Thursday 31st August 2006: -

• Pupils’ prints scanned - Campaigners have expressed anger that children as young as five have had their fingerprints recorded at three local primary schools. The youngsters' prints were taken for a new system in place at the schools' libraries whereby pupils have their thumb prints scanned, instead of using a card, to take out books. Opponents of the use of biometric records have warned that it is a massive invasion of privacy and a step towards a database state'. Brockholes Wood Primary School, Brant Road; Longridge CE Primary, Berry Lane and Little Hoole Primary, Walmer Bridge, are currently the only schools in the area to have the Micro Librarian system installed.

• Police strip-search has children in tears (South Africa) - Pupils at Sastri College in Durban were furious after they were pulled out of classes and strip-searched by police during a drug raid on Tuesday. Speaking to the Daily News after the incident the pupils, mostly girls, said they felt violated as they were asked to strip down to their underwear in the presence of policewomen and other pupils. The pupils, who were called out during their lessons, said while they were not frisked by police, they "felt very uncomfortable" by the search.

• President Bush 'assassinated' in new TV docudrama - This is the dramatic moment when President George Bush is gunned down by a sniper after a public address at a hotel, in a gripping new docudrama soon to be aired on TV. Set around October 2007, President Bush is assassinated as he leaves the Sheraton Hotel in Chicago. Death of a President, shot in the style of a retrospective documentary, looks at the effect the assassination of Bush has on America in light of its 'War on Terror'.

• Relatives lose right to block organ donations - Families will lose the right to block their relatives' wish to donate their organs under reforms which come into force on Friday.  Currently families can stop doctors from taking their loved ones' organs even if they carried a donor card. About one in 10 planned donations is blocked at present. "There is a critical shortage of donated organs," said Chris Rudge, Managing Director of UK Transplant, the NHS department which runs the country's organ donation system. "The wishes of the deceased must be put first." Doctors have been told to urge families to change their minds if they try to stop the planned organ donation.

• Europe pushes for study of biometrics to screen passengers - Europe is stepping up efforts to explore the use of eye scans and other biometric technology to screen airline passengers who volunteer for background security checks. The goal is to see whether airport security can be enhanced and congestion eased by encouraging frequent fliers to undergo pre-screening. In return, cleared passengers could pass through immigration and security checkpoints more easily by identifying themselves through biometric scans of their irises or fingerprints.

Wednesday 30th August 2006: -

• How NAFTA superhighway is built under radar screen: Officials say they see no budget 'earmarks,' because they don't know where to look – Ask some members of Congress about plans to build a "NAFTA superhighway" connecting Mexico and Canada via the U.S. and you might hear snickers. Some officials will tell you they have seen no "earmarks" for such a plan and question whether it even exists. But the plan does exist and the NAFTA superhighway is being built – under the radar screen.

• UNH provost says no students complained about prof's 9-11 views - A University of New Hampshire professor who thinks government officials orchestrated the 9-11 attacks said he doesn't impose his opinions on students, but teaches them to discuss and debate differing viewpoints. Psychology professor William Woodward belongs to Scholars for 9-11 Truth, whose members believe that Bush administration officials either planned the attacks or allowed them to happen in order to get public opinion behind their policies. Governor John Lynch says Woodward's beliefs are crazy and offensive. He has asked the university system's trustees to investigate Woodward's teaching practices. U-N-H Provost Bruce Mallory says no students have complained about Woodward's presentation of his opinions, and that after reviewing course materials and student evaluations, he does not believe Woodward imposed his opinions on students. He says the university doesn't see any reason for a formal review.

• THE TOTALITARIAN TIP-TOE: And now, vending machines that take plastic - Charge! You're at a vending machine, you have no change, and the bill slot keeps spitting back your dollar bill for being insufficiently crisp. A modern tragedy, we know. But coming to a vending machine near you: credit card access! MasterCard and Coca-Cola recently rolled out 1,000 cashless vending machines in the Philadelphia area, the Chicago Tribune reports. And that's not all. Houston is installing about 1,500 parking meters that will accept credit cards. In June, all 8,300 parking meters in Vancouver, B.C., began allowing drivers to use credit cards, through cell phones, to pay for parking.

• Doubt cast over brain 'God spot' - There is no single "God spot" in the brain, Canadian scientists say. A University of Montreal team found Christian mystical experiences are mediated by several brain regions. Researchers asked 15 nuns to recount mystical experiences while studying them on MRI scanners, the journal, Neuroscience Letters reported. There has been much debate about how the brain reacts during connections with God among religious followers.

• Pope's Exorcist: Harry Potter Satanic - The Vatican's chief exorcist is no fan of Harry Potter. Father Gabriele Amorth, who is Pope Benedict XVI's "caster out of demons," told Vatican Radio: "Behind Harry Potter hides the signature of the king of the darkness, the devil." According to the Daily Mail newspaper, he said that author J.K. Rowling's books contain innumerable positive references to magic, "the satanic art" and added the books attempt to make a false distinction between black and white magic, when in fact, the distinction "does not exist, because magic is always a turn to the devil."   (RELATED: See our section The Occult in Your Living Room)

Tuesday 29th August 2006: -

• Finger scan for school lunch worries some parents - Instead of using a meal card to pay for lunch, students at Morrow County schools will be using something a little more futuristic - a finger scanner. The "Touch n' Go" device reads students' fingerprints with an optical sensor and relays the information to a computer, where students' accounts are charged. Such biometric technology, which measures physical characteristics and uses them as a form of identification, are being used at a growing number of school districts. Some use finger scans to dispense medicine, take attendance, check out books in the library or ensure that bus-riding students get off at the right stop.

