I wonder if...

The reason the government is working with Google and other internet security experts, is because the system is soooo .. old. When i was getting out .. their IT personnel, military trained, were being rapidly replaced by independent contractors. Who got paid 3-4 times as much. Because the level of competence was compromised, taking days to setup simple WAN networks...Things got so bad under Bush W. everything was so underfunded even though ALL this f'ing 20+ BILLION a month to run a WAR and all of it was buddy this and buddy that...money going to his friends and their friends..."hey, we can create these 'contracting' companies" ... which got paid MAD money .. you are talking that 3-10 times as much as the equivalent military individual pay. This really pissed a lot of people off ... Do I care .. let the greedy have theirs, it is a mess/dirty.

So anyway, military Information Systems/Technology was really bad. Now the government needs help from Google to figure out who is hacking into its systems and what is seriously compromised. Of course, since they have befriended (or made a deal) each other, Google lets the NSA look good by "letting them examine their systems" .. because the government is like "Wow! How did you catch those guys...ahem" LOL

BAT! - huge part is who controls the data flow...data is everything...maybe that is why the China and Iran "leaders" (aaar) like to...hint

China...they are rising...we are so indebted to them (broke in the world essentially)...the # has dropped, the Euro is okay, and Canada is still neck/neck, although their average is higher...MONEY is the system, yo..data. Chinese are disciplined too - like have principles, set goals and meet them...that kind. Recent "major 7%" increase in military spending, heh, just the beginning. Soooo many people ...

ehhhh, nah.

Great Article: How To Create Less Selfish Societies? Let People Behave As They Wish, Say Researchers :: by Catarina Amorim

"The work, by scientists in Portugal and Belgium, reveals that an increasing range of behaviours among the individuals of a population leads to cooperation, supporting the idea that democracy - where individuals are free to act as they wish - is in fact the path for better societies. Jorge Pacheco one of the authors of the study says: 'the results support the idea that behavioral differences, on a grand scale, are instrumental in shaping us as the most sophisticated cooperating machines on this planet what is particularly interesting as it contradicts some social and political dogmas – such as Maoism and Stalinism - which, sometimes with rather unfortunate outcomes, have tried to enforce reduced behavioral diversity, supposedly with an aim to improve society'

Richard Dawkins never gets tired of reminding us that evolution is based on the survival of the fittest and on selfishness. Every cell, every living thing is designed to promote its own survival, if necessary at the expense of everything else. Still, cooperation is very much alive, and more, is widespread, being found in a multitude of living beings from the cells of a multicellular organism to insects and of course humans - the 'big cooperators'."

Obama meets with Republicans :: Watch the 66min video toward the bottom of the page

It is just sickening how our political system works. I really hope Obama can reform some of this BS. For crying out load, even when he goes to meet them *specifically in person* to answer questions, nearly ALL of the questions were as Obama said, "talking points." Nothing legitimate.

The so called "questions" were a bunch of BS (NOT FACTS) about this issue, that issue, and blaming Dems for this and that...oh, and i have a "question." Legitimate issues that need to be discussed, but NO FACTUAL DEBATE! There are plenty of Dems at fault too! Too much corruption and money electing these uneducated yahoos. Get out of my government!!!

Grow up, America, before it is too late.

I so respect Obama for all the BS he has to take and deal with and still tries to work with the facts and deal with the ignorant.

NPR - Rare Earthquake Rattles Northern Illinois :: cool!

BBC - Greece hit by nationwide strike over austerity measures :: Greece is in trouble...as are other EU nations.

WSJ - Secretive Culture Led Toyota Astray :: I can imagine ALL car manufactures will start to suffer problems like Toyota as we transition to electronics and computer controlled vehicles.

CS Monitor - Blackwater security contractors ordered out of Iraq :: YAY!

CNET - Gmail blocked in Iran ahead of protests? :: Iran to control electronic communication like China...

OCI - Peak Oil More an “Immediate Threat” Than Climate Change :: Now this would be interesting!

All these things are tied together. Here are two articles to help you follow the story:

"both Rick Warren and C. Peter Wagner have called on their followers to take dominion over the globe, and Rick Warren's efforts in Uganda closely parallel those of his academic mentor Peter Wagner. Mainstream media has glossed over Rick Warren's political extremism but, as shown in a video at the end of this post, in April 2005, before thousands of his church members assembled at California's Anaheim Angels sport stadium, Rick Warren described a "stealth" program for global Christian dominion and encouraged his supporters to embrace the level of dedication shown by followers of Hitler, Lenin, and Mao." -- Alternet

Ok, now we have the National Prayer Breakfast (hello Christians) which is actually a front for fund-raising and recruiting for the Fellowship Foundation. A group that of course has a specific agenda which in my opinon is less about values and more about pushing the agenda of the groups and corporations that fund it. These people live in the infamous 'C Street House' which has housed many individuals (Senators) that have been found guilty of adultery, falsifying all types of evidence and "scientific" reports to mislead the public and congressional members, killing gays, and much more.

"Members of the Fellowship also have been involved with legislation in Uganda calling for the death penalty for gays. The president and members of Congress should not legitimatize this cult-like group – the head of which has praised the organizing abilities of Hitler and Bin Laden – by attending the breakfast" -- Citizens for Ethics .org

FDL - Obama Affirms Strong Support For Net Neutrality

Android apps for Developers and IT ppl

Earth's Satellites visualized by Nation - shows how many satellites each country has: active, inactive, junk...

