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Majority of places hit where Infrastructure, most of which it would of been impossible to fire a missile from (ever seen someone try to fire a missile in an active commercial airport?).

The majority? Maybe, I don't know. But Israel has indeed hit infrastructure, to prevent Hezbollah from easily moving around. It's war, after all.

Most of the targets hit in the first days of attacks where in areas that not only Hezbollah where not there but where also in parts of the country where it would of been impossible to fire a missile from simply because they don't have that range.

If they were infrastructure, then again, Israel would hit those targets to cripple Hezbollah's ability to move around.

Israel destroyed the roads around the cities, then the cities and then told civilains to get out (making it impossible to do so easily).

"The cities" we are talking about were Hezbollah strongholds, weren't they? And destroyed roads does not make it impossible to easily get out. It makes it difficult to move around cargo, but people could easily get out.

All the while shooting at people that did attempt to flee

I don't think that is the case.

and then declaring that anyone left in the city is clearly a terrorist (which mostly was the old/infirmed or people with children who couldn't flee).

These people could indeed flee. Children aren't tied to the ground, you know.

They have fired on and killed UN forces, despite being told there where no Hezbollah in the area of the attack.

That's funny, because according to one of the UN observers that were killed (in a report he wrote before the incident), Hezbollah had positions in and around their base.

In cases like Qana the refugees headed for that area BECAUSE THERE WAS NO HEZBOLLAH there.

Apparently there was. Why would they not be in Qana if they hide among civilians everywhere else?

The second a missile truck shows up in a populated area the locals flee and have been doing so for some time. IDF claimed Hezbollah where there but used days old footage to prove it and then only told the truth once they where pulled up on it.

They did? Source?

Hezbollahs initial rocket attack was in response to an attack by Israel first

Actually, what happened was that Hezbollah captured two Israeli soldiers, and then Israel went after them. Hezbollah responded by bombing Israel. So Hezbollah dropped the first bombs over Israel.

and Hezbollah have been targetting military based areas.

Actually, they have been targeting civilian areas.

Israel have killed over 30 civilians for every one civilian killed in Israel. That is not factoring in the number of Hezbollah killed (which is quite low).

Yes, as I said, this tragedy is so much greater because Hezbollah purposely hides among civilians, to sacrifice them as involuntary "martyrs".

Saying that Hezbollah started this is a joke unless your memory only goes back a month. This has been going on for decades and Hezbollah initially was formed because of Israels initial attacks on Lebanon.

Why Hezbollah was formed isn't really relevant to the fact that this time around, Hezbollah started it all by bombing Israel. It wasn't until they started bombing that Israel was forced to respond.

You would also ignore the 1,000s of Lebnonese held in detention centres over the years i

They lasted for three weeks... Here and here are a stories about IDF hacking into Hezbollah's broadcasts and web-sites, that were rejected by the editors.

Well, Australia is not exactly a developing country, but in terms of its broadband services it practically is. Telstra seem to be having a bit of trouble getting broadband out to regional Australia http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,20003063-1702 ,00.html?from=rss, maybe they could take a look at this!

Seeing as Steve Ballmer tried for 2 days to clear a friends PC of nasties and then:

"lumped the thing back to Microsoft's headquarters and turned it over to a team of top engineers, who spent several days on the machine, finding it infected with more than 100 pieces of malware, some of which were nearly impossible to eradicate. "

Source

You are either:
a) shithot at what you do (and should probably send your resume to Microsoft so you can teach them all you know)
b) not cleaning these machines as well as you think you are.

They don't target civilians unless Hezbollah is there.

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,,19955774 -5007220,00.html

If at first you don't succeed, lower your expectations?

With all the dubious success of PlaysForSure devices and services to date, it makes sense. I mean, when a company that builds their entire business around your technology is complaining about the problems, those problems are real. Maybe they'll get it right, but as everybody knows now, for a true "iPod killer", both the hardware *and* software experience has to work, and, so far, "PlaysForSure" hasn't been pretty. Bring MS hardware into the equation, and either it is going to finally work as well as the iPod, or it's still going to be the music player equivalent of the Homer Simpson car.

