Amesj's thread of News (click here if you want to read links that fuel my paranoia)

[alkemical]

http://www.stevequayle.com/dead_scie...cientists.html

[alkemical]

http://kurtnimmo.com/?p=104



New York governor George Pataki is an enemy of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. In particular, Amendment IV, which states: “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.”

Pataki wants your DNA if you are convicted of jaywalking or speeding, commonly known as misdemeanors. Pataki believes your bodily fluid is owned by the state and if you are arrested and convicted for the crime of holding up a placard in opposition to Bush as his motorcade wings past your neighborhood you will surrender a bit of salvia on a swab. Of course, salvia and DNA are not specifically mentioned in the Bill of Rights, even though the amendment declares Americans shall be “secure in their persons,” that is to say our salvia and DNA is our business and not the property of the state. Pataki and the bureaucrats in New York want your salvia, so they say, just in case you happened to be on the scene of a more serious crime sometime in the past. In other words, you are a suspect to a multitude of crimes, even if there is no probable cause.



(continued on site) -

[alkemical]

http://www.gilead.com/wt/sec/pr_933190157/

Donald H. Rumsfeld Named Chairman of Gilead Sciences

Foster City, CA, January 3, 1997 - Gilead Sciences Inc. (Nasdaq: GILD) today announced that board member Donald H. Rumsfeld will assume the position of Chairman, effective immediately. Mr. Rumsfeld succeeds Michael L. Riordan, M.D., who founded Gilead in 1987 and has served as Chairman since 1993. Dr. Riordan will continue to serve as a director on the board.

"Gilead is fortunate to have had Don Rumsfeld as a stalwart board member since the company's earliest days, and we are very pleased that he has accepted the Chairmanship," Dr. Riordan said. "He has played an important role in helping to build and steer the company. His broad experience in leadership positions in both industry and government will serve us well as Gilead continues to build its commercial presence."



http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cg...NGHTDE8LG1.DTL

Biotech firm wants to regain control of avian flu drug
Gilead says deal with Roche Inc. threatens Tamiflu's production

[alkemical]

http://www.mccurtain.com/headline.shtml
Judge sealed testimony that ATF was warned before bombing
Unearthed by a Salt Lake City, Utah, attorney, statements made by a Tulsa Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms (BATF) agent in a federal courtroom confirm that a confidential informant did warn the agency of plans to bomb federal buildings before the attack in Okla-homa City that left 168 dead and hundreds more injured. Moreover, a federal judge in Oklahoma ordered that the information be kept sealed because of its potential impact on the trial of bomber Timothy McVeigh, records show.
Civil attorney Jesse Trentadue submitted as an exhibit a transcript from a 1997 federal court proceed-ing in Tulsa that contains admis-sions by a Bureau of Alcohol, To-bacco and Firearms (BATF) agent that she had prior warning of a bomb plot being discussed inside a right-wing paramilitary compound in eastern Oklahoma called Elohim City.


http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/1109/p...oeu.html?s=hns
Riots ebb as citizens take stand
In one Paris suburb, neighbors guard schools and patrol streets to take back the night.By Peter Ford | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
GRIGNY, FRANCE – Standing in the midnight chill outside the cultural center he's guarding, its windows boarded against rioters, Patrice Carteron chuckles.
"Nobody is going to bother me," says the European heavyweight champion in Muay Thai, a form of kickboxing. "If they come here, that's the end of the riot. No need for the police."


http://www.usatoday.com/money/compan...tan-usat_x.htm

Company under fire won Katrina contracts
By Kevin McCoy, USA TODAY
A defense contracting firm tangled in the Abu Ghraib prison controversy and an international bribery scheme has been awarded federal government contracts for Hurricane Katrina and other disasters.
Since late September, the Federal Emergency Management Agency has awarded Titan a $450,000 contract for a mobile emergency response vehicle and a $107,058 contract for emergency housing work, according to government records and interviews.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4417354.stm
Palestinian's organs go to Israel
The parents of a Palestinian boy killed by Israeli soldiers in the West Bank have donated his organs for use in Israel, in the hope of promoting peace.
Twelve-year-old Ahmed Ismail Khatib was shot in the town of Jenin by troops who mistook his toy gun for a real one.
His organs were transplanted into five Israeli children and a woman aged 58.
His father, Ismail, said saving lives was more important than religion, and added: "I feel that my son has entered the heart of every Israeli."


http://www.14wfie.com/Global/story.a...67918&nav=3w6o
Abercrombie's Racy T-Shirts Causing Ruckus
State Senator Steve Rauschenberger says he plans to introduce a resolution in the state Senate this week, calling on trendy retailer Abercrombie and Fitch to stop selling a line of racy t-shirts. The Republican, who is a GOP candidate for governor, says the $24.50 t-shirts are "offensive" and "degrading." He says if the Senate resolution doesn't stop Abercrombie from selling its shirts - he'll lead a boycott of the stores.


http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/11/...war.sermon.ap/
Church: Anti-war sermon imperils tax status
LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- The Internal Revenue Service has warned a prominent liberal church it could lose its tax-exempt status because of an anti-war sermon a guest preacher gave on the eve of the 2004 presidential election, church officials say. The Rev. George F. Regas did not urge parishioners at All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena to support either President Bush or John Kerry, but he was critical of the Iraq war and Bush's tax cuts.


http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/st...ectID=10353983
US lawmakers show Wall Street how it's done
07.11.05 1.00pm
By Katherine Griffiths
NEW YORK - Wall Street stars who make millions by beating the stock market had better beware. A new group has emerged whose returns are sky-high, yet their salaries are a small portion of compensation paid to investment bankers. They are America's senators who, when they are not doing their day job running the country, are rather talented at investing. Senators beat the stock market annually by 12 per cent on average, the first comprehensive
study of share trading by members of America's upper house has found.
That is an impressive performance, as fund managers are thought to have the Midas touch if they regularly outperform by about 3 per cent, and even hedge funds - which charge steep fees for performance - are now on average only 6 per cent better than the market.

