Michael Alison Chandler
Washington Post
August 6, 2008
For the first time, video cameras will monitor Fairfax County high school cafeterias this fall to keep students from pilfering chicken wraps or veggie burgers in the lunch line.
The region’s largest school system is turning to video surveillance, already widely used on school buses and outside school buildings, to combat what officials say has become a pervasive problem: food theft. The school system’s food and nutrition services department estimated that $1.2 million worth of prepared food was lifted from cafeterias in the past school year.
Board members decided last month that they could no longer swallow such losses, given a $150 million school budget shortfall and rising food prices. They approved a one-year tryout for cafeteria cameras at Annandale, Mount Vernon and Westfield high schools and Lake Braddock, Robinson and South County secondary schools.
Penny McConnell, director of food and nutrition services, said she hopes the cameras will curb theft and send a message to students that stealing from the cafeteria is no less serious than shoplifting from a store. "I would hate for them to make this a habit and take it into the community," she said. "They could get themselves into some serious situations that could impact their futures."
Pocketing cookies, paying for one pizza while covering up another or downing a bag of french fries before the line reaches the cashier are common in school cafeterias, although there is little hard data documenting theft, said Erik Peterson, spokesman for the School Nutrition Association, a nonprofit group based in Alexandria. He said a handful of school systems have used cameras, real or pretend, to address the problem.
School food service officials said they try to limit opportunities to steal by keeping frequently swiped items, such as juice bottles or chips, off open shelves and behind the cashier. Many schools routinely assign staff members to monitor the lunch line.
"Theft is always a consideration when you are working with adolescents, cash, high value food and some employees earning near the minimum wage," Daniel Townsend, director of food and nutrition services for Prince George's County schools, wrote in an e-mail.
Employee theft in cafeterias is a more publicized crime. But McConnell said the $1.2 million loss in Fairfax counts only prepared food that went out on the serving line, not food that might have been stolen after hours. The loss total is significant for an annual food department budget of $74 million.
In the past school year, McConnell conducted an anonymous survey of 10,000 high school students during lunch. Almost 9 percent said they had taken food without paying.
Stealing food is pervasive throughout the county, McConnell said, in high- and low-income areas alike. In an April issue of the McLean High School student newspaper, a reporter watched eight students stealing food during one lunch period. According to the story, one student shrugged after being spotted; another smiled.
Some parents are skeptical that so much dollar loss can be tied to students. "I think there are an awful lot of mistakes that are made" in a large, complicated system, said Michele Menapace, president of the Fairfax County Council of PTAs. For instance, she said, she has sent money to school for her children's lunch accounts that hasn't been logged correctly.
Greg Young, 18, who graduated from Annandale High in June, said video cameras would not prevent one of the most common forms of theft he observed: buying food with cafeteria account numbers stolen from other students. "It's very, very easy for that to happen," he said.
Fairfax school cafeterias, which serve about 140,000 student customers in 159 facilities, are called "Energy Zones," and they are marketed like restaurants, with special packaging and offerings similar to those found in a food court, such as panini or wraps. But the price is much lower: For $2.50, high school students can choose among a wide variety of entrees and side dishes.
Most items are available for self-service, in part to make cafeteria food seem more appealing and less institutional, McConnell said. Although many school food programs elsewhere have had trouble attracting customers, sales are up in Fairfax. So is theft.
Most commonly stolen are sandwiches, such as cheeseburgers or ham-and-cheese croissants, because they are individually wrapped and easy to pocket, she said. Other tempting items are cans of juice, fruit, yogurt or "potatoes of any kind" -- tater tots, fries or wedges, McConnell said.
She has observed students passing food back to others or kicking it under the serving line to a waiting friend. "They can be very creative," she said.
The problem is aggravated at crowded schools, which shuffle as many as 1,800 students through lunch lines in 40 minutes.
McConnell first estimated food lost in 2001 at $750,000. In recent years, her department has made several attempts to limit poaching. Officials have installed convenience-store-style mirrors and offered employees free meals in exchange for lunchtime supervision. They also tried to limit the number of students who come through at once and teamed up with the student government to produce public service announcements and posters. "Call it what you want . . . 'Lifting' 'Ripping Off' . . . It's stealing and it hurts everyone," reads one sign in school hallways.
Finally, urged by some principals, McConnell asked the board for cameras. On July 24, the board approved a revision of its video surveillance policy by a 10 to 2 vote. The $60,000 cost for the cameras will be paid for by the food services department, which is supported by food sales and federal and state aid.
The previous policy limited camera use to building exteriors, school buses and storage spaces containing high-priced equipment. Board members debated the consequences of expanding the scope of surveillance.
Stuart D. Gibson (Hunter Mill) opposed the measure, citing concerns that lunch-line cameras would send a message that "it's okay for the government to watch them at all times." The other dissenter was James L. Raney (At Large).
Signs advising students of the cameras will be posted throughout the cafeteria, and video monitors will be stationed along lunch lines so that students can see images of themselves.
The measure requires school officials to recommend policies for how the images should be secured and ultimately destroyed. "I don't want a situation where one of our kids makes a mistake, and then they are 25 years old, applying for a job and somehow that image ends up on YouTube," said Martina A. Hone (At Large).
Jane K. Strauss (Dranesville) echoed concerns about privacy but supported the measure. "Clearly, we cannot stand by and watch as more than $1 million worth of items are stolen, in essence, from our children," she said.
SOURCE: Washington Post
Wednesday, 6 August 2008
Karadzic demands Holbrooke, Albright appear in court
Reed Stevenson
Reuters
August 6, 2008
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic demanded on Wednesday that former U.S. peace mediator Richard Holbrooke and ex-Secretary of State Madeleine Albright appear at the U.N. war crimes tribunal to back his claims of an immunity offer from the United States.
Karadzic, who was transferred to the Hague’s International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia last week to face war crimes and genocide charges after 11 years on the run, challenged the legality of the case against him, a filing released by the tribunal showed.
In the document, Karadzic repeated his claims that in 1996 Holbrooke had offered him immunity from the tribunal if he disappeared from public life.
Karadzic argued that when Holbrooke realized he could not persuade the court’s chief prosecutor to drop the indictment he decided to “liquidate” him instead.
He said several attempts had been made to locate and assassinate him, and that he feared “the long arm of Mr. Holbrooke or Mrs. Albright” could reach him even in jail.
“It is because of this and because of the fact that an agreement between the USA and me has been breached that I wish to challenge the legality of the proceedings in their entirety and as well as any individual step thereof,” Karadzic said in the four-page filing, translated into English from Serbian.
A spokeswoman for the tribunal’s Office of the Prosecutor did not say whether they would respond to the filing.
Holbrooke, who has repeated his denials of Karadzic’s claims since the former Bosnian Serb leader appeared in court for the first time last week, was quoted by a German newspaper as calling the claims “an absurd and laughable lie that Karadzic has been spreading for years”.
"It is no more than another lie from the most evil man in Europe," Holbrooke was quoted as saying in Wednesday's Bild.
After repeating many of his claims from a previous filing, Karadzic asked the tribunal to summon Holbrooke, Albright and several others, including former Chief Prosecutor Richard Goldstone, for questioning.
The demands were reminiscent of those made by former Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic, who died during his war crimes trial in 2006, for former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and U.S. President Bill Clinton to appear in court to testify.
Like Milosevic, Karadzic is planning to represent himself.
Karadzic also filed two other motions on Wednesday, asking for copies of his arrest warrant and orders to freeze his assets.
Arrested in Belgrade with a flowing beard and long hair that disguised him while working as an alternative healer, Karadzic faces 11 charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including two of genocide over the 43-month siege of Sarajevo and the 1995 massacre of 8,000 Muslims at Srebrenica.
SOURCE: Reuters
Reuters
August 6, 2008
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic demanded on Wednesday that former U.S. peace mediator Richard Holbrooke and ex-Secretary of State Madeleine Albright appear at the U.N. war crimes tribunal to back his claims of an immunity offer from the United States.
Karadzic, who was transferred to the Hague’s International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia last week to face war crimes and genocide charges after 11 years on the run, challenged the legality of the case against him, a filing released by the tribunal showed.
In the document, Karadzic repeated his claims that in 1996 Holbrooke had offered him immunity from the tribunal if he disappeared from public life.
Karadzic argued that when Holbrooke realized he could not persuade the court’s chief prosecutor to drop the indictment he decided to “liquidate” him instead.
He said several attempts had been made to locate and assassinate him, and that he feared “the long arm of Mr. Holbrooke or Mrs. Albright” could reach him even in jail.
“It is because of this and because of the fact that an agreement between the USA and me has been breached that I wish to challenge the legality of the proceedings in their entirety and as well as any individual step thereof,” Karadzic said in the four-page filing, translated into English from Serbian.
A spokeswoman for the tribunal’s Office of the Prosecutor did not say whether they would respond to the filing.
Holbrooke, who has repeated his denials of Karadzic’s claims since the former Bosnian Serb leader appeared in court for the first time last week, was quoted by a German newspaper as calling the claims “an absurd and laughable lie that Karadzic has been spreading for years”.
"It is no more than another lie from the most evil man in Europe," Holbrooke was quoted as saying in Wednesday's Bild.
After repeating many of his claims from a previous filing, Karadzic asked the tribunal to summon Holbrooke, Albright and several others, including former Chief Prosecutor Richard Goldstone, for questioning.
The demands were reminiscent of those made by former Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic, who died during his war crimes trial in 2006, for former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and U.S. President Bill Clinton to appear in court to testify.
Like Milosevic, Karadzic is planning to represent himself.
Karadzic also filed two other motions on Wednesday, asking for copies of his arrest warrant and orders to freeze his assets.
Arrested in Belgrade with a flowing beard and long hair that disguised him while working as an alternative healer, Karadzic faces 11 charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including two of genocide over the 43-month siege of Sarajevo and the 1995 massacre of 8,000 Muslims at Srebrenica.
SOURCE: Reuters
Introducing The USS New York - Made From Steel From The Towers Of 9/11
Say Anything Blog
August 6, 2008
This is amazing:
It was built with 24 tons of scrap steel from the World Trade Center .
It is the fifth in a new class of warship - designed for missions th at include special operations against terrorists. It will carry a crew of 360 sailors and 700 combat-ready Marines to be delivered ashore by helicopters and assault craft.
Steel from the World Trade Center was melted down in a foundry in Amite , LA to cast the ship’s bow section. When it was poured into the molds on Sept 9, 2003, ‘those big rough steelworkers treated it with total reverence,’ recalled Navy Capt. Kevin Wensing, who was there. ‘It was a spiritual moment for everybody there.’
Junior Chavers, foundry operations manager, said that when the trade center steel first arrived, he touched it with his hand and the ‘hair on my neck stood up.’ ‘It had a big meaning to it for all of us,’ he said. ‘They knocked us down. They can’t keep us down. We’re going to be back.’
The ship’s motto? ‘Never Forget’
Damn, that’s fine.
SOURCE: Say Anything Blog
August 6, 2008
This is amazing:
It was built with 24 tons of scrap steel from the World Trade Center .
It is the fifth in a new class of warship - designed for missions th at include special operations against terrorists. It will carry a crew of 360 sailors and 700 combat-ready Marines to be delivered ashore by helicopters and assault craft.
Steel from the World Trade Center was melted down in a foundry in Amite , LA to cast the ship’s bow section. When it was poured into the molds on Sept 9, 2003, ‘those big rough steelworkers treated it with total reverence,’ recalled Navy Capt. Kevin Wensing, who was there. ‘It was a spiritual moment for everybody there.’
Junior Chavers, foundry operations manager, said that when the trade center steel first arrived, he touched it with his hand and the ‘hair on my neck stood up.’ ‘It had a big meaning to it for all of us,’ he said. ‘They knocked us down. They can’t keep us down. We’re going to be back.’
The ship’s motto? ‘Never Forget’
Damn, that’s fine.
SOURCE: Say Anything Blog
Witnesses allege police brutality in death of tasered man
David Edwards and Muriel Kane
Raw Story
August 6, 2008
A Pennsylvania man has died after being tasered by local police, and the Civil Rights section of the FBI’s Pittsburgh office has now opened a preliminary investigation. Although the cause of death has not yet been determined, witnesses insist the man was kicked and beaten by police officers after he was forced to the ground and handcuffed.
Residents in Swissvale, PA had called police after they observed 37 year old Andre Thomas knocking on doors in the middle of the night and yelling that someone was trying to shoot him.
According to Allegheny County Police Assistant Supt. James Morton, when the officers arrived Thomas "was like yelling and screaming and acting really erratically, and they didn’t know what the situation was. So they asked him just to calm down and so forth and he made a movement towards them. So they had to tase him."
However, witnesses insist that Thomas was then brutalized by police, with one telling KDKA News that "after he was tased and handcuffed, one officer used a football-type kick and stomped him in the head."
Another woman recounted to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette what she saw after four officers forced Thomas to the ground. "’They killed that man. They killed him. They killed him,’ she added, her hands trembling. The woman said she saw one officer stomp on Mr. Thomas’s upper back, holding his foot there while the subject lay on the sidewalk with his head hanging over the curb. Another officer ‘reared back and punched him in the head with all his might,’ she said."
Thomas vomited, then lay motionless. An ambulance arrived and he was was treated at the scene by emergency medical personnel. Police allege Thomas was conscious at the time, but he was pronounced dead after being taken to a local hospital.
Andre Thomas’s father, Dennis Thomas, now says, "I want to know what happened, what the particulars of the incident were that caused my son’s death."
This video is from KDKA News 2, broadcast August 5, 2008.
Raw Story
August 6, 2008
A Pennsylvania man has died after being tasered by local police, and the Civil Rights section of the FBI’s Pittsburgh office has now opened a preliminary investigation. Although the cause of death has not yet been determined, witnesses insist the man was kicked and beaten by police officers after he was forced to the ground and handcuffed.
Residents in Swissvale, PA had called police after they observed 37 year old Andre Thomas knocking on doors in the middle of the night and yelling that someone was trying to shoot him.
According to Allegheny County Police Assistant Supt. James Morton, when the officers arrived Thomas "was like yelling and screaming and acting really erratically, and they didn’t know what the situation was. So they asked him just to calm down and so forth and he made a movement towards them. So they had to tase him."
However, witnesses insist that Thomas was then brutalized by police, with one telling KDKA News that "after he was tased and handcuffed, one officer used a football-type kick and stomped him in the head."
Another woman recounted to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette what she saw after four officers forced Thomas to the ground. "’They killed that man. They killed him. They killed him,’ she added, her hands trembling. The woman said she saw one officer stomp on Mr. Thomas’s upper back, holding his foot there while the subject lay on the sidewalk with his head hanging over the curb. Another officer ‘reared back and punched him in the head with all his might,’ she said."
Thomas vomited, then lay motionless. An ambulance arrived and he was was treated at the scene by emergency medical personnel. Police allege Thomas was conscious at the time, but he was pronounced dead after being taken to a local hospital.
Andre Thomas’s father, Dennis Thomas, now says, "I want to know what happened, what the particulars of the incident were that caused my son’s death."
This video is from KDKA News 2, broadcast August 5, 2008.
Low Level Driver Convicted Of Terror Charges While Bin Laden's Senior Body Guard Was Let Go
Steve Watson
Infowars.net
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Hamdan's lawyers dismiss US terror trial as unfair
Sentencing will be passed down later today on Salim Hamdan, a man described by defense attorneys and witnesses as a low level driver who knew nothing of Al Qaeda. The driver will face life imprisonment while it was revealed last week that Osama Bin Laden's most senior bodyguard was simply let go from the prison at Guantánamo Bay.
A jury of six military officers at Guantanamo Bay reached a split verdict Wednesday in the war crimes trial of a former driver for Osama bin Laden, clearing him of some charges but convicting him of others that could send him to prison for life, reports AP.
The so called "mastermind of 9/11" Khalid Sheik Mohammed dismissed Hamdan in written testimony as a mere chauffeur "not fit to plan or execute".
U.S. authorities do not even claim that the driver and sometime mechanic, who earned a mere $200 a month, was a major terror figure. But prosecutors alleged that he carried weapons used by Al Qaeda and helped to spirit Bin Laden out of Afghanistan after the fall of the Taliban.
The trial of Hamdan, the first Guantanamo war crimes trial, has been used as a show piece to promote the virtues of the Bush cabal's "war on terror".
