Open Your Eyes News - Edition 35

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

Story of the Week:
'Human catastrophe' grips Congo
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7701269.stm
Why is this happening you want the media to ask, and yet they rarely do. Peel back the layers on this human tragedy and the answer comes in the shape of cuts of the pie allocated to the local "big men" as the Chinese Government continue their African raw materials land grab......exactly the same then that Belgian's did to the same people 150 years ago. History does repeat itself as human self interest and greed is exactly the same. Now unfortunately the stakes are much bigger and many, many more will suffer...and exactly the same motivations and triggers are at the heart of Africa's other two major conflicts, those of Sudan (Darfur) and Somalia.

The Next War:
Brace yourselves - George Bush will soon be free to do just what he wants
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/oct/29/usa-bush-syria-elections Like start one final war? Hot favorite still Iran what with 5 US Carrier Groups now sitting in the Persian Gulf. Outside odds on Syria and Pakistan. And while America goes headlong into that fight don't be at all surprised if the North Korean's seize their opportunity to "unite" the Korean peninsula. And when the US reacts (with nukes - can it fight 4 wars simultaneously with conventional forces?) how will the Chinese react? The non-Western media has been reporting over the last fortnight that US Generals used last weeks summit with EU counter-parts (as referenced in last weeks edition) and the subsequent summit with Russian generals to express their concern and fears over what the soon to be ex-President is about to start. Remember this is not about nationality. It never has been. This is all about money, power and control. The coming war is just a "logical" step along that road.

'US helicopter raid' inside Syria
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7692153.stm

'US strike' in Pakistan kills Taliban leader
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7692373.stm

Suspected US missile strikes kill 27 in Pakistan
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/nov/01/pakistan-usa

Iran Opens Naval Base Near Routes for Gulf Oil
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/29/world/middleeast/29iran.html

Civil Liberties:
NSW '007 face reader' unmasks criminals
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,24556841-421,00.html
The first step slow tip toe to the creation of a down-under Big Brother state? It started with "anti-crime" initiatives like this in the UK less than 10 years ago, and now look where it is (if you don't know see the 5-10 articles a week referenced on these pages since the very first edition).

Australian net filter an assault on freedom that just won't work
http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,24570880-27197,00.html

NSW to deprive kids of speech, movement and association freedoms
http://www.cla.asn.au/0805/index.php/articles/2008/11/01/nsw-to-deprive-kids-of-speech-movement-a

UK Police will use new device to take fingerprints in street
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/oct/27/project-midas-fingerprint-scanner-liberty
tip toe, tip toe......

Microsoft patents web moderator robots
http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/article5006025.ece
The end of free speech online?

No charges but US may never release Guantánamo Chinese
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/nov/01/guantanamo-china

Scandal of Algerian six held in Guantanamo even after Bush plot claim is dropped
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/fisk/robert-fisk-scandal-of-six-held-in-guantanamo-even-after-bush-plot-claim-is-dropped-980264.html

Police shot Jean Charles de Menezes dead 'without giving any warning'
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/lawandorder/3285079/Police-shot-Jean-Charles-de-Menezes-dead-without-giving-any-warning.html

Laser beam spy camera joins war on terrorism
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1080665/Laser-beam-spy-camera-joins-war-terrorism.html

Coroner says Taser a factor in death
http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20081024/NEWS0107/810240418/-1/mockups

Hearing set for officer accused in Taser death
http://www.wxvt.com/Global/story.asp?S=9224813&nav=menu1344_2

Independent investigation launched into Taser death
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/calgary/story/2008/10/30/asirt-investigation.html

Coroner rules Taser death a homicide
http://www.wthr.com/Global/story.asp?S=9254554&nav=9Tai

TASER International, Inc. Reports Results for Third Quarter 2008
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/TASER-International-Inc-Reports-Results/story.aspx?guid=%7B2B252B19-ED87-4008-8794-6C74F7ACA464%7D

UK parents to be fingerprinted by nursery schools
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/3275246/Parents-to-be-fingerprinted-by-nursery-schools.html

Schoolboy, 15, held as terror suspect after taking photos of railway station for school project
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1081995/Schoolboy-15-held-terror-suspect-taking-photos-railway-station-GCSE-project.html
The 10 Steps To a Closed Society - Number 6: Arbitrarily detain and release citizens

Calls grow to save autistic Scots hacker from threat of US prison
http://news.scotsman.com/scotland/Calls-grow-to-save-.4643340.jp

Canada Is Set to Start a National Rollout of Chip-Equipped Debit Cards
http://www.digitaltransactions.net/newsstory.cfm?newsid=1964
The tracking of the Canadian population begins

Biometric database bill passes first vote
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3614965,00.html
And the Israeli population......

