Cops Arrest Man For Spying… On Them!

WHAT’S THE FIRST THING that you expect a cop to do when you go to the trouble of visiting them at their nice police station with the intention of registering a formal complaint against a detective? Yup - you guessed it. They arrest you!

At least that’s what appears to have happened to Michael Gannon of Nashua City in the US. It seems that he was arrested Tuesday night, after he brought a video to the police station to try to file a complaint against Detective Andrew Karlis, according to Gannon’s wife, Janet Gannon, and police reports filed in Nashua District Court. The detective had been caught on the Gannon’s home video CCTV system, prowling about their property at an earlier time.

The police instead arrested Gannon, charging him with two felony counts of violating state eavesdropping and wiretap law by using an electronic device to record Karlis without the detective’s consent. You just gotta love that logic

JK Rowling Confirms “At Least Two” Characters To Die

HARRY POTTER author J.K. Rowling said at least two characters will die in the last installment of her boy wizard series, and she even hinted that Harry Potter himself may not survive either.

Fans of the series are eagerly awaiting the seventh and final installment in the long running saga of the boy wizard and today J.K. admitted that she has considered the possibility of killing the lead character (Harry) off in the final book because it means an end to the story, and also eliminates the option of any non-author written sequels.

She is remaining tight lipped about which characters will get the bullet (or wand I suppose) as expected, but I guess there will be rabid speculation between now and the final book release. All she had to say on the subject is that “The final chapter is hidden away, although it’s now changed very slightly. One character got a reprieve, but I have to say two die that I didn’t intend to die.”

Don’t expect anything this year however, it’s looking like a 2007 finale at this point.

Microsoft Finally Catch On To OpenSource

IT’S BEEN A BUSY WEEK for Microsoft, but then every week is I suppose. Hardly a day goes by without some news item concerning the beast of Redmond, and today I came across an interesting snippit which indicates that they have finally realised the OpenSource movement is here to stay.

In the same week that they let slip some information which suggests that WinFX is no more (and won’t be for quite a while) and also manage to throw out a new beta release of Windows Vista (build 5456 to be precise) they also announce the release of a website called Codeplex.com after an initial beta trial period.

The site is essentially a community development portal which requires you to become a member in order to submit any project work but everyone can view the source code and bug fix forums without the need to register.

I’m a big fan of OpenSource projects and communities, but I’m still not sure how I feel about Microsoft trying to edge their way in. Still - it’s early days yet and it remains to be seen how many developers actually buy into this latest issue from the beast of Redmond. Check it out and make your own mind up.

Origins Of Homosexuality Influenced By Big Brothers?

A STUDY ON SEXUAL ORIENTATION by Dr Anthony Bogaert, of Brock University, Ontario, which is published today in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, draws conclusions which support pre-natal origin to sexual orientation development in men.

A man’s sexual orientation can be determined before he is born, according to this research which provides the strongest evidence yet of a biological basis for male homosexuality. Scientists in Canada have discovered that the probability of a man being gay rises significantly according to the number of elder brothers he has, but only when these brothers are true biological siblings.

This research furthers the argument that nature has a role to play in the development of sexual orientation, and not just nurture. The increased chance of homosexuality applied even where men had older full brothers who had been raised separately in a different home, offering further evidence for a biological effect.

The mechanism by which having older biological brothers affects male sexuality remains unknown, but the most popular theory is that it reflects the way a mother’s immune system reacts to carrying lots of male foetuses. As males have a Y chromosome and females do not, a mother’s body may be more likely to recognise a male foetus than a female one as foreign and generate a strong immune response. Other research has shown that this response can strengthen with each subsequent male pregnancy. This may affect the way that the brain develops sexually.

So there you have it… I’ve always said older brothers had a lot to answer for

Terry Davis On US Misinterpretation Of “Ramirez Vs France”

TODAY TERRY DAVIS spoke at the Parliamentary Assembly Session and clarified some items relating to his work on Extraordinary Rendition within European member states. Specifically he clarified that in his opinion the so-called extraordinary renditions did take place in some Council of Europe member states, and that they are not just a theoretical threat to the rights protected by the European Convention on Human Rights

He went on to say that his inquiry shows that such violations could have happened in virtually all Council of Europe member states, because practically none of them has an adequate and effective legal protection, as they are required to do under the positive obligation to protect the rights guaranteed by the Convention.

Perhaps the most interesting quote however is in relation to the US interpretation of a 1996 decision by the COE in the Ramirez Vs France case as follows:-

“Throughout my inquiry I refrained from making any comments about the US involvement in the so-called extraordinary renditions because the United States of America is not a member state of the Council of Europe. But as Secretary General of the Council of Europe, I must react to the claims that the practice of extraordinary renditions was approved by the European Commission of Human Rights, which was a predecessor of our Court of Human Rights.

US officials have repeatedly misinterpreted the 1996 decision of this Council of Europe body in the case of Illich Sanchez Ramirez vs France. This man, better known as Carlos was indeed captured by French agents abroad, but he was not a case of “extraordinary rendition”. He did not disappear into thin air, and he did not end up in the legal limbo of Guantanamo or some other gulag. He was arrested on the basis of a valid arrest warrant, brought before a judge, had access to a lawyer and was given a fair trial. You do not need a law degree from Harvard to see that there is a world of difference between the experience of Carlos and the extraordinary rendition.”

Another Two US Soldiers Charged Over Iraqi Death

TWO US SOLDIERS have been charged over the shooting of an unarmed man near the Iraqi city of Ramadi. Specialist Nathan Lynn was charged with voluntary manslaughter, and both he and Sgt Milton Ortiz Jr will face charges of obstructing justice as a result.

The men are accused of placing a rifle next to the body of the dead Iraqi in an attempt to cover up what had really happened. The US Military is currently investigating several such incidents, the most recent of which I mentioned previously concerning a premeditated murder in the town of Hamdaniya. There have also been allegations and investigations into incidents at Haditha, Ishaqi and Tikrit. The Ishaqi investigation found that there had been “no misconduct” on behalf of the US troops.

The Pentagon say the men implicated in this latest incident will be transferred to a base in Baghdad, where they will be given access to lawyers and prepare to face so-called Article 32 hearings to decide whether or not they should face a court-martial.

I guess the US Military is desperate at this point to demonstrate it can control the forces on the ground in Iraq, before the situation descends into Vietnam-era problems. The real question is - are they too late? It remains to be seen just how widespread these kinds of incidents are.

Belgium To Tag All Children Under 12

ELECTRONIC ID CARDS for all children under 12 are to be introduced in Belgium. They will bear a code designed to allow parents of missing children to be traced instantly. This announcement came as Belgian police continued to search for two young girls, Stacey Lemmens, 7, and 10-year-old Nathalie Mahy, who vanished from outside a bar in the middle of the night, a fortnight ago, while their parents drank inside.

What exactly the two kids were doing ‘outside’ the bar while their parents were ‘inside’ downing a few beers is beyond me. I would have thought it was common sense not to let kids out of your sight in a situation like that, but what the hell do I know, right?

It is hoped that these ID cards, planned to be introduced from January 1st 2007 would offer a secure way of making sure a lost child can be reunited with his or her family as soon as possible. It won’t do anything to protect them from physical harm or immediate danger, but it might help police and parents track them down more efficiently.

I guess this is the first country to mandate electronic tagging of children, at least it’s the first I’m aware of - but feel free to correct me if I’m wrong. I know tagging has been used on convicted criminals and sex offenders in some jurisdictions, but this is a whole new thing I reckon.

It remains to be seen if this will have any effect on the statistics for child abduction and abuse.