Watch Out, Lest You Get E-tagged

A US-based surveillance provider has had two of its employees implanted with glass-encapsulated rice grain-sized microchips with miniature antennas embedded in their forearms. They say they need to safeguard access to vaults with sensitive information, and the chip implants serve as biometric entry and exit clearance codes as well as help employers track employee movements in secure/insecure areas. Tracking movement with bio-chips is nothing new. Biologists and wildlife experts have used the technology to follow animal migration and behaviour. Supporters of this technology for everyday application among people argue that it would help track down lost or kidnapped children, Alzheimer's patients who forget where they are, locate missing soldiers, and serve as effective surveillance tools. The thought is alarming. What this means is that when spy-tech biochips become a popular tool in hospitals, remand homes, military and other areas, the device and its use could become as ubiquitous as the mobile phone. There would be no getting away from Big Brother squatting inside you. The intruder in your life - the despoiler of your private space - could be your employer, insurance company, spouse or companion.

Boeing Awarded Contract To Develop Ruggedized Beam Control System For Mobile Laser Weapon System

Boeing has been awarded a U.S. Army contract valued at approximately $7 million to begin developing the initial phase for a truck-mounted laser weapon system that destroys rockets, artillery shells and mortar rounds. Under the High Energy Laser Technology Demonstrator (HEL TD) Phase I contract, awarded on July 20, Boeing will develop and complete a preliminary design of a rugged beam control system (BCS) on a Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Truck. The contract contains options that, if exercised, will call for Boeing to build and test a significant component of the HEL TD system, comprised of the BCS integrated on a vehicle platform, and refine requirements for the entire HEL TD system. The options would increase the total program contract cost to approximately $50 million. The objective of the HEL TD program is to demonstrate that a mobile, solid-state laser weapon system can effectively counter rocket, artillery and mortar projectiles. The program will support the transition to a full-fledged Army acquisition program. "We consider this program an important win for Boeing because it supports a cornerstone of the Army's high-energy laser program," said Pat Shanahan, vice president and general manager of Boeing Missile Defense Systems. "We believe this is the next step for developing a weapon system that can change the face of the battlefield." Boeing leads the way in developing high-energy laser systems for a variety of warfighter applications. These systems include the Airborne Laser, the Advanced Tactical Laser and the Tactical Relay Mirror System.

'Declaration of North American Integration' unearthed

The endorsement by a major city mayor of a document described as "The Declaration of North American Integration" represents a long-term effort by local governments to bypass state and federal governments and work directly with Mexico and Canada to create agreements that integrate the continent below the radar screen, charges an activist. Adam Rott, founder of watchdog blog Oklahoma Corridor Watch, brought to light the document signed by Mayor Mick Cornett. The document was presented at the May 2004 summit meeting of the North American International Trade Corridor Partnership, or NAITCP. According to an Internet-archived summary report of the meeting, held in Kansas City, Mo., the document was signed by 90 people. "Oklahoma has been at work for almost 15 years to get I-35 designated as a NAFTA superhighway," Rott said. "I want to wake Oklahomans up to the reality that Oklahoma is on the front lines of the battle being waged by investment bankers, foreign investment consortia and politicians who stand to benefit to expand the TTC-35 north into Oklahoma." "What is so diabolical about Cornett's signature is that it has largely remained hidden from view since 2004," Rott charged. "It is disturbing to think that councilmen and councilwomen who live in our communities are working for North American integration in the mistaken notion that globalism will result in local economic development." Roth is skeptical of the promise North American integration holds for economic development in Oklahoma. "What we see is the sovereignty of the U.S. being compromised at a local level, and we have yet to see where globalism has benefited Oklahoma City," he said. "Our manufacturing base is deteriorating in Oklahoma City as plants close and multinational corporations outsource from Oklahoma to get cheaper workers in international markets." Oklahoma Republican state Sen. Randy Brogdon agrees. Brogdon said he believes "the ramifications of what Oklahoma City Mayor Cornett is doing is to destroy U.S. national sovereignty and to grab property like we have never seen before." "Economic development at the expense of our sovereignty is not a fair trade as far as I am concerned," he said.

Iris Recognition Comes to Windows Mobile Gadgets

Oki Electric has released middleware that can add iris recognition to cell phones and PDAs. The "Iris Recognition Technology for Mobile Terminals" software reportedly uses existing cameras and currently targets handheld devices running Windows Mobile, Windows XP or Symbian OS. For several years, Oki has been providing iris-recognition equipment, but these devices required dedicated infrared cameras. The company says its new middleware can now use any camera offering more than 1 megapixel. This permits developers to add biometric security to easily stolen mobile devices, without a fingerprint reader or other additional hardware. Devices will reportedly be able to scan a user's eye for authentication, then unlock themselves in less than half a second, as long as they have RISC processors clocked at 220MHz or above. If the host camera offers 2 megapixels or more, Oki says, false positives will occur in no more than one out of 100,000 scans.

Bush Executive Order: Criminalizing the Antiwar Movement

The Executive Order criminalizes the antiwar movement. It is intended to "blocking property" of US citizens and organizations actively involved in the peace movement. It allows the Department of Defense to interfere in financial affairs and instruct the Treasury to "block the property" and/or confiscate/ freeze the assets of "Certain Persons" involved in antiwar activities. It targets those "Certain Persons" in America, including civil society organizatioins, who oppose the Bush Administration's "peace and stability" program in Iraq, characterized, in plain English, by an illegal occupation and the continued killing of innocent civilians. The Executive Order also targets those "Certain Persons" who are "undermining efforts to promote economic reconstruction", or who, again in plain English, are opposed to the confiscation and privatization of Iraq's oil resources, on behalf of the Anglo-American oil giants.

