Economics

Currently the Internets, at the lowest level, is a freeway. That is, when I want to get traffic from site A B or C, there is no corporate toll structure slowing my traffic down. But obviously, the owners of the telecom pipes, and increasingly the bigger, more monopolistic and oligopoly-friendly players, want to slow down traffic against their competitors and independent players.

After news emerged this week that Google and Verizon are planning to cut a deal to privilege tiers of corporate-related Internet traffic at the expense of everyone else, (Google denies it in a suspiciously surly fashion) a wave of concern ricocheted around Internets that the end of Net Neutrality might have finally arrived.

I heartily agree with FreePress.net's urgency on the matter, and sent a Freepress petition with my own remarks into my elected officials. So far a Sen. Franken emailbot sent me a receipt, but nothing at all from Sen. Klobuchar. Rep. Ellison's office sent a quick receipt and now a reasonable enough response.

Another dimension of this battle involves the venue of regulation: the FCC could theoretically implement a "good" rule through its administrative process, and/or through Congress. Apparently FreePress trusts the FCC more than Congress right now, and it's certainly true that the telecom industry pretty much has effective control of Congress. Thus, HR 3458, as advocated by Rep. Ellison, is a risky strategy. Rep. Alan Grayson, darling of progressives and fiscal hawks for his challenges to the Federal Reserve, has let em down by backing away from the FCC approach (as well as expressing the usual AIPAC-friendly foreign policy stance).

Franken, saying it's the First Amendment issue of our time, has gone well out of his way to raise attention about Net Neutrality, most recently at the Netroots conference on July 24th. I got a basic answer from Ellison which seems reasonable enough for now.

With that in mind I sent this in via the FreePress.net wizardry, and I encourage you to send one too. This issue cuts across all political orientations, leaving only the Oblivious, Astroturfoids and Fans of Corporate Authoritarians against it. We all deserve to be bored by DailyKos and RedState content alike, at the same speed.

******

I am terrified that large corporate lobbies and the establishment in general are systematically trying to destroy the free Internet, and shut down and impede as many non-corporate sources of information as possible. Also, the recent deletion of 70,000+ blogs because of an apparently fake Al Qaeda magazine, due to some strange process by fiat of the Department of Homeland Security, is deeply troubling and lacks any due process. (Do you really think Al Qaeda suggests its supporters contact them over GMail, as the magazine states? How dumb is that?!)

The recent work by pro-lockdown legislators to narrow a needed proposed shield law, to exclude websites like Wikileaks, is also appalling and totally at odds with all the principles that have made our country economically viable, as well as a genuine marketplace of ideas. Responsibility for violating overgrown and corrupt secrecy rules falls not with websites, but with whoever violates their oath not to propagate sensitive information. I am disgusted that newspaper lobbyists are working to suppress protection for excellent websites like Cryptome.org that actually shed sunlight on the staggeringly vast wastes of Top Secret America.

The effort to destroy Net Neutrality and replace Internet service priority rules with cartel structures and deals will surely damage the US economy deeply, and give corporate fatcats the upper hand yet again to squelch the new avenues of information rapidly making them obsolete. This week it was reported Verizon and Google are nearing a deal to destroy Net Neutrality on Google-powered Verizon devices, and this kind of arrangement is fundamentally no different than Rockefeller, Carnegie, Standard Oil and other inefficient monopolist systems of previous eras. We will never get out of this deep economic collapse if legislation protecting fatcats is the only work product from Washington DC.

I work as a Web developer, developing sites for many people. The agenda against Net Neutrality is most directly an agenda against my clients, who deserve to make their sites available on equitable network standards. This is nothing more than cartels versus independent producers. How can my industry remain viable, let alone vibrant, if Net Neutrality gets destroyed by politicians and corporate lobbyists?

I agree with everything added below by FreePress.net:
Net Neutrality is the cornerstone of innovation, free speech and democracy on the Internet.

