Weird Links

Britain joined the United States' invasion to oust the Taliban in 2001 because it feared America would "nuke the shit" out of Afghanistan, the former British ambassador to Washington reportedly told a television documentary.

Christopher Meyer said that fear explained why Prime Minister Tony Blair chose to stand with US President George W. Bush in his decision to invade Afghanistan in the immediate aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks -- to temper his aggressive battle plans.

Tony Blair agreed to commit British troops to battle in Iraq in the full knowledge that Washington had failed to make adequate preparations for the postwar reconstruction of the country.

He also agreed to commit troops to the conflict even though President George Bush had personally said Britain could help 'some other way'.

BP's Statistical Review of World Energy..appears to show that the world still has enough "proven" reserves to provide 40 years of consumption at current rates. The assessment, based on officially reported figures, has once again pushed back the estimate of when the world will run dry.

However, scientists led by the London-based Oil Depletion Analysis Centre, say that global production of oil is set to peak in the next four years before entering a steepening decline which will have massive consequences for the world economy and the way that we live our lives.

If there is a prosecution of Tony Blair after he leaves office, it may arise either out of the invasion of Iraq in 2003, or out of torture allegations, probably at Guantanamo Bay, or connected to United Kingdom support for 'extraordinary rendition'.

Many people will think that the prosecution of Tony Blair is a remote risk; I do not, and nor, apparently, does Cherie Booth, who knows the law better than most people...Apart from any other laws, the Convention on Torture, which Britain has signed, gives wide powers for [European] judicial action.

Scientists at the J. Craig Venter Institute have applied for a U.S. patent on a minimal bacterial genome that they built themselves. According to the patent application, it's "a minimal set of protein-coding genes which provides the information required for replication of a free-living organism in a rich bacterial culture medium".

...they were able to light a 60W light bulb from a power source seven feet (more than two meters) away; there was no physical connection between the source and the appliance.

In a bizarre alternative to photosynthesis, some fungi "eat" radiation--with the role of chlorophyll taken by melanin and ionizing radiation; the role of visible light.

The Chinese authorities are forcibly evicting 1.5 million people from their homes in Beijing without compensating them to make way for the Olympics leaving many displaced former residents homeless, the Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions revealed this week.

A European investigator said on Friday he had proof Poland and Romania hosted secret prisons for the Central Intelligence Agency in which it interrogated top al Qaeda suspects using methods akin to torture.

Electromagnetic weapons operate at the speed of light; they can kill, torture and enslave; but the public are largely unaware that they exist, because these weapons operate by stealth and leave no physical evidence. Electromagnetic weapons have been tested on human beings since 1976. By widely dispersing the involuntary human test-subjects, and vehemently attacking their credibility, it has been possible for the United States to proceed with these human experiments unhindered by discussions or criticisms, let alone opposition.

This ultimate weapon system is currently being deployed in Iraq. The US Air Force and the Marine Corps refer to it as “active denial technology”, as if it were used purely for defense, but it is not.