dysnomia.us

friday night link dump!

• Kanellos the Greek protest dog

Apparently he’s got his own blog, but it’s all greek to me.

• Russia jails ‘pirate’ over Arctic Sea ship mystery

This is a ship that disappeared from the Baltic Sea last year. The Russians said it was piracy, which would have been the first act of piracy in the Baltic in as long as anyone could remember, but no one really believed that story. Intercepted arms shipments was the buzz. There are still no answers.

• The Road to Area 51
  After decades of denying the facility’s existence, five former insiders speak out

“We couldn’t have told you any of this a year ago,” Slater says. “Now we can’t tell it to you fast enough.” That is because in 2007, the CIA began declassifying the 50-year-old OXCART program. Today, there’s a scramble for eyewitnesses to fill in the information gaps. Only a few of the original players are left.

According to the wikipedia, the OXCART program produced a plane that was the precursor to the SR-71.

random weirdness

Elephant-shaped Ganesh growth cured my ills, Queens man says

Is the Jersey Devil’s range increasing?

The most famous tale of the origins of this cryptid is of Mother Leeds. In 1735, the story goes, the good mother had given birth to twelve children. Said to be a witch, Leeds said that if she had child number 13, it would be the devil himself. Variations of the story say that the Devil was the father, but in any case, the child was born completely normal. Within minutes, it killed the midwife, grew a horse’s head, forked tail, wings and hooves and escaped through the chimney and went directly toward the Pine Barrens.

Sarkozy voodoo kit tops Amazon bestseller list

Pictured: The mystery pink light that appeared over London

Packs of robots will hunt down uncooperative humans

The latest request from the Pentagon jars the senses. At least, it did mine. They are looking for contractors to provide a “Multi-Robot Pursuit System” that will let packs of robots “search for and detect a non-cooperative human”.

Teens convicted of virtual theft

The Leeuwarden District Court says the culprits, 15 and 14 years old, coerced a 13-year-old boy into transferring a “virtual amulet and a virtual mask” from the online adventure game RuneScape to their game accounts.

Woman arrested for killing virtual husband in Maple Story

She is accused of hacking into the profile of a 33-year-old office worker from Sapporo 620 miles away, whose avatar on the Maple Story computer game was married to her character until he unexpectedly demanded a divorce.

The spurned make-believe wife was so angry at being jilted that she logged into the game using her partner’s password and destroyed the character that he had spent a year creating.

return of the news

I’m dipping my toes back in the water tonight, so just a quickie.

Starting with something local for my bike people:
Portland bike light enforcement starts soon

Portland Police have been giving out warnings and bike lights for the past week to those cyclists they catch without a front white light – but they’re about to run out, and when that happens, they’ll start giving out tickets instead.

Stone Age man took drugs, say scientists

They found ceramic bowls, as well as tubes for inhaling drug fumes or powders, which appear to have originated in South America between 100BC and 400BC and were then carried 400 miles to the islands.
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They consider that drugs were being used to induce spiritual or trance-like states by people who had religious beliefs.

Britain releases UFO files, dispels some mysteries
U.S. pilot was ordered to shoot down UFO

And finally, it’s long been known that defending against zombies has been an essential element of homeland security. It’s good to see, then, that alert citizens are on the lookout:
Student Arrested For Terroristic Threatening Says Incident A Misunderstanding

“My story is based on fiction,” said Poole, who faces a second-degree felony terrorist threatening charge. “It’s a fake story. I made it up. I’ve been working on one of my short stories, (and) the short story they found was about zombies. Yes, it did say a high school. It was about a high school over ran by zombies.”

(by way of Green Is The New Red, thanks to Katie Monster)

news headlines

It just keeps getting busier on the piracy front. Too bad no one’s getting any good pictures.
French troops save 2 hostages from Somali pirates
Hong Kong ship with 22 crew seized near Somalia
Panama-flagged Oil tanker escapes Somali pirate attack

Here’s some all-purpose mayhem for you:
Knifed 666 times each and eaten

Police believe the teenagers were cooked in the flames before their flesh was devoured…. Their private parts had also been cut off in the sickening ritual in a rural area of Russia.

Nigerian militants launch new attacks in “oil war”
Peak Oil, or Just Peak Oil Prices?

So the question is—what does $90 oil do to all the revolutionary changes that were so urgent when oil was flirting with $150? Has the gasoline-fueled, air-conditioned American way of life that was under siege two months ago gotten an eleventh-hour reprieve? Or, like those quiet few minutes in the middle of a hurricane, is the recent oil-price tumble just the calm before the rest of the storm hits?

