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AC thats about all it is about. A mil and gov version of the US style Ag gag laws https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... to stop public comment on mil spending and shield no bid mil contractors from press comment.

The mentioned list is:
Epidemiology, the almost total lack of advance medical containment for patients per state and reduction in agricultural inspections thanks free trade deals.
Biotechnology: quarantine laws are been removed to allow more international trade deals. No talk in the press, no reports of new outbreaks due to policy changes so the policy is good if no reports are made.
The quantum computer aspect, quantum computers, signal processing is trying to secure dual use mil and civilian communications networks. Every mil base is basically connected to wide open civilian communications networks built by random global contractors. The hope is quantum computers will allow for effortless secure mil communications over the same public and international networks. A huge risk for any military to have to trust civilian communications networks rather than its own networks. A lot of domestic spending on quantum computers will try to solve the lack of any telco network design.
Defence to invest over AU$5b in cyber and IT to rectify under-investment (February 25, 2016)
http://www.zdnet.com/article/d...
Satellite sharing and a lack of secure satellite systems is another long term issue that should have been fixed but never was. Some vital mil satellite systems are shared with a few other nations, their govs, mil and contractors :)
Fault-tolerant systems dont exist and never got designed in. The less the wider public and press knows about that the better for the political class. No real fuel reserve policy, a very basic communications backup system.
Australia nearly completely dependent on imported fuel (24 February 2014)
http://www.abc.net.au/radionat... Image processing is basically what generations of staff learned from the "NRO" during staff trips. A huge amount of skilled staff could spot Soviet 1960-80's equipment thanks to US sharing :) A new generation of staff are trying to learn more eg Torus multi-beam antenna, infrared systems.
The Pine Gap project
http://nautilus.org/briefing-b...
Robotics is basically drone work and AI for drones. Nothing unique that any other advanced nation can work on given the same levels of funding.

Those rankings are honestly toss. Granted if you go somewhere in the third world I expect you will find your living quality drops but in developed nations there's not much in it. And Australia has become one of is now one of the most expensive places to live in the world anyway: Cost of living: "Australia tops Deutsche Bank's global list". http://www.abc.net.au/news/201...

http://www.abc.net.au/news/201...

the projection though no doubt well-sourced is no more accurate than the models that it is based off

Naturally, though those same sources have been through rigorous peer review, and have been widely accepted by most fellow experts in the field. Again I'm not seeing you cite any evidence like peer-reviewed studies finding those models to be "deeply broken" - only the usual unsourced claims cribbed from the standard rabble of denialist blogs. Plenty of studies supporting them, though. And of course real life.

A key bit of evidence is that the IPCC backpedaled significantly from the Third Assessment Report to the Fifth Assessment Report. For example, here's a collection of weak remarks from the IPCC's latest report on the connection to extreme weather.

Now, let's look at your links. The first link is to a computer model description with no actual data to support the model aside from what they used in the first place. Second, you link to a single bit of extreme weather. One point is not evidence. These two examples show common fallacies associated with extreme weather claims. First, conflating a model with reality. Second, confirmation bias. Even in the complete absence of global warming, we would expect to continue to see "strongest ever" storms.

you don't understand my position

Unsurprisingly, since it's a position you've adopted with no actual evidence. Despite your use of the present tense, you've not shown any examples of said industry "milking the public teat" over climate change (though I can provide many examples of e.g. fossil fuel industries milking away).

Assertions aren't automatically true. Let's look at recent actions that SunCorp Group, the sponsor of the original research claiming elevated claims payouts from certain unproven models of extreme weather, is seeking a huge rate hikes in flood insurance for certain locations that had payouts in recent years:

Suncorp has confirmed that new policies will not be offered in Emerald and Roma - two of the towns worst affected by recent years of flooding.

Existing policyholders face hikes of up to 10-fold.

Suncorp has a reputation for being the only insurer left in some towns abandoned by southern-based companies who are wary of massive payouts.

But Suncorp chief executive Mark Milliner said Queensland's biggest insurer had taken $4 million in premiums in Emerald and Roma in the past two years and paid out $150 million in claims.

Notice the bolded paragraph? Right there we have my original assertion, an insurance company rationalizing after-the-fact rate hikes for making bad risk decisions. They also got burned by recent drought in Australia.

While the outlook is challenging for life insurance, Suncorp says relatively benign weather has so far kept general insurance claims around $25 million below expectations.

