Official denies witnessing Habib torture
An Australian consular official has denied claims he was present while former Guantanamo Bay inmate Mamdouh Habib was allegedly being tortured in Pakistan.
Lawyers for the Federal Government have begun defending a compensation lawsuit brought by Mr Habib over his detention.He was first detained in Pakistan in October 2001 and was later moved to Guantanomo Bay in Cuba, where he was held without charge until his release in 2005.
Thursday, January 31, 2008
BLUE GENES
All blue-eyed humans have common ancestor
New research shows that people with blue eyes have a single, common ancestor. A team at the University of Copenhagen have tracked down a genetic mutation which took place 6-10,000 years ago and is the cause of the eye colour of all blue-eyed humans alive on the planet today.
New research shows that people with blue eyes have a single, common ancestor. A team at the University of Copenhagen have tracked down a genetic mutation which took place 6-10,000 years ago and is the cause of the eye colour of all blue-eyed humans alive on the planet today.
INHUMAN TREATMENT
Abbatoir workers filmed 'waterboarding' cows
The Humane Society says a California slaughterhouse has been using a range of torture, including 'waterboarding', to force unfit cattle into the slaughterhouse.
The Society has shown a video from its own undercover investigation that it says shows abuse by workers at the Hallmark Meat Packing Co of Chino, California. The video showed workers kicking cows, ramming them with forklift blades, applying electric shocks and even using a hose to simulate the feeling of drowning so the animals would revive long enough to pass federal inspection.
"The attempt was to make them so distressed and to cause them so much suffering that these animals would get up and walk into the slaughterhouse," Wayne Pacelle, president of the Humane Society of the United States, told reporters.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
SECRET HANDSHAKE
"George. Please get your finger out of my sleeve!"
Moments before beginning his address, US President George W. Bush shakes hands with Democratic Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi as Vice-President Dick Cheney looks on.
Bush's last State of the Union address - is anyone listening?
GEORGE W. Bush stood before Congress one last time to urge Americans to stand confident against recession fears and be patient with the grinding war in Iraq.
The US President delivered his final State of the Union address before a hostile, Democratic-led Congress eager for the end of his term next January.
With his approval rating near its all-time low, the president lacked the political muscle to push bold ideas, and he did not tryMOTORCYCLE ENTHUSIASTS
Hotline cracks down on gang 'cockroaches'
Gangs are "like cockroaches that would survive a nuclear explosion," said SA Police commissioner Mal Hyde.
Gangs are "like cockroaches that would survive a nuclear explosion," said SA Police commissioner Mal Hyde.
He revealed eight main motorcycle gangs - Hells Angels, Finks, Rebels, Gypsy Jokers, Mob Shitters, Red Devils, Descendents and Bandidos - were active in South Australia.
The gangs had held recent membership drives involving gimmicks such as drinks nights and T-shirts in regional areas including Port Pirie, Port Augusta and Whyalla.
Recruiting is also actively being done from street gangs. The three main street gangs, operating predominantly in the southern and northern suburbs and the CBD, are known as Rule The Streets, Middle Eastern Boys and Team Revolution.
Monday, January 28, 2008
NANO WORLD
New ultra-powerful microscope probes atomic world
A unique electron microscope, the first of its kind in the world, was unveiled yesterday at the STFC Daresbury Laboratory in Warrington.
The SuperSTEM 2, or Scanning Transmission Electron Microscope, can show an atom at 20 million times its size, meaning an atom would appear 5mm wide.
However, it is not just the scale of magnification that makes SuperSTEM 2 unique – it is also the sharpness of the image, its capability to provide elemental and chemical data about atoms and its stability. Built on sandstone bedrock, the incredibly stable geological conditions at the Daresbury Laboratory is one of the key reasons for its location – the system is so stable that any sample in the microscope would move no more than half a millimetre in 100 years.
A unique electron microscope, the first of its kind in the world, was unveiled yesterday at the STFC Daresbury Laboratory in Warrington.
The SuperSTEM 2, or Scanning Transmission Electron Microscope, can show an atom at 20 million times its size, meaning an atom would appear 5mm wide.
However, it is not just the scale of magnification that makes SuperSTEM 2 unique – it is also the sharpness of the image, its capability to provide elemental and chemical data about atoms and its stability. Built on sandstone bedrock, the incredibly stable geological conditions at the Daresbury Laboratory is one of the key reasons for its location – the system is so stable that any sample in the microscope would move no more than half a millimetre in 100 years.
The SuperSTEM 2, which scans a beam -- focussed to the size of an atom -- across a sample, has an inbuilt computer-controlled system to correct lens defects.
BIB BROTHER
China's mobile network: a big brother surveillance tool?
The head of China's biggest mobile phone company, which has more than 300 million subscribers, stunned delegates by revealing that the company had unlimited access to the personal data of its customers and handed it over to Chinese security officials when demanded.
The admission, described as "bone-chilling" by US Congressman Ed Markey, sent shivers through an audience of telecom experts at WEF who immediately saw the potential for misuse and surveillance.
"We know who you are, but also where you are," said the CEO of China Mobile Communications Corporation, Wang Jianzhou, whose company adds six million new customers to its network each month and is already the biggest mobile group in the world by users.
When pressed about the privacy and security implications of this, he added: "We can access the information and see where someone is, but we never give this information away ... only if the security authorities ask for it."
The head of China's biggest mobile phone company, which has more than 300 million subscribers, stunned delegates by revealing that the company had unlimited access to the personal data of its customers and handed it over to Chinese security officials when demanded.
The admission, described as "bone-chilling" by US Congressman Ed Markey, sent shivers through an audience of telecom experts at WEF who immediately saw the potential for misuse and surveillance.
"We know who you are, but also where you are," said the CEO of China Mobile Communications Corporation, Wang Jianzhou, whose company adds six million new customers to its network each month and is already the biggest mobile group in the world by users.
When pressed about the privacy and security implications of this, he added: "We can access the information and see where someone is, but we never give this information away ... only if the security authorities ask for it."
MARS BIGFOOT
The edge of Mars' Gusev Crater as photographed by the Spirit rover in early November 2007.
NASA images reveal mystery figure on Mars
Images have emerged showing a mystery figure walking down a hill on the arid planet.
The photo of what looks like a woman with her arm outstretched was among several taken on the red planet and sent back to Earth by NASA's Mars explorer Spirit. [More...]
Bigfoot on Mars
Some have dubbed the figure "Bigfoot". Others insiste it looks more like a woman.
