tagged w/ Government Corruption
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As the protests throughout the Arab world increase and Dictators try to hold on to power by any violent means possible it's amazing how people can still maintain hope. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad like many leaders before him may have not actually signed a deal with the Devil but with his actions against his own people resulting in over 6000 deaths he might just as well have. In the long run he will not prevail and history will add him to the long list of Tyrants that have tried to repress the human spirit. The challenge facing the rest of the world is how to intervene without ending up in a Third World War. With an Election Year taking top priority in the United States and a suspicion of U.S motives concerning any action in the Middle East, the actions or inaction of the Arab League and China and Russia strongly opposed to almost anything that they have no say in, the solution to the Syrian situation will most definitely be a messy one. I'm always cautiously optimistic about most things so I have to rely on what little faith I have that things will not continue to escalate until a Third World War breaks out. Even in our darkest hours we sometimes manage to prevent the worst from becoming the apocalyptic. History will tell if my optimism pays off. I HOPE....As the protests throughout the Arab world increase and Dictators try to hold on to... more
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I received this petition and call to action today from MoveOn.Org. I'd like to know why this petition is even neccessary?
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[Today could be the day when President Obama decides if he'll stand with homeowners or with the big Wall Street banks behind the housing crisis. We need to keep the pressure on the president to launch a full federal investigation now, and not to give into the banks' demand for a sweetheart settlement deal. Can you make a phone call to the president right now demanding an investigation?White House comment line: 202-456-1111
Then, please report your call by clicking here:
http://pol.moveon.org/call?cp_id=1707&tg=704&id=35007-20389118-fsWnFDx&t=3]
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Why are we having to CONVINCE our president to do the right thing? I made the call, but I told it like it is, please feel free to follow my script if you choose to. I believe that we have done enough pussyfooting around with those who are supposed to represent us in the White House.
... There are hundreds of thousands of families who are still living in the homes that have been foreclosed on, hoping and praying that some justice will be done , that right action will take place on their behalf. If you, Mr. President, give a settlement to the banks which have created this poverty economy, the banks will have a field day with an unprecedented LAND GRAB...Make no mistake, for the Millions who have already been ousted, duped into thinking there was nothing they could do to save their homes, to those who have yet to be put out in the streets if you betray them/us even further, you will see such a swell of Occupiers on the White House lawn as will be inconceivable.
Will such a cowardly and treasonous act cause a civil war? Probably... Is this what you want? Is this your goal for your country, to have your foot upon the necks of Americans? Are you too, OWNED by the banks? I would not have thought so, but if you condone the fraudulent and criminal actions of the banks and investment firms that have brought this suffering upon the American People, you will have shown yourself to be without moral conscience, without patriotic affiliation to the people you have sworn to serve and that you are without the backbone to stand up to the corruption that is the downfall of our civilization in this moment, at this time. If you betray your people, I do not know how you will possibly be able to look your wife and children in the eye. Shame is upon you for even considering this settlement.
Mr. President, Do the right thing, REFUSE any kind of settlement until a complete investigation can be carried out and criminal charges brought to bear on those whose greed and corruption have injured not only our own countries economy, but have crossed oceans and touched the lives of many other countries in the world. Become the leader you were meant to be, that you promised you would be. Stand up and act with purpose and solidarity with your people, not with big money, big banks or big corporations.
Most Sincerely, your fellow Americans.I received this petition and call to action today from MoveOn.Org. I'd like to... more
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Penni
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18 days ago
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While some Indians are trying to become what America was, America is regressing into Indian style Caste corruption.While some Indians are trying to become what America was, America is regressing into... more
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$175 million to maintain an unused monkey house. $1.8 million for a museum dedicated to old Las Vegas signs. $615,000 to digitize a Grateful Dead collection. And $823,200 to study genitalia washing in South Africa.$175 million to maintain an unused monkey house. $1.8 million for a museum dedicated... more
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The toppled president of Tunisia, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, has denied the accusation that he fled the country, saying he was “tricked” into leaving. Ben Ali’s Lebanese attorney said on Tuesday that the former leader boarded a plane to Saudi Arabia after he was advised by his security chief of an assassination plot against him.
