China to be world's top exporter by 2010 The OECD predicts that China's economy could overtake those of all but three of its 30 members in size and topple the US as the world's biggest exporter in five years.
It said that the ranking for 2010 would be measured in current prices and exchange rates, adding that China could by then account for 10pc of global trade in goods and services. In its first economic survey of China, the OECD lauds the country's massive expansion over the past two decades, which has seen gross dome... (more)
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Gold hits $463 as mining stocks rallySAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Gold futures rallied afresh Friday to close out the week with a $10.30 gain, as continued inflation worry combined with buoyant demand to push the price of the precious metal to fresh highs for 2005.
A turn higher in the U.S. dollar briefly blunted gold's advance, although only marginally. The greenback's gains stemmed from U.S. data that showed foreign capital inflows rising in July. See Currencies.
Gold for December delivery closed u... (more)
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Antiwar protesters face federal conspiracy charges By CLAIRE SCHAEFFER-DUFFY
The U.S. federal government is prosecuting four Catholic peace activists from Ithaca, N.Y., after a state court jury refused to convict them last year for their antiwar protest at a local U.S. military recruiting station. The federal charges made against the activists include “conspiracy to impede an officer of the United States,” a crime punishable by up to six years in prison and a fine of $250,000.
“The fede... (more)
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Chipping away at our freedomHas anybody else been wondering what former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson has been up to since he left his position as U.S. secretary of health and human services earlier this year? It turns out he assumed a position as a director of VeriChip Corp., a division of Florida-based Applied Digital and a leading developer of human implanted microchip technology, also known as radio-frequency identification.
Such devices have been used for years to help identify pets that are lost or oth... (more)
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Canada official: Torture can be toleratedOTTAWA, Sept. 14 (UPI) -- A Canadian official, during a hearing about a Canadian citizen deported to Syria, said the country will cooperate with other nations that practice torture.
The Globe and Mail reports Canadian Security Intelligence Service lawyer Barbara McIsaac said that the government will work on anti-terrorism cases with governments that practice torture if it will save lives.
She was speaking at a commission hearing looking into Maher Arar's allegations... (more)
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Terror detention plans outlined: Home Secretary Charles Clarke has backed calls for police to be able to hold terror suspects for up to three months without chargeSuspects can currently be held for just two weeks. Critics say the proposed extension amounts to internment.
Mr Clarke has published full details of proposed new anti-terror laws against indirect incitement and "glorification" of terrorism and preparing attacks.
He wants cross-party consensus to get the laws through Parliament quickly.
But already the opposition parties say they have problems with parts of the plans.
Ministers said aft... (more)
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Passport To The Biometric EraSHOPPERS in the Capital have been given the chance to try out futuristic technology soon to be introduced in new passports.
A roadshow hosted by the Passport Office to allow the public to test biometric technology visited the Gyle Centre yesterday.
Scores of passers-by stopped to chat with Home Office Minister Andy Burnham and have their details added to a temporary database, to be deleted after the roadshow leaves Edinburgh.
The new ePassports, which... (more)
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Wiretap mosques, Romney suggestsWASHINGTON -- Governor Mitt Romney raised the prospect of wiretapping mosques and conducting surveillance of foreign students in Massachusetts, as he issued a broad call yesterday for the federal government to devote far more money and attention to domestic intelligence gathering.
In remarks that caused alarm among civil libertarians and advocates for immigrants rights, Romney said in a speech to the Heritage Foundation that the United States needs to radically rethink how it guar... (more)
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Photos show North Korea working on nuclear reactorNEW satellite photos have shown for the first time that North Korea has resumed some work on a nuclear reactor that could enable the communist state to vastly increase stocks of weapons-grade plutonium.
The photos, obtained by the Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security, also appear to confirm reports that the North has restocked a smaller plutonium-producing reactor at its Yongbyon nuclear complex. The new images came to light as six-country talks to end... (more)
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Bush support is near lowest ever, poll saysWASHINGTON A summer of bad news from Iraq, high gas prices, economic unease and now the devastation of Hurricane Katrina has left President George W. Bush with overall approval ratings for his job performance and handling of Iraq, foreign policy and the economy at or near the lowest levels of his presidency, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll.
For the first time, only half of Americans approved of Bush's handling of terrorism, which had been his consistent stren... (more)
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Mice infected with plague missing from labNEWARK, N.J. -- Three mice infected with the bacteria responsible for bubonic plague apparently disappeared from a laboratory about two weeks ago, and authorities launched a search though health experts said there was scant public risk.
The mice were unaccounted-for at the Public Health Research Institute, which is on the campus of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey and conducts bioterrorism research for the federal government.
Federal official s... (more)
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LAPD Shut Down dead prez/KRS Katrina Benefit Show A Few Things to Ponder-LAPD Shut Down dead prez/KRS Benefit Show
By Davey D
Los Angeles, Sept 10th) It started out, as a beautiful thing…Not only was it beautiful, it was historic and on many levels political. To be honest it seemed almost too good to be true. We’re talking about this past Saturday’s sold out outdoor concert in South Central LA featuring Dead Prez, KRS-One, Self Scientific and Ras Kass. All these folks came together to perform a ... (more)
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Swapping Scoops: Every Night the 'NY Times' and 'Wash Post' Exchange Front Pages for the Following DayNEW YORK When The New York Times on July 16 broke the story of a 2003 State Department memo that had become a key element in the Valerie Plame leak investigation, the paper scored a major exclusive. But when The Washington Post hit newsstands that very same Saturday, it had its own version of the same story. It even credited the Times for the same-day scoop.
