Wednesday, November 15, 2006
Nightmares and escape
Recently I had to pick my Dad up off the floor after he had a nightmare about the government coming for him because he subscribes to The Nation and a couple of other publications that might be construed as left wing or an enemy of the current regime.
He also said with the new laws, all it would take to wave the magic wand of terrorism over him and make him vanish was his contributions to an anti-defamation Iranian group.
I did not mention to him my blog, and decided it was probably best if I did not mention it, since I figure if he is already scared of being invaded over the magazines he reads, how much worse could it get to find out someone under his roof is writing the same kind of stuff.
These thoughts led to flights of fancy about how one might have to make a hasty departure, and how one could disappear if the need arose.
The first order of business seems to me to alter your looks enough that existing photographs would make you tough to spot at the airport.
Now you would not want to have this done locally, so I did some looking around and found Facial Plastic Surgery in Austin located at 630 West 34th Street suite 201 Austin, TX who are just commercial enough that you would not arouse suspicion if you were to go in for a change of nose or something. Last time I talked to a Texan, they informed me they still had the right to secede from the union, so it also might be a good bet they would not be asking the government's permission to give you a face makeover.
Now, that is not the only thing you could do at Plastic Surgery Experts.com since they also do liposuction, you could lose some weight which would make you look even less like yourself.
This Personique outfit is pretty much a one shop stop for this purpose when you consider they also deal with hair loss, weight loss, cosmetic surgery and more.
Normally I am not a big advocate for changing your appearance through surgery, but that's mostly because it is usually for vanity's sake. In the event I need to look less like me, in order to survive, I very well might look into doing some changing in appearance. Better that than being a prisoner in one's own backyard.
He also said with the new laws, all it would take to wave the magic wand of terrorism over him and make him vanish was his contributions to an anti-defamation Iranian group.
I did not mention to him my blog, and decided it was probably best if I did not mention it, since I figure if he is already scared of being invaded over the magazines he reads, how much worse could it get to find out someone under his roof is writing the same kind of stuff.
These thoughts led to flights of fancy about how one might have to make a hasty departure, and how one could disappear if the need arose.
The first order of business seems to me to alter your looks enough that existing photographs would make you tough to spot at the airport.
Now you would not want to have this done locally, so I did some looking around and found Facial Plastic Surgery in Austin located at 630 West 34th Street suite 201 Austin, TX who are just commercial enough that you would not arouse suspicion if you were to go in for a change of nose or something. Last time I talked to a Texan, they informed me they still had the right to secede from the union, so it also might be a good bet they would not be asking the government's permission to give you a face makeover.
Now, that is not the only thing you could do at Plastic Surgery Experts.com since they also do liposuction, you could lose some weight which would make you look even less like yourself.
This Personique outfit is pretty much a one shop stop for this purpose when you consider they also deal with hair loss, weight loss, cosmetic surgery and more.
Normally I am not a big advocate for changing your appearance through surgery, but that's mostly because it is usually for vanity's sake. In the event I need to look less like me, in order to survive, I very well might look into doing some changing in appearance. Better that than being a prisoner in one's own backyard.
Monday, November 13, 2006
Medical Politics
Owing to a doctor's order that my father needed daily whirlpool treatments on his leg, it was arranged to rent a unit that was supposed to fit on the bathtub. For this we were being charged $35 a month. The company that delivered the unit was Duramed Homecare Services out of Duarte Cailfornia. I mention them by name because I think it is important to let you know there are companies who make their money by cheating people.
After the unit arrived and it was determined owing to space limitations that using this unit would be very difficult as no one could get their feet into the tub once it was in place, nor could someone with a walker (which both of my parents use unless they are in their wheelchairs) get past the unit to use the toilet. All around a pretty unsatisfactory situation. Yes we could take it off and put it on when it was needed, however, having all tile floors this would sometimes mean taking something dripping wet across normal pathways. The water dripping (if I were to miss even one spot) would become for a short time a slipping hazard.
There are enough slipping hazards with tile floors and in the world in general, it seems unnecessary to create more. Because of this, I started doing some research and to my shock and dismay I learned this pollenex unit only cost $35 to buy outright. So, per month we were paying the same amount as a new unit would cost to buy for a used unit. My anger mounted when I started reading the customer reviews for the unit they had sent out. They were all bad. Not one review liked this unit enough to say they were going to keep it. The kindest one said it was way too loud, not powerful enough and they were taking it back in the morning.
I found a Conair model that was pretty much a better unit even on the face of the description. Instead of just stirring the water around, you could aerate the water by adding bubbles, it had two jets instead of one outlet, heck, it even had a mood light... the price? $45. After a brief consultation with Dad, I ordered one. When it arrived, I was very pleased to discover that the entire unit hung on the inside of the bathtub solving the constant moving of the unit, it had removable filters for cleaning, (the pollenex one required taking the whole unit, turning it over, scrubbing a mesh screen that never quite looked like you were getting it all). All in all this new unit out performed the old one 100 times better and easier.
When I called Duramed to have them come pick up their rental unit, I asked them about how they justified charging the same price as the whole unit could be purchased for as a monthly rental. At first they wanted to know if I had found somewhere renting them for less.. I did not answer that, I pointed out that you could buy the unit outright for the same price they were charging per month and was asked who had ordered the unit to begin with. I said the doctor and was told, the doctor should have told you you can look around to see what you can find...
I at this point realized there was not much point in talking to them about extortioners charges and said something to the effect of, I guess you don't care that you are cheating people, just have someone pick this up at the earliest possible time.
I am not quite done with Duramed. I will be investigating who called them to use them in the first place, as I want to make sure it is widely known they overcharge for rentals. If a device has an expected life of 3 months before it needs replacing, then perhaps I could see them charging $15 a month to insure profit. I think the expected life on this kind of a device is more like a year or more, which certainly does not justify the extortionist pricing.
It is probably just as well that this equipment rental was not covered by medicare, as that would have meant the extortion was well over the price of the unit if our part was the price of the unit. It would not have been the first time I called medicare about them being over billed. If more people took the time to do this, medicare might not be in the shape it is in, and there might not be more and more cuts to benefits before some of us paying for it get old enough to use them.
