englishnews@chosun.com / Feb. 04, 2010 12:51 KST

The North Korean regime has sacked the Workers' Party's Finance Director Pak Nam-gi, letting him take the fall for the failed currency reform late last year. Until December, Pak was frequently spotted accompanying North Korean leader Kim Jong-il on his "on-the-spot-guidance" tours, but he suddenly dropped from sight in January.

Diplomatic sources in Beijing say Pak was probably removed as a sacrificial lamb after social unrest increased following the currency revaluation, which led to skyrocketing prices. When millions of people starved to death or fled the country to escape famine and flooding between 1995 and '96, North Korea accused Minister of Agriculture Seo Gwan-hee of espionage and executed him in public in the streets of Pyongyang.

North Korean defectors say the official price of rice was 20 won per kilogram, but in the month after the currency revaluation, it jumped 20 times to 30 times and now costs 600 won. In some areas, prices are said to have soared 50 times to 1,000 won. As a result, frustrated North Koreans have no qualms about making insulting comments about their leader now, even in front of state security agents.

North Korea revalued its currency because a nascent market economy began taking root in various parts of the country following the collapse of the state's ability to distribute food and other supplies in the late 1990s, which created a new class of relatively wealthy merchants who became an increasing threat to the privileges of party members. North Korea wanted to revamp the system of state distribution system and reclaim economic control to protect the communist ruling class and to ensure the smooth transfer of power from Kim Jong-il to his third son Jong-un.

The crisis demonstrates the losing battle the North Korean leader is fighting against market forces and rising public discontent. The regime is even said to have issued live ammunition to security agents and authorized them to shoot and kill protesting citizens. But the regime still had to resort to blaming its chief economic policymaker after the draconian measures failed to appease public anger, a tactic commonly used by regimes that have lost the support of the public.

If the rumors coming out of North Korea are accurate, then the country is a ticking time bomb. During the last crisis during the late 1990s, North Korea pursued the Geneva Agreement with the U.S., while sending armed infiltrators to South Korea aboard submarines and launched the Taepodong-1 long-range missile. Now it is resorting to similar tactics by demanding talks with South Korea while launching massive military exercises and firing artillery rounds near the maritime border in the West Sea.

Grand National Party leader Chung Mong-joon said on Wednesday, "I would like to be briefed by intelligence officers" on the situation in North Korea. The South Korean public is even more anxious about the situation. Cheong Wa Dae, the Unification Ministry and the National Intelligence Service are saying that the situation in North Korea is not serious enough to threaten Kim's rule. In January 1989, the West German government said there were no unusual signs coming out of East Germany, but soon after, masses of East Germans fled their country and headed to Hungary and Austria, and in November the same year the Berlin Wall came down.

This does not mean South Korea's intelligence is inaccurate. It is important to note that nobody can be certain of the fate of the North Korean regime at this point. But what is required is for the government to set aside its preconceived ideas and prepare contingency plans in case of an emergency in North Korea. South Korean officials from the president on down must be prepared to deal with any scenario.

The New York Times is displayed on Amazon's Kindle e-book reader. /AP

With its newly unveiled iPad tablet PC, Apple is threatening the dominance of online retailer Amazon in the U.S. e-book market.

Amazon, the world's largest online bookstore, has been leading the e-book market for the past two years, selling 2.5 million units of its Kindle wireless e-reader. But less than a week after the iPad's debut, Amazon has already been forced to revise its pricing policy.

Amazon had been charging US$9.99 for e-book versions of popular titles, but last weekend it was forced to raise its prices when U.S. publishing giant Macmillan demanded it charge $12.99 to $14.99. Amazon initially took a tough stance and halted all sales of Macmillan books, but later retracted the measure and said on Sunday it would accept Macmillan's demand, according to international media reports.

Apple is behind the dispute between Amazon and the publishing industry. When it unveiled the iPad last Wednesday, Apple offered to charge up to $14.99 per e-book, prompting publishers, which have been unhappy with Amazon's monopoly, to revolt against the retailer. Apple also promised to give publishers or copyright holders 70 percent of the revenue from e-book sales, as it does with developers of applications for the iPhone. That gave Macmillan leverage to demand that Amazon raise its prices.

Industry insiders predict that e-book makers including publishers and newspapers will eventually have a bigger say in distribution. They may be helped by the decision of Internet giant Google to enter the market. Google plans to only set certain standards on discount rates and give publishers the right to decide prices. That will enable publishers to choose the retailer that offers the most favorable terms.

Dear Family, Friends, Allies & Future Friends,

by Philip Giraldi
January 28, 2010

A curious op-ed "The Tel Aviv Cluster" by the reliably neoconnish David Brooks appeared in the New York Times on January 12th.  Brooks enthused over the prowess of Israel’s high tech businesses, attributing their success in large part to Jewish exceptionalism and genius, which must have provided the ultimate feel good moment for Brooks, who is himself Jewish.  That Israel has a booming technology sector is undeniably true, but Brooks failed to mention other contributing factors such as the $101 billion dollars in US economic and military aid over the course of more than four decades, which does not include the additional $30 billion recently approved by President Barack Obama.  American assistance has financed and fueled Israel’s business growth while the open access and even "preferential treatment" afforded to Israeli exporters through the Israel Free Trade Implementation Act of 1985 has provided Israelis with the enormous US market to sell their products and services.  By act of Congress, Israeli businesses can even bid on most American Federal and State government contracts just as if they were US companies.

The reality of Israeli spying is indisputable.  Israel always features prominently in the annual FBI report called "Foreign Economic Collection and Industrial Espionage." The 2005 report states, "Israel has an active program to gather proprietary information within the United States. These collection activities are primarily directed at obtaining information on military systems and advanced computing applications that can be used in Israel’s sizable armaments industry." It adds that Israel recruits spies, uses electronic methods, and carries out computer intrusion to gain the information. The 2005 report concluded that the thefts eroded US military advantage, enabling foreign powers to obtain expensive technologies that had taken years to develop.
 
