While empires try to maintain their hegemony through economic and military prowess, they must also rely on a form of ideological legitimacy to guarantee their rule. Such legitimacy is often embedded in the geopolitical reputation of the empire among its allies and reluctant admirers. Once that reputation begins to unravel, the empire appears illegitimate.

The establishment of the US empire in the aftermath of World War II built upon its economic and military supremacy. That empire created an architecture of financial and geopolitical institutions that served not only its own interests, but also those of global capital and international legal and democratic structures. There were, of course, myriad contradictions that materialized throughout the earliest cold war period, but much of the West accepted the general framework and ideological legitimacy of the empire. While a crisis of legitimacy emerged around the Vietnam War and the undermining of the Bretton Woods agreement by the Nixon administration, it was not until the end of the cold war and the development of reckless unipolar geopolitics over the last decade that a real decline in US hegemony became apparent.

Given the battered economic and military standing of the United States over the past several years, the hysterical reaction of the American political class over the recent release of State Department cables by WikiLeaks is not surprising. However, it is instructive to note the response of those in the West to such “displays (of) imperial arrogance and hypocrisy” as reported by Steven Erlanger in The New York Times. Erlanger cites an important editorial from the Berliner Zeitung that underscores the question of ideological legitimacy: “The U.S. is betraying one of its founding myths: freedom of information. And they are doing so now, because for the first time since the end of the cold war, they are threatened with losing worldwide control of information.”

Commenting in The Guardian on the hypocrisy of the United States, British columnist John Naughton points to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s January 21, 2010 address about Internet freedom and the remarkable subsequent about-face in denouncing such freedom as practiced by WikiLeaks. Naughton does not spare other officials in the West who have been clamoring for curtailment of such freedom of information on the Internet. As alleged by Naughton: “What WikiLeaks is really exposing is the extent to which the western democratic system has been hollowed out. … And when, finally, the veil of secrecy is lifted, their reflex reaction is to kill the messenger.”

The abuses heaped on Julian Assange and the threats against him, especially, but not exclusively, from politicians in the United States, reflects this hollowing out of democracy and a fear of the new virtual world of free speech. Writing in the December 11, 2010 issue of the Melbourne Age, Assange’s Australian attorney, Peter Gordon, opines:

The sight of the most prominent politicians in the world inciting either the prosecution, incarceration or assassination of Assange, or the persecution of his family, is a form of barbarism that demeans us all. Moreover, the phenomenon of companies as big as MasterCard and Visa being gangpressed into anti-trust violations of their commercial relations with WikiLeaks is truly frightening.

Beyond the critical matter of freedom of information, however, is the erosion of alliances by stalwart supporters of US global hegemony in the aftermath of the WikiLeaks publication of some of the hundreds of thousands of diplomatic cables. When The Guardian released some of the documents dealing with Poland, even its conservative prime minister, Donald Tusk, declared that, “we have a serious problem … not with image, as some countries do, and not reputation, like the US does. It’s a problem of being stripped of illusions about the nature of relations between countries, including such close allies as Poland and the US.”

The Australian government has been buffeted by a series of revelations that surfaced when the United States rejected an appeal by that government to see all of the cables relating to US-Australian relations before WikiLeaks released them. Beyond the embarrassment to members of the Labor government, there is a growing sentiment that the US is both arrogant and incompetent.

Perhaps the drive to shut down WikiLeaks and prosecute Julian Assange is the last gasp of a dying empire to shore up its fading legitimacy in the world and among its own citizens. Hence, the hyperbolic criticism by US Attorney General Eric Holder that WikiLeaks has put “the lives of people who work for the American people at risk; the American people themselves have been put at risk.” As the WikiLeaks publications make clear, the diplomatic corps is just another instrument of the US empire. Indeed, it is the empire itself that is putting its own citizens at risk through the reckless, illegal and immoral actions perpetrated around the globe.

In their desperation to retain the empire, the US political class is undermining the remaining vestiges of the empire’s legitimacy over the WikiLeaks affair. They may also be preparing to expand the definition of treason to include those who are dedicated, as is Assange and WikiLeaks, to freedom of information, especially when it reveals the duplicities of empire. Beyond WikiLeaks, the crisis of empire, according to Filipino scholar-activist Walden Bello, “bodes well not only for the rest of the world. It may also benefit the people of the United States. It opens up the possibility of Americans relating to other people as equals and not as masters.”

