Blog Smith is inspired by the myth of Hephaestus in the creation of blacksmith-like, forged materials: ideas. This blog analyzes topics that interest me: IT, politics, technology, history, education, music, and the history of religions.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Economic Breakdown Song (Now on iTunes!)
This music video was created for an Economics Final at Frontier High School in Bakersfield by four classmates. It was written on Thursday, Song recorded on Friday, Shot in 5 hours on Saturday, Edited on Monday - with a couple of pick-up shots. Final editing and mastering on Tuesday and turned in on Wednesday morning.
Kids to Meet Marx in American Schools: A Tale of the History Channel and Hollywood
Brian Jones, a New York teacher and actor, is a board member of VOICES and has also played the lead in Zinn’s play Marx in SoHo. Jones extols the benefits of this one man play as a tool to introduce people to Marx’s ideas.
Jones is also a regular contributor to Socialist Worker, International Socialist Review, and speaks regularly on the beneficial principles of Marxism, including this year at the 2009 Socialism Conference. He recently gave a speech on the failure of capitalism, proclaiming that “Marx is back.”
Sarah Knopp, a Los Angeles high school teacher, is also on Zinn’s Teacher Advisory Board. Like Jones, Knopp is also a regular contributor to International Socialist Review, Socialist Worker, is an active member in The International Socialist Organization, and was also a speaker at the 2009 Socialist Conference. Here is Knopp speaking about the benefits of socialism, how capitalism destroys lives, and how she advocates workers taking over their factories.
The promotional video for the series can be viewed as well.
Howard Zinn is on record blaming America For 9/11; he was interviewed on Iranian TV.
TSA Releases Sensitive Material Online
TSA Breaches Own Security Protocol
The screening manual and the sample CIA credential were posted online by the TSA.
In a massive security breach, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) inadvertently posted online its airport screening procedures manual, including some of the most closely guarded secrets regarding special rules for diplomats and CIA and law enforcement officers. The most sensitive parts of the 93-page Standard Operating Procedures manual were apparently redacted in a way that computer savvy individuals easily overcame.
The document shows sample CIA, Congressional and law enforcement credentials which experts say would make it easy for terrorists to duplicate.
The improperly redacted areas indicate that only 20 percent of checked bags are to be hand searched for explosives and reveal in detail the limitations of x-ray screening machines.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Fall into Hell with the Gap
The Gap had originally ran an ad that did not mention Christmas. As a result, some felt they should boycott Gap, Old Navy, and Banana Republic stores (all are part of the same corporation). Then, the Gap responded with a commercial that takes a cavalier approach towards Christmas.
The video entitled Ready for Holiday Cheer features a group of people dancing and chanting:
Go Christmas, Go Hanukkah, Go Kwanza, Go Solstice.
Go classic tree, go plastic tree, go plant a tree, go add a tree,
You 86 the rules, you do what feels just right.
Happy do whatever you wanukkah, and to all a cheery night.
The Gap also encourages you to "86" or "dismiss" traditions and "do what feels just right."
Turkey Disses Obama's Pro-Islamic Outreach Strategy
The Nabucco project, a major new gas pipeline connecting the Caspian region, Middle East and Egypt, via Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, with Austria and further on with the Central and Western European gas markets is tied to Iran. Turkey is betting that the West will cave for more petroleum and not stand on a defense against Iran. The project opens a conduit from Iran to Europe.
SEALS Stand Tough Against Administrative Injustice
Chinese Christmas Presents to the Americans
The Goodguide has cautioned consumers about the ubiqutous Christmas sensation, the Zhu Zhu Pets, furry robotic hamsters, which are the hottest Christmas craze of 2009-–with millions being flown into the U.S. from China. While Zhu Zhu pets have not faced a Consumer Product Safety Commission recall, a report from GoodGuide.com says they contain antimony, a toxic metal known as a carcinogen. The federal limt for antimony in products is 60 parts per million, while the Zhu Zhu has 93 parts per million in the fur and 103 in the nose. "If ingested in high enough levels, antimony can lead to cancer, reproductive health and other human health hazards," said Dara O'Rourke, an associate professor of environmental science at U.C.-Berkeley and co-founder of GoodGuide.com. "If these toys aren't even meeting the legal standards in the U.S., then I would say that it isn't worth the risk for me to bring it into my household."
Sources in Washington say a recall of the toys is unlikely because of the sheer volume already sold – millions throughout the U.S.
But that's not the case with dozens of other products imported from China just in time for Christmas. Of the 28 products recalled by the Consumer Product Safety Commission so far in November and December, 16 were manufactured in China.
But it's not just children's toys from China that are getting recalled and posing safety hazards. Kids' clothing has also been a target of the CPSC this holiday season. Various kinds of hooded sweatshirts have been targeted as strangulation hazards because of unsafe drawstrings. Some of these items are sold in upper-end department stores like Macy's and Dillards – not just Walmart.
Only one major recall this season was highly publicized. That was Maclaren USA's voluntary action to pull from stores baby strollers that resulted in at least 12 finger amputations. About 1 million of them were in circulation – manufactured, of course, in China. They sold for between $100 and $350.
Thinking about giving someone a kitchen appliance this year? Be warned.
Haier America Trading of New York, N.Y., voluntarily recalled nearly 54,000 blenders made in China when it was learned the blade assemblies came apart or broke, posing laceration risks.
Or maybe you were thinking about getting Dad a gas grill. About 663,000 Perfect Flame grills made in China and sold in Lowe's were voluntarily recalled because they posed burn hazards to users. They caused at least 40 fires resulting in burns to hands, arms and faces and at least one eye injury requiring surgery.
