31st OCTOBER 2005: -

• FORCED INOCULATIONS BEGINNING OF BUSH'S BAD BIRD FLU PLAN - The bill (S. 1873) -- a big congressional wet kiss to the drug industry -- is dressed up in a noble-sounding title: "Biodefense and Pandemic Vaccine and Drug Development Act." In essence, however, it would force Americans to receive inoculations against a disease that has yet to kill one of them, while removing their constitutional right to seek redress in our courts in case of injury or death from the shots because of company negligence. The proposal, now moving its way through the Senate, would also ban citizens from using the Freedom of Information Act and other popular informational laws to discover whether the new vaccine (when it is finally produced) was effective and safe, and even whether anyone had suffered adverse reactions to it.

• Hartford diocese to settle abuse cases for $22 mln - The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Hartford, Connecticut, has agreed to pay $22 million to settle 43 cases of sexual abuse of children by priests from the 1960s to about 1985, lawyers and the church said on Monday.

• Afghan Prisoner Abuse Charges Filed Against Two U.S. Soldiers - The U.S. military command in Afghanistan said it filed charges of abuse against two U.S. soldiers over their treatment of Afghan detainees. The soldiers are accused of striking two detainees being held at a base in Oruzgan province in southern Afghanistan, the American Forces Press Service said in a report yesterday carried on the U.S. Defense Department's Web site. It didn't say when the incidents took place.

• French politician defends crime policies after Paris riots - French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy has defended his tough crime policies after a fourth night of riots in a Paris suburb in which tear gas was fired into a mosque. Sarkozy, addressing police officers, vowed to find how tear gas had been fired into the Muslim place of worship, an incident which had helped fuel the disturbances.

• Hicks torture claims will be investigated: Downer - Australian officials will investigate claims that Guantanamo Bay inmate David Hicks was tortured and abused by American soldiers, Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer says. A former Guantanamo Bay detainee, Martin Munbanga, has told ABC TV's Four Corners program that Hicks confided in him about being blind folded and beaten, spat on, sexually abused and assaulted.

• OUR ENVOYS LOSE SAT PHONE, IRAQI REBELS FIND IT & RUN UP £500,000 BILL CALLING AL-QAEDA IN YEMEN AND SAUDI ARABIA: NO-ONE NOTICED FOR TWO YEARS - BRITISH diplomats had a satellite phone stolen in Baghdad...and only noticed it was missing after a bill for FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND POUNDS was run up. The invoice shows thousands of phone calls made to Yemen and Saudi Arabia, bases for al-Qaeda terror networks. MI6 spy chiefs fear the "Thuraya" phone was used by insurgents to plot a wave of suicide bombings across Iraq.

• 'Intelligence failures' prior to 9/11, Iraq war: Planned strategies? - Inquiries by the 9/11 Commission and the Senate Intelligence Committee into “intelligence failures” have blamed intelligence officers and intelligence agencies. Some former CIA officers and others have expressed concerns that the commission’s and the committee’s investigations of so-called intelligence failures before 9/11 and before the Iraq invasion seemed to make scapegoats of dedicated intelligence professionals. The “intelligence failures” that led to the 9/11 attacks, and the “intelligence failures” that led to the invasion of Iraq have parallels and links that seem to pose difficult questions for many Americans.

• Germans turning to witchcraft, occult - Amid double-digit unemployment and post-unification trauma, increasing numbers of Germans are turning to witchcraft and the occult to provide the solace they once found in churches, jobs and family.  The land of Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation, where the 30 Years War was fought over religious beliefs, has become a nation in the throes of ‘de-Christianisation’ as churches across the land are forced to close for lack of congregations.

• AUSTRALIA: 'Police state' in making - THE proposed anti-terror changes have been compared to the types of laws usually found in a police state. Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission president John von Doussa told a forum on the proposed laws yesterday that they would achieve exactly the same goal as those of a police state.

• Another child abuse timebomb ticks away: Claims recorded against 27 priests - A child abuse timebomb is ticking away in another Catholic archdiocese in the Republic. Allegations have been recorded against a shocking total of 27 priests who have served in the Archdiocese of Tuam. Eight clerics have left the priesthood in Tuam after a "reasonable suspicion" that child abuse had taken place was established. Three clerics have already been convicted of child sex abuse charges.

• Aspartame Makers In A Tizzy - In July. famous Italian scientists made world news by reporting an impeccable three-year study on aspartame proving it causes malignant brain tumors, lymphoma, and leukemia. In Sept they added kidney cancer and cancer of the cranial peripheral nerves. Next the New Mexico Environmental Improvement Board granted Stephen Fox's request to convene a five day hearing to consider banning this poison from the state. The full week hearing is scheduled for July.

• MORE OCCULTIC RITUALS ON HALLOWEEN: Dead mourned and honoured in Vancouver - People walked quietly down the paths of the dark cemetery that flickered with lanterns and candle-lit shrines, stopping to mourn at graves and whisper to the dead. A few misguided men in glam rock outfits and pink wigs, superman costumes and women dressed as flappers looked uncomfortable, trying to wrap their head around what was going on. Wasn't this supposed to be a Halloween party? Not quite. A Night For All Souls was created by a Vancouver artist who believes Canadians need to develop a healthier relationship with death.

• 9/11 parts split by good and evil - The city scientist who led the effort to identify 9/11 victims said officials made sure to keep the remains of the three terrorists identified away from those of the innocents killed. The remains of the killers were removed from the medical examiner's makeshift memorial park on the East Side and "put in another place," Robert Shaler, former head of the medical examiner's forensic unit, told the Daily News. In "Who They Were," his new inside account of the identification effort, Shaler writes that he believes the terrorists identified were in the back of the planes - and not the monsters who plowed the jets into the towers.

• Happy Halloween? Is Goulish Festival, Favorite of Children, Rooted In Paganism? - On 31 October, spooky beings and superheroes, cartoon characters and rubberized celebrities will line the streets and mall hallways of America anticipating sugary rewards. Compelled by shouts of "TRICK OR TREAT," children of all ages will tote receptacles of various size and weight harboring the result of the nights hunt. It's called Halloween, and while for most it is a harmless annual activity, its roots run deep in ancient paganism.

