Fourteen Defining Characteristics Of Fascism

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Fourteen Defining

Characteristics Of Fascism

By Dr. Lawrence Britt

Source: Free Inquiry Magazine

5-28-2003

Dr. Lawrence Britt has examined the fascist regimes of Hitler (Germany), Mussolini (Italy), Franco (Spain), Suharto (Indonesia) and several Latin American regimes. Britt found 14 defining characteristics common to each one.

Black type are the original quotes, and red type are my comments.

1. Powerful and Continuing Nationalism - Fascist regimes tend to make constant use of patriotic mottos, slogans, symbols, songs, and other paraphernalia. Flags are seen everywhere, as are flag symbols on clothing and in public displays.
Of course it is American to display the flag, but better yet it is becoming so much Un-American to say anything against the country, leaders, or flag.

2. Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights - Because of fear of enemies and the need for security, the people in fascist regimes are persuaded that human rights can be ignored in certain cases because of "need." The people tend to look the other way or even approve of torture, summary executions, assassinations, long incarcerations of prisoners, etc.
Torture, laws about spying on citizens, locking people up with no trial or arrest, secret tribunals, secret arrests which by law can put you in a military court without representation.

3. Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause - The people are rallied into a unifying patriotic frenzy over the need to eliminate a perceived common threat or foe: racial , ethnic or religious minorities; liberals; communists; socialists, terrorists, etc.
Muslims are today being singled out as the leading terrorist cause. Just like the Jews in the 40’s, Muslims are all evil and should be exterminated. In order to better identify enemies at home we are being subjected to far worse screening then ever before. This is getting worse and worse. Our “trusted” news anchors are calling for extermination, and nukes over the Middle East.

4. Supremacy of the Military - Even when there are widespread

domestic problems, the military is given a disproportionate amount of government funding, and the domestic agenda is neglected. Soldiers and military service are glamorized.
Oh my gosh, do I even have to mention anything here? You don’t even have to believe anything we say, but it is pretty clear our military and contractors (the military industrial complex) get most of the money in the United States). We need to spend that money on MUCH needed home-side programs.

5. Rampant Sexism - The governments of fascist nations tend to be almost exclusively male-dominated. Under fascist regimes, traditional gender roles are made more rigid. Divorce, abortion and homosexuality are suppressed and the state is represented as the ultimate guardian of the family institution.
This is definitely the case in the USA. Although true Christian ideals are a good thing, please read #8 below as a fascist government twists these truths.

6. Controlled Mass Media - Sometimes to media is directly controlled by the government, but in other cases, the media is indirectly controlled by government regulation, or sympathetic media spokespeople and executives. Censorship, especially in war time, is very common.
Our mass media is way more than controlled. Our government buys multiple millions of dollars of advertisements, and at least a Billion dollars on one campaign of fake news. Our mainstream media just drools over the chance to spout more and more lies from the government, no matter how ridiculous they are.

7. Obsession with National Security - Fear is used as a motivational tool by the government over the masses.
Are you kidding me? The United States is a total state of fear now. Everything is National security this, and national security that. If something can be suppressed it will be.

8. Religion and Government are Intertwined - Governments in fascist nations tend to use the most common religion in the nation as a tool to manipulate public opinion. Religious rhetoric and terminology is common from government leaders, even when the major tenets of the religion are diametrically opposed to the government's policies or actions.
Most Christian leaders would NEVER in a million years agree with our foreign policy, yet we haven’t spoken up. Christians do NOT believe in torture, killing the innocent, or of many other policies our government is doing. For sure the amount of money laundering, stealing, and outright felonies our government perpetuates goes against all of God’s laws.

9. Corporate Power is Protected - The industrial and business aristocracy of a fascist nation often are the ones who put the government leaders into power, creating a mutually beneficial business/government relationship and power elite.
Corporatism is the United States one main Achilles heel. There are books and thousands of website postings on this one. Just Google it all up and see for yourself.

10. Labor Power is Suppressed - Because the organizing power of labor is the only real threat to a fascist government, labor unions are either eliminated entirely, or are severely suppressed.
I don’t know much about this one. Maybe somebody can e-mail about unions. We should get some really good labor lawyers to find out what the trend is here.

11. Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts - Fascist nations tend to promote and tolerate open hostility to higher education, and academia. It is not uncommon for professors and other academics to be censored or even arrested. Free expression in the arts and letters is openly attacked.
This has already started. Many academics have been blacklisted, jailed, and accused of crimes when all they were doing was their normal academic practice. Google this up and you will see a trend here. Once again, if there are doctors and professors out there who have been following this, let me know.

12. Obsession with Crime and Punishment - Under fascist regimes, the police are given almost limitless power to enforce laws. The people are often willing to overlook police abuses and even forego civil liberties in the name of patriotism. There is often a national police force with virtually unlimited power in fascist nations.
A total police state is basically in place. Most federal swat team practices are being implemented in city government police. SWAT teams are now black mask, Darth Vader outfit type cammo gear. It is becoming more and more where our local police are replaced with what looks to be the military. This goes to show that our military and military practices will really replace all normal police in a matter of time. Certainly during any future threat they will all spring into action together and swift. Please look into how much Federal money your local police stations are getting for complying with certain Federal mandates.

13. Rampant Cronyism and Corruption - Fascist regimes almost always are governed by groups of friends and associates who appoint each other to government positions and use governmental power and authority to protect their friends from accountability. It is not uncommon in fascist regimes for national resources and even treasures to be appropriated or even outright stolen by government leaders.
This is happening. Many land grabs are happening because of lawyers, officials, and corporations are all in league together. There were trillions of dollars missing from the Pentagon’s budget and then 9-11 happened. Just Google government corruption and you will get quite a laundry list.

14. Fraudulent Elections - Sometimes elections in fascist nations are a complete sham. Other times elections are manipulated by smear campaigns against or even assassination of opposition candidates, use of legislation to control voting numbers or political district boundaries, and manipulation of the media. Fascist nations also typically use their judiciaries to manipulate or control elections.
ummm, 2000 and 2004? 2004 was by far the most horrific. It was pretty plain during the 2004 elections that it was stolen. I didn’t necessarily want the other guy in office, but I also didn’t want our Country to elect someone with less than 50% of the popular vote. It also came out afterwards that Ohio and Florida voting systems were rigged by using easy to tamper Diebold (and other) voting machines. Plus Jeb Bush was the Governor of Florida, come on!

Most of these conditions are met now. They are just getting worse every day. Wake up and start reading, or we’re all screwed.

From Liberty Forum

http://www.libertyforum.org/postlist.php?Cat=&Board=news_constitution

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Congress Lacks High-Tech Expertise.

"Almost daily when Congress is in session, lawmakers are struggling to comprehend new technology and the government's role in shaping its future. In the biggest spurt of legislative activity since the dot-com boom, advocacy groups and businesses are seeking new laws to shape the fast-evolving digital landscape."

What we need is a bi-partisan tech branch, which works for Congress. They wouldn't support PC's and stuff, but would be driven by project requests from Congress members. We absolutely do not want to have any political appointees, but long-term hires which would work from administration to administration. They would be a mix of management, engineers, and assistants. When Congress has bills to review with technology in them, the technical branch would also get a copy and assist with the required parts.

