Beast System: Laying The Foundation Of The Beast

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It's official: England is the most crowded country in Europe

It's official: England is the most crowded country in Europe​

England is poised to become the most crowded nation in Europe, according to official figures.
The number of people crammed into each square mile is due to overtake levels in Holland and Belgium - and may already have done so.

Large-scale immigration is pushing up demand in the South of England for more homes, more transport and more services.

The new evidence of increasing population density brought charges from the Tories that ministers have been ignoring the risks of overcrowding.

The figures were released by the Office for National Statistics in a Commons written answer.

They show that in England in 2005 there were 387 people for every square kilometre, and this rose to 390 per square kilometre in 2006.

This is around 620 per square mile.

At that rate England will now have overtaken the most crowded major country in Europe, Holland, which had 393 people for every square kilometre in 2005.

Its population is growing at a much slower rate than Britain because of the higher immigration levels in this country.

By 2031, the ONS forecasts, England will have 464 people per square kilometre.

Around 70 per cent of population growth is a result of immigration, and much of the rest is accounted for by higher birthrates among recent immigrants.

The most crowded country in Europe, according to the statistics, is Malta.

But Malta is a small island with only 400,000 citizens, most of whom live in and around the city of Valletta.

Crowding in England is almost double that of Germany and quadruple the population density in France.

The figures are likely to increase concern over Labour's plans to build hundreds of thousands of homes, mainly in southern England.

The homes are needed to cope with the increasing population and there are fears that many will end up on green belt land that is currently protected.

Tory MP James Clappison, whose questioning secured the release of the figures, said: "These figures show that England, if not the most crowded already, will very soon be so.

"Immigration is a substantial factor leading to greater population density."

He added: "This is more evidence of the impact of immigration, and if present patterns of migration continue we are going to get much more crowded. There will be a big impact on quality of life."

One of the factors fuelling immigration to Britain is a benefits system discouraging British workers from taking low-paid jobs, a report warns.

Some 1.3million immigrants have come to the UK seeking work in the past ten years - but 3.5million Britons are claiming Jobseekers Allowance or Incapacity Benefit.

According to the MigrationWatch think tank, a culture of benefits dependency is fostering an "underclass of discouraged British workers".

In addition, it claims the arrival of huge numbers of immigrants tends to drive down wages - adding to the disincentive for those on benefits here to find work.

Ministers have repeatedly claimed that record levels of immigration are needed to fill up to 600,000 "vacancies" in the UK economy.

That is disputed by critics who say mass immigration pushes native workers out of the labour market.

Gordon Brown promised "British jobs for British workers" last year but opponents claim it is an empty pledge as long as immigration continues at its current rate.

The MigrationWatch research concludes that a combination of generous benefits and means-testing means there is "little financial incentive for people with families living on benefits to find employment".

Examples cited in the study include a family with one parent earning the minimum wage who will be between £14 and &£24 per week worse off than if they received maximum Incapacity Benefit.

The parent would have to find a job paying £12.25 per hour before they would be better off - more than double the minimum wage of £5.52.

The study claims that getting Britons back into work as an alternative to mass immigration would slash the social security budget, ease pressure on infrastructure and services, curb the downward pressure on wages and reduce the "nonworking underclass".

MigrationWatch chairman Sir Andrew Green said: "We keep hearing that we need immigrants to do the jobs that the British won't do.

"It has been suspected for some time that benefit levels are a real disincentive to take work that is on offer and our research spells out why this may be so."

 

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Dollars No Good at Indian Tourist Sites

Dollars No Good at Indian Tourist Sites​

NEW DELHI (AP) — No dollars, just rupees please.

In a sign of how the once mighty U.S. dollar has fallen, India's tourism minister said Thursday that U.S. dollars will no longer be accepted at the country's heritage tourist sites, like the famed Taj Mahal.

For years the dollar was worth about 50 rupees and tourists visiting most sites in India were charged either $5 or 250 rupees.

But with the dollar at a nine-year low against the rupee — falling 11 percent in 2007 alone and now hovering at around 39 rupees — that deal has become a losing proposition for the tourism industry.

The country's tourism minister said, though, that the decision was only in part a reaction to the currency's plunging value.

"Before the dollar lost its value, there was a demand to have (admission tickets) just in rupees," Tourism Minister Ambika Soni told the CNN-IBN news channel.

Soni said that charging only rupees would not only be more practical, but would save money because "the dollar was weaker against the rupee."

The Taj Mahal, India's famed white marble monument to love, which had charged tourists $15 or 750 rupees, has been refusing to accept dollars since November.

The move makes visits pricier for American tourists, who now have to shell out nearly $20.

And it's likely to get worse.

"We expect a slight appreciation of the rupee to continue, although it won't be as dramatic as last year," said Agam Gupta, head of foreign exchange trading at Standard Chartered Bank in India.

The dollar has fallen against most major currencies, and it has lost ground against the rupee due to an influx of foreign capital into India, said Gupta.

Soni said she was not worried about the decision affecting tourism numbers as India provided more than just budget attractions.

"I always say it's not numbers I am looking for or working for. I am working for tourists to have a complete experience," she said.

 

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China Communists sacked for having too many children: state media

China Communists sacked for having too many children: state media​

Authorities in a central China province have expelled hundreds of people from the Communist Party or their government posts for having more than one child, state media said Monday.

At least 93,084 people in Hubei province last year had more children than they were allowed under the policy of one per family, Xinhua news agency said quoting the provincial family planning commission.

They included 1,678 officials or party members, it added, saying about 500 had been expelled from the party and 395 stripped of their official posts.

Previous reports said the officials had also been fined.

The violators included seven national and local lawmakers or political advisors, Xinhua added.

"More party members, celebrities and well-off people are violating the policies... which has undermined social equality," commission director Yang Youwang was quoted as saying.

No information was given as to the punishments meted out to the more than 90,000 other people in Hubei who violated the "one-child" policy last year.

China's family planning policy began in the late 1970s as a way to control the world's largest population, now at 1.3 billion people.

Generally, urban families can have one child and rural families can have two if the first is a girl. About 400 million births have been averted thanks to the policy, the government has said.

But in recent years the policy has been routinely ignored in rural areas, while increasing numbers of China's urban new rich have been able to afford the requisite fines for violating the rules.

Chinese parents have traditionally favoured large families -- and sons, in particular -- to support them in their old age.

The policy has been notorious from the start for the harsh punishments and brutal methods used to enforce it, such as forced late-term abortions and the sterilisation of women.

Several areas of the poor southern province of Guangxi erupted in riots last year after officials launched a harsh crackdown to enforce the policy, with residents saying forced abortions were among the methods used by authorities.

 

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Bill would ban swearing in bars

Bill would ban swearing in bars​

ST. CHARLES, Mo. - What the ...? A St. Louis-area town is considering a bill that would ban swearing in bars, along with table-dancing, drinking contests and profane music.

City officials contend the bill is needed to keep rowdy crowds under control because the historic downtown area gets a little too lively on some nights.

City Councilman Richard Veit said he was prompted to propose the bill after complaints about bad bar behavior. He says it will give police some rules to enforce when things get too rowdy.

But some bar owners worry the bill is too vague and restrictive, saying it may be a violation of their civil rights.

Marc Rousseau, who owns bar R.T. Weilers, said he thinks the bill needs revision.

"We're dealing with adults here once again and I don't think it's the city's job or the government's job to determine what we can and cannot play in our restaurant," Rousseau said.

The proposal would ban indecent, profane or obscene language, songs, entertainment and literature at bars.

A meeting to discuss the proposal is set for Jan. 14.

 

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S.C. to use voting machines banned in other states

S.C. to use voting machines banned in other states​

GREENVILLE — South Carolina election officials say they still plan to use touch-screen voting machines despite the fact that other states have banned the use of similar systems made by the same company.

Last month, top election officials in Ohio and Colorado declared that Election Systems and Software's iVotronic is unfit for elections.

