Tuesday 13th January 2009: -

• Kissinger Again Shills Obama and the New World Order - It’s too bad war criminal and Rockefeller minion Henry Kissinger is not a few decades younger. If he was, he might be turning somersaults and slapping high fives over the current state of the global economy. Instead, Kissinger has penned an ebullient — for Kissinger — editorial lauding the coming depression for the International Herald Tribune. According to Kissinger, the rapidly unfolding economic depression and accompanying misery for billions of people “generates a unique opportunity for creative diplomacy” to usher in “a world financial order” and force sovereign nations “to face the reality that its dilemmas can be mastered only by common action,” that is to say through world government and a New World Order, a phrase Kissinger repeats several times in the article.

(COMMENTARY: But no no, there is no New World Order, anyone who says otherwise is a 'conspiracy theorist'... nothing to see here... move along sheeple, go and watch 24 or Celebrity Big Brother!)

• An Englishman’s home is no longer his castle - Before Christmas, a family friend had a visit from the bailiffs. For various complicated personal reasons, the local authority thought she had not paid a council tax bill. She had, only they had not registered it properly under the correct name. When the bailiff arrived at her home, she was out and her son answered the door. He walked in without a by-your-leave and proceeded to make an inventory of her possessions before departing. As can be imagined, she was horrified by this violation of her family’s privacy. The local council, on checking its records, acknowledged its mistake and apologised. And that was that. Since a complete stranger had entered her home for no good reason, does that not constitute an affront, even if the door was opened by someone in the house? After all, an Englishman’s home is his castle, isn’t it? Apparently not. The powers of bailiffs to enter homes and seize property are wider today than they have ever been and are about to be strengthened further.

• US veterans sue CIA for alleged drug and mind control experiments: Plaintiffs seek to force the government to contact all the subjects of the testing - It was 1968, and Frank Rochelle was 20 years old and fresh out of Army boot camp when he saw notices posted around his base in Virginia asking for volunteers to test uniforms and equipment. That might be a good break after the harsh weeks of boot camp, he thought, and signed up. Instead of equipment testing, though, the Onslow county, North Carolina, native found himself in a bizarre, CIA-funded drug testing and mind-control programme, according to a lawsuit that he and five other veterans and Vietnam Veterans of America filed last week. The suit was filed in federal court in San Francisco against the US department of defence and the CIA.

• Iran tries 4 over alleged US-backed coup plot - Four Iranians have been tried on charges of seeking to topple Iran's Islamic government with the alleged support of the U.S. State Department and the CIA, a judicial official said Tuesday. Ali Reza Jamshidi, a judiciary spokesman, said the four were detained and tried in Tehran. Jamshidi claimed they planned to recruit others to be trained in anti-Iranian activities abroad. "They were directed by the U.S. State Department and the CIA," he told reporters, without elaborating or identifying the four. It was unclear when the trial started or how long it lasted, but Jamshidi said a verdict and sentencing was expected within days. The comment comes a day after Iran's Foreign Ministry said the country is watching to see if remarks about engagement by U.S. president-elect Barack Obama will lead to a change in U.S. policy toward Tehran. Earlier this week, Obama told ABC News that he wanted to improve relations with Iran, describing a "new approach" involving engagement.

plus...

...you could so easily photoshop this image... not that it isn't vile enough after 8 years of it!

• Prince Charles calls Asian polo friend Kuldip Dhillon 'Sooty' - Prince Charles and his sons call an Asian polo-playing friend by the nickname "Sooty", it emerged today. The use of the politically-incorrect name to address wealthy property developer Kuldip Dhillon was disclosed the day after Prince Harry apologised for referring to a fellow Sandhurst cadet as his “Paki friend”.

(COMMENTARY: As we said the other day, this isn't even news.  We already know that the Royal family is littered with racist, bigoted eugenicists  The only reason we pull this out is to emphasise this point).

• No need for condoms – GE corn can do the job - New research from Austria shows that a commercial strain of Monsanto-made GE corn causes mice to have fewer and weaker babies. What is this doing to human fertility? Regulators around the world said Monsanto’s GE corn was as safe as non-GE strains. It has been approved in many countries and regions including the US, the EU, Argentina, Japan, Philippines and South Africa. China approved the GE corn for animal feed back in 2005.

