Opposing Digits

As we all know, the media is rampant with sycophantic, corporate shills and can't be trusted to deliver a pizza. But an intersting trend is developing that ought to shake their confidence in the suck-up school of journalism.

The just released February ratings (pdf) for cable news networks tell a tale that is decidedly downbeat for Fox News, the leader in propaganda programming. In a comparison with February 2005, the numbers for every network are up except for Fox. Details follow.....

# posted by madthumbs @ 1:59 PM 0 comments

'Gag Ordered' Former Translator Seeks to Tell Congress and the American People What She Knows

She's fought her case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. It was the very same day that the façade cracked on the front of the building and a chunk of marble -- just above an allegorical statue representing "Order" and just below the words "Equal Justice" -- came crashing to the ground. The highest court in the land refused to hear her case.

Along the way, the Dept. of Justice has done everything in their power (and then some) to keep her quiet. They invoked the rarely used "State Secrets Privilege" to shut her up -- going so far as to use it, without explanation, to remove her and her own attorneys from the courtroom when arguing their case against her.

In at least two unclassified Senate briefings, FBI officials confirmed the validity of her reports, but the information from those briefings was then retroactively classified by the DoJ -- which served to gag the Congress from further investigation on the matter. The DoJ even retroactively classified a 60 Minutes profile on her -- after it had already aired!

# posted by madthumbs @ 12:20 PM 0 comments

Published: 03 March 2006

On the shop shelves, in canteens and, most importantly, in our homes, a quiet revolution is taking place. We are eating more healthily and starting to avoid foods that lead to obesity and illness.

The signs of a profound shift in our shopping and eating habits are growing apace. This week, evidence has abounded of a decisive move away from a fatty, sugary diet. The latest sales figures from a string of fast-food manufacturers reveal a dramatic slump. Britvic, the soft drinks company, lost £136m in share value yesterday, after acknowledging that the fizzy drink market was in clear decline.

# posted by madthumbs @ 12:15 PM 0 comments

Rep. Dennis Kucinich, of Ohio, stood up in Congress yesterday and blasted the Bush Administration for failing to stop the 911 attacks, despite multiple warnings and its failure to act sooner, when Katrina struck New Orleans, then reminded Congress that Bush invaded Iraq despite the fact that many people warned him not to, then he said that the Bush Administration is ignoring warnings about climate change.

# posted by madthumbs @ 11:56 AM 0 comments

Friday, March 3, 2006

WASHINGTON — The United Arab Emirates intends to operate U.S. military factories.

The Bush administration has informed Congress of a review of the UAE acquisition of a British manufacturer of engine components for U.S. military aircraft and main battle tanks. The British firm operates nine factories, including military production facilities in Connecticut and Georgia.

# posted by madthumbs @ 11:54 AM 0 comments

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. military will continue to pay Iraqi media to publish reports favorable to American forces following an investigation into the controversial practice, the top U.S. general in Iraq said on Friday.

# posted by madthumbs @ 11:53 AM 0 comments

We're fighting for "freedom" in Iraq – but certain Web sites are off limits to U.S. soldiers

"Government is not reason," George Washington reputedly said, "it is not eloquent; it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master." The fear factor works both ways: the present administration has spent a great deal of time and energy on scaring us half to death with tales of imminent terrorist attacks – especially around election time – but they, in turn, stand in fear of their own subjects, particularly the ones in uniform. That is why the Pentagon is now censoring the Internet, declaring certain Web sites – including those of some major news organizations – off limits to military personnel. Check out this e-mail from a U.S. soldier in Iraq (via Wonkette):

"Just to let you know, the US Marines have blocked access to 'Wonkette' along with numerous other sites such as personal email (i.e. Yahoo, AT&T, Hotmail, etc), blogs that don't agree with the government point of view, personal websites, and some news organizations. This has taken effect as of the beginning of February. I have no problem with them blocking porn sites (after all it is a government network), but cutting off access to our email and possibly-not-toeing-the-government-line websites is a bit much.

# posted by madthumbs @ 11:44 AM 0 comments

The Biotech Industry Organization (BIO) is coming to Chicago this April for their annual international convention and PR Extravaganza, BIO 2006. BIO is an organization of the world’s biggest agribusiness, pharmaceutical and bioweapons corporations.

Reclaim The Commons is responding with three days of events, from Saturday April 8th to Monday April 10th, to educate, inform and link together people and movements that are working to reclaim our public space and common heritage from transnational biotech corporate interests.

This is one of 3 series of events around the time of this year’s BIO convention in Chicago. There’s another local event, called BioEthics and described at www.bioethics2006.org, as well as a Joint International Day of GM Opposition, initiated by folks in France, and including an international videoconference featuring Ignacio Chapela, Vandana Shiva and many others, and local actions around the world (http://altercampagne.free.fr/)

# posted by madthumbs @ 11:38 AM 0 comments

March 2, 2006

LOS ANGELES -- Nineteen people, many of them former police officers or with police connections, have been charged with staging home robberies in Southern California to steal drugs, money and weapons, prosecutors said on Thursday.

The defendants are charged with committing more than 20 robberies and burglaries between 1999 and 2001 while posing as police officers, arriving in squad cars and wearing Los Angeles Police Department badges.

They handcuffed, threatened and assaulted their victims and in one case hit a man with a stun gun, prosecutors said. When the raids did not yield the anticipated drugs, prosecutors said, they stole any items of value, sold them and split the profits.

# posted by madthumbs @ 11:35 AM 0 comments

A Naperville woman who on Tuesday refused a judge's order to view a videotape of her alleged rape could be jailed on a contempt of court charge if she does not change her mind Wednesday, and the judge is considering a request to drop sexual assault charges against the Burr Ridge man on trial.

