The Main 9/11 Coincidences (Part 1)

This is all quite coincidental don't you think:

Jonathan (nephew to George) Bush's Riggs Bank was found guilty of laundering terrorist funds and fined a US-record $25 million (link)

George Bush's brother Marvin sat on the board of the Kuwaiti-owned company which provided electronic security to the World Trade Centre, Dulles Airport and United Airlines. (link)

George Bush found success as a businessman only after the investment of Osama's brother Salem and reputed al Qaeda financier Khalid bin Mahfouz.

Osama bin Laden is known to have been an asset of US foreign policy in the past. (link)

al Qaeda was active in the Balkan conflict, fighting on the same side as the US as recently as 1999, while the US protected its cells. (link and link)

Michael Springman , State Department veteran of the Jeddah visa bureau, claims that the CIA ran the office and issued visas to al Qaeda members so they could receive training in the United States. (link)

Many influential figures in and close to the Bush White House had expressed, just a year before the attacks, the need for a "new Pearl Harbor" before their militarist ambitions could be fulfilled. (link and link)

The company PTECH , founded by a Saudi financier placed on America's Terrorist Watch List in October 2001, had access to the FAA's entire computer system for two years before the 9/11 attack. (link)

The standing order which covered the shooting down of hijacked aircraft was altered on June 1, 2001, taking discretion away from field commanders and placing it solely in the hands of the Secretary of Defense. (link)

In the weeks before 9/11, FBI agent Colleen Rowley found her investigation of Zacarias Moussaoui so perversely thwarted that her colleagues joked that bin Laden had a mole at the FBI. (link and link)

Dave Frasca of the FBI's Radical Fundamentalist Unit received a promotion after quashing multiple, urgent requests for investigations into al Qaeda assets training at flight schools in the summer of 2001. (link)

Over the summer of 2001 Washington received many urgent, senior-level warnings from foreign intelligence agencies and governments - including those of Germany, France, Great Britain, Russia, Egypt, Israel, Morocco, Afghanistan and others - of impending terror attacks using hijacked aircraft. (link)

John Ashcroft stopped flying commercial aircraft in July 2001 on account of security considerations. (link)

Former lead counsel for the House David Schippers says he'd taken to John Ashcroft's office specific warnings he'd learned from FBI agents in New York of an impending attack – even naming the proposed dates, names of the hijackers and the targets – and that the investigations had been stymied and the agents threatened. (link)

George Bush had plans to invade Afghanistan on his desk before 9/11. (link and link)

The suggestion that securing a pipeline across Afghanistan figured into the White House's calculations is open for debate. (link)

Mahmood Ahmed, chief of Pakistan's ISI, authorized an al Qaeda payment of $100,000 to Mohammed Atta days before the attacks, and was at a meeting with senior Washington officials over the week of 9/11. (link and link)

Porter Goss met with Ahmed the morning of September 11 in his capacity as Chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. (link)

Goss's congressional seat encompasses the 9/11 hijackers' Florida base of operation, including their flight schools. (link)

George HW Bush and Shafig bin Laden, Osama's brother, spent the morning of September 11 together at a board meeting of the Carlyle Group. (link)

Newsweek reported that senior Pentagon officials cancelled flights on Sept 10 for the following day on account of security concerns. (link)

George Bush's telephone logs for September 11 do not exist. (link)

I could go on, since this is the tip of the iceberg. Stand by for Part 2 soon which will also include 7/7.

Stereogram

You tell me if this works, I'm no good with these things...

Oil In Iraq

Iraq has the world’s second largest proven oil reserves. According to oil industry experts, new exploration will probably raise Iraq’s reserves to 200+ billion barrels of high-grade crude, extraordinarily cheap to produce. The four giant firms located in the US and the UK have been keen to get back into Iraq, from which they were excluded with the nationalization of 1972. During the final years of the Saddam era, they envied companies from France, Russia, China, and elsewhere, who had obtained major contracts. But UN sanctions (kept in place by the US and the UK) kept those contracts inoperable. Since the invasion and occupation of Iraq in 2003, everything has changed and the companies have been scrambling to grab their share of the spoils. In the new setting, with Washington running the show, "friendly" companies expect to gain most of the lucrative oil deals that will be worth hundreds of billions of dollars in profits in the coming decades. The new Iraqi constitution of 2005, greatly influenced by US advisors, contains language that guarantees a major role for foreign companies. Negotiators hope soon to complete deals on Production Sharing Agreements that will give the companies control over dozens of fields, including the fabled super-giant Majnoon, whose 21 billion barrels are worth $1.5 trillion at today's prices. But no contracts could be signed until after elections and the formation of a new government, so that the Iraqi side would appear legally legitimate. While regional governments angle for influence over the foreign oil contracts, most Iraqis favor continued control by a national company and the powerful oil workers union opposes de-nationalization. Iraq's political future is very much in flux, but oil remains the central feature of the political landscape.

Useful Tips To Save People Time, Stress And Money

Don’t waste money on expensive iPods. Simply think of your favorite tune and hum it. To “switch tracks,” think of a different song.

Cinema Goers: Be considerate of pirate DVD viewers; piss before the film starts.

Rappers: Avoid saying "know what I’m sayin’" constantly by thinking first and then speaking clearly.

Don’t waste money on expensive paper shredders to prevent identity theft. Just drop a few dog turds in the same trash bag as your old bank statements.

Worried that your teeth will be stained after a heavy night of drinking red wine? Remove the stains by drinking a bottle of white wine before going to bed.

Soldiers: A digital camera will avoid all that messy court martial crap after a trip to the photo printers.

Murderers: Need to dispose of a body? Simply box it up and ship it to yourself via DHL. You'll never see it again.

Men: When listening to your favorite CD, turn up the sound to the volume you desire, and then turn it down three notches. This will save your wife from bitching about it and then doing it herself.

Gamblers: For a new gambling opportunity, try sending $100 to yourself by U. S. Mail.

Bang two pistachio shells together to give the impression that a very small horse is approaching.

Drivers: If a car breaks down or stalls in front of you, beep your horn and wave your arms frantically. This should help the car start and send them on their way.

Car thieves: Don’t be discouraged when nothing is visible. All the valuables are probably hidden in the trunk.

Depressed people: Instead of attempting suicide as a "cry for help," simply shout "Help!" to save money on drugs.

Motorists: Avoid getting prosecuted for using your cell phone while driving. Hide it inside a large seashell and the cops will think you're listening to the ocean.

Shoes last twice as long if only worn every other day.

Single men: Convince people that you have a girlfriend by standing in a shopping centre with several shopping bags while looking at your watch.

Alcoholics: Don’t worry where the next drink is coming from; go to a pub, where large quantities are available at retail prices.

McDonald's: Make your take-out bags green in color so they blend in with the countryside after people have thrown them out their car window.

Women: Don’t waste energy faking orgasms. Most men couldn’t care less. Use the energy you save to clean the house.

Stephen Colbert Puts ShortNews Members 'On Notice'

Don't say you haven't been warned, guys, Stephen has cast judgement.....

