Emerging global elite to use new global media to educate 'global citizens'

"The following is based on a report by Cliff Kincaid, Accuracy in Media.

Elite members of the World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting in Davos, Switzerland, recently considered a proposal for a new global television network to usher in a state of “global governance.” The concept strikes some as authoritarian, even totalitarian. But the parent company of Fox News was one of the sponsors of this year's gathering."

The media proposal, which was included in “The Global Agenda 2009” report, is to create “a new global network” with “the capacity to connect the world, bridging cultures and peoples, and telling us who we are and what we mean to each other.” Several prominent U.S. media figures signed on to the alarming and controversial proposal.

Isn’t it nice that we might have a TV network telling us “who we are?” And “what we mean to each other?” Perhaps we will learn that we are global citizens. Perhaps a global leader of some sort will tell us that. Who might that be?

This proposal doesn’t come from a fringe organization. The WEF is an exclusive club of very rich and powerful people from around the world. It describes itself as “an independent international organization committed to improving the state of the world by engaging leaders in partnerships to shape global, regional and industry agendas.”

This year’s conference featured speeches by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Chinese Premier We Jiabao. Many U.S. corporations, including some getting Wall Street bailout money, were sponsors. News Corporation, the parent of Fox News, was a “strategic partner” of the event.

Valerie Jarrett, Assistant to the President for Intergovernmental Relations and Public Liaison, represented the Obama Administration at this year’s event and called leaders from all nations to “seize gladly” the duties of collaborating and boldly embrace “a new era of global financial responsibility.”

But the WEF also envisions cooperation and collaboration in global media ventures. It asks, “How can we save journalism to help it save the world?” Clearly, this is advocacy journalism on a global scale.

Indeed, the list of “Recommendations” says it is imperative to start “Communicating a global agenda, and motivating and mobilizing people to support it…”

Is this journalism? Or is it brainwashing and propaganda?

It says that “a genuine, global voice” is needed that shares a “fundamental commitment” to being an international media voice, and makes mention of “the media voices we think of as international” coming from London (the BBC), Qatar (Al-Jazeera) or Atlanta (CNN).

BBC is known for its anti-American programming, Al-Jazeera for its pro-terrorist slant, and CNN for its left-wing and pro-Democratic bias.

It will take “innovative public-private funding” to bring this new network into being, apparently meaning that the taxpayers in the U.S. will have to be soaked in order to help bring this about. But no price tag is put on the venture and no objection was apparently raised to government funding of such a network on a global basis. An “overview” statement does, however, decry “censorship and self-censorship.”

Elsewhere in the report (page 31) the idea of “international taxation” is proposed for “global action” of various kinds. Perhaps this is a vehicle for raising revenue for the new “global voice.”

The media proposal was developed by one of several “Global Agenda Councils” under the auspices of the WEF. The new TV network proposal was issued under the supervision of Pat Mitchell, the president of the Paley Center for Media and former President and Chief Executive Officer of the Public Broadcasting Service. She was the chair of the Global Agenda Council on the Future of Media.

Other members of the Council on the Future of Media were Betsy Morgan of the left-wing Huffington Post (former general manager of CBSNews.com); Rui Chenggang of China Central Television, an official political propaganda arm of the communist regime; and Zafar Siddiqi of CNBC Arabiya, a subsidiary of General Electric which is described as a 24-hour Arabic language financial and business information channel.

There is no indication in the published report that the Huffington Post executive raised any objection to working hand-in-glove with the communist propaganda channel. Is the Chinese media model a precedent for the new “global network?”

The conference was covered by media organizations such as CNBC, CNN, Bloomberg, Forbes and Fox, but no coverage that we could find was devoted to the proposal for a government-financed global media network. Talk about self-censorship!

John J. DeGioia, President of Georgetown University and the “Rapporteur of the Global Agenda Councils focusing on Society and Values,” summarized the work of Mitchell’s panel. He says (page 46) that, “We believe that this new moment also calls for a new media platform, across all media channels, a global non-profit ‘CNN’ providing a new form of independent journalism to inform, illuminate and deepen knowledge about issues that improve the state of the world.”

