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