If this is your first visit I would suggest that, after viewing the articles in this page, you click onto the "Blog Archive" on the right hand panel. Have a look at some of the previous editions too. That will give you a much fuller picture of what is happening than by simply reading what has happened in the last week.
Areas Covered Each Week:
Civil Liberties - Health - Environment - Democracy & International Relations - Economics - Science - The War on Terror - The Next War
Stories of the Week:
900 million face starvation - Oxfam http://ukpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5hiEux9nVHdQowcSWbh8H_ls3uFOQ
Morally, ethically and financially would it be a/ better to bail of fat cat bankers with trillions of dollars and give them just a mere slap on the writs, or b/ feed, clothe, house and educate the entire world's population?
US bites the bullet with an 'aggressive' $250bn bank bail-out http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/oct/15/wall-street-bank-shares
This is on top of last week's $700b (minimum), and the hundred's of billions already paid (Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac, etc), and the hundred's of billions the Europeans and British have suddenly "injected into the system. Lucky they had so much spare cash hidden under the bed for a rainy day eh? In the real world that money has to come from somewhere – extra government (& therefore taxpayers) debt – which is created by printing more money – which causes more inflation – say goodbye to your savings, the long forgotten dragon is back, and it will be staying for quite a time to come.
Civil Liberties:
No opt-out of filtered Australian Internet
http://www.computerworld.com.au/index.php/id%3b1399635276
The question you should ask yourself is should the state have the power to control what you see on the net or should it be free access – the problem could be that this becomes the thin edge of the wedge and overtime other, say political, sites might become black-listed, the only problem is that by the time that happens you wouldn’t know as the information wouldn’t be accessible.
Documents show Australian Federal Police out to get Haneef 'by any means'
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,,24508855-2702,00.html
US states are spying on political activists and classifying them as terrorists in order to stifle protest
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2008/oct/15/terrorism-civil-liberties-surveillance
ID cards plan in crisis as the 'guinea pigs' revolt
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/oct/12/idcards
Once the MC Saatchi PR agency hired to get this "accepted" gets to work I'm afraid it is highly likely that this opposition will be brushed aside.
UK Peers throw out 42-day detention
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/7666022.stm
A small victory for British democracy – ironically coming from a totally un-democratic 100% appointed (not elected) upper chamber of Parliament. But is it a pyrric victory?
Home Secretary resurrects 42-days after Lords rejection
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/14/42_days_defeat/
If at 1st you don't succeed.......
UK faces major terror plot, warns minister - just hours after Government ditches 42-day detention plan
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gFA7B1NXaj1yTHGPF7HSpVhY-ORAD93QHI8G0
Cover-up claim as Special Branch officer admits changing evidence at de Menezes inquest
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5ietn-hv5uJ-Z0AwOMXCEWWJd5lXw
CNN anchor highlights threat of martial law following economic crisis
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0810/13/gb.01.html
at last someone in the mainstream media asking questions that others have been asking for weeks now. If you can't find the question in the transcript select Find and search for "martial"
UK police may get more data collection powers
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/7671046.stm
White House memos endorsed CIA waterboarding says report
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/22/20081015/tpl-uk-security-interrogation-memos-81f3b62.html
UK will soon be a country more spied upon than Communist East Germany under the Stasi
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1078026/STEPHEN-GLOVER-This-soon-country-spied-Communist-East-Germany.html
UK database would 'stop terrorists'
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/7674775.stm
Yeah, sure it would
Security services want personal data from sites like Facebook http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/oct/15/terrorism-security
Ugandans ban female circumcision
http://www.shortnews.com/start.cfm?id=74061
Shouldn't foreign aid be reliant on these factors not how much of their state operations we can buy on the cheap and how much wealth the local strong man can accumulate?
Pentagon Considering Portable ‘Pain Ray’ Guns
http://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/pain_ray_gun/2008/10/14/140279.html
Airport admits 'strip search' body scanners WILL show people naked
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1077800/Airport-admits-strip-search-body-scanners-WILL-people-naked.html
Scariest entry on a comments section of the week ""I don't mind that all that they will see me naked. It is important to check people and if this helps then all for the good. However, I notice that it is a low grade X-ray and I am concerned that if pregnant that this might hurt the baby. Will pregnant women have the option of being strip searched instead?"!!!