The Tech Support Caller Warning System

Low Stupidity Condition	Signifies a caller offers little or no risk of causing the tech a cranial aneurysm. This is usually a calller who understand that most technical “secrets” are cleverly concealed in the mysterious things called “manuals.” Recommendation: Cherish these ones.
Suspicious Stupiditity Condition	Signifies a caller who is suspected of weapons-grade stupidity, without any real evidence. Recommendation: Send “inspectors.”
Elevated Stupidity Condition	Indicates a significant risk of stroke in the tech cause by a caller who insist that “there is no ‘any key’ on the keyboard” and that “there’s no way I can click on ‘you computer’ from over here.”Recommendation: Slow Breating exercisiese and a good punching bag.
High Stupidity Condition	Indicates a high risk of an apoplectic fit. callers insist that their operating system is “netscape,” their web browser is by “Logitech” and the specific application that blew up on them is “Microsoft.” (Heh) Recommendation: Join a Zen Monastery
Severe Stupidity Condition	Indicates the highest risk possible. Adrenaline overload and renal failure caused by callers who angrily state that they have a degree and are in fact very clever, and that the tech must “hop to it and fix things.” When asked to “open a window” they do in fact get up and open a window. Alas. Recommendation: a large bludgeoning instrument. For you or them, it’s really your choice.

thanks go to My Confined Space for that one.

Whoop Ass

Enough Said

Advice to employees on the proper use of the System Administrator's valuable time

(In following examples, we will substitute the name "Ted" as the System Administrator)

* Make sure to save all your MP3 files on your network drive. No sense in wasting valuable space on your local drive! Plus, Ted loves browsing through 100+ GB of music files while he backs up the servers.

* Play with all the wires you can find. If you can't find enough, open something up to expose them. After you have finished, and nothing works anymore, put it all back together and call Ted. Deny that you touched anything and that it was working perfectly only five minutes ago. Ted just loves a good mystery. For added effect you can keep looking over his shoulder and ask what each wire is for.

* Never write down error messages. Just click OK, or restart your computer. Ted likes to guess what the error message was.

* When talking about your computer, use terms like "Thingy" and "Big Connector."

* If you get an EXE file in an email attachment, open it immediately. Ted likes to make sure the anti-virus software is working properly.

* When Ted says he coming right over, log out and go for coffee. It's no problem for him to remember your password.

* When you call Ted to have your computer moved, be sure to leave it buried under a year-old pile of postcards, baby pictures, stuffed animals, dried flowers, unpaid bills, bowling trophies and Popsicle sticks. Ted doesn't have a life, and he finds it deeply moving to catch a glimpse of yours.

* When Ted sends you an email marked as "Highly Important" or "Action Required", delete it at once. He's probably just testing some new-fangled email software.

* When Ted's eating lunch at his desk or in the lunchroom, walk right in, grab a few of his fries, then spill your guts and expect him to respond immediately. Ted lives to serve, and he's always ready to think about fixing computers, especially yours.

* When Ted's at the water cooler or outside taking a breath of fresh air, find him and ask him a computer question. The only reason he takes breaks at all is to ferret out all those employees who don't have email or a telephone.

* Send urgent email ALL IN UPPERCASE. The mail server picks it up and flags it as a rush delivery.

* When the photocopier doesn't work, call Ted. There's electronics in it, so it should be right up his alley.

* When you're getting a NO DIAL TONE message at your home computer, call Ted. He enjoys fixing telephone problems from remote locations. Especially on weekends.

* When something goes wrong with your home PC, dump it on Ted's chair the next morning with no name, no phone number, and no description of the problem. Ted just loves a good mystery.

* When you have Ted on the phone walking you through changing a setting on your PC, read the newspaper. Ted doesn't actually mean for you to DO anything. He just loves to hear himself talk.

* When your company offers training on an upcoming OS upgrade, don't bother to sign up. Ted will be there to hold your hand when the time comes.

* When the printer won't print, re-send the job 20 times in rapid succession. That should do the trick.

* When the printer still won't print after 20 tries, send the job to all the printers in the office. One of them is bound to work.

* Don't use online help. Online help is for wimps.

* Don't read the operator's manual. Manuals are for wussies.

* If you're taking night classes in computer science, feel free to demonstrate your fledgling expertise by updating the network drivers for you and all your co-workers. Ted will be grateful for the overtime when he has to stay until 2:30am fixing all of them.

* When Ted's fixing your computer at a quarter past one, eat your Whopper with cheese in his face. He functions better when he's slightly dizzy from hunger.

* When Ted asks you whether you've installed any new software on your computer, LIE. It's no one else's business what you've got on your computer.

* If the mouse cable keeps knocking down the framed picture of your dog, lift the monitor and stuff the cable under it. Those skinny Mouse cables were designed to have 55 lbs. of computer monitor crushing them.

* If the space bar on your keyboard doesn't work, blame Ted for not upgrading it sooner. Hell, it's not your fault there's a half pound of pizza crust crumbs, nail clippings, and big sticky drops of Mountain Dew under the keys.

* When you get the message saying "Are you sure?", click the "Yes" button as fast as you can. Hell, if you weren't sure, you wouldn't be doing it, would you?

* Feel perfectly free to say things like "I don't know nothing about that boneheaded computer crap." It never bothers Ted to hear his area of professional expertise referred to as boneheaded crap.

* Don't even think of breaking large print jobs down into smaller chunks. God forbid somebody else should sneak a one-page job in between your 500-page Word document.

* When you send that 500-page document to the printer, don't bother to check if the printer has enough paper. That's Ted's job.

* When Ted calls you 30 minutes later and tells you that the printer printed 24 pages of your 500-page document before it ran out of paper, and there are now nine other jobs in the queue behind yours, ask him why he didn't bother to add more paper.

* When you receive a 130 MB movie file, send it to everyone as a high-priority mail attachment. Ted's provided plenty of disk space and processor capacity on the new mail server for just those kinds of important things.

* When you bump into Ted in the grocery store on a Sunday afternoon, ask him computer questions. He works 24/7, and is always thinking about computers, even when he's at super-market buying toilet paper and doggie treats.

* If your son is a student in computer science, have him come in on the weekends and do his projects on your office computer. Ted will be there for you when your son's illegal copy of Visual Basic 6.0 makes the Access database keel over and die.

* When you bring Ted your own "no-name" brand PC to repair for free at the office, tell him how urgently he needs to fix it so you can get back to playing EverQuest. He'll get on it right away, because everyone knows he doesn't do anything all day except surf the Internet.

* Don't ever thank Ted. He loves fixing everything AND getting paid for it!

An 8 Min Ride Through Paris In A Ferrari 275 GTB Driven By A Formula 1 Racing Driver

On an August morning in 1978, French filmmaker Claude Lelouch mounted a gyro-stabilized camera to the bumper of a Ferrari 275 GTB and had a friend, a professional Formula 1 racer, drive at breakneck speed through the heart of Paris.

No streets were closed, for Lelouch was unable to obtain a permit.

Follow the trip visually and via Google Map simultaneously.

See it HERE.

Mayday! Mayday!

Guy On Cellphone Witnesses A Car Accident....

you gotta hear this, its classic: CLICK HERE

!!! BREAD IS DANGEROUS !!!

Research on bread indicates that:

1. More than 98 percent of convicted felons are bread users.

2. Fully HALF of all children who grow up in bread-consuming households score below average on standardized tests.

3. In the 18th century, when virtually all bread was baked in the home, the average life expectancy was less than 50 years; infant mortality rates were unacceptably high; many women died in childbirth; and diseases such as typhoid, yellow fever, and influenza ravaged whole nations.

4. More than 90 percent of violent crimes are committed within 24 hours of eating bread.

5. Bread is made from a substance called "dough." It has been proven that as little as one pound of dough can be used to suffocate a mouse. The average American eats more bread than that in one month!

