News comes mainly from newspapers, TV or blogs. But even the newspapers and TV companies publish their content online these days, generally with comment facilities for the public to make their opinions known. This turns out much as you'd expect.

News published from 4th November 2019 to 10th December 2019

(From the New Zealand Herald, 9th December 2019)

Many people have died in a conflict in the South Pacific between Japanese whalers and an unknown naval force.

A Greenpeace vessel carrying anti-whaling activists and noted documentary maker Shauna Li narrowly escaped from the conflict with their lives, docking at Auckland a few hours ago.

The naval vessels apparently approached the fleet of five whalers and ordered them to leave what were clearly international waters. When they didn't immediately turn around, the unknown navy fired on the whaling ships, who returned fire with small arms and torpedoes, sinking at least one military vessel. The Greenpeace vessel had been following the whalers, and escaped in the confusion.

What nobody seems to know is who these mysterious naval vessels were and what they were doing out there - although considering the location, the most likely source is Australia.

Shauna Li's publicist is refusing to allow interviews, although Shauna herself has shouted 'What the hell did they think they were doing?' at reporters.

The Japanese and Australian governments are refusing to comment.

• 10. User: HeistAlmighty LOLOLOLOLOL
• 11. User: B-MAN @hiestalmighty that makes no sense why did you post that here??
• 12. User: Sadface1 it's strangely hypnotic though
• 13. User: MTGFiend Shut up all of you. This is a news site. Can't you talk about the news?

• 53. 4stringDemon: What possible reason do they have to stop encryption? I bet this is all just part of their plan to feed everything into ECHELON or whatever it is that is watching us all tehse days.
• 71. rubberbunny: Hang on, so if this is forcing people to use connections using unencrypted data, isn't this going to seriously clog up the tubes? Doesn't compression count as encryption?
• 75. nykzero: yeah i bet there just doin this to stop the pirates spreading free information! FUCK THE RIAA!
• 80. shadowboxer47: Fundamentally this legislation is entirely unnecessary. Don't you think the government has the resources to monitor suspicious people anyway, regardless of how secure their connections are? It doesn't matter how secure your plans to build a bomb are, people are going to notice when you buy five tons of fertilizer in the middle of the city.

• 3. ZhaoLiFeng: Looks like it's getting seriously hairy in Hong Kong. You have to wonder what this is a cover for - it doesn't seem in the government interest to close the ports; they're just losing money. So what's going on that we're not seeing?
• 16. TheirWatchinj00: If this is all really “local gangs” and there's no government influence, why haven't they sent the heavies in? China's never been wary about reacting to civil disobedience with military force before.
• 20. visualbasher: What the article doesn't mention is the serious equipment that some of these people have been wielding - hardware you'd usually expect to see in the hands of private security companies, not petty urban crooks. It's a warzone out there!
• 28. HockeyMantle2: I hear a rumour that one of the SWAT teams that was sent in to “deal with” the worst outbreaks of violence were wearing uniforms of the mainland forces, not the local Hong Kong police. What happened to “One country, two systems”, then?
• 58. me_Lore: I hear there have been protests against the violence in Kowloon and on Lantau. This certainly isn't in the local people's interests - they seem to just want to get on with their lives without risking being murdered in their beds.

• ccTipper: You have to wonder whether this is really the most politically sensitive time to be cracking down on immigration on the West Coast, given the HK situation…
• BeachCon: I hear from my friends in the border and coastguard that many of these guys are about as far as you can get from “refugees” - they're Triad enforcers and killers. I feel for the poor souls who're stuck in detention camps while the Guard try to sort out the good apples from the bad, though…
• WhiskeyCoolio: Entitled to asylum? OUTRAGE - when their are'nt enough jobs for good AMERICAN workers. Yet more attempts to get us to give up our RIGHTS in favour of cheap forein labor.
• StealthDouche: You really have to wonder - if these are genuine refugees from the troubles in HK, why they're fleeing all the way across the Pacific rather than to somewhere closer??
• angel_chaser: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yavx9yxTrsw

• 1.HoChi_Party: OMG Will they stop with the norse puns already.
• 3.DontGetMeStarted: They are getting a little tenuous I'll admit - I mean, “Odin do that if I were you?” Great song though.
• 29.Th1s_Car Wilson's on top form as usual. His vocal range is really something else.
• 31.Einherj0r: STFU this stuff is rubbish I meen come on its all girly what happened to bands like tyr come one lets here some real music
• 48.The_Boethian_Connection: I got some crazy stuff playing this one backwards no joke!!
• 68.Pie_Are_Squared: Adam Wilson. Responsible for the systematic dumbing-down of the viking metal industry.
• 69.Th1s_Car: You don't know what you're talking about.
• 70.Pie_Are_Squared: Ouch. Good comeback. Did you think of it yourself or did someone sell it to you?