However, drought conditions, particularly in north-west Queensland, have resulted in an increase in loan loss provisions, and the bank's holdings of impaired assets rose to $485 million.

I haven't yet figured out what Suncorp's investments are in. But right here we have a reason for the research article - to CYA in a couple of significant losses which otherwise would reflect poorly on management.

Score:4 Informative, without any information, and full of dis-informations.

Tiger Forces complete the east Aleppo encirclement: 800+ ISIS fighters trapped

https://twitter.com/PetoLucem/...
https://www.almasdarnews.com/a...

Al-Nusra Front Confirms Deaths of 300 Terrorists in Syria's Aleppo
http://sputniknews.com/middlee...

WOW, the title Syrian war: Russian-backed offensive in Aleppo has killed 500 people this month, Observatory says
http://www.abc.net.au/news/201...

But actually, by at least 500 people, including 89 civilians, have been killed since the Russian-backed offensive on Aleppo province began earlier this month
Now, do your homework!

Well, that's a general trend. Fewer people can create more mayhem with less resources now than before. (Maybe that is the Fermi paradox...)

Now, I'm not sure it's all that easy to "print up something harmful" just yet. And my point was rather, that if you have a bio-reactor that can print up viruses left, right and centre, then you could have a chemical reactor to make you sarin gas, at half the price.

However, even though the capabilities for mayhem are legio, we don't see that much mayhem, so there are other mechanisms at play as well. If twenty years in the security field has taught me anything, it's that the overwhelming majority are nice people, and not the immoral bastards that modern "economic theory" claim we all are.

But, when, how and if we reach a tipping point, that is both a difficult and of course an important question. Lots of sci-fi speculating on that very subject (I'm partial to Rainbow's End, by V. Vinge), but one also has to remember that the devil is in the details, so it's not a simple linear extrapolation.

I'm all for making society a better place, and of course bad surroundings make more bad people. So we could at least start by trying to not make things worse... If we reach the point where all it takes is a single loon however, all bets are of course off. And that's the scary part.

Corporations rule the world. The TPP showed us that. Governments have been reduced to middle men which lick some of the cream off the top as they pass them your milkshake.

The financial term for what Google and its big business buddies are doing is called a double irish sandwich, a dutch sandwich, or a shit sandwich. http://www.abc.net.au/insidebu... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki...

It's your own fault for electing the same party politicians who let them do this again, and again, and again. So eat that shit sandwich, taxpayer. You deserve it. Too bad the rest of us have to keep eating what you keep ordering too, you asshole.

I guess Robin Williams will be having a spot about this on his radio show this week. It's a pretty good show from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and can be found at http://www.abc.net.au/radionat....

Yes the hops part was always interesting.
"Three degrees of separation: breaking down the NSA's 'hops' surveillance method" ( 29 October 2013)
http://www.theguardian.com/wor...
You may already be a winner in NSA’s “three-degrees” surveillance sweepstakes! (Jul 19, 2013 )
http://arstechnica.com/informa...
Australia is even trying it with images.
Facial recognition: Privacy advocates raise concern over 'creepy' system Government says will enhance national security (10 Sep 2015)
http://www.abc.net.au/news/201...

The number of hops the security forces and mil felt comfortable connecting under collect it all fits with the ~3 hop news :)

Not really - http://mobile.abc.net.au/news/... (sorry for mobile link)

Ecuador has said Mr Assange is welcome to remain in its London embassy should he please.

"It's a personal decision. We've given him protection and of course it is still in place. The basis on which we granted him asylum remains in place," Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino said.

Not really - http://mobile.abc.net.au/news/... (sorry for mobile link)

Ecuador has said Mr Assange is welcome to remain in its London embassy should he please.

"It's a personal decision. We've given him protection and of course it is still in place. The basis on which we granted him asylum remains in place," Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino said.

If a smart TV has ethernet and wifi, never use it. Use the USB or that data connections to "sneaker net" any files to the device.
Buy a camera thats a camera and not a networked database device with a good lens. Select the images you like and upload them later or from an OS.
Sort the images on a computer and select only the images you want to share. Understand that any free cloud, hosting, advertizing network or OS uploads will have all images examined for facial recognition, for images of interest of the security services, NGO's and police.
Facial recognition: Privacy advocates raise concern over 'creepy' system Government says will enhance national security (10 Sep 2015)
http://www.abc.net.au/news/201...
Stop uploading your information to turn key, free services supplied by advertizing brands.