• Boy Kills Mum Over Video Game Ban - A teenager obsessed with a video game has been convicted of murdering his mother and injuring his father after they took the game away from him. Daniel Petric, 17, decided to kill his parents because he was angry his father would not allow him to play Halo 3. On the night of the murder, the Ohio teen used his father’s key to open a box and remove the game as well as a 9mm handgun.

Monday 12th January 2009: -

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

• Waterboarding of 9/11 Mastermind Saved American Lives, Bush Says – Critics call it torture, but on Sunday, President George W. Bush said he “firmly” rejects the term. He said the interrogation techniques used on some al Qaeda detainees during his presidency were lawful and “necessary” to get information that ended up saving American lives. “One such person who gave us information was Khalid Sheikh Mohammed” -- the mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks, Bush told “Fox News Sunday.” Vice President Dick Cheney recently admitted that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was one of three individuals subjected to waterboarding.

• China TV faces propaganda charge - Chinese intellectuals have signed an open letter calling for a boycott of state television news programmes. The letter says China's Central Television (CCTV) has turned its news and historical drama series into propaganda to brainwash its audience. The author of the damning letter told the BBC that the action should at least serve as a health warning to the susceptible public. The authorities have been alarmed by the latest development. They tend to accuse the Western media of biased coverage of China.

(COMMENTARY: It's hard to take this article seriously when it is the BBC reporting on 'bias' of a TV news network... see bbcbias.co.uk)

• Hacker 'confesses' to stay in UK - Computer hacker Gary McKinnon has signed a confession which reflects his "culpability" to avoid extradition to the US, his lawyer has said. Mr McKinnon who was born in Glasgow but lives in London, faces up to 70 years in prison if found guilty in the US of breaking into military computers. The 42-year-old has signed a statement offering to plead guilty to a different charge under UK law. The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said it was considering the statement.

Sunday 11th January 2009: -

• USA: District 159 cafeterias going cashless - Matteson Elementary School District 159 school cafeterias will go cashless. The district will require all parents whose children use the cafeterias to sign up and drop money into lunch accounts online through MealTime, a business based out of Portland, Ore. Cafeteria workers can then subtract purchases remotely from the lunch accounts by swiping student identification cards through the Internet-enabled cash registers. Officials said the district will pay for identification cards and MealTime accounts for students who qualify for free lunches.

• UK: CCTV cameras used to provide 'evidence' against diners who complained - It is a jewel in the National Trust's crown, a restaurant that offers fine dining and some of the best Rothschild wines amid the splendour of a 19th century stately home. But when the Fletcher family went for a pre-Christmas treat at the Manor Restaurant in Waddesdon Manor, near Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, they were disappointed with their meal. Marilyn Fletcher, 57, sent a letter complaining of slow service and poor food, in a lunch which cost £127 for four. But she was left astonished by the restaurant's response. Simon Offen, the catering manager, emailed her to say he disputed her version of events after he had "watched and listened with interest to the video recording of her table". Mrs Fletcher was horrified that the meal had been recorded on CCTV cameras, and said her family found it "extremely disturbing" and felt "outrage at the invasion of our privacy".

• Caught on a classroom spy camera - the primary school pupil who hid this girl's shoes - Primary schools are using surveillance cameras to track down and punish children behind classroom pranks. The revelation is sure to add to the controversy surrounding the installation of the Big Brother-style CCTV and microphones in classrooms. One school - Lynch Hill Primary in Slough, Berkshire - has even disclosed how it used the sophisticated equipment to identify an eight-year-old girl who hid her friend's shoes during a lesson. The school has the cameras in 12 classrooms, three corridors, the school reception area, the music room and the canteen. School bursar Lyn Hazell said: 'Someone hid a child's shoes and we found it on the tape so we knew where they were and who had hidden them. 'No one was owning up so we rewound the tape. If the teachers say, "I will rewind the tape," it makes them own up. 'The cameras are there as a deterrent. The parents are notified that the cameras are used. There are signs all around the school. 'It's not possible to opt-out and we have not had anyone saying they do not want to have them used.' The girl who took the shoes was sent a warning 'yellow letter' from the school. Children who get three of these letters are suspended.