Microchip implants rapidly becoming more mainstream

It appears that the effort to implant microchips into humans is not only alive and well but moving ever closer to getting under everyone's skin. Delray Beach firm VeriChip, the nation's only FDA-approved company allowed to produce microchips for injection into people, got a boost recently from the American Medical Association. The AMA said such devices "may help to identify patients, thereby improving the safety and efficiency of patient care." That was enough to create a stir in the technology and medical worlds as well as among privacy and religious folks. And enough to put a smile on VeriChip's face. Scott Silverman, chief executive officer of VeriChip, says the primary aim is to help high-risk medical patients such as those with diabetes, Alzheimer's, cancer and heart conditions. The chip, implanted in the upper right arm, allows medical personnel to access a patient's medical history in the event the person is unconscious or otherwise unresponsive. The person's data is stored in VeriChip's database. Silverman says it could save lives, "it's fairly safe and there have been no side effects." VeriChip's sister corporation, Digital Angel Corp., has been implanting chips in pets for 15 years. The chip uses technology called a Radio Frequency Identification tag. Katherine Albrecht, a co-author of the book Spychips, points out that the RFID technology used in the chips is becoming increasingly pervasive throughout our society as merchants use it to track inventory and purchases. "If everybody had a chip in them ... we would be blissfully unaware of Big Brother," Albrecht said. Silverman says his company's focus is on medical patients. And the chip they use is "passive" or, simply stated, it does not emit a strong signal. To read the chip, medical personnel must use a scanner and be within 12 inches. And he says the data is stored in a facility as secure as any of the best. He does admit once you have a chip, it could be used for other "applications." You can tie financial accounts to them and other data. He points out a year ago one company injected two employees with chips for security reasons. In addition, nightclubs in Barcelona, Spain, Rotterdam, Holland, and Edinburgh, Scotland, use them so patrons can access VIP lounges and make purchases.

National Security and Biotechnology

If advances in biotechnology continue, con­structing a completely artificial organism from the "ground up"—creating synthetic DNA and proteins from raw materials and then combining them to form living cells—may be possible in the not too distant future. The challenge for the federal government is to figure out how to leverage cutting-edge biotechnol­ogy for national security purposes. Before 2001, the Department of Defense (DOD) was the primary arm of the federal government in funding biological defense and research related to national security. The DOD research program focused primarily on the battlefield uses of biotechnology.

Psychic Norwegian princess launches school to contact angels

Norway’s Princess Märtha Louise, daughter of King Harald and Queen Sonja, has emerged as a clairvoyant, and is launching an alternative school aimed at training students to contact angels. Princess Märtha Louise claimed to have “seen the light” in 2002, when she married author Ari Behn in a lavish royal wedding at the cathedral in Trondheim. The princess’ business partner has publicly confirmed the training program, which is billed as a means of “getting in touch with your own truths” through “readings, healing, crystals and hands-on treatment.” The princess, who still officially represents the Royal Family at various events, has named her new venture after “one of the oldest goddesses in the Middle East,” Astarte, and its website is registered at her home address in Lommedalen, just west of Oslo. The telephone number listed is that for the Royal Palace in Oslo. Even though use of the palace’s phone number implies the business is indirectly supported by the Royal Palace, palace officials won’t comment on it. “The palace never expresses itself on the princess’ private business ventures,” said a tight-lipped Sven Gjeruldsen, information adviser on the palace staff. He referred further questions to the contact information on Astarte’s web site. The princess wrote on her school’s new website, Astarte Education, that she’s “always been interested in alternative treatment programs,” suggesting she’s had psychic abilities since she was a little girl. The princess has launched Astarte Education with a friend, Elisabeth Samnøy, who describes herself on the website as a former ship mechanic who also attended a holistic academy. “After that I have been in a process where angels and their frequency opened contact with the divine in my heart.”

Do Spiritual Forces Hover Over Cultures And Effect Ethnic Groups And Nations?

It's a fascinating concept: that spiritual forces hover over areas. But what about cultures. Could it be that evil forces as well as angelic ones affect entire nations? We know from Paul in Ephesians 3 that "our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places." If that's not clear enough, there is Daniel, wherein it's stated that "the prince of the kingdom of Persia was withstanding me for twenty-one days; then behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left there with the kings of Persia." The spiritual "prince" of a region is known as a "principality." Those in spiritual warfare maintain that there are such forces assigned to every church, every community, and on a larger scale, every country. Would this not explain certain unsettling traits and habits and bondages of certain regions? Start with Persia: that's what we now know as Iran and that there is a dark stronghold over that nation is something that seems apparent. In China there's an ancient idolatry of strange gods -- of the dragon -- and look at the morality in China (when it comes to abortion, religious freedom, and human dignity). In Scandinavian nations, there is the tendency toward paganism, or simple and cold disbelief. In Africa the bondage of voodoo may be liable for the miseries there. In Iraq is ancient Babylon -- and constant turmoil, as we also find on old pagan stomping grounds in nations such as Egypt. Where blood has been spilled in ritual, or where land was cursed, we see today the results or at least the residue.