The ban was prompted by a study done for the state of Ohio in which researchers found electronic voting systems could be corrupted with magnets or handheld electronic devices such as Palm Treos.

"We've reviewed the report and we remain confident in the security and accuracy of South Carolina's voting system," state Election Commission spokesman Chris Whitmire said.

But the South Carolina League of Women Voters has renewed its call for the state to record votes on paper as well as electronically to allow for accuracy checks, though there have been no documented cases of actual election tampering.

"It's very difficult to get evidence that somebody tampered with the vote if you have no way of knowing what the vote was before they tampered," said Eleanor Hare, a computer scientist who participated in a study of the machines by the South Carolina League of Women Voters.

The machines have been used statewide since 2006.

The Ohio study found the machines "lack the fundamental technical controls necessary to guarantee a trustworthy election under operational conditions."

"Exploitable vulnerabilities allow even persons with limited access — voters and precinct poll workers — to compromise voting machines and precinct results, and, in some cases, to inject and spread software viruses into the central election management system," the report says.

However, the company that makes the machines says on its Web site that it disagrees with the Ohio report's technical findings.

"All of our voting systems have been thoroughly tested and examined under realistic election conditions before those systems are ever made available to states for additional testing and consideration," the company's statement says. "The testing and certification processes already in place are extremely rigorous, ensuring that voting systems meet well-established standards for performance under realistic election conditions."

 

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Is it or isn't it? Brown keeps bottling the ID card question

Is it or isn't it? Brown keeps bottling the ID card question​

For the third time in four days, Gordon Brown has sown doubts about the future of compulsory ID cards for UK citizens. Speaking at prime minister's question time today, Brown confirmed that it was "policy" for ID cards to become compulsory, but added the rider that this was subject to a vote in parliament.

As indeed is the case, but speaking to the Observer on Sunday, Brown had said that under the government's "proposals" there was "no compulsion for existing British citizens." When Tory leader David Cameron queried this in the Commons today, Brown responded that "it has to be voted on by parliament", his apparent contention being therefore that there is no current compulsion, the government would like compulsion, but that compulsion nevertheless cannot exist until parliament has said that it will. Or something like that.

His response to a similar question at his monthly press conference yesterday was somewhat more extensive: "That is the option that we have left ourselves open to but we haven't legislated for it. I think over the course of the next few months people will see that there is some wisdom in the argument that we have put forward for identity cards themselves. If you look at the information that we are asking people to give for their identity card it is not much more than is actually required for a passport, but the advantage people have from an identity card is that that information cannot be used without biometric identification. So that is why we are starting with the foreign nationals and that is why we will move further, linking if you like passport information to biometrics over the course of the next few years, but we leave open a parliamentary vote on the decision about compulsion."

The questioner had merely asked him if he thought that in order to be effective, ID cards needed to be compulsory. As several years of speeches, policy documents and Acts of Parliament make clear, the answer to this question is "Yes." The fact that Brown has trouble with this is in itself significant, and the fact that he describes compulsion as "the option that we have left open to ourselves" is even more so.

The transcript of the Observer interview that started this one off (the relevant section has been helpfully reproduced by No2ID, here) presents a confused and somewhat inarticulate Brown falling between several stools, stressing the importance of ID cards for foreign nationals in order to combat illegal immigration,* while presenting ID cards for the rest of the population as something that is still subject to discussion: "But look this is part of the debate. And I accept, look we are a country that prides ourselves on liberty, in civil liberties. It’s very important that any debate about this starts from what is the problem you are trying to deal with. What would you have done in the seventeenth century, the eighteenth century, the twentieth century and the twenty first century?

"But the very fact that you’ve got biometrics now in a way that you didn’t have two centuries ago gives you opportunities to protect people’s identity in a way that you could not have done two centuries ago and I don’t think we should rule out the use of that. In fact I don’t actually think most of the general public think that the use of biometrics is in itself wrong, either for private transactions or for passports or whatever."

So does he strongly believe that ID cards should be compulsory, or just something that "I don't think we should rule out"? He seems unable to come up with a clear, straight answer, and the opposition parties having noted this, they're going to carry on asking the question.

* As we're noticing the precise words Brown uses today, we might as well also notice how he presents ID cards for foreign nationals: "if someone comes to this country as a foreign national, given the worries about illegal immigration, they should carry some form of identity..." It will not, as the government repeatedly told us some years back, be compulsory to carry an ID card. Unless, apparently, you're an immigrant to a country that: "prides ourselves on liberty, in civil liberties."

 

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Parents Beaten for Investigating Daughter's Death

Parents Beaten for Investigating Daughter's Death​

For over a year, the parents of a girl who died under mysterious circumstances have continuously appealed to the local authorities regarding their daughter's death and missing organs.

The police department refused to open a file for the case or provide an autopsy report; instead the authorities have responded with silence and violence.

The couple, from Huijing Township of Nanchong City, Sichuan Province, have tried to attract media attention, but have failed until now.

Li Juan, a middle school student, was found dead in a creek over a year ago. The authorities claim that Li drowned, but her parents believe it was a murder.

On the afternoon of Friday, March 23, 2006, Li's parents went to pick her up from her boarding school, but she wasn't there. Li's mother, Mrs. Wen Liumei, reported her missing to the police and went to the school every day thereafter.

Mrs. Wen said, "A week later, a passer-by discovered her body in a creek. When I saw her body, her mouth and nose were bleeding, and her clothes were torn open."

During an autopsy on March 24, Li Juan's organs, including lungs, stomach, heart, kidneys and reproductive organs, were taken without the family' awareness or consent, according to Mrs. Wen.

After the autopsy, the authorities of the local police station, the school and the township all urged the couple to cremate or bury Li's body as soon as possible. The couple refused to take any actions until their daughter's case was straightened out.

When the coupled decided to store the body at the Nanchong Funeral Parlor, the authorities fought them for the body. The authorities finally let up after accusations from the public. Li's body is still stored at the Nanchong Funeral Parlor today.

When Li's parents decided to go to Beijing to appeal, the local authorities intercepted, detained and beat them. When asked why the parents' appeals were suppressed, the local police station director, Wang Hong, declined to comment.

The township supervisor claimed, "[The parents] can appeal only if it's reasonable and legal; otherwise if they appeal when they are not supposed to, it is of course illegal." When questioned why the couple's actions were unreasonable, the township supervisor claimed he was busy, and hung up.

According to Guan Anping, an attorney in Beijing, "There is no restriction set by the central regime regarding appealing, because it is a way for it to understand what's going on in all the local areas."

Mrs. Wen and her husband are still determined to find the true reason for their daughter's death. Although they have told their story to many media agencies, none have reported it.

"We have appealed to many media agencies and even mailed documents, but we haven't received any responses. None of the overseas media has reported it either," she added.

 

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China woman in legal first over abortion case

China woman in legal first over abortion case​

A Chinese woman who was forced to have an abortion despite being nine months pregnant is suing the authorities for their actions.

Jin Yani's waters had already broken when China's abortion police came for her. They took her to a nearby abortion centre, injected her unborn baby girl and removed the body two days later.

Mrs Jin's crime was to have become pregnant by her fiance five months before she married him at the age of 20, the legal minimum.

Pregnancy outside marriage is illegal. But forced abortions are now supposed to be illegal in China.

In a blow against the state's brutally imposed one-child policy, she and her husband are claiming danmages against the authorities, saying that officials acted unlawfully.

China's higher courts have agreed to hear the plea - the first time this has happened in a case of this kind.

Yang Zhongchen, her husband, tried to prevent the abortion by wining and dining officials in Hebei province. He also agreed to pay a fine of £650, but none of this prevented Changli county family planning officials arriving on Sept 7, 2000.

Mrs Jin said: "I got on my knees and begged them after they took me to the clinic and said I wanted to give birth to my daughter. I had already named her Yang Yin."

In the clinic, she was injected with a large syringe. Her husband arrived in time to witness the removal of the dead foetus with forceps two days later.

