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Beast System: Laying The Foundation Of The Beast

One in 6 West Virginians is on food stamps


About one in every six West Virginians gets food stamps, the highest level of participation in at least 30 years.

Amid rising food and fuel costs, the assistance is becoming worth less and less.
And supplemental food programs for poor families are struggling to keep up with the added demand as donations are on the decline.

Last month, 274,487 state residents received food stamps. That's up from 246,890 just five years ago, according to data from the state Department of Health and Human Resources.

A total of 122,877 of the state's estimated 743,064 households currently receive food stamps. That's up from 105,365 households in 2003.

But while the number of people on the program has jumped sharply, the federal government has raised the average per-person monthly benefits over that time by just $12 to $85.

Meanwhile, the cost of food is expected to jump by up to 4 percent this year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Economic Research Service.

Food costs have been increasing by at least 2.4 percent each year since 2004.

Added to that budget strain are record gasoline prices.

Nationally, the average cost of a gallon of regular gas today is $3.26, according to the AAA Daily Fuel Gauge Report. A year ago, the average cost was $2.59 a gallon.

Sarah Young, a policy specialist with the Department of Health and Human Resources, says the agency is seeing more of the state's working poor applying for food stamps in order to make ends meet.

"Even those eligible for lower amounts are coming back onto the program because they have less to spend on food," Young said. "These are historically higher rates. I think even nationwide, we're at our highest rates."

Nationally, more than 26 million Americans were on the food stamp program last year, according to the federal agriculture department.

The food stamp benefit is based on income and the number of people in a household, Young said. Monthly benefits range from a minimum of $10 to $1,219 for a 10-person household with little to no income.

Young said the benefit was always meant to supplemental a family's income, not to totally cover a month's worth of groceries.

Increased demand on food pantries and soup kitchens seem to indicate that poor families are running out of resources to buy food earlier and earlier each month, officials said.

Carla Nardella, executive director of the Mountaineer Food Bank, said demand around the state is up, while food donations are decreasing.

"We never have enough food to totally give everybody what they really want," Nardella said.

Nardella said in 2006, the organization distributed 5.7 million pounds of food to pantries in the 48 counties it serves. Last year, they were only able to distribute 3.9 million pounds.

Both food and financial donations to the organization are down, Nardella said. She blames high food and fuel costs. People who usually donate don't have the money to do it as much anymore, she said.

And those who visit the food pantries are feeling the pinch.

"What happens is, when everything else raises, they can only get so much for the dollar value they have," Nardella said. "So they end up knocking on the door."

Nardella said she's also seeing an increased demand for new pantries to open in communities across the state.

"That is even another struggle," she said. "It's hard to have enough food for the ones we already serve."

To help pantries maximize the money they have to buy food, Nardella said her organization is using its financial donations to make more deliveries.

That saves the pantries from having to drive to the food bank's Gassaway location.

"We do everything we can to try to stretch their dollars," Nardella said.
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Indian region offers men gun licences if they get sterilised


NEW DELHI (AFP) — A bandit-infested region of India is trying to persuade men to undergo sterilisation by offering to fast-track their gun licence applications, an official said on Tuesday.

Officials in central Madhya Pradesh state's Shivpuri district decided to adopt the policy -- already tried out by some neighbouring states -- to increase the low vascectomy rate.

"I came to know that it had to do with their perceived notion of manliness," said Manish Shrivastav, administrative chief of Shivpuri district, part of the Indian Chambal region, which is famed for its lawlessness and bandits.

"I then decided to match it with a bigger symbol of manliness -- a gun licence," he said. "And the ploy worked."

The plan comes as India, which has a population of 1.1 billion people, is trying to encourage people to have smaller families to ease poverty.

Vasectomy rates have soared since the policy was introduced last month, he added, although those undergoing sterilisation are still required to meet all regulations governing arms licences.

"Over 150 men have got themselves sterilised since we have offered the gun licence preference. I expect another 100 by the end of this month," Shrivastav told AFP.

Only eight men underwent the snipping procedure last year, in spite of financial rewards of 1,100 rupees (27.5 dollars).

The district of 1.4 million people has just 11,000 licensed arms, but locals say they want guns because bandits have large numbers of unlicensed weapons.

"I never bothered to apply for a licence before because I knew it was not so easy to get," said Shivpuri resident K.K. Saxena, 55, who recently underwent the procedure. "But when I heard about this then I decided to apply."

Saxena was provided with a medical slip confirming his sterilisation to attach to his gun application.

About 10,000 to 15,000 people apply each year for gun licences in Shivpuri, but only about 500 permits are granted annually.

One official, however, lambasted the idea.

"Where there are guns, even minor feuds often escalate into events that claim lives," said a police official who did not want to be named.

"The government should consider other incentives. It's ridiculous and irresponsible on the part of the authorities."
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Chemtrails: In Your Face Smoking Gun

CHEMTRAILS: IN YOUR FACE SMOKING GUN

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Re: Chemtrails: In Your Face Smoking Gun

oneofmany said:
CHEMTRAILS: IN YOUR FACE SMOKING GUN

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Well...... At least he kept it real.:yes:
 
Rapists in the ranks


The stories are shocking in their simplicity and brutality: A female military recruit is pinned down at knifepoint and raped repeatedly in her own barracks. Her attackers hid their faces but she identified them by their uniforms; they were her fellow soldiers. During a routine gynecological exam, a female soldier is attacked and raped by her military physician. Yet another young soldier, still adapting to life in a war zone, is raped by her commanding officer. Afraid for her standing in her unit, she feels she has nowhere to turn.

These are true stories, and, sadly, not isolated incidents. Women serving in the U.S. military are more likely to be raped by a fellow soldier than killed by enemy fire in Iraq.

The scope of the problem was brought into acute focus for me during a visit to the West Los Angeles VA Healthcare Center, where I met with female veterans and their doctors. My jaw dropped when the doctors told me that 41% of female veterans seen at the clinic say they were victims of sexual assault while in the military, and 29% report being raped during their military service. They spoke of their continued terror, feelings of helplessness and the downward spirals many of their lives have since taken.

