Spotting terrorists: New iWATCH program tells citizens what to watch for and where 03 Oct 2009 A new anti-terrorism community watch program, iWATCH, beginning this weekend in Los Angeles, advises the public that these nine suspicious signs should be reported to police: ...People drawing or measuring important buildings... [My favorite:] A person wearing clothes that are too big and too heavy for the weather... The iWATCH program advises people to be alert for those behaviors at these 12 important types of places...
Arrested for tweeting: New York pair accused of directing protesters during G-20 in Pittsburgh --FBI agents spent 16 hours Friday raiding the home of Madison and his wife 04 Oct 2009 State police have accused two anarchists from New York of using cell phones and the Internet messaging service Twitter [!] to direct the movements of protesters during the Group of 20 summit in Pittsburgh. Police arrested Elliot M. Madison and Michael Wallschlaeger, both of Jackson Heights, N.Y., after they found them Sept. 24 in a Kennedy Township hotel room full of computers, police scanners and Pittsburgh-area maps, according to a state police criminal complaint.
Detainees Face Severe Conditions if Moved to U.S. 04 Oct 2009 The Justice Department has begun to hint in court filings that at least some of the defendants in the Sept. 11, 2001, case, as well as other prominent suspects, will be transferred to federal custody in the United States. ...Little attention has been paid to the conditions that high-value detainees would face in the United States. And those conditions, it turns out, would be vastly more draconian than they are at Guantanamo Bay. They will have little or no human contact except with prison officials. And the International Committee of the Red Cross, the only outside group with access to Camp 7, will no longer have contact with them.
US military indoctrinating Pakistani officers 04 Oct 2009 The United States has reportedly established a secret military training camp just a few kilometres away from Islamabad. According to The Nation, the base is situated in the heart of an industrial estate and is being used to recruit retired Pakistani military officers to work for the US military. The high-walled structure bears signs which suggest it is an auto repair shop. Military-style barbed wire is fixed to fences around the building and a watchtower can be seen from certain vantage points.
Terrorists could seize nuclear weapons if we fail in Afghanistan, warns Army chief 04 Oct 2009 The new head of the British Army has given a stark warning to the public of the 'terrifying prospect' of losing the war in Afghanistan. General Sir David Richards intervened by saying that if Britain and Nato failed in Afghanistan the risks to the western world would be 'enormous' and 'unimaginable', with the possibility of terrorists seizing nuclear weapons. Speaking to the Sunday Telegraph, the Chief of the General Staff said: 'If al-Qaeda and the Taliban believe they have defeated us – what next?'
UK will probably commit more troops to Afghanistan 04 Oct 2009 The UK government has said it is ready to send more soldiers to Afghanistan. General David Richards, Britain’s army commander, has told the Telegraph newspaper that the troops will be committed if requested by the commander of the US and NATO forces in Afghanistan.
Afghan policeman fires on US troops, killing 2 03 Oct 2009 An Afghan policeman conducting a joint operation with U.S. soldiers opened fire on the Americans, killing two of them before fleeing, an Afghan official said Saturday, raising fears that militants have infiltrated the ranks of Afghan forces. Over a period of less than a month last year, Afghan policemen twice attacked American soldiers in the east. [US strategy in Afghanistan revealed: Pay Blackwater/Xe to train and equip Afghan troops who then fire on US soldiers. That way, a surge is 'needed' to stop the 'insurgency.' --LRP]
Ten US soldiers killed in Afghanistan 04 Oct 2009 Ten American troops were killed at the weekend in two surprise attacks that caused alarm in Nato’s US-led coalition. In one, hundreds of insurgents attacked a pair of isolated outposts in eastern Afghanistan, killing eight US soldiers and several Afghan policemen in the deadliest battle in 15 months. Scores more Afghan policemen were reportedly captured by the Taleban.
Propaganda leaflets dropped by RAF plane kill Afghan girl 30 Sep 2009 The crew of an RAF C130 Hercules had been flying over rural parts of the province as part of a leaflet campaign. The boxes of leaflets weight 30-40lbs, but are supposed to break open before landing in order to avoid injury. Usually the leaflets are supposed to scatter in mid-air after the box opens in the sky, but on this occasion, according to defence officials, it failed to open.
The Obusha AfPak Money Pit: Unlike the 'public option,' Congress doesn't ask if funding the Taleban to blow up contractors' bridges will add to the US deficit By Lori Price, www.legitgov.org 03 Oct 2009 Ever wonder WHY (besides protecting gas and opium pipelines) the US is *still* in Afghanistan? Ever ponder WHY US taxpayers are funding infrastructure programs in *Afghanistan,* instead of in the US? Today, this tidbit: Arrest Warrant Out for USAID Contractor in Afghanistan --A federal arrest warrant was quietly issued last month for a former official employed by the major US government reconstruction contractor here in Afghanistan, in a case that underscores the lure of potential contract fraud in Afghanistan. Scott "Max" Anthony Walker was a "security coordinator" for the $1.4 billion infrastructure program commissioned by US Agency for International Development and funded by US taxpayers.