Even if the new MS hardware does offer the perfect integration between the two this time, I wonder how MS's original hardware partners will feel about effectively being the beta testers for first version of the software for the last couple of years, only to have MS start competing directly once the bugs are worked out? (Suckers!)

Seriously. Even wanting to bitch about piracy there and now is disgraceful when there are more important things at hand.

Dude, marriage means one thing, and changing it to mean a new thing is not something I approve. Let 'em get civil unions and change the laws to include benefits and visitation right to civil unions, instead of changing marriage, change the technicalities that make marriage a necessity.

THe two men involved ar NOT facing any charges, the women involved did NOT want the police to be involved.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867 ,19696864-7582,00.html

This is a beatup by a right-wing government. Get your facts straight.

Autopsy results are out. He had a prior heart attack. http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867 ,19703330-31037,00.html

Hey Baldur!

Isn't interesting how some people think just by naming us Paedophiles we should have no voices whatsoever? There is none so blind nor deaf as those who will not listen or look because they need no distractions from what they've already decided the truth to be! One of the biggest benefits of anonymity is the ability to speak what one has to say without worrying that someone will attempt to silence you permanently...

Too bad the Rind report could have been released anonymously, perhaps if it had been the Congress who did not actually READ the report would have wasted their time searching for the author's idenities rather than censuring the report for discovering politically unpalatable truths? Perhaps while the hunt was on in search of anonymous scientists, people would have actually decided to read and test the science of the work submitted instead of condemning the study for not having already predetermined its outcome? Maybe we'd be discussing ways to help each other and children instead of simply feuling the Paedophile hysteria?

Nah...that'd be too easy! Why waste your time attempting to combat the 78.5% of all child sex abusers when we can instead target only the 3.9% stranger danger cases? In fact, despite knowing since-- like forever --the real abuse is almost predominately coming from dear old Dad and Mummy, let's focus entirely on people who look at pictures over the internet. Or those who like to read sexy stories.... after all "the potential that the written word may encourage someone to act out what they've read" is there! Or we could perhaps focus our attentions on those sick sick people who like to make pseudo-photographs, and put them away for up to 15 years for what ammounts to a thoughtcrime?!? Or how about those who'd like to push for a constitutional amendment taking away the fundamental right of being able to confront one's accusers?

Nope, I don't see any reason why people like us would want to be anonymous. Even those who break no laws but have 'come out of the toy box' as being Paederotic in orientation face all kinds of death threats by people who assume the worst sight unseen! What's worse is they feel no need to do even the most basic of research either, because they already know they're right....

--I*LoveGreen*Olives

PS: I too am a Paedosexual. This should come as no surprise to anyone who clicks on my webpage link to read my blog. Being Paedosexual does not in any way negate any of what I've said above. Nor should anyone see my sexual orientation as being an excuse to attack, defame or otherwise limit my right to exist as a human being-- the laws they create to 'deal' with me and other Paedophiles are the same laws they'll use on you later....

No, its more about getting access to the areas where the toads are advancing into Western Australia.

Basically, the toads are progressing towards WA in an area of the north-west controlled by the army. Civilian volunteers and CALM (Conservation and Land Management) personnel are unable to access massive areas of land as they are restricted to Defence personnel, so (WA) state environment minister, Mark McGowan has asked the federal defence minister for access and help.

Mr McGowan, a former naval lieutenant, said he was not asking for a battalion but two dozen or more personnel to help "fight them in the field".
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867 ,19513556-2702,00.html

It wasn't THAT long ago that Europe dragged the world into a WW/II.
Mindless anti-Americanism really gets old somtimes.

