Falluja turns out to bury dead after US pullback
Victory, proclaimed by the people of Falluja when the American Marines who besieged and bombed them withdrew, often carries its own loss. With the fighting in the city mostly over, they are now free to bury their dead.
At a soccer stadium Monday, Iraqi youths dug trenches where they laid bodies freshly pulled from rubble in neighborhoods held by the Marines until a few days ago. The Marines have now pulled back to let an Iraqi force take over.
As plumes of dust and a fetid odor rose from the field, workers planted gravestones -- two and three to a grave, in the case of families -- marking the cost of a month of siege.
"I thank God for letting us stand up to the Americans, but it is also bitter," said Hamid Eisawy, whose daughter was among those killed in Golan neighborhood -- pounded by U.S. bombers last week. Residents were unable to retrieve the bodies until now.
Tuesday, May 04, 2004
TALIBAN IN SUITS
What do fundagelicals instinctively oppose?
What do fundagelicals instinctively oppose? Gay marriage, abortion, gun control, taxes, the UN (and the currently top-rated candidate for anti-Christ, Kofi Annan), withdrawal from Iraq, Michael Moore, Janet Jackson's left breast, etc. etc.
The US White House has recently been accused of inveighing (via NASA) against the movie The Day After Tomorrow because it narrates the wrong apocalypse: one caused by man-made global warming, that is, rather than God's white-hot rage against sinners. The apocalypse depicted in Tim LaHaye's Left Behind books is, we assume, the US government-approved version.
[View movie trailer for The Day After Tomorrow here.]
What do fundagelicals instinctively oppose? Gay marriage, abortion, gun control, taxes, the UN (and the currently top-rated candidate for anti-Christ, Kofi Annan), withdrawal from Iraq, Michael Moore, Janet Jackson's left breast, etc. etc.
The US White House has recently been accused of inveighing (via NASA) against the movie The Day After Tomorrow because it narrates the wrong apocalypse: one caused by man-made global warming, that is, rather than God's white-hot rage against sinners. The apocalypse depicted in Tim LaHaye's Left Behind books is, we assume, the US government-approved version.
[View movie trailer for The Day After Tomorrow here.]
Monday, May 03, 2004
HEARTS AND MINDS
The Proclamation of Baghdad made exactly 86 years before Gulf War II
"Our armies do not come into your cities and lands as conquerors or enemies, but as liberators. ... you people of Baghdad whose commercial prosperity and whose safety from oppression and invasion must ever be a matter of the closest concern."
The above proclamation [excerpt] was issued to the inhabitants of Baghdad on March 19, 1917, by Lieut. General Sir Stanley Maude, shortly after the occupation of the city by British forces.
"Our armies do not come into your cities and lands as conquerors or enemies, but as liberators. ... you people of Baghdad whose commercial prosperity and whose safety from oppression and invasion must ever be a matter of the closest concern."
The above proclamation [excerpt] was issued to the inhabitants of Baghdad on March 19, 1917, by Lieut. General Sir Stanley Maude, shortly after the occupation of the city by British forces.
Saturday, May 01, 2004
LIES ARE TRUTH
Wolfowitz miscalculates military deaths in Iraq
Deputy Defense Secretary Paul D. Wolfowitz, testifying Thursday before a congressional committee, drastically underestimated the number of U.S. military deaths in Iraq since the war began.
'It's approximately 500, of which -- I can get the exact numbers -- approximately 350 are combat deaths,' said Wolfowitz, one of the architects of the war.
According to the Pentagon, 724 U.S. troops had died in Iraq as of Thursday morning. Of those, 522 were combat deaths. That figure does not include U.S. civilian casualties.
Wolfowitz provided the erroneous figures while being questioned by Rep. Marcy Kaptur, D-Ohio, during a hearing by the House Appropriations subcommittee on foreign operations.
