If you sent a bottle of vodka to every home in America every week for a year, you would no doubt have a whole wave of alcoholics. The Internet has created a wave of pornography addicts with its pervasive porn delivery mechanism.
Saturday, February 25, 2012
conforms to Sharia law: the Islamic-Strategy Index in germany
BERLIN - There are special rules for Muslim investors, who believe certain types of investing are immoral and thus forbidden by the Koran. It is off limits, for example, to invest in companies where interest, derivatives, insurance, alcohol, tobacco, pork, arms, or gambling are involved. The same goes for hedging instruments like gold and silver, or investing in the entertainment industry.
Keen not to alienate any potential clients, Germany's WestLB bank has just launched an investment product that conforms to Sharia law: the Islamic-Strategy Index Certificate (WKN WLZ5SH). The reduced-risk certificate was listed on the Frankfurt and Stuttgart exchanges as of Jan. 20.
The instrument created by Structured Solutions includes stocks quoted on the Dax and Mdax indices exclusively, and is controlled twice yearly. Ideal Ratings, an institute specialized in Islamic investment, checks the financial situations of all potential buyers, whose debts against total assets cannot exceed 30%.
There is a fee of 1.5% per year for structuring the certificate. The starter mix in the Islamic basket includes – in equal numbers -- Adidas, BASF, Bayer, Deutsche Post, E.on, Linde, RWE, SAP, Siemens and ThyssenKrupp stocks. Buyers of the certificate, which has been approved by the Central Committee of Muslims in Germany as being in line with Islamic precepts, automatically become contributors, at least modestly, to social causes. Five percent of dividends go to a charitable cause selected by WestLB.
"Airbag" included
To protect investors from serious loss, WestLB has built an airbag into the certificate. If a closing rate on the Islam Index is at least 8% lower than opening price or closing rate of the last adjustment, then on the following business day all capital is moved to a no-interest money account.
Only when the level of the back reference price is again reached does the capital flow back into shares. If rates hover at modest levels for a longer period of time, full investment takes place at the latest during the six-month check.
If WestLB goes bankrupt, however, the airbag doesn’t work – the certificate is a debenture. WestLB has an A-rating from Fitch. The insurance premium against risk of WestLB loan default is – with its present 401 basis points – significantly higher than it is with most issuers.
The bottom line, however, is that WestLB’s Islamic Strategy Index Certificate, thanks to its strict selection criteria (subject to a few small reservations), is meant to be a sustainable investment. The starter package contains Dax members only, so investors are getting a fat-trimmed Dax certificate at higher rates but with built-in risk reduction. It remains to be seen if the selection made in accordance with Sharia law performs better.
As Men Struggle To Keep Up, Some Women Pose The Question: Who Needs Them?
well what if men had said in the past women need to stay home and clean the house / have babys / do what ever there husbands told them to do because women are not smart enough to think for them selfs
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In 1917, demonstrations marking International Women’s Day initiated the first of two revolutions that led to the collapse of Imperial Russia, the end of the Romanov dynasty, and the beginning of Communism. Lenin subsequently established International Women’s Day as a national holiday in the USSR
by: admin Manless and fancy free? (Julien Haler)
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In 1917, demonstrations marking International Women’s Day initiated the first of two revolutions that led to the collapse of Imperial Russia, the end of the Romanov dynasty, and the beginning of Communism. Lenin subsequently established International Women’s Day as a national holiday in the USSR
Also fundamental to this process was the freeing of women from the burdens and constraints of the nuclear family. In socialist thought, the family systematically restricts and devalues the role played by women in society. Women need to be freed from the traditional roles of wife and mother in order to be equal.
The emerging utopian socialist society aimed to relieve women of their private responsibilities within the family and have the familial role traditionally filled by women provided publicly by the state. By 1919 over 90 per cent of Petrograd had access to communal restaurants, government childcare and laundry services. As Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky said, “the revolution made a heroic effort to destroy the so called family hearth—the archaic, stuffy, and stagnant institution in which the women of the toiling classes perform the galley labor from childhood to death.”