As Museum of Hoaxes curator Alex Boese points out, when viewed in its proper context it becomes clear that the mysterious extraterrestrial figure, whatever it is, is very, very, very small.
Friday, January 25, 2008
ROGUE TRADER
Jerome Kerviel, a 31-year-old finance trader, was dismissed ofter fraud resulting in the loss of €5 billion.
$8b rogue trader 'not on the run'
The French bank Societe Generale has blamed trader, Jerome Kerviel, for the loss of 4.9 billion euros, in one of the world's biggest ever fraud cases.
Mr Kerviel worked in the investment bank division, moving from the middle office, which checked deals, to the front office or trading desk in 2005, a bank source added.
"He's made some extremely bad decisions. I suppose there's a degree of compulsion as well.
"He's believed that he's right, that eventually the position is going to turn around, and unfortunately, that hasn't happened."
Thursday, January 24, 2008
GENETIC METHUSELAH
Geneticists Discover a Way to Extend Lifespans to 800 Years
There is now a way to extend the lifespan of organisms so that humans could conceivably live to be 800 years old. In an amazing development, scientists at the University of Southern California have announced that they've extended the lifespan of yeast bacteria tenfold -- and the recipe they used to do it might easily translate into humans. It involves tinkering with two genes, and cutting down your calorie intake.
Tests have already started on people in Ecuador.
There is now a way to extend the lifespan of organisms so that humans could conceivably live to be 800 years old. In an amazing development, scientists at the University of Southern California have announced that they've extended the lifespan of yeast bacteria tenfold -- and the recipe they used to do it might easily translate into humans. It involves tinkering with two genes, and cutting down your calorie intake.
Tests have already started on people in Ecuador.
FURTHER FLAP
UFOs Spotted Over San Antonio
Some 200 people reported seeing UFO's over Stephenville, in Erath County southeast of Dallas on the evening of January 8th. But Walter Andrus Junior, the co-founder of the Mutual UFO Network, says the same night, unidentified objects were spotted in the skies over San Antonio, visible in the western sky and reported by observers at Interstate 10 and Wurzbach Road, on the northwest side. "They say a large, cigar shaped object in the western sky," Andrus said. "It had many lights on it, from front to back."
Some 200 people reported seeing UFO's over Stephenville, in Erath County southeast of Dallas on the evening of January 8th. But Walter Andrus Junior, the co-founder of the Mutual UFO Network, says the same night, unidentified objects were spotted in the skies over San Antonio, visible in the western sky and reported by observers at Interstate 10 and Wurzbach Road, on the northwest side. "They say a large, cigar shaped object in the western sky," Andrus said. "It had many lights on it, from front to back."
REINCARNATION
Upasana Kumar
Columbia shuttle crew member reincarnated?
A four year old girl living in Uttar Pradesh (northern India) claims to be the reincarnation of Columbia crew member Kalpana Chawla.
Upasana Kumar was born two months after the space shuttle crash in 2003. As soon as she was able to talk, she told her parents that her name was Kalpana Chawla and her father was a man named Banarsi Das Chawla.
She said that she previously lived in America, in a large house with lots of money.
She is afraid of aircraft, and she says that she died in the sky when her spacecraft was hit by a huge ball of ice.
 |
| Be patient Texas, the Phoenix Lights (above) remain unsolved. |
Texas UFO Investigators in Stephenville Seek Images, Video & Witnesses
UFO investigators have descended on the town of Stephenville, Texas and they are planning on taking a very close look at what at least 50 witnesses say they saw in the West Texas skies on the night of January 8.
It was just after dark when people began seeing strange lights in the sky. Some have described it as a craft, and others claim that military fighter jets were chasing whatever was moving through the sky.
The military claims they have no record of any activity that night, so they deny chasing down any craft, or even taking a look at any strange objects or lights in the sky.
As usual, government officials are trying to dismiss the witnesses saying that their eyes were playing tricks on them and a plane probably fooled all of them.
Sunday, January 20, 2008
WAR ON WHALES
Bush allows Navy sonar use despite fears for whales
In a Navy-vs.-whales case watched closely by environmentalists from California to the Puget Sound area, President Bush on Wednesday exempted the Navy from some environmental laws.
The fight is over permission to use sonar during Navy warfare training exercises off the coast of California. The military itself admitted that the sonar could permanently injure whales and dolphins.
In a memorandum issued while he was traveling in the Middle East, Bush said the training was "in the paramount interest of the United States" and "essential to national security," and he therefore issued the Navy a waiver excusing it from certain laws.
In a Navy-vs.-whales case watched closely by environmentalists from California to the Puget Sound area, President Bush on Wednesday exempted the Navy from some environmental laws.
The fight is over permission to use sonar during Navy warfare training exercises off the coast of California. The military itself admitted that the sonar could permanently injure whales and dolphins.
In a memorandum issued while he was traveling in the Middle East, Bush said the training was "in the paramount interest of the United States" and "essential to national security," and he therefore issued the Navy a waiver excusing it from certain laws.
PUT IT ON
Amsterdam's red-light district gets a fashion makeover
Amsterdam's world famous red-light district was transformed into a catwalk this weekend, with designers parading their creations in what were once brothels, as the city tries to clean out crime from the quarter.
People chattered to each other over top of the blaring music and speeches as models in extravagant outfits graced what up until recently was primarily home to the world's oldest profession.
Amsterdam has been famous for its red-light district - known in Dutch as the Wallen - for more than 100 years, although prostitution has only been legal in the Netherlands since 2000. However, armed with new laws enabling the closure of establishments suspected to be involved in criminal activity, the city last year bought 55 buildings - where brothels were housed - from a former prostitution baron.
Saturday, January 19, 2008
BIBLICAL DRIVEL
Fear and loathing at the Creation 'Museum'
The event we were covering was a quick shot across the Kentucky state line, the grand unveiling of a 60,000 square foot bellwether of our culture’s sheepish intellectually depravity: The Creation Museum.
The poured concrete brainchild of Ken Ham, world-renowned creationist douche and president of the Christian apologetics ministry “Answers in Genesis,” this “museum” aims to depict biblical narrative as historic reality.
The event we were covering was a quick shot across the Kentucky state line, the grand unveiling of a 60,000 square foot bellwether of our culture’s sheepish intellectually depravity: The Creation Museum.
The poured concrete brainchild of Ken Ham, world-renowned creationist douche and president of the Christian apologetics ministry “Answers in Genesis,” this “museum” aims to depict biblical narrative as historic reality.
