Sunday, December 21, 2008

Open Your Eyes News - Edition 42

**STOP PRESS** Open Your Eyes News Radio Show - RTR FM 92.1 on Tues 23rd December 4am-6am WST (UK - 7pm-9pm Mon 22nd GMT) http://www.rtrfm.com.au/listen Unfortunately due to the wheels of community organisations moving slowly this will be a "lite" version of the planned show with just a run through of headlines & some music, but not in-depth analysis of issues. Hopefully full sign off will be given early in the New Year.
**STOP PRESS 2** New Open Your Eyes News website coming soon. Updated daily. Easier navigation. Improved layout. News for information, not entertainment.

Areas Covered Each Week:
Civil Liberties - Health - Environment - Democracy & International Relations - Economics - Science - The War on Terror - The Next War
Stories of the week:
US says piracy resolution allows for air strikes in Somalia (Associated Press)
Most of us would torture others if ordered to - Study (Daily Mail UK)
Severed Mediterranean undersea cables cause internet traffic jams in Middle East (Sydney Morning Herald)
Asia to North America undersea cables cut (The Times - UK)
'Thousands made slaves' in Darfur (BBC)
World Bank President warns bailouts may hurt world's poor (Reuters)
General Electric wins $3 billion Iraqi power deal (Associated Press)
Russian air defence systems for Iran (The Hindu - India)
Netanyahu: 'Iran - greatest historical challenge' (Jerusalem Post)
Cheney authorized CIA torture tactics (LA Times)
Goldman Sachs loss not as bad as feared (Reuters)
Anger over £6.4bn bonus bonanza at four City banks (The Guardian -UK)
Nobel prize row over (HPV vaccine) pharmaceuticals firm link (Daily Telegraph - UK)
U.S. debt approaches insolvency; Chinese currency reserves at risk (Asia News)
The Bill Nobody Noticed: US National DNA Databank (Natural News)

VeriChip partners with Microsoft HealthVault (RFID News)

Democracy & International Diplomacy:
'Thousands made slaves' in Darfur

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7786612.stm

Henry Kissinger calls for a new international political order

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4bKwH3kJew4&eurl=http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=kissiger&emb=0&aq=f&feature=player_embedded

World Bank President warns bailouts may hurt world's poor

http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE4BD0YB20081214

In Athens, middle-class rioters are buying rocks. This chaos isn't over

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/dec/14/greece-riots-youth-poverty-comment
The Historian - The taste of things to come world-wide

IMF chief issues stark violent unrest warning on economic crisis
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/dec/16/imf-financial-crisis

Could Greece's Riots Spread to France?

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1866458,00.html

UN empowers land operations against Somali pirates

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5g2By-gJLrbPT2jlDBpo0ux4TKQjA
The Historian - If you read the small print Somalia is now a free-fire zone for all the major powers, irrespective of the affect this will have on Somali citizens

US says piracy resolution allows for air strikes in Somalia

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20081217/pl_afp/somaliapiracyunus

Gaza families eat grass as Israel locks border

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article5338014.ece

£130 million refurbishment bill for UK Ministry of Justice's new offices

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/lawandorder/3741400/130-million-refurbishment-bill-for-Jack-Straws-new-offices.html

Nicolas Sarkozy attacks Czech refusal to fly EU flag

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/3796547/Nicolas-Sarkozy-attacks-Czech-refusal-to-fly-EU-flag.html

Canadian pro-sovereignty party pledges reluctant allegiance to the Queen

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20081218.wswearing18/BNStory/politics/home

Civil Liberties:
The Bill Nobody Noticed: US National DNA Databank

http://www.naturalnews.com/025116.html

Taser's 'potentially lethal and inherently open to abuse', human rights campaigners warn, 350 dead

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/dec/16/taser-police-guns

Taser stun gun kills California man

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_world/view/397586/1/.html

Parents, Law Enforcement Spar Over Tasers In Schools
http://www.10tv.com/live/content/local/stories/2008/12/15/story_taser.html?sid=102

A nose bleed, then children were in care

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/law/article5355521.ece
The Historian - The state knows best........