Last week we revealed that a Pentagon produced documentary on Al Qaeda, which was presented as evidence at the trial, was created by a terrorism consultant who has previously attempted to pass off Pentagon released propaganda as directly released by Al Qaeda.
Furthermore, human rights groups have slammed the trial as proof that the tribunal system should be scrapped in favor of regular civilian or military courts, saying dubious interrogations were allowed as evidence.
New York-based Human Rights Watch said that "statements made at Guantanamo were allowed into evidence, despite reports that Hamdan had been subject to extensive sleep deprivation, sexual harassment, and other abuse."
Hamdan's Pentagon-appointed defense attorneys told reporters the trial was "lacking in certain fundamental rights that would be available in any other American courtroom" and admitted that the tribunal system's rules seemed designed to achieve convictions.
"I don't know if the panel can render fair what has already happened," Navy Lt. Cmdr. Brian Mizer told reporters as the jury deliberated.
The status of this trial as a complete kangaroo court show piece is compounded by revelations last week that soon after Hamdan arrived at the Guantánamo prison in 2002, he told interrogators the identity of the Osama Bin Laden's most senior bodyguard, then a fellow prison-camp detainee, only to subsequently see the man released by the prison-camp interrogators.
A McClatchy Newspapers report outlined the details:
Michael St. Ours, an agent with the Naval Criminal Intelligence Service (NCIS), provided the first tidbit. He testified for the prosecution that his job as a prison-camps interrogator in May 2002 was to find and focus on the bodyguards among the detainees.
Hamdan helped identify 30 of them, 10 percent of the roughly 300 detainees then held here. They had just been transferred to Camp Delta from the crude compound called Camp X-Ray, and U.S. intelligence was trying to unmask all of them.
Chief among them was Casablanca-born Abdallah Tabarak, then 47, described by St. Ours as "a hard individual," and, thanks to Hamdan, "the head bodyguard of all the bodyguards."
St. Ours said he was eager to speak with Tabarak. But the Moroccan was "uncooperative," and St. Ours moved on to other intelligence jobs — and never learned what became of him.
On cross-examination, Hamdan defense attorney Harry Schneider, of Seattle, dropped a bombshell: "Would it surprise you to learn he was released without ever being charged?"
St. Ours looked stunned.
"Yeah," he said.
This information should not come as such of a shock to Infowars readers however, as we have persistently documented how so called "Al Qaeda" prisoners miraculously and routinely "escape" from maximum security prisons all over the world or are allowed to walk away from attacks they are said to have perpetrated. Al Qaeda's top brass never ended up at guantanamo because they were all flown out on US planes in a deal done with Pakistan in late 2001 as the Afghanistan invasion began. This was later verified and passed off as just another "mistake". Watch Veteran reporter Sy Hersh describe these events:
The detention facilities at Guantanamo bay are a media showcase, nothing more than a public relations scam designed to give us a glimpse of "the new rules of war". We are slowly being acclimatized to torture and imprisonment without fair trial. These things are now even being implemented within our own laws.
We have tirelessly exposed how no Al Qaeda "leaders" have been captured or discovered at Guantanamo Bay either first hand or via information garnered through torture. The truth is that those we are told are dangerous terrorists are students, goat herders and taxi drivers.
The reality of the situation with Salim Hamdan is that he was the perfect patsy for the Pentagon and the Bush cabal to make a show piece out of to promote the war on terror. While so called "high-value" terrorism suspects (read intelligence assets and go betweens) are kept locked behind closed doors and away from the scrutiny of the media, Hamdan was a low level know-nothing, thus there was no risk he could reveal anything of any significance regarding Al Qaeda, which we have consistently exposed as a creation of the intelligence agencies.
SOURCE: Infowars.net
Infowars.net
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Hamdan's lawyers dismiss US terror trial as unfair
Sentencing will be passed down later today on Salim Hamdan, a man described by defense attorneys and witnesses as a low level driver who knew nothing of Al Qaeda. The driver will face life imprisonment while it was revealed last week that Osama Bin Laden's most senior bodyguard was simply let go from the prison at Guantánamo Bay.
A jury of six military officers at Guantanamo Bay reached a split verdict Wednesday in the war crimes trial of a former driver for Osama bin Laden, clearing him of some charges but convicting him of others that could send him to prison for life, reports AP.
The so called "mastermind of 9/11" Khalid Sheik Mohammed dismissed Hamdan in written testimony as a mere chauffeur "not fit to plan or execute".
U.S. authorities do not even claim that the driver and sometime mechanic, who earned a mere $200 a month, was a major terror figure. But prosecutors alleged that he carried weapons used by Al Qaeda and helped to spirit Bin Laden out of Afghanistan after the fall of the Taliban.
The trial of Hamdan, the first Guantanamo war crimes trial, has been used as a show piece to promote the virtues of the Bush cabal's "war on terror".
Last week we revealed that a Pentagon produced documentary on Al Qaeda, which was presented as evidence at the trial, was created by a terrorism consultant who has previously attempted to pass off Pentagon released propaganda as directly released by Al Qaeda.
Furthermore, human rights groups have slammed the trial as proof that the tribunal system should be scrapped in favor of regular civilian or military courts, saying dubious interrogations were allowed as evidence.
New York-based Human Rights Watch said that "statements made at Guantanamo were allowed into evidence, despite reports that Hamdan had been subject to extensive sleep deprivation, sexual harassment, and other abuse."
Hamdan's Pentagon-appointed defense attorneys told reporters the trial was "lacking in certain fundamental rights that would be available in any other American courtroom" and admitted that the tribunal system's rules seemed designed to achieve convictions.
"I don't know if the panel can render fair what has already happened," Navy Lt. Cmdr. Brian Mizer told reporters as the jury deliberated.
The status of this trial as a complete kangaroo court show piece is compounded by revelations last week that soon after Hamdan arrived at the Guantánamo prison in 2002, he told interrogators the identity of the Osama Bin Laden's most senior bodyguard, then a fellow prison-camp detainee, only to subsequently see the man released by the prison-camp interrogators.
A McClatchy Newspapers report outlined the details:
Michael St. Ours, an agent with the Naval Criminal Intelligence Service (NCIS), provided the first tidbit. He testified for the prosecution that his job as a prison-camps interrogator in May 2002 was to find and focus on the bodyguards among the detainees.
Hamdan helped identify 30 of them, 10 percent of the roughly 300 detainees then held here. They had just been transferred to Camp Delta from the crude compound called Camp X-Ray, and U.S. intelligence was trying to unmask all of them.
Chief among them was Casablanca-born Abdallah Tabarak, then 47, described by St. Ours as "a hard individual," and, thanks to Hamdan, "the head bodyguard of all the bodyguards."
St. Ours said he was eager to speak with Tabarak. But the Moroccan was "uncooperative," and St. Ours moved on to other intelligence jobs — and never learned what became of him.
On cross-examination, Hamdan defense attorney Harry Schneider, of Seattle, dropped a bombshell: "Would it surprise you to learn he was released without ever being charged?"
St. Ours looked stunned.
"Yeah," he said.
This information should not come as such of a shock to Infowars readers however, as we have persistently documented how so called "Al Qaeda" prisoners miraculously and routinely "escape" from maximum security prisons all over the world or are allowed to walk away from attacks they are said to have perpetrated. Al Qaeda's top brass never ended up at guantanamo because they were all flown out on US planes in a deal done with Pakistan in late 2001 as the Afghanistan invasion began. This was later verified and passed off as just another "mistake". Watch Veteran reporter Sy Hersh describe these events:
The detention facilities at Guantanamo bay are a media showcase, nothing more than a public relations scam designed to give us a glimpse of "the new rules of war". We are slowly being acclimatized to torture and imprisonment without fair trial. These things are now even being implemented within our own laws.
We have tirelessly exposed how no Al Qaeda "leaders" have been captured or discovered at Guantanamo Bay either first hand or via information garnered through torture. The truth is that those we are told are dangerous terrorists are students, goat herders and taxi drivers.
The reality of the situation with Salim Hamdan is that he was the perfect patsy for the Pentagon and the Bush cabal to make a show piece out of to promote the war on terror. While so called "high-value" terrorism suspects (read intelligence assets and go betweens) are kept locked behind closed doors and away from the scrutiny of the media, Hamdan was a low level know-nothing, thus there was no risk he could reveal anything of any significance regarding Al Qaeda, which we have consistently exposed as a creation of the intelligence agencies.
SOURCE: Infowars.net
FBI said to have stalked Ivins’ family
Diane Sweet
Raw Story
Wednesday, Aug 6, 2008
Did FBI cross the line in anthrax probe?
Before killing himself last week, Army scientist Bruce Ivins told friends that government agents had stalked him and his family for months, offered his son $2.5 million to rat him out and tried to turn his hospitalized daughter against him with photographs of dead anthrax victims.
The pressure on Ivins was extreme, a high-risk strategy that has failed the FBI before. The government was determined to find the villain in the 2001 anthrax attacks; it was too many years without a solution to the case that shocked and terrified a post-9/11 nation.
The last thing the FBI needed was another embarrassment. Overreaching damaged the FBI’s reputation in the high-profile investigations: the Centennial Olympic Park bombing probe that falsely accused Richard Jewell; the theft of nuclear secrets and botched prosecution of scientist Wen Ho Lee; and, in this same anthrax probe, the smearing of an innocent man — Ivins’ colleague Steven Hatfill.
In the current case, Ivins complained privately that FBI agents had offered his son, Andy, $2.5 million, plus “the sports car of his choice” late last year if he would turn over evidence implicating his father in the anthrax attacks, according to a former U.S. scientist who described himself as a friend of Ivins.
Ivins also said the FBI confronted Ivins’ daughter, Amanda, with photographs of victims of the anthrax attacks and told her, “This is what your father did,” according to the scientist, who spoke only on condition of anonymity because their conversation was confidential.
The scientist said Ivins was angered by the FBI’s alleged actions, which he said included following Ivins’ family on shopping trips.
Washington attorney Barry Coburn, who represents Amanda Ivins, declined to comment on the investigation. An attorney for Andy Ivins also declined to comment.
The FBI declined to describe its investigative techniques of Ivins.
Detox and rehab for Ivins?
The Washington Post reports today accounts from a fellow scientist, and Ivin’s counselor alleging that Ivin’s had difficulty with alcohol and prescription drugs that led to two inpatient stays for detoxification, rehabilitation, and therapy sessions from the counselor who eventually sought a protection order from Ivins:
“Late last fall, Bruce E. Ivins was drinking a liter of vodka some nights, taking large doses of sleeping pills and anti-anxiety drugs, and typing out rambling e-mails into the early morning hours, according to a fellow scientist who helped him through this period.
It was around the time that FBI agents showed Ivins’s 24-year-old daughter pictures of the victims who had died in the 2001 anthrax attacks and told her, “Your father did this,” the scientist said. The agents also offered her twin brother the $2.5 million reward for solving the anthrax case — and the sports car of his choice.
Ivins “was e-mailing me late at night with gobbledygook, ranting and raving” about what he called the “persecution” of his family, said the scientist, a recovering alcohol and drug user who had been sober for more than a decade. The scientist, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that he had been contacted by a co-worker of Ivins’s at the sprawling Army biodefense laboratory in Fort Detrick and that the co-worker said the veteran anthrax researcher “has really gone down the tubes.”
The scientist agreed to help Ivins, focusing on a 12-step recovery program. He was one of many people who intervened in Ivins’s life before he committed suicide last week as law officials were preparing to indict him in the anthrax attacks that killed five people.
Before he died July 29 of a Tylenol overdose, Ivins, 62, had two inpatient stays at Maryland hospitals for detoxification and rehabilitation and attended two sets of therapy sessions with a counselor who eventually sought court protection from him.
Ivins had just returned from a four-week stay at a psychiatric hospital in Western Maryland in late May when he wrote the fellow scientist in recovery a calm, six-sentence e-mail. “I hope,” it said, “that both of us avoid relapsing into our previous substance abuse.” Since his death, Ivins’s long-term mental health and the psychological effects of the investigation have become increasingly prominent questions.
The counselor he saw for group therapy and biweekly individual sessions, who would eventually tell a judge that he was a “sociopathic, homicidal killer,” had a troubled past. Jean C. Duley, who worked until recent days for Comprehensive Counseling Associates in Frederick, is licensed as an entry-level drug counselor and was, according to one of her mentors, allowed to work with clients only under supervision of a more-seasoned professional.
Shortly before she sought a “peace order” against Ivins, Duley had completed 90 days of home detention after a drunken-driving arrest in December, and she has acknowledged drug use in her past.
In a 1999 interview with The Washington Post, Duley described her background as a motorcycle gang member and a drug user. “Heroin. Cocaine. PCP,” said Duley, who then used the name Jean Wittman. “You name it, I did it.”
Ivins starting working with Duley after a stint in rehabilitation about six months ago. It was not the first time, though, that people sensed that he had an addiction problem. W. Russell Byrne, an infectious disease specialist who worked with Ivins in the bacteriology division at Fort Detrick until Byrne’s 2000 retirement from the Army, has kept up with his former colleagues. Byrne said he remembers offering Ivins a beer one night several years ago when Ivins made a rare appearance at a party at Bushwaller’s, an Irish pub in the heart of Frederick where their crowd of scientists sometimes gathered. “He declined,” Byrne recalled. “He said he had a family history of alcoholism.”
Gerry Andrews, who worked with Ivins at Fort Detrick for nine years and was the bacteriology division’s chief from 2000 to 2003, said that it was rare for Ivins to join the other researchers after work for beer and that Ivins drank so little he was kidded about being a teetotaler.
Andrews said that after he retired from the Army, he kept in touch with Ivins via e-mail, sharing jokes and pondering scientific questions. Then in fall 2007, Andrews said, “he kind of fell off the radar screen. I found out that there was some issues with his house being surveilled.”
According to the scientist, who said he spent about 80 hours with Ivins to help him recover from his addiction, the FBI agents pressured Ivins’s children, and they were pressuring Ivins in public places. One day in March, when Ivins was at a Frederick mall with his wife and son, the agents confronted the researcher and said, “You killed a bunch of people.” Then they turned to his wife and said, “Do you know he killed people?” according to the scientist.”
Case ’solved’ but will ‘remain open’
The case of the anthrax-laced letters that killed five people in 2001 and alarmed a nation already traumatized by the Sept. 11 terror attacks has been solved — but will remain open for now to wrap up legal and investigative loose ends, according U.S. officials.
The government were to begin briefing victims and their survivors at FBI headquarters Wednesday — eight days after the top suspect, Army biowarfare scientist Bruce Ivins, killed himself as prosecutors prepared to charge him with murder.
Ivins’ lawyer maintains the brilliant but troubled scientist would have been proven innocent had he lived. And some of Ivins’ friends and former co-workers at the Fort Detrick biological warfare lab in Frederick, Md., say they doubt he could or would have unleashed the deadly toxin.
But after nearly seven years — much of which was spent pointing the finger at the wrong suspect — the FBI is ready to end the “Amerithrax” investigation by outlining its evidence against Ivins, according to two U.S. officials. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the case publicly.
The Justice Department “has a legal and moral obligation to make official statements first to the victims and their families, then the public,” Attorney General Michael Mukasey said Tuesday. “And that’s the order in which we’re going to do it.”
Officially, the case will stay open for an undetermined but short period of time. That will allow the government to complete several legal and investigatory matters that need to be wrapped up before it can be closed, the officials said.
Families of victims were to get the first glimpse inside the case at the morning FBI briefing. The Justice Department, meanwhile, was expected to ask a federal judge to unseal documents revealing how the FBI closed in on Ivins.
That evidence should answer many questions in the bizarre investigation. Still, skeptics may never be satisfied if the documents fail to show conclusively that Ivins was solely responsible for mailing the anthrax letters that killed five and sickened 17 in the weeks following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington.
The case may turn on a couple of key points, including:
_An advanced DNA analysis that matched the anthrax used in the attacks to a specific batch controlled by Ivins. It is unclear, however, how the FBI eliminated as suspects others in the lab who had access to it.
_Ivins’ purported motive of sending the anthrax in a twisted effort to test a cure for it, according to authorities. Ivins complained of the limitations of animal testing and shared in a patent for an anthrax vaccine. No evidence has been revealed so far to bolster that theory.
_Why Ivins would have mailed the deadly letters from Princeton, N.J., a seven-hour round trip from his home. In perhaps the strangest explanation to emerge in the case so far, authorities said Ivins had been obsessed with the sorority Kappa Kappa Gamma for more than 30 years. The letters were sent from a mailbox down the street from the sorority’s offices at Princeton University.
