11.18.11

The Empire’s Dog Feces: The never-ending invisibility cloak story

Posted in Crazy Weapons, Culture of Lickspittle at 9:26 am by George Smith

The invisibility cloak is a story that’s been around for years, reliably numbing and nauseating people who aren’t insane for weapons technology.

About a year ago a couple scientists began having trivial successes at essentially duplicating mirage effects.

From a Yahoo news blog called The Lookout:

A University of Texas Dallas scientist is working on developing a technology that would delight Harry Potter fans everywhere–an invisibility cloak.

Ali Aliev uses carbon nanotubes–which look like pieces of thread–and then heats them up rapidly until the objects beneath them effectively disappear …

Aliev only has the capacity to make tiny sheets from a few threads … Luckily, many other scientists around the world are also working hard on this technology.

It’s brainless drivel. Luckily, “other scientists” are working on this. If we get any luckier there will be 30 percent real unemployment and a war with Iran in two years.

Remember my inner bias. After twenty years of this repetetive gee-whiz-miracles-galore puffing and blowing I despise Alvin Tofflerian military gadget freak stuff and the groupie journalism industry that caters to it.

And who and where are the invisibility scientists we’re lucky to have boffining away at this? In England, trying to make a tank harder to see at night. Like, in case, there’s a war against someone else with big tanks in the distant future, or something.

Occupation at Lake & Villa Thursday nite

Posted in Decline and Fall at 8:10 am by George Smith

An Occupation of Pasadena took place at Lake and Villa last night around 5:30.

I have no idea when it started but ran across the protests when going out for groceries.

Perfectly positioned, the demonstration was at one of Pasadena’s busiest intersections during the end-of-day rush hour.

I estimated forty to fifty people with signs were lined up on both sides of the street. All types from young to old, in front of the fire station on the west side of Lake and in the lot of a Mexican restaurant to the east.

Placards read things like “Tax the rich,” “Republicans pimp people to Wall Street” and admonishments to save the firefighters, workers visible every day here, from austerity.

It was a great thing to see.

Keywords: OWS, Occupy Pasadena

11.17.11

The Empire’s Dog Feces: Giant bomb stockpiled

Posted in Crazy Weapons at 3:11 pm by George Smith

The last time a giant bomb story showed up it was used in an exercise to intimidate Saddam Hussein and thrill the newsmedia. Much of the joy exhibited in monster bomb tales comes from the phallic symbolism. Ours is bigger — way, way bigger — and more tumescent puissant than yours. And there is a significant population in the United States, almost exclusively male, that gets erections thinking about what happens when you drop monster bombs on others — preferably poorer, smaller, weaker and of unsuitable religion.

At the advent of the original monster bomb I was writing a column called “Weapon of the Week” at the Village Voice.

Then, it was a clumsy weapon called the Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb. And here’s a bit of the piece, reprinted:

Exultation over the new MOAB—perhaps the ugliest and most stupid of new weapons in the U.S. armory—reveals a poverty of intellect and heart in the country. A clumsy multi-ton monster bomb tested in Florida last week has no practical war purpose other than terror, in a military whose signal achievement in the last decade has been to make smaller weapons unerringly accurate.

The MOAB is the natural result of allowing munitions engineers to run amok, a design by the aggressively mediocre who in a better time and place would be sent into early retirement for the good of the taxpayer.

The Massive Ordnance Air Blast, or Mother of All Bombs (quite the rib-tickler), is so big it must be shoved out the tail of a lumbering transport plane on a sled attached to a drag parachute.


A small part of the blame for the MOAB must go to Dynetics, one more in a dismaying number of corporations that exist to provide applications in mayhem. The company’s logo on the MOAB’s tail was probably thought of as a coup in corporate advertising, although a bracing “Fuck You!” might have better created the impression that the thing was made by real people rather than a labful of killer androids on Eglin Air Force Base.

Today, the tale is of delivery of the Massive Ordnance Penetrator or MOP, a 15-ton monster bomb to be used against underground targets.

