Wednesday 31st January 2007: -

• Dystopic Visions Sweep Toronto as Surveillance Camera Installations Go Forward - If past discussions are any indication, surveillance cameras (or spy cams, depending on how much Orwell you've been reading) are a hot topic in Toronto. By May 1st of this year Toronto Police are expected to have installed fifteen cameras in three areas of Toronto, being 31 Division, 42 Division, and the Entertainment District, five each. Privacy lobbyists are up in arms, but does one have a right to privacy when traversing a public space? If Supt. Jeff McGuire's claims are true, the windows inside private buildings won't even be captured thanks to advanced software. Thanks to a nice investigation by Rannie Turrigan regarding the rights of photographers, anything captured visually while standing in a public space is fair game; I guess if you want privacy, close your shades.

• Children of Big Brother - Thousands of children as young as three could be fingerprinted without their parents' consent as part of a hi-tech identity checking scheme. A computerised "biometric" system already used in some schools to let pupils borrow library books is to be introduced across West Sussex schools and nurseries later this year. It could lead to children's diet, reading habits and other personal data being held on a central database. Last night opponents of the move branded it an example of the "nanny state gone mad" and civil liberties campaigners warned it could breach children's human rights.

• Liska Biometry begins installation of RFID system for student-staff security: A new Liska Biometry ID system pilot project under way in an unnamed public school system will help safeguard students and schools by allowing administrators to identity every student as well as determine individuals who are not authorized to be on campus - Liska Biometry, a leading provider of biometric identification solutions, announced that its Al-Cor ID Solutions subsidiary won a contract for a pilot project to install and support an RFID system to enhance the security of students and staff in public schools. Installation has begun and when the system is proven to be successful, the contract makes it possible to implement the system in over 50 schools, identifying 100,000 students and faculty. For reasons of enhanced security, Liska will not reveal the location or the name of the board of education involved. The pilot project consists of enrolling and authenticating over 2,500 students in one school, using handheld PDAs and RFID cards for each student and staff member. Other schools have already expressed interest in implementing the Al-Cor solution once the pilot project has proven successful.

• More Teens Abusing ADD Drugs - Workers at Rosecrance Health Network say more and more teenagers admitted there abuse attention deficit disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder drugs, all without a doctor's prescription. Rosecrance administrators call it an alarming trend. National statistics say 10 percent of teens have used the stimulants Ritalin or Adderall without a prescription. Rosecrance Staff Educ. Coordinator Jocelyn Boudreau says, "What we're seeing here at Rosecrance is reflected in the larger trends that're being reported across the country."

• High school introducing random alcohol test - Some teenagers who drink over the weekend could be in big trouble come Monday morning: A New Jersey school district plans to institute random urine tests capable of detecting whether alcohol was consumed up to 80 hours earlier. Pequannock Township High, with about 800 students, said it will begin administering the tests next week.

• Bush has near 'tractor accident' in visit to Illinois factory - The White House announced its visit to a Caterpillar factory in East Peoria, Illinois, yesterday, where President George W. Bush advanced his case for expanding free trade negotiations. But it didn't detail the President's clumsy driving of a giant D-10 tractor that sent the White House press corps and presidential staff scrambling, as reported at a Newsweek blog. At "The Gaggle," Newsweek reporter Holly Bailey writes that the president clambered into the driver's seat of Caterpillar's giant D10 tractor. "I would suggest moving back...I'm about to crank this sucker up," she reports him saying.  But as White House staff started to move the press corps back, the situation became more chaotic. Bailey writes that "the tractor lurched forward" and White House staff "too were forced to scramble for safety. "Get out of the way!" a news photographer yelled. "I think he might run us over!"".   (COMMENTARY: With anyone else I would normally ask: "Is this guy right in the head or what?!?!")

• Drug testing policy considered - Drug testing may soon be required of all persons employed by the Village of Georgetown. At the regular meeting Jan. 25, council discussed progress on the development of a mandatory drug policy. Some months ago, council member Gloria Parker began a discussion about the possibility of mandatory drug testing for village employees, including policemen, firefighters and utilities workers. Council generally agreed with the idea, although it has taken some time filling out the finer points.

• UK Schools need consent to fingerprint kids? - The Information Commissioner has declared that schools should ask for the consent of children and parents before they take pupil's fingerprints, despite there being no legal obligation for them to do so. The data protection supervisor issued the informal advice yesterday, contrasting with previous public comments on the issue of consent, some of them related to its official guidance on school fingerprinting, which it is still drafting. A spokesman for the Information Commissioner's Office said: "Because of the sensitivity of the issue, we are recommending that schools follow best practice and ask permission of parent and pupil before they take a fingerprint."

Tuesday 30th January 2007: -

• GUILTY (AND NAKED) UNTIL PROVEN INNOCENT: Now Brits risk being filmed naked by X-ray cameras under new terror tapping scheme - The British Home Office has reportedly proposed to Prime Minister Tony Blair's Office that X-ray cameras (which will snap see-through pictures of passers-by) should be installed on lampposts along the streets, to trap terror suspects carrying arms under clothes. The proposal is said to be contained in some leaked documents drawn up by the Home Office and presented to Blair's working group on Security, Crime and Justice. But, the prospect of the State snooping on individuals' most private parts is certain to spark national fury. And, officials are battling to find a way of dealing with that reaction. A January 17 memo discusses the cameras, which can see through clothes, a report in The Sun said.   (RELATED: See our Total Global Surveillance archive)

• Parliament won't debate school fingerprinting - The question of whether it's necessary or desirable to take school children's fingerprints has not made it on the agenda for Parliament. Greg Mulholland, MP for Leeds North West and the Liberal Democrat schools spokesman, requested a Parliamentary debate on school fingerprinting last Thursday. "Legal opinion, including that of the British Educational Communications and Technology Agency, has stated that this practice contravenes the Data Protection Act 1998. Does he agree that it is time to debate this important subject in the House?" Mulholland asked Jack Straw, leader of the House of Commons. Straw refused, claiming ignorance: "I am not aware of the practice [of fingerprinting children at school], but obviously people have accepted it," he said.

• Sophisticated thieves bugging chip and PIN machines with mp3 players - Sophisticated criminal gangs are finding ways to beat the chip and PIN security regime, including bugging cash machines with MP3 players, to bring in millions of pounds. One team of hackers got away with money and goods worth more than £200,000 after using the tiny devices to tap in to transactions on free-standing cash machines. They then used the information to make dozens of cloned cards that were capable of being used in some cash machines and tills, and to make internet purchases. Details emerged as Britain's banks and local councils revealed plans to put exclusion zones around street cash machines to prevent criminals peering over the shoulders of users.

• Ian Crane's presentation in Bradford - A Presentation by Ian R. Crane (Current Chairperson of the 9/11 Truth Campaign, Britain & Ireland) at the Carlisle Business Centre in Bradford on 23rd January 2007, organised by The West Yorkshire Truth Campaign www.wytruth.org.uk: -

• Stonehenge builders' houses found - A huge ancient settlement used by the people who built Stonehenge has been found, archaeologists have said. Excavations at Durrington Walls, near the legendary Salisbury Plain monument, uncovered remains of ancient houses. People seem to have occupied the sites seasonally, using them for ritual feasting and funeral ceremonies. In ancient times, this settlement would have housed hundreds of people, making it the largest Neolithic village ever found in Britain.

• Rules allowed use of dog collar on patient, Australian psychologist tells court - An Australian psychologist charged with indecently assaulting a female patient told a court today that forcing her to wear a dog collar and call him master was within ethical guidelines. Bruce Beaton, 64, has pleaded not guilty in the Western Australia district court in Perth to four charges of sexually assaulting the 22-year-old woman he was treating for bulimia at his clinic in the neighbouring city of Fremantle between January and March 2005. Mr Beaton told the court he had resorted to drastic treatment because gentle methods were not working. He said he thought role-playing a dominant/submissive relationship would help build a more trusting relationship so he made her wear a dog collar and call him master, and he cracked a whip in treatment sessions.

• NY Times: Bush signs landmark executive order increasing power over federal agencies - President George W. Bush has given his administration a boost in how the government regulates key issues such as civil rights and the environment, The New York Times will report on its Tuesday front page. The President "signed a directive that gives the White House much greater control over the rules that the federal government develops to regulate public health, safety," privacy and other issues, writes Robert Pear for the Times. Pear reports that "in an executive order published last week in the Federal Register, Bush said that each federal agency must have a regulatory policy office run by a political appointee" who will monitor the creation of process and procedures and the associated documentation. "The White House will thus have a gatekeeper in each agency," Pear writes, "to analyze the costs and benefits of new rules and to make sure they carry out the president's priorities."

• Drug giant 'covered up safety fear on Seroxat' - A drugs firm covered up vital evidence about the safety of an anti-depressant linked to a string of suicides, it was claimed last night. Seroxat was taken by an estimated 50,000 British youngsters before being banned for patients under 18 in 2003. But scrutiny of thousands of documents and e-mails from manufacturer GlaxoSmithKline revealed it had fears about the drug's safety years earlier. But GSK, which makes £1billion a year from Seroxat, continued to promote it for youngsters, documents obtained by BBC's Panorama reveal.

• Girl, 8, given 'prison rations' in row over school dinner money - A GIRL aged eight was given bread, water and an over-ripe banana instead of a hot school lunch because her mother had not paid her dinner money. Mum Michelle Williams said hungry daughter Courtney was treated "worse than a prisoner" when she was served the meagre rations while classmates tucked into fish and rice. She added: "I was fuming. Prisoners get better food. Courtney was upset that she was made to sit with her friends while they all ate a hot meal." Jobless Michelle, 31, is on benefits and admitted she had failed to pay Courtney's money on time before. On this occasion she promised to take the £3.50 in by lunchtime.

Monday 29th January 2007: -

• More than 3,000,000 on DNA 'stealth' database - The Government was accused last night of creating a "surveillance society by stealth" after figures showed that police have put more than 3.3 million people on the national criminal DNA database. Home Office statistics, reflecting the size of the database on Oct 31 last year and released last week in Parliament, show that 3,327,000 people from a total of 49 million have had their genetic profiles logged by one of the 43 police forces. This is about 6.7 per cent of the population.

• Criminal footprint database for UK - BRITAIN is launching a footwear intelligence database next month which will contain images of thousands of types of shoes, to track down criminals. It will be similar to the DNA database of genetic samples that Britain created in 1995 which now has millions of profiles. "Footwear marks at the scene are the second-biggest evidence type behind blood and DNA," said Dr Romelle Piercy, of the Forensic Science Service (FSS) in London. The FSS, formerly part of the Home Office and now a government-owned company, will launch the Footwear Intelligence Tool (FIT) on February 15. It is thought to be the first of its kind in the world. Like fingerprints, hair, blood or fibres, footprints are left at many crime scenes, often unknowingly, by the criminal. The imprint and marks of a particular shoe can provide vital clues.

• UK: X-ray cameras 'plan for lampposts' - Airport-style x-ray cameras which see through clothes, could be installed on street lampposts in a bid to combat terrorism, it was claimed last night. The measure was suggested in a memo sent last week to one of Tony Blair's working groups at the Cabinet Office, the Sun newspaper reported. The move comes amid growing concern about Britain's "surveillance society".

• TONIGHT ON TV IN THE UK: Panorama: Secrets of the Drugs Trials - Reporter Shelley Jofre investigates claims that one of Britain's biggest drug company misled doctors into prescribing the antidepressant Seroxat to teenagers even after one of its own clinical trials indicated that they were more likely to become suicidal after taking it. She reveals a secret trail of internal emails about the drug. BBC 1 Mon 29 Jan, 8:30 pm - 9:00 pm   (RELATED: See our Compromised Health archive)

• US plans to 'fight the net' revealed - A newly declassified document gives a fascinating glimpse into the US military's plans for "information operations" - from psychological operations, to attacks on hostile computer networks. Bloggers beware. As the world turns networked, the Pentagon is calculating the military opportunities that computer networks, wireless technologies and the modern media offer. From influencing public opinion through new media to designing "computer network attack" weapons, the US military is learning to fight an electronic war. The declassified document is called "Information Operations Roadmap". It was obtained by the National Security Archive at George Washington University using the Freedom of Information Act. Officials in the Pentagon wrote it in 2003. The Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld, signed it.

Sunday 28th January 2007: -

• Free child safety kits (Innit cool!) - Many northwest Ohio parents alarmed by stories of missing children across the country did something about it today. Moms and dads decided to protect their kids that meant heading out to a car dealership. The Ballas Buick car lot was a quiet this morning, but the showroom was a busy place filled with the customers who are too young to drive or buy a car, but are just the right age for a DNA life print kit. Tony Landik and his son Christopher were waiting in line to smile for the camera and take home a picture, a video, a child safety journal and DNA id kit.

• Chips push through nano-barrier - The next milestone in the relentless pursuit of smaller, higher performance microchips has been unveiled. Chip-maker Intel has announced that it will start manufacturing processors using transistors just 45 nanometres (billionths of a metre) wide. Shrinking the basic building blocks of microchips will make them faster and more efficient. Computer giant IBM has also signalled its intention to start production of chips using the tiny components.

• Canada apologizes to torture victim: $8.9 mil. for man U.S. sent to Syria as terror suspect - The prime minister apologized Friday to a Syrian-born Canadian and said he would be compensated $8.9 million for Ottawa's role in his deportation by U.S. authorities to Damascus, where he was tortured and imprisoned for nearly a year. Prime Minister Stephen Harper again called on Washington to remove Maher Arar from its no-fly and terrorist watch lists. He reiterated that Canada would keep pressing the United States to clear Arar's name. ''On behalf of the government of Canada, I want to extend a full apology to you and Monia as well as your family for the role played by Canadian officials in the terrible ordeal that you experienced in 2002 and 2003,'' Harper told reporters in Ottawa, referring to Arar's wife, Monia Mazigh, and their two children, who now live in British Columbia.

• Battle to let jury decide truth about Diana - A LEGAL bid to stop the Princess Diana inquest being held without a jury was launched last night by Mohamed Al Fayed. The Harrods owner wants a judge to compel Deputy Royal Coroner Dame Elizabeth Butler-Sloss to conduct the hearings before a panel of ordinary men and women. In court papers filed yesterday, the tycoon claims Lady Butler-Sloss’s independence could be compromised because she is a salaried employee of the royal household as its coroner.   (RELATED: See our popular Diana Assassination archive)

• Honours row deepens as Downing St's secret military-strength e-mail network is revealed - Downing Street has a second, hacker-proof e-mail system running alongside the normal No 10 network, Whitehall sources revealed Friday night. The software was ordered by Labour Party chiefs to allow confidential messages to be sent and is so secure it has been used by the Israeli military. The disclosure raises suspicions that the parallel system may have been used to covertly discuss the awarding of knighthoods and peerages to those who have donated money.

Friday 26th January 2007: -

IMPORTANT: PLEASE BEAR WITH US OVER THE NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS AS SOME OF OUR TEAM ARE TRAVELING ACROSS THE UK TO TAKE PART IN THE 'UNSPINNING THE TRUTH' TOUR.  UPDATES TO FOLLOW SHORTLY.

