cyber/space\war ♆☀☄ from mediamonarchy.com

stealth tech: pentagon still at it - what haven't they told us?

noreply@blogger.com (Xnihilator) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 18:47:00 PST

Univ. of Texas - Austin researchers claim proof in principle "...that so-called plasmonic meta-materials can achieve a cloaking effect," reports The Telegraph. Stealth tech is a given military pursuit with a long history. The tragedy suffered by the crew of USS Eldridge in 1943, was an experiment in "cloaking" gone horribly awry. A 5 min. video provides an excellent synopsis of Philadelphia Experiment. World War II was still on and eternal search for an edge brought unexpected results. The Philadelphia Experiment often portrayed as hoax and failure with tragic loss of life, but according to Al Bielek who jumped off the Eldridge's side in 1943, time travel was an outgrowth! You can read more about Bielek and his involvement in the Montauk Project here. What else haven't "they" told us about? 9/11 still defies explanation and reports of "Orbs and Missiles in 9/11" shouldn't be ignored! The Pentagon is still at it! What have they discovered? Is Al Bielek only a disinfo agent? There is likely more out there than you've been advised by the television set!

1/26 defcon: mega-man, bigger brother

noreply@blogger.com (mediamonarchy.com) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 13:26:00 PST

Mega-man: Bizarre rise & sudden downfall of Kim Dotcom*

What is the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement?*
Video: Say NO to ACTA*
Big Brother Google Just Got Bigger*
Video: Google to Overhaul Privacy Policies*
Legality of Mobile Phone Tracking Still Unclear Despite Supreme Court GPS Decision*
Newt Gingrich wants to make the moon the 51st state*
Why crimes on Skype leave witnesses but no evidence*
Video: The Internet In 1969*

set up for an i-911

noreply@blogger.com (Xnihilator) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 18:56:00 PST

Ground Zero Live host Clyde Lewis gets it right in recent article, "I 911," right down to occult overtones associated with numerology of January 19th. Lewis cites takedown of Megaupload and arrests by federal agents as one element. Hacker group "Anonymous was responsible for taking down sites for the FBI, Department of Justice, Universal Music Group, RIAA and Motion Picture Association of America," Lewis reports as another. "This whole affair was predictable. In fact it was so predictable that one could speculate that the attacks on the Justice Department sites, the RIAA, the MPAA et al were all carried out by the government claiming to be Anonymous. Barret Brown of project PM told the press that it was only 70 minutes after the website Megaupload.com was taken down by the feds that the other sites were hacked and shut down," concludes the Ground Zero Live host, who then asks, "does this sound contrived? Isn’t this an obvious indication of a false flag attack in order to create an I-911?" It couldn't be said better! Lewis may have gone further to see resemblance to highly choreographed Wikileaks Operation. Is Anonymous just a Wikileaks redux? Is the CIA responsible?

NASA Tackles Problem of Missing Moon Rocks

noreply@blogger.com (mediamonarchy.com) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 13:24:00 PST

NASA Launches Probe For 'Stolen' Moon Rocks*

from nytimes: West Virginia lost one, until it turned up one June day on a bookshelf in the basement of a retired dentist. New York has one in a vault at a museum in Albany, but another one given to the state for safekeeping was not kept very safe, because it appears to be missing, though the attorney general’s office has started looking into the case. A long-lost one in Colorado resurfaced at the home of a former governor, and another one in Arkansas was found among former President Bill Clinton’s memorabilia. Somebody swiped one from a museum in the island country of Malta, and somebody else who got his hands on one in Honduras tried to sell it in Miami to an undercover federal agent.

Rare art? Priceless jewels? Nothing so terrestrial.

All of these items were literally out of this world: moon rocks, meteorite samples and other so-called astromaterials that were lent to researchers by NASA or were offered as gifts to American and foreign leaders. Hundreds of moon rocks and other space objects have been lost, destroyed, stolen or remain unaccounted for, some of which American astronauts and presidents presented to dignitaries around the country and the world decades ago and others that NASA officials lent for education, research and public display. The objects survived in outer space for ages and include some of the first samples ever returned from another planetary body, but after just a few short years on Earth they met the same fate as a set of car keys or a 29-cent postcard.

sunspot 1402 sends large flare earthbound

noreply@blogger.com (Xnihilator) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 19:47:00 PST

Space.com reports in article, "Huge Solar Eruption Sparks Largest Radiation Storm in 7 Years," will arrive Jan 24th at about 9 am EST. The flare classified as M9 class, is medium-sized. A Spaceweather.com list shows classes. The burst of electromagnetic energy is termed a Coronal mass ejection (CME), by the time it reaches the Earth's magnetosphere. Polar flights have been rerouted but International Space Station (ISS) not considered in danger, reports article. The solar storm is heading into regions mostly north of Earth.