Mrs Jin lost blood, and was hospitalised for 44 days. Her husband was charged for the medicine she needed. He said that his wife is now infertile as a result of the abortion.

Mr Yang has demanded £85,000 to cover medical expenses, psychological distress and Mrs Jin's inability to conceive.

At first the case got nowhere, but the regional people's court agreed to hear the couple's appeal in October. At that point, Mr Yang said that officials made contact offering him a job and free hospital treatment for his wife. But that is not enough, he said.

"They have made no mention of damages," he said while on a visit to Beijing to meet his lawyer. "We can get a job anywhere."

But the couple say they can never truly be compensated.

"Our baby will never come back," Mrs Jin said. "We just hope this kind of thing will never happen again."

 

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Precious metals sparkle as US dollar continues slide

Precious metals sparkle as US dollar continues slide​

GOLD rose to a record and silver matched its highest level since 1980 as a weakening American dollar increased demand for alternative investments.

The US dollar, meanwhile, was headed for a third weekly loss against the euro on speculation that benchmark borrowing costs in the United States would fall below those in Europe this month for the first time in more than three years.

David Moore, a commodity strategist at the Commonwealth Bank in Sydney, said: "The lift in the gold price followed a softening of the US dollar against major currencies, after both the Bank of England and the ECB decided to leave interest rates unchanged."

Gold rallied 31 per cent last year. Yesterday bullion for immediate delivery climbed as much as $US4.60, or 0.5 per cent, to a record $US897.90 a troy ounce and traded at $US892.24 at 8.58am Singapore time.

Rising oil prices had also fuelled the rally in gold as the metal was traditionally viewed as a hedge against inflation, said Gerard Burg, a consultant at National Australia Bank. Oil rose US49 cents to $US94.20 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange in Singapore.

The $US900 an ounce level for gold was a psychological round number that investors are aiming for, Mr Burg said.

Silver for immediate delivery rose as much as US10c to $US16.24 an ounce, to match its highest level since December 1980, according to Bloomberg data.

 

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Prisoners 'to be chipped like dogs'

Prisoners 'to be chipped like dogs'​

Hi-tech 'satellite' tagging planned in order to create more space in jails
Civil rights groups and probation officers furious at 'degrading' scheme

Ministers are planning to implant "machine-readable" microchips under the skin of thousands of offenders as part of an expansion of the electronic tagging scheme that would create more space in British jails.

Amid concerns about the security of existing tagging systems and prison overcrowding, the Ministry of Justice is investigating the use of satellite and radio-wave technology to monitor criminals.

But, instead of being contained in bracelets worn around the ankle, the tiny chips would be surgically inserted under the skin of offenders in the community, to help enforce home curfews. The radio frequency identification (RFID) tags, as long as two grains of rice, are able to carry scanable personal information about individuals, including their identities, address and offending record.

The tags, labelled "spychips" by privacy campaigners, are already used around the world to keep track of dogs, cats, cattle and airport luggage, but there is no record of the technology being used to monitor offenders in the community. The chips are also being considered as a method of helping to keep order within prisons.

A senior Ministry of Justice official last night confirmed that the department hoped to go even further, by extending the geographical range of the internal chips through a link-up with satellite-tracking similar to the system used to trace stolen vehicles. "All the options are on the table, and this is one we would like to pursue," the source added.

The move is in line with a proposal from Ken Jones, the president of the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo), that electronic chips should be surgically implanted into convicted paedophiles and sex offenders in order to track them more easily. Global Positioning System (GPS) technology is seen as the favoured method of monitoring such offenders to prevent them going near "forbidden" zones such as primary schools.

"We have wanted to take advantage of this technology for several years, because it seems a sensible solution to the problems we are facing in this area," a senior minister said last night. "We have looked at it and gone back to it and worried about the practicalities and the ethics, but when you look at the challenges facing the criminal justice system, it's time has come."

The Government has been forced to review sentencing policy amid serious overcrowding in the nation's jails, after the prison population soared from 60,000 in 1997 to 80,000 today. The crisis meant the number of prisoners held in police cells rose 13-fold last year, with police stations housing offenders more than 60,000 times in 2007, up from 4,617 the previous year. The UK has the highest prison population per capita in western Europe, and the Government is planning for an extra 20,000 places at a cost of £3.8bn – including three gigantic new "superjails" – in the next six years.

More than 17,000 individuals, including criminals and suspects released on bail, are subject to electronic monitoring at any one time, under curfews requiring them to stay at home up to 12 hours a day. But official figures reveal that almost 2,000 offenders a year escape monitoring by tampering with ankle tags or tearing them off. Curfew breaches rose from 11,435 in 2005 to 43,843 in 2006 – up 283 per cent. The monitoring system, which relies on mobile-phone technology, can fail if the network crashes.

A multimillion-pound pilot of satellite monitoring of offenders was shelved last year after a report revealed many criminals simply ditched the ankle tag and separate portable tracking unit issued to them. The "prison without bars" project also failed to track offenders when they were in the shadow of tall buildings.

The Independent on Sunday has now established that ministers have been assessing the merits of cutting-edge technology that would make it virtually impossible for individuals to remove their electronic tags.

The tags, injected into the back of the arm with a hypodermic needle, consist of a toughened glass capsule holding a computer chip, a copper antenna and a "capacitor" that transmits data stored on the chip when prompted by an electromagnetic reader.

But details of the dramatic option for tightening controls over Britain's criminals provoked an angry response from probation officers and civil-rights groups. Shami Chakrabarti, director of Liberty, said: "If the Home Office doesn't understand why implanting a chip in someone is worse than an ankle bracelet, they don't need a human-rights lawyer; they need a common-sense bypass.

"Degrading offenders in this way will do nothing for their rehabilitation and nothing for our safety, as some will inevitably find a way round this new technology."

Harry Fletcher, assistant general secretary of the National Association of Probation Officers, said the proposal would not make his members' lives easier and would degrade their clients. He added: "I have heard about this suggestion, but we feel the system works well enough as it is. Knowing where offenders like paedophiles are does not mean you know what they are doing.

"This is the sort of daft idea that comes up from the department every now and then, but tagging people in the same way we tag our pets cannot be the way ahead. Treating people like pieces of meat does not seem to represent an improvement in the system to me."

The US market leader VeriChip Corp, whose parent company has been selling radio tags for animals for more than a decade, has sold 7,000 RFID microchips worldwide, of which about 2,000 have been implanted in humans. The company claims its VeriChips are used in more than 5,000 installations, crossing healthcare, security, government and industrial markets, but they have also been used to verify VIP membership in nightclubs, automatically gaining the carrier entry – and deducting the price of their drinks from a pre-paid account.

The possible value of the technology to the UK's justice system was first highlighted 18 months ago, when Acpo's Mr Jones suggested the chips could be implanted into sex offenders. The implants would be tracked by satellite, enabling authorities to set up "zones", including schools, playgrounds and former victims' homes, from which individuals would be barred.

"If we are prepared to track cars, why don't we track people?" Mr Jones said. "You could put surgical chips into those of the most dangerous sex offenders who are willing to be controlled."

The case for: 'We track cars, so why not people?'

The Government is struggling to keep track of thousands of offenders in the community and is troubled by an overcrowded prison system close to bursting. Internal tagging offers a solution that could impose curfews more effectively than at present, and extend the system by keeping sex offenders out of "forbidden areas". "If we are prepared to track cars, why don't we track people?" said Ken Jones, president of the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo).

Officials argue that the internal tags enable the authorities to enforce thousands of court orders by ensuring offenders remain within their own walls during curfew hours – and allow the immediate verification of ID details when challenged.

The internal tags also have a use in maintaining order within prisons. In the United States, they are used to track the movement of gang members within jails.

Offenders themselves would prefer a tag they can forget about, instead of the bulky kit carried around on the ankle.

