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