~e; Electromagnetic News & Views #145

From brian carroll <human@electronetwork.org>
Date Thu, 16 Sep 2004 20:15:32 -0500


===================================================
Electromagnetic News & Views -- #145
===================================================

00) Electronetwork.org Commentary (9/16/2004)

01) Top Stories of Electromagnetism
02) Electromagnetic health & safety
03) Electromagnetic trash & treasure
04) Electromagnetic security & surveillance
05) Electromagnetic power & energy
06) Electromagnetic current & human affairs
07) Electromagnetic transport & communication
08) Electromagnetic matter & information
09) Electromagnetic trends & inventions
10) Electromagnetic weaponry & warfare
11) Electromagnetic business & economics
12) Electromagnetic artworks & artifacts

===================================================
00) --commentary--

// re: nuclear issues, .US energy policy, and current events,

* the thought arose after reading the Wired article last week on
the new nuclear plant designs, about .US energy policy to date in
which the focus is on nuclear power plants, nuclear defenses, and
new nuclear weapons. if it were a new nuclear race, it would seem
possible for some insider bureaucrat to see such nuclear moves as
necessary to keep up with what other countries are advancing with.
for the first time .US energy policy (private task force) which so
heavily relied on nuclear power (seemingly a retrograde vision) is
almost understandable if such developments are seen in a vacuum,
and outside of other issues such as total-audits of the costs, to
include insurance in terror or weather attacks, contamination, the
issue of waste and long-term storage, issues of security not being
accurately portrayed (in the news, often) and this being sold as a
clean future for combatting global warming, editing everything else
out of the equation. for non .US citizens why this may be relevant
is, in contrast to this approach the .UK has made climate change a
strategic policy issue and its energy policy is changing it would
seem, accordingly, to count the total costs. there is reason to be
concerned about unfettered nuclear development because the risks,
as they are, may and often do outweight the rewards, for any and
all, despite the utopias always around the corner, they have yet
to arrive, and thus are vaporware. with the issue of nuclear bombs
in the hands of terrorists (or states who use/abuse such powers)--
it is a worldwide threat, no matter where one is on Earth, when a
nuclear bomb is detonated, in a non-world-war situation, in some
regional conflict, the laissez-faire nucler mindset will make it
fair-game to act accordingly. unless it is stopped in advance, in
the policies which exacerbate the basic problems of proliferation,
by producers/exporters and importers/consumers of things nuclear.
it is important as the confrontation with Iran and the .EU/.US is
not unjustified but is the most productive way to deny Israel's
having nuclear weapons and demand disarmament, or is it to forge
a treaty of nuclear peace and stabilization of the region rather
than pusch more buttons, one of which may escalate to the nuclear,
whether a powerplant getting hit or a mini-nuke going off, even a
suitcase nuke though it would backfire as the unholiest of unholy
acts and the power achieved would also lose ideological support
in such an inhumane action, for whatever cause it will be lost.
for the .US to propel a nuclear policy and policing may not be
entirely off-base, historically, but the context has changed and
to further destabilize the nuclear situation is a real great way
to give legitimacy to further escalation and even nuclear attacks
by nuclear terrorists as being legitimate as a counter response.
peace treaties are not this, getting to the table. yet again and
again the .US response, as a proxy, has been to push against the
situation as it exists to try to force changes. it would seem to
be that further destabiliation and escalation in nuclear arenas
is a foreseeable disaster, espeically if the delusions are given
official credence without raising flags against further war, in
which the context is, at its base, nuclear, and there are many
more than one, nuclear nations, that could raise problems at any
given moment. the Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD) continues...