After the unit arrived and it was determined owing to space limitations that using this unit would be very difficult as no one could get their feet into the tub once it was in place, nor could someone with a walker (which both of my parents use unless they are in their wheelchairs) get past the unit to use the toilet. All around a pretty unsatisfactory situation. Yes we could take it off and put it on when it was needed, however, having all tile floors this would sometimes mean taking something dripping wet across normal pathways. The water dripping (if I were to miss even one spot) would become for a short time a slipping hazard.
There are enough slipping hazards with tile floors and in the world in general, it seems unnecessary to create more. Because of this, I started doing some research and to my shock and dismay I learned this pollenex unit only cost $35 to buy outright. So, per month we were paying the same amount as a new unit would cost to buy for a used unit. My anger mounted when I started reading the customer reviews for the unit they had sent out. They were all bad. Not one review liked this unit enough to say they were going to keep it. The kindest one said it was way too loud, not powerful enough and they were taking it back in the morning.
I found a Conair model that was pretty much a better unit even on the face of the description. Instead of just stirring the water around, you could aerate the water by adding bubbles, it had two jets instead of one outlet, heck, it even had a mood light... the price? $45. After a brief consultation with Dad, I ordered one. When it arrived, I was very pleased to discover that the entire unit hung on the inside of the bathtub solving the constant moving of the unit, it had removable filters for cleaning, (the pollenex one required taking the whole unit, turning it over, scrubbing a mesh screen that never quite looked like you were getting it all). All in all this new unit out performed the old one 100 times better and easier.
When I called Duramed to have them come pick up their rental unit, I asked them about how they justified charging the same price as the whole unit could be purchased for as a monthly rental. At first they wanted to know if I had found somewhere renting them for less.. I did not answer that, I pointed out that you could buy the unit outright for the same price they were charging per month and was asked who had ordered the unit to begin with. I said the doctor and was told, the doctor should have told you you can look around to see what you can find...
I at this point realized there was not much point in talking to them about extortioners charges and said something to the effect of, I guess you don't care that you are cheating people, just have someone pick this up at the earliest possible time.
I am not quite done with Duramed. I will be investigating who called them to use them in the first place, as I want to make sure it is widely known they overcharge for rentals. If a device has an expected life of 3 months before it needs replacing, then perhaps I could see them charging $15 a month to insure profit. I think the expected life on this kind of a device is more like a year or more, which certainly does not justify the extortionist pricing.
It is probably just as well that this equipment rental was not covered by medicare, as that would have meant the extortion was well over the price of the unit if our part was the price of the unit. It would not have been the first time I called medicare about them being over billed. If more people took the time to do this, medicare might not be in the shape it is in, and there might not be more and more cuts to benefits before some of us paying for it get old enough to use them.
Tuesday, November 07, 2006
War Criminals Loophole, the Military Commissions Act
The current issue of The Nation has in the comments section a very enlightening article. On Nov 14, a group of lawyers and experts, will ask the German Federal Prosecutor to open a criminal investigation targeting Donald Rumsfeld, Alberto Gonzales, and other key Bush administration figures for war crimes.
Two years ago a similar action was asked for in Germany naming Rumsfeld, brought by the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) and the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) a network of 141 national human rights organizations founded in 1922. When Rumsfeld refused to go to a security conference in Munich unless these charges were dropped (since he could have been served, or even arrested) the prosecutor dismissed the case saying that there was "no reason to believe that the accused would not be prosecuted in the United States."
It is apparent that Bush promoting and signing into law the Military Commission Act that it is the intent of the Bush administration to immunize itself from prosecution in the United States.
There was a conference in October in New York about universal jurisdiction, the doctrine of which allows the prosecution for international crimes by domestic courts, regardless of where the crime was committed, the nationality of the perpetrator or the victim.
This new case will draw on the argument that the Military Commission Act of 2006, which the President promoted and signed into law, provides retroactive immunity for civilians who violated the War Crimes Act, including officials of the Bush Administration. According to Scott Horton, chair of the International Law Committee of NY City Bar Association,an effort to block prosecution is in itself evidence of crime.(When Yugoslavia sought to immunize senior government officials, the US declared the act itself to be evidence of such a conspiracy.)
The new complaint will present new evidence showing responsibility for torture and prisoner abuse at the highest levels of the chain of command. There have been few convictions based on universal jurisdiction, but it is believed that such cases might serve as a deterrent to government officials contemplation of torture.
It is apparent to the world that the U.S. is led by terrorists and war criminals.
Two years ago a similar action was asked for in Germany naming Rumsfeld, brought by the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) and the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) a network of 141 national human rights organizations founded in 1922. When Rumsfeld refused to go to a security conference in Munich unless these charges were dropped (since he could have been served, or even arrested) the prosecutor dismissed the case saying that there was "no reason to believe that the accused would not be prosecuted in the United States."
It is apparent that Bush promoting and signing into law the Military Commission Act that it is the intent of the Bush administration to immunize itself from prosecution in the United States.
There was a conference in October in New York about universal jurisdiction, the doctrine of which allows the prosecution for international crimes by domestic courts, regardless of where the crime was committed, the nationality of the perpetrator or the victim.
This new case will draw on the argument that the Military Commission Act of 2006, which the President promoted and signed into law, provides retroactive immunity for civilians who violated the War Crimes Act, including officials of the Bush Administration. According to Scott Horton, chair of the International Law Committee of NY City Bar Association,an effort to block prosecution is in itself evidence of crime.(When Yugoslavia sought to immunize senior government officials, the US declared the act itself to be evidence of such a conspiracy.)
The new complaint will present new evidence showing responsibility for torture and prisoner abuse at the highest levels of the chain of command. There have been few convictions based on universal jurisdiction, but it is believed that such cases might serve as a deterrent to government officials contemplation of torture.
It is apparent to the world that the U.S. is led by terrorists and war criminals.
Saturday, November 04, 2006
Educate Yourself
There are apparently folks who read my blog as I get an occasional e-mail, some who say "That could never happen in America" , some saying "where do you get this stuff" and sometimes, "What can I do?|
Since there are so very many issues today, and the local newspapers are so frequently fascist run publications, you have to start educating yourself about new developments. One, but certainly not the only one source is magazines. A site I know of www.magsdirect.com/magazines.htmlgives you the lowest subscription rates on many magazines that the publishers will allow so is a good place to start.
