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January 21, 2006
Weekend OT
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” The great majority of mankind are satisfied with appearances as though they were realities” — Machiavelli
Posted by: Uncle $cam | Jan 21 2006 7:19 utc | 2
Leo Strauss and the Theologico-Political Problem
Heinrich Meier
Nothing is as controversial in the thought of Leo Strauss and nothing is as central to a proper understanding of it as the theologico-political problem. Not only is the position that Strauss takes on the theologico-political problem controversial. The controversy already concerns what position he in truth took. And since the theologico-political problem lies at the center of Strauss’s political philosophy, the controversy shapes the confrontation with all the great themes of Strauss’s oeuvre, ranging from the dialogue between the ancients and the moderns via philosophy as a way of life and the exoteric-esoteric art of writing to the critique of historicism….
Posted by: Anonymous | Jan 21 2006 7:26 utc | 3
Database of DNA of 10 to 18-year-olds being built by stealth in the UK.
Posted by: Dismal Science | Jan 21 2006 15:12 utc | 4
I tend to follow this guy’s advice.
Marc Faber’s Investment Themes for 2006
If anyone doesn’t already know, here is one of the classic old school methods Rupert Murdoch uses to control debate and ensure that the two faction one party state continues without interuption.
News of the World is Murdoch’s sleaziest rag.
The lib dems were the only english Parliamentary party that has oposed the illegal invasion of Iraq from the get go. They have a pretty mixed history as a third party.
Usually Lib-dems are a convenient parking space for the votes of people who have seen behind the smoke and mirrors of a particular election. Many of their members are hacks, many are talented mavericks, some who are deemed to have potential (eg Peter Hain) are grabbed by one of the bigguns, Labour or Conservative).
The Hains story is quite salutory. The Liberals as they were then, were the only party in england to consistently and unequivocally oppose South African apartheid.
Hain was their rising star, a president of the youth wing. Lo and behold he got arrested for an armed hold-up of a bank.
The media had a field day in a way that only the englih media do.
After a very drawn out battle he got off, but a sour taste was left in many people’s mouths as it seemed he may have gotten off because he was ‘in the club’ of powerbrokers. The identification evidence was dodgy and in the end was disallowed by the judge.
It later transpired that the whole thing was a South African Bureau of state security (BOSS) fitup.
Hains eventually resurfaced as one of the most slimy cynical and twisted hacks of the Bliar govt. He had learned to play the game.
The time was not yet right for letting the people of South Africa near their resources. The larder still had a few nice nibbles in it.
This all happened around the same time as the liberal leader Jeremy Thorpe was being crucified for being gay. From memory Thorpe wasn’t married but it was the 70’s and different attitudes were prevalent.
Back to now. I know nothing of Mark Oaten. I clicked on the link because the whole ‘rent boy’ culture is one of the sickest aspects of the english elite.
This is where young, frequently homeless, youths are encouraged to believe that the only thing they have that the world could possibly want is their body.
Unfortunately the culture is also prevalent in parts of Australia where judges, media personalities and politicians, revel in their power by exploiting children. The survival statistics for genuine rent boys is not great. Apart from some sicko going too far, the loss of self esteem, betrayal and all the other ‘occupational hazards’ of being a pedophile’s victim take their toll.
Suicide and /or addiction dogs these guys unless they can live long enough to get some perspective on what really happened.
Anyway who-ever Oaten’s partner was, at 22 he wasn’t a rent boy. He may have been a hooker but who knows or even cares? Notice how often the article refers to his family in a very general sort of a way. I know nothing of the man and cannot tell you whether his ‘family’ refers to his wife and kids or whether he is a bachelor and family means siblings and parents.
The difference matters as much as the rent boy thing. If he isn’t married and is a gay man who had a scene with a 22 yo that later decided to make a quid selling the story, that has vastly different implications for voters than if he were a married man with a family who crept out to abuse other people’s children. Maybe even his own….?
As I said without knowing Mark Oaten who apparently was rated as an outsider in this leadership battle for the Lib Dems, it is difficult to tell whether this was a personalised attack on the bloke himself or whether it was a general attack on a party which was once again gaining too much popularity.
Last election showed them to be a genuine option for voters and since ‘the gang’ has already decided the Tories’ new pretty boy (went to Eton, has the right connections etc) is going to replace Bliar they don’t want all the people who oppose the Iraqi slaughter having anyone meaningful to give their vote to.
The last leader of the lib dems has just been outed as a drinker.
It seems that the present attitude of the sheeple threatens the two faction one party system same as the time when the english worked out that apartheid was not a good thing and there was a mechanism for expressing that democratically, maybe even putting an end to it.
Remember apartheid only survived as long as it did with english complicity.
At that time the media plus the establishment destroyed the libs for a generation.
Now that they have provided a voice for normal human beings to express their loathing of murder and savagery once more, it is time to ‘stitch the party up.’
One of the great regrets of my life will be if Rupert shuffles off without some sort of payback, yet it looks as though that is what is going to happen.
Posted by: Debs is dead | Jan 21 2006 22:12 utc | 7
Further to the discussion about access to personal computers by the government on another MoA thread: Robert X. Cringey, long-time technology/computer columnist in popular magazines, has an article discussing both telephone wiretaps (listening in on calls) and pen traps (recording which number called which other number), which are easier to legally obtain and manage.
Many phone companies also outsource their phone taps to smaller firms that specialize in that kind of work. These firms handle the legal paperwork, and generally more than pay for themselves by billing the Feds, too, on behalf of the telco.
It feels a little creepy to me knowing that our telephone systems can be accessed at will by “rent-a-tap” outfits, and that the technology has advanced to the point where such intercepts can apparently be done from a properly-authorized PC.
My point is that it seems clear that any phone conversation, email or instant message, or Internet posting is pretty much assured to be recorded as to what phone number called another one (for billing purposes), which computer sent the email (email headers), who accesses which web page (web logs), who posted which comment (Bernhard and other bloggers have said so, the data is recorded in a log somewhere); not to mention that every phone call and computer transmission goes through not only your own ISP or local telephone company, but many other “common carriers” such as long-distance companies, fiber-optic providers and so on, with myriad opportunities to listen in, read mail, scan for keywords etc.
