@ #12 Agreed. But I think that best thing is blocking them and blocking people who trade with them. If China sells them reactors, well put 50% tax over Chinese imported goods and stop exporting key items like Intel processors and memories to China (fictitious example). If Iran builds a nuclear reactor, bomb the reactor but avoid bombing cities and/or civilians. Don't let Iranian citizens to study in your universities. Don't let them live in your cities. In no time the fundamentalist government will be cast away.

In time: Castro was not thrown away because it was allowed to send refugees to Miami. Without this escape valve, Cuba would be democratic around 1989 or even earlier.

Hey,

No war is necessary. If their policy is that much disgusting, don't trade with them directly or indirectly. Don't send people there. Don't accept immigrants or refugees from there. Don't accept investments neither let them deal with your banks. On the contrary, invest in the neighbors. In no time they'll be in worse shape than North Korea and will have either to propose a deal or to start drinking oil or sand.

Summun Jus, Summa Injuria

This is one of those stupid laws that we in Brazil say: "ela não vai pegar". Aimed to justify the commissions (bribes) payed by recording companies to our politicians, it will be ineffective for the incapacity of local authorities in enforcing it. Nobody is really concerned with the law, since most people that would be affected are "untoucheables". Just to give an idea, we have 190 million people, but less than 25 million pay income taxes.

Here we have a law that says that you have to pay 3.000 the value of a pirated software if it is for personal use or much more if you redistribute it. This law is more than 10 years old. Nevertheless, you can buy pirated software in stands on the streets. Let's say, Windows Vista for R$10,00 (that means about US$6,00). The only visible effect of the law is that some companies suborn law enforcement agents.

Shit thing is that, after some years of stupid legislatures, it is necessary to swap government the bad way in order to prune things (like getting rid of corrupt politicians).

Hello Xeni. This time you got it: I haven't laughed that much in years...

Yeah... I see... that's why it is wise to reactivate the "Projeto Solimões".

The same way US and most countries laws are...

Let's face it: native population in US was brought to extinction by genocidal wars. Except for allowing casinos in the reservations I don't see US government and people concerned in "giving back" what was stolen from the Indians. I also don't see the French very concerned in paying back to the gipsies for the ones they sent to concentration camps during WW-II. So on and so forth...

The concepts of possession and property cannot be applied to the "isolated" Indians. They don't stay in the land long enough to characterize possession and they don't claim to own the land. That's not the case of the integrated Indians that effectively own lands. Nothing can be done if they sell the lands they own...

On the other side, most of the lands of the region were traded in the XIX century by Portuguese immigrants and people from the north-east of Brazil. There are documents for they were used in the treaties Brazil established with England, Netherlands and France to fix the frontiers. More recently, many lands were traded (sold) by our government to farmers from Rio Grande do Sul.

For the "isolated" Indians we have a policy of land reservations. These land reservations belong to the Federal Government and so cannot be sold or used by non "isolated" Indians.

The problem is that, as anyone can understand, the number of "isolated" Indians is rapidly decreasing. So, keeping reservations with the size of Portugal to keep 3.600 "isolated" indians (as Raposa Serra do Sol) is ridiculous.

About autonomy: here we have greed again. Could you imagine a state with the size of Portugal populated by 3600 Indians??? The untold truth is that they're sitting over the biggest known reserve of niobium. Like the poor Iraqis under the "savage dictatorship of Sadam" were sitting over some big reserves of oil.

Most of lands in the region (Amazonas, Rondônia, Roraima, Amapá and Acre) belong to the "República Federativa do Brasil" (Federal Government). In Mato Grosso, Goiás, south of Pará, Acre and north of Maranhão most lands are private. They have belonged to Brazil since our independence of Portugal, except for Acre that was bought from Bolivia in XIX Century.

Groups like "Survival International" have used the term "nation" and other terms in order to make people believe that the natives are not Brazilians and that they may ask for independence or sovereignty. That would be the first step for the internationalization of that part of Brazil.

The fact is that in all our country we have about 700.000 "índios" and of these less than 50.000 cannot be considered as integrated ("aculturados"). Brazil has about 190 million people... Manaus (capital of Amazonas) has about 1.5 million inhabitants.

Obviously this discourse of "autonomy" is not acceptable. It would be like postulating that Texas belongs to Mexico and was stolen by American rascals that made good use of General Sta. Maria vanity and greed... a distortion of history.

