Street Voice # 6 was supposed to be online in May 2015. 
On May 18 and 19, I was still in touch by email with some poets featured in issue # 6. Most of this issue was already uploaded. But since May 22, I was no longer able to access the internet.

This was the follow-up of computer problems I had since April. 

On March 8, 2015, I had reposted a video on Facebook that I found on the page of a Facebook friend. And I had added a few critical questions.

This is the reposted video and accompanying text:
 

Andreas Weiland
March 8 at 11:11pm ·

[VIDEO]
Exclusive: CIA and Mossad are behind Boko Haram and ISIL, says Sudan president
The President of Sudan has warned that the fight against jihadist extremism must engage militants on an ideological level, and not solely concentrate on military...
euronews.com

These are the words I added:

Andreas Weiland
March 8 at 11:11pm · 
DID THE U.S. SUPPORT ISIS? As crazy as this opinion by the Sudanese president may sound to us, I think the following is worth thinking about: (a) Kurdish fighters in Kobane (Syria) have commented on US bombing raids in their area, saying: "We don't know what they are bombing, but they are not bombing ISIS" (according to German public radio). (b) German public radio reported that US bombs destroyed a key granary of the Assad regime (are these planes combating Assad rather than ISIS?). (c) Key German Green Party member Claudia Roth (who fills the no. 2 function as "vice president" of German Parliament) went to the Syrian frontier in Turkey, visited hospitals, and came back with the astonishing news that she found wounded ISIS fighters treated in hospitals of our NATO partner Turkey; (d) Turkish opposition media reported that the Turkish army voluntarily let ISIS fighters pass through Turkish territory on their way from Northeastern to Northwestern Syria (dodging resistance to that move inside Syria);(e) Western diplomats have repeatedly met in Istanbul and elsewhere with representatives of the Islamist Al-Nousra Front, which was close to those who formed the Syrian section of ISIS; later, quite a few Al-Nousra members seem to have joined ISIS, in addition, Turkish frontier police and the Turkish army notoriously allow West European ISLAMIST VOLUNTEERS to cross the border, in order to join ISIS; (f) in Iraq, ISIS was started by Sunnis who received, at least initially, a certain measure of US unofficial support because both the Iraqi Sunnis and the US did not particularly like the Shiite Iraqi government in Baghdad that is close to Iran. - US opposition to the Assad dictatorship (but not to the dictatorial regimes in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, etc.) is also due not to its dictatorial character but its relatively independent stance; the Assad regime must go first, if Iran is to be attacked. (In view of the shared Syrian-Israel frontier, this is a must.) It seems more plausible that it was at least initially in the interest of the US gov. and of the Turkish gov. to support ISIS, than to assume the opposite.

Mmm. These remarks provide questions, not an answer. They help us to remember a few facts – and I suggest that we better see these small news items in context, and  weigh the evidence, then ask the key question, Is the US really combatting ISIS? (And if they do now, why does the Iraqi government still say that US air support is “insufficient” ? And why is the US apparently forming Sunni military units outside the Iraqi army? And did they encourage the ISIS groups at least initially, just like the Taliban or muhajedeen in Pakistan's refugee camps in the1980s? And what is the role of the Saudis and Qatar with regard to ISIS?) I would say that my post was not dogmatic or caused by a preconceived, prejudiced view but was driven by a thirst to understand. It reflects, I hope, the stance of a man who shies away from giving easy answers. I was not even formulating a hypothesis. I don't say that the US is backing ISIS, I expressed doubts and was groping for an answer or answers because the official mainstream version is at odds with what German Green Party MP Claudia Roth found out during her visit in Turkey, and at odds with a number of isolated facts reported by independent media and Kurdish (anti-ISIS) media. 