White House, FBI Agents Race to Disrupt 'Summer of '07' Terrorist Threats

Senior law enforcement officials said today that the growing signs of a "Summer of '07" terror attack on the U.S. have led the FBI to dispatch dozens of agents to track down new leads across the country. The threat has also led the White House to begin a weekly meeting of senior law enforcement and intelligence officials. The group met on July 20, and will meet again on July 25, in the White House Situation Room at 1 p.m., according to the officials. Dozens of FBI agents have been given a two-week deadline to run down more than 700 leads on an FBI "worry list," developed in the wake of the failed attacks in London and Glasgow. The list includes some 100 specific leads in the New York area, senior law enforcement officials said. Although the White House says there is no credible, imminent threat to the United States, the origin of the intelligence that a small group of al Qaeda terrorists was headed to the United States came from a credible intelligence source, who in the past has been reliable, officials said. The source of the intelligence specified the small cell was traveling from Pakistan. The new threat comes as FBI agents were already trying to sort through a mountain of e-mails, jihadist message board postings, telephone intercepts and human source intelligence, in an effort to pluck an intelligence gem from the background of "chatter" louder than has been heard in any recent summer season. There is so much terrorist "noise" that some agents and officers have already dubbed June and July a "summer of chatter." Agents also have been running down financial leads and telephone records that could have linked several members of the recent failed London and Glasgow, Scotland incendiary bomb plots to North America.

Medicine's future may involve brain chips

U.S. scientists are developing chips that, implanted in one's brain, could allow an amputee to control an artificial arm by thinking about it. The science fiction-like technology being developed at the University of Florida might also control epileptic seizures by interpreting signals in the brain and stimulating neurons to perform correctly. Using a $2.5 million National Institutes of Health grant, University of Florida researchers are creating a "neuroprosthetic" chip designed to be implanted in the brain. The researchers are studying the concept in rats but expect to develop a prototype within four years that could be tested in people. University of Florida Assistant Professor Justin Sanchez, director of the university's Neuroprosthetics Research Group, said the initial goal is to create a device that can correct conditions such as paralysis or epilepsy. The day may not be too far off when patients can control a prosthetic hand or leg just by thinking about it, Sanchez said. "It's becoming a reality."

Mythical satyr may be preserved in salt

Unicorns, giants and fairies — the UFOs of antiquity — have yet to turn up in any archaeologist's shovel. Aside from their frequent appearances on ancient frescoes, statuary and artwork, such fanciful creatures of mythology don't have a clear origin, although some have linked the mermaid to lonely sailors who glimpsed dugongs (also known as sea cows) in the distance and made a giant leap. But a recent discovery in an Iranian salt mine, one scholar suggests, may shed light on the origins of a famous satyr of antiquity, one so well known that it merited a visit from the emperor himself. The satyr is a goat-man in Greek legend who dances and frolics, playing pipes and chasing nymphs all day, living in a woodsy version of the Playboy Mansion. In June, a man's body, naturally mummified within an ancient salt mine, was found outside the Iranian city of Zanjan. Six such discoveries have been made since 1993, according to the Circle of Ancient Iranian Studies foundation based in London. Earlier salt man finds go back as far as 540 B.C., around the time of the ancient Achaemenid dynasty. The 540 B.C. salt man from Iran most resembles an elderly satyr figure commonly seen in Greek art, called Silenus, says Mayor. Silenus was usually depicted with long golden hair, a beard, a bulging forehead, a snub nose and an open mouth. Mayor suspects the early images of satyrs may have sprung from such discoveries, transformed into art (with the addition of a goat's body) in stories traded by travelers of the ancient world. "When I saw the picture of the salt man, I was just struck by how much like a satyr he looks," Mayor says. "Satyr plays were very popular in antiquity, so everyone knew what satyrs looked like. There's no reason to think people back then wouldn't have made the same connection."

Beware the real Manchurian Bots

In the popular sci-fi movie, Minority Report, the public of the future is heavily monitored by the government. Remember those small disks surveillance microrobots that spied on citizens? That type of technology may not be sci-fi for long. The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is funding research for stealth surveillance robots that can fly and are the size and appearance of a common housefly. They believe the robot's small size and fly-like appearance will be an invaluable tool in their eavesdropping arsenal. "Nature makes the world's best fliers," says Robert Wood, leader of Harvard's robotic-fly project and a professor at the university's school of engineering and applied sciences. They chose the tiny housefly for the model because “you probably wouldn't notice a fly in the room, but you certainly would notice a hawk." If you’re paranoid about being spied on—get out your flyswatters. A life-size, robotic fly has already taken flight at Harvard University. Weighing only 60 milligrams, with a wingspan of three centimeters, the tiny robot's movements are modeled on those of a real fly. While work remains to be done on the mechanical insect, the researchers say that such small flying machines will likely eventually be used as spies as well as for other less controversial applications. If you think being worried about government spying is silly—you might have missed the news in January of this year when President Bush announced that he's allowed to open Americans' mail. We also learned about undisclosed Pentagon and CIA demands for citizens' financial records. For five years now, the National Security Agency has been reading email and tapping phones without a warrant—actions explicitly forbidden by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. This legislation was the result of the violations the last time a president (Nixon) authorized the wiretapping of Americans citizens. The FBI delivers tens of thousands of National Security Letters that demand personal records from businesses, and gags recipients barring individuals from speaking out. Phone companies are now forced to “work in cooperation” with the feds by giving the NSA access to customers' private records.

U.S. airports warned of possible attack "dry runs"

Terrorists may be conducting "dry runs" at U.S. airports to test security before a possible attack, according to a Transportation Security Administration warning to airport screeners. In at least four incidents over the past year, security screeners have found items in carry-on luggage -- blocks of cheese taped to electrical components, for example -- that resembled homemade bombs, according to the TSA's July 20 memo. "Past terrorist attacks and plots show that such testing generally indicates attacks will soon follow," said the internal memo. None of the passengers in question has been linked with criminal or terrorist organizations so far, the memo said. The United States has tightened airport security since the September 11 suicide attacks by al Qaeda militants in 2001 using hijacked passenger planes. Passengers are now commonly required to remove shoes and belts and may not carry more than a small amount of toiletries or cosmetics on board. The TSA described its unclassified warning as one of 90 released this year and said it had no specific information of a pending attack.