Video: Solar Storm Hits Earth, Diverts Flights*

solar storm sparks stunning aurora

noreply@blogger.com (Xnihilator) — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 18:23:00 PST

Thanks to Universe Today for video link to stunning Aurora captured by Helge Mortensen at Tromvik Norway. Aurora is result of CME hitting Earth's magnetosphere. Auroras are beautiful but CMEs dangerous!

strange sounds of 2012 roundtable

noreply@blogger.com (Xnihilator) — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 17:17:00 PST

Bob Tuskin puts heads together to discuss rational explanations for pre-proclaimed, "Trumpets of the Apocalypse," AKA strange sounds heard worldwide, first weeks of 2012. Tuskin brings in Francis Welch and Lucas911, hosts of Collision Course to do simulcast that results in interesting roundtable discussion on strange sounds of 2012. A general distaste of proclaiming strange sounds as trumpets of the Apocalypse, is declared, and also, a dislike of tendency to attribute everything to HAARP. They also believe many You Tube videos are faked. Researcher Scott Owen expresses opinion sounds are from an Earth in distress, in second hour. The Jungle Apocalypse podcast with Owen can be downloaded here, where "Strange Sounds of Apocalypse" were discussed on January 16th.

A Truther Girl Sonia video, "Strange 'Sounds of the Apocalypse' - A Scientific Explanation?" promotes a HAARP explanation, which cites Yoichi Shimatsu article from rense.com, "Eerie Sounds - The Haarpies Orchestra Of Woodwinds And Brass." The article provides input not seen elsewhere as postscript to explanation strange noises may be attributed to highly charges protons trapped in artificial elecromagnetic belts:

"The Hardtack and Argus nuclear blasts of 1958 created the artificial electromagnetic belts over the Pacific and Atlantic, which trapped these into resonant spirals of high energy. In the next year, 1959-60, when the system was operational, running or flying smoothly, the USA saw the biggest winter snowfall since 1912."

Shimatsu asks and provides observation, "massive winter storms on both coasts of the United States arising? The proton and electron surges into HAARP are electrifying the clouds." The present writer leans to HAARP, although as one poster declared, "it's the resonant sound from crossing the highly energized galactic ecliptic," may be just as plausible?

edible microchips: tracking you from inside

noreply@blogger.com (Xnihilator) — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 19:16:00 PST

IBM is working hard to track you. A Right Side News article spells out a stark future: "Each person has a unique biological identity and behind all that is data. Biometric data – facial definitions, retinal scans and voice files – will be composited through software to build your DNA unique online password. Referred to as multi-factor biometrics, smarter systems will be able to use this information in real-time ...When biometric identity systems become widespread enough, authorities will pretty much know where you are and what you are doing at all times." Article is aptly ended with quote from 1984: "It was terribly dangerous to let your thoughts wander when you were in any public place or within range of a telescreen. The smallest thing could give you away. A nervous tic, an unconscious look of anxiety, a habit of muttering to yourself--anything that carried with it the suggestion of abnormality, of having something to hide. In any case, to wear an improper expression on your face...; was itself a punishable offense. There was even a word for it in Newspeak: facecrime..." There's now also pre-crime so might as well turn yourself in! Big Brother has you under his thumb!

hermann noordung: forgotten space pioneer

noreply@blogger.com (Xnihilator) — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 23:36:00 PST

Herman Potocnik AKA Hermann Noordung wrote only one book, "Das Problem der Befahrung des Weltraums - der Raketen-Motor (The Problem of Space Travel - The Rocket Motor)," in his brief life. Potocnik, an engineer in Austrian military during World War I, was discharged due to tuberculosis in 1919, later, received a doctorate from University of Technology in Vienna. The early space researcher devoted himself in 1925 that resulted in his 1928 book. Potocnik's math was deemed faulty, his work dismissed by Viennese engineers as fantasy. Potocnik as Noordung did influence German rocket enthusiasts of the time, theVerein fur Raumshiffahrt or VfR, the Spaceflight Society centered around space pioneer, Hermann Oberth.

