As the government probes the embarrassment which on Sunday sparked protests from traders in Lahore, they are closely looking at the possibility of an Indian intelligence operative having been hoaxed by Pakistani tricksters who have been seeking to exploit India’s anxiety to prevent terror attacks from across the border.

Sources in the government said that post-26/11, conmen have been approaching Indian agencies and journalists; in one case even a politician, offering “credible information” for money.

The usual modus operandi is to offer “information”; for instance a photograph of what is claimed to be an ISI facility or a terrorist training camp at an undisclosed location deep inside Pakistan. Although the veracity of “inputs” cannot be ascertained, Indian agencies with their dire need for intelligence on terror plots are compelled not to disregard them. Confidence gained, the tricksters are in business, regularly peddling information for amounts which have increased considerably after the attack on Mumbai.

Only in this instance, the swindlers artfully raised their game by passing off photographs of the “terrorists” who had sneaked in Mumbai via the sea route and the details of their plan to target Mumbai. The Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) deemed the intelligence so sensitive and credible that it was instantly shared with the Intelligence Bureau, leading the Multiple Agency Centre to alert police in Maharashtra and Gujarat against what appeared to be an attempt to repeat 26/11. Sources don’t rule out the possibility of “sources” having been even handsomely rewarded for the information.

In the event, three of the terrorists turned out to be mobile phone traders operating from Lahore’s popular electronic market Hafeez Centre. Another member of the group is an employee with one of the shops, while the remaining one is a security guard working there.

All of them approached Lahore Police for protection after they got to know about reports in Indian media about the alert against their presence in Mumbai for a major terrorist attack.

The bungle, which has many in Pakistan gloating, has led to calls for setting up a national data base of intelligence sources who could regularly be audited for credibility. It has also underlined India’s continuing inability to access reliable real-time information on Pakistan-based terror groups who represent a major security challenge.

With no credible network of their own in Pakistan, Indian agencies are forced to depend on paid contacts, many of them smugglers and petty criminals, who move across the border and return with sensational claims for a payment. It is feared that the shadowy set could well be working for agencies in Pakistan too. In fact, many in the Indian security establishment suspect that one such double agent could be behind the May 6 fraud perpetrated on RAW.

Yet, intelligence agencies are compelled to remain engaged with the cross-border operatives who, besides being paid, are also allowed to carry on with their criminal activities. “These cross-border contacts seem to know the helplessness of our agencies, and are adept at exploiting it,” an official said.

So there is no let up in the flow of “information” from “Pakistani contacts”. Just before Republic Day this year, RAW came up with a sensational claim that over 100 Pakistan-trained terrorists had gathered at various launch pads across the international border and Line of Control, waiting for an opportunity to sneak into India. These terrorists were to target Mumbai and Delhi. Of them, some 20 were trained for underwater operations, the alert claimed. After several rounds of meetings in the security establishment, serious questions emerged about the credibility of the information, leading RAW to quietly withdaw the alert.

A similar “intelligence” industry exists, although on a much smaller scale, along the Bangladesh border too. Last year, the West Bengal police “sourced” photographs of two alleged terrorists who were planning to attack Mumbai. A detailed scrutiny revealed that the photographs were fake.

In fact, Assam police for years kept issuing alarming terror alerts based on their cross-border contacts. They have stopped doing so after an overwhelming majority of warnings turned out to be spurious.

10: Starchild Skull

This skull was apparently found in Mexico around 1930 but only showed to the public by Lord Pye in 1999. It was claimed to either be the skull of an alien infant or an alien-human hybrid. Although the damaged lower skull was child-like, the upper cranium was huge, being 1600mL, over 400mL larger than would be expected based on the lower skull. Pye claimed that radiocarbon dating had proved it was 900 years old and that anonymous scientists had confirmed it to be the skull of an alien. However, independent DNA testing revealed the skull to be Native American, belonging to a child who probably had hydrocephalus, or ‘water-in-the-brain’, a congenital disorder where there is too much fluid in the skull. Sufferers of this condition can develop abnormally large craniums, although modern medicine can now relieve the fluid pressure with cerebral shunts to drain the excess liquid.