That Cell Phone In Your Hand Is A Tracking Device

Cell phone signals are being used by law enforcement officials to find missing people in romote areas, to track terrorists and fugitives, and to place suspects near crime scenes, experts say. "The average citizen is not aware that they are carrying a location-tracking device in their pocket," said Kevin Bankston, a lawyer for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a San Francisco-based group that works to preserve privacy rights. When turned on, cell phones constantly emit locator signals called pings so their companies know to which towers to route phone calls, Bankston said. Investigators can obtain logs from wireless companies containing such data to track people's movements, he said. In urban settings with many towers, the location can be narrowed down greatly - to within blocks. In more rural settings with fewer towers, a more general location can be established. Most new phones also contain Global Positioning System chips that communicate with satellites, allowing authorities to pinpoint a precise location of the handset. The chips are one way companies can comply with federal rules designed to give emergency dispatchers more information on the location of cell phone callers. Just how often law enforcement has used the technology to track down a body or help solve a crime was not available, mostly because agencies are reluctant to discuss their investigative tools. Bill Hagmaier, executive director of the International Homicide Investigators Association, said almost all major police agencies employ the technique to crack cases. "It's an outstanding tool. Who doesn't carry a cell phone these days? Cell phones are almost as popular as jewelry and wallets," he said. "It's a fairly new investigative tool but it's one that is certainly growing in use."

Unknown Species of the Underworld Discovered

For decades now scientists from around the world have been discovering hundreds of previously unknown species of cave-dwelling creatures. Even so, an estimated 90% of subterranean life has not yet been described. Cave animals are still quite mysterious to the world of science and often have bizarre adaptations and unique traits. Aside from their strange appearances, cave animals also live much longer than their surface counterparts—up to 10 times longer. Some of the most interesting discoveries come from caves with no access to the outside world, which has allowed its inhabitants to evolve over millions of years undisturbed. Humans have walked straight over these pockets of weird life, without suspecting what lived in the darkness beneath them. Some cave species, which are completely unique to the rest of the world, have a habitat range of only a few square meters! "Not only are these animals new to science, but they're adapted to very specific environments — some of them, to a single room in one cave," said Joel Despain, a cave specialist who helped explore 30 of the 238 known caves in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks where around 30 new animal species have already been found. The discoveries included translucent insects with their internal organs clearly visible, a scorpion-like invertebrate, a type of daddy long legs with jaws bigger than its body, and a fluorescent orange spider, among other odd critters. "Many people will be looking at these trying to find where they fit in the tree of life," said cave biologist Darrell Ubick.

Womb-on-a-chip may boost IVF successes

Can conception, the most intimate of human experiences, be automated? Teruo Fujii of the University of Tokyo in Japan and his colleagues are building a microfluidic chip to nurture the first stages of pregnancy. They hope, eventually, to create a fully automated artificial uterus in which egg and sperm are fed in at one end and an early embryo comes out the other, ready for implanting in a real mother. They say using such a device could improve the success rate of IVF. "While there have been many advances in the production of in vitro embryos, these embryos are still sub-optimal [compared] to their in vivo counterparts," says Matt Wheeler of the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign who is also working on automated IVF systems. One reason for this is that during IVF, eggs or embryos are often moved or washed with culture fluid, causing changes in temperature and pH, he says. To tackle these problems, Fujii's team has created a "lab on a chip" that is 2 millimetres across and 0.5 millimetres high, in which up to 20 eggs can be fertilised and then grown until they are ready for implantation. Endometrial cells, which line real wombs, are also grown in the device, so that the chemicals they produce can reach the embryos and help them grow. "We are providing the embryos with a much more comfortable environment, mimicking what happens in the body," Fujii says.

Biblical recipe produces virus-fighting oil

A professor from Tel Aviv University has used a passage of the Bible to produce a modern version of an ancient priestly oil that is capable of protecting against a wide range of viruses. Professor Michael Ovadia of the university's Department of Zoology told Israel21c that concoction is based on a recipe from a passage of the Bible describing the preparation of a special oil Israel's temple priests were to anoint themselves with prior to conducting animal sacrifices. “I had a hunch that this oil, which was prepared with cinnamon and other spices, played a role in preventing the spread of infectious agents to people,” said Ovadia. He prepared the oil according to the biblical recipe, and sure enough, found that it was extremely effective in preventing the transfer of viruses such as the Avian flu, herpes and even HIV. Last week, Ovadia sold his discovery to Frutarom, a multinational nutraceutical company that plans to use the oil in a variety of applications, including preventing the spread of infections in airports and hospitals.

Have Scientists Created Life?

Recent news reports suggest that scientists may be close to creating artificial (synthetic) life. None of this is happening by chance but by intelligent design and planning. Why, then, will many not give credit to God for the original DNA and life? In the case involving synthetic (artificial) life, scientists don't actually create or produce life itself from non-living matter. What scientists do in this case is create (by intelligent design) artificial DNA (genetic instructions and code) which is then implanted into an already existing living cell and, thereby, changing that cell into a new form of life.