Read more:
http://www.politicalfailblog.com/2011/06/ousted-tunisian-leader-says-he-was.htmlThe toppled president of Tunisia, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, has denied the accusation... more
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The world today seems to be full on anger and conflict. You can't go far without hearing of something awful happening somewhere in the world. But is this the true reality? Or is this just what we perceive to be reality because it's all we see and hear? Ask anyone you know if they want us to be at war for any reason, and most likley that person will say no. (Unless they own an oil company or their last name rhymes with Blay-nee.) So why is it that we seem to be stuck in perpetual state of war and violence? Follow the money.
They say money is the root of all evil, and by they, I mean people who do not have any. I do not think money itself corrupts people, but what that money allows them to do and get away with does. There are plenty of well to do people who are compassionate and great human beings, but we all know too well that there are also some bad golden apples out there.
Everyday more and more people are awaking and realizing everything is not as peachy as the CNN presidential "debates" makes it seem. With people like Ron Paul and Dennis Kucinich speaking daily on the harsh realities of the American Empire, more and more of us are starting to question more. A mass political awaking is taking place, even as I type this, and it has those few bad golden apples freaking out.
Keep reading here:
http://www.politicalfailblog.com/2011/06/new-revolution.htmlThe world today seems to be full on anger and conflict. You can't go far without... more
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(RT) The Bilderberg Group, an invitation-only meeting of the world's most powerful people, is taking place in Switzerland. Just what the political insiders, media moguls and industry magnates will actually discuss, remains top secret.
This year the Bilderberg Group has occupied the grand Suvretta House Hotel among the magnificent hills and lakes of St. Moritz resort, Switzerland. The world’s most powerful group of some 150 will be meeting there behind closed doors to discuss whatever they need to in the next few days and, perhaps, carry out decisions that will determine the future of the whole world.
Bilderberg attendees of the past include kings, presidents, captains of industry and heads of the world’s most powerful corporations. Rumors have been spread of Juan Carlos I of Spain, Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands and board members from IBM, Royal Dutch Shell, and Nokia having attended the Bilderberg Group meetings. Various officials and politicians such as Greek Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis, European Commission head Jose Manuel Barroso and US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner have also been claimed to be on the participants’ lists.
Still, there is little media coverage of the group: official lists of participants are not revealed, neither is the agenda publicized. Press releases are not expected to be issued after the meeting.
Read More and watch the video report here:
http://www.politicalfailblog.com/2011/06/bilderberg-worlds-fate-sealed-behind.html(RT) The Bilderberg Group, an invitation-only meeting of the world's most... more
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please read and sign this petition
PFC David W. Lawrence is an American soldier from Indiana. He is the son of Brett and Wendy Lawrence. David is 20 years old. He is accused of premeditated murder for the alleged shooting of Mullah Mohebullah on Oct. 17, 2010 while guarding him in Kandahar province, Afghanistan. Mullah Mohebullah was a senior Taliban commander and had been captured by U.S. forces the day before his death. Mohebullah's death was announced by an angry Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Oct. 19, 2010. Formal charges were filed against PFC Lawrence by the U.S. Army on the same day.
Only weeks before the killing of Mohebullah, David was flown to a Combat Stress Clinic in Kandahar, Afghanistan because he had repeatedly expressed severe mental distress to his leadership. He spent five days at the Combat Stress Clinic before being returned to his remote outpost. After being prescribed two psychotropic medications (Trazodone and Zoloft) he was returned to duty with pills in hand. There were no instructions for David to be monitored or observed after he was prescribed two narcotic medications with a known history of dangerous interaction. In fact, when David was returned to duty, he was placed on permanent guard duty and received less supervision than he had before he sought treatment for his deteriorating mental condition.
