Topic Tuesday #83 2014/02/18 - "Viva La Revolution!"

Topic Tuesday #83 2014/02/18 - "Viva La Revolution!"

Let's see... what was in the news today...?

"Anti-Government Protests In Ukraine Turn Deadly" and here "Ukraine crisis: Police storm main Kiev 'Maidan' protest camp"
"Venezuela expels US diplomats"
"4 Dead In Thai Protests; Prime Minister Faces Charges In Rice Deal"
"U.N. Report Details North Korea's 'Crimes Against Humanity'"
"South Sudan’s Forces Clash With Rebels Near U.N. Base"
"Turkey's President Signs Law Restricting Web Use"

OK... Enough... there were some more but between Blogger being slow as molasses and being kinda fed up with the world at large, I'm through with headline hunting. 

What does this say? What does it say about our fellow man around the world that they are, in some cases, taking up sticks, stones, and Molotov cocktails to protest? Something is rotten. I can't put my finger on just what it might be, and rightly so, as it is a convoluted and tangled web filled with selfishness, greed, trickery, and deceit; and those are the good things.

I was watching Blade Runner just this afternoon and the opening places the story in a dystopian Los Angeles, November 2019. That's only 5 years away, and still no spinners (flying cars). When will there be "A new life awaiting us in the Off-World Colonies, your chance to begin again in a golden land of opportunity and adventure."

Anyway, as broken as this world is, there are certain simple answers for many of the worlds problems. Follow the easy money. Laziness is a valid reason for something not happening. People are mostly selfish, at least enough to be able to predict a level of behavior. No one wants responsibility, unless there is something in it for them.
I'm not trying to be negative; I'm a genuinely hopeful and happy person. I am a realist however. Nearly every major event in world history is simultaneously more complex and simpler than we give it credit, and that is because people are involved. Simple motivations, complex outcomes. A little bit of chaos theory.
As Jim Morrison put it so appropriately in a drug induced writing binge, "People are strange, when you're a stranger."

Today is about awareness, not solutions. Think about the world and how small it is. You can go to your closet and find something made in Thailand. The internet is everywhere at the speed of electrons (provider not withstanding like Turkey). The world is a smaller place. we need to keep in mind the things that are happening all around us and not get too side tracked by bikini babes floating weightless in the vomit comet.
I will however include a picture of that to ensure lots of pageviews, since that is how we internet.



Topic Tuesday #46 2013/06/04 - "Book'em Dano"

Topic Tuesday #46 2013/06/04 - "Book'em Dano"

...And make sure you swab his mouth for a DNA sample.

Sounds a little more ominous now doesn't it? But why is that? First, the news: 



Says all I really need to know in that sentence. It passed the high seat by a slim 5:4 margin with a strong dissenting opinion by Judge Scalia. As always, I encourage you to take a look and think about the issue for yourselves.
What I want to look at is what our normal baseline is right now for the "booking process" and the Fourth Amendment.
While going through the booking process, the following should be expected:
  • Mug Shots
  • Fingerprints
  • A search
  • Routine questions on background information (name, address, etc.)

If your case begins with a court appearance and not an arrest, you may still be required to appear at the police station for a book-and-release procedure. 
Most jails will give out booking information (arrest date, bail, visiting information, the location, the court date, charges and booking number). Generally, you'll be asked for the defendant's full name and birth date. Keep the booking number for future reference. 


As you can see, once you are in police custody, very little is sacred. You can plead the Fifth Amendment and maintain your Miranda Rights, however, you are still subject to a physical search, up to cavity search...  

A note on Miranda rights, since they are thrown about so readily: 1966 Miranda v. Arizona. The ruling states:
...The person in custody must, prior to interrogation, be clearly informed that he/she has the right to remain silent, and that anything the person says will be used against that person in court; the person must be clearly informed that he/she has the right to consult with an attorney and to have that attorney present during questioning, and that, if he/she is indigent, an attorney will be provided at no cost to represent him/her.
Further: On June 1, 2010, in deciding the Berghuis v. Thompkins case, the United States Supreme Court declared that criminal defendants who have been read the Miranda rights (and who have indicated they understand them and have not already waived them), must explicitly state during or before an interrogation begins that they wish to be silent and not speak to police for that protection against self-incrimination to apply. If they speak to police about the incident before invoking the Miranda right to remain silent, or afterwards at any point during the interrogation or detention, the words they speak may be used against them if they have not stated they do not want to speak to police.

