About 95% of the human genome has once been designated as "junk" DNA. While much of this sequence may be an evolutionary artifact that serves no present-day purpose, some junk DNA may function in ways that are not currently understood. The conservation of some junk DNA over many millions of years of evolution may imply an essential function that has been "turned off." Now scientists say there's a junk gene that fights HIV. And they've discovered how to turn it back on.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Sex education for five-year-olds to be made compulsory in schools
The government has announced plans to make sex education compulsory for pupils aged five to 11, dividing faith groups and safer sex campaigners.
Under the plans all secondary schools will have to teach teenagers about contraception, safer sex and relationships, but faith schools will also be free to preach against sex outside of marriage and condoms.
Mexico Senate OKs bill to legalize drug possesion
MEXICO CITY, April 28 (Reuters) - Mexico's Senate approved a bill on Tuesday decriminalizing possession of small amounts of narcotics for personal use, in order to free resources to fight violent drug cartels.
The bill, proposed by conservative President Felipe Calderon, would make it legal to carry up to 5 grams (0.18 ounces) of marijuana, 500 milligrams (0.018 ounces) of cocaine and tiny quantities of other drugs such as heroin and methamphetamines.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Flashback: Scientist Calls for Airborne Ebola Virus to Kill Off 90% of Earth's Population
Pianka began his speech by condemning anthropocentrism, or the idea that the human race occupies a privileged position in nature. He exclaimed, "We're no better than bacteria!"
He argued that the sharp increase in the human population since the onset of industrialisation was destroying the planet. He warned that Earth would not survive unless its human population was reduced to a tenth of its present number.
AIDS took too long to kill people off, he explained. His preferred method of exterminating over five billion human beings was via airborne Ebola (Ebola Reston), because it is both highly lethal and kills its victims in days rather than years
However, as Mim observed: "Professor Pianka did not mention that Ebola victims die a slow and torturous death as the virus initiates a cascade of biological calamities inside the victim that eventually liquefy the internal organs.
"After praising the Ebola virus for its efficiency at killing, Pianka paused, leaned over the lectern, looked at us and carefully said, 'We've got airborne 90 percent mortality in humans. Killing humans. Think about that.' "
After he finished his address, the audience burst into applause.
Live Avian Flu Virus Placed in Baxter Vaccine Materials Sent to 18 Countries
“But what remains unanswered are the circumstances surrounding the incident in the Baxter facility in Orth-Donau.” The contaminated product, a mix of H3N2 seasonal flu viruses and unlabelled H5N1 viruses, was supplied to an Austrian research company. The Austrian firm, Avir Green Hills Biotechnology, then sent portions of it to sub-contractors in the Czech Republic, Slovenia and Germany.
People familiar with biosecurity rules are dismayed by evidence that human H3N2 and avian H5N1 viruses somehow co-mingled in the Orth-Donau facility. That is a dangerous practice that should not be allowed to happen, a number of experts insisted. Accidental release of a mixture of live H5N1 and H3N2 viruses could have resulted in dire consequences.
More Evidence Virus Manufactured In Lab: No Sign Of “Swine Flu” in Pigs in Mexico Yet
It states in an article from AP, that Mexico’s Agriculture Department has reported that its inspectors have found no sign of swine flu among pigs anywhere in Mexico. See:
SWINE FLU: Mexico Faces Criticism Over Response
It states:
“Mexico’s Agriculture Department said Monday that inspectors found no sign of swine flu among pigs around the farm in Veracruz, and that no infected pigs have been found yet anywhere in Mexico.”
SWINE FLU: Mexico Faces Criticism Over Response
It states:
“Mexico’s Agriculture Department said Monday that inspectors found no sign of swine flu among pigs around the farm in Veracruz, and that no infected pigs have been found yet anywhere in Mexico.”
Mandatory anthrax vaccinations raise concerns
Within days of taking the two shots, Francis' feet began to tingle and burn. When he later took the second in a series of six anthrax shots, his health slid downhill. Since then, the 45-year-old messmate from Las Vegas has fought a rare nervous system disease known as Guillain-Barre Syndrome, along with chronic pain, pneumonia and a life-threatening blood clot.
Three cleared of helping July 7 London bombers
The three men, all from Beeston in Leeds, who have been acquitted by a jury, were the only people ever to be charged in relation to the bombings of July 2005.
They had been accused of conducting a "hostile reconnaissance" mission for the bombers seven months before the attacks.
Indonesia floats idea of man-made swine flu
As swine flu continues to take its toll, claims surface that the deadly four-part flu virus could have been created for "bio-terror attacks." Speaking at a conference to reassure the public over hers government's response to the swine flu threat, Indonesian Heath Minister Siti Fadilah Supari said Tuesday that the controversial virus could have been man-made.
She declined to elaborate on her claim but she had previously accused Western governments of making and spreading viruses in the developing world to boost pharmaceutical companies' profits, AFP reported. "I'm not sure whether the virus was genetically engineered but it's a possibility," Supari said.
Swine Flu Container Explodes on Train
When a container holding swine flu exploded on a Swiss train on Monday, it could have led to a nightmare scenario. Luckily the virus was not the mutated swine flu that has killed around 150 people in Mexico and that has already spread to parts of Europe.
The containers were hermetically sealed and cooled with dry ice. However, it seems the dry ice was not packed correctly and it melted during the journey. The gas coming from the containers then built up too much pressure and the ampoules exploded, as the train was pulling into a station.
The Müller Washington Journals 1948-1951
At the beginning of December, 1948, a German national arrived in Washington, D.C. to take up an important position with the newly-formed CIA. He was a specialist on almost every aspect of Soviet intelligence and had actively fought them, both in his native Bavaria where he was head of the political police in Munich and later in Berlin as head of Amt IV of the State Security Office, also known as the Gestapo.
His name was Heinrich Müller.
Gore “can’t remember” if he worked with Ken Lay on the Carbon Tax Credits Plan in 1997?
In a House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee hearing yesterday, Al Gore gave a rather remarkable answer to a legitimate question posed by one of the committee members about whether or not he and Ken Lay started laying the ground work for this “Carbon tax Credits scheme” in meetings they held in 2007. EDIT: 1997
“Well, lotta people met with him before everyone knew he was a crook.” was Gore’s response. He also stated that he “couldn’t remember” if he and Lay worked on the carbon tax credits plan. He was visibly shaken once this line of questioning started.