It probably depends on who and when you ask, but at least this recent article suggests that's true:

http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,18 693989%5E15322%5E%5Enbv%5E15306,00.html

And here is an article from that never biased paper the Australian on the issue. http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867 ,18961105-23289,00.html

Up to 50 hours continuous playback with built-in lithium-ion rechargeable battery (fully charged) when playing in ATRAC3 @ 105kbps and normal power save mode. Actual battery life may vary based on usage patterns.

Now, I'm sure that by now my opinion regarding ID and its proponents is well-known, and I'm equally sure that the majority of the Slashdot community are in agreement, but there is one positive thing I can say about ID: it's thrown a spotlight onto the theory of evolution, and has stimulated many concerned people towards a more comprehensive understanding of the theory (as well as a more comprehensive understanding of the word 'theory' as it pertains to science). Also, it seems like there have been some major advances lately...this latest story hot on the heels of the walking fish discovery, that have gone a long way towards silencing the detractors of evolution. Whether these advances are truly happening at a faster pace than in the past, or said advances are merely being perceived as such due to the increased attention evolution has been getting of late, is difficult to say...but the central point remains that the theory of evolution and the theory of ID have both been placed under the harsh light of truth, and it is ID, not evolution, that is shrivelling away.

ID has done quite a bit of harm to the minds of young people, but by virtue of the controversy, it has also done some good. Think of it as...well...evolution in action.

Anyway, this latest news is great....now I finally have something solid to point to when my fundie friends stick their fingers in their ears and chant 'missing link! missing link!'.

Rationality will triumph....it's just going to take us longer than we'd like.

This does not surprise me, as an Australian I can say that I've definitely noticed a slide into a very right wing agenda here. The current government is right wing and has an absolute majority in our parliament, meaning they can pretty much pass any law or any bill they want without the chance it might be vetoed by opposition parties.

I've been out of Australia for quite some time, I've found there to be quite a contrast to the Australia I left more than a year ago. I arrived back here just a couple of days before the Cronulla Race Riots. Since then our leaders have been spouting racist generalisations. There has been a large police crack down, the muslim community have made many claims that they are being unfairly targeted, I can personally verify this as on two occasions I've personally witnessed police unfairly targeting muslim men. I've also noticed since the riots (where our flag was used as a symbol of racial hatred), many police cars have had Australian flags mounted to their cars. I can't help thinking this is a sign of solidarity with the rascist mob.

I really don't even know how these riots could have occurred without police complicity. We have Racial Villification Laws here in Australia, that if they were applied that day could have been used to arrest most of the mob that day before any violence even began.

And with all this, in the background we have our detention camps in which whole families including children have been kept in detention. There have been cases where children have basically grown up in detention.

Unless there's a big turn around here I think the future for Australia could be something straight out of Huxely's Brave New World or 1984.

This is typical of the current government's attitude to privacy and telecommunications. The Telecommunications Act already allows for seizure of computers and other equipment when it is 'connected with' offences under the Spam Act, for example. There is also evidence that the government has been confiscating and destroying personal computers without a warrant when they contain 'sensitive' information.

All of this is part of a broader lack of accountability, due process and transparency that is becoming part of the culture of Australian lawmaking. There is a good article on the subject here.

For those from more sensible countries, supposedly democratic Australia currently has the following features:

1. One party entirely in control of both houses of parliament
2. No bill of rights, either legislative or constitutional
3. Legislation allowing for the arrest, detention, and interrogation without charge of persons not suspected of any offence if they may have information that is somehow relevant to a suspected terrorist offence; the onus of proof is reversed so that the person being interrogated must prove that they do NOT have any such information.
4. One of the highest rates of phone tapping in the world
5. Unelected bureacrats empowered to spy on Australians with no parliamentary oversight to speak of
6. Several semi-secret US intelligence bases operating on our soil
7. New crimes of sedition for exercising free speech in a manner that encourages the overthrow of the government
8. Troops in Iraq despite over 80% of the population opposing our involvement before the war
At the moment we also have an extremely disturbing rise in racial and religious intolerance, which in my opinion is in no small part attributable to the federal government's policies and fearmongering on those issues. But of course, this doesn't stop us selling weapons-grade uranium to China because they weeeeally promise to use it for civilian purposes only.

