Saturday, July 2, 2016
Blowing away another Windows install currently, replacing with Linux Mint. I highly encourage people to move away from Windows to Linux, much better experience overall. With Linux, you aren't forced to do anything, aren't overloaded with ads all the time, most distros don't track everything you do and build profiles on you for advertising, and in general, your computer will not be churning all the time and will be at least twice to three times as responsive.
-- Dad's last computer somehow got a blown motherboard, so he fell back down to a crappy Windows install on an old laptop (Vista..eww - just the thought makes my skin itch). Most of the process was me going through and organizing his documents and pictures into a backup folder and copying over to mom's computer. Linux Mint was up in less than an hour, and now he's very happily browsing the internet on a computer that boots faster and just plain out runs MUCH faster
Monday, May 18, 2009
More CIA
The more I read about the CIA's involvement in various portions of the world, the more I find that this involvement is primarily aimed at economic interests of large corporations and conglomerates. Usually the companies send requests for help to their contacts, either in the administration directly, through the US diplomat, or to their HQ in the US, which would subsequently contact the lobbyists or directly contact the administration, etc. From there, you would either have direct involvement of the military, or more likely, involvement by the CIA.
Take United Fruit Company for example. It was involved in the deaths of an unspecified number of it's workers who were protesting in Columbia in 1928, as its puppet dictatorship's assembled troops fired into the crowd. Later, the government gathered up the strike leaders and sent them to prison. The CIA's leaders were shareholders of United Fruit (Allen Dulles). The government troops had orders from our government, and the threat of invasion hanging over their heads.
Then in Guatemala, a democratically elected leader takes back land from United Fruit Company (it's had different names, but same company) and pays them what they say it's worth. The United Fruit Company begs the US government for help. We invade, topple the government, and put a dictatorship in place.
This scenario has played itself out too many times. We are responsible for many of the dictatorships in the world RIGHT NOW. If we let this organization and this culture continue their rampage, the ultimate result will be a dictatorship in this country, as exemplified by how close the last regime came. Even now, many of our basic rights and freedoms are threatened.
Why is this? We have a great system of economics where each person can purchase and sell anything for what he or she thinks it is worth. We've done better than most. Our business people travel the world in search of opportunities, purchasing land, starting businesses in many other countries.
First, I think we need to remember that we are guests in other countries. We never truly own that land. You may think of it as a lease. It is fair that the other government pay us for what the land is worth, however, a business interest is not the same as living there and being a citizen and subject to the host nation's laws. These tactics by the CIA to unfairly tip the scales in our favor result in massive deaths and wide-scale military based dictatorship.
Second, we have a problem with the lack of individual accountability in the legal construct of corporations. When the interests of the one outweigh the interests of the many, there is a problem. Normally, our system of economics combined with our legal system ensure that people are fairly compensated for their work and that resources are available. However, the same companies who are getting us into wars are also likely responsible for the underlying conflict.
Here are some questions I would like to know (note to self and to others for future reference):
1. What corporations have been most responsible for our government's intervention, CIA and otherwise, and what humanitarian considerations are in play that cause this to be the case? Most likely, they are mistreating their workers, deliberately causing a lack of resources to increase profits in some way, bribing local governments, installing local governments, paying for security who also happen to be terrorists or guerrillas against neighboring states, etc.
2. What exactly is taught in the School of the Americas?
3. What are the current financial holdings of the current CIA director? What businesses does he own stock in, and especially what businesses is he part-owner in?
The bottom line is that by providing our elite with a blank check to do whatever they like to protect their own bottom line, we sabotage our legal process. The CIA is that blank check. No other government organization is so fully stocked with the interests of the rich and powerful. The CIA's culture will be solely behind most of our future wars if we do not stop it.
Take United Fruit Company for example. It was involved in the deaths of an unspecified number of it's workers who were protesting in Columbia in 1928, as its puppet dictatorship's assembled troops fired into the crowd. Later, the government gathered up the strike leaders and sent them to prison. The CIA's leaders were shareholders of United Fruit (Allen Dulles). The government troops had orders from our government, and the threat of invasion hanging over their heads.
Then in Guatemala, a democratically elected leader takes back land from United Fruit Company (it's had different names, but same company) and pays them what they say it's worth. The United Fruit Company begs the US government for help. We invade, topple the government, and put a dictatorship in place.
