0 What is the true cost of the Afghanistan war? Narrated by Tony Benn.
Britain is spending tens of billions waging the unjustified war in Afghanistan, with horrific costs in the deaths of thousands of Afghan civilians, and of soldiers sent to kill and be killed. This video, narrated by Tony Benn with music by Brian Eno, dramatically conveys the cost of wars which are opposed by most people in Britain. It ends with a call to join the Antiwar Mass Assembly in Trafalgar Square on 8 October:
0 US Army Releases Suicide Data for August
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The Army released suicide data on Thursday for the month of August.
Among active-duty soldiers, there were 19 potential suicides: three have been confirmed as suicides and 16 remain under investigation. For July 2011, the Army reported 22 potential suicides among active-duty soldiers. Since the release of that report, five cases have been confirmed as suicide, and 17 cases remain under investigation. During August 2011, among reserve component soldiers who were not on active duty, there were nine potential suicides: none have been confirmed as suicide and nine remain under investigation. For July 2011, the Army reported 10 potential suicides among not-on-active-duty soldiers. Since the release of that report, one case has been added for a total of 11 cases. Three cases have been confirmed as suicide and eight cases remain under investigation.
Source:http://www.turnto23.com/news/29196695/detail.html
The US army suicide rate 'alarming and it's increasing'
A large number of the U.S. military suicides take place due to Veterans Administration (VA) doctors' prescription of anti-psychotic and other medications for the war-weary American soldiers, says Karen Kwiatkowski, a former Pentagon official.
“The suicide rate is alarming and it's increasing,” said Kwiatkowski in a Sunday interview with Press TV's U.S. Desk.
“There's actually two things that we're doing; one is we're returning them back, we're letting them have a little break and returning them back to the battle zone,” said the ex-Pentagon official.
And if they're not going back, if they're being discharged, or staying in the service away… we're trying to tell them they're not sick. If they insist that they're sick or stressed we're giving them a lot of anti-psychotics medication,” Kwiatkowski noted.
0 Israeli Embassy Amman, 15th September 2011 (VIDEO)
Western media have reported this as a "Small Turnout"....
This is being reported in all press as being a 100 person or so turnout....I think some fibs are being told there, mind you that said even though the crowd were pretty angry but harmless, it seems the Amman police/military handled the situation rather oddly...why are they not firing teargas, goading and taunting, or even beating the protesters?...
I've never seen anything like it....the west could learn a lot from these guys.
0 Ex IDF Education Head: Religious Zionism Getting 'Too Religious'
Former IDF Education head Stern, known for criticism of religious Zionists, called for end to their “move to the far religious right”.
Former IDF Education and Personnel head Elazar Stern, known for his shapr criticism of Religious Zionists, called for an end to what he said was “a move to the far religious right” on the part of rabbis of the National Religious community.
In an interview with the Hebrew newspaper, Makor Rishon, Stern said that there was a hyper-sensitivity to issues of modesty among many IDF soldiers who have studied at yeshivot associated with the National Religious movement, with what he termed "many innovations" that were harming the morale and performance of religious soldiers.
Stern, a controversial figure who wanted to eliminate the hesder yeshiva program and denigrated its service when he was head of IDF Education, this despite the overwhelming number of heroes and officers it has spawned, made the comment on the backdrop of an incident last week, in which nine religious IDF soldiers left a performance where female soldiers sang. Four of them were later sent to the brig.
The group had been refused permission to leave even though they said that they had been instructed by their rabbi to leave in order to avoid violating the halakhic law against hearing live singing performances by women.Stern, a controversial figure who wanted to eliminate the hesder yeshiva program and denigrated its service when he was head of IDF Education, this despite the overwhelming number of heroes and officers it has spawned, made the comment on the backdrop of an incident last week, in which nine religious IDF soldiers left a performance where female soldiers sang. Four of them were later sent to the brig.
Read Full Article Here:http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/147918#.TnLrpNR6KuI
0 A New "Facebook uprising" to begin in Algeria this Saturday?.
Facebook page calling for a Day of Anger in Algeria on September 17th, Algerian Government reacts with some very interesting points.....
