So here’s my thing….

VQX HWMVCUSE JQJFASSNTG QV! X HQ JD ISIAVVE!

Face it.. We are all PWND six ways to Sunday

Every frigging day we hear more and more about how the NSA has been emptying our lives of privacy and subverting the laws of this land and others with their machinations. It’s true, and I have been saying as much since the day Mr. Klein came out of his telco closet and talked about how the NARUS system had been plugged into the MAE West back in the day. We are all well and truly fucked if we want any kind of privacy today kids and we all need to just sit back and think about that.

*ponder ponder ponder*

Ok, I have thought about it and I have tried to think of any way to protect myself from the encroachment of the NSA and all the big and little sisters out there. I am absolutely flummoxed to come up with any cogent means to really and truly protect my communications. Short of having access to the NSA supercloud and some cryptographers I don’t think that we will not truly have any privacy anymore. If you place it on the net, or in the air. We have reached in my opinion the very real possibility of the N-Dystopia I have talked about before in the Great Cyber Game post.

As the pundits like Schneier and others groan on and on about how the NSA is doing all of this to us all I have increasingly felt  the 5 stages of grief. I had the disbelief (ok not completely as you all know but the scope was incredible at each revelation) Then the anger came and washed over me, waves and waves of it as I saw the breadth and scope of the abuse. Soon though that anger went away and I was then feeling the bargaining phase begin. I started to bargain in my head with ideas that I could in fact create my own privacy with crypto and other OPSEC means. I thought I could just deny the government the data. I soon though began to understand that no matter what I did with the tools out there that it was likely they had already been back door’d. This came to be more than the case once the stories came out around how the NSA had been pressuring all kinds of tech companies to weaken standards or even build full back doors into their products under the guise of “National Security”

Over time the revelations have all lead to the inescapable truth that there is nothing really anyone can do to stop the nation state from mining our communications on a technological level. Once that had fully set in my mind the depression kicked in. Of late I have been more quiet online and more depressed about our current state as well as our future state with regard to surveillance and the cyberwarz. I came to the conclusion that no matter the railing and screaming I might do it would mean nothing to the rapidly approaching cyberpocalypse of our own creation arriving. ….In short, we can’t stop it and thus the last of the five stages for me has set in. I accept that there is nothing I can do, nay, nothing “we” can do to stop this short of a bloody coup on the government at large.

I now luxuriate in my apathy and were I to really care any more I would lose my fucking mind.

OPSEC! OPSEC! OPSEC!

Speaking of losing one’s mind.. Lately people all have been yelling that OPSEC is the only way! One (the gruqq) has been touting this and all kinds of counterintelligence as the panacea for the masses on these issues. Well, why? Why should we all have to be spies to just have a little privacy in our lives huh? I mean it’s one thing to be a shithead and just share every fucking stupid idea you have on FriendFace and Tweeter but really, if you can’t shut yourself up that is your problem right? No, I speak of the every day email to your mom telling her about your health status or maybe your decision to come out etc. Why should the government have the eminent domain digitally to look at all that shit now or later?

If you take measures to protect these transactions and those measures are already compromised by the government why then should you even attempt to protect them with overburdened measures such as OPSEC huh? I mean, really if you are that worried about that shit then go talk to someone personally huh? I know, quite the defeatist attitude I have there huh? The reality is that even though I claim not to be caring about it (re: apathy above) I actually do but I realize that we no longer have privacy even if we try to create it for ourselves with technical means. If the gov wants to see your shit they will make a way to do so without your knowing about it. I fully expect someday that they will just claim eminent domain over the internet completely.

Fuck OPSEC.. I want my government to do the right thing and not try to hide all their skirting of the law by making it classified and sending me an NSL that threatens to put me in jail for breaking the law.

Fuck this shit.

