The mysterious death of an Orthodox Jewish millionaire on June 9 in New York has sparked a whirlwind of rumors, even though the medical examiner ruled the death a suicide.
Solomon (Shlomo) Obstfeld fell to his death from the 19th floor of his posh Manhattan apartment, and while New York police have yet to close the case, Obstfeld's family members and close friends believe he was murdered and have hired a private investigator to look into his death.
A friend of the Obstfeld family told Haaretz on Sunday that Obstfeld, 55, was murdered as the result of a conflict with an Israeli rabbi who had cast a "pulsa denura" death curse on Obstfeld.
According to the police investigation, no ladder or chair was found near the spot from which Obstfeld plunged to his death, a fact that bolsters the family's belief that he was murdered.
At this point, however, it does not appear that police are taking the family's suspicions seriously.
Many in New York's Jewish community are wondering whether a devout Orthodox father of five would take his own life.
"Suicide is not a common act by an Orthodox person – it is forbidden in Judaism," a friend of the Obstfeld family told Haaretz. "He was a very happy and successful man, who contributed to the community. There were no signs that he suffered from depression. On the contrary, he did not leave a note, will, letter or any other sign of suicide. If he had committed suicide, he certainly would have left something behind."
According to his associates, Obstfeld had several regular business chats in the hours before his death, including a long telephone conversation with a business colleague and had recently three luxury apartments up for sale for a combined 6.5 million dollars.
A person close to Obstfeld said he had complained of an Israel rabbi living in the United States to whom he had rented an apartment at a below-market price. The rabbi allegedly did not pay the rent over a long period of time and this led to a serious feud between him and Obstfeld.
After Obstfeld evicted the rabbi, the rabbi allegedly told friends that he had cast a "pulsa dinura" death curse on Obstfeld.
A friend of Obstfeld claimed that the rabbi returned to Israel around the time of Obstfeld's death.
~ more... ~
~ Via Barry Chamish ~
Recommended daily allowance of insanity, under-reported news and uncensored opinion dismantling the propaganda matrix.
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
And now the world capital of diplomatic crime... Barcelona
by Barry Chamish [www.barrychamish.com]
April 23, 2010
Barcelona, July 19th – 24th 2010
Over 2000 researchers and experts on the Middle East, coming from a large number of universities, research centers and other organizations from all over the world, will gather in Barcelona in 2010 at the World Congress for Middle Eastern Studies (WOCMES). The European Institute of the Mediterranean (IEMed), the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) and the Government of Catalonia will organize the WOCMES Barcelona 2010, after the two successful previous editions held in Mainz - Germany in 2002 and in Amman - Jordan in 2006.
It is rare when one city usurps all others as the capital of world conspiracy. To achieve such greatness we might have to go all the way back to 1785, when 3 giants met in Frankfurt, Germany. There, the head of the anti-Jewish Sabbataians, Jacob Frank, brought his circle of Frankists to town where he formed a conspiracy with the illuminati, led by one Adam Weishaupt. While Frank's goal was to punish all Jews who did not accept Shabtai Tzvi and him as the Jewish messiahs, Weishaupt's organization was founded to punish those Christians who rejected Rome as the capital of world Christianity. They met with a coin dealer with much bigger plans, one Mayer Amshel Rothschild, who realized if he could just take control of a nation's economy, he would control the country.
But finally, we have a new world capital, still plotting against the Jews and non-Catholic Christians, the Vatican outpost of Barcelona.
Jerusalem, 26 November 1995
BACKGROUND ON BARCELONA CONFERENCE
An European Union-sponsored conference for Mediterranean Basin countries is scheduled to take place 27-28.11.95, in Barcelona, Spain. Israel's delegation will be headed by Foreign Minister Ehud Barak.
Just three weeks after the murder of Yitzhak Rabin, Israel agreed to surrender its sovereignty in Barcelona. Of course, Rabin had to be murdered by the new Israeli Prime Minister, Shimon Peres to make the conference work. But he had help from French intelligence. (Read my Who Murdered Yitzhak Rabin, www.lulu.com, for full details). In the 45 days leading to Barcelona, Rabin had told the UN and American Congress that he would never divide Jerusalem or wreck Israel for peace. That attitude could ruin Barcelona. So Peres received the go-ahead to eliminate him before the Barcelona Conference.