This happens all the time, with government approval (Carnivore and Echelon technology) and I am sure there are many other curious amateur listeners as well.
With that in mind, of course we want to make sure that illegally obtained information does not find its way into the “justice” system, nor is it in our interests to allow those rules to be eroded.
However in our modern society with dependence on electronic communications, you would have to work pretty hard to make sure that privacy is a little harder to break — that’s where PGP and anonymisers come in, I guess. Or just being obscure — or simply taking the bold step of communicating about these issues in a clear and responsible manner. I’m trying to take the third option and follow the example of people who make a profession of cryptography and computer security and speak out about issues and vulnerabilities.
Posted by: jonku | Jan 21 2006 23:13 utc | 8
oops, “Robert X. Cringely” — sorry Bob.
He also mentions that the “CEO of International Telephone & Telegraph (ITT) reportedly spoke with Adolf Hitler on the phone from New York City every week of the war.”
Posted by: jonku | Jan 21 2006 23:19 utc | 9
News of the World is Murdoch’s sleaziest rag.
That reminded me of a combination of things.
1. That it also the paper that has been pushing hard for Sven-Göran Erikssons removal as leader of the english soccer team. Setting him up by posing as a Dubai rich guy wanting to buy a tema and hire a coach (here). And now it is some new story (here).
Which I would not care to mention if it was not for:
2. In a swedish tv-program about media and media relations this autumn there was a piece about Sven-Göran Eriksson. Apparently he started filming his pressconferences a while ago. Or rather filming the journalists during his presscnferences. He has not used it for anything, just taped it and stored it. However an english reporter was interwieved and was very upsett “this destroys all possibilities of media realtions”, “he is going down” and so forth.
Apparently now he is going down. You can not have a media figure, even (or perhaps especially) a minor one like a sports coach get away with having their own record of media communications. That could, in combination with the web lead to an undermining of the atory-telling monopoly of modern media.
Posted by: A swedish kind of death | Jan 22 2006 1:37 utc | 10
What I really was going to write before I read Debs post was about a tv-program I saw a piece of while zapping during a commercial (another reason to download instead).
It was a really old German program with some cops who was fighting the alien threat which had just started to infect a beautiful blond women. The cool cops had was searching for information and had just caught some definitely not Arian-looking scumbag and pressed him up against the car. He was complaining about his rights being abused but they told him that “this is a matter of national security, do you think the Gestapo cares about any rights? You are going to jail for drugs and the only question is if you while also be shipped away as an enemy of the state”. Then of course he told them everything he knew.
Only it was not German or old at all. And it was Homland Security not Gestapo.
Posted by: A swedish kind of death | Jan 22 2006 1:53 utc | 11
@askod
A while ago people were asking in here why Chomsky didn’t have much of a media profile in the US.
His situation is probably much the same as Sven-Göran Eriksson only more so.
Sven-Göran Eriksson has to do press conferences as part of his contract, but people with a choice such as Chomsky will only agree to live unedited interviews, conditional on no ‘edited highlights’ being used later and them keeping their own record of the meeting to ensure that this is adhered to.
Natch a ‘bogeyman’ such as Chomsky is only reported by ‘journalists’ if they can bend his words so far outta shape as to make any reasonable person be overcome with fear and loathing at the mention of Chomsky’s name.
A bit like Hugo Chavez whose crime appears to be to have won 2 elections and given cheap energy to the poor.
This is almost the exact opposite of Dubya’s technique which because he has the backing of the MSM relies on the dubious, stumbling or indecisive bits being edited out.
Generally the Dubya slime is only taken outta context in a good (for BushCo) way. Ironic, yet it re-inforces why it is essential for non-believers such as the MoA mob to try and watch some TV.
Since I’ve been a bit ill I’ve been watching a lot more TV than I otherwise would have and I’m going to try and keep it up even after I have a bit more ability to get out amongst it.
As far as I can remember there have only been two serious terrorist attacks committed on US soil by middle eastern people in the last 15 years or so, both were on the twin towers of the WTC the second of which included an attack on the Pentagon. Yet nearly 5 years after the last attack, in tv dramas about Arabs or Iranians, or Kurds or Armenians or Turkomen, or Javanese, or North Africans are still killing ‘innocent civilians’ nightly.
I realise there are only 6 degrees of seperation between any two people on this planet yet an awful lot of the people who are authority figures (cops, coroners etc) on TV dramas have family members, particularly significant others, who happened to be in the twin towers or pentagon Sept 11 2001.
These dramas are actually better purveyors of misinformation than the news.
This is partially because many people have become convinced that entertainment is more relaxing than edification, but although many people are unaware of it, group consciousness followed by a shared morality is developed through common experience.
In other words a lot of people experiencing the same feelings at the same time as others, particularly feelings such as fear, resentment, disgust as well as relief, joy and understanding are likely to bond with each other; then reinforce those feelings by reliving them ie discussing a show with your workmates the next day.
These common emotions which can become the glue holding somewhat tenuous relationships together, may evolve into a shared group ethos.
In this way TV drama becomes the means of creating common purpose across a large and disparate group such as an urban community.
I won’t prattle on too long about how things like ‘the new morality’ introduced to the US in the 80’s, have become so pervasive that allegedly leftist citizens are going onto kos and other such ‘liberal’ sites and praising the lord for Congressman Conyers.
That the US culture has so wholeheartedly readopted a monotheistic belief system, has made kowtowing to a single king-like authority figure much more palatable.
So even whilst these confused souls are acknowledging the shackles of tyranny they are re-affirming the lock holding the shackles in place.
Sorry badly sidetracked there, my point was that if we don’t keep an eye on the drivel being dripped into our neighbours or compatriots’ consciousness we lack an insight into the belief system that drives the shared ethos of our our immediate community.
