killswitch: obama admin fears egypt-style revolt in US

from paul joseph watson: The Obama administration is busy attempting to pass legislation that would give the President a kill switch for the Internet in the United States while at the same time decrying Egyptian authorities for shutting down the Internet in a bid to deflate the unfolding revolution against Hosni Mubarak. The reason is simple – the government fears an Egypt-style revolt occurring in the U.S. and wants to block access to the world wide web if and when it happens... While Obama criticizes Egyptian authorities for shutting down web access to disrupt protesters, his own administration prepares to launch a fresh attempt at instituting the exact same powers in America, which as recent history clearly demonstrates, represent tools for tyrannical regimes who wish to silence legitimate political opposition.

related: dhs' new terror alert system to use facebook, twitter

the bob lazar story: s-4 sport model fueled by element 115

The Bob Lazar Story still fascinates, though, the first anonymous interview with George Knapp took place over 20 years ago. Lazar's credibility remains in question to this day, because of an inability to substantiate his background according to this timeline. It appears doubtful Lazar attended either CalTech or MIT and graduated in the bottom third of his 1976 high school class. Lazar still has his backers who found much evidence to support his claims. Lazar's six months in 1989 at Area 51's S-4 site to reverse engineer an alien disc in a project called Galileo, remains spellbinding--either way! You can view a credible Lazar in a well done interview about his experience here. The story propels us into the future with enough detail to pique curiosity.

hermann oberth: father of space travel

Hermann Oberth is a rare example where science married fiction and it became difficult to tell the two apart. Oberth called the "Father of Space Travel" for his visionary writing about the future of space, was greatly influenced by Jules Verne, when at the age of 11, his mother gave him Verne's "Earth to the Moon" and "Around the Moon", three years later, he designed his first spacecraft. Oberth, along with Russian Konstantin Tsiolkovsky and American Robert Goddard, became known as pioneers of rocket science. The career path was far from easy, however. Oberth designed and submitted a long range liquid propellant rocket, which was rejected in 1917 by the German Ministry of War. Oberth's doctoral thesis based on his rocket design was also rejected by the University of Heidelberg. Opting to end his pursuit of a doctorate, Oberth partially financed the publication of his dissertation in a 1923 book, "Die Rakete zu den Planetenräumen" (The Rocket into Interplanetary Space). A short readable biography of Oberth at the New Mexico Museum of Space History website, includes how in the book based on his rejected dissertation, "...he explained mathematically, how rockets could achieve a speed that would allow them to escape Earth's gravitational pull. The book earned Oberth widespread recognition, and inspired a generation of German rocket enthusiasts". In 1929, Oberth joined the Verein fur Raumshiffahrt or VfR ("Spaceflight Society"), which quickly grew and soon voted its president.

Oberth "..with his teen-aged protégé Wernher von Braun and other members of the VfR, launched Oberth's first rocket on May 7, 1931, near Berlin (more than five years after Goddard launched the world's first liquid-fuel rocket)". Later, in 1941, Oberth worked under van Braun at Peenemunde in the development of the V-2 rocket.

challenger: 'obviously, a major malfunction'

In observance of the 25th anniversary of the Shuttle Challenger disaster, the words of NASA public relations officer Steve Nesbitt just over a minute after launch, seem etched on people's minds, "obviously, a major malfunction". CNN Live coverage from that fateful day January 28, 1986, can be viewed here. Richard C Cook, author of Challenger Revealed, recounts the O-Ring issue and Morton Thiokol's reservations in a, "Lew Rockwell article," which recaps the mainstream media message on the disaster. Cook issued a memo six months prior with his safety concerns, when contractors related to him shortly after his arrival at NASA, they held their breath with every launch because of deficiencies in the design of the O-Rings and especially at cold temperatures. There is another message implicit in the event, however.