In the past two years, Barcelona has become the capital of the Mediterranean Union, a group of 5 Catholic and 5 Arab nations dedicated to eliminating Israel. It will meet in mid-June to solidify its plots. But to assure a world consensus for the gangup, the Bilderberg group will meet outside Barcelona on June 3:
http://www.freedomsphoenix.com/Find-Freedom.htm?At=0092994&From=News
The Bilderberg group will conduct its annual meeting June 3-6 in Sitges, Spain (a small, exclusive resort town about 20 miles from Barcelona) behind a wall of armed guards who will seal off the resort in a futile attempt to keep the event secret.
Bilderberg's meeting will follow that of its brother group, the Trilateral Commission, which will gather at the Four Seasons Resort in Dublin, Ireland May 6-10. Leaders of Bilderberg also attend the Trilateralists' meeting to map their common agenda. About 300 attend Trilateral Commission meetings, which are conducted behind sealed-off, guarded floors of their hotel. About 100 will attend Bilderberg, which seals off the entire resort behind platoons of uniformed police and private security.
~ more... ~
April 23, 2010
Barcelona, July 19th – 24th 2010
Over 2000 researchers and experts on the Middle East, coming from a large number of universities, research centers and other organizations from all over the world, will gather in Barcelona in 2010 at the World Congress for Middle Eastern Studies (WOCMES). The European Institute of the Mediterranean (IEMed), the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) and the Government of Catalonia will organize the WOCMES Barcelona 2010, after the two successful previous editions held in Mainz - Germany in 2002 and in Amman - Jordan in 2006.
It is rare when one city usurps all others as the capital of world conspiracy. To achieve such greatness we might have to go all the way back to 1785, when 3 giants met in Frankfurt, Germany. There, the head of the anti-Jewish Sabbataians, Jacob Frank, brought his circle of Frankists to town where he formed a conspiracy with the illuminati, led by one Adam Weishaupt. While Frank's goal was to punish all Jews who did not accept Shabtai Tzvi and him as the Jewish messiahs, Weishaupt's organization was founded to punish those Christians who rejected Rome as the capital of world Christianity. They met with a coin dealer with much bigger plans, one Mayer Amshel Rothschild, who realized if he could just take control of a nation's economy, he would control the country.
But finally, we have a new world capital, still plotting against the Jews and non-Catholic Christians, the Vatican outpost of Barcelona.
Jerusalem, 26 November 1995
BACKGROUND ON BARCELONA CONFERENCE
An European Union-sponsored conference for Mediterranean Basin countries is scheduled to take place 27-28.11.95, in Barcelona, Spain. Israel's delegation will be headed by Foreign Minister Ehud Barak.
Just three weeks after the murder of Yitzhak Rabin, Israel agreed to surrender its sovereignty in Barcelona. Of course, Rabin had to be murdered by the new Israeli Prime Minister, Shimon Peres to make the conference work. But he had help from French intelligence. (Read my Who Murdered Yitzhak Rabin, www.lulu.com, for full details). In the 45 days leading to Barcelona, Rabin had told the UN and American Congress that he would never divide Jerusalem or wreck Israel for peace. That attitude could ruin Barcelona. So Peres received the go-ahead to eliminate him before the Barcelona Conference.
In the past two years, Barcelona has become the capital of the Mediterranean Union, a group of 5 Catholic and 5 Arab nations dedicated to eliminating Israel. It will meet in mid-June to solidify its plots. But to assure a world consensus for the gangup, the Bilderberg group will meet outside Barcelona on June 3:
http://www.freedomsphoenix.com/Find-Freedom.htm?At=0092994&From=News
The Bilderberg group will conduct its annual meeting June 3-6 in Sitges, Spain (a small, exclusive resort town about 20 miles from Barcelona) behind a wall of armed guards who will seal off the resort in a futile attempt to keep the event secret.
Bilderberg's meeting will follow that of its brother group, the Trilateral Commission, which will gather at the Four Seasons Resort in Dublin, Ireland May 6-10. Leaders of Bilderberg also attend the Trilateralists' meeting to map their common agenda. About 300 attend Trilateral Commission meetings, which are conducted behind sealed-off, guarded floors of their hotel. About 100 will attend Bilderberg, which seals off the entire resort behind platoons of uniformed police and private security.
