Friday 30th June 2006: -

• Police offer child ID program - When a child is lost or missing, getting that child’s photo and personal information out to the public is crucial. That is why the La Crosse Police Department and Ronald McDonald Charities have teamed up to host several child identification events this summer and fall. Officer Drew Gavrilos, who is with the La Crosse Police Department’s Community Services Bureau, said police officers will be on hand two times during Riverfest and at other events to photograph and fingerprint children.   (RELATED: See our 'Total Global Surveillance' archive)

• Ottawa takes `big step' to biometric ID: Proposed changes to affect passports Privacy czar vows to watch for abuse - The federal government has moved a major step closer to making all Canadian passports contain biometric technology, similar to the identifying information to be contained in the new U.S. passcard system. The move comes just a week before Prime Minister Stephen Harper is to meet U.S. President George W. Bush in Washington — a meeting that will almost certainly include a progress report on where the two countries stand regarding a looming passport crackdown in the U.S.

• STEALING MEXICO: Bush Team Helps Ruling Party "Floridize" Mexican Presidential Election, by GREG PALAST - All the target nations for "foreign counterterrorism investigation" listed in the FBI's "guidance" memo were Latin and had one thing in common, besides a lack of terrorists: each had a left-leaning presidential candidate or a left-leaning president in office.Friday, June 30, 2006—GEORGE Bush's operatives have plans to jigger with the upcoming elections. I'm not talking about the November '06 vote in the USA (though they have plans for that, too). I'm talking about the election this Sunday in Mexico for their Presidency. It begins with an FBI document marked, "Counterterrorism" and "Foreign Intelligence Collection" and "Secret." Date: "9/17/2001," six days after the attack on the World Trade towers. It's nice to know the feds got right on the ball, if a little late. What does this have to do with jiggering Mexico's election? Hold that thought.

• Companies 'to control NHS funds' - Suspicions of full-scale NHS privatisation have been fuelled by a government advert apparently inviting firms to take control of NHS budgets. Local health managers working for bodies called primary care trusts currently buy in services, although in some areas it has been devolved to GPs.

• All-Seeing Blimp on the Rise - The problem with the American military today is that it doesn't have a giant, robotic airship, two-and-a-half times the size of the Goodyear blimp, that can watch over an entire city at once. Thankfully, the Pentagon's way-out research arm, Darpa, is trying to fix that.

• Baytown Woman Arrested for Overdue Library Book - If you live in Baytown and have an overdue library book, beware-- you could go to jail. That`s what happened to Joanne Ibarra. The Baytown mom says she was stopped by local police on Tuesday for a traffic violation, but after issuing her three citations, the officer put her in cuffs and placed her under arrest. The charge? An overdue library book and an unpaid 118-dollars fine. Baytown officials say Ibarra was given several notices about the problem, but she never responded, so they issued the warrant for her arrest based on a city ordinance. Ibarra says she never got the notices because she moved, but she accepted responsibility and paid her fine and her court costs as well.

• Father of Autistic Daughter Speaks Out Against Mercury in Vaccines - This is in response to the Hawaii Medical Association (HMA) and the Hawaii Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics (HAAP) supporting Gov. Linda Lingle for placing SB2133, SD2, HD2, CD1 Relating to Health on her potential veto list. I am a father of an autistic daughter. My wife and I trusted the government with the health of our child and followed the vaccination procedures. We did not know at the time that the procedures were promoted and heavily influenced by the manufactures of the drugs. It is our fault for not doing our due diligence in regards to the preservative Thimerosal or any other "side affects" of the shot process. A day after my daughter Kira had her 1-year shot of the MMR, she became a completely different child. She lost the words that she had learned to that point, and has never really spoken again. I have heard countless stories of the same scenario that we have gone through from other parents so there has to be a correlation, and there are very good people working on this issue. If there is even a doubt about this preservative, would it not be worth 1 child to not take the chance.

Thursday 29th June 2006: -

• Key anti-terror law is a breach of human rights, judge rules - THE Government’s anti-terrorism laws were in disarray last night after the High Court ruled that they were illegal and breached the human rights of suspects. The decision destroyed a key part of the Government’s armoury in the fight against terrorism. Mr Justice Sullivan said in the High Court that the Home Secretary had no power to issue control orders, which place restrictions just short of house arrest on terrorist suspects. The ruling is the latest clash between the Government and the judiciary over human rights, and will reignite the debate over whether the Human Rights Act should be reformed.

• NHS mobile devices 'not secure' - The NHS is failing to use adequate security on portable data storage devices, according to a survey. Of the 117 healthcare workers quizzed, almost two thirds use no or inadequate security on their mobile devices. Medical professionals also admitted to using the devices to store patient information.

• Big Brother watching you surf? - One of Canada's largest Internet service providers is warning its customers that Big Brother is lurking on-line, with the federal government expected to revive an Internet surveillance bill. If the legislation is reintroduced, it could allow police unfettered access to personal information without a warrant, experts warn. Bell Sympatico has informed its customers that it intends to "monitor or investigate content or your use of your service provider's networks and to disclose any information necessary to satisfy any laws, regulations or other governmental request."

• MUST READ!: Blair laid bare: the article that may get you arrested - In the guise of fighting terrorism and maintaining public order, Tony Blair's Government has quietly and systematically taken power from Parliament and the British people. The author charts a nine-year assault on civil liberties that reveals the danger of trading freedom for security - and must have Churchill spinning in his grave.

• Fahrenheit 9/11 marine killed in Iraq - A US marine who appeared in Michael Moore's documentary Fahrenheit 9/11 has died of wounds sustained in a roadside bombing in Iraq. Raymond Plouhar, 30, was "conducting combat operations" in the country's restive western Anbar province when the device exploded, the US defence department said. Although Plouhar willingly appeared in a segment of the 2004 film as a recruiter for the US marines, his father, Raymond, said on Tuesday that his son didn't realise that it was for a film that would be against the war.

Wednesday 28th June 2006: -

• Blink 182 Star Latest Celebrity To Question 9/11: Attack was "not perpetrated by a bunch of people who just learned to fly planes" says pop icon on San Diego FM station - Blink 182 star Tom DeLonge has followed in the footsteps of Charlie Sheen by becoming the latest celebrity to publicly doubt the official version of events behind 9/11 and voice his belief that the attacks were an inside job.

• Blair ready to quit in the spring - Tony Blair is ready to announce that he will step down next year, probably around his 10th anniversary in Downing Street in May. Senior Blairite MPs said that high-level discussions were going on to prepare for a transition to an expected Gordon Brown premiership.

• Gang expert backs Tancredo charges: Retired cop says Mexican drug cartels rig elections to take over U.S. cities - Rep. Tom Tancredo's charge that Mexican drug cartels are buying up legitimate businesses in U.S. cities to launder money and using some of the proceeds to win local mayoral and city council seats for politicians who can shape the policies and personnel decisions of their police forces, has been backed up by a veteran gang investigator. Richard Valdemar, a retired sergeant with the L.A. County sheriff's department and a longtime member of a federal task force investigating gang activity, went beyond the charges made by Tancredo, the chairman of the House Immigration Reform Caucus who has led the fight to secure America's southern border.

AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD AND ON ADVANCE EDITION DVD NOW!

• Freedom Fighter And Man Who Exposed The Financial Plundering Of America Through CAFRs Is Now On the Brink Of Becoming A Felon: The wheels of fascist America are spinning right over Walter Burien, as he is being framed into accepting a felony plea bargain, stemming from what he calls the illegal abduction of his son - The jailing of freedom fighter Walter Burien for 45 days and his subsequent plea bargain agreement to accept a felony conviction without more jail time is another example of America's fascist system jailing innocent Americans.

ANNOUNCEMENT FROM THE WEBMASTER: WE ARE CURRENTLY WORKING ON A NEW WEBSITE WHICH WILL BE RELEVANT FOR 9/11 TRUTH FOLLOWERS IN THE UK, PARTICULARLY IN THE NORTH YORKSHIRE AREA.  THIS MAY SLOW DOWN OUR PROCESS OF UP-DATING OUR HEADLINES AS WE DEVELOP THIS NEW PROJECT.  WE EXPECT TO HAVE THIS NEW WEBSITE READY WITHIN THE NEXT FEW DAYS - MORE INFO TO FOLLOW - WATCH THIS SPACE!

Tuesday 27th June 2006: -

• Big Brother database to record the lives of all children - The home life of every child in the country is to be recorded on a national database in the ultimate intrusion of the nanny state, it has emerged. Computer records holding details of school performance, diet and even whether their parents provide a 'positive role model' for 12 million children will be held by the Government. Police, social workers, teachers and doctors will have access to the database and have powers to flag up 'concerns' where children are not meeting criteria laid down by the state. The 'children's index', which will cost the taxpayer £224 million, will even monitor whether youngsters are eating five portions of fruit and vegetables a day, whether they go to church or are struggling to get good marks at school.

• Terror Expert: London Bomber Was Working For MI5: Khan used as informant for security services - A noted terror expert has told the BBC that Mohammed Siddique Khan, the alleged ringleader of the 7/7 London bombings, was working for British intelligence agency MI5 as an informant at the time of the attacks. Charles Shoebridge is a 12-year veteran detective of the London Metropolitan Police, a former graduate of the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst, and now a broadcaster and writer on terrorism in the UK. Shoebridge told the BBC Newshour program that from the evidence little else can be assumed other than that Khan was working for British intelligence.

• Two arrested under Terrorism Act - Two people have been arrested under the Terrorism Act after police executed warrants in Greater Manchester. Some 250 officers were involved in the operation - part of the Operation Bracco anti-terrorism initiative. A total of seven addresses in the Tonge Moor and Great Lever areas of Bolton are understood to have been raided.