• Australia photo ID card for benefits due by 2010 - In a bid to replace up to 17 separate cards currently required for Medicare benefits, family tax, child-care and unemployment payments, pensions, Austudy and pharmaceutical and transport concessions, Australia is rolling out a biometric identity card plan. Persons may begin applying for the card in 2008, and they project is expected to be implemented by 2010. While Australians will need a photo identity card within four years to receive Medicare and welfare payments but will not be forced to carry it at all times. People will be able to register for the card from the beginning of 2008 and it will be phased in over two years. The new "smart card" will contain "enhanced security," very much like the current biometric passports, identity cards and visas currently being introduced by numerous western nations, such as the United States, Great Britain and Germany.

• Mystery illness blamed on depleted uranium - It takes at least 10 minutes and a large glass of orange juice to wash down all the pills — morphine, methadone, a muscle relaxant, an antidepressant, a stool softener. Viagra for sexual dysfunction. Valium for his nerves. Four hours later, Herbert Reed will swallow another 15 milligrams of morphine to cut the pain clenching every part of his body. He will do it twice more before the day is done. Since he left a bombed-out train depot in Iraq, his gums bleed. There is more blood in his urine and stool. Bright light hurts his eyes. A tumor has been removed from his thyroid. Rashes erupt everywhere, itching so badly they seem to live inside his skin. His joints ache. Migraines cleave his skull.

• This is the final maneuver performed by the aircraft which hit the Pentagon on September 11, 2001. This animation was provided by the NTSB and is accurate in terms of the flight data recorder on board this aircraft. It has not been altered by anyone after it was received from the NTSB. Whether or not this animation is authentic, i defer inquiry to the NTSB. Please pay attention to the end of the video, as the altitude is too high to have hit the light poles that were reported to have been struck by the same aircraft which hit the pentagon. The video comment inserts are provided by an experienced Airline pilot: -

• Muse Frontman: 9/11 An Inside Job - MUSE have cracked America...despite singer Matt Bellamy's outspoken views on George Bush. The fiery British trio have rocketed to No.9 in the US Billboard charts with their great new album, Black Holes And Revelations. But Matt - whose passion for conspiracy theories has inspired their songs - has fired a broadside at wily old Dubya in The White House. He said: "I'm fascinated by conspiracy theories. We're surrounded by them. "Are we really supposed to believe that a man in a cave in Afghanistan managed to orchestrate the most unbelievable attack on the United States of all time? "I think 9/11 was definitely an inside job done by a group of high-powered people looking for an excuse to invade the Middle East for oil and other natural resources.   (RELATED: See our 9/11 archive and 911truthskipton.com)

• Police to do random roadside safety checks: (This story ran on nwitimes.com on Friday, August 25, 2006) - Motorists can expect random roadside safety checks from Friday to Sunday to encourage compliance with state motor vehicle regulations, officials said. Police will check cars along U.S. 30 during a six-hour period each day, with a "hope for compliance on motorists' parts," police Sgt. Denis Tatgenhorst said. "Our primary goal in conducting the roadside safety checks is to save lives and reduce injuries in our community by discouraging violations," Mayor Eugene Williams said in a press release.

Monday 28th August 2006: -

• Washington Post Doesn't Answer Why No Bin Laden 9/11 Indictment: Whitewash piece seeks to dismiss questions about FBI most wanted page but doesn't address why embassy indictment took 3 months yet no 9/11 charge after 5 years - A Washington Post article today attempts to refute and dismiss questions as to why the FBI's most wanted page for Osama bin Laden includes no apportion of blame for 9/11 - yet the Post fails to answer why there has been no formal indictment of bin Laden five years after 9/11 when it only took three months to charge him with the 1998 embassy bombings.

• New injection introduced for children - Parents are being urged to have their babies inoculated against the pneumococcal virus, which kills one in 10 children who fall ill from it. The virus causes meningitis, blood poisoning and pneumonia. About 50 children die each year from the contagion in England and Wales out of about 530 cases, prompting ministers to add more vaccinations to the childhood immunisation programme this autumn. Injections will be given at two, four and 13 months, with catch-up shots for children up to two years old.

• California Seeks to Clear Hemp of a Bad Name - Charles Meyer’s politics are as steady and unswerving as the rows of pima cotton on his Central Valley farm. With his work-shirt blue eyes and flinty Clint Eastwood demeanor, he is staunchly in favor of the war in Iraq, against gun control and believes people unwilling to recite the Pledge of Allegiance should be kicked out of America, and fast. But what gets him excited is the crop he sees as a potential windfall for California farmers: industrial hemp, or Cannabis sativa. The rapidly growing plant with a seemingly infinite variety of uses is against federal law to grow because of its association with its evil twin, marijuana. “Industrial hemp is a wholesome product,” said Mr. Meyer, 65, who says he has never worn tie-dye and professes a deep disdain for “dope.” “The fact we’re not growing it is asinine,” Mr. Meyer said.