CYBERWARZ

Then we have the CYBERWARZ!! Oh yeah, the gubment, the military, and the private sector all have the CYBERWARZ fever. I cannot tell you how sick of that bullshit I am really. I am tired of all the hype and misdirection. Let me clear this up for you all right here and right now. THERE IS NO CYBERWAR! There is only snake oil and espionage. UNTIL such time as there is a full out kinetic war going on where systems have been destroyed or compromised just before tanks roll in or nukes hit us there is no cyberwar to speak of. There is only TALK OF cyber war.. Well more like masturbatory fantasies by the likes of Beitlich et al in reality. So back the fuck off of this shit mmkay? We do not live in the world of William Gibson and NO you are not Johnny Mnemonic ok!

Sick. And. Tired.

I really feel like that Shatner skit where he tells the Trekkies to get a life…

Awaiting the DERPOCALYPSE

All that is left for us all now is the DERPOCALYPSE. This is the end state of INFOSEC to me. We are all going to be co-opted into the cyberwarz and the privacy wars and none of us have a snowball’s chance in hell of doing anything productive with our lives. Some of us are breaking things because we love it. Others are trying to protect “ALL THE THINGS” from the breakers and the people who take their ideas and technologies and begin breaking all those things. It’s a vicious cycle of derp that really has no end. It’s an ouroboros of fail.

RAGE! RAGE! AGAINST THE DYING OF THE PRIVACY! is a nice sentiment but in reality we have no way to completely stop the juggernaut of the NSA and the government kids. We are all just pawns in a larger geopolitical game and we have to accept this. If we choose not to, and many have, then I suggest you gird your loins for the inevitable kick in the balls that you will receive from the government eventually. The same applies for all those companies out there aiding the government in their quest for the panopticon or the cyberwarz. Money talks and there is so much of it in this industry now that there is little to stop it’s abuse as well.

We are well and truly fucked.

So, if you too are feeling burned out by all of this take heart gentle reader. All you need do is just not care anymore. Come, join me in the pool of acceptance. Would you care for a lotus blossom perhaps? It’s all good once you have accepted the truth that there is nothing you can do and that if you do things that might secure you then you are now more of a target. So, do nothing…

Derp.

K.

The Virus and the Swine

The Virus and the Swine

Influenza A viruses have segmented, negative-sense RNA genomes that encode up to 11 proteins. These include the surface glycoproteins hemagglutinin and neuraminidase and the virulence factors NS1 (host interferon antagonist)and PB1-F2 (proapoptotic factor). The viruses are grouped according to theexpression of 1 of 16 hemagglutinin subtypes and 1 of 9 neuraminidase subtypes (Palese and Shaw, 2007).

The elusive nature of influenza viruses as targets of adaptive immunity is mostlya function of the hemagglutinin molecule, the major surface antigen eliciting protectiveantibodies. The hemagglutinin is a remarkable structure, accommodatingsignificant morphological changes while maintaining its crucial functions in attachingthe virus to the host cell and mediating fusion of the viral and host membranes.Entry of influenza viruses into cells depends on the presence of a functional hemagglutinin molecule and expression of the host cell receptor for hemagglutinin, sialic acid.

Humans and avian species differ in the expression of sialyltransferases in mucosal and respiratory tissues resulting in N-glycans with either α2,6 (human) or α2,3 (avian) linked sialic acids. The ability of a particular virus to bind to either of these two conformations of terminal sialic acid is thought to be the basis for the host restriction that is characteristic of influenza viruses.

An avian virus that acquires the ability, via mutation or reassortment, to bind to α2,6-linked sialic acids may cross the species barrier and become infectious in humans. Infections in swine are thought to mediate virus reassortment because swine tissues express both forms of sialic acid, enabling cells to be coinfected with avian and human viruses (Olsen, 2002).

Viruses adapted to swine can also combine with human and avian viruses to produce triple reassortants that may have the ability to infect humans. The 2009 H1N1 swine influenza virus is an example of a triple reassortant

Influenza viruses demonstrate variations in their ability to be transmitted between humans. Molecular markers predicting the ability of a virus to be transmitted have not yet been determined. However, low temperature and low humidity are known to be environmental conditions that favor aerosol transmission, explaining the seasonal nature of normal influenza

(Lowen et al.,2007).

This morning I finished watching “The Time Is Now” Season 2 of MillenniuM and got to thinking about the swine, avian, and other pandemics out there that might happen. As we are in the midst of the H1N1 pandemic I thought it appropriate to give it a closer look.