Power adapters used with IBM back-up disk hard drives, also made in China, were recalled when it was found they were failing and exposing live electrical contacts that posed shock hazards to consumers.
Maybe you thought a travel mug made in China was a safe gift. Think again. About 15,000 had to be recalled by the "Life Is Good" company when it was found they posed burn hazards.
And before you get that new baby a pacifier for the stocking this Christmas, be sure to check it out. Some 641,000 "Bobby Chupete" pacifiers had to be recalled this season because they pose a choking hazard.
Not even that Christmas tree stand is necessarily safe. About 13,000 manufactured in China had to be recalled after causing users to fall and sustain serious injuries.
Previously frozen catfish from China was found to have been laced with banned antibiotics and scallops and sardines coated with bacteria.
Chinese toothpaste also has been found by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to have contained a deadly chemical used in antifreeze. In one case, four defendants pleaded guilty to importing from China more than a half million tubes of toothpaste falsely labeled as the popular brand Colgate that contained the toxic antifreeze ingredient.
According to a U.S. Department of Justice statement, the defendants were responsible for 518,028 tubes of toothpaste worth an estimated $730,419 that were shipped into the country and distributed to bargain retail stores in several states.
Chinese imports have been blamed for poisoning America's pets, risking America's human food supply and reintroducing lead poisoning to America's children.
For years, Washington has claimed to be working on the problem of defective consumer products being delivered from China to the United States.
Obama's Congress Against Breathing
The Environmental Protection Agency took a major step yesterday toward regulating greenhouses gases by concluding that climate changing pollution threatens the public health and the environment.
"CO2 for different people has different attractions. After all, what is it? - it’s not a pollutant, it’s a product of every living creature’s breathing, it’s the product of all plant respiration, it is essential for plant life and photosynthesis, it’s a product of all industrial burning, it’s a product of driving – I mean, if you ever wanted a leverage point to control everything from exhalation to driving, this would be a dream. So it has a kind of fundamental attractiveness to bureaucratic mentality."- Richard S. Lindzen, Ph.D. Professor of Atmospheric Science, MIT
Monday, December 7, 2009
Public School Children Learn to Praise Messiah Obama
In another video--filmed shortly after Obama delivered his "Back to School Speech" in September=--children from the same elementary school say "thank you" to Obama. The teacher also asks one of the students if the President "is like a hero to" her. At about 1 minute and 59 seconds into the video, the children say "Thank You" to Obama while holding a photo with the words, "Extreme Loyalty...." inscribed on the top. Blech.
Sprint manager: ‘Half’ of all police surveillance includes text messaging
Unemployment
Types of Unemployment
There are several different types of unemployment, of varying duration and severity (in terms of implications for the economy). This video goes through the types, and addresses why the Macroeconomic goal is "Low Unemployment," rather than "Zero Unemployment."
Fault Lines on Unemployment from al-Jazeera
GDP
The difference between GDP (Gross Domestic Product) and GNP (Gross National Product)
Dr. Richard Ebeling, Clemson capitalism, answers a student question about GDP and its usefulness as a measure of economic health.
How To Calculate GDP
Want to Subscribe?
Sign In or Sign Up now!
http://www.informedtrades.com/ A lesson on what traders of the stock, futures, and forex markets look for when the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) Number is released. As we have learned in previous...
http://www.informedtrades.com/
A lesson on what traders of the stock, futures, and forex markets look for when the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) Number is released.
As we have learned in previous lessons there are many components of the US Economy which can affect overall economic growth and inflation expectations. Some of the major examples here are how many people are employed in the economy vs. unemployed, how much the housing market is growing in different parts of the country, and at what rate the prices for different products in the economy are seeing increases.
As all of these things are so important to the economy and therefore to the markets, there are no shortage of economic reports which are released to try and help people gauge how things are going with different pieces of the economy. It is important for us as traders to understand the major reports here as even if we are trading off of technicals, understanding what is happening in the market from a fundamental standpoint can help establish a longer term bias for trading. In the short term an understanding of these numbers will also help to assess the erratic and sometimes extreme movements which can occur after economic releases.
The granddaddy of all economic reports is the release of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) number for the economy. The Gross Domestic Product for the US or any other country is the final value of all the goods and services produced in that economy. Essentially what you get after calculating GDP by adding up the value of all goods and services produced in the economy is a measure of the size of the overall economy. It is for this reason that market participants will watch the GDP number closely as the rate of growth in this number represents the rate of growth in the overall economy.
As a side note here, GDP also allows a comparison to be made of the sizes of different economies from around the world, as well as their growth rates. To give you an idea of just how large the US Economy is, 2007 GDP for the United States was estimated at 13.7 Trillion dollars. This is in comparison to the next largest economy in the world, Japan which has a GDP of under 5 Trillion Dollars.
Quarterly estimates of GDP are released each month with Advance Estimates which are incomplete and subject to further revision being released near the end of the first month after the end of the quarter being reported. In the second month after the end of the quarter being reported preliminary numbers (which basically means more accurate than advanced) normally are released and then finally the final GDP number is released at the end of the 3rd month after the end of the quarter being reported on.
Traders are going to focus heavily on the growth rate released in the Advanced number and markets will also move on any significant revisions made in the preliminary and final GDP numbers.
Circular Flow Diagram
Circular Flow Diagram and Micro vs. Macro
This video gives an overview of the circular flow of economic markets and discusses the difference between microeconomics and macroeconomics.
