I wish someone would make a film about Mohammad Mosaddeq so that crap like Argo is really seen for what it really is -
http://truth-out.org/buzzflash/commentary/item/17829-argo-what-the-cia-doesn-t-want-you-to-know
And you wonder why I can't stand most films coming from Hollywood.
2013-02-27
Reminder that we live in a police state.
http://www.zdnet.com/how-much-data-can-police-swipe-from-suspects-phones-without-a-warrant-hint-a-lot-7000011891/?s_cid=e539
"...Web history, data files, wireless networks and the user's custom dictionary are downloaded when advanced forensic tools are connected to a suspect's device.
Also collected were the device's geo-location points, including cell towers, allowing authorities to pinpoint roughly where the device—and therefore the suspect—may have been geographically.
And because many use their cell phones and smartphones to access email on the move, it could allow authorities access to a goldmine of data—whether it's used in the investigation or otherwise. This ultimately may allow authorities to bypass the need to submit subpoenas or search warrants -- under the Stored Communications Act -- to Apple, Google, Microsoft and others who provide email services, because the email data is already stored on the suspects' device."
"...Web history, data files, wireless networks and the user's custom dictionary are downloaded when advanced forensic tools are connected to a suspect's device.
Also collected were the device's geo-location points, including cell towers, allowing authorities to pinpoint roughly where the device—and therefore the suspect—may have been geographically.
And because many use their cell phones and smartphones to access email on the move, it could allow authorities access to a goldmine of data—whether it's used in the investigation or otherwise. This ultimately may allow authorities to bypass the need to submit subpoenas or search warrants -- under the Stored Communications Act -- to Apple, Google, Microsoft and others who provide email services, because the email data is already stored on the suspects' device."
2013-02-26
2013-02-24
I'm guessing these guys were not saying 'cheddar cheese' when posing for this picture.
Yeah it's not freedom of speech, it's a form of intimidation and the threat of violence. And I don't buy any excuse around it being just a prank, or something that was done on a lark of sorts (Kudos to the fella who got the picture up on Twitter - contrary to one of the commenters, I'd say the guy's question was pretty valid -
Exactly my question Shane. People who are uncomfortable with it and calling this guy Shane all sorts of foul names do so because they mask how embarrasing this kind of stupidity is to them, and because this guy chose to simply put it out there for everyone else to see.
2013-02-23
Oh yeah, remember this guy?
https://www.commondreams.org/view/2013/02/23-2
Over a 1000 days in prison.
Whistleblowing is not a crime, except apparently in America, when some attempts to lift the veil of secrecy, and people can really see what the Global Confederation is doing with our tax-funds.
Over a 1000 days in prison.
Whistleblowing is not a crime, except apparently in America, when some attempts to lift the veil of secrecy, and people can really see what the Global Confederation is doing with our tax-funds.
See? You can succeed without growing Frankenfood.
Or rather, you can succeed in spite of Frankenfood seeds existing -
And there's this -
Good to see some states finally coming around.
2013-02-22
108,000 km/h
That's how fast the Earth is moving, on average, all the time.
If one subscribes to the notion that motion is a form of change, then we live (literally) on and in a world that's constantly changing.
If one subscribes to the notion that motion is a form of change, then we live (literally) on and in a world that's constantly changing.
2013-02-21
Not CISPA again?
But there you have it.
http://act.freepress.net/sign/cispa_2/?akid=4086.9645701.dnWDBS&rd=1&t=2
If you live in the US and believe in the Internet being something useful in all our lives, please click the link and take positive action to save it.
http://act.freepress.net/sign/cispa_2/?akid=4086.9645701.dnWDBS&rd=1&t=2
If you live in the US and believe in the Internet being something useful in all our lives, please click the link and take positive action to save it.
2013-02-20
Another reason to distrust Amafuckingzon.
http://livingwithrats.blogspot.com/2013/02/mechanical-turk-amazons-new-underclass.html
Yeah Mechanical Turks are out there - and thanks to these assholes it'll only increase.
Yeah Mechanical Turks are out there - and thanks to these assholes it'll only increase.
