Giant sea creatures

Scientists who conducted the most comprehensive survey to date of New Zealand's Antarctic waters were surprised by the size of some specimens found, including jellyfish with 12-foot tentacles and 2-foot-wide starfish.

A 2,000-mile journey through the Ross Sea that ended Thursday has also potentially turned up several new species, including as many as eight new mollusks.

It's "exciting when you come across a new species," said Chris Jones, a fisheries scientist at the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. "All the fish people go nuts about that -- but you have to take it with a grain of salt."

The miracle of the unexplored earth! How many more things are undiscovered on our little earth and the most depressing thing is that we are going to destroy them before we even find them with all the pollution, global warming, and nuclear waste!

Hypocrisy Mr. Annan?

Former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan questioned whether all countries on the Security Council have lived up to their responsibility to protect civilians in Darfur from atrocities. Annan said there was "quite a bit of hypocrisy on all sides" in trying to resolve the five-year conflict in Sudan's Darfur region, especially in encouraging the African Union to take on peacekeeping without sufficient resources.

The overwhelmed A.U. force struggled for years to stem the bloodshed in Darfur until it was replaced by a joint A.U.-U.N. force that began deploying in January after months of wrangling with the Sudanese government. The new force is authorized to have 26,000 troops and police but only a fraction is on the ground. Annan criticized well-equipped countries for refusing to provide essential helicopters for the mission despite repeated appeals from the U.N.

At a dinner in his honor on Thursday, Annan said U.N. member states had placed the duty to protect civilians threatened by genocide or war crimes in the hands of the members of the Security Council. "It is fair to question whether all of them have yet fully lived up to that responsibility -- notably in Darfur," Annan said.

What Mr. Annan forgot to tell us is when all this started and who was the UN General Secretary when all this started! So in the end the greatest hypocrite of all it is Mr. Kofi Annan!

Claus dies by euthanasia

Belgian writer, poet and artist Hugo Claus has died aged 78, ending his life by euthanasia, his wife has said. He had been suffering from Alzheimer's disease and had "picked the moment of his death", Veerle De Wit added. He died at Middelheim Hospital in Antwerp but no further details were given. Euthanasia is legal in Belgium.

Among his 200 works was The Sorrow of Belgium, a book about social injustice. He was once married to Sylvia Kristel, star of the Emmanuelle erotic films.

The former Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt was among those paying tributes to Claus, and said he imagined the onset of Alzheimer's must have been "inevitable and unbearable torture". "Almost no longer able to knead his words into clear phrases create the right expressions and metaphors.

I seriously don’t know what will happen in the end but I feel that if I got to that point, losing dignity I would do the same and this trying not to be pessimistic because the last year I give my fight with cancer.

Saturn’s moon ocean

It seems that the space has some surprises lately for us, another sign of life – please don’t let your mind look for E.T. – in Saturn this time, just in our neighborhood.

Saturn's moon Titan may have a deep, hidden ocean, according to data published in the journal Science.

Radar images from the Cassini-Huygens mission reinforce predictions that a reservoir of liquid water exists beneath the thick crust of ice. If confirmed, it would mean that Titan has two of the key components for life - water and organic molecules.

Currently, three other Solar System objects are suspected of having deep oceans: Ganymede, Callisto and Europa. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of the US space agency (NASA), the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Italian Space Agency (ASI).

More and more coming the proves that earth is not the only planet with life in the universe. Still the big question remains, is earth the only planet with intelligent life?

Obama’s passport files

If Obama will be elected he will definitely have a lot of work to do if he doesn’t want to live what F.J.K. lived with FBI and other internal foes. Apparently the latest incident comes from the US Department of State that had to fire two contractors and disciplined a third for accessing the passport file of presidential hopeful Barack Obama.

A spokesman for the department, Sean McCormack, said the cases were probably the result of "imprudent curiosity". But he said it was not clear what the employees may have seen or what they were looking for. In the times we live curiosity is just …out of question.

A spokesman for Mr. Obama suggested that the government could be using private information for "political purposes". And he is right. The strange thing is what they were looking for, all these stupid things like he was trained in Pakistan and his real name is Osama? How naïve or how stupid they can be.

Clinton first lady diary released

“September 14th. Dear diary, yesterday Bill had another …cigar! This girl in his office always comes with cigars to him!”

“November 25th. Dear diary we had corn flakes for breakfast. Bill had bacon and eggs. Today we had dinner with Boris, nice man and funny, drunk all the vodka in …Washington!”