The hard bit is watching AND resisting.
Posted by: Debs is dead | Jan 22 2006 5:35 utc | 13
Larry Franklin sentenced to 12 years in AIPAC spy case…
but his sentence doesn’t start yet and he will be allowed to remain free…because it “appears” he was trying to help the U.S.
uh. ok.
that article says Franklin gave information about Iraq, but the guy spoke Farsi and according to Laura Rozen in this article
the Franklin investigation was being transferred from the head of the FBI counterintelligence unit, David Szady, to U.S. Attorney Paul McNulty, a Bush appointee, in Alexandria, Virginia, as the case moved to the grand-jury phase.
And then, in mid-September, news of the Franklin investigation went dark.
* * *
The classified document that Franklin allegedly passed to AIPAC concerned a controversial proposal by Pentagon hard-liners to destabilize Iran. The latest iteration of the national-security presidential directive was drafted by a Pentagon civilian and avid neocon, Michael Rubin, who hoped it would be adopted as official policy by the Bush administration.
Who is Rubin?
Rubin, in his early 30s, is a relative newcomer to the neoconservative circles in which he is playing an increasingly prominent role. Once the Iraq and Iran desk officer in the Pentagon’s Office of Special Plans and later a Coalition Provisional Authority adviser in Iraq, these days the Yale-educated Ph.D. hangs his hat at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) and serves as editor for controversial Middle East scholar Daniel Pipes’ magazine, The Middle East Quarterly.
In an article published in the Republican-oriented quarterly Ripon Forum in June, Rubin suggests that the administration resolve its Iran waffling by turning against the current regime..
Posted by: fauxreal | Jan 22 2006 6:21 utc | 14
Some good peak oil resources posted here at the moment-
link
esp.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/energyresources/message/86991
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/energyresources/message/87004
Posted by: correlator | Jan 22 2006 6:55 utc | 15
The story-telling monopoly of modern media…
Well put. And Debs too for talking a bit about consensual reality. It really is a spell where a whole society even can function within their own self-created belief system, mutually reinforcing each other. Most of the creators in Hollywood believe they are free to express what they wish, unaware how they have internalized the machine’s values.
Con-sensual reality. I prefer sensual reality. Much more visceral.
jonku, and any other Canadians out there–what do you think of this: Who is Stephen Harper, the Conservative poised to be Canada’s next prime minister? It seems enough to convince anyone of the futility of moving to Canada to escape the insanity.
Can you imagine how this will go down with Palestinians and how much harm this does to Abbas?
The U.S. just gave Hamas a huge victory.
U.S. Funds Enter Fray In Palestinian Elections
RAMALLAH, West Bank — The Bush administration is spending foreign aid money to increase the popularity of the Palestinian Authority on the eve of crucial elections in which the governing party faces a serious challenge from the radical Islamic group Hamas.
The approximately $2 million program is being led by a division of the U.S. Agency for International Development. But no U.S. government logos appear with the projects or events being undertaken as part of the campaign, which bears no evidence of U.S. involvement and does not fall within the definitions of traditional development work.
The first time I see a challenge of Diebold voting machines in a bigger media outlet.
WaPo: As Elections Near, Officials Challenge Balloting Security
As the Leon County supervisor of elections, Ion Sancho’s job is to make sure voting is free of fraud. But the most brazen effort lately to manipulate election results in this Florida locality was carried out by Sancho himself.
Four times over the past year Sancho told computer specialists to break in to his voting system. And on all four occasions they did, changing results with what the specialists described as relatively unsophisticated hacking techniques. To Sancho, the results showed the vulnerability of voting equipment manufactured by Ohio-based Diebold Election Systems, which is used by Leon County and many other jurisdictions around the country.
…
@Malooga, go here for continuing superb coverage of the changes being engineered in Canada to get it ready for merger. It’s also helpful, because it’s being done so rapidly that you can see the changes they’ve already engineered down here over last ~25 yrs. telescoped into virtually no time at all – now that they’ve perfected their methods for replacing democratic representative governments w/those of by and for the fascist technocrats & bankers. I read a story @that site w/in last wk. or two that reactionaries decided to shut their mouths about their virulently anti-abortion plans so as not to sabotage their electoral chances.
Oh, and if you think the Fascist Fundies down here aren’t pouring money in there to fund more of the same, you’re wrong. go here
Posted by: jj | Jan 22 2006 9:24 utc | 20
I guess the US is trying to protect it’s investment. Offing Yasser wouldn’t have come cheap and even if the Israelis did do the grunt work the US would have picked up the tab.
Since a lot of Palestinians believe this and whilst Arafat allowed corruption to flourish he was still driven by basic principle, whereas the main chancer Abbas has let the Palestinian Authority really fall into rack and ruin. So much money is being creamed out that the gang at the coalface aren’t getting paid.
That is a recipe for a disaster that has been created so many times by the US technique of sending whores out to do a hero’s job that it’s hard to see that more negative publicity about the authority could chase anymore voters to Hamas.
On the other hand it’s doubtful that $2 mill is going to be enough to buy sufficient votes.
So what has this news done? It has told the people of the US that the Palestinian Authority is the team that is ‘meant to win’.
When Hamas wins they will then be primed to forget that little old democratic process that those Ay-rabs are meant to hate so much. Then amerikan people will easily swallow the next bit. That is that the peace process has been made unworkable by those Ay-rabs voting for radical organisations like Hamas
So ‘we’ give the palestinians nothing. Take em nowhere.
The old stars and bars will fly high on the day the last Palestinian can be pushed into gaza.
They won’t live too long…no money, no work and if they object they know they can’t even get into a hospital because they may be a security risk.
Genocide has gotten more subtle and more deadly that’s all.
Hey that gaza is good sea-front land now that the war crime bizzo is off with the birdies.
I wonder who has the option on that once it’s been de-palestinianed? That could be a quality property. Whack in a championship course right next to the delux hotel/condo development.
