Pak, Turkmen, Afghan leaders to sign pipeline deal today
Leaders from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Turkmenistan gathered on Thursday to strike an ambitious deal to build a gas pipeline through war-ravaged Afghanistan.

The long-delayed $3.2-billion natural gas pipeline, known as the Trans-Afghanistan Pipeline, would carry gas from energy-rich Turkmenistan to Pakistan. It would be one of the first major investment projects in Afghanistan in decades.

My Own Private Canivore: CarnivorePE (Personal Edition)

Carnivore is a surveillance tool for data networks. At the heart of the project is CarnivorePE, a software application that listens to all Internet traffic (email, web surfing, etc.) on a specific local network. Next, CarnivorePE serves this data stream over the net to an unlimited number of creative interfaces called "clients." The clients are each designed to animate, diagnose, or interpret the network traffic in various ways.
CarnivorePE is inspired by DCS1000, a piece of software used by the FBI to perform electronic wiretaps. (Until recently, DCS1000 was known by its nickname "Carnivore.") Improving on the FBI software, CarnivorePE features exciting new functionality including: artist-made diagnosic clients, remote access, full subject targetting, full data targetting, volume buffering, transport protocol filtering, and an open source software license.

tell us something we don't already know...
President's Compassionate Agenda Lags
you know that compassion is not in his vocabulary,
along with about 88% of the other words in Webster's;
from the foxy Molly Ivins, courtesy Common Dreams:
Bush Discovers Hunger and Looks the Other Way

ACTIVIST NETWORK IN NY EVICTED FROM INTERNET BY DOW, VERIO

Because of a bit of web detournement by RTMark, its host, Thing.net, is losing its connectivity. Thing.net's upline provider, Verio, got a DMCA notice from Dow Chemical in reference to a political parody site an RTMark group called The Yes Men set up. The site, similar to this one at dowethics.com, was designed to look like an authentic Dow site but contained content critical of the Union Carbide and Dow handling of the 1984 Bhopal disaster. (There's also an article about the controversy in the New York Times.) Found on Weblogsky

Local Child Denies Being Naughty Requests presence of lawyer

Local mall Santa George Graham has issued a report which indicates that he and his staff of elves have made "no progress" in their interviews with alleged naughty boy, Ralph Carson.

Carson, six and three quarters going on seven, was brought to the mall on December 21 by his parents in a "last ditch" effort to get the boy to admit to the many instances of poor behavior that have caused chaos in his household for the better part of the year.

The release of the report comes one day after Amnesty International released it's own report blasting the interrogation of Carson. Amnesty says that "three days in a mall" is cruel and unusual at the very minimum and could possibly be considered torture under International Holiday rules.

Palestinians Accuse Israeli Security Of Making Them Choose Which Limb Will Be Broken: "Nose, arm or leg?"

Bush Team Prepares Environmental Hit List
According to Grist: "The list grew out of an announcement made by President Bush in March, when he urged companies to contact the administration '[if] there are nettlesome regulations which are costly for you to operate your business that you don't think make any sense.'"

THE PSYCHOLOGY BEHIND MASS SUBSERVIENCE TO TYRANNY
And The Consequent Rise of the Fourth Reich

excerpted from: http://www.heartcom.org/psychtyranny.htm

"The reality is that the American people, as individuals, have lost their courage. The government prefers it that way, as a fearful people are easier to rule than a courageous one.

"America has escaped the clutches of a dictatorship thus far only through the efforts of those citizens who, unlike the Germans of the 1930s, have the moral courage to stand up and point out where the government is lying to the people."

Everyone likes to say, "Hitler did this," and "Hitler did that." But the truth is Hitler did very little. He was a world class tyrant, but the evil actually done by the Third Reich, from the death camps to WWII, was all done by German citizens who were afraid to question if what they were told by their government was the truth or not, and who, because they did not want to admit to themselves that they were afraid to question the government, refused to see the truth behind the Reichstag Fire, refused to see the invasion by Poland was a staged fake, and followed Hitler into national disaster.