• 4.Rain_in_Spain: Rock on, Chess. A musician who isn't scared to tell it how it is.
• 9.Cubist_Cigar22: He's getting awfully political. Do musicians really have a place in politics?
• 14.JCIsTehSex He makes a great point about the music industry. People DO buy stuff even if they've already downloaded it. I know I do. Like he says, if they didn't, the music industry would have collapsed 20 years ago.
• 29.pWN_Tang_2002: Sure, he says that the industry shouldn't fear this new file sharing technology, but you can kind of see why they do I guess
• 34.HAARPsichord: I notice that the Australian government has yet to comment on his lambasting of their policy.
• 48.Sinnicol_18: It's another publicity stunt.
• 49.Rock_on_Hudson @Sinnicol_18: I don't know if it is or it isn't. The point is that he cares about his fans and that's more than what you can say about a lot of musicians these days.
• 62.FuckDRM Anyone tried reading the interview while listening to the latest single? Trippy.

• 7. No2Torture: Waterboarding? Really? Maybe next time I tell people how far downhill this country has gone they’ll listen…
• 13.SilentKnight04: I don’t get it, it’s an open and shut case, why would they mess around with stuff like this? It gives their lawyers an excuse to delay and delay.
• 21.BigBullDog: Who cares what they do to murderous terrorist scum? Waterboarding isn’t nearly painful enough for them.
• 23.Freedom2Screech: It’s obvious, our Stalinist overlords want a lovely little show trial full of confessions so they can justify their cryptocommunist crackdown. It’s Aussie rules from here on out.

• 2.DonkeyPunch: Sigh. It actually looks like this might push him ahead in the primaries. I thought it was the other lot with the celebrity obsession.
• 10.H8face: They must be together, it would be so adorable.
• 15.DoveHawk: Well he is the only unmarried candidate. He can actually get away with it.
• 19.ClintGone: He has policies as well you know, and they’re not half bad. If this gets him on the ticket then I’m all for it.

• 4.Haxxor+W1n4ev0r: Those Pakistani separatists sure are active aren't they? Weren't they fingered for the recent 12% violent crime rise AND the recent cholera outbreak?
• 6.Beltaine351: Who is this evidence and why does he like pointing so much. Come on, lets have some real news shall we.
• 9.Kshatriya425: IF YOU DON'T LIVE HERE THEN YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO TALK. I AM SO SICK OF LISTENING TO FOREINERS WHO THINK THEY KNOW EVERYTHING. GO BACK TO YOUR OWN STINKING COUNTRIES!!!!!!
• 12.LonelyKatrina: Lonely? Msg me at ktrina.kp

• 2. posthumorously: Why oh why oh why. Please can we not use another dead man to give us more excuses to fill our country full of guns? Quick! Lock them up before they stock up!
• 8. Watcherinthedark: About time too.
• 12. BridgeFighter: Has anyone else looked up this Hank McNamara? Not liking the look of this crackpot. Nor George Peterson, Mark Hannil, or any of the rest of these cronies. Very, very worried.
• 14. Comminghurrhurr: Praise be!

