email: timothychilman@yahoo.com

<An earlier post took a contrary view. A little diversity of opinion is no bad thing. I would, incidentally, still hugely appreciate it if anyone could suggest a subject I could write about, to the email address above.>

A Sarfus image of a biochip

A biochip is a radio frequency identification (RFID) transponder the size of a grain of rice which is injected into the human body. Biochips were first used to monitor fisheries in 1983, but are now used by more than 300 zoos and 80 government agencies in a minimum of 20 countries to track pets, lab animals, and endangered wildlife. It is possible to use a patented “zip quill” system to press biochips into a creature without recourse to a syringe.

At the very least, a biochip can hold a 16-digit number which can be scanned in the same manner as a bar code. Biochips are inert – they do not react with contact to human tissue. They are immune to tampering, virtually undetectable, and indestructible. Biochips contain no battery or any other thing which could wear out, making them require no maintenance and last anything up to a century. The price starts at $200.

Biochips could be used by governments to control access to airplanes, airports, ships, nuclear power plants, national research laboratories, computer networks, and correctional facilities. They could be used by individuals to control access to computers, autos, cellphones, and even homes. People could be secure in the knowledge that their bank accounts and credit cards could not be used by anyone other than themselves, which is a major consideration now that identity fraud costs $48bn a year in the United States, with consumers shouldering $5bn of that. Anybody would appreciate the convenience of paying with a biochip. Biochips could grant access to a person’s medical records, which could save time in the treatment of unconscious accident victims or Alzheimer’s patients. The first person to be biochipped was Professor Kevin Warwick of the University of Reading in the United Kingdom. The chip, in his arm, allows him to open doors and operate lights.

Civil liberties wonks are up in arms at the prospect of people being able to prove who they are. Activist groups called for a voluntary moratorium on RFID tagging until it has been thoroughly discussed. Signatories to the petition included Privacy International, the Electronic Privacy Information Center, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the American Civil Liberties Union, and the British think tank, the Foundation for Information Policy Research. Paul Richard of the San Diego-based National Center for Financial Education said, “The real danger is too heavy a hand watching over your life. It’s nobody’s business where you spend your money so long as you earn it legally. No government entity should know where you spend money for groceries.” He concluded, “It’s really frightening when you think about it.”

The Whole Dog Journal, a newsletter for holistic dog care which is published in Greenwich, Conn., said that many dog owners refuse to have biochips implanted to their pets due to the “Big Brother” aspect. When the Los Angeles Department of Animal Services said it would like every pet dog and cat in the city to be biochipped, one official remarked, “There is something spooky about it.”

Many people claim that biochips are the Mark of the Best, as mentioned eight times in the Bible. One such occurrence is Revelations 13:16-17:

“And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.”

It would be very bad P.R. to put biochips into the right hand or forehead. Fortunately, other locations can be used.

One benefit of biochips is that it would make it harder for illegal immigrants to find work. A national ID card system would achieve the same effect, but would be more fallible: it is not possible to forge a biochip. Illegal immigrants are often complained of, for instance by the Daily Hate, the British newspaper whose website is the most popular of any newspaper in the world. The New York Times counters that this is because the views of sister sites are counted.

Nanotechnology has made it possible for biochips to contain more than a million features. Biochips holding more than 15 digits could be very useful. The Department of Energy’s National Laboratory in Argonne addresses pressing national problems of science and technology. Its employees hail from 60 countries, and conduct cutting edge research in almost every scientific discipline, in concert with companies, universities, and federal, state, and municipal agencies. Researchers there have developed a biochip which can diagnose certain cancers before patients begin to show symptoms. The biochips work by detecting anti-bodies produced in reaction to cancer. Treatments could be tailored to a patient’s anti-body profile. Tim Barder, president of the Eprogen, Inc. company which is using the technology under license, said, “This technology is really designed to take advantage of the information contained within the patient’s own biology. What makes this technique unique is that scientists can use the actual expression of the patient’s disease as a means of obtaining new and better diagnostic information that doctors could use to understand and fight cancer better.” Barder said the technology brought the bedside to the laboratory.

Biochips could detect upper respiratory diseases. When such a disease manifests itself, doctors must establish whether the infection is viral or bacterial, particularly in the case of pediatrics. Biochips would save time here. Strep tests take but a few minutes to process, but yield so many false negatives that pediatricians customarily send samples for more thorough and time-consuming – and expensive – testing. Biochips could also test for plague or anthrax, and people would line up for them the next time there is an anthrax scare. Biochips could detect multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) and the frequently deadly Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureu.

