Newsgather: Post-Newsreal Talk

Scientists stop the ageing process in entire organs by clearing proteins

lxpk — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 14:30:58 -0400

In posthuman life extension news:

Scientists have stopped the ageing process in an entire organ for the first time, a study released today says.

Newsgather: Post-Newsreal Talk

AI Online sending myspace messages offering to upload your media into an AI

lxpk — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 21:23:46 -0400

Subject: Artificial intelligence online

Hello,

Newsgather: Post-Newsreal Talk

Pizza Deliverators Arming Themselves Against Robbers Like In Snow Crash

lxpk — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 18:41:23 -0400

In Deliverator news:

Newsgather: Post-Newsreal Talk

Make Apple release a Mac Minitower and Macbook Mini

lxpk — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 14:54:24 -0400

Apple has over 50% of every market they compete in and they will gain over 50% marketshare of the entire computer industry when they compete in the whole market.

Newsgather: Post-Newsreal Talk

Fit Club resuming

lxpk — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 18:14:43 -0400

Newsgather: Post-Newsreal Talk

NewsGather Episode 2 Thu Sep 11 2008 MP3

lxpk — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 17:06:52 -0400

NewsGather Episode 2 Thu Sep 11 2008 MP3

Newsgather: Post-Newsreal Talk

Standford University Offers Comp-Sci Courses Free Online

lxpk — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 02:11:58 -0400

This fall, SEE launches its programming by offering one of Stanford ’s most popular sequences: the three-course Introduction to Computer

Newsgather: Post-Newsreal Talk

Newsreal with Sean Kennedy & Newsgather Aftershow Live in Second Life

lxpk — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 18:21:08 -0400

Start: 2008-09-18 19:00

End: 2008-09-18 22:00

Timezone: Etc/GMT-8

Join us for Newsreal with Sean Kennedy and the Newsgather aftershow recorded live in Second Life at Second Life HQ. IM Peak Alexander for details.

Rant Media

Newsreal with Sean Kennedy & Newsgather Aftershow Live in Second Life

lxpk — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 20:35:34 -0400

Start: 2008-09-12 19:00

End: 2008-09-12 22:00

Timezone: Etc/GMT-8

Join us for Newsreal with Sean Kennedy and the Newsgather aftershow recorded live in Second Life at Second Life HQ. IM Peak Alexander for details.

Newsgather: Post-Newsreal Talk

The rise of the lifeloggers and self-trackers

lxpk — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 09:17:51 -0400

Newsgather: Post-Newsreal Talk

Slacker Uprising Release - Michael Moore's new film

Agent Pugsly — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 09:14:53 -0400

Start: 2008-09-23 12:00

End: 2008-09-23 18:00

Timezone: Etc/GMT-8

http://slackeruprising.com/

Michael Moore's new movie will be available for free at this time. Local showings can be organized easily.

Newsgather: Post-Newsreal Talk

Data-centers built out of sealed shipping containers filled with servers

lxpk — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 04:10:26 -0400

It's not interesting that Microsoft is building epic datacenters to compete with Google in the Great Datacenter Arms Race. It's interesting that they're building them out of sealed shipping containers full of servers. They run them till they fail then they send them back and replace them.

Posted by Cory Doctorow, August 21, 2008 5:02 AM | permalink

Microsoft's new data-centres are comprised of entire sealed shipping containers that are slotted into racks and left to run until a critical mass of their processor units have failed, then are swapped out. Starting with a Chicago-area facility due to open later this year, Microsoft will use an approach in which servers arrive at the data center in a sealed container, already networked together and ready to go. The container itself is then hooked up to power, networking, and air conditioning. "The trucks back 'em in, rack 'em, and stack 'em," Chief Software Architect Ray Ozzie told CNET News. And the containers remain sealed, Ozzie said. Once a certain number of servers in the container have failed, it will be pulled out and sent back to the manufacturer and a new container loaded in.

Newsgather: Post-Newsreal Talk

New True20 Game System Epic Wins Gencon Best Supplement and a WIRED article

lxpk — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 14:09:35 -0400

What does the True20 roleplaying game have to do with Empowerment? True20 just scored a Gen Con 08 Ennie Award for Best Supplement, a WIRED.com feature article, and they've won my game designer heart for our own game developments.

There are Empowerment and Afternow role-playing game projects underway and the whole Empowerment project originally started as a D20-inspired activism RPG that went from realistic to real. Now that we're coming full-circle and doing RPGs again, the question is, what system should we use? Up until recently, I hadn't given it much thought, but as fate would have it, no sooner did I start looking than True20 found me.

I love the True20 system and I plan on using it as a starting point for future Empowerment role-playing game systems. It makes D20 simpler and more realistic in one clean sweep that clears away the cruft and sacred cows of 1970s roleplaying like hit points and rigid classes. I plan on making some optional modifications to make it even more realistic and calling those something like Real20.

At Gencon I met up with True20's Green Ronin Games designer Steve Kenson. I picked his brain about his inspirations for the system and possibilities for adding a simulationist-level optional combat system. Great guy, great company, great system. True20 is the utopian Vault in which to survive the D&D 4pocalypse.

