Did SPEARHEAD silence more "Alien life" announcements?

"NASA: 'Mankind is about to discover extraterrestrial life,'" said a recent Guy Fawkes mask-wearing Anonymous spokesman in a recent video that was widely circulated since last week.

The revelations were (to Anonymous) inferred from comments made by NASA science chief Thomas Zurbuchen during a testimony he gave back in April to the U.S. House of Representatives' Committee on Science, Space, and Technology.

"Contrary to some reports, there's no pending announcement from NASA regarding extraterrestrial life," Zurbuchen said via Twitter, yesterday and later: "Are we alone in the universe? While we do not know yet, we have missions moving forward that may help answer that fundamental question."

During the original testimony Zurbuchen detailed progress NASA is making in the hunt for life in the cosmos, citing exoplanets spotted by the Kepler telescope, the discovery of hydrogen on Enceladus, and the possible detection of water-vapor on Europa. He said (NASA) "are on the verge of making one of the most profound, unprecedented discoveries in history," and Anonymous brought that to it's 2+2=5 conclusion.

Brigadier General "Whopper" Creedon, SPEARHEAD Assistant Commander - Intelligence and Information said that his organisation wasn't worried about the discovery of "Namby pamby microbiological thingies in water on moons orbiting distant planets" but only about "the panic caused by individuals or organisations attempting to communicate with sentient extra-terrestrials". The General denied assertions that SPEARHEAD had Dr. Zurbuchen change his stance and issue the statements that made his original testimony appear less consequential.

Source: Space.com, The Economic Times,

Remembering the late Adam West

Long after the much too dated Batman serials of the 1940's were forgotten, Lorenzo Semple, Jr., William Dozier and Howie Horwitz developed an action-comedy version of the caped crusader to Television screens and cast the great Adam West as Batman/Bruce Wayne. 

West's Batman was a camp, dancing and delivered cornier one-liners than Schwarzenegger or Caruso ever would, but there ware many things that remained true to the Bat-mythos such as his defining detective skills sadly neglected by later incarnations by comparison. The show was a product of its time and while it can't hold up for viewing today, our memories of it while younger are fond and that's a legacy that Adam West, who passed way on Friday should be very proud of.

West had many small roles outside of Batman, but he accepted that the character had typecast him, however he embraced it rather than being embittered and accepted his status as a pop-culture icon in the 1990's and beyond. West understood and embraced how camp and dated this take on the character looked in later years and seemed to relish in every parody and tongue in cheek reference throughout his career, but never derided it. His list of voice credits as an animated Batman is extensive and he also played The Grey Ghost on Batman: The Animated Series as well as voicing the characters of Thomas Wayne and the mayor of Gotham in other series. He also voiced a parody version of himself as the mayor of Quahog on Family Guy for the past 17 years.

West defined Batman for a generation. While many of those born in the mid-late '80's will only define Micheal Keaton, Kevin Conroy or Christian Bale as the true Batman, for those born slightly earlier it has been and will always be Adam West.

Game Over Man! Game Over! RIP Bill Paxton

Tomorrow we will wake up in a world knowing it's without Bill Paxton, one of the most recognised actors of some of the greatest movies of the 80's and 90's and a more recent star of Television.

You may not remember his appearance in The Terminator in 1984, or in Commando in 1985 but if you don't know his first iconic role of Colonial Marine Private Hudson who famously uttered "Game Over Man! Game Over!" in James Cameron's Aliens which earned him a Saturn Award then you probably shouldn't be even reading this page.

Paxton had many subsequent roles, he was Floyd "God" Dane, the sniper in Navy SEALS in 1990, Detective Jerry Lambert in Predator 2 (earning him a distinction shared with Lance Henrickson of facing a Terminator, Predator and Alien on screen), Morgan Earp in Tombstone, Bill "The Extreme" Harding in Twister and portrayed astronaut Fred Haise in Apollo 13 earning him a SAG award as part of the cast.

He also had roles in True Lies, Titanic, U-571 and Vertical Limit to name but some of many. More recently he appeared in 2 Guns, The Edge of Tomorrow and in 2015 he lent his voice and likeness to the Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare - Exo Zombies video game. Paxton had a long running role in TV with five seasons of HBO's Big Love and was nominated for an Emmy and a SAG award for his role as Randolph McCoy in Hatfields & McCoys. He most recently appeared in Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and was currently the lead in a TV adaptation of Training Day. 

Paxton died on Saturday from complications after heart surgery. He was just 61, but his body of work immortalises him for eternity. May he rest in peace.

RIP Richard Hatch

I was at DragonCon with a group of friends in Atlanta in 2011 and in a large hall where many stars of both large and small screens signed autographs and greeted fans. I spied a face I knew who appeared to be getting ready to pack up before going to dinner. There was no one near him at the time so we approached him quickly and I told him I just wanted to greet him and thank him for his work. He was very appreciative, but as soon as he noticed my accent he was most reluctant to let me go with just a greeting. He packed up and sat on the edge of his booth talking to us for about 10 minutes or so. He asked me about science fiction fandom in Ireland and was curious to know if we had any conventions ourselves - because he said he would've jumped at the chance to visit here. He came across as an intelligent and well informed person who was genuinely interested in meeting people and interested in what we had to say. 

The man was Richard Hatch and he was the face of Battlestar Galactica from the original to the modern series. He sadly passed away today at age 71. He will be missed.

Mattis to keep SPEARHEAD from POTUS

SecDef Mattis this week met with Gen. Dunford and the other Joint Chiefs of Staff [pictured] to discuss ongoing operations as well as future challenges that the Department of Defence is facing. He has directed reviews of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program as well as the Presidential Aircraft Recapitalization program. The reviews are commonplace to inform the SecDef of programmatic and budgetary decisions to make recommendations to POTUS regarding critical military capabilities.