This scenario has played itself out too many times. We are responsible for many of the dictatorships in the world RIGHT NOW. If we let this organization and this culture continue their rampage, the ultimate result will be a dictatorship in this country, as exemplified by how close the last regime came. Even now, many of our basic rights and freedoms are threatened.
Why is this? We have a great system of economics where each person can purchase and sell anything for what he or she thinks it is worth. We've done better than most. Our business people travel the world in search of opportunities, purchasing land, starting businesses in many other countries.
First, I think we need to remember that we are guests in other countries. We never truly own that land. You may think of it as a lease. It is fair that the other government pay us for what the land is worth, however, a business interest is not the same as living there and being a citizen and subject to the host nation's laws. These tactics by the CIA to unfairly tip the scales in our favor result in massive deaths and wide-scale military based dictatorship.
Second, we have a problem with the lack of individual accountability in the legal construct of corporations. When the interests of the one outweigh the interests of the many, there is a problem. Normally, our system of economics combined with our legal system ensure that people are fairly compensated for their work and that resources are available. However, the same companies who are getting us into wars are also likely responsible for the underlying conflict.
Here are some questions I would like to know (note to self and to others for future reference):
1. What corporations have been most responsible for our government's intervention, CIA and otherwise, and what humanitarian considerations are in play that cause this to be the case? Most likely, they are mistreating their workers, deliberately causing a lack of resources to increase profits in some way, bribing local governments, installing local governments, paying for security who also happen to be terrorists or guerrillas against neighboring states, etc.
2. What exactly is taught in the School of the Americas?
3. What are the current financial holdings of the current CIA director? What businesses does he own stock in, and especially what businesses is he part-owner in?
The bottom line is that by providing our elite with a blank check to do whatever they like to protect their own bottom line, we sabotage our legal process. The CIA is that blank check. No other government organization is so fully stocked with the interests of the rich and powerful. The CIA's culture will be solely behind most of our future wars if we do not stop it.
Where are we now politically?
For the longest time, I've felt we've been going down the wrong road. I feel that the operation of the CIA has been central (ha) to the current political climate. Back when I was serving in the USAF in an AWACs related wing, I heard the story about a missionary flying his personal plane up from deep in South America. Having not filed a proper flight plan due to poor communication and transport infrastructure from his originating location for the return flight, he was tracked by CIA's version of AWACs over Brazil. Suspecting drug shipment, they vectored Brazilian fighters toward the plane. Somehow, AF AWACs had some sort of information on this guy and informed CIA's plane not to give the shoot-down go-ahead. (Disclaimer - this is what I heard - I am not overtly familiar with the chain of command for Brazilian airspace, nor 100% sure of the authenticity of this information) The CIA's people cursed us out and gave the go ahead. The missionary, his wife, and unborn daughter all died in the plane crash.
Now, in the last administration, we have someone with a long history of family in the organization using those connections. We have found that the underpinnings of the CIA are something that has dishonored and continues to dishonor our country.
How?
1. Operating unseen from the public eye, they kept prisons in other countries. There, they brought kidnapped people whom a small cadre of individuals had targeted.
The range of options available to them for dealing with these individuals not only included these prisons, but also secure areas within Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as extradition to other partners such as Egypt, Syria, and Uzbekistan, among others.
These individuals had no humanitarian oversight. After they were finished with them, they would either extradite or dump them in the POW camps.
2. Having someone who grew up in the culture in the presidency naturally extends the responsibility of that culture to what happened during that term. This is a stretch, but I think it applies. My own examination of the motives of the presidency yields basically a supreme interest in oil. Whether this means that Bush went specifically after his own family's interests alone, or that we as a country are very close to not having enough fuel, I don't know.
The bottom line is that Bush used methods of expediency, logic that the ends justified the means, and complete non-transparency. All of which would have been learned from the culture of the CIA.
3. When the administration called on the CIA to implement a program of "enhanced interrogation", it had no problem. I know that I will be told that it wasn't the CIA, and that it actually came from the SERE program, but I don't think that is correct. The CIA didn't have to go to the SERE program, as they would have had those resources long before. It only takes a bit more digging. The SERE program was just part of the excuse. The CIA did demand CYA, which gives us our current abundance of proof and the not-so-plausible cover story.
Now, here is a list of questions I'm interested in knowing:
1. How many possible large scale internment camps were under construction during the Bush term, how many were completed, where are they, and how many people can each hold? What is the purported reasoning behind each?
