police state updates: threataganda & homegrown errorism

qatari diplomat causes security scare on flight after smoking & joking, plane diverted to denver's new world airport*
smoking qatari diplomat was to meet jailed terrorist*
texas pipe bomb suspect 'mad at government'*
fbi arrests california man for threatening pelosi*
video: mother of man arrested for threatening pelosi blames fox news*

obamessiah & the apostles of war: continuity of scandals

in stark legal turnaround, obama now resembles bush*
obama's promise of a new beginning now hollow*
obama's doj tries to stop geronimo lawsuit against skull & bones*
house panel approves bill expanding oversight of nsa*
the left gatekeepers & tax exempt foundations*
obama calls for immigration reform at prayer breakfast*
obama relaunches immigration debate in US*
obama administration looks to colleges for future spies*
hr675: building obama’s civilian national security force*
obama, citing his smoking woes, signs tobacco law*

obama's curious call on huffpo reporter for iran question*
land of the 'free,' home of the czars*
obama won't apologize for cia role in chile*
obama names dhs management honcho*
impeach obama*

and then the rest of the phony left/right fools:
rep neugebauer: 'i don’t know’ if obama is a citizen*
schwarzenegger jet makes steep emergency landing*
sotomayor quits all women’s club after gop criticism*
sotomayor resigns from all-women club*
sotomayor quits women's club after gop criticism*
nv gop senator john ensign admits affair, claims extortion*
south carolina governor’s whereabouts unknown, even to wife*
awol south carolina gov. mark sanford has entire state in a tizzy*
s carolina governor admits affair after mystery trip*
video: sanford says "i've been unfaithful to my wife"*
sanford admits affair with woman in argentina*
video: giuliani says dems cheat as often as gop*
s carolina gov mark sanford admits infidelity & resigns from gop leadership position*

video: sanford’s alleged mistress reporting on 9/11*

obamessiah & the apostles of war: abc, nsa, cia & the fly

abc turns 'programming' over to obama*
abc says no to gop ads during obama healthcare special*
abc employees donated heavily to obama*
senate unanimously approves resolution apologizing for slavery*
house health-care proposal adds $600b in taxes*
gays decry obama's stand on gay marriage case*
obama to announce federal benefits for same sex partners*
cia: finding bin laden top US priority*
the secret history: can leon panetta move the cia forward without confronting its past?*
senior dem says obama's czars unconstitutional*
video: the realm of gangster government*
'service' inspector general fired by obama for investigating 'hood corps' mayor kevin johnson?*
video: obama & the fly*

obama ensnared in 'flygate'*
video: aclu says obama not keeping transparency promises*
video: maher on obama: 'my hope is fading'*
obama promised to end 'secret meetings' & make the white house the 'people’s house'*
obama says he can't deliver change because "we don’t want to tilt at windmills"*
video: jeb bush will be gop front-runner for 2012*
cia head says cheney almost wishing US be attacked*
video: obama will keep promise to block detainee abuse photos*
obama blocks access to white house visitor list*
video: white house blocking visitor logs 'insidious'*
obama touts volunteer efforts*
video: colbert wants to join female bohemian grove*
hillary to undergo surgery on broken elbow*
video: nsa spied on bill clinton's email*
video: feinstein says nsa not collecting the contents of emails*
plan targets fallout from mountaintop mining*
obama admin criticised over failure to disclose coal dump locations*
video: dean 'surprised' by obama’s slipping approval ratings*

