tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post4000941454046400598..comments2024-03-29T06:22:47.638-07:00Comments on CONTRARY BRIN: Transparency, Accountability, and the EnlightenmentDavid Brinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comBlogger95125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-31838976022428733792008-03-20T07:46:00.000-07:002008-03-20T07:46:00.000-07:00I don't want to drag the ACC post into politics, s...I don't want to drag the ACC post into politics, so I'll post this here. <A HREF="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/03/18/karen-kwiatkowski-the-so_n_92237.html" REL="nofollow">A Pentagon ex-insider</A> has a lot to say about the pre-war run-up. The part I found most interesting was how the other professionals in the room were equally unimpressed with the orders from above.dmonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04350397073957059229noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-42481597005957468472008-03-20T00:03:00.000-07:002008-03-20T00:03:00.000-07:00Once again, I must agree almost entirely with Dr. ...Once again, I must agree almost entirely with Dr. Brin. The Beinhart article certainly hits the nail on the head -- except that we really should call it Reaganomics, since Bushenomics is just Reaganomics on a larger dose of crack. <BR/><BR/>It baffles me that so few commentators trace back the catastrophic policies of this maladminsitration to the kook who initially popularized 'em, the Great Prevaricator, the Cruel Man With the Kindly Smile, Ronny Reagan. Xian fundamentalists in positions of power? Check. Rampant corruption? Check. Privatization run amok? Check. Anti-constitutional conspiracy inside the White House? Check. Wholesale war against the proffesionals, the Inspectors General and the oversight authorities? Check. <B>(Q: Do you know who invented signing statements to subvert congressional authority and bypass all oversight? A: The Great Prevaricator, Ronald Reagan. Q: Do you know whose EPA <I>had to be sued to get it comply with federal law?</I> The EPA under the senile sociopath, Ronny Reagan.)</B> <BR/><BR/>Most of the current pathologies endangering the Enlightenment took root under the aegis of the Great Prevaricator.<BR/><BR/>As for the Manchurian scenario, I do sometimes wonder if it can all be coincidence. However, methinks a genuinely dedicated and ingenious enemy would've managed a moer effective conspiracy. The gross incompetence and flagrant unconstitutionality have provoked such a huge backlash that I suspect we'll see a vast rebirth of overight, checks and balances, constitutional safeguards, and an immense extension of the War Powers Act after the current reptiles slighter out of office in disgrace.<BR/><BR/>A genuinely effective conspiracy would've gotten us to destroy our constitutional & economic system while everyone applauded how well things were going. In fact, we have come close to something like that -- a much worse period in our history, the Palmer Raids of the 1920s and subsequent Great Depression. Those of you who think we've never teetered so close to the edge dictatorship should remember Eugene Debs. This man merely <B>gave a speech against WW I</B>, and for that he was tried and convincted of treason, then <I><B>stripped of his citizenship and thrown in prison with a sentence of 10 years.</I></B><BR/><BR/>That was <B>much</B> worse than anything we've seen during this current assault on our constitution....which is why I'm so optimistic about the prosepcts for Western civilization. Despite the best efforts of the thugs and oligarchs and warmongers, they didn't get anywhere near as much erosion of our basic civil society or constitutional protections or economic safety net as under Attorney General Palmer. Under Palmer, trying to form a union meant you were a subversive -- you could be jailed for it. You could be legally shot by hired killers paid by big businessmen. I don't know how many of you remember the photos of Ford's River Rouge plant ringed with machine gun nests manned by private goons, or the pictures of Walter Reuther being beaten with axe handles by paid Ford thugs... Things are bad right now, but they're nowhere near <I><B>that</I></B> bad. <BR/><BR/>Also, I must respectfully disagree with Dr. Brin when he claims: <I>ask yourself “What was the worst, most self-destructive mistake that these western pigs ever made?”<BR/><BR/>Obviously, it was to get embroiled in a draining, bankrupting, demoralizing, unpopular and stupid land war of attrition in Asia.<BR/><BR/>Okay, then let’s have America do just that!