"The Algerian Minister of Interior and Local Government, Dahou Ould Kablia said that foreign parties are involved in order to cause unrest in Algeria September 17. The survey conducted by security services, confirmed a general reluctance on these malicious calls from foreign parties whose purpose is to destabilize the country.
In a statement to Ennahar, Ould Kablia said that the authorities, who surveyed the streets of Algeria, through social networking sites, like Facebook, have concluded that there was no impact of these nuisance calls on the Algerians. On the contrary, many people, especially youth, organize to combat these ideas by calling for wisdom and mobilization in order to bar the way to any attempt to destabilize the country.According to the Minister of Interior, “the appeals find no echo and there will be no demonstrations or disturbances at that precise date.”Responding to a question as to the results of the survey which was conducted by the security services, to reach the authors of this appeal, Ould Kablia said that they were foreign parties, given the date chosen which coincides with the Camp David and also with the events of Sabra and Shatila. It is, in his view, a Zionist plan against Algeria. “If it was the work of people inside the country, we would have unmasked and arrested them, but the clues point us to foreign parties in relation to the Zionist entity.”
The date of September 17, 2011 of the alleged revolution in Algeria, to which call hundreds of Facebook and Internet users as the French journalist of Jewish origin, Bernard Henri Levy, for the overthrow of the regime in Algeria, coincides with the same day when Napoleon III had trampled Algerian soil. The choice of the date by the French philosopher is not accidental.
According to an article by Daniel R. published in the French magazine “Histoire” in January 1991, Napoleon III came to Algeria September 17, 1760. He dreamed of creating a Jewish state stretching from Algiers to Baghdad, under a French protectorate.
So the date chosen by the French writer and journalist Levy, of Jewish origins, and his consorts fans of Napoleon Bonaparte, those who belong to the new philosophical movement whose slogan “liberation of nations from domination” and follow a new modern way, using the youth of the Arab countries, and Algerians in particular, by encouraging them to revolt; a way to re-colonize these nations and put their people once again under the boots of Napoleon Bonaparte.
We shall see the outcome on Saturday...
"Bernard Henri Levy" involved?....should be very interesting.
"Bernard Henri Levy" involved?....should be very interesting.
0 Gaddafi gold-for-oil, dollar-doom plans behind Libya 'mission'?
More speculation has been raised on the reasons for NATO's intervention in Libya. As RT's Laura Emmett reports, the organisation may have been trying to prevent Gaddafi from burying the American buck.
1 Israeli Embassy Evacuated in Jordan, ahead of Anti-Zionist "Million Man March"
Israel closed its embassy in Amman, Jordan, Thursday morning and brought the staff home a day early in anticipation of mass demonstrations organized on Facebook under the banner, "No Zionist embassy on Jordanian territory."
The decision was made by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman as a security precaution.
Israeli embassy personnel normally spend the week in Amman and come home Friday to be with their families over the weekend.
On Wednesday, pro-Palestinian activists burned Israeli and American flags across from the Israeli embassy.
Despite the threat on Facebook of a "million man march," Jordanian authorities assured Israel they are monitoring the situation and did not anticipate the mass rioting that took place at Israeli's embassy in Cairo last Friday.
The Egyptian government expressed regret over last week's rioting, saying it detained more than 100 people for questioning. Three demonstrators were killed and more than 1,000 injured in the riots, Egypt's state media reported.
A day after the incident, Egypt's interim government -- the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces -- broadened and extended the country's emergency law to June 2012. It was originally slated to end on September 30, 2011.
In a television interview, Egypt's interior minister said the law would enable police to deal with lawlessness and attacks on official facilities, such as took place at the Israeli embassy. International law requires host countries to protect foreign embassies.
Netanyahu thanked Egyptian authorities and stressed the importance of returning the ambassador and embassy staff as soon as possible.