Deputy Defense Secretary Paul D. Wolfowitz, testifying Thursday before a congressional committee, drastically underestimated the number of U.S. military deaths in Iraq since the war began.
'It's approximately 500, of which -- I can get the exact numbers -- approximately 350 are combat deaths,' said Wolfowitz, one of the architects of the war.
According to the Pentagon, 724 U.S. troops had died in Iraq as of Thursday morning. Of those, 522 were combat deaths. That figure does not include U.S. civilian casualties.
Wolfowitz provided the erroneous figures while being questioned by Rep. Marcy Kaptur, D-Ohio, during a hearing by the House Appropriations subcommittee on foreign operations.
Friday, April 30, 2004
PROPAGANDA CENTRAL
Bush advisor spins a link between pro-choice and terrorism
KAREN HUGHES, PRESIDENT BUSH'S ADVISER: "I think the president gets far too little credit for what he has done for American women ... I think this president has a very strong record for women. I really believe the biggest issue for women this year is the safety and security of our families. And clearly, President Bush is leading the way to making the world safer and more peaceful. And that's the utmost important issue I think for women all across the country this year."
ON ABORTION: "I think after September 11th the American people are valuing life more and realizing that we need policies to value the dignity and worth of every life. And President Bush has worked to say, let's be reasonable, let's work to value life, let's try to reduce the number of abortions, let's increase adoptions.
And I think those are the kind of policies that the American people can support, particularly at a time when we're facing an enemy, and really the fundamental difference between us and the terror network we fight is that we value every life. It's the founding conviction of our country, that we're endowed by our creator with certain unalienable rights, the right to life and liberty and the pursuit of happiness."
KAREN HUGHES, PRESIDENT BUSH'S ADVISER: "I think the president gets far too little credit for what he has done for American women ... I think this president has a very strong record for women. I really believe the biggest issue for women this year is the safety and security of our families. And clearly, President Bush is leading the way to making the world safer and more peaceful. And that's the utmost important issue I think for women all across the country this year."
ON ABORTION: "I think after September 11th the American people are valuing life more and realizing that we need policies to value the dignity and worth of every life. And President Bush has worked to say, let's be reasonable, let's work to value life, let's try to reduce the number of abortions, let's increase adoptions.
And I think those are the kind of policies that the American people can support, particularly at a time when we're facing an enemy, and really the fundamental difference between us and the terror network we fight is that we value every life. It's the founding conviction of our country, that we're endowed by our creator with certain unalienable rights, the right to life and liberty and the pursuit of happiness."
Thursday, April 29, 2004
MILITARY INTELLIGENCE
US general suspended over Iraq prison abuse
The US Army confirmed the suspension of the general in charge of the US-run prison system in Iraq after US network CBS broadcast images of US troops mistreating Iraqi prisoners. Photographs aired by the network on 60 Minutes II include one showing a prisoner standing on a box with a hood over his head and wires coming from his hands. He was told he would be electrocuted if he fell off.
Other pictures show nude prisoners lying on each other and simulating oral sex as US troops point and laugh.
Deputy Chief of Military Operations in Iraq, General Mark Kimmitt said "we expect our soldiers to be treated well by the adversary, by the enemy... and if we can't hold ourselves up as an example of how to treat people with dignity and respect, we can't ask that other nations do that to our soldiers."
One of the six soldiers charged, Army Reserve Staff Sergeant Chip Frederick, posed for a photograph while sitting on top of a detainee, he was charged for striking detainees and ordering detainees to strike each other, among other things.
Frederick, a prison guard from Virginia in civilian life, blamed the problems at the prison on the atmosphere created by commanders.
The US Army confirmed the suspension of the general in charge of the US-run prison system in Iraq after US network CBS broadcast images of US troops mistreating Iraqi prisoners. Photographs aired by the network on 60 Minutes II include one showing a prisoner standing on a box with a hood over his head and wires coming from his hands. He was told he would be electrocuted if he fell off.