Researchers find problems with US RFID passports
http://edge.networkworld.com/news/2008/102408-researchers-find-problems-with-rfid.html?hpg1=bn
And the US population......

UK introduces ID cards for foreigners
http://www.mcst.gov.bw/dailynews/newsdetails.php?id=11010
But Britain once again is leading the way

GCHQ expert dismisses ID cards 'bunkum'
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/gchq-expert-dismisses-id-cards-bunkum-978149.html
What would he know about such matters?

Half of UK councils use anti-terror laws to watch people putting rubbish out on the wrong day
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1082225/March-dustbin-Stasi-Half-councils-use-anti-terror-laws-watch-people-putting-rubbish-wrong-day.html

Defence of free speech must be absolute: advocate
http://www.canada.com/topics/technology/story.html?id=449e1994-5d1d-4808-abca-aa7b1f096f66

Democracy & International Diplomacy:
Sudan says kidnapped Chinese found, one dead
http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSTRE49U7C020081031
Why do you think that there is a "civil" war in Sudan?

Suicide bombers kill at least 28 in Somalia
http://www.reuters.com/article/homepageCrisis/idUSL0534420._CH_.2400
Why do you think there is a "civil" war in Somalia? The answer to both is again oil, raw materials, the USA, China, and local "big men"

Bush launches last-minute deregulation push. White House moves to relax many rules covering private industry
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27466701
Payback time for all his corporate supporters & another nail in the coffin of a once free democracy run by the people for the people.

British firms 'struggling under £150billion burden of EU laws'
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1080792/British-firms-struggling-150billion-burden-EU-laws.html
If it's good for business, it is good for bureaucrats too - only downside if you count citizens there are three in this relationship

Crowds rally against Italy's PM
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7691404.stm
What chance do they have against the richest man in the country who owns/controls all the main media outlets, has very strong mafia links, and has introduced a number of laws curbing civil liberties and the right to protest?

The Rothschild clan: eccentricity, money, influence and scandal
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article5013887.ece
Amazing how much influence one family has had dating all the way back to the Napoleonic wars

British Defence Secretary backs creation of European army
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article5014832.ece

Sarkozy Tries To Install Himself As European Union President
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/3254628/Nicolas-Sarkozy-under-attack-after-EU-president-proposal.html

Naomi Wolf: A Conspiracy So Immense
http://www.guatemala-times.com/opinion/syndicated/the-next-wave/483-a-conspiracy-so-immense.html

Euro fever sweeps through Scandinavia as currencies dive New rush to join the euro as Sweden and Denmark moot polls
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/euro-fever-sweeps-through-scandinavia-as-currencies-dive--new-rush-to-join-the-euro-as-sweden-and-denmark-moot-polls-981757.html
As will happen in the UK when the pound collapses in value in the near future. Next step North American currency union.......

Blair is the 'highest-paid public speaker in world'
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23579463-details/Blair%2Bis%2Bthe%2B%27highest-paid%2Bpublic%2Bspeaker%2Bin%2Bworld%27/article.do
Not bad for a mass murderer and the man who presided over the biggest erosion in British civil liberties since Cromwell.

Health:
Nanotechnology – the new threat to food
http://nano.foe.org.au/node/198

Emergency declarations smooth way for vaccine makers
http://www.kansascity.com/105/story/846427.html
But by declaring these public health emergencies, the state has granted manufacturers of anti-terrorism drugs and vaccines and others involved with the products protection from lawsuits if the drugs were to cause "unfortunate" side effects

Prominent Scientist Warns of HPV Vaccine Dangers
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2008/10/25/prominent-scientist-warns-of-hpv-vaccine-dangers.aspx

Dimming down: How the brainpower of today's 14-year-olds has slipped 'radically' in just one generation
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1080791/Dimming-How-brainpower-todays-14-year-olds-slipped-radically-just-generation.html
In addition to multi-channel TV add fluoride in the water, aspartame in "diet" food & drinks, mobile phones cooking their brains, under-investment in the state education systems and processed food diets.......