Free US nationwide Wi-Fi network to censor, amongst other things, political websites
http://www.dailytech.com/Fight%2BBrewing%2BOver%2BPornFree%2BCostFree%2BNational%2BWireless%2BInternet/article13193.htm
The key bit is: anything “contemporary community standards” deem as obscene
Spying on Activists Discussed at Forum
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/11/AR2008101101427.html?hpid=sec-metro
Community officers to be able to detain suspects
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/lawandorder/3210448/Community-officers-to-detain-suspects.html
Paris to quadruple number of CCTV cameras
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/3209808/Paris-to-quadruple-number-of-CCTV-cameras.html
The French have clearly seen how effective it has been in stamping out all crime in the UK (well maybe not – its actually increased but never mind)
Israel's new "skunk" weapon drenches Palestinians with foul smelling liquid.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7646894.stm
Parent fury as school uses 'Guantanamo Bay' isolation cells to punish unruly pupils
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1077168/School-introduces-Guantanamo-Bay-isolation-cells-punish-unruly-pupils.html
It is called conditioning - Don't worry kids this is normal for citizens, just as the game show on TV that uses water-boarding is just funny (see last weeks edition)
Call for More Doctors to Help End Organ Pillaging by Chinese Regime
http://en.epochtimes.com/n2/canada/doctors-help-end-organ-pillaging-chinese-regime-5556.html
Democracy & International Diplomacy:
Rich nations 'reneging' over aid
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7675103.stm
Postponing the US Presidential election: It's a joke, or is it?
http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/articles/2008/10/11/postponing_the_election_its_a_joke_or_is_it/
'Straight guy' Blair did help F1 beat tobacco ban
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/straight-guy-blair-did-help-f1-beat-tobacco-ban-959402.html
Blair Lied Over His Knowledge of Abu Ghraib Atrocities
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1078670/As-confirmed-Blair-lied-MPs-Ecclestone-I-reveal-lied---heres-proof.html
Insider’s Projects Drained Missile-Defense Millions
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/12/washington/12missile.html?_r=2&hp&oref=slogin&oref=slogin
W.H.O warning over health inequalities
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7669054.stm
China will be a democracy by 2020, says senior party figure
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/3195370/China-will-be-a-democracy-by-2020-says-senior-party-figure.html
yeah, sure it will, and I'm Santa Claus. The current Chinese model is the way of the future (look at un-democratic and pro-corporate nature of the EU now for example)
EU steps up pressure on Ireland to hold second Lisbon Treaty referendum
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/eureferendum/3173967/EU-steps-up-pressure-on-Ireland-to-hold-second-Lisbon-Treaty-referendum.html
If at first you don't get the "right" democratic result, keep asking until you do.
Bush Signs India-U.S. Nuclear Pact Into Law
http://www.indiajournal.com/pages/event.php?id=4860
So what if India hasn't signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation treaty? There are even more of them that the Chinese. It's always good to have lots of friends.
Health:
Traditional light bulbs banned by EU
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/3174452/Traditional-lightbulbs-banned-by-EU.html
Following on from the story last week that eco-bulbs emit harmful levels of UV...but hey they have a higher profit margin so what is a corporation to do?
Monsanto-Backed State Bill Seeks to Outlaw rBGH-Free Label Claims on Milk Products
http://www.naturalnews.com/024453.html
Break out the bubbly: White wine may be good for you
http://www.newscientist.com/channel/health/dn14920-break-out-the-bubbly-white-wine-may-be-good-for-you.html?feedId=online-news_rss20
Parkinson's linked to vitamin D
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7666749.stm
Getting exposure to the sun (in moderation) is good for you. Using carcinogen filled sun creams is not.
