Chuck a Wobbly

As they say in Australia......

2006-06-07T17:58:00.000+10:00

"Tell someone who cares!"

Royal Bank 'manager of the year' admits defrauding £21 million

Donald MacKenzie set up loans on false accounts

A FORMER award-winning banker was in jail last night and facing a lengthy prison sentence after he admitted a £21 million fraud, believed to be the biggest case of its kind in Scotland.

Donald MacKenzie, 45, was business banking manager with the Royal Bank of Scotland in its Princes Street branch in Edinburgh. He devised a scheme which allowed customers to obtain loans which would otherwise have been refused to them. The huge amount of fraudulent business earned him performance-related bonuses of tens of thousands of pounds and brought him the Business Manager of the Year accolade three years in succession. The scheme also benefited one close associate to the tune of £1.6 million.

MacKenzie himself made "only" tens of thousands of pounds from the con, partly through the performance-related bonus in his salary. The bank is attempting to recover money but fears it could lose as much as £10 million. The "best-case scenario" is a loss of £4 million, it says.
A judge at the High Court in Edinburgh was asked to continue bail for MacKenzie until he is sentenced later this month. However, Lord Kinclaven said: "Having regard to the nature of the matters before me, I am satisfied that the appropriate course is that you be remanded in custody."

MacKenzie pleaded guilty to obtaining loans amounting to £21,386,040 by fraud from the RBS between April 1999 and March 2004. He further admitted stealing £37,170.

Ha bloody ha! I wonder if he has any Ashkenazi blood in him? Doubt it though cos otherwise he wouldn't have been found out and caught!

Camille Flammarion and the 'German Woodcut'

2006-06-05T19:12:00.000+10:00

Camille Flammarion
http://www.sgny.org/main/Biographies/bio_CF.htm

Camille Flammarion was born in Montigny-Le-Roy, today known as Haute-Marne , France , on February 26th, 1842 . He disincarnated in Juvissy , France , on June 4th, 1925 .

Flammarion was a man whose works enlightened the XIX century. He was the oldest of a family of four children, and at a very young age revealed exceptional qualities. He usually complained that time did not allow him to accomplish a tenth of that which he had planned. At four he already knew how to read, at four and a half knew how to write, and at five already dominated the rudiments of grammar and arithmetic. He turned out to have the highest grades at the school that he attended.

In order to be able to follow the ecclesiastical career, he was enrolled with Vicar Lassalle to learn Latin. Through him Flammarion was introduced to the New Testament and Oratory. In a short time he was reading the speeches of Massilon and Bonsuet. Priest Mirbel spoke about the beauty of science and of the greatness of Astronomy and little did he know that one of his students was literally drinking up his words. That student was Camille Flammarion, the one that would illustrate and demonstrate the letter and the Gaelic-Roman significance of his name - Flammarion: "The one who carries the light ".

In the religious classes he was taught that only one thing is essential: "the salvation of the soul," and his teachers said: "Of what use can it be to man to conquer the Universe if he ends up losing his soul?"

The life of the Flammarion family was a very difficult one, and Camille understood his father's merit when he decided to delegate everything he possessed to the creditors. He recognized in him, the most beautiful example of energy and work; however, that situation led him to live with few resources.

After a long search, Camille finally found a job as an engraver’s apprentice, and received room and board as part of his payment. He had very little to eat and not of good quality. He slept on a hard bed, with the barest of comforts. The work was rough and his employer was very demanding, as he desired everything to be accomplished quickly. Flammarion intended to complete his studies, particularly mathematics, the English language and Latin. He desired to obtain a bachelor degree, and in order to achieve this he was obliged to study at night by himself. He went to bed late and not always had a candle. He usually wrote under the moonlight, yet he considered himself to be a very happy person. In spite of studying at night, he worked a 15 to16 hours day. He entered the School of Drawing of the Friars of São Roque's Church, which he attended every Thursdays. Naturally, his Sundays were free and he managed to find a way to occupy himself. On this day he attended the conferences given by the abbot on Astronomy. Soon thereafter he was diffusing the association of the drawing students of São Roque's Friars, all of the apprentices resided in the neighborhoods. His objective was to dedicate himself to the sciences, literature and drawing, which was quite an ambitious program.

At 16 years of age, Camille Flammarion was elected president of the Academy, and when it was inaugurated, Flammarion’s opening speech was "The Marvels of Nature." At that same time he wrote "Universal Cosmogony," a book of five hundred pages. His brother, who was very close to him, and he became his bookseller and publisher. Also, at 16 years of age, he wrote his first work called "The World Before the Appearance of Humankind." He liked Astronomy more than Geology. To summarize his life one could say: to pass with difficulty, to study excessively, and to work in exaggeration.

One Sunday he fainted during mass, but in fact it turned out to be a providential fainting. Doctor Edouvard Fornié went to see the patient. Next to his bed there was a manuscript of the book "Universal Cosmology." After seeing the work, Dr. Fornié thought that Camille deserved a better position, and promised, to place him in the Observatory, as a student of Astronomy. Upon entering the Observatory of Paris, which at the time was managed by Levèrrier, he suffered excessively due to the impertinences of the director's persecutions. Levèrrier could not conceive of the idea of such a young man actually being able to understand studies of such a transcendental order.

Leaving the Observatory of Paris, in 1862, he continued to pursue his studies more freely, thus being able to delegate to Humanity his most beautiful teachings on the silent areas of the Infinite. Free from the suffocating atmosphere of the Observatory, he published the "Plurality of the Inhabited Worlds," that same year, attracting the attention of all scholars. In order to understand the direction of the aerial currents, in 1868, he researched about aerostatic ascension.

For the publication of his "Popular Astronomy," in 1880 he received the Montyon prize from the French Academy , in 1880, In 1870 he wrote and published a study about the rotation of the celestial bodies, through which he demonstrated that the movement in the rotation of the planets, is an application of the gravity to its respective densities. He became a convicted spiritist, and a personal and dedicated friend of Allan Kardec. He was the speaker designated to give the last rites at the grave of the Codifier of Spiritism, whom he denominated "the reason incarnated."

His works, in a general way, rotate around the spiritist postulates of the plurality of the inhabited worlds. They are the following: "The Imaginary Worlds and the Real Worlds," "The Celestial Marvels," "God in Nature," "Scientific Contemplations," "Studies and Reading on Astronomy," "Atmosphere," "Popular Astronomy," " General Description of the Sky," "The World Before the Appearance of Humankind," "The Comets," "The Haunted Houses," "Narrations of the Infinite," "Stellar Dream," "Urânia," "Estella," "The Unknown," "Death and its Mystery," "Psychic Problems," "The End of the World," and others.

According to Gabriel Delanne, Camille Flammarion was a philosopher crafted in a wise person, possessing the art of the science and the science of the art. Flammarion--" poet of the Skies," as he was denominated by Michelet—"became an exponent of Spiritism, because, he was always coherent had unshakable convictions, a true and innovative idealist.

Source in Portuguese: http://www.sobiografias.hpg.ig.com.br

Camille Flammarion, L'Atmosphere: Météorologie Populaire (Paris, 1888), p. 163.

The Flammarion Woodcut is an enigmatic woodcut by an unknown artist. It is referred to as the Flammarion Woodcut because its first documented appearance is in page 163 of Camille Flammarion's L'atmosphère: météorologie populaire (Paris, 1888), a work on meteorology for a general audience. The woodcut depicts a man peering through the Earth's atmosphere as if it were a curtain to look at the inner workings of the universe.
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The widely circulated woodcut of a man poking his head through the firmament of a flat Earth to view the mechanics of the spheres, executed in the style of the 16th century cannot be traced to an earlier source than Camille Flammarion's L'Atmosphere: Météorologie Populaire (Paris, 1888, p. 163) [1]. The woodcut illustrates the statement in the text that a medieval missionary claimed that "he reached the horizon where the earth and the heavens met", an anecdote that may be traced back to Voltaire, but not to any known medieval source. In its original form, the woodcut included a decorative border that places it in the 19th century; in later publications, some claiming that the woodcut did, in fact, date to the 16th century, the border was removed. Flammarion, according to anecdotal evidence, had commissioned the woodcut himself. In any case, no source of the image earlier than Flammarion's book is known. (quote from en:Flat Earth)

The caption translates to "A medieval missionary tells that he has found the point where heaven and Earth meet...".

Flammarion, (Nicolas) Camille (1842-1925)
http://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/F/Flammarion.html

His first book, La pluralité es mondes habité (The Plurality of Inhabited Worlds), originally published in 1862, secured his reputation as both a great popularizer and a leading advocate of extreme pluralism. By 1882, it had gone through 33 editions, and continued to be translated and reprinted well into the twentieth century.

Flammarion's passionate belief in life on other worlds was nurtured by his readings of previous pluralist authors such as Fontanelle, Cyrano de Bergerac, Huygens, Lalande, and Brewster. He, and another French writer, J. H. Rosny, were the first to popularize the notion of beings that were genuinely alien and not merely minor variants on humans and other terrestrial forms. In his Real and Imaginary Worlds (1864) and Lumen (1887), he describes a range of exotic species, including sentient plants which combine the processes of digestion and respiration. This belief in extraterrestrial life, Flammarion combined with a religious conviction derived, not from the Catholic faith upon which he had been raised, but from the writings of Jean Reynaud and their emphasis upon the transmigration of souls. Man he considered to be a "citizen of the sky," others worlds "studios of human work, schools where the expanding soul progressively learns and develops, assimilating gradually the knowledge to which its aspirations tend, approaching thus evermore the end of its destiny." His linking of pluralism with transmigration, though an old idea, helps explain why these doctrines are often found together in writings from the closing decades of the nineteenth century.

Flammarion's best-selling work, his epic Astronomie populaire (1880), translated as Popular Astronomy (1894), is filled with speculation about extraterrestrial life.
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Flammarion's fertile imagination moves from romantic science to scientific romance in his Recits de l'infini (1872) and La fin du monde (1893). The former includes several tales which describe the reincarnation of a spirit on other worlds in various alien forms, while the latter has been seen as a precursor to Stapledon's Last and First Men.

His later studies were on psychical research, on which he wrote many works, among them Death and Its Mystery (3 vol., 1920-1921). Flammarion earned the amorous attention of a French countess who died prematurely of tuberculosis. Although they never met, the young woman made an unusual request to her doctor, that when she died he would cut a large piece of skin from her back, bring it to Flammarion, and ask that he have it tanned and used to bind a copy of his next book. (The woman also had a picture of Flammarion tattooed on herself!) Flammarion's first copy of Terres du Ciel was bound thus, with an inscription in gold on the front cover: "Pious fulfillment of an anonymous wish/ Binding in human skin (woman) 1882".

It appears that Camille Flammarion was a child prodigy who continued to shine throughout his life. Maybe we should look a little more into his writing and other works?

The ‘German Woodcut’ that is, slowly but surely, becoming more apparent a work by his own hand has created much consternation through the years. Some have looked in awe, some have dated it 3-4 hundred years earlier and some have thought it was related to the ideology of the ‘flat earth’ society.

The translation - "A medieval missionary tells that he has found the point where heaven and Earth meet..." is interesting. I do not have the book L'Atmosphere: Météorologie Populaire or have access to it and therefore cannot confirm that this is the actually copy of page 163 in the book and the original caption. But if it is then we must look more closely at the image to understand what the author meant.

"Un missionnaire" does this truly translate into "A medieval missionary" or does it mean a traveller in the sense of a writer/illustrator in the mind of the author. In fact a way that he sees/saw the universe? Flammarion had a vivid imagination and was exceptionally talented. Can we assume that he had discovered knowledge not available to others and wished to record the fact without bringing his reputation into dispute? A common occurrence with those who are sceptics and dyed hard in the wool of controlled science.

Look at the picture above, consider the talents of Flammarion and his work and then please explain to me why he would presume that someone could look at the universe by ‘breaking through’ a curtain from an everyday terra firma landscape?

Had he made a discovery that would have been mindblowing not only to himself but also the scientific crowd and therefore depicted his theory in this manner?

So, what in my opinion, is this great discovery?

I see someone breaking through the time barrier between the reality of the 3rd density and the hard to explain 4th density. I say ‘hard to explain’ because if you look at the top left and notice the wheels they could be illustrated to be viewed in more than a 2 dimensional view. In the 4th density it is postulated that an object can be viewed and all details are seen even when the viewer is only looking from the one point of view. Is/are the wheel/s an attempt to show this phenomenon using a 2 dimensional drawing and thus the rest of the image ‘behind the curtain’ a reality of 4th density? Your guess is as good as mine but it is an interesting concept nonetheless.

Australia and its neighbours

2006-06-02T17:10:00.000+10:00

Policing the Pacific From The Economist print edition

Australia has done well, but Asia needs a posse, not just a lonely sheriff

ANOTHER week, another failing Pacific state: Australia must be wearying of the troubles in its backyard. This time it is Timor-Leste, or East Timor as it was until recently known.

Isn't it time that these people grew up and began to be more responsible? When are they going to learn and understand that they cannot live in this modern world with delusions of grandeur when they have so little to bargain with? I am not talking about the peasants, who I believe just want to get on with their lives but those that assume the task of government, they are pathetic!

How the 'poor' live

2006-05-26T18:21:00.000+10:00

The above advert was in the local paper. Many, I assume, think it a good deal but in my opinion a waste of money. Yes it is aimed at the TV viewers for Wednesday night's State of Origin league match but, come on, you can do better than that.

Today I put 4 cups of flour, 3 teaspoons of yeast and 2 cups of liquid in a bowl, mixed them up, chucked it out onto a floured bowl and kneaded it for about 5 minutes, put it back in the bowl to rise. When it had doubled in size I knocked it back then once again chucked it onto the floured board, kneaded it into shape then cut it into 3 equal pieces, each piece was then divided in four and shaped into a roll. They were left to rise to double their size again and then baked in the oven for 25 minutes.

Tonight we each had two egg rolls. The eggs were from the backyard chooks.

The total cost - maybe about $1 dollar all up for our meal!

Where in the world has everyone's commonsense gone?

Political hypocracy

2006-05-26T16:59:00.000+10:00

Code-of-conduct call for banks

May 26, 2006

THE Federal Government must keep pressure on banks about interest rates and considering codes of conduct for regulating the way they do business, the Opposition said todayLabor leader Kim Beazley said the banks paid attention to what government ministers said, and the "bully pulpit" should be turned on them.

"We ought to keep the wood on them, about not just (interest rates) but about a whole range of banking practices," Mr Beazley told Macquarie Radio.

"We ought to be looking at getting codes of conduct out of them about how they treat people who are poor, people who are among their customers.

"At the end of the day they are free agents, but you don't want to just sit there and tick whatever it is that they do, they're very important to the rest of us."

This Beazley is such a moron! Since he was elected leader of the labor party for the second time he has shown himself to be more stupid than he was the first time.

I suppose being a Rhodes Scholar he has to keep pushing for the TOP job but there are some people in this world who understand the 'Peter Principle' and it's quite obvious that this fool doesn't.

The banks were de-regulated by the 'world's greatest treasurer' in the early '80s, Keating (god I hate thinking about that degenerate) when he gave up the sovereignty of this nation to his fellow travellers and abdicated his responsibilities for a handful of silver. Typical socialist morality!

Beazley still thinks he can be loved by the population mistakingly believing he is the underdog when most of the people know him (and his ilk) as lower than the belly of a snake!

Soda majors agree to ban US school sales

2006-05-22T08:08:00.000+10:00

Coca-Cola, PepsiCo and Cadbury Schweppes have agreed to ban soft drink sales from elementary and middle schools and sell only diet sodas in high schools in an initiative aimed at fighting childhood obesity in America.

This initiative was taken by the Clinton foundation and the American Hart Association in collaboration with the soft drinks companies and the American Beverage Association. "This is an important announcement and a bold step forward in the struggle to help America's kids live healthier lives," Mr Clinton said.

(Anyone believing this bastard is out to look after anyone but himself needs their reality button pushed, and hard!)

"These industry leaders recognize that childhood obesity is a problem and have stepped up to help solve it." He added that the present trend of unhealthy eating was worrying and could be detrimental to the children. "If the present trend continues, this generation of young people could be the first to have shorter life expectancies than their parents," he said.

According to the deal, no sodas would be sold in elementary schools and only bottled water and 8-ounce, calorie-capped servings of certain juices would be sold here. In middle schools fat-free or low-fat milk and flavored milk along with the water and juices would be sold in 10-ounce portions.

In high schools only diet sodas would be sold. "This is really the beginning of a major effort to modify childhood obesity at the level of the school systems," said Robert H. Eckel, president of the American Heart Association. "These new guidelines will help expedite those changes and support parents and students in districts that have not yet been able to improve the nutrition of their schools.

"The bosses of the three major companies were present at the announcement and they agreed that this was the time to take bold steps. However, school sales account for only $700 million of the drinks major revenues and this ban should not affect them very much.

"Limiting calories in schools is a sensible approach that acknowledges our industry's long-standing belief that school wellness efforts must focus on teaching kids to consume a balanced diet and be physically active," said Susan K. Neely, President and CEO, American Beverage Association.

The deal envisages brining the plan to action in 75 percent of all schools by 2008-09 school year and fully implementing it by 2009-10 school year.

Ok, the deal is they will do away with the dangerous sugar filled drinks and initiate the supply of the killer aspartame loaded liquids! Some hope these kids have of even meeting the age of puberty never mind outliving their parents!

Is bottled water safe? No way! See my blog - Using the sun to sterilise water and the safety of the bottles that kids carry around everywhere they go!

The authors of the report, who reviewed more than 100 studies, urged the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to re-evaluate the risks of bisphenol A and consider restricting its use.

Bisphenol A, or BPA, has been detected in nearly all humans tested in the U.S. It is a key building block in the manufacture of hard, clear polycarbonate plastics, including baby bottles, water bottles and other food and beverage containers. The chemical can leach from the plastic, especially when the containers are heated, cleaned with harsh detergents or exposed to acidic foods or drinks.

The chemical is the focus of a contentious debate involving industrial compounds that can mimic sex hormones. Toxicologists say that exposure to man-made hormones skews the developing reproductive systems and brains of newborn animals and could be having the same effects on human fetuses and young children.

So another way for the proponents of eugenics to rid the world of another generation!

Sleep on it

2006-05-20T18:44:00.000+10:00

Never underestimate the power of a good night's rest

SKIMPING on sleep does awful things to your brain. Planning, problem-solving, learning, concentration,working memory and alertness all take a hit. IQ scores tumble. "If you have been awake for 21 hours straight, your abilities are equivalent to someone who is legally drunk," says Sean Drummond from the University of California, San Diego. And you don't need to pull an all-nighter to suffer the effects: two or three late nights and early mornings on the trot have the same effect.

Luckily, it's reversible - and more. If you let someone who isn't sleep-deprived have an extra hour or two of shut-eye, they perform much better than normal on tasks requiring sustained attention, such taking an exam. And being able to concentrate harder has knock-on benefits for overall mental performance. "Attention is the base of a mental pyramid," says Drummond. "If you boost that, you can't help boosting everything above it."

These are not the only benefits of a decent night's sleep. Sleep is when your brain processes new memories, practises and hones new skills - and even solves problems. Say you're trying to master a new video game. Instead of grinding away into the small hours, you would be better off playing for a couple of hours, then going to bed. While you are asleep your brain will reactivate the circuits it was using as you learned the game, rehearse them, and then shunt the new memories into long-term storage. When you wake up, hey presto! You will be a better player. The same applies to other skills such as playing the piano, driving a car and, some researchers claim, memorising facts and figures. Even taking a nap after training can help, says Carlyle Smith of Trent University in Peterborough, Ontario.

There is also some evidence that sleep can help produce moments of problem-solving insight. The famous story about the Russian chemist Dmitri Mendeleev suddenly "getting" the periodic table in a dream after a day spent struggling with the problem is probably true. It seems that sleep somehow allows the brain to juggle new memories to produce flashes of creative insight. So if you want to have a eureka moment, stop racking your brains and get your head down.

You're Getting Very Sleepy

Findings
Many people are surprised to learn that researchers have discovered a single treatment that improves memory, increases people's ability to concentrate, strengthens the immune system, and decreases people's risk of being killed in accidents. Sound to be good to be true? It gets even better. The treatment is completely free, even for people who have no health insurance. It also has no side effects. Finally, most people consider the treatment highly enjoyable. Would you try it?
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Many people argue that they get by just fine on very little sleep. However, research shows that only a tiny fraction of people can truly function well on less than 8 hours sleep per night. Dinges estimates that, over the long haul, perhaps 1 person in a thousand can function effectively on six or fewer hours of sleep per night. Many people who operate on chronic sleep debts end up napping during the day or fighting through long periods of sleepiness in the afternoon.

Moreover, people who chronically fail to get enough sleep may actually be cutting their lives short. A lack of sleep taxes the immune system, and may even lead to disease and premature aging. To make all of this worse, most people who are sleep deprived do not even realize it. If you get sleepy during long meetings or long drives, chances are you are chronically sleep deprived.

Sleep Debt - An urban myth or a social problem?

In a recent article in the Journal Sleep, (Jim) Horne argues that sleep debt is largely a myth and that the average healthy adult needs only 7 to 7.5 hours of sleep per day. He suggests that most people would get more out of a 15-minute afternoon nap than an extra hour of sleep at night.

This guy - Jim Horne - is so wrong!!!

David Dinges of the University of Pennsylvania raises objections to Horne’s arguments, although he concedes that there is little hard scientific evidence on sleep debt in the general population. Indeed, sleep debt experiments have really been sleep deprivation experiments and with a limited number of participants. Also, they measure the effects of sleep deprivation through cognitive tests designed to measure mental performance. It is not clear that everyone needs to be at peak mental conditions all the time.

Here is another quote from Horne.

Professor Jim Horne, the director of the Loughborough University Sleep Research Centre, is not so sure.

"There is a tendency to keep moving the goalposts on how much sleep we need," he says.

"There are claims that it’s seven or eight hours but I’d say that the core need is for about six. I’m also not buying the link with diabetes. There’s no evidence that insomniacs are more likely to become diabetic." Horne also takes an independent line on sleep-deprivation.

"Conventional wisdom has it that there was some golden age, maybe 100 years ago, when we all got enough sleep. I just don’t believe it," he says. "A 19th-century labourer, working 16 hours a day, would have to walk home and then share his bed with several children and bed bugs in a damp cold room. Our sleeping conditions are better than they have ever been."

Yes but when they worked those hours they didn’t live long! Did they!

Here we go, here we go, here we go!

2006-05-16T17:11:00.000+10:00

US investors are rushing for exits in risky markets across the world, accelerating an ugly sell-off in Turkey, Indonesia, India, Russia, and Brazil.

The sudden repatriation of funds back to America triggered a rebound in the dollar yesterday, halting the sharp slide that has transfixed financial markets over the past week.

"Risk aversion is taking over the show," said David Bloom, a currency expert at HSBC.
"Americans are pulling their money off the table and bringing it back home to mama. We saw the same repatriation after the 1987 crash, causing the dollar to rally for two or three days."

Mr Bloom said fears of a dollar collapse had been the chief source of contagion spreading worldwide, compounded by an inflation scare hitting bonds. After rallying 1.03pc against the euro to $1.2807, the slide is likely to resume soon.

"I expect the dollar to fall fast and furious against everything because the point of inflexion has been reached in US interest rates," he said

Is THIS it? Is it now the time when the secret governments come along and tell us that those 'we' elected have done, "a lousy job and if you let us govern we will make it all better!"

Who knows?

Brain tumour cases prompt uni building closure

2006-05-12T08:11:00.000+10:00

Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) has launched a second health and safety investigation in just five years, after seven staff members from the University's Bourke Street campus were diagnosed with brain tumours.

Five of the cases are not malignant.

The top floors of the Tivoli building are set to be closed.

All the staff involved have worked on those floors of the business faculty for up to 10 years.
Workers on the floors, who include administration staff and lecturers, have been relocated while the investigation takes place.

RMIT spokesman Steve Somogyi says some telecommunications transmitters have raised concerns.

"However they have been there for quite some time, so they were there when the original investigation in 2001 was conducted, so we do not rule in or rule out any conclusions at this stage until the experts who are doing their studies give us their report," he said.

It is believed there is a mobile phone transmitter on the roof of the building.

Tertiary Education Union state secretary Matt McGowan says at least five of the cases are not malignant, and there is no concern for students at this stage.

"The majority of the staff who've been impacted have been there for 10 years, and this has come up after something like 10 years worth of service," he said.

"So we don't believe it's something that would impact on students, who are in and out of the building once every now and then."

Is this a recently discovered phenomenon?

Not by a long shot! The symptoms, cause and effect were known in the '60s when the Cold War was a full blown deception on the world.

Project Pandora

Historically the Soviet Union has invested huge sums of money and time investigating microwaves and their effects. In 1952, while the Cold War was showing no signs of thawing, there was a secret meeting at the Sandia Corporation in New Mexico between U.S. and Soviet scientists involving the exchange of information regarding the biological hazards and safety levels of EMR. The Soviets possessed the greater preponderance of information, and the American scientists were too pigheaded to take it seriously. In subsequent meetings, the Soviet scientists continued to stress the seriousness of the risks, while American scientists downplayed their importance and so humiliated them.

Shortly after the last Sandia meeting, the Soviets began covertly directing RADAR like microwave beams at the U.S. embassy in Moscow, not only gathering intelligence but using embassy workers as guinea pigs for low-level EMR experiments and a means to prove their claims. Washington, D.C. was initially oddly quiescent, regarding the Moscow embassy bombardment.

The U.S. government woke up to the reality of psychotronics when from 1960 to 1965, the directed electromagnetic and microwave emissions at the U.S embassy caused a wide range of physical and mental illness among many U.S. personnel serving there. Casualties include the eventual death of the U.S. Ambassador himself. Dr Stephen Possony a one time Science Advisor to the Department of Defense, now retired, said:"After the death of our ambassador in Moscow, due to contracting leukemia, and a couple of other employees, it suddenly dawned on us to have a real careful look at what was happening there."

Discovered in 1962, these complex set of electromagnetic signals were investigated by the CIA, which hired a consultant, Milton Zaret, and code named the research "Project Pandora". According to Zaret, the Moscow signal was composed of several frequencies, and was focused each day precisely upon the Ambassador's office, U.S. Embassy in Moscow. The intensity of the bombardment was not made public, but when the State Department finally admitted the existence of the signal, it announced that it was fairly low. These signals were measured in the short "S" and long "L" spectrum had extremely complex modulations with a pattern of variations, some of which were quite random. A Top Secret Eyes Only memorandum, dated 20 December 1966 from ARPA shows the significance of this project. This memorandum summarizes the initial results obtained from this program.

The White House has directed, through USIB [U.S. Intelligence Board] that intensive investigative research be conducted within the State Department, CIA and DoD to attempt to determine what the threat is. This national program has been coordinated by the State Department and was code named TUMS. ARPA is represented and is conducting research on a selective portion of the overall program concerned with one of the potential threats, that of the effects of low level electromagnetic radiation on man.

Project PANDORA was to include a number of parallel projects, such as Projects TUMS, MUTS, and BAZAR, involving the CIA, Advanced Research Project Agency (ARPA), the State Department, the Navy and the Army. They were tasked to study the effects of the emitted Soviet microwaves on animals and humans. In April 1976 the Secretary of State Henry Kissinger sent the following telegram to the U.S. Embassy in Moscow which summarized the conclusions of the study of the Moscow signal.

Subject: Radiation and UHF and Electromagnetic Dangers

Beginning in 1960 the Soviet Union directed the high frequency beams of radiation at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow which were calculated not to pick up intelligence but cause physiological effects on personnel. The effects the Soviets calculated to achieve in the personnel serving (at least as early as 1960) included (A) Malaise (B) Irritability, (C) Extreme fatigue. At this time the Soviets believed that the induced effects were temporary. Subsequently, it has been verified that the effects are not temporary. Definitely tied to such radiation and the UHF/VHF electromagnetic waves are: (A) Cataracts, (B) Blood changes that induce heart attacks, (C) Malignancies, (D) Circulatory problems, and (E) Permanent deterioration of the nervous system. In most cases the after-effects do not become evident until long after exposure - a decade or more.

There was consensus among Soviet EMR researchers that a beam such as the Moscow signal was destined to produce blurred vision and loss of mental concentration. The Boston Globe reported that the American ambassador had not only developed a leukemia like blood disease, but also suffered from bleeding eyes and chronic headaches. Under the CIA's Project Pandora, monkeys were brought into the embassy and exposed to the Moscow signal; they were found to have developed blood composition anomalies and unusual chromosome counts. Embassy personnel were found to have a 40 percent higher than average white blood cell count. While Operation Pandora's data gathering proceeded, embassy personnel continued working in the facility and were not informed of the bombardment until 10 years later. Embassy employees were eventually granted a 20 percent hardship allowance for their service in an unhealthful post. Throughout the period of bombardment, the CIA used the opportunity to gather data on psychological and biological effects of the beams on our American personnel.

The U.S. government has carefully studied the electromagnetic signatures and examined health affects of the Moscow signal radiation. The job was turned over to the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). DARPA is now developing and testing new electromagnetic antipersonnel weaponry.

http://www.geocities.com/adrian9999999999/pandora.htm

http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=%22Project+Pandora%22+Sandia&prssweb=Search&ei=UTF-8&fr=sfp&x=wrt&meta=vl%3Dlang_en

Now re-read my blog Are we too blind to see? posted on March the 6th 2006 where this statement was recorded:

This is an urgent plea to environmentalists and to those within the telecommunications industry, to doctors and business people and government officials, that microwave radiation is an imminent danger to all of us more or less equally, and that for our common survival we must immediately halt the expansion of wireless communications upon this earth. There is no greater threat to our common future.

Arthur Firstenberg
June 22, 1997
Norwich, NY

The Israel Lobby

2006-05-05T18:26:00.000+10:00

From John Mearsheimer & Stephen Walt

I thought I would read this 'rebuff' to the antagonists who have hounded the authors since they published the original report at this same site.

I never read, or intend to read, the original report because from what I have assertained about it through the 'net it is mostly common knowledge that has been around for hundreds of years.

In this article I got to this paragraph -

Herf and Markovits interpret us to be saying that Israel’s ‘continued survival’ should be of little concern to the United States. We made no such argument. In fact, we emphasised that there is a powerful moral case for Israel’s existence, and we firmly believe that the United States should take action to ensure its survival if it were in danger. Our criticism was directed at Israeli policy and America’s special relationship with Israel, not Israel’s existence.

At this point I gave up! Anyone who can say that there should be a "moral case" for the 'chosen people' is more than a black joke it is indefensible. They are morally deficient, psychotic and a danger to this planet. Have been and always will be!

Puppy fat a myth

2006-05-03T20:10:00.000+10:00

Is it any wonder that kids have so called 'puppy fat'? Their babysitters, every day, promote sugar and salt diets that the kids love and the parents, only too happy to appease, give in constantly. Parents would rather sit their kids in front of a gogglebox than spend time teaching and playing with them. "Too tired!" No they are not, they have grown selfish, lazy and lost their mothering instincts otherwise they would have more concern for what they are doing to their kids!

It is NOT hard to be a parent as long as the parent is commited to the job at hand and not to a salary and the god of mammon. Needs are more important than wants. Decide!

PUPPY fat in children was a myth, a leading pediatrician said today.

Overweight children were likely to face several social and medical problems later in life, Louise Bauer, professor of pediatrics and child health at the University of Sydney said.

"I want to put to rest the myth of puppy fat," Prof Bauer told delegates in an opening address at the Queensland Obesity Summit.

"The child will not necessarily grow out of it, in fact they are highly likely not to.

"Overweight and obesity in children and young people is associated with very significant complications."

Obesity was shaping up as the epidemic of the 21st century, she said.

While over in old Blighty The Times is comparing their health disaster to the US health disaster and are bragging about being in better condition. A disaster is a disaster no matter how bad!

We are healthier than US, but the weight gap may be closing.

Middle-aged people in England are far healthier than their US counterparts, a study has shown.

Rates of diseases such as diabetes, lung cancer and high-blood pressure among Americans aged between 55 and 64 were up to twice as high as those in England. Americans also had higher rates of heart disease, heart attack and stroke.