• 2. Locke: How do they expect the EF to protect us if they keep harking back to freedoms that no state has actually ever allowed? They have noticed the era of violence and crime we live in now, yes?
• 15. MiltonsTehSxe: Politicians just trying to appeal to the liberal media conspiracy that keeps us all suppressed!
• 18. Dilbertsdog18: [E2A] Yeah! 18 post! I am d winna
• 27. Amnestydream: I am thankful that at last some of those we elected are standing up to the unelected Federation. We should have referendums by nation to decide our own futures.
• 49. C0nc3pt: Spot on UserFeedback, we should be able to speak freely - our voices want to be free and the state repression we face risks all our dreams.
• 156. XXXXXXXXX: XXX XXXXXXX X XXXX X XX XXXXXXXXXX XXXX XXX XXXXXXXX XXXX X XXX XX XXXX XXXXXX XXXXX XXXXX XXX XXXXXX…
• 205. Admin: THIS DISCUSSION HAS BEEN CLOSED BY INJUNCTION WHILE AN INVESTIGATION IS MADE INTO ALLEGATIONS ENCLOSED

Penguins are our overlords - Scratched into the loo of an Antartic base, apparently.

TURN ME ON DEAD MAN. MISS HIM MISS HIM MISS HIM. - On several walls across Los Angeles.

No, I'm Gonzalez! - Found in Brussels

Shave the Whales! - Found in Los Angeles

Higgs had it - Behind the Oxford University Physics Department

I Am Not A Number! - Scrawled on a number of walls in Leytonstone, London

のびるへ行こうか？ - Seen on a number of defaced websites

Set Your Soul Free - Found in Lhasa, Tibet

Find ISeaje and be Illuminated - Nevada

I am innocent - Chicago

WHY AM I NOT THEIR MESSENGER? - Amsterdam.

Take this kiss upon the brow - Johannesburg

Does the pope shit in the woods? Or did he get eaten by bears? - London

How do You coNtrol? How do yoU doMinatE? WITH KnoWledge! The greATest discoVeriES of scIEntISts from DA Vinci, thROugh EiNsteIN & TEsla, to TurIng and Higgs haVe bEEn sUppResseD by thOse whO wANt to reMaiN in poWer. The fundAmenTal trutHs tHese grEat thinKers uncoVered coUld pUsh huManitY intO a neW AGe of enliGhteNmEnt, toWARds the sinGUlaritY anD asceNsioN. BuT “thEy”, thE goverNmenTs & the miLItaRy indUsTrial coMplEx, in tHeIR desPeRate graSP for conTrol keep tHeSE secREts frOm Us becAuSE if oNlY the MinOriTY knoWs thE trUTh theN tHe mAJOritY caN be trOdden underfOOt. WE can fiGht bACk however, even thOUgh theY watCh and suRveil us at evERy turN. WiTh everY nUGget of infOrmAtiON we brINg intO the ligHt wE erodE theIR conTrol aNd cOMe oNE stEp CloSer to frEedOm. The trUth will oUt.

Don't shoot the messenger

So, children, if you've been in the spook hunting game for any length of time, you'll probably know that I'm notorious for being cagey about what I know. After all, I've spent 20 odd years learning how to do that voodoo that I do, and I do it well, even if I say so myself. Having been responsible for bringing a bit of scientific rigour to the ghost hunting biz (not much, you understand, I'm a practical sort of girl at heart - what works, works), and having earned that knowledge in blood, sweat, tears, and maybe even the odd bit of ectoplasm, I've been disinclined to share those hard won secret with even the few people with enough natural talent to compete me out of a job. I mean, the world may not be exactly crawling with exorcists with natural talent, but frankly with a job as low demand as mine, any competition, is too much.

So why make a change now? Well, in truth the job's not so low demand any more. And, well, whatever I was doing for that chunk of time a few years back when I wasn't around (and no, I'm still not prepared to spill the beans on precisely what was going on then - a girl's gotta have a little bit of mystery in her life to keep things interesting), I can tell you this much. It's convinced me that some seriously bad shit is about to go down. Shit bad enough that frankly, if we don't do something about it, it'll all be kind of academic whether or not I'm in a job afterwards. If we're really unlucky, even the concept to afterwards might be somewhat academic. And I hate academic. That's why I'm such a disappointment to my old ma and pa.

So, then, not to be melodramatic, but, the dead are rising. Seriously. Used to be that you had to look hard to see a ghost once a month. These days it's a rare day when I go a day without seeing one, and the trend is distinct exponential, if you catch my drift. Now I was raised a good Catholic, and while I don't exactly tow the party line these days, I'd not entirely willing to rule out the “dead rising harbinger of the apocalypse” connection. Doubtless the lovely Thomasina Bayes'd want me to mention that “correlation does not imply causation”, and there may not be a link at all, but being as how I like the universe, let's try and figure out what the holy gibbering Filipino fishsticks is going on, just in case it might actually not be a dress rehearsal.