• China's Brutal Crackdown on Dissidents - China's Communist Party officials are employing brutal methods in dealing with difficult citizens. The most recent victim of what appears to be government-sanctioned brutality was a farmer who suffered a broken cervical vertebra when he was attacked by thugs. Fu Xiancai, 47, is a far cry from an enemy of the state, as evidenced by the many portraits of Mao Zedong he displays in his house. However, the mustache-wearing farmer became a difficult citizen when he was forced to leave his village, Maoping, on the banks of the Yangtze River. Fu, like 1.2 million other Chinese, was in the way of a giant project, the construction of China's Three Gorges Dam. The budding superpower hopes to derive much-needed energy by damming the Yangtze.

• Melton tells police to search vehicles - Jackson Mayor Frank Melton wants the police to become more aggressive in enforcing loitering laws and searching vehicles as he renews the city's state of emergency today. Melton said Monday that police will begin stopping and searching vehicles in a series of random roadblocks, though police must have probable cause to search a vehicle. "If you're not hiding anything, why not cooperate?" Melton said.

• Safety on the buses - US style - FLORIDA students in the US are enjoying safer journeys to school, thanks to a Warrington-based company. A hundred yellow school buses in the state capital, Tallahassee, are being installed with mobile digital recording system, TransVu, and 100 more systems are to be installed shortly. The cameras, installed by CCTV specialist AD Group, record images of any incidents and automatically send them back to the central bus depot.

• 'RFID' fabrics and surfing for porn, the Israeli way: Why attach an RFID chip to a shirt when you can identify the shirt through undetectable, invisible chemicals mixed into the fibers? - That's the question CrossID CEO Moshe Glickstein is posing to potential customers. The Israeli company has devised a way to put a chemical signature into fabrics, labels, inks, boxes and other materials. When a hand or door scanner tuned to a specific frequency is pointed at an item, chemicals mixed inside the item get excited and give off a signal. The signal, which differs with the addition or subtraction of different substances, then serves as an ID for the item.

• Data brokers breaching privacy - Almost every piece of personal information that Americans try to keep secret - including bank account statements, email messages and telephone records - is semi-public and available for sale. That was the lesson the US Congress learned over the last week during a series of hearings aimed at exposing peddlers of personal data, from whom banks, car dealers, jealous lovers and even some law enforcement officers have covertly purchased information to use as they wish.

• Frying Your Own RFID Tags - RFID tags in our livestock, in our pets, in our licenses, in passports, in food, in clothing and maybe someday in you. It is getting rather excessive. Fortunately there are a number of ways to kill RFID chips. See the Technical Documents section of the right hand sidebar for how to build your very own RFID bomb with which you can clear you home of unauthorized RFID chips. For the less technically inclined there is a simple device that most people already own which does a admirable job of frying RFID chips. The way that passive RFID chips work is they pickup a radio signal from the wand using a large in-chip antenna. This energy is stored up over a short period to accumulate enough power to activate the chip and then send back its code number to the receiver.

• Sex offenders in Britain to get Prozac - Jailed pedophiles and other sex offenders in Britain will receive Prozac to help them avoid committing more of the same crimes, the Independent said. The newspaper said beginning this fall, the government plans to give the anti-depressant drug to 100 prisoners in nine jails. Some officials believe the drug can suppress obsessive sexual urges. The Independent reported that an estimated 10 percent of all offenders may eventually be treated with Prozac.

Monday 26th June 2006: -

• Computers 'set to read our minds' - An "emotionally aware" computer system designed to read people's minds by analysing expressions will be featured at a major London exhibition. Visitors to the Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition are being invited to help "train" the computer how to read joy, anger and other expressions. Its designers say there are potential commercial uses, such as picking the right time to sell someone something.

• Auditor's Report Criticizes Florida's Voter Database: State agrees to fix security woes that could lead to unauthorized access - Florida voter registration data can be vulnerable to theft, corruption, unauthorized access and alteration, despite the best efforts of elections officials, indicated a report by the Florida auditor general. The report, released earlier this month by Auditor General William Monroe, found several IT security problems with the state's central voter registration database. "There were some procedures that were missing we felt needed to be in place," noted Jon Ingram, an IT audit manager in the Florida auditor general's office and a contributor to the report.

• THE LAST DAYS OF PRIVACY: As technology makes life richer and easier, we leave a trail of information that is susceptible to prying eyes - Within the next four months, a major Bay Area supermarket chain plans to introduce a payment system that uses biometric fingerprint authentication to verify customers' identities. Under this system, shoppers in checkout lines won't need to use cash, checks, debit cards or credit cards. Instead, they can place their fingers on scanners that read fingerprints, and once the device links to their bank or credit card accounts, they can buy groceries, get cash back and do everything else shoppers do.

• Health troubles persist for 9/11 rescue workers - It was late in the night when James Zadroga, sleeping beside his 4-year-old daughter, woke up to fetch her some milk. It was no easy errand: The former New York City police detective's lungs were so scarred that he needed supplemental oxygen to breathe. In 2001, after the attack on the World Trade Center, he'd donned a paper mask and toiled at Ground Zero on rescue and recovery missions. Then he developed a cough and damaged lungs. Four years later, the 34-year-old was dying.

• Nice video shows policing of the future: Computer surveillance with a human face - Nice Systems, the Israeli firm trying to sell extreme surveillance software to the British police, has put out a promotional video depicting the way our friendly bobbies will police our communities a year from now - if they use its latest software. It opens* with a lonely old lady twitching a curtain over a street where hooded youths are hanging around. Shouldn't they be at the scout hut? Or doing their homework? The police must know about this.   (RELATED: See our 'Total Global Surveillance' archive)

WE'RE BACK!:  AFTER A GREAT WEEKEND SPENT MEETING UP WITH 911 TRUTH TOTNES, ANNIE MACHON, DAVID SHAYLER AND OTHERS IN THE UK 911 TRUTH MOVEMENT, WE ARE NOW BACK - UP-DATES SHALL RESUME AS NORMAL.

Saturday 24th June 2006: -

NOTICE FROM THE WEBMASTER: PLEASE NOTE THAT WE WILL NOT BE AVAILABLE TO MAKE UP-DATES TO THE WEBSITE OVER THIS WEEKEND, AS WE ARE TRAVELING ACROSS THE UK TO A 9/11 TRUTH MEETING.  WE EXPECT TO RETURN ON 26TH JUNE.

• Your ID is right at your fingertips: Biometrics grows in popularity, making shopping in the KC area more convenient - Tony Jones got to the counter, planted his finger on a scanner and got his cash. Fast. “No fumbling for IDs,” he explained after cashing his check at the Price Chopper at 85th Street and Wornall Road. “No waiting. I think it’s the bomb-diggity.” More than 35,000 area customers have signed up to use fingerprint scanners since Balls Food Stores started installing them at 16 Price Chopper and Hen House locations two years ago to identify check-cashers.

• Cheney says banking data essential to U.S. war against terrorism: VP criticizes the media's stories on the secret program - Vice President Dick Cheney on Friday vigorously defended a secret program that examines banking records of Americans and others in a vast international database, harshly criticizing the news media for disclosing an operation he called legal and "absolutely essential" to fighting terrorism. "What I find most disturbing about these stories is the fact that some of the news media take it upon themselves to disclose vital national security programs, thereby making it more difficult for us to prevent future attacks against the American people," Cheney said, in impromptu remarks at a fundraising luncheon for a Republican congressional candidate in Chicago. "That offends me."

• Filmmaker Alex Jones: Charlie Sheen to Appear Saturday at 9/11 Truth Conference in Downtown Los Angeles: Alex Jones: Polls reveal America agrees with Charlie: Sheen's concerns about the official September 11th story created largest-ever CNN Showbiz Tonight reaction, remain a story of national/international interest from FOX News to the London Guardian - This Saturday, June 24, 2006 Charlie Sheen will add his voice to those of noted scientists and scholars participating in filmmaker Alex Jones' American Scholars Symposium: 9/11 + The Neo-Con Agenda National Education and Research Conference, a large, sold-out conference exposing the truth about what really happened on September 11th from June 24-25th at the Sheraton Los Angeles Downtown (711 South Hope Street). Jones and the conference's speakers will hold a press conference on the first day of the event at 10:00 AM in the Sheraton Los Angeles Downtown ballroom.  (RELATED: See our '9/11 Archive' for more info)

• Alex Jones' TerrorStorm Has Arrived! - The long-awaited arrival of Alex Jones' latest trend-setting documentary has arrived! TerrorStorm delivers a powerful sucker punch to the architects of global terrorism and how they stage false-flag events to achieve political and sociological ends.

Friday 23rd June 2006: -

• AL-QAEDA 'PLOT TO CRASH JET INTO CANARY WHARF' - AL-QAEDA did plan to hijack and crash planes into Canary Wharf and Heathrow airport, US intelligence reports claim. The security services foiled the plot in summer 2003 but no one was arrested. Reports of an attack on Canary Wharf, home to the Daily Mirror, emerged in late 2004 but details were vague.   (RELEVANT QUOTE FROM GEORGE ORWELL'S NOVEL 'NINETEEN EIGHTY-FOUR'; Part 2 Chapter5: "In some ways she was far more acute than Winston, and far less susceptible to Party propaganda. Once when he happened in some connection to mention the war against Eurasia, she startled him by saying casually that in her opinion the war was not happening. The rocket bombs which fell daily on London were probably fired by the Government of Oceania itself, 'just to keep people frightened'." - RELATED: See our 'Problem > Reaction > Solution' archive for more specific background info)

• Fingerprint device plans for pubs - A FUTURISTIC fingerprinting device could be attached to the entrances of some Rugby pubs to solve town centre violence. The James Bond style proposal would mean that drinkers may have to put their fingers onto a small screen before they enter a pub. The device will then computerise their identification onto a data base to see if they are allowed inside.

