
Next week...
... How to nail jelly to the ceiling!
Senator Dianne Feinstein is calling for a pair of controversial instructionals to be banned from the internet. Feinstein (D-CA) did not say exactly how she plans to scrub The Anarchist Cookbook and Inspire magazine from every server, desktop and notebook on the planet, but none the less she wants both titles pulled from …
Funny, last week it was TM 31-210. For those who don't know it's the US Army's Improvised Munitions Handbook.
This brings back my teen years, long summer months blue boxing to the US BBS boards, whilst trying unsuccessful to get stoned on dried banana skins..
Kept me out of real harm, when my peers were steeling cars, getting high and hiring dodgy prostitu.. oh wait that was me with GTA. Oh well - Thank you Jolly Roger for great teenage years ...
These documents are not, in my view, protected by the First Amendment...
See #1 here: http://quarterbacks.org/Democrats/
... and should be removed from the internet."
See first comment in this thread re: nails and jelly.
Next thing is to ban education.
I happen to have an MSc in Chemistry from the days when the "chemical warfare agents" advanced course was only just renamed to toxicology (while retaining most of the same curriculum). We also studied all the wonderful aspects of nucleophilic substitutions and why nitrate sticks so nicely to toluene and why and how do you need to purify the resulting mix to make it stable. Things like hexogen, peroxide (inclusive of explosives), etc were elective. Compared to that the anarchist cookbook and the Al Qaeda manuals are frankly something from Sesame Street. Should be ban it too?
Add to that a nearly complete second MSc in Molecular Biology and Microbiology. I recall growing viruses on cell cultures (for real - not in a petry dish on a windowsill as described in the BBC mocumentary "SmallPox"), bacteria and modifying the buggers with lovely antibiotic resistance markers. It was also in the days before fluorescent markers so radioactive phosphorus, H3 and C14 was being used by the bucket load in the lab. So plenty of experience in handling that too. Once again, compared to that the Al Qaeda manual are again - stuff out of Sesame Street performed by your fav muppet. Should we ban mol biol and microbiology too?
And with this intellectual baggage I went to work in computer security (for a while) and telecoms after that. By the thought crime standards of Ms Feinstein and Treasonous May I should just take a gun and blow my brains out. They are too effing dangerous to exist.
I'm a bit into amateur science myself - and this panic creates some problems for us. It's very hard to get hold of tetrahydrofuran - no supplier will sell to a residential address. I had to get it off some dodgy ebay seller. Now I'm concerned because some man up in Scotland has just been sentenced to five years for possessing acetone and hydrogen peroxide, two chemicals which can potentially be used (if you're reckless enough) to manufacture propanone peroxide, a rather nasty explosive. I have a lot of acetone, I use it for 3D printing and casting tin. So now I get to worry because if the police or fire service should have any reason to poke around my home they'll find bottles of scarey chemicals and assume I must be a terrorist.
I destroyed my tetrahydrofuran by burning yesterday as a precaution. I don't need it any more, I finished that line of experiment.
During the holidays I am helping a kid who has GCSE chemistry in June. I've discovered his main problem with analysis is that the school hasn't actually done any practicals. They've "watched videos".
When I was this kid's age I was cooking up my own fine grain developers with the help of the local pharmacist who was only too happy to help me get the necessary chemicals. I experimented with uranium intensifier, and I got to be quite good at sepia toning (using ferrocyanide). Looking back over my career I can point to work that resulted in millions in export earnings; that early investment in a bit of geeky fun paid big dividends.
Unfortunately the government is run by someone with a degree in PPE, and the best we can hope for an alternative also has a degree in PPE. The head of UKIP left school at 16. The head of the Lib Dems couldn't even stand up for Forgemasters or against tuition fees. I haven't bothered to look at the Greens.
In a sane world, one not run by the scientifically clueless, we'd just allow people to register as amateur scientists with a basic background check similar to DBS and let them get on with it. Because it could pay serious economic dividends, whereas the real risks from terrorism are minute.
"Register as amateur scientists" - why would we allow government to be involved in any of this. If you create something dangerous and cause harm, then arrest and punishment is needed. Otherwise, why should "big brother" know or care what chemicals you have to experiment with. Just as government has no business know who has guns or what kind of guns they have.
There are these things called driving licenses which are operated by most societies, and for a reason. I know I'll get downvoted for this, but I'm glad I don't live in a country which practices the kind of extreme libertarianism you espouse.
