Friday 31st MARCH 2006: -

• 9/11 Truth Calling Oprah!: An Appeal from TvNewsLIES.org - For more than five years now, the entire mainstream corporate news media apparatus has been controlled by a handful of behind-the-scene power brokers. In all that time there has been a total blackout on any mention, never mind discussion, of the truth behind the events of 9/11. Despite their credibility and expertise, high-powered and extremely convincing voices of truth have been denied access to the public via the mainstream media. In the years following the attacks of 9/11, a significant number of knowledgeable people have attempted to alert the nation about the mountain of evidence that has been unearthed by their investigations, and which shoots large holes in the ‘official’ version of events sold to an unsuspecting and unquestioning public.

• RFID gets under your skin - RFID (radio frequency identification) tags seem to be quite the hot item these days, finding their way into poker chips and cell phones, among many other places, and now we see the technology in practice being implanted subdermally into three “customers” by Canadian Piercing Studio Tribal Expression. These tags are designed for people to be able to unlock front doors, company cars, and computer equipment without messing around with passwords or physical keys. According to Tribal Expressions Owner Keith Kennedy, the RFID tags are 64-bit, allowing for 100 billion unique keys. In this way, it’s pretty hard for someone to just “guess” what frequency would be able to give them access to your home.

• Police armed with new technology - Hi-tech pocket computers are helping police outwit wanted suspects who try to bluff their way out of being arrested when stopped on the streets. Frontline officers in West Yorkshire equipped with handheld Blackberry devices can now instantly download digital mugshots of wanted offenders. The upgraded technology aims to catch out those who try to avoid arrest by giving false details. West Yorkshire Police said the devices had saved £8.8m by speeding up checks. The devices enable frontline officers to instantly access digital mugshots and check other vital information on an individual they have stopped.

• ID card laws gain Royal Assent in return to the wartime past - More than half a century after Britain got rid of its wartime identity cards, laws to set up a similar scheme were given Royal Assent yesterday. The ID Card Act will allow the Government to establish a national identity database containing the biometrics of all adults. A new Identity and Passport Service, which will oversee the reform, will come into being tomorrow. The Government is free to begin the tendering process for running the scheme, which is likely to prove a hugely lucrative exercise for successful bidders. Companies will be needed to set up the database and supply the biometric readers to carry out checks.

• Lancashire gives Condi chilly reception: Rice admits 'many mistakes' in Iraq - Condoleezza Rice today admitted that America had made thousands of tactical errors in the invasion of Iraq. The US Secretary of State, answering questions from journalists during a tour of North West England, insisted, however, that its overall strategy of removing Saddam Hussein would be judged favourably in the future.

• Actor & Director Ed Asner Shares 9/11 Concerns: Highlights story of hijackers still alive and well - Award winning director, producer and actor Ed Asner is the latest high profile public figure to voice his support for Charlie Sheen's stance on 9/11 and share his own concerns about 9/11, the war in Iraq and the Neo-Cons. Speaking to The Alex Jones Show Asner, best known for his Emmy-winning role as Lou Grant on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, echoed Charlie Sheen's sentiments in stating, "I became suspicious of 9/11 on the day it happened."

Thursday 30th MARCH 2006: -

• Staffordshire hospital arrests non-terrorist under Terrorism Act: Man's illness sparks security scare - Tests are being carried out on a 28-year-old man whose unknown illness sparked a security alert at a hospital, police said. The patient at Stafford General Hospital was accompanied by four men whose "suspicious behaviour" prompted staff to raise the alarm. Armed officers swooped on a car park at the site and arrested four men under the Terrorism Act. The 28-year-old, whose condition staff were concerned about, was moved to another hospital for specialist treatment.

• Is school fingerprinting out of bounds?: Obtaining biometric data from pupils, often without parental knowledge, shows how far this technology has already infiltrated society - Last week, news emerged that Primrose Hill primary school in north London had been fingerprinting pupils without their parents' consent. It seemed shocking yet should not have come as such a surprise. Micro Librarian Systems' Junior Librarian has been marketed in the UK since 2002 and is estimated to have fingerprinted hundreds of thousands of British children. That so many schools have been happy to install such systems, often without thinking it necessary to consult parents, is a reflection of how this technology is infiltrating society. We can expect more of the same, for children and adults, should the ID card, debated once more this week in parliament, become reality.

• Delay in deciding whether de Menezes police to face charges - Prosecutors reviewing the fatal police shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes have delayed deciding whether to bring charges against any of the officers involved until the summer. The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) had been widely expected to announce its decision on criminal charges at around Easter but it now regards this timetable as "no longer realistic". Mr de Menezes, a 27-year old electrician originally from Brazil, was shot and killed at Stockwell tube station as London was gripped by tension caused by the July 7, and attempted July 21, bomb attacks. The Brazilian was shot seven times in the head by anti-terror officers after being mistaken for a suicide bomber the day after the attempted July 21 attacks.

• 3 Taser incidents in schools - Police tried to use a Taser on a Wichita student a month before stunning another student with a Taser two weeks ago at North High School, police records show. A report released Wednesday shows that a school resource officer tried unsuccessfully to stun a 14-year-old girl with a Taser during an altercation Feb. 17 inside Coleman Middle School. In a third incident, a school resource officer pulled his Taser during an altercation with an "emotionally upset" 15-year-old boy Feb. 7 inside East High School, the report said. The students at Coleman and East were not harmed and were brought under control, the report said.

• THERE GOES ANOTHER SYMBOL OF CHILDHOOD INNOCENCE, CORRUPTED: Blue Peter ID cards no joke - It was meant to be a joke, but reality has turned out to be stranger than science fiction. Blue Peter producers are indeed considering introducing ID Cards for kids. The corporation felt compelled to act to stop the sale on eBay of the Blue Peter badges that it awards to kids who impress the cameras with charitable gestures or daring feats. So it suspended the privileges they confer on their owners until they could find a way of ensuring only Blue Peter heroes could enjoy them. Today, a BBC spokesperson said: "We are looking at ways of having a secure system in place. It will be something like some sort of verification or ID, just a secure way of doing it, of proving your identity."

• ID cards 'to be made compulsory' - Identity cards will be made compulsory if Labour wins the next election, Home Secretary Charles Clarke has said. Under the current scheme all passport applicants from 2008 will have to get an ID card - although there will be a brief opt-out period until 2010. But Mr Clarke said he plans legislation after the next election to make it compulsory for everyone to get a card, whether or not they have a passport.

• Security services cleared over 7 July bombings - A cross-party committee of MPs has concluded that intelligence and security services were not to blame for the 7 July bombings, according to a report. But the Intelligence and Security Committee will ask the Prime Minister why the lead bomber Mohammed Sidique Khan was not investigated, despite being known to police. It also questioned the quality of intelligence on the activities of British militants in Pakistan prior to the four suicide bombings on London's transport network, the BBC reported.   (RELATED: See our '7/7 London Bombings' archive for more info)

• Drone aircraft may prowl U.S. skies - Unmanned aerial vehicles have soared the skies of Afghanistan and Iraq for years, spotting enemy encampments, protecting military bases, and even launching missile attacks against suspected terrorists. Now UAVs may be landing in the United States. A House of Representatives panel on Wednesday heard testimony from police agencies that envision using UAVs for everything from border security to domestic surveillance high above American cities. Private companies also hope to use UAVs for tasks such as aerial photography and pipeline monitoring.

Wednesday 29th MARCH 2006: -

• National ID cards to be introduced - Britain is set to introduce national identity cards to combat fraud and terrorism from 2008 after the country's upper chamber agreed a compromise deal with Tony Blair's government on Wednesday. The planned biometric cards, which will carry fingerprint, iris and face recognition technology, are the world's most ambitious, say experts, and could be used as a model for other countries, including the United States. Critics say they are unworkable and costly and argue they infringe civil liberties.

• Clinton calls for compulsory testing for HIV/AIDS - Former U.S. President Bill Clinton called on Tuesday for compulsory testing of people for HIV/AIDS in countries that have high infection rates. The 59-year-old former president said that this test is "essential to reduce the spread of AIDS." He said that by making people aware of their HIV status was the only way to make them change their sexual behavior.

• CHICAGO BALLOT CHAOS: NEW COMPUTER VOTE MACHINES MALFUNCTION, UNVERIFIABLE - Chicago’s use of a flawed computerized voting system operated by a privately held foreign company reveals how meaningless and absurd the “democratic” process in America has become. Having observed voting systems across Europe, from Serbia, Germany and Estonia to Holland and France, this reporter has noted that the most honest and transparent elections are also the most simple. The more complicated methods of voting, such as the unverifiable computerized voting systems widely used across the United States, lack the most essential element of democratic elections—transparency.

• MI6 pays out over secret LSD mind control tests - The Secret Intelligence Service, MI6, has paid thousands of pounds in compensation to servicemen who were fed LSD without their consent in clandestine mind-control experiments in the 1950s. MI6 has agreed an out-of-court settlement with the men, who said they were duped into taking part in the experiments and had waited years to learn the truth. The men experienced vivid hallucinogenic trips when given the drugs. One recalled seeing distorted "Salvador Dali-style faces and cracks in people's faces". MI6 is also paying the cost of the men's lawsuit, which alleged assault.

Tuesday 28th MARCH 2006: -

• Blue Peter ID Cards for pesky kids - BBC bosses are mulling plans to issue Blue Peter ID cards in place of the coveted badges awarded to kids who prove their lickspittle credentials to producers of the hit TV show. The Beeb is understood to have tabled the initiative using emergency powers granted under the Prevention of Antidisestablishmentarianism Act (1869), in an effort to bring wayward children back under the corporation's control.

• Taser use expands; deaths too - The number of people who have died in the U.S. after being shocked by police stun guns is growing rapidly, Amnesty International says in a report that catalogs 156 deaths in the past five years. Deaths after the use of Taser stun guns rose to 61 last year from three in 2001, the international human-rights group said.

• Govt refuses microchip exemption for farm dogs - Federated Farmers says it will continue to fight for farm dogs to be exempted from a new micro-chipping law that will take effect in July. Cabinet yesterday rejected a bid to have farm dogs exempted from new legislation making micro-chipping of dogs compulsory. Prime Minister Helen Clark said the Cabinet won't support any exemptions on the basis that there should be 'one law for all dogs'. From July, all newly registered dogs will have a microchip with ownership information inserted in their neck. The measure was introduced after a spate of dog attacks.   (MESSAGE TO ALL FARMERS IN N.Z: Don't worry about this issue.  The government will be passing laws soon to ensure that you too are implanted with a microchip that will monitor everything you do and everywhere you go.  It just goes to show what place us 'dogs' have in the beast system that is the 'New World Order'!.)

• Fifth defeat for ID card scheme - The government suffered a fifth defeat in the Lords today over its plans for compulsory identity cards, as the stand-off between peers and MPs continued. The Lords voted 219 to 191 - a majority of 28 - for a compromise motion watering down the controversial bill, despite a warning from the government that continuing to oppose the bill could have serious consequences for the future of the Lords. The bill now goes back to the Commons, with the government insisting it is willing to bat the legislation back and forth until it secures agreement.

• Brain Cells Fused with Computer Chip - The line between living organisms and machines has just become a whole lot blurrier. European researchers have developed "neuro-chips" in which living brain cells and silicon circuits are coupled together. The achievement could one day enable the creation of sophisticated neural prostheses to treat neurological disorders or the development of organic computers that crunch numbers using living neurons. To create the neuro-chip, researchers squeezed more than 16,000 electronic transistors and hundreds of capacitors onto a silicon chip just 1 millimeter square in size.