The diabetes rate in America, at 12.5 per cent, was double that in England, at 6.1 per cent. Heart disease was 50 per cent higher among middle-aged Americans. The proportion suffering from high blood pressure was about 10 per cent less in England. In both countries lower income and education levels were associated with poorer health, according to the study by the Rand Corporation and the Institute for Fiscal Studies at University College London.

But the healthiest Americans in the study — those with the highest income and education levels — had rates of diabetes and heart disease similar to the least healthy in England.

While over at the dear old Beeb (BBC for the non-cognisant) their report states -

One of the researchers Professor Sir Michael Marmot, of the department of epidemiology and public health at University College London, said people would automatically presume the differences were caused by the variance in healthcare systems.
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"We cannot blame either bad lifestyle or inadequate medical care as the main culprits in these socio-economic differences in health.

"We should look for explanation to the circumstances in which people live and work.

"We have to take a much broader look at social determinants of health in both countries.

"We need to do further research to fill in the jigsaw pieces of the puzzle," he added.

Meanwhile in Scotland, once again from the Beeb, we see that they are at least 'talking' about the problem.

Ministers propose junk food ban

Ministers are planning to ban Scottish schools from serving junk food and drinks at any time of day.

Education Minister Peter Peacock said the proposals would make nutritional standards statutory.

The Scottish Executive is inviting feedback on the proposed new law, under which councils would have to encourage more pupils to eat school meals.

The minister said councils may also be given new powers to provide free snacks to children during the school day.

He said local authorities did not currently have these powers.

"Those are the powers Mrs Thatcher took away, when she was famously described as Margaret Thatcher the Milk Snatcher," Mr Peacock said.

"This is opening the door potentially to the return of free milk in the middle of the morning, or free orange juice, or wider use of free breakfast."

Vending machines

Under the plans, local authorities would also come under pressure to ensure that healthy food is on offer in vending machines, tuck shops and breakfast clubs.

Campaigners are disappointed that there are no moves to provide all meals free.

At present, less than 50% of pupils eat school meals.

Education Minister Peter Peacock told BBC Radio's Good Morning Scotland programme: "One of the things we need to do is increase the take-up of the existing school meals entitlement.

"This will not just help those young people, but help their health into the long-term."

The executive's proposals would also encourage parents to think about nutrition, although there are no plans to inspect children's lunchboxes.

Figures published last year showed how obesity levels had risen among Scotland's children over a five-year period.

Nutrient standards

More than a third of 12-year-olds were overweight in the 2004/05 school year, while 19.4% were obese and 11.2% were classed as severely obese.

Mr Peacock said: "We are making the nutrient standards statutory so that we can ban things that are full of salt, or too full of fat or too full of sugar.

"There are also proposals there to make schools health-promoting environments. That is perhaps the most radical proposal.

"That is a very wide all-embracing concept of making sure that health is now a central purpose of schooling."

When I was a kid I partook of the school lunches and came to no harm. At a shilling a feed it was affordable for the parents and sometimes, in them far off days, the only decent meal a kid could get. I never carried puppy fat and I definitely couldn't be described as skinny. Food was a priority in our house. Lolly water and sweets were treats on the odd occasion and not every day!

Chornobyl 20 Years After

2006-04-27T17:46:00.000+10:00

Quote of the Day
"Let me remind you that only 3 percent of the reactor fuel was released into [the] atmosphere 20 years ago. The rest of it still represents the most horrible explosive device undermining the safety of the whole of Europe."

-- Ukrainian Ambassador to the United States Oleh Shamshur, addressing a conference on Chernobyl in Washington on April 25.

Among those worst affected by the 1986 Chornobyl (Chernobyl) accident were the "liquidators" -- military personnel, workers, and scientists from around the Soviet Union who were sent to clean up the aftermath of the disaster. They went without proper safety equipment, many of them not knowing where they were going. Thousands have since died. Many of those still alive battle against poor health and little state support.

PRAGUE, April 20, 2006 (RFE/RL) -- When Talgat Suyunbai and 44 other Soviet Army officers arrived in the Belarusian village of Novosyolki, some 40 kilometers from Chornobyl, they had no idea an accident had even taken place.

That was in January 1987, nine months after the explosion at the Chornobyl nuclear power plant

HELSINKI COMMISSION REVIEWS LONG-TERM HEALTH AND SAFETY ISSUES FROM CHORNOBYL DISASTER
Health Effects, Potential Cures, Governmental and Non-Governmental Responses Examined
(Washington) - The Helsinki Commission held a hearing on “The Legacy of Chornobyl: Health and Safety 20 Years Later”, commemorating the 20th anniversary of the world’s worst nuclear accident at the Chornobyl power plant in Ukraine.

The health, environmental, and socio-economic costs of the disaster at Chornobyl continue to have a profound impact on people in the region, especially in Ukraine and Belarus which bore the brunt of Chornobyl’s radioactive fallout.

“The bitter legacy of Chornobyl continues to be felt twenty years later, and its consequences will remain for the people of the region and beyond for a long time to come,” said Co-Chairman Rep. Christopher H. Smith (R-NJ) who chaired the hearing. “We need to be vigilant of the latent health effects that still are expected to emerge and ensure that there is public awareness about the health threat.”

Smith stressed the importance of the completion of the Chornobyl Shelter Implementation Plan to cover the rapidly deteriorating sarcophagus covering the damaged reactor: “We need to do everything possible to protect people and the environment from the large quantity of radioactive remains of the Chornobyl nuclear power plant even as we persist in our assistance to the victims.”

“An important lesson from Chornobyl – one that remains relevant today – is in the importance of transparency in governance,” said Ranking Member Rep. Benjamin L. Cardin (D-MD). “The nature of the Soviet system did not lead to a humane or rational response to the tragedy. The consequences of this secrecy remain with us to this day. They are a vivid reminder of the value of open, democratic and accountable governments which respect the human rights and dignity of the individual.”

Testifying at the hearing were: Stephen G. Rademaker, Acting Assistant Secretary of State, Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation; Oleh Shamshur, Ukrainian Ambassador to the United States; David Marples, Professor of History at the University of Alberta and author of three books on Chornobyl; Pablo Rubenstein, M.D., Director, National Cord Blood Program at the New York Blood Center; and Kathleen Ryan, Executive Director, USA, Chernobyl Children’s Project International.

An unofficial transcript of the hearing will be posted on the Commission website: www.csce.gov

The Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, also known as the Helsinki Commission, is a U.S. Government agency that monitors progress in the implementation of the provisions of the 1975 Helsinki Accords. The Commission consists of nine members of the United States Senate, nine from the House of Representatives, and one member each from the Departments of State, Defense and Commerce.

Chornobyl 20 Years After and still no final resolution in place! So much for modern science.....Pah!

Mothers' lifestyles are linked to explosion in premature births

2006-04-21T17:47:00.000+10:00

Story in full

AN "ALARMING increase" in the premature births is being recorded across Europe and doctors believe that women's lifestyles may be to blame.
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Professor Andrew Shennan and Dr Susan Bewley, from St Thomas's Hospital in London, said research showed that even among a group of low-risk European women aged 20 to 40, there had been a 51 per cent increase in early delivery in the past decade. "This is alarming, and implies that clinicians have failed to have any impact on reducing rates," they said.
"Untangling the underlying causative factors may be difficult, but general public-health measures to do with smoking, teenage and middle-aged pregnancy, prevention of sexually transmitted diseases, obesity and social inequities are a good start."

The research also linked fertility treatment, multiple pregnancies and elective, early deliveries to the increase in early births. The researchers said that rising rates of pre-term births had "worrying" implications for doctors, health economists, teachers, parents and the children themselves.
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Charlotte Davies, of the baby charity Tommy's, said: "We know that there are more premature babies being born now than in the past. More premature babies are also now being kept alive than were previously. But this has long-term health implications because these children often suffer problems when they are much older. Not only is there the stress and strain at the point of birth and during the time in special care, but there are the long-term effects on society and the health costs as well."

Ms Davies said more work was urgently needed to tackle the problem. "The more we know about the causes, the more we can do to prevent premature births," she said. "We know there are some lifestyle factors that put people at a higher risk, with smoking being the biggest preventable cause of premature births."

Not ten days ago I posted - A lost generation - with the following quote and pronouncement in regard to what is to be done about the increase in diabetes etc. This statement is also pertinent to the problem of premature babies!

New figures were released yesterday at a diabetes summit showing the number of type 2 diabetics has doubled in five years, numbers of children with type 2 diabetes was increasing at between 5 and 10 per cent a year and juvenile type 1 diabetes is rising by 3 per cent a year.

So what are they calling for? Well, government intervention of course! But why? It's too late for these youngsters because these illness are genomically carried through from their parents and the lifestyle they were introduced to while they were youngsters. Nothing can be done for today's kids.

As long as government food agencies allow the wholesale distribution of poisons, eg Aspartame, and salt laden snacks into the food chain then the population do not stand a chance of eradicating diseases such as diabetes in kids.

Today's kids are destined to suffer because their grandparents allowed their parents to indulge in such things as snack foods, soft drinks etc at an early age. The hippy attitude of "let them eat cake whenever they want", has ruined this generation and probably the next.

When will they ever learn?

The Real First Casualty of War

2006-04-21T08:19:00.000+10:00

Having no real beef with this John Pilger article at the Information Clearing House website I was a little dismayed and curious why he would include this sentence in his work -

A medieval embargo was imposed on Vietnam and Cambodia; the Thatcher government cut off supplies of milk to the children of Vietnam.

I see no relevance in maligning the 'Iron Lady' never mind how bad her policies were promoted or carried out. The fact is that milk supplies were also curtailed to British schoolchildren at the same time. So why the reference? My only conclusion would be that the author was a foe and therefore her work is fair game for subterfuge. Something that his article attempts to expose in other 'journalists' work.

"So it's a bit surreal at the moment"

2006-04-20T07:10:00.000+10:00

Quoted Jason Neil Gillespie after his debut cricketing century. There were even more "surreal" moments to come for this popular guy during this innings.

This is a sporting story which should be broadcast far and wide. There is a moral to it - 'Never say die!" Gillespie was a poor immitation of himself during and after the Test series in England last year and deserved to be dropped but not to cop all the flak thrown at him. There was something on his mind at the time that affected his performance, maybe we will find out what that was during the next few weeks. We shall see.

Meanwhile we should bask in the glory of the epic feat shown at Chittagong. In fact his effort here could have been telegraphed in advance. When he was called up as a stop gap replacement for the injured Michael Kasprowicz no one could have expected him to be the stalwart who would be one of the saviours of the first test at Fatullah.

In Bangladesh's first innings he bowled 27 overs with 2 for 47. He then batted with his usual dead bat and scored 26 runs. His bowling in the second Bangladesh innings was even more impressive: 11 overs with 3 for 18. He held the attack at bay with an additional 4 runs , while Ponting took the score past the requirement to win a test that Bangladesh should have won.

While he was out of the Test and One Day International events he returned to his South Australia state team and resurrected his game. He was constantly being mentioned in despatches from the media and fully deserved his recall to the main arena.

Lets finish up this blog with his quotes during and after his mammoth achievement.

"I never expected it, never," Gillespie told AAP. "Not in my wildest dreams, so it's pretty surreal, pretty bizarre actually. I came off and there was [television commentators] Wasim Akram and Harsha [Bhogle] having a chat about my batting, and they had my wagon wheel up. That was very weird."

"I've not even got a hundred in the backyard," he said. "So it's a bit surreal at the moment. I wasn't nervous because I never expected to get in that position. I was loving it."

"Someone mentioned it yesterday and I thought they were on drugs," he said. "I looked up at the dressing-room as soon as I passed [Glenn] McGrath's score, 61. He's been giving me grief about that for a while now so I was very relieved to pass that.

"Then I had Merv [Hughes], he was up there and he had 70-odd, and Flemo [Damien Fleming] 70-odd and Pistol [Paul Reiffel] so ticked them all off. I managed to even tick off Warney [Shane Warne] today, too, which was cool. The bowlers, we all love talking about our batting, and I've got a few bragging rights there now."

"He [Ponting] called me through and I was in my own little fog ... I felt pretty ordinary for a while, I still do but these things happen in cricket," said Gillespie. "It was my fault. I thought 'Shit I better do alright here'. I felt shithouse."

"It was not very easy, putting your head down and batting in the heat. I think I'm developing into an all-rounder," he said with a laugh.

"There are guys coming back. You know you've got Taity [Shaun Tait], Kasper [Michael Kasprowicz], Pigeon [Glenn McGrath] to all come back, so I'll probably slide down the greasy pole again and bide my time. I haven't really thought about it."

"I thought I was no hope".

"I never expected it in my wildest dreams, so it's pretty surreal, pretty bizarre actually," said the fast bowler, who celebrated his 31st birthday with one of the most astonishing Test knocks ever seen.

"Nothing's really changed. I suppose it will sink in over the next couple of days but I can't believe I'm talking about my batting. That's what I can't believe."

Update
Here come the accolades - Man of the match and man of the series - and this article from the Cricinfo website

'This is ridiculous, I had a bit of a laugh': Gillespie
Cricinfo staff
April 20, 2006

Jason Gillespie, who is the first nightwatchman to score a double-century, could scarcely believe his feat and said that it was like a fairytale.

"This is ridiculous," Gillespie told The Sydney Morning Herald. "I was just lucky that the shots came off and I had a bit of a laugh all the way. It's unbelievable. It's a fairytale really. Hansel and Gretel and Dizzy's double-hundred, it's one and the same. Absolute fairytale."

On reaching the landmark, Gillespie ran towards the dressing-room, bat in one hand and helmet in the other, and took a bow. He said that Michael Hussey, his partner during a 320-run partnership for the fourth wicket, kept informing him as he beat the highest scores of illustrious Australian batsmen. "He [Hussey] knew every Test player and former Test player's highest score and was ticking them off. Went past Mark Waugh [153], he told me that. Went past Michael Clarke [151], he told me that. Went past Steve Waugh [200] and Boonie [David Boon 200]."

Hussey said that he didn't want to be beaten by Gillespie and that kept him going as well. He was eventually out for 182. "I think it was a real testament to his concentration, really, to be able to bat for so long," said Hussey. "Especially since he's not a recognised batsman as such. So that was quite a bit of motivation for me to keep going as well because I didn't want to be outdone by Diz. And also Matty [Matthew] Hayden had a bit of a bet with Diz [Gillespie] as well."
Gillespie later revealed the nature of the wager Hayden had placed. "He [Hayden] reckoned he's going to do a nude run of The Oval if I got 200. I said if I got 200, I'd do a nude lap too. Not sure about that one, being in a Muslim country, I don't think it'll be perceived right, unlike anywhere else."

Gillespie was commended for his powers of concentration by John Buchanan, the coach, and Merv Hughes, the Australian selector. "Considering Jason hadn't made a hundred in any form of cricket, it was an amazing innings," said Buchanan. "For any batsman, particularly a nightwatchman, to sustain an innings of over 400 balls is something we may never see again."

"You have to be here to believe it," said Hughes. "People back home are going to wonder how he did it. But he thoroughly deserved it. He was a picture of concentration and control and like any good batsman, he knew his limitations and strengths."
© Cricinfo

British brigadier attacks America's John Wayne generals

2006-04-19T18:50:00.000+10:00

A senior British officer has criticised "shoulder-holster" American generals for trying to emulate film stars.

Brig Alan Sharpe, who worked alongside Americans in Baghdad, said there was a "strong streak of Hollywood" with officers trying to portray themselves as Sylvester Stallone or John Wayne.

He wrote the comments in a paper on Britain's influence on US foreign relations and the essay is likely to strain the "special relationship" further, coming after other British officers' criticism of the American approach.

An important part to being a successful American officer was to be able to combine the "real and acted heroics" of Audie Murphy, the "newsreel antics" of Gen Douglas MacArthur and the "movie performances" of Hollywood actors, the brigadier wrote.

Well obviously the Brigadier couldn't have been brought up with the BBC's Sunday afternoon movies, now could he? He must have been out rampaging around the countryside with the Boy Scouts or the Boy's Brigade learning actual skills rather than hypothetical ones he could have learned from the Hollywood movies. I mean John Wayne fought all the Pacific war battles and won the lot; Audey Murphy made a movie career out of his solo episodes in the European campaign; Sly and Arnie took on the gooks in Vietnam (the later even nuking an extraterrestrial). These were real heroes and the ones the 'Mericans idolise!

'Beetle Bailey' was only a comic character anyway!

Using the sun to sterilise water

2006-04-17T22:10:00.000+10:00

I found this article and sent it by email to a friend who had spent some time in Mali, Africa, last September/October. It was of interest because the kids she met kept pestering her for her empty water bottles. They were even more ecstatic, she said, when she gave them two bottles each.

Being naive about that sort of thing I thought they were wanted as water carriers to tote with then where ever the went just as the salt laden 'health' fanatics do around these here parts. This article may be pointing to the correct answer although there is a hidden danger. Read on.

Tanzanian villagers have begun using an energy-saving method to sterilise their drinking water - leaving the water under the sun.

The piped water supply to Ndolela village in the central Iringa region is intermittent and even when it does flow, it is not clean enough to drink.

When the pipes run dry, villagers get water from a dirty spring.

Mother of five Rose Longwa says the new process has changed her life.

"We no longer suffer from stomach illness. That's because the water is clean and safe."

Like many other people in rural Africa with no access to safe drinking water, she used to sterilise her water by boiling it.

But she says the smoke from the firewood to heat the water used to irritate her eyes. She is also glad she no longer has to go to fetch wood from the bush.

Ultra-violet rays

About 40 houses in Ndolela are using solar purification.

Mrs Longwa says the process is simple to follow.

"I fill the plastic bottles, put the lids on, then put them on my black-painted roof where they stay for a whole day."

The sun heats the water, helped by the black roof, which helps to absorb the heat.

Solar radiation means a combination of ultra-violet rays and heat destroys the bacteria which cause common water-borne diseases like cholera, typhoid, dysentery and diarrhoea.

After eight hours in the sun, it is ready to drink.

If the water reaches more than 50C, it is safe in just one hour.

Pastor Moses Kwanga from the Diocese of Ruaha is behind the project:
"The technology is very easy, but up to now people have not been told about it. We can use old pieces of roofing to put the bottles on. It is also very cheap, so is accessible to everyone."

Resistance

Up to now, the number of people in Tanzania purifying water using the power of the sun is limited to a few villages like Ndolela, where small-scale education programmes are underway.

Daudi Makamba is a water expert for the aid agency Plan International, which is considering whether to introduce solar purification across the country.

He says it can be difficult to persuade people to use the technology.

"The big resistance from the community is cultural beliefs. People believe the water will be contaminated, or an enemy will put something bad in it, so we need to educate the people."

The technology is working well for at least one community in Tanzania but more work is needed if more people are to taste the benefits.

Now here's the rub -

Study Cites Risk of Compound in Plastic Bottles
Report urges the EPA to restrict bisphenol A, found widely in liquid and food containers.

By Marla Cone - Times Staff Writer

April 13, 2005

Evidence is mounting that a chemical in plastic that is one of the world's most widely used industrial compounds may be risky in the small amounts that seep from bottles and food packaging, according to a report to be published this week in a scientific journal.

The authors of the report, who reviewed more than 100 studies, urged the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to re-evaluate the risks of bisphenol A and consider restricting its use.

Bisphenol A, or BPA, has been detected in nearly all humans tested in the U.S. It is a key building block in the manufacture of hard, clear polycarbonate plastics, including baby bottles, water bottles and other food and beverage containers. The chemical can leach from the plastic, especially when the containers are heated, cleaned with harsh detergents or exposed to acidic foods or drinks.

The chemical is the focus of a contentious debate involving industrial compounds that can mimic sex hormones. Toxicologists say that exposure to man-made hormones skews the developing reproductive systems and brains of newborn animals and could be having the same effects on human fetuses and young children.

And here -

Plastic Linked to Birth Defects

Bisphenol-A (BPA), the primary component of polycarbonate plastic bottles, has recently been proven to leach from the plastic and to be a cause of miscarriages and birth defects. A study published in April 2003, showed that very small amounts of BPA caused female mice to produce eggs with abnormal numbers of chromosomes, a condition called aneuploidy.

Aneuploidy is the leading cause of miscarriages and several forms of mental retardation in humans, including Down’s syndrome. The finding raises serious questions about the safety of BPA. BPA polycarbonate plastic is used to make pop, juice and water bottles. It is also a major ingredient in a wide range of other products, from baby bottles to tooth protecting sealants. Bisphenol-A is an estrogen mimic and has now also been shown to cause genetic mutations.

So do we now have these NGOs assuming that they are doing the 'right thing' by these people but in fact helping to genocide a whole continent? Or didn't they know about this plastic problem? I mean, wha! It's only been known about for three years. Maybe the news hasn't reached darkest Africa yet!

All we like sheep have gone astray

2006-04-17T19:32:00.000+10:00

THIRD STATION

Jesus falls for the first time

From the Book of the Prophet Isaiah. 53:4-6

Surely he has born our griefs
and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
smitten by God, and afflicted.
But he was wounded for our transgressions,
he was bruised for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that made us whole,
and by his stripes we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned everyone to his own way;
and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
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Lord,we have lost our sense of sin!
Today a slick campaign of propaganda
is spreading an inane apologia of evil,
a senseless cult of Satan,
a mindless desire for transgression,
a dishonest and frivolous freedom,
exalting impulsiveness, immorality and selfishness
as if they were new heights of sophistication.

Lord Jesus,
open our eyes:
let us see the filth around us
and recognize it for what it is,
so that a single tear of sorrow
can restore us to purity of heart
and the breadth of true freedom.
Open our eyes,
Lord, Jesus!

BirdLife Statement on Avian Influenza

2006-04-15T11:04:00.000+10:00

BirdLife seeks the complete removal of the H5N1 virus from the ecosystem – while recognising that the virus is so entrenched now in some regions that this cannot be achieved rapidly. BirdLife is greatly concerned and saddened by the human death toll from the current infection(Less than 200 to date - Ed), and by the massive economic loss suffered by those communities affected by the virus and dependent on poultry. We also recognise and share the real concerns about a potential human pandemic.

There are several ways in which H5N1 can be spread within and between countries. Three major potential routes are the movements of infected poultry (and poultry products), movements of caged wild birds in trade, and movements of wild birds. Effective responses need to focus on all of these possible means of spread.
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Movements of poultry and poultry products
Most outbreaks in south-east Asia can be linked to movements of poultry and poultry products (or accidental transfer of infected material from poultry farms, such as water, straw or soil on vehicles, clothes and shoes). Globally, the most important route of spread remains unrestricted poultry movements. A recent paper (Chen et al., “Establishment of multiple sublineages of H5N1 influenza virus in Asia: Implications for pandemic control”, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 21 February 2006) analyses the viral lineages and concludes that poultry movements were responsible for multiple reintroductions in south-east Asia, both within and between countries.

See Also at the same website
Fish farming and the risk of spread of avian influenza (PDF, 200 KB)
Illegal imports probable cause of Nigeria flu
Vietnam government stops wild bird culls
Vietnam culls 'a distraction' from bird flu
Control of illegal bird trade vital to ...
BirdLife concerned over Thai stork cull

and my posts

Ok, here’s the scuttlebutt on H5N1 –Bird Flu Monday, March 06, 2006
H5N1 – Bird Flu Sunday, March 19, 2006

A lost generation

2006-04-11T16:52:00.000+10:00

According to the Australian Daily Telegraph the incidents of diabetes in children has risen 300%!

Diabetes crisis

THE state is facing a health crisis with new figures showing a 300 per cent increase in diabetics in NSW – the rapid rise being driven by obese children and teenagers.Children as young as eight are weighing in around 70kg while doctors are seeing 15-year-old boys with organ damage of someone three times their age.
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New figures were released yesterday at a diabetes summit showing the number of type 2 diabetics has doubled in five years, numbers of children with type 2 diabetes was increasing at between 5 and 10 per cent a year and juvenile type 1 diabetes is rising by 3 per cent a year.

So what are they calling for? Well, government intervention of course! But why? It's too late for these youngsters because these illness are genomically carried through from their parents and the lifestyle they were introduced to while they were youngsters. Nothing can be done for today's kids.

As long as government food agencies allow the wholesale distribution of poisons, eg Aspartame, and salt laden snacks into the food chain then the population do not stand a chance of eradicating diseases such as diabetes in kids.

Today's kids are destined to suffer because their grandparents allowed their parents to indulge in such things as snack foods, soft drinks etc at an early age. The hippy attitude of "let them eat cake whenever they want", has ruined this generation and probably the next.

Why has this been allowed to happen? You don't have far to look really. On the same day a report from London's The Times shows this well timed article -

Drugs companies 'inventing diseases to boost their profits'

PHARMACEUTICAL companies are systematically creating diseases in order to sell more of their products, turning healthy people into patients and placing many at risk of harm, a special edition of a leading medical journal claims today.

The practice of “diseasemongering” by the drug industry is promoting non-existent illnesses or exaggerating minor ones for the sake of profits, according to a set of essays published by the open-access journal Public Library of Science Medicine.
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Other minor problems that are a normal part of life, such as symptoms of the menopause, are also becoming increasingly “medicalised”, while risk factors such as high cholesterol levels or osteoporosis are being presented as diseases in their own right, according to the editors.

“Disease-mongering turns healthy people into patients, wastes precious resources and causes iatrogenic (medically induced) harm,” they say. “Like the marketing strategies that drive it, disease-mongering poses a global challenge to those interested in public health, demanding in turn a global response.”

Doctors, patients and support groups need to be more aware that pharmaceutical companies are taking this approach, and more research is needed into the changing ways in which conditions are presented, according to the writers.

Disease-awareness campaigns are often funded by drug companies, and “more often designed to sell drugs than to illuminate or inform or educate about the prevention of illness or the maintenance of health”, they say.

The only problem is that these are real diseases and the sheeple still think they are just because of today's lifestyle when in fact it is a concerted attack on people propagated by the likes of that idiot in the US who proposed eradicating the world's population by 90%. Eugenics has been a hidden policy for many years. And it wasn't an invention of the 'Nazis'!

Update 15th April 2006

The headline for this article in the Guardian reads - We don't have to buy into health hype

But the simple answers is, WE DO! We are brainwashed from childhood to do as we are told. We are bombarded daily by advertisements telling us what to do and what not to do! The author of this article is either a shill or someone who knows nothing about the man in the street and has a high opinion of his own ability to negate the bullshit we are taught and MUST adhere to if we want to live in this world of greed!

Ben Goldacre
Saturday April 15, 2006
The Guardian

It's not every day that you wake up to find that a favourite bete noir is making headline news, but last week, to my amazement, the media collectively decided to pick up on an obscure report and conference on "medicalisation" in Australia. "Drug companies are inventing diseases to sell more of their products, it has been claimed," said the Daily Mail.

"Scientists have accused major pharmaceutical firms of 'medicalising' problems like high cholesterol or the symptoms of the menopause in a bid to increase profits ... exaggerating conditions and turning them into something more serious. Female sexual dysfunction, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and 'restless legs' syndrome have all been promoted by the pharmaceutical industry in the hope of selling more drugs, they say."

Making the World Safe for Christianity

2006-03-30T19:58:00.000+11:00

eWell, well, well! A 'merican I can read and not feel queasy about the writing. No quotes from Mickey Mouse! No Batman and Robin patriotic crap! Just plain honest commonsense words.

This is the second speech he has made to the US House that I have included on this site.

HON. RON PAUL OF TEXAS
Before the U.S. House of Representatives March 28, 2006

Making the World Safe for Christianity

The top Neo-Con of the twentieth century was Woodrow Wilson. His supposed idealism, symbolized in the slogan “Make the world safe for democracy,” resulted in untold destruction and death across the world for many decades. His deceit and manipulation of the pre-war intelligence from Europe dragged America into an unnecessary conflict that cost the world and us dearly. Without the disastrous Versailles Treaty, World War II could have been averted-- and the rise to power of Communists around the world might have been halted.

We seem to never learn from our past mistakes. Today’s neo-cons are as idealistically misled and aggressive in remaking the Middle East as the Wilsonian do-gooders. Even given the horrendous costs of the Iraq War and the unintended consequences that plague us today, the neo-cons are eager to expand their regime change policy to Iran by force.

The obvious shortcomings of our regime change and occupation of Afghanistan are now readily apparent. The Taliban was ousted from power, but they have regrouped and threaten the delicate stability that now exists in that country. Opium drug production is once again a major operation, with drugs lords controlling a huge area of the country outside Kabul. And now the real nature of the government we created has been revealed in the case of Abdul Rahman, the Muslim who faced a possible death sentence from the Karzai administration for converting to Christianity. Even now that Mr. Rahman is free due to western pressure, his life remains in danger.

Our bombs and guns haven’t changed the fact that the new puppet Afghan government still follows Sharia law. The same loyalty to Sharia exists in Iraq, where we’re trying so hard to stabilize things. And all this is done in the name of spreading democracy.

The sad fact is that even under the despicable rule of Saddam Hussein, Christians were safer in Iraq than they are today. Saddam Hussein’s foreign minister was a practicing Christian. Today thousands of Christians have fled Iraq following our occupation, to countries like Jordan and Syria. Those Christians who have remained in Iraq fear for their lives every day. That should tell us something about the shortcomings of a policy that presumes to make the world safe for democracy.

The Muslim world is not fooled by our talk about spreading democracy and values. The evidence is too overwhelming that we do not hesitate to support dictators and install puppet governments when it serves our interests. When democratic elections result in the elevation of a leader or party not to our liking, we do not hesitate for a minute to undermine that government. This hypocrisy is rarely recognized by the American people. It’s much more comfortable to believe in slogans, to believe that we’re defending our goodness and spreading true liberty. We accept this and believe strongly in the cause, strongly enough to sacrifice many of our sons and daughters, and stupendous amounts of money, to spread our ideals through force.

Pointing out the lack of success is taboo. It seems of little concern to many members of Congress that we lack both the moral right and constitutional authority to impose our will on other nations.

The toughest task is analyzing what we do from their perspective. We should try harder to place ourselves in the shoes of those who live in the Arab countries where our efforts currently are concentrated. We are outraged by a Muslim country that would even consider the death penalty for a Christian convert. But many Muslims see all that we do as a reflection of western Christianity, which to them includes Europe and America. They see everything in terms of religion.

When our bombs and sanctions kill hundreds of thousands of their citizens, they see it as an attack on their religion by Christians. To them our actions represent a crusade to change their culture and their political systems. They do not see us as having noble intentions. Cynicism and realism tell them we’re involved in the Middle East to secure the oil we need.

Our occupation and influence in the holy lands of the Middle East will always be suspect. This includes all the countries of the Arabian Peninsula, Iran, Iraq, and Afghanistan. Naively believing otherwise will guarantee continuing hostilities in Iraq. Our meddling will remain an incitement for radicals to strike us here at home in future terrorist attacks. All the intelligence gathering in the world will serve little purpose if we don’t come to understand exactly why they hate us-- despite the good intentions that many Americans hold dear.

Charlie Sheen - A True American Patriot by Ted Lang

2006-03-27T21:12:00.000+11:00

Charlie Sheen - A True American Patriot by Ted Lang

If there was ever any doubt as to what it is that really made America the greatest nation on Earth that ever existed, let all that uncertainty be dispelled by the actions of Hollywood actor and Television star, Charlie Sheen. Indeed, what a guy! Our nation's greatness is founded upon the legal pedestal we continually attempt to sustain that puts the individual and his or her freedom above all else in this land, the very freedom now being savagely assaulted by the Bush regime and America's traito...

Is this patriotic crap or what?

I couldn't read on, this blurb is just too much. Where were these writers three years ago when Hollywood was crying out to STOP the war? Oh no! Those actors, singers whatever were anti-American and should be locked up for their unpatriotic protestations. How many were vilified?

Look I ain't on anyone's side here but I am sick of the bullshit spouting from brainwashed, movie-lovin', 'merica is da best crap. These comical characters sure know how to forget their history pretty quick. USA = Union of Socialist Assholes!

Verify account information

2006-03-27T20:51:00.000+11:00

Hee hee, this has just come through my email. This is a phishing scam and they can get stuffed!

I might have been interested if I had ever used Chase Bank but.. no.. never !

Chase Bank is constantly working to ensure security by regularly screening the accounts in our system. We recently reviewed your account, and we need more information to help us provide you with secure service. Until we can collect this information, your access to sensitive account features will be limited. We would like to restore your access as soon as possible, and we apologize for the inconvenience.