• Doctors caution on terror laws - ANTI-war demonstrators could be jailed for seven years under the Federal Government's proposed anti-terror laws, a doctors' body said today. As the Commonwealth and states negotiate on a final draft of the laws, the Australian Medical Association for the Prevention of War has urged them not to be pressured into supporting the Bill in its present form. Association vice-president Gillian Deakin said everyone supported strong counter-terrorism laws. "But we must make sure we are not panicked or bullied into hasty or extreme laws that surrender the basic human rights of all Australians," Dr Deakin said.

• Wiccans mark Halloween as start of new year - Halloween is an important time for Wiccans, practitioners of a fast-growing polytheistic religion who recognize the day as the start of their new year. Followers say the holiday, which they call Samhain, is when the veil between the living and dead is the thinnest.

• DIANA FANS TO PROTEST AT US TOUR - AMERICAN fans of the late Princess of Wales plan to greet Camilla with the message: 'This is Diana territory - go home.' The Diana Circle are planning a demonstration against the royal tour in Washington DC. Members intend to wave anti-Camilla placards and Diana posters. Lisa Stewart, 35, from Louisiana, said: 'We don't want to let Camilla have a free ride. 'Our message is simply that this is Diana territory - get away.'

30th OCTOBER 2005: -

• SENATE BILL 1873 BANS DRUG & VACCINE DAMAGE CLAIMS - In between news broadcasts of hurricane disasters and relief efforts we have all heard the hysteria surrounding the avian flu. Is this slated to be the next disaster that distracts us from a hundred other pressing concerns in our world? Probably. There is just too much money to be made selling drugs and flu shots as we give governments more power to herd us into doctors’ offices to force us to use some medication we don’t want. It’s Big Pharma’s dream come true.

• MoD says Iraq has cost UK £3.1bn - The Iraq war and its aftermath cost the UK almost £3.1bn up to the end of March this year, new figures from the Ministry of Defence (MoD) reveal.

• Nepal's press freedom towards extinction: HRW - New York based Human Rights Watch (HRW) has said that press freedom in Nepal is on the verge of extinction owing to new media ordinance imposed by King Gyanendra and the government's recent decision to close a popular radio station in Kathmandu.

29th OCTOBER 2005: -

• RITALIN: THE COVER-UP OF SUICIDES - From the depths of the archives at the Swedish Medical Products Agency (MPA) some astonishing papers have emerged. Papers showing that Ritalin, prescribed to children with the diagnosis ADHD, causes depression and has led to suicides and suicide attempts.

• WMass activists fight fluoride - Activists from Western Massachusetts yesterday converged on Beacon Hill to fight an effort to strip voters of the right to decide if fluoride should be added to municipal drinking water.

• Someone's been watching you on the Web: Dogpile sampled Internet searches in the Twin Cities last week and found some specific interests: dogs, mirrors and Paris Hilton (We said dogs already!). - What's on your mind? Newspapers, survey takers, advertisers and your next-door neighbor are always curious, but they usually don't know unless you tell them. But Americans have the new habit of telling Internet search engines what they're thinking about; they do it every time they type a query into Google.

• Canadian Government Caught Funding Anti-Christian Bigotry - Minister Won't Apologize: A Conservative MP has discovered through documents obtained under Access to Information that Status of Women Canada has been funding anti-Christian bigotry and pro-abortion activism. However, in a startling exchange of correspondence, the Minister responsible for the funding neither offered to pull the funding nor to apologize to Christian Canadians for funding groups which defame them.

• Zoloft suicide case settled - A lawsuit filed against Pfizer Inc. has been filed by the parents of a teenage girl who committed suicide shortly after she started taking Zoloft, an antidepressant made by the pharmaceutical giant. Details of the agreement between Ken and Angela Kallas of South Jordan and the company are confidential.

• The Epic Crime That Dares Not Speak Its Name: By John Pilger - A Royal Air Force officer is about to be tried before a military court for refusing to return to Iraq because the war is illegal. Malcolm Kendall-Smith is the first British officer to face criminal charges for challenging the legality of the invasion and occupation. He is not a conscientious objector; he has completed two tours in Iraq. When he came home the last time, he studied the reasons given for attacking Iraq and concluded he was breaking the law. His position is supported by international lawyers all over the world, not least by Kofi Annan, the UN secretary general, who said in September last year: "The US-led invasion of Iraq was an illegal act that contravened the UN Charter."

• AOL Hires Cheney Daughter: America Online Inc. hired Mary Cheney, the 36-year-old daughter of Vice President Cheney, to offer advice on building up Web site businesses, a company spokesman said yesterday. Cheney starts the job later this year and will work primarily with longtime AOL executive Ted Leonsis, who as president of AOL's Audience Business focuses on increasing viewership of its Web sites, said Nicholas Graham, a spokesman for the Dulles-based company. He declined to disclose additional details about her position.

• The Ringworm Children: How the Israeli Government Irradiated 100,000 Israeli Kids - On August 14, at 9 PM, Israel's Channel Ten television screened a documentary film which exposes the ugliest secret of Israel's Labor party founders: the deliberate mass radiation poisoning of nearly all Sephardi youths of a generation.

• Woman's body mistaken for Halloween decoration - The apparent suicide of a woman found hanged in a tree was ignored for hours because neighbours thought she was a Halloween decoration. The 42-year-old woman's body was suspended five metres (15ft) from the ground at the side of a busy road in Frederica, Delaware, from Tuesday night, police said. Locals noticed the body early on Wednesday but dismissed it as a Halloween prank. "They thought it was a Halloween decoration," Mayor William Glanden's wife, Fay, told a local paper. "It looked like something somebody would have rigged up."

• IT'S THE SUGARPLUM TIME OF YEAR - It's the sugarplum time of year, with myriad Candies and Sweets in bright enticing colors and flavors. Therein lies the hazard, for our Fatal Drugs Allowed folks, our FDA, has blessed several poisons as sugar substitutes for holiday confections. As the Big Bad Wolf would say, "The better to murder you with, my Dear." Under labels as Sugar Free, Low Cal, and Diet! thousands of tons of deadly aspartame/NutraSweet/Equal, Neotame and Splenda will be substituted for sugar. All in the name of good health, of course. These chemicals are a boon to candy & confection makers.

• 'HITLER IS OUR HERO': 13-year-old twins whose songs inspire US Nazis - THE twins sit cross-legged in front of an immense television, transfixed by their video game. Lamb and Lynx Gaede seem typical 13-year-olds, fighting for the next go with the joystick. But the game is called Ethnic Cleansing - a video nasty where players try to kill as many black people as possible. Watching these apparently angelic little girls playing their vile game is shockingly offensive. But it's nothing compared to the hate that spews out of their mouths. Lamb says: "Adolf Hitler was a great man who was only trying to preserve his own race in his own country."

