israel unveils portable hunter-killer robot

from reuters: An Israeli defense firm on Thursday unveiled a portable robot billed as being capable of entering most combat zones alone and engaging enemies with an onboard armory that includes a machine-pistol and grenades.

The VIPeR, roughly the size of a small television, was invented as part of Israel's efforts to develop weaponry that could reduce the risks to its forces from hand-to-hand fighting against Palestinian or Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas.

The manufacturer, Elbit Systems Ltd., said that the VIPeR's small size and dual treads enable it to move "undeterred by stairs, rubble, dark alleys, caves or narrow tunnels".

As well as bomb-sniffing and bomb disposal equipment, the VIPeR can carry an Uzi machine-pistol or plant a grenade. The weapons would be aimed using an onboard video camera.

According to Elbit, which has close links with the Defense Ministry, Israel plans to deploy the VIPeR among its infantry units after field tests. The robot could also be of interest to foreign police units or U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.

the robert f kennedy assassination

from google video/wikipedia: U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy was fatally wounded by a gunshot in Los Angeles at approximately 12:15AM on June 5, 1968, and died 26 hours later.

The convicted assassin, 24-year-old Palestinian Sirhan Bishara Sirhan is widely thought to have been acting alone. Sirhan attributed the killing to Kennedy's support for Israel during and after the Six-Day War, although there is no record of RFK supporting Israel during that period.

On March 3, 1969, in a Los Angeles, California court, Sirhan admitted that he had killed Kennedy. Sirhan has since recanted, and as late as 1998 has sought a new trial. Various vocal critics have claimed the official account of Robert Kennedy's death is inconsistent and incomplete.

wyden pushes for release of cia 9/11 report

from ktvz: Believing that the American people have a right to know how the CIA performed prior to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), a senior member of the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, today, offered an amendment Wednesday that would require the Director of the CIA to declassify the Executive Summary of the CIA Inspector General's report on 9/11.

The CIA report is the only major 9/11 government review that has not been made public.

Wyden's amendment to the "Improving America's Security by Implementing Unfinished Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Act of 2007" (S.4) is cosponsored by U.S. Senators Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) and Kit Bond (R-MO), the Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee. Senator Wyden's remarks offering the amendment are [here].

captain america dead at 89

from afp/raw story: Captain America, the comic book superhero with a penchant for figure-hugging body suits in red, white and blue, has died at the age of 89, shot dead in New York... felled by a sniper's bullet on the steps of a Manhattan court house.

"Breaking news: Few details are clear at this time, but the scene outside the Federal Courthouse in Manhattan is a portrait of chaos and confusion as a former superhero has been shot," Marvel comics said on its website...

Draped in the American flag, a giant "A" on his mask and a shield that handily doubled as a discus, Captain America was part of the US war effort, created just months before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

His first cover saw him punching Adolf Hitler in the face and he entered his golden age after the United States joined World War II. But he soon faded in popularity after the war and was retired in 1950 before returning in the 1960s...

Co-creator Joe Simon, himself a little older than Captain America at 93, told the New York Daily News he was saddened by his character's demise. "It's a hell of a time for him to go. We really need him now," he said.

baudrillard, french intellectual critic of 9/11 & war, dies

from times online: Jean Baudrillard, the French philosopher and intellectual, famous for his controversial theories about the artificial nature of reality and his fierce criticism of consumer culture, has died in Paris. He was 77.

Baudrillard, one of Europe’s leading postmodernist thinkers, was perhaps best known for espousing the concept of “hyperreality” and “simulation” – that things do not happen if they are not seen to happen, and that spectacle is crucial in creating our perception of the world...

Baudrillard first attracted worldwide attention in 1991 with his deliberately provocative book The Gulf War Did Not Take Place in which he argued that neither side could claim victory by the end of the war and that the conflict had changed nothing on the ground in Iraq.

Nothing was as it appeared in the war, he said, claiming that the public’s - and even the military’s - perception of the conflict came filtered through images from the media. As a result, the conflict was best seen as a simulation - Saddam Hussein was not defeated; the US-led coalition had scarcely battled the Iraqi military and did not really win, since the political state in Iraq altered little after the carnage.

Just over a decade later, in an essay entitled The Spirit of Terrorism: Requiem for the Twin Towers, he triggered fresh debate by describing the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Centre as an expression of “triumphant globalisation battling against itself”.

