Bore warnings extended
No rain and now we find the ground water has been rendered unfit to drink or grow food thanks to pollution, namely carcinogenic de-greasing solvent trichloroethylene.
The SA Health Department has extended a bore water warning in the western suburbs, taking the number of homes affected to nearly 2000.
Bore water in Beverley was found to be contaminated with the cancer-causing chemical trichloroethylene, or TCE, in January. Residents are being warned not to drink or use their bore water for watering gardens or filling pools.
Bore water tainted with industrial chemical
Poisonous bore water has been found under two Adelaide suburbs. Authorities say the underground water at Beverley and Woodville South is tainted with an industrial chemical and warn there may be a cancer risk from any long-term exposure.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Monday, March 17, 2008
GRAVE CONCERNS
SA should foster nuclear industry, says geologist Ian Plimer
"I think it is an absolute no-brainer that we should look at a cradle to grave uranium industry," Professor of Mining Geology at Adelaide University, Ian Plimer, said at a uranium conference in Adelaide.
"We take the fuel rods back, we clean them up and we dispose of the waste. That would make South Australia the Saudi Arabia of the energy world.
[Doesn't that imply that the Saudis sequester all the carbon emitted by their burned oil?]
"I think it is an absolute no-brainer that we should look at a cradle to grave uranium industry," Professor of Mining Geology at Adelaide University, Ian Plimer, said at a uranium conference in Adelaide.
"We take the fuel rods back, we clean them up and we dispose of the waste. That would make South Australia the Saudi Arabia of the energy world.
[Doesn't that imply that the Saudis sequester all the carbon emitted by their burned oil?]
CHINA SYNDROME
China denies using lethal force during Tibetan unrest
China says Tibetan rioters killed 13 "innocent civilians" during violent protests against Chinese rule in Lhasa, and it has denied using lethal force to quell the unrest.
"They either burned or hacked to death 13 innocent civilians," the chairman of Tibet's Government, Qiangba Puncog, told reporters.
Tibet's government-in-exile said on the weekend that 80 Tibetans had been confirmed killed, and that possibly more than 100 had died.
Mr Qiangba insisted Chinese security forces had not used lethal force or fired any gunshots, contradicting the eyewitness accounts of foreign tourists who were in the city at the time.Sunday, March 16, 2008
CHINA SYNDROME
 Chinese troops were out in force in Lhasa on Sunday |
'Eighty killed' in Tibetan unrest
At least 80 people have been killed in unrest following protests by Tibetans against Chinese rule, the Tibetan government in exile says.
Indian-based officials said the figure was confirmed by several sources, even though China put the death toll at 10.
The Dalai Lama condemned China's "rule of terror" in Tibet and accused it of "cultural genocide".
BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | 'Eighty killed' in Tibetan unrest
| Chinese troops were out in force in Lhasa on Sunday |
'Eighty killed' in Tibetan unrest
Indian-based officials said the figure was confirmed by several sources, even though China put the death toll at 10.
The Dalai Lama condemned China's "rule of terror" in Tibet and accused it of "cultural genocide".
THE QUICKENING
Thaw of world's glaciers reaches record high: UN
A thaw of the world's glaciers has accelerated to a new record, with some of the biggest losses within Europe in a worrying sign of climate change, the UN Environment Program (UNEP) said.
"Meltdown in the mountains," UNEP said in a statement, saying that a retreat of glaciers from the Andes to the Arctic should add urgency to UN negotiations on working out a new treaty by the end of 2009 to combat global warming.
Saturday, March 15, 2008
SEEDS OF DOUBT
Experts send letter to PM over GM canola fears
It is now legal to plant genetically modified (GM) canola in much of Australia, but a large group of concerned scientists, nutritionists and doctors is trying to convince the Federal Government to stop the seeds from ever being sown.
About 700 people have signed a letter to the Prime Minister, reminding him of Labor's election statement that safe and beneficial standards for GM products must be established beyond reasonable doubt.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
FALLON HERO
Admiral William "Fox" Fallon: intelligent military.
Demise of a man who spoke his mind
Why would America's most senior military commander in the most volatile part of the world suddenly resign - well before his tour was over?
- In an Esquire article, titled The Man Between War and Peace, Admiral William "Fox" Fallon hardly comes across as a cheerleader of the Bush administration's policies in the region.
- In comments to Al-Jazeera (not the White House's favourite television station) last autumn, he said: "This constant drumbeat of conflict... is not helpful and not useful."
- Last September, the Washington Post reported sources saying that Adm Fallon believed the surge in Iraq "was not working".
- This February, the New York Times reported that Adm Fallon had spoken in favour of a "resumption" of US troop withdrawals in Iraq
President George W Bush is a man who values loyalty above all else.
Admiral William "Fox" Fallon is a military man, apt to speak his mind.
Profile: William Fallon
As head of the US Central Command (CentCom), Adm Fallon oversaw US strategy in the Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia. The 63-year-old admiral, known as Fox - his call sign when he was a Navy fighter pilot - is highly regarded as an astute commander.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
COPYRIGHT WRONG
DRM Foils iTunes Movie Rentals for Some Apple TV Owners
When I sat down to watch it, however, the Apple TV wouldn't let me, due to the way I have the device set up. You see, I don't own an HDTV, which is required for the Apple TV.
When I attempted to watch the movie, however, the Apple TV displayed an error message: "This content requires HDCP for playback."
HDCP (High Bandwidth Digital Content Protection) is a form of digital rights management (DRM) that prevents you from playing video over DVI and HDMI connections (in my case) if you don't own compatible hardware that can decode the signal properly.
(In other words, HDCP is more DRM crap that does nothing but irritate legitimate customers.)
Although I had downloaded the movie legally, my monitor apparently was too old to include HDCP and thus wouldn't display my movie.
When I sat down to watch it, however, the Apple TV wouldn't let me, due to the way I have the device set up. You see, I don't own an HDTV, which is required for the Apple TV.
When I attempted to watch the movie, however, the Apple TV displayed an error message: "This content requires HDCP for playback."
HDCP (High Bandwidth Digital Content Protection) is a form of digital rights management (DRM) that prevents you from playing video over DVI and HDMI connections (in my case) if you don't own compatible hardware that can decode the signal properly.
(In other words, HDCP is more DRM crap that does nothing but irritate legitimate customers.)
Although I had downloaded the movie legally, my monitor apparently was too old to include HDCP and thus wouldn't display my movie.