• Joseph Skelton, Webmaster of cremationofcare.com to appear on Out There TV.  The show was recorded early this morning (UK time) and shall be airing across the world over the next few weeks.  UK Viewers can see this on Sky Digital channel 184 on Thursdays at 17:30.  More information to follow...

• Maine revolts against digital U.S. ID card - Maine lawmakers on Thursday became the first in the nation to demand repeal of a federal law tightening identification requirements for drivers' licenses, a post-September 11 security measure that states say will cost them billions of dollars to administer. Maine lawmakers passed a resolution urging repeal of the Real ID Act, which would create a national digital identification system by 2008. The lawmakers said it would cost Maine about $185 million, fail to boost security and put people at greater risk of identity theft. Maine's resolution is the strongest stand yet by a state against the law, which Congress passed in May 2004 and gave states three years to implement. Similar repeal measures are pending in eight other states.

• CCTV has ‘not helped one iota’ - LEDBURY Town Council could withhold a £6,000 payment for CCTV maintenance in the town centre, following fears the system may not be worth the money. At a meeting last week, members deferred a decision on whether to approve the annual payment to Herefordshire Council. Coun Martin Eager presented Herefordshire Council's own figures which showed that, of more than 500 incidents recorded by CCTV cameras during the last quarter locally, only six came from Ledbury. He said: "Either we do not have much crime in our town centre, or the cameras are not being monitored.

• Featured Audio: Phone Jam to Sean Hannity - Sean Hannity gets a dose of 9/11 calls on 1/19.  Click here to download the audio courtesy of John Conner at theresistancemanifesto.com

• David Lynch Questions 9/11 On National U.S. Radio: Iconoclastic director of upcoming Inland Empire, Twin Peaks & The Elephant Man says there's "more than meets the eye" to what people saw on September 11 - Iconoclastic film director David Lynch has publicly questioned the official story of 9/11 on national U.S. radio, joining the Alex Jones Show to reiterate views that he first raised on Dutch television in December. Lynch has directed a host of popular movies and television favorites, including Eraserhead, Dune, The Elephant Man and Mulholland Drive. He was also the creative force behind the Twin Peaks television series in the 80s. Lynch is currently enjoying rave reviews for his latest release Inland Empire. When asked about his controversial and courageous comments during the Dutch TV piece which can be viewed below, Lynch stated, "I knew they were gonna bring it up and you saw what I said, we are all light detectives, human beings are all light detectives - we look at our world and we keep looking at it and we get these feelings that there's more going on than meets the eye."   (RELATED: See our 9/11 archive and our affiliated site 911truthskipton.com)

• Law officers perform random search at high school for drugs - Officers from the Tallmadge Police Department, Summit County Sheriff's Office and the University of Akron Police Department combined to perform a search for drugs Wednesday at Tallmadge High School. Six drug-sniffing dogs examined lockers, hallways, random classrooms and the parking lot. They found nothing. No weapons were found in students' vehicles in the school parking lot. ``We will continue to conduct random searches from time to time to ensure that our school remains drug free,'' principal Rebecca DeCapua said.

• School fingerprinters say they don't grab teaching cash - Firms supplying fingerprint scanners to UK schools have put the national procurement authority in the right over whether their biometric components are being bought using funding set aside for teaching software. Parents campaigning against their children's fingerprints being taken have been worried that teaching funds are being used for the purchase of the equipment that takes their dabs.

• Whistleblower exposes TV quiz show 'dirty tricks' - A TV quiz channel changed answers to avoid paying big prize money and left phones unanswered to wring more cash from premium rate numbers, a whistleblower claimed yesterday. Robert Winsor, an ex-call operator for Big Game TV, told a Commons select committee how he took calls in October 2005 on a game asking for "things you see in a pub". He explained: "The top answer 'pork scratchings' was worth £200 and a winner guessed it within the first 30 minutes of the game. "When the top prize is won this quickly, it is not good for call revenue as having a top answer of £200 still to be won is more tempting to viewers than a £20 bottom answer. "Bearing this in mind, the producer moved this top £200 answer down to the £40 answer slot while the presenter stalled the player with the usual, 'Hi! So, where are you calling from?' chitchat.

• Supermarket asks man, 87, for ID - An 87-year-old man was asked to prove he was over 21 when he tried to buy a bottle of sherry in a York supermarket. The former Lord Mayor of York, Jack Archer, said he was shocked - but flattered - when asked the question by staff at Morrisons in Acomb. He said: "I don't look my age but I certainly don't look young enough to be in trouble for underage drinking." Morrisons said staff had to ask anyone buying alcohol to confirm they were over 21, or provide proof of age.

Thursday 25th January 2007: -

• Huge majority say civil liberty curbs a 'price worth paying' to fight terror: Research finds most support compulsory ID cards, with phone tapping, curfews and tagging for suspects - An overwhelming majority of people in Britain are willing to surrender civil liberties to help tackle the threat of terrorism, the nation's leading social research institute will disclose today. The survey found seven in every 10 people think compulsory identity cards for all adults would be "a price worth paying" to reduce the threat of terrorism. Eight in 10 say the authorities should be able to tap the phones of people suspected of involvement in terrorism, open their mail and impose electronic tagging or home curfews.   (COMMENTARY: My father, who is pretty clued in to the mechanisms of the New World Order, but regularly looses the plot (sorry Dad!) often asks me: "What good is all of this talk about 9/11 being an inside job... we need to 'get' the bastards that are pushing us into this NWO system!".  What he fails to realise is that it is us... the citizenry who are bringing about this sinister dystopic system, through our acquiescence and co-operation.  The key to fight back is the truth.  With those who ignorantly support Big Brother, you can argue the technical details of things like ID cards and the cashless society technology (e.g. make a case that ID cards don't help fight terror), but if you really want to wake people up and reverse the introduction of this NWO system, tell them about the Order out of Chaos aspect and overwhelmingly they will 'wise-up' almost instantly.  Do this on a larger scale and support and promote the independent media, create truth groups such as we have done with the West Yorkshire Truth Campaign and 911 Truth Skipton... See our Solutions section for a few good tips.)

• The House bill for New Mexico to ban Aspartame - The House bill for New Mexico to ban Aspartame was turned in; it has a number now, House Bill 391, with three committee assignments: Consumer and Public Affairs; Business and Industry, and Judiciary; with 19 Representatives having signed it. The bill is to ban the sale of Aspartame/Equal/Nutrasweet in New Mexico. This is a neurotoxic artificial sweetener that metabolizes as methanol, then formaldehyde, and even one more brain tumor causing agent, diketopiperazine. Aspartame's approval was forced through the FDA in 1981 by then CEO of patent holder, G.D. Searle, Donald Rumsfeld, for vast personal gain, despite the FDA having turned down the approval for 15 prior years.   (RELATED: See our Compromised Health archive)

Wednesday 24th January 2007: -

• Snö Mountain implements Precision Dynamics' RFID wristbands for ski lift passes and cashless purchases: Skiers at a Pennsylvania ski lodge won’t have to worry about carrying cash when they show up on the slopes. One wrist band will do the trick, providing entry to the ski lift as well as allowing them to make purchases - Precision Dynamics Corporation (PDC), a global leader in automatic wristband identification, announces the implementation of its Smart Band RFID Wristband System at the recently renovated Snö Mountain (formerly Montage Mountain) in the Pocono Mountains, Pennsylvania. Snö Mountain, an alpine ski and multi-season recreation center, opened on January 12, 2007. The RFID wristband system provides added conveniences to guests including automated ski lift tickets and cashless point-of-sale (POS). Purchasing food and beverages at the ski park is a breeze using Smart Band's contactless payment feature. Guests can load money onto their wristband at POS stations using cash, credit or debit cards. Smart Bands work well in any environment -- wet or dry -- making them a great addition to any ski resort.

• `TRUSTED TRAVELER' PROGRAM FLAWED: Background checks won't stop airborne terrorists - Clear has arrived at Mineta San Jose International Airport. Run by Verified Identity Pass, it's one of several airport ``trusted traveler'' programs being tried around the country. Fill out an application, let the company capture your fingerprints and iris pattern, and present two forms of ID. If you pass the Transportation Safety Administration's background check, you'll get a card that will get you through airport security more quickly. Sounds great, but it's actually two ideas rolled into one: one clever and one very stupid.

• DNA to be tracked for petty crimes: The District Attorney's Office will create a database and require suspects to give samples for plea bargains leading to probation - Orange County will create the nation's first local DNA database to track petty crimes such as car break-ins and home burglaries. Calling DNA tracking the "greatest breakthrough in law enforcement since fingerprints and the two-way radio," District Attorney Tony Rackauckas told county supervisors Tuesday he plans to create a local database that will help catch criminals for petty crimes that previously went unsolved. With unanimous support from county supervisors, Rackauckas will work with the Sheriff's Department and the British government's Forensic Science Service to create the database.

• Kids get DNA kit at kickoff - Both students and parents will now be given an opportunity to help in Charlotte County's crime-solving process thanks to the Charlotte County Sheriff's Office and the Charlotte County School District. DNA kits were handed out to two fourth-grade classes at 9:15 a.m. at Peace River Elementary School cafeteria during the kickoff press conference. Each student within the school district will receive one of these kits to take home to their parents. The school district and sheriff's office teamed up on the campaign last year in an effort to improve child safety in the event of an emergency. The kit would provide local law enforcement officials with the child's fingerprints, measurements and a DNA sample if a child is kidnapped or runs away.   (COMMENTARY: I am confused.  How does storing a child's DNA on a database prevent them from getting kidnapped?  It doesn't.  All it may do in this instance would be to serve as a way of identifying a child once already out of the kidnappers clutches - when (statistically) the worst has already been done.  It seems that this whole theme of '...it's for the children... we need to save the children!' is being played to scare parents into submitting the biometric information on their children (that they as are responsible for, not some Big Brother government agency) to these programmes like The Guardians Safety Game and Child ID Programme for use in later life.  The children being protected today are the adults that will be abused by Big Brother tomorrow!)

• CONDITIONING A GENERATION FOR THE PLANNED CASHLESS SOCIETY CONTROL GRID: School praises finger-print technology - A PRIMARY school has seen the number of its pupils tucking into lunch soar within a week of installing controversial finger-print technology in its dining room. St James' CE Primary School, Clitheroe, last week became the first in East Lancashire to embrace the technology following a successful Lancashire County Council pilot at schools in the west of the county. And Paul Adnitt, headteacher at the 318-pupil school, said it had paid immediate dividends. "It has proved so much more efficient and within a week the number of children taking school meals has gone up from 130 to 160. "No actual fingerprints are taken and parents have to give their consent. "The children love it, it's exciting and there is a real buzz around the school."   (RELATED: See our Cashless Society Control Grid archive)

• Big Brother storms the playground: A school library fingerprinting scheme is giving children a record, says brendan o’neill - Children in Britain are having their fingerprints taken at what some parents believe is an alarming rate. Over the past four years, more than 700,000 schoolchildren aged three to 11 have been fingerprinted and photographed as part of the Junior Librarian scheme. More than 3,500 schools have signed up and new schools are joining at a rate of 20 a week. Many of them do not even seek parental consent before fingerprinting children.

• Schools ponder metal detectors: Drug testing also considered - Walking through a metal detector on the way to homeroom could become a regular part of the school day next year for Brunswick County high schoolers. The proposal, which also could involve middle schools, surfaced Tuesday at the board's annual retreat. Other measures discussed included expanded drug testing for district employees and the possibility of revisiting the issue of school uniforms.

• Pelosi approves the 9-11 coverup with H. R. 1 - By now, over half the American people believe that the American government was somehow complicit in 9-11. Yet no one wants to talk about it. The implications are too enormous to contemplate. The parallels with the Reichstag fire are too frightening. The depth of evil which we must overcome if we are to remain free, if we are to survive, is too shocking, too awesome. The coverup of the 9-11 conspiracy has been flimsy at best- fake passports at the scene of the Twin Tower demolition, Bin Laden as a handy villian, while his family is hurriedly flown out of the country, and a fake investigation that focused on "the failure of intelligence" rather than on the usual question: "whodunit"?" Now Pelosi has put the Democrats' seal of approval on the report of the 9-11 coverup commission, with the very first piece of legislation passed by the new House- H. R. 1, "implementation of the recommendations of the 9-11 commission".

• Disabled dating show could be next 'Big Brother' - A Dating programme for the severely disfigured is about to hit TV screens. Dutch broadcaster SBS 6 is planning to match disfigured people up with potential partners through its Love At Second Sight show. Holland is where production company Endemol pioneered the Big Brother format - though there is no word on whether this show will transfer to the UK. The producers are appealing for volunteers, saying: 'Do you have a visible serious handicap and are you looking for a partner?' They have suggested those lacking one or both eyes, or suffering severe burns or scars, might come forward.

• 9/11 Hero Cesar Borja Dies Of Lung Disorder From Toxic Air - The damaging health effects of 9/11 haunt the country's heroes. One of those was Cesar Borja, a retired officer who breathed in toxins while assisting in the 9/11 efforts, who recently died of lung disease. His 21-year-old son, Ceasar Borja Jr., received the call just before he was to attend the State of the Union Address in Washington, D.C. to address the medical issue that claimed his father's life. He had promised his family that he would share testimonies and personal experiences of the tragic lung crisis existing among thousands of others like his dad.

• British poll: World dislikes Guantánamo camp - A new poll by the British Broadcasting Corp. portrays both the war on Iraq and the detention center at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, as major international liabilities in terms of American esteem abroad. The BBC World Service, an independent media entity in the nation seen as the staunchest U.S. ally, ordered the poll, which was conducted by the Program on International Policy Attitudes at the University of Maryland. It surveyed 26,381 people in 25 countries on attitudes toward the United States and President Bush. ''According to world public opinion, these days the U.S. government hardly seems to be able to do anything right,'' Steven Kull, PIPA director, said with a release of the poll.

Tuesday 23rd January 2007: -

• Al-Qaeda Run PR For Bush Before Union Speech: Two days before State of the Union and for second year running, al-Zawahiri vindicates Bush administration claim that critics of Iraq escalation are siding with America's enemies - Two days before President Bush's State of the Union speech, Al-Qaeda have graciously popped up once again to launch a public relations stunt that vindicates the administration's claim that opponents of the Iraq troop surge are siding with America's enemies. Al-Qaeda's "deputy leader" Ayman al-Zawahiri appeared in a video tape Monday in which he mocked Bush's troop surge, claiming it would make no difference in Iraq even if Bush sent as many as 100,000 more troops. "The message is the first apparent reaction by al-Qaeda to Mr Bush's planned "surge" in Iraq," reports the BBC.   (FLASHBACK: Kerry blames defeat on Bin Laden)

• MORE HOLES IN THE OFFICIAL STORY... JUST LIKE THE 7/7 BOMBINGS!: Witness was unwitting helper with 21/7 purchase - One of the alleged 21/7 bombers had condemned the 7/7 suicide attacks just days before he boarded an Underground train with an explosive device in his rucksack, a court was told yesterday. Yassin Omar, who is accused of attempting to detonate a bomb on the Victoria Line at Warren Street, was described by a close friend as a devout Muslim who performed spontaneous acts of charity. Matthew Dixon told Woolwich Crown Court that he was shocked to discover that the man he had known for ten years could have been involved in the attacks on three Underground trains and a London bus.