While terrorists had committed the atrocity, he wrote, “it is we who have wanted it - terrorism is immoral, and it responds to a globalisation that is itself immoral.” The attacks, he argued, were a fusion of history, symbolism and dark fantasy, “the mother of all events.”

the only antiwar candidate

from live leak: Ron Paul tells us why he is and always has been against the War in Iraq.

outside the box #91

here is the latest episode of "outside the box," hosted by alex ansary.
it was originally broadcast by portland community media on march 1, 2007.

from alex ansary: Alex discusses a wide range of news including: Israel's goal to secure clearance to fly over several middle eastern nations in order to strike Iran. There are also new revelations concerning the (now public ) US policy of aiding the Sunnis as a tool against the Shiites. There is also new information about the Oklahoma City bombing, and September 11th. The plunge of the Dow Jones that occured on 2-27-07 is mentioned. There is also a brief note about a Republican representative in Oregon who has just proposed legislation against the North American Union.

militainment inc: the militarization of pop culture

from roger stahl: Militainment, Inc. is a nine-part critical investigation of the militarization of popular culture. The pieces of the puzzle - from video games to reality TV - combine to form a larger picture of the integration of entertainment and military affairs. The film asks: How has war taken its place as an entertainment spectacle? and What does this mean for the ability of our democracy to consider this most destructive of human activities?

sick people used like lab rats in GM trials

from independent: Genetically modified potatoes developed by Monsanto, the multinational biotech company, have been fed to sick patients in an experiment. Rats that ate similar potatoes in the research suffered reductions in the weight of their hearts and prostate glands.

Dr Michael Antoniou, reader in molecular genetics at Guy's, King's and St Thomas' School of Medicine, said use of humans was "irresponsible and totally unethical, especially when already ill subjects were enrolled. These people truly were guinea pigs." Other scientists said the trials were too short, on too few people, to give meaningful results of long-term effects.

Monsanto said the vegetables were safe, and the researchers conducting the experiment said effects on the rats were within "permissible" limits.

The experiment is described in a hitherto unpublished report by the Nutrition Institute of the Russian Academy of Medical Science, done "by agreement with Monsanto Company" in 1998.

news on the march

russian journalist dies in suspicious fall
from abc news: Respected Russian journalist Ivan Safronov, who reported on military affairs, mysteriously plunged to his death from the 5th floor of his apartment building Friday, making him the 14th journalist to die under questionable circumstances in Putin's Russia, according to statistics compiled by the Committee to Protect Journalists.

russian expert shot near dc-area home
from abc news: An expert on Russian intelligence was critically injured in a shooting in front of his suburban Washington home, authorities said. The shooting of Paul Joyal, 53, came days after he accused the Russian government of involvement in the poisoning of former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko.

aide: terrorist act will make giuliani president
from newsweek: "I have thought for the longest time that [Giuliani] had zero chance," an aide to another Republican candidate who asked for anonymity talking up the chances of his boss's rival, tells Newsweek. "But he's got real momentum. And if there's a terrorist attack between now and the election, he could be the next president of the United States."

ND pilot alleges 9/11 cover-up
from west central tribune: Field McConnell is convinced the 9/11 terrorist attacks are being covered up. The Northwest Airlines pilot from rural Glyndon, Minn., said a second attack is imminent and conspirators already have aborted their plan once this year.

tarpley on the upcoming war with iran
from winter patriot: Webster Tarpley gave a powerful presentation on February 24th at a 9/11 conference in Arizona, part of which is preserved here. The audio on this clip is less than great for the first five minutes or so, but it gets a lot better... Thanks to paulagloria.

media monarchy episode016

here is the latest podcast from
media monarchy...
episode016 - march 2, 2007

media monarchy is originally broadcast on the portland radio authority every friday at 10am pst/1pm est... music, media & all the news that's fit to suppress!

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

giuliani to run for president of 9/11

from the onion: At a well-attended rally in front of his new Ground Zero headquarters Monday, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani officially announced his plan to run for president of 9/11.

"My fellow citizens of 9/11, today I will make you a promise," said Giuliani during his 18-minute announcement speech in front of a charred and torn American flag. "As president of 9/11, I will usher in a bold new 9/11 for all."

If elected, Giuliani would inherit the duties of current 9/11 President George W. Bush, including making grim facial expressions, seeing the world's conflicts in terms of good and evil, and carrying a bullhorn at all state functions.

"Let us all remember how we felt on that day, with the world watching our every move, waiting on our every word," said Giuliani, flanked by several firefighters, ex-New York Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik, and Judith Nathan, his third wife. "With a campaign built on traditional 9/11 values, and with the help of every citizen who believes in the 9/11 dream, I want to make 9/11 great again."

According to Washington–based political analyst Gregory Hammond, Giuliani's candidacy "should not be underestimated."

