More than 10,000 troops to guard Obama's inaugaration
Thousands of US troops will patrol Washington to help protect against a potential terrorist attack during the presidential inauguration of Barack Obama next month.
The US military plans to mobilise 7,500 active duty troops and 4,000 National Guard members in Washington on inauguration day.
They will fly combat air patrols and help police provide security in the capital. There will be surface-to-air missiles and anti-aircraft missiles on stand-by.
Posse Comitatus Act and the Insurrection Act substantially limit the powers of the federal government to use the military for civil law enforcement.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
MILITARY INTELLIGENCE
Russia test fires long-range missile
President Dmitry Medvedev oversaw the test firing of an intercontinental Topol missile on Sunday and vowed to commission new generation weapons for Russia's armed forces.
A Reuters reporter said the truck-mounted Topol was fired in drizzling rain from the Plesetsk cosmodrome, which is nestled among the taiga forests of Russia's north.
Half an hour later it hit the Kura testing site, 6000 kilometres away on the Kamchatka peninsula in the Pacific.
"I have just been told that the dummy warhead has landed in Kura," Mr Medvedev said from the Topol launch pad where acrid smoke from the missile still hung thick in the air.
“The advanced Topol missile…has three cruise engines and can develop hypersonic speed. The high thrust-to-weight ratio allows the warhead to maneuver on the trajectory and pass through a dense air defense system.”
The RT-2UTTKh Topol-M (Russian: РТ-2УТТХ) is one of the most recent intercontinental ballistic missiles to be deployed by Russia and the first to be developed after the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
In its Russian designation РТ stands for Raketa Tverdotoplivnaya ("solid fuel rocket")
It has been assigned the NATO reporting name STALIN/DIA: SS-27. "Topol" in Russian means "poplar".
Friday, March 06, 2009
POLICE STATE
Latest police weapon: a secret search
NEW powers to secretly search homes and computers of people suspected of crimes ranging from murder to organised theft are wider than those now used against suspected terrorists.
The new covert search warrants would give NSW police up to three years to delay informing targets they had carried out a raid on their property.
Standard search warrants, routinely issued by magistrates in closed hearings, require police to inform the target at the start of the raid. Last financial year lower courts issued about 6600 search warrants to NSW police and other law enforcement agencies - an average of 18 a day. Only about 300 applications were refused.
The proposed covert laws became necessary after the Supreme Court found in 2007 that three covert searches on a children's author suspected of drug offences had been unlawful.
The Council for Civil Liberties and the Law Society warned that the new laws could lead to an abuse of police powers and restrict the rights of citizens.
But the Premier, Nathan Rees, said: "If you are a serious criminal you should be very anxious. We now will have the power to enter your home without you knowing and collect evidence for subsequent prosecutions."
Thursday, March 05, 2009
BLIND JUSTICE
Blinded woman seeks eye-for-eye justice
An Iranian woman said she welcomed a Tehran court ruling that awards her eye-for-an-eye justice against a suitor who blinded both her eyes with acid.
An Iranian woman said she welcomed a Tehran court ruling that awards her eye-for-an-eye justice against a suitor who blinded both her eyes with acid.
Late last year an Iranian court ruled that the man, Majid, who blinded Bahrami in 2004 after she spurned him, should also be blinded with acid based on the Islamic law system of "qisas", or eye for an eye retribution, according to Iranian newspaper reports from November.
But Bahrami, who moved to Spain after the attack to get medical treatment, said that under Iranian law, she is entitled to blind him in only one eye, unless she pays E20,000 ($A39,223), because in Iran women are not considered equal to men.
"They have told us that my two eyes are equal to one of his because in my country each man is worth two women. They are not the same," she told Cadena SER.
Tuesday, March 03, 2009
OUR SOLAR SYSTEM
Mars had 'recent' running water
Mars researchers say the discovery of a gully system, even an isolated one, that supported running water as recently as 1.25 million years ago greatly extends the time that liquid water could have been active on the Red Planet.
Mars researchers say the discovery of a gully system, even an isolated one, that supported running water as recently as 1.25 million years ago greatly extends the time that liquid water could have been active on the Red Planet.
It also adds to evidence that Mars experienced a recent ice age in which polar ice is thought to have been transported toward the planet's equator, where it settled in mid-latitude deposits.
A study of images from Nasa's Mars Reconaissance Orbiter (MRO) shows there were four intervals in which water-borne sediments were carried down the steep slopes of nearby features called alcoves and laid down in a deposit called an alluvial fan.
The team considered other possibilities, such as groundwater bubbling up to the surface, but said the most likely mode of formation for the gullies was the melting of snow and ice deposits that created "modest" flows of water.CLOAK AND DAGGER
CIA destroys 92 'torture' tapes
The CIA destroyed 92 controversial interrogation videos, US Justice Department documents showed overnight, in a new twist in the tape scandal which may fuel more allegations of Bush-era abuses.
"The CIA can now identify the number of videotapes that were destroyed," Acting US Attorney Lev Dassin wrote in his letter dated March 2 to New York Judge Alvin Hellerstein.
"Ninety-two videotapes were destroyed."
The CIA destroyed 92 controversial interrogation videos, US Justice Department documents showed overnight, in a new twist in the tape scandal which may fuel more allegations of Bush-era abuses.
"The CIA can now identify the number of videotapes that were destroyed," Acting US Attorney Lev Dassin wrote in his letter dated March 2 to New York Judge Alvin Hellerstein.
"Ninety-two videotapes were destroyed."
Friday, February 27, 2009
ROUGH JUSTICE
Mother sets fire to her daughter's gloating rapist
A Spanish mother has taken revenge on the man who raped her 13-year-old daughter at knifepoint by dousing him in petrol and setting him alight. He died of his injuries after 11 days in hospital.
Antonio Cosme Velasco Soriano, 69, had been sent to jail for nine years in 1998, but was let out on a three-day pass and returned to his home town of Benejúzar, 30 miles south of Alicante, on the Costa Blanca. While there, he passed his victim's mother in the street and allegedly taunted her about the attack. He is said to have called out "How's your daughter?," before heading into a crowded bar.
Shortly after, the woman walked into the bar. A witness said: "She pulled the bottle she was carrying from under her arm and began to tip it over him. At first I didn't realise what was happening, but then I smelt the petrol. I jumped up and tried to grab her, but when she struck a match I got clear. She watched as flames engulfed him, before walking out.
At a hearing following her arrest, a crowd of supporters cheered her and called 'Bravo'.TASER TORTURE
Tasers a form of torture, says UN
TASER electronic stun guns are a form of torture that can kill, a UN committee has declared after several recent deaths in North America. "The use of these weapons causes acute pain, constituting a form of torture,'' the UN's Committee against Torture said.
"In certain cases, they can even cause death, as has been shown by reliable studies and recent real-life events,'' the committee of 10 experts said. Three men, all in their early 20s, were reported to have died in the United States this week, days after a Polish man died at Vancouver airport after being Tasered by Canadian police.
The man, Robert Dziekanski, 40, fell to the ground and died after the police officers piled on top of him. There have been three deaths in Canada after the use of Tasers over the past five weeks. The company that makes the weapons has said that similar deaths have been shown by "medical science and forensic analysis'' to be "attributable to other factors and not the low-energy electrical discharge of the Taser". The UN committee made its comments in recommendations to Portugal, which has bought the newest Taser X26 stun gun for use by police.
The Taser X26 can have a grave physical and mental impact on those targeted, which violates the UN's Convention against Torture, the experts said.
OCTOPUSSY
Miss Suleman, before giving birth to her litter of eight.
Vivid's Sordid Plans for Nadya 'Octomom' Suleman
Nadya "Octomom" Suleman has been offered $1 million to star in a porn video.
Now Fox News' Pop Tarts has learned the "disgusting" details of what they want Octomom to do. They want Suleman, who gave birth to octuplets in January, to have sex in eight different scenes with eight different men.
[Someone at Fox is disgusted by this hot news story! Would it be the same if it concerned a Fox subsidiary? Fair and balanced.]
Thursday, February 26, 2009
SHOT MONKEY
Cartoonist Sean Delonas of the Murdoch-owned NY Post is under fire for a cartoon depicting two police officers shooting a chimpanzee. The incident refers to a pet chimp which attacked a woman in Connecticut before being shot.
News Corp chief, Rupert 'Dirty Digger' Murdoch:
I have had conversations with Post editors about the situation and I can assure you, without a doubt, that the only intent of that cartoon was to mock a badly written piece of legislation. It was not meant to be racist, but unfortunately, it was interpreted by many as such. We all hold the readers of the New York Post in high regard and I promise you that we will seek to be more attuned to the sensitivities of our community.
MONKEY BUSINESS
Former monkey despot Bush.
Will the shot monkey cartoon creator apologize?
A political cartoon in the New York Post Wednesday that portrayed the author of the US economic recovery plan as a monkey was denounced as offensive by black civil rights leader Al Sharpton.
The cartoon, which ran on page 12 of the tabloid, showed a policeman killing a monkey, a reference to an incident in Connecticut Monday when an officer shot dead a chimpanzee that had seriously injured a woman.
In the drawing, another police officer comments: "They'll have to find someone else to write the next stimulus bill."
Sharpton called the cartoon "troubling at best given the historic racist attacks of African-Americans as being synonymous with monkeys."
"Being that the stimulus bill has been the first legislative victory of President Barack Obama (the first African-American president) and has become synonymous with him it is not a reach to wonder are they inferring that a monkey wrote the last bill?" he asked in a statement.
Col Allan, the Post's editor-in-chief, defended the cartoon as "a clear parody of a current news event, to wit the shooting of a violent chimpanzee in Connecticut. It broadly mocks Washington's efforts to revive the economy.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
BIG BROTHER
Conroy confesses: web filtering will hit 'other content'
The Broadcasting Services Act (BSA) currently prohibits both Refused Classification material and X 18+ material, meaning content depicting actual sex is treated in a manner similar to criminal content such as child pornography.
The BSA also bans R 18+ material (including simulated sex) if there is no age-based restriction.
This clumsy regime means material that is available in your average newsagent, let alone the local adult shop, is banned online and will technically be blocked under the ALP censorship trial.
The ban also perpetuates the Ruddock-era ban on alleged terrorist books imposed by the Howard Government as part of its national security-based attack on civil liberties. Academics using the internet to research terrorism-related materials may be blocked if filtering is imposed.