Numbers reported by the Department of Defense show a sickening pattern. In 2006, 2,947 sexual assaults were reported -- 73% more than in 2004. The DOD's newest report, released this month, indicates that 2,688 reports were made in 2007, but a recent shift from calendar-year reporting to fiscal-year reporting makes comparisons with data from previous years much more difficult.

The Defense Department has made some efforts to manage this epidemic -- most notably in 2005, after the media received anonymous e-mail messages about sexual assaults at the Air Force Academy. The media scrutiny and congressional attention that followed led the DOD to create the Sexual Assault and Response Office. Since its inception, the office has initiated education and training programs, which have improved the reporting of cases of rapes and other sexual assaults. But more must be done to prevent attacks and to increase accountability.

At the heart of this crisis is an apparent inability or unwillingness to prosecute rapists in the ranks. According to DOD statistics, only 181 out of 2,212 subjects investigated for sexual assault in 2007, including 1,259 reports of rape, were referred to courts-martial, the equivalent of a criminal prosecution in the military. Another 218 were handled via nonpunitive administrative action or discharge, and 201 subjects were disciplined through "nonjudicial punishment," which means they may have been confined to quarters, assigned extra duty or received a similar slap on the wrist. In nearly half of the cases investigated, the chain of command took no action; more than a third of the time, that was because of "insufficient evidence."

This is in stark contrast to the civilian trend of prosecuting sexual assault. In California, for example, 44% of reported rapes result in arrests, and 64% of those who are arrested are prosecuted, according to the California Department of Justice.

The DOD must close this gap and remove the obstacles to effective investigation and prosecution. Failure to do so produces two harmful consequences: It deters victims from reporting, and it fails to deter offenders. The absence of rigorous prosecution perpetuates a culture tolerant of sexual assault -- an attitude that says "boys will be boys."

I have raised the issue with Defense Secretary Robert Gates. Although I believe that he is concerned, thus far, the military's response has been underwhelming -- and the apparent lack of urgency is inexcusable.

Congress is not doing much better. Although these sexual assault statistics are readily available, our oversight has failed to come to grips with the magnitude of the crisis. The abhorrent and graphic nature of the reports may make people uncomfortable, but that is no excuse for inaction. Congressional hearings are urgently needed to highlight the failure of existing policies. Most of our servicewomen and men are patriotic, courageous and hardworking people who embody the best of what it means to be an American. The failure to address military sexual assault runs counter to those ideals and shames us all.
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Mexico reconquers California? Absolut drinks to that!

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The latest advertising campaign in Mexico from Swedish vodka maker Absolut promises to push all the right buttons south of the U.S. border, but it could ruffle a few feathers in El Norte.

The billboard and press campaign, created by advertising agency Teran\TBWA and now running in Mexico, is a colorful map depicting what the Americas might look like in an "Absolut" -- i.e., perfect -- world.

The U.S.-Mexico border lies where it was before the Mexican-American war of 1848 when California, as we now know it, was Mexican territory and known as Alta California.

Following the war, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo saw the Mexican territories of Alta California and Santa Fé de Nuevo México ceded to the United States to become modern-day California, Texas, New Mexico, Utah, Colorado and Arizona. (Texas actually split from Mexico several years earlier to form a breakaway republic, and was voluntarily annexed by the United States in 1846.)

The campaign taps into the national pride of Mexicans, according to Favio Ucedo, creative director of leading Latino advertising agency Grupo Gallegos in the U.S.

Ucedo, who is from Argentina, said: “Mexicans talk about how the Americans stole their land, so this is their way of reclaiming it. It’s very relevant and the Mexicans will love the idea.”

But he said that were the campaign to run in the United States, it might fall flat.

“Many people aren’t going to understand it here. Americans in the East and the North or in the center of the county -- I don’t know if they know much about the history.

“Probably Americans in Texas and California understand perfectly and I don’t know how they’d take it.”

Meanwhile, the campaign has been circulating on the blogs and generating strong responses from people north of the border.

“I find this ad deeply offensive, and needlessly divisive. I will now make a point of drinking other brands. And 'vodka and tonic' is my drink,” said one visitor, called New Yorker, on MexicoReporter.com.

Reader Paul Green goes into a discussion on the blog Gateway Pundit of whether the U.S. territories ever belonged to Mexico in the first place, and the News12 Long island site invited people to boycott Absolut, with one user, called LivingSmall, writing: “If you drink Absolut vodka, you can voice your approval or disapproval of this advertising campaign with your purchases. I know I will be switching to Grey Goose or Stoli and will never have another bottle of Absolut in my house.

“Hey Absolut ... that's my form of social commentary.”
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CIA enlists Google's help for spy work


Google has been recruited by US intelligence agencies to help them better process and share information they gather about suspects.

Agencies such as the National Security Agency have bought servers on which Google-supplied search technology is used to process information gathered by networks of spies around the world.

Google is also providing the search features for a Wikipedia-style site, called Intellipedia, on which agents post information about their targets that can be accessed and appended by colleagues, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

The contracts are just a number that have been entered into by Google's 'federal government sales team', that aims to expand the company's reach beyond its core consumer and enterprise operations.

In the most innovative service, for which Google equipment provides the core search technology, agents are encouraged to post intelligence information on a secure forum, which other spies are free to read, edit, and tag - like the online encyclopedia Wikipedia.

Depending on their clearance, agents can log on to Intellipedia and gain access to three levels of info - top secret, secret and sensitive, and sensitive but unclassified. So far 37,000 users have established accounts on the service, and the database now extends to 35,000 articles, according to Sean Dennehy, chief of Intellipedia development for the CIA.

"Each analyst, for lack of a better term, has a shoe box with their knowledge," Mr Dennehy was quoted as saying. "They maintained it in a shared drive or Word document, but we're encouraging them to move those platforms so that everyone can benefit."

The collection of articles is hosted by the director of national intelligence, Mike McConnell, and is available only to the CIA, the FBI, the National Security Agency, and other intelligence agencies.

Google's search technology usually rates a website's importance by measuring the number of other sites that link to it - a method that is more problematic in a 'closed' network used by a limited numbr of people. In the case of Intellipedia, pages become more prominent depending on how they are tagged or added to by other contributors.

As well as working with the intelligence agencies, Google also provides services to other US public sector organisations, including the Coast Guard, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration.