4/16 newspurge

obamessiah & the apostles of war:
jesus missing from obama’s georgetown speech -
nice pyramid symbolism, though*
obamadvisor & cfr vp says 100k+ troops, 10yrs+ needed in afghanistan*
obama to release reagan records kept secret by bush*
obama half-brother 'linked to uk sex attack'*
gordon brown's plan for army of teen volunteers*
obama taps 5th riaa lawyer to justice dept*
the nsc's invisible man*
1st dog, bo, arrives at white house*
peaceniks target killer drones*
aclu fears obama admin may destroy evidence at cia 'black sites'*
naomi klein on obama & the rhetoric of hope*
obama's car czar, steven rattner, involved in ny pension scam investigation*
obama unveils high-speed rail plan*
kansas city figures in obama's high-speed scheme*
(the future 'port city' for the north american union)

police state int'l:
saic to train fema emergency responders*
saic awarded $104m contract by dhs & fema*
dhs issued report on extremism despite concerns*
'rightwing extremism' document created under bush*
dhs predicts violence in response to new gun restrictions*
dhs warns of right-wing radicals*
concerned resident aims to form armed militia to patrol stockton*
self-righteous neocons complain about dhs report*
nsa broke new eavesdropping law*
nsa spied on congressman*
nsa spied on member of congress and broke new laws, report says*
nsa intercepts exceed limits set by congress*
pentagon closes office accused of issuing propaganda under bush*
secretive US prison units used to house muslim, animal rights & environmental activists*
emergency crews test skills during attack drill at toyota park, chicago*
second 9/11 envisaged by homeland security: prepping chicago*
bouncers hired by schools as 'crowd control'*
portland, maine police boost arsenal with 'tank'*
billings police get military vehicle to 'fight crime'*
guns & drugs seized from homeland stupidity officer*
york hospital drill simulates terror attack*
philpott dam drill enacted in virginia*
federal judge sexually assaults 2 women gets off free*
the easiest way to destroy a movt is to become it*
video: alex jones on the alan colmes show*
celente says 'revolution' the only solution*
uk police arrest 114 for planning coal plant protest*
g20 death: fresh attempt to overturn ban on photographing police*
russia & iraq call for a fair new world order*

cyber/space\war:
cybersecurity act of 2009 - federal authority over the internet?*
obama breaking promise for online transparency*
cyber act would give prez power to 'shut down' internet*
'no one is ready for this'*
using linux may be a sign of criminal activity*
'operation juniper cobra':USrael to hold missile intercept drill*
USrael holding major military exercise*
china denies cyberattacks on US power grid*
1 dead, 1 injured in russian military exercises*
pentagon fights the global war on bugs*
robotic gardeners: mit droids tend plants*
military spending up, carbon bootprint down?*
concerns about chemtrails given fresh impetus*
saic awarded $12m contract from US air force weather agency*
obama advisor backpedals on geo-engineering announcement*
holdren calls for geo-engineering the atmosphere – again*
'pirate bay' found guilty*

history/mystery:
reagan was an fbi snitch*
khmer rouge jailer says US contributed to pol pot rise*
california returns 2 paintings nazis stole, hearst bought*
US 'set to detain' nazi suspect*
US court halts demjanjuk deportation*
swastikas painted on french memorial*
ex-cia operative tied to cuba bombings: jury*
bombing victim's brother applauds posada indictment*
is a cia murderer living free in virginia?*
symposium to whitewash cia's air america heroin smuggling*
fidel castro on the bay of pigs: days that cannot be forgotten*
prince bernhard was deeply involved in weapons trade*
inbreeding caused demise of the spanish habsburg dynasty*
coke & sex at bush's dept of interior*

media/memes:
it's springtime for hitler in germany*
US media & the memory hole*
newspapers go green... in a manner of speaking*
porn star marilyn chambers found dead in los angeles*
phil spector convicted of murder*
spector found guilty in slaying*
local community radio act of 2009: hr1147 is dead*
snakes on a muthaf#ckin' qantas plane trigger landing*
video: guest passes out during live glenn beck show*



murder/mayhem:
fbi: many murder victims on highways were killed by truckers*
3 dead in california hospital shooting on apr17*
2 killed in michigan college shooting on apr10*
man, woman dead in murder/suicide at michigan college*
2 dead in michigan college shooting*
college shootings: greece & michigan on apr10*
rotterdam shootings on apr11*
examiner.com repeats poplawski slander against alex jones*
tornados & wildfires leave eight dead in US on apr11*
woman, two kids shot dead in new orleans suburb on apr11*
california sunday school teacher booked in child death*
sunday school killer shocks california town*
huffington post on copycats*
killer who tore out own eyes fuels texas debate on insanity defense*
US soldier says he saw sgt chase & shoot comrade*
virginia tech reopens site of US school massacre*
marketing columbine & virginia tech*
a decade after columbine, gun laws lax as ever*
10yrs later, the real story behind columbine*