Understand what Microsoft, Apple and Google do and offer to profit from you and your use of their products and services.
Securing against cloud and networked products is not a good idea. They have your data just by using their products.
Use MS or Apple OS for a limited set of applications. Play games on MS, enjoy media on Apple. Anything more interesting and keep it to an OS that you understand and know will not "phone home" or use cloud AV on every file.

The need for a device that can live stream video is useful, ensure that that device is only used for that. If lost or taken, all that is lost is that device and not other data sets, files, contacts.

Here's one of the more ridiculous examples of this bit of demonising a group for the sake of extra votes:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/201...
The guy who gave her an award in 2011 (Lord Mayor's award) was running the state in 2013.

Ya know, it's not fair to lay it on the cats when they're brought into a closed environment,

No one is blaming the cats, it is their nature to be a predator. Blame the owners of the cats who won't acknowledge the cats natural instinct to be a hunter and won't keep their cats from going outside without supervision and for people who dump cats in the bush where they go feral. The situation where I live is different from you and the evidence of cats driving species to extinction is plain to see.

Nor does it account for that feline populations are pretty much limited to where man has already changed the environment. Which is really responsible for previous species going away??

Ultimately humans, for introducing the cats to where they don't belong and for not keeping them indoors.

There have been studies that noted that if it weren't for feral cats keeping the rat population in check, rats would quickly exterminate urban birds, because rats climb into nests and feed on eggs and hatchlings. (This was also my observation in an area where the cats got eaten by owls and the rats got out of hand... pretty soon there were no birds left. Not even starlings.)

That would be interesting to read if you could send a link to what you mean. Where I am we have plenty of species that eat rats but few eat cats. Rats don't hunt like cats hunt. I have watched a cat chase a rabbit into a moving car and you could see the cat timing the angle and speed of the attack to produce that result of the rabbit being hit by the car. That to me indicated a pretty sophisticated predator so native species have very little chance against them here.

For what reason should a cat to be allowed to roam off the property of their owner? Do you have a specific objection to people keeping their cats inside the house and building enclosures for them to wander in outside?

http://www.australiangeographi...

http://www.abc.net.au/news/201...

Although I recognize that telemarketing can be annoying, it's a form of speech.

True. The form is commercial.

Arguably it's no different than junk mail, which there's no effort to ban.

Except the effort to ban Junk mail.

Online ads, which actually can be harmful by inserting malware, are not banned.

C'mon, you have to be aware of Ad Blocking software, right?

I don't see why telemarketing is worse than those.

That's ok, you don't have to see it. It can be heard. And it is. People call and complain about it all the time.

There are good reasons why certain types of speech like slander and violent threats are illegal. However, telemarketing doesn't have the harmful impacts of those types of speech.

That's why it has different regulations, though I should point out that "slander" and "violent threats" are themselves subject to a wide grade of analysis and review, as well as differences in handling.

This is a first amendment issue, and the government shouldn't be able to enforce bans on telemarketing. If a particular form of advertising is particularly obnoxious, the market can handle it if customers just stop doing business with that company.

Unfortunately, you're wrong on this. Especially since most of the calls I get are not with an identifiable company, but some random fly-by-night operation.

Either they will adjust their business model as the telemarketing wastes money or takes business away from them, or they will go out of business. Consumers already have that power, so they don't need the government to infringe upon first amendment rights.

I need the government to protect my safety and security, to ensure my peace of mind.

Or stop interring with me as I seek to make sure certain people pay the consequences of their actions.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/201...

Yeah, right....what could possibly go wrong?

when anyone mentions MBA's it reminds me of the ABC Australia Background Briefing podcast about how an MBA has no real relationship to good management. So much so many large innovative companies now view an MBA as a bit of a joke.

Podcast
http://canadapodcasts.ca/podca...
Transcript
http://www.abc.net.au/radionat...

