Only this time, their own citizens are the target! On 1st July, the French government decreed a new spy database, called Edvige, be set up. The decree spells out that the aim of the database is:

to centralize and analyze data on people aged 13 or above who are active in politics or labour unions, who play a significant institutional, economic, social or religious role, or who are "likely to breach public order."

Lovely! I'm sure NZ's domestic SIS and GCSB spy agencies are salivating at the thought of a database network to spy on their own citizens. Oh wait, they already share one with the US, UK, Canada and Australia - it's called Echelon, and includes the spy satellite dish at Waihopai (near Blenheim) that had it's direction-obscuring balloon deflated (see also my earlier post) a little while back by Catholic Worker peace activists. I bet they made the database already!

Time to junk these Keystone Cops spys. Save NZ $80m a year. The French government should ditch their Edvige before it bites them too.

Dos videos, que dan a conocer que nuestros movimientos, nuestras voces, nuestros datos, no son tan "anonimos" como todos pensabamos.

I recently posited what I believed to be the "11 Worst Ideas in Security" (here), but to every yin a yang, to every bad a good, to every Joker a Dark Knight, for the purpose of finding balance, I give to you the 7 Greatest Ideas in Information Security...

7. Microsoft and Security as part of the SDL (Lord Vader finds your lack of faith disturbing)

The greatest flaw in information security is that we try to build security on top of a fundamentally weak foundation, whether we are talking about the core routing infrastructure, the open standards and protocols that drive them or the operating systems themselves, the majority of the Information Security industry is squarely aimed at resolving issues of past incompetence. Nowhere has this been more apparent than the decades plus of vulnerabilities found in Microsoft products. Crappiness exists in other products and is not an attribute solely patented by Microsoft, they just happen to power everything from my Mom's computer to the Death Star, so when they fail it is almost always epic.

The Microsoft SDL (here) and the work that folks like Michael Howard (here) have done to develop security into a critical aspect of the SDL is not only admirable, it is inspiring. To have witnessed a company the size of Microsoft essentially redesign internal processes to address what was seen as a fundamental deficiency and to then continue to develop these processes changes into thought leadership sets an example for all of us, small business and world dominating enterprise alike. Implementing security as part of the SDL and utilizing concepts such as threat modeling to identify weaknesses and eradicate them before releasing code to the public is arguably one of the greatest ideas in security.

6. The Principle of Least Privilege (Not all of us can know Zarathustra)

Since Saltzer and Schroeder formulated the concept as part of computing we have been striving to achieve it. It is neither new nor is it novel, but it is critical to how we design computing systems and how we develop and implement security controls. It contradicts our own Nietzschean side to feel like constraints and rules are important for the common man, but shouldn't apply to us personally, but nothing should be afforded more privilege than needed and this is one of the "laws of security".

5. Segmentation (Your Mendelian trait is in my algorithmic reasoning)

Segmentation of duties, of networks, of memory, of code execution, of anything and everything that should never mix. Combine lack of segmentation with a lack of implementing the principle of least privilege and you turn a simple browser based buffer overflow into a highly damaging payload that can easily replicate throughout the Internets. For us to truly realize improvements in security, as defined by less successful security incidents - real and imagined - and marked by an increase in visibility and control over all of our computing systems, segmentation of everything is an ideal to strive for.

4. Inspect what You Expect (Question everything)

Also known as "trust but verify" as used by the Gipper in his dealings with the Russians during the cold war. Trust is important, but it is even more important to validate that trust. One of the most significant changes every software developer can make today, whether they are developing COTS or internal applications, is to allow security persons to inspect that the application is functioning, being accessed, and managed to the controls that the organizations expects. From networking to applications to users to virtualization to quantum anything, this principle must extend across every layer and concept of computing today and tomorrow,

3. Independent Security Research (So, I've been playing with something...no not that)

The ridiculous vulnerability disclosure debate aside, independent security research has had a significant benefit on the security industry. The best example is the recent DNS vulnerability that has been discussed, dissected, and covered ad nauseam. Since it's disclosure it has not only resulted in providing more awareness of the fundamental flaws in the core infrastructural protocols like DNS and assisted in the implementation of countermeasures, but it has actually driven government policy as the OMB (Office of Management and Budget) has recently mandated the use of DNSSEC for all government agencies (here) - Sweet!

2. Cryptography and Cryptanalysis (From Bletchley with Love)

From the Greek Historian Polybios to the German surrender in May of 1945 to ECHELON, cryptography and cryptanalysis has played a major role in our lives. It has shaped the outcome of wars and changed foreign and domestic policy. It is becoming the cornerstone of the highly distributed, intermittently connected world of technical gadgetry we live in and can make the difference between coverage on the front page of the Wall St. Journal vs. a brief mention in a disgruntled employees blog - Although I wouldn't argue that encryption as a technology is without flaw, the theory and practice of hiding information and it's dance partner code breaking, continue to drive some of the greatest advances in information security.

1. Planning, Preparation, and Expectation Setting (Caution: Water on Road, may make road slippery)

Yes a bit of a yawner but since the beginning of forever more failures, more disastrous outcomes and more security incidents result from a lack of proper planning, preparation and expectation setting than all the exploits of all the hackers of all the world combined. As an analyst it became shockingly clear that the majority of failed technology deployments were not the result of a failure in the technology, but a result of poor planning, a lack of preparing and little to no expectation setting, the entire "trough of disillusionment" is riddled with the waste of mismatched technological expectations. The greatest idea in security is not sexy, funny, or terribly enlightened, but it is simple, achievable, repeatable and can be immediately implemented today - plan, prepare and set the proper expectations.

Some may argue that something has been forgotten or that the order is wrong, but I would argue that we must learn to develop securely, implement the proper security controls, verify the functioning of these controls, leverage the research of the greater community, ensure that what cannot be protected is hidden, and from the beginning to the end properly plan, prepare, and set the right expectation - these are the greatest ideas in security and if we learn to embody these principles, we would be moving the industry forward as opposed to constantly feeling like we can only clean up the incompetence that surrounds us.

Soy abogada en Puerto Rico y les felicito por el articulo sobre como los Estados Unidos Juega con la Ionosfera publicado en http://www.aporrea.org/tiburon/a58257.html. Previo a todo deseo informar que la computadora que utilizo no contiene los signos de acentuación, así que repetiré la vocal cada vez que sea necesario. No me molesta que previo a publicar esto lo editen y le corrijan los acentos.

En el 1993, el Frente Patriótico Arecibeño denunció que mediante una Declaración de Impacto Ambiental, los Estados Unidos de América incluyó al pueblo de Arecibo, Puerto Rico, como uno de los calefactores ionosféricos de HAARP. Esa denuncia surge de la documentación sometida ante el Comité de Descolonización de las Naciones Unidas en el 2007 y del libro de Nick Begich a su página 195 que contiene un diagrama que incluye a Arecibo, Puerto Rico.

Inmediatamente que regresé de la ONU a Puerto Rico, en el 2007, Robert B. Kerr, Director del "Arecibo Observatory" que a su vez se llama "National Atmospheric and Ionosphere Center", NAIC, publicó una carta en la que a su inciso 9 admite que el Departamento de Defensa de los Estados Unidos opera en Arecibo. www.naic.edu/general_int/posts/RadarFacts%-%20Spanish.htm. (Para mi NAIC es el Centro Atmosfeerico Ionosfeerico Nacional CAIN).

A su vez, Donald Kerr, Director de Inteligencia Nacional, oficina adcrita a la CIA, incluye a todos los radares y los equipos tecnológicos en su sistema de "Domestic Surveillance", dato que surge de un documento titulado "Satellite Surveillance:Domestic Issues" Congress Report RL 34421. www.thomas.loc.gov Este informe se realizó el 21 de marzo de 2008 y mi opinión es que se realizó como respuesta a la Resolución 60/66 de las Naciones Unidas que exige transparencia en el manejo y manipulación de la atmósfera extraterrestre. En el mismo alegan que es para atemperar las operaciones de la alta atmósfera a los derechos que emanan de la Constitución de los USA para sus ciudadanos. (Los mismos que en su mayoría viven enajenados totalmente de las actividades que llevan a cabo.) Tratar ese asunto de esta forma les permite alegar que la información no es clasificada.

Según los documentos que he recopilado de HAARP, éste opera a lo largo de todo el territorio nacional en Puerto Rico con diferentes artefactos tecnológicos que tienen diversos usos. En Puerto Rico existe una "digisonda" que opera en Ramey, Aguadilla, Puerto Rico, un "aerostato" en Lajas, Puerto Rico que opera un programa titulado Evolutionary Aerospace Global Laser Engagement, EAGLE. Existen en Puerto Rico dos Radar Over The Horizon "ROTH", uno en Vieques y otro en Salinas, existe otro sistema de antenas de HAARP en Fuerte Allen en Juana Diaz, en Fuerte Buchannan existe ECHELON que sirve para vigilar todas las comunicaciones, y finalmente en Arecibo existe el NAIC que se dedica a manipular la ionosfera. La digisonda sirve para los estudios de concentrar energía como un arma, mover la energía en la ionosfera desde una latitud "F" a otra. Los ROTH sirven para manipulación de las comunicaciones. Arecibo, junto a las aplicaciones diarias que nos hacen de bario, litio, hidrógeno y otros compuestos, sirve para estudios climatológicos. En Arecibo existe un "Gregorian Dome" con lo que a todas luces es la famosa "Tesla Gun" que sobresale de ese artefacto y que sirve para dirigir energía y para lograr la meta de la propuesta de HAARP de reproducir los efectos de un arma nuclear sin tener que detonarla. Esa meta estaa expresada en la Patente 4,686,605 asignada al Físico y a su vez militar de carrera, Dr. Bernard Eastlund en 1987. De dicha patente sobresale la mención de Arecibo como uno de los lugares desde donde se manipula la ionosfera desde el 1958.