We wouldn't want money, or lobby groups, or other external influences getting in the way here. Pay the employees a fair market salary, with good benefits. Lets cut through all the red tape and just get Congress the real deal information, without spin. Does this sound too unbelievable? It can happen. Congress is paid to make the decisions for this country. They should have bi-partisan support services working for them they can trust.

I think this idea could work for a whole host of other support services Congress needs as well.

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Haq charged: "Heinous"

"The Illustration speaks for me."

Violence is violence. Terrorism is Terrorism. Let’s not blur the two lines. Look up the definitions for yourself. Personally, terrorism is an act which is designed to bring terror into a place for the purpose of furthering an agenda for another place. Violence is when you are being violent, but does not fit the definition of terrorism. Think of it in a top-down scenario. Terrorism is first, and then violence. If something matches terrorism then that is what it is. Let’s not read into things deeper than that, or we enter politics. Politically you can swing any crime as terrorism in order to further some agenda.

I find that Michelle typically will swing any story in favor of Israel in order to further her political agenda. I simply want to know the truth, and the facts.

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When do terrorists warn civilians?

"When do terrorists warn civilians?"

Israel warns the citizens in question about getting bombed, and then when they are fleeing for their lives, they are bombed in the roads. It has also been reported that prior to these warning leaflets the bridges out of town were destroyed which means they cannot actually escape using any normal means. Look, I am not for what is happening either from the Israeli side, or the Lebanese side, I think they are both wrong. I just don't think that Israel should be held up as some holier-than-thou aggressor in this case.

We should be decrying BOTH sides in this conflict, and get them to stop. We may not have a long-term peace in the Middle East, but at least lets have some kind of rationale in the short term. The Lebanese people and culture are getting complete decimated. I believe Israel simply wants genocide in this case. If all Lebanese people were killed, and nothing was left of their country, Israel could just walk in and take it for themselves.

Personally, I would just like to see everyone get along. I know that is not going to happen. Unfortunately, in this case, it is probably going to be a "who is stronger" battle, and the strongest will win. As a world audience I feel we should simply referee the battle and make sure they don't screw up the world in the meantime. Don't use nuclear material, DU, etc, and don't pollute the water. Other than that, they will probably keep fighting regardless.

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Memos May Link Cheney to No-Bid Iraq Contract

"Several documents suggest that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers may have lied publicly about the involvement of the vice president's office in awarding the contract. It will be remembered that Vice President Dick Cheney was chairman and CEO of Halliburton from 1995-2000. In an e-mail dated April 22, 2003..."

@OBKenobi really nails this on the head here. Regardless of politics and left/right paradigm, we have been robbed big time. The corporate monster called the "military industrial complex" has really grown to such large proportions that it cannot be stopped. There is even evidence of wrong-doing such as people getting whacked when they get too close, or somehow figure out how to stop these people.

Our reaction may need to be more aggressive than even what happened last season on 24. I mean, come on, yeah its a fake show, but if our executive branch (includes everyone up there) is using the American bank account for their personal playground we have to take aggressive action.

Can anyone think of an actual moral person running our government right now, who DOES NOT have any side conflicts with big business? damn, I can't. There might be some senators like Ron Paul, but what can they do other than filibuster? Look what happened to people like Vince Foster and others, oops.

Start reading and take action, or we're all screwed.

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It's all about oil

"If this war was taking a bite out of Exxon or the House of Saud, a ceasefire would have been imposed."

The big oil companies ensure this war will never end. Did you read the Digg and news articles on the electric, hh20 (yes that's spelled right), and hybrid cars? They were just a "fad" to the car industry and no serious effort has been put towards production and distribution. As long as Exxon has the capacity to make over $23 billion PROFIT on oil each quarter (yes that's right boys and girls) they will continue to do it. They are so happy they can post these huge profits and give good news to their investors. I am all for making a profit, but it comes by false claims of hardship and high oil prices. If things were so bad for the oil companies, then they wouldn't be making that much profit, they would be in the same bad conditions we were in, just getting by and complaining things need to get better. If they increase production, or find better ways to cut costs on extracting gas and oil, then we should see better prices at the pumps.

If oil companies are spending a ton on R&D to better extract oil and refine gasoline then we may see the gas prices going up. But that would cut into their profits. Once again, there is a reason they are making such huge profits and we should investigate why.

Its a load of camel dung when we get raped at the gas pumps in order for Exxon to post such huge profits. Where do people think that money comes from. A fair price for a fair product. In this case it is a mandatory product drilled into us by the car companies, and it is no longer fair.

I am all for free markets and freedom of choice, but something is drastically wrong when I pay $50-$75 dollars a tank, and then read about Exxon posting $23 billion dollars this last quarter. I buy Safeway gas, but I am not sure where that comes from. The bottom line is that profit is good, but needs to get checked on how the profit is being made. Just exactly how high will gas prices get? Its obvious the oil companies are not having a tough time getting oil, or even that oil is scarce. They are certainly made a good job at making a profit. How about passing on those savings to us instead of lining your company'’s coffers with inflated figures?

Stop buying oil stock shares. Buy shares in electric and HH2O cars. Maybe if everyone starts investing in something else, big oil will take notice..Wait; they already killed these industries, darn.

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Alberto Gonzalez talking about the 4th amendment.

I heard a recent clip of Alberto Gonzalez on the 7/26 Washington Journal CSPAN show. Once again I heard him talking about how a search only needs to be "reasonable" in order to take place. However, the 4th amendment clearly says:

"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized".

The rhetoric described by Gonzalez and again a while back by General Hayden, clearly shows that our leadership needs to read up on the Constitution again. In order for any search warrant to take place you must have at least 4 things 1. Probable cause 2. Supported by someone's oath this needs to take place 3. Describe exactly what is going to be searched 4. Describe what will be seized if that needs to happen. But you cannot have a search or seizure without that warrant, otherwise why ever would law enforcement take the time to get one?

Based upon the interpretation of the 4th amendment, he is clearly thinking the two clauses are totally separate, and not connected. I think the founders were clear in saying that a "reasonable" search or seizure would be accompanied by the second clause of 4 rules. If you interpret this any other way, then anyone in law enforcement could do searches and seizures anytime, and any place simply by saying it was "reasonable".

Gonzalez suggests there are “special needs” when a reasonable search or seizure can take place without a warrant. He used the airport as an example of a search not requiring a warrant. However, he did not mention that as a citizen we have the freedom by choosing NOT to travel. By traveling and buying a plane ticket, you have signed some extra provisions on the ticket or by way of a contract with the airline that you will follow certain security rules, one of which is to undergo some measures to protect the safety of all passengers. (In the case of the TSA and secret rules, they take this to a Federal level which violates the free market principal in choosing airlines, but that is another discussion altogether).

Your version of reasonable, my versions of reasonable, or law enforcement's version of reasonable are all going to be different which is why you always need to attach both clauses to these matters at ALL times. You don't just torch part of the constitution when you feel it will get in the way.

Nothing in the 4th amendment gives our legal system provisions or exceptions in times of war OR national security. If you disregard part of the constitution during a crisis, or for some secret reason, you get tyranny. The constitution can be abused in so many ways, torn apart, shredded or torched at will when somebody invokes the national security card. Everything nowadays is "national security", or classified. It gets to a point where all decisions being made are being done under the cloak of secrecy, which bypasses the democratic process. Once that happens we once again get tyranny.