He also seems to have lied about whether or not he is partnered with a former Goldman Sach’s CEO. He is.
He also seems to have lied about whether or not he is partnered with a former Goldman Sach’s CEO. He is.
Flashback: Alaskan Victim of 1918 Flu Yields Sample of Killer Virus
A specimen of the influenza virus that killed 21 million people in the 1918 worldwide epidemic has been recovered from the frozen remains of a flu victim buried in Alaska.
Researchers at the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology announced on Thursday that biopsy samples from a corpse exhumed from a cemetery in Brevig Mission, Alaska, contained genetic material from the flu.
Flashback: "Bird Flu" Similar to Deadly 1918 Flu, Gene Study Finds
Scientists have reconstructed the genetic code of the deadly 1918 "Spanish flu," which swept the globe and killed an estimated 20 to 40 million people. Among their findings: The 1918 virus strain developed in birds and was similar to the "bird flu" that today has spurred fears of another worldwide epidemic.
Fort Detrick disease samples may be missing
Chad Jones, spokesman for Fort Meade, said CID is investigating the possibility of missing virus samples from the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases.
USAMRIID is the Army's top biodefense lab, where researchers study pathogens including Ebola, anthrax and plague.
In February, USAMRIID halted all its research into these and other diseases, known as "select agents" following the discovery of virus samples that weren't listed in its inventory.
Iran: We've arrested Israel spy ring
Iranian authorities have arrested a group of people linked to Israel who are suspected of planning bombings ahead of the Islamic republic's presidential election on June 12, Reuters cited the country's intelligence minister as saying on Sunday.
"A group of deceived elements... who wanted to carry out explosions, particularly before the June election, was arrested," Intelligence Minister Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei was quoted as telling Iranian radio.
Ice at the North Pole in 1958 Not So Thick
What would NSIDC and our media make of a photo like this if released by the NAVY today? Would we see headlines like “NORTH POLE NOW OPEN WATER”? Or maybe “Global warming melts North Pole”? Perhaps we would. sensationalism is all the rage these days. If it melts it makes headlines.
“the Skate found open water both in the summer and following winter. We surfaced near the North Pole in the winter through thin ice less than 2 feet thick. The ice moves from Alaska to Iceland and the wind and tides causes open water as the ice breaks up. The Ice at the polar ice cap is an average of 6-8 feet thick, but with the wind and tides the ice will crack and open into large polynyas (areas of open water), these areas will refreeze over with thin ice. We had sonar equipment that would find these open or thin areas to come up through, thus limiting any damage to the submarine. The ice would also close in and cover these areas crushing together making large ice ridges both above and below the water. We came up through a very large opening in 1958 that was 1/2 mile long and 200 yards wide. The wind came up and closed the opening within 2 hours. On both trips we were able to find open water. We were not able to surface through ice thicker than 3 feet.”
Monday, April 27, 2009
Flashback: Was The "Spanish Flu" Epidemic Man-made?
(From Dec.1, 2006) In 1948 Heinrich Mueller, the former head of the Gestapo, told his CIA Interrogator that the most devastating plague in human history was man-made. He was referring to the influenza pandemic of 1918-1919 that infected 20% of the world's population and killed between 60 and 100 million people. This is roughly three times as many as were killed and wounded in World War One, and is comparable to WWII losses, yet this modern plague has slipped down the memory hole.
"Indeed, symptoms in 1918 were so unusual that initially influenza was misdiagnosed as dengue, cholera, or typhoid. One observer wrote, "One of the most striking of the complications was hemorrhage from mucous membranes, especially from the nose, stomach, and intestine. Bleeding from the ears and petechial hemorrhages in the skin also occurred. ...Another unusual feature of this pandemic was that it mostly killed young adults, with 99% of pandemic influenza deaths occurring in people under 65 and more than half in young adults 20 to 40 years old. This is unusual since influenza is normally most deadly to the very young (under age 2) and the very old (over age 70). "
As Swine Flu Spreads, Conspiracy Theories of Laboratory Origins Abound
Perhaps due to the genetic makeup of the fast-spreading H1N1 strain of influenza -- which includes genetic elements from bird flu, swine flu and human flu spanning three continents -- there is considerable speculation that the origins of this virus are man-made.
I am not a medical specialist in the area of infectious disease, but I have studied microbiology, genetics and a considerable amount of material on pandemics. What seems suspicious to me is the hybrid origin of the viral fragments found in H1N1 influenza. According to reports in the mainstream media (which has no reason to lie about this particular detail), this strain of influenza contains viral code fragments from: Human influenza, Bird Flu from North America, Swine flu from Europe, & Swine flu from Asia.
This is rather astonishing to realize, because for this to have been a natural combination of viral fragments, it means an infected bird from North America would have had to infect pigs in Europe, then be re-infected by those some pigs with an unlikely cross-species mutation that allowed the bird to carry it again, then that bird would have had to fly to Asia and infected pigs there, and those Asian pigs then mutated the virus once again (while preserving the European swine and bird flu elements) to become human transmittable, and then a human would have had to catch that virus from the Asian pigs -- in Mexico! -- and spread it to others. (This isn't the only explanation of how it could have happened, but it is one scenario that gives you an idea of the complexity of such a thing happening).
Deadly 1957 Strain of Flu Is Found in Lab-Test Kits
early 5,000 laboratories, mostly in the United States, were working Tuesday to destroy vials of a pandemic flu strain that were sent as part of a routine kit to test labs.
The rush action, recommended by the World Health Organization of the United Nations, was prompted by a slim risk that the samples could start a global flu epidemic. The vials were sent by a company in the United States to labs in 18 countries, officials said.
The 1957 strain has not been included in the flu vaccine since 1968, and anyone born after that date has no immunity to it.
Flashback: CIA Link to Cuban Pig Virus Reported
With at least the tacit backing of U.S. Central Intelligence Agency officials, operatives linked to anti-Castro terrorists introduced African swine fever virus into Cuba in 1971.
Six weeks later an outbreak of the disease forced the slaughter of 500,000 pigs to prevent a nationwide animal epidemic.