# posted by madthumbs @ 11:29 AM 0 comments

TOKYO - Scientists in energy-poor Japan said Friday they have found a new source of gasoline — cattle dung.

Sakae Shibusawa, an agriculture engineering professor at the Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, said his team has successfully extracted .042 ounces of gasoline from every 3.5 ounces of cow dung by applying high pressure and heat.

"The new technology will be a boon for livestock breeders" to reduce the burden of disposing of large amounts of waste, Shibusawa said.

About 551,155 tons of cattle dung are produced each year in Japan, he said.

Gasoline extracted from cow dung is unheard of, said Tomiaki Tamura, an official of the Natural Resources and Energy Agency. Japan relies almost totally on imports for its oil and gasoline needs.

# posted by madthumbs @ 11:12 AM 0 comments

A little-noticed section of a congressional bill to overhaul the Endangered Species Act would give federal regulators a five-year pass from seeking expert scientific advice from wildlife agencies on the harmful effects of pesticides on rare animals and plants, a move environmentalists say would further threaten hundreds of animals including several in the Bay Area.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency evaluates insecticides and herbicides up for registration or, every 15 years, for re-registration. Under the law as it is now, if it finds evidence that a pesticide could affect animals and plants protected by the act, the agency must consult with wildlife agencies before approving its use.

Environmental groups say it is crucial that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have an opportunity to present scientific studies showing effects of chemicals on animals and plants because the groups have used the evidence in court to force the EPA to limit the use of dozens of pesticides that could hurt salmon, steelhead and the California red-legged frog.

# posted by madthumbs @ 10:04 AM 0 comments

- its just the tip of the Russian-Israeli mafia and "Al Qaeda" iceberg. Michael Brown, the former head of FEMA, deserves credit for blowing the whistle on the "agenda" of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff. For years, a handful of prosecutors, FBI agents, and investigative journalists have stressed the connections between Russian-Israeli mafia tycoons, weapons and diamond smugglers, and terrorist networks associated with "Al Qaeda" and affiliated organizations. Yet, it is the much-maligned Brown, a one-time GOP operative and "golden boy," who has taken the initiative to call for Chertoff's firing and a complete overhaul of the Homeland Security Department. Even in these strange times, this is an amazing turn of events and begs the question of what Brown knows about Chertoff and his connections to Dubai and covering up terrorist investigations. Brown is in the unique position of being aware of Dubai's major role in horse racing (and possibly money laundering) and being briefed on various maritime and other terrorist threats as head of FEMA. Which means that Brown may have enough information to be very dangerous to the Bush crime family.

# posted by madthumbs @ 10:01 AM 1 comments

High School teacher suspended for anti-Bush comments as 150 students walk out of class in support of teacher's free speech rights. Patriot Act passes U.S. Senate 89-10 as violations of civil rights spread thoughout country like wildfire.

As the Patriot Act flew threw the U.S. Senate Thursday by a lopsided vote of 89-10, the fascist screws of a militaristic, thought-controlled society were tightening down in a Colorado high school.

The story received high profile news coverage, as major networks told how an Aurora, Colorado, high school teacher was suspended by the local school district for telling geography students President Bush reminded him and was acting like the Nazi leader Adolph Hitler.

Attempts to contact teacher Overland High School social studies teacher Jay Bennish went unanswered, but his Denver attorney, David Lane, is expected today to file a federal law suit to protect the embattled teacher's first amendment rights.

The incident is another indication of the lock down of free thought taking place in America as even he slightest condemnation of President Bush and his policies is now getting severe retribution with Bennish getting suspended from teaching for supposedly violating school district policies.

# posted by madthumbs @ 9:58 AM 0 comments

DU Radiation Travels, Says UK Scientist

LONDON — A new study conducted by Dr. Chris Busby, Ph.D. and Saoirse Morgan has revealed that radiation detectors in Great Britain recorded spikes in radiation in the days immediately following the “shock and awe’ bombing campaign in Iraq in March 2003, when in the first 24 hours more than 1,500 bombs and missles were launched.

The “occasional paper” produced by Busby is entitled: “Did the use of Uranium weapons in Gulf War 2 result in contamination of Europe? Evidence from the measurements of the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE), Aldermaston, Berkshire, UK.”

Busby, who obtained a Ph.D. in Chemical Physics from the University of London, has served as the scientific secretary of the European Committee on Radiation Risk and director of the environmental consultancy Green Audit.

Busby contends that depleted uranium from munitions used in the opening days of the Iraq war was carried by wind currents to the UK, and bases his findings on figures that were obtained from the British government through freedom of information inquiries.

# posted by madthumbs @ 8:51 AM 0 comments

ORMOND BEACH, Florida—An alarmingly high percentage of U.S. military personnel who have served in Iraq have been afflicted by a variety of health problems commonly known as Gulf War Syndrome. Exposure to uranium spread through the use of depleted uranium (DU) weapons is thought to be the primary cause of the high rate of chronic ailments and mortality among Gulf War vets.

While initial casualties from the first U.S. invasion of Iraq were light, long-term casualties from the 1991 war ultimately exceeded 30 percent, according to Terrell E. Arnold, former Chairman of the Department of International Studies at the National War College. The long-term casualty rate from the current war in Iraq, Arnold says, is likely to be much higher.

Official statistics of killed and wounded from the 15-year long war against Iraq do not reflect the veterans whose service-related injuries only become apparent after they return from Iraq. The official death rate of those killed and wounded in Iraq does not include these vets, many of whom suffer slow and painful deaths as a direct result of their service. Dustin Brim was one of them.

