New Article: Jupiter, Nostradamus, Edgar Cayce, and the Return of the Mongols - Laura Knight-Jadczyk

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7

Picture of the Day

The Moon & Venus Trapped Flying
©2004 Pierre-Paul Feyte

We have commented frequently that the reality in which man resides is an illusion or dream world. We often state that, in our default state of being, we are asleep. In order to help clarify our point of view, today we consider some more specific examples of this slumber.

It seems that reality is not a concrete, thoroughly understood concept, no matter how hard we try to convince ourselves that it is so. From the view of modern physics, it cannot even be said that mankind understands the fundamental construction of the universe. It is clear that we do not even understand what gravity is. There are equations that describe how this force acts upon physical objects, but nothing that is able to truly explicate how gravity works, or why it exists at all. It is entirely possible that gravity relates to consciousness in some way - but at this point, based on mainstream physics, all we can do is guess. We simply do not know.

Nonetheless, there are scientists who convince themselves that due to the progress mankind has made, we are somehow "masters" of this reality. Of course, we beg to differ. Wishing for something does not seem to make it so, at least in our current state. "Reason" from a scientific standpoint often involves discarding facts that don't support a theory for any number of reasons, including personal bias or political or religious pressure.

From a religious perspective, man seems to be thoroughly ridiculous in his reasoning. One might even say that in the case of religion, reason goes right out the window. We believe that the many different religions could be organized into different levels of awareness. For example, there are numerous Christians around the globe. Some of these Christians simply believe; others act on their beliefs.

A vast number of Christians wear their religion is a sort of badge of honor. They may not attend their churches regularly or participate in the prescribed rituals. Yet all they do is from the standpoint of "being Christian". Obviously, this is quite a contradiction - one cannot really say that one belongs to a certain religion if one neglects to actually participate in that religion. How can one declare, "I am a Christian" in one breath, and in the next breath support the murder of tens of thousands in a "War on Terror"? In this sense, many Christians are dreaming.

Humanity excels at destroying and killing. Our capacity to commit heinous acts has increased exponentially in recent times - yet we proclaim loudly that we believe in this god or that god, and that killing is wrong. These religious individuals are asleep in that they are not aware of the cognitive dissonance created inside them by the contradiction of their religion and the actions of the society that they support.

This dissonance is a rather useful tool for the powers that be. If our conflicting thoughts make us uncomfortable, we can simply rationalize the discomfort away by declaring that it must be the bad guys "out there". After the heathens are stamped out of existence, we can tell ourselves that Good has triumphed over Evil - end of story. In this case, one's beliefs are based only on the desire for them to be real. What is lacking is action.

Of course, there are those Christians who are deeply devoted to their beliefs. They actively participate in the numerous activities of their chosen organization. They may even speak out against all wars, adhering rigidly to the belief structure that has been laid out for them. In this case, the source of the rigid system of beliefs is not tested. If a true, honest comparison were made between religious doctrine, history, and the sciences, a good many red flags would be raised. In the search for knowledge, one cannot have a religion that contradicts science, or a science that contradicts religion, without making both false. Knowledge must be accurate and concrete. What is lacking is objectivity.

Our discussion is certainly not limited to Christianity. There are countless other religions and philosophies that need to be included, as well. But it seems that in every one of these cases, man is dreaming. And religion is not the only aspect of man's life that is a part of his slumber. We may identify strongly with a certain sports team, or the gated community in which we live. We desire that these organizations are the best. We convince ourselves that this idea is true. Then, we dream.

It is evident that no stone must be left unturned. If we see a rock upon our path - no matter how small - and we decide to ignore it, we are not accepting reality as it is. To deny any aspect of reality is to attempt to shelter ourselves from the chill wind of what is; it is an attempt to control. Uncovering reality will not always make us feel jolly and cheerful. Since entropy seems to be the way of this world, there is much about it that is horrific and disturbing.

Yet, as we mentioned, it appears that reality is not a concrete, well-understood concept. We don't know what the true nature of our existence is, or what of our "reality" is actually real, and what is a dream. What seems to be true is that desire is not enough; we must act. Action alone is also not enough; we must do based on objective understanding. And finally, an objective understanding of the world outside us is not possible without a brutally honest review of what is inside us.

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911 days between the two attacks, 9/11 and 3/11

The world is a game to these people, and we are the pawns. So brazen and crowing with success they just can't resist leaving their calling card. They know that so few will get it they can all have a laugh at our expense. People will be told what to believe, and they will believe it.

Spain Mourns 'Our September 11,' Qaeda Link Probed

Spanish papers united in their condemnation of "Our September 11" and said establishing blame would now be a critical factor in Sunday's general election.