A U.S. intelligence source told Newsday last week he was given the virus in a sealed, unmarked container at a U.S. Army base and CIA training ground in the Panama Canal Zone, with instructions to turn it over to the anti-Castro group.
The 1971 outbreak, the first and only time the disease has hit the Western Hemisphere, was labeled the "most alarming event" of 1971 by the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization. African swine fever is a highly contagious and usually lethal viral disease that infects only pigs and, unlike swine flu, cannot be transmitted to humans.
Scientists Resurrect Deadly Flu Virus
In a contained laboratory at the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, scientists used reverse genetics to re-create the 1918 flu virus that killed 20 million to 50 million people, according to studies released Wednesday.
The 1918 virus's jump from birds to humans, perhaps through intermediary animals such as pigs, was different from the two other outbreaks of pandemic influenza that occurred in the 20th century. Those pandemic strains in 1957 and 1968 occurred when novel influenza genes mixed with existing human influenzas.
No honest investigation into accidental global release of Spanish Flu virus
Such a hypothetical event actually occurred, except it wasn't a terrorist. It was a research company that claimed to have "accidentally" distributed all of these samples of the deadly H2N2 influenza strain, which is most famous for killing millions of people around the world in 1957. It was called the "Spanish Flu" at the time, although that name is not technically accurate.
A New Bio Warfare Arms Race Begins in Maryland
Fort Detrick actually began in 1943 as Camp Detrick and worked with the British in creating an anthrax bomb. It became a permanent Army installation, Fort Detrick, in 1956 and developed offensive bio-weapons. But, in 1969 during the Vietnam War, when the U.S. was criticized for using gas, napalm and herbicides in Vietnam, President Nixon unilaterally ended the nation’s offensive biological warfare program and ordered pathogens and toxins destroyed. This also led to the signing of the Biological Weapons and Toxins Convention in 1972 which became law in 1975. It was discovered in 1975 that the CIA had disobeyed the order to destroy all bio-weapons stocks, and had retained pathogens and toxins for its own use. In the 1980’s, the Reagan and Bush Administrations revived the dormant budget for "defensive" biowarfare research. It was also in the 1980’s that the U.S. supplied Saddam Hussein with the basis for Iraq’s biowarfare capability.
Flashback: March 24, 1976: President Ford Orders Swine-Flu Shots for All
The virus surfaced in February at Fort Dix, New Jersey, where 19-year-old Pvt. David Lewis told his drill instructor that he felt tired and weak, although not sick enough to skip a training hike. Lewis was dead with 24 hours.
It recalled 1918, when infected soldiers returning from the trenches of World War I triggered a contagion that spread quickly around the world, killing at least 20 million people. Fearing another plague, the nation’s health officials urged Ford to authorize a mass inoculation program aimed at reaching every man, woman and child. He did, to the tune of $135 million ($500 million in today’s money).
Mass vaccinations started in October, but within weeks reports started coming in of people developing Guillain-Barré syndrome, a paralyzing nerve disease, right after taking the shot. Within two months, 500 people were affected, and more than 30 died. Amid a rising uproar and growing public reluctance to risk the shot, federal officials abruptly canceled the program Dec. 16.
In the end, 40 million Americans were inoculated, and there was no epidemic. A later, more technically advanced examination of the virus revealed that it was nowhere near as deadly as the 1918 influenza virus. The only recorded fatality from swine flu itself was the unfortunate Pvt. Lewis.
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Bartered brides
The kidnapping has been going on for some time, and locals talk of a number of cases so far this year. The abductions follow a pattern: a Hmong girl is wooed by an out-of-towner—whether from Vietnam or China is not clear—who speaks her language. She is lured to a rendezvous to be drugged and smuggled into China, probably near Lao Cai, about an hour’s drive from Sapa. Tall, pretty girls are said to be particular targets.
Musicians Peter Buffett and Akon Raise Awareness for Human Trafficking With Website Re-Launch
IsThereSomethingICanDo.com will address worldwide social issues, feature various charities, and offer new music downloads and live news with revolving subject matter. Spotlighting human trafficking during March and April, the site will feature NGO's including: Alliance to Stop Slavery and End Trafficking (ASSET), Polaris Project, Somaly Mam Foundation, United States Fund for UNICEF and Anti-Slavery International Inc.
Banker linked to 1980s S&L scandal dies after jumping off Tampa International Airport garage
TAMPA — One of the leading figures of the savings and loan scandal of the 1980s jumped to his death from a parking garage at Tampa International Airport last week.
Michael Wise, 64, leaped from the ninth floor of the garage in the early afternoon of April 8. The Hillsborough County Medical Examiner's Office ruled the death an apparent suicide. It's unclear why Wise jumped.
Conspiracy Theory: Reason vs. The Crowd
So what are the connotations of the phrase "conspiracy theory?" They are negative are they not? Doesn't one immediately think "kooky", "crazy", "crackpot" etc...? Why? If past presidents are among those warning us of the dangers of misplaced power falling into the hands of groups (military-industrial complex) then who are those advising us not to pay attention? Who are those telling us it is irrational to consider that people may secretly scheme in ways that are against the best interests of the public? Jefferson told us "Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty." He did NOT add "...but don't worry about conspirators or conspiracies!"
3. John Anthony Walker , Click here for another article on the Walker spy family from Pete Early.
4. Abraham Lincoln Conspirators , Click here for more on Lincoln's conspirators.
NASA photos show giant 'cosmic hand'
"The pulsar is a rapidly spinning neutron star which is spewing energy out into the space around it to create complex and intriguing structures, including one that resembles a large cosmic hand," NASA says.
Nazis and Soviets Acted as One
What did the Nazis and Bolsheviks have in common, apart from the same graphic designer? According to Snores, almost everything. They were both socialist, nationalist and imperialist. They both wanted to create a "new man" and a "new world order." Socialists are the only group that publicly advocate genocide. There is a jaw-dropping speech by George Bernard Shaw where he advocates euthanasia (a gentle gas, a painless death) for people who can't demonstrate they are "socially productive."
Snores says mass murder was in full swing in the USSR long before the Nazis came to power. The Nazis learned about torture and concentration camps from their socialist brothers. The NKVD literally trained the Gestapo. The system of slave labor and genocide continued in the USSR long after the end of World War Two. Concentration camps dotted the Soviet Union. The Russians conducted torture and medical experiments that would have made Mengele proud. These killers and torturers are still honored in Russia today.