That the big one. The gov's are be sold ideas that worked so well in East Germany. Updated to sell to Western nations who have very few skilled clandestine officers but have been mastered signals intelligence.
A lot of nations now use mandatory government ID photo records to look back over everything the gov and private NGO's, other private groups collected on the net.
Facial recognition: Privacy advocates raise concern over 'creepy' system Government says will enhance national security (2015-09-09)
http://www.abc.net.au/news/201...
Add in mil grade cell phone tracking and long term mapping.
The "manage actively dangerous situations" is government terms for taking away your freedom of assembly and freedom of association.
No peace protesting, anti war protesting. No questioning big agriculture, pharma. No walking around in public on public land with out an official chat down.
Journalists need to be really aware that their driving, walks to meet whistleblowers can and will be mapped every day. Slow down and talk for a few mins, sit with another phone owner, then change direction to walk away... all that shows a meeting. Your story just got discovered by a few different gov's and the mil.
With live mic gov ready cell phones that random conversation in a park or cafe is now very easy to collect.
Be aware of public and private CCTV. It all feeds into public private partnerships for realtime facial recognition and movement (gait analysis).

How to have fun with your citizen score? Download different onion routing software from varied websites with every new IP you get. Be seen in public by CCTV with a DSLR a lot. When confronted by an official ID yourself or walk back to your car to ensure your licence plate can be observed by the official.
Buy a drone and ensure the required registration number is requested and you always get a few chat downs. Be seen near or with all different types of protesters.
Walk into their gatherings with your phone on. Park your car near their events for hours.
Buy a few political books gov's and mil's like to watch for online in one order with a credit card.
Grow that gov electronic file for many random reasons. In some areas your might get a chat down request at your front door. Usually two officials with federal ID or a state based task force trying to pass working with federal funding as been a federal investigator. The chat down and card offer makes for a great "first amendment audit" video on social media further adding to your citizen score :)

In some Jurisdictions, the choice was taken to subsidize initially, however Wind turbines reached grid parity (the point at which the cost of wind power matches traditional sources) in some areas of Europe in the mid-2000s, and in the parts of the US around the same time. Falling prices continue to drive the levelized cost down and it has been suggested that it has reached general grid parity in Europe in 2010, and will reach the same point in the US around 2016 due to an expected reduction in capital costs of about 12%.

So now we have the situation, in Australia, where the incumbent government is very pro coal that traditional sources are, through "direct action" being subsidized to try to get them to be competitive again.

Your government is bank-rolled by Shell? Lucky bastards. We got [citation] ExxonMobil in Australia, although Shell have been backers in the past. Come to think of it though, our mob would have a tough time the Netherlands, as they completely have it in for windmills

Yes, substantially reduced them. It's a combination of health campaigns, legislation, and taxation measures. Look at rates of smoking in Australia from 1976 to 2010 as an example. The rate of smoking has been essentially halved in 34 years.

Which is why I have for decades posited that the ideal place for the UK's HLW waste is in the London Clay (a thick, low permeability claystone), with the entrance through the Houses of Parliament.

Genius!

I believe that America (and Sweden, and Finland) have also encountered political problems with their various waste repositories.

Can I presume from your pseudonym that you are a professional geologist RockDoctor? Have you seen this article from an Australian science show? Dr Birch's research seems to be cited a few times, it may interest you as it looks like it may lead to an interesting way to solve this waste issue.

sugar in nearly all processed foods - Yes, but who's forcing you to buy processed foods? Vote with your wallet and don't buy processed foods. Simple.

I really hate this argument. Like the only option is to 'not buy processed foods' right. How about speaking up about the unhealthy stranglehold the American Sugar Industry has?

You know, the same Sugar Industry that lobbied against introducing a 10% hard limit to added sugar, which is a standard worldwide. Or more recently, lobbied hard against placing a limit on the size of drinks. Hell, they're big enough and powerful enough to keep keep foreign competitors at bay, when other industries are opening the doors to foreign competition.

This research is required because it substantiates the manipulation of minors by major corporations to enhance their profits at the expense of the health of those minors. You require empirical research in order to apply legislative penalties to kerb and block this activity and in order to ensure the user, or as in this case, the abuser pays. Likely smart move large tax on candy, this because candy is already priced as high as it can be and any increase in price reduces profits while reducing demand, so the abuser of minors pays.

Without empirical evidence the PR=B$ machine goes into full bullshit mode deny the self evident because there is no proof. Of course this includes generating bullshit research, like the crap about no sugar rush. The lie the researches pushed, no sugar rush, this facilitated by hugely limiting the actual sugar and candy intake to daily recommended nutritional levels (spread over the entire day) and absolutely did not let the children eat as much candy as the wanted to or could, real fucking scum research.