9: Calveras Skull

This skull was found by miners in Calaveras, USA, in 1866. It was used by Josiah Whitney as proof that humans had lived in the Americas as long ago as the Pliocene age, over two million years ago. It looked quite modern, and was referenced by many creationists as proof that humans had not changed or evolved through time. Chemical tests showed that it was much more recent, and the story of its discovery did not match with the condition of the skull itself, yet Whitney remained adamant that it was genuine. It was so widely believed to be a hoax that many people came forward and claimed that they themselves had planted it as a practical joke. In 1992, radiocarbon dating conclusively showed it to be only about 1000 years old.

8: Phrenology

Phrenology was a European pseudoscience that was in vogue during the nineteenth century. Doctors had observed that people whose brains were slightly more developed, and therefore bulged, in certain regions had corresponding mental faculties. For example, people with lesions (gaps) in the speech area of their brains are often unable to speak. This lead to the idea that by measuring the slight bumps and bulges of the skull they could determine the shape of the brain and infer data about someone’s mental abilities. Many people used it to show that they were intrinsically superior to others. It was even used as fortune-telling for children to see how they would fare as adults. Unfortunately, the shape of the brain does not even closely correspond to the shape of the skull, and moreover, the areas of the brain said to carry traits such as ‘conscientiousness’ and ‘suavity’ have since been shown to be incorrect. However, phrenology did increase interest in neuroscience and indirectly led to much more scientifically sound knowledge.

7: Piltdown Man

In 1912 in Piltdown, England, Charles Dawson discovered a strange skull that had a curious mixture of human and ape features. He claimed it was the ‘missing link’ between humans and apes. This skull had the upper face and tall cranium of a human, but the long, sloping jaw of an ape. The skull was in fact a human cranium coupled with an orangutan mandible and filed-down chimpanzee teeth, all stained to appear more ancient. As more and more human ancestor skeletons were found, Piltdown man began to look more and more out of place. In 1953, scientists conclusively showed it to be a farce. Piltdown man inspired huge paleontological debates about how humans evolved and it remains one of the most famous hoax skulls.

6: Batavus Genuinus

In 1828, a strange skull from the island of Marken in the Netherlands was found. Although it was dated as modern, it differed from other human skulls with its sloped forehead. Hypotheses to explain this abounded, most prominently that the islanders were in fact not homo sapiens but a more ancient hominid which had evolved in isolation, dubbed ‘batavus genuinus.’ Anthropologists noted that the islanders did indeed have sloped foreheads, and some claimed that they were the modern descendants of Neanderthals. In 1912, a Dutch physician finally showed that the traditional tight headwear worn by Marken children was what caused the foreheads to develop with a slope. Marken children brought up off the island do not have sloped foreheads, and the Marken people are quite able to have healthy children with other humans, showing that they are indeed homo sapiens.

5: Trepanning

Trepanning was a practice done since at least eight thousand years ago. It involved drilling a hole in the skull as a treatment for many head-related disorders, such as headaches, seizures, and mental disabilities. Many skulls with trepanned holes have been found. Trepanning did not always result in death, as many of these skulls show some degree of healing which would have occurred over several weeks or months after the procedure. Even so, there would have been many deaths due to infection. Today trepanning is still used as pseudoscience by various people purporting that it releases evil spirits or energy, that it improves health, cures depression, and various other unsubstantiated claims.

This should not be confused with a common modern procedure, craniotomy. Craniotomies involve a surgically made hole in the skull, often to drain excess cerebro-spinal fluid to decrease pressure on the brain in the case of extreme head injuries, but there are no other similarities. The purpose for the hole differs, the way it is made differs, and the way it is used differs. There are websites which claim that trapanning can cure epilepsy and they contain information purposely muddled with craniotomies to make it seem legitimate. Caveat lector.