Noordung, a pen name with connotation of "no order", according to Wikipedia, influenced von Braun and Kubrick, "The wheel-shaped space station served as an inspiration for further development by Wernher von Braun (another former VfR member) in 1952. Von Braun saw orbiting space stations as a stepping stone to travel to other planets. In 1968, Stanley Kubrick's ground-breaking film, 2001: A Space Odyssey, depicted such a role for 'Space Station V'." The wheel-shaped space station ubiquitous in the fifties and early sixties and popularized by von Braun, is probably Potocnik's scientifc legacy.

1/19 defcon: megatakedown, koobfaced & more

noreply@blogger.com (mediamonarchy.com) — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 13:19:00 PST

Video: Feds Shutter Megaupload, Arrest Executives*

Anonymous Takes Down DoJ, UMG in Retaliation*
Flashback: UMG Issues YT Takedown Notice to Megaupload*
Judge Orders Search of 'News of the World' Computers*
How News Corp hid the Phonehacking Scandal*
Online Protest Against Obama's Drone War Flops*
Gang That Spread Facebook Worm Operates in the Open*
Zappos Hacked, Tells 24m Customers to Change Passwords*
State, DoD endorse 'Space Code of Conduct'*
US to Launch Space Arms-Control Initiative*
Scientists to Catch a Black Hole*

sopa is back as websites go black

noreply@blogger.com (mediamonarchy.com) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 09:11:00 PST

Video: #SOPA & #PIPA Internet Protest - Learn More

from geekosystem.com: It should come as no surprise that SOPA has come back off its proverbial 'shelf' but feel free to be surprised that it came back so fast. A mere 4 days after announcing he was dropping the DNS blocking provisions of the bill and putting it on the shelf until a 'consensus' was reached, Representative Lamar Smith has brought SOPA back out to play, and just in time for the January 18th SOPA blackouts.

4 days is awfully –impossibly– fast for a consensus of any kind to be reached, which is probably why Representative Smith avoided saying anything about his previous plans in this new statement. Instead, the new announcement states rather plainly that “[Smith] expects the Committee to continue its markup of the Stop Online Piracy Act in February.” In a similarly nonchalant fashion, the announcement proceeds to touch on your standard pro-SOPA talking points of saving American jobs, and protecting intellectual property, without so much as a passing reference to recent developments. It almost makes you wonder if you dreamt them.

So just when you may have been thinking that the anti-SOPA (but also anti-PIPA) blackouts being undertaken by Wikipedia, Reddit, Cheezburger, Mojang, and others were going to be oddly misaimed, it turns out that their primary target has been brought back into the sights. The really interesting thing is that these protest may actually be what brought it back. When pressured with constant pleas against DNS blocking, in combination with a rather embarrassing instance of copyright infringement, Representative Smith seemed to have gotten a little flustered, enough so that he backed off DNS blocking. The problem is that backing off failed to fix the problem, which is why it seems he’s abandoned compromise.

With the continuing snowball of sites blacking out, culminating in an anti-SOPA demonstration by the Internet giant, Google, I think it’s very likely that Representative Smith has realized retreat will get him nowhere and that no mutation of SOPA will ever be acceptable. That being the case, what better option than to charge ahead at full speed? If the Internet at large is willing to take this much action to stop a bill that has been “shelved,” taking time to reach a consensus will do little more than buy time for SOPA to be neutered beyond recognition, perhaps out of existence. Its best shot at survival - albeit a poor shot - is a mad dash towards the gates, in the hope that it can make it through before sustaining any further, crippling injuries.

The good news is that this resurrection is more of a last resort than anything. A desperate measure. The bad news is that it also means SOPA is back, and likely with a vengeance. Hold onto your seats, ladies and gentlemen, this ride is going to get a whole lot bumpier before it slows down, if it ever does.

