British MoD Release UFO Files From 1978 To 1987
Posted by damien at
7:43 AM on May 14, 2008
This should keep us busy for a while. From The Beeb:
'Secret files on UFO sightings have been made available for the first time by the Ministry of Defence. The documents, which can be downloaded from the National Archives website, cover the period from 1978 to 1987. They include accounts of strange lights in the sky and unexplained objects being spotted by the public, armed forces and police officers.'
View them at the National Archives UFO site
Also of note is Dr. David Clarke's briefing guide and podcast, on the same site. That said there is a Nick Pope Videocast, but I'm sure you can manage to ignore that.
Further files are due to be released in time but please note that these documents will be available to download for free for the first month. So get 'em while ye can.
In related news, should you be a concerned Roman Catholic who's worried that your interest in UFOs conflicts with your faith, well, worry no more. The Vatican says it's ok:
VATICAN CITY (AP) - The Vatican's chief astronomer says that believing in aliens does not contradict faith in God. The Rev. Jose Gabriel Funes, the Jesuit director of the Vatican Observatory, says that the vastness of the universe means it is possible there could be other forms of life outside Earth, even intelligent ones.
Now, isn't that a relief?
| Comments (0)Some Obama Campaigners Encountering Racism
Posted by damien at
10:07 PM on May 13, 2008
From the Washington Post:
'"The first person I encountered was like, 'I'll never vote for a black person,' " recalled Ross, who is white and just turned 20. "People just weren't receptive."| Comments (0)For all the hope and excitement Obama's candidacy is generating, some of his field workers, phone-bank volunteers and campaign surrogates are encountering a raw racism and hostility that have gone largely unnoticed -- and unreported -- this election season. Doors have been slammed in their faces. They've been called racially derogatory names (including the white volunteers). And they've endured malicious rants and ugly stereotyping from people who can't fathom that the senator from Illinois could become the first African American president.'
[London] People are still drinking beer*
Posted by damien at
1:19 PM on May 11, 2008
One week in the job and Mayor Boris Johnson wants to ban the comsumption of alcohol on the London Underground. I took this last night on the Northern Line to Camden.
Shortly after this was taken the group descended into a screaming, heaving orgy of frenzied frivolity, public, casual conversation and rampant, un-checked good-naturedness.
British Transport Police later reported mass outbreaks of people having a good time and two alleged incidents of accountants from Whitehall spontaneously dancing on the Jubilee Line.
More
Forgetfulness by Billy Collins
Posted by damien at
12:49 PM on May 11, 2008
Billy Collins, former US Poet Laureate and one of America's best-selling poets, reads his poem "Forgetfulness" with animation by Julian Grey of Headgear. Found at The Fischbowl:
More
More on Billy Collins
| Comments (0)Jonathan King says 'there's nothing wrong with buggering young boys'
Posted by damien at
4:49 PM on May 9, 2008
Jonathan King (yes, that Jonathan King) has released a new musical: Vile Pervert. This is a promo clip from it. I literally don't have the words.
Found on b3ta
| Comments (0)Dodgy looking UFO over Derry, Ireland
Posted by damien at
11:46 AM on May 9, 2008
Wahey! A nice shiny new Irish UFO story for ye. Although I do have to say that the above image looks decidedly, well, photoshopped. From Derry Journal:
'Michael Harkin from Galliagh got in contact by email this week with this startling photograph which appears to show a suspected UFO in the Prehen area of Derry. He writes - "I am writing to see if you would be interested in a picture which was taken on my mobile phone yesterday (Tuesday, 6/5/08).| Comments (0)It was taken from a car while travelling to Prehen in Derry. I realised that there seemed to be an unusual object in the sky and decided to take a picture. On examination it seems to be a saucer-like object flying flying not far above houses on the Prehen Road." He wonders if anyone else saw it? Perhaps there was one of those masterchefs in the vicinity.'
Jesse Ventura on the USA Elections
Posted by damien at
1:56 PM on May 8, 2008
Former Navy Seal, Mayor of Brooklyn Park, Governor of Minnesota, professional wrestler, sometime bodyguard for the Rolling Stones and outspoken critic of American constitutional politics. No, seriously. Watch this.
Thanks to Dar for the heads-up.
| Comments (1)Nine Inch Nails' The Slip
Posted by damien at
11:18 PM on May 6, 2008
Another free NIN album: The Slip, available for download under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike license. Those of you left pining by Reznor and co.'s last effort, the experimental (and totally instrumental) 'Ghosts', for some straight-up banging NIN will like this. This is the tenth track from the album, 'Demon Seed'. Press play.
Gawd bless ye Trent. Download The Slip here.
Weekend at Bernie's 2008
Posted by damien at
4:12 PM on May 5, 2008
I've just come home from New York - my first time there. What a town.
Anyway, with New Yorker's accents still ringing in my ears, I read this and hooted laughing. From SF Gate:
'Detective Travis Rapp has seen his share of corpses, but this was new: two men wheeling a rigid, pale body down a Manhattan street in a red office chair, drawing a crowd of suspicious onlookers.Looking out the window of the restaurant where he was having lunch, Rapp initially assumed "it was a mannequin or a dummy," he said. "I thought it was a joke, honestly."
A closer inspection showed that it wasn't. The man was dead, and two of his friends had hauled his corpse to a store to cash his $355 Social Security check, police said. They were arrested before they could get the money.'
