Whitehouse Counterterrorism Advisor says Bush is worsening the situation
Posted 8:25 AM

As I've always suspected, Bush's aggressive policies would increase anti-American sentiment, and thereby increase terrorist acts against our country. Apparently Bush's top antiterrorism adviser, Rand Beers, agrees. According to the Washington Post, he quit working for Bush because "they're making us less secure, not more secure", and he's now backing a Democratic candidate for 2004.

Labels: politics

[View/Post Comments] [Digg] [Del.icio.us] [Stumble]

Truck driver pleads guilty under duress, FBI declares victory
Posted 5:48 PM

Iyman Faris, a Columbus, Ohio truck driver and naturalized US citizen from Kashmir, pled guilty in a closed-door proceeding to two counts of aiding a terrorist organization, after having waived his right to a trial. Faris agreed to plead guilty and face a possible 20-year sentence after he was threatened with being designated an enemy combatant and turned over to the military. Faris was accused of involvement in an improbable plot to bring down the Brooklyn Bridge in New York City by cutting its suspension cables with acetylene torches. [Full Story]
[View/Post Comments] [Digg] [Del.icio.us] [Stumble]

Bush is digging his own grave
Posted 9:27 AM

[Verified then ripped from whatreallyhappened.com]

This...



... is what the US Government says is a gas centrifuge used for processing nuclear fuel for reactors and warheads. It was found buried under a rosebush in Iraq, supposedly for 12 years.

And THIS...


Is an actual complete gas centrifuge facility in the United States, covering 750 acres. There is a good reason for the size.



It takes hundreds of gas centrifuges, shown left, to produce miniscule amounts of uranium 235.

Facilities for producing uranium 235 for power reactors or weapons are therefore huge. A single gas centrifuge is useless except for laboratory experiments involving microscopic amounts of materials, and is used in thousands of experiments, besides producing nuclear fuel.

I can't believe the average American doesn't believe their being screwed with at this point. The forged documents and lame excuses are embarassing. We went to war with Iraq because they were a "Clear and present danger" to the United States. They had no air force, no nukes, no missiles, no real army.

The truth is that they were simply a poor nation, with a crappy tyrant that was starving under unjustified U.N. sanctions. This war with them was expensive and bizzare, and we will be paying for it with fewer jobs and longer work hours for many, many years. Only military contractors, Halburton, and few of Bush's good buddies will profit. And many, many Americans died for this. It's a sickness. And it's only going to get worse before it gets better.

Labels: politics

[View/Post Comments] [Digg] [Del.icio.us] [Stumble]

Will it happen in our lifetime?
Posted 3:33 PM

It's indisputable that the vitality of humans has increased dramatically over the years. There was a time, as little as 1000 years ago, when the average person could expect to live 20-odd years, and would be in substantial pain throughout a large portion of their life.

As peoples lives grew longer, so did their health, intelligence and athletic ability.

In addition, the rate of lifespan advancement is increasing. 200 years ago, each year, our average lifespan increased by 0.01 years. Today, our lifespan is increasing by 0.25 years per year. Eventually the average lifespan will increase by 1 year every year. At this point, man is "emortal", or "forever young". Death will still happen because of disease, accident and murder... but not because of "old age".

Many people have speculated about when this will happen. It's meaningless to try to "guess" what the impact on the world will be, but it is important to react quickly and intelligently to any emerging problems. Apparently, a major advance has now been made. Personally, I'd rather get a genetic patch, rather than a pill, but I'm not complaining. The other area that will solidify our advancement is in cell-regeneration technology, as previously reported.

Sadly, I don't think our race is mature enough for this technology. People are still too busy running their lives out of fear. People still think that sex is "important" as opposed to "fun and functional". Still, it's exciting to be alive at this turning point in humanity.

Labels: science

[View/Post Comments] [Digg] [Del.icio.us] [Stumble]

Thousands show up for Bush protest, no one notices
Posted 11:42 AM

When I went to the June 23rd protest against Bush and his abuse of the office of President, I held up a sign that said "Why did Bush block the investigation of the 9/11 attacks?" Lots of people were there, protesting various policies, but that's the one, for me, that hits close to home, since I have lived and worked in downtown Manhattan for the last 11 years, and know many people whose lives were devastated by the attack.