# posted by madthumbs @ 9:56 PM 0 comments

Mar 1 2006

Madeleine Brindley, Western Mail


EXPERTS will today call for more research into a possible link between deodorants and breast cancer.

Evidence is mounting that an aluminium-based compound found in common antiperspirant agents can break through the skin and potentially cause breast cancer.

Once inside the body, it is feared the compounds could mimic the hormone oestrogen, which is know to affect a woman's risk of breast cancer.

A review published today in the Journal of Applied Toxicology calls for further research to evaluate the possibility that this could increase the risk of getting breast cancer.

In the past few years scientists have found a number of compounds in the environment which either mimic or interfere with oestrogen.

# posted by madthumbs @ 9:22 PM 0 comments

Level of disorder dropped dramatically after element removed from vaccines


A new study shows a direct relationship between mercury in children's vaccines and autism, contradicting government claims there is no proven relationship between the two.

Published in the March 10 issue of the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons, the data show since mercury was removed from childhood vaccines, the reported rates of autism and other neurological disorders in children not only stopped increasing but actually dropped sharply – by as much as 35 percent.

# posted by madthumbs @ 9:08 PM 0 comments

Al-Qaida operative known as 'next Mohamed Atta' spotted in California, law enforcement goes AWOL

WASHINGTON – Two Americans believe they have spotted Adnan el-Shukrijumah, the al-Qaida operative identified as "the next Mohamed Atta" at a location near Bakersfield, Calif., but have been unable to get the FBI or Homeland Security to investigate.

An official report of the sighting of el-Shukrijumah or his "dead-ringer" was filed with an anti-terrorism unit in Kern County.

The local enforcement officers, including the county sheriff, reportedly neglected to conduct an investigation, despite the $5 million bounty on Shukrijumah's head.

Several federal officials, including U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., when notified of the incident, opted to turn a blind eye to the situation, even though they were aware that the suspect in question has been described as the most dangerous al-Qaida agent on American soil.

# posted by madthumbs @ 8:52 AM 0 comments

March 2, 2006 - A teacher has been suspended after comparing president Bush to Adolf Hitler. Jay Bennish is a geography teacher at a high school near Denver, Colorado. He made the comparison in class earlier this week.
He was recorded by a student who found his comments offensive.

The taped comments were broadcast on a local radio station yesterday, and Bennish was suspended, pending investigation.

Many students walked out of class to show their support for Bennish. They say he was just trying to start a debate. Now it's up to the school district to decide.

# posted by madthumbs @ 7:23 AM 0 comments

WASHINGTON - Two-thirds of Americans are overweight, and the government tells them they should eat better.

But it doesn’t put its money where their mouths are.

The government will spend $17 billion subsidizing farmers this year. Rather than focusing on the producers of good-for-you fruits and vegetables — half its subsidies go to grain farmers, whose crops feed animals for meat, milk and eggs and become cheap ingredients in processed food.

# posted by madthumbs @ 6:50 PM 0 comments

SYDNEY, Australia - Human rights abuses in
Iraq are as bad now as they were under
Saddam Hussein, as lawlessness and sectarian violence sweep the country, the former U.N. human rights chief in Iraq said Thursday.
ADVERTISEMENT

John Pace, who last month left his post as director of the human rights office at the U.N. Assistance Mission for Iraq, said the level of extra-judicial executions and torture is soaring, and morgue workers are being threatened by both government-backed militia and insurgents not to properly investigate deaths.

# posted by madthumbs @ 4:05 PM 0 comments

Athletes with infected scrapes that won't go away. Hundreds of soldiers returning from Iraq with wound infections that don't respond to most antibiotics. Often deadly pneumonias. Ninety-thousand patients who die in hospitals every year. That's the toll in the U.S. from germs that are resistant to existing medicines.

# posted by madthumbs @ 11:11 AM 0 comments

The Journal of the American Medical Association is rocking the boat in conventional medicine. An article in JAMA has come up with the suggestion -- aghast! -- that doctors should stop accepting bribes from drug companies. Most people didn't know that doctors routinely accept bribes (including hundreds of thousands of dollars in "contractor's fees" for signing patients up for drug trials), so this news may come as a bit of a shock to some.

Big Pharma spends nearly $19 billion a year bribing and influencing physicians, by the way. That's billion with a "B." How much money is $19 billion? It's more money than NASA wastes smashing satellites into Mars and exploding space shuttles in Earth's upper atmosphere. It's more money than the entire junk food industry spends hypnotizing obese children into nagging their parents for another box of sugar-bomb breakfast cereal at the quickie mart. Heck, it's more money than the entire United States spends on genuine disease prevention and health education.

# posted by madthumbs @ 10:13 AM 0 comments

Rod Vienneau says he will not stop fighting to get justice for his wife and many others who were tortured and abused at the hands of illegally sponsored government mind control and drug programs.
2 Mar 2006

Rod Vienneau for 15 long years has been trying to get justice for the horrendous crimes committed against his wife. It's been a long, hard battle - a fight that looks like David v. Goliath since the U.S. and Canadian governments are battling him tooth and nail to keep his case quiet.

And the reason for the government barricade at revealing the truth is Vienneau's case opens a "can of worms," exposing the government sanctioned torture and abuse of more than 50,000 children involved in illegal psychiatric government-sanctioned experimentation programs.

Vienneau's wife, Clarina, was one of thousands of children experimented on during the 1950's and 60's in what has become known as the Duplessis Orphan case. She now is seeking justice for crimes including illegal mind-altering drug experimentation, physical beatings, torture with whips and chains while being collared like a dog, ice cold baths, sleep deprivation and other crimes that shock the conscience.

