Deputizing the military to spy on law-abiding Americans in America

The moves have taken place on several fronts. The White House is considering expanding the power of a little-known Pentagon agency called the Counterintelligence Field Activity, or CIFA, which was created three years ago. The proposal, made by a presidential commission, would transform CIFA from an office that coordinates Pentagon security efforts -- including protecting military facilities from attack -- to one that also has authority to investigate crimes within the United States such as treason, foreign or terrorist sabotage or even economic espionage.

(washington post article)

Post-Thanksgiving Vacation Noise

Random-"Angel Found"

Tom Vek-"That Can Be Arranged"

The Books- "smells like content"

Gravenhurst- "The Velvet Cell"

Future Combat Systems

Much of the cash will be spent computerising the military, but the ultimate aim is to take members of the armed forces out of harm's way. They would be replaced by robots capable of hunting and killing America's enemies.

Gordon Johnson, of the US joint forces research centre, told the New York Times: "The American military will have these kinds of robots. It's not a question of 'if', it's a question of 'when'."

(Telegraph article)

Project Paperclip

Sixty years ago the US hired Nazi scientists to lead pioneering projects, such as the race to conquer space. These men provided the US with cutting-edge technology which still leads the way today, but at a cost.

(bbc article)

Exopolitics

A former Canadian Minister of Defence and Deputy Prime Minister under Pierre Trudeau has joined forces with three Non-governmental organizations to ask the Parliament of Canada to hold public hearings on Exopolitics -- relations with “ETs.”

Mr. Hellyer went on to say, "I'm so concerned about what the consequences might be of starting an intergalactic war, that I just think I had to say something."

There's also an entertaining 'America starts an intergalactic war' in their. It's some good stuff.

Unorthodox Planetary Exploration techniques

The logic of the Lucifer Project other than the extreme thrill of creating something so amazing, if not of sinister intent, could be that in order for humans to one day break out of this shell of Earth we must create more favorable conditions for traveling within our own solar system. For instance, could humans one day live on Titan? Maybe, but how do we warm it up? We play the part of creator and conduct solar system terraforming on a grand scale by turning Saturn into a small star that supplies Titan with the heat and light it needs to awaken. Turning one of our gas giants, like Saturn, into a star is the essence of the “Lucifer Project.”

I am not a number — I am a free man!

A great Slate article on how the CIA would give Johns psychotropics, psychiatrists would destroy personalities, and lingering thoughts in yours truly on how one would withstand this kind of thing.

I have a strong desire to watch the Prisoner lately...


By the late 1950s and early 1960s, CIA experts thought they understood the techniques necessary for "breaking" a person. Under a strict regime of behavioral conditioning, "the possibility of resistance over a very long period may be vanishingly small," several researchers concluded in an analysis used in the CIA's 1963 manual Counterintelligence Interrogation. At the agency, pressure increased to field-test coercive interrogation tools. The task, as CIA second-in-command Richard Helms urged, was to test the agency's techniques on "normal" people. At times, this imperative made the agency reckless.

Life As We Do Not Know It

"I hope people will wake up and realize this is a whole new biology," Ward said. "There's going to be a zoo of aliens on Earth in the next two decades just from what we make."

Thermobaric Urban Destruction

A post-action report from Iraq describes the effect of the new weapon: "One unit disintegrated a large one-storey masonry type building with one round from 100 meters. They were extremely impressed." Elsewhere it is described by one Marine as "an awesome piece of ordnance."

Meditation and Brain-Growth

What effect meditating has on the structure of the brain has also been a matter of some debate. Now Sara Lazar at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, US, and colleagues have used MRI to compare 15 meditators, with experience ranging from 1 to 30 years, and 15 non-meditators.

They found that meditating actually increases the thickness of the cortex in areas involved in attention and sensory processing, such as the prefrontal cortex and the right anterior insula.

“You are exercising it while you meditate, and it gets bigger,” she says. The finding is in line with studies showing that accomplished musicians, athletes and linguists all have thickening in relevant areas of the cortex. It is further evidence, says Lazar, that yogis “aren’t just sitting there doing nothing".

Threat or Menace?!

'This film looks at the last 100 years of marijuana use, culture, and legislation, compiled from 400 hours of archival footage. Narrated by the celebrity weed aficionado Woody Harrelson, whose very name in the credits will ensure a laugh from audiences. Grass was recently banned in Ontario because of a brief scene in which monkees and chimpanzees smoke pot.'