• UK MP stopped and search under anti-terror laws for taking pictures - An MP has been stopped and searched by police officers under anti-terror laws after he was seen taking photographs near a railway station. Andrew Pelling, MP for Croydon Central, aroused suspicion when he was taking pictures of a cycle path in his constituency because he was collecting evidence about the problems caused to cyclists by maintenance works. When the two officers confronted him, he presented them with his Commons pass as proof of identity. But the police continued to question him and they searched his bag before issuing him with a stop-and-search notice and letting him go. No further action was taken. The MP said later it was "pleasing to see just how vigilant" the police had been. A police spokeswoman confirmed that a search had been carried out under section 44 of the Terrorism Act.

• New e-mail law 'is an attack on civil liberties' - Upcoming rules that force internet companies to hold details of every e-mail sent in Britain are a waste of money and an attack on privacy, according to a prominent security expert. From March, all internet service providers (ISPs) will have to keep data about e-mails sent and received in the UK for a year. The content of individual e-mails will not be kept by the authorities, but the timing and number of each communication will be stored. At the moment, a similar database of telephone records - fixed and mobile - is held by telephone companies. The implementation of an EU directive, agreed after the alleged plot in August 2006 to set off bombs aboard transatlantic airlines, will extend the information available to the Government to include e-mail and internet traffic. The Government will reportedly have to pay the ISPs more than £25 million to ensure the law is obeyed.

• Probe as patients' data 'dumped' - Letterkenny General Hospital has apologised to 16 patients whose personal details were found dumped, and has launched a full investigation. The sheets of paper contained the names, dates of birth and hospital numbers of the people concerned as well as a medic's hand-written note. Hospital officials confirmed they recovered the documents and were trying to telephone all patients to apologise for the error.

• Data on more than 6,000 prisoners lost - Data on more than 6,000 prisoners, including some medical records, has gone missing after a health worker lost a computer memory stick. The information was encrypted but a password to get around the security was also attached to the device. It is the latest in a long series of data losses to hit the Government and prison and health staff are now having to trawl records to track those affected down and inform them. The device was lost last month by a member of staff Central Lancashire Primary Care Trust and contained details on 6,360 prisoners from HMP Preston and was lost on December 30.

• UK: Compensation clause in ID card contracts angers Tories - Taxpayers face paying tens of millions of pounds in compensation to private companies involved in the national identity card scheme if their contracts are torn up by an incoming Conservative government. The disclosure of the repayment clause in the contracts, which the Government is negotiating, provoked fury among Tories, who are committed to scrapping the cards. The secrecy surrounding the agreements has raised the threat of an investigation by the information watchdog. The Home Office is offering contracts worth more than £1bn to run the world's largest identity scheme. Just one small deal has so far been signed, but most are expected to be awarded this year in preparation for a planned roll-out of the cards in 2011.

• Prince's racist term sparks anger - Prince Harry's racist remark about a Pakistani member of his army platoon has prompted widespread criticism. The prince issued an apology after the News of the World published a video diary in which he calls one of his then Sandhurst colleagues a "Paki". An Army spokesperson said it took the allegations "very seriously" and were investigating. Cabinet minister John Denham said it was "offensive" and the Ramadhan Foundation called the prince a "thug". St James's Palace said he had used the term about a friend and without malice.

(COMMENTARY: Shock horror!!... not really.  Harry is a scumbag just like both his (alleged) Father and Grandfather before him.  Not really news worthy as these guys are guilty of crimes far worse.)

• REMAINS OF 9/11 KILLERS FOUND - FORENSIC investigators have recovered the charred remains of most of the 9/11 hijackers - to honour a pledge that they would never be buried with the victims. The £30million CSI-style probe has taken seven years. Flesh or bone from 13 of the 19 Al Qaeda terrorists who flew passenger jets into the Twin Towers in New York and the Pentagon in Washington have now been identified. In the most intense crime scene investigation in history, scientists sifted through a mountain of concrete dust, buckled iron and shattered glass to find what was left of the terrorists. The final tally was 24lb of burnt flesh and shattered bone. A combination of dedicated FBI detective work and the brilliant skills of forensic scientists eventually put names to the fragments by matching them with DNA traces discovered at the terrorists’ hideouts. The high temperatures generated as the jet fuel exploded meant many of the 2,974 victims and some of their killers were all but atomised in the attacks.