Often, the contract is for something as simple as conducting earch within an organisation's own database, but in the case of the Coast Guard, Google also provides a more advanced version of its satellite mapping tool Google Earth, which ships use to navigate more safely.

There is no dedicated team promoting sales of Google products to the British Government, but a Google spokesperson said the company did target public sector organisations such as councils, schools and universities through the team that run AdWords, its internet advertising platform.
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NBC: Secretive DC prayer group has worldwide reach


Who is Douglas Coe?

"The most important religious leader you've never seen or heard," says NBC's Andrea Mitchell.

Coe, leader of a group called The Fellowship, is a powerful, secretive and well-connected religious leader, widely known among senators across the aisles, and across faiths; but not by the general public. Coe's services have been attended by all three of the major 2008 presidential hopefuls: Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY), Senator John McCain (R-AZ) and Senator Barack Obama (D-IL).

The Fellowship appears to be as much of a networking opportunity as it is a religious group, says Joshua Green, senior editor of The Atlantic Monthly.

"I think, in part, through her involvement with The Fellowship's prayer group," Green says, "[Senator Hillary Clinton] was able to meet a lot of these conservative Republican senators, get to know them on a one-on-one basis..."

Jeff Sharlet, author of The Family, was disturbed by Coe's teachings after spending time living among his followers.

Sometimes referring to themselves in jest as the "Christian Mafia," Sharlet says, Fellowship members didn't seem to understand why he was concerned that Coe referenced such historical figures as Adolf Hitler, Vladimir Lenin and Chairman Mao in his teachings.

"Hitler's genocide wasn't really an issue for them," says Sharlet. "It was the strength that he emulated."

People close to Clinton say Coe is not Clinton's minister, she does not consider Coe to be a leading spiritual advisor, nor has she contributed to his group or ever been a member.

Coe mostly talks about Jesus, and invokes Hitler only as an example of how small groups can cultivate power for good or bad, said a close friend to NBC. Coe declined to be interviewed for the segment.
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More than 50 percent chance of U.S. recession: Greenspan


MADRID (Reuters) - There is more than a 50 percent chance the United States could go into recession, former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan told El Pais newspaper in an interview published on Sunday.

However, the U.S. has not yet entered recessionary state marked by sharp falls in orders, strong rises in unemployment and intensive weakening of the economy, he said.

"We would have to see signs of this intensification: there are some, but not many yet," he said. "Therefore ... I would not describe the situation we are in as a recession, although the chances that we'll have one are more than 50 percent."

A sharp downturn in the U.S. housing market has led to a full-blown credit crisis that has reverberated throughout the U.S. financial system.

The economy has become increasingly important in the U.S. presidential campaign, topping the list of voters' concerns heading into the November election.

Greenspan, the U.S. Fed chairman from 1987 to 2006, endorsed the Republican presidential candidate John McCain in the interview.

"I'm Republican and I support John McCain, who I know very well and who I respect a lot," he said.

The economies of the United States and the European Union were at a crossroads after a long period of economic growth without inflation, he said.

"This period is going to be much more difficult, from the point of view of monetary policy, than the period during which I was chairman of the Federal Reserve," he said.

Turning to Europe, he pinpointed Spain as having a bigger real estate bubble than the United States, exposing it to the global credit squeeze.

"The real estate bubble in Spain has been bigger than most other European countries, even bigger than the one in the United States," he said. "In that sense, one would have to presume that there is more vulnerability."

Spain has been the fastest-growing major European economy for more than a decade due to a housing boom during which house prices tripled, but the global credit crisis coupled with higher interest rates have put a sharp brake on growth.

He gave a broadly positive overview of other European economies.
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Londoners could pay $50 a day to drive in city


LONDON - As New York commuters brace for possible charges for driving into the midtown area, they can at least be thankful they don't live in London, where Mayor Ken Livingstone has staked his re-election hopes on boosting the "congestion tax" to as much as $50 a day.

The New York State Legislature still needs to approve Mayor Michael Bloomberg's pricing plan this month or the city stands to lose $354 million in funding to help kick-start the project.

The proposal involves raising tolls for entering New York via tunnels and bridges as well as charging drivers an $8 fee to drive in the area below 60th Street between during daytime hours on weekdays.

Livingstone, locked in a bruising contest with conservative candidate Boris Johnson, has proposed levying a £25 (about $50) charge on vehicles deemed to be causing the worst pollution, including four-wheel drives such as “Chelsea Tractors,” Land Rovers dubbed as such because of their predominance in London’s ritzy southwestern borough.

The tax would replace the current £8 (around $16) congestion charge, implemented in February 2003 and aimed at combating pollution and overcrowding in central London’s traffic-choked streets.

The new charge is organized into three different price bands. While many drivers will continue to pay the £8 fee for their mid-range emission vehicles, those with cars that produce under 120 g/km of carbon dioxide, like the Volkswagen Polo, will no longer have to pay to drive across the capital city.

Meantime, those with high-end vehicles that produce more than 225 g/km, like almost all Porsches, Land Rovers and Mercedes, will have to pay £25. The new charges would start in October and affect anyone driving into the center between 7 a.m. and 6 p.m. Monday to Friday.


Residents living within the congestion charge zone would also lose their current 90 percent discount and instead pay the same as those living outside the area.

'A complete rip-off'

Some workers and residents in the wealthy Kensington and Chelsea districts have protested Livingstone’s campaign.

“I don’t see why people who have bigger cars should have to pay more when some old cars produce worse (emissions),” said Philip Thornton, a driver for clients who own large vehicles such as Land Rovers.

“It’s a complete rip-off,” Thornton said, although he noted that considering the wealth of the neighborhoods, “£25 is pushing it, but a lot of people will just pay it.”

For central London workers who rely on their cars for transportation, the charge has added to their long list of woes, which already includes long waits in traffic and problems finding parking.

“I never travel (by car) Monday to Friday because of the charge,” Mario D’Apice, a painter, said.

He agreed that there were too many cars on the road nowadays, but opposes the new charge saying it was, “time to let the government go.”

There is an opportunity for that to happen just prior to the new environmental charge being introduced as Livingstone, the outspoken Labour Party incumbent, is facing tough competition from Johnston.