A 1996 Defense Investigative Service report noted that Israel has great success stealing technology by exploiting the numerous co-production projects that it has with the Pentagon. "Placing Israeli nationals in key industries …is a technique utilized with great success." A General Accounting Office (GAO) examination of espionage directed against American defense and security industries described how Israeli citizens residing in the US had stolen sensitive technology to manufacture artillery gun tubes, obtained classified plans for a reconnaissance system, and passed sensitive aerospace designs to unauthorized users. An Israeli company was caught monitoring a Department of Defense telecommunications system to obtain classified information, while other Israeli entities targeted avionics, missile telemetry, aircraft communications, software systems, and advanced materials and coatings used in missile re-entry. The GAO concluded that Israel "conducts the most aggressive espionage operation against the United States of any US ally." In June 2006, a Pentagon administrative judge overruled an appeal by an Israeli who had been denied a security clearance, stating, "The Israeli government is actively engaged in military and industrial espionage in the United States. An Israeli citizen working in the US who has access to proprietary information is likely to be a target of such espionage."  More recently, FBI counter intelligence officer John Cole has reported how many cases of Israeli espionage are dropped under orders from the Justice Department.  He provides a "conservative estimate" of 125 worthwhile investigations into Israeli espionage involving both American citizens and Israelis that were stopped due to political pressure from above.
 
Two recent stories that have been reported in the Israeli media but are strangely absent from the news on this side of the Atlantic demonstrate exactly what is going on and what is at stake. The first story confirms that Israeli efforts to obtain US technology are ongoing.  Stewart David Nozette, a US government scientist who was arrested on October 19, 2009 in an FBI sting operation after offering to spy for Israel has been waiting in jail to go to trial on espionage charges.  New documents in the case were presented in the Federal court in Washington last week.  The documents confirm that Nozette was a paid consultant for Israeli Aerospace Industries (IAI) and it is believed that he passed to them classified material in return for an estimated $225,000 in consulting fees.  Examination of his computer by the FBI revealed that he was planning a "penetration of NASA" the US space agency and that he was also trying to crack into other scientists’ computers to obtain additional classified material.  Other documents demonstrate that he was cooperating with two Israeli scientists who were administrators with IAI, Yossi Weiss and Yossi Fishman.  Nozette made several trips to Israel without reporting them, which he was required to do because of his high security clearance.  The FBI reportedly also has incriminating letters and other documents that were obtained from the computer.
 
The second story relates to the pending sale of twenty-five F-35 fighter planes to Israel.  The F-35 is one of the most advanced fighter planes in the world.  The $130 million planes would be purchased with US military assistance money, which means they would effectively be a gift from the US taxpayer.  But Israel is balking at the sale reportedly because it wants to install some of its own local content in the aircraft.  The Pentagon has already made some concessions but is disinclined to grant approval for all the changes because to do so would require giving the Israelis full access to the plane’s advanced avionics and computer systems.  Israel also wants to independently maintain the aircraft, which would also require access to all systems.  It would be nice to think that the Pentagon wants to keep the maintenance in American hands to preserve jobs, but the Defense Department has never cared about US workers before when the issue is Israel, and the real reason for the standoff is that Lockheed-Martin and the Pentagon both know that Israel will steal whatever it can if it gains access.  It would then use the technology to market its own products at a price below that of US defense contractors. The result would be a triple whammy for Uncle Sam:  the expensive planes are given to Israel free, the technology is then stolen, and future sales vanish as our Israeli friends market their knock down versions of weapons systems reliant on the stolen technology.
 
So to David Brooks I would say that there is most definitely an economic surge taking place in high tech Israel, but it is less a miracle than the fruit of a long series of thefts and manipulations fueled by American tax money and the connivance of a Congress that is always willing to do favors for the country that it appears to love beyond all others.  I’m sure most Americans would wish the Israelis well and would applaud the prosperity that derives from their own industry and inventiveness but it is also time to put the brakes on business as usual and to take the Israeli hand out of our pocket.  I’m sure Brooks’ job is pretty secure and well paid, but many Americans are out of work and suffering, so let’s take some steps to protect our economy from the information thieves from Tel Aviv and keep our money and jobs over here...

By Curt Maynard
January 30, 2010

USA Today[1] is reporting that the Senate’s immigration deal pleases few. No kidding? What, I need a mainstream publication to tell me that? I don’t think so. I can tell the reader without any hesitation whatsoever that the Senate’s immigration deal pleases almost nobody with the exception of the 20 million illegal aliens here in the United States at present and a few million Jews and ultra-liberal leftists on the east coast.

Don’t be fooled by the US governments attempts to convince you through the Zionist media that Democrats want this or want that, or Republican moderates favor the deal, or that liberals see it this way, or conservatives see it that way, the government is lying and they’re using the media to shovel this crap down your throat.

Illegal immigration and whether or not to send the 20 million illegals in this country packing is one of very few bipartisan issues that nearly everyone, Black, White Hispanic, or Asian can agree on today. NO AMNESTY! No amnesty OR anything that smells like amnesty, these people must leave, one way or another and if our Congressional representatives can’t or won’t make that happen, we have a duty, an obligation, to our children, grandchildren, and those of our neighbors to make them!

When do we take our guns off the rack, oil them up, and head to Washington DC? That’s really the question isn’t it? We do have a right to do so you know, in fact, that is the very purpose of the Second Amendment, something our government has been actively trying to take away from us or at least reinterpret so as to disarm the American people.

The definition of treason is relatively clear, especially as it applies to anyone that has taken an oath swearing allegiance to the United States Constitution, which clearly states that the oath taker swears to uphold the Constitution against enemies foreign AND domestic. One definition is vague enough to include dissidents like myself IF one reads it as is, rather than considers what it really states and that is that treason is “a crime that undermines the offender's government.” I certainly am not in favor of our present government and won’t support it or anything it seeks to do until it [this is important] recognizes the authority of the American people, the true owners of this government. Theoretically, our politicians are suppose to represent us the American people, when they stop representing what we the people want they need to either leave office voluntarily or be thrown out.

The legal definition of treason as defined by Merriam Webster is simply a “betrayal of trust.” Now if the current representatives of this government aren’t guilty of treason as defined by Merriam Webster I don’t know what to say, they [Democrats and Republicans] have done nothing but lie, deceive, subvert, coerce, threaten, and betray our trust since 9-11. They have already engaged in treason and many of them know it, that is why you see so many of them completely selling out at present, selling their corrupt souls and votes to the hidden elite – the true rulers of the United States of America, who by the way do not represent the American people.

Am I saying that George Bush is a traitor? Damn right I am. I’m also accusing the following Senators of High Treason, each one of them voted to give amnesty to the 20 million illegal invaders presently squatting on American soil and not one of them can or ever will attempt to prove that the majority of their constituents [The people that elected these people to represent THEM] approve of any form of amnesty or forgiveness of the illegal aliens in their midst, not one. Thus, it’s really simple no? These Senators are NOT representing those that voted for them – they are however, representing something or someone else.