Watch me crapping myself at 10,000 feet (and other adventures) here.
| Comments (0)Ultimate Antarctic perversion: Fur seals and penguins have sex. Sort of.
Posted by daev at
1:33 PM on May 5, 2008
Worried looking penguin. Get high quality version: Lonely Adelie Penguin - Pygoscelis adeliae , originally uploaded by blather.
Breaking bank holiday news from the BBC:
An Antarctic fur seal has been observed trying to have sex with a king penguin. The South African-based scientists who witnessed the incident say it is the most unusual case of mammal mating behaviour yet known.
Continue reading "Ultimate Antarctic perversion: Fur seals and penguins have sex. Sort of. "
| Comments (0)Shift Happens. Did You Know 2.0
Posted by damien at
3:49 PM on May 4, 2008
Don't ask. Just watch it.
Join the Conversation - Shift Happens Wiki
| Comments (2)Romanov Dynasty Ends
Posted by barry at
11:23 PM on May 1, 2008
At last, the February 1917 Russian Revolution is complete!
"DNA tests have confirmed that remains found last year are those of two of the last Tsar's children, executed by a firing squad in 1918.The announcement by the Russian authorities puts an end to decades of speculation about the possible escape of one or more of Nicholas II's children..."
Full story in the Independent.
"The positive side of the picture has been virtually edited out."
Posted by barry at
12:00 AM on May 1, 2008
Albert Hofmann has fallen off his bicycle, aged 102!
Posted by daev at
1:33 PM on April 30, 2008
Who said hallucinogenic drugs are bad for you? Abbie Hofman, the Swiss scientist who inadvertently launched millions of trips, by synthesizing Lysergic acid diethylamide, also known as LSD or acid, has died, at the mighty age of 102 years old of a heart attack.
Continue reading "Albert Hofmann has fallen off his bicycle, aged 102!"
| Comments (0)I'm Not Dead Yet
Posted by damien at
1:16 AM on April 30, 2008
This is me. Jumping out of a perfectly good plane. At 10,000 ft.
If you look closely, at the exact moment I leave the plane, you can almost see me shit myself.
By the by, the music wasn't my choice.
| Comments (1)Brazil priest vanishes on balloon flight - but to where?
Posted by daev at
8:25 PM on April 24, 2008
According to the Associated Press:
A Roman Catholic priest who floated off under hundreds of helium party balloons was missing this week off the southern coast of Brazil. Rescuers in helicopters and small fishing boats were searching off the coast of Santa Catarina state, where pieces of balloons were found. Rev. Adelir Antonio de Carli lifted off from the port city of Paranagua on Sunday afternoon, wearing a helmet, thermal suit and a parachute. He was reported missing about eight hours later after losing contact with port authority officials, according to the treasurer of his Sao Cristovao parish, Denise Gallas.
Gallas said by telephone that the priest wanted to break a 19-hour record for the most hours flying with balloons to raise money for a spiritual rest-stop for truckers in Paranagua, Brazil's second-largest port for agricultural products. According to Gallas, the priest soared to an altitude of 20,000 feet (6,000 meters) then descended to about 8,200 feet (2,500 meters) for his planned flight to the city of Dourados, 465 miles (750 kilometers) northwest of his parish.
Could he be gone to a better place? The Super Sargasso Sea?
AP: Brazil priest vanishes on balloon flight »
Hopes fade for Father Adelir Antonio de Carli »
Thanks to Heather for forwarding this one. It puts us in mind of some earlier stories, like that of Kent Kouch, the gas station owner, who last year flew 193 miles (311km) in a lawnchair held up by balloons. More on Fox New s »
He in turn was influenced by Larry Walters who took off in 1982 "in a homemade aircraft, dubbed Inspiration I, that he had fashioned out of a Sears patio chair and 42 helium-filled weather balloons. He unintentionally rose to an altitude of 16,000 feet (3 miles or 4900 meters) and floated from his point of origin in San Pedro, California into controlled airspace near Long Beach airport. The account of his flight was widely reported in newspapers. The feat is noted as an urban legend, albeit one based on actual events."
Continue reading "Brazil priest vanishes on balloon flight - but to where?"
| Comments (0)Underwater Medieval Village Exposed
Posted by ender at
3:43 PM on April 23, 2008
Drought conditions in Spain have resulted in a new tourist attraction...
Whose up for diving trip to blessington lake?
| Comments (0)Mystery lights over Phoenix get folks all spooked
Posted by damien at
6:43 PM on April 22, 2008
From Ktar.com:
People are looking for an explanation for mysterious red lights that appeared in the north Phoenix sky Monday night, reminiscent of a similar event 11 years ago.Dozens of listeners called News/Talk 92-3 KTAR just after 8 p.m. reporting they were watching the four mystery lights.
``From my position, it looked like they were just hanging, not moving at all," said one man, who called 92-3's ``Gaydos After Dark." He said he ``absolutely" saw something.
A woman caller said, ``It looked like four red tower lights, but it was pretty high up in the air. I called my husband and he said, `Get home, what's wrong with you?'"
A man in north Phoenix told CBS-5: ``They were about 3,000 feet high, approximately. They looked as though they were kind of hovering or floating from west to east, very slowly. They were up there for 15 or 20 minutes."