These groups (like Survival International) use people with communist background and good relations with left wing terrorist movements in the Continent and drug barons.

The idea of the communists is that once the region is freed from Brazil it will be easy to align to the FARCs, Chavez and the "Castro Family".

The idea of the groups like Survival International is that once the region is freed, it is easy to use Blackwater services to get rid of the communists.

Anyways, the natives will be screwed. Like the Iraqis the marines went to save :)

So, I'm not bitter. It is just that for a Brazilian this subject, as exposed by international media, is highly offensive.

BTW, the accusation is not of hypocrisy but of greed. The wish to control and use (for free, of course) the resources of that region.

The need for reserves is simple: a way of alienating Brazilian (and Peruvian/Venezuelan/etc) governments from the control over these areas.

The natives are not protectors of jungle. On the contrary, in the states of Goiás, Mato Grosso, Tocantins and even Rondônia they've sold wood and minerals in a model that made some "caciques" very rich and most other natives ruined. In Rondônia they have cattle and rice. The myth of the "fighters of the jungle" and "protectors of jungle" serves well for those that say that they're not Brazilians and they must have autonomy.

Let's see the facts: the State of Amazonas is bigger than all Spain, France and Germany put together. Marajó Island is bigger than the GB. Devastation in Amazonas state is less than 2% of total territory.

The places where devastation is significant (Mato Grosso, Goiás, Tocantins and the south of Pará) don't have significant number of insulated natives. Devastation has been caused by the rise of the price of commodities in international markets. Most of land stolen from forest has been used to raise cattle or to cultivate soy, rice and other products like that. Much of the land is held by trans-national companies.

One of the reasons that moved agro-business to the "Centro Oeste" and north regions of Brazil is that they're using fertile lands of the South and South-West regions for the production of alcohol.

So, in order to preserve forests it is necessary to limit the demand of meat, soy, corn, rice and alcohol in the foreign markets...

About the Bibles, no need to worry... there are more than 100.000 (one hundred thousand) non-government agencies operating in Amazonas on "behalf of the natives". Considering that there are no more than 80.000 natives and no more than 20.000 of them are "non-contacted" (at lest in regular basis), there are more than 1 organization per native.

Most of these organizations are religious and they do care to distribute Bibles and other material to the "natives".

They work, most of time, against the laws of the country, entering in the reservations without consent of government for purposes of bio-piracy, evangelization (either religious and political) and other criminal or unethical purposes. Their source of financing is unclear and most of time illegal.

As I told before, the one who wants a "multitude of cultures" can host them all in his own country and pay for it (both direct and indirect costs).

In the XIX Century, on the allegation of the need for "civilizing the natives" Europe devastated Africa and a great extension of Asia. In Africa they (the Europeans) were so utterly destructive that they left the region without any chance of development. They were worse than a combination of Gengis Khan, Atila, Anibal and Vlad Tepesh.

Now, in the XXI Century the discourse is reversed but the purpose is the same: it is necessary to find areas with natural resources (water included in the package) that can be exploited in order to fulfill the needs of US and Europe.

The discourse is clear: the natives are endangered and national governments don't give a dime for them, so it is necessary to send international troops to secure them. After that, it is necessary to bill the invaded countries for the "war expenses".

That's exactly what have been done in Iraq: first it was a lie (mass destruction weapons), then a second lie (Hussein was dictator and the Iraqi refugees in US were democrats and popular in their own country), then there was war and now all Iraq oil virtually belongs to USA companies.

People like Wade Davis just create convincing lies that justify colonialism.

Ok, so... to leave them alone (about 20.000 in all Brazil) it is necessary to reserve an area bigger than France?

But, again, the problem is: are they willing to be left alone? Are they really alone?

It is easy to keep talking about how good primitive life is when you live in a society where there are 2.5 cars/people and that burns about 40% of all the oil in the world. But I just don't see the enthusiasts of the "primitive life" throwing away their mobiles and their LCD TVs and other amenities of modern life.

Fact is we can reach an agreement: if USA wants so badly the natives, we can give knowledge on how to make natural reservations the size of France inside US territory and after that we would gladly send the 20.000 natives to live inside it, without the evil influence of "white men". To make things fair, reservations (which must be continuous territory) can be in the frontier between US and Canada. Just don't complain if you see utter devastation, drug traffic and smugglery in the borders... Neither if you have to increase taxes to pay for health, food and security of people who don't work. Neither if they start invading neighbor areas arguing that they need those for their survival. Neither if they refuse Federal Authority, even in cases of crimes like rape and murder.