Nick Minchin, grilled the Australian Communications and Media Authority about the banning of an anti-abortion website. Despite his conservative credentials, Minchin correctly noted that a lot of Christian groups backing internet censorship might not be so enamoured of the idea if it was used to block their views on abortion.
Crikey!
The Broadcasting Services Act (BSA) currently prohibits both Refused Classification material and X 18+ material, meaning content depicting actual sex is treated in a manner similar to criminal content such as child pornography.
The BSA also bans R 18+ material (including simulated sex) if there is no age-based restriction.
This clumsy regime means material that is available in your average newsagent, let alone the local adult shop, is banned online and will technically be blocked under the ALP censorship trial.
The ban also perpetuates the Ruddock-era ban on alleged terrorist books imposed by the Howard Government as part of its national security-based attack on civil liberties. Academics using the internet to research terrorism-related materials may be blocked if filtering is imposed.
Nick Minchin, grilled the Australian Communications and Media Authority about the banning of an anti-abortion website. Despite his conservative credentials, Minchin correctly noted that a lot of Christian groups backing internet censorship might not be so enamoured of the idea if it was used to block their views on abortion.
Crikey!
CASINO REAL
Problem gambler laws threaten casino: owner
SkyCity Casino says tougher measures against known problem gamblers in South Australia could make its business unviable.
An inquiry on the banning of problem gamblers from venues is being held in Adelaide today.
The Independent Gambling Authority is considering whether biometric or smart card technology could be used to keep problem gamblers away from gaming venues.
But SkyCity Casino says any tougher controls would hit its revenue from other gamblers, harming its Adelaide casino business.
The casino faces strict penalties if even a single barred gambler is found on site.
SkyCity Casino says tougher measures against known problem gamblers in South Australia could make its business unviable.
An inquiry on the banning of problem gamblers from venues is being held in Adelaide today.
The Independent Gambling Authority is considering whether biometric or smart card technology could be used to keep problem gamblers away from gaming venues.
But SkyCity Casino says any tougher controls would hit its revenue from other gamblers, harming its Adelaide casino business.
The casino faces strict penalties if even a single barred gambler is found on site.
CLOAK AND DAGGER
Investigation into Politkovskaya's killing to be reopened
The drawn-out state investigation and chaotic trial of her murder has from the first been criticized as a farce by Anna Politkovskaya's family and friends because the men on trial were only loosely charged with guilt in the crime.
Freed from blame were two Chechen brothers Dzhabrail and Ibragim Makhmudov of being accomplices and former police officer Sergei Khadzhikurbanov of helping the killer get away.
A fourth defendant, Pavel Ryaguzov, was acquitted in a separate case.
Ryaguzov, an agent of Russia's FSB security service was accused of providing the killer with Politkovskaya's address.
But the alleged gunman, a third Chechen brother Rustam Makhmudov, was never on trial and reportedly fled to Western Europe on a fake passport.
No-one has been directly linked to ordering thecontract-style killing of Politkovskaya, gunned down in front of her Moscow apartment in October 2006.
Politkovskaya was Russia's most prominent journalist, winning awards for her reporting for daily Novaya Gazeta on human rights abuses by Russian soldiers during tow wars fought by the Kremlin in Chechnya.
The drawn-out state investigation and chaotic trial of her murder has from the first been criticized as a farce by Anna Politkovskaya's family and friends because the men on trial were only loosely charged with guilt in the crime.
Freed from blame were two Chechen brothers Dzhabrail and Ibragim Makhmudov of being accomplices and former police officer Sergei Khadzhikurbanov of helping the killer get away.
A fourth defendant, Pavel Ryaguzov, was acquitted in a separate case.
Ryaguzov, an agent of Russia's FSB security service was accused of providing the killer with Politkovskaya's address.
But the alleged gunman, a third Chechen brother Rustam Makhmudov, was never on trial and reportedly fled to Western Europe on a fake passport.
No-one has been directly linked to ordering thecontract-style killing of Politkovskaya, gunned down in front of her Moscow apartment in October 2006.
Politkovskaya was Russia's most prominent journalist, winning awards for her reporting for daily Novaya Gazeta on human rights abuses by Russian soldiers during tow wars fought by the Kremlin in Chechnya.
Monday, February 23, 2009
LOSER PAYS
JUST CHARGE THE FINE TO THE VICTIMS:
The State of Florida sold personal information from its drivers license data base to private marketing companies, including each driving citizen's name, address, and Social Security number.
It made $108 million on the sales over a four-year period -- the four years after such sales were made illegal by federal law.
When several Floridians sued, the state refused to admit wrongdoing, but agreed to settle for $10.4 million, which will be divided up this way: the drivers who sued, $3000 each. Everyone else: a $1 credit on their next car registration fee. The five law firms that worked on the suit: $2.85 million. Federal law calls for a $2500 penalty for each violation, which would have come to $39 billion. (St. Petersburg Times) ...Which would penalize citizens even more.
So how about ten years in prison for every state official who went along with the scheme?
This is True
The State of Florida sold personal information from its drivers license data base to private marketing companies, including each driving citizen's name, address, and Social Security number.
It made $108 million on the sales over a four-year period -- the four years after such sales were made illegal by federal law.
When several Floridians sued, the state refused to admit wrongdoing, but agreed to settle for $10.4 million, which will be divided up this way: the drivers who sued, $3000 each. Everyone else: a $1 credit on their next car registration fee. The five law firms that worked on the suit: $2.85 million. Federal law calls for a $2500 penalty for each violation, which would have come to $39 billion. (St. Petersburg Times) ...Which would penalize citizens even more.
So how about ten years in prison for every state official who went along with the scheme?
This is True
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
POLICE STATE
Dame Stella Rimington, 73, stood down as the director general of the security service in 1996.
Government accused over terrorism
A former head of MI5 has accused the government of exploiting the fear of terrorism to restrict civil liberties.
Dame Stella Rimington, 73, in an interview with Spanish newspaper La Vanguardia and published in the Daily Telegraph, she also attacks the approach taken by the US.
"The US has gone too far with Guantanamo and the tortures and has achieved the opposite effect - there are more and more suicide terrorists finding a greater justification."
Dame Stella has previously been critical of the government's policies, including its attempts to extend pre-charge detention for terror suspects to 42 days and the controversial plan to introduce ID cards.
"It would be better that the government recognised that there are risks, rather than frightening people in order to be able to pass laws which restrict civil liberties, precisely one of the objects of terrorism - that we live in fear and under a police state," she said.
STARSHIP TROOPERS
U.S. Military Will Offer Path to Citizenship
Stretched thin in Afghanistan and Iraq, the American military will begin recruiting skilled immigrants who are living in this country with temporary visas, offering them the chance to become United States citizens in as little as six months.
“The Army will gain in its strength in human capital,” General Freakley said, “and the immigrants will gain their citizenship and get on a ramp to the American dream.”
Starship Troopers: Rico, his girlfriend Carmen, and best friend Carl are all graduating from high school in Buenos Aires; Carmen and Carl both plan to enlist in the US military to become "citizens".
Stretched thin in Afghanistan and Iraq, the American military will begin recruiting skilled immigrants who are living in this country with temporary visas, offering them the chance to become United States citizens in as little as six months.
“The Army will gain in its strength in human capital,” General Freakley said, “and the immigrants will gain their citizenship and get on a ramp to the American dream.”
Starship Troopers: Rico, his girlfriend Carmen, and best friend Carl are all graduating from high school in Buenos Aires; Carmen and Carl both plan to enlist in the US military to become "citizens".
Monday, February 16, 2009
THE QUICKENING
Warming 'much more rapid' than climate panel predicted
DIRE warnings of future devastation sparked by global warming have not been dire enough, climate scientists warn.
Just over a year ago, the Nobel-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change published a report warning of rising sea levels, expanding deserts, more intense storms and extinction of up to 30 per cent of plant and animal species.
But recent studies suggested the report significantly underestimated the potential severity of global warming over the next 100 years, a senior member of the panel warned yesterday.
"We are basically looking now at a future climate that is beyond anything that we've considered seriously in climate policy," said Chris Field, a co-ordinating lead author of the report.
DIRE warnings of future devastation sparked by global warming have not been dire enough, climate scientists warn.
Just over a year ago, the Nobel-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change published a report warning of rising sea levels, expanding deserts, more intense storms and extinction of up to 30 per cent of plant and animal species.
But recent studies suggested the report significantly underestimated the potential severity of global warming over the next 100 years, a senior member of the panel warned yesterday.
"We are basically looking now at a future climate that is beyond anything that we've considered seriously in climate policy," said Chris Field, a co-ordinating lead author of the report.
PRIVACY CONCERNS
WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG? After an 8-year-old girl was abused and
murdered by her guardians, the British government put together a new
data base to list the personal details -- including name,
gender, address, and age -- of every child in the country, with
space for "sexual health" information, so that child service
agencies could know who they need to watch out for.
The new 224-million-pound (US$329 million) system will be accessible
to at least 330,000 users spread across at least 150 agencies, and
is scheduled to launch this summer.
The government has responded to security concerns by announcing that
celebrities can apply to keep details of their children out of the
system. Oh, and politicians, too. (London Telegraph)
murdered by her guardians, the British government put together a new
data base to list the personal details -- including name,
gender, address, and age -- of every child in the country, with
space for "sexual health" information, so that child service
agencies could know who they need to watch out for.
The new 224-million-pound (US$329 million) system will be accessible
to at least 330,000 users spread across at least 150 agencies, and
is scheduled to launch this summer.
The government has responded to security concerns by announcing that
celebrities can apply to keep details of their children out of the
system. Oh, and politicians, too. (London Telegraph)
How about a new law: any law that politicians pass has to apply to
them first. (www.thisistrue.com)
Monday, February 09, 2009
TELEPORTATION
U.S. Air Force Takes a Look at Teleportation
The USAF recently took delivery of a new study regarding the military potential of teleportation. The Teleportation Physics Study was done by Eric Davis of Warp Drive Metrics. Its purpose -
"This study was tasked with the purpose of collecting information describing the teleportation of material objects, providing a description of teleportation as it occurs in physics, its theoretical and experimental status, and a projection of potential applications. The study also consisted of a search for teleportation phenomena occurring naturally or under laboratory conditions that can be assembled into a model describing the conditions required to accomplish the transfer of objects."