[alkemical]

http://www.house.gov/paul/congrec/co...5/cr111005.htm

Mr. Speaker, I rise to introduce the Health Freedom Protection Act. This bill restores the First Amendment rights of consumers to receive truthful information regarding the benefits of foods and dietary supplements by codifying the First Amendment standards used by federal courts to strike down the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) efforts to censor truthful health claims. The Health Freedom Protection Act also stops the Federal Trade Commissions (FTC) from censoring truthful health care claims.


http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la...home-headlines
2 Protesters Arrested After Going Topless
The Breasts Not Bombs members had been warned to keep their shirts on at the Capitol demonstration against governor's initiatives. Officials at the Sacramento County district attorney's office said they have not decided whether to prosecute the protesters, and if they do, whether to seek to have them listed as sex offenders.


http://www.clairewolfe.com/wolfesblog/00001778.html
11/03/2005 Entry: "Here's how your biometric Real ID drivers license will be used"
UPS has quietly, without any fanfare, decided that no one will be allowed to ship or pick up a package at one of its retail stores without government ID. Not just ID. Presumably, even a UPS employee badge won't do. No, only Holy Government is capable of telling us who we really are.

(goto: http://www.ups.com/WebTracking/track?loc=en_US - then Scroll down that page and look for a small paragraph on the left: Government-Issued ID Required A government-issued photo ID is required in order to ship or pick up a package at a UPS Customer Center..)



http://www.fff.org/comment/com0511d.asp
Treating Sniffles with a Jail TermStates have been competing with each other to penalize anyone with the sniffles. At least 30 states have passed legislation to limit the amount of OTC medicine consumers can purchase, restrict the number of pills per package, mandate that allergy and cold remedies be kept in locked cabinets, limit sales to pharmacies, and require sellers to maintain a registry of buyers. Most extreme are states that have pushed sales behind the pharmacy counter. Last year Oklahoma led the pack, classifying cold medicines along with narcotics, limiting sales to pharmacies. (Buyers would be allowed to buy only limited quantities and would have to show an ID and sign an official register.) Oregon has gone much further, requiring that anyone suffering from a cold get a prescription. NyQuil, Claritin, Tylenol Flu, and their competitive cousins would become controlled substances.


http://www.capitolhillblue.com/artma...cle_7639.shtml
GOP memo touts new terror attack as way to reverse party's declineA confidential memo circulating among senior Republican leaders suggests that a new attack by terrorists on U.S. soil could reverse the sagging fortunes of President George W. Bush as well as the GOP and "restore his image as a leader of the American people." The closely-guarded memo lays out a list of scenarios to bring the Republican party back from the political brink, including a devastating attack by terrorists that could “validate” the President’s war on terror and allow Bush to “unite the country” in a “time of national shock and sorrow.” The memo says such a reversal in the President's fortunes could keep the party from losing control of Congress in the 2006 midterm elections.

(Note, this is most likley a conspiracy type issue - however - hitler burned a building and used it as a ploy to expand his power - i for one just read this as a 'what if' type of incident - amesj523) -

[alkemical]

http://www.strike-the-root.com/52/frw/frw10.html

What freedoms have you lost this week?
Federal Registar watch



http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/051111/dcf020.html?.v=29
Election Results Show Republicans Paying Price for Bush's Move to the Left
MANASSAS, Va., Nov. 11 /PRNewswire/ -- Tuesday's election results from New Jersey, Virginia, Texas and California served to underscore a recent poll by Richard Viguerie's
ConservativeHQ.com that President Bush's move to the left has hurt Republican electoral chances. Republican candidates yesterday paid the price for President Bush's move to the left exhibited by his expansion of government programs, power and spending at the expense of personal, religious and economic freedom. He has not been in sync with conservatives, who are the mainstream of American voters, on immigration and too many other policies," said Richard Viguerie, whose ConservativeHQ.com recently surveyed 5,305 conservative activists and donors.


http://www.capitolhillblue.com/artma...cle_7640.shtml
Avoiding detection at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Wary White House aides, under constant scrutiny from a paranoid Bush administration hell bent on stopping leaks, have turned to a technique used by drug dealers and criminals to avoid detection – prepaid, disposable cell phones. The phones, which can be purchased for as little as $30 each from discount stores, offer prepaid minutes and can be discarded when the time is used up. They require no contract or sign-up and are difficult to trace.


http://aolsvc.news.aol.com/business/...11062209990003
Wal-Mart Says 'Happy Holidays' Covers Several Events
(Nov. 11) - Wal-Mart Stores Inc. on Thursday said it no longer employs a worker who wrote to a shopper that Christmas is a mix of world religions, but that the company does support the generic greeting, "Happy Holidays," as being more inclusive amid year-end celebrations by numerous faiths. The Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights criticized the world's largest retailer and called for a boycott over Wal-Mart's approach to Christmas.
"We want a) an apology for insulting Christians by effectively banning Christmas and b) a withdrawal of its insane statement regarding the origins of Christmas and c) a revision on its website," Catholic League President Bill Donohue said on the group's Web site.



http://rawstory.com/news/2005/Oil_fi...fall_1114.html
Buried in the C-section of the Wall Street Journal, Steven D. Jones reveals Monday: "Oil companies operating in the U.S. typically pay taxes at or above the 35% rate on corporate profits. But for about one in four big oil companies, tax rates have fallen recently, even as profits have soared."


http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nat...orld-headlines

Secretive firm helps U.S. wage information war abroad
WASHINGTON // To fight what it sees as an insidious propaganda war waged by militants, from incendiary Web sites to one-sided television images of the Iraq war, the Pentagon has been quietly waging its own information battle throughout the Middle East and Central Asia. One of its primary weapons is a secretive firm that has been criticized as ineffective and too expensive. The Rendon Group, directed by former Democratic Party political operative John Rendon, has garnered more than $56 million in work from the Pentagon since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.


http://www.niagarafallsreporter.com/hanchette179.html
The bill (S. 1873) -- a big congressional wet kiss to the drug industry -- is dressed up in a noble-sounding title: "Biodefense and Pandemic Vaccine and Drug Development Act."
In essence, however, it would force Americans to receive inoculations against a disease that has yet to kill one of them, while removing their constitutional right to seek redress in our courts in case of injury or death from the shots because of company negligence. The proposal, now moving its way through the Senate, would also ban citizens from using the Freedom of Information Act and other popular informational laws to discover whether the new vaccine (when it is finally produced) was effective and safe, and even whether anyone had suffered adverse reactions to it.



http://www.ynetnews.com/Ext/Comp/Art...166377,00.html
American officials demand Israel provide explanations for how U.S.-made choppers sold to Israel ended up in service of Columbian drug cartel. Incident may cloud relations between countries.