Receding Waters Leave Toxic Mix
Bear vs. Bike: Cyclist Hits 300-Pound Black Bear

The Future of America’s Space Corps
NASA PAO Wants Everyone To Know Who Pays The Bills Back Home
Nasa selects Mars climate mission
NASA awards $485M Mars project delayed by conflict

The price of the probe increased by $10 million, its launch was postponed by two years, and the science-gathering mission will be cut in half to one year, an official said. NASA chose the University of Colorado’s proposal to study the Martian atmosphere from 20 other ideas to study Mars that were trimmed to just two before a conflict of interest was declared.

UFO sightings connected to Large Hadron Collider experiment?
UFO link to orange lights
UFO mystery in Mill End

This one’s for the incomparable Trevor Blake, so he knows that people are still paying attention:
Quote of the Day: Bucky Fuller on How We Live

“Our beds are empty two-thirds of the time.
Our living rooms are empty seven-eighths of the time.
Our office buildings are empty one-half of the time.
It’s time we gave this some thought.”

Hackers block Qaeda’s 9/11 terror on tape

Georgia Offers Fresh Evidence on War’s Start
GEORGIA: FLAWS FOUND IN TBILISI’S WAR PLANNING AND OPERATIONS
DID SAAKASHVILI LIE? The West Begins to Doubt Georgian Leader

And finally, one more post-Soviet hotspot to keep an eye on:
Russian fleet kicks off exercises in Baltic Sea
Wikipedia: Kaliningrad Oblast

all your favorite news stories in one stylish package

Owners hire armed guards to secure ships against pirates
Kidnap ransoms a ‘toll’ to fund terrorist groups
EU mulling military action to tackle Somalia pirates
Tuna fishing vessels seek refuge in Seychelles after threats of piracy

Review: At the Edge of the World (Documentary)
Propaganda: At The Edge of the World Premieres at the Toronto Film Festival

A nonfiction pirate movie that tickles one’s inner eco-radical, “At the Edge of the World” spends a season in the frozen sea with Paul Watson and his militant-mariner Sea Shepherd crew as they try to save endangered mammals from the restaurant suppliers of the Japanese whaling fleet. Docu-cum-chase film may have limited theatrical appeal, but should make a dent in the specialty market and, certainly, the DVD racks.

Google search finds seafaring solution

RAF radar chief: I saw UFO fleet

Wing Commander Alan Turner, 64, said colleagues sat stunned when 35 super-fast vessels appeared on their screens.
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Wing Cmdr Turner said six military radars, plus operators at Heathrow, spotted the UFOs east of Salisbury Plain and filed reports on the unexplained phenomenon in 1971.
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Three days later, the Ministry of Defence visited the RAF and instructed staff to “never speak about the incident again”.

Hubble Finds a Mystery Object
China Broadcasts Greetings From The Moon
Japanese Beam-Down Solar Power System To Be Tested in Abu Dhabi

7 countries plan Black Sea naval exercises
U.S. warship enters Black Sea, Turkey rules out Montreux breach
Russia eyes Mediterranean as alternative to Sevastopol naval base

Georgia war sparks political battle in Ukraine

Arctic meeting calls for closer international cooperation

The right to assembly: The American Civil Liberties Union is representing dozens of protestors arrested at the RNC

When you’ve got a police presence that’s as strong and as aggressive as this, and where they use as much chemical irritant as these guys have been using—they have two million dollars’ worth of it; you might as well use it up; doesn’t last forever, you know—you’re going to get news people who will be gassed and, you know, who will be arrested. People are being swept up, including journalists, charged with a felony, thrown in jail, and then, you know, they’re sitting there for a day and a half, and then the prosecutors are looking at it and saying, “Oh, there’s no reason. We’ll let you go.”

Judge blocks Ore. logging project

yesterday’s news again

What I shoulda told you last night….

Blossom Goodchild’s Predicted Mass UFO Sighting: Will it Force Disclosure to Occur?
Robbie Williams: UFO visited my studio

Last Tree-Sitters Descend From UC Berkeley Grove

SKorean ship seized by pirates off Somalia: sources

All my space news comes from Space Ref today:
Unique animal species can survive in space
NASA Developing Fission Surface Power Technology
SpaceX Receives USAF Operational License for Cape Canaveral Launch Site

Saakhashvili: Georgia has evidence Russia started the war (Extra)
Pentagon set on mission to rebuild Georgian military
Russians seized U.S. equipment
Georgia policeman shot and killed
South Ossetia, Abkhazia get security cover

Nervous EU offers Ukraine hope for the future but no seat at the table
Ukraine PM speaks against conflict over Russia’s Black Sea Fleet