• Seven held over plan to attack Sears Tower - FBI agents have arrested seven people in Miami in connection with a plot to attack the America's tallest building. The arrests over the plan to attack the 110-storey Chicago Sears Tower were "part of an ongoing investigation into a terrorist-related matter," the US attorney's office in Miami said in a statement. Media reports say five US citizens and two foreigners, including a Haitian, were arrested for plotting to attack the skyscraper and other buildings in Miami. It is understood the plan was in its early stages.

• VeriChip Corporation to Present Its RFID Infant Protection Solutions at AHWONN 2006 in Baltimore This Weekend - VeriChip Corporation, a subsidiary of Applied Digital (NASDAQ: ADSX), will present its RFID infant protection solutions at the AWHONN (Association of Women's Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses) Convention trade show in Baltimore, MD this weekend and early next week. The AWHONN Convention is a gathering of nurses, nurse practitioners and nurse executives in the field of maternal/child care. It represents an opportunity to reach more than 2,000 healthcare professionals. The VeriChip booth at this year's AWHONN Convention features live demonstrations of both the HALO and Hugs system, giving Convention delegates the opportunity to see such features as HALO's patented skin-sensing technology to prevent tag removal, and Hugs' array of productivity enhancing options.

• Man hit with Taser dies in custody: IPD urges patience during autopsy and inquiry into events during domestic call - Joseph Stockdale's family wants answers today about why the Indianapolis man died shortly after police used a chemical spray and a Taser to subdue him. "I don't care if he was fighting or not," said Linda Stockdale, 47, the dead man's aunt. "They didn't have to beat him. We're devastated. We want justice."

Thursday 22nd June 2006: -

• Assembly panel backs moratorium on using ID chips for schoolkids - Citing privacy fears, a Bay Area state legislator is trying to ban the use of tiny chips embedded on identification badges as a way to keep track of schoolchildren until better ways are found to keep information on the chips secure. The bill, approved Wednesday by the Assembly Education Committee, stems in part from a controversy at a school in Sutter County that angered some parents last year by being the first school in the country to experiment with the use of what's known as radio frequency identification devices to speed attendance taking. Testing of the monitoring devices on the school's seventh- and eighth-grade students generated national attention as well as Internet and classroom debate over whether it improved campus security at the expense of a student's privacy. The school board ultimately stopped the experiment following complaints.   (RELATED: See our 'Total Global Surveillance' archive)

• Vaccines May Have Caused A Soldier's Death - A panel of military physician experts has concluded that vaccinations may have caused the death of a 26-year-old Army soldier. The soldier, Pfc. Christopher “Justin” Abston, received smallpox and injectable influenza vaccines in November 2005, at Fort Bragg, N.C., 16 days before suffering sudden death in his barracks room. Following evaluation of multiple specialized test results, the panel considered a cause-and-effect relationship to be “possible.” The smallpox vaccine received by Abston is known to cause an inflammation of the heart muscle or myocarditis, a condition found at his autopsy.

• User Vision sees opportunities for new eye-tracker system - AN Edinburgh consultancy involved in testing the usability and accessibility of websites, software and products such as mobile phones is looking to double its turnover to £1 million as it cashes in on the digital revolution. And business at User Vision is set to receive a further boost after the firm, which was set up six years ago and boasts clients across Europe, this week opened what is believed to be the first "eye-tracking studio" in Scotland. The city firm said the technology it had acquired would effectively "read the mind" of users by following their eye movements as they interact with a product or website.

• Under Surveillance: Government spy cameras proliferate - In an unprecedented proliferation of public spying, government is casting its watchful eye on millions of ordinary Americans through largely unregulated surveillance cameras trained on public spaces throughout the nation. A Scripps Howard News Service tally found that at least 200 towns and cities in 37 states now employ video cameras _ or are in the process of doing so _ to watch sidewalks, parks, schools, buses, buildings and similar community locales. That number excludes the approximately 110 other municipalities that use traffic cameras to catch speeders and red-light runners.

• AT&T rewrites rules: Your data isn't yours - AT&T has issued an updated privacy policy that takes effect Friday. The changes are significant because they appear to give the telecom giant more latitude when it comes to sharing customers' personal data with government officials. The new policy says that AT&T -- not customers -- owns customers' confidential info and can use it "to protect its legitimate business interests, safeguard others, or respond to legal process." The policy also indicates that AT&T will track the viewing habits of customers of its new video service -- something that cable and satellite providers are prohibited from doing.

• Renew for freedom - SUMMER 2006 - renew your passport - It is not too late. The UK IPS has not yet changed passport renewal procedures so, this summer, NO2ID and a growing number of other organisations* ask that you renew your passport. Did you know that, from October of this year, as preparation for the ID scheme, ALL first-time passport applicants will have background checks and be interviewed by officials at one of the government's 69 new 'enrolment centres'? This will include your children as they reach 16. Before long it will include you too, when you renew your passport. And you will be fingerprinted as well. So, unless you need it soon, you should renew your passport NOW. If you wait till autumn, you risk giving up personal data to be used for the government identity database. Pay £51 for a 10-year passport while you can. The charge for ID registration and a record for life will be at least £93. The website www.renewforfreedom.org explains in more detail. There's a fact-sheet there that you can download and pass on to others.

• ECape says no to cellphone tower - Concerned Braelynn residents in East London have vowed to stop the erection of a cellphone tower near a clinic and a pre-school in their suburb. "We are determined and that thing will not go up. If it does we will chop it down," said Moonshine pre-school owner Bonnita Reddy, who has more than 40 young children on her premises - less than 150 metres from the proposed site. Work on the cellphone tower began on May 11, continued through to the Sunday and into the evening during last week, residents said. So far the tower's foundations have been dug on the corner of the community hall property. Last week interviews on television programme Special Assignment with several South Africans who had experienced adverse health effects, such as respiratory problems, allegedly as a result of living near cellphone towers, triggered an uproar in Braelynn.

• Chinese President Critic's Charges To Be Dumped - The supporter of Falun Gong who criticized Chinese President Hu Jintao at a White House ceremony has reached a deal with prosecutors under which all charges against her will be dropped. Wang Wenyi had been charged with misdemeanor charges for interrupting the April 20 event in which President Bush welcomed Hu to the White House.

Wednesday 21st June 2006: -

• Saddam defence lawyer shot dead - One of the main lawyers defending former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein at his trial has been shot dead. Khamis al-Obeidi's body was found dumped in the capital, Baghdad, hours after he was abducted from his home. Defence lawyers have frequently complained that they have not been given enough protection, calling the trial's fairness into question.

• Hudson ISD trustees working toward establishing school police department - The Hudson ISD board of trustees has paved the way for the school district to establish its own police department and hire a chief of police. ...Trustees also passed on first reading a measure that expands the scope of the school district's drug-testing policy, lowering the grade level to the seventh grade for random drug testing of students involved in extracurricular activities. "Now any student all the way down to the middle school that participates in extracurricular activities would fall under the drug-testing policy," Whiteker said. "It formerly just applied to high school students." Whiteker said the policy change also includes a provision to random drug-test any student who applies for a campus parking permit.

• Tampa store claims to be the first to use finger scans - Paying for groceries, takeout foods and even gasoline could be as easy as a touch of a finger. Coast to Coast convenience stores has installed a biometric payment system at its store on the corner of Florida and Bearss avenues in Tampa. The system, developed by the Pay By Touch company, allows customers to make purchases with a scan of their fingerprint.

Tuesday 20th June 2006: -

• US troops face Iraq death charges - Three US soldiers have been charged with premeditated murder following the shooting of three male Iraqi prisoners. They have also been charged over allegations they threatened to kill a fellow soldier if he spoke about the incident, the US military said. The detainees died during a US military operation near the Thar Thar Canal near Tikrit in northern Iraq on 9 May.

• Drugging Children: A Cruel Sign of the Times: By W. GIFFORD-JONES, M.D. - Would I allow Ritalin or other similar drugs to be prescribed to my children because they fidgeted, squirmed in their seat or were inattentive? Hell would freeze over a thousand times before I'd submit to such idiocy. But today an estimated five million Canadian and U.S. children are prescribed medication for this condition. This year, a committee of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) concluded that a "black box" warning should be placed on attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) medications, warning about heart attack and other risks. It's the strongest warning possible before a drug is removed from the market. A second advisory panel disagreed, so no decision has been reached.

• An intelligence failure. An explosive exclusive. But was it the wrong Khan?: Claims on bomber may be case of mistaken identity, FBI source could have confused two suspects - It was an explosive allegation which sparked renewed calls for a public inquiry into the July 7 suicide attacks on London. The author of a book to be published next week claimed the ringleader was considered such a dangerous threat that he was banned from the US two years before the attack. The claim was the main story on the front page of yesterday's Times.   (RELATED: See our '7/7 London Bombing' archive for more background info)

(COMMENT FROM THE WEBMASTER: We have had brief exchanges with and support from David Icke and I would personally state that this is a cause worth supporting.  Financially, you could either make a donation (info at the above link), make a purchase from his online store (plenty of great titles available) and/or subscribe to his excellent newsletter.  Also useful, get others to help by posting the above information on message boards or anything else you can do to muster support.)

• Canada: A Galloping Police State? - After five years of what can only be described as intense “terrorism envy” by our security establishment —with their repeated predictions of terrorist acts in Canada — the country has moved up a notch, to terrorism frenzy. The discovery of an alleged conspiracy by 17 Muslim men to attack facilities in Toronto and kidnap parliamentarians (as well as beheading the prime minister) — ostensibly to get Canada to withdraw from Afghanistan— came just in time before parliament debates the renewal of our post-2001 anti-terrorism legislation, and when support for Canada’s all out military involvement in Afghanistan is softening by the day.