Incidentally, the Second Amendment says nothing at all about recording who has guns, or what they have. It says people have the right to have them, and it wants a well regulated militia. Now to me, a well regulated militia would seem to imply some sort of controls. But then I'm not a Supreme Court judge or a pol bought by the armaments industry. If my neighbor has a Kalashnikov I think I have the right to know, because I'd rather find out before he goes on a shooting spree rather than, as you advocate, afterwards.
Incidentally, the Second Amendment says nothing at all about recording who has guns, or what they have. It says people have the right to have them, and it wants a well regulated militia.
No, no, no, no, no! That amendment is always being misunderstood. It has nothing at all to do with firearms and everything to do with heraldry. The point about a well-regulated militia is precisely to do with the regulation of a militia as opposed to having individuals with men bearing the arms of their lord and master.
Whilst I agree 100% with you, what should we do about these?
I want to know that when I get on a plane the pilot isn't going to take it out on me by slamming into a mountain, just because HE had a bad day.
When I get on a train I want to know that the guy standing down the corridor from me with that awfully big rucksack (he and I can't sit down as it is too full) hasn't decided that today Allah isn't wanting another visitor to Paradise.
When I fly off on hols, I want to know there isn't a numptie with a new toy from his mate a Mr Putin, who is itching to test it out.
I agree with you, but how far should I agree with you?
"Now I'm concerned because some man up in Scotland has just been sentenced to five years for possessing acetone and hydrogen peroxide, two chemicals which can potentially be used (if you're reckless enough) to manufacture propanone peroxide"
They can also be used, in suitable concentrations, for removing nail varnish and bleaching hair; beauticians beware!
I spent most of my time in high school chemistry class working out how to play with explosives without getting blown up and how to play with toxic gases/aerosols without getting poisoned/dissolved/whatevered. It is _trivial_ to make nitrocellulose and not much harder to make nitroglycerin. (Making them in any quantity and without blowing yourself up or having some other wee accident involving nitric or sulphuric acid is a little less trivial.) Every time I hear that some poor boy has been arrested for 'possession of bomb-making materials' I laugh. Right now the following bomb-making materials are in my house or garage: gasoline, kerosine, powdered laundry soap, wax candles, granulated sugar, powdered sugar, isopropyl alcohol, hydrogen peroxide, liquid soap, chlorine bleach, lye, foam shipping peanuts, lots of paper of various grades, olive oil, coconut oil, ammonia, iodine, potassium permanganate, charcoal, butane, propane, sulphuric acid, assorted nitrates and nitrites, and substantial amounts of copper, magnesium, aluminum, ferric oxide, and the means to make those last four into powders. (Warning: you might want to be careful when powdering the magnesium or the aluminum. Just a thought.) And, oh, large amounts of chlorides, of which sodium chloride is but a minor component. And, of course, lots of insecticides. For those who know not chemistry, this means that I can assemble a wide variety of low, medium, and high explosives, plus a wide range of incendiary devices and several war gases.
Every single item is perfectly legal. Consult your local high school chem text for info on assembly. And the chem lab should have lots more fun stuff.
To James O'Shea's comment:
We all have around the house potentially lethal stuff like kitchen knifes, axes, rat poison, bug sprays, tobacco (nicotine is one of the most poisonous things if in the right form!!!), cricket bats, hammers, nails, razor blades etc. How can any Big Brother control those items?
Than, those members of the public with particular skills like self-defense, martial arts, weaponry knowledge, driving licence, flying licence, train and tube driving licence and so on, are presumably dangerous at a certain point. How can ANYONE prevent ALL OF THEM do something stupid?
If there's one thing guaranteed to spawn more copies of the book, an attempt by a clueless politician is it. People will host copies just because someone wants to ban it.
You don't fight extremism with censorship, you fight it with education. Or by making a few copies readily available for download and logging the IP address of those who actually do.
Couldn't agree more. My thought on fighting terrorism is to convince people that living in a stable society is a far better option than joining those crazy people with guns that want to destroy that society.
Right now a lot of people in the middle east are presented with the option of:
"Support those guys from the other side of the world that blew up your cousin because of his beliefs" or
"fight with the guys that are from your area and are trying to kill the people that killed your cousin"
For the price of a single bombing run, we could use that money to turn the decision into:
"Support the people that gave you a couple farm animals, the equipment to build a farm, and the ability to build a well for some fresh, clean water" OR
"Fight with the guys that just want to kill everyone who doesn't believe what they do, and you'll probably end up getting killed in the process"
How about adding,
Support the people that invested into your local economy, creating jobs, etc, helping to remove the desire to kill your cousin and (enter your favorite villain, religion, race, socioeconomic class, etc here...) in the first place...
