Month: November 2011

Senate Declaring American Soil a Battlefield

It doesn’t get more blatant than this, the Senate is moving to vote on the National Defense Authorization Act which has some interesting additions made behind closed doors:

The Senate is going to vote on whether Congress will give this president—and every future president — the power to order the military to pick up and imprison without charge or trial civilians anywhere in the world. Even Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) raised his concerns about the NDAA detention provisions during last night’s Republican debate. The power is so broad that even U.S. citizens could be swept up by the military and the military could be used far from any battlefield, even within the United States itself.

The worldwide indefinite detention without charge or trial provision is in S. 1867, the National Defense Authorization Act bill, which will be on the Senate floor on Monday. The bill was drafted in secret by Sens. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.) and passed in a closed-door committee meeting, without even a single hearing.

[…]

In support of this harmful bill, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) explained that the bill will “basically say in law for the first time that the homeland is part of the battlefield” and people can be imprisoned without charge or trial “American citizen or not.” Another supporter, Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.) also declared that the bill is needed because “America is part of the battlefield.”

Fascism is here ladies and gentlemen. Our “representatives” are voting on declaring our nation a battlefield, which will allow military personell to detain anybody without so much as charges being declared. The mere fact that senators of this country are even entertaining this idea demonstrates how far we’ve fallen from the original ideas of liberty this country was founded on.

I have no doubt that this erroneous legislation will be slammed through under the false pretense of national security and the war on terror. At this point I’m only hoping to alert people of this shit, it would take an insurmountable change of direction to steer our country around and move it back towards liberty, which I’m doubting more and more everyday is possible.

Biology is Awesome

The more science uncovers about our biology the more amazed I am. Take for example new research that demonstrates how hard a fetus will fight to keep its host alive:

Now, a new study in mice shows such that nature has arrived at just such a solution, too: When a pregnant mouse has a heart attack, her fetus donates some of its stem cells to help rebuild the damaged heart tissue.

A fetus will inject stem cells into the mother in an attempt to repair heart damage? That’s downright cool.

Thanksgiving, Another Example of Socialist Failure

Yesterday was Thanksgiving, the holiday we’re told is meant as a day where Americans give thanks for whatever they’re thankful for. We’re told the Pilgrims survived a harsh year and gave thanks for their good fortune on this day way back in the 1600’s. Truth be told the hardships experienced by the pilgrims is another example in the lost of list socialist failures:

After the poor harvest of 1622, writes Bradford, “they began to think how they might raise as much corn as they could, and obtain a better crop.” They began to question their form of economic organization.

This had required that “all profits & benefits that are got by trade, working, fishing, or any other means” were to be placed in the common stock of the colony, and that, “all such persons as are of this colony, are to have their meat, drink, apparel, and all provisions out of the common stock.” A person was to put into the common stock all he could, and take out only what he needed.

This “from each according to his ability, to each according to his need” was an early form of socialism, and it is why the Pilgrims were starving. Bradford writes that “young men that are most able and fit for labor and service” complained about being forced to “spend their time and strength to work for other men’s wives and children.” Also, “the strong, or man of parts, had no more in division of victuals and clothes, than he that was weak.” So the young and strong refused to work and the total amount of food produced was never adequate.

As is the case with most attempts of establishing socialism (or anything resembling socialism) this failed miserably and ended in famine. Thankfully the pilgams learned their lesson and took efforts to correct their error:

To rectify this situation, in 1623 Bradford abolished socialism. He gave each household a parcel of land and told them they could keep what they produced, or trade it away as they saw fit. In other words, he replaced socialism with a free market, and that was the end of famines.

Many early groups of colonists set up socialist states, all with the same terrible results. At Jamestown, established in 1607, out of every shipload of settlers that arrived, less than half would survive their first twelve months in America. Most of the work was being done by only one-fifth of the men, the other four-fifths choosing to be parasites. In the winter of 1609-10, called “The Starving Time,” the population fell from five-hundred to sixty.

While the advocates of socialism believe it is the natural system for human society history has proven their belief wrong time and time again. The Pilgrams who landed in America are yet another example of this fact in the long history of humanity.

Continuing the Road to Persia

It appears as though Syria is going to be Obama’s next war:

The USS George H.W. Bush, the Navy’s newest aircraft carrier, has reportedly parked off the Syrian coast. The move comes as the U.S. embassy in Damascus urged Americans to “immediately” leave the country.

[…]

Some Arab publications have reported this week that a no-fly zone will soon be put in place over Syria — similar to the one implemented over Libya last spring. And while such reports in the Arab press are often met with skepticism by western observers, the financial news service ZeroHedge flagged down a report from the respected private intelligence company Stratfor stating that CVN 77, better known as the George H.W. Bush, had left the strategically vital Straits of Hormuz for the Syrian coast.

Parking aircraft carriers off of their coast and telling American citizens within the country to leave is not a good sign for those living in the country. After Libya Obama has learned that he can move our country into war without so much as a nod of Congress’s head so there is little chance of preventing this war from starting if our Dear Leader desires it. I guess it makes sense to move into Syria as we’re not currently risking the lives of enough soliders or sinking enough money into overthrowing regimes we originally put into power.

It would be nice if our country adopted a foreign policies that involved something besides killing foreigners. Were we to do that we’d save trillions of dollars and reduce the amount of hatred directed towards our country by outside nations.