Given the panic of the US masters, it might be time for the serfs at home to revolt under the banner of “Treason to Empire is Loyalty to Humanity.” If that seems a little too provocative, we should remember the first American struggle for independence from the British Empire. In defense of his anti-British Virginia Stamp Act Resolution, Patrick Henry is alleged to have declaimed: “If this be treason, make the most of it.”

http://www.truth-out.org/wikileaks-ideological-legitimacy-and-crisis-empire66418?print

This is Insane. Don’t ever get scanned by TSA.

While the application of scientific knowledge creates technology, sometimes the technology is later redefined by science. Such is the case with terahertz (THz) radiation, the energy waves that drive the technology of the TSA: back scatter airport scanners.

Emerging THz technological applications

THz waves are found between microwaves and infrared on the electromagnetic spectrum. This type of radiation was chosen for security devices because it can penetrate matter such as clothing, wood, paper and other porous material that’s non-conducting.
This type of radiation seems less threatening because it doesn’t penetrate deeply into the body and is believed to be harmless to both people and animals.

THz waves may have applications beyond security devices. Research has been done to determine the feasibility of using the radiation to detect tumors underneath the skin and for analyzing the chemical properties of various materials and compounds. The potential marketplace for THz driven technological applications may generate many billions of dollars in revenue.

Because of the potential profits, intense research on THz waves and applications has mushroomed over the last decade.

Health risks

The past several years the possible health risks from cumulative exposure to THz waves was mostly dismissed. Experts pointed to THz photons and explained that they are not strong enough to ionize atoms or molecules; nor are they able to break the chains of chemical bonds. They assert—and it is true—that while higher energy photons like ultraviolet rays and X-rays are harmful, the lower energy ones like terahertz waves are basically harmless. [Softpedia.com]

While that is true, there are other biophysics at work. Some studies have shown that THZ can cause great genetic harm, while other similar studies have shown no such evidence of deleterious affects.

Boian Alexandrov at the Center for Nonlinear Studies at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico recently published an abstract with colleagues, “DNA Breathing Dynamics in the Presence of a Terahertz Field ” that reveals very disturbing—even shocking—evidence that the THz waves generated by TSA scanners is significantly damaging the DNA of the people being directed through the machines, and the TSA workers that are in close proximity to the scanners throughout their workday.
From the abstracts own synopsis:

“We consider the influence of a terahertz field on the breathing dynamics of double-stranded DNA. We model the spontaneous formation of spatially localized openings of a damped and driven DNA chain, and find that linear instabilities lead to dynamic dimerization, while true local strand separations require a threshold amplitude mechanism. Based on our results we argue that a specific terahertz radiation exposure may significantly affect the natural dynamics of DNA, and thereby influence intricate molecular processes involved in gene expression and DNA replication.”

In layman’s terms what Alexandrov and his team discovered is that the resonant effects of the THz waves bombarding humans unzips the double-stranded DNA molecule. This ripping apart of the twisted chain of DNA creates bubbles between the genes that can interfere with the processes of life itself: normal DNA replication and critical gene expression.

Other studies have not discovered this deadly effect on the DNA because the research only investigated ordinary resonant effects.

Nonlinear resonance, however, is capable of such damage and this sheds light on the genotoxic effects inherent in the utilization of THz waves upon living tissue. The team emphasizes in their abstract that the effects are probabilistic rather than deterministic.

Unfortunately, DNA damage is not limited only to THz wave exposure. Other research has been done that reveals lower frequency microwaves used by cell phones and Wi-Fi cause some harm to DNA over time as well. ["Single- and double-strand DNA breaks in rat brain cells after acute exposure to radiofrequency electromagnetic radiation."]  //Terrance Aym

http://www.veteranstoday.com/2010/12/17/los-alamos-scientist-tsa-scanners-shred-human-dna/

(PhysOrg.com) — Brain-computer-interfaces (BCIs) are most often designed to help people (such as those with disabilities) do things they find difficult on their own, but a joint project by Columbia University and a spinoff company, Neuromatters, LLC, is trying to develop a BCI to help computers to rapidly identify images of interest.

The technology, called Cortically Coupled Computer Vision (C3 Vision) takes advantage of the fact that the human brain can react to images it finds interesting or relevant faster than its owner is consciously aware of, and couples this with the processing power of computers for rapidly identifying those images.

Using the human brain provides the subjective or abstract qualities that computers lack. Dr. Paul Sajda, Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Columbia University, said the brain is good at ranking images according to whether or not the person likes the picture or finds it interesting, which computers cannot do. But computers can process millions of images quickly, which would easily overwhelm the human brain.

The human subject is fitted with an electroencephalography (EEG) cap and shown a sample of images from a large database at a rate of up to 10 images per second. In one experiment the subjects were asked to look for surface to air missiles in satellite images. Every time an interesting or relevant image is shown the electrodes in the cap detect electrical activity in the brain, and the signals are captured and decoded by C3Vision. The person may be unaware, or just barely aware of having seen the image.