En el anho 2006 se publicó en NAIC un trabajo titulado "Arecibo Geomagnetic Conjugate Point in Argentina". En dicho documento se plantea transferir el Incoherent Scatter Radar que existe en Gakona, Alaska, hasta Arecibo y Puerto Madryn en Argentina. Se persigue estudiar ambos puntos geomagnéticos para dar seguimiento a los restos de la energía nuclear que quedó atrapada desde que los Estados Unidos llevaron a cabo "Project Starfish" en 1962. En esa fecha se detonaron varios artefactos nucleares en la ionosfera para lo que ellos llaman "enhance", o sea incrementar la ionización de la alta atmósfera con fines de tener la oportunidad de hacer experimentos. Lo que consiguieron fue que se quedó energía nuclear atrapada en las bandas de Van Allen y crearon bandas artificiales que son de energía nuclear. Esas bandas les están deteriorando sus naves y necesitan degradarla lo más pronto posible para poder proseguir con sus planes.

A su vez los Estados Unidos tiene el problema de que no puede continuar utilizando el Nevada Test Site para hacer sus pruebas nucleares debido a las quejas radicadas por los pueblos originarios ante organismos internacionales sobre conducta genocida por las detonaciones nucleares cerca de sus reservaciones. Desesperadamente buscan un sitio donde restablecer su programa de pruebas nucleares. Han planteado la alta atmósfera como alternativa. La razón para hacer esto es porque los planes de los Estados Unidos son emplazar en la alta atmósfera, o ionosfera, sus facilidades de producción de armas nucleares. Para ello radicaron un proyecto de ley ante el Congreso que se titula "Safety for Americans from Nuclear Weapons Test Act", H.R. 2383 del anho 2007 y el Dr. Peter Tether, le informoo al Congreso que su agencia, la Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, operaraa un programa titulado "Sleight of HAND". HAND es la sigla para High Altitude Nuclear Detonation, (Detonación Nuclear en la Alta Atmósfera) Le llaman SOH. El Incoherent Scatter Radar (ISR) que se muda a Arecibo y a Argentina puede emitir radiación de hasta 460 MHz. La ONU estableció en el año 2000 que los niveles tolerables para los seres vivientes de radiación electromagnética es de 10 MHz. El ISR aspira aumentar su poder hasta 1,300 MHz, o más.

Según ese programa, si tienen un lugar en tierra desde donde inyecten radiación de baja frecuencia (low frequency radiation), lograrán degradar los niveles de radiación en la alta atmósfera hasta 10 veces su ritmo de decaimiento normal. ?Y dónde es ese lugar? Los Arecibeños le tememos a que sea en Arecibo. El ISR en Arecibo, o en Argentina, de ser ese el otro caso, les facilita la inyección de la radiación de baja frecuencia. El gran problema es que si funciona se convertirá en un programa permanente de detonaciones nucleares en la alta atmósfera y degradación terrestre mediante la inyección de radiación de baja frecuencia que pudiera llevarse permanentemente en Arecibo, o en Argentina.

En su documento "Imaging and Forecasting of Ionospheric Structures and Their System Impacts" los científicos Bodo Reinisch, Gary Sales, Paul Song, de la Universidad de Massachssetts, como evaluadores de HAARP para el Air Force Research Laboratory, estudio número AFRL-VS-HA-TR-2005-1036, admiten la ocurrencia de dispersión de radiación desde la fuente de emanación, así como la existencia de perdida de radiación del "main beam", ondas terrestres de hasta 100 kilómetros y rebote desde la ionosfera que es imposible de controlar a donde va a llegar. En ese estudio solo la relacionan con daños a la aviación y obvian el hecho de que también impregna a los seres vivientes que reciban su dispersión.

Para Arecibo se emitió la propuesta 04-515 del National Science Foundation, asignando 70 millones de dólares con fecha de inicio del 2005 y finaliza en el 2010, para la "incorporación de facilidades en construcción" a la vez que NAIC anunció en Puerto Rico que por falta de presupuesto cierran operaciones. Lo cierto es que NAIC ha comprado 135.37 cuerdas de tierra y en ellas se han construido varias facilidades las cuales nos resultan a los Arecibeños sospechosas. Como si fuera poco, los Estados Unidos han radicado en su Congreso un proyecto de ley, el H. R. 672, Puerto Rico Karst Conservation Act que entre las leyes que introduce está la 15 USC 3710 a. Esta ley a su sección 6A introduce a la Administración Nacional de Seguridad Nuclear para hacer contratos con un "Weapon Production Facility" que opera y produce armas nucleares. A la vez, para Argentina se presenta como un adelanto "científico" y se busca la anuencia de la población a las operaciones en Puerto Madryn.

De los estudios realizados sobre el impacto a la salud sobre el electromagnetismo se ha encontrado que el propio aparato militar hizo una Conferencia en Bangkok entre el 26 al 30 de enero de 2004 y encontró que el EMF (Electro Magnetic Fields) ocasionan: leucemia en adultos y en especial en ninhos, abortos, cancer cerebral de los adultos, amyotrophic lateral sclerosys (ALS), otras formas de enfermedades neuronales, y una gran incidencia de suicidios. www.bangkokemf.com El 2 de junio de 2008, se anunció en Radio Universidad que los Puertorriquenhos sufrimos de una clase de alzheimer que solo le da a los Puertorriquenhos. www.radiouniversidad.pr/noticias/titular/alzheimer-02-062008.html

Los Arecibeños y los Argentinos necesitamos del apoyo internacional para divulgar y para denunciar esta triste situación. HAARP es un monstruo que atenta contra la soberanía de todas las naciones y contra todas las formas de vida. Combinado con el programa de armas nucleares de los USA atenta contra la existencia de los Puertorriqueños, así como del resto de los países que existen en el Caribe y en Sur América.

Se incluye como Anejo el informe del Dr. Thther. Ver lo relativo a SOH a su página 21.

LCDA. ALEIDA CENTENO RODRIGUEZ

karsicamontuna@yahoo.com

PD. Este año no se me permitió deponer ante el Comité Descolonización de la ONU y opino que la situación la genera mis estudios y denuncias sobre este tema. Es imperioso que propaguen el anejo porque DARPA reestructura sus informes y eliminan todo lo relativo a HAND. HAARP ya pasó como programa permanente del Air Force y la Marina en el 2006, por lo que sus presupuestos quedan ubicados dentro de lo que se denomina "seguridad nacional".

Fuente: Aporrea

 
tu dici. pensi. immagini. disegni con queste parole. la tua immagine. e nel riflesso di un istante io ti vedo. le tue labbra che disegnano ogni singola parola di una canzone che diventa momento. un attimo e è già passato... forse. spengi la mente.

Guarda le sfumature rosse nel cielo
Guarda la separazione al confine (non guardare qui dentro)
Ma non guardare a tutto quello che è qui dentro (qui dentro)
E non aver paura di dire quello che pensi

Ci è voluto un attimo prima che mi perdessi qui
Ci è voluto un attimo e non potevo essere trovata
Di nuovo e di nuovo e di nuovo e di nuovo
Vedo il tuo viso in ogni cosa
Ci è voluto un attimo, l’attimo non poté essere trovato

Cosa c’è nel fascino di Echelon?
Cosa c’è nelle domande costanti che hai stavolta?
Cosa c’è in questa conseguenza particolareggiata?
Trova qualcuno che ti sorvegli prima che questa notte si alzi di nuovo

E’ tutto quello che hai nella testa
Allora è meglio che ti alzi e te ne vai

Ci è voluto un attimo prima che mi perdessi qui
Ci è voluto un attimo e non potevo essere trovata
Di nuovo e di nuovo e di nuovo e di nuovo
Vedo il tuo viso in ogni cosa
Ci è voluto un attimo, l’attimo non poté essere trovato

Abbiamo bisogno di motivi per perderci qui
Così prediamo questo ponte con gli altri che fioriranno sullo spartiacque

Guarda le sfumature rosse nel cielo

Di nuovo e di nuovo e di nuovo e di nuovo
Vedo il tuo viso in ogni cosa
Di nuovo e di nuovo e di nuovo e di nuovo
Vedo il tuo viso in ogni cosa

Ci è voluto un attimo prima che mi perdessi qui
Ci è voluto un attimo e non potevo essere trovata
Di nuovo e di nuovo e di nuovo e di nuovo
Vedo il tuo viso in ogni cosa
Ci è voluto un attimo, l’attimo non poté essere trovato.

