|
|
| Last Weeks News | |
|
Employees Bring Own Toilet Paper to Work Tests Negative in Pentagon Anthrax Scare Protests Against the US War in Iraq Take Place Around the World US House backs higher war spending Ahmad Umar Ali is accused of plotting to kill President Bush Ex-caregiver charged in Florida girl's killing Claims brain-injured woman said she wants to live
Barcode Babies: Microchip Implantation in Hospitals Mobile Health Data | March 14, 2005 Big Brother Airport Tech: X-Ray Screeners and Sweat Sensors Bush Defends Packaged News Stories from Government Children were held at Iraq Torture prison Abu Ghraib Prisoner Looked Like He Was 8 Years Old Ex-caregiver charged in Florida girl's killing County Official Wants Ban On Smokers Getting Government Jobs
Did a federal agent ban anti-Bush signs in downtown storefronts? EU fusses over cyberhumans AS OF TODAY, it seems virtually certain that anthrax scares at two Defense Department postal facilities on Monday were false alarms, odd though that coincidence may be. But the procedures followed in both cases still reveal a great deal about how well the national capital region, with its confluence of federal, state and local agencies, managed what could have been a health crisis. Unexpectedly, they may have also revealed a deep gap between military and civilian approaches to bioterrorism.
Groups ask Columbia to oppose Patriot Act The State | March 17 2005 A coalition of local political activists wants Columbia City Council to pass a symbolic resolution opposing the USA Patriot Act. “The act creates an unfunded mandate,” said Denyse Williams, president of the S.C. branch of the American Civil Liberties Union. “Police power is directed away from local problems to enforcing the act.” More than 370 cities and four states have passed resolutions in opposition to the Patriot Act, according to a national advocacy group leading the effort. City Council members gave no indication Wednesday they intend to add Columbia to that list. No S.C. cities have passed such a resolution. “You’ve got to show there is a local connection before City Council should take time to discuss it,” Mayor Bob Coble said. Congress passed the Patriot Act months after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks to give law enforcement authorities more powers to investigate terrorism. The Justice Department credits the act with helping prevent new terrorist attacks since Sept. 11, 2001. Opponents, however, have called the act an attack on civil liberties because it gives law enforcement easier access to people’s personal records and places political activists under greater government scrutiny. Coble, a Democrat who briefly ran for U.S. Senate, said he does not have a personal opinion on the Patriot Act. But he said if he was convinced that the Patriot Act had detrimental effects on Columbia, he would support a resolution opposing it. Councilman Hamilton Osborne said the city should not be involved. “The debate regarding constitutionality should take place in the courts, not in City Council,” he said. “If we start engaging in debates to suit our own political purposes, we’re misusing public resources.” City Council heard from Williams — speaking for at least 30 organizations seeking the resolution — but took no action Wednesday. Other organizations supporting the effort include local chapters of the NAACP, the AFL-CIO, the Council on American-Islamic Relations and the Carolina Peace Resource Center. Williams said similar efforts are under way in Beaufort and Charleston. Hackers target U.S. power grid The Washington Post | March 11, 2005 WASHINGTON - Hundreds of times a day, hackers try to slip past cyber-security into the computer network of Constellation Energy Group Inc., a Baltimore power company with customers around the country. "We have no discernable way of knowing who is trying to hit our system," said John R. Collins, chief risk officer for Constellation, which operates Baltimore Gas and Electric. "We just know it's being hit." Hackers have caused no serious damage to systems that feed the nation's power grid, but their untiring efforts have heightened concerns that electric companies have failed to adequately fortify defenses against a potential catastrophic strike. The fear: In a worst-case scenario, terrorists or others could engineer an attack that sets off a widespread blackout and damages power plants, prolonging an outage. Patrick H. Wood III, the chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, warned top electric company officials in a private meeting in January that they need to focus more heavily on cyber-security. Wood also has raised the issue at several public appearances. Officials will not say whether new intelligence points to a potential terrorist strike, but Wood stepped up his campaign after officials at the Energy Department's Idaho National Laboratory showed him how a skilled hacker could cause serious problems. Wood declined to comment on specifics of what he saw. But an official at the lab, Ken Watts, said the simulation showed how someone could hack into a utility's Internet-based business management system, then into a system that controls utility operations. Once inside, lab workers simulated cutting off the supply of oil to a turbine generating electricity and destroying the equipment. Describing his reaction to the demonstration, Wood said: "I wished I'd had a diaper on." Growing concerns "A sophisticated hacker, which is probably a group of hackers . . . could probably get into each of the three U.S. North American power [networks] and could probably bring sections of it down if they knew how to do it," said Richard A. Clarke, a former counterterrorism chief in the Clinton and Bush administrations. Clarke said government simulations show that electric companies have not done enough to prevent hacking. "Every time they test, they get in," Clarke said. "It's nice that the power companies think that they've done things, and some of them have. But as long as there's a way to get into the grid, the grid is as weak as its weakest company." Some industry analysts play down the threat of a massive cyber-attack, saying it's more likely that terrorists would target the physical infrastructure such as power plants and transmission lines. James Andrew Lewis, director of technology policy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in the District, said a coordinated attack on the grid would be technically difficult and would not provide as much "bang for the buck" as high-profile physical attacks. Lewis said the bigger vulnerability may be posed not by outside hackers but by insiders who are familiar with their company's computer networks. But in recent years, terrorists have expressed interest in a range of computer targets. Al Qaeda documents from 2002 suggest cyber-attacks on various targets, including the electrical grid and financial institutions, according to a translation by the IntelCenter, an Alexandria firm that studies terrorist groups. Power grid seen as vulnerable Cyber-security specialists and government officials said that cyber-attacks are a concern across many industries but that the threat to the country's power supply is among their top fears. Hackers have gained access to U.S. utilities' electronic control systems and in a few cases have "caused an impact," said Joseph M. Weiss, a Cupertino, Calif.-based computer security specialist with Kema Inc., a consulting firm focused on the energy industry. He said computer viruses and worms also have caused problems. Weiss, a leading expert in control system security, said officials of the affected companies have described the instances at private conferences that he hosts and in confidential conversations but have not reported the intrusions publicly or to federal authorities. He said he agreed not to publicly disclose additional details and that the companies are fearful that releasing the information would hurt them financially and encourage more hacking. Weiss said that "many utilities have not addressed control system cyber-security as comprehensively as physical security or cyber-security of business networks." The vulnerability of the nation's electrical grid to computer attack has grown as power companies have transferred control of their electrical generation and distribution equipment from private, internal networks to supervisory control and data acquisition, or SCADA, systems that can be accessed through the Internet or by phone lines, according to consultants and government reports. That technology has led to greater efficiency because it allows workers to operate equipment remotely. Other systems that feed information into SCADA or that operate utility equipment are vulnerable and have been largely overlooked by utilities, security consultants said. Some utilities have made hacking into their SCADA systems relatively easy by continuing to use factory-set passwords that can be found in standard documentation available on the Internet, computer security consultants said. The North American Electric Reliability Council, an industry-backed organization that sets voluntary standards for power companies, is drafting wide-ranging guidelines to replace more narrow, temporary precautions already on the books for guarding against a cyber-attack. But computer security specialists question whether those standards go far enough. Officials at several power companies said they had invested heavily in new equipment and software to protect their computers. Many would speak only in general terms, saying divulging specifics could assist hackers. "We're very concerned about it," said Margaret E. "Lyn" McDermid, senior vice president and chief information officer for Dominion Resources Inc., a Richmond-based company that operates Dominion Virginia Power and supplies electricity and natural gas in other states. "We spend a significant amount of time and effort in making sure we are doing what we ought to do." Executives at Constellation Energy view the constant hacking attempts -- which have been unsuccessful -- as a threat and monitor their systems closely. They said they assume many of the hackers are the same type seen in other businesses: people who view penetrating corporate systems as fun or a challenge. "We feel we are in pretty good shape when it comes to this," Collins said. "That doesn't mean we're bulletproof." Old equipment may be a threat Security consulting firms said that they have hacked into power company networks to highlight for their clients the weaknesses in their systems. "We are able to penetrate real, running, live systems," said Lori Dustin, vice president of marketing for Verano Inc., a Mansfield, Mass., company that sells products to companies to secure SCADA systems. In some cases, Dustin said, power companies lack basic equipment that would even alert them to hacking attempts. O. Sami Saydjari, chief executive of the Wisconsin Rapids, Wis.-based consulting firm Cyber Defense Agency LLC, said hackers could cause the type of blackout that knocked out electricity to about 50 million people in the Northeast, Midwest and Canada in 2003, an event attributed in part to trees interfering with power lines in Ohio. He said that if hackers destroyed generating equipment in the process, the amount of time to restore electricity could be prolonged. "I am absolutely confident that by design, someone could do at least as [much damage], if not worse" than what was experienced in 2003, said Saydjari, who was one of 54 prominent scientists and others who warned the Bush administration of the risk of computer attacks following Sept. 11, 2001. "It's just a matter of time before we have a serious event."
