The Threat of Contaminated Money: Proposed Solutions

Posted on February 8, 2005 by Nova in Best Articles | Leave a comment

by Nova Spivack, Minding the Planet, http://www.mindingtheplanet.net

This news article reports that the FBI is investigating a situation in which mobsters deliberately contaminated their drug money with a virus in order to deter in-house theft by members of their organization. Several years ago, during the days of collective paranoia following 9-11, I started thinking about how to combat potential terrorist threats — and one of the threats I came up with was precisely this threat of contaminated money.… Read More “The Threat of Contaminated Money: Proposed Solutions”

Hafnium Bombs – The Next Superweapon

Posted on January 12, 2005 by Nova in Science, Technology | 1 Comment

Here is a fascinating article about DARPA’s "high risk, high payoff" quest to develop an exotic new Hafnium bomb — a new kind of weapon that emits huge amounts of gamma rays from a very small package. This thing packs the bang of a conventional nuke in a package as small as a hand grenade — and the gamma ray burst that results can penetrate deep into bunkers and through thick materials.… Read More “Hafnium Bombs – The Next Superweapon”

The Next Flu Pandemic…

Posted on November 22, 2004 by Nova in Science | Leave a comment

This article provides some interesting details on the leading candidate for the next flu pandemic, which is overdue, and appears to be brewing in Asia. Unlike normal flu’s pandemic strains seem to have an uncanny ability to kill off people in the prime of their lives, by causing the immune system to go so far into overdrive that it actually kills the host as well as the virus.… Read More “The Next Flu Pandemic…”

Color Laser Printers Secretly Encode Tracking Codes on Printouts

Posted on November 22, 2004 by Nova in Technology | 1 Comment

This is quite interesting. It turns out that manufacturers of color laser printers are secretly encoding tracking numbers onto every inch of every printout. These microscopic codes enable printouts to be traced back to particular printers that printed them, and thus to whomever owns those devices.… Read More “Color Laser Printers Secretly Encode Tracking Codes on Printouts”

Senate May Ram Ludicrous Copyright Bill

Posted on November 16, 2004 by Nova in Technology, Web/Tech | 3 Comments

From the Truly-Ludicrous-Department, the Senate may attempt to ram through a horribly shortsighted and backwards copyright bill. This bill would, among other things, eliminate centuries of fair-use precedent, make skipping commercials on digital recording devices a crime, and would make many uses of p2p networks, digital music players, digital sampling, and other forms of fair-use, crimes.… Read More “Senate May Ram Ludicrous Copyright Bill”

The American Conservative Magazine endorses…Kerry?

Posted on October 22, 2004 by Nova in Miscellaneous | 4 Comments

Disclaimer: I try to keep this blog non-political. I am essentially a political centrist — I tend to judge each politician, plan and party on its merits rather than by any rigid ideology or party-line. I generally find most politicans, political plans and political parties to be less intelligent and less long-term-oriented than I would wish them to be.… Read More “The American Conservative Magazine endorses…Kerry?”

C02 Build-Up Surprises Scientists…

Posted on October 11, 2004 by Nova in Science | 3 Comments

Recent data indicates that the pace of C02 buildup in the atmosphere is moving faster than expected, raising speculation of the dreaded “feedback effect” kicking in. Computer simulations have predicted this, now it may be happening — or it may just be a temporary anomaly.… Read More “C02 Build-Up Surprises Scientists…”

How to Save the Upcoming Elections from Terrorism Alert Manipulation

Posted on August 8, 2004 by Nova in Miscellaneous | 2 Comments

There has been much recent discussion lately about alleged evidence that the Bush administration is issuing terrorist alerts for political gain. While I am not taking a position on this issue, I do have a suggestion that could eliminate any doubts, and in the process protect our upcoming elections.… Read More “How to Save the Upcoming Elections from Terrorism Alert Manipulation”

Can You Imagine What Would Happen if MoveOn.Org Used the GoMeme Concept?