</I><BR/><BR/>If we study history, it seems clear that America's entry into WW I was a far worse mistake than the Viet Nam war. WW I led to the Palmer raids, the Sedition Act of 1918 and the Espionage Act of 1917, both of which allowed citizens to be hurled into prison and stripped of their citizenship merely for speaking out against the war; but WW I also led Wilson the insanity of the Versaille Treaty, the reparations against Germany, huyperinflation, and the Great Depression, which gave rise to Nazism and the Soviet Union, and a whole host of other subversions of free society and modern liberal civil society and the scientific method, including Lysenkoism, fascist occultism, the rampant union-busting and outright murder of the Wobblies and Appalachian coal miners that culminated in the Matewan Massacre on 15 April 1920, where hired killers from the Baldwin-Felts detective agency were paid by coal operators to shoot down striking coal miners in the street along with any local law enforcement who got in their way. The spectacle of <A HREF="http://www.wvdhhr.org/bph/calendar/matewan.htm" REL="nofollow">local sherrifs shooting it out with hired assassins paid by big business owners to murder strikers</A> is something we haven't seen in America for quite a while, so please don't tell me things are worse now in America than they've ever been. <BR/><BR/>The Viet Nam war has had ugly reverberations...but nothing <I><B>near</I></B> as bad as WW I. <BR/><BR/>A better case could be made for a diabolically clever enemy of the West to fund various antidemocratic think tanks like the Heritage Foundation. Frankly, I would like to see the funding sources of those kinds of far-right cryptofascist intellectual whores. Are a lot of wahabi Saudis dumping big money into their coffers? I would also like to know where the funding of the Chicago School of Economics originally came from. These are the root cause of the current rot in our constitution. Intellectual whores like the loathesome Milton Friedman did their utmost to destroy civil society and wipe out all vestige of responsible oversight in our society while eliminating decmocracy and the scientific method and replacing it with the tyranny of a rigged marketplace and economic voodoo -- remember that Milton Friedman <A HREF="http://209.85.173.104/search?q=cache:ZGq9Z-PhVS0J:www.richmondfed.org/publications/economic_research/economic_quarterly/pdfs/winter2007/hetzel.pdf+Milton+Friedman+said+testing+economic+theories+is+unnecessary&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=4&gl=us" REL="nofollow">"argued that, in testing a theory, economists should consider only predictive ability, not descriptive realism"</A> ... in other words, if the dowser finds water, don't ask whether his methods make sense! And all in the name of "freedom." A peculiar kind of freedom: you're <B>free to choose</B> which cardboard box you'll sleep in after robber barons steal your life savings in the stockmarket and manipulate your employer into Enron-esque bankruptcty. You're <B>free to choose</B> whether to go the emergecy room and bankrupt yourself because you can't afford health care when you get ill, or to suffer and scream and die in agony. You're <B>free to choose</B> between two right wing pols mouthing free-market mantras who both take bribes from the robber barons running financial institutions like Bear Stearns into ruin, robber barons who then walk away with 323 million dollar bonuses while the economy collapses. Yes, indeedy, <B>free to choose.</B> If there's a hell, let's a hope a special circule of it gets reserved for craven toadies of the kleptocrats who hate democracy but become famous and admired by constantly claiming to be in favor of freedom...<I>economic</I> freedom, of course. You're <I>free to choose</I> which credit card to pay 35% interest on. That's Milton Friedman's and the Heritage Foundation's perversion of the word "freedom."<BR/><BR/>I truly have to wonder if the funding behind destructive parasites like Michael Ledeeen and Friedrich Hayek and Milton Friedman didn't come straight from a cabal of wahabi Saudis dead set on the destruction of the Great Satan. You can just imagine them gloating: <I>"Let's destroy the infidels with their own greed! Fund their fanatical market fundamentalist think tanks until the Western Great Satan becomes convinced money isn't everything, it's the <B>only</B> thing! Then they will destroy themselves..."</I><BR/><BR/>However, I can't really buy the Manchurian scenario, because truly <B>clever</B> conspirators would've planned better. The situation right now has gotten so obviously extreme that America is experiencing a backlash of epic proportions against the laissez-faire Chicago School of Economics lunacy.<BR/><BR/>THE CRASH IN REPUBLICAN ECONOMICS:<BR/><A HREF="http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2008/03/18/economy/" REL="nofollow"><I>"As we review the wreckage created by Wall Street's finest minds, it is tempting to entertain the possibility that the impulse to deregulate and privatize and `trust' markets to be their own best guardian -- that epochal reimagining of government launched by Ronald Reagan -- has finally run its course."</A><BR/><BR/>"Socialism Is OK For Rich White Guys, But Not the Rest Of Us":<BR/><A HREF="http://alternet.org/blogs/peek/80054/#more" REL="nofollow"><BR/><I>"For years now we've been told that socialism is the worse thing ever, it's like a million Hitlers on roller skates, topless and singing Wagner in a new Stephen Sondheim play presented as a viral video on You Tube.<BR/><BR/>Unless, of course, you are the archetype of capitalism [like the wealthy bailout recipients on Wall Street], then socialism is awesome!"