Hackers are paying 10 euros each for the privilege of hanging special homebrew RFID tags around their necks or slapping them on their laptop bags. Every few seconds, each of these "CCC Sputnik" badges reports its owner's position to an array of 35 monitoring stations, and spits out the guinea-pigs' every move over a public XML feed.
Why is the CCC, a venue more commonly associated with RFID cracks and spychip destruction devices, supporting such an invasion of its members' privacy? One of the project's leaders, Milosch Meriac, explains the motivation to create the system was to make obvious what is normally hidden in how our technology tracks us.
"The idea was that most of this surveillance technology slowly faded into our lives, and we accepted them," Meriac says. "(We want to) make it possible to bring it into people's heads."
Friday, December 29, 2006
Hacker Con Submits to Spychips
More on FDA Approved Cloned Food
What's the point if it's not cost-effective? Maybe to continue to desensitize the public to the whole concept? I think that's what it's about. We're asking for trouble if we continue down this slippery slope. Scratch that. We're down it and about to hit rock bottom!It costs about $15,000 to clone a cow, compared to $2,000 for natural breeding. Meanwhile, recent polls show more than half of Americans say they wouldn't buy cloned meat even if they could.
In an International Food Information Council poll (.pdf) in 2006, 58 percent of Americans surveyed said they would be unlikely to buy meat or milk from animal clones even if the FDA deemed the products safe. And earlier this month, a Pew Initiative on Food and Biotechnology poll found that "animal cloning causes great discomfort among American consumers."
The FDA says meat and milk from clones should be subject to the same safety regulations as any other food product, but it sees no need for any special labeling -- a recommendation that's already stirring controversy.
"This is a lose-lose decision by the FDA," said Andrew Kimbrell, executive director at the Center for Food Safety. "People lose, the animals lose, the meat and dairy industry loses because they will lose confidence in their products."
Without special labeling for cloned food, the meat and dairy industry stands to lose up to 15 percent in sales, Kimbrell said,because some people will avoid all meat and dairy if there's a chance some of it could come from clones. "You know Europe and the organic market will refuse (cloned products)," Kimbrell said.
This is good information to pass along to others.
While we continue to celebrate the holidays...
The priests had gathered together to study. The reason for their arrest is unknown. For some time now, the Patriotic Association has been conducting a harsh campaign to clamp down on unofficial communities.
Do you take it for granted that you can get up on Sunday morning or weekday mornings and attend your local parish Mass, with your local parish priest - a U.S. citizen - as celebrant? without any fear?
Prayers for these priests. Oh, Dear Blessed Mother please I beg your intercession for the protection of your sons-priests around the world, most especially these. Oh, St. Maxmilian Kobe please intercede as well on their behalf. Ask our Almighty Father that they please be protected from all harm and to please provide the courage and strength they need to endure their imprisonment.
FDA Approves Cloned Food
I'm not eating this stuff. There's enough problems with livestock receiving antibiotics and hormones. And they better get a clue that most people will not accept these foods.
American Life League's Magazine - Celebrate Life
Pro-abortion and Catholic? Protestant Nathanael Blake answers the question.
Thursday, December 28, 2006
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
Rush and Sean could go off the air...
H.R. 501, The MEDIA Act (Meaningful Expression of Democracy in America)
Democrats will be working hard on this bill...get ready as they are going to try and shut down all Conservative Talk Radio. Example.
"When asked whether television and radio stations that use public airwaves should be required to present the sides of an issue in a reasonably balanced way -- including giving time to opposing points of view -- fully 77% say that they should, and only 17% say that they should not."
WHAT THIS LEGISLATION WOULD DO
The MEDIA Act would reinstate the Fairness Doctrine for broadcasters holding licenses from the Federal Communications Commission. This change would ensure that broadcasters present discussions of conflicting views on issues of public importance.
I've heard it all now...
Baking (holiday) in the Seattle area is harmful to the environment?! Gosh. So, not only is it harmful to my waistline but harmful to fish and wildlife.
...tests of treated sewage sent into the sound from the West Point treatment plant in Magnolia showed cinnamon, vanilla and artificial vanilla levels rose between Nov. 14 and Dec. 9, with the biggest spike right after Thanksgiving.
I'll have to remind my family and friends not to bake so as not to disturb the eco-systems where they live and I guess this could be used as an excuse to politely refuse grandma's fruitcakes.