[alkemical]

Civil liberties in danger, says ex-intel official

MAPLEWOOD - The man who leaked thousands of pages of top secret documents to the media in 1971 to expose the U.S. government's handling of the Vietnam War warned Saturday that another terrorist attack could permanently damage civil liberties.


http://www.bergen.com/page.php?qstr=...Y3dnFlZUVFeXky

[alkemical]

http://www.strike-the-root.com/52/bylund/bylund6.html

Saving the World Through Saving Yourself
Libertarians generally find themselves puzzled at how to bring about the free society they envision. It seems almost impossible to bring down the State to its “minimalist state” form, and even harder to abolish it altogether and secure a state of anarchy. How do we do it? What should our strategy be? Where should we start in our campaign to de-program, de-brainwash, enlighten, and empower the

mhttp://www.looksmartstlouis.com/p/articles/mi_qn4179/is_20050923/ai_n15617874asses?

144 charges include theft, perjury Officer faces 144 charges
An 18-year Topeka police officer was arrested Thursday afternoon and charged with 144 offenses that included perjury, falsifying evidence, official misconduct, perjury, theft and promoting obscenity.



http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c109:H.R.1528:

Defending America's Most Vulnerable: Safe Access to Drug Treatment and Child Protection Act of 2005 (Introduced in House)


http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/13/bu...tml?oref=login
Are U.S. Innovators Losing Their Competitive Edge?
Inventors have always held a special place in American history and business lore, embodying innovation and economic progress in a country that has long prized individual creativity and the power of great ideas. In recent decades, tinkerers and researchers have given society microchips, personal computers, the Internet, balloon catheters, bar codes, fiber optics, e-mail systems, hearing aids, air bags and automated teller machines, among a bevy of other devices. Mr. West stands firmly in this tradition - a tradition that he said may soon be upended. He fears that corporate and public nurturing of inventors and scientific research is faltering and that America will pay a serious economic and intellectual penalty for this lapse.


http://radioinsidescoop.com/mt-posts...ve/000506.html
Why is a man who should be serving life in prison for torture appointed by President George W. Bush as Ambassador to Italy?

[alkemical]

http://www.drudgereport.com/flashmav.htm


XXXXX DRUDGE REPORT XXXXX SUN NOV 13 2005 19:44:23 ET XXXXX

DRONES 'TO FLY OVER CITIES'

HONEYWELL is developing a micro flying spy drone -- that would be used for civilian law enforcement!

The device, a hovering robot carrying video cameras and other sensors, is being created and tested at HONEYWELL's Albuquerque, NM plant.

The first round of testing on the drone [MICRO AIR VEHICLE] has been completed, reports Bob Martin of CBS affiliate KRQE.

The battery powered craft can stay in the air for 50-60 minutes at a time, and moves around at up to 55 kilometers an hour.

The Micro Air Vehicle has flown more than 200 successful flights, including flying in a representative urban environment.

"If there is an emergency, you could provide "eyes" on whatever the emergency is, for police or Homeland Security," explains Vaughn Fulton of HONEYWELL.

In the meantime, the U.S. Army has prepared a promotional video showing the craft zooming over war-zone streets.

Drones have been given to the military to test during training exercises.

"It has the same system most fighter jets would have," explains Fulton.

The vehicle will be used for reconnaissance, security and target acquisition operations in open, rolling, complex and urban terrain; it will be equipped with Global Positioning Satellite.

HONEYWELL and government officials are meeting to discuss the status of the project.

Troops in Iraq could get the craft in a year or two.

The spy drone would be deployed for domestic use shortly thereafter.

[alkemical]

http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/energy/fs/

Internal Mobil Memo Showing Effort to Reduce Refining Capacity

...read more

Internal Texaco Memo Showing Effort to Reduce Refining Capacity

...read more

Internal Chevron Memo Showing Effort to Reduce Refining Capacity

...read more

[alkemical]

http://www.epa.gov/fedrgstr/EPA-GENE...-12/g18010.htm

EPA TO ALLOW PESTICIDE TESTING ON ORPHANS & MENTALLY HANDICAPPED CHILDREN

Children who "cannot be reasonably consulted," such as those that are mentally handicapped or orphaned newborns may be tested on. With permission from the institution or guardian in charge of the individual, the child may be exposed to chemicals for the sake of research.
Parental consent forms are not necessary for testing on children who have been neglected or abused. Chemical studies on any children outside of the U.S. are acceptable.


http://msnbc.msn.com/id/10054116/

The strange case of supernatural water
Florida tested ‘Celestial Drops’ to see if they warded off citrus canker


http://news.ft.com/cms/s/40979a82-56...00e25118c.html

Foreign buying of US assets rises to record
Foreign investors poured a record $101.9bn into US assets in September, according to Treasury data which eased market concerns that any fading demand for dollar assets could undermine the US currency’s value.


http://adage.com/news.cms?newsId=46773
DEMOCRATS PROPOSE PLAN FOR BROADBAND IN EVERY HOME
WASHINGTON (AdAge.com) -- House Democrats today proposed an "innovation agenda" that includes as one of its platforms affordable broadband access in every home within five years. (Sounds a bit like the start of 1984 to me)


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2005/1...-_n_10709.html
9/11 Aid For Ground Zero Workers To Be Taken Back By Congress…
Congressional budget negotiators have decided to take back $125 million in Sept. 11 aid from New York, which had fought to keep the money to treat sick and injured ground zero workers, lawmakers said Tuesday.


http://www.kneb.com/news/agricultura...x.cfm?id=13945
US company seeks ban on meat packaging technique
WASHINGTON, Nov 15 (Reuters) - A small Michigan company
asked the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday to ban
the use of carbon monoxide in meat packaging to keep the color
of ground beef bright red and fresher looking.



http://www.strike-the-root.com/52/herman/herman22.html
Worst President Ever? You Might Be Surprised
He shut down newspapers, imprisoned editors, and forced reporters to toe the official US government line long before the PATRIOT Act. Then he attacked US cities and burned them to the ground. Who was he?