The majority of hospitals are unable to integrate radio frequency identification (RFID) technologies for drug tracking due to cost and other concerns, according to a recent study. Research from Provizio found that hospitals will continue to rely on barcode technology for another six years. "Our conversations with many healthcare providers reveal a common difficulty to justify the cost outlay for the more expensive, but clearly promising, RFID technology," said Dr Tim Rhodes, president and healthcare practice leader at Provizio. "Today, barcode technology has many advantages due to its lower cost and capability to use much of the already existing IT infrastructure within hospitals. Hospitals are already working with vendors to implement it." But Provizio suggested that RFID technology could bring important advances, such as the ability to prevent mix-ups with prescriptions. "RFID will eventually replace barcode technology at the bedside, but it will take time for RFID vendors to create a lower cost, end-to-end solution for hospitals to easily adopt," said Dr Rhodes. How Television Controls Karl Rove Seen At Walter Storch, editor of the Barnes Review News reported three weeks ago that "Karl Rove was seen by one of my people entering a private homosexual orgy at a five-star Washington hotel over the Mid-Atlantic Leather (MAL) weekend last year." [2004] Man dies after police pepper-spray him SF Chronicle | March 16, 2005 A Redwood City man died early Tuesday after being arrested by San Mateo County sheriff's deputies, authorities said. Fernando Casares, 36, died after being pepper-sprayed, pushed to the ground and handcuffed around 2 a.m., according to the sheriff's office. The incident, which started after a woman called 911 screaming for help, occurred in the 300 block of Second Avenue in an unincorporated part of Redwood City. When deputies responded to the call, Casares confronted them outside the home, charged them and punched them in the face and head, according to the sheriff's office. The deputies responded by spraying Casares with pepper spray, pushing him to the ground and handcuffing him. Casares stopped breathing and was taken to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The county coroner conducted an autopsy Tuesday, but results will not be ready for several weeks. The sheriff's office is conducting an investigation into the death. Man sentenced for crimes he may commit: judge Canadian Press | March 17, 2005
Judge Keith Libby ruled that protection of the public was the most important consideration in sentencing Dwight Barnes. And in a move that invited the defence to appeal, Libby said the prison term reflected what Barnes might do in the future, rather than what he had done. "I am prepared to sentence him for the crimes he may commit," Libby said Wednesday. "I'll give you your grounds for appeal now." Barnes, 20, pleaded guilty in January to four counts: theft under ,000, arson and two counts of killing an animal. The incidents all took place in August 2004. Court heard that one psychiatric report concluded that Barnes was virtually certain to violently offend in the future. Libby said the case was one of the most disturbing and frightening he's encountered in 25 years on the bench. Documents presented in provincial court, including entries from Barnes's journal, an e-mail he sent to his uncle and an interview with the RCMP, showed he had fantasized about killing someone. One journal entry, described by Libby as frightening, identified an apparent plan to kill two homeless people in Vancouver's Stanley Park, which was interrupted when someone else approached. Defence lawyer Robert Yeo urged the judge to sentence Barnes for what he had done, not what he wrote in his journal about wanting to do. "To the best of my knowledge, Parliament has yet to criminalize thought," Yeo said. "We need to sentence this gentleman for the crimes he has committed, not the crimes he may commit." In a statement to police after his arrest for the fire, Barnes told police about his fantasies of killing people and the fear that had been holding him back. "He sort of thought he was past that fear now that he'd killed the cats," Crown prosecutor Bob Richardson said. Barnes, who grew up in an adopted home in Vancouver, moved to the Comox Valley last July with the support of his family. Court heard he was having some behaviour problems at home and was trying to live independently for the first time. After Barnes was charged with forging cheques and killing the cats last August, he set several small fires inside a building that serves as a social club for adults with mental health problems. Court heard that Barnes hid in the building after staff locked up at night, stole money from a cash box and lit several small fires in an effort to hide the theft. The fires caused about ,000 worth of damage.
Medicines could be RFID-taggedSystem may be rolled out to chemists in the next 12 monthsADVERTISEMENT
Radio frequency identification (RFID) technology could be introduced in chemists across the UK within the next 12 months, following a successful trial. A three-month pilot backed by a number of pharmaceutical companies, which ended at the end of January, added RFID tags to 180,000 medicines to improve visibility in the supply chain and to counter the distribution of counterfeit and illegal drugs. Results of the trial were announced earlier this week. The technology companies involved in the project are now discussing a national scheme with the government and industry bodies such as the National Pharmaceutical Association and the Dispensing Doctors' Association. 'We're now working to create an integrated system and are in discussions with major stakeholders, who are looking to move the group forward to take the next commercial step,' said Ian Rhodes, chief executive of Aegate, the lead technology company in the pilot. 'I would say a commercial launch is possible in as little as 12 months, but can't estimate how long those discussions will take. 'This pilot is not about tracking product from A to B. It's about checking that, as a pharmacist is about to hand over a drug to a patient, the product will be received as intended when leaving the manufacturer, and dispensed as prescribed by a doctor.' The trial involved 44 pharmacies - including chemists and hospital dispensaries - which scanned tags attached to various products to check each item's supply chain status against a central database, matching its traditional barcode number. The Authentication at the Point of Dispensing (APOD) system also flags other features, such as expiry dates, associated recalls or alerts, and will eventually cross-reference the name and dosage against the prescription before the drug can be dispensed to the patient. The system uses six products from eight manufacturers, including Merck, Novartis, Schering Healthcare and Solvay. Rhodes says the group behind the trial is working with patient medical record system vendors and the NHS to integrate the APOD system into a commercial scanning device. Fliss Davies of Cordon Pharmacy, one of the chemists that took part in the trial, told Computing: 'This project helps chemists finally feel as though they are on an integrated NHS network, and not just shopkeepers.' Rhodes estimates that the cost of fraud in the industry could be (£36bn) by 2009.
More Than 100 Die in U.S. Custody in Iraq Associated Press | March 17 2005 WASHINGTON (AP) -- At least 108 people have died in U.S. custody in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, and roughly a quarter of the cases have been investigated as possible U.S. abuse, according to government data provided to The Associated Press. The figure, far higher than any previously disclosed, includes cases investigated by the Army, Navy, Central Intelligence Agency and Justice Department. Some 65,000 prisoners have been taken during the U.S.-led wars, most later freed. The Pentagon has never provided comprehensive information on how many prisoners taken during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have died. The 108 figure, based on information supplied by Army, Navy and other government officials, includes deaths attributed to natural causes. To human rights groups, the deaths form a clear pattern. To the Pentagon, each death is a distinct case, meriting an investigation but not attributable to any single faulty military policy. Pentagon officials point to military investigations that have found that no policy condoned abuse. Defense Department spokesman Lt. Col. John Skinner said the military has taken steps to reduce the chance of violent uprisings at its prisons and the use of excessive force by soldiers, and also has improved the health care available to prisoners. "The military has dramatically improved detention operations, everything from increased oversight and improved facilities to expanded training and the availability of state-of-the-art medical care," he said in a statement. Some death investigations have resulted in courts-martial and convictions, others in reprimands. Many are still open. In some cases, during riots and escape attempts, soldiers were found to have used deadly force properly. The most serious sentence handed out in the completed cases is three years imprisonment, which was given to two soldiers in separate cases. Pfc. Edward Richmond was convicted of voluntary manslaughter for shooting Muhamad Husain Kadir, an Iraqi cowherd, in the back of the head on Feb. 28, 2004; Richmond said he saw Kadir lunge for another soldier. Staff Sgt. Johnny M. Horne pleaded guilty to killing a critically wounded Iraqi teenager in Sadr City, Iraq, on Aug. 18, 2004. Horne described it as a mercy killing. In Iraq, the military is currently holding around 8,900 people at its two largest prisons, Abu Ghraib and Camp Bucca. At least two prisoners died during interrogation, in incidents that raise the question of torture. Human rights groups say there are others: - Manadel al-Jamadi, a suspect in the bombing of a Red Cross facility in Baghdad, died Nov. 4, 2003, while hanging by his wrists in a shower room at Abu Ghraib prison. Nine SEALs and one sailor have been accused of abusing al-Jamadi and others in Iraq. The CIA and Justice Department are also investigating the death. - Four Fort Carson, Colo., soldiers, including three in military intelligence, are charged with murder for the death of an Iraqi major general who died in November 2003. The CIA has also acknowledged that one of its officers may have been involved and referred the case to the Justice Department for investigation. Of the prisoner deaths: - At least 26 have been investigated as criminal homicides involving possible abuse. - At least 29 are attributed to suspected natural causes or accident. - 22 died during an insurgent mortar attack on April 6, 2004, on Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. - At least 21 are attributed to "justifiable homicide," when U.S. troops used deadly force against rioting, escaping or threatening prisoners and investigations found the troops acted appropriately. The majority of the death investigations were conducted by the Army's Criminal Investigation Division, as most prisoners are held in Army-run facilities. In many of the cases, resolution has not been swift. Military officials have attributed this in part to the difficulties of conducting investigations in war zones, and they say accuracy is more important than speed. "Our special agents have literally been mortared and shot at while going about investigative duties," said Army spokesman Christopher Grey. Grey said Army investigators have looked into 79 deaths in 68 incidents. Most were in Iraq. No prisoners have died at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the third major site for prisoners since the Sept. 11 attacks. A Navy official said the Navy Criminal Investigative Service has investigated eight deaths. One of those, of al-Jamadi, has also been investigated by the Army and is counted among their numbers, officials said. The CIA and Justice Department have looked into four deaths that may have involved agency personnel or contractors. One CIA contractor has been charged with assault in connection with a third death investigation in Afghanistan. The fourth death was attributed to hypothermia, not mistreatment.