Source: http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/insideisrael/2011/September/Israeli-Embassy-Evacuated-in-Jordan/
Source: http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/insideisrael/2011/September/Israeli-Embassy-Evacuated-in-Jordan/
0 The debate over anti-Semitism, By RUCK KUHN The Canberra Times.
There is less popular support for Israel in Australia, Britain and many other countries than ever before.
In the effort to rebuild Israel's credibility, a political fight is going on over the word ''anti-Semitic''.
Supporters of Israel want to shift its meaning from hatred of Jews to include criticism of the Israeli state. They have had some success in the campaign to smuggle this formulation into common sense. From 1961, Webster's Third International Dictionary, the standard reference to English in the United States, defined anti-Semitism as both ''hostility toward Jews'' and ''opposition to Zionism: sympathy with opponents of the state of Israel''.
Zionism maintains that there should be a state which gives special rights to Jews.
In 2005, an agency of the European Union adopted a definition of anti-Semitism that included ''Denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination, eg, by claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavour''.
The US State Department has embraced this definition. This verbal manoeuvre paints Nazis and those who support the Palestinian the same shade of storm-trooper brown. It licenses apologists for Israel to claim that everyone who wants a single, secular state for Jews and Palestinians on current Israeli and Palestinian territories are the same as Adolf Hitler.
The equation of hatred of Jews with criticism of Israel reinforces the claim that the interests of Jews and Israel are identical. In practice, this subordinates the security of Jews to the interests of those in charge of the Israeli state.
The partisan definition of anti-Semitism favoured by apologists for Israel justifies labelling anti-racist activists as anti-Semites while treating overt racists as allies.
Friends of Israel in Australia have, for example, been prepared to tolerate the presence of members of the extreme right-wing Australian Patriotic Defence Movement at their mobilisations to undermine the campaign against Israeli-owned Max Brenner chocolate shops.
0 Italy moves to secure its share of the booty in Libya
Italy is not prepared to yield its traditional influence in Libya to its rivals.
Italian business and political circles take for granted their right to decide on the future of the oil and gas wealth of the country’s former colony.
“Italy will be the first partner of Libya, as it always has been,” Foreign Minister Franco Frattini declared September 3 at an economic forum in Cernobbio on Lake Como. “Italy will always maintain its first place.”
At the same economic forum, Frattini announced the release of the first tranche of €500 million in frozen Libyan assets. By mid-September, the assets held by Italy are to be handed over to the imperialist-backed National Transitional Council (NTC).
Just a week earlier, Paolo Scaroni, the CEO of Italian energy giant ENI, traveled to Benghazi and reached an agreement with representatives of the NTC for ENI to reassume control over a gas pipeline and oil production in the regions of Misla and Sarir in the east of the country. In return, ENI will provide the so-called “rebels” with gasoline as well as technical assistance for oil production.
The agreement signed by both sides declares that ENI and the NTC will create the conditions for a rapid and complete reactivation of ENI’s activities in Libya and do everything necessary to resume operations of the Green Stream pipeline. October 15 is specified as the date for the renewal of gas transport through the 500-mile pipeline from the Mediterranean to Sicily.
In March 2011, prior to the launching of the US-NATO war, Libya was producing over half a million barrels of oil per day. During the war production came to a virtual standstill, slumping to 60,000 barrels per day.Before the war, 85 percent of oil exports went to Europe. The lion’s share, about 30 percent, went to Italy.
After 2008, Italy had developed broad business relations with the Gaddafi clan. Libyan funds flowed not only to the energy company ENI and its gasoline brand Agip, but also to the Italian Unicredit bank, the carmaker Fiat, the defense group Finmeccanica, the Juventus football club and many other companies. ENI received 15 percent of its crude oil imports from Libya and the company produced 280,000 barrels per day of oil in the North African country up to the outbreak of the war.
On September 1, Italy reopened the doors of its embassy in Tripoli, which it had closed March 18. Like the French embassy, it had been looted and set on fire on May 1. France has also reopened its embassy, and Britain is about to do so.