The USSR sought to promote the equality of women by ensuring that women fulfilled the same role in society as men. The attempt failed miserably. But the feminist movement nevertheless idealized a gender-free societal division of labor. And this precept is still popular in current culture. The message we are hearing this International Women’s Day is that women will only be equal when they assume the same roles as men. Enforcing “sameness” will uphold woman’s worth and dignity.
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by: admin Manless and fancy free? (Julien Haler)
By Bettina Weber February 22nd, 2012 - 09:02
TAGES-ANZEIGER/Worldcrunch
As Men Struggle To Keep Up, Some Women Pose The Question: Who Needs Them?
Outperformed in school and, in many cases, the workplace too, men are increasingly being seen as a “problem” – especially when it comes to forming families. Women prefer men who are equally if not more accomplished. Trouble is, there aren’t enough such men to go around.
TAGES-ANZEIGER/Worldcrunch
ZURICH -- Things are going badly for men – again. In Germany, an article published in Zeitmagazin has created a furor because the author, a woman, described the 30-year-old men in her age group as Schmerzensmänner. By this she meant the men are childish, oversensitive, self-centered and so focused on “finding themselves” that they haven’t got a clue about relating to women. In short: men aren’t guys anymore – they’re needy softies.
The article unleashed a flood of letters and comments from readers, hit the blogosphere big-time, and even inspired one actual male to present his side of things – and ask for understanding. The heated discussion made one thing very clear: men are increasingly being seen as a problem.
Lists of criticism include such items as: never grow up; refuse to accept responsibility; don’t help enough around the house; emotionally stunted; mamma’s boys; and overly dependent. Even sociologists and researchers are sounding alarm bells, saying the main problem is the lack of role models. The Berlusconis, Schettinos [Francesco Schettino, captain of the Costa Concordia cruise ship] and Schwarzeneggers of the world aren’t exactly helping the situation, so it’s no wonder, say the experts, that there is no such thing as a new, modern man.
Failing to make the grade
While women are advancing with giant strides, men appear to be falling behind. In school, boys need a lot more help than girls to get through – although, interestingly, successful female students still tend to be credited for their “hard work” and “discipline” rather than “talent” or “intelligence.” What’s even more interesting is that the reaction of many boys to girls being better at school is that good grades are “girly” and uncool – the feminine being perceived as inferior and thus not worthwhile.
Another theory has it that since there are more female than male teachers, their way of teaching is more adapted to girls -- so the boys are getting the short end of the straw. The lack of male teachers also means that boys are missing vital role models at school. This argument has been going around as tirelessly as a prayer wheel for years, without getting any truer from repetition. Studies in Germany and Switzerland have shown that children learn how to read better with women teachers, and that, overall, female teachers are more competent than their male counterparts.
“In Germany, the male teachers in primary schools are not among the very best,” the Swiss paper NZZ am Sonntag quoted a researcher at the Berlin-based Social Science Research Center (WZB) as saying. Anton Strittmatter of the Swiss Teachers’ Association says: “Among primary school teachers in their 40s and 50s, there are more brilliant women than men.” So aside from the argument about women teachers doing boys a disservice, the question also poses itself: why do there need to be male role models in the classroom? What’s Dad doing, for example?
Whatever side of the issue one may be on, the figures speak for themselves: in 2011, 57.6% of all high school graduates were girls; the percentage of women registered at institutions of higher learning was 55.3%; and women walked away with 62.1% of the university degrees.
Consequences of the dominance of females in education can already be seen in the United States. The disparity in salaries for the under-30 age group is disappearing as women start to be paid as much or more than men. According to a national study conducted in 2010, in 147 of the 150 largest U.S. cities, women earned on average 8% more than men of the same age. Topping the list were Memphis and Atlanta, where the figure was 20%, followed by New York City with 17%, San Diego with 15%, and Los Angeles with 12%.
What the study also showed is that women have a slight lead in holding well-paid top positions – though the ones who did tended to be unmarried and childless. In the United States too, having a family is often a hindrance to professional advancement for women.
The situation in the United States caused Time Magazine to pose the worried question as to whether colleges should introduce a quota for men so they aren’t left entirely on the shelf. The same question is getting asked in Europe. At a recent info-evening for students who would be attending a cantonal high school in Zurich, one of the (male) teachers, in a private aside, said he thought that measures to support boys academically had become necessary.