...and let's not forget the pirates of the arabian: at world's end...

the phony left/right debate over 're-education camps'

from raw replay: Rep. Michelle Bachmann told KTLK’s Sue Jeffers that Democrats had plans to require mandatory service from America’s young people. “I believe that there is a very strong chance that we will see that young people will be put into mandatory service. And the real concerns is that there are provisions for what I would call re-education camps for young people, where young people have to go and get trained in a philosophy that the government puts forward and then they have to go to work in some of these politically correct forums,” said Bachmann. The Minnesota Independent has more details here. This video is from KTLK via YouTube, broadcast Apr. 6, 2009.

obamessiah updates: secrets, lies and the give & take act

obama swaps teleprompters for giant tv monitor

obama is a 'manchurian candidate' because he uses a teleprompter

o'reilly: if cheney really had an 'executive assassination squad,' he would have killed seymour hersh a long time ago

'give' act strips 1st amendment from 'volunteers'
from kurt nimmo: On March 18, Rep. George Miller, a Democrat from California, tacked an amendment on H.R. 1388, entitled “Generations Invigorating Volunteerism and Education Act,” or GIVE (to government), Obama’s plan to require mandatory service for all able young people. Miller’s amendment will “prohibit organizations from attempting to influence legislation; organize or engage in protests, petitions, boycotts, or strikes; and assist, promote, or deter union organizing,” according to GovTrack.us, a site that tracks Congress. In other words, Obama’s “volunteer corps” act, passed by the House with a 321-105 margin and requiring the government to develop a plan for indentured servitude, would deny millions of people their right to oppose and organize against government legistation under the First Amendment. “This is as close to a sedition act, a violation of 1st Amendment rights, as has been proposed in recent history. A basic right as a part of our natural, inalienable rights, is to resist government. Our founders not only knew it was a right but it was a responsibility. This legislation begins to break that down significantly,” writes Gary Wood for the Examiner.

obama puts 'immigration reform' on docket
(or, more 'retroactive immunity'...)

obama's approach to protecting 'state secrets' at issue
from washington post: Civil liberties advocates are accusing the Obama administration of forsaking campaign rhetoric and adopting the same expansive arguments that his predecessor used to cloak some of the most sensitive intelligence-gathering programs of the Bush White House. The first signs have come just weeks into the new administration, in a case filed by an Oregon charity suspected of funding terrorism. President Obama's Justice Department not only sought to dismiss the lawsuit by arguing that it implicated "state secrets," but also escalated the standoff - proposing that government lawyers might take classified documents from the court's custody to keep the charity's representatives from reviewing them. The suit by the al-Haramain Islamic Foundation has proceeded further than any other in challenging the use of warrantless wiretaps, threatening to expose the inner workings of that program. It is the second time the new Justice Department has followed its predecessors in claiming the state-secrets privilege, which would allow the government to exclude evidence in a civil case on grounds that it jeopardizes national security.

is 'war on terror' being retired? no! gordon brown says "we are about to take the war against terror to a new level!"

update: US officials say no ban on 'global war on terror' as 4,000 more US troops to be sent to afghanistan as 'trainers'

obama doesn’t talk like bush, he just acts like him
from ted rall: You can’t blame Dick Cheney for being annoyed at Barack Obama. Obama is closing Guantánamo. He’s ordering the CIA to interrogate prisoners according to the rules written in the Army Field Manual, which doesn’t allow torture. He’s even phasing out such classic Bushian phrases as “enemy combatant” and “war on terror.” But the dark prince of neoconservatism should relax. Obama’s inaugural address may have promised to “reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals,” but — in all the ways that matter — he’s keeping all of Bush’s outrageous policies in place. Sure, he talks a good game about “moving forward.” But nothing has really changed. From reading your e-mails to asserting the right to assassinate American citizens to bailing out companies whose executives pay themselves big bonuses, Obama’s changes are nothing but toothless rhetoric.