Monday 27th MARCH 2006: -

• 4 districts buy machine to fingerprint employees: Center Line, Van Dyke, Fitzgerald and Warren Woods schools pool funds to comply with new law - Four school districts in southern Macomb County have teamed up to buy a high-tech machine to fingerprint their employees. The districts -- Center Line Public Schools, Fitzgerald Public Schools, Van Dyke Public Schools and Warren Woods Public Schools -- plan to purchase the machine to comply with a new state law. The mandate requires that all districts in Michigan have the fingerprints of all school employees on record by 2008. The purchase will allow the districts to save time and make it easier for employees and new hires to be fingerprinted, said Judith Pritchett, superintendent of Center Line Public Schools.

• Labour isn't wicked - but it's doing just what the Nazis did - Imagine we had a really bad government. I mean morally bad, wicked: a government that wanted to do something terrible, like abduct children from their families or introduce euthanasia of disabled babies. It couldn't happen, right? We wouldn't let it, would we? This Government isn't morally bad. For all its frequent cock-ups, our ministers are well-intentioned, trying to do right by their own lights. Just now they find themselves caught out in the secular equivalent of simony, the sale of offices and indulgences for cash. But simony is the natural vice of politics: in the cant phrase, it goes with the territory, where power and money meet. Indeed, the purchase of contracts and peerages used to be part of the normal business of politics, in times when human relationships counted for more than abstract individual merit.

• THE CENTRALISATION OF INFORMATION... AND POWER: Belgium Considers Health Function For National ID Card - Government leaders in Belgium are considering adding the nation's health-card function to its chip-based national identification card, says Marc Caen, communications manager for the Belgian eID, or electronic ID card, program. Currently, Belgian citizens carry one smart card for the national ID and another for the health care system. Caen says both cards act as keys to a national registry of citizens that is used to verify the identity of the cardholder.

• Moussaoui appears to sign own death warrant - Zacarias Moussaoui, the only person convicted in the US for his connection to the September 11, 2001 terror attacks, appeared to sign his own death warrant today when he told a jury that he knew of the plot to attack New York’s World Trade Center. In an extraordinary admission that dismayed his defence lawyers and rescued what had been a disastrous prosecution case, Moussaoui took the stand and within minutes declared: "I had knowledge that the Twin Towers would be hit. I didn’t know the date." But, crucially for the prosecution, he added: "I knew it would happen after August."

• Charlie Sheen's Statement to the London Guardian: Challenges Press to Stop Slinging Mud, Confront The Science - Charlie Sheen felt compelled to respond to one of many hit-pieces against him, a column written for the London Guardian and carried by British commonwealth newspapers worldwide. Sheen sent his statement to The Australian newspaper. This is his full statement minus a phone number to his manager so that the paper could confirm its authenticity. This is a direct challenge for them to debate the facts.    (RELATED: Click here to see our archive 'Charlie Sheen Speaks out on 9/11!')

• Standing room only to cut weight: Yorkshire fat camp may copy US and ban chairs - Scientists working on the obesity problem think the trick might be to take away our chairs. They want offices and classrooms adapted for writing while standing up. An American researcher is running a chairless classroom and the Leeds obesity specialists who run Britain's only "fat camp" for children are awaiting his results with interest. They are already talking to IT specialists about introducing standing-only classrooms at the Leeds "fat camp".

• Biometric security systems awarded EU Information Society Technology prizes - A biometric security system that recognizes your face, and a digital content 'finger-printing' system to deter multimedia pirates are winners of the European Information Society Technology Grand Prizes for 2006, announced in Vienna last week. The UK picked of three prizes, of €5,000 each, awarded to innovative technologies. The top 20 projects were selected by the European Commission on 16 March from a total of 213 applicants from 28 European countries.

• UK adopts passport directive - The government is planning to follow the European Union's timetable for introducing high-security biometric passports, despite having an opt-out from the Brussels agreement. A leaked Home Office document, passed to the Sunday Telegraph, says that the introduction of passports carrying fingerprint or iris-scan information will be linked to an EU directive to be implemented in 2009. The memo, written by a senior figure on the ID cards project, says: "I think some people think that we would be designating passports much earlier than we actually plan to do, whereas it would really be linked with implementation of the EU directive. . . there would be no obligation on British passport applicants to provide fingerprints until we envisaged this being the norm throughout Europe (though politically I think it would be difficult to have an explicit link with an EU Directive - especially one from which we are technically excluded)."

Sunday 26th MARCH 2006: -

• Judge orders strip club to install surveillance system - A judge ordered the owner of the GoGo Joint bar to install a video surveillance system so police can monitor activity inside the Shelter Rock Road strip club. State and local authorities expect the cameras — and the signs that owner Vincent Mavilia must post advising customers about them — will curb the blatant acts of prostitution that led to the closure of the club last week. “When people are aware the cameras are on, they are more apt to watch their behavior,” said Detective Lt. James Fisher, head of Special Investigations Division of the Danbury Police Department.

• Big Brother fear over school CCTV - BIG Brother-style CCTV cameras could soon be keeping a closer eye on children in schools. Almost a third of Islington's schools already have CCTV at their main entrance - but proposals to extend the system have been met with fears about "spying" on kids in the classroom. Headteachers and education bosses are to meet with Islington's CCTV co-ordinator and community safety unit to discuss installing more cameras in the borough's schools.

• Scotland bans smoking to tackle poor health - A sweeping ban on smoking came into force in Scotland on Sunday, making it the first part of Britain where pubs, restaurants and workplaces are smoke-free, in an effort to tackle a poor public health record. Experts hope the ban on lighting up in pubs, restaurants, cafes and offices will lead to a big drop in the number of deaths caused by passive smoking, estimated at about 1,000 a year in Scotland, with a population of five million.   (COMMENTARY: Our emphasis on this is not that we think that smoking should be allowed in public, as such, but more that this is one of the issues being brought to the attention of the public as we generally 'give up our liberties in exchange for security' - and bear in mind that smoking in public is one of the more common 'rights' that citizens have enjoyed (be it at the expense of others who prefer breathing fresh air) for some time now. Once we - as such a society - are prepared to relinquish this, who knows what more fundamental rights we will be giving up next?)

• Drug culture now rife in British schools - One in five secondary school children have tried drugs in the last year, a shocking national survey has revealed. It found that six per cent of 11-year-olds had taken drugs in 2005 which rose to a third of 15- year-olds surveyed. One in four said they had been offered cannabis and this was the drug pupils were most likely to use, with 12 per cent trying the drug. And a worrying four in 100 had taken Class A drugs in the past 12 months.

• Mentally ill face new detention powers - MENTAL health patients living in the community will be compelled to take medication or face detention in hospital, under radical government plans disclosed yesterday. The measures will also allow the compulsory detention of patients who are a risk to themselves or their community but who have not committed an offence, provided “appropriate treatment” can be offered. The controversial proposals were published yesterday as the Government abandoned plans to introduce a lengthy and complex new mental health Bill in the face of fierce opposition from psychiatrists, mental health groups and civil liberties groups. Instead, a few selected measures from the draft legislation will be wrapped up into a shorter amendment Bill that will be tacked on to the existing law.

• ANOTHER DUMB MSM HIT-PIECE ON CHARLIE SHEEN - He's a right Charlie: Mr Sheen is the latest celebrity to confuse fact and fiction - Pay attention, civilians. Actor Charlie Sheen has been focusing his mind on the official explanation for 9/11. And you know what? He's not buying it. "It just didn't look like any commercial jetliner I've flown on any time in my life," the Hotshots Part Deux star told a US radio station this week, "and then when the buildings came down later on that day, I said to my brother 'call me insane', but did it sorta look like those buildings came down in a controlled demolition?" You're insane. Next.   (RELATED: Click here to see our archive 'Charlie Sheen Speaks out on 9/11!')

• Pentagon plans cyber-insect army - The Pentagon's defence scientists want to create an army of cyber-insects that can be remotely controlled to check out explosives and send transmissions. The idea is to insert micro-systems at the pupa stage, when the insects can integrate them into their body, so they can be remotely controlled later. Experts told the BBC some ideas were feasible but others seemed "ludicrous".

Saturday 25th MARCH 2006: -

• Video: Alex Jones' Second Appearance On Showbiz Tonight - "And the new world order better stop carrying out terror attacks. We`ve caught them over 200 times in the last 100 years, western governments doing this. Hitler does it; the British do it; the Russians did it. Governments do this." Alex continues his rampaging defense of Charlie Sheen and encourages Americans not to just believe us but check out the facts for themselves.

• FOX NEWS ENGAGES IN DESPERATION DAMAGE CONTROL, PATRONIZES ANYONE WHO LOOKS AT FACTS: Hannity & Colmes Piece on Sheen 9/11 Comments - The CNN poll showing 82% support for Charlie Sheen directly contradicts a line of attack used in this Hannity and Colmes piece Thursday night which claimed that Sheen's views didn't reflect the mainstream of America. If we are to treat an 82% majority as the mainstream then that accusation is completely fraudulent.

• Dixie Chicks turn death threats to song - Three years is a long time in geopolitics. In 2003 the Dixie Chicks were condemned as traitors in America after telling a London audience they were ashamed that their president came from Texas. Now the group's angry new song addressing that controversy looks set to become a hit. Not Ready to Make Nice, due to be released in May, refers to death threats the three Texans received after the Guardian reported how they had criticised George Bush during a concert at the Shepherd's Bush Empire. "Just so you know, we're ashamed the president of the United States is from Texas," singer Natalie Maines told the audience.

• TO BE TAKEN WITH A BIG BLOODY PINCH OF SALT!: Death of Diana's bodygaurd 'not foul play' - THE death of Princess Diana's former bodyguard and lover in a South Woodford car crash 19 years ago was not foul play, according to detectives investigating Diana's death. Sgt Barry Mannakee, 39, died when the Suzuki motorbike on which he was riding pillion crashed with a car at the junction of Hermitage Walk and Woodford High Road in May 1987. In a videotape recorded later by the princess's voice coach, she said that she had been deeply in love with the officer and that she believed he had been bumped off' by the security services. It was a view echoed by the South Woodford teenager whose Ford Fiesta collided with Sgt Mannakee, from Loughton, breaking his spine in two places.   (RELATED: See our 'Diana Assassination' archive.)

• Are biometric payments the next stage after Chip and PIN - Following the recent Co-Op's trial launch of biometric payments last week, this may become the next stage after Chip and PIN for British retail, but customer sensibilities should be dealt with caution. Within five to ten years this will be mainstream, according to TSSI Systems Ltd, and the big high street players will have moved this way. "This is the next stage after Chip and PIN. There is no arguing with biometric verification," said Stewart Hefferman, COO, TSSI Systems Ltd.

• ADHD treatments raise questions - While no causative connection has been proven, reports of a small number of children medicated for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder seeing snakes or suffering strokes have prompted two federal advisory panels to recommend that parents and physicians be alerted to the potential risks. In the latest non-binding move, a Food and Drug Administration pediatric committee Wednesday urged a beefed-up warning on the drugs' labels, though not the direst type referred to as a "black box." That's the kind an FDA-commissioned group of experts focusing on safety had favored in February after reviewing cases of sudden death, heart attacks, strokes and other cardiac problems experienced by a tiny fraction of ADHD patients who were taking the medicines and who apparently had underlying cardiac irregularities.

• 'Yob alarm' human rights fears - A high-tech anti-yob alarm which can only be heard by teenagers has been removed from a store amid fears it infringes human rights. The Mosquito emits out a high-pitched pulse which can be heard by most people aged under 20 but almost nobody aged more than 30. It cut yob behaviour by 84 per cent when it was fitted outside a Spar store in Wales earlier this year as potential trouble-makers irritated by the sound quit the vicinity. But now it is to be removed over human rights concerns and it is feared that previous anti-social problems will re-emerge.