Tuesday 06th January 2009: -

• Trainspotters being stopped under UK anti-terror powers - Trainspotters are being stopped by police using draconian anti-terrorism powers, it has emerged. The Prevention of Terrorism Act 2000 has been used to stop 62,584 people at railway stations and another 87,000 were questioned under "stop and search" and "stop and account" legislation. Liberal Democrat transport spokesman Norman Baker, who uncovered the figures, warned that Britain was heading towards a "police state".

• CNN’s Dobbs on Global Warming Hysteria: ‘It’s Almost a Religion without Any Question’ - From illegal immigration and trade to voter fraud, CNN’s Lou Dobbs is never shy about expressing his opinions. That rule held true when Dobbs brought up global warming on Jan. 5. The outspoken host of “Lou Dobbs Tonight” observed that global warming activists treat their belief in global warming like a religion following a segment about the issue by CNN correspondent Ines Ferre. “The one issue here, and as we have examined and reported on the issue of global warming, uh, it is so clear that on both sides, but particularly the pro-global warming, if there’s such a thing, uh, if I can put it that way, uh, there, they bring this thing to a personal belief system,” Dobbs said. “It’s almost a religion without any question.”

• Global Warming? At -10C Britain’s colder than the Antarctic.. and experts say it will get even COLDER - The big chill today tightened its grip on London and the South-East with temperatures hitting as low as -10C making it colder than parts of Greenland and the Antarctic. The Met Office issued a severe weather warning for the capital as emergency cold weather payments for 600,000 people were triggered for the first time in a decade and only the second time ever.

• USA: Ex-ACORN worker indicted in voter fraud case - A voter registration worker with the group ACORN has been indicted on two felony counts of voter registration fraud. Deidra Humphrey, 44, of East St. Louis, is expected to appear in U.S. District Court in St. Louis this week after a grand jury indicted her on the charges Dec. 31, according to the U.S. attorney's office. Humphrey is accused of submitting forged and false voter registration cards for the Nov. 8 general election — including forging cards for nursing home residents — U.S. Attorney Catherine Hanaway said Monday.

• Remember that Britain’s SAS trained the Khmer Rouge - At a time when the USA is supporting Israel’s actions in Palestine, we should remember that the USA and UK supported Pol Pot and his murderous Khmer Rouge. The Kmer Rouge killed off around one quarter of Cambodia’s population. Vietnam was pro-Russia. Pol Pot was not pro-Russia. So the USA and UK supported Pol Pot.

• Group: Israel deliberately attacked Palestinian journalists - Israel deliberately targeted Hamas-run media installations in its bombing campaign on Gaza and is practising media censorship, a journalist rights group said Monday. The installations in question include Al-Aqsa television, Al-Resalah newspaper and Sawt Al-Aqsa radio, which the Israeli army bombed on December 28 and over the weekend respectively, the Geneva-based Press Emblem Campaign said in a statement, citing a Palestinian media non-governmental group. The press group, which fights for better protection of journalists in conflict zones, also condemned the recent deaths of two journalists as a result of Israeli attacks.

• Norwegian doctor: Israel intentionally targeting civilians: ‘They are bombing one and a half million people in a cage’ - Mads Gilbert, a Norwegian doctor working in Gaza, told Sky News on Monday that that he believes Israel is deliberately attacking the Palestinian population, not just targeting Hamas as Israeli authorities have said numerous times. “Just a little bit more than an hour ago, the Israelis bombed the central food market in Gaza City and we had a mass influx of about 50 injured and between 10 and 15 killed,” said Gilbert, on the phone with Sky News.

• Ron Paul: ‘Palestinians are in a concentration camp’ - Forget Cynthia McKinney on her skiff. This video on Israel’s invasion of the Gaza Strip by Ron Paul, the former Republican presidential candidate, is likely to stir up a deal of dust: The six-minute clip was first posted on Campaign for Liberty, a Libertarian web site. Here’s the most incendiary quote: “There is no benefit for us to be involved in this fight over there. This thing is an entire mess. “The Palestinians are in like a concentration camp. They have a few small missiles, but it’s so minor compared to the firepower of Israel, who has nuclear weapons. And they can turn off all the food and all the water….And yet we are going to have to accept some of the moral responsibility for this.”