I caught a statement by Gonzalez where he said his primary job as Attorney General is NOT to determine if a law is good for the country, but if it is legal and constitutional. This sounds like something a corporate lawyer would say. Wait…doesn’t he have a past job working for a really well run company called Enron? It shows you that we get really upstanding citizens from well run and legal companies…sigh.

So, we are back again to the police state. This needs to stop very soon. We need to remove the ex-Enron lawyer and get somebody who actually wants to follow the constitution. We need to make sure that laws which get passed are GOOD FOR THE COUNTRY AND OUR CITIZENS. Once a law passes that test, then we hold it up against the constitution and vet it out.

---
Watch CSPAN archives for the following clip #26505
Alberto Gonzales, U.S. Attorney General, discusses the electronic surveillance program and proposed changes to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).
7/26/2006: WASHINGTON, DC: 25 min

Protest Bush - Go to Jail

"School teachers, Christine Nelson showed up at the Bush rally with a Kerry-Edwards button pinned on her T-shirt; Alice McCabe clutched a small, paper sign stating "No More War." What could be more American. Their reward: a pair of handcuffs and a strip search at the county jail."

This is an older article, but still highly relevant. In fact, this type of police intimidation is getting worse.

http://news.yahoo.com/.../

Just like Johnny Storm trying to do reconstructive work on the Constitution, it will get torched every time. It is our duty as American citizens to keep our government in check, and speak out against problems therein.

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To defend freedom, does that make you a patriot? Or just a citizen?

From the "WE - The Unauthorized Arundhati Roy" video (and Boards of Canada - One very Important thought from the album: Music Has The Right To Children)

"Now that the show is over and we have jointly exercised our constitutional rights, we would like to leave you with one very important thought. If you can be told what you can see or read, then it follows that you can be told what to say or think. Defend your constitutionally protected rights, no one else will do it for you. thank you”.

Please watch closely to the unfolding drama in the Middle East. Make sure you are involved in your community. Tell your friends to watch, and be alert. Our world is changing and it wasn't done overnight. If you don't think that actions a 1/2 world away will affect you, please think again. Our world is becoming one big world government one step at a time.

The people want freedom, but that is not good for big business and government. Government wants to control you and tell you what to do, and what to say. Big corporations want to control you and tell you what to buy and what is good for you. They both have one big thing in common, they need your money to keep on running. Vote with your mind and heart, and buy with common sense. Support those who deserve it.

"Today the world is run by three of the most secretive institutions in the world: The International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and the World Trade Organization, all three of which, in turn, are dominated by the U.S. Their decisions are made in secret. The people who head them are appointed behind closed doors. Nobody really knows anything about them, their politics, their beliefs, their intentions. Nobody elected them. Nobody said they could make decisions on our behalf."

"Flags are bits of colored cloth that governments use first to shrink-wrap people's brains and then as ceremonial shrouds to bury the dead."

"To call someone "anti-American", indeed to be anti-American, (or for that matter, anti-Indian or anti-Timbuktuan) is not just racist, it's a failure of the imagination. An inability to see the world in terms other than those the establishment has set out for you."

Rice to Outline Plans for Lebanon Solution

OK, wow. Condoleezza Rice after 6000 odd years of strife in the Middle East is going to "Outline a Plan for Peace". I am sure she is well qualified for this job, being from the heartland and all.

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=2221288&page=2

How many presidents, policy makers, peace experts, and politicians have tried this? It gets old, and I really wonder what the facination of the Middle East is for these people. Oh wait, Oil, money, and power? All your Oil are belong to U.S.

Cato: Paramilitary Raids on U.S. Homes More Frequent

WASHINGTON -- The last 25 years have seen a 1,300 percent increase in the number of paramilitary raids on American homes. The vast majority of these are to serve routine drug warrants, including for offenses as trivial as marijuana possession, according to a just-released study by the Cato Institute.

I am not sure if everyone gets the point here. The government increase in military-style raids serves two purposes only; 1. To condition the population via fear 2. To offer an explanation for storming into someone’s house with or without a warrant, but once there, they can "find" anything they want.

It is getting much more standard for them to "classify" the search warrant at a FISA court which means you don't even get to see the warrant of what they were searching for. They only need to justify what they "found" at the time of the raid. They can use this excuse time and time again, for any infraction of the law. They can certainly use this for people who have "subversive" things to say about our government also.

You name the possible laws which can be broken in the future, and they can search your home and seize your property over them. Are you thinking bad thoughts, did you say something which someone thought was subversive of God forbid hate speech? In todays society, even a 1 hour photo clerk has the ability to call you into the police on any sort of complaint which they may “believe” something nefarious is going on in your film.

Totally insane. Where will it stop? I want my liberty back.

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An Open Letter to Arundhati Roy and all the free people of the Earth

July 9, 2006

An Open Letter to Arundhati Roy
and all the free people of the Earth,

http://rhawk301.blogspot.com/
rhawk301 (at) gmail.com

The United States has been given a black mark in the world court because of our foreign policy and ideologies. I am writing here today to make sure you understand the free people of the United States of America also have the same thoughts and regards that you have. For the most part we are peace loving, and respectable people. We love our children, and want to see them grow up and do great things.

In as much as the ruling class of the USA perpetuates a state of fear, more than 60% of the citizens just want peace. Unfortunately peace can never be achieved when the military industrial complex runs this country. Peace can never be achieved when the national banks are tied in with the World banks. Peace can never be achieved when the United States ruling class is actually a part of the globalist elite. How does your country fit in here?

Global commerce itself is not the cause, but the people who take advantage and exploit the many streams of money manipulation are to blame. The United States is built on the foundation of “We the People” and “for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”. I imagine some believe that having power and money constitutes happiness. However, by taking someone else’s happiness and exploiting it to your own selfish ends defeats all that we want as a nation.

I am writing this letter today in response to Arundhati’s most eloquent speech “Come September” at the Lannan Foundation in 2002. Within the last year I have pressed myself to understand more of what is going on in the world, and not just sit back and be a lazy American, for that is what I was. My awakening will not happen overnight, but I will no longer sit back and let this country fail without a fight. I hope you understand that we do not agree with most of our foreign policy. We do not enjoy coming into your homes and destroying them. We do not take pride in killing you, and your countrymen. We do not have the blood-thirsty need for power and malicious goals of which our CIA and White House do.

You see, the largest obstacle United States Citizens have is the fact that we have grown accustom to our luxury and well being. Yes, there are poor in this country, but for the most part things are worth living for over here, we get to own land, our supermarkets are full all the time, and with few exceptions, we are left alone. We don’t have bombs going off in our country, busses don’t get hijacked, we have lots of space to move around, we can travel throughout the whole country with barely any notice, and up until the last 10 years we didn’t live in a complete police state. Life has been really good. We escaped England and all parts of the world to get away from all of that which was bad. We made a life for ourselves, worked really hard at it, and then handed our rule over to a bunch of Empire building despots. How that happened is yet another story I am not capable of describing here.