My advice to others who may attempt this tactic: make sure that your surge doesn't irritate the folks on your wheel and make sure you leave enough in the tank to get back on the last wheel. 

I must say, on other occasions, this tactic has worked quite well.  Try it out, see if it works; sometimes it works like a charm and can be especially useful when you're training with guys who like to ride Medium - you know, that annoying speed that isn't fast, but is hard. 

Try it.

*NOTE: THIS IS NOT CURRENT INFORMATION*

I put it up more in the spirit of supplying a counterpoint to what we know/where we are now. It is often difficult to remember what the future looked like from the past, if that makes any sense. So, what follows is a trip into the wayback machine, as it were....

Everybody has heard of the threat "hackers" and "crackers" pose to people using the Internet. Those who use the Internet to conduct business are aware their credit card numbers or personal e-mail may be intercepted by net-savvy crooks bent on disrupting trade or stealing from bank accounts. Security companies spend millions of dollars broadcasting this message and the media has been quick to pick up the hype. Other security concerns receive little attention, and no one is spending any money to make you aware of them. It's not just crooks, you see, who are interested in what happens online. Governments around the world understand the power of communication harnessed via the Internet, and want the opportunity to see that data.

Carnivore: Gnawing at civil liberties.
The FBI maintains a project originally dubbed "Carnivore" because of its ability to get the "meat" of interesting or suspicious communications. As of August 2000 Carnivore had 20 black boxes (independent computers) that could be hooked up to networks and copy all data of interest. The boxes are portable and can be quickly transferred from place to place. The FBI insists the system only targets individuals it has a court order to watch, and "its bark is worse than its bite." However, nothing technical stands in the way of the FBI monitoring data from any Internet Service Provider--especially after the FBI successfully lobbied the US Congress in 1994 to require telephone companies to make their digital networks readily snoopable. The Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act requires telecommunications carriers to modify their existing networks and to deploy new generations of equipment. This makes it easier to "hear" what a target is doing, according to the American Civil Liberties Union. If you've ever interacted on the Internet with someone using an American ISP (virtually everyone who uses the Internet has), your communications during this interaction could have been monitored and stored.

In 2000 the ACLU and the Electronic Privacy Information Center requested documents under the U.S. Freedom of Information Act regarding Carnivore. According to the ACLU, the documents clearly indicate that "Carnivore can intercept virtually every type of Internet transmission. This ranges from Internet telephone conversations to e-mail to Web activity... The report confirms this capability. Carnivore is in fact capable of collecting all communication over the segment of network being surveilled."

The ACLU also denies that the legal obligation to get a court order is a suffient barrier. "Despite repeated assertions to the contrary from the FBI, the report concludes that Carnivore has no effective auditing function that would expose and prevent abuses." The FBI maintains it needs a system like this to stop terrorism and domestic lawbreakers. However, according to the Security Focus Web site (a security company with a Calgary branch), "The scary part is whoever is running the box can simply punch in another name and start grabbing someone else's e-mail. Due process is effectively gone." Carnivore has been upgraded since then, and now goes under the less threatening DSC1000, which the FBI admits stands for nothing.

The National Security Agency and project Echelon:
The American government, according to the ACLU and several other liberty watch organizations, conducts extensive eavesdropping overseas under the banner of project Echelon. This happens outside of the normal confines of the American Constitution, as Constitutional protections are not granted to non-Americans. It is part of a global surveillence system run by the NSA and Britain's Government Communications Headquarters, and is now over 50 years old, according to ZDNet news service. The system includes stations run in the U.S., Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. As communications moved onto the Internet, capturing technology also neccessarily migrated.

Echelon Watch, a group run by the ACLU and Free Congress Foundation, says "Echelon attempts to capture staggering volumes of satellite, microwave, cellular and fibre-optic traffic, including communications to and from North America. This vast quantity of voice and data communications are then processed through sophisticated filtering technologies." This includes Internet traffic.

Recently, French companies and nationals accused the NSA of using Echelon to unfairly win business deals for American corporations, essentially by spying on their telecommunications. In March 2000, former Central Intelligence Agency director James Woolsey admitted that America steals secrets. As far back as the 1960s, two NSA defectors claimed at a press conference: "We know from working at NSA [that] the United States reads the secret communications of more than 40 nations, including its own allies... Both enciphered and plain-text communications are monitored from almost every nation in the world, including the nations on whose soil the intercept bases are located."

U.S. Senator Frank Church and an NSA investigtion committee member in post-Watergate U.S. warned: "I know the capacity is there to make tyranny total... we must see to it that this agency... operate[s] within the law and under proper supervision, so that we never cross over that abyss." If the U.S. is willing to risk the wrath of its allies by stealing secrets for its own companies, how far will they go to ferret out "potentially subversive" activities of private citizens?

U.S. Encryption Policy
The U.S. Government officially considers encryption (scrambling electronic records and messages so thoroughly that even spy agencies cannot crack them) to be a form of munitions. Some useful encryption methods cannot be legally exported out of North America. Various groups, including the FBI, have long lobbied for special keys giving them access to certain kinds of encrypted data. This makes protected e-mail as easy to read as a postcard in the mail. Projects such as Carnivore and Echelon show that complex relationships exist between U.S. Government departments and U.S. telecommunications companies. A good deal of well-founded paranoia exists regarding how law enforcement agencies monitor computer-based activities.

*ONCE AGAIN, THIS BLOG POST WAS WRITTEN IN MARCH 2001. I PRESENT IT AS A VIEW OF THE PAST AND HOW THEN WE VIEWED THE FUTURE*

• Does this make the game fun?
• Is it effective at fullfilling its purpose?
• Can it be improved?
• Should it be removed?

To answer these questions I first reflect upon my personal experiences as both a player and a dungeon master. Did I recall the element adding depth, creativity, or flavor?  Was it fun to use the element, or was it more of an obstacle? What was its purpose, and did it do a good job at what it was intended to do?  For instance, if it was an obstacle, was it necessary to include because it introduced balance?  Even if it was fun and successfully fulfilling its purpose, can it be made better?  Should it be removed entirely?

I then catalog those answers and ask the same questions to my gaming group, keeping mind each person's propensity to resist change. I then hit the web, looking for other people's opinions, observations, and solutions.

If you have read my article on Design, then this ENTIRE process actually resides in the first step of STAIR: State the problem.  I research the problem so I can fully understand it.  How can you state the problem unless you know what exactly it is?

It was during this phase of design that I came across John Kirk's RPG Design Patterns PDF at the site for his game, Legendary Quest.  It is a 260+ page document that examines design patterns common to some of the most successful role playing games out there.  After I finish digesting the book, I think I will use it to help define Echelon.

I also found a nice little list of RPG Design blogs, forums, and books at PPD RPG Design.  Hopefully this will help other aspiring game designers find the information they need to tackle the rough art of game design.

LAS VEGAS ECHELON: THEORY

The construction of the nearly $5 billion Echelon project in Las Vegas (where the Stardust casino once stood) has been halted. Citing a poor economy and trouble in "capital markets," Boyd Gaming announced the decision this week.

Construction on the project won't continue for "three or four quarters." Up to 800 construction jobs may be lost with the suspension of Echelon.

LAS VEGAS ECHELON: REALITY

1) Echelon was more than 2 years out, anyways.

It wasn't going to make a big difference in the local economy for a long time to come.

2) Some of the reason for the suspension is Boyd's dependence on partners. An important paragraph  that's not getting much attention:

From the beginning, we strategically designed Echelon to be developed in a single phase, and this schedule adjustment allows us to preserve the holistic integrity of the project. By delaying, we will be able to better manage the timing of the construction of the wholly-owned aspects of Echelon and ensure that they do not outpace the construction of the joint venture components.

That suggests that the real heart of the problem are Boyd's partners, the Morgans Group and the Shangri-La. Both of these operators plan non-casino hotels on the Echelon site, and neither has gaming revenue to support their financing.

3) $500m of improvements have been sunk into that piece of land. Whether or not Boyd develops it further, they've added a lot of value to the parcel by clearing off the Stardust, laying in major new utilities and building tons of underground parking.

RACES

Race and Languages

All characters know how to speak Common. An aasimar, dragonborn, dwarf, eladrin, elf, gnome, half-elf, half-orc, halfling, or tiefling also speaks a racial language, as appropriate. A character who has an Intelligence bonus at 1st level speaks other languages as well, one extra language per point of Intelligence bonus as a starting character. Power related languages: characters that purchase ranks in certain Powers can choose a few languages as bonus languages even if they’re not on the lists found in the race descriptions. These power related languages are as follows:

Divine: Abyssal, Celestial, and Infernal.

Sorcery: The language related to chosen bloodline.

Wizarding: Draconic.

Wyld: Sylvan.

Favored Powers

Races gravitate towards Powers that come naturally to them. Dwarves are excellent smiths and crafters, so naturally they have an affinity for Artifice. Halflings have developed the knack to blend in with their surroundings for protection, so they have an inclination for the Covert arts. A race can purchase favored Powers at a reduced cost. A new rank for a favored Power costs its rank less in Experience Points.