I am not saying just get news magazines, as much of what you need to keep up with won't make the news as it is being developed. Science magazines frequently will explain what is happening in the realm of RFID (radio frequency identification) which is so vital to keep up on in a world where incrementalism is sneaking up on taking your rights away.
Of course there are some good news magazines available at www.magsdirect.com and since you can get the lowest rates on your subscriptions, it makes sense to use a source like this to round out your reading material.
Another source for news is from the travel magazines (also available at www.magsdirect.com with a pretty good selection) as one of the most threatened freedoms is that of movement across borders. Travel magazines keep up on that stuff since their livelihood is dependant upon folks being able to travel without having to jump through hoops.
When you do your reading, do so with a critical eye. Many of the publications (like the science magazines) will talk in glowing terms about the ability to track packages, speed up crossing of borders by using the RFID systems.. which might make you thing what good ideas these are.
I have noticed in publications like the populist, that other writers from around the world have started (or perhaps are just continuing to) comparing the current US administration to Germany in the 1930's and to Hitler taking power.
Incrementalism is something Hitler used. There is a writer by the name of Ted Rall who starts out one such recent comparison with "Students of historical hysteria immediately saw 9/11 as America's version of the Reichstag Fire.Both incidents were organic acts of terrorism ..." He goes on about it being a popular misconception that the Nazis started the fire, but that their power hungry government seized upon it to justify their actions intended (and successful) crushing of dissidents and taking away the civil liberties of German citizens.
There were violations, blatant ones, of human rights violations, and many times the police stood and watched. (the death camps were not built until 1941. ) I am talking about the incremental taking away of civil liberties. People were detained, tortured and murdered breaking existing laws against racism, constitutional protections and anti religious discrimination laws. All this was happening before 1935 when Germany passed the Nuremberg laws which striped Jews of citizenship and banned them from marrying or dating non-Jews.
His article continues to point out that between 2001 and 2006 George W. Bush has worked tirelessly to eliminate American liberties and freedoms most of which have been common to all other civilized legal systems since the Magna Carta.
The world knows about Bush, the CIA, mercenary and military state terrorists kidnapping thousands of innocent people. They know about the secret prisons where these folks were held without any recourse, without any rights. Most of these folks were NEVER CHARGED with any crime. The government has admitted that fewer than ten of these people had actually done anything wrong.
There was a time this was illegal in the United States. (What? You thought that was illegal still?) Pre Bush the Republican controlled Supreme Court handed down many decisions ordering the White House to give those being held trials or let them go. That was back when there was still hope for the US to be a civilized nation.
In this country today, thanks to the "unhinged leader" and a "gullible passel of Republican senators" the Military Commissions Act 2006 makes imprisonment without due recourse, torture and yes even murder LEGAL IN THE UNITED STATES.
Our intentions matter little. Our next president may be far more diplomatic (may even be able to form whole sentences) when it comes right down to it, our laws now allow kidnapping, torture , murder and deny access to trials to detainees.
There was not defining moment or act that turned the Weiner Republic into the Third Reich. It was done with small incremental steps of taking away the freedoms and liberties of the people. There is not defining moment from a civilized democratic American government to The United Fascist States Of America... but it is happening every day in small ways.
Incrementalism is "the tendency of radical change to manifest itself in bits and pieces" If you want to make sure you don't wake up asking yourself, "How did we get here?" Then educating yourself on what is happening, keeping track of each and every move that is taking away your freedoms and rights is an American Imperative. It will not help that the rest of the world already sees it, if we do not see and try to change it now.
Since there are so very many issues today, and the local newspapers are so frequently fascist run publications, you have to start educating yourself about new developments. One, but certainly not the only one source is magazines. A site I know of www.magsdirect.com/magazines.htmlgives you the lowest subscription rates on many magazines that the publishers will allow so is a good place to start.
I am not saying just get news magazines, as much of what you need to keep up with won't make the news as it is being developed. Science magazines frequently will explain what is happening in the realm of RFID (radio frequency identification) which is so vital to keep up on in a world where incrementalism is sneaking up on taking your rights away.
Of course there are some good news magazines available at www.magsdirect.com and since you can get the lowest rates on your subscriptions, it makes sense to use a source like this to round out your reading material.
Another source for news is from the travel magazines (also available at www.magsdirect.com with a pretty good selection) as one of the most threatened freedoms is that of movement across borders. Travel magazines keep up on that stuff since their livelihood is dependant upon folks being able to travel without having to jump through hoops.
When you do your reading, do so with a critical eye. Many of the publications (like the science magazines) will talk in glowing terms about the ability to track packages, speed up crossing of borders by using the RFID systems.. which might make you thing what good ideas these are.
I have noticed in publications like the populist, that other writers from around the world have started (or perhaps are just continuing to) comparing the current US administration to Germany in the 1930's and to Hitler taking power.
Incrementalism is something Hitler used. There is a writer by the name of Ted Rall who starts out one such recent comparison with "Students of historical hysteria immediately saw 9/11 as America's version of the Reichstag Fire.Both incidents were organic acts of terrorism ..." He goes on about it being a popular misconception that the Nazis started the fire, but that their power hungry government seized upon it to justify their actions intended (and successful) crushing of dissidents and taking away the civil liberties of German citizens.
There were violations, blatant ones, of human rights violations, and many times the police stood and watched. (the death camps were not built until 1941. ) I am talking about the incremental taking away of civil liberties. People were detained, tortured and murdered breaking existing laws against racism, constitutional protections and anti religious discrimination laws. All this was happening before 1935 when Germany passed the Nuremberg laws which striped Jews of citizenship and banned them from marrying or dating non-Jews.
His article continues to point out that between 2001 and 2006 George W. Bush has worked tirelessly to eliminate American liberties and freedoms most of which have been common to all other civilized legal systems since the Magna Carta.
The world knows about Bush, the CIA, mercenary and military state terrorists kidnapping thousands of innocent people. They know about the secret prisons where these folks were held without any recourse, without any rights. Most of these folks were NEVER CHARGED with any crime. The government has admitted that fewer than ten of these people had actually done anything wrong.
There was a time this was illegal in the United States. (What? You thought that was illegal still?) Pre Bush the Republican controlled Supreme Court handed down many decisions ordering the White House to give those being held trials or let them go. That was back when there was still hope for the US to be a civilized nation.