Investigators can’t place Ivins in Princeton but say the evidence will show he had disturbing attitudes toward women. Other haunting details about Ivins’ mental health have emerged, and his therapist described him as having a history of homicidal and sociopathic thoughts.
SOURCE: Raw Story
Raw Story
Wednesday, Aug 6, 2008
Did FBI cross the line in anthrax probe?
Before killing himself last week, Army scientist Bruce Ivins told friends that government agents had stalked him and his family for months, offered his son $2.5 million to rat him out and tried to turn his hospitalized daughter against him with photographs of dead anthrax victims.
The pressure on Ivins was extreme, a high-risk strategy that has failed the FBI before. The government was determined to find the villain in the 2001 anthrax attacks; it was too many years without a solution to the case that shocked and terrified a post-9/11 nation.
The last thing the FBI needed was another embarrassment. Overreaching damaged the FBI’s reputation in the high-profile investigations: the Centennial Olympic Park bombing probe that falsely accused Richard Jewell; the theft of nuclear secrets and botched prosecution of scientist Wen Ho Lee; and, in this same anthrax probe, the smearing of an innocent man — Ivins’ colleague Steven Hatfill.
In the current case, Ivins complained privately that FBI agents had offered his son, Andy, $2.5 million, plus “the sports car of his choice” late last year if he would turn over evidence implicating his father in the anthrax attacks, according to a former U.S. scientist who described himself as a friend of Ivins.
Ivins also said the FBI confronted Ivins’ daughter, Amanda, with photographs of victims of the anthrax attacks and told her, “This is what your father did,” according to the scientist, who spoke only on condition of anonymity because their conversation was confidential.
The scientist said Ivins was angered by the FBI’s alleged actions, which he said included following Ivins’ family on shopping trips.
Washington attorney Barry Coburn, who represents Amanda Ivins, declined to comment on the investigation. An attorney for Andy Ivins also declined to comment.
The FBI declined to describe its investigative techniques of Ivins.
Detox and rehab for Ivins?
The Washington Post reports today accounts from a fellow scientist, and Ivin’s counselor alleging that Ivin’s had difficulty with alcohol and prescription drugs that led to two inpatient stays for detoxification, rehabilitation, and therapy sessions from the counselor who eventually sought a protection order from Ivins:
“Late last fall, Bruce E. Ivins was drinking a liter of vodka some nights, taking large doses of sleeping pills and anti-anxiety drugs, and typing out rambling e-mails into the early morning hours, according to a fellow scientist who helped him through this period.
It was around the time that FBI agents showed Ivins’s 24-year-old daughter pictures of the victims who had died in the 2001 anthrax attacks and told her, “Your father did this,” the scientist said. The agents also offered her twin brother the $2.5 million reward for solving the anthrax case — and the sports car of his choice.
Ivins “was e-mailing me late at night with gobbledygook, ranting and raving” about what he called the “persecution” of his family, said the scientist, a recovering alcohol and drug user who had been sober for more than a decade. The scientist, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that he had been contacted by a co-worker of Ivins’s at the sprawling Army biodefense laboratory in Fort Detrick and that the co-worker said the veteran anthrax researcher “has really gone down the tubes.”
The scientist agreed to help Ivins, focusing on a 12-step recovery program. He was one of many people who intervened in Ivins’s life before he committed suicide last week as law officials were preparing to indict him in the anthrax attacks that killed five people.
Before he died July 29 of a Tylenol overdose, Ivins, 62, had two inpatient stays at Maryland hospitals for detoxification and rehabilitation and attended two sets of therapy sessions with a counselor who eventually sought court protection from him.
Ivins had just returned from a four-week stay at a psychiatric hospital in Western Maryland in late May when he wrote the fellow scientist in recovery a calm, six-sentence e-mail. “I hope,” it said, “that both of us avoid relapsing into our previous substance abuse.” Since his death, Ivins’s long-term mental health and the psychological effects of the investigation have become increasingly prominent questions.
The counselor he saw for group therapy and biweekly individual sessions, who would eventually tell a judge that he was a “sociopathic, homicidal killer,” had a troubled past. Jean C. Duley, who worked until recent days for Comprehensive Counseling Associates in Frederick, is licensed as an entry-level drug counselor and was, according to one of her mentors, allowed to work with clients only under supervision of a more-seasoned professional.
Shortly before she sought a “peace order” against Ivins, Duley had completed 90 days of home detention after a drunken-driving arrest in December, and she has acknowledged drug use in her past.
In a 1999 interview with The Washington Post, Duley described her background as a motorcycle gang member and a drug user. “Heroin. Cocaine. PCP,” said Duley, who then used the name Jean Wittman. “You name it, I did it.”
Ivins starting working with Duley after a stint in rehabilitation about six months ago. It was not the first time, though, that people sensed that he had an addiction problem. W. Russell Byrne, an infectious disease specialist who worked with Ivins in the bacteriology division at Fort Detrick until Byrne’s 2000 retirement from the Army, has kept up with his former colleagues. Byrne said he remembers offering Ivins a beer one night several years ago when Ivins made a rare appearance at a party at Bushwaller’s, an Irish pub in the heart of Frederick where their crowd of scientists sometimes gathered. “He declined,” Byrne recalled. “He said he had a family history of alcoholism.”
Gerry Andrews, who worked with Ivins at Fort Detrick for nine years and was the bacteriology division’s chief from 2000 to 2003, said that it was rare for Ivins to join the other researchers after work for beer and that Ivins drank so little he was kidded about being a teetotaler.
Andrews said that after he retired from the Army, he kept in touch with Ivins via e-mail, sharing jokes and pondering scientific questions. Then in fall 2007, Andrews said, “he kind of fell off the radar screen. I found out that there was some issues with his house being surveilled.”
According to the scientist, who said he spent about 80 hours with Ivins to help him recover from his addiction, the FBI agents pressured Ivins’s children, and they were pressuring Ivins in public places. One day in March, when Ivins was at a Frederick mall with his wife and son, the agents confronted the researcher and said, “You killed a bunch of people.” Then they turned to his wife and said, “Do you know he killed people?” according to the scientist.”
Case ’solved’ but will ‘remain open’
The case of the anthrax-laced letters that killed five people in 2001 and alarmed a nation already traumatized by the Sept. 11 terror attacks has been solved — but will remain open for now to wrap up legal and investigative loose ends, according U.S. officials.
The government were to begin briefing victims and their survivors at FBI headquarters Wednesday — eight days after the top suspect, Army biowarfare scientist Bruce Ivins, killed himself as prosecutors prepared to charge him with murder.
Ivins’ lawyer maintains the brilliant but troubled scientist would have been proven innocent had he lived. And some of Ivins’ friends and former co-workers at the Fort Detrick biological warfare lab in Frederick, Md., say they doubt he could or would have unleashed the deadly toxin.
But after nearly seven years — much of which was spent pointing the finger at the wrong suspect — the FBI is ready to end the “Amerithrax” investigation by outlining its evidence against Ivins, according to two U.S. officials. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the case publicly.
The Justice Department “has a legal and moral obligation to make official statements first to the victims and their families, then the public,” Attorney General Michael Mukasey said Tuesday. “And that’s the order in which we’re going to do it.”
Officially, the case will stay open for an undetermined but short period of time. That will allow the government to complete several legal and investigatory matters that need to be wrapped up before it can be closed, the officials said.
Families of victims were to get the first glimpse inside the case at the morning FBI briefing. The Justice Department, meanwhile, was expected to ask a federal judge to unseal documents revealing how the FBI closed in on Ivins.
That evidence should answer many questions in the bizarre investigation. Still, skeptics may never be satisfied if the documents fail to show conclusively that Ivins was solely responsible for mailing the anthrax letters that killed five and sickened 17 in the weeks following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington.
The case may turn on a couple of key points, including:
_An advanced DNA analysis that matched the anthrax used in the attacks to a specific batch controlled by Ivins. It is unclear, however, how the FBI eliminated as suspects others in the lab who had access to it.
_Ivins’ purported motive of sending the anthrax in a twisted effort to test a cure for it, according to authorities. Ivins complained of the limitations of animal testing and shared in a patent for an anthrax vaccine. No evidence has been revealed so far to bolster that theory.
_Why Ivins would have mailed the deadly letters from Princeton, N.J., a seven-hour round trip from his home. In perhaps the strangest explanation to emerge in the case so far, authorities said Ivins had been obsessed with the sorority Kappa Kappa Gamma for more than 30 years. The letters were sent from a mailbox down the street from the sorority’s offices at Princeton University.
Investigators can’t place Ivins in Princeton but say the evidence will show he had disturbing attitudes toward women. Other haunting details about Ivins’ mental health have emerged, and his therapist described him as having a history of homicidal and sociopathic thoughts.
SOURCE: Raw Story
Vision 2015: Consolidation of U.S. Intelligence Into Global Intel Network
Michael Vail
Blacklisted News
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
By 2015, a globally networked Intelligence Enterprise will be essential to meet the demands for greater forethought and improved strategic agility. The existing agency-centric Intelligence Community must evolve into a true Intelligence Enterprise established on a collaborative foundation of shared services, mission-centric operations, and integrated mission management, all enabled by a smooth flow of people, ideas, and activities across the boundaries of the Intelligence Community agency members.” – Mike McConnell(DNI)[1]
The Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell and The Council on Foreign Relations has made public a twenty eight page document called ‘Vision 2015’ which outlines a plan to integrate the entire United States intelligence network into a global intelligence community. Unsurprisingly there are many in the 16 intelligence agencies that support this project. At this very moment there is in-fighting between our own intelligence agencies, also currently there are problems between the CIA and Pakistani ISI. So how are they going to resolve these issues that have existed for decades?
“Old problems assume new dimensions: information operations with emphasis on a cyber domain, asymmetric political or military responses, and illicit trafficking. Lastly, we confront the challenge of acting in an environment that is more time-sensitive and open to the flow of information, in which intelligence sources and analysis compete in a public context established by a global media. By 2015 we will need integrated and collaborative capabilities that can anticipate and rapidly respond to a wide array of threats and risks.” –Mike McConnell(DNI)
According to the existing protocols they will integrate and patch up the problems as they emerge. This is the Achilles heel of globalism, and we have seen time after time how calamity comes forth and brings globalism to a standstill. And nations that were fully globalized begin to act in their own interests which is the nature of the beast. This mammoth global intelligence project has been under wraps for some time and now the NGOs, members of elite academia and think tanks are going to unveil it in front of our eyes as if it was a brand new concept.
“Our analytic professionals will collaborate with world-class experts in academe, commercial interests, and think tanks, all with similar knowledge and personal networks. Deep expertise will require broad access to open source information, our unique collection results, and a network of outside experts. Our understanding of the breadth and depth of policy intelligence doctrine, and global situational awareness must match the depth of our analyses.” –Mike McConnell(DNI)
Our world has slowly been globalized from the economic sector to health, wealth and trade. They have taken the power from we the people and placed it in unelected non-governmental organizations which has led to heights of corruption never seen before. The direct and after effects of the IMF[2], WTO[3] and WHO[4] are well known but just imagine the power and influence that will be wielded by those who will control our spy satellites and command intelligence forces around the world. Will there be increased domestic spying on citizens who fight against globalism? More importantly will all of our intelligence capabilities be controlled from outside the and will there be foreign Intel forces operating in ?
“By 2015, the Intelligence Community will be expected to provide more details about more issues to more customers. We anticipate different types of customers — with greater expectations — and new demands to change the basic engagement model by which we serve them. “enhance capabilities to evaluate global risks affecting our national security. Greater systems interconnectedness increases the need to identify vulnerabilities emerging at the nexus of multiple systems (e.g., critical information infrastructures, disruptions in energy supplies, fragile financial markets, and climate change-related spread of diseases) and the potential for multiple, simultaneous crises. Global awareness and strategic foresight will provide the response to these challenges, linking methods for strategic forecasting and assessment of systems vulnerabilities in constantly renewed communities of diverse expertise and insight. “ –Mike McConnell(DNI)
“To carry out its mission in an increasingly turbulent and complex global environment, the Intelligence Enterprise must
The intelligence agencies which provide geopolitical statistical data and analysis increasingly have to compete with multinational corporations who have former high-level military generals on staff making six figure salaries. Booz Allen Hamilton[5], Blackwater Worldwide[6], SAIC[7] and others have Intel analysts who have been providing services to not only the NSA, NGA, and NRO but also to foreign governments. These multilateral corporations offer their services to the highest bidder. Everything is for sale in this global economy.
“The opportunity now exists to tap into a vastly larger amount of expertise than was previously available to intelligence. However, this will require working from a very different paradigm from that which characterized much of our Cold War history. The key features of that traditional paradigm were: secrets; classified channels of information flows; a focus on a few hard targets (e.g., the Soviet Union, other so-called “denied area” Communist Bloc countries, their military forces and technologies and other observables); very limited contact with outside experts who were almost always US citizens; and focus on key facts and finished intelligence products.
The new paradigm, in contrast, will focus on “open source” information and reach out to a wide variety of experts who are non-intelligence professionals drawn from different sectors and often non-Americans.” –Roger Z. George(CIA)[8]
Globalization dissolves our borders, strips us of our independence and renders us dependant on unstable nations for our daily bread and clothes on our backs. From top to bottom every sector of our government is going under the influence of foreigners. Globalization should be a dirty word if you look at our world from a larger perspective. This should be a stark example for anyone who would rely on this government for the protection of their life and liberty. The only way to survive in this new dark age of global governance is to become self reliant. Let’s establish our own intelligence network on and off the internet.
“The only thing worth globalizing is dissent.” –Arundhati Roy
1. Mike McConnell. Vision 2015: a Globally Networked and Integrated Intelligence Enterprise. 2008 [cited; Available from: http://www.cfr.org/publication/16890/vision_2015.html]
2. Physorg. New research links International Monetary Fund loans with higher death rates from tuberculosis. 2008 [cited; Available from: http://www.physorg.com/news135917494.html]
3. Ronald Bailey. Perpetuating Poverty by Protecting Livelihoods. 2008 [cited; Available from: http://www.reason.com/news/show/127925.html]
4. Living Nutrition. Codex Alimentarius: Monstrously Toxic Power Play for Control of the Global Food Supply & Natural Health Industry. 2007 [cited; Available from: http://www.livingnutrition.com/articles/codex.html]
5. Democracy Now! Mike McConnell, Booz Allen and the Privatization of Intelligence. 2007 [cited; Available from: http://www.democracynow.org/2007/1/12/mike_mcconnell_booz_allen_and_the]
6. Washington Post. Blackwater’s Owner Has Spies for Hire. 2007 [cited; Available from: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/02/AR2007110202165.html]
7. FCW. NSA taps SAIC for Trailblazer. 2002 [cited; Available from: http://www.fcw.com/print/8_43/news/77905-1.html]
8. Roger Z. George. Meeting 21st Century Transnational Challenges: Building a Global Intelligence Paradigm. 2007 [cited; Available from: https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/csi-studies/studies/vol51no3/building-a-global-intelligence-paradigm.html]
SOURCE: Blacklisted News
Blacklisted News
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
By 2015, a globally networked Intelligence Enterprise will be essential to meet the demands for greater forethought and improved strategic agility. The existing agency-centric Intelligence Community must evolve into a true Intelligence Enterprise established on a collaborative foundation of shared services, mission-centric operations, and integrated mission management, all enabled by a smooth flow of people, ideas, and activities across the boundaries of the Intelligence Community agency members.” – Mike McConnell(DNI)[1]
The Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell and The Council on Foreign Relations has made public a twenty eight page document called ‘Vision 2015’ which outlines a plan to integrate the entire United States intelligence network into a global intelligence community. Unsurprisingly there are many in the 16 intelligence agencies that support this project. At this very moment there is in-fighting between our own intelligence agencies, also currently there are problems between the CIA and Pakistani ISI. So how are they going to resolve these issues that have existed for decades?
“Old problems assume new dimensions: information operations with emphasis on a cyber domain, asymmetric political or military responses, and illicit trafficking. Lastly, we confront the challenge of acting in an environment that is more time-sensitive and open to the flow of information, in which intelligence sources and analysis compete in a public context established by a global media. By 2015 we will need integrated and collaborative capabilities that can anticipate and rapidly respond to a wide array of threats and risks.” –Mike McConnell(DNI)
According to the existing protocols they will integrate and patch up the problems as they emerge. This is the Achilles heel of globalism, and we have seen time after time how calamity comes forth and brings globalism to a standstill. And nations that were fully globalized begin to act in their own interests which is the nature of the beast. This mammoth global intelligence project has been under wraps for some time and now the NGOs, members of elite academia and think tanks are going to unveil it in front of our eyes as if it was a brand new concept.