~ more... ~
Police recommend indicting Sharon brothers for fraud
The national fraud squad has recommended that Omri and Gilad Sharon be indicted for mediating bribery and to indict Austrian magnate Martin Schlaff for giving bribes to the tune of $3 million. The police allege that the bribe money was given to former prime minister Ariel Sharon.
Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein and State Prosecutor Moshe Lador are to decide in the coming months whether to adopt the police recommendation. The recommendation was made a few weeks ago, Haaretz learned yesterday, following an investigation that began in 2002, after a friend of the Sharon family, South African businessman Cyril Kern deposited a loan of $1.5 million into one of the Sharon family bank accounts. Police then asked South African authorities to launch a judicial inquiry into the matter. The request for the investigation was reported at the time by Baruch Kra in Haaretz.
It was suspected that Kern was a front man for Schlaff, who had economic interests in Israel. Kern transfered the money to the Sharon family from an Austrian bank, BAWAG, which was Schlaff's partner in the Jericho casino. Schlaff was considered a major strategic partner in the casino at the time.
Later, it is believed, Sharon paid back the loan to Kern; however, police suspect that the money was given to a company owned by the Schlaff family. During November and December 2002, two more deposits were transferred to the Sharon family's accounts, totaling approximately $3 million.
The police say they have evidence that the original loan, from Kern to Gilad Sharon, as well as the $3 million loan, came from a company controlled by Schlaff. Since the affair broke, Schlaff has stayed away from Israel, even missing his father's recent funeral in Jerusalem.
~ more... ~
Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein and State Prosecutor Moshe Lador are to decide in the coming months whether to adopt the police recommendation. The recommendation was made a few weeks ago, Haaretz learned yesterday, following an investigation that began in 2002, after a friend of the Sharon family, South African businessman Cyril Kern deposited a loan of $1.5 million into one of the Sharon family bank accounts. Police then asked South African authorities to launch a judicial inquiry into the matter. The request for the investigation was reported at the time by Baruch Kra in Haaretz.
It was suspected that Kern was a front man for Schlaff, who had economic interests in Israel. Kern transfered the money to the Sharon family from an Austrian bank, BAWAG, which was Schlaff's partner in the Jericho casino. Schlaff was considered a major strategic partner in the casino at the time.
Later, it is believed, Sharon paid back the loan to Kern; however, police suspect that the money was given to a company owned by the Schlaff family. During November and December 2002, two more deposits were transferred to the Sharon family's accounts, totaling approximately $3 million.
The police say they have evidence that the original loan, from Kern to Gilad Sharon, as well as the $3 million loan, came from a company controlled by Schlaff. Since the affair broke, Schlaff has stayed away from Israel, even missing his father's recent funeral in Jerusalem.
~ more... ~
Will totalitarianism make a comeback? We asked Zbigniew Brzezinski.
Totalitarianism towered over the 20th century — a leader-focused, oppressive form of rule in which the individual was crushed. Now it seems to have receded as an ideal. But will it be back? We asked the expert, Zbigniew Brzezinski.
Brzezinski is best known for having been the National Security Advisor in the Carter Administration, and for helping to dismantle the Ford Administration's policy of detente towards the Soviet Union. But in the 1950s, he was one of the main scholars developing the theory of totalitarianism, and helping to spread the idea that both Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union represented examples of this type of system. He's currently Robert E. Osgood Professor of American foreign policy at Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies and a scholar at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
So when we were wondering if totalitarianism was discredited for good, or if it might still stage a resurgence, we could think of no better person to ask than Brzezinski. Here's what he said, via email.
You helped pioneer the idea of totalitarianism as a system of government. Do you think totalitarianism has been discredited as a form of government in the past couple of decades?
Totalitarianism has been discredited during the past several decades, but that does not mean that it cannot reoccur. However, the discerning aspect of totalitarianism is not simply that it is "totally" in control of society, but that it tries to change society according to a dogmatic blueprint, the latter usually being described as "ideology."