Why is my account access limited?

Your account access has been limited for the following reason(s):

March 26, 2006: We would like to ensure that your account was not accessed by an unauthorized third party. Because protecting the security of your account is our primary concern, we have limited access to sensitive Chase Bank account features. We understand that this may be an inconvenience but please understand that this temporary limitation is for your protection.

(Your case ID for this reason is CHSE04-410-320-3334.)

At Chase Bank, one of our most important responsibilities to you, our customer, is the safekeeping of the nonpublic personal ("confidential") information you have entrusted to us and using this information in a responsible manner. Appropriate use of the confidential information you provide us is also at the heart of our ability to provide you with exceptional personal service whenever you contact us.

How can I restore my account access?

Please confirm your identity here: Restore My Online Banking Account and complete the "Steps to Remove Limitations."

Completing all of the checklist items will automatically restore your account access.

Morgan Spurlock knows a thing or two about giving offence

2006-03-27T19:54:00.000+11:00

Oh yeah! Good on yer son!

Spurlock leaves audience with a nasty taste after politically incorrect rant

By Andrew Gumbel in Los Angeles
Published: 27 March 2006
Morgan Spurlock knows a thing or two about giving offence. His celebrated 2004 documentary, Super Size Me, in which he ate nothing but McDonald's for a month and chronicled the ever more alarming results, was greeted in the fast food industry much like one of the vile-smelling piles of vomit Mr Spurlock periodically produced in the course of his research.

Now, it seems, Mr Spurlock has shocked and outraged a group of educational administrators at a high school in suburban Philadelphia where he was invited to speak.

According to those in attendance, Mr Spurlock went off on a comedic rant, telling jokes and stories, encouraging audience participation, and throwing out a handful of profanities as he made fun of teachers and the kind of teenagers who become McDonald's employees - in his words, "the retarded kids in the back wearing helmets".

The 700-strong audience at Hatboro-Horsham High School clearly responded to his student-accessible approach, giving him a standing ovation and mobbing him for autographs when he had finished. But others in what is an unmistakably conservative corner of the Philadelphia suburbs were not amused.

His crack about retarded kids prompted one teacher to lead out a group of special education students who were indeed in the back of the school hall. After the talk, others said they did not appreciate the humour of Spurlock putting on an Indian accent and pretending to be a McDonald's cashier. At the end of his hour-long presentation, Mr Spurlock was summoned by the principal and the superintendent of the local school district and told he had crossed a line. A planned news conference was cancelled, as was a second presentation he had been due to give. School officials said they would offer a refund to anyone who felt the $15-$30 they had shelled out was a waste of money.

"If you put the whole package together, the use of the F-word and poking fun at teachers and the comments about special-needs students, it just wasn't appropriate," superintendent William Lessa commented.

Some audience members accused Mr Spurlock of that unforgivable American sin - political incorrectness. High school senior Emily Wible said she didn't like the "retarded" line. "I work with special needs kids," she explained.

Mr Spurlock himself was unapologetic, saying he had never had a problem when giving similar addresses to high school audiences in the past. "I didn't talk to them the way most lecturers do and bore them. I made an inaccessible topic accessible and left the room with more friends than enemies," he said.

Mr Lessa said the school district was considering withholding payment for Mr Spurlock's appearance, something he was more than happy to accept. "I don't want their money if they feel I didn't do what was promised," he said.

The film-maker was not entirely magnanimous about his hosts, however, hinting that what might have really given them offence was his attitude to the fast-food business as opposed to his use of language. He said that before his talk he was asked not to talk about McDonald's because a member of a local education board owned a McDonald's franchise - a claim that was impossible to verify over the weekend.

"To think I'm going to give in to that type of of censorship is unbelievable," Mr Spurlock said. Not only did he talk about McDonald's, he also ripped into other chains, including the Outback Steakhouse. "No one in Australia has heard of Outback Steakhouse, and everyone who works there is Mexican," he said.

Morgan Spurlock knows a thing or two about giving offence. His celebrated 2004 documentary, Super Size Me, in which he ate nothing but McDonald's for a month and chronicled the ever more alarming results, was greeted in the fast food industry much like one of the vile-smelling piles of vomit Mr Spurlock periodically produced in the course of his research.

Now, it seems, Mr Spurlock has shocked and outraged a group of educational administrators at a high school in suburban Philadelphia where he was invited to speak.

According to those in attendance, Mr Spurlock went off on a comedic rant, telling jokes and stories, encouraging audience participation, and throwing out a handful of profanities as he made fun of teachers and the kind of teenagers who become McDonald's employees - in his words, "the retarded kids in the back wearing helmets".

The 700-strong audience at Hatboro-Horsham High School clearly responded to his student-accessible approach, giving him a standing ovation and mobbing him for autographs when he had finished. But others in what is an unmistakably conservative corner of the Philadelphia suburbs were not amused.

His crack about retarded kids prompted one teacher to lead out a group of special education students who were indeed in the back of the school hall. After the talk, others said they did not appreciate the humour of Spurlock putting on an Indian accent and pretending to be a McDonald's cashier. At the end of his hour-long presentation, Mr Spurlock was summoned by the principal and the superintendent of the local school district and told he had crossed a line. A planned news conference was cancelled, as was a second presentation he had been due to give. School officials said they would offer a refund to anyone who felt the $15-$30 they had shelled out was a waste of money.

"If you put the whole package together, the use of the F-word and poking fun at teachers and the comments about special-needs students, it just wasn't appropriate," superintendent William Lessa commented.

Some audience members accused Mr Spurlock of that unforgivable American sin - political incorrectness. High school senior Emily Wible said she didn't like the "retarded" line. "I work with special needs kids," she explained. (and will probably be a fine liberal candidate for the loony bin, that rhymes with a toilet, when she grows up - Ed)

Mr Spurlock himself was unapologetic, saying he had never had a problem when giving similar addresses to high school audiences in the past. "I didn't talk to them the way most lecturers do and bore them. I made an inaccessible topic accessible and left the room with more friends than enemies," he said.

Mr Lessa said the school district was considering withholding payment for Mr Spurlock's appearance, something he was more than happy to accept. "I don't want their money if they feel I didn't do what was promised," he said.

The film-maker was not entirely magnanimous about his hosts, however, hinting that what might have really given them offence was his attitude to the fast-food business as opposed to his use of language. He said that before his talk he was asked not to talk about McDonald's because a member of a local education board owned a McDonald's franchise - a claim that was impossible to verify over the weekend.

"To think I'm going to give in to that type of censorship is unbelievable," Mr Spurlock said. Not only did he talk about McDonald's, he also ripped into other chains, including the Outback Steakhouse. "No one in Australia has heard of Outback Steakhouse, and everyone who works there is Mexican," he said.

Chernobyl Disaster Linked to Higher Rate of Infant Mortality in Britain

2006-03-24T18:21:00.000+11:00

Why has this research come back to haunt the UK? What is the mindset? Why?

By Ian Herbert and Deborah Linton
Published: 23 March 2006

The debate over the health effects of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in Britain reopens today with research which suggests that infant deaths were higher in areas where rain fell as the plume of fallout passed overhead.

A study by the epidemiologist John Urquhart, to be presented at a conference at City Hall in London marking the 20th anniversary of the disaster, suggests that infant deaths may have risen by 11 per cent between 1986 and 1989 in those areas compared with 4 per cent in other areas, a correlation that Mr Urquhart describes as very significant.

Mr Urquhart - the author of a previous study which suggested that 2,000 more children than normal died before their first birthday between 1986 and 1989 - obtained infant death figures from 1983 to 1992 for 200 hospital districts across Britain. Areas across which cloud passed such as Liverpool, Bradford, Leicestershire, and Bristol, showed higher than average infant mortality which, he suggests, cannot entirely be explained by social factors.

The study also suggests that a downwards infant mortality trend was interrupted in the four years after the disaster at the Ukrainian power station and continued to rise until 1992 in the most contaminated areas.

Mr Urquhart argues that a plume of fallout from Chernobyl arrived near the Isle of Wight and passed over Bristol into south Wales. Another plume clipped the coast of Kent and then covered most of East Anglia and part of Essex. Another worked its way from east London to Hertfordshire, resurfacing in parts of Northamptonshire and Leicestershire.

Parts of West Yorkshire and most of the West Midlands, Wales, Merseyside, Lancashire, and Cumbria were significantly affected.

Mr Urquhart, who gave evidence in the 1980s to the Government investigation led by Sir Douglas Black into evidence of a leukaemia cluster near Sellafield, Cumbria, said: "Previous research has established that there has been an increase in thyroid cancers in the young in the north of England for which Chernobyl is the probable cause.

"This new study shows that the infant mortality trend, which was otherwise downwards, rose for a period of four years in England and Wales after Chernobyl. The results based on such a large population suggest that the effect of radioactive fallout could be two orders of magnitude greater than previously suspected."

In June 2002 this report was on the BBC website, among others, and it was debunked.

Wednesday, 26 June, 2002, 18:02 GMT 19:02 UK
Chernobyl scare dismissed by experts

The Chernobyl disaster happened in 1986

Claims that the Chernobyl disaster may have caused child deaths and birth defects in the UK have been attacked.

John Urquhart, a statistician from Newcastle, told New Scientist magazine that, between 1986 and 1989, there were both higher than normal rates of infant deaths.

In addition, there were hundreds more cases of birth defects such as cleft palate, spina bifida and Down's syndrome, he said.

He suggested that radiation fall-out drifting from the Chernobyl explosion in 1986 was a possible cause.

He told the magazine: "We've probably been too complacent about health effects from Chernobyl in western Europe."

However, other experts say there little hard evidence to support this link.

Urquhart looked at 80,000 birth defects in children born in the 15 health regions of England and Wales between 1983 and 1992.

He found the increased cases were concentrated in five of them, Northern, North-western, Trent, South western, and South West Thames.

Clear of danger

However, records from studies carried out by the National Radiological Protection Board in the wake of the disaster showed that the radioactive "plume" which reached the UK did not even reach the south west of England, and was most evident on the hills of north Wales, cumbria and southern Scotland.

Dr Michael Clark, from the NRPB, told BBC News Online: "The assertion that the UK received 40% of the radiation dose of the Ukraine is simply not true.

"Other studies, in Hungary and Germany, and even in Ukraine itself, have found no link between the disaster and infant mortality.

"There have been other health effects in Ukraine, such as an increase in thyroid cancers, but not infant mortality."

Virus theory

The study does not rule out the influence of any other potential factor apart from Chernobyl for the claimed rise in infant mortality and birth defects.

The New Scientist article suggests that radioactivity from Chernobyl may have damaged the immune system of the parents or the children, rendering them more vulnerable to viruses.
Dr Clark said: "These results need to be looked at again by a professional epidemiologist to confirm the findings."

Chernobyl happened when? Ah yes, April 1986. Seems strange to me that very few reports have surfaced showing a link with BSE (Mad Cow). I mean the fallout specifically fell in the areas where BSE was found six months later. The cattle ate the grass that had been growing in the contaminated area and subsequently contacted very weird illnesses that were new to those who cared for them. The scientists later came up with a theory that 'prions' were to blame! But you can't analyse 'prions' because they contaminate the instruments used and the only way they can get rid of the evidence is to burn the contaminants at over 2000c. What does that tell you?

H5N1 – Bird Flu

2006-03-19T20:19:00.000+11:00

As reported here 2 weeks ago and its over a month ago since the Grain press release that the bird flu is being caused by the globalist poultry trade, now we have the International Herald Tribune climbing onto this theory as well. I think it is becoming slightly obvious where the dangers are coming from.

Don't blame the wild birds

New York - Those of us who have been studying avian influenza and other bird diseases for decades, when few people beside pet owners and the poultry industry cared, are dismayed that voices of reason are being drowned out with regard to the role played by wild birds in the spread of the H5N1 virus.

This past week alone, both the United Nations and the Office of Homeland Security implicated migratory birds as the most likely carriers of H5N1 to American shores, while cable news scrambled to get bird migration maps.

Migratory fowl could, of course, bring H5N1 here on the wing. But there is an equal, if not greater, chance that H5N1 will fly to North America on an airplane transporting poultry legally or otherwise. Recently a shipment of chicken feet was smuggled into the United States from Thailand, arriving in Connecticut marked "jellyfish." Luckily, our trade surveillance system worked and the chicken parts were confiscated.

Over the last 30 years we have learned a tremendous amount about how avian influenza spreads. In nature, avian influenza viruses live innocuously in many types of wild birds and cause only mild effects, sometimes none at all, similar to many bacteria and viruses that live in humans.

This is not to say that the virus can't be carried by, and kill, wild birds, because it can. Yet the spread of H5N1 did not result from the activities of wild birds, but from a very human activity - trade.

We know that international trade in wild or exotic birds, both legal and illegal, has helped moved H5N1 around the world. However, the virus has likely gotten its biggest boost through the trade, both legal and illegal, in poultry.

As part of a multi-billion dollar industry, poultry markets and farms span the globe. The conditions of these facilities vary greatly; some are plagued by highly unsanitary conditions and close bird-to-bird contact. This environment provides the ideal setting for deadly strains of the avian flu virus to develop.

Moving these infected poultry and poultry products as well as contaminated fecal matter on trucks, boots or in cages results in the further spread of avian flu.

The current focus on the role of migratory birds in the spread of H5N1 has shifted discussion away from this trade. Even perfect security ultimately won't work if we do not begin to address the role of trade in the spread of avian flu and the host of other diseases that can jump between humans, wildlife and domestic animals.

A similar concern arises when we look at the multi-billion dollar legal and illegal trade in wild animals. Not only does this practice put wildlife populations at risk, it also creates unique opportunities for novel pathogens (viruses, bacteria, and fungi carried by these animals) to exploit new hosts unprepared for their arrival.

The pet trade in African rodents brought Monkey Pox to our doorstep just a few short years ago. Yesterday it was Monkey Pox, today it is avian flu, and tomorrow avian flu could morph into a pandemic. If we do not address animal and wildlife trade, it is just a matter of time before the next zoonotic disease hits.

Understanding the spread of H5N1 is critical to our ability to contain it. Congress recently passed legislation including provisions for a global H5N1 monitoring network for both wild and domestic birds that will help determine areas at future risk. Without this type of network, along with sound epidemiological study, conclusions will remain in large part conjecture.

We need to remember that the human deaths related to H5N1 since its identification in 1997 have been traced to close contact with poultry. We also need to understand that changing our current practices on a global scale is necessary to contain this and future viruses.

The first step is educating people on how to safely handle domestic poultry. Ultimately, our goal should be a global system of trade that ensures the movement of quality domestic animal food products and excludes wildlife for food or as pets.

To that end, border security must be enhanced so that the potential for contaminated products of the domestic and wildlife trade do not cross into nations that are not yet infected.

(Robert Cook is chief veterinarian and vice president and William B. Karesh is director of the Field Veterinary Program at the Wildlife Conservation Society, Bronx Zoo, New York.)

I think the Iraqis detested them.

2006-03-12T14:14:00.000+11:00

As a trooper in the Special Air Service's counter-terrorist team - the black-clad force that came to the world's attention during the Iranian Embassy siege in 1980 - Ben Griffin was at the pinnacle of his military career.
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In his first interview since being discharged from the SAS in June last year, Mr Griffin explained why he has decided to speak out about the war.

He said: "I saw a lot of things in Baghdad that were illegal or just wrong. I knew, so others must have known, that this was not the way to conduct operations if you wanted to win the hearts and minds of the local population. And if you don't win the hearts and minds of the people, you can't win the war.

"If we were on a joint counter-terrorist operation, for example, we would radio back to our headquarters that we were not going to detain certain people because, as far as we were concerned, they were not a threat because they were old men or obviously farmers, but the Americans would say 'no, bring them back'.

"The Americans had this catch-all approach to lifting suspects. The tactics were draconian and completely ineffective. The Americans were doing things like chucking farmers into Abu Ghraib [the notorious prison in Baghdad where US troops abused and tortured Iraqi detainees] or handing them over to the Iraqi authorities, knowing full well they were going to be tortured.

"The Americans had a well-deserved reputation for being trigger happy. In the three months that I was in Iraq, the soldiers I served with never shot anybody. When you asked the Americans why they killed people, they would say 'we were up against the tough foreign fighters'. I didn't see any foreign fighters in the time I was over there.

"I can remember coming in off one operation which took place outside Baghdad, where we had detained some civilians who were clearly not insurgents, they were innocent people. I couldn't understand why we had done this, so I said to my troop commander 'would we have behaved in the same way in the Balkans or Northern Ireland?' He shrugged his shoulders and said 'this is Iraq', and I thought 'and that makes it all right?'

"As far as I was concerned that meant that because these people were a different colour or a different religion, they didn't count as much. You can not invade a country pretending to promote democracy and behave like that."

On another operation, Mr Griffin recalls his and other soldiers' frustration at being ordered to detain a group of men living on a farm.

He said: "After you have been on a few operations, experience tells you when you are dealing with insurgents or just civilians and we knew the people we had detained were not a threat.
"One of them was a disabled man who had a leg missing but the Americans still ordered us to load them on the helicopters and bring them back to their base. A few hours later we were told to return half of them and fly back to the farm in daylight. It was a ridiculous order and we ran the risk of being shot down or ambushed, but we still had to do it. The Americans were risking our lives because they refused to listen to our advice the night before. It was typical of their behaviour."

Mr Griffin said he believed that the Americans soldiers viewed the Iraqis in the same way as the Nazis viewed Russians, Jews and eastern Europeans in the Second World War, when they labelled them "untermenschen".

"As far as the Americans were concerned, the Iraqi people were sub-human, untermenschen. You could almost split the Americans into two groups: ones who were complete crusaders, intent on killing Iraqis, and the others who were in Iraq because the Army was going to pay their college fees. They had no understanding or interest in the Arab culture. The Americans would talk to the Iraqis as if they were stupid and these weren't isolated cases, this was from the top down. There might be one or two enlightened officers who understood the situation a bit better but on the whole that was their general attitude. Their attitude fuelled the insurgency. I think the Iraqis detested them."

Although Mr Griffin has the utmost respect for his former colleagues and remains fiercely loyal to the regiment, he believes that the reputation of the Army has been damaged by its association with the American forces.

"I had reservations about going out to Iraq before I went, but as a soldier you just get on with what you are ordered to do. But I found that when I was out in Iraq that I couldn't keep my views separate from my work without compromising my role as a soldier.

"It was at that stage that I knew I couldn't carry on. I was very angry, and still am, at the way the politicians in this country and America have lied to the British public about the war. But most importantly, I didn't join the British Army to conduct American foreign policy."

Mr Griffin said that although he was angered by many of the events he witnessed in Iraq, he waited until he returned to Britain on leave before making his views clear to his commanders.
"I didn't want to say anything when I was in Baghdad because I still have great respect and loyalty for the soldiers I served with. I didn't want to cause any unnecessary pressure or discomfort by voicing my opinions.

"When I returned to the UK for a week's leave I asked for an interview with my commanding officer and told him that what I thought was going on in Iraq was wrong, not just legally but operationally as well.

"Initially, he suspected that I had been offered a job by a private military company in Iraq but when it became clear that was not the case he was very understanding. It was a big decision for me. I put a lot of effort getting into the SAS, so this wasn't a decision I made on a whim.

"He understood my point of view and his attitude was brilliant, in fact everyone was brilliant about it. I didn't know what was going to happen. I thought I might be charged or end up in Colchester [the military prison] for refusing to soldier."

Mr Griffin, who lives in London, denies being a peace activist or a member of any political party, or having an agenda designed to bring down the Government.

But he said: "I do believe passionately in democracy and I will speak out about things which I think are morally wrong. I think the war in Iraq is a war of aggression and is morally wrong and, more importantly, we are making the situation in the Middle East more unstable. It's not just wrong, it's a major military disaster. There was no plan for what was to happen after Saddam went, no end-game."

• Mr Griffin did not ask for or receive any payment for this interview.

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Update Sunday 12th March 2006

US dead = 2307
Iraqi Dead = approx 35539

Ratio 15 Iraqis for each US death

From my childhood

2006-03-11T20:35:00.000+11:00

Amongst other things my father was an electrical engineer. I don't know if he built this, poorly, illustrated thingy above but he used to have my brother's and I sit in front of it wearing dark green goggles and bare to the waste. It consisted of a metal (steel sheet) case (I don't think the front was open or glass but may have been a thin metal gauze type shield) with two carbon rods inside that had electric power through one of them. When you adjusted a rod, using a knob on the casing, closer to the other you would get a very bright light and a buzzing noise as the electricity arced between the rods. Occasionally, when we played with it later in our teens, we got the rods too close together and it sort of fused them. We managed to separate them when it cooled so he wouldn't find out what we had done.

Now what I want to know is why? And what was the purpose? Was it supposed to give health benefits in any way? Were we exposed to some form of crazy quackery? What was it?

Britain's dirty secret

2006-03-10T23:17:00.000+11:00

Exculsive - Secret papers show how Britain helped Israel make the A-bomb in the 1960s, supplying tons of vital chemicals including plutonium and uranium. And it looks as though Harold Wilson and his ministers knew nothing about it. By Meirion Jones

Yeah, well I could believe that SOB would be party to anything that would be in his favour.

We can reveal that while Harold Wilson was prime minister the UK supplied Israel with small quantities of plutonium despite a warning from British intelligence that it might "make a material contribution to an Israeli weapons programme". This, by enabling Israel to study the properties of plutonium before its own supplies came on line, could have taken months off the time it needed to make a weapon. Britain also sold Israel a whole range of other exotic chemicals, including uranium-235, beryllium and lithium-6, which are used in atom bombs and even hydrogen bombs. And in Harold Macmillan's time we supplied the heavy water that allowed Israel to start up its own plutonium production facility at Dimona - heavy water that British intelligence estimated would enable Israel to make "six nuclear weapons a year".
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Tony Benn became technology minister in 1966, while the plutonium deal was going through. Though the nuclear industry was part of his brief, nobody told him we were exporting atomic energy materials to Israel. "I'm not only surprised," he says, "I'm shocked." Neither he nor his predecessor Frank Cousins agreed to the sales, he insists, and though he always suspected civil servants of doing deals behind his back, "it never occurred to me they would authorise something so totally against the policy of the government".
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Back in August 1960, when covert photographs of a mysterious site at Dimona in Israel arrived at Defence Intelligence Staff (DIS) in Whitehall, a brilliant analyst called Peter Kelly saw immediately that they showed a secret nuclear reactor.
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Kelly's reports for the Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC) on "secret atomic activities in Israel" show that Britain's defence and espionage establishment had no doubt about what was going on in Israel. Kelly wrote of underground galleries at the Dimona complex; there were such galleries. He correctly described the French role in the project. He identified the importance of the heavy water: with 20 tons of this material, he estimated, Israel could have a reactor capable of producing "significant quantities of plutonium". British intelligence also knew about the reprocessing facility at Dimona and stated: "The separation of plutonium can only mean that Israel intends to produce nuclear weapons." Kelly even discovered that an Israeli observer had been allowed to watch one of the first French nuclear tests in Algeria.

Kelly and his colleagues, however, found their views were being challenged. Chief of the challengers was Michael Israel Michaels (such was his middle name, literally), who was a senior official at the science ministry under Lord Hailsham during the Macmillan government, and went on to serve at the technology ministry under Benn. He was also Britain's representative at the IAEA.
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In 1961 Michaels was invited to Israel by the Israeli nuclear chief Ernst David Bergmann, and while there was given VIP treatment.
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Three years later, at the beginning of 1966, something extraordinary happened. The UK Atomic Energy Authority made what it called a "pretty harmless request" to the government: it wanted to export ten milligrams of plutonium to Israel. The Ministry of Defence strongly objected, with Defence Intelligence (Kelly's department) arguing that the sale might have "significant military value". The Foreign Office duly blocked it, ruling: "It is HMG's policy not to do anything which would assist Israel in the production of nuclear weapons.

"Michaels was furious. He wrote "to protest strongly" against the decision, saying that small quantities of plutonium were not important and anyhow if we didn't sell it to the Israelis someone else would. Michaels could be a bulldozer - he was short and bald, described as pugnacious and hard-headed by colleagues - and he won his battle. Eventually the Foreign Office caved in and the sale went ahead.
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What this shows is that Michaels, in the full knowledge of how useful it could be for weapons development, went on to persuade the British government to sell Israel a sample of plutonium.

Today, Tony Benn can hardly believe that Michaels never referred the nuclear sales to him. Going through his diaries, Benn finds dozens of references to meetings with Michaels which show that he didn't trust him even then. "Michaels lied to me. I learned by bitter experience that the nuclear industry lied to me again and again." Kelly believes that Michaels knew all along what Israel was doing, but since he died in 1992 we can't ask him.
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Tony Benn wonders whether these deals could have gone ahead without the knowledge of the British prime ministers of the time, Macmillan, Sir Alec Douglas-Home and Wilson. The evidence is unclear. The newly declassified papers show that in 1958 a member of the board of UKAEA said he was going to refer the heavy-water deal to the authority's executive, which reported directly to Macmillan, but there is no record that this happened. We know that Lord Hailsham learned about the heavy-water deal after it had gone through and concluded that Israel was "preparing for a weapons programme".

Benn's initial reaction to whether Wilson knew about the atomic exports to Israel was that it was "inconceivable". Then he hesitated, observing, "Harold was sympathetic to Israel," but concluded that no, he probably did not know. Benn believes that the exports were probably pushed through by civil servants working with the nuclear industry.

Hmm, maybe after all these years I have found out how Wilson got the money to buy St Marys island, off the coast at Lands End, after he retired from the parliament. Five million quid I believe it was and that was a hell of a lot of money in the days when the PM's salary would be lucky to top a thousand quid a year (or a week more likely, on second thought).

Inorganic phosphate fertilizers may contain radionuclides

2006-03-10T21:33:00.000+11:00

... Phosphate fertilizers are manufactured from phosphate rocks and, according to their origin, may contain various heavy metal micronutrients (Co, Cu, Fe, Mn, Mo, Ni, Zn), fluorine and heavy metals considered toxic (As, Al, Cd, Pb and Hg) (Camelo et al., 1997 and Mirlean et al., 2001). The build up of toxic heavy metals and fluorine in soils as a result of continuous application of phosphate fertilizers has been evaluated in long term experiments carried out in many national and international studies (Allaway, 1968, Kabata-Pendias and Pendias, 1984, Adriano, 1986, Mortvedt, 1987, Mortvedt, 1991, Alloway, 1990, Bockman et al., 1990, Freitas, 1992, Charter et al., 1993, Kponblekou and Tabatabai, 1994, Malavolta, 1994, McLaughlin et al., 1996, Gimeno-García et al., 1996, Camelo et al., 1997 and Abdel-Haleem et al., 2001).

The phosphate rocks are also enriched in uranium, thorium and their daughters, deposited as calcium phosphate minerals by isomorphic substitution (Pfister et al., 1976), since the natural uranium can substitute calcium in the phosphate rock structure due to the similarity in ionic size between U4+ and Ca2+ (Guzman, 1992). The presence was first reported in 1908 (Ring, 1977) and the behaviour has been described worldwide (Menzel, 1968, Pfister et al., 1976, Ring, 1977, Guimond, 1978, Rothbaum et al., 1979, Mortvedt, 1986, Todorovsky and Kulev, 1993, Sam and Holm, 1995, Hull and Burnett, 1996, Alam et al., 1997, Ioannides et al., 1997, Ibrahim, 1998, Khan et al., 1998, Sam et al., 1999 and Khater et al., 2001). Various authors have also studied the behaviour of radionuclides in phosphogypsum (Bolívar et al., 1995, Rutherford et al., 1994 and Haridasan et al., 2002) and in phosphoric acid (Singh et al., 2001) that are by-products of the fertilizer industry.
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The long-continued application of phosphate fertilizers and their by-products can redistribute and elevate heavy metal and fluorine concentrations in soil profiles, and, consequently, their availability for plants and subsequent transfer to the human food chain, mainly in acid soils.

What we have here is a known history of the use and abuse of phosphorus fertilizers on the land. The constant need for more and more fertilizer and the resulting damage to the soil, the plants and those that eat these plants or have to inhabit the waters that are contaminated by the runoff is proof that there is collusion within the heirarchy to damage the health of the world's population by using this poison.

Phosphorus is a key element in all known forms of life. Inorganic phosphorus in the form of the phosphate plays a major role in biological molecules such as DNA and RNA where it forms part of the structural backbone of these molecules. Living cells also utilize phosphate to transport cellular energy via adenosine triphosphate (ATP).

So here we see that our DNA and RNA can be compromised by the actions of polonium a radionuclide daughter that can be present in the fertilizer. But not only that there has been a cover up (another!) within the tobacco industry -

Lives could be saved by simply changing fertilizers, they say... Almost 95% of the Lung Cancer caused by Cigarettes are allegedly the result of using calcium phosphate fertilizer to grow the Tobacco. The resulting Cigarettes bearing a combination of local Radon gasses and radioactive Polonium from the Tobacco leaves deposit a small dose of radioactive isotopes directly into a smoker's lungs as they smoke (or breath smoke laden air)! For the "pack-a-day" smoker, it has been alleged that this dose would be the same as if you were forced to have between 300 and 8000 Chest X-Rays a year! If this startling fact be true, then it appears that your Lungs could literally be converted into a toxic, irradiated Nuclear Dump by the majority of today's commercially grown and factory manufactured Cigarettes!

I'm a heavy smoker - back to the DNA issue.

Phosphorus, (from the Greek language phôs meaning "light", and phoros meaning "bearer") ... Due to its high reactivity, it is never found as a free element in nature. It emits a faint glow upon exposure to oxygen (hence its Greek derivation and the Latin meaning 'morning star'), occurs in several allotropic forms, and is an essential element for living organisms.

When DNA is damaged, as it routinely is during the life of cells, the damage must be properly repaired in order to keep chromosomes intact. Failure of the DNA repair process disrupts the structural stability of chromosomes, which must be intact in order to be properly segregated to daughter cells when cells divide. Non-repaired or improperly fused chromosomes lead to chromosome breaks in mitosis and disruptions in gene activity that can lead to cancer.

Ionizing radiation induces genomic instability, which is transmitted over many generations after irradiation through the progeny of surviving cells. Induced genomic instability is manifested as the expression of the following delayed effects: delayed reproductive death or lethal mutation, chromosomal instability, and mutagenesis. Since induced genomic instability accumulates gene mutations (actually genomic instability is the process whereby gene mutation increases subtle difference) and gross chromosomal rearrangements, it has been thought to play a role in radiation-induced carcinogenesis. Radiation-induced genomic instability exerts its effects for prolonged periods of time, suggesting the presence of a mechanism by which the initial DNA damage in the surviving cells is memorized.

On the other hand, damage may be passed on to the next generation in the family.

Quirks of Genomic Disease

At a recent laboratory meeting in Philadelphia, a researcher wrote "no lemon, no melon" on a blackboard. He then deleted the spaces and comma, leaving the palindrome "nolemonnomelon." Finally, he turned the letters into the shape of a vertical hairpin, with the palindrome halved and the same letters facing each other. The point of the exercise was to explain the concept of palindromic hairpins in the human genome.
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Since 1980, researchers have identified hundreds of families with examples of the same rearranged genome. In a clean geographic swap known as balanced translocation, a small piece of chromosome 11 switches places with a small piece of chromosome 22. Remarkably, almost no genetic material is lost and the relocated genes work just fine in their new home.

"Year after year we've been looking at this translocation trying to understand the mechanism," says Beverly S. Emanuel, of the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, who led the research. Her team of researchers focused on a single translocation, but chromosomal abnormalities are relatively common. She predicts that similar mechanisms are likely to be involved in other translocations.
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Previous DNA analyses of this translocation have shown that the breakpoints and rearrangements appear to be quite similar in most cases. Another interesting aspect of the translocation is its spontaneous occurrence—it turns up in individuals whose parents are unaffected, and genetic studies have shown that the abnormality is not due to a single shared ancestor.

Now, radiation biologists are concluding that the public may well have been right all along, They have found a previously unknown pathway by which radiation can subvert living cells, Radiation, they say, may cause a much wider range at diseases than epidemiological studies predict. Even levels of exposure below 1 millisievert a year could be harmful, and thousands of people could face early death as a result, Worst of all, the small doses of radiation that millions habitually receive could be poisoning the human gene pool, wreaking damage on future generations. "It is a horrifying concept, says Eric Wright from the Medical Research Council at Harwell in Oxfordshire. "But we now have early indications that it may be happening."