The lesson here is say as little as possible until you see legal council, even if you are innocent. Don't be a jerk about it, but better safe than sorry.

OK enough about that, now on to the Constitution. For completeness:

 Amendment 4: The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

I imagine that the issue that is primarily irritating is "the right of the people to be secure in their persons". It's a fine line. You would already have your finger prints put on file, your picture taken (without make up in most cases), and... there is that search...

So what's the big deal about having another piece of data, that identifies you, even better than finger prints and mug shots, go into the database? Oh... there it is. The Database. Big brother is watching you and Hoover is keeping Tabs on you. Well yes. They are. This is a surprise? You get targeted advertisements all the time. Data is being harvested all the time, and the government happily buys it up. They might not know what to do with it, but they have it when they do figure something out. DNA, will just be another field in a growing database.

Lately, there has been an increasing stigma over "big data". Specifically how it is being used. The primary problem is a lack of understanding. I will save big data for another Tuesday. For now, be aware that more rapists, more criminals, more bodies, will be identified and thus be another step closer to justice - whatever that means today.

Think I'm off base? Good, tell me about your thoughts on the matter. Just remember, 'cavity search'. before thinking a DNA swab is illegal.


Topic Tuesday #42 2013/05/07 - "Disruptive Tech"

Topic Tuesday #42 2013/05/07 - "Disruptive Tech"

I love technology. I love history. I love science and science fiction (the inspiration for more of the former). The last few days have seen a turn in the direction of what was thought of just at the top of the year as pure science fiction. Well, when I say thought of, I mean all but those with their eyes on a gun manufacturer here in the United States. Defence Distributed, and its front man Cody Wilson, have dreamt up a cottage industry in disruption. Cody, over the last year, has designed and now succeeded in building a fully 3D printed firearm called the Liberator. It's designed as a homage to the single shot weapons that were air dropped over France during WWII. Besides that, the weapon is all plastic save the nail used as a firing pin. The plans have been released to the wild. Anyone can make one of these if they so desired.
And that is outstanding.
Don't think so? Let me explain my stance.
Freedom.
Oh... You probably want more of a platform than that. OK, look at it this way, this is a technology that cannot be stopped. It cannot be regulated to the governments liking and never will be without massive outrage. This is manufacturing in your garage. Dream it one day, make it the next. You don't need permission. You just need the know how, the raw materials and the tools to put them together. Cody made a gun. Will this gun be used to hurt someone? Almost certainly. This is a logical progression to this kind of device (3D printer). Think for a moment as I stroll down technology of years past lane. When Gutenberg and his movable type printing press came on the scene the scribes were out of a job, and it was revolution in the streets (Martin Luther ring a bell?). When the cassette tape was released and you could record onto it easily, the Recording Industry lost their minds. When the VCR came out the Motion Picture Industry went nuts. CD Burners, DVD Burners, BlueRay burners MP3, MP4, JPEG things that can make a copy of something without the originator getting their due, will always be disruptive. I recall that digital copiers were so good at color reproduction that they were used in counterfeiting operations. The Liberator is a statement and a loud extension of this phenomenon. This says, "You can't stop the future. This is the information age, and now we can make use of that information - whatever form it takes."
It is a shake up. It is a wake up call. What that call sounds like changes depending on who hears it, but really it's about freedom.

Personally, I knew this was coming, and making my own gun if just not my cup of tea. Personally, I would rather be the toy maker or make replacement parts and mockups for my own projects. But that is what most people will do. Again, take the internet as a case in point. When it was started, there was no security, no anti virus, no pictures... It was innocent, with innocent ideals. None of those early engineers considered that it would be used for terrorism, free speech, porn, dating, and social networking, or even voice and video. It proved to be disruptive. In a very short time, look how far it has come! Now, where will 3D printing go as the technology becomes less and less expensive?  In less than 10 years, I can see the personal 3D printer all over. Remember inkjet printers were very expensive when they first came on the scene; now they are practically disposable. The printer they used for the gun, was $10,000 on ebay second hand. You can get a MakerBot for considerably less. http://store.makerbot.com/ And I encourage you to go make something.

What will your imagination make next? Will regulation over these devices stifle creativity and rapid prototyping with red tape? Will it just be impossible to regulate, like desktop printing and copy machines?
What do you think?

