`War Of Civilizations' Lobby Targets Egypt, Saudi Arabia for Overthrow

http://www.larouchepub.com/other/2001/2846skunks_rpt1.html

Iraq's oil production capacity up to 1.7 million BPD

SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM
Monday, August 4, 2003

LONDON — Iraq reports an oil production capacity of 1.7 million barrels per day.

Thamer Ghadhban, responsible for Iraq's oil sector, said the figure is the highest since the U.S.-led war in Iraq in March. He said Iraq is preparing to export as much as 800,000 barrels per day from oil fields in Basra.

"Iraq's production capacity has risen to unprecedented levels since the war ended, reaching 1.7 million barrel per day," Ghadhban told the International Oil Daily. "Production is actually running at a rate of 1.55 million barrel per day."

Ghadhban said sabotage has hampered Iraqi plans to increase oil production and exports. He cited attacks on the Kirkuk-Ceyhan oil pipeline from northern Iraq to Turkey, which was blown up on late July 31.

http://216.26.163.62/2003/me_iraq_08_04.html

Supermarket to launch self-service check-outs

http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_806308.html?menu=news.latestheadlines

US Embassy cancelled the booking of Marriott Hotel 4.5 hours before the explosion.

There was something interesting happened just hours before the explosion shocked the JW Marriott Hotel, Mega Kuningan, South Jakarta. The US Embassy cancelled the booking of 10-20 rooms in that hotel. The cancellation was on 8.00 West Indonesian Time, Tuesday, or
only 4.5 hours before the explosion.

This information is from employee of Marriot Hotel who refused to be identified. He explained that the booking was made several days ago. The US Embassy's guests were planned to stay for 3 days. And the ceremony was planned on Wednesday.

For information, when there was the explosion, the security of US Embassy directly came to the Marriot Hotel in Mega Kuningan. JW Marriot Hotel is known to be used frequently by US Embassy. On 4 July 2003, the Independent Day of US was celebrated on this hotel. Last
year, it was also celebrated there.

http://www.freedomfiles.org/war/jakarta.htm

******************

US planned withdrawal of Indonesia staff hours before blast

Ummahnews 13 October 2002

Hours before the powerful blast in Bali island went off, the US had reportedly announced a plan to withdraw its administrative staff from Indonesia for 'security' reasons.

The Washington Post daily newspaper reported that the US government threatened to withdraw all its staff from Indonesia if Indonesian security officials were not serious about revealing the 'terrorist network' considered to be a threat to US citizens’ safety.

Washington has for the past few weeks been urging Jakarta to take action against Muslim groups it claimed were linked to 'terrorist network'. However, president Megawati's government had come under intense pressure from her own cabinet as well as Muslim leaders, who urged her not to bow down to the US 'bully tactic'. Their main contention was that Washington had so far failed to provide an iota of evidence linking Muslim groups in the country to so-called 'terrorist' groups.

Yesterday's blast, however, may prove to be just the evidence Washington needed to force Jakarta to come down hard on Muslim civilian groups. In the past, analysts did not rule out the occurence of deliberate violence across the archipelago to provide a pretext for US intervention.

...

http://www.propagandamatrix.com/us_planned_withdrawal_of_indonesia_staff_hours_before_blast

Greater Israel -- What Does It Really Mean?

...


Are Arabs and other Muslims really "crazy" to believe that the War on Iraq may be part of
an Israeli and American "Zionist" plot to dominate the entire Middle East ?

http://www.alfredlilienthal.com/greaterisrael.htm

TONY BLAIR’s coming referendum on the euro may include measures to increase the "yes" result by extending the vote to the 800,000 Europeans living in Britain but still registered as foreign nationals.

Lord Falconer, whose Department for Constitutional Affairs is supervising the referendum plan, is considering extending the vote to anyone working in Britain with a European passport.

This is likely to deliver a fillip to the "yes" campaign as expatriate Europeans are expected to be among the most enthusiastic cheerleaders for the single currency.

...

http://www.news.scotsman.com/politics.cfm?id=841752003

US anti-war activists hit by secret airport ban

By Andrew Gumbel in Los Angeles

03 August 2003

After more than a year of complaints by some US anti-war activists that they were being unfairly targeted by airport security, Washington has admitted the existence of a list, possibly hundreds or even thousands of names long, of people it deems worthy of special scrutiny at airports.

