t-mix BETA

"Land of the Free" my ass

2007-03-23T22:04:00.000+01:00

After five years, two pregnancies, and thousands of dollars in expenses, the government still insists their marriage is a sham.

Homeland Security wrecks a home - Chicago Reader

Land of the fucking free - Part 9284

2007-03-11T16:29:00.000+01:00

It starts all out as clean and irresponsible fun, but watch out for parts 5 and 6.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

Part 7

Don't go to America.

Times Withholds Web Article in Britain

2007-03-05T16:46:00.000+01:00

Purchase Single Article - $4.95

(via The Inquirer)

((Pssst, you can read the article here, but don't tell anybody))

I am moving away from aunt Google

2007-03-03T22:46:00.000+01:00

Back in the USSR?

I am preparing to move away from aunt Google. Right now I am a Google whore. I have as we speak:

Google-Analytics-Webanalytics-Account (Which I don't use much anyway)
Google-Calendar-Calendar-Account (Which I don't use much either)
Blogger-Blog-Account
GMail-Email-Account
Google-Reader-Feedreader-Account
Google-Search-Account (What for? I didn't order the last one)

This all is managed by a monster cookie. Just one. And whatever I do online, google knows. They know what adverts I have seen. They know which adverts I have clicked. They know what I have searched for. They say that they don't read my email (and I believe them) still it makes me nervous to have my mail in their hands. I know that they are not evil - at the moment.

This will end. This must end. I must move away from google. This is not good for the industry that it is dominated by one company. This is not good for my privacy that all my data is in their hands.

I will miss the nice UI of GMail. I will miss the fast and neat Google Reader. But all good things must end. I just hate the fact that Google knows far too much about me. I hate that fact that google.com greats me as logged in when I want to search, just because I'm reading my email in another browser-tab. And I hate that google knows what I'm searching for and keeps a record of it. Forever.

I will continue to use google.com for search, but I will make damn sure to kill that damn cookie of hell. Maybe they still know who I am, but they have to guess.

I will kill the google-analytics account. Gone and I wont miss it. We know far too much already anyway. I don't need to optimize my web presence like a commercial whore to lure in more customer I can rip off. I don't need to track my visitors like a sick control freak.

Next: Mail and Blog are easy too. I will go self-hosted on a rented server/webspace/something.

Now, the calendar and feed-reader are a bit tougher. I would love to host those on my server too, but are there any decent open-source solutions? I guess I could live without an calendar, dead trees should be fine for me for that task. But the feed-reader?

Houston, we have a problem. The first feed-reader I used was desktop based. I don't even remember its name. It was nice and fast, but lacked one integral feature: if I read a post at work, my copy at home didn't knew. And if I wanted to check my feeds while on holiday in Gitmo: "Sir, could you show me your OPML-file please?"

Next up was Newsgator for me, which was fine for a while. Alas, it was slow as hell and I was always struggling with its UI (at least it seemed like that). So next I gave Google-Reader a try, and even the original UI version was better than Newsgator. Now, they have improved big time since then at the Google Labs and I was hoping that Newsgator had improved since then too. I opened the site, my browser still had the login info for newsgator (which was like 2 years ago that I last logged in, something like a quarter century in Internet years), I logged in, found all my old subscriptions there - and a UI that was still slow and clumsy.

I'm willing to give bloglines a try, but it felt like a website directly from Venus for me the last time I tried it, around the same time I gave up Newsgator. I'm not holding my breath that bloglines has improved.

Anyway, does anybody know a decent self-hosted open-source web-based feed-reader? Damn, this information age is not easy.

[Update] Maybe I should give ROJO a try?

Then again, maybe not.

Without further comment

2007-03-03T21:58:00.000+01:00

Masturbation to End War: Masturbate for Peace
(via stef)

Make the Majors History!

2007-03-03T21:10:00.000+01:00

Make capitalism history!

What happens to the royalty fees paid? The major record companies take your money, keep most of it for themselves, their lawyers, marketing teams, and then divide the rest statistically based on the Billboard charts. That means that no matter what kind of obscure, underground music was played, most of the extortion money paid goes to whichever management company owns Justin Timberlake, or whatever the top 40 flavor of the month is. All other artists, including most of the ones whose music is actually played on stations like Radio Paradise, get nothing. Corporate America sticking it to you even if you don't listen to mainstream commercial radio.

and

That's not precisely correct in the details, but it's basically true. Just because we play Artist X, and we pay royalties to SoundExchange (the royalty collection arm of the RIAA) does NOT mean that Artist X is going to see their fair share of what we've paid, or - indeed - anything at all..

Radio Paradise Forum - eclectic online rock radio discussion
(you might have to go to page 2 or something...)

My Radio will be closed down... Fark

2007-03-03T20:09:00.000+01:00

I fucking hate radio. I really hate it. Radio is an awful commerce infest pile of shite that plays the same commercial shite music over and over and over and over again. I used to love radio.

But there is still one station that I really like: Radio Paradise. And now, it will be probably closed down. And the owner will have to pay between $50,000 and $150.000 - retroactively!

Fark.

The US Copyright Office has released their new set of rates for the payment of royalties by Internet Radio, and they ignored all of the facts presented by webcasters (including RP) and gave the record industry exactly what they asked for: royalty rates so high that they will put RP and every other independent webcaster out of business.

I hate violence, as I have said before, but someone should break the legs of the CEOs of the major labels. And their kneecaps. And their noses. And their fingers. And cut off their testicles. And set fire to their SUVs and luxury sedans. And blow up their houses. And rape their children. And torture their dogs.

After that, the music business should be given back to the musicians and the people who love music.

Run for cover

2007-03-03T18:49:00.000+01:00

I still don't know what to make of this. I still think that the largest influence in US politics is the MIC, but the Christian, Israeli and Saudi lobby seems to be quite strong too.

And anyone who knows how to assess the balance of power in Washington will tell you that when the Americans are joined by the Saudis and the Israelis and their powerful supporters in Washington in a coordinated effort to harm you, run fast for cover. Both the Soviets fighting against Osama bin Laden and his mujahideen allies (assisted by Washington) in Afghanistan and the Iranians attacked by Saddam's Iraqi military (assisted by Washington) learned that lesson in the 1980s.

Right Web - Expanding the War to Iran: Another “Urban Legend?”

Right Web?

2007-03-03T17:06:00.000+01:00

I stumbled across an interesting website:

Right Web, founded in 2003, is a program of the International Relations Center (IRC) that tracks the work of those, in and outside of government, who have been instrumental in shaping or supporting U.S. policies in the global war on terror. Right Web explores the many ties that link the main players, organizations, corporate supporters, foundations, educational institutions, and government representatives in what could be described as a new architecture of power. Right Web aims to shine a spotlight on how these links influence the direction of foreign, military, and homeland security policies, and to illuminate this web for the public.

Many of the organizations and individuals profiled by Right Web are affiliated with the Republican Party, but not all. Efforts to push militaristic policies cross party lines, and so the Right Web project examines rightist organizations and figures, as well as leading liberal hawks. ...

The IRC has worked for nearly three decades to illuminate the causes and consequences of U.S. policy and “to make the United States a more responsible global leader and global partner.” Right Web represents a revival of a former IRC program called GroupWatch (1985-1991), which profiled more than 125 private, quasi-governmental, and religious organizations that were closely associated with the implementation of U.S. foreign policy, especially in Central America.

By establishing Right Web, the IRC hopes to add to the growing national movement of concerned citizens who are working to check the militaristic drift of the country.

Right Web

I don't know much more about them, but what they write on their about page seems promising.

Kafka is now an US resident

2007-03-02T11:14:00.000+01:00

And he is working at the immigration counter, where else?

him#3: I am sorry sir, but we can not allow you to enter the US.

me: ?!?! Why is that?

him#3: You tried to enter on your Belgian passport, but this one is not valid to enter the US.

me: Why not? I was in New York two weeks ago. I fly to the US three-four times a year. I always use my Belgian passport.

him#3: Sorry, but the rules changed. As of last week, Belgian passports have to be machine readable.

The Day I Got Deported From the US - The Road to the Horizon

Twentyeight

2007-03-01T20:22:00.000+01:00

In the first major trial using the test, the average score in the control group was 16.4. Eighty percent of those diagnosed with autism or a related disorder scored 32 or higher.

Wired 9.12: Take The AQ Test

Either I have Asperger or I'm misanthropic. Maybe both.

Blue Screen of Death

2007-02-27T12:38:00.000+01:00

This story really takes the Blue Screen of Death to a whole new level...

Most of us have stared in helpless despair at the dreaded blue screen; how much worse would you feel if that wasn't just your desktop gone but your combat display, and it really was the screen of death?

Surely we can't have our jolly tars let down by possibly untrustworthy, difficult to use kit such as Windows? Especially when you reflect that cost is not an issue. When you're buying destroyers at £1bn per hull, the price difference between 26 PCs and the same number of Sun workstations barely shows up.

Project for a new conspiracy theory PNCT

2007-02-25T18:15:00.000+01:00

Rough sketch:
Saudi Arabia has a major influence on US politics. Saudi Arabia feels threatend by Saddam Hussein. Saudi Arabia influences the US to attack Iraq.