2013-02-19
Sad anniversary for Canada and technology.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avro_Canada_CF-105_Arrow
CF-105 Arrow
Role Interceptor
Manufacturer Avro Canada
First flight 25 March 1958
Status Cancelled 20 February 1959
Primary user Royal Canadian Air Force
Produced 1957 (project design initiated: 1953)
Number built 5 (No. 6 was 93% complete, all others in various states of completion)[1][2]
Unit cost C$3.5–5 million[3]
What an awesome plane. What a sad end.
You'd think NASA more than anyone would understand the price of not testing their software.
Evidently no -
http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/story/2013/02/19/hadfield-space-station-communication.html
"NASA lost contact with the space station at 9:45 a.m. ET, while the software on the station’s flight computers was being updated remotely from the ground by flight controllers in Houston, Texas, NASA reported in a release.
The outage is being blamed on a malfunction of the station’s data relay systems, which caused the space station’s main computer to bar communication with the satellites that allow it to communicate with NASA.
Communication was briefly restored around 11 a.m. ET as the space station flew over Russian ground stations. At that time, NASA told the space station’s crew to connect a backup computer to restore communications."
http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/story/2013/02/19/hadfield-space-station-communication.html
Space station restores communication with Earth
NASA lost contact with International Space Station for almost 3 hours
Emily Chung CBC News - Posted: Feb 19, 2013 2:20 PM ET - Last Updated: Feb 19, 2013 3:05 PM ET"NASA lost contact with the space station at 9:45 a.m. ET, while the software on the station’s flight computers was being updated remotely from the ground by flight controllers in Houston, Texas, NASA reported in a release.
The outage is being blamed on a malfunction of the station’s data relay systems, which caused the space station’s main computer to bar communication with the satellites that allow it to communicate with NASA.
Communication was briefly restored around 11 a.m. ET as the space station flew over Russian ground stations. At that time, NASA told the space station’s crew to connect a backup computer to restore communications."
2013-02-16
Watch out for this error.
I get it when I load my own blog in IE -
Webpage error details
User Agent: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 8.0; Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/4.0; SLCC2; .NET CLR 2.0.50727; .NET CLR 3.5.30729; .NET CLR 3.0.30729; Media Center PC 6.0; InfoPath.3; .NET4.0C; .NET4.0E; MS-RTC LM 8)
Timestamp: Sun, 17 Feb 2013 03:24:40 UTC
Message: 'this.za.T' is null or not an object
Line: 423
Char: 322
Code: 0
URI: https://plusone.google.com/_/scs/apps-static/_/js/k=oz.hovercard.en.FukKoFW5mkY.O/m=base,init/am=EAE/rt=j/d=1/rs=AItRSTNeWbCLh8xX8wjFL3xK53ixdyvkcw
Webpage error details
User Agent: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 8.0; Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/4.0; SLCC2; .NET CLR 2.0.50727; .NET CLR 3.5.30729; .NET CLR 3.0.30729; Media Center PC 6.0; InfoPath.3; .NET4.0C; .NET4.0E; MS-RTC LM 8)
Timestamp: Sun, 17 Feb 2013 03:24:40 UTC
Message: 'this.za.T' is null or not an object
Line: 423
Char: 322
Code: 0
URI: https://plusone.google.com/_/scs/apps-static/_/js/k=oz.hovercard.en.FukKoFW5mkY.O/m=base,init/am=EAE/rt=j/d=1/rs=AItRSTNeWbCLh8xX8wjFL3xK53ixdyvkcw
Corruption of the media by corporations - Exhibit A.
Telecom Regulation And Incomplete Disclosure At Politico
http://mediamatters.org/blog/2013/02/13/telecom-regulation-and-incomplete-disclosure-at/192645
2013-02-15
Well here's something you don't see every day.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2013/02/15/russia-meteorite.html
Exploding meteor over Russia injures more than 950
3,000 buildings damaged by meteor likely travelling at least 54,000 km/h
2013-02-11
I don't know why it is but ...
... I seem to be one of those people whom whenever they meet me, they want very hard to squeeze my hand so tight as though they want to break it.
I mean, I admit I'm sure there are tons of people out there who if they saw me would sooner kick my ass the first chance they get, but I'm not talking about those fuckers.
I'm talking about people I know, people I work with, heck even people I consider friends.