Other pictures show nude prisoners lying on each other and simulating oral sex as US troops point and laugh.
Deputy Chief of Military Operations in Iraq, General Mark Kimmitt said "we expect our soldiers to be treated well by the adversary, by the enemy... and if we can't hold ourselves up as an example of how to treat people with dignity and respect, we can't ask that other nations do that to our soldiers."
One of the six soldiers charged, Army Reserve Staff Sergeant Chip Frederick, posed for a photograph while sitting on top of a detainee, he was charged for striking detainees and ordering detainees to strike each other, among other things.
Frederick, a prison guard from Virginia in civilian life, blamed the problems at the prison on the atmosphere created by commanders.
WATCH THE SKIES
'Flying saucer' flap grips Iran, theories abound
Is Iran about to be invaded by little green men or are the Americans racing through the night sky in spaceships to spy on the Islamic Republic?
Flying saucer fever has gripped Iran after dozens of sightings in the last few days.
State television on Wednesday showed a sparkling white disc it said was filmed over Tehran on Tuesday night.
More colorful UFOs have been spotted beaming out green, red, blue and purple rays over the northern cities of Tabriz and Ardebil and in the Caspian Sea province of Golestan, the official IRNA news agency reported.
Newspapers and agencies reported people rushing out into the streets in eight towns on Tuesday night to watch a bright light dipping in and out of the clouds.
But Sa'dollah Nasiri-Qeydari, head of the Astronomical Society of Iran, told Reuters the stories were unfounded. "In my opinion, flying saucers do not exist," he said, insisting his telescopes would have picked up invaders from outer space. "The people who have seen these things are not experts - farmers, villagers and pilots," he added. He said what people reported was consistent with the planet Venus.
Is Iran about to be invaded by little green men or are the Americans racing through the night sky in spaceships to spy on the Islamic Republic?
Flying saucer fever has gripped Iran after dozens of sightings in the last few days.
State television on Wednesday showed a sparkling white disc it said was filmed over Tehran on Tuesday night.
More colorful UFOs have been spotted beaming out green, red, blue and purple rays over the northern cities of Tabriz and Ardebil and in the Caspian Sea province of Golestan, the official IRNA news agency reported.
Newspapers and agencies reported people rushing out into the streets in eight towns on Tuesday night to watch a bright light dipping in and out of the clouds.
But Sa'dollah Nasiri-Qeydari, head of the Astronomical Society of Iran, told Reuters the stories were unfounded. "In my opinion, flying saucers do not exist," he said, insisting his telescopes would have picked up invaders from outer space. "The people who have seen these things are not experts - farmers, villagers and pilots," he added. He said what people reported was consistent with the planet Venus.
CLOAK AND DAGGER
DOJ moves to prevent FBI whistelblower from giving a deposition in 911 suit
FBI whistleblower and former translator Sibel Edmonds, who has appeared on 60 MINUTES and recently been interviewed in many of the largest newspapers in the world has something to say. We know already that Senator Charles Grassley has found her credible and that she has charged the government with lying for stating that it had no knowledge of the possibility that Al Qaeda might use hijacked airliners as weapons against buildings. She was placed under a gag order restricting her from speaking with the press about that knowledge by John Ashcroft in October of 2002 and she has pushed the envelope of that order in a multitude of recent interviews. The government has just moved to keep Edmonds from giving a deposition in response to a subpoena.
White House seeks to limit damage from 911 testimony by Bush, Cheney
President George W. Bush, alongside Vice-President Dick Cheney, will meet in a private session with all 10 commission members at the White House Thursday morning, beginning at 9.30am. Members will be allowed to take notes but there will not be a stenographer present.