The USAF recently took delivery of a new study regarding the military potential of teleportation. The Teleportation Physics Study was done by Eric Davis of Warp Drive Metrics. Its purpose -
"This study was tasked with the purpose of collecting information describing the teleportation of material objects, providing a description of teleportation as it occurs in physics, its theoretical and experimental status, and a projection of potential applications. The study also consisted of a search for teleportation phenomena occurring naturally or under laboratory conditions that can be assembled into a model describing the conditions required to accomplish the transfer of objects."
Sunday, February 01, 2009
SELF CENSORSHIP
Cleaning Up Australia
What are the world's geeks saying about Stephen Conroy's internet nanny scheme? Blogwatch braves the cultural cringe to find out
Tech sites in South Africa are watching proceedings with interest too, while boing boing bounces back a post entitled "Australia's Great Firewall: just like China, Syria and other 'free' countries" (ouch) from ComputerWorld which nicely sums up the double discontent:
"The fact that it will likely reduce everyone's internet performance is secondary; it will most likely incorrectly block 1 per cent of sites, and now what you are allowed to view online is determined and controlled by the state (although most likely quite inaccurately)."
Friday, January 30, 2009
BEARD RASH
Ian Thorpe's Amanda Beard claim looks a bit rash
IAN Thorpe thought he and US swimming sex symbol Amanda Beard were in a relationship. She saw it differently - and today said so publicly.Champion athlete Beard has flatly denied that she and Thorpe were once lovers.
As speculations swirls around Thorpe's friendship with his Brazilian flatmate Daniel Mendes, Beard was adamant that she and Thorpe were never an item.
[I thought this story was interesting because of the coincidental usage of the word "beard". In gay circles a beard is the name of a female partner taken by a gay man to give society the impression he is straight.]
Thursday, January 29, 2009
SPACE STALKER
2009 BD- Scary Asteroid Space Stalker
Don't look now, but we're being followed. You can't miss him - he's ten meters tall, made of rock, and goes by the snappy name of 2009 BD. Oh, and he's hanging six hundred thousand kilometers above your head.
Don't look now, but we're being followed. You can't miss him - he's ten meters tall, made of rock, and goes by the snappy name of 2009 BD. Oh, and he's hanging six hundred thousand kilometers above your head.
This might sound like a scary Stone of Damocles but you can let Bruce Willis sleep in - it's much more of an oddity than a threat. 2009 BD was spotted earlier this year (no points for having worked that out), trailing Earth in almost the same orbit and at most a tenth of an Astronomical Unit away. Since we're only 1 AU from the Sun, and that's a fair sight bigger, we should be fine. There's absolutely no chance of the thing actually hitting us since even if it comes closer it'll be on course for a gravitational slingshot away again. For now its odd little orbit, swinging round the sun while under Earth's influence as well, is a useful astronomical study for scientists.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Cannabis law change 'illogical'
The reclassification of cannabis as a Class B drug has come into
effect in England amid complaints by magistrates the new laws are
"illogical".
The government said it went against its advisors to upgrade the drug
because of worries of its affect on mental health.
Magistrates welcomed the reclassification but said planned fines for
possessing small amounts undermined the more serious classification.
They said it sent the signal cannabis is not as bad as other Class B
drugs.
effect in England amid complaints by magistrates the new laws are
"illogical".
The government said it went against its advisors to upgrade the drug
because of worries of its affect on mental health.
Magistrates welcomed the reclassification but said planned fines for
possessing small amounts undermined the more serious classification.
They said it sent the signal cannabis is not as bad as other Class B
drugs.
FLASHBACK - July 2007
Top ministers admit cannabis use
A string of Cabinet ministers have owned up to smoking cannabis after
Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said she had used the drug at Oxford in
the 1980s.
Chancellor Alistair Darling and Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly are
among those to admit using the drug when they were younger.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown was among those to say they had never
used it.
The Home Office is to review the decision to downgrade cannabis to a
class C substance.
Monday, January 26, 2009
NZ man finds US military files on MP3 player
A New Zealand man has found confidential US military files on an MP3
player he bought in an Oklahoma thrift shop, it has been reported.
player he bought in an Oklahoma thrift shop, it has been reported.
Chris Ogle, 29, paid $15 for the player and when he plugged it into
his computer he found 60 pages of military data, Television One News
said.
The files contained the names and personal details of US soldiers,
including some who served in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as
information about equipment deployed to bases and a mission briefing.
"The more I look at it, the more I see and the less I think I should
be [seeing]," Mr Ogle said.
Although most of the files are dated 2005, TV One said it rang some
of the phone numbers and they were answered by the corresponding
personnel.
Mr Ogle said the MP3 had never worked as a music player and he would
hand it over to the US Defence Department if asked.
The Resolution of the Reality Hologram
You might think your fifty inch 1080p screen has a pretty high
resolution, but reality is a quadrillion times better - a hundred
trillion dots per inch. A collaboration between Fermilab scientists
and a hundreds of meters of laser may have found the very pixels of
reality, grains of spacetime one tenth of a femtometer across.
resolution, but reality is a quadrillion times better - a hundred
trillion dots per inch. A collaboration between Fermilab scientists
and a hundreds of meters of laser may have found the very pixels of
reality, grains of spacetime one tenth of a femtometer across.
The GEO600 system is armed with six hundred meters of laser tube,
which sounds like enough to equip an entire Star War, but these
lasers are for detection, not destruction. GEO600's length means it
can measure changes of one part in six hundred million, accurate
enough to detect even the tiniest ripples in space time - assuming
it isn't thrown off by somebody sneezing within a hundred meters or
the wrong types of cloud overhead (seriously). The problem with such
an incredibly sensitive device is just that - it's incredibly sensitive.
The interferometer staff constantly battle against unwanted
aberration, and were struggling against a particularly persistent
signal when Fermilab Professor Craig Hogan suggested the problem
wasn't with their equipment but with reality itself. The quantum
limit of reality, the Planck length, occurs at a far smaller length
scale than their signal - but according to Hogan, this literal
ultimate limit of tininess might be scaled up because we're all
holograms.
Obviously.
Friday, January 09, 2009
Australia's Foray into Internet Censorship
Australia's decision to implement Internet censorship using
technological means creates a natural experiment: the first Western
democracy to mandate filtering legislatively, and to retrofit it to a
decentralized network architecture. But are the proposed restrictions
legitimate?
technological means creates a natural experiment: the first Western
democracy to mandate filtering legislatively, and to retrofit it to a
decentralized network architecture. But are the proposed restrictions
legitimate?
The new restraints derive from the Labor Party's pro-filtering
electoral campaign, though coalition government gives minority
politicians considerable influence over policy. The country has a
well-defined statutory censorship system for on-line and off-line
material that may, however, be undercut by relying on foreign and
third-party lists of sites to be blocked.
While Australia is open about its filtering goals, the government's
transparency about what content is to be blocked is poor.
Initial tests show that how effective censorship is at filtering
prohibited content - and only that content - will vary based on what
method the country's ISPs use.
Though Australia's decision makers are formally accountable to
citizens, efforts to silence dissenters, outsourcing of blocking
decisions, and filtering's inevitable transfer of power to
technicians undercut accountability.
The paper argues Australia represents a shift by Western democracies
towards legitimating Internet filtering and away from robust
consideration of the alternatives available to combat undesirable
information.
Thursday, December 04, 2008
NET VALUES
Conroy’s Filter Hits Online Business
By getting sucked into a debate on censorship, the critics risk backing into a corner as arguing for the right to view porn is always going to be a contentious issue. On the other hand, slowing our already poor broadband speeds and risking damage to ecommerce has a more tangible impact.
By getting sucked into a debate on censorship, the critics risk backing into a corner as arguing for the right to view porn is always going to be a contentious issue. On the other hand, slowing our already poor broadband speeds and risking damage to ecommerce has a more tangible impact.
While politicians and industry bodies debate and argue and protest, one possible repercussion has been overlooked. Online business has seen a steady increase over the last few years and recently pundits have predicted the internet economy as being potentially more resilient during the tougher economic times ahead.
But will ecommerce remain resilient under the threat of technical interference?
BIG BROTHER
Big Brother police to get 'war-time' powers to demand ID or face jail
State officials are to be given powers previously reserved for times of war to demand a person's proof of identity at any time. Anybody who refuses the Big Brother demand could face arrest and a possible prison sentence.
State officials are to be given powers previously reserved for times of war to demand a person's proof of identity at any time. Anybody who refuses the Big Brother demand could face arrest and a possible prison sentence.
The new rules come in legislation unveiled in today's Queen's Speech. They are presented as a crackdown on illegal immigration, but lawyers say they could be applied to anybody who has ever been outside the UK, even on holiday.
DUST TO DUST
The death of the orb mystery
I have been photographing orbs since capturing my first ones near Menindee Lakes in June. I was beguiled by the idea they may have been associated with consciousness and have photographed many. I have shown the prints to others and got the usual two responses: Fascination and curiosity or disdain and lack of interest ("clean your lens" and "it's dust" comes to mind).
One skeptic sent me a link to The Orb Zone. The author states: "The 'orb zone' theory of orbs is that orbs are out-of-focus airborne particles (e.g. dust). However the technical explanation is fairly complicated."
I dismissed his argument at first because it meant the orbs needed to be in out-of-focus zones, whereas they appeared to be away from the camera near other objects.
I based this presumption on a single photograph in which a friend and I, both shooting the same scene, caught orbs at about the same time. And given our relative camera positions, it was conceivable that they were the same object, well away from the camera and in the field of focus. However, being a sole example and given my recent experiment, that now looks to be a coincidence.
This morning I was sweeping the floor and gave the broom a dust off. It created a lot of dust and, since the adjoining room was pretty dark, I decided to do a test.
I set up the camera on a table and put it on timer. A second before the shutter triggered I held the broom 20cm above and 20cm in front of the lens and ran my hand across the bristles to release some dust. The results show structures identical to those found in all the orbs I have captured so far, even a nice coloured one. Although they often have a vaguely "focused" appearance the ones in the experimental pictures I took this morning are likely all in the out-of-focus zone (ie close to the lens).
I found I had become attached to the theory that they were emanations from the cosmic soup or better still ... emanations of consciousness itself with mysterious links to this world. (Crop circles come to mind). It was deflating to find such a prosaic explanation but I know the world has many more mysteries to wonder at. Sadly I don't think this is one of them.