What was not revealed to the media however is that Mattis also met privately with the Supreme Commander SPEARHEAD, General "Stomper" Santorno to discuss ongoing SPEARHEAD operations as well as fiscal concerns. In a significant deviation from standard protocol for a newly installed leader, SPEARHEAD did not hold a briefing with the newly inaugurated president last weekend to explain it's purpose. It is instead understood that SecDef Mattis, who was already aware of SPEARHEAD due to his former position as a U.S. Combatant Commander, has now recommended not revealing the existence of extra-terrestrial, paranormal or supernatural activity to the 45th President at all, citing grave security concerns. 

The new protocol will have SPEARHEAD communicate directly with SecDef Mattis, who will ask for presidential authority to sign off on operations under what he will call Military Action Against Non-White Non-Christian Foreigners programme, which does not exist but he is supremely confident the POTUS will sign just by reading the title and will have little interest in the specifics. This should allow SPEARHEAD to continue to function as it has been albeit for the first time without the explicit knowledge of a U.S. President.

Mattis - Day One!

General... er.. pardon, SecDef Mattis [still getting used to it] was smiling at the Pentagon in his first hours of office as a variety of fighters, bombers and UAVs engaged in 31-strike bombing run, which saw 25 strikes in Syria and six in Iraq. In Syria, ISIS units and artillery near the town of Bab were destroyed. ISIS forces in Raqqa, received heavy losses as a dozen units, nine positions, two IED factories and an ISIS HQ were also taken out. There was an additional strike on two ISIS controlled oil wells in Deir ez Zour.

But it wasn't all fun and [war]games for the Warrior Monk. In difference to the POTUS, the SecDef signalled strong support to NATO on his first day on the job, by personally calling three major US allies and confirming that the US had an "'unshakeable commitment to NATO."

As a 4-Star general, Mattis served as the NATO Supreme Allied Commander for Transformation and thus is a staunch supporter of the organisation. He phoned NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg as well as the UK's Secretary of State for Defence Sir Michael Fallon and Minister of National Defence Harjit Sajjan in Canada. Mattis emphasised the US commitment to NATO to the international partners despite POTUS not feeling as White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer put it: "as though it's doing what its mission was set up to do or that it's being particularly effective." Nevertheless the DOD stated that the SecDef "wanted to place the call on his first full day in office to reinforce the importance he places on the alliance."

Stoltenberg noted Mattis was NATO's SACT and therefore "knows the Alliance's value well." With Minister Sajjan the SecDef spoke about the importance of NORAD as well as NATO including a NATO battalion that will be deployed to Latvia along the NATO-Russia frontier. Fallon and Stoltenberg spoke with Mattis addressing some of the issues that POTUS had spoken about, including that NATO is ill-suited to tackle terrorism and that members do not spend enough on defense. Stoltenberg felt Mattis made him feel sure that POTUS will be fully committed to NATO and to the transatlantic partnership.

This week the SecDef will contact some of his other international counterparts and meet NATO partners in person next month during the Meeting of Defence Ministers in Brussels in what will possibly be his first trip abroad in his new position.

SECDHS Kelly!

There's no doubt in my mind that the 45th President was watching "A Few Good Men" when he formulated the idea to put Colonel Jessop on HIS border wall. After finding out Jessop wasn't real he settled for General John F. Kelly the former commander of SOUTHCOM who retired from the Marine Corps last year.

Gen. John Kelly, USMC in 2014

I have great admiration for Kelly, his battlefield leadership during the invasion of Iraq was iconic as his opinions. During the initial assault on Baghdad for example, Kelly [who not long before had received the first promotion to Brigadier General in a combat zone since the Korean war] was asked if considering the size of Saddam's forces and their vast supplies weapons if he would ever consider defeat. Kelly's archetypal response was, "Hell these are Marines. Men like them held Guadalcanal and took Iwo Jima. Baghdad ain't shit!"

As much as I admire Kelly, it would be fair to say that there are concerns that someone with a 40 year military career is the best choice for DHS which has been led primarily by legal and security experts. Security was indeed part of General Kelly's mission in SOUTHCOM, which is responsible for the security of the Panama Canal and military operations in South America, but I feel there are nuanced differences here that would be cause for concern. 

The border between North and South Korea for example is presided over in part by the U.S. military for obvious reasons - but it would be worrying if the intention is to establish something in any way similar between the U.S. and Mexico. The military deals with security in vastly different ways to the way the legal profession and law enforcement deal with civilian security and the fact that Kelly was a 4-star military commander up to a year ago would be my concern, but my only concern.

Thankfully Kelly does not appear convinced that such a measure as a wall will be successful “a physical barrier in and of itself will not do the job’’ he said during his hearing and indicated that  technology such as drones and sensors would also be needed to secure the border.

All said, I wish every success to Department of Homeland Security Secretary John F. Kelly on his new appointment.

SecDef Mattis!

Amongst all the dubious appointments made by the 45th POTUS there was a single nominee that bizarrely made absolutely perfect sense - retired United States Marine Corps General James Norman Mattis to be the 26th Secretary of Defense.

Mattis is both a Marine's Marine and a general's general. Some in our community were worried that he didn't even own civilian clothes and still wore the uniform after retirement but when he showed up to meet the president elect, those ideas were assuaged to the degree that it's likely he only wears uniform items under his mufti.

Mattis has an almost cult following in the USMC and the military in general. His name is spoken alongside Marine leaders John A. Lejeune, Smedley Butler and "Chesty" Puller not so much for raw heroism or transformation but for being a keen motivator as well as demonstrating that intellect is just as formidable a weapon as a rifle when used by someone with the wisdom to know when to use which weapon. "Engage your brain before you engage your weapon," he is quoted as saying.

