Had to break the silence to promote this video and the idea behind it
Thanks Jack Spirko and The Survival Podcast
Feed on The Drop Sheet
On Hold
I apologize about the lack of postings lately, but my time has been focused on another project. That coupled with an unruly schedule has pushed TheDropSheet to the back burner. I expect to be able to better handle my responsibilities soon.
The new project is VideoandResume.com which is in it’s infantile stages of a bootstrapped start-up. I totally appreciate those that have been visiting. I sincerely thank you. I will return. TheDropSheet will return.
The American Dream Film, Orwell and Huxley, Meet John Doe
The American Dream
http://www.theamericandreamfilm.com/
The AMERICAN DREAM is a 30 minute animated film that shows you how you’ve been scammed by the most basic elements of our government system. All of us Americans strive for the American Dream, and this film shows you why your dream is getting farther and farther away. Do you know how your money is created? Or how banking works? Why did housing prices skyrocket and then plunge? Do you really know what the Federal Reserve System is and how it affects you every single day? THE AMERICAN DREAM takes an entertaining but hard hitting look at how the problems we have today are nothing new,
and why leaders throughout our history have warned us and fought against the current type of financial system we have in America today. You will be challenged to investigate some very entrenched and powerful institutions in this nation, and hopefully encouraged to help get our nation back on track.
Buy it now: theamericandreamfilm.com
Watch it for FREE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kv2oCXbW4r0
Introducing ‘The American Dream’: Liberty is My Cinematic Mission Statement
12-13-10
Let’s first take a look at what makes good media. Regardless of the format, whether narrative or documentary, the first and foremost thing people want is a good story. Telling a good story and crafting interesting characters is a talent.
Film-making is not something that everyone is going to be able to do well. I say this not to discourage anyone but more to identify what the real issue is. The biggest strength of the liberal voice is that they use the elements of story-telling far better. They know that stories of struggle and triumph are far more engaging than messages of statistics and fear. I am convinced a lot of liberals would like the story of free markets and small government a lot better if we
did a better job telling it.
I am hopeful that all the film-makers out there will check out what we did and have the same reaction. It’s not the Democrats versus the Republicans, that is but a distraction. The real debate is liberty, freedom and prosperity vs. control and poverty. Once you get that its no longer about party we can put that “US” Vs “THEM” aside and start making films that convey the message of liberty being the greatest mission statement a nation has ever had.
2011: A Brave New Dystopia
12-27-10
Would we be, as Orwell wrote, dominated by a repressive surveillance and security state that used crude and violent forms of control? Or would we be, as Huxley envisioned, entranced by entertainment and spectacle, captivated by technology and seduced by profligate consumption to embrace our own oppression? It turns out Orwell and Huxley were both right. Huxley saw the first stage of our enslavement. Orwell saw the second.
Orwell warned of a world where books were banned. Huxley warned of a world where no one wanted to read books. Orwell warned of a state of permanent war and fear. Huxley warned of a culture diverted by mindless pleasure. Orwell warned of a state where every conversation and thought was monitored and dissent was brutally punished. Huxley warned of a state where a population, preoccupied by trivia and gossip, no longer cared about truth or information. Orwell saw us frightened into submission. Huxley saw us seduced into submission. But Huxley, we are discovering, was merely the prelude to Orwell. Huxley understood the process by which we would be complicit in our own enslavement. Orwell understood the enslavement. Now that the corporate coup is over, we stand naked and defenseless.
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/2011_a_brave_new_dystopia_20101227/
Meet John Doe (1941)
As a parting shot, fired reporter Ann Mitchell prints a fake letter from unemployed “John Doe,” who threatens
suicide in protest of social ills. The paper is forced to rehire Ann and hires John Willoughby to impersonate “Doe.”