Topic Tuesday #33 2013/03/05 - "Do not pass GO, Do not Collect $200 - Go directly to Privatization"

Topic Tuesday #33 2013/03/05 - "Do not pass GO. Do not Collect $200 - Go directly to Privatization"

The seed for today's topic. Florida Atlantic University in it's efforts to pay for a 30,000 seat football stadium found an unlikely backer. The Stadium will be christened the GEO Group Stadium, thanks to a $6 million dollar (over 12 years) donation to the public university. GEO Group is the nations second largest operator of for-profit privatized prisons. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/19/florida-atlantic-football-stadium_n_2720223.html?1361323728
This leads to a great many questions about what privatization really means. We have corporate prisons, corporate schools, corporate space programs, and some would say politicians should dress up like race car drives so we can see who is sponsoring them as well.

Today I want to look at prisons, specifically.
The United States is the world's leader in incarceration with 2.2 million people currently in the nation's prisons or jails - a 500% increase over the past thirty years. These trends have resulted in prison overcrowding and state governments being overwhelmed by the burden of funding a rapidly expanding penal system. The original intent, some 200 years ago, when the penitentiary system (etymologically derived from "penance") was formed by the Quakers and other reformist groups, was to take sinners, lock them in a cell, make them read the Bible, and they would repent for their sins. This model of incarceration (which didn't have great success at rehabilitation and repentance) has not changed that much since the inception. What has changed is the perception, method, and value of incarceration.

Not all the privatizations for to Corporations, some just migrate jurisdiction from state to county. In Louisiana it works this way: County or parish sheriffs get about $25 a day for inmates that would have otherwise ended up in state prisons. Some of that money goes to house and feed the prisoners. What’s left over goes to the underfunded sheriffs’ departments to use for much needed equipment and for manpower. The sheriffs get their needed bullet proof vests, and somehow prisoners end up with longer sentences and jail remain at capacity to get their $25 a head. This narrows any funds left for an actual rehabilitation. Again in this example, the funds for those activities come from charity functions like rodeos and Church outreach.
This method is simple, the more you have the easier it is to take care of, and you end up with a more economical situation with more money left over. This is not as insidious as what the real private for profit prisons do. 

Slave Labor.

In the eyes of the corporation, inmate labor is a brilliant strategy in the eternal quest to maximize profit. By dipping into the prison labor pool, companies have their pick of workers who are not only cheap but easily controlled. Companies are free to avoid providing benefits like health insurance or sick days, while simultaneously paying little to no wages. They don’t need to worry about unions or demands for vacation time or raises. Inmates work full-time and are never late or absent because of family problems.
Under the Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC), private-sector employers receive a tax credit of $2,400 for every work release inmate they employ as a reward for hiring “risky target groups” and they can "earn back up to 40 percent of the wages they pay annually to target group workers."

Companies can lease factory time in prisons. Lease prison work forces.
Noah Zatz of UCLA law school estimates that:
“Well over 600,000, and probably close to a million, inmates are working full-time in jails and prisons throughout the United States. Perhaps some of them built your desk chair: office furniture, especially in state universities and the federal government, is a major prison labor product. Inmates also take hotel reservations at corporate call centers, make body armor for the U.S. military, and manufacture prison chic fashion accessories, in addition to the iconic task of stamping license plates.”

Making stiffer penalties that lead to longer stays in the "big house" has proven a great way to get votes. Making other people responsible and shifting the financial burden is also a great slight of hand for policy makers. 
And thanks to all this, there is a dark economy of slavery in this country while record unemployment continues to plague the news, the government has it's armor and ammunition built by felons, and Corporate America hires prisoners for a few dollars a day to slice "Made in Honduras" tags off garments and replace them with "Made in America".

Is it ethical to incarcerate people for the sole purpose of making money? How can anyone think it is?


http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/episodes/january-11-2013/prisons-for-profit/14485/
http://www.sentencingproject.org/detail/news.cfm?news_id=1445
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/dec/19/corporate-welfare-incarceration-industry
http://www.alternet.org/story/151732/21st-century_slaves%3A_how_corporations_exploit_prison_labor?page=0%2C0&paging=off
http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-pentagon-and-slave-labor-in-u-s-prisons/25376

Topic Tuesday #22 2012/12/18 - "The End of the World..?"

Topic Tuesday #22 2012/12/18 - "The End of the World..?"

