Writes Dr. Gordon Prather:

“Well, Arnaud deBorchgrave just appeared on “Tucker”, MSNBC, predicting Bush will soon launch 6-day bombing attack on Iran, hitting 700 targets. Soon.”

Why did America invade Iraq?

Oil? Israel? …

Jets, bombs and taxed dollars.

So says Richard Cummings as he explains the story behind his Playboy.com article “Lockheed Stock and Two Smoking Barrels“: the direct role in policy-making played by Lockheed Martin and the rest of the Military Industrial Complex and the amount of money they loot from the U.S. Treasury.

Also discussed: whether the National Review is a CIA front.

MP3 here.

Richard Cummings taught international law at the Haile Selassie I University and before that, was Attorney-Advisor with the Office of General Counsel of the Near East South Asia region of U.S.A.I.D, where he was responsible for the legal work pertaining to the aid program in Israel, Jordan, Pakistan and Afghanistan. He is the author of The Immortalists, The Pied Piper – Allard K. Lowenstein and the Liberal Dream, and the comedy, Soccer Moms From Hell. He holds a Ph.D. in Social and Political Sciences from Cambridge University and is a member of the Association of Former Intelligence Officers.

Time out to say thank you to all who have supported Antiwar.com and have sent in their compliments on the new radio project!

If you enjoy the interviews, lend a hand: Digg it, send an email to a friend and post a blog at your place. Then, before you know it, War Party radio will be obsolete.

 

 Antiwar Radio: Richard Cummings [58:32m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

I’ve seen very little along these lines, so I figured I’d share this one.

The “privatization” of police and warmaking power is one of the most ominous turns of the new century – for the life and liberty of Iraqis and coming soon to a town near you.

Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Detainee Affairs Charles D. “Cully” Stimson tried to intimidate the corporations into cutting ties with law firms that represent the “detainees” at Guantanamo bay evil and illegal prisons.

It backfired.

The Sunni Arab-Dominated Dictatorships Against the Mullahs, that is.

There’s a protest going on at the closest Capital or City Hall to you this afternoon.

Go and show ‘em you don’t have to be a red to oppose American Empire.

Based on an email exchange with Mace, I thought I would expand some of the points I had made to him regarding security on the web. His situation was that he had accidentally set his security software to block internet access for Firefox - rendering the browser useless. He has full-featured security suite software on his PC, but he’s on dial-up. That’s like building a house thousands of miles from human civilization, say in the middle of Antarctica, and then locking the doors.
Most of the folks I talk to who are having trouble with their computers think they have “a virus”. Their computer is not behaving as expected, so they have concluded that a virus, which is a thing they don’t understand in the first place, is responsible. Therefore, security suites (I’m not going to mention the names, we all know what they are) must be the cure.
However, most of the actual problems people are having are caused by any of the following; corrupt hardware drivers, bad Windows Registry Keys, corrupt Windows system files, or malfunctioning hardware. Occasionally, I hear from people who have 4+ year old computers totally lacking in the PC horsepower needed to run Windows and their favourite software (they have a virus too, you see).
Alright, enough preamble. If you have a dial-up internet connection, what’s the matter with you? Why not pay $10 or $15 extra a month to reclaim countless lost hours staring at the monitor waiting for pages to load? Are all of those hours not worth a little bit of money? (exception: no broadband source is available in your area) Nevertheless, if you are still determined to waste your time on dial-up, don’t waste your money on an internet security suite. Uninstall it and get a refund. Turn on the Windows Firewall (Start=>Control Panel=>Windows Firewall=>”ON” click “Apply”), and just click “Allow” on any popups from said program. Your dial-up connection is not connected to the web for long enough to be at risk, and also doesn’t have a fast enough connection in the first place for malicious software to be able to sneak through.
Now for the broadband people. If you have a DSL/Cable connection, buy a router. No, don’t argue with me, just go out and buy one. A router is a better firewall than any software that you can buy. It also doesn’t bother you with confusing popups that may result in slow PC performance or lack of internet connectivity. Routers are cheap when compared with full-featured internet security suites, running anywhere from $40 to $75 (how much did you pay for your security suite? that’s right, more). If you use a VOIP phone, it’s a good idea to buy a router with QoS features, because it will prioritize internet bandwidth for the phone, and improve the quality of service (which is what QoS stands for). Note that routers cannot be used with dial-up connections. For those of you that already have broadband with a router, get rid of your internet security suite. You don’t need it. If and when you need to scan for malware (virus/spyware/adware), download and install free programs like Spybot S&D, AVG antivirus, Hijackthis et al. at that time. Before you download any of those programs, if you are experiencing popups or something that you think is a problem, do a System Restore. That fixes many Windows issues quickly.
You won’t have problems with internet security if you have a router, as long as you practice safe browsing habits. Follow these rules. Don’t ever click on unsolicited popups. Don’t believe doom-and-gloom messages. Don’t install software that claims to be the solution to all of your “problems” when a minute ago you didn’t know you had any. Don’t use local email (meaning email through your ISP downloaded and viewed in Outlook Express/Outlook or Thunderbird - Note: Vista has renamed Outlook Express to Windows Mail), use webmail instead. Webmail is email that resides on a remote server, and is viewed through a browser like IE or Firefox. Webmail is free. Sign up for Hotmail, Yahoo mail or Gmail (anyone who wants a gmail account, email me at brandonjsnider at gmail.com and I’ll invite you); the reason is that webmail security is managed by experts at a remote location, and the mail files are also remote - not on your PC. Never open email attachments unless they are from a trusted source, and that source explains what the attachment is. Stay off pr0n sites, gambling sites, or any other advertising and popup-laden sites that contain malicious and confusing adware popups. Getting a girlfriend is better than pr0n, and if you want to gamble, gamble in the company of flesh-and-blood humans, not gambling software.
All of the adware I find on people’s computers was downloaded and installed by the user themselves. They tell me they “didn’t understand what it was” when they installed it. Then don’t install it! Ignore things that are not understood, and above all else, do not be afraid. Adware’s existence is owed to spreading fear through confusion and/or intimidation. Ignore all popups or ads that say “Your computer is infected with spyware, click here to remove it” or something similar. That statement should read “Your computer will be infected with adware and spyware if you click here”. Don’t forget what George Carlin says about advertising. They want to trick you, if they can’t trick you, they’ll intimidate you, if they can’t intimidate you, they’ll scare you. Do not be afraid. The US is already a fear-based culture, possibly the worst such case in history.
Do not be afraid.

Announcing the addition of the great Charles Goyette to Antiwar Radio at Antiwar.com!

Charles was fired by Clear Channel and hired by Air America for his opposition to the invasion of Iraq in 2003. He is known as the “most independent talk show host in America” and now hosts the morning show on the 50,000 watt KFNX AM 1100 in Phoenix, Arizona.

 

 Antiwar Radio: Charles Goyette [17:45m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download