One-world agenda dominates SPP summit as Document reveals plan for meeting of U.S., Mexico, Canada leaders

A multinational business agenda is driving the upcoming summit meeting of the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America, according to a document obtained through an Access to Information Act request in Canada. The memo shows a secondary focus of the leaders' meeting in Montebello, Quebec, Aug. 20-21, will be to prepare for a continental avian flu or human pandemic and establish a permanent continental emergency management coordinating body to deal not only with health emergencies but other unspecified emergencies as well. President Bush, Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Mexico's President Felipe Calderon will attend the third SPP summit. The Security and Prosperity Partnership is unveiled in Jerome Corsi's book, 'The Late, Great USA'. The document, obtained by Canadian private citizen Chris Harder, is a two-page heavily redacted summary of the ministerial meeting in Ottawa, held Feb. 23 between Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and her counterparts, Canadian Foreign Minister Peter MacKay and Mexican Foreign Minister Patricia Espinosa.

National Intelligence Director Is Worried About Terrorist Sleeper Cells In The U.S.

The nation's top intelligence official recently went further than ever before in outlining what he described as a heightened threat of an al Qaeda attack on American soil. 'Their attempt is to cause mass casualties,’ said Adm. Michael McConnell, director of national intelligence, ‘Second [priority] is political and possibly economic disruption.’ Just days ago, a new National Intelligence Estimate found al Qaeda has strengthened its ability to attack the United States. McConnell said al Qaeda is seeking the means to launch chemical, biological and possibly nuclear attacks. But the likeliest threat is harder to detect. ‘What we see currently is primarily a focus on explosives -- explosives that can generate a large explosion, but they're put together with commercially available material,’ he said. McConnell says small numbers of al Qaeda operatives are in this country raising funds. ‘I worry that there are sleeper cells in the U.S.,’ McConnell said. ‘I do not know.’

UK UFO sightings bring town to a standstill

A crowd of 100 stunned stargazers brought a town centre to a standstill when five mysterious UFOs were spotted hovering in the sky. Drinkers spilled out of pubs, motorists stopped to gawp and camera phones were aimed upwards as the five orbs, in a seeming formation, hovered above Stratford-Upon-Avon for half an hour. The unidentified flying objects lit up the otherwise clear night sky above Shakespeare's birthplace in Warwickshire on July 21. Although Air Traffic Control reported no unusual activity, some witnesses were convinced they were witnessing an extra-terrestrial spectacle. The strange episode started just after 10.30pm, when the lights were seen hovering slowly over the town before three of them formed a triangular shape with one positioned just to the right. A few minutes later a fifth came into view travelling towards the others at breakneck speed before slowing down and stopping a short distance away. Sceptics dismissed the UFOs as nothing more than hot air balloons, fireworks or even lanterns which had broken loose from a local rugby club. Others, however, claimed the speed and agility of the objects was unlike any known aircraft and said the odd movement, lack of noise and the length of time in the air discounted any man-made explanation. Tom Hawkes, who captured these amazing images, spotted the lights during his girlfriend Kate Lyall's birthday at the One Elm pub. He and the 15 other revellers were in the bar when they spotted some commotion outside. Tom, 30, said: "We walked outside and there was at that time a growing crowd of about 60 people looking up at something in the sky. "I saw this light appear, then three others. They came over our heads in formation but then manouvered into different positions. "Three had formed a triangular shape and one was to the right. Then another one came hurtling towards the rest at what looked like a very fast speed. But as it neared them it suddenly slowed and stopped altogether. "By this time more people had poured out onto the street. Two pubs had emptied, some people had come out of their houses and drivers slowed their cars. "The objects were there for about half an hour. It was very eerie because they didn't make any sound and they stayed still before moving slowly beyond the horizon. There were no stars in the sky, just them. "It was the most extraordinary thing I've ever seen and the way in which everyone gathered in the street to watch them reminded me of a scene from Independence Day." The extraordinary scenes were also witnessed by some of the staff of the One Elm pub.

Microchips mulled for HIV carriers in Indonesia's Papua

Lawmakers in Indonesia's Papua are mulling the selective use of chip implants in HIV carriers to monitor their behaviour in a bid to keep them from infecting others, a doctor said on July 24. John Manangsang, a doctor who is helping to prepare a new healthcare regulation bill for Papua's provincial parliament, said that unusual measures were needed to combat the virus. "We in the government in Papua have to think hard on ways to provide protection to people from the spread of the disease," Manangsang said. "Some of the infected people experience a change of behaviour and can turn more aggressive and would not think twice of infecting others," he alleged, saying lawmakers were considering various sanctions for these people. "Among one of the means being considered is the monitoring of those infected people who can pose a danger to others," Manangsang said. "The use of chip implants is one of the ways to do so, but only for those few who turn aggressive and clearly continue to disregard what they know about the disease and spread the virus to others,"

MS-13 Gang Seeks To Unite Nationwide

The international street gang MS-13 is unifying its violent members across the U.S., including the D.C. area, attempting to strengthen its criminal operation by creating a single organization. "Traditionally, the gang consisted of loosely affiliated groups known as cliques; however, law enforcement officials have reported increased coordination of criminal activity among Mara Salvatrucha cliques in the Atlanta, Dallas, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., and New York metropolitan areas," states a confidential letter sent out earlier this month from the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Southern District of Illinois.