BEST FRIEND
72-carat diamond set for auction
A pear-shaped 72.22-carat diamond is expected to bring up to $US13 million at auction.
CRIKEY!
Stop me if any of this sounds familiar
A small group of bearded young men commit an outrageous multiple murder. The youths belong to an immigrant community that perceives itself under siege from the police; they practice a minority religion regarded with suspicion by much of the population. In self-justification, they talk about the persecution inflicted on their co-religionists overseas; eventually, they commit themselves to the creation of a homeland here in Australia.
In the midst of a full-blown panic, the Victorian parliament passes draconian laws drastically curtailing civil liberties, and the police launch indiscriminate raids on ethnic minorities. The bearded men make a suicidal final stand; most of them are killed, without a chance to surrender, by a special police squad, and the leader is taken into custody and executed after a dubious trial.
Ned Kelly has been a Rorschach test for so many generations that, with the news that his bones may (or may not) have been located at Pentridge, it seems appropriate to remix his story for the Age of Terror.
Kelly, of course, identified as Irish and Catholic rather than, say, Arab and Muslim but the relationship of those identities to the mainstream was not so dissimilar. Rather than an inner city posse, Ned belonged to the "Greta Mob", a gang of flash youths who stole horses rather than cars and signalled their identity by wearing their hat straps under their noses in a nineteenth century equivalent of the reversed baseball cap.
His outlawry might have been sparked by clashes between police and his family but he also saw himself as fighting for something much bigger. Ian Jones, the pre-eminent Kelly historian, claims that the gang planned, after the Glenrowan confrontation, to declare a Republic of North-Eastern Victoria. Not quite the Caliphate but not so very different, either.
"It will pay the government," Kelly explained in his Jerilderie Letter, "to give those people who are suffering innocence justice and liberty if not I will be compelled to show some colonial stratagem which will open the eyes of not only the Victorian Police and inhabitants but also the whole British army."
It’s the kind of message that these days features on Al Jazeera.
The government response sounds equally familiar. New laws allowed the Kellys to be shot on sight, and gave the police the power raid houses without warrants and prosecute anyone withholding information. In January 1879, some twenty men went to jail for "having given information to an outlaw and his accomplices, contrary to the fifth section of the Outlawry Act" and for "withholding information relative to the Kelly gang".
As for Kelly’s trial, it might not have been a military commission but nor was it full and fair: Kelly’s barrister lacked experience; key witnesses were never presented; Redmond Barry was clearly biased.
Of course, historical parallels are never identical. Kelly was neither Osama bin Laden nor Che Guevara nor Chopper Read; his story needs, ultimately, to be understood on its own terms. But the comparison still bears thinking about.
In the wake of 9/11, we were told the world had changed for ever, that this was a situation with no antecedents, and thus we couldn’t even debate the extraordinary measures put in place.
It rather changes matters to consider an Australian icon as a terrorist of the 1870s.
Jeff Sparrow is the editor of Overland.
A small group of bearded young men commit an outrageous multiple murder. The youths belong to an immigrant community that perceives itself under siege from the police; they practice a minority religion regarded with suspicion by much of the population. In self-justification, they talk about the persecution inflicted on their co-religionists overseas; eventually, they commit themselves to the creation of a homeland here in Australia.
In the midst of a full-blown panic, the Victorian parliament passes draconian laws drastically curtailing civil liberties, and the police launch indiscriminate raids on ethnic minorities. The bearded men make a suicidal final stand; most of them are killed, without a chance to surrender, by a special police squad, and the leader is taken into custody and executed after a dubious trial.
Ned Kelly has been a Rorschach test for so many generations that, with the news that his bones may (or may not) have been located at Pentridge, it seems appropriate to remix his story for the Age of Terror.
Kelly, of course, identified as Irish and Catholic rather than, say, Arab and Muslim but the relationship of those identities to the mainstream was not so dissimilar. Rather than an inner city posse, Ned belonged to the "Greta Mob", a gang of flash youths who stole horses rather than cars and signalled their identity by wearing their hat straps under their noses in a nineteenth century equivalent of the reversed baseball cap.
His outlawry might have been sparked by clashes between police and his family but he also saw himself as fighting for something much bigger. Ian Jones, the pre-eminent Kelly historian, claims that the gang planned, after the Glenrowan confrontation, to declare a Republic of North-Eastern Victoria. Not quite the Caliphate but not so very different, either.
"It will pay the government," Kelly explained in his Jerilderie Letter, "to give those people who are suffering innocence justice and liberty if not I will be compelled to show some colonial stratagem which will open the eyes of not only the Victorian Police and inhabitants but also the whole British army."
It’s the kind of message that these days features on Al Jazeera.
The government response sounds equally familiar. New laws allowed the Kellys to be shot on sight, and gave the police the power raid houses without warrants and prosecute anyone withholding information. In January 1879, some twenty men went to jail for "having given information to an outlaw and his accomplices, contrary to the fifth section of the Outlawry Act" and for "withholding information relative to the Kelly gang".
As for Kelly’s trial, it might not have been a military commission but nor was it full and fair: Kelly’s barrister lacked experience; key witnesses were never presented; Redmond Barry was clearly biased.
Of course, historical parallels are never identical. Kelly was neither Osama bin Laden nor Che Guevara nor Chopper Read; his story needs, ultimately, to be understood on its own terms. But the comparison still bears thinking about.
In the wake of 9/11, we were told the world had changed for ever, that this was a situation with no antecedents, and thus we couldn’t even debate the extraordinary measures put in place.
It rather changes matters to consider an Australian icon as a terrorist of the 1870s.
Jeff Sparrow is the editor of Overland.
Monday, March 10, 2008
PRISON PLANET
Crime pays for US prison firms
GEO Group
Privatized correctional and detention management, home detention, residential treatment and mental health facilities.
The GEO Group Australia manages four correctional facilities - at Fulham in Victoria, Junee in New South Wales and Wacol in Queensland. The company also manages a custody centre in Melbourne and is the primary healthcare provider to nine public prisons in Victoria through Pacific Shores Healthcare.
Corrections Corp of America:
Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) designs, builds and manages prisons, jails and detention facilities and provides inmate residential and prisoner transportation services in partnership with government.
20-year history of a corporation that, contrary to its celebratory public relations campaign, has been fraught with malfeasance, mismanagement, and abuse.