But Mattis is quoted for many many other things. The media dubbed him "Mad Dog" due to the perceived controversial opinions, stories and comment attributed to him over the years including an admission that he loved killing - "It’s fun to shoot some people.", but often the essence of the quote is truncated leaving out: "You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap women around for five years because they didn’t wear a veil. You know, guys like that ain’t got no manhood left anyway. So it’s a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them," which obviously makes him a feminist standing up for women's rights, albeit by shooting people but the ends justify the means making it OK.

Rather the "Warrior Monk" than a "Mad Dog", Mattis' knowledge of military doctrine and history is formidable with a personal library once holding some 7000 volumes. He will think on an issue before acting and isn't afraid to stand up to his superiors - already in fact there were reports that the new SecDef and the new POTUS have different views on NATO and it will be interesting to see the resulting action from that. Additionally Mattis regards the intelligence services on equal footing with the military, even indicating so in his very first message to his department earlier following being sworn in:

Change is certainly upon us, but as least this is proof that it won't all be bad.

Bye Obama!

I'll be the first to say I wasn't in this guy's corner at the beginning. But by the time 2012 rolled around and the best that was stacked against him was Mitt Romney, I was.

Colonel "Whopper" Creedon, USMC and Senator Barack Obama in 2008.

Good luck for the future Mr. President and thank you for being Commander in Chief. I may not have always agreed with you but I always respected you.

Fuck You 2016!

With the single exception of the death of dictator Fidel Castro, we say good riddance to a truly awful year. Brexit, that Gorilla that got shot in the zoo, the Shawshank tree fell down, toddler killed by Disney World Alligator, Jo Cox and Andrei Karlov's murders, football child sex abuse, war continues in Syria, the Zika virus, terrorist attacks in Brussels, Nice, Berlin, Normandy, Istanbul, Florida, the U.S. election and worst of all: Brangelina is no more.

But more than anything, this will remembered as a year of death and sorrow for all:

Colonel Abrams, 67, American musician ("Trapped")
Sir Ken Adam, 95, German-born British Oscar wining production designer (Dr. Strangelove, James Bond)
Joe Alaskey, 63, American voice actor (Looney Tunes)
Jean Alexander, 90, English actress (Hilda Ogden on Coronation Street)

Muhammad Ali, 74, American boxer, Olympic gold medallist, three-time world heavyweight champion [left]

Admiral of the Fleet Sir Edward Beckwith Ashmore, GCB, DSC, 96, British Royal Navy officer, First Sea Lord (1974–1977)

Kenny Baker, 81, British actor (R2D2 in the Star Wars franchise)
Erik Bauersfeld, 93, American voice actor (Admiral Ackbar in the Star Wars franchise) [right]
Boutros Boutros-Ghali, 93, Egyptian politician and diplomat, Secretary-General of the United Nations (1992–1996)

David Bowie, 69, English singer-songwriter, musician ("Space Oddity", "Starman"), and actor (Labyrinth, The Prestige)

Pete Burns, 57, English singer-songwriter ("You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)")
 

PFC Hector A. Cafferata, Jr., USMC, 86, American marine, Medal of Honor recipient
Robert Carrickford, 88, Irish actor (The Irish R.M., Glenroe)
Leonard Cohen, 82, Canadian singer-songwriter ("Hallelujah")
Ronnie Corbett, 85, British comedian and actor (The Two Ronnies, Sorry!)

 
Paul Daniels, 77, British magician (The Paul Daniels Magic Show)

Steve Dillon, 54, English comic book artist (Preacher, The Punisher, Judge Dredd), 

Jerry Doyle, 60, American talk show host and actor (Babylon 5), founder of EpicTimes [left]
Larry Drake, 67, American Emmy winning actor (L.A. Law, Darkman, Star Trek: Voyager "Critical Care") 

Ronnie Claire Edwards, 83, American actress (Corabeth Godsey on The Waltons, Talur in Star Trek: The Next Generation "Thine Own Self")

Wayne England, English artist (Magic: The Gathering)
SGT Santiago J. Erevia, US Army, 69, American soldier, Medal of Honor recipient

 

Carrie Fisher, 60, American actress and icon (Princess Leia in the Star Wars franchise), novelist and screenwriter (Postcards from the Edge) [right]

Rob Ford, 46, foul-mouthed and controversial Canadian politician, Mayor of Toronto (2010–2014)

Glenn Frey, 67, American songwriter, musician (Eagles) and actor (Jerry Maguire)

Brad Fuller, 62, American video game composer (Tetris), Director of Engineering for Atari 

Zsa Zsa Gabor, 99, Hungarian-born American actress and socialite

George Gaynes, 98, Finnish-born American actor (Commandant Lassard in the Police Academy franchise)
RADM Paul T. Gillcrist, 87, American Naval officer (Consultant on JAG)

Gary Glasberg, 50, American television producer and writer (NCIS)
Ron Glass, 71, American actor (Firefly)

Col John Glenn, USMC, 95, American marine and astronaut (Mercury-Atlas 6) and politician, U.S. Senator from Ohio [left]

 
Dan Haggerty, 74, American actor (The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams)
Guy Hamilton, 93, French-born British film director (James Bond, Battle of Britain)
Florence Henderson, 82, American actress (The Brady Bunch)

Drewe Henley, 75, British actor (Red Leader in Star Wars)
Gil Hill, 84, American police officer, actor (Inspector Todd in the Beverly Hills Cop franchise)
John Hostetter, 69, American actor (Bazooka in G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero, Heartbreak Ridge)

Ken Howard, 71, American actor (Rambo, Clear and Present Danger, 30 Rock)

David Huddleston, 85, American actor (The Big Lebowski, Blazing Saddles)
Gary Hutzel, 60, American visual effects supervisor (Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica)

 

Barry Jenner, 75, American actor (Admiral Ross in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine) [right]

Saki Kaskas, 45, Greek video game music composer (Need for Speed, Sleeping Dogs, Mass Effect 2)