Police Working to Shut Public Out of Radio Communications

It appears as thought the police are becoming more militarized every day. First every department started establishing Special Weapons and Tactic (SWAT) teams, then they started arming themselves with armored personel carriers, and now they’re starting to classify everything:

Police departments around the country are moving to shield their radio communications from the public as cheap, user-friendly technology has made it easy for anyone to use handheld devices to keep tabs on officers responding to crimes.

The practice of encryption has become increasingly common from Florida to New York and west to California, with law enforcement officials saying they want to keep criminals from using officers’ internal chatter to evade them.

I find it funny that the police agencies moving to encrypt their communications, according to the article, are located in such havens of freedom such as New York and California. What is funny is their excuse, they’re claim of wanting to prevent criminals from listening into radio transmissions is dubious. Usually the police respond to crimes that have already happened meaning it’s unlikely a criminal is going to gain much advantage by having a police scanner on hand. While many criminals are idiots some are smart enough to realize the police will be soon to arrive after a call is made to 911.

Perhaps the police are getting sick of the public listening into their misdeeds. Then again I think the most likely reason they’re moving to encrypt their radio communications is because they’re getting a case of over classification from the military.

Companies Don’t Like Getting Caught Doing Shady Things

The company I mentioned a couple days ago that specializes in making root kit software for today’s smart phones isn’t taking the news about their little business being publicized very well:

A data-logging software company is seeking to squash an Android developer’s critical research into its software that is secretly installed on millions of phones, but Trevor Eckhart is refusing to publicly apologize for his research and remove the company’s training manuals from his website.

Though the software is installed on millions of Android, BlackBerry, and Nokia phones, Carrier IQ was virtually unknown until the 25-year-old Eckhart analyzed its workings, recently revealing that the software secretly chronicles a user’s phone experience, from its apps, battery life and texts. Some carriers prevent users who actually find the software from controlling what information is sent.

[…]

When Carrier IQ discovered Eckhart’s recent research and his posting of those manuals, Carrier IQ sent him a cease-and-desist notice, saying Eckhart was in breach of copyright law and could face damages of as much as $150,000, the maximum allowed under US copyright law per violation. The company removed the manuals from its own website, as well.

So Carrier IQ doesn’t like the fact that their little software has become very public. This is likely because people who have heard this news haven’t been taking it very well and I’m sure complaints have been rolling into the customer support lines of AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon, and Sprint. While it sucks that Carrier IQ are such dicks that they have threatened legal action against Eckhart for bringing their shenanigans to light it’s good to hear Eckhart’s cavalry has arrive:

On Monday, the Electronic Frontier Foundation announced it had came to the assistance of the 25-year-old Eckhart of Connecticut, whom Carrier IQ claims has breached copyright law for reposting the manuals.

This is why I give money to the Electronic Frontier Foundation. Hopefully this case is quickly resolved so Eckhart can continue his research unmolested.

The Government Will Steal Anything Including Fish

The government is unable to generate wealth and instead must resort to stealing it from those who can. It seems our government has taken this philosophy to the next leve, they aren’t able to catch prize fish but they can steal it from those who can:

Meanwhile, the weather offshore had deteriorated and the Apollo decided to seek shelter in Provincetown harbor last Saturday. Hearing this, Rafael immediately set off in a truck to meet the boat. “I wanted to sell the fish while it was fresh instead of letting it age on the boat,” he said. “It was a beautiful fish.”

It was also a lucrative one. Highly prized in Japan, a 754-pound specimen fetched a record price at a Tokyo auction in January this year, selling for nearly $396,000. These fish can grow to enormous size. The world record for a bluefin, which has stood since 1979, was set when a 1,496-pound specimen was caught off Nova Scotia.

Lucky guy, he captured a fish that is likely worth hundres of thousands of dollars. This is a prize a fisherman can only dream of I’m sure. Rafael was smart when he purchased his 15 tuna licenses in case this every happened… wait I’m thinking of bizarro America, this is real America:

However, when Rafael rolled down the dock in Provincetown there was an unexpected and unwelcome development. The authorities were waiting. Agents from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Office of Law Enforcement informed him they were confiscating his fish — all 881 pounds of it.

Even though the catch had been declared and the boat had a tuna permit, the rules do not allow fishermen to catch these fish in a net.

Agents of the government always have to swoop in and destroy that which is great, I think it’s in their job description somewhere under the requirement of being a humorless dick.

“They said it had to be caught with rod and reel,” a frustrated Rafael said. “We didn’t try to hide anything. We did everything by the book. Nobody ever told me we couldn’t catch it with a net.”

That was your mistak Rafael, you played by the book. Never play by the book if you can avoid it. Playing by the book only ensure pain in the form of theft by government goons who want a piece of the action. I hope this is a lesson to Rafael, he should learn that anytime you catch something worth a ton of money you should conceal it and sell it before any government agents catch wind of his good fortune. Did I mention the best part? The first was confiscated before any charges were drummed up:

No charges have yet been filed in connection with the catch, but a written warning is anticipated, according to Christine Patrick, a public affairs specialist with NOAA who said the fish has been forfeited and will be sold on consignment overseas. Proceeds from the sale of the fish will be held in an account pending final resolution of the case, NOAA said. No information on the value of the fish was available Friday.

Confiscating the property of citizens appears to be a new pass time for our government. Such activities would seem to me a violation of due process but I’m just a lowly serf like Rafael.

You also have to admire how brazen these government thugs are, first they steal the man’s fish without any due process or even charges and then they’re going to sell it and keep the proceeds. Perhaps this is part of the new plan to balance the budget. Either that or the government is simply showing off its ability to break the law and get away with it.