The list had been kept secret until its disclosure last week by the new US agency in charge of aviation safety, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). And it is entirely separate from the relatively well-publicised "no-fly" list, which covers about 1,000 people believed to have criminal or terrorist ties that could endanger the safety of their fellow passengers.

The strong suspicion of such groups as the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which is suing the government to try to learn more, is that the second list has been used to target political activists who challenge the government in entirely legal ways. The TSA acknowledged the existence of the list in response to a Freedom of Information Act request concerning two anti-war activists from San Francisco who were stopped and briefly detained at the airport last autumn and told they were on an FBI no-fly list.

...

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/story.jsp?story=430073

U.S. presses program for new atom bombs

This week, 10 minutes by car south of Omaha, Nebraska, the U.S. Strategic Command is holding a little-advertised meeting at which the Bush administration is to solidify its plans for acquiring a new generation of nuclear arms.
.
Topping the wish list are weapons meant to penetrate deep into the earth to destroy enemy bunkers.

http://www.iht.com/articles/105137.html

*************************

Iran 'close to building nuke bomb'

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Iran appears to be in the late stages of building a nuclear bomb and has sought help from scientists in Russia, China, North Korea and Pakistan, the Los Angeles Times reports.

Citing its own three-month investigation into Iran's clandestine nuclear capacity, the Times said on Monday it had strong evidence Iran's commercial programme masked a plan to become the world's next nuclear power and it was "much closer to producing a bomb than Iraq ever was".

Iran has consistently denied it has plans to build nuclear weapons and has said its programme is for peaceful civilian use.

...

http://www.swissinfo.org/sen/Swissinfo.html?siteSect=143&sid=4095357

The 9/11 Joint Inquiry chairmen are in "conflict of interest":

Mysterious September 11 Breakfast Meeting on Capitol Hill

by Michel Chossudovsky

Global Outlook , Winter 2003
www.globalresearch.ca 4 August 2003

The URL of this article is: http://globalresearch.ca/articles/CHO308C.html

Michel Chossudovsky, is the author of "War and Globalisation, the Truth behind September 11, Global Outlook, Shanty Bay, On. 2002.

The chairmen of the Joint Inquiry on 9/11 Sen Bob Graham and Rep Porter Goss are in "conflict of interest". Or are we dealing with something far more serious?

The chairmen of the Joint Inquiry have dubious links to Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) which is known to have actively supported Al Qaeda and the Taliban.

Moreover, according to intelligence sources, including the FBI, Pakistan's ISI played a role in financing the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

The two Joint Inquiry chairmen Sen Bob Graham and Rep Porter Goss were fully cognizant of the "Pakistani ISI connection" and the role played by its former head, General Mahmoud Ahmad.

Why then did they choose to exclude an examination of the role of the ISI from the Joint Inquiry's 858 page Report?

While hinting to "Saudi support and involvement" in 9/11, the Report fails to mention that the Pakistani government, its military and intelligence apparatus (ISI), have actively supported and financed a number of terrorist organizations, with the support of Washington.

Was it "an intelligence failure" to seek the cooperation of the Pakistani government in the "war on terrorism" in an agreement brokered by the head of spy agency, which is known to support the Islamic brigades?

This support by Pakistan's ISI to various "Islamic terrorist" organizations was pursued prior as well as in the wake of 9/11, despite the commitment of the Pakistani government to "cooperate" with Washington

In late August 2001, barely a couple of weeks before September 11, Senator Bob Graham, Representative Porter Goss and Senator Jon Kyl were on a top level mission in Islamabad, which was barely mentioned by the US media.

Meetings were held with President Pervez Musharraf and with Pakistan's military and intelligence brass including the head of Pakistan’s Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) General Mahmoud Ahmad. Amply documented, the ISI is known to support a number of Islamic terrorist organizations. (See Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) at http://www.cfrterrorism.org/coalition/pakistan2.html )

According to the FBI, Indian Intelligence and several press reports, the ISI Head was instrumental in providing financial support to the 9/11 terrorists. General Mahmoud Ahmad had allegedly ordered the transfer of $100.000 to the presumed 9/11 ring-leader Mohamed Atta.