Pharmaceutical freebies may harm children
http://www.newscientist.com/channel/health/mg20026773.400-pharmaceutical-freebies-may-harm-children.html?feedId=online-news_rss20
Most health workers skip flu shot
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2008-10-16-flu-shot_N.htm?csp=34
Good - bloody inconsiderate to shareholders however as sales will be down.
Diabetes aspirin use questioned
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7673587.stm
Mobile phones 'cause skin rash'
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7673589.stm
and they are cooking your brain too.
Organically Grown Foods Higher In Cancer-fighting Chemicals Than Conventionally Grown Foods
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2003/03/030304073059.htm
New Jersey Mandatory Flu Shots for Preschoolers Cause Outrage
http://www.abcnews.go.com/Health/ColdandFluNews/story?id=6051917&page=1
Finance & Economics:
Dow Jones bloodbath mirroring 1929 rout, Another 27% drop to go - Analyst
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=892188181&play=1
UK Consumer inflation reaches 5.2%
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7668608.stm
Expect it to go much, much higher worldwide in the light of the banking “bail-outs”.
EU Pushes for Overhaul of Postwar Financial System
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601085&sid=arrakoZdgCFg&refer=europe
How about One World Currency? That might just work.........
Banks borrow record $437.5 billion per day from Fed
http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE49F97920081017
Just where is all this money coming from? Printing yet more money. Great idea!
Wall Street banks in $70bn staff payout
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/oct/17/executivesalaries-banking
London bankers' £16bn bonus bonanza
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/bankers-16316bn-bonus-bonanza-965445.html
JPMorgan & Goldman Sachs Responsible for the Destruction of U.S. Financial System
http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article6826.html
Former Fed chief says U.S. now in recession
http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSTRE49D2QB20081014?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews
So in recession, bankrupt, and stoking massive inflation by printing more money – a recipe for disaster perhaps?
Gold will thrive on dollar flight
http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/topstories.aspx?ID=BD4A862031
Gold runs out in German rush
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard-business/article-23571196-details/Gold%2Bruns%2Bout%2Bin%2BGerman%2Brush/article.do
Berlusconi Says Leaders May Close World's Markets while they ``rewrite the rules of international finance.''
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aP5mpMUORBWM
Londoners Queue on Sidewalk to Buy Gold in Rush for Money Haven
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601102&sid=aL9NzLB3xtbs&refer=uk
Lehman Unit Shrank $400 Billion Before Bankruptcy
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a6eigPY5XGJ8&refer=home
How careless "losing $400 billion". Other reports, from non-mainstream media, claim that the same $400b was transferred out (to a "safe place") to precipitate the crash which resulted in mega taxpayer bailouts worldwide.
Barclays faces Paris money laundering trial
http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/latest-world-news/2006/07/22/barclays-faces-paris-money-laundering-trial-50082-17429756/
Banks To Get £37bn From Taxpayer
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/skynews/20081013/tuk-banks-to-get-37bn-from-taxpayer-45dbed5.html
Germany prepares €470bn bank rescue
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/835936d0-9903-11dd-9d48-000077b07658.html?nclick_check=1
Has anyone out there got a calculator with enough digits on it to add up all taxpayers trillions that are being handed out to the worldwide banking corporations at the moment?
Nobel winning economist says world recession likely
http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSTRE49C8AE20081013?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews
State’s intervention swells UK public sector to one in three workers
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/banking_and_finance/article4938794.ece
Professor who predicted this crash in 2006 predicts Worst Recession in 40 Years, Stock Drop
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a0AZ3ECSkvwc&refer=home
Hard times bring barter back into vogue in Britain
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/22/20081015/tuk-life-us-britain-barter-fa6b408.html
Tent Cities Emerge Outside of Los Angeles
http://www.nationalexpositor.com/News/1417.html
High food costs 'a global burden'
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7671612.stm
Brown bail-out under threat as bank seeks better deal
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/oct/16/banking-gordonbrown
"It's just so unfair that you have to impose all these conditions on us poor bankers when you are only spending billions of taxpayers money to help us out"
UK Government owned Northern Rock bank criticised over 'aggressive repossessions'
http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2008/oct/17/repossessions-mortgages
Environment:
Whale deal falls at last minute
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7668526.stm
New sunspots may signal end of solar dry spell
http://space.newscientist.com/article/dn14933-new-sunspots-signal-end-of-solar-dry-spell.html?feedId=online-news_rss20
Snowy Mountains cloud seeding 'paying off'
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/10/14/2390294.htm
Official admission of cloud seeding? (the source of "Chem." Trails - which are not the same as vapor trails as they don't dissipate, and very much man-made)
Ecuador Constitutional Assembly Approves Rights of Nature In New Constitution
http://www.globalexchange.org/update/press/5922.html
Rainforest plan may 'fuel corruption'
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7669215.stm
Alaska glaciers grew this year, thanks to colder weather
http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/5581
Hence why it is branded "Climate Change" nowadays and not "Global Warming" - another inconvenient truth for Mr. Gore (PS: It's the Sun!!!!)