On January 20, 2011, a team of Army forensic psychiatrists issued a formal opinion that at the time of the alleged offense, David suffered from severe schizophrenia as well as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The team of Army psychiatric experts, formally known in the military as a Sanity Board, also determined that as a result of the severe nature of David's mental illnesses, he was "unable to appreciate the nature and quality or wrongfulness of his conduct at the time of the alleged criminal misconduct." Although the medical conclusions of the Sanity Board are tantamount to a finding of not guilty by reason of lack of mental responsibility, the criminal charges against David have not been withdrawn. Rather, on January 31, 2011, the Lawrence family was officially notified that despite the Army's medical determination that David was not mentally responsible for the killing of Mohebullah, David would still be prosecuted for the alleged premeditated murder of Mullah Mohebullah at a general court-martial.
The prosecution of PFC David Lawrence is not without political implication. President Barack Obama traveled to Afghanistan on Dec. 3, 2010 to meet with Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai. One of the reported purposes of President Obama's visit was to ease tensions caused by Mohebullah's killing. Additionally, despite two formal delay requests, the U.S. Army forced David and his attorneys to participate in a preliminary hearing held on Nov. 29 and 30, 2010. David's lawyers argued in two separate delay requests that the hearing (known in the military as an Article 32 Investigation) should have been postponed until the Sanity Board determinations in David's case had been made. The military officer responsible for convening the investigation denied both delay requests after being advised to do so . . . by David's prosecutors. Not surprisingly, at the end of the two-day hearing, the investigating officer (a junior military lawyer who works in the same office as the prosecuting attorneys and who is supervised by the same military lawyer who supervises the prosecuting attorneys) erroneously concluded that there were "NO grounds to believe that the accused [David] was not mentally responsible" for Mullah Mohebullah's death. Of course, when the Sanity Board results were finally released in January of 2011, they revealed that the Army's team of forensic psychiatric experts was convinced to a reasonable medical certainty that David's mental illnesses were not only severe, but so severe that he was not mentally responsible for the charged offense.
Though the Army could (and should) withdraw the charges against David and facilitate the medical assistance that he needs, the prosecution of PFC David Lawrence continues. The Army alleges that it is unpersuaded by its own medical experts.please read and sign this petition
PFC David W. Lawrence is an American soldier... more
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Tuesday September 2, 2009 Source AP by Julie Zimmerman: It's an old wound rarely discussed by the Atlanta based African American Jewish recording artist Lord Hector Diono, born Lord Michael Chambers Rosenthorn. The topic was the 1992 rape conviction of former boxing Champion of the world, “Iron" Mike Tyson. We talked with the rapper about the events that took place and led to the charges being filed against the boxer by then 18 year old Desiree Washington a beauty pageant contestant from Rhode Island and a cousin to former Miss Black Rhode Island, Tonya Bustamante who at the time was engaged to the Atlanta rapper. Hector gave a statement to press corresponded Thomas Flassen of associated press UK May 9, 2006. "It was always a touchy subject to discuss with Tonya, and it was even harder trying to remain a good man to her and hold my tongue at the same time while this crap was being presented as an authentic case of rape, and with Dee being her cousin and all I didn't wanna cause friction between us, but it was plain as the nose on my face that cuz was so offended after her sexual interlude with Tyson that she decided to press rape charges". The rapper went on to say that he finally gave in to his convictions and against his better judgment ( keep the peace at all times) he expressed his discontent with the media and Miss Washington to his then fiance' Tonya Bustamante. Hector went on to say that initially Tonya didn't treat him different after she learned of his feelings toward her cousin but two years after the verdict was handed down by an Indianapolis jury, “guilty"; the relationship strained beyond reconciliation. Tonya Bustamante and Lord Hector Diono split up in the fall of 1994. Our sources later found that Tonya Bustamante appears to have seen things the way Hector saw them a full decade later. Sources concluded that after being silenced by fear and other family members for thirteen years, the cousin to Desiree Washington, and former fiance' to the rapper Lord Hector Diono had come forward with shocking new information about Ms. Washington's case against Mr. Tyson. The former Miss Black Rhode Island, concurred with the findings of famed attorney Alan M. Dershowitz as depicted in his book America on Trial - Inside the Legal Battles That Transformed Our Nation. In his book, Mr. Dershowitz illustrates the possibility that perhaps Mr. Tyson could have been innocent of the allegations of rape made against him by Ms. Washington. Ms. Bustamante supports Mr. Dershowitz's theories, but because she was serving as Miss Black Rhode Island at the time of the actual trial, though approached by the media on several occasions she kept her silence for fear of losing her crown had she gone public with her story. In speaking further with the rapper about the 1994 breakup he stated "perhaps in retrospect she may have ultimately lost a crown that may have very well proven to be the most meaningful crown of all, the title, Mrs. "Lord Hector Diono".