For more information and a complete set of microeconomics videos, see
http://www.economistsdoitwithmodels.com
Business Cycle
Business Cycle
The History of Economic Cycles
Outlining briefly the people and discoveries relating to economic cycles. Beginning with Sir William Herschel who around 1800 found a connection between the Sunspot cycle and wheat prices, mention is made of Clement Juglar 1860s, William Stanley Jevons 1870s, The Rothschild family 1890s and Rockerfeller family, W D Gann 1900s, Joseph Kitchin 1920, Kondratief (who I accidentally left out of this video) and his 54 year cycle in the 1920s, Alexander Chizhevsky and Raymond Wheeler around the 1930s being interisciplinary cycles researchers, R N Elliott, Joseph Schumpeter and Simon Kuznets (later to receive a Nobel Prize) and the formation of the Foundation for the Study of Cycles by Edward R Dewey and others in 1942. The age of computers arrived in cycles research with J M Hurst about 1970.
For more information about cycles research:
http://www.cyclesresearchinstitute.org/
http://foundationforthestudyofcycles....
http://ray.tomes.biz/
There is an interdisciplinary cycles discussion forum open to all people to search and read, and people can join to participate, at http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/cy...
For more on the history of economic cycles:
http://www.datacomm.ch/dbesomi/Links/...
http://www.timesizing.com/1kondrat.htm
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Elvis Christmas
Fats Domino Christmas
White Christmas - Fats Domino
Frosty The Snowman By Fats Domino
Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer By Fats Domino
Jingle Bells - Fats Domino
Ray Charles Christmas
Santa Claus Is Coming To Town By Ray Charles
Brother Ray performing at The Monastery Of Ettal in Germany 1979
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Eisenhower: Military-Industrial Complex
Dwight D. Eisenhower exit speech on Jan.17,1961: warning of the military industrial complex.
Mounting Debilities and Deaths from H1N1 Vaccine
Jordan McFarland, a 14-year-old boy from Virginia, is weak and struggling to walk after coming down with a reported case of Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS) within hours after receiving the H1N1 vaccine for swine flu.
McFarland left Inova Fairfax Hospital for Children in a wheelchair nearly a week after developing severe headaches, muscle spasms and weakness in his legs following a swine flu shot.
Jordan is among the first people in the U.S. to report developing the potentially life-threatening muscle disorder after receiving the H1N1 vaccine this fall. Increased cases of GBS were found in patients who received a 1976 swine flu vaccine.
Likewise, a young woman in France has also been diagnosed with GBS after a swine flu shot. The woman, identified only as a health worker, was diagnosed with GBS six days after she received the swine flu shot, according to the French health ministry
Swedish, Japanese, and Chinese health officials have also reported a number of serious side effects, including deaths of people who received the H1N1 vaccine.
In China, the Ministry of Health announced that the two people, including one teacher from Hunan province, died hours after receiving their inoculations.
Chinese health officials have pulled all vaccines manufactured in the same batch used to inoculate the teacher.
Fifty-four percent of Chinese residents reported in a China Daily survey that they would not get the H1N1 vaccine because of concerns about the shot's safety. Among those inoculated so far in China, more than 1,200 have complained of side effects ranging from sore arms, rashes, and headaches, to anaphylactic shock and sudden drops in blood pressure. Mounting Debilities and Deaths from H1N1 Vaccine
Cornel West: Obama is for big business not the jobless
West introduced Obama on stage at the fundraiser after first railing against the “racist” criminal justice system of the “American empire.”
A scan of YouTube clips found West introducing Obama at the fundraiser while stating the “American empire is in such a deep crisis” and slamming the “racist criminal justice system” and “disgraceful schools in our city.”
“He is my brother and my companion and comrade,” said West of Obama.
A video shows Obama taking the stage just after West’s introduction, expressing his gratitude to West, calling him “not only a genius, a public intellectual, a preacher, an oracle … he’s also a loving person.”
Obama asked the audience for a round of applause for West.
From a young age, West proclaimed he admired “the sincere black militancy of Malcolm X, the defiant rage of the Black Panther Party … and the livid black [liberation] theology of James Cone.”
Cone’s theology spawned Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Obama’s controversial pastor for 20 years at the Trinity United Church of Christ. West was a strong defender of Wright when the pastor’s extreme remarks became national news during last year’s campaign season.
In 1995, West signed a letter published as an ad in the New York Times that voiced support for cop-killer Mumia Abu-Jamal, a former Black Panther.
In 2002, West further signed a “Statement of Conscience” crafted by Not In Our Name, a project of C. Clark Kissinger’s Revolutionary Communist Party. He then endorsed the World Can’t Wait campaign, a Revolutionary Communist Party project seeking to organize “people living in the United States to take responsibility to stop the whole disastrous course led by the Bush administration.”
After branding the U.S. a “racist patriarchal” nation in his book “Race Matters,” West wrote, “White America has been historically weak-willed in ensuring racial justice and has continued to resist fully accepting the humanity of blacks.”
Also in that book, West claimed the 9/11 attacks gave white Americans a glimpse of what it means to be a black person in the U.S. – feeling “unsafe, unprotected, subject to random violence and hatred” for who they are.
“Since 9/11,” West wrote, “the whole nation has the blues, when before it was just black people.”
Obama’s Science Czar in Climategate Hot Seat
Obama's science adviser faced intense questioning from House Republicans this week in a hearing on Capitol Hill. At issue was the role Science "Czar" John Holdren played in Climategate and his support of researchers implicated in that scandal.
The stated intent of the hearing of the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming was to help "reach diplomatic consensus on a planetary solution" before the UN Climate Change Conference begins in Copenhagen on Monday. Committee Chair Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), who denied Republican requests to invite witnesses to the hearing, opened it by explaining the science on climate change is settled and warning of the serious impacts society faces if Congress does not act quickly to reverse global warming.