</I></A><BR/><BR/>THE STREET ON WELFARE:<BR/><A HREF="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/17/AR2008031702154.html?hpid=opinionsbox1" REL="nofollow">"Never do I want to hear again from my conservative friends about how brilliant capitalists are, how much they deserve their seven-figure salaries and how government should keep its hands off the private economy.<BR/><BR/>The Wall Street titans have turned into a bunch of welfare clients. They are desperate to be bailed out by government from their own incompetence, and from the deregulatory regime for which they lobbied so hard. They have lost "confidence" in each other, you see, because none of these oh-so-wise captains of the universe have any idea what kinds of devalued securities sit in one another's portfolios."</I></A><BR/><BR/>If our current chaos resulted from a conspiracy, it was one of history's least successful. The backlash is tremendous and still building, as Obama continues to gain in nobility and stature and toadies of the kleptocrats like John McCain diminish steadily into microscopic stinging insects by comparison.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10994509912655287453noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-5811447906701222152008-03-19T15:58:00.000-07:002008-03-19T15:58:00.000-07:00David Brin said... Yipes.I think we've found a ...<I>David Brin said...<BR/><BR/> Yipes.I think we've found a good replacement for those Illuminati authors. Thanks, Bill, for making my paranoia look really mild.<BR/></I><BR/><BR/>Egads. I hope I didn't talk your ear off. A few posts back, I was cajoling your for trying to figure out WHY we had the war in Iraq -- well, I guess I set the example.<BR/><BR/>But you laid down the gauntlet with; "Who could be the Manchurian candidate." I just want credit if this makes it into the book.<BR/><BR/>I gave you my honest answer, in a short version that sounds conspiratorial, merely because it doesn't have "ibid" next to everything and a footnote. Nothing I say couldn't be backed up by a footnote -- or at least a single malt Scotch. <BR/><BR/>If you want the really short, short answer; "International banks" run things here through companies, and those companies, by proxy, lobby politicians. The HIGHEST people at our organizations, and in politics, probably have nice little glossy photos of them. This is not a THEORY, because, Hoover used to put it into practice, until someone got him in a dress. So, theory has become practice -- the only guesswork here is if it is going on again.<BR/><BR/>Which is why all the internal spying is going on.<BR/><BR/>And that business about Mi-6 and the Mossad? The CIA is not allowed to spy on American soil -- but they can look the other way when others do it. Just a loop hole. Otherwise, in all the incidents I see in the news when we catch these agents, say in the Chicago Subway, they might get arrested.<BR/><BR/>But I don't want to get off on the wrong foot and make you think I'm long-winded or deceitful. My last name is not Shatner, but it could be Shakespeare.<BR/><BR/><I>I wrote a long reply to dennis, re the manchurian scenario, and I'll separate it and post it (next), so that folks can get their tinfoil hats ready.</I><BR/><BR/>Well, I've had my foil sewn into my Derby so as not to clash so much with the Cardigans I'm so fond of wearing. If I didn't think that building materials were going to be a great short soon due to a world-wide recession, I'd invest in ALCOA with all the need for tinfoil in hats.Fake_William_Shatnerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09027049743048836086noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-77569443162590352322008-03-19T10:40:00.000-07:002008-03-19T10:40:00.000-07:00The text of Obama's speech is available on the New...The text of Obama's speech is available on the New York Time's web site, nytimes.com, it's worth reading. <BR/><BR/>Personally, I was pretty impressed with it. I was also impressed by Obama's willingness to take this one head-on. <BR/><BR/>And he made a very good point by putting a couple of seemingly self-evident ideas together in a way you too-rarely see in politics.<BR/>Eg.: Yes, it sucks to be poor in black in America. It also sucks to be poor and white in America. In fact, it doesn't matter what color you are, there's a lot of bad mojo out there, so why don't we stop worrying about who's fault it is and get on with looking for solutions for ALL of us?<BR/><BR/>At least, that's what I took away from it. <BR/><BR/>Of course, the critics from the Hill-Billy camp are already crying that the whole thing is "just words," but they're going to do that. Besides which, "just words" are pretty darn powerful tools, especially when applied to building bridges.Matt DeBlasshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17666227904684289223noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-14639414486884499142008-03-19T09:06:00.000-07:002008-03-19T09:06:00.000-07:00I don't want to post this on the Clarke thread, so...I don't want to post this on the Clarke thread, so I hope you get back here, Dr. Brin.<BR/><BR/>President Clinton went on Limbaughs show the day of the Texas and Ohio Primaries, but there was a guest host that day.