• MONSANTO WHISTLEBLOWER: GENETICALLY ENGINEERED CROPS MAY CAUSE DISEASE - Monsanto was quite happy to recruit young Kirk Azevedo to sell their genetically engineered cotton. Kirk had grown up on a California farm and had worked in several jobs monitoring and testing pesticides and herbicides. Kirk was bright, ambitious, handsome and idealistic—the perfect candidate to project the company’s “Save the world through genetic engineering” image. It was that image, in fact, that convinced Kirk to take the job in 1996. “When I was contacted by the headhunter from Monsanto, I began to study the company, namely the work of their CEO, Robert Shapiro.” Kirk was thoroughly impressed with Shapiro’s promise of a golden future through genetically modified (GM) crops. “He described how we would reduce the in-process waste from manufacturing, turn our fields into factories and produce anything from lifesaving drugs to insect-resistant plants. It was fascinating to me.” Kirk thought, “Here we go. I can do something to help the world and make it a better place.”   (RELATED: See our Compromised Health archive)

• DIANA BLOOD SAMPLES 'TAMPERED WITH' - The manager of the London mortuary where British royal DIANA, PRINCESS OF WALES' post-mortem examination took place believes her blood samples were tampered with. ROBERT THOMPSON claims Diana, who died alongside her love DODI FAYED and driver HENRI PAUL in the 1997 car crash in Paris, France, had an "extremely strong smell of alcohol" about her when he examined her body. However, when the results of blood samples came back from the police laboratory there was no mention of alcohol in the report. Thompson says, "I find this unbelievable and it leads me to the conclusion that the blood sample had either been corrupted, or a false statement made.   (RELATED: See our popular Diana Assassination archive)

• Director claims Diana was 'sacrificed' at wedding - The Princess of Wales was "primitively sacrificed" at her "ghastly and barbaric" wedding to Prince Charles, according to the director of a controversial new film about her death. Stephen Frears, the director of The Queen, which stars Dame Helen Mirren in the title role, has described the royal wedding of July 1981 as a "black, black day" which was destined to end in tragedy.

• Police wants database on babies’ fingerprints - THE Police want to set up a database of all nationals’ fingerprints as a way of averting crime in society, an official has said. Nelson Tasi Ndugu, a CID officer at Jinja Road Police Station, said the Police was making efforts to have all new born babies’ fingerprinted in an effort to have a record of all nationals. “The problem we have is that we do not have fingerprints of all Ugandans. We only have those for criminals we have detained before. This makes our work difficult in case we want to trace other criminals,” he said.   (RELATED: See our Total Global Surveillance archive)

• Professor's 9/11 theories outrage NH leaders - A tenured professor of psychology at the University of New Hampshire believes an "elite" group within the federal government orchestrated the September 11th attacks on America. William Woodward has already raised that possibility in his classroom and later this year hopes to teach a class that would explore Sept. 11th "in psychological terms -- terms like belief, conspiracy, fear, truth, courage, group dynamics." He may not get the chance. Several state leaders yesterday criticized Woodward for bringing the radical theories into the classroom. "In my view, there are limitations to academic freedom and freedom of speech," said U.S. Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H. "I believe it is inappropriate for someone at a public university which is supported with taxpayer dollars to take positions that are generally an affront to the sensibility of most all Americans," Gregg said. Others were equally blunt.   (RELATED: See our 9/11 archive and 911truthskipton.com)

Sunday 27th August 2006: -

• MPS FACE SEX QUIZ - WOULD-BE MPs may face sex probes to ensure no perverts stand for the job. Home Secretary John Reid is being asked to bring in new rules so candidates for Parliament and local councils are checked against the sex offenders' register. Labour MP Judy Mallaber, an anti-porn campaigner, is also considering demanding a change in the law so sex pests are disqualified from standing.

• Bush: I'm Commander In Chief, Screw Your Rights: "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized." - 4th Amendment to the Constitution - On August 17 in a suit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union, U.S. District Judge Anna Diggs Taylor in Detroit ruled that Bush's warrantless Terrorist Surveillance Program is in violation of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), the Separation of Powers doctrine, the Administrative Procedures Act, and the First and Fourth Amendments to the Constitution. President Bush, however, is determined to spy on us without a court order so it's not surprising that he voiced his profound displeasure with the decision and has declared his determination to appeal the ruling. As expected he is trying to salvage whatever political advantage he can out of this judicial denunciation of his audacious power grab. With the help of Carl Rove , Ken Mehlman and the rest of the RNC he is circulating the blatant lie that Democrats are opposed to wiretapping terrorists. They're not.

• VIDEO: Is Bush an "Idiot"? - You know things are bad when one of your own turns on you: -

• Pack bag properly or it just won't fly: Airline travelers face new woes with stricter rules for carry-on luggage - The term "packing light" takes on new meaning under the strict security measures imposed after the thwarted airline bombing plot on Aug. 10. You should be especially concerned if traveling in Europe, where many budget carriers charge extra for checked baggage and extra again for bags weighing more than 30 pounds or so. Rules and fees vary by airline, so check with your carrier -- and weigh your bag -- before you go. In the days after the threat surfaced, some carriers waived excess-baggage fees, but that courtesy is not expected to continue.

• EVER TRIED THAT CON-TRICK WHERE YOU GIVE A DRUNK PERSON IN A PUB A FAKE £20 NOTE AND ASK FOR CHANGE FOR TWO TENNERS?: Drinkers back new fingerprint checks - A REVOLUTIONARY identification system that photographs drinkers and takes their fingerprints has proved a success in its first week. Just So Caf, in Castle Street, Trowbridge, is the first place in the county to introduce the system, Intouch, which aims to target underage drinking and booze-fuelled violence. Licensee Sue Drew said: "The first weekend went very well. I heard comments like, it's a brilliant idea' and now I don't have to bring my ID out'. I've been very pleased with the reaction. "There's been more queuing and delays getting in but people didn't seem to mind once they realised what was going on.