In this country today, thanks to the "unhinged leader" and a "gullible passel of Republican senators" the Military Commissions Act 2006 makes imprisonment without due recourse, torture and yes even murder LEGAL IN THE UNITED STATES.
Our intentions matter little. Our next president may be far more diplomatic (may even be able to form whole sentences) when it comes right down to it, our laws now allow kidnapping, torture , murder and deny access to trials to detainees.
There was not defining moment or act that turned the Weiner Republic into the Third Reich. It was done with small incremental steps of taking away the freedoms and liberties of the people. There is not defining moment from a civilized democratic American government to The United Fascist States Of America... but it is happening every day in small ways.
Incrementalism is "the tendency of radical change to manifest itself in bits and pieces" If you want to make sure you don't wake up asking yourself, "How did we get here?" Then educating yourself on what is happening, keeping track of each and every move that is taking away your freedoms and rights is an American Imperative. It will not help that the rest of the world already sees it, if we do not see and try to change it now.
The Things Science Fiction Are Made Of
This RFID (radio frequency identification) thing has got me a little spooked now. When I first started reading about it, I thought it was an invasion of privacy and more actions designed to take away more of our civil rights.
Among the things I read were indications that these chips could eventually be implanted into human bodies. Well when I read that my thought was this is the stuff science fiction is made of.. and started putting together a novel plot. I figured there were more people more paranoid than I am and was feeling pretty much superior.
Then I was sort of channel surfing and stopped on one of those late night talk shows (that I normally don't watch). What caught my attention was the guest this guy had on who had one of these RFID chips implanted into himself. He was all for these implants, said how being hooked up to the computers at his office opened doors for him, unlocked things, greeted him by name as he entered etc. He had taken things a bit farther as well, he has some kind of electrons injected into his system that hooked him up to computers as well. His premise was that eventually people would be able to access computers by just thinking, and that people would be able to communicate brain to brain with this technology.
You need to understand that it takes the same mentality to be a good cop as it does to be a good criminal. If it did not take the same mentality, the cops would never catch the good crooks. I say this in defense of where my mind went with this new input.
If I was say, a bank robber, in this future of tracking people via their implanted chips, I would kidnap someone who had access to all the target banks doors and vaults, force him through all the doors I needed, and have a much easier time getting into the goodies I was intent on making off with.
Even if they had systems to grab all the information on MY chip (assuming I was so unlucky as to have one) I am relatively sure I would be able to find a way to jam my signals to foil anyone being able to identify me.. or worse yet, I could jam mine, steal someone eles' chip (the scenario for that obviously would include harming the poor sap who I wanted to pin things on.. digging around in his/her flesh for their chip) and carry it in my pocket so that when two people went past the sensors, they picked up two chips. Now if some of the more sensitive areas needed both to be cleared for passage, then my victim would have to be another high mucky muck of the same financial institution.
Then I had an even worse thought about RFID. Lets say that upon induction (voluntary or in-voluntary) into the military, they planted these chips in all the soldiers, and broadcast instructions to jam whatever brain waves give us our flight instincts in danger.. so that they could send them off to war and know they would never retreat? Or if at birth one was mandated to have a chip installed (I am quite sure it would be under the guise of protecting the children from abduction or some other "for the greater good" scenario) and they had the technology to short circuit any free radical ideas about servitude, civil disobedience or other things, like free speech?
I visualize such a world as a bunch of walking zombies with no free thought, no free speech, no freedom of movement and certainly no free will. If you got out of line, zap you with a little bit of nationalist rhetoric, or just plain fry the part of the brain that is having such thoughts with an electrical charge.
The hero or heroine of a science fiction book with this outline would have to be someone who had learned how to block all the signals, or with great pain and sacrifice dug their chip out of their own body.. (I am not sure how one would get rid of the thousands of little electrons injected into the system without causing instant death.)
I figure another way the administration would work on the conscious of Americans would be to start with these kinds of tracking devices on people like convicted sex offenders, murderers and then spread to political dissidents (labeled or wrongly accused of crimes) under the auspice and even the sanction of groups who already want to make sure no sex offenders are near their schools and parks.
Don't get me wrong, I believe repeat sexual offenders should not be living close to temptation. I just don't think it wise to put into motion laws that will begin the tracking and electronic surveillance of the masses.
I can hear someone thinking as they read this, "this would never happen in America" but then, there were German's who did not believe Hitler would ever rule. When I was young and idealistic, I never thought I would see the day when our civil rights were taken from us as they are today. The government can tap your phone, gain access to your finances, your e-mail and much more.
To date I do not believe I am of any interest to the powers that be. I am not important enough to justify any extreme measures to track me, or invade my privacy to any great degree. That does not mean that I do not think that eventually, even the least important of us will be spared this violation of our rights. With this in mind, even though in my last post I mentioned this, you might want to check out www.poundprivacy.org as one small step towards maintaining your right to privacy.
Another thought has just struck me, if brain to brain transmissions became the norm... what would stop them tracking your very thoughts? Spooky stuff.
Among the things I read were indications that these chips could eventually be implanted into human bodies. Well when I read that my thought was this is the stuff science fiction is made of.. and started putting together a novel plot. I figured there were more people more paranoid than I am and was feeling pretty much superior.
Then I was sort of channel surfing and stopped on one of those late night talk shows (that I normally don't watch). What caught my attention was the guest this guy had on who had one of these RFID chips implanted into himself. He was all for these implants, said how being hooked up to the computers at his office opened doors for him, unlocked things, greeted him by name as he entered etc. He had taken things a bit farther as well, he has some kind of electrons injected into his system that hooked him up to computers as well. His premise was that eventually people would be able to access computers by just thinking, and that people would be able to communicate brain to brain with this technology.
You need to understand that it takes the same mentality to be a good cop as it does to be a good criminal. If it did not take the same mentality, the cops would never catch the good crooks. I say this in defense of where my mind went with this new input.
If I was say, a bank robber, in this future of tracking people via their implanted chips, I would kidnap someone who had access to all the target banks doors and vaults, force him through all the doors I needed, and have a much easier time getting into the goodies I was intent on making off with.