Turns out that the H1N1 is a close relative of the 1918 H1N1 that only lack a couple of protein sectors to make its lethality and transmissibility nastier. Sure, you think “whew we’re good!” but the reality is that these two proteins could easily pop up because of the nature of the swine flu and the nature of the swine themselves that allow for easy re-assortant.

Simply, this bug, because it is from swine, and swine express both the vectors of avian protease areas as well as human.

Thus the likelihood of another shift to allow for these proteins to be installed within the virus is much higher a probability than one might think. It’s just a matter of time really before this happens and really, I think that the avian portion of the picture will re-assert itself and we will see the full effect of a triple reassortant virus.

This week the President declared an emergency, the WHO declared pandemic a while ago, and the press ran away with the ball like chicken little. The populace though, seem to be rather lax about the whole thing because they fail to understand the dangers I think. The following things make you more likely to have real problems should you contract this virus.

1. Asthma
2. Heart Disease
3. Pulmonary diseases
4. Immunocompromised individuals
5. Obesity
6. Pregnancy

Never mind that this virus has been striking people in their teens and 20’s who do not have any of these problems with their health. Because this is a respiratory illness that causes pneumonia, it is more likely to actually kill you than the average flu, and yes, the average flu kills about 200K people a year. H1N1 thus far has killed 246K people. It’s a bit more virulent. And yet, it is not 1918 virulent yet. In 1918 in 25 weeks approximately 25 million died from its effects. Swine flu is it’s tamer but mutation friendly cousin.

And you wonder why officials get spooked about this one?

So, yeah, I am kinda worried about this bug. I have the asthma and have to wonder about getting the shot or nasal swab to hopefully prevent getting sick. I also have to wonder about the CDC’s page that says that CT has “widespread” cases of Swine. Not pockets, its just all the hell over the place. Of course people are not dropping dead of it as I have heard… But, I don’t want to be in ICU with acute respiratory issues because I got it and have asthma. That would be bad. Guess I will have to talk to the doctor.

This all got me thinking though about BW and just what’s been going on since our last episode with the Anthrax that was sent to Tom Delay and others. Which, whatever happened to that case huh? Is it closed now because that guy committed suicide after they hounded him? Last I had heard there was no concrete evidence that he had in fact manufactured the Anthrax to the BW level and sent it. This got me thinking though about the old Sov program in BW.

I took a stroll though Google and came up with an interesting story back in 2004 by the CBC on Biopreparat and VEKTOR. Evidently even in 04 there was monkey business going on in the old Sov state. They had allegedly moved their BW programs to the military area and went completely black.  To give you perspective, the defection of two high ranking doctors back in the late 80’s pretty much put a crimp in the Sov’s bioweapons programs… But, evidently not enough of one to stop them.

Nope, they have kept on making new and improved weapons. In fact, they came out back in 2001 with a report that they had “accidentally” created a vaccine resistant strain of anthrax. A strain they refused to give any data or samples about when asked by the rest of the world to assure that it was indeed resistant to not only the Sov vaccine, but also the US and others.

They just said nyet. So who knows what they have now.

But Putin is our friend! W looked into his soul!

Right.

Oh well, I have dug up a bunch of docs for you to peruse. I guess the real thing for me here:

What’s your labile swine flu pandemic plan?

Maranatha

Vyacheslav Kirillovich Ivankov (Russian: Вячесла́в Кири́ллович Иванько́в) (January 2 1940 – October 9, 2009) was a notorious member of the Russian Mafia who was believed to have connections with Russian state intelligence organizations and their organized crime partners.^[1] He has operated in both the Soviet Union and the United States. His nickname, “Yaponchik” (Япончик) translates from Russian as “Little Japanese”, due to his faintly Asian facial features.^[2]

2009 assassination

On July 28, 2009, at around 19:20 Moscow time (1520 GMT), Ivankov was shot while leaving a restaurant on Khoroshevskoye Road in Moscow. A sniper rifle was found abandoned in a nearby parked vehicle.^[4]

Having died from his injuries seventy-three days later, on October 9, 2009,^[5] Ivankov was buried in Moscow on October 13, 2009.^[6]

This is just kind of weird. I awoke this morning wanting to watch “Maranatha” and while its been on, I decided to look up the name “Yaponchik” What I found was this Wiki entry that includes the above assassination report.. From this month… DAYS ago.