Ann and her bosses cynically milk the story for all it’s worth, until the made-up “John Doe” philosophy starts a whole
political movement. At last everyone, even Ann, takes her creation seriously…but publisher D.B. Norton has a
secret plan. – IMDB.com
The speech: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqpNI4232qg
The Heelots: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYrr1oD8w-w
The way it should be: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5C8nminVkAs
The conspiracy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AoZXu-nlbzo and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRmcN1z_qOM
Martial Law UK, Google Brother, iSnitch, Junk Silver, Kosovo Organ Ring
Martial Law: UK Police Chief Mulls Banning Protests
12-15-10
UK police chief Sir Paul Stephenson is considering whether to ask the British government to ban protest marches altogether in response to last week’s student riots, a move that would place Britain under a de facto state of martial
law.
Although the establishment media in Britain dutifully blamed the protesters for the violent scenes witnessed during the demonstrations, it later emerged that police had been behind a number of provocations that caused the running street battles,..
Stephenson is considering whether to use the Public Order Act in an attempt to ban marches, despite acknowledging the fact that such a move could only exacerbate the situation. Other proposals are to use water cannons to disperse
demonstrators, as well as snatch squads that would literally abduct so-called “trouble-makers” off the streets.
http://www.infowars.com/martial-law-uk-police-chief-mulls-banning-protests/
Google: We’ll find info before you know you need it
12-10-10
Google is working on a service that finds information before a user has even started looking for it.
Forget Google Instant, this is about pre-emptively pushing data at users before they know they need it, said Marissa Mayer, Google’s VP of geographic and local services, who was speaking at the LeWeb internet conference in Paris this
week.
Mayer said Google is looking at what she called “contextual discovery” as a way to evolve search – pushing information out to people before they’ve started to look for it, based on factors such as their web browsing history or current location.
iPhone snitch network launched
12-13-10
A new iPhone App with the misleading name ‘PatriotApp’ attempts to draw on the power of the patriot movement, turning smartphone users into a gigantic snitch network.
An app like this is meant to solidify the climate of fear in which our leaders want us to exist. The threat of terrorism must be palpable in order for the ‘War on Terror’ to be justified and to validate all the extreme measures instituted in its name.
http://www.infowars.com/iphone-snitch-network-launched/
Kosovo PM is head of human organ and arms ring, Council of Europe reports
12-14-10
Kosovo’s prime minister is the head of a “mafia-like” Albanian group responsible for smuggling weapons, drugs and human organs through eastern Europe, according to a Council of Europe inquiry report on organised crime.
The report states: “As and when the transplant surgeons were confirmed to be in position and ready to operate, the captives were brought out of the ‘safe house’ individually, summarily executed by a KLA gunman, and their corpses
transported swiftly to the operating clinic.”
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/14/kosovo-prime-minister-llike-mafia-boss
In praise of Junk silver
12-14-10
Oh, you do know that only dimes (originally dismes), quarters, halves and dollars (originally eagles) minted in 1964 or before are silver, don’t you?
Nickels dated 2010 and before are an alloy containing 25% nickel, currently valued at 6¢. They may be the small change of the future. Pennies dated 1982 and before contain 95% copper, they’re going for around 2.5¢ at present.
Posted in News
Tagged 6 Cent Nickel, banning, Big Brother, Generation Nincompoop, Gold, google, Great Depression, iphone, kosovo, protest, Protests, Revolution, SIlver, Weak Dollar
Wikileaks v. Amazon, Cancun Accords, Derivatives, Rain Tax, 15 years left.
Breaking News: Wikileaks Hacktivists Shut Down Amazon’s European Websites
12-12-10
It appears that Wikileaks hacktivists have made good on their threat to take down one of the Internet’s global behemoths. Amazon’s European websites are down and inaccessible, costing the company untold millions on one of the busiest shopping days of the year in the run up to Christmas.