Alleged al-Qaeda letter claims responsibility for Madrid bombings

Last Updated Fri, 12 Mar 2004 0:02:36

MADRID - A London-based Arabic newspaper says an al-Qaeda-linked group has claimed responsibility for the series of deadly bombs that ripped across a train line in Madrid, but Spanish officials maintain Basque separatists are still the chief suspects.

The newspaper Al-Quds al-Arabi said it received a five-page e-mail from the Brigade of Abu Hafs al-Masri claiming its "death squad" had penetrated "one of the pillars of the crusade alliance, Spain."

About 190 people died Thursday when 10 bombs exploded on the trains.

"This is part of settling old accounts with Spain, the crusader, and America's ally in its war against Islam," the unverified claim said.

The statement also warned that an attack would soon be launched against the United States.

"We announce the good news for the Muslims in the world that the strike of the black wind of death, the expected strike against America, is now at its final stage – 90 per cent ready – and it is coming soon, by God's will," the claim said.

The group said it did not feel sad for the "so-called civilians," apparently referring to the casualties in Madrid.

"Is it OK for you to kill our children, women, old people and youth in Afghanistan, Iraq, Palestine and Kashmir? And is it forbidden to us to kill yours?" the claim asked.

The claim comes as police investigating the bombings say they found a van with detonators and an Arabic-language tape with Qur'anic verses in a nearby town.

Spain's Interior Minister Angel Acebes said the van, found in Alcala de Henares, contained seven detonators and the tape.

Koran recordings found at Madrid blast site, police say

The Associated Press
March 11, 2004

MADRID, Spain (AP) - Police found a van Thursday with detonators and an Arabic-language audio tape with Quranic verses and officials investigating the Madrid bombings that killed 192 people said they weren't ruling out anything, Interior Minister Angel Acebes said.

Meanwhile, a London-based Arabic newspaper, Al-Quds al-Arabi, said it had received a claim of responsibility for the Madrid train bombings issued by The Brigade of Abu Hafs al-Masri in the name of al-Qaida. The van, found in Alcala de Henares, 15 miles outside Madrid, was stolen from the city Feb. 28. On the front seat, police found seven detonators and the tape, Acebes told a news conference.

"Because of this, I have just given instructions to the security forces not to rule out any line of investigation," Acebes said.

The armed Basque group ETA remained the "main line of investigation" in the blasts, he said. With the van find "all kinds of lines investigation open up," Acebes said. [...]

The same tactics are used as 9/11. Remember the passport safely landing on a pile of burning debris, and the copies of the Koran carefully placed at airports? These people think we are so stupid that we will fall for the same tricks all over again. They are probably right.

Israeli Team to Help ID Bodies in Madrid

JERUSALEM -Three Israeli pathologists will assist the Spanish government in identifying bodies from the terrorist bombings in Madrid, the team leader said Thursday. [...]

The Spanish government requested the Israeli help, Nachman said. [...]

FLASHBACK: Turkey, Israel investigate Istanbul synagogue bombings claimed by al-Qaida

08:22 AM EST Nov 17 2003

ISTANBUL (AP) - Two Arabic-language newspapers received separate statements Sunday claiming that the al-Qaida terrorist network carried out Saturday's car bombings outside two Istanbul synagogues - attacks that killed 23 people. The bombings are being investigated by Turkish and Israeli teams.

[...] There was no way to independently confirm the authenticity of either claim of responsibility.

Spain Was a Center for al-Qaida Activity

By JOHN LEICESTER
Associated Press Writer  
March 12, 2004

MADRID, Spain (AP) - Just months ago, a taped threat thought to be from Osama bin Laden included Spain among countries that could be attacked "at the appropriate time and place."

After Thursday's train bombings in Madrid, the government quickly blamed the Basque separatist group ETA. But later the interior minister said Islamic terrorism was not ruled out.

Bin Laden's warning was contained in an audiotape in October that the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency determined was probably authentic.

Spanish and other anti-terrorism officials say Spain was an important European center for al-Qaida activity before the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks in the United States.

Spanish Judge Baltasar Garzon believes that Spain, along with Germany, was an important staging ground for the hijackings. Lead suicide pilot Mohamed Atta visited Spain twice in 2001, including a trip that July which Garzon says was called to discuss last-minute details with other senior plotters.

Last September, Garzon indicted bin Laden and nine other terror suspects over the Sept. 11 attacks. Three were alleged to be members of a Spain-based terror cell. Garzon charged 25 other men with belonging to Al-Qaida.