Officer Quits Over Use Of Taser on Suspect The Associated Press | March 12, 2005
Sex, Lies and Call Girls: Why the U.S. Media Is a Whore Douglas Herman | March 17 2005 "The Central Intelligence Agency owns everyone of any significance in the major media." ~ William Colby, Former Director, CIA Most of them have been given Pulitzer Prizes for “distinguished commentary.” Their work appears in hundreds of American publications. They command huge salaries and they appear on most of the television news programs. Their books invariably enjoy instant access to publicity and become bestsellers. They are the made men of the media mafia. And they are all “owned,” as the late William Colby once admitted. What sets the group apart from the average STR writer of independent mind is a tight-knit togetherness that allows no real discourse or original thought. Rarely do we read an insightful observation or uncomfortable comment (the news publishers, editors and TV producers see to that). Each is a master of disinformation—distinguished commentary—that passes for learned dialogue in the mainstream media. When Cal Thomas pens the column, “A Successful Iraq Helps Bush Agenda at Home,” few remark on the obvious. When Joseph Farah, of WorldNetDaily.com, editorializes that the US must flatten Fallujah, and then the Pentagon does it, few see the connection. When Peter Jennings narrates a one-sided documentary dismissing the “myth” of Roswell , or when the scribes at Townhall.com adhere to a single foreign policy course that parallels that of the administration, few realize the words were appraised and accepted by those who control the major media. Perhaps the greatest proof of media censorship is the fact so little powerful dissent or opposing opinion is ever allowed to surface. “Noam Chomsky, who is a brilliant man,” wrote pamphleteer George Humphrey, “produced a movie titled Manufacturing Consent, and in this movie he shows that of the approximately 33,000 newspapers and magazines in our country, over 95% are controlled by eight multinational corporations.” Which explains why you and I will never appear in print in the mainstream media. When I sent my essay, Detective Columbo Asks: Was 911 an Inside Job? to every New York-based publication, I never expected or received a single response. Nor have I ever read of a similar column that broached the subject of 9-11 critically that has ever appeared in the CIA-owned, mainstream media. Denial is a New York state of mind and healthy skepticism went out of fashion when Thoreau died. Thus, when the Rush Limbaughs and Ann Coulters of the owned media decry the “liberal media bias,” this too is part of the agenda of disinformation. If you pan a non-existent opposition long enough and make it appear that opposition actually exists, an uninformed citizenry soon begins to believe the claim. Recently Cal Thomas wrote of Bush policy critics: “Count on the big media in America and Europe to look for dark linings within the silver cloud.” Where exactly has this big media been, the bobble-headed dolls of Bush policy, if not on the sidelines for the last two years, practicing patriotic cheers for those chimeras mistaken for silvery clouds? Does anyone remember when, exactly, an outspoken critic of the Neocon agenda enjoyed television air time or major press coverage? Patrick Buchanan, you say, the old Nixon crony? When all was said and done, the former Reform Party man and isolationist tossed his hat into the ring for Bush. So much for opposition. A partial list of those owned in the mainstream media (MSM) might look like the one I've compiled below. Certainly dozens, or even hundreds more, could be added. Like the aliens in that fine film Invasion of The Body Snatchers, these pod people can replicate pretty fast. William F. Buckley--Former CIA man, probably salaried for life. Bill O’Reilly--Fox = CIA, like pentagrams = devil. Tom Clancy--CIA cyborg. Joseph Farah--Jesus was a CIA man, right? Michael Savage—old herbalist now new Neocon ranter. Ann Coulter—CIA poster girl? Kathleen Parker—Pentagon spokesmodel and Rumsfeld devotee. Richard Perle—Loyalties lie with Mossad but probably CIA too. Norman Podhoretz—What’s good for Israel is good for America , right? William Kristol--What’s good for the Neocons is good for America , right? Abe Foxman--What's good for the ADL is good for America, right? Daniel Pipes--What’s good for AIPAC is good for America, right? Max Boot--What’s good for Zionism is good for America , right? Thomas Friedman—What’s good for Israel . . . Are you beginning to see a pattern here? Rush Limbaugh—CIA's favorite fat man and undercover Oxycontin operative? James Meigs—Editor of Popular Mechanics, magazine for war toy groupies. David Corn--Children of the corn and Company vegetable? Andrew Sullivan--Company's Rainbow Warrior? Cal Thomas--Company scold. George Will—Probably enjoys inner office at CIA headquarters. Charles Krauthammer--Probably enjoys office with a view. Peter Jennings--Probably lives there. Sean Hannity—Probably born there. Robert Novak--Plame dropper? William Safire--The Strunk & White of the Right. CIA’s venerable English professor. Satire aside, separately these people are pretty pathetic, befouled by lies, distortions and the spread of official government disinformation. Together they wield enormous power, a tsunami of propaganda. Why do they do this? Aside from huge sums of money or accolades or an ideological agenda, many may actually believe they’re doing good work. And why would the CIA want to control them? Consider the CIA as an elite businessman’s club (much like the Mafia but with more guns and less morals), with an agenda to spread global influence, either through friendly persuasion, coercion, bribes, subterfuge or outright armed invasion. If you realize that almost all the heads of the CIA have worked in Wall Street banks, you understand the necessity of also owning all the channels of mass communication. Any policy move that shifts the ponderous American machine must be first heralded by good press releases from the media. That is how those listed above serve. They are the brainless cheerleaders, the Pentagon is the brute force, and the elite power brokers of the military/industrial/banking machine stride the sidelines calling the plays. Which brings us to the new breed of pod people passing for independent journalists. Not simply the Maggie Gallaghers of journalism but the true whores of the media. If for nothing else, the Jeff Gannon-Jim Guckert sex scandal should indicate the depth of media prostitution. The only difference between Gannon and those who write for the mainstream media is that Gannon usually got undressed before he sold himself. Some stories NEVER see the light of day, no matter how relevant their importance. "Except for the outbreak of news stories concerning the Franklin Credit Union-Lawrence King-Craig Spence child prostitution scandal in 1989 that involved midnight tours of the White House for underage male sex slaves from Nebraska and reached high into the upper echelons of the elder Bush administration, little has been heard about the sex crimes of top Republicans," wrote Washington insider Wayne Madsen. "The fact that Gannon/Guckert, a male escort who adopted a military theme for his clientele, was made privy to classified information involving CIA covert agent Valerie Plame and her husband's (former Ambassador Joseph Wilson) trip to Niger to investigate possible uranium shipments, has a precedent with prior GOP illegal sexcapades involving national security breaches." Notice that few (if any?) of those listed above have castigated Gannon/Guckert or the Bush administration for what should be a serious breech of ethics, not to mention a serious breach of morals and our national security interests. Where’s the outrage from the Religious Right? Where’s the clamor for an independent investigation, akin to that of Ken Starr, or calls for impeachment? What appears to be a scandal equivalent or greater than that of the Christine Keeler/ Mandy Rice-Davies call girl scandal that toppled an entire British government has been swept under the Washington rug by the our “owned” media. By contrast, the British tabloids sank their teeth into the Profumo affair. What began as an investigation into call girls and party houses became an embarrassing government scandal that cost a prime minister his job. Profumo's mistake, we are told, was to lie in his testimony before the House of Commons. Bush and his stable of journalistic whores seems unfazed by the current scandal; they happily concoct lies everyday as normal policy. For no other reason than this, the Gannon affair proves William Colby right. The mainstream media is owned--bought and paid for.
St. Petersburg 5-year-old cuffed after school outburst ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - A 5-year-old girl was arrested, cuffed and put in back of a police cruiser after an outburst at school where she threw books and boxes, kicked a teacher in the shins, smashed a candy dish, hit an assistant principal in the stomach and drew on the walls. The students were counting jelly beans as part of a math exercise at Fairmount Park Elementary School when the little girl began acting silly. That's when her teacher took away her jelly beans, outraging the child. Minutes later, the 40-pound girl was in the back of a police cruiser, under arrest for battery. Her hands were bound with plastic ties, her ankles in handcuffs. "I don't want to go to jail," she said moments after her arrest Monday. No charges were filed and the girl went home with her mother. While police say their actions were proper, school officials were not pleased with the outcome. "We never want to have 5-year-old children arrested," said Michael Bessette, the district's Area III superintendent. The district's campus police should have been called to help and not local police, he said. Bessette said campus police routinely deal with children and are trained to calm them in such situations. Under the district's code of student conduct, students are to be suspended for 10 days and recommended for expulsion for unprovoked attacks, even if they don't result in serious injury. But district spokesman Ron Stone said that rule wouldn't apply to kindergartners. "She's been appropriately disciplined under the circumstances," he said. The girl's mother, Inda Akins, said she is consulting an attorney. "She's never going back to that school," Akins said. "They set my baby up."
Taser Death in Lake City
Teen girls' Bible talks of oral sex, lesbianism A Bible created especially for girls age 13-16 that includes profiles of fictional teenagers discussing oral sex, lesbianism and "dream" guys is drawing sharp criticism from some Christian parents who say such material should not appear alongside Scripture. The "True Images" Bible, published by Zondervan, promises on its dustcover to "strengthen your relationship with God, family, friends and guys." While the book includes the entire text of the New International Version of the Bible, it's the "over 1,000 relevant and compelling notes and articles" that have critics upset. The "In Focus" profiles are peppered throughout the text of the Bible and deal with subjects like sex, pregnancy, alcoholism, dating, homosexuality, depression, pornography and flirting. An introduction in the Bible explains its goal: to present to young girls "true images": "God's message about who you are in his eyes." The "In Focus" article on sex appears amidst scriptural regulations on offerings in the book of Leviticus. It profiles the fictional girl "Ashley" and is entitled "Casual or Not?" While the message of the profile is to save sex for marriage, critics aren't convinced the frank-talk approach is appropriate for young teens. Discussing her friend "Emma," Ashley says, "The story is that she had oral sex with a guy friend of ours last week. Just for fun. They're not dating, although they've always flirted with each other a lot. Emma took one look at my face this morning, and she knew I knew." Emma goes on to claim that oral sex "is not even sex," but Ashley disagrees, saying, "God's definition of sexual purity covers much more than intercourse." Following Ashley's narrative is a warning that "the physical and emotional effects of oral sex are similar to intercourse," along with tips for dealing with friends who are engaging in the practice. 'Am I Gay?' Another "In Focus" story highlights the experience of "Trish" in "Am I Gay?" Says Trish: "All my friends are wondering if this guy or that guy likes them. I don't like any guys right now. Instead, I wonder if I have a crush on Sierra. She's one of my best friends." Trish goes on to explain that her uncle tried to rape her when she was 12 and that ever since, "I haven't wanted any guy to touch me – not even my dad." The follow-up warning to Trish's story directs the reader to read Romans 1:24-32, in which Paul condemns homosexual behavior. Wedged into the pages of the book of Jeremiah is a profile by "Lorraine," in which she discusses finding Playboy and Penthouse magazines belonging to her father in the basement. "I couldn't believe it when I found the box. Those horrible magazines!" Lorraine says. "I couldn't even look at my dad after I found it. … My dad's a Christian! Yet he's got this porn stash. It's like he's got this secret life." The feature then advises girls in Lorraine's situation to "talk with a trusted Christian adult about the issue. Pray together, and come up with a plan for what to do next." 'Cuddling opps' Though there is a rising movement within Christianity to promote courtship over traditional dating, the "True Images" Bible, like a secular teen magazine, appears to assume its readers are dating – or wish they were. The "In Focus" feature on dating has "Taylor" upset because her boyfriend may be "cheating" on her with another girl. "Does he really think I don't have a clue?" she laments. "But I can't stand the thought of losing him." One of several personality tests throughout the Bible deals specifically with dating, entitled "The Perfect Date." One of the creative date ideas is to go to a symphony concert under the stars, since it will provide "romantic tunes" and "cuddling opps." On the same page is a colorful graphic stating: "You gotta kiss a lot of frogs before you find your prince!" Another quiz helps young teen readers discover what their "Prince Charming" will be like – everything from how he should look to what an imaginary night on the town would entail. After tallying the answers, readers can then "piece together a portrait of your dream man." One group of Christian teens the Bible doesn't appear to recognize is homeschoolers. Many of the scenarios and personality quizzes use hypothetical situations that would only occur in a traditional school atmosphere, such as "You're sitting next to the prom queen in English class. What are your thoughts?" 