The FCC will take up Chairman Tom Wheeler’s new Net regulatory approach Feb. 26 — and then AT&T (T +0.3%) and Verizon (VZ) will immediately file suit, VentureBeat reports.

The site points to AT&T VP Hank Hultquist’s Monday post on the company’s public policy blog, where he argues again that its broadband is an info service, not a telecom service — although this is a familiar stance on the company’s blogs.

“I have no illusions that any of this will change what happens on Feb. 26,” Hultquist says. “But when the FCC has to defend reclassification before an appellate court, it will have to grapple with these and other arguments.

FCC fact sheet

Previously: Telecom stocks soar as FCC’s Wheeler advocates utility stance on regulation (Feb. 04 2015)

Previously: More from FCC’s Wheeler: Guarantees to encourage broadband investment (Feb. 04 2015)

FIND LINKS TO ALL THESE HERE

You should believe Verizon Communications CEO Lowell McAdam when he says he intends to end wired telephone and broadband service for areas that are simply not economically feasible for fiber upgrades. McAdam’s grand plan is now coming true for customers in parts of Florida and on Fire Island, N.Y.

Last summer, Stop the Cap! covered McAdam’s comments to Wall Street investors (that are always the first to know) at the Guggenheim Securities Symposium:

“In […] areas that are more rural and more sparsely populated, we have got [a wireless 4G] LTE build that will handle all of those services and so we are going to cut the copper off there,” McAdam said. “We are going to do it over wireless. So I am going to be really shrinking the amount of copper we have out there and then I can focus the investment on that to improve the performance of it.”

The writing is already on the wall:

Verizon has been penalized and criticized in several states by public utility commissions for the ongoing degradation of its copper network. Verizon sees further investment in copper technology as throwing good money after bad, but spending millions on additional fiber upgrades isn’t appealing either. The result is deteriorating service. From downtown Manhattan to New Jersey to Maryland, D.C. and Virginia, Verizon’s service failures have left customers frustrated and sometimes waiting weeks or months for repair crews to turn up to restore basic phone service. Even more dangerous, Verizon was to blame for significant 911 network failures near the nation’s capital. Post Sandy, there are still sections of lower Manhattan without phone service nearly five months after the storm struck. Five months.

Verizon sold off telephone service in northern New England several years ago to FairPoint Communications, knowing full well Verizon never had an interest in upgrading any part of Vermont, New Hampshire or Maine to fiber service. In many smaller former GTE telephone areas too small to successfully argue a case for return on investment, Verizon decided selling those territories off was the best option. Hawaiian Telcom and Frontier Communications now own many of those former-Verizon territories.
Verizon has decreased marketing its wired DSL service and stopped selling it altogether to customers who want broadband-only service. That seems counter-intuitive for a company that recognizes future revenue possibilities come primarily from broadband and data services.

Traditionally, customers reporting trouble on a phone line get a visit from Verizon technicians who track the problem down and repair it. But Verizon no longer wants to spend money fixing copper wire-related problems. Customers reporting chronic phone static or outages are now being asked to abandon their traditional landline service instead:

In areas where Verizon FiOS fiber is available, the company disconnects the customer from copper service and switches them to the FiOS fiber network. This also provides future marketing opportunities, pitching broadband and television service to accompany a customer’s home phone.
In areas where fiber upgrades are not forthcoming, the company now proposes to disconnect the customer in favor of Voice Link, a wireless home phone replacement. This also opens marketing opportunities for Verizon Wireless to pitch cell phones and wireless Internet service.

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Net neutrality’ rules discard bipartisan light-touch regulatory framework.
Thursday marked the largest government intervention into the Internet ecosphere in American history. By equating the dynamic 21st century Internet to the telephone system of 1934, the Federal Communications Commission has thrust powerful but antiquated utility-style regulations onto the U.S. tech economy.

To justify its actions, the FCC had to resort to misleading distortions that essentially asserted “the Internet is so horribly broken that only the government can fix it.” And “you can trust unelected Washington bureaucrats to do a better job of running the highly complex Net than engineers, entrepreneurs and consumers.”