• AUSTRALIA: ID card in disguise - Joe Hockey wants Australians to believe his new Access Card is voluntary and that its for their own convenience. Sure you can choose not to have a card - as long as you're rich enough not to need Medicare, family tax benefits, child care benefit or any other government service or subsidy. That's not real choice: everyone needs Medicare, pharmaceuticals and other forms of government assistance sometimes.

• Students Mixed on ID Card Plan - The Green Bay school board votes Monday night on a plan to implement nearly a dozen changes in safety and security at all of its schools. Some students are criticizing one of the proposals. Every student at every Green Bay high school is required to carry a student ID card. Soon, they could be wearing them around their neck. The idea that isn't sitting well with some students. "It'd seem more like a prison than a school," East High School senior Paul Mattson said. "There's a point where you have too much security and you're sacrificing our freedom."

• EU Governments Directly Undermine Torture Ban - The European Parliament report adopted today on the role of EU states in CIA renditions tells only half the story when it comes to European complicity in torture, Human Rights Watch said in a new briefing paper on how some EU governments have also directly undermined the global ban on torture. The briefing paper shows how EU states have relied upon empty promises of humane treatment, known as "diplomatic assurances," in efforts to justify the return of terrorism suspects to countries where they risk being tortured. In the report adopted today, the European Parliament's Temporary Committee on illegal CIA activity in Europe focuses on CIA flights and US-sponsored transfers of terrorism suspects. It also calls on EU member states to oppose the use of "diplomatic assurances" on torture in returning terrorism suspects. Europe pioneered the use of these "no torture" promises in the 1990s, well before the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States.

• Bush tries to suspend right of habeas corpus - In October 2006 the Military Commissions Act was passed, a bill which contains a part that authorizes the president to suspend the right of habeas corpus. Habeas corpus is Latin for “you have the body.” It grants prisoners the right to request from a judge the reasons for his incarceration. Article 1, Section 9 of the U.S. Constitution plainly states: “The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may require it.” The writ of habeas corpus in common law countries is an important instrument, for the safeguarding of individual freedom against arbitrary state action. The Military Commissions Act says that prisoners could be imprisoned indefinitely and even tortured without legal recourse. Language within the act apparently places innocent U.S. citizens in jeopardy.

• "ARE YOU GOOD ENOUGH TO BE A PARENT?": Give pregnant mums 'social scan' - PREGNANT women should be given a "social scan" to prevent their children growing up on the wrong side of the law. And experts have called for violent crime to be treated as a public health problem, rather than just a criminal justice matter. The radical suggestions come as new research has found that the environment in which children grow up could sow the seeds of a violent or criminal temperament. "This would be a risk assessment, looking at whether they have any debt problems, whether alcohol is a feature in their lives, is there someone in their life who is violent? "These all have significant effects on the ability of a mother to be a mother and on the child."

• IRAQ (PROPAGANDA MOVIE) TO FOLLOW 9/11 (PROPAGANDA MOVIE) FOR GREENGRASS - Oscar-nominated director PAUL GREENGRASS, the man behind UNITED 93 and the BOURNE IDENTITY, is hoping to tackle another controversial subject – the war in Iraq. Last week the British director, who has recently begun work on the third instalment of the Bourne spy series, the BOURNE ULTIMATUM, admitted he likely to write and direct a movie based on the events after the American-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. According to Variety, the film is due to be adapted from a story by the Washington Post's Baghdad bureau chief Rajiv Chandrasekaran, which focuses on the Coalition Provisional Authority which governed Iraq in the months after the removal of Saddam Hussein and his government.

• US farming watchdog accuses Wal-Mart of mis-selling - Wal-Mart, the controversial retailing giant, is under investigation in the US over allegations it is trying to pass off non-organic foods as organic. It has been accused of using misleading labelling that is "tantamount to consumer fraud" by an organic farming watchdog, the Cornucopia Institute. The body has handed its complaints to the US Department of Agriculture (Usda).

• Even libraries in America are under siege by the infamous Patriot Act - Americans can justifiably be proud of their nation’s great libraries, including such magnificent examples as the Harvard University Library, the Library of Congress - the biggest in the world - and the New York Public Library, a wonderful repository not only of a huge collection of books but also of an outstanding art collection. On a trip to New York in 1989, I spent many pleasant hours browsing through books in the New York Public Library. Yet I only managed to see a very tiny fraction of the millions of books on its shelves. A lady volunteer who showed me around told me that the cost of building the library had been met entirely through donations from the city’s civic-minded residents. She said that even the cost of running the library is met entirely from donations. Nowadays, however, in the post-9/11 era, even libraries in America are under siege. Under the provisions of the draconian Patriot Act, which was enacted by the US Congress in October 2001 with hardly any debate, in the wake of 9/11, the FBI has the right to obtain a court order to access any records that American public libraries have of books borrowed by customers.

Monday 22nd January 2007: -

• Belfast killers got police protection, report says - Police intelligence officers shielded from prosecution Protestant outlaws who were involved in at least 10 killings, 10 attempted killings and other crimes, a long-awaited investigation into collusion found Monday. Following a three-year inquiry, Nuala O'Loan, the police ombudsman, concluded that former officers in the secretive Special Branch paid informants in the outlawed Ulster Volunteer Force who were permitted to pursue killings, bombings, drug dealing and extortion.

• Judge arrested over exposure claim - One of Britain’s most senior judges has been arrested over an allegation of indecent exposure. Lord Justice Richards, who sits in the Court of Appeal, was held after a female train passenger claimed that a man exposed himself to her. The 56-year-old judge, a married father-of-three, was released on police bail and denies the allegation... The judge has overseen a number of high-profile hearings, and on Friday ruled in a High Court case brought by the family of Jean Charles de Menezes, the Brazilian gunned down by armed police who mistook him for a suicide bomber.

• Hillary Heralds 30 Year Plus Control Of America By Interlocking Crime Family: Pro-war Clinton candidacy success would mean same mob bosses have ruled U.S. since 1980 - Another Clinton in office would mean America being under the thiefdom of either a Bush or a Clinton for a total of at least 32 years, 36 if Hillary is re-elected (many now acknowledge that H.W. Bush pulled the strings as VP during the Reagan era), and they still say anyone can become President! What a pathetic joke! Hillary Clinton surprised few when she announced her intention to run for the 2008 presidency in New York on Sunday.

• Irises part of future to find the missing - The iris has it — the key to your identity, that is. And someday soon, sheriff departments in the state’s 14 counties could be using iris scans to find missing children and adults, with the Middleton Jail taking the lead in making what used to be the stuff of James Bond films a reality. Like your fingerprints, patterns, swirls, lines and spots on the iris never change. A scan of the iris with a digital camera can be stored in a database for retrieval later, and then used to verify a child’s identity. State use of iris biometric recognition increased over the last few years. In 2005, sheriffs in southeastern Massachusetts launched a program called the Children’s Identification Location Database Project.

• TOP 11 REASONS YOU SHOULD FIGHT HATE LAWS - Unless we resist now, a thought crimes bureaucracy like those regulating Australia, Canada and Europe will soon rule America. In these nations, federal hate laws have destroyed citizens’ rights to free speech. The Anti-Defamation League may reintroduce a federal hate law—the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act —in Congress as early as this week. Punishment of politically incorrect bias is the ultimate goal of this legislation. Democrats support hate laws and their control of Congress means almost certain passage—unless enough Americans protest and back ADL down from even submitting this bill. A national hate law would shatter Americans’ First Amendment rights, which are now sadly unique among Western democracies. We would lose our precious freedom to express politically incorrect ideas, moral judgments, or whatever personal convictions the reigning thought police deem “hateful.”

• Don't Revive the Fairness Doctrine - At the National Conference for Media Reform last weekend, several lawmakers called for the return of the “Fairness Doctrine,” which demands that television and radio broadcasters give a balanced presentation of all sides of controversial issues. "The Fairness Doctrine is a violation of broadcasters’ right to free speech,” said Dr. Yaron Brook, executive director of the Ayn Rand Institute. “Broadcasters should not be forced to promote ideas they may disagree with.

• Qantas turns away passenger over terror T-shirt - Qantas is refusing to let an Australian man board a plane from Melbourne to the United Kingdom because he insists on wearing a T-shirt depicting US President George Bush as a terrorist. Alan Jasson, 55, says he wants to wear the T-shirt, but Qantas says written or verbal comments that could cause offence or threaten security will not be tolerated. Mr Jasson says he is being denied his right to express his political views. "I have a right to my political views and no one can take them away from me," he said. Mr Jasson says the ban on his T-shirt is outrageous.

• N.H. Tax Evader Prepares for Raid - A former militia man convicted of tax evasion prepared for a government siege Friday at his fortress-like home, but U.S. marshals gave no indication they were planning to confront him. Ed Brown said he was ready for a swarm of federal agents to descend on his property to execute an arrest warrant issued after he failed to appear for the end of his trial. He and his wife contend that they did not have to pay income taxes, and his supporters say a conflict could be violent. "If Mexico came up on my land and tried to take my land, would I not fight?" Brown said. "The United States is the same exact thing as Mexico in this state."

Sunday 21st January 2007: -

• Reid wants to split the Home Office in two: The Home Office would be split into two departments; one overseeing the 'War on Terrorism' and a separate 'Ministry of Justice'... after all we don't want Justice interfering with the War on Terror now do we? - John Reid is drawing up radical plans to split the Home Office into two separate Whitehall departments, one dealing with national security and the other with the justice system. The controversial proposal follows the Home Secretary's "fundamental review" of his overstretched, crisis-hit empire, which he has condemned as "not fit for purpose". A new "national security department" would oversee the fight against terrorism and other "public protection" functions such as the police.

• Is your snow globe documented? - To paraphrase a classic line from Lily Tomlin, I worry that the person who thought up the rules for carrying liquids and gels on airplanes last year is busy thinking up something new this year. The thought arises partly because of a scene just after Christmas at an airport security checkpoint, where a half-dozen festive snow globes -- like the ones with Frosty the Snowman in a liquid-filled glass globe that simulates snowfall when you shake it -- were lined up on a counter. Wasn't that nice! The Transportation Security Administration had decorated the checkpoint! But as it turned out, Frosty and his co-conspirators had actually been busted -- confiscated from passengers' carry-on bags pursuant to the following notification by the security administration: "Snow globes, regardless of size or amount of liquid inside, even with documentation, are prohibited in your carry-on."

• Law would make Minutemen guilty of 'domestic terrorism': 'Patrolling to detect alleged illegal activity' while carrying any weapon would be felony - An Arizona lawmaker has introduced a bill to revise the state's statutes on organized crime and fraud by defining "domestic terrorism" in such a way that members of the Minuteman Project or other border-patrol groups could be prosecuted and forced to serve a minimum six-month jail term. Rep. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Phoenix, introduced HB 2286 in the Arizona House on Thursday. Sinema, formerly of the Green Party, had earlier submitted a bill asking the legislature to make changes to a law used to prosecute customers of immigrant smugglers as conspirators under Arizona's human trafficking law. "None of us every dreamed it would be used in a co-conspirator fashion," Sinema said.

• 'Never mind' on spying - THE Bush administration's abrupt acknowledgment that it can track suspected terrorists without shredding the privacy rights of Americans inspires mixed reactions — relief that the rule of law has triumphed, suspicion that the administration's concession isn't all that it's cracked up to be and, most of all, anger at the president and his surrogates for suggesting that criticism of their tactics was tantamount to treason. After the New York Times revealed in December 2005 that the National Security Agency had been eavesdropping on Americans without the court order required by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, the administration said the protections of FISA had been rendered obsolete by the war on terror. In the middle of the uproar, Bush vowed, "I'll continue to reauthorize this program for so long as our country faces a continuing threat from al-Qaida and related groups."

• Police sky patrol has residents feeling safe: Rare flight targeted trouble spot, netted 15 speeders - Some Edgemoor area residents were relieved last week to learn the buzzing overhead wasn't an airplane in distress. Delaware State Police took the rare step of using an airplane from its fleet based at Summit Aviation near Middletown to step up enforcement against speeders. For about 90 minutes Wednesday morning, the trooper-operated Cessna patrolled above I-495 in the Edgemoor area, which Delaware State Police spokesman Cpl. Jeff Whitmarsh called "a problem area." Fifteen speeders were arrested, including some topping 90 mph, he said.   (RELATED: See our Total Global Surveillance archive)

• Whistleblower who exposed flaws in records loses job: MPs' fury as check system puts more children at risk - BOSSES have sacked the whistleblower who exposed flaws in Britain's criminal record system that could allow monsters like Ian Huntley to strike again. Trevor Cross, 49, revealed in an exclusive Sunday Mirror interview last week how checks on people applying for jobs working with children - such as caretakers like Huntley - had been downgraded. Trevor, who worked as a criminal records checker for Devon and Cornwall police said he lay awake at night, terrified that the flawed system might allow another tragedy like the Soham murders of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman. The police force immediately called in the father of three to listen to his concerns and promised to work with him to tackle issues raised. But his weasel bosses at RIG recruitment agency - his official employers - reacted by DISMISSING him for "breach of confidence".   (COMMENTARY: As usual anyone who might not be trusted to cover up 'inconvenient' pedophilia gets burned by the higher-up's and accused of being the very problem that they were trying to expose - RELATED: See our archive The Elites Abuse of Children)

• Call for Taser guns to be given to all Scottish police - SCOTLAND'S TOP police representative has called for a change in the law to allow all officers to receive Taser gun training in an attempt to further extend the use of the controversial high-voltage weapon. Norrie Flowers, chairman of the Scottish Police Federation, said the current policy of having only firearms-trained officers using the stun gun should be scrapped and replaced with Taser training for all 16,000 officers.

Saturday 20th January 2007: -

• Detainee DNA may be put in database: We think its mostly for illegals... but we're not right sure! - The federal government could add DNA from tens of thousands of immigration violators, captives in the war on terrorism and others accused but not convicted of federal offenses to the FBI's crime-fighting database under a plan being finalized by the Justice Department. Erik Ablin, a Justice Department spokesman, confirmed the plan, which hasn't been publicly disclosed, and said details are expected to be completed soon. Proponents of the plan, including U.S. Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., and Maricopa County, Ariz., Sheriff Joe Arpaio, say taking DNA from federal detainees would solve many crimes committed by illegal immigrants and make it easier to identify and track potential terrorists. Opponents, such as Caroline Fredrickson, director of the American Civil Liberties Union's Washington office, say such mass seizures of DNA violate privacy and do little to improve law enforcement. Fredrickson says the law that defines federal detainees is so broad that it could apply to hikers stopped by park rangers or airline passengers selected for screening.

