Lockerbie Bomber - Prime case for Rendition?

The convicted and unrepentant Lockerbie Bomber Ali Al Megrahi who was mistakenly released from his 'life' sentence by Gordon Brown could now live another 7 years it has emerged.

Megrahi, 58, got out of jail free by claiming that he would die within a few weeks. Now in Tripoli undergoing treatment for Prostate cancer his life expectancy has been estimated at another 7 years.

The anniversary of the Lockerbie bombing which occurred on 21 December 1988 is coming around soon and the Foreign Office is asking Libya not to host any more celebrations like the heroic welcome given to Megrahi when he arrived home (below).

One wonders quite what the F.O. would do about it? Ask the CIA to snatch him back in one of their famous rendition raids? Or get the Russians to sprinkle some  radioactive polonium-210 in his sugar. One thing I am willing to bet - and that is our reaction will be pure Milquetoast.

£1000 fine for using the wrong bin? Something very wrong here.

There is something very wrong with a country that can fine an ordinary person up to £1000 ($1400) for using the wrong bin, or for putting too much waste into one, while it cannot even fine violent criminals an appropriate amount. Is it just another cynical attempt to tax by stealth? The thing is that many councils do not recycle recyclable waste properly anyway!

Britain has a higher violent crime rate than the US and any country in Europe, according to the Conservative Party. Its no wonder when you look at the fact that most violent criminals are fined less than £1000 and even then given ridiculous lengths of time to pay. One man recently was fined £750 for a violent mugging (plus a suspended sentence) and was ordered to pay at the rate of £1.50 a week. Thats over 9 years to pay!

Our schools admit that one in ten children cannot read or write properly when they leave school. Our university graduates cannot spell or add up without a calculator. Our only 'Boom Industries' are Crime and Punishment. Britain is fast becoming a refuge for the lazy, the criminal, and the incompetent. Something needs to be done about it.

It is time I think for the legal system of this country to be quietly dismantled, the rubbish stripped out, and a new system concocted which stands a chance of working in this Modern Age.

Princess Diana Death Mystery Deepens

If we are honest with ourselves most British people believe that Diana was murdered by persons unknown, perhaps even by MI6 for some reason.

Now a new book by an Australian investigator who has been working on the case for years has opened a new chapter in the story.

Mr Morgan, 53, from Brisbane, Australia has written a book called The Diana Inquest: the Untold Story, which alleges a cover-up by the authorities in France.

Only recently leading QC Michael Mansfield claimed that Diana and Dodi were killed as a result of a botched plot aimed at putting an end to their love affair. Mr Mansfield stated that the saboteurs wanted to scare the lovers into parting but their plans backfired tragically.

Mr Morgan says tests on blood samples revealed traces of prescription drugs that Mr Henri Paul (Dianas driver) was not taking, while finding no evidence of other medication he was known to be on. In addition one blood sample was labelled XM which in the morgue was the normal way of saying unknown male.
“Questions were raised, even at the London inquest, that there were two bodies in the room and that blood samples could have been taken from another body.”The levels were more consistent, he claims, with what you would expect from the body of someone who committed suicide by feeding a hosepipe from a car exhaust into their vehicle.

Mr Morgan states that if the level of carbon monoxide in the blood sample was accurate, Henri Paul would have been staggering and not as CCTV taken at the Ritz hotel shows, walking normally.

Amazingly the French experts responsible for the tests, Dominique Lecomte and Gilbert Pepin, were not called as witnesses at the 2008 inquest in London and their testimony would have been essential since the question was raised as to whether there were two bodies in the room at the time of the post-mortem examination. There is a possibility that the samples were taken from the wrong corpse.


That there was a cover up of some sort seems now beyond doubt. If there was a cover up then the highest profile murder of the century has gone unpunished, and doubtless will continue to do so. The British establishment as ever remains silent.

Jesus in a Jar of Marmite?

Claire and Gareth Allen of Ystrad Rhondda (Wales) noticed the image on the underside of the Marmite lid as they were putting the yeast spread on toast.

Gareth said:

"When I first looked at it I wasn't sure, but when I moved it away from me it started coming out. I thought yeah, she's right - that's the image of Jesus.

Personally I think it looks more like the head of a Celtic warrior especially since it is in Wales - so perhaps its the spirit of Owain Glyndwr that is with them!

The human mind is built to see patterns and will make a pattern at any conceivable opportunity. The miraculous face of Jesus has been seen before in many places including on toast (presumably without the aid of Marmite but it did require cheese)  and even on a dogs bottom! Perhaps the last is not a miracle at all....hmmm.

Chile Earthquake Causes Shorter Days - Crustal Slip?

Yep. Our day is now shorter. In addition the axis of rotation has changed. Richard Gross, a scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California and colleagues calculated that Saturday's quake in Chile shortened the day by 1.26 microseconds. Fortunately it will be a while before we see 23 hour days since it would require around 2.8 billion magnitude 8.8 earthquakes to do it! In addition the axis of the earths rotation has shifted to one side by a few inches.