• CNN POLE: Do you agree with Charlie Sheen that the U.S. government covered up the real events of the 9/11 attacks? Currently 82% say 'Yes'. If you havent voted, get yourself over there and vote as you see fit.

• Charlie Sheen: 'Challenge Me On the Facts': Actor's first response since media firestorm over 9/11 comments - Charlie Sheen has responded publicly for the first time since the media firestorm over his comments by challenging his detractors to debate him on the evidence of 9/11 and not issues relating to his personal life. "I am an American citizen that loves my country and as a citizen with my passion for this great country I demand that I be challenged on the facts not on immature behavior from twenty years ago," said Sheen.

• Police get national biometric palm print database: Forces will be able to search for matches of scene-of-crime prints - A new software tool will allow police forces in England and Wales to search a national biometric database of palm prints collected at crime scenes by forensics investigators. Palm prints, which police claim can account for a fifth of all crime scene marks, have been collected by forensics officers for more than two years but it is only now that they can be automatically searched for matches against a national database.

Friday 24th MARCH 2006: -

• Belarus Protest Dispersed as Police Arrest Hundreds - European leaders announced agreement on imposing travel limits and possible financial sanctions in response, and a White House spokesman said that the Bush administration would consider similar steps. The crackdown began just after 3 a.m., when police officers wearing black riot helmets and masks arrived on six large trucks and surrounded the small encampment in October Square.

• Student shocked by Taser in Wichita school - The mother of a 15-year-old high school student is considering legal options after her son was shocked by a stun gun while refusing to follow a police officer's commands and resisting arrest. The student, Jarrett McConnell, is awaiting an expulsion hearing after an altercation at North High School in Wichita on March 16. According to school officials, McConnell was in assistant principal Gilbert Alvarez's office after he did not report to the school's in-school suspension room. There, McConnell became disruptive and pushed the school security officer.

FOR MORE INFO: Codex Magica: Secret Signs, Mysterious Symbols, and Hidden Codes of the Illuminati by Texe Marrs

• Britain is 'likely base for son of Star Wars' - Britain has been named as a prime candidate to host missiles for America's controversial "son of Star Wars" defence system, a senior US general has revealed. The disclosure risked infuriating Left-wing Labour MPs and prompting a fresh examination of transatlantic links and the relationship between Tony Blair and President George W Bush. Lt Gen Trey Obering, head of the US Missile Defence Agency, said Britain was one of three candidates to be the European host of interceptors designed to shoot down incoming ballistic missiles.

• BRIT COPS 'BUNGLED' ON CALVI - A DETECTIVE told a Mafia murder trial yesterday how the original investigation into the death of "God's banker" Roberto Calvi was bungled. City of London Det Sgt Trevor Smith said there had been a "rush to judgement" to rule the Italian's death in 1982 was suicide. Calvi, who worked for the Vatican's bank, was found hanged under Blackfriars bridge in London.

• Plan to give kids ID numbers - The Government is examining a proposal to have children tagged and numbered in a central database to stem abuse and failure at school. Personal details of every New Zealand child, including welfare and health concerns, would be entered into the database, to be shared by schools, social agencies and health authorities. It would be similar to Scottish and British initiatives, with a single ID number issued for each child, enabling authorities to be alerted to potential problems.

• BANNED FOR SPEAKING OUT: POPULAR MUSICIAN, BAND VICTIMS OF THOUGHT COPS - The thought police are now turning into the music police, if a recent incident at Rutgers University in New Jersey is any indication. One of America’s brightest young entertainers was recently barred from performing on the Rutgers campus, not because of any “controversial” lyrics in his music, but simply because his Internet web site contained political commentary that some people deemed to be “offensive.” Paul Topete and his rock band, Poker Face, have been entertaining audiences—young and old and of all races and creeds—at concerts and gatherings up and down the East Coast for over a decade. But Topete and the band have also carved out a particular niche in what has been called the “patriotic” movement because there is a distinct pro-freedom slant in the lyrics to some of their songs.

• No Longer The Minority: 82% Plus Support Charlie Sheen: Over four-fifths back his public stance on 9/11 - Despite the best efforts of the now whimpering attack poodles of the mainstream media, an online CNN poll shows that over four-fifths, or 82 per cent, agree with actor Charlie Sheen that the U.S. government covered up the real events of the 9/11 attacks. Every establishment media mouthpiece aside from CNN tried to hang Sheen on his own words but it simply didn't work because those same questions are firing the synapses in the heads of millions upon millions of other taxpaying American citizens.

Thursday 23rd MARCH 2006: -

• 'Draconian' Mental Health Bill scrapped - Campaigners have welcomed reports the Government is to abandon its Mental Health Bill extending powers to detain and forcibly treat people with personality disorders. Ministers finally admitted they would not get the legislation through parliament after eight years of trying. However, they will attempt to get the main parts of the Bill in by amending other legislation.

• CNN Produces Balanced Piece On Sheen 9/11 Comments - Tonight marks the first instance where those that question 9/11 were given a fair shake at voicing their opinions. While little can be said in just 10 minutes of coverage, it was at the very least a reasonable discussion and an important milestone for the 9/11 truth community. 911truth.org's media coordinator Mike Berger did a great job with the short time he was allotted while the host A.J. Hammer allowed for a good live discussion and avoided the all-to-familiar Bill O'Reilly style of 'news'.

• N.Y.C.'s crime fight to get more eyes: Commish orders 505 surveillance cams - New Yorkers, get ready for your closeup. The NYPD is installing 505 surveillance cameras around the city - and pushing to safeguard lower Manhattan with a "ring of steel" that could track hundreds of thousands of people and cars a day, authorities revealed yesterday. The police cameras will constantly keep watch over neighborhoods plagued by crime and monitor potential terror targets as the city moves to put another 1,200 cops on the street, Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said.

• Scientists urge lower limits on fluoride - Some scientists are reportedly urging federal limits on fluoride in drinking water be lowered. The scientists say high levels of naturally occurring fluoride in drinking water are leaving some children at risk of tooth enamel damage and adults prone to weakened bones that could lead to fractures, The Los Angeles Times reported Thursday.   (COMMENTARY: The negative effects of fluoride go much farther than bad bones and teeth.  There is a plethora of online resources that you can check out for accurate info.)

Wednesday 22nd MARCH 2006: -

• Identity cards a 'present' to terrorists and criminals, spy heroine says - A NATIONAL identity card scheme will be a "present" to terrorists, criminal gangs and foreign spies, one of Britain's most respected former intelligence agents has told ministers. The warning from Daphne Park, who served for 30 years as a senior controller for MI6, the Secret Intelligence Service, came as the parliamentary power struggle over the identity cards bill dragged on. The House of Lords once again defeated the government last night. Peers backed a joint Conservative and Liberal Democrat amendment that would prevent ministers making identity cards compulsory until at least 2011.

• Schoolgirl loses right to wear Muslim garb - A girl lost a legal battle on Wednesday to be allowed to wear full Islamic dress in school in a case which has been likened to the row in France over the wearing of Muslim headscarves. Shabina Begum, now 17, was sent home from school in September 2002 and ordered to change her clothes after she turned up wearing a jilbab, a long gown which covers the whole body except for the hands and face.

• Lords defeats ID Cards Bill for fourth time - A constitutional crisis is looming after peers hardened their opposition to identity cards, throwing out the controversial scheme for the fourth time. MPs will be asked today to overturn the defeat and send the Identity Cards Bill back to the Lords. But with neither side showing any sign of backing off, the trial of strength between the two Houses looks set to intensify. In the latest poll, peers voted by 211 to 175 votes, a majority of 36, to keep the ID-card scheme voluntary until the next decade. The previous margin of defeat was 35 votes.

• Illnesses Raise Drug-Safety Questions - The experimental drug that caused convulsions and organ failure in the first humans it was tested on only left monkeys with swollen glands, and there was nothing to predict the disastrous effects on people, the drug company's chief scientist said Tuesday. The medical study on six previously healthy men has raised fresh questions over safety and whether volunteers have enough information to weigh the risks. Two men remained in a coma Tuesday and four others were seriously ill, but improving after participating in the trial last week. "It felt like we stepped into some sort of horror film," Raste Khan, one of two men who were given placebos in the trial of TGN1412, a drug to treat leukemia and other ailments, told The Associated Press.

• Japan Gets Biometric Passports: Japan starts issuing biometric passports to meet US immigration laws - Wireless identification and tracking has become a hot topic recently, especially in national security -- in any country. We recently reported that the US government has already been issuing new passports that have integrated biometric information about the bearer of the passports.

• Man dies after taser shots - A Medford man went into cardiac arrest and died shortly after a Portland officer shocked him twice with a Taser stun gun, adding more fuel to the debate over the use of the police weapon. An autopsy was conducted Tuesday, but the medical examiner's office is awaiting toxicology test results before determining what killed Tim Grant, 46.

• ISN'T IT COOL!: Scan 'n' fly - Picture this: You're late for a flight. You're running through the terminal towards the security bottleneck. But instead of wasting what seems like hours emptying your carry-on bags and being patted down, you flash a wallet-sized card and speed through. Such a system, already in place at Orlando International, is set to hit Toronto Pearson, Canada's busiest air hub. Last week, the Greater Toronto Airports Authority (GTAA) signed on with Verified Identity Pass Canada to import a U.S. system that will use both fingerprints and iris images to let enrolled passengers use a special preflight security lane.

• IRS plans to allow preparers to sell data: Critics said the proposed regulation could lead to a loss of privacy for clients - The IRS is quietly moving to loosen the once-inviolable privacy of federal income-tax returns. If it succeeds, accountants and other tax-return preparers will be able to sell information from individual returns - or even entire returns - to marketers and data brokers. The change is raising alarm among consumer and privacy-rights advocates. It was included in a set of proposed rules that the Treasury Department and the IRS published in the Dec. 8 Federal Register, where the official notice labeled them "not a significant regulatory action."

• Cordless handsets 100 times worse than mobiles, say experts - Having a cordless phone in your house can be 100 times more of a health risk than using a mobile. The popular phones constantly blast out high levels of radiation - even when they are not in use. Landlines are widely thought a safer option than mobiles. But researchers in Sweden now warn cordless phones are far more likely to cause brain tumours than today's mobiles. Emissions from a cordless phone's charger can be as high as six volts per metre - twice as strong as those found with a 100 metres of mobile masts. Two metres away from the charger the radiation is still as high as 2.5 volts per metre - that's 50 times what scientists regard as a safe level.

• MERGING THE MILITARY AND THE POLICE: Death raises concern at police tactics - The recent killing of an unarmed Virginia doctor has raised concerns about what some say is an explosion in the use of military-style police Swat teams in the United States. Armed with assault rifles, stun grenades - even armoured personnel carriers - units once used only in highly volatile situations are increasingly being deployed on more routine police missions.

Tuesday 21st MARCH 2006: -

• PM calls for worldwide terror war - Prime Minister Tony Blair is to call for a worldwide battle of "values and ideas" to combat the global threat of terrorism. He will defend Britain and America's intervention in Iraq and Afghanistan and criticise those opposed to his vision of an "activist" foreign policy. Mr Blair, in the first of a series of three major speeches outlining his approach to foreign policy, will also warn: "This is not a clash between civilisations, it is a clash about civilisation."

• Bush admits troops could stay in Iraq for years - President Bush denied today that Iraq was in a state of civil war but refused to say whether he thought that American troops could be withdrawn by the time he wraps up his second term in the White House in 2009. One day after the third anniversary of the US-led invasion of Iraq, Mr Bush struggled at a Washington press conference to defend his strategy in Iraq, where some 2,300 Americans have been killed.