Throughout the last 50 years the world banking system and corporations have found that by manipulating the population and careful marketing, they can get away with nearly anything. Corporate greed in America is so vast, that it may be an impossibility to reverse it. The worst corporate greed is seen when our government freely allows lobbyists of any size to manipulate our representatives with legal bribery. We see contracts being given to Halliburton, money manipulation and stock hedging by the Carlyle Group, and Big Oil racketeering by the very people who are supposed to be leading this country. The whole Washington DC hand-shake is becoming a real big burden on the American tax payers.

We need YOUR help. Our country is hemorrhaging from within, and it will not sit will with the world if that happens. Even though our country has problems, it will not come down without taking others with it. Therefore, we need to get back on track and fix the problems in place. We need to start following our own Constitution instead of torching it at every turn. We need to understand what our fore-fathers meant, and read how our country was formed. I personally need to read more history and start flipping the pages of a many government documents.

Most of all we need your prayers, and support. Please understand that it will take time to remove these burdensome cancers from our society. We may limp along until that happens, but rest assured the American people will not sit back in their arm chairs drinking beer, and watching TV for too much longer. It will become evident something has to be done, and retribution will be swift and just. We will get back on track, and make sure the world is our ally and trusted confidant.

We must make a revolution happen throughout the world. The United States is not the only country in which evil empires exist, nor is it the only home ground for power hungry Corporations. If you feel empowered to do something about the state of the world, please find a way locally to change things. Read books, news, and support your local government. You should show up at council meetings, volunteer at your local political party office, find others who share your goals, and write about your experiences. Possibly together we can find a way to take back our world, and build a future together.

Cheers.

Alex Jones Material, and FBI pretext leads to raid on Montana property

“Man Raided By FBI, ATF, Canadian Law Enforcement After Handing Out 'Subversive' Alex Jones Material Gun seller questioned on militia, ownership of George Washington speeches”.

Yes, however some of the details get skewed as they are retold.

The owner Richard Celata appeared on the Alex Jones show and said that his 80% firearm kits, and the "subversive" material were a pretext to search his home (even though they confiscated everything), copy his computer data, and interrogate him. He mentioned that the FBI mainly wanted to question him on the JPFO website owner Aaron Zelman and others in the freedom and truth movement. Celata mentioned that the Sheriff in this case was a pawn, and actually "helped" Celata as much as possible by offering some needed distraction. Celata believes the Sheriff who lost the election was actually watching and reading the information he was given.

One important thing to mention is that Celata was NOT arrested, nor charged with anything in this matter as of Friday 7/7/2006.

Infowars press release

This libertypost.org article is really good, and the next day follow-up.

This goes to show you that law enforcement can easily use pretext scenarios using search warrants sealed in secrecy and torch the Constitution along the way. There is a lot more information on the web, please Google the rest of it.

nascocorridor.com "debunks" rumors?

Go on over to www.nascocorridor.com and check out the newly re-designed website including disclaimers, and a new "debunking" pdf file. It goes to show you that with a little publicity from the alternative media, we can make a difference. They have to now defend thier position.

They say the plan is using existing roads and railways. They say it is not 4 football fields wide. They say it is not the begining of any new partnership, or secret deals. Go do the research yourself, and make sure to include www.spp.gov into your web searches.

cheers.

Jon Stewart on the 7 man Sears Tower plot.

"If you're going to wage a full ground war against the united states, you probably need more than seven people..." Hilarious

The premise that we have terrorism of this nature, by 7 dip-shits in a warehouse, by patsies like Tim McVeigh, or CIA assets like Osama Bin Laden are the unfortunate nature of the current state of fear in the United States. No matter what your religion or political sway is today you should understand that our world is slowly shifting towards a global elite and one world government. Take a look at www.spp.gov, www.nascocorridor.com, www.newamericancentury.org and www.cfr.org. There is currently way too many news stories offering counter arguments to the False Flag operations in this country. Whenever something like this happens, just wait a few weeks and information will start surfacing about how the people involved were dim-wits, retarded, or perhaps tricked into thinking a particular way. If our government (in this case the FBI) creates entrapment scenarios for these types of people this trend will continue. All it takes is a small amount of effort to convince stupid people they are doing something important.

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FBI Thwarts Possible Terrorist Plot to Blow Up Sears Tower

The FBI raided a building in Miami, Florida and took 7 people into custody in connection with an alleged plot to blow up various targets including the Sears Tower in Chicago. (Can't wait for the new digg so this doesn't have to go in links...)

--from the article---
"Sources told CNN that the arrests culminated a monthslong undercover operation. The suspects believed they were dealing with an al Qaeda operative but the person was actually a government informant, the sources said."

OK, so wait a minute. A government operative gets involved, starts talking to these guys as an "Al Qaeda" operative and then they all get arrested.

Wow, yeah, thats proof they were going to do something allright. Where is Larry Silverstein? Did you know he owns the Sears Tower complex now? Keep your eye on this one, as Larry's other two buildings (the Twin Towers) were also destroyed.

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Chinese Capital Shuts Down 18 Websites in Internet Crackdown

Beijing authorities have revoked the licenses of six Internet websites and temporarily shut down 12 others during a 90-day city-wide crackdown, state press reported.

OMG, did otherland just say "Reminds me to be grateful that I live in America where information is free from government censorship." Just as long as the information we post agrees with the current administration and powers that be. I am actually a registered republican, but can see where our current administration is totally off base with censorship of FOIA requests, public information, free speech, and dissenting opinions. Do we have an open government? Do we have the freedom to say what we want, within reason? Take a look at Fox news who continually tells us to shut up and drink the political cool-aid.

I so much want for this country to focus on community development, and its people. With so many wars, and the state of fear we are being forced into I don't see this happening. We are spiraling towards an abyss of great tyrannical proportions. Stop the madness!

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The Pirate Bay: Back and Searchable

The Pirate Bay is back with a vengeance, and back with its search! Order has been restored!

Using torrents, p2p, Usenet, sharing, whatever, to give consumers the selection they want is the best deal. I have several different types of distribution to experience media. I buy huge quantities of DVD and CD media. I would not have the exposure to music or videos for me otherwise. I think the RIAA and the MPAA are going overboard. Where the pirate bay is concerned, all they provide is a search engine and tracking system for torrents. You still have to engage in the download, and whatever distribution is involved, but it has nothing to do with search sites like pirate bay.

No company or law enforcement agency should be able to decide what my purposes for downloading things are. Maybe I just want to supplement my CD collection with .mp3 for my hard drive at home. Maybe I want a backup of a DVD, or maybe I want an Xvid to fit on a CD of something I own. Maybe I want a tv show which I just recorded on Tivo, but really want to view it on the road going to Vegas on my notebook. There must be thousands of legit uses for the many forms of digital distribution.

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RIAA Targeting Youtube and Google Video

According to the RIAA, Youtube and Google Video are the newest way to share music illegally. The RIAA's served Youtube several cease-and-desist letters to remove content that users have uploaded because of background music.

@djgump35 I am with you here. I frequently will hear songs in videos, power point stuff, flash/shockwave, and other Internet type media and will always look for the "music by" at the end for the stuff I like. I have picked up several albums, and songs because of this. Its getting to a point where not only will they want to control how we listen, but how we actually learn of the songs also? This is getting pretty nuts. RIAA needs to embrace this technology instead of pissing off every single avenue they have of actually making more money. By sticking to a legacy business model, they are sure to be doomed int oblivion. cya!

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infowars.com video set of new Pentagon footage.