Another pic
Tuesday, December 02, 2008
STUPIDITY CONSULTANT
How We Will Learn to Love George W. Bush
Only 50 more days of President George W. Bush. So many feelings, right? ABC has released the transcript of a Charlie Gibson sit-down interview airing tonight, and it must be said that our current president was, and remains, a very stupid man.
For example, he blames the current recession on "a lot of the decisions that were made on Wall Street took place over a decade or so, before I arrived in president." But now is a time to look forward. Is there a future for the man who wrecked our nation and the world? Yes, and his stupidity is what makes it work.
Take our advice and prosper, George; here are the five keys to the revival of your image [Here].
Monday, December 01, 2008
EARTH CHANGES
Government reversal on coal mines
There are plans to open more deep mines and extend the few we still have. But deep mines take years to develop and there is a much easier and quicker method of extracting the coal - opencast mining on the surface.
When the government came to power it called the huge excavations of opencast mines "too high a price to pay" in environmental terms.
But as the BBC's Panorama programme reports this week, Whitehall seems to have reversed that election promise and has been giving the go-ahead for more and more opencast mines.Friday, November 28, 2008
QUOTABLE QUOTES
Why is Alistair Darling quoting Guy Fawkes?
In recent weeks the line "exceptional times that required exceptional measures" has been delivered by his boss Gordon Brown. By Jose Manuel Barroso, the President of the European Commission. And by the governor of the Bank of England, Mervyn King.
It's a well-known phrase and the variations are plentiful. As well as exceptional, times are often desperate, drastic or extreme, and can require action as well as measures. We all get the drift, but where does the phrase come from?
In recent weeks the line "exceptional times that required exceptional measures" has been delivered by his boss Gordon Brown. By Jose Manuel Barroso, the President of the European Commission. And by the governor of the Bank of England, Mervyn King.
It's a well-known phrase and the variations are plentiful. As well as exceptional, times are often desperate, drastic or extreme, and can require action as well as measures. We all get the drift, but where does the phrase come from?
It was most famously used about the same time by a man who was not a fan of politicians - Guy Fawkes. He tried to wipe out King James I and his entire government by blowing up the Houses of Parliament.
TRUTH BE TOLD
Murdered journalist's children tell court of mother's fears
The son and daughter of slain investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya took the stand in her murder trial Thursday, and spoke about their mother's growing sense of threat in the days before her death.
"She warned me she had seen strange people hanging around outside the entrance of the apartment building that weren't there earlier, and told me to be cautious," said Politkovskaya's daughter Vera, who moved in with her mother about one week before she was killed.
The son and daughter of slain investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya took the stand in her murder trial Thursday, and spoke about their mother's growing sense of threat in the days before her death.
"She warned me she had seen strange people hanging around outside the entrance of the apartment building that weren't there earlier, and told me to be cautious," said Politkovskaya's daughter Vera, who moved in with her mother about one week before she was killed.
GENE GENIE
Genetically modified maize lowers fertility in mice, study finds
Feeding mice with genetically engineered maize developed by the US-based Monsanto corporation led to lower fertility and body weight, according to a study conducted by the University of Veterinary Medicine in Vienna presented Tuesday. In the study, mice fed with the NK603 x MON810 sweetcorn variety over a period of 20 weeks showed a smaller litter size and lighter offspring than mice fed with non-engineered maize.
The differences "were statistically significant in the third and fourth litters," according to an abstract of the study led by Professor Juergen Zentek and commissioned by Austria's Environment Ministry.
Feeding mice with genetically engineered maize developed by the US-based Monsanto corporation led to lower fertility and body weight, according to a study conducted by the University of Veterinary Medicine in Vienna presented Tuesday. In the study, mice fed with the NK603 x MON810 sweetcorn variety over a period of 20 weeks showed a smaller litter size and lighter offspring than mice fed with non-engineered maize.
The differences "were statistically significant in the third and fourth litters," according to an abstract of the study led by Professor Juergen Zentek and commissioned by Austria's Environment Ministry.
Sunday, November 23, 2008
EARTH CHANGES
Earth shattering dinosaur killer unearthed
Scientists have now discovered the ‘dinosaur extinction layer’ in Montana in the USA, which is a chocolate-coloured strip of rock containing millions of bones.
‘For 30 years, we’ve believed Earth was hit by a giant asteroid that created global warming and killed the dinosaurs, but scientists hadn’t, until now, found any evidence of this.
No one realised that over the millions of years since it hit, any traces would be covered in layers of rock.
Scientists have now discovered the ‘dinosaur extinction layer’ in Montana in the USA, which is a chocolate-coloured strip of rock containing millions of bones.
‘For 30 years, we’ve believed Earth was hit by a giant asteroid that created global warming and killed the dinosaurs, but scientists hadn’t, until now, found any evidence of this.
No one realised that over the millions of years since it hit, any traces would be covered in layers of rock.
Saturday, November 22, 2008
TRUTH BE TOLD
McCain addresses crowd as ‘my fellow prisoners.’
"Across this country, this is the agenda I have set before my fellow prisoners. And the same standards of clarity and candor must now be applied to my opponent."
This is the kind of mental mixup that really makes you wonder what is truly going on inside of John McCain's mind. Here he is, campaigning in Pennsylvania, accidentally calling Americans "my fellow prisoners".
Also worth noting is that the tickertape news at the bottom of the screen has the words "rounding up hundreds of Arabs" as he says the words "my fellow prisoners".
More here. Martial Law just rolls right off of McBush’s tongue and Pallid doesn’t bat an false eyelash…
Friday, November 21, 2008
TRUTH BE TOLD
McCain addresses crowd as ‘my fellow prisoners.’
"Across this country, this is the agenda I have set before my fellow prisoners. And the same standards of clarity and candor must now be applied to my opponent."
This is the kind of mental mixup that really makes you wonder what is truly going on inside of John McCain's mind. Here he is, campaigning in Pennsylvania, accidentally calling Americans "my fellow prisoners"
Extended video here.
Martial Law just rolls right off of McBush’s tongue and Pallid doesn’t bat an false eyelash…MATTER MATTERS
It's confirmed: Matter is merely vacuum fluctuations
Matter is built on flaky foundations. Physicists have now confirmed that the apparently substantial stuff is actually no more than fluctuations in the quantum vacuum.
The researchers simulated the frantic activity that goes on inside protons and neutrons. These particles provide almost all the mass of ordinary matter.
Each proton (or neutron) is made of three quarks - but the individual masses of these quarks only add up to about 1% of the proton's mass. So what accounts for the rest of it?
Friday, November 14, 2008
NANNY STATE
Children in artwork rules 'too restrictive'
Artists are warning that something as simple as street photography could die out under the Australia Council's proposed protocols for photographing children.
The rules require anyone who takes a picture of a child under the age of 15 to obtain permission from a parent or guardian. They are intended to protect the children.
But photographers and visual arts groups say the rules will restrict the work of documentary photographers who take spontaneous pictures in public places.
MILITARY INTELLIGENCE
Mystery of lost US nuclear bomb
The United States abandoned a nuclear weapon beneath the ice in northern Greenland following a crash in 1968, a BBC investigation has found.
Its unique vantage point - perched at the top of the world - has meant that Thule Air Base has been of immense strategic importance to the US since it was built in the early 1950s, allowing a radar to scan the skies for missiles coming over the North Pole.
The Pentagon believed the Soviet Union would take out the base as a prelude to a nuclear strike against the US and so in 1960 began flying "Chrome Dome" missions. Nuclear-armed B52 bombers continuously circled over Thule - and could head straight to Moscow if they witnessed its destruction.
Greenland is a self-governing province of Denmark but the carrying of nuclear weapons over Danish territory was kept secret.
OUR GALAXY
First pic of planet outside solar system
Astronomer Paul Kalas captured the first visible-light images of a planet some 25 light years from our solar system using a camera mounted on the Hubble telescope.
Likely similar in mass to Jupiter, the planet is orbiting the star Fomalhaut in the southern constellation Piscus austrinus at a distance of about four times the distance between Neptune and our sun, said the study's lead author Mr Kalas, with the University of California, Berkeley.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
BIG PHARMA
Prescription Drugs Kill 300 Percent More Americans Than Illegal Drugs
A report by the Florida Medical Examiners Commission has concluded that prescription drugs have outstripped illegal drugs as a cause of death.
An analysis of 168,900 autopsies conducted in Florida in 2007 found that three times as many people were killed by legal drugs as by cocaine, heroin and all methamphetamines put together.
According to state law enforcement officials, this is a sign of a burgeoning prescription drug abuse problem.
A report by the Florida Medical Examiners Commission has concluded that prescription drugs have outstripped illegal drugs as a cause of death.
An analysis of 168,900 autopsies conducted in Florida in 2007 found that three times as many people were killed by legal drugs as by cocaine, heroin and all methamphetamines put together.
According to state law enforcement officials, this is a sign of a burgeoning prescription drug abuse problem.
LOREM IPSUM
Lorem Ipsum - What does it all mean?
Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry's standard dummy text ever since the 1500s, when an unknown printer took a galley of type and scrambled it to make a type specimen book. It has survived not only five centuries, but also the leap into electronic typesetting, remaining essentially unchanged.
Contrary to popular belief, Lorem Ipsum is not simply random text. It has roots in a piece of classical Latin literature from 45 BC, making it over 2000 years old.
Lorem Ipsum comes from sections 1.10.32 and 1.10.33 of "de Finibus Bonorum et Malorum" (The Extremes of Good and Evil) by Cicero, written in 45 BC. This book is a treatise on the theory of ethics, very popular during the Renaissance.
Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry's standard dummy text ever since the 1500s, when an unknown printer took a galley of type and scrambled it to make a type specimen book. It has survived not only five centuries, but also the leap into electronic typesetting, remaining essentially unchanged.
Contrary to popular belief, Lorem Ipsum is not simply random text. It has roots in a piece of classical Latin literature from 45 BC, making it over 2000 years old.
Lorem Ipsum comes from sections 1.10.32 and 1.10.33 of "de Finibus Bonorum et Malorum" (The Extremes of Good and Evil) by Cicero, written in 45 BC. This book is a treatise on the theory of ethics, very popular during the Renaissance.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
LOOTING THE TREASURY
Fed Defies Transparency Aim in Refusal to Disclose
The Federal Reserve is refusing to identify the recipients of almost $2 trillion of emergency loans from American taxpayers or the troubled assets the central bank is accepting as collateral.
Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said in September they would comply with congressional demands for transparency in a $700 billion bailout of the banking system. Two months later, as the Fed lends far more than that in separate rescue programs that didn't require approval by Congress, Americans have no idea where their money is going or what securities the banks are pledging in return.
MARTIAL LAW
Space-Based Domestic Spying: Kicking Civil Liberties to the Curb
During Hurricane Ike, U.S. Customs and Border Protection for the first time flew the Predator B unmanned aerial vehicle in "support of the Federal Emergency Management Agency's relief efforts," the insider tech publication reported.
The Predator B carries out "targeted assassinations" of "terrorist suspects" across Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan. The deployment of the robotic killing machines in the United States for "disaster management" is troubling to say the least and a harbinger of things to come.
During Hurricane Ike, U.S. Customs and Border Protection for the first time flew the Predator B unmanned aerial vehicle in "support of the Federal Emergency Management Agency's relief efforts," the insider tech publication reported.
The Predator B carries out "targeted assassinations" of "terrorist suspects" across Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan. The deployment of the robotic killing machines in the United States for "disaster management" is troubling to say the least and a harbinger of things to come.
Monday, November 10, 2008
LOST IN TRANSLATION
'I am not in the office at the moment. Send any work to be translated'
E-mail error ends up on road sign
BBC news on 31 October had a story about a bilingual road sign in Swansea, South Wales. In English it reads "No entry for heavy goods vehicles. Residential site only."
Underneath, the text in Welsh is "Nid wyf yn y swyddfa ar hyn o bryd. Anfonwch unrhyw waith i'w gyfieithu", which may be translated as "I am not in the office at the moment. Send any work to be translated."
This was the text of an e-mail that came back from the translation service used by staff of Swansea council when a Welsh equivalent of the English sign was requested.
Sunday, November 09, 2008
RIGHT PRIORITIES
Firefighting system kills 20 but saves vessel
At least 20 people have died in an accident on a Russian nuclear submarine when a fire extinguishing system was activated by mistake.
At least 20 people have died in an accident on a Russian nuclear submarine when a fire extinguishing system was activated by mistake.
Russian Pacific Fleet spokesman Igor Dygalo said both sailors and shipyard workers died in the accident, which occurred during sea trials.
The dead were suffocated by freon gas, which is used to put out fires as it removes oxygen from the air.
Saturday, November 08, 2008
POT HOLE
Pot Wins in a Landslide
Michigan voters made their state the 13th to allow the medical use of marijuana by a whopping 63 percent to 37 percent, the largest margin ever for a medical marijuana initiative.
And by 65 percent to 35 percent, Massachusetts voters decriminalized the possession of up to an ounce of marijuana, replacing arrests, legal fees, court appearances, the possibility of jail and a lifelong criminal record with a $100 fine, much like a traffic ticket, that can be paid through the mail.
What makes these results so amazing is that they followed the most intensive anti-marijuana campaign by federal officials since the days of "Reefer Madness."
Marijuana arrests have been setting all-time records year after year, reaching the point where one American is arrested on marijuana charges every 36 seconds.
Michigan voters made their state the 13th to allow the medical use of marijuana by a whopping 63 percent to 37 percent, the largest margin ever for a medical marijuana initiative.
And by 65 percent to 35 percent, Massachusetts voters decriminalized the possession of up to an ounce of marijuana, replacing arrests, legal fees, court appearances, the possibility of jail and a lifelong criminal record with a $100 fine, much like a traffic ticket, that can be paid through the mail.
What makes these results so amazing is that they followed the most intensive anti-marijuana campaign by federal officials since the days of "Reefer Madness."
Marijuana arrests have been setting all-time records year after year, reaching the point where one American is arrested on marijuana charges every 36 seconds.
Friday, November 07, 2008
FOLDING STUFF
Mathematicians And Artists Use Algorithms To Make Complicated Paper Sculptures
Mathematicians design new figures in a traditional art form called origami, using modern techniques. Innovations developed in pursuit of the art find application in multiple fields, including applied mathematics and engineering. One application is the use of folding algorithms to pack air bags.
Mathematicians design new figures in a traditional art form called origami, using modern techniques. Innovations developed in pursuit of the art find application in multiple fields, including applied mathematics and engineering. One application is the use of folding algorithms to pack air bags.
Wednesday, November 05, 2008
FINAL SOLUTION
Beheaded after trying for asylum in Australia
AN AFGHAN asylum seeker rejected by Australia under the Howard government was tortured and beheaded by kidnappers less than four weeks ago in a province south of Kabul.
The man, Mohammed Hussain, was thrown down a well by gunmen, believed to be the Taliban. Then in front of onlookers including members of his family, the killers threw a hand grenade down the well and he was decapitated.
According to The Guardian Weekly, the response of the Howard Government's Immigration Minister Phillip Ruddock, then in charge of Australia's "Pacific Solution" was:
"The UN convention does not say you cannot be returned to a dangerous place".
Accounts of the killing were given to Phil Glendenning, director of the Edmund Rice Centre, this week. He told the Herald he has verified the events with four different sources in Afghanistan.
UFO FLAP
A huge, flat triangle-shaped craft apparently lifting a large, glowing object from a hill near Empire, Ohio.
Triangular craft picks up huge luminous ball-shaped object
Tim Comstock, Truck Driver, Waynesburg, Ohio: “... there was a very bright object just above the tree level. I can’t really say for sure what it was because I’ve never seen anything like it. It seemed self-luminescent. It was about the size of a large pickup truck and it was very bright whenever I looked at it. That’s really what caught my attention.
"It was a white light with a little bit of orange inside of it. It had a little bit of red and the shape just seemed so strange to me because it seemed like a biological shape. As I watched that shape, it was rising upward. As I looked above that, I saw a pattern of three bluish-colored lights. They weren’t flickering like a star. They were in some kind of sequence, but they were all in tune with each other. They were very large lights. They were definitely not stars.
"As the large white-orange object was rising up, it looked like it was going into the center of the triangle of blue lights. At first glance when I saw the triangle of lights and rising, glowing object, I could not process what was going on.
"As the white-orange object got closer to the triangle of lights, I could see from reflected light that the underside of the inside of the triangle pattern of blue lights was one object - one very, very large object. When I saw it with my naked eye, I saw the bottom of the craft and it looked like it was very flat. There might have been some features like whenever you crack open a piece of coal, there’s some crystalline structure to it. But beyond that, there was no visible doors or windows or anything like that.Tuesday, November 04, 2008
BIG BROTHER
Centrelink 'using casino records to dock pensions'
The Welfare Rights Centre in New South Wales says aged and disability pensioners are being unfairly targeted by Centrelink over money won at Sydney's Star City Casino.
"You walk in with $100 and you walk out with $100, you might have gone up and down through the whole day but each time you go up, that's what Centrelink counts as the income," centre director Maree O'Halloran says.
The Welfare Rights Centre in New South Wales says aged and disability pensioners are being unfairly targeted by Centrelink over money won at Sydney's Star City Casino.
"You walk in with $100 and you walk out with $100, you might have gone up and down through the whole day but each time you go up, that's what Centrelink counts as the income," centre director Maree O'Halloran says.
Monday, November 03, 2008
POLITICALLY INCORRECT
I thought I Saw a P***y Cat: iTunes censorship is bullshit
"I thought I Saw a P***y Cat - Danny Kaye" - iTunes' automatic profanity censor goes into overdrive.
Among the words that were rather inexplicably asterisked by the online music store were "hot", which became "h*t" in (Red Hot Chilli Peppers); "killer" which became "k****r" (Killer Queen); and "Johnny" which became J****y for Johnny Cash.
"I thought I Saw a P***y Cat - Danny Kaye" - iTunes' automatic profanity censor goes into overdrive.
Among the words that were rather inexplicably asterisked by the online music store were "hot", which became "h*t" in (Red Hot Chilli Peppers); "killer" which became "k****r" (Killer Queen); and "Johnny" which became J****y for Johnny Cash.
Friday, October 31, 2008
BIG BROTHER
Microsoft patents web moderator robots
“Microsoft has just been awarded a patent for technology designed to automatically detect and remove ‘undesired words or phrases’ from all manner of digital communications, ranging from YouTube broadcasts to internet chat and songs,” writes Mark Harris.
“Microsoft has just been awarded a patent for technology designed to automatically detect and remove ‘undesired words or phrases’ from all manner of digital communications, ranging from YouTube broadcasts to internet chat and songs,” writes Mark Harris.
According to Mr. Harris, Microsoft will release this technology to protect children, which is the usual explanation. “The patent describes a system that listens out for phonemes (word fragments) likely to be part of a "swearword".
If it thinks it hears a forbidden phrase, the software either fades out the offending syllables or simply replaces the "rude" word with a similar-sounding but clean alternative lifted from earlier speech without a second’s delay.”
Of course, defining “rude” will be left up to a corporate censor. It will not be limited to “explicit rap music.” It may very well include phrases such as “9/11 truth” and other political slogans at odds with the government.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
BIB BROTHER
Australia to implement mandatory internet censorship
AUSTRALIA will join China in implementing mandatory censoring of the internet under plans put forward by the Federal Government.The revelations emerge as US tech giants Google, Microsoft and Yahoo, and a coalition of human rights and other groups unveiled a code of conduct aimed at safeguarding online freedom of speech and privacy.
The government has declared it will not let internet users opt out of the proposed national internet filter.
The plan was first created as a way to combat child pronography and adult content, but could be extended to include controversial websites on euthanasia or anorexia.
AUSTRALIA will join China in implementing mandatory censoring of the internet under plans put forward by the Federal Government.The revelations emerge as US tech giants Google, Microsoft and Yahoo, and a coalition of human rights and other groups unveiled a code of conduct aimed at safeguarding online freedom of speech and privacy.
The government has declared it will not let internet users opt out of the proposed national internet filter.
The plan was first created as a way to combat child pronography and adult content, but could be extended to include controversial websites on euthanasia or anorexia.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
OUR SOLAR SYSTEM
It came from outer space
The telephones of neighbours and friends within a 250-kilometre radius south of Alice Springs began ringing to discuss the meteorite that had flashed through the dusk on Friday night.
"I was outside with the children when I noticed them looking up at the sky," said Nicole Buddle from Hugh River Farms.
"I looked up and saw this white magnesium flare with smoke swirling. It was hard to see against the setting sun."
She called neighbour Ross Morton 40 kilometres away. "He said he had been feeding the cats on the veranda and felt the roof shake."
