Excited Delerium

The government just loves technology. They always assume that every problem—whether social, martial, economic, or ecological—is just waiting for some magic device to solve it. This is a weakness of theirs.

Cafe Rebelde presents:
http://otravancouver.resist.ca/blog/wp-content/uploads/vlogg...

Friday August 22, 7 pm
Rhizome Cafe, 317 E. Broadway at Kingsway Ave. Vancouver

“Don’t Hate the Media, Create Alternatives”

short video documentaries, presented by the documentary film-makers
and the aliveinmexico.org collective

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by Noel K. Gallagher | Portland Press Herald

PORTLAND, Maine - Oakhurst Dairy owner Stanley Bennett welcomed the news that Monsanto was divesting itself of its controversial dairy hormone business, after taking on the agribusiness giant in an expensive David-and-Goliath legal battle five years ago.

"...it is, I think, fairly clear that in future a human body, from the moment of conception, will not be regarded merely as something which must be left to grow in accordance with natural forces, with no human interference beyond what is required for the preservation of health. The tendency of scientific technique is to cause everything to be regarded as not just a brute datum, but raw material for the carrying out of some human purpose." - Bertrand Russell, 1931

by Ellen Nakashima | Washington Post

WASHINGTON - Federal agents may take a traveler’s laptop computer or other electronic device to an off-site location for an unspecified period of time without any suspicion of wrongdoing, as part of border search policies the Department of Homeland Security recently disclosed. Also, officials may share copies of the laptop’s contents with other agencies and private entities...

LONDON - Security has become by far the largest cost for field trials of genetically modified crops in Britain as researchers seek to protect sites against vandalism, a scientist said on Monday.

"Education in a scientific society may, I think, be best conceived after the analogy of the education provided by the Jesuits. The Jesuits provided one sort of education for the boys who were to become ordinary men of the world, and another for those who were to become members of the Society of Jesus. In like manner, the scientific rulers will provide one kind of education for ordinary men and women, and another for those who are to become holders of scientific power. Ordinary men and women will be expected to be docile, industrious, punctual, thoughtless, and contented. Of these qualities probably contentment will be considered the most important. In order to produce it, all the researches of psycho-analysis, behaviourism, and biochemistry will be brought into play." - Bertrand Russell, 1931

By Kevin Parkinson - July 20, 2008

[Canada] is being used as a test case to drastically change the delivery of Internet service forever. The change will be so radical that it has the potential to send us back to the horse and buggy days of information sharing and access...[There is a] diabolical plot by Bell Canada and Telus, to begin charging per site fees on most Internet sites. The plan is to convert the Internet into a cable-like system, where customers sign up for specific web sites, and then pay to visit sites beyond a cutoff point.

By Ryan Singel; June 27, 2008 - Wired Blog Network

Mark Klein, the retired AT&T engineer who stepped forward with the technical documents at the heart of the anti-wiretapping case against AT&T, is furious at the Senate's vote on Wednesday night to hold a vote on a bill intended to put an end to that lawsuit and more than 30 others...[Wednesday]'s vote by Congress effectively gives retroactive immunity to the telecom companies and endorses an all-powerful president. It’s a Congressional coup against the Constitution.

Documents obtained by CBC News cast doubt on the RCMP’s sincerity in vows to get to the bottom of the Taser-related death of Robert Dziekanski, according to a civil rights group and the lawyer for Dziekanski’s family. The case...ignited international debate and led to a number of probes into the use of stun guns...

palegray.net writes "Congress is attempting to strip US District Chief Judge Vaughn Walker of his power following his ruling against the government regarding immunity for telecoms in the NSA wiretapping case. Walker was appointed to the bench by President Bush, and has attempted to enforce existing prohibitions against warrantless wiretapping.

"Equality, like liberty, is difficult to reconcile with scientific technique, since this involves a great apparatus of experts and officials inspiring and controlling vast organizations. Democratic forms may be preserved in politics, but they will not have as much reality as in a community of small peasant proprietors. Officials unavoidably have power. And where many vital questions are so technical that the ordinary man cannot hope to understand them, experts must inevitably acquire a considerable measure of control." - Bertrand Russell, 1931

Alberta Heavy Crude to be World’s cleanest production

By Mark Smyth Monday, June 30, 2008

For those who were not aware of the joint statement from the 76TH ANNUAL U.S. CONFERENCE OF MAYORS in Miami this past week, to boycott Canadian gasoline made from oil sands heavy crude, pay very close attention.

This article will examine the use of scientific technique to increase the power of an elite scientific minority over the unscientific masses as discussed in Bertrand Russell's 1931 book The Scientific Outlook. The basic theme of this book is to describe a society, partially in the future, partially currently in place (circa 1930s) dominated by scientific thought and technique.

By Benjamin Lesser and Greg Smith | Daily News

One in five New Yorkers stopped by police in 2006 encountered some use of force, from simple restraint to facing a drawn service weapon, a Daily News analysis of new data found.