I certainly have almost as little sympathy for the present regimes in Khartoum and Tehran and Damascus as I have for the CIA.  My concern, regarding the Middle East, is prompted – since the very first Gulf War (Iraq vs. Iran) – by the fact that so many suffered and continue to suffer. And it was clear that even in the case of the first Gulf War, the U.S. and European countries were no innocent bystanders. (Western countries provided weapons to both sides, and it seems that the US administration hoped Iraq would defeat the “Mullah regime” while being weakened considerably, as well.) 

Having posted the above mentioned lines, I  found out a bit later  (in early April) that this post apparently did not exist anymore. In fact, I went back routinely to old posts because I had noticed that most or all of my post about extrajudicial killings by the army in Mexico were deleted on my Facebook timeline. And now, it seemed, this post was deleted, too. 

So I  posted my questions again on April 10, 2015, adding more disconcerting news items regarding the whole thing, among them news reports from Iraqi media (that may be close to the Iraqi government) which said that villagers saw black unidentified helicopters land in areas held by ISIS and unload stuff, perhaps weapons, and that US helicopters landed in areas held by ISIS. Also a German public radio and television report that US weapons were accidentally dropped near Kurdish-held Kobane and were recovered by ISIS.

The day after that repost (with added info), my computer was attacked. I managed to  go back to an earlier version of the system, though, and informed a friend (in a mail sent at the time) about these problems which contributed to a delay with regard to my work.

On Sunday afternoon, May 17, 2015, my  computer was again attacked. This happened while I was about to access Hotmail but this was also in the final phase of uploading files for Street Voice issue 6.  I try to describe here, as a layman, what I observed: The www.google.com page that I had just opened with the Firefox browser began to “dance” rather than remain steady. Typing became slow and erratic when attempting to type the name of my email provider, Hotmail. The H wouldn't appear at first,  but then there were many hhhh, then I tried again and got an h and an empty space before the o would follow. Then part of the page (THE SCREEN) began to turn black.

I managed again to “solve” the problem – at least on the surface level.
I ran my antivirus program which found no virus. But it's a tool which tells me regularly that parts of my software are “password protected” and cannot be screened.

My computer seems to be a dual core computer which has two partitions, C: and D:

On Monday, May 18, I let the antivirus software screen  D: which contains Windows software.
On that Monday morning (May 18, 2015), the antivirus software identified  what it termed a “threat,” describing its degree of severity as “high”. The antivirus program said it had identified “MBR:Cidox-C[RTK]”, giving its filename (or the name of the infected file?) as “pagefile:sys”. The program informed me that it would attempt to repair or isolate the file. I got no further information.

On May 22, 2015, the computer was again attacked.  It was on that same day, I think, that the modem ceased to function. 

It took time to contact the internet and telephone provider. I phoned the technical support. I took the bus to the city and bought a new modem from the provider. The installation (which usually is an easy job) did not work.  I spent more than a week phoning the technical support at least ten times. I finally arranged for a man from the technical support to come and install the thing at my place. Somebody came finally on June 25 and found that the new modem did not work. He gave me another modem and installed it.

When I was able to update Windows on June 25, 2015 (the first update I was able to start since May 19, 2015), I was informed that 10 important updates would be installed, including the June version of the Windows tool for the removal of malicious software.

After completing the download of the Windows update files, I was informed that only 9 filed were installed. One file was not installed. Windows gave me the “number” (code) of the problem or "mistake" that had occurred. 
Was the file that the computer was not able to install the “malicious software removal tool”?

I can only formulate a hypothesis that the frequency of problems that occurred in April/May 2015 is no accidental thing but connected with my question posted on Facebook.
Perhaps also with the fact that Street Voice may be perceived as a “leftist online journal”, that I did an anti-war issue of Art in Society in August 2014, and that I'm involved in an online mag called Urban Democracry.

I do not know whether the content of Street Voice # 6 is also “not welcomed” by some and whether this leads to a reaction.

As I told friends and colleagues last year, the computer was also severely attacked in late August and early September 2014 while being in the last phase of uploading ART IN SOCIETY # 14  and when I was uploading Street Voice # 5.