• Bayer Knowingly Sold HIV-Contaminated Vaccines, Say Internal Documents - Here's a little-known truth about Bayer that needs to be revisited. In 2006, it was discovered that Bayer found out a vaccine it was selling in the United States was accidentally contaminated with HIV. In order to cover its tracks, say the journalists in this video (below), Bayer pulled the vaccines off the market and sold them to consumers in Japan, France, Spain and other countries, where hemophiliacs were then contaminated with HIV due to the vaccine. Watch the video yourself http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wg-52mHIjhs

• ADHD drug abuse up by undergrads - Although only about 5 percent of U.S. college undergraduates reported in a survey that they illegally use attention deficit medication, a new report says the practice is at its highest level in 15 years. Researchers from the University of Michigan, Duke University and University of North Carolina at Greensboro found that most of students said they used attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder medication to enhance their studying, rather than for other reasons, such as mood alteration. Most said friends gave them the medication, which requires a prescription and includes brand names such as Ritalin, Adderall and Concerta.

Monday 05th January 2009: -

• Israel Using Depleted Uranium Against Gaza Victims: More evidence of war crimes being committed - Medics have found traces of depleted uranium in victims of Israel’s brutal attack on Gaza, according to a Press TV report, meaning the ultimate death toll could be far higher as future generations are plagued by cancers and birth defects. “Norwegian medics told Press TV correspondent Akram al-Sattari that some of the victims who have been wounded since Israel began its attacks on the Gaza Strip on December 27 have traces of depleted uranium in their bodies,” states the article. Following the conclusion of the first Gulf War in 1991, in which depleted uranium was used by U.S. forces, cancers and birth defects in Iraq soared and many veterans organizations agree that the weapon was responsible for the emergence of Gulf War Syndrome that has plagued hundreds of thousands of Gulf War veterans.

• Top 5 Lies About Israel’s Assault on Gaza - Lie #1) Israel is only targeting legitimate military sites and is seeking to protect innocent lives. Israel never targets civilians. The Gaza Strip is one of the most densely populated pieces of property in the world. The presence of militants within a civilian population does not, under international law, deprive that population of their protected status, and hence any assault upon that population under the guise of targeting militants is, in fact, a war crime. Moreover, the people Israel claims are legitimate targets are members of Hamas, which Israel says is a terrorist organization. Hamas has been responsible for firing rockets into Israel. These rockets are extremely inaccurate and thus, even if Hamas intended to hit military targets within Israel, are indiscriminate by nature. When rockets from Gaza kill Israeli civilians, it is a war crime.

• SNOOPERS TO SPY ON BRITISH PUBLIC IN BID TO NAB LITTERBUGS - COUNCIL snoopers have been given the go-ahead to film people in the street in an attempt to catch litterbugs. Those caught on film face on-the-spot fines of £80, rising to £2,500 if they refuse to pay and are found guilty in court. The move is the latest development in Britain’s rapidly growing surveillance society. There are four million CCTV cameras in Britain, one for every 14 people – more than anywhere else in the world.

• Britain's EU bill rises by £4bn due to collapse of pound - The bill to British taxpayers for EU membership will rise by nearly £4billion because of the collapse of the pound. The Government's contribution to Brussels is set to balloon because it is paid in euros which have achieved close to parity with sterling. Opposition MPs condemned the 'utterly perverse' penalty that the UK will suffer because of its wobbling currency. They blamed Labour for agreeing in 2005 to surrender billions of pounds of rebate payments that had been won by Margaret Thatcher. It was first negotiated by the then PM in 1984. According to figures contained in the smallprint of Alistair Darling's Pre-Budget Report last November, Britain will give the EU £4billion in 2009-2010 once the rebate and other grants the UK receives have been deducted from our contribution. In 2010-11, this will increase to £6.5billion. But the Chancellor calculated the figures when £1 was worth 1.4 euros. Now £1 will only buy around £1.04 euros. At the current exchange rate, Britain's contribution would effectively rise to £5.5billion in 2009-10 and about £8.6billion the following year. This would leave a black hole in the Treasury's coffers of about £3.6billion.