A poll published Thursday showed him running neck-and-neck with the Conservative challenger, an eccentric and chaotically coifed legislator once a fixture of the nation's television talk-show circuit.

A Guardian/ICM poll showed Johnson with a 1-point lead over Livingstone when voters were asked their first choice in the May 1 election. The lead grows slightly to 2 points when the complex system that allows voters to designate first and second choices is factored in.

Some side with the mayor

Still, some residents back with Livingstone's hefty charges.

Kieran Mcilwham, a student and cyclist, thought the measures would be good for the environment. He also felt that it would help combat congestion, given the traffic is “definitely getting worse.”

Another cyclist, Eamon Daly, was in agreement. “At the end of the day the c-charge is a positive thing if it goes towards transport," Daly said. “As a cyclist I’m for it as it helps with cyclist motorist balance on the road," he said.

While cyclists were obvious proponents of the plan, some drivers from outside London also voiced support for it.

“I think it is good for people with higher emission engines to pay more," said Lucy Noble, whose Mercedes station wagon would be in the high-cost bracket.

“It probably would stop me coming in if I had to pay 25 pounds,” she said, but added that she felt that public transport, her other option, “really wasn’t good enough.”

Diana Ekins, another suburbanite on her way into London, said, “I personally think it's good; I think it is important to try and clear a bit of the congestion.” She continued, “I drive into London a lot. I think it’s a fair charge. I think it's well worth it.”

Businesses in central London also have mixed views on the planned increase.

"If you have something unique people will still travel," said art dealer Karen Yuen. However, she said "we won't know for a few more years" whether or not the environmental targets of the plan are attainable.
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Met Police officers to be 'microchipped' by top brass in Big Brother style tracking

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Met Chief Sir Ian Blair could be among 31,000 officers to receive the new electronic tracking device​


Every single Metropolitan police officer will be 'microchipped' so top brass can monitor their movements on a Big Brother style tracking scheme, it can be revealed today.

According to respected industry magazine Police Review, the plan - which affects all 31,000 serving officers in the Met, including Sir Ian Blair - is set to replace the unreliable Airwave radio system currently used to help monitor officer's movements.

The new electronic tracking device - called the Automated Personal Location System (APLS) - means that officers will never be out of range of supervising officers.

But many serving officers fear being turned into "Robocops" - controlled by bosses who have not been out on the beat in years.

According to service providers Telent, the new technology 'will enable operators in the Service's operations centres to identify the location of each police officer' at any time they are on duty - whether overground or underground.

Although police chiefs say the new technology is about 'improving officer safety' and reacting to incidents more quickly, many rank and file believe it is just a Big Brother style system to keep tabs on them and make sure they don't 'doze off on duty'.

Some officers are concerned that the system - which will be able to pinpoint any of the 31,000 officers in the Met to within a few feet of their location - will put a complete end to community policing and leave officers purely at the beck and call of control room staff rather than reacting to members of the public on the ground.

Pete Smyth, chairman of the Met Police Federation, said: "This could be very good for officers' safety but it could also involve an element of Big Brother.

"We need to look at it very carefully."

Other officers, however, were more scathing, saying the new system - set to be implemented within the next few weeks - will turn them into 'Robocops' simply obeying instructions from above rather than using their own judgement.

One officer, working in Peckham, south London, said: "They are keeping the exact workings of the system very hush-hush at the moment - although it will be similar to the way criminals are electronically tagged. There will not be any choice about wearing one.

"We depend on our own ability and local knowledge to react to situations accordingly.

"Obviously we need the back up and information from control, but a lot of us feel that we will simply be used as machines, or robots, to do what we are told with little or no chance to put in anything ourselves."

He added: "Most of us joined up so we could apply the law and think for ourselves, but if Sarge knows where we are every second of the day it just makes it difficult."

Another officer, who did not want to be named, said: "A lot of my time is spent speaking to people in cafes, parks or just wherever I'm approached. If I feel I've got my chief breathing down my neck to make another arrest I won't feel I'm doing my job properly."

The system is one of the largest of its kind in the world, according to Telent, the company behind the technology, although neither the Met nor Telent would provide Police Review with any more information about exactly how the system will work or what sort of devices officers will wear.

Nigel Lee, a workstream manager at the Met, said: "Safety is a primary concern for all police forces.

"The area served by our force covers 620 miles and knowing the location of our officers means that not only can we provision resource more quickly, but should an officer need assistance, we can get to them even more quickly."

Forces currently have the facility to track all their officers through GPS devices on their Airwave radio headsets, but this is subject to headsets being up to date and forces buying the back office systems to accompany them, according to Airwave.

Steve Rands, health and safety head for the Met Police Federation, told Police Review: "This is so that we know where officers are. Let us say that when voice distortion or sound quality over the radio is lost, if you cannot hear where that officer telling you where he is, you can still pinpoint his exact position by global positioning system.

"If he needs help but you cannot hear him for whatever reason, APLS will say where he is."
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Re: FEMA Coffins

oneofmany said:
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VERY INTERESTING - What is this place? FEMA Coffins!

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Multi-functional cremation container for a cadaver

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What's particularly creepy about this vid and story is that facility is right here in Georgia in a town called Madison which is approx. an hour outside ATL.:smh::smh::smh::smh::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:
 
Dubya: Torture, yeah so what?

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Presdient Bush unfazed by torture being led from White House.​


Following the ABC revelation of a torture advisory group meeting in the White House, ABC has prodded President Bush to respond to its story.

ABC caught up with Bush to respond to its story that top administration officials, as members of the National Security Council's Principals Committee, had signed off on "enhanced interrogation" techniques in 2002 that included waterboarding.

The high-level discussions about these "enhanced interrogation techniques" were so detailed, these sources said, some of the interrogation sessions were almost choreographed -- down to the number of times CIA agents could use a specific tactic.

"Well, we started to connect the dots, in order to protect the American people." Bush told ABC News White House correspondent Martha Raddatz. "And, yes, I'm aware our national security team met on this issue. And I approved.”...

Bush said the ABC report about the principals' involvement was not so "startling."
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Re: FEMA Coffins

LennyNero1972 said:
What's particularly creepy about this vid and story is that facility is right here in Georgia in a town called Madison which is approx. an hour outside ATL.:smh::smh::smh::smh::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:
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From what I gather, that large coffin center may not be the only one of its kind. There might be other inexplicable, random coffin sites in parts of the country like this. Interesting.
 
