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British UFO fan in 'biggest US military hack of all time' faces 60 years...
"A UFO fanatic who hacked into hundreds of American military computers faces a 60-year jail sentence in the U.S. after the Law Lords rejected his appeal against extradition.
Gary McKinnon, 44, who was first arrested six years ago, now plans to take his case to the European Court.
A self- confessed 'bumbling nerd', he became a hacker after watching the film WarGames, in a which a teenager almost starts a war by accessing Pentagon secrets.
Convinced that the U.S. Government had made contact with aliens, McKinnon spent years seeking evidence by hacking into official computers from a North London bedroom. He claims he was caught while trying to download a photograph of a UFO.
But he also caused concern when, calling himself Solo, he left a threatening message on an army computer suggesting the September 11 attacks were an 'inside job'.
His message said: 'US foreign policy is akin to government-sponsored terrorism these days...It was not a mistake that there was a huge security stand down on September 11 last year...I am SOLO. I will continue to disrupt at the highest levels.'
In November 2002 specialist UK police arrested him and seized his simple home computer in the bedroom of his girlfriend's aunt's house in north London.
The UK Government supported the American extradition call, but McKinnon fought through the High Court to the House of Lords, complaining that the U.S. government had infringed his human rights by threatening him.
The programmer, who wanted to be prosecuted in Britain, says he will be treated as a terrorist, could be tried by a military tribunal and held in Guantanamo Bay, and that one U.S. attorney said the authorities want him to 'fry'.
McKinnon's lawyers said he faces dire consequences after rejecting a deal to accept extradition and guilty to limited offences. That would have meant serving as little as 18 months.
But McKinnon said he was told the deal would not be put in writing and 'only a fool' would have gone to the U.S. on those terms. He admits hacking into 97 computers belonging to the U.S. army, navy, air force, Nasa and the Pentagon, but denies sabotage."
(End of excerpt)
Full story at link by Neil Sears// Daily Mail Online "A UFO fanatic who hacked into hundreds of American military computers faces a 60-year jail sentence in the U.S. after the Law Lo... more -
Mexican military losing drug war support
OJINAGA, Mexico - This hardscrabble Mexican border town welcomed 400 soldiers when they arrived four months ago to stop a wave of drug violence that brought daytime gunbattles to its main street.
But then the soldiers themselves turned violent, townspeople say, ransacking homes and even torturing people.
The frustration boiled over this week. More than 1,000 people marched through the streets carrying signs begging President Felipe Calderon for protection from his own troops.
Ojinaga, across the Rio Grande from Presidio, Texas, is not alone. People in cities on the front lines of Mexico's battle against trafficking say they are increasingly frustrated with military tactics — a shift in opinion that threatens to undermine Calderon's nationwide crackdown.
Reports of abuse
Mexico's National Human Rights Commission says it has documented more than 600 cases of abuse since Calderon sent 20,000 soldiers across the nation to take back territory controlled by drug lords.
Mexico's attorney general argues the cases are isolated incidents. The army says it investigates all allegations and punishes those found to have to violated the law.
But many people say the soldiers have become part of the problem.
A poll published June 30 by the newspaper El Diario of Ciudad Juarez found that only 18 percent of those living in Juarez completely approved of the army's presence. Two months earlier, the number was 65 percent. The poll, by Confirme, had a margin of error of 5 percentage points.
"These guys don't care about anything," said Lalo Lucero, 44, as he watched soldiers in the city detain a neighborhood youth recently. "They came into my house without a warrant, searched through everything and told me to sit on a couch and not say anything."
Battles between rival drug cartels killed 4,000 people nationwide in the first 18 months of Calderon's presidency. At least 10 people have been gunned down this year in Ojinaga, a town of 20,000.
"I'm sure that the army has come here to fight a war against the drug traffickers, and we are very much in agreement with that," said Mayor Cesar Carrasco. "But we also hope that all the authorities will respect the individual rights of every Ojinaga citizen."
Sharing stories
At Wednesday's march, protesters swapped stories of masked soldiers breaking down doors and ransacking homes.
"I'm not against what they do. I'm against how they do it," said Martha Leyva, 44. She said her family was awakened one night in May when soldiers with machine guns but no warrant broke down her door. They said an anonymous call had directed them to her house.
