their assessment of Saddam!? Not quite everybody, Mr. Wilson. Teicher wasn't wrong. This is from a case study I wrote in college back in 1995, The Tilt that Backfired: Historical Perspectives on the Persian Gulf Crisis: Back in 1979, while he [Teicher] was working as an analyst in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, he had written a fifty-page paper predicting that Saddam would invade Iran, seek to annex oil-rich provinces from Tehran, and eventually even try to renew Iraq's historical claims to Kuwait.
Harold Brown, secretary of defense under Jimmy Carter, brushed aside Teicher's warnings, commenting in the margin of the report, "I disagree. Iraq has changed. It has moderated its behavior." Teicher did not change his views when he joined the Reagan administration; in fact, he grew more convinced as his predictions started to materialize. He then found out that U.S. arms shipments had found their way through third countries to Iraq. When he inquired about how the White House could be assisting in the clandestine transfer of U.S. mat�riel to Iraq, he was told not to bother himself about it.Hey Washington Post, how does it feel to be scooped on what really happened by a 20 something year old college student, 8 YEARS AGO!? Related: Comments from a Former U.S. Marine :.The reason for all this cacophony of bombast and silence, the justification for all this bellicose din and self-righteous declamation, the cause for this constant beating of war drums and unfurling of flags, the focus of all this national attention and the linchpin of our quasi- elected president's "axis of evil" turned out to be the 1-bit dictator of an impoverished 4th world country, whom virtually no-one else in the world seems to particularly care about, let alone fear. Yet we, the fortunate few citizens of the single mightiest military nation on earth, bizarrely continue being subjected to a ceaseless barrage of fear-mongering and war- prodding, as the White House continues to replace international policy with obsession, and to put ideology and personal grudges before our national interests. Research Credit: DG
posted by Kevin at 7:30 PM
FDA: Neurotoxic Amphetamine-Type Substance Approved for Children :.If you thought Columbine was shocking, just wait: The US Food and Drug Administration said on Friday that it has approved Eli Lilly & Co.'s Prozac (fluoxetine) to treat depression and obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) in children and adolescents aged seven to 17 years.There is a push to get infants (as young as one year old) on Prozac and other neurotoxic drugs. Please see Dr. Peter Breggin's books on toxic psychiatry before some quack attempts to swindle you. Anytime you visit a doctor, realize that the entire medical and healthcare infrastructure is based on institutionalized fraud. Realize that the FDA and pharmaceutical companies exist to rip you off as they kill you! If you think I'm being harsh or unfair, read the fine print on the drugs your quack is telling you to take! READ IT! While your doctor may mean well, the chances are that he or she is a professionally educated ignoramus who is unwilling and unable to look outside their pharmaceutical based world view. Search for natural and nontoxic alternatives on your own. They exist.
posted by Kevin at 7:28 PM
Medical Fraud of the Moment: Female Sexual Dysfunction :.Pharmaceutical firms Friday rejected claims they had created a new disorder known as female sexual dysfunction to build a market for Viagra and similar drugs among women.
An article in the British Medical Journal said researchers with close ties to industry had defined the new disorder at company-sponsored meetings over the past six years to encourage use of the same medicines that have helped men with impotence. The result was that female sexual problems were being wrongly "medicalized" and the number of women affected greatly exaggerated.
The author of the article, Australian Financial Review journalist Ray Moynihan, said claims that 43 percent of women aged 18-59 had female sexual dysfunction were misleading and potentially dangerous.
posted by Kevin at 7:26 PM
Air Force: Amphetamines = Fatigue Management Tool :.A lawyer for one of two U.S. pilots who released a bomb over southern Afghanistan in April, accidentally killing four Canadian soldiers, says the Air Force had pressured the pilots to take amphetamines that may have impaired their judgment during the mission.
Majs. Harry Schmidt and William Umbach face a possible court-martial for dropping the laser-guided bomb near Kandahar on April 17. An Air Force investigation determined the pilots "demonstrated poor airmanship" and ignored standard procedure by not making sure there were no allied troops in the area.
posted by Kevin at 7:25 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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