It's the hidden meaning of the names of the space shuttles. "A Colombian Enterprise to Endeavor for the Discovery of Atlantis... and all Challengers shall be destroyed," taken from the late William Cooper's writings, which can be read here. Cooper believed it's the symbolic language of the Illuminati.

egypt hits internet kill switch

Organizations that track global activity noted a collapse of internet traffic in and out of Egypt at about 10:30pm, GMT, Thursday. The Telegraph reports in, "How Egypt shut down the internet," how loss of access involved the withdrawal of more than 3,500 Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) routes by Egyptian ISPs. It's reported effectively 88 percent of all access was cut. "Only one ISP out of 10, Noor Data Networks, appeared largely unaffected. It connects to the outside world via an undersea cable operated by Telecom Italia.," the article continues, "Renesys [a networking firm] speculated that the apparent anomaly of Noor Data Networks may be a result of the fact it provides services to the Egyptian stock exchange." BGP is the protcol backing the core routing decisions on the internet. BGP, according to Wikipedia, "...does not use traditional Interior Gateway Protocol (IGP) metrics, but makes routing decisions based on path, network policies and/or rulesets. For this reason, it is more appropriately termed a reachability protocol rather than routing protocol." Egypt joins North Korea, at least for the time being, as the only other country to deny its citizens access to the internet. It's interesting to see how the feat is done!

1/27 defcon: congress, connections & 'the company'

s3480: 'protecting cyberspace as a national asset act of 2010' - bill to give president right to shutdown net back in congress*
doj seeks to have all web surfing tracked*
mozilla proposes 'do not track' addition to firefox*
google comes under fire for 'secret' relationship with nsa*
apple hires a military grade security chief*
zuckerberg's facebook page hacked*
social networks under attack as tide of cyber-scepticism sweeps US; they don't connect people – they isolate them*
report: US can't link manning to assange*
police arrest five over 'anonymous' wikileaks attacks*
video: tarpley on wikileaks & assange -
limited hangouts in the service of 'the company'?*

update: internet down in egypt ahead of protests*

new surgical robot benefits patients through tiny incisions

from komu: A new surgical robot at University Hospital [in Columbia, Missouri] is benefiting patients in a small - but big way. The dual-console da Vinci surgical robot is used for minimally invasive surgeries such as general surgery, prostate surgery and other surgeries. Surgeons keep control of the robot at all times by using hand controls, and watch procedures through microscopic lenses. The lenses allow them to see exactly what they need in order to direct the robots hands. While surgeons are able to successfully do all of the surgeries the robots can, the robots are able to operate through tiny incisions. Patients benefit by having minimal scaring, shorter hospital stays, and less blood loss. While hospitals and patients have the choice to use these robots, surgeons at University Hospital say they have had a great experience and highly recommend them.

apophis: friday the 13th, 2036

Apophis, a menacing asteroid of uncertain orbit, is in the news again at Universe Today. Nancy Atkinson taken in by a RiaNovosti article headline, "Russian astronomers predict Apophis-Earth collision in 2036," finds upon further reading the chances for a collision are extremely slim at 1 in 250,000 on perhaps the unluckiest Friday the 13th.  Atkinson concludes, "...there is no new information or changes in understanding Apophis’ orbit.."  Apophis and the Near Earth Object Program bring an echo from the past of the warning made by rocket scientist Wehrner von Braun to Carol Rosin near the end of his life, in the 1970's. Von Braun warned of an agenda that would use any excuse to spend trillions of dollars on space weaponization. The rocket scientist included the Russians, terrorists, rogue states, asteroids and extraterrestrials in a false enemies list to justify putting weapons into orbit. There is certainly much discussion about deflecting the Apophis asteroid. It seems the agenda is going much as planned!

nrol-49 mission patch: space glyphs

The Delta IV heavy NROL-49 rocket launched recently from Vandenberg AFB. The spectacular launch provided by United Launch Alliance (ULA), a group of well-known defense contractors, can be viewed here. Dwayne Day writes in a Space Review article, "Better the devil you know...," what the patch pictured opposite hints about the classified top secret satellite launch. The fourteen stars are the number of successful launches of the KH-11 series of reconnaissance satellite. The KH-11 type, which dates back to 1976, was to be replaced by a new series. The new satellite ran into problems and the program canceled. The National Reconnaissance Office, which builds US spy satellites, went back and built one more KH-11 out of spare parts. The last venerable launch of the series is symbolized by the phoenix rising from the flames of the canceled series. The Latin inscription reveals the familiar past, "melior diabolus quem scies,” translates "the devil you know". Day and Roger Guillemette began writing about secret space mission patches in early 2008 and perhaps their best article, "Space Age hieroglyphs," is a treatment of the STS-38 mission.

china shooting at US spy sats?

