—Robert McNamara dies

My Way News [AP] – McNamara, defense chief during Vietnam War, dies

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

Controversial and occasionally infamous Secretary of Defense in the Kennedy and Johnson administrations, Robert S. McNamare has died.  THe Vietnam War was a constant feature of life and news when I was growing up, and so was McNamara. 

He was involved in many infamous decisions of the 1960’s,.  I especially remember the micro-managed war itself, and the mismanagement of the Army’s M-16 rifle.   I recently saw “Fog of War“,  a documentary on his life, including the peculiar “bean-counter”  business-analysis approach he seemed to typify.  In the documentary, he discussed his involvement in analysis of strategic bombing of Japan in WWII under Curtis LeMay, leading up to the low-level fire bombing attacks that, in some cases, killed more people in a night than the atomic bombings.   The historical context and experience he provided in this way would be invaluable for current and future policy makers, if they took the time to review them.

He seems to have spent much of his later life repenting of his involvement in war and politics, and advocating projects to combat poverty.

—Celebrity Medicine?

Extremely famous people don’t seem to fair well when they get sick, especially when they fail victim to mental illness. 

Howard Hughes, for example, suffered from obsessive-compulsive disorder, together with an addiction to codeine.  [The Aviator]  [Howard Hughes - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia]  But instead of obtaining treatment for the underlying causes of his bizarre behavior, his associates simply went along with Hughes’ demands. 

By some accounts, the examiners who conducted Michael Jackson’s autopsy were alarmed by the amount of scar tissue in his face.  Someone in a position to know better has been regularly reinforcing Jackson’s obvious,  pathological obsession with self-mutilation, eventually transforming the singer’s appearance into that of a hideous marionette. 

The motives in these cases can only be guessed, but they were not the welfare of the patients. 

—Internet Surveillance: Links

I’m just beginning to look for information about how this stuff works,  inspired by efforts to maintain communications with citizens of repressive regimes, such as Iran and China.  There is a lot of information about proxies, relay systems, encryption, and so on, but in many cases the authors start by telling you why the stuff you just spent thirty minutes reading about can’t possibly work.  Each approach to defeating surveillance appears to have serious limitations and dangers.  Eventually, run-of-the-mill Internet criminals, spammers, and hackers will jump into this melee and find new ways to exploit people that use these external web-based defenses, sometimes in defense of their lives.

General summary of how surveillance defenses work, maybe:

Internet Surveillance And Iran: A Primer – The Atlantic Politics Channel

More general information:

Outsmarting the Online Privacy Snoops – PC World

Then there’s:

Can you ever be anonymous on the Web? – ZDNet.co.uk

Tor, which is apparently a network of open relays to allow users to disguise their original IP address  [which used to get you in all sorts of trouble with your ISP] : 

Tor: anonymity online

Some of the anonymizing systems apparently intend to profit from the misfortunes of repressed citizens.  Freegate’s description says, for example, “Without license, user may be able to use it for a few minutes.”  If you’re trying to post a video clip to YouTube of your family being clubbed and dragged away , this is going to be inconvenient, at best:

The Privacy Blog Freegate – Free software downloads and reviews – CNET Download.com

One of numerous accounts of how to set up proxies.  There are also numerous accounts of why proxies aren’t working against the Iranian regime—at some point, you have to tell someone inside Iran where the proxy is.   Encryption, likewise, requires the key to be available to the target audience.

Ubuntu Tutorials : Dapper – Hardy – Intrepid – Jaunty / Create Anonymous Squid Proxy For Iranian Election Protestors

A forum with specific discussions of anti-surveillance tactics in Iran:

Why We Protest – IRAN – Keeping Your Anonymity In Iran

Change IP Address » Blog Archive » Change IP Proxy – Leave No Footprints

Since the Internet is essentially amoral, however, the usual crop of thieves, spammers, and salesmen have already started to invade the discussions and Twitter hashtag groups.  Whether the stuff they offer even works is a matter of speculation.  Meanwhile, actual information from inside Iran seems to be drying up.

[The claim by the Wall Street Journal---which I quoted earlier---that Nokia/Siemens had provided Deep Packet Inspection technology to the Iranian government has been vigorously denied by the company: http://bit.ly/2HMFet  There doesn't seem to be anyone trying to refute the denial, either.]

 

 

—CURE

This is different:

CURE:  About Star Parker

Amazon.com: Customer Reviews: Uncle Sam’s Plantation: How Big Government Enslaves America’s Poor and What We Can Do About It

I’ve been “out of the house” enough to see how government “programs” affect the people we thought they were supposed to help.   I was around when they launched the “War on Poverty” in the ’60’s.  Almost fifty years later, the government is still spending huge sums to perpetuate and expand poverty. 

Julius furthered his political career by buying grain for the poor of Rome.  Modern politicians have refined the technique by using other peoples’ money.  But letting the poor “off the hook” by providing them with genuine education and opportunity—or encouraging moral and Spiritual growth, to say the least— so they can progress out of dependence on the government  is not part of the big plan.

—U.S. VP says stuff

Biden: U.S. Won’t Stand in Way of Israel on Iran Nukes – FOXNews.com [AP]

“We cannot dictate to another sovereign nation what they can and cannot do,” the vice president replied.

In fact, the U.S. can’t even get its own Vice-President to shut up.

—Dogs….

Somehow, I just can’t get a break in the canine department.

Yes, it’s those rotten little dogs again…

…in the kitchen….

…demanding….

…salad.

—July 4, 2009

As we approach another U.S. Independence Day, it is indeed humbling to note that the Nation whose liberty was bought and maintained with such sacrifice has fallen into the hands of an administration so catastrophically misguided that it makes Hillary Clinton’s leadership look good:

Officials: Clinton Pressed Obama to Take Harder Line on Iran – Political News – FOXNews.com

—Another Helpful POV

At least somebody knows what’s going on here:

http://www.despair.com/blogging.html

—A Bad Week to Be a Celebrity

Report: ‘Infomercial King’  Billy Mays Dies – ‘ – FOXNews.com

I don’t even know what to say, here. 

—Iran’s Internet Controls

Iran’s Web Spying Aided By Western Technology – WSJ.com

“This looks like a step beyond what any other country is doing, including China.”

Thanks to sophisticated network monitoring equipment provided to the Iranian government by a joint venture between Nokia and Siemens, among others, the repressive regime has the information it needs to find and brutalize participants in this week’s unprecedented Internet-based protests against the recent fraudulent election.