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Revolution, flashmobs, and brain chips. A grim vision of the future Richard Norton-Taylor Monday April 9, 2007 The Guardian (UK) The MoD predicts more use of chemical weapons. Photograph: Paul J Richards/EPA Information chips implanted in the brain. Electromagnetic pulse weapons. The middle classes becoming revolutionary, taking on the role of Marx's proletariat. The population of countries in the Middle East increasing by 132%, while Europe's drops as fertility falls. "Flashmobs" - groups rapidly mobilised by criminal gangs or terrorists groups. This is the world in 30 years' time envisaged by a Ministry of Defence team responsible for painting a...

Garry Trudeau was inarguably the most famous person in the room Friday. But the man behind the long-running comic strip "Doonesbury" said he felt a little chagrined as he stood before about 400 Vietnam veterans and their spouses. "It's humbling to receive an award for storytelling in a room of people so filled with stories," the Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist said. Trudeau was in Tucson to accept the President's Award for Excellence in the Arts from the Vietnam Veterans of America at the group's national conference, held this week at the Hilton El Conquistador Hotel, 10000 N. Oracle Road.

WASHINGTON, Dec. 19 - Counterterrorism agents at the Federal Bureau of Investigation have conducted numerous surveillance and intelligence-gathering operations that involved, at least indirectly, groups active in causes as diverse as the environment, animal cruelty and poverty relief, newly disclosed agency records show. F.B.I. officials said Monday that their investigators had no interest in monitoring political or social activities and that any investigations that touched on advocacy groups were driven by evidence of criminal or violent activity at public protests and in other settings. After the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, John Ashcroft, who was then attorney general, loosened restrictions...

Fringe elements are hoping to spark major disruptions at the Republican National Convention with a series of sneaky tricks - including fooling bomb-sniffing dogs on trains bound for Penn Station, the Daily News has learned. Internet-using anarchists are telling would-be troublemakers to decoy specially trained Labrador retrievers with gunpowder or ammonium nitrate-laced tablets in a bid to halt trains or even spur the evacuation of Madison Square Garden. Top cops are girding against the attempt to foil strong anti-terrorist strategies aimed at protecting conventiongoers - including President Bush - as well as peaceful protesters during the Aug. 30 to Sept....

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/broward/sfl-cflash31aug31,0,2574552.story?coll=sfla-news-broward Flash Mob attempt fails at Sawgrass Mills By Nick Sortal Staff Writer August 31, 2003 SUNRISE · Sawgrass Mills, which has 26 million visitors a year, apparently had a problem with a crowd of 30 Saturday night. A group of mostly twentysomethings, who communicated via the Internet, were attempting to pull off South Florida's first "flash mob." The idea: to assemble quickly at a predetermined location, commit a random act of silliness and leave a bewildered crowd behind. Flash mobs sprouted two months ago in New York and the trend has been compared to the harmless fun of streaking...

<p>Saturday afternoon in Dolores Park feels bucolic. Dog owners walk their pets past groups of friends clustered around benches, chatting. Strolling couples steer around sun-lovers sprawled on the grass.</p> <p>Chaos erupts at exactly 2:07 p.m. Sun-bathers suddenly leap to their feet and friends break formation. Strangers begin grabbing one another's hands and running toward a central point in the park. Pedestrians on Dolores Street and patrons of a sidewalk cafe charge up the hill to join them.</p>

Posted on Fri, Aug. 01, 2003 Flash mobbing fever hits the MetroplexBy Aman BathejaStar-Telegram Staff Writer SPECIAL TO THE STAR-TELEGRAM/JESSICA KOURKOUNIS People gather on both sides of the Mockingbird Station platform to participate in a flash mob. One group began yelling "Marco" as the other answered "Polo." DALLAS - Flash mobbing debuted in the Metroplex Thursday night -- fittingly, outside the trendy Angelika Film Center & Cafe.At 7:43 p.m., about 40 people gathered, splitting into groups under two balloons, one red and one blue. The red mob began yelling "Marco!" answered by the blue mob with "Polo!" After about...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - It's become a case of mob rule in New York. A growing flash mob craze -- when crowds organized by e-mail turn up in unexpected places -- brought a mob late on Thursday to the flagship Times Square store of Toys "R" Us, where a giant dinosaur roars menacingly at customers. The mob of some 300 people gazed at the dinosaur, as if transfixed, then fell to the floor screaming and waving their hands in the air. As store staff hurried to call security, the mob dispersed as quickly as it gathered. The flash mob was...

A 10-minute outbreak of confusion and lunacy brought shoppers in the heart of London's biggest retail district to a standstill on Thursday night. A crowd of more than 200, many of whom had met just 13 minutes before at nearby pubs, marched to a furniture store selling sofas just off Tottenham Court Road with strict instructions: call a friend on your mobile phone and praise the merchandise, but leave out the "0". The event, organised by a 40-year-old Londoner, was Britain's first "flash mob" - an internet-inspired gathering of strangers who assemble to perform pointless acts. Similar outbreaks of zany...

Folks and FRiends, I need your help.All of you remember the Bush-hating flash mob that burned a US flag and spray-painted anarchist crap on a monument (http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/958088/posts).WHAS 840AM in Louisville, KY, a Clear Channel affiliate, announced during Rush's PM show at the 2PM hour, that the mob was headed this way.I am asking all FReepers if they have heard, or can corroborate, this report. I need to pass it to some Folks I work with.Thanx In Advance!SARGE

Americans are being left baffled by a bizarre phenomenon that is sweeping the US. Called "flash mob", dozens and sometimes hundreds of people are turning up in public places and carrying out wacky, pointless stunts. The mass mobilisation is organised by email - those taking part agree to turn up at a certain place at a certain time to carry out the act. They then disappear a few minutes later, leaving bystanders scratching their heads and wondering what was going on. 'Love Rug' In the latest incident, 200 people turned up at a bookstore in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and pretended to...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - New Yorkers often become part of unexpected mob scenes -- huge crowds on subway platforms, at clothing sales, or at free concerts in places like Central Park. Now they are doing it on purpose, for fun. "Flash mobs," in which people show up at an assigned place at a certain time, perform some brief acts, and then leave, have descended on stores, a hotel and even a piece of a park in New York. In the latest occurrence, about 200 people converged on a Central Park ridge across from the Museum of Natural History on Thursday....

<p>DALLAS - Flash mobbing arrived in Dallas Thursday night - fittingly, outside the trendy Angelika Film Center & Caf.</p> <p>At 7:43 p.m. about 40 people gathered, splitting into groups under two balloons, one red, one blue. The red mob began yelling "Marco!" and the blue mob replied "Polo!" After about a minute of call and response, the two balloons were released, and the mobbers - OK, pranksters - broke into applause.</p>