On the morning of September 11, the three lawmakers Bob Graham, Porter Goss and Jon Kyl (who were part of the Congressional delegation to Pakistan) were having breakfast on Capitol Hill with General Ahmad, the alleged "money-man" (to use the FBI expression) behind the 9/11 hijackers. Also present at this meeting were Pakistan's ambassador to the U.S. Maleeha Lodhi and several members of the Senate and House Intelligence committees. This meeting was described by one press report as a "follow-up meeting" to that held in Pakistan in late August.

When the twin towers were attacked, General Mahmoud Ahmad, head of Pakistan’s intelligence service, was, in Senator Graham's own words, "very empathetic, sympathetic to the people of the United States," (Stuart News Company Press Journal (Vero Beach, FL), September 12, 2001).

Bob Graham's description of the General Ahmad, contrasts with that of the Washington Post:

"On the morning of Sept. 11, Goss and Graham were having breakfast with a Pakistani general named Mahmud Ahmed — the soon-to-be-sacked head of Pakistan’s intelligence service. Ahmed ran a spy agency notoriously close to Osama bin Laden and the Taliban." (Washington Post, 18 May 2002).

While the Joint inquiry has collected mountains of intelligence material, through careful omission, the numerous press and intelligence reports in the public domain (mainstream media, alternative media, etc), which confirm that key members of the Bush Administration were involved in acts of political camouflage, have been carefully removed from the Joint inquiry's hearings.

3 August 2003

The following text published in Global Outlook , Winter 2003, provides details on the breakfast meeting hosted by Sen Bob Gram and Rep. Porter Goss on the morning of September 11.

In late August 2001, barely a couple of weeks before 9/11, Senator Bob Graham, Representative Porter Goss and Senator Jon Kyl were in Islamabad for consultations. Meetings were held with President Musharraf and with Pakistan's military and intelligence brass including the head of Pakistan’s Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) General Mahmoud Ahmad. An AFP report confirms that the US Congressional delegation also met the Afghan ambassador to Pakistan, Abdul Salam Zaeef. At this meeting, which was barely mentioned by the US media, "Zaeef assured the US delegation [on behalf of the Afghan government] that the Taliban would never allow bin Laden to use Afghanistan to launch attacks on the US or any other country." 1

Note the sequencing of these meetings. Bob Graham and Porter Goss were in Islamabad in late August 2001. The meetings with President Musharraf and the Afghan Ambassador were on the 27th of August, the mission was still in Islamabad on the 30th of August, General Mahmoud Ahmad arrived in Washington on an official visit of consultations barely a few days later (September 4th). During his visit to Washington, General Mahmoud met his counterpart CIA director George Tenet and high ranking officials of the Bush administration.2
9/11 "Follow-up Meeting" on Capitol Hill

On the morning of September 11, the three lawmakers Bob Graham, Porter Goss and Jon Kyl (who were part of the Congressional delegation to Pakistan) were having breakfast on Capitol Hill with General Ahmad, the alleged "money-man" behind the 9-11 hijackers. Also present at this meeting were Pakistan's ambassador to the U.S. Maleeha Lodhi and several members of the Senate and House Intelligence committees were also present. This meeting was described by one press report as a "follow-up meeting" to that held in Pakistan in late August. "On 8/30, Senate Intelligence Committee chair Sen. Bob Graham (D-FL) 'was on a mission to learn more about terrorism.' (…) On 9/11, Graham was back in DC 'in a follow-up meeting with' Pakistan intelligence agency chief Mahmud Ahmed and House Intelligence Committee chair Porter Goss (R-FL)" 3 (The Hotline, 1 October 2002):

"When the news [of the attacks on the World Trade Center] came, the two Florida lawmakers who lead the House and Senate intelligence committees were having breakfast with the head of the Pakistani intelligence service. Rep. Porter Goss, R-Sanibel, Sen. Bob Graham and other members of the House Intelligence Committee were talking about terrorism issues with the Pakistani official when a member of Goss' staff handed a note to Goss, who handed it to Graham. "We were talking about terrorism, specifically terrorism generated from Afghanistan," Graham said.

(...)

Mahmood Ahmed, director general of Pakistan's intelligence service, was "very empathetic, sympathetic to the people of the United States," Graham said.