The protest was large and loud - as it should be. A few thousand people showed up, but many of them could not find a place to stand in the pens that were set aside for the protest.

I was surprised and glad that many of the police joined in the protest chants, and were open to talking about the political issues involved. This was not my experience before.

About 3 out of 4 people I talked to on the subway said that the reason they didn't go to protests was because they were afraid of being arrested. That's a scary number. I mean, we're talking 75% of the people who have alternative political opinions are afraid of expressing them.

Yes, some kids got arrested, on purpose/as usual. The only people who ever get arrested are the people who want to. Usually they shout "Whose streets? Our streets!", and topple barriers, etc. They might as well be working for Bush. Maybe they just don't know that what they are doing is hurting the cause, but I wouldn't be surprised if they were paid to do it.

Anyway, after the protest, I walked to Bryant park - with my sign - and noticed that I got a lot more attention as a "lone-protestor". It dawned on me that another way to protest is, instead of all standing in one place and trying to get the interest of the news, is for everyone to simply carry a sign to and from work, on a designated day. That way more people will see the message.

Maybe the news won't notice, but, then again, the news doesn't report anything meaningful anymore anyway. I mean here's the only article I saw about the protest. It has few facts, and a misleading headline. Why give the news an opportunity to misrepresent a protest - as they always do?

I'm going to go the A.N.S.W.E.R. meeting on Tuesday and see how they feel about this new form of protest.

Labels: politics

[View/Post Comments] [Digg] [Del.icio.us] [Stumble]

Democracy in Iraq
Posted 6:26 AM

When the U.S. shut down the first free, anonymous, protected election in Iraq a lot of Americans saw that as "predictable". The reason? Maybe we weren't going to elect someone that emporer Bremer didnt's want to be in charge. OR maybe we just don't want to make the same mistakes there as we did here.

I mean, honestly, do we really want "the guy who can afford the most flyers" to win an election in Iraq? Or will that just turn into the same crap we have here (the guy who can raise the most corporate cash wins).

I believe what Bremer really wants, and what's going to happen, is an election that represents the voice of the people. Not the rich people. Not a few theocrats. The voice of the average, working Iraqi.

And that's going to happen because the campaigns there will be financed equally and centrally.

Now, as to emporer Bremer's censorship edicts. I know he thinks it's saving lives... but really it's just making things worse - giving fuel to the fires of anti-Americanism both in Iraq and abroad. This is the true action of censorship: the more you try to stop people from saying something, the louder they are heard.

Labels: politics

[View/Post Comments] [Digg] [Del.icio.us] [Stumble]

Wherefore art thou globalism?
Posted 4:20 PM

In the New York times, today, I read a comment about increasing "globalism" in Canada's cities. Was this the same globalism that people were protesting in Genoa when the police shot an innocent kid? It seems that this term is possibly one of the most abused and misunderstood words in the modern media. Here's what I've come up with so far, suggestions are welcome:

Good Globalism:
Increased diversity in cities (apparently), global human rights laws, free, worldwide access to information, global access to health information (WHO).

Ambiguous:
World courts for international crimes, the United Nations, others?

Bad Globalism:
The growth of "free trade" agreements without regard for human rights. Forced privatization of utilities mandated by the IMF and the World Bank. This practice is particularly evil, as it is known to destabilize economies, and in severe cases cause death and disease, exchange for riches to Western firms.

It's clear that journalists and activists alike should be particularly cautious when using this loaded term.

Labels: politics

[View/Post Comments] [Digg] [Del.icio.us] [Stumble]

Speak out against the man who raped our country
Posted 11:53 AM

Bush is coming to New York - the city he stabbed in the back over and over, both with his actions, policies and his inactions and disregard. Protest his excessive military-spending, his economic recession, his lies that provoked war, his 9/11 investigation cover-ups, and his globalist neo-conservative cabal. June 23rd, 52nd and 7th, 5:00 pm Or you can just buy a baseball cap.

Actually, I'm starting to feel sorry for him. He's taking the blame on a lot of crap recently. I'm sure he was just doing what he was told.