4: Giant skull

The military is said to have secured a large area and forbidden anyone entry except government personnel. The site was kept in complete secrecy until a helicopter secured photographs as it flew overhead. The photos show workers uncovering a skull of phenomenal size, and gradually revealing the rest of the giant skeleton. The skeleton became famous in email forwards that gave some variation of the above story, but in fact, the photographs were created through manipulation by combining various real but unrelated pictures. Other giant skulls have been put forward, but all have been either falsified, mysteriously misplaced, refused examination, or have actually been Neanderthal skulls, which are slightly larger than human skulls.

3: Elongated Skulls

A huge number of skulls with long or deformed craniums have been found around the world, with some groups advertising them as authentic alien skulls. Infant skulls are relatively soft and pliable, and there have been many peoples who would traditionally deform them by tightly binding the heads of their babies for several months, similar to the Marken people. Skulls deformed in this way predate written history, and every skull examined with DNA tests has been shown to either be that of a modern human or a Neanderthal. More recently, various Germanic, American, and native Australian people have practiced skull deformation, and is still done in a small number of places today. It is thought to be done for aesthetic reasons or to show social status, and if done correctly, does not cause brain damage.

2: Horned Skulls

There are many claims of horned human skulls being found; however, very few have ever been physically presented for independent inspection. Although peculiar human skin tumors can appear to be horns, they are not part of the skeleton and are more similar to fingernails than true horns. The horned skull stories probably began when a large number were reported to have been found in Pennsylvania that suspiciously vanished before they could be studied by experts. Some stories even claim that they had two rows of teeth or demonic powers. Although some versions insist that experts have verified horned skulls to be genuine, the cited experts either do not exist or deny the verifications they are claimed to have made. Similar to horned skulls are crested skulls, which are quite real and belonged to paranthropus, a genus of hominids with huge jaws for chewing seeds and roots. Their powerful jaw muscles were attached to the skull crest, much like in modern male gorillas.

1: Crystal Skulls

According to legend, these skulls have been circulating among collectors and museums since the late nineteenth century. They were crafted over 3000 years ago by the Mayans or Aztecs with the help of aliens, and were the center of strange mysticisms. Touching one would heal you and give great power. There were 13 in total, although we still have not recovered them all. If you bring all 13 together you would have the power of a god. Unfortunately, all of the skulls examined thus far were made in Europe, have been dated to be less than two centuries old, most being far younger, and there are no Mayan or Aztec legends pertaining to them except those which were written based on what had been said after the skulls were found rather than on actual archaeological evidence. Although beautifully made, these skulls and their associated legends are nothing more than an elaborate hoax. It is still a mystery whether they were all made by one person, if one was made first and inspired others, or if they were originally intended to be passed off as real at all.

Their science studies tell us, that the Earth will be hotter in or around a million years from now due to this global warming which we, our grand children, or our great grand children, will never be able to confirm or deny. The few who started this hoax, Al Gore and a few others, knew it would convince those followers to come forth and holler along with them.  Billions of dollars have already been made by selling books, and collecting donations, and for what.  If it is going to happen, it will, and no amount of money will stop it. 

They blame it on carbon from factories, trucks, and cars.  Emissions are not enough to change how Mother Nature does her thing.  The last we knew, we had four seasons.  Last winter, they had a global warming conference which was snowed out due to a blizzard in Washington D.C.  So the chosen few, decided, they were going to be found out unless they changed the name from Global warming to Climate change.  Earth to Gore, Summer, it gets hot, cools down in the fall, chills up in the winter and warms up again in the spring as we enter summer.  These four seasons have been around since the dawn of time.  I was asked why then are the ice caps melting.  The ice caps melt all the time and always have been, and they freeze up too.  Nature is such a wonder.    If interested, when the time comes, I have some advise for you who believe, take off your coat. 

