MEDIA MATTERS

Hacked to death

EVIDENCE BULLDOZED

Israeli military withheld evidence over Corrie’s

The family of Rachel Corrie, the US activist killed in Gaza while protesting against house demolitions in 2003, yesterday claimed the Israeli military authorities withheld video evidence during the Corries’ civil lawsuit and misled US officials on crucial details.
Craig Corrie, Rachel’s father, told a press conference in Jerusalem that the footage from a surveillance camera near the scene of his daughter’s death submitted to the court was incomplete. Additional video material obtained by the family showed Rachel’s body in a different spot to the place identified by some military commanders, he said.
He also alleged that the Israeli military had misled US officials on the position of Rachel’s body when she was killed.
Rachel, from Olympia, Washington state, was killed while attempting to protect the home of a Palestinian family in the Rafah area of Gaza from being demolished by Israeli troops in March 2003. Her family and other activists who witnessed the incident say she was crushed by an Israeli army bulldozer.

FLASHBACK

DEFINE: AMERICA

From where does the name "America" originate?

It is an irony of history that the name "America" did not come from Christopher Columbus. That distinction belongs to a German geographer. In fact America was named after Amerigo Vespucci, a 15th century Florentine merchant who owned a business in Seville, Spain, furnishing supplies for ships, preparing them for mercantile expeditions.

EARLY NERDS

BOMB SQUAD

Moldovan police seize enriched uranium

Authorities in Moldova detained six men and seized a quantity of Russian-enriched uranium valued at nearly $29 million.

The six men are accused of trying to sell at least a kilo to a Muslim national from an unnamed African country.

The container, 20cm long and 40cm in diameter, contained uranium-235, which can be used in nuclear weapons.

[The uranium is therefore worth about $1.5million per litre.]

ITS ELEMENTARY

Two new elements added to periodic table

Two new elements are being added to the periodic table after they were discovered through a collaboration between U.S. and Russian scientists, a top U.S. chemistry expert said.

The elements are the first to be added since copernicium in 2009. They have not yet been named, but are known for now as 114 and 116.

HACKING ... COUGH!

RSA offers to replace all SecurID tokens after hack attack

"We recognize that the increasing frequency and sophistication of cyber attacks generally, and the recent announcements by Lockheed Martin, may reduce some customers' overall risk tolerance," RSA wrote in a letter posted on its website.

A 'very serious' attack: SecurID tokens use a "two-factor" authentication method, meaning they require two separate, unique bits of secret data for a successful login. In addition to their username, users must enter a password or PIN number that they have memorized, plus the six-digit number currently displayed on their SecurID. The tokens display a new number every 60 seconds.

"This is a very serious hack," said Josh Daymont, principal at Securisea. "It's not known exactly what was compromised, but SecurIDs control a significant portion of access [for corporate America]. It's not just Lockheed that should be concerned."

INDIGO CHILD

Jacob Barnett, 12, is working on his ''expanded version of Einstein's theory of relativity'.

Boy with higher IQ than Einstein develops his own theory of relativity


A 12-year-old child prodigy has astounded university professors after grappling with some of the most advanced concepts in mathematics.
Jacob Barnett has an IQ of 170 - higher than Albert Einstein - and is now so far advanced in his Indiana university studies that professors are lining him up for a PHD research role.

The boy wonder, who taught himself calculus, algebra, geometry and trigonometry in a week, is now tutoring fellow college classmates after hours.

COGITO ERGO SUM

"...if we conceive the world in that vast extension you give it, it is impossible that man conserve himself therein in this honorable rank, on the contrary, he shall consider himself along with the entire earth he inhabits as in but a small, tiny and in no proportion to the enormous size of the rest. He will very likely judge that these stars have inhabitants, or even that the earths surrounding them are all filled with creatures more intelligent and better than he, certainly, he will lose the opinion that this infinite extent of the world is made for him or can serve him in any way."

(Åckerman, 30. Kristina to Descartes)

Kristina Wasa, Queen of Sweden (1626-1689) 

NU CLEAR DAYS

Fukushima: Mark 1 Nuclear Reactor Design Caused GE Scientist To Quit In Protest


Thirty-five years ago, Dale G. Bridenbaugh and two of his colleagues at General Electric resigned from their jobs after becoming increasingly convinced that the nuclear reactor design they were reviewing -- the Mark 1 -- was so flawed it could lead to a devastating accident.

Questions persisted for decades about the ability of the Mark 1 to handle the immense pressures that would result if the reactor lost cooling power, and today that design is being put to the ultimate test in Japan. Five of the six reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi plant, which has been wracked since Friday's earthquake with explosions and radiation leaks, are Mark 1s.

CASHLESSNESS

Gold-coloured carbon transistors on the surface of a $5 dollar note.

Radio tags to track cash


Bootleggers could be left out in the cold as authentic goods and cash are tagged with tiny radio frequency identity (RFID) chips. Unless, that is, the criminals find a way to fake the tags as well.

HEADLINE NEWS

Surviving decapitation


You’ve daubed some graffiti on Robespierre’s door or burnt down the Reichstag. You are quickly sentenced and out you walk ‘one fine morning’ to the place of justice. But what happens when the guillotine blade or the Prussian axe comes down on your neck? Does consciousness cease immediately? When the executioner picks up your head to show it to the crowd do you actually see the rabble jeering?


Your thoughts?

