Google, Facebook, Amazon, eBay form lobbying group

A new lobbying group is being formed according to the Washington Post today.

Google, Facebook, Amazon and eBay will make up the group which will be called The Internet Association and as stated by them, will be “the unified voice of the Internet economy, representing the interests of Americas leading Internet companies and their global community of users.”

It will be led by Michael Beckerman who is the former deputy staff director of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and former advisor to United States Representative, Fred Upton, a Michigan Republican.

See Report: Google, Facebook, Amazon, eBay form lobbying group – Pulse of the Bay – The Bay Citizen.

Government Analyzing Conversations In Real Time

According to a former National Security Agency (NSA) employee, the agency is analyzing and storing all electronic communications in real time.

Whistleblower William Binney says that NSA has a google like ability to search any conversation using keywords.

NSA now has the legal authority to do so and has had it since 2008.  They have had the ability to intercept all calls made by phones, email communication and text messages without probable cause.

Binney identifies  “The sheer size of that capacity indicates that the NSA is not filtering personal electronic communications such as email before storage but is, in fact, storing all that they are collecting.”

According to Binney, in a sworn statement before the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, that the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation), the NSA and the DoD (Department of Defense) have “put in place technological improvements relating to the capabilities of a database to pull together past emails as well as … and future ones as they come in so that it does not require an individualized search.”

see » Whistleblower: NSA Analyzing Conversations In Real Time Alex Jones’ Infowars: There’s a war on for your mind!.

Obama: Under Me “People Have A New Attitude Toward America”

“… people have a new attitude toward America. … We see it everywhere we go,” President Obama, at the Veterans of Foreign Wars convention in Reno Nevada.

Under Obama People see things different in this country.  The attitude is different.  Or, the mindset is different.

Why?

See Obama: Under Me “People Have A New Attitude Toward America” And “More Confidence” | RealClearPolitics.

Oakland: Dead zones plague police radios

Lt. Fred Mestas of the Oakland Police Department remembers the day he was face to face with a robbery suspect who looked like he was carrying a concealed shotgun.   When he went to his radio for backup he saw that he had no signal.

He was in a dead spot.  His transmission was ‘somehow’ blocked.

This story was just this fall.  Despite an $18 million system he could not use his communication device.

The dead zones extend to hundreds of buildings including the basement of police headquarters!

See Oakland: Dead zones plague police radios – SFGate.

Cities in Italy at Risk of Bankruptcy

There are ten Italian cities facing a high risk of bankruptcy. Most of them are in the south of the country, and have long histories of financial mismanagement, corruption and mafia infiltration. However, there are some from the more prosperous north.

The warning comes after Mario Monti, the Italian Prime Minister, warned that the Italian island of Sicily is at risk of default. Sicily has a high degree of financial autonomy, but the Italian government are poised to take over the financial affairs of the island.

Default for these cities could mean trash is uncollected and schools fail to reopen after the summer vacation.

Could France Become Another Greece?

It seems a week does not go by without more pictures of Greeks rioting and protesting their current economic situation. Just this week the Greek Prime Minister has said that Greece is in the midst of a Great Depression.

Now economists are looking closely at the French economy; France numbers are pointing towards the same outcome as Greece. France currently has an eye wateringly high debt to GDP ratio:  86.1% of GDP (146% if ECB liabilities and bank guarantees are included). Although the UK and America have similar levels of indebtedness they have the mechanisms to do something about it. They also have far more political will to change the socialist policies causing the problem.

In France there is no political will at present, to change the labor laws, and encourage free enterprise. Since coming to power in May, Francois Hollande has already reduced the pension age, increased taxation on the wealthy, increased public spending, and increased the money governments are to pay to the EU. He has also opted out of EU regulations to cap nations budget deficits.

If France continues on this present course the economic death spiral seen in Greece will come to France some time soon.

For more analysis of the situation see The Telegraph

Aurora shooting suspect James Holmes followed by murder

James Holmes, the suspect of the mass shooting in Aurora, Colorado jailed in the Arapahoe Detention Center remains irrational and is becoming even more so according to an inmate released recently.

“He was spitting at the door and spitting at the guards…He’s spitting at everything.  Dude was acting crazy.”

Holmes remains in his “murderous Joker persona” according to a jailhouse worker.  “Let’s just say he hasn’t shown any remorse… He thinks he’s acting in a movie.”

Other recent inmates describe Holmes’ first night in jail where prisoners were chanting “kid killer”.