“If we launch with a big match-play championship the sheeple will forget Gaza (which will have been renamed Paradise on the Med). I mean Tiger wouldn’t play somewhere if it was really bad now would he? He’s an…ist isn’t he? I guess he must come from around here somwhere. Egypt you think? You can see what a bit of prayer did for his swing… mind you it was already pretty darn immaculate. that’s what finding god does for your swing. My handicap went from 12 all the way down to 7 a month after I found the lord. Say I wonder if big john could get his game back?…..”
Posted by: Debs is dead | Jan 22 2006 9:54 utc | 21
Malooga, thanks for asking about WHo is Stephen Harper?.
Essentially, Stephen Harper is a smart young politician from Toronto who found a base in Calgary, our version of Dallas. Cowboy hats, big oil, cattle.
He is credited with the merger of Canada’s recently deposed Conservative Party with the emerging Alliance, and other parties out of the heartland, I think that was roughly 10 years ago.
He has held a seat in Parliament representing both the fundamentalist party and he now leads the merged traditional Tories and the young whippersnappers. They lost the last federal election a year ago, but not by much.
Harper leads in the polls by around 10 points over the Liberals led by Paul Martin, incumbent Prime Minister. The three (or so) parties currently break down nationwide to something like 40% Harper, 30% Martin, maybe 25% or so NDP (Canada’s labor party) and 6% or whatever to the Green party, up I think from 2 or 3% last time.
So that means either a Harper minority or majority government. A minority wouldn’t hold for long according to what I read, while a majority might mean four Harper years.
Harper has learned from the Republicans, overtly by visiting the Republican convention last year and also you can see that the quality of his tv commercials, which by US standards lack production value, still are more compelling than the Liberals’ ads. The NDP commercials are good, Jack Layton has a friendly face, they feature some kind of winter boot as the main emblem, I suppose they want to give the boot to the other mainstream parties. Don’t forget the bloc Quebecois either.
I did read the essay you reference, Harper has reached out to US print media in letters and I think op-eds, the salt spring link jj supplies above has been informative (thanks jj).
In my local riding, traditionally a Conservative one, the incumbent is stepping down. In his place is a fellow who is billed as a Harvard educated constitutional lawyer. A young handsome Smart cookie, didn’t get to speak much because he had t o be announcing the conservative party line to end corruption and so on, since the current government got caught stealing.
The other stars here are the Green candidate, an envirnmental scientist (oceanographer?) with good credentials in the community, and the Marxist-Leninist, who made the most sense in the candidates meeting I attended.
Who is Stephen Harper? Wants to be Prime Minister, former Trudeau staffer or volunteer, I don’t know I never met him.
He is being credited with learning to collaborate, compromise, even as his history as being committed to his ideals is revealed more and more.
As far as Canada being more or less attractive, look into Nafta’s erasure of the border as far as jobs go, but also note that the US buck only buys a buck twenty today instead of a buck and a half.
Posted by: jonku | Jan 22 2006 10:33 utc | 22
the classified document that Franklin allegedly passed to AIPAC concerned a controversial proposal by Pentagon hard-liners to destabilize Iran
“June 2003 Complete Iraq timeline
The Pentagon Office of Special Plans sends two Defense officials, Harold Rhode and Larry Franklin, to Paris where they secretly meet with Manucher Ghorbanifar, an Iranian arms trader who had been a central figure in the Iran-Contra affair. Michael Ledeen of the American Enterprise Institute is said to have arranged the meeting, which is not authorized by the White House. [Newsday, 8/9/03; Washington Post, 8/9/03 Sources: A senior official interviewed by Newsday] It appears that the purpose of the meeting is to undermine a pending deal that the White House is negotiating with the Iranian government. Iran is considering turning over five al-Qaeda operatives in exchange for Washington dropping its support for Mujahadeen Khalq, an Iraq-based rebel Iranian group listed as a terrorist organization by the State Department. The Office of Special Plans is reportedly interested in using this group to help destabilize Iran?s government. [Newsday, 8/9/03; Inter Press Service, 8/7/03] When Secretary of State Colin Powell gets wind of its activities, he complains directly to the office of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, saying that Feith’s missions are against US policy. [Newsday, 8/9/03; Washington Post, 8/9/03] “
http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/entity.jsp?id=884907706-886
link no longer works but they have updated their timeline
newsweek
What was international man of mystery Manucher Ghorbanifar up to when he met with top Pentagon experts on Iran? In a NEWSWEEK interview in Paris last month, Ghorbanifar, a former Iranian spy who helped launch the Iran-contra affair, says one of the things he discussed with Defense officials Harold Rhode and Larry Franklin at meetings in Rome in December 2001 (and in Paris last June with only Rhode) was regime change in Iran
Posted by: annie | Jan 22 2006 11:27 utc | 23
Sharon regards Iraq as “a very, very dangerous country led by an insane regime” (he then asks an aide in Hebrew if there is a stronger word than “insane”), he considers Iran is a “centre of world terror”, and that as soon as an Iraq conflict is concluded, he will push for Iran to be at the top of the “to do” list: “Iran makes every effort to possess weapons of mass destruction on the one hand and ballistic missiles. That is a danger to the Middle East, to Israel, and a danger to Europe.
isn’t feith in trouble for passing info to israel also? i guess what i don’t understand is why franklin got in trouble for it. seems to me like it was all part of the neocon/israel plan.
thanks for posting the diebold wapo article b.
Posted by: annie | Jan 22 2006 11:50 utc | 24
Debs, you continue to amaze: “… the US technique of sending whores out to do a hero’s job …”
Keep on keepin’ on.
p.s. I know you refer to ambassadors Bremer et al, the youngsters are celebrated, as they should, for returning home at all. I trust no one will mistake the great joke above for an insult to the ones sent to protect and defend their apppointed representatives.