Via the Drudge Report
View on Blather's Map of the Weird
Zombie Strippers
Posted by damien at
10:43 AM on April 19, 2008
World's most famous porn star? Check. Guns? Check. Virus outbreak? Check. Well-recognised bastion of schlock-fest horror flicks to add some cred to trailer? Check.
| Comments (0)Play Googolopoly
Posted by damien at
10:16 AM on April 19, 2008
So obvious. So good. From Box Games:
At Box, we obviously spend a lot of time talking about what’s going on on the internet. With such a high quantity of real and rumored products and acquisitions announcements, Google obviously gets a lot of attention in our animated discussions. In the last few months, Google Health, AppEngine, Knol, Android, OpenSocial, Sites, and the rumored Skype acquisition (is that even real or just propaganda?) were some of the most talked-about topics. We often come to the conclusion that Google’s way to do business with other companies and interest in controling the information age makes the company look more and more like the software monopoly of yesteryears. Overall, it’s questionable whether such a powerful position made the world better or worse…
The Shiznit
Posted by damien at
10:06 AM on April 18, 2008
Contiuning with our occasional coverage of entertaining and 'otherish' web-comics, this is a sample from the Dublin-based 'Shiznit' from Clamnuts, a thoroughly depraved, arrogant and contemptible rag which we hereby declare our love for.
Thanks to Neil. D at Lazybird for the tip-off.
More Blather on Comics
Also see Molly Crabapple's 'Backstage'
| Comments (0)Romanian man 'rears' lion in garden until neighbors complain
Posted by damien at
3:28 PM on April 17, 2008
'Honestly your honour, she backed into me'.
Best news story of the week. EVER.
| Comments (0)
'BUCHAREST, Romania -- Romanian media say a man was rearing a lion in his back garden until neighbors decided they had heard enough roaring and called police.Rompres state news agency said police found a caged 3-year-old lioness, as well as two deer, a stag and two peacocks roaming the garden of the man's home in the southern village of Pietrosita.'
UFO Crash in North Texas, 1891
Posted by damien at
2:41 PM on April 17, 2008
A comprehensive article from Beyond Boundaries on a purported UFO crash in Erath County, Texas in 1891 by Mark Murphy and Noe Torres.
'When dozens of people in Erath County, Texas spotted a half mile-long UFO in the skies above them in January 2008, a couple of area residents turned to local history books for clues about what happened. Located 80 miles southwest of Fort Worth, the neighboring towns of Stephenville and Dublin lie in the very midst of what has been, historically, a hotbed for UFO activity. In fact, it has recently come to light that 56 years before the famous Roswell, New Mexico UFO crash of 1947, the tiny town of Dublin was the site of a Roswell-like event, involving an aerial explosion of a UFO, followed by the discovery of strange debris containing mysterious, undecipherable writing.'
View on Blather.net's Map of the Weird:
Via ufogigest.com
More Blather
'Mass' UFO sightings in Stephenville, Texas are not *that* strange (January 2008)
| Comments (0)Mole Man William Lyttle in financial hole
Posted by daev at
12:01 PM on April 16, 2008
An Irishman who dug a labyrinth of tunnels under his London home is in a financial hole after being ordered to pay around £300,000 (€373,000) to stop it collapsing. Retired civil engineer William Lyttle (77) has been dubbed "mole man" because he excavated hundreds of feet under his home and beneath nearby pavements in London.
Irish Independent: Tunnel case puts man in a hole »
Continue reading "Mole Man William Lyttle in financial hole"
| Comments (0)Ghosts of Waterford Quay
Posted by daev at
9:32 PM on April 15, 2008
Here's a story back in February that turned up in the Irish Examiner and the Munster Express:
A claim was made this week that the Quay in Waterford city is haunted and is regularly walked by the ghosts of long ago citizens and sailors. The person who made the claim asked not to be named but says he is a non-practising medium who has an unasked-for and unwanted ‘psychic window to the afterlife’. After hearing persistent rumours of ghostly happenings, he decided to mount a night-time vigil and, on two recent occasions, he saw shadowy images of tall ships in the river and of men in old-fashioned attire who appeared to ‘float’ along the Quay.
Continue reading "Ghosts of Waterford Quay"
| Comments (0)Japanese whaler Nisshin Maru back in port - now stay there!
Posted by daev at
12:47 PM on April 15, 2008
© Greenpeace/Naomi Toyoda
As some you might be aware, I spent most of January on board the Greenpeace ship Esperanza, in the Southern Ocean. We found and chased Japan's factory whaling ship, the Nisshin Maru for nearly 15 days, over 4300 miles.
Well, the Nisshin Maru is back in port today in Tokyo, where some of my colleagues from Greenpeace Japan "welcomed" it with"failed" to accompany the ubiquitous and Orwellian "RESEARCH" painted on its hull.
During its five months at sea, the Nisshin Maruwas responsible for taking 551 minke whales from the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary - far less than the 1035 whales planned, but more than a hundred than were killed three years ago.
Read more about the Nisshin Maru on the Making Waves blog »
| Comments (0)Mother Jones: Greenpeace and Black Ops
Posted by daev at
11:01 AM on April 12, 2008
"Meet the private security firm that spied on Greenpeace and other environmental outfits for corporate clients. A tale of intrigue, infiltration, and dumpster-diving."