Goss could not be reached Tuesday [September 11]. He was whisked away with much of the House leadership to an undisclosed "secure location." Graham, meanwhile, participated in late-afternoon briefings with top officials from the CIA and FBI." 4

While trivializing the importance of the 9/11 breakfast meeting, The Miami Herald (16 September 2001) confirms that General Ahmad also met Secretary of State Colin Powell in the wake of the 9/11 attacks: "Graham said the Pakistani intelligence official with whom he met, a top general in the government, was forced to stay all week in Washington because of the shutdown of air traffic ‘He was marooned here, and I think that gave Secretary of State Powell and others in the administration a chance to really talk with him’. Graham said."5

Again the political significance of the personal relationship between General Mahmoud (the alleged "money money" behind 9/11) and Secretary of State Colin Powell is casually dismissed. According to The Miami Herald, the high level meeting between the two men was not planned in advance. It took place on the spare of the moment because of the shut down of air traffic, which prevented General Mahmoud from flying back home to Islamabad on a commercial flight, when in all probability the General and his delegation were traveling on a chartered government plane. With the exception of the Florida press (and Salon.com, 14 September), not a word was mentioned in the US media's September coverage of 9-11 concerning this mysterious breakfast reunion.
"A Cloak but No Dagger"

Eight months later on the 18th of May, two days after the "BUSH KNEW" headline hit the tabloids, the Washington Post published an article on Porter Goss, entitled: "A Cloak But No Dagger; An Ex-Spy Says He Seeks Solutions, Not Scapegoats for 9/11". Focusing on his career as a CIA agent, the article largely served to underscore the integrity and commitment of Porter Goss to waging a "war on terrorism". Yet in an isolated paragraph, the article acknowledges the mysterious 9/11 breakfast meeting with ISI Chief Mahmoud Ahmad, while also confirming that "Ahmad :ran a spy agency notoriously close to Osama bin Laden and the Taliban":

"Now the main question facing Goss, as he helps steer a joint House-Senate investigation into the Sept. 11 attacks, is why nobody in the far-flung intelligence bureaucracy -- 13 agencies spending billions of dollars -- paid attention to the enemy among us. Until it was too late.

Goss says he is looking for solutions, not scapegoats. "A lot of nonsense," he calls this week's uproar about a CIA briefing that alerted President Bush, five weeks before Sept. 11, that Osama bin Laden's associates might be planning airline hijackings.

"None of this is news, but it's all part of the finger-pointing," Goss declared yesterday in a rare display of pique. "It's foolishness." [This statement comes from the man who was having breakfast with the alleged "money-man" behind 9-11 on the morning of September 11]

(...) Goss has repeatedly refused to blame an "intelligence failure" for the terror attacks. As a 10-year veteran of the CIA's clandestine operations wing, Goss prefers to praise the agency's "fine work."

(...)

On the morning of Sept. 11, Goss and Graham were having breakfast with a Pakistani general named Mahmud Ahmed -- the soon-to-be-sacked head of Pakistan's intelligence service. Ahmed ran a spy agency notoriously close to Osama bin Laden and the Taliban. 6 (Washington Post, 18 May 2002)
"Putting Two and Two together"

While the Washington Post scores in on the "notoriously close" links between General Ahmad and Osama bin Laden, it fails to dwell on the more important question: what were Rep. Porter Goss and Senator Bob Graham and other members of the Senate and House intelligence committees doing together with the alleged 9/11 "money-man" at breakfast on the morning of 9/11. In other words, the Washington Post report does not go one inch further in begging the real question: Was this mysterious breakfast venue a "political lapse", an intelligence failure or something far more serious? How come the very same individuals (Goss and Graham) who had developed a personal rapport with General Ahmad, had been entrusted under the joint committee inquiry "to reveal the truth on 9-11."(see p. )

The media trivialises the breakfast meeting, it presents it as a simple fait divers and fails to "put two and two together". Neither does it acknowledge the fact, amply documented, that "the money-man" behind the hijackers had been entrusted by the Pakistani government to discuss the precise terms of Pakistan's "collaboration" in the "war on terrorism" in meetings held behind closed doors at the State department on the 12th and 13th of September. 11 7(See Michel Chossudovsky, op cit)
Smoking Gun

