NZ-based ex-spy exposes Soviet secrets
Department S took a special interest in genetic research. 'Genetic' or 'ethnic' biological weapons could target specific ethnic groups. Biochemical weapons could target chemicals in the brain that affect and control human emotions, causing mass panic and terror.
Alexander Kouzminov, green-eyed and serious, helped prepare Soviet war plans to poison the west. Now he is a Ministry of Health scientist doing environmental health and safety in New Zealand.
He believes the Soviet state was preparing for a biological war, "and luckily it didn't happen". But terrorists could unleash the biological demon, he says, unless the world acts.
Wednesday, February 23, 2005
Monday, February 21, 2005
THE MIRACULOUS
Portuguese mourn Fatima witness
Sister Lucia, who claimed to have seen the Virgin Mary in 1917, died on Sunday, aged 97. She was the last of three shepherd children who made the town of Fatima into a pilgrimage site, and the only one of the three who claimed to have heard clearly what the Virgin Mary said.
The Virgin Mary is said to have revealed prophecies of key 20th-Century events. The cousins were tending sheep when they saw the visions. Sister Lucia went on to write down what she had been told.
The first two parts of the prophecy were known for decades and interpreted as predicting the world wars. But the third prophecy was kept secret and sparked much speculation about its content until the Vatican revealed its interpretation of the vision.
Sister Lucia, who claimed to have seen the Virgin Mary in 1917, died on Sunday, aged 97. She was the last of three shepherd children who made the town of Fatima into a pilgrimage site, and the only one of the three who claimed to have heard clearly what the Virgin Mary said.
The Virgin Mary is said to have revealed prophecies of key 20th-Century events. The cousins were tending sheep when they saw the visions. Sister Lucia went on to write down what she had been told.
The first two parts of the prophecy were known for decades and interpreted as predicting the world wars. But the third prophecy was kept secret and sparked much speculation about its content until the Vatican revealed its interpretation of the vision.
SPACE WARS
Pentagon starts space war training
The Defense Department, it seems, has "launched a series of exercises designed to sharpen its understanding and management of counter-satellite operations".
The three-year Joint Space Control Operations-Negation (JSCO-N) program will help the Pentagon figure out which satellite-killers to buy, and determine which procedures to follow when knocking the orbiters out.
The Defense Department, it seems, has "launched a series of exercises designed to sharpen its understanding and management of counter-satellite operations".
The three-year Joint Space Control Operations-Negation (JSCO-N) program will help the Pentagon figure out which satellite-killers to buy, and determine which procedures to follow when knocking the orbiters out.
OLD MAN
Neanderthals a distinct evolutionary entity from modern humans
A strong consensus was emerging at a New York University symposium on Neanderthals, it was generally agreed that the now-extinct Neanderthals were a distinct evolutionary entity from modern humans, presumably a different species. They were archaic members of the human family, robust with heavy brow ridges and forward-projecting faces, who lived in Europe and western Asia from at least 250,000 years ago until they vanished from the fossil record about 28,000 years ago.
Neanderthals may have seen their first modern Homo sapiens some 100,000 years ago in what is now Israel. The two people almost certainly came in contact in Europe in the last centuries before the dwindling Neanderthal population was replaced forever by the intruding modern humans.
A strong consensus was emerging at a New York University symposium on Neanderthals, it was generally agreed that the now-extinct Neanderthals were a distinct evolutionary entity from modern humans, presumably a different species. They were archaic members of the human family, robust with heavy brow ridges and forward-projecting faces, who lived in Europe and western Asia from at least 250,000 years ago until they vanished from the fossil record about 28,000 years ago.
Neanderthals may have seen their first modern Homo sapiens some 100,000 years ago in what is now Israel. The two people almost certainly came in contact in Europe in the last centuries before the dwindling Neanderthal population was replaced forever by the intruding modern humans.
DISAPPEARANCES
Alaska, land of the lost
Richard Hills was one of 3,323 people reported missing in the state last year, not a record but far higher, relative to population, than anywhere else in the country. On average, 5 of every 1,000 people go missing every year, roughly double the national rate. Since Alaska began tracking the numbers in 1988, police have received at least 60,700 reports of missing people.
As everywhere else, most cases involve runaways who eventually return home or are found. But Alaska has the highest percentage of people who stay missing.
Investigators have compiled a list of about 1,100 people who remain lost. This in a state whose population — 650,000 — is less than that of San Francisco.
Richard Hills, 37. Soldotna. February 2004. Drove to Anchorage to pick up a paycheck. His truck was found in a snowbank outside Sterling, about 15 miles from home. The keys were in the ignition. His wallet and cash were on the front seat. His footprints led to a spot on an isolated road half a mile away, then ended.
State Troopers have walked the route with volunteer searchers, family members and psychics. Search dogs repeatedly lost his scent in the same place, as if Richard had dissolved into air.
Richard Hills was one of 3,323 people reported missing in the state last year, not a record but far higher, relative to population, than anywhere else in the country. On average, 5 of every 1,000 people go missing every year, roughly double the national rate. Since Alaska began tracking the numbers in 1988, police have received at least 60,700 reports of missing people.
As everywhere else, most cases involve runaways who eventually return home or are found. But Alaska has the highest percentage of people who stay missing.
Investigators have compiled a list of about 1,100 people who remain lost. This in a state whose population — 650,000 — is less than that of San Francisco.
Richard Hills, 37. Soldotna. February 2004. Drove to Anchorage to pick up a paycheck. His truck was found in a snowbank outside Sterling, about 15 miles from home. The keys were in the ignition. His wallet and cash were on the front seat. His footprints led to a spot on an isolated road half a mile away, then ended.
State Troopers have walked the route with volunteer searchers, family members and psychics. Search dogs repeatedly lost his scent in the same place, as if Richard had dissolved into air.