Are Space Wars already happening now? Chris Everard, a British filmmaker, believes so and recaps in "Secret Space Vol. 2, part 1/13 on You Tube" a December 2006 Nexus Magazine issue, which contained republished news reports about China firing lasers at US government satellites! The present writer wonders about two more overt acts such as the Chinese shoot down of their weather satellite in January 2007? One month earlier, the US had launched USA-193, a spy satellite. The satellite owned by the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) was reported to stop functioning shortly after it entered into orbit. In a similar 2008 action, the United States shoots down the USA-193, calling it a matter of safety? It seems suspect as the debris field left by blowing up a satellite can damage other satellites? A NewScientist article contends an out of control satellite is equally as dangerous. Time magazine questioned the motive behind the satellite shootdown in the following 2008 article.

Is it political as Time suggests? There is a symmetry involved with the two events often paired as in this article. Are the Chinese and American demonstrations only a show of power? The layers of deception may run deeper than even a conspiracy theorist suspects? Could these displays be a horse and pony show to distract from what is really happening in space? If China has lasers why shoot a satellite down with a missile? Why was the US so upset with China's 2007 shoot down and then follow up with one of their own? It's a full serving of conspiracy theory for your plate--with only questions and no answers!

who will weep for the banksters?

Who will weep? Will anyone regret when a foreclosure mill is finally stopped? When the Federal Reserve has one less party to provide hefty bailouts that possibly go towards big bonuses? When will Wikileaks pull the plug and start leaking?

Who will weep for Bank of America when the contents of a rumored 5GB hard drive of a bank executive are sent to media outlets? Mary Bottari wonders how bad it will be in a recent article, 'What Does Wikileaks Have on Bank of America?' The writer implies it must be bad as the bank buys up unflattering website domain names, e.g., BankofAmericaSucks.com and BrianMoynhihanblows.com!

Bottari wonders whether Wikileaks has evidence the bank was peddling toxic securities to investors fully aware of their worthlessness? The writer notes as recently as "...September 2009, for example, BofA underwrote $239 million worth of securities backed by subprime loans...". Bank of America is also at ground zero of the robo-signing scandal. A bank employee admits in a legal deposition she signed 8,000 foreclosure documents a month without reading them--a clear violation of law! The writer wonders whether mounting evidence of a fraudulent disregard for the law, may place Bank of America in an unsustainable position, legally?

the 1950 'farmington armada' incident

On March 17, 1950, between 11am and noon, half of the small town of Farmington, NM peered skywards and pointed to UFOs directly overhead--for a third consecutive day! High winds and dust storms prevented clear visibility according to a Farmington Daily Times article of the following day. Hundreds witnessed the objects that seemed to play tag and maneuver at 90 degree angles. Witnesses could attest the objects to be "saucer shaped " as some would fly on their edge to reveal their round form. The UFOs would also fly in formation with a larger and faster red leader in front. Speeds of the objects were estimated at 1,000 mph and flying at heights of 15-20,000 feet and numbered, by witness accounts, anywhere from dozens to hundreds. The sightings are popularly known as the "Farmington Armada".

James E McDonald, a noted UFO researcher, documented witness accounts 17 years later and concluded the objects could not be dismissed as cotton in the air, plasmas or the break up of a Skyhook balloon. McDonald checked with authorities and found no Skyhook Balloon launches for the time period, although a balloon break up still stands as the most likely "official explanation". There is a nice five minute video of Stanton Friedman, famous UFO investigator, who addresses the Farmington incident, beginning at the 2:30 mark.

moonrise as seen from iss

Italian astronaut Paolo Nespoli takes pictures from the International Space Station (ISS) such as the spectacular distorted moonrise above. Nespoli posts his pix online for your viewing pleasure--pure eye candy!

