july clearinghouse

ron paul’s quixotic campaign confuses career pols

gonzales's truthfulness long disputed

california city to transform red light cameras into spy cameras

US agrees to $30bn defence aid deal with israel

flying robots of destruction

support our robots

k-what? unbuilt maui tv station lands questionable call letters

US army eyes truck-mounted laser

captured & killed al-qaeda figure was invented

report of terrorist 'dry run' at lindbergh a false alarm

trouble in bohemian grove paradise

confessions of the neo-cons

the re-emerging swastika

kissinger-led US group attends closed debate at putin home

senate doubles bin laden bounty to $50m

gun shops under closer scrutiny

senior french pol dares to question the 9/11 tale

poll: much of US favors bush impeachment

cia strangelove's altered the mind of a 4yr old girl

rumsfeld changes course, will testify on tillman death

from raw story: Former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld will testify at a Wednesday hearing on the friendly fire death of Army Specialist and former NFL player Pat Tillman.

"In a late breaking development, Secretary Rumsfeld will appear before the Oversight Committee tomorrow," stated a release from the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

The release was confirmed by the Oversight Committee's Republican staff.

Earlier, Raw Story reported that Rumsfeld had "a conflict," and had submitted answers to questions for the record.

No explanation was available at press time for Rumsfeld's change of heart.

update: rumsfeld denies tillman cover-up
from eontario: Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has denied that he was any part of a cover-up to hide the truth as to how Pat Tillman, former NFL star and Army Ranger, died during battle.

When Tillman originally died it was not revealed truthfully how it all happened. The truth finally came out thogh that the death of Pat Tillman was actually due to friendly fire. A House committee was hard at work on Wednesday but was told by Rumsfeld that he was no part of the cover-up to hide the truth.

novak likes the idea of president paul

from washington times: Bob Novak stopped by the Heritage Foundation today for a lunchtime discussion with conservative bloggers about his new professional autobiography, The Prince of Darkness.

While he lamented the practice of reporters acting as opinion drivers and news analysts, Novak wasn't shy about offering a few opinions of his own.

When asked to rate the current field of Republican presidential candidates, Novak didn't have any kind words for the current top-tier field of Rudy Giuliani, Fred Thompson, Mitt Romney and John McCain. But when pressed as to who he thinks will be the eventual nominee, Novak said he expects Thompson to get the nod.

However, Novak offered his own personal endorsement of Texas congressman Ron Paul. "He's a very engaging person... I'd like to see him as president," Novak said. "Can you imagine him at the United Nations?"

american moves to canada reach record high

from cbc: The number of Americans admitted to Canada last year reached a 30-year high, with a 20 per cent increase over the previous year and nearly double the number that arrived in 2000.

The results of a survey, conducted by the Association for Canadian Studies, also revealed that the so-called "brain drain" of Canada appears to be narrowing.

The survey found that 10,942 Americans came to Canada in 2006, compared to just over 9,262 in 2005. In 2000, 5,828 came to the country.

While twice as many Canadians went to the States than Americans came to Canada, that ratio diminished between 2005 and 2006...

"When looking at the differences over the past few years in the real numbers between the two countries, Canada is undoubtedly narrowing the brain drain," the study said.

The most educated immigrant group comes from the U.S, with nearly half possessing a bachelor's degree or higher, the study found.

Ontario was the most popular destination for Americans, followed by B.C. and Quebec.

Download Americans Go North: 2006 Migration of Americans to Canada hits 30 year record

iran asks japan to pay yen for oil

from bloomberg: Iran asked Japanese refiners to switch to the yen to pay for all crude oil purchases, after Iran's central bank said it is reducing holdings of the U.S. dollar.

Iran wants yen-based transactions "for any/all of your forthcoming Iranian crude oil liftings," according to a letter sent to Japanese refiners that was signed by Ali A. Arshi, general manager of crude oil marketing and exports in Tehran at the National Iranian Oil Co. The request is for all shipments "effective immediately," according to the letter, dated July 10 and obtained by Bloomberg News.

The yen rose on speculation for an increase in demand for the currency, the result of Japan's annual 1.24 trillion yen ($10.1 billion) of oil imports from Iran. Central bankers in Venezuela, Indonesia and the United Arab Emirates have said they will invest less of their reserves in dollar assets because of the weakening currency.

"What else can Japan do but to accept the request, once the oil producer sent its wish?" said Hirofumi Kawachi, an analyst at Mizuho Investors Securities Co. in Tokyo. "The tensions between the U.S. and Iran are escalating, and it's Iran's measure to hedge risk."

A spokesman for Iran's oil ministry in Tehran said he could neither confirm nor deny that the letter had been sent. Most Japanese oil refiners have until now used U.S. dollars to pay Iran for oil, said the spokesman, who declined to be identified by name because of government policy.

pentagon to implant microchips in soldiers

from press esc: The Department of Defense is planning to implant microchips in soldiers' brains for monitoring their health information, and has already awarded a $1.6 million contract to the Center for Bioelectronics, Biosensors and Biochips (C3B) at Clemson University for the development of an implantable "biochip".

