AGAINST THE TIDE

23-year-old Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab.
(saharareporters.com)

Father warned US about plane bomb suspect's behaviour
The father of a Nigerian charged with trying to blow up a US jet on Christmas Day had voiced concerns to US officials about his son, it has emerged.The father, a top Nigerian banker, warned US authorities weeks ago about 23-year-old Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab's extreme views.
Officials in Washington, speaking on condition of anonymity, told news agencies that Mr Abdulmutallab's name had been added to a security watch-list of more than half a million individuals, known as Terrorist Identities Datamart Environment (Tide).

Homeland Stupidity
The single biggest worry that I have is long-term quality control,” said Russ Travers, in charge of TIDE at the National Counterterrorism Center in McLean.
”TIDE has also created concerns about secrecy, errors and privacy. The list marks the first time foreigners and U.S. citizens are combined in an intelligence database. The bar for inclusion is low, and once someone is on the list, it is virtually impossible to get off it. At any stage, the process can lead to “horror stories” of mixed-up names and unconfirmed information, Travers acknowledged.
"TIDE is a vacuum cleaner for both proven and unproven information, and its managers disclaim responsibility for how other agencies use the data. “What’s the alternative?” Travers said. “I work under the assumption that we’re never going to have perfect information — fingerprints, DNA — on 6 billion people across the planet. . . . If someone actually has a better idea, I’m all ears.” — Washington Post.

SEA OF CONSCIOUSNESS

Wilkins went somewhere far distant from Sherman, who, at intervals, was supposed to "see" and describe the locale of where Wilkins was, what he was doing, and what was going on around him.

Sherman recorded his telepathic impressions three nights a week, and promptly mailed copies of them to a Mr. Samuel Emery, identified as a "resident of the City Club of New York," and to Dr. Gardner Murphy at Columbia University. Sherman’s "impressions" were therefore in good hands long before any confirmation of them could be achieved.

Sherman’s success rate and the specificity of many of his hits was extraordinary.
In his introduction to the Studies in Consciousness reissue of the book, renowned remote viewer Ingo Swann said he’d been “amazed and staggered” by Sherman’s accomplishment, which he originally stumbled upon in a used book bin in 1970.


THOUGHTS THROUGH SPACE, Sherman, Wilkins. First published by Creative Age Press, New York, in 1942. A revised paperback edition was later published by Fawcett Publications, New York, 1971.]

Real Story: Chapter 55

TIMES NARROW

Image credit: cguu.com.

Physicist Proposes Solution to Arrow-of-Time Paradox

Entropy can decrease, according to a new proposal - but the process would destroy any evidence of its existence, and erase any memory an observer might have of it. It sounds like the plot to a weird sci-fi movie, but the idea has recently been suggested by theoretical physicist Lorenzo Maccone, currently a visiting scientist at MIT, in an attempt to solve a longstanding paradox in physics.

Loschmidt’s paradox:
1. Physics says universe is time-invariant. That is, laws still hold if time is reversed.
2. Second law of thermodynamics: entropy increases or is static but never decreases.

COP OUT

Eyewitness: How China sabotaged climate talks

"I am certain that had the Chinese not been in the room, we would have left Copenhagen with a deal that had environmentalists popping champagne corks in every corner of the world," he wrote in the The Guardian.
"The truth is this: China wrecked the talks, intentionally humiliated Barack Obama, and insisted on an awful 'deal' so Western leaders would walk away carrying the blame.

[ CENSORED ]

Computer says no: Google slams filter

In a post on Google Australia's official blog, the company said the plan raised concerns about censorship.

"At Google we are concerned by the Government's plans to introduce a mandatory filtering regime for Internet Service Providers (ISP) in Australia, the first of its kind amongst Western democracies," the post said.

"Our primary concern is that the scope of content to be filtered is too wide."

While Google accepted there must be some limits on internet content, it condemned the Government's filtering approach as heavy-handed.