Murkowski (R-AK), Stevens (R-AK), Kyl (R-AZ), Lincoln (D-AR), Pryor (D-AR), Boxer (D-CA), Feinstein (D-CA), Salazar (D-CO), Lieberman (D-CT), Carper (D-DE), Martinez (R-FL), Chambliss (R-GA), Isakson (R-GA), Inouye (D-HI), Craig (R-ID), Durbin (D-IL), Bayh (D-IN), Lugar (R-IN), Grassley (R-IA), Harkin (D-IA), Brownback (R-KS), McConnell (R-KY), Landrieu (D-LA), Collins (R-ME), Snowe (R-ME), Cardin (D-MD), Mikulski (D-MD), Kennedy (D-MA), Levin (D-MI), Stabenow (D-MI), Coleman (R-MN), Klobuchar (D-MN), Cochran (R-MS), Lott (R-MS), Bond (R-MO), McCaskill (D-MO), Hagel (R-NE), Nelson (D-NE), Ensign (R-NV), Reid (D-NV), Gregg (R-NH), Sununu (R-NH), Lautenberg (D-NJ), Menendez (D-NJ), Bingaman (D-NM), Domenici (R-NM), Schumer (D-NY), Burr (R-NC), Conrad (D-ND), Brown (D-OH), Voinovich (R-OH), Smith (R-OR), Wyden (D-OR), Casey (D-PA), Specter (R-PA), Reed (D-RI), Whitehouse (D-RI), Graham (R-SC), Alexander (R-TN), Bennett (R-UT), Hatch (R-UT), Leahy (D-VT), Warner (R-VA), Webb (D-VA), Cantwell (D-WA), Murray (D-WA), Rockefeller (D-WV), Feingold (D-WI), Kohl (D-WI),

I’m often accused of anti-Semitism because of my willingness to say and write the word “Jew,” so why change things now. Let me be the first to tell you then that every single Jewish Senator without exception voted to provide amnesty to illegal aliens on Monday, May 21, 2007, just as their co-ethnics in the ADL, SPLC, ACLU, AJC, and every other organized Jewish group in the United States expected them to.

I am not guilty of subversion, but many, if not most of our politicians today are. I am not guilty of lying to the American people and telling them that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction, ties to Al Qaeda, and was responsible for 9-11, yet many of our politicians continue to embrace Bush’s foreign policies in the Mid East, despite the fact that they know they were developed as a result of the above lies. I am not guilty of spitting in the face of the American people and betraying their trust, but all of the above Senators are. I am not guilty of serving the interests of a foreign government [Israel] as are so many in Congress today, but yet, I guarantee you, the Jewish media will soon be doing all it can to convince Americans that people like me [Patriotic Constitutionalists] are terrorists and enemies of the state – don’t be fooled – they’re lying – that’s what they do best].

Lastly, don’t fall for the phony vernacular and bald faced lies of our politicians; they want to play with the meaning of words. They’ll insist that they aren’t giving amnesty to illegal aliens because of this or that. They’ll also insist that their constituencies “want” them to “solve” the illegal alien issue. It’s all lies – yes, their constituents want them to solve the problem and they want them to do this by voting against any form of amnesty, any bill that allows illegal immigrants to stay in this country, but these liars will do their best to skew what their constituents want and to move forward with their treasonous objectives.

The government does NOT represent us any longer, it serves other interests and as long as it continues to do so, it is guilty of treason and we the people can lawfully oppose them in any manner we wish, we’re protected by the Constitution, they aren’t.

by Todd Brendan Fahey
January 28, 2010

A newly-emerging psychedelic--escaping the new legal strictures in Amsterdam and available for shipping worldwide--has reared its head on The Market.  Having just returned from that sacred city, it is with pleasure that I can report on "The Philosopher's Stone."

Psylocibin-bearing mushrooms are "illegal" now in Amsterdam.  The Roundheads in power rendered one of God's own creations as "prohibited for sale," citing one (1) suicide and one (1) instance of an unstable monkey having plowed his car into a crowd a couple of years back.  (Alcohol, however, is still "legal for sale" in the 'dam; right.)

A lifelong psychedelics enthusiast, I made it to High Street headshop one afternoon and inquired as to the status and sale of these "new" critters.  A knowledgeable head behind the counter explained to me that "The Philospher's Stone" (mycological classification: Sclerotica tampanensis--and which is more of a mold that grows under a group of mushrooms than it is a mushroom itself)--renders very similar effects as do above-ground psylocibin fungi, but without the uber-nasty (...just rank/fairly fecal) taste which invariably accompanies the gobbling of "magic" mushrooms.  ("They taste more like walnuts," the counter-Head explained.)

I remember being in the Bulldog Energy Club, near the train station, and chatting with a couple of new pals over the usual food fare and smokeable cuisine.  It was late, but I was game (who needs sleep in Amsterdam?).  I ripped apart the plastic container and stared in at some really very fugly matter within, took a whiff, and was surprised by the odor--fairly nutty and not at all like that which one endures even when boiling down a fistful of cow pasture denizens.  Even in a mug of tea and with two heaping lumps of brown sugar and a squeeze of lemon, traditional magic mushrooms still taste like shit.  They can't help it.  But these underground "truffles" tasted surprisingly like something a brave man might put on his salad.

The appearance is another story altogether.  We're talking about a fungus that occurs naturally below ground; and with a caste of brownish-purple, still moist in the case I had just opened, and looking like larger versions of the pellets that my long-ago guinea pig used to leave if I left him too long in my lap, even a hardcore like me was given pause.  But you know I choked them down anyway.

I gobbled all 15grams, and disregarded the "Caution" on the packaging.  (The Instructions state: "5 - 7 grams for a mellow trip; 10 - 15 for a strong trip.")  I knew where I wanted to be and snacked on the whole product.

Conventional "magic" mushrooms take hold usually at about the 45-minute mark, and with all the subtlety of a Simpsons rerun: woozy stomach; a very full head; mass, uncontrollable laughter, and then the desired sensations of synaesthia (the "hearing of colors" and "tasting of sound," and such).  These Sclerotica tampanensis bore no such "come-on" effects.  Very suddenly, I was simply wanting to get up and stroll the streets of Amsterdam--needing to, really.  It had snowed in the past several days and the walks were icy, and I didn't care.

My mojo rising and my camera in need of a workout (or so I felt at the time), I boogied from the Bulldog and went outside and just ambled.  For dozens of blocks.  Well past midnight, in sub-zero temperatures.  Loving it.  There is a manic push to these "Philosopher's Stones", with virtually no "body-load" and a clarity of thought and sensation that rendered--to me, now--the Experience as superior to any mushroom trip I've ever had.  Full of joy and enthusiasm, I "knew" that the photographs I was taking were the best things I had ever shot.  I count myself as being a fairly shy human--a misanthrope, ofttimes--but between popping in to still-open Middle Eastern delicatessans and rapping with strangers on the street, to whom many English is a foreign language (this hyper American's banter being an extreme case), the tODdMoNStEr found himself as Mr. OutOnTheTown.  No way I would have done that on 'shrooms, or in the grip of any other substance.  (The photos turned out to be pure bunkum.)