When the "foreknowledge" issue hit the street on May 16th, "Chairman Porter Goss said an existing congressional inquiry has so far found 'no smoking gun' that would warrant another inquiry." 8 This statement points to an obvious "cover-up". The smoking gun was right there sitting in the plush surroundings of the Congressional breakfast venue on Capitol on the morning of September 11.
Notes

1 Agence France Presse (AFP), 28 August 2001.

2. Michel Chossudovsky, Political Deception, The Missing Link behind 9/11, Global Outlook, No. 2, 2002, See also . http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/CHO206A.html ; See also Michel Chossudovsky, Cover-up or Complicity of the Bush Administration? The Role of Pakistan's Military Intelligence (ISI) in the September 11 Attacks, November 2001, http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/CHO111A.html

3. The Hotline, 1 October 2002.

4 Stuart News Company Press Journal, Vero Beach, FL, 12 September 2001.

5 Miami Herald, 16 September 2001.

6. Washington Post, 18 May 2002.

7. Michel Chossudovsky, op. cit.

8. White House Bulletin, 17 May 2002.

Michel Chossudovsky, is Director of the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG) and author of "War and Globalisation, the Truth behind September 11, Global Outlook, Shanty Bay, On. 2002. . © Copyright Michel Chossudovsky 2003.

http://globalresearch.ca/articles/CHO308C.html

RFID Solution Secures Passports

Three French companies are offering "Intelligent Film for Identification," which could make forging passports much more difficult.

Aug. 4, 2003 - Three French companies have joined forces to develop Intelligent Film for Identification (IFI), an RFID-based authentication product for official documents, including passports, visas and identity cards. The product should be available by the end of the year.
An intelligent passport

The three companies marketing IFI are: Inside Contactless, which specializes in the development of RFID chips; Fasver, a manufacturer of security films for the protection of official documents; and IER, an RFID systems integrator.

The security solution works like this. An antenna made of conductive ink is silk-screened on the passport. An RFID chip from Inside Contactless is attached to the document. The chip couples with the antenna electromagnetically, which means there is no need for wiring bonding or another mechanical attachment procedure.

Additional security measures can be added to the page, such as holograms. Then the page is covered with a thin film that protects the chip and antenna from tampering. A passport using IFI looks the same as any other passport, says Bernard Vian, marketing manager at Inside Contactless.

But the embedded chip can store all of the printed information visible on the document, a unique serial number and biometric data, such as a facial image, fingerprint or iris scan. The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) recently recommended that biometric data be used to improve airline security.

The IFI chips operate at 13.56 MHz, have a read range of 0 to 4 inches (0 to 10 cm) and conform to the ICAO 9303, ISO 144443 and ISO 7816-4 standards, says Inside's Vian.

When a person presents a passport with the IFI technology to a customs official, the data stored on the chip can be read almost instantly and compared with the information printed on the page. If the passport’s biometric data were a retinal scan, an immigration official could have the holder system could also scan the passport holder’s retina and compare it with the template stored on the chip.

Vian declines to reveal pricing at this time but says "the cost is very competitive." He adds that the partners have been contacted by a number of government agencies in the United States and Europe that want to test the technology using their own documents. "We should be able to make more specific announcements by the fourth quarter, after important milestones are achieved," he says.

http://www.rfidjournal.com/article/articleview/522/1/1/

clanek o hovnu, ale obsahuje zajimavou vetu
Poindexter was also alleged to be polishing his resignation by week's end.
http://www.securityfocus.com/columnists/176

More Calls to Vet Voting Machines
http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,59874,00.html

Sensational Memos Lift the Lid on News Control

http://www.tbrnews.org/Archives/controling.htm

If these memos are authentic, these memos represent the most important revelation of government deception since the Pentagon Papers, and suggest the "news" is little more than mass psychological control. There are shocking references to cover-ups of government domestic terrorism, SARS, Mad Cow, and events in Iraq, Afghanistan, Korea, Iran and much more.

Examples

(March 22):….it is not conducive to maintaining an overall neutrality in the Palestine uprisings to show any pictures of the American peacenik that was run over by the Israeli army bulldozer. This is only to be mentioned as a “tragic accident” for which the IDF “is truly saddened.”