6. Primitive tribal societies that have no bread exhibit a low incidence of cancer, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's disease, and osteoporosis.

7. Bread has been proven to be addictive. Subjects deprived of bread and given only water to eat begged for bread after as little as two days.

8. Bread is often a "gateway" food item, leading the user to "harder" items such as butter, jelly, peanut butter, and even cold cuts.

9. Bread has been proven to absorb water. Since the human body is more than 90 percent water, it follows that eating bread could lead to your body being taken over by this absorptive food product, turning you into a soggy, gooey bread-pudding person.

10. Newborn babies can choke on bread.

11. Bread is baked at temperatures as high as 400 degrees Fahrenheit! That kind of heat can kill an adult in less than one minute.

12. Most American bread eaters are utterly unable to distinguish between significant scientific fact and meaningless statistical babbling.

In light of these frightening statistics, it has been proposed that the following bread restrictions be made:

1. No sale of bread to minors.

2. A nationwide "Just Say No To Toast" campaign, complete celebrity TV spots and bumper stickers.

3. A 300 percent federal tax on all bread to pay for all the societal ills we might associate with bread.

4. No animal or human images, nor any primary colors (which may appeal to children) may be used to promote bread usage.

5. The establishment of "Bread-free" zones around schools.

Fourteen Things That It Took Me Over 50 Years To Learn (by Dave Barry)

1. Never, under any circumstances, take a sleeping pill and a laxative on the same night.

2. If you had to identify, in one word, the reason why the human race has not achieved, and never will achieve, its full potential, that word would be "meetings."

3. There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness."

4. People who want to share their religious views with you almost never want you to share yours with them.

5. You should not confuse your career with your life.

6. Nobody cares if you can't dance well. Just get up and dance.

7. Never lick a steak knife.

8. The most destructive force in the universe is gossip.

9. You will never find anybody who can give you a clear and compelling reason why we observe daylight savings time.

10. You should never say anything to a woman that even remotely suggests that you think she's pregnant unless you can see an actual baby emerging from her at that moment.

11. There comes a time when you should stop expecting other people to make a big deal about your birthday. That time is age eleven.

12. The one thing that unites all human beings, regardless of age, gender, religion, economic status or ethnic background, is that, deep down inside, we ALL believe that we are above-average drivers.

13. A person who is nice to you, but rude to the waiter, is not a nice person. (This is very important. Pay attention. It never fails.)

14. Your friends love you anyway.


Thought for the day: Never be afraid to try something new. Remember that a lone amateur built the Ark. A large group of professionals built the Titanic.

Its Official: Extra Terrestials Prefer Firefox

Why else would they produce this crop circle?

Funky Monks

How to be a good Democrat or Republican

...Democrat: You have to believe that the AIDS virus is spread by a lack of federal funding.
...Republican: You have to believe that the AIDS virus is spread because people are evil and should be punished.

...Democrat: You have to believe that the same teacher who can't teach 4th-graders how to read is somehow qualified to teach those same kids about sex.
...Republican: You have to believe that evolution is a myth (despite the evidence of biochemistry and the fossil record) but that Intelligent Design theory should be taught in schools.

...Democrat: You have to believe that guns in the hands of law-abiding Americans are more of a threat than U.S. nuclear weapons technology in the hands of Chinese & North Korean communists.
...Republican: You have to believe that there is no causal link between legal, easily-obtainable handguns and high murder rates.

...Democrat: You have to believe that there was no art before Federal funding.
...Republican: You have to believe that unfunded arts and school programs are still subject to government control.

...Democrat: You have to believe that global temperatures are less affected by cyclical, documented changes in the earth's climate and more affected by soccer moms driving SUVs.
...Republican: You have to believe that global temperatures are completely unaffected by fossil fuel emissions, that the best way to save the national forests is to allow logging companies to cut down old-growth timber, and the best way to save endangered species is to allow trophy hunters and wildlife traders to import more of them.

...Democrat: You have to believe that gender roles are artificial but being homosexual is natural.
...Republican: You have to believe that homosexuality is evil (despite the fact that it occurs in nature) and that women should stay at home to cook and bear children.

...Democrat: You have to be against capital punishment but support abortion on demand.
...Republican: You have to be against abortion but support capital punishment.

...Democrat: You have to believe that businesses create oppression, and governments create prosperity.
...Republican: You have to believe that corporations never purposely hurt anyone to make money.

...Democrat: You have to believe that hunters don't care about nature, but loony activists who have never been outside of San Francisco do.
...Republican: You have to believe that hunting requires an automatic rifle.

...Democrat: You have to believe that self-esteem is more important than actually doing something to earn it.
...Republican: You have to believe that middle class income should be taxed, but inherited wealth should not be.

...Democrat: You have to believe that the military, not corrupt politicians, start wars.
...Republican: You have to believe that war is an acceptable solution to any economic or social problem.

...Democrat: You have to believe that the military is another political porkbarrel for wealthy campaign contributors of certain politicians.
...Republican: You have to believe that everyone should support the troops - except when it comes to pay or benefits.

...Democrat: You have to believe the NRA is bad because it supports certain parts of the Constitution, while the ACLU is good because it supports certain parts of the Constitution.
...Republican: You have to believe the NRA is good because it supports certain parts of the Constitution, while the ACLU is bad because it supports certain parts of the Constitution.

...Democrat: You have to believe that taxes are too low, but ATM fees are too high.
...Republican: You have to believe that taxes are for poor and middle class people, not the rich.

...Democrat: You have to believe that Margaret Sanger and Gloria Steinem are more important to American history than Thomas Jefferson, Gen. Robert E.Lee, and Thomas Edison.
...Republican: You have to believe that Oliver North and Monica Lewinsky are more important to American history than Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy.

...Democrat: You have to believe that standardized tests are racist, but racial quotas and set-asides are not.
...Republican: You have to believe that affirmative action is wrong, because everyone knows there's no more racism in America.

...Democrat: You have to believe that Hillary Clinton is normal and really a very nice person.
...Republican: You have to believe that Ann Coulter is normal and really a very nice person.

...Democrat: You have to believe that the only reason socialism hasn't worked anywhere it's been tried is because the right people haven't been in charge.
...Republican: You have to believe that the only reason supply-side economics hasn't worked anywhere it's been tried is because the right people haven't been in charge.

...Democrat: You have to believe conservatives telling the truth belong in jail, but a liar and sex offender belonged in the White House.
...Republican: You have to believe liberals telling the truth belong in jail, but a liar and draft-dodger belongs in the White House.

...Democrat: You have to believe that homosexual parades displaying drag, transvestites, and bestiality should be constitutionally protected, and manger scenes at Christmas should be illegal.
...Republican: You have to believe that all Americans should be white heterosexual Christians.

...Democrat: You have to believe that illegal Democratic Party funding by the Chinese government is somehow in the best interest of the United States.
...Republican: You have to believe that illegal Republican Party funding by corporations is somehow in the best interest of the United States.

...Democrat: You have to believe that this letter is part of a vast, right-wing conspiracy.
...Republican: You have to believe that the media are biased toward liberals, despite the fact that all the major media outlets are owned by ultra-rich conservatives.

Politics Explained

FEUDALISM: You have two cows. Your lord takes some of the milk.