These are two previously unavailable surveillance tape clips of the purported plane crash at The Pentagon. Released in response to a FOIA request by Judicial Watch.

This video came from infowars.com, downloaded from UseNet. It is simply called "both_new_pentagon_videos.avi" .

If you download this exact footage, then focus on frame 7152. Frame 7152 is when the "plane" comes into view, but is only half painted in. Frame 7153 then adds a white color to make the plane seem real. At the same frame 7153 a tree behind the plane also seems to grow, or something coming out of it where it was not in the previous frame before. Frame 7185 is when smoke magically appears before the plane seems to hit the building, and then the big fireball happens. Is this for real, or made up?

I am not suggesting either way, fake or real. I also want to make it clear I don't have a firm resolution on whether a plane hit the Pentagon, because there is evidence and witnesses, and testimony on both sides. I do want to suggest that photos released, and information released about these events is very manufactured.

WHY WOULD WE NEED TO MANUFACTURE EVIDENCE?

If there is so much un-deniable proof that things went the way the 9-11 commission report stated, why did it take a year for it to come out? Why are there still so many questions? We need a 3rd party investigation team.

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Like most things that are worth owning, Computers are an American invention. Look at any modern computer and you will see that the whole thing is the product of American brilliance.

For example, this rugged IBM laptop I am using was designed and built by an American company. It runs software built by Microsoft, one of America's most productive organizations. My computer does everything I could possibly want: I can do my work, submit my taxes and even search the Bible.

Like all the greatest American engineering, it's an example of innovation that makes a growing group of European and Chinese hackers jealous. They hate our lead in computing technology and will stop at nothing until they have control of all of our computers.

I'm talking about a project called 'Linux', something you may not have encountered, but might do some day.
It's a computer program that was initially developed in Finland as a means of circumventing valuable copyrights and patents owned by an American company called SCO Group.

(I don't think this was a joke)

Written by Tristan, posted by Shelley

Original Link looks to be taken down now
http://shuddery.blogspot.com/

'Fans who share music aren't thieves' - I am only buying from these people.

Important musicians such as Barenaked Ladies and Avril Lavigne have formed the Canadian Music Creators Coalition to among other things, support fans being sued by the Big Four Organized Music cartel. In their first white paper, the artists say, "Fans who share music are not thieves or pirates. Sharing music has been happening for decades."

OK, thats it. I am going to start buying music only from artists who are represented by groups like this. I hope other national groups are formed, especially inside the United States.

A note to artists. If you sign up with a group like this, you can GUARANTEE your music will be purchased by fans!

In fact, I may very well trash all the music I may have downloaded and only keep music from these artists. Why have old stale music around, from artists and publishing companies who do not respect the fans. I have bought lots of music, and downloaded lots of music. My downloads prompt me to buy from those artists who I truly enjoy, like Avril. Thanks for your support too!

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Piracy worse than child pornography - Are you kidding?

THE NEW look Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA) seems to be giving the world an unusual moral code.

It seems that with the DMCA, and now the expanded DMCA legislation, it will actually be a less crime to physically steal a CD or DVD than it will be to digitally copy one. Child pornographers and Pedophiles get lesser sentances.

Banning digital media in this way, and the tools and software which make reverse engineering possible is a really bad thing.

I am NOT for pirating, and illegal distribution and sales of copyrighted works, but the DMCA provisions make what is legal and illegal a very grey area. Those of us who work in the computer industry and especially the security industry know that software which falls into this category shouldn't be illegal. You block innovation, reverse engineering, competition, and the free-market when you outlaw stuff like this.

The Sony Betamax case, and the consumer electronics protection act need to be also considered here. There should never be laws abrupting the legal sharing, personal backup, and use of your own purchased stuff.

I can see the wisdom in cracking down on a pirate trafficing, distribution and sales ring operating for profit. However, some Joe who is downloading music and/or video should not be considered in this legislation. It is incredibly difficult to distinguish downloading of "illegal" content, and that which is legal. As the laws may change rapidly due to DMCA, RIAA, and MPAA it gets so grey.

I have a Tivo, and I also have a Blockbuster subscription. I also buy many CD's and DVD's. I get media coming out my pores. Are those the only avenues where legal media may be obtained? If I download an episode of Alias from a source on the Internet, why is that illegal? I have a copy of it on my Tivo at home, possibly on more than one Tivo. If I buy an Avril CD, but then decide to download a copy of the CD contents from the Internet to place on my iPod, why is that illegal? I own the CD. Who makes the judgement that downloading content is wrong this way? Why are we so micro-managing our citizens that everything is told to them what is legal and illegal and you can only do certain things.

Please keep in mind that the more rules you place on society, the more times things will break. The more you make illegal, just makes that many more criminals.

The one thing I know, is that corporate entities such as the RIAA and the MPAA should NOT be allowed to continue and make policy such as the legisltation in the DMCA. They are only looking out for their monetary interests and are not protecting any person in the USA. When companies can start making laws which make people criminals, it is a bad day.

I cannot say this enough. The more laws put in place, making more things illegal, open up the doors for more criminals and abuse by law enforcement. The local street cops, and even the FBI will simply be enforcing BAD legislation. This has become a TRUE Police State when wiretaps can be performed simply for downloading what my be considered pirated content. Where the laws are harsher for these offenses than the physical act of stealing the same CD/DVD.

Please see that these types of laws are not productive. All of us want to be good citizens, but we don't want to be put in a box. We don't want to always be told what to do, and just exactly how we may enjoy our media.

http://digg.com/.../

http://www.theinquirer.net/.../

http://www.ipdemocracy.com/.../


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Save the Internet

Congress is pushing a law that would abandon Network Neutrality, the Internet's First Amendment. Network neutrality ensures that the public can view the smallest blog just as easily as the largest corporate website by preventing companies like AT&T from rigging the playing field for only the highest-paying Web sites. [Can we stop this?]

Yes, but the Internet started out mostly as a bunch of people connecting together using high speed lines. The carriers like AT&T, Sprint, C&W can only cause QOS headaches for packets going across their own circuits. For instance a vendor like Vonage can pay for their VOIP traffic to be carried at a higher prioroty, when web traffic is lower.

Companies and individuals still pay for their own circuits. If I have service from AT&T then they will be required to provide me the service level they promised me. If I have service from Comcast, then they too will be providing me with the service level they promise.

The BIG, BIG thing to take from this is that when businesses lobby heavily for something, it is usually to drastically save money and pocket even more. They want to make short-cuts in their own R&D and not have to shell out as much cash later. Heh, let the government share some of the burdon here. It is absurd when these companies lobby, because they are always up to no good.

If these companies were not going to make any money at it, or have some kind of long-term agenda, why on earth would they spend all the money and effort lobbying in the first place?

I don't trust these companies making politcal policy, because it never get written down and enforced properly. Look at the DMCA or other such legislation. Absolute rubbish!

So although I would say the whole Net Neutrality thing is being reported a little skewed, the underlying reasons from the carrier are dead wrong. They think they want to make things better, but they are really just looking our for their bottom line.

Personally, I think a wireless mesh system would be awesome. I just think that someday the government and business alike would find somehow to take that over too. Anything which has a possibility for making money will eventually get corrupted by some no good corporation.