Pt. 1 & Pt. 2

I haven't even watched this all the way, and it's the damned funniest thing I've seen all day. Random propoganda about how one puff will make you kill people, cowboys, murder, and other ludicriousness. Damn, man, just watch it already.

Knock Knock, Who's There?

Bowling for Columbine did it to the gun culture.

Super Size Me did it to fast food.

Now The God Who Wasn't There does it to religion.

Holding modern Christianity up to a bright spotlight, this bold and often hilarious new film asks the questions few dare to ask.

Your guide through the world of Christendom is former fundamentalist Brian Flemming, joined by such luminaries as Jesus Seminar fellow Robert M. Price, professor Richard Dawkins, author Sam Harris and historian Richard Carrier.

See the movie the Los Angeles Times calls "provocative - to put it mildly."

Hold on to your faith. It's in for a bumpy ride.

Torrent Link Here

George W Bush and the 14 points of fascism - Project for the OLD American Century

In "Fascism Anyone?," Laurence Britt identifies 14 characteristics common to fascist regimes. His comparisons of Hitler, Mussolini, Franco, Suharto, and Pinochet yielded this list of 14 "identifying characteristics of fascism."

Noise for Monday, November 14, 2005

So it's a late entry. I don't feel like going to sleep just yet.

The Meat Purveyors-Little White Pills

She Mob - Botox Party

Rademacher-Ice Age

Porter Hall, Tennessee-People Who Died

Robots will kick your ass at impossible speeds

New Scientist Breaking News - Light could trigger super-fast synthetic muscles: "Robots using artificial polymer 'muscles' are real slowpokes, as the polymers react a hundred times slower than human muscle. But in the future, robots could run circles around humans, with synthetic muscles 1000 times faster than ours."

Our horrifying Ape neighbors

A gigantic ape standing 10 feet tall and weighing up to 1,200 pounds lived alongside humans for over a million years, according to a new study.

Unabomber on a whole new level

From New Scientist:

Dozens of biotech firms now offer to synthesise complete genes from the chemical components of DNA (See "A dollar a base pair"). Yet some are carrying out next to no checks on what they are being asked to make, or by whom. It raises the frightening prospect of terrorists mail-ordering genes for key bioweapon agents such as smallpox, and using them to engineer new and deadly pathogens.

The Richest Wind Regime

Twenty Northern Plains Indian Reservations hold several hundred gigawatts of wind power potential, earning the Dakotas the title "Saudi Arabia of Wind." Wind power potential on these Indian Reservations alone is more than enough to meet North American Kyoto targets.

Gotta admit, I'd love to see this kind of thing back on Ft. Belknap.

I truly believe our economic freedom as American citizens is in great jeopardy

Throughout the first 224 years (1776-2000) of our nation’s history, 42 U.S. presidents borrowed a combined $1.01 trillion from foreign governments and financial institutions according to the U.S. Treasury Department. In the past four years alone (2001-2005), the Bush Administration has borrowed a staggering $1.05 trillion.

So what's a good country to switch my citizenship to? I'm thinking Canada, but when America runs out of money, I know whose gonna get invaded. ...maybe one of the European Union countries...

"The fundamentalists want to give a scientific meaning to words that had no scientific aim,"

From The Australian:

Cardinal Paul Poupard, head of the Pontifical Council for Culture, said the Genesis description of how God created the universe and Darwin's theory of evolution were "perfectly compatible" if the Bible were read correctly.

Oceanfront property on WMD Bay

From the Herald Today:

The Army now admits that it secretly dumped 64 million pounds of nerve and mustard agents into the sea, along with 400,000 chemical-filled bombs, land mines and rockets and more than 500 tons of radioactive waste - either tossed overboard or packed into the holds of scuttled vessels.

You can't find them in Iraq, but New Jersey is a different story.

Lizard attempts to eat girl's heads

I really do love Japanese pop culture. Or at least its bizarre game shows/sadism.

Click here to watch girls with steak-hats stick their heads through holes and stare down a hungry, large lizard.

Music for Sunday, November 06, 2005

Laura Viers-Galaxies

Birdmonster-Resurrection Song

The Gunshy - Souls

spider nebula