Thursday, January 17, 2008
SPACED OUT
Dozens in Texas town report seeing UFO
[Nb. NEAR LOCKEED MARTIN AND CARSWELL AFB]
Several dozen people — including a pilot, county constable and business owners around Stephenville, Texas, insist they have seen a large silent object with bright lights flying low and fast. Some reported seeing fighter jets chasing it.
"People wonder what in the world it is because this is the Bible Belt, and everyone is afraid it's the end of times," said Steve Allen, a freight company owner and pilot who said the object he saw last week was a mile long and half a mile wide.
"It was positively, absolutely nothing from these parts."
Locals say it was larger, quieter, faster and lower to the ground than an airplane. They also said the object's lights changed configuration, unlike those of a plane. People in several towns who reported seeing it over several weeks have offered similar descriptions of the object.
[Nb. NEAR LOCKEED MARTIN AND CARSWELL AFB]
Several dozen people — including a pilot, county constable and business owners around Stephenville, Texas, insist they have seen a large silent object with bright lights flying low and fast. Some reported seeing fighter jets chasing it.
"People wonder what in the world it is because this is the Bible Belt, and everyone is afraid it's the end of times," said Steve Allen, a freight company owner and pilot who said the object he saw last week was a mile long and half a mile wide.
"It was positively, absolutely nothing from these parts."
Locals say it was larger, quieter, faster and lower to the ground than an airplane. They also said the object's lights changed configuration, unlike those of a plane. People in several towns who reported seeing it over several weeks have offered similar descriptions of the object.
Machinist Ricky Sorrells said friends made fun of him when he told them he saw a flat, metallic object hovering about 300 feet over a pasture behind his Dublin home. But he decided to come forward after reading similar accounts in the Stephenville Empire-Tribune.
"You hear about big bass or big buck in the area, but this is a different deal," Sorrells said. "It feels good to hear that other people saw something, because that means I'm not crazy."
Sorrells said he has seen the object several times. He said he watched it through his rifle's telescopic lens and described it as very large and without seams, nuts or bolts.
Shhhh!
Maj. Karl Lewis, a spokesman for the 301st Fighter Wing at the Joint Reserve Base Naval Air Station in Fort Worth said the object may have been an illusion caused by two commercial airplanes. Lights from the aircraft would seem unusually bright and may appear orange from the setting sun.
"I'm 90 percent sure this was an airliner," Lewis said. "With the sun's angle, it can play tricks on you."
SPACED OUT
Dozens in Texas town report seeing UFO
Several dozen people — including a pilot, county constable and business owners — insist they have seen a large silent object with bright lights flying low and fast. Some reported seeing fighter jets chasing it.
"People wonder what in the world it is because this is the Bible Belt, and everyone is afraid it's the end of times," said Steve Allen, a freight company owner and pilot who said the object he saw last week was a mile long and half a mile wide.
"It was positively, absolutely nothing from these parts."
Locals say it was larger, quieter, faster and lower to the ground than an airplane. They also said the object's lights changed configuration, unlike those of a plane. People in several towns who reported seeing it over several weeks have offered similar descriptions of the object.
Several dozen people — including a pilot, county constable and business owners — insist they have seen a large silent object with bright lights flying low and fast. Some reported seeing fighter jets chasing it.
"People wonder what in the world it is because this is the Bible Belt, and everyone is afraid it's the end of times," said Steve Allen, a freight company owner and pilot who said the object he saw last week was a mile long and half a mile wide.
"It was positively, absolutely nothing from these parts."
Locals say it was larger, quieter, faster and lower to the ground than an airplane. They also said the object's lights changed configuration, unlike those of a plane. People in several towns who reported seeing it over several weeks have offered similar descriptions of the object.
Machinist Ricky Sorrells said friends made fun of him when he told them he saw a flat, metallic object hovering about 300 feet over a pasture behind his Dublin home. But he decided to come forward after reading similar accounts in the Stephenville Empire-Tribune.
"You hear about big bass or big buck in the area, but this is a different deal," Sorrells said. "It feels good to hear that other people saw something, because that means I'm not crazy."
Sorrells said he has seen the object several times. He said he watched it through his rifle's telescopic lens and described it as very large and without seams, nuts or bolts.
Shhhh!
Maj. Karl Lewis, a spokesman for the 301st Fighter Wing at the Joint Reserve Base Naval Air Station in Fort Worth said the object may have been an illusion caused by two commercial airplanes. Lights from the aircraft would seem unusually bright and may appear orange from the setting sun.
"I'm 90 percent sure this was an airliner," Lewis said. "With the sun's angle, it can play tricks on you."
SPACED OUT
Dozens in Texas town report seeing UFO
Several dozen people — including a pilot, county constable and business owners — insist they have seen a large silent object with bright lights flying low and fast. Some reported seeing fighter jets chasing it.
"People wonder what in the world it is because this is the Bible Belt, and everyone is afraid it's the end of times," said Steve Allen, a freight company owner and pilot who said the object he saw last week was a mile long and half a mile wide.
"It was positively, absolutely nothing from these parts."
Locals say it was larger, quieter, faster and lower to the ground than an airplane. They also said the object's lights changed configuration, unlike those of a plane. People in several towns who reported seeing it over several weeks have offered similar descriptions of the object.
Several dozen people — including a pilot, county constable and business owners — insist they have seen a large silent object with bright lights flying low and fast. Some reported seeing fighter jets chasing it.
"People wonder what in the world it is because this is the Bible Belt, and everyone is afraid it's the end of times," said Steve Allen, a freight company owner and pilot who said the object he saw last week was a mile long and half a mile wide.
"It was positively, absolutely nothing from these parts."
Locals say it was larger, quieter, faster and lower to the ground than an airplane. They also said the object's lights changed configuration, unlike those of a plane. People in several towns who reported seeing it over several weeks have offered similar descriptions of the object.
Machinist Ricky Sorrells said friends made fun of him when he told them he saw a flat, metallic object hovering about 300 feet over a pasture behind his Dublin home. But he decided to come forward after reading similar accounts in the Stephenville Empire-Tribune.
"You hear about big bass or big buck in the area, but this is a different deal," Sorrells said. "It feels good to hear that other people saw something, because that means I'm not crazy."
SPACED OUT
Dozens in Texas town report seeing UFO
Several dozen people — including a pilot, county constable and business owners — insist they have seen a large silent object with bright lights flying low and fast. Some reported seeing fighter jets chasing it.