Soldiers fear that the biochip, about the size of a grain of rice, which measures and relays information on soldiers vital signs 24 hours a day, can be used to put them under surveillance even when they are off duty...

The researcher predicts the biochip is five years away from human trials, and the DoD could start implanting microchips in soldiers bodies soon after.

surveillance cameras win broad support

from abc: Crime-fighting beats privacy in public places: Americans, by nearly a 3-to-1 margin, support the increased use of surveillance cameras - a measure decried by some civil libertarians, but credited in London with helping to catch a variety of perpetrators since the early 1990s.

Given the chief arguments, pro and con - a way to help solve crimes vs. too much of a government intrusion on privacy - it isn't close: 71 percent of Americans favor the increased use of surveillance cameras, while 25 percent oppose it.

Click here for PDF with full questionnaire and results

mckinney sues atlanta newspaper for libel

from atlanta progressive news: Former US Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D-GA) has sued the Atlanta Journal-Constitution newspaper for libel, Atlanta Progressive News has learned.

The lawsuit was filed on July 26, 2007, in State Court of Fulton County, according to a copy of the court filing obtained by Atlanta Progressive News.

The lawsuit focuses on what McKinney argues to be false claims in a July 30, 2006, Editorial written by the AJC’s Editorial Page Editor, Cynthia Tucker. Tucker received a Pulitzer Prize for a series of columns that year including that one...

Tucker wrote, McKinney "suggested President Bush had known in advance about the Sept. 11 attacks but did nothing to stop them so his friends could profit from the ensuing war." Tucker did write this.

The audio recording and transcript of McKinney’s actual remarks on Bush and September 11, 2001, were presented in the movie, American Blackout, and the record shows that McKinney never said what Tucker claims she did, despite the insistence of the AJC and other media outlets.

gangs spreading in the military

(well, i guess you'll have that when you actively recruit them...)

from cbs: Evidence of gang culture and gang activity in the military is increasing so much an FBI report calls it "a threat to law enforcement and national security." The signs are chilling: Marines in gang attire on Parris Island; paratroopers flashing gang hand signs at a nightclub near Ft. Bragg; infantrymen showing-off gang tattoos at Ft. Hood.

"It's obvious that many of these people do not give up their gang affiliations," said Hunter Glass, a retired police detective in Fayetteville, North Carolina, the home of Ft. Bragg and the 82nd Airborne. He monitors gang activity at the base and across the military.

"If we weren't in the middle of fighting a war, yes, I think the military would have a lot more control over this issue," Glass said. "But with a war going on, I think it's very difficult to do." ...

The U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command reported 61 gang investigations and incidents last year, compared to just 9 in 2004. But army officials point out less than 1 percent of all its criminal investigations are gang related...

The rise in gang activity coincides with the increase in recruits with records. Since 2003, 125,000 recruits with criminal histories have been granted what are known as "moral waivers" for felonies including robbery and assault.

watch the cbs video here & read part2 of this report: Are Gang Members Using Military Training?

outside the box #111

here is the latest episode of "outside the box," hosted by alex ansary.
it was originally broadcast by portland community media on july 26, 2007.

from alex ansary: Alex reports on the two anti-terrorism drills that are coming to Portland soon, Noble Resolve 07-2 in August and Top Off 4 in October. These exercises are geared towards getting local authorities to work with Homeland Security and other federal agencies in the event of a emergency.

darth cheney to get battery replaced

from new york times: Vice President Dick Cheney will undergo minor surgery Saturday morning to replace the battery that powers a device implanted in his chest six years ago to monitor his heart and deliver a shock if it ever goes out of rhythm.

“During the vice president’s annual physical examination in June, testing of his implantable cardioverter defibrillator indicated that the device’s battery has reached the level where elective replacement of the device is recommended,” Megan McGinn, deputy press secretary for Mr. Cheney, said Friday.

The surgery is to be performed at George Washington University Hospital, where doctors will replace the battery part of the defibrillator.

Dr. John Kassotis, director of electrophysiology at the State University of New York, Downstate Medical Center, said that doctors typically used a local anesthetic on the chest and shoulder area below the collar bone. They make an incision and remove the defibrillator’s generator, detaching it from wires that are connected inside the patient’s heart, and connect a new battery.

“They will test that everything is working appropriately; then they will suture him closed,” Dr. Kassotis said. “What we do is watch the patient for about an hour, make sure that they’re doing fine, and send them home.”

