We have heard of the Ice Age, The Age of Industrial Revolution, The age of the Space Race, the Age of Dot Com. Yet there is an age of information that has its own deadly threats.

Behind us are the four decades of the cold war, where the big spy stories came from the superpowers spying on each other, the Soviet Union and America. Their rivalry involved propaganda, military coalitions, espionage, weapons development,  technological development, advances in industry and the space race. The battle between the two powers became a costly build up of military support right across the globe. When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, the United States was left as the sole superpower.

Now we are in the Age of Information where there is a war of a different kind. A war which is being fought in the wild frontiers of Cyber Space. A New Frontier, where Blue Moon Opportunities abound (opportunities that completely change lives).

America’s Secret Room

EFF logoThis logo, drawn for Electronic Frontier Foundation, represents what is happening in a court in America, where Jewel versus NSA. EFF was founded in 1990 by a group of concerned Americans. EFT is now calling for the people who authorized, or have participated in a warrantless dragnet surveillance of millions of ordinary Americans’ emails, to be held accountable, in the American courts.

An ex-employee of NSA tells of a secret room in San Francisco, where copies of communications and communication records of all Internet Traffic are sent to. The prosecution list includes President George W. Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, Chief of Staff David Addington, former Attorney General and White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales and others, as well as NSA. While firmly denying that the surveillance dragnet exists,  the  U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey asked ad Judge to grant immunity to any company involved in communication surveillance.

Europe’s Bank Scandal

In February 2008 an ex-employee of a Lichenstein bank sold a CD to the German intelligence Service, containing  the account information of foreigners holding foundation accounts in the bank. It is believed the German government, headed by the ‘Iron Lady’ Angela Merkle, paid between $6 - $7.3 million for the stolen information. They thought they would recover hundreds of million dollars of lost tax revenue. The list contained names of Americans, Australians, Canadians, Spaniards, French,  Italians, New Zealanders, Finns and Swedes. These names were turned over to their respective governments, allegedly for some undisclosed amounts. The bank states the information was misappropriated and therefore sold unlawfully.

Cyber Space

Now the information-spying business threatens to escalate to new heights. Internet Service Providers hold all their users’ conversations, relationships, secrets, acts and omissions. Up until now ISPs have left the spy business alone, mainly due to fact they lacked the tools necessary to spy efficiently. With the recent advances made in eavesdropping technology, ISPs can now spy on people in ways never before tried.

Copyright owners and advertisers have been coercing Service Providers  to take the secrets of their users and put them up for sale. From a recent flood of reports, it would seem the ISPs are giving in to the enticement to sell the information. This could be the beginning of a storm of unparalleled and invasive ISP surveillance, never before seen.

The privacy of private individuals is no longer something which can be taken for granted. Google alone has the ability to scan 1 trillion unique URLs daily. Internet traffic and information has become one of the world’s most sought after and valuable commodities.

The main thing is not be afraid of the Internet. It has become our life blood. So they want to read our emails. Good luck to them. Maybe the guys in NSA should get a life of their own. What do you think?

You can find out more about the author and a genuine Blue Moon Opportunity at http://winaresort.com

The Most Powerful Woman on earth, Angela Merkel, is hell bent on challenging the Happiest Countries on Earth, such as Costa Ricca, Columbia, Vanuatu, Dominica and Panama. Countries which always seem to feature high on the Happiest Planet Index.

In late Aug 2008, Forbes Magazine announced their 11th annual list of the top 100 most powerful women in the world. The magazine’s criteria for power is based on a composite of how much financial clout the women wield, public profile and how often the women were mentioned by the paparazzi. Women in general however, hold only 15% of the top corporate jobs. Less than 3% of USA’s largest companies have women chief executives and only one out of six company directors are female.

The magazine estimates the women on the list, control in the vicinity of $26 trillion dollars. These women are are defined by their jobs, rather than by who they are.  It is said that some take home an annual pay of $11 million plus. They are women who took advantage of every Blue Moon Opportunity (opportunities that change peoples lives), that came their way.

Past career accomplishments, job title and the amount of money the woman controls, are taken into account by Forges magazine. The magazine then draws comparisons between the different financial realms the women work in, in an attempt to assess the women’s position on a level playing field.

• Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany, tops the list in 2008 for the third time in a row
• Second was Sheila Bair, head of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp
• PepsiCo’s Indra Nooyi came in third, gaining two positions over last year
• Angela Braly head of the health insurance WellPoint retained fourth position, same as last year
• Condoleezza Rice, U.S. Secretary of State came in seventh
• Ho Chin, Temasek Holdings and wife of the Prime Minister of Singapore, was No. 8, dropping from 3rd place last year
• Gail Kelly, head of Australian Wetspac Bank came in No. 11
• Hilary Clinton, with the highest media profile, ranked 28, dropping three places from last year
• Oprah Winfrey ranked 36, dropping all the way from 8th position last year
• First Lady Linda Bush ranked 44

Angela Merkel, nicknamed the ‘Iron Lady’, is following in the footsteps of ex British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, even down to having a similar kind of agenda. Vice Premiere of the People’s Republic of China, Wu Yi, who held third place last year, is also known as the ‘Iron Lady’.  Wu Yi, having been in the top rankings, since 2004, has finally dropped from view this year.

Merkel is crusading to get governments around the globe, to join a Tax Cartel, so that a heavy-handed fist can be brought to bear on all tax havens. The recent purchase, by Merkel, of confidential client data of alleged tax evaders, stolen from a Lichtenstein bank, has highlighted Merkel’s tax-crusade. It is said the Lichenstein bank sold the same material several times over, netting the bank a tidy profit.

Tax havens play an important role in driving the tax rate down in high-taxed countries. Merkel’s crusade could cost the world more than her crusade is worth. Without the availability of alternative competition, afforded through tax havens, taxes would soar.

We live in Vanuatu, one of the tax havens the Iron Lady would like to close down. We sincerely hope Angela’s crusade dies in the traps.

You can find out more about the author and a genuine Blue Moon Opportunity at http://winaresort.com