I woke the next morning in the Bulldog's hostel, thankfully with my camera in a coat pocket and none the worse for wear.  The buddies from the previous evening alerted me to the fact that I was whacked--but with no fights or arrests having taken place,  I could live with that.

Before boarding the train to Paris, I bought another 15gram pack of Sclerotica tampanensis and knew that I would try them again while in my stay at an old friend's house on a bird preserve on the Brittany coast of France ("Those things I like, I'll try twice" - Lynyrd Skynyrd).  The environs could not have been more dissimilar, but the relative solace, landscape, language and company, I felt, would give me a fair basis for comparison.

After an initial mistake of accompanying my old pal on a trip to the supermarket to stock his bare cupboards, we jettisoned the produce aisles for his jalopy and drove (he drove) to a churchyard and allowed me to both view 15th century masonry, accompanied by God's Own Choir, and again I was thankful to Him for having given humans access to the pleasures of psilocybin.  At about hour-4, there came a proundly empathetic touch to the Experience wherein, back at the house on the lake, I could connect with my friend's 15-year old dog--on its last legs after three major surgeries, dumb as any beast I've ever known, and with a heart as big as the open sky.  Untidy household habits having rendered her "an outdoor dog," it being the dead of winter, and with puppyhood novelty far in the rearview mirror, the huge black animal receives not the affection she had known years back; and it tore me right up.  I formed a connection with the shepherding Bretton bitch that late afternoon, and which was visible and palpable to my pal and everyone else who visited the house over my 3-week stay.  A thoughtful shove of the head upon my knee, followed by a bear-like exhaust that is the contented sigh, just whenever.

Nearing the 6-hour mark, the tide ebbs, its overt effects dissipating as so much steam in a kettle.  But, wOw, these "Philospher's Stones" are for real.  Get 'em while you can.

by John Dillon

THE INTERNET IS CHANGING FROM A PUBLIC RESOURCE TO A LUCRATIVE
OPERATION INFLUENCED BY SPOOKS AND FORMER PENTAGON OFFICIALS.
OPEN ACCESS AND INFORMATION ARE INCREASINGLY CONTROLLED.

The Internet, the mother of all networks, is a sprawling congregation of connected computers; almost anyone is welcome, almost anything goes. Now, one private company with strong ties to the defense and intelligence agencies has become the prime gatekeeper and toll-taker for the millions navigating the maze. Network Solutions Inc. (NSI) of Herndon, Va., has the government-granted monopoly to issue "domain names'' electronic addresses like used to route e-mail and steer traffic through the increasingly commercialized World Wide Web.

NSI's spook connections and its lead role in the privatization of the Internet have raised alarms. Net activists were outraged by the firm's September 1995 decision to charge $100 a year to register new addresses and $50 a year to renew old ones. Later, NSI stirred up even more anger when it began removing the addresses of the thousands who refused to pay. The company also has been sued half a dozen times over its policy to give trademark holders priority when a domain name is in dispute.

WHO'S IN CHARGE

The furor over NSI raises basic questions of who controls and regulates the Internet. Although physically decentralized with millions of computers linked around the globe the Net is in fact hierarchically organized. Anyone on the planet who wants an Internet address ending with one of the popular suffixes .com, .edu, .org, .net, or .gov must register the domain name with the Internet Network Information Center, or InterNIC, a US government-created central registry. In 1993, NSI took over the administration of that listing.

This domain name system allows people to substitute user -friendly names such as "ibm..com" for the real Internet Protocol (IP) addresses: hard-to-remember numerical strings like "198.106.242.7". When you enter an address in your web browser like "mediafilter.org/caq" to get this magazine's site your computer first accesses a "name server.'' The server then returns the unique numeric IP address which your browser uses to find the appropriate place on the Web.

Critics say there is no good reason why Network Solutions should have a monopoly franchise on registering the user-friendly domain names. But NSI has a great reason: By controlling the keys to prime Internet real estate, it has staked out a phenomenally lucrative business. Although the company does not release financial figures, the Internet's astronomical growth fueled by the tens of thousands of businesses coming on line each month has triggered an explosion in domain name registrations. In March alone, about 45,000 names were registered, a 25 percent increase over February. NSI made an estimated $20 million in the six months from September 1995 to March 1996 from annual registration fees, with an additional $40 million projected for the next six months.

"I would think they're making an obscene profit,'' said Karl Denniger, head of Macro Computer Solutions Inc., a Chicago-based Internet provider that wants to enter the domain name business. "Their monopoly of this isn't really legally defensible," said Stanton McCandlish, an activist with the Electronic Frontier Foundation in San Francisco.

CONTROLLING INFORMATION

NSI's national security pedigree is even more troubling to some than its monopoly-derived profits. When the government administered the InterNIC, the service was subsidized by tax dollars and was free to users who simply registered their names. In May 1993, the National Science Foundation privatized the name registry and is paying Network Solutions $5.9 million to administer it.

In September 1995, NSI instituted the fee system. A few months earlier, it had been bought out by Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC). This privately held company with 20,000 employees and 450 offices around the globe has close ties to the Defense Department and intelligence agencies. Its current board of directors includes former National Security Agency chief Bobby Inman, former Defense Secretary Melvin Laird, and the former head of research and development for the Pentagon, Donald Hicks. Ex-CIA Director Robert Gates, Secretary of Defense William Perry, and CIA Director John Deutch have been past members. Eighty-three percent of the company's $2 billion annual revenue comes from government contracts, including defense, intelligence, and law enforcement contracts. It is designing new information systems for the Pentagon, helping to automate the FBI's computerized fingerprint identification system, and last year won a $200 million contract to provide "information support'' to the Internal Revenue Service.

Some of these contracts, along with the company's strong intelligence and defense links, raise fears that SAIC will abuse the information it controls through its key "I don't want a spook corporation,particularly a private spook corporation, to be anywhere near a control point on the global cooperative Internet,'' said James Warren, a writer and Internet civil liberties activist. But McCandlish of the Electronic Frontier Foundation described SAIC's ownership of Network Solution as a "non issue.'' "The Internet itself was a Defense Advanced Research Project Agency project. It's been true for a long time. It's not some big secret.''