We are winning, on a really hot day in Adelaide http://www.abc.net.au/news/201... (thanks America), all the diet drinks in a smaller market were gone and the fructose crap largely remained on the shelves.

A few nations do not have a lot of hardened mil only networks. They have to use public telco networks passing into a lot of other nations domestic infrastructure thanks to competition policy and trade deals.
The way around having to use very public, foreign owned networks and satellites sourced from many different providers for gov and mil communications was often thought to be emerging quantum cryptography.
Australia is spending huge amounts of time, funding and effort to try and keep the idea of national public/private networks open to its very secure mil and gov communications needs.
An Unbreakable Code (24/08/2006)
http://www.abc.net.au/catalyst...
Real gov and mil networks or risk a new Engima 2.0 on public networks due to cost cutting and really having faith that quantum cryptography was good enough :)

Don't act like America has a monopoly on idiot politicians. You still have a chance to ensure he doesn't become your President. On the other hand Australia's prime minister rose to power before his unjustified and incoherent attack on wind power. At that point we were stuck with Tony Abbott, fortunately not for too long.

But they cannot force a business to provide a platform for someone's point of view. That's very different.

Unless, apparently, that platform is a cake

s/Wrong, you ignorant fuck/Here's something you may be interested to learn/

  Phew, now I can read your otherwise informative reply without bemoaning your inherent hostility. Yeah, I know, the OP was just as bad. Don't let that detract your response, though!

  Something else to add to the discussion. The name "duck tape" _may_ be because of the duck cloth backing. Another theory on the name comes from the tape being waterproof like a duck. Even one more theory is that it was named after the DUKW amphibious vehicle.

http://www.abc.net.au/science/...

Sadly children with soccer balls will be the undoing of military drones. http://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2015-10-30/schoolboy-takes-out-drone-with-football/6900706

http://www.abc.net.au/news/201... -- Cardiff rejected the student petition to uninvite Greer from giving a guest lecture. Dawkins supports letting her speak, and he's no conservative.

a) it didn't actually happen; Greer has pulled out because, at 76, she's "too old" to face protesters according to http://www.newstatesman.com/po...

b) she wouldn't have been "banned from campus", but her one guest lecture would have been canceled

c) it's not like all liberals, or leftists, agree -- sweeping generalizations are unfounded

d) this is not about squashing free speech, the way Freedom of Speech (at the federal level) is meant: nobody's preventing these people from having their opinions, but they are asking not to have tax dollars (publicly-funded schools) or tuition money spent on giving them a platform to spew what some people *see* not just as "wrong" but outright "hateful" speech (rightly or wrongly). the logic is that a school only invites so many guests, it has to be selective, there's value and judgment applied, so the school's reputation is attached to what the speaker actually says (and may be seen as reflecting something about the student body), it's not the same as letting them rant on any old street-corner.

wrong, they loooove the vault. Monsanto and Syngenta are big contributors, as well as Bill Gates Foundation.

http://www.abc.net.au/environm...

Oddly, why didn't you suggest a story on how Taxi drives are on strike right now at this very moment over Uber, which you mysteriously, inexplicably failed to mention! http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/84e1... https://www.bostonglobe.com/bu... http://algarvedailynews.com/ne... http://www.chicagobusiness.com... http://www.cbsnews.com/picture... http://www.abc.net.au/news/201... http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new... http://www.theguardian.com/tec... https://euobserver.com/connect... http://www.wftv.com/videos/new... http://in-cyprus.com/nicosia-t...

Because you can run from a knife. This stupid strawman is always brought out when people talk about guns.

Not only that, you can fight off a knife attacker with minimal injuries.

The reason crims in Australia are complete cowards is because they know that they might be brave or drunk enough to fight back if they're only armed with a knife. So they only attack in gangs, 5 to 1 in dark alleys. I only know one person who has been mugged in Australia, they did it by hitting her over the back of the head with something and running off with her purse. Just a few days ago in my city, a robber armed with a knife was tackled by staff at a local restaurant and held for police.

Welcome to Australia, where your waiter takes down a knife wielding meth heads with their bare hands, we don't expect a tip, but it's always appreciated.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/ima...

Yes, sorry for the late reply - I was having a couple of cigars.

