MUST READ SURVEILLANCE STATE INFO | "Your Private Life Will Suddenly Explode: Narus's 'Hone'"

I thought I would repost a few things, for those few of my Gentle Readership actually surprised by the recent developments that have so ...shocked... mainstream America. 

Otherwise known as, from the not-feeling-the-need-to-actually-say-it I-told-you-so department.  

New Scary Narus Data Mining Tool "Hone" (Computerworld via Cryptogon) Narus is developing a new technology that sleuths through billions of pieces of data on social networks and Internet services and connects the dots. The new program, code-named Hone, is designed to give intelligence and law enforcement agencies a leg up on criminals who are now operating anonymously on the Internet. In many ways, the cyber world is ideal for subversive and terrorist activities, said Antonio Nucci, chief technology officer with Narus. “For bad people, it’s an easy place to hide,” Nucci said. “They can get lost and very easily hide behind a massive ocean of legal digital transactions.” It’s trivial to set up a Gmail or Facebook account under a fake name. The question for law enforcement then becomes, how does it connect different pieces of information to the same person? “It’s very hard to connect these two pieces of information,” Nucci said. “We’re really asking [law enforcement] to become almost like magicians.” Narus is best known as the creator of NarusInsight, an network monitoring device that can analyze traffic on IP networks. AT&T allegedly used a Narus system to wiretap customer data on behalf of the U.S. National Security Agency as part of a U.S. domestic terrorist surveillance program. Hone works in tandem with NarusInsight. By Nucci’s own admission, however, it can do some pretty “scary” things. The software’s user creates a target profile, and Hone then proceeds to link what Nucci calls “islands of information.” Hone can analyze VOIP conversations, biometrically identify someone’s voice or photograph and then associate it with different phone numbers. “I can have a sample of your voice in English, and you can start speaking Mandarin tomorrow. It doesn’t matter; I’m going to catch you.” It uses artificial intelligence to analyze e-mails and can link mails to different accounts, doing what Nucci calls topical analysis. “It’s going to go through a set of documents and automatically it’s going to organize them in topics — I’m not talking about keywords as is done today, I’m talking about topics,” he said. That can’t be done with today’s technology, he said. “If you search for fertilizers on Google… it’s going to come back with 6.5 million pages. Enjoy,” he said. “If you want to search for non-farmers who are discussing fertilizer… it’s not even searchable.” Hone will sift through millions of profiles searching for people with similar attributes — blogger profiles that share the same e-mail address, for example. It can look for statistically likely matches, by studying things like the gender, nationality, age, location, home and work addresses of people. Another component can trace the location of someone using a mobile device such as a laptop or phone. Bit by bit, it pieces together the subject’s different identities on the Internet. Narus is still testing the waters with Hone. Working with a consortium of universities, the company has used Hone to sift through massive amounts of public information. “We started to collect data three years ago and we’ve gone through several programs,” Nucci said. “We have something like 75 million users in our system.” With the permission of users, Nucci’s team also analyzed data on about 50,000 private profiles. Nucci will discuss Hone at the RSA Conference in San Francisco Friday. The company is now talking to potential customers such as defense contractors and government agencies to see if there’s enough interest to turn Hone into a product. “If the market is as big as we guess it’s going to be, then we will start rolling this into products,” Nucci said. That day could be just a year away, he added. Originally posted 3/8/2010. Be seeing you.

Georgia Tech To Rest Of Academic World: "It's On."

A degree from Georgia Tech for .....  Seven thousand dollars?

Compete with that, you money grubbing ossified shibboleths!

Read more here.

Be seeing you.

Westlake Superfund Site was IN THE PATH of that Tornado in Earth City, MO?

UPDATE:

see "If tornado hits toxic waste dump, social-media-based study points at where to sound warnings," AP news.