Ranking committee member James Sensenbrenner (R-Wisc.) contended, "What we have just heard from the Chairman is a case of denial on what's happened recently." He pointed to private e-mails hacked from a climate research facility in November that implicate many of Holdren’s colleagues in complicity to forward their own political agenda, saying: "As policy makers we should all be concerned when key climate scientists write in private correspondence that they found a 'trick' to 'hide the decline' in temperature data documented in climate studies."
While Sensenbrenner readily admitted the e-mails "don't undermine everything we know about climate change," he called the content shocking and said they "show a pattern of suppression, manipulation and secrecy that was inspired by ideology, condescension and profit." He accused those involved of scientific fascism and declared his hope that the scandal proves climate-change science is not settled.
He proceeded to question Holdren as to whether he advises the President based on the fraudulent science and whether he still supports the scientists implicated in Climategate. Holdren did not answer directly but claimed he would like to get to the bottom of the controversy. He said the e-mails do not call all climate-change science into question. Sensenbrenner then quoted Holdren from the e-mails and scolded him for "name-calling" of global warming skeptics.
Congressman Jay Inslee (D-Wash.) countered Sensenbrenner's accusations of "scientific fascism" with an emotional rebuttal. Sensenbrenner defended his statement, saying the e-mails show Climategate scientists used intimidation techniques against skeptics. "We're being asked as a Congress to make major changes in American society ... as a result of this debate," he warned. "The scientists may be able to change their story, but once Congress passes a law, it will be as difficult to repeal the consequences of that law as putting milk back into the cow." He also showed evidence that Holdren's own track record demonstrates he has often held extremist views later proven wrong. He questioned Holdren's suitability as science adviser to President Obama and the U.S. Congress in light of that fact. Holdren said he always bases his advice on the best information available at the time.
The remainder of the hearing focused on recent climate-change findings, including a multi-media presentation by Chairman Markey. The only scientists allowed to testify were Holdren and Dr. Jane Lubchenco, Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Both witnesses are outspoken advocates of legislation to curb greenhouse gas emissions and impose cap-and-trade measures on Americans.
Friday, December 4, 2009
Markos on Afghanistan war strategy: We can’t keep doing this forever
Daily Kos founder Markos Moulitsas talks with Ed Schultz about President Obama’s speech on Afghanistan on The Ed Show, arguing that while President Obama is following through on his campaign position to escalate the war in Afghanistan, going forward the President’s Afghanistan policy will be judged on whether he can follow through on his promise to bring the war to a conclusion starting in 2011.
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Dry Run Attack by Muslims
From: Petruna, Tedd J. (JSC-DX12)[RAYTHEON TECHNICAL SERVICES COMPANY]
To: undisclosed-recipients
Sent: Friday, November 27, 2009 11:32 AM
One week ago, I went to Ohio on business and to see my father. On Tuesday, November 17, I returned home. If you read the papers, you may have seen a blurb where an AirTran flight was cancelled from Atlanta to Houston due to a man who refused to get off of his cell phone before takeoff. It was on Fox.
That was NOT what happened!
I was in first class coming home. Eleven muslim men got on the plane in full attire. Two sat in first class and the rest peppered themselves throughout the plane all the way to the back. As the plane taxied to the runway, the stewardesses gave the safety spiel we are all so familiar with. At that time, one of the men got on his cell and called one of his companions in the back and proceeded to talk on the phone in Arabic very loudly and very aggressively. This took the first stewardess out of the picture for she repeatedly told the man that cell phones were not permitted at the time. He ignored her as if she wasn’t there. The second man who answered the phone did the same and this took out the second stewardess. In the back of the plane at this time, 2 younger muslims, one in the back aisle, and one in front of him, window, began to
show footage of a porno they had taped the night before, and were very loud about it. Now, they are only permitted to do this prior to Jihad. If a Muslim man goes into a strip club, he has to view the woman via mirror with his back to her (don’t ask me, I don’t make the rules, but I’ve studied).
The third stewardess informed them that they were not to have electronic devices on at this time. To which one of the men said, “shut up infidel dog!” She went to take the camcorder and he began to scream in her face in Arabic.
At that exact moment, all 11 of them got up and started to walk to the cabin. This is where I had had enough! I got up and started to the back where I heard a voice behind me from another Texan twice my size say, “I got your back.” I grabbed the man who had been on the phone by the arm and said, “you WILL go sit down or you Will be thrown from this plane!” As I led him around me to take his seat, the fellow Texan grabbed him by the back of his neck and his waist and headed out with him. I then grabbed the second man and said, “You WILL do the same!” He protested but adrenaline was flowing now and he was going to go. As I escorted him forward, the plane doors open and 3 TSA agents and 4 police officers entered. Me and my new Texan friend were told to cease and desist for they had this under control. I was happy to oblige actually. There was some commotion in the back, but within moments, all 11 were escorted off the plane. They then unloaded their luggage.
We talked about the occurrence and were in disbelief that it had happened, when suddenly, the door opened again and on walked all eleven!! Stone faced, eyes front and robotic (the only way I can describe it). The stewardess from the back had been in tears and when she saw this, she was having NONE of it! Being that I was up front, I heard and saw the whole ordeal. She told the TSA agent there was NO WAY she was staying on the plane with these men. The agent told her they had searched them and were going to go through their luggage with a fine tooth comb and that they were allowed to proceed to Houston. The captain and co-captain came out and told the agent, “we and our crew will not fly this plane!” After a word or two, the entire crew, luggage in tow, left the plane. Five minutes later, the cabin door opened again and a whole new crew walked on.