PURE SOCIALISM: You have two cows. The government takes them and puts them in a barn with everyone else's cows. You have to take care of all of the cows. The government gives you as much milk as you need.

BUREAUCRATIC SOCIALISM: You have two cows. The government takes them and put them in a barn with everyone else's cows. They are cared for by ex-chicken farmers. You have to take care of the chickens the government took from the chicken farmers. The government gives you as much milk and eggs as the regulations say you need.

FASCISM: You have two cows. The government takes both, hires you to take care of them and sells you the milk.

PURE COMMUNISM: You have two cows. Your neighbors help you take care of them, and you all share the milk.

RUSSIAN COMMUNISM: You have two cows. You have to take care of them, but the government takes all the milk.

CAMBODIAN COMMUNISM: You have two cows. The government takes both of them and shoots you.

DICTATORSHIP: You have two cows. The government takes both and drafts you.

PURE DEMOCRACY: You have two cows. Your neighbors decide who gets the milk.

REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRACY: You have two cows. Your neighbors pick someone to tell you who gets the milk.

BUREAUCRACY: You have two cows. At first the government regulates what you can feed them and when you can milk them. Then it pays you not to milk them. Then it takes both, shoots one, milks the other and pours the milk down the drain. Then it requires you to fill out forms accounting for the missing cows.

PURE ANARCHY: You have two cows. Either you sell the milk at a fair price or your neighbors try to take the cows and kill you.

LIBERTARIAN/ANARCHO-CAPITALISM: You have two cows. You sell one and buy a bull.

SURREALISM: You have two giraffes. The government requires you to take harmonica lessons.

9/11 Coincidences

Go HERE to see what I mean.

Newly Discovered Text Takes Doomsday Threat Out Of Bible

A recently discovered Book of Psalms dated to about A.D.1000 contradicts the apocalyptic Psalm 83 found in the later King James Bible which many believed predicted the destruction of the state of Israel.

Many Christians took the biblical text of "Thine enemies … have said, Come, and let us cut [thy people] off from being a nation that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance" as being relevant to recent events concerning the Lebanon crisis.

The new text does not refer to Israel but instead the "vale of tears", with experts believing that a loss in translation occured in the way that the older Greek text and the later biblical Hebrew-to-English Psalms were assigned.

75 Academics Swell 9/11 Conspiracy Movement

A newly-formed movement called Scholars for 9/11 Truth is challenging the official story about the September 11th attacks, attracting academics who include a physicist, a retired philosophy professor, as well as Princeton and Stanford elites.

They have produced books and self-published papers which claim that the "World Trade Center was almost certainly brought down by controlled demolitions" and say that 9/11 was allowed to occur or was orchestrated by the government.

Daniel Orr, a Princeton Ph.D and retired from University of Illinois, is one academic who is convinced the twin towers and Tower 7 were demolished. Judy Wood, a former assistant professor of mechanical engineering, concludes the same.

Google Bombing

OK, now its official - go to google.com, type in 'failure' (without inverted commas) and see what comes up.

Some of you may already be aware of that particular 'google bomb' but have you tried these other gems?:

ignorant bigots

liar

poodle

swivel eyed loons

terrorist sympathizer

Unusual Words

Never feel intellectually-challenged at parties ever again by slipping into the conversation a few of the following unusual but potentially super-impressive words:

abacinate - to blind by putting a hot copper basin near someone's eyes

abecedarian - a person who is learning the alphabet

aeolist - a pompous windy bore who pretends to have inspiration

algerining - prowling around with the intent to commit burglary

apodyopsis - the act of mentally undressing someone

autotonsorialist - one who cuts their own hair

borborygmus - the rumbling sound of gas passing through the intestine

callipygean - having well-shaped buttocks

colposinquanonia - estimating a woman's beauty based on her chest

eccedentesiast - one who fakes a smile, as on television

emunction - the act of removing obstructions from or cleaning bodily passages

gossypiboma - a surgical sponge accidently left inside a patient's body

gymnophoria - the sensation that someone is mentally undressing you

hadeharia - the practice of constantly using the word "Hell" in speaking

jumentous - smelling like horse urine

krukolibidinous - the act of staring at someone's crotch

mallemaroking - the carousing of seamen on board Greenland whaling ships

mytacism - the incorrect or excessive use of the letter M

nidorosity - belching with the taste of undigested meat

petrichor - the smell of rain on dry ground

qualtagh - the first person you see after leaving your house

sgiomlaireached - the habit of dropping in at mealtimes

skoptsy - the act of self castration

sphallolalia - flirtatious talk that leads nowhere

vigesimation - the act of killing every twentieth person

You may of course find some of these words easier to slip into a conversation than others, but at least nobody could ever accuse you of suffering from lethologica (the inability to recall a precise word for something).

UFO video footage - what do you make of this?

A year ago I was sat in my office at home working on my pc when I heard a deep drone sound comming from outside. I initially ignored it but after five minutes or so I decided to take a look. I found myself staring at a glowing red-orange ball which looked very much like a golf ball, with a plasma-effect light eminating from all around the dimples on its surface. Coincidentally, it was about the size of a golf ball held at arms length and seemed to be a mile or so away, although the distance was difficult to estimate without a real point of reference to compare it to. I managed to grab my video camera and film it for several minutes and you can view the footage that I took via the link below. It was completely static, with any movement being due to me fighting to keep the camera still. The image isn't nearly as clear as it was with the naked eye and the colour on the film is white instead of the red-orange that I saw, but if anyone has any ideas as to what it might have been I'd be glad to hear from you.

Here's the LINK

(please note, the file is about 5MB in size and in Windows Media format)

Blast the Atmosphere with Sulphur to Slow Global Warming, Study Suggests

A paper produced by Nobel laureate Paul Crutzen of the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry in Germany and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, San Diego, suggests that sulphur introduced into the earths atmosphere may slow global warming.

Crutzen observed the effects of volcanic eruptions and fossil fuel use, noticing that both emit sulphate particles which reflect incomming solar radiation back into space, which in turn produces a cooling effect in the earths atmosphere.

It is proposed that sulphur is released in large quantities into the stratosphere, with the effect lasting about 2 years. Such a plan, he says, may be required given the current inadequate political response to greenhouse gas emissions.

SETI Accused of Covering Up Alien Signals

The SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) Institute, has been accused by Steven Greer, the CEO of Space Energy Access Systems, of covering up the detection of a high concentration of signals which were later blocked by another company.

Greer says "They have had numerous extraterrestrial signals", claiming that a prominant SETI insider has acted as informant. "They were apparently searching in a spectrum or in an area ... where they hit the mother lode."

He added "The signals were so numerous that they began to have their systems externally jammed by some sort of human agency that did not want them to continue receiving those signals." SETI officials deny the cover-up allegation.

the Lebanon conflict - a US opportunity, Bush says.

While the rest of the world is shocked and stunned by events in the Lebanon over the past fortnight, on person seems to have found a positive side to the conflict:

"This moment of conflict in the Middle East is painful and tragic," Bush said in his radio address Saturday. "Yet it is also a moment of opportunity for broader change in the region. Transforming countries that have suffered decades of tyranny and violence is difficult, and it will take time to achieve. But the consequences will be profound for our country and the world."

That viewpoint is openly mocked by foreign policy experts:

[Richard] Haass, the former Bush aide who leads the Council on Foreign Relations, laughed at the president's public optimism. "An opportunity?" Haass said with an incredulous tone. "Lord, spare me. I don't laugh a lot. That's the funniest thing I've heard in a long time. If this is an opportunity, what's Iraq? A once-in-a-lifetime chance?"