Based on this and this.

See: The tale of the 15 Saudis with boxcutters and the bearded Saudi in a cave.

Dear Mr. President

2007-02-25T18:13:00.000+01:00

We are writing you because we are convinced that current American policy toward Iraq is not succeeding

Instant classic.

Where is Waldo?

2007-02-25T17:43:00.000+01:00

I know, this is old news, I just needed to post it here for completeness. The only thing I changed from the nytimes report are the malreported begining of the following paragraphs, each one was one sentence too early. And I added the highlighting.

Who could believe that one day we could witness the collapse of the Eastern Empire? But we have seen its fall during our lives and it collapsed in such a way that we have to refer to libraries because no trace of it is left. Imam [Khomeini] said Saddam must go and he said he would grow weaker than anyone could imagine. Now you see the man who spoke with such arrogance ten years ago that one would have thought he was immortal, is being tried in his own country in handcuffs and shackles by those who he believed supported him and with whose backing he committed his crimes. Our dear Imam said that the occupying regime must be wiped off the map and this was a very wise statement.

We cannot compromise over the issue of Palestine. Is it possible to create a new front in the heart of an old front. This would be a defeat and whoever accepts the legitimacy of this regime [Israel] has in fact, signed the defeat of the Islamic world. Our dear Imam targeted the heart of the world oppressor in his struggle, meaning the occupying regime. I have no doubt that the new wave that has started in Palestine, and we witness it in the Islamic world too, will eliminate this disgraceful stain from the Islamic world.

But we must be aware of tricks. For over 50 years the world oppressor tried to give legitimacy to the occupying regime and it has taken measures in this direction to stabilize it. ...

Text of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's Speech - New York Times
(If you are asked for login information, get them here)

Somehow, the last highlighted senctence just doesn't fit, the map part just seems wrong.

For me, the original seems like something like this:
1. Who thought that the Soviet Union would vanish?
2. Who would have thought that Saddam would be removed from power one day? Khomeini did.
3. Khomein said as well that one day the government in Israel will be gone.

He then continues about the fight against the Israeli *government*(which he calls regime) what could endager this fight and what could be gained from it.

Obviously, this is far from being peaceful. But except the one sentence, which I can neither confirm or deny (Do you speak Farsi?), he basicly says that change will come, sometimes not peaceful (as in Iraq). As I said before, I hate violence, I'm against war, but if you say that Ahmadienjad wants to wipe Israel off the map, then Bush and his cronies want to wipe Iraq off the map. For me, there is little difference, excpet one side has the better PR, better weapons and more money. Ask yourself where this money is from.

Who didn't smoke pot in the '70s?

2007-02-24T21:57:00.000+01:00

Going to Canada? Check your past / Tourists with minor criminal records turned back at border

War is terror

2007-02-24T02:15:00.000+01:00

And the US are breathing war.

The myth of Muslim support for terror | csmonitor.com

Now I'm drunk

2007-02-21T22:45:00.001+01:00

So I post any colorful comic cartoon from YouTube I can find...

Fuck Beer and Television

2007-02-21T21:49:00.000+01:00

I prefer Wine and YouTube...

Thanks Zefrank!

Some Cat Content

2007-02-21T20:36:00.001+01:00

Ere is no TEEE in Briish

2007-02-21T20:27:00.000+01:00

Ah, Jim Motley.

Thanks Tom at Music Thing!

Shrimp

2007-02-21T20:15:00.000+01:00

Running On A Treadmill With The Benny Hill Theme

Thanks Stef!

The tale of the 15 Saudis

2007-02-20T21:51:00.000+01:00

15 Saudis, lead by a Saudi and sponsored by Saudi money, attack the US and the US retaliate against - Afghanistan and Iraq. Of course it is much more comforting to think that the US government is full of liars and criminals than the alternative that the people in power in the US are plain stupid and couldn't tell their ass from their head.

A load of old bollocks courtesy of the BBC - Stef

Unbelievable

2007-02-20T00:56:00.000+01:00

Furthermore, the United States had known since 1994 that the Saudis were supporting Pakistan's nuclear development program, ultimately contributing upwards of a billion dollars. More recently, because Saudi law does not allow foreign agencies to directly question Saudi citizens, the FBI has not been allowed to interview Saudi suspects, including the families of the fifteen Saudi hijackers, about the 9/11 attacks. For more than a year after September 11 Saudi Arabia refused to provide advance manifests for flights coming into the United States—which could have led to a basic and potentially fatal breach of security. Although there are plenty of possible al Qaeda members awaiting trial, as of this writing there hasn't been a single Saudi arrest related to 9/11—not even of a material witness.
...
Consider the case of the Carlyle Group—a private investment company, founded in 1987, that almost since its inception has been conducting immensely profitable business with Saudi Arabia. From 1993 to 2002 the chairman of Carlyle was Frank Carlucci, who served first as Ronald Reagan's National Security Adviser and then as his Secretary of Defense. Carlyle's senior counselor is James Baker, who served as Secretary of State under George H.W. Bush—who in his post-presidency also happens to be a Carlyle adviser. Others who hang their hats at Carlyle include Arthur Levitt, the head of the Securities and Exchange Commission under Bill Clinton, and now Carlyle's senior adviser; John Major, a former Prime Minister of Great Britain and the current chairman of Carlyle Europe; William Kennard, who chaired the Federal Communications Commission during the second Clinton Administration; Afsaneh Mashayekhi Beschloss, a former treasurer and chief investment officer of the World Bank; and Richard Darman, who ran the Office of Management and Budget under the first President Bush and also served as deputy secretary of the treasury under Reagan.

The Fall of the House of Saud - Robert Baer

Read all three parts. I don't know if it is true, but it certainly is an interesting piece to read. Btw, Robert Baer is the guy depicted in the movie Syriana.

It's all too beautiful

2007-02-19T21:07:00.000+01:00

Looks like the Russians are a bit "tense" over the US deployment of its anti-ballistic missile (ABM) system in Poland and the Czech Republic plus the latest verbal hostilities from the US. The Russian RIA Novosti has some interesting articles:

Russia missile forces ready to quit INF Treaty

Russian missile forces will add ABM sites as targets

(only as a translation from the German version)

A comment:
Washington's meat may be Europe's poison

And the bonus:

Russia to sell weapons, air-defense systems in the Middle East

(via fefe, in German)

Playing right now: Small Faces - Itchycoo Park

Over Bridges of Sighs
To rest my eyes in shades of green
Under Dreaming Spires
To Itchycoo Park, that's where I've been
What did you do there? - I got high
What did you feel there? - Well I cried
But why the tears there? - I'll tell you why
It's all too beautiful, It's all too beautiful
It's all too beautiful, It's all too beautiful
I feel inclined to blow my mind
Get hung up, feed the ducks with a bun
They all come out to groove about
Be nice and have fun in the sun
I'll tell you what I'll do - What will you do?
I'd like to go there now with you
You can miss out school - Won't that be cool
Why go to learn the words of fools?

God, Inc

2007-02-19T20:03:00.000+01:00

"How did the earthquake go?"

"Are you the guys who got me into Princeton."
"I could look it up."

"Well then I question the intelligence of his design."

Flower Tucci. A squirter. Nice. :-)

"I'm going to put a butterfly on my profile."

"You cure one disease, I have to invent another one."

Give the evidence to the MAFIA

2007-02-19T15:40:00.000+01:00

[A] team of men wearing R.I.A.A. jackets was responsible for boxing the CDs and carting them to a warehouse for examination.

Hip-Hop Outlaw (Industry Version) - New York Times

Isn't this just grand? The police lets the R.I.A.A carry off the evidence. The ones who profit from a conviction. Fucking great.

But I think that the music industry has finally realized that the problem is not the consumer, it is the artists. Once there are no more artists, no more music and no more music "theft". Bravo!

(via fefe, in German)

I really hate violence...

2007-02-17T22:35:00.000+01:00

... and I don't want to promote any kind of violent ideology, whether it is American, Iranian, Christian or Islamic. But I stumbled upon this video while searching for the meaning of the word Moronican and wanted to share it with the world, just to give you an idea why the US have already lost the war in Iraq and how they are creating that kind of "evil" they claim to be fighting. And not even pork bullets are going to make the US win. Just listen to the song they are using as background music. If I would live in Iraq, with such beautiful music, I would pick up a RPG and fight infidels.

LiveLeak.com - Video of Islamic State of Iraq Shooting Down an American Chinook Helicopter in Al-Karma

(The images you see if you click there show an US helicopter being shot down. If this disturbs you, don't click. Other than that, this video shows no graphic violence, which is far less than any Hollywood movie depicting the war in Vietnam. I guess in twenty years, we will see the movies showing how the Iraq war really was and everybody is going to say "Never again" and forget it when the government warns of a new danger, a new Emmanuel Goldstein)

As to the quote:

Military officials are growing increasingly concerned that Iraqi insurgents are successfully adapting their tactics to be more effective against American aircraft.