• US soldiers set to be redeployed on the streets of New Orleans to fight crime for the first time since the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina - The Louisiana governor asked for the National Guard to return to New Orleans after a weekend that saw six people murdered in the city. New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin had earlier called for 300 soldiers and some 60 state police to be sent to the city. Crime has risen in the city after a brief drop following Hurricane Katrina.

Monday 19th June 2006: -

• 'Harsh response' promised if North Korea tests missile - FEARS were growing last night that North Korea was about to test an inter-continental ballistic missile capable of hitting the United States. Japan warned there would be a "harsh response" from both Tokyo and Washington to any such test by the communist dictatorship.

• N. Korea Has Already 'Mock Nuked' Alaska - With US Government Help: New reports about threat of missile launch omit key facts - Reports today concerning the completed fueling of North Korea's long range Taepodong-2 missile and its planned launch within a month omit several key aspects of the story, including the fact that North Korea already launched a missile that hit Alaska, with the help of the US government. In March 2003, the Korea Times reported that the U.S. National Assembly included a startling admission in its final report regarding Pyongyang’s missile capabilities. A nuclear-capable North Korean test warhead was found in Alaska.

• University makes microchip to trace escapees - Research is being done at the Central University of Technology, in Bloemfontein, on implanting microchips in prisoners to monitor their whereabouts. Farhad Aghdasi, of the school of electrical and computer systems engineering, says radio frequency identification has been around for several years and, in the last eight years, its application has been intensified.

• TACKLING A LEGITIMATE PROBLEM, OR ACCLIMATISING THE KIDS TO FULFILL A DEEPER AGENDA?: Blue Peter gets tough on badge fraud with ID cards - The Blue Peter badge is back in action today as the BBC confirmed it was introducing a new identity card in an attempt to stop badges handed out by the children's programme being traded online. Since March, badge holders have been unable to claim free entry to nearly 200 visitor attractions after it emerged that people were buying badges on eBay for up to £70 each. From now on, all new badge holders will be sent a personalised card along with their badge.

• Netcraft: PayPal Security Flaw Allows Identity Theft - According to Netcraft, a security flaw in the PayPal web site is being actively exploited by fraudsters to steal credit card numbers and other personal information belonging to PayPal users. Netcraft reports that the scam works quite convincingly, by tricking users into accessing a URL hosted on the genuine PayPal web site. The URL uses SSL to encrypt information transmitted to and from the site, and a valid 256-bit SSL certificate is presented to confirm that the site does indeed belong to PayPal.

• 'Smart pills' Drug use on rise in classroom - Jeff Ewing was first prescribed Adderall to help him focus after he returned to Ferris State University after a major auto accident that had robbed him of a year of school. But what the 24-year-old Fenton resident found "amazing" was how many healthy students were taking the stimulant to help them study after either partying or procrastinating. "A lot of people would share them," Ewing said. "Some students (would) procrastinate and put all their studying onto two nights what would take most students a week."

• Mossad terror suspect confesses - A Lebanese man has confessed to assassinating a number of senior members of Hezbollah and Palestinian armed groups over a seven-year period on behalf of Israeli intelligence. The Lebanese army said on Tuesday that Mahmud Rafah, who was arrested along with three others last week in connection with the May 26 killing of two Islamic Jihad officials, was a leading member of a "terrorist" network behind at least three other major assassinations in Lebanon. "Investigations by military intelligence showed that the terrorist network that was discovered had links to the Israeli Mossad for several years and that its members underwent training both inside Israel and outside," the army statement said.

Sunday 18th June 2006: -

• Prisons 'could run out of room' - A Cabinet minister has signalled the need for more jails after the Chief Inspector of Prisons warned that they were close to putting up "house full" notices. Jack Straw, the Leader of the Commons, acknowledged that more spaces should probably be created after Anne Owers said the prison service could soon "hit the buffers". Mr Straw insisted that the Government had "greatly increased" prison places since 1997, but added: "The chances are that more have to be provided."

• Mom swears by essential oils: Kept her son off of Ritalin - An Edmonton mother swears by essential oils as a way to manage attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, after a hefty daily dose kept her son off Ritalin for several years. That’s encouraging news for a University of Alberta researcher studying the links between Omega-3 fatty acid intake and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

• Somali leaders: U.S. ignored plea to halt aid to warlords: Islamist militia's control of capital this month has confirmed their fears, they say - In early March, nine of Mogadishu's most prominent community leaders secretly flew to neighboring Djibouti and pleaded with U.S. military officials there to stop funding the warlords who were devastating the city. Backing the warlords, they said, would end up strengthening an Islamist militia with a shadowy radical wing. The Americans ignored their warning, three of the Somalis at the meeting said in separate interviews, and the community leaders' fears came to life this month when the Islamic Courts Union militia defeated the warlords and took control of the Somali capital.

• GOVERNMENT ORDERS SPY BLIMP - The government has hired defense subcontractor Lockheed Martin to design and develop an enormous blimp that will be used to spy on Americans, according to the Athens News. Government agencies such as the NSA are anticipating that as early as 2009 the blimp will be operational and begin supporting new ways of monitoring everything that happens in the country.

• Homes of the dead to be seized by the state - Bereaved families could have the homes of dead relatives seized under new laws that allow the state to commandeer empty properties. Local councils will be able to take control of inherited homes if they are left vacant for more than six months.

• Radical moves to tackle obesity crisis: Advertising ban may be widened and supermarkets and GPs enlisted - Controls on junk food advertising could be extended to websites, text messaging, computer games, cinemas and posters under radical plans being drawn up by the government, the Guardian has learned. Ministers fear that plans to clamp down solely on TV advertising would be undermined without a more ambitious approach and are putting together a range of measures to tackle the problem.

Saturday 17th June 2006: -

• SOMETHING FOR HILLARY TO HAVE READY TO WIPE HER NOSE WITH WHEN SHE GETS INTO THE WHITE HOUSE?: Hillary Clinton Wants 'Privacy Bill Of Rights' - Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., is calling for a "privacy bill of rights" to protect people's personal information. Clinton told a legal group Friday that consumers need protection from identity theft, especially as technology makes it easier for companies to exchange information about customers.

• Warning on Australian ID card by stealth - THE Howard Government's proposed smart card could become a national identity card by stealth, card taskforce chief Allan Fels has warned. Prof Fels said the Government would have to introduce legislation and other safeguards to stop the Medicare and social security access card morphing into a national ID card. "We don't want it to become a national ID card and Australians are against that," Prof Fels said. "I detect a degree of concern that this new card might somehow evolve into a national identity card by the backdoor, a sort of Australia Card Mark II."

• Head calls (i.e. shills) for stricter security in schools - A school headteacher has expressed his deep concern after continual trespassing at his school has resulted in a fire. ...“I am not happy with young people who get into trouble making. “This school is very happy and we all work to high standards and we now need to take three steps to curb this from happening again. “We want CCTV, increased security around the school, and to make sure that any person who is caught trespassing or vandalising is arrested and taken through the courts,” said Mr Roberts.

Friday 16th June 2006: -

• Yahoo! worst in China - Yahoo! restricts access to more websites than any other search engine in China. Lobby group Reporters without Borders tested Yahoo!, Google, MSN and baidu.com. It found that Yahoo! censors its results even more strictly than local portal baidu.com.

• Famous British astrophysicist Stephen Hawking says pope told him not to study beginning of universe - Famous astrophysicist Stephen Hawking said Thursday that the late Pope John Paul II once told scientists they should not study the beginning of the universe because it was the work of God. The British author who wrote the best-seller "A Brief History of Time" _ said that the pope made the comments at a cosmology conference at the Vatican.

• Military Officials Cancel Guantanamo Visits by Lawyers and Journalists - Lawyers who represent detainees held at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, have been barred from visiting their clients at the base this week, apparently the result of an ongoing investigation into three suicides there on Saturday, according to officials with the Center for Constitutional Rights, which represents hundreds of the detainees. The cancellation of the regular visits was an unusual move for base officials and came at nearly the same time that the Pentagon decided to suspend the trips of three journalists who were at the base reporting for the Los Angeles Times, the Miami Herald and the Charlotte Observer.

• New Tool In Maritime Surveillance Launched: Image Quality Good Enough For Court, Companies Say - Drones launched off the San Diego coast Wednesday demonstrated how new imaging technology will make shipping lanes safer. The new technology, created by Lockheed Martin and General Atomics, allows drones to patrol hundreds of square miles of ocean, NBC 7/39 reported. The imaging technology is so advanced that it can identify people on-board ships. Lockheed Martin and General Atomics say the image quality is good enough to be used in a courtroom prosecution.

Thursday 15th June 2006: -

• Dinner dabs for pupils: STUDENTS will scan their fingerprints at the checkout to pay for their school dinner at a secondary school - Kirk Hallam Community Technology College will install the cashless system this September. Pupils will scan their thumb print and after their picture is displayed on a screen to confirm their identity, the bill will be debited from their account.

• RBS trials contactless RFID-style debit cards: 1,000-staff pilot in retail outlets at bank's Edinburgh HQ - The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and MasterCard are to trial an RFID-based contactless debit card to replace cash for low-value payments. The trial of the Oyster Card-style payment system begins next week at RBS' head office campus in Edinburgh, which contains a number of retail outlets for its 3,000 staff based there. The retail stores taking part include Starbucks and Tesco Express. The bank said 1,000 staff have so far applied for one of the specially adapted Maestro chip and PIN debit cards.