PUTTING A HOLD ON NAMES

Another bone of contention is NSI's policy on domain name disputes. For a long time, names were registered on a first come, first served basis. But then some quick-buck artists realized they could register domain names related to famous trademarks and sell the name back to the owner, a process known as trademark hijacking. In response, NSI instituted a policy that gives trademark owners priority in claiming a domain name over someone who has already registered it. While the domain names are in dispute, the company can put the disputed name "on hold," so that it can't be used until the issue is settled.

The company's dispute policy has swung too far to protect trademark owners at the expense of legitimate domain name holders, critics say. They note that trademark law allows different companies to share the same name McDonald's hamburgers and McDonald's widgets, for example. And they say NSI is ruling on legal questions, such as who owns the name and what it can be used for, without legal authority.

"They are serving as legislators, administrators, judges, juries, and executioners,'' said Kathryn Kleiman, a lawyer and organizer of the Domain Name Rights Coalition, a non-profit organization that lobbies Congress on domain name issues.

The company's policy created major headaches for a New Mexico Internet service named Roadrunner Computer Systems, for example, which used the address for itself and for its customers' e-mail. But last year Warner Bros., which produces Road Runner cartoons and holds a trademark by the same name, tried to establish exclusive rights. Roadrunner Computer Systems obtained a court order barring Network Solutions from putting its name on hold.

CHALLENGING THE MONOPOLY

But NSI's monopoly may soon crumble. Dozens of new top-level domains (the .com or .edu portion of the names) are being considered, and they will be administered by new registration services.

Paul Garrin, a New York media artist, has plans to strike an even more decisive blow for competition and Internet democratization. He and his colleagues have designed an alternative network of name servers. By changing your browser's default settings to find one of the servers Garrin has.

The most authoritative map of North Korea on Google Earth

Click here to download

(Recently featured in the Wall Street Journal)

*On the week of 12/15/2009 Google updated a significant amount of imagery requiring many corrections, updates, and additions.  Until these updates are completed, many mapped locations will be a few meters off.

Click on the screen shots above for larger images

This Google Earth project offers an extensive mapping of North Korea’s economic, cultural, political, and military infrastructures.  Through the topic menu, users of this program have easy access to geographical information on North Korea’s agriculture projects, aviation facilities, communications, hospitals, hotels, energy infrastructure, financial services, leisure destinations, manufacturing facilities, markets, mines, religious locations, restaurants, schools, and transportation infrastructure.  In addition to locations of economic interest, this map also displays anti-aircraft locations, the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) and Northern Line Limit Line (NLL), incarceration facilities, political monuments, political residencies, military bases, and nuclear facilities.

Markets                      Railways

Eletricity Grid

Elite Areas

Anti- aircraft

In addition to the geographical information displayed on the map, many location tabs provide links to internet resources which offer more information on the specific location. Many people have contributed to this project (see project history below), and further contributions are welcome.

Since launching in April 2007, this project has been downloaded over 150,000 times and has been featured in numerous media outlets including the Wall Street Journal, CNN, Times of London, Telegraph, Independent, Der Spiegel, Choson Ilbo, NPR, Voice of America, Radio Free Asia, Washington Post, BBC, Yonhap, China People’s Daily, China CCTV,  Joong Ang Daily, and the Rachel Maddow Show.

Click here to download

If you do not have Google Earth installed on your computer, you must download it here first...

By Michelle Malkin
January 22, 2010

Pay attention: In the afterglow of the Massachusetts Miracle, there are flickers of peril for the right. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but like Paul Revere's midnight message, consider this warning "a cry of defiance, and not of fear." Conservatives have worked hard to rebuild after Big Government Republican John McCain's defeat. But McCain isn't going gently into that good night.

Red Flag No. One: A reader from Arizona informed me the day after the Bay State Bombshell that he had received a robo-call from Massachusetts GOP Sen.-elect Scott Brown. "He basically wanted me to vote for John McCain in November," the reader said in his description of the automated campaign call supporting the four-term Sen. McCain's re-election bid. "No wonder [Brown] said he hadn't had any sleep. ... He was busy recording phone messages!"

Red Flag No. Two: Also in the wake of the Massachusetts special election, the nation's most popular conservative political figure Sarah Palin announced she would be campaigning for her former running mate in Arizona in March. Palin told Facebook followers that she's going to "ride the tide with commonsense candidates" and help "heroes and statesmen" like McCain.

Facing mounting conservative opposition in his home state and polls showing him virtually tied with possible GOP challenger and former Rep. J.D. Hayworth, McCain welcomed the boost: "Sarah energized our nation and remains a leading voice in the Republican Party."

Savor the irony: After a career spent bashing the right flank of the party, McCain is now clinging to its coattails to save his incumbent hide.

And pay attention to the hidden, more troubling irony: While he runs to the right to protect his seat, McCain's political machine is working across the country to install liberal and establishment Republicans to secure his legacy.

In Florida, McCain's Country First Political Action Committee is supporting the Senate bid of fellow illegal alien amnesty supporter and global warming alarmist GOP Gov. Charlie Crist, whose crucial 2008 primary endorsement rescued McCain from disaster. Grassroots conservatives support former GOP state House leader Marco Rubio -- who is hitting Crist hard for lying to voters about his embrace of President Obama's pork-laden, fraud-ridden stimulus package.

In Colorado, McCain and his meddlers infuriated the state party by anointing former Lt. Gov. Jane Norton to challenge endangered Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet. She's a milquetoast public official who has served on a lot of task forces and GOP clubs -- and who happens to be the sister-in-law of big Beltway insider Charlie Black. An estimated 40 percent of her coffers are filled with out-of-state money (and much of that is flowing from the Beltway)...

Google reported Tuesday an alleged attack on its corporate infrastructure last month originating in China.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Google said Tuesday the company and at least 20 others were victims of a "highly sophisticated and targeted attack" originating in China in mid-December, evidently to gain access to the e-mail accounts of Chinese human rights activists.

"Based on our investigation to date we believe their attack did not achieve that objective," according to a statement by David Drummond, senior vice president of corporate development and chief legal officer for Google, operator of the most popular Internet search engine.

Drummond said that as a result of the attacks, Google has decided it is no longer willing to consider censorship of its Google site in China and may have to shut down its site and its offices in that nation...

* The good news: 46 states were not in compliance with REAL ID by December 31, forcing DHS Secretary Napolitano to extend the deadline to May, 2011 - and there's no sign the states have any intention of complying with it by then
* The bad news: the Senate could pass REAL ID's equally-bad replacement, the PASS Act, this month

Please tell Congress to oppose the PASS Act and instead repeal the REAL ID Act with NO replacement.