The main worry however is (or should be) the increasing rate of vulcanism. this is exactly the sort of activity which could precede a crustal slip event. Quakes like the Chile earthquake are what we can expect along all the fault lines as the earths crust is forced to rotate by weight imbalance around its core.

This theory which explains historical phenomena like the magnetic poles shifting and warm climate creatures like mammoths being deep frozen so fast that the food in their gut does not have time to decompose was a favorite one of Einsteins. He was right about relativity so why not about this?

What is known from fossilised magnetic crystals is that the earths crust has in the past moved almost 180 degrees in one go. Other smaller slips of seven or ten degrees are commonplace. Fag Packet type calculations show that civilisation would be hard put to survive even one of the smaller slips, depending on how fast it happened and more importantly how much force occurred when it stopped! Buildings especially tall ones are not designed to stand large sideways G forces. A whole ocean full of water is not going to stop moving when the crust beneath it does - Tsunamis have nothing on what could occur then.

This is the way friction based phenomena such as a crustal slippage work. Do an experiment yourself. Get a magazine and place a box of matches or something similar on it. Slowly tilt the magazine until the matchbox begins to move. Notice how it starts with a jerk and then accelerates smoothly before dropping off the end of the magazine. Now do the same thing again but before the matchbox slides off the magazine tip the magazine back towards the horizontal. The matchbox jerks to a halt almost immediately.

Now imagine this. The ground beneath your feet instantly begins to move to your left at a speed of five or six miles per hour. Many buildings collapse, there is immense damage etc. Lets say you are 'lucky' and you survive this.

Over the next eight hours or so the wind is always coming from the same direction and getting stronger and stronger (in fact you are accelerating to 150MPH relative to the atmosphere!)until they blow so hard you cannot stand up. The air temperature is getting hotter and hotter until you can hardly stand it, the ground beneath your feet is hot, close to 70 degrees perhaps above boiling in places where the earths crust is thin.

WHAM! Now the ground beneath your feet stops and you find yourself and everything else that is not securely fixed to the earth is moving at 150MPH relative to the surface. Let us assume you are 'lucky' again and hit a 40 meter long stack of mattresses somebody has carelessly left stacked against the side of a low incredibly strong building that is still standing.

Now here comes the ocean moving at 150MPH - a wall of water several miles high washes up to 50 miles inland. Volcanic eruptions and earthquakes occur on a global scale loading the upper atmosphere with dust. What crops are left fail and the earth mercifully begins to cool from its intolerable temperature. Hurricanes however are a weekly occurrance and it is windy and rainy all the time. The climate and weather system will take around five years to return to near normal. You are now 1100 miles North or South relative to the poles from where you started - it was only a small 10 degree slip!

Crustal Slippage is a bitch. Its why we need to keep a careful eye on these unexpected quakes like the Chile earthquake!

Russia Olympics Management Team to be sent to Salt Mines

Well not quite... but Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has called for the Russian Olympic officials to resign. Shipment to the salt mines is such a pre-glasnost idea that it probably will not happen.

His actual words however were quite sinister - "they should take the brave decision and submit their resignations," Medvedev said, adding ominously: "If they cannot do it, we will help them!"

Russia Olympic hopes were somewhat tattered as the country came 11th in the winter games, its worst ever performance, with only three golds.

This might well be traced to the Soviet Union break-up which drastically cut the catchment area from which the Russian Olympic team could be built. The fear is that in the next winter Olympics which Russia are due to host (at Sochi on the Black Sea) the home country will put in a similar lack-lustre performance and be disgraced on their home ground.

One can almost hear the Russian Bears knocking back the Vodka and grumbling that this sort of thing would never have been allowed to happen in the good old days! Mind you in those days losing athletes did tend to vanish without trace, so perhaps the motivation was a little higher?

Error 8001050f Playstation Fix - Sony Catches Toyota Recall Disease

If you own a Sony PlayStation 3 then the chances are that you have recently received the PS3 error message “8001050f” (a hexadecimal error code), if not then unless you have the new PS3 slim the chances are you will see it soon. Sony have recently confirmed that they are experiencing connectivity issues on sony network with the classic PS3. Sony state they have acknowledge the problem and that they are working on a fix. By some strange twist of fate they believe the newer 250GB and Slim models are not affected.

The 8001050f error stops players from using Sony's own gaming network, reports are varied from users as to whether internet use or other machine functionality ois blocked. One user from Seattle claims his PS3 is now only good as a musical doorstop whilst another from New Jersey says it on;ly affects his ability to play multiplayer games online.

Shades of Toyotas Yaris, Corrolla, et al recalls. What is happening to Japanese industry? Once manufacturing the most reliable products in the world the Japanese giant corporations seem to be failing to deliver one by one.

The most brilliant products in the world are slowly becoming tarnished, is this the result of industrial espionage and sabotage or simply the result of the increasing unpopularity of seppuku as a business tool?

What Sony's fix for the ailing PS3 is going to be is still, after over ten days, uncertain. Hopefully it will not be simply to offer error "8001050f" sufferers the chance to buy a PS3 slim with 10% off! One thing is sure and that is with a product only costing the consumer a few hundred dollars recall (whilst still a last resort) is an extremely unlikely option. Though Sony does seem to be asking users to return some PS3 consoles. The home cure for the error "8001050f" problem that actually is reported to work is to reformat the hard drive and lose all the progress you have made in the increasingly hard to battle through games you own.