rat brains implanted with microchips to replace 'faulty' parts

noreply@blogger.com (mediamonarchy.com) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 01:18:00 PST

from dailymail.co.uk: Faulty parts of living brains have been replaced by electronic chips, in an astonishing and controversial scientific breakthrough. It's a move that has been anticipated many times in science fiction, with creatures such as The Terminator, a 'cyborg' hybrid of flesh and machinery. But now, researchers at Tel Aviv University have successfully created circuits that can replace motor functions - such as blinking - and implanted them into brains. They hope the technology could in the future help people suffering from brain malfunctions such as Parkinson's disease - by replacing damaged or malfunctioning tissue with chips that perform the same function. 'Imagine there's a small area in the brain that is malfunctioning, and imagine that we understand the architecture of this damaged area,' said Professor Matti Mintz, a psychobiologist, speaking to the BBC. 'So we try to replicate this part of the brain with electronics.'

roscosmos: us radars cause of phobos grunt failure?

noreply@blogger.com (Xnihilator) — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 21:10:00 PST

Roscosmos chief Vladimir Popovkin wondered openly last week why many failures occurred when the Russian space "craft were over the western hemisphere? ... I do not want to blame anyone, but today there are some very powerful countermeasures that can be used against spacecraft whose use we cannot exclude,' he told the Izvestia daily on January 10," as reported by Mars Daily. A Deccan Herald article reports from another Russian Daily source that Russians suspect the Marshall Islands US Radar station, while monitoring the trajectory of Phobos Grunt, may have unintentionally harmed the craft with megawatt power. Is it a covert space war?

strange sounds of 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Xnihilator) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 20:12:00 PST

Many reports of strange sounds began about January 11th, according to Dutchsinse. Recordings are available on You Tube and numerous ones listed here. Apparent phenomena experienced worldwide and many point to sky as the sound's source. Mysterious sky noises are compared to hull of a ship or submarine grinding and groaning under great pressure. Dutchsinse advises only to stay alert. An increase in UFO sightings are reported as well. UFO-Blogger posts Google Trends screenshot for past 30 days. Some call noises the "booming trumpets of the Apocalyse." Are we getting ahead of ourselves?

pure energy: demands & standards

noreply@blogger.com (mediamonarchy.com) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 13:16:00 PST

gas prices as propaganda tool

Have you noticed prices at the pump lately? Do you believe it's the kindhearted folks at BP (formerly British Petroleum, first known as the Anglo-Persian Oil Company)? Red flags should go up consumers are enjoying so much relief of late from pricing pressures! BP has not forgotten nor likely forgiven Iran for kicking them out in 1979! Wikipedia informs, "...[the] Ayatollah Khomeini confiscated all of the company’s assets in Iran without compensation, bringing to an end its 70-year presence in Iran." Are you likely to resent prices if they top four dollars? Will you believe corporate-owned media if fingers point at Iran? Are you smart enough to detect your manipulation at the pump - a tool of propaganda? You shouldn't be angry with Iran. It's the corporations - especially BP - look what they did in the Gulf of Mexico - you should be angry!

IEA Cuts 2012 Oil Demand Forecast, Warns of Further Drop*
New Energy-Efficient Standards to Be Imposed on Battery-Charged Appliances*

retrovision: air mail or rocket post

noreply@blogger.com (Xnihilator) — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 21:41:00 PST

A ban on missile research after World War I resulted in development of a large German civilian rocketry program to fill gap. Gerhard Zucker, a German businessman, promoted delivery by Rocket Mail in era of high rocket interest. Zucker unsuccessfully launched rockets filled with post, in both, Germany and Britain in 1933-34, according to Encyclopedia Astronautica. Rockets were propelled by little more than fireworks, but the scorched mail from the failures only resulted in greater collector interest! Zucker died in 1985, but returned to rocketry through much of life and a student's death in sixties, resulted in a ban on German civilian rocketry. Another article at Cabinet magazine provides a Zucker bio and audio of an actual Zucker rocket mail launch, here. Is it just interesting theater by a con man?

There were many attempts by others to deliver mail faster. Willie Ley, a German space pioneer, supervised operation of two rocket mail planes in 1936 at Greenwood Lake, NY. A You Tube video of rocket planes is available, but appears lackluster effort. In 1959, USS Barbero submarine launched Regulus cruise missile with 3,000 commemorative pieces of "Missile Mail" from Norfolk, VA hitting its target 22 min. later - the Naval Auxillary Air Station in Mayport, Florida in a demonstration of US missile might!