So Faux News was overhasty in declaring casualties as a result of the Missouri tornado contingent: 

FOX NEWS INACCURATELY REPORTS MULTIPLE CASUALTIES AT EARTH CITY, MISSOURI, HOLIDAY INN AFTER TORNADO TEARS THROUGH ST. LOUIS AREA By Brian Klonoski,  RYOT News UPDATE: Fox News just said on air that earlier reports of casualties at the Holiday Inn in Earth City, MO, were incorrect. Local officials have not received any such reports. The KMOV reporter at the scene is reporting no mass casualties (as reported earlier by Fox News)... Fox News has just reported that there are multiple causalities at a Holiday Inn in Earth City, MO, after a tornado tore through the area. Multiple sources on Twitter are confirming Fox News’ report. Read more

But wait:

Not only was that Holiday Inn only a mile away from the Westlake Superfund site, according to Pissin' On The Roses, the site -- and all of its illegally dumped radioactive waste -- was in the direct path of the tornado (h/t ChasAha of EnergyNews): 

FRIDAY, MAY 31, 2013 ALERT! Tornado Strikes At Radioactive Underground Landfill Fire In Saint Louis UPDATE: Report of collapsed floor at Holiday Inn, POTENTIAL of mass casualties. Strike reported within a few hundred feet of radioactive landfill, more info to follow tomorrow. ------------------------------------------------------------- UPDATE: Current reports indicate NO casualties at the location in question. More info to follow tomorrow. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tornado related Mass causality event reported at Holiday Inn at Earthcity, Mo.  within a few thousand feet of the WestLake superfund site. The landfill was in the direct path of the tornado, immediate radioactive risk assumed low, but bears watching Read more

Still have to map the tornado.  Here is a map of the Holiday Inn vis-a-vis Westlake:

screenshot: click for Google Map

As for Westlake -- LiveLeak is reporting there is already a fire there -- the site was already on my radar earlier this year, via Energy News.  The radioactve waste, illegally dumped, is not even covered.

Title: Cancer cluster map of St. Louis Source: KSDK Author:  Leisa Zigman Date: Feb 1, 2013 h/t Anonymous tip Transcript Excerpts Anchor: There are radioactive secrets beneath the banks and waters of a north St. Louis County creek that may be linked to a staggering number of cancers, illnesses and birth defects. In four square miles, there are three reported cases of conjoined twins and cancer rates that one data expert says is statistically impossible. [...] Source: KSDK (See .pdf: Illnesses Linked to Manhattan Project Waste CHART) Janell Wright, class of ’88 McCluer North High School, Accountant and former auditor: “There’s something very wrong.” [...] Leisa Zigman, Reporter: At first she found 30 cases. Within two months, she had data on 200 cases. Now, her maps have more than 700 cases in four square miles [...] Wright: “The children usually came down with brain cancer in the first 15 years of life, in addition, leukemia. In my peer group’s children, there were several children who had to have their thyroid removed before they were 10-years-old.” Zigman: In the 1940s, Mallinckrodt Chemical Works in downtown St. Louis purified thousands of tons of uranium to make the first atomic bombs. [...] 21 acres of airport land became a dumping site where a toxic mixture of uranium, thorium, and radium sat uncovered or in barrels. In the 60s, government documents noted contents from the rusting barrels were seeping into nearby Coldwater Creek. And by the 90s, the government confirmed unsafe levels of radioactive materials in the water. [...]

The transcript is excerpted from this video, "Cancer Cluster Map of St. Louis":

By the way, according to Wikipeda, Mallinckrodt was purchased by Tyco; the health-care wing was spun off to Covidien. Tyco is the source, among other things, for (emphasis mine):

(From Wikipedia on Covidien) [snip] • Active pharmaceutical ingredients, including medicinal narcotics and acetaminophen, peptides, stearates and phosphates. (Mallinckrodt is the sole legal source for all the major illegal drugs in the US and at least one of the prominent chemicals, para-aminophenol a.k.a. acetaminophen, used as "cut" -- ed) • Specialty Chemicals, including Mallinckrodt and J.T. Baker chemicals used in laboratories and the pharmaceutical industry. • Contrast products including contrast delivery systems and contrast agents. • Radiopharmaceuticals including radioactive isotopes and associated pharmaceutical products used for the diagnosis and treatment of disease. Read more

Wonder where they get it.  Just kidding, of course.  If  I wasn't, after this tornado, a Bob Dylan song might be fit answer, now.

God let's hope not.

Be seeing you.

US-Banned GMO Wheat in OREGON in LAST YEAR'S CROP

I once came across a dot-gov database listng all the acreage planted with experimental crops, where t was, what was planted and by whom.  Wish I could remember that URL.