One bad sign is that the image above proves that Sony had an official Twitter account - this seems to have been suspended or removed. Usually when a Japanese company has unpopular news they go hide for a few days first to show their shame - its a cultural thing. So whilst not wishing to be a bad news bear...

Pub Quizzes in the UK

Here in the UK we have this venerable tradition of the Pub Quiz, an evening where people compete to answer questions often for a cash prize. Well on March 25th the Family Holiday Association(UK charity) are attempting to create the Worlds Biggest Pub Quiz!

I have to tell you about one of my experiences...

It was an isolated Pub on the Isle of Wight (a small island off the South Coast of the UK) and we chose it because it seemed quite popular and therefore probably served good beer or food.

When my wife, eldest child, and myself walked in a thick silence suddenly descended as all eyes swiveled to inspect us. I swallowed hard. This treatment would be about right for an isolated pub in North Wales where the locals all spoke a different language, but for a friendly English Country Pub it was all wrong.

When I walked up to the bar to order, I realised why. The Barman pointed to the sign that said 'Quiz Night - Entry Fee £5 per team. Prize £200' and asked me if we were going to compete. Apparently the event was held monthly and the pubs champions were also the Island champions. I declined.

Unfortunately my wife was of a different frame of mind, since I can remember all sorts of dodgy facts, she knew a lot about politics, and my eldest had that obsessive knowledge of sports that many pre-teen males of a certain age do. She marched up to the bar, handed over a fiver and returned clutching a piece of headed paper and a pencil.

Soon the quiz began - every two minutes or so the Bell behind the bar was rung and a new question was shouted out. An hour later we had answered twenty five questions as disparate as "What is Cilla Blacks real name?" and "What is the chemical formula for Sulfuric Acid?" and the forms were given to neighbouring tables for initial checking. The barman read out the answers for people to mark the papers.

"Put your hands up if the paper you just marked has the score I shout out!" Yelled the Barman.

"Twenty Five?" Nobody put their hands up.

"Twenty Four?" Two hands shot up. A draw.

"Looks like its the Champions Versus Overners, " declared the barman. A mixed chorus of whistles, boos and cheers subsided slowly.

We were the Overners - an Island word for Tourists and anybody really who is not born there. So it was to be a sudden death tiebreaker question.

The champions, six large full-bearded guys who looked like they either sang folk music or danced in a local Morris troupe, glared at me.

"What is the exact height of Salisbury Cathedral Steeple? The nearest answer wins, Champions first."

The champions muttered together while my wife tried to suppress a fit of the giggles. The largest of the Beardies got up and fixed me with a beady eyed glare. He thrust out his chin, pointing his beard straight at me agressively.

"Well we reckon," he said in a thick Island accent, "its got to be nigh on four hundred feet. Thats my answer."

The barman looked at me. I swallowed. Dare I give them the exact answer or should I deliberately fluff the question. What my wife knew, and they did not, was that I had played a cruel trick on the Religious Education teacher at high school and he had retaliated by making me learn off by heart the heights of the spires of all the major Cathedrals in England. Oh damn it, two hundred quid is two hundred quid.

"Exactly four hundred and four feet to the top of the stonework," I said quietly. "The top of the weathercock adds another twelve feet - it used to be fourteen feet but the tower was struck by lightning in 1741 shortening the spike by two feet."

There was a silence broken only by my wifes undiplomatic snikkering.

"Well right you are then... Heres your two hundred quid!" Said the barman, handing me the envelope and retreating hastily behind the bar.

I think the only thing that saved us from a lynching that night was that I put fifty pounds behind the bar to buy drinks for the Champions!

Dalai Lama meets Obama For First Time

If I had enough space for such a long title it would read - Dalai Lama meets Obama For First Time ...but then gets put out with the rubbish!

Sensitive (as ever) to some of the demands of Beijing, Obama had a meeting with the Dalai Llama that was just about as unofficial as a Whitehouse meeting with Obama could get. The Oval Office was not used, the poor old gentleman once described as 'an elderly and very political monk in Gucci loafers' was escorted out of a side entrance normally used for rubbish afterwards and Obama went out of the front door on his way to fly in Airforce One.

Well Obama has now ticked the 'all US Presidents must meet the Dalai Lama box and can relax. After all they both hold the Nobel Peace prize, though even Obama it seems does not seem to feel he should have it. He said afterwards that he was surprised and deeply humbled by the award and that he did not feel he deserved to be in the company of some of the "transformative figures" who had won the prize. Presumably this includes the Dalai Lama.

Full marks to Obama however for actually meeting the Tibetan Leader in Exile despite Chinese demands and warnings.