Congressman DeFazio asks the White House to see government plans for 'what would occur after another major terrorist attack', but he's denied access

Oregonians called Peter DeFazio's office, worried there was a conspiracy buried in the classified portion of a White House plan for operating the government after a terrorist attack. As a member of the U.S. House on the Homeland Security Committee, DeFazio, D-Ore., is permitted to enter a secure "bubbleroom" in the Capitol and examine classified material. So he asked the White House to see the secret documents. On Wednesday, July 18, DeFazio got his answer: DENIED. "I just can't believe they're going to deny a member of Congress the right of reviewing how they plan to conduct the government of the United States after a significant terrorist attack," DeFazio says.
Homeland Security Committee staffers told his office that the White House initially approved his request, but it was later quashed. DeFazio doesn't know who did it or why.
"We're talking about the continuity of the government of the United States of America," DeFazio says. "I would think that would be relevant to any member of Congress, let alone a member of the Homeland Security Committee." Bush administration spokesman Trey Bohn declined to say why DeFazio was denied access. Norm Ornstein, a legal scholar who studies government continuity at the conservative American Enterprise Institute, said he "cannot think of one good reason" to deny access to a member of Congress who serves on the Homeland Security Committee. "I find it inexplicable and probably reflective of the usual, knee-jerk overextension of executive power that we see from this White House," Ornstein said. "Maybe the people who think there's a conspiracy out there are right," DeFazio said.

Pentagon Plots Digital "Crystal Ball" to "See the Future" in Battle

Darpa, the Pentagon's way-out research arm, is looking to design a software suite that predicts the future for battlefield commanders. At the heart of the package: A digital "Crystal Ball" that forecasts how a mission is going to turn out, before it's done. The overall, three-year program is called "Deep Green." Its goal is to "allow the commander to think ahead, identify when a plan is going awry, and help develop alternatives 'ahead of real time.'" If it works out the way agency officials hope (a very big if), Deep Green will enable officers to out-hustle and out-think any potential foes -- and do all that planning and analysis with a quarter of the staff that it takes today. Deep Green has a half-dozen different interlocking components, including a "Sketch to Plan" program that reads a commander's doodles, listens to his words, and then "accurately induces" a plan, "fill[ing] in missing details." That allows an officer "to specify an option at a coarse level, then move on to the next cognitive task." A related program, "Sketch to Decide" allows a commander to "see the future" by producing a "comic strip" to represent his possible options in a given situation. That may "sound exotic," the Agency notes. But "since the 1970s (and perhaps earlier), there have been novels and game books in which the reader is asked to make a decision and then is directed to a different page or paragraph, depending on the choice made." To make these warzone versions of choose-your-own-adventure novels, Darpa proposes two pieces of software. "Blitzkrieg" will quickly model sets of alternatives, while "Crystal Ball" will take information currently coming into a headquarters to figure out which scenarios are the most likely to happen, and which plans are likely to work best. Crystal Ball will use this estimate to nominate to the commander futures at which he/she should focus some planning effort to build additional options/branches. Crystal Ball will identify the trajectory of the operation in time to allow the commander to generate options before they are needed.

German politician sparks controversy by pushing for creationist science classes

A German minister for culture has provoked outrage among politicians and some religious figures for suggesting theological questions about the origin of the world should be included in school biology lessons. The remarks by Karin Wolff, culture minister in the affluent western state of Hesse, have fuelled fears that creationist views could creep into science classes in Europe. Creationists believe God made the world in six days, as the Bible says, and oppose teaching of evolution. Mainly held by conservative Protestant Christians, creationism also has a Muslim version being promoted in Europe by Turkish Islamists. Critics, who see creationist views as anti-science, are worried the ideas that have increasing support in the United States are getting a toehold in Europe. Earlier this year Britain published school guidelines saying the issue should be discussed in religious education classes, rather than in science classes where U.S. creationists want it. Wolff, a Protestant who rejects charges she is promoting creationist ideas, sparked the debate in Germany by telling a newspaper she wanted "modern" biology lessons and that she saw common ground between natural sciences and religion. "I see no contradiction between biological evolution and the biblical explanation for the world's origin," she told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung daily. "In fact there is an amazing overlap between the Bible's explanation of the seven days of creation and scientific theory."

Conquering Canada: The Elite Re-Configuration of North America

Meant to tighten economic and security ties, SPP pushes the removal of barriers to energy and resource flows, and welcomes the creation of institutions to facilitate North American integration. Furthermore, SPP consultation meetings and its spin-off body, the North American Competitiveness Council, are comprised of major representatives from federal agencies and key multinational corporate players. It’s a merger of sorts, not just amongst nations, but also between federal authorities and multinational corporations – all bonding to achieve the quest of regional harmonization.

White House Preparing To Stage New September 11 - Reagan Official

A former Reagan official has issued a public warning that the Bush administration is preparing to orchestrate a staged terrorist attack in the United States, transform the country into a dictatorship and launch a war with Iran within a year. Paul Craig Roberts, a former Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, blasted Thursday a new Executive Order, released July 17, allowing the White House to seize the assets of anyone who interferes with its Iraq policies and giving the government expanded police powers to exercise control in the country. Roberts, who spoke on the Thom Hartmann radio program, said: "When Bush exercises this authority [under the new Executive Order], there's no check to it. So it really is a form of total, absolute, one-man rule. The American people don't really understand the danger that they face," Roberts said, adding that the so-called neoconservatives intended to use a renewal of the fight against terrorism to rally the American people around the fading Republican Party.

Some See Mark Of The Beast In Microchip Implants Growth

Innocuous? Maybe. But the news that Americans had, for the first time, been injected with electronic identifiers to perform their jobs fired up a debate over the proliferation of ever-more-precise tracking technologies and their ability to erode privacy in the digital age. To some, the microchip was a wondrous invention — a high-tech helper that could increase security at nuclear plants and military bases, help authorities identify wandering Alzheimer's patients, allow consumers to buy their groceries, literally, with the wave of a chipped hand. To others, the notion of tagging people was Orwellian, a departure from centuries of history and tradition in which people had the right to go and do as they pleased, without being tracked, unless they were harming someone else. Chipping, these critics said, might start with Alzheimer's patients or Army Rangers, but would eventually be suggested for convicts, then parolees, then sex offenders, then illegal aliens — until one day, a majority of Americans, falling into one category or another, would find themselves electronically tagged.

