Archive for January, 2010
Don’t Hold Your Breath: Financial Crisis Inquiry Report Due Out in December?!?
Via The Daily Show:
Watch out, Wall Street, the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission is going to be writing a report that is due in December.
‘Space Diver’ to Attempt First Supersonic Freefall
Charles Q Choi writes in New Scientist:
A “space diver” will try to smash the nearly 50-year-old record for the highest jump this year, becoming the first person to go supersonic in freefall. The stunt could help engineers design escape systems for space flights.
On 16 August 1960, US Air Force Captain Joe Kittinger made history by jumping out of a balloon at an altitude of some 31,333 metres. “I stood up and said a prayer and stepped off,” he recalled.
Since then, many have tried to break that record but none have succeeded — New Jersey native Nick Piantanida actually died trying in 1965. Now Austrian skydiver Felix Baumgartner has announced he will make the attempt, with help from Kittinger and sponsorship from the energy drink company Red Bull.
Baumgartner, who became the first person to cross the English Channel in freefall in 2003, will be lofted to a height of 36, 575…
UFO’s and the National Security State – The Black Fridays
The Black Fridays – Episode 6: Richard Dolan
Website • iTunes • Direct Download • RSS
The Black Fridays is happy to have Richard Dolan on the show. Rich is one of the foremost experts in ufology and as published what could be the definitive work on the subject from an historical perspective. UFOs and the National Security State: An Unclassified History, 1941-1973 (a 2 edition work) and The Cover-Up Exposed, 1973-1991 deal with how UFOs and their cover up by the government has affected policy. Rich is currently working on Volume 3 of this extensive trilogy.
Google Removes Encyclopedia Dramatica Link
From ZDNET Australia:
Google has agreed to remove from its search index links to a satirical website that allegedly promotes racist views of indigenous Australians.
Aboriginal man Steve Hodder-Watt recently discovered the US-based site by searching “Aboriginal and Encyclopedia” in the search engine. He tried to modify the entry on Encyclopedia Dramatica, a satirical version of Wikipedia, but was blocked from doing so.
Encyclopedia Dramatica describes itself as a satirical version of Wikipedia.
Hodder-Watt then undertook legal action, that resulted in Google removing the offensive site from its listings. However the site itself remains available by navigating directly to it.
His lawyer, George Newhouse, said the site was “one of the most offensive sorts of racial vilification you could possibly find”. “It portrays indigenous Australians in the most unsavoury light possible, and you wouldn’t want a child stumbling across it,” he told ABC Radio.
[Read more at ZDNET Australia]
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Astronauts Finally Get Internet Access in Space
From The Miami Herald:
In a high tech first — really, really high — astronauts in space finally have Internet access.Space station resident Timothy (TJ) Creamer had been working with flight controllers to establish Internet access from his orbital post ever since he moved in last month. On Friday, his effort paid off. He posted the first live Twitter post truly from space.
“Hello Twitterverse!” he wrote. “We r now LIVE tweeting from the International Space Station – the 1st live tweet from Space! : ) More soon, send your ?s”
Before, orbiting astronauts had to send such Twitter updates by e-mail to Mission Control in Houston. Then controllers posted the tweets.
The International Space Station crew can now use an on-board laptop to reach a desktop computer at Mission Control, and thereby browse the Web. This remote Internet access is possible whenever there is a solid high-speed communication link.
It’s expected to provide a…
Muscling Latin America
From The Nation:
In September Ecuador’s president, Rafael Correa, delivered on an electoral promise and refused to renew Washington’s decade-old, rent-free lease on an air base outside the Pacific coast town of Manta, which for the past ten years has served as the Pentagon’s main South American outpost. The eviction was a serious effort to fulfill the call of Ecuador’s new Constitution to promote “universal disarmament” and oppose the “imposition” of military bases of “some states in the territory of others.” It was also one of the most important victories for the global demilitarization movement, loosely organized around the International Network for the Abolition of Foreign Military Bases, since protests forced the US Navy to withdraw from Vieques, Puerto Rico, in 2003. Correa, though, couldn’t resist an easy joke. “We’ll renew the lease,” he quipped, “if the US lets us set up a base in Miami.”
Funny. Then Washington answered with a…
Robert Gates Confirms What U.S. Government Has Denied for Months: Blackwater Is in Pakistan
From Alternet:
No sooner did Defense Secretary Gates admit during a visit to Islamabad that Blackwater is in the country, than the Pentagon rushed to “clarify” his remarks.
On Thursday, Defense Secretary Robert Gates confirmed that Blackwater is operating in Pakistan. In an interview on Express TV, Gates, who was visiting Islamabad, said, “They [Blackwater and another private security firm, DynCorp] are operating as individual companies here in Pakistan,” according to a DoD transcript of the interview. “There are rules concerning the contracting companies. If they’re contracting with us or with the State Department here in Pakistan, then there are very clear rules set forth by the State Department and by ourselves.”