nsc's jim jones: 'i take my daily orders from dr kissinger'

obama nominates former freddie exec as 'housing commissioner'
from cnsnews: President Barack Obama has named a former Freddie Mac executive to head the federal housing commission. The White House on Monday named David Stevens as assistant secretary at the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The position requires Senate confirmation and would put Stevens in charge of the government's housing mortgage-insurance program. Stevens now is the head of Long and Foster Companies, a real estate and mortgage firm. He previously worked at World Savings bank and Wells Fargo Home Mortgage. At Freddie Mac, Stevens was a senior vice president in charge of affordable lending, sales and marketing.

scotus watches 'hillary: the movie' (and you can, too)

obama opens secret laboratories to germany
(like truman & the paperclip nazis?)
from spiegel: The Americans have always kept their research into anti-terrorism technologies top secret - until now. A new treaty between Germany and the US will give German scientists access to highly restricted laboratories. It was a productive start to the week for US Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and German Research Minister Annette Schavan. The two women met at 7:15 a.m. on Monday for breakfast at a five-star hotel in Berlin to discuss one of the most explosive issues in the era of international terrorism: How can the population and infrastructure be protected against catastrophic attacks without Western democracies being turned into Orwellian regimes? ... The research offensive began after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 and has been fueled with huge sums of money ever since. Universities, companies and secret laboratories are carrying out research into highly sensitive surveillance cameras, bomb detectors, biometric analysis software and vaccines against biological weapons, among other things. Until now, neither the general public nor the governments of the US's Western allies have learned much about the contents of that research.

obama secretly ends program that let pilots carry guns (or did he?)

is there anything obama can do about US collapse?

US 2010 apocalypse avoidable

3/20 newspurge

obamessiah & the apostles of war
michael 'savage' weiner predicts a 'reichstag fire-like event'*
cheney: obama responsible for next 9/11*
kucinich requests investigation into 'executive assassination ring'*
kucinich calls for congressional investigation into cheney 'assassination unit'*
'cheney assassination unit' claim boost truth commission prospects*
hersh puts pro-war spin on what we would normally call acts of terrorism*
obama caves to israel lobby*
another arrest in dc tech office scam*
washington post is a neocon propaganda sheet*
obama admin: constitution does not protect cell-site records*
leaked! international red cross report on cia torture*
obama faces shoot-down dilemma with north korea launch*
obama may widen drone war over pakistan*
US lawmakers appeal to obama against afghan troop surge*
obama considers expanding afghan security force to 400k*
a leadership review of the barack obama administration*
media reports for duty as militarists plan more wars*
video: convicted rapists allowed to enlist in military*
obama's call for longer school days raises questions*
house passes mandatory national service bill*
obama's forced servitude agenda moves foward*

envirohealth
judge says its okay for navy to spray recruits with banned chemical*
burt's bees, tom's of maine, naked juice?:
take another look at your favorite brands*
hr875/s425: farm to fork food fascism comes to america*
america's medicated army*
suspicion of vaccines spurs debate & worry*
pushing eugenics as smart science*
catastrophic fall in 2009 global food production*

history/mystery
oswald's 1953 school transfer card flunks out on ebay*
nazi origins of adidas & puma documented in new book*
US firms that backed hitler revealed*
how many nazi criminals did germany punish in 60 years?*
deep roots of nazi science revealed*
billionaire philanthropist leonore annenberg dies at 91*
albuquerque's mysterious mass grave*
ex-1970s radical freed from prison*
one-time fugitive released 30yrs after attempted police bombings*
symbionese liberation army: pseudo-gang*
photo of charles manson is released by prison officials*