"Sure, he has no foreign or national policy experience, and both his personal life and political career are riddled with scandal," said Hammond. "But in the key area of having been on TV on 9/11, the other candidates simply cannot match him. And as we saw in 2004, that's what matters most to voters in this post-9/11 world."

After his downtown Manhattan announcement, Giuliani held an afternoon rally near the Pentagon. In the early evening, he flew to a field outside Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where he hosted a $5,000-a-plate fundraising dinner in a tent decorated with clouds of ash, streaming sheets of singed office paper, and small piles of authentic rubble from the World Trade Center site.

Among the policy planks listed on his website are his Cleaner Air Act, which would severely limit the levels of smoke and harmful gases allowed to pour from 747s flying into 110-story office buildings, guaranteed health insurance covering burns caused by shards of burning metal, and his "No Child Left Behind In A Smoldering Skyscraper" initiative.

Giuliani supporters praised the candidate for his "early and unwavering commitment" to 9/11.

"People talk about Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, but did either of them happen to be mayor of New York in September 2001?" Bedford, NH resident Helen Rolfe said. "Guiliani was. To me, that speaks volumes about this man."

Though his campaign apparatus is not yet fully operational, Giuliani's "mobile campaign units" - refurbished fire trucks decorated with banners, balloons, and bloodstains, whose droning sirens continuously blare Giuliani's official campaign song - have already begun canvassing towns in Iowa and New Hampshire.

Giuliani's pro-9/11 message seems to be resonating with potential voters. Said Ames, IA voter Alan Benoit: "I remember seeing Rudolph Giuliani's face, on television, saying reassuring things during a highly emotional moment filled with fear and confusion. He's got my vote."

With more than a year until the primaries—unless Giuliani's court-filed request to hold New York's primary on the second Tuesday in September is approved—Giuliani said it is too early to discuss potential running mates, though he refused to rule out the possibility of naming a twisted, half-melted aluminum beam, an FDNY ball cap, or even John McCain. Giuliani, however, called rumors that he had met with a large shard of glass from the wreckage of the Pentagon "patently untrue."

"Letting 9/11 fall into the hands of the Democrats in 2008 would be nothing short of a national tragedy," Giuliani said. "Ever since 9/11 was founded that fateful day on 9/11, 9/11 has stood for one thing: 9/11."

brotherhood official: emmanuel goldstein is alive

from ap/breit bart: A senior Taliban commander says Osama bin Laden is alive and in contact with leaders of Afghanistan's Taliban insurgents, according to an interview aired on British television.

Mullah Dadullah said he had not met bin Laden since the fall of the Taliban regime after the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, but said "we know he's still alive."

"He's not yet martyred. Such information would be easy to get - his comrades stand shoulder to shoulder with us. They keep us informed," Dadullah said in an interview broadcast Wednesday by Channel 4 News.

The authenticity of the information could not be confirmed. Channel 4 did not say how it had obtained the footage, and it was not known when or where Dadullah made the comments, which were translated into English.

Dadullah, commander of Taliban operations in eastern and southeastern Afghanistan and a trusted associate of Taliban leader Mullah Omar, said bin Laden met outsiders rarely. Dadullah did not comment on bin Laden's whereabouts.

"Only his comrades see him; we exchange messages with each other to share plans," Dadullah said. "We also go to the battlefield together. We actually meet very rarely, just for important consultations. It's hard for anyone to meet Bin Laden himself now, but we know he's still alive."

Dadullah said the Taliban had "hundreds more" suicide bombers ready to attack NATO forces in Afghanistan. NATO commanders have said they believe the Taliban plans a spring offensive against alliance troops in the country.

what if everything we thought we knew about 9/11 was wrong?

from arizona nbc12: Hundreds of people from across the country descend on a Chandler resort to challenge popular beliefs about 9/11.

What many people consider to be the most devastating attack ever on Americans is also the government's greatest lie, according to many attending the 9/11 Accountability Conference.

One person told us she feels like they get nothing but lies and propaganda from the government when it comes to seeking answers about the attack.

The 9/11 Truth Movement began on the internet. Followers cite alternative research that suggests the hijackers on the planes had help, and it wasn't from Osama Bin Laden. They question everything about the attacks.

Truth Movement supporters say they doubt much of what the government tells them about U.S. intelligence, the twin towers collapse and the investigations. Some people we talked to say the government has such highly sophisticated technology, that it would be impossible for the planes to go off course without anyone knowing.

Others say, the twin towers could not have collapsed the way they did without some kind of controlled demolition.

And many fear the government is using the war on terror to further an agenda to take away American's freedoms.

