posted 09-07-2003 08:04 AM            

The US's response to 11 September has been an unprecedented clampdown on the rights of its own citizens, reports Paul Harris in New York

Sunday September 7, 2003
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,6903,1037090,00.html

The Observer

The message of the posters on the walls of Skokie library is plain: Big Brother is watching you. The signs, put up by librarian Caroline Anthony, warn of the radical new laws that have given the American government power to monitor the reading habits of its citizens without telling them.

Now the FBI can also secretly record what websites people look at. And what books they buy. Or videos they hire. 'Libraries are all about freedom of knowledge and not having Big Brother watching you. We had to warn our users,' said Anthony.

She believed Skokie was particularly at risk. The Chicago suburb has a large population of immigrants, including many from countries such as Iraq and Iran. Two years after the terror attacks of 11 September, 2001, Anthony and many others think America is in the grip of a frightening extension of state power.

At the centre of it is the Patriot Act, rushed through in the wake of the attacks to give authorities the legal weapons they needed to fight the 'war on terror'. Instead, critics say, those weapons have also hit at America's own civil rights and freedoms.

The act allowed the FBI to pull records from libraries and bookstores, defined 'terrorism' to include direct action by protesters, widened the use of wire-tapping on phone calls and emails and paved the way for the mass internment without charge of several thousand foreign nationals. The most vulnerable are Arabs, Asians and Muslims. 'Essentially this is the most massive case of ethnic profiling since the internment of Japanese Americans during the Second World War,' said David Cole, a Georgetown University law professor and author of a forthcoming book on the subject, Enemy Aliens .

The government refuses to number the amount of foreign nationals it holds without charge. But even those released and deported are still victims. The shadow of being detained for suspicion of terrorism is not easily lifted. Certainly Akil Sachveda is suffering. He is now a part-time pump attendant in Toronto. He used to own a petrol station, a bar and a pool hall in New Jersey, until one day the FBI came looking for an ex-employee who was a Muslim. The man had left but they arrested Sachveda instead on suspicion of Islamic terrorism, despite the fact he is a Hindu. He was held for five months and given no access to a lawyer. Prison guards threatened his life. Eventually he was deported to Canada. He was never charged, but he had lost everything. 'It is so painful. It was terrifying, but you can't fight the government,' he said.

Sachveda now can't get a full-time job. His spell in prison puts off employers. 'You either don't get an interview or they let you go as soon as they find out. But I never did anything wrong.'

The extensions of state power go beyond round-ups and the Patriot Act. The FBI has secretly recruited campus police officers to monitor students and academics. The scheme was only uncovered after the interrogation of a Sri Lankan campus union organ iser at the University of Massachusetts. Yaju Dharmarajah had applied to help with a state emergency co-ordination agency as part of plans to become an aid worker. But his Asian name and accent instead brought the local campus FBI officer to his house. 'They thought I wanted to video their work as part of a terrorist plot,' he said.

'I am lucky. I have a white American wife. If she was Sri Lankan like me, I wouldn't have said anything for fear they would deport us,' Dharmarajah said.

Others are also afraid. Last year Sister Virgine Lawinger, a 74-year-old Milwaukee nun, was travelling to an anti-war rally. But she was on a list of people considered too dangerous to fly and was stopped from boarding her plane. She believes her politics were to blame. 'People should not be naive. My experience just raised the stakes for me. It shows we have to be even more alert to protecting our democracy,' she said.

Jan Adams, a journalist on the anti-war San Francisco newspaper War Times , has also been stopped at airports, as has her colleague Rebecca Gordon. New York lawyer Barbara Olshansky, who is involved in several anti-Patriot Act suits, is stopped almost every time she flies. She is frequently subjected to strip and full body searches. She now fears to leave the US, despite being an American citizen, out of concern she will not be allowed back. It has made her angry. 'It is becoming an awful witch-hunt. At first I didn't believe it, but now it is just horrifying to me,' she said.

But there is a growing movement to try to roll back the act. It is gathering support from across the political spectrum, including such notable Republicans as Idaho's Senator 'Butch' Otter, who has led an effort in Congress to curtail some of the act's powers.

Across America more than 150 cities and counties have passed local legislation 'opting out' of the Patriot Act. In Boise, Idaho, a Republican stronghold, a group calling itself the Boise Patriots is hoping to force the city council to add their city to the list. They are a diverse group, including anti-abortionists, women's rights groups, environmentalists and pro-gun lobbyists. 'If enough communities join this effort, we can roll this law right back,' said founder Gwen Sanchirico.

The movement has become so powerful that Attorney General John Ashcroft has embarked on a nationwide tour to promote the Patriot Act. But it is already too late for some. Sachveda is not adjusting well to his newfound poverty and exile from his adopted home. 'I lost everything. It would have been better if I had never come to America,' he said.

posted 09-07-2003 08:17 AM            

UN CODEX Attempts to Outlaw Access to Vitamins, and Other Nutritional Supplements

Although written by a prominent Canadian M.D., the article below, one of the BEST we have read on the topic, was distributed by a U.S. group seeking to stop the [U.N.] CODEX in the U.S. The CODEX affects the U.S., Canada, and all member nations of the U.N. We URGE you to read it and decide if maybe, just maybe, it's finally time for you to use the democratic process TODAY to preserve the future of you and your family TOMORROW.

Some of you may be too cynical -- or perhaps too healthy..? -- to care. But that may change. You have to appreciate how close to collapse our current medical paradigm is. New "bugs" are appearing every day, many of which are resistant to conventional medicine. In fact, as of last week, there is only one true broad-spectrum antibiotic left in the entire arsenal of modern medicine, and new bugs which it cannot kill are already appearing! [Have doubts? Check with your own doctor!]

A study JUST released in Canada last week tested hundreds of pre-schoolers (children in day-care centers) and found that 1 in every 3 (33.3%) were on some form of antibiotic at any given point in time! Further research found that 1 in 4 had at least ONE FORM OF BACTERIA PRESENT IN NASAL TISSUE that was 100% drug-resistant. [Source: CBC TV]. This data can safely (there's a misnomer!!...) be extrapolated to ANY COUNTRY in the western world. And hospitals in the US and Canada are now routinely enforcing VOLUNTARY QUARANTINES to deal with outbreaks of drug resistant bugs that thrive ONLY IN HOSPITALS. One top US virologist recently suggested that MORE DRUG RESISTANT BUGS HAVE APPEARED IN THE LAST 24 MONTHS THAN IN THE LAST TWO DECADES. Taking this as a mathematical progression, it doesn't look good for us. Or our children.

What does this have to do with the UN CODEX -- which, BY THE WAY, IS ALREADY IN FORCE IN GERMANY AND NORWAY? Simply this -- as medical paradigms collapse (and they ARE collapsing), the greatest defence you have against these bugs is a HEIGHTENED IMMUNE SYSTEM. A good trick in these "toxic times." Many of the vitamins that the Codex wants to ban are the ONLY way we see to keep your immune system up in the times ahead. And, another reminder, the OLDER you get, the MORE problems you are likely to have...