Posted by: jonku | Jan 22 2006 12:02 utc | 25
being the cynical bastard that I am, my guess is that Franklin was prosecuted because he is Catholic and fair game. The article by Laura Rosen certainly explains why state run media, which is about the same thing as saying corporate media is continually bringing up the Iranian PM’s statements on the holocaust and the question of legitimacy of Israel in the Palestine. SRM never misses a beat to implicate Iran in bad news. I heard some talking head say that binny could be in Iran, you hear all the time how hizbollah is sponsored by Iran and the only pictures you see of Iranians are of small scared looking women in their black body bags.
I have to admit, even if there were a desire by americans to rid the government of foreign influence anyone trying to do so would face a formidable foe. To have all english speaking (as well as most if not all European) press on message all the time is no small feat and that is what any caped crusader would be up against.
Posted by: dan of steele | Jan 22 2006 12:32 utc | 26
Thaks for the info.
international man of mystery Manucher Ghorbanifar ? Talk about lipstick on a pig.
I like this line best: So much money is being creamed out that the gang at the coalface aren’t getting paid.
Newsweek on the domestic Pentagon spying
Counterintelligence ‘to the Edge’
The Other Big Brother
Late on a June afternoon in 2004, a motley group of about 10 peace activists showed up outside the Houston headquarters of Halliburton, the giant military contractor once headed by Vice President Dick Cheney. They were there to protest the corporation’s supposed “war profiteering.” The demonstrators wore papier-mache masks and handed out free peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwiches to Halliburton employees as they left work.
…
A Defense document shows that Army analysts wrote a report on the Halliburton protest and stored it in CIFA’s database. It’s not clear why the Pentagon considered the protest worthy of attention..
…
A Pentagon spokesman declined to say why a private company like Halliburton would be deserving of CIFA’s protection. But in the past, Defense Department officials have said that the “force protection” mission includes military contractors since soldiers and Defense employees work closely with them and therefore could be in danger.
…
CIFA researchers apparently cast a wide net and had a number of surveillance methods—both secretive and mundane—at their disposal. An internal CIFA PowerPoint slide presentation recently obtained by William Arkin, a former U.S. Army intelligence analyst who writes widely about military affairs, gives some idea how the group operated. The presentation, which Arkin provided to NEWSWEEK, shows that CIFA analysts had access to law-enforcement reports and sensitive military and U.S. intelligence documents. (The group’s motto appears at the bottom of each PowerPoint slide: “Counterintelligence ‘to the Edge’.”)
…
CIFA has contracted to buy “identity masking” software that would allow the agency to create phony Web identities and let them appear to be located in foreign countries, according to a copy of the contract with Computer Sciences Corp.
The last bit is interesting. The Counterintelligence Field Activity agents posing as foreign people on webboards, blogs etc could do quite bit of “provocation”.
i assume everyones been following the blood the thugs have been squeazing out of this tape. as a diversion from abramoff, nsa, alito ( we really don’t want to examine the possible filibuster)
so what’s news? how he sounds like all the crazy liberals. i can’t believe all the airplay this is getting. one could almost imagine the tape was designed for this very purpose? ya think?
Posted by: annie | Jan 22 2006 19:16 utc | 30
this is pretty funny!
The 2006 George W. Bush Dead Kitten Survey
Posted by: dan of steele | Jan 22 2006 20:44 utc | 31
@ Jonku whores out to do a hero’s job would apply to bremer et al but I was referring more to the quality of puppets or quislings that get installed following a US ‘rescue’ of a formerly independant nation state. Abbas was forced on Arafat by the US as a condition of some agreement designed to stop the Israeli pillaging of the Palestinians. When Arafat didn’t play ball that was the point at which the US criticism changed from not commenting on the iraeli vilification to joining in.
Any power structure will attract it’s share of mainchancers and the palestinian authority is no exception. The trick is to keep them in check, but that requires stability, so when Arafat and the rest of his group were trying to resist the israel/u.s. attacks, keep their power base secure from the younger ‘change today, not tommorow mob’ from within as well as from hamas, there wasn’t a lot of effort put in to keep corruption in check.
In fact Arafat’s position became so weakened that he had to allow some corruption in order to maintain power.
And the whole thing was made even more complex by the decision made on the bad advice of political advisors that a married Arafat would seem more domesticated and less single-minded to the west than a man who was so busy his shaving was confined to having a quick hack at his beard with a pair of nail scissors once a week.
I must admit though that the pitiful death by poisoning of a one time hero, was relieved somewhat by the scenes of the troll demanding millions out of the french lest she tell the world the true cause of death.
Not that it made any difference since the palestinian people knew deep down what really must have happened. You’ll notice that following his death that even the bulk of ‘the hamas extremists’ paid tribute to a once great man.
I bear the average US grunt no ill will whatsoever since he/she is merely the end product of intensive manipulation. That said I prefer to give my respect to those young amerikans who don’t take up killing as a career choice, no matter what precarious position they may be in personally.
It isn’t just about saying this person is better somehow than that one, it’s sorta the opposite of that. When the young amerikan men and women, particularly the dead ones are glorified and paid great homage to, I have a great deal of difficulty seeing the difference between that and a young arab suicide bomber being promised virgins in the afterlife and a new house for his family in this world.
Both lines of bullshit just promote more kids killing each other.
Posted by: Debs is dead | Jan 22 2006 21:06 utc | 32
Okay, Debs, I understand.
Someone was playing a web video of a tv commerical, young soldiers in camouflage gear are walikng into an airport from the airplane.
Shmaltzy string music accomplanies them, and as they pass the airport workers and other passengers, each bursts into silent applauce, a close-up of a black soldier, a woman soldier, you get the picture.
After I choked up a bit (must’ve been the music …) I applied some critical thinking and spoke out that they aren’t showing the ones returning with missing limbs, or the battles these ones had just been through etc.
Ensuing argument about the value of the film as it appears on the surface, how nice that they get to come home etc., yet the subtext is that these ones came through okay but not the other ones.
As I think about it now, a tertiary message might be that it prepares the audience for thinking about a pullout from Iraq, welcome these heroes instead of what happened to returnees from Vietnam.
Anyway that is what colored my post — an attempt at walking the fine line between cynicism and sarcasm.