A CH-47 Chinook is a 40 year old unarmored helicopter. I guess you could shoot it down with anything that is bigger than a small caliber weapon, a starting or landing Chinook could be downed with a AK-47, some skill and some luck.

I'm probably the only person in the world who likes this

2007-02-17T21:33:00.000+01:00

Strong Bad Email form Homestarrunner. I think it is just hilarious.

Warning, contains lethal dosages of Flash-animation, may cause seizures.

What is the Meatrix?

2007-02-17T20:52:00.000+01:00

What is the Meatrix?

Real nice Flash-Animation.

Cognitive Dissonance

2007-02-14T23:36:00.000+01:00

For years the US have being "fighting" against a relentless terrorist threat on US mainland and no attack has happened since 2001
For years the US have being "fighting" against a relentless inflow of drugs into the US mainland and every year hundreds of tons of drugs have slipped through

So what is the story here?

Either

There is no terrorist threat

There is no "war on drugs"

Both

Sans the Lizards

2007-02-14T22:19:00.000+01:00

David Huddleston playing Jeffrey Lebowski

Webster G. Tarpley playing himself (rather badly)

Finally I found that video from the Webster Tarpley presentation again (90 minutes).

It is nice to listen to Tarpley, he makes a wonderful presentation. No I did not check his facts, but he gives a really good lecture of patsies and 9/11. And he talks a bit about the "controlled demolition and cruise missile" blah blah bullshit as if he does not believe it, just to mention it. The main point he makes is that 9/11 was a coup, which is a interesting theory. The good thing about him, he does not feel mentally unstable like Alex Jones and does not talk about lizards like David Icke. Alas, I can't shake the feeling that he wants to sell me something, maybe it is just the suit and the tie.

Which brings me to this video of a presentation by Mike Rupert, who just feels like he's from the cast of some TV cop show from the eighties.

And by the way, I can see a game of Top Trumps with conspiracy theorists cards:

- Sentences said before being cut off by TV crew?
- 1
- 5! Alex Jones wins!
- Times being shot at?
- Zero
- Twice! Mike Rupert wins!

(Stole some ideas for this posting from Stef)

Just like a monkey...

2007-02-14T13:40:00.000+01:00

... I have dutifully marked all "*bank"-spam messages as "phising" at the webinterface of my mailprovider. But what is the difference between spam and phising anyway? Yes, I know, phising is directed at the login information for my bank and other financial services. But spam mail wants to part me from my money as well. So in the end, what is the difference? I should mark all spam as phising...

I honestly did not know this

2007-02-14T01:34:00.000+01:00

The Bavarian Illuminati

A movement of freethinkers that were the most radical offshoot of The Enlightenment — whose adherents were given the name Illuminati - was founded on May 1, 1776 in Ingolstadt.

Illuminati - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

And I was born in Ingolstadt. Fuck, I honestly did not know this. This is a FNORD moment for me.

There are too many things I don't know.

Why Iran will not be next

2007-02-13T20:40:00.000+01:00

I could be wrong. I was wrong before, boy was I wrong before. Last summer, I thought Iran would be next, I thought the bombs would be falling within weeks. I thought the US would invade Iran. Or Syria. Or both. In 2003 I thought if the US would invade Iraq, it would be a good thing for the Iraqis. Boy was I unillumined and naive back then. And wrong, wrong, wrong.

Right now, we see the same bullshit fabricated intelligence as we have seen in 2003. But do the same means lead to the same ends?

To understand what will happened next, we have to know what happened before. I hope I have learned since then and can make an educated guess now. If I get this wrong, what I say will not have any relation to reality.

So why was Iraq attacked? Some people claim that it was some fuzzy "Old-School US Imperialism ™". Modern US imperialism has different means. Some claim that it was "For Oil". I don't think so, there are other countries with oil, more valuable countries. Why not go for Venezuela or Nigeria?

As I have said before, I think Iraq was attacked because some people wanted to transfer shitloads of tax-money into the accounts of the arms industry and into their own pockets. What better way than to start a war. Not something too big, but something that smolders for a very long time. Just like something we are seeing right now in Iraq. Perfect.

So what's the worst that could happen? Just imagine you have to show some PowerPoint slides to the executive board of some bigshot arms manufacturer in the US the day after an Democratic President has declared to pull out of Iraq and has been greeted by congressmen of both parties as an "American Gandhi". Oops, wrong meeting.

So what would happen if the US invaded Iran. Two things would be possible.

The violence would tail off. In which case the president could declare "Job well done" and pull out. It was only Iran behind all that violence (which I don't think)
The violence would not tail off. The US military would find itself awfully stretched. It would show that Iran wasn't behind all this insurgency business. The calls to pull out, which are getting louder already without a mess in Iran, would get even louder. It would be suicide for a president not to give up Iraq or Iran or both. "Leave the suckers to themselves" would be the American motto du jour.

So, to keep the US military in the mess it is right now, we need a reason, a plausible reason why the US military has to stay in that mess. To achieve this, the people in charge would need a "device" with which they could put pressure on who ever becomes president NOT to pull out. What better device than an Iran that has to be curbed? So, if the US president should think about pulling out, he could be pressured to stay the course or be called a traitor who endangers the US security.

When they have learned one thing from the end of the cold war, it is that not having an enemy, not having something you need protection from, can be a very dangerous thing if you are in the business of selling arms. I guess the war on terror is loosing steam, there is only so far you can go with a phantom terror organization and a phantom terror-leader. So what better than to have Mini-Soviet threat? It worked for over forty years with the Russkies, why not give it a try with the Mullahs now? And if it doesn't work out, there is allways Russia or China to fall back as the enemy du jour. Better prepare them as enemy now.

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said last Wednesday the United States had to prepare for the possibility of combating major armies and that it also needed significant Special Forces because he did not know what might happen in Russia, North Korea, Iran and China in the future.
...
"In principle, as defense minister, I can understand this statement. All sorts of tricks are used to approve the budget," RIA Novosti quoted [Russian defense minister] Ivanov.

As I said before, I could be wrong, but I think what the people currently in charge want is not another war, they want to make sure this war keeps going the way it has been going since the beginning. In my opinion, Iraq has not become another Vietnam for the US because their leaders have made mistakes. Their intention from the first moment was to turn Iraq into another Vietnam.

This got me thinking...

2007-02-13T19:05:00.000+01:00

Shape charge? Road side bombs? Armored vehicles? Somehow, this rings a bell...

(And no, I don't think that Shiites or Sunnites killed Herrhausen, but I think whoever killed Herrhausen was trained by the same people that have shown the Iraqi insurgents how to bomb. And as Herrhausen was criticizing the World Bank and demanding Third World debt cancellation, he might have become an annoyance to some within the US. Just thinking...)

A little Gem for Stef

2007-02-12T21:15:00.000+01:00

I think Stef would like this:

C’est ne pas une Orwellian Nazi-Uniform.

Found this advert in the first German edition of Vanity Fair. I like the little party badge, even if it isn't golden.

ORWELL - Search no more for your Nazi-Orwell Styles ™

(see more on orwell.de, but they don't have any more "Uniforms")

Oil for us all

To stay at the topic of found gems: While at a friend to play a board game, I found this nice one, sponsored by BP. Teach your childeren how to control the world and quench your thirst for oil.

And no, we didn't play it, I didn't even look at anything other than the cover.

Not Really European...

2007-02-11T14:55:00.000+01:00

eXile #151 - Feature Story - 18 Ways to Hate Your Neighbour

(via fefe as well)

The song remains the same

2007-02-11T14:53:00.000+01:00

Saturday's New York Times features an article, posted at the top of its Web site late Friday, that suggests very strongly that Iran is supplying the "deadliest weapon aimed at American troops" in Iraq. The author notes, "Any assertion of an Iranian contribution to attacks on Americans in Iraq is both politically and diplomatically volatile."
What is the source of this volatile information? Nothing less than "civilian and military officials from a broad range of government agencies."
Sound pretty convincing? It may be worth noting that the author is Michael R. Gordon, the same Times reporter who, on his own, or with Judith Miller, wrote some of the key, and badly misleading or downright inaccurate, articles about Iraqi WMDs in the run-up to the 2003 invasion.

'NYT' Reporter Who Got Iraqi WMDs Wrong Now Highlights Iran Claims

(via fefe in German)

Russia to support NATO in Afghanistan - Ivanov says "No troops from us, thank you very much"

2007-02-10T22:54:00.000+01:00

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov, who joined the talks Friday, said Russia would provide economic support for Afghanistan including a review of the country's US$10 billion (€7.7 billion) debt to Russia, and would step up logistical support for the NATO force, including transport through Russia.

However, he ruled out sending any troops to the country, where the Soviet Union lost around 15,000 troops in the 1980s.

Britain, U.S. play down NATO differences over Afghanistan - Herald Tribune

I think the Russians are going to wait a couple of decades (like the British) before they send troops to Afghanistan again.

IAEA halts aid on nuclear technology - NOW?

2007-02-10T22:39:00.000+01:00

The U.N. nuclear watchdog agency on Friday suspended nearly half of the technical aid it now provides Iran, in line with sanctions imposed on the country for its refusal to suspend uranium enrichment.

The Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency already suspended aid to Iran in five instances last month in line with Security Council sanctions calling for an end to assistance for programs that could be misused to make atomic weapons. Diplomats emphasized that the freeze was temporary and subject to review and approval by the 35-nation board of the IAEA next month.

IAEA halts aid on projects with Tehran - AP

We are talking about the same Iran that the West since months accuses of building a nuclear bomb and wanting to "wipe Iran off the map"?

(via fefe in German)

Desperate people, doing anything to get a job

2007-02-10T20:56:00.000+01:00

Carrie Fisher Star Wars Audition

And the same horror from Cindy Williams:

If I hadn't seen the movie, I wouldn't watch it now. I guess.

More fun:

Public Service Announcement

2007-02-10T19:03:00.000+01:00

So now you are relaxed and had some fun, on to something depressing:
Don't order brides by mail from Russia.

What happened next: all charges were dropped.

2007-02-10T02:15:00.000+01:00

gareth_rees: Those terrorist plots in retrospect

Via Stef.

Airport Security

2007-02-08T21:45:00.000+01:00

George Carlin - Airport Security

Thanks Stef for pointing to George Carlin!

Just as a reminder

2007-02-08T20:42:00.000+01:00

Current dispersal of U.S. troops around the world. Darker colours signify U.S. usage of military facilities, or nations with fewer than 10,000 troops present. The lightest nations represent U.S. presence of 10,000 or more.

Military history of the United States - Wikipedia

Field Guide to Iraq

2007-02-07T13:21:00.000+01:00

Daryl Cagle's Weblog

(via fefe, in German)

And while searching for it: The Slate Field Guide to Iraq Pundits

"If they can get you asking the wrong questions, they don't have to worry about answers."

2007-02-07T01:50:00.000+01:00

The real secrets of the 9/11 attack have nothing at all to do with planes with no Arab hijackers aboard being flown by remote control, or missiles, rather than a Boeing airliner, hitting the Pentagon, or pods under the wings of the planes, or explosives in the World Trade Center, or the attack of the Crab People.

Clever disinformation is designed to throw out a lot of white noise... and throw up a smokescreen.

Author Thomas Pynchon said it best: "If they can get you asking the wrong questions, they don't have to worry about answers."

NEW TOP 10 THINGS YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO KNOW ABOUT 9/11

By the way, the last post was my 1.111th post on this blog!

Just in case ...

2007-02-07T00:07:00.000+01:00

... you were wondering if it is worthwhile to get a copy of Windows Vista:

Anthony Cumia's Vista Installation

Of lizards and freedom

2007-02-06T19:38:00.000+01:00

I think that David Icke is just crazy, but he really has a point to make. Having been pressured to deny him radio time by unknown groups with unknown arguments, unable to even defend himself to the radio manager, sure smells like conspiracy to me, alas not by lizards but by some stupid humans. And by now, I like crazy humans more than stupid humans.

"Hi!" David smiled, extending his hand. "David Icke. I'm due to be on a programme at 10.15."

"Okay," said the station manager. He coughed. "I've reviewed the material that was submitted to us, and I've also reviewed the radio regulations of 1986 . . ."

"I don't believe this," murmured David.

"And I don't feel comfortable having you on."

"Why?"

"I just don't feel comfortable. That's it. Thanks for coming in." The station manager clapped his hands together. "Thanks very much."

"You invited me to your radio station," said David patiently. "I turned up on time, and now you stand here and say without any substance or explanation that you're not having me on?"

"Thanks for coming in," said the station manager.

"You know what?" said David, leaning across the reception desk. Their faces were now inches apart. "It's pathetic. You say you believe in freedom? You couldn't spell it."

He turned to me. "This," he said, pointing at the station manager, "is one of the architects, unknowingly, of the destruction of our freedom."

"You did say you were sick of doing radio interviews," I offered.

"That's not the point," said David. "The information is being suppressed by unknowing, frightened little men like him."

"Oh, thanks," said the station manager.

"This is unbelievable," said David. He was now addressing my notepad. "Oh no, there's no conspiracy, no cover-up, no suppression, ladies and gentlemen of the world."

"Please leave," said the station manager.

Beset by lizards - guardian.co.uk

The game stays the same

2007-02-06T18:01:00.000+01:00

I once read the book "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson. What surprised me was the fact that a great deal of "scientists" in the past were self-serving, arrogant, cocky, self-important, conceited, overweening, priggish pricks. A property by the way they share with today's politicians, religious believers and the rest of the human race.

Sometime ago I thought that life today is different, that people today are somehow "better". Today I am more disillusioned and it does not surprise me anymore that politics interfered with science and that there were, are (and always will be) "scientists" who are willing supporters of this kind of endeavour.

I would like to call myself an misanthrope, as I hate those kinds of people, but there are people in world who are not pricks. So does hating just stupid pricks make me a misanthrope?

(via fefe, in German)

[Update] I found this nice nugget via wikipedia:

Bryson also exaggerates the portrayals of some scientists: Ernest Rutherford is said to be an overpowering force, Fred Hoyle a complete weirdo, Fritz Zwicky an utterly abrasive astronomer, and Newton a total paranoiac. Surely the descriptions of these and other scientists are distorted.

A Short History of Nearly Everything - Prepared by the staff of Jupiter Scientific

Which sounds to me like: "I'm just too lazy to look up any facts, but surely these descriptions are distorted. Impossible that scientists are anything other than scientists, same as it is impossible that a politician is anything other than a politician or an astronaut is anything other than an astronaut."

Sure, Bryson could be wrong. But his works looks pretty solid to me.

NASA

2007-02-06T17:16:00.000+01:00

Ok, no group is immune from crime, but this Astronaut-Crime strikes me as a bit "odd".

Lisa Marie Nowak, Astronaut, drove all night from Houston to Orlando, wearing diapers do she would not have to stop, to kidnap her rival for the affections of another Astronaut.

Jilted, diapered astronaut planned to kidnap rival - boingboing

Diapers so she would not have to stop? Life is stranger than fiction.

Nice and unclean fun

2007-02-03T22:34:00.000+01:00

The Cleverest.com

(via)

Unlike any other ever seen

2007-02-03T14:11:00.000+01:00

This speech by Bush is very revealing.

"On September the 11th, enemies of freedom committed an act of war against our country. [...]

This group and its leader -- a person named Osama bin Laden -- are linked to many other organizations in different countries, including the Egyptian Islamic Jihad and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan. There are thousands of these terrorists in more than 60 countries. [...]

Our war on terror begins with al Qaeda, but it does not end there. It will not end until every terrorist group of global reach has been found, stopped and defeated. [...]

Their leaders are self-appointed. They hate our freedoms -- our freedom of religion, our freedom of speech, our freedom to vote and assemble and disagree with each other. [...]

With every atrocity, they hope that America grows fearful [...]

We will direct every resource at our command [...]

[This] war will not be like the war against Iraq a decade ago, with the decisive liberation of territory and a swift conclusion. [...]

Our response involves far more than instant retaliation and isolated strikes.

Americans should not expect one battle, but a lengthy campaign unlike any other we have ever seen. [...]

Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists."

Iran's Goldstein and the Proliferation of Lies - YouTube

“As usual, the face of Emmanuel Goldstein, the Enemy of the People, had flashed on to the screen. There were hisses here and there among the audience. [...]

The social atmosphere is that of a besieged city [...]

[The] consciousness of being at war, and therefore in danger, makes the handing-over of all power to a small caste seem the natural, unavoidable condition of survival. [...]

It does not matter whether the war is actually happening, and, since no decisive victory is possible, it does not matter whether the war is going well or badly. All that is needed is that a state of war should exist.”

Eric Arthur Blair at his best. If anybody thinks that this war will end, once the Demorats are in power, they are wrong. This war will continue, like a smoldering fire, incinerate everybodies freedoms, everybodies economy and with it countless lives. It will leave behind a fascist US nation with a military economy.

BTW: I like how Rumsfled defends himself by calling out on the actions of Hussein against Iran.

Google Video Search finds YouTube too

2007-02-02T23:17:00.000+01:00

Since when is this the case?

Sibel Edmonds - Google Video

Clandestine Networks

2007-02-02T21:06:00.000+01:00

At any given point in time, there are dozens if not thousands of competitive political and economic groups engaging in secret planning and activities, and most are doing so in an effort to gain some advantage over their rivals among the others. Such behind-the-scene operations are present on every level, from the mundane efforts of small-scale retailers to gain competitive advantage by being the first to develop new product lines to the crucially important attempts by rival secret services to penetrate and manipulate each other. Sometimes the patterns of these covert rivalries and struggles are relatively stable over time, whereas at other times they appear fluid and kaleidoscopic, as different groups secretly shift alliances and change tactics in accordance with their perceived interests. Even internally, within particular groups operating clandestinely, there are typically bitter disagreements between various factions over the specific courses of action to be adopted.