source AP: by Julie Zimmerman Associated Press United KingdomTuesday September 2, 2009 Source AP by Julie Zimmerman: It's an old wound rarely... more
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Editorial
That Didn’t Take Long
Published: May 12, 2011
Meredith Attwell Baker, one of two Republicans on the Federal Communications Commission, was not on Comcast’s payroll when she voted to approve its controversial acquisition of NBC Universal, the television powerhouse. But she soon will be. Four months after she endorsed the deal — chastising the F.C.C. for delaying its approval and imposing too many conditions on the merger — she has been hired to be NBC’s top Washington lobbyist.
http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/05/11/f-c-c-commissioner-to-join-comcast/
Ms. Baker’s swift shift from regulator to lobbyist for the regulated will only add to Americans’ cynicism about their government. The fact that it is legal and that she is just one of many doesn’t make it better. Over a third of the 120 lawmakers who left Congress after the last election have taken lobbying jobs, according to a report by the Center for Responsive Politics. Former F.C.C. Chairman Kevin Martin joined the lobbying firm Patton Boggs soon after he stepped down in 2009.
President Obama was right to bar from his administration anyone who had lobbied an executive agency in the preceding two years, though he handed out far too many waivers. He is right to bar departing members from lobbying the executive branch so long as he is in office. But such cooling-off periods — like those barring former lawmakers from immediately lobbying their former colleagues — are easily evaded. In the case of Ms. Baker, she can still lobby Congress, and there is no ban on her overseeing a shop of lobbyists working the F.C.C.
Congress should expand the definition of lobbying beyond face-to-face encounters to any effort to influence government decisions for their clients. It should also set tight caps on what former officials, including former lawmakers, can earn from lobbying before they must register as lobbyists. Americans don’t need any more reasons to mistrust Washington.Editorial
That Didn’t Take Long
Published: May 12, 2011
Meredith Attwell... more
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What's your take on this?
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EXHIBIT A
Before You Vote, A Word From Thomas Jefferson
"Experience has shown that even under the best forms [of government] those entrusted with power have, in time, and by slow operations, perverted it into tyranny."
Thomas Jefferson
Our forefathers gave up everything for their nation. Did you know that the British tortured 5
of the original 52 signers of the Declaration of Independence until their death? Three were permanently exiled into Spanish territory. Almost a quarter of them had their homes burned to the ground. Some were millionaires who gave their fortunes up to support the Revolutionary War and died penniless. They didn’t make these sacrifices for us to throw it all away.
We weren’t sitting with them at the table when they authored the greatest instrument of government ever made, The U.S. Constitution. However we can assume that they weren’t pleased with the only form of government they had known and were determined to make this new government better.
Admire the forethought of one of our great American founders; Thomas Jefferson. Imagine when he made that comment. Was it made as they were discussing the design of the constitution? They decided to make terms of congress every 2 and 6 years for a reason. Although they didn’t place caps on term limits as they did for the President, I don’t believe they intended for us to continue to elect the same people until they suffered from Alzheimer’s. You won’t find a congress member serving 20 years during the 1800’s and our nation and the people both prospered.