The FCC’s power grab discards the bipartisan light-touch regulatory framework laid out during the Clinton administration. That hands-off approach made the Net the greatest deregulatory success story of all time.

History teaches us that utility-style regulation raises costs to consumers, reduces investment and innovation, and creates uncertainty due to the politics-driven nature of “mother may I innovate” government mandates. Regulation only grows. Now the Internet cannot escape that fate.

The ultimate result of more government encroachment will be something akin to the sagging European Internet market, where investment in broadband infrastructure is only one-fourth of America’s due to heavy-handed regulations. Even worse, this new power grab could trigger expanded intergovernmental powers over the Web through existing telecom treaties, jeopardizing Internet freedom.

What many in Silicon Valley don’t understand is that, according to the Supreme Court’s 2005 Brand X decision, nearly any “tech” company that builds a telecom-style network to deliver its content and apps has the potential to be captured by the FCC’s new rules. If the agency tries to exempt some companies but not others, it will be choosing the politically favored over everyone else.

As the effects of these new rules gradually slow the lightning-fast evolution of the Net, it is likely to be overturned by courts, Congress or both. In the meantime, America’s Internet consumers will be caught in the crossfire.

Robert McDowell, who served on the FCC from 2006 to 2013, is a partner at Wiley Rein.
ORIGINAL

The chip allows employees to open doors and use the photocopier without a traditional pass card
More from Rory

Should schools gorge on gadgets?
Shazam – a billion dollar London success
Centcom – a PR disaster, not cyberwar
The Thing About Vegas
Want to gain entry to your office, get on a bus, or perhaps buy a sandwich? We’re all getting used to swiping a card to do all these things. But at Epicenter, a new hi-tech office block in Sweden, they are trying a different approach – a chip under the skin.

Felicio de Costa, whose company is one of the tenants, arrives at the front door and holds his hand against it to gain entry. Inside he does the same thing to get into the office space he rents, and he can also wave his hand to operate the photocopier.

That’s all because he has a tiny RFID (radio-frequency identification) chip, about the size of a grain of rice, implanted in his hand. Soon, others among the 700 people expected to occupy the complex will also be offered the chance to be chipped. Along with access to doors and photocopiers, they’re promised further services in the longer run, including the ability to pay in the cafe with a touch of a hand.

On the day of the building’s official opening, the developer’s chief executive was, himself, chipped live on stage. And I decided that if was to get to grips with this technology, I had to bite the bullet – and get chipped too.

The whole process is being organised by a Swedish bio-hacking group which was profiled by my colleague Jane Wakefield recently. One of its members, a rather fearsome looking tattooist, inserted my chip.

First, he massaged the skin between my thumb and index finger and rubbed in some disinfectant. The he told me to take a deep breath while he inserted the chip. There was a moment of pain – not much worse than any injection – and then he stuck a plaster over my hand.

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Good luck in the after world… the clock is ticking…
Shiva: Hindu/Dalai Lama Destroyer of worlds

This is not a joke and it is being propagated and advanced at a record speed while well meaning Christians are totally diverted into silliness by Christian TV. Will the rest of you wake up? Don’t count on the Christians Deceived by Christian TV and the Muslims who are killing us !

The Idiots !

Can there be a coincidence that the statue at CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research) is none other than Shiva Nataraja – the dancing Shiva, also known as the primordial destructive force of the universe? CERN is the international organization whose primary function is the oversight of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) which is located on the French/Swiss border. In this regard it has assumed oversight responsibility for the most advanced and sophisticated experimental laboratory in particle, theoretical and nuclear physics currently being conducted (not in total secrecy) throughout the world.

Is there reason to be conCERNed about the technology that is being employed at the LHC? Is there good reason to believe that the technology, and the underlying science, as well as the particle accelerator itself, are not up to the task at hand? What we are suggesting is that these physicists are playing with fire that they do not have the capacity to understand given the inherent limitations of their mindsets. More specifically, the very scientific paradigms upon which they have based their technology, especially the collider/accelerator, are totally inadequate to carry out such experimentation in a responsible manner. In other words these guys are trying to play in the major leagues with sticks and stones.

