Spiderman vs. Doctor Octopus in Legos

Researchers Unveil Smallest Atomic Clock Yet

Scientists have manufactured the world's smallest atomic clock, with inner machinery about the size of a grain of rice. Requiring very little power to run, the device loses only one second every 300 years and could one day provide precise timekeeping for portable applications such as wireless communication devices and Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers.

Pentagon Censors Viedo on Government Openness

The 22-minute video features a trenchcoat-clad narrator resembling Sam Spade, the detective played by Bogart in the 1941 classic "The Maltese Falcon." The narrator follows mysterious characters known only as "veiled lady" and "large man" as he describes Pentagon rules under the open records law, which mandates disclosure of most federal documents, e-mails, photographs and videotapes.
"Releasing or denying access to records can be a tricky business," the narrator says, impersonating Bogart. "In the end it will be up to you to do the right thing and provide as much help as you can.
"And remember, I'll be looking at you, kid."

U.S. Seeks to Throw Out Detroit Terror Convictions

The legal sources, who would speak only on condition of anonymity because the judge in the Detroit case has imposed a gag order, said the department's filing with the court is harshly critical of Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Convertino, the lead prosecutor in the case.
Convertino has been under investigation for months and filed a whistle-blower lawsuit against Attorney General John Ashcroft earlier this year. In an interview with The Associated Press, Convertino accused Justice Department superiors of thwarting his efforts to introduce some evidence against the accused terror cell at trial.

"Three Kings" Documentary Scrapped by Warner Brothers

"This came out to be a documentary that condemns, basically, war," said the spokeswoman, Barbara Brogliatti. "This is supposed to be a special edition of 'Three Kings,' not a polemic about war."
...The fate of the completed documentary, which was supposed to be an add-on to the DVD and to be screened with it in theaters - is still uncertain, but the studio, which provided its $180,000 budget, said it was inclined to let Mr. Russell have it back. Mr. Russell, anticipating that outcome, said he would probably try to distribute it independently.

SETI Studies Mystery Signal

The signal has only been observed for about a minute in total, not long enough to allow astronomers to analyse closely.
But it is unlikely to be the result of any radio interference or noise, and does not resemble an astronomical object...
"It's the most interesting signal from Setihome," said radio astronomer Dan Werthaimer from the University of California at Berkeley. "We are not jumping up and down, but we are continuing to observe it."
The signal, which has been honoured with the decidedly unexotic name SHGbo2+14a, has a frequency of about 1420MHz, says New Scientist, one of the main frequencies at which hydrogen, the most common element in the universe, absorbs and emits energy.

Subliminable Crosses on RNC Stage

Let's Play "Spot the Crosses!" Can you find any in this picture? Others can... and they're pissed!"My God, where do they come up with this stuff? Does it look to you like it's a cross? I don't think so." - Karl RoveWhen Cheney was speaking, our nation's Great Seal was "crucified" -- which is kind of appropriate, come to think of it... (from www.metafilter.com)

Bush Photo Shows Him Wearing Awards Never Earned

Air Force confirms Bush wore award he never earned. Following the earlier revelation that George W. Bush was photographed wearing military ribbons he never earned, arguments were made against the charge, in some cases based on the political leaning of the source. The Air Force Personnel Center and the Air Force Historical Research Center both state that Bush never recieved the award displayed in the photograph. The Uniform Code of Military Justice states that this is an act punishable by six months confinment and a discharge from the service.

Purple Heart Band Aids Handed Out at RNC

Orchestrated by Virginia delegate Morton Blackwell, “bandage-gate,” unlike the protracted campaign against Kerry by the Swift Boat Veterans for the Truth, was nipped in the bud by Republican Party National Chairman Ed Gillespie, who told Blackwell to cease and desist.

Diebold GEMS Vote Tabulating Machines Can Quickly Fabricate Vote Results After Entering 2-Digit Code

By entering a 2-digit code in a hidden location, a second set of votes is created. This set of votes can be changed, so that it no longer matches the correct votes. The voting system will then read the totals from the bogus vote set. It takes only seconds to change the votes, and to date not a single location in the U.S. has implemented security measures to fully mitigate the risks.
This program is not "stupidity" or sloppiness. It was designed and tested over a series of a dozen version adjustments.

see also: http://web.morons.org/article.jsp?sectionid=1&id=5496

US Website Offers Caller ID Falsification Service

Slated for launch this week, Star38.com would offer subscribers a simple Web interface to a Caller ID spoofing system that lets them appear to be calling from any number they choose. "It creates an extra avenue for them to have someone pick up the phone," says founder Jason Jepson.