• Nato pilots accused of killing Afghan children - Nato pilots have been accused of killing 13 Afghan civilians, including nine children, during an attack close to the British base at Musa Kala in Helmand province. Witnesses and relatives of the dead, who were interviewed by The Independent at the town of Lashkargar, claim that on 31 July a family of 13 was attempting to flee the fighting in a rented pickup truck with three other men when an aircraft appeared overhead. "We stopped the car," said Abdul Habib, 40. "Then the plane dropped a bomb ahead of us and went away. After a while we started driving again, but the aircraft came back. I told my wives to stand up so that the pilot would see they were women, but at that moment it opened fire."

• Activist's Remark Starts FBI Probe - Jim Bensman thought his suggestion during a public hearing was harmless enough: Instead of building a channel so migratory fish could go around a dam on the Mississippi River, just get rid of the dam. Instead, the environmental activist found himself in hot water, drawing FBI scrutiny to see whether he had any terrorist intentions. The case "shows just how easy it is to be labeled a suspected terrorist," he says.

• VERY FITTING CONSIDERING OUR TOP STORY FOR YESTERDAY!: UK Channel 4 crowned top TV network - Channel 4 has been named terrestrial TV channel of the year by an industry panel at the Edinburgh TV Festival. It follows 24 hours of bickering among leading media figures about whether the network sufficiently served viewers. ITV chief executive Charles Allen called for its remit to be overhauled but C4 insisted it had "more serious programming" than other channels.

Saturday 26th August 2006: -

• 'Big Brother' concerns as secret system of cameras is rolled out - A NETWORK of secret roadside cameras used to track terror suspects, drug traffickers and child abductors has been rolled out across Scotland, police have revealed. Senior officers have told The Scotsman that the installation of Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras was completed this month, allowing detectives to monitor the movements of suspects from a 4,000 name watchlist as they travel on major routes across the country. The surveillance equipment, which looks like ordinary speed cameras, was piloted in Strathclyde and Fife and police say it has been hugely successful in catching and monitoring thousands of suspects and criminals, including sex offenders, bogus callers and disqualified drivers. But some human rights campaigners have branded the system a "Big Brother"-style infringement on personal liberties. Police will not disclose where the cameras are located, or how many there are, but say they also have a number of mobile units allowing them to act on specific intelligence about a suspect's movements, or target particular crime hotspots.

• Don't just dismiss the vaccine-autism link - In their Aug. 18 editorial page column "Act could turn the tide on common birth defect," Peter Hotez and Rosalynn Carter anticipate the Combating Autism Act's promise in disproving the role of vaccines in causing autism. As Boyd Haley, professor of chemistry of the University of Kentucky has commented, "The article is totally devoid of any scientific credibility." Hotez and Carter reveal the poisonous agenda of those who would use government funds to bury the inconvenient theory that mercury in vaccines has caused the autism epidemic. Their main interest is to develop and promote vaccines.   (RELATED: See our Compromised Health archive)

• William Cohen Demands Never Ending Servitude - According to William Cohen, former Secretary of Offense and Clinton administration war criminal, few of us have made the sort of “commitment to universal service” demanded by our rulers, or are we “really committed to this war against terrorism,” that is to say the forever war against Islam. Appearing on Fox, Cohen said “something has to be done to put us on a war footing mentality,” as obviously the spate of fake color-coded terror alerts, revealed to be nothing more than crass political monkeywrenching, and the parade of duped patsies in Miami, Ontario, and London, to name but the most recent, have not frightened the populace to the degree required.

• Schwarzenegger libel 'settled' - A libel action brought in London by a UK TV presenter against Arnold Schwarzenegger and two of his aides has been settled, reports say. Anna Richardson was suing the California governor and two aides over comments they made about her claims that he groped her in December 2000. The parties' lawyers said in a joint statement that they were satisfied, the Associated Press reports. The Terminator star faces a re-election battle for governor in November.

• Halutz names officer to prepare for possible war with Iran - In an effort to upgrade Israel's preparedness for a possible confrontation with Iran, Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Dan Halutz has appointed Israel Air Force Commander Major General Elyezer Shkedy as the IDF's "campaign manager" against countries that do not border on Israel - primarily Iran. The appointment was made before the war in Lebanon.    (COMMENTARY: Something is definitely on the boil, the NWO is now at the end of its tether; waiting for the right pretext, a new 9/11 (like the 'new Pearl Harbor') to be able to press on into Iran.  Now is a key time to be preparing oneself for a staged terror attack.  To wake up others and get them to do the same.  Remember, when a sequel to 9/11 is pulled off to check cremationofcare.com for up-dates, as we will be working hard to dissect this upcoming staged terror event)

• Homeland security moving to classrooms: Schools offer programs to train professionals - You can fight terror with bombs, or guns, or even with tough words. It's a battle that has taken Americans to foreign lands and into the realm of cyberspace. In Delaware, the struggle has entered the classroom. The weapon of choice is knowledge. Across the nation and around the world, colleges are increasingly creating degree programs and other courses to prepare students for work in "homeland security," the broadly defined realm of protecting communities and businesses against terror attacks and natural disasters.

• 'I can't go to Iraq. I can't kill those children': Suicide soldier's dying words to his mother - While his peers from St Augustine's Catholic school were this month contemplating university careers or first jobs, Jason Chelsea was preoccupied with a different future: his first tour of duty in Iraq. The 19-year-old infantryman, from Wigan, Greater Manchester, was tormented by concern about what awaited him when the King's Lancaster Regiment reached Iraq, where 115 British soldiers have been killed since 2003. He had even told his parents that he had been warned by his commanders that he could be ordered to fire on child suicide bombers. It was a fear that he never confronted. Within 48 hours of confessing his concerns to his family, Pte Chelsea was dead after taking an overdose of painkillers and slashing his wrists.

