INFRAGARD-YOUR BOSS HAS PERMISSION TO KILL YOU

The following is an excerpt from this article in the Progressive that describes InfraGard,a group of private industry execs that work with the FBI.

from:http://www.progressive.org/mag_rothschild0308

The FBI Deputizes Business
By Matthew Rothschild, March 2008 Issue
Today, more than 23,000 representatives of private industry are working quietly with the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security. The members of this rapidly growing group, called InfraGard, receive secret warnings of terrorist threats before the public does—and, at least on one occasion, before elected officials. In return, they provide information to the government, which alarms the ACLU. But there may be more to it than that. One business executive, who showed me his InfraGard card, told me they have permission to “shoot to kill” in the event of martial law.
InfraGard is “a child of the FBI,” says Michael Hershman, the chairman of the advisory board of the InfraGard National Members Alliance and CEO of the Fairfax Group, an international consulting firm.

InfraGard itself is still an FBI operation, with FBI agents in each state overseeing the local InfraGard chapters. (There are now eighty-six of them.) The alliance is a nonprofit organization of private sector InfraGard members.

In November 2001, InfraGard had around 1,700 members. As of late January, InfraGard had 23,682 members, according to its website, www.infragard.net, which adds that “350 of our nation’s Fortune 500 have a representative in InfraGard.”

FBI Director Robert Mueller addressed an InfraGard convention on August 9, 2005. At that time, the group had less than half as many members as it does today. “To date, there are more than 11,000 members of InfraGard,” he said. “From our perspective that amounts to 11,000 contacts . . . and 11,000 partners in our mission to protect America.” He added a little later, “Those of you in the private sector are the first line of defense.”

He urged InfraGard members to contact the FBI if they “note suspicious activity or an unusual event.” And he said they could sic the FBI on “disgruntled employees who will use knowledge gained on the job against their employers.”

In an interview with InfraGard after the conference, which is featured prominently on the InfraGard members’ website, Mueller says: “It’s a great program.”

The ACLU is not so sanguine.

“There is evidence that InfraGard may be closer to a corporate TIPS program, turning private-sector corporations—some of which may be in a position to observe the activities of millions of individual customers—into surrogate eyes and ears for the FBI,” the ACLU warned in its August 2004 report The Surveillance-Industrial Complex: How the American Government Is Conscripting Businesses and Individuals in the Construction of a Surveillance Society.

InfraGard is not readily accessible to the general public. Its communications with the FBI and Homeland Security are beyond the reach of the Freedom of Information Act under the “trade secrets” exemption, its website says. And any conversation with the public or the media is supposed to be carefully rehearsed.
Curt Haugen is CEO of S’Curo Group, a company that does “strategic planning, business continuity planning and disaster recovery, physical and IT security, policy development, internal control, personnel selection, and travel safety,” according to its website. Haugen tells me he is a former FBI agent and that he has been an InfraGard member for many years. He is a huge booster. “It’s the only true organization where there is the public-private partnership,” he says. “It’s all who knows who. You know a face, you trust a face. That’s what makes it work.”

He says InfraGard “absolutely” does emergency preparedness exercises. When I ask about discussions the FBI and Homeland Security have had with InfraGard members about their use of lethal force, he says: “That much I cannot comment on. But as a private citizen, you have the right to use force if you feel threatened.”

“We were assured that if we were forced to kill someone to protect our infrastructure, there would be no repercussions,” the whistleblower says. “It gave me goose bumps. It chilled me to the bone.”

Bo Still Rools

Messages From Hangover Listeners

we love you at the eugene hotel!
my name is Lindsey and I'm the head chef at the Eugene hotel. when Anne quit, we all listened and cheered at your mention of our existence. I come in at 7:30 every morning to make breakfast for 100+ ungrateful octogenarians, and my servers are awesome, even if they'd rather be listening to top 40 and not the Hangover. For the past year and a half, we've tuned in. Thank you! You are wonderful!
I, head cook, am an adult with taste. One part of me feels for these young people, and one part relishes your choices. You keep us awake, alert, amused and happy. keep it up! I am a professional with a limited amount of time and an only occasionally functioning shift key. edit how you will, we love you. when your show is done, call the hotel and we'll fix you up with some awesome Eggs Benedict. I promise. You are great at filling the time during work where we're not hungover but still not quite sober.
Thank you.
Lindsey Eugene Hotel