Small Characters

A Small character gets a +1 size bonus to Armor Class, a +1 size bonus on attack rolls, and a +4 size bonus on Hide checks. A Small character’s carrying capacity is three-quarters of that of a Medium character. A Small character generally moves about two-thirds as fast as a Medium character. A Small character must use smaller weapons than a Medium character.

Dwarves

• S - State the problem
• T - Tools
• A - Algorithm
• I - Implement
• R - Refine

State the Problem

The problem is that I needed rules that gave players the ability to define any character they could dream up. Players should be able to tweak their characters between every session.  Most importantly, and the hardest concept to define, the rules needed to feel like old school D&D.

Tools

The number one most used tools would of course be pencil and paper. I always put graphite to pulp to brainstorm and organize my ideas. Microsoft Word would then be the repository where the organized ideas would be stored and further manipulated. But to help me formulate the initial ideas, I would need reference material.

I began my research, looking for the best replaying rules. I came up with a decent list of works.  The top publications on my list were Green Ronin's Mutants & Masterminds, White Wolf's Storyteller Systems, Steve Jackson Games' GURPS, Paizo's Pathfinder RPG (D&D 3.75), and even Wizards of Coast's 4th Edition D&D.

They all had elements that I admired; M&M, Storyteller System, and GURPS all have a point buy system which allows players to completely customize their characters while Pathfinder and D&D has some nice refinements to my favorite rules framework, D&D.

Algorithm

My algorithm, or plan to solve my problem, included stripping the new 4e D&D rules down to a bare framework that I can use to begin adding modules into. The stripped framework would include the following:

• Abilities
• Races
• Skills
• Feats
• Equipment
• Combat

The primary elements that were removed involved the current experience and level system and the entire class system. Skills and Feats would remain almost unchanged.  Abilities would remain in purpose and name, but not in execution. They would now be defined through ranks, much like Skills. Races were in, but their impact was going to expand in scope. The following elements were to be added:

• Experience Rank
• Spendable Experience Points
• Archetypes
• Powers
• Cost Structure

The new rules would grant players Experience Points every game, which could be spent at will to advance the player's character.  Experience Rank is based upon the total amount of Experience Points earned and equates to something similar to old levels. Experience Rank (XPR) would help determine hitpoints, base attack bonus, and base saves. Archetypes are similar to classes, but reflect core character concepts; they would determine hit die, attack and save bonuses. Powers were former class features and abilities now arranged into trees.  Cost structure was how much each element would cost in Experience Points.

I will leave this article for now, and discuss the implementation and refinement when I finish those stages.

Ability Ranks

The Echelon Gaming System inherits the six prime abilities from the 3.5 d20 SRD. These abilities are Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma. Expansions to EGS may bring additional abilities to the game, but for now we stick the basics.

Each Ability, after changes made because of race, has a rank ranging from –5 to +∞ (infinity). Table: Ability Ranks shows the modifier for each score. Each Ability partially describes your character and affects some of his or her Actions.

The rank is the number you apply to the die roll when your character tries to do something related to that Ability. You also use the rank with some numbers that aren’t die rolls. A positive rank is called a bonus, and a negative rank is called a penalty.

Abilities and Powers

The ability that governs Powers depends on the individual entry: Intelligence can be used for specific styles of Wizarding; Wisdom for divine inspired gifts; or Charisma for certain sorceries. A high rank in an Ability is the prerequisite of the most impressive Powers.

Strength (STR)

Strength measures your character’s muscle and physical power. This ability is especially important for Close Combat and Might Powers because it helps characters utilizing those powers reach their fullest potential. Strength also limits the amount of equipment your character can carry.

You apply your character’s Strength rank to:

• Melee attack rolls.
• Damage rolls when using a melee weapon or a thrown weapon (including a sling). (Exceptions: Off-hand attacks receive only one-half the character’s Strength rank, while two-handed attacks receive one and a half times the Strength rank. A Strength penalty, but not a bonus, applies to attacks made with a bow that is not a composite bow.)
• Athletics and Intimidate checks. These are the Skills that have Strength as their key Ability.
• Strength checks (for breaking down doors and the like).
• Fortitude Saving Throws. The higher of your Strength or Constitution ranks are applied to resisting poison and similar threats.

I had been at the big 4dventure announcement party at GenCon '07 when they revealed their plans to bring out a new edition. I had listened to the designers speak about how they were going to improve things: streamline combat, make races meaningful, balance classes, etc.

Honestly, I had mixed feelings. I wanted my beloved game to improve, but I had just sunk five hundred dollars in 3rd edition books, and they were talking that because of radical design changes, most of the old stuff would not be compatible. This left a knot in my stomach.

So I had to psyche myself up for the release, promising myself that the new stuff will be so good I'd give away all my 3rd edition books. Then they were released and I was pissed. Wizards had improved much of the game. I loved the consolidated skills, the tiers, and combat did seem faster paced. But they had clearly missed the mark on classes and only half delivered on their promises for meaningful races. The classes were... I don't know how to say it, too balanced. None of them seemed to excel beyond the others in their niche. I felt like no matter my choice, I would have about the same options.

That disappointment inspired me to begin creating my own version of d20. It had begun as a fusion of what was good about 3rd and 4th edition D&D, but now I believe it has become something different, perhaps even better. Echelon does not have your typical classes, or typical levels. Players are awarded Experience each session, and can spend that experience to purchase ranks in Powers, in much the same way as White Wolf's Storytelling dot system. There are vestiges of levels which are calculated by the total experience that has been awarded, but levels don't drive the character. I have boiled away classes, leaving Powers (vestiges of class abilities and spells) and something called Archetypes. Races actually scale with the power of the characters, so which race you choose matters beyond character creation.

I have ranted and raved more than enough for one post, but you can look forward to sneak peaks at Echelon game mechanics and a setting I have planned for it in the future.

Roma - Il monitoraggio passa dai salotti, lo spionaggio si perpetra fra le mura di casa: voci dicono che Comcast si starebbe preparando a munire i dispositivi per la ricezione della tv via cavo di telecamere in grado di monitorare ciò che avviene sul divano, di ispezionare il rassicurante ambiente domestico, di individuare, tracciare e blandire l'audience familiare con programmi e comunicati pubblicitari personalizzati.

A svelare qualche succosa anticipazione riguardo al dispositivo ancora in fase di sperimentazione è il dirigente Comcast Gerard Kunkel. Sarà una cam che guarda il pubblico mentre guarda la tv, sarà un sistema per ritagliare la tv su misura degli spettatori.

La telecamera, integrata nei dispositivi per ricevere la tv via cavo, si integrerà a pieno titolo con il nucleo familiare: dall'ara domestica dedicata al televisore controllerà tutto ciò che avviene nel campo visivo che le compete. Imparerà a riconoscere i membri della famiglia, ne studierà le abitudini di fruizione, immagazzinerà dati riguardo alle preferenze e alle reazioni di ciascuno a ciò che scorre sullo schermo.

Kunkel smorza i timori: il sistema non è basato su tecnologie di riconoscimento facciale, non registrerà immagini del volto e dati personali relativi al pubblico. Per individuare lo spettatore che gli si para davanti, sfrutterà degli algoritmi per l'identificazione della forma del corpo. Imparerà a conoscere le silhouette di tutti i membri della famiglia e le abbinerà alle abitudini di ciascuno: la chioma fluente del nonno si presenterà di fronte allo schermo quando la programmazione è dedicata a film d'annata, la sagoma tondeggiante della piccola di casa significherà cartoni animati a profusione.

Conoscendo e riconoscendo l'audience, il sistema Comcast sarà in grado di ritagliare su misura la programmazione, di innescare filtri ad hoc per proteggere i più piccoli dai contenuti inadatti. Ma il sistema non permetterà semplicemente di mandare in onda palinsesti personalizzati, di prevedere quali show il pubblico potrà gradire: Comcast, al pari di quanto aveva intuito Microsoft depositando un brevetto nel 2006, intravede nel sistema uno strumento efficiente per colpire i target pubblicitari, per instillare nella mente dello spettatore comunicati rivolti direttamente a lui, analogamente a quanto si propone di fare Google.

Sarà uno strumento fondamentale per migliorare la user experience del telespettatore, ha spiegato il dirigente Comcast. Lecito dubitare che il pubblico gradirà.

fonte: http://punto-informatico.it

Gaia Bottà

Since it's July and all, and poison poon Clinton is out, and by demand, I decided to update this some. The other version with the info with Hillary Clinton in it is here. So let's start out with Barack Obama. In his Blueprint for Change thing, he even has the same navy blue and white color combo and font that a certain upscale clothes store uses on its bags and ads. So I'll call him Brooks Brother. It's pretty appropriate, don't you think?

Barack Obama

There’s not that much difference between my position and George Bush’s position at this stage. The difference, in my mind, is who’s in a position to execute.” – As quoted in the July 27, 2004 Chicago Tribune on the Iraqi invasion

Well, let’s see how he holds up against the Bush litmus test.

Bush says: We must take the fight to the terrorists so that we can be safe at home.