• Giuliani Aide Found Strangled in Manhattan - A man who once served as a press secretary to Mayor Giuliani was strangled to death in his Greenwich Village home Monday night as an apparent tryst turned fatal, police said. The body of Martín Barreto, 49, was found lying naked on the bed of his eighth floor apartment in the Albert building at 23 E. 10th St., near University Place. He died of "asphyxia due to compression of the neck" and his death has been ruled a homicide, the medical examiner's office said yesterday. No arrests have been made. Police were looking for two people who they believe entered his apartment Monday evening based on interviews with a doorman at the building, sources said. There were no signs of a break-in, and the door was locked when police entered the home. An open condom wrapper and lubricant were found near the body, the sources said.

Friday 25th August 2006: -

• NO2ID: Blair’s all out attack on privacy - Civil liberties and privacy campaigners today expressed outrage at the leaked announcement that ministers plan to overturn one of the key principles of Data Protection, granting government agencies the right to share personal data across the public sector. Phil Booth, NO2ID National Coordinator said: “Our worst suspicions have been confirmed. The government’s ID agenda has always been based on a drastic expansion of data sharing powers, but this announcement will mark its clearest and widest attack on privacy yet.

• SOUTH AFRICA: Pupils face gun searches - Pupils face random searches for drugs and guns in a new attempt to make schools safer. Under existing rules, pupils may be searched in playgrounds and classrooms, but only if there is a reasonable suspicion of "possession of illegal substances or dangerous weapons", Western Cape Education Department spokesperson Gert Witbooi explained on Wednesday. But against a backdrop of soaring violence at schools across the country, the regulation is to be changed to allow routine searches conducted at random.

Wednesday 23rd August 2006: -

• MALAGA JET MUTINY PAIR'S SHOCK AT PLANE EJECTION: We just couldn't believe they feared we were bombers We're ordinary Asian lads who only wanted some fun - THESE are the two innocent Asian students kicked off a jet because other passengers feared they were terrorists. Friends Sohail Ashraf and Khurram Zeb, both 22, said last night they were stunned that anybody could think they were suicide bombers. And they insisted they were just a couple of ordinary lads who wanted a bit of fun on a day trip to Malaga.  Sohail - who was marched off the Monarch flight to Manchester at gunpoint - said: "My first reaction was to laugh when I was told why we had been taken off the plane. Then I realised they were deadly serious."

• Israel accused over 'war crimes' - Amnesty International has accused Israel of committing war crimes by deliberately targeting civilian infrastructure in Lebanon. The human rights group says attacks on homes, bridges, roads and water and fuel plants were an "integral part" of Israel's strategy in the recent war. The group also calls for a UN investigation into whether both Israel and Hezbollah broke humanitarian law. Israel said it did not deliberately target Lebanon's civilian population.

• Is the Next Step a Draft? - Rhonda Schwartz Reports: An Iraq War veterans group says the call-up of thousands of Marines from the Individual Ready Reserve, announced by the Pentagon today, is "one of the last steps before resorting to a draft." "This move should serve as a wake-up call to America," said Jon Soltz, an Army captain who served in Iraq and heads the group VoteVets.org, which raises funds for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans running for Congress. "Today's announcement that thousands of Marines in the Individual Ready Reserve will be called back to go to Iraq is proof that our military is overextended, and there is no plan for victory in Iraq."

• The Truth about the "Terror Plot".... and the new "pseudo-terrorism" - I am disappointed to say that so far there has been very little serious critical discussion, grounded in factual analysis, of the alleged “Terror Plot” foiled on the morning of Wednesday, 10th August 2006. Except for a few noteworthy comment pieces, such as Craig Murray’s critical speculations published by the Guardian last Friday, the mainstream media has largely subserviently parroted the official claims of the British and American governments. This is a shame, because inspection of the facts raises serious problems for the 10/8 official narrative.

• Who’s Watching? - Big Brother will be watching you for sure by 2008 -- the year a proposed requirement that Event Data Recorders (EDRs) become mandatory standard equipment in all new cars and trucks will become law unless public outrage puts the kibosh on it somehow. EDRs are "black boxes" -- just like airplanes have. They can record a wide variety of things -- including how fast you drive and whether you "buckle-up for safety." The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) wants EDRs to be installed in every new vehicle beginning with model year 2008 -- on the theory that the information will help crash investigators more accurately determine the hows and whys of accidents. But EDRs could -- and likely will be -- used for other purposes as well. Tied into GPS navigation computers, EDRs could give interested parties the ability to take automated ticketing to the next level.

• LAST MAN OUT OF WTC: JANITOR'S HEROIC TALE H'WOOD-BOUND - The next 9/11 tale to hit the silver screen could be that of a World Trade Center janitor whose heroism helped save hundreds of lives. William Rodriguez says he is in talks with actors Charlie Sheen and Esai Morales to turn his riveting story into a feature film - and a top writer-director, David Marconi, is already involved in the project. In a strange twist on the usual 9/11-hero tale, Rodriguez had pursued a federal lawsuit charging that the Sept. 11 attacks were a conspiracy orchestrated by President Bush to justify wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Tuesday 22nd August 2006: -

• New Research: Fluoride Damages Children's Liver and Kidneys (NYSCOF) - Fluoride in drinking water damages children's liver and kidney functions, according to a new study in "Environmental Research"(1), reports the New York State Coalition Opposed to Fluoridation (NYSCOF). Xiong and colleagues write, "Our results suggest that drinking water fluoride levels over 2.0 mg/L can cause damage to liver and kidney functions in children." Further, dental fluorosis (fluoride-discolored teeth) can be an indicator of kidney function harm, they report. Researchers grouped 210 Chinese children (aged 10 - 12 years old) by drinking water fluoride levels (averaging 0.76; 1.47; 2.58; and 4.5l mg/L). Dental fluorosis rates, respectively, were 15%, 41%, 79% and 94%.