• Cheney Wants More U.S. Torture - The Bush administration has proposed exempting employees of the Central Intelligence Agency from a legislative measure endorsed earlier this month by 90 members of the Senate that would bar cruel and degrading treatment of any prisoners in U.S. custody. The proposal, which two sources said Vice President Cheney handed last Thursday to Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) in the company of CIA Director Porter J. Goss, states that the measure barring inhumane treatment should not apply to counterterrorism operations conducted abroad or to operations conducted by "an element of the United States government" other than the Defense Department.

• Bush administration pushing domestic surveillance envelope - ...However, the Bush administration does not seem content to routinely abuse our right to privacy. It has also publicly called for the suspension of Posse Comitatus and for the U.S. military to take charge of domestic emergencies. I believe it is urgent that the American people, especially people calling themselves conservatives, become cognizant of the many attempts by the Bush administration to eviscerate the constitutional protections of our liberties. We must not allow this, or any, administration to undo this remarkable experiment in liberty.

• Data protection watchdog blasts ID card database: "Risks unleashing unwarranted intrusion into individuals' lives"... - The UK's data protection watchdog has slammed the government's ID card plans saying there is no justification for storing so much personal and biometric information in a central national identity register (NIR). Information commissioner Richard Thomas warns that the extensive personal information to be retained on the NIR and the requirement for individuals to keep notifying changes in circumstances is "excessive and disproportionate".

28th OCTOBER 2005: -

• SATIRE FOR ENEMIES OF GM FOOD AND FANS OF STAR WARS: Grocery Store Wars - Not long ago in a supermarket not far away...

• Texas Co. Hired Illegals to Make MREs - A Texas employment agency was sentenced to five years of probation for hiring illegal immigrants to work at the nation's top producer of military battlefield rations, federal prosecutors said Thursday. The Tollin Group was also fined $20,000 and ordered to pay $414,000 in civil penalties Wednesday. It has been barred from Department of Defense contracts for three years. The San Antonio-based company, which does business as Remedy Intelligent Staffing, pleaded guilty in January to hiring illegal immigrants and trying to cover it up by falsifying employment eligibility forms. The workers were hired for Wornick Co., which makes MREs — or "meals ready-to-eat."

• Tam students want privacy from military - Two Tamalpais High School 11th-graders have asked school district officials to oppose a federal requirement that schools receiving federal funds provide military recruiters with student contact information. "The military shouldn't be able to get student records from students that are forced to go to school by law," said David Crawford, 17, of Mill Valley. "It is making students feel unsafe at school. Now the military has access to their names and information." The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 requires that public schools receiving federal Title I funds for under-achieving students provide students' names and contact information to the Pentagon. Parents may request the information remain private.

• Abuse claims 'against 26 priests' - Allegations of child sex abuse have been made against 26 priests serving in the Derry diocese over the past 50 years, the diocesan bishop has said. Dr Seamus Hegarty said there had been only one successful prosecution. It follows a report which found that 21 priests had abused children in County Wexford over the past 40 years.

• Privacy Groups Challenge FCC Wiretapping Rules - The new FCC rules are being attacked on several fronts. Privacy and civil liberties groups are challenging the rules on the grounds that they have the potential to be "Big Brother" type wiretaps, in which law-enforcement officials could do any type of surveillance they wanted.

• Further official criticism about ID Card database and the lack of privacy - The Information Commissioner, the Joint Committee on Human Rights (JCHR) and Law Society have added to the criticism of the ID Card Bill prior to its second reading in the House of Lords next week. On Monday, the Constitution Committee of the House of Lords published a critical report which reiterated its concerns about insufficient safeguards associated with the ID Card scheme as it believes that the ID Card "fundamentally alters the relationship between citizens and the State".

• U.S.: License to Abuse Would Put CIA Above the Law - The Bush administration is now the only government in the world to claim a legal justification for mistreating prisoners during interrogations, Human Rights Watch said today. The administration recently approached members of the U.S. Congress to seek a waiver that would allow the CIA to use cruel, inhumane, or degrading treatment on detainees in U.S. custody outside the United States.

• Iraq scandal taints 2,000 firms - More than 2,000 firms linked to the UN oil-for-food programme in Iraq were involved in making illicit payments to the Iraqi government, a report says. It found Saddam Hussein received $1.8bn (£1bn) from firms including Daimler Chrysler and Volvo, and it also named individuals said to have benefited. Some of those issued denials or declined to comment at this stage.

• OOOPS, WE LET IT HAPPEN!: Port Authority negligent in WTC attack - Port Authority of New York and New Jersey officials promised to appeal a verdict that it was negligent ahead of the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center. The jury decision, handed down Wednesday after about one day of deliberations that had followed four weeks of testimony, leaves the Port Authority liable in lawsuits filed in the wake of the Feb. 26, 1993, bombing in the garage beneath the World Trade Center's twin towers. Six people were killed and about 1,000 others were injured in the incident. The jury apparently accepted the argument that the Port Authority should have been aware that the garage was a potential terrorist attack target.

• Patriot Act bill would expand death penalty – The House bill that would reauthorize the USA Patriot Act anti-terrorism law includes several little-noticed provisions that would dramatically transform the federal death penalty system, allowing smaller juries to decide on executions and giving prosecutors the ability to try again if a jury deadlocks on sentencing. The bill also triples the number of terrorism-related crimes eligible for the death penalty, adding, among others, the material support law that has been the core of the government’s legal strategy against terrorism.

• French Official Presents Anti-Terror Bill - France's interior minister presented a long-awaited anti-terrorism bill to the Cabinet on Wednesday, rejecting allegations that it would trample on civil liberties. The bill would stiffen prison sentences for convicted terrorists, allow police to monitor citizens who travel to countries known for terror training camps and broaden the use of surveillance cameras.

• PERSPECTIVE: The prison industry in the United States: big business or a new form of slavery? - HUMAN rights organizations, as well as political and social ones, are condemning what they are calling a new form of inhumane exploitation in the United States, where they say a prison population of up to 2 million – mostly Black and Hispanic – are working for various industries for a pittance. For the tycoons who have invested in the prison industry, it has been like finding a pot of gold. They don’t have to worry about strikes or paying unemployment insurance, vacations or comp time. All of their workers are full-time, and never arrive late or are absent because of family problems; moreover, if they don’t like the pay of 25 cents an hour and refuse to work, they are locked up in isolation cells.