Firing the biggest salvo in what hacktivists have dubbed a new cyber-war, Wikileaks supporters have seemingly exacted revenge for Amazon removing Julian Assange’s website from its cloud network of servers at the behest of Joe Lieberman’s Senate Homeland Security Committee ten days ago.
http://www.infowars.com/breaking-news-wikileaks-hacktivists-shut-down-amazons-european-websites/
Final accord reached at Cancun despite Bolivia’s objection
12-12-10
The agreement covers establishment of a new Green Climate Fund to help poor nations, measures to protect tropical forests and a mechanism for clean energy technology transfer to poorer nations. It also reaffirmed a commitment reached at last year’s Copenhagen conference to provide 100 billion U.S. dollars a year to help developing countries fight global warming.
Bolivia rejected the two documents of the deal, saying they amounted to a blank check for developed nations because the commitments set were in documents which had not yet been published.
Solon also challenged the validity of the agreement, saying the rules stipulated it could not be passed when one state strongly objected. “We will get every international body necessary to make sure that the consensus is respected,” he said.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2010-12/12/c_13645374.htm
A Secretive Banking Elite Rules Trading in Derivatives
12-12-10
On the third Wednesday of every month, the nine members of an elite Wall Street society gather in Midtown Manhattan.
The men share a common goal: to protect the interests of big banks in the vast market for derivatives, one of the most profitable — and controversial — fields in finance. They also share a common secret: The details of their meetings, even their identities, have been strictly confidential.
Derivatives are also big business on Wall Street. Banks collect many billions of dollars annually in undisclosed fees associated with these instruments — an amount that almost certainly would be lower if there were more competition and transparent prices.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/40628316
Taking down America
12-07-10
If Washington is dreaming of 2040 or 2050 as the end of the American Century, a more realistic assessment of domestic and global trends suggests that in 2025, just 15 years from now, it could all be over except for the shouting.
Ordinary Americans, watching their jobs head overseas, have a more realistic view than their cosseted leaders. An opinion poll in August 2010 found that 65% of Americans believed the country was now “in a state of decline.” Already, Australia and Turkey, traditional US military allies, are using their American-manufactured weapons for joint air and naval maneuvers with China. Already, America’s closest economic partners are backing away from Washington’s opposition to China’s rigged currency rates. As the president flew back from his Asian tour last month, a gloomy New York Times headline summed the moment up this way: “Obama’s Economic View Is Rejected on World Stage, China, Britain and Germany Challenge US, Trade Talks With Seoul Fail, Too.”
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/LL07Ak01.html
Obama’s new tax on…Rainwater!?
04-06-10
Think about just how big-government this is. A Washington, D.C. bureaucracy plans on forcing your local county or city to slap new taxes on you and me because this big-government bureaucracy wants to micro-manage rainwater across the entire country. Already, several counties and cities across the United States are moving to pass new taxes and fees in anticipation of the new EPA rules, including cities in states as disparate as Florida, Ohio and Kansas.
http://americansforprosperity.org/040610-obamas-new-tax-onrainwater#ixzz17xOP0hy2
Posted in News
Tagged amazon.com, Big Brother, bolivia, cancun, derivatives, Generation Nincompoop, Great Depression, Politcal Gain, Protests, rainwater, Revolution, Survival, Wikileaks
WikiLeaks: Messenger or Pawn, Off Grid Living, Wal-Mart Spy Campaign
Don’t shoot messenger for revealing uncomfortable truths
12-08-10
WikiLeaks coined a new type of journalism: scientific journalism. We work with other media outlets to bring people the news, but also to prove it is true. Scientific journalism allows you to read a news story, then to click online to see the original document it is based on. That way you can judge for yourself: Is the story true? Did the journalist report it accurately?
Democratic societies need a strong media and WikiLeaks is part of that media. The media helps keep government honest.
WikiLeaks has revealed some hard truths about the Iraq and Afghan wars, and broken stories about corporate corruption.
WikiLeaks is not the only publisher of the US embassy cables. Other media outlets, including Britain’s The Guardian, The New York Times, El Pais in Spain and Der Spiegel in Germany have published the same redacted cables.
Wikileaks: Corrupted Oracle or a Cointelpro Asset of the Establishment?