Only 34% Now Blame Humans for Global Warming
Just one-out-of-three voters (34%) now believe global warming is caused by human activity, the lowest finding yet in Rasmussen Reports national surveying.
Forty-eight percent (48%) of all likely voters attribute climate change to long-term planetary trends, while seven percent (7%) blame some other reason. Eleven percent (11%) aren’t sure.
HopeOver, HopeLash, HopeBreak: A Lexicon of Disappointment
Hopeover. Like a hangover, a hopeover comes from having overindulged in something that felt good at the time but wasn't really all that healthy, leading to feelings of remorse, even shame. It's the political equivalent of the crash after a sugar high. Sample sentence: "When I listened to Obama's economic speech my heart soared. But then, when I tried to tell a friend about his plans for the millions of layoffs and foreclosures, I found myself saying nothing at all. I've got a serious hopeover."
Hoper coaster. Like a roller coaster, the hoper coaster describes the intense emotional peaks and valleys of the Obama era, the veering between joy at having a president who supports safe-sex education and despondency that single-payer healthcare is off the table at the very moment when it could actually become a reality. Sample sentence: "I was so psyched when Obama said he is closing Guantánamo. But now they are fighting like mad to make sure the prisoners in Bagram have no legal rights at all. Stop this hoper coaster -- I want to get off!"
Hopesick. Like the homesick, hopesick individuals are intensely nostalgic. They miss the rush of optimism from the campaign trail and are forever trying to recapture that warm, hopey feeling--usually by exaggerating the significance of relatively minor acts of Obama decency. Sample sentences: "I was feeling really hopesick about the escalation in Afghanistan, but then I watched a YouTube video of Michelle in her organic garden and it felt like inauguration day all over again. A few hours later, when I heard that the Obama administration was boycotting a major UN racism conference, the hopesickness came back hard. So I watched slideshows of Michelle wearing clothes made by ethnically diverse independent fashion designers, and that sort of helped."
Hope fiend. With hope receding, the hope fiend, like the dope fiend, goes into serious withdrawal, willing to do anything to chase the buzz. (Closely related to hopesickness but more severe, usually affecting middle-aged males.) Sample sentence: "Joe told me he actually believes Obama deliberately brought in Summers so that he would blow the bailout, and then Obama would have the excuse he needs to do what he really wants: nationalize the banks and turn them into credit unions. What a hope fiend!"
Hopebreak. Like the heartbroken lover, the hopebroken Obama-ite is not mad but terribly sad. She projected messianic powers onto Obama and is now inconsolable in her disappointment. Sample sentence: "I really believed Obama would finally force us to confront the legacy of slavery in this country and start a serious national conversation about race. But now he never seems to mention race, and he's using twisted legal arguments to keep us from even confronting the crimes of the Bush years. Every time I hear him say 'move forward,' I'm hopebroken all over again."
Hopelash. Like a backlash, hopelash is a 180-degree reversal of everything Obama-related. Sufferers were once Obama's most passionate evangelists. Now they are his angriest critics. Sample sentence: "At least with Bush everyone knew he was an asshole. Now we've got the same wars, the same lawless prisons, the same Washington corruption, but everyone is cheering like Stepford wives. It's time for a full-on hopelash."
Hoper coaster. Like a roller coaster, the hoper coaster describes the intense emotional peaks and valleys of the Obama era, the veering between joy at having a president who supports safe-sex education and despondency that single-payer healthcare is off the table at the very moment when it could actually become a reality. Sample sentence: "I was so psyched when Obama said he is closing Guantánamo. But now they are fighting like mad to make sure the prisoners in Bagram have no legal rights at all. Stop this hoper coaster -- I want to get off!"
Hopesick. Like the homesick, hopesick individuals are intensely nostalgic. They miss the rush of optimism from the campaign trail and are forever trying to recapture that warm, hopey feeling--usually by exaggerating the significance of relatively minor acts of Obama decency. Sample sentences: "I was feeling really hopesick about the escalation in Afghanistan, but then I watched a YouTube video of Michelle in her organic garden and it felt like inauguration day all over again. A few hours later, when I heard that the Obama administration was boycotting a major UN racism conference, the hopesickness came back hard. So I watched slideshows of Michelle wearing clothes made by ethnically diverse independent fashion designers, and that sort of helped."
Hope fiend. With hope receding, the hope fiend, like the dope fiend, goes into serious withdrawal, willing to do anything to chase the buzz. (Closely related to hopesickness but more severe, usually affecting middle-aged males.) Sample sentence: "Joe told me he actually believes Obama deliberately brought in Summers so that he would blow the bailout, and then Obama would have the excuse he needs to do what he really wants: nationalize the banks and turn them into credit unions. What a hope fiend!"
Hopebreak. Like the heartbroken lover, the hopebroken Obama-ite is not mad but terribly sad. She projected messianic powers onto Obama and is now inconsolable in her disappointment. Sample sentence: "I really believed Obama would finally force us to confront the legacy of slavery in this country and start a serious national conversation about race. But now he never seems to mention race, and he's using twisted legal arguments to keep us from even confronting the crimes of the Bush years. Every time I hear him say 'move forward,' I'm hopebroken all over again."
Hopelash. Like a backlash, hopelash is a 180-degree reversal of everything Obama-related. Sufferers were once Obama's most passionate evangelists. Now they are his angriest critics. Sample sentence: "At least with Bush everyone knew he was an asshole. Now we've got the same wars, the same lawless prisons, the same Washington corruption, but everyone is cheering like Stepford wives. It's time for a full-on hopelash."
Marine Had Grenade and Explosive Materials In Checked Baggage At Logan Airport
Source: The Boston GlobeA US Marine was arrested today at Logan International Airport after federal airport screeners discovered a gun, bomb-making materials, and ammunition in his checked baggage, State Police and Transportation Security Administration officials said.
TSA screeners in Terminal B called State Police at 7:10 a.m. after a screen discovered the following items in his checked baggage: a locked handgun box containing a semi-automatic handgun, a fully loaded gun magazine, several boxes of 9 mm and 7.62 mm ammunition, three model rocket engines containing an explosive mixture, military pull-type fuses, switches, electronics kit boxes with various components, and a hand grenade fuse assembly with detonator.