“December 24th. Somebody said something about Xmas. I never got the memo! Bill was a bit anxious; he went to the oval office for a cigar! This girl is really hard working girl; she’s giving him cigars day and night!”

“January 18th. The hard working girl asked me if I want a cigar, I told her I don’t smoke; she didn’t say anything, just left. Strange, she wasn’t carrying any cigars just her …nightly!”

I would love it if her dairy was like that!

Religion and the happy …Bin Laden

Researchers actually believe that a belief in God could lead to a more contented life. Religious people are better able to cope with shocks such as losing a job or divorce, claims the study presented to a Royal Economic Society conference.

Data from thousands of Europeans revealed higher levels of "life satisfaction" in believers. However, researcher Professor Andrew Clark said other aspects of a religious upbringing unrelated to belief may influence future happiness. This is not the first study to draw links between religion and happiness, with a belief among many psychologists that some factor in either belief, or its observance, offering benefits.

Professor Clark, from the Paris School of Economics, and co-author Dr Orsolya Lelkes from the European Centre for Social Welfare Policy and Research, used information from household surveys to analyze the attitudes of Christians - both Catholic and Protestant - not only to their own happiness, but also to issues such as unemployment. Their findings, they said, suggested that religion could offer a "buffer" which protected from life's disappointments.

So next natural question is what has happened with Bin Laden and Iran’s Ayatollahs? Why they are so unhappy and they want to make the rest of us unhappy as well? I think now the Muslims all around the word they have the best argument, the research proves that Bin Laden, Ayatollahs and all these religious freaks …don’t believe in Allah!

I’m coming with some really weird ideas days before Easter!!!

Spies in …Russia

James Bond and brother found in …Russia according to the Russian authorities! Ilya Zaslavsky is a manager at the TNK-BP oil joint venture, his brother Alexander head of the British Council's Moscow Alumni club. The two, who have joint US and Russian citizenship, were gathering classified data for foreign firms, the FSB said.

The arrests are the latest in a series of incidents which has caused serious frictions between Russia and the UK. British Council work was curtailed last year in a row over the death of ex-security agent Alexander Litvinenko.

I’m wonderinig what ‘M’ says and how I found myself having two …007 posts the very same day!!!

The semaphore side of …peace

Amazing, something I must have seen thousands of times and never knew where is coming from. The flag signs stand for the letters ‘N’ and ‘D’ and it means: Nuclear Disarmament!

US reassures Russia on ...cold war

The US goverment has offered Russia assurances over parts of a missile shield it wants to deploy in Europe, the Russian foreign minister has said. In an interview, Sergei Lavrov said the US had agreed to allow Moscow to monitor the missile protection system.

Why do I get the feeling that we are all the way back to the cold war? When I was young I remember doing special exersises at school for the day missiles would fallen upon us and the solutions was ...cover under your desk!!!

However these comments came after high level bilateral discussions in Moscow.Russia has opposed US plans to establish missile defence installations in two central European countries.These currently include some interceptor missiles in Poland and an associated radar facility in the Czech Republic.The US says these are needed to counter a potential threat from Iran, though Moscow fears they could be used against Russia.

The picture is not relevant but ...I liked it!

Mexican gang with 007’scar

Is to wander if they tried to use all the gadgets as well!!! Bu the truth is that the police in Mexico have found a 007 style car used by the country's drug cartels. The car was abandoned by the gang members after a shoot-out.

The police and army sent to fight Mexico's drug cartels have seen most things - sophisticated rocket launchers, powerful assault rifles and gold-plated pistols. But in the northern state of Tamaulipas even they were shocked to come across a Jeep Grande Cherokee kitted out with its own anti-police gadgets.

The Mexican drug dealer will die …another day!

The Bin Laden cartoon jihad to Europe

The protector of the faith and saint of the terror, Bin Laden made a new appearance this time threatening …EU; his excuse this time? No is not Iraq, no is not the Palestinians, is not justice or I don’t know what else but the bloody cartoons again!

The voice on it says the cartoon, re-published recently in all major Danish newspapers, was part of a crusade involving Pope Benedict XVI. The drawing, first published in 2005, depicts the Prophet Muhammad with a bomb in his turban. The voice on the audio has not yet been verified as belonging to Bin Laden.

Not to say that the man is a caricature and a cartoon of bad taste himself, he’s starting a war against …cartoonists? What? Daffy duck against Bin Laden?

On the other side of the galaxy

This is like a miracle especially if you think that it is only hours since the great Arthur Clarke died. A carbon-containing molecule has been detected for the first time on a planet outside our Solar System.