Believe it or not I have shared a lift with the kindly Lhamo Döndrub (birth name) in a New York Hotel. He had been scheduled to give a talk that evening in a New York theatre but a mob of demonstrators outside the theatre had caused enough public safety fears for the event to be cancelled. He stood robed in Orange in one corner of the lift with two rather large and burly 'minder monks' on either side. Despite what had obviously been a horrible evening he positively radiated peace and serenity. When I left the lift he gave me a very slight, knowing smile as the doors closed.

Maybe this is the secret of the Dalai Lamas power. Whoever he meets, wherever they are, for just one tiny moment he makes them feel a little bit special. I wonder what he did to Obama?

On Gmail ... then you could be at risk!

US and Canadian privacy law regulators are to investigate Google's new social networking service Buzz, one week after its launch. The Electronic Privacy Information Centre (Epic) complained the US Federal Trade Commission saying that Buzz - which is part of Google's Gmail service - is "deceptive" and breaks consumer protection law.

"This case illustrates a lot about Google's corporate culture where a company is run by computer scientists whose operating method is don't ask for permission when you can always ask for forgiveness," said Consumer Watchdog's John Simpson.

With other social networking sites such as Twitter or Facebook users know what they are signing up for. Users signed up for Gmail expecting only an e-mail service. The new social networking site Buzz has been automatically rolled out to Gmail's 176 million users whether they want it or not. With no opt-in requirement. Including visibility to people on your address book of all your other contacts.

The regulators have been asked to require Google to provide notice to and request consent from Gmail users before making material changes to their privacy policy in future. It is worried that journalists, undercover police and serial adulterers who use Gmail now have all their contacts exposed to the outside world. This could result in divorces, financial losses and even torture or death for users in some countries. Google does not seem to take their responsibilities very seriously.

These worries would seem to be well founded. Recently an accountant was stabbed to death in a frenzied attack after her boyfriend saw her with another man on Facebook Camille Mathurasingh of Bow, East London was stabbed 20 times by her ex, Paul Bristol who travelled all the way from from Trinidad to England in order to get even.

Unfortunately Google seems to be hell bent on using 'private' Gmail address book contacts to make up social networking lists so we can all be sure there will be more cases like this.

Are you at risk? Its probably best to delete your Gmail account now if you are.

Barclays Bank Directors fiddle while Small Businesses Burn

Our banking friends Barclays posted record annual profits of £11.6 billion today which, helped by the governments credit crunch busting efforts are up a staggering 92 per cent on the previous year. Bonuses all round then.

Yep across the group as a whole, Barclays paid out a staggering GBP 2.7 billion in bonuses, for our American friends thats USD 4,600,000,000! Lets put this in perspective. Thats enough to give every family in the UK a one off payment of about £160, enough to launch four space shuttle missions, enough to pay for 14 new hospitals to be built, or for 16 new schools. In bonuses... yeah. And we were promised that big bonuses were a thing of the past...Hah!

Unfortunately new figures show UK banks are still refusing to lend to small businesses in desperate need of finance. Some viable businesses are going to the wall for want of a few thousand pounds working capital. Two out of three businesses have approached their banks for capital and been turned down, forcing them to fund their short term borrowing with credit cards ... which of course inflates the bank profits even more. Hmm... do I sense a pattern here? Business as usual in Fat Cat Britain I think.

Mr Algius Chairman of Barclays said that the bank would be judged by “how we lend and how we pay”. We are watching Mr Algius... We are watching!

PS: It has just been pointed out to me by email that not all Barclays staff got bonuses since 2500 branch staff have been sacked.

Climate Change Theory in its last throes...

Professor Jones, the academic at the centre of the row over the leaked Climate Change emails has admitted that he has trouble ‘keeping track’ of the information that was crucial to the graph used to show human impact on climate change.

Professor Phil Jones who has refused Freedom of Information requests may have actually lost the relevant papers according to online sources.

Professor Jones admitted to the BBC that he lacked organisational skills and that his record keeping is ‘not as good as it should be’. The missing data is crucial to the graph used by climate change advocates in support of the theory.

Professor Jones has now also conceded the possibility that the world was warmer in medieval times than now, and even more critically that for the past 15 years there has been no ‘statistically significant’ warming. This rather blows man-made climate change out of the water, see my previous climate change article.

There are obvious and serious flaws at the heart of the science of climate change, and the dogmatic claims that temperature rises are largely man-made.

You read a lot of this here first...in 2009!

Fraud is easier with Chip and Pin Cards - and thats Official

Dr Murdoch's Computer Security group at Cambridge say they have been shocked at just how easy it has been to subvert the security of chip and pin transactions.

Using a simple piece of electronics and some hair thin wiring an extra circuit can be inserted between the chip on the card and the card reader. The fraudster can then enter any PIN he likes and the transaction will be accepted. You might think that this would be noticable in-store but no, the wiring can be hidden easily and the electronics plus a battery can sit in a small bag or could even be worn under clothing.

Dr Murdoch said "We have tested this attack against cards issued by most major UK banks. All have been found to be vulnerable."

Victims of this attack will have a very difficult time convincing their bank because the receipt produced will state "Verified by PIN", and the bank records will show that the correct PIN was used. Banks will (as they try to now with fraudulent cash card withdrawals) argue that the customer must have been negligent and had allowed the fraudster to know their PIN.