More than 40 al-Qaida suspects have been arrested in Spain since the attacks, although many have been released for lack of evidence. Tayssir Alouni, a reporter for pan-Arab television channel Al-Jazeera who was arrested last September on charges of belonging to al-Qaida, also has been released on bail.

In Spain, there are fears that Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar's staunch support of the U.S.-led war in Iraq has made the country a target for Islamic terrorists. Aznar has sent 1,300 troops to Iraq, even though most Spaniards opposed the war. [...]

We have repeatedly covered the fact that al-Qaeda tapes were more than likely fakes:

FLASHBACK: - Bin Laden tape a fake, Swiss lab says - The latest audiotape statement attributed to accused terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden is not authentic, a Swiss research institute said. The Lausanne-based Dalle Molle Institute for Perceptual Artificial Intelligence said it is 95-per-cent certain the tape does not feature the voice of the long-absent terrorist leader.

The above AP article discusses Mohammed Atta visiting Spain, but conveniently leaves out Mohammed's funding for such trips and his connections to US Senator Bob Graham amd Mahmoud Ahmed. From American Coup d'état.

But is there any evidence for US complicity? Such as Senator Bob Graham, chief of the Senate intelligence Committee, meeting with the chief of Pakinstani intelligence, Mahmoud Ahmad, the morning of September 11. Such as $100,000 passing from this same Pakinstani intelligence chief and into the bank account of Mohammad Atta, identified as the chief "terrorist". This is the subject of the article Mahmoud Ahmad and the Secret Cult.

Let's not forget that This war on terrorism is bogus

The 9/11 attacks gave the US an ideal pretext to use force to secure its global domination

[...] Nor is the US response after 9/11 any better. No serious attempt has ever been made to catch Bin Laden. In late September and early October 2001, leaders of Pakistan's two Islamist parties negotiated Bin Laden's extradition to Pakistan to stand trial for 9/11. However, a US official said, significantly, that "casting our objectives too narrowly" risked "a premature collapse of the international effort if by some lucky chance Mr Bin Laden was captured". The US chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, General Myers, went so far as to say that "the goal has never been to get Bin Laden" (AP, April 5 2002).  [...]

Until recently the US has openly admitted that Bin Laden was not important. Now we receive regular reports that Pakistani troops have him surrounded, conveniently close to election time. Capture bin Laden and make Bush a world wide hero now that it can be said most of the Western world is in danger from this small band of super terrorists that receive orders from a remote cave.

Bush's war on terror' is a cruel hoax

BY JOHN PILGER

[...] CIA director William Casey backed a plan by Pakistan's intelligence agency, the ISI, to recruit people from around the world to join the Afghan jihad. More than 100,000 Islamic militants were trained in Pakistan between 1986 and 1992, in camps overseen by the CIA and Britain's MI6, with the British SAS trained future al Qaeda and Taliban fighters in bomb-making and other black arts. Their leaders were trained at a CIA camp in Virginia. This was called Operation Cyclone and continued long after the Soviets had withdrawn in 1989. [...]

On September 22, 2001 the Washington Post carefully documented Zacarias Moussaoui's Basque connection:

Moussaoui was born in the town of St. Jean de Luz in the Basque region of France. His mother, Aicha Moussaoui, told L'Express that her son underwent a conversion to a strict form of Islam through his contacts with Islamic organizations while living in Britain during the 1990s.

Moussaoui is a:

French citizen who is the only person facing trial in a U.S. court in connection with the Sept. 11 attacks.

A federal appeals judge in Virginia threw out much of the case against Moussaoui last year and barred the use of the death penalty after the Bush administration refused to provide the defendant with access to captured al-Qaida prisoners who might have bolstered his defense.

After Moussaoui's case falls apart, "al-Qaeda" is supposedly blowing up innocent lives in a country where the majority of the population strongly protested the Iraq Invasion. Actually the media is just insinuating al-Qaeda. For right now, they always include the tag line at the bottom of the article that the "case is still open." As an aside, on September 22, 2001, Powell mentioned in a speech about "getting tough on terrorism" that the US would target the ETA. We found a copy of this AP article yesterday, but it has since been scrubbed from the internet.

Now that al-Qaeda is on everyone's mind, the call for blood may ring louder than ever:

Time for regime change in Tehran

Jeff Jacoby
Boston Globe

[...] When it comes to the liberation of Iran, Bush's words have been perfect. When will his administration's deeds follow suit? [...]

If we are going to win the war on terrorism, the liberation of Iran is not an option. It is a prerequisite. The Bush administration should be saying so -- and living up to its words. [...]