Even if they had systems to grab all the information on MY chip (assuming I was so unlucky as to have one) I am relatively sure I would be able to find a way to jam my signals to foil anyone being able to identify me.. or worse yet, I could jam mine, steal someone eles' chip (the scenario for that obviously would include harming the poor sap who I wanted to pin things on.. digging around in his/her flesh for their chip) and carry it in my pocket so that when two people went past the sensors, they picked up two chips. Now if some of the more sensitive areas needed both to be cleared for passage, then my victim would have to be another high mucky muck of the same financial institution.
Then I had an even worse thought about RFID. Lets say that upon induction (voluntary or in-voluntary) into the military, they planted these chips in all the soldiers, and broadcast instructions to jam whatever brain waves give us our flight instincts in danger.. so that they could send them off to war and know they would never retreat? Or if at birth one was mandated to have a chip installed (I am quite sure it would be under the guise of protecting the children from abduction or some other "for the greater good" scenario) and they had the technology to short circuit any free radical ideas about servitude, civil disobedience or other things, like free speech?
I visualize such a world as a bunch of walking zombies with no free thought, no free speech, no freedom of movement and certainly no free will. If you got out of line, zap you with a little bit of nationalist rhetoric, or just plain fry the part of the brain that is having such thoughts with an electrical charge.
The hero or heroine of a science fiction book with this outline would have to be someone who had learned how to block all the signals, or with great pain and sacrifice dug their chip out of their own body.. (I am not sure how one would get rid of the thousands of little electrons injected into the system without causing instant death.)
I figure another way the administration would work on the conscious of Americans would be to start with these kinds of tracking devices on people like convicted sex offenders, murderers and then spread to political dissidents (labeled or wrongly accused of crimes) under the auspice and even the sanction of groups who already want to make sure no sex offenders are near their schools and parks.
Don't get me wrong, I believe repeat sexual offenders should not be living close to temptation. I just don't think it wise to put into motion laws that will begin the tracking and electronic surveillance of the masses.
I can hear someone thinking as they read this, "this would never happen in America" but then, there were German's who did not believe Hitler would ever rule. When I was young and idealistic, I never thought I would see the day when our civil rights were taken from us as they are today. The government can tap your phone, gain access to your finances, your e-mail and much more.
To date I do not believe I am of any interest to the powers that be. I am not important enough to justify any extreme measures to track me, or invade my privacy to any great degree. That does not mean that I do not think that eventually, even the least important of us will be spared this violation of our rights. With this in mind, even though in my last post I mentioned this, you might want to check out www.poundprivacy.org as one small step towards maintaining your right to privacy.
Another thought has just struck me, if brain to brain transmissions became the norm... what would stop them tracking your very thoughts? Spooky stuff.
Friday, November 03, 2006
Privacy Issues
Privacy is something guaranteed to citizens of the US. If you have read past posts you know that right to privacy is being bombarded by the government in many ways. Some folks are striking back and making attempts to keep some private things private. One such place iswww.poundprivacy.org.
They are not fighting RFID or anything like that, they are on the level of Internet privacy. Since the Internet is one of the tools used to collect all kinds of personal information I view this as imperative to educate yourself about, and take action to protect your privacy.
This is not a new idea, there are all kinds of software programs designed to find and stop and rid your home computer of information gathering "cookies".
http://www.poundprivacy.org./ is an ongoing privacy campaign. They have a letter for you to send to the big 4 search engines (Google, Yahoo, Microsoft,and Ask ) requesting the use of "# privacy" as an operator to stop the collection of information about what you are searching. This, by the way can be qualified to NOT include searches for child pornography or other criminal related activities. (In other words it is not designed nor intended to aid criminals, it is designed to protect the right to privacy we are supposed to have as Americans.)
If you happen to be an AOL user, you might have been among the hundreds of thousands who's personal data, linked to their IP address, was made public. AOL is sort of the tragic comedian of Internet providers, and this faux pas has got to be one of the best contenders for idiot actions of the year.
The way "# privacy" would work, is you would enter it after your search term in the search engine, which would key the engine not to associate your IP address with the search, (unless the search was somehow linked to criminal activity.. it is important to remember this is not to aid and abet criminal activity, it is for personal privacy we are supposed to have in this country.)
When you think about it, medical and other organizations have strict rules about how and when they can share personal information.. search engines don't have any such constraints. This information can be gathered, and used freely by sales people (in its least invasive and least alarming aspect)
OK, here is an example. I did a search about diabetes. I have a mother who is non-insulin dependant, and a cat who is insulin dependant. Since that search, address to me in my name I get mail trying to sell me diabetic care supplies, cures, books etc.. all targeting diabetics. I am not diabetic, so where would they have gotten my name and address? From the search engines that collected data about me during my searches.
Not bad enough to warrant action? How about this, we now get phone calls asking to speak to "the diabetic person" of the household.
Now, the first few calls I just said "No, you cannot talk to the diabetic in the household" or "No". They kept calling. I think I even started to recognize voices. Mom is pretty much hard of hearing and can't deal with the telephone, and the cat can't talk.. well... cept to say meow... but he's gone deaf now anyway.. so here is what I did that finally stopped the calls.
I would say you want the insulin dependant or the non-insulin dependant?
they would say one or the other.
If they said dependant, I would ask them why they wanted to talk to a deaf cat? If they then changed to the non dependant, I would say she's pretty much deaf too.
Eventually, the calls stopped. Don't want to have the fun I have had with this? Then I would suggest you get over to www.poundprivacy.org and send that letter to the big 4, they make it really easy. And you don't need to worry, they don't collect your information, they don't even store your email addy for more than 24 hours to get your voice heard by the search engines.
They are not fighting RFID or anything like that, they are on the level of Internet privacy. Since the Internet is one of the tools used to collect all kinds of personal information I view this as imperative to educate yourself about, and take action to protect your privacy.
This is not a new idea, there are all kinds of software programs designed to find and stop and rid your home computer of information gathering "cookies".
http://www.poundprivacy.org./ is an ongoing privacy campaign. They have a letter for you to send to the big 4 search engines (Google, Yahoo, Microsoft,and Ask ) requesting the use of "# privacy" as an operator to stop the collection of information about what you are searching. This, by the way can be qualified to NOT include searches for child pornography or other criminal related activities. (In other words it is not designed nor intended to aid criminals, it is designed to protect the right to privacy we are supposed to have as Americans.)