A shortage of family guys
At first glance, this development is of course positive for women. But there is a flip side: unlike men who are often happy to have relationships with less-accomplished women, women don’t tend to like less-accomplished men. They want the men in their lives to be at the same level as they are, or higher. Highly educated women are more often childless and partner-less than their less well-educated sisters. Should women lower their standards?
Renowned sociologoist Eva Illouz says no. Her advice to women is not to make the desire for kids dependent on a man – i.e. not to give up having children just because there is no viable candidate for partner or fatherhood on the horizon. She goes so far as to say that, except for conceiving, women shouldn’t even plan for a man in their lives and would do better to explore alternative family models, for example several mothers living together. Under this scenario, men risk becoming superfluous.
In the United States, the scenario is already a frequent reality – particularly among Afro-American women. In his book Is Marriage for White People?, Stanford law professor Richard Banks argues that the black population is often a barometer for social developments. Afro-American mothers have for a long time tended to be unmarried more frequently than white American mothers.
Women remaining single – something that was considered “pathological” in the 1960s – has now made considerable inroads in western societies. Today, across Europe, 37% of mothers are unmarried -- and 66% of Afro-American children grow up without the presence of a father. Mothers and children may not always choose this, to be sure, but it’s a rising trend.
Sociologists ascertain that what is basically happening is that black women tend more to a new model of the family than to the standard formula. They have children and then live with their own mothers, who look after the kids while the daughter goes to work. The fathers of the children don’t even figure as extras in the script. As providers, they are thoroughly dispensable since women tend to have the better education.
Professor Banks’s analysis would point to the Afro-American model becoming pan-European. For the present, it’s not a wide reality. But the attitude and outlook are already widely present. At a recent panel discussion of single moms, two women acknowledged that – although they didn’t like to say it out loud – their lives were a lot easier now that there were no men around.
Society tends to pity such women. It shouldn’t. Even when they shared their lives with men, these women found themselves handling all of the household responsibilities on top of going to work. They had no choice, in other words, but to do everything anyway – so in the end the preferred to be autonomous. Whiny Schmerzensmänner may be a problem, but the real dimensions of the man problem are a lot bigger.
Photo - Julien Haler
All rights reserved ©Worldcrunch - in partnership with Tages-Anzeiger
February 22nd, 2012 - 09:02
Islamic-compliant Australian equity portfolios
Thomson Reuters, Crescent Wealth Launch Islamic Index in Australia
Thomson Reuter and Crescent Wealth launched on Wednesday Australia's first research-based Islamic index. The index aims to provide investors who want to build Islamic-compliant Australian equity portfolios a powerful new tool for benchmarking.
The index, called the Thomson Reuters Crescent Wealth Islamic Australian Index, screens companies listed with the Australian Stock Exchange ( ASX ) for compliance with Islamic investment principles. It will initially cover 134 securities which have combined market capitalisation of over $160 billion.
The screening filters that the index uses exclude banks and conventional financial stocks, firms with high level of debts or leverage such as property trusts and other stocks that conflict with Islamic principles. It has a dynamic bias towards resources and energy firms and includes blue-chip stocks such as BHP Billiton ( BHP ) and Rio Tinto ( RIO ).
Thomson Reuters, a global business information provider, and Crescent Wealth, an Australian Islamic investment manager, created the index to position Australia as an attractive destination for global Islamic investment funds estimated to exceed $1 trillion and another $50 billion managed funds that invest in equities based on Islamic principles.
Over the years, the steady development of the Islamic capital market (ICM) across the world positioned it as a major counterpart to the conventional capital market. Its growth comes at a time that the need for global funding continues to grow making ICM products attractive to different market participants outside its expected Muslim clients.
Islamic finance laws prohibit the earning of interest. Instead, enterprises that comply with the Shariah law focus on buying and selling of tangible assets such as property.
"Australian markets are stable and have attracted growth fundamentals that Islamic investors are looking for in today's challenging macro-environment. Using the well-documented and objective Shariah screening process, the new co-branded index will highlight these investments with low levels of balance-sheet debt. It is a powerful new tool for Islamic investors to geographically diversify their portfolios while increasing investment opportunities into an important G-20 country like Australia," Thomson Reuters Global Head of Islamic Finance Rushdi Siddiqui said in a statement.
