Okinawa: GO HOME America
'Nearly 100,000 people have attended a rally in Japan's southern island of Okinawa demanding that a US military base be moved off the island. Under a 2006 agreement with the US, the US Marines' Futenma base was to be moved from the centre to the coast. But demonstrators want Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama to stick to an election pledge to remove it completely.' - BBC. Typically, the New York Times, licker of the earlobes of the military-industrial complex, spinned the story with more than a touch of fantasy, their 'journalist' scribbling away wildly, pretending World War II never happened: 'The...
Aliens: predators
'Stephen Hawking warns over making contact with aliens...he warned that aliens might simply raid Earth for resources, then move on. "If aliens visit us, the outcome would be much as when Columbus landed in America, which didn't turn out well for the Native Americans," he said. Prof Hawking thinks that, rather than actively trying to communicate with extra-terrestrials, humans should do everything possible to avoid contact.' - BBC 25 April 2010. See also: '...former BBC News website science editor Dr David Whitehouse raised the possibility that transmissions from Earth could draw the attention of "malevolent aliens", were any to exist.'...
The Universe: tacky crap
I was reading about 20 years of the Hubble telescope and came to the realization that the universe looks like a cheesy prog rock album cover from the early 70s. It looks like something hand-painted by a tasteless, wispy-bearded embarrassment on acid whilst he, she or it was listening to the boring, unnecessary meanderings of Pink Floyd. It looks like a juvenile psychedelic poster from some cringeworthy hippy boutique, or the unagreeable mess of some kind of unfinished tie-dye process. Garish colours swirl about like Las Vegas in a spin dryer. Unicorns adorned with long beaded necklaces gambol through the...
Killer Crabs (I Am Psychic)
Yeah, yes, hi, listen, so there I was thinking, to myself, idly, 'what's happening with killer crabs?' not even knowing if they even existed, y'understand, but y'know, I'd kind of heard those two words 'killer crabs' put together at some point in my life, dunno when, but, so, anyway I typed 'killer crabs' into google and lo-and-lo and behold - the very same day I went looking for killer crabs they were headline goddamn news!!!!!!!! Killer Crabs March on UK Except it wasn't headline news that day. When I sobered up (actually, if the truth be told, it was when...
The U.S. Senate wants more corruption and incompetence, not pesky whistleblowers!
3 March 2010. 'FBI whistleblower Dr. Frederic Whitehurst issued a letter today strongly opposing the repeal of FBI whistleblower rights contained in the current Senate version of the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act (S. 372). This bill is currently being "hotlined" in the Senate, a process by which legislation can be passed by unanimous consent, without any formal debate or vote. In the 1990's Dr. Whitehurst blew the whistle on scientific abuses in the FBI crime lab. He won his cases and as a result, President Clinton signed an order protecting FBI agents who blow the whistle. The current Senate bill...
Oooooooooooooh, Obama Mentions Israel’s Nukes!
U.S. President Obama says Israel should join the NPT, an unheard-of Presidential admission of the existence of Israel's nuclear weapons programme that we the citizens of the rest of the world all know about. This is occurring in the context of a majority of American jews supporting Obama's approach to Israel, while at the same time much of the U.S. Congress, many, many members of which receive campaign fund donations from the Israel Lobby, the mouthpiece of the Israeli government, do not support him. Who will win, the people or the politicians? Read Obama: Israel should sign NPT.
Iceland Re-imagined as the Land of Free Speech
'In the aftermath of the financial crisis, openness has become a catchword in Iceland, along with the belief that everyone has not just a right but also a duty to know what the government is getting up to in their name. One response to this is the Icelandic Modern Media Initiative (Immi), a proposal supported by all parties that aims to make Iceland a haven for investigative journalists and whistleblowers everywhere.' Iceland - world's first free speech haven?
Cryptome Definitively Supports WikiLeaks
You may have read in the media (the Guardian, for example) that Cryptome.org has claimed WikiLeaks.org is a 'C.I.A. front'. This comes from a quote by John Young of Cryptome in an email from 2007 and Cryptome says the reporting of this is 'lacking context'. Cryptome is also saying this: 'Characterisitcally, none of the authoritative ignoramouses quoting Young to smear Wikileaks talked to Young to get an update, haven't studied much Wikileaks material beyond the headlines, and would not stoop to the hard-labor of reading Cryptome. Cryptome attacked the Mother Jones smear on 8 April: "The smears of Wikileaks are...
Two Members of Bravo Company 2-16 from the WikiLeaks Video Speak Out against the War
Two soldiers from Bravo Company 2-16, Josh Stieber and Ethan McCord, one of whom was actually in the WikiLeaks 'Collateral Murder' video (McCord can be seen carrying one of the injured children), are interviewed on the Civilian-Soldier Alliance website, a site that supports 'resistance within the ranks'. The audio can be heard or downloaded on the site. Josh Stieber was also interviewed by Glenn Greenwald on Salon Radio (audio and transcript), on Democracy Now! (video, audio and transcript) and on Antiwar Radio (audio).
(Sigh) Flimsy and Sick NATO Cover-up, 2010
*Sigh* 'US special forces soldiers dug bullets out of their victims' bodies in the bloody aftermath of a botched night raid, then washed the wounds with alcohol before lying to their superiors about what happened, Afghan investigators have told The Times. Two pregnant women, a teenage girl, a police officer and his brother were shot on February 12 when US and Afghan special forces stormed their home in Khataba village, outside Gardez in eastern Afghanistan. The precise composition of the force has never been made public.The claims were made as Nato admitted responsibility for all the deaths for the first...