According to DeGioia’s biography, he walks the walk and is dedicated to helping “prepare young people for leadership roles in the global community.” His bio adds, “He is a member of the U.S. National Commission for UNESCO and Chair of its Education Committee and he represents Georgetown at the World Economic Forum and on the Council on Foreign Relations.”

The media council took advantage of what a description of its work said was an “enormous opportunity” to “redefine the media and its roles in a global, interconnected society.”

Under the title of “Recommendations” (page 182), the Council on the Future of Media declares that “The Council is championing a new global, independent news and information service whose role is to inform, educate and improve the state of the world?one that would take advantage of all platforms of content delivery from mobile to satellite and online to create a new global network.”

It goes on, “In a world where there are calls for global governance as a response to a global financial crisis, where scientific research, capital flows and production chains are globalized, the media and the communities in which we imagine ourselves remain fiercely localized.” Hence, a global network will work against “localized” or national-based systems and convince people to go “global” with their outlook and solutions. In other words, the new network will help undermine old-fashioned notions of national sovereignty and patriotism.

There are 22 members (page 183) of the Council on the Future of Media. In addition to Mitchell and Morgan, American members include:

• Alex S. Jones, former media reporter for the New York Times and now Director, Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.
  
• Susan King, former Washington correspondent for ABC News and now Director, Journalism Initiative, Special Initiatives and Strategy, Carnegie Corporation of New York.
  
• John Lavine, Dean, Medill School of Journalism Northwestern University.
  
• Nicholas Lemann, former Washington Post reporter and now Dean, School of Journalism, Columbia University.
  
• David Nordfors, Director, Innovation Journalism and Senior Research Scholar, Stanford Center for Innovations in Learning, Stanford University.
  
• Monroe Price, Director, Centre for Global Communications Studies, Annenberg School for Communication, the University of Pennsylvania.
  
• Orville H. Schell, Director, Center on US-China Relations, Asia Society.

There doesn’t appear to be one identifiable conservative member on the list. Of course, everyone on the list is a certified objective media proessional, neither liberal nor conservative. Just ask them. Emerging global elite to use new global media to educate 'global citizens'

Government Ministers 'using fear of terror'

"A former head of MI5 has accused the government of exploiting the fear of terrorism and trying to bring in laws that restrict civil liberties.

In an interview in a Spanish newspaper, published in the Daily Telegraph, Dame Stella Rimington, 73, also accuses the US of 'tortures'.

The Home Office said it was vital to strike a right balance between privacy, protection and sharing personal data.

It said any policies which impact on privacy must be 'proportionate'.

Dame Stella, who stood down as the director general of the security service in 1996, has previously been critical of the government's policies, including its attempts to extend pre-charge detention for terror suspects to 42 days and the controversial plan to introduce ID cards.

'It would be better that the government recognised that there are risks, rather than frightening people in order to be able to pass laws which restrict civil liberties, precisely one of the objects of terrorism - that we live in fear and under a police state,' she told the Spanish newspaper La Vanguardia."

She said the British security services were "no angels," but they did not kill people.

"The US has gone too far with Guantanamo and the tortures," she said.

"MI5 does not do that. Furthermore it has achieved the opposite effect - there are more and more suicide terrorists finding a greater justification."

'Take stock'

Dame Stella's comments come as a study is published by the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) that accuses the US and the UK of undermining the framework of international law.

Former Irish president Mary Robinson, the president of the ICJ said: "Seven years after 9/11 it is time to take stock and to repeal abusive laws and policies enacted in recent years.

"Human rights and international humanitarian law provide a strong and flexible framework to address terrorist threats."

The BBC's security correspondent Frank Gardner said the ICJ report would probably have more of an impact than Dame Stella's remarks because it was a wide-ranging, three-year study carried out by an eminent group of practising legal experts.

Dame Stella appeared to be more restrained in her comments than the ICJ, he added.

She was keen to stress the risk of civil liberties being curtailed, while the jurists insisted that international law had already been "actively undermined".

Shadow security minister Baroness Neville-Jones said the Conservatives were "committed to ensuring that security measures are proportionate and adhere to the rule of law".

The Tories said the government's push to extend the detention time limit for terror suspects was the kind of measure condemned by the report.