You may copy or borrow from the following letter . . .

The refusal of states to comply with REAL ID has led to its virtual nullification. This rebellion was one of the few bright spots of the past decade. Indeed, I hope the states get into the habit of opposing federal intrusion.

However, I realize the states opposed REAL ID primarily because of costs and technological problems. While these are valid concerns, the main reason I oppose REAL ID is because I value my privacy and freedom.

I therefore ask that you ignore the requests of governors and other state politicians to replace REAL ID with the S. 1261, the PASS Act. While the PASS Act does give the states more flexibility and financial aid, it still fails to guard my privacy or keep me safe. Here are just some of PASS ID's problems: http://www.realnightmare.org/about/114/

* It requires innocent Americans to provide a broad array of identity documents, snarling them in long lines and bureaucratic red tape
* By requiring storage of identity documents like birth certificates in a central location for even longer periods than Real ID, PASS ID will cause identity theft
* PASS ID permits "enhanced drivers’ licenses," which contain long-range radio frequency identification (RFID) chips, which can be used for tracking by anyone with a reader.
* If passed, the PASS ID will likely be expanded to serve other purposes, like riding a bus, purchasing a gun, or registering to vote.

The PASS Act will impose new burdens on the American people and actually make us less safe.

I therefore insist that you oppose the PASS Act. I also demand that you repeal REAL ID and replace it with nothing.

END LETTER

You can send your letter using DownsizeDC.org's Educate the Powerful System

And please consider making a donation to further our work.

James Wilson
Assistant Communications Director
DownsizeDC.org

Lookup IP Address: 159.226.21.76

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englishnews@chosun.com
Dec. 18, 2009 09:07 KST

Suspected North Korean hackers may have gained access to a war plan devised by South Korea and the U.S. in preparation for an emergency, including details of specific operational scenarios, intelligence agencies believe.

According to the January issue of the Monthly Chosun published Friday, the National Intelligence Service and the Defense Security Command in mid-November discovered that an officer with the Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command had used an unsecured USB memory stick and in that process some contents of the plan, dubbed OPLAN 5027, contained in his PC was accessed by a hacker with a Chinese IP address.

The DSC carried out sweeping security checks after the Monthly Chosun reported in November that the military Internet network had been breached by a North Korean hacking unit, and that in the process the agency confirmed that OPLAN 5027 had been hacked.

The monthly in November reported that North Korean hackers stole information from the Chemical Accidents Response Information System built by the National Institute of Environmental Research under the Ministry of Environment after infiltrating the Third Army headquarters' computer network and using a password to access CARIS's Center for Chemical Safety Management.

OPLAN 5027 is the CFC plan formulated in preparation for a preemptive strike or provocation by North Korea. Commander of the U.S. Forces Korea Gen. Walter Sharp has recently said a new joint draft operational plan has been worked out to replace OPLAN 5027 ahead of the transfer of full operational control of Korean troops to Seoul. But one retired general pointed out that the new joint operational plan will be based on OPLAN 5027. "Our conceptual framework has been laid bare if it's true that OPLAN 5027 was leaked," he said.

Based on No. 110 Research Center under the North Korean Army General Staff's Reconnaissance Bureau, the North Korean hacking unit has an impressive staff, range of operations, technologies, and overseas branches. There is speculation that 500-600 hackers are working in North Korea, including the Ministry of State Security.

Kim Heung-kwang, a former professor at Pyongyang Computer Technology University, said, "We have information that the North Korean hacking unit will soon attack the computer network in South Korea, which could throw databases of financial institutions, the Military Manpower Administration and hospitals and other institutions into chaos."

by John Byrne
Thursday, December 17th, 2009 -- 8:48

A seemingly well meaning poll aimed at raising awareness of a proposed Ugandan law that would subject gay men and women to execution found itself in the middle of reader ire after its wording raised questions about the underlying premise of the poll.

Posted on a BBC talkboard, the poll question read, ""Yes, we accept it is a stark and disturbing question, but this is the reality behind an anti-homosexuality bill being debated on Friday by the Ugandan parliament which would see some homosexual offences punishable by death. Has Uganda gone too far? Should there be any level of legislation against homosexuality? Should homosexuals be protected by legislation as they are in South Africa? What would be the consequences of this bill to you? How will homosexual 'offences' be monitored?"

Reader responses included the expected commendations of the anti-gay law -- comments moderated by the BBC.

"Totally agree," replied one commenter, who drew 51 votes of support. "Ought to be imposed in the UK too, asap. Bring back some respectable family values. Why do we have to suffer 'gay pride' festivals? Would I be allowed to organise a 'straight pride' festival? No, thought as much!! If homosexuality is natural, as we are forced to believe, how can they sustain the species? I suggest all gays are put on a remote island somewhere and left for a generation - after which, theoretically there should be none left!"...

Announcement by Nate Cardozo
Electronic Frontier Foundation
December 16, 2009

Today the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of State, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the National Security Agency released 162 pages of intelligence oversight reporting in response to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed by EFF in July.

The reports, made to a presidential advisory committee called the Intelligence Oversight Board, detail intelligence activities that the agencies "have reason to believe may be unlawful."

EFF is reviewing the documents now and has posted them on our website. Some of our initial finds include reports that:

• The Department of Homeland Security improperly investigated the U.S.-based religious organization the Nation of Islam.
• High-level Pentagon officials gave false information to Congress about al-Qa'ida and the 9/11 attacks.
• The Department of Homeland Security improperly collected intelligence about a non-violent Muslim conference in Georgia, including details about conference speakers who were Americans.
• The National Security Agency admitted that, as of late 2007, it lacked processes and procedures for timely reporting of intelligence oversight violations.

The media has already started reporting on the discoveries in these documents. We'll continue to sift through these records for more important information, and hope reporters and others do the same. EFF filed this lawsuit because Americans deserve to know about incidents of intelligence misconduct -- how often they happen, and how effective oversight is for controversial programs. Now that we have some of the records we are seeking, it's time to bring that misconduct to light.

A federal judge indicated during a hearing yesterday that she intends to order other intelligence agencies to produce similar documents to EFF by February 2, 2010. We expect those disclosures to include reports from the CIA, Department of Defense and the Defense Intelligence Agency.

Related Issues: FOIA Litigation for Accountable Government

Related Cases: FOIA: Intelligence Agencies' Misconduct Reports

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Much of the fiction portion of this collection was tapped out on a failing 80386 IBM "clone" during the winter months of 1992 and into early 1993, Salt Lake City, Utah, riding an adrenaline wave from having just completed Wisdom's Maw and still with the majority of a sheet of LSD, which had--to that point--fueled nearly all of my works of fiction and "creative nonfiction."

