Vox checks back in!


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Hundreds of toads are randomly exploding in Hamburg in recent days. Which is deeply bizarre, but somehow appears fairly normal in the current climate of political and social unreality.

How about police officers caught on tape handcuffing a 5 year old child for having a temper tantrum at a Florida school? Or the release of a document obtained by the Observer newspaper from the Vatican archive, that instructed Catholic bishops to cover up cases of the sexual abuse of children? Apparently this is all fairly normal, and is nothing that should provoke any concern on the part of ordinary people.

Meanwhile, the fabled hunt for WMD that provided the entire justification for the war in Iraq, is quietly declared to have been pointless, and President Bush is pictured (literally), holding hands with the leader of a nation guilty of gross violations of human rights.

Nothing to be concerned about right?

This is a short soundclip of my young nephew Daniel Bisset, recorded on a Griffin iTalk by my brother Justin.I hadn't had the opportunity to hear him speaking, so Justin sent me this.

His ability to re-invent the English language is somewhat awe inspiring! We love you Dan!


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A midnight ramble!


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I find myself totally unmotivated by the election taking place in my country on May the 5th. It feels more like an abstract process that exists only in the media, rather than a debate about substantial things. It seems to me, that the election of another 'Labour' government, is a foregone conclusion, a prospect which, (in view of their recent record), fills me with despair. 5 more years of the same grey men, telling television lies, and spinning political fairytales barely believable by children, is not (to me), a very appealing prospect.

The Conservative and Liberal 'opposition' do not deserve to be referred to as such, and seem to be willfully pursuing a policy of making themselves unelectable. Meanwhile, the reins and shackles of the police state, are being pulled ever tighter around the necks and ankles of the British people. Most still naively believe, that they are witnessing some form of democracy in action, even though many are instinctively apathetic, towards a process that they unconsciously recognize excludes them.

The charade of elections, only disguises the truth. That those who control the policy agenda, do not do so from an openly public platform. The richest and most powerful men have far more subtle and secretive methods with which to exercise control. Politicians are the lieutenants' of political policy, not it's Generals. Elections are mere rearrangements of props and actors upon the public stage. They do not substantially affect the script, despite the fact that the 'political actors' sometimes fluff their (auto-cued) lines. The real power, lies concealed, and only its external manifestation is visible on the stage. Hidden by the curtain of secrecy, and protected by sophisticated and potentially lethal violence, this political theatre of smoke and mirrors, strives to mislead and confuse its already bewildered audience, at every opportunity.

The Establishment 'critics', and the societal 'prop makers' who support and supply the backstage machinery of the global elite, do so for their own selfish and careerist purposes. They ally themselves with its power, hoping to either attain some measure of it for themselves, or to benefit from its use. They do not deeply question the lies that are at its foundation, because they themselves are too busy helping to construct and reinforce them. They prefer instead to rationalize or explain away any appearance of organized deceit, as being the isolated actions of individuals, rather than the concerted efforts of powerful and secretive groups. They never ask the truly awkward questions. Thus they either willfully, or blindly, betray their responsibility to the truth, and to the cause of greater freedom for us all.

I've spent my time casually surfing this evening. Not something I do that often. I decided not to do the obvious thing, and post anything about the new pope. After all, everyone and their blog will already have been there.
With all the social bookmarking happening on the web, and with multiple RSS feeds popping up all over the place, it seems there really is no stopping the power of the blog. Very little goes unnoticed in our world these days, if it's happening, you can bet someone, somewhere, probably has a camera, recorder, or some type of media device pointed at it, ready to capture it for posterity, and upload it onto the net. (Certain Government, Military, Industrial, and "classified" information excepted of course).

We have become addicted to our information, so much so, that some of us find it hard to function without it. We huddle together in our virtual gangs, and hang out in forums and chat rooms with others of like mind. Those who agree with us, and share our interests, or who reinforce our world-view, we congratulate, and sometimes reward with a link in our blogroll. Thus we often fail to recognize, the new walls we are constructing around ourselves.

We are surrounded by, and immersed in, our personal digital flotsam and jetsam, and there is always more to see, read, and hear, then we can cope with. But never fear, the benevolent network is watching, and it is constantly refining and cataloguing our interests, and our profile, in order to better serve our needs.

Still, I am led to wonder, as the network grows ever smarter at finding and searching out content relevant to our needs, how much better served will we all be? Granted, we will each have our personalized information and entertainment streams on demand. They will tell us all we wish to know, but will they tell us the cold hard truth? How easy will it be to block out those thoughts, feelings, and experiences, that we do not wish to allow into our digital sanctum? How much will each users' personal prejudice, come to frame and dominate their LCD window on the world? If we only search for, and network with, others who share the same, (or a similar) views, will we still be as open to meaningful dialogue with those with whom we differ?