'Filthy graffiti' Leonie Beltzer is a homeschooling parent from Sterling, Va., who sent an e-mail warning to other homeschool families about the "True Images" Bible. "I was exceptionally shocked when I was previewing the 'True Images' Bible for our daughter," Beltzer writes. "It would be very easy to just think that because it contains God's Word we can just give it to our kids and let them read it without censorship (believe me, I nearly did but thank God I did not!). I send this out as a warning." Beltzer goes on to describe the oral sex and lesbian features, saying, "I felt very compelled to at least give you all a head's up." Stacy McDonald is editor of Homeschooling Today, author of "Raising Maidens of Virtue" and the mother of seven girls. "I find this 'Bible' comparable to filthy graffiti smeared across the Word of God. Instead of edifying young girls and encouraging them to godliness it actually violates their purity by its very text," she told WND. "Having seven daughters myself, I am deeply grieved that parents would encourage their young daughters to read such graphic narratives. I would not give this 'Bible' to my 20-year-old virgin daughter to read – much less a 13-year-old. Why should she have images of oral sex, lesbianism and rape in her mind?" A spokesman for Zondervan defended the content of the teen Bible, saying the company would be irresponsible not to include the controversial subject matter. "In putting 'True Images' together, our guiding principle was to be as edgy as the Bible is and no more," Cameron Conant, Zondervan's public relations manager for Bibles, told WorldNetDaily. "We've forgotten that the Bible is filled with sex and violence, and God's redemptive role in the lives of sinful people. The Bible itself is a pretty provocative book." Zondervan worked with the Livingstone Corporation, a Bible content developer that has worked on many study Bibles, to put together the publication. Conant explained that Livingstone did extensive research on 13 to 16-year-old girls to identify the main issues of concern to them. "Again and again and again, the issues that repeatedly came up were a lot of issues related to sex," he said. "Today's teens are just bombarded with … highly suggestive, highly sexual media messages every day." Stated Conant: "These issues are out there, and we need to make sure teens have a biblical view of sexuality. We felt it would be irresponsible not to address some of these specific issues, even oral sex and homosexuality, even for 13-year-old girls. … Virtually every 13 to 16-year-old out there is dealing with these issues." Conant said Zondervan didn't want to bury its "head in the sand" and act as if teens aren't aware of the sexual issues addressed in the "True Images" Bible. "We want to point them to God-centered solutions and responses to the things they're seeing on TV and the things they're hearing from their friends," he said. Conant said the "True Images" website receives "tons of e-mails" from children who read the Bible "and are benefiting from it." Said one e-mail Conant supplied to WND: "I really like this Bible. It made me realize that God does understand what a girl has to go through with everybody – parents, siblings, friends, acquaintances, boyfriends and temptations." Another teen girl stated: "I truly believe that God has blessed me with this Bible to get a better understanding about dating and flirting and about me and my body, and I thank you for making the Bible that way, in that kind of style." Assaulting purity McDonald said she doesn't believe Zondervan's contention that "virtually every" teen girls is aware of and concerned about the matters discussed in the "True Images" Bible. "If they do know [about these issues]," she said, "it's the parents' responsibility to share these things with their children in a protected way. It shouldn't come from a teen Bible." The author said she's concerned that a grandmother might purchase the "True Images" Bible and give it to her granddaughter, not realizing its content. "What's wrong with giving them just the Bible," McDonald asked, "and then encouraging relationships where girls can ask questions of parents? If an issue comes up, it needs to be the parent presenting it in a godly way, not in some little story." Continued McDonald: "Not every 13-year-old girl needs to be discussing oral sex, so why would we put it in a narrative that is almost titillating?" Even if the sidebar texts point the reader to Scripture that gives the biblical perspective on an issue, McDonald said, "in attempting to instill purity in a child, what they're doing is actually robbing them. They're assaulting their purity because they're exposing them to way more than they need to be exposed to at that young age." Conant countered McDonald's view, saying, "As much as we as parents want to shield our kids from the world, it's very difficult to do that. Even if we're doing all we can, these issues are going to come up, and what better way for them to come up than in the context of a Bible." McDonald believes parents can better protect their children by schooling them at home. "If the 'real world' of public school exposes them to oral sex, pregnant 14-year-old friends, homosexuality, rape, fornication, etc., the answer isn't to 'talk about it' in some hip teen book," she said. "The answer is to protect them, which may mean homeschooling them." The Bible has a companion version for teen boys called "Revolution.
The government wants your information - and so do thieves Portland Press Herald | March 16 2005 Some companies are working on technology that would allow your toilet to analyze your urine to see if you're sick. The government, at the same time, is trying to expand a new, space-age program called Matrix, the point of which is to collect bunches of data about you to see if you're a terrorist. Both ideas slip into that "too much information" category. What, you may ask in Keanu-esque fashion, is the Matrix? Matrix, or Multi-state Anti-TerroRism Information eXchange, is run by a Florida company, Seisint Inc., for a network of participating state governments. It collects information from government and commercial databases to look for "patterns" that could mean trouble of the terrorist kind. It's certainly a good idea to connect criminal databases to make it easier for law enforcement officials to find the bad guys - but this system ventures into data mining. Only four states are currently participating - Florida, Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Ohio - and Michigan recently made the right decision to pull out of the program. The Matrix, excepting its fancy Hollywood name, looks suspiciously similar to a trashed government program called Total Information Awareness. That program, which sought to compile a massive database that included credit card purchases, travel information and even e-mail messages, was nixed by Congress as too intrusive. Whereas TIA was a nationwide program, Matrix is only operating in states that choose to have it. As the ACLU puts it, TIA was Big Brother, Matrix is Little Brother. Don't think that makes it less scary. Matrix creators, the American Civil Liberties Union says, won't specify exactly what information is being collected except to say it includes government and commercial data. A New York Daily News story said it could include marriage and divorce records, real estate purchases, arrest records, hunting licenses and even pictures of neighbors and business associates. What else? Can the government really use all of the information it seeks? Perhaps the government could get out of the Big Brother business and into the Nagging Mother business. It could analyze our grocery receipts, for instance, and send us annoying little messages: "Pardon us, Mrs. Jones, but that's your third bottle of wine this week. Are you having a party?" So, what's the problem with sharing your information if you're not doing anything wrong? For one thing, no one can guarantee this information won't be filched by hackers. Did the name Seisint sound familiar? It should. The Matrix operator, owned by Lexis Nexis, was hacked last week. The names, addresses, Social Security numbers and driver's license numbers of 32,000 people were stolen. As if to make us feel better, Lexis Nexis' parent company, Reed Elsevier, said no credit reports, financial information or medical data were stolen. See? Nothing to worry about. The ACLU's Web site said Seisint kept the system's data in a room "sealed by biometric locks" and "watched over by Florida police." Guess what, everyone? Hackers gain access to databases not with special hacker superpowers or expensive underground equipment, but with the ability to charm legitimate system users out of their passwords and user names, or the ability to fake their way in some other way. ChoicePoint - another data collection firm that was hacked this year - sold the personal information of 145,000 consumers to identity thieves posing as legitimate business officials. Congress is working on boosting protections, but your personal information is one human error away from being stolen. So, what if some of your information got into the wrong hands? What if terrorist activity was conducted using your identity? Well, could you prove that you didn't do it? Forget identity theft for a minute and consider simple cases of mistaken identity. The film "Brazil," a 20-year-old prescient British satire, illustrates this when everyman Archibald Buttle is arrested by the ominous Ministry of Information Retrieval. The ministry was actually looking for Archibald Tuttle, who was wanted for "freelance subversion." That's another problem: Are we sure our dear leaders are searching these databases with a uniform definition of "terrorism" in mind?
U.S. Report Lists Possibilities for Terrorist Attacks and Likely Toll
By ERIC LIPTON WASHINGTON, March 15 - The Department of Homeland Security, trying to focus antiterrorism spending better nationwide, has identified a dozen possible strikes it views as most plausible or devastating, including detonation of a nuclear device in a major city, release of sarin nerve agent in office buildings and a truck bombing of a sports arena. The document, known simply as the National Planning Scenarios, reads more like a doomsday plan, offering estimates of the probable deaths and economic damage caused by each type of attack.
They include blowing up a chlorine tank, killing 17,500 people and injuring more than 100,000; spreading pneumonic plague in the bathrooms of an airport, sports arena and train station, killing 2,500 and sickening 8,000 worldwide; and infecting cattle with foot-and-mouth disease at several sites, costing hundreds of millions of dollars in losses. Specific locations are not named because the events could unfold in many major metropolitan or rural areas, the document says.
The agency's objective is not to scare the public, officials said, and they have no credible intelligence that such attacks are planned. The department did not intend to release the document publicly, but a draft of it was inadvertently posted on a Hawaii state government Web site.
By identifying possible attacks and specifying what government agencies should do to prevent, respond to and recover from them, Homeland Security is trying for the first time to define what "prepared" means, officials said.
That will help decide how billions of federal dollars are distributed in the future. Cities like New York that have targets with economic and symbolic value, or places with hazardous facilities like chemical plants could get a bigger share of agency money than before, while less vulnerable communities could receive less.
"We live in a world of finite resources, whether they be personnel or funding," said Matt A. Mayer, acting executive director of the Office of State and Local Government Coordination and Preparedness at the Homeland Security Department, which is in charge of the effort.
President Bush requested the list of priorities 15 months ago to address a widespread criticism of Homeland Security from members of Congress and antiterrorism experts that it was wasting money by spreading it out instead of focusing on areas or targets at greatest risk. Critics also have faulted the agency for not having a detailed plan on how to eliminate or reduce vulnerabilities.
Michael Chertoff, the new secretary of homeland security, has made it clear that this risk-based planning will be a central theme of his tenure, saying that the nation must do a better job of identifying the greatest threats and then move aggressively to deal with them.
"There's risk everywhere; risk is a part of life," Mr. Chertoff said in testimony before the Senate last week. "I think one thing I've tried to be clear in saying is we will not eliminate every risk."
The goal of the document's planners was not to identify every type of possible terrorist attack. It does not include an airplane hijacking, for example, because "there are well developed and tested response plans" for such an incident. Planners included the threats they considered the most plausible or devastating, and that represented a range of the calamities that communities might need to prepare for, said Marc Short, a department spokesman. "Each scenario generally reflects suspected terrorist capabilities and known tradecraft," the document says.
To ensure that emergency planning is adequate for most possible hazards, three catastrophic natural events are included: an influenza pandemic, a magnitude 7.2 earthquake in a major city and a slow-moving Category 5 hurricane hitting a major East Coast city.
The strike possibilities were used to create a comprehensive list of the capabilities and actions necessary to prevent attacks or handle incidents once they happen, like searching for the injured, treating the surge of victims at hospitals, distributing mass quantities of medicine and collecting the dead.
Once the White House approves the plan, which could happen within the next month, state and local governments will be asked to identify gaps in fulfilling the demands placed upon them by the possible strikes, officials said.
No terrorist groups are identified in the documents. Instead, those responsible for the various hypothetical attacks are called Universal Adversary.
The most devastating of the possible attacks - as measured by loss of life and economic impact - would be a nuclear bomb, the explosion of a liquid chlorine tank and an aerosol anthrax attack.