Janeth Lopez, a 28-year-old hairdresser, said she came home last month to find eight masked soldiers rifling through her belongings.
"If they come and knock on the door of your house and you have nothing to fear, you're going to open the door and tell them, 'Come in and look around,'" Lopez said. "But if you're up to no good, you're going to run away."
Case of 'suffering'
Roberto, a 25-year-old man who didn't want his last name used for fear of retribution, said he, five other men and a teenage boy were returning from a nearby town recently when they were stopped by soldiers.
Roberto said they were beaten, bound, blindfolded and taken to a military camp.
He said soldiers wrapped their heads in plastic bags, beat and kicked them, and hung some of the members of the group upside down. Soldiers also forced some of them — including Roberto's 20-year-old cousin — to drop their pants, and then applied pliers to one man's testicles, Roberto said.
"It was always the same question: 'Where did you hide the drugs? Where did you hide the drugs?'" Roberto said. "I told them, 'If I knew, I would say instead of suffering through all this.' "
He said he and his friends were released without charge and reported their detention to human rights officials. OJINAGA, Mexico - This hardscrabble Mexican border town welcomed 400 soldiers when they arrived four months ago to stop a wave of drug... more -
Air Force missile launch crew fell asleep
Three ballistic missile crew members in North Dakota fell asleep while holding classified launch code devices this month, triggering an investigation by military and National Security Agency experts, the Air Force said Thursday.
The lapse, which involved a crew based at Minot Air Force Base, was serious enough, however, to prompt an investigation by the 91st Missile Wing, in conjunction with codes experts at the 20th Air Force, U.S. Strategic Command and the National Security Agency.
The investigation concluded that the codes had remained secured in their containers, which have combination locks that can only be opened by the crew. The containers remained with the crew at all time, and the facility is guarded by armed security forces. Three ballistic missile crew members in North Dakota fell asleep while holding classified launch code devices this month, triggering a... more -
B-52 bomber Crashes in Guam kills at least 2
HONOLULU (AP) — The Air Force says at least two crew members are dead after the crash of a B-52 bomber off Guam.
Rescue teams are searching a vast area of the Pacific Ocean on Monday for the remaining four airmen.
The Coast Guard says six vessels, three helicopters, two F-15 fighter jets and a B-52 bomber are involved in the search.
The military says the B-52 was en route to a flyover in a parade when it crashed about 9:45 a.m. about 30 miles northwest of Apra Harbor. The plane was based at Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.
HONOLULU (AP) — Rescue crews were searching a vast area of floating debris and a sheen of oil Monday for crew members of an Air Force B-52 bomber that crashed off the island of Guam, officials said.
At least two people from the bomber's six-man crew were recovered from the waters, but their condition was not immediately available, the Coast Guard said.
Maj. Stuart Upton, a Pentagon spokesman, said the aircraft was unarmed.
Six vessels, three helicopters, two F-15 fighter jets and a B-52 bomber were involved in the search, which had covered about 70 square miles of ocean, said Coast Guard spokeswoman Lt. Elizabeth Buendia.
"We have an active search that's going to go on throughout the night," she said Monday. The Navy, Coast Guard, Air Force and local fire and police departments were involved.
The B-52 bomber based at Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana was en route to conduct a flyover in a parade when it crashed around 9:45 a.m. Monday about 30 miles northwest of Apra Harbor, the Air Force said.
The Liberation Day parade celebrates the day when the U.S. military arrived on Guam to retake control of the island from Japan.
The Air Force said a board of officers will investigate the accident.
The accident is the second for the Air Force this year on Guam, a U.S. territory 3,700 miles southwest of Hawaii.
In February, a B-2 crashed at Andersen Air Force Base shortly after takeoff in the first-ever crash of a stealth bomber. Both pilots ejected safely. The military estimated the cost of the loss of the aircraft at $1.4 billion.
The B-52 is a long-range, heavy bomber that can refuel in mid air. Since the 159 foot-long bomber was first placed into service in 1955, it has been used for a wide range of missions from attacks to ocean surveillance. Two B-52s, in two hours, can monitor 140,000 square miles of ocean surface.