“Our analytic professionals will collaborate with world-class experts in academe, commercial interests, and think tanks, all with similar knowledge and personal networks. Deep expertise will require broad access to open source information, our unique collection results, and a network of outside experts. Our understanding of the breadth and depth of policy intelligence doctrine, and global situational awareness must match the depth of our analyses.” –Mike McConnell(DNI)
Our world has slowly been globalized from the economic sector to health, wealth and trade. They have taken the power from we the people and placed it in unelected non-governmental organizations which has led to heights of corruption never seen before. The direct and after effects of the IMF[2], WTO[3] and WHO[4] are well known but just imagine the power and influence that will be wielded by those who will control our spy satellites and command intelligence forces around the world. Will there be increased domestic spying on citizens who fight against globalism? More importantly will all of our intelligence capabilities be controlled from outside the and will there be foreign Intel forces operating in ?
“By 2015, the Intelligence Community will be expected to provide more details about more issues to more customers. We anticipate different types of customers — with greater expectations — and new demands to change the basic engagement model by which we serve them. “enhance capabilities to evaluate global risks affecting our national security. Greater systems interconnectedness increases the need to identify vulnerabilities emerging at the nexus of multiple systems (e.g., critical information infrastructures, disruptions in energy supplies, fragile financial markets, and climate change-related spread of diseases) and the potential for multiple, simultaneous crises. Global awareness and strategic foresight will provide the response to these challenges, linking methods for strategic forecasting and assessment of systems vulnerabilities in constantly renewed communities of diverse expertise and insight. “ –Mike McConnell(DNI)
“To carry out its mission in an increasingly turbulent and complex global environment, the Intelligence Enterprise must
The intelligence agencies which provide geopolitical statistical data and analysis increasingly have to compete with multinational corporations who have former high-level military generals on staff making six figure salaries. Booz Allen Hamilton[5], Blackwater Worldwide[6], SAIC[7] and others have Intel analysts who have been providing services to not only the NSA, NGA, and NRO but also to foreign governments. These multilateral corporations offer their services to the highest bidder. Everything is for sale in this global economy.
“The opportunity now exists to tap into a vastly larger amount of expertise than was previously available to intelligence. However, this will require working from a very different paradigm from that which characterized much of our Cold War history. The key features of that traditional paradigm were: secrets; classified channels of information flows; a focus on a few hard targets (e.g., the Soviet Union, other so-called “denied area” Communist Bloc countries, their military forces and technologies and other observables); very limited contact with outside experts who were almost always US citizens; and focus on key facts and finished intelligence products.
The new paradigm, in contrast, will focus on “open source” information and reach out to a wide variety of experts who are non-intelligence professionals drawn from different sectors and often non-Americans.” –Roger Z. George(CIA)[8]
Globalization dissolves our borders, strips us of our independence and renders us dependant on unstable nations for our daily bread and clothes on our backs. From top to bottom every sector of our government is going under the influence of foreigners. Globalization should be a dirty word if you look at our world from a larger perspective. This should be a stark example for anyone who would rely on this government for the protection of their life and liberty. The only way to survive in this new dark age of global governance is to become self reliant. Let’s establish our own intelligence network on and off the internet.
“The only thing worth globalizing is dissent.” –Arundhati Roy
1. Mike McConnell. Vision 2015: a Globally Networked and Integrated Intelligence Enterprise. 2008 [cited; Available from: http://www.cfr.org/publication/16890/vision_2015.html]
2. Physorg. New research links International Monetary Fund loans with higher death rates from tuberculosis. 2008 [cited; Available from: http://www.physorg.com/news135917494.html]
3. Ronald Bailey. Perpetuating Poverty by Protecting Livelihoods. 2008 [cited; Available from: http://www.reason.com/news/show/127925.html]
4. Living Nutrition. Codex Alimentarius: Monstrously Toxic Power Play for Control of the Global Food Supply & Natural Health Industry. 2007 [cited; Available from: http://www.livingnutrition.com/articles/codex.html]
5. Democracy Now! Mike McConnell, Booz Allen and the Privatization of Intelligence. 2007 [cited; Available from: http://www.democracynow.org/2007/1/12/mike_mcconnell_booz_allen_and_the]
6. Washington Post. Blackwater’s Owner Has Spies for Hire. 2007 [cited; Available from: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/02/AR2007110202165.html]
7. FCW. NSA taps SAIC for Trailblazer. 2002 [cited; Available from: http://www.fcw.com/print/8_43/news/77905-1.html]
8. Roger Z. George. Meeting 21st Century Transnational Challenges: Building a Global Intelligence Paradigm. 2007 [cited; Available from: https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/csi-studies/studies/vol51no3/building-a-global-intelligence-paradigm.html]
SOURCE: Blacklisted News
US threatens Iran with ‘punitive’ measures
AFP
Wednesday, Aug 6, 2008
The United States and its allies want “punitive” measures against Iran over its weak reponse to the international offer to persuade it to freeze its nuclear program, the White House said Wednesday.
The threat came ahead of new talks between the United States, Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia on the latest Iranian letter to the powers.
The United States and its allies were to press for new UN Security Council sanctions, according to US media reports. But Russia and China could resist the move, diplomats said.
The council has already ordered three rounds of sanctions against Iran.
“In the absence to a positive response to the generous offer that we provided for our incentives package, we think that the allies will have no choice but to take further measures that would be punitive, given that we don’t have a decent and responsive statement from the Iranians,” said White House spokeswoman Dana Perino.
“I think that the Iranians have long stalled on responding to the allies, so I think the most important thing we can do is let the political directors have their conference call and decide on their next step,” Perino said, speaking on a jet taking President George W. Bush on an Asian tour.
Iran's latest letter to the international powers says nothing except "they are not prepared to move any further," said a European diplomatic source in Brussels ahead of the new talks which were to start at 1115 GMT.
"The phone talks today will be to decide on a common reponse. There is the possibility of trying to send the matter back to the Security Council but there is always the problem of persuading China and Russia," the source added.
The United States says that Iran is a weapons proliferation threat, while Iran insists that its nuclear research is for peaceful purposes.
Iran's latest letter, made available to AFP on Wednesday, said it was ready to give a "clear response" to the international offer but demanded a "'clear response' to our questions and ambiguities".
"If we are not going to receive a clear response, a clear message from them, we are going to have no choice but to pursue additional measures," said a State Department spokesman Gonzalo Gallegos as he announced the new talks.
The New York Times, quoting unnamed US and European diplomats, said the US administration would go back to the UN Security Council.
The Iranian letter was sent to EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana three days after a deadline for a response to the international offer he made two weeks earlier.
It was circulated to the six world powers late Tuesday.
In seeking new UN sanctions, Washington is assured the support of Britain and France, both of whom have used stronger language in dealing with Iran. The position of the other three is unclear. Russia and China, two of Iran's biggest trading partners, are usually reticent in adopting sanctions.
Along with the threat of further sanctions, Washington has warned that the option of military action against Iran remains open if Tehran sticks to its defiant line.
Amid the continued tensions, Iran said on Monday it had successfully test-fired an anti-ship missile with a range of 300 kilometres (180 miles) that would allow it to close the Strait of Hormuz between Iran and Oman.
And adding to signs of new diplomatic pressure, the International Atomic Energy Agency, the main UN nuclear watchdog, said its deputy director general, Olli Heinonen, would visit Tehran on Thursday for talks on the nuclear dispute.
A diplomat close to the Vienna-based agency, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Heinonen's visit was not directly connected to the letter and was likely to concentrate on clarifying outstanding questions the IAEA has about Tehran's disputed nuclear drive.
SOURCE: AFP
Wednesday, Aug 6, 2008
The United States and its allies want “punitive” measures against Iran over its weak reponse to the international offer to persuade it to freeze its nuclear program, the White House said Wednesday.
The threat came ahead of new talks between the United States, Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia on the latest Iranian letter to the powers.
The United States and its allies were to press for new UN Security Council sanctions, according to US media reports. But Russia and China could resist the move, diplomats said.
The council has already ordered three rounds of sanctions against Iran.
“In the absence to a positive response to the generous offer that we provided for our incentives package, we think that the allies will have no choice but to take further measures that would be punitive, given that we don’t have a decent and responsive statement from the Iranians,” said White House spokeswoman Dana Perino.
“I think that the Iranians have long stalled on responding to the allies, so I think the most important thing we can do is let the political directors have their conference call and decide on their next step,” Perino said, speaking on a jet taking President George W. Bush on an Asian tour.
Iran's latest letter to the international powers says nothing except "they are not prepared to move any further," said a European diplomatic source in Brussels ahead of the new talks which were to start at 1115 GMT.
"The phone talks today will be to decide on a common reponse. There is the possibility of trying to send the matter back to the Security Council but there is always the problem of persuading China and Russia," the source added.
The United States says that Iran is a weapons proliferation threat, while Iran insists that its nuclear research is for peaceful purposes.
Iran's latest letter, made available to AFP on Wednesday, said it was ready to give a "clear response" to the international offer but demanded a "'clear response' to our questions and ambiguities".
"If we are not going to receive a clear response, a clear message from them, we are going to have no choice but to pursue additional measures," said a State Department spokesman Gonzalo Gallegos as he announced the new talks.
The New York Times, quoting unnamed US and European diplomats, said the US administration would go back to the UN Security Council.
The Iranian letter was sent to EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana three days after a deadline for a response to the international offer he made two weeks earlier.
It was circulated to the six world powers late Tuesday.
In seeking new UN sanctions, Washington is assured the support of Britain and France, both of whom have used stronger language in dealing with Iran. The position of the other three is unclear. Russia and China, two of Iran's biggest trading partners, are usually reticent in adopting sanctions.
Along with the threat of further sanctions, Washington has warned that the option of military action against Iran remains open if Tehran sticks to its defiant line.
Amid the continued tensions, Iran said on Monday it had successfully test-fired an anti-ship missile with a range of 300 kilometres (180 miles) that would allow it to close the Strait of Hormuz between Iran and Oman.
And adding to signs of new diplomatic pressure, the International Atomic Energy Agency, the main UN nuclear watchdog, said its deputy director general, Olli Heinonen, would visit Tehran on Thursday for talks on the nuclear dispute.
A diplomat close to the Vienna-based agency, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Heinonen's visit was not directly connected to the letter and was likely to concentrate on clarifying outstanding questions the IAEA has about Tehran's disputed nuclear drive.
SOURCE: AFP
Iran ‘promises final response’
SA
Wednesday, Aug 6, 2008
Washington - Six world powers are to confer by telephone on Wednesday on whether to seek new sanctions or keep talking to Iran after its ambiguous response to their offer to resolve the dispute over its allegedly arms-targetted nuclear programme.
Iran promised in a letter on Tuesday a final response to the offer, but said it first needed some clarifications about the proposals, an EU source said.
Negotiators from United States, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China “have scheduled a conference call for tomorrow”, said US State Department spokesperson Gonzalo Gallegos.
Iran’s demand for more information came in the form of a letter to EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana that was also circulated late on Tuesday to the five UN Security Council permanent members and Germany, who are seeking to persuade Tehran to end its uranium enrichment programme.
The Iranian authorities “say there will be a response but that clarification is needed on certain points of the offer”, the European source told AFP.
“They’ve hit the ball back. We must analyse whether it’s just another way to gain time or if it’s serious,” she added.
The Iranian letter was received three days after an initial weekend deadline set by the United States and its allies.
'We are going to have no choice...'
A source with Iran's Supreme National Security Council told AFP that a message had been handed over to Solana, who has been leading negotiations on behalf of the six world powers, but confirmed it did not contain the awaited final response.
"The message delivered today is not Iran's response to the six countries," the source said.
The six powers had offered Iran negotiations on a package of technological incentives if it suspends the sensitive process of uranium enrichment, which the West fears could be used to make nuclear weapons.
Tehran has steadfastly refused to suspend its uranium enrichment activities, which it says are only aimed at producing fuel for nuclear power for a growing population.
The United States said Iran faced "additional measures" if it did not respond clearly, indicating it risked further UN Security Council sanctions.
"If we are not going to receive a clear response, a clear message from them, we are going to have no choice but to pursue additional measures," Gallegos said.
Along with the threat of further sanctions, Washington has warned that the option of military action against Iran remains open if Tehran sticks to its defiant line.
Anti-ship missile
In seeking new UN sanctions, Washington is assured the support of Britain and France, both of whom have used stronger language in dealing with Iran, but its unclear whether the other three powers would follow suit.
Russia and China, two of Iran's biggest trading partners, are usually reticent in adopting sanctions and have not commented on Iran's letter to Solana.
Germany, one of whose companies recently signed a controversial contract to build three liquefied natural gas plants in Iran, is also keeping its cards close to its chest.
Amid the continued tensions, Iran said on Monday it had successfully test-fired an anti-ship missile with a range of 300km that would allow it to close the Strait of Hormuz between Iran and Oman.
"Given the equipment our armed forces have, an indefinite blockade of the Strait of Hormuz would be very easy," said the commander of the elite Revolutionary Guards, General Mohammad Ali Jafari.
But Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell said that any move by Iran to close the Strait of Hormuz would be "self-defeating" because its economy is so heavily dependent on income from oil exports.
SOURCE: SA
Wednesday, Aug 6, 2008
Washington - Six world powers are to confer by telephone on Wednesday on whether to seek new sanctions or keep talking to Iran after its ambiguous response to their offer to resolve the dispute over its allegedly arms-targetted nuclear programme.
Iran promised in a letter on Tuesday a final response to the offer, but said it first needed some clarifications about the proposals, an EU source said.
Negotiators from United States, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China “have scheduled a conference call for tomorrow”, said US State Department spokesperson Gonzalo Gallegos.
Iran’s demand for more information came in the form of a letter to EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana that was also circulated late on Tuesday to the five UN Security Council permanent members and Germany, who are seeking to persuade Tehran to end its uranium enrichment programme.
The Iranian authorities “say there will be a response but that clarification is needed on certain points of the offer”, the European source told AFP.
“They’ve hit the ball back. We must analyse whether it’s just another way to gain time or if it’s serious,” she added.
The Iranian letter was received three days after an initial weekend deadline set by the United States and its allies.
'We are going to have no choice...'
A source with Iran's Supreme National Security Council told AFP that a message had been handed over to Solana, who has been leading negotiations on behalf of the six world powers, but confirmed it did not contain the awaited final response.
"The message delivered today is not Iran's response to the six countries," the source said.
The six powers had offered Iran negotiations on a package of technological incentives if it suspends the sensitive process of uranium enrichment, which the West fears could be used to make nuclear weapons.
Tehran has steadfastly refused to suspend its uranium enrichment activities, which it says are only aimed at producing fuel for nuclear power for a growing population.
The United States said Iran faced "additional measures" if it did not respond clearly, indicating it risked further UN Security Council sanctions.
"If we are not going to receive a clear response, a clear message from them, we are going to have no choice but to pursue additional measures," Gallegos said.
Along with the threat of further sanctions, Washington has warned that the option of military action against Iran remains open if Tehran sticks to its defiant line.
Anti-ship missile
In seeking new UN sanctions, Washington is assured the support of Britain and France, both of whom have used stronger language in dealing with Iran, but its unclear whether the other three powers would follow suit.
Russia and China, two of Iran's biggest trading partners, are usually reticent in adopting sanctions and have not commented on Iran's letter to Solana.
Germany, one of whose companies recently signed a controversial contract to build three liquefied natural gas plants in Iran, is also keeping its cards close to its chest.
Amid the continued tensions, Iran said on Monday it had successfully test-fired an anti-ship missile with a range of 300km that would allow it to close the Strait of Hormuz between Iran and Oman.
"Given the equipment our armed forces have, an indefinite blockade of the Strait of Hormuz would be very easy," said the commander of the elite Revolutionary Guards, General Mohammad Ali Jafari.
But Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell said that any move by Iran to close the Strait of Hormuz would be "self-defeating" because its economy is so heavily dependent on income from oil exports.
SOURCE: SA
Zardari, Nawaz agree to impeach Musharraf
Pakistan Daily Times
Wednesday, Aug 6, 2008
* PPP co-chairman agrees to impeachment following Kh Asif’s assurance that coalition has strength to sack president
* PPP says coalition partners to be consulted before today’s meeting
* PML-N leader says coalition to prepare charge sheet against Musharraf
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari on Tuesday agreed in principle to impeach President Pervez Musharraf, provided that all coalition partners assured their support for this endeavour.