• UK: MPs investigate school fingerprinting - Opposition MPs have begun investigating the use of biometric scanners in UK schools and the use of funds that might otherwise be spent buying books and learning materials to buy the systems. Foremost in written parliamentary questions tabled by Conservative and Liberal Democrat MPs was the question of fingerprint scanners being bought with e-Learning credits, which are a mechanism used by the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) to provide schools with direct funding to buy educational software. Sarah Teather, shadow education secretary and MP for Brent East, asked the government whether it had given schools permission to use e-Learning credits to buy biometric scanners that took children's fingerprints. "I believe that the collection of biometric data from young pupils without parental consent is illegal and must cease," she told The Register in a written statement. "The DfES needs to consult with parents, pupils, and local authorities. This can't be a decision made by ministers behind closed doors."

• North Carolina lawmakers want probe of alleged CIA flights of terror suspects - Nearly two dozen state lawmakers are urging the state attorney general to investigate whether a North Carolina company provided planes to the CIA to shuttle terrorism suspects to countries where they may have been tortured. The U.S. government has said little about the practice of "extraordinary rendition" — believed to be a secret CIA program of apprehending foreign terror suspects and sending them to third countries, including those that practice torture, for interrogation without court approval.

• Bill would nip chips in humans - For years, people have been implanting tiny microchips under their pet's skin so that if Rover's collar slips off, there's still a way to find him if he wanders away. Now a state lawmaker has added a twist to that concept with a bill that would make it a misdemeanor for anyone to require two-legged critters to have a microchip implanted under their skin. Under the bill, employers could not track workers' movements, for example. Rep. Mary Hodge, D-Brighton, said she introduced House Bill 1082 as a "proactive measure" at the urging of Adams County's head librarian. He fears that "microchipping" people could become the next Big Brother tactic of a federal government whose use of warrantless telephone eavesdropping and the Patriot Act in the war on terror has alarmed civil libertarians.

• Rule by decree passed for Chavez - Venezuela's National Assembly has given initial approval to a bill granting the president the power to bypass congress and rule by decree for 18 months. President Hugo Chavez says he wants "revolutionary laws" to enact sweeping political, economic and social changes. He has said he wants to nationalise key sectors of the economy and scrap limits on the terms a president can serve.

• Anti-First Amendment S.1 Passes Congress - It was bad enough George Bush Senior found it necessary to blame bloggers for creating what he deems an “adversarial and ugly climate” (never mind his particular bit of ugliness in Iraq more than a decade ago, eventually resulting in the murder of more than a million people), last month we had the Manchurian candidate, John McCain, introducing legislation “that would fine blogs up to $300,000 for offensive statements, photos and videos posted by visitors on comment boards, effectively nixing the open exchange of ideas on the Internet, providing a lethal injection for unrestrained opinion, and acting as the latest attack tool to chill freedom of speech on the world wide web,” as Paul Joseph Watson writes for Prison Planet.

Friday 19th January 2007: -

• Privacy law ‘has no teeth’: watchdog - Canadian consumers should be "outraged" that a major retailer has been collecting and storing information about their credit and debit card transactions, a leading consumer lobby group says. A computer security breach involving customers of Winners and HomeSense stores has exposed millions of credit and debit cardholders to fraud, their U.S. parent company TJX Cos. Ltd. revealed earlier this week. The incident is being investigated by police and privacy officials. But the Consumers Association says that's not enough.

• Carbondale dental group offers free 'toothprints' - The return of missing teens Ben Ownby and Shawn Hornbeck from their captivity in the St. Louis suburb of Kirkwood, Mo., has sent shock waves throughout the country as a reminder of the reality of child abduction. The fact that it occurred close to Southern Illinois has many area parents wondering what steps can be taken to prepare for such an unthinkable act. The Dental Group of Carbondale has decided to give parents a little help by offering free dental "toothprints" from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 25. The idea came about fairly quickly after the kidnapping story began to receive media attention.

• Thumb-Print Banking Takes India - Banks and ATM machines are an unfamilar sight in the rural countryside here, but the government hopes to change that with new technology that could ease the transition from cash to computers. A pilot program will put 15 biometric ATMs at village kiosks in five districts across southern India. The machines are expected to serve about 100,000 workers who will use fingerprint scanners, rather than ATM cards and PINs, to obtain their funds.   (RELATED: See our Cashless Society Control Grid archive)

• Rules For Guantanamo Trials Allow Hearsay, Coerced Evidence - New rules announced by the Pentagon on Thursday allows hearsay evidence in the prosecution of terrorism suspects at Guantanamo Bay and could also permit the use of information gathered through coercive interrogations. Classified evidence can also be introduced during the trial but will be made available to the defence team, said Dan Dell'Orto, a Pentagon deputy general counsel. In some cases, the government might request that certain parts be redacted for national security reasons, he said. "While you're in the middle of a war against this enemy, you need to be particularly concerned about the disclosure of that evidence to the accused or anyone else who might be in a position to see it in a courtroom setting," Dell'Orto said.

Thursday 18th January 2007: -

• Gordon Brown (Next UK PM?) sets out his vision for a 'New World Order': And if that's not worthy of highlighting in red I don't know what is! - Gordon Brown spelt out his vision for a world order underpinned by British values, to meet the economic and security challenges of globalisation, in India yesterday. Revealing the international priorities of a Brown premiership likely to begin this summer, the Chancellor argued that global institutions must be inclusive and open to represent the emerging world order. Without sounding like a British bulldog, he nevertheless beat the drum for Britain, hailing British values as the building blocks for the new institutions. "I see myself as representing Britain and doing my best for Britain, talking about what is going to bring Britain prosperity in years to come. Everything is a challenge because there are new opportunities we can build for our country. "We can help to build things and shape this new world order in a way that is good for Britain and British values," he said.   (RELATED: See our archive The New World Order: In Their Own Words)

• AMERICANS HAVE TO GIVE UP THEIR RIGHTS TO FIGHT TERROR, WHILST THEIR SUPPOSED 'GUARDIANS' CAN'T EVEN BE ARSED TO PUT UP A FENCE!: Democrats in no rush to build fence - A law to erect hundreds of miles of fence on the U.S.-Mexican border is on the books and money to start it has been OK'd, but Republicans are nervous that now that they've lost control of Congress, they'll never see it built. The law passed last year says Congress, now in control of Democrats who generally oppose the fence, don't have to release money to build it until they approve of how the fence will be built. Based on the comments of some Democrats, there's no rush to make that happen.

• FREEDOM AND DIGNITY... THE PRICE OF CONVENIENCE: Indy airport joins registered traveler program - A speedy security lane opened today at the Indianapolis International Airport. The high-tech system lets fliers who register with the federal government, pay about $100 a year and submit to a fingerprint and eye scan skip the standard security lane and its lines of people taking off jackets and removing shoes. Instead, they should be able to step into a security kiosk that clears them for takeoff in about two to four minutes, the system's creator said. The security program, Clear, has attracted 30,000 customers in Orlando, where it has operated since July 2005 as the first official station for the federal Registered Traveler program.

• BIN LADEN 'NOT BEHIND 9/11 ATTACKS' - CONTROVERSIAL Islamic preacher Abu Hamza told one of the alleged 21/7 bomb plotters that terror leader Osama bin Laden was not behind the 9/11 attacks, a court was told today. A school friend of Yassin Omar's told the trial of the six alleged plotters that hook-handed Hamza had said he knew the al Qaida chief. Data analyst Steven Bentley told the court that Omar - who he had known since the age of 13, and who played a key role in his own conversion to Islam - had seemed supportive of the Taliban's regime in Afghanistan.   (RELATED: See our 9/11 archive and our affiliated site 911truthskipton.com)

• Police came across July 21 'bomber' three times, court hears - Scotland Yard anti-terror detectives crossed paths with one of the alleged July 21 suicide bombers three times in the months leading up to his failed attack on a London bus but never detained him for longer than a few hours, a court heard today. Muktar Said Ibrahim was photographed by Metropolitan Police surveillance officers at a camping trip in the Lake District along with four of his alleged co-conspirators in May 2004, almost 15 months before their attempted suicide attacks, Woolwich Crown Court was told.   (RELATED: See our 7/7 archive)

• New technology to help DRC track attendance - New technology at the Derby Recreation Center will save time as well as enable the DRC to keep better track of attendance. And because of the new software, people will soon be able to register for DRC classes and programs from the comfort of their home. Last week, the DRC implemented the Active Class software. The DRC is the first facility to use the system. “This system is cutting edge,” said KaLyn Nethercot, director of marketing. When people sign up for a membership or class, they will have the option of scanning the middle finger of their right hand. Their photo will also be taken.

• RFID: ONE OF THE FOUR HORSEMEN OF THE APOCALYPSE: 2007 could be the year RFID gets smarter - Soon, RFID could track items as customers pick them up from store shelves throughout America and immediately trigger displays with very specific information and advice -- like which top will match those pants you're holding and where exactly you can find that top. Radio-frequency identification, or RFID, is poised to help retailers and service providers tap into the seemingly infinite potential for enhancing customers' experiences and delivering precise ad messages, according to members of a panel at the National Retail Federation show at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City. Panelists said that after a year of hype (2005) and a year of validation (2006), RFID will likely bring advancements in terms of how to apply the technology so businesses can glean and share information about customer behavior and their own inventory, then act on it.   (RELATED: See our Total Global Surveillance archive)

• Parents back CCTV on bad parking - ROGUE drivers are to be shamed on CCTV after hundreds of angry parents backed plans to clamp down on perilous parking outside schools. At a meeting of the Barking and Dagenham Assembly last week it was revealed that more than 600 people had added their names to petitions for action to be taken over "indiscriminate and hazardous" parking near Dorothy Barley Infants in Davington Road, Dagenham, and Manor Infants and Junior schools in Sandringham Road and Stratton Road, Barking. Assembly members agreed to the use of temporary CCTV units - which may then be toured around other schools should the level of parking abuse fall - and plans to cover zig-zag no-go zones outside schools with cones.

• Pupil gets detention for eating apple - A headmaster today defended his decision to discipline a boy for eating an apple in an "undesignated eating area" at his school. Tom Bosley, 16, was given a detention after being caught munching on the fruit on the tennis courts at Kings of Wessex Community School in Cheddar, Somerset. School rules state that food can only be eaten in the dining hall and gym, and teachers have taken a zero tolerance approach to pupils snacking during the day in other areas of the school. Tom, who is predicted to get 11 A grades in his GCSEs this year, came close to being expelled after refusing to attend his detention.

• Parents seem to support new random drug tests at Salpointe: "I'm teaching my kids how to be treated like a criminal by a corrupt power hungry bureaucracy... bollocks to it!" - Parents are willing to let their children be tested for drugs if it will give the teenagers a legitimate reason to refuse to use drugs. That appeared to be the feeling of most of the 100-plus Salpointe Catholic High School parents at a meeting Wednesday night on mandatory drug testing, which the private school will begin in August.

• Barclays set to introduce oyster facilities on its credit cards - Barclays have teamed up with Transport for London and together they have come to an agreement that Barclays, can introduce Oyster facilities onto all of its credit cards. The move is set to be made by the end of 2007 and it is likely to also include a new ‘wave and pay’ facility which makes purchasing small things such as newspapers, a whole lot easier and quicker. People who already use Oyster cards think that the move is an excellent idea as everything they now need, will be on one single card. Another thing which might make people want the card is the fact that Transport for London has said that the profits made from the cards will go into the transport system. Whether that will mean we will have better transport or not is another matter entirely, but for now the intention is there.   (RELATED: See our Cashless Society Control Grid archive)

• Self-defense ruled in intruder's death - Prosecutors yesterday said the occupant of a State Street apartment who fought off two attackers during a deadly home break-in will not face criminal charges. Basil Wilson, 23, acted in self defense Jan. 10 when two gunmen forced their way into his apartment, Dauphin County District Attorney Edward M. Marsico Jr. said. One of the intruders, Jason Hayward, 19, of Susquehanna Twp., died of a gunshot wound to the neck he received during a struggle inside the apartment at 1922 State St., police said. The other suspect, William A. Kelly, 20, of the 1100 block of Mulberry Street, was wounded in the abdomen and hospitalized in critical condition, police said. Wilson was shot in the shoulder during the struggle. He was treated at Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center and was released Jan. 11, a spokeswoman said. "We have reviewed the incident and determined that it was justifiable homicide because [Wilson] was in fear for his life because two armed men had broken into his apartment," Marsico said. Police said Kelly and Hayward were armed with handguns and looking for drugs or money shortly before midnight when they broke in a rear door to the apartment.   (RELATED: See our Disarmed and Enslaved archive)

• Keifer Sutherland, Torture Guy: How Tommy Douglas's grandkid became poster boy for US anti-terror tactics - 24 is back on Fox TV. The hit show starring Kiefer Sutherland once again features at least one big torture scene in every episode -- the kind of torture the Bush White House says is necessary to protect us from you-know-who. The show is much more convincing than the White House at making the case for torture; its ratings have gone steadily up over the last five years, while Bush's ratings have gone steadily down.

• Guest Cites Fox's Fictional "24" as Evidence that Terrorists are "Out There" - Former New York City police detective Bo Dietl was Neil Cavuto's guest today (January 17, 2007) on Your World. Dietl appeared along with Imam Hassan Al-Qazwini, of the Islamic Center of America, to discuss a January 7 incident in which Northwest Airlines prohibited a group of 40 Muslims from boarding a plane in Germany, after a pilgrimage to the Hajj, on their return trip to Detroit. The group said that Northwest's action was discriminatory and threatened to launch a boycott, whereupon Northwest apologized and agreed to pay for any expenses incurred as a result of the "snafu." At one point Cavuto turned to Dietl and said, "Bo, you have a problem with Northwest apologizing, right?" to which Dietl responded: "No, I have a problem because things have changed, Hassan. We have to look at -- a bunch of Irish guys are not going to get on the plane now and blow themselves up or put themselves into buildings. The fact of the matter is, I mean, you don't watch '24?' On Fox TV? They're out there. They're out there. There are cells out there. We have to protect ourselves against them as Americans."

(FOX, POSSIBLY THE BIGGEST OUTLET OF PRO-NEW WORLD ORDER PROPAGANDA IN THE USA!)

• MUST SEE VIDEO REPORT: Fox scaring you into watching '24'? - Are the producers of Fox's "24" using extreme scare tactics to get viewers to watch the sixth season? Countdown host Keith Olbermann discusses with filmmaker Robert Greenwald.

Wednesday 17th January 2007: -

• Skipton 9/11 campaigners stage new Twin Towers talk - THE Skipton branch of a group which disputes the official version of events on 9/11 has invited the leader of a national movement to share his views on the terror attacks. The West Yorkshire Truth Campaign, which has previously brought high-profile speakers such as ex-MI5 whistleblower David Shayler to the town, will be welcoming the chairman of the 9/11 Truth Campaign in Britain and Ireland, Ian Crane, to the Narrowboat pub on Thursday January 25.   (RELATED: See our 9/11 archive and our affiliated site 911truthskipton.com)

  

• Secret Court Will Oversee Spying Program, U.S. Says - The Bush administration, backing off a disputed policy for fighting the war on terrorism, agreed to let a secret court supervise an eavesdropping program that targets suspected al Qaeda members in the U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales announced the change in the program, until now conducted without court warrants, in a letter today to leaders of the Senate Judiciary Committee. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, which already handles secret wiretapping cases involving foreign agents, will now approve ``any electronic surveillance'' that was occurring under the domestic program, Gonzales said.