I vote for trade not aid, but have an up vote anyway
Trade is definitely something to do, you just need to get them to a point where they have something to trade. Look at South Korea, after their war they had nothing and needed aid to rebuild, now they are a massive economical and technological juggernaut and have re-paid all the aid they were given.
was to protest the jailing of somebody who had sold a copy of the (seemingly updated) Jolly Roger Cookbook.
He wrote me a very lovely letter back defending his position.
He was wrong.
I quit his party immediately, and feel sad.
Partly it was due to myself having happily played with thermite after delving through the JRC, I remember happily keeping in my school blazer pocket (I believe there was 50p involved to cover the cost of the floppy).
Mainly though, it's my knee-jerk abhorrence to the very concept that access to knowledge could be considered dangerous, and should therefore be forbidden.
Wouldn't want to speak for everybody, but trying to stop the spread of any knowledge strikes me as counterintuitive to the improvement of the lives of all - and maybe more pertinently, a f'in ridiculous unobtainable goal.
A Jew is a child of a Jewish mother. The referenced article states that one of Lenin's grandfathers was Jewish. If it had been a grandmother, then, yes. A grandfather, no. He wasn't Jewish. He wasn't raised as Jew. No circumcision, no Jewish ceremonies of any kind.
Furthermore, three-quarters of his genes were from non-Jews. Are Jewish genes so powerful that they override even when out-numbered three to one? Is there some variant on the old Southern 'one drop' policy at work here?
Trotsky and Marx were Jews. Lenin had some Jewish ancestors, courtesy of one grandparent. He wasn't Jewish.
You mean the same people that read "Thou Shalt Not Kill", then somehow interpreted that to mean: "We need to kill all the Muslims, God demands it!" Of course a lot of other nations in the area heard that and thought "Oh no, they're going to kill us, better kill them all before they kill us!" (Or maybe it was the other way around, who knows who really fired the first shot, doesn't matter anyway).
If your god wanted them dead, they would have done it already; if your god really favors you, they'll prevent you from dying, or at least reward you if you do die. No need to kill others preemptively in the name of 'defense'.
if your god really favors you, ...... or at least reward you if you do die.
Well, there's a religion that says (according to some practitioners) "You died for me.. here's 72 virgins and the keys to heaven.. have fun!". Another leaves out the 72 virgins bit.
And that just scratches the surface of all the loony tunes in the Middle East and the Bible Belt in America.
Yes, genesis said knowledge was dangerous, but to whom? I believe the problem was that God did not want Adam and Eve to also eat from the tree of life and therefore become "gods like us", if I remember the quote correctly.
The takeaway being: the more knowledgable the public, the more uncertain the positions of those in power. Which is probably the single most important lesson of that book.
I think you will find it only the know algae of good and evil, so morality not all knowledge, the concept that the universe and world before the was made, and therefore understandable is the foundation of modern science. Believing the rest is up to the rader to decide.
The Anarchist's Cookbook is quite interesting. The recipes seem a bit risky to me though. Might be a better idea to give a copy to anyone who wants one, and let them blow their arms off in their mum's kitchen rather than going outside and committing a multi-person atrocity.
But seriously, banning a book raises it's perceived value and more people will want a copy...just to be cool, if nothing else. Is she trying to sell the bloody thing, or what? Plus with US's foreign policy; the number of people who would be willing to make them available is an unwinnable game of whack-a-mole.
Also, most of the hardware mentioned is out of her jurisdiction.
I've got a bunch of 'antisocial' reading material. What the daft bint doesn't seem to realise is that knowing how to do something and the slightest desire to actually do it are two entirely different things. I also have a copy of the Quran, Bible, Egyptian Book of the Dead etc. and have no intention of becoming religious, for example.
For the record NSA/GCHQ; terrorists do it outside and disapprove of beer; both of which eliminate me from enquiries. Please unsubscribe me from your list. Thank you.
An interest in how things work is why we're discussing this on the internet and not up in trees flinging faeces at each other (although on some parts of the internet the main difference is a lack of trees. Please note, I most carefully do not speculate upon which part of that spectrum Congress may reside).