Welsh bus drivers to use DNA swabs to catch yobs

http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/2008/12/16/north-wales-bus-drivers-to-use-dna-swabs-to-catch-yobs-55578-22483701/

Former soldier held against will in care home 'treated like dissident in Stalin's Russia'

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/3833598/Former-soldier-held-against-will-in-care-home-treated-like-dissident-in-Stalins-Russia.html

US children forced into cell-like school seclusion rooms

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/US/12/17/seclusion.rooms/index.html

Queensland Police defend baby swinging video charge

http://www.smh.com.au/news/technology/police-defend-baby-swinging-video-charge/2008/12/11/1228584982919.html

UK Town halls banned from using spy laws for petty offences
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/3777902/Town-halls-banned-from-using-spy-laws-for-petty-offences.html
The Historian - As if that’ll stop them.

Discrimination against white males will soon be encouraged
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0%2C21985%2C24771759-2862%2C00.html
The Historian - Discrimination against any group, no matter how well intentioned, nearly always has unpleasant side effects, not least in the alienation of the discriminated group.

UK Police elections plan is dropped to avoid further politicisation
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/7789046.stm

Russian treason bill could hit Kremlin critics
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D954K4Q80&show_article=1

Russian police arrest 150 at opposition protests
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gJf4uxLpJxQdF4BN_hizEP6PRs7g

Most of us would torture others if ordered to - Study
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1097941/Most-torture-ordered-study-reveals.html

Environment:
Chocolate in peril

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20026873.400-chocolate-in-peril.html?DCMP=OTC-rss&nsref=online-news
This Historian - Just when you thought there was no other angle the man made climate change religion could use...no more chocolate! This anti-CO2 message was brought to you by the Mars Corporation, which incidentally has a very strong track record of rainforest deforestation....but that’s not a problem, CO2 is...focus!

EU faces battle over fish quotas
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7789182.stm

Obama' Nomination as Agriculture Secretary Has Some Wondering: Agribusiness as Usual?
http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/12/vilsacks-nomina.html

Kids Wildly Out of Touch with Natural World, BBC Survey Reveals

http://www.naturalnews.com/025064.html
However they have been well and truly indoctrinated that CO2 is the source of all environmental evil

EU leaders reach new climate deal

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7778787.stm
The Historian - And in doing so appease the environmental concerns of the people they should represent, and turn the attention away from the real environmental destruction that is carried out by the corporations they really represent

Australia sets new climate target

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7782919.stm ditto

Obama picks Gore advisors to drive his environmental policy

http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/obama-picks-dream-green-team/2008/12/16/1229189623217.html
The Historian - Expect the mass CO12 fraud to continue apace...and all the while real pollution goes on un-noticed and un-abated

Genetically Modified Hawaii

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=genetically-modified-hawaii
The Historian - spot the Monsanto Corp press release

GM crops an aid to coping with new climate, says report

http://www.thewest.com.au/default.aspx?MenuId=2&ContentID=113625
The Historian - another another Monsanto Corp sponsored report

Platinum-free fuel cell promises cheap, green power

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn16275-platinumfree-fuel-cell-promises-cheap-green-power.html?DCMP=OTC-rss&nsref=online-news

Is the Exxon Valdez spill site finally clean?

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn16280-is-the-exxon-valdez-spill-site-finally-clean.html?DCMP=OTC-rss&nsref=online-news

Agent Orange found in soil in Brisbane

http://www.thewest.com.au/aapstory.aspx?StoryName=537272
The Historian - This was being sprayed in Australia right up until the 1980's, long after its dangers were known. Hundred's of Aboriginals and farm laborers have died as a result.

Scientists Call Associated Press Report on Global Warming 'Hysteria'

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,468084,00.html

Australian Coral Reefs blooming "despite global warming"

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/11/20/2424897.htm

The vanishing bees

http://www.metroactive.com/metro/12.17.08/cover-colony-collapse-disorder-0851.html

Brazil maps partially destroyed areas of Amazon

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/12/19/news/LT-Brazil-Amazon-Destruction.php

Massive crackdown on the use of scores of toxic pesticides opposed by Prime Minister

http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/green-living/massive-crackdown-on-the-use-of-scores-of-toxic-pesticides-1206399.html

UK councils dumping more than 200,000 tonnes of recycling every year

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthnews/3852372/Councils-dumping-more-than-200000-tonnes-of-recycling-every-year.html

Finance & Economics:

Shock waves spread from Madoff scandal

http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSLF62253520081216?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews
The Historian - Though this itself was a huge multi-billion dollar pyramid scheme, however it is just one part of a much larger pyramid scheme – our entire financial system. Just think about the root value of the (promissory) notes in your pocket and the electronic “wealth” in your bank account. The system itself, like all pyramid schemes is unsustainable without occasional “realignments” just as the world is experiencing at the moment. And think where the winners always are in a pyramid whenever the crashes happen. You can bet your bottom (soon to be worthless) dollar that you will be no-where near that pinnacle.