Italy wants to secure access to Libyan oil and gas as rapidly as possible and outmaneuver its rivals. At the Paris Conference on September 1, there was already friction between “Libya’s friends” over the spoils of war. The NTC had apparently promised 35 percent of Libya’s future oil contracts to French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
0 Report To Lobby Council For Water Fluoridation In The City Of London
Report - nearly half borough's five-year-olds have rotten teeth
Almost half (45 per cent) of the borough's five-year-olds were found to have rotting or decaying teeth, way higher than the London average of (33 per cent). Only two other London boroughs have a worse record.
Dental health issues are the main cause of admissions among children at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, costing the NHS more than £350,000 in 2010/11.
The figures came in a report by the newly-formed Children's Oral Health Task Group which has been set-up to tackle the issue.
According to the taskforce, poor dental hygiene is linked to deprivation and a lack of quality health provision and warns having bad teeth can affect a child for the rest of its life.
Nadeev Pooni, dental expert for the central London NHS Trust, said it's vital parents hammer home the importance of good hygiene early."When it comes to children's teeth, it's important to set good habits early, as studies have proved that tooth decay is relatively easy to prevent," she said. "Our aim is to raise awareness of the importance of dental care and the importance of starting good habits early."
The report makes a number of recommendations, including to the council to lobby for a public consultation on water fluoridisation.
Studies have shown there is up to a 40 per cent reduction in cavities and decay in areas, such as Birmingham, where fluoride is added to the water system.
There should also be targeted borough-wide awareness campaigns, distribution of dental health packs and the incorporation of mouth screening as part of mandatory overall health check, while shops should be discouraged from displaying sweets and other sugary products near check-outs.
The recommendations are expected to discussed by the council next month and will also be presented to the Primary Care Trust.
Read More http://www.fulhamchronicle.co.uk/fulham-and-hammersmith-news/local-fulham-and-hammersmith-news/2011/09/13/report-nearly-half-borough-s-five-year-olds-have-rotten-teeth-82029-29413518/#ixzz1XwGJfIvh
http://www.southwestwater.co.uk/media/pdf/t/3/Fluoride.pdf
0 Tea Party crowd at GOP debate cheers for uninsured man’s death
Well they ...dont really but that's how Examiner.com reports what happened.
http://www.examiner.com
Last night the crowd at the GOP presidential debate made some news in addition to the candidates. The debate in Tampa, Florida was hosted by CNN and the Tea Party Express. The Tea Party based crowd frequently made their own views known by cheering on the most conservative positions of the candidates on stage. At one point, as seen in the video to the left, some members of the crowd actually call for the death of an uninsured man who chose not to pay premiums.
The scene unfolded as host Wolf Blitzer presented Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) with a hypothetical in which a healthy 30-year-old man decides not to purchase health insurance. Blitzer asked whether Paul would let the man die if he subsequently got sick and could not pay for the care he needed. While Blitzer a hypothetical, the situation is, in fact, a very real part of our society. Over 47 million Americans are uninsured. Some, as in Blitzer’s hypothetical, chose to be uninsured. However, many more have no choice and go without insurance because they cannot afford or they are excluded by private market policies. One study linked 45,000 deaths each year to a lack of health insurance. Under federal law the uninsured must be stabilized if they go to an emergency room, but there is no duty to provide them with more extensive treatment to cure their condition.
How twisted is the Anti Ron Paul Media going get??...it's laughable!!
0 Man Arrested at Ground Zero for Demanding Truth
A brave member of the 9/11 Truth Movement faced a crowd by himself and was immediately sacked by police officers. Clearly, the crowd's reaction to the simple statement "When will we be allowed to know the truth about 9/11" indicates the deep state of denial and cognitive dissonance still present within the brainwashed masses. Clearly, the propaganda campaign has had great success in channeling all of our pain, fear and dawning perception of the true terror of 9/11 as a false flag operation, into blind hatred for muslims. This is how 9/11 continues to damage America and deepen the wound that has been inflicted. Clearly, many will NEVER be mentally or emotionally capable of grasping the dark truth about 9/11. We have dark days ahead, but only by shining light into the darkness can we overcome it. Remember that, while darkness cannot drive out the light, only light can drive away the darkness.