(Feb 10)….It is not permitted at this point to use or refer to any film clips, stills or articles emanating from any French source whatsoever.

(Feb 26) It is expected that coverage of the forthcoming Iraqi campaign will be identical with the coverage used during Desert Storm. Shots of GIs must show a mixed racial combination….any interviews must reflect the youthful and idealistic, not the cynical point of view…the liberation of happy, enthusiastic Iraqis can be best shown by filming crowds of cheering citizens waving American flags. Also indicated would be pictures of photogenic GIs fraternizing with Iraqi children and handing them food or other non-controversial presents…of course, pictures of dead US military personnel are not to be shown and pictures of dead Iraqi soldiers should not show examples of violent death…also indicated would be brief interviews with English-speaking Iraqi citizens praising American liberation efforts…all such interviews must be vetted by either the White House or Pentagon before public airing.

(March 12) At this point in time, reference to North Korean military threats must be played down entirely. The Iraqi Freedom campaign has to be concluded in the public mind before proceeding with the next assault on the Evil Axis….

(March 26) US alliances with the Turkish/Iraqi Kurdish tribes should be played down. This is considered a very sensitive issue with the Turks and American arming and support of the Kurds could create a severe backlash in Ankara….Kurds should be depicted as ‘Iraqi Freedom Fighters” and not identified as Kurds…

(March 10)….pro-Government rallies are to be given the fullest coverage…if anti-Government demonstrations are shown, it is desired to stress either a very small number of “eccentrics” or shots of social misfits; i.e., with beards, tattoos, physical deformities, etc. Pro-Government supporters should be seen as clean cut with as many well-groomed subjects as possible….subjects should stress complete support for the President’s programs and especially support for American military units en route to combat…also interviews with photogenic family members of participating GIs stressing loyalty and affection…American flags are always a good prop in the background…

This isn't news reporting, this is SCRIPTING.

http://www.savethemales.ca/

...

Heart experts today said it was "unusual" for someone to wear electrode pads while walking following revelations that government scientist David Kelly had four of the special monitors on his chest when his body was found in an Oxfordshire wood.

Dr Kelly - the BBC's source for a report claiming the government altered the contents of a dossier about Iraq - had probably been wearing a 24-hour electro-cardiogram recorder, also known as a Holter monitor, medical experts said.

But it was odd that the pads that are connected to the device had not been removed by doctors and were left attached to his chest, they said.

"If I was in a morgue and his body was presented to me I would have thought it had come out of a coronary care unit or an operating theatre," said Professor Konrad Jamrozik, of Imperial College Hospital London.

"It would be unusual for someone to be walking around wearing these pads," he told the press association.

Another heart specialist, who declined to be named, also said it was "very unusual" for someone to be found wearing the pads.

...

http://media.guardian.co.uk/broadcast/story/0,7493,1010866,00.html

...

Two months after the September 11 atrocities which led to the attack on Afghanistan and the fall of its cruel Taliban regime, Tony Blair pledged Britain would take the lead role in wiping out the lethal Afghan opium trade. He said: "In helping with the reconstruction of Afghanistan we shall make clear we want it to develop farming of proper agricultural produce, not produce for the drugs trade.''

The reality is a scandal. While the US spends an estimated £600million a month on military operations in Afghanistan, Britain has pledged just £70million over three years to build up an anti-drugs force.

None of the money has yet arrived. Meanwhile opium production since the fall of the Taliban, which banned the drug, has risen by some 1,400 per cent.

Last year production rose to 3,400 tonnes - three quarters of the world total. Output is expected to increase. No major drugs arrest has been made.

...

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/allnews/content_objectid=13247150_method=full_siteid=50143_headline=-BLAIR-DRUG-VOW-FIASCO--We-promised-to-wipe-out-the-Afghan-poppy-fields--Instead-more-heroin-than-ever-is%252-name_page.html

*****************************************

CIA a heroin byznys:

http://www.google.com/search?q=cia+opium+trade&sourceid=mozilla-search&start=0&start=0

Sshhhh, someone may hear you exercising free speech

Is free speech the latest casualty of the war in Iraq?

Date published: 8/3/2003

THESE ARE troubling times for Americans who cherish their freedom.