Iraq delays oil law until after January elections 04 Oct 2009 Iraq's parliament has suspended discussions on a long-delayed oil investment law until after legislative 'elections' in January because of the long running dispute over control of the north's energy resources, a lawmaker said Sunday.
Feds look for soldiers likely exposed by KBR to toxic chemical in Iraq 03 Oct 2009 More than 1,100 soldiers, including members of the West Virginia National Guard were likely exposed to a highly toxic chemical [sodium dichromate] in southern Iraq in 2003, according to information provided to U.S. Sen. Robert C. Byrd by the U.S. Defense Department... In June, Russell Powell [a onetime member of the 82nd Airborne Division] and six other members of the West Virginia National Guard unit filed a lawsuit in the state's Northern District, alleging that KBR, a former Halliburton subsidiary that was awarded billions of dollars' worth of no-bid contracts to rebuild Iraq, negligently exposed them to the chemical.
Colombia says 'no' to US bases 04 Sep 2009 Amid reports of a deal reached for the establishment of US military bases in Colombia, the country's foreign minister says there is no need for more American personnel. In an effort to reassure other South American countries, Foreign Minister Jaime Bermudez told the BBC that Colombia seeks only "information, technology, intelligence" in the form of military cooperation with the US.
Muslim graves targeted in hate attack 02 Oct 2009 (UK) Up to 20 Muslim graves have been vandalised in a racially motivated attack at a south Manchester cemetery. Vandals struck at the Southern Cemetery on Barlow Moor Road sometime overnight on Thursday. Staff arrived at the cemetery to find up to 20 gravestones had been deliberately pushed over, and a number had broken.
E. Coli Path Shows Flaws in Ground Beef Inspection 04 Oct 2009 Ground beef is usually not simply a chunk of meat run through a grinder. Instead, records and interviews show, a single portion of hamburger meat is often an amalgam of various grades of meat from different parts of cows and even from different slaughterhouses. These cuts of meat are particularly vulnerable to E. coli contamination, food experts and officials say. Despite this, there is no federal requirement for grinders to test their ingredients for the pathogen. The [E.coli-tainted] frozen hamburgers that the Smiths ate, which were made by the food giant Cargill, were labeled "American Chef’s Selection Angus Beef Patties." Yet confidential grinding logs and other Cargill records show that the hamburgers were made from a mix of slaughterhouse trimmings and a mash-like product derived from scraps that were ground together at a plant in Wisconsin. The ingredients came from slaughterhouses in Nebraska, Texas and Uruguay, and from a South Dakota company that processes fatty trimmings and treats them with ammonia to kill bacteria. [Similar US corporaterrorists are behind the production of the swine flu vaccine (not to mention, the pandemic itself). Moreover, Barack Obama gave immunity -- on a Friday evening in the middle of July, when *no one* was paying attention -- to both the government and the pharmaterrorists manufacturing this deadly vaccine. You'd have to be *out of your mind* to get their injections. It's tantamount to going on a date with a serial killer. --LRP]
Vaccine Is On Its Way, But Public Still Wary 04 Oct 2009 Billions of tax dollars have been paid to giant pharmaceutical companies. Millions of doses of vaccine are on their way to huge warehouses across the country... As the federal government launches the most ambitious inoculation campaign in U.S. history, several surveys indicate the public is decidedly ambivalent. A nationally representative poll of 1,042 adults released Friday by the Harvard School of Public Health found that only 40 percent were sure they would receive the vaccine and that about half were certain their children would.
US rolls out massive swine flu vaccination campaign 03 Oct 2009 US health authorities are hoping to contain what they say is an intensifying swine flu pandemic with a massive A(H1N1) vaccination [propaganda] campaign starting this week. US health authorities on Friday announced plans for a massive vaccination campaign intended to protect infect millions of Americans, with the first distribution of 600,000 vaccine doses set for Tuesday, two weeks ahead of schedule.
Child swine flu jab trials begin 03 Oct 2009 About 1,000 children are taking part in a study testing two swine flu vaccines ahead of a UK vaccination programme. The trial, which began on Saturday, will involve children aged between six months and 12 in Oxford, Southampton, London, Bristol and Devon. Millions of doses of the vaccines have been purchased for use across the UK.