Human rights campaign group Liberty pointed to a number of other recent developments it said represented "a creeping encroachment on our fundamental rights":

• Government plans for a giant database to record the times, dates and recipients of all emails and text messages sent and phone calls made in the UK
• The growth of Britain's DNA database - it is now the world's largest, per head of population, with samples from some 4m people
• The use by councils of laws designed to track criminals and terrorists to spy on ordinary citizens. In one case a family was watched to see if they were really living in a school catchment area
• The spread of CCTV cameras. Britain now reportedly has some 4m, the highest density in western Europe
• Proposals for "secret inquests," excluding relatives, juries and the media, which the government says would prevent intelligence details leaking out

Isabella Sankey, director of policy at Liberty, said she was "enormously heartened" by what Dame Stella had said.

"Over the last seven years, we've seen a number of measures passed, some of which affect very few of us in a horrible and terrible way, whether that's house arrest under control orders or rendition and torture in foreign states," she said.

"We've also seen many, many measures that affect all of us just a little bit and, most of all, which seriously impact our rights to privacy.

"We have very broad police powers which sweep the innocent up with the guilty."

'Effective safeguards'

A Home Office spokesman said: "The government has been clear that where surveillance or data collection will impact on privacy they should only be used where it is necessary and proportionate."

"This provides law enforcement agencies with the tools to protect the public as well as ensuring government has the ability to provide effective public services while ensuring there are effective safeguards and a solid legal framework that protects civil liberties."

Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokesman Ed Davey said: "This is damning testament to just how much liberty has been ineffectually sacrificed in the 'war on terror'."

Dame Stella became the first female head of MI5 in 1992. BBC NEWS | UK | Ministers 'using fear of terror':

AfricaNews - Nigeria moves towards a cashless society

AfricaNews - Nigeria moves towards a cashless society

Victor Emeruwa, AfricaNews reporter in Lagos, Nigeria

The government of Nigeria has directed all ministries and government establishment to adopt e-payment system for government transactions. This include contract payment, workers salaries and all forms of cash and check payment transactions will now be replaced with e-payment system. The new payment system is to take immediate effect.

"Nigeria’s Accountant General of the Federation, Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo said the introduction of e-payment is aimed at eliminating payment bureaucracy associated with handling cash transfers and check payments. Dankwambo also noted that this development will strengthen the efficiency of doing business with the government and also help to check corruption.

Initial challenges of coping with the new system are being reported across the country, government workers are skeptical about the new payment system. “We can agree with the movement towards this global trend but how can you operate this system without constant power supply” asks Seun Adefioye, a civil servant based in Abuja. Adefioye’s fear is just one out of a handle full of skeptics’ that greeted the adopted payment system.

“I was at the Bank with my wife to cash her salaries, they told us the systems were down, we were advised to check back, we returned to the Bank six hours later and the problems had not been rectified. As I speak with you its three days now and I cannot still cash the money” Theophilus Abah, another concerned Nigeria said.

The Accountant General of the Federation has expressed hope in that the system has come to stay and everything that will make it work will be sorted out soon.

Nigeria is also advancing in strengthening other areas of the global electronic system through government owned private Information Communication Technology and Management Company, Galaxy Backbone which has introduced e-governance, e-community, e-education and e-healthcare on its internet broadband."

G7 sets sights on new world order

G7 sets sights on new world order | Herald Sun: "From correspondents in Rome

February 15, 2009 06:03am

THE world's richest nations have called for urgent reform of global finance to save the world from the economic devastation that is dragging more and more countries into recession.

Italy's finance minister called for a 'new world economic order' as he wrapped up the crisis meeting of finance leaders from the Group of Seven leading economies over which he presided here.

In a joint declaration, the G7 called for 'urgent reforms' of the international financial system.

Mr Tremonti said a so-called set of 'legal standards' discussed in Rome would be presented at a meeting of 20 key advanced and emerging economies (G20) in London in April and a summit of the Group of Eight (G8) world powers in July.

'A new world economic order might seem rhetorical,' he said. 'But it is a true goal we should be aiming towards... today right here in Rome we've embarked on a very significant journey, both technical and ethical.'

The G7 delegates in a joint statement vowed to avoid protectionism as they seek to stabilise the tottering world economy and financial markets and said stabilisation of the world economy was their 'highest priority'.

