GhostNet

From the New York Times article, Vast Spy System Loots Computers in 103 Countries, by John Markoff

Intelligence analysts say many governments, including those of China, Russia and the United States, and other parties use sophisticated computer programs to covertly gather information.

The electronic spy game has had at least some real-world impact, they said. For example, they said, after an e-mail invitation was sent by the Dalai Lama’s office to a foreign diplomat, the Chinese government made a call to the diplomat discouraging a visit. And a woman working for a group making Internet contacts between Tibetan exiles and Chinese citizens was stopped by Chinese intelligence officers on her way back to Tibet, shown transcripts of her online conversations and warned to stop her political activities.

What difference does it make?

Over a year ago, my daughter were walking down a Chelsea sidewalk.

A homeless man walking in front of us froze so suddenly we stopped in our tracks.

He glared at an advertisement showing a human cadaver casually posed it’s skin removed to expose, muscles, tendons, veins, arteries and nerves. Vital organs extending out from its half rib cage.

“not right…”

The man turned to the people flowing past him. “They shouldn’t do that!”

Bodies’ Exhibitors Admit Corpse Origins Are Murky:

“After more than two years of assurances that the cadavers on display in a popular South Street Seaport exhibit were legally obtained in China, the company that runs the exhibit admitted on Thursday that it could not prove that the bodies were not those of prisoners who might have been tortured or executed.” — May 2008 NY Times

In a settlement with the State of New York, the exhibitor has promised refunds to anyone who has seen the exhibit and have changed their policies around acquiring new bodies.

The article quotes a man visiting the exhibit, “When you’re dead, you’re dead. What difference does it make?”