Exclusive Excerpts From Original Draft of Sarah Palin's Book Satire By R J Shulman 05 Oct 2009 We have obtained a copy of the original manuscript of Sarah Palin's book, Going Rouge: An American Life. The manuscript, originally titled, You Betcha I'm Qualified: How a Failed Weather Girl Almost Got Her Revenge, apparently went through a major rewrite at the insistence of her publisher, HarperCollins. However, here are unedited selections from the original You Betcha version... 'Times have changed in what is important in educating our youth. The traditional three Rs -- reading, writing and the other one -- are not enough. Now it's the three G's -- God, guns and gays.' (Satire)
Discrimination by Insurers Likely Even With Reform, Experts Say --To avoid patients with costly, complicated medical conditions, health plans could include in their networks relatively few doctors who specialize in treating those conditions. 04 Oct 2009 Any health-care overhaul that Congress and President Obama enact is likely to have as its centerpiece a fundamental reform: Insurers would not be allowed to reject individuals or charge them higher premiums based on their medical history. But simply banning medical discrimination would not necessarily remove it from the equation, economists and health-care analysts say.
FDIC Seizes Three Banks, Taking Tally For Year to 98 03 Oct 2009 Banking regulators seized small banks in Michigan, Minnesota and Colorado, bringing to 98 the number of U.S. banks that have failed so far this year. [The banks: Family-owned Jennings State Bank of Spring Grove, Minn.; Warren, Mich.-based Warren Bank; and Southern Colorado National Bank of Pueblo, Colo.]
UN warns of 70 percent desertification by 2025 03 Oct 2009 Drought could parch close to 70 percent of the planet's soil by 2025 unless countries implement policies to slow desertification, a senior United Nations official has warned. "If we cannot find a solution to this problem... in 2025, close to 70 percent could be affected," Luc Gnacadja, executive secretary of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, said Friday.
Polar bear cub hitches a ride 02 Oct 2009 Arctic waters are at best chilly and at worst close to freezing. Which may explain why a polar bear cub has recently been seen riding on the back of its mother as the bears swim across parts of the Arctic Ocean... Experts have rarely seen the behaviour, and they say the latest find suggests it may be a more common practice than previously thought.
Previous lead stories: Lockerbie papers say US secretly paid witness --Scottish detectives discussed secret payments of up to $3m made to witness and his brother, documents claim 02 Oct 2009 Two key figures in the conviction of the Lockerbie bomber were secretly given rewards of up to $3m (£1.9m) in a deal discussed by Scottish detectives and the US government, according to legal papers released today. The claims about the payments were revealed in a dossier of evidence that was intended to be used in an appeal by Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, the Libyan convicted of murdering 270 people in the bombing of Pan Am flight 103 in 1988. The documents published online by Megrahi's lawyers today show that the US Department of Justice (DoJ) was asked to pay $2m to Tony Gauci, the Maltese shopkeeper who gave crucial evidence at the trial suggesting that Megrahi had bought clothes later used in the suitcase that allegedly held the Lockerbie bomb. The DoJ was also asked to pay a further $1m to his brother, Paul Gauci, who did not give evidence but played a major role in identifying the clothing and in "maintaining the resolve of his brother".
Obama agrees to keep Israel's nukes secret 02 Oct 2009 President Obama has reaffirmed a 4-decade-old secret understanding that has allowed Israel to keep a nuclear arsenal without opening it to international inspections, three officials familiar with the understanding said. The officials, who spoke on the condition that they not be named because they were discussing private conversations, said Mr. Obama pledged to maintain the agreement when he first hosted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House in May.
EU agency recommends Baxter's H1N1 flu shot 02 Oct 2009 European drugs regulators recommended Baxter's Celvapan vaccine 'against' H1N1 flu for approval on Friday and said it expected the shot to get a licence from the European Commission "shortly". The recommendation from the European Medicines Agency (EMEA) comes after its expert committee on new drugs also gave a green light last week to the first H1N1 swine flu vaccines from GlaxoSmithKline and Novartis, called Pandemrix and Focetria. [See: Baxter: The 'Lucky Larry' of swine flu Baxter Vaccine 'Oddities' By Lori Price 17 Jul 2009 Baxter files swine flu vaccine patent year ahead of outbreak; Baxter working on vaccine to stop swine flu, though admitted sending live pandemic flu viruses to subcontractor 26 Apr 2009; Baxter not to provide anti-swine flu vaccine to Czechs --Czech Health Ministry: Baxter unable to guarantee its vaccine is safe, won't be responsible for its side-effects 03 Aug 2009 The U.S. pharmaceutical firm Baxter which manufactures a vaccine against the swine flu in its Czech branch will not ensure the vaccine for the Czech Republic in the case of a pandemic, Baxter media representative Jana Cechova told CTK today.]
