The Cartel Civilization

This gem from Matt Taibbi (and the announcement that the Dept. of Justice chose not to criminally prosecute a British bank that admitted to laundering billions for drug cartels) slipped by me in December. 

Wherever our opinions fall regarding the issue of the "War on Drugs," we ought to pay attention to the implication of the DOJ's decision to treat as a civil offense these bankers' cartel-coddling, while possessing even a seed of marijuana could mean years in prison for you or me. The upshot?

"They're now saying that if you're not an important cog in the global financial system, you can't get away with anything, not even simple possession. You will be jailed and whatever cash they find on you they'll seize on the spot, and convert into new cruisers or toys for your local SWAT team, which will be deployed to kick in the doors of houses where more such inessential economic cogs as you live. If you don't have a systemically important job, in other words, the government's position is that your assets may be used to finance your own political disenfranchisement." -Matt Taibbi

 Read on, cogs...

State Sovereignty Shuffle (or... "Came and Took It")

Article: Texas vs. TSA - Round 1 goes to the Feds.

 ...Now, I imagine many of (the five or six of) you who read this won't see the conflict in the federal government putting its foot down on Texas outlawing the TSA's invasive pat-down procedures. By now, we are conditioned to accept that the Federal Way is the golden standard. A state that chooses to operate differently is painted as a collection of yokels or militia men who should be considered either incompetent to govern themselves or dangerous to our grand Nation's democracy.

But when Texas' House voted 138-0 to pass a bill banning TSA searches "without probable cause," the federal government's reaction was to exercise its authoritarian authority. U.S. Attorney John Murphy told Texas

...the feds would have to respond by shutting down Texas airports as it “could not ensure the safety of passengers and crew.”

...a blockade? Really?

History, help me out. Something in this whole threat of a transportation kibosh sounds familiar....

This is Not a Test

Among the unbelievable heap of events and developments piling up all at once, there are a few that I'd like to highlight. These are structures or programs whose impending intent is to gain control over large groups of people by using either fetishes, fear, or guilt to pry open the grip we still hold on our natural freedom.

* The first:
Google I/O 2011: Google wants to control your home - May. 11, 2011

 

"Connected devices like home media equipment, dishwashers, cars, and lights could soon be able to be controlled using the new platform....The chief obstacle to making that happen across all connected devices is finding a single, open standard to control everything you own," said Joe Britt, head of the Android@Home team.

Eric Holland, a vice president of LED manufacturer Lighting Science, added: "The advantage of Android@Home is that any developer can write an application to control the lights. They don't need to learn any proprietary protocol... one app could control fixtures from all participating lighting companies... Robots powered by Android smartphones and tablets were wandering around the conference... 

"Soon, you may be using your phone to interact with all the devices in your home -- whether they beg you to or not."