# posted by madthumbs @ 10:10 AM 0 comments

March 1, 2006

More than one in three soldiers and Marines who have served in Iraq later sought help for mental health problems, according to a comprehensive snapshot by Army experts of the psyches of men and women returning from the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and other places.

The accounts of more than 300,000 soldiers and Marines returning from several theaters paint an unusually detailed picture of the psychological impact of the various conflicts. Those returning from Iraq consistently reported more psychic distress than those returning from Afghanistan and other conflicts, such as those in Bosnia or Kosovo.

# posted by madthumbs @ 10:04 AM 0 comments

An estimated six million of our children are taking powerful prescription amphetamines known to speed freaks as the champagne of uppers.
An estimated six million of our children are taking powerful prescription amphetamines known to speed freaks as the champagne of uppers. And everybody wants the kids to take more, more, more!

A recent report from the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), says the number of U.S. kids taking methylphenidate (brand names Ritalin, Metadate and Concerta) has skyrocketed, thanks to greedy drug companies, impatient parents, overwhelmed school systems and prescription-happy doctors. Although methylphenidate was banned in Sweden in 1968 and is considered a Schedule II controlled substance (like cocaine, morphine, opium and barbiturates), it has become the “drug of choice” in America for treating Attention Deficit Disorder — a diagnosis that teachers, doctors and parents eagerly slap on energetic kids who act up in class.

# posted by madthumbs @ 9:34 AM 0 comments

This evening, the Associated Press released secret transcripts and video footage showing President Bush being personally briefed the day before Hurricane Katrina hit land. The predictions he heard were shockingly precise and accurate—including the failure of the levees. He knew exactly what was coming.

The article is a smoking gun on Bush’s unpardonable failure to keep us safe. In just a few hours, the White House will be filling the airwaves with spin, so it’s important to reach out right now to pass on the straight story to family and friends. If each of us acts, we can directly reach millions of people before morning.

# posted by madthumbs @ 9:18 AM 0 comments

“Looking at the upper right-hand corner of the building we see a rapid series of small explosions travelling upward just as the building itself begins to fall.

The size, placement and timing of these “puffs” is very consistent with squibs from cutting charges of the type used in professional controlled demolitions, and in fact nothing but small explosive charges could create such an appearance. ”

# posted by madthumbs @ 9:11 AM 0 comments

A new study published today (3/1/06) shows that the rate of neurodevelopmental disorders (NDs) in children has decreased following removal of thimerosal, a preservative containing the neurotoxin mercury, from American childhood vaccines. The study, published in the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons, a peer reviewed journal, by Dr. Mark Geier and David Geier examined two independent databases maintained by the government – one national and one state. The Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System (VAERS) database maintained by the Centers for Disease Control and the Californian Department of Developmental Services (CDDS) database each showed the same downward trend for the period from 2002 through 2005. According to the study “[t]he results indicate that the trends in newly diagnosed NDs correspond directly with the expansion and subsequent contraction of the cumulative mercury dose to which children were exposed from [thimerosal-containing vaccines] through the U.S. immunization schedule.”

# posted by madthumbs @ 8:55 AM 0 comments

The Food Standards Agency watchdog says these do not pose an immediate health risk, but questions need answering.

Benzene, which can cause certain cancers, is thought to be formed when two commonly used ingredients react.

The results came in industry tests prompted by the FSA after the chemical was found in tests on drinks in the US.

# posted by madthumbs @ 12:55 AM 0 comments

Out of the mouths of babes comes this news. Budding scientist, 12-year-old Jasmine Roberts from Benito Middle School in Tampa, Fla., has created a science fair project that has lots of grown-ups sitting up and taking notice. Her conclusion: Ice at fast food restaurants is laced with bacteria. Lots of it.

Tampa Bay Online reports that Roberts examined the amount of bacteria in the ice served at fast food restaurants and the amount of bacteria in the toilet bowl water in those same restaurants. The toilet bowl water was cleaner 70 percent of the time.

# posted by madthumbs @ 12:17 AM 0 comments

WASHINGTON — Months overdue in a midterm election year, the USA Patriot Act renewal cleared a final hurdle in the Senate Tuesday on its way to President Bush's desk. But the bill's sponsor said he is unsatisfied with the measure's privacy protections and far from done tinkering with the centerpiece of Bush's war on terrorism.

"The issue is not concluded," said Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa. He said he plans more legislation and hearings on restoring House-rejected curbs on government power.

The Senate voted 69-30 Tuesday _ 60 votes were needed _ to limit debate and bring the bill to a final vote that could occur as early as Wednesday. The House then would vote and send the legislation to the White House. Sixteen major provisions would expire March 10 if President Bush doesn't sign the bill by then.

# posted by madthumbs @ 12:11 AM 0 comments

The White House confirmed Tuesday that it recently turned over to Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald 250 pages of emails from the Office of Vice President Dick Cheney related to covert CIA operative Valerie Plame Wilson and her husband, former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, a vocal critic of the Bush administration's pre-war Iraq intelligence. The emails were not submitted three years ago when then-White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales ordered White House staffers to turn over all documents that contained any reference to Valerie and Joseph Wilson.

Gonzales's directive in October 2003 came 12 hours after he was told by the Justice Department that it was launching an investigation to find out who leaked Plame Wilson's undercover CIA status to reporters in what appeared to be an attempt to discredit and silence her husband from speaking out against the administration's rationale for war. Gonzales spent two weeks with other White House attorneys screening emails and other documents his office received before turning them over to Justice Department investigators.

News of the 250 pages of emails was revealed to Libby's attorneys during a court hearing Friday.