If you happen to be an AOL user, you might have been among the hundreds of thousands who's personal data, linked to their IP address, was made public. AOL is sort of the tragic comedian of Internet providers, and this faux pas has got to be one of the best contenders for idiot actions of the year.
The way "# privacy" would work, is you would enter it after your search term in the search engine, which would key the engine not to associate your IP address with the search, (unless the search was somehow linked to criminal activity.. it is important to remember this is not to aid and abet criminal activity, it is for personal privacy we are supposed to have in this country.)
When you think about it, medical and other organizations have strict rules about how and when they can share personal information.. search engines don't have any such constraints. This information can be gathered, and used freely by sales people (in its least invasive and least alarming aspect)
OK, here is an example. I did a search about diabetes. I have a mother who is non-insulin dependant, and a cat who is insulin dependant. Since that search, address to me in my name I get mail trying to sell me diabetic care supplies, cures, books etc.. all targeting diabetics. I am not diabetic, so where would they have gotten my name and address? From the search engines that collected data about me during my searches.
Not bad enough to warrant action? How about this, we now get phone calls asking to speak to "the diabetic person" of the household.
Now, the first few calls I just said "No, you cannot talk to the diabetic in the household" or "No". They kept calling. I think I even started to recognize voices. Mom is pretty much hard of hearing and can't deal with the telephone, and the cat can't talk.. well... cept to say meow... but he's gone deaf now anyway.. so here is what I did that finally stopped the calls.
I would say you want the insulin dependant or the non-insulin dependant?
they would say one or the other.
If they said dependant, I would ask them why they wanted to talk to a deaf cat? If they then changed to the non dependant, I would say she's pretty much deaf too.
Eventually, the calls stopped. Don't want to have the fun I have had with this? Then I would suggest you get over to www.poundprivacy.org and send that letter to the big 4, they make it really easy. And you don't need to worry, they don't collect your information, they don't even store your email addy for more than 24 hours to get your voice heard by the search engines.
Thursday, November 02, 2006
Prisoners of America
I recently read somewhere about the new laws going into effect regarding "homeland security". Probably the most alarming is the radio-frequency identification (RFID) cards that will now be in all passports issued, may be soon required to be in your drivers license, and are required by all non-citizens to be carried while visiting this country.
The biggest objection I have (if you don't count the invasion of privacy that is obvious) is that critical personal data is broadcast up to 15 meters from these chips making them an incredible source for anyone with very cheap equipment to steal your identity.
Then if they do something off color, go some place suspicious in the governments eyes, or do something down right criminal, you get tagged for it. Tourism in this country is already being effected by issuing these cards to visitors. Read some of the travel blogs from the UK, France, the Netherlands and you will see that folks are downright against having their personal identification information broadcast in this manner.
The Netherlands and a couple of other countries have lodged complaints about the invasion of privacy issues to their citizens. Does anyone remember when they wanted to use these chips to track cattle in this country? The ranchers objected on the basis of not feeling good about how and where all this information would be stored.. so now we treat visitors worse than we treat cows???
I can envision a scenario here, I am in line at the local market carrying my passport (if I had one that was not pre-chip that is) and some sleazy character is sitting by the door with is seemingly innocent ipod.. he grabs my data, which can even include credit card information.. he walks out the door without my even knowing my identity has been stolen.
OK, lets now imagine a bit farther down the line. He gives this ill gotten information to one of his female compatriots (I am vainly hoping that a male could not easily cross a border with a females identity.) Goes over the border to Canada (on my credit card) books a flight to say.. Turkey and gets out of the country.
Then I get a vacation. I go over to one of my favorite cities.. Paris. Meantime this guy is living it up on my credit card, being tracked across many borders, into places that are at war even.. smuggles guns.. whatever.. and someone in some bureaucratic office sees a pattern emerging that indicates I have been everywhere a bomb has gone off, everywhere there have been illegal happenings.. and they tag me for having "ties" with terrorism or any crime.
I think you see where I am going with this so I will leave the rest of the scenario to your imaginations. I just read this 60 page piece of garbage that talked incessantly about beefing up border security, stopping the travel of terrorists, and how we will win against terrorism.. (hard to fathom when you realize the American executive branch are the terrorist leaders today.)
Then I read this entry in some forum by a Canadian business woman who had just found out the sticker on her car window (she traveled across the border frequently) was transmitting her every move.. a sophisticated tracking device.. she was pretty angry. This RFID is also affecting free trade with our "allies".
Am I paranoid? Perhaps I am.. but then you have to understand that even as a grown woman, my mommy won't let me visit Northern Ireland because she is sure that quite innocently I will stumble into some illicit endeavor by the IRA.
Now, before you go "oh yeah, like that is gonna happen" let me tell you about a trip many years ago I made to Paris. The French government (unbeknown to me) was holding someone that the US wanted to extradite for some crime.. this guy had friends, he was not a French national, and these friends started setting off bombs, and committing (dare I say it?) acts of terrorism. I was pretty much oblivious to all of this, until I saw the newspapers the next day. The timing was truly bizarre. I had been to just about every place at very close time proximity to where these events were going down.
I have a photograph I took during that trip, as I was astonished to see a French policeman armed with an automatic machine gun on the streets of Paris. (a reaction to all the stuff that I was so blissfully unaware.)
Now think about it, if I was being tracked with some stupid chip, do you think I would have made it out of the country? Since they stopped the bus I was on to get to the ferry, and removed several people "of interest" I very likely would have been one of the detainees. Not a pleasant thought.
Now lets move to another thought that has crept into my paranoid little mind. You know that wall they are putting up on our southern border? What if it is to keep us in as much as to keep anyone out?
I think it is fair to say that my political views are not popular with the current regime. Does my exercising my freedom of speech link me to terrorists? If the government decided to label me with "anti-American" or any of the labels they are illegally imprisoning people without due process and no recourse, what would stop them from denying me leaving the country even though all I am guilty of is disagreeing with them?
Here is one more thing, and then I will put this one to bed. I have a passport that does not have the chip. It is good for a few more years. I go out of the country, to somewhere requiring a visa, which I get.. and they haven't done the chip thing to visas (which is also in the works) my visa is about to run out, and the powers that be don't answer the issue of my being allowed to come back into the US. Guess what? They aren't going to let me on the plane. (Now I am not so sure I really would want to come back, but if I did, I would be SOL. ) These decisions are done in secret behind closed doors. Maybe the secretary knocked the re-entry request into the trash and it never even got looked at. There I am, no visa, no way to cross any more borders, and suddenly suspect.