The German people assumed they were safe from a tyrant. They lived in a Republic, after all, with strict laws regarding what the government could, and more importantly, could not do.

When the Reichstag burned down, most Germans simply refused to believe suggestions that the fire had been staged by Hitler himself. They were afraid to. But so trapped were the Germans by their belief in their own bravery that they willed themselves to be blind to the evidence before their eyes so that they could nod in agreement with Der Fuhrer while still imagining themselves to have courage, even as they avoided the one situation which most required real courage; to stand up to Hitler's lies and deceptions.

Seattleites Oppose War On Iraq: "A majority of Seattle-area residents oppose war with Iraq, a prevailing sentiment that runs counter to the rest of the state and the nation, according to a new Seattle Post-Intelligencer poll."

I doubt that the rest of the country is so rah-rah . . . In related news to the city versus state contrast, a recent study has concluded that people who live in cities are smarter than those who live in sprawl.

More good news
U.S. Global Warming Emissions in Biggest Decade Drop: "U.S. greenhouse gas emissions linked to global warming fell by 1.2 percent last year, the largest decrease in a decade, due in part to slow economic growth and a milder winter, the government said recently."

Protesting May Be Good for Your Health: "The take-home message from this research therefore might be that people should get more involved in campaigns, struggles and social movements, not only in the wider interest of social change but also for their own personal good."

Viva Health!
(This one's for A.Q.?)

Dow Sues Penniless Bhopal Survivors: "In a stunning example of corporate insensibility, Dow Chemical, the worlds largest chemical company, and new owners of Union Carbide is to sue survivors of the 1984 Union Carbide gas disaster in Bhopal, India. While the site of the disaster lies covered in toxic waste and survivors struggle with continuing ill health and deadly pollution from the site, Dow has decided to add to their woes with an Indian lawsuit."

Bush fired economic advisor Lawrence Lindsey because he was fat
White House aides, explaining the president’s decision to sack his economic adviser Lawrence Lindsey, told The Washington Post that President George W Bush had “complained privately about his failure to exercise physically.”

Does it really matter that the president might crack a few cruel fatso jokes at the expense of some of his employees? Does it matter that he has surrounded himself with aides who found those fatso cracks sufficiently funny, or sufficiently useful, to share with the press?

Perhaps it doesn’t matter. But can’t help thinking it’s revealing about Bush’s character. This is the man nicknamed “The Texecutioner” — because in his five years as governor of Texas, he oversaw the execution of 152 people, more than any other governor in the nation. At times he did so with the smirk one associates with a frat boy making fun of a fat boy: not just rejecting one womann’s plea for a pardon in 1999, but making fun of her as he sent her to the chair, by whimperingly imitating her: “Please, don’t kill me!”

Digital Angel signs with chain

PALM BEACH -- Digital Angel Corp. said Thursday it has signed a three-year agreement with Beverly Enterprises Inc. to sell its monitoring equipment to customers in its nursing facilities.

Digital Angel, whose majority owner is Palm Beach-based Applied Digital Solutions (Nasdaq: ADSX, 46 cents), said Beverly Enterprises will market the products to patients upon admission or discharge.

Also see:

• Philip K. Dick's Black Iron Subdermal Prison
  • Florida Firm Seeks to Microchip Americans
  • 'Digital Angel' lands in China
  • Applied to sell $9M in VeriChips to Mexican firm
  • Applied signs VeriChip distributor for South Korea
  • Applied Digital again in trouble with FDA
  • VeriChip Launches "Get Chipped'' Promotion
  • Digital Angel's Latest Partner: Microsoft MapPoint
  • FDA Ruling - VeriChip is Not a Regulated Medical Device
  • Verichip To Track Temp. of Potato Salad
  • Subdermal Microchip Propaganda Turns Ugly

Don't forget to check back for the "Chipmobile" schedule!

G.W. Bush - Making sure the terrorists have won

We have been told that the terrorists want to take away our freedoms.