Dr Drimer says: "The technical sophistication for carrying out this attack is low, and the compact equipment will not be noticed by shop staff. A single criminal can develop and industrialise a kit to be used by others who do not need to understand how the attack works."

Victims of fraud are commonly told that bank systems can be relied upon. However, this attack shows that criminals are able to not only defraud customers, but cause bank systems to make the false assertion that the PIN was verified correctly.

Professor Anderson says: "Over the past five years, thousands of cardholders have had stolen chip and PIN cards used by criminals .... we've shown that it's easy to use a card without knowing the PIN ...This is not just a failure of bank technology. It's a failure of bank regulation. The ombudsman supported the banks and the regulators have refused to do anything. They were just too eager to believe the banks."

And the banks reaction? They believe that the fraud is too complex to become widespread - this despite the computerised sophisticated custom built equipment the police remove from cash machines in this country every week. Their other line of attack is that the Customers own card has to be used. Well how many customers are ill in hospital? Bedridden? On holiday? Would these people even know if a card were missing?

This is just not good enough. I believe that the Cambridge Method is probably only the simplest one of a number of attacks that would work. American Banks have always maintained that Chip and Pin is in fact LESS secure than Signature checks which is why they do not use it.

One thing we do know and that is that the banks are unlikely to change a system which they have spent many millions on installing and implementing. Perhaps they will implement a requirement for people to wave their arms about in between inserting the card and inputting the PINS to prove there are no wires. Should make for an entertaining trip out to the supermarket! Ah well maybe not. Its time to start checking your card bills and bank statements carefully... Very Carefully!

Snow Snow Snow! Big Freeze Part 3

Here is Washington currently languishing under 30 inches plus of snow, running out of places to put it and having to build snow mountains. People are snowed in so badly that those on the ground floor are unable in some areas to leave their houses, having to climb through first floor windows instead. Oh yes and most importantly to us Brits - doggies are being mugged in the streets for their coats!

People are suggesting that Washington could get rid of its Snow mountains by exporting the white icy stuff to Canada where they are having to buy snow for the winter olympics - you couldn't make it up could you?

You have to laugh at the boys from the Met office though - see pic below.


Here is a 'Severe Weather Warning' from the UK Meteorological office warning us that a few centimetres of snow 'could' accumulate with a low risk of up to 15cm accumulating. Well whoopy do. Maybe its time they retitled their weather warnings - I would call this a moderate weather warning myself!

One thing I do know is that if we get 30 inches of snow in London they will never spot it coming. Does anybody remember the Hurricane that the UK would never get?

PS and on the 11th of Jan - the results of the Severe Weather Warning? Nothing, no snow. Nada. The council did grit the road though which was fantastic if a waste of time. Its more than they did yesterday when it did snow!

Valentines Day Ideas

Its that time of the year again when all us guys try to think of something different to do for Valentines day other than the obvious (ie a Massacre or the quiet night in...). This list of things to do on Valentines day even includes things you can do if you have no partner this Valentines day.

• Rather than take her out serve a meal that you have actually cooked - preferably with a valentine themed menu. A great menu is here.
• Ok so you are taking her out for a meal - be sure to book the restaurant well in advance. Take her someplace impressive, and not to anywhere you usually go. Why not book a hotel for the night while you are at it?
• If you are away from home on Valentines day and cannot be there then dont send her A gift send her SOME gifts. Rather than send her one big present send her several small gifts - some chocolates in the morning, flowers in the afternoon, and post something to a neighbor and make them swear to deliver it in the evening. this way she is thinking about you all day.
  
• If you can afford to push the boat out then hire a limo, find a really good hotel near you, if you are in the UK De Veres are great. Have your meal at the Hotel and stay the night (or longer).
  

DONT buy her underwear, sex toys etc unless she has indicated she wants this type of gift.

If you are on your own this Valentines day and fancy some company all is not lost. For a few pounds/Dollars you can have some virtual company whether you want female company or you want male company.

SETI - when could we expect a result?

When can we expect a result from SETI? This was the question I was asked this morning by email. After some thought I came on the idea that the best place to look for life are similar stars to our own. G type stars - G-type stars are are main sequence stars of spectral type G and luminosity class V. Such a star has about 0.8 to 1.2 of our suns mass and a surface temperature between 5,300 and 6,000.

So I have compiled a list, sorted by year of all the 'local' G type candidates and especially those with known planets. I then took the distance away in light years and doubled it - this being the time taken for our radio waves to get to them, and theirs to travel back. Starting in 1953 when hugely powerful radio transmitters were used for TV and American AM stations this gives a range of dates for possible contact back. Here is my table below.