I was referring to this guy who was, until recently, the treasurer of Australia, and also Australia in general.

The current government of Australia is backed by these guys, and, while wind power is not quite cheaper yet, they could see the writing on the wall. A successful carbon trading scheme was scrapped, and in place a thinly veiled SUBSIDY to the fossil fuel industry was put in place!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
http://www.abc.net.au/religion...

It happens currently, it has happened before.

In case anyone wants a link re the above example: http://www.abc.net.au/news/201...

Prison is not a deterrent: http://www.abc.net.au/pm/conte...
Prison increases recidivism: http://www.prisonpolicy.org/sc...

So what does prison actually do? It doesn't prevent crime, and it doesn't make it less likely someone will commit a crime in the future. You can say you're using it to keep violent criminals away from the public, but the truth in the US is way more creepy.

The reason prison is big in the US is because your government/corporations use it for cheap labour. Prison industry is big business with low overheads. That article also comes with some interesting statistics:

Ninety-seven percent of 125,000 federal inmates have been convicted of non-violent crimes. It is believed that more than half of the 623,000 inmates in municipal or county jails are innocent of the crimes they are accused of. Of these, the majority are awaiting trial. Two-thirds of the one million state prisoners have committed non-violent offences. Sixteen percent of the country’s 2 million prisoners suffer from mental illness.

But of course I'm sure you can tell me why prison works and it does any of the things that you think it does, when only 3% of incarcerated people are the kind of people you actually need to keep locked up and the rest are more likely to commit crimes after they've been in jail.

Safety concerns over nanoparticles in some sunscreens.

You're welcome.

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation had a radio show (Background Briefing) that covered this exact topic. Very good program. http://www.abc.net.au/radionat...

As usual, US is behind it, and other western countries do whatever they say.

Sad how Japan's yesterday is Australia's future:

Right now Australia's Internet is pathetically slow by first world standards - though competitive by third world standards.... YAY! Internet speeds: Australia ranks 44th, study cites direction of NBN as part of problem http://www.abc.net.au/news/201...

The Liberals are promising the NBN will deliver at least 25Mbps to most household... YAWN! The Coalition’s rebooted NBN plan proposes to use a mix of technologies, including Telstra’s copper network and cable networks, to deliver minimum broadband download speeds of 25Mbps to 90 per cent of households and businesses by 2020. http://www.businessspectator.c...

And the best you can get if you pay through the nose is 100Mbps? WHAT A JOKE! http://www.whistleout.com.au/B...
http://www.crikey.com.au/2014/...

Turns out, high up in the stratosphere the winds are predictable and have just the patterns they need. They did simulations using real-world wind data and found it was quite feasible to navigate balloons effectively to maintain coverage using only prevailing winds.

Since 2012 they've been trialling in New Zealand, Brazil and other places, they've increased balloon flight times from 50 days to over 6 months (despite expert scepticism), and now they're close to ready to roll out a commercial service. Pretty sure they've done their research by now.

One wonders how much money changed hands on that one.

I would say none. The actual study said that the we were coming in a period of exceptionally low sunspot activity (a Maunder Minimum), as was last seen during the mini ice age. It did not claim that this would cause the mini ice age (in fact it happened long after the period started), nor did it say that it would cause one now.

But all they needed to do was mention the two events in the one document and it was enough for the media to go into overdrive reporting that another ice age was coming. I'm sure that a lot of people reported it because they had a right-wing agenda to push, but I imagine that a lot of the misreporting was done out of ignorance. But I doubt that any underhanded payments were made because of it.

For a good summary of what happened, you can watch or read the story made by Australian TV's Media Watch.

Re "I'm sure there are much large potential savings in the defense budget, so why waste our limited time and attention on something so small, proportionally speaking."
The US seems fixated on moving data from satellite to satellite avoiding parts of the world and having to add extensive encryption to its own bespoke satellites. Data flow was the key from Australia, Japan, UK, Slivermine South Africa and other interesting locations.
The NSA and GCHQ seemed to distrust all other methods and hoped to stay ahead of the game buying ever more for the flow of gov/mil data.
The private sector soon learned of this need and set prices to match.
Why the interest? It shows the mind set of the US and UK going back decades vs a Russia or China who could only try to secure their networks or use http://cryptome.org/eyeball/ss...
The High Frontier Broadcast: 02/05/2005 http://www.abc.net.au/4corners...
has a transcript http://www.abc.net.au/4corners... thats suggests some of the US gov spending on communications in the private sector.

