by PAUL JOSEPH WATSON | JANUARY 23, 2015
Harvard Professor Margo Seltzer warned that miniature mosquito drones will one day forcibly extract your DNA on behalf of the government and insurance companies as she told elitists at the World Economic Forum in Davos that privacy was dead. Davos, the destination for Reasonable People.
Seltzer, Does he have a brother named Alka?
a professor in computer science at Harvard University, told attendees, âPrivacy as we knew it in the past is no longer feasible⌠How we conventionally think of privacy is dead.â
Seltzer went on to predict that in the near future, mosquito-sized robots would perpetually monitor individuals as well as collecting DNA and biometric information for governments and corporations. I welcome our mosquito-sized robot overlords. I think a fly swatter would work very well on one.
âItâs not whether this is going to happen, itâs already happening,â said Seltzer on the issue of pervasive surveillance. âWe live in a surveillance state today.â
The professor added that miniaturized drone technology should be used for benevolent purposes, such as sending the same device into an Ebola ward to âzap the germsâ. With frickin' lasers.
Fellow Harvard academic Sophia Roosth also warned that an era of âgenetic McCarthyismâ was on the way as a result of peopleâs personal genetic information being available to governments via the Internet.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
01/26/2015 10:22 ||
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#1
Mind the thigh gap Ms. Roosth and you'll probably retain your privacy. I recommend legs crossed and minimal jaw flapping. Thanks for the Davos take-away.
#4
Stupid beyond words.
The government would just have to say; "Everyone must get insurance."
The insurance companies would just have to say: "Everyone we insure must have a blood test."
At some point if you avoid the system you're gonna be pretty far off the grid as to be harmless.
Within a decade they'll have just about everyone without the expense of mosquito drones.
#6
Prob a Suicide/Kamikaze Micro-Drone which will begin releasing biometric, etc. signals to orbiting SATWAR + Ground assets before being swatted in righteous human indignation.
Tunisia’s Islamist Ennahda party, which holds 69 of parliament’s 217 seats, said on Sunday it will not vote in favour of a new government that needs approval from the legislature.
New Prime Minister Habib Essid on Friday unveiled a cabinet line-up that included no members of the party which led the former government. Essid’s government will be the first since landmark parliamentary and presidential elections last year that were the first freely contested ones in the history of the North African country.
The anti-Islamist Nidaa Tounes party of President Beji Caid Essebsi won the largest number seats in October’s general elections, with Ennahda in second place.
“Ennahda has decided not to give its vote of confidence to the government of Habib Essid,” senior Ennahda official Said Ferjani said as he emerged from a meeting of the party’s leaders. He said that the Essid cabinet line-up “does not have a clear programme or national consensus.”
So he plans to join the (dis)loyal opposition, does he...
Ennahda’s decision could damage hopes by Essid to be confirmed by parliament.
Media reports have said that the legislature could meet as early as Tuesday, but parliament has not announced when the vote of confidence will take place.
Essid handed Nida Tounes several ministries in his 39-strong cabinet, with other posts going to independents or nominees from smaller parties. Two other parties are not represented in the government — the far-left Popular Front and the liberal Afek Tounes party.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/26/2015 00:00 ||
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#1
Ennahda is the party of the Tunisian Muslim Brotherhood, which is led by Rachid Ghannouchi and supported by Turkey's Tayip Erdogan. .
[AnNahar] Moroccan security forces seized nearly 24 tonnes of hashish from a number of boats and tossed in the slammer Drop the rod and step away witcher hands up! 11 people after an overnight chase off the northern coast, the MAP news agency reported Saturday.
The operation came hours after Spanish police said they had seized 11 tonnes of hashish and detained 55 people across the country as part of an operation targeting a Moroccan drug trafficking ring.
Spain's proximity to north Africa, a major source of hashish, and its close ties with its former colonies in Latin America, a key cocaine-producing region, have made it the main gateway into Europe for narcotics.
The Spanish raids were carried out throughout the country, including Madrid, Barcelona, Malaga, as well as the Spanish exclave of Ceuta on Morocco's Mediterranean coast.
Spanish police also seized two million euros ($2.2 million) in cash as well as several weapons, including assault rifles, as part of the operation that followed a two-year investigation.
