Forever Expanding Awareness In Liberation » In the News

Listening in – Big Brother in USA

FEAL — Mon, 17 Jul 2006 09:43:59 +0000

SOURCE: http://www.indymedia.org/or/2006/05/839598.shtml

NSA Tracking Millions of US Phone Calls with Telcos Help

18 May 2006 14:39 GMT

On May 11th, 2006, it was reported that the National Security Agency (NSA) has been secretly collecting the phone records of tens of millions of Americans since September 11, 2001. The data has been provided by telecommunications giants AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth. The companies are the nation’s three biggest telecommunications companies; they provide local and wireless phone service to more than 200 million customers. A fourth company, Qwest, reportedly refused to provide the data willingly provided by the others without subpoenas. According to the report, this particular program does not involve the NSA listening to or recording conversations, but last year, Bush admitted that he had authorized the NSA to eavesdrop – without warrants – on international calls and e-mails of people suspected of having links to terrorists when one party to the communication is in the USA. The full extent of that warrantless wiretapping has yet to be publicly determined.
Related Reports: 1 | 2 || Updates

In this new revelation, the NSA claims the phone record data is being used in its fight against terrorism, although the millions of Americans whose telephone behavior is being tracked are not suspected of any crime. Telephone company customers’ names, street addresses and other personal information are not being handed over as part of the NSA’s program, the sources for the report said. But the phone numbers the NSA collects can easily be cross-checked with other databases to obtain that information. Addressing the report shortly after its release, Bush strangely defended the program by saying, “Our intelligence activities strictly target al-Qaida and their known affiliates” and that American citizen’s privacy is being “fiercely protected.” He also said some members of Congress previously had been informed of the existence of the massive database program. While some Cogresspeople defended the program, others demanded answers from the Bush administration Thursday about the spy agency secretly collecting records of ordinary Americans’ phone calls to build a “database of every call ever made” within US borders. Congressional Republicans and Democrats demanded answers from the Bush administration about a government spy agency secretly collecting records of ordinary Americans’ phone calls to build a database of every call made within the country. Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, said he would call the phone companies to appear before the panel “to find out exactly what is going on.”

SOURCE: http://www.indymedia.org/or/2006/05/839598.shtml

Loose Change – 9/11 Documentary

FEAL — Sun, 14 May 2006 01:34:54 +0000

I recommend checking out the following Scoop news article regarding the Loose Change 9/11 documentary. It provides a useful run down on what this documentary is about and the impact it is having.

You can watch the whole film (1 hour 20 minutes) online, and you can also download it using Bittorrent (if you know what that is and how to go about it — a quick search on Google will give you that info). It is not copy righted so downloading it in this way is legal.

The torrent link is: http://thepiratebay.org/details.php?id=3425065
It can be watched online via Google Movie if you have broadband internet. Click here to watch it that way now. It is also viewable here:

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article12233.htm

Downloading the torrent will give you a compressed DVD rip which can be burnt to two CD-ROMs for viewing on a computer. It comes out much bigger and better in quality than the online streaming versions (like Google video), but of course the content is the same.

The web site for the Loose Change documentary is http://www.loosechange911.com
Enjoy.

The Scoop article is here: http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0604/S00164.htm

You can also get this movie as part of a set that James Samual (Waiheke Island, Auckland, New Zealand) has put together. Go here for that:

http://www.iiahr.blogspot.com/

The 9/11 deception – Ex-CIA Story

FEAL — Tue, 09 May 2006 04:07:38 +0000

The great 9/11 deception that so many people bought into hook, line, and sinker…and thankfully so many people did not buy into…and so many others remained undecided, but sceptical…continues to unfold. For those interested in The State of the World here’s an article that sheds a few more tid-bits of info on the matter…

Ex-CIA analyst condemns Bush ‘manipulation campaign’ on Iraq – Yahoo! News

Drug firms ‘hype up diseases to boost sales’

FEAL — Wed, 12 Apr 2006 09:26:09 +0000

SOURCE: The Daily Mail – Click Here to view

Drug firms ‘hype up diseases to boost sales’

By RICHARD SHEARS, Daily Mail 08:35am 11th April 2006

Drug companies are inventing diseases to sell more of their products, it has been claimed. Scientists have accused major pharmaceutical firms of “medicalising” problems like high cholesterol or the symptoms of the menopause in a bid to increase profits.