THE QUICKENING

Climate changing faster than expected: scientists

Twenty six international scientists have collated the most recent data and observations, and they have found that climate change is accelerating beyond expectations.

Most of the 26 scientists are authors of reports published by the IPCC. They have updated the panel's latest scientific projections and their observations show an acceleration of change.

According to their research, the Arctic may be ice-free by the summer of 2030 and sea levels could reach the upper limit of 2 metres by the turn of the century.

www.copenhagendiagnosis.org

THE QUICKENING

Antarctic icesheet losing mass

A new study has found the east Antarctic icesheet, which sits behind Australia's Casey Station, has lost billions of tonnes of ice in the past three years.

Researchers from the University of Texas have been studying the ocean-icesheet interaction in Antarctica for the past seven years. They have found that since 2006, the east Antarctic icesheet is losing more ice than it is gaining.

THOSE CAZY ALIENS

Tutu-wearing Alien Spotted in Winchester

A UK councillor has had an out-of-this-world experience with a ‘ballerina-like alien’

He says he saw the ballerina-like alien under the city's Guildhall clock five years ago but has only now come clean about his strange encounter.
'It was staggering – I am not usually lost for words but I was that day,' he said.
She was a humanoid walking with a penguin-like gait. 'She had very large oval eyes and was twirling her hands in a circular motion. She was laughing and seemed to be enjoying herself. She was human enough to get away with it,' he added.
And the intrigue doesn't end there. Mr Hicks, who has spent £400 perfecting an artist's impression of the alien, believes she is linked to covert US and British military operations at a nearby base.

FIRST DROPS

Meteor lights up early morning sky

A fast-moving meteor lit up the night skies over most of Utah just after midnight Wednesday. Scientists are calling it a "remarkable midnight fireball." .


Spot the common theme in the following three flashbacks:

FLASHBACK - Nov 6 2009




Asteroid Flyby, Fireball over Utah, Meteor Shower

Asteroid 2009 VA flew past Earth at about 4.30pm. EST. It didn't disintegrate but it passed just 8700 miles (14,000 km) from our planet's surface -- slightly less than Earth's diameter. The space rock was discovered by the Catalina Sky Survey only some 15 hours before it approached us.

FLASHBACK - Mar 2009

Asteroid narrowly misses Earth

A 200-foot wide asteroid zoomed past Earth today at an altitude of 40,000 miles - swerving far enough from our planet to avoid total destruction, officials said.

Dubbed 2009 DD45, the large rock was discovered only Friday by Australian astronomers.

The enormous asteroid narrowly avoided a collision with Earth at 8:44 EST, officials said.

Although 40,000 miles sounds like a safe distance, it's only about one-seventh of the way to the moon and less than twice as far out as most satellites, astronomers said.

Had 2009 DD45 slammed down onto the Earth, it would have exploded with the force of a large nuclear blast

FLASHBACK - Jan 2002

Huge Asteroid Narrowly Misses Earth

An asteroid capable of causing widespread devastation narrowly missed the Earth on Monday. This asteroid known as 2001 YB5 was discovered on December 26-7, 2001.

Although the nearest the asteroid came to Earth was 390,000 miles (627,644 kilometers), had it arrived four hours earlier on its journey around the sun it would have scored a direct hit.

The asteroid, measuring 300 meters (984 feet) across, passed Earth at 7:37 a.m. For a moment, it was less than twice as far from Earth as is the Moon.

Scientists were unaware of its approach until a month ago, when it was spotted by an American observatory dedicated to tracking near-Earth objects (NEOs).

Astronomers insisted there was never any danger of a collision with Earth. But they warned that the asteroid was one of up to 400,000 small NEOs up to 1000 meters (3280 feet) wide that could strike Earth with little or no warning because of the absence of an adequate early-warning system.