The Moroccan agency did not provide any further details on the extent to which the two operations may have been linked.
But police source in Spain said the gang would smuggle the drugs into Spain on speedboats or hidden inside the fuel tanks of trucks.
Morocco is one of the world's principal producers of hashish, and the interior ministry estimates that more than 700,000 people make a living from cultivating cannabis, from which the resin is produced.
#3
In the 70s when I was stationed in Germany, I planned a trip to Spain.
I was told by individuals in the know, that if I went on the ferry from Algeciras to Tangier to check under my car before getting back on the ferry.
Well, I went to Tangier and in the course of an hour, I was offered $5000 for my US passport and $7500 for my girlfriend. I decided to go back to Spain lest I get bopped on the head for either the passport or the main squeeze. I stopped in the parking lot of the ferry, jacked up my 911 and found four keys of hashish tapped to the undercarriage. I did have a motorcycle follow me to Seville and I am pretty sure they were disappointed when they searched under my car that night in the parking lot of the hotel.
[AnNahar] More foreign leaders flocked to Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... paying their respects to King Salman ...either the largest species of Pacific salmon or the current Sheikh of the Burnin' Sands, Cutodian of the Two Holy Mosquesand Lord of Most of the Arabians.... on Sunday, as the normally gridlocked streets of Riyadh turned quiet during a day of mourning for his predecessor Abdullah.
The latest arrivals included Japan's Crown Prince Naruhito, Iraqi Kurdish leader Massud Barzani, Belgium's King Philippe, Libya's internationally-recognized Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thani, and President Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela.
From across the Arab and Moslem worlds, from Europe, Asia, and America, presidents, prime ministers and sheikhs have flown in to express condolences.
It is a recognition of the Islamic kingdom's power as the world's leading oil exporter, a political heavyweight in a region threatened by Lion of Islam violence, and as home to Islam's holiest sites.
Salman, 79, acceded to the throne on Friday after Abdullah's death at the age of about 90.
U.S. President Barack Obama If you like your coverage you can keep it... announced he would cut short a visit to India to travel to the kingdom on Tuesday.
Oh dear. Will our beloved president be late? Granted, Saudis have a very broad sense of on time, but to arrive days after the rest might nonetheless be frowned upon.
Saudi Arabia has long been a key United States ally and since last year has been part of the U.S.-led coalition carrying out air strikes against the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... jihadist group.
Salman, a half-brother of Abdullah who reigned for almost a decade, declared Sunday a nationwide holiday "to provide comfort and facilitation to all citizens in offering condolences" and allegiance to the new monarch, the official Saudi Press Agency said.
Much more about those who came, and the dutifully sad subjects, at the link. One does wonder if there will be as much of a turnout the next time round, when so much more of the world will be producing their own oil.
#1
I lived through the marches, riots, looting, and burning of the 1960's. I understand history rewritten, the veneration of those who fund world terrorism, racial division, and the overthrow of western culture. Let the dead bury the dead.
"One can't think that in order to improve and normalize relations with the U.S., Cuba has to give up the principles it believes in," Cuba's top diplomat for U.S. affairs, Josefina Vidal, told The Associated Press after the end of the talks. "Changes in Cuba aren't negotiable." Wurst President...evah. And I don't mean Mr. Castro.
For a map, click here. You can enlarge the map, if you open it separately.
By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com
Ukrainian artillery units accidentally fired the artillery missions that struck a residential sector of the sea of Azov port city of Mariupol three days ago, according to Russian language videos and news sources.
The artillery strike killed 30 unidentified individuals and has raised an international outcry of condemnation against the Russian backed rebel forces operating in the region.
But, according to videos shot at the time the artillery strike appears to have come from as many as three different directions in relation to the city, one from the west and two from the northwest. Rebel artillery and combat units are positioned to the east and out of the line of fire.
The area that was hit, was on the extreme eastern outskirts of the city where a number of high rise apartments are located. Videos purportedly shot at the time of the attack show impacts on buildings and on the ground which were hit at an angle that could only have come from the west and northwest.
Immediately following the attack, Russian observers in the region had remarked that the Ukrainian artillery had fired shorts, or missions that fell short of their intended target, or impact zone.