FBI whistleblower and former translator Sibel Edmonds, who has appeared on 60 MINUTES and recently been interviewed in many of the largest newspapers in the world has something to say. We know already that Senator Charles Grassley has found her credible and that she has charged the government with lying for stating that it had no knowledge of the possibility that Al Qaeda might use hijacked airliners as weapons against buildings. She was placed under a gag order restricting her from speaking with the press about that knowledge by John Ashcroft in October of 2002 and she has pushed the envelope of that order in a multitude of recent interviews. The government has just moved to keep Edmonds from giving a deposition in response to a subpoena.
White House seeks to limit damage from 911 testimony by Bush, Cheney
President George W. Bush, alongside Vice-President Dick Cheney, will meet in a private session with all 10 commission members at the White House Thursday morning, beginning at 9.30am. Members will be allowed to take notes but there will not be a stenographer present.
NEW WORLD ORDER
The Americans gave us the will to fight, says tribal leader
'The Americans gave us the will to fight when they showed us how barbaric they were. Fallujah does not deserve this barbarity. Where is the world community? Where is the Arab League? A thousand damnations on them. We will fight and we will die, alone if need be. This is the beginning of the end for the Americans and Israelis here.'
Other news from Falluja:
US defends its Falluja onslaught
Aircraft hammer Fallujah after dark; fighting near Najaf kills scores
Renewed assault on Iraqi city
'The Americans gave us the will to fight when they showed us how barbaric they were. Fallujah does not deserve this barbarity. Where is the world community? Where is the Arab League? A thousand damnations on them. We will fight and we will die, alone if need be. This is the beginning of the end for the Americans and Israelis here.'
Other news from Falluja:
US defends its Falluja onslaught
Aircraft hammer Fallujah after dark; fighting near Najaf kills scores
Renewed assault on Iraqi city
HEARTS AND MINDS
Burning with anger: Iraqis infuriated by new flag that was designed in London
For many Iraqis it was the final insult. Again and again they expressed outrage yesterday that Iraq's US-appointed and unelected leaders had, overnight, abolished the old Iraqi flag, seen by most Iraqis as the symbol of their nation, and chosen a new one.
'What gives these people the right to throw away our flag, to change the symbol of Iraq?' asked Salah, a building contractor of normally moderate political opinions. 'It makes me very angry because these people were appointed by the Americans. I will not regard the new flag as representing me but only traitors and collaborators.'
Fury over the flag highlights the extraordinary ability of US leaders and the Iraqi Governing Council to alienate ordinary Iraqis. And yesterday the flag was burnt in a demonstration of public anger.
Many Iraqis are convinced that their new flag is modelled on the Israeli flag. It is white with two parallel blue strips along the bottom representing the Tigris and Euphrates rivers with a yellow strip in between symbolising the Kurds. Above the stripes is a blue crescent to represent Islam.
Iraqis say the blue stripes are suspiciously like those on the Israeli flag. They also ask why the Kurds have a stripe in the new flag but not the 80 per cent of Iraqis who are Arabs. Could it be because the Kurds are the only Iraqi community fully supporting the US?
Wednesday, April 28, 2004
NEW WORLD ORDER Flashback ...
Crusade is a dirty word
President Bush talks of a 'crusade'. It's an unhappy word. All this started eight centuries ago when renascent Europe unleashed a colonialising campaign to reclaim the holy places. Venice and France were lead culprits. And this was when 'Islam' was first invented by the west as a single entity, as the face of the other which could be demonised. The security of emergent European states was consolidated by aggression and terrorism.
The Pentagon and the World Trade Centre were American holy places now desecrated. The language of a holy league comes easily to the great power, animated by a puritan sense that the world is divided between the light and the dark, between righteousness and wickedness. And that perception lies behind the instability of America's foreign policy, the violence of its oscillation in history between extremes of isolation and intervention.
Today we suffer the consequences not just of an 800-year-old crusading tradition but also an 80-year-old effect: the joint British-American dismantling of the Ottoman empire after the first world war.