Frank Kelly, 77, Irish actor (Fr. Jack in Father Ted)
George Kennedy, 91, American Oscar winning actor (The Naked Gun, Airport)

Burt Kwouk, 85, British actor (Cato in The Pink Panther franchise)

 
Melvin Laird, 94, American politician and writer, Secretary of Defense (1969–1973)
Flt Lt Keith Lawrence, DFC, 96, New Zealand-born British RAF officer during World War II, surviving member of "The Few"
Yevgeni Lazarev, 79, Russian-American actor (Iron Man 2, The Sum of All Fears, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare)

Michael Leader, 78, British actor (believed to be the Stormtrooper who walked into a door in Star Wars)
Richard Libertini, 82, American Actor, (Akorem Laan in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine "Accession", Rabbi in Lethal Weapon 4)
GEN William J. Livsey, US Army, 85, American army officer. Commander in Chief of United Nations Command/Commander in Chief, ROK/U.S. Combined Forces Command/Commander, United States Forces Korea/Commanding General, Eighth United States Army

 

P. J. Mara, 73, Irish public affairs consultant, Senator (1977–1981, 1982–1983) [left]
Don Marshall, 80, American actor (Lt. Boma in Star Trek "The Galileo Seven")
Michael Massee, 64, American actor (The Crow, 24, The Amazing Spider-Man)

George Michael, 53, British singer (Wham!) 

Edgar Mitchell, 85, American astronaut (Apollo 14)

Alethea McGrath, 95, Australian actress (Jocasta Nu in Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones)
Michu Meszaros, 76, Hungarian-born American actor (ALF)
Ivan Mikoyan, 89, Russian aircraft designer (Mikoyan MiG-29)

Rick Parfitt, 68, British singer, songwriter and guitarist (Status Quo)
MSgt Richard A. Pittman, USMC,  71, American Marine, recipient of the Medal of Honor
Jon Polito, 65, American actor (Modern Family, The Rocketeer, DC Comics IPs voice actor)
Prince, 57, American musician, songwriter ("Purple Rain", "Little Red Corvette") 

Nancy Reagan, 94, American First Lady (1981–1989) [right]

Debbie Reynolds, 84, American actress (Singin' in the Rain)
Alan Rickman, 69, English actor (Die Hard, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves)
Doris Roberts, 90, American actress (Remington Steele)

Major Erich Rudorffer, 98, German Luftwaffe fighter ace during World War II. 222 aerial victories. Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords

Christopher Rush, 50, American illustrator (Magic: The Gathering)
Paul Ryan, 66, American comic artist (Fantastic Four, Iron Man: The Dragon Seed Saga)

 
Andrew Sachs, 86, German-born British actor (Fawlty Towers)
Joe Santos, 84, Actor (The Rockford Files)
Antonin Scalia, 79, American judge, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court

William Schallert, 93, American actor (Star Trek "The Trouble with Tribbles")

Garry Shandling, 66, American comedian, actor and writer (The Larry Sanders Show, Iron Man 2) [left]

Gen William Y. Smith, USAF, 90, American air force general. Chief of Staff, Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (COFS SHAPE) from 1979 to 1981
David Spielberg, 77, American actor (Cmdr. Calvin "Hutch" Hutchinson in Star Trek: The Next Generation "Starship Mine)
Trevor Steedman, 62, British actor and stuntman (Private Wierzbowski in Aliens)
Peter Sumner, 74, Australian actor (Lt. Pol Treidum in Star Wars)

 
Alan Thicke, 69, Canadian actor and talk show host
Gareth Thomas, 71, Welsh actor (Blake's 7)
Ron Thornton, 59, Visual Effects Artist (Star Trek franchise, Babylon 5)
Ray Tomlinson, 74, American computer programmer, invented email and assigned use of @ sign

 
Peter Vaughan, 93, British actor (Game of Thrones)

Robert Vaughn, 83, American actor (The Man from U.N.C.L.E., The Magnificent Seven, The A-Team) [right]
GEN John William Vessey Jr., USA, 94, American military officer, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (1982–1985)
Abe Vigoda, 94, American actor (The Godfather, Batman: Mask of the Phantasm)

 
Maj. John Keith Wells, 94, Navy Cross, American Marine platoon commander (2nd Battalion 28th Marines).
Kit West, 79, British Oscar winning special effects artist (Return of the Jedi, Raiders of the Lost Ark)

General Sir Peter John Frederick Whiteley, GCB, OBE, DL, 95, was a British Royal Marines officer. Commandant General Royal Marines, Commander-in-Chief Allied Forces Northern Europe
Gene Wilder, 83, American actor (Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, Blazing Saddles)

Sir Terry Wogan, 77, Irish-British broadcaster

 

Anton Yelchin, 27, Soviet-born American actor (Star Trek, Green Room) [left]

and let us hope 2017 will be better.

RIP Colonel Abrams

It's with great regret that I must report the death of a fellow '80's veteran who answered the call to wear a uniform. Colonel Abrams, a true pioneer of house and dance music in the 1980s, has died at the age of 67.

The Colonel scored his biggest hit in 1985 with the club single "Trapped," which reached number three in the UK. Although Abrams had no American pop hits through his career, he had a number of entries on the US Hot Dance Club Play chart in the 1980s and 1990s, including four entries that hit number one.

It was reported last year that the Colonel had been homeless and suffered from diabetes.

May he rest in peace.

SPEARHEAD shuts down NASA's reveal

NASA published a somewhat cryptic message, Tuesday, stating that there is “surprising activity” on Europa – the most well known of Jupiter’s 67 moons and it will be holding a teleconference at 14:00 EDT, 19:00 BST Monday, Sept. 26, to present new findings from images captured by the agency’s Hubble Space Telescope of the icy moon.

NASA has been analysing data from its Hubble Space Telescope which is currently prowling the universe and astronomers will present results from a unique Europa observing campaign that resulted in surprising evidence of activity there and it was widely reported that the existence of extra-terrestrial life would be revealed next Monday.