<BR/><BR/>He didn't talk much about Bush, he talked up Senator Clinton, and went on and on about "disenfranchisement" in Florida and Michigan, stating that their votes should count as-is.<BR/><BR/>He then asked that Republicans remember that they could vote for Senator Clinton. He didn't appeal to spoiler effect himself, but Rush had already been doing that for a week.<BR/><BR/>Transcripts aren't available without paying Mr. Limbaugh cash, and I'm not about to do that, so the synopsis comes from reading a couple of Huffington Post articles.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-4570153335730076582008-03-18T19:15:00.000-07:002008-03-18T19:15:00.000-07:00RIP Mr. Clarke. Your life was full of stars.On a ...RIP Mr. Clarke. Your life was full of stars.<BR/><BR/>On a more happy note, watch <A HREF="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1czBcnX1Ww" REL="nofollow">Big Dog</A>, a robot built by Boston Dynamics for Darpa. It has a very lifelike gait. They even kicked it while it walked, and it righted itself about as well as my dog would. It also climbed rubble, walked on ice, and hopped.<BR/>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1czBcnX1Wwsociotardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11697154298087412934noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-77135273738818877992008-03-18T18:41:00.000-07:002008-03-18T18:41:00.000-07:00I concur on all points, Robert (including your opi...I concur on all points, Robert (including your opinion of 'Childhood's End', although I can see it as an attempt by one race to prevent one singularity outcome by arranging for another. Either way, yuk!). <BR/><BR/>OTOH, against the latest tales of matrix-like simulations and virtual realities, 'The City and the Stars' still holds its own with ease.Tony Fiskhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14578160528746657971noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-63005846175130506672008-03-18T17:59:00.000-07:002008-03-18T17:59:00.000-07:00I was just... indulging in some transparency. I su...I was just... indulging in some transparency. I suspect many of us have multiple reasons as to why we post in this site and on others, whether for increased visibility, to get our own thoughts exposed, or to indulge in some good old-fashioned <I>thinking</I>, among others.<BR/><BR/>*raises a glass of scotch* Here is to Arthur C. Clarke. I may not have liked all of his novels (such as <A HREF="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Childhood's_End" REL="nofollow">Childhood's End</A>, which I found particularly depressing and nihilistic), but he was a profound and talented writer. May he find what he truly desired on the other end of the Great Void.<BR/><BR/>Rob H.Acacia H.https://www.blogger.com/profile/07678539067303911329noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-22739481766446254972008-03-18T16:39:00.000-07:002008-03-18T16:39:00.000-07:00Oh, I'm happy to keep it sweet. I was just making ...Oh, I'm happy to keep it sweet. I was just making an observation. <BR/><BR/>Subject to Clarke's own wishes, I second Stefan's motion, with a cache of rare earth magnets and an Amiga 9000.Tony Fiskhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14578160528746657971noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-90967665051256186272008-03-18T16:28:00.000-07:002008-03-18T16:28:00.000-07:00Proposal:Sir Arthur's ashes be interred in The Cla...Proposal:<BR/><BR/>Sir Arthur's ashes be interred in The Clarke Memorial Monolith buried deep beneath Tycho crater.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-5350833258747911352008-03-18T16:16:00.000-07:002008-03-18T16:16:00.000-07:00Now guys, be nice. Will & Zorg may be a bit too l...Now guys, be nice. Will & Zorg may be a bit too lavish, but they THINK!<BR/><BR/>I have seen, lately, what passes for commentary in other blogs. The bozitude that supposedly educated guys hurl, after skim-judging a complex issue... or worse, simply skim-judging what they think is a tone of voice!<BR/><BR/>I really am proud that I see a generally elevated level of discourse, here.<BR/><BR/>Anyway, in honor of Arthur Clarke, let's keep is sweet for a bit.David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-64798808252190080962008-03-18T15:39:00.000-07:002008-03-18T15:39:00.000-07:00This comment has been removed by the author.sociotardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11697154298087412934noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-30439255743718077772008-03-18T15:37:00.000-07:002008-03-18T15:37:00.000-07:00Heh. And here I thought I got involved in blogs to...Heh. And here I thought I got involved in blogs to help lure a few unsuspecting souls over to my review site to increase my web traffic. And also because I enjoy the truly intelligent dialogs that go on here which require people to <I>think</I> instead of mindlessly react.<BR/><BR/>Rob H.Acacia H.https://www.blogger.com/profile/07678539067303911329noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-33380646965892073542008-03-18T15:10:00.000-07:002008-03-18T15:10:00.000-07:00There are still people 'like that'. You just aren'...There are still people 'like that'. You just aren't seeing them on Fox and Limbaugh. (All around us it bubbles up..)