Sunday, February 20, 2005
EARTH CHANGES
Brightest galactic flash ever detected hits earth
A huge explosion halfway across the galaxy packed so much power it briefly altered Earth's upper atmosphere in December, astronomers said Friday. The blast originated about 50,000 light-years away and was detected Dec. 27
No known eruption beyond our solar system has ever appeared as bright upon arrival.
In gamma rays, the event equaled the brightness of the full Moon's reflected visible light.
The commotion was caused by a special variety of neutron star known as a magnetar. These fast-spinning, compact stellar corpses -- no larger than a big city -- create intense magnetic fields that trigger explosions. The blast was 100 times more powerful than any other similar eruption witnessed.
The star, named SGR 1806-20, spins once every 7.5 seconds, and is surrounded by a magnetic field more powerful than any other object in the universe.
Millions of neutron stars fill the Milky Way galaxy. A dozen or so are ultra-magnetic neutron stars -- magnetars. The magnetic field around one is about 1,000 trillion gauss, strong enough to strip information from a credit card at a distance halfway to the Moon, scientists say.
"Had this happened within 10 light-years of us, it would have severely damaged our atmosphere and possibly have triggered a mass extinction," said Bryan Gaensler of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.
Gaensler and two other astronomers the strength of the tempest has them wondering if major species die-offs in the past might have been triggered by stellar explosions.
A huge explosion halfway across the galaxy packed so much power it briefly altered Earth's upper atmosphere in December, astronomers said Friday. The blast originated about 50,000 light-years away and was detected Dec. 27
No known eruption beyond our solar system has ever appeared as bright upon arrival.
In gamma rays, the event equaled the brightness of the full Moon's reflected visible light.
The commotion was caused by a special variety of neutron star known as a magnetar. These fast-spinning, compact stellar corpses -- no larger than a big city -- create intense magnetic fields that trigger explosions. The blast was 100 times more powerful than any other similar eruption witnessed.
The star, named SGR 1806-20, spins once every 7.5 seconds, and is surrounded by a magnetic field more powerful than any other object in the universe.
Millions of neutron stars fill the Milky Way galaxy. A dozen or so are ultra-magnetic neutron stars -- magnetars. The magnetic field around one is about 1,000 trillion gauss, strong enough to strip information from a credit card at a distance halfway to the Moon, scientists say.
"Had this happened within 10 light-years of us, it would have severely damaged our atmosphere and possibly have triggered a mass extinction," said Bryan Gaensler of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.
Gaensler and two other astronomers the strength of the tempest has them wondering if major species die-offs in the past might have been triggered by stellar explosions.
Friday, February 18, 2005
EARTH CHANGES
Scientists find dramatic changes in Southern Ocean, fear climate link
Scientists have discovered dramatic changes in the temperature and salinity of deep waters in the Southern Ocean that they warn could have a major impact on global climate.
It's an indication that the deep ocean can respond much more rapidly to changes that are happening near the surface than we believed possible.
The findings added new urgency to the study of climate change, one of the scientists said. "It's another indication that the climate is capable of changing and is changing now," he said.
[The expedition sampled 3000 kilometers of the Southern Ocean basin during an eight-week expedition aboard the Australian Antarctic Division's research ship Aurora Australis.]
Scientists have discovered dramatic changes in the temperature and salinity of deep waters in the Southern Ocean that they warn could have a major impact on global climate.
It's an indication that the deep ocean can respond much more rapidly to changes that are happening near the surface than we believed possible.
The findings added new urgency to the study of climate change, one of the scientists said. "It's another indication that the climate is capable of changing and is changing now," he said.
[The expedition sampled 3000 kilometers of the Southern Ocean basin during an eight-week expedition aboard the Australian Antarctic Division's research ship Aurora Australis.]
FEAR MONGERS
Officials warn of more terror attacks
Speaking with one voice, President Bush's top intelligence and military officials said Wednesday that terrorists are regrouping for possible new strikes against the United States.
They said the best defense was for Congress to approve the president's military and anti-terror budget. But some in Congress, including prominent Republicans, were questioning some of that spending.
Offering few specifics on terror threats, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld told a House hearing that the government could reasonably predict attacks would come from terrorism, weapons of mass destruction and other means.
Meanwhile, new CIA Director Porter Goss told the Senate Intelligence Committee the Iraq war was giving terrorists experience and contacts for future attacks, and FBI Director Robert Mueller expressed worry that a sleeper operative in the U.S. may have been in place for years, awaiting orders for an attack.
Speaking with one voice, President Bush's top intelligence and military officials said Wednesday that terrorists are regrouping for possible new strikes against the United States.
They said the best defense was for Congress to approve the president's military and anti-terror budget. But some in Congress, including prominent Republicans, were questioning some of that spending.
Offering few specifics on terror threats, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld told a House hearing that the government could reasonably predict attacks would come from terrorism, weapons of mass destruction and other means.
Meanwhile, new CIA Director Porter Goss told the Senate Intelligence Committee the Iraq war was giving terrorists experience and contacts for future attacks, and FBI Director Robert Mueller expressed worry that a sleeper operative in the U.S. may have been in place for years, awaiting orders for an attack.
EXTREME REACTION
Man 'blinded at Guantanamo'
British resident, Omar Deghayes, has been blinded in one eye by American military police at Guantanamo Bay, his lawyer claimed today.
"In March 2004 the Extreme Reaction Force in Camp Delta came into his cell," he said. "They brought their pepper spray and held him down. "They held both of his eyes open and sprayed it into his eyes and later took a towel soaked in pepper spray and rubbed it in his eyes."
British resident, Omar Deghayes, has been blinded in one eye by American military police at Guantanamo Bay, his lawyer claimed today.