However after a meeting Wednesday morning between the NASA Director Charles Bolden [MajGen USMC Ret.] and Brigadier General "Whopper" Creedon of SPEARHEAD, NASA were quick to tweet: "Monday, we'll announce new findings from Jupiter's moon Europa. Spoiler alert: NOT aliens." 

So it appears SPEARHEAD has silenced NASA's true reasoning for the teleconference and will reduce them instead to discussing subsurface ocean microbes. Europa's ocean is believed to be salty, and warmed by powerful tidal forces generated by Jupiter's gravity so that it remains unfrozen. Most scientists agree that where there is water, it massively increases the chances of finding life.

Source: NASA

The election of the 45th U.S. President

The citizens of the United States will go to the polls in November to vote for a new leader of the free world and commander in chief of the worlds strongest military. This election guarantees a new face in the role as Barack Obama will conclude his terms in office in January 2017.

From only a handful of potential Democratic candidates and an almost comical amount of Republican candidates, the race finally narrowed earlier in the summer to a single candidate in each camp.

For the Democrats, Former First Lady, Senator and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, a person who seems to struggle with the issue of multiple E-mail accounts.

And for the Republicans; Chairman and President of the Trump Organisation Donald Trump, a man who once declared that attending the New York Military Academy [an expensive prep school where his parents had sent him to finish the 8th Grade and correct poor behaviour] gave him “more training militarily than a lot of the guys that go into the military.”

If elected, Clinton would be the first female U.S. President or Trump would become is the oldest person elected to the office of the presidency.

At this point I would voice 'apprehension' at having to be the person responsible for explaining SPEARHEAD's work and the truth about our existence to either of them once they're sworn in in January.

"Alien" signal is terrestrial

The impetuous scientists at SETI panicked the world earlier in the week with tall tales of a mysterious signal that they all but 100% confirmed was coming from a highly advanced extra terrestrial civilisation.

Apparently a group of Russian astronomers using the RATAN-600 radio telescope in Zelenchukskaya, at the northern foot of the Caucasus Mountains, discovered the mysterious signal in 2015 from HD 164595, a star system 94 light-years away but only recently sent it to SETI for analysis and confirmation.

SETI blew it's load and swung the Allen Telescope Array (ATA) a system of radio dishes in Northern California, in the direction of HD 164595 on August 28 and has found nothing, nada, zip etc.

Brigadier General "Whopper" Creedon of SPEARHEAD speaking during a curiously timed 'inspection' of the SPEARHEAD facility at the Baikonur Cosmodrome said: "... it's bad enough that SETI recklessly send signals deliberately into space, without causing mass panic by erroneously informing us that we got some sort of reply."

A statement from the Special Astrophysical Observatory of the Russian Academy of Sciences said last night: "...an interesting radio signal at a wavelength of 2.7 cm was detected in the direction of one of the objects (star system HD164595 in Hercules) in 2015. Subsequent processing and analysis of the signal revealed its most probable terrestrial origin... It can be said with confidence that no sought-for signal has been detected yet."

Sources: SETI, Special Astrophysical Observatory of the Russian Academy of Sciences

“By Grabthar’s hammer, by the Sons of Warvan, you shall be avenged!” – RIP Alan Rickman

The death has sadly occurred of London-born actor Alan Rickman at 69 due to cancer. Rickman was a Tony Award nominated member of the Royal Shakespeare Company who achieved significant notoriety for his silver screen acting performances winning Golden Globe, BAFTA and SAG awards.

He first found significant fame as Hans Gruber, nemesis to Bruce Willis’ John McClane in the 1988 classic Die Hard. Rickman's Gruber was an evil and sardonic foil to to Willis' wisecracking hero cop and the character was ranked by the AFI as the 46th best villain in film history. Rickman continued to master a portrayal of evil by becoming the Sherriff of Nottingham in the 1991 film Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves delivering perhaps the most over the top performance of his career. He objected to being constantly referred to a villain up to his later years citing that he hadn't actually played one since the Sheriff.

Rickman was someone as much at home with serious drama as he was with comedy delivering dozens of roles since the 90's. In 1996 he delivered a well acted albeit almost entirely inaccurate portrayal of Éamon de Valera in Neil Jordan's Micheal Collins which loosely depicted the events surrounding Ireland's struggle for independence from Britain. Later in 1999 he had comedic roles - as The Metatron in Kevin Smith's Dogma and a somewhat self-parodying role as the fictional method actor Alexander Dane who in turn portrayed the alien Dr. Lazarus on a fictional TV show Galaxy Quest.

In the 2000's Rickman adopted his most most common role and for which he acquired legions of fans; during the 10 year period of the Harry Potter film adaptations from 2001 to 2011. Rickman played the somewhat enigmatic Prof. Severus Snape in eight Harry Potter adventures for which his performance garnered universal praise.

Rickman will appear in and lends his voice to two projects which have yet to be released. Gavin Hood's suspense drama Eye in the Sky due for release in April and he most recently completed voice work for a reprisal of the character Absolem, the Caterpillar in Through the Looking Glass the sequel to the 2010 movie Alice in Wonderland. 

May he rest in peace.

And now we say goodbye to 2015. A year that redefined marriage as The Supreme Court of the US makes same-sex marriage legal while in Ireland a marriage equality referendum is passed in a landslide victory that hammers yet another nail in the coffin against the most archaic and outdated form of the Catholic establishment which will soon fade into history.

It was also a year of terror attacks felt notably in Kenya and France, of migrant swarms, Iran's nuke deal, Hilary's E-mail, an Earthquake in Nepal and Volkswagen's lies. Bruce becomes Caitlyn, Trump dominates Election 2016, Germanwings 9525, Kogalymavia 9268, the U.S. shakes the hand of Cuba and Ramadi is retaken.