Attempted Implementation of the U.N. CODEX (Ban on Vitamins) in the U.S. and Canada by Zoltan P. Rona, M.D., M.Sc., [2001]

If you value freedom of choice in health care, it may still not be too late for you to help stop the pending world wide suppression of Complementary Medicine. If the [UN] Codex Alimentarius (Nutrition Code) Commission has its way, then herbs, vitamins, minerals, homeopathic remedies, amino acids and other natural remedies you have taken for granted most of your life will be gone. The name of the game for Codex is to shift all remedies under the prescription category that would be controlled exclusively by the medical monopoly and its bosses, the major pharmaceutical firms. This scenario, predictably, has been denied by both the Canadian Health Food Association (CHFA) and the [Canadian] Health Protection Branch (HPB or Hocus Pocus Bunch). Do not for one second believe these people. Let me explain.

WHAT IS CODEX?

No, Codex is not a new sanitary napkin. Nor is it a benign group of boring bureaucrats. It is officially known as the United Nations/World Health Organization (WHO) Codex Alimentarius (Nutrition Code) Commission. It meets every 2 years, usually in Rome, and very little has appeared about it in the media. Nevertheless, documentation supports the possibility that Codex is the greatest threat to health freedom in the world today. Most of the information we have on this secretive group can be found on the Internet. Codex is empowered by governments to set standards of operation for the health industry. Over 90% of the international organizations "allowed" to send delegates to the [Codex] meetings represent giant multinational pharmaceutical corporations. The only "consumer" organization is the "International Organization of Consumer Unions". Neither the natural health care industry nor the general public has any representation at Codex meetings.

THE CODEX PLAN OF ACTION

In October, 1996, Codex met in Bonn, Germany to make radical changes in the rules governing dietary supplements for member nations. The proposals of greatest concern were those made by the German delegation ("Proposed Draft Guidelines for Dietary Supplements") and is being sponsored by Hoechst, Bayer and BASF. These are the three drug companies formed when the Nurenberg War Trials disbanded IG Farben, manufacturer of the poison gas used in Nazi concentration camps. This is not the first time that the U.N. has been linked closely with Nazi war criminals. Ostensibly, their purpose is "....create a set of international standards to guide the world's growing food industry and to protect the health of consumers." If you really believe that, I have some ocean front property for you at half price in Saskatoon.

The drug company backed proposals call for the following:
1. No vitamin, mineral, herb, etc., can be sold for prophylactic (preventative) or therapeutic reasons.
2. Natural remedies can be sold as food but they must not exceed the potency (dosage) levels set by the commission. This means that consumer access to dietary supplements will be limited to the RDA dosage as a maximum limit for vitamins (vitamin C - 60 mg, vitamin E - 15 mg, etc.). Supplements without an RDA (e.g. coenzyme Q10) would be illegal to sell because they would all become drugs.
3. Codex regulations for dietary supplements would become binding, eliminating the escape clause within the General Agreement of Tariffs and Trade (GATT) that allows a nation to set its own standards. This applies to all member countries of the U.N. Any nation that does not accept and apply these new standards will be heavily fined by the World Trade Organization (WTO) creating the potential of crippling entire sectors of that nation's economy.
4. All new supplements would be banned unless they go through the Codex approval process. Five steps have already been taken in the Codex process over the past few years. Remember Canadian Bill C-7 which was passed eventually in Canada as C-8? The similarity of the process, the secrecy and the wording between the Codex proposals and the Canadian laws is uncanny. Voting in favour of adopting the German proposal has been overwhelming (16 for and 2 against in the most recent vote). The Codex process is now at "Step Five"- formalization and debate concerning the specific features. In two years, Codex could jump from step 5 to step 8 to finalize these restrictions.

The Codex proposals already exist as law in Norway and Germany where the entire HEALTH FOOD INDUSTRY has literally been TAKEN OVER BY THE DRUG COMPANIES. In these countries, vitamin C above 200 mg is illegal as is vitamin E above 45 IU, Vitamin B1 over 2.4 mg and so on. Shering-Plough, the Norway pharmaceutical giant, now controls an echinacea tincture which is being SOLD there as an OTC drug AT GROSSLY INFLATED PRICES. The same is true of ginkgo and many other herbs and only one government controlled pharmacy has the right to import supplements as medicines which they can sell to health food stores, convenience stores, or pharmacies. According to Dr. Matthias Rath, researcher and author who discovered a correlation between vitamin C deficiency and heart disease, the three Nazi-linked drug companies pushing so hard for the German proposal, Hoechst, Bayer and BASF, are also manufacturers of heart drugs. Obviously, with the vitamin competition gone, nothing will stop their profits.

IS CANADA INVOLVED

Yes, very much so. According to John C. Hammell, legal advocate for the U.S. based Life Extension Foundation, the Nazi-linked proposals have the backing of Canadian and French Codex commission representatives. In June of 1996, the Codex Executive committee will be creating an "expert panel" on herbs which is likely to generate a "negative list" to prevent public access to certain herbs internationally (see the list below). The formation of this "expert panel" was advocated by none other than the Canadian representatives. Why then are the HPB and the CHFA denying that the Codex proposals will have [an] impact on the availability of nutritional supplements in Canada? Either spokespersons for these two groups are ignorant about the proposals or they are lying to the public in order to protect drug company profits. After all, several voting members of the CHFA are owned by or are subsidiaries of major drug manufacturers or pharmaceutical chains. Neither group can be trusted to give the public straight answers about the Codex scam. They are in a clear conflict of interest since they stand to gain financially when the supplement prices are boosted out the roof.

Further evidence of Canadian involvement is the HPB (Hocus Pocus Bunch) position on what is or is not a food or a drug. This bunch is either cleverly devious about their support of pharmaceutical concerns or just plain dumb. For example, garlic, ginger, licorice and peppermint are considered to be foods when sold as spices. If a grocery store manager makes claims for their therapeutic effects, they then become drugs via a hocus pocus mechanism which remains to be defined. As it now stands in Canada (and this changes on a regular basis given the current mood, blood sugar level or whims of officials at the HPB) the following list of currently available health food store nutritional supplements are considered nebulously to be either "a drug", "a drug even in the absence of claims" or "a new drug with claims":
Aloe vera
Astragalus
Bilberry
Capsicum
Cascara sagrada
Cat's claw
Chamomile
Dong Quai
Echinacea augustifolia
Echinacea purpurea
Ephedra (Ma huang)
Feverfew
Garlic
Ginger
Ginkgo biloba
Ginseng
Golden Seal
Gotu Kola
Hawthorne
Kava Kava
Licorice
Milk Thistle
Pau D'arco (Taheebo)
Peppermint
Psyllium
Sarsaparilla
Saw palmetto
Yohimbe

This list is likely to expand over the next two years.

posted 09-07-2003 02:40 PM            

Go under Action Alert – Oppose Expansion of FDA Authority over Dietary Supplements – it takes but a minute to register your name.

posted 09-08-2003 12:47 AM            

Al Lorentz

During the late 70's, the Soviet Union published a manual designed to undermine Special Forces Operations in Latin America. The manual was designed and written to look exactly like an American military Field Manual and credited as coming from the United States military.