Re: FEMA Coffins

Once the mass executions start, they have to dispose of the evidence as discretely as possible. Ashes tell no tales, but mass graves do.
 
Anti-terror laws used to spy on family


A family who were wrongly suspected of lying on a school application form have discovered that their local council used anti-terrorism surveillance powers to spy on them.

The family, from Poole in Dorset, said they had been tailed for three weeks by council officials trying to establish whether they had given a false address in an attempt to get their three-year-old daughter a place at a heavily oversubscribed local nursery school, which their two older children had attended. The family had in fact done nothing wrong, and the investigation was eventually aborted.

Yesterday it emerged that Poole borough council had legitimately used the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act to monitor the family. This involved keeping a detailed log of their movements for two weeks, following the mother's car as she took her three children to school each day and even watching the family home to ascertain their sleeping habits.

The Act, passed in 2000, was supposed to allow security agencies to combat terrorism.

The 39-year-old mother, a businesswoman who wished to remain anonymous, said: "I can't imagine a greater invasion of our privacy. I'm incensed that legislation designed to combat terrorism can be turned on a three-year-old. It was very creepy when we found out that people had been watching us and making notes. Councils should be protecting children, not spying on them."

The council defended its right to investigate families in a covert manner, saying it had used the law twice in the past year to successfully prove parents were lying about where they lived.
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Re: Anti-terror laws used to spy on family

There are 510 posts in this thread before this one;
how many truly represent "The Beast" ???

There is a prize for the ... right answer.

QueEx
 
Re: Anti-terror laws used to spy on family

QueEx said:
There are 510 posts in this thread before this one;
how many truly represent "The Beast" ???
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Pretty much all of them.

There is a prize for the ... right answer.

QueEx
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No prize needed, no prized wanted. Just more political talk in this thread is all that's needed.
 
Tranquillisers putting children's lives at risk


New evidence has shown children's lives are being put at risk by a surge in the use of controversial tranquillising drugs which are being prescribed to control their behaviour, the Guardian has learned.

The anti-psychotic drugs are being given to youngsters under the age of six even though the drugs have no licence for use in children except in certain schizophrenia cases, the report says.

The number of children on the drugs has doubled since the early 1990s as the UK begins to follow a trend started in the US, but critics say they are a "chemical cosh" that could cause premature death.

The first comprehensive analysis, carried out by Ian Wong, professor of paediatric medicines research at the London School of Pharmacy, suggests the number of children on the drugs has surged sharply.

His analysis, to be published next month in the US journal Pediatrics, shows that between 1992 and 2005, 3,000 UK children were given anti-psychotics.

Twice as many prescriptions were given to children for the drugs in 2005 as in 1992, with the biggest increase in the seven to 12 age group, where the number of anti-psychotics prescribed trebled. The largest category of use by far is in cases of behavioural disorders and personality disorders, including bipolar disorder (manic depression), autism and hyperactivity.

Although the drugs are not licensed for children, doctors can prescribe them on their own responsibility.

The increase follows a huge rise in the use of the drugs in children in the US. Yet nobody knows how the drugs affect a growing child's body or what may happen in the long term. The increase has come at a time when former psychiatric best-sellers Prozac and its class of anti-depressants have gone out of patent. Wong says children on anti-psychotic medication are more likely to die earlier - something which may not be caused by the drug but which gives cause for concern. "The mortality rate is much higher. It could be some underlying problem of the brain. It doesn't show the drug is causing any deaths, but there is this inequality."

Some of the children of whose deaths he is aware had underlying incurable conditions such as Aids, so it is hard to establish whether the drugs played any part.

David Healy, professor of psychological medicine at Cardiff University, says the drugs may cause heart, circulation and breathing problems. "There is a real question over whether the drugs can kill for a number of reasons. One is that all anti-psychotics act on [the brain chemical] dopamine." He said dopamine was known to have a role in cardiovascular regulation. A number of children in the US, given stimulants - which also act on the dopamine system - after being diagnosed with ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder), have suddenly died, said Healy. He was asked by lawyers in the US to give an opinion on a child who was diagnosed when she was a baby first with ADHD, then depression and finally bipolar disorder (manic depression). "Having spent 75% of her life on one of these drugs, she dropped dead at the age of two," he said.

The drugs have potentially serious and harmful side-effects which need to be balanced against any benefit for the child or its parents. These include substantial weight gain and tardive dyskinesia (uncontrollable tongue and facial movements).

The drug watchdog, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Authority, is concerned about the use of such drugs without evidence to prove they are safe in children, but unless the manufacturers conduct trials, its hands are tied.
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Nanotech Exposed in Grocery Store Aisles


WASHINGTON, D.C. — Untested nanotechnology is being used in more than 100 food products, food packaging and contact materials currently on the shelf, without warning or new FDA testing, according to a report released today by Friends of the Earth.

The report, Out of the Laboratory and onto Our Plates: Nanotechnology in Food and Agriculture, found nanomaterials in popular products and packaging including Miller Light beer, Cadbury Chocolate packaging and ToddlerHealth, a nutritional drink powder for infants sold extensively at health food stores including WholeFoods.

“Nanotech food was put on our plates without FDA testing for consumer safety,” said Ian Illuminato, Friends of the Earth Health and Environment Campaigner. “Consumers have a right to know if they are taste-testing a dangerous new technology.”

Existing regulations require no new testing or labeling for nanomaterials when they are created from existing approved chemicals, despite major differences in potential toxicity. The report reveals toxicity risks of nanomaterials such as organ damage and decreased immune system response.

“Nanotechnology can be very dangerous when used in food,” said report co-author Dr Rye Senjen. “Early scientific evidence indicates that some nanomaterials produce free radicals which destroy or mutate DNA and can cause damage to the liver and kidneys.”

Report co-author Georgia Miller, Friends of the Earth Australia Nanotechnology Project Coordinator, said many of the world’s largest food companies, including Heinz, Nestle, Unilever and Kraft are currently using and testing nanotechnology for food processing and packaging. Without increased federal oversight, these companies could begin sale of these products whenever they choose.