1/20 defcon: firms, foes & ipo's

goldman sachs won't let americans buy facebook shares*
google's eric schmidt passes ceo reins to larry page*
apple's jobs takes another medical leave,
raising questions about firm's future*
ellsberg: with wikileaks, google & facebook must take a stand*
trapster.com warns 10m users of password theft*
q&a: threat of cyberwar is 'over-hyped'*
dancho danchev, bulgarian security researcher & cybercrime foe, goes missing*

internet routing structure most vulnerable

Cybersecurity expert Peter Sommer of the London School of Economics warns nations against following Pentagon's lead of developing a military division to defend against cyber threats in recent article at NewScientist website. "The military can only defend its own networks not the private-sector critical networks we all depend on for gas, water, electricity and banking, making such military efforts a waste of taxpayers' money." Sommer, co-author of a very readable new report, "Reducing Systemic Cybersecurity Risk", advises governments should quit panicking and take a disciplined approach. It's, possibly, time to sit up and take notice when advice is coming from the author of "The Hacker's Handbook," first published in 1985.

The report casts doubt whether cyberwarfare will ever have global significance on a scale, of say, a pandemic or a bank run. Sommer feels it's more likely attacks on the internet's routing structure will cause pockets of misery at the local level. PricewaterhouseCoopers security manager Jay Abbott, also, believes the routing structure is vulnerable. "Short of physically cutting the wires, it's the best way to take down a country from the internet." It makes an interesting read to take in opinions of cybersecurity experts.

china ups cyberwar stakes

Northrop Grumman published a study of China's capability to conduct cyberwarfare last year. The present writer suggests at least surveying, "An Operational Profile of An Advanced Cyber Intrusion". The section contains a very readable review of a sophisticated data collection operation and intrusion upon large US company networks. It's an education. ZDNET Asia provides a more disturbing quote from the same document in, "China's US $90b ups cyberwar stakes,"... document also claimed the country has stockpiled a kinetic arsenal that includes lasers, high-power microwave systems and nuclear-generated electromagnetic pulses to supplement its cyber warfare force. It also claimed the country is training its forces to work under 'complex electromagnetic conditions'." This represents serious and sober preparation for knocking out and operating computer systems under very harsh and adverse conditions. It's war preparation, clearly!

connect to chaos: gm/ibm give chevy volt its own ip address

from newelectronics.co.uk: The Chevy Volt will be the first car of its type: not because it is a hybrid electric/petrol vehicle, but because GM plans to give each one the company sells its own IP address. The Volt will have no less than 100 microcontrollers running its systems from some 10 million lines of code. This makes some hackers very excited and Adriel Desautels, president of security analysis firm Netragard, very worried. Before now, you needed physical access to reprogram the software inside a car: an 'air gap' protected vehicles from remote tampering. The Volt will have no such physical defence. Without some kind of electronic protection, Desautels sees cars such as the Volt and its likely competitors becoming 'hugely vulnerable 5000lb pieces of metal'. Desautels adds: "We are taking systems that were not meant to be exposed to the threats that my team produces and plug it into the internet. Some 14 year old kid will be able to attack your car while you're driving ... 'Black hats' are poised and waiting for this car to come out."

avebury crop circles: clues to 2012

On July 15, 2008, a crop circle appeared on Avebury Manor (pictured) near the town of Avebury in England, which is also the site of a megalithic stone circle. It is a representation of our solar system and where the planets will be on Dec. 21-23, 2012. Just one week later, an addition to the existing crop circle and another one beside it appeared. It's clear these are references to 2012 and have provoked a cottage industry of interpretations: Nibiru, comets, and a solar conflagration are some of the ideas. These are, perhaps, some of the most interesting crop circles ever. A very concise interpretation is nicely done in a brief three minute video linked: here. It's pretty amazing stuff!

israel tested stuxnet at dimona

Israel took pages from spy thriller, by building identical centrifuges to those at Natanz, to test effectiveness of stuxnet worm. Cryptogon carries New York Times article. An American nuclear intelligence expert related, “To check out the worm, you have to know the machines..The reason the worm has been effective is that the Israelis tried it out.” In 2008, Siemens cooperated with the United States to identify vulnerabilities of their computer controllers the company sells to operate industrial machinery around the world at the Idaho National Laboratory, a leading nuclear research and development facility. The NYT article concludes: "The worm itself now appears to have included two major components. One was designed to send Iran’s nuclear centrifuges spinning wildly out of control. Another seems right out of the movies: The computer program also secretly recorded what normal operations at the nuclear plant looked like, then played those readings back to plant operators, like a pre-recorded security tape in a bank heist, so that it would appear that everything was operating normally while the centrifuges were actually tearing themselves apart." It's a case of life imitating art!

