KECKING THEMSELVES

UFO evidence being searched for by NASA

Bill Bulebush, 82, says he knows what he saw, heard and smelled, despite the doubts of the government.

"I looked up and saw it flying overhead and it was sizzling," said Bulebush, a retired truck driver.

"I found it in the woods down there [in a valley] and I got to it 15 to 20 minutes after it landed. I saw it 10 to 15 feet away from behind a big tree -- because I was worried it might blow up -- and it smelled like sulfur or rotten eggs and was shaped like a huge acorn, about the size of a VW."

Other people said that shortly afterward, dozens of Army soldiers and three members of the Air Force showed up; later that night a flatbed military truck took the object away.

A recent settlement in a 4-year-long Freedom of Information Act court battle requires NASA to meticulously comb its files for documents about the Kecksburg incident.

According to a transcript federal Judge Emmet Sullivan, who had tried to move NASA along for more than three years, angrily referred to NASA's search efforts as a "ball of yarn" that never fully answers the request, adding: "I can sense the plaintiff's frustration because I'm frustrated."

NUCLEAR DAYS

The Coming Age of the Personal Nuclear Reactor

The 200 kilowatt Toshiba designed reactor is engineered to be fail-safe and totally automatic and will not overheat. Unlike traditional nuclear reactors the new micro reactor uses no control rods to initiate the reaction.
The new revolutionary technology uses reservoirs of liquid lithium-6, an isotope that is effective at absorbing neutrons. The Lithium-6 reservoirs are connected to a vertical tube that fits into the reactor core.
The whole whole process is self sustaining and can last for up to 40 years, producing electricity for only 5 cents per kilowatt hour, about half the cost of grid energy.

IMAM

Six imams ejected from US flight

Six Muslim imams were removed from a US Airways flight, bound to Phoenix from Minneapolis, after a passenger reported "suspicious activity" to cabin crew.
The men were told to disembark shortly after saying evening prayers. Three of the six had stood as they prayed.
The scholars, who were returning from a conference, allege they were handcuffed and "humiliated" during the ordeal. They were questioned by police, they said, for several hours.

A spokeswoman for US Airways said concerns about the group had been raised by a passenger, who had passed a note to a flight attendant.

POLICE STATE

AdelaideNow... Police guard their law breaches

POLICE are being accused of "excessive secrecy" for taking a year to release sparse details of individual cases of serious misconduct by officers.

Details of the 29 officers' cases, proved before the Police Disciplinary Tribunal, are contained in a written response to an Opposition question asked in November last year.

It reveals little extra detail to the brief summary provided in police annual reports, further intensifying pressure for greater scrutiny of police misconduct.

The data included officers found guilty on two occasions of "improperly obtaining benefit or advantage" and, in six instances, of breaching "confidentiality of information".

The 2005-06 details show misconduct charges were withdrawn against five officers because they either had resigned or had retired.

BROWN DWARF

Does the Nemesis Star really exist?

The Nemesis Star was suposed to be a distant companion of the Sun in a 26 million year orbit. It would perturb comets in the Oort Cloud and send thousands of them into the inner solar system where some would collide with Earth and produce mass extinctions.
It was proposed for non-astronomical reasons to explain the seemingly periodic extinction record every 26 million years.

EAT SHIT AND DIE

Toilet home 'may have traumatised' compost worms

A New Zealand inventor has been forced to defend the use of worms in a composting toilet he has developed after officials became concerned that the creatures might become traumatised by the procedure.

Coll Bell was told to get an expert's report on the mental impact on the tiger worms being used after an official became concerned during a site visit.

He says the official felt that the worms were being unfairly treated, being expected to deal with human faeces, and that it could affect them in a psychological way.

Mr Bell was told he had to get someone with the necessary qualifications to say the worms were happy.

A vermiculture consultant was called in and she has found the worms are in excellent health and breeding happily.

VOICE OF REASON

New Jersey abolishes death penalty

New Jersey became the first US state in four decades to vote to abolish the death penalty, in a move on Thursday hailed by human rights activists as a step towards ending capital punishment.
The Democratic-controlled state assembly passed the law by a vote of 44 to 36, assembly spokesperson Joe Donnelly told AFP, after an emotional three-hour debate.

SEPARATION OF POWERS

Dennis Hood apologises to Judge Marie Shaw

FAMILY First politician Dennis Hood has "unreservedly withdrawn" his call for a District Court judge to be sacked.
Mr Hood, a member of the state Legislative Council, last month called for Judge Marie Shaw to be dismissed after she imposed a suspended sentence upon a sex offender.

