Now

Why There Are So Many Mentally Ill Among Us

noreply@blogger.com (Bogart Media) — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 16:30:00 +0000

HUFFINGTON POST -- NEW ORLEANS -- HARRY SHEARER -- In the race to "explain" the Tucson shooting, the sprinters have been those who've found the cause in the rhetoric of one side or the other of the political spectrum. Close behind them have been those who see once again the folly of a society, almost unique in the civilized world, that views gun possession as a birthright.

Now comes another view, at least from me. This country has had toxic political rhetoric since its birth pangs, and there has undeniably followed in the past two centuries an occasional outbreak of political violence. But now we're being told that toxic political rhetoric is dangerous, because of its possible effect on the less rational, more mentally unhinged folks among us. So, maybe it's time to ask this question: Why are they among us?

read more

From ‘Job Killing’ To ‘Death Panels,’ Republicans Have Numbed Us To The Imagery Of Their Rhetoric

noreply@blogger.com (Bogart Media) — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 16:21:00 +0000

From Sarah Palin naivete...

To Jesse Kelley's fundraiser in June...

http://yfrog.com/h5p7wp

Republican rhetoric is out of control.

JAN. 10, 2011 - THINKPROGRESS.ORG - Following Saturday’s tragedy in Tucson, Arizona, which led to the death of six people and the serious injury of 20 others, including Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ), Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-ME) echoed the growing call for a more civil political discourse by challenging Republicans to change the name of their health care repeal legislation. “The bill, titled the ‘Repeal the Job Killing Health Care Law Act,’ was set to come up for a vote this week, but in the wake of Gabby’s shooting, it has been postponed at least until next week,” she wrote in a blog post on the Huffington Post :

Don’t get me wrong — I’m not suggesting that the name of that one piece of legislation somehow led to the horror of this weekend — but is it really necessary to put the word “killing” in the title of a major piece of legislation? I don’t think that word is in there by accident — my Republican friends know as well as anyone the power of words to send a message. But in this environment and at this moment in our nation’s history, it’s not the message we should be sending.

read more at thinkprogress.org

At least someone in Congress is calling the Republicans out on their increasingly-dangerous rhetoric.

Intern's Quick Action Saves Gabrielle Gifford's Life

noreply@blogger.com (Bogart Media) — Sun, 09 Jan 2011 18:13:00 +0000

POLITICO -- TUCSON A heroic young intern for Rep. Gabrielle Giffords - who had been on the job for only five days - quickly rushed to stop the bleeding moments after she had been shot and his quick thinking is being credited with saving the congresswoman’s life.

The Arizona Republic published a profile of 20-year-old University of Arizona junior Daniel Hernandez, revealing he was standing 30 feet from Giffords when shots were fired outside a local Safeway — and that he ran toward them. read more

Google Maps Mass Animal Die-offs

noreply@blogger.com (Bogart Media) — Sat, 08 Jan 2011 07:18:00 +0000

View Mass Animal Deaths in a larger map

Jesus in His UFO

noreply@blogger.com (Bogart Media) — Sat, 08 Jan 2011 01:53:00 +0000

"Big Brother" State is a Reality Here in America

noreply@blogger.com (Bogart Media) — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 19:30:00 +0000

WASHINGTON POST -- Nine years after the terrorist attacks of 2001, the United States is assembling a vast domestic intelligence apparatus to collect information about Americans, using the FBI, local police, state homeland security offices and military criminal investigators.

The system, by far the largest and most technologically sophisticated in the nation's history, collects, stores and analyzes information about thousands of U.S. citizens and residents, many of whom have not been accused of any wrongdoing.

The government's goal is to have every state and local law enforcement agency in the country feed information to Washington to buttress the work of the FBI, which is in charge of terrorism investigations in the United States.

Other democracies - Britain and Israel, to name two - are well acquainted with such domestic security measures. But for the United States, the sum of these new activities represents a new level of governmental scrutiny. read more

UPDATE: MSNBC -- FBI training garbage men as "community watch"

WikiLeaks' Assange Freed on Bail in UK

noreply@blogger.com (Bogart Media) — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 19:25:00 +0000

VOICE OF AMERICA -- WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange walked free from the high court in London Thursday and vowed to continue releasing classified documents.