The 9/11 Truth followers are calling for a new independent investigation. They believe high ranking U.S. government officials are covering up the truth, and may have in some way orchestrated the attacks.

As to why so many people chose to believe the government? Some say, it’s easier to go along with the majority than follow unpopular beliefs.

click here for the video

cnn announced wtc7 collapsed 1hr too soon

Another Smoking Gun? Now CNN Jumps the Gun: On 911 CNN Announced WTC 7 "Has Either Collapsed or is Collapsing" Over an Hour Before it Fell

from information liberation: In an amazing redux, new video has been unearthed of a CNN report on the day of 9/11 in which a CNN anchor announces they have received word that WTC 7 is on fire and "has either collapsed or is collapsing." The problem with this is that WTC 7 is clearly visible behind the anchor.

This report was carried at "about 4:15 eastern daylight time" (according to the anchor), over an hour before the building actually collapsed at 5:20. Who told them the WTC 7 building "has either collapsed or is collapsing."?

Keep in mind he did not say it was going to collapse, he said it either had or was in the process of doing so. The anchor says is "we are getting information now", who is giving him this information? If you pay close attention you can see after the anchor announces this he turns around and sees the building as clear as day still standing, he then proceeds to backtrack on the initial information which informed him clearly the building "has either collapsed or is collapsing."

This report is doubled in significance seeing as it comes on the heels of a report that BBC announced that WTC 7 had collapsed over 20 minutes before it actually fell. Both of the anchors were told the building had collapsed, the question is who told them?

nj senators introduce 9/11 immigration bill

from courier post: Illegal immigrants who lost loved ones on 9/11 could become legal residents under legislation Sen. Frank Lautenberg introduced Tuesday.

Also championed by Sen. Robert Menendez, the bill would allow survivors of victims identified by the September 11 Victims Compensation Fund to receive permanent residency - or “green” - cards. An identical proposal didn’t pass the previous Congress.

Co-sponsors are Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, and four other Democratic senators: Hillary Clinton of New York, Christopher Dodd of Connecticut, Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts, and Russ Feingold of Wisconsin.

Independent Sen. Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut has also signed on. So have Republicans Sam Brownback of Kansas and Norm Coleman of Minnesota.

In the House, Reps. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., and Peter King, R-N.Y., have sponsored similar legislation.

To read the bill, go to http://thomas.loc.gov/ and search for S. 615, the September 11 Family Humanitarian Relief and Patriotism Act.

stocks have worst day since 9/11

from ap/yahoo: Stocks had their worst day of trading since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks Tuesday, hurtling the Dow Jones industrials down more than 400 points on a worldwide tide of concern that the U.S. and Chinese economies are stumbling and that share prices have become overinflated.

The steepness of the market's drop, as well as its global breadth, signaled a possible correction after a long period of stable and steadily rising stock markets that had not been shaken by such a volatile day of trading in several years.

bbc announced wtc7's collapse 23min too soon

revealing, shocking video shows reporter talking about collapse with WTC 7 still standing in background...

from prison planet: An astounding video uncovered from the archives today shows the BBC reporting on the collapse of WTC Building 7 over twenty minutes before it fell at 5:20pm on the afternoon of 9/11. The incredible footage shows BBC reporter Jane Standley talking about the collapse of the Salomon Brothers Building while it remains standing in the live shot behind her head.

Minutes before the actual collapse of the building is due, the feed to the reporter mysteriously dies.

This amazing clip was on Google Video (now back again here), but was removed within hours of the story breaking. However, hundreds of people had already managed to download the clip and it has gone viral on the Internet and the censors won't be able to shut the lid this time. A YouTube upload is available here but we fully expect this to be removed soon. You can watch it for the time being at this link and also here. A WMV link is here (on our server) and a Quicktime here. Bit torrent versions of the file can be found here. An avi version can be found here.

To be clear, the Salomon Brothers Building is just a different name for Building 7 or WTC 7.

Although there is no clock or time stamp on the footage, the source claims the report was given at 4:57pm EST, 23 minutes before Building 7 collapsed at 5:20pm. While the exact time of the report cannot be confirmed at present, it is clear from the footage that the reporter is describing the collapse of WTC 7 while it clearly remains standing behind her in the live shot...

The fact that the BBC reported on the collapse of Building 7 over twenty minutes in advance of its implosion obviously provokes a myriad of questions as to how they knew it was about to come down when the official story says its collapse happened accidentally as a result of fire damage and debris weakening the building's structure.

As we have documented before, firefighters, police and first responders were all told to get back from the building because it was about to be brought down. It is widely acknowledged by those who were there on the scene that warnings were issued for people to evacuate the area in anticipation of the building's collapse, with some even stating that a 20 second countdown preceded the collapse of the 47-story skyscraper, again clearly suggesting that it was taken down by means of explosives as the video footage of its implosion illustrates.