• Call for pre-9 p.m. junk food ad ban - TV ads for junk food like crisps and fizzy drinks should be banned before the 9 p.m. watershed to combat growing levels of child obesity, the country's food standards watchdog said on Thursday. The recommendation is a tougher response to the obesity problem than has been proposed by the television regulator Ofcom. In a draft response to a consultation opened by Ofcom, the Food Standards Agency (FSA) said a ban on adverts of foods high in fat, sugar or salt before the watershed would be a "more realistic approach" than some of Ofcom's proposals. Two years ago, the FSA agreed that action was needed to address what it called an "imbalance" in television advertising of food to children.  (COMMENTARY: The dangerous precedence here is that there is a call to control what we can and can't see, through the media.  And it is for our security... of course.)

• WHY I TOOK MY CHILD OFF RITALIN - GOONELLABAH woman Alison Martin has pulled her schoolaged son off Ritalin, seeking alternative therapies in the belief that the drug is having an adverse impact on him. AAP in Sydney reports par- ents are saying ADHD drugs have caused terrible reactions in their children: Notably heart palpitations, shortness of breath, hair loss, muscle spasms, severe abdominal pain, depression and paranoia. However, some local doctors are adamant Ritalin is safe, non-addictive, and works miracles on the right patient if prescribed with care.

• Detroit school district settles lawsuit over searches of students, property: Deal calls for police to pay also over high school sweep - School officials have agreed to end indiscriminate searches of students and their property under a settlement with the American Civil Liberties Union, the organization announced Wednesday. Detroit Public Schools also will pay $22,500 in damages and attorney fees to the students who sued following a February 2004 police sweep at Mumford High School. The Detroit Police Department also paid $10,000 for its role in the search, the ACLU of Michigan said.

• Marine sorry for Iraq deaths song - A US marine has apologised after a video spread on the internet of him singing a song about the killing of Iraqi civilians. Cpl Joshua Belile, 23, said the song had been written as a joke and was never intended to cause offence. The Marine Corps has described the song as "inappropriate" and is investigating the incident.

• After ruling, Wahkiakum aims to resume drug testing - The Wahkiakum School District hopes to resume random drug testing for student-athletes as soon as possible, even though the issue could end up back in court on appeal. A Wahkiakum County judge ruled Monday that the district's random drug-testing policy is constitutional. "We are definitely pleased with the decision. There is no question about that," Wahkiakum School District Superintendent Bob Garrett said Tuesday. "It is in the best interest of the kids, and we are excited to be able to help kids curtail their drug use."

Wednesday 14th June 2006: -

• Fly us to the moon . . . in 20 years - HUMANS must learn to live on other planets to survive, Professor Stephen Hawking has claimed. The Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge University said humans must find new homes elsewhere in the universe because there is an increasing risk that a disaster will destroy Earth. Humans could have a permanent base on the moon in 20 years and a colony on Mars in the next 40 years, he told a news conference in Hong Kong.

• Lords condemned on 'torture' ruling - Britain's highest court has been condemned by human rights groups, who said it had allowed Saudi Arabia to get away with the torture of British citizens. The House of Lords ruled unanimously that four men who say they suffered serious physical and mental abuse in Saudi jails cannot sue those responsible because foreign officials are protected by the State Immunity Act.

• Employee verification system would affect all workers, privacy experts say - Remember the Department of Homeland Security's "no-fly'' lists that erratically flagged 3-year-old children and dozens of men named David Nelson as terrorists seeking to board commercial airplanes? Well, now privacy experts are warning America to prepare for the "no-work'' list. As Congress debates immigration reform, experts say a little-discussed aspect of the bill, mandatory employee eligibility verification, is likely to have a colossal impact on the lives of every person in the U.S. labor market -- citizen and foreigner alike.

• Inside Apple's iPod factories - Apple's iPods are made by mainly female workers who earn as little as £27 per month, according to a report in the Mail on Sunday yesterday. The report claims Longhua's workers live in dormitories that house 100 people, and that visitors from the outside world are not permitted. Workers toil for 15-hours a day to make the iconic music player, the report claims. They earn £27 per month. The report reveals that the iPod nano is made in a five-storey factory (E3) that is secured by police officers.

Tuesday 13th June 2006: -

• Diabetes is linked to antidepressant use - A study has determined that there is a link between the use of antidepressant drugs and diabetes, investigators at the 66th Scientific Sessions of the American Diabetes Association announced. Depression is two to three times higher in diabetics than in the general population. In addition, 10 percent to 15 percent of the U.S. population takes antidepressants. "And the numbers are increasing," Richard Rubin of The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore said at the meeting Saturday.

• British government ignores ruling on Gulf War syndrome - Britain's ministry of defence has decided to ignore a court decision ordering it to recognize Gulf War syndrome, removing the right of thousands of veterans to claim extra money, a newspaper said Tuesday. Harcourt Concannon, the president of the commission which made the ruling, accused the ministry of illegally "tampering" with the process to avoid recognizing the syndrome, the Guardian reported.

• Doctor who made MMR autism link faces charges - A DOCTOR who sparked a health scare over the MMR vaccine could face a charge of serious professional misconduct. Research led by Dr Andrew Wakefield, published in The Lancet in 1998, suggested a link between the triple measles, mumps and rubella jab and autism and bowel problems. Public concern led to uptake of the vaccine for children aged under two falling in Britain from around 92% in 1995/96 to 82% in 2002/03.   (HELP WANTED: We are currently putting together an archive called 'The Danger of Vaccines'.  If any helpful folks out there would like to send us some news tips, links or anything that might help this would be greatly appreciated.  Contact us here)

• Rubbish Bag 'Tax' To Boost Recycling - Householders could be charged according to the amount of rubbish collected from their homes under plans to reform council taxes. Sir Michael Lyons, who is conducting an inquiry into the future of local authority taxation, told The Times he was looking at a range of user charges, including environmental tariffs. They would be paid on top of the council tax in order to make the cost of services more visible, the paper reported. The plans could allow councils to charge residents for the amount of waste they produce, raising the prospect of bags of waste being weighed by collectors.

• Should children be given Prozac? - Experts say it can stunt growth, damage young brains and even trigger suicide. Yet now the controversial anti-depressant Prozac is about to be prescribed to youngsters of just eight. JEROME BURNE investigates.

Monday 12th June 2006: -

• New card same as Australia Card - THE proposed services access card is essentially identical to the Australia Card proposal for a national identity card overwhelmingly rejected 20 years ago, according to a privacy study to be released today. "The Howard Government is adamant that the access card is not a national ID card," says Professor Graham Greenleaf, who has compared the two proposals in his report, Quacking Like a Duck. "Well, we all believed the Australia Card was a national identity scheme, and this one is the same in every significant aspect. In terms of privacy dangers many aspects are considerably worse.

• China arms sales 'fuel conflicts' - The human rights organisation Amnesty International has accused China of being one of the world's most secretive and irresponsible arms exporters. It says Chinese weapons helped fuel conflicts in Sudan, Burma and Nepal. Amnesty urged China to stop exports that could be used for human rights violations, and to publish information on its arms exports.

• Electronic 'spy in the road' may replace traffic wardens - New satellite technology may be about to achieve every frustrated motorist's ultimate fantasy - the end of the traffic warden. A British firm has invented a system of sensors that could wipe out the legions of peak-hatted parking enforcers patrolling the country's towns and cities. That's the good news. The bad news is that their replacements will be even more unbending in their enforcement of local parking regulations than their despised forebears.

• Schools' right to search student lockers? - This is about privacy, and the extent to which the state can invade the private life of its citizens. Although it may seem unimportant, the school locker is usually the only private space available to a student in the communal environment of the school, and so it focuses many of the issues involved in privacy debates. This is usually thought of as an American issue, but it could apply in any country and the arguments could also be transferred from school lockers to desks and lockers in the adult workplace.

• Secretive Bilderberg over but was world domination discussed? - Four days after they arrived quietly at a Kanata, Ont., hotel, the world's rich and powerful left just as mysteriously, in limos and SUVs with blacked-out windows. The Bilderberg Group, a secretive organization of politicians and business leaders from around the world, gave no public statements. With private security guards and metal barriers keeping outsiders on the street, the Bilderbergers met in secret and then whisked themselves away in ones and twos, mostly to the airport.

• North Korea threatens to 'punish' US over spy flights - North Korea's Air Force Command has threatened to 'punish' the United States for its spy flights over the country. In a statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency, the air force said that a US RC-135 reconnaissance plane had made flights over its territorial waters on June 6, 8 and 10. Describing the alleged US espionage flights as 'openly crying out for a preemptive attack' on the country, the command warned of a possible repeat of 1969, when it shot down another US Navy plane, killing all 31 crew.

• Judge: Suit against Vatican can proceed - A federal judge ruled Wednesday that a sex abuse lawsuit against the Vatican can move forward with its claim that the Holy See bears responsibility for a priest who was transferred from city to city even though he was known to be a molester. U.S. District Judge Michael Mosman said in his decision that there are exceptions to the Foreign Sovereign Immunity Act, under which the Vatican is typically immune from the jurisdiction of U.S. courts.

• AFP CRACKS SECRET MEETING: Bilderberg worried it can’t control Chavez, Iran, neo-con war machine - As Bilderberg gathers at the posh Brook Street Resort, there was concern that Latin America will use oil as a weapon to block expansion of NAFTA throughout the Western Hemisphere and whether Bush could be talked out of an all-out invasion of Iran. Bilderberg is concerned that leftist governments in Latin America, led by Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez, will use manipulation of oil supplies and prices to form an economic union that would include Brazil, Cuba, Peru and Mexico.

Sunday 11th June 2006: -

• Saudis allege torture in Guantanamo deaths - The reported suicides of two Saudi detainees at Guantanamo Bay intensified Saudi anger at the camp, drawing questions Sunday about whether the men really killed themselves or were driven to it by torture. The detention of more than 130 Saudis at the U.S. jail has long grated on people in the kingdom, and there was marked skepticism that the prisoners committed suicide.