• NutraSweet, Equal and Trans-Fats: Deadly Toxins In Disguise - These substances are found in almost every food product sold in markets, independently or combined. But what exactly are they and why are they considered to be deadly? Aspartame is marketed as NutraSweet, Equal, and Spoonful and often promoted on labels as sugar-free. Back in 1983, the FDA approved NutraSweet in soft drinks and other liquids and immediately the Center For Disease Control (CDC) and FDA started to receive unprecedented amounts of complaints from people experiencing horrible health issues. There were complaints of depression, hypertension, dementia, nausea, headaches, dizziness, etc. Leading research proves this artificial sweetener is in fact a poison. When it is stored for long periods of time or in warm areas, it changes to methanol; an alcohol that converts to formaldehyde or formic acid.   (RELATED: See our Compromised Health archive)

• RFID Tattoos Leave No Place To Hide - Think those barcode tattoos we used to see in the movies were just a fantasy? Think again, Somark Innovations has tested a special ink that changes pattern with each injection of the needle. A proprietary device that operates at a high frequency has been able to pick up the distinguishing tattoos on cows, mice and rats from as far as a meter away. It looks like Somark’s next step after raising enough cash flow to set this up with ranchers/farmers is the armed forces.

• Are reality TV shows manufactured to grab attention - Bollywood actor Shilpa Shetty was called a 'Paki', a 'dog' and accused of being a 'dirty Indian' and India was called 'a place where people are ill and thin' on Channel 4 reality TV show Celebrity Big Brother. A massive controversy erupted after the remarks came on air and millions have protested on the Internet. The British Prime Minister, the Chancellor and the Exchequer, the Indian Minister for Information and Broadcasting and Minister of State for External Affairs have all reacted to the racist abuse of Shilpa Shetty on Celebrity Big Brother, but the channel managed to get a million new viewers hooked on to the show. Is reality TV getting the attention and eyeballs it always wanted?   (COMMENTARY: A more fitting headline would be 'TV shows ARE manufactured to divert attention'.  What was that great line from the film The Running Man?: "You want ratings. You want people in front of the television instead of picket lines. Well, you're not gonna get that with re-runs of Gilligan's Island.")

• Some Passengers Disappointed With New Airport Scanners - New airport screening technology that was trotted out Tuesday was supposed to let passengers keep their footwear on while passing through security. But several travelers complained they had to kick loafers or heels off anyway, even after standing in a kiosk that reads their biometric information and uses radio waves to test for explosives and metal. The scanners are part of a new program at Orlando International Airport that promises shorter screening lines for those who pass a federal background check and pay a $100 annual fee. But the company that came up with the scanning device said all shoes with metal must still be removed for additional screening because the agency has not approved the devices' ability to distinguish between safe and unsafe metals.

• Is 24 Propaganda? Is The Pope Catholic?: Talking heads omit fact that U.S. government, Neo-Con ideologues met with cast members to run PR for war on terror - To coincide with the start of a new season of Fox's much vaunted 24 program, MSNBC featured a debate asking whether the lead character, Jack Bauer, was a right-wing propagandist. What the talking heads and others that defend the neutrality of the show consistently fail to omit is the fact that 24 cast and crew members met with U.S. government officials and Neo-Con ideologues to run PR for the war on terror last year. Those that defend the show against allegations that it is merely fearmongering propaganda used to prop up the facade of the "war on terror" either point to the wildly unrealistic tone of the plotlines or to examples where it isn't always Muslim jihadists behind the terror.

• Fox Show "24": Torture on TV: With at least one big torture scene in every episode and steadily increasing ratings, TV show "24" is more convincing than the White House at making the case for torture - "24" is back on Fox TV -- the hit show starring Kiefer Sutherland, which premiered Sunday night, once again features at least one big torture scene in every episode -- the kind of torture the Bush White House says is necessary to protect us from you-know-who. The show is much more convincing than the White House at making the case for torture; its ratings have gone steadily up over the last five years, while Bush's ratings have gone steadily down.

• Microchips for mentally ill planned in shake-up - Radical measures for tackling crime - ranging from monitoring the behaviour of the mentally ill with radio chips to hormone injections for sex offenders — are to be considered by the Government in a wide-ranging policy review ordered by Tony Blair. The Prime Minister said yesterday that Labour had to renew its sense of leadership and energy as voters were getting bored with the party after 10 years in power.

• Did The Government Force BBC To Drop Menezes, 7/7 Docu-Dramas?: New revelations may have influenced decision to can recreations - The family of Jean Charles de Menezes, the innocent man who was gunned down by British police in the wake of the London bombings, has today accused the BBC of aiding a cover up after plans to film a politically sensitive docu-drama about his murder were unceremoniously dropped. The filiming of a docu-drama about the 7/7 London bombers has also been suddenly abandoned. The London Guardian reports that the BBC shelved both projects because, despite unearthing "difficult or dark" new evidence, it claims it has given the events enough coverage on news and current affairs programming.

Tuesday 16th January 2007: -

• Cuba keeps lid on details of Castro's health - The latest rumor whispered on the crumbling streets of Havana is that ailing leader Fidel Castro cannot appear in public because he lost his hair -- and his famous beard -- to chemotherapy for cancer. Cubans searching for reasons for the almost six-month public absence of the 80-year-old revolutionary can only speculate about what's wrong with him, for lack of official word. They do not know what he has or even where he is being treated.

• Phones with GPS a blessing, concern: Although parents can use devices to monitor their children, others worry about the potential loss of privacy - Patrick Wilson, a 33-year-old San Ramon computer consultant, recently took his wife and two children to a crowded air show. But instead of being nervous about losing their children among the masses, the family could relax because they had a way to find one another in an emergency. The Wilson children, ages 5 and 6, each have their own Migo, a small phone for children with a built-in computer chip that communicates their location. The Wilsons clipped the phones to their son's and daughter's clothing. If their children wandered out of sight, the parents could have used their own cell phones, also embedded with special microchip technology, to find them. The location awareness service, called Chaperone, was developed by Verizon Wireless.

• Germany plans EU anti-Nazi legislation - Germany has announced plans to introduce legislation to the European Union during its six-month presidency banning the display of Nazi symbols. Justice Minister Brigitte Zypries has drawn up a proposal to present to the EU Monday that would also outlaw denial of the Holocaust, The Times of London reported. "We have always said it cannot be the case that it should still be acceptable in Europe to say that 6 million Jews were never killed," Zypries said. "There is some controversy about that under 'freedom of expression' but we believe that there are limits to freedom of expression, and the limits are there when it is offensive to other religions and ethnic groups."   (RELATED: See our Erosion of Freedom of Speech archive)

• Dissent over Canberra's card - GRASSROOTS opposition to the federal Government's welfare services access card is building, with campaigners saying Joe Hockey's proposal, despite Government reassurances, is "indistinguishable from a national identity scheme". About 120 individuals and groups have made submissions on the draft access card bill, released on December 13, even though the tight, one-month, public comment period fell over the holidays. The Human Services minister plans to introduce the bill into federal parliament next month, but the draft has been slammed as "seriously inadequate", with many key issues to be decided later and included in a second round of legislation. Tim Warner, convenor of Access Card No Way, said the campaign now boasted "an active cadre of citizens to oppose this illiberal program", with volunteers in every state. "We believe that any national ID scheme is a tragic mistake," he said. "The inadequacies in this draft are deeply disturbing, given the enormous shift this legislation represents.

• Cult writer Robert Anton Wilson (RAW) dies aged 74 - Robert Anton Wilson, aka RAW, has died just a few days away from his 75th birthday. Robert Anton Wilson died peacefully from natural causes at his home in Capitola in Santa Cruz County, his daughter Christina Pearson said. Robert Anton Wilson is perhaps best known for his books Cosmic Trigger and The Illuminatus! Trilogy, a science-fiction series about a secret global society, which he wrote with his friend Robert Shea in the late 1960s, when they were both editors at Playboy.

• Doctors knew I had MS for 11 years before they told me: A father's 11-year nightmare struggle to be diagnosed with MS has exposed the scandal of how consultants withhold bad news - On a cold December night, PC Gary Dimmock finished his shift and drove to Beachy Head. He had often spent time talking people out of jumping from the notorious suicide spot, but this time he wasn't there to save anyone - he was thinking of taking his own life. 'It would have been the end to all my problems,' says Gary, 42. For ten years, he had suffered from a range of debilitating symptoms that left him barely able to function.

Monday 15th January 2007: -

• Diana inquest to sit with no jury: What a surprise! - The inquest into the death of Diana, Princess of Wales in 1997 will not be heard by a jury, the coroner has said. Lady Elizabeth Butler-Sloss had been considering sitting with a jury of the public, after already rejecting a jury of members of the royal household. But she decided to hear the case alone after scrutinising legal arguments delivered at the High Court last week. The inquest, expected to take place in May, will examine the deaths in Paris of the princess and Dodi Al Fayed. Lawyers for Mohamed Al Fayed had argued in favour of a public jury.   (RELATED: See our popular Diana Assassination archive)

• Presidential Candidate Fears "Gulf Of Tonkin" To Provoke Iran War: Developments converge to signify inevitable conflict despite ongoing chaos in Iraq - Republican Congressman and 2008 Presidential candidate Ron Paul fears a staged Gulf of Tonkin style incident may be used to provoke air strikes on Iran as numerous factors collide to heighten expectations that America may soon be embroiled in its third war in six years. Writing in his syndicated weekly column, the representative of Texas' 14th district warns of "a contrived Gulf of Tonkin-type incident (that) may occur to gain popular support for an attack on Iran."   (RELATED: See our Problem > Reaction > Solution archive)

• 'Big' Dick Cheney admits expanded military spying role inside US - US Vice-President Dick Cheney has admitted that the US military and CIA have been spying on the financial dealings of Americans -- intelligence gathering normally authorized only by civilian policing agencies. The New York Times broke the story overnight, reporting that the Department of Defense and Central Intelligence Agency had been using "national security letters" to obtain the banking and credit records of Americans and foreigners suspected of terrorist activities in the United States.   (RELATED: See our Total Global Surveillance archive)

• BBC accused of covering up De Menezes shooting - The BBC has been accused of covering up the truth after it dropped plans to film a politically sensitive drama about Jean Charles de Menezes who was gunned down by police marksmen at Stockwell Tube station. The cousin of the 27-year-old Brazilian electrician said the broadcaster wanted people to "forget" the killing. Jean Charles de Menezes was shot more multiple times on a Victoria Line tube in the wake of the July London bombings two years ago after police mistook him for a terror suspect. The BBC shelved the project after it was reported that the organisation had reported the shooting extensively on its news channels and had been tackled by its current affairs programme Panorama.

Sunday 14th January 2007: -

• 7/7 ringleader 'was watched since 2003': The security services is bracing itself for further disclosures over Tube bombing intelligence failures - The 7 July bombers who killed 52 people in terrorist attacks in London in 2005 were once described by Britain's security service as 'clean skins'. The vivid phrase implied that a gang of homegrown terrorists had come from nowhere, without an intelligence trail. But Dame Eliza Manningham-Buller, the director-general of MI5, is bracing herself for embarrassing revelations on the full extent of what the British intelligence community knew about the bombers, and in particular the ringleader of the attacks, Mohammad Sidique Khan. The disclosures will add to pressure for a full public inquiry.   (RELATED: See our 7/7 London Bombing archive)

• Whitehall plan for huge database: Critics say there is a drift towards "Big Brother" - A giant database of people's personal details could be created at Whitehall under government plans which ministers say will help improve public services. Tony Blair is expected to unveil the proposal in Downing Street on Monday. Strict regulations currently prevent one part of government sharing personal information it holds with another. Ministers argue the data-sharing rules are "overzealous" but the Conservatives say relaxing them would be "an excuse for bureaucrats to snoop".

• Animal Tags for People?: Two cousin companies bet the fast-expanding market for animal RFID chips will extend to humans before long - Under the federally supported National Animal Identification System (NAIS), digital tags are expected to be affixed to the U.S.'s 40 million farm animals to enable regulators to track and respond quickly to disease, bioterrorism, and other calamities. Opponents have many fears about this plan, among them that it could be the forerunner of a similar system for humans. The theory, circulated in blogs, goes like this: You test it on the animals first, demonstrating the viability of the radio frequency identification devices (RFIDs) to monitor each and every animal's movements and health history from birth to death, and then move on to people.

• Law would require fluoride in water: Supporters optimistic Senate bill can pass - The Oregon Dental Association has launched a new drive for a state law that would require domestic water suppliers that serve more than 10,000 customers to fluoridate their drinking water. Senate Bill 33, was introduced the opening day of the session this month. It has yet to be assigned to a committee. With the emphasis on health care issues and a powerful new ally, backers are optimistic they can succeed this year. A similar bill passed the House in 2005 but died in a Senate committee in the waning days of the session.   (RELATED: See our Compromised Health archive)

• Revised Army rules stir wiretap concerns: Expert worries changes reduce spying oversight - Deep into an updated Army manual, the deletion of 10 words has left some national-security experts wondering whether government lawyers are again asserting the executive branch's right to wiretap Americans without court warrants. The manual, described by the Army as a "major revision" to intelligence-gathering guidelines, addresses policies and procedures for wiretapping Americans, among other issues. The original guidelines, from 1984, said the Army could seek to wiretap people inside the United States on an emergency basis by going to the secret court set up by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, known as FISA, or by obtaining certification from the attorney general "issued under the authority of section 102(a) of the Act."

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Saturday 13th January 2007: -

• Making a print, checking it twice: Have your kids been naughty or nice at school? Fingerprint scans could alert parents if students skip -- and could reveal other details about their day - Students in Sanford may be the first in Central Florida to test a controversial biometrics technology that uses fingerprints to track everything from what kids eat for lunch to when they get off the school bus. By next month, students could be swiping their index fingers across scanners in the lunchroom of Pine Crest Elementary. The system will identify students by their fingers, record their purchases and deduct charges from their accounts at the school. "Students can't forget their fingers as they can a PIN number," said John Tracy, chief information officer for the school district. If the scanners work well, they may be installed in all Seminole schools.

• Parents in fingerprint victory - PARENTS won a major battle yesterday (see date of article) to stop children being fingerprinted at school. Almost a million kids — some as young as five — have had their dabs taken and stored without their families’ consent. They are used to identify pupils in computerised class registers or library systems. But furious parents and MPs claim it is a major invasion of privacy and a step towards a Big Brother state. Last night the Government bowed to pressure and ordered curbs on schools after a six-month campaign.