12 arrested after alleged 'Easter bomb plot' released without charge
Baroness Neville-Jones, shadow security minister, said: "It is very worrying that, following an investigation based on strong intelligence into what the Prime Minister described as a serious terrorist plot, the police have not been able to present sufficient evidence to the Crown Prosecution Service on which it could lay charges against any of the twelve arrested. This is bound to give rise to questions about the procedure followed.
Self-Confessed 9/11 "Mastermind" Confessed to Crimes He Didn't Commit
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the self-confessed mastermind of 9/11, was waterboarded 183 times in one month, and “confessed” to murdering the journalist Daniel Pearl, which he did not. There could hardly be more compelling evidence that such techniques are neither swift, nor efficient, nor reliable
Previous Swine Flu Outbreak Originated at Fort Dix
Given the reports of the possibility of a swine flu epidemic, is interesting to note that last time there was a significant outbreak of a new form of swine flu in the U.S. it originated at the army base at Fort Dix, New Jersey.
*That is interesting, because the misnamed "Spanish Flu" first appeared at Fort Riley in Kansas.
*Courtesy Mike Rivero, WhatReallyHappened.com
Mexico Flu Deaths Raise Worries of Global Epidemic
Scientists were trying to determine if the deaths involved the same new strain of swine flu that sickened seven people in Texas and California — a disturbing disease that combines pig, bird and human viruses in a way that researchers have not seen before.
Back in 2004, we were being propagandized that Bird Flu was the next pandemic.
Gene studies showed that so-called Bird Flu appeared to be nearly identical with the 1918 Spanish Flu.
Which is rather nerve-wracking because in 2005 it was admitted that scientists were intentionally recreating the 1918 Spanish Flu virus!
But the predicted pandemic didn't happen because Bird Flu isn't that contagious. It needed to be blended with a more infectious form of flu, like swine flu (Used as a bio-weapon by the CIA against Cuba), to became a real slate-wiper!
And wonder of wonders, here it is!
In 2006, it was reported that scientists were intentionally creating bird flu and swine flu hybrids in the labs!
Which leads to asking how it is that this new flu epidemic explodes into view right after Fort Detrick admits that some of the nasty little beasties they have been working on went missing!
(Commentary and subsequent links courtesy of Mike Rivero, WhatReallyHappened.com)
Thursday, April 23, 2009
New Information on the Death of 911 Eyewitness Barry Jennings
It seems that Dylan had hired a private investigator to look into Jennings death which remains shrouded in mystery. His motive was simply to bring some closure to the life of Barry Jennings, and in doing so to honor the memory of this brave American. The Investigator ended up referring the case to Law enforcement before refunding his pay, and told Dylan never to contact him again. Very unusual to say the least. Dylan also paid a visit to the Jennings home. He found it vacant and for sale.
Bush memos parallel claim 9/11 mastermind’s children were tortured with insects
Bush Administration memos released by the White House on Thursday provide new insight into claims that American agents used insects to torture the young children of alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.
In the memos, released Thursday, the Bush Administration White House Office of Legal Counsel offered its endorsement of CIA torture methods that involved placing an insect in a cramped, confined box with detainees. Jay S. Bybee, then-director of the OLC, wrote that insects could be used to capitalize on detainees’ fears.
Mumbai Attacks Suspect Withdraws Confession
The only surviving suspected gunman in the Mumbai terror attacks has retracted his confession after claiming it was extracted by torture, his defence lawyer says.
"On his instruction, a retraction application has been filed, retracting the so-called alleged confession," Abbas Kazmi said.
Waking up to torture truths
The Bush administration claimed that the waterboarding of Khalid Shaikh Mohammed helped foil a planned 2002 attack on Los Angeles -- forgetting that he wasn't captured until 2003.
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed Was Waterboarded 183 Times in One Month
The IG Report noted that in some cases the waterboard was used with far greater frequency than initially indicated, see IG Report at 5, 44, 46, 103-04, and also that it was used in a different manner. See id. at 37 ("[T]he waterboard technique ... was different from the technique described in the DoJ opinion and used in the SERE training. The difference was the manner in which the detainee's breathing was obstructed. At the SERE school and in the DoJ opinion, the subject's airflow is disrupted by the firm application of a damp cloth over the air passages; the interrogator applies a small amount of water to the cloth in a controlled manner. By contrast, the Agency Interrogator ... applied large volumes of water to a cloth that covered the detainee's mouth and nose. One of the psychologists/interrogators acknowledged that the Agency's use of the technique is different from that used in SERE training because it is "for real--and is more poignant and convincing.")
So: two two-hour sessions a day, with six applications of the waterboard each = 12 applications in a day. Though to get up to the permitted 12 minutes of waterboarding in a day (with each use of the waterboard limited to 40 seconds), you'd need 18 applications in a day. Assuming you use the larger 18 applications in one 24-hour period, and do 18 applications on five days within a month, you've waterboarded 90 times--still just half of what they did to KSM.
Alexis Ponce: “The Mossad trained the Ecuadorean police in torture techniques”
“The Mossad trained the Ecuadorean police in torture techniques between 1986 and 1994,” said Alexis Ponce during the Axis for Peace international conference, organized by Voltaire Network on November 17-18, 2005, in Brussels. “The Israeli secret services gave technical support to the tyranny that stained Ecuador with blood. The police corps received advanced training by Israeli agents to torture and to force those who opposed the tyranny to speak. The Israeli agents transmitted their knowledge about the numerous techniques used to torture people. They are criminals! Hundreds of people disappeared during those dark years.”
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Binyam Mohamed: MI5 officer gave false evidence in Guantánamo detainee case
Lawyers for the government have admitted that a senior MI5 officer gave false evidence to the high court in the case of former Guantánamo Bay prisoner Binyam Mohamed.
The officer told the court MI5 had no further contact with the CIA about Mohamed after February 2003, when he was being held in Morocco. It is still unclear how much MI5 knew about Mohamed's continuing interrogation in Morocco, where he was held before being transferred in May 2004, 15 months later, to the CIA's "dark prison" in Bagram, Afghanistan.
