A former CIA operative who says he tried to warn the agency about faulty intelligence on Iraqi weapons programs now contends that CIA officials also ignored evidence that Iran had suspended work on a nuclear bomb.

The onetime undercover agent, who has been barred by the CIA from using his real name, filed a motion in federal court late Friday asking the government to declassify legal documents describing what he says was a deliberate suppression of findings on Iran that were contrary to agency views at the time.

The former operative alleged in a 2004 lawsuit that the CIA fired him after he repeatedly clashed with senior managers over his attempts to file reports that challenged the conventional wisdom about weapons of mass destruction in the Middle East. Key details of his claim have not been made public because they describe events the CIA deems secret.

The consensus view on Iran’s nuclear program shifted dramatically last December with the release of a landmark intelligence report that concluded that Iran halted work on nuclear weapons design in 2003. The publication of the National Intelligence Estimate on Iran undermined the CIA’s rationale for censoring the former officer’s lawsuit, said his attorney, Roy Krieger.

“On five occasions he was ordered to either falsify his reporting on WMD in the Near East, or not to file his reports at all,” Krieger said in an interview.

Read full article here

Ben, who seems somehow connected with the NSA, is auditioning with this little speech:

I hate blogs!
Hate them, hate them, hate them!
I hate them so much that I frequently and eloquently write about how much I hate blogs and then I unfurl these little globs of incendiary hate upon the world. Well, not really the ‘whole’ world just the parts with electricity,… and computers, …and the internet. Ok so I unfurl my hatred of blogs on the ‘developed’ world you know the part of the world you think about not the parts with impoverished orphans, trying to avoid disease and bullets eating dirt for sustenance, they don’t have computers so they cant read blogs so who cares about them? You know come to think of it those little orphan bastards probably hate blogs too! They are cheap entertainment and keep the ‘whole’ world distracted so the orphans don’t get noticed! Hmm, I can use this! I need to go to that ‘other’ world, you know, the third world (btw where in the hell is the 2nd world? Just wondering) and raise up an army of orphan soldiers to strike back at blogs! Yes, yes this can work. Hey, they probably already have guns right? Awesome my army is already equipped with munitions. All I need to do is organize them! Ill have to act fast before McDonalds can get a hold of them for meat for Big Macs and double cheese burgers ( C’mon only a buck for 100% beef I think not!) If only there were a way to quickly get a message out to thousands and thousands of orphans all at once. But how? Arrgghh, a blog would work! Wait, No!
I HATE BLOGS!!

[Source]

“When the teacher arrived, the whole class was upset,” said the school’s principal.
“Those who hadn’t been invited felt sad and left out. The teacher decided to collect all the invitations again, and the student then went and gathered up the cards himself.”

According to school regulations, the child had to either invite all the students, only the girls, only the boys, or not hand out invitations on school grounds. After hearing what happened, the boy’s father filed a complaint with the school district but not for the rule’s existence, but rather for the teacher’s response to the situation. We feel the rule makes sense but they should make the policy more clear to students and their families. In addition, the teacher should have just let it go at that point because no matter what, the students that weren’t invited were already aware they weren’t invited. Taking away everyone’s invitations was not going to help matters.

[Source]

Last April, McDonald’s issued a series of American Idol themed Happy Meal toys in the US based on musical genres such as disco, country, soul, and rock. Well, “New Wave Nigel” happens to sport an orange jumpsuit, pink shades, and Devo’s energy dome hat. That signature red flower pot hat is what distinguishes Devo from other post-punk banks, and the band is currently suing the food chain for their indiscretion. Further complicating matters is the fact that the toy plays a song suspiciously like Devo’s music. Hmm… the last time I ate McDonald’s I think it made me sick, so I hope Devo beats McDonald’s in this lawsuit. We can’t really see why they wouldn’t. Whip it… whip it good!