There is much wealth in the hands of Muslims, particularly from those who come from the oil-rich Middle Eastern region as well as businessmen from large Islamic countries that are considered emerging economies such as Malaysia and Indonesia.
Talal Yassine, managing director of Crescent Wealth, said that there is a huge untapped potential to further grow Islamic-compliant investment in Australia from investors in Asia and the Middle East.
"The investment theme reflected in the new index has broad appeal to conventional investors beyond those driven by Islamic principles. With its natural weighting towards low levels of debt and leverage, an Islamic investment strategy is a sound one in the current environment. Many companies that make up the index carry low account receivables and a greater portion of their funds are invested in the business rather than sitting as cash or short-term investments," Mr Yassine said in a statement.
Crescent Wealth aims to grow up to $13 billion in funds under its management by 2019 from a current potential pool of $8 billion.
On its first day of operation, pharmaceutical stock CSL captured 10.1 per cent of the Islamic index, followed by Woodside Petroleum with 9.5 per cent and Original Energy with 8.7 per cent.
Besides the launch of the Islamic Index, the last few months saw growth in Australia's stock market following the launch in late 2011 of the Chi-X Stock Exchange and the addition of 29 companies to the National Stock Exchange (NSX) of Australia as well as its offer of zero application fees.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc.
Sioux tribe sues brewers for alcohol woes
Sioux tribe sues brewers for alcohol woes
By Peter Harriman, (Sioux Falls, S.D.) Argus Leader
Updated 2/10/2012 3:51 PM
The Oglala Sioux Tribe is suing some of the world's largest beer brewers, saying they knowingly have contributed to devastating alcohol-related problems on Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.
A lawsuit filed by the Oglala Sioux Tribe targets four beer stores in Whiteclay, a Nebraska town (pop. 11) on the South Dakota border that sells about 5 million cans of beer per year.
A lawsuit filed by the Oglala Sioux Tribe targets four beer stores in Whiteclay, a Nebraska town (pop. 11) on the South Dakota border that sells about 5 million cans of beer per year.
The lawsuit, filed Thursday in U.S. District Court of Nebraska, seeks $500 million in damages for the costs the tribe has incurred in dealing with crime and providing social services and health care as a result of rampant alcoholism among the 20,000 tribal members.
The suit is on behalf of the tribe, however, and no individual tribal members are plaintiffs and eligible for money.
It also targets four beer stores in Whiteclay, Neb., a tiny town in northwest Nebraska at the South Dakota border near the reservation. Despite only about dozen residents in town, the stores sold almost 5 million cans of beer in 2010 -- almost 250 cans per Pine Ridge tribal member. Alcohol is not legal on the reservation.
Tribal leaders and activists blame Whiteclay businesses for chronic alcohol abuse and bootlegging on the reservation. They say most of the stores' customers come from Pine Ridge.
"In a town of 11 people selling 4.9 million 12-ounce servings of beer, there is no way that alcohol could be legally consumed. It's just impossible," said Thomas White, a former Nebraska legislator and Omaha, Neb., lawyer who is representing the tribe.
Equally as important as the damage award the tribe wants is that the lawsuit seeks a ruling on how much beer Whiteclay retailers can sell, White said. This is the key to stopping beer trafficking at Pine Ridge.
"We are not saying you can't sell beer," White said. But he points to the large amount of beer sold in Whiteclay in 2010 and says, "you cannot sell in volumes you know will be illegally transported and sold. You have to reduce sales to a responsible level."
The lawsuit alleges that beer makers and stores sold to Pine Ridge residents knowing they would smuggle the alcohol into the reservation to drink or resell. Beer makers supplied the stores with "volumes of beer far in excess of an amount that could be sold in compliance with the laws of the state of Nebraska," tribal officials allege in the lawsuit.
Most of Whiteclay's beer store customers have no legal place to drink alcohol because it's banned on the reservation, state law prohibits drinking outside the stores and the nearest town that allows alcohol is 20 miles south, said Mark Vasina, president of the group Nebraskans for Peace.