President Bush talks of a 'crusade'. It's an unhappy word. All this started eight centuries ago when renascent Europe unleashed a colonialising campaign to reclaim the holy places. Venice and France were lead culprits. And this was when 'Islam' was first invented by the west as a single entity, as the face of the other which could be demonised. The security of emergent European states was consolidated by aggression and terrorism.
The Pentagon and the World Trade Centre were American holy places now desecrated. The language of a holy league comes easily to the great power, animated by a puritan sense that the world is divided between the light and the dark, between righteousness and wickedness. And that perception lies behind the instability of America's foreign policy, the violence of its oscillation in history between extremes of isolation and intervention.
Today we suffer the consequences not just of an 800-year-old crusading tradition but also an 80-year-old effect: the joint British-American dismantling of the Ottoman empire after the first world war.
OIL WARS
Drugged US troops laughing in the face of battle
Iraqi resistance fighters have noted that many of the American troops were laughing as they stormed into districts in al-Fallujah. The correspondent wrote that he saw two American soldiers laughing, such as to arouse pity for them, despite all the Resistance gunfire being poured at their position and their comrades dying around them. Both of the Americans were later killed in the battle.
The Mafkarat al-Islam correspondent writes that the Resistance learned later from interrogations of captured American Marines that the US military medical service distributes a type of halucinogenic pill to the troops that prompts laughter and reduces the sense of fear in combat conditions.
Iraqi resistance fighters have noted that many of the American troops were laughing as they stormed into districts in al-Fallujah. The correspondent wrote that he saw two American soldiers laughing, such as to arouse pity for them, despite all the Resistance gunfire being poured at their position and their comrades dying around them. Both of the Americans were later killed in the battle.
The Mafkarat al-Islam correspondent writes that the Resistance learned later from interrogations of captured American Marines that the US military medical service distributes a type of halucinogenic pill to the troops that prompts laughter and reduces the sense of fear in combat conditions.
OUR SOLAR SYSTEM
'Weird' meteorite may be from Mars moon
A unique meteorite that fell on a Soviet military base in Yemen in 1980 may have come from one of the moons of Mars. Several meteorites from the Red Planet have been found on Earth, but this could be the only piece of Martian moon rock.
Andrei Ivanov, who is based at the Vernadsky Institute of Geochemistry and Analytical Chemistry in Moscow, Russia, spent two decades puzzling over the fist-sized Kaidun meteorite before he decided that it must be a chip off Phobos, the larger of the two Martian moons. "I can't find a better candidate," Ivanov told New Scientist.
A unique meteorite that fell on a Soviet military base in Yemen in 1980 may have come from one of the moons of Mars. Several meteorites from the Red Planet have been found on Earth, but this could be the only piece of Martian moon rock.
Andrei Ivanov, who is based at the Vernadsky Institute of Geochemistry and Analytical Chemistry in Moscow, Russia, spent two decades puzzling over the fist-sized Kaidun meteorite before he decided that it must be a chip off Phobos, the larger of the two Martian moons. "I can't find a better candidate," Ivanov told New Scientist.
Tuesday, April 27, 2004
CLOAK AND DAGGER
Another 'hijacker' flight trainer crashes
Yesterday Rudi Dekkers was lucky to survive after his helicopter crashed into a river in Florida -- just 24 hours after AP reported he was about to be arrested by the State Attorney's Office on felony fraud charges. That was the second air crash involving owners of flight schools which trained 9/11 hijackers.
There is a chill wind blowing. Not just because it was the coldest day of the year in Southwest Florida on Friday, but because somebody may be cleaning up a few loose ends from the 9/11 terror attack: the man who ran Huffman Aviation -- the flight school which trained Mohammed Atta -- crashed his FH-1100 helicopter into an ice-cold Caloosahatchee River.