"People wonder what in the world it is because this is the Bible Belt, and everyone is afraid it's the end of times," said Steve Allen, a freight company owner and pilot who said the object he saw last week was a mile long and half a mile wide.
"It was positively, absolutely nothing from these parts."
Several dozen people — including a pilot, county constable and business owners — insist they have seen a large silent object with bright lights flying low and fast. Some reported seeing fighter jets chasing it.
"People wonder what in the world it is because this is the Bible Belt, and everyone is afraid it's the end of times," said Steve Allen, a freight company owner and pilot who said the object he saw last week was a mile long and half a mile wide.
"It was positively, absolutely nothing from these parts."
PUNCH DRUNK
Aggression as rewarding as sex, food and drugs
New research from Vanderbilt University shows for the first time that the brain processes aggression as a reward - much like sex, food and drugs - offering insights into our propensity to fight and our fascination with violent sports like boxing and football.
“It is well known that dopamine is produced in response to rewarding stimuli such as food, sex and drugs of abuse,” Maria Couppis, who conducted the study as her doctoral thesis at Vanderbilt, said. “What we have now found is that it also serves as positive reinforcement for aggression.”
New research from Vanderbilt University shows for the first time that the brain processes aggression as a reward - much like sex, food and drugs - offering insights into our propensity to fight and our fascination with violent sports like boxing and football.
“It is well known that dopamine is produced in response to rewarding stimuli such as food, sex and drugs of abuse,” Maria Couppis, who conducted the study as her doctoral thesis at Vanderbilt, said. “What we have now found is that it also serves as positive reinforcement for aggression.”
MAD CAT LADY
Toxoplasma Infection Increases Risk of Schizophrenia
Findings from what is believed to be the largest comparison of blood samples collected from healthy individuals and people with schizophrenia suggest that infection with the common Toxoplasma gondii parasite, carried by cats and farm animals, may increase the risk of schizophrenia.
Findings from what is believed to be the largest comparison of blood samples collected from healthy individuals and people with schizophrenia suggest that infection with the common Toxoplasma gondii parasite, carried by cats and farm animals, may increase the risk of schizophrenia.
CREDIT CRUNCH
JP Morgan plunges 34pc in subprime crisis
JP Morgan says its fourth-quarter profit plunged 34 per cent, largely because the country's third-biggest bank wrote off $1.5 billion in bad loans.
The largest bank in the US, Citigroup, announced an even worse result, with a $10 billion loss.
There are growing fears the US is heading for recession.
JP Morgan says its fourth-quarter profit plunged 34 per cent, largely because the country's third-biggest bank wrote off $1.5 billion in bad loans.
The largest bank in the US, Citigroup, announced an even worse result, with a $10 billion loss.
There are growing fears the US is heading for recession.
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
DOG SPIRIT
Taken at a wedding
Jo Martinez had a drug problem until he saw himself in a photo taken a a wedding (c.2000).
He had always thought he had a monkey on his shoulder ... now he knows it is Satan's dog.
Source
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
SUBURBAN RASH
A Subprime Wake Up Call
If there is a silver lining in the sharp contraction of housing markets, it is the halting of suburban sprawl -- a model for economic growth that is fundamentally flawed.
The true parameters for suburban sprawl are established by banks and what banks can finance. Municipalities are sinking billions of trust account dollars (ie our dollars) into leveraged financial products.
Those who benefit, make huge fees and commissions on speculative leverage. There are many intermediaries, each reaping a host of legal, engineering and lobbying fees.
The task: persuade distant investors, through ratings agencies and insurers, that a development will turn a profit, and keep secret real and substantial risks.
Risks like the one becoming a reality in the sub-prime market.
If there is a silver lining in the sharp contraction of housing markets, it is the halting of suburban sprawl -- a model for economic growth that is fundamentally flawed.
The true parameters for suburban sprawl are established by banks and what banks can finance. Municipalities are sinking billions of trust account dollars (ie our dollars) into leveraged financial products.
Those who benefit, make huge fees and commissions on speculative leverage. There are many intermediaries, each reaping a host of legal, engineering and lobbying fees.
The task: persuade distant investors, through ratings agencies and insurers, that a development will turn a profit, and keep secret real and substantial risks.
Risks like the one becoming a reality in the sub-prime market.
Monday, January 14, 2008
MARK OF THE BEAST
The Coming Credit-Card Crunch
THE SUBPRIME-MORTGAGE crisis has cost millions of homeowners their homes. Now it threatens to put the squeeze on even more consumers by spilling into the credit-card market.The bad news is pretty straightforward: With home equity dried up, consumers are piling up credit-card debt at a rapidly increasing pace.
THE SUBPRIME-MORTGAGE crisis has cost millions of homeowners their homes. Now it threatens to put the squeeze on even more consumers by spilling into the credit-card market.The bad news is pretty straightforward: With home equity dried up, consumers are piling up credit-card debt at a rapidly increasing pace.
CASHLESSNESS
Credit card defaults on the rise
Subprime mortgages have led to a wave of home foreclosures as thousands of homeowners have defaulted on their payments. Don't look now, but the same thing may be happening in the credit card market.
Capital One Financial Corp., the largest independent credit card issuer in the U.S. reports rapidly rising losses from consumers unable to pay their credit card bills.
Subprime mortgages have led to a wave of home foreclosures as thousands of homeowners have defaulted on their payments. Don't look now, but the same thing may be happening in the credit card market.
Capital One Financial Corp., the largest independent credit card issuer in the U.S. reports rapidly rising losses from consumers unable to pay their credit card bills.
VOICE OF REASON
Water-boarding 'would be torture'
US national intelligence chief Mike McConnell has said the interrogation technique of water-boarding "would be torture" if he were subjected to it.
Mr McConnell said it would also be torture if water-boarding, which involves simulated drowning, resulted in water entering a detainee's lungs.
He told the New Yorker there would be a "huge penalty" for anyone using it if it was ever determined to be torture.
The US attorney-general has declined to rule on whether the method is torture.
However, Michael Mukasey said during his Senate confirmation hearing that water-boarding was "repugnant to me" and that he would institute a review.
US national intelligence chief Mike McConnell has said the interrogation technique of water-boarding "would be torture" if he were subjected to it.
Mr McConnell said it would also be torture if water-boarding, which involves simulated drowning, resulted in water entering a detainee's lungs.
He told the New Yorker there would be a "huge penalty" for anyone using it if it was ever determined to be torture.
The US attorney-general has declined to rule on whether the method is torture.