The MOP has been in the works for the entire decade of the war on terror.

And it would seem no coincidence it’s publicly and loudly entering the arsenal in an effort groomed to get the attention of the mullahs in Iran.

At the LA Times, W. J. Hennigan is the point-person for the Empire’s Dog Feces beat. The reporter has the scoop, fresh and hot.

Of the Massive Ordnance Penetrator, it is said:

Aerospace giant Boeing Co. has delivered the first batch of 30,000-pound bombs, each nearly five tons heavier than anything else in the military’s arsenal, to the U.S. Air Force to pulverize underground enemy hide-outs.


At a total cost of about $314 million, the military has developed and ordered 20 of the GPS-guided bombs, called Massive Ordnance Penetrators. They are designed to be dropped on targets by the Boeing-made B-52 Stratofortress long-range bomber or Northrop Grumman Corp.’s B-2 stealth bomber.

In an age of new emphasis on drones and lightweight weaponry, the Air Force’s purchase highlights the Pentagon’s ongoing need for defense contractors to build the kinds of big bombs and other heavy-duty ordnance they have produced for decades.


Boeing developed and built the massive bomb at its Phantom Works facilities in St. Louis, where the company works on top-secret projects.

Although illustrations and models of the bomb have been made public, no photos have been released. But the Air Force did disclose that it took delivery of the weapon in September, along with a few other details.

The weapon’s explosive power is 10 times greater than its bunker-buster predecessor, the BLU-109. And it is nearly five tons heavier than the 22,600-pound GBU-43 MOAB surface bomb, sometimes called the “mother of all bombs.”

The MOP would seem entirely appropriate to Ted Rall’s dubbing us the “fuck you” country.

Because nothing quite sez “fuck you” to everyone in 2011 (except the arms manufacturer and the USAF) like a 30,000 pound bomb.

In a manner of speaking, it’s a national monument to “fuck you-ism.”

Mic Check: Electronic Pearl Habor meme-ing for the plutocracy

Posted in Culture of Lickspittle, Cyberterrorism at 2:21 pm by George Smith

“U.S. national security endangered by China’s army of hackers,” reads the subhed in an opinion piece a couple days ago at the WaTimes.

From old man author William Triplett III:

In November 1997, Deputy Defense Secretary John Hamre testified before the Senate Subcommittee on Terrorism that “we’re facing the possibility of an electronic Pearl Harbor. … There is going to be an electronic attack on this country some time in the future.??? Two years later, he told a secret session of the House Armed Services Committee, “We are at war – right now. We are in cyberwar.??? Fast-forward more than a decade, to 2011. President Obama’s choice for secretary of defense, Leon Panetta, tells the Senate Armed Services Committee at his confirmation hearing that the United States faces a possible “electronic Pearl Harbor.??? Mr. Panetta had been the CIA director for the previous two years – so he would have known.

Two extreme, nearly identical warnings 12 years apart should have brought home the magnitude of the electronic threat facing the country.

From way back in November 1999, William Triplett III, pimping a book on the Red Chinese menace, in the pages of the Washington Times, taken from the old Crypt Newsletter archive on “electronic Pearl Harbor:”

The Washington Times is what Congressmen, particularly Republicans, read regularly before work. As such, material in it is influential in decision-making.

This particular piece continues the current Zeitgeist thread in which mainland China is painted as a threat.

“It is essential to have an all-conquering offensive technology and to develop software and technology for Net offensives so as to be able to launch attacks and countermeasures on the Net, including information-paralyzing software, information-blocking software, and information-deception software,” Gertz quoted a Chinese military publication as stating. He neglects to mention that US Department of Defense print similar tripe fairly regularly — and have done so for most of the decade.

Pentagon “anonymoids” show up on schedule: “A senior Pentagon official said he was notified about the article, which has raised concerns among defense officials who see China’s information warfare capabilities as a potential threat to U.S. civilian infrastructures . . .”