For those not steeped in Eastern spirituality, Lord Shiva is one of the three primary deities of the Hindu trinity and is known wherever his image is worshiped as the destroyer and transformer. What does the dancing Shiva (Nataraj) have to do with the Large Hadron Collider? Lets have a closer look.

“Nataraja or Nataraj: … The Lord (or King) of Dance is a depiction of the Hindu god Shiva as the cosmic dancer who performs his divine dance to destroy a weary universe and make preparations for god Brahma to start the process of creation. Nataraja is most often depicted through a statue. The dance of Shiva in Tillai, the traditional name for Chidambaram, forms the motif for all the depictions of Shiva as Nataraja. He is also known as “Sabesan” which splits as “Sabayil aadum eesan” in Tamil which means “The Lord who dances on the dais”. The form is present in most Shiva temples in South India, and is the main deity in the famous temple at Chidambaram.[1]
The sculpture is usually made in bronze, with Shiva dancing in an aureole of flames, lifting his left leg (and in rare cases, the right leg) and balancing over a demon or dwarf (Apasmara) who symbolizes ignorance. It is a well known sculptural symbol in India and popularly used as a symbol of Indian culture.[2]” (Per Wikipedia)

The picture above was taken in front of the CERN complex in Geneva, Switzerland. This statue of Shiva Nataraj is casting a shadow on the headquarters building. Is this a message “from the universe” about the destructive potential of a particle accelerator which collides opposing streams of protons and most recently lead ions) at the speed of light in an effort to create a mini big bang. We sincerely hope that the unique and strategic placement of this sacred statue will somehow represent an auspicious outcome of CERN’s endeavors, and will not prove to be an ill omen.

While we are cognizant of the scriptural understanding that the “Lord of the Dance” does perform both a creative and destructive cosmic dance, we would hope that the decision-makers at CERN are well aware of the potential for the later in light of the destructive forces it has already experienced in the course of the operation of the Large Hadron Collider.

“The two most common forms of Shiva’s dance are the Lasya (the gentle form of dance), associated with the creation of the world, and the Tandava (the violent and dangerous dance), associated with the destruction of weary worldviews – weary perspectives & lifestyles. In essence, the Lasya and the Tandava are just two aspects of Shiva’s nature; for he destroys in order to create, tearing down to build again[3].” (Per Wikipedia)

Again, is there reason to be conCERNed about the technology that is being employed at the LHC? The physicists who work there are well aware that things are being done which are clearly pushing the edge of the envelope. Lawsuits have been filed, position papers have been written and formal requests to cease and desist have been made by some of the best and brightest among us. And yet the experiments continue unabated. Should we be conCERNed?!

“THE BLACK HOLE CASE: THE INJUNCTION AGAINST THE END OF THE WORLD”

As citizens of the world community, we would like to know just who is it that makes such serious and consequential decisions the effects of which can very well impact every resident of planet Earth, as well as planet itself. We sincerely question how those at the very top of the scientific decision-making process have somehow arrogated power unto themselves to make decisions of great import without taking the counsel of the people … … any other people, except their own very inbred society that pursues scientific and technological advancement at all and any cost.

A critical discussion has been absent from the debate surrounding this looming technological catastrophe and it is this:

Have they truly considered all the possible outcomes? Do they have the theoretical ability or technological capacity to determine if they can even assess some of the less likely but still unfavorable outcomes of this highly risky experimentation? How can they consider unintended consequences if they are not even on the radar screen? Potential collateral damage to the physical environs may be completely imperceptible, but no less deleterious to human health. EMR toxic side effects may linger for years, even decades before they are correlated to the powerful energies which are unleashed in this 27 km tunnel.