Here’s the summary from Millennial Abyss:

Summary: Frank Black and Peter Watts investigate a series of brutal killings in the Brighton Beach Russian community of New York City, killings that are linked to the nuclear disaster at Chernobyl. The shotgun slayings seem to be the work of mysterious Russian diplomat Sergei Stepanovich, a man recognized by the local immigrants as Yaponchik, a mythical Russian figure destined by prophecy to be revealed as the Antichrist.

In the story line, Yaponchik is shot by Yura and survives to tell him that he cannot be killed by Yura, he is not the one who can kill him, he in fact is to be Yaponchik’s servant… The father of lies… Yura feels he has no control.. It is fate…

One of the great episodes of the first season.

And then this revelation of Yaponchik.

Creepy.

Scuttlebut On The Street For MillenniuM

Lance Henriksen, the veteran sci-fi character actor perhaps best known for playing former FBI profiler Frank Black in the ’90s TV series Millennium, has been talking about a feature-film follow-up/sequel for years and has reportedly been approached by investors interested in mounting an independent production, though Fox owns the rights.

Now comes news, via ScreenRant, that Fox itself may be considering a new independent movie based on the Chris-Carter-created show, with Henriksen but without Carter (who also created The X-Files and co-wrote and directed last year’s flop The X-Files: I Want to Believe).

I have heard rumblings that Fox are interested in bringing Millennium back to screens—possibly without the involvement of Chris Carter—and this independent route would seem like a way of doing so. It’s also believed that the studio intends to make another X-Files film, and again it’s possible that Carter won’t be involved … .

Now, be aware that this is speculation, but also something that I have heard through the grapevine, so there might be some truth to it.

Fans recall that the show, which aired on Fox 1996-’99, centered on Black, a former FBI investigator with a history of mental issues, who is recruited by the mysterious Millennium Group, a private group of former law-enforcement personnel who investigate crimes of the supernatural but whose true agenda remained murky and had something to do with the coming millennial year (2000, though the actual new millennium kicked off in 2001).

The show had a rocky creative history, owing to changing executive producers (Carter, then former X-Files writers Glen Morgan and James Wong, then Carter again), network interference and a rambling and at times incoherent mythology. The show was canceled before it could wrap up; a 1999 episode ofThe X-Files, titled “Millennium,” brought back Henriksen as Black to put a coda on the Millennium TV series.

ScreenRant suggests that a new independent Millennium movie would be spearheaded by filmmaker Brett A. Hart, who directed Henriksen in the indie feature Bone Dry:

I spoke with Hart who had this to say about the project:

“As a tremendous admirer of “The Millennium Series” I’m of course very intrigued by the recent rumors that there may indeed be a full length feature on the horizon. If any one can get “Millennium” made it’s Lance, and it’s been a long time coming. It’s time to give the fans what they’ve been patiently waiting to see… More insight into the aberrant world of Frank Black … while further elevating and merging storylines, characterization and visuals… and finally closure for one of the finest series ever created. Let’s hope as the title sequence suggest “The Time is near” … and as I’ve already publicly stated … my passion and conviction for the series is so deep that I’d direct “Millennium—The Movie” for free just to see it on the big screen.”

Not sure how a movie would work: The millennial changeover has come and gone, and basing a film on that would be kind of like calling a movie “Y2K.” But Henriksen remains a great screen presence, and it would be nice to see him glowering as Frank Black one last time.

I would LOVE to see this come to fruition and a movie done. However, I certainly hope any film done is done MUCH better than that awful X-Files “I Want To Believe” claptrap that was loosed upon an unsuspecting public. So, without Carter is just fine with me. I should hope that at the very least Lance would be a good judge of script and perhaps say no to a bad one or half effort.

I think personally they have a zeitgeist in the whole 2012 thing coming up. They have the time to make a film and have it out before 2012 comes! I even like the logo I created at the top of this post!

CoB