0 IBT: 9/11 Conspiracy Theories: So Was Bin Laden a Zionist Then?
Exert from the International Business Times Article below:
Following 9/11 and despite Al-Qaeda claiming the attacks, conspiracy theories emerged rapidly, with many blaming a Zionist enterprise.
While many claim a Zionist involvement, very few seem able to explain how Bin Laden, a symbol of the fight against the West and the infidels for many Islamist extremists, apparently worked hand in hand with the Jewish lobby groups to prepare the attacks.
Most of the conspiracy theories insisting the leadership behind the attacks was more Zionist than Islamist. However for such bizarre beliefs to be taken seriously one would have to assume that Osama Bin Laden himself was a secret pro-Zionist and was part of a Zionist plot aimed at world domination.
While some theories accuse Israeli army veterans, an Israeli spy ring or even the media, most fail to give even a walk on part to al-Qaeda, preferring instead to focus on Jews.
This would be a good point, if the below was not already a documented fact...the argument is moot when Bin Laden himself is documented as stating that
"I had nothing to do with this attack"
this interview is all over the internet and is even on wikipedia
here:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Responsibility_for_the_September_11_attacks#Osama_bin_Laden_statements_after_9.2F11 full version of interview here:http://www.public-action.com/911/oblintrv.html
October 16, 2001-- An interview with Osama bin Laden was published in a Karachi-based Pakistani daily newspaper, Ummat, on September 28, 2001. In this interview, bin Laden says of the September 11 attacks in the US:
"I have already said that I am not involved in the 11 September attacks in the United States. As a Muslim, I try my best to avoid telling a lie. I had no knowledge of these attacks, nor do I consider the killing of innocent women, children and other humans as an appreciable act. Islam strictly forbids causing harm to innocent women, children and other people. Such a practice is forbidden even in the course of a battle.
"It is the United States, which is perpetrating every maltreatment on women, children and common people . . . " Everyone familiar with the content of the Waco Holocaust Electronic Museum
knows bin Laden is telling the truth.
News of this Ummat interview was suppressed in the US. Between the time of its publication and October 7, the US apparently spent its time creating a fake "bin Laden" interview, using either a stand-in or morphing. Or was the fraud produced by the Brits, as a favor to the US? No, the Taliban Home Video was a ham-fisted effort. The Brits usually have more subtlety.
You can read about the US fraud, "The Taliban Home Video," at
Attached to "The Taliban Home Video" you will find a copy of a March, 1977 CNN interview with bin Laden, conducted by Peter Arnett. Compare the content and the style of bin Laden's remarks in the 1977 CNN interview with the content and style of bin Laden's remarks in the September 28, 2001 Ummat interview. Yes, it is the same man, all right. It appears to me that the Ummat interview is authentic.
Here is a copy of the Ummat interview, which you can find at this URL:
I am grateful to InfoTimes <infotimes@rcn.com> for passing this information along to me.
===
Usama bin Laden Says Israeli Regime is Behind the 9-11 Attacks
0 'Saudi Arabia, UK main 9/11 culprits'
The United States has marked the 10th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks, amid doubts about the official account of the events.
Interview with Edward Spannaus, editor of Legal Affairs.
0 "9/11 a blatant Israeli act assigned to muslims"
The Price of Lies!
Are lies without price? Certainly not! The last and the final messenger and prophet of Allah said that truth brings life while falsehood death. This fact can be seen in case of 9/11 which is undoubtedly fraud of the millennium. It brought death and destruction for not only Afghans and Pakistanis but also for Americans and Europeans in terms of both personnel losses & injuries but also in terms of ruining of economy. It is really amazing that blatant and baseless lies after lies are spread through the strength of media taking the advantage of the fact that most Europeans and Americans do not have enough time and energy to seriously think and analyze.