The first missing question is that: is it fair to create zoos of human people? Would any of you "civilized guys" agree to be put in a reservation without right to education or medical care, condemned to live as a "pre-neolithic native" (including live expectancy of about 40 years)?

The second missing question is: is it fair or right to make such reservations bigger than France to hold no more than 80.000 subjects and no more than 20.000 "uncontacted natives"? Interesting point (since France was mentioned) is that this country have a colony in the region and treats their native so well that they're evading to Brazil...

The third untold question is: why to put those reserves in the border of the country and in strategic areas rich of mineral reserves? Would USA put "indian reservations" in the frontier with Mexico? Or in Texas just over oil fields (just to give an example). For USA and EU behavior against other less favored people, like the Iraqis, I don't think the respect for human beings is the core of the problem.

The fourth intriguing question is: if USA is so concerned about environment, why they don't start doing housekeeping? Why they don't start to recover their own environment? But, if they need someone else land to preserve, why they're not willing to pay for that?

For us down here, people like Possuelo are not heroes. They are just mercs at the service of foreign powers. Or, best hypothesis, taking care of their academic lives at the cost of people's lives.

It is also false that the natives preserve environment. On the contrary, many of the reservations where places of extraction of mahogany and even in Rondônia they've transformed lots of rain forest into pastures.

So, I think it is necessary to put things in the proper places: USA and EU discovered that the Amazonian region is sub-populated and rich in natural resources and are planing "autonomy movements" in the region.

Again and again I remember my business partner words: "beware of the assholes because they are inventive"... For a security team not to be sure that a 1.7" made of solid metal cannot shoot anything... well, as we say down south "ô meu, fala sério..."

That's the classic example where data collected in excess is more trouble than solution. Looks like people that seeking for absolute network security keeps snort generating alerts for everything. After a while the number of false positives is so huge that nobody really wants to analyze that...

BTW, I've always been suspicious of huge investments where cheaper solutions can be found. Necessary to see who's getting all that money and that he is not "rewarding" purchasers both locally or in numbered accounts in Cayman Islands :)

Not to mention that contents will be encrypted and it'll be pretty hard to decode the contents provided you don't have proper keys...

I just don't agree with the future tense "will save". They've saved the planet thousands of times already.

As the author brightly points out, most of innovation comes from what people call "piracy", "infringement of copyright laws" and "unauthorized use of intellectual property".

Again, as the author notes, "when an industry incorporates issuing people for piracy as part of their business model, it is a sign that it don't have a business model anymore".

I guess I'll buy the book.

I'm getting quite tired of this kind of catastrophic forecast.

Global warming is indeed a problem. A serious problem. But catastrophism is a road to nowhere.

If this kind of prevision had the minimum chance of being true most biotech companies, most agricultural lobbies, most governments would be just freaking out.

That's not the case.

EU governments are investing in alternative energy sources and in the optimization of natural resources usage. Some state governments in USA are trying to rationalize the use of energy.

IMHO, the problem is that people is living more. It seems that US military actions in Africa, the Middle East and the Balkans are not succeeding in kill enough people to keep ecologic balance stable. (f@ck1ng obvious irony, PLZ don't take it seriously).

Infra-red/Ultra-violet...

They assume that you can sell that to a terrorist :)

Sometimes I ask myself... "is people eating shit to be soooo stupid????"

What I can tell Americans is: "beware the military governments".

This kind of action (deciding for the suspension of civil rights and allowing the use of brute force for extracting information - and confessions) was largely used by dictatorial governments in Latin America in the 60ies and 70ies.

I think that Bush administration is taking a lot of "preemptive" actions directed to assure continuity. And I feel that these people wont be ashamed to go as far as they think necessary.

Here in the lands of south we have large experience in governments closing congress, closing courts, establishing "state of emergency" (and it would be easy to do that, all they have to do is to blow up another building...).

Remember that lost freedom takes decades to be found again.

That's much of bullshit in this business of brain enhancement drugs or "smart drugs". I myself tried a wide range of combinations and the most noticeable effect I experienced was strong nausea from hidergine (even in 1mg doses).