The global crisis 'has highlighted fundamental weaknesses in the international financial system and that urgent reforms are needed', the statement said.

US treasury secretary Timothy Geithner vowed that his country, the biggest economy in the world and the source of much of the financial drama in recent months, would work with other nations for a consensus on reforms.

'We need to begin the process of comprehensive reform of our financial system and the international financial system, so the world never again faces a crisis this severe,' Mr Geithner said after the talks.

Dominique Strauss-Kahn, head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) - the body coming to the rescue of some crisis-hit countries - said restructuring banks damaged by the credit crunch was the main problem facing governments.

The Italian G7 presidency also said before the talks that it favoured measures that would target hedge funds and tax havens which have come under criticism in the crisis.

The G7 reiterated the view of several top delegates that protectionism - when countries take measures that favour their economies at the expense of others - was a threat to stability.

'The G7 remains committed to avoiding protectionist measures, which would only exacerbate the downturn, to refraining from raising new barriers' to business across borders, the statement said.

The document hailed stimulus actions taken by other countries, singling out China which it also praised for its 'continued commitment to move to a more flexible exchange rate'.

The financial leaders met amid mounting warnings of the talks' grave economic stakes. Mr Strauss-Kahn said advanced economies were in a 'deep recession' ahead of the crisis talks.

Delegates came from the G7 grouping of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States plus Russia"

Vatican buries the hatchet with Charles Darwin

"The Vatican has admitted that Charles Darwin was on the right track when he claimed that Man descended from apes.

A leading official declared yesterday that Darwin’s theory of evolution was compatible with Christian faith, and could even be traced to St Augustine and St Thomas Aquinas. “In fact, what we mean by evolution is the world as created by God,” said Archbishop Gianfranco Ravasi, head of the Pontifical Council for Culture. The Vatican also dealt the final blow to speculation that Pope Benedict XVI might be prepared to endorse the theory of Intelligent Design, whose advocates credit a “higher power” for the complexities of life.

Organisers of a papal-backed conference next month marking the 150th anniversary of Darwin’s On the Origin of Species said that at first it had even been proposed to ban Intelligent Design from the event, as “poor theology and poor science”. Intelligent Design would be discussed at the fringes of the conference at the Pontifical Gregorian University, but merely as a “cultural phenomenon”, rather than a scientific or theological issue, organisers said.

The conference is seen as a landmark in relations between faith and science. Three years ago advocates of Intelligent Design seized on the Pope’s reference to an “intelligent project” as proof that he favoured their views."

Conceding that the Church had been hostile to Darwin because his theory appeared to conflict with the account of creation in Genesis, Archbishop Ravasi argued yesterday that biological evolution and the Christian view of Creation were complementary.
Marc Leclerc, who teaches natural philosophy at the Gregorian University, said that no scholar could “remain indifferent” to the 200th anniversary of Darwin’s birth tomorrow. There was, however, “no question of celebrating” it.
The Vatican would “take the measure of an event, which has left its mark for ever on the history of science and has influenced the way we understand our humanity”. The “time has come for a rigorous and objective valuation” of Darwin by the Church, he said.
Professor Leclerc said that too many opponents of Darwin – above all Creationists – had mistakenly claimed that his theories were “totally incompatible with a religious vision of reality”, as did proponents of Intelligent Design.
Darwin’s theories had never been formally condemned by the Roman Catholic Church, Monsignor Ravasi insisted. His rehabilitation had begun as long ago as 1950, when Pius XII described evolution as a valid scientific approach to the development of humans. In 1996 John Paul II said that it was “more than a hypothesis”.
Father Giuseppe Tanzella-Nitti, Professor of Theology at the Pontifical Santa Croce University in Rome, said that Darwin had been anticipated by St Augustine of Hippo. The 4th-century theologian had “never heard the term evolution, but knew that big fish eat smaller fish” and that forms of life had been transformed “slowly over time”. Aquinas had made similar observations in the Middle Ages, he added.
He said it was time that theologians as well as scientists grappled with the mysteries of genetic codes and “whether the diversification of life forms is the result of competition or cooperation between species”. As for the origins of Man, although we shared 97 per cent of our “genetic inheritance” with apes, the remaining 3 per cent “is what makes us unique”, including religion.
“I maintain that the idea of evolution has a place in Christian theology,” Professor Tanzella-Nitti added.
Creationism remains powerful in the US, however, notably among Protestants, and its followers object to evolution being taught in state schools.
The Church of England is seeking to bring Darwin back into the fold with a page on its website paying tribute to his “forgotten” work in his local parish, to illustrate how science and Church need not be at odds. Several pages celebrate Darwin’s “significant scientific progress” to mark his bicentenary and also the 150th anniversary of On the Origin of Species.
The Church wants to correct the impression that Darwin’s relationship with Anglicanism was contentious. The Anglican Church as a whole did not condemn Darwin or his beliefs. It says that although he lost his faith, he did not become antiChurch or antireligious. ...Source