Typical problems faced since late August and still in Sept. 2014 and then again, in 2015 included a FREEZING COMPUTER SCREEN, impossibility to exit the internet, impossibilty to point the mouse at anything and use it to click on something, a black screen, impossibility to type any search terms in the space offered for this purpose by Firefox. Other more recent problems include: a completely new difficulty (and in many instances, an impossibility) to copy and paste file names while working offline AND the automatic “desire” of the  computer to go online permanently even when I'm working offline on html files –  which definitely obstructs work on html files that I'm creating as pages of the online journal. (It did not matter that I chose the option to “work offline”!)

As it is, the obstruction I had to deal with  made it impossible up to now to complete my work on Street Voice # 6 which I had hoped to publish in May 2015.
Though the issue was almost complete, I still had to upload a few poems by Ampat Koshy I translated in May, and a few poems in the original language, by Hadaa Sendoo. 
For several weeks, I could not reply to such poets as Ampat Koshy, Hadaa Sendoo, Anuradha Kunda, K. Satchidanandan and T.P. Rajeevan, nor could I upload T.P. Rajeevan's text. 
I also could not contact another writer I had hoped to ask for a text on the theater in India.
This is a bit painful, but I continue my work. During my time as an editor of online journals in the last 14 years, I had quite a few computers destroyed by attacks and thanks to my friends Prof. Fang Weigui (Beijing), Ewa and Ali (Germany), Prof. Kim Kwangwoo (South Korea), Jürgen Theobaldy (sSwitzerland) and Luc Piron (Belgium), I could continue nonetheless. Each one of these gave me at least one computer or one notebook in support of my work. I have also got to thank those who attack me, often very briefly after I have published criticism online. They knocked out quite a few computers. And they let me know that what I do has an effect. 

I hope that this issue will find open-minded and sensitive readers, curious and committed to beauty and the brotherhood or sisterhood of all living beings.

Andreas Weiland
 
 
 

In case you are interested, I have compiled a documentation of attacks on my computer that obstructed work on the online journals Street Voice, Art in Society, and Urban Democracy.

I have a long history of such attacks:

Since 2001, I have been involved with the online journal Urban Democracy www.urban-democracy.org and since then, attacks on my computer became almost a routine reality.

Initially, a typical result of suspected attacks was that in at least three computers, floppy disk drives were permanently incapacitated. These old computers had no USB access, thus “import” and “export” of material was only possible by floppy disk at the time (or via email attachment). 

In 2003 or 2004, I was using a COMPAQ computer I had bought  in my office which was in the small building mainly occupied by the Airport Design Center of Aachen Technical University (RWTH Aachen Institute of Technology).  My computer was linked to the server of the airport design center. When my computer was attacked, they had big problems and deconnected me from their server. I got a separate internet access thereafter. 

In 2005, this computer was again attacked and made useless.

An old friend gave me a new computer, so I could continue my work – critiquing the illegal war on Iraq (and the war in Lebanon for instance) in Urban Democracy www.urban-democracy.org.

If I'm not mistaken, the next computer was destroyed by a virus attack in  mid- or late 2006. A married couple (two old friends) bought a second-hand Vaio notebook for me in late 2006. I think that it arrived by mail in early January 2007. 

In late January 2007, the hard disk (Festplatte, as they say in Germany) of my Vaio notebook was destroyed. It could not be reconstituted or repaired, the guy at the computer repair shop said. 

My old friends who had given me the Vaio bought a new hard disk for me.

I don't know any more how many times I have erased all content on this repaired Vaio notebook (with its new hard disk) between 2007 and 2014, installing all software anew from scratch. It must have been a dozen times at least.

In spring, 2008  I ran into problems. Between March 14 and June 12, 2008, my computer was incapacitated.
I copied information obtained from my antivirus program to a file I planned at the time to post online. Here it is: 
 

If you are a specialist or otherwise gained experience with hacking, please let the editor of ART IN SOCIETY know whether these attacks (and their pattern) are significant and how you would interpret them. - THANK YOU!
 

