Technology news

Wow, look at this news item from the technology section of ABC News:
Cell Phones on Airlines: Coming Soon to a Seat Near You?

More and more international airlines are offering in-flight cell services and it might not be long before calls are routine on domestic U.S. flights as well. Cathay Pacific has now announced that, starting in 2012, it will equip its entire fleet with an onboard cell phone system for GSM mobile phones. Virgin Atlantic announced a similar plan last month for its newest planes.
Here in the U.S. the Federal Communications Commission prevents domestic carriers from following their international peers, and legislation is pending in Congress to ban in-flight cell-phone conversations. But some in the industry say it's only a matter of time before American airlines start bringing voice communication to the friendly skies.

Aviation Week, in 2004 printed - 'Qualcomm and American Airlines are exploring ways for passengers to use commercial cell phones inflight for air-to-ground communication'. They did a test with the aircraft being equipped with a special antenna in the front and rear of the cabin to transmit cell phone calls to a small in-cabin CDMA cellular base station. This "pico cell" transmitted cell phone calls from the aircraft via a Globalstar satellite to the worldwide terrestrial phone network.
Randy Petersen, editor and publisher of InsideFlyer magazine said, "We will see this in U.S. airplanes in the near future."

In the future? WTF?
Don't these people who are on the cutting edge of modern cell phone technology realize that way back there in September of 2001, there were several cell calls made with 2001 technology cell phones from an aircraft at speed up there at altitude in the sky?
Didn't they hear Mark Bingham say "Hello Mom, this is your son Mark Bingham."? He also said, "You believe me, don't you?"
Did they miss Cee Cee Lyles saying, "I'm on a plane. I'm on a plane that's been hijacked. I'm calling from the plane." and "Tell my children I love them ..." Not naming her children.
And a whole mess of other cell phone calls, all purportedly from that tragic Flight 93 while flying way up there in the air.

And a note; cell phone calls are not to be confused with airphone calls.

Nice to think that someday we'll be able to call friends and relatives from a plane in the air from a cell phone! Wonder who made all those other calls on that day?

Haven't these advanced thinking techies ever heard of 9-11? Shanksville? UAL Flight 93? Well evidently not.

But we have, haven't we?

Is Obama a secret muslim?

The questions from the radical right and the so called Tea Party keep coming, Is Obama a muslim?

Spurred on by people like Glen Beck and Sarah Palin. It is a question that incites their redneck followers. Almost igniting them with the same vitriol the radical muslims display against Americans.

But President Obama has refuted the query time and time again. Of course the Republicans don't separate the idea that Obama's Christian pastor got into trouble during the election campaign for being too outspoken about Barak. They went after him then but now they have a new exciting bone to chew on, thereby conveniently ignoring the contradiction of Obama's Christian past. The mentality of those rapt listeners to Beck, Limbaugh and Palin cannot differentiate between Obama and Osama. Compounded by FOX News.

Perhaps a better question to ask might be: Is George HW Bush a muslim? Secretly or otherwise?

Take a look at his past;

- He has many connections through his oil industry companies to the Saudis and their money.

- While Director of the CIA, he provided training for the Saudi Royal Family Palace Guard.

- A connection through Osama Bin Laden bankrolled his son, GW Bush's first venture into oil.

- Part of the Gulf War agreements were to have the US Army in Saudi Arabia to protect the Royal Family, these troops were confined to the desert and never allowed off base or into towns. The Saudis themselves never even knew the hated Americans were on their soil to defend them against the so called threat of Saddam Hussein.

- George HW Bush was a close enough friend to visit the private Bin Laden family compound in Saudi-Arabia.

- There was a presidential briefing from the CIA in which Osama Bin Laden and al Qaeda's aim of launching an attack against the US was mentioned. To this day, the George W Bush White House has refused to release the contents of that briefing to Congressional inquiries into 9-11.

- On the morning of 9-11, Bush Sr was at a meeting in Washington. Osama Bin Laden's brother was also at that meeting.

- Two days later, when every aircraft in the whole USA was grounded, 140 Saudi Nationals and 24 members of the Bin Laden family were allowed to fly out of the USA on eight planes without questioning.

- The George W Bush Administration refused to place several Saudi charities and individuals on the terror watch list. The names were classified by GW Bush and never made public.

- Even certain CIA agents with Middle East experience have questioned the close relationship between the Bush family and the Saudi elite which led to the intelligence failure that culminated in the attack of 9-11.

Perhaps there is only conjecture here about the Bush family connections to the Saudis. But one must conclude that the Bush Family are far more worthy of scrutiny and suspicion of being muslims than Barak Obama.

Today in History - - - September 4

Google, the search engine to become it's own entity, was introduced by Larry Page and Sergey Brin in 1998. Google now has it's own definition in Websters.
We have our own reasons to like Google.
The Patriot Act was rushed through congress only 45 days after the horrendous actions at the WTC on September 11, 2001. And many believe that it allows federal authorities, including the FBI and CIA to spy on US citizens without their knowledge. They can do secret searches of your home without telling you, for instance.

What is also suspicious to some, is the fact that the government under George Bush Jr and then Attorney General John Ashcroft started selling the act only 11 days after September 11, 2001, causing the idea that it was part of the same preparations long before any planes crashed.

To be specific about why we like Google - Homeland Security under the Patriot Act, allows the FBI to obtain records from businesses, including hospitals, bookstores and libraries, and permits federal agents to ask financial institutions whether terrorism suspects have accounts with them, all in secret and without the knowledge of the persons being investigated.
This includes all your email transcripts, all your web surfing records, and all your internet search quests! And without warrants and by the new law, your web Internet Service Providers are forbidden under penalty of law to advise you your web records have been compromised!
Literally all the search engine companies complied without a whimper ...

Except Google, who resisted the government and said they would allow no such thing without warrants and proper legalities by the government. Google's lawyers were bristling for a fight. But alas, we're not sure what ensued in this regard because it all went quiet after this initial rebeliousness.
But we are right to suspect that the same actions might have been implemented as against Microsoft to get the government's way. (see that post here)

At any rate, we wish Google continued antagony against government control of any part of the web.

Way to go Google! Happy Birthday!