Daniel Schabacker, who developed the technology, said, “The most important thing with these types of infections is that you have to be right and get the answer quickly. Some of the tests out there, though marginally quicker than ours, are so inaccurate that they’re almost useless. Especially when you’re talking about anthrax or plague, you have to be confident in your diagnosis or else risk causing a panic.”

Doctors would not have to order so many tests. Schabacker said, “Biochips give us the ability to run a test that allows your doctor to figure out exactly what you’re suffering from during the time that you’re in his or her office,” he said.

The Chinese company, CapitalBio, has invested heavily in biotechnology for more than a decade. It holds almost 150 patents in the realm of biochips, which helped China to overtake the United States to become the world’s top issuer of patents in 2012. The company’s CEO, Jing Cheng, said that biochips could screen for 80 genetic disorders. The government of Beijing paid CapitalBio RMB100 million ($15 million, more or less) for biochip kits to screen newborn babies for an allergy to antibiotics which can cause deafness.

It was reported by Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA that researchers at the University of California, Berkeley and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y. had developed biochip technology which could reveal the toxicity of chemicals early in the experimental stage. Bear in mind that pharmaceutical companies invest hundreds of millions of dollars in the pursuit of chemical compounds which will be the next Prozac, Viagra, or other blockbusting medication. Often, endeavors are aborted at a late stage when toxic side effects become apparent. Jonathan Dordick, a professor of chemical and biological engineering for Rensselaer, said that around 70 percent of drug failures are due to toxicity. Countless animals would be spared, making biochips more attractive at a time when the European Union has banned testing on animals.

The speed of diagnosis afforded by biochips could save lives. In the case of blood poisoning, the faster doctors recognize and treat sepsis, the greater is the patient’s chance of survival. Biochips developed at Fraunhofer Institute for Physical Measurement Techniques IPM in Freiburg could do this within 20 minutes, while otherwise samples would have to be sent to a central laboratory. Biochips could also be used to test for drugs, but we shall have to live with that.

So biochips more complicated than those that merely store a number could save lives. What is the value of a human life? The Environmental Protection Agency puts the value at $9.1 million. The figure was only $6.8 million during Dubya’s administration, when lives were worth less. The Food and Drug Administration values a human life at $7.9 million, compared to $5 million under Dubya. The Transportation Department says $6 million. The value continues to rise, with the EPA suggesting cancer deaths should have 50 percent more value because the death is agonizing. The Department of Homeland Security said that deaths from terrorism should have twice the value they would otherwise.

Meg Reilly, a spokeswoman for the Office of Management and Budget, said that the U.S. government uses the best available science in coming up with these (admittedly, different) numbers. W. Kip Viscusi, a professor of economics at Vanderbilt University, said, “Agencies have been using numbers which I thought were just too low.” His research was used by most federal agencies to arrive at their figures. The value of a human life is certainly sufficient to pay for a great number of expensive biochips.

Would people accept biochips? Sure, if you offer them $250. Bill Cross posted a notice asking for volunteers to be implanted with a biochip which was intended to sound just like the Mark of the Beast, in return for this sum. Thousands applied. A CNN poll way back in 1999 found that 47 percent of people would be prepared to consider being biochipped, while 53 percent would not. Ian Pearson, chief futurologist of the mammoth telecommunications company, BT, said that people have screws inserted to their legs and ear and eye implants, but feel no less human.

The LoJack Corporation of Dedham, Mass. markets a device which has been used to located 30,000 stolen automobiles. Spokesman Paul McMahon said, “We get calls all the time: ‘Is this available for children?’” Inquiries are also received by people caring for relatives suffering from Alzheimer’s.

Athletes at the Olympic Games in London have been biochipped, although they have the option of instead using an ID card. Discounts and prizes are available to participants in the program, and the biochips were inserted to shoulders and so were not the Mark of the Beast. There has been consideration of using biochips to measure the performance of athletes.

Biochips could be made fashionable. The Baja Beach Club is one of the hottest nightspots in Barcelona. It has a special area where VIPs can enjoy exclusive services, and unique means were sought by which VIPs could be identified. Biochips were settled on, and now one is required for entry to this area. 430 clubgoers submitted themselves for implantation. When the club’s owner, Conrad Chase, was interviewed for a radio show, he was asked if a person would not be a VIP without a biochip, and he said that would be a great slogan to use. He said that clubgoers would not object to a biochip, as many already had piercings, tattoos or breast implants. The cost is EUR125/$166/£106. Chase said he thought all firearm owners should be biochipped, and that VertiChip, the company providing the chips, had told him the Italian government was set to implant all its workers.