===================================================
01) --top stories--
---------------------------------------------------

US debates military strikes on 'nuclear Iran' // how many neocons in a  
cabinet?
<http://news.ft.com/cms/s/eed88be8-0741-11d9-9672-00000e2511c8.html>

	'Gary Schmitt, executive director of the Project for the New American  
Century (PNAC), a neo-conservative think-tank, says that with "enough  
intelligence and spadework", the US could "do a good job" of slowing  
Iran's programme for a while.' .. 'But, he cautions, the Bush  
administration would need a "game plan" for the aftermath.' .... 'Mr  
Sokolski [head of the Nonproliferation Policy Education Center]  
describes as "highly irresponsible" the idea that the US can let Israel  
do the job.' .. 'The short-term benefits of air strikes would have to  
be weighed against the costs of a blow to US efforts to foster more  
moderate Islamic rule in Iran and the Middle East.'

// this was in the local news, did not see it anywhere online, searched
// and found this snippet about .IR amassing troops on its border (with
// Iraq) for exercises, to prepare for a military invasion... this  
relates
// to nuclear confrontations and an escalation of non-diplomatic  
actions...

AMID IAEA PARLEY, IRAN'S MILITARY EXERCISES // short.
<http://www.menewsline.com/stories/2004/september/09_15_1.html>

[thursday] U.S., EU Trio Agree Iran Nuke Resolution --Diplomats
<http://abcnews.go.com/wire/World/reuters20040916_421.html>

// note: many failures to detect nuclear programs were by the .US CIA...
// for instance, India and Pakistan and North Korea nukes all surprised.

[quote] U.N. nuclear agency asleep at the switch // .UN bait and switch
<http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20040909-115659-4549r.htm>

	'The United Nations established the IAEA in 1957 to help countries  
build nuclear facilities for generating electricity. Its initial  
program, Atoms for Peace, quickly became "Atoms for Bombs." And not  
much has changed in the past five decades, except the size of the  
program.' .. 'Today, the IAEA has about 2,200 staff members at its  
headquarters in Vienna, Austria, and at four regional offices in  
Geneva, New York, Toronto and Tokyo. Its budget for 2004 was $268.5  
million.' .. 'The IAEA's statutory purpose is to assist in transferring  
expertise and equipment for the "peaceful" use of nuclear power. The  
international agency also is charged with making sure that nations do  
not divert equipment or material for nuclear-energy development into  
weapons programs.' .. 'Specifically, Section 5 of the empowering  
statute directs the IAEA to "establish and administer safeguards  
designed to ensure that special fissionable and other materials,  
services, equipment, facilities and information made available by the  
agency or at its request or under its supervision or control are not  
used in such a way as to further any military purpose."' .. 'But the  
IAEA has not administered appropriate safeguards. And as a result, it  
has been fooled again and again by states such as North Korea, Iran,  
Libya, Syria and Iraq.' .. 'The centerpiece of the IAEA's work has been  
the Treaty on the Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons, or NPT, which  
went into effect on March 5, 1970.' .... 'The ultimate threat to peace  
is nuclear weapons in the hands of international terrorists.' .. 'There  
is a real danger that terrorists could use nuclear materials in  
radiological attacks, or "dirty bombs." Worse, terrorists would use  
them in a nuclear blast that could kill thousands or even hundreds of  
thousands.' .. 'To his credit, the IAEA's ElBaradei has begun to worry  
about this threat.'

---------------------------------------------------
02-- electromagnetic health & safety
---------------------------------------------------

// several days of some wicked lightning locally, it is curious if  
'extreme'
// weather trends include the increase in lightning storms around the  
world...

Lightning Injures 40 Texas Football Players, Coaches // via  
drudgereport.com
<http://www.local6.com/weather/3731335/detail.html>

[non-em quote] Wall-Eye May Have Helped Rembrandt's Vision //  
tangential...
<http://www.reuters.com/ 
newsArticle.jhtml?type=healthNews&storyID=6247546>

	'"It illustrates that disabilities are not always  disabilities. They  
may be assets in another realm," Livingstone  said in an interview.'

// it has often been remarked about the impact of photoshop on magazine
// photography, the altering of images. one of the articles found in the
// archive reminded me of this ethical situation: what about  
radiologists
// with photoshop and brain-imaging, will the clone-tool or blend  
someday
// be used to hide or alter such digital images? and if so, what happens
// if someone's brain-surgery is for non-existing conditions, for  
instance.