Hi Reverend !
Better send this quick note before my short-term memory loss kicks in. I forgot about the show until we were en route to a brunch to celebrate our son's 29th b-day. The birthday selection was perfect.
The Pee-Wee and Sesame Street bits were quite nostalgic since we enjoyed them with our kids. The alien segments on SS were over-the-top hilarious. FYI Mark Zolun from the Iraila restaurant here in Eugene worked on several Pee Wee shows in the 80s.
Lastly, "Cave Man" brought back fond memories. The song was never a national hit but was played as an oldie in the early 60s while I was growing up in L.A. (ala KFWB). It followed Backus' hit of "Delicious" late in 1958.
I think I just blew a memory cell. Oh well, keep up the good work...................
Lloyd Zimmer(KRVM's "Sunday Swing Shift")

Hey Marc...
Love your show. I, being a native Wisconsinite, noticed you playing the classic "No, I don't wanna do dat" by the Manitowoc band Happy Schnapps Combo. I was curious if you had ever heard the most popular song in Wisconsin during deer hunting season, "Da Turty Point Buck".It is a true shining emblem of Wisconsin musical heritage.
Keep up the great work.
noah

Hey There Marc,
Really enjoyed both your shows a couple of weeks ago with 'Poor Mans Whiskey' and the record party thing on Sunday. I think that would be a great format for a friday night show. On the bluegrass vein I got a video that weekend from the library called 'High Lonesome' which was kind of a history......alot about Bill Monroe. They featured one bluegrass band that I've always liked, 'Seldom Scene.' So, ever curious to see what you come up with each week......hope you hang in there.....at least till I leave the state. Your listening pal..
.Mo

Dear Mr. Jumpin Johnnie Flash Doodle McGoo,
Anyways, it sure was a special treat to have a hangover for 4 whole hours on Sunday. My favorites from this week were Gwen McCrae, The Smurfs and Big Yellow Tomb. Any song with dead kids in it is ok by me! Down at the bakery we were all a little tired of Valentine's Day so a little carnage really hit the spot. Thanks for putting on such a swell show!
love Honey Pie Pants(Sweet Life)

Dear Reverend;
Just a short note to congratulate you on your 5th year!!! I may rarely call but I'm out there as a loyal listener. Thanks for the archiving; I hope to catch up on some missed shows . I thought I was the only one left with a copy of the Nutty Squirrels.
Lloyd Zimmer ("Sunday Swing Shift")
P.S. "Master Jack" the other month brought back fond memories when I was broadcasting on KDVS (Davis, Ca) during their first year on F.M. in 1968. UCD threw me out when my GPA went lower than their station's power....

Hey there!
A most enjoyable show this week....
I checked out the Roxy Music question and here's what I found. I'm
sure it'll cost a fortune.
Cheers,
Karen

hi marc,
love your radio show. you've motivated me to buy at least a couple of things in the past, (residents and julie christie). i was wondering if you could tell me who sang one of the last songs on your show this morning, "i love the way you smell" and if it doesn't take up too much time the name of the group who sang "imagine". i almost had to pull the car over when that came on! thanks!
bill

Marc,
I not only liked "Mr Lucky Goes Latin", I also
liked "Combo!"....except for the harpsichord.
We enjoy your show
Regards,
Steve

Rev-
Eric Carman Eartha Kitt "All By Myself" was based on Rachmaninoffs Piano
Concerto No.2 in C minor.
Bill Finneran

Marc
I'm not a fan of pop music,
which is why I enjoy your show, and others like it, so much. In fact I
hate pop music. I will agree the Beatles had a unique sound for their day,
just like Hank Williams and Buddy Holly, but the Beatles are in the pop
music camp and I just don't find it appealing. My wife is a big fan of
Frankie Laine and has an autographed copy of one of his CDs. When he died
recently not one major TV news show mentioned it. All we heard was a
segment on NPR. With a nation so obsessed with useless entertainers we
thought it was pretty sad that he would be overlooked like that.
Greg

Streaming is Back at KWVA!

THE STREAM IS BACK!!
you internet listeners may have noticed that our audio stream on our website has been down for a few weeks now, but WE HAVE GOOD NEWS!

IT'S FIIIIXXXXXEEEEDDDD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

RealAudio is now up and running again at www.kwvaradio.org

LISTEN! party! rejoice!

I think I'm CRAZY

This video is an experiment to see how rapidly the theremin can be injected into the world's collective consciousness. It's amazing that not everyone knows what a theremin is. It was one of the first electronic musical instruments ever made and it was invented in 1919. Are Cee-Lo and Danger Mouse from Gnarls Barkley really theremin players? There's only one way to find out!

some notes:
The main theremin was passed through iZotope Trash, an awesome software guitar effects plugin. The video was edited entirely in Adobe After Effects. The hand on the carpet was to simulate wind noise, definitely cause for confusion. This also means all the parts of the song were performed with hands only. CRAZY!