• Brothers set for massive pay-out - Compensation for two brothers held as terror suspects for over a week could run up to £600,000 and prompt the police to "think twice" about carrying out similar raids, it has been claimed. The pair were arrested on June 2 when 250 officers - some armed and some wearing chemical suits - raided an address in Forest Gate, east London. Mohammed Abdul Kahar, 23, who was shot during the dawn operation, and 20-year-old Abul Koyair were released without charge after police found no trace of a chemical device at the house.

• Genetically Engineered Crops May Produce Herbicide Inside Our Intestines - Pioneer Hi-Bred's website boasts that their genetically modified (GM) Liberty Link corn survives doses of Liberty herbicide, which would normally kill corn. The reason, they say, is that the herbicide becomes "inactive in the corn plant." They fail to reveal, however, that after you eat the GM corn, some inactive herbicide may become reactivated inside your gut and cause a toxic reaction. In addition, a gene that was inserted into the corn might transfer into the DNA of your gut bacteria, producing long-term effects. These are just a couple of the many potential side-effects of GM crops that critics say put the public at risk.

• WHY AM I NOT EXCITED?: Burrell quizzed in Diana probe - KEY evidence by former royal butler Paul Burrell is being examined by detectives investigating the death of Princess Diana. As new clues emerge into the crash which killed the Princess, Scotland Yard has confirmed it has spoken to Burrell to learn about life with Diana. Burrell, who runs a flower shop in Holt, near Wrexham, made headlines a few years ago when he released a letter to a newspaper purporting to be from Diana, claiming a senior royal was plotting to kill her in a car crash.    (COMMENTARY: Ooooh isn't this exciting, they're finally gonna get to the bottom of what really happened?  Yeah right... exciting is hardly the word that I would use.  As if an establishment guy like Lord Stephens (the guy 'leading' the investigation) is going to drop the ball and let the truth slip out of this can of worms! - RELATED: See our popular 'Diana Assassination' archive for more info)

• Are your groceries spying on you? - Has your electronics store (or drugstore or music store or department store) recently replaced its metal shelves with plastic ones? Such a move could signal a switch to a type of product tracking that has the potential to invade your privacy. Radio Frequency Identification, or RFID, is a wireless technology that allows objects and even people to be tagged and tracked. RFID tags contain microchips and tiny radio antennas and are embedded in products or stuck on labels. (Tags slightly larger than a grain of rice can be implanted under the skin.)

• AG Cooper says DNA database is essential crime fighting tool - Police in Pickens County, SC, believe Jerry Inman gruesomely murdered 20-year-old Clemson University student Tiffany Souers last month. Investigators tracked down Inman by matching DNA found at the murder scene with DNA on file in North Carolina. Inman is a registered sex offender in North Carolina. "This just shows how incredible DNA technology is in helping us solve crimes,” said North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper.

• PLEASE RETAIN FOR FUTURE REFERENCE!: NYC mayor tells grads here: Dissent is patriotic - New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg told college graduates in Chicago Saturday that nothing is more patriotic than questioning the government and ''challenging it to live up to the democratic ideals.'' During a graduation speech at the University of Chicago, the Republican mayor said there is a ''spirit of intolerance'' for people with opposing views, who often are accused of being unpatriotic. ''There is nothing -- absolutely nothing -- wrong with criticizing our government, on any topic, and challenging it to live up to the democratic ideals,'' he said in prepared remarks. ''It is not unpatriotic.''  (COMMENTARY: This reminds me of a quote from Tony Bliar... err... I mean Blair who in 2002 was quoted saying: “When I pass protesters every day at Downing Street, and believe me, you name it, they protest against it, I may not like what they call me, but I thank God they can. That’s called freedom.” Quite hypocritical don't you think in light of the the devastating attack on free speech within one kilometer of Parliament (and the rest!) imposed by the 'Serious and Organized Crime Act' - RELATED: See our 'Eroding the Freedom Of Speech' archive and also 'Brian Haws Parliament Square Protest')

• Antidepressants Can Increase Diabetes Risk in Certain Cases - If you are already at high risk for getting type 2 diabetes, antidepressant drugs can boost that risk, according to new research reported Saturday. The report was based on a re-analysis of part of the Diabetes Prevention Program, a large-scale study in which researchers reported in 2002 that those at high risk for getting type 2 diabetes who lost excess weight and exercised were able to prevent the onset of diabetes much of the time.

• Russia Shifts Part of Its Forex Reserves from Dollars to Euros - On Thursday, June 8, Russia became the latest in the list of countries that shifted a part of its Central Bank reserves from the dollar. Sergei Ignatyev, chairman of the Central Bank, said that only 50 percent of its reserves are now held in dollars, with 40 percent in euros and the rest in pounds sterling. Earlier it was believed that just 25-30 percent of Russia’s reserves were held in euros, with virtually all the rest held in dollars.

Saturday 10th June 2006: -

• Microchips in humans inevitable: Alberta - Imagine a world where you're taken unconscious and with no identification to a hospital. The doctor scans the microchip implanted in your shoulder, downloads your medical identification number and links up with a secure network that says you're a diabetic and allergic to Tylenol. Sounds ideal. In a world where more than 230 physicians in the United States have bought microchips for implantation in patients, and where a club owner in Spain offers to implant VIP chips into posh people so they don't need to carry credit cards or identification, the ethics of human microchip technology needs to be debated in Canada, says a University of Ottawa professor.

• US Court Backs Government Internet Surveillance - A U.S. appeals court has upheld the government's authority to require broadband Internet service providers to allow law enforcement agencies to tap Internet phone calls and transmissions. In Friday's ruling, the Washington court said a Federal Communications Commission order granting law enforcement access to Internet communications was legal.

• New gadgets help parents track teens - After his 17-year-old son Robert crashed his car for the third time, Jason Bailey needed to bring the teenager’s driving under control. He wanted to give his son another chance before taking away his Jeep Cherokee. But he also needed assurance that if Robert drove recklessly, he’d find out about it. So, last month he slapped a big bumper sticker on the SUV, urging people to call a toll-free number if they spotted it being driven badly. When a caller leaves a message, a Web-based company, reportmyteen.com, automatically sends Bailey an e-mail with a digital audio file of the caller’s report.

Friday 09th June 2006: -

• Reform bill climbdown fails to satisfy critics - Critics of a new law giving ministers greater powers have renewed their attack despite a major climbdown, warning that the government got its proposals "badly wrong". The Cabinet Office was forced to drastically prune the legislation - dubbed the "parliamentary scrutiny (abolition) bill" - last month, after whips warned that the Lords would throw it out. Opponents said it would allow ministers to change laws almost at will, even introducing new criminal offences or amending the constitution.

• G8 'failing to meet aid pledges' - UK charity Oxfam says increases in aid from the world's richest countries are not enough to meet promises they made at the Gleneagles G8 meeting last year. The claim comes as G8 finance ministers meet in St Petersburg. It was at the same pre-summit meeting last year that the decision to extend debt cancellation to more countries, including Nigeria, was made.

• 'Legalise Euthanasia' Says Ethics Professor: Euthanasia should be legalised, according to a leading British professor of medical ethics - Emeritus Professor Len Doyal called for the legalisation of both voluntary and non-voluntary euthanasia in Britain. Prof Doyle claimed doctor assisted deaths are taking place in Britain on a "regular and recurring basis" and need to be better regulated.

Thursday 08th June 2006: -

• Home Office defends sharing DNA database - The Home Office is under fire for allowing foreign agencies access to the National DNA Database (NDNAD). Following the news two weeks ago that the ID card database will be shared, Liberal Democrat Home Affairs spokeswoman Lynne Featherstone asked in parliament whether foreign law enforcement can already access DNA data. Home Office minister Joan Ryan confirmed that since 2004 they had received 519 requests for UK DNA data from abroad. No records are available from before that time, she added.

• HOW MANY DEATHS CAN ONE MAN HAVE?: Pentagon Jettisons US Agent Provocateur Al-Zarqawi - For those of us attempting to keep track of how many times US agent provocateur Musab Al-Zarqawi has been killed or captured today's news comes as something of a relief - the US government has stamped its official seal of approval on the fact that the Pentagon's most influential PR tool is no more. Irrefutable evidence confirms that Musab Al-Zarqawi was a US agent provocateur used to both sell the necessity of the war in Iraq and as a patsy to take the fall for numerous suspicious bombings which only had the effect of realizing a long-held US and Israeli goal to deliberately foment civil war in Iraq and break up the country along sectarian lines.

• Elite firm to guard top-secret meeting in Kanata: VIPs set to arrive for Bilderberg meeting - An elite private security firm has been hired to guard a top-secret meeting of some of the world's most powerful business and political leaders at a Kanata hotel starting today. Members of the Bilderberg Group will descend on the upscale Brookstreet Hotel for the three-day meeting, several police sources confirmed yesterday.

• Ohio Attorney Jailed Again From Charges Stemming From Speaking Out At A City Council Meeting: Elsebeth Baumgartner hauled off to the Erie County jail last week, as close friend provides sketchy report of the incident - An Ohio attorney facing 66 years and six months in jail for speaking out a city council meeting was jailed last Thursday after making a routine court appearance in preparation for her upcoming trial. Information still remains sketchy as to the exact reason why attorney Elsebeth Baumgartner was hauled away to the the Erie County jail, but sources close to the case say it's nothing but "political pay back" for uncovering serious corruption in Cuyahoga County leading all the way to the doorstep of the White House.

• Robot device mimics human touch - A device which may pave the way for robotic hands that can replicate the human sense of touch has been unveiled. US scientists have created a sensor that can "feel" the texture of objects to the same degree of sensitivity as a human fingertip. The team says the tactile sensor could, in the future, aid minimally invasive surgical techniques by giving surgeons a "touch-sensation".