Today, the country’s senior minister for the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP), Bashir Bilour, also acknowledged that the company is operating in Pakistan’s frontier areas. Bilour told Pakistan’s Express News TV that Blackwater’s activities were taking place with the “consent and permission”…
Boy, 7, Drove Off to Avoid Church
From UPI:
Authorities in Utah said a 7-year-old boy jumped behind the wheel of his family’s car and led police on a chase because he didn’t want to go to church.The Weber County Sheriff’s Office said they received a call about a child driving recklessly at about 9 a.m. Sunday in Plain City and two deputies pursued the vehicle as it drove through red lights and stop signs before stopping in the driveway of the boy’s family home, the Ogden (Utah) Standard-Examiner reported Wednesday.
Weber County Sheriff’s Capt. Klint Anderson said the boy ran inside the home and deputies followed only to discover the boy’s father had not realized the car was gone.
“They had to explain to him they had chased his car,” Anderson said. “The father confronted the kid, and the boy straight-up admitted he had driven it. When asked why he took the car, he said he didn’t want to…
Anthrax Outbreak Cases Reach 15
From BBC News:
A further case of anthrax has been confirmed in a drug user in Scotland bringing the total number of cases in this outbreak to 15.
The new case of the potential killer was confirmed to have taken place in the NHS Ayrshire and Arran area.
So far, the number of anthrax related deaths stands at seven with cases confirmed in six NHS boards.
Investigations are continuing into whether contaminated heroin or a cutting agent may be responsible.
Dr Colin Ramsay, consultant epidemiologist at Health Protection Scotland, said: “Heroin users all across Scotland need to be aware of the risk that their supply may be contaminated.
Hoofed animals
“They should seek medical advice urgently if they experience signs of infection such as redness and swelling of an infection site or high fever.
“I would urge all drug users to stop using heroin immediately and contact local drug services for support.”
[Read more at BBC News]
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The United Nations’ Global Tax Plan
Remembering, please, that this story is coming from FOX News, could these proposed taxes really be the beginning of one world governance?
A member of a World Health Organization (WHO) panel of experts that is pondering new global taxes on e-mails, alcohol, tobacco, airline travel and consumer bank transactions, has charged that she was given only selective information at group meetings, that deliberations were rushed and that group was “manipulated” by the international pharmaceuticals industry.
All of her charges were strongly denied by the head of WHO’s Expert Working Group on Research and Development Financing (EWG), a 25-member panel of medical experts, academics and health care bureaucrats which is due to present a 98-page report in Geneva on Monday, after 14 months of deliberations on “new and innovative sources of funding” to reshape the global medical industry.
A copy of the executive summary of the report was obtained by Fox News on January 15…
From Spas to Banks, Mexico Economy Rides on Drugs
From Reuters:
At a modern factory in a city whose main claim to fame is an image of the Virgin Mary revered for granting miracles, Mexican pharmaceuticals firm Grupo Collins churns out antibiotics and other medicines.
But the United States contends that the company in Zapopan is not what it seems. The U.S. Treasury put Grupo Collins on a black list in 2008, saying the firm supplies a small drug cartel in western Mexico with chemicals needed to make methamphetamines.
Grupo Collins, which has denied any connection to organized crime, is one of dozens under suspicion of laundering money for the nation’s booming drug business, whose growing economic impact now pervades just about every level of Mexican life.
Mexican cartels, which control most of the cocaine and methamphetamine smuggled into the United States, bring an estimated $25 billion to $40 billion into Mexico from their global operations every year.
To put that in perspective: Mexico…
Stolen Auschwitz Sign Returned to Museum
From Yahoo News:
The infamous “Arbeit Macht Frei” sign stolen last month from Auschwitz and broken into three pieces was returned to the museum at the site of the Nazi death camp Thursday.Police — who had quickly recovered the damaged sign after its theft — gave it to museum officials at a brief ceremony in Krakow. It was then taken to the museum 50 miles (80 kilometers) away, where conservation experts examined the three dark steel pieces of the sign, whose cynical Nazi slogan means “Work Sets You Free.”
Thieves had cut up the sign at the site of the death camp the night of their heist to make it easier to transport in their getaway car.
Five Polish suspects have confessed to stealing it on Dec. 18. However, officials are still seeking a suspected neo-Nazi from Sweden who is believed to have ordered the theft, possibly for a collector of Nazi memorabilia, prosecutors…
EFF: Court Ruling Means ’Surveillance of Americans Immune from Review’
From The Raw Story:
A US District Court judge in San Francisco has dismissed a lawsuit brought against the US government by individuals who say their rights were infringed by the National Security Agency’s warrantless wiretapping program.The Electronic Frontier Foundation, a privacy watchdog that participated in the lawsuit, described the judge’s ruling as declaring “that mass surveillance of Americans is immune from judicial review.”