Just published on the Mother Jones website, a great article by James Ridgeway about private espionage by an American security company called Beckett Brown International (later called S2i) against the likes of Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth. Along with this excellent four-page article is a raft of support pdf documents for download. Amazing stuff.
Continue reading "Mother Jones: Greenpeace and Black Ops"
| Comments (0)Friday Choon: Robotnik's 'People Walk Away'
Posted by damien at
7:54 AM on April 11, 2008
A cracking track and video (reminiscent of Peter Gabriel's 'Sledgehammer') from north Dublin act Robotnik:
(via Sigla blog)
| Comments (0)Molly Crabapple's 'Backstage'
Posted by damien at
10:03 PM on April 10, 2008
A wonderfully fun adventure from Molly Crabapple (she of Dr. Sketchy fame) and John Leavitt - their new online comic 'Backstage', a fabulous Victorian smutfest, which we've taken quite a shine to here at Blather.
(image via Molly Crabapple's Flickr stream)
| Comments (0)Rupert Sheldrake Stabbed in Sante Fe
Posted by daev at
10:09 AM on April 10, 2008
Reports from Strange Attractor's Further blog on a near-fatal attack on a behavioural scientist Rupert Sheldrake while lecturing at the 10th International Conference on Science and Consciousness:
An Englishman speaking on "thought transference" during an international conference at La Fonda on Wednesday was stabbed in the leg by a Japanese man who seemed upset by his remarks, witnesses said. Rupert Sheldrake of London was sitting up and alert as medics took him on a gurney to an ambulance outside Santa Fe's historic hotel at the southeast corner of the Plaza. Asked if he was OK, Sheldrake smiled and responded, "I hope so."
Continue reading "Rupert Sheldrake Stabbed in Sante Fe"
| Comments (0)The Wild One
Posted by ender at
3:08 PM on April 9, 2008
Fergus Drennan, from Canterbury is planning on only consuming wild food and water for the next year in the interests of science.
“By the end of the year I intend to have a full set of clothes from boots and trousers to a jacket, made from animal skins. I’m researching the whole tanning process at the moment.”
Dubbed the Roadkill Chef, Mr Drennan also has a badger, four pheasants, rabbit and squirrel -all picked up from the side of the road – in his deep freeze.
“I’m really anxious and haven’t slept properly for three nights,” he admitted on the eve of the experiment.
| Comments (0)Raising a pint: Plans to salvage Guinness barges for Dublin use
Posted by daev at
7:10 PM on April 8, 2008
Several days after April Fool's Day, this story turned up in the Indo:
Plans for the reintroduction of Guinness barges on the River Liffey have moved a step forward with the Irish Ship and Barge Fabrication Company now applying for permission to attach a pontoon to one of the city's boardwalks. Back in January, the company applied for permission to erect floating pontoons to allow for the Guinness barges to once more glide up and down the Liffey.
Continue reading "Raising a pint: Plans to salvage Guinness barges for Dublin use"
| Comments (0)We. Featuring the words of Arundhati Roy
Posted by damien at
10:05 AM on April 8, 2008
My thanks to W. J. S. for pointing me towards this:
Visit
| Comments (0)Charles Leadbeater's 'We Think'
Posted by damien at
9:46 PM on April 6, 2008
Clay Shirky's 'Here Comes Everybody' is getting all the kudos, but those of you interested in the power of the web to change our world, shouldn't forget to take a look at Charles Leadbeater's 'We Think'. Press play.
Linkage
| Comments (1)Crocodile Kidnapped in Bergen, Norway
Posted by barry at
2:17 AM on April 1, 2008
"An aquarium in Bergen is offering a reward for information leading to the return of a crocodile that apparently was snatched during opening hours over the weekend."
Full story in English-language version of Aftenposten.
| Comments (0)Everrrrrrybody Must Get...
Posted by ender at
7:22 PM on March 31, 2008
Continue reading "Everrrrrrybody Must Get..."
| Comments (2)Taoiseach Bertie Ahern's solicitors threaten Politics.ie into silence
Posted by damien at
11:29 AM on March 31, 2008
"The corruption of man is followed by the corruption of language."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nature (1836)
(image by jackace)
Missing money?
For those of you not from Ireland, our Taoiseach (that's our Prime Minister) Bertie Ahern is refusing to answer questions about the alleged 400 grand (€800k) which the Mahon Tribunal has been hearing about this last few weeks. In a nutshell, his argument seems to be that he is only answerable to the tribunal and not the Dail (the parliment) to which he was elected. This increasingly Haughey-like behaviour has led to a vitriolic street-level backlash, provoking the Taoiseach's government coalition partners to call on him to clarify his position. And on the web? Well, on the web...
From David Cochrane on Politics.ie:
'On Thursday night a new user to the website posted a thread making allegations about a Tribunal witness and a firm of solictors, those comments were inaccurate, untrue and were malicious - I unreservedly apologise for those comments being posted.At all times, I try to ensure that we maintain the idea of free speech, my moderation policy is very light, Don't Get Dave Sued, as in don't say anything that would get me into legal difficulty. Any time such comments are posted, they are always removed when pointed out to us, either by users of the site, or by solicitors acting on behalf of a client.
The letter sent to me is included below, it was not sent as confidential, so I am sharing it on the record.
Under no circumstances can I be in a position to disclose the identity of any user on this website, and I will not be doing so.