Randy - Moog Etherwave Pro Theremin, Moog Etherwave Theremin, Minimoog Voyager, carpet
KD - Akai MPC drum machine
OG - background vocals on keyboard
Elliot - Fender Bass VI

Internet Mud Slinging

We received an email from a right wing acquaintance today that included the following:
Hillary accepted the traditional First Lady's role of decorator of the White House at Christmas, but in a unique Hillary way. In 1994, for example, The First Lady's Tree in the Blue Room (the focal point each year) was Decorated with drug paraphernalia, sex toys, and pornographic ornaments, all personally approved by Hillary as the invited artists' depictions of the theme, "The Twelve Days of Christmas."

THIS REALLY PISSES ME OFF. Somewhere there is a Karl Rovian asshole putting out this crap to influence our now important Oregon primary.
This pack of lies insinuates that Hillary is anti-Christmas and pro porno and drugs.
This is like the emails we get saying that Barack Obama is a Muslim.
It's all part of a dirty smelly Republican machine that has pulled this stuff for years and it REALLY burns me up.
What if I sent you an email claiming that Mike Huckabee was a pedophile? How would you like it, butthead?

Poor Man's Whiskey

Live on the Saturday Morning Hangover 11 AM today!

Ultra Nerd Festival

Sorry for republishing your great article Serena!
Great Job in capturing the vinyl junkie feeling--
Today's Eugene Newspaper has the following article about this week's Record Convention:

Digital backlash drives vinyl revival
By Serena Markstrom
The Register-Guard
By Serena Markstrom The Register-Guard

Published: February 8, 2008 06:16AM
Some audiophiles and independent music industry watchers predict the resurgence of new releases on vinyl will send the compact disc format the way of the eight-track tape.

Vinyl lovers are thrilled by the recent trend of more bands putting out records, accompanied at purchase by free MP3 download codes. But the phenomenon still represents only a fraction of overall music sales when compared to CDs and paid digital releases.

One thing dealers and shoppers at the 20th annual Eugene Record Convention can’t quite predict is how much of the merchandise for sale during the massive Sunday event will be these new LPs and vinyl singles, as opposed to vintage records. Vinyl seems to be the cool thing to do if you’re a trendy band such as the Arcade Fire, Radiohead or the Decemberists.

“I’ll be looking for albums I already have but don’t have on vinyl,” composer and music collector McKenzie Stubbert said of his strategy for Sunday’s show.

Although Stubbert’s music consumption habits probably are not typical, they represent a slowly increasing trend toward vinyl as the format of choice for buyers who want a tangible copy of their favorite music.

Stubbert has amassed countless digital-format songs, all stored on his computer. But when he moved to a new place and wanted only one media player in his living room, the CD player was out and record player was in.

Musicians, collectors and DJs probably still are the main buyers for vinyl in the resale market. But there’s a subset of more typical music fans, or “superfans,” who will buy vinyl even if they don’t have a turntable — if the artist sports the proper indie sheen.

In a Wired magazine commentary piece in October 2007, writer Eliot Van Buskirk predicted vinyl’s increased sales would further damage CD sales. He said big labels are not getting on board with the vinyl upswing, but then, they are traditionally slow-moving.

Van Buskirk also quoted insiders as saying the Recording Industry Association of America underestimates vinyl sales because it doesn’t count indie shops, indie labels or music sold at concerts.

True as that might be, some believe that people buy new vinyl for reasons that don’t necessarily affect sales of other formats.

Rob Jones, owner of the Portland label Jealous Butcher Records, got into vinyl a few years ago when he reissued the Decemberists’ “Her Majesty.” The band’s label, Kill Rock Stars, didn’t want to deal with putting it out in record form.

“It’s expensive; there is just no way around that,” he said, adding that it doesn’t always make economic sense to put something out on vinyl as a vanity project of the artist.

“The indie labels that are putting out vinyl, they are savvy. They are not going to do something just because it is trendy.”

Vinyl “didn’t ever really go away. People just starting paying attention to something else,” said Jones, who grew up in Eugene but moved to Portland about 10 years ago.

“The thing about vinyl is there aren’t more people manufacturing it. The same people for the last 20 years are still the ones doing it.”

Jones said more releases are definitely coming out of those same places, but it’s in small batches. Jones estimated he pressed and sold 3,500 to 4,000 copies of “Her Majesty,” while the CD form has moved more than 100,000 units.

In April, Kill Rock Stars and Jealous Butcher will release Decemberists’ singer-songwriter Colin Meloy’s new solo project, “Colin Meloy Sings Live!” It will be sold simultaneously on CD and a limited run, two-disc record.

Jones said a CD costs between 50 cents and $1 to produce, while vinyl costs more than $2. And the double-gatefold LP Meloy created costs $7 per unit just to produce.

“The audience for them is so much more limited,” he said. “All I’m doing is adding to the market share.”