The computer then ranks the images according to the strength of the electrical activity, and looks for similarities in the images, such as the shapes, textures and colors. In this way the computer gradually learns which images the brain is deeming interesting, and is eventually able to identify them by itself.

Once trained the computer examines images in the much larger database from which the samples were taken. This could contain many millions of images, and the computer selects images similar in visual characteristics to those selected by the human brain.

The project has received financial support from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to develop and test the technology, which is intended for use as in applications such as helping government image analysts to evaluate millions of satellite images for specific characteristics. It may also find application in security applications such as video surveillance, where it would be looking for images of suspicious activity. Neuromatters CEO, Barbara Hanna, said the company aimed to “push the envelope” of computer-brain interfaces to help in areas where there is a problem of information overload.

Other applications envisaged for C3Vision include analysis of consumer preferences in online markets such as fashion, consumer goods, travel products, and even real estate, in a new field known as neuro-marketing. The project is overseen by the technology transfer office at Columbia University, “Columbia Technology Ventures,” which acts as a gateway for commercial companies wishing to join forces with the University in developing new technologies.

http://www.physorg.com/news/2010-12-human-brain-images.html

Psychological Harassment and Discrimination:

“The theme for Human Rights Day 10 December 2010 is human rights defenders who act to end discrimination.”

“Human rights defenders speak out against abuse and violations including discrimination, exclusion, oppression and violence.  They advocate justice and seek to protect the victims of human rights violations.  They demand accountability for perpetrators and transparency in government action.  In so doing, they are often putting at risk their own safety, and that of their families.”

Discrimination falls under workplace psychological harassment similar to sexual harassment.

Workplace psychological harassment and criminal psychological harassment can involve  psychological abuse and violence, discrimination, exclusion and isolation, oppression and subjugation, and torture.

Patterns and Trends of Human Rights Violations:

“Complaints to the Commissions focus on more systematic patterns and trends of human rights violations and may be brought against any country in the world.”

http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-523065

Introduction:

Since 2003 I have been documenting and doing research on psychological harassment and the related issues.

workplace psychological harassment and criminal psychological harassment networks.

Psychological Harassment Information Association

www.psychologicalharassment.org
www.psychologicalharassment.com

Human Rights Violation and Organized Crime Pattern:

The human rights violations deal with;

- Using workplace and criminal psychological harassment to eliminate a person’s means of subsistence;

- Attacking a victim’s credibility and psychological integrity to prevent exposure;

- The use of technology linked to criminal harassment, destroying a person’s health and brain, and torture;

- The use of cancer as an assassination method linked to suffering and setting examples;

- And the use of homelessness linked to setting examples and suffering.

- The lack of recognition concerning the existence of workplace psychological harassment and criminal psychological harassment networks, which includes government and law enforcement organizations.

The pattern deals with a template or a series of steps to using homelessness as a weapon.

The weapon can be linked to organized crime setting examples and revenge, subjugation a form of slavery, and preventing exposure of crimes committed.

- Setting examples and suffering can be linked to a form of torture.

- Subjugation is a form of slavery.

The order of steps is linked to strategy aimed at preventing exposure and organized crime.

Criminal Psychological Harassment Network Pattern:

- Workplace psychological harassment and psychiatric file.
- Followed by criminal psychological harassment network, organized crime.
- Sound technology for psychological torture, sleep deprivation, deplete the body, heart disease and stroke, premature aging “we aged you”.
- Damage to the brain, body, legs, reduced mobility, isolation.
- Microwave technology (radar, x-ray, gamma) for final push to homelessness and assassination through cancer. (victims who choose to be homeless)

Homelessness and Criminal Psychological Harassment Network Pattern or Steps:

1) Eliminate a person’s means of subsistence through workplace psychological harassment and create a psychiatric file to prevent a lawsuit.

2) Criminal psychological harassment network to increase the attack on a victim’s psychological integrity.

3) Sound technology to increase attack on a victim’s psychological integrity and high levels of sleep deprivation.

- acid-base imbalance/disorders, deplete the body, damage the brain, damage the body and legs, reduced mobility, and isolation.

- damage to the brain through high levels of sleep deprivation, provocation and anger, and stress linked to “removing a person’s brain”.

- premature aging linked to a lack of repair for the body and DNA “we aged you”.

4) The victim is highly weakened physically, psychologically and mentally, credibly, financially, and socially.

5) Microwave technology for final push to homelessness out of fear linked to death threats that are linked to cancer.

