BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Cosmic crash unmasks dark matter

Striking evidence has been found for the enigmatic “stuff” called dark matter which makes up 23% of the Universe, yet is invisible to our eyes.

BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Cosmic crash unmasks dark matter.

Pah! I knew it was there all the time.

© 2008 Gary William Murning

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A Recommendation for Fellow Writers.

Sometimes the best way to say something is to let someone else say it for you. That’s why I like hiding behind a character in my fiction. I can voice all of my most outrageous thoughts through him (or her) and then let him (yes, or her) take the flak. Not very noble of me, I know — and I suppose that’s why I started blogging, in an attempt to rid myself of this strange brand of cowardice! In my blogging life I like to be myself, to say it myself, and to face up to the consequences — whatever they may be.

Today, however, I’m going to make an exception and let someone say exactly what I think and feel for me.

Kathleen Brandt on plot.

If you’re a writer, please read this. It’s well worth a few moments of your time.

© 2008 Gary William Murning

Seizing the Opportunity — On the Misuse of Terror Laws.

A few weeks ago, I was watching the above video on YouTube (I was researching conspiracy theories for The Yesterday Tree at the time — that’s my excuse, and I’m sticking to it 😉 ) in which Noam Chomsky points out, quite correctly, in my opinion, that every authoritarian government (i.e. every government — it’s a matter of degree… of what they are allowed to get away with) benefits from incidents such as the 911 attacks in that it allows them to rein in their populace more effectively (“effectively”, that is, from their point of view.) This is not to say, of course, that the Bush administration planned and implemented the attacks as some (idiots) would have us believe, but it is very much an observable phenomenon, and one which I was reminded of when my friend Lou today sent me the article below.

“Underage drinkers are being arrested by police using laws brought in to combat organised crime, terrorism and identity theft, it has emerged.

“Teenagers using fake, borrowed or ­stolen ID to get into pubs are being targeted ­using the Identity Card Act. Offenders can be jailed for up to ten years.”

Now I’m not disputing that we have some very real social problems, in part centred around under-age-drinking, in the UK. The behaviour of some of these young people impacts severely on whole communities and, yes, it has to be addressed — or more to the point, the underlying problems that prompt this kind of behaviour need to be addressed.

But is this the way to do it? No. Absolutely not. We have enough existing laws in place to deal with this problem without taking such an extreme approach. As far as I’m concerned, the comment form Inspector Neil Mutch of South Yorkshire Police pretty much hit the nail on the head:

“The Act was brought out for terrorism but it suits us very nicely.”

Lazy policing. This Act was implemented to protect the UK citizen from serious crime and terrorism, not to make Inspector Mutch’s job that little bit easier.

© 2008 Gary William Murning