Beyond Duck Tape
Here's another way to understand the war readiness advice: http://mywebpages.comcast.net/wlee1433/emergency.html .. Blanc
RE: Hacking the Bush War Machine
>From Tim May: >It's our duty as hackers to hack this war machine and shut it down. Well, I'd like to see *that*. But you know, if N.Korea throws a nucular at us, a gun will be as useful as ducked ape. (and how long are people supposed to stay taped up in their room, they haven't said, either. And where would the bad gas go - over to somebody else's neighborhood?) .. Blanc
RE: The Statism Meme
Harmon Seaver said: > Yaaas, yaass, yyaaasss -- and what about us half-assed libertarians, us >leftysized anarchistic earthfirsters, us gunslinging 2nd boys (and >WTF is this ".30-06" bullshit anyway, we ain't all that ancient?), >and other fringe/extremeist ufo/wacko pppeeeples? I mean -- I mean -- >WTF do you mean, Blanc, by signifyin' on all us folks thataway? . It was Duncan, said this. As for half-assed libertarians, well, they're left to their own devices. But I expect you'd be twisting in the wind just the same. .. Blanc
RE: The Statism Meme
Eugen Leitl replies: >Don't count on EU, we're just as fucked, albeit with a slight delay. .. Thanks, Eugen. This makes me feel better. On emigration choices, I guess one could just take a pick of whether they wish to be more, or less, fd. .. Blanc
RE: The Statism Meme
Duncan Frissell said: >You mean no one said, "I'd grab the .30-06 and head for the hills"? I must correct myself. It was not a Libertarian group, they were Objectivists. Not to put the "O"s down or start an argument about the difference, but I know that Libertarians *would have* said this, as they tend to be a bit more pragmatic. .. Blanc
RE: The Statism Meme
Tim May said: >Yes, I understand this is all fiction. Well, some of the scripts are >based on actual events, including coerced confessions, warrantless >searches, "sneak and peek" wiretaps, concentration camps in Cuba, etc. >That so many of these popular programs have themes as I've described >tells us what to expect. > >The statism meme is growing under hothouse conditions. ... Years ago I asked a group of Libertarians at a meeting what they would do if a particular politican, who was then running for President, won and turned everything into a bona-fide, outright statist state like Russia was at the time. They couldn't adequately answer my question; they couldn't come up with any ideas of how to deal with it, what they would do if they suddenly were faced with having to live with it. Maybe they were just being deliberately obtuse with me. But I was quite serious regarding the need to imagine being in such a situation, surrounded by ideologies and strictures of the kind which suffocate and prevent advancement, which don't recognize any need to respect individuals, and calculating what one could/would do under those circumstances. I saw a segment on TV the other day about North Korea, where a scholar was stating that the reason all those people don't rise up and protest their ill-treatment, is that they have all been brain-washed from childhood to worship their demented leader as a hero, their savior. It's incredible to believe that there would be any bright, intelligent people left there who could think about physics and science. It is these "memes" which acclimate, which get people used to these ideas of tolerating lower standards of living, which really are more frightening than the threats from politicans. If they do become accepted without conscious understanding of what could be wrong, if the majority feel no discomfort living under them, then this presents a greater - a huge - obstacle and danger not easily overcome. A sad, disturbing prospect to contemplate. Someone on another list remarked that it might become necessary for those in Europe to do some internet-type rescuing of the American people. H. .. Blanc
RE: the news from bush's speech
Declan quotes: >> And tonight, I am instructing the leaders of the FBI, Central >> Intelligence, Homeland Security, and the Department of Defense >> to develop a Terrorist Threat Integration Center, to merge and >> analyze all threat information in a single location. Our government >> must have the very best information possible, and we will use it to >> make sure the right people are in the right places to protect our citizens. "...and this year, for the first time, every American will be weighed, and measured, and given a free yearly Rabies shot." .. Blanc
Big Brotherish Laws
About a week ago, someone mentioned that in order to get a Driver's Licence in CA, one has to provide a thumbprint (and Social Security number). I was surprised by this. So do long-term cpunks who own cars and drive in that State have their finger print in the public database? (I have already inquired of two in the Bay Area). Are there many other such laws/regulations in CA that you all know of with which 'residents' are expected comply? .. Blanc
RE: TIA presentation
How sort of amusing it is to read this, from the site: "It is not sufficient that we put the pieces together after the fact, it is essential that we understand terrorist plans ahead of time so that we may prevent or preempt." Yet how many times have I heard & read in the news, sometime after an earth-shaking criminal event, of the warnings received, alarm notices given, or notice taken of strangely suspicious activities which preceded and foretold of the upcoming event. It often seems that advance notice has been practically dropped in the lap of those who were in position to deal with it. Yet the ones receiving these info bits were not able to process the data so as to realize there was something heinous and destructive in the works. Or if they were able to grok these data bits, they could not get others in the defense business to make the connection, to take the items seriously enough to follow up on them, or to be able to select, out of the mountains of data they already receive, the ones of impending significance. "DARPA is in a position to take high risks and think boldly about what can be done to solve this national problem." To expect that crime will be prevented or preempted ahead of time by people who are not able to grok the meaning of what they get? It cannot be the computer base, which needs a monumental overhaul of its "cognitive amplification functions". It seems that some problems are too easy when it only requires simple real-time connectivity, and too easy to miss - but if they are made to appear harder, requiring "boldness" (courage) and "high risk" (responsibility), then certain official organizations can be made to appear to be attending to, now, what they did not/could not, before. And still they continue to place exceeding dependence upon the machine. It also does seem that someone is creating the opportunity for a "monumental" position for themselves, laying the ground work for a hierarchy of personal control and self-aggrandizing importance. .. Blanc
RE: Random Privacy
Said Greg Vassie: >> "Right now, the rate of falsification on Web surveys is extremely high," >> says Dr Ann Coavoukian, the commissioner of information and privacy in >> Ontario, U.S.A. "People are lying and vendors don't know what is >>false [or what is] accurate, so the information is useless." > >As a resident of Ontario, Canada, I'm quite surprised to learn that >Ontario has been annexed by the United States. .. Heh-heh: the author must be lying. .. Blanc
RE: crime control before it happens: thought control
Quoth Major Variola: >She even conceives of developing algorithms so advanced that society >might intervene, to get people liable to be recruited into cells back >on track before they can be seduced by elements like Al Qaeda. "There is a >possibility that with sufficient information about known terrorists we >could evolve to the point where we could spot terrorists in the making," she >argues. .. Like, while in training by the CIA . . . .. Blanc
RE: [OT] why was private gold ownership made illegal in the US? (Re: "to outlaw general purpose computers")
Duncan Frissell said: By forcing Americans to turn in their gold before devaluation, the Feds got more gold for less money. But: the individual common folk couldn't be forced to turn in their gold if the govmt didn't know they had any, right, since gold wasn't/isn't trackable. So it would only have been highly visible commercial entities who couldn't refuse? .. Blanc
RE: "No Fly List" abuse by U.S. Government
>From Tim: : These kids and activists were by no stretch of the imagination likely to : be carrying hijacking tools...and even if they were suspected to be : doing so, physical searches would resolve the issue. : : Fuck these fascists. Fuck them dead.Fuck them all dead. Fuck Washington : with a 50 MT nuke, built from Progressive plans. ... I heard the other day on "Politically Incorrect" that this blind old man was pulled aside before boarding and given the full Potential Terrorist treatment. It was Ray Charles. But this is actually good, right, because it will contribute toward moving the nation to its breaking point? .. Blanc