geopolitiks
dead bin laden urges jihad*
US jet shoots down iranian drone over iraq*
shoe-throwing journalist gets 3yr sentence*
military chopper crashes into atlantic off canada*
5.0-magnitude earthquake hits central china*
US warships head for south china sea after standoff*
japan warns it may shoot down north korean satellite launcher*
military ready to shootdown north korean missile*
new generation of power stations 'risk terrorist anarchy'*
video: washington plans global nato to replace united nations*
israel's ex-president indicted for rape*
bolivia's morales: army & police have cia contacts*

econocrash
video: paul: bill to tax bonuses an unconstitutional 'outrage'*
united nations panel says world should ditch dollar*

oregon oddities
oregon boy banned from wearing obama mask in skit*
defazio swears he did not raise a security fuss at pdx*

obamessiah coronation: such a big party for so little change

obama's inauguration financed partially by bailed-out wall st execs
from abc: The country is in the middle of the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, which isn't stopping rich donors and the government from spending $170 million, or more, on the inauguration of Barack Obama. The actual swearing-in ceremony will cost $1.24 million, according to Carole Florman, spokeswoman for the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies. It's the security, parties and countless Porta-a-Potty rentals that really run up the bill.

wall street becomes top obama donor

obama reaches out for mccain’s counsel
from nytimes: Not long after Senator John McCain returned last month from an official trip to Iraq and Pakistan, he received a phone call from President-elect Barack Obama. As contenders for the presidency, the two had hammered each other for much of 2008 over their conflicting approaches to foreign policy, especially in Iraq. (He’d lose a war! He’d stay a hundred years!) Now, however, Mr. Obama said he wanted Mr. McCain’s advice, people in each camp briefed on the conversation said. What did he see on the trip? What did he learn? It was just one step in a post-election courtship that historians say has few modern parallels, beginning with a private meeting in Mr. Obama’s transition office in Chicago just two weeks after the vote. On Monday night, Mr. McCain will be the guest of honor at a black-tie dinner celebrating Mr. Obama’s inauguration.

obama 'has 4 years to save earth'

big party, small change: baby, we were born to run...the empire
from chris floyd: I understand there's a big party going on in Washington this week, where hundreds of thousands of people are gathering to celebrate Bob Gates' retention as Pentagon chief. I mean, that is what this shindig is all about, isn't it? Hope and.... continuity? [See Arthur Silber for more.] We've got Bush's man still driving the war machine, we've got Bush's generals still waging the "War on Terror" all over the world. We've got a president who is eager to spend his "political capital" on slashing "entitlements," because everyone must sacrifice, everybody's "going to have to have some skin in this game" - everyone, that is, except for the president's Wall Street backers, who are about to receive yet another tranche of billions of taxpayer dollars in what they are now calling openly - and rightly - "opportunity funding." We've got a president honoring homophobic right-wing preachers who urge their followers to imitate the mindless zeal of Nazis and Bolsheviks in doing "whatever it takes" to establish Christianist dominion. We've got a president whose education chief believes in turning over the teaching of America's children to corporations -- and the military. We've even got a president who follows Dick Cheney's "good advice" on interrogating Terror War captives. It seems like the only place you can find "change" in Washington these days is in the cup of a street beggar, left homeless and jobless in the great bankrupting of the nation by Wall Street and the war machine.

chavez says obama has stench of bush

obama’s web wasteland
from sitepoint: Tomorrow, Barack Obama will be sworn in as the 44th president of the United States and the first African-American chief executive of the country. That is indeed a historic moment in American politics and race relations, and Obama’s campaign certainly had a good deal of significance, especially in terms of how it utilized the Internet. The Internet will play a huge part in tomorrow’s inaugural festivities, but what has happened to the vast social networks that Obama built during that campaign? What will happen to them?