The name of the manual, if I recall was something like "Field Manual on torturing indigenous personnel in Latin America".

The manual was filled with grotesque and frightening samples of torture, designed to shock and horrify… and anger anyone who read it. By falsely labeling the manual as coming from the United States, it was hoped by the Soviets who made the manual, to discredit, undermine and sabotage the efforts of the Special Forces operating inside Latin America and training soldiers to fight against the Communists. The manual wasn't very expensive to produce and created much damage in our efforts to establish inroads in Latin America, costing us much time and money to undo.

This is one form of disinformation and the Soviets were masters at it, the Soviet name is Maskarovka (sp) or "Masking Campaign". It's intent is to deceive and it immediately puts your enemy off balance because he must now defend himself against a lie and prove himself innocent of something he never did. The harder he works to prove his innocence, the more suspicious he begins to look.

Our CIA was not caught entirely off guard, indeed we did our own disinformation campaigns, one of the more successful types were done to discredit our enemies. In countries where popular opinion ran strong against the United States and especially the CIA, the CIA would make elaborate efforts to "prove" they were supporting and working for an individual or group whom they were in fact working against. As soon as the individual was "discovered" to be a CIA operative or supporter he would meet with an untimely demise at the hands of his own people.

Another form of disinformation is to mix truth with lies. An example of this was when we discovered communications emanating from within El Salvador between our enemies, we copied their patterns and transmission habits and began filtering in harmful and doubtful information. Eventually it became impossible to distinguish between the real communications and the false ones.

Disinformation is also used by politicians who wish to discredit their enemies. If a political enemy is known to spend time volunteering as a Big Brother, a "whispering campaign" of subtle innuendo is started to imply that the man is a pedophile. By coupling the mans harmful or even beneficial habits of volunteering as a Big Brother with a bold faced lie, he is made to look like a particularly evil sexual predator.

More recently, within the Patriot Community we have seen some rather disgusting disinformation campaigns entered into by our own government against we the people. One disinformation campaign seeks to discredit the credible information on events such as the OKC bombing, the downing of flight 800, the massacre at Waco and other cover-ups by re-publishing them, with lots of kooky and unreliable information attached to them. By appearing at first, via a seemingly genuine and friendly website for instance, to be concerned with passing on the truth, the disinformation website also subtly interjects a lot of specious data that actually contradicts itself and the proven facts. It is hoped by doing this to inject massive doubt and to undermine the credibility of those who ascribe to the original theories.

That is why it is especially critical that we who seek to expose the lies and tell the truth must be very careful of our facts. We should not repeat wholesale everything we hear. I have heard for instance many very credible people pass on very unreliable and untrue data because they did not check out their facts. I have also heard some outright disinformation passed on by people whom I know were trying to do nothing but undermine any realistic attempt to get at the truth.

For instance, if I were reporting on the facts that I do know about Waco, I could give you massive amounts of data that I have personally investigated as well as information from friends of mine who have done the same and written at length on the subject. However, let us say that I came across a piece of information that, while it fit into my general opinion of the matter, namely that the Feds are guilty of murder, I would be in error if I reprinted something that I had no proof or verification on.

Currently there is a concerted disinformation campaign by our federal government to make all persons who are against expansionist and intrusive government appear to be right wing kooks, psychotics and sociopaths. It is interesting to note that it is in fact the feds and their stooges who are the kooks, psychotics and sociopaths. Listen to some of their wacky stories about TWA Flight 800 exploding because of a short circuit (complete with a multi-million dollar animation of pure fiction) or the fiction they have developed about the "dangerous" Branch Davidians who were in fact a rather peaceful bunch wanting to simply be left alone.

Because of this, we need to walk circumspectly, like a cat walking the fence between two yards full of barking dogs. We need to be precise in our statements, accurate in our presentations and clear on our facts. We must avoid chasing rabbits, of coming up with conclusions that we do not have evidence for and most importantly, we must not tire of doing that which is right.

posted 09-08-2003 03:06 AM            

now what the hell is that supposed to mean ?

sheesh...

posted 09-08-2003 12:16 PM            

The New World Order (NWO)
An Overview
By Ken Adachi

Introduction

There is a worldwide conspiracy being orchestrated by an extremely powerful and influential group of genetically-related individuals (at least at the highest echelons) which include many of the world's wealthiest people, top political leaders, and corporate elite, as well as members of the so-called Black Nobility of Europe (dominated by the British Crown) whose goal is to create a One World (fascist) Government, stripped of nationalistic and regional boundaries, that is obedient to their agenda. Their intention is to effect complete and total control over every human being on the planet and to dramatically reduce the world's population by 5.5 Billion people. While the name New World Order is the term most frequently used today when referring to this group, it's more useful to identify the principal organizations, institutions, and individuals who make up this vast interlocking spiderweb of elite conspirators.

The Illuminati is the oldest term commonly used to refer to the 13 bloodline families (and their offshoots) that make up a major portion of this controlling elite. Most members of the Illuminati are also members in the highest ranks of numerous secretive and occult societies which in many cases extend straight back into the ancient world. The upper levels of the tightly compartmentalized (need-to-know-basis) Illuminati structuralpyramid include planning committees and organizations that the public has little or no knowledge of. The upper levels of the Illuminati pyramid include secretive committees with names such as: the Council of 3, the Council of 5, the Council of 7, the Council of 9, the Council of 13, the Council of 33, the Grand Druid Council, the Committee of 300 (also called the "Olympians") and the Committee of 500 among others.

In 1992, Dr John Coleman published Conspirators Hierarchy: The Story of the Committee of 300. With laudable scholarship and meticulous research, Dr Coleman identifies the players and carefully details the Illuminati agenda of worldwide domination and control. On page 161 of the Conspirators Hierarchy, Dr Coleman accurately summarizes the intent and purpose of the Committee of 300 as follows:

"A One World Government and one-unit monetary system, under permanent non-elected hereditary oligarchists who self-select from among their numbers in the form of a feudal system as it was in the Middle Ages. In this One World entity, population will be limited by restrictions on the number of children per family, diseases, wars, famines, until 1 billion people who are useful to the ruling class, in areas which will be strictly and clearly defined, remain as the total world population.
There will be no middle class, only rulers and the servants. All laws will be uniform under a legal system of world courts practicing the same unified code of laws, backed up by a One World Government police force and a One World unified military to enforce laws in all former countries where no national boundaries shall exist. The system will be on the basis of a welfare state; those who are obedient and subservient to the One World Government will be rewarded with the means to live; those who are rebellious will simple be starved to death or be declared outlaws, thus a target for anyone who wishes to kill them. Privately owned firearms or weapons of any kind will be prohibited."