Until further notice, the Tribunal section of the forum is out-of-bounds, and no Tribunal discussion is allowed. Furthermore there can be no discussion with respect to the Tribunals or anything concerning Bertie Ahern* .
I am asking all users to obey this request.'
[*emphasis added - Blather]
Misunderstanding?
Not only do the actions of the Taoiseach's solicitors display a quite hilarious misunderstanding of how the web works (do they really think that politics.ie has the names and addresses of its posters?) they would seem to display a singular contempt for the freedom of speech which the foundation of our country was born on - or perhaps the solicitors have mistaken a discussion forum for a publication platform. Which the discussion forum area of politics.ie most certainly is not.
Much in the same way that Hillary Clinton has quite spectacularly misjudged the power of YouTube, it appears that our Taoiseach's legal representatives have woefully misunderestimated the power of the web to shape people's opinions about the government they represent. Or perhaps they don't care what people think of the government.
Whilst it's probable that the Taoiseach's solicitors are acting in their own interests (and not the Taoiseach's), perhaps they should start to consider the disatrous effect of what they are doing online - in shaping how people percieve the politician whom they represent.
What's downright puzzling is how politics.ie seem to have been compelled to ban all discussion of anything relating to the Taoiseach. Perhaps someone from the Taoiseach's solicitors, the Taoiseach's offices or even the Taoiseach himself can explain why it was felt neccesary to chastise a discussion forum dedicated to open, honest debate about Irish politics (something which I am sure our Taoiseach would approve of) into a position whereby the owner now informs us that merely speaking about our elected leader could provoke a legal action.
The Taoiseach's solicitors demands' that a discussion forum hand over the names and addresses of it's posters is quite amazing - making themselves (and the government parties they represent) come across like Robert Mugabe with a laptop.
There's a remarkably simple solution to all of this of course - the Taoiseach could simply put the country, his government partners and legal representatives at ease by behaving like the democratically-minded 'socialist' he claims to be and addressing the country's concerns - explaining where the monies came from, where they went to and if any services were rendered for them. Not that we here at blather.net expect that to happen. It's not exactly the Fianna Fail way, now is it?
Entirely unrelated
Oh and, in what I'm sure is an entirely unrelated matter, the Irish Independent reported last week that the same site, Politics.ie was hacked by an outside source who then set about posting malicious comments to the forums, with young Fine Gael members being targeted. Just thought I'd mention it.
Read more
Taoiseach's 310k pay won't even cover legal bills this year (Sunday Tribune)
Ahern's solicitors try to silence online debate (skin flicks blog)
The Politics.ie conspiracy theory (skin flicks blog)
Politics.ie won’t be shut down, moving to America as Bertie’s lawyers attack (Damien Mulley's blog)
Bertie’s lawyers go after politics.ie (Jazz biscuit blog)
| Comments (1)Antarctic Ice Collapse!
Posted by barry at
10:46 PM on March 30, 2008
"A chunk of Antarctic ice about seven times the size of Manhattan suddenly collapsed, putting an even greater portion of glacial ice at risk, scientists said Tuesday. Satellite images show the runaway disintegration of a 160-square-mile chunk in western Antarctica, which started Feb. 28. It was the edge of the Wilkins ice shelf and has been there for hundreds, maybe 1,500 years."
Read the Associated Press article.
Convicted child-molester claims he was abused by Bigfoot
Posted by damien at
3:48 PM on March 27, 2008
Easily my favourite news story of the week:
A man who claims that he was molested by Bigfoot as a child was ordered to serve 20 years in prison yesterday for his own molestation-related activities.| Comments (0)Gene R. Morrill, 57, of New Ipswich, N.H., had previously pleaded guilty in Stafford Circuit Court to 20 charges stemming from his efforts to solicit 13-year-old boys over the Internet.
Defense attorney Terrence Patton cited Morrill's mental health issues in seeking leniency from Judge J. Howe Brown.
Morrill told an investigator preparing his pre-sentence report about being sexually assaulted by the legendary Bigfoot, a North American folklore character said to be between 7 and 10 feet tall, and covered in dark brown or dark reddish hair. Patton said Morrill really believes the assaulted happened.
The Voyage of Bran son of Febal
Posted by damien at
9:33 AM on March 27, 2008
'TWAS fifty quatrains the woman from unknown lands sang on the floor of the house to Bran son of Febal, when the royal house was full of kings, who knew not whence the woman had come, since the ramparts were closed.
This is the beginning of the story. One day, in the neighbourhood of his stronghold, Bran went about alone, when he heard music behind him. As often as he looked back, ’twas still behind him the music was. At last he fell asleep at the music, such was its sweetness. When he awoke from his sleep, he saw close by him a branch of silver with white blossoms, nor was it easy to distinguish its bloom from that branch. Then Bran took the branch in his hand to his royal house. When the hosts were in the royal house, they saw a woman in strange raiment on the floor of the house. ’Twas then she sang the fifty 1 quatrains to Bran, while the host heard her, and all beheld the woman.'
From the Voyage of Bran, a Celtic tale transcribed by Irish monks during the 8th or 9th centuries A.D. Read the full tale here.
| Comments (0)Stephen Fry's Podgrams
Posted by damien at
8:32 PM on March 26, 2008
A thoroughly enjoyable ramble from old golden-throat, the one and only Stephen Fry.