"In March 2004 the Extreme Reaction Force in Camp Delta came into his cell," he said. "They brought their pepper spray and held him down. "They held both of his eyes open and sprayed it into his eyes and later took a towel soaked in pepper spray and rubbed it in his eyes."
MILITARY INTELLIGENCE
US contractor accused of shooting civilians
Four security guards have claimed that their former employer, hired by the US Government, has arbitrarily killed Iraqi civilians.
"These aren't insurgents that we're brutalising," one of the guards, Bill Craun, a retired US Army Ranger captain, told NBC.
"It was local civilians on their way to work. It's wrong."
Mr Craun and three others said their former employer, Custer Battles, allowed heavily armed guards to roam Iraq brutalising civilians while they were supposed to be guarding supply convoys from rebels.
Custer Battles was the subject of a Senate Democratic Party committee hearing this week into allegations of corruption in Iraq.
A lawyer for the four said the firm was paid millions of dollars for work not done because of the owners' connections with the Republican Party.
The four former employees said their convoys fired on pedestrians and crushed children with a truck. The men claimed a Kurdish guard travelling with them fired into a passenger car to move traffic out of the way.
Ernest Colling, a former army corporal said the bullet "went through the window. As far as I could see, it hit a passenger."
Mr Colling said that later that day, an Iraqi teenager walking on the roadside was shot. "The rear gunner in my vehicle shot him," he said. "Unarmed, walking kids."
A Ford utility truck crushed a smaller car with Iraqis inside."I could see two children sitting in the back seat of that car with their eyes looking up at the axle as it came down and pulverised the back," Mr Craun said.
Another guard, Will Hough, a retired US marine, said it was unlikely anyone survived. "Probably not. Not from what I saw."
Four security guards have claimed that their former employer, hired by the US Government, has arbitrarily killed Iraqi civilians.
"These aren't insurgents that we're brutalising," one of the guards, Bill Craun, a retired US Army Ranger captain, told NBC.
"It was local civilians on their way to work. It's wrong."
Mr Craun and three others said their former employer, Custer Battles, allowed heavily armed guards to roam Iraq brutalising civilians while they were supposed to be guarding supply convoys from rebels.
Custer Battles was the subject of a Senate Democratic Party committee hearing this week into allegations of corruption in Iraq.
A lawyer for the four said the firm was paid millions of dollars for work not done because of the owners' connections with the Republican Party.
The four former employees said their convoys fired on pedestrians and crushed children with a truck. The men claimed a Kurdish guard travelling with them fired into a passenger car to move traffic out of the way.
Ernest Colling, a former army corporal said the bullet "went through the window. As far as I could see, it hit a passenger."
Mr Colling said that later that day, an Iraqi teenager walking on the roadside was shot. "The rear gunner in my vehicle shot him," he said. "Unarmed, walking kids."
A Ford utility truck crushed a smaller car with Iraqis inside."I could see two children sitting in the back seat of that car with their eyes looking up at the axle as it came down and pulverised the back," Mr Craun said.
Another guard, Will Hough, a retired US marine, said it was unlikely anyone survived. "Probably not. Not from what I saw."
A STEP CLOSER
NASA researchers claim evidence of present life on Mars
A pair of NASA (news - web sites) scientists told a group of space officials at a private meeting here Sunday that they have found strong evidence that life may exist today on Mars, hidden away in caves and sustained by pockets of water.
The scientists, Carol Stoker and Larry Lemke of NASA's Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley, told the group that they have submitted their findings to the journal Nature for publication in May, and their paper currently is being peer reviewed.
A pair of NASA (news - web sites) scientists told a group of space officials at a private meeting here Sunday that they have found strong evidence that life may exist today on Mars, hidden away in caves and sustained by pockets of water.
The scientists, Carol Stoker and Larry Lemke of NASA's Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley, told the group that they have submitted their findings to the journal Nature for publication in May, and their paper currently is being peer reviewed.
OPEN GOVERNMENT
Freedom has a new sound ... "ca-ching!"
I'm not sure it is widely known that Freedom of Information Act requests now carry a pricetag of $400,000.
Freedom of Information Comes at a Cost
Dan Christensen, Daily Business Review
Denying the public access to information a danger to democracy
Paul K. McMasters, The Daily Herald
I'm not sure it is widely known that Freedom of Information Act requests now carry a pricetag of $400,000.
Freedom of Information Comes at a Cost
Dan Christensen, Daily Business Review
Denying the public access to information a danger to democracy
Paul K. McMasters, The Daily Herald
DRUGGED NATION
Ecstasy trials for combat stress
American soldiers traumatised by fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan are to be offered the drug ecstasy to help free them of flashbacks and recurring nightmares.
The US food and drug administration has given the go-ahead for the soldiers to be included in an experiment to see if MDMA, the active ingredient in ecstasy, can treat post-traumatic stress disorder.
Scientists behind the trial in South Carolina think the feelings of emotional closeness reported by those taking the drug could help the soldiers talk about their experiences to therapists.
Animal studies suggest that it lowers levels of the brain chemical seroton, however the South Carolina study marks a resurgence of interest in the use of controlled psychedelic and hallucinogenic drugs. Several studies in the US are planned or are under way to investigate MDMA, LSD and psilocybin.
'Ecstasy' Use Studied to Ease Fear in Terminally Ill
This month, in a little-noted administrative decision, the Food and Drug Administration gave the green light to a Harvard proposal to test the benefits of the illegal street drug known as "ecstasy" in patients diagnosed with severe anxiety related to advanced cancer.
The drug, also known as 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine, or MDMA, has been referred to by psychiatrists as an "empathogen," a drug especially good at putting people in touch with their emotions. Some believe it could help patients come to terms with the biggest emotional challenge of all: the end of life.