Alex Jones' film TerrorStorm documents how Thermate was the likely culprit for the implosion of the twin towers and also explores the collapse of WTC 7.

In a September 2002 PBS documentary, the owner of the WTC complex Larry Silverstein discusses Building 7 and states that in the late afternoon of September 11, the decision was made to "pull it." The term "pull it" is industry jargon for controlled demolition, but Silverstein denied charges that WTC 7 had been deliberately brought down.

This newly uncovered video confirms that the collapse of WTC 7 was no surprise, because television news stations were reporting on it before it happened!

This footage is absolutely amazing and should provoke a firestorm of new questions aimed both at Silverstein and the BBC. Who told the BBC that the building was going to collapse before it did and why were they reporting its fall in advance of the event actually taking place?

Many have speculated that some kind of press release was leaked too soon and AP wires, radio stations and TV news outlets prematurely reported on WTC 7's collapse.

The video also severely undermines the credibility of the BBC who recently caused controversy by airing a 9/11 hit piece that sought to debunk questions that bring the official story into doubt.

Calls have already been put through to the BBC reporting the "mistake," click here to listen to an MP3. The BBC have promised to "look into it."

Moronic commenters on Digg are already trying to bury the story, yet none of them have an answer as to why the BBC reported the building's collapse before it happened. Click here to add your own comment and counter the debunkers.

ACTION: E-Mail the BBC and ask them to clarify exactly why their reporter is announcing the collapse of Building 7 before it has collapsed.

outside the box #90

here is the latest episode of "outside the box," hosted by alex ansary.
it was originally broadcast by portland community media on february 22, 2007.

from alex ansary: With the issue of 911, the police state, and the surveillance society at the forefront for many activists, there is a larger mystery lurking behind the curtain. Tonight I spoke with Tom Horn, investigative journalist and webmaster of Raiders News Network. We discussed the complex issue of the 'new eugenics' AKA Transhumanism. We also talked about the current technological advances concerning the cross breeding of animal/human embryos. This program ponders the ultimate question: "What does it mean to be a human being?"

This is one extremely informative edition of Outside the Box.

merck mercenaries

from blacklisted news/youtube: Gardasil is one of the Merck's brightest lights as the company faces lawsuits, layoffs and the looming patent expiration of its top earner, Zocor. Merck faces 9,200 lawsuits from plaintiffs who blame Vioxx, the $2.5 billion arthritis painkiller Merck pulled off the market in 2004, for heart attacks, many of them fatal.

Shocked that people are so blind, sure they say they wanna help you with that new age drug but the facts remain they are up a creek without a paddle!

So far, Merck lost the first state case but won the second. The third case, in federal district court, was declared a mistrial. Merck has lost about a third of its stock value since the withdrawal.

oregon aims to put real id on fast-track

from news register: Across the United States, a diverse coalition of states, from left-leaning Massachusetts to right-leaning Arizona, Georgia and Wyoming, are rebelling against the Real ID Act. But Oregon isn't one of them.

The 2005 federal law calls for national standardization of driver's licenses by May 2008, effectively creating a national citizenship card. And in Oregon, lawmakers are intent on figuring out how to comply, not how to avoid complying.

On Thursday, citizens with strong feelings of all stripes packed two hearing rooms to sound off.

The issue was Senate Bill 424, sponsored by the Mount Hood Democrat who chairs the Senate Business, Transportation and Workforce Committee. After two hours of testimony, he assured the audience definitive action would be taken.

"We will be doing something," Sen. Rick Metsger said. "If we did nothing, we'd have done something, because at this moment, the federal government is going to require us. If we don't do it, then that is also an affirmative action that could be detrimental. Maybe some of us will get calls from 85-year old World War II veterans who want to know how come they can't get on an airplane."

If that prompts you to ask what boarding a plane has to do with a driver's license, it's because a license issued in accordance with the Real ID Act would, for all intents and purposes, function as a national identification card.

Whether that's a proper name for it is itself a topic of debate. Rep. Linda Flores, a Clackamas County Republican who's introduced her own version of implementing language in the House, said state compliance with the federal act would actually "eliminate the need" for a national ID card.

"It's kind of in the eye of the beholder," said Caroline Fredrickson of the American Civil Liberties Union's head office in Washington, D.C. "This looks like a national ID card, it acts like one and it sounds like one. I don't think there's any question that it's a national ID card."

hersh: US funds al-qaeda

from thinkprogress: New Yorker columnist Sy Hersh says the “single most explosive” element of his latest article involves an effort by the Bush administration to stem the growth of Shiite influence in the Middle East (specifically the Iranian government and Hezbollah in Lebanon) by funding violent Sunni groups.