Radio host Alex Jones, well-known for the conspiracy website, www.infowars.com, has long said said that biochips would be made fun so that spotty-faced teenagers desiring to be part of the “in” crowd would beseech their fathers, “Aww, Dad, can I please get biochipped?” This trend has begun.

Biochips could, of course, be stolen. People could be involuntarily subjected to chipectomies. Computer industry consultant, Richard Smith, said, “It’s just a bit gruesome when to think how the crooks will do these kinds of robberies.” Terry Waite, the Anglican Church envoy who was held as a hostage in Beirut for five years, said in an interview with the British newspaper, the Sunday Times, “It is very dangerous because once kidnappers get to know about these things, they will skin you alive to find them.”

Only a minority of criminals would go so far. Al Qaeda certainly could, but mutilation is forbidden under Islam. The hadith are sayings attributed to the Prophet Mohammed, and Hadith 3:65 says, “The Prophet forbade robbery (taking away what belongs to others without their permission), and also forbade mutilation (or maiming) of bodies.” Another well-respected Muslim source is The Islamic Law of Nations: Shaybani’s Siyar, which says, “Do not cheat or commit treachery, nor should you mutilate anyone.”

Al Qaeda approved of the murder and mutilation of four U.S. employees of the Halliburton private security firm in Fallujah, Iraq, in 2004. Chipectomies would be un-Islamic, but that might leave al Qaeda undeterred. A poll by the Program on International Policy Attitudes found that more than 75 percent of people surveyed in Pakistan, Indonesia, Morocco, and Egypt said that attacks on civilians are un-Islamic, although a significant proportion – 68 percent – of people in Pakistan declined to answer the question. Polls by the Pew Global Attitudes Project found that al Qaeda was supported by 49 percent of people in Nigeria, 34 percent in Jordan, 23 percent in Indonesia, 20 percent in Egypt, 4 percent in Turkey, and 3 percent in Lebanon. Undoubtedly, the great number of Muslims who oppose attacks on civilians and the revulsion felt by people at the cutting of something from the body of a human being would weaken al Qaeda if it resorted to chipectomies.

Could biochips monitor the locations of people? At present, no, as readers have a range of no more than 12 inches. Pets are located by reading the biochip when the animal has been found. The technology, however, exists. The rumor of the biochip in Chelsea Clinton’s neck is not terribly believable, but in 1995, the Washington Post reported that Prince William had a biochip implanted to protect him. The Sunday Times reported in 1998 that 45 people had been biochipped so they could be located. These chips, part of a program known as Sky-Eye, were manufactured by the Israeli company, Gen-Etics, after their invention by Mossad. A light anesthetic was given to prevent the chip recipients from knowing where the item was located. Chips can be located to within 500 feet. The signal ceases when the host is killed because the body no longer provides the energy required for the chip to function.

Robert Davies, a special risks underwriter for the Hiscox insurance group, said that kidnap gangs in Mexico were the most sophisticated in the world, and that they searched victims for the small scars that would show where a biochip was implanted. It is difficult to detect biochips with X-rays. Sky-Eye biochips, however, cost $7,845, putting them beyond the reach of cash-strapped governments wishing to implement mass biochipping programs until such time as the technology drops in price.

Locating individuals would have been much appreciated by the FBI when it mounted COINTELPRO operations to prevent the exercise of the First Amendment rights of free speech, free press, free association, and protest by individuals and groups it regarded as subversive: pinkoes, white supremacists, and black nationalists. COINTELPRO and, indeed, J. Edgar Hoover were, however, deeply aberrational. An infallible record of the locations of people would revolutionize law enforcement. Simon Davies, the head of Privacy International, believes it might take no more than five years before biochips monitor people’s locations as effectively as home arrest bracelets presently do with criminals.

In 1999, the New York Times reported that suspected mobster Vincent (Gigi Portalla) Marino filed suit against the Drug Enforcement Administration claiming that the agency had implanted a biochip to his body when he had surgery to remove a bullet from his buttocks. He claimed to have been told of this by a DEA agent. The agency denied that it had biochipped Marino, and attorney Donald K. Stern added: “We cannot speak, however, for any extraterrestrial beings.” The FBI would not disclose whether it possessed such technology. Bureau spokesman, Paul Bresson, said, ”This is going to fall into the no-comment category. It’s discussing investigative techniques, and that’s about akin to a journalist disclosing confidential sources. It’s very sensitive.”

Governments could require anybody wishing to suckle at their teat to have a biochip. If they wished to shift the blame, other service providers such as insurance companies could require it. There are downsides: people may feel that government knowledge of their location outweighs being able to prove they were not at the location of a crime and biochips could possibly be read by unauthorized parties, so that people will know that you have hemorrhoids. But people would positively love to have their children fitted with biochips if it meant being able to know their location, kidnap victims would be exceptionally keen on them, and their medical uses could save lives.