That means he’s marketing to people who tend to buy the vinyl in addition to whatever other format they already would have purchased were the vinyl not available.

“I’m really into reissuing things that already have a base audience,” he said. “I don’t want to put out something that’s not going to sell, because that’s no fun for anyone.

“Vinyl is cool,” said Jones. “Not just because I make it, but it’s big and heavy and tangible.”

Jones joked that the increased number of releases in the indie music could be attributed to a “return to family values.” He might not be far off, at least about a return to old-school values in a changing world.

Might CDs soon be obsolete?

Eugene Record Convention organizer Bill Finneran said CDs might turn out to be a flash in the historical pan, made obsolete by how easy it is to skip the physical disc altogether and go straight to digital. But that trend hasn’t really threatened vinyl.

“You’ve got to remember that since the early part of the 20th century, records have been made, so there are so many out there still,” Finneran said. “It’s real hard to knock something out that’s been out there that long.”

Locally, young people have been into collecting vinyl for years.

“When people start getting into music, they start figuring out this doesn’t sound very good and they start looking for something,” he said. “A good analog recording will always sound better than a digital one.”

Finneran has noticed an increase in the variety of new music being released or reissued on vinyl. He said he thinks that’s driven by the basic human need to have something to hold and explore, in addition to listening to it.

“People are collectors at heart,” he said. “For years, there was a lull when there was hardly anything coming out in vinyl.”

Finneran said the market for making new product, if limited, is there. He noted that amazon.com has a vinyl-only store with 150,000 titles.

Finneran said Len Horo­witz, who is one of the world’s experts on vinyl recordings, will be at the convention to answer questions about getting a record made or any related topic.

Local retro-surf/instrumental band Heavenly Oceans released its latest work, “The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack,” as a vinyl package that included a free CD. But that decision was driven more by artistic and personal, rather than financial, factors. Band member and graphic designer Tony Figoli spent almost 40 hours designing its cover.

It’s still a niche market

Other examples of records coming out from independent or small labels are myriad, but the production totals remain small compared to CDs.

Suicide Squeeze Records, for example, has been releasing 2,000 vinyl copies from seven artists each year. But the product seems to be marketed as a collector’s item, not something the company thinks will catch fire and replace other formats.

The first in the 2008 series comes out later this month. Past releases have featured Elliott Smith and Of Montreal.

Reverend Marc Time, host of KWVA-FM’s “The Sunday Morning Hangover,” said he’s been collecting records for decades. He has enjoyed the upswing in new vinyl releases, but sees a downside as his esoteric hobby becomes more mainstream.

Today, the Reverend said the thrill of the vinyl hunt often is subverted by those who are looking for records only to turn a profit.

“It used to be a secret,” he said. “Now everyone’s in on it, and it’s not as much fun anymore.”

Still, he said, the vinyl-loving underground is alive and kicking.

“Believe me, it’s an ultra-nerd festival,” he said of the convention. “You know the type: They kind of dress bad and smell bad, but they are really into the music.”

The Reverend spends a lot of time at the Museum of Unfine Art, where a number of those types are habitues.

“It seems like the only people interested in (new) vinyl were the DJs,” he said of the time before a noticeable resurgence. “I’ve noticed a lot of people are coming in (to the museum) and asking for stuff on vinyl.

“I don’t know why that is. I do know Shawn (DiFiore, the shop’s owner) is selling a lot of turntables.

“Maybe it’s a rebellion against this whole clinical MP3 thing.”

Celebrating 5 years of the Hangover

That's right- I have been on the air doing the Sunday Morning Hangover Radio Program for 5 years! AND I haven't made a dime!I must admit that although my audience has increased, I've won a couple of awards, and it has been a lot of fun, I DO get tired and bored.
I wish I had a bigger canvas to paint on.
Thank you to all that have wished me well and supported my show.

--excerpts from Islands in the Clickstream Telling Time by a Broken Clock By Richard Thieme :
"My machinery is wired to move pretty fast, and all my life people have told me - bless their hearts - to slow down. It always comes from people who move more slowly, never from those who are faster, so once in a while I reply, no, YOU speed up. But then they think I'm rude.

It's fashionable to equate being slow with being spiritual. There's something to that, but popular culture turned it into the Forrest Gump School of Wisdom, where life is never complex and wisdom is rules for the first day of kindergarten.

Fast and slow are relative. For some projects, cycles of a thousand years work best, for others, nanoseconds. Yes, we twitchers often find serenity when we take things down a notch, when we focus on something outside ourselves that induces a state of flow and short-circuits our habitual thinking. But it's also true that we relish those moments when our brains or bodies twitch like the fingers of a teen genius at a game of Quake, lost in light-speed heaven."