In my yoof, the proximity of a gravel pit made a safe-ish place for blowing things up on a small scale, and I do believe that the occasional reasonably-sized detonation is a worthwhile part of growing up. I wouldn't go near the Anarchist's Cookbook for practical advice, though, as laminating yourself across the kitchen just doesn't appeal.
I used to own a copy - thought it was fascinating until I got to the section describing how to make nitroglycerine at home. That was when I put the book back on my bookshelf and never bothered with it again. "Laminating yourself across the kitchen" is an apt description of the likely outcome, which severely compromised any curiosity I might have felt about the rest of the book. No, Diane F., your concern is misplaced. This book appeals to ignorance and amateurism, not professional hell-raising. Thermite? I learned about that in high-school chemistry and later used it for spot-welding sacrificial anodes to gas pipes. No big deal.
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Who wouldn't vote to ban an electronic book which could be used against us?
Its totally unenforceable, especially since the warning has gone out to download it and put into your favorite online e-storage location.
I wonder if they feel OK destroying 'electronic books' because destroying real books is too Ray Bradbury like.?
Actually - I don't think she wanted to ban or censor legit publications, but remove the garbage:
> "These documents are not, <u>in my view</u>, protected by the First Amendment and [so] should be removed from the internet."
I suspect that the (dodgy) instructions on explosives making in the Anarchist Cookbook have killed or maimed more wannabee Freedom Fighters than targets. IIRC the rest is hardly any better, e.g "Lockpicking: Buy a set of lockpicks and practice a lot"
> "These documents are not, <u>in my view</u>, protected by the First Amendment and [so] should be removed from the internet."
Ah. So the whole of the Internet, all over the world, is subject to the provisions, freedoms and restrictions of the First Amendment. Material on it should be permitted or banned as permitted or allowed by...
Sigh. I mean, sigh. With a capital Sigh :-(.
"Ah. So the whole of the Internet, all over the world, is subject to the provisions, freedoms and restrictions of the First Amendment."
Well, strictly technologically speaking, it's not that far fetched. I mean, you could take a bunch of hardware and use it as one big firewall relative to anything that enters or exits the US networks and... uhhh.... oh, wait... </sarcasm>
With all due respect, Ms. Feldstein, you are an elected representative (my first draft was much harsher). If you believe this rather anodyne "book" isn't protected by the first amendment perhaps you should raise a lawsuit in court or propose legislation to ban it and see what happens.
Then you can continue extending other anti-constitutional legislation until the public finally revolts and tosses you out on your ear. Until then, quit talking about the constitution as if you own it. Last time I looked you were supposed to defend the US Constitution, not weaken it.
My Dad was an ATO in the RAOC many moons ago and I can recall him mentioning the Anarchist's Cookbook at least in the late 70s.
Now we have the internet to spread stuff - good and bad - you'll never get rid of it. Trying to enact a ban on it and it's ike is just plain bloody stupid. Keeping a weather eye on downloads of a few 1000 examples across the world would be a far better idea and is almost certainly the approach our Intel services use.
Oh, and Dad's advice is to avoid it - you will probably need sponging off the walls if you don't really understand the chemistry and can't fill in the bits that are missing in some of the recipes.
Hi, Notas: Good point, but doesn't her district include San Francisco? Wouldn't a lot of those voters think that censorship is a bad idea? Or has too much of the new high-tech money gone Conservative(TM) now that they've jumped a few tax brackets?
Banning books... this more in line with certain Middle Eastern fanatics than the US (Yeah.. history says we've tried to, just like the Catholic Church did and others) at this point in time. What's next, burning non-believers at the stake under that familiar cry of "think of the children it will save". I would, however, be surprised she suggested banning the Quran because it might incite a jihad. (Yeah, I know but I'm making a point.) The woman is a complete and utter moron about the real world. But then again, her home turf is, after all, Berkeley.
This is the stuff that a certain German leader (avoiding Godwin's law), certain churches, certain socialist/Marxist countries and others have done.
This totally goes against everything I was taught. Maybe banning Feinstein would be a better option. I'm beyond disgusted.
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when someone tells her that one can make reasonable boomstick materials from stuff found in the back of almost every Mexican (err, "undocumented") groundskeeper's work truck.
High nitrate fertilizer? stump remover? sulphur additive for pesticide dust? some irrigation pipe?