Piecing together the sightings across the Northern Territory enabled Sergeant Johnsson to conclude the smoking flare across the sky was some type of meteorite. "It looks like it came in a westerly direction at great speed and came down sometime around 7pm," he said.
The meteor was spotted near where the Henbury Meteor struck 4700 years ago. That giant meteor was travelling at more than 40,000kmh when it disintegrated and hit Earth, creating 12 giant craters 145 kilometres south-west of Alice Springs.
The telephones of neighbours and friends within a 250-kilometre radius south of Alice Springs began ringing to discuss the meteorite that had flashed through the dusk on Friday night.
"I was outside with the children when I noticed them looking up at the sky," said Nicole Buddle from Hugh River Farms.
"I looked up and saw this white magnesium flare with smoke swirling. It was hard to see against the setting sun."
She called neighbour Ross Morton 40 kilometres away. "He said he had been feeding the cats on the veranda and felt the roof shake."
Piecing together the sightings across the Northern Territory enabled Sergeant Johnsson to conclude the smoking flare across the sky was some type of meteorite. "It looks like it came in a westerly direction at great speed and came down sometime around 7pm," he said.
The meteor was spotted near where the Henbury Meteor struck 4700 years ago. That giant meteor was travelling at more than 40,000kmh when it disintegrated and hit Earth, creating 12 giant craters 145 kilometres south-west of Alice Springs.
OUR SOLAR SYSTEM
Two-metre asteroid roars over Sudan
An asteroid that slammed into the Earth’s atmosphere over northern Sudan, designated 2008TC3, had been discovered just a day earlier.
This was the first time an object had been discovered before hitting the Earth. Astronomer Richard Kowalski discovered the asteroid with the 1.5 metre telescope of the Catalina Sky Survey. The survey operates from Mt Lemmon near Tuscon, Arizona and also has a component at Siding Spring, Australia.
An asteroid that slammed into the Earth’s atmosphere over northern Sudan, designated 2008TC3, had been discovered just a day earlier.
This was the first time an object had been discovered before hitting the Earth. Astronomer Richard Kowalski discovered the asteroid with the 1.5 metre telescope of the Catalina Sky Survey. The survey operates from Mt Lemmon near Tuscon, Arizona and also has a component at Siding Spring, Australia.
Soon after discovery other astronomers determined the path of the 2-metre-wide asteroid and determined that it was on a collision course with Earth.
In the 19 hours or so before 2008TC3 moved into the Earth’s shadow prior to impact 26 observatories around the globe provided an amazing 570 observations. These observations allowed the impact point to be determined to be over northern Sudan in Africa.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
HONORABLE DISCHARGE
Woman stoned to death for adultery
THOUSANDS gathered to witness 50 Somali men stone a woman to death after an Islamic court found her guilty of adultery, witnesses say.
Aisho Ibrahim Dhuhulow, who had been found guilty of extra-marital intercourse by a court in the southern port of Kismayo, was buried in the ground up to her neck while the men pelted her head with rocks, the witnesses said.The execution was carried out in one of the city's main squares.
The port of Kismayo was seized in August by a coalition of forces loyal to rebel leader Hassan Turki, and the Shebab, the country's main radical Islamist insurgent organisation.
The new administration began implementing a strict form of Sharia (Islamic law).
REALITY BITES
Meet the World's New Reserve Currency
"The harsh reality of the economic fallout isn't that Joe the plumber can't buy his business or that people's retirement funds are being lost or that unemployment is rising; the harsh reality is that people will die.
"The harsh reality of the economic fallout isn't that Joe the plumber can't buy his business or that people's retirement funds are being lost or that unemployment is rising; the harsh reality is that people will die.
Friday, October 24, 2008
PRESS FREEDOM
Australian press freedom crumbling
AUSTRALIA's media freedom is slipping because of its "outrageous" anti-terror laws and lack of protection for reporters' sources, experts say. Australia is ranked 28th in the annual Press Freedom Index released this week by the Paris-based Reporters Without Borders.
Australia's ranking is the same as last year's and puts it behind New Zealand (ranked 7th), the United Kingdom (23), Canada (13) and Scandinavian countries.
Iceland, Luxembourg and Norway were jointly named the nations with the most press freedom, while Eritrea was named as the country with the least media freedom.
Rupert Murdoch and wife Wendy Deng
The Mayne Report: Rupert ducks our questions
After twice promising to take general questions following his formal address, when the time came Rupert Murdoch promptly shut down the meeting without explanation. This still this hasn’t been reported in any News Corp newspaper throughout the world.
More on the Sun King: The New York Times is reporting that Rupert Murdoch has complained to the author of his upcoming biography -- a book called The Man Who Owns the News: Inside the Secret World of Rupert Murdoch -- that "it contains some extremely damaging misstatements of fact.
Murdoch's main complaint is that the book suggests he "is at times embarrassed by Fox News, which he owns ... and that he often shares 'the general liberal apoplexy,' as Mr. Wolff writes in the book, toward Fox News and its perceived conservative slant". Michael Wolff actually spent some 50 hours interviewing the mogul on the record.
AUSTRALIA's media freedom is slipping because of its "outrageous" anti-terror laws and lack of protection for reporters' sources, experts say. Australia is ranked 28th in the annual Press Freedom Index released this week by the Paris-based Reporters Without Borders.
Australia's ranking is the same as last year's and puts it behind New Zealand (ranked 7th), the United Kingdom (23), Canada (13) and Scandinavian countries.
Iceland, Luxembourg and Norway were jointly named the nations with the most press freedom, while Eritrea was named as the country with the least media freedom.
Rupert Murdoch and wife Wendy Deng
The Mayne Report: Rupert ducks our questions
After twice promising to take general questions following his formal address, when the time came Rupert Murdoch promptly shut down the meeting without explanation. This still this hasn’t been reported in any News Corp newspaper throughout the world.
More on the Sun King: The New York Times is reporting that Rupert Murdoch has complained to the author of his upcoming biography -- a book called The Man Who Owns the News: Inside the Secret World of Rupert Murdoch -- that "it contains some extremely damaging misstatements of fact.
Murdoch's main complaint is that the book suggests he "is at times embarrassed by Fox News, which he owns ... and that he often shares 'the general liberal apoplexy,' as Mr. Wolff writes in the book, toward Fox News and its perceived conservative slant". Michael Wolff actually spent some 50 hours interviewing the mogul on the record.
TURNING TIDE
Election: Scott McClellan Endorses Obama
The White House press secretary hinted he would do it in May, and now Scott McClellan has finally pulled the trigger, telling CNN's D.L. Hughley " I will be voting for Barack Obama... I am going to support the candidate that has the best chance for changing the way Washington works and getting things done."
This scenario looks familiar, and may presage more last-minute Obama endorsements to come.
The White House press secretary hinted he would do it in May, and now Scott McClellan has finally pulled the trigger, telling CNN's D.L. Hughley " I will be voting for Barack Obama... I am going to support the candidate that has the best chance for changing the way Washington works and getting things done."
This scenario looks familiar, and may presage more last-minute Obama endorsements to come.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
OBAMA BIN LADEN
Another October surprise?
"My money is on Osama Bin Laden popping back up with a hate video, just as he did the weekend before the 2004 election.
"That tape reminded the public that the country was still at risk from this sickening terrorist and that President Bush had kept us safe for the three years since the 11 September 2001 attacks."
While sophisticated analysts could explain that bin Laden released the tape just before the election because he hoped Bush would win (Bush was a better recruiting tool for Al Qaeda than a President Kerry would have been), none of that got through.
In this year's second debate, McCain said, "I know how" to find Bin Laden.
This should have led Obama to respond that if he knows how to catch him, he should have told his friend George Bush.
"My money is on Osama Bin Laden popping back up with a hate video, just as he did the weekend before the 2004 election.
"That tape reminded the public that the country was still at risk from this sickening terrorist and that President Bush had kept us safe for the three years since the 11 September 2001 attacks."
While sophisticated analysts could explain that bin Laden released the tape just before the election because he hoped Bush would win (Bush was a better recruiting tool for Al Qaeda than a President Kerry would have been), none of that got through.
In this year's second debate, McCain said, "I know how" to find Bin Laden.
This should have led Obama to respond that if he knows how to catch him, he should have told his friend George Bush.
ALL TERRORISTS NOW
'Jihad Jack' cleared of al-Qaida link
ACCUSED Australian terror supporter "Jihad" Jack Thomas has been found not guilty of accepting cash from the world's most infamous terror group. Thomas mouthed "thank you" to a jury after it found him not guilty of taking money from terror group al-Qaida this afternoon.
But the jury found him guilty of using a falsified passport.
Mr Thomas's family cried as the verdicts were handed down.
Joseph Terrence Thomas, 35, had pleaded not guilty to intentionally receiving funds from a terrorist organisation and using a falsified passport.
He was originally convicted on the same charges in 2006, but the Court of Appeal later quashed the conviction.
The appeal court later ruled there should be another trial based on fresh evidence contained in interviews Mr Thomas gave to the ABC's Four Corners program about his actions while in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
ACCUSED Australian terror supporter "Jihad" Jack Thomas has been found not guilty of accepting cash from the world's most infamous terror group. Thomas mouthed "thank you" to a jury after it found him not guilty of taking money from terror group al-Qaida this afternoon.
But the jury found him guilty of using a falsified passport.
Mr Thomas's family cried as the verdicts were handed down.
Joseph Terrence Thomas, 35, had pleaded not guilty to intentionally receiving funds from a terrorist organisation and using a falsified passport.
He was originally convicted on the same charges in 2006, but the Court of Appeal later quashed the conviction.
The appeal court later ruled there should be another trial based on fresh evidence contained in interviews Mr Thomas gave to the ABC's Four Corners program about his actions while in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
JANUARY SURPRISE
Biden: 'There’s going to be a crisis come along on the 21st or 22nd of January'
“Mark my words,” the Democratic vice presidential nominee warned at the second of his two Seattle fundraisers Sunday. “It will not be six months before the world tests Barack Obama like they did John Kennedy.
"The world is looking. We’re about to elect a brilliant 47-year-old senator president of the United States of America. Remember I said it standing here if you don’t remember anything else I said.
"Watch, we’re gonna have an international crisis, a generated crisis, to test the mettle of this guy.”
“Mark my words,” the Democratic vice presidential nominee warned at the second of his two Seattle fundraisers Sunday. “It will not be six months before the world tests Barack Obama like they did John Kennedy.