There will be many empowering game projects and many systems used, but this one works for me right now.

True20: D&D With a Twist

By John Baichtal June 09, 2008 | 7:00:00 AMCategories: RPGs

For a lot of gamers, Dungeons & Dragons serves as something of a default game system. Certainly, it is by far the most popular, though some would argue the system suffers in comparison to other RPGs. After all, there are countless systems out there, some of them very different than D&D. For instance, game designer Jonathan Tweet created Over The Edge, a system with no skills or attributes, as well as Everway, a game with no dice. Of course, fans of the White Wolf's World of Darkness series of games prefer their system, and GURPS-players like theirs.

However, in the end, D&D's ubiquity won out. Wisely, D&D publisher Wizards of the Coast licensed out the game system, calling it d20 and inviting small publishers to design products for it. The terms of the agreement, called the Open Gaming License (OGL) even allows publishers to tinker with the rules.

True20 started as a d20 variant designed for use in Blue Rose: The Roleplaying Game of Romantic Fantasy. In the True20 rulebook's introduction, developer Steve Kenson describes the game this way: "The idea behind Blue Rose was to introduce new players to fantasy roleplaying with an untapped genre and a simpler, more self-contained system than is currently available under the Open Gaming License."

True20 keeps the OGL rules but has simplified and consolidated them. Every roll only involves a single 20-sided die. Attributes aren't absolute numbers, like in D&D, but rather serve purely as modifiers to that roll -- for instance, my Strength could be +2 while my Constitution -1. Skills work as modifiers as well, maxing out at the character's current level +3. Most of the rules will seem familiar with veteran d20 players, there are levels and feats, and the attributes are the same as D&D. However, the rules' simplicity has put a unique spin on d20 that a lot of people like.

"The release of Blue Rose met with success," Kenson continued in his intro, "and the True20 system found many fans even among those who weren't interested in a Romantic Fantasy RPG." Eventually, True20 publisher Green Ronin decided to sell the standalone rules in PDF format, and that PDF quickly became their #1 electronic product. Meanwhile, they had released a print version of the rules complete with coverage of multiple genres (e.g., sci fi, etc.)

Not only does Green Ronin have numerous True20 products, the system has become so successful, it has even spun off its own license to help game designers create their own products using the rules. Here are a couple of examples:

Roma Imperius, by HinterWelt Enterprises, an alternate Earth:

What if... magic had been discovered by the Romans of the third century? What if the Chinese had developed their alchemy and discovered immortality during the Han Dynasty? What if the Scandinavians had Thor, Freya and Odin living amongst them, guiding them?

Blood Throne, by Reality Deviants, a dark setting where a typical fantasy world has been utterly ravaged by demonic invaders:

For ten long years the people of Simarra have lived in fear. For ten long years the people of this war torn world have hidden themselves away from the evil which spreads across the land, the vile Keza-Drak -- invaders from another world -- have come to Simarra seeking nothing short than the total domination of this world. Their forces, bolstered by the dreaded Sundaari, have spread across the face of Simarra, bringing slavery and death to all who oppose them.

If you're interested in learning more about True20, check out the game's website, which has information and a number of free PDF downloads that can get your feet wet.

Afternow Games

Predator Pilots Suffering War Stress

lxpk — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 21:22:25 -0400

(Read the link for soldiers' comments)

August 08, 2008 Associated Press

MARCH AIR RESERVE BASE, Calif. - The Air National Guardsmen who operate Predator drones over Iraq via remote control, launching deadly missile attacks from the safety of Southern California 7,000 miles away, are suffering some of the same psychological stresses as their comrades on the battlefield.

Working in air-conditioned trailers, Predator pilots observe the field of battle through a bank of video screens and kill enemy fighters with a few computer keystrokes. Then, after their shifts are over, they get to drive home and sleep in their own beds.

But that whiplash transition is taking a toll on some of them mentally, and so is the way the unmanned aircraft's cameras enable them to see people getting killed in high-resolution detail, some officers say.

In a fighter jet, "when you come in at 500-600 mph, drop a 500-pound bomb and then fly away, you don't see what happens," said Col. Albert K. Aimar, who is commander of the 163rd Reconnaissance Wing here and has a bachelor's degree in psychology. But when a Predator fires a missile, "you watch it all the way to impact, and I mean it's very vivid, it's right there and personal. So it does stay in people's minds for a long time."

He said the stresses are "causing some family issues, some relationship issues." He and other Predator officers would not elaborate.

But the 163rd has called in a full-time chaplain and enlisted the services of psychologists and psychiatrists to help ease the mental strain on these remote-control warriors, Aimar said. Similarly, chaplains have been brought in at Predator bases in Texas, Arizona and Nevada.

In interviews with five of the dozens of pilots and sensor operators at the various bases, none said they had been particularly troubled by their mission, but they acknowledged it comes with unique challenges, and sometimes makes for a strange existence.

"It's bizarre, I guess," said Lt. Col. Michael Lenahan, a Predator pilot and operations director for the 196th Reconnaissance Squadron here. "It is quite different, going from potentially shooting a missile, then going to your kid's soccer game."