The report's findings include CCA's:
Corrections Corporation Of America: A Critical Look At Its First Twenty Years
Financiers, real estate agents and car salesmen might be suffering from America's economic malaise, but bulging jails have triggered a profit boom for corrections companies.
The United States leads the world in the number of people it incarcerates and government figures show the country's prison population grew by 3 per cent to a record 2.3 million inmates in 2006.
Harsher sentencing policies have put more criminals behind bars and prison management firms such as the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) and The GEO Group are racing to build new jails or expand existing facilities to house more convicted felons.
GEO Group
Privatized correctional and detention management, home detention, residential treatment and mental health facilities.
The GEO Group Australia manages four correctional facilities - at Fulham in Victoria, Junee in New South Wales and Wacol in Queensland. The company also manages a custody centre in Melbourne and is the primary healthcare provider to nine public prisons in Victoria through Pacific Shores Healthcare.
Corrections Corp of America:
Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) designs, builds and manages prisons, jails and detention facilities and provides inmate residential and prisoner transportation services in partnership with government.
20-year history of a corporation that, contrary to its celebratory public relations campaign, has been fraught with malfeasance, mismanagement, and abuse.
The report's findings include CCA's:
- failure to provide adequate medical care to prisoners;
- failure to control violence in its prisons;
- substandard conditions that have resulted in prisoner protests and uprisings;
- criminal activity on the part of some CCA employees, including the sale of illegal drugs to prisoners; and
- escapes, which in the case of at least two facilities include inadvertent releases of prisoners who were supposed to remain in custody.
Other areas of CCA's legacy covered in the report include the firm's:
- financial instability;
- self-defeating labor practices;
- attempts to influence public policy;
- use of campaign contributions and soft money; and
- use of questionable research by biased academics.
Corrections Corporation Of America: A Critical Look At Its First Twenty Years
FAIR COP
Aggressive policing turns Muslims to terrorism: study
A study from the Global Terrorism Research Centre at Monash University suggests that Australia's approach to stopping terrorism might actually be encouraging it.
Waleed Aly from the centre says the aggressive police approach is alienating young Muslim men, who may be more likely to turn to radical groups as a result.
He says a community-based approach may be more effective than a hardline approach.
"The problem is that as we repeat that [hardline] approach, what we actually end up doing is exacerbating the problem," he told tonight's Four Corners program.
Sunday, March 09, 2008
TRUTH BE TOLD
Intelligent extraterrestrial life: The other inconvenient truth?
The existence of off-the-planet intelligence could change what most people believe about almost everything.
Why Cato Institute dumped me
Dom Armentano, professor emeritus in economics at the University of Hartford, was also - until just one day after the publication of his report - an adjunct scholar at the Cato Institute in Washington. He has followed the UFO controversy for more than 40 years.
"On Jan. 10, just one day after my article on UFO secrecy appeared “Intelligent Extraterrestrial life: The Other Inconvenient truth?” on January 9, I was unceremoniously dropped as a Cato Institute adjunct scholar, a position I’d held for more than 20 years.
"I really didn’t believe that calling for more disclosure was all that controversial. After all, John Podesta, former chief of staff under Bill Clinton, has called for more government disclosure on the UFO subject.
Former astronaut Ed Mitchell has repeatedly called for more disclosure, as has Gov. Bill Richardson, D-N.M. Former Canadian Minister of Defense Paul Hellyer has stated that our government knows that UFOs are interplanetary machines and that the secrecy should end. Given these bold assertions by “insiders,” I thought that I was in safe company; apparently I was wrong.
"Actually the most classic call for disclosure came 48 years ago from former CIA Director Vice Admiral Roscoe H. Hillenkotter. As reported in The New York Times of Feb. 28, 1960, Hillenkotter (in a letter to Congress) argued that “it is time that the truth (about UFOs) be brought out in open Congressional Hearings.”
He went on to say that “through official SECRECY and ridicule, many citizens are led to believe the unknown flying objects are nonsense ...” and, further, that the Air Force “has silenced its personnel” in order “to hide the facts".
"If a former CIA director could say that, why couldn’t I?
The existence of off-the-planet intelligence could change what most people believe about almost everything.
Yet in some ways an even more significant story, perhaps even more significant than the discovery of extraterrestrial life itself, would be the revelation that certain elements of the U.S. government may have known about - and covered up - that discovery (even from elected officials without a "need to know") for more than 50 years.
Now, that story, a deliberate half-century of deception to cover an inconvenient truth, likely would shake this nation to its very political foundations. That outrageous disclosure could change almost everything, too.
Yet outrageous as it may seem, many who have studied the UFO phenomenon now conclude that starting with Roswell in July 1947, elements of the U.S. government may have systematically lied to the American people (and to elected officials) concerning the actual nature of the UFO phenomenon.
The evidence for that deception is substantial and is to be found in thoroughly documented books, dozens of declassified “top secret” documents, and many sworn testimonials from key military-intelligence community insiders. They may have lied to study and exploit the technology for commercial or military purposes.
Decades of reports from competent observers, many confirmed by radar, establish that some UFOs can fly soundlessly, stop on a dime, accelerate at breathtaking speeds and outdistance jets or missiles sent to intercept them. Moreover, there are disturbing reports of UFOs that may have interfered with the electronics of automobiles, airplanes, power stations, and even with the launch readiness of intercontinental ballistic missiles.Why Cato Institute dumped me
Dom Armentano, professor emeritus in economics at the University of Hartford, was also - until just one day after the publication of his report - an adjunct scholar at the Cato Institute in Washington. He has followed the UFO controversy for more than 40 years.
"On Jan. 10, just one day after my article on UFO secrecy appeared “Intelligent Extraterrestrial life: The Other Inconvenient truth?” on January 9, I was unceremoniously dropped as a Cato Institute adjunct scholar, a position I’d held for more than 20 years.
"I really didn’t believe that calling for more disclosure was all that controversial. After all, John Podesta, former chief of staff under Bill Clinton, has called for more government disclosure on the UFO subject.
Former astronaut Ed Mitchell has repeatedly called for more disclosure, as has Gov. Bill Richardson, D-N.M. Former Canadian Minister of Defense Paul Hellyer has stated that our government knows that UFOs are interplanetary machines and that the secrecy should end. Given these bold assertions by “insiders,” I thought that I was in safe company; apparently I was wrong.