“There is no legal requirement for manufacturers to label their products that contain nanomaterials, or to conduct new safety tests,” said Miller. “This gives manufacturers the ability to force-feed untested technology to consumers without their consent.”

Nanotechnology, the manipulation of matter at the scale of atoms and molecules, is now used to manufacture nutritional supplements, flavor and colors additives, food packaging, cling wrap and containers, and chemicals used in agriculture.

“Friends of the Earth calls on the FDA to stop the sale of all nano food, packaging, and agricultural chemicals until strong scientific regulations are enacted to ensure consumer safety and until ingredients are labeled,” said Illuminato.

The report, released internationally today in the U.S., Europe and Australia details more than a hundred nano food, food packaging and food contact products now on sale internationally. The Australian government has already welcomed the report and announced that it will begin exploring regulation of nano food and nano agriculture as a result of the report. The full report can be found at www.foe.org.
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The Government Is Trying to Wrap Its Mind Around Yours


Imagine a world of streets lined with video cameras that alert authorities to any suspicious activity. A world where police officers can read the minds of potential criminals and arrest them before they commit any crimes. A world in which a suspect who lies under questioning gets nabbed immediately because his brain has given him away.

Though that may sound a lot like the plot of the 2002 movie "Minority Report," starring Tom Cruise and based on a Philip K. Dick novel, I'm not talking about science fiction here; it turns out we're not so far away from that world. But does it sound like a very safe place, or a very scary one?

It's a question I think we should be asking as the federal government invests millions of dollars in emerging technology aimed at detecting and decoding brain activity. And though government funding focuses on military uses for these new gizmos, they can and do end up in the hands of civilian law enforcement and in commercial applications. As spending continues and neurotechnology advances, that imagined world is no longer the stuff of science fiction or futuristic movies, and we postpone at our peril confronting the ethical and legal dilemmas it poses for a society that values not just personal safety but civil liberty as well.

Consider Cernium Corp.'s "Perceptrak" video surveillance and monitoring system, recently installed by Johns Hopkins University, among others. This technology grew out of a project funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency -- the central research and development organization for the Department of Defense -- to develop intelligent video analytics systems. Unlike simple video cameras monitored by security guards, Perceptrak integrates video cameras with an intelligent computer video. It uses algorithms to analyze streaming video and detect suspicious activities, such as people loitering in a secure area, a group converging or someone leaving a package unattended. Since installing Perceptrak, Johns Hopkins has reported a 25 percent reduction in crime.

But that's only the beginning. Police may soon be able to monitor suspicious brain activity from a distance as well. New neurotechnology soon may be able to detect a person who is particularly nervous, in possession of guilty knowledge or, in the more distant future, to detect a person thinking, "Only one hour until the bomb explodes." Today, the science of detecting and decoding brain activity is in its infancy. But various government agencies are funding the development of technology to detect brain activity remotely and are hoping to eventually decode what someone is thinking. Scientists, however, wildly disagree about the accuracy of brain imaging technology, what brain activity may mean and especially whether brain activity can be detected from afar.

Yet as the experts argue about the scientific limitations of remote brain detection, this chilling science fiction may already be a reality. In 2002, the Electronic Privacy Information Center reported that NASA was developing brain monitoring devices for airports and was seeking to use noninvasive sensors in passenger gates to collect the electronic signals emitted by passengers' brains. Scientists scoffed at the reports, arguing that to do what NASA was proposing required that an electroencephalogram (EEG) be physically attached to the scalp.

But that same year, scientists at the University of Sussex in England adapted the same technology they had been using to detect heart rates at distances of up to 1 meter, or a little more than three feet, to remotely detect changes in the brain. And while scientific limitations to remote EEG detection still exist, clearly the question is when, not if, these issues will be resolved.

Meanwhile, another remote brain-activity detector, which uses light beamed through the skull to measure changes in oxygen levels in the brain, may be on the way. Together with the EEG, it would enhance the power of brain scanning. Today the technology consists of a headband sensor worn by the subject, a control box to capture the data and a computer to analyze it. With the help of government funding, however, that is all becoming increasingly compact and portable, paving the way for more specific remote detection of brain activity.

But don't panic: The government can't read our minds -- yet. So far, these tools simply measure changes in the brain; they don't detect thoughts and intentions.

Scientists, though, are hard at work trying to decode how those signals relate to mental states such as perception and intention. Different EEG frequencies, for example, have been associated with fear, anger, joy and sorrow and different cognitive states such as a person's level of alertness. So when you're stopped for speeding and terrified because you're carrying illegal drugs in the trunk of your car, EEG technology might enable the police to detect your fear or increased alertness. This is not so far-fetched: Some scientists already are able to tell from brain images in the lab whether a test subject was envisioning a tool such as a hammer or a screwdriver or a dwelling, and to predict whether the subject intended to add or subtract numbers. Just last month, scientists announced a new study aimed at decoding visual imagery in the brain.

Although brain-based lie-detection technology has been quite controversial and has only been tested on a limited basis, early researchers have claimed high accuracy at detecting deception. But there's a problem: Most brain-based lie-detection tests assume that lying should result in more brain activity than truth-telling because lying involves more cognition. So these lie-detection methods may fail in sociopaths or in individuals who believe in the falsehood they're telling.

Whether such technology will be effective outside the laboratory remains to be seen, but the very fact that the government is banking on its future potential raises myriad questions.

Imagine, for example, a police officer approaching a suspect based on Perceptrak's "unusual activity" detection. Equipped with remote neural-detection technology, the officer asks her a few questions, and the detection device deems her responses to be deceptive. Will this be enough evidence for an arrest? Can it be used to convict a person of intent to commit a crime? Significant scientific hurdles remain before neurotechnology can be used that way, but given how fast it's developing, I think we must pause now to ask how it may affect the fundamental precepts of our criminal justice system.

Americans have been willing to tolerate significant new security measures and greater encroachments on civil liberties after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Could reports of significant crime reduction such as that seen by Johns Hopkins, or incidents such as the student shootings last year at Virginia Tech or more recently at Northern Illinois University, be enough to justify the use of pre-crime technology? Could remote neural monitoring together with intelligent video analytics have prevented those tragedies? And if they could, should they be allowed to?