Among the stresses cited by the operators and their commanders: the exhaustion that comes with the shift work of this 24-7 assignment; the classified nature of the job that demands silence at the breakfast table; and the images transmitted via video.

A Predator's cameras are powerful enough to allow an operator to distinguish between a man and a woman, and between different weapons on the ground. While the resolution is generally not high enough to make out faces, it is sharp, commanders say.

Often, the military also directs Predators to linger over a target after an attack so that the damage can be assessed.

"You do stick around and see the aftermath of what you did, and that does personalize the fight," said Col. Chris Chambliss, commander of the active-duty 432nd Wing at Creech Air Force Base, Nev. "You have a pretty good optical picture of the individuals on the ground. The images can be pretty graphic, pretty vivid, and those are the things we try to offset. We know that some folks have, in some cases, problems."

Chambliss said his experience flying F-16 fighter jets on bombing runs in Iraq during the 1990s prepared him for his current job as a Predator pilot. But Chambliss and several other wing leaders said they were concerned about the sensor operators, who sit next to pilots in the ground control station. Often, the sensor operators are on their first assignment and just 18 or 19 years old, officers said.

While the pilot actually fires the missile, the sensor operator uses laser instruments to guide it all the way to its target.

On four or five occasions, sensor operators have sought out a chaplain or supervisor after an attack, Chambliss said. He emphasized that the number of such cases is very small compared to the number of people involved in Predator operations.

Col. Rodney Horn, vice commander of the 147th Reconnaissance Wing at Ellington Field Joint Reserve Base near Houston, said his unit went out of it way to impress upon sensor operators the sometimes lethal nature of the job. "No one's walking into it blind," he said.

Master Sgt. Keith LeQuire, a 48-year-old sensor operator here, said the 163rd asks prospective sensor operators whether they are prepared for the deadly serious mission. "No one's been naive enough to come in to interview but not know about that aspect of the job," he said.

Unlike Soldiers living together in the war zone, the Predator operators do not have the close locker-room-style camaraderie that allows buddies to talk about the day's events and blow off steam. But many Predator operators at Creech employ a decompression ritual during the long ride home, said Air Force Lt. Col. Robert P. Herz.

"They're putting a missile down somebody's chimney and taking out bad guys, and the next thing they're taking their wife out to dinner, their kids to school," said Herz, a Ph.D. who interviewed pilots and sensor operators for a doctoral dissertation on human error in Predator accidents.

"A lot of them have told me, `I'm glad I've got the hour drive.' It gives them that whole amount of time to leave it behind," Herz said. "They get in their bus or car and they go into a zone - they say, `For the next hour I'm decompressing, I'm getting re-engaged into what it's like to be a civilian.'"

Col. Gregg Davies, commander of the 214th Reconnaissance Group in Tucson, Ariz., said he knows of no member of his team who has experienced any trauma from launching a Predator attack.

Himself a Predator pilot, Davies said he has found the work rewarding. The Arizona Air National Guard unit flies Predators in both the Iraq and Afghanistan war zones. It has often provided protection for American convoys, and its personnel have seen insurgents planting roadside bombs.

"If we can have an effect there where we can take people out, that's a real plus in terms of saving American lives," Davies said. "Our folks look at it as they're in the fight, they're saving lives. They don't feel too bad about that."

Newsgather: Post-Newsreal Talk

New Material Could Make Objects Invisible

lxpk — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 09:45:20 -0400

Until now, the effectiveness of the cloaking has been demonstrated only in thin, two-dimensional materials.

Now at a National Science Foundation lab at the University of California, Berkeley, Jason Valentine, Jie Yao, Xiang Zhang and others have create a multilayered, "fishnet structure" that "unambiguously exhibits negative refractive index," they write.

"This straightforward and elegant demonstration enhances our ability to mould and harness light at will," according to a statement from the journal Nature.

Newsgather: Post-Newsreal Talk

Newsgather Episode 1 Aug 10 2008

lxpk — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 17:23:50 -0400

(Downloadable podcast audio file will be posted soon)

Welcome to Newsgather, the wog global meetup with the news we need to become the media for our communication and collaboration. This is episode 1, and it's still in alpha so bear with us and help us make it better.

Newsgather is a live podcast show recorded in Second Life after the show Newsreal with Sean Kennedy. Newsreal is the wog global sitrep with the news you need to stay alive and you can listen in at www.rantmedia.ca/newsreal. Newsreal fans are already gathering in Second Life to listen to Newsreal live, and now we're sticking around afterwards to do a followup show. The Newsgather show begins when the Newsreal show ends. We gather and use Second Life Podcasting to discuss news we care about and projects we are working on.

You can find out more about Newsgather at http://www.empowerthyself.com/newsgather .

When can you attend?

If you want to Attend in Second Life, NewsReal usually happens live on Thursdays around 7PM Pacific and goes for about an hour. Newsgather starts after the show ends and goes for about an hour as well.

How can you attend?

Visit our Second Life HQ (with Second Life download instructions).

How can you contribute news stories for discussion?

Go to www.empowerthyslf.com/newsgather and click Post News Story. You can submit a news story.