~ more... ~
Brzezinski is best known for having been the National Security Advisor in the Carter Administration, and for helping to dismantle the Ford Administration's policy of detente towards the Soviet Union. But in the 1950s, he was one of the main scholars developing the theory of totalitarianism, and helping to spread the idea that both Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union represented examples of this type of system. He's currently Robert E. Osgood Professor of American foreign policy at Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies and a scholar at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
So when we were wondering if totalitarianism was discredited for good, or if it might still stage a resurgence, we could think of no better person to ask than Brzezinski. Here's what he said, via email.
You helped pioneer the idea of totalitarianism as a system of government. Do you think totalitarianism has been discredited as a form of government in the past couple of decades?
Totalitarianism has been discredited during the past several decades, but that does not mean that it cannot reoccur. However, the discerning aspect of totalitarianism is not simply that it is "totally" in control of society, but that it tries to change society according to a dogmatic blueprint, the latter usually being described as "ideology."
~ more... ~
'Afghan war is lost and US govt has to face it'
U.S. taxpayer dollars are finding their way to the pockets of the Taliban, according to a new 75-page congressional report about the military's use of Afghan security firms. The firms are used to ensure the safe passage of supply convoys. If the U.S. doesn't pay up, almost without fail the convoy gets attacked. Brian Becker, Director of the A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition says Afghanistan case is hopeless.
US manufacturing crown slips
The US remained the world's biggest manufacturing nation by output last year, but is poised to relinquish this slot in 2011 to China – thus ending a 110-year run as the number one country in factory production.
The figures are revealed in a league table being published on Monday by IHS Global Insight, a US-based economics consultancy.
Last year, the US created 19.9 per cent of world manufacturing output, compared with 18.6 per cent for China, with the US staying ahead despite a steep fall in factory production due to the global recession.
That the US is still top comes as a surprise, since in 2008 – before the slump of the past two years took hold – IHS predicted it would lose pole position in 2009.
However, a relatively resilient US performance kept China in second place, says IHS, which predicts that faster growth in China will deny the US the top spot next year.
The US became the world's biggest manufacturer in the late 1890s, edging the then-incumbent – Britain – into the number two position.
Hal Sirkin, head of the global operations practice at Chicago-based Boston Consulting Group, said the US should not despair too much at the likelihood that it would lose the global crown in manufacturing to China.
“If you have a country with four times the population of the US and a tenth of the wages, it is fairly obvious they will pull ahead at some time in productive capabilities,“ he said.
Last year, according to IHS, goods output by the US totalled $1,717bn, ahead of China at $1,608bn.
However in 2011, on the basis of IHS's estimates, China's factory output will come to $1,870bn, a fraction ahead of the projected US figure for the year.
If China does become the world's biggest manufacturer, it will be a return to the top slot for a nation which – according to economic historians – was the world's leading country for goods production for more than 1,500 years up until the 1850s, when Britain took over for a brief spell, mainly due to the impetus of the industrial revolution.
~ more... ~
The figures are revealed in a league table being published on Monday by IHS Global Insight, a US-based economics consultancy.
Last year, the US created 19.9 per cent of world manufacturing output, compared with 18.6 per cent for China, with the US staying ahead despite a steep fall in factory production due to the global recession.
That the US is still top comes as a surprise, since in 2008 – before the slump of the past two years took hold – IHS predicted it would lose pole position in 2009.
However, a relatively resilient US performance kept China in second place, says IHS, which predicts that faster growth in China will deny the US the top spot next year.
The US became the world's biggest manufacturer in the late 1890s, edging the then-incumbent – Britain – into the number two position.
Hal Sirkin, head of the global operations practice at Chicago-based Boston Consulting Group, said the US should not despair too much at the likelihood that it would lose the global crown in manufacturing to China.
“If you have a country with four times the population of the US and a tenth of the wages, it is fairly obvious they will pull ahead at some time in productive capabilities,“ he said.
Last year, according to IHS, goods output by the US totalled $1,717bn, ahead of China at $1,608bn.
However in 2011, on the basis of IHS's estimates, China's factory output will come to $1,870bn, a fraction ahead of the projected US figure for the year.