Earthquakes?  Blame it on global warming.  Volcano’s?  Blame it on global warming.  Rain, global warming, snow, global warming, fear mongering, blame it on the left who created global warming.

Please, if you have a rebuttle, do it because I think talking about things is a grand way to solve things.  Just holding it in will only cause you to explode somewhere down the road and then you will blame it on global warming.

There are a few 2012 theories on how the world will end : 

Nibiru/planet X , pole shift , the reason of the mayan calendar,  and of course, Mr. Harold Camping the Evangelist. ( who in case you do not know, tried to predict the end of the world at least 3 or 4 times, but failed.)

I can gladly say that NONE of these 2012 hoaxes are true. There have been 60 failed predictions of the apocalypse in the past. Nibiru – thats something you should search. Unfortunately – its not real! Based on Nibiru, the things should be so close to Earth that you should see it in the sky in the night and day and all the way through. Harold Camping had a believer who spent his life savings of $140,000 + on advertising the apocalypse prediction by Harold Camping (October 11, 2011). The Mayan Calendar ends on 2012 – not because the world ends on 2012 but because the calendar ends on 2012 ( Gee, they must have run out of stone! ) They are all hoaxes. The only things that is going to happen in 2012 is Christmas and another New Year. Huzzah.

Now I are hearing they are changing the end of the world date from 2012 to 2013. And so, we shall laugh in 2014, but they might make that end of the world too. 

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

• Re‏

12:10 PMReply  ▼

 Dr. Glidden Kennedy

 Add to contacts

From:	Dr. Glidden Kennedy (dr.gliddenkennedy@rocketmail.com)
Sent:	Mon 12/12/11 12:10 PM
To:

Microsoft SmartScreen marked this message as junk and we’ll delete it after ten days.Wait, it’s safe! | I’m not sure, show content

Attention: Beneficiary,
REF: – INSTRUCTION TO CREDIT YOUR ACCOUNT WITH THE SUM OF (US$8Million),
After official Vetting and Evaluation of your file from the International Monetary Fund’s ( IMF ) we are pleased to notify you accordingly.
Therefore, re-confirm the below information:
Your Full Names, Address, Occupation, Telephone
And Fax Numbers to (dr.gliddenkennedy@ymail.com) for easy communication
Yours sincerely, Dr. Glidden Kennedy,

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
The thing with these guys is that they actually spend the time to make this email to send to some list they probably bought for a load of money.   While in the process of cooking up this hoaxe, the thought never crossed their brain that if they were going to represent an I M F fund that they would have an I M F email addressDon’t you think?
DON’T BE FOOLED!!!

Image via Wikipedia

It’s a claim from an lottory rep. from Ireland, yet when you read it…. Well you can get the jist

here it is below….

———————————————————————————————————————————————

OFFICE OF THE DIRECTOR OF OPERATION
INTERNATIONAL REMITTANCE DEPT, IRD.
ATM PAYMENT DEPARTMENT.
CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIA (CBN).
ASO- ROCK, GARKI ABUJA
NIGERIA.

From FMF, Federal Ministry of Finance
Honorable Minister of Finance,
Approved by the Nigerian Government

NOTIFICATION OF PAYMENT VIA ATM CARD
atmswiftdept1@live.com

This is to officially inform you that we have verified your contract file
presently on my desk, and I found out that you have not received your
payment due to your lack of co-operation and not fulfilling the
obligations giving to you in respect to your contract payment.Secondly,
you are hereby advised to stop dealing with some non-officials in the bank
as this is an illegal act and will have to stop if you so wish to receive
your payment immediately. After the Board of director's meeting held in
Abuja,we have resolved in finding a solution to your problem.We have
arranged your payment through our SWIFT CARD PAYMENT CENTER in Europe,
America,Africa and Asia Pacific,This is part of an ion/mandate passed by
the Senate in respect to overseas contract payment and debt re-scheduling.