Newsreal Stories

Sean is looking for suggestions for places to set up some kind of wog course resort community place.

Vision 2015: Supplying intelligence to more people through OSINT

Overhauling the internet with restrictions: i911 event coming says Lessig

http://www.yff365.com/profiles/blog/show?id=2162281%3ABlogPost%3A5863

What can be done to get off of their Net?

Caniboids being produced by the skin?

[14:09] mephyt Gothly: http://blog.wired.com/defense/2008/08/the-office-of-t.html
[14:13] mephyt Gothly: http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2008/08/05/226329/nasa-to-test-plas...
[14:14] bigbrother Lord: nice
[14:14] phantasamagoria Merryman: next step warpspeed he he
[14:14] mephyt Gothly: close to it
[14:15] Yugosaki Coronet: now we just need to hijack it
[14:15] bigbrother Lord: gasoline?
[14:15] mephyt Gothly: http://www.yff365.com/profiles/blog/show?id=2162281%3ABlogPost%3A5863
[14:18] bigbrother Lord: why cant they leave the internet alone? seriously
[14:18] Yugosaki Coronet: because it is dangerous to them
[14:18] bigbrother Lord: oh yeah
[14:18] phantasamagoria Merryman is Offline
[14:18] Legion Rosenman: its about the only dangerous thing to them
[14:19] Yugosaki Coronet: well, guns are too
[14:19] Yugosaki Coronet: that's the b-plan
[14:19] bigbrother Lord: the rantnet
[14:19] Mindy Starek: oh yes.
[14:20] Mindy Starek: great title :)
[14:20] bigbrother Lord: I thought so

[14:21] mephyt Gothly: http://www.caboodle.hu/nc/news/news_archive/single_page/?tx_ttnews[tt_news]=5487
[14:21] Drachen Ranger: so hijack a plane and conqour a tropical island?
[14:21] bigbrother Lord: MEPH
[14:21] Legion Rosenman: crash and conquer
[14:21] mephyt Gothly: ?
[14:21] Mindy Starek: ......:)
[14:21] Yugosaki Coronet: MICROPHONE
[14:21] bigbrother Lord: your mics on
[14:22] mephyt Gothly: fuck, off
[14:22] mephyt Gothly: all good now
[14:22] bigbrother Lord: oh lawdy we MAKE THC?
[14:22] bigbrother Lord: nice
[14:23] Yugosaki Coronet: great. people gonna start smoking their peeling skin
[14:23] bigbrother Lord: ehhhh I wouldnt go that far
[14:23] bigbrother Lord: Members Of Congress Demand An End To Federal Pot Possession Arrests. The Use Of Cannabis “Ought To Be None Of The Government's Business,” Lawmakers Say At Capitol Hill Press Conference

Hemp is useful

[14:23] bigbrother Lord: http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=7670
[14:25] Yugosaki Coronet: they would stop and be all to interested in the wife's shiny necklace
[14:25] bigbrother Lord: "dude, where did you get this necklace? It's...Shiney"

Artificial Eyeballs

[14:26] mephyt Gothly: http://technology.newscientist.com/channel/tech/dn14477-artificial-eyeba...
[14:26] bigbrother Lord: love how the first thing was policing
[14:27] Yugosaki Coronet: this means that when they perfect eye to brain data transmission, you will be able to see like you had normal eyes
[14:27] Yugosaki Coronet: i.e. peripheral vision

[14:27] Venus Enoch is Online
[14:28] BSV Dreadlow: cyber eyes the blind or if you want better eyes
[14:28] mephyt Gothly: http://www.technologyreview.com/Biotech/21175/?a=f
[14:28] Venus Enoch is Offline
[14:30] bigbrother Lord: I can see people using this to say "your brains not wired right here look"
[14:30] mephyt Gothly: yep
[14:30] mephyt Gothly: could be a bad thing
[14:30] bigbrother Lord: I loved that movie
[14:31] Yugosaki Coronet: i got it from a litle movie store, they wouldn't sell it to me so i rented it "lost" it and paid them for it
[14:31] Yugosaki Coronet: then i magically 'found' it again
[14:31] bigbrother Lord: lol
[14:32] bigbrother Lord: I never liked that movie
[14:32] mephyt Gothly: btw, josie... check out equilibrium... ;)
[14:32] bigbrother Lord: smooth
[14:32] mephyt Gothly: fear and loathing too, maybe...
[14:33] mephyt Gothly: http://www.physorg.com/news137088634.html
[14:33] Yugosaki Coronet: we can't stop here, this is bat country
[14:33] bigbrother Lord: I got half way though the movie and turned it off
[14:35] bigbrother Lord: like the "suicide rant"?
[14:35] Yugosaki Coronet: along with the weapons segment of patrolling
[14:35] Yugosaki Coronet: minus the aliens stuff
[14:35] Mindy Starek: um hum ive ;istened to wayof the masters clips
[14:36] bigbrother Lord: got a link mindy?
[14:36] Mindy Starek: yep 1 sec
[14:36] bigbrother Lord: maybe cimm could
[14:37] mephyt Gothly: cimm could fit through the keyhole
[14:37] bigbrother Lord: lol
[14:37] Yugosaki Coronet: they lock you up i'll broadcast the next newsreal
[14:37] Yugosaki Coronet: a big "fuck you"

Exoskeletal Arm

[14:37] mephyt Gothly: http://technology.newscientist.com/channel/tech/dn14457-invention-exoske...