Again, this is where I had had enough!! I got up and asked, “What the hell is going on?” I was told to take my seat. They were sorry for the delay and I would be home shortly. I said, “I’m getting off this plane.” The
stewardess sternly told me that she could not allow me to get off. Now I’m mad! I said, “I am a grown man who bought this ticket, who’s time is mine with a family at home and I am going through that door, or I’m going through that door with you under my arm!! But I am going through that door!!” And I heard a voice behind me say, “So am I.” Then everyone behind us started to get up and say the same. Within 2 minutes, I was walking off that plane where I was met with more agents who asked me to write a statement. I had 5 hours to kill at this point so why the hell not. Due to the amount of people who got off that flight, it was cancelled. I was supposed to be in Houston at 6pm. I got here at 12:30am.
Look up the date. Flight 297, Atlanta to Houston. If this wasn’t a dry run, I don’t know what one is. They wanted to see how TSA would handle it, how the crew would handle it, and how the passengers would handle it.
I’m telling this to you because I want you to know. The threat is real. I saw it with my own eyes.
Tedd Petruna
TWILIGHT IMAGERY, INC.
James Morris, CEO, General Factotum, iap
Teresa Morris, V.P…In Charge
325 643 5909
325 643 5830 ( Fax )
Brownwood, TX.
San Juan, PR
“Age doesn’t always bring wisdom…sometimes it comes alone.”
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Taxing Guns: IRS will know who has what. IRS to also enforce Obamacare provisions
H.R..45: Blair Holt's Firearm Licensing and Record of Sale Act of 2009 - U.S. Congress -OpenCongress http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-h45/show http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-h45/show http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-h45/show&g t;
H.R. 45: Blair Holt's Firearm Licensing and Record of Sale Act of 2009 GovTrack.us) http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h111-45 http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h111-45 http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h111-45
Between Sept. 2008 and Oct. 2009 - Govt. pinged Sprint Nextel customer location data over 8 million times
Sprint: 50 million customers, 8 million law enforcement GPS requests in 1 year from Christopher Soghoian on Vimeo
Sprint Nextel provided law enforcement agencies with customer location data more than 8 million times between September 2008 and October 2009, according to a company manager who disclosed the statistic at a non-public interception and wiretapping conference in October.
The manager also revealed the existence of a previously undisclosed web portal that Sprint provides law enforcement to conduct automated “pings” to track users. Through the website, authorized agents can type in a mobile phone number and obtain global positioning system (GPS) coordinates of the phone.
The revelations, uncovered by blogger and privacy activist Christopher Soghoian, have spawned questions about the number of Sprint customers who have been under surveillance, as well as the legal process agents followed to obtain such data.
But a Sprint Nextel spokesman said that Soghoian, who recorded the Sprint manager’s statements at the closed conference, misunderstood what the figure represents. The number of customers whose GPS data was provided to local, state and federal law enforcement agencies was much less than 8 million, as was the total number of individual requests for data.
The spokesman wouldn’t disclose how many of Sprint’s 48 million customers had their GPS data shared, or indicate the number of unique surveillance requests from law enforcement. But he said that a single surveillance order against a lone target could generate thousands of GPS “pings” to the cell phone, as the police track the subject’s movements over the course of days or weeks. That, Sprint claims, is the source of the 8 million figure: it’s the cumulative number of times Sprint cell phones covertly reported their location to law enforcement over the year.
The spokesman also said that law enforcement agents have to obtain a court order for the data, except in special emergency circumstances.
The information about the data requests and portal comes from Paul Taylor, manager of Sprint’s Electronic Surveillance Team. He made the revelations at the Intelligent Support Systems (ISS) conference, a surveillance industry gathering for law enforcement and intelligence agencies and the companies that provide them with the technologies and capabilities to conduct surveillance.
The conference is closed to press, but Soghoian, who is a graduate student at Indiana University, obtained entry and recorded a couple of panel sessions, which he posted on his blog (see below). In one of the recordings, Taylor is heard saying that the automated web system was rolled out a year ago and that in 13 months it had processed more than 8 million requests for GPS data from law enforcement.
“We turned it on the web interface for law enforcement about one year ago last month, and we just passed 8 million requests,” Taylor is heard saying. “So there is no way on earth my team could have handled 8 million requests from law enforcement, just for GPS alone. So the tool has just really caught on fire with law enforcement. They also love that it is extremely inexpensive to operate and easy.”
Soghoian concluded on his blog that the quote provided proof that “location requests easily outnumber wiretaps, and … likely outnumber all other forms of surveillance request too.”
He cites a telecom attorney named Al Gidari who claimed at a talk last year that each of the major wireless carriers received about 100 requests a week for customer-location data. At 100 requests a week for each of the top four wireless carriers, the total should be around 20,000 requests a year.
“I now have proof that he significantly underestimated the number of requests by several orders of magnitude,” Soghoian writes.
But Sprint spokesman John Taylor (who is not related to Paul Taylor) says Soghoian had “grossly misrepresented” the 8 million figure, which doesn’t refer to unique requests or to individual customers, but to the total number of “pings” made on every number for the duration of a law enforcement request.
“The figure represents the number of individual pings for specific location information, made to the Sprint network as part of a series of law enforcement investigations and public safety assistance requests during the past year,” said spokesman Taylor. “It’s critical to note that a single case or investigation may generate thousands of individual pings to the network as the law enforcement or public safety agency attempts to track or locate an individual.”
There are four circumstances under which law enforcement agents can use the Sprint website and obtain GPS data: 1) under the authority of a court order; 2) to track the location of a customer who has made a 911 call; 3) in an emergency situation, such as tracking someone lost in the wilderness or trying to locate an abducted child or hostage; 4) with a customer’s consent.