• Only 20% Of Britons Believe Blair & Government On Terror Threats - ...The findings will shock many at Westminster who had expected Labour to gain ground following John Reid's high-profile handling of the alleged plot against transatlantic airlines. Carried out over the past weekend, following the series of terror arrests, the poll shows voters do not believe the government is giving an honest account of the threat facing Britain. Only 20% of all voters, and 26% of Labour voters, say they think the government is telling the truth about the threat, while 21% of voters think the government has actively exaggerated the danger. A majority, 51%, say the government is not giving the full truth and may be telling less than it knows. That finding comes despite a newly introduced system of public information warnings that saw the home secretary downgrade the threat level from critical to severe.

• Virtual ID card could pose problems - A virtual ID card designed to improve children's net safety has been launched in the UK, US, Canada and Australia. The NetIDMe card can be swapped by children online when using chatrooms, instant messaging and social networks. Parents and children can apply for the card using credit card details and a form countersigned by a professional who knows the child concerned. Tom Newton, product manager at content filtering firm SmoothWall, said: "The new child online safety card, which was launched in the UK yesterday, has been over-hyped and could end up causing more harm than good. Of course, it is a worthy idea and will certainly be a blueprint for future similar schemes, but this initial effort has some serious flaws.

• Local group starts petition to end fluoridation - A local political action committee has kicked off an initiative drive for a Port Angeles "Medical Independence Act" -- prompted by the recent fluoridation of the city's water supply. Organizers of "Our Waters -- Our Choice!" say the act will prohibit the addition of all substances intended to treat or medicate people through the public water supply -- including any continued addition of fluoride. The city council approved an ordinance to add fluoride to the water in 2003 and the substance was added to the water supply earlier this year after the construction of a fluoridation facility.

• Thumbs please! - Shaker Heights schools have begun phasing out their antiquated time clock system with biometric devices that scan employees' thumb prints. They're not the first in the area to employ the new technology - the Bedford district already has it. The system is being used to track the hours of about 400 hourly maintenance and custodial workers, bus drivers, cafeteria workers and others. It could be expanded in the future to include more employees, said district spokeswoman Peggy Caldwell. The device reads a person's thumb print to maintain an electronic record of attendance and overtime data that goes directly into the district's payroll system. The installation and software costs were about $77,000, but Caldwell said the system will save money - and reams of paper - in the long run.

• ADHD drugs to carry new warnings about psychotic behavior - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced yesterday that several ADHD drugs must now carry information on the labels warning consumers of the risk of heart problems and psychotic behavior associated with taking the drugs. FDA spokeswoman Susan Bro says GlaxoSmithKline's Dexetrine drug and Novartis AG's Ritalin must now include warnings about risks of serious heart problems and sudden death.

• Tory MP compares Hezbollah to Nazi party - Despite its political wing, the militant group Hezbollah is a terrorist organization that is comparable to the Nazi party of the 1930s, says Prime Minister Stephen Harper's parliamentary secretary. Jason Kenney was responding to two MPs who suggested Hezbollah should be taken off Canada's list of terrorist organizations. "We need to learn the lessons of history," Kenney told reporters Tuesday. "There was another political party in the past which had support, democratic support — which provided social services which played an important role in the political life of its country in the 1930s — which was also dedicated to violence against the Jewish people." Kenney said Hezbollah is dedicated to the eradication of Israel.

• Team finds 'proof' of dark matter - US astronomers say they have found the first direct evidence for the mysterious stuff called dark matter. Dark matter - which does not emit or reflect enough light to be "seen" - is thought to make up 25% of the Universe. By contrast, the ordinary matter we can see is believed to make up no more than about 5% of our Universe. Until now, astronomers have only been able to infer the existence of this dark material through the gravitational effects it has on ordinary matter.

• Terrorist scare was bogus - Dr Davis thinks so WITH Bush and Blair reeling from a backlash against their reluctance to achieve a ceasefire in Lebanon, what more fortuitous occurrence could arise than the discovery of yet another plot to blow up yet more passenger aircraft, to take the heat off them and kick the Middle East off the front pages for a few days? The minute I heard and read all the hype, it was clear that this whole thing had “bogus” written all over it. No bombs found, or any evidence to speak of, the usual unattributed intelligence “sources”, and the subsequent headlong rush by the authorities to impost draconian and disproportionate “security measures” which they wouldn’t have been able to get away with in any other circumstances.

Monday 21st August 2006: -

(RELATED: See our Problem > Reaction > Solution section, as we have an entry for this latest stage managed terror alert in the archive.)

• Pakistan's ISI assists Scotland Yard, while also supporting the terror network - According to The Senate Foreign Relations Committee (July 2004 Hearings), Pakistan's Military intelligence has played a key role in developing the Islamic terror network with financial assistance provided by Saudi Arabia. (Committee on Senate Foreign Relations, Hearings, July 14, 2004). More recently, The Nixon Center (July 2005) has confirmed that the ISI still supports the main Kashmiri Islamic groups including Lashkar-e-Tiaba and Jaish-e-Muhammad.