He lied to US voters, sided with one European imperial state against another, and plunged neutralist America into a disastrous war that cost 320,000 American casualties. Who was he?

He promised voters the dawning of a new age in America . Instead he secretly dealt with a pair of dictators, providing weapons to both sides (while lying to Americans) and encouraged a murderous war between the two nations that cost nearly a million casualties. He also funded and encouraged repressive Central American regimes that killed thousands, murdering American citizens along the way. He spent trillions of taxpayer dollars on new weapons for enemies that no longer existed. Who was he?

If you answered Lincoln, Wilson and Reagan—among the most “respected” presidents in high school history books-- you know your American history well.

[alkemical]

Feel free to have any open discussion on anything posted here, if you find an article that you want to place here - do so -

This isn't 'my' thread per say - it's open to anyone who wants to contribute to a worthless thread buried on a football fansite - Use it as a blog, i dont care -

just enjoy it, or get something new to think about -

[Broncos Rule]

Aames - was I dreaming or high (possible both?)

but yesterday there was a link to a story here..

something about huge Chinese selloff of American dollars being a possible prelude to an attack?

I wanted to go back and read it - and it's gone..

Conspiracy?

[alkemical]

There is another news thread somewhere floating around that is/was mine as well, but I did search for chinese on this thread and could not find it - maybe 'they' took it down...... *shakes hand at monitor* Curse you!!!! Let me see if i can find the story

[alkemical]

may take me some time

[Broncos Rule]

I've been searching indie news sites as well..

Thanks for looking dude!

[alkemical]

http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=chi...&cop=&ei=UTF-8

(that's a yahoo search on "chinese selling dollar" - )

here are some sites:

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?p...d=aEBBmwvtNuxA

If China Shuns Dollar, Look Out U.S. Bonds: William Pesek Jr.


http://news.ft.com/cms/s/257979a6-30...00e2511c8.html

Dollar expected to fall amid China's rumoured selling
By Steve Johnson in London and Andrew Balls in Washington
Published: November 7 2004 19:43 | Last updated: November 7 2004 19:43

[alkemical]

http://www.kantipuronline.com/kolnews.php?&nid=56978
Bush to sign strict laws on Nepal this week
Other conditions in this topic are: (1) release of all political detainees including those detained before February 1; (2) granting civilian prosecutors and judicial authorities, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), and international humanitarian organizations, unannounced and unimpeded access to all detainees, places of detention, witnesses, relevant documents and other requested information; (3) ending torture, extrajudicial killings and other gross violations of human rights; (4) restoring the independence of the NHRC in accordance with constitutional provisions; and (5) complying with habeas corpus orders issued by Nepal’s courts including all outstanding orders, and the security forces are respecting such orders.



http://www.alternet.org/story/13055
Bush 'Unsigns' War Crimes Treaty
The Bush administration Monday formally renounced its obligations as a signatory to the 1998 Rome Statute to establish an International Criminal Court (ICC). Critics say the decision to "unsign" the treaty will further damage the United States' reputation and isolate it from its allies.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051116/...license_plates

Drunken Drivers May Get Special DUI Plates
CLEARWATER, Fla. - A Florida state senator wants to require convicted drunken drivers to have license plates that start with "DUI." The bill also says police "may stop any vehicle that bears a DUI plate without probable cause to check the driver."



http://www.clickpress.com/releases/D...762005cp.shtml
Red Light Cameras in Colorado Increase Accidents
FT. COLLINS, Colo. -- Automated traffic enforcement cameras are sending tickets to drivers at a record pace, but traffic accidents have gone up, not down as predicted when the system was installed.


http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspap...869818,00.html
Spy cameras to spot drivers' every move
Emma Smith and Dipesh Gadher
BRITAIN’S top traffic policeman is pushing through plans to create a national network of roadside spy cameras that will be able to track the movements of motorists around the clock.
Meredydd Hughes wants the cameras to be installed every 400 yards on motorways, as well as at supermarkets, petrol stations and in town centres. They are designed to crack down on uninsured driving, road tax evasion and stolen cars, but will also monitor millions of law-abiding drivers.


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main...5/ixworld.html
EU to build network of spy satellites
The European Union is building its own network of spy satellites allowing Brussels to ensure nations and private individuals are obeying its policies, it was announced yesterday.


http://www.cfo.com/article.cfm/51630...todayinfinance
GAO Finds Serious Flaws in IRS Controls
As a result, the service reportedly didn’t provide "reasonable assurance" that losses, misstatements, and noncompliance could be prevented or found out in sufficient time.



http://www.townhall.com/opinion/colu...16/175724.html
What's inflation?
Last month, President Bush nominated Dr. Ben S. Bernanke, currently chairman of the President's Council of Economic Advisors, as chairman of Federal Reserve Board to replace the retiring Alan Greenspan. Alan Greenspan's replacement comes at a time of heightened fears of inflation resulting from the recent spike in oil prices.