House Approves Whitelist of People Who Aren't Terrorists | Threat Level from Wired.com

House Approves Whitelist of People Who Aren't Terrorists | Threat Level from Wired.com: "The House overwhelmingly adopted legislation this week mandating the creation of a new kind of terrorist watchlist: a database of people who aren't terrorists, but are routinely flagged at airports anyway.

The U.S. government maintains a list of about a million names of suspected terrorists that is crosschecked with passenger names ahead of airline boarding. The list has been dogged for years by sloppy name matches that have ensnared innocent travelers, children, prominent politicians and government officials, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' secretary of education and all men named David Nelson.

Under the new plan, approved late Tuesday 413-3, innocent victims of the terrorist watchlist must prove to the Department of Homeland Security, through an undetermined appeals process, that they are not terrorists. They would then get their names put on what the legislation calls the 'Comprehensive Cleared List.'

The legislation is another attempt to assist wrongly flagged passengers and would supersede the troubled DHS Traveler Redress Inquiry Program, which has been criticized for being slow or unresponsive to flier complaints.

The FAST Redress Act, if approved by the Senate, requires the government to report within 240 days on its progress in implementing the new list."

Beware, Big Brother is watching your trips abroad: Government plans to store details of ordinary people's journeys | Mail Online

"A ‘Big Brother’ database is being built by the Government to store details of millions of our international journeys for up to ten years.

The computer system, housed at a secret location on the outskirts of Manchester, will record names and dates of every movement in and out of the UK by air, sea or rail.

Reservation and payment details, addresses and telephone numbers, names of travelling companions and even details of luggage carried will also be stored." B...more

Why veins could replace fingerprints and retinas as most secure form of ID - Times Online

"Forget fingerprinting. Companies in Europe have begun to roll out an advanced biometric system from Japan that identifies people from the unique patterns of veins inside their fingers.

Finger vein authentication, introduced widely by Japanese banks in the last two years, is claimed to be the fastest and most secure biometric method. Developed by Hitachi, it verifies a person's identity based on the lattice work of minute blood vessels under the skin.

Easydentic Group, a European leader in the biometric industry based in France, has announced that it will be using Hitachi's finger vein security in a range of door access systems for the UK and European markets.

In Japan, thousands of cash machines are operated by finger vein technology. Hitachi announced today that it will introduce 20,000 finger vein authentication systems at shops and kiosks belonging to two Japanese companies, which will use the devices to protect the privacy of customer information by requiring storeworkers to authenticate themselves before accessing the customer database." ...more

Brain Patterns Are the New Standard in Biometrics - Retinal scans and fingerprinting are obsolete - Softpedia

"Fear of terrorist attacks has prompted a redefining of the concepts of security and safety throughout the world, and especially in Europe and the United States, the largest potential targets. After 2001, more and more retinal scanners and fingerprint-recognition devices have been installed in sensitive areas such as airports and public buildings, but their main drawback has been that they take a lot of time to complete their readings, and they can cause unrest, as people have to queue to get to where they're going.

Now, an European team of scientists is working on a way to create a device that will no longer rely on scanning eyes or palms, but rather on scanning the brain waves each person has. While fingerprints and retina layouts can be falsified, the waves that cause all the process in the brain cannot, and they are truly unique for ever person. The team says that a success in this field could mean far less queues, and a faster detection of suspicious individuals in crowded or sensitive areas." ...more

YOU ARE BEING WATCHED

"OTTAWA — David Lyon is studying the ceiling in an Ottawa coffee shop, searching for hidden cameras. A leading figure in the fast-growing field of surveillance studies, the Queen's University sociologist is only too aware of the many ways we're all being watched.