• Carlyle Group may be in bidding to buy Dunkin' Donuts - Blackstone Group and The Carlyle Group reportedly made competing buyout offers this week for Dunkin' Donuts and two restaurant chains being sold by Pernod Ricard. Bloomberg News is reporting that Blackstone teamed with Texas Pacific Group, owner of the Burger King fast-food chain, and D.C.-based Carlyle joined with Bain Capital and Thomas H. Lee Partners.

27th OCTOBER 2005: -

• Essential Viewing to launch video surveillance device - COUNTERING terror threats in major cities, and surveillance via robot tanks and reconnaissance drones in Iraq are some of the potential applications for a revolutionary video system pioneered by Strathclyde University academics. The system is set to be showcased in the US today. Essential Viewing, a small, venture-capitalist backed firm founded in 1999, is in Washington for the US launch of its GlobalVision GV300 video compression device, which allows for real-time covert and overt surveillance video to be transmitted via satellite or mobile phone networks.

• ...AND TODAY, TORTURE IS... GOOD: Cheney leads White House fight against torture ban - Congressional negotiators are feeling heat from the White House and constituents as they consider whether to back a Senate-approved ban on torturing detainees in U.S. custody or weaken the prohibition, as the White House prefers. Led by Vice President Dick Cheney, the administration is floating a proposal that would allow the president to exempt covert agents outside the Defense Department from the ban.

• New York Firefighters to Sue over 9/11-related Disability Decision - Claiming that a 2003 pension board decision changing the rules for firefighters seeking 9/11-related disability payments may be "political," a group of 30 current and retired New York City firefighters is preparing a class-action lawsuit against the city fire department to force officials to either return workers to full status or allow them to retire with the original pension. The lawsuit, filed on behalf of Uniformed Firefighters Association Local 94 members, is aimed at pulling those suffering from lung problems due to recovery and rescue work conducted after the September 11 terror attacks out of "career limbo," UFA Vice President James Slevin told the New York Daily News.

• SEEING IS NOT BELIEVING!: Ol' Blue Eyes is back! - The West End is to welcome one of the world's greatest singers - even though he has been dead for more than seven years. Sinatra At The London Palladium, which will open in February, is a bold attempt to marry state-of-the-art technology with more traditional forms of stage entertainment, such as live musicians, singers and dancers. The £5 million show will bring Ol' Blue Eyes back to life thanks to the involvement of his family, who have allowed producers to mine their unseen personal archive of home movies showing Sinatra in action. The remastered, cleaned-up footage will be projected on to an array of moving screens scattered around the Palladium, while an ensemble cast performs live in front of them.  (COMMENT: Reminiscent of the TV ad in which actor Steve McQueen came back from being 25 years deceased to try to sell us a Mustang.  I also remember a certain 'Bin Laden Confession' tape following the 911 attacks... hmmm!)

26th OCTOBER 2005: -

• Stress makes quarter of kids hurt themselves: survey - Of 875 middle school-age children who were polled recently on how they handle stress, one quarter admitted to having hurt themselves on purpose when stressed or upset. The 9- to 13-year-olds who admitted to having hurt themselves when stressed said things like -- "I banged my head against the wall on purpose" or "I pinched myself really really hard."

• How toxic is your bathroom? - Be warned: your daily beauty regime could be taking years off your life. Pat Thomas reports on the chemical timebomb in your cosmetics cabinet. Earlier this year, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) did something amazing. It issued an unprecedented warning to the cosmetics industry that it was time to inform consumers that most personal care products have not been safety tested.

• MPs defy Government on terror plans - A group of Labour backbenchers are set to defy the Government and register a protest vote against its controversial anti-terror plans. The MPs' concerns about the Terrorism Bill, which is due to get its second reading in the House of Commons on Wednesday night, centre on a measure that would allow the police to hold terror suspects for up to 90 days without charge.

• Antidepressant Use by Children down Significantly after Link to Suicidal Behavior - Amidst serious concerns about links between antidepressant use and an increased risk of suicide and suicidal behavior in children, which resulted in black box warning labels, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reports a decline in such prescriptions. Paul Seligman, chief of FDA post-marketing drug surveillance, reports that Verispan, which did the analysis for the FDA, found a 20% drop in prescriptions from January 2002 to July 2005.

• Oklahoma City FBI surrenders documents to court: Suit seeks information that could prove prior knowledge of blast plot - Under pressure from a federal judge to produce at least 87 pages of "un-redacted" internal FBI documents related to the 1995 bombing of the Oklahoma City federal building, the Oklahoma City FBI office has filed under seal documents with a Salt Lake City federal court that could unlock some of the mysteries surrounding the terrorist attack that left 168 dead. Along with the documents under seal the agency cited a number of reasons the court should continue to protect persons whose names were originally blacked out of some of the crucial documents and certain facts the FBI alone possesses about activities at a paramilitary terrorist training camp called Elohim City.

• PERSPECTIVE: Tracking cell phones would sacrifice privacy - The state of Missouri is considering a project to alert motorists about upcoming traffic delays. The estimated cost of this project is just under $3 million a year. The plan would be to track cell phones on highways to determine where motorists are. I don't like the idea. In fact, I believe it smacks common sense in the face with a skillet. First, the state would be granted the right to track the use of cell phones across Missouri, which means tapping into your cell phone use to get that information. This is simply an invasion of privacy that is unwarranted.

• RFID Chips To Travel in U.S. Passports - U.S. passports issued after October 2006 will contain embedded radio frequency identification chips that carry the holder's personal data and digital photo. Terrorism and ID theft fears drive most consumer objections. State Department final regulations issued Tuesday said all U.S. passports issued after October 2006 will have embedded radio frequency identification chips that carry the holder's personal data and digital photo.

• Mass RFID tagging for foods by 2015? - By 2015 some 900 billion food items could well be RFID-tagged, and 824 million livestock will have more sophisticated, more expensive tags either on or inside them, according to a market analysis report available from Research and Markets.