[On July 5, 2002 Arne Kruithof, another Dutchman and owner of Florida Flight Training had another lucky escape when a private plane nose-dived to earth after taking off from the Venice Airport. Mechanical failure was believed to be responsible. There seemed to be a great deal of haste in clearing the wreckage. "The plane was almost immediately dragged off to be compacted even though the FAA hadn't yet determined the cause for the crash," one local aviation observer said.
Kruithof's school trained Siad Al Jarrah, who was on the aircraft which crashed in Pennsylvania on 9th September 2001.]
Yesterday Rudi Dekkers was lucky to survive after his helicopter crashed into a river in Florida -- just 24 hours after AP reported he was about to be arrested by the State Attorney's Office on felony fraud charges. That was the second air crash involving owners of flight schools which trained 9/11 hijackers.
There is a chill wind blowing. Not just because it was the coldest day of the year in Southwest Florida on Friday, but because somebody may be cleaning up a few loose ends from the 9/11 terror attack: the man who ran Huffman Aviation -- the flight school which trained Mohammed Atta -- crashed his FH-1100 helicopter into an ice-cold Caloosahatchee River.
[On July 5, 2002 Arne Kruithof, another Dutchman and owner of Florida Flight Training had another lucky escape when a private plane nose-dived to earth after taking off from the Venice Airport. Mechanical failure was believed to be responsible. There seemed to be a great deal of haste in clearing the wreckage. "The plane was almost immediately dragged off to be compacted even though the FAA hadn't yet determined the cause for the crash," one local aviation observer said.
Kruithof's school trained Siad Al Jarrah, who was on the aircraft which crashed in Pennsylvania on 9th September 2001.]
NEW WORLD ORDER
Little old lady pepper-sprayed, dropped and repeatedly stun-gunned by Portland cops
She was 71 years old. She was blind. She needed her 94-year-old mother to come to her rescue.
And in the middle of the dogfight -- in which Eunice Crowder was pepper-sprayed, Tasered and knocked to the ground by Portland's courageous men in blue -- the poor woman's fake right eye popped out of its socket and was bouncing around in the dirt.
Worried a city employee was hauling away a family heirloom, a 90-year-old red toy wagon, she had the nerve to feel her way toward the trailer in which her yard debris was being tossed. Enter the police. Eunice, who is hard of hearing, ignored the calls of Officers Robert Miller and Eric Zajac to leave the trailer. When she tried, unsuccessfully, to bite the hands that were laid on her, she was knocked to the ground and was pepper-sprayed in the face with such force that her prosthetic marble eye was dislodged. As she lay on her stomach, she was Tased four times with Zajac's electric stun gun.
And when Nellie Scott, Eunice's mother, tried to rinse out her daughter's eye with water from a two-quart Tupperware bowl, what does Miller do? According to Ernie Warren Jr., Eunice's lawyer, the cop pushed 94-year-old Nellie up against a fence and accused her of planning to use the water as a weapon.
Police Chief Derrick Foxworth said "This did not turn out the way we wanted it to ... But I feel we need to recognize Ms. Crowder has some responsibility. She contributed to the situation".
[This week, Portland city agreed to settle Ms. Crowder's excessive force lawsuit out of federal court. More ...]
We are not the enemy
Man sentenced to 37 months for "Burning bush" comment
She was 71 years old. She was blind. She needed her 94-year-old mother to come to her rescue.
And in the middle of the dogfight -- in which Eunice Crowder was pepper-sprayed, Tasered and knocked to the ground by Portland's courageous men in blue -- the poor woman's fake right eye popped out of its socket and was bouncing around in the dirt.
Worried a city employee was hauling away a family heirloom, a 90-year-old red toy wagon, she had the nerve to feel her way toward the trailer in which her yard debris was being tossed. Enter the police. Eunice, who is hard of hearing, ignored the calls of Officers Robert Miller and Eric Zajac to leave the trailer. When she tried, unsuccessfully, to bite the hands that were laid on her, she was knocked to the ground and was pepper-sprayed in the face with such force that her prosthetic marble eye was dislodged. As she lay on her stomach, she was Tased four times with Zajac's electric stun gun.