• VOICE calls for an end to water fluoridation - The European Commission’s Scientific Committee on Consumer Products has warned parents to supervise their children to prevent them swallowing fluoride from toothpaste or other oral hygiene products because of the increased risk of dental fluorisis. European advice has indicated that the period of fluoride risk extends from babies to six-year-olds. According to Mr Robert Pocock, spokesperson for VOICE (Voice of Irish Concern for the Environment) “if swallowing fluoride is a health risk up to six years old, then clearly fluoride should not be added to drinking water and Health Minister Mary Harney must end water fluoridation immediately”.   (RELATED: See our Compromised Health archive)

• 'Atlanta police are barbaric, brutal, out of control': "No one truly knows a nation," said Nelson Mandela, "until one has been inside its jails." - Last week, after living in the USA for more than a year without understanding the country, I acquired — briefly — a jailbird's authority. I can now share insights you can only get from being assaulted by the police and locked up for hours in the company of some of the most deprived and depraved dregs of the American underclass. For someone like me — a mild-mannered, middle-aged professor of scholarly proclivities, blameless habits and frail physique — it was shocking, traumatizing and deeply educational. It started on my first morning in Atlanta, where I was attending the annual conference of the American Historical Association.

• African Lion Kisses, Hugs Woman Who Saved It: People Shocked To See Affection Between Pair - People in Cali, Colombia, are shocked to see the bond between a large African lion and a woman who saved it from abuse, involving long, affectionate kisses and hugs between the pair. Ana Julia Torres, who runs the Villa Lorena animal shelter in Cali, fed and nursed Jupiter the African lion back to health years ago after it was found abused and emaciated in a traveling circus. "It is amazing to see an animal like that be so sweet and affectionate," said Torres. "This hug is the most sincere one that I have received in my life."

Friday 12th January 2007: -

• Showell Elementary Part Of School Safety Pilot Program – Increased school security is more important than ever in light of recent tragic events around the country, and Showell Elementary is in the middle of a new safety program that could become the norm in all schools in Worcester and across the state. ...Delmarva Industries Chief Executive Officer Stephen Iwaszko has a personal stake in the effort to provide the security system for all of the schools in the area. Iwaszko is the regional director of the Ident-A-Kid national child identification program, which has been successful in improving school safety for over two decades. Founded in 1986, Ident-A-Kid Services of America, Inc., is the pioneer in child identification. Through its 200-plus programs, Ident-A-Kid annually provides over three million ID cards to parents at schools and other locations throughout the United States. The Ident-A-Kid card is a driver's license-like card that contains a child’s photograph, fingerprint and description. Parents keep the card with them at all times and, in an emergency, can provide law enforcement with it for immediate response.

• Barclaycard to put Oyster facility on its credit cards - THE cashless society moved a step closer for Wharfers with the announcement of an exclusive deal between Barclaycard and Transport for London (TfL). Barclaycard has secured rights to incorporate Oyster facilities on its credit and debit cards for the next three years, to be available to new and existing customers by the end of this year. The cards will also have 'wave and pay' technology where small purchases can be made by waving the card over a reader to make buying items such as newspapers a much quicker proposition.   (RELATED: See our Cashless Society Control Grid archive)

• Worlds first Chip and PIN carwash gives pay-in-your-car convenience to drivers - CreditCalls Apollo Chip and PIN payment module is currently undergoing a rigorous trial inside a self-service carwash select and pay terminal at an unattended car wash centre on the north Wales coast. The terminal, manufactured by UK-based PSD-Codax, enables drivers to pay using their Chip and PIN credit or debit card from the comfort of their car before driving into the automated carwash. Although unattended credit card payment is not new, having been pioneered by CreditCall in 2000, any new machines in Europe have to be able to conduct an EMV (Chip and PIN) transaction.

• ID cards attacked as scans runs into trouble: Passengers face massive delays at airports because of problems with new iris-recognition equipment, a Tory MP claimed yesterday - Ben Wallace said an official report on trials of the technology showed it had failed half of its assessments. And he said it was further proof that Government plans to introduce ID cards were "running off the tracks" and could prove unworkable. But the Home Office said the initial problems had been dealt with and the system – - now in operation at several major airports, including Manchester – was a success. Thousands more members of the public had signed up than expected, a spokeswoman said, and iris recognition remained "an option" for ID cards.

• Taser gun use highest in West Yorkshire - Controversial US-style stun-guns have been used by West Yorkshire Police more often than any other force apart from the Met. Figures provided in response to a Freedom of Information request reveal the West Yorkshire force's officers have been equipped with the Taser weapons 56 times and on almost half of those occasions they have drawn and aimed them. Officers have shot the 50,000-volt stun weapons 20 times and in an additional five instances fired them as a "demonstration or warning". On one occasion an officer had to point a Taser at close range.   (ARE YOU IN THE WEST YORKSHIRE AREA?: Then you might be interested in the website of the West Yorkshire Truth Campaign, founded in Bradford.  The site is webmastered by the same 'talent' that brings you cremationofcare.com... hence the retro (i.e. archaic) look to the whole thing!)

• Blair: Terror battle will be long - British Prime Minister Tony Blair says it will take a generation to defeat what has emerged as a global movement of fundamentalist Muslim terrorists, a movement he described as "something more akin to revolutionary communism in its early and most militant phase." Blair -- who made the remarks in a lecture on Friday about the role of the United Kingdom's armed forces in the 21st century -- said "the battle will be long. It has taken a generation for the enemy to grow. It will, in all probability, take a generation to defeat."

• TYRANNY BY DESIGN: Airport Detentions, Arrests of Ordinary Citizens Increase Since 9-11 - There has been a flurry of incidents in the news media over the past few years relating to detentions and arrests at airports. High-profile airport detainees include people from all walks of life, including a congressman as well as a rap music artist. Earlier this month, according to an article written by Vic Ryckaert in the Indianapolis Star, a 19-year-old high school student was arrested for carrying a pellet gun and wearing body armor at the Indianapolis International Airport. The student was arrested for "disorderly conduct at an airport." These cases lead us to ask -- why are travelers typically being detained or arrested at local airports these days?

• Post-9/11 lifestyle (read: fascist police state) predicted in ‘80s book - It’s hard to believe that White Noise was written in the 1980s because DeLillo so accurately predicts the atmosphere of the post 9/11 world we live in now. The government in White Noise runs constant disaster drills, is security conscious and does more to raise the level of fear in the general public than the actual event itself.

• British MP Asking More Questions About Bilderberg: This time the next Prime Minister is the focus - A British MP, who previously asked Prime Minister Tony Blair to reveal details of any Bilderberg meetings he has attended, has now officially asked the current Chancellor of the Exchequer, and most likely next Prime Minister, to reveal details of his own attendances at Bilderberg. Norman Baker, MP for Lewes, has officially requested that Gordon Brown provide an oral or written answer to the following question: Norman Baker (Lewes): To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, in which years since 1997 (a) he and (b) other Treasury Ministers have attended meetings of the Bilderberg Group. The question has been officially submitted and it will now take a few weeks before it is answered in the House of Commons.

• IF YOU ARE LIKE ME YOU WILL PROBABLY THINK THAT THIS ARTICLE IS ABOUT FOX NEWS!: Virtual Reality Helps Heal Stress Disorder From 9/11 Attacks - Of the millions of New Yorkers who witnessed the terrorist attacks on September 11th, as many as 65-percent reported some emotional problems, including Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Many of them are still suffering, and now there's a new option to help them move on. It looks like a video game, but it is actually a treatment for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Thursday 11th January 2007: -

• Historian 'pinned to ground by US police and beaten for jaywalking' - A distinguished British historian claims he was knocked to the ground by an American policeman before being arrested and spending eight hours in jail — because he crossed the road in the wrong place. Felipe Fernandez-Armesto said he had been the victim of "terrible, terrible violence" after he inadvertently committed the offence of "jaywalking" in Atlanta, Georgia, last week and failed to realise the man telling him to stop was an officer. The slight, bespectacled professor claimed that five burly officers pinned him to the ground after Kevin Leonpacher kicked his legs from under him as he hesitated to show his ID.

• Guantanamo protest at US embassy - A British boy whose father has been detained at the Guantanamo Bay camp delivered a letter to Downing St, ahead of a protest outside the US Embassy. Anas el-Banna, 10, handed in his fourth letter to Tony Blair, reflecting the years his father had been held. He was accompanied by MP Sarah Teather, as campaigners marked the fifth anniversary of the camp's opening. One ex-detainee, Moazzam Begg, said Mr Blair was a "partner in crime" of the US due to his "silence" over the issue.

• 54% of GCSE pupils lack basic skills - Even though London achieved its best ever GCSE results, more than half of its pupils failed to get five decent grades that prepare them for the workplace. New government figures show 54.2% of pupils did not get at least five Cs that include English and maths.

• WHAT'S WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE?: US to target anti-Iraq activity - US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has warned that the US will take action against countries destabilising Iraq. Her statement comes hours after US forces stormed an Iranian consulate in the northern Iraqi town of Irbil - prompting condemnation from Tehran. In a major policy speech, President George W Bush said the US would take a tough stance towards Iran and Syria, whom he accused of destabilising Iraq.

• FBI seminar hosts H'wood scribes - FBI memo to Hollywood: If it's not too much trouble, could you please portray our counterterrorism efforts with a bit more realism? Hoping for an answer in the affirmative, the FBI hosted its first workshop for screenwriters Wednesday at the Federal Building in Westwood. "FBI -- Crime Essential for Writers" played well with the standing-room-only audience of executives and writers from several major and minor studios. Enthusiastic attendees had more questions than time allowed answers for, and few if any left the four-hour event early. The FBI, more so than even the Department of Homeland Security, is the primary agency designated to investigate terrorism in the U.S., and the terrorist threat it is most focused on comes from radical Islam, FBI special agent Greg Wing said.

Wednesday 10th January 2007: -

• Invisible RFID Ink Safe For Cattle And People, Company Says - A startup company developing chipless RFID ink has tested its product on cattle and laboratory rats. Somark Innovations announced this week that it successfully tested biocompatible RFID ink, which can be read through animal hairs. The passive RFID technology could be used to identify and track cows to reduce financial losses from Bovine Spongiform Encephalitis (Mad Cow Disease) scares. Somark, which formed in 2005, is located at the Center for Emerging Technologies in St. Louis. The company is raising Series A equity financing and plans to license the technology to secondary markets, which could include laboratory animals, dogs, cats, prime cuts of meat, and military personnel.  (COMMENTARY: Is there a distinction between 'prime cuts of meat' and 'military personnel'?  Of course there is - to you and me perhaps - but not they way things are going.  Something to think about before 'signing up' for service!  RELATED QUOTE FROM HENRY KISSINGER: "Military men are dumb, stupid animals to be used as pawns for foreign policy.")

• Evidence mounts that ID card scheme is doomed to failure (England & Wales) - Clegg - Commenting on reports that an official study on trials of iris-recognition equipment at airports highlighted major failures, Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Secretary, Nick Clegg MP said: "Yet again the Government has tried to bury another piece of bad news about its doomed identity cards project. "With each successive announcement it becomes more obvious that the technology simply isn't good enough to sustain such an expensive, illiberal and unnecessary scheme."

• Philip J. Berg, Esq. Seeking the "Truth of 9/11" Calls on World Community To Arrest and Try Bush & Cheney for Global Crimes of 9/11 - Philip J. Berg, Esquire, [Berg is a former Deputy Attorney General of Pennsylvania; former candidate for Governor and U.S. Senate; an attorney with offices in Montgomery County, PA and an active practice in Philadelphia, PA, who prior hereto has filed a RICO lawsuit against Bush and others for the events of 9/11 and plans to re-file shortly] announced today that he was issuing a call for world leaders to arrest and try Bush and Cheney for the global crimes of 9/11/01. Philip J. Berg, Esquire stated in a letter to the nations throughout the world: "It is time for the nations of the world to come forth and take the leadership because of the failure of the United States Government and the States where crimes were committed on 09/11/01, where no thorough investigation and indictments occurred, to investigate, arrest and prosecute the people responsible for the murders on 9/11/01, specifically including George W. Bush and Richard Cheney."

• Random Drug Testing For Kids in School Sports? - Ramirez stated, "We have high standards in the school and they look up to us and we need to set a good example." If, as expected, Cumberland County School Board Officials approve the new drug policy starting next year, students taking part in any extra curricular activity will have to agree to random drug testing. Student athletes we talked with today don't have a problem with that. Zach Polaha, a junior, stated, "It will keep the athletes from doing the drugs because they will want to play sports rather than do the drugs."

• UK Elderly 'must be virtually dying' to get care - Elderly or disabled people will have to be "virtually dying" in order to get public help that will allow them to stay in their own homes, the Government's watchdog said today. More and more local authorities are refusing to aid people unless they pass the most severe of criteria for needing home help, a report by the Commission for Social Care Inspection says. The burden of care is falling on relatives.

Tuesday 09th January 2007: -

• Ministry of Truth... a.k.a. MI5 to use email to send terror alerts: Public to receive details of current security status in attempt to improve awareness and accountability - MI5, otherwise known as the UK Security Service, has confirmed it will launch a public email alert service to warn the population about changes in the security threat level. Users will be able to register on the MI5 web site to receive automatic electronic updates in their email inboxes. The email alerts are the latest in a series of efforts by MI5 and its partner, the international spy agency MI6, to open up to the public after decades of guarding extreme secrecy.   (RELATED: See our Fake Terror Alerts archive)

• More Than Two-Thirds of Americans Support Adding Biometrics to Government-Issued Identification: According to New TRUSTe Study, a Majority of Consumers Want Biometrics on Credit and Debit Cards as Well - Eighty-two percent of Americans support the use of biometric identification on passports, according to a recent survey conducted by TRUSTe, the leading online privacy certification and seal program, and market information group TNS. Three-quarters of Americans support the addition of biometric information to driver's licenses and nearly as many (72.6 percent) support adding it to Social Security cards. More than half (52 percent) of respondents agreed with the statement that "it will make it much harder for terrorists to operate within the U.S. with the use of biometrics to establish the identity of Americans." Conducted in September 2006, the survey indicates that Americans are willing to forego some personal privacy and anticipate misuse of the information in exchange for security.

• ANOTHER BRICK IN THE UK POLICE STATE 'WALL': Discrimination law controversy - It will come as little surprise to ministers that the issue of discrimination is the focus for one of the first political controversies of the New Year. The regulations which have already provoked a furore in Northern Ireland are the same as those which the government planned to introduce in England and Wales last autumn under the Equality Act 2006. But a row in Cabinet caused a postponement. Now, the stage is set for a battle in which some parliamentarians, backed by religious groups, will try to amend the rules so that there is no automatic protection on grounds of sexual orientation.