“All the inmates were talking about killing him…Everyone was looking for an opportunity. It’s all they could talk about…”.

See Aurora shooting suspect James Holmes jailed in solitary: ‘All the inmates were talking about killing him’  – NY Daily News.

Batman Premier in Paris Cancelled

After the tragic shooting in Denver, Colorado, where 12 people were killed during the Premier of the latest Batman movie, The Dark Knight Rises, Warner Brothers decided to cancel the Paris Premier of the film.

The Premier in Paris was to be a star-studdied event, with director Christopher Nolan in attendance as well as cast members from the movie: Christian Bale, Anne Hathaway, Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine .

Warner Brothers issued a statement saying they are “deeply saddened” by what has happened.

U.S. stocks fall as Europe ‘fear’ overrides earnings

Friday’s selling spree wiped out any gains made in July for both the Dow and the Nasdaq.

Investors are taken by fear and worry over the European financial position according to Frank Fantozzi, president and senior adviser at Planned Financial Services.

See U.S. stocks fall as Europe fear overrides earnings – MarketWatch.

In Aurora, the Clergy of ‘faith’ seek answers

Mitch Hamilton is a pastor of the Mississippi Avenue Baptist Church.  The church is located near the theater of the shooting that killed 12 and wounded dozens during the midnight screening of Batman.

He is not sure if any of his church members are among the dead.

Other clergy across the city of Aurora are struggling to respond to the tragedy.

“It’s impossible to be prepared for actions that reek of such evil… It’s not as if any of us have answers… Evil is in our midst…” said Rabbi Richard Rheins of Temple Sinai in the city of Denver, Colorado.

Another Rabbi, Joe Black from Temple Emanuel understands that his congregation will be looking for answers.  “I’ve been a rabbi for 25 years, and I know that I don’t have any answers. And if anybody says they do, I’m concerned,”

See In Aurora, the agonized seek answers through faith – CNN Belief Blog – CNN.com Blogs.

Midnight Movie Massacre: Survivor of June mall shooting killed in Colorado theater

It turns out that Jessica Ghawi, aka Jessica Redfield who was killed at the Batman movie premiere in Aurora, had just escaped a Toronto mall shooting on June 2, 2012.

Her experience was documented in her blog.  Her entries describe the sense/feelings that she had before the shooting occurred.

“This empty, almost sickening feeling won’t go away…I noticed this feeling when I was in the Eaton Center in Toronto just seconds before someone opened fire in the food court. An odd feeling which led me to go outside and unknowingly out of harm’s way. It’s hard for me to wrap my mind around how a weird feeling saved me from being in the middle of a deadly shooting.

See Midnight Movie Massacre: Survivor of June mall shooting killed in Colorado theater | Fox News.

Louie Gohmert: Aurora Shootings Result Of ‘Ongoing Attacks On Judeo-Christian Beliefs’

According to Republican Louie Gohmert of Texas, the shootings that occurred in Aurora, Colorado are the result of “ongoing attacks on Judeo-Christian beliefs”.

The Heritage Foundation’s show, Istook Live interviewed Gohmert and asked him why he believes these acts take place.  Gohmert indicated that the Christian values in this country have weakened.  “Some of us happen to believe that when our founders talked about guarding our virtue and freedom, that that was important…People say … where was God in all of this?”

Gohmert goes on to say “It does make me wonder, with all those people in the theater, was there nobody that was carrying a gun that could have stopped this guy more quickly?”

Source Louie Gohmert: Aurora Shootings Result Of ‘Ongoing Attacks On Judeo-Christian Beliefs’.

Fear grips movie goers, Aurora, Colorado

The Dark Knight Rises indeed.

“People were running everywhere, running on top of me, like kicking me, jumping over me. And there were bodies on the ground… I froze up. I was scared. I honestly thought I was going to die.” recalled Christopher Ramos at the midnight premiere of Batman.

“The image in our heads is stuck in there. I still have the ticket right here and honestly, I’m never going to forget this night at all. Because it was the first time I saw something that was real. Like a real-life nightmare that was there, not dreaming of,”

“I’m with coworkers and we’re on the floor praying to God we don’t get shot, and the gunshots continue on and on, and when the sound finally stopped, we started to get up and people were just bleeding,” according to another theatergoer.

see Aurora, Colo. Batman Shooter James Holmes Was PhD Student – ABC News.

Random Events, Free Will, Pre-destiny or Something Darker ?