<BR/><BR/>What's this about 'The Wright thing'??<BR/><BR/>Ah! I've just seen <A HREF="http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/obamas-race-row/2008/03/19/1205602420163.html" REL="nofollow">what it's about</A>.<BR/><BR/>Rather chilling to see such an embittered orator being described as 'like a father to Obama' (see one of Brin's earlier comments for an echo!)<BR/><BR/>Still, I must say this about Obama's response: if they're 'just words', they're words that can cross chasms, which is what words are for.<BR/><BR/>Zorgon, and Will (and me... and no doubt a few others) are possibly examples of people who hang around the comment sections of other people's blogs because they get a greater audience from reflected glory than from their own blogs (I'll expand on that... on my own blog, in due course)Tony Fiskhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14578160528746657971noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-71627423699447043852008-03-18T15:07:00.000-07:002008-03-18T15:07:00.000-07:00Oy! Arthur....Oy! Arthur....David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-36050371342987995042008-03-18T14:59:00.000-07:002008-03-18T14:59:00.000-07:00RIP Arthur C Clarkehttp://news.sky.com/skynews/art...RIP Arthur C Clarke<BR/><BR/>http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30200-1309902,00.htmlUnknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06466421737421818817noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-35750641242042549442008-03-18T14:16:00.000-07:002008-03-18T14:16:00.000-07:00Yipes.I think we've found a good replacement for t...Yipes.I think we've found a good replacement for those Illuminati authors. Thanks, Bill, for making my paranoia look really mild.<BR/><BR/>In the end, I have to believe that a majority of our skilled professionals actually view themselves as - well - skilled professionals sworn to obey and defend the citizens of a civilization that has been very good to us all and responsible for most of the progress our species has made, across 4,000 years.<BR/><BR/>If any of this is going on, and a few of the pros actually got their act together, ran some stings and got the proof, then they would have in their hands the chance to be the century's greatest hero-celebrities. Even if their own hands were somewhat dirty. (See my blackmail article.)<BR/><BR/>Hell, even if there are micro bombs implanted in their carotid arteries and those of their kids. Somebody, sometime, would have had enough. They'd realize that humanity stands at a turning point. And a burst of light might be enough to let all of us LIVE in light, from then on, forever.<BR/><BR/>That's what Franklin, Jefferson, Washington and Lincoln talked a lot about. I cannot believe that we are completely lacking in men like that.David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-19423472606269814062008-03-18T14:09:00.000-07:002008-03-18T14:09:00.000-07:00jeez, Shat. Somebody's trying to rival Zorgon for...jeez, Shat. Somebody's trying to rival Zorgon for post volume.sociotardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11697154298087412934noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-31772772399355983182008-03-18T13:44:00.000-07:002008-03-18T13:44:00.000-07:00David,As you alluded to that anyone in the clandes...David,<BR/><BR/>As you alluded to that anyone in the clandestine services would be able to see that the internal threats are far greater than people in caves who might wield box cutters, the problem is the same as Transparency, socially.<BR/><BR/>All these agencies are compartmentalized. It only takes a few people in authority to throw a wrench in there and create an atmosphere of "no initiative -- just stick to the task in front of you."<BR/><BR/>Brewster-Jennings was a group in the CIA doing the right thing; going after WMDs. If you read up on Siebel Edmunds -- it seems that was a cross purpose with what the administration was doing. Her translations of intelligence agencies in Turkey showed the FBI in the US hindering investigations into Nuclear Secrets sales to countries like Pakistan. Reading about A Q Khan takes it from there.<BR/><BR/>If you add that to how the FBI put the kibbosh on following financial transactions with the 9/11 gig, well, you can at least tell that higher ups in that organization are working for BushCo.<BR/><BR/>The absolutely best site on the web for getting info from CIA Whistleblowers, is the WayneMadsenReport.com - he now charges a subscription fee. So, there are individuals who are the good guys -- but institutionally, I'd say the CIA has been in the Bush family pocket since Reagan, if not during the JFK era. Read up about the sinking of the USS Poet -- the navy boat that transported weapons to Iran. There were two people who flew from Texas to meet with Hoover the day after the JFK assassination, one was named George Bush -- and the CIA claimed this was someone else of the same name. The Bay of Pigs was run on ships of Zappata Oil, and was originally named "Operation Zappata."<BR/><BR/>Add to this the hookers and poker at the Watergate hotel. Paid for by limo fees to Homeland Security and run by the director of the CIA who resigned with little protest. Maybe there are more people on that "happy ending" list than just a governor from New York.