Labels: politics

[View/Post Comments] [Digg] [Del.icio.us] [Stumble]

The next big attack on America
Posted 12:40 AM

With all the recent pressure on the neo-conservative administration, including calls for presidential impeachment, it would be in the party's best interests for there to be renewed violence to protect us from. The problem is that it can't be a Muslim terrorist again - since Bush will be blamed for causing it. It can't be in Iraq or Iran, or it will fuel the belief that we caused more harm than good in that region. It could, however, come from Korea. Recent troop movements and political maneuverings suggest that we may be antagonizing them into a conflagration and, of course, Bush's re-election. I only hope that this next attack isn't as bad as the last one.

Also, at first I was really surprised that the Bush administration hadn't just planted some nukes in Iraq to make their case. Easy enough. But, then, the truth dawned on me... maybe they already did - and then later they lost them. The incompetence would be consistent. But if they lost them, who has them? Hopefully we don't have to find out the hard way.

[Added 6/23/03] Apparently someone else thought of this too.

Labels: politics

[View/Post Comments] [Digg] [Del.icio.us] [Stumble]

Peaceful Revolution?
Posted 8:44 AM

Visited Woodstock and Kingston again. Meditated on the manic, obsessive Opus 40. Listened to the frantic, literate poetry and song of youthful antiwar kids and the depressed economy blues. More than ever, I'm certain that a peaceful revolution can happen only if the tree-hugging anti-globalists get together with the internet savvy transhumanist extropians. If there was convergence of these two groups, rather than a mutual distrust, then the agendas of both would be realized.

Also, it would help if the average person realized how much he was being ripped of by the wealthy leaders of this country. Our economy is fine. We're just being raped by the wealthy and powerful, that's all. Oh, and, in case you didn't know, "the stock market" is not our economy. It is an economic indicator only because of the current culture and organization of our economy - that being one of gross inequity and abuse of power.

Read this book - Amazon allows you to read the first 24 pages for free. It's a fictional description of phenomena that may have some bearing on reality. Many parts are wonky and, but the overall sentiment jibes with what I'm talking about. Also, I'm volunteering at the transhumanism conference at Yale. Register for it, and/or email me if you want to come and hang out.

Labels: politics

[View/Post Comments] [Digg] [Del.icio.us] [Stumble]

U.S. Senator accuses Bush of misleading America
Posted 2:29 PM

Many people, including myself, have suspected that the Bush administration lied about Iraq's involvement in terror, and lied about the causes of the Sept. 11th attacks. One of the first things Bush did in office was abandon and harrass the chief investigator into Al-Qaeda until he "retired". They also blocked investigations into Saudi terrorist dollars, and they blocked investigation into the stock options traded on airlines before Sept. 11th. Hundreds of smaller organizations have clamored for investigations. Tom Daschle has hinted in the past that our administrations hands were dirty. Now, finally, a U.S. senator is calling Bush to task on his evil misdeeds.

Labels: politics

[View/Post Comments] [Digg] [Del.icio.us] [Stumble]

Hawaii
Posted 9:00 AM

Yes, it is one of the most beautiful places in the world. Always sunny and warm, but never too hot. If you go there, you have to surf. If you don' know how (like me), just get someone to push you up onto a board. We were buying a smoothie in Hanalei Bay, when someone named "Freedom", his name tattooed elaborately on his back, asked if we wanted lessons. My friend knew how to surf, but she isn't much for giving lessons, so I said yes. I definitely learned more from him in an hour than I'd learned trying to teach myself in Puerto Rico. Afterwards, we drove a backpacker, "Bo", to a hostel. He said he'd just finished traveling along some trail, spending 2 nights in the mountains and thinking he was lost. Note to backpackers: don't travel alone, and, if possible, bring a gps, sat phone or cell phone unless you are a very experienced at complex wilderness hiking.

I did see some evidence of the social destruction caused by Operation Green Harvest. Crystal certainly is unreasonably and artificially popular there now. I got a lecture on it.

Labels: hawaii, politics

[View/Post Comments] [Digg] [Del.icio.us] [Stumble]

Legal Defense fund for Anti-spam organizations
Posted 8:06 AM

Organizations like Spamhaus are often sued by the penis elargement and mortgage promotional companies that are fighting for the legal right to fill your inbox with crap. Spamcon has been formed, apparently, to provide a centralized legal support for the organizations that combat spam. I donated a bit.
[View/Post Comments] [Digg] [Del.icio.us] [Stumble]