• Orange drinks with 300 times more pesticide than tap water - Fizzy drinks sold by Coca-Cola in Britain have been found to contain pesticides at up to 300 times the level allowed in tap or bottled water. A worldwide study found pesticide levels in orange and lemon drinks sold under the Fanta brand, which is popular with children, were at their highest in the UK. The research team called on the Government, the industry and the company to act to remove the chemicals and called for new safety standards to regulate the soft drinks market. The industry denies children are at risk and insists that the levels found by researchers based at the University of Jaen in southern Spain are not harmful.

• Sex clinics 'to open' in EVERY school so pupils as young as 11 can be tested... without parental consent - Sexual health clinics could soon be open in every secondary school and college. All pupils would have easy access to emergency contraception and pregnancy testing without their parents being told. Around a third of secondary schools in England - almost 1,000 - already have clinics. Some are mobile units shared by a number of schools. Now an influential study, commissioned by the Government, has recommended extending the coverage to all state secondaries and colleges in a drive to cut teenage pregnancies.

• THOUSANDS 'ROBBED OF HOMES' BY UK ROAD CHIEFS - THOUSANDS of people have been forced out of their homes by the Highways Agency for no good reason, it was claimed last night. To make way for new roads, 1,776 properties have been purchased by the Highways Agency since 1995. But only six per cent of them were demolished – while 63 per cent of the purchases were sold on by the agency. Many families kicked out of their homes are paying the price for schemes dreamt up by the Highways Agency that never see the light of day, said Liberal Democrat transport spokesman Norman Baker. The agency has the power to use compulsory purchase orders to buy homes that stand in the way of building new roads. But the Liberal Democrats say agency figures “clearly” show that many families are put through the agony of leaving their houses – only for those homes to be sold on and not used.

• Report says ex-ministers 'are cashing in on insider knowledge' - Former ministers are being allowed to cash in on their inside Government knowledge for profit, a damning report revealed yesterday. The Public Administration Committee said loose rules let the ex-leaders get jobs with big companies or act as Parliamentary lobbyists. It revealed the guidelines are so vague most activity continues unchecked.

• UK Council bans mourners from laying artificial flowers on graves - because of the health and safety risk - The use of artificial flowers has been banned from a crematorium on grounds of health and safety. A council has prohibited the laying of artificial wreaths or flowers and also barred pottery, glass items and wire mesh fences. The rules have outraged mourners who claim people should be allowed to grieve in their own way and point out many cannot afford to place fresh flowers on a plot every week. Relatives of deceased loved ones are furious at North East Lincolnshire Council which last November threatened to remove keepsakes from children's graves.

• DAVID ICKE MEGA EVENTS IN LA AND AUSTRALIA

  David Icke will be presenting his seven-hour talk in Los Angeles on February 16th (and a two-hour one about 'Awakening From The Program' on February 14th) at the Los Angeles Airport Hilton as part of the Conscious Life Expo ... and at the Melbourne Exhbition Centre, Australia, on April 11th.

  These are the ticket details ...

  CLICK HERE FOR TICKETS TO HIS SEVEN-HOUR MEGA-TALK IN LA ...

  CLICK HERE FOR HIS TWO-HOUR PRESENTATION ON 'AWAKENING FROM THE PROGRAM' ...

  Full-day talk at the Melbourne Exhibition Centre, Australia, on April 11th: -

  TICKETS NOW AVAILABLE AND GOING FAST ... CLICK HERE

Thursday 01st January 2009: -

• Britain may outsource huge surveillance database - I guess Britain’s Home Office didn’t get the memo about abusive surveillance programs being scaled back in the waning days of the war on terror. Britain is moving forward with a £12 billion plan for a massive database to track every phone call, email and chat conversation in the country. And not only that – the database project would likely be outsourced to private firms, The Telegraph reports. Sir Ken MacDonald, the former Director of Public Prosecutions, calls the database a “hellhouse” of personal private information. And despite the government’s assurances that the content of emails would not be stored and that the data would be strongly protected (”We have been very clear that there are no plans for a database containing any content of emails, texts of conversations,” a Home Office spokesman said), the fact remains that the British government is leaky as a colander when it comes to personal information. Last year they lost 25 million child benefit records by the HM Revenue and Customs.