However, Michael Mukasey said during his Senate confirmation hearing that water-boarding was "repugnant to me" and that he would institute a review.
ANTI GRAVITY
Breakthrough Propulsion Physics
The term breakthrough propulsion refers to concepts like space drives and faster-than-light travel, the kind of breakthroughs that would make interstellar travel practical.
Overview: It is expected that new concepts will continue to emerge in such an embryonic field and that further, more applicable references may already be in the open literature.
The term breakthrough propulsion refers to concepts like space drives and faster-than-light travel, the kind of breakthroughs that would make interstellar travel practical.
Overview: It is expected that new concepts will continue to emerge in such an embryonic field and that further, more applicable references may already be in the open literature.
Sunday, January 13, 2008
BLOOD LUST
Live animals torn to pieces by lions in front of baying crowds
The spectator sport China DOESN'T want you to see
The smiling children giggled as they patted the young goat on its head and tickled it behind the ears.Some of the more boisterous ones tried to clamber onto the animal's back but were soon shaken off with a quick wiggle of its bottom. It could have been a happy scene from a family zoo anywhere in the world but for what happened next.
Baying crowds now gather in zoos across the country to watch animals being torn to pieces by lions and tigers. Just an hour's drive from the main Olympic attractions in Beijing, Badaling is in many ways a typical Chinese zoo.
Next to the main slaughter arena is a restaurant where families can dine on braised dog while watching cows and goats being disembowelled by lions. The zoo also encourages visitors to "fish" for lions using live chickens as bait. For just £2, giggling visitors tie terrified chickens onto bamboo rods and dangle them in front of the lions
"It's almost a form of child abuse," says Carol McKenna of the OneVoice animal welfare group. "The cruelty of Chinese zoos is disgusting, but think of the impact on the children watching it. What kind of future is there for China if its children think this kind of cruelty is normal?Saturday, January 12, 2008
BUZZ LIGHTYEAR
Buzz not the first to walk on the Moon ... but not the second either?
BUZZ ALDRIN bravely wrote about his post-moonwalk nervous breakdown in a 1973 memoir, Return to Earth.
He is head of Starcraft Enterprise, a California firm that promotes his ideas for reinvigorating the space program -- some of them outlandish enough to have earned him the sobriquet "the Nutty Professor" in the halls of his ex-employers at NASA.
In 2005, while being interviewed for a documentary entitled "First on the Moon: The Untold Story," Aldrin told an interviewer that he and the crew of the Apollo 11 witnessed an unidentified flying object.
David Morrison, a NAI Senior Scientist, claimed Aldrin later tolld him the Apollo 11 crew ultimately concluded that they were probably seeing a detached panel from the spacecraft.
Where are other moon walkers now?
NEIL ARMSTRONG lives on a farm in Ohio and zealously guards his privacy, granting no interviews.
EDGAR MITCHELL said his experiences in space provoked a "blissful alteration of consciousness." Mitchell founded the Institute of Noetic Sciences in Sausalito, California, which pursues such topics as ESP and the mind.
JAMES IRWIN "felt the power of God as I'd never felt it before" while walking on the moon.
CHARLES DUKE said "I think it is absolutely amazing that 25 years later, we do not have a base up there with human beings exploring that weird place."
BUZZ ALDRIN bravely wrote about his post-moonwalk nervous breakdown in a 1973 memoir, Return to Earth.
He is head of Starcraft Enterprise, a California firm that promotes his ideas for reinvigorating the space program -- some of them outlandish enough to have earned him the sobriquet "the Nutty Professor" in the halls of his ex-employers at NASA.
In 2005, while being interviewed for a documentary entitled "First on the Moon: The Untold Story," Aldrin told an interviewer that he and the crew of the Apollo 11 witnessed an unidentified flying object.
David Morrison, a NAI Senior Scientist, claimed Aldrin later tolld him the Apollo 11 crew ultimately concluded that they were probably seeing a detached panel from the spacecraft.
Where are other moon walkers now?
NEIL ARMSTRONG lives on a farm in Ohio and zealously guards his privacy, granting no interviews.
EDGAR MITCHELL said his experiences in space provoked a "blissful alteration of consciousness." Mitchell founded the Institute of Noetic Sciences in Sausalito, California, which pursues such topics as ESP and the mind.
JAMES IRWIN "felt the power of God as I'd never felt it before" while walking on the moon.
CHARLES DUKE said "I think it is absolutely amazing that 25 years later, we do not have a base up there with human beings exploring that weird place."
Friday, January 11, 2008
X FILES EXIT
The truth is out: X-Files go public
The public opening of the MoD archive will expose the once highly classified work of the intelligence branch DI55, whose mission was to investigate UFO reports and whose existence was denied by the government until recently.
Reports into about 7000 UFO sightings investigated by defence officials - every single claim lodged over the past 30 years - are included in the files, whose staged release will begin in spring.
Among the first tranche of UK cases will be the official government files into the famous Rendlesham incident, dubbed 'Britain's Roswell'.
In 1980 several witnesses reported a UFO apparently landing in Rendlesham Forest, Suffolk. Statements claimed the craft was covered in markings similar to Egyptian hieroglyphics and aliens emerged from it.
The public opening of the MoD archive will expose the once highly classified work of the intelligence branch DI55, whose mission was to investigate UFO reports and whose existence was denied by the government until recently.
Reports into about 7000 UFO sightings investigated by defence officials - every single claim lodged over the past 30 years - are included in the files, whose staged release will begin in spring.
Among the first tranche of UK cases will be the official government files into the famous Rendlesham incident, dubbed 'Britain's Roswell'.
In 1980 several witnesses reported a UFO apparently landing in Rendlesham Forest, Suffolk. Statements claimed the craft was covered in markings similar to Egyptian hieroglyphics and aliens emerged from it.
Thursday, January 10, 2008
BUNCH OF TOSSERS
Masturbators to come together in Copenhagen
HOT on the heels of San Francisco and London, Copenhagen is to host a masturbate-a-thon in May which organisers hope will help break lingering taboos about self-love.
Pia Struck Madsen, a sexologist in the Danish capital, said her goal was to see men and women from all backgrounds join an event that promised "pleasure, relaxation and sexual self-discovery".
"Masturbation is positive, safe and an erotic alternative," she said ahead of the event on May 31, to take place at a yet to be decided venue with separate rooms for men, women and those who don't mind mingling.
HOT on the heels of San Francisco and London, Copenhagen is to host a masturbate-a-thon in May which organisers hope will help break lingering taboos about self-love.