No difference here, as this Washington Post article shows:

Romney says that “the jihadist threat is the defining challenge of our generation,” as real as the threat that was posed by Nazi Germany and Stalin’s Soviet Union, and he promises an appropriately sized response. Obama, albeit using slightly different terms, agrees: “To defeat al Qaeda, I will build a twenty-first-century military and twenty-first-century partnerships as strong as the anticommunist alliance that won the Cold War to stay on the offense everywhere from Djibouti to Kandahar.

Stay on the offensive? With what money? People seem to have this idea that we have this unlimited cache of money, and we can wage as many wars against as many countries as we want, without care of the consequences to our economy or for the regard of the innocent citizens of countries like Iraq, none of whom asked to be precision bombed to pieces by the coalition forces. The more money the government prints out to fund wars, the less it is worth. People are screaming with joy with the fact that the price of gold is soaring through the roof. It is doing so because it takes more dollars to buy the same amount.

Obama has also declared that he would not hesitate to send US troops into Pakistan, to root out Al-Qaeda.

At a debate in front of thousands of labor union activists Tuesday, Sen. Barack Obama’s Democratic presidential rivals blasted him for his remarks about Pakistan. Last Wednesday, the Illinois senator said that if it were necessary to root out terrorists, he would send U.S. forces into Pakistan without the country’s approval.

And that’s on top of being for going into Iran. He also stated that “if we have actionable intelligence” on bin Laden and Al-Qaeda, and President Musharraf would not act, then we should.” You mean the same Al-Qaeda and Taliban that the US airlifted out of Afghanistan as the fighting broke out, as revealed by Seymour Hersh on PBS NOW?

The Greek philosopher Plato said something 2,000 years ago that rings as true then as it does now. “This and no other is the root from which a tyrant springs; when he first appears he is a protector.” In a CFR essay, Renewing American Leadership, Obama says that he would start “investing more resources to defend mass transit, closing the gaps in our aviation security by screening all cargo on passenger airliners and checking all passengers against a comprehensive watch list.” The Bush no-fly list, no doubt.

Bush says: Illegal immigration is still illegal, but I won’t enforce it. I do ask, however, that you consent to being treated like a common criminal. Do it for the homeland.

In a Senate floor statement, Obama says that yes, the illegal immigrants are disrespecting our laws, but it is totally unreasonable to kick them out. I don’t think so. We are always sold this line of BS! There is always enough money to kill people, but not to feed the starving. There is always more than enough funding and equipment to terrorize the citizens, but never enough to solve real problems. There weren’t any problems during the ’04 Republican National Convention in New York getting a Fuji blimp to glide around the city surveilling everything. There was no problem getting the $35,000 soundwave weapons in, or for the sweeping up of people indiscriminately off the city streets and putting them in a makeshift concentration camp. Now I don’t hate immigrants. I love cultural diversity, but there are tens of millions of people living in abject poverty and too many of them want in here right now. There has to be reasonable regulation of this and we all know it. Obama also goes to bat in the floor statement for the cause of background checks for all Americans. Here are all the loopholes in the immigration bill that got passed. Are you a gang member? You’re in! All you have to do is to “renounce” your membership. Need to get in quick? Just find a non-relative American resident and get them to say you’ve been here for 5 years or more, and you are an instant American.

Bush says: Your car got repo’d and your house is going to be taken away any minute, but an itty bitty $600 check from me will solve all.

From Obama's campaign website:

"Obama will restore fairness to the tax code and provide 150 million workers the tax relief they need. Obama will create a new “Making Work Pay” tax credit of up to $500 per person, or $1,000 per working family. The “Making Work Pay” tax credit will completely eliminate income taxes for 10 million Americans."

Oh yes, very gracious. Just how is paying $1,000 less going to do anything, and how will it eliminate income taxes for all those people?

Obama also pushes for a carbon tax which many researchers for years now have been saying would happen based on the Illuminati’s own stated plans. He has sponsored a bill in the Senate called the Global Poverty Act, which commits itself to UN guidelines, specifically those of the UN Millenium Summit which, in the words of Jeffrey Sachs, the head of the UN Millenium project:

We will need, in the end, to put real resources in support of our hopes. A global tax on carbon-emitting fossil fuels might be the way to begin. Even a very small tax, less than that which is needed to correct humanity’s climate-deforming overuse of fossil fuels, would finance a greatly enhanced supply of global public goods.

Just to remove all doubt that he does support a carbon tax, Obama clarifies for us in his “Blueprint for Change”

Obama supports implementation of a market-based cap-and-trade system to reduce carbon emissions by the amount scientists say is necessary: 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050. Obama ’s cap-and-trade system will require all pollution credits to be auctioned. A 100 percent auction ensures that all polluters pay for every ton of emissions they release, rather than giving these emission rights away to coal and oil companies.

Bold lying is so easy to get away with these people. He knows most Americans don’t read the papers, don’t look up voting records to see if their deeds match their words, and knows that so many are willing to give their power away for an hour of emotional feelgood. He goes on and on about the partisan politics, the bickering, oh it’s so divisive. Just look at the last three debates between him and Hillary Clinton. It is like some three year olds arguing over who has the best action figure. He nags us with the “You have to remember, I was one of the lone voices in the Senate who was against the Iraq war authorization” or some variant of that. Like we are supposed to worship him for doing his job. And he’s even lying about that. He has voted for over $300 billion of war appropriations bills and against removing most combat troops from Iraq by July ’07. He also voted to confirm Condoleeza Rice as Secretary of State, voted to reauthorize the Patriot Act, and joined Republicans in passing the Class Action Fairness Act which as The Nation writer Dan Zegart reveals, closed off many class action lawsuits from being heard in state courts. This forced these cases to the unfriendly and overloaded federal courts, staffed with 678 federal judges as compared to the 9,200 state judges. This had nothing to do with shielding insurance companies from frivolous lawsuits and everything to do with protecting criminal corporations like Wal-Mart, which forced employees to work off the clock for no pay and allowed them no lunch breaks. Recently he also joined 68 other senators in voting for a bill that gives immunity to telecom companies involved in Bush's warrantless wiretap program, a move which was very disturbing even to his drones. He did that because he was following the orders of the same crew that owns McCain, Bush, and the Clintons.

Echelon, which started decades ago, is a sort of intelligence agency treaty tying together the combined capabilities of the US, Australia, Britain, and other European countries. Every single email, fax, phone call, or other electronic communication is scanned by AI programs for key words or phrases for whatever info they are interested in. As British and US reporters found out, the NSA taps in regularly and steals companies' inventions and secrets and passes it on to their own people so they can benefit from it. No point in being scared of them, all. So if they have this already then why go forward with a warrantless wiretap program, much less let it be publicized? It's called intimidation. They don't have the manpower to go after us all. Serious digression here, but this needed to be said.

Unbelievable as it seems, Obama was the number one campaigner for Robert C. Byrd in one of his election bids, a handler/abuser of mind controlled women and a proud former member of the Ku Klux Klan, who fought in his early days in the Senate to block the Civil Rights Act of 1964. When is it going to get in the minds of black voters that Obama doesn’t care at all about them? Does he say anything about the real issues that actually affect black Americans? Like the New York City social services taking black kids and handing them over to the drug companies to run drug tests on them? Does he have a plan to help out the struggling black communities and clean out the crime there? He has made it quite clear on several occasions that he is not running as a pro-black candidate, yet the general public somehow has this idea that he is. He would never have gotten elected to the Illinois State Senate if he didn’t do that work in Chicago. He only joined that church of his after being asked repeatedly what church he did go to.

Looking at Obama’s key advisors, we see not change but business as usual.

Austan Goolsbee/Economic advisor – Skull & Bones ’91. Canadian television reported that a discussion took place between Goolsbee and the Canadian ambassador to the US about Obama’s anti-NAFTA stance. In this, alledgedly, Goolsbee told the ambassador that Obama’s stance on this was just campaign rhetoric and nothing to worry about. Since he will not confirm or deny the conversation took place, saying merely that, “They contacted me at one point to say ‘hello’ because their office is around the corner but it is not correct that I contacted them at all,” If that is so, then why not just deny the conversation took place altogether? They were around the corner? Terrible cover story, Austan Goolsbee.

Zbigniew Brzezinski/Foreign policy advisor – Former National Security Advisor, Carter. Founded Trilateral Commission with David Rockefeller. In a 1998 interview with the French paper Le Nouvel Observateur he bragged about how the US goaded the Soviets into invading Afghanistan by funding the mujahideen. When asked about having any regrets about the results of this, he said, “Regret what? That secret operation was an excellent idea. It had the effect of drawing the Russians into the Afghan trap and you want me to regret it?”
Well the Afghan people certainly do. The Soviet occupation of 1979-89 left more than a million dead, hundreds of thousands crippled, millions of land mines littering the country which kill dozens a month, and leaving the population with an average life expectancy of just 43 years. And then there was the Taliban. To call this guy psychopathic would be too kind.