As we look at the many problems facing our nation, we can only blame ourselves. The reason for the disconnect between congress and real American life is clearly shown below.
LONGEST SERVING SENATORS
Robert C. Byrd 47 years
Strom Thurmond 47 years
Ed Kennedy 43 years
Daniel K. Inouye 43 years
Theodore F. Stevens 37 years
LONGEST SERVING REPRESENTATIVES
John Conyer 41 years Edolphus Towns 23 years
Bud Cramer 16 years John M. Spratt Jr. 23 years
Clay E. Shaw 25 years Jim Saxton 23 years
Christopher Smith 25 years Major R. Owens 23 years
Frank R. Wolf 25 years Solomon P. Ortiz 23 years
Gary L. Ackerman 23 years Allan B. Mollohan 23 years
Howard L. Berman 23 years Sander M. Levin 23 years
Michael Bilirakis 23 years Marcy Kaptur 23 years
Sherwood Boehlert 23 years Nancy L. Johnson 23 years
Rick Boucher 23 years Lane Evans 23 years
Dan Burton 23 years
If Thomas Jefferson were here today he would aim his musket at every one of us. The above list is not exhaustive and there are far too many double digit serving members of congress.
One of the problems that alarm me the most is that about 1 of every 300 children
born in the U.S. are born autistic. The CDC is investigating this matter now
because nobody knows why. I believe it may have to do with chemicals and
medication that are filtering down through our genes and chromosomes.
25% of hospitalizations in the U.S. are caused from adverse reactions from medications. The Tories have infiltrated the FDA and pharmaceutical company representatives sit at the same decision making table as the FDA when approving drugs. We have medications that make us see blue, go blind, kill others or ourselves or die of heart attacks.
Our borders are similar to floodgates for terrorists to easily penetrate and congress
does nothing to stop it.
George Bush has enacted something he calls the Patriot Act that would be better
named the Communist Act. There are words we will not say on the phone or type
on the computer. We are becoming scared of our own government. Imagine what Thomas Jefferson would have to say to George Bush about his Patriot Act.
Congress members feather their own nest with pay raises; yet will not raise the
minimum wage for hard working Americans.
Our government is allowing companies to kill us. An employee at A&M
University came home to find his two beloved birds dead and bleeding. They
were located near his kitchen. Turns out they died of cancer from Teflon pans
made by Dupont. Dupont has known that this Teflon substance causes harmful
odors. The EPA praises itself for phasing out Teflon pans by the year 2015?
I can continue with many serious problems facing our Nation. Our government
is becoming a puppet for American business and the needs and wants of the people
are being ignored. I believe we can solve all of our problems by taking Thomas Jefferson’s advice.
It’s time to put petty political differences to the side and let congress know whom
they are serving. Take Thomas Jefferson’s advice and vote American – Operation
Clean House.EXHIBIT A
Before You Vote, A Word From Thomas Jefferson
"Experience has... more
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Here we have a perfectly unlawful decision. The Law of a Dictatorship that now exists in Wisconsin. Your voice, your vote or the right to speak out is all gone with the wind.
Next for Wisconsin aside from one ruling Party is the Right to govern his people with force and by the gun barrel, just like Panamanian strongman General Manuel Noriega.
The Republican establishment is acting more like a Dictatorship of governing than allowing people to voice their concerns. Really soon here in America if Republicans take over the country by force your rights will be history and we will be living just like North Korea with no rights, and if you voice your concerns… to the gallows!!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/25/wisconsin-union-law-publi_n_840870.html
MADISON, Wis. — The Wisconsin law taking away collective bargaining rights that a court had ordered not to be published by the secretary of state has been published instead by the Legislative Reference Bureau.
The action was noted on the Legislature's home page Friday. It's not immediately clear whether the publication has the force of law. But if legally published, the law takes effect Saturday.
A judge last week issued a temporary restraining order blocking Secretary of State Doug La Follette from publishing the law.