The anthrax attack involves terrorists filling a truck with an aerosolized version of anthrax and driving through five cities over two weeks spraying it into the air. Public health officials, the report predicts, would probably not know of the initial attack until a day or two after it started. By the time it was over, an estimated 350,000 people would be exposed, and about 13,200 would die, the report predicts.
The emphasis on casualty predictions is a critical part of the process, because Homeland Security officials want to establish what kinds of demands these incidents would place upon the public health and emergency response system.
"The public will want to know very quickly if it is safe to remain in the affected city and surrounding regions," the anthrax attack summary says. "Many persons will flee regardless of the public health guidance that is provided."
Even in some cases where the expected casualties are relatively small, the document lays out extraordinary economic consequences, as with a radiological dispersal device, known as a "dirty bomb." The planning document predicts 540 initial deaths, but within 20 minutes, a radioactive plume would spread across 36 blocks, contaminating businesses, schools, shopping areas and homes, as well as transit systems and a sewage treatment plant.
The authors of the reports have tried to make each possible attack as realistic as possible, providing details on how terrorists would obtain deadly chemicals, for example, and what equipment they would be likely to use to distribute it. But the document makes clear that "the Federal Bureau of Investigation is unaware of any credible intelligence that indicates that such an attack is being planned."
Even so, local and state governments nationwide will soon be required to collaboratively plan their responses to these possible catastrophes. Starting perhaps as early as 2006, most communities would be expected to share specially trained personnel to handle certain hazardous materials, for example, instead of each city or town having its own unit.
To prioritize spending nationwide, communities or regions will be ranked by population, population density and an inventory of critical infrastructure in the region.
The communities in the first tier, the largest jurisdictions with the highest-value targets, will be expected to prepare more comprehensively than other communities, so they would be eligible for more federal money.
"We can't spend equal amounts of money everywhere," said Mr. Mayer, of the Homeland Security Department.
To some, the extraordinarily detailed planning documents in this effort - like a list of more than 1,500 distinct tasks that might need to be performed in these calamities - are an example of a Washington bureaucracy gone wild.
"The goal has to be to get things down to a manageable checklist," said Gary C. Scott, chief of the Campbell County Fire Department in Gillette, Wyo., who has served on one of the many advisory committees helping create the reports. "This is not a document you can decipher when you are on a scene. It scared the living daylights out of people." But federal officials and some domestic security experts say they are convinced that this is a threshold event in the national process of responding to the 2001 attacks.
"Our country is at risk of spending ourselves to death without knowing the end site of what it takes to be prepared," said David Heyman, director of the homeland security program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington-based research organization. "We have a great sense of vulnerability, but no sense of what it takes to be prepared. These scenarios provide us with an opportunity to address that."
Bless the Beasts and the Children
Photographer for White House child sex ring arrested after Thompson suicide
by Tom Flocco
WASHINGTON -- March 13, 2005 -- TomFlocco.com -- Photographer Russell E. "Rusty" Nelson was recently arrested two days after journalist Hunter Thompson reportedly committed suicide four weeks ago on February 10, according to two phone interviews with attorney John DeCamp last week.
Nelson was allegedly employed by a former Republican Party activist to take pictures of current or retired U.S. House-Senate members and other prominent government officials engaging in sexual criminality by receiving or committing sodomy and other sex acts on children during the Reagan-Bush 41 administrations.
Hunter Thompson’s death and the news blackout of Rusty Nelson’s simultaneous arrest raise questions that someone may be attempting to limit Nelson’s freedom or threaten him, since according to testimony, both men had allegedly witnessed homosexual prostitution and pedophile criminal acts in a suppressed but far-reaching child sex-ring probe closely linked to Senate and House members--but also former President George H. W. Bush. [In U.S. District Court testimony, Rusty Nelson told Judge Warren Urbom he took 20,000 to 30,000 pictures, 2-5-1999, p.52] Pedophile victim Paul Bonacci--kidnapped and forced into sex slavery between the ages of 6 and 17--told U.S. District Court Judge Warren Urbom in sworn testimony [pp.105, 124-126] on February 5, 1999: "Where were the parties?...down in Washington, DC...and that was for sex...There was sex between adult men and other adult men but most of it had to do with young boys and young girls with the older folks...specifically for sex with minors...Also in Washington, DC, there were parties after a party...there were a lot of parties where there would be senators and congressmen who had nothing to do with the sexual stuff. But there were some senators and congressmen who stayed for the [pedophile sex] parties afterwards...on a lot of the trips he took us on he had us, I mean, I met some people that I don't feel comfortable telling their name because I don't want to --- ...Q: Are you scared?...Yes..."
DeCamp, a former Nebraska state senator and decorated Vietnam War vet, told TomFlocco.com "there are tons of pictures still left; law enforcement is currently looking for them," adding, "you can also assume there are senators and congressmen implicated; otherwise this would not be such a big issue." But no federal official has stepped forward to protect Rusty Nelson's life, as Congress would be reluctant to hold hearings or force a federal prosecutor to probe its own members for sex acts with children--still punishable by law.
Sex with minors?
In his testimony before Judge Urbom, Bonacci specifically named Congressman Barney Frank (D-MA) as having participated in the parties--also telling the judge he had "relationships with him" in Washington, DC and was flown to Massachusetts for sex in the basement of Frank's Boston home.
[2-5-1999, p. 126] However, Urbom did not subpoena all the photos and did not ask Bonacci to identify photos of specific senators and congressmen, or reveal their names in court transcripts and depositions we examined; nor did Judge Urbom explain why investigations have never commenced regarding which members of congress had sex with children.
The evidence DeCamp presented was so credible and substantial that Urbom awarded Paul Bonacci $1 million for child abuse on February 19, 1999 regarding his lawsuit involving Larry King. This, despite a Nebraska jury having already indicted Bonacci for perjury in 1990, ultimately sending an intentionally damaged, spiritually and physically abused young man to prison for five years--and despite his treatment by King, described in court testimony:
"They put guns up to my head. Had guns put in my mouth...Larry King sent out boys, men, to jump me...he had them pretty well beat the tar out of me from the waist down so nobody would see the marks...I had my fingers broken...I can remember them burning me with hot instruments...placing stuff inside me...almost what I call a cattle prod...But it would be put inside then they'd shock me inside my -- ...Judge Urbom: Anus?...Yes... And they would -- ...Judge: You mean electrically heated?...They would put it in and then push a button and it would shock me...Judge Urbom:..done by Larry King at his direction?...At his direction..."
"I threatened to go to the police in California, thought maybe they would listen whereas in Omaha they were in his pocketbook...he had me hung out of an airplane with a rope by my ankles...If they wanted to get something passed through the legislature, he would put some people that were against it in a compromising position. By using us boys and girls...Judge Urbom: Was this by your being the sexual partner of that person?...Yes...Judge Urbom: ...Any estimates of how often you participated as the sexual partner of one of these persons that he wanted to get some kind of control over?...There were times when it would be four or five in a night...on probably a couple thousand times...sometimes dozens of times with the same person..." [U.S. District Court testimony, 2-5-1999, pp. 146-151]
Curiously, Paul Bonacci told investigators that the sex ring was based out of Offutt U.S. Air Force Base near Omaha, having been taken there to be abused since he was three years old in 1970. At Offutt, Paul said he was "trained" by tortures, heavy drugging and sexual degradation. [Offutt AFB played a major role immediately following the 9/11 attacks as George W. Bush made the base his post-attack headquarters for a short period.]
So intent upon his physical harm, the government "moved Bonacci to different facilities--despite agreements worked out by DeCamp, purposefully gave him food to which he was allergic while his weight dropped, and denied him a blanket for months...[he was] beaten several times in jail and placed with potentially violent people associated with Larry King," according to Decamp.
John DeCamp told us last week that "Larry King was released from prison on April 11, 2001 after serving about five years," adding "he's back in Washington, DC and now involved in this story again." [DeCamp's book also said "King went to prison for embezzlement, conspiracy and making false financial record entries...there was no trial on any other charges, and the evidence of child prostitution and abuse perpetrated by King was never presented in any court." Franklin Cover-up, p. 224]
John DeCamp just released an updated 2005 edition of his original book about the secret White House-linked national child sex-ring entitled The Franklin Cover-up [.95 + .00 shipping: contact decamplegal@inebraska.com for 2005 edition]. The carefully researched and graphic expose involves convicted [and recently released from prison] GOP operative Lawrence E. "Larry" King Jr. who allegedly hired photographers to capture legislators and high officials in compromising sexual positions with children while he managed the Franklin Federal Credit Union--according to court testimony on 2-5-1999. [Franklin was raided by federal agencies and shut down two days before George H. W. Bush was elected president in 1988.]
Past mysterious deaths, clandestine arrests, court testimony, and credible evidence of FBI and CIA participation in their cover-up also raise questions as to why elderly pedophile priests are removed from their pulpits, prosecuted and imprisoned for sex acts committed 40 years ago and why famous music entertainers are prosecuted for pedophilia; yet elderly pedophile federal legislators may still remain in the U.S. House and Senate--drawing a free pass for past criminal child-sex acts.
Regarding his role in taking blackmail photos of government officials, Rusty Nelson confirmed Bonacci’s testimony to Judge Urbom: "Q: Children on the airplane?...yes. Q: How young?...There was one situation went back to Washington, DC...he had probably 10, 12 years old...Q: Boys, girls?...Both...Q: Who attended the parties?...Prominent business people, very prominent high-ranking officials, politicians. The younger people. What would transpire was they would have a party and then a party after the party...after the party was more of a sex-type deal...That’s what Larry [King] would -- -- Q: These old politicians were having sex with each other?...Or people Larry would bring...some younger people...Did you take pictures of the parties?...I took pictures at some of the parties, yes..." [U.S. District Court testimony, 2-5-1999, pp. 89-91] After the Secret Service allowed Paul Bonacci to have access to the White House on July 3, 1988, one of DeCamp’s investigators said the young pedophile victim was able to draw a floor-plan of the presidential inside living quarters of the White House--an area not available to the public--lending stong credence to a June 29, 1989 Washington Times front page story, "Homosexual prostitution inquiry ensnares VIPs with Reagan, Bush," when reporters Paul Rodriguez and George Archibald said "Call-boys took midnight tour of White House."
Presidential indiscretions--or criminal acts?
According to a Nebraska state police report, Nebraska Foster Care Review Board letter to the Attorney General, Nebraska Senate’s Franklin committee investigative report, and a 50-page report by Omaha’s Boys Town welfare case officer Mrs. Julie Walters, pedophile victims Nelly and Kimberly Webb detailed a massive child sex, homosexual and pornography operation run out of Nebraska by Larry King--but with close ties directly to the Congress and the White House.