The case against: 'The rest of us could be next'

Professionals in the criminal justice system maintain that the present system is 95 per cent effective. Radio frequency identification (RFID) technology is unproven. The technology is actually more invasive, and carries more information about the host. The devices have been dubbed "spychips" by critics who warn that they would transmit data about the movements of other people without their knowledge.

Consumer privacy expert Liz McIntyre said a colleague had already proved he could "clone" a chip. "He can bump into a chipped person and siphon the chip's unique signal in a matter of seconds," she said.

One company plans deeper implants that could vibrate, electroshock the implantee, broadcast a message, or serve as a microphone to transmit conversations. "Some folks might foolishly discount all of these downsides and futuristic nightmares since the tagging is proposed for criminals like rapists and murderers," Ms McIntyre said. "The rest of us could be next."

 

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Facebook Lands High School Students In Hot Water

Facebook Lands High School Students In Hot Water​

SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt. -- For the second time in a year South Burlington police have used photos they found on Facebook to nab high schoolers for possession of alcohol.

Police said that last week they charged a South Burlington high school hockey player with possession of alcohol and last June they issued tickets to 18 other students affiliated with the school's lacrosse team for possession of alcohol after pictures of the students imbibing alcohol appeared on the social networking Web site.

Officials said that in both instances the school's resource officer was tipped off to photos on Facebook.

South Burlington high school officials said they've benched the student athletes and required them to get counseling.

Students argue that posting photos on Facebook is a First Amendment right. A former prosecutor and current professor at the Vermont Law School Cheryl Hanna agrees. Hanna said the students may be able to fight the charges by bringing into question whether police provided enough proof about the students' activities by only providing photos.

One of the students who was charged in June contested her ticket but lost the appeal. She was ordered to pay a $330 fine and will have the offense on her permanent record. The other students have opted for a court diversion program that will clear their record if completed successfully.

 

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US. gov sets Real ID rules in stone

US. gov sets Real ID rules in stone​

Critics have renewed their offensive on a federal law mandating changes to state-issued drivers licenses after the US Department of Homeland Security on Friday issued final rules implementing the controversial measure.

Security researchers and advocates of civil liberties and states' rights lined up to attack the rules, which are required under the REAL ID Act of 2005. They direct states to add new features to drivers licenses, check applicants citizenship status and verify the authenticity of documents provided during the application process.

People from states that don't comply with the requirements by next year could be blocked from boarding airplanes and entering buildings controlled by the federal government.

"REAL ID creates a United States where individuals are either 'approved' or 'suspect,' and that is a real danger to security and civil rights," said Melissa Ngo, director of the Identification and Surveillance Project at the Electronic Privacy Information Center.

The American Civil Liberties Union and security consultant Bruce Schneier also weighed in, arguing the measure did little to fight the threat of terrorism or make people more secure.

Legislatures from 17 states have passed resolutions objecting to the changes, which they say will increase the cost of issuing drivers licenses. The US Senate is debating the repeal of the REAL ID act.

In a statement issued with the new rules, DHS Security Michael Chertoff countered the chorus of critics, saying the changes would make people safer.

"Americans understand today that the 9/11 hijackers obtained 30 drivers licenses and ID's, and used 364 aliases," he said. The changes would add only about $8 to the cost of issuing a drivers license and in exchange would help officials spot falsified documents and applicants who are criminals or illegal aliens, he said.

DHS has sought to mollify critics by scaling back some of the most controversial requirements, reducing costs and extending the deadline for state compliance. DHS is providing about $360m in assistance for states to implement the measures.

 

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FBI wants instant access to British identity data

Americans seek international database to carry iris, palm and finger prints

FBI wants instant access to British identity data​

Senior British police officials are talking to the FBI about an international database to hunt for major criminals and terrorists.

The US-initiated programme, "Server in the Sky", would take cooperation between the police forces way beyond the current faxing of fingerprints across the Atlantic. Allies in the "war against terror" - the US, UK, Australia, Canada and New Zealand - have formed a working group, the International Information Consortium, to plan their strategy.

Biometric measurements, irises or palm prints as well as fingerprints, and other personal information are likely to be exchanged across the network. One section will feature the world's most wanted suspects. The database could hold details of millions of criminals and suspects.

The FBI is keen for the police forces of American allies to sign up to improve international security. The Home Office yesterday confirmed it was aware of Server in the Sky, as did the Metropolitan police.

The plan will make groups anxious to safeguard personal privacy question how much access to UK databases is granted to foreign law enforcement agencies. There will also be concern over security, particularly after embarrassing data losses within the UK, and accuracy: in one case, an arrest for a terror offence by US investigators used what turned out to be misidentified fingerprint matches.

Britain's National Policing Improvement Agency has been the lead body for the FBI project because it is responsible for IDENT1, the UK database holding 7m sets of fingerprints and other biometric details used by police forces to search for matches from scenes of crimes. Many of the prints are either from a person with no criminal record, or have yet to be matched to a named individual.

IDENT1 was built by the computer technology arm of the US defence company Northrop Grumman. In future it is expected to hold palm prints, facial images and video sequences. A company spokeswoman confirmed that Northrop Grumman had spoken to the FBI about Server in the Sky. "It can run independently but if existing systems are connected up to it then the intelligence agencies would have to approve," she said.

The FBI told the Guardian: "Server in the Sky is an FBI initiative designed to foster the advanced search and exchange of biometric information on a global scale. While it is currently in the concept and design stages, once complete it will provide a technical forum for member nations to submit biometric search requests to other nations. It will maintain a core holding of the world's 'worst of the worst' individuals. Any identifications of these people will be sent as a priority message to the requesting nation."

In London, the NPIA confirmed it was aware of Server in the Sky but said it was "too early to comment on what our active participation might be".

The FBI is proposing to establish three categories of suspects in the shared system: "internationally recognised terrorists and felons", those who are "major felons and suspected terrorists", and finally those who the subjects of terrorist investigations or criminals with international links. Tom Bush, assistant director at the FBI's criminal justice information service, has said he hopes to see a pilot project for the programme up and running by the middle of the year.

Although each participating country would manage and secure its own data, the sharing of personal data between countries is becoming an increasingly controversial area of police practice. There is political concern at Westminster about the public transparency of such cooperation.

A similar proposal has emerged from the EU for closer security cooperation between the security services and police forces of member states, including allowing countries to search each other's databases. Under what is known as the Prum treaty, there are plans to open up access to DNA profiles, fingerprints and vehicle registration numbers.

 

[oneofmany]

Canada puts U.S., Israel on torture watchlist -CTV

Canada puts U.S., Israel on torture watchlist -CTV​

OTTAWA, Jan 17 (Reuters) - An official Canadian government document has put both the United States and Israel on a watch list of countries where prisoners run the risk of being tortured, CTV television reported on Thursday.

The revelation is likely to embarrass the minority Conservative government, which is a staunch U.S. ally.

The document mentions the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba where a Canadian man is being held.

CTV said the document was part of a course on torture awareness given to Canadian diplomats to help them determine whether prisoners they visited abroad had been mistreated.

It said the document mentioned U.S. interrogation techniques such as "forced nudity, isolation, and sleep deprivation."

Other countries on the watch list include Syria, China, Iran and Afghanistan, CTV said.

A spokesman for Foreign Minister Maxime Bernier tried to distance Ottawa from the document.

"The training manual is not a policy document and does not reflect the views or policies of this government," he said.

The mention of Guantanamo Bay is particularly sensitive, since the Canadian government rejects allegations that a citizen may have been mistreated there.

Omar Khadr has been in the facility for five years. He is accused of killing a U.S. soldier in Afghanistan in 2002, when he was 15.

Right groups say Khadr should be repatriated to Canada, an idea that Ottawa firmly rejects.

A spokeswoman at the U.S. embassy said she was looking into the report. No one was immediately available for comment at the Israeli embassy.

The torture awareness course started after Ottawa was strongly criticised for the way it handled the case of Canadian engineer Maher Arar, who was deported from the United States to Syria in 2002.

