headlines at earth2willi.com
| |
News,
Updates, and Rants
(...some of them anyway) [2003
ARCHIVE]
|
|
|
|
| turbowilli++
now in mp3 |
|
Sunday December 21, 2003 12:14 AM |
| I've encoded mp3
versions of the electronica I was experimenting with last
year. mp3 is a copywritten format but it's more compatible
at this point, and the Ogg
and FLAC
files are still available.
I've been collecting some samples so I hope to be working
on some new electronica stuff in the coming year. You can
also download
some of my other music or join in some music
discussion in the forums.
Happy Holidays! 
-willi |
|
| Holiday
Piano Performances |
|
Thursday December 11, 2003 12:36 PM |
| I am going to be doing a series of performances
at Aloha
Tower for the holidays, starting today. I'll
be playing around 4pm-8pm, with a break in the middle for
an hour or so (in theory). Come by and say hello! Aloha Tower
is at the end of Bishop Street, in downtown Honolulu, and
the piano is in the middle of the marketplace. I'll be there
December 11th, 14th, 18th, 19th, and 21st
of 2003. You can also download
some of my music or join in some music
discussion in the forums.
Happy Holidays!
-willi |
|
| Electronic
Voting Fraud |
|
Friday October 24, 2003 11:55 AM |
| Electronic Voting systems are
in use around the United States, however there has recently
been increased concern about these devices as it becomes
increasingly apparant they are insecure. Bev Harris
and David Allen have written a book entitled Black
Box Voting: Ballot Tampering in the 21st Century.
It deals with electronic voting; originally the book
was intended to be a simple fact-based text covering
the history, use, and future of electronic voting.
As the authors began to research the issue, however,
it became apparent that voting fraud is being committed
via electronic voting systems. It goes on to detail
information about the political ambitions of the former
chairman of American Information Systems ("AIS",
which is now called ES&S), - Nebraska Republican
Chuck Hagel.
Hagel owned stock in AIS Investors, a group of investors
in the voting machine company.
Hagel owned stock in AIS Investors,
a group of investors in the voting machine company.
While Hagel was running AIS, the company was building
and programming the machines that would later
count his votes. In March, 1995, Hagel stepped
down as chairman of AIS; on March 31 he announced
his bid for U.S. Senate.
From Chapter
6, Black Box Voting |
Hagel failed to disclose this information on FEC documents
and won the elections in a major upset. President Bush
has signed the HAVA act, which mandates the purchase
of machines like those made by ES&S, and Hagel was
reelected in November. He wants to run for President
in 2008.
There are also a variety of questions about other elections
including the 2000 Presidential election and the voting
issues in Florida. This
link is a mirror of the book. Click here to download
the entire book in .ZIP format. You can download various
programs to unzip the book, like WinZip and Stuffit
from Shareware.com
or VersionTracker.
Click
here for more information, discussion, or if you need
help.
-willi |
|
| Bittersweet
Anniversary |
|
Thursday September 11, 2003 6:57 PM |
| Two years ago, a great tragedy occured.
As a human being, it saddens me that I am considered a dreamer.
I believe that it is possible for people to achieve a large
part of the utopian vision that I see in my minds eye, if
only people could work together to try and conquer the insurmountable
odds against our very existance.
Unfortunately, human nature and the realities of existance
make this cooperation difficult. The raw natural world is
exceedingly willing to simply eat you, and there are finite
resources on the planet. The same drive that has allowed us
to fight and survive is perhaps the same instinct that makes
it so difficult to find peace and cooperation in our world.
Since then, it has been my hope that this website can, in
some small way, provide an opportunity to escape from this
world. And perhaps to question it's wisdom. While there may
eternally be an struggle inside us between our nature and
our consciousness, our ego and our id, I also believe that
most people inherently understand the true realities and values
of existence, and only want the best for all of us if truly
and honestly presented with the choices.
However, there are many,
many
problems
that face the world, and many powerful people are conspiring
around the world to prevent people from freely choosing a
better future for humanity.
"In 1989, following the end
of the Cold War and just prior to the Gulf War, Dick
Cheney, Colin Powell, and Paul Wolfowitz produced the
'Defense Planning Guidance' report advocating U.S. military
dominance around the globe. The Plan called for the
United States to maintain and grow in military superiority
and prevent new rivals from rising up to challenge us
on the world stage. Using words like 'preemptive' and
military 'forward presence,’ the plan called for
the U.S. to be dominant over friends and foes alike.
It concluded with the assertion that the U.S. can best
attain this position by making itself 'absolutely powerful.'
The 1989 plan was spawned after the
fall of the Soviet Union. Without the traditional threat
to national security, Cheney, Powell and Wolfowitz knew
that the military budget would dwindle without new enemies
and threats. In an attempt to salvage defense funding,
Cheney and company constructed a plan to fill the 'threat
blank'. On August 2, 1990 President Bush called a press
conference. He explained that the threat of global war
had significantly receded, but in its wake a new danger
arose. This unforeseen threat to national security could
come from any angle and from any power.
Iraq, by a remarkable coincidence,
invaded Northern Kuwait later the same day.
Cheney et al. were out of political
power for the eight years of Clinton’s presidency.