According to a new report which appeared on rustoday.info, Donetsk deputy defense minister Lt. Colonel Eduard Basurin remarked that the artillery attack was intended to cover movement of a maneuver unit identified by Basurin as the 18th Battalion of the 28th Mechanized Rifle Brigade. According to the report, the unit was moving towards the eastern outskirts of the city when the artillery struck.
However, in video that this writer saw, nothing could be seen that was a military unit or equipment in the impact zone at the time. The unit's elements could have been approaching the area out of the view of the cameras at the time, but no units were seen nearby when the artillery struck.
According to the news report, once the condemnation was issued by the Ukrainian government, Donetsk president Aleksandr Zakharchenko ordered suppression artillery fire against Ukrainian units positioned on the eastern side of the city. No videos have emerged detailing that particular artillery operation.
Rebels attempt encircling Ukrainian forces at Debaltsevo
It appears now that much of the artillery firing and operations by both sides at the Donetsk city of Gorlovka was actually a subsidiary operation intended to keep Ukrainian forces tied down west of Gorlovka and Debaltsevo.
At the moment, a large Ukrainian formation -- rebels say as many as 8,500 effectives -- are in a salient centering around the Donetsk city of Debaltsevo. The position was taken in a blitzkrieg style operation last August just before the Minsk Ceasefire was to take effect. The resulting salient -- when the operation was presumably stopped -- was part of the larger operation to encircle Donetsk city to the west and to separate Donetsk oblast (province/state) -- now a republic -- from its sister republic of Lugansk.
That encirclement operation was stopped when the other pincher -- which included a large Ukrainian mobile force, with as many as 4,000 effectives -- was stooped, surrounded and eventually liquidated by rebel forces. Charges at the time from western and Ukrainian government were that the rebel forces had help from Russian Army formations near Krasnii Luch, the presumed linkup location for the southern pincher of the Ukrainian operation, and from Russian artillery parked just on the other side of the border with Ukraine.
At the moment, however, rebel operations are now focused on the "mouth" of the salient at Svetlodarsk on the western side of the salient, and at Krasnii Pagar on the east.
According to the latest rebel media, the settlements of Travnevoye and Dolomitnoye have fallen to the rebels along with Krasny Pakhar, all locations of which had received Ukrainian reinforcements only hours before, and all locations near the mouth of the Debaltsevo salient.
Rebel reports are that firefights have erupted in several locations around the salient including at Lisichansk, Debaltsevo-Chernukhino, Gorsk-Stakhanov, Khartsizk and Popasnaya-Pervomaisk.
Fighting continues at Donetsk city
Despite the recent successes in gaining full control of the Donetsk airport, rebel units in the region have struggled against two other critical towns held by Ukrainian forces, Peski and Avdievka.
Last Friday, a large rebel motorized column got caught in the impact zone of a 122mm rocket artillery strike near Avdievka, killing as many as 130 effectives. Military analyst Boris Rozhin claims the death toll in the attack was closer to 40.
Where 40 or 130 dead, efforts to take Avdievka and Peski have faltered in recent days. Just days after the Ukrainian finally admitted they lost the airport, rebels claims they had taken Peski, but later, as it turned out, the rebels have taken only a part of the settlement.
According to Rozhin, the fighting for Peski has "stabilized" with neither side able to gain much of an advantage, especially after the massive artillery attack last week.
Avdievka is a much larger target than Peski and so far has proven to be a much harder problem than Peski. Neither rebel nor Ukrainian media have taken pains to explain why, except that the location is much larger and easier to defend.
Continuing fighting in Northern Lugansk
Combat operations between rebel units and their Ukrainian counterparts are concentrated along T1303 highway and along the Norther Donetsk River, according to Russian and English language news accounts.
Ukrainian military journalist Dmitri Tymchuk said that rebel forces continue their operations against Ukrainian police checkpoints along T1303. Also, Tymchuk reports that Ukrainian observers reported "25 tanks and 40 other armored vehicles" near the river zone. A rebel artillery unit was also reported to be in the area consisting of 35 artillery units, including 12 each 122mm BM-21 rocket artillery launchers.
Tymchuk said that Ukrainian artillery has been used with some success against rebel units which are trying to penetrate north of T1303.