• ID card a must when you use internet cafe in Mumbai next time - Entry to an internet cafe in the city will now be only possible on showing your identity proof, with police asking cafe owners to allow only those with bonafide identity proof to use the facility. Apart from checking the identity of the user, owners will now have to maintain a log of user activity in the cafe, a new regulation promulgated by Mumbai Police has stipulated. ...Mumbai police sources said that the decision to make identity proof necessary was taken in wake of the July 11 blasts probe, which revealed that some of the blasts suspects had been using internet cafes regularly to be in touch with other suspects.   (RELATED: See our Problem > Reaction > Solution for more background info into the 7/11 Mumbai bombings)

• Diana death was not an accident - Dodi’s deaths were the result of a simple road accident and adds further weight to claims of a cover-up. Dodi’s father Mohammed Al Fayed said: "This is a huge step – possibly the biggest development – in my fight to get to the truth. "I have always maintained that Princess Diana and my son were murdered. It goes a long way to help prove that and expose the cover-up. "I will be fascinated to hear the depositions by these experts." French investigators declared that chauffeur Henri Paul was to blame for the accident after relying on blood tests that showed he was three times over the alcohol limit when the Mercedes S280 crashed, killing himself, Diana and Dodi. The fresh doubts over the tests will certainly delay the submission of the report from Operation Paget, the £4million inquiry into Diana’s death by Lord Stevens, the former Metropolitan Police commissioner.   (RELATED: See our popular Diana Assassination archive)

• Eleven charged over 'bomb plot': n.b. the inverted commas there, we didn't add those! - Eleven people have been charged in connection with an alleged plot to blow up several transatlantic airliners. Eight have been charged with conspiracy to murder and preparing acts of terrorism. Two are accused of failing to disclose information and a 17-year-old faces a charge of possessing articles useful to a person preparing acts of terrorism.

• Are children being given too many drugs - More than three times the number of prescriptions are being given to people with Attentions Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder in Norwich than in some other parts of the region. Figures obtained by the Evening News show city doctors prescribed three times more drugs to children and adults with ADHD than those in Cambridge and a third more than those in Ipswich. The number of prescriptions given out for ADHD in Yarmouth was also higher than other parts of the region.

• Challenge to lone gunman theory - More than four decades after his death, John F. Kennedy's assassination remains the hottest cold case in U.S. history, and the clues continue to trickle in. Now Lawrence Livermore Laboratory scientists say a key piece of evidence supporting the lone gunman theory should be thrown out. A new look at clues gleaned from studies of crime-scene bullet fragments shows they may have been misinterpreted. "It basically shatters what some people call the best physical evidence around," said chemist Pat Grant, director of the lab's Forensic Science Center. Grant and Livermore Lab metallurgist Erik Randich found that the chemical "fingerprints" used to identify which bullets the fragments came from are actually more like run-of-the-mill tire tracks than one-of-a-kind fingerprints.

Sunday 20th August 2006: -

• French reopen Diana inquiry - THE French authorities have reopened their inquiry into the circumstances behind the car crash that killed Diana, Princess of Wales after fresh doubts emerged over scientific tests that stated her chauffeur was drunk. The French director of public prosecutions has authorised a judge to reexamine two forensics experts whose evidence was central to the finding that the 1997 crash in Paris was a simple road accident caused by a drunk driver. The move will excite Diana conspiracy theorists and could lead to further delays in the UK authorities closing the case.   (RELATED: See our popular Diana Assassination archive)

• A cashless society?: Not quite, but a look inside local shoppers' wallets suggests we could be headed there - Sandee Resnick has so many cards to keep up with, she carries two wallets. One, a zippered pouch, has an external slot for easy access to her two debit cards, with a few folded bills and a dozen credit cards inside. The second, a more conventional style, holds important cards she doesn't often need. The modern American wallet is stuffed with bank cards, credit cards, grocery store and gift cards. Receipts are often more common than $20 bills, and personal touches are practically nonexistent. It's no secret that we're slowly becoming a cashless society. Experts bemoan our rising debt levels as buying on credit becomes easier. Retailers complain about the service fees that cut into their profits as we charge smaller and smaller amounts on debit cards.

• Two men forced off Manchester flight - Two men were removed from a flight bound for the UK this week, after fellow passengers feared they may be terrorists, an airline has revealed. Monarch Airlines said that the two men, reported to be of Asian or middle eastern appearance, were taken off flight ZB 613 from Malaga to Manchester on Wednesday after other passengers onboard the Airbus 320 became alarmed at their behaviour and demanded their removal. The crew of the plane, which was reportedly carrying 150 passengers and seven staff, informed Spanish security officials at Malaga airport of the fears and the men were subsequently removed from the flight and questioned by police.

• Burden of inheritance tax has doubled in years since Labour came to power - Labour has dragged millions of people into the inheritance tax "stealth trap" since it came to power. It is estimated that by the end of the decade, the increased wealth of more than 4.5 million people will mean their estates are pushed above the inheritance tax threshold, which currently stands at £285,000. Just four years ago, the number of estates over the threshold stood at just over two million - meaning, according to the Government's critics, that Labour has ridden roughshod over its declaration before the 1997 election that families should not be drawn "unfairly" into the inheritance tax net.