Hersh says the U.S. has been “pumping money, a great deal of money, without congressional authority, without any congressional oversight” for covert operations in the Middle East where it wants to “stop the Shiite spread or the Shiite influence.” Hersh says these funds have ended up in the hands of “three Sunni jihadist groups” who are “connected to al Qaeda” but “want to take on Hezbollah.”

Hersh summed up his scoop in stark terms: “We are simply in a situation where this president is really taking his notion of executive privilege to the absolute limit here, running covert operations, using money that was not authorized by Congress, supporting groups indirectly that are involved with the same people that did 9/11.”

US, china & russia ♥ cluster bombs

from washington post: Forty-six countries agreed Friday to push for a global treaty banning cluster bombs, a move activists hope will force the superpowers that oppose the effort - the U.S., China and Russia - to abandon the weapons...

Of the 49 countries attending the Oslo conference, only three - Japan, Poland and Romania - rejected the declaration calling for a treaty by next year. Some key arms makers - including the U.S., Russia, Israel and China - snubbed the conference.

media monarchy episode015

here is the latest podcast from
media monarchy...
episode015 - february 23, 2007

media monarchy is originally broadcast on the portland radio authority every friday at 10am pst/1pm est... music, media & all the news that's fit to suppress!

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

news on the march

giuliani invokes 9/11 in latest SC visit
from the state: Republican presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani met with firefighters and police officers in Spartanburg on Wednesday, using the forum to discuss the Sept. 11 terror attacks that earned him national attention.

“The first people that arrive on the scene of the bombing or the anthrax attack ... it’s going to be one of your brothers or your sisters or you that gets to do it,” the former New York City mayor told a crowd of about 200 emergency workers. “Your ability to do it well will once again determine if we save lives — save America.”

pbs piece on terrorist surveillance program
from cryptogon: Your email and conversation is monitored.


mcveigh had high-level help
from salt lake tribune: Oklahoma City bombing conspirator Terry Nichols says a high-ranking FBI official "apparently" was directing Timothy McVeigh in the plot to blow up a government building and might have changed the original target of the attack, according to a new affidavit filed in U.S. District Court in Utah.

The official and other conspirators are being protected by the federal government "in a cover-up to escape its responsibility for the loss of life in Oklahoma," Nichols claims in a Feb. 9 affidavit.


children's tv 'is linked to cancer, autism, dementia'
from scotsman: It has long been blamed for creating a nation of couch potatoes. But a new report today claims that Britain's love affair with television is causing far more damage - both physically and psychologically - than previously thought...

"It is the number of hours and the age at which they start which produces the biological effects. It is because of the medium, not the message, that these effects are occurring."

cheney arrival is met with protests

from the west australian: US Vice-President Dick Cheney’s arrival in Sydney last night was met with a city in lockdown and a taste of protests to come.

Mr Cheney stepped off Airforce 2 to be greeted by Defence Minister Brendan Nelson, NSW Deputy Premier John Watkins and US Ambassador to Australia Robert McCallum.

He chatted briefly before climbing into a black limousine and being whisked away under escort.

A strong security presence was in place for the Vice-President, who is in Australia for three days of talks on topics including the war in Iraq, with scores of police on the tarmac. Helicopters also circled above.

Unfortunately, 10 protesters were arrested when scuffles broke out between police at a rally near Sydney Town Hall.

Organised by the Stop the War Coalition, things turned nasty when about 200 people attempted to break a line of police and march to the US Consulate.

But police, supported by mounted officers, held their positions.

Mr Cheney arrived in Australia after having spent two days in Japan discussing security issues and visiting troops on the US island of Guam.

He will hold talks with Prime Minister John Howard and Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd, as well as make a major policy speech.

outside the box #89

here is the latest episode of "outside the box," hosted by alex ansary.
it was originally broadcast by portland community media on february 15, 2007.

lou dobbs & the north american union traitors

from you tube: North American Union traitors include Chertoff, Condi Rice, George W. Bush, Alberto Gonzalez, and others, like Robert Pastor and David Rockefeller.

group sues feds over medical marijuana claims

from ap/yahoo: Armed with a new study showing the drug can ease pain in some HIV patients, medical-marijuana advocates sued the federal government Wednesday over its claim that pot has no accepted medical uses.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court by Americans for Safe Access, accuses the government of arbitrarily preventing "sick and dying persons from seeking to obtain medicine that could provide them needed and often lifesaving relief."