A message from John Feal of the 911 1st Responders group The Feal Good Foundation
Responders, volunteers, friends & supporters:
3 weeks ago we witnessed the most significant progress in almost 8 years of neglect and denial. On March 31st we traveled to D.C. for the first of 2 hearings on our bill HR847 the James Zadroga Health & Compensation Act. Our presence was felt and this important piece of legislation now has momentum, more so then ever. This Wednesday on April 22nd we travel back to D.C. to show our nations leaders we will continue to be a presence until we achieve our common goal. And that is the passage of HR847. I am optimistic that this bill will pass through the house and I am confident Sen. Chuck Schumer will introduce this bill in the senate very shortly. Is this bill a ten on the 1-10 scale? Absolutely not, but this bill in my mind is an 8 with room for improvement, and this bill will provide health care and compensation for thousands of brave souls and innocent victims of 9/11 who suffer from it's horrific aftermath. After dozens of meetings, conference calls & hundreds of letters and emails, I am confident we are close, and I am confident that the NY Delegation is fighting for us tooth & nail. As a 9/11 responder horribly injured at Ground Zero, I am proud of my service to this country. But I am even more proud to know I served a fraternity of heroes and great Americans like all of you. Our work is far from done, and we must stand united as one for us to finish our journey. A journey in which we have seen so many good men & woman loose their battle to 9/11 illnesses. But a journey where so many of you have become heroes twice for your resolve & testament to fight and survive. I salute all uniform & non-uniform workers, because your actions should be embraced and emulated by all who suffer from history and governmental neglect. God bless you all & god bless America.
John Feal
Founder & President of the FealGood Foundation
Injured 9/11 Responder
Kidney Donor
Above And Beyond Citizen Honors recipient from the Congressional Medal of Honor Society
Freddie Mac CFO Suicide by Hanging? (or gunshot wound)
Version 1:
Police believe David Kellermann, 41, Killed Himself in His Virginia Home
Law enforcement sources said David Kellermann, acting chief financial officer of mortgage company Freddie Mac, was found hanging in the basement of his Vienna, Va., home, dead from an apparent suicide early this morning. The death was “an active investigation” and there were “no signs of foul play,” Fairfax County police officer Sabrina Ruck said. Local police said they were called to Kellermann’s home at 4:48 a.m., but would not say who’d placed the call to 911. Kellermann, 41, and a… abcnews.go.com
Law enforcement sources said David Kellermann, acting chief financial officer of mortgage company Freddie Mac, was found hanging in the basement of his Vienna, Va., home, dead from an apparent suicide early this morning. The death was “an active investigation” and there were “no signs of foul play,” Fairfax County police officer Sabrina Ruck said. Local police said they were called to Kellermann’s home at 4:48 a.m., but would not say who’d placed the call to 911. Kellermann, 41, and a… abcnews.go.com
Version 2:
DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
Police investigating the apparent suicide of Freddie Mac (FRE) acting chief financial officer David Kellermann confirmed the presence of a gun and a gunshot wound, AHN Media reported Wednesday on its Web site. Kellermann was found dead at his home early in the morning, according to Fairfax County police.
Police spokesman Lucy Caldwell told AHN that other people were present at the home at the time of Kellermann’s death, in Reston, Va., and that there was a gun and a gunshot wound. Kellermann’s wife told local police he committed suicide, Washington, D.C., television station WUSA reported, citing county sheriff’s deputies. morningstar.com
Police investigating the apparent suicide of Freddie Mac (FRE) acting chief financial officer David Kellermann confirmed the presence of a gun and a gunshot wound, AHN Media reported Wednesday on its Web site. Kellermann was found dead at his home early in the morning, according to Fairfax County police.
Police spokesman Lucy Caldwell told AHN that other people were present at the home at the time of Kellermann’s death, in Reston, Va., and that there was a gun and a gunshot wound. Kellermann’s wife told local police he committed suicide, Washington, D.C., television station WUSA reported, citing county sheriff’s deputies. morningstar.com
But wait! There's more!
Updated: Fairfax County Police Say Medical Examiner Will Determine Exact Cause Of Kellerman’s Death
However, there were “no signs of foul play. It’s under investigation. Police were called at 4:49 a.m.,” Fairfax County Police Public Information Officer Lucy Caldwell told AHN Media in a telephone interview.
Asked if the death was a suicide, Caldwell said they were leaving that determination up to the county medical examiner. She wasn’t sure if the body had been removed yet or not when AHN spoke to her at 8:30 a.m.
“We were just called to respond to an unattended death and it’s under investigation,” Caldwell said.
Although Caldwell told AHN that police have not yet released the identity of the person who called them, she did confirm to AHN that there were other people present in the house at the time of the death and that there was a gun and a gunshot wound. allheadlinenews.com
However, there were “no signs of foul play. It’s under investigation. Police were called at 4:49 a.m.,” Fairfax County Police Public Information Officer Lucy Caldwell told AHN Media in a telephone interview.
Asked if the death was a suicide, Caldwell said they were leaving that determination up to the county medical examiner. She wasn’t sure if the body had been removed yet or not when AHN spoke to her at 8:30 a.m.
“We were just called to respond to an unattended death and it’s under investigation,” Caldwell said.
Although Caldwell told AHN that police have not yet released the identity of the person who called them, she did confirm to AHN that there were other people present in the house at the time of the death and that there was a gun and a gunshot wound. allheadlinenews.com
Sleep Scientists: Research Twisted to Justify Torture (Updated)
In a 2005 memo, Bush administration lawyers argued that it was okay for CIA interrogators to keep terror suspects awake for seven and a half days straight -- because "even very extended sleep deprivation does not cause physical pain." The attorneys backed up the claim by citing the work of a number of leading university researchers on sleep. Now, those professors are saying that their work was horribly misused.
"To claim that 180 hours [of sleep deprivation] is safe in these respects, is nonsense." Dr. James Horne, with the Loughborough University Sleep Research Centre, tells the Obsidian Wings blog. "Prolonged stress with sleep deprivation will lead to a physiological exhaustion of the body’s defense mechanisms, physical collapse, and with the potential for various ensuing illnesses."
Alternet - Bombshell: Rep. Jane Harman Caught on Tape Agreeing to Lobby for Alleged AIPAC/Israel Spies?