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List of Freeware Replacements for Commonly Warez'ed Programs

Don't steal when you can get the good stuff for free. Great list of free apps. Bookmark it.

wow, +digg for excellent information. Check it out!

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Your Reasoning Behind Procrastinating

"The procrastinator is often remarkably optimistic about his ability to complete a task on a tight deadline; this is usually accompanied by expressions of reassurance that everything is under control." Don't lay this article off to the side, you need to read it now.

My goodness, they somehow interviewed and diagnosed me using remote viewing or something. +digg for well written article. I am printing this out, and reading it a couple more times. I know it will take a while to actually get this sinking in, but at least I have something outlining this for me.

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At Last, Legal Movie Download That Makes Sense!

Six major studios plan to begin selling movies over the Internet today that buyers can download and keep for watching at any time (Price starting at $10...)

So, what do you have to install to keep the DRM working? Is there going to be another Rootkit laden software required? Somewhere in the article it suggested a backup DVD could be made, but yet it still cannot be played in a normal DVD player. The price is also set at the same as a DVD. Why on Earth would I buy a download which takes a long time, costs the same, and I can only play it on a computer?

I might as well take a trip down to the video store and buy the DVD, or better yet order it off of Amazon.

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Town of 12,000 calls in bomb squad over Super Mario power-up cubes

Town of 12,000 calls in bomb squad over Super Mario power-up cubes

Nobody mentioned this yet, but the Police Chief McCoy is quoted "Even though no harm was intended by the girls, they could face criminal charges for their actions".

Ummm, hello? Does it seem like police departments and public prosecutors nationwide are criminalizing anything regardless of intent? It seems to me that trends like this tend to get far worse sooner than later. We end up in a police state and martial law, without an actual declaration from the powers that be. Just keep tightening down the system, and soon EVERYONE will become a criminal. Then it makes it really easy to tell everyone a part.

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Oklahoma city threatens to call FBI over 'renegade' Linux maker

Watch out for the "City Manager of Tuttle, Oklahoma."

+digg for being so funny. This was kinda like a dark version of "who's on first" from the 3 stooges.

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Get XP Updates No Matter What

If your windows installation has issues, or for some other unmentionable reason is unable to get updates from the windows server, this is what you need to do.

@phpirate I have owned Micro$oft software for years, in fact I currently own an Action Pack subscription so I never have to worry about my own personal copies ever again. Yes, it costs some yearly fee, but I am covered. Said that, I have had a few problems with licensing with Microsoft. Calling into the tech support, Bangalore support center, does resolve those issues. They are prompt to give keys, and replacement serial numbers. When I needed to call the US Action Pack line, they were happy enough to send me out another CD good for another 10 computer installations. I am not saying Micro$oft is perfect and all that, but my experience with the help desk has been better than average.

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Net Neutrality Nonsense

For the past few weeks, my partner in crime, Preston Gralla, has bombarded you poor folk with his diatribe on Net Neutrality. He's referred to AT&T and other carriers as running a " Soprano-like business model". He's warned you how FCC chief Kevin Martin's interpretation of Net Neutrality was "far too narrow."

This is a very well written article, and will make you think about the issues at hand. I agree in principal to what this guy is talking about. QOS should have some premium, but not ripping off the consumer. The flip side to this, is that we do not want to degrade service to anyone, because we have built in qos in the mix. Even Whitacre said he will not degrade service to anyone. I believe the telcos mean they will be increasing the bandwidth again, in order to provide better qos to those who pay for it. Therefore, if you make a VOIP call and a gamer is down the street, BOTH of you will have the bandwidth you need. This article is going to really make me re-think my views on NN. I also believe the Telcos have ripped us off, and misled the government over the past 6 years by stealing money and not delivering fiber to our door. We should never forget that the big Telcos only care about profit, and will use their lobby capability to achieve that end at any cost.

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Fined For Using Someone Else's WiFi

involves a guy in Illinois who was fined $250 for "theft of services" after a police officer spotted him sitting in a car, using the open WiFi of a non-profit agency

http://rrstar.com/../

OK, wait a minute. He was on public property in a park? The article doesn't really explain what was involved here, or what the person was doing on the Wifi connection. It seems to me, the user would say, "I was in this public park, booted up my computer to see if there was public Internet access. It turns out I found one, and figured it was a service of the park, city, or other entity allowing public free access the Internet. Are you telling me this Wifi connection belongs to a private party, I didn't realize that. Allow me to get off the connection, and I will leave."

The Town of Windsor has a park called the Windsor Town Green. It has Wifi service supplied from the City. What makes it a crime to access public Internet access? The BIGGEST question here, is how am I supposed to determine what is a public Wifi hotspot, and what is private? As a user there is SO MUCH talk about the nation that there are all kinds of public hotspots where you can just drive up and get access. Am I supposed to know these .vs. the ones I am not supposed to get access to?

It seems to me the police are making a big deal of something which they HAVE NO right making a judgement on. If the non-profit agency in this case complained to the police about this intrusion, then I would assume the police would respond. Otherwise, how was the user supposed to know.

I still believe that unless an entity takes precautions, or otherwise puts access controls in place making the Wifi not accessible, then I should be able to walk up and use the service without any problems or fear I will get prosecuted.

We are going backwards here folks. We are making a crime out of something where no crime exists. Remember that ANY technology can be exploited for nefarious reasons. That does not make the very act of accessing that technology a crime. It also puts the whole industry of open wifi spots in jeapordy because people are going to shy away from using them.

Wow, there is a LOT more to say here people. Suffice it to say, this is WRONG.

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You Tube Craze Making Industry Uneasy

Music labels, film studios and television bosses are now cracking down on the site, and others like it, amid fears they are becoming a virtual breeding ground for pirated material.

+digg for this comment. YouTube and others are only making people MORE interested in this content. I have people cc:ing me on Youtube stuff all the time, and I want to see more of it (the interesting stuff). Why would that be a bad thing for these media companies? Why, because they want 100% control over the market, even on the hobbyist, or casual user. This is ultimately a sign of demise for the industry, in its current form. When you remove the ability or interest of someones freedom, even in entertainment, you remove desire. Entertainment is purely an aspect of freedom, otherwise we would be computers, never interested in entertainment. On the current path, or society is going down the road into boredom, which breeds crime, which in turn breeds paranoia, which means the government takes more control, which means...(oh crap, hasn't this happened already?)

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ajaxWrite: A Web Based MS Word Compatible Word Processor

The look, feel, and functionality of Microsoft Word, in a completely web-based AJAX platform. Try ajaxWrite today, and experience first-hand how AJAX applications are changing the way the web works, and redefining the software industry.

+digg for easy editing of online data. l I will be taking a serious look here soon.

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Network Sniffing Screensaver: PacketFountain, Now that's Cool!!

This guy managed to create a Screensaver that sniffs out your network using VB6 and WinPcap and then displays packets realtime on your Screensaver. Geek way to see what's goin' on at your Lan.

+digg for freaking cool.

Check this program out! This is the way to go, and it can be expanded for many types of applications and OS'es.

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Nanoelectronics roadmap aims to speed commercialization

"The effort is designed to move nanoelectronics innovations from laboratory to the marketplace for applications ranging from communications, information technology, consumer products and optoelectronics."