• Government considers Wales as ID card guinea pigs - CALLS to put Welsh on new ID cards are at last to be considered by the Government. The U-turn follows pressure from language campaigners who say it would be an insult if English-only cards were issued in Wales. The Welsh Language Board yesterday welcomed an announcement that UK Border Agency officials will at least review the idea of producing bilingual cards available for Wales. It is a reversal on policy from earlier this year, when the Home Office said it had “no intention to include Welsh on identity cards”, arguing the language “was not an official language of the EU.” But the WLB has always argued including Welsh on cards issued in Wales was essential – the same as for driving licences and passports.

• US Court: Religious objection won't stop DNA sampling - A federal appeals court on Tuesday refused to stop the government from taking DNA from a prisoner who claims the process would violate his religious beliefs. Russell Kaemmerling, who is in the Federal Correctional Institution in Seagoville, Texas on a felony wire fraud conviction, sued in 2006 to stop the Federal Bureau of Prisons from taking a DNA sample from him. Federal law requires felons give a DNA sample to the Federal Bureau of Prisons to be kept in a national law enforcement database. Officers then use the Combined DNA Index System, or CODIS, to try and solve crimes by matching evidence from crime scenes to known offenders.

• Man sues after “POLICE” t-shirt arrest - A Belleville Police officer arrested a St. Charles man for wearing a t-shirt emblazoned with the word “POLICE.” Now, Adam C. Weinstein, of St. Charles, has sued the department for what he calls a violation of his constitutional rights. According to police documents, Weinstein was arrested in 2006 outside a bar in Belleville for “impersonating officers.” He was wearing a black t-shirt with the word police striped across the front and back under a sweater. The t-shirt became exposed when he removed the sweater because he was hot. “Those t-shirts are a sign of solidarity,” said Howard A. Shalowitz, an attorney representing Weinstein. “How many people wear NYPD caps? Are they impersonating police?”

• Euro debate a "red herring", British minister says - Debate over whether Britain should join the euro is a "red herring", a British minister said on Thursday, as a poll showed a large majority of Britons opposed signing up to the single European currency. A leading member of the opposition Conservative Party, which leads the ruling Labour Party in opinion polls, said meanwhile that a Conservative government would "never" join the euro. Asked how they would vote in a referendum, 71 percent of Britons questioned in an ICM poll said they would vote to keep the pound, while 23 percent would vote to join the euro.

• Students 'should be given smart drugs to get better exam results' - So-called 'smart drugs' should be given to students to help them get better exam results, a leading academic has claimed. Ministers and doctors should consider making the drugs available without prescription and for non-medical use, said John Harris, director of the Institute for Science, Ethics and Innovation at the University of Manchester. The drugs, which include Ritalin, more commonly prescribed for attention deficit problems, could help students achieve better grades he said. The drugs can improve concentration and exam scores and although they carry a risk of side effects, these are proportional to the benefits they offer, he added.

• The Worst Climate Predictions of 2008: And yet to play out, let’s also not forget Al Gore’s 2008 prediction: “Entire north polar ice cap will be gone in 5 years” -Anthony - “2008 will be the hottest year in a century:” The Old Farmers’ Almanac, September 11, 2008, Hurricanes, Arctic Ice, Coral, Drinking water, Aspen skiing. We’re now well into the earth’s third straight harsher winter-but in late 2007 it was still hard to forget 22 straight years of global warming from 1976-1998. So the Old Farmer’s Almanac predicted 2008 would be the hottest year in the last 100.

• FDNY Lieutenant Admitted Plan To ‘Take Down’ WTC 7: Reinforcing conviction that Silverstein was referring to demolition with infamous comments on PBS documentary - Newly uncovered video from 9/11 featuring an interview with FDNY lieutenant David Rastuccio on MSNBC confirms that there was a plan to deliberately demolish WTC Building 7, as was originally indicated in Larry Silverstein’s infamous statement on the PBS documentary, America Rebuilds. In the clip, Rastuccio responds to the host’s statement that “You guys knew this was coming all day,” by stating, “We had first reports that the building was unstable and that it was best for it to come down on its own or it would be taken down, I would imagine that it came down on its own.” Though Rastuccio expresses his opinion that the building had collapsed without the aid of explosives, he admits that a plan had been in place to deliberately demolish the structure.

***CLICK HERE TO SEE HEADLINES FROM DECEMBER 2009***