Harman was recorded saying she would “waddle into” the AIPAC case “if you think it’ll make a difference,” according to two former senior national security officials familiar with the NSA transcript.
In exchange for Harman’s help, the sources said, the suspected Israeli agent pledged to help lobby Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., then-House minority leader, to appoint Harman chair of the Intelligence Committee after the 2006 elections, which the Democrats were heavily favored to win.
Seemingly wary of what she had just agreed to, according to an official who read the NSA transcript, Harman hung up after saying, “This conversation doesn’t exist.”
Friday, April 17, 2009
Killer Coke- Murder: It's the Real Thing
MURDER ~~ It’s the ‘real thing’
Coca Cola: kidnapping, torture and murder of union leaders in Colombia.
Coca Cola: kidnapping, torture and murder of union leaders in Colombia.
More information HERE
CDC covered up high lead levels in D.C.
An investigation by Rebecca Renner of Salon has revealed that the Center for Disease Control(CDC) had withheld evidence of dangerously high levels. An influential CDC report released in 2004 (and since cited by officials in Seattle to calm nervous parents) downplayed the role that chloramination played in the D.C. lead crisis, saying that it "might have contributed a small increase in blood lead levels." However, according to Renner, "the results of thousands of blood tests that measured lead contamination in children were missing from the report, potentially skewing the findings and undermining public health. Further, the CDC discovered in 2007 that many young children living in D.C. homes with lead pipes were poisoned by drinking water and suffered ill effects. Parents wondered whether the water could have caused speech and balance problems, difficulty with learning, and hyperactivity. Yet the health agency did not publicize the new findings or alert public health authorities in D.C. or other federal agencies that regulate lead, such as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency or Housing and Urban Development."
Haiti: Uncovering U.S. Involvement in Aristide Coup
A congressional bill that would create a truth commission to explore the U.S. role in the 2004 regime change in Haiti is languishing in the House Foreign Affairs Committee with only 12 co-sponsors. But Rep. Barbara Lee’s (D-Calif.) H.R. 331 has sparked hope among some Haitians who think the bill might pass under a friendly Obama administration and bring needed change to the indebted island nation.
Aristide “left the country with our assistance, which he requested,” Mari Tolliver, spokesperson for the U.S. Embassy in Haiti, told In These Times in August. (Karl Duckworth, spokesperson for the State Department, said that he could not comment on the U.S. role in Aristide’s departure, as the Obama State Department is doing a “complete evaluation of all the areas to see where we will be on issues.”)
You Are Being Lied To About Pirates
In 1991, the government of Somalia - in the Horn of Africa - collapsed. Its 9 million people have been teetering on starvation ever since - and many of the ugliest forces in the Western world have seen this as a great opportunity to steal the country’s food supply and dump our nuclear waste in their seas.
Yes: nuclear waste. As soon as the government was gone, mysterious European ships started appearing off the coast of Somalia, dumping vast barrels into the ocean. The coastal population began to sicken. At first they suffered strange rashes, nausea and malformed babies. Then, after the 2005 tsunami, hundreds of the dumped and leaking barrels washed up on shore. People began to suffer from radiation sickness, and more than 300 died.
An interview with Annie Machon, former MI6
(It's been over 10 years since Annie Machon and David Shayler resigned from MI5, to blow the whistle on an act of False Flag terror by British intelligence in Libya, and other deceptive practices by intelligence agencies in the UK and abroad. In 2006, Machon gave a Keynote speech at the landmark Chicago 9/11 Truth Conference, introducing her story to a wider audience. In 2006-7, Machon organised three UK and European tours for William Rodriguez. She traveled and spoke with him at over 40 engagements, last year she spoke in California. She has also organised European speaking tours for Richard Gage and David Ray Griffin, and shared a platform with Cynthia McKinney in Amsterdam in 2007. Starting in May, Machon will be speaking at a number of places in Canada. To learn more about this speaking tour, and to possibly add your city to the itinerary, please contact Elizabeth Woodworth: elizwood(at)shaw.ca or Patrick Borden: directors(at)vancouver911truth.org. -rep.)
Senior Counsel to the 9/11 Commission: "At Some Level of the Government, at Some Point in Time...There Was an Agreement Not to Tell the Truth"
On April 14th, the senior counsel to the 9/11 Commission - John Farmer - will publish a book called The Ground Truth: The Story Behind America's Defense on 9/11.
At some level of the government, at some point in time...there was an agreement not to tell the truth about what happened.
I was shocked at how different the truth was from the way it was described .... The [Norad air defense] tapes told a radically different story from what had been told to us and the public for two years.... This is not spin. This is not true.
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Magic Thermite and the 911 Fairytale
Well… there it is in black and white and irrefutable; all three colors complementing truth. This won’t make much difference to those who have gone to such great lengths to deny the truth in the first place. The first place they deny the truth is within themselves and then they are kind enough to extend that courtesy to everyone else; lucky us.
But there it is, scientific proof from the Scholars for 9/11 Truth.
The last time I was here, I said I didn’t see much in the way of a collective human effort to change the course of the last, however many, years. Well here’s something. Here’s some change we can believe in. Here’s the opportunity to open a crack in your hardpan denial and let in some disinfecting sunlight. Because it appears that 9/11 was an Inside Job… ah…duh.
Police records indicate cop planted gun on dead teen: lawsuit
A Minneapolis family is suing after attorneys discovered in police records what they say is proof that a 19-year-old gunned down by an officer in 2006 while allegedly waving a gun, was actually unarmed.
Officer Jason Anderson, who shot Fong Lee eight times after chasing him through a playground, was honored for his bravery after a Baikal .380 was found just two feet from the corpse.
But a new suit filed by Fong's family carries the weight of police records which indicate officer Anderson had taken the Russian firearm from his precinct's evidence locker, where it had been logged after a burglary in 2004. Attorneys for Fong's family also released video surveillance images which they say prove Lee was not armed.
Zionism is the Problem
It's hard to imagine now, but in 1944, six years after Kristallnacht, Lessing J. Rosenwald, president of the American Council for Judaism, felt comfortable equating the Zionist ideal of Jewish statehood with "the concept of a racial state -- the Hitlerian concept." For most of the last century, a principled opposition to Zionism was a mainstream stance within American Judaism.