Gods I witter, don't I? You can see why it's taken me so long to join the bloggerati, can't you? Right, for the three of you at the back still awake, here's the deal. I'm going to post here and tell you a bit about the afterlife, at least how I perceive it, and how *you* can interact with it. Of course, if you don't have the natural talent, I think you're pretty much shafted, but don't let that stop you from giving it a go.

Anyway, I'm boring myself now, so I'll shut up, but not before I've left a little tidbit for you guys. Do you know what a ghost is? Think you do? Bullshit. I haven't got a fricking clue, and I'm a world expert. I can tell you this though. They seem to be electromagnetic entities, or at very least susceptible to manipulation through electromagnetic fields. Think that nails them down? 'Fraid not, Tonto. That doesn't mean they're electromagnetic any more than the fact that that big ball of yellow evil some call the daystar causes me to pull the duvet over my head in the morning means that I'm made of light. Did you follow that? If not, you might want to give up now. I may be feeling expansive, but don't for a moment think that means I'm going to be writing Janet and John Raise The Dead here. Your responsibility to keep up, kiddo.

OK, so a ghost has some interaction with the electromagnetic spectrum. What distinguishes ghosts from nails wrapped in copper wire then? The key thing is volition. Ghosts have an agenda. For most ghosts, that's darn simple: repeating an event or phrase, throwing things across the room, if they're really subtle. But that volition is no more sophisticated than a cat. Cats are pretty sophisticated, and sensitive to ghosts too, incidentally, but my point is that most ghosts aren't even poor copies of the once living humans that they appear to be. So to say that the ghost *is* the person, isn't really supported by the evidence. Most ghosts are, perhaps, a memory of a person or an event. Personally I think the idea that they're the souls of the dead is the kind of thing that ought to get you some serious quality time in a room with rubber walls, but it's certainly true that a minority of ghosts are sophisticated enough that they could pass a Turing test. Make of that what you will.

Well, I'm going to sign off now. Any questions, feel free to email me at mercury@classified.chaosdeathfish.com. If they aren't totally asinine, you may even get an answer here. Arrivederci, mes enfants, until the next time.

Oh here's to my sweet Satan.

The one whose little path would make me sad, whose power is Satan.

He will give those with him 666.

There was a little tool shed where he made us suffer, sad Satan.

“I'm pleased to see that the British Government is keeping to a tried and trusted line of reasoning after the attack on Tory HQ. That would be the one that goes: 1. We must do something. 2. This is something. 3. Therefore we must do it. Look. Never mind the civil liberties wonks kicking up a fuss about this whole handing over your decryption keys scheme. We don't need to argue about Freedom versus Security here, and do the duelling Benjamin Franklin quotes, for the very simple reason that this harebrained plan won't actually work.

Think about it. How many people use encryption on the internet these days? Any actual terrorist plotting is going to be drowned out by the vast piles of porn, pirated software, cracks, spam, cranks ranting on about UFOs, and teenage armchair revolutionaries bitching about Global Capitalism. Having the information you need to stop the plot is only part of the problem for military intelligence. You've also got to know that you've got it, and have some way of picking it out of the huge pile of random crap. And don't suggest data mining to me, I've posted enough on what I think of that particular statistical abortion.”

The Latest Releases

Moshi moshi minnasama! \(*･∀･)/やぁ！！ It's ♋/巴\♋ here, coming direct from the rising sun! (^-^) I hope you've all seen the new releases from Volks - eeeee! I love the sleepy eyes on their latest avatar mod. z(-.-)z So cute and innocent! But it's a shame: I've heard that the coding is sloppy… （￣へ￣） Never mind, it's a cue for all us modders to get working! Let's work hard together! *type type* ⌨⌝(^o^) Concerning modding, has anyone had a look at the latest work on AI and VR to come out of Nagoya? It's so exciting to me! Almost makes me want to get on a shinkansen right away, ne - but my parents would freeeak! (>_<)

”…What would a man do if he proved beyond a doubt that God did not exist - and a voice came out of the wilderness telling him “thou art God”?…”