Madoff millions vanish into thin air
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7783386.stm

Goldman loss not as bad as feared
http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSTRE4BF3FF20081216?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews
The Historian – lucky they got their bailout multi-billions before they announced this eh?

Anger over £6.4bn bonus bonanza at four City banks
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/dec/21/executive-salaries-bonuses-city-finance

Analysts say Federal Reserve has fired all shots in its armory
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/economics/article5355599.ece

US offers $19bn to rescue car giants
http://www.news.com.au/business/story/0,27753,24826919-462,00.html
The Historian - So $8.5 trillion, plus $19 billion equals ????? Oh yes, currency collapse, hyper-inflation, poor corporate practice, relocation of wealth from the West, and taxpayer debt from cradle to the grave.

U.S. debt approaches insolvency; Chinese currency reserves at risk

http://www.asianews.it/index.php?l=en&art=14054&geo=1&size=A

UK government still offers refuge to pinstriped pirates through its legacy of Empire tax havens
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/dec/16/tax-avoidance-regulators-havens

UK supermarkets' emergency plans to keep shelves full

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/dec/14/retail-supermarkets-suppliers-credit-crunch

Alternative Currencies Grow in Popularity

http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0%2C8599%2C1865467%2C00.html?xid=feed-yahoo-biztech
The Historian - Soon to be replaced by an electronic "cash-less" society. When that comes you really will become a slave to your masters who control the system (and the IT) - and ultimately the plan I'm afraid

UK house prices 'to fall by 30%'

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7782939.stm

Pound 'buying less than a Euro'

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7782234.stm
The Historian - The crucial paragraph: “As the pound has moved close to parity with the euro, some analysts have raised the possibility of the UK adopting the single European currency” – as I have been warning for a long time, this has always been the plan

Credit-Card Users Feel Pain as U.S. Banks Reap Gain

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=ap_9fTPViwzU&refer=us

Americans rich and poor pawn more to pay bills

http://uk.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUKTRE4BE10920081215

Health:
Nobel prize row over (HPV) pharmaceuticals firm link

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/scienceandtechnology/science/sciencenews/3849620/Nobel-prize-row-over-pharmaceuticals-firm-link.html

Mystery illness paralyses girl given cervical cancer jab
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/article5337885.ece
The Historian - According to the official clinical research statistics which got this pharmaceutical cash-cow approved there were "no adverse reactions.....other than teenage girls being hysterical"

The Proven Cure and Prevention for Cancer the Medical Establishment Doesn't Want You to Know
http://www.naturalnews.com/025079.html

Depression hits young women in record numbers
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,,24811777-2702,00.html
The Historian – The two questions we must ask ourselves as a society are: 1/ How much profit are the pharmaceutical companies making out of this and what will they be prepared to do to ever increase that profit? and 2/ What wrong are we doing as a so called civilization that this is happening in the first place?

Fears raised over new vCJD wave

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7788627.stm

Nestle removes artificial additives from Australian Smarties colouring

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/classic-junk-food-gets-a-health-makeover/2008/12/19/1229189886151.html
The Historian - You as an an individual do have the power to change, you are not as somebody close to me said "An Ant, and therefore powerless" This change in Nestle's policy has been brought about by the constant campaigning of a small group of Australian parents. As Gandhi said "Whatever you do is insignificant, but it is very important that you do it"

Doctor Cleared of Harming Man to Obtain Organs

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/19/health/19doctor.html?em

FDA Stuns Scientists, Declares Mercury in Fish to be Safe for Infants, Children, Expectant Mothers!

http://www.naturalnews.com/News_000622_mercury_FDA_fish.html

Exercise Improves Health of Elderly with Dementia

http://www.naturalnews.com/025123.html

Children and Teenagers Found to Have Arteries of Middle Aged Adults

http://www.naturalnews.com/025096.html

Faulty gene makes children who live near power lines more likely to develop leukemia

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1099077/Faulty-gene-makes-children-live-near-power-lines-likely-develop-leukaemia.html
The Historian - Oh, so its all our fault! That's okay then.