An “expert,” “William Triplett, co-author of a new book on the PLA,” said: “All of this offensive-warfare talk, when China is not threatened by anyone, shows that the dragon is at the point where it doesn’t have to hide its claws.”

Then the scary hypothetical scenario of catastrophe is produced.

According to Triplett, by way of the Washington Times, “China could launch a devastating computer-run sabotage operation by attacking U.S. oil refineries, many of which are grouped closely together in areas of Texas, New Jersey and California.”

“A [Chinese] computer attacker could penetrate the electronic ‘gate’ that controls refinery operations and cause fires or toxic chemical spills . . . “

China has what appears to be a vigorous offensive/defensive hacking operation for the purposes of intelligence gathering. So does the United States.

What makes the “electronic Pearl Harbor” meme different now — although still risible — is its use in justifying defense-spending for those parts of the plutocracy many of us find most detestable.

Wall Street, high finance and, as targets mentioned by the WaTimes opinion piece: “DuPont, Johnson & Johnson, General Electric, RSA, Epsilon, NASDAQ and at least a dozen other firms.”

“Alan Paller, a security expert at the SAND [sic] Institute, observed, ‘The depth of the penetration is more than anybody is admitting,” it reads.

Actually, it’s the SANS Institute. Although SAND as in “to sandbag” is accidentally danger close.


File under durable meme, used solely for enrichment of a section from the 1 percent.

Rude but right

Posted in Culture of Lickspittle, Decline and Fall at 11:03 am by George Smith

Ted Rall published a column at CommonDreams accurately describing the place:

Governments are supposed to fulfill the basic needs of their citizens. Ours doesn’t pretend to try.

Sick? Too bad.

Can’t find a job? Tough.

Broke? Can’t afford rent? We don’t give a crap.

Forget “e pluribus unum.??? We need a more accurate motto.

We live under a f— you system.


Which is why we are finally, at long last, starting to say “f— you??? to them.

A good statement of rebellion, it again goes into the use of alleged concerns in various American bunds over mess and disease as rationalizations for cracking down on civil unrests. On the other hand, mess and disease among the poor, as long as they’re quiet and on Skid Row or on corners begging, that’s OK.

The Georgia Ricin Beans Gang stays jailed

Posted in Extremism, Ricin Kooks at 8:36 am by George Smith

There’s not a defense lawyer in the US capable of arguing a client/defendant out of jail when ricin and accusations of terrorism planning are the central matters.

Never been done. Everyone has eventually gone to prison. And those in jail generally always stay there until trial.

Judges are not swayed once the word “ricin” is uttered. Juries pay no attention to arguments about the relative harmlessness of a handful of castor seeds.

From the Atlanta Journal Constitution:

Citing concerns that the four North Georgia men accused in a plot to bomb federal buildings and disperse the toxin ricin may still intend to harm federal authorities, U.S. Magistrate Court Judge Susan Cole denied bond to the defendants late Wednesday.


If she released them on bond, “I think there is a concern they would not be prevented access to instruments of harm,” Cole said. She also echoed prosecutors’ contention that their arrests are likely to have heightened the “ill-will” the men feel toward the government.

Defense attorneys for each of the men intend to appeal Cole’s decision, they said.

“It’s very disappointing. I thought we presented a good case and I don’t believe he’s a danger to the community,??? said Jeff Ertel, who is representing Thomas.

In a hearing that stretched over the course of three days, Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert McBurney said the men — two of whom are veterans of the U.S. military — may “love their country,??? but had demonstrated a “hatred??? of their government.

Defense attorneys argued that owning weapons or castor beans –- the key ingredient in ricin -– is not illegal.

Dan Summer, who is representing Crump, said recordings of his client speaking about how to make ricin depict an “aspirational” goal, not something Crump intended to do or was even capable of doing.

“It’s almost like an old man in the throes of the very early stages of senility,” he said.

Barry Lombardo, Adams’ attorney, said his client — who worked in horticulture for the U.S. Department of Agriculture — owned castor bean bushes for the same reasons many Georgians do: for mole control.