According to the Air Force's Web site, the B-52 Stratofortress has been the backbone of the manned strategic bomber force for the United States for more than four decades. It is capable of dropping or launching the widest array of weapons in the U.S. inventory, including cluster bombs and precision guided missiles. HONOLULU (AP) — The Air Force says at least two crew members are dead after the crash of a B-52 bomber off Guam. ... more -
Air Force Aims for 'Full Control' of 'Any and All' Computers
The Air Force wants a suite of hacker tools, to give it "access" to -- and "full control" of -- any kind of computer there is. And once the info warriors are in, the Air Force wants them to keep tabs on their "adversaries' information infrastructure completely undetected."
The government is growing increasingly interested in waging war online. The Air Force recently put together a "Cyberspace Command," with a charter to rule networks the way its fighter jets rule the skies. The Department of Homeland Security, Darpa, and other agencies are teaming up for a five-year, $30 billion "national cybersecurity initiative." That includes an electronic test range, where federally-funded hackers can test out the latest electronic attacks. "You used to need an army to wage a war," a recent Air Force commercial notes. "Now, all you need is an Internet connection."
On Monday, the Air Force Research Laboratory introduced a two-year, $11 million effort to put together hardware and software tools for "Dominant Cyber Offensive Engagement." "Of interest are any and all techniques to enable user and/or root level access," a request for proposals notes, "to both fixed (PC) or mobile computing platforms... any and all operating systems, patch levels, applications and hardware." This isn't just some computer science study, mind you; "research efforts under this program are expected to result in complete functional capabilities."
Unlike an Air Force colonel's proposal, to knock down enemy websites with military botnets, the Research Lab is encouraging a sneaky, "low and slow" approach. The preferred attack consists of lying quiet, and then "stealthily exfiltrat[ing] information" from adversaries' networks.
But, in the end, the Air Force wants to see all kinds of "techniques and technologies" to "Deceive, Deny, Disrupt, Degrade, [or] Destroy" hostile systems. And "in addition to these main concepts," the Research Lab would like to see studies into "Proactive Botnet Defense Technology Development," the "reinvent[ion of] the network protocol stack" and new antennas, based on carbon nanotubes.
Traditionally, the military has been extremely reluctant to talk much about offensive operations online. Instead, the focus has normally been on protecting against electronic attacks. But in the last year or so, the tone has changed -- and become more bellicose. “Cyber, as a warfighting domain . . . like air, favors the offense,” said Lani Kass, a special assistant to the Air Force Chief of Staff who previously headed up the service's Cyberspace Task Force. "If you’re defending in cyber, you’re already too late."
"We want to go in and knock them out in the first round," added Lt. Gen. Robert Elder, commander of the 8th Air Force, which focuses on network issues.
"An adversary needs to know that the U.S. possesses powerful hard and soft-kill (cyberwarfare) means for attacking adversary information and command and support systems at all levels," a recent Defense Department report notes. "Every potential adversary, from nation states to rogue individuals... should be compelled to consider... an attack on U.S. systems resulting in highly undesireable consequences to their own security." The Air Force wants a suite of hacker tools, to give it "access" to -- and "full control" of -- any kind of comput... more -
Air Force Sued for Religious Intolerance
A New Mexico man sued the Air Force on Thursday, claiming Air Force Academy senior officers and cadets illegally imposed Christianity on others at the school.
The suit was filed in federal court by Mikey Weinstein, an academy graduate and outspoken critic of the school's handling of religion.
Weinstein claims that evangelical Christians at the school have coerced attendance at religious services and prayers at official events, among other things.
There have been complaints at the academy that a Jewish cadet was told the Holocaust was revenge for the death of Jesus and that another Jew was called a Christ killer by a fellow cadet. A banner in the football team's locker room read: "I am a Christian first and last ... I am a member of Team Jesus Christ." A New Mexico man sued the Air Force on Thursday, claiming Air Force Academy senior officers and cadets illegally imposed Christianity ... more -
Six civilians dead as US jets target Basra
A US air strike destroyed a house in Basra yesterday, killing one militant, but Iraqi police said six civilians were among the dead.
The attack came in an apparent change of tactics as the Iraqi government carried out more targeted raids instead of directly taking on militia men after a week of fierce clashes that spread to Baghdad and other southern cities. A US air strike destroyed a house in Basra yesterday, killing one militant, but Iraqi police said six civilians were among the dead. ... more -
War is Murder...on Marriage
Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays a soldier who returns home from the Iraq war to find his marriage destroyed. Here he shares what he learned about how marriage can be affected by a husband or wife leaving for war.