Some writers are sarcastically writing that NOW the Muslim writes are distancing themselves away from terrorism and are not supporting terrorist acts such as 9/11. Nothing could be farthest from truth. I myself happen to be the very first writer who wrote the article while building still were coming down condemning the act of terrorism and squarely and categorically holding Israel responsible for it and saying that such destruction of buildings can not happen with simple airplane hit.
My article was carried by INN and spread throughout the world. I had sent same article to Mr. Adeeb who incorporated my findings and remarks in his own article and that also reached to the media and some regarded that one as the first article on this allegation. We actually broke the conspiracy theory which was ascribed tactfully to Muslims. An blatant Israeli act was assigned to Muslims and under the umbrella of this blatant lie a war of terror was launched. Unfortunately our corrupt, incompetent and puppet military leadership which had toppled civilian Government became part and parcel of this grave war of terrorism
The Jews had acknowledged my article and they interviewed me and quoted in Book titled "Preachers of Hate". Instead of being feeling ashamed, their arrogance and idiocy led them to blame others for their crime; a trait inherited by them for thousands of years. In the cotemporary history there are numerous other examples including Lavon affair and blatant terrorist attack on USS Liberty.
Very few people remember that World Trade Center was attacked before too that is on 26th February 1993. That time the culprit was Josie Hadas a known Israeli Mossad agent. Her apartment carrying the bomb material and drawings were shown on CNN breaking news. However subsequently she was silently sent to Israel. No action was taken against her at all. On the other hand she had used an innocent Palestinian origin driver Salameh to rent a van for her. She used that van to carry out blast. Poor Salameh did not know her intentions. Since then Salameh is behind the bar just like Dr. Aafia Siddiqui virtually for life. Not only Salameh but entire Islam and all Muslims were held hostage in USA.
9/11 was a booster day. The drama was planned but it was brought forward as Muslims for the first time in history were going to hold massive demonstrations in USA, UK, France and Australia against the Shatilla an Sabira camp massacres by Aerial Sharon in which more than 3500 innocent Palestinian women were buttered. Israel by doing 9/11 4-5 days before those processions in which Israel would have been made naked put Muslims on defensive and owing to great hype created by Zionist media all over the world they were forced to cancel the demonstration.
Yesterday a totally insane Altaf Hussain spoke for about 4 hours continuously on all Pakistan channels without commercial breaks and news. He was dancing singing and showed utter disrespect for Quran-e-Majeed, Kalima Tayyaba, Islam and Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah. He was blatantly lying such as that they did not take out processions against Chief Justice and that they did not put containers and did not block the road. The fact is that Musharraf and Uncle SAM provided full encouragement and support to do Karachi carnage on May 12. MQM killed point blank peaceful people in the caravans for welcome of Chief Justice. One terrorist Ajmal Pahari accepted the charge of killing many among those include Advocate Iqbal Ra’d who was defending Nawaz Sharif in plane hijack case. A day before his day light murder on Friday afternoon he had said that he will prove in the court that airplane hijack was a CIA orchestrated drama to topple Nawaz Sharif and bring Musharraf in power. This again shows how CIA and Mossad are running Pakistan.
While Osama had condemned 9/11 in an interview to Ummat newspaper of Karachi on 28th September 2011, and had categorically said that Islam does not permit killing of innocent human beings even in war and the fact that a senior BBC anchorperson had said that there is no such thing as al-Qaeeda and it is a phantom enemy created to justify wars. And the fact that an Israeli defense person Rita Kataz make all so called al-Qaeed CDs using old clips of Osama and also using various actors it must be known to all of us that the leis are not without price.
Pakistan is paying dearly for supporting the lies. Afghanistan had stood bold and courageous and has fought against all odds giving enormous sacrifices and American and Europeans are paying in terms of personnel and economy devastation.
It is high time that we realize that this war of terror is against Allah’s final book i.e. Quran e Majeed as Zionists see their death in this book and they see liberation of America and Europe and other countries through this book. This is their final war and they are bound to be badly defeated.