• Dutch coffee shops introduce fingerprint ID - Get breaking Reg news straight to your desktop - click here to find out how.  Some Dutch coffee shops, which sell marijuana in small quantities for personal use, are introducing fingerprinting technology to check the age of customers. The shops are not allowed to sell to anyone under the age of 18. Coffee shops currently require photographic ID for proof of age.

• Japan's rich buy organs from executed Chinese prisoners - Hundreds of well-off Japanese and other nationals are turning to China's burgeoning human organ transplant industry, paying tens of thousands of pounds for livers and kidneys, which in some cases have been harvested from executed prisoners and sold to hospitals. When Kenichiro Hokamura's kidneys failed, he faced a choice: wait for a transplant or go online to check out rumours of organs for sale. As a native of Japan, where just 40 human organs for transplant have been donated since 1997, the businessman, 62, says it was no contest. "There are 100 people waiting in this prefecture alone. I would have died before getting a donor." Still, he was astonished by just how easy it was.

• Agent Faults FBI on 9/11: The man who caught Zacarias Moussaoui testifies that higher-ups blocked his efforts to determine whether there was a larger plot - The FBI agent who arrested Zacarias Moussaoui weeks before Sept. 11 told a federal jury Monday that his own superiors were guilty of "criminal negligence and obstruction" for blocking his attempts to learn whether the terrorist was part of a larger cell about to hijack planes in the United States.

• W.House pushes more schools to drug-test students - Student athletes, musicians and others who participate in after school activities could increasingly be subject to random drug testing under a program promoted by the Bush administration. White House officials say drug testing is an effective way to keep students away from harmful substances like marijuana and crystal methamphetamine, and have held seminars across the country to promote the practice to local school officials. But some parents, educators and school officials call it a heavy-handed, ineffective way to discourage drug use that undermines trust and invades students' privacy.

• Has Google's Privacy Policy Protected Us From Government Surveillance? - The District Court ruling that Google doesn’t have to turn over any search records to the Bush Administration isn’t just a victory for Web surfers who don’t like the thought of being tracked by the government. It's a victory for anyone who stores data and doesn’t want to be harassed by lawyers or federal agents. Google claimed from the start that the case was about privacy rights, citing both its users’ right not to have their searches revealed and Google’s own right to make sure that its trade secrets stay that way. Both of these are important, and were enough to win in court. But the implications for both personal and corporate privacy go much further than that. For individuals, the greatest threat to privacy isn’t so much the search records as what the Bush Administration wanted to do with them – that is, bolster its legal argument in favor of the Child Online Protection Act (COPA). Despite the name, COPA has nothing to do with protecting children online. Rather, it requires all Web sites that contain potentially sexual content to track visitors and verify that they are over 17. The intent is to censor porn, but sexual content is defined so vaguely that just about every Web site could end up requiring age verification.

• Chinese Internet dissident gets 10-year sentence - Chinese authorities have sentenced a man to 10 years in prison for posting an anti-government article on the Internet, a human rights advocacy group said. Ren Zhiyuan, a secondary school teacher from Shandong province, was handed the sentence after being found guilty of "subversion of state power," Human Rights in China (HRIC) said in a statement. Ren was detained by police on May 10, 2005, the group said.

• Inquiry into CCTV misuse after naked art event - Northumbria police are investigating claims that close-up pictures of hundreds of naked people have been offered for sale in Tyneside pubs. The stills were said to have been taken from closed-circuit TV footage when artist Spencer Tunick photographed 1,500 volunteers in Newcastle and Gateshead last July. Northumbria's deputy chief constable David Warcup said the force was investigating a complaint into the possible misuse of CCTV footage. "We have spoken to a number of officers and police staff and as a result two members of staff are in the process of being suspended."

Help get the Charlie Sheen story out to the mainstream media - Go to... say... the BBC website, one of the big ones and e-mail them via the appropriate avenue (example here) and tell them something like: "A story which is worthy of your great coverage, Hollywood star Charlie Sheen has made controversial comments about 9/11 yesterday on an American talk show - http://www.prisonplanet.tv/audio/200306sheen.htm".  Effect change, support the truth movement, get on board, what d'ya say?.

Monday 20th MARCH 2006: -

• FBI agent: warnings obstructed in Moussaoui case! - An FBI agent testified in the sentencing trial of Sept. 11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui on Monday his superiors at the agency repeatedly blocked his efforts to warn of a possible terror attack. Harry Samit, the FBI agent who arrested Moussaoui three weeks before the deadly airliner hijackings that killed 3,000 people, said he tried to tell his superiors that he thought a hijacking plan might be in the works.

• FREE DOWNLOAD: Alex Jones Interviews Charlie Sheen - Alex welcomes actor Charlie Sheen, star of Platoon, Wall Street, Young Guns, and most recently the CBS comedy Two & a Half Men, to discuss his views on the world, 9/11 and much more. Sheen has joined a growing army of other highly credible public figures in questioning the official story of 9/11 and calling for a new independent investigation of the attack and the circumstances surrounding it.   (ALTERNATIVE SOURCE: Download the MP3 from us here.  Share it out, tell your friends and family, burn it onto an audio CD.  Spread the word!)

• Rabbi calls for 'UN of religions' - The Chief Rabbi of Israel, Yona Metzger, has called for the creation of a world body with representatives from the major religious groups. Rabbi Metzger was addressing the International Congress of Imams and Rabbis for Peace in Seville, Spain. He called for the formation of a "United Nations of religious groups".

• Drug tests for parents discussed - Proposals to test parents for drugs and use the results when taking children into care have been discussed by social workers and the education minister. In a letter to the Holyrood magazine, a member of the Association of Directors of Social Work said that Peter Peacock had shown interest in the proposal. The association's Bernadette Docherty said testing would help make decisions about children who may be at risk.

• Report: U.S. used torture room for abuse - Members of a shadowy U.S. military unit turned one of Saddam Hussein's torture chambers into their own interrogation cell, beating prisoners with rifle butts and using detainees for target practice in games of paintball, the New York Times reported Sunday. The so-called Black Room was part of a temporary detention site at Camp Nama, the secret headquarters of the unit known as Task Force 6-26, the Times said.

• Belgians implant RFID chip in tooth - Belgian scientists at the Catholic University of Leuven have embedded an RFID chip into a tooth to show how detailed personal information can be stored. Patrick Thevissen and his team adapted a tag which vets already implant into animals. If you lose your chipped dog, vets can retrieve the pet's home address from the device. In the case of humans, however, the intention of the ID tag is to allow forensic teams to retrieve a person's name, nationality, date of birth and gender allowing identification after, say, a natural disaster.

• Daytime TV tied to poorer mental scores in elderly - Older women who say talk shows and soap operas are their favorite TV programs tend to score more poorly on tests of memory, attention and other cognitive skills, researchers reported Monday. That doesn't mean that daytime television is a brain drain, they say, since it's not clear that there's a direct relationship between the two.

• The White House says spying on terror suspects without court approval is ok: What about physical searches? - In the dark days after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, a small group of lawyers from the White House and the Justice Department began meeting to debate a number of novel legal strategies to help prevent another attack. Soon after, President Bush authorized the National Security Agency to begin conducting electronic eavesdropping on terrorism suspects in the United States, including American citizens, without court approval. Meeting in the FBI's state-of-the-art command center in the J. Edgar Hoover Building, the lawyers talked with senior FBI officials about using the same legal authority to conduct physical searches of homes and businesses of terrorism suspects--also without court approval, one current and one former government official tell U.S. News. "There was a fair amount of discussion at Justice on the warrantless physical search issue," says a former senior FBI official. "Discussions about--if [the searches] happened--where would the information go, and would it taint cases."

• Secret loans to be banned - The government is to make it compulsory for all political parties to disclose any loans they receive, the lord chancellor, Lord Falconer, said today as Labour came under increasing pressure to counter claims of sleaze. Downing Street also announced that Sir Hayden Phillips will have until the end of 2006 to complete his review of political party funding as the scale of public disenchantment with the prime minister became clear.

• Police building unified DNA database to fight crime - In a bid to fight organised crime, the General Directorate of Abu Dhabi Police is currently building a unified national DNA database containing genetic information about all UAE nationals and expatriates living in the country. The facility is part of the identity card project. Among other uses, it will help detect the identity of culprits involved in different crimes, and unravel the mystery that shrouds unsolved cases, Dr Colonel Ahmed Hassan Al Awadhi, Director of the Criminal Evidence Department at the Abu Dhabi Police General Directorate, said in an exclusive interview to Khaleej Times.

Sunday 19th MARCH 2006: -

• MI5 'helped IRA buy bomb parts in US' - A FORMER British Army mole in the IRA has claimed that MI5 arranged a weapons-buying trip to America in which he obtained detonators, later used by terrorists to murder soldiers and police officers. In a book to be published next month, the spy, who uses the pseudonym Kevin Fulton, describes in detail how British intelligence co-operated with the FBI to ensure his trip to New York in the 1990s went ahead without incident so that his cover would not be blown. He claims the technology he obtained has been used in Northern Ireland and copied by terrorists in Iraq in roadside bombs that have killed British troops.   (RELATED: See our 'Problem > Reaction > Solution' archive for more info on government sponsored terrorism)

• This ID project is even more sinister than we first thought: The insidious erosion of our civil liberties will accelerate dramatically if the government wins the battle over identity cards - You may have noticed the vaguely menacing tone of recent government advertising campaigns. Here is a current example: 'If you know a business that isn't registered for tax, call the Revenue or HM Customs - no names needed.' Another says: 'Technology has made it easier to identify benefit cheats.' Whether the campaign is about rape, TV licences or filling in your tax form, there is always a we-know-where-you-live edge to the message, a sense that this government is dividing the nation into suspects and informers.

• Belarussian leader labels Bush "terrorist no. 1" - Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko, derided in Washington for running "Europe's last dictatorship", hit back on Sunday by denouncing U.S. President George W. Bush as "terrorist No. 1 on the planet". "Bush is terrorist no. 1 on the planet," Lukashenko told reporters after voting in Belarus's presidential election. "To crush a state openly and then to go ahead and kill presidents. What is there to say?"

• Police blotter: Judge orders Gmail disclosure - "Police blotter" is a weekly News.com report on the intersection of technology and the law. In a lawsuit brought by the Federal Trade Commission, a subpoena is sent to Google for the complete contents of a Gmail account, including deleted e-mail messages. This is unrelated to the Department of Justice's own subpoena to Google for search terms and excerpts from its search database.

• Tagging shame of truant's parents - A TRUANT'S parents were yesterday banned from nights out to make sure their son goes to school every day. His mother and father were ordered to wear electronic tags to stop them going to their local pub and bingo hall at night. Instead they must stay at home between 7pm and 7am for three months - and make their 15-year-old son go to school. The parents, who cannot be named, were having lie-ins to recover from their social life instead of getting their son to school.

• Public 'kept in dark on MoD cash' - The public should be told more about how their money is being spent in Afghanistan and Iraq, MPs have said. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) is keeping Parliament in the dark, the Commons defence committee reported. A total of £1.26bn which the MoD wants for this year's operations in Iraq and Afghanistan should not just be "rubber stamped" by Parliament, it said.

• TESTING THE BOUNDARIES: Google ordered by judge to release some search data - Google Inc has been ordered to turn over some data on sites in its popular search engine to the US federal government following a judge's ruling. Maintaining that the case raises 'vital interests,' US District Judge James Ware issued a 21-page ruling Friday that ordered the California-based search engine to hand over data on a limited number of sites.

