30.11.02

"We have ordained phases for the moon, which daily wanes and end the end appears like a bent old twig -Holy Koran 36:39

Eid-al-Fitr is the celebration marking the end of the Holy month of Ramadan, when fasting gives way to feasting and the inner prayers of the faithful are made manifest in fellowship and forgiveness of grudges. The official passing of Ramadan relies on a sighting of the crescent moon, which can vary depending on your location (as well as weather conditions). This year, you can expect to break your fast on December 6. MoonCalc 5.2 is the program you will need in order to determine in advance when exactly Eid-al-Fitr should be celebrated in your locality. Be prepared.

29.11.02

Dr. Joy, 'shroom angel

Visit the Mushroom Cloud Gallery and think about prophecy. Link courtesy of Mr. Pants.

23.11.02

Make Your Own Grail Diary

IndyGear is your source for all the accessories you will need to transform yourself into Indiana Jones.

Thanks to Dave Smith for the link.

18.11.02

Secret Court Permits Secret Spying on US Residents

A court which holds private hearings with only one side of the argument petitioning has ruled in a classified decision that the justice department can secretly tap your phone or monitor the activities in your home without a criminal warrant and without judicial review.

Attorney General John Ashcroft hailed the decision as a revolution in the way domestic surveillance operations are conducted and promised to waste no time in hooking up your house with all sorts of high-tech audio-video equipment.

More reaction in a report by the AP's Gina Holland:

Viet Dinh, a special assistant attorney general, said last week that the government would not be heavy-handed. "We have absolutely no interest in gathering information simply for the sake of gathering information," he said. But Michael Greenberger, who worked on counterterrorism projects in the Clinton administration's Justice Department, said, "The minute you start hearing prosecutors say `I'm not going to abuse the right,' citizens' ears ought to perk up." Greenbeger, who now teaches law at the University of Maryland, said he was concerned that Americans will be monitored with little evidence they are tied to terrorists. "The first response would be `That couldn't happen in America.' Under this court's decision, it could happen."

16.11.02

The Pentagon routinely lies to Congress, and to us, to get its way.

The operations of private P.R. firms hired by the CIA and the Pentagon to manage Psy-Ops operations at home and abroad are revealed in this story reported in the Asia Times. The fabricated stories of baby-killing and troops massing against Kuwait as a run-up to Congressional action on the Gulf War is absolutely horrifying, and the bungling efforts of these firms makes "Wag the Dog" seem much more documentary than spoof.

11.11.02

Thai Elephant Music

Read all about it. - via the good Dr. Menlo

5.11.02

Rumsfeld Plans to Encourage Terror Attacks

This article from the Los Angeles Times describes the activities of the P2OG, a proposed new "Super-Intelligence Support Activity" force:

"Among other things, this body would launch secret operations aimed at "stimulating reactions" among terrorists and states possessing weapons of mass destruction -- that is, for instance, prodding terrorist cells into action and exposing themselves to "quick-response" attacks by U.S. forces."

Anybody remember Operation Northwoods? This was a plan presented by the Joint Chiefs to the Kennedy Administration in 1963 to stage some terrorism, providing a "helpful wave of national indignation," and thereby justify an invasion of Cuba. "The whole point of a democracy is to have leaders responding to the public will, and here this is the complete reverse, the military trying to trick the American people into a war that they want but that nobody else wants," writes James Bamford, whose book Body of Secrets revealed the 40 year old plan.