high school censors 'inappropriate comments' about obamessiah

ny councilman proposes mandatory public service for students
from epoch times: Councilman Eric Gioia (D-Queens) and representatives from City Year, New York Cares, Common Cause NY, and Big Brothers Big Sisters gathered at the Church of St. Francis Xavier on Sunday, Jan. 18. Gioia proposed that New York City create a requirement of 20 hours of community service for high school graduation, inspired by President-Elect Barack Obama’s calling the nation to service in his Inauguration and Mayor Michel Bloomberg’s pledging to encourage public service at the State of the City address delivered last week.

washington goes into security clampdown for inauguration

update: starbucks 'are you in' music video ad


celebrities make service pledge videos to obama on myspace
from raw story: On the eve of Barack Obama's inauguration more than 50 celebrities have teamed up on MySpace to record videos making a "pledge of service" to the next president of the United States.

350,000 conservatives pledge to block obama's socialistic agenda
from raw story: A conservative group, Grassfire.org, announced on Monday that its online petition pledging "patriotic" opposition to President-elect Barack Obama has gathered 350,000 signatures. (By presstime, the groups website was claiming a total of 371,453.) Grassfire's founder, Steve Elliot, stated, "This is not a personal attack on Barack Obama. On the contrary, this is a call to action for conservatives who profess love for our country and respect for our institutions. Our disagreements with the President are based in ideology and public policy only. From this firm foundation we are mounting a patriotic, resilient, conservative resistance to Obama's agenda."

man charged with threatening obama on website

masonic rituals live on in inauguration
from washington times: President-elect Barack Obama's swearing-in Tuesday will incorporate several elements out of America's Masonic past. One-third of the signers of the Constitution, many of the Bill of Rights signers and America's first few presidents (except for Thomas Jefferson) were Freemasons, a fraternal organization that became public in early 18th-century England. Although it became fabulously popular in America, at one time encompassing 10 percent of the population, Pope Clement XII condemned Freemasonry in 1738 as heretical. The latest pronouncement was issued in 1983 by then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger - now Pope Benedict XVI - who called Masonic practices "irreconcilable" with Catholic doctrine. Still, as the first president, George Washington had to come up with appropriate rituals for the new country. He borrowed many of them from Masonic rites he knew as "worshipful leader" of a lodge in Alexandria. His Masonic gavel is on display at the Capitol Visitor Center. Until this inauguration, Washington's Masonic Bible - on which he swore his obligations as a Freemason - was used for the presidential oath of office. President-elect Barack Obama will use Abraham Lincoln's Bible.

new 9/11 brochure for obama inauguration
from 9/11 blogger: DC 911Truth has produced an attractive new brochure to be distributed at the Obama Inauguration and surrounding events. On the cover, President Obama is asked to "help America learn the truth about 9/11," (160kb PDF) but the interior is aimed at general audiences who may not be aware of problems with the official account, or who may be quick to dismiss any questions as conspiracy theories.

audio: alex jones on the new puppet obama

video: obama’s first official usaf flight*
obama considering government-run 'bad bank' for decaying assets*
black history illuminates inauguration*
obama commemorates mlk day with service*
what was barack obama like in 1990? (eerily prophetic)*
video: obama comments on US air pilot*

police state int'l: miltech, mad science, danger, training & tasers

nypd wants to jam cell phones during terror attack
from danger room: The New York Police Department wants to be able to shut down cell phones, in case of a terrorist attack. During last month's massacre in Mumbai, terrorist handlers over micromanaged via mobile phone the assaults on the hotels, train stations, and Jewish center that killed more than 170 people. In testimony [44kb PDF] today before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly (pictured) said he wanted to take out that "formidable capacity to adjust tactics while attacks are underway." ... For now, Kelly said, the NYPD is taking a whole range of measures to stop another Mumbai-style spree - from working with private businesses to interdicting boats to training recruits in heavy weapons to installing a spycam network across downtown Manhattan. But Charles Allen, the Department of Homeland Security's top intelligence official, confessed to the Senate panel that "response to a similar terrorist attack in a major U.S. urban city would be complicated and difficult."

