<a href="http://strangeattractor.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/blackworld.jpg" title="blackworld.jpg"><img src="http://strangeattractor.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/blackworld.jpg" alt="blackworld.jpg" align="top" border="0" height="258" hspace="8" vspace="8" width="385" /></a>

More on the US military's multi-billion dollar 'black ops' world, from the <em>New York Times, with comment from Trevor Paglen and <a href="http://www.fas.org/" target="_blank">Steven Aftergood</a>:</em>

<em>The classified budget of the Defense Department, concealed from the public in all but outline, has nearly doubled in the Bush years, to $32 billion. That is more than the combined budgets of the Food and Drug Administration, the National Science Foundation and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.</em>

<em>...Budget documents tell little. This year, for instance, the Pentagon says Program Element 0603891c is receiving $196 million but will disclose nothing about what the project does. Private analysts say it apparently aims at developing space weapons. </em>

Full story at the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/01/science/01patc.html?em&amp;ex=1207195200&amp;en=c0866049d4ab6fb5&amp;ei=5087%0A" target="_blank">New York Times</a>