Owners of the four beer stores in Whiteclay were unavailable or declined comment Thursday when The Associated Press contacted them. A spokeswoman for Anheuser-Busch InBev Worldwide said she was not yet aware of the lawsuit, and the other four companies being sued did not immediately return messages.
The lawsuit's defendants include the distributors and brewers and Whiteclay retail outlets because those higher up the sales and distribution chain exert pressure to maximize beer sales, White said. In hearings before the Nebraska Legislature in the past, distributors have argued their contracts with brewers require them to sell all the beer they are supplied.
"If the brewers say that to their distributors, then they all deserve it," White said of including brewers in the lawsuit. "These guys have an obligation to control their distributors."
Frank Pommersheim, a University of South Dakota law professor, is not sure the federal government can oversee the way Nebraska regulates beer sales.
"There is no doubt of the incredible harm caused by the actions in Whiteclay," Pommersheim said. "The question is whether that translates into an actionable claim of federal jurisdiction."
The tribe sees the lawsuit as a last resort after numerous failed attempts to deal with the abuse through protests and public pressure on lawmakers. Oglala Sioux President John Yellow Bird Steele said the tribal council authorized the lawsuit in an effort to protect the reservation's youth.
"Like American parents everywhere, we will do everything lawful we can to protect the health, welfare and future of our children," he said.
Nebraska lawmakers have struggled for years to curb the problem and are considering legislation this year that would allow the state to limit the types of alcohol sold in areas such as Whiteclay. The measure would require local authorities to ask the state to designate the area an "alcohol impact zone."
Nebraska's liquor commission then could limit the hours alcohol sellers are open, ban the sale of certain products or impose other restrictions.
Thomas Horton, a USD law professor who has a lengthy career litigating federal antitrust and civil cases, said the tribe's case could have national significance.
And Horton knows the beer business. "I was the lead attorney on the Miller-Coors merger," he said.
"This sounds like a very interesting lawsuit that is going to have some legs," Horton said. "I would think the tribe's jurisdiction over alcohol sales is protected, and this sounds like a scheme to circumvent that.
"I imagine this is going to be a spectacular battle."
Contributing: The Associated Press
Why is Vanderbilt turning hostile to religion on its campus?
Why is Vanderbilt turning hostile to religion on its campus?
Published January 31, 2012 | FoxNews.com
By Jason Hoyt
Once upon a time, American universities encouraged students to create community around common interests and protected the right of student organizations to operate in a manner consistent with their beliefs.
But a rising tide of resistance to religious organizations on college campuses, allegedly aimed at reducing intolerance, ironically advances it, fostering an unwelcoming and hostile learning environment for many students and threatening the very existence of religious student organizations.
In the fall of 2010, Vanderbilt University began investigating the constitutions of every religious organization on its Nashville, Tenn., campus after a discrimination complaint was filed against a Christian fraternity. During the investigation, the university changed the student organization handbook to remove a section protecting religious association. The university eliminated a clause that read, "In affirming its commitment to this principle [of non-discrimination], the University does not limit freedom of religious association and does not require adherence to this principle by government agencies or external organizations that associate with but are not controlled by the University."
In a letter to Vanderbilt students and faculty on Jan. 20, Chancellor Nicholas Zeppos insisted that the university "does not seek to limit anyone's freedom to practice his or her religion. We do, however, require all Vanderbilt registered student organizations to observe our nondiscrimination policy. That means membership in registered student organizations is open to everyone and that everyone, if desired, has the opportunity to seek leadership positions."
Contrary to the university's stated goal of inclusion and tolerance, the change in policy jeopardizes the operational freedom of all religious organizations on campus. Patricia Helland, an associate dean who oversees religious life at Vanderbilt, defended the change in an interview saying "organizations can have core beliefs, but that organizations can't require their members or leaders to abide by or adhere to those core beliefs."
It begs the question: How can an organization maintain its identity without the ability to choose its members and leaders based on those beliefs? The answer is: It can't.
Vanderbilt's new nondiscrimination policy enables a Jewish student to become president of the Muslim student organization, or a Christian student to become the president of the campus Hindu organization.
Groups protest West Point speaker with anti-Muslim views
Groups protest West Point speaker with anti-Muslim views
Stars and Stripes
Published: January 30, 2012
Retired Lt. Gen. William Boykin
WASHINGTON — Groups angry over a controversial retired general’s planned speech at the U.S. Military Academy next week are asking Army officials to rescind the invitation, calling his views potentially inflammatory and incompatible with military values.