FRIEND IN DEED

Dogs may get bravery awards for saving toddler

The RSPCA says it is considering giving bravery awards to two dogs who saved a north Queensland toddler from drowning.
Police say the dogs followed the two-year-old boy when he wandered from the family home in Andergrove in Mackay yesterday morning and then dragged him to safety when he fell into a dam.

VOICE OF REASON

US House votes to outlaw CIA waterboarding

The Democrat-led US House of Representatives has voted to outlaw harsh interrogation methods that the CIA has used against suspected terrorists, such as the practice known as 'waterboarding'.

On a 222-199 vote, the House approved a measure to require intelligence agents to comply with the Army Field Manual, which meets the Geneva Conventions on the treatment of war prisoners and prohibits torture.

The measure passed amid a congressional probe into the recent disclosure that the CIA destroyed videotapes of Al Qaeda suspects undergoing waterboarding, a simulated drowning.

ACCESS ALL AREAS

The Access Card - Good for Your Health?

The Access Card will replace seventeen existing cards including Medicare and pensioner concession cards.

It will display your computer-linked number, photo and signature.

The new feature is inside the card - a microchip which will store a photo, your address, date of birth and details of your dependents.

There'll also be space to enter your own personal details and it's up to you what you put into it.

COMPUTERS TAKE-OVER

2001 paper shows Centrelink's error 'breaches' increasing

While Centrelink breaches have increased dramatically, so have appeals with nearly 35% of all breaches implemented by Centrelink for 1999-2000 revoked through an appeals process.

It has been extremely difficult to obtain data relating to young people and breaches as Centrelink has refused requests, including an FOI request stating the information is 'politically sensitive'.

In a society celebrating its centenary of federation, it may be worth asking not only, where welfare policies such as mutual obligation are heading, but also why access to information related to welfare policies is denied.

Welfare reform can only be debated and analyzed in a forum where access to data is available. The data that is available indicates very high rates of breaching that suggests that there ought to be further questioning about the effectiveness and justice of such policies for young people. And more importantly, why material relating to the breaches is denied to independent
researches.

MARK OF THE BEAST

Joe "Shrek" Hockey ... he only LOOKS like a socialist.

Show me your papers!

Part of the report to Government on it's proposed ID card runs under the heading, Reducing Opportunities for Fraud, before indicating that it may actually increase the incidence of widespread if the card security was breached.
Such a breech was carried out as part of a media stunt within minutes.

Then there is the case two compact discs full of personal details being lost.
The data on them includes name, address, date of birth, National Insurance number and, where relevant, bank details of 25 million people.

* Reducing Opportunities for Fraud: Having one Point of Issue (POI) would reduce opportunities for some fraud. However, this will also introduce a single point of failure. Failure of the smart card security would expose the system to a risk of widespread fraud. Increased security could instead be achieved by using existing identification means in the financial and telecommunications industries and strengthening those means.

"KPMG Access Card Business Case", KPMG, February 2006
Australian Government Smart Card Project

SATURN RETURNS

Saturn's rings (Nasa). The UVIS instrument sees the rings in the ultraviolet

Saturn's rings 'may live forever'

Saturn's iconic rings may be much older than we thought, scientists say.
New data from the Cassini probe shows these thin bands of orbiting particles were probably there billions years ago, and are likely to be very long-lived.
It means we are not in some special time -- the giant planet has most likely always provided a stunning view.

POLICE STATE

Police powers 'to protect ads, not Pope'

Commissioner Scipione says the legislation, passed by Parliament last week, does not give police any special security powers.
He says the power to search pilgrims and evict them from World Youth Day events next July are ordinary police powers, and other features of the legislation are designed to protect commercial sponsors.
"It's about restrictions on things like advertising and where billboards could be placed," he said. "That's about aerial advertising."

THE QUICKENING

Global warming causing record disasters: report

The International Federation of the Red Cross (IFRC) says global warming caused a record number of natural disasters across the world in 2007, up nearly 20 per cent from a year earlier.

"As of 10 October 2007, the Federation had already recorded 410 disasters, 56 per cent of which were weather-related, which is consistent with the trend of rising numbers of climate change-related disasters," the IFRC said in its World Disasters Report.

In 2006, the IFRC recorded 427 natural disasters, a rise of 70 per cent in the two years since 2004

MAMMOTH TUSK

Great beasts peppered from space

Startling evidence has been found which shows mammoth and other great beasts from the last ice age were blasted with material that came from space.

Eight tusks dating to some 35,000 years ago all show signs of having being peppered with meteorite fragments.

CHUCKLE, SERIOUSLY

Action-film star Chuck Norris, right, has found common ground with Republican presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee.

