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15. mars 2007
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Australia's armed forces may have a bit of a security problem.
A truck driver who was once jailed for armed robbery posed as an army officer, mixed with the top brass and talked his way into high-level security meetings, an Australian court has been told.
Peter Bennett, 54, started his 10-month fantasy military career in September 2005 when he wore formal military dress to gain entry to an air force base dinner, where he chatted to Australia's air force chief, Air Vice-Marshal Geoffrey Shepherd.
Melbourne's Age newspaper said over the following months, Bennett joined meetings of Operation Acolyte, the defense force's security operation for last year's Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, and was issued with a defense force identity card.
Impressive. Bennett was actually found unfit for military duty in 1971, but this indicates he would have been a good intelligence operative.
8:44:19 PM 
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A study claims to confirm the old Norwegian saying that a good laugh leads to a longer life.
Adults who have a sense of humor outlive those who don't find life funny, and the survival edge is particularly large for people with cancer, says Sven Svebak of the medical school at Norwegian University of Science and Technology.
He released his study of about 54,000 Norwegians, tracked for seven years, at the American Psychosomatic Society meeting here.
On the other hand, if you have no sense of humour, life feels much longer.
7:05:02 PM
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 Khalid Sheik Mohammed confesses that he was behind the 9/11 attacks on the US as well as many other terrorist acts around the world.
Mohammed took responsibility for the attacks on New York and Washington in an interrogation detailed in the Sept. 11 commission's report. But his appearance before the tribunal at Guantanamo Bay marked the first time since his March 2003 arrest that he was allowed to make an extended statement that was not delivered to interrogators.
"I was responsible for the 9/11 operation, from A to Z," Mohammed told a panel of military officers through a personal representative, who read off a list of 31 terrorist acts that were either carried out or planned but not executed. According to transcripts released by Defense Department officials last night, Mohammed later spoke in broken English and Arabic, saying, "For sure, I'm American enemies."
He claims to have been very busy indeed. I don't doubt his deep involvement in 9/11 and other atrocities, but he may well be exaggerating his own importance.
He claimed to have been "responsible" for the 1993 attack on the World Trade Center, Richard Reid's attempt to ignite a shoe bomb on an airliner over the Atlantic Ocean in December 2001, and the October 2002 bombing of a nightclub in Bali, Indonesia.
Mohammed also said he plotted to assassinate several former presidents, including Jimmy Carter, a scheme not previously revealed.
Any regrets? Well, he's sorry about the children.
Mohammed contended that he and al-Qaeda are not terrorists, but are in engaged in a long struggle against U.S. oppression in the Middle East. He apologizes for killing children in the Sept. 11 attacks.
"Because war, for sure, there will be victims," he said. "When I said I'm not happy that 3,000 been killed in America. I feel sorry even. I don't like to kill children and the kids."
On the other hand, he took great delight in murdering journalist Daniel Pearl, "the American Jew", with his "blessed right hand."
PS: It is worth noting that his confession of being behind 9/11 is not at all new. He confirmed this in an interview before his capture. But some details here are new.
4:57:23 PM
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Lack of sleep may cloud your moral judgment, as well as everything else.
Army researchers found that when they subjected a group of volunteers to two sleepless nights, the lack of shut-eye seemed to hinder participants' ability to make decisions in the face of emotionally charged, moral dilemmas.
The dilemmas in this case were hypothetical scenarios, and not actual events. But the study authors say the findings could have implications for people who are both routinely sleep-deprived and often need to make quick decisions in a crisis -- such as soldiers in combat and medical professionals.
Hopefully I don't get into any serious moral dilemmas this early in the morning.
6:08:51 AM
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© Copyright 2007 Jan Haugland.
Last update: 01.04.2007; 03:25:59.
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