Last minute thoughts on tomorrow’s US (2012) election

November 5, 2012 — xanthippa

Putin, Chavez and Castro all endorse Obama for President in the US 2012 election….

Is there a better reason not to vote for him?

I don’t like Romney – he seems like a psychopath to me…and his belief in ‘magic underwear’ is just icing on the cake.

Obama’s religious beliefs are even more batshit-crazy than Romney’s.  Remember, he himself says that it was the racist screechings preachings of Jeremiah Wright that converted him to Christianity – and, from his college days, he has worn a ring that affirms his faith in one God.  He’s even used it as his wedding ring – even though he wore it for at least a decade before he got married…

I guess in a country where, in many places, it is still illegal for reasonable people (who don’t believe in a magical sky-daddy) to run for public office, you’re bound to end up with candidates who all hold batshit-crazy magical views.

There is a third choice….

Not a great third choice, but it does exist!

And while I don’t know Gary Johnson’s religious ideas (I would probably not like them – as per above), and I think his foreign policy is downright insane, I do like what he has accomplished to reduce the size of government while he was the governor of New Mexico.

It’s not much, but it’s something…

Yes, he has no chance to win – which makes casting a vote for him count to send a message of dissatisfaction with the two main parties.  It’s a fundamentally different way of being heard.  But, it is a valid way of being heard – and a way to make your vote count.

He wants to repeal the Patriot Act.

He wants to get rid of the insane Drug Wars.

He wants to get rid of Income Tax in favour of one single consumption tax.

He wants to create jobs by reducing corporate tax rates – to zero.

He wants balanced budgets – now!

Not much, perhaps, but better than voting for one of the two ‘status quo’ candidates and then being surprised things do not change.

Because, if a statistically significant percentage of ‘undeclared’ voters support these policies, the two main parties will have to consider them in the future in order to get sufficient votes to win.

Hard to believe, perhaps, but sometimes, voting for ‘the other’ candidate will have a greaer political impact than voting for a candidate from one of the two legacy parties.

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Remember, remember, the 5th of November…

November 5, 2012 — xanthippa

F***king Guy Fawkes day!

(OK – I need to explain the profanity….it’s a reference to an Ed McBain detective story where a transplanted Brit became a New York cop and riles on and on about the ‘f***king Guy Fawkes’.  Now, my hubby and I cannot say ‘Guy Fawkes’ without the preceding expletive…)

Well, since the Anonymous hactivists have adopted the movie ‘Guy Fawkes’ mask as their method of anonymization, ***** Guy Fawkes day has, traditionally, been a special day for them.  A day they call people to action:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=lB3wHORlehk

Here, in Canada, the government has banned masks from all protests – so that technology with facial recognition may be used to identify even peaceful protesters…

Why?

You should be asking not just yourself, but also your government representatives!

My advice?  If you plan to attend a demonstration of any kind, get a niqab or a burqa:  our governments may feel free to strip the rights away from non-favoured groups, but are too squeamish to strip those same rights away from militant Islamists.  Rather than bitching about it, we ought to use it!

And, you should not be willing to submit to the creep of ever-increasing surveillance.

Yes, we cannot avoid some of it – it has already become extremely pervasive in our society.

But it does not mean that we should not fight back against the creep!

And, creeping it is….

For example, a judge in the US has just ruled that the police do not need a warrant to install surveillance equipment to monitor your private property – even if it is fenced off and ‘no trespassing’ signs are posted all over the place.

And while we all know the tracking capabilities of smart phones and GPS units in vehicles (I’ve had mine physically unplugged, but the newer ones are being installed into the starter, so that the vehicle will not function if the GPS tracking has been disabled), did you know that seemingly innocuous items like asthma inhalers, will soon collect the data on everywhere you’ve been and report it to your MD or any government authority that demands the data?

Because if the data exists, somewhere, somehow, all kinds of government agencies can demand it.  It will always be turned over to them if they get a warrant, but it will also ‘usually’ be turned over to them by the companies (or individuals) who hold the info – and who fear that if they do not co-operate with ‘the authorities’, they will be targeted and put out of business through ‘targeted regulations enforcement’.

Don’t think this is happening?

Think of Buckey-balls!!!

Privacy is quickly becoming a thing of the past – governments know more and more about all aspects of our lives.

Don’t like it?

There is nowhere left to run…

Sure, you can do the basic things, like avoid the ‘points’ cards (they are simple tools of profiling and your profile is being sold for profit), pay cash, avoid using anything with a GPS in it, and so on.

Anonymous is taking it a step further – they actively urged everyone to use the occasion of F***cking Guy Fawkes Day to hack the organizations most active in conducting electronic surveillance and profiling.

So, how did it go?

There were protests in front of the British Parliament.

A couple of thousand Anonymous supporters held a demonstration in Sofia, Bulgaria.

Finance Minister (Canada) Jim Flaherty’s personal website was hacked – and downed for several hours.

NBC and Lady Gaga were also hacked.

Zynga and Facebook were bitched at.

Various bits of hacked data, including VMware source code, were publicly posted.

The most evil PayPal was hacked, as well as Symantec and even the Auzzzie government…

If you have a PayPal account (shame on you), you might want to consider changing your password, like, now – as there are reports PayPal account passwords were hacked and leaked.

TrapWire and INDECT were also hacked.

ZDNet has an excellent roundup – including updates and clarifications. (via TechEYE)

Sounds like a lot of hactivists were busy little beavers today!

 

 

 

 

 

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