Arar says he was tortured repeatedly during the year he spent in Damascus prisons. An inquiry into the case revealed that Canadian diplomats had not received any formal training into detecting whether detainees had been abused.

 

[Fuckallyall]

Re: Prisoners 'to be chipped like dogs'

Prisoners 'to be chipped like dogs'​

Fine by me. You lose rights when you engage in criminal activity (now, what we deem criminal, I do not always agree with).

 

[oneofmany]

Re: Prisoners 'to be chipped like dogs'

Fine by me. You lose rights when you engage in criminal activity (now, what we deem criminal, I do not always agree with).

More information needs to come out with this move. But if you were a prisoner in on a short sentence, you'd have to get surgery pending your release (because you wouldn't want that chip anymore). Upon release, you'd need to remove it ASAP because your info could get hacked/cloned and you'll be a sitting duck from there on out.

I'm not the most sympathetic person towards prisoners but with rumors of them being treated like absolute lab rats (rumors of tablets being sowed into backs of inmates and now implanted microchips), instead of saying "You committed the crime and you pay the time," it's like people want to use prisoners for scientific experiments on the side too.

 

[oneofmany]

Data lost on 650,000 credit card holders

Data lost on 650,000 credit card holders​

PLANO, Texas - Personal information on about 650,000 customers of J.C. Penney and up to 100 other retailers could be compromised after a computer tape went missing. GE Money, which handles credit card operations for Penney and many other retailers, said Thursday night that the missing information includes Social Security numbers for about 150,000 people.

The information was on a backup computer tape that was discovered missing last October. It was being stored at a warehouse run by Iron Mountain Inc., a data storage company, and was never checked out but can't be found either, said Richard C. Jones, a spokesman for GE Money, part of General Electric Capital Corp.

Jones said there was "no indication of theft or anything of that sort," and no evidence of fraudulent activity on the accounts involved.

Iron Mountain spokesman Dan O'Neill said it would take specialized skills for someone to glean the personal data from the tape. He said the company regretted losing the tape, "but because of the volume of information we handle and the fact people are involved, we have occasionally made mistakes."

Penney said it had been told of the situation and referred further inquiries to GE Money.

Jones declined to identify the other retailers whose customers' information is missing but said "it includes many of the large retail organizations."

Jones said GE Money was paying for 12 months of credit-monitoring service for customers whose Social Security numbers were on the tape.

Incidents like this add to consumer concern about fraud. The Identity Theft Resource Center says there was a six-fold increase last year in the number of records reported compromised in the United States — to 125 million.

Data breaches can stem from hacking, as well as the physical loss or theft of computers of data storage equipment.

TJX Cos., owner of the T.J. Maxx and Marshalls retail chains, reported last year that tens of millions of credit and debit card owners were exposed to fraud when hackers stole data while it was being transmitted wirelessly.

It took GE Money two months to reconstruct the missing tape and identify the people whose information was lost. Since December, the company has been notifying consumers in batches of several thousand and telling them to phone a call center set up to deal with the breach. The notification is expected to be completed next week.

Penney's card holder Elizabeth Rich of Everett, Wash., got one of the GE Money letters saying her name, address and account number may have been compromised. She was told her Social Security number was not on the tape.

The letter, signed by GE Money President Brent P. Wallace, read in part, "We have no reason to believe that anyone has accessed or misused your information. The pieces of information on the tape would not be enough to open new accounts in your name, and we have implemented internal monitoring to protect your account number from misuse due to this incident."

Wallace said in the letter that Penney "was in no way responsible for this incident."

The Penney name didn't appear on the envelope Rich received, and she thought it was a credit solicitation when she saw the GE Money return address.

"I think the average consumer has thrown away that GE Money letter because they don't know it's about J.C. Penney," Rich said. "Not everybody opens junk mail."

Rich said she canceled her Penney card immediately.

 

[oneofmany]

Mainstream Media Acknowledges The National ID Card

Mainstream Media Acknowledges The National ID Card

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[oneofmany]

Canada Adds U.S. to List Of Nations That Torture

Canada Adds U.S. to List Of Nations That Torture​

In Canada, the United States has joined a notorious group of countries -- Iran, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Afghanistan and China, among others -- as a place where foreigners risk torture and abuse, according to a training manual for Canadian diplomats that was accidentally given this week to Amnesty International lawyers.

The manual is intended to create "greater awareness among consular officials to the possibility of Canadians detained abroad being tortured." Part of the workshop is devoted to teaching diplomats how to identify people who have been tortured. It features a section on "U.S. interrogation techniques," including forced nudity, hooding and isolation.

The 93-page PowerPoint document was inadvertently released to attorneys working on a lawsuit against the Canadian government; it was obtained by The Washington Post from an attorney for defendants at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The case of Omar Khadr, a Canadian citizen who has been held at the U.S. military prison for more than five years, has generated attention across Canada.

The U.S. ambassador to Canada protested the mention, and the leak appears to have embarrassed Canadian officials.

"The document is a training manual. It is not a policy document or a statement of policy. As such it does not convey the government's views or positions," said Marina Wilson, spokeswoman for the Department of Foreign Affairs in Ottawa.

 

[LennyNero1972]

All I have to say is this madness WILL come to an end soon.

 

[oneofmany]

Tom Ridge: Waterboarding Is Torture

Tom Ridge: Waterboarding Is Torture​

WASHINGTON (AP) — The first secretary of the Homeland Security Department says waterboarding is torture.

"There's just no doubt in my mind — under any set of rules — waterboarding is torture," Tom Ridge said Friday in an interview with the Associated Press. Ridge had offered the same opinion earlier in the day to members of the American Bar Association at a homeland security conference.

"One of America's greatest strengths is the soft power of our value system and how we treat prisoners of war, and we don't torture," Ridge said in the interview. Ridge was secretary of the Homeland Security Department between 2003 and 2005. "And I believe, unlike others in the administration, that waterboarding was, is — and will always be — torture. That's a simple statement."

Waterboarding is a harsh interrogation tactic that was used by CIA officers in 2002 and 2003 on three alleged al-Qaida terrorists. The tactic gives the subject the sensation of drowning.

The CIA has not used the technique since 2003, and CIA Director Michael Hayden prohibited it in 2006, according to U.S. officials. The debate was recently revived when the CIA revealed it had destroyed videotapes showing the interrogations of two alleged terrorists, both of whom were waterboarded.

Ridge's comments come a week after a report that Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell said he would consider waterboarding torture if it were used against him.

In a separate interview with The Associated Press on Thursday, the current Homeland Security secretary, Michael Chertoff, refused to say what he thinks of the interrogation technique. Chertoff, a former federal prosecutor and judge — who was also assistant attorney general for the Justice Department's Criminal Division in 2002 — said the question should be asked in the context of a specific set of facts and a specific statute and should not be posed abstractly.

"This is too important a discussion to have based on throwing one question at somebody," Chertoff said.

Attorney General Michael Mukasey has declined so far to rule on whether waterboarding constitutes torture. An affirmative finding by Mukasey could put at risk the CIA interrogators who were authorized by the White House in 2002 to waterboard three prisoners deemed resistant to conventional techniques.

Ridge, homeland security adviser and then secretary from 2001 to 2005, said he was not involved in the discussions about CIA interrogation techniques. Rather, his department was a consumer of any intelligence gleaned from them.

"I have no idea how any of the intelligence community extrapolated any information from anybody — where they got it, how they got it, and from whom they got it. But waterboarding is torture."

Ridge, a lawyer, wades into the waterboarding debate with both a military and civilian background. He is also a former Pennsylvania governor and congressman. He has since started his own homeland security consulting firm.

"As a former soldier, I will tell you that we go to great pains, and a lot of men and women, who serve in the military at risk of their own lives, do everything they can to minimize civilian casualties and certainly do everything they can to respect the Geneva Convention."

The House and Senate intelligence committees want to prohibit the CIA from using any interrogation techniques not allowed by the military. That list includes waterboarding. If their intelligence bill containing the restriction is approved by Congress, it almost certainly will face a veto from President Bush.