Re "I'm sure there are much large potential savings in the defense budget, so why waste our limited time and attention on something so small, proportionally speaking."
The US seems fixated on moving data from satellite to satellite avoiding parts of the world and having to add extensive encryption to its own bespoke satellites. Data flow was the key from Australia, Japan, UK, Slivermine South Africa and other interesting locations.
The NSA and GCHQ seemed to distrust all other methods and hoped to stay ahead of the game buying ever more for the flow of gov/mil data.
The private sector soon learned of this need and set prices to match.
Why the interest? It shows the mind set of the US and UK going back decades vs a Russia or China who could only try to secure their networks or use http://cryptome.org/eyeball/ss...
The High Frontier Broadcast: 02/05/2005 http://www.abc.net.au/4corners...
has a transcript http://www.abc.net.au/4corners... thats suggests some of the US gov spending on communications in the private sector.

The numbers have been around for years in public. The US gov/mil is fixated on buying from the private sector every decade.
"The High Frontier" (Broadcast: 02/05/2005)
"Outer space is open for business. It’s a booming $50 billion a year industry"
http://www.abc.net.au/4corners...
from the transcript at http://www.abc.net.au/4corners...
".. makes $100,000,000 a year, buying and selling airtime on communication satellites. ...."

The numbers have been around for years in public. The US gov/mil is fixated on buying from the private sector every decade.
"The High Frontier" (Broadcast: 02/05/2005)
"Outer space is open for business. It’s a booming $50 billion a year industry"
http://www.abc.net.au/4corners...
from the transcript at http://www.abc.net.au/4corners...
".. makes $100,000,000 a year, buying and selling airtime on communication satellites. ...."

the best & worst (fake history & heritage) ones are kept from us,, bushwhacked hoodwinked & woollyeyed we comply;;; http://www.abc.net.au/religion... .. some still calling this 'weather' .. http://www.youtube.com/results... .. rock on /. ;; https://www.youtube.com/watch?... ..: konoronhkwa

The derp is strong with this one

Not often these days does something like this manage to offend me to the core, but that article really got my goat. It is a masterpiece sure, well written even. But it is constructed to lead you down a narrow garden path of thinking and reason you into a little corner from which you the conclude you are somehow under attack and only way through is to keep on the path. I left the path half-way, trampled a bit of shrubbery and climbed a tree to look down on this weird thing. I saw an ancient tactic for Manufacturing Consent,

1. Begin by manufacturing and presenting an "oppressor/victim scenario".
2. Attempt to convince reader that they are in this "victim" group.
3. Present a view that does not ascribe any Free Will or choice to the "victim group".
4. In this tactical reasoning the only "Free Will" is possessed by the oppressor, who is using it for "evil".
5. Further elevate this aggressor scenario by claiming some natural right not to be "victimized".
6. This gives reader an ego massage. They are no longer a "victim", merely "concerned about the Rights of Others"
7. Choose a base motive you think would be most contemptible to your audience and ascribe it to the oppressor.
8. Once the argument is under way, focus entirely on oppressor's actions. Steer away from victims' actions or choices.
9. Congratulations! You are mustering a troll army to become a self-described "Moral Majority".
10. When it distills into a Cause, it need not be morally defensible or even comprise a majority.

So you are this poor defenseless human being, right? You are foraging on the green fields of Internet, picking out the choice clover that sprouts there. You are a sheep that Will Safely Graze in the pasture of human endeavor and will thrive happily unless your most precious possession --- your attention --- is stolen from you by those with Corporate Interest in mind. You have no Free Will in the matter. The rectangle that is your Facebook Page is being infringed upon by Advertising. Your personal information and patterns of behavior, which you supply of your own free will, is being stolen by others.

If you are lucky you've been raised by parents who would Laugh Out Loud at this kind of argument, and you inherently recognize and fix on the part of the argument that is most tenuous and contrived. Like since when do people have some sort of right not to be distracted in public places?

Advertising -- and even PR and Propaganda-- is applied in the world like any business model. Winor lose. Some of the models are stupid, some are clever. If you don't like what they're selling don't give them traction. And if you some day find yourself surrounded by a true-majority of people whose opinions you are uncomfortable with, you are left with the usual options: fight or flight.