The FDA's approval puts the study on track to become the first test of a psychedelic substance since 1963 at Harvard, where drug guru Timothy Leary lost his teaching privileges after using students in experiments with LSD and other hallucinogens.
American soldiers traumatised by fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan are to be offered the drug ecstasy to help free them of flashbacks and recurring nightmares.
The US food and drug administration has given the go-ahead for the soldiers to be included in an experiment to see if MDMA, the active ingredient in ecstasy, can treat post-traumatic stress disorder.
Scientists behind the trial in South Carolina think the feelings of emotional closeness reported by those taking the drug could help the soldiers talk about their experiences to therapists.
Animal studies suggest that it lowers levels of the brain chemical seroton, however the South Carolina study marks a resurgence of interest in the use of controlled psychedelic and hallucinogenic drugs. Several studies in the US are planned or are under way to investigate MDMA, LSD and psilocybin.
'Ecstasy' Use Studied to Ease Fear in Terminally Ill
This month, in a little-noted administrative decision, the Food and Drug Administration gave the green light to a Harvard proposal to test the benefits of the illegal street drug known as "ecstasy" in patients diagnosed with severe anxiety related to advanced cancer.
The drug, also known as 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine, or MDMA, has been referred to by psychiatrists as an "empathogen," a drug especially good at putting people in touch with their emotions. Some believe it could help patients come to terms with the biggest emotional challenge of all: the end of life.
The FDA's approval puts the study on track to become the first test of a psychedelic substance since 1963 at Harvard, where drug guru Timothy Leary lost his teaching privileges after using students in experiments with LSD and other hallucinogens.
Thursday, February 17, 2005
RULE OF LAW?
International law: illegal imprisonment at Guantanamo Bay
Two and a half years have passed since their imprisonment, Mamdouh Habib has been set free but the other Australian , David Hicks, is still held.
The US claims they were 'enemy combatants' and no established regime of international law applies to them.
The Australian Section of the International Commission of Jurists (ASICJ) argues that Hicks is a prisoner of war (POW) under the Third Geneva Convention, and that Habib was a suspected criminal who should have been dealt with under the International Covenant on Civil
and Political Rights (ICCPR).
The ASICJ says there is no category of 'enemy combatant' under international law and that labelling the prisoners such does not get around existing law in respect of their treatment.
Perhaps is is just that George W Bush has a thing about guys named David Hicks.
Two and a half years have passed since their imprisonment, Mamdouh Habib has been set free but the other Australian , David Hicks, is still held.
The US claims they were 'enemy combatants' and no established regime of international law applies to them.
The Australian Section of the International Commission of Jurists (ASICJ) argues that Hicks is a prisoner of war (POW) under the Third Geneva Convention, and that Habib was a suspected criminal who should have been dealt with under the International Covenant on Civil
and Political Rights (ICCPR).
The ASICJ says there is no category of 'enemy combatant' under international law and that labelling the prisoners such does not get around existing law in respect of their treatment.
Perhaps is is just that George W Bush has a thing about guys named David Hicks.
Wednesday, February 16, 2005
FEELING A DRAFT
Should college students pack their bags for Canada?
The 'weekend warriors' of the Army Reserve and the National Guard now make up almost half the fighting force on the front lines, and young officers in the Reserve are retiring in droves. The Pentagon, which can barely attract enough recruits to maintain current troop levels, has involuntarily extended the enlistments of as many as 100,000 soldiers. Desperate for troops, the Army has lowered its standards to let in twenty-five percent more high school dropouts.
Uncle Sam wants you. He needs you. He'll bribe you to sign up. He'll strong-arm you to re-enlist. And if that's not enough, he's got a plan to draft you.
The 'weekend warriors' of the Army Reserve and the National Guard now make up almost half the fighting force on the front lines, and young officers in the Reserve are retiring in droves. The Pentagon, which can barely attract enough recruits to maintain current troop levels, has involuntarily extended the enlistments of as many as 100,000 soldiers. Desperate for troops, the Army has lowered its standards to let in twenty-five percent more high school dropouts.
Uncle Sam wants you. He needs you. He'll bribe you to sign up. He'll strong-arm you to re-enlist. And if that's not enough, he's got a plan to draft you.
RIGHTS TRASHED
Freed detainee Habib says he was tortured throughout US custody
Mamdouh Habib still has a bruise on his lower back. He says it is a sign of the beatings he endured in a prison in Egypt. Interrogators there put out cigarettes on his chest, he says, and he lifts his shirt to show the marks. He says he got the dark spot on his forehead when Americans hit his head against the floor at the prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.
After being arrested in Pakistan in the weeks after Sept. 11, 2001, he was held as a terror suspect by the Americans for 40 months. Back home now, Mr. Habib alleges that at every step of his detention - from Pakistan, to Egypt, to Afghanistan, to Guantánamo - he endured physical and psychological abuse.
The physical abuse, he said, ranged from a kick "that nearly killed me" to electric shocks administered through a wired helmet that he said interrogators told him could detect whether he was lying.
Speaking publicly for the first time since he was freed two weeks ago, Mr. Habib, a 49-year-old Australian citizen born in Egypt, also described psychological abuse that seemed intended to undermine his identity - as a husband, a father and a Muslim man.
Former spy claims Australian government covered up Iraq prisoner abuse
A former Australian spy contradicted government claims that no Australian was involved in interrogating Iraqi prisoners, saying he himself witnessed and reported the alleged abuse of Iraqis by their US captors.
Rod Barton, a former senior analyst for the Defense Intelligence Organisation (DIO) and a long-time Iraq weapons inspector, said he personally interrogated an Iraqi detainee at Camp Cropper, a US center which held so-called "high value" prisoners.