If anyone thought that one single item would change if Kerry is elected, they are obviously delusional:

Kerry issues statement on Spainish bombing

"We must remember that all civilized nations are joined as one in the global battle against terror," he said.

Notice the insinuation that Muslim nations are not civilized and the country that has overthrown over twenty democratically elected governments is. Notice the insinuation that the Western world should get together and blow up all the Muslim countries. Who benefits?

For more on 9/11, see Laura Knight-Jadczyk's book The Occult Significance of 9/11.

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Madrid atrocities: Islamic fundamentalists or Eta - who did it?

By Elizabeth Nash in Madrid
12 March 2004

The finger of suspicion last night pointed to al-Qa'ida as possible perpetrators of yesterday's the bomb blasts in Madrid. Spain's Interior Minister, Angel Acebes, made a surprise second appearance to say that the government did not rule out the possibility that an Islamic group could have carried out the attack.

Police found a stolen truck in the town of Alcala de Henares, east of Madrid, that contained seven detonators and and a tape in Arabic containing verses from the Koran. Alcala was the starting point of one of the targeted trains.

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France condemns Madrid attack, reinforces Spanish border guards

BAYONNE, France, March 11 (AFP) - France joined international condemnation of the Madrid bomb attacks which killed more than 170 people Thursday morning and reinforced its police presence on its border with Spain.

"France condemns with the greatest firmness the cowardly attacks. Terrorism in all its forms and from whatever source must be fought unflinchingly," foreign ministry spokesman Herve Ladsous said.

"Paris sends the Spanish authorities its complete solidarity in this terrible trial and expresses its sincere condolences to families and friends of the victims," he said.

Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin has sent a personal message of sorrow to his counterpart Ana Palacio, the spokesman said.

Precise details of the scale of the French police deployment on the border were not released.

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Asian leaders denounce Madrid bombings, mull tighter security

07:22 AM EST Mar 12
GARY SCHAEFER

TOKYO (CP) - Asian leaders on Friday joined the global condemnation of train bombings in Spain that killed nearly 200 people, with some calling for tighter security at home to guard against similar terrorist acts.

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BUSH CONTINUES TO MISLEAD ABOUT 9/11

As President Bush visits a memorial for victims of the 9/11 attacks today, he continues to refuse to clarify dishonest comments he and his national security adviser made denying they had any warning that a terrorist attack was imminent before 9/11. (1)

In May 2002, National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice claimed, "I don't think anybody could have predicted that [Al Qaeda] would try to use an airplane as a missile." (2) Similarly, President Bush denied having any idea about the threat, saying on 5/17/02, "Had I known that the enemy was going to use airplanes to kill on that fateful morning, I would have done everything in my power to protect the American people." (3)

The problem is that these denials contrast sharply with warnings the White House did receive prior to 9/11. Specifically, the Administration was warned before 9/11 that Al Qaeda was planning to use airplanes in an attack against the United States and that the terror group had recently considered using airplanes as missiles. ABC News and Dateline NBC reported that White House officials acknowledge that U.S. intelligence officials delivered a one-and-a-half page document to President Bush on August 6th that warned that "bin Laden's terrorist network might try to hijack American planes." (4, 5, 6) Those warnings came at the same time that U.S. and Italian officials were warning that "Islamic terrorists might attempt to kill President Bush and other leaders by crashing an airliner into the [July 2001] Genoa summit of industrialized nations." (7)

These warnings came at the same time top Administration officials were being told to change their own personal flight plans because of "threats." Attorney General John Ashcroft stopped flying commercial airlines and instead began "traveling exclusively by leased jet aircraft instead of commercial airlines" because of "what the Justice Department called a 'threat assessment." (8) (To this day, the details of that threat assessment have never been made public.) Similarly, Newsweek reported that the day before the 9/11 terror attacks "a group of top Pentagon officials suddenly canceled travel plans for the next morning, apparently because of security concerns." (9)

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Mushroom-cloud image brings FBI agent to Jeffco critic's business

By Alicia Caldwell
Denver Post

Mike Zinna will be the first to tell you what he thinks of many of Jefferson County's top government officials in what is typically a critical and even profane diatribe.

But a terrorist, he says, he's not.

That's why he was incensed to find himself face to face Thursday morning with officers from the FBI's joint terrorism task force, complete with what he said was a bomb-sniffing dog. He was being investigated because of a mushroom-cloud cartoon he put up on his political website, Jeffcoexposed.com .

A spokeswoman for the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office said her agency and the FBI received complaints about the cartoon [...]