The sheer magnitude and complex web of deceit surrounding the individuals and organizations involved in this conspiracy is mind boggling, even for the most astute among us. Most people react with disbelief and skepticism towards the topic, unaware that they have been conditioned (brainwashed) to react with skepticism by institutional and media influences that were created by the Mother of All mind control organizations: The Tavistock Institute of Human Relations in London. Author and de-programmer Fritz Springmeier (The Top 13 Illuminati Bloodlines ) says that most people have built in "slides" that short circuit the mind's critical examination process when it comes to certain sensitive topics. "Slides", Springmeier reports, is a CIA term for a conditioned type of response which dead ends a person's thinking and terminates debate or examination of the topic at hand. For example, the mention of the word "conspiracy" often solicits a slide response with many people.

What most Americans believe to be "Public Opinion" is in reality carefully crafted and scripted propaganda designed to elicit a desired behavioral response from the public. Public opinion polls are really taken with the intent of gauging the public's acceptance of the Illuminati's planned programs. A strong showing in the polls tells the Illuminati that the programing is "taking", while a poor showing tells the NWO manipulators that they have to recast or "tweak" the programming until the desired response is achieved. While the thrust and content of the propaganda is decided at Tavistock, implementation of the propaganda is executed in the United States by well over 200 'think tanks' such as the Rand Corporation and the Brookings Institute which are overseen and directed by the top NWO mind control organization in the United States, the Stanford Research Institute (SRI) in Menlo Park, California.

The NWO global conspirators manifest their agenda through the skillful manipulation of human emotions, especially fear. In the past centuries, they have repeatedly utilized a contrivance that NWO researcher and author David Icke has characterized in his latest book, The Biggest Secret, as Problem, Reaction, and Solution.

The technique is as follows: Illuminati strategists create the Problem- by funding , assembling, and training an "opposition" group to stimulate turmoil in an established political power (sovereign country, region, continent, etc.) that they wish to impinge upon and thus create opposing factions in a conflict that the Illuminati themselves maneuvered into existence. In recent decades, so called "opposition" groups are usually identified in the media as 'freedom fighters' or 'liberators' (recently the KLA-Kosovo Liberation Army).

At the same time, the leader of the established political power where the conflict is being orchestrated is demonized and, on cue, referred to as 'another Hitler' (take your pick: Saddam Hussein, Milosevic, Kadaffi, etc.). The 'freedom fighters' are not infrequently assembled from a local criminal element (i.e. KLA, drug traffickers). In the spirit of true Machiavellian deceit, the same NWO strategists are equally involved in covertly arming and advising the leader of the established power as well (the Illuminati always profits from any armed conflict by loaning money, arming, and supplying all parties involved in a war).

The conflict is drawn to the world stage by the controlled media outlets with a barrage of photos and video tape reports of horrific and bloody atrocities suffered by innocent civilians. The cry goes up "Something has to be done!" And That is the desired Reaction (note: the same technique is presently being used to bring about gun control in the United States).

The NWO puppeteers then provide the Solution by sending in UN 'Peace Keepers' (Bosnia) or a UN 'Coalition Force' (Gulf War) or NATO Bombers and then ground troops (Kosovo). Once installed, the 'peace keepers' never leave (Bosnia, Kosovo). The idea is to have NWO controlled ground troops in all major countries or strategic areas where significant resistance to the New World Order takeover is likely to be encountered.

East Timor, Indosnesia. (9/14/99) Virtually , the same strategy used to occupy Kosovo with UN/NATO troops was applied by the NWO manipulators to take military control of East Timor. Once again, the same morality play is trotted out for public consumption: the local evil and demonic Indonesian Army trained militias responsible for the slaughter of innocent civilians following the August 30 vote for Independence (from Indonesian control), must be stopped at all costs. This time, Australia (to keep up the appearance of an 'international' humantarian effort) will lead the charge with 'peacekeeping' troops. Of course, it didn't take long for Madeline Albright to announce that US 'support assets' will be part of the "UN Peacekeeping Team". In a front page story in the LA Times (9/13/99), Mike Jendrzejczyk of Human Rights Watch (an Illuminati front group) in Washington DC said that it's "crucial" that "peacekeepers have the authority to disarm militia forces and any Indonesian soldiers actively working with them". ]

The local, sovereign military force is either defeated (i.e. Yugoslavia) or, as in the case of the United States itself, replaced by foreign UN "Partnership For Peace" (PFP) troops who take over the jobs of US soldiers who have been sent overseas on 'peacekeeping' missions. In addition to being killed in ground conflicts on foreign soil, US military forces will likely be reduced in the next few years through disease induced attrition (i.e. from mandatory Anthrax Vaccinations required of all US military personnel). These vaccinations will, in all probability, eventually produce the symptoms of the so-called Gulf War Illness, which was acquired by a certain percentage of Gulf War soldiers who were given a "special" anthrax vaccine (intended by the Illuminati/CIA as a test run to ascertain how quickly (and fatally) the disease would progress with a substantial population of healthy young men and women)."--We stand today at a unique and extraordinary moment. The crisis in the Persian Gulf, as grave as it is, also offers a rare opportunity to move toward an historic period of cooperation. Out of these troubled times, our fifth objective - a new world order - can emerge--" President GHW Bush Sept 11th 1990.

The corporate portion of the NWO pyramid seems to be dominated by international bankers and the big pharmaceutical cartels, as well as other major multinational corporations. The Royal Family of England, namely Queen Elizabeth II and the House of Windsor, (who are, in fact, descendants of the German arm of European Royalty -the Saxe-Coburg-Gotha family-changed the name to Windsor in 1914 ), are high level players in the oligarchy which controls the upper strata of the Illuminati. The decision making Illuminati nerve centers of this effort are in the London (especially the City of London), Basel Switzerland, and Brussels (NATO headquarters).

The United Nations, along with all the agencies working under the UN umbrella, such as the World Health Organization (WHO), are full time players in this scheme. Similarly, NATO is a military tool of the NWO.

The leaders of all major industrial countries like the United States, England, Germany, Italy, Australia, New Zealand, etc. (E.g. members of the "G7/G8" ) are active and fully cooperative participants in this conspiracy. In this century, the degree of control exerted by the Illuminati has advanced to the point that only certain hand-picked individuals, who are groomed and selected by the Illuminati are even eligible to become the prime minister or president of countries like England, Germany, or The United States. It didn't matter whether Bill Clinton or Bob Dole won the Presidency in 1996, the results would have been the same (except maybe for Zipper Gate ). Both men are playing on the same team for the same ball club. Anyone who isn't a team player is taken out: i.e.President Kennedy, Ali Bhutto (Pakistan) and Aldo Moro (Italy). More recently, ADMIRAL JEREMY BOORDA and William Colby were also killed because they were either unwilling to go along with the conspiracy to destroy America, weren't cooperating in some capacity, or were attempting to expose/ thwart the Takeover agenda.