• CNN LOU DOBBS VIDEO: 'W' FULFILLS HIS DAD'S DREAM OF A NEW WORLD ORDER: -

• New 24 Season Showcases Mass Terror, Concentration Camps: Propaganda Keeps Being Pushed by FOX - The new season of 24, that is to air this coming weekend, is to prepare the American people for the idea of concentration camps, detention centers and the rounding up of people in times of crisis. The opener depicts an America besieged by mass terrorist attacks and public paranoia, with 11 cities, including New York, Atlanta, San Antonio and L.A., having been attacked in the space of a few weeks.   (RELATED: See our Propaganda in Entertainment archive)

Monday 08th January 2007: -

• Eton to scan boys to stop binge drinking - Eton has introduced an electronic fingerprint scanner which will stop boys binge drinking in the bar at the exclusive public school. Boys at the £24,990 a year school, attended by Princes William and Harry, are able to drink beer and cider at the school's bar - known as 'Tap' - if they are over 16. But now, to comply with new licensing regulations, boys can only buy alcohol with food. Now a high-tech system is in place which means boys can only buy booze if they have pre-registered their fingerprints on a database and if their parents have pre-paid.

• Sounds like sci-fi, but Martin kids buy lunch with fingers - A tap of the finger is how some customers pay for groceries at Piggly Wiggly stores in Indiana. That technology has opened doors in spy movies and sci-fi television shows for decades and is one way the U.S. Department of Homeland Security is trying to deter illegal immigration. Starting Monday, hundreds of Treasure Coast students will use the technology and their index fingers to buy school lunches.   (RELATED: See our Cashless Society Control Grid archive)

• Drug tests for the School Kids: Making them voluntary, and available to younger students, was smart - The response of students and their families confirms that the Williamsburg-James City County School Board made three smart decisions about its program to test students for illegal use of drugs and alcohol. First, it decided to move the program down to the middle schools. The wisdom of that is indicated by the fact that the program is much more popular at the middle than the high school level: 44 percent of middle schoolers signed up, versus 26 percent of high schoolers. Middle school is when substance abuse problems can really gain steam (although anyone who believes they don't often start earlier is delusional). It makes sense to talk about and confront them at this age, when so many of the variables - the extent of abuse, the maturity, independence and financial resources of the child, the nature of their relationships with their parents - can work in favor of resolution.

• Doctor alleges plans underway to "Microchip" Newborns in U.S. and Europe - Regarding plans to microchip newborns, Dr. Kilde said the U.S. has been moving in this direction "in secrecy." She added that in Sweden, Prime Minister Olof Palme gave permission in 1973 to implant prisoners, and Data Inspection's ex-Director General Jan Freese revealed that nursing-home patients were implanted in the mid-1980s. The technology is revealed in the 1972:47 Swedish state report, Statens Officiella Utradninger. Are you prepared to live in a world in which every newborn baby is micro-chipped? And finally are you ready to have your every move tracked, recorded and placed in Big Brother's data bank? According to the Finnish article, distributed to doctors and medical students, time is running out for changing the direction of military medicine and mind control technology, ensuring the future of human freedom.

• Man Dies After Police Subdue Him With Taser - Police said an emotionally disturbed man is dead after police were called to his house Sunday afternoon and tried to subdue him using a Taser gun. Blondel Lassegue, 38, went into cardiac arrest after the confrontation at his uncle's Queens home. He was taken to Franklin General Hospital, where he died. Police said the former public school teacher suffered from bipolar disorder and depression.

• SATIRE: UN Resolution to DNA test and fingerprint all Bushes - Fingerprinting technique: first stick that finger up yer ass Mr President then print on the form right here. New York - (AssoIAted Mess): The UN Security Council has voted overwhelmingly in favor of DNA testing and fingerprinting all members of the Bush tribe after the UK's Metropolitan Police and Interpol confirmed that their database of the world's top one million crooks is now ready. The files hold bio-data of all known organised and disoranised crime cartels affiliated either by blood or money to Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Pope Pius XII and the Queen Mother.

Sunday 07th January 2007: -

• A MORTGAGE? GIVE US YOUR FINGERPRINTS: Shock move on UK ID cards - HOME seekers will soon have to show their FINGERPRINTS to take out a mortgage. Banks and building societies will introduce the measure for first-time buyers to clamp down on identity fraud. The shock move comes as the Government prepares plans to introduce its controversial ID cards. Home Secretary John Reid asked lenders what checks they would like for granting a mortgage. They want fingerprint and facial biometrics - which will be included on identity cards. Couples buying their first home will be the first to get the cards when they are introduced in 2009. Eventually everyone will need one.

• Local Governments in Britain to Spy on Muslims - British Communities Secretary Ruth Kelly, the architect of Prime Minister Tony Blair’s so-called diversity and integration policy, is set to unveil a controversial plan later his month whereby thousands of council (municipal) workers across the UK will effectively be asked to spy on Muslim radicals and extremist organizations in their midst. The Daily Mirror, one of Britain’s top tabloids and a staunch supporter of the ruling Labour Party, yesterday confirmed in a report quoting Kelly, the former education secretary, that the government will give 50 local authorities some 5 million pounds in special funding “to be the ears and eyes of the police” about possible risks and to keep a watch on suspected Muslim extremists in the major metropolitan areas of the country.

• Israel Rejects Report It May Attack Iran - A British newspaper reported Sunday that Israeli pilots were training to strike targets in Iran with low-yield nuclear weapons, but Israel swiftly denied the report and analysts expressed doubts about its reliability. Citing unidentified Israeli military sources, The Sunday Times said the proposals drawn up in Israel involved using so-called "bunker-buster" nuclear weapons to attack nuclear facilities at three sites south of the Iranian capital. Israel has never confirmed it has nuclear weapons, although the Jewish state is widely believed to possess a significant stockpile. Iran says its nuclear program is solely for peaceful purposes like generating electricity.

• Britons to be scanned for FBI database - NEW security requirements for travellers to the United States will force millions of Britons to have their fingerprints stored on an FBI database alongside those of criminals, sparking protests from civil liberties groups. Under a pilot scheme to be tested at America’s leading airports this summer, Britain’s 4m annual travellers will have to submit to a full 10-digit fingerprint scan, which will be checked against intelligence databases. The new system could lead to longer queues and more chaos at airports for British and European Union travellers, who are currently required to have less cumbersome, but also less accurate two-digit fingerprint scans.

• Scandal brings down Warsaw archbishop - The new archbishop of Warsaw has been forced to resign after admitting he co-operated with secret police during Poland's communist period. Archbishop Stanislaw Wielgus is to be replaced just two days into his new role in charge of the spiritual health of the Polish capital's Roman Catholics, the Vatican said in a brief statement. His predecessor, Cardinal Jozef Glemp, will unexpectedly extend his 25-year tenure until a replacement is found. "There are plenty of important documents which confirm Wielgus' willingness for… cooperation," the Reuters news agency reported a statement from the Church commission investigating the allegations as saying.

• Fears for a drugged generation - A STAGGERING 337,553 prescriptions for antidepressants were written for children and adolescents in the past year, raising fears about whether "happy pills" are being used as a quick-fix for despondent youngsters. Australia's drug regulator, the Therapeutic Goods Administration, has not approved any antidepressant medicines for children or adolescents younger than 18 but can not prevent doctors from prescribing them. Medical regulators and drug companies warn against the use of antidepressants in young people and there is concern that the drugs, including the newer breed known as serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), have been associated with suicidal behaviour in the young.   (RELATED: See our Compromised Health archive)

• Teen restrained by police dies at hospital while in coma: An autistic teen died Friday, weeks after an encounter with police left him in a coma. Miami Police Chief John Timoney said an internal probe shows officers acted properly - A teenager left in a coma after an encounter with Miami police died Friday, as department officials concluded that officers did nothing wrong in handling the autistic youth. Kevin Colindres, 18, had been in a coma since he was restrained by the hands and feet by officers following an outburst at his Miami home on Dec. 12. His family's attorney initially said Colindres had been ''hogtied,'' his hands cuffed behind the back, a strap running from his ankles looped through the cuffs, tight enough to stop his breathing.

Saturday 06th January 2007: -

• POLICE STATE UK: Hitting car with football lands 15-year old Brit kid in the slammer! - A BOY was locked in a cell for an hour after his football accidentally hit a parked car. Ashley Gallagher, 15, was arrested on suspicion of criminal damage. He was playing in the street with brother Joshua, 12, and friends when the wind blew the ball into Nathan Jubb's new Vauxhall Astra. Mr Jubb was watching and dialled 999. Minutes later police took Ashley away. He said: "It was an accident. It bounced off under the back window. It didn't crack anything or make a dent or even scratch it." Dad Stephen, 41, of Eastington, Glos, said: "The police were so heavyhanded it was outrageous."   (RELATED: See our Police State archive)

• Cross-border kidnappings rarely random, officials say - A 29-year-old father of three disappears and turns up dead two weeks later. A prominent Laredo businessman and four others, including his son, are kidnapped and his hunting ranch cleaned out. These incidents three years apart offered examples of why Texas border residents might fear the worst, but retired federal agents who spent much of their careers investigating. Mexican drug cartels said those behind such attacks are rarely interested in random acts and that Americans are seldom accidental victims. "I don't think anything is random with these people," said Terry L. Nelson, who worked for Customs. "They are professionals, they know their business. If they pick you up or stop your car, they know who you are and how much you can pay." Janet Padilla disagrees. Her husband, Luis, was killed three years ago in a crime linked to the Vicente Carrillo Fuentes drug cartel. He never returned from work, and a friend called Janet Padilla to say he might have been shoved in the back of a police car in Ciudad Juarez, across the border from El Paso.

• TREATING SCHOOL CHILDREN LIKE CONVICTS IN A PRISON: Will Lodi High use dogs to sniff out drugs? - Administrators at Lodi High School say the drug problem on campus has become so bad they are considering using drug-sniffing dogs to stem the problem. Some students agree it's a good idea. Puma, from Interquest Detection Canines, checks a top locker. (Courtesy photo)"I know people who are getting into the drug scene and they never were before," said Erin Segale, 17, a junior. "We believe we have a serious drug problem on our campus," said Heidi Reyes, assistant principal of Lodi High School. "I've been pushing for this for a long time."

• Charges Against Pants Wetting Young Girl Dropped - Authorities are dropping a disorderly conduct charge against a 12-year-old special education student who they said deliberately wet her pants at school. “It was a mistake to bring police into a case of school discipline,” Superintendent Steve Keifer said Thursday. “I think the situation was one where the parents and school officials were frustrated, and that’s why it was done,” Keifer said. “At the same time, it was probably not a good idea.” The girl’s mother told the Press Enterprise of Bloomsburg that the girl urinated only because she was frightened by the principal.

• Canada moves to RFID system for cattle - Canada embraced a national cattle identification program several years ago. Beginning on Jan. 1, 2001, all Canadian cattle were tagged with an approved ear tag before leaving their home of origin. Full enforcement of the program by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency began on July 1, 2002, with monetary penalties of $500-$4,000 for noncompliance. With Great Britain experiencing a foot and mouth disease (FMD) outbreak in 2001 and also dealing with bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in the 1980s and 1990s, Canada's cattle leaders recognized the need for a trace back system.  (COMMENTARY: There is a comparison to be made here.  Note that the pushing of implantable microchips - RFID tags aka 'Spychips' - in humans will serve a similar purpose.  After the inevitable failure of the National ID Card, we will all be forced (coerced and aggressively persuaded) to take implantable RFID chips in our bodies, so that we can be herded and culled like the cattle that you read about in this aforementioned article.  Not very flattering how our elitists governments think of us is it?)

• Passport Cards to go Hi-tech in United States - Fire has been drawn from some quarters as the US govt. plans to use RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) chips in the proposed program of passport cards for U.S. citizens. These ID cards will be mandatory for residents who’re not having passports for their identification anywhere in the country or overseas. This program has been proposed so that security can be shored up throughout the nation. Passengers who travel by air among different countries may be asked to show this kind of an ID proof anytime from 1st January 2007 onwards, whereas for those who travel by land or sea this rule is going to be applicable from January 2008. The State Department said, instead of using contact less smart card technology “proximity read” it will use the RFID technology “vicinity read” in cards in these new e-Passports. The objective is to have passport cards of credit card size. Therefore, customs & border security officials can read these cards even when they are 20-30 feet away.

• Democrats backpedal on 9/11 commission - House Democrats campaigned on a promise to implement the recommendations of the September 11 commission, but now say they will not enact all of them. The recommendation to place all intelligence agencies under the Defense Department "is not on the table," said Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer, Maryland Democrat. Another obstacle to enacting all the commission reforms as promised is the formula by which federal anti-terrorism money is distributed across the country.

Friday 05th January 2007: -

• Surgery to stunt disabled girl's growth raises ethical questions; some decry `eugenics' - In a case fraught with ethical questions, the parents of a severely mentally and physically disabled child have stunted her growth to keep their little "pillow angel" a manageable and more portable size. The bedridden 9-year-old girl had her uterus and breast tissue removed at a Seattle hospital and received large doses of hormones to halt her growth. She is now 4-foot-5; her parents say she would otherwise probably reach a normal 5-foot-6.

• Esteemed Hollywood Personality, James Brolin plugs 9/11 Truth! - Tells people to go to 911weknow.com... I like the comment by loveable 'Liberal' Rosie (Give your guns to the Government) O'Donnell who doesn't 'know what that is'... (Why are we not surprised?): -

(RELATED: See our 9/11 archive and our affiliated site 911truthskipton.com)

• MYRIAD multi-application smartcard solution for staff and students - G2 Integrated Solutions has secured new contracts to supply academies including Grace Academy in Solihull, David Young Community Academy in Leeds and North Liverpool Academy, Liverpool with their MYRIAD solution. The MYRIAD solution is used for cashless catering and student ID production. It can also be integrated with academy library systems and as a first for the industry it can be used to manage door access at schools, with students using the MYRIAD card to swipe in and out of various areas. The government is building a number of new schools through the Public Private Finance Initiative (PFI schools) and the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme. The three academies are housed in brand new buildings, offering places to 7-18 year olds. The G2IS solution, including cash free tills, cashless vending machines and onsite card top-up points has been installed as part of the new infrastructure, ensuring the ‘schools of the future’ are equipped with the latest technology.   (RELATED: See our Cashless Society Control Grid archive)

• SNP warning over ID card pension rules - PENSIONERS could be forced to produce passports to claim their pension under Government plans for ID cards, the SNP claimed today. Scottish Nationalist home affairs spokesman Stewart Hosie challenged Home Secretary John Reid to "come clean" on what his proposals for ID cards would mean in Scotland. Mr Hosie said under the plans, people would pay up to £100 for a combined ID card and passport or £30 for a stand-alone card. He said: "John Reid has a lot of explaining to do over his daft and dangerous plans for Big Brother ID cards.

• Class action claims AT&T charged hidden connection fee - A new class action lawsuit has been filed against AT&T (Illinois Bell) over "hidden fees" charged for connecting local calls from its directory assistance service. Represented by attorney Christopher Cueto of Belleville, Linda Cassin seeks to represent a class of plaintiffs in St. Clair County Circuit Court. Cassin, of Belleville, claims the phone company charged 12 cents per minute for phone calls to local toll numbers when those calls had been connected by a directory assistance operator. She and members of the class seek damages of less than $74,999 individually. The suit, filed Dec. 29, claims the extra charge is not included in the $1.25 fee charged to obtain a number from directory assistance.