http://www.fff.org/freedom/fd0508c.asp
A New Federal War on Dissent?
On October 15, 2003, the FBI sent Intelligence Bulletin #89 to 17,000 local and state law-enforcement agencies around the country. The bulletin warned of pending marches in Washington and San Francisco against Bush’s Iraq policy and stated, While the FBI possesses no information indicating that violent or terrorist activities are being planned as part of these protests, the possibility exists that elements of the activist community may attempt to engage in violent, destructive, or disruptive acts.
The FBI catalogued some of the new threats to public safety:
Several effective and innovative strategies are commonly used by protesters prior to, during, and after demonstrations.... Protesters often use the internet to recruit, raise funds, and coordinate their activities prior to demonstrations. Activists may also make use of training camps to rehearse tactics and counter-strategies for dealing with the police.


http://www.canada.com/vancouver/thep...6-691647b6578b
'Massive empire of surveillance'
All cellphone, Blackberry, Net subscriber info available without warrant
Police would be able to demand all cellphone, Blackberry and Internet subscriber information without a warrant, under a sweeping surveillance bill introduced in Parliament yesterday.
"We believe this is only the tip of the iceberg," said Micheal Vonn, policy director of the B.C. Civil Liberties Association. The Modernization of Investigative Techniques Act would also require telecommunications companies like Telus and Bell to build into their systems a way to monitor and record every wireless communication made by their customers -- at a huge cost.


http://www.cnn.com/2005/HEALTH/condi...ion=cnn_latest
Protection for vaccine makers debated
WASHINGTON (AP) -- People injured by a vaccine against bird flu or anthrax would have to prove willful misconduct to bring a claim for damages against drug manufacturers or distributors, according to legislation being drafted behind the scenes by Republicans.
The measure, which would be included in a spending bill, would bar any punitive damages and limit awards for physical and emotional pain and suffering and other noneconomic damages to a maximum of $250,000.


http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles...patriotact.htm
USA PATRIOT reauthorization may include DNA database, habeas suspension Washington sources tell Total911.info that closed-door negotiations on the reauthorization of the USA PATRIOT Act have suddenly turned into an orgy of police-state expansion.
Last week, the U.S. House voted to instruct the conference committee of Senators and Representatives to renew three key police-state powers for only four years rather than 10. The conference committee is working on making permanent or renewing for four to 10 years. Some provisions added to the bills, among other extremely modest checks, would have federal agents provide just a hint of evidence before exercising these search and surveiallance powers.

[alkemical]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051117/...co/patriot_act
Senators Threaten to Hold Up Patriot Act
WASHINGTON - Legislation reauthorizing the Patriot Act stalled Thursday as lawmakers worked to satisfy senators upset by the elimination of some civil liberties protections.


http://www.mises.org/story/1968

How the Market Might Have Handled Katrina
Now that the furor over the botched response to Hurricane Katrina has largely subsided, we can calmly examine an aspect of the episode that most commentators have neglected. Let me motivate the examination by first making the (perhaps surprising) claim that I don't think the FEMA bureaucrats did anything particularly outrageous. Yes, it is true that the main damage to New Orleans was caused not by the hurricane per se, but by the government's poorly designed levee system. It is also true that, given the flooding, the federal presence only made matters worse. FEMA officials almost seemed to purposely sabotage relief efforts, by blocking private shipments of aid, detouring volunteer firefighters to Atlanta for two days
to receive sexual harassment training, and even telling "First Responders" to wait before responding! And of course, the escalating threats against "price gouging" only further staunched the flow of vital supplies into the ravaged region.

http://www.informationclearinghouse....ticle11051.htm
Democrats Have Evidence That The Bush Administration Deliberately Manipulated Pre-war Intelligence
11/17/05 "ICH " -- -- Senate Democrats have dug up additional explosive evidence over the past week that they say will help prove the Bush administration deliberately manipulated pre-war Iraq intelligence that was used to convince Congress and the public to support a pre-emptive strike against the Middle East country in March of 2003.

(Then why did they vote to allow iraq to go on anyway?)



http://www.anandtech.com/news/shownews.aspx?i=25286
World's first working $100 laptop
A working version of the much talked about $100 laptop was unveiled today. The lime green, hand crank powered unit (one minute of cranking = 10 minutes of run time) was displayed at the World Summit on the Information Society. The laptop features a 500MHz AMD processor, 7" color screen, WiFi connectivity, uses flash memory for storage and runs on Linux. Even Hector Ruiz, CEO of AMD, which gave $2 million to OLPC, says success will require
"developing larger ecosystems around ... tech support, application development, training and business models for the Internet service providers." Those elements aren't close to being in place, and Ruiz thinks the laptop's price won't drop to $100 for two to three years. Yet even skeptics are loath to pooh-pooh Negroponte's activism: "If he can pull it off," Hammond says, "my hat's off to him."


http://www.eff.org/news/archives/2005_11.php
Diebold Attempts to Evade Election Transparency Laws
EFF Goes to Court to Force E-voting Company to Comply With Strict New North Carolina Law
Raleigh, North Carolina - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is going to court in North Carolina to prevent Diebold Election Systems, Inc. from evading North Carolina law. In a last-minute filing, e-voting equipment maker Diebold asked a North Carolina court to exempt it from tough new election requirements designed to ensure transparency in the State's elections. Diebold obtained an extraordinarily broad order, allowing it to avoid placing its source code in escrow with the state and identifying programmers who contributed to the code.