Sunday, December 24, 2006
Merry CHRIST Mass!
A child's definition of love...
“Love is what is in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen.”
May each of you have hearts so full of listening that, like Mary, you may be aware of the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior who has
appeared, become completely at home with the Word of the God who is Love, move in and out of it with ease, and let it form the basis of all your doings. (cf.Pope Benedict XVI, “Deus Caritas Est”)
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
From Agape Press...
"[O]ur children are not evangelizing in the schools," he told AP. "The schools are evangelizing them out of Christianity."
Mitt Romney Info
Of course keep an eye on the guys at Southern Appeal...they are really doing a great job. More Mitt Romney info - MASS Resistance--they've been keeping Mitt on his toes for years and they've got documents to back it up!
Democrats Scared of Brownback!
Notes From My Purple State: Brownback for President
"Confirmation" (indicators/quotes) of Brownback's Presidential Candidacy:
[snip]Brownback is a religious man determined to sniff the scent of many versions of the Christian Gospel. After a stint as a Methodist, he donned Evangelical garb in the mid-90s. Apparently, neither was a good enough fit: In 1996, Brownback fell under the spell of Rev. John McCloskey, an anchor at the right-wing Catholic organization Opus Dei. He was baptized a Catholic “not in a church but in a chapel tucked between lobbyists' offices on K Street that is run by Opus Dei,” writes Jeff Sharlet in Rolling Stone.
Brownback has spoken widely to Legatus, a lay organization of Catholic CEOs committed to right-wing social causes. Legatus, with 5,000 members, is filled with friends—and better yet for Brownback, friends with deep pockets. Brownback’s association with Monaghan begins to make sense.
[snip]
His opposition to abortion is still (and always will be) his mainstay, but don’t let that fool you: this hack favors just about everything that common-sense Americans oppose, and vice versa, when it comes to healthcare, the war in Iraq, energy policy, environmental protection, and tax cuts.
Their name calling is much nicer?! NOT!
[snip]
The best indicator we're on to something good....
Democrats can’t let the electoral success of 2006 blind them to the revenge that far-right elements will be looking for—are looking for even now, in fact—in 2008. For if America wakes up under Brownback, well…God help us all.
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
American Life League - Pelosi
On January 3, Rep. Pelosi is scheduled to attend Mass at Trinity College in Washington as an endorsement of her alma mater and her Catholic faith. Given Pelosi’s outspoken support of abortion, Mrs. Brown has written to Archbishop Wuerl requesting that he do all in his power to stop the event. “Rep. Pelosi has a tremendous opportunity to make a difference for all human beings as the most powerful Catholic in Congress,” said Brown. “Unfortunately, she continually supports the very act that destroys life rather than protects it. It is for this very reason that a Catholic institution should not condone or support her position as a legislator.”
NEA's New "Campaign" -Safety in Schools
Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgendered Students
Also, take a look at their "Resources" list on the right, near the bottom of this article.
BE AWARE PARENTS! The culture of death knows no boundaries!
Stem Cells
"The beef is that there is no question that embryos are destroyed in the harvesting of stem cells," Maxwell said. "Now you are destroying a human being."
Many scientists disagree. Crouse, who specializes in embryonic stem cells, said it boils down to a difference in perspective about when human life begins.
He said, "There is no baby, no abortion."
In fact, Crouse said, the embryos that are used are essentially medical waste.
Most embryonic stem cells used in U.S. research come from embryos left over from in vitro fertilization - where a woman's eggs are fertilized outside the womb and the resulting embryos are implanted in the uterus. If the embryos are not implanted, they are typically destroyed.
My dog barks in her sleep...
Animals Dream in Pictures, Too
The "fringe"...do you mean a carpet?
I love the quote from Rev. R0bert Drinan, on former Domino's Pizza founder Tom Monaghan's support of Sen. Sam Brownback-(Catholic-convert) on his possible candidacy to the White House:
“In the Catholic community, he’s looked upon as kind of on the fringes,” said the Rev. Robert Drinan, a liberal Roman Catholic priest and former Democratic congressman who teaches at Georgetown University. “The world view is, ‘We have to get back to a Catholic civilization.’ They want to go back to a Christian society imposed from above. … It’s just another world they want to build.”
Lead, follow, or get out of the way!