Science & Technology:
VeriChip partners with Microsoft HealthVault

http://www.rfidnews.org/2008/11/24/verichip-partners-with-microsoft-healthvault
The Historian - There is a lot of profit to be made by micro-chipping all of us

Giant Breach in Earth's Magnetic Field

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2008/16dec_giantbreach.htm?list149424

Robot wars: The rise of artificial intelligence

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/robot-wars-the-rise-of-artificial-intelligence-1203693.html

Education:
Religion in Victorian schools to go God-free

http://www.theage.com.au/national/religion-in-schools-to-go-godfree-20081213-6xxs.html?page=-1

The War on Terror:
Cheney authorized CIA torture tactics

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/washingtondc/la-na-cheney16-2008dec16,0,4343941.story

Pentagon looks at plan for Guantanamo closure

http://www.reuters.com/article/vcCandidateFeed2/idUSN18417475
The Historian - Great PR for Barak but look behind the headlines. Where will the detainees go now? Will it be less exposed to media attention? Will they now receive free and fair trials? Will some be sent onto regimes that have an even worse record of torture than the USA? Will those that are released be compensated for their years of false imprisonment?

Larry Silverstein to sue airlines' over his 9/11 losses

http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/apwire/bc2a102fca052df941033e0e4c3a4ade.htm

Revisionist history about the Iraq war

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/12/14/EDDO14KPM8.DTL&feed=rss.news

Shoes thrown at Bush In Iraq

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/5/20081214/twl-bush-in-the-line-of-fire-in-iraq-3fd0ae9.html
The Historian - What the mainstream media isn't telling you is what the chap said - “This is the farewell kiss you dog….this is from the widows, the orphans and those who were killed in Iraq.” Of note also why the very slow reaction of the secret service agents, who normally would have had Dubya bundled away under a mass of bodies within seconds.

Nobody threw shoes at Brown – but his guilt is still undeniable

http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/matthew-norman/matthew-norman-nobody-threw-shoes-at-brown-ndash-but-his-guilt-is-still-undeniable-1202268.html

'I was still holding my grandson's hand - the rest was gone'

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/dec/16/afghanistan-taliban-us-foreign-policy
The Historian - More Afghani collateral damage

British troops in 'mock execution' claim

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/british-troops-in-mock-execution-claim-1067056.html

Terrorism adviser to Metropolitan Police is on Interpol wanted list
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article5342730.ece

Blackwater 'could lose Iraq role'
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7788641.stm
The Historian - Sure it could, and I’m the Queen of Sheba

Cheney still insists that Saddam Hussein could have produced weapons of mass destruction
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2008/dec/16/dick-cheney-iraq-war-wmd

Despite the optimism, Iraq is close to the edge

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/dec/21/iraq-georgebush

General Electric wins $3 billion Iraqi power deal
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5j7152EDjg4GkdC1s7FTsbSxwCjGA

Up to 30,000 new U.S. troops in Afghanistan by summer
http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSTRE4BJ15K20081220?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews

The Next War:
India 'entered Pakistan airspace'

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7782101.stm

Pakistan 'linked to 75% of all UK terror plots', warns Gordon Brown

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article5339975.ece

U.S. and UAE forge nuclear cooperation deal

http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-fg-gulfnukes16-2008dec16,0,7245940.story
The Historian - Do you think the Iranians and Russians see the irony here?

Severed cables cause internet traffic jams in Middle East

http://www.smh.com.au/news/technology/biztech/severed-cables-cause-internet-traffic-jams/2008/12/20/1229189923604.html
The Historian - The same thing happened last year and it later emerged that it was the US military. Is this preparing the ground for the war with Iran?

Asia to North America undersea cables cut

http://timesonline.typepad.com/technology/2008/12/is-the-internet.html

Iran says has proof U.S., UK back police killer group

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20081213/ts_nm/us_iran_jundollah

Barak claims Iran would nuke US
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=78785&sectionid=351020202

Russian air defence systems for Iran
http://www.hindu.com/2008/12/19/stories/2008121977771500.htm

Netanyahu: 'Iran - greatest historical challenge'
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1228728256365&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Iran says has proof U.S., UK back police killer group
http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSTRE4BC15X20081213
The CIA and MI5 have never done anything like before have they?


Quote of the Week:

"It has been said that each generation must win its own struggle to be free"
- Robert F.Kennedy


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.


SCROLL DOWN FOR MORE