'john doe' printer anonymous for now

3rd 'human terrain' researcher dead
from danger room: For the third time in eight months, a social scientist with the Army's Human Terrain cultural research program has died. In early November, while on patrol in an Afghan village, Paula Loyd was doused with a flammable liquid, and set on fire. She suffered second- and third-degree burns over 60 percent of her body. Loyd was rushed to a nearby medical center, where she was treated by a burn specialist. Shortly thereafter, Loyd was evacuated to the military's Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany, and then to Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas. But after a two month struggle, she was overcome by her injuries. This is the latest in a series of attacks on Human Terrain personnel. In May, Michael Bhatia, an Oxford-trained political scientist working in eastern Afghanistan, was killed, along with two soldiers, by a roadside explosive. Less than two months later, a bomb detonated inside the Sadr City District Council building in Iraq. Social scientist Nicole Suveges was inside. She and 11 others died instantly.

darpa chief staying on, for now
from danger room: Tony Tether, the controversial chief of the Pentagon's premiere research agency, Darpa, will remain in office during the Obama administration. At least, for a little while. "Dr. Tether will be here after Jan. 20, and there's no formal date on which he plans to leave," Darpa spokesman Jan Walker tells Michael Belfiore in an e-mail. Tether, the longest-serving director of the $3 billion-per-year agency, is one of several top Pentagon officials who will stay in place, if only temporarily, after the presidential transition. Defense Secretary Bob Gates is, of course, at the top of the list of holdovers.

army assembles 'mad scientist' conference
from danger room: Last August, the U.S. Army held a three-day conference in Portsmouth, Virginia, to look at new developments in military science and hardware. The confab was called the "2008 Mad Scientist Future Technology Seminar." Really. It was. "The objective of the seminar was to investigate proliferating technologies with the potential to empower individuals and groups in the next 10-25 years," according to an unclassified summary of the Mad Scientist gathering [1.3mb DOC], obtained by Danger Room. As you'd expect from such a colorfully-titled gathering, the collected brains predicted a world in which individuals would have easy access to everything from ray guns to nano-bots to bioengineered weapons to arms for creating international chaos online.

blackhawk down, in college training exercise: 2 dead

pentagon's far-out science podcast
from danger room: Stick this in your iPod and smoke it: The U.S. Department of Defense is launching a new radio show audio webcast, "Armed with Science: Research and Applications for the Modern Military." I listened in to the first broadcast - an interview about atomic timekeeping with Geoff Chester of the U.S. Naval Observatory's Master Clock - and it was actually pretty damn interesting. Chester discussed the history of timekeeping - from waterclocks and pendulum clocks to leap seconds - as well as the principles behind the atomic clock, which uses natural oscillation in specific atoms to define a timescale. Chester also talked about the application of timekeeping to military operations. “In our business, timing is literally everything,” Chester said. “An error of three nanoseconds in timing translates to a position error of one meter for a precision-guided weapon.”

video: bush: i personally authorized torture of ksm

reining in the imperial presidency: lessons & recommendations relating to the presidency of george w bush
from 9/11 blogger: In a 487-page report out today recapping Bush’s “imperial presidency,” House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers (D-MI) recommends that “the incoming Administration finally begin an independent criminal review of activities of the outgoing Administration.”

http://judiciary.house.gov/hearings/printers/110th/IPres090113.pdf [2.3mb PDF]

virginia teen dies after being tased by police
from wsls: State Police are investigating the death of a 17-year-old after Martinsville Police used a stun device on a teenager Thursday night [jan8]... Justin Gregory, 15, says his friend, 17-year-old Derick, died after a Martinsville officer used a taser on him... Police say they were called there for a disorderly conduct after callers say someone was “using the bathroom” in the road. Gregory tells us Derick, “was out in the middle of the road acting stupid.” When the boys went inside, Gregory said only a few minutes went by before police arrived. Police say it was Officer R.L. Wray who responded. When he arrived, he noticed the front door had been forced open and requested assistance. Police say Wray heard loud banging noises coming from the kitchen, which according to Gregory is in the back of the home. When Gregory saw the officer coming, he claims, “I was upstairs, and the cops told me to come down. So I came downstairs, and everything happened,” said Gregory. Gregory says Derick had been drinking, but claims there was no confrontation with police. “Derick walked around from the kitchen, into the living room, and got half-way into the living room, and the cop tased him. He didn’t run at him or nothing,” said Gregory.