The organic compound methane was found in the atmosphere of a planet orbiting a star some 63 light years away. Water has also been found in its atmosphere, but scientists say the planet is far too hot to support life.

The discovery, unveiled in the journal Nature, is an important step towards exploring new worlds that might be more hospitable to life, they say. Methane, made up of carbon and hydrogen, is the simplest possible organic compound. Under certain circumstances, methane can play a key role in prebiotic chemistry - the chemical reactions considered necessary to form life. Scientists detected the gas in the atmosphere of a Jupiter-sized planet known as HD 189733b.

The other side of the moon Clarke dreamt of, or better the other side of the galaxy!

Global warming melts the arctic

Somehow I have the feeling that every day there coming dooms-day news from somewhere and especially after global warming became our every day thing. The latest news are coming from the arctic where according to some satellite the arctic is losing its long-term ice cover.

Living a few miles from the arctic cycle I have to admit that we strongly feel the weather change. This year has snow only a few times and never enough, mostly rain. Even the temperatures are pretty high for the season, average temperature this winter has been well above +5 and for the first time I found myself often wearing sport shoes instead the usual heavy boots. It is the second year the sea hasn’t frozen and we didn’t have white Christmas.

The Ovi magazine today

Today's Ovi magazine articles:

Outrageous Happenings in Tibet: Boycott the Olympics by Alexandra Pereira

Every citizen of the supposedly democratic countries should show his/her repulsion towards the recent happenings in Lhasa and the almost 60-year-old occupation of Tibet by China, following abominable policies of ethnic genocide and religious and cultural.

China's Copycat Economics by Valerie Sartor
North American factory workers are fuming as China taps into more and more industries, almost effortlessly gaining the market share majority. However, China experienced copycat economics long before employing it as a current economic strategy.

Danish report by Euro Reporter
Denmark has more to offer than bacon... Euro Reporter investigates.

2nd Opinion by Thanos K & Asa B
He is bad ...really bad! Seriously, I think you'll need a second opinion after this.

Arthur C Clarke died

One of the best, most likely the best, science fiction author just died. With him science fiction had a real meaning since his work was based into scientific facts, scientist himself!

And is so weird, a few weeks before I bought a book with a collection of Arthur Clarke’s very early works, short stories coming from early ‘30s and I was so amazed with his talent. Nothing to say about the 2001 of course, his magnificent Space Odyssey.

I think for the next few days so many people will write about him that it doesn’t matter what I say in this blog but there is one thing, Clarke’s books kept me alive, aware and questioning always! Rest in peace Sir Arthur!

Believe it, in Tibet protesters surrender to the …Chinese police

I find it so difficult to believe that more than 100 people have turned themselves in to Chinese police following the anti-China riots in Tibet’s capital. Lhasa. I find difficult to believe that these people surrendered voluntarily as the Chinese state said, in response to a deadline given by the authorities!

The Chinese government said that it will punish seriously protesters who do not surrender and there are already news coming out from Lhasa that the police has been searching houses and making arrests.

And I find it difficult to believe that these people are going to survive but what I find more difficult to take is the impudence with which the Chinese government dares come with announcements like this … voluntarily surrounded!

Mr. Google, Bill Gates and Yahoo

More and more lately I’m fascinated with the arguments some start, take Eric Schmidt from Google, who was concerned …about a deal between Microsoft and Yahoo. Apparently the man said: "We would hope that anything they did would be consistent with the openness of the internet, but I doubt it would be."

Oh please man, I never liked Bill Gates but you can find a better argument than that! Would be …consistent with the openness of the internet? Oh please, that’s why Google is controlled in China, Iran and Pakistan? Because of the openness? As I said I never liked Bill but now I got Mr. Eric Google in the list.

Today's Ovi magazine

Check today's Ovi magazine

Nunobark by Nunobark. Nunobark is a Lisbon-based illustrator, artist, graphic designer... and proud father. He was the founder of several fanzines, maintains the Public Secret Blog. Here is a selection of his work.

Sarkozy: Leave French people alone - Part 3 by Akli Hadid. Like many French personalities, including France's highest ranked politicians, Nicolas Sarkozy has made several statements that show how racist and anti-Semetic he is.

"I wander" by Bohdan Yuri. "To have great poets there must be great audiences too." - Walt Whitman

iBite by Thanos Kalamidas. iBite is a snappy selection of news from around the world accompanied by a cynical, albeit humourous, comment from Mr T. Kalamidas.

US admits economy is in ...downturn

US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson has admitted that the US economy is facing a "sharp decline" at the moment but hoped for a recovery later in the year.

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