Posted on August 4, 2004 by Nova in Web/Tech, Wild Speculation | Leave a comment

I wonder if anyone from MoveOn.Org or the Republicans will notice our GoMeme experiments? (Not that I’m taking sides — I’ll simply be happy if somebody wins the election!) Grassroots political campaigns could potentially really benefit from the techniques we’re testing here.… Read More “Can You Imagine What Would Happen if MoveOn.Org Used the GoMeme Concept?”

Proposal For A New Constitutional Amendment: A Separation of Corporation and State

Posted on July 28, 2004 by Nova in Best Articles | 33 Comments

by Nova Spivack
Originally published on July 28, 2004; Updated on October 10, 2011
http://novaspivack.com

Should there be a Constitutional Separation of Corporation and State?

Today our American democracy faces a new threat to its integrity, a threat even greater than terrorism in the long-term.… Read More “Proposal For A New Constitutional Amendment: A Separation of Corporation and State”

A Scary Article Explaining Imminent Rapid Climate Change

Posted on July 25, 2004 by Nova in Miscellaneous | Leave a comment

Just read an interesting article about the coming end of the world, in which the author traces the recent history of rapid climate change, government cover ups, and secret preparations for the polar ice-cap melting which now seems pretty much inevitable.… Read More “A Scary Article Explaining Imminent Rapid Climate Change”

NYC Covered Up High Asbestos Levels After 911

Posted on July 20, 2004 by Nova in Miscellaneous | 1 Comment

A report has come out that the levels of asbestos in lower Manhattan were (are?) at least twice what is considered safe for humans by the FDA, and possibly worse. Levels were so high after 911 that they overloaded the tests.… Read More “NYC Covered Up High Asbestos Levels After 911”

Should Corporations be Democracies?

Posted on July 7, 2004 by Nova in Business | 11 Comments

I just saw an interesting film, The Corporation, that suggests that many corporations (which legally have the same status as “persons” in the USA) could be clinically diagnosed as psychopaths. While I felt the film was a bit heavy-handed, there were many points that were quite thought-provoking.… Read More “Should Corporations be Democracies?”

New Information about North Korean Train Blast

Posted on May 16, 2004 by Nova in Miscellaneous | Leave a comment

A Japanese report reveals that Syrian equipment and technicians were on the train that exploded in North Korea recently. Furthermore, the report alleges that North Koreans in “protective suits” were dispatched to remove the bodies and equipment from a special section of the train.… Read More “New Information about North Korean Train Blast”

New Way to Crack Declassified Documents

Posted on May 11, 2004 by Nova in Miscellaneous | Leave a comment

A new technique has been proposed that appears to be able to determine a shortlist of possible words that can occupy sections of declassified documents that have been “blacked out.” The attack makes use of some clever analytical tactics. Using this method the researchers were able to determine the identity of an intelligence agency in a declassified CIA document.… Read More “New Way to Crack Declassified Documents”

The Actual Situation in Madrid: Unsanitized News

Posted on March 12, 2004 by Nova in Miscellaneous | 1 Comment

Here is an article that accurately depicts the carnage in Madrid. In the USA we only get highly sanitized news and war coverage is usually very minimal — but this article tells it like it really is. Perhaps if the public was shown what was war was really like there would be less of it?… Read More “The Actual Situation in Madrid: Unsanitized News”

Patent Office Nullifies Eolas Plugin Patent!

Posted on March 6, 2004 by Nova in Business, Technology, Web/Tech | Leave a comment

Good news, and good riddance to Eolas. The USPTO has nullified the Eolas plugin patent. They have 60 days to appeal though. Hopefully they will give up or at least lose on appeal. This patent has created a world of problems for third-party software developers with plugins for IE — and has given Microsoft extra firepower in blocking other technologies from their software.