A few days ago, a public official called me over to his car to discuss his displeasure with the war in Iraq and the way the Bush administration is handling the nation's economy. This well-respected man would talk only from his vehicle, saying he was fearful of criticizing the president or his policies in public.

Before our conversation ended, the man told me of other public officials who also are fearful of speaking out. "You have to be careful what you say in public these days," he added.

I instinctively looked around to see if anyone was hiding in the gathering twilight. For a moment, I felt like I was in Nazi Germany or the Soviet Union under Joseph Stalin. Never did I think I would live to see the day when an honest man was afraid to speak his mind on political issues in America.

These days, it happens all the time. For the first time in my life, I see concerned Americans who are afraid to criticize Washington.

Almost daily, someone informs me that he is scared of openly expressing his views. Even those who do dare to speak out do so in hushed tones, fearful of what ears might overhear.

In the politically charged atmosphere that exists in America today, having the wrong person hear criticism of the government can lead to trouble.

...

http://www.freelancestar.com/News/FLS/2003/082003/08032003/1053101

September 11 probe uncovers links between Saudi establishment and terrorists

JOHN J LUMPKIN AND JOHN SOLOMON IN WASHINGTON

CLASSIFIED sections of the American Congress’ September 11 report lay out a web of connections among Saudi businessmen, the royal family, charities and banks that may have aided al-Qaeda or the suicide hijackers, according to people who have seen the report.

The document raises the possibility that one or more Saudi men who were connected to some of the hijackers or their acquaintances were tied to Saudi intelligence. It also suggests a Muslim imam in the United States may have been a facilitator for some hijackers, the unnamed sources said.

US investigators are trying to determine whether the connections are innocent coincidences in an Islamic culture that urges charitable support or a pattern of pro-terror money and patronage flowing from the kingdom which is a US ally.

Some of the most sensitive information in a 28-page classified section of the report involves what US agencies are doing currently to investigate Saudi business figures and organisations, the officials said.

...

http://www.news.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=837812003

************************

September 11 probe uncovers links between US establishment and terrorists

http://www.propagandamatrix.com/archiveprior_knowledge.html

Elektronické mýto má vydělat šestkrát více než známky

7:39 - 30.7.

PRAHA 30. července (ČTK) - Zamýšlené elektronické mýto vybírané z kamionů má vydělat šestkrát více než dálniční známky. Ministerstvo dopravy plánuje, že by stát měl v prvních letech zavedení mýta získat ročně okolo šesti miliard korun. Náklady na provoz se přitom budou pohybovat do dvou miliard korun za rok. Píše to Mladá fronta DNES.

"Dnes se od kamionů nad 12 tun za dálniční známky vybere asi 650 milionů korun," řekl listu šéf fondu dopravy Pavel Švagr. Po několika letech od zavedení mýta, s nímž se u kamionů počítá v roce 2005, by výnosy fondu mohly vyrůst až na osm miliard korun ročně.

Od roku 2005 by měly být zpoplatněny asi tři tisíce kilometrů dálnic a hlavních tahů silnic první třídy. Podle analýz fondu dopravy nehrozí, že by kamiony po zavedení mýta začaly ucpávat okresní silnice. Zvýšila by se jejich spotřeba a prodloužila doba cestování. Fond dopravy jako předpokládaný správce systému s výběrem elektronického mýta od osobních automobilů nepočítá stejně jako v Evropě dříve než v roce 2010.

Podle dnešního vydání deníku Právo se záměr ministerstva dopravy nelíbí Autoklubu České republiky, který chce mýtné jen na dálnicích. "Pokud se okruh mýtným zpoplatněných komunikací rozšíří tak výrazně, jak uvedl (ministr) Šimonovský, bude se spousta řidičů snažit placení vyhnout jízdou po silnicích druhé a třetí třídy. To bude mít za následek vzestup nehodovosti," řekl Právu mluvčí Autoklubu Václav Špička.

Jak ale Právo dodává, Autoklub se ztotožňuje s argumentem ministerstva, že zpoplatnění komunikací prostřednictvím mýtného je spravedlivější než dnešní systém dálničních známek. Platit se totiž bude za skutečný počet ujetých kilometrů.

http://www.financninoviny.cz/view-id.php4?id=20030730E00050&tbl=zpravy&kostra=m%FDtn%E9

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Šimonovský: V ČR bude zavedeno mýtné nejen na dálnicích
8:13 - 28.7.

