http://wnd.com/…

Two new directives signed by President Bush establish sweeping authority for federal executive departments and agencies to establish a coordinated “framework” to collect and retain biometric data on U.S. citizens identified as “known and suspected terrorists,” without requiring public or congressional disclosure of the procedures.

Although the directives run over 1,700 words in length, Congress is not mentioned once, nor is there any specification of how the coordinated “framework” will be disclosed to the public.

WND contacted the White House press office for comment but received no return call.

The directives also do not specify any procedures for citizens to challenge their inclusion in the biometric database or any resulting consequences, such as restricted travel or additional government surveillance.

How is it that something so large can be put into place without the say of Congress? Obviously while the executive branch is given funds by the legislative and not all ways in which the money will be spent can be tagged by them you would think something this intensive would get some nod from those who hold the purse and pass law. But no. As we have seen time and time again from Lincoln to G.W. Bush the executive branch thinks itself supreme and obviously above the law.

I suspect that this will be challenged right quick by the EFF and/or ACLU and if we’re lucky it’d be shot down.

Sorry for the downtime but I’ve been working to move the site to a new host and upgrade. I accidentally forwarded all email to /dev/null so if you had sent me a personal email please resend it.

Changes:

• Wordpress upgrade to 2.5.1
• New hosting provider
• New domain: blogofbile.com
• landofbile.com/blog/whatever will still work as it’s redirected to blogofbile.com
• New javascript based menus on the main page
• New slideshow for images. Any links to images on a page or post will be part of the same slideshow.
• New Quotes page, I need to transfer all my quotes over and rework the layout still.
• I’ve used a plugin to auto tag all old posts without tags. Many don’t make all that much sense but it’s not all that important.
• A new feature to let logged in users add tags to articles.
• Ajax comment editting
• a WP plugin to catch broken links. I’ll slowly clean those up as I have the time.
• Misc backend things to make my life easier.
• A mobile version. If you use a mobile web browser you should get a very simple version of the page without the advanced comment form.
• A contact form.
• An auto suggest tags plugin. (bottom of write post page)
• random theme changes.

I’m not done with changing everything or tweaking things but it’s usable. I think the RSS feeds will still work but I’m not sure yet. If you come across any issues please email at bile at landofbile dot com or use the contact form.

The most recent political book I’ve read is Cows, Pigs, Wars and Witches: The Riddles of Culture on loan from Blog of Bile’s very own xyz.  It is a collection of short essays in the field of anthropology and sociology.  Each essay attempts to shatter preconceived notions and explain in greater detail human actions which the author has deemed befuddling.  Amongst the topics discussed are cows as sacred animals, pig lovers and haters, primitive warfare, the idea of an aggressive male, extreme consumption and extreme donation, cargo cults, a history of messiahs, the violent origins of Christianity, early witchcraft and witch trials, and the contemporary resurgence of disdain for objectivity.

The book is a relatively easy and quick read, only slowing down at the end where the author feels it necessary to defend himself from the hordes of sandal-wearing druggies that are going to attack him.  The author is selling his theories as to why certain anomalies in culture exist.  Unfortunately due to the imperfect nature of his science the results are quite subjective.  Despite Mr. Harris’ ardent pleas for objectivity at the end of the book I find some of his explanations to be lacking in sufficient evidence to support his claims of causation.

On a positive note, he does an excellent job of introducing the history surrounding these topics.  There is a lot of good information in the book, mostly revolving around things that are not easily disputed such as recorded history.  This book is an excellent catalyst for debate.

Rather than go through each topic, here are some of the highlights that stick in my mind:

• A good analysis of childbirth and war are used to attempt to explain why males are dominant in most of our societies.
• Some interesting history of egalitarianism, reciprocity and “the big man” in primitive societies.
• A decent early history of Christianity, including the movements leading up to it and Paul’s initial reformation of the church following the death of Jesus.
• A scathing essay on the futility of modern movements attempting to change society by changing individual consciousness.  Scathing is an understatement, perhaps scalding, blistering or even face-melting would be more appropriate.  I think this is the essay bile would enjoy most.

Here are some problems I had with the book:

• He starts with a good premise, “I hope to present probable and reasonable solutions, not certainties.”  But by the end of the book he is so wrapped up in defending himself he comes across like an early evangelical minister telling “God’s honest truth”.
• Don’t quote the King James translation of the bible when entering into debate over the origins of Christianity.  Sometimes Mr. Harris addresses the original Aramaic, but at other times he seems to disregard the translation process that led to the quotes he chooses to use.  This part of the book could use bolstering.

http://www.nytimes.com/…

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals wants to pay a million dollars for fake meat - even if it has caused a “near civil war” within the organization.The organization said it would announce plans on Monday for a $1 million prize to the “first person to come up with a method to produce commercially viable quantities of in vitro meat at competitive prices by 2012.”