Case of Genetically Modified Wheat in Oregon That Is Not Supposed to Exist (But Did) Then just now, I read a Businessweek article that says that genetically modified wheat is not supposed to exist in the US but it did in Oregon. A wheat farmer noticed some wheat plants that survived glyphosate when he sprayed the field for preparation for new planting. These wheat plants were those that sprout voluntarily from seeds knocked loose during harvest. (Wait a minute... That means the last year's crop from this field WAS genetically modified wheat...) The Businessweek article doesn't give any answer to this enigma. But since the wheat in question is resistant to glyphosate, which Monsanto has been marketing as "Roundup" since 1973, it is pretty much a foregone conclusion that it was from Monsanto. Washington Post seems to think so, too. Read more

Hat tip to EX-SKF.  

And thanks to StingRay, for recommending the following video on the topic, from NaturalNews:

Be seeng you.

Surveillance: Orwell Is Surprised At How Much Is Legal (Video)

Think you know about the state of surveillance today? You may be surprised to find you are still behind the times: watch "Naked Citizen," the video, below, to catch up.  As an added treat, in it is featured a certain Professor, who, keen on helping his cameras recognize and flag ordinary behavior, is notwithstanding hella surprised when he becomes the Person Of Interest.... 

Professor ..... what did you say your name was?  Professor...  Or-well.  Orwell? (To quote Bill Hicks, in his piece (or here in its entirety) about one of the policeman who was aquitted of all charges in the Rodney King incident --  Officer Coon Koon, "Is life too fucking funny or what?")

....in this very interesting and highly educational video from Journeyman Pictures:

Be seeing you.

A Poetic Interlude Of Surprising Relevance | By A Female Faust

A revision of last month's poem in Let's Do And Say We Did, where this Faust's verse is slowly being archived.  If you visit, tell me of which you are more fond.

This one is glossed, by popular request; I hope the notes do not interfere with the experience.

if it does not display properly (and prettily) view it here.

Be seeing you.

Japanese Police, Coast Guard, Hold "Drill" At Fukushima "To Prepare For A Possible Terrorist Attack" DON'T YOU FEEL SAFER NOW?

from Kyodo News --
& worry not if hard to read:
herein the Gentle Reader may find
a line-by-line exegesis (of sorts).

The following exercise interleaves the Japan Times article, screenshot to your left, with my comments.  Of course all credit for the article goes to the unnamed author.  The article is quoted in blue, for ease of reference.  

A staged anti-terror "drill."  Where have I heard that before? The Japanese Coast Guard, defacto a wing of their military, teamed up with a souped-up (and, from the looks of it, amped-out) police recently to put on a bit of security theatre. No mention is made of why they chose, or for how long they planned, this particular response, or even if it had been practiced before.  I have a theory or two, suitable only for private consumption; interested individuals may be delighted with certain provocative links, if appended.

Not to be nosy or anything, but didn't someone forget to mention the new information that served to trigger this response? (Intelligence gathered via covert methods of technological surveillance, perhaps?) Was there evidence introduced that would lead someone -- presumably someone sane -- to conclude that, now, two years later, the risks were so great that such practice was needed, posthaste?  

Why is the risk of terrorist attack so much greater for Fukushima Daiichi in particular, as opposed to at a (please, for the sake of argument) 'normal,' 'functioning' plant?  Had these risks increased recently -- and if so, how -- such that warranted so specific a response?  

In the absence of any new information? Really?

About 150 officers and other people, including members of a special assault team of the police, participated in the drill at the Fukushima No. 2 nuclear power plant, about 10 km from Fukushima No. 1. Both plants are operated by Tokyo Electric Power Co.

A terrorist attack, supposedly immanent for Fukushima Daiichi, is what we're talking about here.  Daiichi.  Where the meltdowns happened, you know the one.  Now I suppose the radioactive environment is at present prohibitive at Daiichi, considering the risk that even brief exposures pose to human health.  Makes perfect sense, except that over the length of this crisis, proof abounds that rather grave risks posed to human health have not appeared to bother TepCo very much.  At. All.

.... So..... why was the drill was held at Daiini?  You know, Daiini, the one down the coast ten klicks that they thought had sustained some damage, but obviously it had not, since everyone stopped talking about it.

The National Police Agency fears the stricken Fukushima No. 1 could make for a tempting target for terrorists because the cooling systems there are still highly fragile.