 

[oneofmany]

Body Remains Found at Ground Zero Site Kept Secret

Body Remains Found at Ground Zero Site Kept Secret

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[oneofmany]

Random breath tests planned for motorists

Random breath tests planned for motorists​

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/mai...WAVCBQWIV0?xml=/news/2008/01/21/ndrink121.xml

Motorists face being subjected to random breath-testing as part of the biggest shake-up of drink-drive laws since the introduction of the breathalyser 40 years ago, The Daily Telegraph can disclose.

Ministers are convinced that tougher enforcement is the key to cutting the number of alcohol-related road deaths. Their plans for random testing will be unveiled within weeks.

Police can currently carry out a breath test only if a motorist has been driving erratically, been involved in an accident or committed another offence while driving, such as having a faulty tail light or speeding.

The proposed changes would allow breath tests to be carried out at any time, with roadside checkpoints being set up at points where police were confident they could catch lawbreakers.

Ministers have previously rejected random breath-testing but it is understood that there was a change of heart when the results of the latest Christmas campaign against drink-driving were revealed.

These showed that while the number of tests carried out in England and Wales rose six per cent, the number of drivers who failed fell to 7,800 - down from 9,700 in 2006.

Ministers believe that the results prove that increasing the number of tests acts as a deterrent.

There is also concern that a new generation of motorists has little or no memory of the hard-hitting advertising campaigns of the 1980s and 1990s that effectively made drink-driving socially unacceptable.

According to Department for Transport figures, drink-driving among teenagers has risen by more than a quarter, with 1,050 involved in drink-drive accidents in 2005 compared with 810 a decade ago.

Under the new proposals a checkpoint could be set up for a maximum of 24 hours by a senior police officer - of inspector rank or above - anywhere there was a reasonable belief that drink- or drug-impaired driving may occur.

It could be left in place for a further 24 hours on the authority of a superintendent.

But the proposals - which will be detailed in a consultation document - have been criticised by John Spellar, a former Labour transport minister, and some drivers' groups as a further infringement on law-abiding motorists.

"Yet again they are straining the tolerance of the British public, when they should be focusing on the minority who are grossly over the limit and causing mayhem," he said.

"This system has been working well for many years and has left us with one of the best safety records in Europe.

"There is a serious danger this will erode the confidence of the public in the police and create ill will."

A spokesman for the Association of British Drivers said: "It seems like an infringement of people's liberty.

"It is as if our freedom of movement is being withdrawn. We would need to be convinced that it would save lives."

A spokesman for Brake, the road safety charity, welcomed the plan but said it did not go far enough.

"Random testing of drivers is long overdue," he said. "These proposals are a step in the right direction but to have greater impact all levels of police officer should have the power to test anyone, at any time.

"Only if the Government combines random testing with increased year-round enforcement and a lower drink-drive limit will we see a drastic reduction in the devastating numbers of people killed and injured in drink- and drug-driving offences."

The number of drink-driving related deaths on the roads has remained relatively stable for the past decade. There were 540 in 1997. In 2004, the figure was 580. By 2006 it was back down to 540.

No decision has been taken on whether to reduce the drink-drive limit from 80 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood to 50 milligrams, which would bring Britain into line with most other European countries.

Some police forces have already found ways of effectively carrying out random breath tests, such as by stopping motorists to warn them of a hazardous stretch of road and then breath-testing when they smell alcohol.

Sheila Granger, the RAC campaigns manager, said random testing would "formalise" a situation that already effectively existed in some areas and the motoring organisation would not oppose it.

Robert Gifford, the director of the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety, which drew up the proposals for random testing, said: "This will send a message to road users that ministers are taking the issue of drink-driving seriously."

 

[oneofmany]

UN transformation proposed to create 'new world order'

UN transformation proposed to create 'new world order'​

Gordon Brown has begun secret talks with other world leaders on far-reaching reform of the United Nations Security Council as part of a drive to create a "new world order" and "global society".

The Prime Minister is drawing up plans to expand the number of permanent members in a move that will provoke fears that the veto enjoyed by Britain could be diluted eventually. The United States, France, Russia and China also have a veto but the number of members could be doubled to include India, Germany, Japan, Brazil and one or two African nations.

Mr Brown has discussed a shake-up of a structure created in 1945 to reflect the world's new challenges and power bases during his four-day trip to China and India. Last night, British sources revealed "intense discussions" on UN reform were under way and Mr Brown raised it whenever he met another world leader.

The Prime Minister believes the UN is punching below its weight. In 2003, it failed to agree on a fresh resolution giving explicit approval for military action in Iraq. George Bush then acted unilaterally, winning the support of Tony Blair.

UN reform is highly sensitive and Britain will not yet publish formal proposals for fear of uniting opponents against them. Mr Brown is trying to build a consensus for change first.

His aides are adamant that the British veto will not be negotiated away. One option is for the nations who join not to have a veto, at least initially. In a speech in Delhi today, the Prime Minister will say: "I support India's bid for a permanent place – with others – on an expanded UN Security Council." However, he is not backing Pakistan's demand for a seat if India wins one.

Mr Brown will unveil a proposal for the UN to spend £100m a year on setting up a "rapid reaction force" to stop "failed states" sliding back into chaos after a peace deal has been reached. Civilians such as police, administrators, judges and lawyers would work alongside military peace-keepers. "There is limited value in military action to end fighting if law and order does not follow," he will say. "So we must do more to ensure rapid reconstruction on the ground once conflicts are over – and combine traditional humanitarian aid and peace-keeping with stabilisation, recovery and development."

He will call for the World Bank to lead the fight against climate change as well as poverty in the developing world, and argue that the International Monetary Fund should prevent crises like the credit crunch rather than just resolve them.

Arriving in Delhi yesterday, Mr Brown said he wanted a "partnership of equals" between Britain and India as he called for closer trade links and co-operation against terrorism. He announced £825m of aid over the next three years – £500m of which will be spent on health and education.

Mr Brown is to bring back honorary knighthoods and other awards for cricketers from Commonwealth countries. He said: "Cricket is one of the great things that bind the Commonwealth together. It used to be that great cricketers from the Commonwealth would be recognised by the British nation I would like to see some of the great players in the modern era honoured."

Read Andrew Grice atindependent.co.uk/todayinpolitics

Security Council membership

The UN Security Council's membership has remained virtually unchanged since it first met in 1946.

Great Britain, the United States, the then Soviet Union, China and France were designated permanent members of the UN's most powerful body.

Initially, six other countries were elected to serve two-year spells on the council – in 1946 they were Australia, Brazil, Egypt, Mexico, the Netherlands and Poland.

The number of elected members, who are chosen to cover all parts of the globe, was increased to 10 in 1965. They are currently Belgium, Burkina Faso, Costa Rica, Croatia, Indonesia, Italy, Libya, Panama, South Africa and Vietnam.

Decisions made by the council require nine "yes" votes out of 15. Each permanent member has a veto over resolutions.

The issue of UN reform has long been on the agenda. One suggestion is that permanent membership could be expanded to 10 with India, Japan, Germany, Brazil and South Africa taking places. Any reform requires 128 nations, two-thirds, to support it in the assembly.

 

[oneofmany]

U.S. budget deficit likely to hit $250 billion this year as economy weakens

U.S. budget deficit likely to hit $250 billion this year as economy weakens​

WASHINGTON - The overall U.S. budget deficit could hit $350 billion this year, largely due to a weakening economy and the costs of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to the Congressional Budget Office and a top Senate official.

The non-partisan CBO says that once the cost of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is added to its "baseline" deficit estimate of $219 billion, the deficit would be about $250 billion.

And that figure does not reflect at least $100 billion in additional red ink from an upcoming deficit-financed economic stimulus measure now being negotiated between the White House and Congress.

Such a figure greatly exceeds the $163 billion in red ink registered last year.