If China does become the world's biggest manufacturer, it will be a return to the top slot for a nation which – according to economic historians – was the world's leading country for goods production for more than 1,500 years up until the 1850s, when Britain took over for a brief spell, mainly due to the impetus of the industrial revolution.
~ more... ~
Queen suffers with the rest of us
The Independent reports: Queen's Civil List payment frozen at £7.9m for 2010
Funding for for the Queen's official duties as head of state is to remain frozen at £7.9m for the next 12 months. The Civil List payment to the Royal Family has remained at the same level for 20 years, leaving it worth only a quarter in real terms. But the fund can be topped up from the Civil List Reserve, which will stand at £8m at the end of this year. The Queen agreed to the Civil List remaining flat this year, George Osborne said.
Over the longer term, the Government will look at ways to modernise the Civil List mechanism and will "propose a new means of consolidated support for Her Majesty for the future" at a later date.
The Budget also included plans for Civil List expenditure to be subject to the same level of scrutiny as all other government spending, through the National Audit Office and the Public Accounts Committee.
"I am sure everyone in this House will want to join me in recognising the Queen's loyal service and immense contribution to public life," Mr Osborne said.
Funding for for the Queen's official duties as head of state is to remain frozen at £7.9m for the next 12 months. The Civil List payment to the Royal Family has remained at the same level for 20 years, leaving it worth only a quarter in real terms. But the fund can be topped up from the Civil List Reserve, which will stand at £8m at the end of this year. The Queen agreed to the Civil List remaining flat this year, George Osborne said.
Over the longer term, the Government will look at ways to modernise the Civil List mechanism and will "propose a new means of consolidated support for Her Majesty for the future" at a later date.
The Budget also included plans for Civil List expenditure to be subject to the same level of scrutiny as all other government spending, through the National Audit Office and the Public Accounts Committee.
"I am sure everyone in this House will want to join me in recognising the Queen's loyal service and immense contribution to public life," Mr Osborne said.
Plastic Mao statues outlawed in China
Chinese officials in Mao's home province of Hunan said they were concerned about the flow of shoddy Mao souvenirs that has flooded the Chinese market.
According to Xinhua, Mao's hometown of Shaoshan sold 124 million yuan (£12.4 million) worth of trinkets last year, of which almost three-quarters were Mao statuettes.
But buyers have complained that some Mao statues do not even resemble the founder of modern China and that substandard statues have melted in the heat or chipped easily.
"The new guidelines include a ban on plastic and plaster because plastic deforms and plaster is easy to break," said the head of the Standardisation department at Hunan province's Quality Supervision Bureau, who declined to give his name.
"We will have a team of art and craft experts working with factories to determine the likeness of the statues, based on photographs of Chairman Mao in historic moments, in order to decide which ones are authentically Mao," he added.
However, the bureau is still unsure what penalties, if any, there will be for factories that produce substandard Mao memorabilia.
~ more... ~
According to Xinhua, Mao's hometown of Shaoshan sold 124 million yuan (£12.4 million) worth of trinkets last year, of which almost three-quarters were Mao statuettes.
But buyers have complained that some Mao statues do not even resemble the founder of modern China and that substandard statues have melted in the heat or chipped easily.
"The new guidelines include a ban on plastic and plaster because plastic deforms and plaster is easy to break," said the head of the Standardisation department at Hunan province's Quality Supervision Bureau, who declined to give his name.
"We will have a team of art and craft experts working with factories to determine the likeness of the statues, based on photographs of Chairman Mao in historic moments, in order to decide which ones are authentically Mao," he added.
However, the bureau is still unsure what penalties, if any, there will be for factories that produce substandard Mao memorabilia.
~ more... ~
Buffett, Gates ask billionaires to give away wealth
Investor Warren Buffett and Microsoft (MSFT.O) founder Bill Gates announced on Wednesday that they are asking hundreds of billionaire Americans to give away at least 50 percent of their wealth to charity.
Buffett, who made his fortune with insurance and investment company Berkshire Hathaway Inc (BRKa.N) (BRKb.N), Gates and his wife, Melinda, have held a series of dinners with a couple dozen rich Americans in the past year to urge them to make a philanthropic pledge.
They have named the campaign the Giving Pledge and are asking those who commit to giving away at least half their fortune during their lifetime or after their death to publicly state their intention with a letter explaining their decision.