In the case of court orders, Taylor said agents are required to provide Sprint with the order, after which the company provisions the law enforcement account to allow an agency to track the targeted phone number. Court orders cover a 60-day period, and agents can do automated pings to obtain real-time GPS data every three minutes throughout that 60-day period. Taylor says this accounts for the 8 million figure.
“If you can access the info every three minutes over 60 days, that adds up pretty quickly,” he told Threat Level.
He added that the GPS data includes only latitude and longitude and the date and time of the ping.
The automated system was set up so that law enforcement agents wouldn’t have to contact Sprint’s electronic surveillance team each time they wanted to ping a phone number throughout the 60 days of a court order. Agents still have to obtain a subpoena to get historic call detail records, such as phone numbers called, the date, time and duration of calls and the cell site and sector from which the calls were made.
—
Image: The FBI won a court order to track this Sprint Nextel cell phone’s movements while hunting for a fugitive in Ohio last October. (Source: U.S. District Court Southern Distict of Ohio). Home page image of cell tower: Phil Strahl/Flickr
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA35) on Obama's Afghanistan speech and Comparison to Earlier Surge
Compare the surge statements on Iraq and Afghanistan:
Federal Gov't Shuts Off Water to Cali Farmers
In an interview, comedian Paul Rodriguez, whose mother owns a farm in the area, criticized the actions of the government and called for Obama to review the decision. “This used to be an almond orchard. Now all that is left is firewood.”
Laura King Moon, assistant general manager of the State Water Contractors, a nonprofit association of 27 public agencies from across California that purchase water from the government under contract, said “these cuts are crippling on our people and businesses — especially in the Central Valley where farmers are being forced to fallow their land and workers are being laid off. Rather than piecemeal restrictions, we need to balance the needs of the environment and the needs of people with a collective plan for the Delta.”
The National Marine Fisheries Service, an agency within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, states the water pumping inside central California threatens several species, including Chinook salmon, Central Valley steelhead, North American green sturgeon, and Southern Resident killer whales, which rely on Chinook salmon runs for food. In the Huron area, the delta smelt is specifically targeted.
In defense of the actions, Rod McInnis, the southwest regional director for NOAA’s Fisheries Service stated,
“What is at stake here is not just the survival of species but the health of entire ecosystems and the economies that depend on them. We are ready to work with our federal and state partners, farmers and residents to find solutions that benefit the economy, environment and Central Valley families.”
Open Door for Discovery in Carter Decision
The recent decision, from Judge Carter, failed to quoted the relevant passage from 3 U.S.C. § 15 which states:
Upon such reading of any such certificate or paper, the President of the Senate shall call for objections, if any. Every objection shall be made in writing, and shall state clearly and concisely, and without argument, the ground thereof.
The DOJ clipped the statute so as to leave out the part which places a burden on the Vice President, acting in his role as President of the Senate, to call for objections after the count of votes.
Monday, November 30, 2009
Phantom Votes and more Election Fraud: NY 23
CANTON, NY – The election results certified by the St. Lawrence County Board of Elections for New York’s 23rd Congressional District contain some numbers that are mathematically impossible. These numbers were requested in person and transmitted by e-mail just hours before certification on Tuesday, November 24th, 2009.
For six election districts in St. Lawrence County (the 2nd, 4th, 6th, and 7th districts in Canton, the 14th district in Massena, and the 2nd district in Oswegatchie) negative numbers appear in the column for “blank” ballots, known in other states as “undervotes.”
Blank vote counts are ballots in which the voter did not choose any candidate in a given election and are determined by subtracting the total number of votes cast for the candidates from the number of voters who completed ballots. The remaining number would be those voters who didn't cast a vote for that election.
In Canton's 7th district, the certified results show a total of 148 ballots cast. The results of those votes were counted as 88 votes for Owens, 11 votes for Scozzafava, and 80 votes for Hoffman. The problem is that these numbers add up to 179 votes counted for the candidates, and there were only 148 ballots cast; St. Lawrence County certified these numbers to the state as accurate with the number of 'blank' ballots reported as -31.
The Board of Elections stated repeatedly that their numbers add up, and strictly speaking, they do. But negative numbers should not be required to make this happen.
Election analysts refer to this phenomenon as “phantom voters,” because they are apparitions. They do not actually exist. There can never be more votes counted for any office than the number of actual voters who cast ballots. There could be one or two, if on occasion an actual voter forgot to sign the poll book, but never 31.
In addition to the 31 “phantom votes” certified in Canton's 7th district, there are 16 more in Canton's 2nd district, two in Canton's 4th district, 20 in the 7th, 22 in Massena 14th district, and 2 in Oswegatchie 2nd district.
These numbers are minimums. As 'blank' votes do often occur when a voter does not choose a candidate, the number of blank ballots are commonly a positive number. According to the certiified results there were 757 "blank" ballots countywide, or 3.0% of the total ballots cast. Thus, along with the -31 "phantom votes" in Canton's 2nd district, there were likely four or five people who actually cast a 'blank' ballot, meaning that the number of phantom votes is more like 35 or 36 for that district.
An audit of the poll books revealed that there were 537 actual voters at the polls in Canton's 7th and 8th district, which voted at the same polling place, and there were 25 absentee ballots, for a total of 562. According to the certified results, there were 179 votes counted for Congress in Canton's 7th and 375 in Canton's 8th, making 554 altogether, but only 529 voters cast ballots.