Sorry folks, this is reminding me way too much of movies about Hitler's Germany where the Gestapo officer says " Where are your papers?" in a threatening manner.
The biggest objection I have (if you don't count the invasion of privacy that is obvious) is that critical personal data is broadcast up to 15 meters from these chips making them an incredible source for anyone with very cheap equipment to steal your identity.
Then if they do something off color, go some place suspicious in the governments eyes, or do something down right criminal, you get tagged for it. Tourism in this country is already being effected by issuing these cards to visitors. Read some of the travel blogs from the UK, France, the Netherlands and you will see that folks are downright against having their personal identification information broadcast in this manner.
The Netherlands and a couple of other countries have lodged complaints about the invasion of privacy issues to their citizens. Does anyone remember when they wanted to use these chips to track cattle in this country? The ranchers objected on the basis of not feeling good about how and where all this information would be stored.. so now we treat visitors worse than we treat cows???
I can envision a scenario here, I am in line at the local market carrying my passport (if I had one that was not pre-chip that is) and some sleazy character is sitting by the door with is seemingly innocent ipod.. he grabs my data, which can even include credit card information.. he walks out the door without my even knowing my identity has been stolen.
OK, lets now imagine a bit farther down the line. He gives this ill gotten information to one of his female compatriots (I am vainly hoping that a male could not easily cross a border with a females identity.) Goes over the border to Canada (on my credit card) books a flight to say.. Turkey and gets out of the country.
Then I get a vacation. I go over to one of my favorite cities.. Paris. Meantime this guy is living it up on my credit card, being tracked across many borders, into places that are at war even.. smuggles guns.. whatever.. and someone in some bureaucratic office sees a pattern emerging that indicates I have been everywhere a bomb has gone off, everywhere there have been illegal happenings.. and they tag me for having "ties" with terrorism or any crime.
I think you see where I am going with this so I will leave the rest of the scenario to your imaginations. I just read this 60 page piece of garbage that talked incessantly about beefing up border security, stopping the travel of terrorists, and how we will win against terrorism.. (hard to fathom when you realize the American executive branch are the terrorist leaders today.)
Then I read this entry in some forum by a Canadian business woman who had just found out the sticker on her car window (she traveled across the border frequently) was transmitting her every move.. a sophisticated tracking device.. she was pretty angry. This RFID is also affecting free trade with our "allies".
Am I paranoid? Perhaps I am.. but then you have to understand that even as a grown woman, my mommy won't let me visit Northern Ireland because she is sure that quite innocently I will stumble into some illicit endeavor by the IRA.
Now, before you go "oh yeah, like that is gonna happen" let me tell you about a trip many years ago I made to Paris. The French government (unbeknown to me) was holding someone that the US wanted to extradite for some crime.. this guy had friends, he was not a French national, and these friends started setting off bombs, and committing (dare I say it?) acts of terrorism. I was pretty much oblivious to all of this, until I saw the newspapers the next day. The timing was truly bizarre. I had been to just about every place at very close time proximity to where these events were going down.
I have a photograph I took during that trip, as I was astonished to see a French policeman armed with an automatic machine gun on the streets of Paris. (a reaction to all the stuff that I was so blissfully unaware.)
Now think about it, if I was being tracked with some stupid chip, do you think I would have made it out of the country? Since they stopped the bus I was on to get to the ferry, and removed several people "of interest" I very likely would have been one of the detainees. Not a pleasant thought.
Now lets move to another thought that has crept into my paranoid little mind. You know that wall they are putting up on our southern border? What if it is to keep us in as much as to keep anyone out?
I think it is fair to say that my political views are not popular with the current regime. Does my exercising my freedom of speech link me to terrorists? If the government decided to label me with "anti-American" or any of the labels they are illegally imprisoning people without due process and no recourse, what would stop them from denying me leaving the country even though all I am guilty of is disagreeing with them?
Here is one more thing, and then I will put this one to bed. I have a passport that does not have the chip. It is good for a few more years. I go out of the country, to somewhere requiring a visa, which I get.. and they haven't done the chip thing to visas (which is also in the works) my visa is about to run out, and the powers that be don't answer the issue of my being allowed to come back into the US. Guess what? They aren't going to let me on the plane. (Now I am not so sure I really would want to come back, but if I did, I would be SOL. ) These decisions are done in secret behind closed doors. Maybe the secretary knocked the re-entry request into the trash and it never even got looked at. There I am, no visa, no way to cross any more borders, and suddenly suspect.
Sorry folks, this is reminding me way too much of movies about Hitler's Germany where the Gestapo officer says " Where are your papers?" in a threatening manner.
The Issues
For the most part I have been addressing Bush and his administration in this blog. With the election days away, I thought I should mention a couple of issues here in California.
First lets talk about the tax on smokers. I admit I am somewhat bias on this issue as I am a smoker. As a matter of fact I feel almost obligated to continue being a smoker as an act of rebellion against more laws being enacted upon our bodies. (I chalk this up to a knee jerk reaction on my part so will not dwell upon it.)
This is Proposition 86, which gives me a great slogan.. eighty six 86. (I don't know if it is still slang for throw it out to 86 someone, but it used to be.) Here's the deal, they want smokers to fund through extortionist taxation, emergency services, hospitals, childcare, cancer and a very very small amount to smoking cessation.. after all, if we all quit smoking, you won't have those funds to count on. Not only is that unfair to smokers, but will probably create a black market for cigarettes. I already know of, but have avoided the temptation of places overseas that will ship me cartons of cigarettes without the current taxes being taken for the state of California. If the prices go up by $2.60 a pack, (which is what they intend with this legislation) I might have to consider becoming a smuggler.
Moving on, Proposition 87. OK, we all are not happy with gas prices. Here is the deal. Gasoline is made from fossil fuels, that is, non-renewable stuff. Once it is gone, it is gone. So there is an absolute need to come up with other ways to run our gadgets and gizmo's. We must find other energy sources, no ifs ands or buts. While it might hurt for awhile at the gas pump, it will hurt a lot less when we find clean renewable sources to switch to.