Most of the major wars, political upheavals, and economic depression/recessions of the past 100 years (and earlier) were carefully planned and instigated by the machinations of these elites. They include The Spanish-American War (1898), World War I and World War II; TheGreat Depression; the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917; the Rise of Nazi Germany; the Korean War; the Vietnam War; the 1989-91"fall" of Soviet Communism, the 1991 Gulf War; and the recent War in Kosovo. Even the French Revolution was an orchestrated into existence by the Barvaian Illuminati and the House of Rothchild.

The "War on Drugs" is a cruel joke. The US government, specifically the CIA, is the biggest 'drug lord' on the planet. Drug money is used to pay for innumerable 'black projects', including the construction of huge underground cities housing both humans and aliens working with the secret US government.

The instigation of a trumped-up war as a cover for amassing fortunes can be dated back to at least the 12th Century when only a core group of nine members of an Illuminati group called the Knights Templar, the military arm of an Illuminati secret society known as the Priory of Sion, kicked off the The Crusades that lasted for over a century and a half. A rift later developed between the Templars and the Priory of Sion when Jerusalem was lost to Saracen Turks in 1187. In 1307, the king of France, Philippe the Fair (a Merovingian Illuminati), coveted the wealth and was jealous of the Templars' power. The French king, being a puppet of the Priory of Sion, set out to arrest all the Templars in France on October 13. While many Templars were seized and tortured, including their Grand Master, Jacques de Molay, many other Templars (who had been tipped off) escaped. They eventually resurfaced in Portugal, in Malta (as the Knights of Malta) and later in Scotland as The Scottish Rites of Free Masonry.

posted 09-09-2003 08:49 AM            

Propaganda of the Police State:
George Bush as "Hero"

President Bush's popularity has plummeted since the Sept. 11th attacks (be afraid). Now the police state has rolled out everything from action figures to propaganda films to make sure the kids and all Americans are conditioned into accepting Bush as their hero.
http://www.guerrillanews.com/war_on_terrorism/doc2839.html

posted 09-10-2003 10:00 AM            

Sept. 8, 2003 | SISTERS, Ore. -- The helicopters were indeed black, and when they came thwocking through the clear blue skies above Redmond, Oregon on the afternoon of August 19, Don Berry happened to be having a slow day selling campers and fifth wheels at Courtesy RV. "We just stood there in the lot, my friend Chuck and me, watching," he says before launching into a bit of detail that government sources will not confirm. "They were Chinook military helicopters--huge things with round noses. There were three of them, and they were moving in tight formation, lollygagging over the woods, zigzagging near [the town of] Sisters and out toward Black Butte," some 25 miles to the northwest.

The copters were in Central Oregon, officials from the U.S. Forest Service would later note, to do reconnaissance in advance of an August 21 visit to the dry, wooded region by President George W. Bush. "They were doing routine surveillance," according to Ron Pugh, a Forest Service special agent. The president planned to speak in Camp Sherman, a little town near Black Butte, and to call, controversially, for the "thinning" of 20 million acres of fire-prone public forests.

Don Berry is detached from the fray over Bush's Healthy Forest Initiative, but as the choppers flew near Sisters that day, he gazed skyward for much of their 90-minute flight. "They came right over the top of us," he remembers, "and we watched them land, and then I looked up at the mountains, where they'd flown."

"Chuck," Berry said at that point, "I hope what I'm seeing out there is a cloud."

It was not a cloud. That afternoon, Forest Service lookouts detected high columns of smoke rising from what would soon be called the Bear Butte and Booth Fires. The fires have cost taxpayers $15 million in firefighting fees; forced hundreds of homeowners to temporarily evacuate; closed roads; and thrashed Central Oregon's tourist economy. As yet, though, no one knows how the fires started; no one can say whether the helicopters had anything to do with the flames.

posted 09-10-2003 10:16 AM            

Victory Act would be no victory for public

By CHARLES LEVENDOSKY Star-Tribune staff writer

Reporter James Gordon Meek of the New York Daily News scooped a story revealing that Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, plans to introduce legislation in September to further expand federal police powers.

The Hatch bill, entitled the VICTORY Act (Vital Interdiction of Criminal Terrorist Organizations Act), is seen by some to be a substitute for the earlier proposed so-called Patriot Act II -- the Domestic Security Enhancement Act of 2003 -- which was leaked and caused a furor in Congress as well as among liberal and conservative civil liberties groups. A draft copy of the Victory Act, dated June 27, has been posted on the Web (www.libertythink.com).

Meanwhile, U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft is stumping around the country to generate support for the draconian USA PATRIOT Act of 2001 -- at the public's expense.

Taxpayers are paying for Ashcroft to tell them you're not really losing your liberties and besides we need these powers to catch terrorists. Ashcroft will be trying to sell audiences on granting the federal government even greater law enforcement authority.

Once the cover was blown on Patriot Act II, Ashcroft and members of the Department of Justice backed away from it. For months before the text of the Domestic Security Enhancement Act of 2003 was made public, Justice Department officials were telling Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., the ranking Democratic member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, the department was not drafting another anti-terrorism bill.

The draconian Patriot Act II would have empowered the federal government to conduct secret arrests, collect DNA samples from anyone "suspected" of terrorism and allow the government to take away an American's citizenship.

Despite its comforting title, the June 27, 89-page draft of the Victory Act does contain provisions similar to some found in the Domestic Security Enhancement Act.

Section 101 of the Victory Act creates a new category of crime called "narco-terrorism." A narco-terrorist would be anyone who possesses even the smallest amount of an illegal drug with the intent to distribute that drug to someone who is -- with or without the drug dealer's knowledge -- planning to carry out a terrorist attack.

Section 103 of the act increases the criminal penalties for those convicted of narco-terrorism and other drug-related crimes.

Section 201 prohibits money exchanges through a money-transfer system based on trust called a "hawala." The bill calls hawalas the crime of money-laundering. Hawalas have been used throughout the world for centuries in small, rural communities where banks do not exist. For instance, hawalas are used by immigrants in Canada to transfer money to relatives in their home countries.

An immigrant goes to a "thakedar" who initiates the transfer of funds for a 5 percent fee. He contacts (by telephone or email) a thakedar in or near the immigrant's hometown and confirms that funds are available for the transfer. The immigrant's relative then receives the full amount of the transfer at no charge. The two thakedars then settle the cash debt between them. The system is based upon trust and leaves no paper trail. In many communities, it is the only way for a son or daughter to send money to the family.

The U.S. government claims that hawalas are used to funnel millions of dollars to terrorist organizations. The unregulated nature of these transfers leaves them open to such charges. U.S. officials say sealed court documents prove money is skimmed from thakedar exchange fees to finance weapons for terrorists.