Chris Covert writes about foreign military issues for Rantburg.com. He can be reached at grurkka@gmail.com. You can read past articles about the 2014 war in southeastern Ukraina by clicking here.
Concerns about Russian money and influence on the French Right, particularly regarding the National Front, are spoken of in mostly hushed tones in Paris, but concerns are mounting in counterintelligence circles about Moscow's covert influence on the party, particularly because the National Front is rising fast in opinion polls.
Notwithstanding the presence of Kremlin agents of influence in the partyâs ranks, Marine Le Pen may well be the next president of the republic, amid warnings that her party is "at the gates of power." The National Front's message of sovereignty, economic populism, and French patriotism has struck a chord with many alienated citizens. The extent to which the party has also struck a chord in Moscow is an important question that needs to be answered, preferably before Marine Le Pen becomes Franceâs first female president. The friendship of Pols chasing their national interests accrues to those able to do something about them. As Mr. Obama's influence continues to wane, his international-political handicap will continue to grow. And he is more Dorf than Tiger Woods.
[HOSTED.AP.ORG] A radical left-wing party vowing to end Greece's painful austerity program won a historic victory in Sunday's parliamentary elections, setting the stage for a showdown with the country's international creditors that could shake the eurozone.
Alexis Tsipras, leader of the communist-rooted Syriza party, immediately promised to end the "five years of humiliation and pain" that Greece has endured since an international bailout saved it from bankruptcy in 2010.
With 80 percent of polling stations counted, Syriza had 36 percent versus 28 percent for Prime Minister Antonis Samaras' conservatives.
It remained to be seen whether Syriza had enough seats to govern outright or would have to seek support from other parties. That might not become clear until Monday morning or even later, when all the votes are counted.
If Tsipras, 40, can put together a government, he will be Greece's youngest prime minister in 150 years.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/26/2015 00:00 ||
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#2
I think Greece should be left to its own devices and when it comes completely crashing down, no electricity, no water, no food, and no money...maybe that huge population of spoiled brats and thumb sucking children will come to their senses.
Of course Goldman Sachs should be made to move their headquarters there...no wait they went out of business.
#4
This could be the lighting of the fuse of the bomb that blows up the EU.
Say good bye to German funding if this guy does what leftists do.
Posted by: no mo uro ||
01/26/2015 5:55 Comments ||
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#5
Remember all those 'smart' Eucratic people decided to waste loads of financial assets to keep the place afloat rather than allowing the invisible hand of economic transactions to take its course. Gone destroyed. Now those same 'smart' people are going to further endanger everyone else not to avoid the unavoidable consequences of living by the magic money tree, but to justify their own failed acts and despicable choices.
#14
The Russians and Turks *always* have funny ideas. But it will be an excellent opportunity for the Russians to move the Greeks into their sphere of influence.
"Hey baby! We're the same religion, have shared history, and He doesn't love you anymore. Why don't you come on over to my crib?"
#2
A great many different organizations & people are capable of this. A UAV might not even need to be controlled remotely if it can be guided by GPS signals, which would make it a cruise missile.
#4
From the volume of reported 'news coverage' I'm guessing it wasn't an estate patrol drone dropped by the SS but a successful probe of the WH wireless defense dome, intentional or derived.
Now they know the pocket rockets need hardened autonomous guidance and a different delivery.
Anybody remember the movie 'Screamers' with Peter Weller?
The small drone that crashed into a tree on the South Lawn of the White House early Monday morning was operated by a government employee who has told the Secret Service that he did not mean to fly it over the White House fence or near the presidentâs residence, according to law enforcement officials.
The employee â who does not work for the White House â has told the Secret Service that he was flying the drone for recreational use at about 3 a.m. in the area around 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue when he lost control of it.
So far, the Secret Service said it believed the manâs account.
Flying a drone at three in the morning? What an odd time to do such a thing.
#11
0300 is 1500 some places AP. 0300 is midpoint between REMs and a metabolic low point for the bored, sleep deprived Capitol Police night shift.
With POTUS out of town, SS was on light duty.
I wonder if the drone was on its way out
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
by PAUL JOSEPH WATSON | JANUARY 23, 2015