And when Nellie Scott, Eunice's mother, tried to rinse out her daughter's eye with water from a two-quart Tupperware bowl, what does Miller do? According to Ernie Warren Jr., Eunice's lawyer, the cop pushed 94-year-old Nellie up against a fence and accused her of planning to use the water as a weapon.
Police Chief Derrick Foxworth said "This did not turn out the way we wanted it to ... But I feel we need to recognize Ms. Crowder has some responsibility. She contributed to the situation".
[This week, Portland city agreed to settle Ms. Crowder's excessive force lawsuit out of federal court. More ...]
We are not the enemy
Man sentenced to 37 months for "Burning bush" comment
PROPAGANDA CENTRAL
Sacked for photo Americans weren't meant to see
Last Sunday a newspaper in Seattle, Washington, published a rare photograph of soldiers' coffins, each of them containing the body of an American who had died in Iraq. The coffins, each draped with the Stars and Stripes, had been loaded into the back of a cargo aircraft for a final journey to the US, where they would be buried. There were at least 18 of them in the picture, which was taken by a 50-year-old civilian contractor, Tami Silicio. On Wednesday Ms Silicio was sacked from her job, for taking the photograph and sharing it with news organizations.
Citizens, politicians and soldiers are squaring off over pictures of flag-draped coffins coming home from Iraq.
[The leaking of photos that "Americans were not meant to see", will prompt an unprecedented number to find such images. These arouse subtle "patriotic" emotion that help sell the rulers' control myths to the populace.]
Last Sunday a newspaper in Seattle, Washington, published a rare photograph of soldiers' coffins, each of them containing the body of an American who had died in Iraq. The coffins, each draped with the Stars and Stripes, had been loaded into the back of a cargo aircraft for a final journey to the US, where they would be buried. There were at least 18 of them in the picture, which was taken by a 50-year-old civilian contractor, Tami Silicio. On Wednesday Ms Silicio was sacked from her job, for taking the photograph and sharing it with news organizations.
Citizens, politicians and soldiers are squaring off over pictures of flag-draped coffins coming home from Iraq.
[The leaking of photos that "Americans were not meant to see", will prompt an unprecedented number to find such images. These arouse subtle "patriotic" emotion that help sell the rulers' control myths to the populace.]
MILITARY INTELLIGENCE
Robots may fight for the army
Robots, called small unmanned ground vehicles, or SUGVs, will detect the presence of chemical and biological weapons, identify targets for artillery and infantrymen, and ferret out snipers hiding inside urban buildings. Today, humans mainly perform these tasks, often becoming the first casualties of battle while looking for snipers or explosives.
Soldiers in the future, the Army hopes, will be able to pull SUGVs from their backpacks and drop the robots through the windows of buildings where enemies may be hiding.
Robots, called small unmanned ground vehicles, or SUGVs, will detect the presence of chemical and biological weapons, identify targets for artillery and infantrymen, and ferret out snipers hiding inside urban buildings. Today, humans mainly perform these tasks, often becoming the first casualties of battle while looking for snipers or explosives.
Soldiers in the future, the Army hopes, will be able to pull SUGVs from their backpacks and drop the robots through the windows of buildings where enemies may be hiding.
Sunday, April 25, 2004
DID YOU KNOW
Formaldehyde Facts
Formaldehyde is found virtually everywhere, indoors and out, naturally occurring and man-made.
It is a combustion product found in cigarette and wood smoke, natural gas, kerosene, exhaust from automobiles, incinerators and power plants.
It is also widely used in building materials especially glue, Urea-formaldehyde foam insulation and pressed-wood products such as plywood, particle board, paneling and wood finishes.
Many floor coverings contain formaldehyde such as carpet as well as furnishings.