As then-adjunct Professor of English at Weber State University, Ogden, Utah, I was facing an unpaid stretch of weeks through Christmas and the New Year and had no intention of getting a part-time job, as I knew that I would not see the new semester if I did not get that novel done. Wisdom's Maw had been sitting 1/4 finished since 1990, and it would take a couple of close friends who knew of my needs to supply me with what I needed to finish the bastard thing. Having suddenly come into a parcel of very fine blotter acid, I carved out a schedule and a List of Rules & Regulations for the house that I knew would allow for ample progress; barring a nervous breakdown or an intervention by the good members of the Salt Lake City police department, I was hopeful for the first time in ages.

I would rise with my then-wife in the mornings of that (for me) winter vacation, cook and eat breakfast together, and--as soon as I heard the car start up in the driveway--implant between 500 and 1,000 micrograms of Sandoz' finest between my cheek'n'gum. There would be no more than one phone call to the house during my Writing Day; she would enjoy lunches downtown with office colleagues or church members, and, by 5:15pm--to a heavy awareness of the sliding of the tumblers on our deadbolt lock--I would have completed between four and thirteen pages of a story of which I am still very proud and have come back to Consensus Reality (or, as close to it as I ever am). As a southern California transplant, I had almost no friends in Salt Lake City and, hence, no reason to fear a knocking on the door to jar me from out of my phantasmagoria. I had kicked booze two years earlier, was in complete control of my surroundings and had, during idle time in what was most of my earlier stint as a paralegal for an LA law firm, mapped out every scene, character sketch and venue in which the drama would take place. I simply had to sit in solace--to strains of the Grateful Dead, Van Morrison and Roxy Music--and get the bugger done.

And I did. In a white heat, basically smashed on acid and to endless mugs of herbal tea, and with enough incense and speaker volume to worry the neighbors, wrote 150+ pages in less than eight weeks. And still I had about 60 hits lurking in a filing cabinet. And is when I decided to begin writing the Dogshit Park stories.

I was on fire. Those four months stand as the most sustained stretch of creativity I have ever come into. A pleasant change of pace from the byzantine construction into which I had wrenched myself with Wisdom's Maw, the stories came as almost a cut-and-paste from the Beyond. Fat slabs of dialogue and narrative would simply come to me, and the days were that of joy. Each evening, the old white Honda would pull up behind our flat, and she would be greeted with an exuberance and laughter and a, "...You've got to read this," and I can understand now why she suspected nothing.

It had become routine; and who knows how artists work, anyway? At least I was producing something, which, to her, nearly compensated for the weeks of fiscal non-reward.

Not written in that eight-week stretch are "Family Circle" and "Going Down the Road Feeling Bad: A Report on the Health of the Amerikan Spine"--the latter, again, hammered out to a sustained chemical harvest (dextromethorphan hydrobromide, it was, this time). The former is the only thing I have ever written whilst drinking--a nasty weekend at a condo with my then-wife in Destin, Florida, the key to which her employer was kind enough to lend to us, as an escape from Lafayette, Louisiana, into which we never quite settled after leaving Utah. I had seen enough adjunct Professors clutching their Master's degree diplomas and wondering when they would need to return to the Auto Parts counter at Hanley's Lube & Exhaust, for lack of a Ph.D.

Having run out of drugs and, sadly, back to the bottle; into a doctoral program in American Literature (the last "literature" course I had taken having been probably in high school--my undergraduate degree being in pre-Law; the Master's, in the form of creative writing over which not a book was ever assigned), a depressive wreck, I was left alone in a windy beachside condominium by a frightened wife who let me have it to myself only hours after arrival and who, instead, drove further into Florida to stay with a brother and sister-in-law, such was the fury of mine temper. I remember killing off a lot of wine and a catfish left in the refrigerator for indeterminate days; I remember little else. No sleep had come to me between the time she had jettisoned the loaner home and having reappeared on a Sunday afternoon, to drive us back to Lafayette. When she did, and after finding fully three empty bottles in the kitchen trash and a bathroom in a vomitus state, begged of me was an answer. I shrugged, pushed across the table the handwritten sheaves of "Family Circle," then watched a good-hearted woman nearly crack.

Days later, after recovering from the binge and of salmonella, I reread what I had conjured and laid down the pen.

Divorce papers were served to me in November 1996, by which time I had sacked two quality New York literary agents, set up a small press imprint of my own and published Wisdom's Maw. I would again quit drinking, but, again, by switching my poison. There were the expected phone calls, once review copies had begun making the rounds of magazines both mainstream and underground. I would "go on tour" for Boston's Lollipop magazine--a trainwreck exhibition slated to go 'cross country, to join the Grateful Dead's "Furthur Festival," but got as far as Atlanta, before turning tail. Sometime around Halloween 1997, Smoke magazine--a glossy, expensive affair--sent me to Amsterdam. I thought I had been issued a pardon; a Higher Court (Smoke owner Robert Lockwood) decided otherwise.

Now, in the waning hours of 2009, I've learned enough about the mechanics of The Publishing Industry to know that some writers are destined--largely to a clash of Puritan v. Nonconformist--to never being "accepted." Spending thousands of dollars to fell trees in Indonesia for to get these things to you, the Reader, in Book Form--and what with shipping costs per copy from my station as an expatriate abroad to what will be largely an American audience--makes little sense to me. The format you observe here is both a case of "Necessity being the mother of invention" and a fair guess as to the "future of book publishing."

I feel as if "I am on to something" again. (Whereas, for many years, I was mostly just "on something.")

Don't ever give up.


Todd Brendan Fahey
December 15, 2009

August 22, 2009

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WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Winchester Ammunition was recently awarded a contract by the Immigration, Customs and Enforcement (ICE) division of the Department of Homeland Security to supply a maximum of 200 million, 40 cal. rounds over the next five years.

The load selected for this contract is a 135-grain, hollow point designed for the office of Field Operations of Customs and Border Protection. It will fall under the Winchester Ranger line.

courtesy Newhaus Laboratories

iTunes has a default import setting of 128 kbps. This setting affects tracks ripped from CDs, as well as sound files imported from other sources, such as audio editing programs. It does not affect music purchased from the iTunes store. Downloaded iTunes tracks come in at the resolution they're sold at (currently either 128 kbps, or now they offer higher-quality 256 kbps files).

Even if you get most of your music through iTunes store purchases, changing the default import setting for music from other sources is still a good idea. And it's easy to do.