Backdoor.Robot.F    that infected the computer on March 13, 2008  definitely sounds like one of these Trojan horses used by the German military secret service, the inland secret service, and the service for the protection of the constitution, to name only these three major German spy agencies.  It could also be “American” perhaps.
The effect it produced immediately on that day was a freezing computer screen. 

Since June 8, 2008, going online by connecting with my internet provider became problematic. On June 8, I could go online but could not open the start page of the Internet Explorer, thus could not carry out an online search OR access my email account. On June 9, I could again connect with the provider (thus the internet) BUT trying to open the Internet Explorer again got the message that “the website cannot be found.”   When trying to use Mozilla Firefox, this website also could “not be found.”  The problem persisted for quite a while.
The following are “protocols” of the “diagnosis” done on a number of days.

June 8, 2008       /      8. Juni 2008
 

Problem: Kein Internetzugang [Problem: no internet access]

Problembeschreibung:
Teleos-Verbindung hergestellt (DSL Verbindung; Provider: Teleos) [the connection to the provider was established correctly]
Übertragungsrate: 10,0 Mbit/s   [data transfer rate: 10.0 Mbits/per second]
Öffnen der Internet-Explorers (Aufgabe: "Startseite Internet Explorer öffnen") [Attempt to open the Internet Explorer]
Antwort auf Bildschirm: "Die Webseite kann nicht geöffnet werden" [Message on the computer screen: “The web page cannot be opened”]

Beim Wiederholen: dasselbe wie oben angegeben [The same happens when attempting to access the Internet Explorer again.]

[The anti virus update cannot be carried out; no connection]
Beim Versuch, ein Update des Virenschutzanbieters durchzuführen:
* "Die Aufgabe wurde gestartet..."
* "Updatequelle wurde gewählt"
* "Proxyserver wird verwendet"
* "Fehler beim Verbinden mit dem [Proxyserver]"
Danach wiederholt sich das Ganze endlos:
* "Updatequelle wurde gewählt"
* "Proxyserver wird verwendet"
usw.

[The attempt to access the internet via Mozilla Firefox fails.]
Versuch, mit Mozilla-Firefox ins Internet zu gehen
Wie beim Internet Explorer heißt es:
"Die Webseite kann nicht angezeigt werden"

Bei Teleos abgemeldet.
Versuch, sich bei Teleos wieder anzumelden.
Teleos kann nicht gefunden werden
 
 

June 9, 2008       /      9. Juni 2008

Starte Computer
Stelle ohne Problem Verbindung mit Teleos her; Übertragungsrate  10,0 MBit/s

Versuche wie üblich, durch klicken auf das Internet Explorer Icon (auf dem Desktop) ins Netz zu gelangen
"Die Webseite kann nicht gefunden werden"
Klicke auf Start, dann dort auf "Internet Explorer"
Die Webseite wird gefunden: Kann ins Internet gehen.
 

June 10, 2008     /     10. Juni 2008

Starte Computer
Stelle ohne Problem Verbindung mit Teleos her; Übertragungsrate  10,0 MBit/s

Klicke auf Start, dann dort auf "Internet Explorer"
Die Webseite wird gefunden: Kann ins Internet gehen

Werde nach längerer Recherche im Internet aus dem Netz geworfen

Klicke auf Start, dann dort auf "Internet Explorer"
"Die Webseite kann nicht gefunden werden"

Versuche wie üblich, durch klicken auf das Internet Explorer Icon (auf dem Desktop) ins Netz zu gelangen
"Die Webseite kann nicht gefunden werden"

Versuche, über Mozilla Firefox ins Internet zu gelangen
"Die Webseite kann nicht gefunden werden"

Schalte Computer aus und wieder ein, stelle Verbindung mit Teleos her (Übertragungsrate  10,0 MBit/s)
und führe alle obigen Versuche, ins Netz zu gehen, erneut durch
Jedesmal heißt es: 
"Die Webseite kann nicht gefunden werden"

Führe Netzwerkdiagnose für Windows XP - Windows Internet Explorer durch.
Der Fehler kann nicht behoben werden.