Mrs. Walter’s Nebraska Dept. of Social Services report (3-25-86) revealed: "[14 year-old] Nelly said at these trip parties hosted by Larry King, she sat naked ‘looking pretty and innocent’ and guests could engage in any sexual activity they wanted, but penetration was not allowed...Nelly said she first met V. P. George Bush at the Republican Convention where King sang the national anthem, and saw Bush again at a Washington, DC party Larry hosted...Last year [1985] she met V.P. Bush and saw him at one of the parties Larry gave while on a Washington, DC trip. At some of the parties there are just men (as was the case at the party George Bush attended)...Nelly said she has seen sodomy committed at those parties."
The Walters report continued: "On December 19, 1988, Nelly was contacted and voluntarily came to the FBI offices on December 30, 1988. She was interviewed by [FBI agents] Brady, Tucker and Phillips...in September or October, 1984 when Lisa was 14 she went to Chicago with Larry King and 15-20 boys from Omaha...She indicates she attended a party in Chicago with King and the male youths. She indicated George Bush was present...she sat at a table at the party wearing nothing but a negligee. She stated George Bush saw her on the table. She stated she saw George Bush pay King money and Bush left the party with a nineteen year old black boy named Brent. Lisa said the party Bush attended was in Chicago in September or October 1984. The Chicago Tribune of October 31, 1984 said Bush was in Illinois campaigning for congressional candidates at the end of October."
Bush 41 surfaced again in Lowe's May, 1989 review of reports by Thomas Vlahoulis from the state attorney general's office: "Sorenson told Vlahoulis that both Kimberly and Nelly [Webb] brought up the name of George Bush and indicated that they had both met him..."
In spite of four polygraph tests administered by a Nebraska state trooper who said he was convinced Nelly was telling the truth, in December, 1990, a Washington country, Nebraska judge ignored
Julie Walter’s 50-page report, numerous debriefings of the girls by foster care officials and youth workers stating the sisters told the truth--specifically about George Bush Sr., and dismissed all charges against their foster parents Jarrett and Barbara Webb, who Nelly and Kimberly said had allowed them to be abused. Gosch to Guckert to Gannon?
Cable television news reports have recently linked an alleged male prostitute to the present White House since George W. Bush permitted James Guckert to use an unprecedented Secret Service-approved alias (Jeff Gannon) while having access to the White House for two years as a pool reporter serving the younger Bush--before which Gannon had advertised himself on internet pornography sites as a male "escort" charging an hour. [Gannon is the subject of independent news reports which have referred to him as the former kidnapped Des Moines, Iowa paperboy Johnny Gosch--forced into child sex-slavery.] John DeCamp told this writer "I believe Johnny Gosch and Jeff Gannon are one and the same person--but I am not in a position to know positively."
During a recent phone interview, Noreen Gosch told TomFlocco.com that she is still not sure whether her missing son Johnny is in fact James Gannon, because she has "not seen enough evidence." But having been abducted in 1982, Johnny Gosch would now be about 35-36 years old. Gannon claims to be 47 but his "male4male" website escorts profile lists him as 31 in 2000, which would also make him 35-36 years old today. George W. Bush has not explained how Guckert/Gannon--who had advertised himself as a male escort--could apparently operate in the White House as a reporter for two years using a Secret Service-approved alias and regularly be called upon by George W. Bush and press secretary Scott McClellan during nationally televised presidential press conferences. Questions can be raised as to whether Gannon also had access to the White House living quarters as Paul Bonacci and other call-boys did during his father’s administration--as the Washington Times reported. Photos of George W. Bush and Jeff Gannon together indicate that they have a cordial personal relationship.
Noreen Gosch said her son Johnny is living under an assumed name after being abducted on September 5, 1982 while serving his Sunday morning paper route. During a clandestine visit from her son when he was 27 or 28, Mrs. Gosch said Johnny told her he was taken by a highly organized, very corporate global pedophile/pornography ring--linked to the Washington, DC congressional call-boy scandal during the 1980's.
Hunter Thompson directed child murder-sex film?
A controversial author, Hunter Thompson was allegedly linked to Larry King as implicated in Paul Bonacci's testimony in which the pedophile victim revealed that Thompson directed a graphic ‘snuff’ film [Franklin Cover-up, pp.102-105 & 327] made near Sacramento, California at a location called "Bohemian Grove."
Bonacci--flown numerous times across state lines for sexual exploitation to Washington, DC and other cities--testified on videotape [5-14-1990] for Nebraska State Police investigator Gary Caradori. Bonacci said that while on a trip to Sacramento, he was forced at gun-point to commit homosexual acts on another boy before he watched other men do the same--after which the boy was shot in the head.
In separate testimony, Decamp said Bonacci told him "Larry King was smiling and laughing the whole time the film was being shown...as the men watched, they passed Nicholas [another victim] and me around as if we were toys, and sexually abused us." [U.S. District Court, 2-5-1999, pp.115-129]
Bonacci’s testimony has been evaluated as credible and well-informed by leading child abuse experts, psychiatrists, psychologists and polygraph tests; and he has also testified that he was forced to lure Johnny Gosch into being kidnapped--considered by many to be the most notorious U.S. child sex-slavery case.
Protecting legislators at the expense of children
John Decamp told TomFlocco.com that Franklin child-abuse witness "Alisha Owen was convicted of lying that as a minor, she had sex with Omaha Chief of Police Robert Wadman. She was placed in solitary confinement for years--the most brutal treatment of a female inmate in Nebraska history for a first-time offense," to which Decamp added, "it was done to keep her silent and away from other inmates, but also as a warning to the other children." 21 year-old Alisha Jahn Owen was sentenced on August 8, 1991 to serve nine to twenty-seven years in prison for telling a grand jury that she was sexually abused as a juvenile by a Nebraska District Court judge, by Omaha's Chief of Police, by the manager of the Franklin Credit Union, and others.
DeCamp said "Alisha witnessed abuse of other children and functioned as an illegal drug courier traveling nationwide for some of Nebraska's wealthiest, most powerful and prominent businessmen." But a local and a federal grand jury indicted the victim-witnesses for perjury--throwing the key young people in prison to cover up child-sex and illegal drugs.
The Nebraska State Senate’s primary Franklin Committee investigator Gary Caradori's March 14, 1990 notes revealed that on the day of the federal agents' raid on Franklin Credit Union, "a large amount of pornographic material was taken out of the credit union, including videos and photographs depicting sexual acts. I was told that if Friedrichs or any of the other people working for the CPA firm contacted by the government [audit] would say anything, they would automatically lose their jobs."
That evidence was never made available to the Nebraska Senate's Franklin Committee, nor was its existence publicly acknowledged by the FBI; and all raid warrants were sealed by United States Magistrate Richard Kopf--the same court official who ordered to have Larry King taken by federal agents to a federal psychiatric facility for "tests," on February 7, 1990 as President George H. W. Bush was coming to Omaha for a fundraising event.
Alisha Owen testified to the Franklin Committee on June 11, 1990 that the FBI attempted to influence federal witness testimony--that her former lawyer Pam Vuchetich had come to see her in the spring: "giving a proposal from the FBI that if I recanted my story then nothing would happen to me; I could get out of prison and no charges would ever be brought against me...they would write letters to the judge asking for my sentence reduction..."
Her parents, Donna and Alvin Owen told the committee about the incident on June 21, 1990: "Q: You testified that your husband was there?...sitting in the living room, I remember...Q: Did she tell you who in the FBI made that deal, made that offer to her?...Mickey Mott...He works closely with Rick Culver and John Pankonon...
Curiously, state policeman Gary Caradori, died July 11, 1990 in a small-plane explosion, one month after FBI officials attempted to coerce a key child witness to recant her testimony--and even though a deputy sheriff first at the crash site said there was child pornography scattered all over the farmer’s field and the farmer said he witnessed the plane exploding in mid-air before crashing to the ground.
Johnny Gosch’s mother, Noreen, said "undisclosed sources told her the FBI immediately arrived with three flatbed trucks [modus operandi of FBI and Gov. Jeb Bush confiscating 9/11 hijacker documents at Venice, Florida’s Huffman flight school?], grabbed the evidence from the sheriff’s hands, cordoned off the field, walked the field, picked up every piece of evidence, took the plane and all its parts and put it on the flatbed trucks, and told the peace officer, ‘This is confidential information and don’t ever speak of it again.’ The evidence has never surfaced again in Nebraska’s Franklin investigation or any other investigation." [Ted Gunderson Report, June 28, 2000] DeCamp's book reveals more clear evidence of witness tampering and possible accessory to murder: On the evening of July 11, 1990, the day her husband crashed to his death, Sandie Caradori received several phone calls from [key Franklin child-abuse witness] Troy Boner. She wrote in her notes: "I am familiar with his voice and can be 100% assured that I did in fact receive telephone calls from him...Troy: Gary wasn't lying. He didn't tell me what to say. What I told him was the truth. (He spoke rapidly, fighting back tears) They made me take it back. They threatened me...You don't understand, they threatened me. They made me take it back. I was so scared..." [pp. 186-187] In 1990, according to DeCamp, "Troy Boner was going to provide the information in open court, under oath, that would blow the lid off the Franklin case and force a new trial for Alisha Owen...As Troy came into the courthouse, he was immediately ushered into a private room by county judicial authorities...the hearing was delayed for one hour...Troy was in the room with a "Special Attorney" and with other officials from the prosecutor's office--the very same prosecutorial team Troy was about to testify against."
"...Troy leaned over and whispered to me, "Oh God, forgive me. They guaranteed if I talk here today, they will put me away for twenty years...told me I would be charged with perjury for my original testimony if I opened my mouth today in court...Look what they did to Alisha...Look what they did to my brother." [found dead after playing "Russian Roulette"]
DeCamp's 2005 edition incredibly reveals, "In late 2003 [just before the 2004 election campaign started to heat up], Troy Boner [key abused child witness to national sex-ring] walked into a hospital in New Mexico screaming "they're after me, they're after me because of this book." The book Boner was waving was The Franklin Cover-up. Boner was '...mildly sedated and calmed down...and put in a private room for observation.' "
"When nurses came back to check on him early next morning, Boner was sitting in a chair, bleeding from the mouth and quite dead. Former FBI Los Angeles Bureau Chief Ted Gunderson tried to get autopsy and other information and details that were promised him on Boner's death, but Gunderson and apparently every other entity, were totally shut out of all information. No news stories were published on Boner's death despite his "notoriety" in the Franklin case." (John DeCamp, The Franklin Cover-up) Another witness was gone.