'Conspiracy Theories' and Clandestine Politics

The American Twilight

2007-02-02T19:46:00.000+01:00

SE: It's like the Twilight Zone in there – you have to keep the Pakistani translators on one side of the room and the Indians on the other, or they will come to blows. You have to keep the Hebrew translators separated from the Arabic ones, and so on. It's so unprofessional it's ridiculous. Most of the time people spend trying to dig up dirt on one another. Really.
...
CD: Sibel, I know you made a lot of complaints about several other examples of corruption and incompetence beyond the ones we have time to discuss. Can you just explain a little about how your superiors received your complaints?

SE: Sure. They used what we call the "hooking" procedure. When I first reported some of these translations failures and stalling tactics in December 2001 to my superiors, my mid-level manager said to me, "Now, Sibel, I understand you've been taking on a lot of coursework at your university. Why not take advantage of our workplace opportunities?"

When I asked him what he meant, this boss suggested that I could "bring my school bag" to work on Saturdays and Sundays, and just study. No work. I wouldn't even have to turn on my computer. He told me that I should then put myself down as having worked all those hours on the time sheet, so that, you know, I would be making something like $700 in a weekend – specifically for not working!
CD: Incredible.

SE: And this is what they say when you file a complaint.

CD: So is that the extent of how they tried to appease you and forestall complaints, or do you have other examples?

SE: That's funny, there is another really amazing example. They would come to me and say, "Sibel, we understand you've been going back to Turkey a couple of times a year to visit family. Before you go the next time, just let us know. We'll make it a TDY" [paid travel]. And all I'd have to do is stop off in some liaison office in Ankara a couple times, make my little appearance, and suddenly all my flights, hotels and expenses would be paid for by the FBI. I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

CD: An offer you couldn't refuse, huh? I imagine most people in your position would take it.

SE: Oh, so many people will go for it … but if you do, then they [the FBI] can use it against you. Maybe discover irregularities in your expenses at some later date, "forged" documents, or else just hold it over your head. They love to do things like that to hold you in their power.

An Interview with Sibel Edmonds - by Christopher Deliso

Read the interview, it gets much more political.

I had to think of the quote: Crooked cops. Do they come in any other way?

Oil, Gas, Drugs and Cars - The pillars of our economy

2007-02-02T19:11:00.000+01:00

Narcotics are estimated to be worth between $500 billion and $1 trillion a year, an amount, according to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan in remarks to a United Nations General Assembly session in June 2003, that is greater than the global oil and gas industry, and twice as large as the overall automobile industry.

The Global Drug Meta-Group: Drugs, Managed Violence, and the Russian 9/11 (via)

I think a close runner-up is the military.

“The French lost in Viet Nam? What else would you expect from the French? Never happen to us.”

2007-02-01T23:55:00.000+01:00

Some military philosophers favor actually removing from military libraries books on what happened to the French in Viet Nam, the Americans in Viet Nam, the Russians in Afghanistan, the Americans in Afghanistan (a work in progress), the French in Algeria, the Americans in Iraq (also in progress), the Israelis in Lebanon the first time, the Israelis in Lebanon the last time, the Americans in Lebanon 1983, the Americans in Somalia the first time, and so on. However, the best thinkers hold that it doesn’t matter what books are in military libraries, as only those on stirring victories will be checked out.
...
Insist that the US military never loses wars. Instead, it is betrayed, stabbed in the back, and brought low by treason. For example, argue furiously that the US didn’t lose in Viet Nam, but won gloriously; the withdrawal was due to the treachery of Democrats, Jews, hippies, the press, most of the military, and a majority of the general population, all of whom were traitors. This avoids the unpleasantness of learning anything from defeat. Further, it facilitates a focus on controlling the press, who are the real enemy, along with the Democrats and the general population.

Fred On Everything - A True Son of Tzu

(via fefe - in German)

Fake crimes and real victims

2007-01-30T22:46:00.000+01:00

As of 2003, over 6.9 million people were under some form of correctional supervision in the United States . Said another way, as of today, we have about seven million people in this “free” country either in jail, prison, probation or parole; that’s one in 32 adults. As of December 2003, we have 2.1 million people in cages, most of them for non-violent “crimes,” and the majority of those are drug-related.

For every 100,000 of population, there are 686 people in cages. The United States has more people in cages than any other country on earth. Worldwide, there are about nine million people in prison. Most of the other countries have incarceration rates of 150 per 100,000. By comparison, the United Kingdom has a rate of 139 per 100,000. In the United States , one of every 75 men are in jail. If you go further and break this down by race, about eight of every 75 black men are in prison.

I am not saying that there are not people who should be in prison, but certainly not at the rate the United States has, and certainly not for a “free” country. Most of these people are in cages for doing nothing more than smoking something that is as natural as tobacco. Most of them have never harmed another person, and are certainly not a threat to anyone. These victimless “crimes” I like to call “fake crimes.”
...
If recent incarceration rates remain unchanged, an estimated one of every 20 Americans can be expected to serve time in prison during their lifetime. For African-American men, the number is greater than one in four.
...
Here are some more interesting statistics. Every year in this country, 8,000 to 14,000 people die from illegal drugs. Now compare that to over 500,000 that die from “legal” drugs (tobacco, liquor and prescriptions). This is roughly a 50 to 1 ratio. Alcohol alone is involved in seven times more violent crimes than all illegal substances combined, yet our government continues to hugely subsidize alcohol and tobacco, while demonizing those who would exercise a different choice.

The War on Humanity

Pop Quiz

2007-01-30T22:25:00.000+01:00

Who invented the phrase "To slap the members of a certain nation off the map"?

Sorry, wrong answer.

Cui Bono?

2007-01-30T20:24:00.000+01:00

Michael S. Rozeff asks a very good question about the war on terror.

On the benefit side, the war on terror provides important benefits to

1. The state. It is the occasion of state power-grabs. In particular, President Bush prefers that the president be Cæsar, garbed with dictatorial powers over both the rest of the government and the lives of Americans. In addition, the war on terror seeks to make the state’s image of protection indispensable to every American as well as a long-running affair.

2. The military-industrial complex. The contractors gaining from fat war contracts are well-known. Some of these link directly to key administration officials. But most of them contribute to both political parties.

3. The state’s bureaucracies. The Department of Homeland Security is a prime beneficiary. Other beneficiaries are the many officials who make up Washington’s bureaucratic apparatus in other departments and agencies.

4. The Israel lobby. This administration and both parties are larded with pro-Israel figures who had no little influence in instigating the war on terror.

The benefits reach to many others, such as various power-hungry intellectuals who champion internationalism. They reach to Americans who obtain the psychic benefits of flag-waving, cheering, blood-lust, phony patriotism, displays of U.S. military might. They reach to banking and oil interests. For example, Afghanistan is supposed to be a transit area for a new pipeline.

Well, I think 3 and 4 are the weakest points and even number 1 is not the motor behind the actions we see, as I said before. He then goes on to write about "Imperialism", which he only vaguely defines. I say follow the buck, see who profits. There is a motive.

Must Read

2007-01-30T18:02:00.000+01:00

Money by Stef: Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3

Sure, right

2007-01-28T23:40:00.000+01:00

U.S. Soldiers Killed by English Speaking “Insurgents” Who Were Armed with American Made Weapons and Driving Black SUVs

Oh, yeah, the man leading the attack had blond hair.

And what’s the story with the non sequitur about “the computer” mentioned about 2/3 of the way down?

But just wait, you haven’t heard the best part.

According to the story: This was the work of Iranian intelligence agents.

(via fefe, in German)

Believe it. Or not. I don't care

2007-01-28T23:28:00.000+01:00

The Albanian government has seized the assets of a wealthy Saudi that, for several years, reportedly maintained simultaneous connections to both al-Qaeda and the U.S. government while serving the interests of the CIA.

Ptech owner's assets confiscated in Albania

At least the his sources are extensive...

(via fefe, in German)

Clint's conspiracy theory

2007-01-26T22:56:00.000+01:00

Just watched Flags of our father and noticed two thing:
- The film makes the forties in the USA look a bit like 1984: Buy War Bonds!
- The film mentions a couple of times an almost bankrupt USA and once Arabs wanting gold for their oil.

The last one got me thinking (I know, a bit thing to do) about when these strange ties between the Saudis and the US started. It wasn't Bush Jr. in the eighties or Bush Sr. in the sixties, no, I think by that time the Saudis were already "Big in the USA". The Saudis had a foot in the door at least since World War II. I need to look more into this.

And I think Clint Eastwood might be a fan of conspiracy theories.

Sorry, I have to keep it short, don't have much time...

ps.: The film wasn't bad, it fitted well into my view of the world, but I am bored of the US perspective of things, having seen Private Ryan, Thin Red Line, Band of Brothers, etc. I am looking forward to seeing Letters from Iwo Jima, to see the perspective of the Japanese. After all, some people claim that Japan, cut of from oil by the US, had to attack Pearl Harbour, a sort of preemptive strike that could avoid the war. And that US government wanted war, but not the public. Don't know, but seems plausible.

To: Jeff Bezos, CEO, Amazon.com

2007-01-22T23:33:00.000+01:00

To: Jeff Bezos, CEO, Amazon.com

As longtime Amazon customers, we are deeply disturbed by your treatment of Jimmy Carter's important new book, Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid.

