FBI can eavesdrop via cell phone mic
Bob Morris @ Dec 2nd 2006 23:07 - Category: Unfiled ;
And it works even if the phone is turned off.
Archive for December 2nd, 2006
Motive?
Bob Morris @ Dec 2nd 2006 18:46 - Category: Unfiled ;
The Guardian is reporting Livinenko “planned to make tens of thousands of pounds blackmailing senior Russian spies and business figures.”
Baker Commission. Another study group charade
Bob Morris @ Dec 2nd 2006 00:27 - Category: Anti-war ;
Politicians fiddle: Iraq burns
From Brian Becker, National Coordinator of the A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition, and Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, civil rights attorney and co-founder of the Partnership for Civil Justice.
The lesson of Vietnam should not be lost on those who are putting their faith in the “pragmatists” or so-called doves in Congress. Anything less than an immediate, unconditional withdrawal is a disaster for the people of Iraq and for U.S. soldiers.
During the Vietnam war, the US pretended to disengage while actually increasing the fighting and bombing. Flash forward to today. The Baker Study Group wants to keep a permanent 70,000 troops in Iraq. Does this sound like they care even slightly about the lives of US soldiers or Iraqis? Not hardly. Instead, it’s all about maintaining power and dominance in the region - and a desperate and sickening ploy to “save face” no matter how many more die.
The problem with Congress is not simply that they are “spineless” in the face of the real power in the White House, Pentagon, FBI and CIA. The leaders and overwhelming majority of the Democratic as well as Republican representatives embrace the same imperial foreign policy objectives. They share the objective of U.S. domination of the world economy and over peoples and countries trying to chart an independent course.
This is a key point. Democrats are just as complicit as Republicans, even if they may be more amenable to pressure from outside their ruling class ranks. But that’s not because they’re more anti-war, it’s because one role of the Democratic Party has always been to co-opt genuine protest and render it harmless. But in wanting the US hegemony over the world, both parties move together.
Attempting to make the program of the anti-war movement acceptable to the mythological “anti-war” wing of Congress requires the exclusion of Palestinian, Lebanese and other Arab people who are targeted by the U.S.-Israeli military alliance. It requires the abandonment of the fundamental struggle against U.S. imperial ambitions in the Middle East — the basis for the Iraq war to begin with.
Beware of those who wish to soften the message of the anti-war movement in the mistaken delusion that this will somehow make Democrats more likely to stop the war. Being sort of in favor of bringing the troops home now is like being a little bit pregnant. So is saying you are anti-war but refusing to mention Palestine.
This is a war for empire and the people of the United States must let the rest of the world know that it is not our war, not our empire. The United States contingent in the global movement must make clear that we stand with all those throughout the Middle East and the world who are resisting in a just struggle for liberation.
The Iraq invasion wasn’t some bizarre aberration, rather it was a continuation of, if extreme, of the same imperialist mindset that has charted US foreign policy for decades.
Lest you think that’s a extreme statement, check From Wounded Knee to Iraq, “A partial history of U.S.invasions” and use of troops at home. There are nearly 200 such instances listed.
Hardwood floor installers, sheesh
Bob Morris @ Dec 2nd 2006 00:15 - Category: Unfiled ;
We’ve been doing lots of work on the house, preparing to put it on the market in January, part of our planned escape from Los Angeles.
We’ve knocked down a wall to turn the living room and dining room into one big room. It went quick and easy. Ditto for updating the master bath, and landscaping. No problems.
But with the hardwood flooring, we hit a a brick wall. Many places either sell the wood or install, but not both, which complicates things. Getting bids has been instructive, with bait and switch and sleazy sales reps apparently the norm. Finally asked a friend who owns several rental homes, hey, are all hardwood floor installers this unreliable. He said he’d never found a good one and didn’t know anyone who had - unless you went way high end.
All other breeds of contractors have been fine, but hardwood floor installers get Worst of Breed from us. So, we’ll do carpeting instead, using a solid, reliable place who can do the whole thing in a day for a third the price, and do it right, quickly, and honestly.
Global Power Barometer
Bob Morris @ Dec 2nd 2006 00:08 - Category: Unfiled ;
What the world is thinking — A graphic snapshot
It rates “which nations, ideologies and/or movements are most powerful (most successful) in moving global opinion and events in directions they desire”
Produced by the Denver Research Group and WaPo, you can drill down through the ratings to see some of the news sources used to determine the ratings.
Right now the US is ranking rather badly, big surprise, huh?