Nine plaintiffs — five customers of telecom companies from California and four others from Brooklyn — had sued the NSA arguing that their rights had been infringed by the wiretapping program, which potentially could have spied on anyone in the United States.
“This ruling robs innocent telecom customers of their privacy rights without due process of law,” EFF legal director Cindy Cohn said in a statement. “Setting limits on executive power is one of the most important elements of America’s system of government, and judicial oversight is a critical…
New Chupacabra Revealed as a Montauk Monster
From LiveScience:
Workers at a golf course in Runaway Bay, an hour north of Fort Worth, Texas, recently found what they thought might be the carcass of the vampire beast “el chupacabra.” The strange dog-like animal was mostly hairless, with tan-brown skin. It didn’t look like anything the men had ever seen before. Was it the legendary goat-sucker, the bloodthirsty Hispanic version of Bigfoot?
As it turns out, no. Jennifer Barrow, a biologist with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, examined the carcass and noted that the teeth, skull, and feet all matched a raccoon. It’s not clear why the animal lost its fur, though there are several diseases that can cause hair loss.
This is not the first time that a hairless raccoon has been (initially) misidentified as a monster. The so-called “Montauk Monster” was a strange creature that supposedly washed ashore on a beach in Montauk, New York, in July 2008.…
Death and Necromancy
The Infinite and the Beyond: Episode #010: Death and Necromancy
Website • iTunes • Direct Download • RSS
What does it mean to truly die and what how do those in our lives, past and present, effect our existence? In this extra long episode of The Infinite and the Beyond we talk about death, the greatest rite of passage of them all by addressing its meaning and reality as well as how it affects the meaning of life.
We talk to Ray Sette about being a Psychic Astrologer. We discuss his experiences with the paranormal, death, the afterlife, as well as the current pop culture frenzy surrounding December 21, 2012.
We learn about occult history’s dynamic duo, Dr. John Dee and Sir Edward Kelley, as well as their most influential contribution to western esotericism, Enochian Magic, in A Corner in the Occult.
I read listener email and we find out which two lucky listeners won the goathead wall plaques from Episode #008 – That Old Black Magick. I share some personal stories regarding my experiences with death and medical cadavers.
And to close we discuss necromancy, Spiritualism, ouija boards, electronic voice phenomena (EVP), and I play and breakdown one of my favorite EVPs that I’ve recorded over the years.
To message the show please visit the contact page of the show website.
Why The End Of Air America Is Not The End Of Liberal Talk Radio
Steve Carney dissects what went wrong at Air America and what it means for progressive talk in the Los Angeles Times:
Coming only two days after the Republicans’ upset U.S. Senate victory in Massachusetts, the sudden demise of the Air America radio network — after a protracted illness — left liberals reeling and conservatives gloating over the failure of their competing ideology’s highest profile outlet.
But the end of Air America is not the end of liberal talk radio, nor should it be, according to observers.
“The only thing they did that was outstanding — boy, did they get a lot of PR,” said Michael Harrison, publisher of Talkers magazine, a trade journal of the talk-radio industry.
“The thing that was so maddening about Air America’s original programming — and they squandered their initial capital and their initial publicity — [was that] all you heard was about how bad Rush Limbaugh was and how…
UK Police Will Use Spy Drones To Monitor Population
A BAE UAV
Britain moves to solidify its position as the most developed surveillance state in the “free” world, as reported in the Guardian:
Police in the UK are planning to use unmanned spy drones, controversially deployed in Afghanistan, for the “routine” monitoring of antisocial motorists, protesters, agricultural thieves and fly-tippers, in a significant expansion of covert state surveillance.
The arms manufacturer BAE Systems, which produces a range of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for war zones, is adapting the military-style planes for a consortium of government agencies led by Kent police.
Documents from the South Coast Partnership, a Home Office-backed project in which Kent police and others are developing a national drone plan with BAE, have been obtained by the Guardian under the Freedom of Information Act.
They reveal the partnership intends to begin using the drones in time for the 2012 Olympics. They also indicate that police claims that the technology will be used…
Crazy In Our Own Ways: Mental Illness Around The World
Mary Montserrat-Howlett writes on Highest Five:
Killing rampages, fear that genitals are retracting, spirits taking over the body … here are some notable cultural illnesses that can only be understood, “understanding the ideas, habits and predispositions of the mind that is its host”.
Amok (South Asia): Amok or running amok is derived from the Malay/Indonesian word amuk, meaning mad with rage. It quite literally is a mad fit of rage where a person who hasn’t shown any previous signs of anger or inclination to violence will suddenly switch into homicidal maniac mode and attempt to kill or seriously injure anyone around them.
Their fit will be followed by a bout of amnesia wherein the person will return to their premorbid state (i.e. the state before they went haywire) with no recollection of the incident. This violent outburst is prevalent almost exclusively among males. Episodes of this kind normally end with the attacker being killed…