Contact Distance Star Name Star In  Known
 (Lt Yrs)    Class       Facts
1961.8  4.4  Alpha Centauri AG2 V  Centaurus  
1976.8  11.9  Tau Ceti  G8 Vp  Cetus  
1991.8  19.4  Eta Cassiopeiae G3 V  Cassiopeia  
1992.6  19.8  82 Eridani  G5 V  Eridanus  
1992.8  19.9  Delta Pavonis  G5-8V  Pavo  
1996.6  21.8  Xi Boötis A  G8 Ve  Boötes  
2001.8  24.4  Beta Hydri  G2 IV  Hydrus  
2002.2  24.6  Mu Cassiopeiae AG5 VIp  Cassiopeia  
2007.6  27.3  Alula Australis G0-5 Ve Ursa Major  
2007.6  27.3  Chara   G0 V  Canes Venatici  
2007.8  27.4  Mu Herculis Aa  G5 IV  Hercules  
2008.6  27.8  61 Virginis  G5-6 V  Virgo   Planets
2009.6  28.3  Chi1 Orionis A  G0 V  Orion  
2010.4  28.7  41 Arae A  G8-K0 V Ara  
2012.8  29.9  Groombridge 1830G8 VIp  Ursa Major  Unstable
2012.8  29.9  Kappa Ceti  G5 Ve  Cetus   Unstable
2013.2  30.1  HR 4523 A  G3-5 Ve Centaurus  
2015.2  31.1  61 Ursae MajorisG8 Ve  Ursa Major  
2019.2  33.1  Alpha Mensae  G5-6 V  Mensa  
2021.8  34.4  Iota Persei  G0 V  Perseus  
2023.4  35.2  Zeta Herculis B G7-K0 V Hercules  
2023.8  35.4  Delta Trianguli G0.5 Ve Triangulum  
2026  36.5  11 Leonis MinoriG8 V  Leo Minor  
2027  37.0  Muphrid A  G0 IV  Boötes  
2029.6  38.3  Lambda SerpentisG0 V  Serpens Caput  
2029.8  38.4  Iota Pegasi B  G8 V  Pegasus  
2032.8  39.9  Zeta2 Reticuli  G1-2 V  Reticulum  
2032.8  39.9  Zeta1 Reticuli  G2.5-5V Reticulum  
2033.8  40.4  85 Pegasi Aa  G5 Vb  Pegasus  
2034.8  40.9  55 (Rho1) CancriG8 V  Cancer   Planets
2035  41.0  HR 3259  G7.5-K0VPuppis   Planets
2035.4  41.2  HR 483 A  G1.5 V  Andromeda 

So for example in 2008 we could have got a reply from 61 Virginis, our next strong candidate would be in 2034.

As to why we cannot see anybody else broadcasting the answer is simple, as communications move on less and less brute force is needed. The planet becomes quieter and quieter until with the advent of satellite and cable communications we cannot be detected easily, if at all, beyond a few light years away. So our best bet for somebody to find us is the 15 light year thick 'shell' of radio communications when TV and Radio were in their infancy in 1953-1978. Similarly we would probably only have a ten to twenty year period to listen to broadcasts from elsewhere.

Consider this. If a civilisation has a lifespan of 10,000 years and is only detectable at a distance for 20 of them then our chances of spotting emissions from a particlular civilisation is one in 500. In other words we would have to study on average 500 stars that did have intelligent life like us before we found a single one by radio.

This being said SETI did intercept what they called the WOW signal which may well have been a tight band starship to base type radio communication which just happened to beam our way. It was too short to be regarded as proof but it had all the right characteristics.

So the best answer is that if another civilisation is looking and if they spot the thin shell of radio waves then they may send us a tight beamed signal directly which we would easily pick up in the years indicated above. Preferably that than the 4000 ship invasion fleet eh?

Very Narrow Escape for Ireland

Last night (Thurs 4th Feb 2010) across Ireland sightings of a meteorite were reported. At 6PM people from across the country saw the blazing chunk of space-rock travelling at around 100,000 miles per hour streak across the sky before lighting up like a small nuke and vanishing.

Ireland was lucky - this is exactly the same sort of event thought to have caused the Tunguska incident. The distance such a meteorite penetrates into the atmosphere depends more on its physical make-up than its size. If it is oddly shaped it heats up quickly and if it has internal faults can shatter and explode with great force equivalent to a tactical military Nuke (say 1 Kiloton).

According to David Moore of Astronomy Ireland .. 'This is a huge event.'

Well it could have been more huge. Apparently witnesses who saw it were facing inland at the time which indicates that any fragments of rock landed on ground and not at sea. This could spark a mini Irish Gold Rush since the last such meteorite fetched around $500 per gram - better than its weight in gold!

This is what is known as putting a positive spin on things since to penetrate at all the meteorite must have been rocky and a rocky meteorite even a 'small' one can do a lot of damage if it does not explode high up.

Space Rocks of up to 500 meters in diameter are quite common - luckily it is doubtful if the Irish meteor was bigger than a football. A fifty meter sized asteroid would have produced a 1000 meter crater in the old country and unleashed a shock wave big enough to destroy a small town.

Statistical research by Professor Mark Bailey shows that an object large enough to cause a 10km crater (a 6-700 meter chunk of rock) hits the earth on average every 80,000 years. This would be like pushing the 'reset' button on civilisation - such an impact has global effects being able to cause ice-ages and Tsunamis big enough to scour whole countries. Thats without the increased vulcanism.