DeCamp added that the FBI had also confiscated Larry King’s flight manifests from various airline charter companies, thus helping to cover up proof of sexual exploitation of children and interstate transportation of minors across state lines for sexual purposes. Washington, DC: child sodomy hotbed?
Rusty Nelson’s quick arrest following on the heels of Hunter Thompson’s ‘suicide’ and alleged assertions that Jeff Gannon could be Johnny Gosch may all have serious criminal implications, as Thompson and Nelson were said to be closely linked to child sexual criminality at the highest levels of government--acts still punishable by law and easily meriting cover-up attempts by powerful forces.
Paul Bonacci, forced to help kidnap Johnny Gosch into sex-slavery, also told Franklin Committee investigators he toured the White House at midnight on July 3, 1988 with Craig Spence--a lobbyist and political operative who arranged male prostitute visits to the White House but who turned up dead himself just three months after the 6-29-89 Washington Times call-boy headline. The police were quick to call Spence's death a suicide, according to DeCamp.
Spence had "hinted the tours were arranged by ‘top-level’ persons, including Donald Gregg, national security advisor to Vice-President Bush," according to the Washington Times [8-9-89], adding, "Spence, according to friends, was also carrying out homosexual blackmail operations for the CIA."
Spence and Gregg were reportedly close friends, as Spence had sponsored a dinner in Gregg’s honor in the spring of 1989 at Washington posh Four Seasons Hotel in Georgetown just before the White House prostitution scandal broke at the beginning of the Bush 41 tenure. [George Bush: The Unauthorized Biography, Webster G. Tarpley & Anton Chaitkin, Chapter 21--Omaha]
A June 30, 1989 Washington Times report said "Rep. Barney Frank, Massachusetts Democrat and a self-proclaimed homosexual who several weeks ago threatened to reveal a list of Republican homosexuals in Congress, said he was ‘not surprised’ by the revelations."
The Times also said [8-25-1989], "A male prostitute convicted of drug trafficking and sex offenses against a minor used the Chevy Chase Elementary School in late 1987 to run his prostitution operation after the school's principal began buying sex from him."
"The call-boy was allowed to sleep and use phones in the school even after the principal left at 5 p.m., while teachers and the children were still involved in after-school activities such as chorus," said the principal, Gabriel A. Massaro, who also revealed "he had a four-year relationship with the prostitute and provided him with a guidance counselor's office and telephone at the model ‘magnet school’ even while children were in classes elsewhere in the building."
Also according to the Times, "Massaro acknowledged that he attended a meeting between Davis and his Alexandria probation officer at the Capitol Hill home of Rep. Barney Frank, Massachusetts Democrat, another client whose home the call-boy used to perform sexual services." The paper did not reveal the age or name of the call-boy or whether he serviced Congressman Frank.
A clearly unethical and likely illegal presidential appointment was also linked to the White House child sex-ring: "In August, 1990, Bush appointed Ronald Roskens of Nebraska to head the Agency for International Development (AID). Roskens had been fired the previous year as chancellor of the University of Nebraska, where Larry King was a member of his advisory committee.
[State Police "Franklin" investigator] Gary Caradori’s daily notes for February 19, 1989 record: ‘I was informed that Roskens was terminated by the state because of sexual activities reported to the Regents and verified by them. Mr. Roskens was reported to have had young men at his residence for sexual encounters." [Franklin Cover-up, p.177]
DeCamp added that AID assignments have been used as a "cover" by CIA agents; and in spite of Roskens’ sexual background and termination by Nebraska educators and his clear potential for being blackmailed, President Bush appointed him anyway.
Karl: ‘Rove’ing DC, approving 'special' WH press passes?
The extent to which White House Senior Domestic Policy Advisor Karl Rove played a part in approving the Gucket/Gannon White House press passes is not known. However, CBS News spoke of a Rove-Gannon connection, saying "Gannon's aggressively partisan work and the ease with which he got day passes for the White House press room the past two years make it hard to believe that he wasn't at least implicitly sanctioned by the "boy genius."
Following on the heels of Guckert-Gannon, Walter Storch, editor of the Barnes Review News reported a three weeks ago that "Karl Rove was seen by one of my people entering a private homosexual orgy at a five-star Washington hotel over the Mid-Atlantic Leather (MAL) weekend last year." [2004]
A Barnes reporter told Storch that "Karl greatly enjoyed the supervision of a certain hairy 350-lb. Leather Dominator who had won the Miss Virginia Daddy Bear title at the MAL festivities."
Storch wrote, "Karl used to hang out a JR’s, which is on 17th between P & S streets, before he became so well-known. This is a respectable gay bar for discreet people...," adding, "there is an expensive apartment...over near Dupont Circle that certain powerful senators take turns visiting with their pickups."
"Bush, via Karl Rove, was projected as a moral man who would return a hedonistic America to the simpler virtues of a bygone era. A large part of the American public, unhappy with what they saw as debilitating liberalism, abortion on demand, gay marriage and other forms of moral decay, put Bush back in office," said the Barnes editor.
"Now they have to deal with rampant male whores prancing around the White House in consort with a small army of closet queens, all of whom very obviously have the ear, and the confidence, (and hopefully, that’s all they have) of their ‘moral’ choice for President," said Storch.
Interestingly, TBRNews.org also counts "one Supreme Court Justice, several governors (all Republican) and at least one very prominent televangelist" among those high officials who are saying one thing and doing another with respect to Storch's closet queen issue.
While American citizens watch, unanswered questions remain as Democrats and Republicans ignore young witnesses with clear and credible evidence--refusing to hold each other's legislators criminally accountable for their unspeakable crimes against children.
Andy Stephenson and Mary Schneider contributed to this report. Town meetings held to debate tasers waws fox 30 fla
The great taser debate continues this week, and the Jacksonville Sheriffs has opened the floor to the public with several scheduled town meetings.
In January, Sheriff John Rutherford offered himself as a guinea pig to prove the safety of a taser gun. However, the demonstration left many parents worried and uneasy rather than satisfied.
Now, parents and other concerned parties will have a chance to voice their opinions in front of law enforcement officials at one of many public town meetings.
Tracking units set to go into TPS buses Toledo Public Schools officials hope global positioning satellite systems, cameras, and new radios could be installed beginning this summer on the school district's 185 yellow buses and other vehicles. "The main purpose for doing this is safety," said Dan Burns, the district's chief business manager. "I also look at this as effective management of a large organization's fleet." Global positioning systems, commonly known as GPS, will allow school officials to pinpoint the location of any of the district's school buses, vans, and maintenance vehicles within 100 feet of their position at any given time. In addition, they will be able to determine if the vehicle's engine is running, its speed, rate of acceleration or deceleration, and whether doors are open. The school system, which transports just under 9,000 students on yellow school buses everyday, will pay about ,000 for the new systems. Mr. Burns said bids for the project would go out over the next two months. He said it would take about two years to outfit all of the buses with the new system. Joe Kahl, director of transportation for the Toledo school system, said each bus would have a two-way radio and at least three cameras. Some Toledo Area Regional Transit Authority buses, which carry about 10,830 TPS school children to and from school, are also equipped with cameras and GPS systems. Mr. Kahl noted that the GPS systems would primarily be used to locate broken-down buses, but it could also offer a measure of security for drivers and students alike. "One of the top three targets for terrorism is schools and school buses," Mr. Kahl said. "This is going to give everyone a better feeling." Mr. Kahl said it is unlikely that a school bus would be hijacked, but he noted that it has happened elsewhere in the country. In November, 2003, a man hijacked a Miami school bus with 38 students aboard. The man was arrested a short time later and no one was injured during the incident. Other school systems began equipping buses with cameras and GPS systems years ago. In New Haven, Conn., for example, the 20,000-student district began using the technology in 2003. Detroit Public Schools has GPS installed on 90 out of 400 buses, said Mattie Majors, a district spokesman. "We are hoping to get to 100 percent by the fall," she said. Despite safety and possible economic advantages, Mr. Kahl acknowledged that some TPS bus drivers are wary of the technology. "They are a little apprehensive about the idea that Big Brother is watching," he said.
Two big law enforcement divisions ban use of Tasers USA Today | March 18, 2005 Questions raised about safety of using stun guns WASHINGTON — The Department of Homeland Security's two largest law enforcement divisions have rejected the use of stun guns for about 20,000 agents and officers, largely because of questions about the safety of the devices that emit electrical charges to temporarily incapacitate suspects. The bans were adopted by the bureaus of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection in internal directives that were issued during the past two years. ICE rejected the devices in December 2003, spokesman Russ Knocke said. That was about a month after an officer with the Federal Protective Service, a part of ICE, allegedly was injured during a stun gun training session. CBP issued its own ban several months later, spokesman Barry Morrissey said. ''There are enough question marks about the safety of this device,'' Morrissey said, citing a recent review by the agency. ''The safety of our officers and the public is always a concern. It was determined that the device just didn't fit.'' The bureaus' acknowledgements of the bans comes at a time when stun guns, which are used by more than 7,000 law enforcement agencies across the United States, are under increasing scrutiny. Since 1999, more than 80 people have died after being shocked with stun guns, according to reviews by The Arizona Republic and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. The Republic has reported that autopsies have linked 11 deaths to stun guns, which also are known as Tasers. In recent weeks, several civil rights groups, including the SCLC, an interfaith group in Atlanta, have called for a moratorium on the use of stun guns. The International Association of Chiefs of Police and other law enforcement groups have called for more extensive research into whether stun guns are safe. Arizona-based Taser International, by far the largest manufacturer of the devices, has vigorously defended the safety of the more than 130,000 Tasers it has sold to police agencies. ''While we understand the concerns of the public concerning the topic of in-custody deaths after Taser usage, there are medical experts who dispute the few cases, out of tens of thousands of lifesaving uses, where a Taser device has been cited as a contributing factor to an in-custody death,'' Taser spokesman Steve said recently in a statement.
BARRINGTON, Illinois To pierce the still-frozen earth of the corner yard at his Main Street business in this comfortable Chicago suburb, Paul Vogel sometimes needs a drill. Finding a spot to plant another small flag to represent the latest American war death in Iraq has become harder as well, two years after the war began.