Bibliography

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Applebaum, Binyamin. “As U.S. Agencies Put More Value on a Life, Businesses Fret.” New York Times. 16 February 2011. 23 February 2012. <http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/17/business/economy/17regulation.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all.>
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Hancock, Tom. “Chinese biochips reflect growing biotech spending.” Smart Planet. 20 January 2012. 23 February 2012. <http://www.smartplanet.com/blog/global-observer/chinese-biochips-reflect-growing-biotech-spending/3031.>
Murphy, Dan. “Poll: Muslims show only partial support for Al Qaeda’s agenda.” Christian Science Monitor. 25 April 2007. 23 February 2012. <http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0425/p01s04-wome.html.>
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Wheeler, Brian. “How the Daily Mail stormed the US.” BBC. 27 January 2012. 23 February 2012. <http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-16746785.>
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1. The War against Freedom – Human Biochip Implant
2. Why it’s an Awfully Good Idea to Drill a Hole in your Head
3. India Collecting Retinal Scans of All The Country’s Poor

I'm bringin' mammoth back. Yeah!

Japan and Russia are teaming up to bring the mammoth back to life after a 10,000 year hiatus from existence.

Well-preserved bone marrow extracted from a frozen mammoth in Siberia will be used in combination with modern elephants to welcome the giant into the 21st century.

Dinosaurs to come next?

If we can bring mammoths back to life, why not a T-rex?  Because the mammoths’ very close relative, the elephant, is still alive today.  Elephant DNA is very similar to mammoth DNA and needed to perform the revival procedure.

Dinosaurs, on the other hand, have no close living relative.  Yeah, it’s true that birds are related to dinosaurs, but the DNA similarities aren’t close enough to be compatible with each other.  So that’s a big problem.

Another thing going against dinosaurs is the absence of fresh dino DNA.  There isn’t a solid supply of DNA for scientists to draw from, so they have nothing to work with.  Maybe a breakthrough in the future will bring us walking with dinosaurs again, but for now the prospect is bleak.

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2. World’s Most Powerful Laser to Tear the Vacuum of Space
3. Microwave Mind Control

The Short Pump Town Center

On Black Friday two malls started tracking their customers secretly by cell phone.  The tracking system, known as FootPath, follows the movements of shoppers by logging cellphone location data and does not allow shoppers to opt out.

Following public outcry against this invasion of privacy, the malls have stopped tracking visitors, for now at least.  The malls, California’s Promenade Temecula and Virginia’s Short Pump Town Center, have plans to continue the program in the future.  Home Depot and JCPenny are interested in implementing the new tracking practice as well.  It’s feared all stores, restaurants, and offices will one day track their customers as standard business strategy.

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If they all have manners like this one,we're doomed. Photo Credit of Jackie Lucarelli

Straight out of the Terminator movies, the U.S. Army is developing a self-aware network of robots used to manage communications and movement on the battlefield.

The machines are given wireless networking capabilities and network-wide learning algorithms to allow the robots to make decisions.  It is hoped the results will be reduced human decision responsibility, a resilient data network with instant data transfer, and reduced energy consumption.

“It’s important that we apply learning and reasoning because currently, there’s no ‘intelligence’ in the network” says Sharon Mackey, chief of the Network Design and Cognitive Networking Sciences branch.  Mitel Patel, technical lead for the branch, says “a soldier has to keep track of a lot of things to maintain the network such as network constraints, requirements and objectives. With cognitive algorithms, the network is more intelligent and self aware thus reducing resource management in the network.”

Risk of Robot Takeover?

Some see this as the first step of a robot revolution.  According to many science fiction movies and novels, allowing networks of machines to become self-aware and make their own decisions leads to human annihilation.

There are many real-life organizations working to prevent this awful scenario by making rules for robots and humans to follow.  For instance, South Korea’s Robot Ethics Charter creates policy aimed at preventing robot abuse by their human handlers, and vice-versa.

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Website Blocking

With this bill, government can order Internet service providers to block websites for infringing links posted by any users.  Websites like Reddit, Tumblr, and even Youtube, are fair targets to be shutdown.

Risk of Jail for Ordinary Users

It becomes a felony with a potential 5 year sentence to stream a copyrighted work that would cost more than $2,500 to license, even if you are a totally noncommercial user, e.g. singing a pop song on Facebook.

Chaos for the Internet

Thousands of sites that are legal under the DMCA would face new legal threats. People trying to keep the internet more secure wouldn’t be able to rely on the integrity of the DNS system.