Dennis Ross/Foreign policy advisor – Bill Clinton’s Middle East negotiator, oversaw US policy towards Israel & Palestine, pressed the idea that the human rights of the Palestinian people must be subordinate to the will of the Israeli government. If they want to expand their territory unchecked, steal houses, shoot children’s legs off for sport, traumatize the people by deliberately sonic booming their houses, or even cooking up ethnic specific weapons, then that’s A-OK!

Sarah Sewall/National security advisor – Clinton’s Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for peacekeeping and humanitarian assistance. Wrote the introduction to Petraeus’s counterinsurgency handbook used in killing operations worldwide.

W. Anthony Lake/Foreign policy advisor – Bill Clinton’s National Security advisor, driving force behind US invasion of Haiti, supported World Bank & IMF ‘overhaul’ of the Haitian economy which wrecked the agricultural system, the economic walking stick of the country by flooding it with US rice, corn, and sugar surpluses. At present, most Haitians are living on just $2 a day. A 60-cent cup of rice is now to them what a fur coat is to us. Many have even resorted to eating dirt cookies just to survive.

In 1998 Obama joined a United Church of Christ congregation headed by a Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr. Obama says this shaped his identity as an African-American. BS!
It shaped his strategy of church style mind control over people, more like. This is totally obvious when you see the way he poses and phrases his words and speeches. A lot of pictures and magazine covers with Obama in them have a weird white glow to them, as if to emphasize the “holiness” of Obama. Just look at his campaign website. It's right there in front of you. These are way too many to be a coincidence. This shows deliberate hypnotism being used on the public. Hitler and the way he acted was described to be very similar to what is seen at an Obama rally. German-Jews who are still alive today from the Nazi days remember him having an eerie charisma, just being swept up by him…”you had to be there to understand it.”

Richard Thaler, a professor of economics and behavioral science at the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business, talks some great talk about the state of the human mind:

What is the big idea of Richard Thaler, the economist quoted by David Cameron and Barack Obama? It comes down to this: you're not as smart as you think. Humans, he believes, are less rational and more influenced by peer pressure and suggestion than governments and economists reckon.

"Economists assume people have brains like supercomputers that can solve anything," says Thaler. "But human minds are more like really old Apple Macs with slow processing speeds and prone to frequent crashes."

According to this view, voters are less Mr Spock than Homer Simpson and they could do with a bit of help - what Thaler terms a "nudge" - to save more, eat more healthily and do all the other things that they know they should.

And serve their masters. Yes. We know we should, don't we?

He and another academic, Cass Sustein, co-authored a book called Nudge elaborating on this methodology. This guy is seen as so good in his field that when he stopped by London to do some teaching, five Conservative Party members met with him to pick his brain and see how they could work together. Plans were made too for a future meeting to integrate his nudgings into public policy. But they're not alone. The Obama campaign made sure that they got on the nudge gravy train.

Sunstein has been friends with Obama since the 1990s, when both were law professors at the University of Chicago, while Thaler met the presidential hopeful when he was in the Illinois race for the senate in 2004. "Back then, Obama was, as he said, 'the skinny guy with the funny name' and nobody - including me - had heard of him. But I was just blown away and for the first time in my life wrote a cheque to a politician," says Thaler.

He "talks a lot" to Obama's camp, especially the chief economics adviser, Austan Goolsbee. "We gave Goolsbee the book when it was still in proof. He read the whole thing and just lifted some parts."

Like I said in April in the original version of this article, the Illuminati have switched horses mid-race. Obama, with his holy rockstar style, his skin color to provide him with the body armor of political correctness, and the fact that he has varied and singularly unique (Larry Sinclair and communist leanings) skeletons in his closet, makes him the perfect puppet for the agenda of global takeover. And that's why he'll get the presidency. McCain has too much dirt in his closet, and is far too robotic and stiff to ever be seen as the strong god-king leader type most people so love to tell them what to do. Bob Barr and Nader are just there to grab votes away from McCain. There'll be some table scrap whitey type scandals thrown to the people, and there may be a cliffhanger or two, but, unless there's some miracle and the American people start thinking for themselves and doing research to see what Obama has actually done while in the Senate, he's pretty much got this in the bag.

John McCain

“At the smallest provocation I would go off into a mad frenzy, and then suddenly crash to the floor unconscious. When I got angry I held my breath until I blacked out.” – McCain on his early youth as quoted by his biographer Robert Timberg

Crazy, huh? This is the image of himself that he’d like you to hold in your mind: War hero, champion of veterans rights, moral crusader, environmentalist, and conscientious objector to business as usual in Washington. Let’s see the image he wouldn’t.

Considering that he is supposed to be this big war hero who endured five agonizing years of torture, it is impossible to reconcile this with the fact that he has consistently and viciously blocked every attempt by families of Vietnam POWs to get them back to the US. He has pushed through and amended legislation in order to block not only the release of information about POWs and MIAs that were still in Vietnam after the war, despite massive evidence of them being alive, but also the release of his own military records.

He comes across as being sympathetic to veterans who are being denied healthcare, who have to pay for their own meals at military hospitals while they recover from getting their arms and legs blown off, and how they have to wait for eons to get their benefits.. But is McCain really speaking from his heart or a script? He has made it perfectly clear he isn’t against torture, when he voted against a bill to ban it, as reported by the NY Times: “The leading Republican presidential candidate, Senator John McCain of Arizona, a former prisoner of war who steadfastly opposes the use of torture, voted against the bill. Mr. McCain said the ban would limit the C.I.A.’s ability to gather intelligence. “We always supported allowing the C.I.A. to use extra measures,” he said.” Sprinkling in some doublespeak, he says that he believes torture is illegal and should be banned. Voted for the Military Commissions Act, which we are told applies only to enemy combatants. It permits trials without the accused present, gives the Secretary of Defense the power to appoint judges, allows evidence gotten without warrants, and makes it so lawyers cannot see their clients without government monitoring. Former Attorney General Gonzales has said that the president can strip Americans of their citizenship, turning them into enemy combatants, which makes it applicable to American citizens. Voted no to establishing mandatory rest periods for the troops between deployments, which would be a great help in reducing post traumatic stress disorder. Speaking of PTSD, McCain voted against a bill that would have provided $500 million for veterans mental health services like rehab and counseling. These are the actions of someone who hates veterans, not one who sympathizes with them.

McCain’s insane rages are well documented, including his horrible treatment of POW & MIA family members who only wish to have their families whole again. No one is immune apparently, not even his own colleagues on the Senate floor, as this UK Guardian article exposes: “McCain’s political colleagues, however, know another side of the action hero - a volatile man with a hair-trigger temper, who shouted at Senator Ted Kennedy on the Senate floor to “shut up”, and called fellow Republican senators “shithead … fucking jerk … asshole”. A few months ago, McCain suddenly rushed up to a friend of mine, a prominent Washington lawyer, at a social event, and threatened to beat him up because he represented a client McCain happened to dislike. Then, just as suddenly, profusely and tearfully, he apologised.”

He claims to care about the environment, riding the global warming bandwagon, which is a fiction. Record snowfalls this winter in the US and snow in places where historically there has been little or none such as Iraq, tear this apart. Anyway…back in the 80s, the University of Arizona tried to get seven deep space telescopes on forest lands which were home to several endangered plant and animal species, and a sacred mountain to the San Carlos Apache, Mt. Graham. McCain introduced a bill to exempt the project from the Endangered Species Act and the Native American Religious Freedom Act. When the forest supervisor halted construction on the lands, McCain threatened him, saying that he’d be “the shortest tenured forest supervisor in the history of the Forest Service.” When two concerned citizens went to his office to discuss Mt. Graham, McCain let loose on them: “The doctors say that at the mention of the words Mount Graham McCain erupted into a violent fit. “He slammed his fists on his desk, scattering papers across the room”, Silver tells us. “He jumped up and down, screaming obscenities at us for at least 10 minutes. He shook his fists as if he was going to slug us. It was as violent as almost any domestic abuse altercation.”

Another example of McCain’s regard for his fellow man is his helping the Peabody Coal Company, the biggest coal company in the US, to steal coal-rich land from the Arizona Dineh Navajo Indians, which they have occupied for hundreds of years. Spearheading legislation which, in a modern day Trail of Tears scenario, thousands were thrown out their homelands and into a nuclear waste dump site, resulting in the birth defects that inevitably come. McCain’s price? His wife’s beer distribution company getting beer contracts from the Vegas casinos who get low-cost power as a result. A UN report on the environmental impact reads: “The Black Mesa region in Arizona, USA is home to the indigenous communities of the Dineh (Navajo) and Hopi peoples. This region also contains major deposits of coal which are being extracted by North America’s largest strip mining operation. The coal mines have had a major impact on families in the region. Local water sources have been poisoned, resulting in the death of livestock. Homes near the mines suffer from blasting damage. The coal dust is pervasive, as well as smoke from frequent fires in the stockpiles. Not coincidentally, the people in the area have an unusually high incidence of kidney and respiratory disease. “

McCain also was one of the Keating 5, five senators who took more than $300,000 from Charles Keating Jr, who owned Lincoln Savings & Loan, a subsidiary of his American Continental Corp. It was facing bankruptcy and government seizure because of his stealing depositors’ money. He turned to McCain and four other senators, who got federal regulators to back off the case. In the end, the government paid for the bailout, all $2 billion of it. McCain treated reporters pressing him about his wife’s business relationship with Keating to his classic charm, saying, “That’s the spouse’s involvement, you idiot,” and, “It’s up to you to find that out, kids.” Right after that came the “we need to drive out the special interests” McCain. I guess the corporate donors didn’t get that memo. His top donors include employees of Merill Lynch, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, and Morgan Stanley.