Mr. Cheney, 66, has had four heart attacks, quadruple bypass surgery, two angioplasties and, in June 2001, the operation to implant the defibrillator.

media monarchy episode035

here is the latest podcast from media monarchy...
episode035 - july 27, 2007 download/stream/subscribe

media monarchy is originally broadcast on the portland radio authority every friday at 10am pacific/1pm eastern and can also be heard on the revere radio network every monday at 4pm pacific/7pm eastern...

plus, you can always get podcasts of previous episodes thanks to radio4all.net

flag-defiling charge ends in fight & arrest

from asheville citizen-times: A couple who said they were protesting the state of the country by flying the U.S. flag upside down with signs pinned to it found themselves in jail following a scuffle with a deputy Wednesday morning.

Mark and Deborah Kuhn were arrested on two counts of assault on a government employee, resisting arrest and a rarely used charge, desecrating an American flag, all misdemeanors. The Kuhns were released from custody Wednesday afternoon.

“This is surreal,” Deborah Kuhn, 52, said moments after her son Mark Stidham paid $1,500 bond to get the couple out of jail.

news on the march

no evidence of enemy fire in tillman death
from ap: Army medical examiners were suspicious about the close proximity of the three bullet holes in Pat Tillman's forehead and tried without success to get authorities to investigate whether the former NFL player's death amounted to a crime, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press... No evidence at all of enemy fire was found at the scene — no one was hit by enemy fire, nor was any government equipment struck.

related: general faces demotion in tillman case

credit card aimed at relieving 'carbon footprints'
from nytimes: Feel guilty about fueling up that gas guzzler or buying that box of incandescent bulbs? Would you feel better if, instead of frequent flier miles or cash, your credit card’s rewards program allowed you to offset your role in global warming? General Electric is betting you will... Environmentalists are not quite as sure. “It’s ironic,” said Michael J. Brune, executive director for the Rainforest Action Network. “G.E. supplies parts for coal-fired plants, so its credit card offsets emissions it helps create.”

dna identifies another 9/11 victim
from newsday: The city medical examiner has identified the remains of one more of The Missing - the more than 1,100 people who died at the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, but whose bodies were never found. The medical examiner Tuesday announced that the remains of Edward Ryan, 42, of Scarsdale, who died at the World Trade Center, were identified by after DNA testing on remains found in a Con Edison manhole at Ground Zero in October.

fbi proposes building network of US informants
from abc: The FBI is taking cues from the CIA to recruit thousands of covert informants in the United States as part of a sprawling effort to boost its intelligence capabilities.

According to a recent unclassified report to Congress, the FBI expects its informants to provide secrets about possible terrorists and foreign spies, although some may also be expected to aid with criminal investigations, in the tradition of law enforcement confidential informants. The FBI did not respond to requests for comment on this story.

while real bullets fly, movies bring war home
from nytimes: On a night four years ago, five soldiers back from three months in Iraq went drinking at a Hooters restaurant and a topless bar near Fort Benning, Ga.

Before the night was over, one of them, Specialist Richard R. Davis, was dead of at least 33 stab wounds, his body doused with lighter fluid and burned. Two of the group would eventually be convicted of the murder, another pleaded guilty to manslaughter, and the last confessed to concealing the crime.

Now some in Hollywood want moviegoers to decide if the killing is emblematic of a war gone bad, part of a new and perhaps risky willingness in the entertainment business to push even the touchiest debates about post-9/11 security, Iraq and the troops’ status from the confines of documentaries into the realm of mainstream political drama.

liveleak exclusive: interview with ron paul

from liveleak: Shawn Wasson speaks to Texas congressman and republican presidential candidate Ron Paul exclusively for LiveLeak.com

oregon police terrorize children in the name of safety

from thought criminal: I found this absolutely disgusting. These children learned nothing from this except how to flop on the ground and grovel. These police officers are using aggressive behavioral modification techniques. Changing how kids behave around handguns or rifles. Essentially they are training them to be snitches for the police department. They will be fearful of legitimate firearms. While Bush is using 9/11 to keep Americans petrified, police departments across the country are using the Columbine and Virginia Tech shootings to run psychological operations on school kids.

from kval: For students, fire drills and earthquake drills are simply the norm, but on Wednesday, in a sign of the times, students in Albany took part in a school shooting drill that was very intense.

This may have been only a drill, but it's just about as real as it gets.

"Basically, the weaponry is the same weapon we carry on duty," said Albany Police Sgt. Travis Giboney. "However, they use a marking cartridge: kind of like a paintball, except it's a gas-driven paint pellet."

Two counties' worth of law enforcement, and a couple of dozen student volunteers, took part in this active shooter drill at West Albany High on Wednesday.

"It's kind of scary at first," says sophomore Matt Groshong. "You can even feel the gun when it goes off, and when it hits, when the bullets hit, it's all so realistic, it's just weird."

There are many unknowns, but one thing's for certain -- there's at least one shooter on a rampage.