<BR/><BR/>No, this has been going on a long time. People in the FBI and CIA at the very top are rewarded cronies.<BR/><BR/>Remember Robert Gates (I think I have the last name right), who ran the CIA under Reagan? Turns out he "exaggerated" the threat of the Soviet Union. Apparently, they weren't able to invade any country -- much less Afghanistan. Only 10% of their troops spoke Russian, they had massive equipment failures, and they were running on the margins for YEARS before Star Wars plans stole a lot of our tax dollars.<BR/><BR/>No, beyond all the foreign agents, you have to look squarely at "WHO OWNS EVERYTHING." That would be offshore banks, which are now the #1 source of credit for the US -- ahead of Japan and even England (well, last I checked). I'd say, that most of the governments of the "first world" are a sham, in that most of the people getting positions of power have been compromised in one way or another -- either by being in hoc to lobbyists, or sleeping with animate and inanimate objects. <BR/><BR/>The whole issue of international trade, has sought to lowball wages by importing everything. It doesn't really matter from where. As long as offshore banks are around to get a piece. Before getting the VP job, Cheney specialized in finding tax havens for rich folks to offshore their banking money. And, lest we think there is a light at the end of this tunnel, need I remind anyone that McCain was one of the Keating 5?<BR/><BR/>We have MI-6 and Mossad agents, running around with abandon in the US. I'm pretty sure, it's just an "exchange program" they spy on our citizens for us, and we do it for them. But, really, the CIA works for corporations -- which used to be US corporations but are now extranational. If you read; "Confessions of an Economic Hitman" it shows the picture of US foreign policy for the last 100 years.<BR/><BR/>Sorry to be so depressing. But we'd be lucky if we actually had national rivalries. Foreign enemies are so very 19th century. There are only economic interests. And when Democracy and the middle class get too much of a hold on people, when they start believing the propaganda about the American dream -- then along comes the Powers That Be, to upset the apple cart. Make someone get angry at someone else. Maybe play the blue collar workers against the Mexicans -- as if our corporations weren't able to get more profits from that situation.<BR/><BR/>It doesn't matter who is having a civil war and you don't need to control anyone. Just keep enough chaos going so that you can trade weapons for cheap resources to both sides.<BR/><BR/>Look at the ownership of the contractors in Iraq. They are now almost all subsidiaries of the Carylse Group. Which is now headquartered in Dubai. Which is also where a lot of scoundrels are moving their assets. <BR/><BR/>It's just banks. That's your Manchurian candidate. And half of us are already in their thrall.Fake_William_Shatnerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09027049743048836086noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-70669810546295006522008-03-18T13:20:00.000-07:002008-03-18T13:20:00.000-07:00Dr. Brin:I agree with you completely that the CIA ...Dr. Brin:<BR/>I agree with you completely that the CIA and others SHOULD have resisted the abuses of the Bush Administration, and have been criminally neglectful in not doing so. <BR/>I'm just trying to posit a reason as to why at least some of them MIGHT have let this kleptocracy go on. I feel as though HW Bush's connections to the CIA are in the same vein as the Bush family's connections to the Bin Ladens and the Saudi Arabian royalty.Cliffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04198405937534052637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-1446576202656259942008-03-18T13:12:00.000-07:002008-03-18T13:12:00.000-07:00"Manchurian candidates put into positions of power..."Manchurian candidates put into positions of power."<BR/><BR/>>> Hmm, well, Bob Jones University and that other nominal college that spits out most of our legal aids in Washington would be one. But Myoung Moon seems to be backing a lot of Evangelicals and politicians -- in pretty broad daylight. He had a coronation last year, and a Republican Senator brought him the robes for crying out loud. That would turn any good story into a farce.<BR/><BR/>Then you've got PNAC and the Likkud party with plenty of folks who seem to have dual alliances all over our Government.<BR/><BR/>Oh, and you can google how many Scientologists have become ensconced in the CIA and Secret Service.<BR/><BR/>And dang if we don't have a son of a fascist on the Supreme Court, and plenty of children of Nazis at the prayer breakfasts.<BR/><BR/><BR/>>> I think this country has survived a plethora of Manchurian Candidates, because they are still fighting over the spoils. It seems to be the UN convention of foreign spies -- the most ultimate case of double agents subverting a country, and then having to run it, thinking that they are in control while being undone by all the other double-agents. <BR/><BR/>The only people getting shot are the people who think they are working for the people. No country in the world wants to invade America -- they are too busy trying to subvert it, while getting corrupted in the process and becoming indistinguishable from Dick Cheney.