Subscribe through iChoons or his site.
| Comments (0)'Good Clean Love': Lubricants for the ethically-minded
Posted by damien at
1:59 PM on March 26, 2008
Fond of having a roll with the missus? Worried that the by-products of your ceaseless rutting are leaving behind a wasteland of marital-aid wrappers and half-spent tubes of KY? Fear not. You may now purchase yourself some ethically-sound, eco-friendly lube from the folks at Good Clean Love.
The majority of intimacy products on the market are made with petrochemicals and preserved with methyl and propyl parabens. All of our products are formulated with all natural ingredients that not only feel good, but are good for you.| Comments (0)
The whole works of Sir James Ware concerning Ireland, revised and improved 1764
Posted by damien at
11:15 AM on March 26, 2008
From the wonderful BibliOdyssey:
| Comments (0)
Hillary Clinton and the Big Tuzla Porky
Posted by damien at
9:50 PM on March 25, 2008
Whoops. Obama gives the most insightful, honest speech in a generation and Hillary, well, she...
Like I said, whoops.
More
Clinton under fire
Did A British Missile Shoot Down Aer Lingus Flight 712 At Tuskar Rock?
Posted by damien at
9:13 PM on March 24, 2008
A vintage conspiracy theory for you today - the continuing saga of Aer Lingus Flight 712 and the long-circulated rumours that the 61 deaths on March 24th, 1968 were the result of the Irish civilian flight being shot down by a British surface-to-air missile.
The story is back in the news due to the recent comments of Moss Egan, a retired Naval engineer who, according to breakingnews.ie, says that he saw the remains of a target drone during his investigation into the crash.
Moss Egan was on board the L.E. Cliona and spent several weeks at sea, working alongside the British Navy trying to recover the wreckage of the aircraft.He said he recalled one discovery in particular, of something which many believe was part of a target drone, a piece of equipment used to test the accuracy of missiles.
Mr Egan said that it was taken away by the British navy and never seen again.
Back in January 2002, Blather.net's Daev Walsh wrote a detailed piece on Flight 712 for Disinformation.com:
The most popular theory concerns a missile launched from the Royal Aircraft Establishment's testing range in Aberporth, Wales. The British Ministry of Defence (MoD) states that what was then Britain's top missile development center was closed on Sundays. Recently, Radio Telifis Eireann (Ireland's state broadcaster) found inconsistencies in log books, suggesting that the center was open for business. Another theory is that a radar transponder on board the Viscount failed; a British warship, HMS Penelope thought it was a pilotless drone. The MoD claims that none of its ships were close enough, but the log books of two of the five ships in the area are missing: the other three were never requested by the Irish government. Yet another theory tells of a pilotless drone hitting Flight 712: some witnesses reported seeing an aircraft with red wings close to the Viscount's last position.
Retired naval engineer reveals Tuskar Rock mystery
The story of Aer Lingus Flight 712
Was The Tunguska Event The Result of Aliens Shooting Down A Meteorite?
Posted by damien at
5:30 PM on March 24, 2008
Been far too long since we had a story from old Blather favourites Pravda, but this one's a gem. According to our ever-reliable, entirely impartial and impeccably sceptical friends at Pravda, a Russian scientist named Yuriy Lavbin is claiming that the Tunguska Event (beloved of downed-UFO incident hunters) was the result of benevolent aliens blowing a meteorite out of the sky to save our skinny, miserable arses.
The meteorite’s crash took place long time ago, in summer of 1908. An enormous volcanic ball rushed over the sky with terrifying wallop and thunder-like sound. All the citizens were frightened to death and scared to move out of their houses. A flight of a “flamy alien” ended up in an hour in deserted taiga area. In a matter of seconds an explosive wave spread for 40 kilometers, devastating everything living around.
Read
Aliens downed Tunguska meteorite to save Earth
More
Weird America: The Woodstock Mystery Hole
Posted by damien at
10:38 AM on March 24, 2008
I love Weird America.
More
| Comments (0)Wikileaks posts banned Tibet videos
Posted by damien at
11:40 PM on March 20, 2008
Two weeks ago, most of us had never heard of wikileaks.org. But today the fledgling whistle blower site has positioned itself as one of the most important news sites on the web. Whilst Google prevaricate (and allow Youtube to be flooded with Chinese propaganda) and Gordon Brown mumbles unconvincingly about meeting the Dalai Lama, the Chinese government have firewalled anything that is critical of their actions in Tibet, provoking Wikileaks into posting a library of the banned videos with links for download and a request to share.
More
Wikileaks defies 'great firewall of China'
| Comments (0)Pulp's "Common People" presented as an Archie comic!
Posted by barry at
8:04 PM on March 17, 2008
She studied sculpture at St Martin's College....
| Comments (0)The The want you to save Shoreditch. We want more The The.
Posted by damien at
6:28 PM on March 17, 2008
The The singer/songwriter Matt Johnson is spearheading the campaign to save Shoreditch from what would appear to be the avaricious clasp of an army of property developers. Even if you don't give a toss about Shoreditch, the following video is worth watching just to listen to Matt Johnson's dulcet tones. It makes me wish he'd release more music.
Anyway, I'm just about to move to Whitechapel in London - next door (in London terms) to Shoreditch and will admit that I was entirely ignorant of the proposed developments. We'll be looking into this some more.
| Comments (0)Does the UK need a Bill of Rights?