Patty Stonesifer, a former chief executive of the Gates Foundation and now adviser to Gates and Buffett, said that four families had agreed to announce their pledge on Wednesday -- real estate and construction billionaire Eli Broad, venture capitalist John Doerr, media entrepreneur Gerry Lenfest and former Cisco Systems (CSCO.O) Chairman John Morgridge.
Broad and his wife Edythe said in a statement that they will pledge to give away 75 percent of their wealth during and after their lifetime. Forbes has estimated Broad to be worth $5.7 billion.
"We agree with Andrew Carnegie's wisdom that 'The man who dies rich, dies disgraced,' and we also believe 'he who gives while he lives also knows where it goes,'" the couple said. "Philanthropy is unbelievably rewarding."
Lenfest has already given away more than $800 million, or about 65 percent of his fortune, a spokeswoman said. The amount pledged by Doerr and Morgridge was not immediately available.
In a letter posted on the campaign's website, www.givingpledge.org, Buffett said he "couldn't be happier" with his 2006 decision to give away 99 percent of his wealth to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and family charities.
~ more... ~
Buffett, who made his fortune with insurance and investment company Berkshire Hathaway Inc (BRKa.N) (BRKb.N), Gates and his wife, Melinda, have held a series of dinners with a couple dozen rich Americans in the past year to urge them to make a philanthropic pledge.
They have named the campaign the Giving Pledge and are asking those who commit to giving away at least half their fortune during their lifetime or after their death to publicly state their intention with a letter explaining their decision.
Patty Stonesifer, a former chief executive of the Gates Foundation and now adviser to Gates and Buffett, said that four families had agreed to announce their pledge on Wednesday -- real estate and construction billionaire Eli Broad, venture capitalist John Doerr, media entrepreneur Gerry Lenfest and former Cisco Systems (CSCO.O) Chairman John Morgridge.
Broad and his wife Edythe said in a statement that they will pledge to give away 75 percent of their wealth during and after their lifetime. Forbes has estimated Broad to be worth $5.7 billion.
"We agree with Andrew Carnegie's wisdom that 'The man who dies rich, dies disgraced,' and we also believe 'he who gives while he lives also knows where it goes,'" the couple said. "Philanthropy is unbelievably rewarding."
Lenfest has already given away more than $800 million, or about 65 percent of his fortune, a spokeswoman said. The amount pledged by Doerr and Morgridge was not immediately available.
In a letter posted on the campaign's website, www.givingpledge.org, Buffett said he "couldn't be happier" with his 2006 decision to give away 99 percent of his wealth to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and family charities.
~ more... ~
`Anti-rape condom' bites back
A doctor in South Africa thinks she's finally found a way to take a bite out of rape.
Dr. Sonnet Ehlers has invented “Rape-aXe,” an “anti-rape condom” that features razor-sharp, teeth- like barbs designed to sink into a man's penis upon unwanted penetration.
Ehler says women wear the device like a tampon and if a man attempts to rape them, his penis becomes trapped in the latex. The rapist then can't pee or walk without intense pain – worse than getting his privates caught in a zipper.
To add insult to injury, the condom can only be surgically removed by a doctor, so the man is “branded” and forced to confess his crime.
Ehler believes “Rape-aXe” gives women much-needed “armor” in dangerous situations. She recommends ladies wear it out at nightclubs, on blind dates, and when hiking alone – just in case.
As a trial, the doc is currently distributing 30,000 free anti-rape condoms all over South Africa.
~ Wireless Flash News ~
Dr. Sonnet Ehlers has invented “Rape-aXe,” an “anti-rape condom” that features razor-sharp, teeth- like barbs designed to sink into a man's penis upon unwanted penetration.
Ehler says women wear the device like a tampon and if a man attempts to rape them, his penis becomes trapped in the latex. The rapist then can't pee or walk without intense pain – worse than getting his privates caught in a zipper.
To add insult to injury, the condom can only be surgically removed by a doctor, so the man is “branded” and forced to confess his crime.
Ehler believes “Rape-aXe” gives women much-needed “armor” in dangerous situations. She recommends ladies wear it out at nightclubs, on blind dates, and when hiking alone – just in case.