Adverse Drug Reactions Is Fifth Biggest Killer In EU Hospitals
http://euobserver.com/24/26973

Pesticides Make Farmers Literally Depressed
http://www.naturalnews.com/024604.html

Ray of sunshine for infertile males
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/10/22/2397775.htm?section=australia
Sunlight in moderation is very good for humans on many levels. Slathering yourself in chemicals that the body absorbs through the skin however is not.

Seven obese children placed in care
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/health/3277298/Seven-obese-children-placed-in-care.html
Would it not be easier (and more just) to arrest the Directors of the food companies that have plied their trash for decades, and the politicians who stopped educating their populations on how to cook for themselves?

Babies are OK after light drinking in pregnancy
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn15100-babies-are-ok-after-light-drinking-in-pregnancy.html

'Menopausal' men could get sexual boost from HRT
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20026803.800-menopausal-men-could-get-sexual-boost-from-hrt.html

Binge-drinking culture may cause dementia epidemic, experts warn
http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-wellbeing/health-news/bingedrinking-culture-may-cause-dementia-epidemic-experts-warn-981750.html
Not that I suspect the drinks industry is too bothered about that long term side effect.

Melamine already in global food chain: experts
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hud2xejzcnuymvyU35uIkpblGfSAD945LRC00

Vitamin C Shown to Preserve Bone Density in Older Men
http://www.naturalnews.com/024657.html

Doctors Dishing out Antidepressants for PMS "Quick Fix"
http://www.naturalnews.com/024661.html

Phone mast fears grow as more locals suffer cancer
http://www.herald.ie/national-news/phone-mast-fears-grow-as-more-locals-suffer-cancer-1505195.html?service=Print

Pharmaceutical Drugs Kill More People Than Ever, Report Finds
http://www.naturalnews.com/024632.html

A Rise in Kidney Stones Is Seen in U.S. Children
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/28/health/28kidn.html?_r=3&partner=rssyahoo&emc=rss&pagewanted=print&oref=slogin&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

Six Good Reasons to Avoid the Flu Shot
http://www.naturalnews.com/024624.html

Big Pharma's Pills Contaminated with Machine Parts at Pill Factories
http://www.naturalnews.com/024625.html

Finance & Economics:
Goldman Sachs ready to hand out £7bn salary and bonus package... after its £6bn bail-out
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1081624/Goldman-Sachs-ready-hand-7BILLION-salary-bonus-package--6bn-bail-out.html
It really is nice to have friends in high places in your "time of need"

Rescued UK bank to pay millions in bonuses
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/nov/01/royal-bank-scotland-vincent-cable

China, Russia renounce the dollar?
http://en.rian.ru/analysis/20081030/118047851.html
Are you ready for the collapse of the US dollar?

The FTSE 100 has had its best ever week but its worst month since the crash of 1987
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/markets/3332323/FTSE-100-ends-the-week-up-but--is-down-on-the-month.html
The roller coaster is far from over and a long way to go down yet

Banks exploit legal loophole to seize homes
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/banking_and_finance/article5014781.ece

Brown to defend higher borrowing
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/7692403.stm
What he might well "forget" to mention is the inflation that all this freshly printed money is going to create long term

Even the New York Times now thinks Henry Paulson is lying
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/25/business/25nocera.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1

U.S. Housing Market Boom and Crash Engineered by the US Government
http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article6936.html

Brown knew of problems with Icelandic banks in March
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/pm-knew-of-problems-with-icelandic-banks-in-march-981739.html

Crude Oil Is Poised for Record Monthly Drop as Demand Declines
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aC3NH2x3xvf8&refer=worldwide
Though it will drop below $50pb very soon, in the not to distant future it will be $200pb+. There is too much power and wealth behind the scenes for it not to.

Shell announces huge rise in profits
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/shell-announces-huge-rise-in-profits-978893.html

High oil prices boosts BP's third quarter profits
http://www.lloydslist.com/ll/news/high-oil-prices-boosts-bps-third-quarter-profits/20017584692.htm

Aborigines face 'social disaster' over Pilbara mining royalties
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,,24562208-2702,00.html

Environment:
Wildlife 'dying out at fastest rate since the dinosaurs' because of human impact on planet
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1081338/Wildlife-dying-fastest-rate-dinosaurs-human-impact-planet.html
Not CO2 folks, just us and our greed and short term self interest. The species that are dying out now have survived many previous, and much more extreme, periods of climate change which have, and will, always happened whether we are here or not. Man-made climate change is the perfect panacea for our guilt, and manipulated by those who have no interest in us dealing with the root problems.