aclu website tracks public surveillance
from raw story: In response to a recent rise in public surveillance funding by the Department of Homeland Security, ACLU's Technology and Liberty program has launched a Web site to let America know – YouAreBeingWatched.us. The Web site provides news related to public video surveillance, links for more information, ways to take action, a 'horror stories' tab detailing recent misuse of surveillance authority and a flash map of locations in the US where municipal surveillance cameras have been installed. “The new site will provide one-stop shopping for users, including the press, who want to know the big picture and the fine details about the spread of video surveillance systems,” said Caroline Fredrickson, director of the ACLU Washington Legislative Office, in a release... Meanwhile, a timely University of California study [8.9mb PDF] has found that San Francisco's $700,000 'Crime Camera' program has had no impact on violent crime since its 2005 installation. The study also states that robberies dropped significantly within each camera's radius, but notes that this finding is inconclusive.

fema starts pr campaign with new channel on youtube
from eyes on the lies: The astronomically corrupt federal agency that has brought us the terrible aftermath of hurricane Katrina has a new card in their sleeve: Propaganda! This federal agency – which two years ago admitted that in time of disaster the agency would openly recruit clergy men to encourage people to submit to the governments agenda – has fired up their own brand spankin’ new YouTube Channel. FEMA says that the goal with this new channel is, “to provide a forum for the public to see how FEMA operates in communities across America, comment on disaster response and recovery, and learn how to prepare homes and communities for all hazards.” Translation: to put up a fight against the hundreds of video’s on YouTube that effectively expose FEMA of being a corrupt agency that completely oversteps the bounds of the Constitution. Without any FEMA video’s on YouTube that paint a pretty picture in the minds of the viewer, FEMA has earned a well deserved bad rap. FEMA has a long road of public relations ahead of them. The top 5 hits when you YouTube “FEMA” all relate to the thousands of plastic coffins that are found along FEMA internment installations and a few videos of FEMA concentration camps. This is a big difference to the videos on FEMA’s channel that portray friendly people who work in the field and appear to be friendly everyday people who are kind and helping after a disaster. However, in a time of a national disaster like 9/11 where FEMA will be used to round up the people of political dissent, these friendly everyday people will be overshadowed by Homeland Security troops who are ordered to round up herds of people who are not drinking the government kool-aid.

norad exercise in dc area on jan14
from free republic: DC area residents should not be alarmed to see and hear military aircraft overhead today [jan14] as NORAD will be conducting a live-fly exercise. Civil Air Patrol aircraft, Air Force F-16s and Coast Guard HH-65 Dolphin helicopters will participate in the exercise which also includes the Federal Aviation Administration, the National Capital Region Command Center, the Joint Air Defense Operations Center and other agencies and military groups. The flights are expected to take place late at night and early in the morning. It is the latest in a series of exercises which have been conducted following the terrorist attacks on September 11th, 2001. In the event of inclement weather, the exercise will be postponed until Thursday.

rangel to reintroduce military draft measure
from the hill: Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) likely will introduce his controversial legislation to reinstate the draft again this year, but he will wait until after the economic stimulus package is passed. Asked if he plans to introduce the legislation again in 2009, Rangel last week said, “Probably … yes. I don’t want to do anything this early to distract from the issue of the economic stimulus.” Rangel’s military draft bill did create a distraction for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) soon after Democrats won control of Congress after the 2006 election. In the wake of that historic victory, Pelosi said publicly that she did not support the draft and that the Democratic leadership would not back Rangel’s legislation. She also said Rangel’s legislation was not about reinstating the draft but was instead “a way to make a point” about social inequality.