Wikipedia entry includes "amateurs" who entered postal space race in mid-1950s, "...'amateur' rocketeers flew a number of zinc dust/sulfur 'micrograin' solid propellant mail-carrying rockets interstate, from California, across the Colorado River, and into Arizona. The postal covers were printed for each occasion, and franked at the nearest destination post office." Technologist Robert Zubrin, of Mars Society fame, still thinks rocket mail could be commercial success with reusable launch systems and ability to deliver anywhere in world in 30-45 minutes. Please, the US Postal Service isn't delivering any faster!

phobos grunt crashes into pacific off coast of chile

noreply@blogger.com (Xnihilator) — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 15:54:00 PST

Dead Russian space probe Phobos Grunt crashed in the South Pacific off the Chilean coast today around 12:45 EST. Discovery News reports, "'Phobos-Grunt fragments have crashed down in the Pacific Ocean, ' Alexei Zolotukhin, an official with Russia's Defense Ministry, was quoted by Ria Novosti as saying. Zolotukhin said that the spacecraft crashed about 776 miles (1,250 kilometers) west of the island of Wellington, the news agency reported."

how cnn wants you to see 'anonymous'

noreply@blogger.com (mediamonarchy.com) — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 09:55:00 PST

from brasschecktv.com: According to the Anonymous website, they are a decentralized network of individuals focused on promoting access to information, free speech, and transparency. According to many governments, they are a group of criminals to be sought out and arrested. To many of the disenfranchised they are the bee's knees. To others, they are terrorists. Here's how CNN wants you to see them...

space junk 3d debuts at imax theaters

noreply@blogger.com (Xnihilator) — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 09:06:00 PST

Is it coincidence an eye-popping IMAX movie, "Space Junk 3D," debuts this weekend as another large piece of man-made debris falls to Earth? Universe Today article provides details, "in the movie...Don Kessler, the retired head of NASA’s Orbital Debris Office (who is known as the “Father of Space Junk,”) discusses the challenges we face in protecting Earth’s orbital environment for the future. At risk here is the future of space exploration and the safety of the extensive satellite network that powers our modern day communications, GPS and more." Director and Producer Melissa Butts advises movie's intent to "recreate spectacular orbital debris events with...mind-blowing visualizations!"

space junk #4: phobos grunt rentry, sunday

noreply@blogger.com (Xnihilator) — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 22:32:00 PST

Russia's failed Phobos Grunt Mars space probe (German infrared image, right), will soon burn up upon reentry. BBC article reports, "Russia's failed Mars probe, Phobos-Grunt, is about to fall back to Earth - quite probably on Sunday. The spacecraft has been losing altitude rapidly in recent days and will soon be pulled into the top of the atmosphere where it will be destroyed." The Russian satellite makes third high profile reentry in past four months! Phobos Grunt follows the US UARS in September and Space Junk #3 covered German ROSAT reentry in October. Chicken Little may have been right, "the sky is falling."

hackerspace global grid seek sat net to thwart net censors

noreply@blogger.com (Xnihilator) — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 08:44:00 PST

Hacktivist Nick Farr at the Chaos Communication Congress "called on the community to contribute to a project that would remove the power of censorship from governments and corporations by creating an uncensored Internet in the free frontier of space," reports infowars.com. "'What we're seeing right now is a big explosion in people launching cube sats,'" Farr told TECHNEWSWORLD. The article summarizes: "Organizers of a project called the "Hackerspace Global Grid" want to launch a network of small, low-orbiting satellites in order to facilitate Internet access that can't be blocked by government censors. The network would also include an array of base stations around the world. The project's developers are excited, but doubters say it's not going to fly." Cubesat design and kits have indeed proliferated, making impossible seem less so. The idea has met criticism, but present writer can only praise effort!

1/12 defcon: wired #riot, cyberID & more

noreply@blogger.com (mediamonarchy.com) — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 13:12:00 PST

terror groups recruiting with social media*

flashback satire?: cia 'facebook' cuts agency's costs*
obama to hand cyberID to commerce dept.*
tiny hard drive stores one bit of data with just 12 atoms*
nytimes spams entire email list, tries coverup, then apologizes*
how santorum is making his 'google problem' worse*
audio satire: mischievous raccoon wreaks havoc on international space station*

activist moms push for change in land of rising radioactivity

noreply@blogger.com (Xnihilator) — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 13:11:00 PST

Knowing the Japanese government has been unreliable and less than forthright, activist moms take to networking to push for change, according to AP article. Mizuho Nakayama, among a small group of activists, "...a 41-year-old mother joined a parents group — one of dozens that have sprung up since the crisis — that petitioned local officials in June to test lunches at schools and day care centers for radiation and avoid using products from around the troubled nuclear plant." Nakayama has a Geiger counter with her at all times!