Bush Proclaims Unlimited Executive Privilege Powers

Bush administration officials unveiled a bold new assertion of executive authority yesterday in the dispute over the firing of nine U.S. attorneys, saying that the Justice Department will never be allowed to pursue contempt charges initiated by Congress against White House officials once the president has invoked executive privilege. The position presents serious legal and political obstacles for congressional Democrats, who have begun laying the groundwork for contempt proceedings against current and former White House officials in order to pry loose information about the dismissals.

Homeland Security Sees Lasers and Heart Sensors in the Future of Anti-Terror Screening

The Advanced Research Project Agency (HSARPA) wants to build a system that fuses information from remote eye, heart, breath and brain sensors and lasar radar to decide if you are a terrorist before letting you on that flight to LAs Vegas. The fuser will be the brains of the Future Attribute Screening Technology Project. And HSARPA wants the fuser to be a wicked smart learner. The group is so intent on bringing on the future, it is currently soliciting information from outside groups in hopes of making it show up faster. Persons involved in or planning to be involved in possible malicious or deceitful acts will show various behavioral or physiological abnormalities. Though these signs can, at times, be detected by trained observers, they often go undetected and even when detected, are not quantified in any measurable way. [Q]uantifiable inputs may include cardiovascular, respiration, infrared, lidar (ed. Note: lasar radar) , video, audio, eye tracking as well as other promising technology capable of providing behavioral indicators. The goal is to take the individual outputs of the distinct sensors and combine them into a decision matrix in order to provide a single decision.

GPS chips in cellphones track kids and help navigate, too

Cellphone carriers are mandated by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission to provide location information for emergency use, and some employ technology that triangulates a cellphone signal among cellphone towers. As more phones come equipped with a small and relatively inexpensive GPS microchip, the technology is being used for all sorts of location-based services that telecommunications companies can offer to their customers. For example, the Family Locator service on a Walt Disney-branded mobile phone on the Sprint network uses GPS to track a child's whereabouts. Parents buy special "kid" and "parent" phones. The child's phone is programmed to beam its location to the parent phone, which has the ability to display and map the approximate street address where the child phone is at any moment. Sprint offers its own Family Locator service that provides parents with the child's location and alerts them when the child arrives at a specified location. The Sprint service can also be used to track adult family members, but the adult controls who can track the phone and gets a text message each time someone uses the service. Verizon's child locator, called Chaperone, goes a different route. It adds a "geofencing" service that allows parents to define an area — a school or babysitter's house, for example — where the child is permitted. Parents receive an alert on their handset when the cellphone of the child enters or leaves the zone. But GPS phones aren't just kids' stuff. A company called Wherify Wireless offers a line of GPS- enabled phones to track employees of elderly relatives.

Robotic Bird Designed to Spy on Humans

A shape-shifting, robotic bird that can sweep through the skies without a peep has all the right stuff for ground surveillance and even spying on its real-life inspiration—the common swift. Engineering students presented their design of the so-called RoboSwift at an annual Design Synthesis symposium at the Delft University of Technology in The Netherlands. The robotic bird measures 20 inches (51 centimeters) from wingtip to wingtip and weighs less than three ounces (80 grams). The team expects to build the micro airplane in the coming months and fly it in January 2008. They hope to enter three RoboSwifts in the First American-Asian Micro Air Vehicle competition in India in March 2008. The new robot has “unprecedented” features, the researchers say. It relies on only four “feathers” for morphing ability. To steer, it sweeps one wing back more than the other, creating a difference in lift force on the wings so that the craft can roll or make sharp turns in the air. Like real birds, the robot can adjust both the wing shape and surface area continuously throughout flight. Onboard lithium-polymer batteries power an electromotor that drives a propeller, allowing RoboSwift to follow a group of real birds for 20 minutes or perform ground surveillance for an hour. The RoboSwift's propeller can also fold back to reduce air drag. RoboSwift carries three onboard micro cameras, with two mounted on the wing and one in the belly pointing downward. A display mounted to the robo-plane’s head will beam the images to the ground where pilots can get a bird’s-eye view.

Chertoff Predicts Simultaneous LA-San Francisco Dirty Bomb Attacks

Homeland Security Head Michael Chertoff recently reported at the University of Southern California on port and supply-chain security and public infrastructure protection. A contact reported that Chertoff spoke about more "gut feelings" that he (Chertoff) has about a simultaneous Los Angeles / San Francisco dirty bomb attack that "our enemy is surely planning". I've had a hunch for a long time that the next false flag attack will be on the West Coast, so that it seems that the whole country is under attack, and not just the East Coast.

More people rejecting Christianity

A City University of New York survey found the number of non-religious adults grew from 8% to 14.3% between 1990 and 2001, to more than 29 million Americans. The current issue of The Atlantic magazine cites a study that showed 14% of Americans "were distancing themselves from organized religion as a symbolic gesture against the religious right." A 2006 Pew study found that 20% of today's 18-to 25-year-olds have no religious affiliation or are atheist or agnostic, up from 11% in the late 1980s. In Canada, the number of people who categorize themselves as atheists, agnostics, humanists or no-religion rose to 16.2% in the 2001 census, up from 12.3% in 1991, and 7.4% a decade earlier.