0 Suspected NZ terrorist to PM: "I want your evidence"
The Prime Minister is refusing to reveal why the Government believes Hamilton man Mark Taylor is a terror threat.
Mr Taylor, a convert to Islam, has never faced trial but hid alleged links to al-Qaeda mean he is living under restrictions so secret he has not been told them himself.
M Taylor is New Zealand's first suspected al-Qaeda terrorist, and his message for John Key is simple: Show me the evidence.
“I'd say to him ‘where is your evidence? I want 100 percent evidence put on the table’.”
Mr Key's response: no way.
Mr Key confirmed a Wikileaks release showing Mr Taylor is on an international terror watch-list.
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Mark Taylor |
He also said Mr Taylor was living here under secret restrictions.
Mr Taylor says he would like to know what the restrictions are.
He is a former New Zealand soldier and suspected of training for terrorism, after visiting the al-Qaeda stronghold Wana in Pakistan.
He has also been to Yemen where al-Qaeda is based and listens to radical cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, one of the group's motivators.
“Surely we’ve got to watch this guy,” says Mr Key.
Mr Taylor was deemed so dangerous he even had his New Zealand passport cancelled with help from the Terrorism Suppression Act.
But he has never faced any charges, or had any trial.
“Why is it that I haven't been taken to court? Why is it that I have my passport revoked? And basically it’s from the SIS, they won't give me any, they won’t explain to me because it's all classified.”
Mr Taylor may be a terror suspect but just eight weeks ago he was in the audience as Mr Key spoke to his Hamilton mosque.
And if he ever sees him again - he has this to say.
“Thanks very much for ruining my life.”
There are many questions about Mr Taylor and his denials require a lot of believing.
But his case sends a warning the enormous powers our spies and terror laws can have over people, without requiring evidence.
0 Aids research creates glowing cats
Green glowing cats have been created by gene scientists working on the Aids virus.
The spooky-looking moggies had their DNA modified with a gene from a fluorescent jellyfish. Placed under blue light, their fur, claws and whiskers emit an eerie green glow.
The purpose of the study was to show how a natural protein that prevents macaque monkeys developing Aids can do the same in cats.
Scientists in the US used the jellyfish gene to track the gene for the protein. Both were inserted into the DNA of adult tabby cats, which gave birth to luminous kittens.
Cats are susceptible to their own version of the HIV virus that triggers Aids, called FIV (Feline Immunodeficiency Virus).
Normally the immune systems of cats and humans are overwhelmed by the viruses.
But macaque monkeys possess "restriction factor" proteins that can stop the viruses invading immune cells.
When cats were genetically engineered to produce one of these factors, TRIMcyp, FIV replication was reduced.
Two male cats and one female with the genes were born and survived. The male passed the genes down to kittens of his own, which emitted a weaker glow.
Eric Poeschla, from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, New York state, who led the study, reported in the journal Nature Methods: "One of the best things about this biomedical research is that it is aimed at benefiting both human and feline health. It can help cats as much as people."
0 Nanoscale Spin Waves Can Replace Microwaves
A group of scientists from the University of Gothenburg and the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Sweden, have become the first group in the world to demonstrate that theories about nanoscale spin waves agree with observations.
 |
| Spin waves spread from a magnetic nanocontact like rings on water. |
This opens the way to replacing microwave technology in many applications, such as mobile phones and wireless networks, by components that are much smaller, cheaper, and that require less resources. The study has been published in the scientific journal Nature Nanotechnology.
"We have been in competition with two other research groups to be the first to confirm experimentally theoretical predictions that were first made nearly 10 years ago. We have been successful due to our method for constructing magnetic nanocontacts and due to the special microscope at our collaborators' laboratory at the University of Perugia in Italy," says Professor Johan Åkerman of the Department of Physics, University of Gothenburg, where he is head of the Applied Spintronics group.
The aim of the research project, which started two years ago, has been to demonstrate the propagation of spin waves from magnetic nanocontacts. Last autumn, the group was able to demonstrate the existence of spin waves with the aid of electrical measurements, and the results were published in the scientific journal Physical Review Letters.
