Filling a gap in Robert Gates’ resumeRobert Parry, writing in The Secret World of Robert Gates, gives us a dark portrait of the fair-haired Gates, 27-year veteran of CIA wars. The mild-looking president of Texas A & M University rounded out his violent career in his revisionist memoirs, From the Shadows: The Ultimate Insider’s Story of Five Presidents and How They Won the Cold War. Certainly, with a little help from the home-boy from the Bush inner circle, Gates, th... (more)
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Veterans Day Messages from Troops In Iraq, Filmed By Defense Dept., Feature Replica of Twin TowersIraq, Filmed By Defense Dept., Feature Replica of Twin Towers After months of studied ambiguity, President Bush finally admitted that Iraq had “nothing” to do with the attack on the World Trade Center. The Defense Department, however, appears determined to perpetuate the myth.
Today, the administration released veterans day messages from troops in Iraq. These “taped messages from the U.S. Defen... (more)
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Vancouver eyes surveillance cams to deter drunks Vancouver police say the city's downtown entertainment district is turning into a battle zone and are asking for surveillance cameras to help deter rowdy behaviour.
The district's three-block stretch on Granville St. has more than 5,000 seats licensed for liquor in bars and clubs.
Since bars were given a green light to serve alcohol until 3 a.m. on weekends a few months ago, police say they have arrested more than 300 people for disorderly co... (more)
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Your Smart Phone's data belong us, says US US CITIZENS face the danger of their smartphones being confiscated ad infinitum according to a report in the New York Times.
This report revealed that laptop computers are currently seized on a completely ad hoc basis from US citizens on re-entry to the US without "probably cause, reasonable suspicion or warrant."
The whole thrust of the article illustrates how members of an industry body, the Association of Corporate Travel Executives, hav... (more)
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ASIO steps up surveillance of activistsThe October release of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation’s (ASIO) annual report reveals that it is concentrating in great detail on protest actions, even small ones.
While monitoring “politically motivated violence” is one of ASIO’s jobs, something it uses to justify its extraordinary eavesdropping and surveillance powers, what is surprising is its application of this definition to small-sized protests. Also making in... (more)
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The Zarqawi Affair, Part 10 of 23Jim Lehrer (anchor, the News Hour with Jim Lehrer, PBS): “How would you describe Zarqawi?”
Gen. John Abizaid (Commander of U.S. forces on Iraq and Afghanistan): I would describe him as a mad man.”
Jim Lehrer: “Where is this guy?
Gen. Abizaid: “He's somewhere in Iraq." [Source] [Italics added]
After, we examined how President Bush, the State Department, the United Nations, and imperialist ... (more)
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Police Kill Three Students During Riot in Sichuan, China CHINA—On November 11, a major riot broke out in Guangan City in Sichuan Province. According to the source, three high school students were shot to death, and one policeman was killed.
It was also reported that a police vehicle was burned. Currently, Guangan is under martial law and Internet access is blocked.
According to one local resident, the conflict was triggered by the death of a 4-year-old child from the countryside near Guangan City. On November 7, th... (more)
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HERE'S LOOKING AT YOU: Employers using high-tech ways to monitor staffFrom monitoring computer use to installing cameras in the office to equipping workers with global positioning system satellites, the bosses have big eyes.
By and large, looking is legal.
"To a certain degree, as long as it's the employer's tools you're using, the employer rules," said Leslie Ann Reis, a workplace privacy expert at John Marshall Law School.
Watch what you say
Three out of four companies say they monitor Web site connections, ac... (more)
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Surveillance society reaches Shetland THERE really is no escape. The all-seeing eye of CCTV is making its way to Shetland.
Britain's most northerly group of islands is spending £200,000 to install 14 closed-circuit TV cameras around the islands' capital, Lerwick.
The move has been driven by growing fears about antisocial behaviour linked to drink in Lerwick, but comes despite the islands having the second-lowest number of crimes of anywhere in Scotland.
Sh... (more)
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BBC reopens Kelly case with new filmTHE BBC is risking a new confrontation with Downing Street by launching an investigation into the death of David Kelly, the scientist at the centre of the storm over the “sexed up” dossier on Iraq’s supposed weapons of mass destruction.