• Government orders spoof site shut - A spoof John Howard website that featured a soul searching "apology" speech for the Iraq war has been shut down under orders from the Australian Government. Richard Neville, an Australian futurist and social commentator was "mystified" to discover his satirical website johnhowardpm.org had been blocked on Tuesday with no explanation from either his web hosting company, Yahoo or the domain name registrar, Melbourne IT.

Saturday 18th MARCH 2006: -

• Atkins diet 'can risk your life' - People who strictly follow the Atkins diet could develop a potentially fatal blood disorder, doctors say. A medical team described how one 40-year-old woman developed the dangerous condition after cutting out carbohydrates and living on meat, cheese and salads for a month. The obese woman, who had lost nine kilograms, was taken to casualty after vomiting up to six times a day and feeling increasingly short of breath.

• Researchers to deliver drugs via implant - Medicines can’t work effectively if patients don’t follow their dosing schedule - a problem researchers hope to overcome by delivering drugs using an implanted microchip linked to a wireless control outside the body. Researchers for MicroCHIPS Inc. say they’ve successfully controlled drug doses for up to six months in dogs that received implants in an experiment. Inside the implants were postage stamp-sized microchips containing 100 tiny reservoirs of medicine released at different intervals and amounts.

Friday 17th MARCH 2006: -

• Labour was secretly loaned £14m - Labour was secretly loaned £13,950,000 by wealthy individuals ahead of last year's election, it has confirmed. The figure is more than three times the amount previously thought, and most of it was used in Labour's £18m campaign. Labour says it will name lenders in future amid claims - vehemently denied by ministers - those lending money were being rewarded with peerages.

• RAF doctor refused a third tour of duty in 'illegal' war - AN RAF medical officer who refused to return to Iraq for a third tour “honestly” believed that the British military campaign was illegal, a court martial hearing was told yesterday. Flight Lieutenant Malcolm Kendall-Smith, 37, who is facing five charges of failing to comply with a lawful order, decided that it was his duty to disobey the order, his lawyer said during a pre-trial hearing at Aldershot, Hampshire.

• Bolton compares Iran threat to Sept. 11 attacks: House panel seeks sanctions; Rice wants talks with Tehran on nuclear aims - The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton, Wednesday compared the threat from Iran’s nuclear programs to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the United States. “Just like Sept. 11, only with nuclear weapons this time, that’s the threat. I think that is the threat,” Bolton told ABC News’ Nightline. “I think it’s just facing reality. It’s not a happy reality, but it’s reality and if you don’t deal with it, it will become even more unpleasant.”

Thursday 16th MARCH 2006: -

• We'll strike first, US warns - Making no apologies for the war in Iraq, the United States reaffirmed its strike-first policy of pre-emption on Thursday, and warned that Iran may pose the biggest threat to US national security. "We may face no greater challenge from a single country than from Iran," the White House said in a 49-page blueprint called "The National Security Strategy of the United States of America."

• ID Cards compulsory again: Oh no they're not, Oh yes... Oh, shut up - After the Lords voted again yesterday to stand by amendments that would have made Identity Cards voluntary in Britain, MPs have voted again for creeping compulsion. That's three times MPs have thumbed their noses at libertarians in the House of Lords whose amendments to the Identity Cards Bill are blocking the government's move to impose ID cards on everyone who wants a new passport in the next 10 years, which is pretty much about everyone, while maintaining the cards are voluntary.

• Terrorist or freedom fighter?: A COMIC BOOK ANTI-HERO FOR AN ORWELLIAN WORLD - In ``V for Vendetta,'' a masked man blows up a building that is one of his country's principal symbols of power, and vows to topple another as the endgame in a yearlong terror campaign. He says his violent insurgency is directed against the government, whose leaders he means to kill one by one. Is he a terrorist? A freedom fighter? Or just a guy having a really bad hair day?

• Scientists launch big genetic database project: UK Biobank, to hold millions of DNA samples, data - A major project to collect DNA samples and medical data from 500,000 people was launched on Wednesday to study how genes, lifestyle and environment affect the risk of disease. The UK Biobank, the world's biggest genetic database, will hold millions of samples in a robotically controlled facility near Manchester, England.

• Two drug test men still critical - Two men who fell seriously ill following a clinical drugs trial remain in a critical condition but four others are showing signs of improvement. All six are still in intensive care in Northwick Park Hospital, north-west London, after falling ill on Monday. TeGenero, which manufactures the anti-inflammatory drug, says it has apologised to the men's families.

• MySpace Is The Trojan Horse Of Internet Censorship: Media elite's last gasp effort to save crumbling empire - MySpace isn't cool, it isn't hip and it isn't trendy. It represents a cyber trojan horse and the media elite's last gasp effort to reclaim control of the Internet and sink it with a stranglehold of regulation, control and censorship. Since Rupert Murdoch's $580 Million acquisition of MySpace in July 2005, it has come from total obscurity to now being the 8th most visited website in the world, receiving half as many page hits as Google, despite the fact that on first appearance it looks like a 5-year-old's picture scrap and scribble book.

• Third Lords rejection of ID cards - Government plans to force all passport applicants to have an ID card have been defeated in the Lords for a third time. Peers voted by a majority of 35 to overturn the proposal, which was backed by MPs earlier this week. Opposition peers say the plans break the government's promise that ID cards will initially be voluntary.

15th MARCH 2006: -

• TOTALITARIAN TIP-TOE, ONE THING AT A TIME: National identity card to come with PIN number - The controversial new national identity card may come with a PIN number like existing bank cards. The Home Office Minister, Andy Burnham, said a "chip and pin" style code number could be used to verify cardholders' identities in some cases, rather than fingerprints, face and iris scans which will be encoded in the card. Ministers have previously indicated that government departments, banks and other businesses would verify someone's identity by scanning their "biometrics" or by simply looking at the card.

• Google Must Hand Government Information About Searches - A federal judge said yesterday that he will require Google to give the government some of the data it has demanded for use in a long-running lawsuit relating to pornography on the Internet, but he did not seem inclined to force the company to turn over potentially-sensitive information, such as search queries submitted by individual Web users. "It's my intent to give some relief to the government," Judge James Ware said after hearing nearly 90 minutes of argument in a packed courtroom in the heart of Silicon Valley. "What I need to study is how to shape it," the judge said.

• Tony Blair to take questions from the public on MSN - MSN Messenger has launched a competition that will give ten members of the public the chance to put questions live to the Tony Blair. The competition is launched today at www.msn.co.uk/pmwebchat, where users can pose their proposed question for the Prime Minister, with the winners selected by a judging panel. Following last summer's G8 Summit in Gleneagles questions limited to two major issues, the issue of Africa, and the issue of climate change.   (COMMENTARY: Good luck winning that bugger!... I can think of a few good questions to pose to Bliar, not that he'd answer them!).

• THE COVER STORY: 'Lax prison security' allowed Milosevic to smuggle in drugs - SLOBODAN MILOSEVIC had regular access to unprescribed drugs that were smuggled into his cell under a lax prison regime, sources at the war crimes tribunal in The Hague said yesterday. Timothy McFadden, the prison governor responsible for Milosevic, who died of a heart attack in prison on Saturday, is reported to have complained in December and January that he could no longer monitor drugs taken by the former leader. His warnings went unheeded.

14th MARCH 2006: -

• Mugged by an anti-crime camera: CCTV systems installed to deter street crime are being turned on drivers, write Nicholas Rufford and Jonathan Futrell of The Sunday Times - When a London council decided to locate a CCTV camera in a quiet area of Camden the residents were delighted, especially as its declared purpose was to make the streets safer from muggers, drug dealers, burglars and car thieves. The £25,000 swivelling spy camera made them feel they were at last getting a tangible benefit from Camden’s rising council tax. But it didn’t take long for them to discover it was going to cost a lot more — in ways they hadn’t expected. The camera proved not very good at identifying suspects lurking in the shadows but it was very good at reading residents’ car numberplates.

• Milosevic was murdered, says his son - ...His son Marko, who was in The Hague today to claim his father's body, raised the possibility of a temporary burial in Russia. He also claimed that his father was murdered. "He got killed, he didn't die. He got killed. There is a murder," he said. A post-mortem by Dutch doctors said Milosevic died of a heart attack, but Moscow has expressed doubts over the reliability of the results. A Russian forensic team is due to arrive in the Netherlands later today.

• RFID Is Fit to Track Clothes: Wilfried Kanzok of Kaufhof Warenhaus says RFID will be widely adopted in the textile industry as soon as tag prices fall a little further - Wilfried Kanzok, head of logistics for central functions at German retailer Kaufhof Warenhaus, told an audience at CeBIT, the large electronics exhibition in Hanover, Germany, that mass adoption of radio frequency identification technology in the clothing and textile industry will soon be a reality. He said the benefits have been proven, with only a further decline in the price of tags necessary before widespread use can begin.

• Prosecutor: Blood Disorder Didn't Kill Boy - Prosecutors confirmed Tuesday that a 14-year-old boy who was beaten by guards in a juvenile boot camp did not die of a blood disorder as a medical examiner initially ruled. Pam Bondi, a spokeswoman for Hillsborough County State Attorney Mark Ober, who is investigating the death of Martin Lee Anderson, declined to comment further on the case except to say it will be "months" before the probe is complete.

• Ghosts of indonesia won't lie: John Pilger - East Timor's history is repeating itself as Jakarta colludes with the west to crush another resource-rich land: West Papua. The world is watching as Australia decides the fate of 43 West Papuans seeking asylum.  In 1993, I and four others travelled clandestinely across East Timor to gather evidence of the genocide committed by the Indonesian dictatorship. Such was the depth of silence about this tiny country that the only map I could find before I set out was one with blank spaces stamped "Relief Data Incomplete". Yet few places had been as defiled and abused by murderous forces. Not even Pol Pot had succeeded in despatching, proportionally, as many people as the Indonesian tyrant Suharto had done in collusion with the "international community".

• Confusion around Milosevic funeral: Lawyer: Milosevic did not alter medication - The son of Slobodan Milosevic is expected to pick up the body of his father Tuesday as questions swirled over the cause of death for the former Yugoslav leader.

13th MARCH 2006: -

• TIME FOR ANOTHER 9/11?... ANOTHER DOSE OF FEAR?: Concern over Iraq drives Bush's rating to new low, Americans pessimistic about course of war - Public opinion of President Bush hit a new low, with concerns about the war in Iraq driving his approval rating down to 36 percent, according to a CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll out Monday. Only 38 percent said they believe the nearly 3-year-old war was going well for the United States, down from 46 percent in January, while 60 percent said they believed the war was going poorly. And 57 percent said they believe the March 2003 invasion of Iraq was a mistake, near September's record high of 59 percent in the same poll.

• China's human ID program to drive major RFID adoption: China is adopting RFID technology on an unprecedented scale, with more than 2.9 billion tags forecast to be shipped by 2009, according to a new report by In-Stat - Last year, more than 100 million tags were shipped to the country. But through 2009, the government's second-generation Resident ID Card program is expected to significantly accelerate the adoption of RFID, said In-Stat. "With a population of over 1.3 billion, the issuance of RFID-tag-inlaid Resident ID cards by the Ministry of Public Security is one of the biggest RFID projects in the world," says In-Stat analyst Anty Zheng, in a statement. More than one billion ID cards will be issued by 2009, Zheng said. Beginning in 2008, RFID tags used for items would exceed those resident ID cards, making the retail industry the biggest consumer of tags.

• Tribunal 'blamed' for Milosevic death - Serbian President Boris Tadic has said the UN war crimes tribunal is responsible for Slobodan Milosevic's death, but added that it would not hamper Serbia's future cooperation with the court. Tadic said on Monday: "Undoubtedly, Milosevic had demanded a higher level of health care. That right should have been granted to all war crimes defendants."