Posted by: jonku | Jan 22 2006 22:29 utc | 33
@Jonku I wasn’t having a ping at anyone least of all a fellow MoA-ite. I don’t expect everyone or even anyone else to share my worldview which is why I try and clarify if I think I’ve been misinterpreted. It is a fine line between cynicism and sarcasm and I’m always misinterpreting others on this.
This usually happens when we are discussing something or someone I hold dear. Yasser Arafat is one of those.
Some may have noticed I called him ‘great’ not good and I’m fully prepared to admit that my affection for Arafat began when I was much younger and a lot more relaxed about the end justifying the means.
I don’t know if you remember the late 60’s invasions of Palestine by the israelis but Yasser Arafat and his men stood head and shoulders above anyone else on either side, for remaining dignified and resolute in the face of adversity.
Of course this is why he became such a pariah. What should have been checkmate by the israeli and western powers was turned into a stalemate by the poorly equipped and largely untrained PLO.
If you do remember, you will also remember what a trying time it was for people of leftish persuasion. Many jewish comrades with whom we had stood shoulder to shoulder on other issues appeared to the rest of us to have developed a blind spot in relation to this colonisation.
One of my best classmates and I had an awful falling out which ended up with these two supposed ‘peaceniks’ physically fighting and trying to inflict bodily harm on each other.
I’m really not as humourless as I can come across, having a sense of humour can be the only way of dealing with these daily horrors, but my timing and subtlety go out the window when I try and use humour in writing.
Of course the lack of any obvious humor in my postings can make them seem far too f’ing serious .
Posted by: Debs is dead | Jan 22 2006 23:22 utc | 34
I actually came back in here to see if anyone else had come across this:
Lawmakers seek review of eavesdropping rules
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. surveillance laws should be reviewed and possibly rewritten to allow the type of eavesdropping that U.S. President George W. Bush has been criticized for authorizing, lawmakers from both parties said on Sunday…..
…..An audio tape by Osama bin Laden that emerged last week threatening new attacks on the United States has heightened security concerns. Neither party can afford to be seen as failing to protect the country, particularly as corruption scandals and public questioning of the Iraq war loom over November’s congressional elections…..
…..Lawmakers on several Sunday talk shows said that if the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) does not give Bush the tools and legal framework he needs to monitor potential threats, the president should ask Congress to change the law rather than bypass it.
Massachusetts Democrat John Kerry, who endorsed former Vice President Al Gore’s call for an independent investigation of the Bush program, said on ABC’s “This Week” that some Republicans like Bush adviser Karl Rove are trying to equate Democratic opposition to warrantless spying as weakness.
“What he’s (Rove) trying to pretend is somehow Democrats don’t want to eavesdrop appropriately to protect the country. That’s a lie,” Kerry said. “We’re prepared to eavesdrop wherever and whenever necessary in order to make America safer.”
I don’t think I can guarantee a sane or polite response to the next stranger who drops by MoA to spruik the alleged more leftish half of the state party.
But that shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone who has witnessed DiD lose his rag at dems in the past.
Posted by: Debs is dead | Jan 22 2006 23:36 utc | 35
For those Canadians that care, or any others interested, here’s what a buddy of mine delivered door to door in his riding in prep for tomorrow’s symbolic ceremony – apologies for length:
YOUR VOTE COUNTS!
But your vote only plays a small role in shaping a democratic society. Without regular participation in civic affairs, the direction of your community, municipality, region, province, and nation will be decided by those who do – namely: politicians, bureaucrats, corporations, think tanks, the military, labour unions, and other established institutions which shape the policies and actions of the state apparatus.
However you decide to vote, it is important NOT to let this be the end of your participation in civil society for the next four years. Creating and maintaining democracy is hard and often agonizing work. But it can pay dividends that are more than worthwhile.
WE ALL must take the time to work with our family, friends, and neighbours to build strong institutions in our communities – institutions which will eventually gain their own autonomy based on the commitment of the people participating, not because of the agendas of politicians and private interests (corporations).
Assuming that you are either already working to build local community strength, or are willing to do so, it is still important to go out and vote.
WHY?
Why indeed! Why should ANY of us vote, considering the terrible choices we are often faced with, and the weaknesses of our parliamentary system? All we seem to hear about these days is failure, corruption, waste, and a lack of accountability. Our politicians and the state apparatus can only be held accountable through OUR participation. No legal framework will make this happen – WE will.
People often moan about corporate power and how it has seized the reigns of government. True, corporate influence is increasing in our government, but this has always been so. The trend of private influence existed long before the dawn of corporations. Our government was founded by PRIVATE interests. In Canada and the United States of America, our governments were formed by wealthy white male property owners (land holders). Up until the 20th century, you could NOT vote unless you owned a certain amount of property. Black people were not allowed to vote in the United States until the Civil Rights Act of 1866. Women couldn’t vote in Canada until 1918.
Did this elite ruling class of male property owners suddenly have an epiphany whereupon they decided to “allow” women and blacks to vote?
Of course not! These people struggled immensely for this right. And further struggles continued for decent working conditions, public health care, food safety, etc. Progress for the common people did not come strictly from voting, it came from the strength of a united voice for change, spoken through institutions created for the people, by the people – NOT government, and politicians, and certainly not from private interests (corporations). Most progressive policies and legislation put forward by government have been put in place as a check to the rising power of the people.
The struggle continues, and only through the participation of the people will democracy prevail.
Take for example our Canada Pension Plan (CPP). It is currently invested in some of the world’s most terrible corporations: Lockheed-Martin, the #1 world military contractor and Star Wars Missile “Defence” developer; Northrop Grumman, the #3 Pentagon contractor, maker of the B-2 Stealth Bomber, and nuclear-powered aircraft carriers; Halliburton, #1 Iraq War Profiteer; Monsanto, the chemical giant which STILL produces agent orange, and has taken control of more than 90% of the world’s genetically modified seed supply; Exxon-Mobil, a company which continues to deny all scientific evidence of climate change; SNC-Lavalin, a Canadian firm with a contract to produce hundreds of millions of rounds of ammunition for the US occupation of Iraq – you know, that war we were told we are NOT participating in?