“How CERN’s Own Documents Contradict Its Safety Assurances”

Photo-documentary of the Large Hadron Collider compliments of boston.com
http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2009/11/large_hadron_collider_ready_to.html

The numerous photos capture many different perspectives, parts and places within this prodigious project. In so doing they impart an understanding that this deceptive enterprise is not only HUGE, as in MAMMOTH, it is also extraordinarily complex in terms of types of technology, equipment and machinery. When viewed in the aggregate, there are countless connections and points of potential weakness which can be overridden by the extreme energies and phenomenal velocities and innumerable iterations which will be employed in the upcoming experiments. The more complex and complicated any system is, the more that can go wrong, which is fine if you’re only driving down a highway and you can still apply the breaks, but … … …

“Walter Wagner ’72 says the Large Hadron Collider could destroy the world. Physicists say fat chance. But is even that a chance we want to take?”

http://alumni.berkeley.edu/news/california-magazine/novemberdecember-2008-stars-berkeley/deus-ex-machina

Certainly our fears would have been slightly allayed had the UC Berkeley alumni magazine headline read: Physicists say slim chance.

Walter Wagner, a physicist from UC Berkeley seems to be conCERNed enough that he was compelled to file suit against CERN, the US Department of Energy, The Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory and the National Science Foundation before the US District Court of Hawaii. There have been several other formal complaints and grievances lodged against this endeavor some of which are elaborated at the following site.

Safety of particle collisions at the Large Hadron Collider

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safety_of_particle_collisions_at_the_Large_Hadron_Collider

Needless to say, we are not the only ones deeply conCERNed about the prospects of this project going forward. There are environmental health advocacy groups around the world that are emerging from their slumber, as they catch on to the immense and far-reaching ramifications of these experiments with nature’s foundational forces, should they go awry.

It’s noteworthy that the very word Hadron may speak volumes about what may be in store for the collider’s future. The etymology of hadron leads us to different meanings such as thick, bulky, heavy, weighty, large, massive. Thick and heavy come to mind as the many scientists involved do seem to be a little thick where it comes to accurately assessing the risks directly related to this collision enterprise, a weighty matter requiring very heavy decisions up and down the ladder.

Everything in life has a cost/benefit ratio associated with it, Yes? Even though we may be unaware, our minds continually calculate, and re-calculate, the costs and benefits of every venture we undertake. Seems reasonable that the greater the downside risk, the more thorough and penetrating ought to be our analysis of potential consequences (read costs), especially when all of humanity can be be affected.

We commend those many naysayers who have sprung up around the world to denounce what has truly become a tyranny of science. The staus quo has evolved to a point where scientific judgment is not even given a chance to be questioned because there is simply no forum to do so. The great bastions of scientific inquiry have a perpetual lock on the entire system by virtue of the institutional arrangements which have inexorably evolved in such a way that they are rendered immune to outside scrutiny or examination by any except their own. This purposefully designed system makes them, not only judge, jury and prosecutor, but also president, prime minister and secretary of science & technology.

Such a state of affairs is exactly why the Large Hadron Collider is allowed to proceed unimpeded, without question or justifiable outside risk assessments. This is a situation that should not be tolerated by the rest of humankind which has every right to live without concern for such a misguided and ill-advised scientific crapshoot.

And, for what – to find the God Particle, the primordial force of the cosmos which is undetectable by any form of scientific technology or device of any kind? At what point will these folks stop bending physical reality in order to prove the unprovable by physical means? How far do we let them go before their experiments start to alter the very reality that we’re supposed to live in? Would we really want to live in an altered reality of their misguided making?

That a sacred symbol as the Shiva Nataraj occupies such prominent a position within the CERN collective consciousness, at first glance, seems to be a gross irony of spiritual symbolism and meaning. We pray that the subtle, and yet awesome, energies that surely emanate from this most venerated of Hindu divinities will influence all that goes on at the Large Hadron Collider. So that the highest good will be served for all conCERNed, especially Mother Earth and all living things.

FULL ARTICLE… ARE YOU WAITING UNTIL IT IS TOO LATE?