"Actually the most classic call for disclosure came 48 years ago from former CIA Director Vice Admiral Roscoe H. Hillenkotter. As reported in The New York Times of Feb. 28, 1960, Hillenkotter (in a letter to Congress) argued that “it is time that the truth (about UFOs) be brought out in open Congressional Hearings.”
He went on to say that “through official SECRECY and ridicule, many citizens are led to believe the unknown flying objects are nonsense ...” and, further, that the Air Force “has silenced its personnel” in order “to hide the facts".
"If a former CIA director could say that, why couldn’t I?
MIXED MESSAGES
Russia harks back to Cold War
Taking part in exercises off South Korea, the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz was approached by a Russian military plane which got close enough for US fighter jets to respond by escorting the plane away from the area.
Last month, a Russian bomber flew very low over the Nimitz and other US warships when they were in international waters near Japan.
According to Russian military analyst Pavel Felgenhauer, what Moscow is doing is sending a message.
"The message that we're back again, that we're still a kind of something, a chip off the Soviet Union, we have the capabilities, we have those heavy bombers that can carry nuclear weapons, which other nations do not have, and that we should be taken seriously," he told
Tanked crew crashes into house
A Russian tank crashed through a villager's house after the crew stopped to buy more vodka at a nearby shop.
Video from a mobile phone camera showed the tank hitting a corner of the house and a laughing, and apparently drunk, driver awkwardly trying to clamber aboard with two bottles of vodka.
CLIMATE CHANGE
Adelaide bakes in 75-year heatwave
It has been 75 years since Adelaide has seen such an extraordinary heat wave in Autumn and the weather bureau says there is no relief in sight.
Adelaide is bracing itself for another week of searing heat in the mid to high thirties Celsius.
If Tuesday's temperature reaches one degree more than the expected top of 34 degrees Celsius it will make nine consecutive days of more than 35C.
It has been 75 years since Adelaide has seen such an extraordinary heat wave in Autumn and the weather bureau says there is no relief in sight.
Adelaide is bracing itself for another week of searing heat in the mid to high thirties Celsius.
If Tuesday's temperature reaches one degree more than the expected top of 34 degrees Celsius it will make nine consecutive days of more than 35C.
MENDA CITY
Licence to lie for Italian women
Italy's highest appeal court has ruled that married Italian women who commit adultery are entitled to lie about it to protect their honour.
The court gave its landmark ruling after hearing the case of a 48-year-old woman, convicted of giving false testimony to police by denying she had lent her mobile phone to her lover.The appeal court did not agree that she had broken the law.
It said bending the truth was justified to conceal extra-marital relationships.
Tuesday, March 04, 2008
DYING DAY
Near-death experiences are real and we have the proof, say scientists
For decades near-death experiences like Jeanette’s have been written off as delusions by scientists. They are dismissed as no more than the last twitches of a dying brain.
Modern science has no place for mysticism and the paranormal. But now a group of British researchers are challenging the scientific establishment by launching a major study into near-death experiences.
They hope to settle once and for all the question of whether there truly is life after death. “We now have the technology and scientific knowledge to begin exploring the ultimate question,” says Dr Sam Parnia, leader of the research team at London’s Hammersmith Hospital.
“To be honest, I started off as a sceptic but having weighed up all the evidence I now think that there is something going on.
For decades near-death experiences like Jeanette’s have been written off as delusions by scientists. They are dismissed as no more than the last twitches of a dying brain.
Modern science has no place for mysticism and the paranormal. But now a group of British researchers are challenging the scientific establishment by launching a major study into near-death experiences.
They hope to settle once and for all the question of whether there truly is life after death. “We now have the technology and scientific knowledge to begin exploring the ultimate question,” says Dr Sam Parnia, leader of the research team at London’s Hammersmith Hospital.
“To be honest, I started off as a sceptic but having weighed up all the evidence I now think that there is something going on.
Friday, February 29, 2008
HIGH STRANGENESS
Gautier man shares story of 1973 alien abduction
“They appeared to me that they had something like elephant skin, it was very wrinkled. These things came to us and took a hold of me, and one took a hold of Calvin. We went into that beam of light and they carried me aboard that craft.
”He said the aliens held them for about 30 minutes.
“Something came out of that wall, like a big eye. It came up in front of me, it went under me, and it came back up my back side. The next time I saw it, it came over my head in front of me. They turned me around and carried me right back out where they pick me up.”
“They appeared to me that they had something like elephant skin, it was very wrinkled. These things came to us and took a hold of me, and one took a hold of Calvin. We went into that beam of light and they carried me aboard that craft.
”He said the aliens held them for about 30 minutes.
“Something came out of that wall, like a big eye. It came up in front of me, it went under me, and it came back up my back side. The next time I saw it, it came over my head in front of me. They turned me around and carried me right back out where they pick me up.”
PRISON PLANET
More than 1pc of American adults now in jail: study
The United States incarcerates more people than any other country in the world, a report says.
The report, by the Pew Centre on the States, says the American penal system held more than 2.3 million adults at the start of the year.
The United States incarcerates more people than any other country in the world, a report says.
The report, by the Pew Centre on the States, says the American penal system held more than 2.3 million adults at the start of the year.
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
BUNCH OF BANKERS
NAB chief suggests merging big banks
Chief executive of the National Australia Bank (NAB), John Stewart, has told a business luncheon in Sydney the four pillars policy, which prevents Australia's major banks from merging, needs to be relaxed.
He says at the moment none of the four would be strong enough to stave off a takeover bid from a much larger foreign bank.
Chief executive of the National Australia Bank (NAB), John Stewart, has told a business luncheon in Sydney the four pillars policy, which prevents Australia's major banks from merging, needs to be relaxed.
He says at the moment none of the four would be strong enough to stave off a takeover bid from a much larger foreign bank.
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
TRUTH BE TOLD
Australian Oscar winner brands US Government 'war criminals'
AUSTRALIAN Oscar winner Eva Orner has described the US government as a "bunch of war criminals" that had to be "stopped".The Australian filmmaker won the Academy Award for best feature documentary as co-producer of Taxi to the Dark Side, a film about the US government's use of torture in its war against terror.
AUSTRALIAN Oscar winner Eva Orner has described the US government as a "bunch of war criminals" that had to be "stopped".The Australian filmmaker won the Academy Award for best feature documentary as co-producer of Taxi to the Dark Side, a film about the US government's use of torture in its war against terror.