In 1996 and 1997, Paul Martin and his parliamentary secretary, David Walker led a corporate take-over of the CPP, putting 45% of its investments in the hands of a new “arms length” and “accountable” CPP Investment Board (CPPIB), made up of corporate executives. Despite claims of being “arms length”, David Walker now sits on the CPPIB. Despite claims of accountability, 5 of the 12 CPPIB members are investing in their own companies. Walker is also Chairman of Acsion Industries, inc. One of Acsion’s main partners is Lockheed-Martin. Their shared project? Energy Beams. This contradicts the Liberal government’s stated policy on Iraq and the weaponization of space.
Just one more scandal to add to that massive pile the Liberals created in the last 12 years.
Stephen Harper promises us that he will “Stand Up for Canada.” He promises us government accountability. And yet, the “Conservative Party of Canada Policy Declaration” of March 19, 2005 states – under section 69(3) – that “A Conservative Government will ensure that the CPP Investment Fund is mandated to seek maximum security and to maximize the rate of return being earned on behalf of Canada’s pensioners. No other policy objective will be permitted to interfere with the objectives of security and maximum rate of return.”
No other policy will interfere! Not human rights, not the environment, not human health. So much for progress and accountability, we just get more of the same neo-liberal agenda – pure, profit-motivated capitalism. What kind of retirement will we have with this type of thinking? What kind of security is created by investing our pension money in the stocks of blood-soaked war-profiteers?
Where does Harper stand on continental integration (with the United States), joint military exercises, NAFTA, the WTO, etc? He has and will continue to support them all! The Conservative Party founding principles from the March 19 declaration state “A belief that the greatest potential for achieving social and economic objectives is under a global trading regime that is free and fair.” NAFTA and the WTO have never been fair. They are a charter of rights for corporate interests. They are not institutions for a people’s government. These institutions – brought to you by Brian Mulroney’s Progressive Conservative Party (along with the GST) – have done more to erode the sovereignty and rights of Canadians than anything in recent history. Neither the Liberals nor the Conservatives have any intention of ridding us of these abominations.
SO WHERE ARE WE AT?
The Conservatives started the ball rolling for the neo-liberal agenda, the Liberals carried it down the field for more than a decade, and now the Conservatives are standing in the end zone waiting to take the ball again. How convenient. We are standing in the middle, officiating every four years. We can call this game any time we chose. WE are supposed to be the ones in charge.
STAND UP FOR CANADA?
Are we that stupid? Will we accept slogans which read like Orwellian double-speak? Slogans which play to our humble nationalism – you know, the one that stems from that mild anti-Americanism that people talk about in hushes. That fear of the United States taking over Canada? Sure American and Canadian culture have many differences. This is the diversity that human history brings us. But Americans are essentially the same as you and I. They don’t want to “take over” Canada any more than we want to “take over” the United States.
We don’t need to Stand Up for Canada, we need to stand up for people everywhere who are being targeted and victimized by private interests which see us not as people, but as consumers, and sources of potential profit.
It is the institution of CAPITALISM that fails us, and pits us against each other. It seems that nowadays, just making this statement is tantamount to treason or insanity. Are we that incapable of speaking the truth?
There is nothing wrong with a free and open market for the exchange of goods and services. Capitalism is nothing of the sort. It leads towards concentration, monopolization, and finally fascism. As recent history has shown us, populism and “so-called” Socialism/Communism/Marxism can lead us down similar ugly paths. Whatever future steps we take, we must always guard our liberty with great care.
Propping up capitalism as the only viable alternative is lazy and obscene.
We talk about values in our society, and yet the main values behind capitalism are greed and individual liberty without restriction. As the saying goes, with liberty comes great responsibility. Capitalism is anti-responsibility, except for the purpose of profits. Under a corporate neo-liberal globalist agenda, it will continue to expand and consume our environment and human dignity with reckless abandon.
Our chance for future survival depends on serious changes in the way we live! Being anti-capitalist does not mean you want a communist dictatorship. It means you see capitalism for what it is – a terrible way to live. In fact, it is no way to live as a decent, LOVING human being.
None of our “mainstream” parties are strictly anti-capitalist, but while we are organizing ourselves in our communities for the great changes that lay ahead, there ARE alternatives to the Liberals and Conservatives. Talk to your local NDP, Green, or other candidate and find out what they and their party are doing about problems which concern YOU and your community. I’m not talking about the concerns you are TOLD should be yours, but the ones YOU are really concerned about. Don’t let the politicians derail you with their “talking points”. Be persistent.
When you go to the polls, remember that most of the progress we now take for granted came from the blood, sweat and tears of people’s grassroots movements, not political platforms.
It’s time WE started setting the agenda by STANDING UP FOR ALL PEOPLE!
Vote with care tomorrow, and may God bless you and your family.
Posted by: gmac | Jan 22 2006 23:55 utc | 36
I have definitive evidence of the decadence of America:
Microwavable Pork rinds:
LINK
They are, however, delicious. I garontee it.
Posted by: Groucho | Jan 23 2006 0:41 utc | 37
A rather calculated and simplified look at invading Iran.
……..(the calculated)
Under the Bush Doctrine, the U.S. could go to war with Iran at any time Bush chooses. He has repeatedly demonized Iran. It wears the scarlet letter T for terror and tyranny. However, a big collision between Iran and the U.S. is probably not imminent. At present, the futures market is saying that we should not expect the deadlock to end in an air strike against Iran. The chance of an overt U.S./Israeli air strike against Iran in the next 14 months has fluctuated between 32 to 39 percent recently (see Tradesports). This is a substantial chance.
…………(the simplified)
The U.S. goal of dominance and the Iranian goal of independence are irreconcilable. This is why the U.S. and Iran are in conflict.