And also the Nigerian Government is using this mean to rewards all the
citizens of the United states and all part of Europe including Asia,
Australia, South America, Antarctica e.t.c and all those who have lost
their funds in either scam, or an uncompleted business,or otherwise,You
should know that if you are interested to receive your ATM card which will
be credited with $500,000.00 united states dollars before it is been sent
to you direct to your doorstep through the FedEx courier service, you will
have to respond to me with your full information, After your response you
will be directed to the Fedex shipping courier representative whose name
is Mr Payne Spencer.

He will send you your ATM CARD which you will use to withdraw your money
via ATM MACHINE in any part of the world, and the maximum daily limit is
Fifteen Thousand United States Dollars($500,000.00). And also note that
the Nigerian Government has taken care of the shipping fee of your ATM
card, So if Payne Spencer is requesting for another shipping fee, You will
have to report him to me immediately.
When you receive your ATM card, you have to alert me so that we can give
you process of how to activate and make use of.If you like to receive your
fund this way, Kindly contact me with the following information below.

(1) Your Full Name:..........................
(2) Full residential address:........... ...
(3) Phone:.......................................
(4) Occupation;................................
(5) personal identification..................
(6) Sex...........................................

This message is supported by the Nigerian Government, After you might have
started making use of your ATM card, you can reward my firm one way or the
other you knows best.

Thanks for your co-operation and ensure you send me email on my private
email (atmswiftcard00@ymail.com).

Respectively.

Dr. Mansur Muhtar
Director (CBN, IRD, and ATM)
Dept. International Remittance
Swift Card Payment Center
Minister, Federal Ministry Of Finance.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Be Carefull and DON'T BE FOOLED! 

Image by Alberto OG via Flickr

Millions of natural phenomena, sites, fossils, artifacts, ancient manuscripts it always makes us chuckle in awe and invite curiosity. Of course, we often ask, why and how these phenomena can occur? What was thought by the public, scientists, and aristocrats at that time. As if the legacy to leave traces and mysterious trail to the next generation in the review and resolved.
There are unsolved, but not the least which is still mysterious that raises many questions, debate, discussion and even heated debate to occur. These studies were conducted to find the common thread of phenomena and mysteries of this, using scientific methods and modern technology (DNA Test, Radiocarbon (C14) dating, X-rays, Materials, Biology and Medical Forensics & Image Analysis, Historical Analysis of Materials , Spectral Analysis, Electron Microanalysis) scientists (scientist), archaeologists, historians, theologians, and analysts trying to answer the anomalous events in the universe.
Frequent talks, discussion forums and even debate about the phenomena and the mysteries that exist, inspire authors to compile a book of “ Reveals the Mystery of All Time ” (Menguak Misteri Terheboh Sepanjang Masa - Indonesian ver.). A book that examines dozens of even hundreds of millions of the mysteries that exist in this universe. 
Through this book, at least the writers wanna share their thoughts and add a drop of knowledge from several points of view which, according to sources the author is quite credible and accountable in science and classical literates (such Torah, Bible, and Koran), besides the addition of a writer’s point of view to know and understand.

The discussion covered in this book, among others: the weird rain, Ooparts, errors in the book The Da Vinci Code, aliens living in the days of ancient Egypt?, Nong Khai fire dragon balls, the ark of Noah, the scientific evidence of the red sea parted, and dozens of other mysteries .
To further broaden and deepen the reader’s horizon of knowledge and understanding, the author of this book completed with films (VCD), and thousand spectacular images/photos. Besides, this book also features several songs. So we are not only enlightened of thinking but also enlightened by the heart.

Sitting here on the afternoon of Hallowe’en waiting for work to arrive via email and for the sun to go down, when the children will come to my door en masse with cauldrons in hand, garishly painted green faces, skeletal masks, black garb and pointy black witches hats and receive a pumpkin or ghost shaped fruit lollipop, I decided to take a flick through the national dailies and came across this rather fitting news report. 