FUNDA MENTAL
The Global Campaign to Stop Killing and Stoning Women
Women Living Under Muslim Laws is coordinating this Global Campaign to address the persistent misuse of religion and culture to justify killing women as punishment for violating the ‘norms’ of sexual behaviour as defined and imposed by vested interests.
Women Living Under Muslim Laws is coordinating this Global Campaign to address the persistent misuse of religion and culture to justify killing women as punishment for violating the ‘norms’ of sexual behaviour as defined and imposed by vested interests.
Sunday, February 24, 2008
THE QUICKENING
Antarctic glaciers surge to ocean
New evidence from a group of Antarctic glaciers covering an area the size of Texas, in a remote and seldom visited part of West Antarctica, shows "rivers of ice" surging sharply in speed towards the ocean.
Satellite measurements have shown that three huge glaciers here have been speeding up for more than a decade. The Pine Island Glacier is causing the most concern as it puts more ice into the sea than any other glacier in Antarctica.
If the glacier does continue to surge and discharge most of it ice into the sea, say the researchers, the Pine Island Glacier alone could raise global sea level by 25cm. But neighbouring glaciers are accelerating too and if the entire region were to lose its ice, the sea would rise by 1.5m worldwide.
New evidence from a group of Antarctic glaciers covering an area the size of Texas, in a remote and seldom visited part of West Antarctica, shows "rivers of ice" surging sharply in speed towards the ocean.
Satellite measurements have shown that three huge glaciers here have been speeding up for more than a decade. The Pine Island Glacier is causing the most concern as it puts more ice into the sea than any other glacier in Antarctica.
If the glacier does continue to surge and discharge most of it ice into the sea, say the researchers, the Pine Island Glacier alone could raise global sea level by 25cm. But neighbouring glaciers are accelerating too and if the entire region were to lose its ice, the sea would rise by 1.5m worldwide.
HOT IDEA
Chips turn more heat to power
The technology to cleanly and quietly turn heat into electricity without the use of a turbine or generator has existed for nearly a century. The trouble is, it has never been efficient enough for widespread practical use.
A pair of scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Eneco Inc. have made a device that nearly doubles the amount of electricity that can be extracted from heat. The researchers' thermal diode converts about 18 percent of thermal energy to electricity, while current thermoelectric generators convert about 10 percent.
The technology could be used to generate additional electricity from power plants, which throw off enormous amounts of waste heat, and to generate electricity using the heat from automobile engines. The technology could also produce electricity in conjunction with devices that concentrate sunlight.
The technology to cleanly and quietly turn heat into electricity without the use of a turbine or generator has existed for nearly a century. The trouble is, it has never been efficient enough for widespread practical use.
A pair of scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Eneco Inc. have made a device that nearly doubles the amount of electricity that can be extracted from heat. The researchers' thermal diode converts about 18 percent of thermal energy to electricity, while current thermoelectric generators convert about 10 percent.
The technology could be used to generate additional electricity from power plants, which throw off enormous amounts of waste heat, and to generate electricity using the heat from automobile engines. The technology could also produce electricity in conjunction with devices that concentrate sunlight.
Friday, February 22, 2008
IDENTITY HOLOCAUST
UK's families put on fraud alert
Two computer discs holding the personal details of all families in the UK with a child under 16 have gone missing.
The Child Benefit data on them includes name, address, date of birth, National Insurance number and, where relevant, bank details of 25 million people.
Chancellor Alistair Darling urged people to monitor bank accounts "for unusual activity".
More personal data lost in the UK
THE records of hundreds of thousands of adults and children in the UK have gone missing - the third loss of data about the public by a government service this year.
US cases
Consumer Data Losses: Tapes, Disks and Sticks
In 2004 the Bank of America lost unencrypted tapes with account information on 1.2 million US federal employee credit cards, including US senators.
Also in the US, a Veterans Administration computer containing information on 26 million veterans was stolen. (more)
A University of California, Berkeley laptop that contained information on more than 98,000 graduate students and others also went missing.
Two computer discs holding the personal details of all families in the UK with a child under 16 have gone missing.
The Child Benefit data on them includes name, address, date of birth, National Insurance number and, where relevant, bank details of 25 million people.
Chancellor Alistair Darling urged people to monitor bank accounts "for unusual activity".
More personal data lost in the UK
THE records of hundreds of thousands of adults and children in the UK have gone missing - the third loss of data about the public by a government service this year.
US cases
Consumer Data Losses: Tapes, Disks and Sticks
In 2004 the Bank of America lost unencrypted tapes with account information on 1.2 million US federal employee credit cards, including US senators.
Also in the US, a Veterans Administration computer containing information on 26 million veterans was stolen. (more)
A University of California, Berkeley laptop that contained information on more than 98,000 graduate students and others also went missing.
TORTURED STATEMENTS
Stunners on Waterboarding and Guantanamo
Mike McConnell, director of national intelligence:
“I know one thing. I’m a water-safety instructor, but I cannot swim without covering my nose. I don’t know if it’s some deviated septum or mucus membrane, but water just rushes in.” For him, he said, “waterboarding would be excruciating. If I had water draining into my nose, oh God, I just can’t imagine how painful!”
Later, he admited his refusal to broaden his statement past a personal revelation was inspired by fear of legal consequences — the concern that was at the heart of the C.I.A. tape affair.
The debate over the interrogation technique recently intensified when the C.I.A. acknowledged destroying videotapes showing the waterboarding of two Al Qaeda detainees, centers on a very succinct question: is it torture?
Mike McConnell, director of national intelligence:
“I know one thing. I’m a water-safety instructor, but I cannot swim without covering my nose. I don’t know if it’s some deviated septum or mucus membrane, but water just rushes in.” For him, he said, “waterboarding would be excruciating. If I had water draining into my nose, oh God, I just can’t imagine how painful!”
Later, he admited his refusal to broaden his statement past a personal revelation was inspired by fear of legal consequences — the concern that was at the heart of the C.I.A. tape affair.
The debate over the interrogation technique recently intensified when the C.I.A. acknowledged destroying videotapes showing the waterboarding of two Al Qaeda detainees, centers on a very succinct question: is it torture?
DEFINE: FRONESIS
Fronesis-the third dimension of knowledge, learning, and evaluation
Fronesis, is the "political knowledge", that is the ability to understand and interpret the situation at hand and decide about appropriate actions.
What is new in our time is that the general situation is very different from what the teacher has experienced, and from what previous generations have met.