Half of New Yorkers Believe US Leaders Had Foreknowledge of Impending 9-11 Attacks

The poll is the first of its kind conducted in America that surveys attitudes regarding US government complicity in the 9/11 tragedy. Despite the acute legal and political implications of this accusation, nearly 30% of registered Republicans and over 38% of those who described themselves as "very conservative" supported the claim.

This Year's Ten Worst Dictators

Garrison Keillor has a few things to say

Here in 2004, George W. Bush is running for reelection on a platform of tragedy—the single greatest failure of national defense in our history, the attacks of 9/11 in which 19 men with box cutters put this nation into a tailspin, a failure the details of which the White House fought to keep secret even as it ran the country into hock up to the hubcaps, thanks to generous tax cuts for the well-fixed, hoping to lead us into a box canyon of debt that will render government impotent, even as we engage in a war against a small country that was undertaken for the president’s personal satisfaction but sold to the American public on the basis of brazen misinformation, a war whose purpose is to distract us from an enormous transfer of wealth taking place in this country, flowing upward, and the deception is working beautifully.

Cheney Assistant Libby Eyed for Plame Outing

On Wednesday the New York Daily News reported that "Democratic congressional sources said they would like to hear from Vice President Cheney's chief of staff, Lewis Libby." On MSNBC's "Buchanan and Press" on Wednesday, Pat Buchanan asked an administration critic who claims to know the leaker's name point blank if "Scooter Libby" was the culprit (the critic wouldn't answer). And Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska made a veiled reference on CNBC this week, suggesting that President Bush could better manage the current crisis by "sitting down with [his] vice president and asking what he knows about it."
[I didn't think "Scooter" Libby looked so much like Camille Paglia - Ed.]

Al Dvorin has Left the Building

Al Dvorin immortalized the expression, "Ladies and Gentlemen, Elvis Has Left the Building" and sadly he will never again repeat those famous words and instead the sad story is "Al Dvorin has left the building".

Secret Service Attempts Subpoena For Indymedia Logs

Calyx's contacts at Indymedia are represented by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Electronic Frontier Foundation. Indymedia is keenly aware of this kind of fishing expedition, as it has happened before, under similar circumstances. In April of 2001, while tens of thousands demonstrated against the proposed Free Trade Agreement of the Americas (FTAA) in the streets of Quebec City, the federal government attempted to do something very similar. In this case the FBI and Secret Service obtained an order issued by Judge Benton, directing the IMC to supply the FBI with "all user connection logs" for April 20 and 21st from a web server occupying an IP address which the Secret Service believed belonged to the IMC.

Photos from the NYC Protests

The Government's Gag Order Against the ACLU

The National Security Letter (NSL) section of the USA Patriot Act contains a gag provision that prohibits anyone who receives an NSL from “disclos[ing] to any person that the [FBI] has sought or obtained access to information or records.” The gag provision continues to prevent the ACLU from disclosing to the public a vast amount of innocuous, non-sensitive information about our constitutional challenge to the NSL power. For example, the government has demanded that the ACLU redact a sentence that described its anonymous client's business as "provid[ing] clients with the ability to access the Internet.” The government even insisted that the ACLU black out a direct quote from a Supreme Court case in our brief.

FBI Questioning Pentagon's Civilian Leadership

FBI investigators in recent weeks have conducted interviews to determine whether Pentagon officials gave highly classified U.S. intelligence to a leading Iraqi exile group, the Iraqi National Congress, which may in turn have passed it on to Iran. INC leader Ahmed Chalabi has denied his group was involved in any wrongdoing...
Feith's office, which oversees policy matters, has been the source of numerous controversies over the last three years. His office had close ties to Chalabi and was responsible for post-war Iraq planning that the administration has now acknowledged was inadequate. Before the war, Feith and his aides pushed the now-discredited theory that former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein was in league with al-Qaida.