A British judge released Assange on bail, after rejecting an appeal of the release from prosecutors in Sweden, where he is wanted on rape allegations.

Assange said in a brief statement on the court steps that he will continue his work and protest his innocence in the case.

Judge Duncan Ouseley agreed to release Assange on conditions which include a bail of $315,000, plus two sureties equaling about $62,500. He also must wear an electronic monitoring tag, check in with police daily and stay at the home of former British army officer and WikiLeaks supporter, Vaughan Smith. read more

UPDATE: Another report on Forbes.com says he's staying in a 10-bedroom Georgian Mansion owned by one of his wealthy supporters. Wherever he's going is probably nicer than a Victorian jail.

Rape Case Against Assange May Be Falling Apart

noreply@blogger.com (Bogart Media) — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 23:15:00 +0000

HUFFINGTON POST -- The rape accusations against Julian Assange may be falling apart as one of his accusers leaves Sweden. Anna Ardin, one of two women behind the rape charges against the WIkiLeaks founder, may no longer be cooperating with prosecutors, the Australian website Crikey reports.

read more

Anonymous Attack on Amazon.com Appears to Fail

noreply@blogger.com (Bogart Media) — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 21:16:00 +0000

COMPUTERWORLD -- This morning's planned distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack against Amazon.com by Anonymous, a hacker group that has launched similar attacks against organizations it sees attempting to censor WikiLeaks, appears to have failed.

Anonymous started attacking Amazon's website at 11 a.m. EST, but quickly appeared to abandon the effort after realizing how little impact it was having, said Paul Mutton, a security analyst with U.K.-based Internet monitoring firm Netcraft.

"The attack didn't seem to make a dent on Amazon.com," which is not surprising considering Amazon's network infrastructure, he said. "The size of [the Anonymous] botnet was not large enough to have any impact."

Instead, the group now appears to be focusing its attention on api.Paypal.com, a secure payment transaction handling Web site, Mutton said. read more

The U.S. Justice Department's Weak Legal Case Against WikiLeaks

noreply@blogger.com (Bogart Media) — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 17:21:00 +0000

TIME MAGAZINE ONLINE -- So now that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been rounded up in Britain on a warrant out of Sweden, where he's wanted for questioning in two sex assault cases, what would it take for the U.S. government to prosecute him for publishing — and disseminating to newspapers around the world — thousands of classified State Department cables? And what would it mean for freedom of speech and the press in America if it tried? read more

Swedish Government Sites Targeted By Hackers

noreply@blogger.com (Bogart Media) — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 16:46:00 +0000

NY DAILY NEWS -- It's looking like all out (cyber) war on behalf of Julian Assange.

Hackers forced a shutdown of the Swedish government's website for several hours on Thursday, as cyber attacks in support of the incarcerated WikiLeaks founder intensified.

Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet reported the government's official website, www.regeringen.se, went offline for several hours overnight showing a message that the server could not be reached. It was up and running later in the day.

WikiLeaks' hacker backers also created a website with Swedish Justice Minister Beatrice Ask's name, which then rerouted users to the WikiLeaks website instead, according to the newspaper.

A government spokeswoman told AFP that she would not confirm or deny that a cyber attack had taken place. read more

Anonymous: Amazon and Facebook are Next in DDOS Gunsights

noreply@blogger.com (Bogart Media) — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 16:36:00 +0000

FOX NEWS -- Online retailer Amazon was set to be the next cyber attack victim Thursday following its decision to remove WikiLeaks from its servers, as hackers pledged their support for the site and its founder, Julian Assange.

"Anonymous," a group who claimed responsibility for attacks on MasterCard, PayPal and Visa, announced the move on Twitter, writing, "Target: www.amazon.com locked on!!!" It also gave a link to instructions on how to attack the website.

The attack was expected to come shortly after a spokesman for the group also told Sky News that Facebook could be the next target. The social networking site had deleted Facebook accounts used by Anonymous as well as groups it used to contact its supporters.

The hackers launched "Operation Payback” Tuesday -- a series of denial of service attacks (DDoS), after various groups blocked funding to the WikiLeaks site.