P.S. In case your eye caught that I used both effect and affect, I just want you to know I used them correctly.
P.P.S. Effect is usually a noun and affect is usually a verb. Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays a soldier who returns home from the Iraq war to find his marriage destroyed. Here he shares what he learne... more -
Preparing to play war
Joseph Gordon-Levitt did some intense preparation for "Stop-Loss."
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Nothing is Above the Air Force
Your god, your ego and your highest notion of reality cannot match the new Air Force motto ..
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Commander feels Al-Qaeda is a real threat to the US
Al-Qaeda terrorists may be plotting more urgently to attack the United States to maintain their credibility and ability to recruit followers, the U.S. military commander in charge of domestic defense said.
Air Force Gen. Gene Renuart, chief of the U.S. Northern Command, also told reporters Thursday he has not seen any direct threats tied to the U.S. presidential elections. But he said it would be rash to think that such threats are not there.
"We need only to look at Spain and see that they're certainly willing to try to do something that is significant that could affect an election process," Renuart said. "I think it would be imprudent of us to let down our guard believing that if there's no credible threat that you know of today, there won't be something tomorrow." Al-Qaeda terrorists may be plotting more urgently to attack the United States to maintain their credibility and ability to recruit fol... more -
It's Not You, It's Me. The F-15 is Breaking Up.
A manufacturing defect blamed for the mid-air breakup of an F-15 Eagle fighter may cause the Air Force to ground a quarter of its fleet of those warplanes permanently, a top general said Thursday.
The single-seat F-15C broke up in a 500-mph turn during a combat training mission over Missouri, with its fuselage breaking in half behind the cockpit, an Air Force probe of the crash determined. A manufacturing defect blamed for the mid-air breakup of an F-15 Eagle fighter may cause the Air Force to ground a quarter of its flee... more -
US Attacked Syria?
An article released this morning by the Jerusalem Post says that Al Jazeera sources the attack to American planes with Israeli Air support, and even suggests the use of tactical nukes. Even if it's just chatter... An article released this morning by the Jerusalem Post says that Al Jazeera sources the attack to American planes with Israeli Air sup... more
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MRAPs going to Iraq on Russian cargo planes
The Air Force has been forced to use Russian commercial cargo jets to rush mine-resistant ambush-protected vehicles from the U.S. to Iraq because it does not have enough C-5 and C-17 planes to do the job, the services top civilian official said recently.
Air Force Secretary Michael W. Wynne said at an Oct. 24 House Armed Services Committee hearing that American reliance on Russian Antonov jumbo jets to move critical war supplies indicates that the Air Force may need more than its current 300 C-5s and C-17s.
We are now sharing the mission of flying MRAPs over to Iraq between C-17s and Antonov airplanes, Wynne said. Did [we] truly envision that we would fly war supplies with Russian-made airplanes? I dont know.
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Having to rely on a perceived enemy is a strange situation. The Air Force has been forced to use Russian commercial cargo jets to rush mine-resistant ambush-protected vehicles from the U.S. to I... more -
Delegation - German - UFO - OVNI - Alien- Documentation 1970
Die Delegation - eine wahre UFO-Geschichte
Der Film "Die Delegation" von Rainer Erler, war seit Jahren nicht mehr im TV-Programm. Entstanden ist dieser spannende Film 1969/70 mit Walter Kohut in der Hauptrolle. "Die Delegation" wurde mit der Goldenen Kamera 1971 und dem Prädikat "Kultfilm" ausgezeichnet.
Dieser Film ist wahr. Zum besseren Verkauf wurder der Film damals in das Untergenre des futuristischen "Science-Thrillers" eingeordet. Filme dieser Art erwiesen sich oft als visionär und immer als zivilisationskritisch.
Das "Lexikon des Internationalen Films" schreibt: "Ein interessanter, unterhaltsamer Fernsehfilm, der zum Thema Ufos selbst keine Stellung bezieht, umso wirkungsvoller jedoch einen verstörenden Schwebezustand heraufbeschwört." Die Delegation - eine wahre UFO-Geschichte ... more
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