"After three years of declining budget deficits, a slowing economy this year will contribute to an increase in the deficit," the CBO report said.

Senator Kent Conrad (D-N.D.), the Senate budget committee chairman, said the 2008 deficit would reach more than $350 billion once the costs of an upcoming economic stimulus measure are factored in.

The CBO crunches economic and budget data for lawmakers.

Unlike an increasing number of economists, CBO does not forecast a recession this year. It instead forecasts a growth rate of 1.7 per cent, down from 2.2 per cent real growth in the gross domestic product (GDP) last year.

"Although recent data suggest that the probability of a recession in 2008 has increased, CBO does not expect the slowdown in economic growth to be large enough to register as a recession," CBO said.

But the CBO economic forecast was completed last month, before a recent spike in unemployment and the release of disappointing holiday retail sales figures.

"A number of ominous economic signs have emerged since CBO finalized last month the forecast underlying today's report," said Representaive John Spratt Jr. (D-S.C.), chairman of the House budget committee.

"Today's new economic forecast thus adds to the growing evidence that the economy has weakened, and that policymakers in Washington must take action."

Officially, CBO predicts the 2008 deficit at $219 billion, but that figure fails to account for at least an additional $30 billion in war costs and the likely infusion of deficit-financed economic stimulus measures such as income tax rebates, business tax breaks and help for the unemployed now under discussion on Capitol Hill and at the White House.

The deficit seemed to be an afterthought as legislators raced toward agreement with President George W. Bush on a plan to pump perhaps $150 billion worth of deficit spending into the economy.

The bulk of the plan would come as tax cuts, though Democrats are pressing for additional help for the unemployed and people on food stamps.

Most of any economic stimulus bill would be released before the Oct. 1 start of the 2009 budget year, with any benefits to the economy - and therefore federal revenues - lagging behind.

The White House is set to release its 2009 budget on Feb. 4, and Bush has promised a plan that would erase the deficit by 2012 if his policies are followed.

The 2006 deficit was $248 billion and had closed from a high of $413 billion registered in 2004.

 

[oneofmany]

The worst market crisis in 60 years

The worst market crisis in 60 years​

The current financial crisis was precipitated by a bubble in the US housing market. In some ways it resembles other crises that have occurred since the end of the second world war at intervals ranging from four to 10 years.

However, there is a profound difference: the current crisis marks the end of an era of credit expansion based on the dollar as the international reserve currency. The periodic crises were part of a larger boom-bust process. The current crisis is the culmination of a super-boom that has lasted for more than 60 years.

Boom-bust processes usually revolve around credit and always involve a bias or misconception. This is usually a failure to recognise a reflexive, circular connection between the willingness to lend and the value of the collateral. Ease of credit generates demand that pushes up the value of property, which in turn increases the amount of credit available. A bubble starts when people buy houses in the expectation that they can refinance their mortgages at a profit. The recent US housing boom is a case in point. The 60-year super-boom is a more complicated case.

Every time the credit expansion ran into trouble the financial authorities intervened, injecting liquidity and finding other ways to stimulate the economy. That created a system of asymmetric incentives also known as moral hazard, which encouraged ever greater credit expansion. The system was so successful that people came to believe in what former US president Ronald Reagan called the magic of the marketplace and I call market fundamentalism. Fundamentalists believe that markets tend towards equilibrium and the common interest is best served by allowing participants to pursue their self-interest. It is an obvious misconception, because it was the intervention of the authorities that prevented financial markets from breaking down, not the markets themselves. Nevertheless, market fundamentalism emerged as the dominant ideology in the 1980s, when financial markets started to become globalised and the US started to run a current account deficit.

Globalisation allowed the US to suck up the savings of the rest of the world and consume more than it produced. The US current account deficit reached 6.2 per cent of gross national product in 2006. The financial markets encouraged consumers to borrow by introducing ever more sophisticated instruments and more generous terms. The authorities aided and abetted the process by intervening whenever the global financial system was at risk. Since 1980, regulations have been progressively relaxed until they have practically disappeared.

The super-boom got out of hand when the new products became so complicated that the authorities could no longer calculate the risks and started relying on the risk management methods of the banks themselves. Similarly, the rating agencies relied on the information provided by the originators of synthetic products. It was a shocking abdication of responsibility.

Everything that could go wrong did. What started with subprime mortgages spread to all collateralised debt obligations, endangered municipal and mortgage insurance and reinsurance companies and threatened to unravel the multi-trillion-dollar credit default swap market. Investment banks' commitments to leveraged buyouts became liabilities. Market-neutral hedge funds turned out not to be market-neutral and had to be unwound. The asset-backed commercial paper market came to a standstill and the special investment vehicles set up by banks to get mortgages off their balance sheets could no longer get outside financing. The final blow came when interbank lending, which is at the heart of the financial system, was disrupted because banks had to husband their resources and could not trust their counterparties. The central banks had to inject an unprecedented amount of money and extend credit on an unprecedented range of securities to a broader range of institutions than ever before. That made the crisis more severe than any since the second world war.

Credit expansion must now be followed by a period of contraction, because some of the new credit instruments and practices are unsound and unsustainable. The ability of the financial authorities to stimulate the economy is constrained by the unwillingness of the rest of the world to accumulate additional dollar reserves. Until recently, investors were hoping that the US Federal Reserve would do whatever it takes to avoid a recession, because that is what it did on previous occasions. Now they will have to realise that the Fed may no longer be in a position to do so. With oil, food and other commodities firm, and the renminbi appreciating somewhat faster, the Fed also has to worry about inflation. If federal funds were lowered beyond a certain point, the dollar would come under renewed pressure and long-term bonds would actually go up in yield. Where that point is, is impossible to determine. When it is reached, the ability of the Fed to stimulate the economy comes to an end.

Although a recession in the developed world is now more or less inevitable, China, India and some of the oil-producing countries are in a very strong countertrend. So, the current financial crisis is less likely to cause a global recession than a radical realignment of the global economy, with a relative decline of the US and the rise of China and other countries in the developing world.

The danger is that the resulting political tensions, including US protectionism, may disrupt the global economy and plunge the world into recession or worse.

 

[Smakk]

That's a lot of information fam.A lil too much for a brother to read but someone sent me these videos while I was on youtube looking at music vids and booty shaking videos. Since you guys are always downing religion,what do you think about these guys views?
http://www.youtube.com/user/GreatMillstone
It Coincides with the mark of the beast topic at hand and how these are the last days.....I think.

 

[defjm]

That's a lot of information fam.A lil too much for a brother to read but someone sent me these videos while I was on youtube looking at music vids and booty shaking videos. Since you guys are always downing religion,what do you think about these guys views?
http://www.youtube.com/user/GreatMillstone
It Coincides with the mark of the beast topic at hand and how these are the last days.....I think.

IMO them dudes are the truth. Here is a link to The dude they say was painted and became the false image of christ.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cesare_Borgia

What they say isnt for everyone but IMO makes waaaaaaaay more sense than what these fake ass $$$ pastors blab about.

 

[oneofmany]

Torture As Fashion

Click Me!​

 

[oneofmany]

History Channel Admits Anthrax Attacks are an Inside Job

History Channel Admits Anthrax Attacks are an Inside Job

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[oneofmany]

Two girls die after cervical cancer jab

Gardasil, a Human Papillomavirus vaccine​

Two girls die after cervical cancer jab​

Two girls have died suddenly after being given the vaccine against the virus which causes cervical cancer, the European drugs watchdog has revealed.

The deaths, in Germany and Austria, came after the women were given the injections but it is not known how they died or where there was any connection with the vaccine. All such deaths are recorded by drugs regulators.

Three women have also died in America after having the vaccine but the cause of death has not been revealed.

The vaccine, Gardasil, protects against four strains of the human papillomavirus (HPV), which trigger cancerous tumours and warts.

A vaccination programme will begin in Britain in the autumn with 12-year-old girls getting the jab and older girls being offered it at a later stage.