The problems faced by the U.S. are problems of its own making. The U.S. introduced itself into the Middle East. It did not have to aim for secure oil via political agreements. It did not have to support the State of Israel. It does not have to inject itself into Iraq or other nations to secure itself. It does not have to prevent Russia from trying to meddle in the Middle East. Iran aims to become a regional power. The U.S. does not have to prevent this either.
Now that the U.S. is thoroughly entangled in the Middle East, it will have big problems disentangling itself. But it should, because no good for the U.S. is coming out of being enmeshed in the affairs of the Middle Eastern nations. The oil is less secure and the U.S. is less secure. This seems to be a no-brainer.
………..(the conclusion)
What’s going on at present is a series of bluffs, threats, moves and countermoves by both sides designed to keep the other side off balance and gain some advantage. If the U.S. makes a war out of the current situation, there is no just or legal basis for it. The U.S. is neither being attacked nor threatened, nor is any ally being attacked, nor is Iran preparing to launch an imminent attack. Starting a new war against Iran will enmesh the U.S. in the Middle East even more than now. But our rulers may see it as a way out of the Middle Eastern briar patch. Instigating war now will solidify the doctrine of preemptive war. It will complete the destruction of what’s left of civilized restraints on war-making.
For the moment Iran will continue to stand up for its treaty rights. It will continue to taunt the U.S. and then stand up to it. This helps Ahmadinejad politically up to a point and fits in with Iran’s aim of not being dominated. If he goes too far, other powers in Iran will pull him back.
………(mmmmm)
If he goes too far, other powers in Iran will pull him back.
If he goes too far, other powers in Iran will pull him back.
If he goes too far, other powers in Iran will pull him back.
Posted by: anna missed | Jan 23 2006 7:09 utc | 38
Thanks, gmac. Your friend’s essay makes a hell of a lot of sense — in fact, the local Green candidate, or was it the Marxist-Leninist candidate, said essentially the same thing in her closing remarks at a recent candidates meeting.
It does make sense to organize locally, and I interpret “local” in a bigger sense when I think about the potential constituencies that will be created within a proportional representation system, where within a geographical riding there will be candidates to represent mini-constituencies such as businesses, families, environmentalists and so on.
I’m still working this out myself but thanks again.
Posted by: jonku | Jan 23 2006 7:30 utc | 39
More on Stephen Harper, soon to be Canada’s Prime Minister:
Reluctant MP, Harper is about policy
Michele Mandel London Free Press January 22, 2006
Harper is a baby boomer father of two who turns 47 on April 30, the oldest of three sons born to his chartered accountant father and homemaker mother. His family spent the first 12 years of his life in the white enclave of Leaside before moving to Etobicoke.
…
Harper has called his late father, an Imperial Oil executive of “scrupulous integrity,” the most important influence on the man he is today. His politics, though, were shaped at the University of Calgary. While doing his masters in economics, the one-time Trudeau fan, incensed by the National Energy Program, became a disciple of the Calgary School, a group of neo-conservative, pro-west, pro-American scholars. Roger Gibbins was chairperson of political science when he first met Harper. “He was not radically different from now: a smart, somewhat impatient policy wonk who was to some degree an angry young man,” recalls Gibbins, now president of the Canada West Foundation, a Calgary think-tank. “He was an engaging person but never a back-slapping, how- ya-doing kind of guy. I never had the thought that I had a glimpse behind the mask of Stephen Harper, that I could see the real person. I think the real person, the person we see, is pretty much what the guy is like. He’s pretty transparent.”
From Bloomberg today:
If Harper fails to win a majority, his government may get bogged down in the same horse trading with opposition parties that handicapped Martin’s government, leading to new elections within two years, said Yves Belanger, a political scientist at the University de Quebec in Montreal. Canada has only had nine minority governments since 1867, lasting on average 18 months.
…
Harper, 46, is an economist and former lobbyist from the oil-rich Western province of Alberta who has described himself as a “small government” Conservative. After losing to Martin in the 2004 election, he sought to broaden his appeal in Eastern Canada by softening his pledge to reduce the role of government, laying out a platform of new spending for families, health care and immigrants to undermine Liberal efforts to label him as a member of the “radical right.”
Harper also favors cutting taxes for corporations, would allow domestic banks to merge under certain conditions and supports lifting foreign ownership limits in industries such as telecommunications. The party has highlighted a 2 percentage point cut in the federal sales tax as its “priority” on economic issues, and pledged to scrap capital gains taxes.
…
Canada, among the world’s five oldest continuous democracies, saw turnout fall to a record low of 61 percent in 2004, in part because disgruntled Liberal voters stayed home.
Posted by: jonku | Jan 23 2006 20:43 utc | 40
Same old neo-liberal shit. It doesn’t matter where all these “mainchancers”, to use Debs’ colorful description, come from or how many lovely children they have, or even if they “propose to increase social spending.” They are all wholly owned widgets, turned out by corporations, and for the exclusive benefit of corporations. We have near complete corporate control of the world. So, he will cut taxes and spend the government into bankrupcy, then cut services, or leave it to the other party to do; and the press, as signalled by these articles, has lost all historical perspective or at the very least sees this as a viable option. Fuck them all.
P.S. Today’s Democracy Now was excellent, esp. outlining Canadian complicity in Haiti’s coup. “We take a look at Haiti, which is preparing for upcoming national elections. Independent Canadian journalist, Anthony Fenton, joins us to discuss the National Endowment for Democracy – the US government-funded group – that is pouring millions of dollars into trying to influence Haiti’s political future.” Many smaller countries now serve in the UN peacekeeping mission to fuck the poor in Haiti. There is no country that is not so craven as to fuck others, given the chance.
Aristide’s real crime was to double the minimum wage to $4/day. Now that is a real war crime. Cuts out all the opportunities for the NPR liberals to design programs to “do good” for “the poorest nation in the hemisphere”, while preserving the benefits of the “free market.” Eradicating poverty by fiat, the nerve of him. You are only allowed to create poverty by fiat. We should of just nuked the little fucker in response.