But the Reference Bureau says it's required to publish every new law within 10 working days after it's signed by the governor.
Gov. Scott Walker signed the collective bargaining measure March 11.
Walker's office says the administration will carry out the law as required.Here we have a perfectly unlawful decision. The Law of a Dictatorship that now exists... more
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What is the limit on how much money is enough for Rick Scott?
Greed and corruption are not just whims to Scott; apparently it’s his entire lifestyle.
In a State with one of the largest populations of citizens over 65, Republicans and the New Governor are taking painstaking efforts to assure that the elderly and disabled have little to no chance of protecting their health.
Scott obviously knows at this point that he is a one term Governor. Before his term is done, he intends to damage and defund Florida’s social programs at the expense of and its people while further enriching himself and his wealthy friends.
This move to ‘reform’ Medicaid has nothing to do with the budget. Scott and Florida Republicans are currently trying to enact a sweeping Medicaid reform bill that would give HMOs and other private health care companies unprecedented control over the government health care program for the poor.
The bill would also put a hard cap on the amount of money that these managed care companies could spend on Medicaid, which advocates say could particularly harm disabled and elderly patients who require costlier long-term care.
Scott’s new Medicaid reforms will basically force Public employees and people receiving food stamps, welfare or any other social financial aid to visit his Wife’s company (Solantic) for drug testing before they would be considered eligible for these programs or for public employment.
The Florida governor founded Solantic in 2001, only a few years after he resigned as the CEO of hospital giant Columbia/HCA amid a massive Medicare fraud scandal. In January, he transferred his $62 million stake in Solantic to his wife, Ann Scott. The Medicaid bill that Scott is now pushing would expand the pilot privatization program to the entire state of Florida, offering Solantic a huge new business opportunity. It’s difficult to believe the transfer of Solantic before he took office and the push for Medicaid ‘reform’ is a coincidence.
Casting himself as a free-market champion, Scott put his opposition to "Obamacare" at the heart of his campaign. But he could ultimately stand to gain from one of the federal government's biggest entitlements—a program that's also set to expand massively under the Affordable Care Act. Concludes Georgetown's Alker: "It's especially ironic when people who speak out against government involvement in health care turn around and profit from it."
"This is a conflict of interest that raises a serious ethical issue," says Marc Rodwin, a medical ethics professor at Suffolk University Law School in Boston. "The public should be thinking and worrying about this."
Once the damage is done will Florida ever have the funds to reinstate Medicaid back to where it stood before Scott executed his war on the neediest citizens of Florida?
http://motherjones.com/politics/2011/03/rick-scott-florida-medicaid-solanticWhat is the limit on how much money is enough for Rick Scott?
Greed and corruption... more
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There was nothing terribly sophisticated about the denial of service attack executed by the activist hackers at Anonymous to temporarily knock out the website of Americans for Prosperity, the conservative advocacy group backed by billionaire brothers David and Charles Koch.
But the senior execs at Georgia Pacific and other corporate holdings controlled by the Koch brothers ought to be very nervous. Anonymous, best known for similarly crippling websites of firms hostile to WikiLeaks, says it has begun actively probing for network weaknesses in Georgia Pacific and other Koch brothers' holdings.
Should the activist hackers succeed in cracking into any of the Koch brothers' corporate networks, Anonymous could solidify its emerging persona as a digital-age Robin Hood, says Josh Shaul, Chief Technology Officer of network security company Application Security.
"These guys have so much attitude and spunk," says Shaul. "Anonymous is coming out of its shell and seems to be saying, 'Hey, we'll be the voice of the people, we'll be the Robin Hood fighting for the poor against the powerful.' "
In this statement, Anonymous accuses the Koch brothers of "fabricating grassroots organizations and advertising campaigns to sway voters based on their falsehoods." The statement concludes:
Anonymous hears the voice of the downtrodden American people, whose rights and liberties are being systematically removed one by one, even when their own government refuses to listen or worse - is complicit in these attacks. We are actively seeking vulnerabilities, but in the mean time we are calling for all supporters of true Democracy, and Freedom of The People, to boycott all Koch Industries' paper products. We welcome unions across the globe to join us in this boycott to show that you will not allow big business to dictate your freedom.