12-08-10
Whether the new liberal cult hero Julian Assange is in fact a “useful idiot” helping to propagate fake leaks for the Establishment, or is a bona fide covert intelligence operative, remains to be seen. His recent detention in the UK for alleged sexual abuse in Sweden is providing endless media columns which will focus on the international legal circus of these charges, and further propel the cult of personality forward. One thing is fairly certain though, that Wikileaks is a corrupt oracle putting out a mix of light-to-middleweight intelligence and outright misinformation, in order to direct public opinion on a variety of issues. One needs only to look at the initial George Soros-type funding vessels and early support for Wikileaks, and tie these association together to trace its genealogy. This is complexed and not for amateurs, but utterly fascinating for those willing to look deeper into this virtual off-shore Conintelpro organ of the 21st century.
http://21stcenturywire.com/2010/12/08/is-wikileaks-a-cointelpro-operation-for-the-establishment/
The Survival Podcast Episode-566- Cam Mather on Off Grid Living
12-08-10
Cam Mather who originally appeared in Episode 364 is back to share another round of wisdom about living off grid.
Cam and his family unplugged from the grid about 14 years ago, today they are continuing their journey by expanding agricultural production, expanding their solar arrays and more.
His first book “Thriving During Challenging Times, The Energy, Food and Financial Independence Handbook” provides a road map for readers to deal with the converging challenges of climate change, peak oil and resource depletion and the economic crisis.
His second book “The All You Can Eat Gardening Handbook” shows how to turn your back yard into your own “One-Hundred-Foot-Diet Produce Department” with minimal fossil inputs.
http://www.thesurvivalpodcast.com/mather-on-off-grid-living
Critics Of Big Sis/Wal-Mart Spy Campaign Branded Insane
12-08-10
In what has been dubbed “the battle of Wal-Mart” by The New York Observer, the controversy over Big Sis Janet Napolitano’s announcement that Homeland Security messages encouraging shoppers to “report suspicious activity,” without telling them what constitutes suspicious activity, will play at Wal-Mart checkouts, has “set off a rebellion among the conspiracy-theory crowd, a number of whom are among the store’s core customers,” writes Aaron Gell.
Firstly, even if you believe that Muslim terrorists are creeping around every street corner with bombs in their underpants, and it’s a legitimate concern given the fact that the FBI is so keen on providing such dimwits with all the explosives they need, then why has the federal government and Homeland Security instead labeled politically aware, patriotic Americans to be the number one domestic terror threat?
Secondly, no matter where you look, from East Germany, to Communist Russia, to Nazi Germany, historically governments who encourage their own citizens to report on each other do so not for any genuine safety concerns or presumed benefits to security, but in order to create an authoritarian police state that coerces the people into policing each other’s behavior and thoughts.
http://www.infowars.com/critics-of-big-siswal-mart-spy-campaign-branded-insane/
Posted in News
Tagged Big Brother, cointelpro, Revolution, Savings, Survival, Survival Podcast, walmart, Wikileaks
Internet 9/11, WikiLeaks Mischief, Price of Rice, Lennon Vs. the CIA, Arcade Fire Short
Is the Internet 9/11 Under Way?
12-04-10
What will the Wikileaks debacle herald?
You guessed it–the last bastion of freedom of information and expression, a free Internet, will topple.
Oh, we’ll still have the Internet, just like you can still fly. You’ll just have to be on the “approved” list, screened, stamped, zapped, mugged and molested if you want to get “on the net”. No biggie. Thanks Julian–job well done.
All they need is ‘the right incident” to justify bringing on full control. Like “Internet Terrorism”? They just can’t use that term enough now, can they. After all, it’s a war on terror, and “if you’re not for us, you’re for the terrorists.”
http://beforeitsnews.com/story/294/056/Is_the_Internet_9_11_Under_Way.html
Ahmadinejad blames U.S. ‘mischief’ for WikiLeaks dump and insists Arab nations are Iran’s friends
11-30-10
‘We don’t think this information was leaked. We think it was organised to be released on a regular basis and they are pursuing political goals.’
