Is the dalai lama nuts?!

The Dalai Lama said on Sunday that "it's totally wrong, unfair" to call Islam a violent religion. See: http://www.dalailama.com/news/post/247-dalai-lama-defends-islam-as-peaceful-religion

Is that really true? Hasn't Islam been spread by the sword from the start? How many other religions require you to kill unfaithful wives by half-burying them & throwing stones at them until they die?

There may be more peaceful sides to Islam, but to say "it's totally wrong" to call it violent doesn't make sense.

changing style

I'm using this blog to play about this css styles a bit with a view to using the blog a bit more! Or maybe doing a proper one.

This might mean it will have some mistakes on it as I experiment!

US elections

This article on the BBC news site by Tim Egan is very interesting.
Protest vote turns the tide

Amongst other things he says...

If you win by moral values, you can also die by moral values. By courting conservative Christians with a family values agenda, Republicans set themselves up as the party of superior morality. And when their glass house started to crumble, the very voters they had worked so hard to become active participants in the democracy turned on them.

He ilustrates his points with interesting examples.

UK ID card scheme is doomed to fail

According to an article in The Register, an attempt to put a face-saving downscaled version into place threatens to wreck the UK ID card scheme sooner, rather than later. An email exchange between David Foord of the Office of Government Commerce and Peter Smith, acting commercial director of the Identity and Passport Service, leaked to the Sunday Times, paints a picture of an impossible mission, a "Mr Blair" driving a cut-down "early variant" card and a Passport Service already making contingency plans in anticipation of ID cards crashing in flames.

The full Register article: UK ID card scheme near collapse

Death forecast - how long will you live?

I've often said to my friends that I don't expect to live to a ripe old age because not many people in my family do. But this site...
www.deathforecast.com
reakons I'm going to keep going until 79.

Micro sculptures

Amazing mircoscopic art at this site
Willard Wigan micro-sculptor

An elephant on a pin!

Online journal of a black female zen buddhist

I like this blog...

Online journal of a black female zen buddhist struggling to be mindful in a distracting world.

The campaign for internet freedom

Amnesty has launched irrepressible.info a campaign for internet freedom.

The Internet is a new frontier in the struggle for human rights. Governments – with the help of some of the biggest IT companies in the world – are cracking down on freedom of expression.

Nuclear fusion reactor project

Seven international parties involved in an experimental nuclear fusion reactor project have initialled a 10bn-euro agreement. (see bbc news story)

Nuclear fusion sounds such a good idea in theory - clean inexhuastable power - but it's a difficult technology to get working. After all what you are trying to do is create a mini sun on Earth.

I wonder what would happen if they invested ten billion Euros in research into alternative types of power? I'm sure you'd have some guarunteed results with that kind of expenditure.

Microsoft Says Recovery from Malware Becoming Impossible

In a rare discussion about the severity of the Windows malware scourge, a Microsoft security official said businesses should consider investing in an automated process to wipe hard drives and reinstall operating systems as a practical way to recover from malware infestation.

See full article

I starting switching to linux about 6 months ago... it's the only way to go.

Ex-MI5 chief say UK ID cards would be "useless"

The case for identity cards has been branded "bogus" after an ex-MI5 chief said they might not help fight terror.

Dame Stella Rimington has said most documents could be forged and this would render ID cards "useless".

See full article on BBC site

Biometric testing of face, eye and fingerprints could soon be used on every resident of the UK to create compulsory identity cards. If the government gets its way, the information on the chip would also be stored on a national identity register, accessible to the police, government departments, the Inland Revenue, immigration and intelligence services.

Do we really want this dangerous waste of money?

11 September: new Pearl Harbour?

Last night I watched a DVD called Confronting the Evidence: A Call To Reopen the 9/11 Investigation which you can get for free.

I'm definately not a fan of conspiracy theories, but there does seem to be overwhelming evidence that the attack on the twin towers & Pentagon is a new Pearl Harbour. Which means: an event which the US government knew full well was happening & welcomed because it would change public opinion. In this case, in order to invade Iraq (& soon Iran? then Venezuela?)

Look at the photo above. (Courtesy US Army). This is the Pentagon supposedly just after a Boeing 757-200, weighing nearly 100 tons and travelling at a minimum speed of 250 miles an hour hit it. The hole in the building is far too small. There is no debris from the plane. What happened to the plane? The grass isn't even damaged.

This site Hunt the Boeing! And test your perceptions! has more photographs taken immediately after the supposed impact.

It is not the first time the US Government has faked a military attack to start war. The same ocurred in Vietnam.

I was very dubious about these suggestions until I saw the video, but by the time I had watched the whole thing I am left with no doubt that the US authorities very definately wanted it to happen & probably actively participated in making sure the attack was a success.