It has not yet been decided whether Gardasil, made by Merck and Co, will be used in the programme or the rival Cervarix, which is made by GlaxoSmithKline.

The European Medicines Agency (EMEA) said last night: "The EMEA has received reports of deaths in women who had previously received Gardasil, including two reports concerning the sudden and unexpected deaths of two young women in the European Union. 1.5 million patients have been vaccinated with this HPV vaccine in Europe.

"The two European cases were reported as part of the continuous monitoring of the safety of medicines. In both cases, the cause of death could not be identified. No causal relationship has been established between the deaths of the young women and the administration of Gardasil.

"On the basis of the currently available evidence, the EMEA's committee for medicinal products for human use is of the opinion that the benefits of Gardasil continue to outweigh its risks and that no changes to its product information are necessary."

Monitoring of the vaccine will continue.

Nicholas Kitchin, medical director of Sanofi Pasteur MSD, which collaborated in the development of Gardasil, said 13 million doses of the vaccine had been administered worldwide since mid-2006 and it had a very good safety profile in clinical trials.

He said: "The authorities in Germany and Austria have looked pretty extensively at these two deaths and have not seen anything that makes them believe a causal relationship.

"We and the regulators continue to monitor the safety of all our products and with vaccines it is particularly important because we are we giving it to healthy people to prevent disease."

 

[Finito]

Re: Two girls die after cervical cancer jab

This thread is much appreciated.

 

[oneofmany]

Revealed: The elitist, incestuous Labour clique that now rules us

Revealed: The elitist, incestuous Labour clique that now rules us​

How ironic that Gordon Brown, who promised a "government of all the talents", has instead appointed the most close knit, elitist Cabinet of modern times, eight of whose 22 members have personal ties to one another.
Five went to Oxford University and studied the same subject - several of them at the same time and the same college. Two are married to each other. Two are brothers.

Many have played football together for the past decade. Three worked contemporaneously as financial journalists. Six were political advisers before becoming MPs - three of them working for Mr Brown himself.

Together, they form a worryingly incestuous clique at the heart of Government, not only connected by ties of blood, love, sport, education and ideology but by privilege and arrogance.

They have helped each other get to the top, and will do their best to ensure that they stay there.

Above all, while putting on populist images, each is convinced they know best what is right for Britain - despite the fact that none has held a job of any significance in the real world.

Now, in the roles of running the Foreign Office, the Department of Education, part of the Treasury, the Cabinet Office, the Department for Work and Pensions, the Department for International Development, the Department for Transport and the Department for Culture, this group of Brown's Bucks have the levers of power firmly in their grasp.

Even before their position was cemented by this week's reshuffle following the resignation of Peter Hain, the Cambridge academic David Runciman observed: "The narrowing of the political class has an almost 18th-century feel to it, as the circle from which the political elite is drawn becomes ever smaller ... The Brown government is a family affair, and marks a shift to ever more intimate relationships at the centre of power, even compared to the days [of] Tony Blair."

For some, the journey to the Cabinet began in the nursery. David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, and Ed Miliband, the Secretary of State for the Cabinet Office, were both sons of the Marxist academic Ralph Miliband and were brought up in a world of champagne socialism.

Two other members of Labour's inner circle are also siblings: Douglas Alexander, now Secretary of State for International Development (and one of the Prime Minister's closest confidants), and his sister Wendy Alexander, Labour leader in the Scottish Parliament, who is embroiled in a controversial funding scandal.

But it is education that began to bind together this incredibly incestuous circle. David Miliband went to Oxford, where he read Politics, Philosophy and Economics (PPE), graduating in 1987.

Ed Balls, Education Secretary and the Prime Minister's closest friend in politics, was an exact contemporary on the same course.

So was the new Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Yvette Cooper - now Balls's wife, though they didn't meet until later.

James Purnell, promoted this week to Work and Pensions Secretary, also read PPE at Oxford, at the same college - Balliol - and the same time as Cooper.

Other Oxford luminaries were Ruth Kelly, the Transport Secretary (who read PPE, of course), and Ed Miliband.

Balls, David Miliband and Cooper also shared the same path to America, where they won Kennedy Scholarships.

Two professions attracted them: politics and journalism. Douglas Alexander went to work as an adviser to Gordon Brown.

So did Balls and Ed Miliband. Cooper got a job with Harriet Harman, at the time shadow chief secretary to the Treasury, which is how she met Balls.

Meanwhile, David Miliband and James Purnell went to Downing Street to work for Tony Blair.

Andy Burnham (a Cambridge graduate and now Culture Secretary) did a stint as special adviser to the Secretary of State for Culture and shared a flat with James Purnell, who became a close friend.

Not only did they all work, sleep and live together - they played football together. Burnham, Purnell, Balls and the Milibands all turned out for the New Labour football team, known as Demon Eyes.

It was organised by Tim Allan, Alastair Campbell's No.2, who has now left politics and runs a lobby company.

As for journalism, three of the current Cabinet - Balls, Cooper and Kelly - all did stints as economics journalists and leader writers, on the Financial Times, Independent and Guardian.

During their time on the papers, each title supported Labour.

The multifarious connections continue. Burnham is a fiercely committed Catholic who, in defiance of the Prime Minister's position, recently said: "Of course there's a moral case for promoting marriage."

Ruth Kelly is another zealous Catholic and a member of one of her Church's most secretive organisations, Opus Dei. Unsurprisingly, all the group found little difficulty entering Parliament.

New Labour has never lost any sleep in arranging for the promotion of its star performers.

For example, when Ed Balls wanted to stand in the constituency which neighboured the seat that his wife already represented, the sitting Labour MP quietly retired.

And once in Parliament, Brown's Bucks' climb through the ministerial ranks has been almost miraculous.

Some commentators have argued that as this group ascended the greasy pole, they were pulled apart by the Blairite/Brownite split that for so long divided Government.

But it wasn't as simple as that. Blair and Brown might not have been talking, but their ambitious advisers and followers kept their lines of communication open.

Ed Miliband worked for Brown while his brother worked for Blair, but that didn't prevent their successful rise. And they still all played football together.

Before long, Blairites like Purnell could see the writing on the wall, and concluded that Brown was bound to become leader.

As Burnham said recently: "When people called me a Blairite, I never challenged them ... but ... I'm a Brownite now ... there never was a doubt in my mind that Gordon was the man."

Having come to that conclusion, he and his former flatmate used their close relationship with key members of the Brown camp to build bridges.

And it has paid off handsomely, as they both now have seats at the Cabinet table.

So under Gordon Brown, power in Britain has been concentrated as never before in the hands of a new establishment, a group of academically bright men and women who have grown up and prospered during Labour's decade in power.

They are the ultimate insiders, who have come to believe that it's their god-given right to rise to the top of the greasy pole.

The rest of us ought to be worried. Of course, they will compete with each other as well as supporting one another.

But I would argue that it is deeply unhealthy for Britain to be governed by such a narrow and homogenous clique.

They form a block that can easily dictate to the rest of the Cabinet and even to the Prime Minister. Not even Mr Brown can afford to fall out with eight members of his Cabinet simultaneously.

Significantly, despite their rapid rise to the top, none has yet demonstrated that they have the qualities needed to run these great departments of state.

David Miliband looks out of his depth at the Foreign Office, Purnell and Burnham have risen without trace, Balls has proved lamentable at the Education Department, and his wife Yvette Cooper has been promoted despite making a hash of Home Information Packs in her previous role as Housing Minister.

Not, then, an encouraging week for democracy and good government in Britain. Only one politician has any cause for celebration.

Brown's Band of Brothers makes a mockery of the charges levelled at David Cameron of surrounding himself with an elitist team. The top of the Tory party is now a lesson in diversity by comparison.

 

[oneofmany]

History Channel Admits Rockefeller Population Control Agenda

History Channel Admits Rockefeller Population Control Agenda

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[oneofmany]

L. Ron Hubbard in his own words - evil exposed!

L. Ron Hubbard in his own words - evil exposed!

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