How to Fight Back

If this law passes, you’ll wake up to find sites you love blocked by the US government. Tell Congress to vote “no” on SOPA.  Contact your congressman to tell them your against the bill, either by calling their office, writing a letter, or sending a prepared message though americancensorship.org.

It is also useful to know who the enemy is.  The following major companies support SOPA.  You can write or call the companies to let them know you are boycotting their services and products unless they end their support for the dangerous bill.

 Companies Supporting SOPA:

1. 1-800 Contacts, Inc.
2. 1-800-PetMeds
3. 2b1 Inc
4. 3M Company
5. ABRO Industries, Inc.
6. Acushnet Company
7. adidas America
8. Advanced Medical Technology Association (AdvaMed)
9. Allen Russell Photography
10. Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers
11. Alliance of Visual Artists (AVA)
12. Altria Client Services
13. American Apparel and Footwear Association
14. American Association of Independent Music (A2IM)
15. American Board of Internal Medicine
16. American Federation of Musicians
17. American Gramaphone LLC
18. American Made Alliance
19. American Mental Health Counselors Association
20. American Photographic Artists
21. American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP)
22. American Society of Media Photographers
23. American Society of Picture Professionals
24. American Watch Association
25. Anatoly Pronin Photography
26. Andrea Rugg Photography
27. Anti-Counterfeiting and Piracy Initiative (ACAPI)
28. Applied DNA Sciences
29. Art Holeman Photography
30. Association of American Publishers (AAP)
31. Association of Equipment Manufacturers
32. Association of Independent Music Publishers (AIMP)
33. Association of Test Publishers
34. AstraZeneca plc
35. Australian Medical Council
36. Automotive Aftermarket Industry Association
37. Baker & Taylor Ent.
38. Bay State Psychological Associates
39. Beachbody, LLC
40. Beam Global Spirits & Wine
41. Blue Sky Studios, Inc.
42. Bose Corporation
43. Braasch Biotech LLC
44. Brian Stevenson Photography
45. Brigid Collins Family Support Center
46. Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI)
47. Burberry
48. C. F. Martin & Co., Inc.
49. Callaway Golf Company
50. Cascade Designs Incorporated
51. Caterpillar Inc.
52. Caveon, LLC
53. CBS Corporation
54. Cengage Learning
55. Center for Credentialing & Education
56. Center Stage Photography
57. CFA Institute
58. Chanel USA
59. Christopher Semmes Photography
60. Church Music Publishers Association
61. CMH Images
62. Coach
63. Coalition Against Counterfeiting and Piracy (CACP)
64. Columbia Sportswear Company
65. Comcast Corporation
66. Commercial Photo Design
67. Commercial Photographers International
68. Comprehensive Adult Student Assessment System
69. Consumer Healthcare Products Association
70. Copyright Alliance
71. Copyright Clearance Center (CCC)
72. Coty Inc.
73. Council of Fashion Designers of America
74. Country Music Association
75. CropLife America
76. Cross-Entertainment LLC
77. CSA Group
78. CVS Caremark
79. Dan Sherwood Photography
80. Danita Delimont Stock Photography
81. Dayco Products, LLC
82. Deluxe Entertainment Services Group
83. Dennyfoto
84. Derek DiLuzio Photography
85. DeVaul Photography
86. Direct Selling Association (DSA)
87. Directional Insight
88. Distefano Enterprises Inc.
89. Doriguzzi Photographic Artistry
90. Dolby Laboratories, Inc.
91. Dolce & Gabbana USA, INC.
92. Dollar General Corporation
93. Don Grall Photography
94. Dunford Architectural Photography
95. Eagle Rock Entertainment
96. Ed McDonald Photography
97. Educational & Industrial Testing Service
98. Electronic Arts, Inc.
99. Electronic Components Industry Association (ECIA)
100. Eli Lilly and Company
101. Englebert Photography
102. Entertainment Software Association (ESA)
103. ERAI, Inc.
104. Eric Meola Studio Inc
105. Evidence Photographers International Council
106. Exxel Outdoors
107. FAME Publishing Co., LLC.
108. FAME Recording Studios
109. Far Bank Enterprises
110. Fashion Business Incorporated
111. Federation of State Boards of Physical Therapy
112. Fender Musical Instrument Company
113. Footwear Distributors & Retailers of America (FDRA)
114. Ford Motor Company
115. Fortune Brands, Inc.
116. Fred J. Lord Photography
117. GAR Associates
118. Gelderland Productions, L.L.C.
119. Gemvision Corporation
120. Gibson Guitar Corp.
121. GlaxoSmithKline
122. Gospel Music Association
123. Governors America Corp.
124. Graphic Artists Guild
125. Greeting Card Association (GCA)
126. Greg Nikas Photography
127. Guru Denim
128. H.S. Marketing & Design, Inc.
129. Harley-Davidson Motor Company
130. HarperCollins Publishers
131. Harry Fox Agency
132. Hastings Entertainment, Inc.
133. ICM Distributing Company, Inc.
134. IDS Publishing
135. IEC Electronics corp.
136. Images Plus
137. Imaging Supplies Coalition (ISC)
138. Independent Distributors of Electronics Association (IDEA)
139. INgrooves
140. Innate-gear
141. International AntiCounterfeiting Coalition (IACC)
142. International Trademark Association (INTA)
143. IPC-Association Connecting Electronics Industries
144. Ira Montgomery Photography
145. J.S. Grove Photography
146. James Drug Inc.
147. Jaynes Gallery
148. JCPage Photography
149. Jean Poland Photography
150. Jeff Stevensen Photography
151. John Fulton Photography
152. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
153. Johnson & Johnson
154. Juicy Couture, Inc
155. Julien McRoberts Photography
156. K&R Photographics
157. kate spade
158. Kekepana International Services
159. Kenneth Garrett, photographer for National Geographic
160. Killing Jar Productions LLC
161. Lacoste USA
162. Leatherman Tool Group, Inc.
163. Lexmark International, Inc.
164. Light Perspectives
165. Linda Olsen Photography
166. Little Dog Records
167. Liz Claiborne, Inc
168. L’Oréal USA
169. Lucky Brand Jeans
170. LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton
171. Macmillan