Barton said he raised concerns with an Australian defense official about the abuse of inmates at Camp Cropper before the mistreatment at Abu Ghraib became public, but no action was taken.
Mamdouh Habib still has a bruise on his lower back. He says it is a sign of the beatings he endured in a prison in Egypt. Interrogators there put out cigarettes on his chest, he says, and he lifts his shirt to show the marks. He says he got the dark spot on his forehead when Americans hit his head against the floor at the prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.
After being arrested in Pakistan in the weeks after Sept. 11, 2001, he was held as a terror suspect by the Americans for 40 months. Back home now, Mr. Habib alleges that at every step of his detention - from Pakistan, to Egypt, to Afghanistan, to Guantánamo - he endured physical and psychological abuse.
The physical abuse, he said, ranged from a kick "that nearly killed me" to electric shocks administered through a wired helmet that he said interrogators told him could detect whether he was lying.
Speaking publicly for the first time since he was freed two weeks ago, Mr. Habib, a 49-year-old Australian citizen born in Egypt, also described psychological abuse that seemed intended to undermine his identity - as a husband, a father and a Muslim man.
Former spy claims Australian government covered up Iraq prisoner abuse
A former Australian spy contradicted government claims that no Australian was involved in interrogating Iraqi prisoners, saying he himself witnessed and reported the alleged abuse of Iraqis by their US captors.
Rod Barton, a former senior analyst for the Defense Intelligence Organisation (DIO) and a long-time Iraq weapons inspector, said he personally interrogated an Iraqi detainee at Camp Cropper, a US center which held so-called "high value" prisoners.
Barton said he raised concerns with an Australian defense official about the abuse of inmates at Camp Cropper before the mistreatment at Abu Ghraib became public, but no action was taken.
Tuesday, February 15, 2005
CLOAK AND DAGGER
CIA agent provocateur
Davao City bomber Michael Meiring. An FBI team whisked Meiring out of a Philippine hospital and back to the US, two legs lighter, after an explosive device prematurely detonated in his hotel room, and - significantly - before he could face awkward questions and pesky charges. (If the name sounds unfamiliar, search this site for earlier posts.)
I'd thought that now the Philippines has formally asked the United States for assistance in returning Meiring, the story might finally break in the US media. But no. Nothing. And to be perfectly honest, I really didn't expect anything else. The Meiring case is a difficult story to tell in America, as it makes no sense within the official paradigm of the "War on Terror."
One person was killed and nine were injured when a blast hit a bus depot in the southern city of Davao on Mindanao island at dusk. Earlier Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Soliman said five people had been killed, but Davao officials insisted she misspoke.
The citizen-led Mindanao Truth Commission, after almost nine months of conducting investigations, has claimed that the government itself could be the possible leading perpetrator in the bombings all over the island that have led to the death of 95 people and the wounding of 490 others.
Davao City bomber Michael Meiring. An FBI team whisked Meiring out of a Philippine hospital and back to the US, two legs lighter, after an explosive device prematurely detonated in his hotel room, and - significantly - before he could face awkward questions and pesky charges. (If the name sounds unfamiliar, search this site for earlier posts.)
I'd thought that now the Philippines has formally asked the United States for assistance in returning Meiring, the story might finally break in the US media. But no. Nothing. And to be perfectly honest, I really didn't expect anything else. The Meiring case is a difficult story to tell in America, as it makes no sense within the official paradigm of the "War on Terror."
One person was killed and nine were injured when a blast hit a bus depot in the southern city of Davao on Mindanao island at dusk. Earlier Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Soliman said five people had been killed, but Davao officials insisted she misspoke.
The citizen-led Mindanao Truth Commission, after almost nine months of conducting investigations, has claimed that the government itself could be the possible leading perpetrator in the bombings all over the island that have led to the death of 95 people and the wounding of 490 others.
HONEY TRAPS
Mossad femme fatale Sylvia Rafael to be buried in Israel
Sylvia Rafael, a legendary Mossad hit woman convicted of mistakenly assassinating a Moroccan waiter in Norway 31 years ago, is to be buried secretly in Israel according to her last wishes.
Rafael, 67, died over the weekend in her native South Africa, reportedly from leukemia.
Little was known of her exploits beyond her part in one of the Mossad's greatest fiascos. In July 1973, Rafael joined a hastily assembled team of agents to track down a man they believed to be Ali Hassan Salameh, the Black September's operation chief in Europe.
It was a time of wholesale vengeance for the Mossad, ordered by then prime minister Golda Meir, against the Palestinians responsible for the massacre of Israel's 11 Olympians at Munich in 1972.
In the lonely Norwegian village of Lillehammer -- host of Winter Olympics 21 years later, the team gunned down a Moroccan waiter called Ahmed Bouchiki in front of his pregnant wife instead of Salameh.
MEANWHILE
Israeli diplomat Amir Lati was apparently ejected from Australia by ASIO for espionage. It has been speculated Lati was chasing women in sensitive positions in an attempt to gather intelligence for his bosses back in Israel, an accusation he denies.
Diplomat Aryeh Sar who was due to replace the alleged Mossad spy in Canberra was reportedly photographed nude with under-age girls when on a posting to Brazil five years ago.
Israeli newspaper Haaretz said the country's foreign ministry is now holding off sending the new consul to Australia.
Sylvia Rafael, a legendary Mossad hit woman convicted of mistakenly assassinating a Moroccan waiter in Norway 31 years ago, is to be buried secretly in Israel according to her last wishes.
Rafael, 67, died over the weekend in her native South Africa, reportedly from leukemia.
Little was known of her exploits beyond her part in one of the Mossad's greatest fiascos. In July 1973, Rafael joined a hastily assembled team of agents to track down a man they believed to be Ali Hassan Salameh, the Black September's operation chief in Europe.