# posted by madthumbs @ 7:05 PM 0 comments

We speak with Liz McIntyre, author of "Spychips: How Major Corporations and Government Plan to Track your Every Move with RFID" that examines radio frequency identification - a technology that uses tiny computer chips to track items at distance. Major corporations are working right now to install RFIDs on all consumer products. What about in you arm? Or in your kids? We also speak with freelance journalist Annalee Newitz who recently had an RFID implanted in her arm. "Imagine a world of no more privacy.

"Where your every purchase is monitored and recorded in a database, and your every belonging is numbered. Where someone many states away or perhaps in another country has a record of everything you have ever bought, of everything you have ever owned, of every item of clothing in your closet -- every pair of shoes. What's more, these items can even be tracked remotely.

# posted by madthumbs @ 3:02 PM 0 comments

Correspondence newly obtained under the Freedom of Information Act raises troubling new questions about CDC's role in the Thimerosal scandal. Thimerosal is the mercury-based vaccine preservative that has been linked to epidemics of neurological disorders, including autism, in American children born after 1989.

Responding to scientific studies linking dangerous levels of mercury to a range of health disorders, the CDC in July 1999 recommended that the nation's vaccine makers eliminate Thimerosal as a preservative, "as soon as possible."

But the newly released documents show that behind the scenes CDC was quietly discouraging Thimerosal's removal. In a July 1999 letter, vaccine producer SmithKline Beecham tells CDC that it is ready to produce non-Thimerosal DTP (Diptheria/Tetanus/Pertussis) vaccines immediately and has sufficient inventories to supply the entire U.S. market during the remainder of 1999 and the first half of 2000, by which time other vaccine manufacturers would have their Thimerosal-free DTP vaccines on line.

# posted by madthumbs @ 12:04 PM 0 comments

The group says the widely prescribed pain reliever propoxyphene (Darvon, Darvocet and generic versions), should be phased out because it has been associated with more than 2,000 accidental deaths between 1981 and 1999, (nearly 6 percent of all drug-related fatalities), is physically addictive and is no more effective than safer alternatives.

In 2004, 23 million prescriptions for propoxyphene were filled, making it the 12th most commonly prescribed generic drug in the United States.

# posted by madthumbs @ 11:57 AM 0 comments

A New Jersey police officer was found dead in his apartment on Tuesday, February 28th from an as of yet unknown or undisclosed illness.

The officer, whose name hasn’t been released, just got back from a stint in Iraq. Neighbors and friends said that the officer had been sick for 4 or 5 days and hadn’t been seen or heard from in a few.

Police knocked on the man’s door and entered his apartment after failing to get an answer. The clincher is that after finding his body, HAZMAT teams were called to go in first with full NBC gear to “secure the scene.”

# posted by madthumbs @ 11:27 AM 0 comments

Back in Haynes’s office, on the third floor of the Pentagon, there was a stack of papers chronicling a private battle that Mora had waged against Haynes and other top Administration officials, challenging their tactics in fighting terrorism. Some of the documents are classified and, despite repeated requests from members of the Senate Armed Services Committee and the Senate Judiciary Committee, have not been released. One document, which is marked “secret” but is not classified, is a twenty-two-page memo written by Mora. It shows that three years ago Mora tried to halt what he saw as a disastrous and unlawful policy of authorizing cruelty toward terror suspects.

# posted by madthumbs @ 11:17 AM 0 comments

Internal documents from the UAE Central Bank in Dubai detail huge money laundering operations in the UAE according to financial industry insiders. Moreover, the Sharjah branch of HSBC Holdings PLC was tied to international arms trafficker Victor Bout, indicted in Belgium for money laundering and named in various UN reports as a chief embargo buster in Africa and Taliban-controlled Afghanistan.

American citizen Iqbal Hakim, a native of India, was the chief examiner for the UAE Central Bank. Hakim, yet another whistleblower who has been ignored and mistreated by the Bush administration and threatened by Bush's Persian Gulf potentate friends, discovered a suspicious $343 million per year money flow through an HSBC personal account in Dubai. The transactions were investigated by the FBI and the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement but no prosecutions resulted.

# posted by madthumbs @ 9:19 AM 0 comments

The solution?

Bypass both groups, taking the investigation to an impartial worldwide forum, the results of the impartial investigation broadcast to the American public the same way the O.J. Simpson trial was broadcast day after day and week after week.

To that end, a group of respected jurists can be gathered to hear the evidence and a group of impartial journalists and investigators can be gathered to compile it.

# posted by madthumbs @ 9:12 AM 0 comments

In the January-February issue of the journal Anticancer Research, the investigators reported that treating mice with an extract of leaves of Ginkgo biloba both before and after implanting human breast or brain (glioma) tumors decreased expression of a cell receptor associated with invasive cancer. This decreased expression slowed the growth of the breast tumors by 80 percent as long as the extract was used, compared to untreated mice, and also reduced the size of the brain tumors, but temporarily, and to a lesser extent.

# posted by madthumbs @ 8:18 PM 0 comments

A new Zogby poll finds that 72% of U.S. troops in Iraq say they want to end the war in 2006. My man Paul Rieckhoff, director of IAVA, responds:

“This poll confirms that our men and women in uniform are far more in touch with reality than is their leadership in Washington,” Rieckhoff said. “How long will we keep telling our Troops to just ‘stay the course’ in the face of such overwhelming evidence against that approach?”

“If people really want to support the Troops, they should start listening to them. This poll is the perfect place to start.

# posted by madthumbs @ 8:12 PM 0 comments

An appeal from the Catholic Church for New Zealanders to boycott an episode of South Park has resulted in a record audience there for the controversial cartoon.

The "Bloody Mary" episode of South Park drew more than six times the normal audience, New Zealand broadcaster TV Works announced Thursday.

The episode, which aired Wednesday night, was seen by 210,000 viewers, according to Rick Friesen, the broadcaster's chief operating officer.