(Sunday, July 30, 2006)

Planets In Perspective - a must-see!

Just in case you thought for a moment that Planet Earth wasn't simply a tiny pimple on the buttocks of the universe, check out these comparisons:

Israeli Military Action: Disproportionate Use Of Force Endangers Regional Peace

Following the Hezbollah's capture of two Israeli soldiers, Israel’s reaction in Lebanon has many wondering whether the retaliation is in proportion to recent events or is simply an excuse to make active a hidden agenda. Few would condone the actions of Hezbollah and the shadowy backing of the militant organisation by Syria and Iran is undoubtedly a major concern of the Israeli PM Ehud Olmert, but with more than 60 Lebanese dead and many more injured as a result of military strikes over the last two days, outsiders could be excused for wondering if this is just another example of Israel using an oversized hammer to shatter any regional opposition, whether real or perceived.

The US stands alone in its defence of the Jewish state, yet again vetoing a UN resolution calling for a halt to action in the Gaza Strip, with ten of the 15 Security Council nations voting in favour and Britain, Denmark, Peru and Slovakia abstaining. Russia and the European Union condemned Israel’s strikes in Lebanon, saying that it endangered the region and adding that the conflict in the region could escalate, while President Bush stated that “Israel has the right to defend herself”. France took a fair and balanced approach by condemning both the Israeli bombardment of Beirut airport and Hezbollah’s firing of rockets into northern Israel, which resulted in the death of innocent civilians, and called for “a return to reason by both sides”.

Are the events of the past week simply a result of months of simmering tension caused mainly by the threat posed by Hezbollah and the power it holds through the Lebanese, Syrian and Iranian governments? Or is this Israel capitalising on the on-going standoff between the US/UN and Iran over the nuclear issue? Or are there more sinister reasons, such as Israel and the US wanting an excuse to wage war against their many shared enemies in the Middle East?

Whatever the reasons, none of the participants appear to have the well-being of their respective civil populations at heart, with ideological politicians being the driving force behind irresponsible actions for which innocent people bear the brunt. The right-wing extremists in the various active factions have their own reasons, none of which seem to benefit anyone else but themselves.

Vince Welnick, former Tubes & Grateful Dead keyboard player, dies aged 55

Former Tubes member and Grateful Dead keyboardist for 5 years Vince Welnick died on 2nd June after being found injured at his home. Early indications from the scene are that the musician may have taken his own life.

This is a shocking and sad day for all Tubes and Dead fans, and even more so to those who kept in touch with the man through his website and through former bandmembers and roadies. What adds to the sadness is the recent talk regarding the original Tubes line-up having plans to reform once again. Long live his memory and his music.

9/11 Pentagon Plane Crash Video To Be Released

Following a two year battle by the 'conservative, non-partisan educational foundation' called Judicial Watch, the US defence department is to finally release a video allegedly showing American Airlines Flight 77 crashing into the Pentagon. The film footage, taken by a Pentagon security camera, is being released into the public domain following a request by Judicial Watch under the Freedom of Information Act. The film is already known as being the only available footage of the crash but up until now has only been seen as a series of still images.

The delay in releasing the evidence was necessary, the US government says, because of the trial of al-Qaeda plotter Zacarias Moussaoui which has only just completed. Judicial Watch said they wanted to obtain the video because "it was very important to complete the public record" on the attacks. Finally, we hope that this video will put to rest the conspiracy theories involving American Airlines Flight 77," President Tom Fitton said.

The Truth Behind The Iraq Invasion And A Possible US Conflict With Iran

It is now openly obvious why the US (and its 'coalition of the willing') invaded Iraq (without UN backing) in 2003 under the banner ‘Operation Iraqi Freedom’. It wasn't for the reasons the Bush administration maintained at the time (suspected WMD, a link between Saddam and Al Qaeda, etc. etc.) but to do with the petrodollar. Many people suspected that oil was the underlying reason but few were aware of the more important need to maintain the 'petrodollar recycling' system.

Petrodollar recycling was introduced by the US in the early 70's, when Middle Eastern countries were beginning to produce oil of their own under the OPEC group of nations. Previously, most of the worlds oil was supplied by the US and all trading in this market was carried out using US dollars. When OPEC came into competition with the US oil giants, the Americans struck a deal with their Middle Eastern counterparts in which they would supply Saudi Arabia, etc. with arms as long as OPEC traded their oil in dollars. This meant that if a country wanted oil, for example Japan, they had to sell to the US their home-produced products (Toyota cars for example) in order to raise the necessary dollars to buy their oil from an OPEC country. These dollars were then invested back into the US by, for example, Saudi Arabia and this left the US in a great position. As long as they could print enough dollars to meet demand they would continue to dominate the worlds oil markets and would (and did) make a fortune doing so. This is what ultimately has made the US into the worlds only superpower, with the ability to afford the necessary military might to match.

Thirty years later, at the turn of the millenium, this cosy arrangement came under threat. Saddam Hussein announced his intention to begin trading oil in the other world currency - Euros - and began doing so before the US invasion in 2003. This gave the US serious concerns. With a massive dept of trillions of dollars (made worse by the habit of the average US citizen to spend far more than they saved, using credit to do so) the US could not afford to stand by and watch the petrodollar recycling system be undermined. The risk to the country's status as sole superpower was massive and with the debt the prospect of US economic collapse was very much a reality.

When elected into office, George Bush had as priority #1 to sort out this petrodollar threat by gaining control of Iraq and in 2003 he invaded. One of the first post-war actions was to revert the country's oil trading currency back to the US dollar, even though this meant that approximately 13% of Iraqs trading value was instantly lost (because the Euro was worth more than the dollar at the time). The invasion was also to serve as an example to neighbouring oil producers not to go down the same 'petroeuro' route.

Unfortunately, Iran has plans to begin trading its oil in Euros and Saudi Arabia is giving serious consideration to the idea. Should this happen the US is likely to economically implode, with its massive military very quickly becoming an unaffordable asset. America would become little more than just another country and its global influence would be consigned to the history books, something that is regarded as unthinkable by the corporate elite.

So the US looks increasingly likely to carry out an attack on Iran, probably involving tactical 'battlefield' nuclear weapons (in an attempt to destroy underground installations there). It is not because the Iranians are close to producing their own nuclear arsenal (the Washington Post reported that the most recent National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) of Iran’s nuclear program revealed that, “Iran is about a decade away from manufacturing the key ingredient for a nuclear weapon, roughly doubling the previous estimate of five years.” (see source) but rather to keep the petrodollar on track.

Wargame simulations carried out by the US resulted in the following conclusion being reached by Sam Gardiner, the retired Air Force colonel who has run war games at the National War College for the past two decades: “After all this effort, I am left with two simple sentences for policymakers: You have no military solution for the issues of Iran. And you have to make diplomacy work.” The problem is, as was highlighted in the Iraq invasion and post-war years, that the neo-cons in the Bush administration are prone to acting illogically and against advice provided by people who know far better than themselves. Internationally-respected reporter Seymour Hearsh wrote the following in The New Yorker one year ago:

In my interviews [with former high-level intelligence officials], I was repeatedly told that the next strategic target was Iran. Everyone is saying, ‘You can’t be serious about targeting Iran. Look at Iraq,’ the former [CIA] intelligence official told me. But the [Bush administration officials] say, ‘We’ve got some lessons learned – not militarily, but how we did it politically. We’re not going to rely on agency pissants.’ No loose ends, and that’s why the C.I.A. is out of there."