As law enforcement heads into a situation, the kids who are playing the roles know what they're doing, and the bad guys also know what's going on. But these guys don't know what to expect. In that sense, it's the same feeling they'd have if they walked into an active shooter situation.

The bullets are replaced with paint, and the good guys always win, but the cops and the kids say they're better prepared for the worst.

"I don't think people think about it happening at their school, because they're like, oh, that doesn't happen here," said sophomore Jake Blecker. "But I mean, potentially it could happen anywhere, and so it kind of gives you an experience of what it would be like and how scary it would actually be."

There are about 100 law enforcement officials from Linn and Benton Counties taking part in the training, which continues through Thursday. Officials debrief each group after their simulations to talk about what they've learned, and how to improve.

armageddon time!

rapture ready: the unauthorized christians united for israel tour

from raw story: After attending the College Republican convention, Nation journalist Max Blumenthal took his camera to the Christians United for Israel's annual Washington-Israel Summit in D.C. Founded by right-wing mega-church pastor John Hagee, the group has "added the grassroots muscle of the Christian right to the already potent Israel lobby," "forging close ties with the Bush White House and members of Congress."

That evangelical support for Israel is largely based on "End Times" theology is largely irrelevant to the Israeli politicians who share the goal of expanding settlements into the West Bank and a military strike on Iran, but it is anything but irrelevant to the rank-and-file members and even one former House Majority Leader.

Blumenthal opens the video by interviewing Tom Delay, who when asked how much the "Second Coming" plays into his support for Israel, says, "obviously, it's what I live for, I hope it comes tomorrow."

Delay closed by saying, "we have to be connected to Israel to enjoy the second coming."

While Hagee and others have stated that "End-Times" theology or eschatology plays no role in their support for Israel, the people Blumenthal interviewed tell a different story. Former Israeli ambassador to the U.S. Dore Gold, also claims that it plays no role and is not concerned with the apocalyptic undertones of such a group, claiming only the Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad purports to want Armageddon.

Blumenthal then interviews a string of conference-goers who explain how when Jesus returns all of the Jews will be "saved" after realizing the divinity of Christ. He also speaks to several people who say they are looking forward to Armageddon, because it will bring about the "cleansing of the earth."

He is also hounded by a pair of PR flacks who want to make sure he is not asking questions about "End Times" or conversion of Jews, which according to them are questions, "okay to ask, but just not now."

Hagee stressed the need for a preemptive military attack on Iran to "prevent a nuclear holocaust" as he introduced Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) to thunderous applause from the crowd. Lieberman compared Hagee to Moses and pointed out a visiting Rick Santorum as a "worker for what is good in our society."

Other conference attendees were quick to note that Muslims are satanic, and that the anti-Christ would most likely be a "man of peace." Much like the College Republican convention, Blumenthal is eventually kicked out after confronting Hagee with a passage from his book that blames the Jews for their own persecution.

Watch whole video here.

hero 9/11 rescue dog dies of cancer

from nbc5: A black Labrador that burrowed through smoking debris after Sept. 11 and flooded rubble after Hurricane Katrina in search of survivors has died of cancer.

Owner Mary Flood had 12-year-old Jake put to sleep Wednesday after a last stroll through the fields and a dip in the creek near their home in Oakley, Utah. Flood said Jake had been in pain, shaking with a 105-degree fever as he lay on the lawn.

No one can say whether the dog would have gotten sick if he hadn't been exposed to the toxic air at the World Trade Center, but cancer in dogs Jake's age is common.

Some owners of rescue dogs who worked at ground zero claim their animals have died because of their work there. But scientists who have spent years studying the health of Sept. 11 search-and-rescue dogs have found no sign of major illness in the animals.

Many human ground zero workers have complained of health problems they attribute to their time at the site: the largest study conducted of about 20,000 ground zero workers reported last year that 70 percent of patients suffer respiratory disease years after the cleanup.

The city earlier this year added to its Sept. 11 death toll a woman who died in 2002 of lung disease, five months after she was caught in the dust cloud of the collapsing twin towers.

The results of an autopsy on Jake's body will be part of a medical study on the Sept. 11 dogs that was started by the University of Pennsylvania more than 5 years ago.

Flood adopted Jake as a 10-month-old puppy. He had been abandoned on a street with a broken leg and a dislocated hip.

"But against all odds he became a world-class rescue dog," said Flood, a member of Utah Task Force 1, a federal search-and-rescue team that looked for human remains at ground zero.

On the evening of the team's arrival in New York, Jake walked into a fancy Manhattan restaurant wearing his search-and-rescue vest and was treated to a free steak dinner under a table.

Flood eventually trained Jake to become one of fewer than 200 U.S. government-certified rescue dogs - an animal on 24-hour call to tackle disasters such as building collapses, earthquakes, hurricanes and avalanches.

After Katrina, Flood and Jake drove from Utah to Mississippi, where they searched for survivors in flooded homes...