Fronesis today is the most important dimension of knowledge
Traditional examination can check the Episteme capability and Techne can be checked by practical demonstration: playing the piano, building an electronic device, etc.
Examination of Fronesis needs special consideration.
Fronesis, is the "political knowledge", that is the ability to understand and interpret the situation at hand and decide about appropriate actions.
What is new in our time is that the general situation is very different from what the teacher has experienced, and from what previous generations have met.
Fronesis today is the most important dimension of knowledge
Traditional examination can check the Episteme capability and Techne can be checked by practical demonstration: playing the piano, building an electronic device, etc.
Examination of Fronesis needs special consideration.
Thursday, February 21, 2008
FIRST DROPS
Meteor shocks Pacific Northwest
A bright, flaming fireball streaked across the pre-dawn sky in the Pacific Northwest near Portland, Ore., and exploded with a large blast that lit up the horizon, witnesses say. Security cameras at a Portland hospital captured the fireball’s arrival on film, and dozens of reports of eyewitness sightings came in from across Washington and Oregon and even as far away as Idaho and British Columbia.
A bright, flaming fireball streaked across the pre-dawn sky in the Pacific Northwest near Portland, Ore., and exploded with a large blast that lit up the horizon, witnesses say. Security cameras at a Portland hospital captured the fireball’s arrival on film, and dozens of reports of eyewitness sightings came in from across Washington and Oregon and even as far away as Idaho and British Columbia.
TIT FOR TAT
US military prepares to shoot down errant satellite
In an operation that could last just minutes from launch to intercept, US Navy officials hope a missile fired from a ship and traveling at six times the speed of sound will hit a bus-sized satellite about 220km above Earth with a nonexplosive "kinetic kill vehicle."
The Navy plans to launch a missile from a cruiser near Hawaii to destroy the satellite carrying fuel that defence officials believe could be hazardous to humans.
The Aegis ballistic-missile defense system has successfully intercepted incoming missiles in 12 of 14 test flights, according to a Navy document.
US missile hits 'toxic satellite'
Russia suspects the operation was a cover to test anti-satellite technology under the US missile defence programme.
The US denies the operation was a response to an anti-satellite test carried out by China last year, which prompted fears of a space arms race.
In an operation that could last just minutes from launch to intercept, US Navy officials hope a missile fired from a ship and traveling at six times the speed of sound will hit a bus-sized satellite about 220km above Earth with a nonexplosive "kinetic kill vehicle."
The Navy plans to launch a missile from a cruiser near Hawaii to destroy the satellite carrying fuel that defence officials believe could be hazardous to humans.
The Aegis ballistic-missile defense system has successfully intercepted incoming missiles in 12 of 14 test flights, according to a Navy document.
US missile hits 'toxic satellite'
Russia suspects the operation was a cover to test anti-satellite technology under the US missile defence programme.
The US denies the operation was a response to an anti-satellite test carried out by China last year, which prompted fears of a space arms race.
OUR GALAXY
Milky Way: Bigger than we thought
The Milky Way - our home galaxy - is twice as thick as we thought it was, Australian astrophysicists say.
Professor Bryan Gaensler from the University of Sydney and his team have found that the enormous spiral-shaped collection of gas and stars is 12,000 light years thick when seen edge-on, not 6,000 as scientists previously thought.
Sunday, February 17, 2008
CYBORGS ATTACK
Tiny machines could roam the body curing diseases
Machines 'to match man by 2029'
Machines will achieve human-level artificial intelligence by 2029, a leading US inventor has predicted.
Humanity is on the brink of advances that will see tiny robots implanted in people's brains to make them more intelligent, said Ray Kurzweil.
The engineer believes machines and humans will eventually merge through devices implanted in the body to boost intelligence and health.
BUSH WHACKER
Bush defends US record on Darfur
US President George W Bush has defended his decision not to send troops to the Sudanese region of Darfur, despite what he calls a genocide taking place there.
He called it a "seminal decision" not to intervene with force, taken partly out of the desire not to send US troops into another Muslim country.
Bushwhacker - Wikipedia
Bushwhacking was a form of guerrilla warfare during the American Civil War that was particularly prevalent in rural areas where there were sharp divisions between those favoring the Union and Confederacy in the conflict. The perpetrators of the attacks were called bushwhackers.
Bushwhackers conducted a few well-organized raids in which they burned cities and ambushed families in rural areas.
Since the attacks were non-uniformed, the government response was complicated by trying to decide whether they were legitimate military attacks or criminal actions.
US President George W Bush has defended his decision not to send troops to the Sudanese region of Darfur, despite what he calls a genocide taking place there.
He called it a "seminal decision" not to intervene with force, taken partly out of the desire not to send US troops into another Muslim country.
Bushwhacker - Wikipedia
Bushwhacking was a form of guerrilla warfare during the American Civil War that was particularly prevalent in rural areas where there were sharp divisions between those favoring the Union and Confederacy in the conflict. The perpetrators of the attacks were called bushwhackers.
Bushwhackers conducted a few well-organized raids in which they burned cities and ambushed families in rural areas.
Since the attacks were non-uniformed, the government response was complicated by trying to decide whether they were legitimate military attacks or criminal actions.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
THOUGHT CRIME
Five students win terror appeal
The convictions of five young Muslim men jailed over extremist literature have been quashed by the Appeal Court.
Freeing the men, the Lord Chief Justice said there was no proof of terrorist intent. The lawyer for one said they had been jailed for a "thought crime".
A jury convicted them in 2007 after hearing the men, of Bradford University and Ilford, London, became obsessed with jihadi websites and literature.
The convictions of five young Muslim men jailed over extremist literature have been quashed by the Appeal Court.
Freeing the men, the Lord Chief Justice said there was no proof of terrorist intent. The lawyer for one said they had been jailed for a "thought crime".
A jury convicted them in 2007 after hearing the men, of Bradford University and Ilford, London, became obsessed with jihadi websites and literature.
The Home Office said it would study the judgement carefully.
It said it understood the Crown Prosecution Service was considering whether to appeal against the ruling, which it must do within seven days.
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
GREATER LOVE
Dogs Give Up Their Lives to Save Family
Bella, a 3-year-old golden retriever/collie mix who was once rescued as an abused puppy, returned the favor to her owners by alerting them to a house fire. With help from Maddie, a 6-month-old golden retriever, Bella helped get Sue Feuling and her 9-year-old daughter, Mckenzie, out of the house last week. The dogs didn't make it.