First of all, how could this possibly be done? As a friend recently pointed out: "What do they expect them to do? Come over here wielding swords, forcing everybody to grow beards?" The whole idea of a outside entity taking away the freedoms of the American people is ludicrous.

by valis - Originally published in my weekly column at PrisonPlanet.com Also see: The LibertyThink Originals Archive

US Congressman Slams Drug War, Hints at Legalization

"We’ve been fighting this fight for 30 to 40 years, and the problem never goes away....

Don't just talk about education. Don't just talk about eradication. Don't just talk about killing people like Escobar, who’s gonna be replaced by somebody else.

Let's talk about what would happen if we started addressing how to get the profit out of drugs." -- Rep. Dan Burton.

You can watch this pivotal moment in streaming video from C-SPAN. Go one hour and 18 minutes into the file. (But hurry--who knows how long it'll stay up)

Peace Trainer
from the Village Voice on-line,
Zinn and the Art of Anti-War Movement Maintenance
and this site new to me, maybe not to you:
AmericaHeldHostile.com

US wrecks cheap drugs deal
A last minute Christmas Gift from a compassionate conservative.

Dick Cheney, the US vice-president, last night blocked a global deal to provide cheap drugs to poor countries, following intense lobbying of the White House by America's pharmaceutical giants.

Faced with furious opposition from all the other 140 members of the World Trade Organisation, the US refused to relax global patent laws which keep the price of drugs beyond reach of most developing countries.

Why Iraq's Report Was 'Redacted': To Hide Cheney's Lies

According to the Financial Times, Halliburton (dba Brown & Root) did more business with Iraq than any other contractor, an estimated total of at least $73 million, while Dick Cheney was chairman and CEO. During the 2000 presidential campaign, Cheney lied bald-faced about the dealings.

Two former senior executives of the Halliburton subsidiaries say that, as far as they knew, there was no policy against doing business with Iraq. One of the executives also says that although he never spoke directly to Cheney about the Iraqi contracts, he is certain Cheney knew about them."

N Korea threatens to 'destroy world'

"There can be no earth without Korea," it said. "The army and people of the DPRK will destroy the earth if the enemies dare make a nuclear strike at it. This is their do-or-die spirit."

Don't forget that your government armed them first via Clinton and then Bush.

They lied: TIPS program alive and well

PHILADELPHIA -- The good citizens of Easttown Township, Pa., a tiny Main Line community of rolling hills, elegant stuccos and well-heeled professionals, are on the lookout -- for terrorists.

So are residents of various Philadelphia neighborhoods. And town watch patrols in Neshaminy Valley. And the denizens of Mount Holly. Across the region, regular folks -- from professionals to grandmothers -- are being trained by the government to be lookouts in the fight against homeland terrorism.

Those behind these training programs say they are taking pains to keep them from degenerating into neighborhood spy teams unduly influenced by presumptions and jingoism.

"Our motto is: Watch America with pride, not prejudice," said Michael Licata, who helped develop a widely used community antiterrorism curriculum.

Also see: Police give public radar guns to nab speeding drivers - Here come the speed Stasi - tattle on your neighbors, it's for the children.

Weapons inspectors turn fire on Britain and US

Hans Blix, the chief weapons inspector, delivered a stinging attack on the US and Britain, accusing them of failing to co-operate with his team.

"If the UK and the US are convinced and they say they have evidence, then one would expect they would be able to tell us where is this stuff," Mr Blix said. Asked if he was getting enough co-operation from Western intelligence agencies, he said: "Not yet. We get some, but we don't get all we need."

Why are we supposed to forget about the Anthrax attacks?

What do we really know about the anthrax attacks of October 2001, beside the apparent precedence for framing Arabs for terrorist attacks involving weapons of mass destruction?

When looking for a source tied with a motive, all that really seems to surface is an attempt to promote legislation, namely the USA Patriot Act, as anthrax laden letters were mailed only to the Democratic senate leadership on the same day that they blocked an attempt to rush the Bill through without debate or amendments.