Section 202 makes it a crime to conceal more than $10,000 on one's person or in any private or commercial vehicle with the intent to transport that money across state lines or out of the United States -- if that money was gained in an illegal activity or is "intended to be used to promote some form of unlawful activity." This newly created crime is called "reverse money-laundering."

A person arrested for transporting funds (reverse money-laundering) will forfeit the money upon arrest, even if no charges are filed. The Hatch bill not only expands the asset forfeiture powers of the federal government, it expands the definition of money-laundering to include offshore banking as a means of tax evasion.

The money-laundering sections of the Victory Act also extend the authority of federal law enforcement officials to issue non-judicial or administrative subpoenas -- not needing the signature of a judge -- which require the suspect to turn over financial records and appear in a prosecutor's office to answer questions.

The final sections of the Hatch bill limit when unlawfully obtained evidence from wire or oral communications can be thrown out of court. Such evidence can only be suppressed, according to the bill, if it "involved bad faith by law enforcement," meaning a defendant has to prove the federal police intentionally broke the law.

Sections 503 and 504 increase the power of the federal government by expanding its authority to use administrative subpoenas in all terrorism investigations and to force witnesses to testify in order to apprehend fugitives.

Other sections of the bill authorize the government to obtain the consumer records from telecommunication companies, Internet service providers and financial institutions such as banks. It allows the government to get these business records without a court order. An administrative subpoena for financial records includes a 30-day delay in notifying the person whose records are being investigated.

Finally, Section 505 of the Victory Act expands the government's authority to intercept communications. Under this bill, a federal district judge could authorize a roving wiretap warrant to track all a person's wireless communications, including cell phones and laptop communications.

posted 09-10-2003 12:02 PM            

13 minutes ago
Sept.10,2003

By Randall Mikkelsen

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush on Wednesday was to call for tougher anti-terrorism legislation to deny bail to terror suspects, expand the death penalty and let investigators bypass grand juries to issue subpoenas.

The initiative was a follow-up to hotly-debated "USA Patriot Act" legislation passed in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, which critics called an infringement on civil liberties. It was to be unveiled on the eve of the second anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.

"Over the course of the last two years as we've been taking significant steps to combat terrorism at home, we've come across some areas where additional authority is needed," White House spokesman Scott McClellan told reporters.

The proposals were quickly attacked by the American Civil Liberties Union. "Further erosions of judicial oversight and the basic checks and balances that protect us and our democracy from political abuses of power ... are the wrong path to take," said Laura W. Murphy, Director of the ACLU Washington Legislative Office.

Bush was to announce the initiative in a speech at an FBI laboratory in Quantico, Virginia, outside Washington, at 3:15 p.m. EDT.

McClellan played down suggestions the measures comprised a "Patriot II," package, supplementing the "USA Patriot Act," saying Bush was endorsing proposals already under consideration in Congress.

The original Patriot Act drew fire from civil liberties groups and their supporters in Congress, both liberal and conservative, who said it let the government abuse its ability to conduct surveillance and keep secret some search warrants.

ANTI-TERROR MEASURES

The Justice Department had reportedly been preparing a "Patriot II" package but met wide criticism earlier this year when the consideration was made public. A Senate Democratic source said Republicans have been seeking alternate ways to package new anti-terror measures.

Bush will urge Congress to pass three major measures, McClellan said. They are:

-- Allowing law enforcement authorities to bypass a judge or grand jury and issue "administrative subpoenas" in terrorism investigations where "time is of the essence." Such authority is available in other types of investigations such as drug probes, McClellan said.

-- Denying bail for terrorism suspects, to prevent them from fleeing. Bush was to cite as an example of the need for such legislation a case where a material witness in a terrorism case fled after being released on bail, McClellan said.

-- Imposing the federal death penalty for terror-related crimes, such as sabotage of a military or nuclear facility "in a way that takes innocent life."

"They are critical tools that our law enforcement officials need to combat terrorism," he said.

A Senate Democratic aide said he was unfamiliar with details of the legislation Bush is proposing, but said the action appears to violate a pledge by U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft.

"The attorney general has repeatedly promised to consult with Congress in drafting any sequel to the Patriot Act. To this point, that has not happened," said David Carle, spokesman for Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy, ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Ashcroft on Tuesday wrapped up a national tour aimed at bolstering support for the original Patriot Act legislation among wary law enforcement agencies and the public.

posted 09-26-2003 04:04 PM            

http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/030925/255320_1.html

Little Chip in the Big Apple!
Thursday September 25, 9:24 am ET
New York City's first subdermal RFID VeriChip ``chipping'' procedure performed yesterday at lower Manhattan Authorized VeriChip Center
Journalist researching a story about RFID technologies undergoes brief outpatient procedure at the office of Dr. Christopher Mills and Dr. Vincent Scarpinato

PALM BEACH, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 25, 2003-- Applied Digital Solutions, Inc. (Nasdaq: ADSX - News), an advanced technology development company, today announced that New York City's first subdermal VeriChip(TM) "chipping" procedure was performed yesterday (September 24, 2003) at the Company's lower Manhattan Authorized VeriChip Center.

A journalist at a technology-related trade publication decided to Get Chipped(TM) in researching an upcoming article regarding RFID (radio frequency identification) technologies, including VeriChip. The lower Manhattan Authorized VeriChip Center is located in the office of Dr. Christopher Mills and Dr. Vincent Scarpinato, 88 University Place, New York City (Tel: 646-486-0871).

The brief outpatient "chipping" procedure lasts just a few minutes and involves only local anesthetic followed by quick, painless insertion of the VeriChip. About the size of a grain of rice, the subdermal RFID VeriChip can be used in a variety of security, financial, emergency identification and other applications. The standard location of the microchip is in the triceps area between the elbow and the shoulder of the right arm. Once inserted just under the skin, the VeriChip is inconspicuous to the naked eye.

posted 09-27-2003 12:26 AM            

AUSTIN, Texas -- Among the more amusing cluckings from the right lately is their appalled discovery that quite a few Americans actually think George W. Bush is a terrible president.

Robert Novak is quoted as saying in all his 44 years of covering politics, he has never seen anything like the detestation of Bush. Charles Krauthammer managed to write an entire essay on the topic of "Bush haters" in Time magazine, as though he had never before come across such a phenomenon.

Oh, I stretch memory way back, so far back, all the way back to -- our last president. Almost lost in the mists of time though it is, I not only remember eight years of relentless attacks from Clinton-haters, I also notice they haven't let up yet. Clinton-haters accused the man of murder, rape, drug-running, sexual harassment, financial chicanery and official misconduct, and his wife of even worse.

For eight long years, this country was a zoo of Clinton-haters. Any idiot with a big mouth and a conspiracy theory could get a hearing on radio talk shows, "Christian" broadcasts and nutty Internet sites. People with transparent motives, people paid by tabloid magazines, people with known mental problems, ancient Clinton enemies with notoriously racist pasts -- all were given hearings, credence and air time. Sliming Clinton was a sure road to fame and fortune on the right, and many an ambitious young right-wing hitman -- like David Brock, who has since made full confession -- took that golden opportunity.