[alkemical]

http://www.local6.com/news/5360616/detail.html
Orlando Officer Charged In Violent Beating Of Homeless Man
A 30-year-old Orlando police officer was charged with aggravated battery Friday for allegedly beating a homeless man nearly to death, according to a Local 6 News report.
According to an investigation by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Orlando police Officer Edward Michael responded to back up a sheriff's deputy at the Rosemount Baptist Church on John Young Parkway in Orlando to help with a homeless man.

http://washingtontimes.com/national/...2450-4688r.htm
Atta files destroyed by Pentagon
Pentagon lawyers during the Clinton administration ordered the destruction of intelligence reports that identified September 11 leader Mohamed Atta months before the attacks on the Pentagon and World Trade Center, according to congressional testimony yesterday.
A lawyer for two Pentagon whistleblowers also told the Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday that the Defense Intelligence Agency last year destroyed files on the Army's computer data-mining program known as Able Danger to avoid disclosing the information.


http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/sto...&w=RTR&coview=
House votes to cut $700 mln in food stamps
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives voted on Friday to cut $700 million from the food stamp program, despite objections from antihunger groups complaining that estimates show some 235,000 people would lose benefits.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...802165_pf.html
Congress Helps Self to $3,100 Pay Raise
WASHINGTON -- The Republican-controlled Congress helped itself to a $3,100 pay raise on Friday, then postponed work on bills to curb spending on social programs and cut taxes in favor of a two-week vacation. In the final hours of a tumultuous week in the Capitol, Democrats erupted in fury when House GOP leaders maneuvered toward a politically-charged vote _ and swift rejection _ of one war critic's call for the withdrawal of troops from Iraq. "You guys are pathetic, pathetic," Massachusetts Rep. Martin Meehan yelled across a noisy hall at Republicans.


http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/ar...TICLE_ID=47497
Armed standoff on Rio Grande Uniformed Mexicans with guns, bulldozer
seize drug-bust truck from Border Patrol.
U.S. Border Patrol agents were backed down this week by armed men, dressed in what appeared to be Mexican military uniforms and carrying military weapons, who seized a captured dump truck filled with marijuana from the U.S. agents and dragged it across the border into Mexico with a bulldozer.


http://portal.telegraph.co.uk/news/m...0/ixworld.html
Cowboys take up AK47s to combat drug runners on Mexican frontier
As he careered along the rock-strewn gulley towards his silver mine deep in the Sonoran desert of southern Arizona, Roger McCaslin first checked his bowie knife, then his pistol, and finally his Kalashnikov. From the road, he had already noticed that something was wrong.


http://www.narconews.com/darkalliance/
After an Arduous Journey, the Historic Document About U.S.-Sponsored Narco-Trafficking Finds a New Home
For the better part of a decade, a San Francisco Bay Area drug ring sold tons of cocaine to the Crips and Bloods street gangs of Los Angeles and funneled millions in drug profits to a Latin American guerrilla army run by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, a Mercury News investigation has found. This drug network opened the first pipeline between Colombia’s cocaine cartels and the black neighborhoods of Los Angeles, a city now known as the crack capital of the world.


http://www.foodconsumer.org/777/8/Pa...In_Texas.shtml
Texas: Parents' Right to Children's Medical Decision at Risk
You, as an adult, can decide if you go along with the doctor's recommendation or if you reject that recommendation. Children do not have that right to decide for themselves. The parents, acting in the best interest of the child, make those decisions for the child. Now, in our case, as in many others, the doctor makes a recommendation and if we don't agree with that recommendation he simply has to pick up the phone and call in CPS to take the child away from the parents and the child gets the treatments. There is an affidavit filed with the court and a court order is issued giving CPS complete physical and medical control over your child for the next 14 days.


http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science...massacre_x.htm
A 'strange and fascinating' find
The remains of a royal massacre uncovered at an abandoned Maya city are providing clues to the ancient mystery of why that civilization collapsed 1,200 years ago, according to a team of archaeologists.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10118787/site/newsweek/
Charles Darwin: Evolution of a Scientist
He had planned to enter the ministry, but his discoveries on a fateful voyage 170 years ago shook his faith and changed our conception of the origins of life.

[alkemical]

http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn8353

US takes gold at computer-gaming 'Olympics'
After two days of concentrated laser combat, high-octane road racing and world class soccer, the US notched up the most victories at the 2005 World Cyber Games in Singapore.
More than 39,000 spectators saw 700 contestants from 67 countries battle it out to claim a stake in a prize money pot of $435,000 – not to mention the kudos of being declared one of the world's elite computer gamers.



http://www.washtimes.com/national/20...5514-2217r.htm

Russian warhead alters course midflight in test
Russia recently conducted a flight test of a new warhead that can change course in midflight, which U.S. and Russian officials are calling part of Moscow's efforts to defeat U.S. missile defenses. The warhead was tested Nov. 1 and tracked by U.S. intelligence technical monitors, including satellites, the officials said.


http://www.finfacts.com/irelandbusin...10003987.shtml
GM parts supplier Delphi plans to axe 24,000 jobs: reduce hourly wage from $27 to $9; pay managers bonuses worth $90m
Former General Motors parts unit Delphi, which is in bankruptcy protection, has said that it will close all its US plants unless trade unions agree to wage cuts to rescue America's largest auto parts-maker. Delphi CEO Steve Miller, who received a signing-on hello bonus of $3.7 million last summer, said that he hasn't received union counteroffers to his proposal, which includes reducing wage levels from an average $27 per hour to as low as $9 and slashing up to 24,000 jobs over a three-year period. Motor union UAW President Ron Gettelfinger called Delphi's offer an "insult."



http://www.newshounds.us/2005/11/21/...e_involved.php

Fox Says GM Layoffs Will Make Life "Better for Everyone Involved"Jonathan Hoenig, another very frequent guest said, "It's terrible that 30,000 people are going to lose their jobs right before the holidays. I mean, it breaks your heart, but the truth is, ultimately, it's going to be better for everyone involved. People will rely on their own efforts to prepare for retirement and save, not hope that GM or Delta or United don't go bankrupt."


http://www.waynemadsenreport.com/

November 22, 2005 -- Italian forger tied to George H. W. Bush. U.S. intelligence sources report that Rocco Martino, the ex-Italian SISMI intelligence agent who is central to the Niger forged yellowcake uranium documents, worked for George H. W. Bush's off-the-books intelligence and financial network in the 1980s. Martino, who has maintained a residence in Luxembourg, is part of a complicated network of individuals who figured prominently in the Iran-Contra affair. They include Michael Ledeen, Manucher Ghorbanifar, Adnan Khashoggi, and other principals of that covert operation that developed into a major scandal for the Reagan administration.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programme...ld/4038375.stm

New York's HIV experiment
HIV positive children and their loved ones have few rights if they choose to battle with social work authorities in New York City. In fact it was the drugs that were making the children ill and the children had been enrolled on the secret trials without their relatives' or guardians' knowledge.


http://www.dominicantoday.com/app/article.aspx?id=7165

'Intersex' fish found off California
LOS ANGELES.– Scientists have discovered sexually altered fish off the Southern California coast, raising concerns that treated sewage discharged into the ocean contains chemicals that can affect an animal's reproductive system.