I agree, because if you tap those talkative people on the shoulder and tell them to be quiet, you will be arrested.

Well at last he's doing something about sedition instead of just talking about it. I'd better stop thinking freely.

Any Australian would know this is a fake speech because the Mr Howard is pathologically unable to apologise for anything.

SCIENTISTS examining the first dust samples collected from a comet have found complex carbon molecules, supporting the theory that ingredients for life on Earth originated in space.

No, News Corporation's news website is news.com.au.

The most secretive government in US history has no qualms about collecting information on you? Why is this surprising?

Even more stupidly, they stop 3 year old children whose name even sounds like an Al-quaeda (sp?) member while allowing real members to attend prestigious schools! http://www.couriermail.news.com.au/common/story_pa ge/0,5936,18285618%255E1702,00.html

Quote from the former Taliban spokesman: "I could have ended up in Guantanamo Bay. Instead, I ended up at Yale." Yeah, how did this happen?

Meanwhile, we turn 5 of our most busy ports over to a country that supplied 2 of the terrorists that perpetrated the Twin Towers attack. George Orwell couldn't have come up with this plot! Truth really is stranger than fiction.

Here in the land of the kangaroo, we do all the hard work for the thieves and just let bank and credit statements fall off the back of a truck.

This probably has something to do with the Commonwealth Games which are about to take place . Apparently someone in the government thinks that we have a 'graf problem' and they want to clean up our image so that when all the foreign news crews come to Australia, they'll see a nice shiny city.

http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page /0,5478,18160819%255E2862,00.html

Sounds like a nice set of tools.

Too bad Yahoo is Evil.

http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,18 109221%5E15841%5E%5Enbv%5E,00.html

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&hs=9r4&client=f irefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&q=yahoo+ch ina+dissident+email&spell=1

http://www.dailytelegraph.news.com.au/story/0,2028 1,18104683-5001022,00.html

Seriously, the problem isn't the gadgetry, it's the people who use the gadgetry. In the link above, a woman's cell phone rings in a movie theater, then she whips it out and starts talking on it during the movie. Polite ringers won't do a damn thing when it's people that are the problem.

Better yet, a "Do Not Disturb" feature, that allows you to keep the phone on, see who's calling, but not have to answer it. If the same number tries to call more than once, send it driectly to voice mail and have the phone note the number and times of the calls and display it actively. That way you could have your phone on silent but watch the display for important information.

Still, most of the time you have this problem, it's rude people, so no amount of technology can cure that.

"Whether or not you believe the NSA can decrypt a 1024-bit key in any reasonable timescale"

Putting aside that government may already have quantum computing.... you assume they need to do brute force attacks.

Much software is likely embedded with back doors and/or reporting mechanisms. For example Say you run java or windows and it checks for updates... no question the government has access to that data. Alone it is useless but when you write agents that cross reference with other forms of data (emails, DNS requests, protocol traffic, etc...) you can quickly shape a profile of what CPU went online and where. Further cross referencing can probably give you a decent idea of who it actually is.

If all of a sudden they notice encrypted email coming from a particular box all they need then is software that automatically gets the keys from your box using one of probably many firmware/software back doors. Given that apparently AT&T has obviously been in bed with the government-- it seems to follos that Intel, Cisco, AMD, Google all are given "suggestions" as well. It seems very likely back doors and low key software daemons are created for "export only" given that it would arouse suspicion internally within a country.

One place I think where people miss the boat is because this they because this is incredibly logistically- that it's impossible. If you you have resources of tens of billions of dollars annually, thirty thousand dedicated employees to work with, and access to some of the best minds in the world--- all these things are definitely achievable. I imagine I'm only describing a fraction of their capabilities.

There is no law in place stopping government from doing this since FISA apparently is being bypassed. You even have a former NSA analyst whose come forward and said to NYT that he knows first hand that capacity is there.