Japanese Winglet Segway-like vehicles

[14:39] mephyt Gothly: http://www.physorg.com/news136807601.html
[14:39] BSV Dreadlow: "Exoskeleton for grannies" best line ever
[14:40] bigbrother Lord: yes

Way of the Master Christian Radio distorted Sean's clip to make him sound more insane

[14:41] Mindy Starek: http://www.waofthemasterradio.com/podcast/2006/10/page/4 i think it is oct 21.

Brainhack: Albert Einstein's brain, the haves and the have nots of eugenic intelligence, elitist dehumanization, people are people

The brain mechanism that turns off traumatic bad memories has been identified to treat panic disorders

[14:46] mephyt Gothly: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/30/AR200807...

EU should share terrorism information with the US to pool drones and profiles into a combined force to tackle terrorism, organized crime and illegal immigration, forming armed interventionary world police force

[14:49] mephyt Gothly: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/aug/07/eu.uksecurity
[14:49] Drachen Ranger: oh thats a good idea

Daily Hack: Binaural Beats that give you a mental drug-like effect, ambient sounds that affect your brain waves

[14:53] bigbrother Lord: http://www.i-doser.com/
[14:53] bigbrother Lord: there you go sean if you ever read the chat

[14:53] Drachen Ranger: I had a buddy who tried to work that sort of music into the music his band was putting out...he didn't get too far.
[14:53] Legion Rosenman: http://www.bwgen.com/
[14:53] bigbrother Lord: same idea I used when I made my music
[14:54] bigbrother Lord: OMG
[15:49] bigbrother Lord: they're all cracked and uploaded
[15:49] bigbrother Lord: Let me say this
[15:49] bigbrother Lord: as someone who has tried them
[15:49] bigbrother Lord: they do NOT work that well
[15:49] Mindy Starek: :)
[15:49] Legion Rosenman: is it the same thing as brainwave generator?
[15:49] Soy Source is Online
[15:49] bigbrother Lord: you're listening to STATIC
[15:49] bigbrother Lord: no
[15:49] bigbrother Lord: you have to be in a quiet room with headphones
[15:50] bigbrother Lord: also it sounds exactly like static
[15:50] bigbrother Lord: but I've messed with a lot of binural beats
[15:50] bigbrother Lord: and in my exteriments I havent found they work much
[15:50] bigbrother Lord: i'll find it
[15:52] Yugosaki Coronet: afk
[15:52] phantasamagoria Merryman is Offline
[15:52] bigbrother Lord: http://thepiratebay.org/torrent/4041686/I-doser_songs_in_mp3_format
[15:53] bigbrother Lord: Hate to say it but mp3 is a lossy format so any 'sharpness' to the really LOW beats are lost

Gathered Stories

HD DVDs with a chat room for any given fanbase

what is acceptable use of the chatroom?

Joe Arpaio's Tent City Prison Camps

Project Updates

What We're Up To at Empowerment HQ

Gen Con

Lor is coming Saturday

BSV will stay at Empowerment HQ starting Thursday night

Outro

Thank you for listening to this pilot episode of Newsgather. Just by listening, you are fighting back against mainstream mind-control media, but you can do more than just listen! Come join us.

Newsgather: Post-Newsreal Talk

Arizona's "Toughest Sherriff in America" Runs A Tent City Prison

lxpk — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 15:40:41 -0400

Recent news of homeless debtors moving to tent cities and have left many wondering how long it will be before debtors get put into debtor prisons directly. Well it turns out that in Arizona they're celebrating the 15th anniversary of tent city prisons and plan to build more. All that's missing is another law to stiffen penalties for bankruptcy.

Arizona Tent City Links

http://www.ktar.com/?sid=923628&nid=237&pid=0

http://www.cnn.com/US/9907/27/tough.sheriff/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Arpaio

Newsgather: Post-Newsreal Talk

Internet Censorship is On it's Way. The i-Patriot Act

lxpk — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 13:25:54 -0400

Amazing revelations have emerged concerning already existing government plans to overhaul the way the internet functions in order to apply much greater restrictions and control over the web.

Lawrence Lessig, a respected Law Professor from Stanford University told an audience at this years Fortune’s Brainstorm Tech conference in Half Moon Bay, California, that “There’s going to be an i-9/11 event” which will act as a catalyst for a radical reworking of the law pertaining to the internet.

Lessig also revealed that he had learned, during a dinner with former government Counter Terrorism Czar Richard Clarke, that there is already in existence a cyber equivalent of the Patriot Act, an “i-Patriot Act” if you will, and that the Justice Department is waiting for a cyber terrorism event in order to implement its provisions.