Just go to the "Preferences" menu (depending on which version of iTunes you're running, it could either be under "Edit" or "File"). Then go to the "General" setting. You'll see a button labeled "Import Settings." In older programs you might have to go the "Advanced" tab, and then chose "Importing."

Either way, you'll soon see a choice of file formats. Some of the formats give you a choice of resolution. Don't worry about remembering numbers — Apple's helpfully labeled the choices with phrases like "Good Quality" and "High Quality." Below, you'll see the format choices you'll be offered, in descending order of sound quality. If you're not sure which format will give you the highest sound quality you can hear, try a simple test. Import the same track with two different settings — listening to them side-by-side can be the best way to determine which format works best for you.

WAV files are the largest in size, because your CD tracks are ripped with no compression. While this is good from a sound quality standpoint, there is a disadvantage — you won't be able to attach album art to these files.

AIFF files are Apple's version of a WAV file, but they allow a little bit of room in the file for metadata. This means you can attach album art to an AIFF file.

Apple Lossless files store data more efficiently than either WAV or AIFF, and have virtually the same sound quality while taking up about half the memory.

AAC is Apple's proprietary file format for audio. Songs purchased from iTunes are AAC files.

MP3 files are similar to AAC, and both compress music about the same amount, while using slightly different algorithms to do so.

Whether to use AAC or MP3 is a personal choice. Some people hear a difference between the two, and both have their supporters. One advantage to the latter format is that you can transfer MP3 files to non-Apple digital music players.

The MP3 and AAC settings also let you select compression rate, conveniently labeled "Good Quality," "High Quality" and "Higher Quality". Or you can use the custom setting to enter in a different sampling rate, including ones that are either higher or lower than the offered settings. Remember that not everyone notices higher sound quality with a larger size file. If you don't hear a difference between a 192kbps (higher quality) and 160kbps (high quality) MP3 file, then by all means go for the lower file size.

by Chuck Baldwin
December 11, 2009

According to an obscure report in the European Union Times (EUTimes.net), "Russian Military Analysts are reporting to Prime Minister Putin that US President Barack Obama has issued an order to his Northern Command's (USNORTHCOM) top leader, US Air Force General Gene Renuart, to 'begin immediately' increasing his military forces to 1 million troops by January 30, 2010, in what these reports warn is an expected outbreak of civil war within the United States before the end of winter.

"According to these reports, Obama has had over these past weeks 'numerous' meetings with his war council abut how best to manage the expected implosion of his Nation's banking system while at the same time attempting to keep the United States military hegemony over the World in what Russian Military Analysts state is a 'last ditch gambit' whose success is 'far from certain.'"

The EU Times article continues by saying, "To the fears of Obama over the United States erupting into civil war once the full extent of the rape and pillaging of these peoples by their banks and government becomes known to them, grim evidence now shows the likelihood of this occurring much sooner than later."

The Times story goes on to say that there are "over 220 million American people armed to the teeth and ready to explode."

The Times article concludes by saying, "Though the coming civil war in the United States is being virtually ignored by their propaganda media, the same cannot be said of Russia, where leading Russian political analyst, Professor Igor Panarin has long warned that the economic turmoil in the United States has confirmed his long-held view that the US is heading for collapse."

Many of us would be inclined to pooh-pooh such a story, but then there is this column from Bloomberg.com entitled "Arming Goldman With Pistols Against Public," written by Alice Schroeder. According to Ms Schroeder:

"'I just wrote my first reference for a gun permit,' said a friend, who told me of swearing to the good character of a Goldman Sachs Group Inc. banker who applied to the local police for a permit to buy a pistol. The banker had told this friend of mine that senior Goldman people have loaded up on firearms and are now equipped to defend themselves if there is a populist uprising against the bank."

There is no doubt that the American people have good reason to despise these international banksters epitomized by Goldman Sachs. Even one of Goldman's poster-boys, Henry Paulson, US Treasury secretary and former Goldman CEO, admitted that the American people were fed up. Schroeder quotes Paulson as saying, during testimony to Congress last summer, "[People] were unhappy with the big discrepancies in wealth, but they at least believed in the system and in some form of market-driven capitalism. But if we had a complete meltdown, it could lead to people questioning the basis of the system."

Schroeder correctly opines, "There you have it. The bailout was meant to keep the curtain drawn on the way the rich make money, not from the free market, but from the lack of one. Goldman Sachs blew its cover when the firm's revenue from trading reached a record $27 billion in the first nine months of this year, and a public that was writhing in financial agony caught on that the profits earned on taxpayer capital were going to pay employee bonuses."

Schroeder concludes her column by saying, "And if the proles [proletariat: plebs, working class, peasants] really do appear brandishing pitchforks at the doors of Park Avenue and the gates of Round Hill Road, you can be sure that the Goldman guys and their families will be holed up in their safe rooms with their firearms."

So, do Wall Street and Russian analysts know something that we don't know? Is this why George W. Bush initiated USNORTHCOM to begin with? Is this why Barack Obama is beefing up USNORTHCOM? This would help explain the reports of all those potential detention camps that have been constructed (including the abandoned military installations that have refurbished security fences, guard towers, etc., around them). Has the American people's disgust with these crooks and thieves within the federal government and Wall Street reached a boiling point?

There is no question that people are angry, and for good reason.

The fraudulent financial policies of the Federal Reserve and its lackeys in the White House and Congress have literally bankrupted the country. Real unemployment is most likely over 20%. Taxes (along with costly fees, regulations, restrictions, penalties, mandates, etc.) at every level are going through the ceiling. America's jobs have been outsourced. Barack Obama continues G.W. Bush's irresponsibility, digging America deeper and deeper into foreign entanglements, at the cost of trillions of dollars and thousands of lives. The IRS continues to harass and harangue honest citizens, squeezing them like the proverbial turnip. And now, add the insanity of a global climate treaty being hammered out in Copenhagen, and a universal health care bill being rammed through Congress, and the outlook is even gloomier.

I feel very comfortable in saying that the usurpations of power, the encroachments upon liberty, and the arrogant tax-and-spend policies emanating from Washington, D.C., and Wall Street these days are far more egregious than what George Washington and the boys were enduring in 1775-76 at the hands of the British Crown. There is no doubt in my mind that if Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry, and Sam Adams were alive today, they would have given cause for the Goldman Sachs banksters to retreat to their bunkers years ago!

The fact is, we do need a revolution! But not a revolution of anarchy and pitchforks. (The history of France should be ample evidence of the futility of this strategy.) We need a revolution of the individual states: to reclaim their sovereignty and fight for the liberties of their sovereigns (We the People). That is exactly what our forefathers did in '76...