Retired Lt. Gen. William Boykin was asked earlier this year to speak at the West Point prayer breakfast on Feb. 8, but has become a target of groups angry over his past remarks about Muslims and their religious beliefs. He was chastised by military commanders for comparing the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to a holy war. and since retirement has called Islam the greatest threat that America faces.
Boykin, now a fundamentalist Christian minister, is scheduled to deliver a keynote address at the non-denominational prayer event. After outside groups objected to the selection, officials from the school said that Boykin’s inclusion is part of “the broad range of ideas normally considered by our cadets” and that they were comfortable with his expected presence.
Groups like VoteVets.org, the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, and the Forum on the Military Chaplaincy oppose that conclusion, and this week petitioned Army leadership to stop Boykin from speaking.
MRFF founder Mikey Weinstein said 27 faculty members at West Point and 74 students have reached out to his group to protest Boykin’s invitation, calling him a shameful representative of religious views.
“This is exactly the wrong kind of message for the military to send,” Weinstein said. “We’re just handing al-Qaida material to use against us.”
Weinstein said most of those 100-plus campus protesters are Christians, but are fearful of speaking out against the school’s leadership.
In a letter to Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno, officials from VoteVets.org stated that “it is counterproductive for our future Army leaders to hear the views of Lt. Gen. Boykin, a man whose views are inconsistent with the values of the Army as an institution.
“To allow Lt. Gen. Boykin to address the corps of cadets would be disrespectful to the Muslim cadets currently enrolled at West Point. It would be a slap to the face to Muslim Americans who have served their country, not to mention those who gave the fullest sacrifice for their nation and their comrades.”
Boykin could not be reached for comment.
You Can't Worship Here
You Can't Worship Here: Evicting Churches from New York Schools What will really happen this weekend when churches gather in school buildings for the last time?
A Christianity Today editorial | posted 2/08/2012
Here's what you can do in a New York City public school after hours: You may gather people together once a week (or more often). You can start off with praise choruses and Bible reading. Someone can stand up and teach that Jesus is Lord, that he rose from the dead to save us from sin, and that he is coming again. Then you can break bread and pray together.
Here's what you can't do in a New York City public school after hours: Hold a "religious worship service." Got it? To the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals, the distinction is clear.
You Can't Worship Here: Evicting Churches from New York Schools What will really happen this weekend when churches gather in school buildings for the last time?
A Christianity Today editorial | posted 2/08/2012
"When worship services are performed in a place, the nature of the site changes," Judge Pierre Leval wrote. "The site is no longer simply a room in a school being used temporarily for some activity. The church has made the school the place for the performance of its rites, and might well appear to have established itself there. The place has, at least for a time, become the church."
Universal Internet ID
The Obama administration is developing a “universal Internet ID” program that would watch, track, monitor and potentially control your activity on the Internet. These“trusted identities” are being touted as a way to increase safety and security on the Internet and as a way to eliminate the need for dozens of different usernames and passwords. But is a universal Internet ID that is issued and controlled by the U.S. government really a good idea? Right now, Obama administration officials are trying to make it seem as non-threatening as possible. They are insisting that it will not be mandatory. They are insisting that it would be impossible for hackers to steal the universal Internet identities. They are insisting that none of our personal information will be gathered or used by federal agencies. But in light of how regularly the government has abused our liberties and freedoms in recent years in the name of “security”, should we really believe what they are saying about this new universal Internet ID?
Perhaps to assuage concerns about “Big Brother”, the Obama administration is proposing that the U.S. Commerce Department be the one to oversee these new universal Internet identities.
But how long do you think it would take for the Department of Homeland Security (along with several dozen other government agencies) to get involved in “administering” these “trusted identities”?
The potential for government abuse of such a system is absolutely staggering. As we have seen so many times over the past few years, when you give government bureaucrats an inch, often they end up taking several miles.
The video posted below is an excerpt from a CBS News report about these proposed universal Internet identities….
So what are some of the other potential problems of such a system?