FIRST DROPS

Another fiery meteorite

As forecasters predicted, the Leonid meteor shower peaked during the late hours of Nov. 17th, favoring sky watchers in Asia with an outburst of 100+ meteors per hour.
 Just as the outburst was dying down, an even bigger event took place over the western USA.
Something hit Earth's atmosphere and exploded with an energy equivalent of 0.5 to 1 kiloton of TNT.  Witnesses in Colorado, Utah, Idaho and elsewhere say the fireball "turned night into day" and "shook the ground" when it exploded just after midnight Mountain Standard Time.
Researchers who are analyzing infrasound recordings of the blast say the fireball was not a Leonid.
It was probably a small asteroid, now scattered in fragments across the countryside. Efforts are underway to measure the trajectory of the asteroid and guide meteorite recovery efforts.

MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE

John Muhammad, the Washington Sniper of 2002

Washington sniper is put to death

The man behind the 2002 sniper attacks in and near Washington DC is executed after a final appeal was thrown out.

Motive remains a mystery

"He showed no remorse at all that I've been able to see, from his arrest through the court proceedings. And I've had no reports at all of remorse in prison"

"I'm certain he would be back to killing people again if he had the opportunity."

Muhammad's former wife, Mildred, told BBC News that while he had been a soldier serving in Saudi Arabia, before the first Gulf War, his personality had undergone a powerful change.

"When he returned from Saudi Arabia… he was confused, puzzled, unsure of himself or his ability to do anything," she said. "And he was absolutely quiet."

Mildred added that she believed her ex-husband had intended to kill her as punishment for the break-up of their marriage and his estrangement from their children.

The other shootings, Mildred believes, were intended to disguise her murder, to make it appear random.

She said she had once heard John talk of the ability of an individual to terrorise a city.

"We were watching a movie, and he said, 'I could take a small city, terrorise it, they would think it was a group of people, but it would only be me'.

NOTHING NEW

The Sudden Birth of 2009 A/H1N1, aka Swine Flu

Influenza viruses are transmitted more easily in cold dry air*. Even if the current outbreaks in the northern hemisphere quiet down in the next weeks and months, some experts are concerned that the virus will produce epidemics in the southern hemisphere during winter (June through August), and then return with a vengeance to the northern hemisphere in its fall and winter seasons.

That’s exactly what happened in the pandemic of 1918-1919. However, that pattern doesn’t always happen: The swine flu outbreak that occurred at Fort Dix, New Jersey, in early 1976 did not return the next winter.
However, in anticipation that it would, 40 million people were immunized, and about 1 in 100,000 vaccinated people developed Guillain-Barré syndrome.

[* Didn't this one come from Mexico?]

CLOAK AND DAGGER

Web post by Fort Hood gunman Major Nidal Malik Hasan

It was reported that Major Hasan had come to the attention of the FBI after a user named NidalHasan posted on the Scribd.com website in May, comparing the actions of an American soldier who threw himself on a grenade in Iraq with those of Islamist suicide bombers. No action was taken against him.

CLOAK AND DAGGER

US officials identified the gunman as
Major Nidal Malik Hasan

Fort Hood shooter and the FBI

While few official details have been released about Hasan, his family and others have given some insight into the man accused of killing 13 people and wounded 38 others in Thursday's massacre at Fort Hood Army Post in Texas.

On a form for those looking for spouses through the mosque he listed his birthplace as Arlington, Virginia, but his nationality as Palestinian, Mr Khan said. - BBC

His aunt, Noel Hasan, said her nephew had been upset by the injuries he saw at Walter Reed (Medical Centre). "He must have snapped," she added.
Dr Thomas Grieger, who was training director at the centre while Maj Hasan was an intern there, said told AP that he had had "difficulties" that required counselling and extra supervision.

Ms Hasan said Maj Hasan had spent holidays and free time at her house, and that he "did not make many friends".

Nidal Hasan may have attended a lecture in January at George Washington University involving the Israeli ambassador to the United States and other officials discussing Israel's offensive into Gaza last winter. Video from the lecture shows a person who appears to be Hasan dressed in military fatigues seated in the audience taking notes.