More than 1.9 million Americans have expressed support for Net Neutrality at Congress and the FCC. They want control over the Internet to remain in the hands of the people who use it every day.

Please stand with the public by protecting Net Neutrality once and for all.

******

Rep. Ellison's response:

August 6, 2010

Dear Daniel,

Thank you for contacting me about H.R. 3458, the Internet Freedom Preservation Act of 2009 and net neutrality. I am honored to hear from you and proud to represent you in the United States Congress.

The Internet has become an integral part of our everyday lives. We utilize it daily for communications, commerce, business, education and research. I believe we must ensure that Internet access is universal and open to all lawful content and information. I share your sentiments regarding Internet freedom and further, I consider freedom to access the Internet on par with American rights to free press.

As you may know, there is increasing concern that the owners of the local broadband connections may block or discriminate against certain Internet users or applications in order to give an advantage to their own services. While owners of local networks have a legitimate right to manage traffic on their network to prevent congestion and viruses, they should not be able to block or degrade traffic based on the identity of the user or the type of application solely to favor their own interests. Like you, I am concerned that the ability of network providers to prioritize Internet traffic may give them too much power over the operation of, and access to, the Internet.

Currently, the Internet Freedom Preservation Act (H.R. 3458) is under consideration by the House Energy and Commerce Committee. While I do not serve on this Committee, please know that I will be certain to keep your views in mind as H.R. 3458 moves through the legislative process, and ultimately to the House floor for a vote.

As always, please feel free to contact me on this or any issue of concern. Sign up for our e-newsletter by visiting www.ellison.house.gov.

Sincerely,

Keith Ellison
United States House of Representatives

Quick hits for the fans of stuff & things. Welcome to the Fishbowl says a sad federal judge upon the abandonment of the 4th Amendment. Alex Kozinski in the 9th Circuit has some integrity... via Reason:

This is an extraordinary case: Our court approves, without blinking, a police sweep of a person’s home without a warrant, without probable cause, without reasonable suspicion and without exigency—in other words, with nothing at all to support the entry except the curiosity police always have about what they might find if they go rummaging around a suspect’s home. Once inside, the police managed to turn up a gun “in plain view”—stuck between two cushions of the living room couch—and we reward them by upholding the search.

Did I mention that this was an entry into somebody’s home, the place where the protections of the Fourth Amendment are supposedly at their zenith?…

The opinion misapplies Supreme Court precedent, conflicts with our own case law and is contrary to the great weight of authority in the other circuits. It is also the only case I know of, in any jurisdiction covered by the Fourth Amendment, where invasion of the home has been approved based on no showing whatsoever. Nada. Gar nichts. Rien du tout. Bupkes.

Whatever may have been left of the Fourth Amendment after [United States v. Black] is now gone. The evisceration of this crucial constitutional protector of the sanctity and privacy of what Americans consider their castles is pretty much complete. Welcome to the fish bowl.

Meahwhile.... The dumb ban on short selling should increase fake puffing up of the market nicely.

First off Iran and Pakistan cooperated to grab Abdolmalek Rigi, leader of the shady terrorist/militant ring Jundullah, which seems to have been an American (and possibly Indian &/or Israeli) supported Baluchi militant ring, the cats-paw for Chalabi-like gooning around. Wayne Madsen (waynemadsenreport.com) claimed Rigi was around on shady American bases and got snagged in a clever ISI-Iran op, forcing his plane to land in Dubai. Nice!

REUTERS: ANALYSIS - Rigi arrest may show easing Afghan regional tensions

On the flip side is Ergenekon, which is a humorous Turkish establishment conspiracy of secular ultranationalists perpetually plotting against the Islamists in that unique post-Byzantine way. A ton of people just got arrested and it's all really quite awesome.

NEWBORN DNA SCHEMEZ: I am glad to see the Newborn DNA scheme is getting more attention. AP story. NewScientist. Popsci.

MTV exec says Jersey Shore is civic minded for GenY.