PRAHA 28. července (ČTK) - Ministerstvo dopravy hodlá zavést elektronické mýto nejen na dálnicích, ale také na rychlostních komunikacích a některých silnicích první třídy. V rozhovoru pro dnešní Právo to řekl ministr dopravy Milan Šimonovský. Podle něj by rozsah zpoplatněné sítě představoval asi tři tisíce kilometrů, dálniční síť přitom čítá 520 kilometrů.

Ministr rovněž připustil, že vláda je připravena jednat o úpravách silniční daně, aby dopravci měli po zavedení mýtného určité přechodové období a náraz nebyl tak prudký.

Elektronické mýto by podle Šimonovského mohlo být zavedeno v roce 2005. Zásadní rozhodnutí by měla vláda učinit do konce příštího roku. V prvních letech by se poplatek týkal pouze nákladních automobilů.


"Začít hned i s osobními auty by bylo velmi nerozumné vzhledem k tomu, jaké množství jich u nás je. Systém si je třeba nejprve osvojit na menším vzorku, a tím jsou nákladní vozidla," vysvětlil Šimonovský.

Jak ministr doplnil, stát chce zpoplatnit zejména tranzitující mezinárodní dopravu, aby k ní už nebyl příliš vstřícný. "Tomuto tlaku se musí přizpůsobit i vnitrozemská doprava," dodal. I při třech tisících kilometrech podle ministra zůstane řidičům možnost zpoplatněné úseky objet. "Je ale fakt, že tím ztratí mnoho času," poznamenal.

O společném postupu v zavádění elektronického mýtného bude ČR jednat s Polskem, Maďarskem a Slovenskem. Několik expertních schůzek se má uskutečnit na podzim a rozhodnutí by mělo padnout koncem roku.

http://www.financninoviny.cz/view-id.php4?id=20030728E00073&tbl=zpravy&kostra=m%FDtn%E9

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Black box in car to trap speed drivers

Juliette Jowit, transport editor
Sunday August 3, 2003
The Observer

Drivers face automatic speeding fines without being caught by the police or roadside cameras under a proposal being studied by the Government to fit all cars with satellite tracking devices for road tolls.

Under the anti-congestion tolling plan being examined by the Department for Transport, all vehicles would be fitted with a 'black box' to charge drivers according to the type of road they are using and when they are driving.

But transport experts believe the equipment will pave the way for 24-hour monitoring of drivers to see if they break the speed limit. It could also be used to determine whether drivers were speeding before an accident.

The Government is backing trials of an advanced system which would tell the black box when it entered a speed limit and prevent the vehicle going faster. The equipment could also find drivers who have not paid vehicle duty or insurance.

The system would use global positioning systems and computer technology. It would be easy to catch speeders and there are no legal obstacles - tachographs in lorries, which record speed and length of time behind the wheel, are already examined after accidents.

'It [the equipment] probably will be used for speeding,' said Tony Grayling, associate director of the centre-left Institute for Public Policy Research think-tank. 'It's an offence to break the limit and it's appropriate that evidence is generated to demonstrate the law has been broken.'

Much of the technology that would be used for the tolling devices is already in lorry tachographs, and in commercial satellite navigation devices. The prototype planned for UK car drivers should be introduced for lorries in Germany this year and in the UK in 2006. However, a compulsory extension to every vehicle would be a big political risk.

Leading German motoring journalist Wolfgang K

In February and March, posters with the above image of Rotterdam Mayor Ivo Opstelten and the councillor of the Buro Programma Veilig, Mevrouw Faria, populated the infoboards around the city. “Oog van Rotterdam”. What the hell is this? Inspecting the brochure “The Eye of Rotterdam” pamphlet we promptly collected from the City Information Center, we came to understand that the local government was giving an award, specifically a black pyramid with a gold eye within, for a Rotterdammer who served his community by calling the cops at the right time (ie. so they can arrest some junkies or artists) or someone who ratted on a neighbour or someone who in general consistently employs Stasi techniques to make Rotterdam a better place.

http://innbetween.noneto.com/WHY/EVIDENCE/oog.html

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