As a trial, the doc is currently distributing 30,000 free anti-rape condoms all over South Africa.
~ Wireless Flash News ~
Peter Orlovsky, poet and partner of Allen Ginsberg, has died
Peter Orlovsky, longtime partner of Allen Ginsberg and a poet in his own right, died May 30 in Vermont of lung cancer. He was 76.
Orlovsky met Ginsberg in San Francisco in 1954, before Ginsberg wrote his seminal poem, "Howl." Published in 1956, "Howl" was the subject of a 1957 obscenity trial that became a landmark free-expression case. Afterward, Ginsberg and Orlovsky moved to Paris, where they stayed with Gregory Corso, William Burroughs and others in a boarding house that would become known as the Beat Hotel.
In the early 1960s, Orlovsky and Ginsberg traveled in India together, where they both became devotees of meditation. It's Orlovsky who provided the smiling, besuited meditation model in the 1984 video below. Ginsberg sings and plays harmonium.
~ more... ~
Orlovsky met Ginsberg in San Francisco in 1954, before Ginsberg wrote his seminal poem, "Howl." Published in 1956, "Howl" was the subject of a 1957 obscenity trial that became a landmark free-expression case. Afterward, Ginsberg and Orlovsky moved to Paris, where they stayed with Gregory Corso, William Burroughs and others in a boarding house that would become known as the Beat Hotel.
In the early 1960s, Orlovsky and Ginsberg traveled in India together, where they both became devotees of meditation. It's Orlovsky who provided the smiling, besuited meditation model in the 1984 video below. Ginsberg sings and plays harmonium.
~ more... ~
Packet-sniffing laws murky as open wi-fi proliferates
Starbucks is rolling out free, unsecured Wi-Fi access at about 7,000 coffee shops across the United States beginning July 1. But will there be packet-sniffing with your latte?
The Seattle-based coffee concern's move to lure customers with free internet comes amid a growing legal uncertainty about privacy on open Wi-Fi networks, kicked off by Google's admission its Street View cars intercepted data on unsecured Wi-Fi networks in neighborhoods across the globe.
Google, in response to government inquiries and lawsuits, claims it is lawful to use packet-sniffing tools readily available on the internet to spy on and download payload data from others using the same open Wi-Fi access point.
“We believe it does not violate U.S. law to collect payload data from networks that are configured to be openly accessible (.pdf) (i.e., not secured by encryption and thus accessible by any user's device). We emphasize that being lawful and being the right thing to do are two different things, and that collecting payload data was a mistake for which we are profoundly sorry,” Google wrote Congress.
It's not considered felony wiretapping “to intercept or access an electronic communication made through an electronic communication system that is configured to that such electronic communication is readily accessible to the general public,” according to the text of the federal wiretapping statute. Password protected — encrypted Wi-Fi networks — are not considered “readily accessible,” Google maintains.
That's a position one former Justice Department prosecutor backs, although Google may have theoretically violated the rarely prosecuted Pen Register and Trap and Trap and Traces Device Act.
There's no way to say how many unsecured hot spots dot the United States. McDonald's announced in January that it would provide unsecured Wi-Fi access in 11,000 restaurants, and more businesses are expected to follow.
So far, government regulators aren't sure whether Google committed any legal wrongdoing. Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal announced Monday that as many as 30 attorneys general were examining the lawfulness of Google's actions. But Blumenthal never said the Mountain View, California, internet giant's activities were unlawful, going so far as to say they were “potentially impermissible.”
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"What in the World are They Spraying?" - Official Trailer
http://www.realityzone.com/angels.html
The Reality Zone is producing a documentary that explores the murky world of atmospheric geo-engineering, commonly called chemtrails. The title of the program is: What in the World Are They Spraying! and we can tell you with confidence that it will be one of the most important programs you will ever see. There are plenty of dramatic video clips of chemtrails on the Internet, and your innate intelligence tells you that what you see in the sky with your own eyes is not caused by mere vapor trails from jet aircraft, but no one yet has probed the questions: WHO is doing this and WHY. All of that is about to change. We are working with two young journalistic film makers, Michael Murphy and Paul Wittenberger who already are far advanced in the development of this incredible story.