General – Page 127 – Letter Never Sent

General — Comments Off
07
Oct 02

Finger in the eye of the music industry

I love reading about the conniption fits the music and movie industries are in. Strong copyright must die. It no longer serves its original purpose and now makes corporations the slave masters and beneficiaries of human cultural production. Down with the parasites. They do not produce anything they simply wish to control it and make money from it.

Here was a funny passage in this article about hiding Kazaa’s source code from rapacious industry lawyers:

Nikki Hemming, the chief executive of Sharman, which is based in Sydney, Australia, is scheduled to meet with the entertainment industry’s lawyers soon to give a deposition, though at the request of her lawyers, the meeting will probably take place in Canada. Niklas Zennstrom and Janis Friis, who developed the software, are being sought in Europe. And according to a lawyer for the record industry, the programmers in Estonia who once possessed a copy of the program’s source code told a judge there last week that they no longer had it, but they would not say where it was.

Military and defense — Comments Off
06
Oct 02

Yemen Tanker Blast

A French oil super-tanker has caught fire and is sinking. It appears most likely to be the result of a sabotage attack although this is coming from the captain of the tanker who might have some interest in removing responsibility from himself or the corporation which owns the tanker. If this was indeed a ‘terrorist’ attack it could signal a new strategy…attacking the enemy where it hurts, in their addiction to cheap oil, destroying business infrastructure. Business is the invisible hand behind government, especially the American and European governments. I look forward to see what the future will hold. It’s always surprising.

From Stratfor.com:

However, the most significant aspect of the latest attack is that U.S. intelligence missed it.

Despite the U.S. and allied military presence throughout the region — and intelligence-sharing by many Middle Eastern governments, particularly that in Yemen — Washington did not anticipate the supertanker attack. Indeed, in U.S. President George W. Bush scaled back the terrorism assessment alert status in late September from “high” to “elevated,” saying the al Qaeda network had been disrupted.

The implication is clear: The United States is flying blind in the Middle East.

Politics — Comments Off
06
Oct 02

A Must Read Article

Oil has always been top of Bush’s foreign-policy agenda:

October 7 2002

As the United States prepares for war with Iraq, a report commissioned early in George Bush’s presidency has surfaced, showing that the US knew it was running out of oil and foreshadowing the possible need for military intervention to secure supplies.

The report forecasts an end to cheap and plentiful fuel, with the energy industry facing “the beginning of capacity limitations”.

Prepared by the influential Washington-based Council on Foreign Relations and the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy, it urged the Bush Administration to admit “these agonising truths to the American people”.

Strategic Energy Policy Challenges for the 21st Century, written early last year, was a policy document used to shape the new administration’s energy policy.

It applauded the creation of Vice-President Dick Cheney’s energy task force to address the creation of specific energy plans, and suggested it consider including representation from the Department of Defence.

Saying “there is no alternative” and “there is no time to waste”, the document projects periods of exploding US energy prices, economic recession and social unrest unless answers are found.

It suggests that a minimum three to five years is needed to find a solution, and says a “reassessment of the role of energy in American foreign policy” is called for, with access to oil repeatedly cited as a “security imperative”.

The involvement of the Council of Foreign Relations in the report’s preparation adds weight to its findings. The council ranks as one of the most influential groups in US political circles, with members including Mr Cheney and the former secretaries of state Henry Kissinger and James Baker.

The report also explodes the myth that the US is insulated from Middle East oil supply problems because it receives the bulk of its oil from less volatile sources outside the Persian Gulf. It says Middle East pricing and supply trends “will affect energy costs around the globe regardless”.

Continue reading →

General — Comments Off
06
Oct 02

Afghan Government Hails U.S.-Led War as Liberation

That should read the puppet Afghan government installed by American interests from without. It is also not mentioned that the ‘government’ of Afghanistan, the Karzai regime, really only controls Kabul, and that Karzai has to use American bodyguards and skulk from place to place because his own people have tried to have him assassinated multiple times. I don’t predict longevity for this ‘government’ especially if the American occupation forces continue to humiliate and abuse the local population. You should read this Reuters piece. You’ll get to see Karzai’s elusive American bodyguards.