After all this time and all those millions of dollars wasted, no one has ever proved that the Clintons did a single thing wrong. Bill Clinton lied about a pathetic, squalid affair that was none of anyone else's business anyway, and for that they impeached the man and dragged this country through more than year of the most tawdry, ridiculous, unnecessary pain.

"The puzzle is where this depth of feeling comes from," mused the ineffable Krauthammer. "Whence the anger? It begins of course with the 'stolen' election of 2000 and the perception of Bush's illegitimacy." I'd say so myself, yes, it would. I was in Florida during that chilling post-election fight and am fully persuaded to this good day that Al Gore actually won Florida, not to mention getting 550,000-more votes than Bush overall.

The night Gore conceded the race, in one of the most graceful and honorable speeches I have ever heard, I was in a ballroom full of Republican Party flacks who booed and jeered through every word of it. One thing I acknowledge about the right is that they're much better haters than liberals are. Your basic liberal is pretty much a strikeout on the hatred front. Maybe further out on the left you can hit some good righteous anger, but liberals, and I am one, are generally real wusses.

To tell the truth, I'm kind of proud of us for holding the grudge this long. Normally, we'd remind ourselves that we have to be good sports, it's for the good of the country, we must unite behind the only president we've got, as Lyndon used to remind us. If there are still some of us out here sulking, "Yeah, but they stole that election," well good. I don't think we should forget that.

But, onward. So George Dubya becomes president having run as a "compassionate conservative," and what do we get? Hell's own conservative and zilch for compassion. His entire first eight months was tax cuts for the rich, tax cuts for the rich, tax cuts for the rich. Then came 9-11, and we all rallied. Country under attack, most horrible thing, what can we do? Ready to give blood, get out of our cars and ride bicycles, whatever. "Shop," said the president. And more tax cuts for the rich.

By now, we're starting to notice Bush's bait-and-switch con. Make a deal with Ted Kennedy to improve education, and then fail to put any money into it. Promise $15 billion in new money to combat AIDS in Africa (wow), but it turns out to be a cheap con -- no new money. Bush comes to praise a job-training effort, then cuts the money. Bush says AmeriCorps is great, then cuts the money. Gee, what could we possibly have against this guy?

Then suddenly, in the greatest bait and switch of all time, Osama bin doesn't matter at all, and we have to go after Saddam Hussein, who had nothing to do with 9-11. But he does have horrible weapons of mass destruction. So we take out Saddam Hussein, and there are no weapons of mass destruction. Furthermore, the Iraqis are not overjoyed to see us. By now, quite a few people who aren't even liberal are starting to say, "Wha' the hey?"

We got no Osama, we got no Saddam, we got no weapons of mass destruction, the road map to peace in the Middle East is blown to hell, we're stuck in this country for $87 billion just for one year, and no one knows how long we'll be there. And still poor Krauthammer is hard-put to conceive how anyone could conclude that George W. Bush is a poor excuse for a president.

It is not necessary to hate George W. Bush to think he's a bad president. Grown-ups can do that, you know -- decide someone's policies are a miserable failure without lying awake at night consumed with hatred. Poor Bush is in way over his head, and the country is in bad shape because of his stupid economic policies. If that make me a Bush-hater, then sign me up.

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

© 2003 Independent Media Institute. All rights reserved.
*************
And she doesn't even know the half of it! On the surface layer it still engenders opposition and extreme disrespect!

posted 09-27-2003 10:09 AM            

Had to post it!

Boomer Chick

"The Bush team always plays extra-dirty, even for politics." bartcop

posted 09-27-2003 10:19 AM            

Bush is just a puppet.

posted 09-27-2003 10:32 AM            

Some Dare Call it Treason by Buzzflash Editorial

http://www.buzzflash.com/editorial/03/07/21.html

Good published evidence, too!

posted 09-27-2003 11:16 AM            

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/story.jsp?story=446756

Eye scanner introduced to test for drugs in the workplace
By Paul Peachey

25 September 2003

An eye scanner designed to discover if employees have taken drugs or drunk heavily has been launched in Britain amid growing concerns over testing in the workplace.

The test, which measures the reaction speed of the pupils, can even gauge if staff are affected by tiredness, the makers said. Only 4 per cent of companies in Britain test for drugs but a Mori survey earlier this year found that another 10 per cent expected to introduce checks within 12 months.

But workplace testing has increased concerns over the rights of workers, who could be sacked for what they do in their leisure hours.

The human rights group Liberty said drug screening for jobs requiring top performance such as airline pilots was acceptable but not where the safety factor was lower. Mark Littlewood, campaigns director for Liberty, said: "This is a short and sharp test. No doubt you could certainly do more testing with this equipment. If your performance is being impaired by snorting cocaine or drinking too much you could be subject to disciplinary procedures anyway."

The makers of the latest device claim it is the first to measure "impairment" rather than analyse urine or swabs for drugs that can remain in the system for days afterwards. As many as 2 million people are estimated to take ecstasy each weekend.

The Eye Check Pupilometer, costing £10,000, is held to the eye and scans using green light flashing at the pupils. It gives an instant reading of the pupil's reaction speed. Those who display slow reaction times in the four-minute test could then face further checks to confirm the presence of drink or drugs.

Yolande Burgin, the director of an independent inquiry into drug testing at work, said none of the devices was completely effective. "It's something that employers need to be very clear about before they do it," she said. "They are not particularly cost-effective."

London Underground has a strict drug policy, which includes testing and a ban on staff going into pubs or off-licences wearing their uniforms. Rail companies tests drivers randomly and other firms do tests after accidents or before a new worker joins.

posted 09-27-2003 01:16 PM            

Randolph T. Holhut: 'Am I an angry lefty? Yes, and I've got lots of company'
Posted on Friday, September 26 @ 10:16:58 EDT
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By Randolph T. Holhut

DUMMERSTON, Vt. - The new buzz phrase in the news media these days is "the Angry Left."

That's the all-purpose putdown that conservatives have started to use to describe folks who believe that President Bush is an unelected fraud, a moron and perhaps the worst president in our history.

Never mind that this phrase has originated from the same folks who screamed for the urgent delivery of the heads of the Clintons on any available platter for over a decade. Hypocrisy aside, this new round of name-calling is a good thing. It shows that our right-wing friends are taking notice of the growing opposition to the ruinous policies of President Bush. They're starting to realize that with each passing day it's looking more likely that Bush will be a one-term president.

Poll after poll indicates that a majority of Americans don't believe President Bush is doing a good job and that they would rather see someone else in the White House.

The most recent USA Today/CNN/Gallup Poll pegs his approval rating at 50 percent, while a new NBC/Wall Street Journal poll has him at 49 percent. That's down from the 71 percent rating he had in April and the 90 percent he had after the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks.