He conceded this conditional agreement to Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif during a “make-or-break” meeting that was meant to resolve contentious issues between the two coalition partners, including the sacked judges’ reinstatement and the impeachment of the president.
Kh Asif’s assurance: Sources privy to the meeting told Daily Times that the agreement came about after senior PML-N leader Khawaja Asif assured Zardari that the coalition partners had sufficient strength to impeach President Musharraf if the PPP took the initiative. “Both parties agreed that the issue of reinstating the sacked judges could easily be resolved once they succeeded in getting rid of President Musharraf,” the sources added.
According to the sources, Nawaz also complained to Zardari about not taking his party into confidence over the military operations in FATA and NWFP, and an increase in petroleum prices. “Syed Naveed Qamar told Nawaz that [PML-N] Senator Ishaq Dar had been apprised of the petroleum price increase,” the sources added.
Consultations: Following the meeting, which lasted six hours, PPP spokesman Farhatullah Babar told reporters that the “discussions were held in a very cordial manner and were very positive, frank and productive”. “Major progress was made as broad consensus emerged on key issues,” he added.
He said the talks would resume on Wednesday at Zardari House at 11.30am, adding that prior to this, the remaining coalition partners, including Awami National Party President Asfandyar Wali and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, would be consulted. “Mian Raza Rabbani and Ishaq Dar were assigned to initiate contact with the coalition partners,” the sources added.
Charge sheet: Khawaja Asif told Geo News that all parties in the ruling alliance would prepare a charge sheet against Musharraf and have an open debate on it. He said the president would be allowed to defend himself, adding that evidence was being gathered for the charge sheet.
Also on Tuesday, Information Minister Sherry Rehman told a private TV channel that the meeting between Zardari and Nawaz was “very positive and cordial”. She told Geo News that the agenda of the meeting was to evolve a joint strategy on national issues, APP reported.
Speaking to reporters after arriving in Karachi to meet the ANP president, Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif said the nation would soon hear “good news” regarding the reinstatement of the sacked judges. He said that he hoped the ruling coalition would remain intact. Meanwhile, Geo News reported that Nawaz has summoned a party meeting at 10.30am in Murree today (Wednesday), ahead of his meeting with Zardari. The channel said Nawaz would seek his party leaders’ advice during the meeting. zulfiqar ghuman/daily times monitor
SOURCE: Pakistan Daily Times
Wednesday, Aug 6, 2008
* PPP co-chairman agrees to impeachment following Kh Asif’s assurance that coalition has strength to sack president
* PPP says coalition partners to be consulted before today’s meeting
* PML-N leader says coalition to prepare charge sheet against Musharraf
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari on Tuesday agreed in principle to impeach President Pervez Musharraf, provided that all coalition partners assured their support for this endeavour.
He conceded this conditional agreement to Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif during a “make-or-break” meeting that was meant to resolve contentious issues between the two coalition partners, including the sacked judges’ reinstatement and the impeachment of the president.
Kh Asif’s assurance: Sources privy to the meeting told Daily Times that the agreement came about after senior PML-N leader Khawaja Asif assured Zardari that the coalition partners had sufficient strength to impeach President Musharraf if the PPP took the initiative. “Both parties agreed that the issue of reinstating the sacked judges could easily be resolved once they succeeded in getting rid of President Musharraf,” the sources added.
According to the sources, Nawaz also complained to Zardari about not taking his party into confidence over the military operations in FATA and NWFP, and an increase in petroleum prices. “Syed Naveed Qamar told Nawaz that [PML-N] Senator Ishaq Dar had been apprised of the petroleum price increase,” the sources added.
Consultations: Following the meeting, which lasted six hours, PPP spokesman Farhatullah Babar told reporters that the “discussions were held in a very cordial manner and were very positive, frank and productive”. “Major progress was made as broad consensus emerged on key issues,” he added.
He said the talks would resume on Wednesday at Zardari House at 11.30am, adding that prior to this, the remaining coalition partners, including Awami National Party President Asfandyar Wali and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, would be consulted. “Mian Raza Rabbani and Ishaq Dar were assigned to initiate contact with the coalition partners,” the sources added.
Charge sheet: Khawaja Asif told Geo News that all parties in the ruling alliance would prepare a charge sheet against Musharraf and have an open debate on it. He said the president would be allowed to defend himself, adding that evidence was being gathered for the charge sheet.
Also on Tuesday, Information Minister Sherry Rehman told a private TV channel that the meeting between Zardari and Nawaz was “very positive and cordial”. She told Geo News that the agenda of the meeting was to evolve a joint strategy on national issues, APP reported.
Speaking to reporters after arriving in Karachi to meet the ANP president, Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif said the nation would soon hear “good news” regarding the reinstatement of the sacked judges. He said that he hoped the ruling coalition would remain intact. Meanwhile, Geo News reported that Nawaz has summoned a party meeting at 10.30am in Murree today (Wednesday), ahead of his meeting with Zardari. The channel said Nawaz would seek his party leaders’ advice during the meeting. zulfiqar ghuman/daily times monitor
SOURCE: Pakistan Daily Times
Prince Philip in prostate health scare
Andrew Pierce
London Telegraph
Wednesday, Aug 6, 2008
The Prince, 87, is understood to be suffering from the condition that affects around 60 per cent of men of his age and is undergoing regular blood tests.
However Buckingham Palace broke its usual silence on such issues to rigerously deny reports that he has been diagnosed with cancer.
“The Duke of Edinburgh has authorised us to confirm that the claim made by the Evening Standard that he has received a ‘diagnosis of prostate cancer’ is untrue,” the statement said.
Doctors are thought to have discovered the problem when he was admitted to the King Edward VII hospital with a chest infection in April.
At least half men of Prince Philip's age have prostate cancer which can be treated without aggressive radiotherapy or hormone therapy. However doctors often prefer not to intervene at all as the disease can be slow growing and presents little risk unless it spreads to other areas of the body..
Prince Philip was admitted to the King Edward VII hospital for three days in April after a severe cold turned into a chest infection. He has enjoyed robust health and rarely had a day off. He underwent minor surgery in 1996 to cut a small benign mass from his nose.
He maintains a busy schedule attending more than 360 engagements a year and has been in Cowes on the Isle of Wight this week on official duties.
SOURCE: London Telegraph
London Telegraph
Wednesday, Aug 6, 2008
The Prince, 87, is understood to be suffering from the condition that affects around 60 per cent of men of his age and is undergoing regular blood tests.
However Buckingham Palace broke its usual silence on such issues to rigerously deny reports that he has been diagnosed with cancer.
“The Duke of Edinburgh has authorised us to confirm that the claim made by the Evening Standard that he has received a ‘diagnosis of prostate cancer’ is untrue,” the statement said.
Doctors are thought to have discovered the problem when he was admitted to the King Edward VII hospital with a chest infection in April.
At least half men of Prince Philip's age have prostate cancer which can be treated without aggressive radiotherapy or hormone therapy. However doctors often prefer not to intervene at all as the disease can be slow growing and presents little risk unless it spreads to other areas of the body..
Prince Philip was admitted to the King Edward VII hospital for three days in April after a severe cold turned into a chest infection. He has enjoyed robust health and rarely had a day off. He underwent minor surgery in 1996 to cut a small benign mass from his nose.
He maintains a busy schedule attending more than 360 engagements a year and has been in Cowes on the Isle of Wight this week on official duties.
SOURCE: London Telegraph
Why Does The Illuminati Eye Infest Christian Churches?
Paul Joseph Watson
Prison Planet
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Occult symbol appears the world over - what is its significance?
During a visit to a breathtaking, beautiful and ornate Christian cathedral in Lucerne, Switzerland last week, I was taken aback by the sight of something that seemed completely out of context and out of place - a baleful and evil-looking Illuminati eye staring out over a representation of the crucified Jesus. Why do similar depictions infest Christian churches the world over?
The Church of St. Leodegar, popularly called the Hofkirche, in the bustling town of Lucerne in northern Switzerland, was originally built in 735 and the present structure was erected in 1633 in the late Renaissance style. The cathedral’s distinctive twin needles were part of the original structure.
The church is opulently decorated with awe-inspiring golden statues and vibrant paintings depicting stories from the bible.
But when one reaches the front of the church and looks up at a statue of the crucified Jesus, looming over it in a window near the roof is a depiction of a single eye inside a pyramid with yellow and orange sun rays emanating from behind.
This occult symbol is completely not inkeeping with the rest of the style of the church and the cathedral’s literature makes no mention of why it was placed there or what its significance is supposed to be.
FULL ARTICLE @ Prison Planet
Prison Planet
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Occult symbol appears the world over - what is its significance?
During a visit to a breathtaking, beautiful and ornate Christian cathedral in Lucerne, Switzerland last week, I was taken aback by the sight of something that seemed completely out of context and out of place - a baleful and evil-looking Illuminati eye staring out over a representation of the crucified Jesus. Why do similar depictions infest Christian churches the world over?
The Church of St. Leodegar, popularly called the Hofkirche, in the bustling town of Lucerne in northern Switzerland, was originally built in 735 and the present structure was erected in 1633 in the late Renaissance style. The cathedral’s distinctive twin needles were part of the original structure.
The church is opulently decorated with awe-inspiring golden statues and vibrant paintings depicting stories from the bible.
But when one reaches the front of the church and looks up at a statue of the crucified Jesus, looming over it in a window near the roof is a depiction of a single eye inside a pyramid with yellow and orange sun rays emanating from behind.
This occult symbol is completely not inkeeping with the rest of the style of the church and the cathedral’s literature makes no mention of why it was placed there or what its significance is supposed to be.
FULL ARTICLE @ Prison Planet
Colonel Anderson Refutes False Allegations Against Dr. Ivins
Wednesday, Aug 6, 2008
Colonel Arthur Anderson is the chief of human use and ethics at the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID), the bioweapons facility where Dr. Ivins worked and where the anthrax strains were apparently obtained by the anthrax killer.
In that position, Colonel Anderson's responsibilities include the following jobs:
"Conduct inquiries and investigations upon receipt of allegations of scientific misconduct or improper researcher behavior.
***
Prepare timely and intensive fact-finding reviews of minimal risk protocols that qualify for expedited review; ... Advise senior officials in writing of the approvability of protocols, and addenda; ... Conduct substantive continuing review of active protocols; ... Investigate issues arising during conduct of studies"
Colonel Anderson is also a highly-respected scientist in his own right (a pathologist).
Anderson disputes two of the government allegations against Dr. Ivins.
"Col. Anderson says Dr. Ivins told him about the lapse in safety shortly after it occurred, contradicting Army findings in 2002 that Dr. Ivins had told no one."
Anderson's role as the person in charge of "conduct[ing] inquiries and investigations upon receipt of allegations of scientific misconduct or improper researcher behavior" and of "investigat[ing] issues arising during conduct of studies" is therefore important. He was an appropriate person for Ivins to speak to about his anthrax tests (admittedly, protocol required Ivins to tell others as well; but the fact that Ivins told Anderson shows good faith and a lack of guilty conscience on Ivins' part).
Second, Anderson says that social worker Jean Duley's conduct was wholly inappropriate and lacked credibility. Anderson, as an ethics expert and someone who knew Ivins well, simply doesn't buy Duley's allegations.
Again, I don't know whether Ivins is guilty or not. But the government's allegations to date hold no water.
SOURCE: George Washington’s Blog
Explained: Why The Anthrax Strain Was Found in Ivins’ Office
George Washington’s Blog
Wednesday, Aug 6, 2008
The government's central piece of evidence against Bruce Ivins is that it has found anthrax in Ivins' lab that matches the anthrax letters exactly.
Pretty persuasive, right?
No, actually . . .
According to a story today in Time Magazine:
"It is hard to understand why the match could not simply be explained by the lab's prominent involvement in the federal investigation, notes Randall Larsen, a retired Air Force colonel and a senior associate at the Center for Biosecurity, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.
The FBI itself sent the anthrax letters to Ivins and his colleagues at the biodefense lab for analysis "almost immediately" following the attacks in 2001, confirms Caree Vander-Linden, a spokesperson for the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, where Ivins worked."
Another government allegation turns out to be without substance.
Even if the presence of anthrax in Ivins' office was not so easily explainable, there were still perhaps a dozen people who had access to whatever anthrax Ivins was handling. As the Time article points out:
"A group of people have access to the anthrax at any given lab. 'What you can do with all those forensic techniques is trace the anthrax to a lab, but you can't trace it to a person,' says Meryl Nass, a Maine doctor who studies the anthrax vaccine and was a professional acquaintance of Ivins for over 15 years. What's more, Nass adds, the link is not accurate with 100% certainty. 'You can't convict someone with that evidence.' "
SOURCE: George Washington’s Blog
Wednesday, Aug 6, 2008
The government's central piece of evidence against Bruce Ivins is that it has found anthrax in Ivins' lab that matches the anthrax letters exactly.
Pretty persuasive, right?
No, actually . . .
According to a story today in Time Magazine:
"It is hard to understand why the match could not simply be explained by the lab's prominent involvement in the federal investigation, notes Randall Larsen, a retired Air Force colonel and a senior associate at the Center for Biosecurity, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.
The FBI itself sent the anthrax letters to Ivins and his colleagues at the biodefense lab for analysis "almost immediately" following the attacks in 2001, confirms Caree Vander-Linden, a spokesperson for the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, where Ivins worked."
Another government allegation turns out to be without substance.
Even if the presence of anthrax in Ivins' office was not so easily explainable, there were still perhaps a dozen people who had access to whatever anthrax Ivins was handling. As the Time article points out:
"A group of people have access to the anthrax at any given lab. 'What you can do with all those forensic techniques is trace the anthrax to a lab, but you can't trace it to a person,' says Meryl Nass, a Maine doctor who studies the anthrax vaccine and was a professional acquaintance of Ivins for over 15 years. What's more, Nass adds, the link is not accurate with 100% certainty. 'You can't convict someone with that evidence.' "
SOURCE: George Washington’s Blog
Letter linking Iraq and al-Qa’eda was forged by US spies says new book
Peter Foster and Richard Spencer
London Telegraph
Wednesday, Aug 6, 2008
Ron Suskind claimed in “The Way of the World” that the letter was designed to portray a fictitious link between the dictator’s regime and al’Qa’eda as a justification for the Iraq war.
Branding Mr Suskind’s book “gutter journalism”, the White House flatly denied as “absurd” any notion that it had ordered any forgery.
Suskind writes that the letter’s author, Tahir Jalil Habbush al-Tikriti, the former head of the Iraqi Intelligence Service, had been in contact with the Bush administration and MI6 before the March 2003 invasion.
“The White House had concocted a fake letter from Habbush to Saddam, backdated to July 1, 2001,” Suskind writes.
“It said that 9/11 ringleader Mohammad Atta had actually trained for his mission in Iraq - thus showing, finally, that there was an operational link between Saddam and al Qa’eda, something the Vice President’s Office had been pressing CIA to prove since 9/11 as a justification to invade Iraq. There is no link.”
The author also claims that the Bush administration had information from a senior Iraqi intelligence official stating “there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq - intelligence they received in plenty of time to stop an invasion”.
Suskind states that according to Nigel Inkster, the former assistant director of MI6, the intelligence service sent Michael Shipster, one of its top officers, to Jordan for meetings with Mr Habbush. Suskind writes that Mr Inkster confirmed that Mr Shipster was told by Mr Habbush that there were no illicit weapons in Iraq.
Mr Inkster added that Saddam was focused on his own image and was worried about how he was viewed by Iran, and that Saddam didn't think a US invasion "was a serious proposition".
Sir Richard Dearlove, the former head of British intelligence, was also interviewed by Suskind, who writes that Sir Richard confirmed Mr Shipster's meetings and report.
Suskind says he asked why Mr Blair did not act on the spy's intelligence and Sir Richard is quoted as saying that Mr Shipster's mission was an eleventh-hour "attempt to try, as it were, I'd say, to diffuse [sic] the whole situation".
The former spy chief added: "The problem was the Cheney crowd was in too much of a hurry, really. Bush never resisted them quite strongly enough.
Yes, it was probably too late, I imagine, for Cheney. I'm not sure it was too late for Bush."
The letter's existence was first reported in December 2003 after a copy was passed to The Sunday Telegraph by a member of Iraq's transitional government.