Great Idea: AccountableMedia.info

Posted on February 23, 2004 by Nova in Miscellaneous | Leave a comment

A good friend, Ann Lynnworth, has started a terrific new project — to police and restore accuracy in the media. Ann writes:

Watching the election news from mid-Jan to mid-Feb made me sick as I saw how misinformation was copied and pasted around the globe at lightning speed.

Secret Pentagon Report Leaked: Warns of Coming Climate Change, British Ice-Age, Riots, Nuclear War

Posted on February 23, 2004 by Nova in Science | 2 Comments

A leaked secret report by top Pentagon analysts claims that within 20 years Britain could become “Siberian” and Major European cities will be sunk beneath rising seas. In addition the report warns of nuclear conflict, mega-droughts, famine and widespread rioting around the world as massive climate changes reshape the planet.… Read More “Secret Pentagon Report Leaked: Warns of Coming Climate Change, British Ice-Age, Riots, Nuclear War”

Pentagon Now Considering "Rapid Climate Change" as National Security Threat

Posted on February 9, 2004 by Nova in Science | Leave a comment

The Pentagon is now considering the possibility of “rapid climate change” as soon as even two decades in the future as a potential new “national security threat.” Research has shown that previous ice-ages were not gradual — rather they were sudden catastrophes — possibly triggered when the global environment reached a certain critical state.… Read More “Pentagon Now Considering "Rapid Climate Change" as National Security Threat”

Warning: Graphic. Horrible News Coming out of North Korea…

Posted on February 2, 2004 by Nova in Science | 1 Comment

I read today with disgust further testimonials of shocking atrocities from defectors from the Gulags in North Korea. If you aren’t aware of the situation, you should be. Perhaps more than any other nation today, North Korea is engaged in systematic, large-scale human rights abuses — in particular, as the above cited news report alleges — chemical weapons experiments on living prisoners, including experiments on entire families.… Read More “Warning: Graphic. Horrible News Coming out of North Korea…”

USPTO Grants California Lawyer Patent to Entire WWW Naming Scheme

Posted on January 27, 2004 by Nova in Technology, Web/Tech | Leave a comment

Do you know about United States Patent No. 6,671,714? You should. The patent, recently granted to one Frank Weyer of Beverly Hills, California, grants the patent holder full rights to:A method for assigning URL’s and e-mail addresses to members of a group comprising the steps of: assigning each member of said group a URL of the form “name.subdomain.domain”;

Scientists Discuss How to Save Earth

Posted on January 11, 2004 by Nova in Science, Technology | Leave a comment

A group of climatologists met recently in England to discuss how to save the Earth from global warming. Rather than actually doing something to stop the emission of greenhouse gasses — they proposed a giant space shield and a bunch of other insane ideas.… Read More “Scientists Discuss How to Save Earth”

Bush's Mars Initiative

Posted on January 9, 2004 by Nova in Science | 4 Comments

I admit it. I’m a total sucker for things like this. If the Bush Administration commits to sending a manned mission to Mars, or even just putting a permanent base on the Moon, it would definitely be a point in their favor in my mind.… Read More “Bush's Mars Initiative”

The Solution to the Patent Problem

Posted on October 30, 2003 by Nova in Best Articles, Science, Technology, Web/Tech | 4 Comments

Today I realized that the solution to the failing patent law system in the US and abroad is not to eliminate patents, or prevent patents in certain areas. Nor is it to have more or better patent examiners, or stricter guidelines for prior art analysis and appeals.… Read More “The Solution to the Patent Problem”

Crop Bio-terrorism Using Genetic Weapons: Horrifying Scenario

Posted on September 30, 2003 by Nova in Science | Leave a comment

The New Scientist published this scary article in reaction to new reports from the US Agriculture Department about unorthodox terrorist risk scenarios. It’s one more example of why uncontrolled genetic engineering is perhaps the greatest present long-term threat to the human species — far more dangerous in fact than nuclear weapons.… Read More “Crop Bio-terrorism Using Genetic Weapons: Horrifying Scenario”

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