Welcome to life under the Washington Post-New York Times swap. As part of a secret arrangement formed more than 10 years ago... (more)
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55% of Americans Favor Bringing Troops HomeWASHINGTON -- Hurricane Katrina has accelerated the erosion in public support for the Iraq war as President Bush's core of supporters dwindles and economic pessimism turns Americans' attention inward.
A new Wall Street Journal/NBC News Poll shows that cutting spending on Iraq is Americans' top choice for financing the recovery from Katrina. Shaken by high gas prices and bracing for further jolts, Americans have turned negative about Mr. Bush across the board -- on handling the eco... (more)
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Everybody Loves Martial LawAt some point the propaganda we're subjected to becomes so utterly ridiculous, you've just got to ask yourself: "Is this really being said?"
I'm apparently a glutton for punishment because every now and then I feel the need to turn on the "Mainstream Media" for a glimpse at the brainwashing de jour. My allergic reaction to "cable news poison" usually ranges somewhere between a mild rash and all-out frothing at the mouth. Today, I was in full froth; spitting, hissing and fantasiz... (more)
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DynCorp International Awarded Up To $290M Contract To Train Afghanistan PoliceIRVING, TEXAS – September 7, 2005 – The United States Department of State has awarded DynCorp International a contract to train, equip, and build the capacity of the police forces in Afghanistan. The potential value of the award is $117,236,158 for the first year and $85,275,734 and $87,487,630, respectively, for two option years. This is a follow-on award for DynCorp International, which has been training police in Afghanistan since 2003.
The training is aimed at incr... (more)
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9/11: Cold Case: A former Bush-appointed official is calling for a new, independent, scientific investigation into 9/11With the advancements in forensics, many crimes that would otherwise go unsolved are being cracked in laboratories across the country, bringing justice and closure to victims who have suffered great atrocities. DNA and other forensic evidence is the smoking gun that ties murderers and rapists to crimes they thought they'd gotten away with.
Mainstream television is making a killing off the recent breakthroughs in police work, with shows featuring this expertise bringing in high rat... (more)
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Intravenous Vitamin C Kills Cancer CellsRecall how hydrogen peroxide is poured on wounds to kill germs. Well now researchers clearly show high-dose vitamin C, when administered intravenously, can increase hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) levels within cancer cells and kills them. I.V. vitamin C was also demonstrated to kill germs and may be an effective therapy for infectious disease.
With a growing body of evidence mounting, National Institutes of Health (NIH) researchers conceded today that intravenous vitamin C may be an e... (more)
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If biometrics isn't foolproof, what is the point of using it?The government's ID card team this week made an important admission. They admitted that, much of the time, the new systems won't work. It de-fangs a common argument against the scheme - that it was conceived in an IT consultant's fantasy world, where citizens are obedient and technology always functions. (The opponents' next logical leap, from "It'll never work" to "It'll create a totalitarian state" is beyond the intellectual scope of this column.)
Katherine Courtney, the program... (more)
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Companies urged to move beyond passwordsCompanies are "fiddling while Rome burns" by continuing to put their faith in passwords to guarantee user authentication, a Gartner analyst has warned.
Speaking at the Gartner IT Security Summit in London on Wednesday, Ant Allan said that "passwords are no longer adequate, as threats against them increase."
Those emerging threats are intimately linked to emerging technology such as Wi-Fi and Web services. As the usage of these services grows, more cybercriminals wi... (more)
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Priest To Quit As Freemasons' LeaderTHE head of Scotland's freemasons is to stand down from the post after only a year, it emerged yesterday.
Joe Morrow took up the job of Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Scotland last November, but instead of serving a normal five-year stint in the role, the 50-year-old will stand down next month due to "a change in personal circumstances and for health reasons".
Earlier in the month, a Sunday newspaper reported how the Labour councillor, advocate and Episcopalian... (more)
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Speaker to detail Masonic mystery: What happened to William Morgan in Canandaigua in 1826?(September 12, 2005) — CANANDAIGUA — The mysterious disappearance of mob-linked union leader Jimmy Hoffa in 1975 continues to baffle authorities and inspire conspiracy theories.
But Hoffa's disappearance 30 years ago is a relatively recent event compared with the strange case of William Morgan, who vanished — like Hoffa, without a trace — after being bailed out of jail in Canandaigua by members of a local Masonic lodge 179 years ago today, Sept. 12, 1826.... (more)
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Faith news* A fifth of Church of England clergy believe they can be priests and members of Masonic lodges, according to new research. However half of the clergy said they knew of colleagues who had found problems with freemasonry, the report in Freemasonry and the Ministry said.
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It's funny how high prices stickQuestion: What do banks and gas stations have in common?
Answer: They both pass along increases in wholesale prices with great haste.
The Federal Reserve started raising interest rates in June 2004. That has increased banks' cost of borrowing, and they have been lightning-quick to push up credit card rates in response.
But when the subject rose of what they paid on deposits, it was as if the Fed had never made a move.
(Thank heavens for... (more)
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Ashcroft defends Patriot ActBENTON HARBOR -- Former Attorney General John Ashcroft is well aware his name is nearly synonymous with the 2001 Patriot Act that gave the FBI and Justice Department broad powers.
As its chief enforcer and defender, Ashcroft has been a target of librarians and civil rights activists who say the Patriot Act brings Big Brother into the private lives of ordinary citizens by allowing investigators to detain terrorism suspects.
"I'm probably a poster boy for the ACLU (Am... (more)
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