Closed-circuit TV cameras, like the ones likely concealed in the coffee shop ceiling, are among the most common. Since 9/11, their use has exploded worldwide. Britain now has an estimated 4.2 million CCTV cameras — one for every 14 citizens. People in central London are now caught on camera about 300 times a day.

One estimate puts the number of public and private CCTV cameras in the United States at 30 million. So far, similar estimates are lacking for Canada. But experts agree camera surveillance has been growing steadily here as well.

'I find it mind-boggling when I see what they do in Britain,' Lyon says. 'Police officers on bicycles now have video surveillance cameras in their helmets,' he exclaims, then blurts, 'What kind of a world are we living in?'"...more

Humans 'will be implanted with microchips'

"All Australians could be implanted with microchips for tracking and identification within the next two or three generations, a prominent academic says.

Michael G Michael from the University of Wollongong's School of Information Systems and Technology, has coined the term 'uberveillance' to describe the emerging trend of all-encompassing surveillance"...more

Cashless Society, The Penny Drops

...And now for a world government

"I have never believed that there is a secret United Nations plot to take over the US. I have never seen black helicopters hovering in the sky above Montana. But, for the first time in my life, I think the formation of some sort of world government is plausible.

A “world government” would involve much more than co-operation between nations. It would be an entity with state-like characteristics, backed by a body of laws. The European Union has already set up a continental government for 27 countries, which could be a model. The EU has a supreme court, a currency, thousands of pages of law, a large civil service and the ability to deploy military force.

So could the European model go global? There are three reasons for thinking that it might."...more:

Microsoft wants to get under your skin • The Register

Microsoft's HealthVault, the medical records database, is to be integrated with VeriMed's human-embedded RFID tags, allowing doctors to access the medical records of unconscious patients with a quick scan of the arm.

VeriMed consists of an RFID tag that is embedded in the arm of a hopefully willing participant, and responds with a 16-digital identity code when queried at 134KHz. This code can then be used to identify the person through VeriChip's website, and will soon be able to link to their medical records as stored on Microsoft's HealthVault system.

"VeriMed adds an exciting RFID-based option for HealthVault users trying to keep themselves and their families safe," says Sean Nolan, the chief architect for HealthVault, quoted in RFID Journal. If you're excited about the idea of being electronically indexed then this is probably the technology for you.

Not that the future of VeriMed is in any way certain, despite the Microsoft link. The company's parent, VeriChip, has already tried to sell off the human-implanting part of the business as punters prove remarkably reluctant to be serial-numbered. Should the business fail entirely, a connection to HealthVault could be the best hope for the poor souls who've already succumbed to having chips embedded in their arms. ®...source

Behavioral screening -- the future of airport security? - CNN.com

TEL AVIV, Israel (CNN) -- Keep your shoes and belts on: Waiting in long airport security lines to pass through metal detectors may soon be a thing of the past.

Security experts say focus is shifting from analyzing the content of carry-ons to analyzing the content of passengers' intentions and emotions.

"We are seeing a needed paradigm shift when it comes to security," says Omer Laviv, CEO of ATHENA GS3, an Israeli-based security company.

"This 'brain-fingerprinting,' or technology which checks for behavioral intent, is much more developed than we think."

Nowhere is the need for cutting-edge security more acute than Israel, which faces constant security threats. For this reason, Israel has become a leader in developing security technology.

Several Israeli-based technology companies are developing detection systems that pick up signs of emotional strain, a psychological red flag that a passenger may intend to commit an act of terror. Speedier and less intrusive than metal detectors, these systems may eventually restore some efficiency to the airplane boarding process.

One firm, WeCU (pronounced "We See You") Technologies, employs a combination of infra-red technology, remote sensors and imagers, and flashing of subliminal images, such as a photo of Osama bin Laden. Developers say the combination of these technologies can detect a person's reaction to certain stimuli by reading body temperature, heart rate and respiration, signals a terrorist unwittingly emits before he plans to commit an attack....more

Hungarian Sausage Commercial

U.S. military expects to have 20,000 uniformed troops inside the United States by 2011

"The U.S. military expects to have 20,000 uniformed troops inside the United States by 2011 trained to help state and local officials respond to a nuclear terrorist attack or other domestic catastrophe, according to Pentagon officials.