Joe Stack and likely coming attractions. People need to stay peaceful and chill out in these dire times. However as usual with 'lone wolves' like poor Mr Stack, strange links to the military-industrial complex were close at hand. Stack shared a hangar with some guy all up in the L3 shady ops biz. What else is new?

Financial Chaos Beckons (dunnn dunnn dunnnn, sez my roommate) : California edging closer to BondFail. Europe hit by waves of strikes and tumult. A summer of discontent in the works eh? ZeroHedge is just great, read it! Everyday Greece insurrection. Eurostat debt adjustment. Downgrades. Moar downgrades.

FDIC reports NEGATIVE balance. The FDIC is reporting bad things to come and is opening a satellite office in Illinois. Moar on FDIC. Speaking of Illinois they had an interesting secret meeting of their legislators and the National Conference of State Legislatures,  and we can only fear the collapse/martial law style content, or whatever doomladen scenario you care to assume. {they said it was just so people felt comfortable to talk, however it did sound exciting in a way :-P }

GOP wants statutory limit to include GSEs, a risky bizniss. GSE whacks the dollar. Ron Paul and the amusing Watergate/Saddam Hussein/Federal Reserve nexus. SPY bumps from key algo. Record US debt vs Keynesianism from Bloomberg. Gold Market irregularities? Nifty story of Yamashita's epic lost gold. Maestro sez its tha worst evar. Gunning the mkt in afterhours bumps!

RBS is on the hook for all this Greekness and the UK govt is on the hook for RBS! Tobin Tax in EU??

HUD REO sales seems to be some kind of racket via this page including in Minnesota. BestAssets of Sugarland TX.

BOMBSTATE: Garry Wills and the Bomb State, national security coldwar bloat & more. The nukes really launched the secret state.

TERRORSTATE: Glenn Greenwald blew my mind with this bizarre Newsweek editorial roundtable about how the writers & editors define terrorism. w0w!

SAVVY PRESS: An intriguing philosophy of the Kool Kats in the press.

Quick tour of South America narconews stuff. Uribe has messe dup recelection in some unexpected petition mess.

Coca Cola is going into Mezcal in Oaxaca, Mexico and corruption and taking the community water are the usual items on the neo-capitalist entree.

For Haiti travesties see mediahacker.org.

Natural Health crackdown is coming for your vitamins and McCains trying to make it happen. So that we can be all forcefed cornsyrup or something. Aloe Vera FDA Crackdown:: let's learn!

There are over 300 aloe vera species on earth. But the Aloe Barbadensis Miller species has been the favorite for study in scientific literature today. The main focus in ongoing research is a group of polysaccharides that contain the healing agents known as aloe polymannans. They all have different healing potentials.

The polymannan sizes range from small to medium to large and very large. Each one has a level of healing that corresponds in magnitude with its size. It's the very large molecular weight and long chain polymannans that Dr. Danhof extracted for use on cancer patients. Injecting the large molecule extract was necessary because it is very difficult to absorb through the digestive system.

Another aspect of these polymannans, especially the larger ones, is their capacity for organizing the immune system. These polymannans provide a detection capacity for cells to determine exactly what is needed for various pathogenic invaders. Without them, the cells are shooting wildly in the dark, and that can lead to damaging cytotoxic autoimmune responses.

From researcher Dr. Ivan Danhof: "The very large molecules are immune modulating, which have a powerful healing effect on AIDS, cancer and many different immune system disorders. It is also this large molecule that causes the body to produce a natural chemical, tumor necrosis factors, which functions to shut off the blood supply to tumors."

Anywhooo... Chronic health problems in children soar! Start with Bisphenol-A.

Lawyer goons peddling authoritarian concepts of 'intellectual property' come out against Open Source via the RIAA/MPAA Intellectual Property Alliance.

Tech tip for Final Cut Pro captioning, try Caption In Yourself or Jubler. Also the OSX Fluid App makes embeddable apps.