Ahmadinejad accused the American government of pursuing a strategy resembling ‘an intelligence and psychological war game.’
‘Nations are aware. Such a game will have no effect. It’s so worthless that it isn’t worth someone referring to them or wasting time to refer to them.’
Rice May Triple in 18 Months as Supplies Tighten, Duxton’s Peter Forecasts
12-1-10
Peter’s forecast, in an interview on Nov. 29, would put rice at more than the peak during the 2008 food crisis, which triggered social unrest in poorer states.
The most severe floods in five decades in Thailand, the top exporter, may trigger a 7 percent fall in rough-rice production, which accounts for 70 percent of its total output, the Agriculture and Cooperative Ministry has said. Crops in Vietnam and Pakistan have also been hurt by severe weather, while a typhoon cut harvests in the Philippines, the biggest importer.
Was John Lennon’s murderer Mark Chapman a CIA hitman?
12-4-10
‘The bullets slapped into Lennon’s body so closely together that pathologists later had trouble marking out the different entry points. If all of these shots came from Chapman, it was a miraculous piece of shooting.
‘In fact, if any of them came from him it was miraculous because Chapman was standing on Lennon’s right and, as the autopsy report and death certificate later made clear, all Lennon’s wounds were in the left side of his body.’
Martial Law Comes to the Suburbs: Spike Jonze and Arcade Fire
12-06-10
Filmmaker Spike Jonze has collaborated with the band Arcade Fire on a short film, Scenes from the Suburbs. The video below is a music video from the film, which was shot in Austin, Texas. The short film appears to portray the country
under martial law. Does Jonze listen to Alex Jones?
http://www.infowars.com/martial-law-comes-to-the-suburbs-spike-jonze-and-arcade-fire/
Posted in News
Tagged Arcade Fire, Big Brother, Civil War, Internet License, Iran, Iran and 9-11, John Lennon, Politcal Gain, Scenes from the Suburbs, Spike Jonze, Survival, Weak Dollar, Wikileaks
WikiLeaks Fiasco, TSA Powers Down, Bank Glitch, Terrorist Ruffalo, Better Windmill
The Wikileaks Backchannel Fiasco
11-30-10
It will be years before the full implications are felt from the unauthorized release of 251,287 U.S. State Department cables. (Of these, 15,652 of the cables were classified Secret or Secret/NOFORN.) In the end, the Wikileaks fiasco might even destabilize a number of governments, including those in Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Bahrain, the U.A.E., Egypt, and Turkey.
The recent Wikileaks revelations may endanger the status quo in Saudi Arabia. It will be interesting to see how all this plays out, and how alliances shift in the months to come.
The bottom line is that the destabilization of pro-western Islamic governments could spark civil wars or even a regional war.
http://www.survivalblog.com/2010/11/the_wikileaks_backchannel_fias.html
TSA turns off naked body scanners to avoid opt-out day protests
11-24-10
Anticipating a nationwide grassroots surge of protests against naked body scanners and aggressive pat-downs, the TSA simply turned off its naked body scanners on Wednesday and let air travelers walk right through security checkpoints without being X-rayed or molested.
Perhaps most importantly, it proves that the naked body scanners are not needed for air travel security in the first place. When it wants to, the TSA can just turn the machines off and resort to baggage X-rays and metal detectors. That’s worked for years, and it apparently worked today, too.
This action by the TSA also shows that the TSA is desperately trying to avoid being publicly embarrassed by the national-opt-out day protests. Lots of local and national news film crews were out at the airports today, hoping to catch something interesting on camera. But by turning off the naked body scanners, the TSA was able to stage a “calm looking” day at the airport.
http://www.naturalnews.com/030509_TSA_opt_out_day.html
Millions cashless in bank glitch
11-27-10
The Herald has been inundated by anxious NAB customers, some of whom had checked online to find their past month’s transactions rubbed out and their accounts credited with nothing.