These are just some of the questions we must ask as we balance scientific advances and the promise of enhanced safety against a loss of liberty. And we must do it now, while our voices still matter. In a world where private thoughts are no longer private, what will our protections be?
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Indigenous kids 'medical guinea pigs'


SOME Aboriginal children who were taken from their parents and put into institutions were used as medical guinea pigs, a senate inquiry has been told.

Greens Senator Bob Brown said he was "shocked and alarmed" by the allegations, heard today by the senate legal and constitutional committee's inquiry into a Stolen Generation Compensation Bill 2008.

On the first day of hearings in Darwin today, Kathleen Mills from the Stolen Generations Alliance said the public did not know the full extent of what happened to some children.

And efforts to obtain records that support the claims, such as that children were injected with serums to gauge their reaction to the medication, had been hampered, she said.

"These are the things that have not been spoken about," Ms Mills told the inquiry.

"As well as being taken away, they were used ... there are a lot of things that Australia does not know about."

Outside the inquiry, Ms Mills said her uncle had been a medical orderly at the Kahlin Compound in Darwin.

She said he told her that children were used as "guinea pigs" for leprosy treatments.

"He said it made our people very, very ill ... the treatment almost killed them," she said.
"It was a common experience and a common practice ... People are very inhibited to speak about their experience and it is not a nice subject ... I don't want them to be shamed."

Senator Brown said it was important to get to the bottom of the claims, which he called "very, very serious".

"It may be right, it may not," he said.

"It needs investigation. If within the indigenous community there is a feeling that children may have been experimented upon for a treatment for leprosy or anything else, the air needs to be cleared."

Ms Mills said information to do with the testing would be in health department archives and she called on the Government to assist "opening Pandora's box".

She also said it was important to work with indigenous groups to ascertain who is eligible for compensation.

"It has to happen ... but there's this reluctance to do it," she said.

"We don't have the necessary information ... it's probably tucked away in some archive but we don't have the resources to research, we don't have the people who are qualified."

The compensation Bill aims to pay money to victims of the stolen generations, including living descendants, out of a Stolen Generations Fund.

Ex gratia payments would be set at $20,000 as a common experience payment with an additional $3,000 for each year of institutionalisation.

Rodney Dillon, from the National Sorry Day Committee, said that while the Government debated action, Aboriginal elders entitled to compensation were dying.

"We are going to lose a lot of people between now and the next time this Bill is put on the table," he said.
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Feds to collect DNA from every person they arrest

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WASHINGTON - The government plans to begin collecting DNA samples from anyone arrested by a federal law enforcement agency — a move intended to prevent violent crime but which also is raising concerns about the privacy of innocent people.

Using authority granted by Congress, the government also plans to collect DNA samples from foreigners who are detained, whether they have been charged or not. The DNA would be collected through a cheek swab, Justice Department spokesman Erik Ablin said Wednesday. That would be a departure from current practice, which limits DNA collection to convicted felons.

Expanding the DNA database, known as CODIS, raises civil liberties questions about the potential for misuse of such personal information, such as family ties and genetic conditions.

Ablin said the DNA collection would be subject to the same privacy laws applied to current DNA sampling. That means none of it would be used for identifying genetic traits, diseases or disorders.

Congress gave the Justice Department the authority to expand DNA collection in two different laws passed in 2005 and 2006.

There are dozens of federal law enforcement agencies, ranging from the FBI to the Library of Congress Police. The federal government estimates it makes about 140,000 arrests each year.

Justice officials estimate the new collecting requirements would add DNA from an additional 1.2 million people to the database each year.

Those who support the expanded collection believe that DNA sampling could get violent criminals off the streets and prevent them from committing more crimes.

A Chicago study in 2005 found that 53 murders and rapes could have been prevented if a DNA sample had been collected upon arrest.

"Many innocent lives could have been saved had the government began this kind of DNA sampling in the 1990s when the technology to do so first became available," Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., said. Kyl sponsored the 2005 law that gave the Justice Department this authority.

Thirteen states have similar laws: Alaska, Arizona, California, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Minnesota, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia.

The new regulation would mean that the federal government could store DNA samples of people who are not guilty of any crime, said Jesselyn McCurdy, legislative counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union.

"Now innocent people's DNA will be put into this huge CODIS database, and it will be very difficult for them to get it out if they are not charged or convicted of a crime," McCurdy said.

If a person is arrested but not convicted, he or she can ask the Justice Department to destroy the sample.

The Homeland Security Department — the federal agency charged with policing immigration — supports the new rule.

"DNA is a proven law-enforcement tool," DHS spokesman Russ Knocke said.

The rule would not allow for DNA samples to be collected from immigrants who are legally in the United States or those being processed for admission, unless the person was arrested.

The proposed rule is being published in the Federal Register. That will be followed by a 30-day comment period.
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Nato admits mistakenly supplying arms and food to Taliban


Nato forces mistakenly supplied food, water and arms to Taliban forces in southern Afghanistan, officials today admitted.

Containers destined for local police forces were dropped from a helicopter into a Taliban-controlled area of Zabul province.

The coalition helicopter had intended to deliver pallets of supplies to a police checkpoint in Ghazni, a remote section of Zabul late last month.

By mistake they were dropped some distance from the checkpoint where it was taken by the Taliban, the Internal Security Affairs Commission of the Wolesi Jirga — the Afghan parliament's lower house — was told.

Hamidullah Tukhi, a local politician from Zabul, told the parliamentary commission that the consignment had been taken by a local Taliban commander.

A Nato spokesman said the pallets were carrying rocket propelled grenades, ammunition, water and food.

Afghan politicians have said they do not believe the drop was an accident.

Nato's General Carlos Branco blamed it on "human error" when the navigator confused two very similar grid references.

A spokesman at Nato headquarters in Brussels denied the suggestion the alliance had deliberately armed the Taliban. "We are aware of it but we are not fired up about it. It sounds like someone made a mistake. It was a cock-up rather than a conspiracy.

"The forces on the ground are working to get the message across that we do not deliberately supply the Taliban with arms."
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Gitmo detainees 'drugged to confess'

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Detainees at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp say they were subjected to unknown drugs experimentations intended to coerce confessions.