Nakayama and other activists have a surprising obstacle, the country's affluence! The article spells out dilemma:

"Still, the growing dissatisfaction may not be enough to bring about fundamental change. Japan's affluence is an obstacle. Most people live comfortably and are reluctant to make too big a fuss, even if they're unhappy with the political leadership. Culturally, it's considered better to adjust to one's surroundings than to try to change them, said Ken Matsuda, a sociologist at Kansai Gaidai University in Osaka."

Is it a case of "going along to get along"? Or, are people so complacent creature comfort in the moment takes precedence over truly safe environment? It seems a diabolical wedge?

Japan failed to handle Fukushima with decisiveness the Soviet Union handled Chernobyl! It's conceded, Fukushima presents a more difficult problem, but efforts to date seem highly questionable? Fukushima will be far more deadly than Hiroshima and Nagaski. Fukushima continues to fission and spew radioactivity into immediate environment and across the globe. Radioactivity is bio-accumulative, it means shortened lives. Hats off go to Mizuho Nakayama, and the hope, she is successful!

covert US-China space wars: 2012 and beyond

noreply@blogger.com (Xnihilator) — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 18:11:00 PST

Readers must challenge imaginations to resist media attempts to set terms of discussion! BBC caused a recent flap with article, "X-37B spaceplane 'spying on China'," observing X-37B and Tiangong 1 are in very similar orbits! There is, also, tantalizing mystery what remains hidden behind closed payload doors, the BBC article suggests sensor suites to be deployed in a new space-to-space surveillance game! The response by many sources like Space on MSNBC.com offered similar arguments, "...the X-37B and Tiangong 1 have broadly similar orbits. Both are currently about 180 miles above our planet, with an inclination of roughly 43 degrees with respect to the equator (meaning their orbits range from 43 degrees south latitude to 43 degrees north latitude."

"However, the orbits of the X-37B and Tiangong 1 differ greatly — by about 100 degrees — in a parameter called right ascension, which describes where a craft crosses the equator, Weeden said. So the two satellites actually take disparate paths around the globe, with their orbits intersecting just twice per circuit." The present writer suspects twice per circuit sufficient, while maintaining plausible deniability. How many circuits are completed in just a day?

This analysis may be wrong-headed and inaccurate. Yet, it should be assumed, Pentagon will follow credo of seeking upper hand in any possible war theater! Readers should recall objections raised by Russia and India in 2010, when X-37B first launched! The rumor floated of a spy probe, which could be deployed from payload doors, to attack and disable orbiting satellites! How about just a good old surveillance bug in a much larger room called Space? Would a spy probe even need to attach to its target, but rather shadow it from a safe but still relatively close distance?

The defensive response to BBC article sends up red flag this is a sensitive area of contention! Readers must keep their minds open to thinking outside the box! What will be hidden behind payload doors of X-37C slated for 2014? X-37C is twice the size of its predecessor! The US and China are making every attempt to spy - don't kid yourselves!

latest hacking scandal arrest suggests focus on cover-up

noreply@blogger.com (mediamonarchy.com) — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 11:31:00 PST

from nytimes.com: Scotland Yard’s arrest of a former personal assistant to Rebekah Brooks, a former chief executive of the British newspaper arm of Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation, appears to reflect the investigators’ intensifying focus on the possibility of a cover-up by executives, editors and others of the extent of illegal phone hacking and other criminal wrongdoing at the The News of the World, which is now defunct. After 10 hours of questioning on Friday, detectives assigned to a special unit investigating the affair released the assistant, Cheryl Carter, 47, on police bail pending further questioning. She was arrested at dawn at her home in Billericay, 25 miles east of London. Efforts to reach her for comment on Saturday were not successful.

Scotland Yard said she was the 17th person, most of them former employees of the The News of the World, to be arrested by officers assigned to Operation Weeting, established last year under special provisions intended to ensure the independence of the investigators. The creation of that task force followed several years of faltering inquiries by Scotland Yard that upheld, until a torrent of disclosures last year, denials by News International that more than two people on the News of the World’s newsroom staff had been involved in the illegal interception of the cellphone voicemails of crime victims, politicians and celebrities.