Chuck Norris doesn't endorse candidates, he kicks them into the stratosphere

"Chuck Norris doesn't wear a watch, He decides what time it is."
"When the boogeyman goes to bed, he checks his closet for Chuck Norris."
"Chuck Norris' tears cure cancer. Too bad he's never cried. Ever."
"Chuck Norris does not sleep. He waits."
"There's no chin behind Chuck Norris' beard. This is only another fist."

JUSTICE CAN SEE

Judge in trial by media (and politicians) over 'soft' sentencing [PDF download]

News of Judge Sarah Bradley's "soft" sentences for nine Indigenous offenders who pleaded guilty to raping a 10-year-old girl has made its way around the world, from BBC News to Aljazeera.
Justice Bradley, a District Court Judge in the Cairns region, would know much of that problem. In February 2006, she presented a considered paper, "Applying restorative justice principles in the sentencing of indigenous offenders and children" at the Sentencing Principles, Perspectives and Possibilities Conference in Canberra.

Restorative Justice, she said, "involves an emphasis on reparation, rehabilitation and reconciliation rather than punishment, condemnation and retribution. It is about healing rather than hurting and usually involves some sort of community participation and involvement." In the speech, she talked of the need for judges to consult with Indigenous community representatives, noted that it was desirous for judges to get to know the community they were dealing with and underlined the problems of an underfunded justice system.

GOATSKIN SPACESUIT

Astronaut Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin took this Masonic flag to the moon on Apollo 11, landing July 20, 1969, and conducted a Masonic ritual.

Masonic ritual performed at historic moon landing

A number of the early astronauts were Masons, including Buzz Aldrin, who walked on the moon with Neil Armstrong.

Aldrin took the flag of the 33rd Degree Masonic Temple on 16th Street in Washington, DC, to the moon with him and carried out a brief Masonic ceremony on the moon and returned that flag from the moon’s surface to the 33rd Degree Masonic Scottish Rite Temple in Washington, DC, personally in September of 1969.

DEMOCRACY DYING

Democracy is: fighting with one hand tied behind our back

In September 1999 the Supreme Court, in an expanded panel of nine judges, unanimously repealed the former governmental guidelines regarding use of physical means during interrogations, which were previously criticized by this Committee. The Supreme Court stated that the ISA - the Israeli Security Agency (which is the English title for what was known as the General Security Service) has no authority under Israeli law to use physical force in its interrogations. As if to further heighten the dilemma, this ruling was given less than eighteen hours after two car bombs exploded in the heart of two northern cities - Haifa and Tiberias.

In the words of the court:
This is the destiny of democracy, as not all means are acceptable to it, and not all practices employed by its enemies are open before it. Although a democracy must often fight with one hand tied behind its back, it nonetheless has the upper hand. Preserving the Rule of Law and recognition of an individual's liberty constitutes an important component in its understanding of security. At the end of the day, they strengthen its spirit and its strength and allow it to overcome its difficulties.

FADED GENES

Spilled GM Canola Growing in Japan

Japan does not produce any GM crops. But because it imports GM canola from Canada, GM contamination has already occurred and is reportedly spreading to a wide area throughout the country and at a greater extent than was expected.

Surveys conducted since 2005 have found that GM canola has appeared around ports where canola is imported, and around factories where canola oil is extracted as well as along canola transportation routes. There were some cases where GM canola was found along residential areas. GM canola was also found growing in certain ports where animal feed factories are situated.

In this year's findings, GM canola found near to an oil extraction factory in Chiba prefecture was tolerant to both Roundup and Basta (the GM canola imported from Canada is all herbicide tolerant -- either to Monsanto's 'Roundup' or to Bayer CropScience's 'Basta'.) As there is no GM canola variety currently available which has transgenes for both types of herbicide tolerance, this GM canola must have been crossed at a seed or cultivation stage, or possibly at the spot where it was spilled.

These findings suggest that the danger of spillage of GMOs and subsequently the possibility of contamination through transfer of transgenes to non-GM crops are very real.

ORDINARY RENDITION

CIA 'wiped' interrogation tapes

The CIA has confirmed that it destroyed at least two video tapes showing the interrogation of terror suspects.

According to the intelligence agency, the tapes were destroyed to protect the identity of CIA agents and because they no longer had intelligence value.

But the New York Times says that they were wiped because they showed severe interrogation methods being used.

Officials feared the tapes could have raised doubts about the legality of the CIA's techniques, the newspaper says.

DOGS OF WAR

Boom times ahead for dogs of war

The British Association of Private Security Companies (BAPSC) was gathering for its annual conference in London - its second since the association was formed last year "to raise the standards of operation of its members and this emergent industry".

Even though huge sums of money are already being spent, many private contractors see it merely as a profitable foretaste of things to come.