<BR/><BR/>Was McCain brainwashed by the Vietnamese to one day follow a secret command? Who cares. Moon is already behind the scenes in the White House and Washington Post. Sharing the Closet with Pat Robertson. He'd have to wrest control from someone else successfully destroying America. Could they do a better job than Bush?<BR/><BR/>China, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Dubai, North Korea -- do we have any allies in that list? No, but they are probably our most reliable saboteurs, who all would help us out, only because they are protecting their investment. If WE owned America -- we would want to be worried about this.Fake_William_Shatnerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09027049743048836086noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-57777418599917856312008-03-18T12:23:00.000-07:002008-03-18T12:23:00.000-07:00I’ve had the privilege of stroking the lovely cont...I’ve had the privilege of stroking the lovely contours of a Tesla Roadster. Lovely thing, and going into production with impeccable timing. Elon is a genius.<BR/><BR/>Cliff, I don’t give a fig how many CIA guys have fond memories of Bush Sr. The nation is in jeopardy. The patterns are overwhelmingly suspicious. This is now about choosing sides. Either they are with the People and the nation and civilization, or against it, or sticking their heads so deep into the sand that it is tantamount to betraying their oaths.<BR/><BR/>I am willing to posit that most of these folks sincerely think that chasing “terrorists” -- low level suicide bombers and fanatic nincompoops -- actually translates into protecting the United States. But to ignore the blatant trail of money and ideological/dogmatic support that leads much higher, to people who have actively fomented rage agains our society for generations, would have to constitute criminally negligent stupidity. Let me be clear. I have spoken to many of these guys, at a variety of levels, and I am afraid this applies to quite a few of them. Alas.<BR/><BR/>There are others, though. Some who I know to be much smarter than all this. I’m aware that they can’t tell me what they know. And so I toss and turn at night, wondering if, maybe, they <I>are already on top of this.</I> If they have done their duty, penetrated and cauterized the plot... or else decisively proved that it’s all coincidence, and we really have just been the victim of morons. (Though how you could actually prove the latter, when the manchurian scenario is inherently smart, compact and deeply contained...)<BR/><BR/>We may already have been saved, and they are simply letting elections clean up the mess, without a demoralizing treason scandal. I doubt that logic - I think the people could stand a scandal. But it is plausible. I hope. I wish.<BR/><BR/>Dennis, look up Sky Horizon and see my serial at Baen’s UNIVERSE (online). But yes, I am way behind.<BR/><BR/>William_Shatner thanks for joining us. Loved the Twilight Zones. Alas, I cannot prove that widespread transparency will solve all of the problems you describe. All I can say is that if they can be solved at all, nearly all of them can ONLY be solved by reciprocal transpareency and “sousveillance” ....<BR/><BR/>In every case, the answer is more light, from more angles. As for the human capacity to see and know and address more information, see my <BR/>Google Tech Talk: http://tinyurl.com/yy7yxmDavid Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-59659883086409157152008-03-18T11:36:00.000-07:002008-03-18T11:36:00.000-07:00Woozle said... Re potential supernova: if we ha...<I>Woozle said...<BR/><BR/> Re potential supernova: if we had a rational society, we could (fairly cheaply, I'd think) deploy a fairly small shield to go sit out between the Earth and the star, and block the Earth from the star's radiation during the worst of it.<BR/></I><BR/><BR/>Define cheap. ;-)<BR/><BR/><I>Of course, it could be a long time before the star goes off (if it ever does),</I><BR/><BR/>Woozle, when they talk about a supernova SOON -- it means; "judging from the starlight reaching us." That means that 8,000 years ago, the supernova already happened -- so, anything electromagnetic or traveling speed of light, is going to be arriving here NOW. What you see NOW in space, no matter how distant, has to be considered as being NOW. Until we get Faster Than Light travel, that is.<BR/><BR/>If their is a Neutrino or Gamma Ray burst, or some other nastiness that is still a threat 8,000 light years away -- we have yet to come up with any sort of shielding beyond UV sun glasses or lead lining to deal with it.