Conventional wisdom says that when ionizing radiation hits a living cell, there are three possible outcomes. Either the cell is unharmed, or it is killed, or it survives if with its DNA damaged (see Diagram on page 26). If the cell is not mended by the cell's repair enzymes and the cell divides, the damage will be passed on to its daughter cells. Depending on the type of cell and which genes, if any are damaged, the result could be uncontrolled growth and eventually cancer.

But Wright, who is head of experimental hematology at the MRC's Radiation and Genome Stability Unit, has found a fourth possibility. "Radiation can also," he says, "inflict damage on cells that at the moment can only be detected after they have divided several times." He calls this radiation induced genomic instability.
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Despite the holes in our understanding of induced genomic instability, Wright feels that we already know enough to start worrying.

UK cited for 'obsessive' anti-Semitism

2006-03-10T07:34:00.000+11:00

I suppose that after 350 years of uncontrolled judaic immigration, led by the international banking cartel (IBC), which subsequently white-anted and then took over the British establishment, this is not too much of a surprise. Now that the Internet has opened up the minds of the citizens and shown them the true history of the country and how they have been led and lied to for hundreds of years, we get this sort of racist tripe from those that have caused the problem.

Britain has been a constant target of invasion for thousands of years but until the mid-17th century these invaders have improved the lot of the citizens and then assimilated into the background. Not those who came after! Oh no. They have delivered the people of the country into servitude and slavery. The people have seen their country driven to conquer others using the agenda of the IBC to plunder and destroy cultures throughout the world and then told to accept the blame for this imperialism. Thus we have a near broken country with disregard to spiritual and moral behaviour now being accused of fighting back against those who have promulgated events down through the years.

Before Cromwell, Britain was a Christian country with Christian values but since then we have seen class distinction emphasised and the poor downtrodden given less hope and succour. What remains of the middle class and the nouveau riche now worship the IBC god of mammon, rejecting those who are incapable of helping themselves or maligning those who are comfortable with a moral Christian living standard.

The Bank of England’s Charters(The Cause of our Social Distress)
By Thomas W HuskinsonPublished 1912

Previous to William III’s reign the destitution of any class in the community was practically unknown. There were destitute individuals doubtless ; but there was not a destitute class. Since that reign destitution has been the common lot of a large portion of the lower orders : at the same time enterprise and agriculture have experienced lengthy periods of difficulty and depression of a character unknown before…..

Hilary Leila Krieger, THE JERUSALEM POST

Mar. 9, 2006 9:26

It turns out that joining the EU hasn't been the only thing to draw England closer to continental Europe.

For the first time since the Middle Ages, England is exhibiting classic "obsessive" anti-Semitism until now reserved for its neighbors across the channel, according to a British anti-Semitism expert.

Robert Wistrich, who heads the Hebrew University's Sassoon International Center for the Study of Anti-Semitism, pointed to recent characterizations of Jews as the cabal behind the Iraq war and anti-Israel rhetoric leading to activities such as boycotts.

Historically, Wistrich explained at a lecture Wednesday night, British Jew-hatred has been less ideological, less violent and less successful in influencing government policies than in places such as Germany, Russia and Poland.

And, he stressed, "you cannot say that the British government was anti-Semitic in the 20th century," calling Prime Minister Tony Blair "one of the better or best friends Israel has in the outside world."

He attributed England's less "compulsive" anti-Semitism in part to British "self-confidence" as a prosperous empire with no need to feel threatened by a small minority, which started to change in the 20th century as the empire began to fall apart.

In general, mice are more intelligent than humans

2006-03-09T19:51:00.000+11:00

FlavrSavr

The FlavrSavr® tomato was the first commercially grown genetically engineered food to be granted a licence for human consumption. It was produced by Calgene Inc. of Davis, California and submitted to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1992. It was first sold in 1994. FlavrSavr tomatoes were only available for a few years before production ceased. Calgene made history but went bust due to mounting costs.

The modified tomato was more resistant to rotting and the taste was unchanged. The amount of vitamins, protein, and mineral substances in the FlavrSavr tomatoes also remained the same as traditional varieties.

Unmodified tomatoes are picked before fully ripened. The antisense gene in FlavrSavr tomatoes means they can be allowed to ripen on the vine without the risk of rotting when they are transported to shops. The reason the tomatoes are resistant to rotting is because a gene that interferes with production of enzyme polygalacturonase is added. Polygalacturonase is responsible for cell walls softening during the fruit ripening.

The FDA stated that special labeling for these modified tomatoes was not necessary because they have the essential characteristics of non-modified tomatoes.

But they are not the same and therefore the FDA fudged all scientific research, gave the go ahead and their stamp of approval.

Seeds of Deception

By Jeffrey M. Smith

Between the Chapters: The Wisdom of Animals

Mice avoid eating GM foods when they have the chance, as do rats, cows, pigs, geese, elk, squirrels, and others. What do these animals know that we don’t? At the end of each chapter is a one-page story describing how farmers, students, and scientists discovered that animals refuse to eat the same GM foods that we consume everyday.

Excerpt:The Washington Post reported that laboratory mice, usually happy to munch on tomatoes, turned their noses up at the genetically modified FlavrSavr tomato. Scientist Roger Salquist said of his tomato, “I gotta tell you, you can be Chef Boyardee and mice are still not going to like them.” [8] The mice were eventually force fed the tomato through gastric tubes and stomach washes. Several developed stomach lesions; seven of forty died within two weeks. The tomato was approved without further tests.

Institute for Responsible Technology
Newsletter on GM Foods, Spilling the Beans
By Jeffrey M. Smith, author of Seeds of Deception

Years ago, a science class at Appleton found support for their new diet by conducting a cruel and unusual experiment with three mice. They fed them the junk food that kids in other high schools eat everyday. The mice freaked out. Their behavior was totally different than the three mice in the neighboring cage. The neighboring mice had good karma; they were fed nutritious whole foods and behaved like mice. They slept during the day inside their cardboard tube, played with each other, and acted very mouse-like.

The junk food mice, on the other hand, destroyed their cardboard tube, were no longer nocturnal, stopped playing with each other, fought often, and two mice eventually killed the third and ate it. After the three month experiment, the students rehabilitated the two surviving junk food mice with a diet of whole foods. After about three weeks, the mice came around.

Sister Luigi Frigo repeats this experiment every year in her second grade class in Cudahy, Wisconsin, but mercifully, for only four days. Even on the first day of junk food, the mice's behavior "changes drastically." They become lazy, antisocial, and nervous. And it still takes the mice about two to three weeks on unprocessed foods to return to normal. One year, the second graders tried to do the experiment again a few months later with the same mice, but this time the animals refused to eat the junk food.

The first paragraph of this article read -

Before the Appleton Wisconsin high school replaced their cafeteria's processed foods with wholesome, nutritious food, the school was described as out-of-control. There were weapons violations, student disruptions, and a cop on duty full-time. After the change in school meals, the students were calm, focused, and orderly. There were no more weapons violations, and no suicides, expulsions, dropouts, or drug violations. The new diet and improved behavior has lasted for seven years, and now other schools are changing their meal programs with similar results.

And for confirmation that we have been had as far as the food we are being brainwashed into eating and giving to our chidren, read the penultimate and last paragraph from Seeds of Deception

There are the numerous ways in which industry researchers apparently doctored their studies to avoid finding problems with GM foods. For example, Aventis heated StarLink corn four times longer than standard before testing for intact protein; Monsanto fed mature animals diets with only one tenth of their protein derived from GM soy; researchers injected cows with one forty-seventh the amount of rbGH before testing the level of hormone in the milk and pasteurized milk 120 times longer than normal to see if the hormone was destroyed; and Monsanto used stronger acid and more than 1,250 times the amount of a digestive enzyme recommended by international standards to prove how quickly their protein degraded. Cows that got sick were dropped from Monsanto’s rbGH studies, while cows that got pregnant before treatment were counted as support that the drug didn’t interfere with fertility; differences in composition between Roundup Ready soy and natural soy were omitted from a published paper; antibody reactions by rats fed rbGH were ignored by the FDA; and deaths from rats fed the FlavrSavr tomato remain unexplained.

Overturning a myth is not easy and cannot be accomplished by only a few individuals. Please join with those of us who are dedicated to getting the truth out.

Australia debt-free within four months

2006-03-08T09:34:00.000+11:00

Government soon debt-free, says Howard
By Matthew FranklinMarch 08, 2006
THE Australian Government would be debt-free within four months, Prime Minister John Howard said yesterday.
Addressing a business luncheon in Mumbai, India, Mr Howard said his Government was close to achieving its decade-long dream of wiping out more than $90 billion in Government debt it inherited when it took power in 1996.
This debt is the total monies owed on borrowings by all Commonwealth departments and agencies.
Mr Howard's announcement, midway through his four-day visit to India, came after he rejected a plea by Indian counterpart Manhoman Singh to clear the way for sales of Australian uranium to India.
Mr Howard talked up the economy in his speech before the Bombay Chamber of Commerce, boasting that Australia was in its 15th consecutive year of uninterrupted economic growth and that its jobless rate was at a 30-year low.
"At the end of this financial year, the national government will have no net debt," Mr Howard said.

The only problem with this statement is that although Federal/Commonwealth debt will be cleared it doesn’t mean Australia is out of the toilet yet. In fact the situation for every man, woman and child is still in the balance. Why! Because the states and territories of Australia and personal expenditure has gone through the roof. The states are all heavy international borrowers, likewise the money that banks lone to the private citizen is also international.

The present government has had to take a lot of stick from the lefties who think that spending future money is good for it’s citizens while slowly trying to pull in the debt that was inherited from ‘the economist of the decade (80’s)’ Paul Keating.

Keating gave our country to the international bankers and then helped them by allowing interest rates to drive up over 17%. He then had the temerity to make statements like, "It’s the recession we had to have", "Australia is becoming a banana republic", "Australia is the arsehole of the world" (covered in bush) and his famously televised stroll through a university campus where he told heckling students to "get a job!" The ‘man’ is a moron and he did not leave quietly, as he should have, but continues to spout his rubbish every now and again.

Ok, here’s the scuttlebutt on H5N1 –Bird Flu

2006-03-06T19:46:00.000+11:00

Did you ever notice that the spread of bird flu never appeared to follow the path of migratory birds? You recall how the flu has been drifting east to west throughout this past winter in the Northern Hemisphere. Birds don’t migrate east to west they in the majority travel north to south or visa versa. It also amazed me to find that the flu had jumped all the way across the Sahara to Nigeria and is now reported in Niger. Read the following report and the link within to find out the truth.

GRAIN PRESS RELEASE Embargoed until 27 February 2006 (00:01 GMT) Contact: Devlin Kuyek (Montreal) +1 514 2737314

REPORT SAYS GLOBAL POULTRY INDUSTRY IS THE ROOT OF THE BIRD FLU CRISIS

Small-scale poultry farming and wild birds are being unfairly blamed for the bird flu crisis now affecting large parts of the world. A new report from GRAIN shows how the transnational poultry industry is the root of the problem and must be the focus of efforts to control the virus. [1]

The spread of industrial poultry production and trade networks has created ideal conditions for the emergence and transmission of lethal viruses like the H5N1 strain of bird flu. Once inside densely populated factory farms, viruses can rapidly become lethal and amplify. Air thick with viral load from infected farms is carried for kilometres, while integrated trade networks spread the disease through many carriers: live birds, day-old-chicks, meat, feathers, hatching eggs, eggs, chicken manure and animal feed. [2]

"Everyone is focused on migratory birds and backyard chickens as the problem," says Devlin Kuyek of GRAIN. "But they are not effective vectors of highly pathogenic bird flu. The virus kills them, but is unlikely to be spread by them."

For example, in Malaysia, the mortality rate from H5N1 among village chicken is only 5%, indicating that the virus has a hard time spreading among small scale chicken flocks. H5N1 outbreaks in Laos, which is surrounded by infected countries, have only occurred in the nation's few factory farms, which are supplied by Thai hatcheries. The only cases of bird flu in backyard poultry, which account for over 90% of Laos' production, occurred next to the factory farms.
"The evidence we see over and over again, from the Netherlands in 2003 to Japan in 2004 to Egypt in 2006, is that lethal bird flu breaks out in large scale industrial chicken farms and then spreads," Kuyek explains.

The Nigerian outbreak earlier this year began at a single factory farm, owned by a Cabinet minister, distant from hotspots for migratory birds but known for importing unregulated hatchable eggs. In India, local authorities say that H5N1 emerged and spread from a factory farm owned by the country's largest poultry company, Venkateshwara Hatcheries.

A burning question is why governments and international agencies, like the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation, are doing nothing to investigate how the factory farms and their byproducts, such as animal feed and manure, spread the virus. Instead, they are using the crisis as an opportunity to further industrialise the poultry sector. Initiatives are multiplying to ban outdoor poultry, squeeze out small producers and restock farms with genetically-modified chickens. The web of complicity with an industry engaged in a string of denials and cover-ups seems complete.

"Farmers are losing their livelihoods, native chickens are being wiped out and some experts say that we're on the verge of a human pandemic that could kill millions of people," Kuyek concludes. "When will governments realise that to protect poultry and people from bird flu, we need to protect them from the global poultry industry?"

[1] The full briefing, "Fowl play: The poultry industry's central role in the bird flu crisis", is available at http://www.grain.org/go/birdflu.

[2] Chicken faeces and bedding from poultry factory floors are common ingredients in animal feed.
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GRAIN is an international non-governmental organisation (NGO) which promotes the sustainable management and use of agricultural biodiversity based on people's control over genetic resources and local knowledge.
Contact: Devlin Kuyek, GRAIN, in Montreal Tel: +1 514 2737314 Email: devlin (at) grain.org Website: http://www.grain.org

Are we too blind to see?

2006-03-06T09:55:00.001+11:00

If you're looking for escape,
well Don't you feel afraid
There are others in this life that
Also feel the same
Yes, I too am looking for love
Together we could be
Let us take a step of love into eternity.
Chorus:
Come, are we too blind to see
Come, and take a step with me
Come, are we too blind to see
Let's love our way outta here.
C'mon get ready for Heaven's sake
Because the time is drawing near
And there is no reason For us a stayin' here
And I too am looking for love
Together we could be
Let us take a step of love into eternity.
Chorus:
Come, are we too blind to see
Come, and take a step with me
Come, are we too blind to see
Let's love our way outta here.
Written by Michael Fogarty.

We are inundated with scientific ‘facts’, with the mainstream media colluding as usual, supporting the call that cell/mobile phones are a safe communications media. Are they right or wrong?

It has been hypothesised for decades that EMF radiation is a dangerous tool and can harm the world’s population on a global playing field. Here is a sample of the evidence supporting this claim –

HENRY LAI HAS A VIVID RECOLLECTION OF HIS INTRODUCTION to the politics of big science. It was 1994, and he had just received a message from the National Institutes of Health, which was funding work he was doing on the effects of microwave radiation, similar to that emitted by cellular phones, on the brain. He and UW colleague Narendra "N.P." Singh had results indicating that the radiation could cause DNA damage in brain cells.

The news was apparently unwelcome in some quarters.

Someone had called the NIH to report that Lai was misusing his research funding by doing work not specified in the grant (the grant didn't mention DNA). And the agency wanted to know what was going on.

"It really scared the hell out of me," says Lai, a research professor in the UW's Department of Bioengineering who earned his Ph.D. from the UW in 1977. "I was awake all night, worrying about it, wondering what to do."

In the morning, he sent a fax to the agency, explaining how the research fell within the parameters of the grant. The NIH accepted his explanation and assured him that all was well. "They are usually fairly liberal in that regard," Lai says. "To do otherwise would stifle the scientific process."

The incident, he says, was only the beginning in a David-and-Goliath conflict pitting him-and other researchers-against an emerging technology that would rapidly become one of the most lucrative and powerful businesses on the planet: the cell phone industry.

The controversy goes back to a study by Lai and Singh published in a 1995 issue of Bioelectromagnetics. They found an increase in damaged DNA in the brain cells of rats after a single two-hour exposure to microwave radiation at levels considered "safe" by government standards.

The idea behind that study was relatively simple: expose rats to microwave radiation similar to that emitted by cell phones, then examine their brain cells to see if any DNA damage resulted. Such damage is worrisome because DNA carries the body's genetic code and breaks, if not repaired properly, could lead to mutations and even cancer.

And in the real world outside the laboratory, from -

The Cell Phone Radiation News Bureau is the source for learning more about radiation and cell phones. The website www.cprnews.com provides updated information from news sources around the world. The bureau was established when it was discovered that information from abroad included studies conducted by prominent scientists that reached very different conclusions than what was being reported in the United States. As well, concerns about the danger to children, misinformation on hands free kits and a lack of independent and unbiased reporting on cell phone issues prompted the formation of this one-stop information center.
CPR News Bureau is a volunteer organization compiling information from around the world through other news centers, newspapers, broadcast networks, and both public and private institutions reporting and documenting the latest data available about the dangers from cell phone radiation. This effort is intended to keep the public consumer informed and to prevent future health related problems

Cell Makers Eye Device as Radiation Protection
New York Post By: Bill HoffmannTuesday, June 12, 2001

The worlds big three cell-phone makers quietly have been working on protective devices to reduce the amount of radiation absorbed by the brain, newly discovered patents suggest. The cell-phone industry has continually insisted there is no proven link between cell phones and health problems.

But patents reviewed by the BBC suggest Nokia, Ericsson and Motorola believe otherwise. Two Nokia patent applications filed in 1995 and 1998, admit that, in the "worst case," it is absolute scientific proof of radiation problems, the "uncertainty" of the matter is affecting the "speed of growth" of the cell-phone market.

"The strong suggestion is that they were aware of possible problems," said Simon Best, editor of Europe's Electromagnetic Hazard and Therapy Magazine.

Best believes the firms are preparing for a doomsday scenario in case they are forced to include protective devices with every new mobile phone. The patent documents were uncovered as the big three face multimillion-dollar legal actions by people claiming their health has been damaged

Brain Tumors Now Cause More Deaths than Any Other Forms of Cancer, esp. among children.

Disturbing reports from around the world indicate that children who use cell phones are at increased risk of brain tumor, cancer, impaired learning ability, genetic damage, fatigue, asthma, etc. Read this report and take action now!

See also this page - Kids and EMF - Special Report

Cell Phone Risks Cited in Studies
Wednesday, February 01, 2006

Adding new fuel to the debate over cell phone safety, three European research groups in separate studies have found an increased risk of brain tumors in people who have used the phones for 10 years or more.

Two of the studies found a correlation between the tumor's location and the side of the head where people reported they held the phone. One also suggests the greatest risk is in people who began using the phones before age 20, but researchers said the study group was small and more research should be done.

Two of the studies, one in England and one in Germany, are part of the 13-nation Interphone Study, an effort sanctioned by the World Health Organization to assess possible health risks from the radiation emitted by cell phones.

Both studies found an increased risk of glioma, an often deadly brain cancer, in people who had used cell phones 10 years or more.

Brain and Eye Tumors on the Rise
Monday, January 16, 2006

Last year there were 30,000 cases of brain and eye tumors reported as a direct result of cell phone use. 2006 will see about 50-75,000 new cases of brain and eye tumors and estimates are that by 2010 there will be 300,000 to 500,000 cases of tumors. These numbers are based on an adult averaging 500 minutes per month. Adults do not use their phones as much as children ages 12-17 whose brain tissues are still developing and use an average of 1,000 minutes per month now. These numbers come from Dr. George Carlo who headed the wireless industry research team in the early 90`s and discovered definitively that cell phone use does cause cancer. The cell industry distanced themselves from Dr. Carlo`s research ( they paid for it-$28 million dollars) when the results came in. Dr. Carlo authored a book called Cell phones-Invisible Hazards of the Wireless Age in the mid 90`s. He recently founded the non-profit organization _Safe Wireless Initiative to bring this information to the public.

Research studies show increase in biological effects
Sunday, October 02, 2005

About 60 percent of the 271 studies involving cell-phone radiation have shown a biological effect.

Here is a sampling of major studies and findings:
Study 1 (Non-thermal DNA breakage by mobile phone radiation, etc.)
Researchers: Elizabeth Diem, Claudia Schwarz, Oswald Jahn, Hugo Rudiger, all of the Medical University of Vienna, Austria, and Franz Adlkofer, Verum Foundation, Munich, Germany
Published: June 2005 in Mutation Research

Findings: Radiation from cell phones caused DNA breakage in human and rat cells growing in lab cultures, and in some cases the mutations were passed to the next generation of cells.

Study 2 (Nerve Cell Damage in Mammlian Brain, etc.)

Researchers: Leif G. Salford, Arne E. Brun, Jacob L. Eberhardt, Lars Malmgren, and Bertil R.R. Persson, Lund University, Lund, Sweden Published: June 2003 in Environmental Health Perspectives

Findings: Exposure to cell phone radiation caused damage to brain cells of adolescent rats, including areas of the brain responsible for memory, sensation, and movement.

Study 3 (Mobile Phone Use and the Risk of Acoustic Neuroma)
Researchers: Stefan Lonn, Anders Ahlbom, Per Hall and Maria Feychting, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden Published: November 2004 in Epidemiology

Findings: People who had used cell phones for at least 10 years had an increased risk of developing acoustic neuroma, a rare non-cancerous tumor on a nerve connecting the brain and ear.

Study 4 (Lymphomas in Eu-Pim-1 transgenic mice, etc.)
Researchers: M.H. Repacholi, A. Basten, V. Gebski, D. Noonan, J. Finnie, A.W. Harris, Royal Adelaide Hospital, Australia Published: May 1997 in Radiation Research

Findings: Lymphoma-prone mice exposed to cell-phone radio-frequency radiation developed twice as many lymphomas as similar unexposed mice.

Try multiple, separate searches for "EMF Radiation" with the following parameters – children, animals, birds, calcium, "cell phone" or "mobile phone" and then maybe even cancer. Check the results, look at scientific arguments from both sides and decide whether it is prudent to let your child have their own personal phone. Decide for yourself if you think your child will not die before they reach adulthood then, fine, go ahead, you are free to choose your child’s future.

Personally, I gave my mobile phone away more than 8 years ago and I had paid over $1,200 Aus for it (they cost that much in the development days, just like all ‘new’ technology).

Why the worry?

For those who think their government or ‘big business’ wouldn’t do this to their people, maybe you are right but I am straying to the side that says they would!

The Georgia Guidestones

On one of the highest hilltops in Elbert County, Georgia stands a huge granite monument. Engraved in eight different languages on the four giant stones that support the common capstone are 10 Guides, or commandments. That monument is alternately referred to as The Georgia Guidestones, or the American Stonehenge. Though relatively unknown to most people, it is an important link to the Occult Hierarchy that dominates the world in which we live.
The origin of that strange monument is shrouded in mystery because no one knows the true identity of the man, or men, who commissioned its construction. All that is known for certain is that in June 1979, a well-dressed, articulate stranger visited the office of the Elberton Granite Finishing Company and announced that he wanted to build an edifice to transmit a message to mankind. He identified himself as R. C. Christian, but it soon became apparent that was not his real name. He said that he represented a group of men who wanted to offer direction to humanity, but to date, almost two decades later, no one knows who R. C. Christian really was, or the names of those he represented. Several things are apparent. The messages engraved on the Georgia Guidestones deal with four major fields: (1) Governance and the establishment of a world government, (2) Population and reproduction control, (3) The environment and man's relationship to nature, and (4) Spirituality.
In the public library in Elberton, I found a book written by the man who called himself R.C. Christian. I discovered that the monument he commissioned had been erected in recognition of Thomas Paine and the occult philosophy he espoused. Indeed, the Georgia Guidestones are used for occult ceremonies and mystic celebrations to this very day. Tragically, only one religious leader in the area had the courage to speak out against the American Stonehenge, and he has recently relocated his ministry.

THE MESSAGE OF THE GEORGIA GUIDESTONES

1. Maintain humanity under 500,000,000 in perpetual balance with nature.
2. Guide reproduction wisely - improving fitness and diversity.
3. Unite humanity with a living new language.
4. Rule passion - faith - tradition - and all things with tempered reason.
5. Protect people and nations with fair laws and just courts.
6. Let all nations rule internally resolving external disputes in a world court.
7. Avoid petty laws and useless officials.
8. Balance personal rights with social duties.
9. Prize truth - beauty - love - seeking harmony with the infinite.
10.Be not a cancer on the earth - Leave room for nature - Leave room for nature.

Limiting the population of the earth to 500 million will require the extermination of nine-tenths of the world's people. The American Stonehenge's reference to establishing a world court foreshadows the current move to create an International Criminal Court and a world government. The Guidestones' emphasis on preserving nature anticipates the environmental movement of the 1990s, and the reference to "seeking harmony with the infinite" reflects the current effort to replace Judeo-Christian beliefs with a new spirituality.

THE GEORGIA GUIDESTONES

Maintain humanity under 500,000,000 in perpetual balance with nature.
Guide reproduction wisely - improving fitness and diversity.
Unite humanity with a living new language.
Rule passion - faith - tradition and all things with tempered reason.
Protect people and nations with fair laws and just courts.
Let all nations rule internally resolving external disputes in a world court.
Avoid petty laws and useless officials.
Balance personal rights with social duties.
Prize truth - beauty - love - seeking harmony with the infinite.
Be not a cancer on the earth - leave room for nature - leave room for nature.

This is an urgent plea to environmentalists and to those within the telecommunications industry, to doctors and business people and government officials, that microwave radiation is an imminent danger to all of us more or less equally, and that for our common survival we must immediately halt the expansion of wireless communications upon this earth. There is no greater threat to our common future.

Arthur Firstenberg
June 22, 1997
Norwich, NY

Pope John Paul II said, "The common outcry, which is justly made on behalf of human rights - for example, the right to health, to home, to work, to family, to culture - is false and illusory if the right to life, the most basic and fundamental right and the condition for all other personal rights, is not defended with maximum determination."

"In this century, humanity has become a truly planetary ecological force, its effects going far beyond the transformation of the landscape to include altering the composition of the atmosphere globally, interfering with planetary nutrient cycles, modifying climate, and exterminating other life forms. In historical perspective, the switch - from a modest to an overwhelming scale of impact, and from a positive to a negative impact on carrying capacity - was almost instantaneous and monumental: human activities now appear to be lowering the long-term carrying capacity and incurring risks on a scale unimaginable less than a lifetime ago."

And, also, later in the essay: "Controlling population growth is critical. We cannot emphasize too strongly that significant resources must be directed into programs that limit population growth both in the United States and abroad. Because of the built-in time lags, unless the surge in human numbers is halted soon and a gradual population shrinkage begun, there is no hope of solving the problems discussed in this volume."

The above quotes came from this essay –
Depopulation of a Planet - Index and Part 1 of 6 – by Rick Martin

Who states –

Have I intended for this series to be depressing fear-mongering? Far from it. I went into this series entirely "open" to find whatever the evidence presented to me, and I believe the evidence by now is so overwhelming for even the greatest of skeptics that it is safe to say, "They really are trying to kill us off!" And the tools at their disposal cross all boundaries and come in such divergent forms as: disease-carrying ticks and fleas, clouds of gas, contaminated drinking water, on-the-hoof transmission through our meat to out-and-out nuclear weapons. The agenda for depopulation is right on track and accelerating rapidly. And, so too, the subject is so big, so overwhelming in scope, that most simply resign themselves and throw their hands up in the air and say, "There's nothing I can do about it."

Also do a search for - Thinning Out The "Useless Eaters"

Someone else has the same opinion

2006-03-05T12:46:00.000+11:00

The week brought great news for fans of real food: falling sales have forced the closure of 25 UK McDonald's branches. Could this be a tipping point? Asks Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall

In truth the news isn't quite that spectacular. But it's pretty brilliant all the same: "McDonald's to close 25 stores in the UK". Yes! For me, and no doubt others who share my loathing of this huge ugly lump of global corporate muscle, this is an air-punching moment. All morning after I heard, I was wandering about in daze of delighted disbelief. And when I'd done with the air-punching, I went for the double forearm salute, shouting "YES!" again, through clenched teeth, to my two clenched fists. A childish reaction, perhaps, but schadenfreude is primordial stuff. And the bigger the beast that's fallen, the greater the glee. In short, I'm lovin' it!

One Big Mac bought in 1979 and another four years later, both went into the bin after one bite.
The first time was a taste test the second for confirmation.

Great British Robberies

2006-03-04T23:06:00.000+11:00

Record £53m stolen in depot raid
Raiders involved in Britain's biggest cash robbery got away with £53,116,760 from the Securitas depot in Tonbridge, Kent Police have revealed.

Britain's biggest robberies

20 December 2004 - Northern Bank
A gang stole £26.4m from the headquarters of the Northern Bank in Belfast - the largest amount of cash ever taken in a robbery in the UK. (at the time - ed)

3 July 1995 - Midland Bank Clearing Centre, Salford
A gang carried out the biggest cash robbery since the Great Train Robbery when they ambushed a Securicor van as it arrived at the Midland Bank Clearing Centre in Salford, Greater Manchester, on 3 July 1995.

11 February 2002 - Heathrow Airport
A gang of thieves carried out the dramatic robbery of $6.5m (£3.4m) from a British Airways van in a secure area of Heathrow Airport.

8 November 2000 - Millennium Dome
Police foiled the attempted theft of £200m worth of diamonds on display at the tourist attraction in south London.

2 May 1990 - City of London
A financial messenger was robbed in a quiet City of London side street at knifepoint of £292m worth of bonds he was delivering.

July 1987 - Knightsbridge, London
More than £10m of goods was stolen from 120 safe deposit boxes at a warehouse opposite Harrods.

November 1983 - Heathrow Airport
Six armed men gained entry to the Brinks-Mat high security vault at Heathrow airport by posing as security guards.

April 1983 - Security Express
Nearly £6m was stolen from a Security Express depot in Shoreditch, east London.

1963: The Great Train Robbery
Armed robbers, including Ronnie Biggs, stole £2.6m from the Glasgow-London Royal Mail train

Reading the above you would think that the country was full of ‘bad guys’ but there is an even longer history of robbery from the British people that is very rarely publicised.
Read on…………..

The Bank of England’s Charters
(The Cause of our Social Distress)
By Thomas W Huskinson
Published 1912
Previous to William III’s reign the destitution of any class in the community was practically unknown. There were destitute individuals doubtless ; but there was not a destitute class. Since that reign destitution has been the common lot of a large portion of the lower orders : at the same time enterprise and agriculture have experienced lengthy periods of difficulty and depression of a character unknown before…..
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The Government of that questioned usurpation of William III did not at first enjoy the confidence of any considerable class, although supported by a powerful aristocratic junta ; consequently it was soon in considerable financial straits. Primarily to obtain financial support, and secondarily to secure the support of moneyed men who would embark their fortune in the same " bottom " with the new Government, the Administration of that day perpetrated a "job." At the instance of a Scotsman named Paterson the Government granted a Charter in exchange for a loan of money, whereby the management of the monetary circulation of the realm was handed over to a company of moneyed men, who became known as the Corporation of the Bank of England.

On Sunday, June 18, 1815, Rothworth, a courier of Nathan Rothschild, head of the London branch of the family, was on the battlefield, and upon seeing that Napoleon was being beaten, went by horse to Brussels, then to Ostende, and for 2,000 francs, got a sailor to get him to England across stormy seas. When Nathan Rothschild received the news on June 20, he informed the government, who did not believe him. So, with everyone believing Wellington to be defeated, Rothschild immediately began to sell all of his stock on the English Stock Market. Everyone else followed his lead, and also began selling, causing stocks to plummet to practically nothing. At the last minute, his agents secretly began buying up the stocks at rock-bottom prices. On June 21, at 11 PM, Wellington's envoy, Major Henry Percy showed up at the War Office with his report that Napoleon had been crushed in a bitter eight hour battle, losing a third of his men. This gave the Rothschild family complete control of the British economy, and forced England to set up a new Bank of England, which Nathan Rothschild controlled.
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Amschel Mayer Rothschild (1773-1855, who in 1838 said: "Permit me to issue and control the money of a nation, and I care not who makes its laws.")