There are 1500 objects of size 1km and over that we know about which regularly cross earths orbit - and god knows how many more that we have no clue about because their orbits are odd, or long-period.

Time to buy an umbrella...

List of Towns and Villages Susceptible to Flooding in the UK

With the flood season about to start (March-July is peak risk time) my friend who is moving to West Yorkshire tried to find a list of UK Towns and Villages prone to flooding. Having been rescued from one before in Turkey this is a particular horror of his.

Try as I might I could not find a single comprehensive list of towns and villages in the UK affected badly by flooding over the last few years. Its typical of the government and insurance agencies that they should hold this information close to their chest.

I am not talking here about a paltry inch or so in your living room or a flooded basement (though lord knows that can be distressing enough) but a three foot plus surging morass of water that carries away cars and knocks down bridges and homes.

After searching through archive material I managed to construct the list below. Please note that its very often only a PART of the town or village that is affected and in some (very few) cases the government might have actually done something in the way of flood prevention.

I would suggest you look at the list carefully if you have just moved into an area or are planning a move into a new area. If you find your town on the list look to see if your property is in a low lying area of the town, or close to a river, stream or lake. If it is then have a quiet word with the neighbours or do some research at the local Newspaper.

List of Towns and Villages Susceptible to Flooding in the UK

Abingdon
Alcester
Alston
Ambleside
Aston
Banbury
Barnoldswick
Barry
Barton
Bedford
Bettws Cedewain
Betws y Coed
Blackburn
Bladen
Boscastle
Botley
Bromyard
Builth wells
Burghfield AWRE (Worryingly)
Burnley
Burton Joyce
Calow
Chesterfield
Clayton West
Cleethorpes
Coal Aston
Collingham
Corwen
Covenham St Marys
Crackington Haven
Dalkieth
Darlington
Earby
Felmersham
Gilling west
Gloucester
Grantham
Grimsby
Hampton Bishop
Hampton Lode
Harrogate
Hartforth
Henley
Hessle
Horncastle
Hucknall
Hull
Keswick
Kidlington
Kilmarnock
Kirby Hill
Knaresborough
Lambley
Lampeter
Lincoln
Llanwrst
London (South West)
Louth
Luton
Lynmouth
Maidenhead
Mansfield
Mayfield (Scotland)
Melsonby
Middlesborough
Middleton tyas
Newbury
Newmilns
Osney
Oxford
Penwortham
Pershore
Peterlee
Reading
Retford
Ribchester
Ross On Wye
Rossendale
Sawley
Scissett
Sheffield
Shifnal
Shipston on Stour
South Ulverston
Stoke Goldington
Stony Stratford
Stratford upon Avon
Swindon
Tenbury Wells
Tewkesbury
Tintern
Torfaen
Tregynon
Turvey
Wakefield
Walton Le Dale
Water Orton
Witney
Woodborough
Worksop
Wrexham
York

Please if you know of a village or town not on this list then add it as a comment and I will research it before placing it on the list. Of course what should happen is that the government should publicise such a list....

Obamas America Abandons Space to the Iranians...

Tehran has just launched a new rocket Kavoshgar-3 (Explorer-3) built entirely in Iran into space. Ahmadinejad, said the Islamic Republic hoped to send astronauts into space soon.

The Chinese space agency are planning to land its first few astronauts on the moon within a decade and explore the moon totally.

Congratulations to Barack Obama who just announced that he wants nothing to do with the space program and has cancelled the US re-landing. He thinks that the future of mankind should be controlled by industry and private enterprise. Well heck that has never worked before so why should it now?

Congratulations Obama for being the American who handed the galaxy over to the Islamic Fundamentalists and the Chinese. Oh and we will probably find out for sure when the Chinese land exactly whats up there - not. They are a closed culture and will not share most of their discoveries with the rest of mankind.

We will remember you when we see the first Islam only planet colonised. We will remember you when we take the Chinese Spaceplane to a Chinese owned Lunar resort for our holidays. It could have been so different.

War on Terror- Plane Bombs and Plain Bombs

So now MI5 have woken up to the possibility of surgically implanted bombs.

Apparently a leading source claims that male bombers would have the explosive secreted near their appendix or in their buttocks, while females would have the material placed inside their breasts in the same way as figure-enhancing implants. A shaped charge of 8oz of PETN, the most likely explosive, can penetrate five inches of armour and would easily blow a large hole in an airliner.

I say that our security services are woefully unprepared if they have not considered this a real threat up till now. These bombs have existed in Fiction since the 1950's and there was a plot to blow up one of the US presidents using a bomb hidden inside a dog at one point.

The thing is that if we want a free society we have to put up with the risk of bombs from those who are displeased with us. even more so if we continue to operate the lunatic policy of allowing those same terrorists to enter the country, be financed with housing aid and cash by our own government and then commit atrocities both here and elsewhere.

Our security services cannot do much except protect high value targets like Trafalgar Square and the Tower of London plus high risk targets like airports and nuclear power stations. The day that a bombing campaign starts to target infrastructure rather than political targets we are screwed. Imagine for example any of these scenarios.