"He was a great morale booster wherever he went," Flood said. "He was always ready to work, eager to play - and a master at helping himself to any unattended food items."

She said Jake's ashes would be scattered "in places that were important to him," such as his Utah training grounds and the rivers and hills near his home where he swam and roamed.

bbc: bush's grandfather planned fascist coup in US

from propaganda matrix: A BBC Radio 4 investigation sheds new light on a major subject that has received little historical attention, the conspiracy on behalf of a group of influential powerbrokers, led by Prescott Bush, to overthrow FDR and implement a fascist dictatorship in the U.S. based around the ideology of Mussolini and Hitler.

In 1933, Marine Corps Maj.-Gen. Smedley Butler was approached by a wealthy and secretive group of industrialists and bankers, including Prescott Bush the current President's grandfather, who asked him to command a 500,000 strong rogue army of veterans that would help stage a coup to topple then President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

According to the BBC, the plotters intended to impose a fascist takeover and "Adopt the policies of Hitler and Mussolini to beat the great depression."

The conspirators were operating under the umbrella of a front group called the American Liberty League, which included many families that are still household names today, including Heinz, Colgate, Bird's Eye and General Motors.

Butler played along with the clique to determine who was involved but later blew the whistle and identified the ringleaders in testimony given to the House Committee on un-American Activities.

However, the Committee refused to even question any of the individuals named by Butler and his testimony was omitted from the record, leading to charges that they were involved in covering the matter up, and the majority of the media blackballed the story.

In 1936, William Dodd, the U.S. Ambassador to Germany, wrote a letter to President Roosevelt in which he stated,

"A clique of U.S. industrialists is hell-bent to bring a fascist state to supplant our democratic government and is working closely with the fascist regime in Germany and Italy. I have had plenty of opportunity in my post in Berlin to witness how close some of our American ruling families are to the Nazi regime.... A prominent executive of one of the largest corporations, told me point blank that he would be ready to take definite action to bring fascism into America if President Roosevelt continued his progressive policies. Certain American industrialists had a great deal to do with bringing fascist regimes into being in both Germany and Italy. They extended aid to help Fascism occupy the seat of power, and they are helping to keep it there. Propagandists for fascist groups try to dismiss the fascist scare. We should be aware of the symptoms. When industrialists ignore laws designed for social and economic progress they will seek recourse to a fascist state when the institutions of our government compel them to comply with the provisions."

The proven record of Prescott Bush's involvement in financing the Nazi war machine dovetails with the fact that he was part of a criminal cabal that actively sought to impose a fascist coup in America.

Prescott did not succeed but many would argue that two generations down the line the mission has all but been accomplished.


In his documentary film Martial Law, Alex Jones interviews John Buchanan, who was instrumental in uncovering the documents tying Prescott Bush to the financing of the Third Reich. Watch a clip above. The subject is also covered in Alex's upcoming film, End Game, which includes rare video of Smedley Butler's testimony.

Click here to listen to the BBC Radio 4 investigation. (11mb mp3)

related: mccormack-dickstein committee

terrorcheese

from cnn: Police across the country should be on the lookout for what could be "dry runs" for a terrorist attack, the TSA advised after series of suspicious incidents occurred at U.S. airports.

An unclassified advisory, sent July 20 from TSA to law enforcement agencies, raised the possibility that recent activity could be "pre-attack security probes."

CNN obtained the advisory from a government source.

The TSA downplayed the significance of the advisory in a statement released to the media following its leak.

The TSA said it was one of more than 90 bulletins sent to police in the past six months "with the intent to provide as much information as possible to our front line officers."

"There is no intelligence that indicates a specific or credible threat to the homeland," the TSA said.

The advisory details four incidents from the past 11 months in which screeners found unusual objects with items that could mimic bomb components in passengers' checked or carry-on bags.

In one case last September, a couple in Baltimore, MD, checked a plastic bag with a block of processed cheese taped to another plastic bag containing a cell phone charger. Earlier this month in San Diego, CA, a passenger checked a bag containing two ice packs covered in duct tape. The ice packs had clay in them instead of the normal blue gel.

Terrorists could be testing the system, or could be conducting repeated operations to desensitize security officials, the bulletin says...

The bulletin also details a case from June in which a passenger in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, had a carry-on bag with items resembling IED components, such as a wire coil wrapped around a possible initiator, an electrical switch, batteries, three tubes and two blocks of cheese.

'loose change' producer korey rowe arrested

from paul joseph watson: Loose Change producer and Iraq and Afghanistan veteran Korey Rowe has been arrested and handed over to military officials without bail for allegedly "deserting the Army".

According to a report in the New York Daily Star, Rowe was arrested on Monday night at a county Route 47 residence in Oneonta.

Rowe was arrested on a "military warrant" that Devlin said was brought to the attention of deputies by the Oneonta Police Department, who received information from a source outside of that department.