Climate change at the poles is (NOT) man-made
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/climate-change-at-the-poles-is-manmade-980256.html
I repeat again: How come this "man made global warming" is so much slower than previous rapid changes such as 10,000 years ago, when temperatures rose 7 degrees C in about a decade? Would this scientist have got his funding had he not come up the the agreed "consensus" conclusion? How come the earth has actually been in a cooling cycle for the last few years (hence why it is now known as "Man Made Climate Change" nowadays presumably - covering both bases)? How come the statement about the arctic being ice free for the first time ever is complete hogwash as that is only recorded human scientific history (about 400 years at best) and as another scientific report I referenced a few weeks back clearly showed that only a 600 years ago Greenland had a lot less ice on it? Ah of course, computer models. Well that explains it all then as they have never been wrong before. Case closed. (PS: Read the comments section of the article) For as long as we stand there at the shore like King Canute ordering the tide to stop we will keep ignoring the real environmental impact we are having on this eco-system.

U.S. breaks or ties 115 cold and sets 63 new snowfall records
http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/research/records/index.php?ts=daily&elem=mint&month=10&day=29&year=2008&submitted=Get+Records

Snow has fallen in London for the first time in October since 1934.
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/5/20081029/tuk-octobrrrr-london-hit-by-flurries-45dbed5.html

Earth on course for eco 'crunch'
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7696197.stm

Europe's secret plan to boost GM crop production
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/green-living/europes-secret-plan-to-boost-gm-crop-production-973834.html

Australian-first GM grass trial to start
http://www.thewest.com.au/aapstory.aspx?StoryName=525956
The phrase is "Thin end of the wedge". Interestingly the same local "newspaper" failed to mention online or in print a mass protest involving c2,000 marching on Parliament house this week against GM crops...funny that.

Geologists blame drilling for Indonesian mud volcano
http://environment.newscientist.com/article/dn15096-geologists-blame-drilling-for-indonesian-mud-volcano.html

Illegal Logging in Papua New Guinea
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0811/S00004.htm

Fears grow that decline in bee numbers could hit production of crops
http://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/Article.aspx/876218?UserKey=

EPA to Loosen Controls On US Power-Plant Pollution
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122506399213970419.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

Latest weapon in tumour fight unveiled – the GM purple tomato
http://news.scotsman.com/uk/Latest-weapon-in-tumour-fight.4631039.jp
The latest Trojan Horse attempt by the bio-tech companies to win the general public over to the idea of handing over the control of their food supply to global corporations

Science & Technology:
Ultrasound Shown to Exert Remote Control of Brain Circuits
http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/545861/?sc=swtr;xy=5024973

Media:
Hitler planned 'Big Brother' style television to broadcast Nazi propaganda
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1079415/Hitler-planned-Big-Brother-style-television-broadcast-Nazi-propaganda.html
So a bit like Fox News then?

The War on Terror:
Iraq gov't wants all US troops gone by end of 2011
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081030/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_iraq;_ylt=AjAks77dHUbjeF9W8xwAPNRvaA8F
Yeah sure they will.......

Next U.S. president must scrap Guantanamo: Amnesty
http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE49T9PE20081031
Yeah sure they will.....

CIA officers could face trial in Britain over torture allegations
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/cia-officers-could-face-trial-in-britain-over-torture-allegations-980384.html
Yeah sure they will.....

US Government anticipates Bin Laden Election tape
http://abcnews.go.com/print?id=6148984
Which will be quite impressive seeing as he is dead (see last week's David Frost / Benazir Bhutto interview article). The return of Emmanuel Goldstein (1984) required to make Americans fear their own shadow again

US military deaths in Afghanistan region at 554
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5g3dO01zk6vBUdavNiW-Zfe-SJuvQD945PL1O0
As for the Afghani's who have died they are not counted as they are only collateral damage.

Bio Terror 'Next Threat' For US
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/5/20081031/twl-bio-terror-next-threat-for-us-3fd0ae9.html


Quote of the Week:
"....the liberal believes in the permanence of humanity's imperfection, he resigns himself to a regime in which the good will be the result of numberless actions, and never the object of conscious choice. Finally he subscribes to the pessimism that sees, in politics, the art of creating the conditions in which the vices of men will contribute to the good of the state"
Raymond Aron, "L'Opium Des Intellectuels"


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