# posted by madthumbs @ 8:06 PM 0 comments

About 5,000 children chanting "Hang those who insulted the Prophet" rallied in Pakistan's largest city today in the latest fiery protest in the Islamic nation against the publication of Prophet Mohammed cartoons.

The children, aged 8 to 12, torched a coffin draped in US, Israeli and Danish flags at a traffic intersection in the port city of Karachi as police in riot gear looked on.

The rally was organised by Jamaat-e-Islami, Pakistan's largest Islamic group.

# posted by madthumbs @ 6:01 PM 0 comments

Two Years ago Stephen Heller, an actor in LA who worked part time for the law firm of Jones Day, discovered that one of the firm's clients, Diebold, was possibly going to disenfranchise thousands of voters in the next election.

Heller did the honorable thing, and provided this information to the California Attorney General and then Secretary of State Kevin Shelley - which ultimately resulted in the decertication of Diebold in California.

But last year Kevin Shelley was forced to resign as Secretary of State due to a fundraising scandal. Ah-nald promptly appointed a new Republican Secretary of State who has proceeded to Temporarily certify Diebold despite the information provided by Stephen Heller, and Heller himself is now facing criminal charges.

# posted by madthumbs @ 1:03 PM 0 comments

People have been aware of music’s healing properties since the times of Pythagoras and Aristotle. Russians have long believed in medicinal effects of the sound of church bells. The branch of science studying interaction of music and other sounds with living organisms (including a human body) brings forth most interesting discoveries almost every day.

# posted by madthumbs @ 1:01 PM 0 comments

Jailed British historian David Irving has again said he does not believe Hitler presided over a systematic attempt to exterminate Jews in Europe.

During his trial in Austria, Irving said he had changed his mind over claims the Holocaust did not happen.

But, speaking from his cell later, he told BBC News the numbers killed at Auschwitz were smaller than claimed.

He is appealing for a reduction in the three-year jail term. Prosecutors are seeking for it to be lengthened.

The Austrian state prosecutor's office said it believed Irving's sentence for Holocaust denial was too lenient in light of a possible sentence of up to 10 years.

# posted by madthumbs @ 12:55 PM 0 comments

(Conspiracy Nation, 02/27/06) -- Taking a strong tone, Lyndon LaRouche, of the "Greatest Generation" (image right), has unleashed a fuming fusillade against the Baby Boomer generation.

"During the postwar period, a generation was born which has no sense of reality: the Baby-Boomer generation. Because, from the time they were born, during the late 1940s, early '50s, they were subjected to a mass-brainwashing by an institution called the Congress for Cultural Freedom," charged the frequent presidential candidate.

# posted by madthumbs @ 12:50 PM 0 comments

• You take dietary advice from fat people!
  Yoyo diets, and fad diets just don't work, and are generally unhealthy! They cause your body to react in the opposite way you intend. Your body puts on fat stores to help it deal with YOUR abuse!
  
  
• You consume MSG which is used to induce obesity in lab rats.
  MSG or MonoSodium Glutamate can be included on food labels as: "flavors", "natural flavors", or "flavorings".
  
  
• You consume softdrinks and artificial sweeteners!
  Most of the people I know that have lost weight and kept it off did it by simply giving up softdrinks for water (not chlorinated/ fluoridated water). Artificial sweeteners are chemicals. They have not been proven to my knowledge to aid in the losing body fat. I have heard people say they think it's made them worse!
  
  
• You burn out from excersize!
  Do NOT jump into excersize! When muscle glycogen is depleted you'll feel burned out, or lacking in ambition. You have to build up your ability to replenish muscle glycogen and use it more efficiently. You need sugars to replenish it! Sugars or carbs are like a wick to a candle. They are a catalyst for fat burning. A brisk ~20 minute walk a day should be sufficient excersize.
  
  
• You're poisoned by fluoride.
  It's in your water, your food packaging, non-stick cookware, pharmaceuticals, tea, etc. It affects your thyroid function negatively.
  
  
• You're sold on the false assumption that it's hard to lose fat!
  You think the more money you spend on special foods, or personal trainers, the better off you'll be. -They just want your money!
  

# posted by madthumbs @ 11:20 AM 0 comments

In terms of human rights and ecology, the Coca-Cola Company seemingly keeps digging itself into a PR hole. The company just can't seem to anger activists enough. It's been accused of privatizing and monopolizing Africa's natural water supply, sucking up India's vital groundwater sources (thereby harming the country's agricultural industry and food supply and polluting its remaining water and soil) and even indirectly condoning Salvadoran child labor that violates local and international laws.

In June 2004, Human Rights Watch published a 143-page report entitled Turning a Blind Eye: Hazardous Child Labor in El Salvador's Sugarcane Cultivation, revealing Coca-Cola's use of sugarcane harvested by children as young as eight years old. Though national and international child labor authorities -- including the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Protocol of San Salvador, the Minimum Age Convention and the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention -- prohibit minors under the age of 18 from doing hazardous or harmful work, plantation owners circumvent these laws by classifying young children and teenagers who work with parents or older siblings as "helpers" rather than the employees they actually are.

# posted by madthumbs @ 11:12 AM 0 comments

Microbial assays for B-12 are unreliable. A common misconception in vegan circles is that fermented foods and spirulina contain B-12. This claim may, at times, be supported by lab tests for B-12 based on the USP (U.S. Pharmacopeia) assay methods.