Kopiere die jeweilige durchgeführte Netzwerkdiagnose in eine WordPad Datei und speichere alles.

Netzwerkdiagnose für Windows XP (06/10/08 18:35:06 )

[etc.] [...]
 

In September 2009, the connection to my internet provider ceased to function. (I'm preserving a “protocol” of the diagnosis provided by my Kaspersky Internet Security software, dated Sept 27, 2009.)

In 2011, I received the following message from Norton (in German):
“Attention: Norton chanced upon a mistake. Mistake: 3048,3. We were not able to find an automatic solution for this problem [...]”
“Achtung: Norton Internet Security ist auf einen Fehler gestoßen.
Fehler: 3048,3
Wir waren nicht in der Lage, eine automatisierte Reparatur für dieses Problem zu finden. Wenden Sie sich an unsere Support Website, um weitere Unterstützung zu erhalten.
                    Support Web-Seite öffnen”

On Jan. 17, 2012, I wrote an email to Doris Schoettler-Boll saying that I could not carry out the Norton Internet Security update since mid-December, 2011; update files could be downloaded but either they could not be installed at all or only partially (some, of a bunch offered on a certain day, yes; others, no). 

In mid-December, 2011, I had already contacted the Norton community because I could not update Norton Internet Security anymore. The text in German quoted below is a copy of my message to the Norton community.  It says that “for quite a long time already” I got messages from Norton that “not all updates could be executed”... 

http://de.comm
unity.norton.com/t5/Norton-Internet-Security-Norton/Probleme-beim-Live-
Update-seit-einigen-Tagen-Update-konnte-nicht/m-p/29919/highlight/false

Betreff: Probleme beim Live Update seit
einigen Tagen/ Update konnte nicht
abgeschlossen werden

Optionen

am 15-12-2011 23:49
Hallo, habe FAST genau dasselbe Probleme. Seit längerer Zeit wurde häufig die Meldung
gezeigt, dass nicht alle updates ausgeführt werden konnten. Ich benutzte bis heute Nachmittag
allerdings nicht NIS 2012, sondern die Version davor, also Norton Internet Security 2011.
Heute geschah es, dass das letzte der heruntergeladenen Updates nicht ausgeführt werden konnte.
[...]
Habe dann von Symantec dankenswerterweise ein upgrade (NIS 2012) für die verbleibende Zeit meines Abos bekommen, dieses gut installiert, das Okay Zeichen erhalten und das live update gestartet, da das letzte update (DAS ICH DANK NIS 2012 UPGRADE mit dem NIS-Dowload ERHALTEN HATTE) 13 Stunden zurücklag.
Wieder kam die Meldung, "es konnten nicht alle updates erfolgreich ausgeführt werden." Und
dann: "Update konnte nicht abgeschlossen werden."
Ich möchte noch sagen, ich bin im Prinzip mit Norton Internet Security sehr zufrieden.
Ich hatte vor etwa zehn Jahren zuerst Norton Antivirus Software, bin dann, als ein PC zerstört
wurde, zu anderen Antivirus-Anbietern gewechselt, zuletzt zu dem "Schachweltmeister":
ICH BIN DER MEINUNG, ich hätte bei Norton bleiben können, der beste Service, am
kundenfreundlichsten.
Ich bin aber auch der Meinung, dass kein ANBIETER VÖLLIGE SICHERHEIT bietet.
Seit vielen Jahren mache ich das live update wirklich JEDES MAL, wenn ich ins Netz gehe und noch mehrmals, wenn ich länger online bin.
Durch Viren oder Würmer gab es DENNOCH in etwa 10 Jahren ein "knock out" von vier
Computern (mehr oder weniger schwerer Schaden, u.a. zwei Festplatten zerstört), außerdem
wurden zwei TFT-Bildschirme schwarz / TOT / geschaltet, Laufwerke (für CD, FLOPPY DISC) lahmgelegt, die Tastatur manipuliert.
Dagegen hilft kein gewissenhaftes updates und kein Anbieter, fürchte ich inzwischen.
- Andreas

I must add here that my irritation regarding the lack of reliability of the most expensive antivirus software on the market has let me switch over the years from Norton to Bitdefender to Kaspersky back to Norton, again Kaspersky, then Avira, than Avast, then again Avira... Each, a one year subscription – and each one of limited usefulness even though I keep my software and APPS up-to-date and update antivirus programs regularly.