Also used in paper products, cosmetics, deodorants, shampoos, fabric dyes and permanent-press fabrics, inks, and disinfectants. Another common place to find formaldehyde that seems out of place is in products that are supposed to make our homes smell better such as air and carpet deodorizers.
Mobile homes, motor homes, and travel trailers are known for high amounts of formaldehyde since so many of their components may be made from particle board or pressed-wood products.
The number of products that contain formaldehyde are as astounding as it is depressing.
Formaldehyde is found virtually everywhere, indoors and out, naturally occurring and man-made.
It is a combustion product found in cigarette and wood smoke, natural gas, kerosene, exhaust from automobiles, incinerators and power plants.
It is also widely used in building materials especially glue, Urea-formaldehyde foam insulation and pressed-wood products such as plywood, particle board, paneling and wood finishes.
Many floor coverings contain formaldehyde such as carpet as well as furnishings.
Also used in paper products, cosmetics, deodorants, shampoos, fabric dyes and permanent-press fabrics, inks, and disinfectants. Another common place to find formaldehyde that seems out of place is in products that are supposed to make our homes smell better such as air and carpet deodorizers.
Mobile homes, motor homes, and travel trailers are known for high amounts of formaldehyde since so many of their components may be made from particle board or pressed-wood products.
The number of products that contain formaldehyde are as astounding as it is depressing.
Saturday, April 24, 2004
CASHLESSNESS
Chip implant gets cash under your skin: mark of the beast?
Applied Digital Solutions of Palm Beach, Fla., is hoping that Americans can be persuaded to implant RFID chips under their skin to identify themselves when going to a cash machine or in place of using a credit card. The surgical procedure, which is performed with local anesthetic, embeds a microchip, which some manufacturers have managed to shrink to half the size of a grain of sand.
They listen for a radio query and respond by transmitting a unique ID code, typically a 64-bit identifier yielding about 18 thousand trillion possible values. Most RFID tags have no batteries. They use the power from the initial radio signal to transmit their response.
When embedded in human bodies, RFID tags raise unique security concerns. First, because they broadcast their ID number, a thief could rig up his or her own device to intercept and then rebroadcast the signal to an automatic teller machine. Second, sufficiently dedicated thieves may try to slice the tags out of their victims.
ADS is running a special promotion urging Americans to "get chipped." The first 100,000 people to sign up will receive a $50 discount.
Thursday, April 22, 2004
OUR ALIEN MASTERS
Aboriginal woman puts curse on PM
An Aboriginal woman clad in possum skins put a traditional curse on Australian Prime Minister John Howard on Tuesday, apparently in retaliation for government plans to abolish Australia's top indigenous elected body.
Howard encountered the woman on a visit to Colac, an outback town with 500 people in the state of Victoria. Supporters turned up to greet the prime minister along with angry Aboriginal protesters and the woman, known only as Moopor.
Painted in traditional tribal makeup and wearing possum skins, Moopor stood silently and cast the curse by pointing an inch-long bone at Howard as he climbed into a waiting car. Howard smiled and waved at Moopor before leaving.
[Traditional Aborigines believe that when a tribal Gadicha Man points a bone at someone it places a curse strong enough to cause death. Such is the effect of social excommunication.]
An Aboriginal woman clad in possum skins put a traditional curse on Australian Prime Minister John Howard on Tuesday, apparently in retaliation for government plans to abolish Australia's top indigenous elected body.
Howard encountered the woman on a visit to Colac, an outback town with 500 people in the state of Victoria. Supporters turned up to greet the prime minister along with angry Aboriginal protesters and the woman, known only as Moopor.
Painted in traditional tribal makeup and wearing possum skins, Moopor stood silently and cast the curse by pointing an inch-long bone at Howard as he climbed into a waiting car. Howard smiled and waved at Moopor before leaving.
[Traditional Aborigines believe that when a tribal Gadicha Man points a bone at someone it places a curse strong enough to cause death. Such is the effect of social excommunication.]
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