And that's before one hits Home Depot for the pool cleaning supplies.
good thing she's retiring soon. Discovering that her enemies (the Little People) had the capability for decades to do what she feared most, yet DID NOT in spite of all her shrill doomsaying excuses, might be more than her elitist mind can accept.
Beware those who would deny you Knowledge. For in their hearts they dream themselves your Master.
It is paraphrased from a faction bio of Sid Myer's Alpha Centauri
"As the Americans learned so painfully in Earth's final century, free flow of information is the only safeguard against tyranny. The once-chained people whose leaders at last lose their grip on information flow will soon burst with freedom and vitality, but the free nation gradually constricting its grip on public discourse has begun its rapid slide into despotism. Beware of he who would deny you access to information, for in his heart he dreams himself your master."
I am sad to say I voted for DF when she first ran for office. After her support of extending the Patriot act and other actions that undermine the Constitution in recent years I will now vote for whomever has the best chance of getting that Bitch out of office the next time she is up for election.
Let's imagine that this book was the worst thing a man ever created and really needs to disappear. It gets evaporated and everyone is happy. Because the president set, it's time to ban another few books just to be safe. In a few months the list now includes 100s. This is a slippery slope that will get abused. Look what happened to the Pirate bay in the UK. The list now contains 100s of sites and has achieved nothing.
Mah Name is Bubba Rednecker
Paw got maw to cook some vittles from this Cook book
Paw says we should try erotic food
Sadly maw passed away mid cook we fink it was the Moooshine still blowwin up
still there was some of the vittles left in the pan tasted like dead skunk
Paw says elli may my sister now has to start cooking for us
I hope she can cook better than dear late maw
A funny read, but not very practical. Some (most) of the ideas are one step away from fantasy and it cannot seriously be taken as a real improvised weapons manual. I believe that Vice tried to replicate some of their plans, notably for Napalm (a plain old molotov cocktail works better), and a skateboard firebomb (very hard to get right, and could potentially make a nice flash that would singe your arms but nothing more dangerous), and when it starts to get into atomic bombs, well, lol!
Now, if you really want to be serious about making things that go bang, there are some very dangerous books out there. They are hidden in a secretive place called a "Library" and the initiated call them "high school organic chemistry books", and the older the better. I remember buying 3 of them from my community college in the 1990's for 15p each when they redecorated. Written in the early 60's, with full preparation recepies, procedures, temperatures, and checks for nitroglycerine, TNT, gelignite, RDX...
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Although Feinstein is an idiot, the Anarchist's Cookbook has probably been more of a friend to anti-terrorist efforts than otherwise. It's recipes are notoriously wrong - and dangerous for those following them. It's probably responsible for more missing fingers and hands in the terrorist community than any other source of bad information.
I've read the anarchist cookbook. I came away with the distinct impression than anyone trying to use it for more than minor mischief was more likely to blow themselves up than anyone else. Some of the recipes were shockingly and obviously dangerous to anyone with even a rudimentary understanding of chemistry.
Diane Feinstein was mayor of the most liberal city in North America...until her decline and fall into national politics. If San Francisco, for example, can be fooled by a politician who doesn't believe in why America is great, well, almost all of us can be fooled.
Perhaps I shouldn't, but this segues into Barack Obama. The man people voted for was black, was a Constitutional scholar, a man who, at the end of his tenure, might really have deserved the Nobel Peace Prize. Hope and change, you might say.
Unfortunately, this man who sends his daughters to Quaker school became one of the greatest warmongers of our time, a President who believes in torture, a man who thinks any human can be a target for American assassination. A President who doesn't believe in Congressional approval.
Sorry, but I don't see any way out of this nest of vipers...
because often, there's some critical bit of information missing that, if one really has no clue about dangerous chemical reactions or nature of explosives, either makes a rather unimpressive flare instead of a BOOM, or makes that BOOM when being manufactured.
Darwinism in action.
Ban music too!
http://www.prometheus-music.com/eli/filk/blkpowdr.html
CHORUS:
A
Black powder and alcohol,
D
When the states and the cities fall,
G E
When your back is against the wall;
A
Black powder and alcohol.
A
Gimme charcoal to the measure two:
F
Send the bullet where you want it to.
D
Gimme sulphur to the measure three:
A
Make the powder gonna keep you free.
G E
Gimme saltpetre, measure fifteen:
A
Sweetest shooting that you've ever seen! (chorus)
Gimme water, yeast, and veggie-trash:
Leave it sitting in the slurry-mash.