Under the "Editorial Reviews" heading – a space normally used either for the publisher's own description of a book, or for short, even-handed summaries from listing services such as Booklist and Publishers Weekly – you insist on running the complete, 20-paragraph, 1,636-word text of a review unabashedly hostile to Carter's viewpoint. You have refused to add information shoppers should have in evaluating this review: the fact that the reviewer, Jeffrey Goldberg, is a citizen of Israel as well as the United States, and that he volunteered to serve in the Israeli Defense Forces, for which he worked as a guard at a prison for Palestinian detainees. And you have refused to balance his negative review by giving comparable space to a favorable assessment of the book, even though positive reviews by qualified experts have appeared in many reputable publications.

Because giving so much space in this location to such a negative review is so unusual – if not unprecedented – for Amazon, and because you have refused requests from many customers that you take a more balanced approach, we can only conclude that you are deliberately trying to discourage shoppers from ordering the former President's book.

This is contrary to Amazon's own interests as a bookseller. More important, it's also contrary to the interests of understanding, peace, and justice for all parties to the Israel/Palestine conflict

We are not interested in supporting a corporation that uses its power in the marketplace in such a biased and unconstructive way on such an important issue.

Accordingly, if you do not, by Jan. 22, remove the Goldberg review, move it to the more appropriate "See all Editorial Reviews" page, or restore a semblance of balance by giving comparable space and prominence to a more positive evaluation of Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid, we the undersigned pledge to:

1. Stop shopping at Amazon.com;

2. Completely close our accounts on your service; and

3. Encourage our friends, family, and associates to do likewise.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

Tell Amazon to Treat Carter's Book Fairly Petition
(via Arne Hoffmann)

I wouldn't worry about Iran

2007-01-21T22:17:00.000+01:00

I would worry about Saudi Arabia instead. (At least if I could stop worrying about the US)

Just maybe

2007-01-21T21:14:00.000+01:00

“No civilians were killed or injured.”

Somalia air strike failed to kill al-Qaida targets, says US | The Guardian

"It's pretty clear that this administration will continue to go after al-Qaida," the White House spokesman, Tony Snow, told a press conference. "People who think they can establish a safe haven for al-Qaida any place have to know that we are going to find them."

US launches air strikes at al-Qaida suspects | The Guardian

I ~~think~~ fear that many people in the US goverment, military and intelligence honestly think that they could fight "terrorism" (Or al-Qaida, as they call it) with AC-130 gunships and cruise missiles.

There are people with some sort of rationality in the US, alas, not in a position that they could do much about this:

"It's akin to the heart of darkness, just shooting into the jungle," said Bob Baer, a former CIA agent. "At the end of the day you are just making more enemies."

On a side note, I find it strange that it seems like the US has with al-Qaida only one enemy. Everybody they kill, everybody they "arrest", everybody they suspect of anything is automatically called "a member of al-Qaida". Why don't people cry out "BULLSHIT!", I ask myself? Are people really that stupid, that they believe those lies? This is Vietnam all over again, just exchange Vietcong with al-Qaida, exchange the region around Vietnam with the entire world.

If the US continues this kind of logic, it is only a question of time if the next al-Qaida suspects in the US are killed by an AC-130 flying somewhere over Philadelphia, Seattle or Des Moines (while wiping out half a block). But those in power in the US may be ruthless, but they are not stupid. I guess when the US military starts carpet bombing LA, maybe the people in the US would wake up. Just maybe.

We all suck

2007-01-20T23:01:00.000+01:00

Car Bomb Derby

Everybody should watch more Bill Hicks.

How could I overlook this?

2007-01-20T20:52:00.000+01:00

Sorry, old news, but it seems like I overlooked this one:

2000: director of a company which wins $200m contract to sell nuclear reactors to North Korea
2002: declares North Korea a terrorist state, part of the axis of evil and a target for regime change

The two faces of Rumsfeld | Guardian

Jedi Mind Tricks - Shadow Business

2007-01-20T17:32:00.000+01:00

A little video, with music by the group Jedi Mind Tricks, mixed together with bits of different documentaries, such as "The Corporation" just to name one. There are many angry people, people who are not happy about the world today, I am not alone in being angry. The question is what we are going to do with our anger.

Jedi Mind Tricks - Shadow Business (YouTube)

When you over in American Samoa, what…what surprised you the most?

I guess what hit me the most is the condition of the factory that the workers were in. The factory was surrounded by a fence and barbed wire on top and on the bottom. And they have a chain-linked fence around the whole factory and, and dormitory compound. The gate has a…has a guard shack, where the guard sit there and control the worker movement in and out of the.. of the factory

The factory are made of ahm, ahm.. tin panels with tin roof. Ahm, it’s really hot. The temperature over there is verily ninety degrees and inside the factory or the dormitory it reaches way over a hundred degrees.

Yeah
It’s the contemporary form of slavery, they call it slave labour
But they don’t prosecute them cuz it’s how they make paper
When you're rocking that fly shit that’s made in China
By an eight year old child tryin' to feed his mama
He is exposed to contamination and disease
And only fifty-five percent of them will get degrees
And the women have to try to placate the boss
Because it’s sex discrimination in the labour force
The slave master only let them speak in sign language
And they’re suffering from lung disease and eye damage
fourteen hour shifts, seven days a week
two shitty meals a day, very little sleep
Human life only worth three cents an hour
All human right laws loose sense of power
What did four hundred years in the grave pass us?
Only the improved cleverness of slave masters

Is life worth living if you living in hell?
When the mind is confined to a prisoner’s cell?
And the lies they devise in the system that fell
But I expect the system to fail
Is life worth living if you living in hell?
When the mind is confined to a prisoner’s cell?
And the lies they devise in the system that fell
But I expect the system to fail

Many Chinese workers are forced to sign secret agreements, known as shadow contracts, before they leave China, severely and, in some ways, illegally restricting their activities while on American soil. Workers are forbidden to participate in any religious or political activity or to ask for a salary increase or even to fall in love or get married.

It’s one point six million people locked in jail
They do new slave labour force trapped in hell
They generate over a billion dollars worth of power
And only getting paid twenty cents an hour
They make cloths for McDonald’s and for Apple Bee’s
And working fourteen hour shifts in prison factories
And while we sit around debating who to wack MCs
They have to work when arthritic pain attack the knees
Slavery is not illegal, that’s a fucking lie!
It is illegal, unless it’s for conviction of a crime
The main objective is to get you in your fucking prime
And keep the prison full and not give you a fucking dime
But they are the real criminal keeping you confined
For a petty crime but they give you two-to-nine
And ain’t nobody there to protect ya
Except a bunch of incompetent human rights inspectors

Is life worth living if you living in hell?
When the mind is confined to a prisoner’s cell?
And the lies they devise in the system that fell
But I expect the system to fail
Is life worth living if you living in hell?
When the mind is confined to a prisoner’s cell?
And the lies they devise in the system that fell
But I expect the system to fail

Jail is modern slavery. It's all, it's all racism and it's all politics. Like I said before, it's all about paper. What I mean, the more I lock you up, the more money I can make.

[Inaudible] and how [inaudible], the old slavery and the prison industrial system is the same system today.

Tu Xiao Mei says she refused to have the abortion and has now been barred from entering the factory.

Allowing it to bring them onto US soil is a very deep concern. We've now documented the facts that management coerces female workers who become pregnant into having abortions.

But human rights workers say it's common practice.

Inside that factory Chinese law applies, and Chinese law is… is supreme.

Even though it's the United States of America?

The flag doesn't fly inside there.

(via Baseblog - Jedi Mind Tricks - Shadow Business in German)

www.google.com.jm????

2007-01-20T13:21:00.000+01:00

Why is the new (as in no-more-beta) blogger.com using google.com.jm for log in??? Strange, strange. We are all Jamaicians?

Google analytics on blogger comment pages

2007-01-20T00:51:00.000+01:00

This is a bit strange, blogger.com is using google-analytics to track users on the "Post a Comment On" pages. I would presume they have the log-files anyway, so the only reason that comes to my mind, why they do this is because google-analytics has better analysis -tools than they have.

But still, what is strange that they have such an interest in who leaves comments. (They don't seem to care as much about who is visiting the blogs hosted by them).

I posted it here, let's see if someone comes up with an answer.

The full spectrum of humans

2007-01-19T17:24:00.000+01:00

Ice is Dangerous, even in Portland

(via boingboing)

It happens everytime, it happens to all of us. We are perfectly capable to misjudge any given situation and make a pretty mess of it. I know, I too can make a misjudgement and not even notice it. And that is the fightening part. I did things I knew were risky (like driving too fast around the Nürburg-Ring). Knowing something could go wrong is good. So even if you think everything is just peachy, one should expect the grim reaper around the corner. Not to frighten yourself, more to avoid him...