Posted by barry at
11:00 PM on March 16, 2008
As you can tell from some of my sarcastic posts on Blather.net, I'm quite interested in the subject of rights and freedoms as they currently stand in the United Kingdom. It's one of the few democracies where there is no constitution, and the rights of the citizens (or "subjects") are defined solely by parliament. A further problem in the UK is the creation of DNA databases, other databases and surveillance technology without parliament even fulfilling its duty to create laws to govern these things. Although I don't live in the UK, it's interesting to look at this because the UK stands out as one of the democracies in which the fear of terrorism is eroding hard-won civil liberties. That broader topic is of importance to us in the Blather.net canteen, as we try to conceive of what the future will be like.
So, if you are interested, I recommend this video footage from the Joint Committee on Human Rights. UK citizens' rights as they exist now are based on the European Convention of Human Rights, created in the 1950s, before current issues of privacy existed. The committee discuss all the issues concerning a Bill of Rights, and the current climate in the UK, with witnesses Baroness Hale of Richmond, Lord Justice Maurice Kay, the Rt Hon Kenneth Clarke QC MP, Professor Vernon Bogdanor of Oxford University and Henry Porter. It's 2 hours long, but the discussion is intelligent and informative, and really worth absorbing.
(Blather.net writers and readers are welcome to post on this topic in relation to other countries)
| Comments (0)The Childcatcher! Gary Pugh, the DNA Nazi who hates kids
Posted by barry at
3:37 AM on March 16, 2008
"Primary school children should be eligible for the DNA database if they exhibit behaviour indicating they may become criminals in later life, according to Britain's most senior police forensics expert. Gary Pugh, director of forensic sciences at Scotland Yard and the new DNA spokesman for the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo), said a debate was needed on how far Britain should go in identifying potential offenders, given that some experts believe it is possible to identify future offending traits in children as young as five."
Full horror story on the Guardian/Observer site.
Recall the original, less threatening child catcher?
Is Gary Pugh a real person??? There is no mention of the cunt on the Association of Chief Police Officers website! But there does seem to be one on the Scotland Yard website. There's no photo or date of birth, but under that name there's this bullshit quotation: "The challenge of leading the forensic contribution in one of the most high profile jobs in the forensic business and the direct contribution that forensic services makes to tackling crime in London. I have the pleasure of working with a highly committed, professional and effective group of staff." The usual bureaucratic wank. What we need to find is his Facebook page with all his paedophile-Hitler credentials laid bare, non? Or have I got this all wrong?
| Comments (0)Hotel Luxor, the oldest brothel in Hamburg, to close next month
Posted by damien at
4:57 PM on March 15, 2008
I saw this and chuckled:
(HAMBURG) Internet pornography, foreign prostitutes and a growing number of cheap dance clubs have been blamed for the closure of the oldest brothel in one of the world's most famous red-light districts. (Guardian)
Cos it reminded me of this:
(BELFAST) The IRA today announced several hundred lay-offs, effective from tomorrow morning 9 a.m. The shocking move comes at the end of a period of intense market speculation, which has focused on the organisations' ability to compete in the new global terrorism market: a market which many cocaine-fuelled tabloid hacks and a small army of syphilis-riddled market analysts have begun calling 'Terrorism 2.0'. (Blather)Read Hamburg's oldest brothel to close
What's never talked about, is the "closure" of what must have been the oldest red light District in Europe - at Benburb Street, Dublin, now the location of the National Museum of Ireland's Decorative Arts and History section, which relocated there in 1997. Benburb street is in Stoneybatter, a singularly interesting part of Dublin which Daev has talked about before on Blather. In addition to being a hotbed of sixteenth century roguery, Benburb St. is the location of Collins Barracks, the world's longest serving army barracks. And where there are soldiers, well, there are prostitutes.
Benburb St. was a well-known location for Dublin's Ladies of the Night, that is until the museum moved in in 1997. It's been a while since I went there, but I'm told that the women (and their johns) have moved on to somewhere else. And no, I don't know where.
Anyway, in other news, the NMI have been accused of placing their collections in danger. The museum have responded by stating that they're under-resourced.
| Comments (0)"The atheist delusion" by John Gray
Posted by barry at
12:58 PM on March 15, 2008
John Gray has written an article for the Guardian entitled "The atheist delusion", an attack on what he calls "secular fundamentalism".
"For Dawkins and Hitchens, Daniel Dennett and Martin Amis, Michel Onfray, Philip Pullman and others, religion in general is a poison that has fuelled violence and oppression throughout history, right up to the present day... this is a type of atheism that mirrors the faith it rejects."
The article does not laud religion as such, more than to say it is "an impulse that is peculiarly human". Rather it is an attack on the evangelical element in atheism, and the suppositions under which it operates. It's an amusing read when Gray takes a look at Dawkins's "memetic theory of religion" and recoils, taking a strong aversion to it, writing that it's "a classic example of the nonsense that is spawned when Darwinian thinking is applied outside its proper sphere." I always enjoy it when a scientist is pronounced guilty of pseudo-science. To maximise the provocation, the Nazis are then mentioned in the same paragraph.
Those of you who have read John Gray's Straw Dogs or Al Qaeda and What it Means to be Modern will find his universal dismay about everything very familiar, but he is always worth reading.
| Comments (6)The kid the Iranians want to murder must seek help from the dead British home secretary!