An interesting if oddly spun story from todays India Daily.

They seem to be saying that observable patterns of electromagnetic activity are widely visible in the sky directly preceding earthquakes and/or tsunamis. The phenomena has been dubbed "Earthquake lights." However, for some odd reason, they are crediting these strange lights with a possible extra-terrestrial origin.

There has long been speculation that electromagnetic signals of certain frequencies can be transmitted through the Earth, to form standing waves in the Earth itself. It is known that the former Soviet Union conducted extensive research and testing of the technology, which was based upon the work of the pioneering scientist and inventor Nikola Tessla. Tessla was responsible for the concepts of both Teleforce and Telegeodynamics, and after his death, many of his papers were declared Top Secret.

The United States has since constructed the HAARP facility, the purpose of which is said to be civilian research into space weather effects on the upper ionosphere. Jointly managed by the Air Force Research Laboratory, and the Office of Naval Research and power grid systems, and budgeted through the Department of Defense, HAARP occupies 58 acres of cleared forest near Gaskona, Alaska. It consists of a complex of 180 high frequency (HF) broadcast antenna towers. On the ground below the towers, are 30 transmitter shelters, each housing 12 diesel powered transmitters, each transmitter is capable of generating 10,000 watts of RF power. The combined output of which, can be focussed into a single point, (or beam?) to create an effective radiated power of 3.6 million watts.

Some have claimed that the patents for the HAARP facility were based upon the original research of Tessla. They state that in reality the HARRP array can function as a giant shortwave transmitter, an ionespheric heater, a weather modification device, and is so powerful it can alter atmospheric wind patterns, and modify the atmosphere's molecular structure. There may be other uses, but it should be understood that this powerful array is at least 72,000 times more powerful than the largest commercial radio station in the United States.

The India Times article points, (perhaps unwittingly), to this as a possible cause for "Earthquake lights" when it closes with these words;

"Eventually in the next fifty to hundred years, some physicists believe that terrestrial technologies will also advance to control earthquakes and Tsunamis in a very similar way."

Given that the technology is already available, and factoring in the secrecy that would certainly surround the testing and use of devices, it seems reasonable to speculate, that these "Earthquake lights" might very easily have a terrestrial origin, rather than being a signal from our benevolent space brothers.

Here are a few fun links courtesy of my brother Justin.

SINGING MICE!

Press the RED button!

Who should you vote for! (Don't they have the same agenda ???)

Thanks mate!
;-)

Disturbing to think that 21% of people questioned in an MSN poll last year have no objections to being implanted with an RFID chip. Despite having no real idea of the implications of the technology, it seems many people would happily consent to give up their personal privacy (and perhaps much more), for the promise of convenience.

Do a quarter of the people sampled really not care if their movements, actions, and all their purchases are rigidly catalogued, tracked, and investigated for anomalies? Or, would we be wiser to question the money behind the MSN/CNBC polling? Are we really so desperate to integrate the machine into our cognitive process, that we are willing to become cyborgs? Or, is someone with a vested interest, trying to convince us that this is a great idea?

The technology is certainly in place. Already we have had an avalanche of stories, both real and fictional trumpeting it's arrival. But for most people it does not seem to be an issue of much concern. Mind you what is? The majority of the world's population seem quite happy to remain blissfully ignorant of the true nature of the world around them. After all, there are so many agreeable distractions in this brave new world of ours.

It amazes me how little courage there is in our politically correct, sanitized, homogenized culture. We all make token gestures, designed to reassure ourselves that we really are concerned. But in the main it is so much easier to let our 'leaders' tell us what to think. We revere and loathe these politicians, little knowing, that they are in their turn, puppets of powers and forces that do not get thrown out of office, on the whim of a public vote.

We are so easily disengaged from real interaction in the public process. Our mental activities sabotaged by low quality programming, and a constant barrage of sex, violence, drugs, and junk thought. We are given what we (supposedly) want, and deprived of what we really need. Attention is shifted, and the public mind captivated, by matters of no real importance. Instead of talking about the implications of some of these frighteningly powerful future technologies, we are preoccupied with a diet of sensationalism and voyeurism.

If the 'brain chip' visions of our technocratic masters become a future reality, it will only be because we the people, have chosen the ignorance of servitude, over the risk and insecurity of a genuine struggle for the truth and freedom.