It should come as no surprise that the biggest opponents of this bill are the big oil companies. The good news is that next year an outfit called Magenn Power Inc has plans to start production of a power air rotor system (MARS) which is a lighter than air tethered thing that sort of looks like a blimp. This is really exciting stuff! There are other outfits out there that are selling packages to reduce carbon and pretty much get your home more earth friendly while saving you money with alternatives.
One of the outfits is Krystal Planet, who have a package that includes a system to produce your own Hydrogen to power hydrogen power cells.. which are also in the package for two vehicles. More exciting stuff.
It isn't like there are no other power sources to be had /found by a group set up to get us off of the petroleum pablum we have been sucking on for years so those who say they don't have to produce results, well how can they help but come up with something better when there is so much out there to find? (I didn't even mention the recycled cooking oil powered cars.. that any diesel engine can be converted to with a pre-heater device.) So I am for 87, bottom line? We need it.
OK, there are more measures on this ballot than Carter has pills. That is why I will stop with the ones I have addressed thus far. There are some places that have one more issue that I want to address.
The legalization of Gay Marriage. There is in this country supposed to be separation of church and state... despite Bush saying that God wants him to be president.. (I cringe at the very thought of a God that hateful.)
It is not the church that issues your marriage license. It is the state. Why? Because a marriage is a legal contract between two people that they wish to be treated as one family, protected by the same laws that protect opposite sex partners. No one is asking for special rights or privileges. No one is asking all churches to be willing to perform gay weddings. The Netherlands was the first country to strike all references to gender in their marriage laws. They were followed by Belgium. There are many places that have "civil union" laws which are pretty much gay marriages.
Why should some of the people have to go to extremely costly legal recourse to get the same rights as other citizens who choose as their life mate someone of a different gender than themselves? You will notice I said SAME RIGHTS. When my significant other passed away, because we did not have the money to have done all the extra legal work to obtain those same rights, I had to fight the state of Nevada to even release her body to me for burial. They would have given her an indigents grave in some nameless place, when I had already paid for her plot next to my son.
Every day homophobic parents and siblings are taking away the homes, the belongings, the memorabilia and sometimes even the ability to live from the surviving partner in an unrecognized union between same sex couples.
If your state has any propositions dealing with the legalization of gay marriage, I urge you to put your religious rhetoric aside, and vote to give all citizens the same rights to legal partnerships .. call it marriage, call it civil union.. it does not matter. It comes down to this... you don't have to approve or sanction their choices, it is only right that you give them the same protection under the law that is enjoyed by heterosexuals.
First lets talk about the tax on smokers. I admit I am somewhat bias on this issue as I am a smoker. As a matter of fact I feel almost obligated to continue being a smoker as an act of rebellion against more laws being enacted upon our bodies. (I chalk this up to a knee jerk reaction on my part so will not dwell upon it.)
This is Proposition 86, which gives me a great slogan.. eighty six 86. (I don't know if it is still slang for throw it out to 86 someone, but it used to be.) Here's the deal, they want smokers to fund through extortionist taxation, emergency services, hospitals, childcare, cancer and a very very small amount to smoking cessation.. after all, if we all quit smoking, you won't have those funds to count on. Not only is that unfair to smokers, but will probably create a black market for cigarettes. I already know of, but have avoided the temptation of places overseas that will ship me cartons of cigarettes without the current taxes being taken for the state of California. If the prices go up by $2.60 a pack, (which is what they intend with this legislation) I might have to consider becoming a smuggler.
Moving on, Proposition 87. OK, we all are not happy with gas prices. Here is the deal. Gasoline is made from fossil fuels, that is, non-renewable stuff. Once it is gone, it is gone. So there is an absolute need to come up with other ways to run our gadgets and gizmo's. We must find other energy sources, no ifs ands or buts. While it might hurt for awhile at the gas pump, it will hurt a lot less when we find clean renewable sources to switch to.
It should come as no surprise that the biggest opponents of this bill are the big oil companies. The good news is that next year an outfit called Magenn Power Inc has plans to start production of a power air rotor system (MARS) which is a lighter than air tethered thing that sort of looks like a blimp. This is really exciting stuff! There are other outfits out there that are selling packages to reduce carbon and pretty much get your home more earth friendly while saving you money with alternatives.
One of the outfits is Krystal Planet, who have a package that includes a system to produce your own Hydrogen to power hydrogen power cells.. which are also in the package for two vehicles. More exciting stuff.
It isn't like there are no other power sources to be had /found by a group set up to get us off of the petroleum pablum we have been sucking on for years so those who say they don't have to produce results, well how can they help but come up with something better when there is so much out there to find? (I didn't even mention the recycled cooking oil powered cars.. that any diesel engine can be converted to with a pre-heater device.) So I am for 87, bottom line? We need it.
OK, there are more measures on this ballot than Carter has pills. That is why I will stop with the ones I have addressed thus far. There are some places that have one more issue that I want to address.
The legalization of Gay Marriage. There is in this country supposed to be separation of church and state... despite Bush saying that God wants him to be president.. (I cringe at the very thought of a God that hateful.)
It is not the church that issues your marriage license. It is the state. Why? Because a marriage is a legal contract between two people that they wish to be treated as one family, protected by the same laws that protect opposite sex partners. No one is asking for special rights or privileges. No one is asking all churches to be willing to perform gay weddings. The Netherlands was the first country to strike all references to gender in their marriage laws. They were followed by Belgium. There are many places that have "civil union" laws which are pretty much gay marriages.
Why should some of the people have to go to extremely costly legal recourse to get the same rights as other citizens who choose as their life mate someone of a different gender than themselves? You will notice I said SAME RIGHTS. When my significant other passed away, because we did not have the money to have done all the extra legal work to obtain those same rights, I had to fight the state of Nevada to even release her body to me for burial. They would have given her an indigents grave in some nameless place, when I had already paid for her plot next to my son.
Every day homophobic parents and siblings are taking away the homes, the belongings, the memorabilia and sometimes even the ability to live from the surviving partner in an unrecognized union between same sex couples.
If your state has any propositions dealing with the legalization of gay marriage, I urge you to put your religious rhetoric aside, and vote to give all citizens the same rights to legal partnerships .. call it marriage, call it civil union.. it does not matter. It comes down to this... you don't have to approve or sanction their choices, it is only right that you give them the same protection under the law that is enjoyed by heterosexuals.