The group said thousands of volunteers had joined their operation in defense of WikiLeaks and Assange. The Australian is being detained in London pending an extradition request from Sweden, where he is wanted for questioning over sexual assault allegations. read more

An All-Out War on the Internet Over WikiLeaks

noreply@blogger.com (Bogart Media) — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 16:30:00 +0000

BBC -- The data war between companies that have refused to do business with Wikileaks and the online activists keen to defend it is getting more intense.

The tool through which attacks are carried out against websites perceived to be anti-Wikileaks has now been downloaded more than 31,000 times.

Security experts warned people to avoid joining the voluntary botnet.

Targets of the loose-knit group Anonymous have so far included Visa, Mastercard and Paypal.

Amazon is expected to be among firms targeted next using the Anonymous attack tool known as LOIC. When a person installs the tool on their PC it enrols the machine into a voluntary botnet which then bombards target sites with data. read more

They're even targeting Sara Palin! Will e-tailer Amazon.com be next? Get your online Christmas shopping done before that!

Philadephia Startup Xipwire Accepting Donations for WikiLeaks

noreply@blogger.com (Bogart Media) — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 01:22:00 +0000

PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- A tech startup based in Philadelphia says it is taking donations for WikiLeaks, after several U.S.-based companies cut ties to the website in the face of government pressure.

Mobile-to-mobile payment provider Xipwire (pronounced Zipwire) says on its website that "while people may or may not agree with WikiLeaks ... anyone who wishes to support the organization through a donation should be able to do so." read more

Accusations Against Assange's Accuser - CIA Ties?

noreply@blogger.com (Bogart Media) — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 01:13:00 +0000

KATE HARDING - ABC NEWS -- You don't have to be a conspiracy theorist to find the timing of Interpol's warrant for the arrest of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who turned himself in to British authorities this week, curious.

The charges - "one count of unlawful coercion, two counts of sexual molestation and one count of rape," according to a statement from Scotland Yard - were brought against him in Sweden last August, yet he suddenly graduated to "most wanted" status just after releasing over a thousand leaked diplomatic cables in late November? It would be irresponsible of journalists, bloggers and average citizens of countries most eager to plug the gushing WikiLeaks not to wonder if those dots connect.

Are there possible CIA ties to Assange's accuser? read more
Very interesting. Not surprising, but interesting.

Michele Bachmann & Allies: Obama Doesn't Say 'God' Enough

noreply@blogger.com (Bogart Media) — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 01:04:00 +0000

NICK WING - HUFFINGTON POST -- Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) and her colleagues on the Congressional Prayer Caucus penned a letter to President Obama Monday, attacking him for his alleged failure to the use the word "God" and "Creator" more in his public speeches, especially abroad.

The complaint came in the context of an address given by Obama on November 10th at the University of Indonesia in Jakarta, in which he remarked that the American "motto is E pluribus unum -- out of many, one."

The Congressional Prayer Caucus finds a factual inaccuracy with this statement, and believes that it could be a sign of a more telling problem.

"E pluribus unum is not our national motto. In 1956, Congress passed and President Eisenhower approved the law establishing 'In God We Trust' as the official national motto of the United States," the letter reads. "[Y]ou mentioned being unified under one flag. The Pledge of Allegiance to our flag says that we are 'one nation under God.'"

In neglecting to use the word "God," they say Obama is "casting aside an integral part of American society." read more

Are you friggin' kidding me?

WikiLeaks: Who are the hackers behind Operation Payback? | Media | guardian.co.uk

noreply@blogger.com (Bogart Media) — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 17:54:00 +0000

Photograph: Tim Wimborne/Reuters

WikiLeaks: Who are the hackers behind Operation Payback? | Media | guardian.co.uk: "MasterCard was forced offline by activists protesting against the blocking of payments to WikiLeaks.

The MasterCard website was forced offline for several hours today, following an online assault led by a shadowy group of hackers protesting against the card issuer's decision to block payments made to the WikiLeaks website."

Facebook and Twitter not removing WikiLeaks, yet

noreply@blogger.com (Bogart Media) — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 17:48:00 +0000

With a host of companies disabling or suspending WikiLeaks from using their services, Facebook and Twitter come into the spotlight. Will they remove the controversial site?