Rowe was living at the Route 47 home, Devlin said.

City police officials who were able to comment on the case were unavailable Tuesday night. After deputies received the information from Oneonta police, they reached out to the Army, and officials from Fort Knox faxed a copy of the warrant, deputies said.

Arrests and court martials for deserters are incredibly rare and this appears to be an obvious case of political persecution as the Loose Change crew prepare the cinematic release of the final version of their popular documentary.

According to MSNBC, "Despite a rise in desertions from the Army as the Iraq war drags on into a fifth year, the U.S. military does almost nothing to find those who flee and rarely prosecutes those it gets its hands on."

The Army court-martialed just 5% of deserters last year, with that number dropping to just 1 per cent or less for the Navy and the Marines.

Rowe enlisted in the Army in August 2001 and left in June 2005. He has been out of the Army for over two years. He was previously arrested under similar circumstances but was immediately released.

'the war against US all'

here is the 19th episode of 9/11 synchronicity

from 8thestate: PRACTICAL SOLUTIONS TO MANKIND'S PROBLEMATIC FUTURE [part 1 in a mini-series]

Addressing: Global Warming, Global Poverty, Global Terror, Global Hunger, Global Health & Global Ignorance...

Originally Published in Hi-Quality via iTunes as a Video Podcast (iTunes search "8thestate" or "9/11 Synchronicity" for the Video Podcast)

Alternatively: go to renaissance.libsyn.com for Hi-Qual download

indonesia debates microchipping hiv patients

from bbc: Legislators in the Indonesian province of Papua are debating whether to approve a bill allowing microchips to be implanted in people with HIV.

The measure has been put forward as a way of preventing the spread of HIV in the Indonesian province. But the move is facing stiff opposition from health workers.

About 2.4% of Papuans are known to be carrying the virus, and infection rates in the province are estimated to be 15 times the national average.

The proposals were put forward by a member of the parliament's health committee.

He told the BBC that Papua's government could no longer rely on traditional means of stopping the spread of the disease, and microchips could provide a means of tracking people who continued to infect others.

As well as calling for the introduction of microchips, the bill also suggests mandatory testing of every resident in Papua.

Parliamentarians are reported to have discussed tattooing those found to be carrying the virus.

Papua's AIDS commission has rejected the bill. It said it was not involved in the drafting process and that the proposals were illogical and inhuman.

Marking out anyone carrying the virus, it said, would contravene their human rights.

To become law the bill would need to be approved by government, health and legal experts and pass a public consultation.

oregon to use face recognition for driver's licenses

from seattle times: In an effort to curtail identity theft, the 2005 Legislature directed the state Department of Transportation to use facial recognition software before issuing driver's licenses.

The deadline for putting the changes into effect is the summer of 2008, but the conversion to the new system has started...

"The computer will spit out possible matches, and if it looks like an attempt at fraud, we don't issue a license and notify law enforcement," said David House, a spokesman for the Driver and Motor Vehicles Services Division...

The Department of Transportation is contracting with Beaverton-based Digimarc to do the image scanning and the centralized production of licenses.

The images will not be shared with other state governments, or the federal government, House said, so it will still be possible for a person to go across state lines to obtain a duplicate identification...

The American Civil Liberties Union opposed the system during the 2005 legislative session and hasn't changed its stance. The ACLU says facial-recognition software results in more false alarms than positive identifications. It says such systems are easily fooled by changes in hairstyle, facial hair or body weight, by simple disguises, and by the effects of aging.

But state Rep. Gene Whisnant, R-Sunriver, said any uneasiness about Big Brother is unwarranted. "If there is a trade-off, I would lean toward protection of the people for ID theft, and that's a big problem in the fight against meth," he said.

The Federal Trade Commissions Identity Theft Clearinghouse said Oregon had the 13th highest rate of reported ID theft in the country in 2006, with 76.1 victims per 100,000 people.

'maybe people who think there's a conspiracy are right'

from oregonian: Oregonians called Peter DeFazio's office, worried there was a conspiracy buried in the classified portion of a White House plan for operating the government after a terrorist attack.

As a member of the U.S. House on the Homeland Security Committee, DeFazio, D-Ore., is permitted to enter a secure "bubbleroom" in the Capitol and examine classified material. So he asked the White House to see the secret documents.

On Wednesday, DeFazio got his answer: DENIED.

"I just can't believe they're going to deny a member of Congress the right of reviewing how they plan to conduct the government of the United States after a significant terrorist attack," DeFazio says.

Homeland Security Committee staffers told his office that the White House initially approved his request, but it was later quashed. DeFazio doesn't know who did it or why.

"We're talking about the continuity of the government of the United States of America," DeFazio says. "I would think that would be relevant to any member of Congress, let alone a member of the Homeland Security Committee."