During a group panel segment titled “2018: Life on the Net”, Lessig stated:

There’s going to be an i-9/11 event. Which doesn’t necessarily mean an Al Qaeda attack, it means an event where the instability or the insecurity of the internet becomes manifest during a malicious event which then inspires the government into a response. You’ve got to remember that after 9/11 the government drew up the Patriot Act within 20 days and it was passed.

The Patriot Act is huge and I remember someone asking a Justice Department official how did they write such a large statute so quickly, and of course the answer was that it has been sitting in the drawers of the Justice Department for the last 20 years waiting for the event where they would pull it out.

Of course, the Patriot Act is filled with all sorts of insanity about changing the way civil rights are protected, or not protected in this instance. So I was having dinner with Richard Clarke and I asked him if there is an equivalent, is there an i-Patriot Act just sitting waiting for some substantial event as an excuse to radically change the way the internet works. He said “of course there is”.

Watch Lessig reveal the details at 4.30 into the following video:

Lessig is the founder of Stanford Law School’s Center for Internet and Society. He is founding board member of Creative Commons and is a board member of the Electronic Frontier Foundation and of the Software Freedom Law Center. He is best known as a proponent of reduced legal restrictions on copyright, trademark and radio frequency spectrum, particularly in technology applications.
These are clearly not the ravings of some paranoid cyber geek.

The Patriot Act, as well as its lesser known follow up the Domestic Security Enhancement Act 2003, also known as USA Patriot Act II, have been universally decried by civil libertarians and Constitutional scholars from across the political spectrum. They have stripped back basic rights and handed what have been described by even the most moderate critics as “dictatorial control” over to the president and the federal government.

Many believed that the legislation was a response to the attacks of 9/11, but the reality was that the Patriot Act was prepared way in advance of 9/11 and it sat dormant, awaiting an event to justify its implementation.

In the days after the attacks it was passed in the House by a majority of 357 to 66. It passed the Senate by 98 to 1. Congressman Ron Paul (R-Tex) told the Washington Times that no member of Congress was even allowed to read the legislation.

Now we discover that exactly the same freedom restricting legislation has already been prepared for the cyber world.

An i-9/11, as described by Lawrence Lessig, would provide the perfect pretext to implement such restrictions in one swift motion, as well as provide the justification for relegating and eliminating specific content and information on the web.

Such an event could come in the form of a major viral attack, the hacking of a major city’s security or transport systems, or some other vital systems, or a combination of all of these things. Considering the amount of unanswered questions regarding 9/11 and all the indications that it was a covert false flag operation, it isn’t hard to imagine such an event being played out in the cyber world.

However, regardless of any i-9/11 or i-Patriot Act, there is already a coordinated effort to stem the reach and influence of the internet.

We have tirelessly warned of this general movement to restrict, censor, control and eventually completely shut down the internet as we know it, thereby killing the last real vestige of free speech in the world today and eliminating the greatest communication and information tool ever conceived.

Our governments have reams of legislation penned to put clamps on the web as we know it. Legislation such as the PRO-IP Act of 2007: H.R. 4279, that would create an IP czar at the Department of Justice and the Intellectual Property Enforcement Act of 2007: S. 522, which would create an entire ‘Intellectual Property Enforcement Network’. These are just two examples.

In addition, we have already seen how the major corporate websites and social networks are decentralizing and coming together to implement overarching identification, verification and access systems that have been described by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg as “the beginning of a movement and the beginning of an industry.”

Some of these major tech companies have already joined efforts in projects such as the Information Card Foundation, which has proposed the creation of a system of internet ID cards that will be required for internet access. Of course, such a system would give those involved the ability to track and control user activity much more effectively. This is just one example.

In addition, as we reported yesterday, major transportation hubs like St. Pancras International, as well as libraries, big businesses, hospitals and other public outlets that offer wi-fi Internet, are blacklisting alternative news websites and making them completely inaccessible to their users.

These precedents are merely the first indication of what is planned for the Internet over the next 5-10 years, with the traditional web becoming little more than a vast spy database that catalogues people’s every activity and bombards them with commercials, while those who comply with centralized control and regulation of content will be free to enjoy the new super-fast Internet 2.

We must speak out about this rampant move to implement strict control mechanisms on the web NOW before it is too late, before the spine of the free internet is broken and its body essentially becomes paralyzed beyond repair.

Related: Get Outraged And Get Active About Internet Censorship

Newsgather: Post-Newsreal Talk

Corpolitical Wal Mart News: Wal Mart warns managers against Democrats

lxpk — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 04:39:42 -0400

Several Wal-Mart employees have reported that they were pressured by their employer to withdraw their support for the democratic party in the upcoming election. Most people who believe in democracy would find this highly inappropriate. Wal-Mart spokesman Dave Tovar feels differently. Tovar explained to the AP that “We regularly educate our associates on issues which impact our company, and this is an example of that.”

Newsgather: Post-Newsreal Talk

Develop Tactical Ice Cream Unit Capability

lxpk — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 13:53:50 -0400

We need a tactical ice cream unit.

What is the legal requirements to have an ice cream truck and play the music on the street?

What are the materials costs?

Ice cream and antiviral counterpropaganda for the little children!