update: stuxnet: a violation of US computer security law

flux transfer event: when a portal opens in earth's magnetosphere

Are Flux Transfer Events (FTE) the new bogeyman or a treacherous secret weapon? The present writer can see where these brief but frequent breaches of the Earth's magnetosphere, could be used for propaganda purposes. There is a growing amount of press coverage about FTE, since the cluster THEMIS spacecraft flew through and measured them, first, in 2007. These highly dynamic interruptions in the magentosphere allow the flow of solar wind into the Earth's atmosphere. These breaches or holes, which resemble rolling pins in appearance, are believed to occur every eight minutes. David Siebeck, a space physicist at the Goddard Space Center, "Ten years ago I was pretty sure they didn't exist, but now the evidence is incontrovertible," revealed at the 2008 Plasma Workshop in Huntsville, AL. The workshop's subject and title was, "The Physical Processes for Energy and Plasma Transport across Magnetic Boundaries". Tony Phillips, a NASA writer, explains FTE in a detailed 2008 article, "Magnetic Portals Connect Earth to the Sun". Phillips describes an FTE as forming along the equator on the dayside of the earth and roll over the north pole in December and the south pole in July. Is this the new norm?

iras detected planet x in 1983?

Did the Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS) make the long sought discovery after its 1983 launch? A 1984 article, Planet X--Is It Really Out There?, confirmed: "Last year, the infrared astronomical satellite (IRAS), circling in a polar orbit 560 miles from the Earth, detected heat from an object about 50 billion miles away that is now the subject of intense speculation." A reader can be their own judge why this event went without notice?

1/13 defcon: crimestop, doublethink, disconnect

child porn probe leads to fbi headquarters*
ex-tsa worker gets 2yrs for planting 'logic bomb' malware in colorado springs screening system*
US subpoenas twitter for wikileaks info*
how secret were the wikileaks state dept. cables?*
wikileaks contributes $15k to bradley manning's defense*
assange claims 504 'insurance files' on news corp.*
algorithms take control of wall street*
cyberdyne is real & making thought-controlled exoskeletons*
video: 'stop. think. connect.' - dhs announces new fear agenda of 'crimestop. doublethink. disconnect.'*

earth must prepare for close encounter with aliens!

from guardian: World governments should prepare a co-ordinated action plan in case Earth is contacted by aliens, according to scientists. They argue that a branch of the UN must be given responsibility for "supra-Earth affairs" and formulate a plan for how to deal with extraterrestrials, should they appear. The comments are part of an extraterrestrial-themed edition of the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A published today. In it, scientists examine all aspects of the search for extraterrestrial life, from astronomy and biology to the political and religious fallout that would result from alien contact. "Will a suitable process based on expert advice from proper and responsible scientists arise at all, or will interests of power and opportunism more probably set the scene?" asked Professor John Zarnecki of the Open University and Dr Martin Dominik of the University of St Andrews in the introductory paper. "A lack of co-ordination can be avoided by creating an overarching framework in a truly global effort governed by an international politically legitimated body." The pair argue that the UN has a ready-made mechanism for such a forum in its Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (Copuos).

flashback: united nations 'to appoint space ambassador to greet alien visitors' as hawking warns over making contact

russia will spend $3.8b on space program

Russia will spend approx. $3.8B dollars on its space program to increase its share in the global space market. There are plans to launch 50 spacecraft in 2011. Russia wants, also, to complete its version of GPS, the GLONASS navigation system. The Russian navigation satellite system was to be completed last year, but a December launch crashed into the Pacific north of Hawaii and resulted in the loss of three satellites. August is the target date to launch another three satellites to complete the system, according to Russia's space agency, Roscosmos. Russians felt they needed their own system, because Americans could switch off GPS, at any time! Russia has ironically failed not only to complete its navigation system, but will not have the readers to receive the signals, and possibly, will be purchasing equipment made in China! Glonass research began in 1976 and interrupted by the fall of the Soviet Union. Vladimir Putin vowed to place a Glonass reader in every car by 2012, as a demonstration of renewed Russian technological might. Analysts observe that Glonass will enable Russia to target its missiles and weapons from space, something other countries have done for years!