INTERNET CONNECTION

A neighbor, Willie Bell, said Hasan had helped him set up his laptop and regularly tapped into Bell's wireless service.

Bell, a maintenance man at Fort Hood who didn't show up for work Thursday, said he was interviewed by the FBI for four hours that day and the laptop was seized. He said he received two calls from Hasan early Thursday, one at 2:37 a.m. asking Bell to turn on the wireless service and again at 5 a.m. to say he was moving.

One official was quoted by the New York Times as saying that the FBI had become aware of internet postings by a man calling himself Nidal Hasan.
In one such posting, the act of a suicide bomber who kills himself to protect Muslims was compared to a soldier throwing himself on a grenade to protect other soldiers.

However, officials said they had not confirmed that Maj Hasan was the author of the postings.

 BBC

TABLES TURNED

Police warned on social sites

SOUTH Australian police officers have been warned against using social networking sites, which could be used to provide confidential police information and an avenue to discredit officers in court.

A warning has been issued from the police union to members regarding their personal use of such networking sites as Facebook, RSVP.com.au and MySpace.

Police Association president Mark Carroll said those sites often inadvertently provided personal information, which could be accessed by criminals.

Mr Carroll also warned that in cases interstate and overseas, lawyers had used information posted on such sites to discredit the character of police as witnesses.

He said information posted could have a "devastating effect".

"The media and, indeed, criminals, use social internet sites to gather information on police officers, their families, friends and associates," he said.

Registering on such sites, he said, ran the risk of revealing private information about colleagues, potentially compromising safety, revealing confidential police information and revealing the identities of police working undercover "either now or in the future".

ASLEEP AT THE WHEEL

Would you hop onto a plane
if the pilot was snorting speed? [MAC]

The answer may well be YES!


Pilots Fell Asleep During Approach To Denver Iinternational

A commercial pilot and his first officer fell asleep while approaching Denver International Airport* in an A319 Airbus jet, going twice the allowed speed, according to a federal safety web site.

The incident, which occurred on March 4, 2004, was one of several incidents that was brought out during a congressional hearing on airline safety in Washington this week.
Rep. Bart Gordon , D-Tenn., wanted to know why this information was available on a public web site where pilots anonymously report the incidents themselves, while NASA wasn't willing to release it as part of a larger survey.

NTSB: Both Pilots Asleep on Hawaii Flight

The National Transportation Safety Board has confirmed an initial finding that the captain and first officer of a flight that overflew its destination in Hawaii inadvertently fell asleep while the plane was on autopilot.The NTSB on Monday issued its final report in the case of a 2008 go! airlines flight from Honolulu that overflew Hilo International Airport by 30 miles.

I wasn't asleep, says pilot who forgot to land

PREVIOUSLY: Oct 25, 2009

One of the pilots of a Northwest Airlines flight carrying 144 passengers that missed its destination of Minneapolis by 240 kilometres has denied he and the captain fell asleep at the controls.
First officer Richard Cole also denied they had an argument causing them to fly into the neighbouring state of Wisconsin before they turned around.
Air traffic controllers tried for more than an hour to contact the pilots.
Both were repeatedly called on their mobile phones and sent text messages but not until they were 240 kilometres past their destination did they respond.

Mr Cole would not say just what it was that led to them to forget to land but insisted they were not asleep or arguing.

The pilots have told authorities they were having a discussion.

This excuse however has prompted deep scepticism with the national transport safety board set to question them on Monday about whether they did fall asleep.

DENVER AIRPORT BUILT BY "NEW WORLD AIRPORT COMMISSION"




Denver Airport Underground base and weird murals

An African woman in colorful native garb; a Native American woman who's heritage the airport's art supposedly celebrates; a blonde girl with cupid bow lips, a Star of David on her chest and a bible in her hands. Each lay dead in open coffins for your viewing pleasure. A burning city, children sleeping on piles of bricks, a line of mourning women in rags with dead babies, limp in their arms. A huge, looming military figure in a gas mask brandishes a sword and machine gun. Part of an actual note written by a child interred in a Nazi death camp. Strange words embedded in the floor with no explanation about what they mean. Welcome to Denver Internatinal Airport!