Spread Empowerment

Investigative Assignment: What is the environmental waste footprint of solar technology?

lxpk — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 00:16:48 -0400

With all this new solar tech, it bears asking the question: What is the footprint of solar? What kind of waste does it generate? Dig up what you can find and post it here as comments.

Newsgather: Post-Newsreal Talk

Newsgather 0 July 31 2008

lxpk — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 23:22:16 -0400

Click to download this episode

Welcome to Newsgather, the wog global meetup with the news we need to become the media for our communication and collaboration. This is episode 0, and it's an alpha test so it would be amazing if everything worked smoothly. It hasn't been done before, and that's why it's going to work.

Newsgather is a live podcast show recorded in Second Life before and after Newsreal with Sean Kennedy. Newsreal is the wog global sitrep with the news you need to stay alive and you can listen in at www.rantmedia.ca/newsreal. Newsreal fans are already gathering in Second Life to listen to Newsreal live, and now we're sticking around afterwards to do a followup show. The Newsgather show begins when the Newsreal show ends. We gather and use Second Life Podcasting to discuss news we care about and projects we are working on.

You can find out more about Newsgather at http://www.empowerthyself.com/newsgather .

When can you attend?

How can you attend?

Visit our Second Life HQ (with Second Life download instructions).

How can you contribute news stories for discussion?

Go to www.empowerthyslf.com/newsgather and click Post News Story. You can submit a news story.

Post news stories here.

Post stories before, during and after shows for discussion on the show.

First up let's discuss the News Stories Sean reported on Newsreal today.

Automated Camera Monitoring

SpaceShip Two

Afternow Waste Gas Fuel Production Technology

Oil Shortage may be fabricated

Flying Car concept, hasn't flown yet, single engine to fit into US light sport aircraft pilot license category $148K

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/07/29/terrafugia_transition_on_show_os...

Neural OCZ-Nia brain computer interface, commands with face muscles and eyes, cast spells with your mind! long training,

http://www.tomshardware.se/kringutrustning/20080304/

http://hothardware.com/Articles/OCZ_NIA_BrainComputer_Interface/?page=6

Spying on students

http://www.infowars.com/?p=3552

Heart Robot

Programmed to respond emotionally, big in Japan

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7532195.stm

SAMAS news: Kiwi Ducted Fan Jet Pack, 30 minutes of flight

Thank you for listening to this pilot episode of Newsgather. Just by listening, you are fighting back against mainstream mind-control media, but you can do more than just listen! Come join us.

Newsgather: Post-Newsreal Talk

US Legislators aim to snuff out penalties for pot use

lxpk — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 15:53:21 -0400

House Resolution 5843, titled the Personal Use of Marijuana by Responsible Adults Act of 2008, would express support for "a very small number of individuals" suffering from chronic pain or illness to smoke marijuana with impunity.

According to NORML, marijuana can be used to treat a range of illnesses, including glaucoma, asthma, multiple sclerosis, HIV/AIDS and seizures.

Frank, who is chairman of the Financial Services Committee, said that about a dozen states have approved some degree of medical marijuana use and that the federal government should stop devoting resources to arresting people who are complying with their states' laws.

In a shot at Republicans, Frank said it was strange that those who support limited government want to criminalize marijuana.

Asked whether the resolution's passage would change his personal behavior, Frank quipped, "I do obey every law I vote for" but quickly said he did not use marijuana, nor does he encourage it.

"I smoke cigars. I don't think other people should do that. If young people ask me, I would advise them not to do it," he said.

If HR 5843 were passed, the House would support marijuana smokers possessing up to 100 grams -- about 3½ ounces -- of cannabis without being arrested. It would also give its blessing to the "nonprofit transfer" of up to an ounce of marijuana.

The resolution would not address laws forbidding growing, importing or exporting marijuana, or selling it for profit. The resolution also would not speak to state laws regarding marijuana use.

Newsgather: Post-Newsreal Talk

Record Second Life Podcast Segment

lxpk — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 06:30:56 -0400

You can act as a roving reporter to record interesting conversations and submit the recordings for inclusion in weekly and monthly podcasts.

Setup & Test. First master the setup documented in the Second Life Podcasting skill. Test it before doing your interview or you will make mistaks and lose your precious interview audio.
Find something to talk about. Pick a discussion topic about something that some people you know have interesting things to say about.
Record a conversation about it.
Start by introducing yourself and your conversation participants. Use their names when addressing them to help listeners clue into who is who.
Wrap up your recording.
Submit your recording as a file attachment to a podcasting group such as Newsgather or Empowerment.tv.

Newsgather: Post-Newsreal Talk

Martial Law Exercises: Indianapolis To Become "Mock Battlefield" Circle City site of three week long urban warfare training

lxpk — Thu, 29 May 2008 21:02:39 -0400

Indianapolis To Become "Mock Battlefield"
Circle City to be site of three week long urban warfare training

Steve Watson
Infowars.net
Thursday, May 29, 2008

Indianapolis will become a "mock battlefield" for the next three weeks according to local press, as over two thousand marines will stage a huge urban warfare training exercise in and around the city.