The FCC reclassified retail broadband Internet service as a telecommunications service, a victory for Net Neutrality for now. New Horizon flies by Pluto, Birdman wins Oscars but The Force Awakens wins all.

Many greats are lost including Harve Bennett at 84, producer and writer, the man who saved Star Trek. Leonard Nimoy, 83, actor and director best known for his portrayal of Mr. Spock in many incarnations of Star Trek. Herb Trimpe at 75, a comic book artist who visualised The Incredible Hulk and G.I. Joe and co-created Wolverine. Sir Christopher Lee at 93 the British actor known as Dracula, Saruman and Count Dooku. And most sadly James Horner, untimely at 61, Oscar-winning composer of musical scores for "Titanic", "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan", "Aliens" and "Apollo 13".

We also remember others we have lost this year.

Hugh Ambrose, 48, American historian and author ("The Pacific")

Gen. Earl E. Anderson USMC, 96, American Marine Corps general who at 53 became the youngest active duty Marine to be promoted to the rank of 4-star general in the history of the USMC

Howard A. Anderson, Jr., 95, American visual effects artist ("Star Trek")

Murphy Anderson, 89, American comic book artist (Superman, Green Lantern), creator of Zatanna

Sir Michael Beetham GCB, CBE, DFC, AFC, DL, 92, British marshal of the air force, Chief of the Air Staff (1977–1982)

Theodore Bikel, 91, Austrian-born American actor (Sergey Rozhenko "Star Trek: The Next Generation")

Admiral Sir John Jeremy Black, GBE, KCB, DSO, captain of the HMS Invincible during the Falklands War

General Sir Edward Burgess KCB, OBE, 87, British army general, Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe (1984–1987)

Wesley Burrowes, 85, Irish playwright ("Glenroe")

George Cole, 90, English actor (Arthur Daly "Minder")

George Coe, 86, American actor ("Star Trek: The Next Generation - "First Contact"") Voice Actor (Wheeljack "Transformers: Dark of the Moon" / Doctor Godera "Star Wars: The Old Republic" / various "The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim" and "Guild Wars 2") and original SNL cast member.

Douglas S. Cook, 56, American screenwriter ("The Rock")

Yvonne Craig, 78, American actress ("Batman", "Star Trek") 

Derek Davis, 67, Irish broadcaster

Jim Diamond, 64, Scottish singer-songwriter ("I Should Have Known Better")

Rick Ducommun, 62, Canadian actor ("The 'Burbs", "Die Hard", "The Hunt for Red October")

Brett Ewins, 59, British comic book artist (Judge Dredd, 2000 AD)

Chuck Forsberg, 71, American computer programmer, developer of ZMODEM

Col. James L. Fowler USMC, 84, American military veteran, founded the Marine Corps Marathon

Brian Friel, 86, Irish dramatist ("Philadelphia, Here I Come!", "Dancing at Lughnasa")

Gen. John Galvin U.S. Army, 86, American army general, Supreme Allied Commander Europe (1987–1992)

Alan Howard, 77, English actor (Sauron [The Lord of the Rings])

Maurice Hurley, 75, American television writer and producer ("Star Trek: The Next Generation", "Miami Vice")

Bruce Hyde, 74, American actor (Lieutenant Kevin T. Riley ["Star Trek"])

Sgt. Einar H. Ingman, Jr. U.S. Army, 85, Medal of Honor recipient (Korean War)

George Clayton Johnson, 86, American writer ("Logan's Run", "The Twilight Zone", "Star Trek", "Kung Fu")

B.B. King, American blues singer, guitarist, songwriter, and record producer

Alan Kupperberg, 62, American comic book artist (Robocop #1, Transformers, Star Wars, Iron Man) 

Joseph Lechleider, 82, American, inventor of digital subscriber line (DSL) technology

Grace Lee Whitney, 85, American actress (Yeoman Janice Rand ["Star Trek"])

Lemmy, 70, English rock musician (Motörhead)

Robert Loggia, 85, American actor ("Mancuso: FBI", "Independence Day")

Mick Lynch, Irish indie rock singer (Stump, Bernard)

Don Mankiewicz, 93, American screenwriter ("Star Trek" episode "Court Martial")

Patrick Macnee, 93, English-American actor ("The Avengers", "A View to a Kill")

Bob Minkler, 78, American sound mixer ("Star Wars", "Tron")

Warren Murphy, 81, American author and screenwriter ("Lethal Weapon 2")

John Forbes Nash, Jr., 86, American mathematician (subject of "A Beautiful Mind")

Lt.Gen. William O'Callaghan (DSM), 91, Irish army officer,  Force Commander (United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon

Maureen O'Hara, 95, Irish-American actress and singer ("The Quiet Man")

Bill O'Herlihy, 76, Irish sports broadcaster 

Jerry Parr, 85, American Secret Service agent, extricated Ronald Reagan during assassination attempt,

Roddy Piper, 61, Canadian professional wrestler and actor ("They Live")

Wayne Rogers, 82, American actor ("M*A*S*H")

Pvt. George T. Sakato U.S. Army, 94, American soldier, Medal of Honor recipient

Lt.Col. Edward Saylor USAF, 94, American World War II veteran, member of Doolittle's Raiders.

Omar Sharif, 83, Egyptian actor ("Lawrence of Arabia", "Doctor Zhivago")

Roger Slifer, 60, American comic book author (Co-creator - Lobo) and Animation writer ("G.I. Joe Extreme" / "Transformers")

John Stephenson, 91, American voice actor (Kup, Alpha Trion ["Transformers"] / Hawk, General Flagg, General Franks ["G.I. Joe"]),

Percy Sledge, 74, American R&B, soul, gospel, and traditional pop singer.