@ericanderton
I agree that patents are pretty crazy now. What really needs to happen is a patent can ONLY be upheld if the patent owner can show they have made significant progress on the patent contents. When going to court a judge should look at the case, and if the patent holder is just a patent troll the case should be thrown out of court. Only those companies which actually make progress or at least attempt progress should be allowed to continue with the patent.

I could even see a market for selling patents if a patent holder cannot make any forward moving progress on the thing they thought up. For instance, I come up with a great idea and patent it. However another company can actually make something out of my invention. That company should be allowed to purchase the patent instead of licensing the rights, otherwise I would lose my patent because I cannot make progress on it. Snooze you lose type of thing.

Sure, I don't have all the answers here, but something has to be done.

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This Essay Breaks the Law: Michael Crichton pleads for patent reform

It means that if a real estate agent lists a house for sale, he can be sued because an existing patent for selling houses includes item No. 7, "List the house." It means nobody can write a dinosaur story because my patent includes 257 items covering all aspects of behavior, like item No. 13, "Dinosaurs attack humans and other dinosaurs."

Crazy
http://www.shortText.com/8r5q8

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RIAA p2p file share defeat

The RIAA licks its wounds after losing a bid for unfettered access to the hard drive of an Oregon mother it's victimizing in a p2p file sharing case.

Alright, I had to blog this. This is the most totally crazy thing going on here. "Someone is gonna have to pay", is what the RIAA lawyer said. RICO is about all it comes down to. These people are common street thugs trying to rip people off. They need to go to jail.

Read all the associated links also.

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MPAA/RIAA/BSA: No breaking DRM, even if it's killing you (literally!)

RIAA Says Future DRM Might "Threaten Critical Infrastructure and Potentially Endanger Lives"

This is pretty screwed up. How can the RIAA or any DRM agency expect to know how everyone uses thier computer. There are just too many companies, people, agencies, and tasks with which a computer is used.

Unless you know how your software is being used, you had better make it pretty compatible and universal for use.

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Breaking into the FBI

THIRTY-FIVE YEARS ago today, a group of anonymous activists broke into the small, two-man office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Media, Pa., and stole more than 1,000 FBI documents that revealed years of systematic wiretapping, infiltration and media manipulation designed to suppress dissent.

This is a good article. Just exactly who will read it, and will remember? Keep in mind that media distraction is out there. They want to keep us from the real truth. Although some facts may be right, others are grey, but a whole bunch is just fabricated on lies perpetrated by others. The media only reports what they are told, and see. However, both of those realities can be manufactured as the truth.

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Imagining the Maximum Net and The Government Is Not An ISP

Contributed by Joe@techdirt - An interesting Doc Searls column on net neutraliy argues rightly that the internet shouldn't just be measured in terms of real costs and profits, but also on the opportunity costs of not developing the web to its full potential. Instead of seeing the internet as a business does, in terms of profit-blocking regulations, it should be seen more like the interstate highway system or the national parks, as a public good of incalculable benefit.
http://techdirt.com/articles/20060317/0930225.shtml

Joes brief article, and the Doc Searls collumn are very insightful. Thanks for sharing with us! Corporate abuse is rampant everywhere, and we need to dig in and reverse this evil trend.

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REQUEST FROM OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE

It seems that at least one HR department at a large company has been sent a letter from the DOD asking to identify the number of national guard personnel in said company. The question I have is, doesn't the DOD know this information? They should even know the general location of the country they are in too. Here is the general idea of the e-mail from the DOD.

The company got a letter from the Office of the Secretary of Defense requesting the number of Guard or Reserve employees in our organization. Each employee does not have to provide this information. If they would like to voluntarily identify themselves as either a member of the National Guard or Reserve, please advise us via e-mail at your earliest convenience (if possible by Friday, March 17). Please note that names will not be provided to the government, only the total number of employees who identify themselves. This information will not be kept in any personnel file and will be used for no purpose other than responding to the above-mentioned request.

Techdirt gets a new interface

www.techdirt.com is sporting a new interface. The css templates, and new layout look pretty cool. It looks to have been done on March 10th. Check it out!

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You Can Click, But You Can't Hide!

What happens when a site is shut down by the MPAA?

You know, I am really sorry guys. The act of downloading something just isn't illegal. If I own a legit copy of something, and I want a digital version of it, or perhaps the copy which I am downloading I already own the rights to view that download. I have a vast collection of movies and music. I just don't feel like always burning copies for myself, so I find music on the net, and even movie media which is already converted to something like xvid or whatever. It makes easy storing on a dvd for like several movies. I can use them to travel, etc.

How is it that the MPAA knows how everyone uses this technology and downloading? They DONT. They need to find other ways to shut down full on piracy of movies. It isn't the downloading, it is the direct distribution which you get busted for. Download all you want, there isn't anything illegal about this as long as you don't break in somewhere to do it. Public files are public files, plain and simple.

If they said something like "Host a download site, and you can't hide" might have more merit. Otherwise they are just blowing smoke up our butts, and trying to intimidate us. How on earth do they expect any respect for this? Why do I want to buy movies anymore?

Dang, I just keep my meager Blockbuster subscription and screw the MPAA. They don't see but a few cents from that subscription, because Blockbuster already bought the movies at a premium. Netflix the same thing. I haven't bought a movie in a while, and certainly would only buy something like a Star Wars or other huge blockbuster movie. Anything of a smaller release, or maybe marginal content, I will only use my subscription for this.

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This Day in Apple History March 6, 1984: Gates Predicts Mac Dominance

"If Macintosh isn't a success then the market is left to the PC. But we're super enthusiastic. If Apple can meet its production goals, we expect half of Microsoft's retail sales to be Macintosh related in 1984."
Bill Gates's super quote was published this month in Popular Science in 1984.

@johnnyshuteye2 so true, it reminds me of the ill-fated dr-dos licensing mistake with IBM. It really comes down to who had the vision, and who would take the bait. Bill Gates was in the exact perfect spot when all this was going down. If any other combination of events took place, Bill would still today have Microsoft at the forefront of software, but not leading the O/S race. Regardless of what you say about Bill Gates and Microsoft, they just make the decisions which others neglect. They also buy those important businesses which will make Microsoft have even more domain knowledge.

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Microsoft says Open Office.org 10 years behind!

According to Microsoft, there are very good reasons for people to pay $500 or more for Microsoft Office as opposed to paying nothing for a copy of Open Office 2.0.

There is a lot of comments here, please read them. My personal views are that Open Office is a good concept, and should continue making pressure on Microsoft Office. For the moment, MS Office is still better. The Excel is better, Word has more features, and the other software included does offer value, including Frontpage.

Some of the links included are media kits only. Any legit fully licensed copy of pro is going to be around $275-$350 US dollars, never too much less. I think I saw one for $221, but that's it. Other than that, you can get used, but make sure the license comes with it. I bought the Micro$oft Action Pack which gives me 10 copies of most everything Microsoft has, and a couple copies of different servers (including lifetime updates), for a perpetual update fee of $299/yr. Action Pack is like a mini Enterprise agreement, and you don't spend a crud load of money up front, or when updates come out. They ship them to you automatically every quarter.

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Hey, telecom execs... hands off my internet!

Some of you already know that companies like AT&T, Verizon and Comcast are trying to privatize the internet. However, word is not being spread fast enough to start an effective grassroots effort against the telco giants. Join VGRC and Common Cause and spread the word, before it's too late!