About 2,300 Marines from the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit, based at Camp Lejeune, N.C., will conduct urban warfare training from Wednesday through June 19 in and around Indianapolis, reports the Indy Star.

The marines have been granted permission by state, federal and local authorities to fire weapons, conduct patrols, run vehicle checkpoints, react to ambushes and employ nonlethal weapons after landing helicopters and deploying throughout various parks, stadiums and fairgrounds.

“We don’t want anyone thinking that there’s an invasion happening or that we declared martial law or something like that,” Debbi Fletcher of the Indianapolis/Marion County Emergency Management Agency commented.

“Our aim in Indianapolis is to expose our Marines to realistic scenarios and stresses posed by operating in an actual urban community, thereby increasing their proficiency in built-up areas,” Col. Mark J. Desens, commander of the 26th MEU, said in a statement. “While some of the activity will take place around Camp Atterbury, residents in many areas can expect to see helicopters flying overhead, military vehicles on the roads and Marines patrolling on foot,” Desens said.

Indianapolis is seemingly welcoming the marines with open arms, in stark contrast to the last story of this nature we reported on in Toledo, Ohio where Mayor Carty Finkbeiner expelled the members of Company A, 1st Battalion, 24th Marines back in February because he did not think it a good idea to have uniformed soldiers drilling in a highly visible area as it may have disrupted and frightened residents.

The Mayor was subsequently castigated by the mainstream media for taking the decision.

In response to the criticism and even small protests in Toledo, Finkbeiner said “Anybody who suggests that this man is in some way, shape, or form not loyal to this country or not loyal to the military of this country, well that person is just a plain baboon who doesn’t know me in any way, shape, or form and what I stand for,”

It is a well documented that the use of military for law enforcement violates the Posse Comitatus Act. The increased spate of urban warfare drills has many fearing that this long standing law is slowly being eroded and everyday Americans becoming acclimatized to the idea of an active military in their towns and cities.

The military has purpose built facilities for training, it is unacceptable and unlawful to have troops training on the streets of towns and cities in America. Nevertheless, the media routinely castigates the idea of preventing it from occurring.

Reporting on this saga, Jim Kouri of NewsWithViews.com interviewed former and current police chiefs who believe the motive for training US troops inside American cities is more sinister:

“The police power has traditionally been reserved for the states. The fact that we’re allowing military troops to train in US cities is a violation of that tradition. We don’t need federal troops to intervene in matters that should be handled by local police officers, state troopers and the National Guard,” one former detective states.

“The increasing use of Urban Warfare Training Exercises, I believe, desensitizes both the public to the deployment of military forces in their own neighborhoods,” warns a police chief, whose mayor endorses the use of military forces within the US.

“It also desensitizes military and police personnel so that they will accept what was once considered unacceptable,” another police chief comments.

We have previously documented the coordinated program of urban warfare drilling in America and how such activity has increased in tandem with an growing effort to erode the ancient law of Posse Comitatus.

In 911: The Road to Tyranny Alex Jones presents footage of troops training to put Americans into Concentration Camps. This footage includes interrogations and a retired Marine admitting that in 1988 he was kicking down doors in Norfolk, Virginia. The Marines would be ordered to the local Police station where they would don Police uniforms. They would then go to the local gun shop or dealers home and "Take Them Down."

In Alex Jones' feature Police State 2000 he covers Operation Urban Warrior where actors posed as American citizens who were Unconstitutionally seized from their homes by the military and police. These Americans: were rounded up and confined behind barbed-wire.

The actors were told to demand to be let free and state that they had rights. They were also told to demand food and water. The troops in turn were taught to ignore them and to order them to behave in an orderly fashion. "Civil disobedience will not be tolerated" was one of the many disturbing statements heard to emanate from the military's loud speakers.

Over the years there have been countless drills of this nature. The media simply reports them as training for dealing with foreign enemies, yet the volunteers and the participants are always told differently.

Here's a report on another urban warfare drill entitled "The Millennium Challenge 2002". This drill was conducted secretly across 26 States in 2002.

In 2005 details of just one of many Military operations on American soil was exposed in the run up to Bush's second coronation. A secret counterterrorism program code-named Power Geyser. A small group of super-secret commandos were hidden among 13000 police and troops and "stood ready with state-of-the-art weaponry to swing into action.".

There have been literally thousands of these kind of operations in the planning and going on for years now. Many designed to use the military on the streets of American cities in direct violation of Posse Comitatus. The Pentagon has a full Command in operation working on these activities, the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC).

We have seen how new provisions will effectively nullify the U.S. constitution, and a recent spate of executive orders, in particular PDD 51, outline preparations for the implementation of open martial law in the event of a declared national emergency.

The Pentagon has "War Plans" drafted in the event of any type of terror attack, which would be coordinated by Northcom in conjunction with the Department of Homeland Security and would involve martial law and thousands of troops on the streets.

Newsgather: Post-Newsreal Talk

Newsgather has begun, your news stories and ideas are needed

lxpk — Mon, 19 May 2008 06:29:26 -0400

It is 3:30AM so I'm going to go to sleep. Soon there will be news gathering going on here and next Newsreal we will do a pre and post show recording for a podcast. Start posting news stories!