area51.org

A “Plutoid” (or dwarf planet, after the demoted Pluto) discovered in 2005 has been renamed from “Easterbunny” to “Makemake“, the chief god, creator of humanity and god of fertility in the mythology of the inhabitants of Easter Island (Rapa Nui).

The red methane-covered orb is only slightly smaller and dimmer than Pluto. Discovery of this and other trans-Neptunian objects led the International Astronomical Union to reclassify Pluto.

Save yourself some time and trouble by reading this post before you download the 77-page MUFON report about the January 8, 2008 incident occurring between 6:30 and 9 p.m. in the Dublin-Stephenville area of north Texas. Witnesses claimed to have seen an absolutely silent, extraordinarily large craft (perhaps up to 1000 feet in size) moving at incredible speeds (estimated 2000 mph — yes, that’s two THOUSAND). MUFON investigators Glen Schulze and Robert Powell reviewed radar reports from five sites and compared them to eyewitness testimony. MUFON submitted ten separate FOIA requests to gather the data, and obtained “precise information on the location of all military and commercial aircraft in the airspace of interest at all times during 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.” They sifted through the radar data (2.8 million radar returns from the FAA alone) and reviewed testimony from seventeen eyewitnesses (a very large number given the narrow window of observation). Witnesses included a constable, chief of police, private pilot, and a former air traffic controller.

The huge, bright object displayed behavior typical of many sightings: unbelievably rapid acceleration and deceleration, hovering and sudden trajectory changes. Interestingly, the object traveled on a direct course towards Crawford and the “western White House” Bush ranch, approaching within 10 miles of the ranch at its closest — all without a required transponder. Right, wrong or indifferent, it’s not exactly comforting to know that a radar-confirmed object without a transponder was on its way to a sensitive target without any military response despite the fact that military aircraft where flying maneuvers in the immediate vicinity. (NOTE: the president was not at the ranch on this date).

Even less reassuring is the conclusion by MUFON that military activity in the area was unusually heavy that evening. At one point, F-16s flew within a mile of the object. No voice recordings from the jets were available via FOIA requests, but the F-16s did not appear to respond to the object in any way despite the fact that the object was clearly visible on radar. Tellingly, military aircraft twice veered out of Military Training Routes and into civilian airspace over Stephenville during the sighting interval. No explanation has yet to be provided by Carswell AFB.

More questions than answers? The missing puzzle pieces might have been found in the remaining reports requested by MUFON’s unanswered FOIA requests. It seems that obfuscation continues to be the norm with the US government.

Melancholy and somewhat infinite sadness over losing Mysterious Universe. The troopers gave us countless hours of aural pleasure with one of the most professionally produced podcasts out there. Let’s hope they get it together again. We’ll be listening.

So, yes, we’ve been gone for a while.  I can’t speak for Zero, but I’ve felt like this global socioeconomicenvironmental crisis has been coming down like hot syrup on pancakes. Shit pancakes.

My friend Tim is taking care of the family by going off the grid, militia-style. Well, no weapon stockpiling to speak of (so far), but he’s advocating self-sufficiency by building a command-and-control post in the wilds of Idaho near the Canuckistan border. We had ourselves an old-fashioned barn-raising, Habitat for Humanity style. I’ve been working in the sunshine with his wife and kids and bunking in the pole barn. Don’t know if I have a job to go back to, and don’t care. Sometimes it takes total, catastrophic failure for a fresh start.

Reboot.

Who would have imagined: the FBI has been caught spying on your phone records? Oh, and I mean without a warrant.

If I haven’t said it before, I will say it now: if you don’t want to live in a police state, you have to get rid of the police. The big police, anyway. Power corrupts.

You can bet that what we don’t know far outweighs what we know. They’ve been listening in. They’ve been detaining people indefinitely and sending them to secret camps. They’ve been executing on corporate agendas. Anything you can imagine: it’s probably worse.

Here come the skeptics: “hey, man, if you have nothing to hide, what are you afraid of?” What if I do have something to hide? Not because it’s illegal or immoral or wrong — it’s hidden because it’s none of anyone’s goddamned business. What about that? Don’t I have the right to privacy?

Apparently I do not. We’re not bothering ourselves anymore with “that goddamned piece of paper“, AKA the US Constitution.

But if we’re not living in a free society governed by the rule of law (and ultimately by the Constitution), we not just come out and say it?

Oh, wait, I know why: because then we’d all wake up and stop this crap.