Bush administration spokesman Trey Bohn declined to say why DeFazio was denied access: "We do not comment through the press on the process that this access entails. It is important to keep in mind that much of the information related to the continuity of government is highly sensitive."

Norm Ornstein, a legal scholar who studies government continuity at the conservative American Enterprise Institute, said he "cannot think of one good reason" to deny access to a member of Congress who serves on the Homeland Security Committee.

"I find it inexplicable and probably reflective of the usual, knee-jerk overextension of executive power that we see from this White House," Ornstein said.

This is the first time DeFazio has been denied access to documents. DeFazio has asked Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., to help him access the documents.

"Maybe the people who think there's a conspiracy out there are right," DeFazio said.

science chief: cut birthrate to save earth

from guardian: The new head of the Science Museum has an uncompromising view about how global warming should be dealt with: get rid of a few billion people. Chris Rapley, who takes up his post on September 1, is not afraid of offending. 'I am not advocating genocide,' said Rapley. 'What I am saying is that if we invest in ways to reduce the birthrate - by improving contraception, education and healthcare - we will stop the world's population reaching its current estimated limit of between eight and 10 billion.'

outside the box #110

here is the latest episode of "outside the box," hosted by alex ansary.
it was originally broadcast by portland community media on july 19, 2007.

from alex ansary: Alex returns from another wilderness awareness journey right before the show, but that didn't slow down any of tonight's news reporting. He covers the latest food news concerning China, the recently released Bin Laden tapes, robotic attack planes in Iraq, and then took phone calls.

brutal US & Sunni alliance 'ugly, but effective'

from raw story: CNN on Thursday showed graphic footage of a pro-US Sunni militiaman beating and threatening to kill a suspected al-Qaeda member and of another al-Qaeda member being executed by a militia group.

"In Anbar Province," President Bush recently boasted, "Sunni tribes that were once fighting alongside al-Qaeda against our coalition are now fighting alongside our coalition against al-Qaeda. We're working to replicate the success in Anbar in other parts of the country."

According to CNN, American commanders say they do not condone the violence and summary executions, but they appear to accept them as an "ugly but effective" aspect of the war. Although "the Shia-dominated government in Baghdad is not happy, wary of US support for armed Sunni groups," this is also unlikely to carry much weight with US commanders.

In a followup pice on Friday, Baghdad correspondent Michael Ware commented on the "unseemly" nature of the strategy, saying, "Does it have some ugly edges? Yeah. And American commanders knew this when they commissioned this project. ... They're putting the fear into al Qaeda, and that's why we're seeing such an enormous change in the attacks in Anbar Province."

"The Shia government is dead against it," Ware continued. "The government sees that these Sunni militias are being used as a counterbalance to their own Shia militias, which of course are backed by Iran." However, Ware sees that as an additional advantage to the strategy in the eyes of the US military. "These people are not fools," he said of the US commanders. "They know what's going on."

The following video contains clips from CNN's Anderson Cooper 360, broadcast on July 19 and CNN's American Morning, broadcast on July 20.

massive ron paul article in nytimes magazine

The Antiwar, Anti-Abortion, Anti-DEA, Anti-Medicare Candidacy of Dr. Ron Paul
from new york times: Whipping westward across Manhattan in a limousine sent by Comedy Central’s “Daily Show,” Ron Paul, the 10-term Texas congressman and long-shot Republican presidential candidate, is being briefed. Paul has only the most tenuous familiarity with Comedy Central. He has never heard of “The Daily Show.” His press secretary, Jesse Benton, is trying to explain who its host, Jon Stewart, is. “He’s an affable gentleman,” Benton says, “and he’s very smart. What I’m getting from the pre-interview is, he’s sympathetic.”

Paul nods.

“GQ wants to profile you on Thursday,” Benton continues. “I think it’s worth doing.”

“GTU?” the candidate replies.

“GQ. It’s a men’s magazine.”

“Don’t know much about that,” Paul says.

Thin to the point of gauntness, polite to the point of daintiness, Ron Paul is a 71-year-old great-grandfather, a small-town doctor, a self-educated policy intellectual and a formidable stander on constitutional principle. In normal times, Paul might be — indeed, has been — the kind of person who is summoned onto cable television around April 15 to ventilate about whether the federal income tax violates the Constitution. But Paul has in recent weeks become a sensation in magazines he doesn’t read, on Web sites he has never visited and on television shows he has never watched.