The research group has used one of the three advanced spin wave microscopes in the world, at the university in the Italian town of Perugia, to visualise the motion. The microscope makes it possible to see the dynamic properties of components with a resolution of approximately 250 nanometre.
The results have opened the way for a new field of research known as "magnonics," using nanoscale magnetic waves.
"I believe that our results will signal the start of a rapid development of magnonic components and circuits. What is particularly exciting is that these components are powered by simple direct current, which is then converted into spin waves in the microwave region. The frequency of these waves can be directly controlled by the current. This will make completely new functions possible," says Johan Åkerman, who is looking forward to exciting developments in the next few years.
Its magneto-optical and metallic properties mean that magnonic technology can be integrated with traditional microwave-based electronic circuits, and this will make completely untried combinations of the technologies possible. Magnonic components are much more suitable for miniaturisation than traditional microwave technology.
0 China building EMP weapons for use against U.S. carriers
China’s military is developing electromagnetic pulse weapons that Beijing plans to use against U.S. aircraft carriers in any future conflict over Taiwan, according to an intelligence report made public on Thursday.
Portions of a National Ground Intelligence Centerstudy on the lethal effects of electromagnetic pulse (EMP) and high-powered microwave (HPM) weapons revealed that the arms are part of China’s so-called “assassin’s mace” arsenal – weapons that allow a technologically inferior China to defeat U.S. military forces.
EMP weapons mimic the gamma-ray pulse caused by a nuclear blast that knocks out all electronics, including computers and automobiles, over wide areas. The phenomenon was discovered in 1962 after an aboveground nuclear test in the Pacific disabled electronics in Hawaii.
The declassified intelligence report, obtained by the private National Security Archive, provides details on China’s EMP weapons and plans for their use. Annual Pentagon reports on China’s military in the past made only passing references to the arms.
“For use against Taiwan, China could detonate at a much lower altitude (30 to 40 kilometers) … to confine the EMP effects to Taiwan and its immediate vicinity and minimize damage to electronics on the mainland,” the report said.
The report, produced in 2005 and once labeled “secret,” stated that Chinese military writings have discussed building low-yield EMP warheads, but “it is not known whether [the Chinese] have actually done so.”
The report said that in addition to EMP weapons, “any low-yield strategic nuclear warhead (or tactical nuclear warheads) could be used with similar effects.”
“The DF-21 medium-range ballistic missile has been mentioned as a platform for the EMP attack against Taiwan,” the report said.
According to the report, China’s electronic weapons are part of what are called “trump card” or “assassin’s mace” weapons that “are based on new technology that has been developed in high secrecy.”
“Trump card would be applicable if the Chinese have developed new low-yield, possibly enhanced, EMP warheads, while assassin’s mace would apply if older warheads are employed,” the report said.
According to the report, China conducted EMP tests on mice, rats, rabbits, dogs and monkeys that produced eye, brain, bone marrow and other organ injuries. It stated that “it is clear the real purpose of the Chinese medical experiments is to learn the potential human effects of exposure to powerful EMP and [high-powered microwave] radiation.”
The tests did not appear designed for “anti-personnel [radio frequency] weapons” because of the limited amounts of radiation used.
However, the report said another explanation is that the Chinese tests may have been research “intended primarily for torturing prisoners,” or the tests may have been conducted to determine safety or shielding standards for military personnel or weapons.
The medical research also appeared useful for China’s military in making sure that EMP weapons used against Taiwan and “any vulnerable U.S. [aircraft carrier] would not push the U.S. across the nuclear-response threshold,” the report said.
“China’s [high-altitude] EMP capability could be used in two different ways: as a surprise measure after China’s initial strike against Taiwan and other U.S. [aircraft carrier strike group] assets have moved into a vulnerable position, and as a bluff intended to dissuade the United States from defending Taiwan with a CVBG,” the Pentagon acronym for carrier strike groups.
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