Do have a look at the video & make up your own mind. Here's the site Confronting the Evidence: A Call To Reopen the 9/11 Investigation. The DVD is copright free so that you can copy it & pass it on. I can do you a copy if you want.

more about CDs

Folowing on from previous blog

Here is a list of music CDs infected by the manufacturers: http://ukcdr.org/issues/cd/bad/

Instant messaging without microsoft software

Lots of people use MSN to communicate with each other but I've always been reluctant to install their software on my computer. (There are security issues involved)

Finally I found the perfect software for the job it is called Gaim

You can use it to connect not only to MSN but folowing networks as well (1st you sign up with them, then you configure your account on Gaim)...

AIM: Go to this website.

MSN (including Hotmail email): Go to http://registernet.passport.com/.

MSN (using your own email address): Go to http://register.passport.net/.

Yahoo: Go to http://edit.yahoo.com/config/eval_register.

Jabber: See the question How do I register a new Jabber account? below.

ICQ: Go to http://web.icq.com/register.

Gadu-Gadu: Use the official client to create an account.

Novell: See your Novell server administrator.

You can download Gaim ready to run on windows & linux. It is possible run it on Macs too.

Let's escape from Microsoft!

Using Gaim I communicate with these usernames (simultaneusly). Send me a message to say what you think!...

MSN = budista@vajira.co.uk
Yahoo = aobomerida
AIM / ICQ = Vayira

Careful with Sony CDs on your computer!

If you use your computer to listen to a SonyMusic audio CD on your computer you could be heading for big trouble with your system!

The CD may contain very badly written anti-piracy software that will be make your life hell!

Read the full nightmare article with tech details

or a short version on the BBC news site

Commissioner Critical of ID Cards Bill

The Information Commissioner believes the measures set out in the National Identify Cards Bill go "well beyond" the requirements to set up a secure, reliable and trustworthy ID card system.

"The measures in the Bill go well beyond establishing a secure, reliable and trustworthy ID card. The measures in relation to the National Identity Register and data trail of identity checks on individuals risk an unnecessary and disproportionate intrusion into individuals’ privacy. They are not easily reconciled with fundamental data protection safeguards such as fair processing and deleting unnecessary personal information."

Read full report (PDF)

Guantanamo ordeal of cameraman

The USA continues abusing human rights in Guantanamo.

I don't understand how they can systematically torture & sexually abuse prisoners at the same time as saying they are against terror.

Cameraman Sami Muhy al-Din al-Hajj, a Sudanese national, was arrested by the US military while working for Aljazeera during the US invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, and detained in Guantanamo for four years without trial.

He has suffered extreme physical and sexual abuse and religious persecution.

Full report by Asim Khan & Mahfoud El Gartit Wednesday 26 October 2005

Ecological organic disposal of of human remains

Conventional graveyards use up precious space. Cremations pollute the atmosphere. I've always thought that the best thing to do would be to freaze-dry the human body & turn it into fertilizer.

Now there is a Swedish company that does just that. Using a tecnique they call Promession it is possible to mulch the organic remains in order for it to become healthy soil.

This is done using an entirely closed individual process in which the corpse is freeze-dried in liquid nitrogen. This makes the body very brittle, and vibration of specific amplitude transforms it into an organic powder that is then introduced into a vacuum chamber where the water is evaporated away. The now dry powder then passes through a metal separator where any surgical spare parts and mercury are removed. In a similar way, the powder can be disinfected if required. The remains are now ready to be laid in a biodegradable (mulch able) coffin. There is no hurry with the burial itself. The organic powder, which is hygienic and odourless, does not decompose when kept dry. The burial takes place in a shallow grave in living soil that turns the coffin and its contents into compost in about 6-12 months time. In conjunction with the burial and in accordance with the wishes of the deceased or next of kin, a bush or tree can be planted above the coffin. The compost formed can then be taken up by the plant, which can instil greater insight in and respect for the ecological cycle, of which every living thing is a part. The plant stands as a symbol of the person, and we understand where the body went.

See their site at Promessa Foundation

Illustration of process here

UK ID card a recipe for massive ID fraud, says Microsoft exec

According to the Register...
Microsoft UK National Technology Officer Jerry Fishenden has warned that the UK ID card scheme could trigger "massive identity fraud on a scale beyond anything we have seen before." Writing in today's Scotsman, Fishenden says that the security implications of storing biometrics centrally are enormous. "Unlike other forms of information such as credit card details," he says, "if core biometric details such as your fingerprints are compromised, it is not going to be possible to provide you with new ones."

Read complete article

Buddhist monks in Monkmobiles and bulletproof robes

Yeap! Buddhist monks now travel like the pope...

Major Songphon Eiamboonyarith, a defense contractor who has invented bulletproof tuk-tuks (motorcycle taxis), "umbrellas that shoot rubber bullets, bullet-proof baseball caps and a hand-held device to fire a man-sized net 30 feet (10 m) to stop a villain in his tracks."

See this page...

Monkmobiles and bulletproof robes