Unfortunately, as explained in Herbert et al. [1984] and Herbert [1988], the USP assay method for B-12 is unreliable. The assay measures total corrinoids--that is, true B-12 plus analogues (forms of B-12 that are not metabolically active in the body)--and the analogues have the potential to block the absorption of true B-12 by occupying B-12 receptor sites. A preferred, reliable test that can differentiate between true B-12 and corrinoids is provided by differential radioassay. The assay problem must be considered in evaluating "old" studies on B-12.

Spirulina and tempeh contain mostly analogues of B-12. Herbert [1988] reports that tests on tempeh, a fermented soy product, and spirulina revealed that they contained almost no true B-12, i.e., the "B-12" they contained (per USP assay test) was predominantly analogues. Herbert [1988, p. 857] reports:

We suspect that people taking spirulina as a source of vitamin B-12 may get vitamin B-12 deficiency quicker because the analogues in the product block human mammalian cell metabolism in culture [i.e., in the lab] and we suspect that they will also do this in the living human.

The presence of analogues, rather than true B-12, in fermented foods makes them unreliable sources for B-12.

# posted by madthumbs @ 10:36 AM 0 comments

Subliminal advertising has gone mainstream - fake news, mind control scripts, propaganda and stealth voicemail are in wide use by corporations, government bodies and industry groups.

New York, NY (PRWEB) February 1, 2006 -- Some of the biggest advertisers are taking their advertising away from full page ads and television spots and spending up on hidden persuasion. You won't find these secret messages in ice-cubes or flickering film footage like they were in the sixties. Subliminal advertising has gone mainstream - fake news, mind control scripts, propaganda and stealth voicemail are in wide use by corporations, government bodies, and industry groups. Have you spotted any of these?

# posted by madthumbs @ 9:46 AM 0 comments

Washington, DC—February 27, 2006—TomFlocco.com—Pentagon notes written by Under-Secretary of Defense for Intelligence Stephen Cambone during a meeting with Department of Defense (DoD) Secretary Donald Rumsfeld at 2:40 pm on the day of the September 11 attacks provide important evidence and historical insight into the inner circle of key players involved in the defense of the United States immediately following the worst attack on American soil in U.S. history.

Cambone’s explosive written observations provide proof that a commitment to place Baghdad on the front burner was foremost on the minds of Bush administration officials almost simultaneously as the alleged “hijackers” attacked, revealing Rumsfeld’s full fixation on finding a justification “related” to "or not” related to Iraq as 9-11 perpetrator.

The Bush administration wanted to create a “boogie-man” in Saddam Hussein as partly responsible for September 11—no matter what, all according to top-secret internal memos from key aide Cambone; however, both have not publicly explained before career prosecutors why Iraq had to become a perpetrator despite now-proven phony and non-existent evidence.

# posted by madthumbs @ 7:06 PM 0 comments

A teenager is refusing to pay an £80 on-the-spot fine imposed by a police officer who overheard him swearing in a private conversation with friends.

Kurt Walker, 18, from Deal, Kent, said he would go to court rather than pay the fine handed out in a town park.

He said he received the fixed-penalty notice after he used the F-word to a group of friends he met in the park.

Kent Police said fixed penalty notices were just one tool to help them to tackle anti-social behaviour.

# posted by madthumbs @ 6:49 PM 0 comments

The House of Representatives will vote this week on a controversial "national food uniformity" labeling law that will take away local government and states' power to require food safety food labels such as those required in California and other states on foods or beverages that are likely to cause cancer, birth defects, allergic reactions, or mercury poisoning. This bill would also prevent citizens in local municipalities and states from passing laws requiring that genetically engineered foods and ingredients such as Monsanto's recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone (rBGH) be labeled.

# posted by madthumbs @ 6:44 PM 0 comments

LONG BEACH — The director of the Rosarito, Mexico, alternative medicine clinic shut down after Coretta Scott King died addressed his critics on Saturday by voicing his support for patients' rights to choose their treatment, while former patients gave their testimonials.

Kurt Donsbach came under the media spotlight after the widow of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. died of ovarian cancer on Jan. 30, four days after she checked into Santa Monica Health Institute in the hopes of receiving a combination of traditional and holistic treatment for advanced cancer.

His harshest detractors have questioned his credentials and the viability of his treatments, and brought renewed attention to his past felonies, which include tax evasion and smuggling illegal medicine in the United States.

# posted by madthumbs @ 11:59 AM 0 comments

WASHINGTON — More than 7 million Americans are estimated to have misused stimulant drugs meant to treat attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, and substantial numbers of teen-agers and young adults appear to show signs of addiction, according to a comprehensive national analysis tracking such abuse.

The statistics are striking because many young people recreationally using these drugs are seeking to boost academic and professional performance, doctors say.

Although the drugs may allow people to stay awake longer and finish work faster, scientists who published a new study concluded that about 1.6 million teen-agers and young adults had misused these stimulants during a 12-month period and that 75,000 showed signs of addiction.

Adderall Online - Black Market Profits In Plain Sight

Dubbed "Kiddie Coke," Adderall is being abused by increasing numbers of high school and college students all across America. It's difficult to quantify the extent of the abuse among students due the availability of the drug through legal prescriptions and on the internet.

Adderall is an amphetamine, a class of stimulant drugs that were widely abused when prescribed as diet pills until they were banned for that use more than 2 decades ago. However, according to clinical social worker, Catherine Wood: "The mother's little helpers of the 1960's and 1970's are all available now on the Internet."

Adderall maker, Shire Pharmaceuticals, cannot claim ignorance about the obvious rise in profits resulting from the sale of one of its top selling drugs on the internet to people without a valid prescription. And therefore, in addition to enjoying the black market profits in plain sight, Shire must be held accountable for any and all harm done to customers who unwittingly purchase Adderall online.