Similarly, there were 435 actual voters at the polls in Canton 2, 4 and 6, which voted at the same polling place, and there were 26 absentee ballots, for a total of 461. According to the certified results, there were 449 votes counted for Congress, but only 411 ballots cast.
In Massena's 14th district, a single-precinct polling place, there were 365 actual voters at the polls, and there were 14 absentee ballots, for a total of 379. According to the certified results, there were 363 votes counted for Congress, but only 341 ballots cast.
In Oswegatchie 2nd and 4th districts, which voted at the same polling place, there were 412 actual voters at the polls, and there were 35 absentee ballots, for a total of 447. According to the certified results, there were 436 votes counted for Congress, and 442 ballots cast.
Thus, in the cases cited above, there may have been enough actual voters at the polls to account for the vote totals for the candidates. But the numbers do not match up, they do not withstand an audit, and they should not be certified by the State.
Oswegatchie illustrates perfectly how 'blank ballots' and 'phantom votes' can cancel each other out. Officially, there were two 'phantom votes' in Oswegatchie 2nd district (or -2 blank ballots), and a total of 25 blank votes in Oswegatchie's 1st, 3rd, and 4th district. The town of Oswegatchie's total number of blank votes was therefore reported as 23. For every town except Canton, the town totals for blank votes are positive numbers. “Phantom votes” are rarely visible except when scrutinizing the results at the precinct level.
In the certified election results from the above districts, where the voting machines appeared to be working properly, the computer-generated vote counts cannot possibly be accurate as they are showing more votes counted than voters.
Fundamentally, the fault does not lie with the Board of Elections, although perhaps they should have noticed the negative numbers before certifying them. The fault lies with computerized vote counting and our willingness to trust it.
It has already been reported that zero votes were incorrectly reported in numerous precincts in Jefferson, Madison, and Oswego Counties for one of the Congressional candidates, and that voting machine failures occurred in dozens of polling places in at least three different counties.
In St. Lawrence County, ballots from eight polling places had to be hand counted due to voting machine failure. Machines in Louisville, Waddington, Clare, and Rossie "broke" early in the voting process on Election Day. Republican Commissioner Deborah Pahler said that the machines kept "freezing up... like Windows does all the time". Machines in Hermon, Lawrence, Colton's 2nd district, and Massena's 1st and 2nd districts failed to print the results. Frank Hoar, an attorney for the Democratic Party, initially ordered the impoundment of malfunctioning machines but released the order on November 5th so that Bill Owens could be sworn in to Congress in time to vote on the House health bill on November 7th.
Electronic vote counting is much too vulnerable to failure and/or manipulation. If a mechanical (lever-style) machine breaks down, the failure is visible, and only the one machine is affected. With electronic vote counting, one person can change the outcome of an election and not leave a trace. This has been shown over and over again in scientific studies, including those commissioned by the Secretaries of State in California and Ohio.
But more than that, how can we have a democracy if we cannot know if the vote count is accurate? If election officials cannot know, and if the candidates cannot know, and if the voters cannot know that the official results are true and correct, why even have an election? Why go through the motions?
In New York State, 232 years of election case law pursuant to the state constitution has strongly upheld the requirement that votes be counted visibly, in public view, and the results proclaimed, before the ballots or the lever machines leave the polling place. It has long been understood that vote counting concealed from the public is a crime waiting to happen. Because electronic vote counting is an invisible process, it flies in the face of tradition and case law.
Richard Hayes Phillips, Ph.D., is one of the leading election fraud investigators in the United States. His book on the 2004 Ohio election, Witness to a Crime: A Citizens’ Audit of an American Election, based on examination of some 30,000 photographs of actual ballots, poll books, and other election records, is available at http://www.witnesstoacrime.com
Sally Castleman, co-founder of Election Defense Alliance (EDA), a national organization committed to honest, secure and transparent elections, contributed to this article.
The author thanks the St. Lawrence County Board of Elections for providing unfettered access to election records.
Christo Garcia is the winner of Charlie Sheen’s 20 Minutes with the President video contest.
Christo Garcia is the winner of Charlie Sheen’s 20 Minutes with the President video contest.
Climategate
Professor Phil Jones, the head of the Climate Research Unit, and professor Michael E. Mann at Pennsylvania State University, who has been an important scientist in the climate debate, have come under particular scrutiny. Among his e-mails, Mr. Jones talked to Mr. Mann about the "trick of adding in the real temps to each series ... to hide the decline [in temperature]."
Mr. Jones told Mr. Mann: "If they ever hear there is a Freedom of Information Act now in the UK, I think I'll delete the file rather than send to anyone" and, "We also have a data protection act, which I will hide behind."
In another e-mail, Mr. Jones told Mr. Mann, professor Malcolm K. Hughes of the University of Arizona and professor Raymond S. Bradley of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst: "I'm getting hassled by a couple of people to release the CRU station temperature data. Don't any of you three tell anybody that the UK has a Freedom of Information Act!"
At one point, Mr. Jones complained to another academic, "I did get an email from the [Freedom of Information] person here early yesterday to tell me I shouldn't be deleting emails." He also offered up more dubious tricks of his trade, specifically that "IPCC is an international organization, so is above any national FOI. Even if UEA holds anything about IPCC, we are not obliged to pass it on." Another professor at the Climate Research Unit, Tim Osborn, discussed in e-mails how truncating a data series can hide a cooling trend that otherwise would be seen in the results. Mr. Mann sent Mr. Osborn an e-mail saying that the results he was sending shouldn't be shown to others because the data support critics of global warming.