So why isn't the NSA busting down doors everywhere?

The answer is simple. If your adversary knows you are doing it, they'll change the technology creating new barriers for you.. I highly recommend you go through declassified Enigma case files (at the actual NSA website). They plainly have used these tactics on adversaries in the past... successfully.

If you are the average computer user, the trouble the government has is not actually getting your data. it's filtering though massive stores of it to figure out who they need to worry about and when they should act on that information.(as it gives themselves away)

Further reading:

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,18028837-3819 8,00.html
http://www.epic.org/privacy/terrorism/hr3162.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_Intelligence_ Surveillance_Act
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firmware
http://www.eff.org/

Aww... look! An annoymous coward that is more interested in sounding like a tough guy instead of bothering to take a 30 second look through Google News on the subject! How cute!

Well- since you obviously need the help (in more ways then one) I'll put together a list of links for you. Let me know if any of the words are too big.

http://www.sorrynorwaydenmark.com/

http://www.thecouriermail.news.com.au/common/story _page/0,5936,18086537%255E954,00.html

Here is one article that proves my point that the violence gets headlines. You need to scroll down to the ned to see that thousands of people came together peacefully to protest the cartoons:
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/politics/artic le343940.ece

Here are three from Saudi Arabia asking for calm:
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=7&section=0&article= 77536&d=9&m=2&y=2006
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=7&section=0&article= 77534&d=9&m=2&y=2006
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=7&section=0&article= 77532&d=9&m=2&y=2006

I would link more, but I'm not sure how much reading you can take in one sitting. And this involves reading and understanding. Much more difficult. Takes more brain power then you've shown so far.

Being a pro tennis player has way better fringe benefits than being a pro video game player.

I definitely think that the comment was taken out of context. Just check out the other stories on The Other Side. Doesn't sound like a site that reports the most accurate aspect of its news stories.

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,17649225-1376 2,00.html

US scientists have succeeded in reviving the dogs after three hours of clinical death, paving the way for trials on humans within years.

Pittsburgh's Safar Centre for Resuscitation Research has developed a technique in which subject's veins are drained of blood and filled with an ice-cold salt solution.

The animals are considered scientifically dead, as they stop breathing and have no heartbeat or brain activity.

But three hours later, their blood is replaced and the zombie dogs are brought back to life with an electric shock.

There's a difference between "inducing hypothermia" and "inducing and then reversing the effects of clinical DEATH"

He's already gutted the senior management and installed his amigos.

The copper network is on the block to Ericsson (isn't that one bit of infrastructure that common sense would keep Australian owned??)

And in best crooked Republican style he's cutting brazen insider deals with his cronies such as the American Brightstar no-public-tender-process-for-us boondoggle, cutting out local supplier Australia Post but shipping his American pals huge profit margins.

Who's paying? You work it out.

That's because we are better than you , Better lovers , Smarter , better built and more charisma ..

Don't forget better at punctuation. ;-)

Oh - and as for your 'Smarter' claim, have a look at this report about an iPod school.

The cassowary (australia and NZ) kills a few people each year by kicking them (it can weigh as much as 125 pounds and has very strong legs disemboweling or doing massive internal damage) as do Ostrich and Emu, and um Secretary birds are pretty large and carnivorous, but not big enough to attack humans.

and here:

A grandmother died after a jackdaw nested in the chimney of her home, blocking the escape of poisonous carbon monoxide fumes from her fire, an inquest has heard.

But modern birds hunting modern humans for food? (Don't leave your baby out where the eagles can get to him)

Well done ;-)
somebody has to do it...

Since I haven't seen a link to a real news site, here is the online version of the Fairfax group in Australia. The article pretty well agrees with the blog apart from not being written by an idiot.

NASA offering to pay for something they desperatly need? That's the same way we /.ers get sexed. Seriously, if they to do cryogenics (or the like, maybe a la the zombie dogs http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,15739502-1376 2,00.html) testing on humans, dibs on first volunteer spot. I'll be back just in time for society, technology, and my high-interest bank account ot get where I want them. Or you will all be dead following some war or catastrophe. Either way, I win.