It’s not unusual for the police to receive calls reporting that there have been UFO sightings, most of which are purely hoax calls, but having been looking through the Daily Telegraph on line I found an article which tells the tale of an extremely rational sounding gentleman who telephoned the police to report a bright light over his garden. 

He went on to describe the hovering light to the very calm and polite young police officer who was at the call centre.  The police officer said she would get someone to look into it.

However, in the meantime, the gentleman subsequently phoned back and confessed to the same police officer that it had all been a ghastly mistake and this Unexplained Flying Object was most definitely not Unexplained, nor was it Flying, but it was most certainly an Object.

Below is a link to the police tape recording of both calls from the said gentleman – I think the police officer who took the calls should be commended on her patience and professionalism!!

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/8854717/999-caller-mistakes-moon-for-UFO.html

I can’t imagine the police authorities will take action against this man – he genuinely seems to have thought it was a strange flying object of some sort and he was even decent enough to phone back to confess his mistake which must have taken some guts.  As he said in his second call, nobody would ever believe it.  My mind just boggles though at how anyone could mistake the moon for an unexplained bright light hovering in the sky?

Ever since the Apollo missions to the moon, there have been lots of conspiracy theories out there that either try to say that the moon landings never happened or that NASA purposely edited out things they did not want the public to see in photos.  Normally, I dismiss these theories almost right away as they never do a good job in showing any conclusive proof.   Recently, however, I came across a video on YouTube that really got me thinking.  It is a collection of photos from the moon landings that have been cleaned up using special software.  What is amazing is that all of the photos show deliberate doctoring of parts of each picture.  Check out the video below and see what you think.  The last image with the astronaut’s visor was the one that really intrigued me the most.

So, what is your opinion on these photos?  Please provide any comments below. 

Anyone with 1/9th of a brain can look at a page of ‘Newsflavor‘  and appreciate it’s one of those 2nd rate blog sites.  It doesn’t have the credibility of the Drudge Report, it isn’t even a Wikileak.

The Name ‘Ulsterman’ is used for a resident of Northern Ireland, with certain political overtones.  Since the majority of Netizens seem to be totally ignorant of the term and its meaning; it would be like a person calling himself ‘FirstBase” writing an “Insiders” column on Football. 

It wasn’t an accident that the name was used; Satire is Satire.  One is supposed to know it is Satire from first glance.  There was no attempt to deceive; that people really are that stupid probably shocked those who write the Ulsterman Report. 

The path from Triond to New York Post was not direct.  A Whitehouse Insider article was quoted by some right wing nut job in its blog, and the contents of the blog were quoted by another right wing racist, then plagiarised by another one, so that it took the New York Post some effort to track down the source of the information.

However, during this time, the ‘information’ in the Ulsterman Report  was being quoted as if it were true by demagogues who have large followings of people even stupider than they are.

Millions of people clicked on every item published by the Ulsterman collective, none appreciating that it was make it up as you go along just as long as it makes Barack Obama look bad.

The hoax took on a life of its own; it was not just a way to get hits and make money, it became a ‘trusted source’ of ‘Inside’ information.   Hence even heretofore ‘respectable’  news services took up the reports as if they weren’t being sewn together by a guy in Ireland musing over a Guinness, but smuggled out of the White House in Washington D.C. by a furtive mole.

So powerful, so ‘trusted’ is Ulsterman that the quotes he creates are repeated with pretentious solemnity.

Tea Party types want to believe all the offensive and untrue items about Obama the Ulsterman collective can concoct. The only flaw in the hoax is being published on Newsflavor.  Even morons on Reddit know that this is not a respected News source. 

The move to its own blog was only fettered by stray morality which recognised that as long as the Whitehouse Insider remained on Newsflavor the ‘tell’ that it was a hoax was in your face.  By moving to its own bailiwick this admission would be removed, and greater credibility granted.

We are witnessing one of the most successful hoaxes of the 21st century, an urban legend.  An awe inspiring rewriting of the adage; on the Internet You Can Fool Most of the People All of the Time.