Wednesday 07th June 2006: -

• 'Big Brother' bags 437 criminals: Hi-tech roadside cameras help police make hundreds of arrests - A POWERFUL surveillance system has caught over 400 law-breakers in a West Yorkshire town in just 12 months. The automatic number plate recognition system (ANPR) – sometimes dubbed "Britain's roadside Big Brother" – can read 3,000 number plates an hour, spotting suspicious vehicles in seconds by cross checking plates with police and other databases. In Wakefield, the £150,000 system and its police operators have been working alongside the council's 148 CCTV cameras to track and arrest suspected criminals. In its first year the ANPR team has made 437 arrests for a range of offences.

• E.U. panel backs Eli Lilly's Prozac for children - Europe's main medical regulator Tuesday said it recommends Eli Lilly & Co's (LLY) Prozac in the treatment of children and adolescents suffering from depression. The European Medicines Agency has recommended to extend the indication for Prozac and associated names to include the treatment of children of 8 years of age or older who suffer from moderate to severe depression and who do not respond to psychological therapy.

• China 'blocks' main Google site - Chinese authorities have blocked most domestic users from the main Google.com search engine, a media watchdog said. Internet users in major Chinese cities faced difficulties accessing Google's international site in the past week, Reporters Without Borders said. But Google.cn, the controversial Chinese language version launched in January, has not been affected. The site blocks politically sensitive material to comply with government censorship rules.

• Disney Help Parents Track Kids Via GPS - Parents can now easily determine the exact whereabouts of their children by tracking them through their cell phones equipped with Global Positioning System (GPS) technology. Disney Mobile is introducing cell phones, designed for 11-to-15-year-olds, with what Disney calls Family Locator – a tool that pinpoints the phone’s position via GPS. A GPS device evaluates signals from at least three satellites to reveal its position anywhere in the world.

• Report: Marines Staged Iraq Killing - Evidence has emerged U.S. Marines deliberately killed an unarmed Iraqi civilian in April in the town of Hamdaniya, CNN reported Tuesday. A military source with knowledge of a U.S. Naval Criminal Investigative Service investigation told the network the victim, identified by Knight Ridder as Hashim Ibrahim Awad, was dragged from his home and shot by Marines, who placed a shovel and AK-47 next to him to make it appear he was an insurgent.

Tuesday 06th June 2006: -

• Police to keep DNA - DNA samples taken by police will no longer have to be destroyed, giving the state the toughest laws - and biggest DNA data base - outside the United Kingdom. The State Government said the expanded data base and plans to test a wider range of offenders would assist police even further in the war on crime.

• UK Detects Chip-And-PIN Security Flaw - A flaw has been detected in the encryption technology used by UK payment card issuers, and it could allow fraudsters to use illicitly copied cards at small businesses, a spokesperson for APACS, the UK's payments association, tells Card Technology sister publication CardLine Europe. "This is something we are monitoring. Potentially there is about a one-in-five chance that a terminal in a small shop or newsagent would not spot a cloned card," he says.

• Intelligence behind raid was wrong, officials say - Senior counter-terrorism officials now believe that the intelligence that led to the raid on a family house last Friday in a search for a chemical device about to be used to attack Britain was wrong, the Guardian has learned. Counter-terrorism officials were under pressure last night after days of meticulous search of the house in east London failed to produce anything to link the two men they arrested to a chemical plot. But a senior police officer said they had been left with "no choice" but to force entry into the house because there was specific intelligence of a threat to public safety.

• Pub in trouble for slaying Welsh dragon - The landlady of a pub who organised a St George's Day archery competition using the dragon on a Welsh flag as the target has been interviewed by police, after a report of alleged incitement to cause racial hatred. Angie Sayer, 50, of the New Inn in Wedmore, Somerset, said she used the Welsh flag as it was the only large picture of a dragon she could find. She pinned it to the target in the beer garden, and locals in fancy dress used home-made bows and arrows to "slay the dragon". Officers interviewed her for two hours. "It's lunacy to even suggest I'm a racist," she said. "It was supposed to be a bit of a giggle." Police said they would not be taking further action.

• Boy banned from flying his England flag - A footie-mad Welsh boy has been ordered to take down an England flag from his bedroom window. As World Cup fever mounts, Llandough Primary School youngster Sam Struebig, 11, has been left gutted that he can't join in the football festivities. Housing bosses sent his family a letter after receiving complaints about the 3ft wide St George's Cross he had pinned in the window of their flat in Cogan Court, Penarth.   (RELATED: Audio - Bill Hicks 'Flag Burning & Freedom')

• PINs to track all kids in care - PARENTS will have to use swipe cards or special PINs when leaving their children in day care under a $50 million anti-fraud plan. Attacked by the federal Opposition as "kiddie smart cards", the plan will track children through the childcare system to identify any shortfalls in service provision. In a separate initiative, banks are set to embark on a deal with the Federal Government to process up to $17.5 billion in Medicare transactions annually. Under the deal, the banks would use their Eftpos network to support the Government's $1.1 billion health-and-welfare smart card. Parents will be issued with swipe cards or individual PINs for each child by 2008. They will have to be used every time a child is picked up or dropped off at a childcare centre.

• 666: The Nick of time - Be afraid, be very afraid. It is the 6th day of the 6th month of the 6th year (ok, the 2006th year, but disregard that minor distraction) and 666 is the number of the beast. Is it a bad omen or just hype? Significant dates have an uncanny appeal, whether they portend the apocalypse or just a big party. When it came to 1 January, 2000, it inspired hopes and fears of both. Something similar happened on New Year's Eve 999, when a huge crowd gathered in Rome to await the end of the world, until at midnight the Pope blessed them and sent them home. Whether a smaller group of pedants turned up twelve months later is not recorded.   (RELATED: See our archive on 'The Occult')

Monday 05th June 2006: -

• Would You Give Your Child Cocaine? - While unfunded individuals and grass-roots groups are screaming at the top of their lungs about psychiatrists drugging our children based on made-up diseases, drug companies run hourly television ads to spread the false message of chemical imbalances. That no blood is ever drawn to prove this imbalance and that no normal child has Ritalin or Prozac coursing through their veins hasn't stopped this catch-phrase from becoming our version of the flat-earth concept widely accepted 400 years ago.

• BP Refinery Uses RFID for Evacuation System: At its Cherry Point facility, the oil giant has deployed an ultra-wideband tracking system to keep tabs on personnel in the event of a fire or explosion - BP Cherry Point, BP's oil refinery in Cherry Point, Washington, has launched an RFID personnel-tracking system. The site's "Location Aware Safety System" will be used to know the whereabouts of 2,000 staff members, contractors and visitors.

• Terror raid shooting accidental, say police: Suspect denies claim that gun went off during struggle - THE rules of engagement for armed police are under renewed scrutiny today, after it emerged that the officer involved in the shooting of a suspected terrorist told independent investigators that it was an accident. The armed officer who led the raid on a suspected chemical bomb factory in East London said that he did not deliberately fire the shot that injured Abul Kahar Kalam, but that his gun went off during a struggle on a staircase.

Sunday 04th June 2006: -

• USA DNA data base grows - U.S. law enforcement agencies have the DNA of about 3 million individuals on file, and add about 80,000 people to the database every month. Many of those people whose DNA is on file were convicted of petty misdemeanors, while some were simply arrested, The Washington Post reported. Investigators say the database makes crime solving much easier, but civil libertarians argue that it turns more and more people into criminal suspects. DNA can carry a lot of information, some of it very personal -- such as tendencies to inherited diseases.

• PERSPECTIVE: Surveillance cameras becoming part of everyday life - 7:45 a.m. You're late for work, but you stop at the corner convenience store for an essential cup of coffee. As you rub your eyes, you miss that the cup is overflowing. The spill isn't missed, however, by several security cameras, which silently record images of you shaking the scalding liquid from your fingers. You curse, pay and step outside, where more cameras capture your license plate number as you drive away. Smile, big brother is watching. Security cameras are everywhere, recording your steps throughout the day.

• Health may soon be just a matter of a bar code - AMERICAN scientists have ushered in an era of personalised genetics by reading an individual's entire genetic make-up in record time. Researchers used a new technique called DNA bar coding to scan in two weeks about two metres of unravelled genetic material plucked from a single cell of a donor. The multimillion-dollar Human Genome Project, which produced the first draft of the human genetic code in 2000, took three years to complete. The feat marks the beginning of a dramatic shift in medicine that will allow people to gaze upon the 6 billion letters that form their unique biological blueprint for the first time.

• SHOOT FIRST, DODGE QUESTIONS LATER: Police terror shooting questioned - 'Kate Roxburgh, who represents Mr Kahar, gave an account of the events leading up to her client being shot in the shoulder during an operation that involved about 250 police officers. She said: "He was woken up about four in the morning by screams from downstairs, got out of bed in his pyjamas obviously unarmed, nothing in his hands and hurrying down the stairs. She said he was shot "without any warning" as he came down the stairs. "He wasn't asked to freeze, given any warning and didn't know the people in his house were police officers until after he was shot," she added.'

• Pregnancy test on Diana's DNA - DNA tests are to be carried out to discover whether Princess Diana was pregnant when she died. The special investigation into her 1997 car crash, headed by former Metropolitan Police Commissioner Lord Stevens, plans to test traces of blood still in the Mercedes, The Mail on Sunday has learned. Advances in forensic and DNA testing since the original French probe can establish whether the tiny amount of dried blood, which matches Diana's type, is that of a woman who was pregnant. The findings could lay to rest a raft of conspiracy theories that have flourished since Diana and Mohamed Al Fayed's son Dodi were killed in the Paris crash..   (STRAW-MAN ALERT!: Bear in mind that there is a likelihood that Diana was in fact not pregnant.  Our stance on this issue is that it matters not so much if she was or wasn't pregnant, the point to emphasize is that it was believed that she was/might have been pregnant by those who killed her.  For us to say "We know that she was murdered because she was pregnant!" could easily cost us our whole argument that she was murdered at all, if indeed it turns out that she wasn't.  We also have to bear in mind that it is unlikely to the extreme that the Lord Stevens whitewash will produce proof (true or not) that Diana was pregnant on 31st August 1997.  That would surely bolster public support for the Diana murder truth movement (if you want to give it a name) which would be devastating to the establishment that wanted her 'out of the picture'?  Call me cynical but I don't see that ever happening.) - (RELATED: See our popular 'Diana Assassination' archive for more info.)