Yes, I had to jump on the bandwagon. How often do you get to live through an 'Apocalypse' complete with dooms day scenarios and movies?  Well... Quite a few times as it turns out.

Apocalypse/Dooms Day/End of Days predictions and cults that we didn't die from.

1) If you read this on or later than the 21st of December, 2012 - You have survived the end of the Mayan Calendar cycle. NASA put together a very nice treatise as to why we will still be here Saturday morning and beyond. http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/2012.html

Harold Camping


2) Harold Camping (born July 19, 1921) of Family Radio predicted the world was going to end in 2011 using numerology in his interpretations of Bible passages. Camping predicted that Jesus Christ would return to Earth on May 21, 2011, whereupon the righteous would fly up to heaven, and that there would follow five months of fire, brimstone and plagues on Earth, with millions of people dying each day, culminating on October 21, 2011, with the final destruction of the world. He had previously predicted that Judgment Day would occur on or about September 6, 1994. Mr. Camping had a stroke after the failed 2011 predition, apologized, and retired as president of Family Radio.

3) In the days leading up to September 9, 2009, fans of Armageddon insisted that the world would end - 9/9/9 being the emergency services phone number in the UK and also the number of the Devil - albeit upside down. Surprisingly there wasn't the same hyperbole on June 6, 2006.

4) Heaven’s Gate (March 26, 1997) followers believed in UFOs and impending doom, for which the only escape was to voluntarily “turn against the next level” by committing suicide. The leaders of the group, Marshall Applewhite and Bonnie Nettles, convinced members that their “evacuation” plan would be a fast-approaching UFO which would act as their mode of transport to beyond. 

5) Waco, TX Branch Davidians a deeply religious cult that originated in 1955 from a schism in the Davidian Seventh Day Adventists("Davidians"), a reform movement that began within the Seventh-day Adventist Church ("Adventists") around 1930. The 1993 actions of this religious sect were predicated on the notion that they lived in the final times according to the Book of Revelation. Vernon Howell (who changed his name to David Koresh in 1990) claimed himself their final prophet. The Davidian movement went up in flames during the 55 day "Waco Siege" (February 28 - April 19, 1993)

6) “Aum” was a Japanese religious movement founded by Shoko Asahara. His 1984 doomsday prophecy described a final conflict culminating in a nuclear "Armageddon", borrowing again the term from the Book of Revelation. According to Robert Jay Lifton, author of “Destroying the World to Save It: Aum Shinrikyo, Apocalyptic Violence, and the New Global Terrorism,” Asahara predicted Armageddon would occur in 1997, and that humanity would end, except (surprise!) for the elite few who joined Aum. Shoko Asahara was convicted of masterminding the 1995 sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway and several other crimes, for which he was sentenced to death in 2004. In June 2012, his execution has been postponed due to further arrests of Aum Shinrikyo members.

7) Edgar Whisenant wrote a bestselling book called “88 Reasons Why the Rapture Will Be in 1988.”  and the following year he published “The Final Shout: Rapture Report 1989,” and continued selling millions of these books with the same title and a revised year through 1993.

8) 50 members of a group called the Assembly of Yahweh (less familiarly known as Messianic, as well as Spiritual Israelites) gathered at Coney Island, New York, in white robes, awaiting their 'rapture' from a world about to be destroyed on May 25, 1981

9) The “mad messiah,” James Warren "Jim" Jones (1931 – November 18, 1978) was founder and leader of the “People’s Temple.” In 1965, Jones claimed that the world would be engulfed in a nuclear war on July 15, 1967. When that didn't happen, Jones went about establishing his communist commune in “Jonestown” in Guyana. The events of November 18, 1978, in Guyana, in which 920 people died at the Peoples Temple Agricultural Project (informally, and now commonly, called "Jonestown") and nearby airstrip at Port Kaituma, and Georgetown in an organized mass suicide/killing. The mass suicide and killings at Jonestown resulted in the greatest single loss of American civilian life in a non-natural non-accidental disaster prior to the events of September 11, 2001. Casualties at the airstrip included, among others, Congressman Leo Ryan. On the evening of November 18, in Jonestown, Jones ordered his congregation to drink a concoction of cyanide-laced, grape-flavored Flavor Aid. Parents were instructed to inject their children with the same drink should they be under a certain age. (This is also a plausible origin of the phrase, "drinking the cool-aid.")