2. Of the large scale wiretapping operations on American citizens we know about, how many are still in service? Which telecommunications companies do they operate out of (AT&T?), and what are their locations? Obama is not likely to get rid of that.
3. What is the current legal status of Habeus Corpus? Has it been dragged from the grave yet, or is it policy-wise, still dead? What other key tenants of the Bill of Rights have we lost, and what are the chances of reviving them?
4. What is the difference between current police methods and legal foundation when it comes to the arrest of people videotaping police officers performing their job?
5. When the towers went down, who got the insurance money, if any, when was the policy established and in what amounts, and what was the financial position of the holding company? The company that trained the pilots, what is the latest on the arrests and case concerning the last time its planes were used to smuggle drugs? Is it a CIA front company?
Do you see where this is going? This is the ground work needed to prove conspiracy. There is enough evidence to convict and hang senior members of the last administration up to at least the vice president.
That is all for now.
Now, in the last administration, we have someone with a long history of family in the organization using those connections. We have found that the underpinnings of the CIA are something that has dishonored and continues to dishonor our country.
How?
1. Operating unseen from the public eye, they kept prisons in other countries. There, they brought kidnapped people whom a small cadre of individuals had targeted.
The range of options available to them for dealing with these individuals not only included these prisons, but also secure areas within Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as extradition to other partners such as Egypt, Syria, and Uzbekistan, among others.
These individuals had no humanitarian oversight. After they were finished with them, they would either extradite or dump them in the POW camps.
2. Having someone who grew up in the culture in the presidency naturally extends the responsibility of that culture to what happened during that term. This is a stretch, but I think it applies. My own examination of the motives of the presidency yields basically a supreme interest in oil. Whether this means that Bush went specifically after his own family's interests alone, or that we as a country are very close to not having enough fuel, I don't know.
The bottom line is that Bush used methods of expediency, logic that the ends justified the means, and complete non-transparency. All of which would have been learned from the culture of the CIA.
3. When the administration called on the CIA to implement a program of "enhanced interrogation", it had no problem. I know that I will be told that it wasn't the CIA, and that it actually came from the SERE program, but I don't think that is correct. The CIA didn't have to go to the SERE program, as they would have had those resources long before. It only takes a bit more digging. The SERE program was just part of the excuse. The CIA did demand CYA, which gives us our current abundance of proof and the not-so-plausible cover story.
Now, here is a list of questions I'm interested in knowing:
1. How many possible large scale internment camps were under construction during the Bush term, how many were completed, where are they, and how many people can each hold? What is the purported reasoning behind each?
2. Of the large scale wiretapping operations on American citizens we know about, how many are still in service? Which telecommunications companies do they operate out of (AT&T?), and what are their locations? Obama is not likely to get rid of that.
3. What is the current legal status of Habeus Corpus? Has it been dragged from the grave yet, or is it policy-wise, still dead? What other key tenants of the Bill of Rights have we lost, and what are the chances of reviving them?
4. What is the difference between current police methods and legal foundation when it comes to the arrest of people videotaping police officers performing their job?
5. When the towers went down, who got the insurance money, if any, when was the policy established and in what amounts, and what was the financial position of the holding company? The company that trained the pilots, what is the latest on the arrests and case concerning the last time its planes were used to smuggle drugs? Is it a CIA front company?
Do you see where this is going? This is the ground work needed to prove conspiracy. There is enough evidence to convict and hang senior members of the last administration up to at least the vice president.
That is all for now.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Thorax fun
So I was flying around Sotrentaira in my Thorax ratting, and every once in awhile I'd see a jetcan miner and sidle up and flip the can. I keep thinking that one of these days someone in their hulk is going to get a wild hair and attack me with their drones. It hasn't happened yet.
In any case, a guy calls me out finally, and demands a duel. I agree, and we eventually meet in the next system over. It appears he has brought a harpy, a t2 assault frigate. I say no and head back to Sotrentaira. He agrees to a duel with cruiser to cruiser. Eventually we meet at planet 1. He jettisons a can. I don't take it. After all, he has a corpmate in system and my closest corpmates are 17 jumps out. So, I jettison a can...his corpmate warps in with a Raven.
A little game follows where the corpmate takes three cans I jettison, sends out armor repping drones to try to fool me, attacks the guy in the Moa after he moved up close, and generally tries different things to get me to attack.