• Tributes left for a dead chicken (or how easy it is for misinformation to control human behaviour) - Flowers and tributes were left in an alleyway where the body of a mystery dead baby was found - before police realised it was only a chicken foetus. A member of the public discovered the remains in a back alley in the Anfield area of Liverpool. Police cordoned off the scene but soon realised that it was not a human but a chicken foetus. Well-wishers had laid more than a dozen bunches of flowers at the scene, along with cards and teddy bears. One of the cards read: "RIP Little Baby. Safe in the arms of Jesus. From someone who is a loving mother xxxx."

• Former Abu Ghraib General: Torture Is Continuing; Order Came From Very Top - "And then Secretary Rumsfeld putting his signature on a document authorizing more aggressive and harsher techniques during interrogation. That document goes over to Guantanamo Bay and over to Afghanistan, and it's used first in smaller groups and then it's used at Guantanamo Bay as a standard practice." The General also agreed that private contractors were brought in to over see the interrogations. The orders to use torture techniques can be traced back to the criminals in Government. "The orders came right from the top, filtered down from the secretary of defense, with the endorsement of the President, the Vice President, whatever advisors are surrounding them, filtered down through the Commanders in the field, these practices were not only endorsed, but were in use at Guantanamo bay and in locations in Afghanistan. And when General Miller visited Iraq he brought those techniques with him. And then he sent contract interrogators who had 'performed well' at Guantanamo Bay to Iraq as well."

• 9/11 is a no-no at WTC trial end - The 9/11 attacks got nary a mention yesterday as a Manhattan jury heard closing arguments in a lawsuit brought by victims of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Nicholas Figueroa forbade both sides from citing the 2001 attacks in their summations, after finding references to 9/11 would be prejudicial. The ruling was a defeat for lawyers for the Port Authority, who argued that Islamic terrorists bent on taking down an icon of American capitalism - not lax security - was responsible for the 1993 bombing that killed six and injured 1,000.        (SEE OUR 'PROBLEM > REACTION > SOLUTION' ARCHIVE FOR MORE INFO)

• Police are given shoot-to-kill powers in domestic violence and stalking cases - Scotland Yard's "shoot to kill" strategy has been widened to include other offences such as kidnapping, stalking and domestic violence, The Independent has learned. However, the decision to shoot a suspect in the head without the marksman giving a warning would only be used under exceptional circumstances, one of the country's most senior police chiefs said yesterday.

• Gun crime up 20% as toll of victims soars - GUN crime has soared across Scotland, with almost half of all incidents taking place in the Strathclyde Police area, according to figures issued today. Nationwide, 1165 incidents involving a gun were recorded by police between April 2004 and March 2005, against 974 in the previous 12 months -up 20%. A firearm killed or injured in 325 cases, up 34%, while seven out of eight murders committed with a gun were in the Strathclyde force area.

• Charity in trouble over Blair tour - A children's cancer charity that paid Cherie Blair more than £100,000 to speak at a series of fundraising events in Australia could be deregistered after only a small portion of the proceeds went towards cancer research. The Children's Cancer Institute of Australia has been given until tomorrow to show why it should not be banned as a charity in the state of Victoria. It follows an investigation by the state's consumer affairs office that found most of the funds raised at a charity dinner in Melbourne on February 10 were pocketed by Mrs Blair and British-born event organiser Max Markson.

• Who’s behind “terror” in Iraq?: The occupation forces are carrying out covert terror attacks - Bush’s war on Iraq, based on the rational of fighting "terror" seems unraveling. Although officials say that it is not clear who is behind the upsurge in “terrorist” attacks in Iraq, recent developments in the war ravaged country, including last month’s incident in which British soldiers smashed into an Iraqi police station; claiming they're trying to rescue two undercover agents, provide a strong evidence to what analysts have been suggesting since the surge in violence in the past few months; that occupation forces carry out covert "terror" attacks so as to maintain chaos and keep the reason of occupation vivid.

• Bush: Iraq war will require more sacrifice (Well get your arse over there then George!) - As the U.S. military death toll in Iraq reached 2,000, President George W. Bush said on Tuesday the war will require more time and sacrifice, and rejected calls for a U.S. pullout. "Each loss of life is heartbreaking, and the best way to honor the sacrifice of our fallen troops is to complete the mission and lay the foundation of peace by spreading freedom," Bush said, his voice breaking with emotion as he spoke at a luncheon of military wives at Bolling Air Force Base in Washington.

• Chips inserted in soldiers' brains: Universal Soldiers one step closer - BOFFINS working for the US military are experimenting with creating super soldiers by sticking microchips in their brains. Apparently the Pentagon has decided that one of the things its soldiers are missing is brains, or at least the ability to remember details of their training. Now researchers at the University of Southern California's bio-engineering department have developed a chip which they claim acts in exactly the same way as the hippocampus. This is the part of the brain that deals with memory and the chip can send out electrical signals which are similar to how it operates.

25th OCTOBER 2005: -

• PERSPECTIVE: Hate crime laws and the path to tyranny - The insidious thing about evolutionary tyranny is that it’s gradual progression. It doesn’t beat you over the head with the iron fist of a despot or sweep you aside with a wave of revolution, but, rather, is a death by a thousand doses of bad medicine that makes benign neglect seem utopian. One example of this brand of tyranny is the proliferation of hate-crime laws in the Western World. The very concept of hate-crime law itself is an offense against freedom and, as such, is quintessentially un-American. Yes, I hate hate-crime laws. And so should you. The main problem with hate-crime law is that it is an effort at thought-control masquerading as legitimate criminal-justice legislation. Let’s examine why this is so.

• Is it a passport, an ID card, or a fiddle? A minister explains: We analyse McNulty's train of logic - Analysis Government contributions to last week's debate on the third reading of the ID Cards Bill were largely unenlightening, with Charles Clarke in particular confining himself to reading from his flash cards ('will help to control the Big Brother state', 'ID fraud costs £1.3 billion', 'a third of terrorists use false ID'), but a couple of his minions were helpful (inadvertently, we assume) on the subjects of inevitability and finance. Do we have no choice, because the world is moving to biometric ID? And how is it that despite costing £93 for combined ID and passport and £30 for just ID, the ID card is somehow not costing us anything really?

• Privacy Groups Fight Online Phone Tap Regulations: Technology Industry Says FCC Stifles Innovation - A new federal regulation making it easier for law enforcement to tap Internet phone calls is being challenged in court. Privacy and technology groups asked the federal appeals court in Washington on Tuesday to overturn a Federal Communications Commission rule that expands wiretapping laws to cover Internet calls -- or Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP). Law enforcement agencies already can obtain a subpoena for the contents of VoIP calls from Internet access providers. But the FBI and others want the ability to capture the technology live, and they want systems designed so it would be easy to do that.