Not to mention that nobody can assure anything about long term effects.

Best thing is to eat well, sleep well and exercise enough.

There's a hilarious recording of an actual service desk log from MS Brazil where a customer complains about the "MS Original Software Advantage" messages that started to flow in her computer screen.

After the second question, the service desk clerk guesses that she has a pirated copy and says that she must purchase an original license and explains how it can be done on-line.

But the "customer" keeps insisting (sometimes with bizarre language) that she purchased the copy. That she payed for that.

It is impossible to transcribe with all the fun, but it can be heard at youtube: www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVeQGZ8m2OA

Well, it is in Portuguese... guess that Spanish speaking people will be able to understand all.

Cool to see you all together. BTW, the whole Wired selection for 2008 was cool.

That's a real mix. You can find real obsolete skills, you can find old-fashioned skills (that are not obsolete and are still current) and you can find lots of wishful thinking.

#3 Argument is the mother of the idea of "vital space" and "Anschluß".

But just think about it: the tax money they're spending on Blackwater is the money they wont have to spend to boost public education, public health and all other services common people use in daily basis.

Also thing about it: the money they're spending is financed by Saudi Arab citizens and companies (who hold about 1/3 of external credits of US government). So, in the long term, the "fight against terrorism" is the retirement insurance warrant for the sheiks...

That could be posted in the thread "funny & dumb news"... If it is a disaster, who ensures that communication lines will be available? Who ensures that environment will allow the use of digital equipment? Who ensures that desperate people don't turn themselves a mob?

I am not in USA. To be true I am in Brazil and I had an astonishing experience today: I got a new job at a government agency and they require that I prove that I am not a convicted criminal (you see, government agencies don't talk that much...). I came to the place where they issue a declaration that I don't have any trouble with the legal system carrying a bunch of documents (ID card, Tax ID card, etc). I forgot a document of capital importance: my marriage certificate. So they couldn't tell that I am not a criminal because they don't know who my wife is...

Yeah. In my text "our" means "our in Latin America". Not as "your in North America" :D

But US and UK governments do pay organizations to cause trouble with "native Americans" around here (South America).

That's funny: US + UK governments pay (a lot of money to) entities to say that here in South America we have some "indian nations" that have the rights for the Continental Amazon. Let's say, about 40% of South America for about 1.5 million "indians" (many living in the stone ages).

Now, let's see what they do to the "rogue" Lakotas and see if we can do the same around here... (that's black joke. Except for the flu, small pox, sifilis and alcohol we haven't killed our Indians for a long time).

The most disturbing thing about these cutaways is that they call attention to ICBM silos hidden inside buildings in urban areas.

Not a thing that a rational government would do but... where can we find rational governments anyways ???

Well, translations make your works available for non English speaking people but also subject them to poor/bad translations. I myself spent several years without reading Gaiman books due to a poor translation of "American Gods".

You have a style that makes me wonder if you substituted your morning coffee by a full bottle of "santo daime"... quite hallucinating stuff. Not easy to translate in a way that it makes sense in other languages/cultures.

quote:
We don't know which nations will soon be flying the SU-30MK, hopefully China isn't one of them.

No, China will be flying the SuClone 30MK which besides having similar capabilities will be plagued by 50% less operational range but, on the other hand, will be able to broadcast digital MP3 copyrighted music for free and also to scan unprotected wireless networks and spread all sorts of software malwares :D

Peterus,

During WWII Dresden was bombed without any reasonable reason... just for the joy of Major Bombing Harris... Major got retired, nobody got sued but that didn't legitimate the bombing of civilians...

Perhaps living for a long under Stalinist governments may twist the sense of what is fair and what is wrong. Torturing is wrong. No sensible information can be retrieved under torture. Was it the contrary, France would still be in Cambodia and Argelia and US would not had been forced to leave Vietnam.

Torture, arbitrary imprisonment and other similar acts only reinforce the terrorists. These actions only create "martyrs" (real or fake ones).

Democracy relies on principles.

One principle is that everyone is innocent unless proof in contrary, that everyone have the right to be judged by a proper court, that everyone have the right for a defendant (lawyer), so on and so forth. That's not the case in Guantanamo and other "secret" prisons (or concentration fields???).

Other principle is that nobody will be submitted to cruel or inhuman treatment. That's also not the case in these prisons.