THE end of the Nineteenth Century and the beginning of the Twentieth witnessed a movement to which the name "Social Reform" is commonly applied. It is well to understand clearly what is meant by this term. Until the reign of Money began it was believed by all men that advantage, spiritual and moral as well as material, attaches to the exercise by the individual of certain functions and responsibilities. A man, it was held, ought to be enabled to earn his own and his family's livelihood and ought to make provision for his children, in sickness and in health. The conception of a wage was a quantity of money or of goods which, in the words of the Pope, secured "those sacred rights of the working man which proceed from his dignity as a man and as a Christian."

But the Money power's conception of wages as "costs" put an end to this idea. If the object is not to enable men to sustain their dignity before God and their fellows, but only to keep them alive in such a condition that they can work, then any consideration of spiritual or moral values is beside the mark. Wages, as Disraeli and Chamberlain saw, being subject to the overriding law of cheapness, could never rise above subsistence level, no matter how great might be the productiveness of industry. Wages could never, therefore, sustain continuously such burdens as medical attendance of a really adequate kind and education.
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The Government, it was stated, was allowing the country to drift into bankruptcy . It was living above its means by reason of borrowings on behalf of the Unemployment Fund . Its expenditure on the Social Services was threatening the safety of the nation.

It is eloquent testimony to the dominance over every mind which Mammon, in these days, is able to exercise that charges so evidently untrue and preposterous were admitted almost without question even by those against whom they were brought .
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THE Feudal System, let it be repeated, was based upon the belief that "the earth is the Lord's and the fulness thereof." Even the King's ownership of the land over which he reigned was a tenancy under God, the real Owner. The meanest vassal, therefore, was associated in that universal service of God which was the sole office of Kings and nobles and priests.

There is no place in such a system for ownership without responsibility. There is, equally, no place for the socialistic conception of the "State" as a mutual-benefit trust. Mutual benefit implies the possession of rights ; Feudalism recognized only duties towards God and, under God, towards men.

A little consideration will show that the God System is, in fact, the only substitute for the Money System. Any other system is bound sooner or later, from its nature, to lead back to Money . It follows that the distresses of the world cannot be cured by any device, however subtle, but only by a return to faith upon which, in the beginning, European civilization was built. If men have really ceased to believe in God, they will remain the victims of Mammon, and no method of currency control or State economy will save them. Napoleon did not err when he declared that religion is the basis of Society.

'God will judge me on Iraq invasion' says Blair

2006-03-04T20:19:00.000+11:00

Sniper mum found not guilty

2006-03-04T19:53:00.000+11:00

Sniper mother walks free
BY MELISSA JENKINS
March 04, 2006

A MOTHER of five who laid in wait in a sniper's hide before shooting dead her abusive husband has been found not guilty of murder.

And she has even beaten the charge of manslaughter -- setting a new legal defence for battered wives across the nation.

Claire Margaret MacDonald, 39, pleaded not guilty to murdering her 40-year-old husband Warren MacDonald at the couple's rural property on September 30, 2004.

After more than a day of deliberations, a jury last night found Mrs MacDonald not guilty of murder and not guilty of manslaughter.

During the trial, Crown prosecutor Ray Elston argued the former primary school teacher murdered her husband in cold blood.

He said she donned camouflage gear and hid in a "sniper's nest" in bushes for 90 minutes before shooting him six times at their home, 90km northeast of Melbourne.

Defence lawyer James Montgomery said his client killed her husband but the "devoted mother" did so after years of abuse.

I feel sorry for this woman. If we are to believe it as written then her husband definately deserved his fate.

On the other hand the verdict of not guilty of murder is a miscarriage of justice! The woman's actions were so very obviously premeditated and therefore is guilty of murder in the first degree. A capital offence! If that verdict had been given then I would not be writing this and would, most probably, be campaigning for a quashing of any sentence.

I feel a verdict of guilty and a sentence of one day duly served would have been more in keeping with the law and with justice.

A not guilty verdict is an extremely bad precidence and may come back to haunt the judiciary!

Operation Grapple: A Bluff or a Double Bluff

2006-03-02T19:28:00.000+11:00

or just plain stupidity?

After the Second World War, (about the time I was born) the British government, stymied by the US when their Atomic Energy Act (McMahon Act) of 1946 precluded release of atomic information from the US to the UK, decided to ‘go it alone’ and concocted a bomb that would prove to be a filthy, deadly form of device.

The inhabitants of the Pacific Islands, where the device was detonated, were told after the event, that it was a dud and that no radiation problems existed or would exist in the future.

This coincided with the start of the British testing programme in the Pacific Islands and one of the best kept secrets of the Cold War when Britain faked a hydrogen bomb."The government concocted the biggest hoax in this country's history," a British politician, Brian Jenkins, told Parliament.

From Hansard - Wednesday 4 December 2002 -Nuclear Test Veterans (Compensation)

Mr. Brian Jenkins (Tamworth): First, I should like to congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for South Derbyshire (Mr. Todd) on securing the debate. I should also like to welcome my hon. Friend the Minister. He is a gentleman, and we can expect him to take copious notes and not just to read out the carefully crafted brief from his Department. If he is unable to answer some of our questions, no doubt he will write to us.

I am going to tell a story, which some people may not appreciate. The issue is shrouded in deceit, deception and duplicity—the stuff of politics. Many people do not know that Britain never developed an independent H-bomb. The Minister and his Department will know that the first time we tested a bomb it was unsuccessful. In the middle of the cold war, however, the Government's policy was to sit at the top table with the H-bomb countries. They wanted parity with America and an independent deterrent, and they wanted to defend certain colonies and ex-colonies.

The Government concocted the biggest hoax in this country's history. They exploded an atom bomb that contained so much uranium that it caused a 750,000 tonnes explosion, which made the Americans think that we had an H-bomb. The Americans admitted us to the top table and gave us access to their secrets. Later, Britain managed to clone an American bomb, but we had, of course, created some difficulties. An atom bomb is dirtier, more dangerous to personnel and more radioactive than a hydrogen bomb. We could not allow that fact to be revealed in the form of extra protection for our service men. We therefore sailed our service men close to the explosion, and did not give them the protection that they needed.

Worse than that, the British did not record the radiation readings in case they fell into the hands of a clever American observer who would have noticed that the radiation levels did not coincide with the explosion of an atomic bomb. All the readings were faked and fixed in the interests of national security. However, we need not have bothered because the Americans knew that the dosimeters did not work. Once we had started our great lie, however, we had to continue it.
One incidence of the great lie concerns a friend and constituent, Ron Coates. He was told that he could not have been issued with a dosimeter because his duties did not concern radiation.

Unfortunately for the Department, Mr. Coates has a photograph of himself wearing a dosimeter. The Department claimed that the dosimeter must have been issued in a simulation or exercise, but Mr. Coates has a photograph of the exercise. It shows four young men standing on the deck of a ship and there is a giant mushroom cloud behind them; some simulation!

What were the duties for which Mr. Coates did not need to be issued with a dosimeter? He was a member of the Fleet Air Arm, and his job was to maintain aircraft and, in particular, helicopters. Britain might not have had an H-bomb, but we must have had a world lead in helicopters.
Apparently, we had a helicopter that could land on an island one hour after an atomic blast without raising any dust or having any dust sticking to it. Apparently, it flew back to its ship and was perfectly clean. Supposedly, Mr. Coates was not exposed to radiation and his meter showed no radiation. The fact that after handling the helicopter, he had to go through the scrubbers and down the dirty trail has been totally forgotten.

I shall tell hon. Members the history of the four men in that photograph. Pete Cutforth has cancer; John Carr has diabetes, plus several other ailments; and Ron Coates has cancer. They have lost touch with the fourth man, a Mr. Rowlands, so they do not know what happened to him. That is some record. At least two of the four have certified cancer, despite the claim that they were not exposed to a sufficient level of radiation.

Mr. Coates, after many struggles—and having gone through all the hoops to gain the war pension for which he thought he was eligible—was told, believe it or not, that he had to prove that he would not have contracted cancer had he not been exposed to the radiation. How can anyone prove that? A person would have to go back to a point prior to the explosion, create two of themselves, and allow one to go through the explosion and one not to do so in order to see whether the one who had not gone through it developed cancer. What a stupid thing to say. It is as bad as asking a service man who has been shot on active service to prove that he would not have been shot while walking the dangerous streets of Britain. Anyone who did that would be laughed out of the tribunal, but that is what was said, in effect, to that group of servicemen.

All they are asking for is fair treatment. I know that it is difficult for the Department, but the cat is out of the bag. The Americans now know that it was a con and a hoax. We do not have to keep up the pretence any longer. All we need to do is to quantify the cost to us. The first part of the claim is to secure a recognition of what these people went through; what we put them through. After that, we should ensure, like the Americans, that there is an easier trail for such people to claim war pensions and thus compensation. They were there when their country needed them; please let their country be there when they need it.

Pilot told to fly through atom bomb cloud

Widow of airman who killed himself blames nuclear test ordeal
Rob EvansFriday December 28, 2001
Guardian

Squadron leader Eric Denson spoke little about the day he was ordered to fly his Canberra plane through the centre of a nuclear mushroom cloud at the age of 26. He did not even tell his wife Shirley much.

But one day she overhead him telling her father what it was like, and how he had had a great deal of trouble controlling the aircraft as the powerful cloud rumbled skywards.

Two lines of a famous poem kept going through his mind as he battled on through the cloud - "Into the jaws of Death, into the mouth of Hell."

The lines from Tennyson lament the cavalry killed in the notorious military blunder, the Charge of the Light Brigade in 1854. They were mown down after they had been ordered to charge, armed only with sabres, at Russian guns.

For Mrs Denson, the military's treatment of her husband a century later is uncomfortably reminiscent of that blunder.

Her husband, who had joined the RAF in 1950, was posted to take part in Britain's nuclear tests on Christmas Island, a coral atoll in the South Pacific. In Operation Grapple Y, the British military dropped a three-megaton atomic bomb above the sea off Christmas Island on April 28 1958.

Mr Denson was ordered to fly through the swelling mushroom cloud several times and then to take readings of the radiation.

However, according to Mrs Denson, he was not given any protective clothing and was in the contaminated Canberra aircraft - codenamed Sniff Two - for more than 40 minutes.
Electrical fitter Ken Sutton, now dead, recorded in a statement: "We gave the pilot (Mr Denson) a wave as he came in to land, but he seemed a bit concerned."

Next day Mr Sutton had to go into the radioactively "hot" plane and get the recordings out.
He said he was scared to death of the radiation in the plane: "You couldn't see it, you couldn't smell it, you couldn't touch it or anything, but you knew damn well it was a killer."

Mr Sutton was informed that the aircraft was the "hottest" one that had landed at Christmas Island.

Logs for 76 Squadron record that the Canberra "slightly exceeded the permitted dose (of radiation) on single penetration".

But Mrs Denson believes that other official radiation readings show that her husband was actually exposed to around 20 times the recommended safety limit, one of the highest levels among the test veterans.

Last month, Powell told ISLANDS BUSINESS

he remembered his father saying there was more natural background radiation than anything he could record from the nuclear tests.

His comments join a few others who had begun to question for the first time the impact of British testing on the Cook Islands.

Christmas Islands was a long way from Rarotonga. But not far enough away to go unnoticed.

"Everyone was told to go outside and watch for the flash in the sky. And watch the sky turn red."

And could you see the flash?

"Oh yeah."

Much closer were the northern group islands of Penrhyn, Rakahanga, Pukapuka, Nassau and Manihiki, at least 1200 kilometres north.

Known today for its pearl farming, Manihiki in 1957 was home to a 10-year old girl, Tauariki Greig.

"I was playing hide and seek with my family; my father had hoisted me on to his shoulders to help me hide in a tree.

"It was a beautiful sunny clear day and I will never forget the flash of light brighter than the sun," she wrote in a letter to the British Home Office.

Greig is a name well-known in Kiribati as well as the Cooks, but this was the first time that concerns about the fallout from the tests had crossed borders.

Greig, now a Meyer, had suffered mystery illnesses for the past five years and a DNA test revealed "genetic mutations," she said.

The 1957 Pacific bomb tests, after ten years work, used what were essentially 'A' bombs, (albeit of high power) and were effectively, a PR stunt, rushed to beat an impending Test Ban Treaty which was due to come into force at the end of September 1958 and meant all the tests scheduled to take place up until the end of October were brought forward and completed early. HMS Scarborough a weather ship chased the original Greenpeace ship (a sailing ship) out of the atomic and hydrogen bomb test area. The tests were an attempt to impress the US, the British public (journalists were invited to watch), and also keep our place in the thermonuclear club which the Russians had recently joined.
The US were listening in, of course
The Christmas Island tests confirmed to the observing and observant US, the UK's inability to produce a true thermonuclear fusion weapon, that could be missile delivered. Generously they offered to amend the McMahon Act, if the UK would scrap their nuclear weapons program. Naturally they would be happy to provide us (i.e. sell) the technology instead.

The following are from http://www.vanderbilt.edu/radsafe/0003/msg00489.html because some of the links do not work I have reproduced the first few lines from each.

http://pidp.ewc.hawaii.edu/PIReport/1999/June/06-22-19.html
PACIFIC CONCERNS RESOURCE CENTRE (PCRC) Suva, Fiji Islands MEDIA RELEASE June 21, 1999 GOVERNMENT MINISTER TO LAUNCH NEW BOOK ON FIJI'S NUCLEAR VETERANS SUVA, Fiji Islands (June 21, 1999)---Fiji's Minister for Home Affairs, the Honorable Joji Uluinakauvadra, will launch a new book Wednesday (June 23, 1999) telling the story of Fiji's nuclear veterans. "Kirisimasi," published by the Pacific Concerns Resource Centre (PCRC), includes the testimony of Fijian soldiers and sailors who witnessed Britain's hydrogen bomb tests at Malden Island and Christmas Island (NOTE: Britain conducted nine atmospheric nuclear tests, code named Grapple, in the Line Islands of Kiribati in 1957 and 1958).

http://pidp.ewc.hawaii.edu/PIReport/1999/January/01-04-07.html
CHRISTMAS ISLAND NUCLEAR TEST VETERAN SUES UK By Catherine Adams SUVA, Fiji Islands (December 31, 1998 -BBC)---A Fijian veteran present during UK nuclear testing on Christmas Island in the late 1950s has filed for compensation with the European court of Human Rights. Campaigners say more than 350 Fijians have suffered health problems due to radiation.

http://pidp.ewc.hawaii.edu/PIReport/1999/January/01-18-05.html FORMER FIJI SOLDIERS DYING OF CANCER DUE TO CHRISTMAS ISLAND ATOM BOMB TESTS SUVA, Fiji Islands (January 15, 1999 - Radio Australia)---Fiji soldiers who served on Christmas Island when the British tested the atomic bomb in the 1950's say they are dying from the effects of radiation. Former soldier Ratu Inoke Bainimarama said of the 39 Fiji soldiers who served there, more than half have died from cancer.

http://pidp.ewc.hawaii.edu/PIReport/1999/June/06-04-03.html BRITAIN CONSIDERING REPORT ON OLD NUCLEAR TEST SITES ON CHRISTMAS ISLAND TARAWA, Kiribati (June 2, 1999 - PACNEWS)---A British Defense Department Committee is considering a report on Kiritimati (Christmas) Island in the compiled by a British survey team last year. The report by British specialists focuses on the extent of the damage and debris left on Christmas Island from the nuclear tests conducted by Britain in the 1950s.

http://pidp.ewc.hawaii.edu/PIReport/1999/February/02-03-13.html BRITISH GOVERNMENT REJECTS CHRISTMAS ISLAND NUCLEAR TESTING COMPENSATION CLAIMS BY FIJI VETERANS SUVA, Fiji Islands (February 2, 1999 - PACNEWS/INCL)---The British government has rejected compensation claims by Fiji veterans who served during the British nuclear weapons tests at Christmas Island -- now part of Kiribati -- in the late 1950s. The veterans say many of them are suffering medical problems, which they believe were caused by radiation from the tests, but the British government says a report has conclusively proved the tests had no effect on health. Meantime, the Fiji-based Pacific Concerns Resource Center has called the British report a "fraud."

http://pidp.ewc.hawaii.edu/PIReport/1999/April/04-29-16.htm FIJI MILITARY WHO SERVED IN CHRISTMAS ISLAND CAMPAIGN TO RECEIVE PENSIONS SUVA, Fiji Islands (April 28, 1999 - PACNEWS)---Fiji soldiers and naval officers who served in the 1957-1959 Christmas Island Emergency Operation have finally been given financial assistance by the Fiji Government. Yesterday, the Fiji Cabinet, under the caretaker leadership of Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka, made the announcement at its last sitting before next month's national election.

> PIM's articles on British nuclear tests in the Pacific by W. Narsey and by
> B. Hussain (pages 34 to 38 in the July issue last year) reported that
> according to eyewitness accounts,
> "huge amounts of sea and earth material was sucked up into the
> explosion and dropped as fallout; there was induced radio-active rain-fall
> (black rain) which fell on ships, military personnel and Gilbertese
> civilians. Scientists ran around in a panic, an indication that the
> [Grapple Y] test had not gone as planned"
> and also that,
> "the actual experiences of servicemen and Gilbertese indicate that
> substantial exposure to radiation did take place... black rain fell on
> populated islands... and people became ill."
.
.
Greig cannot forget memories of the day."Shortly after the blast," says Greig, "the ground shook. We didn't know what was going to happen. That evening the whole sky just turned red.""It stayed like that for about a week. A few days after the blast our lagoon changed colour and all the fish died; floated to the surface. "Our parents wouldn't let us eat the fish so the men buried them."

Can anyone wonder why I have very little respect for those who we appoint to look after our welfare!

This just in, or at least into my sphere of information gathering.

Official U.S. history of atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki is more fiction than fact

…Eben Ayers read the following statement to the Washington press corps: "Sixteen hours ago, an American airplane dropped one bomb on Hiroshima, an important Japanese Army base. That bomb had more power than 20,000 tons of TNT ... The Japanese began the war from the air at Pearl Harbor. They have been repaid many fold ... It is an atomic bomb. It is a harnessing of the basic power of the universe." Yes, the atomic bomb harnessed the "basic power of the universe" and yes, the bomb was more powerful than 20,000 tons of TNT
.
.
When a later U.S. survey of the damage to Hiroshima discovered that the bomb had mostly destroyed residential areas, the government did not release the information to the press. Any revealed information was part of a calculated public relations campaign that the contemporary press ate up with a spoon. As the military director of the Manhattan Project, Gen. Leslie Groves, later proudly remarked, "Most newspapers published our releases in their entirety. This is one of the few times since government releases have become common that this has been done." The press's almost exclusively positive coverage of the bombing then carried over to the American public, resulting in the misinformed perspective of the atomic bomb that has prevailed in the American consciousness for the past 60 years.

.
.
Lie: Residual radiation was not a threat to the American soldiers who stayed to occupy Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Truth: The "black rain" that fell after the bombings contaminated the ground, which was one of the many sources of residual radiation.

We want real food

2006-03-02T09:35:00.000+11:00

It's nice to get a comment from a reader (there aren't that many). It is even more gratefully received when the comment is in reply to a subject that is very close to my heart.

Britain's once fertile soil has been systematically stripped of its crucial minerals by industrial farming, leaving our fruit and vegetables tasteless and a nation in chronic ill health. Graham Harvey calls for a return to nutritious food.

This is the introduction from an article in The UK Telegraph on the 18th of Feb 2006. The subject, promoted by Graham Harvey, brings to the fore the state of food produced by farmers in the UK, in particular the lack of taste and nutrition. These qualities have been lost to the food market since the introduction of oil derivative artificial fertilisers over the past one hundred years or so.

Graham explains that today’s foods are tasteless and not as sweet and flavoursome as they were over fifty years ago. The article quotes Graham:

I used to believe it didn't matter much. Why worry about the taste, I thought, so long as they're doing you good? I know better these days.
It was 19th-century sugar refiners such as Abram Lyle, of Lyle's Golden Syrup, who made it possible to put a sweet taste in junk foods. Before they started turning out their deadly white crystals, sweetness had long been associated with strength and vitality.

In nature, sweetness is often linked to rich sources of essential trace elements, including zinc, magnesium, copper and boron. Sweet-tasting natural foods such as ripe fruits, berries and honey contain minerals as well as sugars. For early man - the hunter-gatherer - there was an evolutionary advantage in developing a sweet tooth. It was a means of selecting the ripest fruits, which would be at their most nutritious.

But fresh foods no longer taste sweet. Many are deliberately harvested while under-ripe, to lessen damage in transport and to extend shelf-life. In addition, they have been robbed of many of the trace elements they once contained, although this is disputed by some food scientists. A revolution in the way the foods are grown has taken away the very nutrients that once promoted good health. Our staple foods have been "dumbed down". As a result, Britain - like other industrial countries - is suffering a tidal wave of sickness.

Peter Kendall, the new president of the National Farmers Union, counters this argument in a five minute debate on the BBC Today programme aired on Monday 27th February when he challenged Graham, by stating that today’s food is more nutritious and that people are living longer. In my opinion Peter Kendall is deluding himself, the UK farmers and the population as a whole.

I used to live in the Heart of England, I spent 4-5 years in the West Midlands in the 70’s. Although I wasn’t much of a gardener I did manage to grow a crop of potatoes in the back garden. My wife, to this day, still says they were the best she has ever tasted. About this time I began to notice complaints, in the media and from family and friends, that the taste of tomatoes was becoming ‘bland’. I think that this was the ‘canary in the mine’ as far as I was concerned. It opened my eyes to the quality of food being offered at the retailers. Since then I have queried the nutritional value of all foods entering my household. One of the first things I did was to limit to a minimum all products that contained artificial flavourings, artificial colourings and artificial sweeteners. We had three infants in the house at the time and I was concerned that these ingredients would be detrimental to their health and wellbeing. Rather prescient I would say in light of the current fiasco surrounding products such as Aspartame and other chemical ingredients in the food supply. The upshot of all this is that my children have grown to be healthy middle thirties women who have produced for us nine naturally healthy grandchildren between them. I sometimes wonder about the next generation though. I am not sure that my fears and lessons have percolated down to the youngsters. The pressure put on them by their peers and the media is a formidable opponent.

I remember my father sending us to the local abattoir and cattle market to pick up and bag sheep manure from the holding paddocks. He would incorporate this into the soil of his pocket sized veggie garden in the backyard. I was too young to appreciate any discernible taste in them days but the information did get to the area between the ears and made me think about nutrients in the garden later. With three growing kids and my lack of agricultural knowledge I spent their growing years working in the city just to make enough money to keep them in the custom they always enjoyed. Since retiring I have moved further away from the city to an area where some form of farming or other is the norm. We have a great fruit and vegetable shop nearby that advertises that they buy their produce from local producers as much as possible. We have found a butcher who knows the location and sometimes the farmer from where he gets his meat. We have the usual supermarkets but only frequent them for ingredients and goods that we need to further enhance the quality of our cooking and that inspire the tastebuds. We rarely, if ever, buy take-away, pre-cooked meals or preserved meals. We have cut down on our salt intake, preferring sea salt to table salt and a kilo of sugar will last more than six months (the other half likes a half teaspoon in her coffee). I bake our daily bread by hand because I found that the machine didn’t do as good a job. Bread should be crumbly, tasty and wholesome not like the bland, melt in the mouth, tasteless supermarket rubbish. (The chooks prefer the leftovers from my bread too.) The machines didn’t last long either, the teflon coating in the basket constantly deteriorated and when I found out about the dangers of this chemical I decided against using it.

Graham Harvey, after graduating in agriculture at Bangor University, followed by a spell of post-graduate research, joined Farmers Weekly as a feature writer in the early 1970's.

Five years later, as Assistant Business Editor, he left to work as a freelance, writing on farming and the countryside for a range of publications including The Sunday Times, New Scientist and Country Life. As a freelance he contributed regularly to Farming Today on Radio 4 and was an occasional reporter on Farming in Wales for BBC Wales TV.

His Radio 4 feature, The Vanishing Meadow, co-produced with Gill Powell, won the 1994 British Environment and Media Award.

For five years he wrote the Old Muck Spreader column in Private Eye.

He joined the script writing team of The Archers in 1984, since then he has written more than 600 episodes.

Other Radio 4 credits include the legal series, Legal Affairs, co-written with Chris Thompson, and the 90 minute play, A Small Plot of England, directed by Nigel Bryant.

His first book, The Killing of The Countryside, was received with much critical acclaim in 1997 won BP's Natural World Book Award, given for creative contributions to the environment.
He has been Agricultural Story Editor on The Archers for the past five year.

His latest book - We Want Real Food – is available from Amazon Books and from The Book Service. For more details about the campaign, the book and more information regarding the subject matter, read his website, not surprisingly named - We Want Real Food