When it's ready, put it in the still:
If you can't heat it, then the sunlight will.
Draw the alcohol away, and then
Put the slurry back, and start again! (chorus)
Booze'll clean your cuts, or run your car.
You can make it anywhere you are.
Black powder in your cartridge shell
Will send the robbers running clean to Hell.
You can make them if you just know how.
So kids, remember what I tell you now! (chorus & repeat
chorus)
The idea by Senator Feinstein, and indeep various other US politicians and most of the US population that documents and data can be fully and permanently "scrubbed" from the Internet has the tell-tale signs of severe ignorance and arrogance by Americans that they can now control every aspect of what transpires on the Internet throughout planet Earth.
If ever the USA, or any other "western" power were to attempt such a mistaken action, it is likely that China would certainly create a separate Internet infrastructure for their own use, and probably get cooperation and support from Russia, many other Asian and mid-East countries as well from Africa. These entities probably won't care that the Internet as we know it would be permanently fragments, as long as it and their countries were not fully controlled by the "West".
I went to buy some charcoal on Amazon. At the bottom of the page it said "People who bought this also bought..." and had listings for potassium nitrate and sulphur.
I have an aquire and keep certificate which means I can buy it ready made and keep up to 15kg. You can make up to 200g for personal and educational use so long as you do not cause any explosion meant to harm or cause damage to property.
My school science teacher used to make black powder during class and it inspired a life long interest in science. Having said that he was put away for 8 years for raping pre teen boys so he was hardly a role model teacher.
Some of the more hard-core re-enactors make their own black powder, and their own flintlock, matchlock, and percussion cap muskets, including rifled muskets. And cast their own bullets for 'em, including, of course, Minié balls. it is perfectly legal for them to do this. Every year the true hard core has little meetings, re-doing major American Civil War and American Revolution and even French and Indian War (Seven Years War, on the other side of the Atlantic) battles. Mostly Civil War stuff. They fire off blanks, and do target shooting, and generally have a fine time making things go 'bang!'. Should the good Senator attempt to mess with their fun, she'll find out what a 'well-regulated militia' is.
Has Uncle Sam and fool supporting allies in the West and the City veered towards and embraced Fascism as the New Deal Way for their collapsed capitalism control with fiat currency future derivative?
Don't they know anything about such an enigmatic colossal folly?
Jesus wept. What a shower of plonkers be they.
Oh, and the answer to both of those questions, based upon all available and secret evidence, is yes and no.
Thus one has every right to, in every and any way possible, resist, degrade and destroy perverted services? Such be one's abiding and even inimical duty?
I read the cookbook as a teenager (it did the rounds at school) and I thought it was pretty dumb then. Are people really dumb enough to try to make nitro glycerine in their kitchens? Actually...don't answer that.
I can understand the idea, get it out of circulation and then only the real tearists will be making explosives. I just can't help thinking that going after the tearists in the first place might be better. And maybe work out how to stop the TV news breathlessly glorifying every bad thing that happens. Wouldn't that be more productive than trying to get rid of a really ancient document?
Some folk just can't help themselves and think others can't think for themselves either and need fool guidance and subjective subversive instruction ........ http://rt.com/usa/246377-hitler-bus-ads-philly/
Politically Correct Words Create, Command and Control Communicating WWWorlds. Crazed Words Spread Madness and Mayhem for Collapsing SCADA Systems and CHAOS ..... Clouds Hosting Advanced Operating Systems.
Welcome to Black Watch Ventures and Virtual Futures with Dark Web Enterprises exploiting and expanding Hearts and Minds in Leading AIMissions ....... Greater IntelAIgent GamesPlay.
Not your usual pedestrian sort of GCHQ type fare. Much more erotic and exotic and esoteric ....... and colossally enigmatic.
It really is hard to see any daylight between the current National Security State agenda and that of the USSR in the 1980's, or of today's "capitalist" China. Mass surveillance and book burning are the tools of dictators, not democracies. If much of the US Senate now favors their use, then it seems to me that they've turned their backs on democracy and their oaths of office.
Senator Feinstein, back in 1995, was so ancient, she forgot that somewhere along the way, freedom of speech was put into our constitution.... But I am certain sometime in the past century or two, she has been reminded a time or two.
Now add another 20 years to her age, and we are all in trouble.'
I'm ashamed to mention that I was actually born in the formerly great state of California. Fortunately, for me, I no longer live there, and haven't for decades.