But McBurney said the men had taken concrete steps that crossed the line into illegality: purchasing a silencer, explosives activated by a cell phone, and the ingredients for making ricin.

“We’ve moved beyond the hypothetical to reality,??? he said.

During the hearing several family members and friends of the defendants were called to testify, helping paint a fuller portrait of the men at the center of the domestic terrorism case.

Adams’ daughter Melissa said her father is active in masonic organizations and has helped raise money for sick children through the Shriners. Crump’s twin daughters testified that their father, a retired electrician, often donated his services to people in need. Roberts’ wife Margaret said the couple is active in animal rescue and are currently caring for dozens of cats and dogs. And Thomas’ family described him as a peace-loving man who, with 30 years in the U.S. Navy, was dedicated to serving his country.

Both Thomas’ wife Charlotte and son Paul said last week that the 52 weapons found in his home were part of a gun collection. Federal authorities also seized about 30,000 rounds of ammunition, including ammunition compatible with silencers, in the raid.

There is regular discussion of use of castor seeds in “mole control.”

There is no evidence that it actually works.

However, castor seeds have been considered in pest control for many years.

From this blog, a couple years ago:

In the November 1941 issue of Timely Turf Topics, the association grapples with the problem of controlling mole crickets in southern golf courses.

“It is reported that turf in some sections of Georgia and Florida has just experienced the worst infestation of mole crickets in a number of years,??? reads the issue. “Attempts to eradicate them from turf by the use of well-known poison bait as well as by treatments with arsenate of lead, ground tobacco stems and castor meal have not been successful in several localities this fall.???

The point to be made is that people once worked with large quantities of the grind of castor seeds in this country without dropping like flies. Castor beans were considered a renewable resource, used as a source of lubricant and fertilizer. Even golf course gardeners worked with castor mash, noting that it wasn’t so hot as an insecticide, being ineffective against mole crickets.

The working wisdom, embedded during the last ten years, and repeated regularly in the newsmedia is that it is elementary to purify ricin from castor seeds.

It’s not. But from a legal standpoint in the US, this makes no difference. No one is capable of making a legal argument that would change things.

11.16.11

No escape from Gadsden flag-ism

Posted in Culture of Lickspittle, Extremism at 8:57 am by George Smith


The Civil War 2 gang gets out its colors.

The above is from a Reuters poll allegedly showing more Americans than not want health care repealed than not. The photo, on the other hand, is very obviously a Tea Party rally. And the Tea Party is far from “most Americans.”

The marker — the presence of nausea-provoking multiple Gadsden flags.
Down with tyranny! Down with the Kenyan Muslim! Don’t tread on me! Don’t tread on me! Gahhhh, don’t tread on meeee-meeeee-meeeeee! See my fierce rattlesnake, baby! Do the rattlesnake shake!

Reuters:

As the U.S. Supreme Court prepares to review President Barack Obama’s healthcare reforms, more Americans want to it repealed than want to keep it, a poll released on Wednesday shows.

A Gallup survey of more than 1,000 U.S. adults found that 47 percent favor the repeal of healthcare reform, versus 42 percent who want the law kept in place. Eleven percent had no opinion.

But the survey also showed that 50 percent of Americans believe the federal government has a responsibility to make sure everyone has health coverage, compared with 46 percent who do not.

The results, which have a 4 percentage point margin of error, suggest a sharply divided U.S. public …

When one entire political party, one whole tv network, and almost all broadcast talk radio is devoted to calling for the destruction of health care reform daily, such polling is unremarkable.

11.15.11

At some point past … Va va voom!

Posted in Rock 'n' Roll at 9:03 pm by George Smith

Automatic swagger from ZZ Top/Stones riffs.

Pop rock drum circle, volume turned up for the Windy City. And if you’re feeling ambitious see the Dallas show, televised, where everyone looks like tutti-frutti chewing gum and the trousers are an excruciating embarrassment. And it’s not as loud so as not to frighten.