American Journal of Roentgenology, published by the American Roentgen
Ray Society (ARRS) <http://www.arrs.org/>, has opened their backfiles
for free access.  // via STS-L...

---------------------------------------------------
03-- electromagnetic trash & treasure
---------------------------------------------------

[empty]

---------------------------------------------------
04-- electromagnetic security & surveillance
---------------------------------------------------

[empty]

---------------------------------------------------
05-- electromagnetic power & energy
---------------------------------------------------

Prayer Vigil Seeks 'Higher Power' to Have City's Electricity Restored
<http://www.charismanews.com/a.php?ArticleID=9766>

	'"We are here to support the people without power and to strengthen  
the faith of the people," said the Rev. Larry Woods, who helped  
organize the candlelight and flashlight vigil with disc jockey King  
Leroy of local radio station WJFP.' .. 'Woods said the vigils, which  
began Sunday, will continue through tomorrow, when Florida Power &  
Light Co. (FPL) has said electricity will be restored to most of Palm  
Beach County (PBC).' .. 'Woods said that on Friday night, believers  
will march around city hall seven times, symbolizing the biblical siege  
of Jericho -- not to see walls come down, but to see lights go up.  
"There is power in the name of Jesus," said Bishop Thomas Masters of  
New Macedonia Baptist Church, which is feeding 1,000 people daily  
because of Hurricane Frances. "The Lord is my light -- I don't have to  
worry about FPL."'

POWER Company to Export Electricity to China — Governor
MOSNEWS - Russia
ELECTRICITY adviser to crack whip
NEWS.com.au - Australia
IRAN to import electricity from Turkmenistan
IranMania News - Iran

---------------------------------------------------
06-- Electromagnetic current & human affairs
---------------------------------------------------

[IHT/NYT] Israel seems headed for a political 'big bang' // em language

---------------------------------------------------
07-- electromagnetic transport & communication
---------------------------------------------------

German radio starts Klingon service // on website...
<http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3658310.stm>

	'The language was created in 1984 by linguist Marc Okrund for  
Paramount Pictures, and has caught the imagination of science fiction  
fans.' .... 'Star Trek fans and linguists "have taken it very  
seriously", he said, "and we have even been complimented on our use of  
the 'High Klingon' dialect."'

[and] Web Sites to Highlight French Role in U.S. /// www/internet  
diplomacy
<http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/world/wire/sns-ap-france-us- 
library-sites,0,4292473.story?coll=sns-ap-world-headlines>

---------------------------------------------------
08-- electromagnetic matter & information
---------------------------------------------------

A Bird's-Eye Atlas of New York, Ready for Its Close-Up // via  
cryptome.org
<http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/16/nyregion/16Blocks.html>

	'The atlas may be one of the most useful planning books for New York  
City to emerge in a generation. And it came from Coalville, England.'  
.... 'These [9 x 9 inch aerial negatives] were converted into computer  
images in which one pixel equals about 10 inches on the ground.'

SanDisk has introduced new, lower prices for its Shoot & Store line of
flash storage cards that are sold in supermarkets, drug stores and other
mass-merchant outlets. // storage as killer app... via engadget.com
<http://news.designtechnica.com/article5388.html>

---------------------------------------------------
09-- electromagnetic trends & inventions
---------------------------------------------------

Flashlight Takes Batteries of Any Size // via gizmodo.com
<http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1894&e=2&u=/ap/ 
20040915/ap_on_sc/versatile_flashlight>

---------------------------------------------------
10-- electromagnetic weaponry & warfare
---------------------------------------------------

// note: airport systems around the .US and elsewhere have had  
'problems'
// and in this case, the number of flights is at just one airport, so  
what
// or how might things work if ten airports went down in one country, at
// one time, in different locales, or this number in 10 different  
nations?
// if everything is computer based, and infowar is a real tool, it would
// seem possible that a coordinated, multi-port attack could occur at  
once.
// --is it chaos or a controllable situation, domestically,  
internationally?