The idea of getting the next Chicken McNugget out of a test tube is not new. For several years, scientists have worked to develop technologies to grow tissue cultures that could be consumed like meat without the expense of land or feed and the disease potential of real meat. An international symposium on the topic was held this month in Norway. The tissue, once grown, could be shaped and given texture with the kinds of additives and structural agents that are now used to give products like soy burgers a more meaty texture.

New Harvest, a nonprofit organization formed to promote the field, says on its Web site, “Because meat substitutes are produced under controlled conditions impossible to maintain in traditional animal farms, they can be safer, more nutritious, less polluting and more humane than conventional meat.”

A founder of PETA, Ingrid Newkirk, said she had been hoping to get the organization involved in advancing in vitro meat technology for at least a decade.

But, Ms. Newkirk said, the decision to sponsor a prize caused “a near civil war in our office,” since so many PETA members are repulsed by the thought of eating animal tissue, even if no animals are killed.

Lisa Lange, a vice president of the organization, said she was part of the heated exchange. “My main concern is, as the largest animal rights organization in the world, it’s our job to introduce the philosophy and hammer it home that animals are not ours to eat.” Ms. Lange added, “I remember saying I would be much more comfortable promoting eating roadkill.”

Have to say I’m impressed. They may fund terrorists and put down hundreds of animals a year without a peep from their supporters but the fact they want to make a practical step in complete “animal liberation” they get a ton of shit for it.

http://www.missoulian.com/…

Although it’s against state policy for employees to play games like solitaire on their office computers, it’s left to each department to decide whether to keep or remove games from the computers.The issue arose recently at the Child Support Enforcement Division in the Department of Public Health and Human Services.

Division employees received new computers, but without the games like solitaire, hearts and minesweeper that come with the Microsoft Windows software package. These games had been on the division’s previous computers for years.

Some union and nonunion employees complained that the games weren’t on the new machines, said Lonnie Olson, division administrator. They said some other divisions in the same department had games on their computers.

“I said if they want them, we’ll put them on,” Olson said, adding that he wanted to make sure division employees were treated the same as others in the department.

An anonymous tipster who said he worked in the private sector criticized Olson’s decision.

“If state employees have time to play computer games, then there are too many state employees,” the tipster said in an e-mail to the Helena Independent Record. “As an employee in the private sector, I would run the risk of losing my job if my boss caught me playing games on my computer.”

Olson said he wasn’t aware of anyone abusing the privilege during work hours.

So they hang out before and/or after work to play MS Windows games? I think I agree with the private tipster. However, given the “services” the Department of Public Health and Human Services generally provides I’d rather them playing minesweeper than doing their job.

http://gizmodo.com/…

A group of hackers has captured the fingerprints of the German Interior Minister as a protest against plans to use biometric data in e-passports. The latest edition of their magazine, Die Datenschleuder, contains a plastic foil that reproduces the whorls and swirls of Wolfgang Schauble’s digit, meaning there are 4,000 copies of the politician’s prints just waiting to be attached to someone’s finger.

The CCC got its hands on Schauble’s prints thanks to a sympathiser, who scarpered with a glass used by the minister during a panel discussion and handed it over to the hackers. Dirk Engling, a spokesman for CCC, defended the group’s actions, claiming it was a warning shot, and that fingerprints “certainly [did] not [belong] in the e-Pass.”

Along with Minister Schauble’s fingerprint, the group also published a wish-list of other politicians whose biometric data they’d like to get their mitts on—including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and the Prime Minister of Bavaria, Guenther Beckstein—as well as a guide on how to capture someone’s fingerprints from a glass successfully.

The lawyer hired by the CCC sees it like this: “If journalists and citizens were to do what the government is doing—that is, the collection and use of biometric data—then the prosecutor would be knocking at their doors.” Meanwhile, a po-faced spokeswoman for the Interior Ministry, refused to rule out legal action against the fingerprint-stealing hackers.

Technology can be the great equalizer. As the police state grows there are some of those who will be able to do things such as this to show those in power just how this technology can be used and abused and hopefully place things in perspective. Unfortunately I see these types of stunts becoming more and more persecuted with increasingly harsh punishments. The pols don’t like to be made to look the fool. As long as we have tension between nations however we should be able to at least have international hackers and crackers able to perform these stunts without too much risk.