Here is the whole Edward Whitacre article in Business week.

"How concerned are you about Internet upstarts like Google (GOOG ), MSN, Vonage, and others?
How do you think they're going to get to customers? Through a broadband pipe. Cable companies have them. We have them. Now what they would like to do is use my pipes free, but I ain't going to let them do that because we have spent this capital and we have to have a return on it. So there's going to have to be some mechanism for these people who use these pipes to pay for the portion they're using. Why should they be allowed to use my pipes?

The Internet can't be free in that sense, because we and the cable companies have made an investment and for a Google or Yahoo! (YHOO ) or Vonage or anybody to expect to use these pipes [for] free is nuts! "

Business Week Article

Ed is completely off his rocker. Doesn't he understand that EVERYONE already pays for the Internet? I have a Comcast and SBC connection, which in turn peers with many locations. Google has huge Internet pipes they pay for, and also peer with many places, possibly even SBC, Verizon, and more.

I don't understand how they can sit back and complain that people are using "pipes" for free. SBC and others have chosen to peer with other carriers to make sure the whole Internet is reachable everywhere. If all of a sudden I couldn't get to Google or other sites because SBC refuses to peer with others in the community, then I would switch to an ISP who would peer.

Does Ed even understand the Internet? Does Ed even understand his own business? I think not. From my past employment with SBC I clearly understood that the main business of SBC was for hard circuits and fiber. Connecting business, and Internet related services are the last thing they care about. Anything which cuts into the copper and fiber circuits going to homes and businesses will cause a pain point for SBC and other carriers. Therefore, more people use VOIP it will hurt a little.

BUT, everyone has to get broadband. It is the only player out there worth anything. I have fiber to my house, others have DSL or cable. We all need that fast connection, but we ALL pay for it already.

Ed, consider paying more attention to HOW your business is actually run, .vs. the money you keep raking in. Maybe it would open your eyes a bit, and you could actually turn some of that hot air into useful propellant, and give us the service we requested 10 friken years ago.

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The First Web Browser

Screenshot of the first web browser ever made!

+digg because it reminds me of all the patents relating around the www. I bet tb-l has some hot things to say about all that. Come on, inventing the web, and then having people yank it into an unusable commercial space? Cheers to tb-l for creating the web and making the world a better place!

I remember the early days of the CERN browser. It was so exciting running Chameleon tcp/ip on DOS and testing out these "great new" software packages. These very technological advancements are what kept me interested in computers.

My hats off to all those involved with CERN, Netscape, Prodigy/IBM, Telenet, NETcom, and even AOL for making the Internet manageable. All these companies (even AOL initially) made it possible for people to get online.

I have to mention Silicon Valley Public Access Link as well. www.svpal.org which could have been the greatest access medium here in the Bay Area. We were at the fore-front of getting Internet access to people when access was just text based.

Cheers to all those techs and geeks, and visionaries who made the Internet a reality.

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Middle School Suspends 20 for looking at offensive MySpace AT HOME

Some parents questioned whether the school overstepped its bounds by disciplining students for actions that occurred on personal computers, at home and after school hours.

Another example of our public dollars at work. Where were the parents here? It seems to me this boy who wrote the comments is pretty whacked. He needs discipline in a lot of areas, but probably not computers. I think myspace should be applauded for bringing out this boys real trouble. If it was not this forum, maybe something drastic would have happened.

Schools should NEVER be allowed to intrude into the private lives of our children. At best they can send letters, and have parent teacher conferences. When at school, our kids are theirs, at home they are ours. Lets never give that up, fight, fight, fight until that is made perfectly clear. If this was my boy, I would have fought the school to then end on privacy, but get counseling for my child.

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Paying Credit Card Triggers Homeland Security

Another example of your lost rights under the guise of homeland security. Homeland Security has to be notified if you try to pay too much on your Credit Card. Sick.

Yeah, but here is the really stupid thing...They should have let the amount be paid off, because it tipped the user that something was wrong. If in fact we as a country want to be secure, then you cannot tip off the people you are spying on. Realize that I am coming from a security background, not common sense here.

That said, I think this is a little over the top. Maybe a phone call to your good customer to ask why. If they were recent customers, then maybe an alert. It sounds like this family were long-standing customers, which means they have a credit history. There should be no cause for alarm in this case.

The people who are making the decisions about how banks and other entities should be run, has better do a better job. What would happen if this was an actual case of someone paying off their cards prior to bombing some place? Then they would have known they were under investigation and re-planned what they were going to do, and go under cover or something.

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Telescopes 'worthless' by 2050

Ground-based astronomy could be impossible in 40 years because of pollution from aircraft exhaust trails and climate change, an expert says.

I would most definately say that we need to consider some more directed efforts in air corridors. It seems to me that if we have a concentration of observation towers, and big ELT devices, we need to make sure they work flawlessly.

I am not saying it will be easy, but we should seriously consider different international directives for air corridors, and land based viewing needs. The same principles can be applied for any world-wide effort. If we don't get together and make up some better rules, we will all suffer for it.

Lets make several areas around the world permanent no-fly zones protected by the military, and have our telecopes there. Of course, if we built more space stations, or hubble-like telescopes that could be alleviated as well.

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Microsoft uses sex to sell!

There was a day when Microsoft ads were a bit more entertaining than the current "dinosaur head" offerings which have of late been baffling adults and scaring small children world-wide.

very cool, nuff said.

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Professor assigns hacking homework to students

Apparently the university considers it ok to mandate students to perform the scans on other internet servers, just not their own.

OK, this is total crud. This professor is way off board, and should be held accountable for this (or at least the school). If you are going to condone the use of security tools, please offer a solution on campus, or using the classroom equipment. There seems to be double-standard here.

If this is nmap or other standard tools, then who cares where you are gathering your intel from? Who doesn't run a scan from time to time, in order to gather information about a server? There are countless reasons why you would do this. Maybe attacks were coming from it, maybe you wanted to know what software was running on it. Maybe you wanted to ping it for latency tests, maybe you wanted a list of open ports to test.

Doing recon on the Internet is little less than noise at best. Barring people from doing recon is like saying you cannot knock on my door. You cannot make rules out of your butt because they sound good. If somebody wants to ping or nmap a college web server there is no harm there. Just don't DDOS it.

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Schools banning Myspace because its "everybody's nightmare"

Schools say Myspace has become a "everybody's nightmare" Is it a virtual hangout for millions of American teenagers, like a sprawling electronic shopping plaza, or a magnet for sexual predators and pornographers?

Why does everyone, especially the media need to over inflate the problem. Myspace and any other situation you child is associated with needs to be understood. As a parent always know what they are doing, who they are with, and create an open forum for feedback. Yes, in reality teenagers are defiant, come on we were all there once, but you are still a parent, so just work through it.

Some websites needs to be blocked, and kids are all different. Maybe some kids abuse certain privileges more than others. Some kids are more mature sooner, and some later. It is all about knowing your child and what is best for them. I have looked at myspace, and there are certainly a lot of people posting nasty things there. I may block the site based on that alone. As for social networking, there are lots of ways to let your kids meet others online safely. During these formative years, they should be meeting local friends in real life anyway. Online is to keep in touch, not to replace relationships.

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