Radio Problems Ground Many Flights in California // via drudgereport.com
<http://news.myway.com/top/article/id/281833%7Ctop%7C09-14- 
2004::23:46%7Creuters.html>

	'Some 800 flights were affected, including passenger jets and private  
aircraft, but authorities said they all landed safely at their  
destinations or were diverted.'

[more] Air controllers report chaos, near misses in West // ***
Airplanes passed dangerously close to each other in at least five  
instances
after a computer failure knocked out radio contact between pilots and  
air
traffic controllers across the West, a union official said Wednesday.
<http://www.cnn.com/2004/TRAVEL/09/15/faa.outage.ap/>

	'"We couldn't do anything," Ghaffari said. "We can't do our job unless  
there is communication. If there are no communications, you are  
helpless."'

Bombs damage electricity tower in northern Spain
<http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L15576513.htm>

---------------------------------------------------
11-- electromagnetic business & economics
---------------------------------------------------

[photo] Google like it’s 1999 // still life of artifacts on a table...
<http://www.engadget.com/entry/1645422542142743/>

---------------------------------------------------
12-- electromagnetic artworks & artifacts
---------------------------------------------------

(* one of the ideas i've yet to see is the fusion of artifacts and
original works (painting) between the screen and canvas. i assume
it exists: that someone has cannibalized a laptop and then used
the backlight in the LCD screen to mount a translucent painting,
so the laptop is a display unit. CRT monitor, TV, whatnot (though
one would need to know how to dismantle the latter two safely).
likewise, are their artifacts such as telephones made of clay, of
cellphones, computers, or PDAs, with LED lighting built-in, etc.)

// there is a halfway decent LED house numbering system (display) yet
// could not locate it online, so include other similar artifacts...

LED housenumber // cutout of LED 7-segment type. via engadget.com
<http://details-produkte.de/en/produkt.asp?offset=12&ID=320>

[and] Solar Powered Illuminated House Numbers
<http://www.mahvelousmailboxes.com/accessories/numbers/ 
illuminated_house_numbers.htm>

[and] Solar LED Edge-Lit Illuminated Address Sign
<http://www.ourcornermarket.com/solar-led-edge-lit-illuminated-address- 
sign.html>

[quote] State of the Artists
<http://www.thefeature.com/article?articleid=100552>

	'Research laboratories are the avant-garde art galleries of the  
twenty-first century. That shouldn't come as a surprise though. Art is  
a lens through which engineers can raise tough questions about the  
science fiction that they create, and we inhabit.'

Hidden Dimensions // SENSOR zones
<http://www.haque.co.uk/hiddendimensions.php>
Urban Constellations // streetlights work too
<http://www.haque.co.uk/urbanconstellations.php>

Haunt:  Using humidity, temperatures and electromagnetic and sonic  
frequencies
that parapsychologists have associated with haunted spaces, this  
project aims
at building an environment that feels "haunted": a non-visual  
architecture.
<http://www.haque.co.uk/haunt.php>

Sky Ear // em-art
<http://www.haque.co.uk/skyear.php>

	'Electromagnetic waves exist just about everywhere in our atmosphere.  
Urban locations in particular have a diverse and vibrant hertzian  
culture, with mobile phone calls overlapping text messages, combining  
television broadcasts with garage door openers that interfere with  
radio transmissions which transmit from wireless laptops, etc.' .. 'To  
chart this unexplored territory, shortly before dusk in Summer 2004 the  
Sky Ear structure will be released from its ground moorings and slowly  
float up into the sky sampling the electromagnetic spectrum as it  
rises, rather like a vertical radar sweep.'

Open Source Architecture Experiment
<http://www.haque.co.uk/opensourcearchitecture.php>

aether architecture // em-arch
<http://www.aether.hu/>

[and] aether architecture - aether induction house
<http://www.aether.hu/induction.htm>


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