 The terrorist objective appears to be obtaining, tampering with, or releasing, the nuclear material.  And for reasons that are rather underwhelmingly and insufficiently provided by this article, this objective is assumed to be better served by Fukushima than by any other facility.  Even though the radioactivity encountered would be far in excess, and far less predictable, at Daiichi. 

Meaning that even if one assumes terrorists have no instinct for self-preservation (which I do not think is a valid assumption), still, dealing with the mess that is Fukushima Daiichi would severely impact their ability to see the job through, for all nefarious purposes to which such material would be put, except, of course, those with the most immediate implementation.  

In other words, only blowing the shit up on site would really be feasible, given the off-the-charts radioactivity that has been detected throughout the plant, often in unpredictable areas.  

Futhermore, as one of the intrepid members of EnergyNews points out in a comment, all nuclear power plants have "highly fragile" cooling systems. One would conclude that this imaginary evil terrorist, who most likely is sporting a surname that sounds foreign to your average American citizen as well as your average Japanese (why not have him in a face mask while we're at it), would, if he had any sense, find the Daiichi parameters not exactly conducive to the success of his evil plans.  One would think almost any other, more 'normal' plant to be preferable. One where the people around it were not already evacuated. Call me crazy.

The drill was conducted on the assumption that three terrorists were hiding in a cargo ship berthed at a pier at the facility.

Consider the following comment, by one m a x l i (and a hat tip, again, to the community at EnergyNews) :

Have a look at the pictures in the Kyodo News source! I'm not sure this is the way to deal with real terrorists who might have explosives strapped to their bodies. It looks to me this is rather the welcome they have in store for peaceful demonstrators against any restarts

got to love the Jolly Roger, above.

Members of a coast guard antiterrorism team boarded the ship from a helicopter and held two of the three attackers while police captured the third terrorist inside the plant’s compound.

 No doubt throwing up.

Under another scenario, members of a special assault team and other officers blocked terrorists who were attempting to storm into the nuclear plant in a vehicle with weapons and explosives.

So the immediate re-purposing of the nuclear material is assumed to be the terrorist objective?  Otherwise why the explosives?  Certainly not to lay hands on the fuel.  With any other nuclear plant on earth, even my local Rancho Seco (shut down by citizen demand two decades ago), the explosives would be necessary to get at the fuel.  

With the possible exception of Tchernobyl.  

At Daiichi, well, this would not be the case, now would it.  Assuming the fuel can be found, of course.

All of which, taken together -- and what is yet to be sussed -- makes for a certain disquiet, all-too-familiar of late. (Somebody way in the back ought to cough the word "Boston" into their hand right about now).  As this grew, I began to think I ought to balance it out somehow.  This slowly but surely became a somewhat half-hearted determination not use the words "false flag" anywhere in the body of this post.  

Snaps fingers. Oh well.

Provocative Links for further reading:

ah, mephistophelis.: FUKUSHIMA: POSSIBLE CAUSES & COVER ... 

ah, mephistophelis.: SECRET Nukes? No, Not Israel - SECRET. Not ... 

VicFromOregon: 

Once again, i'd like to suggest that this is the section where the transport tunnel was located. Follow the link and it will become immediately obvious. It's to Nature magazine and i haven't read the article. I just wanted an earlier photo to show the comparison. This is just one photo of many all over the web of this wall. Just Google "Fukushima Unit 4 images" to find historical photos.

See earlier photo of this view of the building -

http://blogs.nature.com/news/2011/04/new_evacuations_announced_as_e.html

Removing the tunnel left a sizable gap in the wall large enough for a truck to pass through. It is also the passageway that TEPCO said they took the SFP 4 fuel rods out through for testing a couple months back. Why obscure it, i don't know since simply setting up a board or tarp would conceal the hole if leaving a gap there is the issue. Back then,TEPCO said they obscured the photo for national security reasons (emphasis mine) since there would be open fuel rods during the transport. Finished laughing everyone? K. Another thought is that they may also be constructing something such as "the new improved passageway" and consider it propriety information, just like their sarcophagus for Unit 3 was concealed until TEPCO revealed it, in large part, i think to go with Chernobyl's new facelift. There are companies making small fortunes in radiation remediation and Japan plans to be at the top in that field. Fukushima has become their bonanza.

Be seeing you.