Very good article on the issue of copyright laws in this country. Talks about what Google tried to accomplish with its Book Scanning project a few years back. Uses documentary films as an example of trying to collect and use more/less FREE information from various sources, but having to pay royalties, etc. Anyway, copyright law is being written to CHOKE OUT FREEDOM OF INFORMATION. Slowly this country is becoming less and less "free" with its laws and especially attitude. Money Money Money!

Source = The Nation

1) "If corporations are 'people' then HEY it's time to re-institute the draft..." --ddeclue, Democratic Underground

2) "Corporations are legally people. And it makes sense, folks. They do everything people do except breath, die, and go to jail for dumping 1.3 million pounds of PCBs into the Hudson River." --Stephen Colbert, The Colbert Report

3) "A corporation has no soul to be damned, no body to be kicked, and that is why corporations essentially get away with murder in matters like compensation." --Nell Minow, Editor and Founder, The Corporate Library

4) "Will SCOTUS give gay corporations the right to marry?" --@mattyglesias

5) "If corporations get the same privileges as people, then people should have the same privileges as corporations. BAIL US OUT!!" --munklanis, reddit.com

6) "Corporations are an oppressed minority forced to move headquarters from state to state in search of friendlier tax codes--sometimes being forced to live just off our shores in tiny mailboxes." --John Oliver, The Daily Show

7) "Restrict Personhood 2 those who bleed...Goldman doesn't bleed. Do Glenn Beck, Cheney, Blankfein?" --@hughsansom

8) "If corporations have the same rights as people, we need to shut down Wall St., as we shouldn't be buying & selling them." --@Geofutures

9) "So the next time you're walking down the street and you see ExxonMobile, or ChevronTexaco take them by the hand and say, 'Hello.' Take Diebold out for dinner but please don't let Diebold figure out the tip. Isn't Blackwater entitled to life, liberty and the pursuit of billions in Iraq War contracts? You know what? Citigroup has two i's too." --A Message About Corporate Personhood from Nero Fiddled

10) "Corporations have free speech. But they can't speak like you and me. They don't have mouths or hands. (Just A Giant Middle Finger.) Instead, they must speak the only way they can--through billions and billions of dollars." --Stephen Colbert, The Colbert Report

HuffPost
CREDO - Click Here to make a difference
MoveOn.org - petition

"In his dissent, Justice John Paul Stevens accused the majority of judicial activism and attacked the use of corporate personhood in the case: "The conceit that corporations must be treated identically to natural persons in the political sphere is not only inaccurate but also inadequate to justify the Court's disposition of this case."

Republicans offered measured praise for the decision, but progressive good-government groups and Democrats responded angrily and vowed to fight back with legislation."

This is outrageous, wow! The fact that the Supreme Court is making one of the holes put in the Constitution worse...means that they are failing to protect the Constitution of this country. They are EXPLOITING the Constitution to make an excuse for their actions. The argument here is that since corporations are now technically "persons" and people have free speech rights, you cannot restrict a corporation's "free speech"::advertising and lobbying propaganda that does not even represent the actual *people* that keep that corporation running.

Who else is siding with CORPORATIONS ... Republicans?!, really?! no way! Republicans support the same bastards that brought this financial depression on all of us?! Yes, Joe the Plumber, now you see the truth!

Justice Kennedy’s majority opinion was joined by Chief Justice Roberts and Justices Alito, Thomas and Antonin Scalia. Justice Stevens’s dissent was joined by Justices Stephen G. Breyer, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor.

The Supreme Court just restricted the Freedoms of the American People.

One "key" I have picked up from either religion or something I just realized growing up in a certain environment...

   Always watch the person/idea/sub-culture who seems to be "down" in status in the world/mainstream society. Because, there is usually *some element* that they have exactly right. Especially ideas that have been around for a long time.

   The "down" entity is usually in that position because of the actions of the higher entities which follow popular culture. Popular culture is fraught with fundamental problems, but widely accepted because that is what currently works for the majority of the population. Change for the better takes willingness to stand up to peers and confront the truth. The truth hurts and is psychologically hard for most people to deal with - but especially those ingrained in pop-culture or specific sub-cultures. No-one likes to leave their "comfort zone!" - remember that

   Examples could be: Tibetans, naturalists, gays, and especially this day in age anything that takes TIME to think about and process. Pop-culture wants a quick fix and only sees short-term patches to issues, it does not take the time to *critically think* about SOLUTIONS. An example of this could be the abortion issue.

   American culture is so adamant about making issues BLACK / WHITE. Nothing in life works like this!! Just look at how each individual living organism on this plant has its own UNIQUE characteristics. Nothing can be categorized black/white with success because it leaves out everything in-between. This is likely why your average American is so brain-numbed (dumb). The typical way in which kids are raised...everything is either Yes or No. Public school dictates exactly what is needed to be learned in a specific time frame - OR ELSE YOU FAIL. See how the BLACK / WHITE problem is instilled in childhood! Parents that actually take the time to explain to their kids **WHY** they feel a way about a certain life issue and why or why not they enforce that *belief* and then let the child come up with their own reasoning and deduction are the ones with intelligent children that break the norm.

Summary: There is typically a key truth to the entity who gets "BEAT DOWN" because pop-culture cannot handle the truth.