cyberwar on korean peninsula

Is warfare headed online? South Koreans hacked into North Korea's official twitter account recently and posted messages, defaming leader Kim Jong-il and son Kim Jong-un. North Koreans mounted an attack in retaliation and shut down the alleged website in the South responsible for the remarks. Justin McCurry writes further in, "Korean hackers mount cyber skirmishes in propaganda war," "...propaganda wars are not confined to private citizens: the Korean Times reported plans to launch propaganda audio and video webcasts targeting the few North Koreans with access to the internet." Pyongyang warns meanwhile of "grave consequences". You can learn more at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) website in "The Evolution of Cyber Warfare," a 2008 article by Greg Bruno.

gerald celente: internet nuke bomb waiting to go off

from russia today: Gerald Celente, the founder of the Trends Research Institute, believes that the Internet will empower the youth of the world to unite to start a revolution that will overthrow the existing deadlocked elitist establishment. He predicts that in 2011 every citizen is going to realize that the Great Recession the world has been living through is actually a Great Depression, because the American establishment is "running out of schemes."

infoporn: exoplanet atlas

There's an interesting exoplanet gallery, a possible first to chart known exoplanets at www.wired.co.uk. It's interesting eye-candy but definitely for astro-geeks. The comments section includes criticism of temperatures posted in Celsius not Kelvin. It's still worth a look, and for the astro-geek, it's pure infoporn!

nemesis theory

Nemesis is a theorized red dwarf star--a binary companion to our sun. The case for Nemesis was first proposed in the eighties by Richard A. Muller, a Berkeley physicist, as a theory to help explain periodic extinctions on Earth. The theory grew from an observation by Luis Alvarez, Muller's mentor, extinction events on Earth were periodic, estimated to occur every 26 to 30 million years as evidenced by anomalous iridium deposits. Iridium is extremely rare but more common in meteors. This led to a hypothesis the deposits were due to meteors and their age corresponded with the so-called "extinction events". Alvarez invited Muller to debunk his conclusions.

Muller couldn't debunk Alvarez, and theorized, the existence of Nemesis, an as-yet-to-be-detected red dwarf star that varies in distance from 1 to 3 light years from the Sun. Nemesis crosses through an area of the Oort cloud, as the theory goes, where trillions of comets are present in a halo around our solar system. This infrequent pass by the so-called "death star" Nemesis, every 26-30 million years, displaces comets into the inner planetary orbits of our solar system. Lynn Yarris provided a good history of Nemesis theory's development in this Berkeley Lab publication.

white house calls for 'identity ecosystem' to protect online users

from eweek: The Obama Administration is committed to reducing Internet fraud by developing a comprehensive, national online identity strategy, United State Commerce Secretary Gary Locke said on Jan. 7. Cyber-security and digital identity was a “national top priority” issue, said Locke. Locke was joined by Howard Schmidt, the White House Cybersecurity coordinator, at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research at Stanford University, where they outlined the framework for an “identity ecosystem” which will allow people to complete online transactions with confidence that their personal information was safe. “We are not talking about a national ID card. We are not talking about a government-controlled system,” Locke said.

flashbacks: white house prepping national internet identity authentication plan & cybersecurity measures would mandate govt 'id tokens' to use the net

weapons of mass deception

Mark Pilkington, author of Mirage Men, writes an excellent account of early ufology, from an intelligence point of view, in a Fortean Times article, "Weapons of Mass Deception". Pilkington begins with the Air Forces' "Project Grudge, an early effort "to study" unidentified flying objects (ufos), but intended primarily to suppress public interest. The effort proved successful, until Donald Keyhoe wrote a 1950 article that exposed the Air Force coverup in True Magazine, and later, expanded into a book, "The Flying Saucers Are Real". Keyhoe transformed ufos into a respectable topic, "the era of scientific ufology was born", writes Pilkington.