Even after the foundation of Israel, anti-Zionism was not a particularly heretical position. Assimilated Reform Jews like Rosenwald believed that Judaism should remain a matter of religious rather than political allegiance; the ultra-Orthodox saw Jewish statehood as an impious attempt to "push the hand of God"; and Marxist Jews -- my grandparents among them -- tended to see Zionism, and all nationalisms, as a distraction from the more essential struggle between classes.
To be Jewish, I was raised to believe, meant understanding oneself as a member of a tribe that over and over had been cast out, mistreated, slaughtered. Millenniums of oppression that preceded it did not entitle us to a homeland or a right to self-defense that superseded anyone else's. If they offered us anything exceptional, it was a perspective on oppression and an obligation born of the prophetic tradition: to act on behalf of the oppressed and to cry out at the oppressor.
For the last several decades, though, it has been all but impossible to cry out against the Israeli state without being smeared as an anti-Semite, or worse. To question not just Israel's actions, but the Zionist tenets on which the state is founded, has for too long been regarded an almost unspeakable blasphemy.
Yet it is no longer possible to believe with an honest conscience that the deplorable conditions in which Palestinians live and die in Gaza and the West Bank come as the result of specific policies, leaders or parties on either side of the impasse. The problem is fundamental: Founding a modern state on a single ethnic or religious identity in a territory that is ethnically and religiously diverse leads inexorably either to politics of exclusion (think of the 139-square-mile prison camp that Gaza has become) or to wholesale ethnic cleansing. Put simply, the problem is Zionism.
US Envoy Writes of Israeli Threats
In the wake of the accusation by Chas Freeman that his nomination to lead the National Intelligence Council was derailed by an "Israeli lobby," a forthcoming memoir by another distinguished ambassador adds stunning new charges to the debate. The ambassador, John Gunther Dean, writes that over the years he not only came under pressure from pro-Israeli groups and officials in Washington but also was the target of an Israeli-inspired assassination attempt in 1980 in Lebanon, where he had opened links to the Palestine Liberation Organization.
Doctors to reopen Yasser Arafat death investigation
Arab doctors are to investigate the death of the former Palestinian president, Yasser Arafat, re-opening a four-year-old case which is still the subject of suspicion, conspiracy theories and political accusations.
Doctors from Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Jordan and the Palestinian territories have been given the task of reviewing information about the former president's demise.
Arafat's death in November 2004 in a military hospital near Paris triggered immediate rumours that he had been poisoned. French doctors said the 75-year-old died from a "massive brain haemorrhage" but could not explain what had prompted it. At the time, Arafat's widow refused to allow an autopsy.
Judge: U.S. hid witness's mental illness in Guantanamo cases
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department improperly withheld important psychiatric records of a government witness who was used in a "significant" number of Guantanamo cases, a federal judge has concluded.
The government censored parts of the records, but enough has been made public that it's clear that the witness, a fellow detainee, was being treated weekly for a serious psychological problem and was questioned about whether he had any suicidal thoughts. The witness provided information in the government's case for detaining Aymen Saeed Batarfi, a Yemeni doctor who the government announced last week it would no longer seek to detain.
During a hearing last week, Sullivan castigated the government for not turning over the medical records and ordered department lawyers to explain why he shouldn't cite them for contempt of court.
Video reveals G20 police assault on man who died
Dramatic footage obtained by the Guardian shows that the man who died at last week's G20 protests in London was attacked from behind and thrown to the ground by a baton–wielding police officer in riot gear.
Moments after the assault on Ian Tomlinson was captured on video, he suffered a heart attack and died.
Watch the Video here:
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Death squad leader ‘was top CIA agent’
THE LATE President Milosevic's secret police chief and organiser of Serb death squads during the genocidal ethnic cleansing of disintegrating Yugoslavia was the United States' top CIA agent in Belgrade, according to the independent Belgrade Radio B92.
The claim that from 1992 until the end of the decade, Jovica Stanisic, head of Serbia's murderous DB Secret Police, was regularly informing his CIA handlers of the thinking in Milosevic's inner circle has shocked the region. Stanisic is said to have loyally served his two masters for eight years. He is facing war crimes charges at the International Criminal Court at The Hague.
FACTS AND LIES / PAT TILLMAN CASE
Pat Tillman's questionable death was stonewalled by top Pentagon Generals until the freedom of Information Act brought it to light.
What were they hiding ??
Record fine for Soros 'illegal manipulation of financial markets'
Thomas LifsonThe principle financier of the Democrats, the man whose early support catapulted Obama into the lead for the nomination, the man who made billions from the stock market crash that changed everything in the fall campaign (McCain was in the lead when the crisis hit), has been given a record fine by Hungarian financial authorities. AFP reports:
-Hungary's financial supervisory watchdog announced Friday it had slapped a 1.6-million-euro fine on an investment fund founded by US billionaire George Soros, for manipulating the market.
-The PSzAF said it had fined Soros Fund Management LLC for transactions on the Budapest stock exchange on October 9 that led to a "significant loss in value" of Hungarian OTP bank stocks, which fell in days from 4,000 forint (13.2 euros, 17.86 dollars) to 2,500 forint.
-The PSzAF "is imposing a 489-million-forint fine on Soros Fund Management LLC... for violating the rules regarding the illegal manipulation of financial markets," the supervisory authority said in a statement on its Internet site.
Army lied about how my son died in Iraq: Friendly-fire victim was 'misidentified' as enemy gunman
WASHINGTON - Army brass in Iraq whitewashed an incident of a soldier killed by his own lieutenant by blaming the dead hero, stonewalling his family and promoting his killer, the Daily News has learned.
The friendly-fire victim, Pfc. David Sharrett, 27, of Oakton, Va., was "misidentified" by 1stLt. Timothy Hanson as an enemy gunman during a botched night raid Jan. 16, 2008, against an Al Qaeda in Iraq stronghold north of Baghdad, the Army belatedly acknowledged.
Sharrett bled to death as his buddies searched frantically for him for 25 minutes after the firefight ended.
For four months after the Army knew the truth, it still insisted to Sharrett's father that he was killed by enemy fire - and gave only atemporary wrist slap to Hanson under pressure from the families of Sharrett and two other G.I.s killed in the clash.
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