The caricatures in Middle East politics

2006-03-01T08:32:00.000+11:00

x James Petras and Robin Eastman-Abaya - La Haine

February 19, 2006
The center piece of the current explosive confrontation between Islamic and Arab protestors, political leaders and governments and the US and Western European regimes and publishers is rooted in Israeli efforts to polarize the world in its favor and to promote isolation, economic sanctions and/or a military attack on Iran. There are several key questions, which almost all commentators and analysts have failed to address. These include:
Why did the “cartoons” get published in Denmark?
What is the political background of “Flemming Rose” the cultural editor of Jyllands-Posten, who solicited, selected and published the cartoons?
What larger issues coincide with the timing of the cartoons publication and reproduction? Who “benefits” from the publication of the cartoons and the ensuing confrontation between the Arabs/Islam and the West?
What is the contemporary political context of the Arab/Islam protests?
How is the Israeli secret service, Mossad, implicated in provoking the Western-Islamic/Arab conflict, and how do the consequences measure up to their expectations?
A starting point for analyzing the cartoon controversy, which has been a focus for attacking Muslims and Muslim countries as intolerant of Western ‘freedom of expression’ is the long-standing role of Denmark as a major operation point for Mossad activity in Europe. Re-phrased: How could a tiny Scandinavian country of 5.4 citizens and residents (200,000 or less than 3% of whom are Muslim), renowned for fairy tales, ham and cheese, have become a target for the fury of millions of practicing Muslims from Afghanistan to Palestine, from Indonesia to Libya and into the streets of cities all over the world with significant Muslim populations? Why, after the bombing of Baghdad, the tortures of Abu Ghariab, the massacres in Fallujah and the utter destitution of the entire Iraqi and Afghan people…would Moslems turn their anger at symbols of Denmark from its tinned cookies to its Embassies and overseas business offices?
The story, presented with straight faces, by television news-people, is of, Mr. ‘Flemming Rose’, a crusading cultural editor of a widely read Danish daily newspaper who wanted to counter the growing ‘political correctness’ of Europeans about criticizing Moslems and which he compared to the ‘self-censorship’ he had witnessed in his native Soviet Union. The oddly named Ukrainian-born editor of the culture page of the Jyllands-Posten commissioned Danish cartoonists to submit a series of cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed as they (the Danish cartoonists) might imagine him. However four of the twelve cartoons selected for publication were illustrated by ‘Rose’s’ own staff including the most controversial ‘bomb in the turban’ one. Braving Denmark’s anti-blasphemy laws Mr. Rose published the cartoons on September 30, 2005 and the rest is history…
A huge world wide attack on the West’s “sacred right to free expression” erupted in the Moslem world with millions of shocked Europeans and North Americans rushing to defend their cherished freedoms in this ‘clash of civilizations’. Syria and Iran were prominently blamed for the stirring up of furious believers in the streets of Damascus and Teheran, Beirut and in the slums of Gaza. According to US Secretary Rice, "Iran and Syria have gone out of their way to inflame sentiments and to use this to their own purposes and the world ought to call them on it." The Pakistani and Libyan authorities allied to the US fired on demonstrators killing and wounding scores while numerous religious leaders were arrested. The Western governments urged their Arab and Moslem allies to prevent more attacks on Danish products and property and blamed those unable to quell the fury with complicity and instigation. All of this was over a series of cartoons, or so we are told.
The cultural editor, ‘Flemming Rose’, who soon tired of being surrounded by a team of Danish police and security to protect him from assassination and missing his daily jogs through his tranquil Copenhagen neighborhood, chose to seek safe haven in Miami, Florida (rather than his native Ukraine) among the Cuban exiles, Israeli sayanim and Mah Jong-playing retirees as the drama plays on.
Denmark Center of Mossad Activity
Why Denmark? Could this crudely manufactured controversy have been generated on the pages of any major London or New York paper? Who would wish to put Denmark at the center of this ‘clash of civilization’ – appearing as a script from some grade B Islamophobic thriller?
An interesting chapter in former Israeli Mossad agent, Victor J. Ostrovsky’s book, By Way of Deception (1990 St. Martin’s Press), outlines the close relationship between the workings of the Danish intelligence services and the Israeli Mossad over decades:
“The relationship between the Mossad and Danish intelligence is so intimate as to be indecent. But it is not the Mossad’s virtue that is compromised by the arrangement; it’s Denmark’s. And that’s because the Danish are under the mistaken impression that because they saved a lot of Jews in World War II, the Israelis are grateful and they can trust the Mossad.”
The Mossad has the capacity to monitor the entire population of Arabs and especially Palestinians (presumably including those with Danish citizenship) through their special relations with the Danes:
“…a Mossad man monitors “all Arabic and Palestinian-related messages(among Denmarks Arab community) coming into their (the Danish Civil Security Service)headquarters…an extraordinary arrangement for a foreign intelligence service.”
The Danish Intelligence officers’ high regard for their Israeli Mossad office mates is apparently not, according to Ostrovsky, reciprocated:
“The Mossad have such contempt for their Danish counterparts that they refer to them as ‘fertsalach’, the Hebrew term for a small burst of gas, a fart…they tell the Mossad everything they do.” Pp. 231-232
In return for their servility, the Danes get valuable ‘training’ from the Israelis:
Once every three years, Danish intelligence officials go to Israel for a seminar conducted by the Mossad”… which generates useful contacts for the Mossad “while perpetuating the notion that no organization deals with terrorism better than they (Mossad) do.”
In the wake of the US debacle in Iraq and the world’s resistance to a massive ‘preemptive military attack’ or economic and diplomatic embargo of Iran, which could send oil prices to over $100 a barrel, Israel needed to turn the war of ideas on its head. It would make sense that a campaign, aimed to further whip up justifications to attack countries like Iran and Syria (Israel’s current enemy du jour), would emanate from one of the US strongest European ally in the invasion and destruction of Iraq and Afghanistan and whose national intelligence apparatus (so fondly known as ‘fertsalach’) would be eager to serve Israel’s interest.
Flemming (or Flaming) Rose: Journalist with a cause
Given Mossad’s long-standing penetration of the Danish intelligence agencies, and their close working relations with the right wing media, it is not surprising that a Ukranian Jew, operating under the name of “Flemming Rose” with close working relations with the Israeli state (and in particular the far right Likud regime) should be the center of the controversy over the cartoons. “Rose’s” ties to the Israeli state antedate his well-know promotional “interview” with Daniel Pipes (2004), the notorious Arab-hating Zionist ideologue. Prior to being placed as a cultural editor of a leading right-wing Danish daily, from 1990 to 1995 “Rose” was a Moscow-based reporter who translated into Danish a self-serving auto-biography by Boris Yeltsin, godchild of the pro-Israeli, post-communist Russian oligarchs, most of whom held dual citizenship and collaborated with the Mossad in laundering illicit billions.
Between 1996-1999 “Rose”, the journalist, worked the Washington circuit (traveling with Clinton to China) before returning to Moscow 1999-2004 as a reporter for Jyllands-Posten. In 2005 he became its cultural editor, despite few or any knowledge of the field and over the head of other Danish journalists on the staff. In his new position “Rose” found a powerful platform to incite and play on the growing hostility of conservative Danes to immigrants from the Middle East, particularly practicing Moslems. Using the format of an ‘interview’ he published Pipes’ virulent anti-Islamic diatribe, probably to “test the waters” before proceeding to the next stage in the Mossad strategy to polarize a West-East confrontation.
Political Context for Action
There is a great body of evidence demonstrating that Iraq war was largely a result of a massive disinformation campaign by civilian militarists in the Pentagon and US Zionists in and out of high places in the Pentagon and civil society, in coordination with the Israeli state, which wanted Iraq to be destroyed as a viable nation. There is no evidence that the major US oil corporations pressured Congress or promoted the war in Iraq or the current confrontation with Iran. There is plenty of evidence that they are very uneasy about the losses that may result from an Israeli attack on Iran.
The Zionist succeeded in their goals in Iraq: establishing a beachhead in the northern Kurdish enclave (‘Kurdistan’), and securing assets in the new “Iraqi” regime via Chalabi and others.
The major Jewish organizations mobilized to oppose any critics of the Zionist policymakers, predictably accusing them of ‘anti-Semitism’. Nevertheless, over time, FBI investigations, CIA reports and judicial indictments have pointed to key Israeli operatives and their domestic collaborators as Israeli spies. While Israel benefited from the Bush-Blair invasion in Iraq, the same cannot be said for the United States. As thousands of casualties mounted, and war spending skyrocketed to hundreds of billions of dollars, opposition to the war escalated.
Israeli strategic plans to extend US military operations to Iran and Syria faced major challenges, from within the US military and public and even sections of the mass media. Mossad assets in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and elsewhere had to settle for puff pieces on Iran’s non-existent nuclear weapon threat, right after the same plot with regard to Iraq was exposed as a total fabrication. Another line of propaganda was needed to silence war critics and heighten animosities to the Islamists/Arabs in general and Iran in particular. This is where the “Flemming Rose”-Mossad operation came into the picture. The Islamic-hate cartoons were published in Denmark in September 2005 as Israeli and US Zionists escalated their war propaganda against Iran. The initial response from the Islamic countries however was limited. The story wasn’t picked up in the International Herald Journal until late December 2005. By early January 2006, Mossad “Katsas” (Hebrew for case officers) activated sayanim (volunteer Jewish collaborators outside of Israel) throughout Western and Eastern European media to simultaneously reproduce the cartoons on Feb. 1 and 2, 1006. One such sayanim operation would have been the decision by France-Soir Senior Editor, Arnaud Levy and Editor in Chief Serge Faubert, to publish the cartoons. The paper’s French Egyptian owner almost immediately fired the paper’s Managing Editor, Jacques Lefranc, who, according to an interview with CNN, had initially opposed their publications, without touching Levy and Faubert.
A strident campaign was launched in practically all the pro-Western mass media condemning the initial, relatively moderate Islamic protests, which had occurred between September to December 2005 and rapidly provoked the subsequent massive escalation, doubtlessly aided by covert Mossad operatives among Arab populations. Mossad’s ‘little farts’, the Danish intelligence fanned the fires by advising Denmark’s rightwing Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen not to give way by refusing to apologize as the pro-Western Arab regimes requested and even refusing a request for a meeting with a group of Denmark-based diplomats from Arab and Moslem countries to discuss the ‘situation’.
“Flemming Rose”-Mossad tried one more gambit – to further heighten East-West tension. He publicly offered to publish any Iranian cartoons which would mock the Holocaust in ‘his’ paper’. The senior editor of Jyllands-Posten, apparently belatedly caught on to “Flemming Rose” hidden agenda and vetoed the ‘offer’ and asked Rose to take a leave of absence. Rose left for Miami, not Tel Aviv – where his residency might raise suspicions about his claim to be merely an opponent of “self-censorship”. In Miami, he no doubt will have the protection of the locally based sayanin, armed and train for “self-defense” of threatened Zionists.
Sayanim – Defenders of Western Civilization
The sayanim, derived, according to Victor Ostrovsky, from the Hebrew word ‘to help’ are a huge world-wide network of Jews in strategic or useful places (real estate, mass media, finance, car dealerships etc…) who have been agreed to help in Israeli Mossad actitivies within their own countries. This has been ascribed to the supra-national loyalty sayanim offer to Israel, above and not always in the interest of their home country. According to Gordon Thomas and Martin Dillon, in their detailed biography, Robert Maxwell, Israel’s Superspy (Carroll and Graf Publishers, 2002), the notorious media mogul, Robert Maxwell, was a super-sayanim, providing cover, offices, political connections, money-laundering services and planted stories in the service of Israel at the Mossad’s beheast.
Jonathan Pollard, the American Naval Researcher jailed for espionage, is another notorious sayanim. The activities of these ‘helpers’ really range from the spectacular to the more mundane and, according to Victor Ostrovsky, in his 1990 biography By Way of Deception, the sayanim represent a pool of thousands of active and inactive individuals who can provide services discretely out of loyalty to ‘the cause of Israel’ as defined by any current Mossad operation. The cynicism of this arrangement is clear: It makes little difference to the Mossad if an operation, such as ‘Flemming Rose’, jeopardizes the national and economic interests of the sayanim’s own country and , if exposed, might harm the status of Jews in the diaspora. The standard response from the Mossad would be: “So what’s the worst that could happen to those Jews? They’s all come to Israel? Great.” This recklessness clearly has ramifications for Jews who have refused to be recruited as Mossad helpers in affected countries.
Mossad War Propaganda and the “Cartoon Controversy”
Israeli leaders expressed their opposition to the Bush Administration’s diplomatic efforts to engage the European powers in the Iran negotiations. Automatically and without question all the major Zionist and Jewish organizations in the US (AIPAC, Presidents of the Major Jewish Organizations, ADL and others) unleashed a sustained national campaign to mobilize congress and their “friends” in the executive branch to take immediate military action or to impose economic sanctions on Iran. The Bush Administration however while in agreement, lacked public support in the US and among his European allies and their national electorates.
The Mossad policy was to create a pretext to polarize public opinion between the Middle East (and beyond) and the West in order to escalate tensions and demonize Islamic adversaries to its Middle East hegemonis pretensions. “Rose” cartoons served the Mossad perfectly. The issue could be presented as a free speech issue, a conflict of “values” not “interests”, between the “democratic West” and the fundamentalist “totalitarian” (as characterized by Pipes-Rose) Islamists. Nothing could be further from the truth. Rose had solicited and selected the Islamic caricatures while his paper had rejected similar cartoons of Jesus Christ in an earlier context. The image of Rose as a “cultural iconoclast” - while working for a right wing daily whose daily fare was publishing anti-(Mid-East)immigrant “news stories” and favorable interviews with Zionists extremists - is prima facie not credible, although that image has been purveyed by all the major media outlets. While “Rose” initiated the international tensions, liberal and neo-con colleagues and his comrades in and out of the Mossad publicized his transgressions and provoked the ire of the Arab and Islamic world.
The cartoons, the subsequent insults and calumnies attacking the Islamic protestors and their secular allies throughout Africa, the Middle East, Asia and Europe eventually provoked major peaceful and then violent protests by millions of people. Visual images of violent protests and demonstrations were featured by the Western mass media, successfully creating the intended fear and apprehension against Muslim countries and minorities in Europe. Islamophobia gained momentum. Zionist propagandists in Europe and the US linked the defense of “free speech” issue to Israeli “security” policies. While the West turned its fury against the Islamic protestors, Israel blockaded Gaza and the US and Europe cut off all funding to the Palestinians, threatening the population with mass starvation for exercising its democratic right to elect its own leaders! “Rose’s” free speech charade revived the discredited ZionCon doctrine of “Clash of Civilizations”. Playing on European Islamophobia and the increasing sensibility of practicing Moslems and Arab nationalists to Western abuses, it is likely that Israeli psych-war experts pinpointed the “free speech” issue as the ideal detonator for the conflict.
The democratic electoral victory of Hamas – dubbed by Israel as a terrorist movement – accelerated Israeli efforts to convince Western governments to insist that regimes in Muslim countries repress the ‘irrational Islamic masses’ or face Western censure or elimination of aid. (The failure to crack down violently on demonstrators was presented by the media as official approval or instigation) The major US Zionist organizations were able to influence Secretary of State Rice into blaming Iran and Syria for fomenting the worldwide demonstrations, from Gaza to the Philippines. The Israeli strategy was to use European outrage to weaken opposition to a military attack or economic sanctions on Iran and Syria.
Beyond Religious Blasphemy
While most establishment analysts have narrowly focused on the cartoon as the source and target of the massive global demonstrations, in fact it is at best the immediate detonator of a whole series of ongoing events of much greater political significance. From the “shock and awe” carpet bombing of Iraq, to the mass torture and routine everyday humiliation in occupied countries, from the utter destruction of Fallujah (an American example as Guernica was for the Nazis), to Israeli devastation of Jenin and Palestine, from the everyday assassinations of Palestinians by the Israeli occupiers, to the smearing of the Koran with filth at Guantanamo, Israel, the US and Europe have attempted to demonstrate that no Moslems are safe anywhere- not in their schools, home, offices, fields, factories or mosques- and that nothing is sacred.
The reasons that millions are demonstrating against a caricature of Mohammed published in an insignificant Scandinavian rightwing newspaper is that this is the last straw – the detonator – of a series of deliberate violations of fundamental social and political rights of Muslim, Arab and colonized peoples. While the Western media have focused exclusively on the religious content of the demonstrators, almost every country, where massive sustained demonstrations have taken place, has been subject to recent Western intervention, large-scale pillage of raw materials and/or experienced the destruction of their secular rights: countries invaded, homes, schools, hospital, systems of health and clean water demolished, agriculture and natural resources looted, museums, libraries and archeological sites pillaged and mosques desecrated. The present condition for material existence has been a Western inferno for all the people (both secular and observant) living in Arab or Islamic countries. Now their most profound, historic, spiritual reference point, the prophet Mohammed – the most cherished religious figure – has been repeatedly trampled with impunity by arrogant imperialists, their media servants, aided and abetted by the Israeli state and its overseas ‘sayanin’ operatives. It is cynical to suggest that practicing Moslems could desecrate the figure of Jesus Christ with impunity when that too is forbidden by the Koran.
As the Israeli strategists well knew in advance, the vilification of Islam was not taking place in a political vacuum: The material conditions for an Islamic-Arab uprising were ripe: Hamas had swept the Palestinian elections, the US military were aware that they were losing the war in Iraq, Iran was refusing to capitulate, Bush was losing public support for ongoing and future Middle Eastern wars, AIPAC, Israel’s main political instrument for influencing US policy was under criminal investigation…Israel’s strategy of having the US fight its wars was boomeranging. There was a need to revive the political-military tensions which they had exploited after September 11, 2001 to Israel’s advantage: hence the “Flemming Rose” provocation, hence the coordinated, wide promotion of the act, hence the free speech agitation among Western ‘sayanin’, liberals, conservatives and neocon ideologues, hence the predictable explosion of protest, hence the ‘recreation’ of Mid-East tension…and the advances of Israel’s agenda.
Clearly the burgeoning confrontation is more than a religious or free speech issue, more than the crude provocations of an errant cultural editor coddled by the ‘little farts’ of a penetrated Danish intelligence agency. What is at stake is the deliberate racist stereotyping of Arab, Islamic and Third World people in order to sustain and deepen their oppression, exploitation and subordination.
The most pervasive, prolific and influential source of racist Arab stereotypes are Israel and its overseas (particularly US and European) academics, terror ‘experts’, psychologists at the most prestigious universities and think tanks, who have provided the “psychological profile” to torture, humiliate, provoke and repress the millions struggling for self-determination against colonial and imperial dominance.
Once again Israel and especially its overseas operatives have placed the expansion and militarist interests of Israel above the interests of the people of the US and Europe. “Is it good for the Jews?”: A criterion as defined by the Israeli state, has led to the blind alley of massive confrontations, deepening animosity between Arabic/Muslim peoples and Western regimes. What appeared so clever to the ‘Roses’ of the world and their Katsas and docile Sayanim, in provoking confrontation may once again boomerang: The uprisings may go beyond protesting symbols of vilification to attacking the substance of power, including the Arab and Moslem pro-consuls and collaborators of the Euro-American political and economic power. While the Mossad is very astute in infiltrating and provoking oppressed groups, it has been singularly inept in controlling and containing the resultant uprisings as the recent victory of Hamas demonstrates and the success of the Iraqi resistance illustrates. The next controversial cartoon may show Moses leading his people into the desert.
Epilogue
While the Mossad-provoked ‘free speech versus blasphemy’ controversy between the West and the Islamic peoples continues to deepen, Israel proceeds to impose a Nazi-like economic siege over 4 million Palestinians, intended to starve them into surrendering their democratic freedoms. Intended is the concise term, Gideon Levy, star reporter for the Israeli daily newspaper Haaretz (19/02/06) records Dov Weissglas, advisor to the Israeli Prime Minister, jokingly telling top officials “Its (the economic blockage – which may include electricity and water, as well as food) like an appointment with a dietician. The Palestinians will get a lot thinner but won’t die.” The Israeli officials “rolled with laughter”.
As Levy points out “more than half of all Palestinians are already living in poverty…last year 37 had difficulties obtaining food… 54% of the residents of Gaza cut back the amount of food they consume…child mortality rose by 15%…unemployment reached 28%.” Planned pre-meditated mass starvation of a ghettoized population, jokingly discarded by its executioners as a ‘visit to the dietician’, is an exact replica of the internal policy discussion of the Nazi high command over the population in the Warsaw Ghetto. Israel’s capacity to impose and implement a genocidal policy has been greatly facilitated by the symbolic sideshow, which the Mossad-‘Rose’ orchestrated in Western Europe. “Cultural” conflict at the service of genocide – is hardly a clever ruse or merely a violation of Islamic sensibilities, it is a crime against humanity.

Global credit ocean dries up

2006-03-01T07:39:00.000+11:00

Global credit ocean dries up(Filed: 24/02/2006)

The cash machine that sustained a world boom is about to close, and it's going to get ugly, says Ambrose Evans-Pritchard

One by one, the eurozone, the Swedes, the Swiss and now even the Japanese, are turning off the tap of ultra-cheap credit that has flushed the global system for the past year, keeping the ageing asset boom alive.

The "carry trade" - as it is known - is a near limitless cash machine for banks and hedge funds. They can borrow at near zero interest rates in Japan, or 1pc in Switzerland, to re-lend anywhere in the world that offers higher yields, whether Argentine notes or US mortgage securities.

Arguably, it has prolonged asset bubbles everywhere, blunting the efforts of the US and other central banks to restrain over-heating in their own countries.

The Bank of International Settlements last year estimated the turnover in exchange and interest rates derivatives markets at $2,400bn a day.

"The carry trade has pervaded every single instrument imaginable, credit spreads, bond spreads: everything is poisoned," said David Bloom, currency analyst at HSBC.

"It's going to come to an end later this year and it's going to be ugly, even if we haven't reached the shake-out just yet," he said.

"People have a Panglossian belief in the march of global capitalism but that will change as soon as attention switches back to US financial imbalances," he said.

There were early signs of panic this week when the Icelandic krone crashed 8pc in two days, setting off dominoes in high-yielding currencies of New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, Hungary and Brazil.

The debacle was triggered when the rating agency Fitch downgraded Iceland's sovereign debt, a move that would not normally rattle markets.

The new skittishness comes against a backdrop of ever more hawkish moves by Japan and Europe.

"There are several hundred billion dollars of positions in the carry trade that will be unwound as soon as they become unprofitable," said Stephen Lewis, an economist at Monument Securities. "When the Bank of Japan starts tightening we may see some spectacular effects. The world has never been through this before, so there is a high risk of mistakes."

Toshihiko Fukui, the Japanese central bank governor, gave a fresh warning yesterday that this day is near, saying the country was pulling out of seven years of deflation. The economy grew at a 5.5pc rate in the fourth quarter of 2005.

In his strongest words yet, he said the bank would act "immediately" to curtail its extra injections of liquidity, preparing the way for rate rises above zero in coming months.

"The moment of truth is approaching,'' said Kenichiro Ikezawa of Daiwa SB. In Europe, Sweden raised rates to 2pc this week in the face of an overheated Stockholm property market, while Germany's IFO business climate index soared yesterday to its highest level in 14 years.

The European Central Bank will almost certainly raise eurozone rates to 2.5pc in March, with likely moves to 3pc by the end of the year.

Most of the world is now tightening, with no sign of a fresh credit window opening to keep the game going. This is new. Japan has had the tap on continuously as the trade exploded over the past five years, while America itself became the source of funds after it slashed rates to 1pc at the end of the dotcom bubble, and held them there until June 2004.

The US Federal Reserve has since raised rates 14 times to 4.5pc in a belated effort to restore monetary discipline, with at least two more rises priced into the markets.

It is an open question whether the yen, euro, Swiss franc and Swedish krona carry trades have occurred on such a scale that they have led to over-investment in Latin America and beyond, and compressed US yields, fuelling the American housing boom in 2005 despite Fed tightening.

There are other big forces at work: huge purchases of US Treasuries by Asian central banks, and petrodollar surpluses coming back to the US credit markets. Stephen Roach, chief economist at Morgan Stanley, warns that the carry trade is itself, in all its forms, a major cause of dangerous speculative excess. "The lure of the carry trade is so compelling, it creates artificial demand for 'carryable' assets that has the potential to turn normal asset price appreciation into bubble-like proportions," he said.

"History tells us that carry trades end when central bank tightening cycles begin," he said. Ominously, almost every bank other than the Bank of England is now tightening in unison.

Wait for it!

Martyring Voltaire

2006-02-28T08:30:00.000+11:00

Here is a fine piece written under the pseudonym - Sartre at BATR. It is aimed (naturally) at the American audience but is relevant throughout the world.

David Irving's persecution has been compared to the prosecution of Galileo. The Rev. Ted Pike offers up a list of other less celebrated fatalities of thought crimes. Pike's prediction is frightening: "The conviction of David Irving is a chilling wake-up call that hate crimes laws and international enforcement of them are not going to go away. They are vital to the ADL/B'nai B'rith master plan for eventual triumph over Christian civilization."

Austria may be getting the recent headlines but Germany has the final solution. It is called by law - Paragraph 130!
Section 130a Instructions for Crimes (1) Whoever disseminates, publicly displays, posts, presents, or otherwise makes accessible a writing (Section 11 subsection (3)) which is capable of serving as instructions for an unlawful act named in Section 126 subsection (1), and is intended by its content to encourage or awaken the readiness of others to commit such an act, shall be punished with imprisonment for not more than three years or a fine.

(2) Whoever:

1. disseminates, publicly displays, posts, presents, or otherwise makes accessible a writing (Section 11 subsection (3)) which is capable of serving as instructions for an unlawful act named in Section 126 subsection (1); or

2. gives instructions for an unlawful act named in Section 126 subsection (1), publicly or in a meeting, in order to encourage or awaken the readiness of others to commit such an act,

shall be similarly punished.

(3) Section 86 subsection (3), shall apply correspondingly.
Ernst Zündel is the next victim in the dock for sins against holocaust orthodoxy.
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Intimidation and threats will not destroy the truth. Only apathy and cowardice will guarantee defeat. The basic purpose of your being is at stake as well as the future of our country. Allowing the law to be subverted to punish truth seekers, where ever the evidence leads is wickedness incarnate. Patrick Henry understood the real meaning of the American experience. "Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death" applies directly to the treachery of faceless thugs who manipulate the law to silence the cries of real social justice. Promoting false guilt under the guise of a phony tolerance is obscene.

Facts of history do not discriminate among sufferers to make any group special. Was the dread of the Bataan march or the POW that built the Thai-Burma railway any less important or dear? What about the killing fields of the Khmer Rouge or the Siberian internment hell holes? Was the suffering under the hands of Pol Pot or Joseph Stalin any less tragic? The myth that a Jewish Holocaust (whatever the actual death count) is the single most evil event in all of history is objectively offensive.
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When Tony 'poodle boy' Blair challenged Iran's Ahmadinejad: "should come and see the evidence of the Holocaust himself in the countries of Europe", we see the hypocrisy of the enablers of Talmud tyranny. With blistering speed Ahmadinejad, a populist conservative took up the challenge and was soundly denied access to inspect the physical evidence that venerates the "Holocaust Industry". Top this off with Blair's own duplicity: "The Labour leader said he saw a "very strong case" for making it illegal to say that Hitler's extermination of six million Jews did not take place. Opening an exhibition dedicated to Anne Frank, Mr Blair pledged that a Labour government would give "active consideration" towards legislation."

This is the Europe that deserved to be rescued so that Zionists could rule over the vanquished? That's not the Western Civilization that merits respect and preservation. Voltaire may not agree with what Irving, Zündel or Faurisson has to say, but he affirmed that he would defend to the death their right to say it. His Age of Enlightenment has been crucified just like Jesus. Those same hands can't wash away the blood of their deeds without divine redemption.

Before Section 130a Instructions for Crimes becomes the law for our land, faithful Americans need to take back our country from duel loyalists and traitors that dread the awakening of the heartland of God fearing citizenry. The America-First tradition is the solution. The lines are clearly drawn, the foes are unequivocally known. The saints need to act. Martyrdom need not happen.

SARTRE - February 27, 2006

Potential Health Implications from Mobile Communication Systems

2006-02-27T10:08:00.000+11:00

During my current surfing I came across this article Planet Earth As Weapon and Target
It begins with the this statement:

Beginning with the use of nuclear energy for military purposes, mankind has entered a seemingly endless race to harness the natural forces within the planet, in the atmosphere and in space for waging war. The earth is (al)ready gravely affected by many of those secret research and testing programmes leading to unpredictable environmental and epidemiological consequences .

I was most intrigued to find that mobile/cell phones were a target weapon for mind control and ultimately as a death inducing technology. I have grandchildren who have these phones and it is disturbing to note the effects that these devices may have on their lives. My research took me through the mindgames the researchers and media play with their ‘official’ prognostications, to looking for symptoms that can be induced by their use.

This is what I have discovered so far.

Summary and Recommendations of the Report of the Independent Expert Group on Mobile Phones - Stewart Report

1.57On the basis of the current state of knowledge we recommend that priority be given to a number of areas of research related particularly to signals from handsets effects on brain function.

consequences of exposures to pulsed signals.
improvements in dosimetry.
the possible impact on health of sub-cellular and cellular changes induced by RF radiation.
psychological and sociological studies related to the use of mobile phones.
epidemiological and human volunteer studies (paragraphs 5.249–5.264), including the study of children, and individuals who might be more susceptible to RF radiation (paragraphs 4.37, 6.29 and 6.30).

Mobile Phones and Health - Stewart Report
Clarification of Issues Discussed in the Report

Would the Expert Group be clearer about to what age should children be discouraged from using mobiles for anything other than essential calls?

As a general rule the Expert Group considers that children less than 16 years of age should be discouraged from using mobile phones.

Children are likely to be more vulnerable to any unrecognised health risks from mobile phone use than are adults. The rationale is as follows:

the developing nervous system is likely to be more vulnerable than the mature nervous system to potentially hazardous agents.
because of their smaller heads, thinner skulls and higher tissue conductivity, children may absorb more energy from a given phone than do adults.
if there are detrimental health effects caused by mobile phone signals, those using phones for a longer period of their lives will tend to accumulate a greater risk.

The justification for suggesting persons aged less than 16 years is as follows:

development of the head and nervous system is generally complete by age 16 years. For example, the density of synapses reaches adult level around puberty and skull thickness and brain size reach adult levels around ages 14 to 15.
16 is usually recognised as the age at which individuals are sufficiently mature (hmph! - ed) to make informed choices about other 'adult' activities.

THE MIND HAS NO FIREWALL

Three American researchers, Ross Adey (communication of cells), Allan Frey (microwave auditory effect), and José Delgado (electromagnetic behaviour control), conducted research on communication in the body, the brain, and behaviour modification in the 1960s and 1970s which propelled the development of mind control technology.

After participating in the Pandora Project, Ross Adey worked at UCLA and later established the Brain Research Institute, where he was best known for his studies on the biologic effects of weak electromagnetic forces, a paradigm shift that was not always appreciated by mainstream scientists unwilling to accept new ideas. Despite the resistance he made major contributions.

In his research he intensely studied the "window effect" where a certain result would occur at certain frequencies and power levels but not at others interspersed between the windows. He believed "windows" would be discovered at fractions of a microwatt, far below what he had studied. A later study confirmed his belief and suggested changes in brain waves down to a billionth of a microwatt. He discovered that "calcium-outflow windows could interfere with functioning of the entire brain" because amplification of signals in communications between cells was calcium dependent. This proved to be one of his most important discoveries. He and his colleagues also demonstrated that behaviour modification could be achieved by entraining the brain waves of a cat with microwaves modulated in different ways and then imposing specific electrical patterns on parts of the brain.

Possible Health Effects from Terrestrial Trunked Radio (TETRA): Report of an Advisory Group on Non-Ionising Radiation

Conclusion
It is recognised that calcium plays an important role in many biological processes, especially in the function of nerve cells. Moreover, as the Independent Expert Group on Mobile Phones pointed out, there is evidence that RF fields, amplitude-modulated at about 16 Hz, may influence the leakage of calcium ions from tissues. However, findings have been contradictory: they are more uncertain for living than for non-living tissue, and no associated health risk has been identified. It is notable that the signals from TETRA base stations are not pulsed, whereas those from mobile terminals and repeaters are. Although areas of uncertainty remain about the biological effects of low level RF radiation in general, including modulated signals, current evidence suggests that it is unlikely that the special features of the signals from TETRA mobile terminals and repeaters pose a hazard to health.

Terrestrial Trunked Radio

Health Worries
TETRA operates its TDMA (see above) at 17Hz i.e. an amplitude modulation of 17 times a second held in a carrier wave at the microwave frequencies listed above. It is alleged that TETRA causes health problems with those living near masts because this frequency interferes with brain activity. There do not appear to be any studies on people that provide direct information on health effects of exposures to radio frequency fields at about 17Hz modulation.

Calcium
Description: This trace mineral is the most abundant in the body. Calcium has many biological functions. Involved in bone structure, this mineral precipitates in the bone making it stronger. For blood to coagulate, calcium must be present. This mineral increases cell permeability as well. When in abundance, calcium helps other nutrients into the cells. Transmission of nerve stimuli is also effected. Calcium is deposited at the ends of muscle fibers effecting the contraction of the muscle, especially the long muscles and heart muscles. When calcium flows through the circulatory system it aids in the relaxation of muscles. Calcium also works as an enzyme activator telling the catalysts what to do.

Researchers find new clues to nerve cell development
Similar to an insect's antennae, filopodia are finger-like projections on the tips of developing nerve cells that extend out to detect environmental clues and help direct axons to their proper destinations. Until now, scientists didn't know what kind of signals filopodia sent back to the cell tip, called a growth cone, or how they controlled movement.

University of Wisconsin Medical School researchers have found that the ends of filopodia generate tiny bursts of calcium that travel back to the growth cone to stimulate movement in the right direction.

"These bursts, which usually occur at the very ends of the filopodia, are extremely brief-about a 300-millisecond pulse--which may explain why they were undetected in earlier studies," says lead scientist Timothy Gomez, an assistant professor of anatomy at University of Wisconsin Medical School. "Since many other types of cells have these finger-like projections, we believe that these brief calcium bursts may be a universal signaling mechanism for all motile, or moving, cells, including immune, epithelial and metastatic cells."

The study, conducted by Gomez while he was a post-doctoral fellow in the laboratory of Nicholas Spitzer at University of California-San Diego, appears in the March 9 issue of Science.
In the developing nervous system, neurons in the brain, spinal cord and elsewhere in the body send out long axons, which in the mature nervous system transfer signals to a target cell. A growth cone is located at the tip of each embryonic axon, and later becomes a synapse, the communication connection between nerve cells.

Filopodia sprout from each growth cone and are in constant motion, in search of guidance cues deposited by supporting cells and secreted by target cells, which are often located a great distance from the neuron's cell body. As the filopodia help steer the growth cones to their target cells, axons are formed along the way.

Gomez and his colleagues studied frog spinal nerve cells they kept alive in a culture dish. They loaded the neurons with a fluorescent calcium indicator that allowed them to observe calcium activity with a confocal microscope, taking eight pictures every second. Collecting images for brief periods of time, the researchers found that calcium bursts occurred repeatedly, beginning at the end of filopodia and traveling down to the growth cone in less than a second. A real-time movie version dramatically illustrates the movement of the bursts down the filopodia (viewable online at http://www.nature.com/nature/).

Calcium modulates many cell activities, and calcium spikes, or transients, similar to the one the Wisconsin researchers observed are not uncommon. But the calcium transients they have discovered in filopodia have novel functions not identified before.

To test the impact of the filopodial calcium bursts on growth cone movements, the researchers exposed them to eight different environments, or substrates, that stimulate embryonic nerve cell growth, some being more favorable than others. They found that the frequency of the bursts varied with the type of substrate as well as its concentration. They saw that the burst frequency correlated with the motile behavior of the filopodia and growth cone.

What's more, when the researchers experimentally generated calcium bursts in the filopodia on just one side of the growth cone, they found that the signal was sufficient to orient nerve growth.

"These findings suggest that local calcium signals play an important role in the development of the nervous system and may be a general mechanism for the regulation of cell motility," said Gomez. "This new information offers unique possibilities for medical intervention in conditions involving motile cells, such as abnormal development, ineffective nerve regeneration and even tumor metastasis."

Calcium
Calcium is essential in muscle contraction, building strong bones and teeth, blood clotting, nerve impulse transmission, regulating heartbeat, and fluid balance within cells.

50%-75% of calcium comes from the dairy intake in daily diets.
Most Americans do not consume the 1,200 mg of calcium per day that is needed.

Calcium is an important component of a healthy diet. Its minor deficit can affect bone and teeth formation, while overretention can cause kidney stones. Vitamin D is needed to absorb calcium. Dairy products, such as milk and cheese, are a well known source of calcium. (Vitamin D is most readily absorbed from sunshine! Why has being out in the sun a melanoma, fear generating, cry in the last few decades? - ed) However, some individuals are allergic to dairy products and even more people, particularly those of non-European descent, are lactose-intolerant, leaving them unable to consume dairy products. Fortunately, many other good sources of calcium exist. This includes seaweeds such as kelp, wakame and hijiki; nuts and seeds (like almonds and sesame), beans; seafood such as oysters and shrimp; soft-boned fish; amaranth; whole wheat; collard greens; okra; rutabaga; broccoli; and fortified products such as orange juice and bread.

Calcium metabolism

Effector organs
Sources
About 25 mmol of calcium enters the body in a normal diet. It can be lower if the diet is deficient in milk or other calcium-containing substances. Of this, about 40% (10 mmol) is absorbed in gut, and 5 mmol leaves the body in feces, netting 5 mmol of calcium a day. Vitamin D is an important co-factor in the intestinal absorption of calcium, as it increases the number of calcium binding proteins, involved in calcium absorption through the apical membrane of enterocytes in small intestine.

Excretion
The kidney excretes 250 mmol a day in pro-urine, and resorbs 245 mmol, leading to a net loss in the urine of 5 mmol/l. In addition to this, the kidney processes Vitamin D into calcitriol, the active form that is most effective in assisting intestinal absorption. Both processes are stimulated by parathyroid hormone (PTH).

The role of bone
Although calcium flow to and from the bone is neutral, about 5 mmol is turned over a day. Bone serves as an important storage point for calcium, as it contains 99% of the total body calcium. Calcium is released from bone by parathyroid hormone. Calcitonin stimulates incorporation of calcium in bone, although this process is largely independent of calcitonin.

Low calcium intake may also be a risk factor in the development of osteoporosis. In one meta-analyses, the authors found that only two out of the 52 studies that they reviewed showed that calcium intake did not promote better bone balance (Heaney, et al). With a better bone balance, the risk of osteoporosis is lowered.

Nerve Cells' Power Plants Caught In A Traffic Jam

Little is known about what causes mitochondria to become dysfunctional and how they contribute to neurological disorders. To learn more about what could go wrong with the energy units, Zinsmaier and his colleagues induced a mutation in the fruit fly mitochondrial protein, dMiro. dMiro stands for Drosophila mitochondrial Rho-like GTPase.

Molecular motors shuttle mitochondria within cells along cellular highways called microtubules. Normally, the mitochondria travel the length of the neuron until they reach the synapse. The mutation in the dMiro protein disabled the motor, disrupting the normal pattern of mitochondrial distribution.

The nerves' synapses are where one nerve cell connects and communicates with other cells. For example, muscle cells contract when they receive the proper signals from nerve cells. Abnormal mitochondrial distribution within a neuron alters its ability to signal properly to adjoining muscle or nerve cells.
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Besides providing energy, mitochondria carry out other tasks important for cell survival. One important mitochondrial task is taking up excess calcium. Calcium is the main ingredient for proper neuron function. Too much calcium can lead to cell death. Zinsmaier hypothesizes that there could be a specialized communication system established within neurons involving another cell component that cooperates with mitochondria to properly store calcium.