"The world is looking. We’re about to elect a brilliant 47-year-old senator president of the United States of America. Remember I said it standing here if you don’t remember anything else I said.
"Watch, we’re gonna have an international crisis, a generated crisis, to test the mettle of this guy.”
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
AGNOSTIC ATHEISTS
'No God' slogans for city's buses
Buses with the slogan "There's probably no God" could soon be running on the streets of London for four weeks.
Buses with the slogan "There's probably no God" could soon be running on the streets of London for four weeks.
The atheist posters are the idea of the British Humanist Association (BHA) and have been supported by prominent atheist Professor Richard Dawkins. The BHA planned only to raise £5,500, which was to be matched by Professor Dawkins, but it has now raised more than £36,000 of its own accord.
The slogan strangely uses the word probably: "There's probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life."ADVERT YOU EYES
Ban for Horlicks and noodle ads
An advert claiming that Horlicks makes children "taller, stronger and sharper" has been banned after it mistakenly was screened on British television.
The Advertising Standards Authority has also banned an advert for a brand of Nestle noodles which claimed to strengthen muscles and bones.
Both were meant to air in Bangladesh.
An advert claiming that Horlicks makes children "taller, stronger and sharper" has been banned after it mistakenly was screened on British television.
The Advertising Standards Authority has also banned an advert for a brand of Nestle noodles which claimed to strengthen muscles and bones.
Both were meant to air in Bangladesh.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
UFO DISCLOSURE
US pilot was ordered to shoot down UFO
Two US fighter planes were scrambled and ordered to shoot down a UFO over the English countryside during the Cold War, according to previously secret files which have been made public.
Two US fighter planes were scrambled and ordered to shoot down a UFO over the English countryside during the Cold War, according to previously secret files which have been made public.
One pilot said he was seconds away from firing 24 rockets at the object, which moved erratically and gave a radar reading like "a flying aircraft carrier".
The pilot, Milton Torres, now 77 and living in Miami, said the UFO spent periods motionless in the sky before reaching estimated speeds of more than 12,000 kph.
After the alert, a shadowy figure told Mr Torres he must never talk about the incident and he duly kept silent for more than 30 years.
His story was among dozens of UFO sightings in defence ministry files released at the National Archives in London.
NOTHING TO SEE. MOVE ALONG
Airliner had near miss with UFO
A passenger jet bound for Heathrow Airport had a near miss with a UFO, Ministry of Defence files reveal.
A passenger jet bound for Heathrow Airport had a near miss with a UFO, Ministry of Defence files reveal.
The captain of the Alitalia airliner shouted "Look out" to his co-pilot at the sight of a brown missile-shaped object shooting past them overhead.
Civil Aviation Authority and military investigations could not explain the 1991 incident near Lydd in Kent.
The unsolved close encounter features in UFO-related military documents made available by the National Archives.
After ruling out the object flying past the Alitalia jet being a missile, weather balloon or space rocket, the MoD closed the inquiry.
Nineteen files covering sightings between 1986 and 1992 are being made available online.
Friday, October 17, 2008
PLAGUE PROPORTIONS
Decon^3: Deconstructing and Decontextualizing Decontamination
Foucault described how authorities once used the specter of plague to justify draconian quieting of any civil unrest.
Just the mere mention of the word "plague" could be used for quarantine or forced mass evacuations. Forced evacuation to mass delousing centers, cleansing stations, or the like, has sometimes been used to remove undesirables from a given area. Even "ethnic cleansing" could fall under the domain of decontamination ("decon").
Foucault described how authorities once used the specter of plague to justify draconian quieting of any civil unrest.
Just the mere mention of the word "plague" could be used for quarantine or forced mass evacuations. Forced evacuation to mass delousing centers, cleansing stations, or the like, has sometimes been used to remove undesirables from a given area. Even "ethnic cleansing" could fall under the domain of decontamination ("decon").
Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government describes powers that responding agencies might desire:
- The authority to compel people to remain in one location or move to another, including temporary detention;
- The authority to use the military for domestic law enforcement, population control, and mass logistics;
- The authority to seize community or private property, such as hospitals, utilities, medicines, vehicles, or transit centers, or to compel the production of certain goods;
- The authority to compel individuals to undertake decontamination procedures, take medicines, or be quarantined;
- The authority to censor and control the media;
- The authority to liberalize standards for conducting searches and seizures;...
- The authority to waive regulatory requirements on the use of certain pharmaceuticals.
NUDE AND PRUDE
New airport body scanners spark privacy debate
The Government has defended controversial new airport body scanners as safe, but prominent civil libertarian Terry O'Gorman says the technology is an invasion of privacy.
A new millimetre wave radio frequency body scanner is being trialed at three major Australian airports. It does not use X-rays, but it does have "X-ray vision".
Using this technology, security officers can detect metal and plastic weapons and also they can see through your clothes.
The Government says it is very safe, but it is still controversial.
Mr O'Gorman, who heads the Council for Civil Liberties, says the technology is a "total invasion of privacy", allowing virtual strip searches and has overstepped the mark.
But the Government says this will not be allowed when the technology is used with the public.
"No images will be stored," the Office of Transport Security's Andrew Tongue said.
"Anybody but the person viewing the image is remote from where the person will be going through the body scanning, so they can't link in any way a person and their image.
[Not linking the image to an individual? Isn't that the whole point?]
Thursday, October 16, 2008
911 LIHOP
NSA Tapped 9/11 Hijackers' Phone Calls for 2 Years
The U.S. government heard the 9/11 plans from the hijackers' own mouth. The NSA was tapping the hijackers' phone calls inside the U.S.
Specifically, hijackers Khalid al-Mihdhar and Nawaf al-Hazmi lived in San Diego, California, for 2 years before 9/11. Numerous phone calls between al-Mihdhar and Nawaf al-Hazmi in San Diego and a high-level Al Qaeda operations base in Yemen were made in those 2 years.
The NSA had been tapping and eavesdropping on all calls made from that Yemen phone for years. So NSA recorded all of these phone calls. George Washington's Blog
The U.S. government heard the 9/11 plans from the hijackers' own mouth. The NSA was tapping the hijackers' phone calls inside the U.S.
Specifically, hijackers Khalid al-Mihdhar and Nawaf al-Hazmi lived in San Diego, California, for 2 years before 9/11. Numerous phone calls between al-Mihdhar and Nawaf al-Hazmi in San Diego and a high-level Al Qaeda operations base in Yemen were made in those 2 years.
The NSA had been tapping and eavesdropping on all calls made from that Yemen phone for years. So NSA recorded all of these phone calls. George Washington's Blog
CLOAK AND DAGGER
Politkovskaya murder trial starts in Russia
The trial of three men charged with involvement in the murder of prominent Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya has begun in Moscow. There are calls for the trial to be open to the public.
Ms Politkovskaya was an investigative journalist with Novaya Gazeta renowned for her reports from Chechnya. She was shot dead outside her Moscow apartment just over two years ago.
Three men are now on trial for their alleged involvement in her murder. But the judge has reportedly indicated this is to be a closed trial, because of secret material involved in the case.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
CREDIT CRUNCH
A £516 trillion derivatives 'time-bomb'
The complex and opaque derivatives markets in which these hedge funds played has been dubbed the world's biggest black hole because they operate outside of the grasp of governments, tax inspectors and regulators. They operate in a parallel, shadow world to the rest of the banking system. They are private contracts between two companies or institutions which can't be controlled or properly assessed.
It is also impossible to establish their worth – the $516 trillion number is actually only a notional one. In the mid-Nineties, Nick Leeson lost Barings £1.3bn trading in derivatives, and the bank went bust. In 1998 hedge fund LTCM's $5bn loss nearly brought down the entire system. In fragile times like this, another LTCM could have catastrophic results.
In the late 1990s when confidence was roaring in the midst of the dotcom boom, a small band of politicians, uncomfortable with the ease with which banks would be allowed to play in these burgeoning markets, were painted as Luddites failing to move with the times.
The derivatives market is worth more than $516 trillion, (£303 trillion), roughly 10 times the value of the entire world's output: it's been called the "ticking time-bomb".
It's a market in which the lead protagonists – typically aggressive, highly educated, and now wealthy young men – have flourished in the derivatives boom. But it's a market that is set to come to a crashing halt – the Great Unwind has begun.
The beginning of the end started for many hedge funds with the combination of diving market values and worried investors pulling out their cash for safer climes.
The complex and opaque derivatives markets in which these hedge funds played has been dubbed the world's biggest black hole because they operate outside of the grasp of governments, tax inspectors and regulators. They operate in a parallel, shadow world to the rest of the banking system. They are private contracts between two companies or institutions which can't be controlled or properly assessed.
It is also impossible to establish their worth – the $516 trillion number is actually only a notional one. In the mid-Nineties, Nick Leeson lost Barings £1.3bn trading in derivatives, and the bank went bust. In 1998 hedge fund LTCM's $5bn loss nearly brought down the entire system. In fragile times like this, another LTCM could have catastrophic results.
In the late 1990s when confidence was roaring in the midst of the dotcom boom, a small band of politicians, uncomfortable with the ease with which banks would be allowed to play in these burgeoning markets, were painted as Luddites failing to move with the times.
At the core of this market is the credit derivative swap, effectively an insurance policy against the default in the interest payment on a corporate bond. One doesn't even need to own the bond itself. It is like Joe Public buying an insurance policy on someone else's house and pocketing the full value if it burns down.
As markets slid into crisis, and banks and corporations began to default on bond payments, many of these policies have proved worthless.
UNDERCOVER POLICING
Jean Charles de Menezes, innocent, shot by police.
Menezes officer changed evidence
An investigation has begun after an officer admitted changing evidence during the inquest into the death of Jean Charles de Menezes.
The Special Branch officer, named as Owen, said he deleted a line from computer notes which quoted Deputy Assistant Commissioner Cressida Dick.
The Independent Police Complaints Commission said it would investigate.Brazilian Mr de Menezes, 27, was killed by police who mistook him for one of the failed 21 July 2005 bombers.
Monday, October 13, 2008
HUGE ERECTIONS
Saudi prince plans 1000-metre tower
Saudi Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal says he plans to build the world's tallest building in the city of Jeddah.
The tower will be more than a kilometre high at a cost of about $40 billion.
