I really enjoyed this speech. Moyers ranges over topics from the alarming shrinkage in daily papers' new sections (replaced by "advertisements, celebraties, nonsense and propaganda") to the future of the internet, the state of democracy, and the importance of the growing media reform movement. Watch it if you've got the time!

Slashdot has an interesting thread up nominating sites for a "Most Likely To Be Shut Down By the Government" award. A bunch of interesting projects get mentioned in the comments, making the whole thing a good way find out about snoop-free internet, encryption with no government-mandated backdoors, and other goodness the nerds are up to that gives the police state a rash.

Link

Relief according to the Feds: After you stick em in the trailers,which it turns out handily came equiped with 5x the safe level of formaldahyde fumes, lose track of em, start some useless studies and don't bother coming up with any long term plan to help these kids you've gotten so very, very sick... 12x the cases before the storm of severe asthma in kids after they stay in those FEMA relief trailers.

It will take 10-15 years before the cancers start to develop.

AP story after the jump, via Rawstory.  read more »

This article from Radar magazine discusses (all in good histrionic-free reporterese) "Main Core", the database that may identify contain up to 6 million names the Fascist's in power would want to round up if they ever got their martial law,.  read more »

Wow. Boingboing pointed out this website, http://www.copswritingcops.com , where cops post the names and badge numbers of officers who dare to cross "the brotherhood" and give other officers tickets. This isn't just speeding, this is reckless driving, DUI, going 50 or 60 mph above.

The site is truly amazing in the insight it gives into the level of corruption and entitlement these grammar-and-spelling challenged cops have. Cops are expected to not just let their "brothers" pass, but they state again and again that "professional courtesty" extends even to family members of cops!

As an aside, apparently cops use this sticker:

to identify themselves to other cops. Just a way to identify off-duty uniforms, or make yourself a sticker and see if you start getting out of tickets!

Mounted police charged in to break up an outdoor press conference and demonstration against the Iraq war in Washington on Thursday, arresting three people, organizers and an AFP reporter said.

"The police suppressed the press conference. In the middle of the speeches, they grabbed the podium" erected in a park in front of the White House for the small gathering, Brian Becker, national organizer of the ANSWER anti-war coalition, told AFP.

"Then, mounted police charged the media present to disperse them," Becker said.  read more »

yes, boingboing.

Peter Brown, executive director of the Free Software Foundation, sez, "An international coalition of environmental and social justice groups have signed a statement condemning DRM and specifically the DRM in Microsoft's Windows Vista, looking to promote awareness of computer user freedom. Groups and individuals who support the statement are being asked to add their own signatures at http://freesoftwarefreesociety.org. The coalition hope that this statement will help raise awareness to these important issues amongst social activists and NGOs outside of the technology field."

In January and February of this year, the Green Party and Greenpeace issued warnings about the tremendous threat posed to the environment by the disposable computer mentality promoted in Microsoft's $500-million Windows Vista marketing campaign. Vista's steep hardware requirements mean that to use it, most people will have to throw their current computer into a landfill and buy a new one.  read more »

British Army deploys new weapon based on mass-killing technology

Published: Thursday August 23, 2007. via rawstory

Parliament not told, minister says

A new 'super-weapon' being supplied to British soldiers in Afghanistan employs technology based on the "thermobaric" principle which uses heat and pressure to kill people targeted across a wide air by sucking the air out of lungs and rupturing internal organs.  read more »

off torontoist.com via boingboing.

Protesters accuse police at the Montobello leaders summit (which includes George Bush, Stephen Harper, and Felipe Calderon) of using other police as riot provocateurs. This video of one such confrontation is really extraordinary to watch, and includes one of the strangest "takedowns" ever. Search around for corroboration that these guys were really cops, including in-depth discussion of their footwear.  read more »

You learn the strangest things from boingboing.net !

Snip from Newsweek article:

In one of history's more absurd acts of totalitarianism, China has banned Buddhist monks in Tibet from reincarnating without government permission. According to a statement issued by the State Administration for Religious Affairs, the law, which goes into effect next month and strictly stipulates the procedures by which one is to reincarnate, is "an important move to institutionalize management of reincarnation."

Link.

via myspace

Hello friends,

I need help to get the word out quickly, so please forward this as appropriate.
Apologies for sending this out broadly but please read on a bit and help us get the
word to the appropriate folks.

We need to find ~ 175 people who were in Seattle during the WTO protests in 1999.
We won an important lawsuit against the city of Seattle which violated our rights
and these folks need to contact the attorneys by AUGUST 28, 2007 to get their
portion of the settlement $$ (see below to download claim forms.)

Sooo.... WHO ELSE DO YOU KNOW who was in Seattle at the WTO protests in 1999?
Please pass this along to them and others who could help. (Consider sending to
your lists or specific people, adding to your blog, and especially talking to
folks.)  read more »

US. Weighing Terrorist Label for Iran Guards

from the NYTimes via Rob Richards at OlyBlog

I have a feeling this would make the Iran Guards, members of a "legitimate" foreign military, fall into the U.S. fascists' make-believe "illegal combatant" category, "allowing" "our" military to ignore the Geneva convention when attacking and imprisoning the poor brainwashed bastards.

By HELENE COOPER
Published: August 15, 2007

WASHINGTON, Aug. 14 — The Bush administration is preparing to declare that Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps is a foreign terrorist organization, senior administration officials said Tuesday.

If imposed, the declaration would signal a more confrontational turn in the administration’s approach to Iran and would be the first time that the United States has added the armed forces of any sovereign government to its list of terrorist organizations.  read more »

Court Says No to Peabody Coal

In an important victory today, a Kentucky court ruled against Peabody’s proposed new Thoroughbred coal-fired power plant, citing the plant as a threat to both public health and Kentucky’s industrial growth. The plant, planned for Muhlenberg County, would have been one of America’s largest and most polluting power plants- emitting thousands of tons of air pollutants that cause smog and are known to cause severe public health problems including asthma and cancer.

“This is a huge victory, especially for our children and the elderly who suffer most from dirty air,” said Pat Gallagher, the Director of the Sierra Club’s Environmental Law Program.  read more »

Thought we would pass the good news on...... From: Citizens Coal Council

* Conservationists Score Major Court Victory on Destruction from Mining;*

*Federal Court Rules Pennsylvania Must Require Coal Industry to Post Bonds to Cover Entire Cost of Cleanup*

Harrisburg, PA (August 3, 2007) –The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit yesterday gave a victory to Pennsylvania’s environment and economy by ruling in favor of a coalition represented by Citizens for Pennsylvania’s Future (PennFuture) that the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania must require the state’s coal operators to post bonds to cover the entire cost of environmental cleanup. The case began in December 2003, when PennFuture filed a lawsuit on behalf of Pennsylvania Federation of Sportsmen’s Clubs, Pennsylvania Council of Trout Unlimited (formerly PA Trout), the Pennsylvania Chapter of the Sierra Club, the Tri-State Citizens Mining Network (now known as the Center for Coalfield Justice) and the Mountain Watershed Association against both the federal and state governments for their failure to protect Pennsylvania’s environment from damage caused by mining operations, including acid stream pollution.  read more »