Mustang
a 32-foot tall cast fiberglass sculpture by New Mexico artist Luis Jiménez, made its long-awaited debut at Denver International Airport. Mustang was one of the original public art commissions for DIA from 1993. The 9,000-pound sculpture was his masterpiece—by far the largest sculpture of the artists’ career. Tragically, Jiménez died while working on the sculpture, having completed the painting of the head of the horse. The final sanding and painting of Mustang was completed posthumously by his studio staff and family, along with professional lowrider/race-car painters Richard LaVato and Camillo Nuñez. Once the work was complete, the sculpture was shipped in three pieces to Kreysler and Associates in California. There, Mustang was finally assembled, reinforced and wrapped for shipment to its final home atop a windswept knoll between the inbound and outbound lanes of Peña Boulevard at DIA. The bright blue rearing mustang with gleaming red eyes was installed permanently on a windy morning, February 11, 2008.
http://www.denvergov.org/RecentInstallations/LuisJimenezMustangFebruary2008/tabid/428802/Default.aspx
"New World Airport Commission" - - Denver International Airport

STASI STATE

Dressed in old prison clothes, Carl-Wolfgang Holzapfel contemplates his cell

Reliving Stasi isolation - for art

The West German political activist had been demonstrating in East Berlin against the arrest of political prisoners and had suddenly become one himself.

He was locked up in a secret Stasi prison. He spent the next nine months in complete isolation, as his Stasi interrogators tried to break him. He was subjected to psychological torture.

Now Mr Holzapfel has returned to the former Berlin jail, Hohenschoenhausen, to relive his incarceration.

FIRST DROPS

Asteroid explosion over Indonesia raises fears about Earth's defences

An asteroid that exploded in the Earth’s atmosphere with the energy of three Hiroshima bombs this month has reignited fears about our planet’s defences against space impacts.

On 8 October, the rock crashed into the atmosphere above South Sulawesi, Indonesia. The blast was heard by monitoring stations 10,000 miles away, according to a report by scientists at the University of Western Ontario.
Scientists are concerned that it was not spotted by any telescopes, and that had it been larger it could have caused a disaster.
The asteroid, estimated to have been around 10 metres (30ft) across, hit the atmosphere at an estimated 45,000mph. The sudden deceleration caused it to heat up rapidly and explode with the force of 50,000 tons of TNT.

HIDDEN EVIDENCE

Ship built from 9/11 steel sets sail

A warship built with steel salvaged from the wreckage of the World Trade Centre has set sail for New York.
Its bow stem contains 7.5 tonnes of steel, salvaged from the rubble following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

[Many would still like to know why that twisted metal wasn't analysed forensically, as would have happened at any other similar air crash site. Instead, metal from the site was spirited away, melted down and co-opted for the glorious homeland's hearts and minds campaign.]

PORN & VIOLENCE

Pornography 'desensitised' teen rapist

The Northern Territory Supreme Court has heard a teenager who raped a 24-year-old woman had been surrounded by pornography, alcohol and drug abuse as a young child.
The 16-year-old boy pleaded guilty to raping the woman in an Alice Springs park in February.
The court heard he had been drinking with the woman as part of a larger group and convinced her to go for a walk.
He attacked her when she refused his advances.

Chief Justice Martin acknowledged the boy had been desensitised to violence, including sexual violence, as a young child, having watched pornography with his uncle as a six- or seven-year-old.

[Note that the judge says the boy was desensitised to violence through watching porn, not through watching Arnie flicks or Wrestle Mania. More likely he was desensitised to violence by being beaten and abused himself. Or perhaps he was born a psychopath.]