Bella, a 3-year-old golden retriever/collie mix who was once rescued as an abused puppy, returned the favor to her owners by alerting them to a house fire. With help from Maddie, a 6-month-old golden retriever, Bella helped get Sue Feuling and her 9-year-old daughter, Mckenzie, out of the house last week. The dogs didn't make it.
AMERICAN PSYCHO
The Meaning of Mitt Romney's Exit Speech
In reality, the American elite -- or the Establishment, or the power structure, call it what you will (as long as you don't call it what it really is: the ruling class) -- is like an iceberg: most of its vast bulk exists unseen, it plows on beneath the surface, unperturbed by the media
storms that rage around the small bit of exposed material at the summit.
Mitt Romney is an immensely wealthy, well-connected man, a former governor of the state of Massachusetts, born and bred in an extensive web of privilege and power.
His words ... show the barbarism, hatemongering and bloodlust that are considered perfectly acceptable in the polite company of our rulers and their sycophants.
In the midst of a long diatribe about liberal "attacks" on "American culture," Romney pauses for a glance across the Atlantic, to evoke a hideous nightmare that could soon be America's future:
"Europe -- Europe is facing a demographic disaster. That's the inevitable product of weakened faith in the Creator, failed families, disrespect for the sanctity of human life, and eroded morality."
The climax of Romney's peroration: a frantic blithering about "evil and radical jihad" and "the inevitable military ambitions of China" and the burning need to "raise military spending to 4 percent of our GDP" and overriding imperative to keep the Terror War raging, particularly its central front in Iraq. None of this is remotely connected to the actual wellbeing, security and prosperity of the American people; quite the opposite. It is, however, absolutely vital to the preservation of the elite's power, privilege, self-image and status. And as they demonstrate day after day, they don't care how many people must die or suffer for this.
In reality, the American elite -- or the Establishment, or the power structure, call it what you will (as long as you don't call it what it really is: the ruling class) -- is like an iceberg: most of its vast bulk exists unseen, it plows on beneath the surface, unperturbed by the media
storms that rage around the small bit of exposed material at the summit.
Mitt Romney is an immensely wealthy, well-connected man, a former governor of the state of Massachusetts, born and bred in an extensive web of privilege and power.
His words ... show the barbarism, hatemongering and bloodlust that are considered perfectly acceptable in the polite company of our rulers and their sycophants.
In the midst of a long diatribe about liberal "attacks" on "American culture," Romney pauses for a glance across the Atlantic, to evoke a hideous nightmare that could soon be America's future:
"Europe -- Europe is facing a demographic disaster. That's the inevitable product of weakened faith in the Creator, failed families, disrespect for the sanctity of human life, and eroded morality."
The climax of Romney's peroration: a frantic blithering about "evil and radical jihad" and "the inevitable military ambitions of China" and the burning need to "raise military spending to 4 percent of our GDP" and overriding imperative to keep the Terror War raging, particularly its central front in Iraq. None of this is remotely connected to the actual wellbeing, security and prosperity of the American people; quite the opposite. It is, however, absolutely vital to the preservation of the elite's power, privilege, self-image and status. And as they demonstrate day after day, they don't care how many people must die or suffer for this.
This is moral psychosis on a monumental scale. It is the complete and utter repudiation of every civilized ideal, of every fragment of enlightenment wrenched from the blood-drenched slagheap of human history. Yet it passes for normality in our political discourse.
CRIME AND PUNISHMENT
Danes arrest terror plotters
DANISH police have arrested several people in a terror plot to kill one of the 12 cartoonists behind the Prophet Mohammed drawings that sparked an uproar in the Muslim world two years ago.
The arrests were made in pre-dawn raids in Aarhus, western Denmark, "to prevent a terror-related murder," the police intelligence agency said. It did not say how many people were arrested nor did it mention which cartoonist was targeted.
[Since when has the definition of a terrorist act included the murder of one person. That used to be called a crime.]
DANISH police have arrested several people in a terror plot to kill one of the 12 cartoonists behind the Prophet Mohammed drawings that sparked an uproar in the Muslim world two years ago.
The arrests were made in pre-dawn raids in Aarhus, western Denmark, "to prevent a terror-related murder," the police intelligence agency said. It did not say how many people were arrested nor did it mention which cartoonist was targeted.
[Since when has the definition of a terrorist act included the murder of one person. That used to be called a crime.]
HUMAN RIGHT
Spielberg boycotts Olympic role
US film director Steven Spielberg has withdrawn as an artistic adviser to the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.
In a statement, he accused China of not doing enough to pressure its ally Sudan to end the "continuing human suffering" in the troubled western Darfur region.
Sudan, with its vast oil reserves, sells some two-thirds of its oil to Beijing. In turn, Beijing sells weapons to the Sudanese government and has defended Khartoum in the UN Security Council.
US film director Steven Spielberg has withdrawn as an artistic adviser to the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.
In a statement, he accused China of not doing enough to pressure its ally Sudan to end the "continuing human suffering" in the troubled western Darfur region.
Sudan, with its vast oil reserves, sells some two-thirds of its oil to Beijing. In turn, Beijing sells weapons to the Sudanese government and has defended Khartoum in the UN Security Council.
Monday, February 11, 2008
SKINFLINT SUCCESS
Scotland becomes toll-road free
Tolls have been officially abolished on the Forth and Tay road bridges after years of campaigning by drivers. The final fee-paying motorists crossed the bridges at midnight before the charges, of £1 on the Forth Bridge and 80p on the Tay Bridge, were lifted.
Tolls have been officially abolished on the Forth and Tay road bridges after years of campaigning by drivers. The final fee-paying motorists crossed the bridges at midnight before the charges, of £1 on the Forth Bridge and 80p on the Tay Bridge, were lifted.
Scrapping of the tolls was a major manifesto commitment by the SNP during the 2007 Scottish elections. Legislation to remove the fee means Scotland now has no chargeable roads.
Thursday, February 07, 2008
WORM HOLES
A User's Guide to Time Travel
When Carl Sagan was writing his 1985 novel Contact, he asked Caltech physicist Kip Thorne how to abbreviate the lengthy flight time required for a trip to a distant star. Thorne suggested a wormhole, a shortcut through space-time that almost certainly exists as a consequence of Einsteinian principles, although one has yet to be detected. A few years later, Thorne suggested that a wormhole's entrances could be positioned in space and time as desired.