Sometime ago I had a boss, who was convinced that he didn't make any errors. You could see it his eyes, you knew it when you talked with him. He just was always right. Or at least he thought it, if he would have thought about it. For some strange reason, it seems that people who tend to be upper in the food chain are more likely to develop this kind disorder. I don't know if it is necessary to climb to higher grounds or if it just helps, same as having no conscience at all or total disregard to the well-being of other human beings. It makes me wonder if the leaders of our world are intentionaly reckless or just have some sort of disorder, like a sort of Anti-Autism.

I recently heard from one report (I guess it was on TV...) that some people believe that Autism is not really a disorder, it is more like some internal parameters are skewed. Less social interaction, at the same time stronger empathie towards others, stronger perception of (mis-)justice (compared to "normal" people, at least with some Autists).

Autism is classified as a neurodevelopmental disorder that manifests in delays of "social interaction, language as used in social communication, or symbolic or imaginative play,"
...
Autism is often not physiologically obvious, in that outward appearance may not indicate a disorder, and diagnosis typically comes from a complete physical and neurological evaluation.
...
Some autistic children and adults are opposed to attempts to cure autism, because they see autism as part of who they are, and in some cases they perceive attempts of a cure to be intensive and unnatural.

So what if some people are simply on the other end of the Autistic Spectrum (As opposed to the "severe" end of the spectrum)? Very good social skills, at the same time total lack of empathie towards others and ignorance of justice? And would this be considered a disorder? Would this help to become an influential person, like a leader of a nation or a big corporation? And would this be the kind of person you would like to have in this kind of position?

The article about the Autistic Spectrum mentions something about "hypersocialization", but aunt google finds only 293 hits. I feel inclined to delete this "fact" from wikipedia.

I really should not read medical articles, knowing I am a hypochonder I feel like I'm ~~an Autist~~ someone with Asperger Syndrom ...

As a side note: Once I was in a similar situation as the YouTube video, winter came early, the car I drove had summer tyres, I made the wrong judgement to drive by car, but I made the right judgment (sometimes I do that) to wait for authorities to "defrost" the street. Someone was speeding by in his car. I opened the window and made a gesture towards him with my hand, signaling him to slow down. The driver hit the brakes, the car turned slightly, the driver sling open the door, jumped out and - fell. He just fell down straight before he even got his second foot on the ground. I think he wanted to beat me. Well, this was the fastest case of instant karma I have witnessed. (He crawled back to his car and didn't bother me any further)

In related news: Idiot labeled as terrorist and Oh my, this guy is good.

DOOVDE

2007-01-18T23:09:00.001+01:00

Usually I hate these phone-prank shows, but this is nicely done:
Fonejacker

Easily angered religious zealots

2007-01-18T21:55:00.000+01:00

These people operate at a very very low level of mental health.

Secret Life of Brian

In related news:

Don't Get Me Started - What's Wrong With Blasphemy?

Interesting

2007-01-18T21:02:00.000+01:00

Bertrand Russell: 16 Questions on the Assassination [of JFK] - Wikipedia

(via stef/cmain)

Clean Skin, Dirty Job

2007-01-16T22:55:00.000+01:00

The 7 July bombers who killed 52 people in terrorist attacks in London in 2005 were once described by Britain's security service as 'clean skins'.

The vivid phrase implied that a gang of homegrown terrorists had come from nowhere, without an intelligence trail.
...
MI5 now admit that far from being a 'clean skin', Khan had been on their radar screen since 2003. And The Observer can now reveal that more than a year before he detonated his Tube bomb, Khan had been listed as a 'desirable suspect' by MI5, along with fellow bomber Shehzad Tanweer.

7/7 ringleader 'was watched since 2003' - The Observer

Who would have thought that they lied about this? But it gets better:

'If the threat was the same as in 2005 - that is, we were looking at 50 potential terror networks in the UK - we would have a better chance of picking up somebody like Khan. But we are now dealing with some 200 potential terror networks in the UK and to be quite honest we wouldn't have a hope in hell.'

Nice, eh? We lied, because we couldn't cope with the problem and were too embarrassed. But now we tell the truth that there is danger for you and would you be so nice to increase our budget, pretty please?

'We can't put every person who expresses anger about British foreign policy under 24-hour surveillance, or we would be talking about a Stasi-style secret police force.'

Lucky me. Isn't it interesting, how the state is dedicated to rather watch those without power than those with power? As if those without power could come close to inflicting the amount of harm those with power do. And again, this is a global trend. Sigh.

By the way, there is a difference between having your state employing the Stasi and 24-hour surveillance of all suspects. There is a book by a chap named Eric Arthur Blair (no relation to Tony, I hope) telling you a bit about the later.

In (un)related news, I was thinking about a definition of neoliberalism. I think I would sum it up to:

ne·o·lib·er·al·ism (nē'ō-lĭb'ər-ə-lĭz'əm, -lĭb'rə-)
n.
Theory that those best at pocketing wealth should keep it.

No state, no moral, no laws, nothing. Just grab what you can, the best at this game will keep what they seized. The market will take care of it. Simple and clean, eh?

So, work harder, my slaves, or I will have to club you. (See Social Darwinism)

What a Bunch of Hypocrites

2007-01-15T18:06:00.000+01:00

Apple has a history of using lawyers against bloggers. There was the now infamous Think Secret lawsuit, which may have had merit. But they also engage in clearly superfluous, bullying tactics as well. In August we received a letter from Apple’s lawyers demanding that we remove an embedded YouTube video showing features from OSX 10.5. We felt this was an extreme position to take - Apple could have simply requested YouTube to remove the video. And this wasn’t a trade secrets issue - they also had a very similar video up on their own website.

Today Apple is engaging in similar tactics against a number of bloggers who simply reported on the fact that someone created a skin for Windows Mobile phones that looks exactly like the new iPhone user interface.

Apple Bullies Bloggers, Again - Tech Crunch

From the company that advertises with Rosa Parks.

Once again we're reminded that Apple is a company with a conscience. Apple's home page bears this historic photo of Rosa Parks, icon of the civil rights movement, who passed away yesterday at age 92.

Haha, what a bunch of hypocrites.

Hypocrisy is the act of pretending or claiming to have beliefs, feelings, morals or virtues that one does not truly possess or practice.

It is nice when the effects of the reality-distortion-field start to fade out. Besides being overpriced, closed off to the public, obsoleted in two years time by the 3G iPhone and manufactured by Chinese slaves in conditions dangerous to everybody and the environment, it is promoted by a company of hypocrites. Because the other companies are worse, I will not buy a new phone or computer unless I absolutely have to. Thank ~~god~~ fully I don't have to at the moment. OK, my current mobile phone sucks and a laptop would be nice, but I don't really need a new piece of equipment for which the equivalent landmass of Liechtenstein had to be converted to something resembling the surface of the moon.

A contrived Gulf of Tonkin-type incident

2007-01-15T02:56:00.001+01:00

"Let us hope I am wrong about this one."

What a shame

2007-01-13T22:03:00.000+01:00

Iraq has run out of reconstruction money. The funds in the so-called Development Fund for Iraq – some $20 billion of Iraqi money – were spent by Paul Bremer’s Coalition Provisional Authority in the first year of the occupation. The US Embassy in Baghdad has spent virtually all of the $18.4 billion that Congress appropriated for ‘rebuilding’ the country; $5.6 billion of it was used to run the embassy, promote American ‘values’ and set up the new armed forces and police. Most of the American money never even gets to Iraq. The bulk of it has gone to American consultants, or into American contractors’ international bank accounts.
The Least Accountable Regime in the Middle East

This is an outrage, a fucking shame. There are not enough people to hang in the US government and in the boards of the companies like KBR and a like, to bring justice to Iraq. Fuck. And I say this despite the fact that I am usually against the "capital" punishment.

Boing Boing: RIAA strategy originates with 17th Centure button-makery

2007-01-13T17:28:00.000+01:00

Shortly after the matter of cloth weaving has been disposed of, the button makers guild raises a cry of outrage; the tailors are beginning to make buttons out of cloth, an unheard-of thing. The government, indignant that an innovation should threaten a settled industry, imposes a fine on the cloth-button makers. But the wardens of the button guild are not yet satisfied. They demand the right to search people's homes and wardrobes and fine and even arrest them on the streets if they are seen wearing these subversive goods.

Boing Boing: RIAA strategy originates with 17th Centure button-makery

Freedom Gaols

2007-01-13T16:12:00.000+01:00

No one truly knows a nation, until one has been inside its gaols.

Independent - Felipe Fernandez-Armesto: The accidental criminal

See: Yeah, because they hate your freedoms...

"Excellence"

2007-01-13T16:04:00.000+01:00

I once received an invitation to lecture at "The University of Excellence". I forget where this particular academy was located - Jordan, I think - but I recall very clearly that the suggested subject of my talk was as incomprehensible to me as it would, no doubt, have been to any audience. Invitation rejected. Only this week I received another request, this time to join "ethics practitioners" to "share evidence-based practices on dealing with current ethical practices" around the world. What on earth does this mean? Why do people write like this?