The Food and Drug Administration's position on medical marijuana "is incorrect, dishonest and a flagrant violation of laws requiring the government to base policy on sound science," Joe Elford, said chief counsel for Americans for Safe Access.

California is one of 11 states that have made marijuana legal for people with a doctor's recommendation. But because the U.S. government does not recognize pot's medical benefits, patients can still be arrested by federal authorities.

Last week, researchers from the University of California at San Francisco reported in the journal Neurology that a test involving 50 HIV patients showed that those who smoked pot experienced much less pain than those given placebos.

billboards urge preparedness for attack on 11/9/09

from infowars: These rather fetchingly huge fearmongering billboards have been going up across America recently to advertise the Red Cross.


Note that they interestingly place the date of a future "attack" as November 9th 2009, that is 11/9/09.

Also note that the small print states the attack is to be a bio-chemical attack.

Are you scared yet?

ludicrous diversion

from google video: On the 7th of July 2005 London was hit by a series of explosions. You probably think you know what happened that day. But you don’t.

The police have, from the onset of their investigation, chosen to withold from the public almost every bit of evidence they claim to have and have provably lied about several aspects of the London Bombings.

The mainstream news has wilfully spread false, unsubstantiated and unverifiable information, while choosing to completely ignore the numerous inconsistencies and discrepancies in the official story.

The government has finally, after a year, presented us with their official ‘narrative’ concerning the event. Within hours it was shown to contain numerous errors, a fact since admitted by the Home Secretary John Reid. They have continuously rejected calls for a full, independent public inquiry. Tony Blair himself described such an inquiry as a ‘ludicrous diversion’. What don’t they want us to find out?

contact ludicrousdiversion@hotmail.com

nypost bashes ebersole for saying 9/11 an inside job

from nypost: Add Christine Ebersole to the list of kooks who say the 9/11 terror attacks were an inside job. The "Grey Gardens" star went on writer John Conner's radio show the other night to say she agrees with him that a corrupt faction within the U.S. government is to blame. "I think we want to look at our government as sort of like a benevolent father that's going to take care of us and be kind to us and treat us well, and I think it's too much for our people to conceptualize, and I'm sure that's what happened to people in Nazi Germany," Ebersole said.

from 9/11 blogger: Please show some support to Christine Ebersole by chiming in with a quick note of support on her website guestbook and by sending a letter defending her position and praising her courage to the editor of the page six gossip column at richard.johnson@nypost.com...

You can find the official announcement of her statement here, and you can digg that story here as well.

Update: You can find an MP3 of the interview here
(thanks to truthcult.com)

Hat tip to prisonplanet for the heads up!

report finds US terrorism statistics inaccurate

from reuters: Nearly all of the terrorism-related statistics reported by the U.S. Justice Department and the FBI from the September 11 attacks until early 2005 had some inaccuracies, the department's inspector general said on Tuesday.

The findings drew immediate criticism from U.S. senators, who said it raised serious doubts over how effectively the administration was fighting the terrorism threat.

"If the Department of Justice can't even get their own books in order, how are we supposed to have any confidence they are doing the job they should be?," said Sen. Charles Schumer, a New York Democrat.

"Whether this is just an accounting error or an attempt to pad terror prosecution statistics for some other reason, the Department of Justice of all places should be classifying cases for what they are, not what they want us to think them to be," Schumer said.

The report found that only two out of 26 statistics were accurate after reviewing the number of terrorism convictions in the 2003 and 2004 financial years, the number of convictions or guilty pleas from September 11, 2001, through February 3, 2005, and the number of terrorist threats tracked by the FBI in 2003 and 2004.

"We found many cases involving offenses such as immigration violations, marriage fraud, or drug trafficking where department officials provided no evidence to link the subject of the case to terrorist activity," the report said.

Inspector General Glenn Fine said the Justice Department should clarify the definitions it uses in its anti-terrorism categories, maintain adequate support for the numbers and improve internal controls to improve accuracy.

The report found the statistics were inaccurately reported for various reasons.

Sen. Chuck Grassley, an Iowa Republican and a judiciary committee member, said of the report: "The question I have now is whether the inaccuracies are an accident or if there was some other motive behind it."

The collection and reporting of terrorism-related statistics have been decentralized and haphazard, according to the report and most of the statistics were significantly overstated or understated.

Department officials failed to establish internal controls to make sure the statistics were accurately gathered, classified, and reported.

In response to the report, spokesman Dean Boyd said the Justice Department, with few exceptions, had already implemented the changes recommended by the inspector general.

blair pleads the case for biometric ID cards

from afp: Prime Minister Tony Blair has written personally to thousands of people opposed to the introduction of identity cards, but admitted he would struggle to convince civil liberties groups.