Unlike some other time machines, this Thorne-inspired design allows round trips. However, it can't take you back to a time before the machine was built.
When Carl Sagan was writing his 1985 novel Contact, he asked Caltech physicist Kip Thorne how to abbreviate the lengthy flight time required for a trip to a distant star. Thorne suggested a wormhole, a shortcut through space-time that almost certainly exists as a consequence of Einsteinian principles, although one has yet to be detected. A few years later, Thorne suggested that a wormhole's entrances could be positioned in space and time as desired.
Unlike some other time machines, this Thorne-inspired design allows round trips. However, it can't take you back to a time before the machine was built.
Wednesday, February 06, 2008
BRAVE NEW WORLD
Evil Empire: U.S. says no one too young for Guantanamo court
Canadian defendant Omar Khadr, who was shot and captured at age 15 in a firefight at a suspected al Qaeda compound in Afghanistan in 2002.
Navy Lt. William Kuebler argued that U.S. and international law assume that children involved in an armed conflict are not there voluntarily, because they lack the experience and judgment to understand the risk of joining armed forces.
Defense attorneys contend that any charges against Khadr should be pursued in a civilian court in a juvenile system where the goal is rehabilitation rather than punishment.
If the U.S. Congress intended to try children as war criminals, it would have explicitly authorized that in the 2006 law that serves as a framework for the Guantanamo court, Kuebler said.
Canadian defendant Omar Khadr, who was shot and captured at age 15 in a firefight at a suspected al Qaeda compound in Afghanistan in 2002.
Navy Lt. William Kuebler argued that U.S. and international law assume that children involved in an armed conflict are not there voluntarily, because they lack the experience and judgment to understand the risk of joining armed forces.
Defense attorneys contend that any charges against Khadr should be pursued in a civilian court in a juvenile system where the goal is rehabilitation rather than punishment.
If the U.S. Congress intended to try children as war criminals, it would have explicitly authorized that in the 2006 law that serves as a framework for the Guantanamo court, Kuebler said.
But a U.S. Department of Justice attorney, arguing for the prosecution, said that if Congress intended to exclude juveniles from the Guantanamo war court, it would have explicitly written that, because lawmakers knew Khadr could face charges
Instead, Congress wrote the law using the term "person," which legally refers to "anyone born alive," Justice Department attorney Andy Oldham said.
Tuesday, February 05, 2008
HIGH TIME
Call for US to re-open UFO file
A group of former pilots and government officials has called on the US government to re-open an investigation into claims of UFO sightings.
The group, which includes former military officers from seven countries, all say they have seen a UFO or have conducted research into the phenomenon.
The group say the apparent sightings of hovering orbs, glowing lights and high-speed spacecraft are a national security concern and should no longer be dismissed.
New details on UFO case released
April 1977 and Rosa Granville, who runs the Haven Fort Hotel in Little Haven, was in bed at around 2.30am when she was awoken by strange noise and lights.
Looking out of her window, she described seeing an object which looked like an "upside-down saucer" in the field next to the hotel and two 'faceless humanoid' creatures with pointed heads.
The incident, she said in a subsequent letter she wrote to her MP Nicholas Edwards, left her "agitated and disturbed and not the least bit desirous of another encounter".
"I would be pleased to hear of an explanation, it would greatly help to relieve the sense of shock I feel since my encounter," she added. "There was so much heat - I was by the window - my face felt burned. There was light coming from it and flames of all colours. Then [the creatures] came out of these flames, that's what I don't understand.
When she visited the site of the alleged landing in the morning, she added there were "two inches of burned ground there".
In his report to MoD chiefs, Flt Lt Cowan wrote: "[Mrs Granville] told me that one night in April of this year she saw a round object 'like the moon falling down' land in a field at the back of her property. Two very tall, faceless 'humanoids' got out of this object (about the size of a mini bus) and appeared to 'take measurements or gather things'."
He added finally that, "should a UFO arrive at RAF Brawdy we will charge normal landing fees and inform you immediately".
CLOAK AND DAGGER
Military acts on Texas UFO sighting
Some 50 people claim to have spotted UFOs flying over Stephenville, a town of about 16,000 people in dairy country 110km southwest of Fort Worth.
After two weeks of denials and media focus US military officials finally admitted to having 10 F-16 fighter jets training in the area on January 8 – the night the claims were made, according to Associated Press.
“What we do down there falls under operational procedures that cannot be released because of operations security for our mission,” Major Karl Lewis told the paper.
Witnesses included pilot Steve Allen who earlier told Fox News:
Some 50 people claim to have spotted UFOs flying over Stephenville, a town of about 16,000 people in dairy country 110km southwest of Fort Worth.
After two weeks of denials and media focus US military officials finally admitted to having 10 F-16 fighter jets training in the area on January 8 – the night the claims were made, according to Associated Press.
“What we do down there falls under operational procedures that cannot be released because of operations security for our mission,” Major Karl Lewis told the paper.
Witnesses included pilot Steve Allen who earlier told Fox News:
“Quite a few people saw the UFO itself and then many more people saw the jets come past in pursuit.
“It already came by us and did a little flame-job over Stephenville and disappeared, it came back by. And that's when it had the military craft in pursuit, probably four or five seconds behind."
Another witness James Hughes told Fox: “There was two very large, glowing - I'd call them glowing, burning kind of looking objects, globe-like-looking objects that were just barely moving in the sky and hovering in the sky over my house. And it was pretty startling.”
DEEP SECRETS
Oh, You Mean Those UFOs!'
Fighter jets were training nearby the night dozens of Stephenville-area residents reported seeing a UFO this month, Air Force Reserve officials said Jan. 23, backtracking on earlier statements.
The announcement did little to satisfy residents of Texas dairy country who swear that what they saw in the sky Jan. 8 was no airplane. Some said it even bolstered their claims, because several people reported seeing at least two fighter jets chasing an object.
Fighter jets were training nearby the night dozens of Stephenville-area residents reported seeing a UFO this month, Air Force Reserve officials said Jan. 23, backtracking on earlier statements.
The announcement did little to satisfy residents of Texas dairy country who swear that what they saw in the sky Jan. 8 was no airplane. Some said it even bolstered their claims, because several people reported seeing at least two fighter jets chasing an object.
Monday, February 04, 2008
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.
Sunday, February 03, 2008
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.
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.”
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.”
Friday, February 01, 2008
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.
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.
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.
Thursday, January 31, 2008
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.
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.
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?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