• U.K. Lords Defeat Blair Over Plan to Stiffen Hatred Laws - Lawmakers in the U.K. House of Lords, the upper, unelected chamber of Parliament, defeated Prime Minister Tony Blair over plans to stiffen religious hatred laws. They voted to weaken legislation that would create a crime of inciting religious hatred by introducing a ``free speech'' defense.

• Data privacy concerns raised over e-passport - The Australian Privacy Foundation (APF) has expressed concern about the nation's new e-passport. The Department of Foreign Affairs has begun issuing the new documents with a radio frequency identification tag (RFID) that uses facial recognition technology to verify the holder's identity. Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer says the microchips will only hold information relevant to the passport, and have protections to stop other devices reading them. APF spokesman Roger Clarke says he is concerned the protections will not work. "These tags are, promiscuous is the word that's used," he said. "A technical word of course, what we mean by that is the data leaks, the data will be provided to anybody that has the device that an RFID tag goes past."

• White House: Let us have just a little torture - The New York Times is reporting that the White House is fighting hard to exempt the CIA from rules prohibiting cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment under the recent McCain amendment. Human Rights Watch hits the nail on the head: "They are explicitly saying, for the first time, that the intelligence community should have the ability to treat prisoners inhumanely," According to the Times, the proposed amendment reads: "[This provision] shall not apply with respect to clandestine counterterrorism operations conducted abroad, with respect to terrorists who are not citizens of the United States, that are carried out by an element of the United States government other than the Department of Defense and are consistent with the Constitution and laws of the United States and treaties to which the United States is a party, if the president determines that such operations are vital to the protection of the United States or its citizens from terrorist attack."

• 'Killing, torture rife' in Brazil - BRAZILIAN governments have failed to protect human rights over the past decade with killings and torture by police still widespread, Amnesty International said. Amnesty today presented a report to the United Nations Human Rights Committee in Geneva. Tomorrow, Amnesty planned to review the progress of a national plan safeguarding human rights which was introduced in Brazil back in 1996. Successive Brazilian governments had relegated human rights to the "back seat" and there was a lack of political will and financial resources for the issue, the Amnesty report said.

• Royals to visit Ground Zero - FULL details were announced today for the Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall's first joint official overseas tour. The long-awaited trip to America will begin in New York where the Royal couple will inaugurate a new memorial garden for the British victims of the September 11 terrorist attacks. They will also visit the nearby World Trade Centre site in lower Manhattan.

• Di was assassinated for supporting Palestinian cause, claims author! - The mystery surrounding Princess Diana's death in 1997 has deepened further, with a close friend of hers alleging that her car crash was the result of an assassination conspiracy carried out by the British and French security services. Diana's former friend, Nicholas Davis, has made the astonishing allegation in his new book 'Cover Up'. Davis claims Diana, who along with her lover Dodi Fayed was killed in a Paris car crash, was murdered because she was about to give her support to Palestine, which could have outraged neighbouring Israel and worsened the Middle East crisis. A high placed source at M15 allegedly told Davis the late princess' crash was "no accident".

• Abuse by UN peacekeepers remains unchecked - Nothing discredits United Nations peacekeeping operations more than the continuing sexual abuse of women and girls by soldiers belonging to UN missions. And yet almost a year after shocking disclosures about such crimes in Congo, far too little has been done to end the culture of impunity, exploitation and sexual chauvinism that permits them to go on.

• 5-week-old foster child dies at DYFS office: Officials in Newark suspect reaction to routine vaccination - A 5-week-old foster child died at a state Division of Youth and Family Services office in Newark yesterday, shortly after a routine visit to a medical clinic where he received a vaccination. A DYFS aide bringing newborn Zaire Knott from the clinic to the office on Halsey Street noticed the infant was having trouble breathing and was bleeding from his nose, state spokesman Andy Williams said.

• Bottled water in chemical scare - An investigation has been launched into possible chemical contamination of two bottles of Volvic mineral water, producers Danone Waters. It comes after a mother-of-two complained of a burning sensation after drinking the water. Scientific tests commissioned by the BBC's Working Lunch revealed traces of the chemical naphthalene in the samples. Environmental toxicologist Dr Mark Viant said naphthalene could be harmful in high doses. He told the programme: "At very low levels naphthalene would not be toxic and it would not be a health risk, but at higher concentrations it can induce or cause damage to the red blood cells in our bodies and this can result ultimately in liver damage."

• Judge Rules Confession Admissible Despite Torture Claim - A federal judge says that prosecutors can use a confession by a Falls Church man charged with joining al-Qaida and plotting to assassinate President Bush, despite defense claims that the confession was obtained through torture. The ruling came after a six-day hearing in which Ahmed Omar Abu Ali testified that the Saudi security force whipped him on his back, kicked him in the stomach and pulled on his beard to obtain a confession. The judge reviewed photographs of 24-year-old's back that Abu Ali says was proof of his torture. Prosecutors had argued that Abu Ali's confession was voluntary. They cited a 13-minute videotaped confession given by Abu Ali, in which he ad-libbed jokes and pantomimed the use of an assault rifle.

• Plan would exempt CIA from detainee abuse bill - The Bush administration has proposed exempting CIA employees from a legislative measure, endorsed this month by 90 members of the Senate, that would bar cruel and degrading treatment of any prisoners in U.S. custody. The proposal, which two sources said Vice President Dick Cheney handed Thursday to Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., in the company of CIA Director Porter Goss, states that the bill to bar inhumane treatment shall not apply to counterterrorism operations conducted abroad or to operations conducted by "an element of the United States government" other than the Defense Department.

• ROSA PARKS HAS PASSED AWAY AGED 92: Parks' quiet courage helped change the world - Rosa Parks, the world's beloved mother of the civil rights movement, is dead but her spirit lives on. The woman whose quiet strength broke the back of Jim Crow law never will be forgotten. She died of natural causes in her Detroit home October 24, 2005. Young and old have been impacted by her legacy and millions will pause this week to reflect on her contributions. "The contributions she made to this city, this state and this nation will forever live so that those persons unborn will be able to read about her and realize there was a quiet, passionate, considerate woman who lived in Montgomery and who was determined to enjoy her constitutional rights even though it meant going to jail," said civil rights attorney Fred Gray, who served as Parks' attorney nearly 50 years ago.

