**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§ionid=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
Posts
.jpg)
