VOICE OF REASON

David Hicks 'no terrorism supporter', says businessman Dick Smith

"I was going to Adelaide so I rang David and said, `Can I come talk to you because you're looking for a job and I'm happy to help with that but I'd want to get some answers to some questions'," Australian businessman and entrepreneur Dick Smith said.

"I believe he is basically a decent Australian like his father, that we know well, and I don't believe he's ever been a supporter of terrorism.

"I asked him why he was in Afghanistan and it was quite different to what we've heard about ... (it was) all about trying to help independence movements.

Mr Smith said he had changed his view on Mr Hicks earning money from his ordeal.

"I've changed my view completely now because he's said he's never supported terrorism and most journalists I talk to and all lawyers say that the particular plea bargain is just terrible because he would have agreed to anything to get out of there (Guantanamo)."

Mr Hicks is reportedly fielding offers from about 30 media organisations worldwide to tell the story of his capture in Afghanistan and his more than five years in Guantanamo Bay.

ROSWELL ALIENS

Roswell coverup exposed (again) by deathbed confession

Lieutenant Walter Haut was the public relations officer at the Roswell Airbase in 1947.
Now, following his detah, a sworn affidavit was released which asserts that the weather balloon claim was a cover story and that the real object had been recovered by the military and stored in a hangar.
He described seeing not just a metallic egg-shaped object (around 4m long and 2m wide) but alien bodies. They are described in his statement as about 1.2m tall, with disproportionately large heads.
Haut concludes: "I am convinced that what I personally observed was some kind of craft and its crew from outer space".


Haut's affidavit talks about a high-level meeting he attended with base commander Col William Blanchard and the Commander of the Eighth Army Air Force, General Roger Ramey.  Haut states that at this meeting, pieces of wreckage were handed around for participants to touch, with nobody able to identify the material.

Haut also spoke about a clean-up operation, where for months afterwards military personnel scoured both crash sites searching for all remaining pieces of debris, removing them and erasing all signs that anything unusual had occurred.

A US Air Force report concluded claims that bodies were recovered were generated by people having seen crash test dummies that were dropped from the balloons.

WEIRD SCIENCE

Could Our Universe Be A Virtual Reality

A professor in Auckland, New Zealand, published a paper in December that seriously raises the question: could we be in a virtual reality world and universe where the “computer” behind-the-scenes has a processing speed of 186,282.397 miles per second - the maximum speed of light? The professor is Brian Whitworth, Ph.D., in Information Systems and now Senior Lecturer at the Institute for Information and Mathematical Sciences at Massey University in Auckland.

"People assume that objective reality is a proven theory, but it is not. It’s an axiom just as unproven as virtual reality theory.
"So from a scientific perspective, neither objective reality nor virtual reality is proven. And what is happening is that modern physics with things like time dilation and space contraction, teleportation, multi-existence and so on, seem actually more supportive of a virtual reality universe than an objective reality one."

In his paper, Brian Whitworth, Ph.D. Information Systems (Massey University, Auckland NZ), quotes from a 2005 book entitled, The World’s 20 Greatest Unsolved Problems edited by John Vacca:
“Quantum physicists who work with quantum theory every day don’t really know quite what to make of it. They fill blackboards with quantum calculations and acknowledge that it is probably the most powerful, accurate and predictive scientific theory ever developed, but the very suggestion that it might be literally true as a description of Nature is still greeted with cynicism, incomprehension and even anger.”

CLOAK AND DAGGER

ASIO officer denies Habib beating claims

Today an ASIO officer, using the pseudonym Paul Stokes, told the court he interviewed Mr Habib in Islamabad three times, twice in the company of a federal police officer and two US officials.He says Mr Habib required help to walk at one of the meetings, but says he did not believe then, and does not believe now, that he was beaten by Pakistani officials.

VOICE OF REASON

Rudd shuts down Keelty on media gags

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd says the Federal Government does not support Australian Federal Police (AFP) Commissioner Mick Keelty's call for a media blackout in terrorism cases.
Earlier this week Mr Keelty said he believed the media should be prevented from reporting on terrorism cases until all judicial avenues have been exhausted.
But Mr Rudd has told Fairfax radio that while he has full confidence in the Commissioner, the Government will not be acting on the call.

TORTUROUS PROCESS

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.

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.

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.

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 try

MOTORCYCLE ENTHUSIASTS

Hotline cracks down on gang 'cockroaches'

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.

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.

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."

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.

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.

Former British rogue trader Nick Leeson has spoken about the Societe Generale scandal. Mr Leeson lost almost $2 billion in trades for Barings Bank in 1995.

"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."

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.

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."

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.

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. 

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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."

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.”

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

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."

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.

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.

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.

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.

[New Scientist report: Invisible drones]

VIRAL MESSAGES

UFO Drone Video - video powered by Metacafe

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."

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.

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.

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.]

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?

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.”

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.

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.

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.

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".

DIVERSIONARY TACTICS

Make balls from paper plates and cups...

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).

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.

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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.