Posted by barry at
12:43 PM on March 15, 2008
The gay teenager spared an immediate return to Iran, where he claims he faces the death penalty, said yesterday that he will only feel safe if the Home Secretary personally guarantees his right to remain in Britain.
Full story in the Independent.
We highlighted this case on blather.net before.
But remember that the British home secretary, now pivotal to this case, is unfortunately dead!
| Comments (0)"Talk about something interesting!": the evisceration of Sarah Lacy
Posted by damien at
11:19 AM on March 14, 2008
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg's keynote address at the much-anticipated South by SouthWest Interactive conference in Texas this week, which was a chat with writer Sarah Lacy, turned from what should have been a straight-up interview into the public evisceration of a distinctly 'old-media' approach to journalism, wherein the crowd turned on Lacy halfway through the interview, both in the real session and online.
Micro-blogging site Twitter was flooded (mid-interview) with nasty comments about Lacy's style, as she seemed to continously interrupt Zuckerberg, name-dropped her own book and generally grandstanded in a manner all too reminiscent of the fits of egomanical pique which smacked of a distinctly old-school media model - where the journalist seems to consider herself the centre of the story.
By the end of the session, Lacy had managed to piss the crowd off to such an extent that they wrested control of the session from her and started peppering Zuckerberg with pertinent questions about Facebook's privacy and data portability. Tellingly, before ceding control of the session, Lacy is reported to have snapped "Let's go with the Digg model and let them have mob rule."
And there you have it - the digerati "mob" doesn't suffer one journalist trying to insert themselves into the story, but demands that the the story be just that: the story. Lacy's behaviour might have washed at the Learning Technologies conference or Educa Online, (both of which I recently attended and both of which had plenty of egos on show) but SXSW is neither of those. It's where the early adopters are. It seems Lacy wildly misjudged who she was speaking in front of and the result is, well, let's just say the knives are out.
Six months from now, I predict, any journo/blogger/mediawonk accused of getting too big for their boots, or just generally considering themselves more important than what they do, will be referred to as having 'done a Lacy'.
More
SXSW: Zuckerberg Keynote Descends Into Chaos as Audience Takes Over (wired.com)
Journalist becomes the story at Mark Zuckerberg SXSWi keynote (cnet.com)
| Comments (0)ABC: Big Cat Spotted near Letterkenny, Donegal
Posted by daev at
10:45 AM on March 14, 2008
We can't credit the photo, as the Irish Independent didn't give one either!
The beast of Letterrkenny! According to today's Irish Independent, a large black mystery cat has been seen prowling around fields where sheep were recently mauled.
Gardai are currently awaiting tests on droppings found near the animals, to determine what kind of predator is responsible.
The photograph above appeared in the Irish Independent, uncredited, apparently taken by unnamed woman in the Ballylawn area of Manorcunningham, Co Donegal.
It is taken from a distance, so it is impossible to be certain, but the woman who took the picture saw this animal up close in her garden and she knows it wasn't a dog," said [Garda/Police] Supt Vincent O'Brien. He confirmed that Gardai had met with the local ISPCA inspector and the county's wildlife officer as concerns began to grow about the animal.
"We have got dropping samples and they've been sent away for analysis, so we're not exactly sure what kind of animal we're dealing with. However, the sightings report that it was a large, black, cat-type animal such as a cougar, that moved extremely fast across the fields, and was noticed crawling on its belly," he said.
Full story in Irish Independent »
We at blather.net have been following the out-of-place animal reports for some years now - there's been a real spate of big cat sightings in recent years fueling speculation on inadequate animal importation laws, cover-ups of escapes from exotic collections, or animals being dumped by unsavoury circus owners.
Other Irish Big Cat stories from the last few years »
More as it happens...
| Comments (0)Pygmy hippos photographed in the wild
Posted by barry at
8:14 PM on March 13, 2008
"Two civil wars, illegal logging and poaching - it was thought this was more than enough to wipe out Liberia's population of pygmy hippos. But this rare and endangered species has survived against the odds and there are photographs to prove it."
Full story on the BBC news website.
Evidence of 17th century Witchcraft rituals found in Cornwall U.K.
Posted by damien at
12:27 PM on March 12, 2008
One for our friends over at Treadwells. From Times Online:
Evidence of pagan rituals involving swans and other birds in the Cornish countryside in the 17th century has been uncovered by archaeologists.
Since 2003, 35 pits at the site in a valley near Truro have been excavated containing swan pelts, dead magpies, unhatched eggs, quartz pebbles, human hair, fingernails and part of an iron cauldron.
The finds have been dated to the 1640s, a period of turmoil in England when Cromwellian Puritans destroyed any links to pre-Christian pagan England. It was also a period when witchcraft attracted the death sentence.
Read more | Comments (1)
Ned Kelly's Grave Uncovered. Archaeologists say it smells a bit.
Posted by ender at
1:40 PM on March 11, 2008
The unmarked grave of 32 individuals has been found on the site of an abandoned prision.
Just to be sure, to be sure...them crazy Aussies are looking to reasure themselves that the Irish gangster is well and truly beyond shawshank redemption and not kicking back with Elvis and Jim Morrison.
Apparently, they're looking for a body with the head removed and an injury to the wrist. But as historical accounts indicate that Ned was shot 20 times in the castlemaine XXXX...I'd start down there boys.
Click here