The group's highest profile hack to date shows what it is capable of. On Feb. 5, a group of five elite hackers gained deep access into data intelligence firm HBGary, defaced and damaged most if its systems, and stole 77,000 e-mails from the Google Enterprise cloud-based service used by the company.
Upon being made public on the Internet, the stolen e-mails were pored over by reporters and activists; they revealed stunning details of how high-stakes, corporate-backed disinformation campaigns get birthed.
Click here to read about the pivotal role a 16-year-old girl played in that hack. The lightning rod in that caper -- HBGary Federal CEO Aaron Barr -- on Monday announced his resignation. Barr will go down in tech history as the disinformation expert who stirred Anonymous into a higher gear -- by bragging that he had identified the group's leaders and planning to expose them on Valentines Day at the B-Sides Security Conference in San Francisco.
Though corporations have spent billions shoring up network perimeter defenses, determined hackers routinely gain deep access into corporate systems. They do so by combining simple social-engineering trickery with proven hacking tools.
We recently published this news story about how one cybergang stole more than $50 million by setting up an elaborate series of stings of European companies participating in Europe's carbon-credits exchange. Another gang got deep into Nasdaq's Directors Desk cloud collabartion tool for senior executives, where they lurked for more than a year before recently being detected.
The activist hackers at Anonymyous have demonstrated knowledge and skills of the techniques used by top hacking groups that concentrate on breaking into corporate networks for profit.
"They better be concerned," Shaul says of the Koch brothers. "What Anonymous is saying is 'we're getting ready to execute whatever attack we can, so you better be worried; in the meantime, we're going to be a big pain.' "
Update: 5:50 p.m Eastern. A Michael Goldfarb called Technology Live and identified himself as a spokeman for Koch Industries. Goldfarb requested to go off the record for a "substantive discussion." We declined. The caller declined to comment on the Anonymous attack.
GO TO STORY:
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/technologylive/post/2011/03/anonymous-actively-probing-koch-brothers-corporate-networks-/1There was nothing terribly sophisticated about the denial of service attack executed... more
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think of how hard they would work for us and nothing could bribe them...no corruption for they would be hardwired with the constitution. no false representation, not even a single sex scandal...think of how hard they would work for us and nothing could bribe them...no corruption... more
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Relationships of trust are the glue that holds societies together. Trust takes a long time to establish, and much less time to destroy, hence societies where trust is wide-spread, particularly for long periods of time, are relatively rare. In contrast, societies where trust does not extend beyond the family, or clan, level are very common in history.
The spread of trust is a characteristic of expansionary times, along with increasing inclusion, and a weakening of the 'Us vs Them' divide. Essentially, the trust horizon expands, both within and between societies. Over time it can encompass higher levels of organization - from family to community to municipality to region to nation and beyond - so long as the expansionary dynamic continues to support it.
Within societies this leads to relatively stable and (at least temporarily) effective institutions, and bolsters the development of the rule of law. The rule of law means that law constrains the powerful (more than usual), and there is a reasonable degree of legal transparency and predictability, so that people are prepared to trust in the fairness and accessibility of justice. Naturally, the ideal is never reached, human nature being what it is, but it can be approached under the most favourable of circumstances.
Within societies, trust also confers political legitimacy (ie a widespread buy-in as to the right of rulers to rule). Where there is legitimacy, there is relatively little need for surveillance and coercion. A high level of trust (all the way up to the level of national institutions) is thus a prerequisite for an open society.
Between societies, an expansion of the trust horizon tends to lead to political accretion. Larger and more disparate groups feel comfortable with closer ties and greater inter-dependence, and are prepared to leave past conflicts behind. The European Union, where 25 countries with a very long history of conflicts have come together, is a prime example.