Adel al-Nusairi, a former Saudi policeman captured by US forces in Afghanistan in 2002, describes his confessions after the shot as 'made-up' adding that he was unable to learn what drugs were injected before interrogations.

"I was completely gone," said Nusairi, now free in Saudi Arabia. "I said, 'Let me go. I want to go to sleep. If it takes saying I'm a member of al-Qaeda, I will'."

According to court documents, at least two dozen other former and current detainees at Guantanamo maintain they were given drugs or witnessed other inmates being drugged.

The Defense Department and the CIA, responsible for detaining terrorism suspects, however, denied using drugs as an enhancement for interrogations, and described such claims as either 'fabrications' or 'mistaken interpretations of routine medical treatment'.

This is while a memo by the then-Justice Department explicitly condoned the use of 'mind-altering substances' on prisoners as long as they did not inflict "profound" psychological damage.
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Re: Nanotech Exposed in Grocery Store Aisles

LennyNero1972 said:
Man thank for this story, this confirms my theory on how they are going to chip people. Fuck implanting folks, they are going put the shit in your food, water, and in the air.
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It's possible they could do all those things in conjunction with chipping people too. But you're right.
 
Machine Gun-Toting Officers To Patrol NYC Subway


NEW YORK (CBS) ― More protection against terrorists is coming to a subway station near you. Starting Thursday, special bomb teams, known as "Torch Teams," will be toting submachine guns and bringing bomb-sniffing dogs onto the platforms and into the trains. CBS 2 HD was out first thing Thursday morning on the lookout for these significant security measure improvements.

It's a first for mass transit in the United States. NYPD officers, armed with rifles, submachine guns, body armor and bomb-sniffing dogs will begin patrolling the city's subway system thanks to a 50 percent increase in a homeland security grant.

The city's massive subway system has long been considered a potential terror target. Six officers and a dog will constitute a team, patrolling all platforms and trains in 12-hour shifts. The "Torch Teams" will be toting MP5 submachine guns and M4 Carbine rifles that are used by Navy seals and FBI hostage-rescue teams. The teams are being paid for by $151 million from the Feds.

Similarly equipped NYPD units, known as "Hercules Teams," have patrolled Wall Street, the Empire State Building and other aboveground city landmarks for years as a response to the World Trade Center attacks.

A police official likened the "Torch Teams" to "Hercules Teams" with MetroCards. In this age of heightened security, commuters and keen canines will share the underground world of mass transit.

"It's a very good idea. It's like a deterrent. It's going to make me feel safer, much safer, yes it will. It's a good idea," said commuter Patricia Knight Williams.
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Face scans for air passengers will start in the UK this summer

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Identity check: Officials of the scheme say it will transform airport security and help ease congestion. But critics claim it is a 'laughable, unproven' technology.​


Airline passengers are to undergo facial scans at a British airport for the first time.
In a trial set for this summer, hi-tech gates will scan travellers' faces and compare the image with their biometric passport.

Border security officials behind the scheme claim it will transform passengers' experience of airport security and help ease congestion.

They are convinced that the scanners are more reliable and better at preventing ID fraud than humans checking paperwork.

But critics have attacked the plan, which they claim is based on 'laughable, unproven technology' that could cause innocent passengers even further delays.

There is also concern that travellers may react badly to being rejected at an automated gate.

The plan will initially only apply to British and EU citizins carrying new biometric passports.

While it is not yet known how many airports will take part, if the pilot scheme is a success the technology will be rolled out nationwide.

One potential problem is that the technology will err on the side of caution of 'false negatives' - innocent passengers who are not cleared because the machines cannot recognise them.

They may, instead, be sent to another queue or staff may be authorised to override the gates.

Details of the scheme emerged earlier this week at a London conference attended by international biometrics experts, border control civil servants, and the police.

During one session, Gary Murphy, head of operational design and development for the UK Border Agency, said: "We think a machine can do a better job [than manned passport inspections]. What will the public reaction be? Will they use it? We need to test and see how people react and how they deal with rejection.'

He claimed that in previous trials of iris recognition, the failure rate was around 3 to 5 per cent, although some were passengers who were not enrolled but jumped into the queue.

But Gus Hosein, a specialist at the London School of Economics in the interplay between technology and society, said: 'It's a laughable technology. U.S. police at the SuperBowl had to turn it off within three days because it was throwing up so many false positives.

'The computer couldn't even recognise gender. It's not that it could wrongly match someone as a terrorist, but that it won't match them with their image. A human can make assumptions, a computer can't.'

Phil Booth, of the No2Id Campaign, said: 'Someone is extremely optimistic. The technology is just not there.

'The last time I spoke to anyone in the facial recognition field they said the best systems were only operating at about a 40 per cent success rate in a real time situation.

'I am flabbergasted they consider doing this at a time when there are so many measures making it difficult for passengers.'

Home Office Minister Liam Byrne said: 'Britain's border security is now among the toughest in the world and tougher checks do take time, but we don't want long waits.

'So the UK Borders Agency will soon be testing new automatic gates for British and European Economic Area citizins.

'We will test them this year and, if they work, put them at all key ports and airports.'

Between eight million and ten million biometric passports have been issued since their introduction in 2006. Non-biometric passports will not be valid after 2016.

Trials of iris recognition technology at Heathrow, Gatwick and Manchester were temporarily shelved in November.

If iris scans are ditched from the Government's controversial £5.4billion ID cards project, it could mean only two biometrics would be used to confirm a person's identity - a facial scan and fingerprints.

Last month, fingerprint scanning at Heathrow's Terminal 5 were postponed before it started amid concern from the Information Commissioner's Office about what would happen to the data.
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Britons to have prints taken in US airports


More than four million British tourists face being fingerprinted when they leave the United States, under plans drawn up by the American government.

The Department of Homeland Security wants to tighten checks on foreigners going in and out of the country.

It has asked airlines to carry out the exit fingerprint checks on its behalf, prompting fears of lengthy delays at American airports for Britons.

"If you add anything to the process at an airport, you will end up with more people spending more time hanging about in queues," said a spokesman for the industry's trade body, the International Air Transport Association.

"We are now being asked to be immigration officers.

"If the US government thinks it is so important to fingerprint people on leaving the country, they should have the immigration officers to do it."
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