Serbia `Unhappy’ with OSCE in Kosovo

Transdnestr marks anniversary of de-facto independence

NATO ships leave Black Sea after exercises
Hearings in the Romania vs Ukraine dispute on the Black Sea continental plateau continue

news stories- late night drive-by

NASA: Martian soil may be more alien than first thought

UN policeman injured in northern Kosovo scuffle
Kosovo: ex-guerilla fighter to head defense post

Separatists in Georgia promise to explode Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline if military actions against them are initiated
Georgia and South Ossetia to hold talks

Sea Shepherd flagship in Brisbane for major refit

Ottawa to send Halifax frigate to Somalia to guard food shipments

Arctic ice depleted by half in 6 years of ‘drastic thinning:’ researcher

‘Leprechaun-alien’ snapped

the news from space- discoveries, politics and more ufos

NASA Spacecraft Confirms Martian Water, Mission Extended

“We have water,” said William Boynton of the University of Arizona, lead scientist for the Thermal and Evolved-Gas Analyzer, or TEGA. “We’ve seen evidence for this water ice before in observations by the Mars Odyssey orbiter and in disappearing chunks observed by Phoenix last month, but this is the first time Martian water has been touched and tasted.”

Mars Express acquires sharpest images of martian moon Phobos

Liquid flowing on surface of Saturn moon: NASA

Space a Potential Fracture Line at Democratic National Convention?
And if politics is the authoritative allocation of values, this is totally a political question: why does the Air Force get all the cool toys?
US airforce to launch robotic Space Shuttle 2.0 this year

Just why the Air Force thinks it needs orbital landers isn’t clear, but such craft could be one option for America’s desired “prompt global reach” capability. Rather than using hypersonic airbreathers ripping through the atmosphere to reach a target, the US forces might choose to send payloads still faster, through the vacuum of low orbit. Future orbiters derived from the X-37 might deliver warheads, spy packages or even troops to far-flung theatres within hours of getting the go order, although they’d never be able to get back again.

The Shape of Space To Come

And of course… OMG ALIENS!!1!

NASA expert claims to have seen ET from UFO standing in Shuttle payload bay during space flight.

I, Clark C. McClelland, former ScO, Space Shuttle Fleet, personally observed an 8 to 9 foot tall ET on his 27 inch video monitors while on duty in the Kennedy Space Center, Launch Control Center (LCC). The ET was standing upright in the Space Shuttle Payload Bay having a discussion with TWO tethered US NASA Astronauts! I also observed on my monitors, the spacecraft of the ET as it was in a stabilized, safe orbit to the rear of the Space Shuttle main engine pods.
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NASA is not a CIVILIAN SPACE AGENCY! The Pentagon owns NASA! Some of the DoD (Department of Defense) missions I participated in were TOP SECRET! Those missions carried TS Satellites and other space mission hardware into orbit where several crews met with ETs! I am ready to tell my story, but, for compensation,

VIDEO: UFOs over Worthing
Second Video of Topanga Canyon – Los Angeles UFO Emerges!

the news – pirates, ufos and stupid crimes

Suspects in Monroe burglary found sleeping on bed of loot

The only man Somali pirates trust
Efforts on for safe release of seamen seized in Somalia
Pirates demand ransom for 20 Filipino seamen

Chopper ‘chase’ joins UFO files
Moon-walker claims alien contact cover-up

Defense Secretary Gates Questions Use of Private Contractors

S.Ossetia Releases Georgian Man

And finally, two updates to stories I’ve covered in the past:
Culberson apologizes for calling NASA waste of funds
Sound waves, goo guns won’t be used on DNC protesters

news stories- how’d your senator vote on impunity for spies?

Did your senator vote to let them get away with spying on you? Obama did.
Senate roll call on terrorist surveillance bill
So whatcha gonna do about it?
Online Movement Aims to Punish Democrats Who Support Bush Wiretap Bill

Astronauts handling explosives on daring spacewalk
Date set for Mars sample mission
Water Discovered in Moon Samples
Mars Lander Runs into Tough Digging

Security firms lose immunity in Iraq deal

Military overflight in Georgia stopped ‘bloodshed’: Russia

Russian ships at the mercy of pirates

Yesterday was a bat in a girl’s bra. Now they’re getting into this girl’s pants.
Bat’s wardrobe error leads to a day at the office: Shock for receptionist as she discovers a visitor in her trousers

British UFO sightings at ‘bizarre’ levels

Whatever the explanation, experts agree that the number of suspected flying saucers has hit unusual highs this summer.

Malcolm Robinson, who studies the phenomenon, said: “Something very bizarre is happening in the skies over the UK.”