I want to continue to point any visitors to this blog in the direction of this amazing journalist. Dahr Jamail writes and speaks with the authority of someone who is seeing the reality. His independence and courage, as one of the few "unembedded" journalists in the country, helps provide a sobering view of life under US led occupation.

Also, please take more than a few moments to visit Chris Allbritton's excellent back-to-iraq Chris is currently working in Baghdad, and is funded by his readers. He offers some very insightful independent news and observation. You can donate your hard earned currency to Chris to support him in this endeavor, if you should feel so inclined!

I've been podcasting for a month or two now, and blogging for a little while longer. I feel I am slowly beginning to get the hang of it, although I am aware that there is still so much I need to learn. At the moment, there is practically no area of the blog or podcast, that I do not intend to markedly improve in the coming weeks and months. I know it takes time, but I have been generally pleased by the steady progress I have been making, and I plan to make a lot more in the future!

The most challenging aspect of making a weekly podcast is simply learning to talk naturally in an empty room! Perhaps this explains why shows such as Dawn & Drew (which I find alternately hilarious and gross), are so successful. It is a lot easier to talk to somebody else who is in the room with you, than it is to converse with yourself and a microphone. Even though they don't do much more than goof around, and make silly jokes, Dawn & Drew have such a natural conversational style, and an easy intimacy with each other, that it's very easy to listen to them. They are totally relatable to as real people, even if they are talking total arse! I find myself liking them, in spite of the fact that they sometimes have a very different take on the world than I do.

One of the great things they are doing, is building a community area on their site, where listeners and "psycho-fans" can congregate and exchange ideas, stories, and banter with each other, and the shows hosts. This in itself is a very powerful way of enabling fans to exercise an active role in the future direction of the show. I like the fact that they do not place a restrictive space around themselves, and that they represent an aspect or feeling present in the podcasting community, which is all about having fun with the technology, and using humor to deal with the world around you. They treat their audience as equals, invite contributions at every opportunity, (mostly food!) and share some very personal (even potentially embarrassing) moments with an audience of thousands.

On a recent show, they spent a good 5-10 minutes applying a heated lubricant to what Dawn comically refered to as the "swimsuit area". Alternately bizzare, hilarious, and in some ways slightly disturbing, you could never imagine hearing these guys doing this on the radio could you? Of course, the 'lube' was applied in aid of their new sponsors, but you have to admire the sheer front required to do it, even as you question your own sanity for listening to it!

It's taken forvever! I'm not getting any faster, and they keep getting longer. I'll post the links later, but for now enjoy.

I seem to have a habit of underestimating the amount of time it will take me to finish each show. Not helped by the fact that each one seems to get longer! They keep growing, and this one is at 16 minutes and still not finished.

I have to say though, Audacity is a pig on my machine. Crash, freeze, crawl, seems to be it's modus operandi. The annoying thing is, I have a Pro-tools M-box sitting here doing nothing, but it won't bloody run on this version of Mac OS X without a £50 upgrade! Even then, there are apparently 'performance issues' because my machine is entering digital senility.

Anyway, that said, I have a podcast to finish! Thanks for dropping by the site though. If you want to know when the site is updated without having to visit subscribe to the RSS Feedburner feed, in the left hand column, about halfway down this page. Or, paste the address below into your news aggregator.

http://dissidentvox.blogware.com/blog/index.xml

See ya!
;-)

After a long lie in, I'm currently at work on the podcast, and hope to post it before the day ends. In the meantime I have dug up a few minor distractions from the sea of strange and endlessly evolving infotainment that populates the web.

You could take a moment here, to have a word with a future version of yourself.

However, if you feel like simply flying away,  flyguy will take you on a very interesting journey.

Of course, if that's not your prefered mode of transport, why not hop on the subway?.

And when you get home, you know there's always something weird on your tv!

After two days, and a round trip of about 60 miles, I finally have a keyboard that works! Never mind the fact that the replacement I bought from the Apple store in Leeds feels somewhat less robust than the previous model, or that Apple have skanked the low end of the market again and the product that they are providing now, is of a lesser quality than it's predecessor. It works, and it looks very white, and I only had to catch a train and 2 buses to find it, so I guess I shouldn't complain.

What a week it has been for worldwide news huh? Pope John Paul II has the biggest funeral in history, 'Phoney Blair' announces a general election, Charlie marries his long time squeeze Camillla, Michael Jackson is (alledgedly) fondling little boys everywhere, and the Japanese make a robot Police Chief for the day. Oh well just another week in the 21st century world I guess.

The podcast should be up sometime over the weekend, so please check for that. After that I plan to make a few changes, and liven the place up a bit. Thanks for the hit, see you later.