Pia Struck Madsen, a sexologist in the Danish capital, said her goal was to see men and women from all backgrounds join an event that promised "pleasure, relaxation and sexual self-discovery".
"Masturbation is positive, safe and an erotic alternative," she said ahead of the event on May 31, to take place at a yet to be decided venue with separate rooms for men, women and those who don't mind mingling.
FADED GENES
Glowing pig passes on fluorescence to offspring
The sow was one of three pigs who had fluorescent green protein injected into their embryos when they were bred in December 2006 by scientists in north-east China, Xinhua news agency says.
The pigs glow green when placed under an ultraviolet light.Liu Zhonghua, a professor at North-East Agricultural University in the city of Harbin, says after the sow mated with an ordinary pig, two of the resulting 11 piglets inherited the feature.
The sow was one of three pigs who had fluorescent green protein injected into their embryos when they were bred in December 2006 by scientists in north-east China, Xinhua news agency says.
The pigs glow green when placed under an ultraviolet light.Liu Zhonghua, a professor at North-East Agricultural University in the city of Harbin, says after the sow mated with an ordinary pig, two of the resulting 11 piglets inherited the feature.
Wednesday, January 09, 2008
EYE IN THE SKY
Spinning phantom mak have link to drone reports
The ability of U.S. ground troops to safely navigate the gauntlet of the urban battlefield has been greatly enhanced through the development of the VeraTech Aero "Phantom Sentinel" line of Virtually Invisible VTOL UAV Surveillance platforms. The Phantom Series single blade rotorcraft has the ability to deliver close up, real time video intelligence within 75 feet of nearly any event and remain virtually undetectable to the human eye.
Based on the concept of persistence of vision, the Phantom's single rotor blade has a center of rotation outside of the UAVs' physical fuselage. As the aircraft spins, it disappears from vision. The Phantom has a uniquely minimal cross section allowing it to "slice" through even the most adverse weather conditions that would keep conventional UAV systems on the ground. The rotational inertia generated in flight allows the UAV to self level and maintain a very high degree of stability, even while hovering. Phantom is scalable from two to ten feet in length to accommodate a wide variety of flight times and payloads. The compact size and light weight make it easy to fold, field pack, and hand launch.
DRONING ON
Drone Caught on Video
The drones arrived in the summer of 2007 and since then the "drone factor" certainly has rocked the UFO world with many reported sightings and in some cases photographic evidence has been brought forward to prove the existence of these bizarre objects.
But when you sit down and examine each alleged photograph taken of the drone you can't help but feel that the entire scenario is a little too good to be true.
[You Tube video]
WAY COOL
UFO CONTACTEE MEETS DEAD PHILOSOPHER ON SPACESHIP
Lars Norrigan has claimed ET contact for over three decades and in his latest book, Pilgrimage, relates experiences aboard ET space craft, the fabled UFO’s, where he allegedly had many meetings with the philosopher G.I. Gurdjieff- who died in 1949!
"My book concerns my experiences and I ask no one for belief. The first chapter of my book, Pilgrimage, goes into great detail how I envision the material in the book to be taken, and that is in short, not as a “reality” to be accepted but rather as the honest description of personal experience- whether I am mad, deluded, or whatever, the experiences related in my book are, as far as I could make them, an accurate recollection of events. I am not, and have never, wrapped up my experiences in only one colour, one theory so to speak…I know what happened I was there…butI only know the “half of it”, as they say.
Actually the book, at its fundamental note, is about multiple realities - the realty that I entered into with Mr. Gurdjieff aboard the spaceship is only my perception of a slice of a much deeper, or more complicated reality- and since it revolves around me, this particular “reality” may only be a function of my own personal universe, manifested outwards into the shared collective, for you see there were many witnesses to much of the phenomenon- though I was always alone when meeting with Mr. Gurdjieff on the spaceships."
Lars Norrigan has claimed ET contact for over three decades and in his latest book, Pilgrimage, relates experiences aboard ET space craft, the fabled UFO’s, where he allegedly had many meetings with the philosopher G.I. Gurdjieff- who died in 1949!
"My book concerns my experiences and I ask no one for belief. The first chapter of my book, Pilgrimage, goes into great detail how I envision the material in the book to be taken, and that is in short, not as a “reality” to be accepted but rather as the honest description of personal experience- whether I am mad, deluded, or whatever, the experiences related in my book are, as far as I could make them, an accurate recollection of events. I am not, and have never, wrapped up my experiences in only one colour, one theory so to speak…I know what happened I was there…butI only know the “half of it”, as they say.
Actually the book, at its fundamental note, is about multiple realities - the realty that I entered into with Mr. Gurdjieff aboard the spaceship is only my perception of a slice of a much deeper, or more complicated reality- and since it revolves around me, this particular “reality” may only be a function of my own personal universe, manifested outwards into the shared collective, for you see there were many witnesses to much of the phenomenon- though I was always alone when meeting with Mr. Gurdjieff on the spaceships."
FOURTH WAY
UFO CONTACTEE MEETS DEAD PHILOSOPHER ON SPACESHIP
Lars Norrigan has claimed ET contact for over three decades and in his latest book, Pilgrimage, relates experiences aboard space UFOs, where he allegedly had many meetings with the philosopher G.I. Gurdjieff - who died in 1949.
Lars Norrigan has claimed ET contact for over three decades and in his latest book, Pilgrimage, relates experiences aboard space UFOs, where he allegedly had many meetings with the philosopher G.I. Gurdjieff - who died in 1949.
MISSION ACCOMPLISHED
US now in recession, top bank says
A top bank says the feared recession in the United States economy has arrived.
A report from Merrill Lynch, one of the world's leading financial management and advisory companies, says Friday's employment report confirmed that the US is in the first month of a recession.
The employment report sent shares tumbling worldwide.
A top bank says the feared recession in the United States economy has arrived.
A report from Merrill Lynch, one of the world's leading financial management and advisory companies, says Friday's employment report confirmed that the US is in the first month of a recession.
The employment report sent shares tumbling worldwide.
Sunday, January 06, 2008
BRAIN SCAN
Microsoft's Creepy Brain Scan Patent App
Microsoft's animated "Paperclip" helper will appear and say something like:
"It looks like you're having a nervous breakdown, and that's bad for production. Bob's pretty good at this kind of thing. I'll ask him to give you a hand."
The Paperclip is aware you're having trouble, according to the company's patent app, because it evaluates "one or more physiological or environmental sensors to detect at least one of heart rate, galvanic skin response, EMG, brain signals, respiration rate, body temperature, movement, facial movements, facial expressions, and blood pressure."