During this time the neo-conservatives founded the Project
for the New American Century (PNAC). The most influential
product of the PNAC was a report entitled "Rebuilding
America's Defense," (www.newamericancentury.org)
which called for U.S. military dominance and control
of global economic markets.
With the election of George W. Bush,
the authors of the plan were returned to power: Cheney
as vice president, Powell as Secretary of State, and
Wolfowitz in the number two spot at the Pentagon. With
the old Defense Planning Guidance as the skeleton, the
three went back to the drawing board. When their new
plan was complete, it included contributions from Wolfowitz's
boss Donald Rumsfeld. The old 'preemptive' attacks have
now become 'unwarned attacks.' The Powell-Cheney doctrine
of military 'forward presence' has been replaced by
'forward deterrence.' The U.S. stands ready to invade
any country deemed a possible threat to our economic
interests."
From Project
Censored. |
"According to a classified document,
"Special Operations and Joint Forces in Countering
Terrorism" prepared for Secretary of Defense Donald
Rumsfeld by his Defense Science Board, a new organization
has been created to thwart potential terrorist attacks
on the United States. This counter-terror operations
group— the "Proactive Preemptive Operations
Group" (P2OG) will require 100 people and at least
$100 million a year. The team of covert counter-intelligence
agents will be responsible for secret missions designed
to target terrorist leaders. The secret missions are
designed to "stimulate reactions" among terrorist
groups, provoking them into committing violent acts
which would then expose them to "counterattack"
by U.S. forces.
This means that the United States government
is planning to use secret military operations in order
to provoke murderous terrorist attacks on innocent people.
In a strange twist of logic, it seems the plan is to
somehow combat terrorism by causing it. " ...
"The current P2OG program is not
entirely new to the United States. One similar program
was Operation Northwoods. In 1963, America's top military
brass presented a plan to President John Kennedy that
called for a fake terrorist campaign — complete
with bombings, hijackings, plane crashes and dead Americans
— to provide "justification" for an
invasion of Cuba, a Mafia/corporate fiefdom which had
recently been lost to Castro. Kennedy rejected the plan,
and was killed a few months later."
From Project
Censored. More information at this ABC
News report. |
|
|
| Download
Downtime |
|
Wednesday July 16, 2003 1:45 PM |
|  While
the main website and forums will remain online, music downloads
and some other pictures and stuff will be temporarily unavailable
as that server is going to be offline due to power service
issues. Evidentially there is a transformer that needs to
be replaced, so the server will be offline for probably around
12-24 hours tomorrow. Everything should be back up and running
by Friday. Sorry for the downtime! Update Monday July
21, 2003: The download server should be back online
now; it took an extra day to replace the power transformer
because the service crew didn't have all the right parts.
Then I had some trouble getting the server to come back to
life; there is some sort of issue with the power supply or
the switch. If anyone wants to donate a new power supply or
any other parts for the server, let me know. 
-willi |
|
| Nova•Luna
Online Store Now Open |
|
Wednesday June 25, 2003 1:55 PM |
| The Nova•Luna
Online Store is now open, and features a number of items
such as shirts, mugs, hats, stickers, and more. Orders are
handled by CafePress, which has a 30-day money back guarantee
on all products.
There are lots
of other items available, so be sure to check them out.
All purchases help support this website, current projects,
and future releases. Plus, the Nova•Luna is oh-so-stylish!
You can comment
on the store here. Let me know about any questions, comments,
complaints, or suggestions!
-willi |
|
| E3
2003 |
|
Sunday May 12, 2003 00:45 AM |
| Well it is after midnight and I am just
getting started with packing for E3...I've just been so busy
lately I have had to leave it to the last minute -- I fly
to Los Angeles around noon! E3 is the Electronic
Entertainment Expo, and I will be covering the show for
O'lelo community television here in Hawaii, as well as meeting
up with some developer friends from around the world.
Afterwards I'll be in Vegas and San Francisco for a few days
before I fly back.
Update: Pictures
are online from Day
1 of the show!
-willi |
|
| new
year, new projects |
|
Wednesday, February 26, 2003 4:20 AM |
| With 2003 well underway it's probably about
time for an update again. 2002 went out in style, as I attended
the Bela
Fleck and the Flecktones concert in late December with
my sister and some friends. As you may know, the Flecktones
have won innumerable awards for their wonderfully unique music,
and it was great getting a chance to hang out with such talented
musicians before and after the show.
In the coming weeks I plan to release a number of recordings,
including some archived nova•luna
recordings as well as some other projects I have been involved
with. Starting with these recordings, all the music I make
available on the web will (hopefully) be available in 3 formats:
the lossless FLAC
codec,
which provides full CD-quality files at roughly half the filesize,
as well as the 'traditional' MP3 format and it's successor,
the opensource OggVorbis
codec. I will also be providing a netradio stream once I get
the technical details worked out.
New projects for 2003 include a new nova•luna
recording featuring a wide variety of musicians and instruments,
as well as a full length turbowilli++
release. I will probably devote a little time to my 'sappy
CD' project, which will be composed of more emotionally driven
solo piano pieces, although I do not know when I plan to release
that disc. And you never know, I may get around to some video
or animation or something...you just never know..!
Anyways...
-willi |
|
|
|
syndicated news links at earth2willi.com
|