Rod Taylor, 84, Australian actor ("Inglourious Basterds", "The Birds")

Nigel Terry, 69, British actor ("Excalibur", "Troy")

Fred Thompson, 73, American politician and actor ("Die Hard 2", "Law & Order", "The Hunt for Red October"), U.S. Senator from Tennessee (1994–2003)

Tom Towles, 65, American actor ("Miami Vice", "The Rock", "Star Trek: Voyager")

Mary Ellen Trainor, 62, American actress ("Lethal Weapon", "Die Hard")

Francis Tsai, 48, American comic book, film and video game concept artist (Dungeons & Dragons, Magic: The Gathering, Spider-Man, TMNT, Myst 3)

Dick Van Patten, 86, American actor ("Spaceballs", "Robin Hood: Men in Tights")

Daniel von Bargen, 64, American actor ("Shaft", "The General's Daughter", G.I. Jane")

Jason Wingreen, 95, American actor ("Star Trek") and voice actor (Boba Fett - "The Empire Strikes Back")

Bernard Williams, 72, British film producer ("Daredevil", "Flash Gordon")

Christopher Wood, 79, English novelist and screenwriter ("Moonraker", "The Spy Who Loved Me")

Robert Z'Dar, 64, American film actor and producer ("Maniac Cop", "Tango & Cash")

May they rest in peace.

And now 

H A P P Y  2 0 1 6

RIP General William Grey, USMC

The death has occurred of former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General William Grey [Ret.] U.S. Marine Corps. General Grey famously served as CJCOS during a particular overt attack on the planet from extra terrestrial forces in 1996.

General Grey co-ordinated Air, Ground and even Space assaults against the Extra Terrestrial adversary and famously issued the command: "Get on the wire and inform the squadron around the world. Tell them how to bring those sons of bitches down!"

General Grey's awards included The Navy Cross, The Defense Distinguished Service Medal, The Navy and Marine Corps Distinguished Service Medal, The Silver Star [x2], The Navy and Marine Corps Medal, The Bronze Star [with combat 'V'] and campaign awards for Vietnam and Southwest Asia.

After his retirement General Grey was appointed as a senior military consultant to UNETIDA, the United Nations Extra Terrestrial Invasion Defence Agency [now SPEARHEAD] until 2001 when he made his retirement permanent.

* * * * *

Sadly veteran character actor Robert Loggia, former U.S. Army Lieutenant and star of Mancuso F.B.I. with roles in Scarface, Big, Independence Day and Jagged Edge for which he was Oscar nominated has died at 95. May he rest in peace.

Buyer Beware

Today a Philippine court sentenced Lance Cpl. Joseph Scott Pemberton U.S.M.C., of New Bedford, Ma. to 6-12 years in jail for the Oct 2014 homicide of a transgender Filipino sex-worker Jennifer Laude by first strangling and then dunking her head into a toilet bowl in a hotel after discovering her deception.

Judge Roline Ginez-Jabalde ordered Pemberton jailed at the New Bilibid Prison, a national penitentiary in Muntinlupa. A 1998 Visiting Forces Agreement allows U.S. forces to conduct military exercises in the Philippines, states the country can prosecute U.S. service members, but that the U.S. has custody over them "from the commission of the offense until completion of all judicial proceedings." 

However a 2009 Philippine Supreme Court decision ruled that convicted U.S. personnel must serve their sentences in the Philippines. Last year as a compromise the U.S. agreed to have the Lance Corporal detained in a compound at Philippine military headquarters in Quezon City guarded by U.S. Marines.

I have given "the talk" to grunts and junior officers under my command many times. "Watch out for the Bennyboys people! If your swapping spit with Daisy and you reach down and find out Daisy has a stem, that is a Bennyboy!". I'm really hoping that this talk is not being dismissed due to 'Obamaifcation' of the U.S. military - you know what I mean, and grunts are still warned about Bennyboys, Billyboys, Baklas or whatever else those folks are called now.

The killing has sparked anger in the Philippines, reigniting calls by lefties and nationalists for an end to a U.S. military presence in the country at a time when America is reasserting its dominance in Asia and the last thing that's needed is resistance to a U.S. military presence because some goddamn fool didn't listen to the lecture, got angry and did something stupid and is now not staying at the Hilton for the next few years. Understood?

Semper Fi

VerTecX21 launches new website and announces "Project: Sicarius"

 

VerTecX21 returned to the Internet in earnest with the launch of an advanced Google-powered website boasting several times the content of it's previous iteration including updated historical content and video presentations of it's projects. Speculation had been mounting in recent weeks when the original VerTecX21 website, not updated since 2008, suddenly went dark and was replaced with an updated page announcing a redesign and new operational links to a VerTecX21 Blog and a VerTecX21 Twitter account.

VerTecX21 also announced Project: Sicarius, the latest machine build to be constructed at VerTecX21, due to come online in the latter half of September. Project: Sicarius' specifications include:

• a 6th generation Core i7 "Skylake" 6700K 4.0 GHz processor
• an MSI Geforce GTX 980Ti 6GB graphics card
• 16GB of Corsair 3000MHz DDR4 RAM
• a Samsung SM951 256GB M.2 PCI-e 3.0 x 4 NVMe SSD

The machine is expected to power an Acer Predator 4k2k XB280HK 28” G-Sync Widscreen LED display with an obscenely high resolution of 3840x2160 classing the unit as an Ultra High Definition [UHD] 4K device ahead of the format becoming mainstream.

For full information please use the following:

Email: vertecx21(at)gmail.com
Web: www.vertecx21.com
Blog: http://vertecx21.blogspot.ie/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/VerTecX21

 

Source: VerTecX21

Whopper's Bunker: Tenth Anniversary

If someone had said to me when I started this, that 10 years from now I'd still be writing for it, part of me would be somewhat skeptical. But as I now look back over the past decade I see the changing face of technology and social media in particular and I also see how much things have not changed.