It was a time of wholesale vengeance for the Mossad, ordered by then prime minister Golda Meir, against the Palestinians responsible for the massacre of Israel's 11 Olympians at Munich in 1972.
In the lonely Norwegian village of Lillehammer -- host of Winter Olympics 21 years later, the team gunned down a Moroccan waiter called Ahmed Bouchiki in front of his pregnant wife instead of Salameh.
MEANWHILE
Israeli diplomat Amir Lati was apparently ejected from Australia by ASIO for espionage. It has been speculated Lati was chasing women in sensitive positions in an attempt to gather intelligence for his bosses back in Israel, an accusation he denies.
Diplomat Aryeh Sar who was due to replace the alleged Mossad spy in Canberra was reportedly photographed nude with under-age girls when on a posting to Brazil five years ago.
Israeli newspaper Haaretz said the country's foreign ministry is now holding off sending the new consul to Australia.
Monday, February 14, 2005
HIVE MIND
Can this black box see into the future?
According to a growing band of top scientists, a small random number generating computer has quite extraordinary powers. It is, they claim, the 'eye' of a machine that appears capable of peering into the future and predicting major world events.
The machine apparently sensed the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Centre four hours before they happened - and last December, it also appeared to forewarn of the Asian tsunami just before the deep sea earthquake that precipitated the epic tragedy.
See also The Merlin Project with related article here.
According to a growing band of top scientists, a small random number generating computer has quite extraordinary powers. It is, they claim, the 'eye' of a machine that appears capable of peering into the future and predicting major world events.
The machine apparently sensed the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Centre four hours before they happened - and last December, it also appeared to forewarn of the Asian tsunami just before the deep sea earthquake that precipitated the epic tragedy.
See also The Merlin Project with related article here.
Saturday, February 12, 2005
PROPAGANDA CENTRAL
John Rendon: the Pentagon's information warrior
The Rendon Group's contract with the Pentagon was awarded on a no-bid basis, reflecting the government's determination to hire a firm already versed in running overseas propaganda operations. Rendon specializes in 'assisting corporations, organizations, and governments achieve their policy objectives.' Past clients include the CIA, USAID, the government of Kuwait, Monsanto Chemical Company, and the official trade agencies of countries including Bulgaria, Russia, and Uzbekistan.
Regarding Uzbekistan: US looks away as new ally tortures Islamists
Abdulkhalil, a 28-year-old farmer sentenced to 16 years in prison, was a victim of Uzbekistan's security service, the SNB. His detention and torture were part of a crackdown on Hizb-ut-Tahrir (Party of Liberation), an Islamist group.
Last week his father saw him for the first time since that day on a stretcher in a prison hospital. His head was battered and his tongue was so swollen that he could only say that he had "been kept in water for a long time".
According to a forensic report commissioned by the British embassy, in August two prisoners were even boiled to death.
Muzafar Avazov died a horrible death. His body is scalded a myriad of colors from head to toe.
Human-rights activists and Avazov's mother said the wounds are proof that the 37-year-old died after being boiled alive inside Uzbekistan's notorious Jaslik prison in mid-2002. There are other signs of torture in other photographs; his fingernails and toenails apparently were all pulled out and nearly every one of his teeth is smashed.
When his mother, Fatima Mukadirova, released the photos and spoke out to foreign journalists, the 62-year-old was jailed for "anti-constitutional activity."
The Rendon Group's contract with the Pentagon was awarded on a no-bid basis, reflecting the government's determination to hire a firm already versed in running overseas propaganda operations. Rendon specializes in 'assisting corporations, organizations, and governments achieve their policy objectives.' Past clients include the CIA, USAID, the government of Kuwait, Monsanto Chemical Company, and the official trade agencies of countries including Bulgaria, Russia, and Uzbekistan.
Regarding Uzbekistan: US looks away as new ally tortures Islamists
Abdulkhalil, a 28-year-old farmer sentenced to 16 years in prison, was a victim of Uzbekistan's security service, the SNB. His detention and torture were part of a crackdown on Hizb-ut-Tahrir (Party of Liberation), an Islamist group.
Last week his father saw him for the first time since that day on a stretcher in a prison hospital. His head was battered and his tongue was so swollen that he could only say that he had "been kept in water for a long time".
According to a forensic report commissioned by the British embassy, in August two prisoners were even boiled to death.
Muzafar Avazov died a horrible death. His body is scalded a myriad of colors from head to toe.
Human-rights activists and Avazov's mother said the wounds are proof that the 37-year-old died after being boiled alive inside Uzbekistan's notorious Jaslik prison in mid-2002. There are other signs of torture in other photographs; his fingernails and toenails apparently were all pulled out and nearly every one of his teeth is smashed.
When his mother, Fatima Mukadirova, released the photos and spoke out to foreign journalists, the 62-year-old was jailed for "anti-constitutional activity."
Thursday, February 10, 2005
DEAD SCIENTISTS SOCIETY
Spate of scientists and microbiologist deaths raises suspicion
'The insurance industry uses scientific tables to accurately predict death rates. Based on the 1997 CSO Mortality Tables, the odds that all of these men could collectively die during a 30 month period is a staggering 14,000,000,000:1
This makes it logically impossible for any reasonable person to deny that the world's leading microbiology researchers are being murdered, beginning with the anthrax attacks thru last month.
The question is why are they being killed, and by whom?'
'The insurance industry uses scientific tables to accurately predict death rates. Based on the 1997 CSO Mortality Tables, the odds that all of these men could collectively die during a 30 month period is a staggering 14,000,000,000:1
This makes it logically impossible for any reasonable person to deny that the world's leading microbiology researchers are being murdered, beginning with the anthrax attacks thru last month.