172. Major League Baseball
173. Marcia Andberg Associates LLC
174. Mark Niederman Photography
175. Marmot
176. Marona Photography
177. McLain Photography Inc
178. Merck & Co., Inc.
179. Messy Face Designs, Inc.
180. Michael Stern Photography
181. MicroRam Electronics, Inc.
182. Minter Works of Art
183. Mira Images
184. Monster Cable Products, Inc.
185. Moose’s Photos
186. Morningstar Films LLC
187. Motion Picture Association of America, Inc. (MPAA)
188. MotionMasters
189. Motor & Equipment Manufacturers Association
190. MPA – The Association of Magazine Media
191. Mr. Theodor Feibel (sole proprietor)
192. Music Managers Forum-U.S.
193. Nashville Songwriters Association International
194. Natalie Neckyfarow Actor/Dancer/Singer
195. National Association of Broadcasters
196. National Association of Manufacturers
197. National Association of Recording Merchandisers (NARM)
198. National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO)
199. National Basketball Association (NBA)
200. National Board for Certified Counselors
201. National Board for Certified Counselors Foundation
202. National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA)
203. National Football League (NFL)
204. National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA)
205. National Retail Federation (NRF)
206. NBCUniversal
207. Nervous Tattoo Inc., dba Ed Hardy
208. New Balance Athletic Shoe, Inc.
209. New Era Cap Co Inc
210. New Levels Ent. Co. LLC
211. News Corporation
212. Next Decade Entertainment, Inc.
213. NHL Enterprises, L.P.
214. Nicholas Petrucci, Artist, LLC
215. Nike, Inc.
216. Nintendo of America Inc.
217. Nissle Fine Art Photography
218. North Dakota Pharmacists Association
219. North Dakota Pharmacy Service Corporation
220. Oakley, Inc.
221. One Voice Recordings
222. OpSec Security, Inc.
223. Outdoor Industry Association
224. Outdoor Power Equipment Institute (OPEI)
225. Outdoor Research, Inc
226. Pacific Component Xchange, Inc.
227. Party Killer Films LLC
228. Pearson Clinical Assessment
229. Peavey Electronics Corporation
230. Perry Ellis International
231. Personal Care Products Council
232. Peter C. Brandt, Architectural and Fine Art Photography
233. Peter Hawkins Photography, Inc.
234. Petzl America
235. Pfizer Inc.
236. PGA of America
237. Philip Morris International
238. Photojournalist Dave Bartruff
239. Picture Archive Council of America (PACA)
240. Pigfactory Music
241. PING
242. PNW Images
243. Premier League
244. Production Music Association (PMA)
245. Professional Photographers of America
246. Quality Float Works, Inc.
247. Raging Waters Music
248. Ralph Lauren Corporation
249. Ramsay Corporation
250. Rebel Photo
251. Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA)
252. Red4 Music/Doogs Rock Inc
253. Reebok International Ltd.
254. Reed Elsevier Inc.
255. Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA)
256. Revlon
257. Richard Flutie Photography
258. Rite Aid
259. Robin Davis Photography, Inc.
260. Rodger Scott Craig, a member of Liverpool Express, The Merseybeats, Fortune, Harlan
261. Cage, 101 South, and Mtunz Media
262. Roger Smith Photography Services
263. Rolex Watch USA Inc.
264. Romance Writers of America (RWA)
265. Rosetta Stone Inc.
266. Saddle Creek
267. Sage Studios LLC
268. Sam D’Amico Photography
269. Schneider Electric
270. Secret Sea Visions (Photography)
271. SESAC, Inc.
272. SG Industries, Inc.
273. Shure Incorporated
274. SIGMA Assessment Systems
275. Six Degrees Records
276. Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council
277. SMC Entertainment
278. SMT Corp.
279. SoBe Entertainment
280. Society of Sport & Event Photographers
281. Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA)
282. Sony Electronics Inc.
283. Sony Music Entertainment
284. Sony Pictures Entertainment
285. Soul Appeal Records and Music
286. SoundExchange
287. Southern Gothic LLC
288. Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA)
289. SPI (The Plastics Industry Trade Association)
290. Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association
291. Sports Rights Owners Coalition
292. Spring Fever Productions LLC
293. Spyder Active Sports, Inc
294. Stenbakken Photography
295. Stephen Dantzig Photography
296. Stock Artist Alliance
297. Stuart Weitzman Holdings, LLC
298. Student Photographic Society
299. Studio 404
300. SunRise Solar Inc.
301. Taylor Glenn Photographs
302. Taylor Made Golf Company, Inc.
303. Tednologies, Inc.
304. The Cambridge Don
305. The Collegiate Licensing Company/IMG College
306. The Donath Group, Inc.
307. The Dow Chemical Company
308. The Estee Lauder Companies
309. The McGraw-Hill Companies
310. The Music People! Inc.
311. The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)
312. The Recording Academy (National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences)
313. The Timberland Company
314. The Walt Disney Company
315. Tiffany & Co.
316. Time Warner Inc.
317. Tony Bullard Photography
318. Toshiba America Business Solutions, Inc.
319. TRA Global
320. Tricoast Worldwide
321. Trio Productions, Inc. / Songscape Music,
322. Twist & Shout, Inc.
323. U.S. Chamber of Commerce
324. Ultimate Fighting Championship
325. Underwriters Laboratories Inc.
326. Universal Music Group
327. Uniweld Products Inc.
328. VF Corporation
329. Viacom
330. Vibram USA, Inc
331. Virtual Chip Exchange USA, Inc.
332. Voltage Pictures, LLC
333. W.R. Case & Sons Cutlery Co.
334. Walcott Studio, LLC
335. Wal-Mart
336. Warner Music Group
337. Wendy Kaveney Photography
338. Western Psychological Services
339. Westmorland Images, LLC
340. Wild & Associates, Inc.
341. Wild Eye Photos LLC
342. William Sutton Photography
343. Willis Music
344. WindLegends Ink LLC
345. Winestem Company
346. Winslow Research Institute
347. Wolfe Video
348. Wolverine World Wide, Inc.
349. Woolrich, Inc.
350. World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc.
351. Xerox Corporation
352. Zippo Manufacturing Company
353. Zumba Fitness, LLC