Obama to Declare Carbon Dioxide Dangerous Pollutant
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601082&sid=alHWVvGnkcd4&refer=canada
He'd better stop breathing then. But for as long as everyone worries about CO2 no-one will notice all the massive & real pollution that is taking place daily by the corporations that are bankrolling him.
Chimpanzees' last stronghold in danger as numbers fall by 90 per cent
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=&xml=/earth/2008/10/13/scichimp113.xml
Plight of the bumblebee
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/main.jhtml?xml=/gardening/2008/10/18/gbee118.xml
English honey to run out before Christmas
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2008/10/16/eahoney116.xml
No bees = Big problems
The War on Terror:
Camp Bucca: Iraq's Guantánamo Bay
http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSTRE49E01S20081015
'US missile' hits Pakistan town
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7665620.stm
The concerted effort to catch Osama "Dead or Alive' before the US election claims more innocent victims.
Afghan strike 'kills civilians'
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7674435.stm
Technically described as “collateral damage”
U.S. nuked Iraq during Gulf War - report
http://www.russiatoday.com/news/news/31680
Pentagon Wants $450 Billion Increase Over Next Five Years
http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?docid=news-000002973555
Why should only the bankers get all that lovely taxpayers money?
Mail carriers to bring drugs in anthrax attack
http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE4906HH20081001
Contingency preparation?
US considering Iraq security deal
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7675171.stm
A little disingenuous as they will still retain a permanent military presence at 3 huge bases in the Iraqi desert no matter what – much like there are US troops currently stationed in 144 countries worldwide.
US military: No. 2 al-Qaida in Iraq leader killed
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hwK_CSpBxsNuVUEaDuOwmSSCiqGwD93R5NPO0
Interestingly he has been announced "killed" on at least 2 previous occasions. Is he a cat?
The Next War:
Israel's Peres warns Iran against surprise attack
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5inVcLuEkbi1Jr0_cDMcCmUl_9I4g
Iran: Enemies won't dare to attack
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=72170§ionid=351020101 I
'm sure old Saddam once said pretty much the same thing.
India, US plan Arabian Sea war games
http://www.thenews.com.pk/updates.asp?id=57920
The USS Ronald Regan is just one of 5 US aircraft carrier groups currently in the Gulf. Guess what country co-incidentally is also in the Gulf....the gloves will come off after the US election is out of the way.
North Korea threatens to cut ties with South
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/22/20081015/twl-uk-korea-north-bd5ae06.html
Don't be too surprised if, while the US is at war with Iran, the imploding North Korean regime seizes its chance to "unite" the peninsula.
Quote of the Week:
"Corporations that have signed codes of conduct promising good behavior appear to have taken important steps towards social responsibility, but the pressures operating on them to lure and keep consumers and investors haven't eased one bit. In capitalism, they cannot be socially responsible, at least not to any significant extent.....You and I are complicit. As consumers and investors, we make the whole world run. Markets have become extraordinarily responsive to our wishes - more so all the time. Yet most of us are in two minds, and it is the citizen in us that has become relatively powerless. Capitalism is triumphant. Democracy is not."
Robert Reich, Supercapitalism - The transformation of business, democracy and everyday life
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