• RFID Implants Could Chip Away At Your Health, Identity: Microchips Not Approved By FDA - ...But the FDA warns of risks like rejection or infection with any RFID implants. And when it comes to the unapproved chips, the agency hopes "the physicians performing these procedures are doing so under proper clinical circumstances" and wants to make sure patients are told of the risks. But health risks aren't the only concern. "There is a potential for a security problem," privacy expert Liz McIntyre said.

• Blair gave 'honours for loans' - A MILLIONAIRE businessman has lifted the lid on how Labour is concealing money given by wealthy backers who are then nominated for peerages. Labour has raised up to £10m from donors but has hidden the payments because they were made as loans, which do not have to be declared. Three of the donors were put forward for peerages by Tony Blair last autumn. The confidential loan arrangements have been revealed by Chai Patel, chief executive of the Priory healthcare group and a party supporter who has donated £100,000 to Labour.

• Lost of the English Rose - August 31, 1997 will be a date that will forever be embedded into many of our lives, as the world seemed to briefly hold its breath, while a rose slipped from our grip. Yet, with the examination of this shocking car crash, which took the English Rose from our midst, more questions than answers have appeared. Now, once again a few Elitists have attempted to rewrite history and would want everyone to believe in an official line of Propaganda and misinformation, which has been used to cover-up their ways of War and destruction.

• Milosevic jail under scrutiny - Claims by the late Slobodan Milosevic that he was being poisoned in his prison cell have thrown the spotlight on the Hague war crimes tribunal's jail. The former Yugoslav president, who died on Saturday, had been held there since 28 June 2001.

• Toronto's Airport developing biometric security program - The company that operates Toronto's Pearson International Airport has signed an agreement aimed at developing a biometric security program for travellers. The deal was announced Monday by Verified Identity Pass Canada Inc., which is owned by Verified ID USA. The company said it will work with the Greater Toronto Airports Authority to develop a program at Pearson to allow enrolled passengers to use a dedicated security lane.

• Milosevic May Have Used Drug to Worsen His Condition - A toxicologist who tested Slobodan Milosevic two weeks before he was found dead in a Hague jail cell said the former Yugoslav leader may have taken an unprescribed drug that worsened his high blood pressure, in a bid to be sent to Moscow for care. Milosevic's blood contained traces of rifampicin, an antibiotic used to treat tuberculosis and leprosy, which can counteract the effect of blood-pressure drugs, Dutch toxicologist Donald Uges said today in a phone interview from Groningen.

12th MARCH 2006: -

• Milosevic feared poisoning: aide - Slobodan Milosevic feared he was being poisoned just a day before he died in his cell at the UN war crimes tribunal in The Hague, his lawyer has said. Zdenko Tomanovic told reporters Mr Milosevic had complained of "strong drugs in his system only used for treating leprosy or tuberculosis". Dutch TV cited an unnamed source saying such traces were found in his blood.

• Biometric feature systems to replace car keys - In the foreseeable future biometric access protection systems will replace car keys, Hitachi's chief strategist with respect to IT and telecommunication matters, Mitsuo Yamaguchi has said. "Then we will simply stick a finger in the slot design for that purpose, the door will open and the seat will automatically adjust to our settings," he added. The biometric recognition technology Hitachi (Hall 1, Stand D45) has in mind here is not based on fingerprints, but on the pattern of veins in human fingers, because "if a human fingertip is dry or injured, it is very difficult to read the person's fingerprint," thus Mr. Yamaguchi. By relying on the pattern of veins, however, reliable recognition was possible under all circumstances, he observed. In Japan major banks such as Mizuho and Sumitomo Mitsui are already using the technology in question in ATMs.

• Banned depression tablets are still being prescribed to thousands of children - Banned antidepressants are being handed out to thousands of children by doctors because they face waits of up to 10 months to see a psychiatrist. Family doctors have revealed that they are forced to hand out "happy pills" to children as young as 13 suffering depression while they languish on waiting lists to see specialists, despite serious safety concerns of doing so.

• Implant ID chips called big advance, Big Brother - Doctors implanted a radio ID tag under Sean Darks' skin that allows the executive to enter restricted areas of his Ohio security company. Jack Schmidig, the police chief in Bergen County, N.J., has a similar chip that doctors can use to find his medical records in an emergency. And in a somewhat renegade use of the technology, Washington state entrepreneur Amal Graafstra unlocks his home and car and logs on to his computer using a chip he bought online and had implanted near his thumb. All three say putting radio-frequency identification chips under the skin can improve people's lives. An implant is like having a set of keys, or an ID card, that can't be lost, they say. Graafstra jokes that he could end up naked in the alley outside his house and still get inside using the electronic key embedded in his hand.

• Milosevic might have committed suicide - Chief U.N. war crimes prosecutor Carla del Ponte said on Sunday she could not rule out that Slobodan Milosevic might have committed suicide but said she wanted to wait for the results of an autopsy. "Of course it could be possible," she said, noting that the death of the former Yugoslav president on Saturday was the second within a week at the tribunal's detention centre after the suicide of former rebel Croatian Serb leader Milan Babic. The U.N. war crimes tribunal has said there was no indication Milosevic committed suicide. But it has requested an autopsy hoping to clear up the cause of his death.

• Fayed challenge on Diana inquest jury - THE coroner in charge of the inquest into the death of Diana, Princess of Wales is facing a legal challenge to his decision to appoint 12 royal courtiers to the jury that hears the case. Michael Burgess, the royal coroner, is embroiled in the row with Mohamed al-Fayed, whose son Dodi died with Diana in the 1997 Paris car crash. Lawyers for Fayed claim that to have royal courtiers ruling on whether Diana died unlawfully or by accident would make a mockery of the process. Fayed claims that Diana was murdered by MI6 on the orders of Prince Philip. The prince, MI6 and Diana’s closest friends reject the allegation.    (RELATED: See our 'Diana Assassination' archive)

• Moussaoui was a flight school washout: 'He wasn't a good stick,' fellow student testifies - Zacarias Moussaoui couldn't keep a plane level, make turns or keep it on course up to FAA standards, his instructor at an Oklahoma flight school testified Thursday. Government witnesses at the al Qaeda operative's sentencing trial have spent much of the past two days describing Moussaoui's poor flight school performance.     (RELATED: See our '9/11 Archive')

• Doctors to probe Milosevic death - A Serbian doctor will attend the autopsy of Slobodan Milosevic in the Netherlands on Sunday, as his family blames his death on The Hague tribunal. The former Yugoslav president, who was 64 and suffering from high blood pressure and heart problems, was found dead in his cell on Saturday. He died just months before the scheduled end of his trial for war crimes in the Balkans in the 1990s.

11th MARCH 2006: -

• A CAN OF WORMS: Maxwell was investigated for war crimes: report - Media tycoon Robert Maxwell was under investigation over war crimes allegations shortly before he died in 1991, the Independent said on Friday. Citing a police report released under freedom of information legislation, the newspaper said Maxwell knew he could face a life sentence if found guilty of murdering an unarmed German civilian in 1945. Maxwell, who owned Mirror group of newspapers, died in November 1991. His body was found floating in the sea off the Canary Islands by the side of his yacht. Shortly after he died, his media empire unravelled and 400 million pounds in company pension assets were found to be missing.

• Lap Dogs of the Press - Of all the unhappy trends I have witnessed--conservative swings on television networks, dwindling newspaper circulation, the jailing of reporters and "spin"--nothing is more troubling to me than the obsequious press during the run-up to the invasion of Iraq. They lapped up everything the Pentagon and White House could dish out--no questions asked. Reporters and editors like to think of themselves as watchdogs for the public good. But in recent years both individual reporters and their ever-growing corporate ownership have defaulted on that role. Ted Stannard, an academic and former UPI correspondent, put it this way: "When watchdogs, bird dogs, and bull dogs morph into lap dogs, lazy dogs, or yellow dogs, the nation is in trouble." The naïve complicity of the press and the government was never more pronounced than in the prelude to the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq. The media became an echo chamber for White House pronouncements.

• Boundary Waters Bank implements biometric security software - Boundary Waters Bank, a US-based financial institution, is deploying a biometric security software solution supplied by security software provider, Sig-Tec Corporation to authenticate the identity of its employees. Sig-Tec says the bank has selected its SPD PRO software, an enterprise security solution and audit system, combined with an APC biometric fingerprint reader, to strengthen the security of its computer systems.

• Who wants the Abolition of Parliament Bill?: Hardly anyone has noticed, but British democracy is sleepwalking into a sinister world of ministerial power - LAST WEEK all eyes were on the House of Commons as it debated identity cards, smoking and terrorism. The media reported both what MPs said and how they voted. For one week at least, the Commons mattered. All the more peculiar then that the previous Thursday, in an almost deserted chamber, the Government proposed an extraordinary Bill that will drastically reduce parliamentary discussion of future laws, a Bill some constitutional experts are already calling “the Abolition of Parliament Bill”.

• Dunblane gun crackdown 'a failure' - ALMOST a decade after the Dunblane massacre, ministers have been accused of an "abject failure" to crack down on the number of firearms in circulation. Tories have joined Labour MPs, gun-control campaigners and peers in condemning the government over the National Firearms Register, which was promised after Dunblane but will not be delivered for at least another year. The need to establish a searchable, nationwide computer system to track those who hold firearms licences was established after Thomas Hamilton's murderous attack on Dunblane Primary School on March 13, 1996.   (COMMENTARY: There is of course an alternative way of looking at the Dunblane massacre... yes that's right Problem > Reaction > Solution and unfortunately gunman Thomas Halilton's killing spree fed into a larger agenda - disarm the slaves - likely by design when you look at the evidence.  Go to our 'Dunblane Shootings' archive for more background info.)

09th MARCH 2006: -

• Election official hammered for telling the truth - Ion Sancho may be a hero in California, where grateful election officials have verified the ''serious security vulnerabilities'' in Diebold voting machines that the Leon County election supervisor uncovered last year. Sancho is regarded a little differently in Florida. Florida's secretary of state's office disparaged Sancho's finding, demonstrating considerably more interest in propping up vendors than protecting elections.

• Police actions called hasty - As he finished helping a friend move in Irving on Feb. 11, Bryan McManus could feel his blood-sugar level dropping. That was a sign to the 37-year-old diabetic that he needed to hurry home in Euless to eat something to help it go back up. But McManus didn't make it home quickly. McManus, a technician, went into diabetic shock on the side of a highway just a block from his home, then he was shot with pepper spray and a stun gun by police, who believed he was intoxicated and became unruly, authorities said Wednesday. Patrol officers used pepper spray on him then shocked him three times with a Taser before they were able to handcuff him, according to Euless police reports. Authorities did not realize McManus was in diabetic shock until paramedics checked on him in the Euless Jail.

• A finger on till to pay bill - SUPERMARKETS have launched a revolutionary way for shoppers to pay — by fingerprint. “Pay and Touch” is on trial at three Co-op stores in Oxfordshire. Customers no longer have to carry cash, cheque books or cards, or remember pin numbers. They have a finger scan which is linked to their bank details. Payment for goods is then taken directly from accounts.

• Britain turns off - and logs on: More time is now spent on the internet than on watching TV, according to Google survey - We may be known as a nation of couch potatoes, but it seems that Britons are grasping the 21st century with both hands: we now spend more time watching the web than watching television, according to internet giant Google. A survey conducted on behalf of the search engine found that the average Briton spends around 164 minutes online every day, compared with 148 minutes watching television. That is equivalent to 41 days a year spent surfing the web: more than almost any other activity apart from sleeping and working.