GENDER EQUALITY
Captain Hanadi Hindi, 27
First Saudi woman pilot to fly; driving still illegal
While the debate over whether Saudi women should be allowed to drive rages on, Captain Hanadi Hindi will soon become the first woman to fly a plane with the private fleet of a prince.
Hindi, 27, is preparing to take to the skies at a time when supporters and opponents of lifting the ban on women's driving in the conservative kingdom are still fighting it out in the local press.
"I never meant to be a pioneer. When I started learning to become a pilot, I did so for my father, who himself had aspired to be a pilot. I then got attached to flying," Hindi said by telephone from her home in Mecca.
Prince Al Walid Ben Talal's decision to make Hindi part of his private crew has drawn criticism from some conservative Muslim scholars, who object to any easing of constraints that bar Saudi women from mixing with men other than relatives or travelling without the authorisation of a male guardian.
Hindi said she was "not against" allowing women to drive because some women either cannot afford to employ drivers, which forces them to rely on public transport, or have no able-bodied men in their families to take them around. It would be good if women could get behind the wheel "with certain restrictions," such as granting that right only to women of middle age or more, she said.
POLICE STATE
Bush Plan For Martial Law - sheep led to slaughter
Under the heading of "civil disturbance planning," the U.S. military is training troops and police to suppress democratic opposition in America.
The master plan, Department of Defense Civil Disturbance Plan 55-2, is code-named, "Operation Garden Plot".
Originated in 1968, the "operational plan" has been updated over the last three decades, most recently in 1991, and was activated during the Los Angeles "riots" of 1992, and more than likely during the recent anti-WTO "Battle in Seattle".
...Equipped with flexible "military operations in urban terrain" and "operations other than war" doctrine, lethal and "less-than-lethal" high-tech weaponry, US "armed forces" and "elite" militarized police units are being trained to eradicate "disorder", "disturbance" and "civil disobedience" in America.
Further, it may very well be that police/military "civil disturbance" planning is the animating force and the overarching logic behind the incredible nationwide growth of police paramilitary units, a growth which coincidentally mirrors rising levels of police violence directed at the American people, particularly "non-white" poor and working people.
Frank Morales, "U.S. Military Civil Disturbance Planning: The War at Home," in Police State America, ed. Tom Burghardt, Toronto/Montreal: Arm The Spirit/Solidarity, 2002, P. 59
Under the heading of "civil disturbance planning," the U.S. military is training troops and police to suppress democratic opposition in America.
The master plan, Department of Defense Civil Disturbance Plan 55-2, is code-named, "Operation Garden Plot".
Originated in 1968, the "operational plan" has been updated over the last three decades, most recently in 1991, and was activated during the Los Angeles "riots" of 1992, and more than likely during the recent anti-WTO "Battle in Seattle".
...Equipped with flexible "military operations in urban terrain" and "operations other than war" doctrine, lethal and "less-than-lethal" high-tech weaponry, US "armed forces" and "elite" militarized police units are being trained to eradicate "disorder", "disturbance" and "civil disobedience" in America.
Further, it may very well be that police/military "civil disturbance" planning is the animating force and the overarching logic behind the incredible nationwide growth of police paramilitary units, a growth which coincidentally mirrors rising levels of police violence directed at the American people, particularly "non-white" poor and working people.
Frank Morales, "U.S. Military Civil Disturbance Planning: The War at Home," in Police State America, ed. Tom Burghardt, Toronto/Montreal: Arm The Spirit/Solidarity, 2002, P. 59
MILITARY INTELLIGENCE
Russia test fires long-range missile
President Dmitry Medvedev oversaw the test firing of an intercontinental Topol missile on Sunday and vowed to commission new generation weapons for Russia's armed forces.
A Reuters reporter said the truck-mounted Topol was fired in drizzling rain from the Plesetsk cosmodrome, which is nestled among the taiga forests of Russia's north.
Half an hour later it hit the Kura testing site, 6000 kilometres away on the Kamchatka peninsula in the Pacific.
"I have just been told that the dummy warhead has landed in Kura," Mr Medvedev said from the Topol launch pad where acrid smoke from the missile still hung thick in the air.
“The advanced Topol missile…has three cruise engines and can develop hypersonic speed. The high thrust-to-weight ratio allows the warhead to maneuver on the trajectory and pass through a dense air defense system.”
The RT-2UTTKh Topol-M (Russian: РТ-2УТТХ) is one of the most recent intercontinental ballistic missiles to be deployed by Russia and the first to be developed after the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
In its Russian designation РТ stands for Raketa Tverdotoplivnaya ("solid fuel rocket")
It has been assigned the NATO reporting name STALIN/DIA: SS-27. "Topol" in Russian means "poplar".
Saturday, October 11, 2008
IDENTITY HOLOCAUST
MoD computer hard drive missing
An investigation is under way into the disappearance of a computer hard drive which could contain the details of about 100,000 Armed Forces personnel.
An investigation is under way into the disappearance of a computer hard drive which could contain the details of about 100,000 Armed Forces personnel.
The hard drive was being held by EDS, which is the Ministry of Defence's main IT contractor. The MoD said it was told the drive was missing on Wednesday following a priority audit carried out by EDS. It is thought to contain more than 1.5m pieces of information, including the details of 600,000 potential recruits.
There may also be some personal information including bank and driving licence details, passport numbers, addresses, dates of birth and telephone numbers.
Friday, October 10, 2008
CLIMATE CHANGE
Nature loss 'dwarfs bank crisis'
The global economy is losing more money from the disappearance of forests than through the current banking crisis, according to an EU-commissioned study.It puts the annual cost of forest loss at between $2 trillion and $5 trillion.The figure comes from adding the value of the various services that forests perform, such as providing clean water and absorbing carbon dioxide.The study, headed by a Deutsche Bank economist, parallels the Stern Review into the economics of climate change.
The global economy is losing more money from the disappearance of forests than through the current banking crisis, according to an EU-commissioned study.It puts the annual cost of forest loss at between $2 trillion and $5 trillion.The figure comes from adding the value of the various services that forests perform, such as providing clean water and absorbing carbon dioxide.The study, headed by a Deutsche Bank economist, parallels the Stern Review into the economics of climate change.
Thursday, October 09, 2008
OUR SOLAR SYSTEM
Asteroid near-miss prompts calls for astronomy funding
Astronomers in Arizona reported seeing a tiny asteroid, which they described as a new but routine fast-moving object.
Scientists at the International Astronomical Union's Minor Planet Center (MPC) in Massachusetts had calculated the object was likely to pass within one Earth's radius of the centre of the planet.
That means it would have struck the surface of the Earth if had been big enough.
Astronomers in Arizona reported seeing a tiny asteroid, which they described as a new but routine fast-moving object.
Scientists at the International Astronomical Union's Minor Planet Center (MPC) in Massachusetts had calculated the object was likely to pass within one Earth's radius of the centre of the planet.
That means it would have struck the surface of the Earth if had been big enough.
Tuesday, October 07, 2008
WORDS OF GOD
The rival to the Bible
"When people ask me if the Bible is the word of God I answer 'which Bible?'" - Professor Bart Ehrman
For those who believe the Bible is the inerrant, unaltered word of God, there will be some very uncomfortable questions to answer. For 1500 years, the Codex Sinaiticus lay undisturbed in a Sinai monastery. It shows there have been thousands of alterations to today's bible.
The Codex contains two extra books in the New Testament. One is the little-known Shepherd of Hermas, written in Rome in the 2nd Century - the other, the Epistle of Barnabas. This goes out of its way to claim that it was the Jews, not the Romans, who killed Jesus, and is full of anti-Semitic kindling ready to be lit. "His blood be upon us," Barnabas has the Jews cry.
"When people ask me if the Bible is the word of God I answer 'which Bible?'" - Professor Bart Ehrman
For those who believe the Bible is the inerrant, unaltered word of God, there will be some very uncomfortable questions to answer. For 1500 years, the Codex Sinaiticus lay undisturbed in a Sinai monastery. It shows there have been thousands of alterations to today's bible.
The Codex contains two extra books in the New Testament. One is the little-known Shepherd of Hermas, written in Rome in the 2nd Century - the other, the Epistle of Barnabas. This goes out of its way to claim that it was the Jews, not the Romans, who killed Jesus, and is full of anti-Semitic kindling ready to be lit. "His blood be upon us," Barnabas has the Jews cry.
Friday, October 03, 2008
IGNOBLE LAUREATES
Spontaneous knotting ties up physics Ig Nobel prize
Physics, the Ig Nobels turned to US academics providing mathematical proof that hair, string, or anything else of the kind, will inevitably become tangled in knots - a process termed "spontaneous knotting of an agitated string".
Physics, the Ig Nobels turned to US academics providing mathematical proof that hair, string, or anything else of the kind, will inevitably become tangled in knots - a process termed "spontaneous knotting of an agitated string".
VOICE OF REASON
Cannabis less harmful than drinking, smoking: report
Cannabis is less harmful than alcohol or tobacco, according to a report by a research charity Thursday, which called for a "serious rethink" of drug policy.
The Beckley Foundation, a charity which numbers senior experts and other academics among its advisors, said banning cannabis has no impact on supply and turns users into criminals.
"Although cannabis can have a negative impact on health, including mental health, in terms of relative harms it is considerably less harmful than alcohol or tobacco," says the report by the Foundation's Global Cannabis Commission.
The government is pressing for cannabis to be re-classified in law as a Class B drug compared with its current, less serious, Class C classification.
Cannabis is less harmful than alcohol or tobacco, according to a report by a research charity Thursday, which called for a "serious rethink" of drug policy.
The Beckley Foundation, a charity which numbers senior experts and other academics among its advisors, said banning cannabis has no impact on supply and turns users into criminals.
"Although cannabis can have a negative impact on health, including mental health, in terms of relative harms it is considerably less harmful than alcohol or tobacco," says the report by the Foundation's Global Cannabis Commission.
The government is pressing for cannabis to be re-classified in law as a Class B drug compared with its current, less serious, Class C classification.
VOICE OR REASON
Is it time the world forgot about cannabis in its war against drugs?
A British think-tank has published a report for next year's United Nations Strategic Drug Policy Review, suggesting that a decriminalised, regulated market in cannabis would cause less harm than the prohibition of the drug currently in force across most of the world.
A British think-tank has published a report for next year's United Nations Strategic Drug Policy Review, suggesting that a decriminalised, regulated market in cannabis would cause less harm than the prohibition of the drug currently in force across most of the world.
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