[MS hasn't specifically referred to their annoying Paperclip character in this patent.]
Microsoft's animated "Paperclip" helper will appear and say something like:
"It looks like you're having a nervous breakdown, and that's bad for production. Bob's pretty good at this kind of thing. I'll ask him to give you a hand."
The Paperclip is aware you're having trouble, according to the company's patent app, because it evaluates "one or more physiological or environmental sensors to detect at least one of heart rate, galvanic skin response, EMG, brain signals, respiration rate, body temperature, movement, facial movements, facial expressions, and blood pressure."
[MS hasn't specifically referred to their annoying Paperclip character in this patent.]
QUANTUM ELECTRODYNAMICS
Permanent Magnets and Photons
Question
Do permanent magnets "exchange" photons? What would the wavelength of such a continuous wave photon be? All forces are mediated by certain "carriers" of the force in question.
Photons carry the electromagnetic force, other particles carry the strong and weak atomic forces. Gravity may eventually be shown to be "carried" by a Graviton, and Dark Matter may have an inverse analog to the Graviton. What particle carries the force that is observed between to permanent magnets?
If photons are responsible for this force, wouldn't they have a very long (infinite) wavelength? For example light consists of photons of a particular wavelength depending upon the color of the light. As we descend into the radio frequencies, the wavelength gets longer and longer. What happens between two continuous permanent magnets, essentially a DC (direct current).
The force between two permanent magnets is caused by the electronic properties of the material, so photons must be involved with the magnetic attraction between the two masses? Maybe I am confusing electromagnetic with magnetic?
Question
Do permanent magnets "exchange" photons? What would the wavelength of such a continuous wave photon be? All forces are mediated by certain "carriers" of the force in question.
Photons carry the electromagnetic force, other particles carry the strong and weak atomic forces. Gravity may eventually be shown to be "carried" by a Graviton, and Dark Matter may have an inverse analog to the Graviton. What particle carries the force that is observed between to permanent magnets?
If photons are responsible for this force, wouldn't they have a very long (infinite) wavelength? For example light consists of photons of a particular wavelength depending upon the color of the light. As we descend into the radio frequencies, the wavelength gets longer and longer. What happens between two continuous permanent magnets, essentially a DC (direct current).
The force between two permanent magnets is caused by the electronic properties of the material, so photons must be involved with the magnetic attraction between the two masses? Maybe I am confusing electromagnetic with magnetic?
Some answers
"Permanent" magnets are made of materials with several electrons in the outer shells which are un-paired with other electrons.
Electrons carry "spin", either "up" or "down", which refers to their behaviour.
These unpaired spins exhibit a magnetic moment, its like a small current loop inside the material.
They must attract others in similar materials, I would think via photons.
Photon is the quantisation of an electromagnetic field. Is it affected by other photons ?? Not much, hardly at all.
Magnetic fields actually consist of a flux of virtual photons, as far as i know.
Photons can only interact with charged particles, so a photon can only interact with a magnetic field (really, more photons) via virtual charged particle loops.
That is, the photon must induce a virtual charged particle-antiparticle pair to come out of the vacuum, the pair interacts with the background field and then something comes out or the photons scatter or something. These sorts of interactions are possible, but are highly suppressed.
Wait ... but a magnetic field is composed of virtual photons, not of a ray of real ones.
Hence the virtual needs to become real to be able to form a virtual particle-antiparticle pair out of vacuum ?
UFO FOTO
Aerial disc hovering above two ships on December 29, 2007,
between Swanpool and Maenporth, Cornwall, England.
Hovering disc-shaped object photographed over Cornwall, UK
The Sun newspaper reports in its January 5, 2008, edition that Kelvin Barbery photographed this metallic disc on December 29, 2007, with a Nikon D80 Digital SLR on automatic.
The location is the coast between Swanpool and Maenporth, England.
Mr. Barbery told The Sun that he did not see the aerial object at the time, but when he loaded the digital camera card on to his computer, “the round metallic ‘craft’ was in the centre of the shot, about two miles away.
When I got home, I couldn't believe what I had. I thought, ‘Wow, where did that come from?’ I'm not the sort to believe in UFOs - but now I'm not so sure.”
Nick Pope, formerly with the U. K. Ministry of Defence and now a UFO investigator, told The Sun: “The object looks structured, symmetrical and metallic. This man has caught something very interesting indeed.”
Saturday, January 05, 2008
CROSS WORDS
'Perfect surge' of cliches mars 2007
A "surge" of overused words and phrases formed a "perfect storm" of "post-9/11" cliches in 2007, according to a US university's annual list of words and phrases that deserve to be banned.
Contributors gave first prize to the phrase "a perfect storm," saying it was numbingly applied to virtually any notable coincidence.
"Webinar" made the list as a tiresome non-word combining web and seminar that a contributor said "belongs in the same school of non-thought that brought us e-anything and i-anything."
Similarly, the list-makers complained about the absurd comparisons commonly phrased "x is the new y," as in "(age) 70 is the new 50" or "chocolate is the new sex."
"Fallacy is the new truth," commented one contributor.
A "surge" of overused words and phrases formed a "perfect storm" of "post-9/11" cliches in 2007, according to a US university's annual list of words and phrases that deserve to be banned.
Contributors gave first prize to the phrase "a perfect storm," saying it was numbingly applied to virtually any notable coincidence.
"Webinar" made the list as a tiresome non-word combining web and seminar that a contributor said "belongs in the same school of non-thought that brought us e-anything and i-anything."
Similarly, the list-makers complained about the absurd comparisons commonly phrased "x is the new y," as in "(age) 70 is the new 50" or "chocolate is the new sex."
"Fallacy is the new truth," commented one contributor.
Friday, January 04, 2008
DAVID V GOLIATH
David Hicks may be cleared, open to compensation
Several legal challenges to the validity of the Guantanamo Bay prison military commissions are already under way in the US.
Should they succeed, constitutional lawyer George Williams said David Hicks's guilty plea would be invalid. "That puts him in a very strong position," Professor Williams said.
Hicks may yet be cleared of his terror conviction, lawyers say, leaving the way open to sue for compensation for seven months in Yatala Labour Prison.
The Australian newspaper reports that government moves to block Hicks from profiting by selling his story could backfire by providing the trigger for him to appeal against his terrorism conviction in Australia.
Several legal challenges to the validity of the Guantanamo Bay prison military commissions are already under way in the US.