However, a disturbing article by intelligence analyst Philip Giraldi who, in an article entitled “In Case of Emergency, Nuke Iran,”, said:

The Pentagon, acting under instructions from Vice President Dick Cheney's office, has tasked the United States Strategic Command (STRATCOM) with drawing up a contingency plan to be employed in response to another 9/11-type terrorist attack on the United States. The plan includes a large-scale air assault on Iran employing both conventional and tactical nuclear weapons. Within Iran there are more than 450 major strategic targets, including numerous suspected nuclear-weapons-program development sites. Many of the targets are hardened or are deep underground and could not be taken out by conventional weapons, hence the nuclear option. As in the case of Iraq, the response is not conditional on Iran actually being involved in the act of terrorism directed against the United States. Several senior Air Force officers involved in the planning are reportedly appalled at the implications of what they are doing – that Iran is being set up for an unprovoked nuclear attack – but no one is prepared to damage his career by posing any objections.

Should the US decide to carry out such an attack on Iran, China would undoubtedly become involved, since its massive economic expansion is heavily reliant on oil from the region. With Iran planning on introducing its Euro-based trading system in March this year (coinciding with Israel accelerating its US-backed strike plan - see source) events are likely to come to a head very soon. The US is leading us down a road to potential global conflict in order to protect its dominance in the world oil markets and is seemingly likely to bring about the pre-conditions to justify an attack regardless of the consequences. Hopefully there will be no 'coalition of the willing' giving Bush and Cheney some kind of international credibility and this may help to deter them from following their plans through, but we're surely in for a bumpy year, one in which the spectre of the US administration and its shadowy backers showing its true colours is quite horrifying.

Green Glow-in-the-Dark Pigs Successfully Bred by Scientists

Green glowing pigs have been successfully bred by scientists in Taiwan by adding the genetic material from jellyfish into a standard embryo. They hope that the experiment will help with research into stem cells and human diseases.

The theory is that when, for example, stem cells are taken from the pigs and used in another animal the green glow will remain with the original cells, making their progress easier to track.

The pigs are green throughout, including internal organs, unlike previously modified versions which were only effected on the surface. In the daytime they display a greenish tinge but in the dark they glow brightly when subjected to blue light.

(source)

Dutch Company Selling Nazi Helmets to World Cup Fans

A company in the Netherlands has upset the countries football authority because it is offering orange Nazi-style helmets to Dutch fans for this years soccer World Cup, being held in Germany.

The firm, Free Time Products, has defended its product by saying "During the World Cup the playing field is different. We ought to be able to poke a bit of fun at our arch-rivals the Germans."

Supporters are referred to as "infantry" and, when in groups, as "battalions" by the company website which is promoting the helmet. The Dutch authority, the KNVB, say "They claim not to want to emphasise the war, but are achieving the very opposite."

(source)

a Dutch fan wonders whether to buff his helmet just one more time.....

Israeli Attack on Iran Possible in March

The Glasgow Herald has issued a report in which it says Israel has rehearsed its plans to attack Iran and may well do so as early as March. The aim of such a strike would be to put back Irans nuclear developments by 2 years or more.

A primary target would be the enrichment plant at Natanz which this week broke the seals put on the facility in 2004. According to the report, Iranian defectors say as many as 5,000 centrifuges are ready for installation at Natanz.

The report also describes how Israels elite 69 Squadron has prepared for attacks using F-15E bombers and cruise missiles. The country fears that if uranium enrichment is allowed to continue Iran will have useable nuclear weapons by 2007.

(source)

Iraq: 3 Years On And The Reasons For War Are Still Weak

In 2003 Terry Jones wrote the following article for The Guardian which is as true today as it was then:

"I'm really excited by George Bush's latest reason for bombing Iraq: he's running out of patience. And so am I!

For some time now I've been really pissed off with Mr Johnson, who lives a couple of doors down the street. Well, him and Mr Patel, who runs the health food shop. They both give me queer looks, and I'm sure Mr Johnson is planning something nasty for me, but so far I haven't been able to discover what. I've been round to his place a few times to see what he's up to, but he's got everything well hidden. That's how devious he is.

As for Mr Patel, don't ask me how I know, I just know - from very good sources - that he is, in reality, a Mass Murderer. I have leafleted the street telling them that if we don't act first, he'll pick us off one by one.

Some of my neighbours say, if I've got proof, why don't I go to the police? But that's simply ridiculous. The police will say that they need evidence of a crime with which to charge my neighbours.

They'll come up with endless red tape and quibbling about the rights and wrongs of a pre-emptive strike and all the while Mr Johnson will be finalising his plans to do terrible things to me, while Mr Patel will be secretly murdering people. Since I'm the only one in the street with a decent range of automatic firearms, I reckon it's up to me to keep the peace. But until recently that's been a little difficult. Now, however, George W. Bush has made it clear that all I need to do is run out of patience, and then I can wade in and do whatever I want!

And let's face it, Mr Bush's carefully thought-out policy towards Iraq is the only way to bring about international peace and security. The one certain way to stop Muslim fundamentalist suicide bombers targeting the US or the UK is to bomb a few Muslim countries that have never threatened us.

That's why I want to blow up Mr Johnson's garage and kill his wife and children. Strike first! That'll teach him a lesson. Then he'll leave us in peace and stop peering at me in that totally unacceptable way.

Mr Bush makes it clear that all he needs to know before bombing Iraq is that Saddam is a really nasty man and that he has weapons of mass destruction - even if no one can find them. I'm certain I've just as much justification for killing Mr Johnson's wife and children as Mr Bush has for bombing Iraq.

Mr Bush's long-term aim is to make the world a safer place by eliminating 'rogue states' and 'terrorism'. It's such a clever long-term aim because how can you ever know when you've achieved it? How will Mr Bush know when he's wiped out all terrorists? When every single terrorist is dead? But then a terrorist is only a terrorist once he's committed an act of terror. What about would-be terrorists? These are the ones you really want to eliminate, since most of the known terrorists, being suicide bombers, have already eliminated themselves.

Perhaps Mr Bush needs to wipe out everyone who could possibly be a future terrorist? Maybe he can't be sure he's achieved his objective until every Muslim fundamentalist is dead? But then some moderate Muslims might convert to fundamentalism. Maybe the only really safe thing to do would be for Mr Bush to eliminate all Muslims?

It's the same in my street. Mr Johnson and Mr Patel are just the tip of the iceberg. There are dozens of other people in the street who I don't like and who - quite frankly - look at me in odd ways. No one will be really safe until I've wiped them all out.

My wife says I might be going too far but I tell her I'm simply using the same logic as the President of the United States. That shuts her up.

Like Mr Bush, I've run out of patience, and if that's a good enough reason for the President, it's good enough for me. I'm going to give the whole street two weeks - no, 10 days - to come out in the open and hand over all aliens and interplanetary hijackers, galactic outlaws and interstellar terrorist masterminds, and if they don't hand them over nicely and say 'Thank you', I'm going to bomb the entire street to kingdom come.

It's just as sane as what George W. Bush is proposing - and, in contrast to what he's intending, my policy will destroy only one street."