# posted by madthumbs @ 11:56 AM 0 comments

IT COULD be called the Cleopatra Effect. Magnetic therapy, which has held the rich and powerful in thrall from ancient Egypt to modern Downing Street, is about to be made available on the National Health Service.

NHS accountants are so impressed by the cost-effectiveness of a “magnetic leg wrap” called 4UlcerCare that from Wednesday doctors will be allowed to prescribe it to patients.

Magnetic therapy, which was pioneered in ancient Egypt, has become one of the pillars of modern alternative medicine. Its adherents include Cherie Blair, Bill Clinton and Sir Anthony Hopkins, the actor.

Although its merits are challenged by traditional medics, it is used to treat joint pains, sports injuries, backache, muscle soreness and period pain.

It is also used on animals — 4UlcerCare was inspired by a dog named Kiri, which developed severe arthritis. Conventional treatments did not help and, after researching the use of magnets, Kiri’s owner, Derek Price, made a magnetic collar.

# posted by madthumbs @ 11:27 AM 0 comments

Former CIA analyst a and presidential advisor Ray McGovern does not rule out Western involvement in this week's Askariya mosque bombing in light of previous false flag operations that have advanced hidden agendas of the ruling elite.

# posted by madthumbs @ 11:22 AM 0 comments

Republican Congressmember Joe Barton of Texas has launched an investigation into one of the world’s major oil companies - Citgo. The Venezuelan-owned company announced a discounted gas program for poor Americans last year. We speak with Democratic New York Congressman Jose Serrano, one of the few members of Congress promoting this effort.

# posted by madthumbs @ 11:20 AM 0 comments

Supply-Side economics was dubbed "Reaganomics" by the media. If you were for Reagan, that meant you were for it. If you were against Reagan, you were against it. That's as far as public understanding ever went.

Even today three decades later few people beyond economists familiar with macro-economic theory know what it is. Liberals think it means tax cuts for the rich and call it "trickle-down economics."

Libertarians believe it is a variant of Keynesian economics that fuels consumer spending with federal budget deficits. Conservatives believe it means leaving more money in the pockets of those who earn it. Other people think it means that tax cuts pay for themselves. President Reagan's vice president, George H.W. Bush, said it is "voodoo economics."

Supply-side economics is none of these things. It is a theoretical innovation in macro-economics.

# posted by madthumbs @ 11:18 AM 0 comments

Something strange is going on in our nation's capital. The lack of transparency with which the U.S. administration has handled the ports sale to Dubai Ports World is just the latest in a series of troubling incidents in which the administration tried to force its will on the public, policy and lawmakers.

In the second week of February, several government agencies – handling national security issues – began a massive campaign to disrupt and discredit a major counter-intelligence conference whose participants and speakers included former and current top U.S. and foreign government, security, defense and intelligence officials and experts.

# posted by madthumbs @ 11:12 AM 0 comments

There are now several web companies which will track your friends' and family's phones for you, so you always know where they are.

But just how safe is it to make location details available online?

# posted by madthumbs @ 10:02 PM 0 comments

Havana, Cuba—At the Organipónico de Alamar, a neighborhood agriculture project, a workers’ collective runs a large urban farm, a produce market and a restaurant. Hand tools and human labor replace oil-driven machinery. Worm cultivation and composting create productive soil. Drip irrigation conserves water, and the diverse, multi-hued produce provides the community with a rainbow of healthy foods.

In other Havana neighborhoods, lacking enough land for such large projects, residents have installed raised garden beds on parking lots and planted vegetable gardens on their patios and rooftops.

# posted by madthumbs @ 10:37 AM 0 comments

Christine Hahn is one of those investigative journalists who doesn't take no for an answer. She looks below the surface for a story, won't tolerate being lied to and considers the mainstream media a "joke."

Hahn considers "compromising the truth" a mortal sin and isn't afraid to tackle tough issues and controversial subjects, including how CIA-funded programs illegally experimented on more than 50,000 children since the 1950's.

"Stories have surfaced about illegal government experimentation on adults through programs like MKULTRA, but I have meticulously documented the abuse going on with innocent children," said Hahn, a Canadian now residing in the U.S., who also has been threatened numerous times during her two years of researching the story.

Further, Hahn's well-documented story pinning government involvement and influential doctors having Nazi ties, finally appeared in an alternative publication called Freedom Magazine after being suppressed by numerous mainstream outlets in the U.S. and Canada.

# posted by madthumbs @ 9:23 AM 0 comments

BUSHEHR, Iran (Reuters) - Iran has reached a "basic" agreement with Russia on a joint venture to enrich uranium and will contine talks on this issue in coming days, Iran's nuclear chief Gholamreza Aghazadeh said on Sunday.

"Regarding this joint venture, we have reached a basic agreement. Talks to complete this package will continue in coming days in Russia," he told reporters in the southern Iranian port of Bushehr.

# posted by madthumbs @ 9:14 AM 0 comments

More than four years after the American detention camp at Guantanamo Bay opened, the range of voices calling for it to close is widening. Overseas, it runs from the Democrat former US President Jimmy Carter, through UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and the International Committee of the Red Cross, to the conservative Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. Here, advocates of closure now include the Lord Chancellor, Lord Falconer, Attorney-General Lord Goldsmith, the Northern Ireland Secretary, Peter Hain, the Liberal Democrats and numerous members of the higher judiciary.

Last week, the Commons foreign affairs committee urged the government to make its opposition to Guantanamo 'loud and public', describing the camp as 'outside all legal regimes'; it both diminished America's moral authority and hindered its fight against terrorism, said the committee. The Prime Minister has declined to go further than previously when he described Guantanamo as an 'anomaly'. He prefers to make his objections known in private, he has said.

# posted by madthumbs @ 9:04 AM 0 comments