[alkemical]

"A broad margin of leisure is as beautiful in a man's life as in a book. Haste makes waste, no less in life than in housekeeping. Keep the time, observe the hours of the universe, not of the cars." ~ Henry David Thoreau


http://www.strike-the-root.com/52/davies/davies8.html

when our numbers are overwhelming; and notice, we shall still do nothing violent, nothing outrageous. There will be no great "movement" which the cornered tyrant can decapitate with a single slash of his machete. We shall just spontaneously walk off the job, so leaving the old order armless, legless, gutless and brainless. Just like the Eastern Europeans walked off their plantation in 1989, only much more so; just like the heroes of Atlas Shrugged walked off their hopeless jobs, en route for Galt's Gulch--only in vastly greater numbers. Just like Etienne de la Boétie proposed, over 400 years ago, we shall have withdrawn our support and the Colossus will, with an enormous thud, collapse.



http://www.alternet.org/rights/27726

Hate Crimes in Prison
Aryan Brotherhood members make up less than one percent of the nation's prison inmate population, yet the white power gang is responsible for 18% of all prison murders. Why?


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...201700_pf.html

CDC Proposal Would Help U.S. Track Travelers
The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a phone-book-thick proposed rule yesterday that would give the federal government new powers to track the comings and goings of individual travelers and expand the circumstances under which passengers exposed to a serious communicable disease could be isolated or quarantined.



http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cg...1/18/DRUGS.TMP

National parks' pot farms blamed on cartels
Mexican drug lords find it easier to grow in state than import
Washington -- Hikers in national parks such as Yosemite and Sequoia-Kings Canyon are encountering a danger more hazardous than bears: illegal marijuana farms run by Mexican drug cartels and protected by booby traps and guards carrying AK-47s.
National Park Service officials testified in Congress on Thursday that illegal drug production in national parks, forests and other federal lands had grown into a multibillion-dollar business in recent years -- mostly concentrated in California.
"These activities threaten our employees, visitors and our mission of protecting some of the nation's most prized natural and cultural resources," Karen Taylor-Goodrich, the National Park Service's associate director for visitor and resource protection, told the House Resources Subcommittee on National Parks.



http://www.capitolhillblue.com/artma...cle_7679.shtml

A gutless, draft-dodging coward named Dick Cheney
The Vice President, who used multiple deferments to avoid serving his country during the Vietnam conflict, jumped into the fray big time last week and again on Monday with an acrid broadside against those who properly question the President’s motives for dragging the country into the bloody dead-end called Iraq.



http://www.cloakanddagger.de/media/_...e_accusers.htm

Judge-Accusers, labeled "Domestic Terrorists",Facing Unlimited Jailing
Participants and activists of a Chicago-headquartered court-reform group face seizure of their properties, assets, goods, licenses, and records, and being stripped of their citizenship and making them detainees without time limits and without trials and without right to consult attorneys.


http://usgovinfo.about.com/od/rights...abill.htm?nl=1

Bill Would Create Agency Exempt from Freedom of Information Act
Biodefense agency could operate in secrecy
A bill now before the Senate would create a new executive branch agency that would become the first-ever government agency granted total immunity from disclosure of information under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The bill S. 1873, the Biodefense and Pandemic Vaccine and Drug Development Act of 2005, would create a new Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Agency (BARDA). Under the bill cosponsored by Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC) and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TENN), BARDA would be assigned to assist and encourage private industry in developing medical countermeasures for bioterrorism agents and natural outbreaks such as a possible avian flu pandemic.

[alkemical]

"A broad margin of leisure is as beautiful in a man's life as in a book. Haste makes waste, no less in life than in housekeeping. Keep the time, observe the hours of the universe, not of the cars." ~ Henry David Thoreau


http://www.strike-the-root.com/52/davies/davies8.html

when our numbers are overwhelming; and notice, we shall still do nothing violent, nothing outrageous. There will be no great "movement" which the cornered tyrant can decapitate with a single slash of his machete. We shall just spontaneously walk off the job, so leaving the old order armless, legless, gutless and brainless. Just like the Eastern Europeans walked off their plantation in 1989, only much more so; just like the heroes of Atlas Shrugged walked off their hopeless jobs, en route for Galt's Gulch--only in vastly greater numbers. Just like Etienne de la Boétie proposed, over 400 years ago, we shall have withdrawn our support and the Colossus will, with an enormous thud, collapse.



http://www.alternet.org/rights/27726

Hate Crimes in Prison
Aryan Brotherhood members make up less than one percent of the nation's prison inmate population, yet the white power gang is responsible for 18% of all prison murders. Why?