Alone among Republican candidates for the presidency, Paul has always opposed the Iraq war. He blames “a dozen or two neocons who got control of our foreign policy,” chief among them Vice President Dick Cheney and the former Bush advisers Paul Wolfowitz and Richard Perle, for the debacle. On the assumption that a bad situation could get worse if the war spreads into Iran, he has a simple plan. It is: “Just leave.” During a May debate in South Carolina, he suggested the 9/11 attacks could be attributed to United States policy. “Have you ever read about the reasons they attacked us?” he asked, referring to one of Osama bin Laden’s communiqués. “They attack us because we’ve been over there. We’ve been bombing Iraq for 10 years.” Rudolph Giuliani reacted by demanding a retraction, drawing gales of applause from the audience. But the incident helped Paul too. Overnight, he became the country’s most conspicuous antiwar Republican.

media monarchy episode034

here is the latest podcast from media monarchy...
episode034 - july 20, 2007 download/stream/subscribe

media monarchy is originally broadcast on the portland radio authority every friday at 10am pacific/1pm eastern and can also be heard on the revere radio network every monday at 4pm pacific/7pm eastern...

plus, you can always get podcasts of previous episodes thanks to radio4all.net

paul craig roberts: 'something's in the works'

from raw story: Thom Hartmann began his program on Thursday by reading from a new Executive Order which allows the government to seize the assets of anyone who interferes with its Iraq policies.

He then introduced old-line conservative Paul Craig Roberts -- a former Assistant Secretary of the Treasury under Reagan who has recently become known for his strong opposition to the Bush administration and the Iraq War -- by quoting the "strong words" which open Roberts' latest column: "Unless Congress immediately impeaches Bush and Cheney, a year from now the US could be a dictatorial police state at war with Iran."

"I don't actually think they're very strong," said Roberts of his words. "I get a lot of flak that they're understated and the situation is worse than I say. ... When Bush exercises this authority [under the new Executive Order] ... there's no check to it. It doesn't have to be ratified by Congress. The people who bear the brunt of these dictatorial police state actions have no recourse to the judiciary. So it really is a form of total, absolute, one-man rule. ... The American people don't really understand the danger that they face."

Roberts said that because of Bush's unpopularity, the Republicans face a total wipeout in 2008, and this may be why "the Democrats have not brought a halt to Bush's follies or the war, because they expect his unpopular policies to provide them with a landslide victory in next year's election."

However, Roberts emphasized, "the problem with this reasoning is that it assumes that Cheney and Rove and the Republicans are ignorant of these facts, or it assumes that they are content for the Republican Party to be destroyed after Bush has his fling." Roberts believes instead that Cheney and Rove intend to use a renewal of the War on Terror to rally the American people around the Republican Party. "Something's in the works," he said, adding that the Executive Orders need to create a police state are already in place.

"The administration figures themselves and prominent Republican propagandists ... are preparing us for another 9/11 event or series of events," Roberts continued. "Chertoff has predicted them. ... The National Intelligence Estimate is saying that al Qaeda has regrouped. ... You have to count on the fact that if al Qaeda's not going to do it, it's going to be orchestrated. ... The Republicans are praying for another 9/11."

Hartmann asked what we as the people can do if impeachment isn't about to happen. "If enough people were suspicious and alert, it would be harder for the administration to get away with it," Roberts replied. However, he added, "I don't think these wake-up calls are likely to be effective," pointing out the dominance of the mainstream media.

"Americans think their danger is terrorists," said Roberts. "They don't understand the terrorists cannot take away habeas corpus, the Bill of Rights, the Constitution. ... The terrorists are not anything like the threat that we face to the Bill of Rights and the Constitution from our own government in the name of fighting terrorism. Americans just aren't able to perceive that."

Roberts pointed out that it's old-line Republicans like himself, former Reagan associate deputy attorney general Bruce Fein, and Pat Buchanan who are the diehards in warning of the danger. "It's so obvious to people like us who have long been associated in the corridors of power," he said. "There's no belief in the people or anything like that. They have agendas. The people are in the way. The Constitution is in the way. ... Americans need to comprehend and look at how ruthless Cheney is. ... A person like that would do anything."

Roberts final suggestion was that, in the absence of a massive popular outcry, "the only constraints on what's going to happen will come from the federal bureaucracy and perhaps the military. They may have had enough. They may not go along with it."

The full audio of Thom Hartmann's interview with Paul Craig Roberts can be found here.

plame to appeal dismissal of suit in cia case

from npr: Lawyers for CIA operative Valerie Plame say they plan to appeal a judge's decision dismissing Plame's lawsuit against Vice President Cheney and other current and former Bush administration officials.

Plame claimed they leaked her covert CIA status in retribution for her husband's public criticism of the administration.

In 2003, Plame's husband, former ambassador Joseph Wilson, accused the administration of manipulating intelligence to justify the Iraq war. His detailed critique in The New York Times forced the White House to recant a key piece of evidence the president cited in his State of the Union justification for the war.

Thursday, Judge John Bates, a Bush appointee, acknowledged that the Plame lawsuit raised questions as to the propriety of actions taken by government officials at the highest level. But the judge dismissed the case, saying it was outside the court's jurisdiction as authorized by Congress.


from you tube: CREW's Melanie Sloan responds to the dismissal of Valerie Plame Wilson and Joe Wilson's civil suit against administration officials...