It's almost as if it were a test of strength - as in, can one shake my hand stronger than I can shake their's.
It's not like I'm Paul Anderson or built anything like him. And certainly I do not present myself to be a mountain of a man, or full of muscle or strength. I'd like to think I'm a somewhat average-heighted man, average in weight, and pretty average in strength.
But somehow it seems people look at me, and want to crush my fingers into rubble. Do I come off as macho?
Maybe some of those people are just glad to see me. That could be I suppose.
Or may be it's just living in the USA? Living in North America? Being foreign?
Then I wonder when they observe that I'm not nearly squeezing their hand as much as they're squeezing mine, do they ever feel guilty or embarrassed?
On the other hand, maybe I'm the only one who feels this way or has observed such a thing. Oh well.
I mean, I admit I'm sure there are tons of people out there who if they saw me would sooner kick my ass the first chance they get, but I'm not talking about those fuckers.
I'm talking about people I know, people I work with, heck even people I consider friends.
It's almost as if it were a test of strength - as in, can one shake my hand stronger than I can shake their's.
It's not like I'm Paul Anderson or built anything like him. And certainly I do not present myself to be a mountain of a man, or full of muscle or strength. I'd like to think I'm a somewhat average-heighted man, average in weight, and pretty average in strength.
But somehow it seems people look at me, and want to crush my fingers into rubble. Do I come off as macho?
Maybe some of those people are just glad to see me. That could be I suppose.
Or may be it's just living in the USA? Living in North America? Being foreign?
Then I wonder when they observe that I'm not nearly squeezing their hand as much as they're squeezing mine, do they ever feel guilty or embarrassed?
On the other hand, maybe I'm the only one who feels this way or has observed such a thing. Oh well.
2013-02-10
Consider me Apocalyptic I guess.
Can't speak for others, but I think the worse kinds of reality are the ones we collectively cannot acknowledge -
http://truth-out.org/opinion/item/14322-rationally-speaking-we-are-all-apocalyptic-now
Lengthy but necessary and worth excepting -
"This "revelation" is simple: We've built a world based on the assumption that we will have endless energy to subsidize endless economic expansion, which was supposed to magically produce justice. That world is over, both in reality and in dreams. Either we begin to build a different world, or there will be no world capable of sustaining a large-scale human presence.
If that's not clear: When we take seriously what physics, chemistry and biology tell us about the health of the living world on which we depend, we all should be thinking apocalyptically. Look at any crucial measure of the ecosphere - groundwater depletion; topsoil loss; chemical contamination; increased toxicity in our own bodies; the number and size of "dead zones" in the oceans, accelerating extinction of species and reduction of biodiversity; and the ultimate game-changer of climate disruption - and ask a simple question: Where we are heading? Scientists these days are talking about tipping points and planetary boundaries, about how human activity is pushing the planet beyond its limits.
If we look honestly at the state of the world, it is difficult not to conclude that we are in end times of sorts - not the end of the physical world, but the end of the First-World way of living and the end of the systems on which that life is based."
Think not? Think again.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/08/climate-change-blizzard-global-warming_n_2649587.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/February_2013_nor%27easter
http://truth-out.org/opinion/item/14322-rationally-speaking-we-are-all-apocalyptic-now
Lengthy but necessary and worth excepting -
"This "revelation" is simple: We've built a world based on the assumption that we will have endless energy to subsidize endless economic expansion, which was supposed to magically produce justice. That world is over, both in reality and in dreams. Either we begin to build a different world, or there will be no world capable of sustaining a large-scale human presence.
If that's not clear: When we take seriously what physics, chemistry and biology tell us about the health of the living world on which we depend, we all should be thinking apocalyptically. Look at any crucial measure of the ecosphere - groundwater depletion; topsoil loss; chemical contamination; increased toxicity in our own bodies; the number and size of "dead zones" in the oceans, accelerating extinction of species and reduction of biodiversity; and the ultimate game-changer of climate disruption - and ask a simple question: Where we are heading? Scientists these days are talking about tipping points and planetary boundaries, about how human activity is pushing the planet beyond its limits.
If we look honestly at the state of the world, it is difficult not to conclude that we are in end times of sorts - not the end of the physical world, but the end of the First-World way of living and the end of the systems on which that life is based."