The question is why are they being killed, and by whom?'
Tuesday, February 08, 2005
CONCENTRATE, CONCENTRATE
The Lady in Red One
"For more than 18 hours a day she was kept in solitary confinement in Red One because she was screaming and uncontrollable," said refugee advocate Bernadette Wauchope.
"We visited the centre often and detainees told us they were worried about a woman they called Anna, who was screaming all day and night in her cell. They said she wouldn't talk to anyone, muttered in German and was clearly mentally unstable and needed help.
"She was locked up in an isolation cell for more than 18 hours a day. When she was allowed out of her room for a few hours' exercise it would take up to six riot officers to force her back into her room fighting and screaming.
"One man who had been in Red One said he could hear her screaming in her cell for hours.
"A guard said she was just putting it on as she just wants to get out."
An immigration spokesman confirmed Ms Rau had been locked in Red One, where detainees are kept in isolation in a bare cell under 24-hour camera observation.
Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists chairwoman Louise Newman said she and others tried to see the woman at Baxter in December but were denied permission.
"We were told she had not asked for an outside assessment so we couldn't see her," Dr Newman said. "But obviously she was psychotic and incapable of making any such request. Her situation was deteriorating rapidly in the conditions in which she was being kept.
Inquiry should be open, says family
Cornelia Rau's sister is disappointed the inquiry into her detention will be held in private and that the head of the inquiry will not have powers to compel witnesses.
The family of a mentally ill woman wrongly held in a detention centre says a Federal Government inquiry into how she came to be locked up should be an open investigation.
Federal Immigration Minister Amanda Vanstone announced the inquiry into Cornelia Rau's situation will be held in private to protect Ms Rau's privacy.
Ms Rau was held in a Queensland prison and at the Baxter detention centre as an illegal immigrant for a total of 10 months.
Ms Rau's sister, Chris, says the Government should not be concerned about attempting to preserve the privacy of her sister or the Rau family.
"Poor Cornelia, her entire illness has been on every media outlet in the country, our privacy has already been sacrificed now," she said.
Chris Rau says an open inquiry should be held, with the more sensitive evidence being given in camera.
"We would have preferred an open inquiry which could hear Cornelia's psychiatric history in camera," she said.
"We feel the commissioner should have the power to compel witnesses and to make sure that people who do give eyewitness accounts aren't some how punished in the future."
Senator Vanstone announced that former Australian Federal Police (AFP) commissioner Mick Palmer will conduct the private inquiry and report back to the Government on March 24.
NORTH OF THE BORDER
US nationals' eye Canada after election
In the Niagara of liberal angst just after Bush's victory on Nov. 2, the Canadian government's immigration Web site reported a surge in inquiries from the United States, to about 115,000 a day from 20,000.
After three months, memories of the election have begun to recede. Yet immigration lawyers say that Americans are not just making inquiries and that more are pursuing a move above the 49th parallel, fed up with a country they see drifting persistently to the right and abandoning the principles of tolerance, compassion and peaceful idealism they felt once defined the nation.
America is in no danger of emptying out. But even a small loss of population, many from a deep sense of political despair, is a significant event in the life of a nation that thinks of itself as a place to escape to.
In the Niagara of liberal angst just after Bush's victory on Nov. 2, the Canadian government's immigration Web site reported a surge in inquiries from the United States, to about 115,000 a day from 20,000.
After three months, memories of the election have begun to recede. Yet immigration lawyers say that Americans are not just making inquiries and that more are pursuing a move above the 49th parallel, fed up with a country they see drifting persistently to the right and abandoning the principles of tolerance, compassion and peaceful idealism they felt once defined the nation.
America is in no danger of emptying out. But even a small loss of population, many from a deep sense of political despair, is a significant event in the life of a nation that thinks of itself as a place to escape to.
Monday, February 07, 2005
VISION THING
Natasha Demkina 'fails' x-ray vision test
We recruited six volunteers, who each had adifferent medical condition visible on X-rays, plus a "normal" subject who had none of the six target conditions.
The test -- which required her to match at least five of the target medical conditions to the correct subjects -- should have been a breeze. She didn't have to scan their entire bodies for unknown conditions. She was told exactly what to look for and exactly where to look. Yet, it took her more than four hourss to complete the test and she only matched four of the conditions correctly -- a score that everyone prior to the test had agreed upon would not justify further testing.
Natasha's most dramatic misdiagnosis was her failure to see a large metal plate covering a missing section of skull in a man who had a large brain tumor removed. Instead, sheindicatedthat she 'saw'ametal plate and missing skull section in a man who had a removed appendix but normal skull.
[A previous diagnosis was one that helped prompt interest in the test.]
Thursday, February 03, 2005
PROPAGANDA CENTRAL
First Amendment no big deal, students say
A 2-year survey of more than 100,000 high school students from across USA has discovered that a third of the students polled think the press has too much freedom, half believe the government has the right to censor the Internet, and two-thirds think it's illegal to burn the flag.
But perhaps the most disturbing revelation is that nearly four in ten believe newspapers should get "government approval" of stories before publishing.
Rights over-rated, say teens
A 2-year survey of more than 100,000 high school students from across USA has discovered that a third of the students polled think the press has too much freedom, half believe the government has the right to censor the Internet, and two-thirds think it's illegal to burn the flag.
But perhaps the most disturbing revelation is that nearly four in ten believe newspapers should get "government approval" of stories before publishing.
Rights over-rated, say teens
Wednesday, February 02, 2005
EARTH CHANGES
'Unheard of' seismic events continue in quake areas
Unusual events "unheard of in the history of seismology" have been recorded in the Andaman and Nicobar islands, with more than 120 such events being recorded in the last one month, according to seismologists.