Independent Online Edition - Robert Fisk: This jargon disease is choking language

Plans for the future

2007-01-11T22:55:00.000+01:00

After expanding the closed circuit system throughout all the Great Britain, inside people's homes, installing screens and loudspeakers near the cameras and giving the police a "shoot first, have a party and if anyone remembers this a month later, ask questions" policy, the UK government decided they will adopt a single party system and change the name of the country to Airstrip one, because "That's way cooler". Critics claim this idea isn't new, but the government had postponed it because communism unexpectedly fell and they didn't have a reason to enforce "security measures" anymore. Luckily the U.S. started this war on terror thing and now they look at the future with glee. Citizens of the U.K. currently await for what the future reserves, but are sure it will be doupleplusgood.

United Kingdom of America (and Northern Iceland) - Uncyclopedia

Warning, this Uncyclopeida is highly addictive...



Richard O'Brien Dawkins,
Current Arch-Skeptic for the Ministry of Truth

The Jobs is wicked

2007-01-11T02:23:00.000+01:00

No, you don't want to sell your HD content now. You don't need to see our plans for HD. Move along.

Steve Jobs To Hollywood: Just Say "No" To High-Definition DVD The Mac Observer

Hehe, The Jobs is truely wicked. Two Words: iMovie Store

Will they be in for a surprise

2007-01-10T08:11:00.000+01:00

So the iPhone got introduced. Nice, I was waiting for this. Ok, I will be waiting some more time for it to be mine, but hey, this seems like a great product.

I noted two things while watching the iPhone Demo:

1. Steve Jobs used the Beatles song "With a little help from my friends" as the first song to demo the iPod inside the iPhone. Interesting, after all that trouble Beatles/Apple Records have given him. But "The Jobs" will prevail, I guess.

2. There was ~~a clown~~ the CEO from Cingular/AT&T on stage (at around 01:08 in the iPhone stream), who hadn't had a slightest clue what he was doing there ("The Jobs" is not stage because he is the CEO of Apple, he is on stage because he is the only one who can handle the Realty-Distortion-Field TM) and seemed mainly happy that Cingular bullied Apple into having the iPhone only working with them. Boy, will he be in for a surprise, exclusive contract or not.

As Steve said right after the AT&T business speach:

We come from pretty differents worlds, the telco industry, the computer industry and of course music with the iPod. And we love these guys!

Yeah, Steve loves AT&T, just as he loved the majors five years ago. This CEO-guy finishes his speach and one of the first things Steve mentions is music with the iPod, wink, wink? The iPhone will be to cellular carriers what the iPod has been to music companies. Just wait and see how Apple will bully them in their own Apple kind of way. Again, "The Jobs" will prevail. At least, that is what I hope.

And in the meantime, Microsoft is going to try to kill the iPod with its Zune, forgetting that Apple is actually killing the (old) iPod with the (new) iPod every year, and this year killing it in part with the iPhone.

Fictional Fascist America Novel

2007-01-10T07:09:00.000+01:00

Boing Boing: Roth's "Plot Against America" - chilling alternate fascist America

As opposed to the real fascist America.

You can have your free country, but not here

2007-01-10T06:34:00.000+01:00

The policing of the protests during the 2004 Republican National Convention represents another interesting model of repression. The NYPD tracked every planned action and set up traps. As marches began, police would emerge from their hiding places — building vestibules, parking garages, or vans — and corral the dissenters with orange netting that read 'POLICE LINE – DO NOT CROSS,' establishing areas they ironically called 'ad-hoc free speech zones.' One by one, protesters were arrested and detained—some for nearly two days.
...
Prominent examples of recent free speech zones are those set up by the Secret Service, who scout locations where the U.S. president is scheduled to speak, or pass through. Officials will target those who carry anti-Bush signs and escort them to the free speech zones prior to and during the event. Reporters are often barred by local officials from displaying these protesters on camera or speaking to them within the zone.

Free speech zone - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Yeah, because they hate your freedoms...

2007-01-10T06:08:00.000+01:00

On Thursday, just after noon, the Tufts historian Felipe Fernandez-Armesto was arrested by Atlanta police as he crossed the middle of the street between the Hilton and Hyatt hotels. After being thrown on the ground and handcuffed, the former Oxford don was formally arrested, his hands cuffed behind his back. Several policemen pressed hard on his neck and chest, leaving the mild-mannered scholar, who's never gotten so much as a parking ticket, bruised and in pain. He was then taken to the city detention center along with other accused felons and thrown into a filthy jail cell filled with prisoners. He remained incarcerated for eight hours.

Reporter's Notebook: Highlights from the 2007 Annual Meeting of the American Historical Association

Nice

2007-01-10T06:02:00.000+01:00

Boing Boing: How to earn $180k by smuggling flour-filled condoms

Mysteries and Puzzles

2007-01-10T05:55:00.000+01:00

The national-security expert Gregory Treverton has famously made a distinction between puzzles and mysteries. Osama bin Laden’s whereabouts are a puzzle. We can’t find him because we don’t have enough information. The key to the puzzle will probably come from someone close to bin Laden, and until we can find that source bin Laden will remain at large.

Boing Boing: Gladwell on mysteries vs. puzzles

Well, the question where Osama is, is a puzzle. But the question if he is a real person and not a invention of some boys working in Langley, that question is in my eyes a mystery.

Scientists do that?

2007-01-10T03:51:00.000+01:00

Pseudoskepticism? I am shocked!

I found this after reading this:

Cold Fusion is a pariah field, cast out by the scientific establishment. Between Cold Fusion and respectable science there is virtually no communication at all. Cold fusion papers are almost never published in refereed scientific journals, with the result that those works don't receive the normal critical scrutiny that science requires. On the other hand, because the Cold-Fusioners see themselves as a community under siege, there is little internal criticism. Experiments and theories tend to be accepted at face value, for fear of providing even more fuel for external critics, if anyone outside the group was bothering to listen. In these circumstances, crackpots flourish, making matters worse for those who believe that there is serious science going on here.

Still, this wikipedia article claims that (just in case you have missed it reading your local science magazine):

The search of the products of nuclear fusion has resulted in conflicting evidences, leading two thirds of the DOE reviewers to exclude the possibility of nuclear reactions in these experiments in 2004. One additional reason for many to exclude a nuclear origin for the effect is that current physics theory cannot explain how fusion could occur in these experiments, and how the energy generated could be converted into heat (as opposed to radiation or other nuclear products). Still, in 2006, Mosier-Boss and Szpak, researchers in the U.S. Navy's Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center San Diego, reported unambiguous evidences of nuclear reactions, and a project has been set-up to facilitate its independent replication.

I really like the "still" in the last sentence. "Everybody knows it is bullshit, and even if it is real, these pariahs have no clue at all what it is, and still they go ahead, waste money on experiments, that seem to claim we are wrong. Unblievable."

One has to love the scientific community.

And I like the agnostic position of the US Patent Office, accepting a patent on cold fusion in 2001. Not that I like the patent system, and accepting a patent on something highly dicredited in the scientific community shows a part of the problems, but this agnostic approach has its charme.

The only true lunatics

2007-01-09T04:44:00.000+01:00

"NASA Airbrushed UFOs / Lunar Base Towers" - Google Video

Only a trailer.

In the name of science, people, these are stitching artefacts and lunar craters! And the photos of this large hanger are from a wind tunnel?

A really eerie place

2007-01-09T04:29:00.000+01:00

After reading this nice conspircay theory (more some thoughts than a theory) about the London fire of 1666 (don't miss page 1), I stumbled on the Tavistock Institute. And quite frankly I find this a bit disturbing:

According to its website, the Institute engages in educational, research, and consultancy work in the social sciences and applied psychology. Its clients are chiefly public sector organizations, including the European Union, several British government departments, and some private clients.

Add this to the 7/7 bus bombing happening at Tavistock Square and it makes me have a shiver run down my spine.

I need to apologize

2007-01-09T03:47:00.000+01:00

I need to apologize for any German language post (again), they were meant to go here: cc:Welt

Sorry!

Does it really matter?

2007-01-09T03:35:00.000+01:00

“If people freak at evolution, etc.,” he wrote in an e-mail message, “how much more will they freak if scientists and philosophers tell them they are nothing more than sophisticated meat machines, and is that conclusion now clearly warranted or is it premature?”

Free Will: Now You Have It, Now You Don’t - New York Times

And if I should ever have pets (or kids), I'm going to name them Nihil and Desesperación. No, not really, just joking.

(via The Dilbert Blog)

Doller "Supernotes" made by the CIA?

2007-01-07T14:06:00.000+01:00

FAZ.NET - Geldfälschung: Stammen die „Supernotes“ von der CIA? (English translation by google)

A short article, in German only, but what they say is that the supernotes, very good falsified 50 and 100 Dollar notes, are made not by North-Korea, instead they are made by - TADA! - the CIA to fund its dirty operations.

I love a good conspiracy theory, especially if it fits my view of the world :-)

And no, both the FAZ (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung) and the FAS (Sunday edition) are no left-wing conspiracy nuts. While featureing diverse views, they are more conservative and US-friendly, supporting the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

Superplusgood

2007-01-06T23:34:00.000+01:00

Doublespeak - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article or section may be confusing or unclear for some readers.
...
This article appears to contradict itself.

Seems like some people at wikipedia have a sense of humour...