Clue to stroke brain cell deaths

Scientists say they have discovered the exact mechanism behind the death of brain cells following a stroke.

The main culprit is an overload of charged calcium particles or ions, they told the journal Cell.
As the brain is starved of oxygen by reduced blood flow, events occur that cause dangerously high levels of calcium ions within the brain cells.

The Medical Research Council team believes correcting the calcium imbalance could help treat strokes

Of the approximately 1,000 g of calcium in the average 70 kg adult body, almost 98% is found in bone,1% in teeth, and the rest is found in blood, extracellular fluids, and within cells where it is a co-factor fora number of enzymes. Calcium promotes blood clotting by activating the protein fibrin, and along with magnesium helps to regulate the heart beat, muscle tone, muscle contraction and nerve conduction.

THE HISTORICAL ROOTS OF THE NEW WORLD ORDER AND ITS PERMANENT WAR ECONOMY

A classified conference sponsored by the Los Alamos nuclear weapons lab was held in the Applied Physics Laboratory at Johns Hopkins University in November 1993. Colonel Alexander served as the conference Chairman. The meeting was attended by Attorney-General Janet Reno, numerous scientists, military weapons experts, and intelligence officials from state and local police departments. The main purpose of the meeting was to prepare leading law enforcement officials for the use of psychotronic mind-control weapons. Some of the lectures given were:

Dr. George Baker from Defence Nuclear Agency: "RF Weapons: A Very Attractive Non-Lethal Option"

Dr. Clay Easterly from Oak Ridge National Laboratory: "Application of Extremely Low Frequency Electromagnetic Fields to Non-Lethal Weapons"

"Radio-frequency Weapons, High Powered Microwave Technology, Acoustic Technology"
Zbiegniew Brzezinski, a Rockefeller recruit and founder of the Trilateral Commission, had much revealing information to give back in the seventies about technologies that are being disclosed now. He wrote in Between two Ages:

"Accurately timed, artificially excited electronic strokes could lead to a pattern of oscillations that produce relatively high power levels over certain regions of the Earth ... one could develop a system that would seriously impair the brain performance of a very large population in selected regions over an extended period." (Zbiegniew Brzezinski, Between Two Ages, 1971).

When an American electropollution activist asked Motorola the purpose of the 10 hertz frequency on the carrier wave of the new Motorola police radio system, she did not get an answer (Personal Communications with Libby Kelley, Chair Marin County Health Council, 2003). From my own investigations and many interviews, I learned that this system was beamed across America when the Cold War ended, through Motorola radio systems, the Police and emergency response radio towers, cell phone towers, satellites, and another Motorola product —TETRA—in Britain:
Costing £2.9 billion, the UK’s new police communication system TETRA has been described by one independent scientist as likely to cause ‘more civilian deaths than all the world’s terrorist organisations put together’. (Jay Griffiths, "A Popular Revolt", The Ecologist, September 17, 2004)

Death may be the hidden purpose, for "culling" society. Welcome to the New World Order.

The great Food Debate

2006-02-26T19:56:00.000+11:00

I read ‘The great Food Debate’ by Elizabeth Day in the Sunday 26th Feb 2006 UK Telegraph.

My first thoughts were along the lines that this is not a discussion about food but about the growing and sale of food. Food is energy for your body as well as your soul. I love grapefruit; it does my body good and the aftertaste lingers on giving my soul comfort. The same can be said of Stilton cheese, ginger cordial (mixed with cheap lemonade) and many other products on the market.

My whole life has been geared toward eating right. Ok, that doesn’t mean not eating the crap that is available, because if you don’t then how do you discern the crappiness of it?

I have bought a Big Mac twice in my life. The first time was many, many years ago and the second about four years after. My experience (I threw both away after one bite), was a ‘taste test’ for my own edification. I have tasted but never bought KFC, eaten Pizza Hut on a few occasions and had many a Turko Kebab.

My point is that to eat healthy and to stay healthy you must diversify all food intake. Eating Macdonalds every day has been shown to be detrimental to your health. I would even go so far as to say that all these fast food products, outlined above, would cause the same effect if that were your only food choice.

The same can be said of all prepared foods, whether in cans, packets or sold ready cooked eg, barbecue chicken, from supermarkets, if that is your only diet, it is bad for your health. (See 1 Frankenfoods below)

Governments state that we should eat five fruits and/or vegetables every day. Once again if that is your only diet you will end up with mineral deficiencies in your body. You may have to supplement your diet with added vitamins in pill format. (I wonder why we see ex-sporting stars pushing these multivitamin products in TV adverts? Is it to educate the young viewers about popping pills if they don’t ‘feel right?’)

Diversity is the key to eating healthy.

I have eaten liver and onions all my life. I do not like it but request it maybe once or twice a year because I know it will not harm me and will probably do me some good. Your/my body needs the iron from the liver and sulphur from the onions.

I eat copious amounts of, in season, fruit. I love it at the right time of the year, ie when it has just been harvested. Out of season fruit has either been imported, from maybe the other side of the world (see 2 below) or, as is becoming more prevalent genetically engineered (hybridised) to grow locally out of season, say, in glasshouses or ‘poly tunnels’. Your body reacts to the seasons and you should feed it accordingly for good health.

People, and sociologists, say we are too busy in this day and age to cook. This is a fallacy! It takes five to ten minutes (determined by how many you are catering for) to create an in-house ‘healthy’ pizza and another 10-15 minutes to cook it. And cheap too! You use bread, cheese, soft vegetables (tomatoes/capsicum), onions, herbs (oregano) and olive oil to create this dish. Easy!

Anyone can cook an omelette, 2-3 eggs, ham/bacon, herbs, slices of tomatoes, slices of mushroom and cheese. Simple and cheap.

When people say they have no time it may be because they are addicted to sitting in front of a TV and wasting their time. And wasting your time it is! There is nothing of relevance worth watching that will enhance your life experience at all! It is brainwashing garbage! There is such a variety of ‘informative programs’ etc that they overlap in your mind and are eventually forgotten. So what is the point? Read a book or as is more common these days, get on the net and do some research, it’s all there. (See 3 below)

Work out your priorities. Do you live to experience life or are you just a slave to the Joneses? Life doesn’t mean getting involved in everything under the sun. You have to discern what your true needs are and not what you want! Every individual, human or animal, has three priorities, food, shelter and warmth, all the rest is just wants and are not truly necessities.

Food today is produced using cost cutting methods.

Instead of collecting, aging and spread manure on fields and pastures as recommended by Sir Alfred Howard in the early part of last century. We farm on huge paddocks with artificial oil derivative fertilisers. The former adds substantially to the soil, especially over time, while the former leaches out of the earth constantly, with serious detriment to the surrounding environment. The natural fertiliser adds substance to the grown plants which then adds to the health of their consumers be it human or cattle. The artificial fertiliser makes money for the oil refiners and a limited amount for their customers. A recent report established that the mineral and vitamin content of today’s foods (even the best organic) is 50-60% deficient and therefore less healthy than was available in foods after the Second World War. We are therefore doing an injustice to today’s consumers by providing food that long ago would be classified as tasteless and harmful to our health.

Frankenfoods
The artificially-created foods that we eat and drink in our modern processed diet is as unnatural for our bodies as is feeding meat to cows, yet it is done out of ignorance and greed. The content of our foods has changed more in the last two generations than in any time in human history. We are now ingesting a toxic combination of government sanctioned chemicals, which adversely affect human health, reproduction, intelligence and social behavior. Many scientists now feel that these "plastic" unnatural foods have created a form of chemically aided neurophysiological degeneration and may be directly responsible for the increase in crime, obesity, asthma, hyperactivity and learning disabilities in children.
This article is about the dangerous artificial ingredients that are being put into our foods and the health ramifications of ingesting those foods. Particular "ingredients" such as cottonseed oil and other hydrogenated/partially-hydrogenated oils and hydrogenated sugars like high fructose corn syrup, sucralose, aspartame, fluoride, rBGH and THI, appear to have a direct link to the unprecedented explosion in obesity, heart disease, infertility, cancer and chronic degenerative diseases that we are experiencing.

2) Yahoo! News Sun, Nov 23, 2003 Produce Becoming Increasing Source for Food Illnesses -

"It's a huge problem and not one easy to solve," said Dr. Glen Morris, chairman of the department of epidemiology and preventive medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine and a former Agriculture Department official. "Produce is emerging as an important cause of food-borne illness in this country."
Scientists and some government officials say illnesses have risen sharply because people are eating more fresh produce and want it year-round, leading to an increase in imports from countries with less stringent sanitary standards.

3) An Introduction to Diet and Health
The importance of diet to health, especially in the prevention and cure of illness, is slowly becoming apparent. I endeavour to provide you with more than the basic, and usually inaccurate information on diet and nutrition. So whether you are a registered dietitian and want to brush up on the immense amount of information, or whether you just want to find out, for the first time what you should be eating, then this site is for you.
First I would like to talk about a very contentious word - diet. Many people don't like using this word, when referring to their eating habits, because they feel that it is humiliating to be on a diet. I am the opposite, as I am always on diet. Whether underweight, overweight, sick or fit, diet, by its Greek definition means the food eaten by an animal to maintain its state of health. So, when I talk about a diet I don't mean that you must necessarily lose weight, what I am referring to is the food that you should generally be eating, be it to build muscles, put on weight, lose weight or get rid of a cold.

4) Meat and dairy: where have the minerals gone? (PDF)
The mineral content of popular meats and milk products has fallen significantly. Looking at 15 different meat items, research shows that the iron content has fallen on average 47% since the 1930s, with some products showing a fall as high as 80%. The iron content of milk had dropped by over 60% while for cream and eight different cheeses the iron loss was over 50%.

The power and duty of coinage

2006-02-23T23:26:00.000+11:00

Apropos my post 17th Feb 2006 The Rise and Fall of the US Dollar this story came up in my surfing.

A MOTION TO RESTORE THE POWER OF THE ISSUE OF MONEYTO THE CROWN
by Captain Henry Kerby MP

On the 22nd December, 1964, Captain Henry Kerby, MP, placed the following Motion before the House of Commons.

It was an "Early Day Motion" and so it was never debated and, consequently, does not appear in Hansard. It is, however, published in the Early Day Motion records and we have a copy of it here at Prosperity.

The House of Commons Public Information Office Factsheet on Early Day Motions states that an "Early Day Motion" is the "colloquial term for a notice of motion given by a Member for which no date has been fixed for debate" and where "in the vast majority of cases, there is absolutely no prospect of these motions ever being debated. Their modern existence is due to Members wishing to put on record their opinion on a subject and canvass support for it from fellow Members. They do this by inviting, actively or passively, other members to endorse the proposed motion." However, even if 250-300 Members might endorse it, "the lack of prospect of the motion being debated remains much the same."

Below we reprint the full text of Captain Kerby's Early Day Motion, titled as below, and his comments -- unpublished in the official record -- follow.

THE EMISSION OF ALL THE MEANS OF EXCHANGE

That this House considers that the continued issue of all the means of exchange – be they coin, bank-notes or credit, largely passed on by cheques – by private firms as an interest-bearing debt against the public should cease forthwith; that the Sovereign power and duty of issuing money in all forms should be returned to the Crown, then to be put into circulation free of all debt and interest obligations, as a public service, not a private opportunity of profit and control for no tangible returns to the British people; and that the volume of money be controlled so as to maintain stable prices:

That the nationalization of the Bank of England did nothing to solve this problem as the bank only serves a subsidiary purpose and almost all money is still created out of nothing by mere book entry by private banks:

That the aims of those who want to assure private property and free enterprise, as well as those who want to protect the British people from unfair exploitation, would both be best served by restoring the power of issuing money to Her Majesty The Queen, in accordance with ancient tradition and law, as is also demanded by the American Constitution, which gives the right of issue solely to Congress, so as to assure the State and Nation the benefits of that emission and relieve them of the immense and growing burdens of a parasitical National and private debt; and to make certain that control passes to the taxed and is taken out of the hands of the present hidden and unlawful beneficiaries of taxation, much of the proceeds of which they collect as interest on all money and immense debts:

And therefore this House calls upon Her Majesty's Government to introduce the required legislation, to assert the proper sovereignty of The Queen in Council in this most important of all sovereign functions, to assure unprecedented prosperity with true sovereignty and liberty.

Captain Kerby's comments:It is not generally understood that for many centuries, in Britain and in almost all other civilized countries, the power and duty of coinage, i.e. of the issue of money in all forms – coin, notes and book-entry credit passed on by cheque, etc. – was vested solely in the Crown or State. For this reason the tradition still persists of putting the Sovereign's portrait on the coinage, though in fact since the end of the 17th century, the reign of William and Mary, by far the greatest part of all the effective means of exchange are issued by private bankers out of nothing by mere book entry, to be lent at interest to the State and to private borrowers. Thus real power passed from the State to the private bankers.

There is ample evidence from many independent sources to prove that most of the means of exchange in modern conditions originate with bankers. In America it is aptly called "fractional reserve banking," meaning that if you have a pound in cash in the till you can issue ten or twenty times more in the form of "credit" on the books, which is mostly circulated by cheques.

Not a few Heads of Central Banks of Issue have stated the facts at public enquiries or in the press, including the chief of the Canadian Bank of Issue, also Mr. Marriner Eccles -- at one time in parallel position in the U.S. Federal Reserve -- and the late Mr. Reginald McKenna, former Chancellor of the Exchequer and Chairman of the Midland Bank. They and many others confirmed that it is the function of banks to create money out of nothing and lend it out.

The "Report of the (New Zealand) Royal Commission on Monetary, Banking and Credit Systems," 1956, states in part; Para. 164: Creation of Money by the Trading Banks: "The fact that a large proportion of our money supply comes into existence as a result of the operations of the trading banks obviously disturbed many witnesses …"

This evidence is paralleled by that given in 1960 to the Radcliffe Committee in London. We quote from the evidence given by the Bank of England, Vol. 1, Memoranda of Evidence; p.9. 4. The Control of Bank Credit in the United Kingdom:

2. "Because an entry in the books of a bank has come to be generally acceptable in the place of cash it is possible for the banks to create the equivalent of cash (i.e. credit). Thus a bank may pay for a security purchased from a customer merely by making an entry in its books to the credit of that customer’s account: or it may make an advance by means of a similar entry. In either case, an increase in its deposits will occur."

In the United States of America, the Constitution clearly provides in Art. I, Sec. 8, Clause 5, that only Congress shall have the power to coin (issue) money, regulate the value thereof and of foreign coin (rate of exchange). Yet obviously this constitutional provision has been completely ignored in practice almost since American independence. In the United Kingdom, too, the spirit of the old laws and traditions has been circumvented.

Yet this is no mere academic matter, but a question of supreme importance, affecting the Sovereignty and very existence of the State and country. It has been said that there should be no taxation without representation, yet private financiers can issue "imaginary" money out of nothing by mere book entry and lend it at interest, they acquire the profit of issue and of interest gratis, at the cost of the whole community. This is taxation in the fullest sense, accompanied not by the representation of the taxed, but by the complete power of the true tax collector, who is the ruler. The basic truth of no taxation without representation is turned upside down and inside out.

It follows that the power of Parliament in general, and especially with regard to Money is non-existent, and all true sovereignty is in the hands of those private individuals who issue all money and determine its value and distribution. If even the State borrows from them, having abandoned its own powers of coinage (emission) to private financiers, how can that State claim to be truly sovereign? The real basis of the power of the money-creators and money-lenders lies in the fact that few know the truth about this financial "hidden hand."

Conservatives with knowledge and long historical memories will recall that the original Tories were Jacobites. Today this question does not apply to the Crown as Her Majesty enjoys the loyalty of all Her subjects. But the spirit of the old Jacobites expressed a sounder understanding of the functions of the Crown as fount of Sovereignty, to be exercised with Counsellors. In the context of that conception it was natural that the power of monetary emission should belong to the Sovereign, and long experience has shewn that that proposition was sound.

On the other hand the old Whigs were the proponents of "Dutch Finance," of the issue of the means of exchange as an interest-bearing debt by private bankers, and of the domination of the State by High Finance, not the Sovereign in Council, the King and people. With the decline of Liberalism in Great Britain it might be thought that Socialist Labour is the heir of that tradition.

It is the claim of Socialist leaders that theirs is not the Party of the Big Money Men. The test is this: will Labour understand that the "nationalization" of the power of coinage (emission) is the supreme necessity? And not the confiscation of the fruits of many peoples' labour and invention.

If the Socialist Party does not pass this test and continues to protect parasitical finance, if only by its silence, then it will lay itself open to an attack which it could never repulse, however long it may postpone the show-down.

Here, then, are some basic propositions which should be known to all, and which are behind the intentions of the Motion:

1. All the means of exchange, with the exception of a very small fraction (coin) are created in the books of private banks when they lend to the State and private borrowers. Conversely, when a loan or overdraft is repaid there is less money in circulation.

2. Even notes and coin come into circulation only in exchange for book entry purchases of Treasury Bills by banks, and thus are virtually issued by the bankers. [For a fuller description on how notes and coins come into circulation, see April 2000 Prosperity]

3. It follows that those who have the power to "create" out of nothing all the money in each country and the whole world and lend it as stated, have total power over all States, parties, firms, radio, press, individuals and so on. Therefore the powers of Parliament are largely ephemeral.

4. It is essential that the issue of money be as needed by the whole nation and hence free from private or political influence. Consequently it is essential that the Queen in Council should resume the power and duty of monetary emission. If new money is spent (not lent) into circulation, taxes could be reduced to a small fraction of their present and growing burden and the National Debt will gradually disappear.

5. Banks should only be able to lend moneys they have earned or borrowed. Their other functions would remain.

6. With the release from the debt and tax burden and with the issue of money in accordance with the needs of exchange, the country would experience unexampled and lasting prosperity, with no slumps and unemployment. Financial principles and policies would be open and broadly understood: instead of being Master, Money would become a public servant.

----------------------------------------------------

It is interesting to note that Henry Briton Kerby, born 11th Dec 1914 and died on 4th Jan 1971 at the relatively young age of 56, had been the Conservative member of Arundel & Shoreham since the 9th Mar 1954. I would like to see his obituary and the reason for his death somewhere, if someone can find a link I would be grateful.

In the meantime it should be realised that -

A member of the establishment who defies its commandments in an obvious and visible fashion, or defies any key commandment, or who consistently defies commandments, is ejected whenever it is feasible to do so without causing net injury to the interests of the establishment (most vitally, to its covertness). Ejection is by social ostracism, denial of insider privileges and immunities, sometimes by various forms of deliberate and punitive economic, legal, and political harassment, oppression, and deprivation, and on rare occasions, by assassination.

DU SCANDAL EXPLODES

2006-02-22T21:25:00.000+11:00

Tuesday, February 21, 2006 - FreeMarketNews.com

The Preventive Psychiatry Newsletter has written to its subscribers telling them that the real reason the former Veterans Affairs Secretary, Anthony Principi, recently resigned was because he has been involved in a massive scandal covering up the fact that Gulf War Syndrome was caused by the use of depleted uranium, according to the SF Bay View.

In the article Arthur Bernklau, executive director of Veterans for Constitutional Law, reportedly wrote that “thousands of our military have suffered and died from, [and depleted uranium] has finally been identified as the cause of this sickness, eliminating the guessing. The terrible truth is now being revealed.” Bernklau went on to detail several alarming statistics. The historical disability rate amongst soldiers last century was about 5 percent, although it approached 10 percent during Vietnam. But due to the use of depleted uranium in the battlefield, 56 percent of the 580,400 solders that served in the first Gulf War were on Permanent Medical Disability by 2000. 11,000 Gulf War veterans are already dead. Now 518,739 Gulf War Veterans, almost all of them, are currently on medical disability.

Principi, under the order of the Bush Administration, had been allegedly covering up the disastrous results of using depleted uranium since 2000. However, with so many soldiers having serious health problems it has become impossible to keep secret.

staff reports - Free-Market News Network

See also my post from Feb 16th - DU, The Ticking Nuke

If you get rid of the Danes, you'll have to keep paying the Danegeld

2006-02-21T20:22:00.000+11:00

I though that, with this headline, we were going to be led into the truth but it turned out to be another article bashing the muslims. I have no beef with anyone's religion but I do find it offensive when the MSM obfuscate in this manner. The author talks about "angry Muslims popped up in Gaza City, and many other places, well supplied with Danish flags ready to burn." ... "Why were those Danish flags to hand? Who built up the stockpile so that they could be quickly dragged out right across the Muslim world and burnt where television cameras would come and look? The more you study this story of "spontaneous" Muslim rage, the odder it seems."

You ain't kidding mate! It would take quite a bit of planning too! But then again 'they' had since September to orchestrate events didn't they?

Isn't it strange that the guy who commissioned the artists to create the cartoons has been kept quiet recently? Him and his buddy Perle have quietly strayed to the backlot of publicity in the past week or so. I wonder why? Hmm, maybe their job has been done and 'they' are just letting the situation foment a little longer until something more outrageous than burning flags, embassies and banning Danish products, comes along.

Is there a biggie waiting to happen?

Could this be a swan dive?

2006-02-21T20:02:00.000+11:00

Reports are coming through indicating that the Chandler’s Wobbly inexplicably stopped wobbling on the 8th of January this year. See Michael W. Mandeville’s Major Anomaly In Chandler's Wobble - 2005/2006 website.

He states: - Five weeks after the beginning of the pause on ~January 8, 2006, the Earth still has almost no net wobble motion, aside from very minor quivers such as are typically caused by atmospheric and tidal conditions.

This story intrigued me and I thought, "Hmm, what could have caused this?"

My thought pattern discounted any Earth based phenomenon being responsible, therefore it must have been an extraterrestrial activity that stopped the world in its tracks. We can discount the sun as it has been relatively dormant so far this year with few if any CME’s or other obvious activity. The moon has moved away from the Earth as per usual and should therefore be discounted as well. So what else happened around that date that has an important influence on the Earth?

I checked out the Gamma Ray Bursts for any activity around this time and bingo, found it! On the 5th of January 2006 there was a burst, GRB 060105A, described thus: -

This was a bright, long burst, with many peaks of gamma-ray emission in its 60-second duration. It was also seen by Konus-WIND, with a similar gamma-ray emission. The X-Ray Telescope on Swift detected a bright, fading source, though no unambiguous optical counterpart was seen by the Ultraviolet/Optical Telescope; a faint source was seen but it's not clear if this is the afterglow.

The Kiso observatory's 1.05-m Schmidt telescope was used to image the area, and did not detect the source seen by the UVOT, which supports the idea that this source is the afterglow. We await further observations.

From the Star Chart we see that the burst originated in the constellation Cygnus.

Now hold on here please! Haven’t we been hearing/reading about swans carrying the bird flu virus or something along these lines?

Let’s see: -

Bird flu found in Bosnia
Bosnia Herzegovina has reported its first cases of bird flu. The disease was found among swans on a lake in the west of the Balkan country.

Bird flu message: be alert but don't panic
WARWICKSHIRE was today closely monitoring its wild bird population as tests continued on swans found dead around the UK in recent days.

UK on alert after France confirms case
Tests for bird flu were to be carried out on nine swans in Britain yesterday as the government insisted it had contingency plans in place to deal with any outbreak of the disease.

Three more bird flu cases confirmed in Bulgaria
The European Union's animal health laboratory in the United Kingdom has officially confirmed three dead swans found in Bulgaria were infected with the lethal H5N1 strain of bird flu, the country's agriculture and forestry ministry said on Monday.

Tests show swans clear of bird flu
NINE swans feared to have become the first casualties of bird flu in the UK did not die from the disease, government vets established yesterday.

Is there someone out there trying to tell us something?

Update (after some inspirational synchronicity)

From Cygnus (constellation) - Wikipedia

Cygnus (from the Latin for "swan") is a northern constellation. It was one of Ptolemy's 48 constellations, and is also one of the 88 modern constellations. Because of the pattern of its main stars, it is sometimes known as the Northern Cross (in contrast to the Southern Cross).
The bird extends over the Milky Way, appearing to fly south.

And this: -

The Witness of the Stars

E. W. Bullinger 1893

CYGNUS

(The Swan) The Blesser surely returning.

This constellation repeats, emphasises, and affirms this glorious truth. It has to do with the Great Blesser and His speedy return, as is testified by all the ancient names connected with it.

In the Denderah Zodiac (Egyptian) it is named Tes-ark, which means this from afar.

It is a most brilliant and gorgeous asterism of 81 stars; one of the 1st or 2nd, six of the 3rd, twelve of the 4th magnitude, etc. It contains variable stars, five double stars, and one quadruple. The star marekd "61 Cygni" is known as one of the most wonderful in the whole heavens. It consists of two stars which revolve about each other, and yet have a progressive motion common to each!

This mighty bird is not falling dead, like Aquila, but it is flying swiftly in mid-heaven. It is coming to the earth, for it is not so much a bird of the air, but a bird peculiarly belonging to both the earth and the waters.

Its brightest star a (between the body and the tail), is called Deneb (like another in CAPRICORNUS), and means the judge. It is also called Adige, flying swiftly, and thus at once it is connected with Him who cometh to judge the earth in righteousness.

The star b (in the beak) is named Al Bireo (Arabic), flying quickly.

The star g (in the body) is called Sadr (Hebrew), who returns as in a circle.

The two stars in the tail, now marked in the maps as p I and p II, are named Azel, who goes and returns quickly; and Fafage, gloriously shining forth.

The teaching, then, of the whole sign of AQUARIUS is clear and complete. The names of the stars explain the constellations, and the names of the constellations explain the sign, so that we are left in no doubt.

By His atoning death (as set forth in CAPRICORNUS) He has purchased and procured unspeakable blessings for His redeemed.

This sign (AQUARIUS) tells of those blessings being poured forth, and of the speedy return of Him who is to bring "rivers of blessing," and to fill this earth with blessing and glory "as the waters cover the sea."

"Then take, LORD, thy kingdom, and come in Thy glory;
Make the scene of Thy sorrows the place of Thy throne,
Complete all the blessing which ages in story
Have told of the triumphs so justly Thine own."

----------------

Hmm, could be pulling a long bow with this one.

Goyim - led by the nose ring!

2006-02-21T16:59:00.000+11:00

PROTOCOL No. 6
.
.
6...
What we want is that industry should drain off from the land both labour and capital and by means of speculation transfer into our hands all the money of the world, and thereby throw all the GOYIM into the ranks of the proletariat. Then the GOYIM will bow down before us, if for no other reason but to get the right to exist.

7. To complete the ruin of the industry of the GOYIM we shall bring to the assistance of speculation the luxury, which we have developed among the GOYIM, that greedy demand for luxury, which is swallowing up everything. We shall raise the rate of wages which, however, will not bring any advantage to the workers, for, at the same time, we shall produce a rise in prices of the first necessaries of life, alleging that it arises from the decline of agriculture and cattle-breeding: we shall further undermine artfully and deeply sources of production, by accustoming the workers to anarchy and to drunkenness and side by side therewith taking all measure to extirpate from the face of the earth all the educated forces of the "goyim."

8. In order that the true meaning of things may not strike the "goyim" before the proper time we shall mask it under an alleged ardent desire to serve the working classes and the great principles of political economy about which our economic theories are carrying on an energetic propaganda.

UK policy blamed for soaring debt levels

By Edmund Conway, Economics Editor (Filed: 20/02/2006)

The world's top central banking authority has warned that the Bank of England's inflation-busting tactics are largely responsible for the dangerous pile-up of household debt, which last year passed £1,158 billion, £30 billion more than the country's total economic output.

Gordon Brown, the Chancellor, made inflation targeting the cornerstone of an independent Bank of England in 1997. But the powerful Bank for International Settlements (BIS) has now voiced grave doubts about the policy and called on politicians to begin debating an overhaul of the current global economic system.

In another radical move it has also suggested ditching many national currencies in favour of a small number of formal currency blocks based on the dollar, euro and renminbi or yen.

The BIS, which is controlled by a coalition of central banks and helps oversee the global financial system, warned that by pushing interest rates so low, inflation targeting has encouraged the public to take on more debt and has accelerated a flow of money out of the world's major economies.

The news will also cause concern in the US, where Ben Bernanke, the new chairman of the Federal Reserve, is thought to be considering adopting an inflation target.

The BIS's leading economist and head of monetary policy, William White, said growing levels of personal and corporate debt, both in the UK and internationally, were signs that while the fight against inflation may have been won, it has been at the cost of unbalancing the world economy.
In a new BIS report he said: "In a number of English-speaking countries what has been observed is a decade-long reduction in the household saving rate and a significant increase in consumption.

He said that the battle with inflation had been waged since the 1960s and 1970s. "Perhaps the first heretical point to raise is whether this should always be the objective of policy. The issue needs to be addressed again."

Despite the fact that low inflation and relatively high economic growth have been achieved across much of the western world in recent years, analysts are increasingly concerned with "imbalances" or cracks in the economic system. The US current account deficit is at a record level of almost 7pc of the country's economic output, meaning an unprecedented amount of money is flowing out of the country.

Mr White said: "Those countries with the biggest external deficits [the US, the UK, Australia and New Zealand] also tend to have the biggest internal imbalances. Rising asset prices in such countries (recently, for housing in particular) have led to higher perceptions of wealth, and more spending." However, he added, far from managing these worrying build-ups, inflation targeting can encourage them.

Mr White's comments mark a significant departure for the BIS, which for many years has championed inflation targeting as an essential component of stable economies.

Mr White also suggested ditching the current system of floating currencies and replacing it with "a small number of more formally-based currency blocks". He claimed that because of the record rate at which Asian central banks have been buying dollars in order to keep their currencies artificially low, "we do not really have a freely floating rate system".

PM stands by Muslim comments

2006-02-20T18:55:00.000+11:00

February 20, 2006

PRIME Minister John Howard says he stands by his comments that sections of Australia's Muslim population are antagonistic to Australian culture.

Mr Howard's views are outlined in a book to mark the 10th anniversary of his rise to power written by journalists and commentators from The Australian newspaper.

In the book, the prime minister said a commitment to jihad and extreme attitudes towards women were two problems unique to Muslims that previous intakes of migrants from Europe and Asia did not have.

Mr Howard said today it was his "right and duty" to express his thoughts.

"I stand by those comments that there is a small section of the Islamic population in Australia that, because of its remarks about jihad, remarks which indicate an extremist view, that is a problem," Mr Howard told reporters in Sydney.

"It is not a problem that we have ever faced with other immigrant communities who become easily absorbed by Australia's mainstream."

Australians wanted people to assimilate, Mr Howard said.

"We want people when they come to Australia to adopt Australians ways.

"We don't ask them to forget the countries of their birth, we respect all religious points of views and people are entitled to practise them but there are certainly things that are not part of the Australian mainstream."

The Prime Minister also expressed concern about Muslim attitudes to women.

"There is within some sections of the Islamic community an attitude towards women which is out of line with mainstream Australian society," he said.

"It needs to be dealt with by the broader community, including Islamic Australia.

"There is really not much point in pretending it doesn't exist."

But Mr Howard said it was important people realised he had made the comments about Muslims before the Cronulla race riot and subsequent violence in Sydney.

"I was not trying to make some kind of tawdry political point, it is a view that I have held for some time," he said.

-----------------

Tut, tut John! The left side will not like this and you should know better than to denigrate their beliefs!

But at least your bosses have now found an ethnic group that will do their bidding. Unlike the indigenous mob and those in the past who succumbed to the delights of the European-Australian culture.

Anthem for the New World Order

2006-02-20T18:19:00.000+11:00

Imagine there's no heaven,
It's easy if you try,
No hell below us,
Above us only sky

Imagine all the people
living for today...

Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
No religion too

Imagine all the people
living life in peace...

You may say I'm a dreamer
but I'm not the only one
I hope some day you'll join us
And the world will live as one.

-John Lennon, Imagine

---------

I always thought of this song as being trite bullshit! But now reading the lyrics after all these years I see that he new what was on the way.

I still think the song is trite bullshit and the message is pathetic crap!

He could also have added lines like -

No formal education
To corrupt your virgin minds
Learning from the gogglebox
All you need is fine.

Imagine everybody
Getting up to pee.....

Imagine you're a hero
Like me when I was young
Taking out the garbage
And baking in the sun

-----

Ah well, just more senseless crap!