Current nuclear threat worse than during Cold War - U.S. expert

The risks of an accidental nuclear war have increased since the Cold War as Russia's early warning capability has deteriorated, a former U.S. defense official said. William J. Perry, who is a Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution and co-Director of the Preventive Defense Project at Stanford University, said in congressional testimony on July 18, that "the danger of nuclear war occurring by accident" still existed. "Both American and Russian missiles remain in a launch-on-warning mode," Perry, who served as U.S. defense secretary in 1994-97, said. "And the inherent danger of this status is aggravated by the fact that the Russian warning system has deteriorated since the ending of the Cold War." After the collapse of the Soviet Union in the 1990s, Russia has heavily depended on its radars located abroad, particularly the Daryal facility in Azerbaijan and two Dnepr stations in Ukraine, near Sebastopol and Mukachevo. Some reports said the outdated radar facilities that Moscow is renting on the territories of former Soviet republics were in poor conditions, and Russia had developed "holes" in its early-warning missile threat coverage. In the same testimony, Perry blasted the Bush administration for concentrating its efforts on building defenses to protect the U.S. from a potential ballistic missile threat, while downplaying the danger of nuclear terrorism. "The centerpiece of our government's strategy for dealing with a nuclear attack is the National Missile Defense system now being installed in Alaska," he said. "But the greatest danger today is that a terror group will detonate a nuclear bomb in one of our cities," the expert said. "Terrorists would not use a ballistic missile to deliver their bomb, they would use a truck or a freighter," Perry said, adding that a missile shield alone would not reduce the nuclear threat to the country.

Sexually Transmitted Infections On The Rise In UK

A report from the Health Protection Agency on the spread of diseases paints an ever worsening picture of the nation's sexual health. There was a two per cent rise in the number of new cases of all STIs diagnosed at clinics between 2005 and 2006, figures showed. Genital herpes was a particular cause for concern, with a nine per cent increase between 2005 and 2006. Among teenage girls aged between 16 and 19, there was a 16 per cent rise in cases genital herpes, which cannot be cured but is treatable. Genital warts in this female age group also increased five per cent, but gonorrhoea fell three per cent and chlamydia was down one per cent. Earlier this week, a study was published suggesting that delays in the treatment of people with STIs could be blamed for facilitating the spread of disease. Of four clinics surveyed, more than 3,000 patients with symptoms were typically having to wait a week before receiving any treatment. During that time 44.8 per cent of men and 58 per cent of women continued to have sex, seven per cent of patients had sex with more than one partner, and 4.2 per cent had unprotected sex with a new partner.

Oregon DMV changes pave way for facial recognition anti-fraud software

Oregon residents soon will see a change in how DMV issues driver licenses and identification cards. During the summer DMV will convert all its offices to centralized issuance of driver licenses and ID cards. Under centralized issuance, DMV will issue an interim card to customers who qualify for Oregon driving privileges or an ID card. Customers will receive their permanent plastic cards - produced and mailed from a central location instead of provided at DMV field offices - typically within five to 10 business days after their visit to DMV. This is the same way that cards are issued in California, Washington and about a dozen other states. “The main difference customers will see is that they will get a paper interim card instead of the secure plastic card at the DMV office,” DMV Administrator Lorna Youngs said. “The only other difference is minor changes in appearance of the permanent card.” The centrally-issued permanent card will have the same design and security features as the over-the-counter plastic card that DMV has been issuing since 2004. However, the new printing process will create a slightly different look and feel. The bar codes on both the interim and permanent cards also will change under the central issuance process. Businesses that scan the new barcodes may get a false reading that a card is invalid and should check with their software provider for an update. People who have been issued the interim card and are awaiting their permanent card may wish to carry additional identification if they need to conduct business that requires ID. Banks, retailers, other businesses and government agencies may set their own policies for establishing identification of customers carrying the interim card. Oregon is converting to this new issuance process as a first step in installing anti-fraud “facial recognition” software by the July 1, 2008, deadline set by the 2005 Oregon Legislature. Once the new technology is in place, if an applicants' photo appears similar to an existing photo under a different name, DMV will not issue the permanent card and instead will contact law enforcement. In cases where photos are similar but not identical, DMV will ask those individuals to return to DMV with additional proof of identity.

Robotic Insect Takes Off for the First Time

A life-size, robotic fly has taken flight at Harvard University. Weighing only 60 milligrams, with a wingspan of three centimeters, the tiny robot's movements are modeled on those of a real fly. While much work remains to be done on the mechanical insect, the researchers say that such small flying machines could one day be used as spies, or for detecting harmful chemicals.

Visiting Syria, Ahmadinejad warns that this summer will be "hot" and will bring defeat for the "region's enemies."

"We hope that the hot weather of this summer would coincide with similar victories for the region‘s peoples, and with consequent defeat for the region‘s enemies," Ahmadinejad said, standing alongside Syrian President Bashar Assad. Ahmadinejad was speaking after a meeting in Damascus with Assad and Hassan Nasrallah, chief of the Lebanese Hezbollah militia, which last summer engaged in 34 days of confrontations with the Jewish state during which the group fired thousands of rockets into Israeli population centers. Nasrallah made the rare appearance in Damascus after months of largely keeping a low public profile in Lebanon. Ahmadinejad claimed unspecified "enemies of the region" have "plans to attack the interests of this region." He urges those enemies to abandon their war plans "or they would be burned by the wrath of the region's peoples." He described Syrian-Iranian relations as "amicable, excellent and extremely deep," stating the two countries have common stands on regional issues and face common enemies. Iran and Syria have a military alliance. According to Israeli security officials, Iran has been supplying the Syrian military with long-range rockets capable of hitting central Israeli population centers, including Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.

Goodbye America, Hello North American Union