Some of the creepy crawlies backing him up include:

Henry Kissinger/Informal advisor – National Security advisor and Secretary of State, Reagan. Also was Secretary of State under Ford. Notorious for his comment about military men, where he calls them “dumb stupid animals to be used as pawns in foreign policy” Assured Indonesian dictator Suharto that, should he invade and conquer East Timor, US-Indonesian relations would remain strong. An estimated 200,000 Timorese were massacred and starved to death as a result. Went the same road with Argentina, after the military overthrew the democratically elected president, assured them that the US was its ally and would not cause it unnecessary difficulties, and urged them to finish up before Congress reconvened. This amid mass executions and “disappearances” of 30,000 people. Also instrumental in ordering the coup in Chile and putting in Pinochet, who also instituted mass civil repressions, executions, and arrests.

Max Boot/Foreign policy advisor – CFR, neocon, advocated putting pressure on China and South Korea to cut off subsidies and fuel shipments to North Korea, an already poverty-stricken population where 2 million people have already starved to death while the hereditary dictator, Kim Jong-il, lives in luxury with a 2,000+ girl harem, private screenings of the latest Hollywood movies, and the finest gourmet food imported from around the world.

Alexander Haig – Knight of Malta, Reagan’s Secretary of State, former head of NATO in Europe. Helped oversee death squads in Central America who killed, tortured, and raped nuns and other religious workers. Famous for his unlawful declaration of “I’m in control here” when Reagan was incapacitated after an assassination attempt.

Brent Scowcroft – National Security advisor, Reagan & HW Bush. After the Tiananmen massacre, went and reassured the Chinese dictatorship that the American public opinion meant nothing and that relations would not suffer one bit.

Robert McFarlane/Energy & National security advisor – Another backer of the contras along with John Negroponte and Alexander Haig.

Robert Kagan/Informal foreign policy advisor – CFR member, neocon swampmonster, co-founder, Project for the New American Century.

Bill Kristol/Informal foreign policy advisor – Editor of the Weekly Standard, Bilderberg attendee, co-founder, PNAC. Stated in ’02 that a war in Iraq could have “terrifically good effects throughout the Middle East.”

About the only real difference between McCain and Bush is that one looks like Frankenstein and the other doesn’t. When asked about Iran he rolls out the same lines that Bush, Obama, Hillary and all the rest do. Here’s his wording of the script: “I intend to make it unmistakably clear to Iran that we will not permit a government that espouses the destruction of … Israel . . .and pledges undying enmity to the United States to possess weapons to advance their malevolent ambitions,” Suddeutschen Zeitung quoted the senator as saying.” He is for open borders, as shown by his support for the “immigration reform” bill, says we may have to stay in Iraq for 100 years, and has threatened North Korea with extinction. In too many ways, he is actually more aggressive than Bush, as the LA Times confirms:

More than three years before the Bush administration elucidated the radical doctrine of preemptive war, McCain unveiled a plan during his first run at the presidency called “rogue-state rollback,” in which “we politically and materially support indigenous forces within and outside of rogue states” — including Iraq, North Korea and Serbia — “to overthrow regimes that threaten our interests and values.” And if the “odious regimes” crack down on freedom fighters, the U.S. should respond with force. In that campaign, McCain was the neocons’ choice against the more internationally “humble” George Bush.

Since McCain was born in the Panama Canal Zone, he is not even eligible to be president! But as always, little things like laws will never be allowed to get in the way of the Illuminati agenda. Just ask the New Orleans gun owners. And the survivors of Waco.

Time and time again, we see that every presidential candidate is closely related to European royalty, or to one of the other ones. In 2004 Harold Brooks-Baker, publishing director of Burke’s Peerage, the encyclopedic bible of European aristocratic genealogy, said about the subject of US presidential candidates:

Brooks-Baker said there has always been a significant “royalty factor” in those who aspired to the White House, with Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore and Franklin Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan among others all with strong blue blood links.

The chance of winning certainly seems much higher with more royal connections and one could make a big case that royal genes or chromosomes will tell,” Brooks-Baker said.

A common way of pooh-poohing the bloodline connections between presidents is to say the usual, everyone's related if you go back far enough. Not this closely related! Obama, according to various media outlets is Dick Cheney’s 9th cousin, although Cheney’s wife says that they are actually 8th cousins. She would probably be in a better position to know, wouldn’t she? Hillary Clinton is also closely related to Barbara Bush and the queen demon herself, Elizabeth II of England, as we can see from these genealogical charts. According to New England Historical Society genealogist Christopher Child, Obama's a 10th cousin once removed of George W. Bush, and McCain is a 6th cousin of Laura Bush. Note that Brooks-Baker said there has always been a significant royalty factor. This means that no election has ever been of the people and by the people. I understand people coming across this information for the first time might rightly be shocked and a little skeptical, but why is it that the ratio of people in positions of power belonging to secret societies like the Freemasons, Skull & Bones, and Knights of Malta is so high compared to those who are not? The Freemasons admit proudly on their own websites that most of the American presidents, royalty, leading businessmen, and heads of state are Freemasons.

Do you want something better for America? Then why hold onto the attitude of, "they aren't popular, he doesn't have a chance, I won't vote for them". A single grain of rice won't feed anybody. But lots and lots of grains together can fill even the hungriest tummy. America is pretty hungry. Nourishing America, and the rest of the world, even, won't start with a new god or Ron Paul. If some hero comes riding over the hill and does all the work for us, we won't learn anything and just will manifest the same situation somewhere down the road again. No, it'll start with every individual and the choices each of us make every moment of our lives.

(Intressant 46 minuters dokumentär om Echelon finner man som bit-torrent här Vi får lära oss hur man söker på kodade meddelanden som "The refrigerator will arrive tomorrow" eller "Matchen börjar imorgon", fick ni med det nu FRA? Och hur man tom planerat att skaffa en U-båt som skulle kunna avlyssna fiberkablar på botten..)

Avtalet som Odenberg skrev på är en direkt kopia troligen, av det avtal som ingåtts med, Australien. (se dokumentegenskaper:Det står att titeln är “AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND THE GOVERNMENT OF AUSTRALIA ON COOPERATION IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY FOR HOMELAND/DOMESTIC SECURITY MATTERS” ) Ja, det låter märkligt men är bara ett tecken på hur NSA arbetar med standardiserade avtal varhelst det finns någon som går med på det hela. Man stävar efter total kontroll över hela världens internet-kommunikation och vi håller på att dras in i ett större sammanhang och det var inte meningen att medborgarna skulle veta om det.

Brevhemligheter och annat tjafs är bara in vägen för den effektiva terroristbekämpningen och MÅSTE kringås!

Det värsta är att våra folkvalda säkerligen inte insett betydelsen av ingångna avtal. Vilket visar vikten av att ALLA avtal som ingås med främmande makt måste vara öppna för insyn. Att på detta sätt skapa hemliga nätverk är inte imperialism som kommunister brukar skrika om, och inte STASI som högerfolk gärna refererar till, nej det är ngt mkt värre. Det saknar faktiskt motstycke i historien. Fascism är nog det närmaste man kommer, men detta är nu på en helt ny nivå. Tidigare har det alltid funnits kritiska stater, kritiska röster inom FN, eller EU, men hur är det nu?

Inga större protester att tala om har föregått de över världen nu ingångna avtalen med NSA.

Som jag skrivit tidigare är ju alltså USA:s egna lagstiftning om övervakning av de EGNA medborgarna betydligt mer reglerad då det krävs brottsmisstanke för att få avlyssna trafik som går till amerikanska medborgare inne i USA. Detta har de samarbetande staterna (kanske pga inkompetens men jag är inte så säker med tanke på att FRA-förslaget från början kommit från sossarna och utan större förändingar genomförts av deras största kontrahent i riksdagen) struntat i, och aningslöst glatt skrivit på de utskickade avtalen..

Nästa steg är tydligen kontroll av bloggarna som ju börjat leva sitt eget liv, på ett för yrkespolitiker mkt okontrollerbart sätt. Röstboskapen i EU kommer troligen att rösta för en större kontroll av vad som skrivs på bloggarna med stöd av "personangreppsargumentet" Man pratar om replikrätt för utpekade politker osv. Personligen skulle jag inte ha något emot just replikrätt, men det visar ju att gammelpolitkerna är mogna för pension sedan länge med tanke på den avgörande skillanden mellan tusentals realtidsuppdaterade bloggar och några, få köpta tidningar eller TV-kanaler.

Hoppas ingen har missat detta embryo till nya övergrepp:

Vägverket har startat ett projekt som syftar till att få svenska försäkringsbolag att övervaka sina kunder med elektronikens hjälp - i trafiksäkerhetens namn. Sekund för sekund ska en svart låda skicka iväg information om varje bils geografiska läge och hastighet.