The ufo myth, as we know it, took form from a series of events, according to Pilkington, the first a film release in September 1951 of "The Day the Earth Stood Still" (link to full film) that "perfectly crystallised" the hopes and fears of the flying saucer movement, what an alien encounter could bring with Christ-like Klaatu's message of peace and his robot enforcer, Gort, capable of destroying the Earth. The film sparked a surge of ufo sightings and many within the armed services, which prompted the Air Force to issue JANAP 146(B), where servicemen could be imprisoned for up to ten years and fined 10,000 dollars for release of ufo information.

cassini flies just 76km above rhea surface on jan. 11

It's an exciting time for Cassini imaging team scientists as the spacecraft drops to just 47 miles above the surface of Rhea, Saturn's second largest moon, on January 11th!  "These will be by far the best images we've ever had of Rhea's surface - details down to just a few meters will become recognizable," said Thomas Roatsch, a team scientist at the German Aerospace Center Institute of Planetary Research in Berlin.  "New Images Indicate Tectonic Activity On Rhea ", a brief article at Space Daily, reveals sharp fractures on the Saturn moon's surface--an indication of tectonic activity.  Cassini will continue to chart the terrain of Saturn's moons until 2017.

1/6 defcon: bad calls & fake claims

warrantless cell phone search gets green light in california*
voip decision means skype now illegal*
first solar eclipse of the year jan4*
quadrantid meteor shower due jan4 night*
reporter behind wmd claims calls assange 'bad journalist'*
fake white house holiday email is cyber attack*

earth's magnetic fields cause of bird & fish die off

The Earth's magnetic fields are surfacing in the press as an explanation for several recent mass bird and fish die-offs! Donna Pravel writes in, "Earth's Magnetic Fields May Be Causing Bird and Fish Die-Off", about massive breaches detected in the magnetosphere by five NASA Themis spacecraft. Breaches allow highly charged particles to enter and can result in large geomagnetic storms. Pravel offers disruptions in the magnetic fields as disorienting both birds and fish, who use the magnetic fields to navigate, although she leaves open the possibility the fish kills are unrelated. The article fails to convince, under a critical eye, although a geomagnetic storm may explain the trauma to the dead birds. The die offs, at least in Arkansas, seem too specific to be explained by a storm as primarily blackbirds and drum fish died. How did other birds survive? How did other fish manage to navigate? It could be a coincidental disease killed the fish? A mass die off roundup at news.com.au should raise questions in any rational mind?

In June 2007, Themis spacecraft recorded a breach 10 times larger than anticipated. There is an audio version of the article by Tony Phillips as well as a video version available here. The present writer's concern is the growing number of sources capable of taking down our civilization in a single sweeping blackout. Will it be a electromagnetic pulse from a rogue terrorist nuke or ruined circuitry from a solar maximum, a solar flare and/or geomagnetic storm? What else can cause a breach in the magnetosphere? The possible sources of attribution seem on the rise, but how will we know the real source with any certainty in such an event? Is it predictive programming?

update: the mystery of dead birds, fish & other weird events

goldman invests in facebook at $50b valuation

why are taxpayers subsidizing facebook & the next bubble?
from nytimes: Goldman Sachs has reached out to its wealthy private clients, offering them a chance to invest in Facebook, the hot social networking giant that is considering a possible public offering in 2012, according to people familiar with the matter. On Sunday night, a number of Goldman clients received an email from their Goldman broker, offering them the opportunity to invest in an unnamed “private company that is considering a transaction to raise additional capital.” Another person briefed on the deal said that Goldman clients would have to pony up a minimum of $2 million to invest and would be prohibited from selling their shares until 2013. A Goldman spokesman declined to comment. Facebook has raised $500 million from Goldman Sachs and a Russian investor in a transaction that values the company at $50 billion, according to people involved in the transaction. As part of its deal with Facebook, Goldman is expected to raise as much as $1.5 billion from investors for Facebook.

wikileaks: a big dangerous US government con job

William Engdahl provides, perhaps, the best summation of America's plight in a recent article and podcast. In last month's article, "Wikileaks--a Big Dangerous US Government Con Job," Engdahl's observations are chillingly apt. Wikileaks is too well-scripted to be true. Bradley Manning, the alleged leaker, had impossible access and his leaked material's content is not "top secret". Manning is, now, incarcerated and incommunicado - all too convenient. Once, the 250,000 leaked pages reached Julian Assange and Wikileaks, "Assange decides to selectively choose several of the world’s most ultra-establishment news media to exclusively handle the leaking job for him...The New York Times even assigned one of its top people, David E. Sanger to control the release of the Wikileaks material... sits as a member of the elite Council on Foreign Relations as well as the Aspen Institute Strategy Group..." observes Engdahl.