Think not? Think again.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/08/climate-change-blizzard-global-warming_n_2649587.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/February_2013_nor%27easter
Interesting websites.
http://www.archive.org/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Archive
"universal access to all knowledge." - what a novel concept.
Similar projects
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Archive
"universal access to all knowledge." - what a novel concept.
Similar projects
2013-02-09
Why are Americans truly blind to what's going on - on their behalf?
It all comes down to what you know.
The right-wing failed to protect the country's citizens on September 11, 2011. No one was ever held accountable for these failures.
They turned around and invaded not one, but two countries on a pretext filled with lies. No one was ever held accountable for the lies.
A Hurricane completely flooded New Orleans. No one was ever held accountable for the failure.
The financial, and housing industries collapsed due to deregulation and were propped up by taxpayer money. Not a single executive or institution was ever held criminally responsible.
But now ..
http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2013/02/06/f-vp-macdonald-us-drones.html
"Yet another government document has been leaked, this time a so-called “white paper” in which the U.S. Department of Justice lays out the administration’s justification for killing American citizens it suspects of belonging to Al-Qaeda.
U.S. media outlets, it seems, are perfectly comfortable with the term “targeted killing,” now that it is a major tool for the Pentagon and CIA.
It’s also clear American media outlets are comfortable suppressing news the government does not want published. Today’s story reveals not just that the Americans have operated a secret drone base for years in Saudi Arabia, but that the Post, along with various other news organizations, have been keeping that fact to themselves at the government’s request."
And yet ... when someone does call them on their lies, criminal behavior, and reckless and illegal actions, what happens?
Well look up the name John Kiriakou to get your answer.
The right-wing failed to protect the country's citizens on September 11, 2011. No one was ever held accountable for these failures.
They turned around and invaded not one, but two countries on a pretext filled with lies. No one was ever held accountable for the lies.
A Hurricane completely flooded New Orleans. No one was ever held accountable for the failure.
The financial, and housing industries collapsed due to deregulation and were propped up by taxpayer money. Not a single executive or institution was ever held criminally responsible.
But now ..
http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2013/02/06/f-vp-macdonald-us-drones.html
"Yet another government document has been leaked, this time a so-called “white paper” in which the U.S. Department of Justice lays out the administration’s justification for killing American citizens it suspects of belonging to Al-Qaeda.
U.S. media outlets, it seems, are perfectly comfortable with the term “targeted killing,” now that it is a major tool for the Pentagon and CIA.
It’s also clear American media outlets are comfortable suppressing news the government does not want published. Today’s story reveals not just that the Americans have operated a secret drone base for years in Saudi Arabia, but that the Post, along with various other news organizations, have been keeping that fact to themselves at the government’s request."
And yet ... when someone does call them on their lies, criminal behavior, and reckless and illegal actions, what happens?
Well look up the name John Kiriakou to get your answer.
2013-02-07
Global Confederation - The new Corporation Establishment Empire.
http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/2013/02/barack-obama-second-term-climate-change-globalization
(Thank you Mound of Sound)
We are in a day and age where the establishment in each industry across Planet Earth at an enterprise/conglomerate level now owns or effectively controls pretty much all aspects of human life across all forms of human society.
The new emperor is not a person - it's a global confederation of establishment enterprise corporations. And they seek only to thrive and exist like a cancer on a patient; they don't think, they aren't altruistic, they don't care outwardly for anyone and anything other than themselves.
Never mind that the greatest threat to human civilization and its future - global warming - is also the greatest threat to this new confederation. It doesn't think to react or plan to that, because it's not meant to by-design.
They use tools like lobbyists, organizations like ALEC and their weapon of choice - money - to achieve their aims.
The confederation's only accountability is to earn profit for its shareholders - nothing more.
Whether it's media, food, technology, transportation, entertainment, health, education, weaponry, you name it - our future is tied to their's.
The problem is - it doesn't think. It's not a real person. Certainly it cannot really think ahead. And because of this, and the large amount of power and control it wields in our lives, it makes it a grave impediment to our collective future.
To solve the problem of global warming before it's too late, will involve human civilization coming up with a suitable recourse to the effective control this confederation has. That is, human civilization must effectively unleash its collective strengths - our minds and our numbers.