Experts from around the world will meet in Australia today to discuss what they have labelled “disease-mongering”.

The group, which includes experts from Britain, will gather in Newcastle, New South Wales, where researchers have been examining the issue. David Henry and Ray Moynihan, of Newcastle University, claim the industry is exaggerating conditions and turning them into something more serious.

Female sexual dysfunction, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and “restless legs” syndrome have all been promoted by the pharmaceutical industry in the hope of selling more drugs, they say.

High cholesterol and osteoporosis-are being described as diseases in their own right, the researchers claim, turning healthy people into patients. In turn, this wastes precious resources and can cause medically-induced harm.

Drugs prescribed for ‘shyness’

Even shyness is routinely presented as a “social anxiety disorder” resulting in the person being prescribed anti-depressants.

In the case of male sexual disfunction, the researchers say, Viagra is promoted as not only a genuine treatment for erectile dysfunction but also a lifestyle improver. The two men make their claims in the Public Library of Science Medicine journal.

They accuse drug companies of funding disease-awareness campaigns through the media that are more about selling drugs than helping or educating the public.

“Like the marketing strategies that drive it, disease-mongering poses a global challenge to those interested in public health, demanding in turn a global response,” they say.

Mr Moynihan and Mr Henry say that, in their view, disease mongering is the selling of sickness that widens the boundaries of illness and grows markets for those who sell and deliver treatments.

“It is exemplified most explicitly by many pharmaceutical industryfunded disease-awareness campaigns, more often designed to sell drugs than to illuminate or to inform or educate about the prevention of illness or the maintenance of health,” they add. Conference organisers say they will try to draw a line between “market-driven exercises and legitimate disease-awareness programmes”. ‘Miracle solutions’

Drugs companies hit back last night. GlaxoSmithKline said: “We pride ourselves in providing miracle solutions to the health care needs of people every day.

“We utterly refute any suggestion that we would in any way hype or overplay the very real needs of patients that are treated all over the world.

“One of the exciting things about medical science is that we are finding new solutions to ailments or problems people have, and this is something good we can offer.” Pfizer, which makes Viagra, said: “We would refute accusations that the pharmaceutical industry is medicalising society. Treatments that can make serious and potentially life-threatening conditions better should surely be welcomed.

“Pfizer would only promote prescription medicines to health care professionals, and only in line with what licensing bodies have outlined, for them to use their clinical judgment.”

SOURCE: The Daily Mail – Click Here to view

First Knights Templar are discovered

FEAL — Wed, 12 Apr 2006 02:16:59 +0000

First Knights Templar are discovered

April 10, 2006

LONDON: The first bodies of the Knights Templar, the mysterious religious order at the heart of The Da Vinci Code, have been found by archaeologists near the River Jordan in northern Israel.

British historian Tom Asbridge yesterday hailed the find as the first provable example of actual Knights Templar.

The remains were found beneath the ruined walls of Jacob’s Ford, an overthrown

castle dating back to the Crusades, which had been lost for centuries.

They can be dated to the exact day — August 29, 1179 — that they were killed by Saladin, the feared Muslim leader who captured the fortress.

“Never before has it been possible to trace their remains to such an exact time in history,’ Mr Asbridge said. “This discovery is the equivalent of the Holy Grail to archaeologists and historians. It is unparalleled.”

SOURCE: http://www.dailytelegraph.news.com.au/story/0,20281,18761160-5001027,00.html