UK Government In Secret Payments For Childhood Vaccine Damage London Evening Standard | March 16 2005 Secret payments to patients disabled by childhood vaccines are revealed today. New figures show the Government has paid out £3.5 million to families who claim their children fell sick after jabs. Over the years, up to 30,000 people have battled for compensation, with only a handful winning their cases. The payouts - all made since 1997 - were revealed under the Freedom of Information Act. But ministers refuse to say which injections were involved - claiming such records are not kept. The money was paid under a little-known government scheme for patients who have suffered adverse effects from immunisations. Details of successful claims are never publicised - with ministers anxious not to encourage applications. Families must convince health chiefs that the injections their children were given as part of public health programmes were directly responsible for making them seriously ill. Payouts are only made if there is overwhelming medical evidence to back the claim. Information released to the Evening Standard shows that 917 payments have been made since the scheme was introduced in 1979. Last year, just one in every 33 claims was successful. If that figure is typical, it suggests that since 1979, more than 30,000 people have fought for compensation for illnesses or disabilities they believe were caused by vaccines. The revelation threatens to further undermine public confidence in the Government's child immunisation programme. Today, parents demanded to know which vaccines had attracted most claims. Isabella Thomas of the campaign group Jabs, said: "The public has a right to know which injections are involved. Parents should be able to see how many people believe their children were damaged by particular jabs. They can then make up their minds about whether it is worth the risk." Under changes introduced by Labour in 1997, successful claimants receive tax-free lump sums of £100,000. A total of 35 awards have been made since then - a £3.5 million bill. Ministers insist the money is not "compensation" but to "ease the present and future burdens of the vaccinated person and their families". They say they do not keep statistics about which vaccines are involved because it is too difficult to pin the blame on a specific injection. A spokesman for the Department of Work and Pensions, which oversees the scheme, said: "It is not a requirement of the medical adviser. Indeed, this would be a difficult, if not impossible, task where several vaccinations had been administered within a short time, as is often the case." However, at least one payment in recent years is known to have been made to the family of a child who died because of the MMR vaccination. Parents want a public database to record the claims. More than 1,000 families who believe their children were harmed by MMR jabs are embroiled in a lengthy court fight for compensation. They include youngsters suffering from autism, brain damage, arthritis, bowel disease, epilepsy and immune system disorders. Some conditions are acknowledged - but rare - side effects of the controversial triple vaccine. Many parents involved in the class action applied unsuccessfully for compensation under the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme.
VeriChip, the company that makes radio frequency identification--RFID--tags for humans, has moved one step closer to getting its technology into hospitals. The Federal Drug Administration issued a ruling Tuesday that essentially begins a final review process that will determine whether hospitals can use RFID systems from the Palm Beach, Fla.-based company to identify patients and/or permit relevant hospital staff to access medical records, said Angela Fulcher, vice president of marketing and sales at VeriChip. VeriChip sells 11-millimeter RFID tags that get implanted in the fatty tissue below the right tricep. When near one of Verichip's scanners, the chip wakes up and radios an ID number to the scanner. If the number matches an ID number in a database, a person with the chip under his or her skin can enter a secured room or complete a financial transaction. "It is used instead of other biometric applications," such as fingerprints, Fulcher said. The approval process does not center on health risks or implications, Fulcher said. VeriChip can already sell implantable RFID chips in the United States for standard security applications and the financial market. The company's basic technology has also been used in animals for years. Instead, the FDA may mostly examine privacy issues, Fulcher indicated. In other words, the agency will look at whether the technology will lead to situations where confidential information can get improperly disclosed. Technically, the FDA on Tuesday issued a letter stating that there were no equivalent products on the market. This allowed VeriChip to then seek a de novo, or additional, review. The application process started in October 2003. The Italian Ministry of Health kicked off a six-month trial of the chips for hospitals in April. VeriChip, a division of Applied Digital Solutions, generated headlines worldwide recently with the announcement that the Attorney General of Mexico implanted one of the small company's RFID tags in his arm. Fulcher said the basic technology has been around for a while. For 15 years, Digital Angel , a sister company under the Applied corporate umbrella, has sold thousands of tags for identifying animals. The U.S. Department of Energy employs Digital Angel's technology to monitor salmon migration. Several implants have been placed in household pets and livestock. "We believe the tags can last 20 years," Fulcher said. The idea for employing the tags to identify humans came after the horror of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, Fulcher said. Richard Seelig, vice president of medical applications at Applied, saw on TV how firemen were writing their badge numbers on their arm with pen so they could be identified in the event of a disaster. He inserted Digital Angel tags in his body and told the CEO that they worked. VeriChip was born. In June, the company hired Next Level and Motorola alum Kevin Wiley as CEO. About 7,000 VeriChip tags have been sold, and approximately 1,000 have been inserted in humans. The chips only work with VeriChip's scanners. Along with scanners, VeriChip also sells complementary security systems for opening or shutting doors after the identification process. So far, most of the sales have been outside the United States. Along with its attorney general's implant, Mexico has evaluated the chips as a way to better identify children in the event of a kidnapping. The Baja Beach Club in Spain has used them as electronic wallets to buy drinks. Sales have also taken place in Russia, Switzerland, Venezuela and Colombia. "The applications that have taken hold at this point have been international so far," Fulcher said. But FN Manufacturing , a South Carolina gun maker, is evaluating the technology for "smart guns," which contain sensor-activated grips so that only their owners can fire them. The chips themselves are inserted into humans and animals with a syringe. When emerging from the syringe, the chips get coated with a substance called BioBond, which insulates the chip from the body and allows it to adhere to local tissue. If removed, it becomes inactive. Privacy has been an issue for the company, but the complaints have actually begun to die down. "The pushback is less and less," Fulcher said. The chip is an ID tag, Fulcher emphasized. When a person with an embedded chip passes near a scanner, the dormant chip simply wakes up and issues an ID number. The administrator of the security systems and databases determines how the information is used. A person has to stand within a few feet of a scanner for the tag to wake up. Thus, the tags can be used to follow someone's steps only when they are near scanners. The company's hand scanners can ping chips about 12 inches away, although the devices for counting salmon are 10 to 12 feet away from the fish. Also, VeriChip is working on an implant that will contain a Global Positioning System . Such a device would allow an individual with a scanner to pinpoint someone's position on the globe. The lab device, however, is relatively large right now, about the size of a pacemaker.
US pays out for looting Nazi gold BBC News | March 12, 2005 The US is to pay .5m (£13.2m) to families of Hungarian Holocaust victims as compensation for the plundering of family treasures in World War II. US officers took the goods from a train known as the Nazi gold train, heading from Hungary to Germany in May 1945. It was loaded with gold, silver, china, jewels, 1,200 paintings and 3,000 oriental carpets seized by the Nazis from Jewish families in Hungary. The money will be handed out to needy survivors of the Holocaust. The settlement is the final chapter in the disturbing story of the Nazi gold train. Today it is estimated that the cargo might be worth as much as (£46m). The train was intercepted by the US army, and never reached Germany. Its treasures disappeared. 'Defrauded and cheated' More than half a century later, a special commission appointed during the 1990s by then-President Bill Clinton confirmed it had been plundered by US soldiers, including high-ranking officers. The episode has been seen as a shameful blot on the record of the US army in World War II. The Hungarian families who brought the case have given a guarded welcome to the settlement. Their lawyers say it was never about money alone, but about having a reckoning with history. The bulk of the money will go not to the families who lost possessions. It will be distributed to needy survivors of the Holocaust living in Hungary, the US, Israel and Canada. Perhaps the most important thing for the families is that the federal government has agreed to acknowledge the US army's role in the affair. Prominent members of Congress have been urging the Bush administration to reach agreement for some time. Republican Senator Arlen Specter said the US government should admit the Holocaust survivors had been "defrauded and cheated".
US troops kill woman, kids Baghdad - Three civilians were killed and another 10 injured, including five children, when US troops retaliated to an earlier missile attack by insurgents from a residential region in Qaim on Monday, said hospital sources. Dr Mohammed Saleh al-Kubaisi of the border city of Qaim, 500km west of Baghdad, said that insurgents fired missiles on the Qaim customs office building which is being used as a US military base. The US troops responded by firing on the nearby residential regions, killing three and injuring 10 others. Most of the injured are in serious condition, Kubaisi said. On Sunday, members of the Iraqi National Conference were ambushed in Ramadi, west of Baghdad. One member was seriously injured when gunmen opened fire on his car. Hameed Ali al-Dulaimi is in a coma, according to Dr Abdul-Salam Mohammed of Ramadi hospital. - Sapa-dpa White House seeks renewal of Patriot Act CNN | March 17, 2005 WASHINGTON -- President Bush values debate over the Patriot Act but still intends to seek congressional reauthorization of the entire act, President Bush's homeland security adviser said Thursday. Frances Townsend told a meeting of the American Bar Association in Washington that although it is important to debate the balance between freedom and security, it is "equally important that we not permit this valuable tool to be caught up in unnecessary rhetoric." Townsend urged the assembled lawyers to help the country "divorce this from partisan politics." Elements of the USA Patriot Act are set to expire at the end of this year. The law has been a crucial component of the government's war on terror since it was passed in October 2001. President Bush and U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales have publicly called for Congress to reauthorize the expiring portions. Several members of Congress have already said they want changes made to the law. Addressing one of the most controversial points of the Patriot Act, Townsend recalled asking an audience to raise their hands if they were concerned about the law's "library records provision." "Probably 70 percent of hands went up," Townsend said. "And people were really stunned that there is nowhere in the Patriot Act the mention of library records." Critics point to Section 215 of the act, arguing that it unconstitutionally expands investigators' powers to obtain records to the point where library records could be seized. Section 215 states investigators may ask a judge's permission to search "books, records, papers, documents, and other items for an investigation to protect against international terrorism or clandestine intelligence activities, provided that such investigation of a United States person is not conducted solely upon the basis of activities protected by the First Amendment to the Constitution." Townsend cited successes in other aspects of "the president's chosen path to ultimate victory" in confronting terrorism, including increasing funding for law enforcement and homeland security, and freezing million of terrorist assets worldwide. She said that through offensive strategies, the United States has made allies of Afghanistan and Iraq, and that Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Libya have also joined "the struggle against evil." Of the destruction of Libyan chemical munitions, Townsend said, "When the civilized world demonstrated its determination, the Libyan government correctly judged its own interests, and the American people are safer." However, Townsend said, there are still governments that sponsor and harbor terrorists. "We must be unanimous in our strong condemnation of such state sponsorship of terrorism and demand its end in our lifetime." A former prosecutor, Townsend closed by honoring as heroes the judge, court reporter, and sheriff's deputy killed in Atlanta last week, along with the judge in Chicago whose husband and mother were killed earlier in February. Click Here To View The Janurary 2005 archives
Check out our News Archive # 002 from Jan . 2005 |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
|
||||||||
|
|
|
|||||||
 |
||||||||