A cruiser versus a battleship isn't good odds. I continue to try to get the Moa to take a can. It's not happening. So, watching the Raven, it looks like the torpedoes aren't hitting the Moa very well.
So, I target and attack. He immediately turns on some energy vamps, and it takes three seconds for me to run out of cap. His teammate tells me to "have fun". I reply "I will".
My blasters no longer work. Also, he has me warp scrambled. With no cap, I can't use my microwarpdrive. Things aren't looking good. I head for the border, trying to make 20km in order to warp out. He sends some T1 Hammerheads out at me, which are clipping away at my shields. I pull my drones back and start attacking his hammerheads. He pulls his hammerheads back in.
Meanwhile, I'm into armor, and about 10km off. Good thing I have a 1600 Rolled Tungsten Plate. He keeps me cap drained while I slowly pull out at 200m/s, kilometer after kilometer slowly rolling by, siege torpedo after siege torpedo slamming into my hull. I suppose the damage control II would keep me alive just that bit longer once my armor is used up. At about 15km, I'm approaching hull. I recall my drones and target the station closest to the center of heading.
Torpedo after torpedo slams into me, very slowly taking me down. It's a good thing the torpedoes no longer hit moving targets very well, or I'd be toast by now.
Finally, 20km...I hit the warp drive and pass into warp with just a tiny fraction of armor remaining.
In any case, a guy calls me out finally, and demands a duel. I agree, and we eventually meet in the next system over. It appears he has brought a harpy, a t2 assault frigate. I say no and head back to Sotrentaira. He agrees to a duel with cruiser to cruiser. Eventually we meet at planet 1. He jettisons a can. I don't take it. After all, he has a corpmate in system and my closest corpmates are 17 jumps out. So, I jettison a can...his corpmate warps in with a Raven.
A little game follows where the corpmate takes three cans I jettison, sends out armor repping drones to try to fool me, attacks the guy in the Moa after he moved up close, and generally tries different things to get me to attack.
A cruiser versus a battleship isn't good odds. I continue to try to get the Moa to take a can. It's not happening. So, watching the Raven, it looks like the torpedoes aren't hitting the Moa very well.
So, I target and attack. He immediately turns on some energy vamps, and it takes three seconds for me to run out of cap. His teammate tells me to "have fun". I reply "I will".
My blasters no longer work. Also, he has me warp scrambled. With no cap, I can't use my microwarpdrive. Things aren't looking good. I head for the border, trying to make 20km in order to warp out. He sends some T1 Hammerheads out at me, which are clipping away at my shields. I pull my drones back and start attacking his hammerheads. He pulls his hammerheads back in.
Meanwhile, I'm into armor, and about 10km off. Good thing I have a 1600 Rolled Tungsten Plate. He keeps me cap drained while I slowly pull out at 200m/s, kilometer after kilometer slowly rolling by, siege torpedo after siege torpedo slamming into my hull. I suppose the damage control II would keep me alive just that bit longer once my armor is used up. At about 15km, I'm approaching hull. I recall my drones and target the station closest to the center of heading.
Torpedo after torpedo slams into me, very slowly taking me down. It's a good thing the torpedoes no longer hit moving targets very well, or I'd be toast by now.
Finally, 20km...I hit the warp drive and pass into warp with just a tiny fraction of armor remaining.
Where did we come from?
I like to read about biologists trying to simulate our origins.
Once we understand how evolution could work, we could potentially seed life on other planets to prepare them for colonization.
Regardless of what evolution means for our religious beliefs, it is useful as a thought construct to categorize and manipulate the components of life.
http://digg.com/d1rIoW
Furthermore, knowing about what key states and chemical compounds are necessary for the first steps should help us in our search for extraterrestrial life. These two considerations go together. What temperature ranges would life develop best in, how much of different frequencies are best, etc - all defines where a planet should be, and what kind of atmosphere it should have and even the specific latitude where life could start most easily.
Once we understand how evolution could work, we could potentially seed life on other planets to prepare them for colonization.
Regardless of what evolution means for our religious beliefs, it is useful as a thought construct to categorize and manipulate the components of life.
http://digg.com/d1rIoW
Furthermore, knowing about what key states and chemical compounds are necessary for the first steps should help us in our search for extraterrestrial life. These two considerations go together. What temperature ranges would life develop best in, how much of different frequencies are best, etc - all defines where a planet should be, and what kind of atmosphere it should have and even the specific latitude where life could start most easily.
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