BAPSC chief Andrew Bearpark said "the British military is more and more strapped. I think it is inevitable that in years to come, the private security companies will be asked to make up some of that shortfall."

One of the (unnamed) delegates at Tuesday's conference gave a good insight into why governments like to work with private security contractors:
"Private security companies are not subject to political considerations in the same way conventional armies are. Plus you don't have necessarily have to flag up money you spend on hiring mercenaries. It doesn't necessarily appear in the official defence budget.
"Most importantly, if a private security contractor is killed on active duty, you don't get any body bag pictures on the front pages. That means no bad publicity for the government."

MOON FOOD

Moonstruck flock to Arizona light collector

Financial adviser Jaron Ness stands in the cool desert air waiting for the clouds to clear and the moon to rise.

As the conditions come into alignment, he steps into the path of a cool blaze of blue-white light bounced off a wall of highly polished parabolic mirrors five stories high.
"It feels magnetic," he says, turning his hands slowly in the reflected glow of the light from the almost full moon.
The young professional from Colorado is among a growing number of curious people beating a path to this patch of scrub-strewn land out in the Arizona desert to bask in light from the world's first moonbeam collector.

Visitors enjoy the experience. Some say it is like swimming underwater, while others say it feels like standing in a warm breeze and leaves them feeling upbeat.
"When I got in the moonlight it was an instant and profound sense of euphoria ... it was very peaceful," said Eric Carr, a hypnotherapist from Tucson who has visited several times.
Aranka Toniatti, a cancer patient who has driven from Colorado twice to stand in the moonlight, said it is "a gorgeous feeling"."You feel almost like you are in heaven," she said.

CULTURE WARS

Santa sacked for saying ho ho ho

A 70-year-old man working as Santa Claus says he was sacked from a Cairns department store for saying "ho ho ho" and singing Christmas carols.In a case of political correctness seemingly gone mad, retired entertainer John Oakes says he was fired from his job at Myer for his rendition of Santa's famous laugh.

His employer, Westaff, last month sparked national outrage when it ordered its Santas to say "ha ha ha" instead of "ho ho ho" because it could be derogatory to women.

Urban Dictionary
Ho: A word Santa Clause says three times when he sees your wife, mother and sister together in the same room.

ILL WIND

Flatulence ban for club pensioner

A social club in Devon has banned a 77-year-old man from breaking wind while indoors.
Maurice Fox received a letter from Kirkham Street Sports and Social Club in Paignton asking him to consider his actions, which "disgusted" members.

Mr Fox, a club regular for 20 years, said: "I am happy to oblige them, there is no problem. I do get a bit windy - I am an old fart now.
"I think someone has complained about the noise. I am a loud farter, but there is no smell.
"I do not think it [the letter] is unreasonable, you get ladies in there."

BLEEDING OBVIOUS

It's not the economy, stupid

There is growing recognition that economic activity is a means to the end of human wellbeing rather than an end in itself. The economy should be the servant of society, rather than society the servant of the economy.
An opinion poll conducted since the election confirms those held before it which showed that more voters were concerned about health, education, workplace relations and climate change than about taxation, interest rates or prices.

MILITARY INTELLIGENCE

U.S. Officer Faces Court Martial For Suicide Attempt

In a nondescript conference room at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, 1st Lt. Elizabeth Whiteside listened last week as an Army prosecutor outlined the criminal case against her in a preliminary hearing.
The charges: attempting suicide and endangering the life of another soldier while serving in Iraq.Her hands trembled as Maj.
Stefan Wolfe, the prosecutor, argued that Whiteside, now a psychiatric outpatient at Walter Reed, should be court-martialed.
After seven years of exemplary service, the 25-year-old Army reservist faces the possibility of life in prison if she is tried and convicted.

Under military law, soldiers who attempt suicide can be prosecuted under the theory that it affects the order and discipline of a unit and brings discredit to the armed forces.

Blogged with Flock

DEATH OF DEMOCRACY

Harassment claims mar Russia poll

The United Russia party is portraying the poll as a referendum on Vladimir Putin's eight years in office.
And when he visited Krasnoyarsk early in the campaign, Mr Putin himself increased the stakes by saying a big majority would give him the "moral right" to continue to wield political influence even after he comes to the end of his term as president next spring.

All the 85 powerful regional governors now owe their loyalty to the Kremlin. Instead of being elected by the local population, they are directly appointed by Mr Putin.

Nikolai Petrov, an expert on Russian regional government at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Moscow, said "the goal for governors is to deliver as many votes as possible... it is an exam for them to prove their loyalty and efficiency".

"So I would say that fraud is inevitable and will be higher than ever." Mr Petrov said.