The rise of Twitter, Facebook, Youtube and whatever those damn kids flock to nowadays have all but replaced the need for blogs because tech like RSS and Atom feeds are all but gone so traffic is not drawn to them as much as before. Unless ever faithful readers deliberately return via url, bookmark or subscribe to update technology, I've observed minimal traffic unless a random keyword search scores a hit.

Thankfully blogs still appear in Google searches when searching for something - anything. Take this for example: Frank Castle Becomes Captain America!? from March 2007 is my most hit post even to this day, for whatever reason is thrown into Google [and the one Bing user in Redmond] which manages to grab it. Either people are throwing in word combos or doing Punisher and Captain America searches or something but it's always bizarre to me that this post keeps showing up.

I considered for a number of years recently that this anomaly was far more than I was prepared to admit. Was there a more spiritual or metaphysical connection between me and this post? It could easily be argued by long-term readers that I embody many of the traits of both characters, Captain America's sense of duty, loyalty, honour and patriotism with The Punisher's passion, sense of justice, necessary brutality and finality. It took a while but I later dismissed this as a load of bollocks.

I regret that posts can't be as frequent as before but there are still many dangers to the planet that must come to light, news of various levels of import, posts to honour those who have significantly affected my life and now passed on and of course ramblings that I need to get off my chest from time to time, so the blog will remain operational.

Thank you for visiting at some point over the past decade and see you in the next.

Brigadier General "Whopper" Creedon,

09/09/15

Star Wars returns to The Skelligs and arrives a day early!

Despite the protestations of airy fairy environmentalists and ignorant "journalists" like that gobhshite Fintan O'Toole, Arts Minster Heather Humphreys has granted permission for Ryan "Looper" Johnson to film Star Wars Episode VIII for two to four days as J.J. Abrams did for Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

The latter film's release date has now been brought forward to December 17th!

Humphreys assured the bleeding-heart brigade [seemingly more worried more about the Skelligs heritage site and wildlife than they seemed to be about the Temple of Bel UNESCO site that ISIS blew up last week in Syria] that:

    "Those attempting to turn this into a negative story seem to be completely overlooking the fact that up to 180 people visit the island on any given day. In contrast, for the short duration of filming being proposed, peak activity levels will involve about 100 people, under strict supervision and with extensive ecological and biodiversity safeguards in place."

Now that the Skelligs will be featured in two new episodes of the saga, one of which will be seen this Christmas it's likely that visitor numbers will increase which is only a good thing for the area.

Source: The Journal

SPEARHEAD denounces Alien Crab and Dark Lady

"Time wasting science-fiction nerd and tinfoil-hat conspiracy-theory nonsense" is what Brigadier General "Whopper" Creedon, SPEARHEAD Assistant Commander for Intelligence and Information denounced the latest claims from the "lunatic fringe of Internet trawlers".

The General was describing new claims that have surfaced online concerning the latest Mars Curiosity photos which show a 'Space Crab' or 'Alien Face-Hugger' crawling out of a crevice and another shows a 'Dark Clothed woman' standing on a perch looking out over the sea of sand on the red planet.

The Dark Woman, whom some have even claimed is holding a weapon!

The Director of the SETI research centre Seth Shostak puts these claims down to cases of pareidolia, a form of apophenia, which is when people see patterns in random stimuli like faces in clouds. "Recognising a crab in a landscape filled with wind-weathered rocks is no more surprising - nor more significant - than seeing a winking face in a semi-colon followed by a parenthesis. ;)" he said.

It's coming to get you!!!

Scott C Waring, editor of UFO Sightings Daily, said: "It may be a crab-like animal, or it also may be a plant. "It really doesn't matter. The significance of this is that it shows signs that it is alive." 

"If you stare at my face long enough you'll probably believe I'm some kind of godamn alien freak too" added General Creedon diplomatically in a telephone interview. "We don't have time for this, these nutballs see all sorts of crazy shit in the photos, eggs, squrrels, numbers, pyramids and my personal favourite 'fake sand' - yes you heard me - a claim that someone put fake sand on Mars" before he hung up.

Source: NASA, The Daily Mail

Please switch off your phones

As an officer and a gentleman - both an educated and properly evolved life-form [mostly], I've always been fascinated by the predilection of some of society's lowest common denominators using their mobile phone devices in environments where it's obvious to anyone with half a fucking braincell it's not acceptable, like the cinema, in church or during educational instruction.

Like Benedict Cumberbatch, I've been on film a few times. You screw up you get to do it again until the director is happy but I doubt I'll ever understand how fundamentally annoying it is to be on stage, where no one yells 'cut', in front of hundreds of people delivering Shakespeare's awkwardly written prose from memory and having to contend with some inconsiderate arsehole beaming the metaphorical equivalent of the Death Star's laser into your eye.

Cumberbatch is currently starring in a production of Hamlet at London's Barbican theatre and outside the stage door after Saturday night's show addressed the ongoing crisis surrounding patron's inability to behave like proper human beings at the theatre. In his trademark polite British fashion he asked everyone to share "the shit out of this" short speech - and I'm delighted to do so.

Milley, Richardson and Neller confirmed

General Mark Milley, Lieutenant General Robert Neller and Admiral John Richardson have been confirmed as the chief of staff of the Army, commandant of the Marine Corps, and chief of Naval Operations respectively.

[L to R] Gen Milley, LtGen Neller and Adm Richardson

Gen Milley and Adm Richardson replace General Ray Odierno and Admiral Jonathan Greenert who are retiring. Gen Neller will replace General Joseph Dunford who also has been confirmed as the next Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Of Milley, Neller and Richardson SecDef Ash Carter said: "Each is a proven leader with decades of operational experience. Our nation is stronger for their service, and the president and I will continue to benefit from their extensive expertise and strategic counsel in their new roles."

Photos: Harsh weather survival training, Galtee Mountains, Wednesday August 5th 2015