Property deals were being put on hold, car sales suspended, wages not transferred, and direct debit payments for mortgages and bills stopped.
http://www.smh.com.au/business/millions-cashless-in-bank-glitch-20101126-18akf.html
Mark Ruffalo ‘added to terrorism watchlist’ over Gasland
11-29-10
Ruffalo attracted the attention of Pennsylvania’s Office of Homeland Security when he organised screenings for Gasland, which won the special jury prize at this year’s Sundance film festival, and said he was concerned about the impact of drilling on water supplies.
The documentary attracted attention for a particular scene in which a local man shows that he is able to set his tapwater on fire.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2010/nov/29/mark-ruffalo-terrorism-watchlist-gasland#post-area
Building a better windmill
11-29-10
Windmills have assumed the same basic form for centuries: long vertical axles crowned with rectangle-shaped blades. Now, a start-up is preparing to exceed 10 megawatts (MW) this summer by utilizing wind along the full length of a tower.
Friesth envisioned a honeycomb like design where a taller tower is adorned with modular, shrouded turbines along a vertical axis. The net effect is a lower cost per megawatt.
Posted in News
Tagged Big Brother, Biometrics, Gasland, Mark Ruffalo, opt out, Politcal Gain, Protests, Revolution, Survival, Wikileaks, Wind Farms
The People vs. The Airport TSA
Wednesday, November 24, 2010 is NATIONAL OPT-OUT DAY!
11-15-10
It’s the day ordinary citizens stand up for their rights, stand up for liberty, and protest the federal government’s desire to virtually strip us naked or submit to an “enhanced pat down” that touches people’s breasts and genitals in an
aggressive manner. You should never have to explain to your children, “Remember that no stranger can touch or see your private area, unless it’s a government employee, then it’s OK.”
The goal of National Opt Out Day is to send a message to our lawmakers that we demand change. We have a right to privacy and buying a plane ticket should not mean that we’re guilty until proven innocent. This day is needed because many people do not understand what they consent to when choosing to fly.
TSA Gives Rapists And Illegals The Green Light While Groping Children
11-10-10
As AirSafe News reports, “The current system of background checks may have allowed those convicted of rape and other sexually based offenses to join TSA.”
Two more bodies came out just today to join forces with the growing resistance against airport oppression, with the Association of Flight Attendants and US Airline Pilots Association now becoming part of the boycott against naked body scanners.
The TSA faces insurmountable opposition and must immediately reconsider and drastically scale back its draconian checkpoint measures. The fact that the agency gives the green light to illegal aliens to fly planes while insisting it must grope little girls and physically disabled people in the name of security underscores the fact that the primary purpose of the procedure has nothing to do with stopping terrorists and is designed to humiliate and degrade innocent Americans and train them to accept tyranny.
http://www.infowars.com/tsa-gives-rapists-and-illegals-the-green-light-while-groping-children/
DA promises to prosecute overly touchy pat downs
11-16-10
The San Mateo district attorney’s office has a warning for all TSA personnel at SFO — anyone inappropriately touching a passenger during a security pat down will be prosecuted.
“If it is skin to skin, if someone were to take their hand and put it underneath somebody’s blouse and touch someone inappropriately and go skin to skin, that’s a felony, and if it’s done simply over the clothing, according to California law, that’s a misdemeanor,” Wagstaffe said.
http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/local/peninsula&id=7793386
Amid airport anger, GOP takes aim at screening
11-15-10
In addition to being large, impersonal, and top-heavy, what really worries critics is that the TSA has become dangerously ineffective. Its specialty is what those critics call “security theater” — that is, a show of what appear to be stringent security measures designed to make passengers feel more secure without providing real security. “That’s exactly what it is,” says Mica. “It’s a big Kabuki dance.”
The GAO “discovered that since the program’s inception, at least 17 known terrorists … have flown on 24 different occasions, passing through security at eight SPOT airports.” One of those known terrorists was Faisal Shahzad, who made it past SPOT monitors onto a Dubai-bound plane at New York’s JFK International Airport not long after trying to set off a car bomb in Times Square.