• Parents may have killed son to please the gods - Police in eastern India said yesterday they have arrested a couple for allegedly sacrificing their young sons to please the gods. "It seems like a case of child sacrifice attached to tantric rituals," police superintendent Ravi Kant said in eastern Orissa state, where the incident happened. Police said it had collected evidence of occult practices from the couple's house. Residents of the area told police that the couple had been advised by a tantric practitioner that they should offer their sons, aged seven and nine, to please the gods for luck and prosperity.

Thursday 04th January 2007: -

• Schools would set own policy on searching students under legislation - A federal bill would require school boards to establish a policy allowing teachers to search students they suspect of carrying drugs or weapons. The Student and Teacher Safety Act passed the House on a voice vote in the fall, but the American Civil Liberties Union and National School Boards Association oppose the bill, which they say violates students' civil rights. The most vocal critics of the proposal have called it a "strip search bill." Lawmakers say the bill would help protect students and teachers and shield staff members who search students from being sued.

• Biometric plan aimed for national security - The government's plan to use a biometric identification system aimed only at Chinese passengers at nationwide points of entry will not breach human rights and will heed national security, Executive Yuan spokesman Cheng Wen-tsang said yesterday. Cheng made the remarks at a news conference following a weekly Executive Yuan meeting.   (COMMENTARY: I know that it is obvious, but how could it breach 'human rights' in China... the bugger doesn't exist!)

• Robertson says God told him of ''mass killing'' in U.S. in 2007 - Religious broadcaster Pat Robertson cited communications with God in predicting Tuesday that horrific terrorism aimed at the United States will result in "mass killing" during the second half of 2007. "The Lord didn't say nuclear, but I do believe it'll be something like that - that'll be a mass killing, possibly millions of people, major cities injured," Robertson said.

• PREMEDITATED MERGER (OF THE US, CANADA & MEXICO a.k.a. THE NORTH AMERICAN UNION): How leaders are stealthily transforming USA into North American Union - It seems unthinkable. But then, so did 9/11 before it happened. Can it really be possible that Americans are witnessing a governmental program designed to merge – slowly but surely – the United States, Mexico and Canada? That question is generating a major amount of below-the-media-radar buzz. In recent months, e-mails and telephone calls have poured into radio talk shows and congressional offices asking: Is there a plan to create a "North American Union"? Will a new currency, the "amero," replace the dollar? Is it true that Mexicans will now get Social Security?

• UN staff accused of raping children in Sudan - The UN said today that it would launch an investigation after the Daily Telegraph reported allegations that UN personnel have abused children in southern Sudan. Members of the United Nations peacekeeping forces in southern Sudan are facing allegations of raping and abusing children as young as 12, The Daily Telegraph reported today. The abuse allegedly began two years ago when the UN mission in southern Sudan (UNMIS) moved in to help rebuild the region after a 23-year civil war. The UN has up to 10,000 military personnel in the region, of all nationalities and the allegations involve peacekeepers, military police and civilian staff.   (RELATED: See our Elites Abuse of Children archive)

Wednesday 03rd January 2007: -

• Daddy Bush Attacks JFK "Conspiracy Theorists": Former President triumphs Warren Commission at Ford's funeral; Are the Bush's breaking down? - During his speech at yesterday's funeral service for Gerald Ford, former President George H.W. Bush bashed JFK "conspiracy theorists" and defended the Warren Commission report, another odd public outburst indicative of a crime family whose decades of misdeeds may finally be catching up with them. "After a deluded gunman assassinated President Kennedy, our nation turned to Gerald Ford and a select handful of others to make sense of that madness," said Bush. "And the conspiracy theorists can say what they will, but the Warren Commission report will always have the final definitive say on this tragic matter. Why? Because Jerry Ford put his name on it and Jerry Ford’s word was always good."   (RELATED: See our archive on the JFK assassination)

• FBI report lists Guantanamo abuse - FBI investigators witnessed a litany of abuses of prisoners held at the US detention centre at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, according to documents published by the law enforcement agency. The files which were released on the FBI's website contain a long list of abuses allegedly carried out by military interrogators against inmates. One FBI agent claimed to have seen an interrogator squat over the Koran in order to anger a prisoner and another observed a detainee whose head was wrapped in duct tape, according to the documents from a 2004 internal inquiry. Agents also described seeing detainees chained from hand to foot in the foetal position for up to 24 hours.   (RELATED: See our Ministry of Love archive)

• Guard in execution of Saddam Hussein is arrested - Aides to Iraq's prime minister said today that one of the guards at the hanging of Saddam Hussein had been detained in connection with the unofficial cellphone video that showed Mr. Hussein being taunted just before his death - scenes that sparked outrage among Sunni loyalists when the video was posted on the Internet. The aides to Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki also sought to downplay the disorder depicted in the video, which showed Mr. Hussein being subjected to a battery of taunts by official Shiite witnesses and guards. The aides said the execution was more dignified than the illicit video makes it appear, and argued that in any case the focus should be on the crimes Mr. Hussein had committed.

• Microsoft accused of trying to buy bloggers - A Microsoft stunt handing out brand spanking new laptops with Windows Vista to selected bloggers has backfired with claims that Microsoft tried to "buy" bloggers. At least six bloggers each received a sleek, black, highly specified Ferrari machine running the as-yet-to-be released Windows Vista from Microsoft and Acer just before Christmas.

NEW WEBSITE TO CHECK OUT!: -

Tuesday 02nd January 2007: -

• Bush 'to reveal Iraq troop boost' - US President George W Bush intends to reveal a new Iraq strategy within days, the BBC has learnt. The speech will reveal a plan to send more US troops to Iraq to focus on ways of bringing greater security, rather than training Iraqi forces. The move comes with figures from Iraqi ministries suggesting that deaths among civilians are at record highs. The US president arrived back in Washington on Monday after a week-long holiday at his ranch in Texas.

• Fingerprint doorbell to keep you more secure than necessary - There are only a couple of pieces of technology at your door: the doorbell and the security system, if you have one. Why keep them separate? This fancy doorbell has a biometric security system with fingerprint scanner built-in, letting you get the prints of the FedEx guy when he delivers your packages. You can manage it via the Internet, allowing you to stay hidden in the depths of your house and see if you recognize the print before answering the door. If you're concerned about sneaky thieves cutting off the fingers of your friends and family to gain access to your castle, you can double the security by requiring a password as well as a fingerprint scan. Where do you people live that this level of security is necessary? And if someone is that determined to get in can't they just break a window? No word on pricing or availability, so you'll have to stick with your current security system of an elaborate series of booby traps for now.

• RFID Ltd unveils emergency service 'SurvivalTag': SurvivalTag could help rescuers at risk - A new use of radio frequency identification (RFID) technology designed to help firefighters be rescued is in its final stage of design. SurvivalTag, which is being developed by engineers in the US, is to be embedded in police, firefighter and various emergency personnel uniforms, allowing their locations to be tracked if rescue becomes necessary. The RFID device is, according to Nicholas Chavez, president of development firm RFID Ltd, one part of the combined SurvivalTag product. "[It has been] heavily influenced by fire commanders who wish to not only monitor locations of their squads but also their heart rates, respiratory developments and skin temperatures," he said.

• Invasion of the Body Scanners: New airport X-Rays may be a useful way to detect hidden explosives - but officials will have to keep a tight rein on their use - Phoenix flyers will soon be the first travelers digitally stripped naked by a Transportation Security Agency (TSA) X-Ray machine that uses a technology called "backscatter." The device bounces a low-intensity X-Ray beam off the target's body and digitally analyzes and stores the returning signal, or backscatter. Early on, the process generated a high-resolution picture that for all practical purposes was a nude photo of the target without hair, but including intimate details. The idea is that hidden bombs and guns will be readily detectable on a minimalist body image.

• Big Brother On The Road - Dangerous drivers are now being named and shamed by angry motorists on the internet in a bid to make Britain's roads safer. Andrew McGain set up the website www.betterdrivingplease.com after boy racers in Gloucestershire were terrorising the roads, whilst using their mobile phones. He told The Sun: "Mobile use causes inconsiderate and dangerous driving. We want people to hang up." The safety campaigner is urging other road users to follow suit by reporting traffic offences on the website. Users can report the number plate, location, time, date and images of the offending driver with a danger rating of red, amber or green. The reports are used by the police to catch unsuspecting drivers which may result in prosecution.   (RELATED: See our Total Global Surveillance archive)

• AUSTRALIA: New random roadside test buses catch out drug-dazed drivers - NINE people were caught driving under the influence of drugs after attending a New Year's Day dance party in Melbourne as police around the nation focus on random roadside testing in their latest efforts to cut road tolls. The nine were caught near the Summadayze party at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl despite earlier warnings by Victoria Police that it was stepping up its campaign against drug drivers by putting new testing buses on the road over the holiday period. Victoria was the first state to introduce roadside saliva drug tests two years ago. All other states have followed the move.

• The U.S. is to blame for aiding Saddam early on - The Iraq issue is obscured by a monstrous misconception: That the intention was to save Iraq and create a viable government, but that BushCo. "blundered." Popular propaganda notwithstanding, the intention was to destroy Iraq, create chaos, prevent/delay the creation of peace and freedom, and keep most of the oil off the market. Mission accomplished. Sounds harsh, but such malfeasance is clear in history examined outside the blinders of conventional teaching and 'wisdom,' and from the standpoint of elite operations. The elite, via corrupted Western imperial colonialist nations, have long exploited the region; but the latest destructive phase got rolling with the assistance to power of the ruthless Saddam by the CIA. The immediate purpose was the creation of the Iran war, to set up Iraq for destruction.

• Big Brother Continues To Grow: If you’re a British citizen flying to the United States, you better hope that there’s nothing suspicious on your credit card bills - Britons flying to America could have their credit card and email accounts inspected by the United States authorities following a deal struck by Brussels and Washington. By using a credit card to book a flight, passengers face having other transactions on the card inspected by the American authorities. Providing an email address to an airline could also lead to scrutiny of other messages sent or received on that account. The extent of the demands were disclosed in “undertakings” given by the US Department of Homeland Security to the European Union and published by the Department for Transport after a Freedom of Information request.

• Suffolk teenager's chip nightmare - TEENAGER Jack Double will be starting the New Year £50 out of pocket and with a chip on his shoulder after being hit with a littering fine for throwing food to a seagull. The gobsmacked youngster found himself slapped with the penalty by litter enforcement officers after he threw a bad-tasting chip to a bird in Ipswich's Chantry estate. He said: “I'd got a bag of chips and bit in to one and it was really hard. “When I looked at the other half it was really green so I just threw it to a seagull nearby.” Council officers handed him a notice ordering him to pay a £50 fine - just weeks after they had given him a certificate commending him for regularly putting rubbish in the bin. His mum Mandy said: “It's ridiculous! Are they going to go to Christchurch Park and fine everybody who feeds the ducks?”   (RELATED: See our Police State archive)

New Years Day: Monday 01st January 2007: -

• U.S. suffers 3,000th casualty with New Year - U.S. troops began the New Year with news their 3,000th comrade had died since a 2003 invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein in weeks but pitched them into a war that has riven Iraq and raised increasing alarm at home. With Saddam's hanging on Saturday polarising the country, there is no sign that the sectarian bloodletting will slow. The death toll milestone was reported on Sunday by the Web site, www.icasualties.org. It listed the death of Specialist Dustin Donica on Dec. 28 together with a soldier killed by a roadside bomb in Baghdad on Saturday, bringing the total to 3,000.

• Wisconsin Mails Tax Forms With Exposed Social Security Numbers - The hope that 2006 might end without yet another breach of personal information was dashed when 170,000 Wisconsin taxpayers were notified that their tax forms were being mailed out with Social Security numbers visibly printed on the front. Wisconsin's Department of Revenue stated that taxpayers who had filed returns in 2005 using the paper Form 1 were affected. Those who filed their forms with professional tax preparers, filed different forms, or e-filed were not in danger, the department said.

• 3 more bombs explode after midnight - Nine bombs exploded across Bangkok on New Year's Eve and early Monday, killing two people, wounding 34 - at least six of them foreigners - and driving home thousands of revelers. No one claimed responsibility. The bombings capped a year of unrest in Thailand, including a military coup three months ago and an increasingly violent Muslim insurgency in the south. National deputy police chief Gen. Ajirawit Suphanaphesat said Muslim separatist insurgents were probably not behind the attacks.

• UK 9/11 TRUTH MOVEMENT PETITION FOR THE PM - There's a petition calling for 9/11 Truth on the Prime Minister's website. Please consider signing and linking on your website. These e-petitions have been receiving publicity in the British press of late - and a little free publicity can't hurt! Signers need to be resident in the UK.   (RELATED: See our 9/11 archive and our affiliated site 911truthskipton.com)

  

• Critics lash 'aggressive' expansion by giants Tesco - OPPONENTS of the relentless march of Tesco yesterday hit out at a massive "land-grab" by the supermarket giant, saying it was further evidence its growth has spiralled out of control. Research has found that the group opened half of all the new retail selling-space in Britain in 2006. The news came as Tesco turned the screw on the opposition further, with the announcement that it is cutting prices on 600 items by a total of £80 million.   (RELATED EXTERNAL WEBSITE: boycotttesco.com)

• 30 million more join the European party - At midnight last night Romania and Bulgaria became the newest nations of the European Union, bringing with them some 30 million people from one of the poorest corners of the continent. Hundreds of thousands of people were expected to flock to street parties and concerts for the double celebration of New Year and EU entry, which they hope will be lead to greater prosperity and a final break with communism.

• Clooney suffered paranoia over Iraq opposition - George Clooney felt paranoid he was the target of a hate campaign when he spoke out against the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. Staunch Democrat Clooney was dismayed when supporters of US President George W Bush picketed cinemas showing his films and branded him a traitor.

• Guards taunted Saddam in final seconds - Saddam Hussein went to his death in a scornful exchange with the masked hangmen who taunted him with sectarian jibes even as the noose was tightened around his neck. Grainy and jerky video circulating on the internet, apparently filmed on a mobile phone, contrasted with the officially-sanctioned pictures broadcast by Iraqi television on Saturday which bestowed a silent dignity on the Iraqi dictator's last moments. But in the 2 minute, 37 second version broadcast by Al Jazeera television yesterday, he can be seen and heard exchanging insults with his Shia executioners and other witnesses.

• WHAT DO YOU MEAN FOREGONE CONCLUSION?: Princess Diana inquest to resume - The inquest into the deaths of Diana, Princess of Wales, and Dodi Al Fayed is set to resume in 2007 - nearly 10 years after their Paris car crash. A preliminary hearing into the deaths of the pair on 31 August 1997 will begin at the Royal Courts of Justice in London on 8 January. Coroner Lady Butler-Sloss' first task will be to decide if a jury is needed. The hearing follows the Met Police inquiry into the crash which found the crash was "a tragic accident".   (RELATED: See our popular Diana Assassination archive)

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