SOURCE: London Telegraph
London Telegraph
Wednesday, Aug 6, 2008
Ron Suskind claimed in “The Way of the World” that the letter was designed to portray a fictitious link between the dictator’s regime and al’Qa’eda as a justification for the Iraq war.
Branding Mr Suskind’s book “gutter journalism”, the White House flatly denied as “absurd” any notion that it had ordered any forgery.
Suskind writes that the letter’s author, Tahir Jalil Habbush al-Tikriti, the former head of the Iraqi Intelligence Service, had been in contact with the Bush administration and MI6 before the March 2003 invasion.
“The White House had concocted a fake letter from Habbush to Saddam, backdated to July 1, 2001,” Suskind writes.
“It said that 9/11 ringleader Mohammad Atta had actually trained for his mission in Iraq - thus showing, finally, that there was an operational link between Saddam and al Qa’eda, something the Vice President’s Office had been pressing CIA to prove since 9/11 as a justification to invade Iraq. There is no link.”
The author also claims that the Bush administration had information from a senior Iraqi intelligence official stating “there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq - intelligence they received in plenty of time to stop an invasion”.
Suskind states that according to Nigel Inkster, the former assistant director of MI6, the intelligence service sent Michael Shipster, one of its top officers, to Jordan for meetings with Mr Habbush. Suskind writes that Mr Inkster confirmed that Mr Shipster was told by Mr Habbush that there were no illicit weapons in Iraq.
Mr Inkster added that Saddam was focused on his own image and was worried about how he was viewed by Iran, and that Saddam didn't think a US invasion "was a serious proposition".
Sir Richard Dearlove, the former head of British intelligence, was also interviewed by Suskind, who writes that Sir Richard confirmed Mr Shipster's meetings and report.
Suskind says he asked why Mr Blair did not act on the spy's intelligence and Sir Richard is quoted as saying that Mr Shipster's mission was an eleventh-hour "attempt to try, as it were, I'd say, to diffuse [sic] the whole situation".
The former spy chief added: "The problem was the Cheney crowd was in too much of a hurry, really. Bush never resisted them quite strongly enough.
Yes, it was probably too late, I imagine, for Cheney. I'm not sure it was too late for Bush."
The letter's existence was first reported in December 2003 after a copy was passed to The Sunday Telegraph by a member of Iraq's transitional government.
SOURCE: London Telegraph
Beijing Olympics: Britons arrested for flying pro-Tibet banners
Peter Foster and Richard Spencer
London Telegraph
Wednesday, Aug 6, 2008
Iain Thom, 24 from Edinburgh and Lucy Marion, 23, from London were seized along with two American protestors after they scaled lamp-posts outside the ‘Birds Nest’ Stadium to make their protest.
The demonstration was one of a number of protests to highlight Tibet and religious freedom which took place around Beijing to coincide with the arrival of the Olympic torch in Tiananmen Square.
Ms Marion, 23, who grew up in Cambridge and now lives in London is a graduate of Bristol University and, according to the activists’ website, has been campaigning for Tibetan rights since visiting Tibet in 2003.
Mr Thom, a grass roots co-ordinator for Students for a Free Tibet UK climbed a 120ft lamppost with an American protestor, Phill Bartell, 34 from Colorado, to string up a 200ft-long banner.
The message, “One World, One Dream: Free Tibet” – a parody of the official “One World, One Dream” slogan of the Beijing Olympics – remained on display for more than an hour before Chinese police moved in, the activists claimed.
Mr Thom spoke by mobile telephone to ABC News, saying he entered China on a tourist visa.
He said: “I’ll probably get detained by the police and then ejected out of the country but I believe it’s not anywhere near the risk or the fear that Tibetans are living under the occupation of the Chinese government.”
The protest happened hours before the Olympic Torch was due to arrive in Tiananmen Square, and two days before the Olympics opening ceremony takes place at the stadium.
The action was the latest in a series of demonstrations that have followed the Olympic Torch as it has made its way to the host nation.
The relay was disrupted by anti-China protests in London, Paris and other cities. Many people were outraged that its journey came hard on the heels of footage of Chinese armed police taking on monks in the Tibetan capital of Lhasa.
Security in China has been ramped up following an attack on Kashgar police station in Xinjiang province that resulted in the deaths of 16 policemen.
The tightened security was in evidence during the torch's last leg across China when it visited the Sichuan earthquake zone, where more than 69,000 people died in the disaster in May.
Busloads of police officers and troops with riot shields lined the route as the runners passed through Chengdu and security check points were set up for spectators.
Anxiety about security saw the route changed so that an area of Chengdu that houses Tibetan communities and was the scene of protests earlier in the year was avoided.
British Embassy officials said that they were 'aware' of the reports of the British arrests. "We are in touch with the Chinese authorities and are requesting immediate consular access should this information be correct," a spokesman said.
Lhadon Tethong, executive director of Students for a Free Tibet, described the four as "brave young activists", adding: "For years, the Chinese government has tried to use the Olympics to legitimise its illegal occupation of Tibet.
"At this very moment, Tibetans are facing the most severe and violent repression they have seen in decades at the hands of the Chinese government, and we have taken non-violent action at this critical time to draw the world's attention to the crisis gripping Tibet."
SOURCE: London Telegraph
London Telegraph
Wednesday, Aug 6, 2008
Iain Thom, 24 from Edinburgh and Lucy Marion, 23, from London were seized along with two American protestors after they scaled lamp-posts outside the ‘Birds Nest’ Stadium to make their protest.
The demonstration was one of a number of protests to highlight Tibet and religious freedom which took place around Beijing to coincide with the arrival of the Olympic torch in Tiananmen Square.
Ms Marion, 23, who grew up in Cambridge and now lives in London is a graduate of Bristol University and, according to the activists’ website, has been campaigning for Tibetan rights since visiting Tibet in 2003.
Mr Thom, a grass roots co-ordinator for Students for a Free Tibet UK climbed a 120ft lamppost with an American protestor, Phill Bartell, 34 from Colorado, to string up a 200ft-long banner.
The message, “One World, One Dream: Free Tibet” – a parody of the official “One World, One Dream” slogan of the Beijing Olympics – remained on display for more than an hour before Chinese police moved in, the activists claimed.
Mr Thom spoke by mobile telephone to ABC News, saying he entered China on a tourist visa.
He said: “I’ll probably get detained by the police and then ejected out of the country but I believe it’s not anywhere near the risk or the fear that Tibetans are living under the occupation of the Chinese government.”
The protest happened hours before the Olympic Torch was due to arrive in Tiananmen Square, and two days before the Olympics opening ceremony takes place at the stadium.
The action was the latest in a series of demonstrations that have followed the Olympic Torch as it has made its way to the host nation.
The relay was disrupted by anti-China protests in London, Paris and other cities. Many people were outraged that its journey came hard on the heels of footage of Chinese armed police taking on monks in the Tibetan capital of Lhasa.
Security in China has been ramped up following an attack on Kashgar police station in Xinjiang province that resulted in the deaths of 16 policemen.
The tightened security was in evidence during the torch's last leg across China when it visited the Sichuan earthquake zone, where more than 69,000 people died in the disaster in May.
Busloads of police officers and troops with riot shields lined the route as the runners passed through Chengdu and security check points were set up for spectators.
Anxiety about security saw the route changed so that an area of Chengdu that houses Tibetan communities and was the scene of protests earlier in the year was avoided.
British Embassy officials said that they were 'aware' of the reports of the British arrests. "We are in touch with the Chinese authorities and are requesting immediate consular access should this information be correct," a spokesman said.
Lhadon Tethong, executive director of Students for a Free Tibet, described the four as "brave young activists", adding: "For years, the Chinese government has tried to use the Olympics to legitimise its illegal occupation of Tibet.
"At this very moment, Tibetans are facing the most severe and violent repression they have seen in decades at the hands of the Chinese government, and we have taken non-violent action at this critical time to draw the world's attention to the crisis gripping Tibet."
SOURCE: London Telegraph
Betrayed by the village idiot
The Mogambo Guru
Asia Times
Wednesday, Aug 6, 2008
The low-IQ socialist scumbags in the House of Representatives in Washington, DC among other legislative horrors have raised the debt limit of the US by another US$800 billion, taking the limit to a staggering $10.6 trillion, so that they could continue to act like the mental defective lowlife collectivist scumbags that they truly, truly are, which is destroying our money and our country, which is why I hate them, and which explains why I intend to vote against every incumbent as often as I can, and urge everyone else to do so, too, (except for the people in Texas who elect Ron Paul), unless I can successfully get the American people stirred up into an unruly mob so that I can take over the country and give myself a nice, big salary, a generous retirement package, and the awesome, unlimited powers of an emperor!
In the meantime, Thomas Sowell had an interesting perspective on these Congressional commie losers, too, in that he says that the housing crisis is a direct result of these selfsame Congressional morons passing laws requiring banks to loan to poor people so that they could buy houses that they could not afford, and in areas where nobody in their right mind would lend a dime because people who live there default on loans a lot, which is exactly what happened.
Now we know why nobody wanted to loan money to these “red-lined” areas! Ergo, too many loans, as required by Congress under penalty of law, were made to too many people that couldn’t pay them back, and didn’t, which the lenders knew beforehand, but were forced to do it! Hahaha! Thanks, Mr Sowell! I never put that two and two together before!
Now that I think about it, it’s the same thing that happened to healthcare; the cost has run to back-breaking levels because the government demanded that healthcare providers provide first-class services to anybody who asked for them, whether they could (or would) pay for them or not, and the providers just added it to the bill of those who paid for their healthcare! Hahaha!
I am ashamed to have laughed at such incompetence and government bungling that is destroying America and, putting a serious look on my face, I say that the lesson to be learned here is that we have been betrayed by Congress, again and again, as it screws up everything it touches, which is what government routinely does, which is why it is obvious that the constitution never meant for them to be doing this.
In fact, the nation was supposed to be basking in liberty and free enterprise, with minimal government interference, and the Founding Fathers obviously thought that there would be no need for the Congress to ever even meet! This is why they thought it was important to include Article 1, Section 4 in the Constitution, which requires that “The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year.” Hahahaha! Meet at least one day a year! Hahahaha!
Instead we have, courtesy of Gary North of garynorth.com bringing it up, The Federal Register, which "is published every weekday, and it usually is 200 pages long. Each page has three columns of fine print. These are new regulations imposed by the Federal government on the American economy." Published every weekday!
And while we are here, Mr North has an article titled "The Senate's 700-Page Housing Bailout Bill: No Discussion, No Opposition", with the subhead that wins this week's coveted Mogambo Brevity Is Wit Award (MBIWA); "It's going to pass. It will not work."
And the loathsome, ruinous, nation-destroying activities of Congress could not be possible without an unlimited supply of fiat currency, instead of the strictures of Article 1, Section 10 which requires that only gold and silver shall be money, a requirement discarded by the despicable, corrupt Supreme Court, a folly for which we are now paying with inflation in prices and will continue paying for the next decade.
Now you know why we are so screwed, and who is directly responsible, which means that the voters who elected these losers are also directly responsible, and as such are going to get exactly what they deserve. And in the words of H L Mencken, "get it good and hard".
There are, I am aware, pornographic films that successfully exploit this "get it good and hard" theme in a very entertaining way, but trust me, there is no similarity. If only there were.
SOURCE: Asia Times
Asia Times
Wednesday, Aug 6, 2008
The low-IQ socialist scumbags in the House of Representatives in Washington, DC among other legislative horrors have raised the debt limit of the US by another US$800 billion, taking the limit to a staggering $10.6 trillion, so that they could continue to act like the mental defective lowlife collectivist scumbags that they truly, truly are, which is destroying our money and our country, which is why I hate them, and which explains why I intend to vote against every incumbent as often as I can, and urge everyone else to do so, too, (except for the people in Texas who elect Ron Paul), unless I can successfully get the American people stirred up into an unruly mob so that I can take over the country and give myself a nice, big salary, a generous retirement package, and the awesome, unlimited powers of an emperor!
In the meantime, Thomas Sowell had an interesting perspective on these Congressional commie losers, too, in that he says that the housing crisis is a direct result of these selfsame Congressional morons passing laws requiring banks to loan to poor people so that they could buy houses that they could not afford, and in areas where nobody in their right mind would lend a dime because people who live there default on loans a lot, which is exactly what happened.
Now we know why nobody wanted to loan money to these “red-lined” areas! Ergo, too many loans, as required by Congress under penalty of law, were made to too many people that couldn’t pay them back, and didn’t, which the lenders knew beforehand, but were forced to do it! Hahaha! Thanks, Mr Sowell! I never put that two and two together before!
Now that I think about it, it’s the same thing that happened to healthcare; the cost has run to back-breaking levels because the government demanded that healthcare providers provide first-class services to anybody who asked for them, whether they could (or would) pay for them or not, and the providers just added it to the bill of those who paid for their healthcare! Hahaha!
I am ashamed to have laughed at such incompetence and government bungling that is destroying America and, putting a serious look on my face, I say that the lesson to be learned here is that we have been betrayed by Congress, again and again, as it screws up everything it touches, which is what government routinely does, which is why it is obvious that the constitution never meant for them to be doing this.
In fact, the nation was supposed to be basking in liberty and free enterprise, with minimal government interference, and the Founding Fathers obviously thought that there would be no need for the Congress to ever even meet! This is why they thought it was important to include Article 1, Section 4 in the Constitution, which requires that “The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year.” Hahahaha! Meet at least one day a year! Hahahaha!
Instead we have, courtesy of Gary North of garynorth.com bringing it up, The Federal Register, which "is published every weekday, and it usually is 200 pages long. Each page has three columns of fine print. These are new regulations imposed by the Federal government on the American economy." Published every weekday!
And while we are here, Mr North has an article titled "The Senate's 700-Page Housing Bailout Bill: No Discussion, No Opposition", with the subhead that wins this week's coveted Mogambo Brevity Is Wit Award (MBIWA); "It's going to pass. It will not work."
And the loathsome, ruinous, nation-destroying activities of Congress could not be possible without an unlimited supply of fiat currency, instead of the strictures of Article 1, Section 10 which requires that only gold and silver shall be money, a requirement discarded by the despicable, corrupt Supreme Court, a folly for which we are now paying with inflation in prices and will continue paying for the next decade.
Now you know why we are so screwed, and who is directly responsible, which means that the voters who elected these losers are also directly responsible, and as such are going to get exactly what they deserve. And in the words of H L Mencken, "get it good and hard".
There are, I am aware, pornographic films that successfully exploit this "get it good and hard" theme in a very entertaining way, but trust me, there is no similarity. If only there were.
SOURCE: Asia Times
Three Million in Gold Bullion Seized at Gold Dealers House
EconomicPolicyJournal.com
Wednesday, Aug 6, 2008
Authorities have seized $60,000 cash, some of it sealed in shrink wrap, and $3 million in gold bullion at the Moorpark, CA ranch house of James Fayed, whose wife, Pamela, was murdered last week. Twenty-five assault rifles and thousands of rounds of ammunition were also seized from the house, according to Assistant U.S. Atty. Mark R. Aveis
Fayed, who was seeking a divorce from his wife, both jointly owned Goldfinger Coin and Bullion Sales and an associated Internet firm, e-Bullion.
Fayed was arrested Friday evening on charges relating to his business. In a court hearing today in Los Angeles, CA, Aveis characterized Fayed’s business operations during 2005 and 2006 as ponzi schemes in which individuals invested up to $20 million.
In a further bombshell development, police have determined that the vehicle used by the murderer in the slaying of Pamela Fayed was rented with a credit card bearing the name of her estranged husband.
The credit card was seized from the wallet of James Fayed during a recent search of his Moorpark ranch house, said Aveis.
SOURCE: EconomicPolicyJournal.com
Wednesday, Aug 6, 2008
Authorities have seized $60,000 cash, some of it sealed in shrink wrap, and $3 million in gold bullion at the Moorpark, CA ranch house of James Fayed, whose wife, Pamela, was murdered last week. Twenty-five assault rifles and thousands of rounds of ammunition were also seized from the house, according to Assistant U.S. Atty. Mark R. Aveis
Fayed, who was seeking a divorce from his wife, both jointly owned Goldfinger Coin and Bullion Sales and an associated Internet firm, e-Bullion.
Fayed was arrested Friday evening on charges relating to his business. In a court hearing today in Los Angeles, CA, Aveis characterized Fayed’s business operations during 2005 and 2006 as ponzi schemes in which individuals invested up to $20 million.