NOVEMBER 24, 2006 9:13 AM BY ROBERT SPENCER

How bad has it gotten in France? Daniel Pipes answers:

They go by the euphemistic term Zones Urbaines Sensibles, or Sensitive Urban Zones, with the even more antiseptic acronym ZUS, and there are 751 of them as of last count. They are conveniently listed on one long webpage, complete with street demarcations and map delineations.

What are they? Those places in France that the French state does not control. They range from two zones in the medieval town of Carcassone to twelve in the heavily Muslim town of Marseilles, with hardly a town in France lacking in its ZUS. The ZUS came into existence in late 1996 and according to a 2004 estimate, nearly 5 million people live in them.

Comment: A more precise name for these zones would be Dar al-Islam, the place where Muslims rule. (November 14, 2006)

And where “dhimmis” (Jews and Christians) dare not venture.
ORIGINAL

Despite the scale of the damage, French police have hesitated to make any arrests for fear of sparking more riots. Residents of the neighborhood know the names of the perpetrators but “nobody dares to speak for fear of reprisals.” “You can no longer order a pizza or get a doctor to come to the house.”

The French government has announced a plan to boost policing in 15 of the most crime-ridden parts of France in an effort to reassert state control over the country’s so-called “no-go” zones: Muslim-dominated neighborhoods that are largely off limits to non-Muslims.

The crime-infested districts, which the French Interior Ministry has designated as Priority Security Zones (zones de sécurité prioritaires, or ZSP), include heavily Muslim parts of Paris, Marseilles, Strasbourg, Lille and Amiens, where Muslim youths recently went on a two-day arson rampage that caused extensive property damage and injured more than a dozen police officers.

The crackdown on lawlessness in the ZSP is set to begin in September, when French Interior Minister Manuel Valls plans to deploy riot police, detectives and intelligence agents into the selected areas. The hope is that a “North American-style” war on crime can prevent France’s impoverished suburbs from descending into turmoil.

If the new policy results in a drop in crime, Valls is expected to name up to 40 more ZSP before the summer of 2013.

The initial 15 ZSP are: Seine-Saint-Denis (Saint-Denis, Saint-Ouen), Paris (Paris XVIIIe), les Yvelines (Mantes-la-Jolie, Mantes-la-Ville), l’Essonne (Corbeil-Essonne), la Somme (Amiens), le Nord (Lille), l’Oise (Méru et Chambly), la Moselle (Fameck et Uckange), le Bas-Rhin (Strasbourg), le Rhône (Lyon IXe), les Bouches-du-Rhône (Gardanne et Bouc-Bel-aire), Marseille (Marseille IIIe, XIIIe, XIVe, XVe et XVIe), le Gard (Vauvert et Saint-Gilles), l’Hérault (Lunel et Mauguio) et la Guyane (Cayenne, Matoury, Remire-Montjoly).

Many of these new ZSP coincide with Muslim neighborhoods that previous French governments have considered to be Sensitive Urban Zones. (Zones Urbaine Sensibles, or ZUS) — also “no-go” zones for French police.

At last count, there were a total of 751 Sensitive Urban Zones, a comprehensive list of which can be found on a French government website, complete with satellite maps and precise street demarcations. An estimated five million Muslims live in the ZUS — parts of France over which the French state has lost control.

Consider Seine-Saint-Denis, a notorious northern suburb of Paris, and home to an estimated 500,000 Muslims. Seine-Saint-Denis is divided into 40 administrative districts called communes, 36 of which are on the French government’s official list of “no-go” zones.

Seine-Saint-Denis, also known locally as “Department 93” for the first two digits of the postal code for this suburb, witnessed fierce rioting by Muslim youths in 2005, when they torched more than 9,000 cars.

Seine-Saint-Denis, which has one of the highest rates of violent crime in France, is now among the initial 15 ZSPs because of widespread drug dealing and a rampant black market. Because, however, the suburb also has one of the highest unemployment rates in France — 40% of those under the age of 25 are jobless — it remains unlikely that a government crackdown will succeed in bringing down the crime rate in any permanent way.

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