How To Beat Government Internet Censorship

Many people in the world, particularly those living in China and certain parts of the Middle East, have restricted internet access or have their rights to free speech stopped by government censors. There are, however, many organisations who can help these people beat such oppressive systems and here are links to their websites ( bold-typed words are hyperlinks):

Peacefire - Peacefire is a "people for young people's freedom of speech" organization, not a "young people for freedom of speech" organization. In other words, you can join at any age if you are against censorship for students and people under 18 in general. Peacefire used to be more of a "teens only" group, but we realized that there was no point in excluding what any potential members had to offer, simply based on their age.

Anonymizer - Anonymizer is the leading provider of Internet privacy and security solutions for consumers, corporations, organizations, and government agencies. The company provides safe and secure Web experiences to millions of global Internet users. Its Web site is home to the world's most popular Internet privacy service, Anonymous Surfing™, which defends users from the most prevalent Internet privacy and security threats. Anonymizer identity protection solutions have been used to protect billions of Web pages without a single security breech since the company's inception in 1995.

Unipeak - The Internet was not designed with web security or user privacy protection in mind.
Each time you visit a web page, you leave personal information exposing yourself to:

• Online consumer monitoring and profiling
• Adware, Spyware, Trojan worms & Web bugs.
• Online eavesdropping
• Identity theft and online fraud
• Intrusive marketing and advertising

Unipeak’s job is to protect your privacy by

• Filter out unwanted advertising such as banners and popups.
• Defeat advertiser tracking and harmful web software
• Encrypt your computer's IP address so that you are untraceable
• Provide a secure domain for you to access your e-mail in public locations
• Connect securely to insecure websites.
• Prevent monitoring of network traffic.
• Route around networking problems.

Anonymouse - Many mice surf the web under the illusion that their actions are private and anonymous. Unfortunately, it isn't so. Every time you visit a site for a piece of cheese, you leave a calling card that reveals where you're coming from, what kind of computer you have, and other details. And many cats keep logs of all your visits, so that they can catch you! This service allows you to surf the web without revealing any personal information. It is fast, it is easy, and it is free!

Proxyweb - While surfing the Internet you leave a record of your IP address, operating system and browser type, web pages last visited, and save numerous cookies, java scripts, adware, spyware, trojans and viruses to your hard drive. Malicious web site owners, hackers, identity thieves, spammers, etc. can use this information to probe your PC for security holes and possibly gain unauthorized access. By using an anonymous proxy server its IP address is visible while yours is kept private.

Guardster - Guardster offers various services to let you use the Internet anonymously and securely. From our popular free web proxy service, to our secure SSH tunnel proxy, we have a variety of services to suit your needs.

Webwarper - WebWarper is a free Web service that:

1. Saves traffic in 2-3 times: textual part of all pages is compressed using gzip
2. Provides antivirus protection!
3. Assures anonymity: your IP address becomes invisible for most cases
4. Accelerates your access to sites

The Cloak - provides

• HTTP and HTTPS anonymous proxy: hide your identity from the sites you visit
• Encrypted connection: hide your surfing from local snooping
• Remote cookies: keep cookies at our site, and delete them after each session
• User configurable content filtration: selectively remove Javascript, Java, and active content
• FREE anonymous browsing

Stupid Censorship - a service which will remove all cookies (except certain proxy cookies), remove all scripts (recommended for anonymity), remove ads, hide referrer information and will show a URL entry form.

Please note, all descriptions are from the service providers themselves. Users are advised to read through the website FAQ's where possible.

Iraqis Order the Re-Arrest of Mrs Anthrax and Dr Germ

(Doh, thats another fine mess you've gotten US into.....)

The Iraqi government has called for the re-arrest of biological weapons scientists Mrs Anthrax and Dr Germ, after their release earlier this week, following almost 3 years of captivity by US forces in Iraq.

The two - real names Huda Ammash and Rihab Taha - were released to a 'safe country' less than a week ago after the Americans said that they posed no threat, but Iraqi officials want them re-captured.

The pair were part of a 22 person group released in what is suspected as a pre-election deal to keep Sunni Arabs appeased. A lawyer speaking on behalf of Mrs Ammash said that she was abroad as per the release agreement and dismissed the threat.

Mrs Anthrax and Dr Germ Released by US Forces in Iraq

Eight former members of Saddams government, including Mrs Anthrax and Dr Germ, otherwise known as Huda Salih Mahdi Ammash and Rihab Taha, have been released by the US after nearly 3 years in custody.

Some of the former aides were accused of being part of Iraqs old biological weapons programme, none of which has ever been found. They are no longer considered a security threat and so have been released to Jordan, considered to be a 'safe' country.

Some are saying that the move is part of a pre-election deal designed to placate Sunni Arabs in Iraq. Dr Taha was educated in the UK and Mrs Ammash in the US prior to them working for Saddam.

(source)

Wikipedia Founder Apparently 'Shot Dead' in Kennedy-Conspiracy Killing

Jimmy Wales, the founder of online encyclopedia Wikipedia, has been shot dead by a friend of John Seigenthaler, the person recently linked to the Kennedy assassinations within the website, for which Wikipedia had to apologise.

The London Times, and Wikipedia itself, broke the news of the murder, reporting that a friend of Seigenthaler entered the Wales house "wearing a mask, he [sic] shot him three times in the head and ran". It seems, however, that the news of the murder was used to demonstrate Wikipedia's inaccuracies, as Wales seems very much alive.

(source)

Company Claims To Have Developed The Ideal Power Source

Blacklight Power Inc. claims to have developed a variant of the hydrogen atom that potentially will provide the world with a very cheap, almost waste-free power source. Unfortunately, the companys claim flies in the face of conventional quantum physics and has the science community divided:

It seems too good to be true: a new source of near-limitless power that costs virtually nothing, uses tiny amounts of water as its fuel and produces next to no waste. If that does not sound radical enough, how about this: the principle behind the source turns modern physics on its head.

Randell Mills, a Harvard University medic who also studied electrical engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, claims to have built a prototype power source that generates up to 1,000 times more heat than conventional fuel. Independent scientists claim to have verified the experiments and Dr Mills says that his company, Blacklight Power, has tens of millions of dollars in investment lined up to bring the idea to market. And he claims to be just months away from unveiling his creation.

The problem is that according to the rules of quantum mechanics, the physics that governs the behaviour of atoms, the idea is theoretically impossible. "Physicists are quite conservative. It's not easy to convince them to change a theory that is accepted for 50 to 60 years. I don't think [Mills's] theory should be supported," said Jan Naudts, a theoretical physicist at the University of Antwerp.

What has much of the physics world up in arms is Dr Mills's claim that he has produced a new form of hydrogen, the simplest of all the atoms, with just a single proton circled by one electron. In his "hydrino", the electron sits a little closer to the proton than normal, and the formation of the new atoms from traditional hydrogen releases huge amounts of energy.

This is scientific heresy. According to quantum mechanics, electrons can only exist in an atom in strictly defined orbits, and the shortest distance allowed between the proton and electron in hydrogen is fixed. The two particles are simply not allowed to get any closer.

According to Dr Mills, there can be only one explanation: quantum mechanics must be wrong. "We've done a lot of testing. We've got 50 independent validation reports, we've got 65 peer-reviewed journal articles," he said. "We ran into this theoretical resistance and there are some vested interests here. People are very strong and fervent protectors of this [quantum] theory that they use."