[Stuff.co.nz via Consumerist]

We’ve heard of lock downs for criminals with guns, stranger people on campus, and the like. But a ninja? Public schools in Barnegat, New Jersey were locked down temporarily after someone reported a seeing a ninja running through the woods behind an elementary school. Worried, school officials wanted to make sure the ninja wasn’t an assassin of children. Fortunately, the ninja was just a camp counselor dressed in karate garb and was carrying a plastic sword. He was late to a costume-themed day and decided to put his ninja skills to go use, skillfully navigating the trees in the forest. Apparently his ninja skills aren’t the greatest however, as he was both spotted and caused a school lock down. Haha.

[Source]

[Video via Jalopnik]

53-year-old Tim Egan and his nephew were bicycling in Boulder, Colorado on Tuesday in order to train for the Triple Bypass Bike Race when they had a run in with an animal. The two were going down a hill at about 45 mph when Egan saw a big blur rush out from the trees. At first he thought it was a big dog but was completely startled when he realized it was actually a bear and he was on a collision course with it. Before he could react, Egan had slammed into the bear and was thrown off his bike. That was the least of his worries.

“I remember thinking to myself, ‘I’m alive, but the bear’s here. Oh, this is bad.’ I mean, this bear was as high as my waist. He was extremely well-fed and a big guy. And he wasn’t happy. He looked at me and he opened his mouth,” said Egan.

Egan and his bike flew into the air and slammed onto the ground. Afraid of having broken his back, Egan laid on the ground for several minutes. Unfortunately, the accident severely pissed off the bear as it refused to leave the scene. It stood on its hind legs and roared, successfully expressing it did not appreciate the bump. To the relief of Egan and his nephew, the bear eventually left, apparently unharmed, after a few minutes.

“I don’t think I could have hurt him,” said Egan. “It was literally like running into a brick wall. I’m glad my nephew was here, or nobody would have believed me. I told him, ‘I demand that this story be told at my funeral, because it’ll get a laugh out of everyone.’”

It’s pretty fortunate the guy wasn’t killed from the collision, let alone by the angry bear. We understand he was training for a race but was it really a smart idea to race down the hill at 45 mph? At least he learned his lesson and is unlikely to make the same mistake twice.

[Source]

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Think global warming is no big deal? Have you ever thought about Santa’s home? According to National Geographic, scientists are reporting that the North Pole might be free of ice for the first time in recorded history this summer, due to dramatic global climate change. Those maps and globes showing the arctic as a solid chunk of frozen ice may have to be updated soon, as scientists believe that the entire Arctic may have a completely ice-free summer by 2013 to 2030! The poles have drawn scientific scrutiny because of “ice albedo feedback” the ends of the earth see temperature increases about three times as great as the rest of the Earth. The world is changing…

[National Geographic]

According to biologists at Harvard University, some African frogs can morph their toes into claws by puncturing their own skin with sharp bones. The bones are sharp enough to wound predators and protect the frogs from danger, but obviously it’s using sparingly since it requires the bone to pierce the skin on their feet. These “claws” are nothing like the claws of a cat which retract into a special spot, the frogs suffer a wound each time they use the claws!

This claw-like structure is no conventional claw, though: It is pure bone, free of the keratin sheath that normally surrounds vertebrate claws. And unlike a claw that retracts into a specialized structure in an animal’s foot, as in cats, the site where the frogs’ foot bones emerge appears to be covered with ordinary skin.

The frogs are widely roasted and eaten in Cameroon, where hunters — evidently well aware of the risk of injury — go to great lengths to avoid handling them when alive.

“Cameroonian hunters will use long spears or machetes to avoid touching these frogs,” Blackburn says. “Some have even reported shooting the frogs.”

“We suspect, since the frog does suffer a fairly traumatic wound, that they probably use these claws infrequently, and only when threatened,” Blackburn says.

Okay, so the frogs aren’t much like Wolverine from the X-Men, except for the fact that they have retracting claws they can use to wound others. Pretty sweet!

[Source]