Facebook and Twitter not removing WikiLeaks, yet:

"WikiLeaks is all over the news lately. After releasing 250,000 U.S. State Dept. cables (emails), the organization and its founder, Julian Assange, has come under assault. Though it has not been formally accused of any crime, members of the U.S. Gov’t are calling for companies to stop supporting the rogue organization. In the last week, WikiLeaks has suffered rounds of Ddos hack attacks, Amazon stopped hosting its files, EveryDNS canceled its routing service, PayPal disabled its account, Visa suspended payments to it, Mastercard is suspending payments, Assange’s Swiss bank has frozen his account, and the founder was arrested on rape charges."

PayPal Admits State Department Pressure Caused It To Block WikiLeaks

noreply@blogger.com (Bogart Media) — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 17:43:00 +0000

PayPal Admits State Department Pressure Caused It To Block WikiLeaks: "Several days ago, PayPal, an online payment company, blocked the account WikiLeaks had been using to collect donations.

Speaking at the Le Web conference in Paris, PayPal's Osama Bedier, VP of platform, mobile and new ventures, shed light on PayPal's decision to freeze the WikiLeaks account and admitted that the U.S. State Department played a role in the company's blocking of the account."

Julian Assange's Attorneys Under Heavy Surveillance

noreply@blogger.com (Bogart Media) — Sun, 05 Dec 2010 18:55:00 +0000

(THE GUARDIAN) -- Lawyers representing the WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, say that they have been surveilled by members of the security services and have accused the US state department of behaving "inappropriately" by failing to respect attorney-client protocol.

Jennifer Robinson and Mark Stephens of the law firm Finers Stephens Innocent told the Guardian they had been watched by people parked outside their houses for the past week.

"I've noticed people consistently sitting outside my house in the same cars with newspapers," said Robinson. "I probably noticed certain things a week ago, but mostly it's been the last three or four days."

Stephens said he, too, had had his home watched. Asked who he thought was monitoring him, he said: "The security services."

Robinson said the legal team was also experiencing "other forms of pressure" from Washington.

According to Assange's Counsel, Mark Stephens:

"It is quite bizarre, because the chief prosecutor in Sweden dropped the entire case against him, saying there was absolutely nothing for him to find back in September, and then a few weeks later on – after the intervention of a Swedish politician – a new prosecutor, not in Stockholm where Julian and these women had been, but in Gothenburg, began a new case which has resulted in these warrants and the Interpol Red Notice being put out."

He added: "It does seem to be a political stunt."

WikiLeaks "insurance.aes256" File May Come Into Play

noreply@blogger.com (Bogart Media) — Sun, 05 Dec 2010 18:46:00 +0000

As the WikiLeaks drama continues to unfold, Fox News reports that the Times Reports that WikiLeaks may be preparing to play it's "insurance" card.

Assange warns that any government that tries to curtail his activities risks triggering a new deluge of state and commercial secrets. read more

GOP Blockade: Principle or Tantrum?

noreply@blogger.com (Bogart Media) — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 19:58:00 +0000

(CNN) -- Senate Republicans' threat to hold up legislation for everything not related to tax cuts or the budget is either standing up for principles or a "congressional temper tantrum," depending on your point of view. read more

Excerpt from Assange's Time Magazine Interview

noreply@blogger.com (Bogart Media) — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 22:29:00 +0000

Assange Interview July, 2010

Check out Time's Top 10 Leaks here.

Canadian PM Harper's Advisor Calls for Assassination of Assange

noreply@blogger.com (Bogart Media) — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 17:32:00 +0000

Update (via CBC): Flanagan regrets remark. Of course he does.

NASA Sets News Conference on Astrobiology Discovery

noreply@blogger.com (Bogart Media) — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 17:29:00 +0000

WASHINGTON -- NASA will hold a news conference at 2 p.m. EST on Thursday, Dec. 2, to discuss an astrobiology finding that will impact the search for evidence of extraterrestrial life. Astrobiology is the study of the origin, evolution, distribution and future of life in the universe. read more

UPDATE: Alien life has been among us all along, according to new biological findings announced by NASA Thursday. read more