It is reopening the case less than three years after its management virtually imploded with the resignations of Greg Dyke, the director general, and Gavyn Davies, its chairman, in the wake of Lord Hutton’s report into the af... (more)
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No Fluoride for Infants, Say DentistsNEW YORK, Nov. 13 /PRNewswire/ -- To prevent tooth damage, the American Dental Association (ADA) warned its members that fluoridated water should not be mixed into concentrated formula or foods intended for babies one year and younger, in a November 9th ADA e-mail alert.(1)
"But who will alert parents," asks lawyer Paul Beeber, President, New York State Coalition Opposed to Fluoridation (NYSCOF).
Two-thirds of U.S. public water suppliers add fluoride chemicals, base... (more)
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Under the thumb? Hiring a car can now mean leaving a fingerprint. And check-out staff are scanning the customers as well as the shopping. Biometrics are entering every day life.
Getting your fingerprints taken would once have meant only one thing. You were helping the police with their inquiries. Now such "biometric" identification is entering the mainstream of every day life.
If you want to hire a car at Stansted Airport, you now need to give a fingerprint... (more)
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New UN Children's Book Promotes Global Warming Fears to Kids Nairobi, Kenya – A new United Nations children’s book promoting fears of catastrophic manmade global warming is being promoted at the UN Climate Change Conference in Kenya. The book's main character, a young boy, is featured getting so worried about a coming manmade climate disaster that he yells “I don’t want to hear anymore!” The new children’s book, entitled “Tore and the Town on Thin Ice” ((http://www.unep.org/PDF/TORE.... (more)
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Flag burning should be made a crime, says Yard chiefBritain's most senior police officer has called for a range of new anti-terror laws including making flag burning a criminal offence and allowing details from tapped telephone calls to be used as evidence in court.
Sir Ian Blair, the Metropolitan Police chief, also wants legislation to allow officers to question terror suspects after they have been charged and 'a new look' at extending the already controversial 28-day period suspects can be held in police custody.
H... (more)
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Army moves forward with court martial against Lt. Ehren WatadaPolitical charges of “contempt towards the president” dropped, four years prison still possible for political speech critical of Iraq War. Trial date not yet set, expected early 2007
"I think as the recent elections show more and more Americans are opening their eyes, but we aren't there yet. I hope that actions such as mine will continue to help expose the truth behind the fundamental illegality and immorality of the war."
– U.S. Army Lt. Ehren Watada
... (more)
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"Privacy Friendly" RFID Tag Can Still Be Read IBM's answer to privacy concerns about RFID tags: tear them off. The company last week said it has its first manufacturing agreement for its Clipped Tag, which is designed with an antenna that's as easy to remove as ripping a piece of paper.
That would let retailers put on unpurchased merchandise a tag that could be read at a distance for inventory and other uses. Once bought, the ripped tag could be read only from inches away, making it useful for retur... (more)
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McCain and Lieberman Express Support For Sending More Troops to Iraqxpress Support For Sending More Troops to Iraq Opposition to the Iraq war was the dominant factor in this week’s election. NBC’s Meet the Press invited Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) to discuss the issue. Both McCain and Lieberman expressed support for sending more troops to Iraq. Watch it:
Only 8 percent of Americans support sending more troops to Iraq. The other 92 percent were not represented this week on Meet the Press. <... (more)
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Pelosi's constituents demand impeachmentWASHINGTON – While future House Speaker Nancy Pelosi insisted before the election she would not support impeachment hearings, she will actually be rejecting her constituency's demands if she stays true to that campaign promise.
In fact, on Election Day, Pelosi herself had a chance to vote for the impeachment of President Bush and Vice President Cheney in San Francisco.
On the ballot last Tuesday in San Francisco was Proposition J calling for the impeachment of... (more)
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Parents angry over school 'shame' punishmentPARENTS are angry at a decision to punish five primary pupils by humiliating them in front of the entire school.
The Education Department said the incident was "unfortunate" and the teacher had been reprimanded.
The children at Tennant Creek Primary were made to face a wall in a public walkway during lunchtime with their names printed on A4 pieces of paper stuck to their backs.
The Northern Territory News has been told the children had Blue Tac stuc... (more) Related:
> Another Brick In The Wall
> The Seven-Lesson Schoolteacher |
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Venezuela: 9/11 attacks were `self-inflicted' CARACAS - When Venezuela's leftist President Hugo Chávez called President Bush ''the devil'' in a U.N. speech in September, many thought his ''anti-imperialist'' rhetoric had reached rock bottom.
But fresh depths have since been plumbed. The Venezuelan government, to judge from recent events, officially regards Bush as a genocidal Nazi who arranged the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks to justify aggression against other nations.
I... (more)
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