• Griffin raises 9/11 questions - This past week, upward of 1,000 people heard David Ray Griffin speak in four cities throughout Vermont on the unanswered questions about the disaster on Sept. 11, 2001 at the World Trade Center. These are questions still being brought forth by the family members of the victims who died in the twin towers. At each talk, many people asked hard questions concerning the implications that our government knew about this impending disaster prior to 9/11 and did not stop it, and was possibly involved in its cover-up. 

• Could babies be poisoned by bottled water?: New concerns over babies drinking bottled water - Parents who use bottled water to make up baby milk could be poisoning their children. Some brands contain levels of uranium that could harm a developing child, a shock official study has found. They are Buxton - one of the UK's top sellers - Caffe Nero, Radnor Hills, Rocwell, St Yorre and San Pellegrino. Some have four times the amount of uranium considered the safe limit for a baby. Many families have switched from tap water to bottled varieties, believing them to be better and healthier.

• Boss threatens DNA tests over gum - An office boss threatened his staff with DNA tests after chewing gum got stuck on a director's trouser suit. Tony Price, managing director of IT firm WStore UK, was angry after he found the gum squashed under a desk. He sent out a memo demanding his 80 staff in Farnham, Surrey, submit to the test to weed out the culprit. However, after the plan was leaked to the media, Mr Price, 33, said he was only joking - but was angry at the breach of his gum ban. Now he is pledging to hunt down the employee who alerted the press - by forcing workers to take lie detector tests.

• Bushies feeling the boss' wrath - Facing the darkest days of his presidency, President Bush is frustrated, sometimes angry and even bitter, his associates say. With a seemingly uncontrollable insurgency in Iraq, the White House is bracing for the political fallout from a grim milestone that could come any day: the combat death of the 2,000th American G.I. Last week alone, 23 military personnel were killed in Iraq, and five were wounded yesterday in a relentless series of attacks across the country. This week could also bring a special prosecutor's decision that could shake the foundations of the Bush government. The President's top political guru, Karl Rove, and Vice President Cheney's right-hand man, Lewis (Scooter) Libby, are at the center of a two-year criminal probe into the leak of a CIA agent's identity. Many Bush staffers believe indictments are likely.

• IRAN - SPY BRITS BOMB: Iran is now claiming to have "proof" that British agents had a role in attacks that killed six and injured more than 100 others in Ahvaz last week. The Iranian accusation comes on the heels of a British apology to Iraq over the capture and violent rescue of two British soldiers dressed in native garb who had been driving around Basra in a car filled with weapons. Initial reports indicated that the car's contents included bomb-making equipment and such reports have been regularly amplified in Iran these last few weeks. Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki told state television, "Information obtained by the concerned organs show that Britain is the main accused in the recent events." This shows, he alleged, that "Britain is seeking to create insecurity in our country by interfering in our internal affairs." The reports that it was Britain, and even the United States planting some of the roadside bombs, were deemed credible by some of the alternative Internet press because of England's past history regarding this sort of practice.

• Bilderbergers, Rumsfeld Profit from Avian Flu Scam - You can't make any real money without a boogeyman, and the new "Bird Flu" hoax is the latest scam used to generate profits for pharmaceutical company insiders. "Finally, the pieces of the puzzle start to add up," writes Dr. Joseph Mercola, author of the "Total Health Program." "President Bush sought to instill panic in this country by telling us a minimum of 200,000 people will die from the avian flu pandemic but it could be as bad as 2 million deaths in this country alone." "This hoax is then used to justify the immediate purchase of 80 million doses of Tamiflu, a worthless drug that in no way shape or form treats the avian flu, but only decreases the amount of days one is sick and can actually contribute to the virus having more lethal mutations," Mercola continues. "So the U.S. placed an order for 20 million doses of this worthless drug at a price of $100 per dose. That comes to a staggering $2 billion.

• Anti-terrorism laws threaten media freedom: Hampering the work of journalists will not enhance our security - FREEDOM of speech, freedom of expression, and freedom of communication have always been taken as a given in Western democratic society. And yet it appears that unprecedented powers such as house arrest, the wearing of tracking devices, increased sedition offences, detention of juveniles and even shoot-to-kill provisions — plus further restrictions on the media — mean some of our basic rights are up for grabs. As The Age said in its editorial last week, the Federal Government's draft anti-terrorism legislation "will override some of the essential rights, such as the prohibition on detention without charge, that distinguish this country from others with neither traditions nor safeguards".

• ASPARTAME RISKS FOR REAL? - The evidence has been trickling in, almost since the substance first began to take over the soft-drink industry, and insinuate itself into every aspect of the food world, over 20 years ago. But now, more and more licensed physicians are advising against the use of the artificial sweetener, aspartame. As the active ingredient in Equal, Nutrasweet and Spoonful, this substance has been a major part of the diet of most Americans, especially those seeking an alternative to natural sugar. But almost from its inception, aspartame has been suspect. In fact, one theory of the origins of Gulf War Syndrome traces the ailment, at least in part, to a large diet-soda shipment left too long in the scorching desert sun during transit and storage; aspartame breaks down chemically under temperatures above only about 80 degrees Fahrenheit, producing formaldehyde, a known human poison.

24th OCTOBER 2005: -

• eBay's Nazi policies boycotted nationwide - A nationwide boycott of eBay is protesting eBay's hypocrisy regarding Nazi items that glorify Nazism. Ebay abets sales of Nazi stamps and coins, for example. eBay's Nazi stamps and coins show offensive items that were made by Nazis to glorify Nazism, Hitler, hatred & racism. Hypocritically, eBay banned the sale of a historic photograph of the USA's original Pledge of Allegiance (which was the origin of the Nazi salute) while allowing Nazi stamps that show the Nazi flag saluted.

• MANUFACTURED CONFLICT: Iraqis 'back attacks on troops' - Millions of Iraqis believe attacks against US and UK troops are justified, the leaked results of a poll conducted for the coalition suggest. The poll shows 45% of Iraqis believe the attacks are justified. And the figure rises to 65% in Maysan, one of the areas where UK forces operate. The Ministry of Defence says the poll was conducted in August, which was a "particularly bad month".