Russia Offers To Help Build Vietnam's First Nuclear Power Plant

2006-02-19T11:13:00.000+11:00

Russia, Vietnam to work on energy

HANOI, Vietnam, Feb. 16 (UPI) --

Russia will submit a bid for the construction of power stations in Vietnam, Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov announced in Hanoi Thursday.

The announcement followed talks with his Vietnamese counterpart, Phan Van Khai, ITAR-TASS reported.

"Apart from the oil and gas sphere, in which the level of cooperation is already high, we would like to participate in a tender for the construction of the Son La hydropower plant," Fradkov said.

Cooperation between Russia and Vietnam looks set to expand in the future. Already planning to supply $2.4 billion generators for a hydropower project, there is also talk of Russian involvement in the construction of Vietnam's first nuclear power plant. And according to ITAR-TASS reports, the two countries are also interested in joint ventures in machine-building, high technologies and space projects.

In the more immediate future, however, oil experts from the two countries are to begin consultations on Vietsovpetro, a joint oil agreement. The current Vietsovpetro agreement expires in 2010, but Russia is keen to extend it.

------------------

Intesting how this one has slipped through the net!!!

I suppose there won't be a great rush to bomb the shit out of Vietnam this time eh, Yanks?
Not now that Vietnam has become one of the most important travel destinations of the leftie elite!

From Radio Free Europe came this report on the same day -

Russia Offers To Help Build Vietnam's First Nuclear Power Plant

16 February 2006 -- Russia today offered to help Vietnam build its first nuclear power plant.

The offer was made by Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov, who began a two-day visit to Vietnam today.

Fradkov gave no details. Vietnam wants to build a nuclear power plant by 2020.

Fradkov, speaking at a joint news conference with Vietnamese Prime Minister Phan Van Khai, also said Russia was ready to help Vietnam complete a hydroelectric plant in the north of the country. The Son La dam is expected to begin generating electricity in 2012.

Khai said Vietnam was seeking a "strategic partnership" that serves the interests of both countries.

The two prime ministers signed two agreements, one on fighting drug trafficking and the other on professional training for Vietnamese in Russia.

On 17 February, Fradkov is scheduled to visit a joint oil and gas venture, Vietsovpetro, which is based in the southern port city of Vung Tau. (compiled from agency reports)

The Nameless War: Chapter 14 - Statement by Captain Ramsay from Brixton Prison

2006-02-17T21:12:00.000+11:00

About the end of 1938, news was brought to me that the control shares of the Daily Mail were for sale.

Knowing that a severe advertisement boycott had been put in operation against the paper following upon its having printed two or three articles giving what in Internationalist eyes had been a pro-Franco view of the Spanish War (in reality, the truth), the news was no great surprise to me. Could I find a buyer? I decided to approach a certain very wealthy and patriotic peer, the head of a great business. A mutual friend arranged an interview.

On introduction I gave a survey of the activities and power of Organized Jewry in general, and of their secret publicity control in Britain in particular, as I saw it. When I ended after some 70 minutes, general concurrence in my views was expressed. Thereupon the mutual friend and I tried to persuade our hearer to buy the said shares and "tear the gag off the conspiracy of silence." "I daren't," he replied, "they would bring me to a crust of bread. If it was only myself, I wouldn't mind; I'd fight them. But many of my shares are held by the widow and the orphan, and for their sakes I must refuse."

On our expressing astonishment that Jewry could inflict such crushing retaliation on a man of his financial strength and industrial power, and so conspicuous a national figure, he gave us details of just such retaliation directed against him by Organized Jewry some years previously. He had refused to comply with some demands they had made of him affecting his works. After a final warning, which he ignored, a world boycott had been started against him, which had become effective in 24 hours, wherever he had agents or offices. Fires and strikes also mysteriously occurred. The resulting losses had finally compelled him to give in.

Within 24 hours the boycott was lifted all over the world.

The consistent mis-reporting of important features in the Spanish Civil War had deeply impressed many M.P.s. They felt that a bias so extreme, so universal, and so consistent, always against Franco, indicated the existence of some deliberate plan, and though unwilling to agree my thesis, that the Jews were operating this control by various means, and that the whole affair was part of their World Plan, nevertheless many felt that something was very wrong somewhere.

Extract from THE NAMELESS WAR

The Rise and Fall of the US Dollar

2006-02-17T20:21:00.000+11:00

HON. RON PAUL OF TEXAS
Before the U.S. House of Representatives

February 15, 2006

The End of Dollar Hegemony

A hundred years ago it was called “dollar diplomacy.” After World War II, and especially after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1989, that policy evolved into “dollar hegemony.” But after all these many years of great success, our dollar dominance is coming to an end.

It has been said, rightly, that he who holds the gold makes the rules. In earlier times it was readily accepted that fair and honest trade required an exchange for something of real value.

First it was simply barter of goods. Then it was discovered that gold held a universal attraction, and was a convenient substitute for more cumbersome barter transactions. Not only did gold facilitate exchange of goods and services, it served as a store of value for those who wanted to save for a rainy day.

Though money developed naturally in the marketplace, as governments grew in power they assumed monopoly control over money. Sometimes governments succeeded in guaranteeing the quality and purity of gold, but in time governments learned to outspend their revenues. New or higher taxes always incurred the disapproval of the people, so it wasn’t long before Kings and Caesars learned how to inflate their currencies by reducing the amount of gold in each coin-- always hoping their subjects wouldn’t discover the fraud. But the people always did, and they strenuously objected.

This helped pressure leaders to seek more gold by conquering other nations. The people became accustomed to living beyond their means, and enjoyed the circuses and bread. Financing extravagances by conquering foreign lands seemed a logical alternative to working harder and producing more. Besides, conquering nations not only brought home gold, they brought home slaves as well. Taxing the people in conquered territories also provided an incentive to build empires. This system of government worked well for a while, but the moral decline of the people led to an unwillingness to produce for themselves. There was a limit to the number of countries that could be sacked for their wealth, and this always brought empires to an end. When gold no longer could be obtained, their military might crumbled. In those days those who held the gold truly wrote the rules and lived well.

That general rule has held fast throughout the ages. When gold was used, and the rules protected honest commerce, productive nations thrived. Whenever wealthy nations-- those with powerful armies and gold-- strived only for empire and easy fortunes to support welfare at home, those nations failed.

Today the principles are the same, but the process is quite different. Gold no longer is the currency of the realm; paper is. The truth now is: “He who prints the money makes the rules”-- at least for the time being. Although gold is not used, the goals are the same: compel foreign countries to produce and subsidize the country with military superiority and control over the monetary printing presses.

Since printing paper money is nothing short of counterfeiting, the issuer of the international currency must always be the country with the military might to guarantee control over the system. This magnificent scheme seems the perfect system for obtaining perpetual wealth for the country that issues the de facto world currency. The one problem, however, is that such a system destroys the character of the counterfeiting nation’s people-- just as was the case when gold was the currency and it was obtained by conquering other nations. And this destroys the incentive to save and produce, while encouraging debt and runaway welfare.

The pressure at home to inflate the currency comes from the corporate welfare recipients, as well as those who demand handouts as compensation for their needs and perceived injuries by others. In both cases personal responsibility for one’s actions is rejected.

When paper money is rejected, or when gold runs out, wealth and political stability are lost. The country then must go from living beyond its means to living beneath its means, until the economic and political systems adjust to the new rules-- rules no longer written by those who ran the now defunct printing press.

“Dollar Diplomacy,” a policy instituted by William Howard Taft and his Secretary of State Philander C. Knox, was designed to enhance U.S. commercial investments in Latin America and the Far East. McKinley concocted a war against Spain in 1898, and (Teddy) Roosevelt’s corollary to the Monroe Doctrine preceded Taft’s aggressive approach to using the U.S. dollar and diplomatic influence to secure U.S. investments abroad. This earned the popular title of “Dollar Diplomacy.” The significance of Roosevelt’s change was that our intervention now could be justified by the mere “appearance” that a country of interest to us was politically or fiscally vulnerable to European control. Not only did we claim a right, but even an official U.S. government “obligation” to protect our commercial interests from Europeans.

This new policy came on the heels of the “gunboat” diplomacy of the late 19th century, and it meant we could buy influence before resorting to the threat of force. By the time the “dollar diplomacy” of William Howard Taft was clearly articulated, the seeds of American empire were planted. And they were destined to grow in the fertile political soil of a country that lost its love and respect for the republic bequeathed to us by the authors of the Constitution. And indeed they did. It wasn’t too long before dollar “diplomacy” became dollar “hegemony” in the second half of the 20th century.

This transition only could have occurred with a dramatic change in monetary policy and the nature of the dollar itself.

Congress created the Federal Reserve System in 1913. Between then and 1971 the principle of sound money was systematically undermined. Between 1913 and 1971, the Federal Reserve found it much easier to expand the money supply at will for financing war or manipulating the economy with little resistance from Congress-- while benefiting the special interests that influence government.

Dollar dominance got a huge boost after World War II. We were spared the destruction that so many other nations suffered, and our coffers were filled with the world’s gold. But the world chose not to return to the discipline of the gold standard, and the politicians applauded. Printing money to pay the bills was a lot more popular than taxing or restraining unnecessary spending. In spite of the short-term benefits, imbalances were institutionalized for decades to come.

The 1944 Bretton Woods agreement solidified the dollar as the preeminent world reserve currency, replacing the British pound. Due to our political and military muscle, and because we had a huge amount of physical gold, the world readily accepted our dollar (defined as 1/35th of an ounce of gold) as the world’s reserve currency. The dollar was said to be “as good as gold,” and convertible to all foreign central banks at that rate. For American citizens, however, it remained illegal to own. This was a gold-exchange standard that from inception was doomed to fail.

The U.S. did exactly what many predicted she would do. She printed more dollars for which there was no gold backing. But the world was content to accept those dollars for more than 25 years with little question-- until the French and others in the late 1960s demanded we fulfill our promise to pay one ounce of gold for each $35 they delivered to the U.S. Treasury. This resulted in a huge gold drain that brought an end to a very poorly devised pseudo-gold standard.

It all ended on August 15, 1971, when Nixon closed the gold window and refused to pay out any of our remaining 280 million ounces of gold. In essence, we declared our insolvency and everyone recognized some other monetary system had to be devised in order to bring stability to the markets.

Amazingly, a new system was devised which allowed the U.S. to operate the printing presses for the world reserve currency with no restraints placed on it-- not even a pretense of gold convertibility, none whatsoever! Though the new policy was even more deeply flawed, it nevertheless opened the door for dollar hegemony to spread.

Realizing the world was embarking on something new and mind boggling, elite money managers, with especially strong support from U.S. authorities, struck an agreement with OPEC to price oil in U.S. dollars exclusively for all worldwide transactions. This gave the dollar a special place among world currencies and in essence “backed” the dollar with oil. In return, the U.S. promised to protect the various oil-rich kingdoms in the Persian Gulf against threat of invasion or domestic coup. This arrangement helped ignite the radical Islamic movement among those who resented our influence in the region. The arrangement gave the dollar artificial strength, with tremendous financial benefits for the United States. It allowed us to export our monetary inflation by buying oil and other goods at a great discount as dollar influence flourished.

This post-Bretton Woods system was much more fragile than the system that existed between 1945 and 1971. Though the dollar/oil arrangement was helpful, it was not nearly as stable as the pseudo gold standard under Bretton Woods. It certainly was less stable than the gold standard of the late 19th century.

During the 1970s the dollar nearly collapsed, as oil prices surged and gold skyrocketed to $800 an ounce. By 1979 interest rates of 21% were required to rescue the system. The pressure on the dollar in the 1970s, in spite of the benefits accrued to it, reflected reckless budget deficits and monetary inflation during the 1960s. The markets were not fooled by LBJ’s claim that we could afford both “guns and butter.”

Once again the dollar was rescued, and this ushered in the age of true dollar hegemony lasting from the early 1980s to the present. With tremendous cooperation coming from the central banks and international commercial banks, the dollar was accepted as if it were gold.

Fed Chair Alan Greenspan, on several occasions before the House Banking Committee, answered my challenges to him about his previously held favorable views on gold by claiming that he and other central bankers had gotten paper money-- i.e. the dollar system-- to respond as if it were gold. Each time I strongly disagreed, and pointed out that if they had achieved such a feat they would have defied centuries of economic history regarding the need for money to be something of real value. He smugly and confidently concurred with this.

In recent years central banks and various financial institutions, all with vested interests in maintaining a workable fiat dollar standard, were not secretive about selling and loaning large amounts of gold to the market even while decreasing gold prices raised serious questions about the wisdom of such a policy. They never admitted to gold price fixing, but the evidence is abundant that they believed if the gold price fell it would convey a sense of confidence to the market, confidence that they indeed had achieved amazing success in turning paper into gold.

Increasing gold prices historically are viewed as an indicator of distrust in paper currency. This recent effort was not a whole lot different than the U.S. Treasury selling gold at $35 an ounce in the 1960s, in an attempt to convince the world the dollar was sound and as good as gold. Even during the Depression, one of Roosevelt’s first acts was to remove free market gold pricing as an indication of a flawed monetary system by making it illegal for American citizens to own gold. Economic law eventually limited that effort, as it did in the early 1970s when our Treasury and the IMF tried to fix the price of gold by dumping tons into the market to dampen the enthusiasm of those seeking a safe haven for a falling dollar after gold ownership was re-legalized.

Once again the effort between 1980 and 2000 to fool the market as to the true value of the dollar proved unsuccessful. In the past 5 years the dollar has been devalued in terms of gold by more than 50%. You just can’t fool all the people all the time, even with the power of the mighty printing press and money creating system of the Federal Reserve.

Even with all the shortcomings of the fiat monetary system, dollar influence thrived. The results seemed beneficial, but gross distortions built into the system remained. And true to form, Washington politicians are only too anxious to solve the problems cropping up with window dressing, while failing to understand and deal with the underlying flawed policy. Protectionism, fixing exchange rates, punitive tariffs, politically motivated sanctions, corporate subsidies, international trade management, price controls, interest rate and wage controls, super-nationalist sentiments, threats of force, and even war are resorted to—all to solve the problems artificially created by deeply flawed monetary and economic systems.

In the short run, the issuer of a fiat reserve currency can accrue great economic benefits. In the long run, it poses a threat to the country issuing the world currency. In this case that’s the United States. As long as foreign countries take our dollars in return for real goods, we come out ahead. This is a benefit many in Congress fail to recognize, as they bash China for maintaining a positive trade balance with us. But this leads to a loss of manufacturing jobs to overseas markets, as we become more dependent on others and less self-sufficient. Foreign countries accumulate our dollars due to their high savings rates, and graciously loan them back to us at low interest rates to finance our excessive consumption.

It sounds like a great deal for everyone, except the time will come when our dollars-- due to their depreciation-- will be received less enthusiastically or even be rejected by foreign countries. That could create a whole new ballgame and force us to pay a price for living beyond our means and our production. The shift in sentiment regarding the dollar has already started, but the worst is yet to come.

The agreement with OPEC in the 1970s to price oil in dollars has provided tremendous artificial strength to the dollar as the preeminent reserve currency. This has created a universal demand for the dollar, and soaks up the huge number of new dollars generated each year. Last year alone M3 increased over $700 billion.

The artificial demand for our dollar, along with our military might, places us in the unique position to “rule” the world without productive work or savings, and without limits on consumer spending or deficits. The problem is, it can’t last.

Price inflation is raising its ugly head, and the NASDAQ bubble-- generated by easy money-- has burst. The housing bubble likewise created is deflating. Gold prices have doubled, and federal spending is out of sight with zero political will to rein it in. The trade deficit last year was over $728 billion. A $2 trillion war is raging, and plans are being laid to expand the war into Iran and possibly Syria. The only restraining force will be the world’s rejection of the dollar. It’s bound to come and create conditions worse than 1979-1980, which required 21% interest rates to correct. But everything possible will be done to protect the dollar in the meantime. We have a shared interest with those who hold our dollars to keep the whole charade going.

Greenspan, in his first speech after leaving the Fed, said that gold prices were up because of concern about terrorism, and not because of monetary concerns or because he created too many dollars during his tenure. Gold has to be discredited and the dollar propped up. Even when the dollar comes under serious attack by market forces, the central banks and the IMF surely will do everything conceivable to soak up the dollars in hope of restoring stability. Eventually they will fail.

Most importantly, the dollar/oil relationship has to be maintained to keep the dollar as a preeminent currency. Any attack on this relationship will be forcefully challenged—as it already has been.

In November 2000 Saddam Hussein demanded Euros for his oil. His arrogance was a threat to the dollar; his lack of any military might was never a threat. At the first cabinet meeting with the new administration in 2001, as reported by Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neill, the major topic was how we would get rid of Saddam Hussein-- though there was no evidence whatsoever he posed a threat to us. This deep concern for Saddam Hussein surprised and shocked O’Neill.

It now is common knowledge that the immediate reaction of the administration after 9/11 revolved around how they could connect Saddam Hussein to the attacks, to justify an invasion and overthrow of his government. Even with no evidence of any connection to 9/11, or evidence of weapons of mass destruction, public and congressional support was generated through distortions and flat out misrepresentation of the facts to justify overthrowing Saddam Hussein.

There was no public talk of removing Saddam Hussein because of his attack on the integrity of the dollar as a reserve currency by selling oil in Euros. Many believe this was the real reason for our obsession with Iraq. I doubt it was the only reason, but it may well have played a significant role in our motivation to wage war. Within a very short period after the military victory, all Iraqi oil sales were carried out in dollars. The Euro was abandoned.

In 2001, Venezuela’s ambassador to Russia spoke of Venezuela switching to the Euro for all their oil sales. Within a year there was a coup attempt against Chavez, reportedly with assistance from our CIA.

After these attempts to nudge the Euro toward replacing the dollar as the world’s reserve currency were met with resistance, the sharp fall of the dollar against the Euro was reversed. These events may well have played a significant role in maintaining dollar dominance.

It’s become clear the U.S. administration was sympathetic to those who plotted the overthrow of Chavez, and was embarrassed by its failure. The fact that Chavez was democratically elected had little influence on which side we supported.

Now, a new attempt is being made against the petrodollar system. Iran, another member of the “axis of evil,” has announced her plans to initiate an oil bourse in March of this year. Guess what, the oil sales will be priced Euros, not dollars.

Most Americans forget how our policies have systematically and needlessly antagonized the Iranians over the years. In 1953 the CIA helped overthrow a democratically elected president, Mohammed Mossadeqh, and install the authoritarian Shah, who was friendly to the U.S. The Iranians were still fuming over this when the hostages were seized in 1979. Our alliance with Saddam Hussein in his invasion of Iran in the early 1980s did not help matters, and obviously did not do much for our relationship with Saddam Hussein. The administration announcement in 2001 that Iran was part of the axis of evil didn’t do much to improve the diplomatic relationship between our two countries. Recent threats over nuclear power, while ignoring the fact that they are surrounded by countries with nuclear weapons, doesn’t seem to register with those who continue to provoke Iran. With what most Muslims perceive as our war against Islam, and this recent history, there’s little wonder why Iran might choose to harm America by undermining the dollar. Iran, like Iraq, has zero capability to attack us. But that didn’t stop us from turning Saddam Hussein into a modern day Hitler ready to take over the world. Now Iran, especially since she’s made plans for pricing oil in Euros, has been on the receiving end of a propaganda war not unlike that waged against Iraq before our invasion.

It’s not likely that maintaining dollar supremacy was the only motivating factor for the war against Iraq, nor for agitating against Iran. Though the real reasons for going to war are complex, we now know the reasons given before the war started, like the presence of weapons of mass destruction and Saddam Hussein’s connection to 9/11, were false. The dollar’s importance is obvious, but this does not diminish the influence of the distinct plans laid out years ago by the neo-conservatives to remake the Middle East. Israel’s influence, as well as that of the Christian Zionists, likewise played a role in prosecuting this war. Protecting “our” oil supplies has influenced our Middle East policy for decades.

But the truth is that paying the bills for this aggressive intervention is impossible the old fashioned way, with more taxes, more savings, and more production by the American people. Much of the expense of the Persian Gulf War in 1991 was shouldered by many of our willing allies. That’s not so today. Now, more than ever, the dollar hegemony-- it’s dominance as the world reserve currency-- is required to finance our huge war expenditures. This $2 trillion never-ending war must be paid for, one way or another. Dollar hegemony provides the vehicle to do just that.

For the most part the true victims aren’t aware of how they pay the bills. The license to create money out of thin air allows the bills to be paid through price inflation. American citizens, as well as average citizens of Japan, China, and other countries suffer from price inflation, which represents the “tax” that pays the bills for our military adventures. That is until the fraud is discovered, and the foreign producers decide not to take dollars nor hold them very long in payment for their goods. Everything possible is done to prevent the fraud of the monetary system from being exposed to the masses who suffer from it. If oil markets replace dollars with Euros, it would in time curtail our ability to continue to print, without restraint, the world’s reserve currency.

It is an unbelievable benefit to us to import valuable goods and export depreciating dollars. The exporting countries have become addicted to our purchases for their economic growth. This dependency makes them allies in continuing the fraud, and their participation keeps the dollar’s value artificially high. If this system were workable long term, American citizens would never have to work again. We too could enjoy “bread and circuses” just as the Romans did, but their gold finally ran out and the inability of Rome to continue to plunder conquered nations brought an end to her empire.

The same thing will happen to us if we don’t change our ways. Though we don’t occupy foreign countries to directly plunder, we nevertheless have spread our troops across 130 nations of the world. Our intense effort to spread our power in the oil-rich Middle East is not a coincidence. But unlike the old days, we don’t declare direct ownership of the natural resources-- we just insist that we can buy what we want and pay for it with our paper money. Any country that challenges our authority does so at great risk.

Once again Congress has bought into the war propaganda against Iran, just as it did against Iraq. Arguments are now made for attacking Iran economically, and militarily if necessary. These arguments are all based on the same false reasons given for the ill-fated and costly occupation of Iraq.

Our whole economic system depends on continuing the current monetary arrangement, which means recycling the dollar is crucial. Currently, we borrow over $700 billion every year from our gracious benefactors, who work hard and take our paper for their goods. Then we borrow all the money we need to secure the empire (DOD budget $450 billion) plus more. The military might we enjoy becomes the “backing” of our currency. There are no other countries that can challenge our military superiority, and therefore they have little choice but to accept the dollars we declare are today’s “gold.” This is why countries that challenge the system-- like Iraq, Iran and Venezuela-- become targets of our plans for regime change.

Ironically, dollar superiority depends on our strong military, and our strong military depends on the dollar. As long as foreign recipients take our dollars for real goods and are willing to finance our extravagant consumption and militarism, the status quo will continue regardless of how huge our foreign debt and current account deficit become.

But real threats come from our political adversaries who are incapable of confronting us militarily, yet are not bashful about confronting us economically. That’s why we see the new challenge from Iran being taken so seriously. The urgent arguments about Iran posing a military threat to the security of the United States are no more plausible than the false charges levied against Iraq. Yet there is no effort to resist this march to confrontation by those who grandstand for political reasons against the Iraq war.

It seems that the people and Congress are easily persuaded by the jingoism of the preemptive war promoters. It’s only after the cost in human life and dollars are tallied up that the people object to unwise militarism.

The strange thing is that the failure in Iraq is now apparent to a large majority of American people, yet they and Congress are acquiescing to the call for a needless and dangerous confrontation with Iran.

But then again, our failure to find Osama bin Laden and destroy his network did not dissuade us from taking on the Iraqis in a war totally unrelated to 9/11.

Concern for pricing oil only in dollars helps explain our willingness to drop everything and teach Saddam Hussein a lesson for his defiance in demanding Euros for oil.

And once again there’s this urgent call for sanctions and threats of force against Iran at the precise time Iran is opening a new oil exchange with all transactions in Euros.

Using force to compel people to accept money without real value can only work in the short run. It ultimately leads to economic dislocation, both domestic and international, and always ends with a price to be paid.

The economic law that honest exchange demands only things of real value as currency cannot be repealed. The chaos that one day will ensue from our 35-year experiment with worldwide fiat money will require a return to money of real value. We will know that day is approaching when oil-producing countries demand gold, or its equivalent, for their oil rather than dollars or Euros. The sooner the better.

Abortion, Lies, and Videotape

2006-02-17T08:37:00.000+11:00

Supporters of the abortion movement have deceived mankind with bumfuzzling statements that partial birth abortion is a rare occurrence ....
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We must remember that medical science has proved that babies in the womb feel pain as early as eight to ten weeks old.[xi] In fact, there is a video available that shows this fetal pain. In l984, Dr. Bernard N. Nathanson, a former abortionist, revealed through ultra sound the responses of a 12-week-old baby girl aborted while in the womb in his documentary video “The Silent Scream.” It is an unforgettable film segment of torture inflicted on the tiny girl, her mouth forming several ''silent screams,'' trying her instinctive best to preserve her life and escape the abortionist’s suction and curettage. Her heart rate doubles in her desperate struggle. While she is seen trying to evade the scraping knife, her limbs are dismembered, one by one, and she bleeds to death in the womb. This was not a partial birth abortion but just a ''commonplace'' ''ordinary'' abortion that happens every 17 seconds somewhere in the United States.

Aust diplomat labels UN 'rotten to the core'

2006-02-17T08:04:00.000+11:00

According to an article in today's Australian ABC news website :

One of Australia's top diplomats says the United Nations is rotten at its core.
John Dauth has just returned to Canberra after four-and-a-half years as Australia's Ambassador to the United Nations.

Mr Dauth told the ABC the gridlock in the General Assembly means the UN is close to becoming an empty shell like the League of Nations.

"The General Assembly is defunct," he said.

"No debate there carries with it any practical action or decision or agreement or compromise.

"And if the heart of the body, if the core of the apple, is rotten, eventually the rest of the apple will be rotten too."

That has more a ring of truth to it than the BS he spouted to the Assembly in Feb 2003 regarding encouraging the UN to adopt more heavy-handed tactics against Iraq :

It is patently clear, by the criteria established under UNSCR 1441 that Iraq is in further material breach of its obligations.

The question today is what the Security Council, as the primary multilateral instrument of international peace and security, going to do about it.

Fluoride Follies by Donald W. Miller, Jr., MD

2006-02-16T21:33:00.000+11:00

Doctors and public health officials did not think sodium fluoride, used commercially as a rat and bug poison, fungicide, and wood preservative, should be put in public water. The Journal of the American Dental Association said (in 1936), "Fluoride at the 1 ppm [part per million] concentration is as toxic as arsenic and lead… There is an increasing volume of evidence of the injurious effects of fluorine, especially the chronic intoxication resulting from the ingestion of minute amounts of fluorine over long periods of time." And the Journal of the American Medical Association" noted (in its September 18, 1943 issue), "Fluorides are general protoplasmic poisons, changing the permeability of the cell membrane by certain enzymes." But, as Joel Griffiths and Chris Bryson reveal in "Fluoride, Teeth, and the Atomic Bomb," and Bryson in his book The Fluoride Deception, officials in the Manhattan Project persuaded health policy makers and medical and dental leaders, in the interests of national security, to do an about-face and join the fluoridation bandwagon.

Read the rest here.

DU, The Ticking Nuke

2006-02-16T20:51:00.000+11:00

DAVE LINDORFF / San Francisco Bay View 25jan2006

Quietly, and under the radar for now, a movement is growing across the country that could blow up White House war planning and finish off the U.S. adventure in Iraq. That movement is state-by-state legislation to provide for testing of returning National Guard troops for signs of contamination by depleted uranium.

Kicked off in Connecticut by a feisty Democratic state representative from New Haven named Patricia Dillon, a woman who was trained in epidemiology at Yale, the measure has copycats hard at work in some 14-20 other states. Rep. Dillon’s bill passed the state legislature in July unanimously, and goes into effect this October, about the time many Connecticut Guard troops will finally be coming home from Iraq. Louisiana, too, has already passed a similar law.

The military has been insisting that the 3,000 tons of DU munitions it has blown up in Iraq and the 1,000 tons more it has exploded and fired off in Afghanistan are safe for troops and for civilians. However, there is no real data to prove this because the Pentagon has vigorously resisted testing returning troops.

Only 270 troops have been tested so far – using a far-from-state-of-the-art test. The State Department and Pentagon have barred UN and other outside testers from looking into DU contamination in Iraq.

The official line, or obfuscation, is that uranium is only minimally radioactive. While this is true, it is chemically toxic in minute trace amounts, because uranium ions are actually attracted to bond with DNA, where they can wreak havoc with cells – especially the cells of developing fetuses.

Meanwhile, an early small test sample of nine returned New York State National Guard soldiers, financed by the New York Daily News, found four, or nearly half the sample, to be clearly DU contaminated, with the others showing obvious symptoms – headaches, renal and neurological problems etc.

If even a much smaller proportion than 44 percent of the tens of thousands of U.S. Guard troops who get tested in Connecticut, Louisiana and other states prove to be contaminated with uranium from U.S. weapons, more states are bound to establish similar testing laws. Beyond that, reservists and active duty troops and veterans, already anxious about the issue, are certain to start demanding the sophisticated tests.

Meanwhile, if DU tests start showing serious contamination of U.S. troops, how are Iraqis going to react? Already Iraqis are troubled by a dramatic, seven-fold rise in childhood cancers and birth defects, particularly in the South.

Unlike in the first Gulf War, when all 300 tons of DU used were fired off in the Kuwaiti and Iraqi desert, this time nearly 10 times as much DU has largely been exploded and burned in urban fighting, putting the dust right in the path of millions of civilians.

This bomb is ticking ...
Dave Lindorff (dlindorff@yahoo.com) is the author of “This Can’t Be Happening!” Learn more at www.thiscantbehappening.net.
source: http://www.sfbayview.com/110205/du110205.shtml 29jan2006

U.S. Instigated Iran's Nuclear Program

2006-02-16T20:43:00.000+11:00

WILLIAM O. BEEMAN / Pacific News Service / Berkeley Daily Planet 31jan2006

White House staff members, who are trying to prevent Iran from developing its own nuclear energy capacity and who refuse to take military action against Iran "off the table," have conveniently forgotten that the United States was the midwife to the Iranian nuclear program 30 years ago.

Every aspect of Iran's current nuclear development was approved and encouraged by Washington in the 1970s. President Gerald Ford offered Iran a full nuclear cycle in 1976. Moreover, the only Iranian reactor currently about to become operative, the reactor in Bushire (also known as Bushehr), was started before the Iranian revolution with U.S. approval, and cannot produce weapons-grade plutonium.

The Bushire reactor—a "light water" reactor—produces Pu (plutonium)240, Pu241 and Pu242. Although these isotopes could theoretically be weaponized, the process is extremely long and complicated, and also untried. To date, no nuclear weapon has ever been produced with plutonium produced with the kind of reactor at Bushire. Moreover, the plant must be completely shut down to extract the fuel rods, making the process immediately open to detection and inspection. Other possible reactors in Iran are far in the future.

Read the rest here.

Some things you need to know before the world ends

2006-02-16T19:09:00.000+11:00

"If I were the president, I could stop terrorist attacks against the United States in a few days. Permanently. I would first apologize -- very publicly and very sincerely -- to all the widows and the orphans, the impoverished and the tortured, and all the many millions of other victims of American imperialism. I would then announce that America’s global interventions -- including the awful bombings -- have come to an end. And I would inform Israel that it is no longer the 51st state of the union but -– oddly enough -– a foreign country. I would then reduce the military budget by at least 90% and use the savings to pay reparations to the victims and repair the damage from the many American bombings and invasions. There would be more than enough money. Do you know what one year of the US military budget is equal to? One year. It’s equal to more than $20,000 per hour for every hour since Jesus Christ was born.

"That’s what I’d do on my first three days in the White House. On the fourth day, I’d be assassinated."

---------------

For the last year, you have witnessed the U.S. Government and their Corporate Media Partners laying the foundation for an invasion of Iran. 3 years ago, we could not have imagined the destruction and carnage this same government has executed on the people if Iraq but we have watched the horror unfold, haven't we? Incredibly, this same rogue government are now laying plans to attack the people of Iran, based on the same pretext - Weapons of Mass Destruction. What is happening! How can they do this? We have proof-positive that they do whatever they want unless we stop them.

So what is their future?

above Iranian children

below Iraqi children

after US, UK and Israeli

intervention in their

lives

Go here to see the rest of the images

The above two are about the only ones I could look at without throwing up!