In a further bombshell development, police have determined that the vehicle used by the murderer in the slaying of Pamela Fayed was rented with a credit card bearing the name of her estranged husband.
The credit card was seized from the wallet of James Fayed during a recent search of his Moorpark ranch house, said Aveis.
SOURCE: EconomicPolicyJournal.com
What the Iraq Forgery Says About 9/11
George Washington’s Blog
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Bestselling Pulitzer prize-winning journalist Ron Suskind has revealed that the White House ordered the CIA to forge and backdate a document falsely linking Iraq with Muslim terrorists and 9/11 . . . and that the CIA complied with those instructions and in fact created the forgery, which was then used to justify war against Iraq.
Suskind also revealed that "Bush administration had information from a top Iraqi intelligence official 'that there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq – intelligence they received in plenty of time to stop an invasion.' ”
This is a stunning revelation in its own right. But what does it say about the government's claims that 9/11 was an attack by Muslim extremists which the U.S. government could not have anticipated?
Well, if the White House ordered the CIA to forge documents falsely implicating the people against which they wanted to wage war (Iraqis), and falsely linking supposed Al Qaeda terrorists with someone they had no connection with (Saddam Hussein), is it possible that a similar thing occurred as to who carried out 9/11?
Let's take a look:
The flight manuals and other evidence supposedly "accidentally" left behind by the terrorists were in fact planted. For example, the Pulitzer prize-winning reporter who uncovered the Iraq prison torture scandal and the My Lai massacre in Vietnam wrote:
"Many of the investigators believe that some of the initial clues that were uncovered about the terrorists' identities and preparations, such as flight manuals, were meant to be found. A former high-level intelligence official told me, 'Whatever trail was left was left deliberately -- for the F.B.I. to chase'"
The top expert on Osama Bin Laden has said that Bin Laden's "confession" video is fake (and see this statement by a video expert )
And imagine if a piece of evidence could not be authenticated according to basic science. For example, let's say an apparent confession note was found at an arson crime scene where the entire building had been turned to fine ash particles and nothing else survived. That would raise suspicions, right?
Well, a passport from one of the alleged hijackers was "found" a couple of blocks from the Twin Towers. And yet the government claims that the areas inside the Twin Towers where planes crashed were infernos so hot that they caused the collapse of the massive steel cores in the center of the towers. Indeed, the passport-owner's hijacked plane was allegedly almost completely lodged in the building's core. How could the passport have survived and ended up a couple of blocks away?
And if the above-described documents were in fact forged, isn't that strong evidence that elements of the U.S. government actually aided and abetted the 9/11 attack? For example, the "initial clues that were uncovered about the terrorists' identities and preparations, such as flight manuals", had to have been planted before or immediately after the 9/11 attacks?
For those still skeptical about the possibility that the government intentionally created false evidence, please remember that Norad intentionally lied about what happened on 9/11; indeed, the co-chairs of the 9/11 Commission said that the 9/11 Commissioners knew that military officials misrepresented the facts to the Commission, and the Commission considered recommending criminal charges for such false statements (free subscription required).
And remember that the government intentionally and falsely linked Muslims with the anthrax attacks, when it was obvious that the attacks came from white Americans.
At the very least, isn't it likely that the White House instructed the intelligence agencies and the 9/11 Commission to ignore any evidence which contradicted the narrative that would justify wars in the Middle East (euphemistically called "the war on terror") - that 9/11 was carried out solely by Arabs?
In connection with Iraq, Suskind writes that "the Bush administration had information from a top Iraqi intelligence official 'that there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq – intelligence they received in plenty of time to stop an invasion.'” And an ex-CIA official confirms that evidence that there were no WMDs in Iraq was ignored.
In connection with 9/11 itself, obstruction of an accurate assessment is equally clear.
SOURCE: George Washington’s Blog
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Bestselling Pulitzer prize-winning journalist Ron Suskind has revealed that the White House ordered the CIA to forge and backdate a document falsely linking Iraq with Muslim terrorists and 9/11 . . . and that the CIA complied with those instructions and in fact created the forgery, which was then used to justify war against Iraq.
Suskind also revealed that "Bush administration had information from a top Iraqi intelligence official 'that there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq – intelligence they received in plenty of time to stop an invasion.' ”
This is a stunning revelation in its own right. But what does it say about the government's claims that 9/11 was an attack by Muslim extremists which the U.S. government could not have anticipated?
Well, if the White House ordered the CIA to forge documents falsely implicating the people against which they wanted to wage war (Iraqis), and falsely linking supposed Al Qaeda terrorists with someone they had no connection with (Saddam Hussein), is it possible that a similar thing occurred as to who carried out 9/11?
Let's take a look:
The flight manuals and other evidence supposedly "accidentally" left behind by the terrorists were in fact planted. For example, the Pulitzer prize-winning reporter who uncovered the Iraq prison torture scandal and the My Lai massacre in Vietnam wrote:
"Many of the investigators believe that some of the initial clues that were uncovered about the terrorists' identities and preparations, such as flight manuals, were meant to be found. A former high-level intelligence official told me, 'Whatever trail was left was left deliberately -- for the F.B.I. to chase'"
The top expert on Osama Bin Laden has said that Bin Laden's "confession" video is fake (and see this statement by a video expert )
And imagine if a piece of evidence could not be authenticated according to basic science. For example, let's say an apparent confession note was found at an arson crime scene where the entire building had been turned to fine ash particles and nothing else survived. That would raise suspicions, right?
Well, a passport from one of the alleged hijackers was "found" a couple of blocks from the Twin Towers. And yet the government claims that the areas inside the Twin Towers where planes crashed were infernos so hot that they caused the collapse of the massive steel cores in the center of the towers. Indeed, the passport-owner's hijacked plane was allegedly almost completely lodged in the building's core. How could the passport have survived and ended up a couple of blocks away?
And if the above-described documents were in fact forged, isn't that strong evidence that elements of the U.S. government actually aided and abetted the 9/11 attack? For example, the "initial clues that were uncovered about the terrorists' identities and preparations, such as flight manuals", had to have been planted before or immediately after the 9/11 attacks?
For those still skeptical about the possibility that the government intentionally created false evidence, please remember that Norad intentionally lied about what happened on 9/11; indeed, the co-chairs of the 9/11 Commission said that the 9/11 Commissioners knew that military officials misrepresented the facts to the Commission, and the Commission considered recommending criminal charges for such false statements (free subscription required).
And remember that the government intentionally and falsely linked Muslims with the anthrax attacks, when it was obvious that the attacks came from white Americans.
At the very least, isn't it likely that the White House instructed the intelligence agencies and the 9/11 Commission to ignore any evidence which contradicted the narrative that would justify wars in the Middle East (euphemistically called "the war on terror") - that 9/11 was carried out solely by Arabs?
In connection with Iraq, Suskind writes that "the Bush administration had information from a top Iraqi intelligence official 'that there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq – intelligence they received in plenty of time to stop an invasion.'” And an ex-CIA official confirms that evidence that there were no WMDs in Iraq was ignored.
In connection with 9/11 itself, obstruction of an accurate assessment is equally clear.
SOURCE: George Washington’s Blog
‘US backing terror networks in Pakistan’
PRESS TV
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Pakistan has accused the US of backing militancy within the country, saying this goes against the spirit of so-called war on terror.
Pakistani the News quoted official sources as saying on Tuesday that strong evidence of American acquiescence to terrorism inside Pakistan was outlined by President Pervez Musharraf, Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani and Director General Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Lt. Gen. Nadeem Taj in their separate meetings with US Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Michael Mullen and CIA Deputy Director Stephen R Kappes on July 12 in Rawalpindi.
Pakistani officials with direct knowledge of the meetings said the Americans were not interested in disrupting the Kabul-based fountainhead of terrorism in Baluchistan nor do they want to allocate the marvelous predator resource to neutralize the kingpin of suicide bombings against the Pakistani military establishment now hiding near the Pak-Afghan border.
The top US military commander were also asked why the CIA-run predator did not swing into action when they were provided the exact location of Baitullah Mehsud, the chief of militants and mastermind of almost every suicide operation against the Army and the ISI since June 2006.
One such precise piece of information was made available to the CIA on May 24 when Mehsud drove to a remote South Waziristan mountain post to address the press and returned back to his safe abode. The United States military has the capacity to direct a missile to a precise location at very short notice as it has done close to 20 times in the last few years to hit al-Qaeda targets inside Pakistan.
"We wanted to know when our American friends would get interested in tracking down the terrorists responsible for hundreds of suicide bombings in Pakistan and those playing havoc with our natural resources in Baluchistan," an official described the Pakistani mood during the meetings.
Pakistani official have long been intrigued by the presence of highly encrypted communications gear with Mehsud. This communication gear enables him to collect real-time information on Pakistani troops' movement from an unidentified foreign source without being intercepted by Pakistani intelligence, sources said.
Admiral Mullen and the CIA official were in Pakistan on an unannounced visit to show what the US media claimed was evidence of the ISI's ties to the Taliban militants and the alleged involvement of Pakistani agents in the bombing of the Indian embassy in Kabul.
A former official with Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence Khalid Khawaja accused the US in an exclusive interview with the Press TV that the Americans had planted the bomb in the Indian Embassy in Kabul to widen the rift between Indians and Pakistanis.
The report comes a day after Musharraf's warning against the US conspiracies toward Pakistan.
Pakistani political analysts say that the current "trust deficit" between the Pakistani and US security establishment is serious enough to lead to a collapse.
SOURCE: PRESS TV
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Pakistan has accused the US of backing militancy within the country, saying this goes against the spirit of so-called war on terror.
Pakistani the News quoted official sources as saying on Tuesday that strong evidence of American acquiescence to terrorism inside Pakistan was outlined by President Pervez Musharraf, Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani and Director General Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Lt. Gen. Nadeem Taj in their separate meetings with US Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Michael Mullen and CIA Deputy Director Stephen R Kappes on July 12 in Rawalpindi.
Pakistani officials with direct knowledge of the meetings said the Americans were not interested in disrupting the Kabul-based fountainhead of terrorism in Baluchistan nor do they want to allocate the marvelous predator resource to neutralize the kingpin of suicide bombings against the Pakistani military establishment now hiding near the Pak-Afghan border.
The top US military commander were also asked why the CIA-run predator did not swing into action when they were provided the exact location of Baitullah Mehsud, the chief of militants and mastermind of almost every suicide operation against the Army and the ISI since June 2006.
One such precise piece of information was made available to the CIA on May 24 when Mehsud drove to a remote South Waziristan mountain post to address the press and returned back to his safe abode. The United States military has the capacity to direct a missile to a precise location at very short notice as it has done close to 20 times in the last few years to hit al-Qaeda targets inside Pakistan.
"We wanted to know when our American friends would get interested in tracking down the terrorists responsible for hundreds of suicide bombings in Pakistan and those playing havoc with our natural resources in Baluchistan," an official described the Pakistani mood during the meetings.
Pakistani official have long been intrigued by the presence of highly encrypted communications gear with Mehsud. This communication gear enables him to collect real-time information on Pakistani troops' movement from an unidentified foreign source without being intercepted by Pakistani intelligence, sources said.
Admiral Mullen and the CIA official were in Pakistan on an unannounced visit to show what the US media claimed was evidence of the ISI's ties to the Taliban militants and the alleged involvement of Pakistani agents in the bombing of the Indian embassy in Kabul.
A former official with Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence Khalid Khawaja accused the US in an exclusive interview with the Press TV that the Americans had planted the bomb in the Indian Embassy in Kabul to widen the rift between Indians and Pakistanis.
The report comes a day after Musharraf's warning against the US conspiracies toward Pakistan.
Pakistani political analysts say that the current "trust deficit" between the Pakistani and US security establishment is serious enough to lead to a collapse.
SOURCE: PRESS TV
Kadhafi warns ‘arrogant’ Iran of military humiliation
AFP
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi on Tuesday warned “arrogant” Iran that it faces military humiliation on the scale of Iraq for its refusal to respond to western powers over a nuclear impasse.
“What Iran is doing stems simply from arrogance,” Kadhafi said during a visit to Tunisia after Tehran ignored another western deadline to accept an incentives package in exchange for full transparency on its nuclear drive.
Negotiators from Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States — who suspect Iran is seeking to build nuclear weapons capability — have scheduled a conference call for Wednesday as the crisis deepens.
“In the event of a decision against Iran, this country will suffer the same outcome as Iraq… Iran is not any stronger than Iraq and won’t have the means to resist (a military attack) on its own,” Kadhafi said.
"The challenges are greater and exceed Iran's ability to reply," he added, speaking on the third day of his visit.
Like Iran and Iraq before it, Libya was for years pressured by the west over its nuclear and chemical weapons ambitions and capabilities before finding common ground in 2003.
Tehran has steadfastly refused to suspend its uranium enrichment activities, which it says are aimed only at producing fuel for nuclear power production.
The United States and its allies fear the program is a cover for developing nuclear weapons.
SOURCE: AFP
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi on Tuesday warned “arrogant” Iran that it faces military humiliation on the scale of Iraq for its refusal to respond to western powers over a nuclear impasse.
“What Iran is doing stems simply from arrogance,” Kadhafi said during a visit to Tunisia after Tehran ignored another western deadline to accept an incentives package in exchange for full transparency on its nuclear drive.
Negotiators from Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States — who suspect Iran is seeking to build nuclear weapons capability — have scheduled a conference call for Wednesday as the crisis deepens.
“In the event of a decision against Iran, this country will suffer the same outcome as Iraq… Iran is not any stronger than Iraq and won’t have the means to resist (a military attack) on its own,” Kadhafi said.
"The challenges are greater and exceed Iran's ability to reply," he added, speaking on the third day of his visit.
Like Iran and Iraq before it, Libya was for years pressured by the west over its nuclear and chemical weapons ambitions and capabilities before finding common ground in 2003.
Tehran has steadfastly refused to suspend its uranium enrichment activities, which it says are aimed only at producing fuel for nuclear power production.
The United States and its allies fear the program is a cover for developing nuclear weapons.
SOURCE: AFP
Ubiquitous Computing: Big Brother’s All-Seeing Eye
Old Thinker News
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
An “Everyware” world, as Adam Greenfield calls it, is a world in which computers are embedded and merged seamlessly everywhere in the environment. Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags communicate their position and other information constantly in a vast network. Everyday objects become “searchable” as if they were part of the interconnected world wide web. In this interconnected internet of things, scientific management and surveillance of people and the environment we inhabit becomes possible, and marketers’ ultimate dreams come true.
Part 1:
Part 2:
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
An “Everyware” world, as Adam Greenfield calls it, is a world in which computers are embedded and merged seamlessly everywhere in the environment. Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags communicate their position and other information constantly in a vast network. Everyday objects become “searchable” as if they were part of the interconnected world wide web. In this interconnected internet of things, scientific management and surveillance of people and the environment we inhabit becomes possible, and marketers’ ultimate dreams come true.
Part 1:
Part 2:
Oil falls below $120 as Edouard spares U.S. Gulf
Reuters
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil fell below $120 on Tuesday to touch a three-month low as Tropical Storm Edouard hit the Texas coast without causing any major disruptions to U.S. energy operations.
U.S. crude traded down $1.94 to $119.47 a barrel by 1:36 p.m. EDT (6.35 p.m. British time) after tumbling to $118.00 earlier, the lowest price since May 5. London Brent crude lost $2.54 to $118.14 a barrel.
Edouard, the fifth tropical storm of the 2008 Atlantic hurricane season, came ashore at the McFaddin National Wildlife Refuge, a stop-over point for migrating birds like snow geese halfway between High Island and Sabine Pass.
The storm caused only minor oil and natural gas outages as it passed through the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, and companies began to fly evacuated staff back to rigs.
About 6 percent of Gulf of Mexico crude oil and 12.3 percent of natural gas production was shut in by the storm, the U.S. Minerals Management Service said.
"Crude and products futures are sharply lower ... as Tropical Storm Edouard is projected to do little damage," Addison Armstrong, analyst at Tradition Energy, wrote in a research note.
The Louisiana Offshore Oil Port, the nation's only deepwater oil port, said it was resuming offshore operations and expected to offload its first tanker in over 24 hours by early Tuesday afternoon.
The U.S. Gulf of Mexico supplies about a quarter of the country's crude oil output and 15 percent of its natural gas. Gulf Coast refiners make about a quarter of domestic gasoline.
The market losses extended a drop that has sent U.S. crude from the July 11 record over $147 a barrel amid growing signs demand in the United States and Europe has fallen due to surging fuel costs.