General — Comments Off
06
Oct 02

I love pirates

Raise the Jolly Roger, you scurvy dogs! VCD (Video CD) pirates take to the high seas to avoid detection:

The manufacturers produce thousands of pirated copies on board ships anchored in international waters. They will then dock their vessels at the various ports or jetties along the state’s coastline to drop off their products,” he told AFP.

Mazlan said the marine police had been asked to be on the lookout for the pirate ships in the busy Malacca Straits between Malaysia and Indonesia.

Police in Penang last week launched “Operation Green Ribbon” to nab peddlers of illegal CDs and VCDs and Mazlan said they had already arrested four retailers and seized over 1,000 pirated copies.

Religion/philosophy — Comments Off
06
Oct 02

Pope canonises Opus Dei founder

Josemaria Escriva de Balaguer’s canonization, only 27 years after the Spanish priest’s death, was achieved in remarkably swift time by the Vatican’s saint-making timetables, which often stretch over decades or even centuries. …

Many of Opus Dei’s members come from top professional ranks, including law, medicine, publishing and other businesses.

The many suits and ties, conservative dresses and string pearls worn by the faithful to the ceremony reflected the rather upscale membership of much of the organisation. ….

Opus Dei has rejected charges that it is elitist and secretive, and much of the criticism of Escriva’s personality seemed to be tempered as Catholics saw the pope move along Escriva’s cause for sainthood at a quick pace.

Military and defense — Comments Off
05
Oct 02

Attack On Iraq Likely To Begin October 9, 2002

From here:

After weeks of media blitz and diplomatic efforts the United States is all set to launch attack on the beleaguered Iraq on October 9, highly credible diplomatic sources disclosed to The Frontier Post here Wednesday. …

Special US emissaries have already taken rulers of governments of Middle East region in confidence by sharing the intended date of US attack on their isolated neighbour. While their stationed diplomatic staff is doing hectic diplomatic lobbying to tone down the general public anger against the naked US aggression against Iraq, they added. The main agenda of US attack is to eliminate President Saddam Hussain and to install a pro US regime in Baghdad.

The first sorties of US Air Force flying from their near by stationed aircraft carriers would go for bombing the presidential palace and other safe houses of Saddam Hussain. If their initial plan, some how failed then intense bombing of the military and other strategic installations would be done leading to an internal revolt would be staged by US loyal people for the ouster of Saddam loyal regime they said.

Military and defense — Comments Off
03
Oct 02

Is this what war is supposed to be like?

The ‘war’ news is really strange. For example, from an article in the NY Times:

Washington, on the other hand, is trying to resolve the issue of Iraq’s compliance with inspections as quickly as possible so that if it comes to war, military action can be taken this winter. If the inspections are stymied, as the White House expects, the United States would be able to attack when the cooler temperatures make it easier for American troops to operate in bulky chemical gear and the longer nights enable them to take advantage of their night vision equipment.

It just points out how this is more like a gang dispute rather than a ‘war’. Bush and the rest of Hell’s choir spout slogans and belligerence against Iraq, but yet they engage in this invasion as if it were part of their business plan. Isn’t the nature of war that something presents itself as an immediate danger to your people and you fight that threat? As Clausewitz wrote, “War is politics by other means.” It is all power politics and economics.

We know that no one ever seizes power with the intention of relinquishing it. Power is not a means; it is an end. One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution; one makes the revolution in order to establish the dictatorship. The object of persecution is persecution. – George Orwell, 1984

Politics — 2 Comments
03
Oct 02

Is Bush yella?

I thought this was pretty funny.

BBC: Bush challenged to ‘duel’ with Saddam:

“Bush wants to attack the whole [of] Iraq, the army and the infrastructure,” the Iraqi vice-president said.

“The American president should specify a group, and we will specify a group and choose neutral ground with Kofi Annan as referee and use one weapon with a president against a president, a vice-president against a vice-president, and a minister against a minister in a duel.”

Mr Fleischer poured scorn on the proposal saying:

“In the past when Iraq had disputes, it invaded its neighbours. There were no duels; there were invasions. There was use of weapons of mass destruction and military. That’s how Iraq settles its disputes.”

Bush is a wuss. He talks a big talk when other people’s lives are on the line, but his blue blood is a little too precious.

the old stuff