Seismologists have recorded over 120 such unusual events in the islands following the December 26 earthquake measuring 8.9 on the Richter scale that triggered tsunamis which wreaked havoc in several parts of the country.
Something strange happening in the tectonic plates
The bizarre pattern of aftershocks ranging between 5.2 and 6.2 Richter continues in the Tsunami hit Nicobar island of India.
The tribal people are saying that many miles below the earth's surface, something is happening they never experienced before.
M5.8 earthquake jolts eastern Hokkaido
An earthquake registering a preliminary magnitude of 5.8, jolted eastern Hokkaido Monday evening, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.
Earthquake jolts Indonesia's Aceh again
An earthquake measuring 5.3 on the Richter scale on Monday shook the tsunami-hit Indonesian province of Aceh, where more than 20 aftershocks have been reported since a powerful earthquake triggered a tsunami on Dec. 26.
Another quake jolts Wellington region
An earthquake measuring 5.4 on the Richter scale struck the lower North Island of New Zealand.
Earthquake jolts Indonesia’s Java island
An earthquake measuring 5.6 on the Richter scale rocked Indonesia’s Java island early Tuesday but there were no reports of casualties or damage, seismologists said.
Bulgaria, Greece rocked by quakes
A light earthquake was registered in Bulgaria around midnight, the Seismological Centre at the Bulgarian Academy of Science reported.
The quake measured 2.8 on the Richter scale and its epicenter was located 180km southeast of Sofia.
New hot springs flow in wake of Palu earthquake
A new phenomenon has stunned the people of Central Sulawesi, in the wake of a recent 6.2-magnitude earthquake in the region.
New hot springs have emerged in Bobo subdistrict, Donggala regency, southeast of Palu, shortly after the quake jolted the area on Jan. 24.
The biggest hot spring had formed a pool 6 meters square, while dozens of smaller ones were also scattered around the subdistrict. Many residents were surprised to find water boiling up in the new springs with a distinct sulfuric odor. According to local residents, it takes just two minutes to poach an egg.
Man feared dead after PNG volcano erupts
A volcano on the Papua New Guinea island of Manam is spewing lava, rocks and ash onto villages, leaving one man missing and several others injured, officials have said.
Hundreds of Manam islanders were evacuated to the mainland after the eruption early Friday.
Ebeko volcano awoke in Paramushir Island
The Ebeko volcano has awoken with a jolt at the North Kuril island of Paramushir in the Russian Far East.
Unusual events "unheard of in the history of seismology" have been recorded in the Andaman and Nicobar islands, with more than 120 such events being recorded in the last one month, according to seismologists.
Seismologists have recorded over 120 such unusual events in the islands following the December 26 earthquake measuring 8.9 on the Richter scale that triggered tsunamis which wreaked havoc in several parts of the country.
Something strange happening in the tectonic plates
The bizarre pattern of aftershocks ranging between 5.2 and 6.2 Richter continues in the Tsunami hit Nicobar island of India.
The tribal people are saying that many miles below the earth's surface, something is happening they never experienced before.
M5.8 earthquake jolts eastern Hokkaido
An earthquake registering a preliminary magnitude of 5.8, jolted eastern Hokkaido Monday evening, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.
Earthquake jolts Indonesia's Aceh again
An earthquake measuring 5.3 on the Richter scale on Monday shook the tsunami-hit Indonesian province of Aceh, where more than 20 aftershocks have been reported since a powerful earthquake triggered a tsunami on Dec. 26.
Another quake jolts Wellington region
An earthquake measuring 5.4 on the Richter scale struck the lower North Island of New Zealand.
Earthquake jolts Indonesia’s Java island
An earthquake measuring 5.6 on the Richter scale rocked Indonesia’s Java island early Tuesday but there were no reports of casualties or damage, seismologists said.
Bulgaria, Greece rocked by quakes
A light earthquake was registered in Bulgaria around midnight, the Seismological Centre at the Bulgarian Academy of Science reported.
The quake measured 2.8 on the Richter scale and its epicenter was located 180km southeast of Sofia.
New hot springs flow in wake of Palu earthquake
A new phenomenon has stunned the people of Central Sulawesi, in the wake of a recent 6.2-magnitude earthquake in the region.
New hot springs have emerged in Bobo subdistrict, Donggala regency, southeast of Palu, shortly after the quake jolted the area on Jan. 24.
The biggest hot spring had formed a pool 6 meters square, while dozens of smaller ones were also scattered around the subdistrict. Many residents were surprised to find water boiling up in the new springs with a distinct sulfuric odor. According to local residents, it takes just two minutes to poach an egg.
Man feared dead after PNG volcano erupts
A volcano on the Papua New Guinea island of Manam is spewing lava, rocks and ash onto villages, leaving one man missing and several others injured, officials have said.
Hundreds of Manam islanders were evacuated to the mainland after the eruption early Friday.
Ebeko volcano awoke in Paramushir Island
The Ebeko volcano has awoken with a jolt at the North Kuril island of Paramushir in the Russian Far East.
Tuesday, February 01, 2005
DIG THIS
Suppressed photo reveals mysterious dig beneath US Capitol
A secret dig appears to be underway beneath the U.S. Capitol, according to an exclusive photo released today by the online entertainment network @lantisTV after it successfully appealed a federal court order that had blocked its publication for months.
The photo, taken from an undisclosed location in February, 2004, captures a massive excavation beneath the U.S. Capitol.
“They’re digging up the National Mall, looking for something,” said one exasperated U.S. Senator from a large industrial state who requested anonymity. “They’ve been at it for years, all under the guise of ‘renovations’ for the monuments or ‘security upgrades.’ Let me tell you, at this point there’s more to see of Washington, D.C., under the Mall than above ground. Talk about a shadow government. I think it’s a horrific abuse of taxpayer money.”
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