• More than 100 Dublin priests suspected of child sex abuse - As the Irish government prepares to launch an inquiry into child sexual abuse in the Catholic Church, new figures from the Dublin area show that more than 100 priests have been accused of sex abuse. The report, from the Archdiocese of Dublin, records 350 accusations of abuse against 102 priests since 1940. The number of accusations is likely to grow in the course of the 18-month government inquiry, since the Church has encouraged victims who have never registered complaints to come forward.

• USA: Retirement Fund Tapped to Avoid National Debt Limit - The Treasury Department has started drawing from the civil service pension fund to avoid hitting the $8.2 trillion national debt limit. The move to tap the pension fund follows last month's decision to suspend investments in a retirement savings plan held by government employees. In a letter to Congress this week, Treasury Secretary John W. Snow said he would rely on the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund to avoid bumping up against the statutory debt limit. He said the Treasury is suspending investments and will redeem a portion of the money credited to the fund.

08th MARCH 2006: -

• ANOTHER ONE IS AT IT: UK Co-op scans fingerprints for shopper payments - The Co-operative Supermarket chain in the UK is testing new fingerprint scanning technology from California's Pay by Touch as an alternative to card and cash payments at the check-out. Beginning today, shoppers and members at the Midcounties Co-operative supermarket will have the option of using a finger-print scanning system to pay for purchases at three locations in and around Oxford.

• Report: North Korea fires missiles - North Korea launched a pair of short-range missiles Wednesday, White House spokesman Scott McClellan said. Japan's Kyodo News Agency, which quoted "sources knowledgeable about the matter," said the surface-to-air missiles were launched near North Korea's border with China. "Indications are that North Korea launched two short-range missiles," McClellan said. "The regime has conducted similar tests in the past." According to Kyodo, there was some confusion over whether the missiles were test-fired or launched by mistake.

• Metro shows voice-operated RFID device at CeBIT: Hands-free ID system is designed for warehouse workers - German retail giant Metro AG has unveiled a new voice-operated, smart-tag system designed to help warehouse personnel quickly and accurately fill merchandise orders. ...Here's how it works: Employees wear the headset, which uses Wi-Fi to connect to the computer system and Bluetooth to connect to the RFID scanning device mounted to the arm. A cloth strap containing two antennas extends from the device to two fingers.

• California Mother And Activist Assaulted By Authorities With Drugs, Needles, Micro-Chips And Electronic Weaponry For Trying To Help Children In Her Community - Ramona Lopez thought she was doing the right thing when she tried to help kids in her neighborhood get off drugs, trying to put them on the straight and narrow toward a productive life. But instead of being recognized as a community hero and praised for her charitable work, authorities in Camarillo, California, slammed "the hammer down hard" on Lopez, a simple housewife with nothing but good in her heart and soul.

• Revised USA Patriot Act targets allergy, cold meds - Suffer from springtime allergies? You could be among the first affected by the USA Patriot Act poised for final congressional passage this week. Besides terrorism, the bill takes aim at the production of methamphetamine, a highly addictive drug that cannot be manufactured without a key ingredient of everyday cold and allergy medicines. The bill would impose new limits next month for how much relief a person can buy over the counter. And beginning Sept. 30, it'll take a flash of ID to buy that medication.

• Company working for China secret police to issue passports to Americans - In an era where Americans will have commercial operations at six key ports operated by Dubai Ports World, their future passports will be issued from a contractor for the China secret police. US courts forced the U.S. government to allow OTI in on the USA biometric `e-passport' program just weeks ago. OTI is the contractor for China secret police for the biometric ID card now coming online. That means that the same company that works for the China secret police will have a role in providing all U.S. citizens with their future passports - by court order.

• Privacy fear as Google plans 'super database' - GOOGLE, the internet giant, is planning a massive online facility that could store copies of users' hard drives - a move set to spark alarm among civil liberties campaigners. Plans for the "GDrive", previously the subject of rumour among computer experts, were revealed accidentally after notes in a slideshow were wrongly published on Google's site. The device would create a mirror image of data stored on consumers' computer hard drives, letting users search data stored on other computers via Google accounts.

07th MARCH 2006: -

• UK issues first biometric passport: From August all renewals will include electronic chip containing facial biometric information as well as new anti-forgery measures - The UK has issued its first biometric passport in line with international standards, the government announced today. The scheme will be rolled out gradually over the next few months and by August all passport renewals will be replaced by new-style documents which include an electronic chip holding a facial biometric.

• New Jersey bill aims to stamp out Internet forum anonymity - A bill introduced in the New Jersey Assembly would require websites to collect and make available the legal names and physical addresses of anyone posting on an Internet forum. The law aims to prevent "false or defamatory messages" from being protected by anonymity. Specifically, it requires that the legal names and addresses of anyone posting a defamatory message must be made available to any parties who claim to have been damaged.

• London store in talks with police to build in-store jail cells - One of London’s premier department stores is in talks with police to build jail cells inside the store to hold shoplifters and identity thieves, police said yesterday. Metropolitan Police said they were in early negotiations for the construction of jail cells at the Selfridges store’s flagship Oxford Street location in London. The cells would operate as “short-term holding facilities for low-level shoplifters,” a spokeswoman for the Metropolitan Police said, speaking on customary condition of anonymity.

• No address, no flight says BA - US-bound travellers who don’t supply their airline or travel agent with details of where they will be staying on their first night in the US will soon be unable to fly. From today, British Airways says passengers must give up this information before boarding or be barred from the flight. Virgin Atlantic introduced similar requirements on February 23, and other airlines and travel agents will soon follow suit.

• Madonna says daughter asked if she was gay - Madonna says she had some explaining to do when her daughter, Lourdes, asked about that kiss with Britney Spears at the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards. "(Lourdes) is really obsessed with who is gay," says Madonna in an interview in Out magazine's April issue. "And she even asked, 'Mom, you know they say that you are gay?' And I'm, 'Oh, do they? Why?' And she says, 'Because you kissed Britney Spears.'" "And I said, 'No, it just means I kissed Britney Spears. I am the mommy pop star and she is the baby pop star. And I am kissing her to pass my energy on to her."

• Google man says a little evil is ok: Father of the Web backs Chinese censorship - THE FATHER of the Internet, turned Google spokesman, Vint Cerf has come out in favour of the outfit’s policy of censoring its operations in China. In an interview with the BBC, Cerf said that it was better to have some internet in China rather than none at all. He said that web technology would always work its way around any censorship the authorities put in place. What was important was to keep China plugged into the Internet so that information could still flow, he said.

• From an individual who is a highly qualified mental health professional. Someone who knows about mind control. Read his observations about Tony Blair's TV interview with Michael Parkinson which aired on the BBC recently - "I have worked with a lot of psychopath’s and the one thing about them that is consistent is that whatever they are doing, their eyes rarely change. There is just a coldness there. You know when a healthy person smiles their eyes ‘light up’ or conversely ‘blaze’ with anger. In all the pictures and TV broadcasts I’ve seen of TonyB Liar, his eyes are always fixed – even when he’s smiling as in the pictures of the God comment. When a person starts saying that he consulted God about starting a war that led to the killing of innocent people as well as our own young servicemen, it’s a sure sign he is suffering from Psychopathy. Unfortunately it’s not considered treatable under the Mental Health Act!! Blair must be locked up in a Special Hospital forthwith. But some tribunal will probably let him out to kill again!!!" Source: Namaste Publishing

06th MARCH 2006: -

• PHONY VICTORY GIVING US THE ILLUSION OF DEBATE:  Government defeated on compulsory ID cards - The House of Lords has inflicted another defeat on the Government by again voting against the introduction of compulsory identity cards. Peers voted by 277 to 166, a majority of 61, to ensure that the planned introduction of ID cards would guarantee they remained voluntary. Conservative and Liberal Democrat members of the Lords are worried about provisions in the Identity Card Bill concerning passports.

• BANGALORE, INDIA: Flash ID card or face action - Passengers harassed by auto drivers may finally be able to get details of the driver and vehicle to lodge complaints. The Bangalore City traffic police have asked auto drivers to display ID cards at the back of their seats before March 31 or face stringent action. Details including the driver's name, photograph, address, licence, permits, blood group, etc. will have to be displayed in the card, according to a directive issued by transport department.

• EU to draw up new rules on ‘spy’ technology - The European commission is to consult with the public over controversial technology allowing products – and people – to be tracked remotely. Radio frequency identification (RFID) technology is already widely used in the food and pharmaceutical industries, and allows products to be traced throughout the supply chain. The technology could also be used in the future for a far wider range of applications. For example, fridges fitted with receivers could tell whether the products inside were past their sell-by data simply by reading the tags embedded in the packaging. But trials of the system by retailers such Tesco in the UK and Metro in Germany have led to concerns about civil liberties and data protection.

• Official: Diana's death 'simply an accident' - The Official inquiry into the death of Princess Diana will conclude that she died in a simple car crash. Britain's former top policeman is to state publicly for the first time that he believes Diana was killed in an accident. The Daily Mail can reveal that following a two-year investigation, Lord Stevens plans to release an interim report saying there is no evidence she was killed unlawfully.   (COMMENTARY:  No comment!... Just check out our 'Diana Assassination' archive for more background info.)

• RFID-Embedded Police Badges Debut In August - There’s another crime-fighting weapon being added to law enforcement’s arsenal, and it’s not what you’d expect. Along with handcuffs, guns, and night sticks, cops’ uniforms will soon include badges with RFID chips. V.H. Blackinton & Co. Inc. has developed a badge for law enforcement and government agencies with an embedded radio frequency identification (RFID) chip it plans to launch in August, company officials said Friday.

• PATRIOT ACT E-MAIL SEARCHES APPLY TO NON-TERRORISTS - Two federal judges in Florida have upheld the authority of individual courts to use the Patriot Act to order searches anywhere in the country for e-mails and computer data in all types of criminal investigations, overruling a magistrate who found that Congress limited such expanded jurisdiction to cases involving terrorism. The disagreement among the jurists about the scope of their powers simmered for more than two years before coming to light in an opinion unsealed earlier this month. The resolution, which underscored the government's broad legal authority to intercept electronic communications, comes as debate is raging over President Bush's warrantless surveillance program and the duties of Internet providers to protect personal data.

• Met suppress files that tell full shooting story: Police hold back dossier that could reveal Sir Ian Blair's role after Tube killing fiasco - THE Metropolitan police have blocked attempts by independent investigators to obtain sensitive files about the role that Sir Ian Blair, the commissioner, played after the shooting of an innocent Brazilian man on the London Underground. Well-placed sources say the Met has declined repeated requests by the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) to disclose hundreds of pages of internal papers. The documents give the Met’s private assessment of the botched counter-terrorist operation that led to Jean Charles de Menezes mistakenly being killed by Yard marksmen at Stockwell Underground station last July.

• E-mail delivery 'tax' criticised - Plans to charge to deliver e-mail have come under fire from non-profit groups who said it could cripple fundraising. Net giant AOL is introducing the charges to stop spammers as those who pay will bypass junk mail filters. More than fifty groups including Oxfam America, Gun Owners of America and the AFL-CIO trade union have banded together to condemn the charging plan. In a concession to the groups, AOL has said non-profit organisations will be exempt from the charges.

05th MARCH 2006: -

• Families set to sue over 7/7 errors: Victims' lawyers claim that Tube bombers were allowed to slip through the security net - Families of the 7 July bombing victims are preparing to sue over intelligence failings that allowed the suicide bombers to launch their attacks on London. City law firms representing them have disclosed that they are exploring legal action in the light of growing evidence that the atrocities might have been preventable had there not been crucial mistakes in intelligence in the run-up to the bombing explosions.   (RELATIVE: See our '7/7 London Bombings Archive' for more background info.)