Well, by creating a “master key” to the Internet for each and every individual, if it is lost or stolen you could literally lose everything you have worked so hard for in a single day. Imagine what could happen if a very evil hacker gained instant access to your bank account, your credit cards, your Paypal account, your email, your Facebook account, your Twitter account, your Ebay account, your Amazon account, your blogs, your websites and everything else of importance on the Internet that belongs to you.
Just imagine the damage that could be done.
In addition, it would only be a matter of time before this universal Internet ID becomes “a de facto national ID”.
In fact, it is not hard to imagine that “in the name of security” Americans would soon be required to link the universal Internet ID to biometric information or even link it to a microchip implant of some sort.
Of course this new program is going to “start out as voluntary”, but how many times before has the government introduced “voluntary” programs that later became mandatory?
Once this universal Internet ID is implemented, it is only going to be a matter of time until many different federal agencies and a significant percentage of large corporations begin demanding that people start using it. Eventually it would become extremely difficult to function on the Internet without one. Once that point arrives, it would only be a very small step to make it mandatory for everyone.
Of course right now the Obama administration insists that it is “doing us a favor” by creating a system that would enable us to be able to get rid of the dozens of usernames and passwords that we all use now.
But what all of this really sounds like is the kind of Internet controls that are being imposed in places like China.
The truth is that a universal Internet ID would give the U.S. government more power to license, monitor and police the Internet than they have ever had before.
In fact, some talking heads on the major news networks are already touting this new identification system as a way to “tone down” the “vicious” rhetoric on the Internet.
Of course what that really means is that they want to shut up a lot of the dissenting voices out there because they are not “politically correct” and they don’t agree with the version of the “truth” that the establishment media is constantly pushing.
Hopefully the American people will realize that a universal Internet ID controlled by the government would be another gigantic step in the direction of becoming a Big Brother police state. Unfortunately, the American people have not been doing a great job of standing up for liberty and freedom at this point. There was an initial uproar when the new “naked body scanners” were installed at U.S. airports and when airport officials started feeling up our private areas as part of the new “enhanced pat-downs”, but most Americans seem to have accepted these “new security procedures” at this point.
So now the Obama administration is ready to push even further. They want to put a chokehold on the last great bastion of free speech in America – the Internet.
Someday if you have to get a license from the U.S. government to read articles like this or to write articles like this, don’t say that you weren’t warned.
ACTA
Obama Signs Global Internet Treaty Worse Than SOPA: White House bypasses Senate to ink agreement that could allow Chinese companies to demand ISPs remove web content in US with no legal oversight
January 26, 2012
The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement was signed by Obama on October 1 2011, yet is currently the subject of a White House petition demanding Senators be forced to ratify the treaty. The White House has circumvented the necessity to have the treaty confirmed by lawmakers by presenting it an as “executive agreement,” although legal scholars have highlighted the dubious nature of this characterization.
The hacktivist group Anonymous attacked and took offline the Federal Trade Commission’s website yesterday in protest against the treaty, which was also the subject of demonstrations across major cities in Poland, a country set to sign the agreement today.
Under the provisions of ACTA, copyright holders will be granted sweeping direct powers to demand ISPs remove material from the Internet on a whim. Whereas ISPs normally are only forced to remove content after a court order, all legal oversight will be abolished, a precedent that will apply globally, rendering the treaty worse in its potential scope for abuse than SOPA or PIPA.
A country known for its enforcement of harsh Internet censorship policies like China could demand under the treaty that an ISP in the United States remove content or terminate a website on its server altogether. As we have seen from the enforcement of similar copyright policies in the US, websites are sometimes targeted for no justifiable reason.
The groups pushing the treaty also want to empower copyright holders with the ability to demand that users who violate intellectual property rights (with no legal process) have their Internet connections terminated, a punishment that could only ever be properly enforced by the creation of an individual Internet ID card for every web user, a system that is already in the works.
“The same industry rightsholder groups that support the creation of ACTA have also called for mandatory network-level filtering by Internet Service Providers and for Internet Service Providers to terminate citizens’ Internet connection on repeat allegation of copyright infringement (the “Three Strikes” /Graduated Response) so there is reason to believe that ACTA will seek to increase intermediary liability and require these things of Internet Service Providers,” reports the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
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