(victims who choose to be homeless out of fear or due to criminal psychological harassment networks)

A Strategy linked to Social Isolation:

Trapping people through psychological manipulation and deception in participation and crime to use law enforcement as a threat, to create a vulnerability, to increase participation or the attack on the victim’s psychological integrity, and to increase the pressure to silence a victim.

This psychological manipulation can be found documented on the website mentioned above and can also be referred to as Mobbing in Modern Society.

Microwaves leading to Cancer:

Powerful microwaves like radar can lead to cancer such as blood cancer or leukemia, breast, lung, throat, thyroid, colon, and bladder cancer.

High radiation raises risk of second cancer: study

- “We found that radiation increases the risk of developing a second cancer in a very similar way to how it is related to risk of a first cancer,” — “We also found that cancer survivors had particularly high risks of developing a second cancer that we know to be radiation-sensitive. These include breast, colon, lung, thyroid and bladder cancers,”

- The findings would likely hold true for other types of radiation exposures known to cause cancer.

Symptoms of Radar or Microwaves:

Itchy eyes, irritated lungs, and swollen testicles.

http://www.psychologicalharassment.org/news/workplace/957-human-rights-day-2010-psychological-harassment-and-human-rights-violations-patterns-and-trends-cnn-ireport-article-link

With a big splash Wednesday, the Justice Department announced it had arrested a Virginia man for allegedly plotting attacks on Washington, D.C.-area Metro stations. The man, 34-year-old Farooque Ahmed, who was born in Pakistan and is now a naturalized U.S. citizen, is charged with material support for terrorism and collecting information to assist in an attack on a transit station.

“Today’s arrest highlights the terrorism threat that exists in Northern Virginia,” U.S. Attorney Neil MacBride said in the DOJ press release.

It’s still very early in the case, and almost everything we know at this point is what the Feds decided to include in a nine-page indictment. But it’s not too early for some context.

The indictment (read it in full below) does not allege that Ahmed had contact with any genuine terrorists. Rather he interacted with people “he believed to be members of Al-Qaida” — who were in fact working for the FBI. From the DOJ press release:

According to the indictment, Ahmed allegedly participated in surveillance and recorded video images of Metrorail stations in Arlington, Va., on four occasions. On or about July 19, 2010, in a hotel room in Sterling, Va., Ahmed allegedly handed a memory stick containing video images of a Metrorail station in Arlington to an individual whom Ahmed believed to be affiliated with al-Qaeda. On that same day, Ahmed allegedly agreed to assess the security of two other Metrorail stations in Arlington as locations of terrorist attacks.

…

According to the indictment, on or about Sept. 28, 2010, Ahmed provided to an individual whom he believed to be affiliated with al-Qaeda diagrams that Ahmed drew of three Metrorail stations in Arlington and provided suggestions as to where explosives should be placed on trains in Metrorail stations in Arlington to kill the most people in simultaneous attacks planned for 2011.

The indictment offers some juicy tidbits — Ahmed allegedly proposed using rolling suitcases instead of backpacks to bomb the Metro — but it is notably thin in details about the role of the FBI. It is not clear, for example, whether Ahmed or the FBI (or some combination of the two) came up with the concept of bombing the Metro in the first place. And the indictment does not say when and why Ahmed first encountered the people he believed to be members of al-Qaida.

An unnamed administration official told the Washington Post that Ahmed “first drew the attention of law enforcement officials by seeking to obtain unspecified materials.” Translation: The Feds are not ready to tell the public very much about this case.

Much of the press has been passing on the government’s version of the case; the Associated Press, to its credit, has a critical write-up that refers to a “fake bomb plot.”

Another unanswered question is whether Ahmed was paid by the FBI. That’s what happened earlier this year in the case of a Lebanese immigrant in Chicago who was seemingly coaxed into a fake attack by FBI informants, to the point where the informants paid him (government) money to quit his job and focus on the fake plot full-time, before finally providing him with a fake bomb that he left outside Wrigley Field.

And then there was the case of the Newburgh Four, a group of sad-sack men who were convicted this month of conspiring in 2009 to bomb New York synagogues (after being provided with a fake explosive by an informant). Bloomberg Businessweek reported in a must-read piece that the Newburgh case “vindicated the post-9/11 strategy of using an informant to identify individuals deemed likely to engage in terrorism and encourage them up to the point of arrest.” Is that what we’re seeing again in the Ahmed case? We probably won’t know for a while yet.

Here’s the full indictment.
Ahmed Indictment

Justin Elliott is a Salon reporter. Reach him by email at jelliott@salon.com and follow him on Twitter
http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war_room/2010/10/28/ahmed_farooque_dc_metro/index.html