• Imran Khan under house arrest - Cricketer-turned politician Imran Khan was today put under house arrest and over two dozens of his associates taken into preventive custody ahead of their planned rally to protest against US President George W Bush's visit to Pakistan. Khan was detained at his home here as he prepared to take out a march from Rawalpindi to Islamabad, which he had announced a couple of days back, according to leaders of his Tehrik-e-Insaf party.

• Why MI5 monitored singer Ewan MacColl - International award-winning folk singer, militant rambler and agit-prop playwright, he certainly was. But did Ewan MacColl, the father of the late singer Kirsty MacColl pose a threat to the nation? MI5, the security service, clearly thought so, as secret files reveal spies kept tabs on the entertainer during the 1930s and 40s. The files reveal that MI5 and the police monitored his theatre work, BBC performances and general political activity.

• Issues of Free Speech Arise After Teacher Criticizes Bush - It was the day after President Bush's State of the Union address, and social studies teacher Jay Bennish was warning his world geography class not to be taken in. "Sounds a lot like the things that Adolf Hitler used to say," Bennish told students at the suburban high school Feb. 2. " 'We're the only ones who are right, everyone else is backward and our job is to conquer the world.' " The teacher quickly made clear that he wasn't equating Bush with Hitler, but the damage was done. A sophomore in the class had recorded the lecture on an MP3 player, and turned it over this week to a local conservative talk radio show.

04th MARCH 2006: -

• O'Reilly threatened radio show caller with "a little visit" from "Fox security" for mentioning Olbermann's name on the air - Summary: On his nationally syndicated radio show, Bill O'Reilly threatened to turn over the personal information of a caller to "Fox security" because the caller mentioned MSNBC's Keith Olbermann. As Media Matters has noted, in recent weeks, Olbermann has repeatedly awarded O'Reilly the "Worst Person in the World" designation during his show, MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann.

• Confronting the Evidence: A Call To Reopen the 9/11 Investigation - Jimmy Walter is the multi-millionaire who is seeking to expose the lies of 9/11... "To get a free copy of the DVD produced by Jimmy Walter and ReOpen911.org subtitled in 10 languages: English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Russian, Dutch, Arabic, Chinese, and Japanese, please complete the information on this link. We ask you to pass the DVD along to a friend or better yet, host a party. - Copy It Freely. There is no copywrite. Check this page on how to copy to regular DVD. Thanks!"

03rd MARCH 2006: -

• Blair 'prayed to God' over Iraq - Prime Minister Tony Blair says he prayed to God when deciding whether or not to send UK troops to Iraq. Mr Blair answered "yes" when asked on ITV1 chat show Parkinson if he had sought holy intervention on the issue. "Of course, you struggle with your own conscience about it... and its one of these situations that, I suppose, very few people ever find themselves in." The interview, Michael Parkinson's first on his chat show with a serving PM, will be shown on Saturday.

• Here's something to chew on: ID in teeth - It is the ID card you will never lose or forget to carry with you unless your teeth fall out. Scientists have implanted an ID chip into a tooth to show how detailed personal information can be stored. The scientists say the tooth chip will be useful to forensic scientists trying to identify bodies after natural disasters and terrorist attacks with numerous victims. They say it will also have advantages over a simple identity card.

• Patriot Act passes Senate with privacy rules added - After months of hard-fought negotiations, the Senate voted overwhelmingly Thursday to renew expiring portions of the Patriot Act after adding new privacy protections to the law spawned after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. By a vote of 89-10, senators voted to make permanent 14 of the 16 provisions originally set to expire at the end of 2005. The two other provisions, which govern secret government records searches, were modified and extended four years.

• Police merger plans to go ahead - Home Secretary Charles Clarke has confirmed his controversial police force merger plans are to go ahead. In a written statement, Mr Clarke said he hoped to amalgamate forces in Wales, the North East, North West and West Midlands by April next year. Greater Manchester Police will remain as one unit but if approved, the plans will see the number of forces in England and Wales fall from 43 to 33.

• Guantánamo detainee tells of torture and beatings - A man told today of the brutal beatings and torture he claims to have suffered during more than four years at the Guantánamo Bay detention camp. Fawzi al-Odah, a 29-year-old from Kuwait, said he had been force-fed by guards and that he had "given up" on life as a consequence of the treatment he had received. Mr Odah's version of life at the controversial prison camp at a US base in Cuba was relayed through his lawyer in reply to a series of written questions submitted by a BBC journalist.

• Vatican exorcist warns of Harry Potter - The Vatican's chief exorcist has warned that reading Harry Potter could lead young people towards Satanism. JK Rowling's blockbuster fiction series about a young magician has been deemed dangerous by Father Gabriele Amorth, The Sun reported. "By reading Harry Potter a young child will be drawn into magic and from there it is a simple step to Satanism and the Devil," he was quoted as saying. "You start with Harry Potter, who comes across as a likeable wizard, but you end up with the Devil.

02nd MARCH 2006: -

• Pentagon to enslave shark-kind: Uncle Sam mobilises remote control fish - Sinister news has leaked out of the US Department of Defence, where plans are afoot to implant mind control devices into sharks in the hope of using them for underwater espionage. The DoD engineer-designed implant (developed in lab experiments on rats) will be deployed to harness a squad of shark spies, it was revealed at a meeting in Hawaii last week. Until now, applications for the controversial technology have centred on regaining movement in paralysis sufferers.

• “Torture, abuses worse than under Saddam” - Human rights abuses in Iraq are worse than they were under Saddam Hussein, John Pace, the UN’s outgoing human rights chief in Iraq said Thursday. Pace, who left his post last month, said that there is an increase in the level of extra-judicial executions and torture in Iraq.

• Soft drinks linked to cancer - Soft drinks sold in the UK have up to eight times the level of a cancer-risk chemical than is allowed in drinking water. Benzene has been found in some of the best-selling brands, tests on 230 soft drinks found. The Food Standards Agency (FSA) called for the survey after concerning results in the US. The chemical is a by-product of a reaction between two other ingredients commonly used to make drinks. It has been linked to leukaemia and other cancers of the blood.

• Millions given to tsunami 'sitting in bank accounts' - Millions of pounds of taxpayers' money given by the Government to the Asian tsunami appeal could still be sitting in the bank accounts of UN agencies and charities, spending watchdogs have found. Although more than £50 million was paid out within weeks of the disaster, delays in setting up humanitarian projects have left an unknown sum unspent.

• Blair Approval Rating Falls to 28% in Britain – Few adults in Britain are content with Tony Blair, according to a poll by Ipsos-MORI published in The Sun. 28 per cent of respondents are satisfied with their prime minister’s performance, down nine points since November. In May 2005, British voters renewed the House of Commons. The governing Labour party secured 356 seats, followed by the Conservatives with 197 and the Liberal Democrats with 62. Blair has served as prime minister since 1997.

• Breast Cancer Risk Scented in Underarm Antiperspirants - Underarm antiperspirants may contribute to the risk of breast cancer because they contain aluminum salts with metal ions that mimic the effect of estrogen. Until recently, it was thought that such estrogen-mimicking substances were uniformly organic -- either phenolic or carbon ring structures -- but evidence is mounting that some metals can also binding to estrogen receptors, said Philippa Darbre, Ph.D., of the University of Reading.

01st MARCH 2006: -

• Blair's wife says info extracted through torture should be acted on - International treaties ban the use of torture without exception, but governments may sometimes have to act on intelligence that may have come from such abuse, Prime Minister Tony Blair's wife Cherie Booth said Wednesday. "In the real world, where terrorism exists, there are few absolutes," said Booth, a human rights lawyer, speaking at the London think tank Chatham House. She said there should be "no exception" to the prohibition on torture and argued that evidence obtained through torture should be inadmissible in court, but agreed with a ruling by the House of Lords that governments might sometimes have to act on it.

• This is McCarthyism updated for a new age, says Livingstone - Ken Livingstone, who was suspended as mayor of London after comparing a Jewish newspaper reporter to a Nazi concentration camp guard, yesterday accused leading Jews of pursuing a policy of "McCarthyism updated for a new age". The mayor spoke out as a High Court judge ruled that his four-week suspension - due to start today - should be delayed pending his appeal.

• Teenager 'youngest Taser target' - A police Taser gun was used against a 14-year-old boy spotted walking the streets with what looked like a sword. The teenager is the youngest person Thames Valley Police has ever used a Taser gun against. A force spokesman said officers know the decision to use a Taser should be based on the risk the person poses, and not on their age.

• Britons' 'torture ordeal' in jail - Three Britons jailed in Egypt for membership of an outlawed Islamic fundamentalist group said they had been repeatedly tortured for their political beliefs. Reza Pankhurst and Ian Nisbet, of London, and Maajid Nawaz, of Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex, returned to the UK this evening having served three-quarters of a five year sentence they received in 2004. They were arrested in 2002 for attempting to revive the Islamic organisation Hizb ut-Tahrir - banned by the Egyptian Government in 1974.

• Study Shows Decline in Neurodevelopmental Disorders After Removal of Thimerosal -Containing Vaccines - A new study published today (3/1/06) shows that the rate of neurodevelopmental disorders (NDs) in children has decreased following removal of thimerosal, a preservative containing the neurotoxin mercury, from American childhood vaccines. The study, published in the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons, a peer reviewed journal, by Dr. Mark Geier and David Geier examined two independent databases maintained by the government – one national and one state.

• Family sues over Miami-Dade officer's use of Taser on boy, 6 - The family of a boy who was shot by a Miami-Dade County police officer with a Taser in 2004 has filed a federal lawsuit against the county police department, the school district, and several individuals. The boy, who was 6 years old and in first grade at the time, was shot with a 50,000-volt Taser during a confrontation with police inside the assistant principal's office at Kelsey Pharr Elementary School in Miami. The lawsuit, which does not identify the boy by name, charges police personnel with lying about what had happened to justify use of the Taser and accuses school officials of negligence.

• Patriot Act E-Mail Searches Apply to Non-Terrorists, Judges Say - Two federal judges in Florida have upheld the authority of individual courts to use the Patriot Act to order searches anywhere in the country for e-mails and computer data in all types of criminal investigations, overruling a magistrate who found that Congress limited such expanded jurisdiction to cases involving terrorism. The disagreement among the jurists about the scope of their powers simmered for more than two years before coming to light in an opinion unsealed earlier this month. The resolution, which underscored the government's broad legal authority to intercept electronic communications, comes as debate is raging over President Bush's warrantless surveillance program and the duties of Internet providers to protect personal data.

• Cat curfews imposed amid bird flu scare - Four European countries today imposed restrictions on the movements of cats after a dead cat in Germany was discovered to have been infected with bird flu. The dead animal was found yesterday on the Baltic island of Ruegen, where more than 100 wild birds have died of the deadly H5N1 strain of the virus. Experts say that the cat probably fell ill after eating an infected bird.

• Simpsons 'trump' First Amendment - Americans know more about The Simpsons TV show than the US Constitution's First Amendment, an opinion poll says. Only one in four could name more than one of the five freedoms it upholds but more than half could name at least two members of the cartoon family. About one in five thought the right to own a pet was one of the freedoms.

• Fast Food Ice Dirtier Than Toilet Water! - Out of the mouths of babes comes this news. Budding scientist, 12-year-old Jasmine Roberts from Benito Middle School in Tampa, Fla., has created a science fair project that has lots of grown-ups sitting up and taking notice. Her conclusion: Ice at fast food restaurants is laced with bacteria. Lots of it. Tampa Bay Online reports that Roberts examined the amount of bacteria in the ice served at fast food restaurants and the amount of bacteria in the toilet bowl water in those same restaurants. The toilet bowl water was cleaner 70 percent of the time.