The long-planned shift in the Defense Department's role in homeland security was recently backed with funding and troop commitments after years of prodding by Congress and outside experts, defense analysts said.

There are critics of the change, in the military and among civil liberties groups and libertarians who express concern that the new homeland emphasis threatens to strain the military and possibly undermine the Posse Comitatus Act, a 130-year-old federal law restricting the military's role in domestic law enforcement."...more

A Microchip to Track HIV/AIDS?- US News and World Report

Leaders in Indonesia's Papua province say they support a bill that would require some people with HIV/AIDS to get a microchip implant, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. The bill—which targets 'sexually aggressive' patients—is part of extensive efforts to monitor the disease. Lawmakers say they hope the microchips will enable them to track and punish people who deliberately infect other people with HIV/AIDS. The bill is expected to pass, and it could become law next month" ...source

It's the Educated vs. People Easily Fooled by Propaganda

Millions of Americans live in a non-reality-based belief system informed by childish clichés - they can barely differentiate between lies and truth

We live in two Americas. One America, now the minority, functions in a print-based, literate world. It can cope with complexity and has the intellectual tools to separate illusion from truth. The other America, which constitutes the majority, exists in a non-reality-based belief system. This America, dependent on skillfully manipulated images for information, has severed itself from the literate, print-based culture. It cannot differentiate between lies and truth. It is informed by simplistic, childish narratives and cliches. It is thrown into confusion by ambiguity, nuance and self-reflection. This divide, more than race, class or gender, more than rural or urban, believer or nonbeliever, red state or blue state, has split the country into radically distinct, unbridgeable and antagonistic entities. ...More

THE CONSERVATIVE MALAISE

I suspect that the malaise that has afflicted the conservative movement is not simply due to the defeat of John McCain and Sarah Palin. I think that their despondency goes much deeper than an electoral defeat. My hunch is that their depression is much more owing to a sense of serious discomfort arising from the knowledge that Democrat Barack Obama is about to acquire all the omnipotent powers that conservatives relinquished to President Bush as part of his “war on terrorism.”

The power to arrest people, including Americans, as “enemy combatants.” Indefinite detention. Torture. Isolation and sensory deprivation. Rendition. Military tribunals. Denial of due process and trial by jury. Suspension of habeas corpus. Secret judicial proceedings. Use of hearsay and tortured testimony. Warrantless searches. Signing statements. Spying on Americans. The power to ignore constitutional and statutory constraints on presidential power. The power to invade and occupy foreign countries with no congressional declaration of war.

Conservatives were willing to let President Bush acquire and exercise all those dictatorial powers because, they said, national security depended on it. The terrorists were everywhere, they said, and they hate America for its freedom and values, not because of the U.S. government’s foreign policy. The war would last for decades, perhaps even forever. We have no choice, conservatives said, but to vest the president with full power to wage this war until we kill them all.

Whenever libertarians and some liberals defended civil liberties and the Bill of Rights during the past 8 years, conservatives went on the attack. We were just soft on terrorism, cowards, pacifists, unpatriotic, even treasonous, they said.

The conservatives know that they have boxed themselves in. Can they now argue that the war on terrorism is over when they previously said it would last for decades? Can they now argue that the president should not be trusted with such omnipotent powers? Can they now argue that such powers are unconstitutional? Can they now argue that national security no longer turns on the president’s wielding of such powers?

No, in their hearts conservatives know that they must now argue that President Obama, the man they are convinced is coming to take away their guns, increase their taxes, spend more money than even President Bush, has ties to terrorists, has a Muslim name, and is friends with a radical Christian preacher, should wield all the same dictatorial powers that they relinquished to President Bush.

No wonder conservatives are suffering from malaise, despondency, and depression Jacob G. Hornberger, The Future of Freedom Foundation

Vatican evolution congress to exclude creationism, intelligent design

Speakers invited to attend a Vatican-sponsored congress on the evolution debate will not include proponents of creationism and intelligent design, organizers said.