However, all expansions have a limited lifespan, as do the benefits they confer. They sow the seeds of their own destruction, especially when they morph into a final manic phase and begin to hollow out the substance of social structures. Institutions, whether public or private, retain the same outward form, but cease to operate as they once did. For a while it is possible to maintain the illusion of business as usual (or effectiveness and accountability as usual), but not indefinitely. Everything is subject to receding horizons eventually, and trust is no exception.
Over time institutions become sclerotic, unresponsive, self-serving and hostage to vested interests, at which point they cannot be reformed, as the reform would have to come from those entrenched individuals who have benefited most from the status quo. Institutions become demonstrably less effective, while consuming more and more of society's resources. Corruption, abuses of power, lack of accountability and the loss of the rule of law become increasingly evident, exactly as we have seen with unauthorized wire-tapping, extra-ordinary rendition and many other actions undermining the open society. Once this happens, trust is living on borrowed time. That is very clearly the case in many developed societies today.
Trust in existing organizational structures does not disappear overnight, but ebbs away as institutions decay or the extent of their corruption is revealed. The loss of trust from higher levels of organization undermines the fabric of a society now operating beyond the trust horizon. When trust contracts, socioeconomic contraction is just around the corner. Bank runs are a particularly good example of this. People are currently waking up to the extent of the recklessness, irresponsibility and self-serving short-termism of the banking system, and realizing that reliance on top-down human promises is far riskier than they had supposed. When they cease to trust in those promises, they will are very likely to vote with their feet.
Societies in this position lose a critical pillar of support - the collective acceptance of their people. Governing institutions lose legitimacy, at which point the cost of governance increases significantly, because where there is no trust, resource-intensive surveillance and coercion develop instead. Our societies in the developed world, where institutional decay is well underway, stand on the brink of such a transition.
Where resources are scarce, as they will be soon enough, the diversion of a larger percentage of what remains towards this purpose will aggravate that scarcity considerably. This will further anger people, which is likely to lead to a downward spiral of mutual provocation and recrimination. Most of us have not seen this vicious circle of human sentiment to any great extent, but this is the natural consequence of the collapse of trust.
On the way down, as on the way up, there are effects both within and between societies, as the 'Us vs Them' dynamic sharpens once again. 'Us' becomes ever more tightly defined, and 'Them' becomes an ever more pejorative term. The result is division between disparate groups of people within a society, for instance the unionized and non-unionized, the haves and the have-nots, or different religious or ethnic groups. When there is a paucity of trust, and not enough resources to go meet highly inflated expectations, the risk of conflict is very high. Previously formed political accretions are at a high risk of coming unglued as they will no be longer supported by trust. The European Union should take note.
Between societies, where the existing range of divisive parameters is likely to be much larger, and where there may be a past history of conflict, the risk of conflict flaring up again rises significantly. This is especially likely if societies attempt to deflect blame for the situation they find themselves in towards other nationalities.
We are already seeing evidence of the growing anger, and the change it will usher in as the trust horizon shrinks. In the US, the Tea Party movement is the most obvious example. All major change comes from the ground-up, where the power of the collective is expressed in ways that either support or undermine the actions and intentions of central authorities. It is the interaction between the power of the collective and central authority that determines where a society will head.
The Tea Party movement is a ground-swell of public anger, very much in the tradition of major transformative grass-roots initiatives. It is exactly what one would expect to see at the brink of a collapse in the trust horizon - a movement grounded in negative emotion that both stems from a loss of trust and in turn acts to aggravate it in a self-reinforcing positive feedback loop. The danger with such a movement manifesting such powerful negative emotions is that it will precipitate a major over-reaction to the downside, commensurate with the irrational exuberance we saw to the upside. The anger is largely unfocused, and where it is specific, it is not fully-informed.
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http://theautomaticearth.blogspot.com/2010/10/october-1-2010-stoneleigh-goes-on-sale.htmlRelationships of trust are the glue that holds societies together. Trust takes a long... more
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