The clear conclusion of the article is, "but for anyone who has studied the craft of intelligence and of disinformation, a clear pattern emerges in the Wikileaks drama. The focus is put on selected US geopolitical targets...".  F William Engdahl sees right through the entire operation. "The Wikileaks is a big and dangerous US intelligence Con Job which will likely be used to police the Internet." You may catch today's Deadline Live interview of Engdahl here, which makes a great audio companion to the article!

dead birds and fish in arkansas

What caused the mass killing of thousands of birds and fish recently in Arkansas? Keith Stephens with the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission offers his opinion, the birds may have been killed by stress from New Year's fireworks in a local TV interview here. Stephens adds fish usually die from low oxygen levels in the water. The Game and Fish commission rep attempts to laugh off the two bizarre incidents with biblical dark humor "just waiting on the locusts". It seems laughable, the birds would drop dead straight from the sky--due to stress! Two observations are the birds seem primarily to be blackbirds and the fish are drums. How is this selective kill possible? A fisherman points out in a video here that drum fish are unique in their "pearls" as referred to on the video, but may actually mean their otoliths, which might make the drum fish selectively vulnerable to the Extremely Low Frequency Sound Waves (ELF) of HAARP? The fisherman suggests the area behind the drum fish's eye, acts like a sounding board. The blackbirds were found in Beebe, AR and the drum fish on the shore of the Arkansas River 125 miles apart! Everyone should be asking, "is it HAARP or a newer form of scalar weaponry?"

update: the mystery of dead birds, fish & other weird events

when computers keep watch

computers that see you & keep watch over you
from nytimes: Hundreds of correctional officers from prisons across America descended last spring on a shuttered penitentiary in West Virginia for annual training exercises. Some officers played the role of prisoners, acting like gang members and stirring up trouble, including a mock riot. The latest in prison gear got a workout — body armor, shields, riot helmets, smoke bombs, gas masks. And, at this year’s drill, computers that could see the action. Perched above the prison yard, five cameras tracked the play-acting prisoners, and artificial-intelligence software analyzed the images to recognize faces, gestures and patterns of group behavior... "It was just too sensitive, and we didn’t want to go there," said Eric E. Schmidt, the chief executive of Google. "You want to avoid enabling stalker behavior."

battle of los angeles

Air raid sirens first screamed at 2:25 am and the city of Los Angeles called for a blackout early on February 25, 1942. The 12,000 air raid wardens were shocked by what followed, from 3:36 am until 4:14 am, at least, 1,440 anti-aircraft shells were fired intermittently with deafening blasts. The UFO caught in the searchlights (pictured), did not fire and apparently was not harmed! There were six deaths as a result of the air raid, three by scrapnel and three heart attacks. The military announced it was a weather ballloon.  This enigmatic incident became known as the Battle of Los Angeles. Here is a link to the original CBS radio broadcast by Bryan Palmer on February 26, 1942.

An eyewitness, only identified as Katie, a volunteer air warden made the following observations, "It was a lovely pale orange and about the most beautiful thing you've ever seen. I could see it perfectly because it was very close. It was big!... They sent fighter planes up (the Army denied any of its fighters were in action) and I watched them in groups approach it and then turn away. There were shooting at it but it didn't seem to matter." The Japanese maintained after the war, they did not fly any aircraft that night over Los Angeles!

transient lunar phenomena

The advent of Transient Lunar Phenomena (TLP) is a relatively recent development with the term first used in 1968.  There are professionals, who still doubt whether the brief changes in light, color and appearance of moon features are just optical illusions.  A common belief is the TLPs may be "last gasps" of geological activity coming from below the moon's surface, as presented in this National Geographic Article. Statistical evidence points to their reality and research is starting in earnest, for example, at this Columbia University website, Transient Lunar Phenomena Studies.  John Lear, an ex-CIA pilot and son of Lear jet founder Bill Lear, researches UFO phenomena and believes the "Blue Gem"(pictured) of the Aristarchus crater, a prominently observed TLP, is a nuclear fusion reactor.  You may suspend judgment before you take a look at his webpage, "Aristarchus Crater: Electric Blue Gem or Nuclear Fusion Reactor?"