Secrecy in science is a corrosive force
Climate change: this is the worst scientific scandal of our generation
Climategate: University of East Anglia U-turn in climate change row
No wonder then Obama's energy czar, Carol Browner, dismissed this as much ado about nothing. She was on the board of APX, one of the leading carbon offset trading companies and EPA Administrator for eight years under Clinton. While Administrator of the EPA, she violated a federal judge’s order to preserve documents by wiping computers clean and her discrimination toward employees resulted in many becoming whistle blowers. Appalled by the actions of Carol Browner, congress enacted the Whistle blower Protection Act of 1999.
Carol Browner is one of 14 leaders of a socialist group's Commission for a Sustainable World Society, which calls for "global governance" and says rich countries must shrink their economies to address climate change.
Al Gore was confronted with activists wanting to question him about Climategate.
30,000 scientists and the founder of the Weather Channel want to sue Al Gore.
Climategate: Follow the Money, Bret Stephens.
Australia's Parliament defeats global warming bill.
Gore does not like to answer questions.
Sunday, November 29, 2009
The World's Leading Banks, before and after the crisis
Orly Responding to Slams by News Media
So, for the news media, exactly in which hospital was Obama born?
Millions Go For Signs, Not For Jobs
Time to Investigate Michelle?
No Free Speech in Maryland
At a health care rally at the University of Maryland, a protester began heckling Obama. The man apparently yelled “Obama you’re a liar. Obama, your health care kills children. Abortion is murder.”
The man was promptly removed by police. The crowd is overjoyed and gleefully cheers as the man was carted off for having the temerity to challenge Obama publicly.
As the man mounts the stairs, one guy knocks his hat off, then a guy on the left spits on him but the cop sees it and carts him off too.
Phoenix Junior: Beacon for Warfare
The product referred to, the Phoenix JR, is manufactured in Florida.
The company's website describes the product:
Phoenix Junior
(NSN: 5855-01-438-4588)
featured
Phoenix Jr. (NSN: 5855-01-438-4588) is an extremely rugged and low cost Infrared marker beacon. The Phoenix Jr. was principally designed as an individual Combat Identification marker employed to minimize fratricide (the inadvertent destruction of battle field assets by friendly forces.) It has also been used as a vehicle ID marker, drop zone indicator and perimeter marker. Since its introduction in 1984, the Phoenix Jr. is the most widely used electronic Combat ID system in the world.
Phoenix Jr. and the war on terrorism. The Phoenix Jr. has been utilized by American and coalition forces for combat identification in theatres of operation such as Kosovo, Bosnia, Somalia, Afghanistan and Iraq. The Beacon has many uses in combat and other operations for marking personnel, vehicles, pathways or locations. It incorporates a flash rate that was specified to prevent confusion with small arms fire. Use the Phoenix Jr. to identify friendly force positions, demarcation lines or perimeters.
Phoenix Jr. is the world standard for covert signaling and identification of military, law enforcement, SWAT and homeland security assets.
SPECIFICATIONS
Weight: 28 Grams | 1 Ounce
Size: 38.09 x 15.87mm | 1.5" x .625"
Flash Repeat cycle: 1.3 Seconds (fixed)
Flash Duration: 20 Milliseconds (fixed)
Battery: Common 9 volt
Configuration: 3 Light Emitting Diodes (LED)
Coverage: 240 degrees x 360 degrees
Switching: Attach or remove battery
Operating Depth: The Poseidon — Phoenix / Pegasus Mounting Clip (902801) provides a water tight casing for the beacon and battery assembly. If immersed without the Poseidon case, the unit will continue to operate until the contacts fail due to water and electrolytic corrosion. Given these conditions the depth limitation is solely determined by the battery’s ability to withstand depth.
OPTIONS
Phoenix Jr. IR (902111IR)
Phoenix Jr. Red Training Model (902111R)
Phoenix Jr. NV Green Training Model (902111NV)
Intruder Trip Wire (902511)
Vehicle Auxiliary Power Supply (902611)
Poseidon — Phoenix / Pegasus Mounting Clip (902801)
Light Output Frequency :
Red - 640 nm
Infra Red - 880 nm
NV Green
Alternate frequencies available on request
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Unsubscribe
Popular Posts
-
The original article, which has generated an incredible amount of hits, has mysteriously disappeared: 24 November 2014. http://www.wnd.com...
-
Assessment
-
SherAli Tareen, Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at Franklin and Marshall College, was awarded an American Academy of Religion’s 201...
-
This inaugural episode in series 1 (Paul and his communities) uses incidental autobiographical references in Paul’s letters as an avenue int...
-
Londoner
-
Rockefeller, Prager University Rockefeller
-
Why is Modern Art so Bad? 5:49 For two millennia, great artists set the standard for beauty. Now those standards are gone. Modern ar...
FEEDJIT Live Traffic Feed/Site Meter
Where From?
Subscribe To
Posts
All Comments
Handy Tools, Links, etc.
Share |
CIO and Strategy & Business magazines
Nature: International Weekly Journal of Science
SD Times: Software Development News
SC Magazine for Security Professionals
Missile Defense
33 Minutes
Government Technology: Solutions for State and Local Government in the Information Age
What's Running is a great tool so that you can see what is running on your desktop.
Process Lasso lets you view your processor and its responsiveness.
Online Armor lets you view your firewall status.
Avast is a terrific scrubber of all virus miscreants.
ClamWin is an effective deterrent for the little nasty things that can crop into your machine.
Ad-Aware is a sound anti-virus tool.
For all your electronic appliance needs research products on this terrific site.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.
Recent Comments
Blog Smith Headline Animator
National Debt Clock
Subscribe To
Posts
All Comments
The Religion of Peace
Portrait of Thinking Hero
1844-1900
Check out:
Chicks dig readers.