1. At the moment all across London gas mains and Water mains are being replaced. It is three AM, somebody climbs down into a remote unguarded roadworks with a carrier bag. He removes an entrenching tool and takes five minutes to dig a hole and bury a large sandwich box beneath the line of the new pipe. A month later when the roadworks are all closed there are small and large explosions all across London as gas mains and water mains are irreparably ruptured... The above picture is what an underground pipe explosion in a busy street looks like. Imagine this on the A10/North circular and how much chaos it would cause for weeks if not months - not to mention that very often other services such as electricity, phones and drainage would be affected.

2. There are around a dozen main High voltage Electricity switch yards across the capital. they are easily identifiable by the forest of insulators and grey boxes. They are only protected by an eight foot razor wire fence, but not to worry because our terrorist does not need to go inside. All he need to do to cause millions of pounds worth of damage is to buy some thick galvanised wire and make some chain made out of one foot lengths of this with a loop at each end. This chain can then form the tail of a kite which is rigged using non conductive nylon fishing line. He flied the kite across the yard and drops the chain onto some insulators. This could be done multiple times in one location using more than one kite and chain. An alternative to the chain would be to make some carbon fiber chaff by cutting strips from the material sold for car body repair, and dropping this over the switch yard. this would be ironic because it is exactly how Baghdad's power system was shut down in the Gulf War.

3. Alongside the train tracks in all the British overground systems there are a number of grey boxes containing signal equipment. Terrorists equipped with an easily bought 150lb draw crossbow and steel arrows could simply shoot the boxes and the cables entering them to cause chaos and effectively freeze the railway system.

Of course the above situations assume that whilst some level of loss of life is essential to the terrorist for publicity, mass loss of life would be counter productive. If you say that the terrorists are the type of lunatics that would want to create a 911 type massacre situation then there are some far scarier simple things that can be done with utilities, which I shall not mention here for fear of them being used!

Big Freeze Part 2- Death toll is 60-80,000

So what is wrong with this picture in a major nation (or are we now in truth a third world country).

• Shops running short on food and putting up prices.
• Road and rail transport in Chaos
• Air transport Failing
• Gas Supplies reportedly in danger of failing.
• Food supplies to run lower as harvest fails and crops rot in the ground.
• 60-80,000 elderly predicted to die before their time because they are frightened of heating costs

Yes at the moment 60,000 pensioners are predicted to die before their time as a result of the freeze-up yet in the last freeze in 1963 there were 89,000 premature deaths.

To put this in some perspective during the whole of WW2 the civilian death toll in Britain was some 67,000. So how come Gordon brown is doing as good a job (or possibly better) than Hitler at attacking his citizens?

I fear the answer is simple mathematics. The old age pension now stands at an average of around £83 per person per week. 80,000 x 83 x 52 = £345.28 Million per year. It is estimated that the average old age pensioner costs an additional £35 a week for carers and other council services. This is 80,000 x 35 x 52 = £145.6 million per year. However the average pensioner costs the NHS a wopping £85 a week for free prescriptions and hospital/clinic treatments. This is 80,000 x 85 x 52 =£353.6 million. Now let us say that the average pensioner who dies would have lived an extra five years with decent care. This means that (345.28+145.6+353.6) x 5 - thats £4,222,400,000 (or 4.22 Billion pounds) that is saved.

In other words the freeze is saving the government around 4 billion pounds over the next five years!

Its easy for Gordon to get away with it. Lets face it most of the 'people who matter' in this country live in London which has only had 14cms of snow, travel disruption here has been minimal or non existent and peoples lives, elderly or not are barely affected. So by carefully avoiding making this an issue he can brush this under the political carpet (which this year seems to be full of lumps and bumps).

It would be different is London were to suddenly get 2 meters of snow... oh yes! Something would undoubtedly have to be done then. I do hope it happens.

Historic Freeze Ups

Other than watching the really bogus apocalypse man on download there has been little to giggle about in the UK over the last few weeks. We have in fact been snowed in, snowed under and snowed out. Mostly because the government is NEVER prepared for a cold winter. Why not? We do get them - and far worse ones than this.

The worst winter here recently in Britain came in 1962. It snowed for 71 consecutive days. Snow fell every day between Boxing Day 1962 and March 6, 1963.

However even this is dwarved by the bleak winter of 1684 when the river Thames froze for two solid months. The ground froze, too, so no ploughing or planting of crops could take place.

Here we are after a piddly little 5 days of light snow in London and the wold is beginning to come apart at the seams for many folk. Down in Hampshire where there is 40-50cm of snow the world HAS come apart for many people. Fearing death and disaster headlines the Government did finally mobilise a few troops with APC's and landrovers to rescue more than 1000 stranded motorists on the M3.

Thing is - what happens in Norway or Sweden? People live on as normal because to them it is normal. the roads are cleared by snowplough every 12 hours, they dont bother with salting or gritting. Why? Because when it re-freezes into a skating rink it just makes the situation worse.

Why can our government not just fit some APC's with ploughs and let the army keep the motorways and main roads clear. Forget about salting and gritting when you have snowfall because it does not work!