Big Sis Caught Lying To American People
11-15-10
Homeland Security head Janet Napolitano, now forever known as Big Sis – a reference to George Orwell’s 1984 – has been caught telling some big lies in an attempt to quell an enormous public backlash against the full body scanning
technology and invasive pat-down procedures that have been implemented by the TSA in airports nationwide.
Scientists at Columbia University also entered the debate recently, warning that the dose emitted by the naked x-ray devices could be up to 20 times higher than originally estimated, likely contributing to an increase in a common type of
skin cancer called basal cell carcinoma which affects the head and neck.
http://www.infowars.com/big-sis-caught-lying-to-american-people
DA vs. TSA, Security Theater, Business Revolution, America is sliding
DA promises to prosecute overly touchy pat downs
11-16-10
The San Mateo district attorney’s office has a warning for all TSA personnel at SFO — anyone inappropriately touching a passenger during a security pat down will be prosecuted.
“If it is skin to skin, if someone were to take their hand and put it underneath somebody’s blouse and touch someone inappropriately and go skin to skin, that’s a felony, and if it’s done simply over the clothing, according to California law, that’s a misdemeanor,” Wagstaffe said.
http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/local/peninsula&id=7793386
Amid airport anger, GOP takes aim at screening
11-15-10
In addition to being large, impersonal, and top-heavy, what really worries critics is that the TSA has become dangerously ineffective. Its specialty is what those critics call “security theater” — that is, a show of what appear to be stringent security measures designed to make passengers feel more secure without providing real security. “That’s exactly what it is,” says Mica. “It’s a big Kabuki dance.”
The GAO “discovered that since the program’s inception, at least 17 known terrorists … have flown on 24 different occasions, passing through security at eight SPOT airports.” One of those known terrorists was Faisal Shahzad, who made it past SPOT monitors onto a Dubai-bound plane at New York’s JFK International Airport not long after trying to set off a car bomb in Times Square.
A Revolution in the Works
11-17-10
The biggest structural economic shift, the one Venky has discovered and which is the launching point of the book, is that over the last decade, the global economy has experienced a fundamental and historic shift from centuries during which supply and demand were roughly balanced, to our current situation in which supply significantly outstrips the demand available to absorb it.
That’s the long way of saying that all of the forces are now in play to kick off a major new business revolution, one built upon the new primacy of demand, and one that features new tools, technologies and organizations. It will also be a business revolution that, if present trends continue and Washington fails to respond properly (or at least just get out of the way), will leave the U.S. economy behind. And if history teaches us anything, it is that business revolutions wait for no one.
http://blogs.forbes.com/mikemalone/2010/11/17/a-revolution-in-the-works/
American Idle
11-17-10
History is not likely to speak well of today’s Americans. While the people of nations around the globe stand up to their oppressors, Americans sit idly by as their government runs roughshod over their life, liberty and property.
As we speak, large-scale protests and mass demonstrations continue in more than a dozen countries as citizens strike back against injustice, criminality and brutal austerity measures imposed by their corrupt governments.
In fact, just twenty years ago, we were far more resilient than we are today.
American attitudes have changed. Today, the public cowers in fear of their oppressors. What’s worse is that a vast majority will stick out their tounges, as they lie bloodied on the street, and lick the boot of the man who put them there.
http://revoltoftheplebs.wordpress.com/2010/11/16/american-idle/
Post-Anti-Americanism
08-09-10
The U.S. is depicted as a fraying empire of obesity, ignorance, debt, gridlock, stagnation, and mindless war. Sure, the iPad is cool, but it is evidence of what America was, not what it will be again.
We remain—for now—a safe haven for dollars (of which there are too many in the world). But we increasingly are seen less as a model or as an empire than as a cautionary tale of national neglect and decline.
http://www.newsweek.com/2010/08/09/post-anti-americanism.html
The Drop Sheet 