Reviews of Collapse movie with Michael Ruppert. Great review from Roger Ebert (4/4) HipHop Republican, Metro students, WhatWouldtowatch, some jackass, Enviralment, good review @ dangerousintersection, Montreal Gazette. I will have a kewl Ruppert Q&A video up pretty soon here.

There was a quip about this a while ago, now it is more established. Posted in full cause it's a big deal.... via Agonist .

These people are criminals!

Drug money saved banks in global crisis, claims UN advisor

Drugs and crime chief says $352bn in criminal proceeds was effectively laundered by financial institutions

• The Observer, Sunday 13 December 2009

Drugs money worth billions of dollars kept the financial system afloat at the height of the global crisis, the United Nations' drugs and crime tsar has told the Observer.

Antonio Maria Costa, head of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, said he has seen evidence that the proceeds of organised crime were "the only liquid investment capital" available to some banks on the brink of collapse last year. He said that a majority of the $352bn (£216bn) of drugs profits was absorbed into the economic system as a result.

This will raise questions about crime's influence on the economic system at times of crisis. It will also prompt further examination of the banking sector as world leaders, including Barack Obama and Gordon Brown, call for new International Monetary Fund regulations. Speaking from his office in Vienna, Costa said evidence that illegal money was being absorbed into the financial system was first drawn to his attention by intelligence agencies and prosecutors around 18 months ago. "In many instances, the money from drugs was the only liquid investment capital. In the second half of 2008, liquidity was the banking system's main problem and hence liquid capital became an important factor," he said.

Some of the evidence put before his office indicated that gang money was used to save some banks from collapse when lending seized up, he said.

"Inter-bank loans were funded by money that originated from the drugs trade and other illegal activities... There were signs that some banks were rescued that way." Costa declined to identify countries or banks that may have received any drugs money, saying that would be inappropriate because his office is supposed to address the problem, not apportion blame. But he said the money is now a part of the official system and had been effectively laundered.

"That was the moment [last year] when the system was basically paralysed because of the unwillingness of banks to lend money to one another. The progressive liquidisation to the system and the progressive improvement by some banks of their share values [has meant that] the problem [of illegal money] has become much less serious than it was," he said.

The IMF estimated that large US and European banks lost more than $1tn on toxic assets and from bad loans from January 2007 to September 2009 and more than 200 mortgage lenders went bankrupt. Many major institutions either failed, were acquired under duress, or were subject to government takeover.

Gangs are now believed to make most of their profits from the drugs trade and are estimated to be worth £352bn, the UN says. They have traditionally kept proceeds in cash or moved it offshore to hide it from the authorities. It is understood that evidence that drug money has flowed into banks came from officials in Britain, Switzerland, Italy and the US.

British bankers would want to see any evidence that Costa has to back his claims. A British Bankers' Association spokesman said: "We have not been party to any regulatory dialogue that would support a theory of this kind. There was clearly a lack of liquidity in the system and to a large degree this was filled by the intervention of central banks."

*****

Thanks Costa!!

Previously: Negative Return on Investment Economy: Katherine Austin Fitts and the fake war on drugs
Katherine Fitts on Alex Jones, I grabbed this post off dprogram.net which is a sturdy little new aggregator site. Nicely done everyone... The world divided into the pro-centralization and anti-centralization teams, attack poodles, etc.

Making fun of Eric Holder not able to keep a straight face when announcing a new hopeless financial crimes task force, talking drug money in part 2, etc etc. A good overview of her older stuff as well... Fitts is without a doubt one of the best on the case -- see Solari.com for a much better financial schema than the establishment crime/inflation/Federal Reserve/Wall Street configuration.

---

http://dprogram.net/2009/11/19/video-catherine-austin-fitts-on-alex-jone...

Former managing director and member of the board of directors of the Wall Street investment bank Dillon, Read & Co. and commissioner to the Department of Housing and Urban Development in the first Bush Administration, Catherine Austin Fitts.

http://solari.com/

Part 1 of 4

Part 2 of 4

Part 3 of 4

Part 4 of 4

---

MORE: Narcodollars for Beginners