Unfortunately, the federalists were wrong.

Here in Australia our constitution was based on the very principle you refer to and includes no individual rights other than freedom of religion and the right to a trial in relation to certain types of offence. To this day a bill of rights is opposed, mainly be conservative politicians, because "we couldn't list all of our freedoms" and "it would be unneccessary" and so on.

Sadly, we have recently seen wave after wave of terrible, terrible legislation encroaching on the lives and freedoms of ordinary, innocent people. Refugees are treated like criminals rather than people who are likely to be seeking shelter and are detained in appalling conditions in the desert or on remote islands, potentially indefinitely. The original inhabitants of this country are marginalised and ignored. More fundamentally, every Australian is now subject to arbitrary and relatively unchecked laws relating to 'terrorism' which allow for extended periods of detention without trial and without a warrant. These laws are enthusiastically promoted by the police and security agencies. Australia has one of the highest rates of phone-tapping in the world, and also retains ridiculous sedition laws essentially making it illegal to criticise the government too strongly.

We have it worse than the US - at least you have SOME protected rights. We have none, and in times like these that means we are gradually losing them all. A bill of rights is essential in protecting basic freedoms, which are not inherent characteristics but human constructions and therefore must be protected by humans.

Left out link to Vatican statement.

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,17162341-1376 2,00.html

ABC TV has...managed to survive with its current affairs programs intact, loathed by Labor and Coalition alike, as it should be. And as it should be, it still strives to put forward an alternative view. So that when the commercial media is dictated to by myopic intrusive ownership and ill-informed populism, is forced through thoughtless need to make irresponsible programs that lack both style and substance, caresses inflammatory and cheap, nasty demagoguery that seeks to marginalize the already marginalized, that describes the world in simple terms, provides simple solutions to complex problems and is purely a servant to fiscal outcomes, then the ABC will always seem to aggravate, annoy and frustrate and it's precisely when the ABC is doing this that it is serving its charter"

And the head of the ABC agreed with him! Said that the ABC's job was to cause discomfort to the comfortable, or some such seditious nonsense. There's already

http://www.thesundaymail.news.com.au/common/story_ page/0,5936,16855046%255E903,00.html http://www.cryptomundo.com/bigfoot-report/australi an-mystery-cat/

http://www.google.com/search?q=Gippsland+feral+cat +Engel&start=0&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a& rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official

I thought being "in limbo" was on it's way out?

Hey you self important dummy.
http://www.catholic.net/RCC/Periodicals/Dossier/01 02-97/Article3.html
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,17162341-1376 2,00.html
I'll say it again "the pope has stated that the Bible is completely compatable with evolution"

Unless of course you don't think the Pope is christian?

Plus the fact that the 3G songs are encumbered with DRM such that you can't migrate, or export the music off the particular 3G that first "bought" the music

It's even worse with ringtones, you don't even download them to your phone, they get stored for 90 days on the network, then vanish !

Don't these people get it ? We want interoperability for the digital content we purchase.

Offtopic I know but this guy seems to have beaten HIV, the precursor to AIDS.

> I've seen Steve Irwin wrestle crocs larger than that ;)

Crickey! This Steve Irwin bloke sounds like he is an alcoholic.

Or he is just stupid.

Yes, I am Australian and no average Australian's don't try to wrestle crocs on a daily basis.

In fact, 1/3 of Congress is up for election - as in every 2-year election cycle. So I can say "it could be so". Whether we throw all the bums out, and drag nonbums in, is at least a bit up to us. Personally, I'll be backing House representatives who will impeach Bush, and senators who will convict. Just like a majority of Americans, who want Bush impeached if he lied us into the Iraq War Jr, and know that he did lie. Then we don't have to wait for 3 more years of catastrophe to throw that dangerous fool out of Washington.