Rick Maas, a chemist at the University of North Carolina at Asheville (UNC) who specialises in sustainable energy sources, was allowed unfettered access to Blacklight's laboratories this year. "We went in with a healthy amount of scepticism. While it would certainly be nice if this were true, in my position as head of a research institution, I really wouldn't want to make a mistake. The last thing I want is to be remembered as the person who derailed a lot of sustainable energy investment into something that wasn't real."

But Prof Maas and Randy Booker, a UNC physicist, left under no doubt about Dr Mill's claims. "All of us who are not quantum physicists are looking at Dr Mills's data and we find it very compelling," said Prof Maas. "Dr Booker and I have both put our professional reputations on the line as far as that goes."

Dr Mills's idea goes against almost a century of thinking. When scientists developed the theory of quantum mechanics they described a world where measuring the exact position or energy of a particle was impossible and where the laws of classical physics had no effect. The theory has been hailed as one of the 20th century's greatest achievements.

But it is an achievement Dr Mills thinks is flawed. He turned back to earlier classical physics to develop a theory which, unlike quantum mechanics, allows an electron to move much closer to the proton at the heart of a hydrogen atom and, in doing so, release the substantial amounts of energy he seeks to exploit. Dr Mills's theory, known as classical quantum mechanics and published in the journal Physics Essays in 2003, has been criticised most publicly by Andreas Rathke of the European Space Agency. In a damning critique published recently in the New Journal of Physics, he argued that Dr Mills's theory was the result of mathematical mistakes.

Dr Mills argues that there are plenty of flaws in Dr Rathke's critique. "His paper's riddled with mistakes. We've had other physicists contact him and say this is embarrassing to the journal and [Dr Rathke] won't respond," said Dr Mills.

While the theoretical tangle is unlikely to resolve itself soon, those wanting to exploit the technology are pushing ahead. "We would like to understand it from an academic standpoint and then we would like to be able to use the implications to actually produce energy products," said Prof Maas. "The companies that are lining up behind this are household names."

Dr Mills will not go into details of who is investing in his research but rumours suggest a range of US power companies. It is well known also that Nasa's institute of advanced concepts has funded research into finding a way of using Blacklight's technology to power rockets.

According to Prof Maas, the first product built with Blacklight's technology, which will be available in as little as four years, will be a household heater. As the technology is scaled up, he says, bigger furnaces will be able to boil water and turn turbines to produce electricity.

In a recent economic forecast, Prof Maas calculated that hydrino energy would cost around 1.2 cents (0.7p) per kilowatt hour. This compares to an average of 5 cents per kWh for coal and 6 cents for nuclear energy.

"If it's wrong, it will be proven wrong," said Kert Davies, research director of Greenpeace USA. "But if it's right, it is so important that all else falls away. It has the potential to solve our dependence on oil. Our stance is of cautious optimism."

Alternative energy

Cold fusion

More than 16 years after chemists' claims to have created a star in a jar imploded in acrimony, the US government has said it might fund more research. Mainstream physicists still balk at reports that a beaker of cold water and metal electrodes can produce excess heat, but a hardy band of scientists across the world refuse to let the dream die.

Methane hydrates

The US and Japan are leading attempts to tap this source of fossil fuel buried beneath the seabed and Arctic permafrost. A mixture of ice and natural gas, hydrates are believed to contain more carbon than existing reserves of oil, coal and gas put together.

Solar chimneys

Sunlight heats trapped air, which rises through a giant chimney and drives turbines. Leonardo da Vinci designed such a power tower and the Australian company Enviromission plans to build one. Despite being scaled down recently, the concrete chimney will still stand some 700 metres over the outback.

Nuclear fusion

Turns nuclear power on its head by combining atoms rather than splitting them to release energy - copying the reaction at the heart of the sun. After years of arguments the world has agreed to build a test reactor to see whether it works on a commercial scale. Called Iter, it could be switched on within a decade.

Wave generators

No longer a dead duck, the hopes of engineers are riding on bobbing floats again. The British company Trident Energy recently unveiled a design that uses a linear generator to convert the motion of the sea into electricity. A wave farm just a few hundred metres across could power 62,000 homes.

article by David Adam, Guardian Unlimited.

Xbox 360 - Hype Suspected As Shops Sell Out Even Before The Console Release

A friend of mine was positively drooling as he told me how he will be receiving his pre-ordered Xbox 360 on 2nd December. "Why aren't you getting one?" he asked, as if to question my very sanity. What a short memory he has, forgetting when the original Xbox was released. Does no one remember the hype and the sudden shortage of consoles, with massive publicity suggesting that it really must be an awesome product if demand is so crazy? The fact that the hype was (allegedly) orchestrated by Microsoft and high street outlets and the stock deliberately kept down for the initial rush seems to have slipped some peoples minds.

Well here we go again. A similar strategy appears to be unfolding, with the hype aimed at the children who are more than able to close the deal with the end purchaser - the parent(s) - by hounding them from now 'til Christmas. As Bink.nu reports:

"Senior Xbox chiefs have also admitted they might not have opted for a worldwide debut had they known the supply issues they would be faced with, especially given the amount of marketing the launch will be accompanied by. Indeed, some sources in the games industry are now beginning to look at the upcoming shortages as an actual strategy on Redmond's part. A sell-out debut, so the theory goes, could create the impression that the system is incredibly desirable and sort-after, rather than merely inadvertently under-supplied." (see here for the complete article)

So I strongly recommend that you do what I'm doing - tell the kids that they'll have to make do with their two Xbox consoles, the PS2, PC and Gameboy Advance and wait until next summer, when (hopefully) the Xbox 360 will be adequately stocked by retailers, there will be a greater choice of games, there will be greater competition (don't forget the impending release of the PS3!) and maybe the prices will be lower. Plus I may get it at about the same time as my friend who pre-ordered it months ago. I myself am a marketing manager but would never employ the same short-term dirty trick twice (actually, not even once). Well Microsoft probably will get away with it (the lowest common denominator determines much of what the powerful get away with these days, be they politicians, trans-global corps or whatever) but they won't be getting my hard-earned cash. Well, not yet anyway.

Iraq: Proving The Lies Behind The War

The reasons for war in Iraq were fabricated and everyone knows it, but just can't prove it. In the UK the 'dodgey dossier', the outing of weapons inspector David Kelly (and his subsequent 'suicide'), the mauling of the BBC for their Iraq reporting and various other incidents have shown that the British government had a hidden agenda and lied completely about why we went to war. Now in the US the Valerie Plame case is giving us a similar glimpse into how the Bush administration threw up fabricated excuse after excuse while their train just kept on steaming down the track. I. Lewis Libby is the one chosen to fall on the sword after keeping the investigators at arms length during the election period. The weak and toothless Democrats are attempting to fully prise open a door which special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald has left invitingly ajar but, from recent form, they don't have the strength or skill to do it. Rove and Cheney both have reasons to hide and look busy, but with the well-timed announcement of Samuel Alito to replace Harriet Miers as the new Supreme Court nominee , the Iraq thing is temporarily out of the public eye. It seems the US media can only concentrate on one big story at a time (convenient for the Bush administration).

Personally I don't think anyone will uncover the truth while this administration is still in power. If Bush was impeached as part of a cleansing 'truth and reconcilliation' exercise maybe we would get somewhere, but there are many 'dark actors' involved in this affair, most of which are not elected, accountable and are hugely protective of their own interests. As long as they are left to their own devices we will have to live with a destiny determined by them and not us.