Den tänkta svenska GPS-övervakningen är sprungen ur de övervakningsförsäkringar som sedan flera år finns på marknaden i bland annat Storbritannien, Irland och Italien. En "svart låda" med GPS-baserad satellitpositionering monteras in i bilen.

Man känner ju igen mönstret om man så säger.

Listan på de 103 övervakade svenskarna har läckt ut, med förståeliga reaktioner från flera av de drabbade. Som vanligt känns det nog bättre trots allt för alla inblandade att få veta om man var med på listan eller inte. Kul att tänka på hur upprörda sossarna blev när deras partistrategier läckte ut strax innan valet till en "konkurrent". Som man bäddar får man ligga.

Karl Sigfrid verkar glädjande nog ha hämtat sig och är tillbaka med nya klarsyntheter:

Så länge beslutsprocessen helt saknar inslag av direktdemokratiskt beslutsfattande – exempelvis möjligheten att framtvinga beslutande folkomröstningar – kommer medborgarnas inflytande att begränsas till att gälla det fåtal förändringar som de politiska partierna har valt att öppet söka ett mandat för. I praktiken handlar svenska riksdagsval om att vart fjärde år välja ett budgetalternativ – generösa ersättningssystem eller starkare drivkrafter för arbete. Mycket mer än så är det inte möjligt att kommunicera i en valrörelse. I övriga frågor anser sig partierna ha öppna mandat. Sverige medverkar dessutom till beslut i internationella organ utan att vare sig medborgare eller journalister vet vad som händer. Därför är medborgarnas egen institution - möjligheten att vart fjärde år rösta på ett parti - ett trubbigt verktyg som behöver kompletteras.

Den samlade effekten av det svenska systemets utformning är att vi får en auktoritetsdemokrati. Väljarna kan bara utöva inflytande i ett fåtal centrala stridsfrågor och i övrigt handlar valet om att överlåta makten till någon som inger förtroende. Detta kan ställas mot den sakfrågedemokrati som är betydligt starkare i exempelvis Schweiz och flera amerikanska delstater. Där kan väljarna inte bara ge politikerna ett förtroende att styra, utan även beskära de förtroendevaldas mandat genom att själva fatta vissa beslut i folkomröstningar. Folkomröstningarna utgör en säkerhetsventil när politikerna inte lyckas med uppgiften att representera medborgarna.

Inte minst institutionella beslut om den demokratiska processens utformning bör godkännas direkt av väljarna. Dels därför att beslutssystemet är grunden för alla andra beslut och dels därför att det finns en intressekonflikt mellan medborgare och politiker. Precis som andra yrkesgrupper har politikerna som skrå ett intresse av att stärka den egna maktpositionen medan medborgarna har ett intresse av att kontrollera sina representanter och ställa dem till svars. Att EU:s beslutsprocesser, som utformats långt ifrån medborgarna, är slutna och svåra för väljarna att följa är ingen slump.

Alltihop, precis alltihop, visar på en mkt långtgången handfallenhet hos de som är utvalda att bevaka demokratin och de mänskliga rättigheterna, i hela världen! Detta är verkligen illa och en bred gräsrotsrörelse måste nu spridas över hela världen. Det är fråga om en helt annan dignitet än en stor valfråga i Sverige 2010, detta måste bekämpas över statsgränserna innan det är försent. Det är inte frågan om att ställa högre krav på våra folkvalda, den strategin har med all önskvärd tydlighet visat sig otillräcklig. Det är det inbyggda hemlighetsmakeriet som nu tar sig helt groteska proportioner och som nu måste begränsas! Det är endast genom en övergång till öppenhet och insyn från medborgarna i alla frågor som vansinnet kan få ett slut. Och det enda sättet att säkerställa det är genom att ta ifrån gammelpolitikerna sina uppdrag till förmån för de som kan göra jobbet så mkt effektivare och bättre; dem det berör.

Är du redo?

Andra bloggar om övervakning just nu (från Knuff.se):

Kommunikation: Förvirrat (fp) ger regeringen initiativet!

the Campaign Dossier

"... Lunds Tekniska Högskola, påpekar att all trafik på internet idag är utsatt för övervakning av hackers, företag med vinstintressen, främmande makt, kriminella ligor och dataku..."

1 timme sedan - 18 juli 22:40 | 541 ord | Anmäl länken

"Det där är min mammas förra chef"

syrrans granne

"...drik Moberg chefredaktör FRA, FRA-lagen, politik, avlyssning, övervakning, storebrorsamhälle, Bodströmsamhället, mänskliga rättigheter, privatliv, privatlive..."

2 timmar sedan - 18 juli 22:17 | 118 ord | Anmäl länken

Går det att kombinera "endast vid brottsmisstanke" med massavlyssning?

JörgenL

"...s ska finnas en brottsmisstanke för att styra filtret? FRA, övervakning, kontrollsamhälle, samhälle, politik, folkpartiet, Agneta Berliner, Camilla Lindber..."

5 timmar sedan - 18 juli 19:28 | 198 ord | Anmäl länken

FRA — läge för reträtt

Eivor Karlsson

"...om något parti framhållit. Innebär det att FRA inte ska få tillgång till total övervakning av all trafik eller kommer kablar avsedda för massavlyssning ändå att dras? Men får..."

5 timmar sedan - 18 juli 19:14 | 419 ord | Anmäl länken

FRA och paranoida konspirationshysteriker.

Germunds Blog Enköping

"...nnedom kan snart vara över. Det finns flera teknologier för ständig, automatisk övervakning av samtliga bilars läge och fart, såsom GPS, kameror med automatisk nummerplåtsinlä..."

5 timmar sedan - 18 juli 19:08 | 299 ord | Anmäl länken

Listan över dom avlyssnade

Törnebohms Hotspot Katrineholm

"... namnen. Listan 43 Things Tags: Internet, Mobiltelefoner, Politik, Säkerhet och övervakning, FRA, Avlyssning, Integritet..."

6 timmar sedan - 18 juli 18:08 | 42 ord | Anmäl länken

Sex kvinnor kommer till undsättning

Mad World Örebro

"...ren. Läs även andra bloggares åsikter om FRA, politik, folkpartiet, FRA-lagen, övervakning, avlyssning, regeringen..."

7 timmar sedan - 18 juli 16:41 | 110 ord | Anmäl länken

FRA och "marschen in i övervakningssamhället"

MXp - Missional Experiences Jönköping

"... Lex Orwell, men minst lika viktigt är att stoppa den långsiktiga marschen in i övervakningssamhället. Ju tidigare vi tar striden i varje fråga, desto större är chansen att vi..."

8 timmar sedan - 18 juli 16:05 | 312 ord | Anmäl länken

Grön Ungdom och FRA

Tomas Melin

"...n själv tycker. Knappast imponerande. politik, samhälle, fra, övervakning, avslyssning, integritet, fra-lagen, lex orwell, miljöpartiet, massavlyssning, Grön..."

8 timmar sedan - 18 juli 15:56 | 430 ord | Anmäl länken

Backa bandet

frykmans liberala blog

"...Trade Center var att man förlitade sig för mycket på satelliter och elektronisk övervakning och för lite på gammalt hederligt spioneri. Behöver vi information om killar med gr..."

8 timmar sedan - 18 juli 15:46 | 520 ord | Anmäl länken

Om direktdemokrati:

S & mp

marcushaggstrom

"...ävan efter att utvidga demokratibegreppet i riktning mot ökad decentralisering, direktdemokrati och en tro på medborgarnas förmåga att ta egna beslut och ansvar kan bli en rik..."

2 dagar sedan - 16 juli 12:35 | 373 ord | Anmäl länken

Varför skulle personval vara bättre än partival?

Jan Thurins tankar

"... förankring i verkligheten. Studier har visat att länder med starkare inslag av direktdemokrati har lägre utgifter, mindre budgetunderskott och högre produktivitet." Sigfrid ..."

4 dagar sedan - 14 juli 16:10 | 502 ord | Anmäl länken

Fortsatt uppror mot FRA-lagen

projo's blog Västerås

"...n konstitutionsdomstol, vi borde dessutom se över möjligheterna till att stärka direktdemokratin. Få politiker kommer förstås applådera detta, då dom menar sig stå över folket..."

4 dagar sedan - 14 juli 13:54 | 372 ord | Anmäl länken

Karl Sigfrid om bloggregistrering på Aftonbladet

projo's blog Västerås

"...östs bättre med liberala metoder. Dvs mindre subventioner, färre tullar och mer direktdemokrati och mindre överstatlighet. De fåtalet bra saker som kommer från EU drunknar i a..."

5 dagar sedan - 13 juli 16:35 | 404 ord | Anmäl länken

Välkommen till Stasi och KGB land - 19!

UD/RK Samhälls Debatt

"...demokrati, ansätts nu från två håll. Horisontellt genom frågor om personval och direktdemokrati, vertikalt genom att politiker, tjänstemän och väljare utnyttjas som nyttiga id..."

7 dagar sedan - 11 juli 02:01 | 481 ord | Anmäl länken