THE DARKNESS

Bill Zeller was a talented programmer. He took his own life on Sunday and left an explanation. Zeller was a victim of sexual and psychological abuse. It's clear from his writing that the abuse left him unable to interface with the world in any way that didn't leave him feeling he was too sullied to have the same experiences that he thought others had. He had a self-described "darkness", which despite his prostration it's clear he handled more ably than perhaps he ever realized. Programming was a solace, but only temporarily. Zeller never felt he could escape the things that had happened to him because he carried his torment with him everywhere.





The Agonizing Last Words of Programmer Bill Zeller

Bill Zeller

I have the urge to declare my sanity and justify my actions, but I assume I'll never be able to convince anyone that this was the right decision. Maybe it's true that anyone who does this is insane by definition, but I can at least explain my reasoning. I considered not writing any of this because of how personal it is, but I like tying up loose ends and don't want people to wonder why I did this. Since I've never spoken to anyone about what happened to me, people would likely draw the wrong conclusions.
My first memories as a child are of being raped, repeatedly. This has affected every aspect of my life. This darkness, which is the only way I can describe it, has followed me like a fog, but at times intensified and overwhelmed me, usually triggered by a distinct situation.

AWKWARD SEGUE

Police Segways fall foul of NZ law

Police in a New Zealand town have been forced to resume foot patrols after their futuristic Segway scooters were deemed illegal, local media reports.

The two-wheeled scooters use gyroscopes and computers to remain upright and can reach speeds of up to 20 kilometres per hour.
Inspector Steve Bullock said they had proven popular with the community."They are a novel vehicle, I would liken them to a modern-day horse because they engender curiosity and people want to talk to you about them, which is what we want as a police organisation," he told NZPA.
"We want to be more engaged with our community and be approachable and be a person rather than just a blue shirt."

The millionaire British owner of the firm that makes the scooters, Jimi Heselden, died in an accident last September when he rode one over a cliff and into a river.

WHAT'S IN A NAME

Jared Lee (Loner) Loughner ... obviously a terrorist.

What makes Arizona's killer just a loner, not a terrorist?

Did you know that Jared Lee Loughner, the suspect in the Arizona shooting spree that left six dead and 14 wounded, including the US congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, had speculated beforehand on YouTube whether he would be labelled a "terrorist"? He needn't have worried. Loughner has yet to be described in such terms by the authorities or the media. "Loner"? Yes. "Extremist"? Yes. Terrorist? No.

PRIME CONSCIOUSNESS

Life is Religion

Life is religion.
Life experiences reflect how one interacts with God.
Those who are asleep are those of little faith in terms of their interaction with the creation.
Some people think that the world exists for them to overcome or ignore or shut out.
For those individuals, the world will cease.
They will become exactly what they give to life.
They will become merely a dream in the 'past'.
People who pay strict attention to objective reality right and left, become the reality of the 'Future'.

Cassiopaeans, 28 September, 2002

GUN NUTS

Sarah Palin's PAC Puts Gun Sights On Democrats She's Targeting In 2010



Shot Congresswoman Was In Sarah Palin's 'Crosshairs'

Gabrielle Giffords, The Arizona congresswoman shot outside a Tucson Safeway, was featured on Sarah Palin's infamous 'crosshairs' map, which targeted legislators who voted for Obama's health care bill.
The map that was criticized as an incitement to violence?


FLASHBACK: March 25, 2010.
Ms Giffords talks about the consequences of Palin's incitement to violence.

OUR ALIEN MASTERS

Habib drops torture case against Government

Former Guantanamo Bay detainee Mamdouh Habib has agreed to drop his lawsuit against the Australian Federal Government for being complicit in his torture while he was detained by the US.

"In reaching this settlement, the Government acted in the best interests of the commonwealth to avoid further protracted litigation and to enable our agencies to focus on their core responsibilities of protecting our national security," a spokesman said.


FLASHBACK: January 28, 2005

Downer defends Habib detention


Foreign Minister Alexander Downer has defended the three-year detention of Mamdouh Habib, who returned to Australia today from the US military camp at Guantanamo Bay.
Asked whether Mr Habib deserved compensation for his detention without charge, Mr Downer said: "No, I definitely don't".
"We have not a skerrick of evidence that any Australian has been involved in abusing Mr Habib.
"We've told the Americans we will provide appropriate security for Australian people," Mr Downer said.

FLASHBACK: January 31, 2008

Official denies witnessing Habib torture

An Australian consular official has denied claims he was present while former Guantanamo Bay inmate Mamdouh Habib was allegedly being tortured in Pakistan.
Mr Habib claims he was detained and interrogated at the Australian High Commission in the Pakistani capital Islamabad.

OUR ALIEN MASTERS

Spankin' Sarah Palin: A clown short of a circus

If anything is a threat to the national security of the United States of America, it is this screaming, unrefined oaf with as much class as a searing release of flatulence followed by hysterical giggling at a state banquet. Is this what the people of the USA deserve?

EARTH CHANGES

Shift of Earth's magnetic north pole impacts airport

Because of the movement of the Earth's magnetic pole – at nearly 40 miles a year toward Russia – because of magnetic changes in the core of the planet Tampa International Airport has been required to redesignate runway directions.
The airport closed its primary runway to repaint the numeric designators at each end and change taxiway signage to account for the shift in location of  magnetic north.
The main runway will be re-designated 19R/1L on aviation charts. It's been 18R/36L, indicating its alignment along the 180-degree approach from the north and the 360-degree approach from the south.