Blair told nearly 28,000 people who signed an on-line petition on his own website that ID cards would make an "important contribution" countering fraud, international crime and terrorism as well as tackling illegal immigration.

The petition - which calls for Blair to scrap the plan as it would not prevent terrorism or crime and would be "yet another tax on all law-abiding citizens" - is one of the most popular on the Number 10 Downing Street site.

Blair's e-mail to signatories said it would be "foolish" not to take the opportunity to use biometric data like fingerprints to secure a person's identity and disputed "exaggerated" claims about the cost of the scheme.

"Terrorists routinely use multiple identities - up to 50 at a time. Indeed this is an essential part of the way they operate and is specifically taught at Al-Qaeda training camps," he wrote.

"One in four criminals also uses a false identity. ID cards which contain biometric recognition details and which are linked to a National Identity Register will make this much more difficult." ...

"I recognise that these arguments will not convince those who oppose a National Identity Scheme on civil liberty grounds," he added...

The first ID cards are expected to be issued from 2008-09. Having one will be compulsory but citizens will not be required to carry them at all times. Such a scheme has not existed in Britain since World War II.

Campaigners such as the NO2ID group argue ID cards will erode civil liberties and that the scheme is based on untried, over-complicated technology used by an executive with unchecked powers.

They are also concerned at certain ethnic minority groups being unfairly targeted and the potential for it to be a "ready-made police-state tool" for any unscrupulous future government.

The main opposition Conservative Party and smaller Liberal Democrats are both opposed to the scheme.

new footage of jfk in dallas released

from reuters: Previously unreleased footage of John F. Kennedy's fateful motorcade in Dallas moments before he was gunned down was released on Monday, a surprising new detail in a saga that has gripped the United States for four decades.

The silent 8mm film shows a beaming Jacqueline Kennedy close up in vivid color waving to the crowd...

The president's coat is clearly if briefly seen bunched up on his back - a detail that will be scrutinized by conspiracy theorists who see evidence of a plot in, among other things, the fact the bullet wounds on his jacket and body did not appear to match.

The film was donated to the Sixth Floor Museum in Dallas by amateur photographer George Jefferies and his son-in-law, Wayne Graham. It was released to coincide with the Presidents Day federal holiday.

Museum curator Gary Mack said he was not surprised Jefferies took so long to come forward.

"Everyone who captured the motorcade before the assassination thinks their pictures are unimportant. But to historians, all photos and home movies are important to possibly answer questions that will be asked in the future," he said...

The footage was taken less than 90 seconds before the fatal shots were fired. The 40-second film also shows the scene of the crime the following day.

The footage is sure to be new fodder for conspiracy buffs who have long maintained Kennedy was the victim of a sinister plot orchestrated by shadowy elements in either the government, the "military-industrial complex," the Mafia or communist Cuba.

"I've already seen the footage on a conspiracy Web site - it's interesting for the conspiracy researchers to study Kennedy's coat which appears to be bunched up on his back," Mack said.

He said since Kennedy's jacket was riding high on his back, the entry wound in his body did not match the expected position in his coat - grist for the conspiracy mill that charges more than three shots were fired.

report: bush all set to attack iran

from indian express: The Bush administration's preparation to strike Iran is complete with the top commander of the US Central Command having received computerised plans for ‘Operation Iranian Freedom’, a report has said.

"American military operations for a major conventional war with Iran extend far beyond targeting suspect WMD (weapons of mass destruction) facilities and will enable President George Bush to destroy Iran's military, political and economic infrastructure overnight using conventional weapons," the journal New Statesman has claimed.

In a story titled Attack-Revealed: America's Plans to Invade Iran, the journal quoting British military sources, said ‘the US military switched its whole focus to Iran’ as soon as Saddam Hussein was removed from power. The White House continued this strategy, even though it had American forces bogged down in Iraq.

The US army, navy, air force and marines have all prepared battle plans and spent four years building bases and training for 'Operation Iranian Freedom'. Admiral Fallon, the new head of US Central Command, has inherited computerised plans under the name TIRANT (Theatre Iran Near Term).

Even as the sending of a second aircraft carrier to the Gulf has been highlighted, the US navy can put six carriers into battle at a month's notice.

The report said any US general planning to attack Iran could now assume that at least 10,000 targets could be hit in a single raid, with warplanes flying from the US or Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean.

secret nuremberg notebooks

from google video: Based on the book 'The Nuremberg Interviews' by Leon Goldensohn.