Unless human civilization can - overwhelmingly - think and act together - we will never move forward and we will not survive much longer.
What's needed is a uniting mechanism to do this.
(Thank you Mound of Sound)
We are in a day and age where the establishment in each industry across Planet Earth at an enterprise/conglomerate level now owns or effectively controls pretty much all aspects of human life across all forms of human society.
The new emperor is not a person - it's a global confederation of establishment enterprise corporations. And they seek only to thrive and exist like a cancer on a patient; they don't think, they aren't altruistic, they don't care outwardly for anyone and anything other than themselves.
Never mind that the greatest threat to human civilization and its future - global warming - is also the greatest threat to this new confederation. It doesn't think to react or plan to that, because it's not meant to by-design.
They use tools like lobbyists, organizations like ALEC and their weapon of choice - money - to achieve their aims.
The confederation's only accountability is to earn profit for its shareholders - nothing more.
Whether it's media, food, technology, transportation, entertainment, health, education, weaponry, you name it - our future is tied to their's.
The problem is - it doesn't think. It's not a real person. Certainly it cannot really think ahead. And because of this, and the large amount of power and control it wields in our lives, it makes it a grave impediment to our collective future.
To solve the problem of global warming before it's too late, will involve human civilization coming up with a suitable recourse to the effective control this confederation has. That is, human civilization must effectively unleash its collective strengths - our minds and our numbers.
Unless human civilization can - overwhelmingly - think and act together - we will never move forward and we will not survive much longer.
What's needed is a uniting mechanism to do this.
2013-02-05
Neonicotinoids - Bayer's bee killer.
Thank you SumOfUs for the petition.
http://action.sumofus.org/a/bayer-bees/?sub=taf
"Neonicotinoids are just one class of pesticide -- a type that is soaked into seeds, permeating the plant and killing insects which stop by for a snack. These pesticides can easily be replaced by other types which don't soak down into the center of our crops."
"These chemicals aren't just hurting bees. Studies conducted on rats suggest that neonicotinoids may adversely impact human health, especially the developing brain. Like the study on the impact on insects, however, our knowledge of how this pesticide interacts with our bodies is heavily influenced by industry spending, often obfuscating the truth."
Sign the fucking petition.
Some more information -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neonicotinoids
http://action.sumofus.org/a/bayer-bees/?sub=taf
"Neonicotinoids are just one class of pesticide -- a type that is soaked into seeds, permeating the plant and killing insects which stop by for a snack. These pesticides can easily be replaced by other types which don't soak down into the center of our crops."
"These chemicals aren't just hurting bees. Studies conducted on rats suggest that neonicotinoids may adversely impact human health, especially the developing brain. Like the study on the impact on insects, however, our knowledge of how this pesticide interacts with our bodies is heavily influenced by industry spending, often obfuscating the truth."
Sign the fucking petition.
Some more information -
Nicotine-Like Effects of the Neonicotinoid Insecticides Acetamiprid and Imidacloprid on Cerebellar Neurons from Neonatal Rats
http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0032432http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neonicotinoids
2013-02-04
Hacked?
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=9845
That sort of implies that there is a chance it can be fixed or repaired.
To me the term is more like infected. Capitalism is a cancer infecting the patient known as Democracy.
I'm of the opinion that capitalism has been slowly destroying democracy as it currently exists for some time, but it's recently (i.e. last 20 years) gotten worse.
That sort of implies that there is a chance it can be fixed or repaired.
To me the term is more like infected. Capitalism is a cancer infecting the patient known as Democracy.
I'm of the opinion that capitalism has been slowly destroying democracy as it currently exists for some time, but it's recently (i.e. last 20 years) gotten worse.
2013-02-01
Oh double nickel, how I wish too it was an Onion article.
Sadly it's not. The right-wingers in Canada running the country into the ground are really that stupid to allow this.
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2013/02/01/infected_salmon_declared_fit_for_human_consumption_by_canadian_food_inspection_agency.html
Infected salmon declared fit for human consumption by Canadian Food Inspection Agency
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2013/02/01/infected_salmon_declared_fit_for_human_consumption_by_canadian_food_inspection_agency.html
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