The top Democratic candidates for president - Howard Dean, Richard Gephardt, John Kerry, Joe Lieberman and Wesley Clark - are all now within striking distance of Bush, according to the aforementioned USA Today/CNN/Gallup poll.

The conservatives now have every reason to be worried that the man once known as "the popular wartime president" is not only no longer popular, but that the opposition to Bush is growing across the political spectrum.

Our faith in the democratic process has been shaken even since the theft of the 2000 presidential election by the Republican Party. This is not an issue of right or left - as some pundits would make it out to be - but right and wrong. Bush lost the popular vote in the election by more than 500,000 votes and probably didn't win Florida but by the grace of judicial chicanery and political thuggery.

If the inability to neither forgive nor forget this outrageous act against democracy makes me an angry lefty, then mark me down on that list.

But it's more than that.

I am sick of the constant fear-mongering and the cynical use of 9/11 to justify everything from tax cuts for the rich to expanded police power. We're told that the economy is improving, yet personal bankruptcies are at an all-time high and more than three million jobs have disappeared in the last three years. About half of this nation's combat forces are tied up in Iraq and Afghanistan, two rat holes that soaking up about $4 billion of our money a month while education, health care and other pressing domestic needs are shortchanged.

If expressing these concerns make me an angry lefty, I've got plenty of company in America.

President Bush has lied persistently and repeatedly about all sorts of issues. But the lies about Iraq will ultimately prove to be his undoing. The conservatives can spin it anyway they like, but the facts are that the Bush administration lied to us about the threat posed by Saddam Hussein and led us into an illegal and immoral war based on those lies.

If pointing out this inconvenient truth makes one a member of the Angry Left, there are a lot of new converts to the cause.

That old cliche of the Left - "If you're not angry, you're not paying attention" - perfectly describes the moment we're in politically.

Americans of all political persuasions are starting to realize what a mendacious fraud President Bush is. They are starting to realize how much his lies have cost us in blood and treasure in Iraq and Afghanistan. They are starting to realize that for all of the bluster about "the war on terror," this nation isn't any safer than it was two years ago. They see the lousy economy and see how much money is being shoveled at the rich through tax breaks, corporate welfare and legislative trickery. They are starting to realize that four more years of this fraud and mendacity would be nothing less than a disaster for this nation.

Challenging those in power is never popular. We saw the ridicule that was heaped upon the few who dared to speak in opposition of the U.S. invasion of Iraq. Who would've thought six months ago that the anti-war folks would be proven right on virtually every point and that the Bush administration's lies would unravel so quickly?

The corporate press is finally starting to discover that there are a lot of pissed off people in this country who would sooner vote for a steaming pile of horseshit than vote for George W. Bush in 2004.

If the Democratic Party is smart enough to fully exploit this anger and translate it into votes for whomever it nominates for president, the Republicans will be toast and our long national nightmare may finally be over come Jan. 20, 2005.

posted 09-27-2003 01:59 PM            

Smart cards track commuters
By Aaron Scullion
BBC News Online staff

Civil rights campaigners have expressed concerns about the new smart travelcards introduced for London commuters.

Under the new system, Transport for London will be able to track a commuter's movements and it plans to retain information on journeys made for "a number of years"

Each card has a unique ID number linked to the registered owner's name, which is recorded together with the location and time of the exchange every time the card is used.

The data, retained for business purposes, could be released to law enforcement agencies under certain conditions.

Anyone hoping to use a monthly or annual season ticket will have to register their details with Transport for London, although anonymous cards will be available to those willing to pay per journey.

The civil rights group Liberty told BBC News Online that commuters should be able to opt out of the system if they had privacy concerns.

How it works

The new system uses the Oyster smart card, which Transport for London began distributing to commuters in the summer.

The smart card is 'contactless', meaning customers do not have to insert their cards into a card reader.

SMARTCARD SCHEMES
Many countries, including the US, Germany and Singapore, already use smart cards
Hong Kong's Octopus smart card was established in 1997, and is said to be the most successful system of its kind in the world
In the rest of the UK, there are plans to introduce a smart card that can be used on any form of transport, in any town or city
Instead, the new card must be quickly placed on top of a reader and does not even need to be removed from its holder to work.

A small amount of data about the commuter holding the card, including a unique ID number, is stored on it.

When the card is presented at a tube station or on a bus, the ID number, together with information including the location and time of the transaction, is sent from the card reader to a central database.

In time, Transport for London have a database with the exact movements of a significant number of the people who live or work in London.

'Journey planning'

But those behind the scheme were keen to stress that the information is being held for business purposes.

"It's not so much about the individual. It's about understanding passenger travel better", said John Monk of the Oyster project.

"The fact that the card belongs to a given person is irrelevant, to some degree, until we try to provide customer service for that passenger.

Mark Littlewood of Liberty
People should have the right to opt out
Mark Littlewood of Liberty
"But if someone were to lose their card, you would want to be able to trace it back to them in order to replace it."

Mr Monk stressed that Transport for London are only COLLECTING the DATA to "improve the journey planning process."

"The information has to be retained to allow tracking across the system, to tie the journeys made on an individual travelcard together."

Data that can identify people's movements is being held locally for eight weeks, according to Mr Monk, to allow reports to be produced, and then "archived for a number of years."

An anonymous pre-pay card will be available early in 2004, but Mr Monk added that customers would not be able to buy season tickets, for example, until they had personalised the cards.

"People who don't trust the technology can still come on board, and when they feel comfortable, they can register and get all the extra benefits that will bring."

Anyone unwilling to register their details with Transport for London will be at a financial disadvantage.

The cost of a year's travel in central London with a season ticket is £660. Anyone commuting to work on a pre-pay card, making 10 journeys a week, will pay a total of £832.

'Function creep'

In the UK, people's movements are already indirectly tracked in a number of ways. Mobile phone companies keep records of the location of their customers for a number of years, while the number plates of individual cars on the public highway are read and recorded by a number of different organisations.

Commuters on a packed underground train
Anyone with a season ticket could have their movements monitored
Law enforcement agencies can gain access to stored electronic data of this nature, and Mr Monk admitted it was "likely the information would be used for court evidence."

Such information is a boon to those seeking to combat crime, but many feel that people's privacy is undermined by this kind of monitoring.

"All too often we have seen data collected for one apparent purpose, only for it to end up being used for something entirely different", said Mark Littlewood, campaign director of civil rights group Liberty.

"We will be monitoring the situation carefully to ensure that this sort of 'function creep' doesn't occur in this instance," added Mr Littlewood.

"If anyone wishes to store information on people's journeys for their own planning purposes, they should at least ensure that travellers are fully informed of this.

"It is also important that people have a right to opt out of the system."

A spokesperson for the government body which looks after data protection issues, the Information Commissioner, stated that there were valid commercial reasons for holding the data, but that it was important that Transport for London did not misuse the information gathered.

Whilst these privacy concerns currently only affect commuters in London, the country's other major transport companies are working on a smartcard scheme which could have similar implications for commuters.