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The add-on, MAFIAA Fire, simply redirects users to an online backup of seized websites.  The creators wanted to make the point that ICE’s efforts to silence speech by taking objectionable sites offline is futile.

ICE may have been surprised by the refusal.  Mozilla’s policy is to comply with all court orders, warrants, and legal mandates, but in this case there was no such document.

Instead, Mozilla’s legal department asked ICE 12 questions on what legal grounds as to why it should follow the takedown request:

Mozilla is still waiting on the answers.

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A fragment similar to this was removed from the man's lung.

A Danish man claims a microchip was implanted during surgery for a stabbed lung.

23 years after the surgery, X-rays revealed a metal fragment resembling an RFID chip present in his body.

RFID chips, or radio-frequency identification chips, use radio waves to transfer data.

The man claims the microchip caused him to hear voices and lead an abnormal life.  He would regularly feel uneasy and cough up blood, and strangers would talk to him for no reason:

(I) also discovered and experienced that strange people on the streets would approach and speak to (me) about strange subject matters or pass strange irrelevant comments

The man, whose name is Mogens Tindhof Honore, underwent surgery at Mount Elizabeth Hospital in 2011 to remove the suspected chip.

Is it really a microchip?

Honore’s implant dates back to 1988, and considering the size of computers at that time, it’s unlikely chips small enough to fit inside a human body yet existed.  But over 20 years later, super tiny microchips do exist, and as technology continues to evolve, it becomes increasingly likely these small objects could be used for devious purposes.