• The Troops Don’t Defend Our Freedoms - How often do we hear the claim that American troops “defend our freedoms”? The claim is made often by U.S. officials and is echoed far and wide across the land by television commentators, newspaper columnists, public-school teachers, and many others. It’s even a common assertion that emanates on Sundays from many church pulpits. Unfortunately, it just isn’t so. In fact, the situation is the exact opposite — the troops serve as the primary instrument by which both our freedoms and well-being are threatened.

• Lords warn over ID cards scheme - The plan to introduce ID cards "fundamentally alters the relationship between citizens and state", an all-party group of peers has warned. The House of Lords Constitution Committee report has criticised the lack of safeguards in the government's Identity Cards Bill. The bill has cleared the Commons but with the government's majority slashed to its lowest since the election. It now goes to the House of Lords where it faces a further rocky ride. In the report, Liberal Democrat Lord Holme of Cheltenham said: "Contrary to the government's assertions, the committee reaffirms that the bill fundamentally alters the relationship between citizens and the state.

• Britain's security services and journalists: the secret story - British journalists – and British journals – are being manipulated by the secret intelligence agencies, and I think we ought to try and put a stop to it. The manipulation takes three forms. The first is the attempt to recruit journalists to spy on other people, or for spies to go themselves under journalistic “cover”. This occurs today and it has gone on for years. It is dangerous, not only for the journalist concerned, but for other journalists who get tarred with the espionage brush. Farzad Bazoft was a colleague of mine on the London Observer when he was executed by Saddam Hussein for espionage. It did not, in a sense, matter whether he was really a spy or not. Either way, he ended up dead. The second form of manipulation that worries me is when intelligence officers are allowed to pose as journalists in order to write tendentious articles under false names. Evidence of this only rarely comes to light, but two examples have surfaced recently – mainly because of the whistleblowing activities of a couple of renegade officers – David Shayler from MI5 and Richard Tomlinson from MI6.

• Data on FBI cite abuses in secret surveillance - The FBI has conducted clandestine surveillance on some US residents for as long as 18 months at a time without proper paperwork or oversight, according to classified documents scheduled to be released today. Records turned over as part of a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit also indicated that the FBI has investigated hundreds of potential violations related to its secret surveillance operations, which have been stepped up dramatically after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, but which are largely hidden from public view.

• Brazilians reject gun sales ban - A proposal to ban the sale of guns in Brazil has been defeated by a clear majority in a referendum. Sixty-four percent of those who voted rejected the proposed ban, which was backed by the government, the Catholic Church and the United Nations. The gun ownership lobby successfully argued that guns were needed for personal security.

• TECHNIQUES USED BY SEXUAL PREDATORS TO BE RESERVED FOR THE ELITE ONLY?: Blogging ban provokes a debate over cyberspace - Pope John H.S. demands that online profiles end, calls forums havens for sexual predators. When students post their faces, personal diaries and gossip on Web sites like Myspace.com and Xanga.com, it is not simply harmless teen fun, according to one area Catholic school principal. It's an open invitation to predators and an activity Pope John XIII Regional High School in Sparta will no longer tolerate, Rev. Kieran McHugh told a packed assembly of 900 high school students two weeks ago. Effective immediately, and over student complaints, the teens were told to dismantle their Myspace.com accounts or similar sites with personal profiles and blogs.

• TORTURE IS BAD... TODAY: Sri Lankan police accused of "catastrophic level of torture" - Sri Lankan police operate like thugs and gangsters, often committing "catastrophic level of torture", a human rights group said today, as it urged the United Nations to take measures to curb the abuses. The Asian Legal Resource Center said key institutions such as the police, prosecutors and the judiciary had effectively collapsed in Sri Lanka, leaving the country with no effective way to prevent torture. The Hong Kong-based group said that Sri Lankan police were responsible for a "catastrophic level of torture" and that many victims never pursued complaints due to fear of retribution because little protection is offered to witnesses and victims.

• Overdue Library Books Can Hurt Your Credit - Things that ruin your credit: paying bills late, skipping credit card payments, and not returning a library book. Laura Tropea was turned over to a collection agency after she failed to pay late fees for borrowed books. "I had checked my Equifax credit report in May of this year and found out that I had a library fine that was sent to a collection agency," says Tropea. Public libraries throughout New York and New Jersey are cracking down on overdue borrowers.

• FCC orders schools to ready systems for surveillance - Expansion will make it easier for law enforcement officials to access online communications; standards uncertain. The Federal Communications Commission recently ordered an expansion of an Internet surveillance law that will require universities to redesign their computer networks in order to give law enforcement officials easier access to online communications. The FCC's final ruling is still flexible, and the University is awaiting further direction.

23rd OCTOBER 2005: -

• NEW DELHI: Your telephone call is tapped and e-mail is being hacked - Now don't jump up and get nervous, but at this very moment you could be under surveillance. Someone may be watching you, your phone may be tapped, or someone may have hacked into your email. Or maybe when you went to the milk booth this morning, your movements were captured by a hidden camera. Inquiries, investigations, and sources have revealed that a staggeringly high number of telephones are tapped in the country, often without authorisation. Similar illegal activities, mostly by agencies of the state, are underway to hack into your email, monitor your Internet chats, and record your movements.

• Police to probe US ‘torture flights’ landing in Scotland - SCOTTISH police are to launch an investigation into CIA “torture flights” which fly in and out of Glasgow and Prestwick airports, ferrying kidnapped war on terror suspects around the world. The police action is a result of last week’s disturbing investigation by the Sunday Herald into the so-called “extraordinary rendition flights”, which see suspects kidnapped overseas by the CIA, drugged and then flown to “friendly” states, such as Egypt, Uzbekistan and Morocco, where they are tortured on behalf of British and American intelligence.

• Grant allows MCC to launch RFID program - Using a grant of more than $850,000 from the U.S. Department of Labor, Middlesex Community College plans to establish a “radio frequency identification” program at its Lowell campus. The new course offerings will make Middlesex a leader in an emerging field, said Barry Werner, the college's dean of computer and engineering technologies. “We're reacting to a need that's coming,” Werner said, “to be ready for it and start providing people (with skills).” RFID is the technology used in the Fast Lane system on the Massachusetts Turnpike that allows drivers to cruise through toll booths while their fees are electronically tallied up. RFID is increasingly being used by retailers like Staples and Wal-Mart to track inventory, Werner said, and also has implications in health care and homeland security.