Should they succeed, constitutional lawyer George Williams said David Hicks's guilty plea would be invalid. "That puts him in a very strong position," Professor Williams said.
Hicks may yet be cleared of his terror conviction, lawyers say, leaving the way open to sue for compensation for seven months in Yatala Labour Prison.
The Australian newspaper reports that government moves to block Hicks from profiting by selling his story could backfire by providing the trigger for him to appeal against his terrorism conviction in Australia.
TAX REVOLT
Trends point to imminent major recessionary effects
The economic collapse will begin with the demise of the US dollar.
Deceptive inflation statistics already ignore food and fuel. Two of the largest household expenses which are going up faster than most weekly budget items.
A revolt will begin at the grass roots level over property taxes and school taxes, which are based on property taxes regardless of whether the homeowner has school-age children.
These taxes are predicted to continue rising yet the real value of houses will decrease with the collapse of the "sub-prime" mortgage market.
A sign of the collapse's imminence will be the demise of a large bank or corporation.
The economic collapse will begin with the demise of the US dollar.
Deceptive inflation statistics already ignore food and fuel. Two of the largest household expenses which are going up faster than most weekly budget items.
A revolt will begin at the grass roots level over property taxes and school taxes, which are based on property taxes regardless of whether the homeowner has school-age children.
These taxes are predicted to continue rising yet the real value of houses will decrease with the collapse of the "sub-prime" mortgage market.
A sign of the collapse's imminence will be the demise of a large bank or corporation.
Thursday, January 03, 2008
HIGH STRANGENESS
Experiencers documentary illustrates disturbing facets of our reality
Sceptical or not, it is well worth watching this documentary on the work of the controversial Harvard psychiatrist, John E. Mack, who treated hundreds of patients who claimed to have been abducted by extra terrestrials.
Investigative journalist Stephane Allix draws on interviews he conducted with Dr Mack who caused a stir when he said that the "experiencers" who gave independent accounts of abduction in the US and elsewhere were "of sound mind, sincere and extremely disturbed by their experiences".
Dr Mack found consistency in their descriptions of aliens and "a robust kind of truth" to them. Allix interviewed Dr Mack in the year before his death in late 2004.
He shows footage of Dr Mack's mid-1990s visit to a school near Harare, Zimbabwe, where 60 primary students told how two small figures emerged from two UFOs that hovered over the playground and "came out as if floating (or) hopping towards us".
Allix spoke to others about their experience.
Though one woman says she felt safe and "surrounded by love", another was angered when she realised that the "small grey beings" that had come for her since she was a child, were now about to take her two young sons too.
She had become aware of the abductions at 19 and decided that "no matter where I went they could find me and nobody could help me".
THOUGHT CRIME
UK geek faces 70 years in Guantanamo Bay
Gary McKinnon has been accused of committing the 'biggest military computer hack of all time', and if extradited to the US faces up to 70 years in jail. So how did this techno geek from north London end up cracking open the Pentagon and Nasa's systems?
McKinnon currently faces 20 charges in the US, including stealing computer files, obtaining secrets that might have been "useful to an enemy", intentionally causing damage to a protected computer, and interfering with maritime navigation equipment.
The prison sentence the US justice department is seeking - should Gary be successfully extradited - is up to 70 years. What Gary was hunting for, as he snooped around Nasa, and the Pentagon's network, was evidence of a UFO cover-up.
McKinnon downloaded a program that searched for computers that used the Windows operating system, scanned addresses and pinpointed administrator user names that had no passwords. Basically, what Gary was looking for - and found time and again - were network administrators within high levels of the US government and military establishments who hadn't bothered to give themselves passwords. That's how he got in.
For seven years he sat in his girlfriend's aunt's house, a joint in the ashtray and a can of Foster's next to the mouse pad, and he snooped.
Once you're on the network, you can list all the connections to that machine. There were hackers from Denmark, Italy, Germany, Turkey, Thailand, he said.
"I found a list of officers' names," he claims, "under the heading 'Non-Terrestrial Officers'.
"I found a list of 'fleet-to-fleet transfers', and a list of ship names. I looked them up. They weren't US navy ships. What I saw made me believe they have some kind of spaceship, off-planet."
At the Johnson Space Centre he spied on photographs of cigar-shaped objects that might have been UFOs but - he says - were probably satellites. "You end up lusting after more and more complex security measures," he says.
"It was like a game. I loved computer games. I still do. It was like a real game. It was addictive. Hugely addictive."
What McKinnon is not, his friends and supporters reckon, is someone who deserves extradition and 70 years in an American jail. They've set up a Free Gary McKinnon website (spy.org.uk/freegary).
Gary McKinnon has been accused of committing the 'biggest military computer hack of all time', and if extradited to the US faces up to 70 years in jail. So how did this techno geek from north London end up cracking open the Pentagon and Nasa's systems?
McKinnon currently faces 20 charges in the US, including stealing computer files, obtaining secrets that might have been "useful to an enemy", intentionally causing damage to a protected computer, and interfering with maritime navigation equipment.
The prison sentence the US justice department is seeking - should Gary be successfully extradited - is up to 70 years. What Gary was hunting for, as he snooped around Nasa, and the Pentagon's network, was evidence of a UFO cover-up.
McKinnon downloaded a program that searched for computers that used the Windows operating system, scanned addresses and pinpointed administrator user names that had no passwords. Basically, what Gary was looking for - and found time and again - were network administrators within high levels of the US government and military establishments who hadn't bothered to give themselves passwords. That's how he got in.
For seven years he sat in his girlfriend's aunt's house, a joint in the ashtray and a can of Foster's next to the mouse pad, and he snooped.
Once you're on the network, you can list all the connections to that machine. There were hackers from Denmark, Italy, Germany, Turkey, Thailand, he said.
"I found a list of officers' names," he claims, "under the heading 'Non-Terrestrial Officers'.
"I found a list of 'fleet-to-fleet transfers', and a list of ship names. I looked them up. They weren't US navy ships. What I saw made me believe they have some kind of spaceship, off-planet."
At the Johnson Space Centre he spied on photographs of cigar-shaped objects that might have been UFOs but - he says - were probably satellites. "You end up lusting after more and more complex security measures," he says.
"It was like a game. I loved computer games. I still do. It was like a real game. It was addictive. Hugely addictive."
What McKinnon is not, his friends and supporters reckon, is someone who deserves extradition and 70 years in an American jail. They've set up a Free Gary McKinnon website (spy.org.uk/freegary).
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