How would chips implanted in a person be used?

The chips can be used for tracking individuals.  When combined with a biometric database, any person could be located with a simple search.

The Indian government is already well underway building a biometric database of its citizens, and it’s feared other governments will start doing the same.

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A laser beam blasting a pipe.

A team of European scientists are working on the biggest doomsday project to come out of the laboratory since the Large Hadron Collider: the most powerful laser in the world.

The laser will be so powerful that it will bring forth conditions that are not even present in the sun.  The laser’s intensity would be equivalent to all of the energy Earth receives from the sun except focused onto a small point no bigger than the head of a pin.

It will be 200 times more powerful than the best lasers that exist today and suck up a whopping 200 petawatts of power; that’s more than 100,000 times the world’s current worldwide electricity production.  Because of this enormous energy requirement, the laser’s gigantic batteries will require an ample amount of time to charge before use.

What will the laser find?

Scientists are certain the laser will tear a hole into the vacuum of space.  That part’s for sure.  But what they’re also predicting is that it will open up extra dimensions.

It’s believed that our universe is just one of many in what is known as the multiverse.  Everything that exists and can exist is contained within the multiverse, and our universe is just one of the trillions of other possible universes.

The significance of other dimensions is the likelihood of other life.  By peeking into our neighboring dimensions, we may be able to find evidence of alien existence.  And if a powerful laser is all that’s needed to jump dimensions, it’s very likely that aliens have already developed the technology needed to do so and have been dropping into our universe for visits.

Will the laser unexpectedly bring an end to the universe?

The False Vacuum doomsday scenario states that if the universe does not exist in the lowest possible energy state then a disruption in the vacuum would  spread along the entire fabric of space and pop the universe like a balloon, destroying everything.

This laser will tear a hole into the vacuum of space, but scientists claim it will not be powerful enough to cause the False Vacuum doomsday scenario.  Still, since it has never been done before, no one can be certain of the consequence.

Why build such a powerful laser in the first place?

The purpose of the experiment is to find “ghost particles”, small particles that mysteriously come in and out of existence.  No one knows where the particles go when they disappear, but alternate dimensions is a good bet.  When the laser focuses on a point in space, ghost particles around that point are predicted to mass together and stay in existence long enough for them to be observed and recorded.

Let’s hope the laser experiments find these particles without leaving us ghosts as well.

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Neuron impulses, like the dots seen here, are simulated by processor computations.

One of the most powerful corporations in the world, IBM, is setting its sights on perfecting a perfect simulation of the human brain.  Already the company has completely simulated the brain of a mouse, a rat, a cat, and now you’re the next animal on the list.

Think it can’t happen?  It’s already being done.  So far, IBM has achieved a simulation rate of 4.5% of the human mind.  With the rate it’s going, IBM hopes to reach 100% simulation by 2019, a mere 7 years away.

Coincidentally, famous futurist and author of the 1990 book The Age of Intelligent Machines Ray Kurzweil predicted 2019 as the year artificial intelligence would match that of humans.  His prediction, it seems, is coming right out of the pages of science fiction and into reality.

Blue Gene is IBM’s name for the project and the research paper can be viewed online as a pdf link.

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India hopes to scan 1 million Indians a day by the end of 2011.

The program, known as Aadhaar, is a big concern for privacy advocates.  They believe the program is an excuse to collect the information and whereabouts of undesirables and dispose of them.  If this fear is hard to swallow, imagine how useful Hitler would have found the tracking program before the onstart of World War 2 and his systematic extermination of the Jews.  A bad sign is that the subcontracted data collection agencies are asking race and status questions to those being added to the database.  If history were to repeat itself, which it most often does, a powerful leader could use the information in the database for genocide and the elimination of political competitors.  Biochip implants could be added to the identification program to track individuals in real-time, granting the state complete control over its citizens by watching where they go and who they speak to.

Financial Exploitation of the Poor and Mentally Disabled

The government also plans to give each of these citizens bank accounts.  Many of these poor lack money management skills, leaving them vulnerable to becoming victims of debt slavery.  Banks could hand them out loans that they would end up repaying for the rest of their lives.  If payments were late, it’s very likely the government would work in collaboration with the bank to track down the individual using the identity database.

The Slow and Steady Deterioration of Liberties

Creating the database is the first step.  Once a database is established, the second step is microchip implants.  The first step is happening now, the laborious task of collecting race, residential address, and economic status is underway.  It’s a big process, but once it’s completed, all that is left is another policy issued by the government that requires microchip implants.  The government can then go down the list of its database and distribute the chip into all of its citizens.

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