• Five key questions for anti-terror investigation: Arrested group were tracked for nearly a year - Pakistani security services helped watch suspects - Nine days ago Paul Stephenson, the deputy commissioner of the Metropolitan police, told the public his officers had thwarted a plot to commit "mass murder on an unimaginable scale". It was an apocalyptic scenario challenged at the time by journalists, who forced an admission that what was meant by these words was "on a scale never before witnessed in Britain", reducing the potential death toll from tens of thousands to hundreds. Today 23 suspects, two of them women, are being held on suspicion of plotting to commit terrorist offences. While police interrogate them, there are many unanswered questions. Was there any plot at all?

• Fingerprint plan to stop pub yobs - DRINKERS will be photographed and fingerprinted before going into a bar in a bid to crack down on underage drinking. Just So Caf in Castle Street, Trowbridge, is the first venue in the county to bring in the revolutionary new system. The Intouch system, brought in on Wednesday, means customers now have a scan of their fingerprint and a photo taken when they enter. This is then added to a database along with their date of birth and address, taken from valid ID such as a passport or driving licence, so they can be identified each time they visit the bar.

• MERCURY NEWS SURVEY REVEALS THAT PERSONAL INFORMATION ISN'T AS PRIVATE AS YOU THINK: What do Google, Yahoo, AOL and Microsoft's MSN know about you? - America's top four Internet companies, Google, Yahoo, AOL and Microsoft's MSN, promise they will protect the personal information of people who use their online services to search, shop and socialize. But a close read of their privacy policies reveals as much exposure as protection. The massive amounts of data these companies collect, which can include records of the searches you make, the health problems you research and the investments you monitor, can be requested by government investigators and subpoenaed by your legal adversaries.

Saturday 19th August 2006: -

• WEST YORKSHIRE TRUTH CAMPAIGN: A new website for the meeting group centered in Bradford - Designed by Joseph Skelton, webmaster of cremationofcare.com and 911truthskipton.com (hence the layout is a bit primitive!).  Check it out here!

• AUDIO DOWNLOAD: Last nights 'David Shayler Radio Show' from Resonance 104.4FM - You can catch this recorded show live on Fridays at 8 - 9PM (GMT).   (RELATED: http://www.resonancefm.com - Thanks to Narinder for the recording, check out his own website here)

• Flight 93 'was shot down' - The heart-thumping moment came when when passengers on board one of the hijacked 9/11 jets fought back against the ruthless fanatics hellbent on crashing the plane into the heart of America. Jumping out of their seats to a rallying cry of ‘Let’s roll!’, they charged towards the front of the Boeing 757 and began smashing down the cockpit door to reach the hijackers at the controls. Amid the desperate commotion, the plane rolled violently from right to left and pitched up and down as the rogue pilots tried to throw the passengers beyond the door off balance. As the struggle continued, the cockpit voice recorder captured the hijackers urgently discussing whether to ditch the plane. ‘Is that it? Shall we finish it off?’ asked one of the fanatics.   (RELATED: See our 911 archive)

• Russo: Rockefeller Admitted Women's Lib Agenda - Aaron Russo recalls his conversation with one of the Rockefellers, who told him that they created and financed the womem's lib movement so they could tax another half of the population and so that the children would be trained by them in government schools rather than in the context of the family unit: -

Friday 18th August 2006: -

• A QUICK LESSON ON THE POLITICAL ADVANTAGES OF USING 'PROBLEM > REACTION > SOLUTION': Every airport traveller 'will be fingerprinted'; Airport biometric procedures to be extended after alleged terror plot, Six out of ten believe government is not exaggerating terrorism threat, Reid reaction to terror has seen his public profile soar as Blair's successor - BIOMETRIC testing is set to be introduced at European airports under plans for stringent new security measures revealed yesterday in the wake of last week's alleged terror plot. Passengers would have their fingerprint or iris scanned under the measures proposed by EU interior ministers, which would also use passenger profiling to try to identify potential terrorists.   (RELATED: See our Problem > Reaction > Solution archive for more background info)

• Be skeptical about UK's terror alert, says former ambassador - A former British ambassador warned the public Friday to be skeptical about the UK's latest terror alert and to be wary of politicians who seek to benefit from the alarm. Britain mounted its biggest counter-terrorism operation on August 10 after police said that they had disrupted an alleged plot to carry out simultaneous mid-air explosions on up to 10 flights from the UK to the US. "For there to be no clear evidence yet on something that was `imminent' and would bring `mass murder on an unbelievable scale' is, to say the least, peculiar," said Craig Murray.

• WE HAVE A LOT OF WORK TO DO!: Majority of British voters support air passenger profiling; poll - A majority of British voters support profiling air passengers in the wake of an alleged plot to bomb US-bound planes in mid-flight, according to a poll. In a poll of 1,696 respondents by YouGov published in The Spectator magazine, 55 pct backed the idea of security screenings at airports, focusing on the passengers who pose the greatest risk. Some 60 pct of those surveyed also said they expected the threat from terrorist groups to worsen, and 79 pct felt the government was not winning the so-called war on terror.

• Sick bag note causes UK airliner bomb scare - A bomb threat scrawled on a sick bag caused a British passenger plane from London to Egypt to be diverted to southern Italy on Friday, but police said it appeared to be a false alarm. "The alarm has been called off," said Brindisi border police chief Salvatore de Paolis. The charter flight from London's Gatwick airport to Hurghada in Egypt with 269 passengers on board was escorted to Brindisi by an Italian jet fighter after the pilot raised the alarm by radio to air traffic controllers in Zagreb. The passengers were evacuated immediately after landing in Italy and anti-terrorist police inspected the aircraft with the airport fire brigade on standby. But budget airline Excel said it was only a precaution taken after a passenger found a threatening note written on a sick bag in a seat pocket.