In January 2012, typing became problematic.  Accessing the Windows “help page” that gives information on keyboard problems, a text was displayed on the screen that replaced certain German diphthongs (Umlaute: ä, ü, ö) by Chinese characters.
Thus, I read
“Einige Maus- und Tastaturger?e k?nen nur unter Verwendung einer speziellen Software (nicht eines Treibers) ausgef?rt werden. Wenn Sie diese Software nicht installieren, funktioniert das Ger? m?licherweise ?erhaupt nicht, oder seine Funktionalit? ist eingeschr?kt.”
When I typed a text, certain letters were replaced by numbers; in place of a capital “I”, I got a “5”, typing “u” I got “4”, and instead of “o”, I got a “6”; “m” was replaced by zero (“0”) and “l” (the small L) by “3”...
[The question marks shown here replace several Chinese characters that I was seeing on my screen.]

In June, 2012, I noticed the following  message:

Firewall: an application has been automatically allowed
Date/Time: 06.11.2012 18:25.56
Application C:\Programme\Gemeinsame Dateien\Adobe\ARM\1.0\AdobeARM.exe has allow rule on user VAIO3\jc

I'm not happy about AdobeARM.exe being allowed rule on my computer. What does this imply? I have read in mainstream newspapers that big software firms and firms that offer search services, browsers etc. cooperate with – for instance – the N S A.

Since early October 2012 I stayed mostly offline for several months due to repeated problems, while using my second-hand Vaio notebook.  As 2012 was drawing to a close, I bought another second-hand computer  and in January 2013 the necessary software to run it. There were immediately problems with this “new” computer and I went back to my old Vaio notebook.

Working with the VAIO remained problematic. In spring, 2013, I sent the following message to friends: “For several month, I could not log-out of my Hotmail e-mail account, [in fact] since early October. Avira Internet Security frequently didn’t work. Other suspicious errors occurred.
On Feb. 1, 2013 the Avira Internet Security updater let me know me that the update was aborted.

With my web camera I took a picture of the screen of my Vaio notebook at the time that documents how most protection options of Avira Internet Security were not working. Turned off by “a hidden hand”, they could not be turned on again manually. I think that only the option that enables adults to keep their children from accessing this or that was not turned off. 
The Avira Internet Security firewall (and when I switched to it, also the Windows firewall) was turned off, and then again and again turned off when I turned it on manually. 

I could not update my antivirus software anymore for some time.

On Feb 19, 2013  in the evening. I tried to access my Hotmail account and got the message: “The service is unavailable.” The log-in failed. This problem persisted. 
There were more problems and this is what I told friends at the time in an email:
“These are the errors or odd events I frequently encounter when using this computer
1 The firewall is turned off frequently
2. The WORD files are corrupted. (There exist two versions of WORD, it seems.)
3 Scripts are attempting to download frequently
4 Webpages hang frequently
5 Sony UpnP framework notes an error on this computer every day when I start the computer. 
6 The computer needs 10-11 min. from pushing the start button to accessing Firefox online”

Then, there was a severe  computer attack on Sept. 2, 2013. This was the last one before problems set in again in late August, 2014 while uploading the anti-war issue of Art in Society.
As I noted, there were no problems after I reset the system subsequent to the attacks that occurred in August/September 2014, things were alright for about six months, until problems resurfaced on the day after my second critical timeline post on Facebook.

Andreas Weiland
(June 2015)