Please read this article from NewsMax, dated September 5th, 2001:

"WASHINGTON - The Pentagon Tuesday acknowledged that the Defense Intelligence Agency intended to develop a new strain of anthrax it fears could be used against the U.S. military and against which a controversial anthrax vaccine might not work."

Also see:

• FBI 'guilty of cover-up' over anthrax suspect

  "American investigators know the identity of the killer who paralysed the US by sending anthrax in the post but will not arrest the culprit, according to leading US scientists."

• Anthrax Missing From Army Lab

  "Documents from the inquiry show that one unauthorized person who was observed entering the lab building at night was Langford's predecessor, Lt. Col. Philip Zack, who at the time no longer worked at Fort Detrick. A surveillance camera recorded Zack being let in at 8:40 p.m. on Jan. 23, 1992"

• Report: U.S. Expert Believed Behind Anthrax Attacks

  "The magazine said: ``It seems the attacker ... wanted to force through an increase in the budget for U.S. research on biological weapons.'' It speculated that the attacker, who used anthrax-laced mail, had probably wanted to cause panic rather than kill anyone. "

• Agency hushed anthrax scandal

  "The disinformation campaign was brilliant," Olson said several days later by phone from Maryland. "Everyone was focused on my father's death as a mind-control story, which it never was. This was about biological warfare. My father's specialty was the aerosol delivery of anthrax."

• Documents Show Postal Officials Knew Building Was Contaminated, But Kept Facility Open 4 Additional Days - Endangering Workers and Public

Proof the FBI is NOT infiltrating the peace movement!

FBI warns corporate leaders of possible attacks by antiwar activists

"An email advisory from "the FBI's Awareness of National Security Issues and Response (ANSIR) program" Dec, 4 sent to " thousands of 'corporate security professionals,' warns that "a loose network of antiwar groups" opposed "to possible U.S. military action against Iraq, are advocating 'explicit and direct attack upon the war machine.'"

According to the advisory, the week of December 15-21 has been set aside as a "week of action against warmongering."

Damn and here I am, a council member of the Green Party of L.A. County and a volunteer at NION and ANSWER (major antiwar coalitions), and I've heard not a peep about this "week of action". Nor have any of my peacenik pals.

So, either the FBI is either demonstrating spectacular incompetence by alerting corporate America to a nonexistent threat or this is, put on your conspiracy caps kids, a devious plot to cast suspicion upon peaceniks. I go with the former theory, always remembering the wise words of "Never attribute to malice that which can adequately be explained by stupidity".

And what triggered this FBI email warning? The article explains that it was a single posting on InfoShoppe, an anarchist site. That was the entire threat. One posting. With no corroboration from anyplace else. And these people are supposed to make us safe from terrorists?

All of which proves FBI could not possibly be infiltrating the peace ovement. Why ? Because if they'd been at NION or ANSWER meetings or surfing antiwar websites or subscribing to antiwar listservs, they'd know that a random post by one person does not a week of action make. Lordy, if they can't even figure out what the peace movement is doing when we post everything in plain sight, how can they be expected to infiltrate the deeply underground Al Qaeda?

Actually, there IS a week of (nonviolent) resistance being planned, but that's in January... We peqceniks are deviously planning it in plain sight so the FBI won't find out...

My New Year's Resolution... it may be a bit premature, but my new year's resolution is to start posting some good news to this site. It's a public service to point out the fucked up shit going on in this world, but it's also one to point out the truly amazing and inspiring things that people are doing in America and the world. There are people who as we type our flaccid words are helping the sick, the endangered, the oppressed... The people, actions, and random events that make the world a better place deserve to be put on broadblast around the world, celebrated for their stands against injustice, starting from the humble beginnings of this website... so I hope you will all join me in helping to make 2003 a year of peace and goodness by celebrating the good even as we turn a harsh light on the bad.

Ashcroft + Facism = Fashicroft?

"...the agency recently failed to process more than 200,000 change of address forms and then unceremoniously dumped them in the largest underground records facility in the world – an abandoned mine near Kansas City – putting hundreds of thousands at risk of wrongful arrest and deportation for failing to report a change of address."