The Pontifical Council for Culture, Rome's Pontifical Gregorian University and the University of Notre Dame in Indiana are organizing an international conference in Rome March 3-7 2009 as one of a series of events marking the 150th anniversary of the publication of Charles Darwin's "The Origin of Species."

Jesuit Father Marc Leclerc, a philosophy professor at the Gregorian, told Catholic News Service Sept. 16 that organizers "wanted to create a conference that was strictly scientific" and that discussed rational philosophy and theology along with the latest scientific discoveries.

He said arguments "that cannot be critically defined as being science, or philosophy or theology did not seem feasible to include in a dialogue at this level and, therefore, for this reason we did not think to invite" supporters of creationism and intelligent design....more

The Real Truth Concerning How The Earth Is Ruled

It truly amazes me when people continue to think in terms of Democrat, Republican or left-wing and right-wing. Why? Both carefully created polarities are financed, controlled and operated by the same oligarchical globalist order which has been patiently constructing and deconstructing nations, states, wars, famines, stock market rises and crashes for quite some centuries now. The modern twentieth and twenty-first century organs of this group are known to anyone who cares to do even the most basic research on the subject. The plans for global dictatorship have already been well-documented by a number of important white papers from organizations such as The Council on Foreign Relations, The Tri-Lateral Commission, The Club of Rome, The International Monetary Fund, The World Bank, The Lucis Trust, and other similar organizations.
The ultimate goal is the creation of a one-world government and religious system sustained and supported by a uniform monetary base. ...more

The New World Order revealed - Video

Shoppers to use fingerprints or eye scans to pay for goods - Telegraph

The futuristic systems, like those used
by Tom Cruise in the science fiction film Minority Report, are being
developed by scientists for Barclaycard.

The company has announced it is investing a seven-figure sum in "contactless payment" technology.

This allows customers to use everyday items they carry around with them
- such as mobile phones, key fobs or even their eyes or fingerprints -
to make payments.

It means shoppers will no longer have to rely on cards.

Barclaycard, which is part of Barclays, has already introduced a
new-style cash machine in the United Arab Emirates enabling people to
use their fingerprints to withdraw money and shoppers in the UK may
soon be able to use the same technology.

Antony Jenkins, chief executive of Barclaycard, said: "It's possible
we'll see an end to plastic in the next five to 10 years with new
technologies to take its place emerging now. It could turn out to be
one of the shortest lived payment methods in history, going from being
ubiquitous to a museum piece in the same way as the video cassette."

Barclaycard also aims to have one million customers upgraded to its
contactless payment system OnePulse by the end of the year. OnePulse
enables people to buy items for less than £10 by touching their card
against a sensor, without even having to take it out of their wallet.
It can also be used as an Oyster card on London transport.

Barclaycard said people may soon be able to hover their mobile over the
price label of an item in a shop, confirm their purchase and take it
away without having to go to a checkout or get a receipt.

Mr Jenkins said: "If I had said to you 10 years ago that you couldn't
pay with a cheque at the supermarket, you wouldn't have believed me.
That is now the reality, and we see plastic cards going the same way
eventually." ...Source

Fears over possible genetic profiling from birth

A BRAVE NEW WORLD OF GENETIC profiling in which humans will be categorized at birth according to health and likelihood of illness could lead to widespread discrimination by the government, the NHS, big business and insurance companies.

Experts are now clashing over whether genetic profiling is something to be feared, with some warning that techniques used to identify medical complaints before they take hold are ripe for abuse, and others saying there is nothing to worry about.

"Genetic profiling will be used to categorise people, to sort and
select, to create profiles of types and to predict and pre-empt - and
all that leads to discrimination," said Dr David Murakami Wood, a
research fellow in surveillance at Newcastle University.
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"Our
bodies and our DNA are some of the last things we hold private. My
first reaction is forget about privacy', but we should still fight for
our privacy because the fight for our communications and personal data
is already lost. At the moment our genetic privacy still exists.

"It
is more special than our financial data because it is the essence of
who we are and what our bodies are and I believe the line has to be
drawn here. Once our individual genetic information is out there, all
bets are off. It will be out of our control... more