Rising demand from China and other Asian countries helped send oil on a six-year rally that sent prices up sevenfold at their peak. Some analysts forecast prices could fall further, however, if demand remains tepid in industrialized nations.
"(Oil could fall) to about $100 within the next month if you keep on getting weak demand data," said Angus McPhail of British-based investment firm Alliance Trust.
Traders said oil was not greatly impacted by the Federal Reserve's decision to hold U.S. interest rates steady, after a series of cuts since the second half of 2007 sparked buying from investors hedging against inflation and the weak dollar.
"The oil market is off on its own little world," said Truman Arnold trader Tom Knight.
Analysts are eyeing ongoing tension between major oil exporter Iran and the West over Tehran's nuclear work for support, as well as Nigerian supply disruptions.
Iran delivered a letter to world powers on Tuesday but gave no concrete reply to a demand to freeze its nuclear activity, a defiant step that the United States has warned could lead to more sanctions.
OPEC member Nigeria is losing an average of 650,000 barrels of crude production per day to militant attacks and security concerns in the Niger Delta, according to the government.
A Reuters poll of analysts on Tuesday forecast U.S. government weekly inventory data to be released on Wednesday will show a 300,000 barrel rise in crude inventories, a 2.1 million barrel rise in distillates, and a 1.2 million barrel draw in gasoline stocks.
SOURCE: Reuters
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil fell below $120 on Tuesday to touch a three-month low as Tropical Storm Edouard hit the Texas coast without causing any major disruptions to U.S. energy operations.
U.S. crude traded down $1.94 to $119.47 a barrel by 1:36 p.m. EDT (6.35 p.m. British time) after tumbling to $118.00 earlier, the lowest price since May 5. London Brent crude lost $2.54 to $118.14 a barrel.
Edouard, the fifth tropical storm of the 2008 Atlantic hurricane season, came ashore at the McFaddin National Wildlife Refuge, a stop-over point for migrating birds like snow geese halfway between High Island and Sabine Pass.
The storm caused only minor oil and natural gas outages as it passed through the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, and companies began to fly evacuated staff back to rigs.
About 6 percent of Gulf of Mexico crude oil and 12.3 percent of natural gas production was shut in by the storm, the U.S. Minerals Management Service said.
"Crude and products futures are sharply lower ... as Tropical Storm Edouard is projected to do little damage," Addison Armstrong, analyst at Tradition Energy, wrote in a research note.
The Louisiana Offshore Oil Port, the nation's only deepwater oil port, said it was resuming offshore operations and expected to offload its first tanker in over 24 hours by early Tuesday afternoon.
The U.S. Gulf of Mexico supplies about a quarter of the country's crude oil output and 15 percent of its natural gas. Gulf Coast refiners make about a quarter of domestic gasoline.
The market losses extended a drop that has sent U.S. crude from the July 11 record over $147 a barrel amid growing signs demand in the United States and Europe has fallen due to surging fuel costs.
Rising demand from China and other Asian countries helped send oil on a six-year rally that sent prices up sevenfold at their peak. Some analysts forecast prices could fall further, however, if demand remains tepid in industrialized nations.
"(Oil could fall) to about $100 within the next month if you keep on getting weak demand data," said Angus McPhail of British-based investment firm Alliance Trust.
Traders said oil was not greatly impacted by the Federal Reserve's decision to hold U.S. interest rates steady, after a series of cuts since the second half of 2007 sparked buying from investors hedging against inflation and the weak dollar.
"The oil market is off on its own little world," said Truman Arnold trader Tom Knight.
Analysts are eyeing ongoing tension between major oil exporter Iran and the West over Tehran's nuclear work for support, as well as Nigerian supply disruptions.
Iran delivered a letter to world powers on Tuesday but gave no concrete reply to a demand to freeze its nuclear activity, a defiant step that the United States has warned could lead to more sanctions.
OPEC member Nigeria is losing an average of 650,000 barrels of crude production per day to militant attacks and security concerns in the Niger Delta, according to the government.
A Reuters poll of analysts on Tuesday forecast U.S. government weekly inventory data to be released on Wednesday will show a 300,000 barrel rise in crude inventories, a 2.1 million barrel rise in distillates, and a 1.2 million barrel draw in gasoline stocks.
SOURCE: Reuters
Gold falls 2 pct, tracking losses across commodities
Jan Harvey
Reuters
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
LONDON, Aug 5 (Reuters) - Gold fell more than 2 percent in Europe on Tuesday, tracking losses in other commodities, notably oil which lost more than $2 a barrel to a three-month low.
The dollar reached a new seven-week high against a basket of currencies, further dampening interest in gold. Traders are awaiting the rates announcement of the U.S. Federal Reserve later in the session.
Gold fell as low as $875.60 an ounce, its weakest level in nearly six weeks. At 1535 GMT it was at $877.00/878.00 an ounce, down from $895.55/896.95 late in New York on Monday.
COMEX December gold GCZ8 lost $22.10 to $878.00 an ounce.
A firm dollar typically pressures gold, as it dents the precious metal's appeal as an alternative investment. [ID:nL5644759]
"Gold has sold off on oil's steep falls and with sharp falls in many other commodity markets," said Mark O'Byrne, executive director of Gold and Silver Investments.
"The CRB Reuters Jefferies Commodity Index was down 3 percent yesterday, its largest one day sell-off since last March," he added.
Falling oil prices are also weighing on gold. U.S. crude futures slipped to a three-month low of $118 a barrel as traders focused on rising OPEC supply and easing demand in the United States and Europe. [ID:nSP68458]
Gold tends to track movements in crude, as it is often bought as a hedge against oil-led inflation. Weaker oil prices also undermine sentiment towards commodities as an asset class.
FED EYED
Traders are looking ahead to the Fed's rate-setting meeting, with a statement due at 1815 GMT. While rates are expected to stay at 2 percent, analysts say the bank's accompanying statement will be closely watched. FEDWATCH
"The key event risk today is the FOMC decision," said JP Morgan analyst Michael Jansen. "The market is expecting no change, but looking for a small uptick in hawkish rhetoric. This could be US dollar supportive/metal negative."
Among other precious metals, platinum and palladium steadied after posting sharp losses earlier in the session, when platinum hit a fresh six-month low of $1,529 an ounce.
The white metal, chiefly used to make autocatalysts, has shed around 13 percent in the last week, while palladium has dipped nearly 10 percent.
The metals have been hit hard by the worsening outlook for the automotive sector.
Spot platinumwas at $1,556.50/1,576.50 an ounce against $1,551.00/1,571.00. Spot palladium ticked up to to $351.00/355.00 an ounce from $349.50/357.50 late in New York.
Silverslid to $16.59/16.63 an ounce from $17.00/17.05.
SOURCE: Reuters
Reuters
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
LONDON, Aug 5 (Reuters) - Gold fell more than 2 percent in Europe on Tuesday, tracking losses in other commodities, notably oil which lost more than $2 a barrel to a three-month low.
The dollar reached a new seven-week high against a basket of currencies, further dampening interest in gold. Traders are awaiting the rates announcement of the U.S. Federal Reserve later in the session.
Gold fell as low as $875.60 an ounce, its weakest level in nearly six weeks. At 1535 GMT it was at $877.00/878.00 an ounce, down from $895.55/896.95 late in New York on Monday.
COMEX December gold GCZ8 lost $22.10 to $878.00 an ounce.
A firm dollar typically pressures gold, as it dents the precious metal's appeal as an alternative investment. [ID:nL5644759]
"Gold has sold off on oil's steep falls and with sharp falls in many other commodity markets," said Mark O'Byrne, executive director of Gold and Silver Investments.
"The CRB Reuters Jefferies Commodity Index was down 3 percent yesterday, its largest one day sell-off since last March," he added.
Falling oil prices are also weighing on gold. U.S. crude futures slipped to a three-month low of $118 a barrel as traders focused on rising OPEC supply and easing demand in the United States and Europe. [ID:nSP68458]
Gold tends to track movements in crude, as it is often bought as a hedge against oil-led inflation. Weaker oil prices also undermine sentiment towards commodities as an asset class.
FED EYED
Traders are looking ahead to the Fed's rate-setting meeting, with a statement due at 1815 GMT. While rates are expected to stay at 2 percent, analysts say the bank's accompanying statement will be closely watched. FEDWATCH
"The key event risk today is the FOMC decision," said JP Morgan analyst Michael Jansen. "The market is expecting no change, but looking for a small uptick in hawkish rhetoric. This could be US dollar supportive/metal negative."
Among other precious metals, platinum and palladium steadied after posting sharp losses earlier in the session, when platinum hit a fresh six-month low of $1,529 an ounce.
The white metal, chiefly used to make autocatalysts, has shed around 13 percent in the last week, while palladium has dipped nearly 10 percent.
The metals have been hit hard by the worsening outlook for the automotive sector.
Spot platinum
Silver
SOURCE: Reuters
Large Hadron Collider to be launched Oct. 21 - Russian scientist
RIA Novosti
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
MOSCOW, August 5 (RIA Novosti) - The Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the world’s largest and most powerful particle accelerator, will be officially unveiled on October 21, a Russian scientist said Tuesday.
LHC is a particle accelerator that will smash together opposing beams of protons to explore the validity and limitations of current particle physics theory.
“The collider is to be inaugurated on October 21,” said Alexander Vodopyanov, of the Integrated Institute of Nuclear Research. “This means at least one test-run of proton beams around the accelerator ring will be conducted prior to inauguration.”
The scientist said all eight sections of the collider's large ring had been cooled to temperatures approaching absolute zero. An experimental run of a proton beam through one of the sectors could be carried out as early as this week.
The $5.8 billion international project at the European Organization for Nuclear Research, known by its French initials CERN, involves more than 2,000 physicists from hundreds of universities and laboratories in 34 countries.
The accelerator complex, 27 kilometers in circumference, sits in a subterranean tunnel about one hundred meters below the Franco-Swiss border, near Geneva, Switzerland.
Once it is up to speed, it is hoped the collider will produce the so-called Higgs boson, the observation of which could confirm the predictions and "missing links" in the Standard Model of physics and could explain how other elementary particles acquire properties such as mass.
Some theorists and members of the general public have long voiced fears that microscopic black holes may appear as a result of the experiment, capturing surrounding matter and ultimately leading to the destruction of the entire planet.
However, scientists have consistently dismissed these allegations as "ridiculous" - even if a microscopic black hole did form, they say, it would only last for a fraction of a second.
LHC scientists said in a special "safety" report that collisions of subatomic particles similar to those simulated on the collider constantly occur in nature. Research data indicates that collision of cosmic ray particles generate much more energy than the LHC.
"Obviously, the world will not end when the LHC switches on," Lyn Evans, the head of the project at CERN, said in June.
SOURCE: RIA Novosti
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
MOSCOW, August 5 (RIA Novosti) - The Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the world’s largest and most powerful particle accelerator, will be officially unveiled on October 21, a Russian scientist said Tuesday.
LHC is a particle accelerator that will smash together opposing beams of protons to explore the validity and limitations of current particle physics theory.
“The collider is to be inaugurated on October 21,” said Alexander Vodopyanov, of the Integrated Institute of Nuclear Research. “This means at least one test-run of proton beams around the accelerator ring will be conducted prior to inauguration.”
The scientist said all eight sections of the collider's large ring had been cooled to temperatures approaching absolute zero. An experimental run of a proton beam through one of the sectors could be carried out as early as this week.
The $5.8 billion international project at the European Organization for Nuclear Research, known by its French initials CERN, involves more than 2,000 physicists from hundreds of universities and laboratories in 34 countries.
The accelerator complex, 27 kilometers in circumference, sits in a subterranean tunnel about one hundred meters below the Franco-Swiss border, near Geneva, Switzerland.
Once it is up to speed, it is hoped the collider will produce the so-called Higgs boson, the observation of which could confirm the predictions and "missing links" in the Standard Model of physics and could explain how other elementary particles acquire properties such as mass.
Some theorists and members of the general public have long voiced fears that microscopic black holes may appear as a result of the experiment, capturing surrounding matter and ultimately leading to the destruction of the entire planet.
However, scientists have consistently dismissed these allegations as "ridiculous" - even if a microscopic black hole did form, they say, it would only last for a fraction of a second.
LHC scientists said in a special "safety" report that collisions of subatomic particles similar to those simulated on the collider constantly occur in nature. Research data indicates that collision of cosmic ray particles generate much more energy than the LHC.
"Obviously, the world will not end when the LHC switches on," Lyn Evans, the head of the project at CERN, said in June.
SOURCE: RIA Novosti
Police fire water cannon on anti-Bush protesters in South Korea
CANADA PRESS
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
SEOUL, South Korea — Police fired water cannons at thousands of protesters Tuesday as U.S. President George W. Bush got a volatile reception in South Korea at the start of his Asian trip.
Duelling demonstrations reflected mixed sentiments in South Korea, where public opinion surveys remain generally positive about America, though many people decry Washington for a variety of issues.
Bush will meet Wednesday with President Lee Myung-bak for the third time since the conservative, pro-American leader took office in February.
Some 18,300 police were on high alert with riot gear and bomb-sniffing dogs to maintain order during Bush's brief visit, the National Police Agency said.
About 30,000 people gathered in front of Seoul City Hall for an afternoon Christian prayer service supporting Bush's trip. Large South Korean and U.S. flags were held aloft by balloons overhead along with a banner reading, "Welcome President Bush."
As evening approached, an estimated 20,000 anti-Bush protesters gathered nearby. Police turned water cannons on them as they tried to move onto the main central downtown boulevard, telling the crowd that the liquid contained markers to tag them so they could be identified later.
"I don't have anti-U.S. sentiment. I'm just anti-Bush and anti-Lee Myung-bak," said Uhm Ki-woong, 36, a businessman who was wearing a mask and hat like other demonstrators in an apparent attempt to conceal his identity.
Twelve demonstrators were arrested, along with another 12 at an earlier attempted demonstration near the military airport where Bush landed, police said.
Bush held off on visiting Seoul earlier this year when protesters staged nightly candlelight vigils and repeatedly clashed with riot police over imports of American beef, saying Lee ignored public health concerns over the possibility of mad cow disease and failed to consult with citizens. Lee has promised to patch up relations with Washington that became strained under Seoul's previous decade of liberal governments.
Bush calls Lee a friend, which is good considering the raft of sensitive topics they will tackle before the American president heads to Thailand, then to the Beijing Olympics.
At the top of the list is getting North Korea to live up to its commitment to dismantle its nuclear weapons program.
SOURCE: CANADA PRESS
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
SEOUL, South Korea — Police fired water cannons at thousands of protesters Tuesday as U.S. President George W. Bush got a volatile reception in South Korea at the start of his Asian trip.
Duelling demonstrations reflected mixed sentiments in South Korea, where public opinion surveys remain generally positive about America, though many people decry Washington for a variety of issues.
Bush will meet Wednesday with President Lee Myung-bak for the third time since the conservative, pro-American leader took office in February.
Some 18,300 police were on high alert with riot gear and bomb-sniffing dogs to maintain order during Bush's brief visit, the National Police Agency said.
About 30,000 people gathered in front of Seoul City Hall for an afternoon Christian prayer service supporting Bush's trip. Large South Korean and U.S. flags were held aloft by balloons overhead along with a banner reading, "Welcome President Bush."
As evening approached, an estimated 20,000 anti-Bush protesters gathered nearby. Police turned water cannons on them as they tried to move onto the main central downtown boulevard, telling the crowd that the liquid contained markers to tag them so they could be identified later.
"I don't have anti-U.S. sentiment. I'm just anti-Bush and anti-Lee Myung-bak," said Uhm Ki-woong, 36, a businessman who was wearing a mask and hat like other demonstrators in an apparent attempt to conceal his identity.
Twelve demonstrators were arrested, along with another 12 at an earlier attempted demonstration near the military airport where Bush landed, police said.
Bush held off on visiting Seoul earlier this year when protesters staged nightly candlelight vigils and repeatedly clashed with riot police over imports of American beef, saying Lee ignored public health concerns over the possibility of mad cow disease and failed to consult with citizens. Lee has promised to patch up relations with Washington that became strained under Seoul's previous decade of liberal governments.
Bush calls Lee a friend, which is good considering the raft of sensitive topics they will tackle before the American president heads to Thailand, then to the Beijing Olympics.
At the top of the list is getting North Korea to live up to its commitment to dismantle its nuclear weapons program.
SOURCE: CANADA PRESS
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