And if, by chance, you’re still wondering why I like this stuff so much: It’s the big guitar chord changes and souped up Everly’s vocal(s).

Yeah, right.

US of Ignoramus

Posted in Culture of Lickspittle, Decline and Fall at 4:21 pm by George Smith

No mystery here that Americans have a bad relationship with science. And the dislike of it has a lot to do with why the country has been so poorly run.

In the recent issue of Rolling Stone the magazine conducts a short interview with the author of Fool Me Twice: Fighting the Assault on Science in America, Shawn Lawrence Otto.

A couple questions and responses stick out:

The (unhelpful) role of the news media

Something has happened with the last generation of journalists, who have been taught the postmodern idea that there is no such thing as objective reality. But there is such a thing as objective reality – and we can measure it, and by measuring it we’ve doubled our lifespan, multiplied the productivity of our farms by 35 times, and totally changed the world. By not acknowledging that, reporters end up creating something called, “false balance,” essentially reporting on two sides of a story and letting the audience decide what they think is the objective truth or who is right. That’s really shirking their responsibility to dig and inform people what’s really going on.


How to mend America’s fractured relationship with science

First of all, scientists really need to reengage in our public conversation. Most Americans, when polled, don’t even know a living scientist. That’s got to change. Scientists need to get back out there and talk to their neighbors, speak in churches and talk to people where they go. People need to hear that voice in our political discussion again. The voice of values and religion – those are an important part of our conversation; but we need a plurality of voices and we also need the voice of facts, and reason, and knowledge.

From my personal experience, standard journalism has made it almost impossible to get across anything reliant upon science for understanding.

This has been very true in understanding terror potentials in chemical and biological weaponry. Journalists, like all the people caught with castor seeds, don’t understand what ricin is any more than those backwoodsmen trying to make a weapon out of it.

And it was only by a bit of luck that I was able to spend an hour discussing the matter with Atlanta Journal news reporters last week.

Still, this crept into the news:

“Ricin is a protein … the more you purify it, the harder it is to keep it around. People don’t understand that,??? Smith said, explaining that proteins are easily broken down by heat, ultraviolet light, acids or elements such as lye.

As noted previously, lye was common in US households and high school chem labs when I was a kid. And every college prep student had to take the class. Lye is not an element, it is a compound.

The author is also correct in that scientists have for too long not taken part in public conversation.

And much of the fault of this lies squarely with them. While at Lehigh University and the Penn State School of Medicine, NONE of the scientists I worked with had even the slightest interest in explaining to the public what they did or using their knowledge to help shape understanding of anything in the public sphere.

Add to this the hard fact that many scientists, primary investigators and research directors, are just terrible writers. Being the only person who could write in the labs in which I worked simply resulted in my employment dry-cleaning and working over the research papers and presentations by others.

Writing and good communication were seen as conveniences, tools to be used only for publishing in peer-reviewed journals.

This endemic disinterest has had spectacularly bad results for the country.

At Lehigh University, it resulted in the chemistry and biology departments getting black eyes and besmirched reputations in the residence of Michael Behe, the creationist who packaged his belief in that as the pseudo-science called intelligent design.

Behe could write.

And Lehigh’s hard science departments paid no attention to well after
he’d published Darwin’s Black Box: The Biochemical Challenge to Evolution , a book that became a bestseller, one that was subsequently used by Christian theocrats to inflict lasting damage on high school biology education throughout the country.

By then it was way too late and now the biology department is stuck with having to put a disclaimer concerning Behe’s beliefs and the actual science at the school, on its website.

And that is only one example of what can happen when a profession doesn’t pay attention, when it, or many people in it, believe that the development of a public voice is of no importance.

In This Brokedown Country (Class War)

Posted in Decline and Fall, Rock 'n' Roll at 12:09 pm by George Smith

Just a song. Picture of one of my cats included because no one shares or likes your stuff unless one is included. Or so I’ve been told.

Alternative use of DiscoverAmerica advertising.

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