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...201700_pf.html

CDC Proposal Would Help U.S. Track Travelers
The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a phone-book-thick proposed rule yesterday that would give the federal government new powers to track the comings and goings of individual travelers and expand the circumstances under which passengers exposed to a serious communicable disease could be isolated or quarantined.



http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cg...1/18/DRUGS.TMP

National parks' pot farms blamed on cartels
Mexican drug lords find it easier to grow in state than import
Washington -- Hikers in national parks such as Yosemite and Sequoia-Kings Canyon are encountering a danger more hazardous than bears: illegal marijuana farms run by Mexican drug cartels and protected by booby traps and guards carrying AK-47s.
National Park Service officials testified in Congress on Thursday that illegal drug production in national parks, forests and other federal lands had grown into a multibillion-dollar business in recent years -- mostly concentrated in California.
"These activities threaten our employees, visitors and our mission of protecting some of the nation's most prized natural and cultural resources," Karen Taylor-Goodrich, the National Park Service's associate director for visitor and resource protection, told the House Resources Subcommittee on National Parks.



http://www.capitolhillblue.com/artma...cle_7679.shtml

A gutless, draft-dodging coward named Dick Cheney
The Vice President, who used multiple deferments to avoid serving his country during the Vietnam conflict, jumped into the fray big time last week and again on Monday with an acrid broadside against those who properly question the President’s motives for dragging the country into the bloody dead-end called Iraq.



http://www.cloakanddagger.de/media/_...e_accusers.htm

Judge-Accusers, labeled "Domestic Terrorists",Facing Unlimited Jailing
Participants and activists of a Chicago-headquartered court-reform group face seizure of their properties, assets, goods, licenses, and records, and being stripped of their citizenship and making them detainees without time limits and without trials and without right to consult attorneys.


http://usgovinfo.about.com/od/rights...abill.htm?nl=1

Bill Would Create Agency Exempt from Freedom of Information Act
Biodefense agency could operate in secrecy
A bill now before the Senate would create a new executive branch agency that would become the first-ever government agency granted total immunity from disclosure of information under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The bill S. 1873, the Biodefense and Pandemic Vaccine and Drug Development Act of 2005, would create a new Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Agency (BARDA). Under the bill cosponsored by Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC) and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TENN), BARDA would be assigned to assist and encourage private industry in developing medical countermeasures for bioterrorism agents and natural outbreaks such as a possible avian flu pandemic.

[alkemical]

http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/top...421661698.html

Top terrorist 'may be master hypnotist'


Amid fears that Indonesia's most wanted terrorist will strike again, some police have a new theory: Noordin Top is using hypnotism to elude capture and recruit more suicide bombers.

The senior Jemaah Islamiah operative - blamed for both Bali bombings and a series of other attacks - has time and again escaped the clutches of the law during the past three years.

Just two weeks ago he slipped through a massive dragnet again, even though counter-terror officers did shoot dead Azahari Husin, Noordin's bombmaker partner.

[alkemical]

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/sto...ma&floc=NW_1-T

CIA Director Defends Intelligence, Methods
WASHINGTON (AP) - CIA Director Porter Goss, saying his agency struggles to penetrate terrorist sanctuaries overseas, insists that ``we know more than we're able to say publicly'' about Osama bin Laden and Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.


http://rawstory.com/news/2005/Wikipe...ated_1129.html

Wikipedia gets Swift Boated
This became readily apparent when a aquiline-eyed reader noticed that Swift Boating was defined as "accurate and truthful," and that Cindy Sheehan was dubbed a "left wing moonbat."


http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/Con...=1109682108702

Fascism then. Fascism now?
When people think of fascism, they imagine Rows of goose-stepping storm troopers and puffy-chested dictators. What they don't see is the economic and political process that leads to the nightmare.


http://www.mccurtain.com/headline.shtml

Former high-ranking FBI official calls for new OKC bombing probe
New evidence
Central to his call for additional investigation are FBI teletypes that were heavily redacted by the agency before their release some weeks ago. Although some sentences and many names are redacted, there was enough information contained in those documents to impress the former OKBOMB commander that more persons were involved in the attack.
Referring to a January 4, 1996 teletype from former director Freeh to a select group of FBI offices, Coulson said that he believes a man he has long suspected should have been more thoroughly investigated in the crime, German National Andreas Strassmeir, is one of the names the bureau has blacked out of those documents.


http://www.fortune.com/fortune/inves...130139,00.html

Trouble in Prozac Nation
Wonder drugs of the 1990s, Prozac and its kin have been prescribed to tens of millions of people. But a growing backlash may portend the end of an era.
But the Witczak case, which may play out in court next spring, is likely to put SSRIs on trial as never before. For one thing, Kim Witczak has emerged as a formidable crusader. Poised and articulate, she has appeared at congressional and Food and Drug Administration hearings (most recently this month) to tell of her tragedy and the dangers of SSRIs. What's more, her suit is likely to spotlight disturbing information that drug companies and U.S. regulators have been aware of for years—but that most doctors prescribing the drugs have known little or nothing about.


http://www.wwaytv3.com/Global/story....5&nav=menu70_2
Elections vendor may decide not to bid to offer new voting equipment
RALEIGH, N.C. A leading elections vendor may withdraw from bidding to offer new voting equipment in North Carolina. That's after a judge today dismissed the company's request to protect it from potential criminal liability for failing to provide certain software code.
Diebold Election Systems is worried that it could be charged with a felony one day if someone determines it didN'T place all of its code aside for examination by election officials in case there's a voting mishap. A Diebold attorney says some of the code is owned by a third-party software firm. The escrow requirement for code is among the minimum voting equipment standards approved by the General Assembly this year after more than 44-hundred electronic ballots were lost during the November 2004 election in Carteret county.


http://www.boston.com/news/nation/ar...com%20/%20News
Miami police take new tack against terror
MIAMI --Miami police announced Monday they will stage random shows of force at hotels, banks and other public places to keep terrorists guessing and remind people to be vigilant.


http://www.smh.com.au/news/technolog...026405281.html

The CIA uncovers a secret: how to look things up on the internet
THE CIA now has its own bloggers. In a bow to the rise of internet-era secrets hidden in plain view, the agency has started hosting weblogs with the latest information on topics including North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Il's public visit to a military installation (his 38th this year) and the Burmese media's silence on a ministry reshuffle. It even has a blog on blogs, dedicated to finding useful information in the rapidly expanding milieu of online journals and weird electronic memorabilia on the net.




http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/a...ow/1309881.cms
GM to raise India workforce by 30%
NEW DELHI: America's loss is turning out to be India's gain. Within days of announcing 30,000 job-cuts in the US, automobile giant General Motors Corp will this week unveil plans to increase its workforce in India by nearly 30%.