10) Sir Isaac Newton (1642 – 1727) In one account is said to have foretold the end in 1948, but in a manuscript he wrote in 1704 (in which he describes his attempts to extract scientific information from the Bible), he estimated that the world would end no earlier than 2060. In predicting this he said, "This I mention not to assert when the time of the end shall be, but to put a stop to the rash conjectures of fanciful men who are frequently predicting the time of the end, and by doing so bring the sacred prophesies into discredit as often as their predictions fail."

11) Protestant reformer Martin Luther (1483 - 1546) proclaimed that 'the kingdom of abominations shall be overthrown' within 300 years. Anywhere from (1546 - 1846)
William Miller

12) William Miller (1782 – 1849) American Baptist preacher. Among his direct spiritual heirs are several major religious denominations, including Seventh-day Adventists and Advent Christians. Later movements found inspiration in Miller's emphasis on biblical prophecy. His own followers are known as Millerites. Miller prophesied The End in 1844, based on Bible passage Daniel 8:14: "Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed." 

13) John Napier (1550 – 1617) though best known as the discoverer of logarithms, predicted the world would end either in  1688 or 1700 in "A Plaine Discovery of the Whole Revelation of St. John" (1593). He also dated the seventh trumpet to 1541.

14) Christopher Columbus (1451 – 1506) predicted the world would end in 1656 in one of his books, a "Book of Prophecies" (1505).

Nostradamus
15) Michael Stifel (1487 - 1567) a German monk, proselytized that the end of the world would come on Oct. 3, 1533, at precisely eight o’clock in the morning. When the hour came and went, he was then summarily ejected from his ecclesiastical quarters and flogged in the streets.

16) Nostradamus (1503 – 1566) in his book "Les Propheties", published in 1555, had this quatrain that still befuddles people into thinking the end is near: Century I Quatrain 46
“Very near Auch, Lectoure and Mirande a great fire will fall from the sky for three nights. (Anytime now...)

Topic Tuesday #19 2012/11/27 - "Grab a Snickers"

Topic Tuesday #19 2012/11/27 - "Grab a Snickers"

Last night I was confronted by the past. Not my past but an event that took place in Spokane, Washington on March 18, 2006. Otto Zehm, 36, a mentally disabled janitor, was mistaken for another man stealing money from an ATM at the convenience store that Zehm visited every day to get a soda and a Snickers. I will sum it up as briefly as I can, and you can see the full report here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/16/otto-zehm-beating-death-karl-thompson-mental-disabilities_n_2143920.html?utm_hp_ref=fb&src=sp&comm_ref=false
Otto Zehm
  • Report: ATM Theft
  • Respondent: Officer Karl F. Thompson Jr. ( a Vietnam veteran and a decorated 40-year veteran of law enforcement in Los Angeles, northern Idaho and Spokane)
  • On Scene: Officer assaults suspect (Zehm) with baton, striking him 7 times in 8 seconds and used his stun device.
  • Reinforcements: More officers arrive, gag and hogtie Zehm and sat on him.
  • Results: It was determined sometime later that he was not at fault however was beaten unconscious and expired 2 days later. His last words were "All I wanted was a Snickers bar."
  • Aftermath: Cover-up of the excessive force and violations of Zehm's civil rights. Officer Thompson was sentenced November 15th 2012 to 4 years and 3 months for his roll in Zehm's untimely death.

My take is this and I will end and open to comments:

I love and respect any member of law enforcement and our soldiers that are willing to put their own lives at risk every minute of the day to keep the majority safe. I am only concerned with the outliers. The ones that make grievous errors. Keep an eye on those that are there to serve and protect. Don't be afraid, but don't be dumb either. Bad things happen. This was/is a tragic tale that echos all over.
How do we go about fixing something as pervasive as power corruption? Did the officer have a bad day? Not eat his Wheaties? Just make a mistake? We won't know. These black marks, like all such, are swept under the rug as quietly as possible. The authorities can't have tarnished reputations as it just causes more unrest. Like a wild animal seeking weakness .. Then they get hurt, and they will always protect their own. I wouldn't expect anything less. They are few. The criminals are many. It's a hard dirty job. This does not excuse anyone or make them less accountable for their actions-EVER...
The bad apple does spoil the bunch, especially when all you wanted was a snickers bar, and were beaten to death over mistaken identity...