• RFID Implantable chips bear promise, but privacy standards needed - Radio frequency identification (RFID) chips implanted into human beings hold the promise of improving patient care, particularly in emergency settings, but only after privacy questions are addressed, according to a Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) physician who has a chip implanted in his arm. Writing in the July 28, 2005, edition of the New England Journal of Medicine, John Halamka, MD, chief information officer at BIDMC and Harvard Medical School and an emergency room physician, says the chip implanted in his upper right arm would allow anyone with a handheld RFID reader to scan his arm and obtain his 16-digit medical identifier.

• Should Nazi Era Sculptures Stay at Berlin's Olympic Stadium? - Many DW-WORLD.DE readers commented on the controversy surrounding Nazi era sculptures that can still be seen at Berlin's Olympic Stadium. Most backed keeping the art in place as a reminder of Germany darkest past.  (RELATED: See our 'Illuminati Symbolism' section.)

• Blair eyes plum job in the UN as he ponders life after No 10 - Tony Blair is keeping open the option of a move to New York with his wife Cherie for a top job at a revamped United Nations after he steps down as Prime Minister, Government sources have indicated. Downing Street refused last night to rule out the possibility of a transatlantic switch for the Blairs, which would allow them to be nearer their eldest, Euan, 22, who starts a masters degree course in international relations at Yale University in September.

• Iraq rejects US probe clearing troops of killings - Iraq vowed on Saturday to press on with its own probe into the deaths of civilians in a U.S. raid on the town of Ishaqi, rejecting the U.S. military's exoneration of its forces. Adnan al-Kazimi, an aide to Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, said the government would also demand an apology from the United States and compensation for the victims in several cases, including the alleged massacre in the town of Haditha last year.

Saturday 03rd June 2006: -

• MI5 intelligence points to 'planned UK chemical attack': Yeah sure, whatever you say guys!... - A man shot by anti-terrorist police during a massive raid to smash a suspected chemical plot is recovering in hospital today. The 23-year-old was hit by a bullet in the shoulder as armed officers descended on a family terraced house in east London in the early hours of yesterday. He was later arrested under the Terrorism Act after being treated for the gunshot wound in the Royal London Hospital, where he is still recovering. A 20-year-old man, thought to be his brother, was also held in the raid, which involved 250 police officers, MI5 and bio-chemical experts, and is still in custody.

• U.S. Wants Companies to Keep Web Usage Records - The Justice Department is asking Internet companies to keep records on the Web-surfing activities of their customers to aid law enforcement, and may propose legislation to force them to do so. The director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Robert S. Mueller III, and Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales held a meeting in Washington last Friday where they offered a general proposal on record-keeping to a group of senior executives from Internet companies, said Brian Roehrkasse, a spokesman for the department. The meeting included representatives from America Online, Microsoft, Google, Verizon and Comcast.

• Prepare now to keep track of your pet - It's time to prepare not just for us during hurricane season, but for our pets as well. Hurricane Katrina should be a lesson to make sure we have a way to track our pets down if they get separated. The Humane Society is housing pets lost in the storm, and have no way to find out and match them to their owners. Microchip Implantation is one way to permanently identify our pet. But, we need to make sure we register that data with a national database, in case local shelters are wiped out in the storm.

• Watchdog sounds EU alarm over spying on press - European countries need to investigate whether journalists are being systematically spied upon by security agencies, a global press watchdog said on Thursday, citing cases in Germany, the Netherlands and Denmark. "It is becoming increasingly clear that there are not sufficient measures in place to protect legitimate journalism from intrusive and potentially chilling surveillance by police and security forces within the European Union," said Aidan White, head of the International Federation of Journalists. In letters to the heads of EU institutions, the IFJ said a "culture of routine surveillance" appeared to be developing that could endanger press freedom.

Friday 02nd June 2006: -

• Man shot in anti-terrorism raid - A 23-year-old man has been shot by police during a house raid involving 250 officers carried out early on Friday under the Terrorism Act. The man, who was later arrested, was taken to hospital after the search in Forest Gate, east London. His injuries are not life-threatening. A 20-year-old man is also being held at a central London police station. A single shot was fired, according to the Independent Police Complaints Commission, which will investigate.

• DHS report faults use of RFID for human identification - The report, now in draft form, was prepared by the DHS's Emerging Applications and Technology subcommittee. A final version is to be presented Wednesday at a meeting of the DHS's Data Privacy and Integrity Advisory Committee, which advises the secretary of DHS and his chief privacy officer. While the authors of the report acknowledge RFID is useful for such tasks as inventory management, the report said that the technology, overall, is undesirable for processes connected with people. The benefits of its support for rapid communication over distances and its uses in security are outweighed by its risks to privacy, the report stated. "Most difficult and troubling is the situation in which RFID is ostensibly used for tracking objects (medicine containers, for example), but can be in fact used for monitoring human behavior. These types of uses are still being explored and remain difficult to predict. For these reasons, we recommend that RFID be disfavored for identifying and tracking human beings," the report said.

• Examiner: Taser played role in man's death - A medical examiner has found that Tasers fired 20 times at a suspect by two San Jose police officers contributed to the man's death. The case marks is the second time this year the Santa Clara County Coroner's Office has listed Tasers as a "contributory cause of death."

Thursday 01st June 2006: -

• Five years in prison if you are caught carrying a knife - Far tougher penalties for thugs caught carrying knives could be rushed through following a wave of stabbings. Home Secretary John Reid is planning to introduce laws which would mean automatic jail terms - with sentences as long as five years. Mr Reid wants to add the measures to the Violent Crime Reduction Bill which is going through the House of Lords.   (QUESTION: Who do a disarmed society turn to?... that's right... their loving government.  Gee, I wonder what this is all about.)

• New CIA director Hayden plans massive expansion of spying on Americans - Now that he is officially sworn in as the new head of the Central Intelligence Agency, Gen. Michael Hayden plans to build a vast domestic spying network that will pry into the lives of most Americans around the clock. President George W. Bush told Hayden to "take whatever steps necessary" to monitor Americans 24/7 by listening in on their phone calls, bugging their homes and offices, probing their private lives, snooping into their financial records and watching their travel habits.

• Geronimo's family call on Bush to help return his skeleton - The great grandson of the Apache leader Geronimo has appealed to the big chief in the White House to help recover the remains of his famous relative - purportedly stolen more than 90 years ago by a group of students - including the President's grandfather. The story that members of Yale University's secret Skull and Bones society took the remains - including a skull and femur - from the burial site in Fort Sill, Oklahoma, has long been part of the university's lore. But a university historian recently recovered a letter from 1918 that appears to support the story that members of the society did indeed take the remains while serving with a group of army volunteers from Yale, stationed at the fort during the First World War.   (RELATED: See our 'Skull & Bones' archive)

• WISCONSIN BANS FORCED HUMAN RFID CHIPPING: Groundbreaking Law Spotlights Opposition to VeriChip - Civil libertarians cheered yesterday upon news that Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle signed a law making it a crime to require an individual to be implanted with a microchip. Activists and authors Katherine Albrecht and Liz McIntyre joined the celebration, predicting this move will spell trouble for the VeriChip Corporation, maker of the VeriChip human microchip implant. The VeriChip is a glass encapsulated Radio Frequency Identification tag that is injected into the flesh to uniquely number and identify people. The tag can be read silently and invisibly by radio waves from up to a foot or more away, right through clothing. The highly controversial device is also being marketed as a way to access secure areas, link to medical records, and serve as a payment device when associated with a credit card.

• Iran's military plans for invasion by U.S. - Iran, apparently anticipating an American invasion, has quietly been restructuring its military and testing a new military doctrine that calls for a decentralized, Iraqi-style guerrilla campaign against an invading force. Iran's military planners are acutely aware that a military confrontation with technologically more advanced U.S. armed forces would be rapid and multifronted, unlike the static and slow-paced 1980-88 war with Saddam Hussein's Iraq.

• Iraq Vet Sues Michael Moore for Misleading Interview in 'Fahrenheit 9/11' - A double-amputee Iraq-war vet is suing Michael Moore for $85 million, claiming he recycled an old interview and used it out of context to make him appear anti-war in "Fahrenheit 9/11." Sgt. Peter Damon, 33, who strongly supports America's invasion of Iraq, said he never agreed to be in the 2004 movie, which trashes President Bush. In the 2003 interview, which he did at Walter Reed Army Hospital for NBC News, he discussed only a new painkiller the military was using on wounded vets. "They took the clip because it was a gut-wrenching scene," Damon said Tuesday. "They sandwiched it in. [Moore] was using me as ammunition."

• U.S. troops kill pregnant woman in Iraq - U.S. forces killed two Iraqi women — one of them about to give birth — when the troops shot at a car that failed to stop at an observation post in a city north of Baghdad, Iraqi officials and relatives said Wednesday. Nabiha Nisaif Jassim, 35, was being raced to the maternity hospital in Samarra by her brother when the shooting occurred Tuesday. Jassim, the mother of two children, and her 57-year-old cousin, Saliha Mohammed Hassan, were killed by the U.S. forces, according to police Capt. Laith Mohammed and witnesses.

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