<BR/><BR/>>> But personally, my own theories on physics would allow for certain tricks with laser light to stop gravity waves -- something along the lines of the "artificial event horizons" that have been making the news. Which I don't think of as event horizons -- but more along the lines of "impeding the higher dimensional pressure that creates space/time in our Universe." However, someone is going to have to beg me to explain that, because everybody thinks I'm an idiot, and the folks who might take me seriously, well, I'd like to patent one of the things I think about in my lifetime.Fake_William_Shatnerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09027049743048836086noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-89199590327814801642008-03-18T11:26:00.000-07:002008-03-18T11:26:00.000-07:00I have to disagree with the "transparent society" ...I have to disagree with the "transparent society" with regards to what we are moving towards today.<BR/><BR/>We all have "information" available to us -- great web sites full of it. People like myself, don't find Fox News legitimate -- along with most of what shows up on TV. However, when I quote a particularly juicy bit of news I heard on a blog site, it's another "tin-foil-hat internet site." If the information does not jibe with what someone believes to be true -- there is no fact, and it doesn't matter where it came from. <BR/><BR/>Humans, may have a cultural and "emotional" limit to how much data they can act on. Hence, even though many people may not believe the TV News -- they cannot act on reading about atrocities in Darfur, because they are emotionally incapable. They are saturated. Intellectually, you may know something is wrong -- but you may be an emotional Zombie. Maybe it's just me who seems to be paralyzed by all this Quagmire we are in. But I suspect that someone may find this is part of our "monkey" nature. A transparent society cannot work -- because HUMANS cannot function with so much "atrocity." We will become numb.<BR/><BR/>Being outraged at Paris Hilton, requires more Viagra to do something when we are also outraged about a war we never see on the TV.<BR/><BR/>We have enough facts to convict many people in the Bush administration -- just on the face of it. But until you find a judge, and enough people with oversight to act on this information -- you get to howl in impotent rage like anyone else who is totally ignorant at politics. I can change other people's opinion, but they don't seem to work at the Department of Justice.<BR/><BR/>The whole system is arbitrary, and gets enforced when it benefits a paid Corporate member, and ignored when that member breaks the same laws we obviously must care about when Eliot Spitzer does it. You know, the one adult doing something about Wall Street? <BR/><BR/>As long as the media does not echo the meme. As long as there is no justice applied. It's as if it didn't happen. <BR/><BR/>I'm also sure, that if you tried to film somewhere inconvenient for those in power, they can find a judge somewhere to rubber stamp whatever they wanted to charge you with. In Atlanta, a few days ago, kevlar-coated agents in black and full riot gear (maybe they were police officers, maybe they were robots -- who could tell?), grabbed a person out of the "Anonymous" protest, and arrested them. The person was described as the "ring leader." If you can't find the right person -- punish someone, right?<BR/><BR/>A week ago, NASA, apparently observing the earth with more than a healthy interest for science would warrant, actually discovered a "suspect" who was responsible for the brutal rape/killings of some white + blond + College girls in the area (Georgia again). The kind of things people get riled up about (I do to, but, these incidents apparently are not important if you aren't already important as a person). From SECRET evidence, they say they got the right guy with 100% certainty. <BR/><BR/>Secret evidence. Well, until I start filming random bits of woods at night -- I won't be able to duplicate this intelligence gathering. But also, what convicts me and you, but lets the Oil Lobbyist off the hook is going to NOT be transparent. And, what we KNOW to be true, will just be an opinion.<BR/><BR/>Authority has human psychology on their side. They can tell the public that "JFK was killed by a single assassin." And I can say; "no there was a conspiracy -- how could the one guy in custody, arrange for JFK's brain to go missing?" Well you know what? People believe what they are told to believe, and then go on to claim they have free will -- because someone told them it is true. The alternative is to be ostracized from the herd.<BR/><BR/>We may have the technology to be transparent. But not the society nor, apparently, an advanced enough psychology to deal with it. Perhaps I'm an anomaly. <BR/><BR/>I'll tell my wife that we should be breeding more -- other than that, I don't see a way of fixing this fundamental flaw. Like <B>Communism or Capitalism are great ideas and would work fine, if you could use them without involving people.</B> -- I just invented that quote.Fake_William_Shatnerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09027049743048836086noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-18869460125189453142008-03-18T11:09:00.000-07:002008-03-18T11:09:00.000-07:00Heh, an amusing Uplift coincidence, the word-verif...Heh, an amusing Uplift coincidence, the word-verification character set on my last post was "ifniii".<BR/><BR/>Ifni help us.dmonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04350397073957059229noreply@blogger.com