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FLASHBACK: Careful: The FB-eye may be watching

Reading the wrong thing in public can get you in trouble

Comment: Also see the recent CounterPunch article The FBI is on My Trail. In this case the FBI may be doing Israel's political bidding:

[...] And Israel, which has long sought to eradicate any Arab voice in America, has refused to allow scrutiny of its "intelligence," prompting Moffitt to demand of the prosecutors whether things have gotten so bad that we're allowing a foreign power to dictate criminal proceedings in our courts. [...]

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Bush addresses evangelical Christians in Colorado Springs

By Scott Lindlaw
Associated Press
March 12, 2004

WASHINGTON - President Bush told evangelical Christians what they wanted to hear Thursday, ticking off highlights of his "compassionate conservative" agenda, from halting late-term abortions to banning gay marriage. [...]

Bush opened his address via satellite to the National Association of Evangelicals Convention in Colorado Springs by lavishing praise on the group.

"You're doing God's work with conviction and kindness," Bush said. [...]

"We're working to build a culture of life," he said, noting that he had taken "an important step" last November when he signed legislation outlawing certain late-term abortions. [...]

Comment: Hmm, blowing up Iraqi and Afghani children with cluster bombs yet preventing abortions "builds a culture of life"? We guess Bush means that blowing up Muslims and lying about why is doing the Lord's work.

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Stations playing Bush campaign ads for free during news?

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MY HELL IN CAMP X-RAY

By Rosa Prince and Gary Jones
The Mirror
Mar 12 2004

A BRITISH captive freed from Guantanamo Bay today tells the world of its full horror - and reveals how prostitutes were taken into the camp to degrade Muslim inmates.

Jamal al-Harith, 37, who arrived home three days ago after two years of confinement, is the first detainee to lift the lid on the US regime in Cuba's Camp X-Ray and Camp Delta.

The father-of-three, from Manchester, told how he was assaulted with fists, feet and batons after refusing a mystery injection.

He said detainees were shackled for up to 15 hours at a time in hand and leg cuffs with metal links which cut into the skin.

Their "cells" were wire cages with concrete floors and open to the elements - giving no privacy or protection from the rats, snakes and scorpions loose around the American base.

He claims punishment beatings were handed out by guards known as the Extreme Reaction Force. They waded into inmates in full riot-gear, raining blows on them.

Prisoners faced psychological torture and mind-games in attempts to make them confess to acts they had never committed. Even petty breaches of rules brought severe punishment.

Medical treatment was sparse and brutal and amputations of limbs were more drastic than required, claimed Jamal.

A diet of foul water and food up to 10 years out-of-date left inmates malnourished.

But Jamal's most shocking disclosure centred on the use of vice girls to torment the most religiously devout detainees.

Prisoners who had never seen an "unveiled" woman before would be forced to watch as the hookers touched their own naked bodies.

The men would return distraught. One said an American girl had smeared menstrual blood across his face in an act of humiliation. [...]

Jamal added: "The whole point of Guantanamo was to get to you psychologically. The beatings were not as nearly as bad as the psychological torture - bruises heal after a week - but the other stuff stays with you." [...]

As a punishment, inmates would be confined so tightly they would be forced to lie in a ball for hours. During lengthy interrogation, they would be tethered to a metal ring on the floor.

Jamal said: "Sometimes you would be chained up on the floor with your hands and feet actually bound together. One of my friends told me he was kept like that for 15 hours once. [...]

"They would shut off the water before prayers so we couldn't wash ourselves according to our religion."

"The food was terrible as well, up to 10 years out-of-date. They would open a hatch and shove it through a section at a time. [...]

"They would play tricks on people by denying them things - you might be the only person on your block who didn't get any bread. I prided myself on never asking them for anything. I would not beg." Jamal said they were told they had no rights. "They actually said that - 'You have no rights here'. After a while, we stopped asking for human rights - we wanted animal rights. In Camp X-Ray my cage was right next to a kennel housing an Alsatian dog.

"He had a wooden house with air conditioning and green grass to exercise on. I said to the guards, 'I want his rights' and they replied, 'That dog is member of the US army'. [...]

Comment: A few days ago we ran a story about a 12 year-old who had been at Guantanamo who thought it was great. He went to classes and took courses, he did sports, etc. This testimony shows what happened to the older prisoners. The frightening thing is that this is the future for everybody on this planet. The bombing in Madrid is the justification for European countries to more explicitly begin the lock-down. Chris Floyd, in his article below, discusses the coming Theocracy in the US.

These people are not playing a game. They are very serious about achieving their goals. They know that the planet is facing a catastrophic future, be it from the climate or comets or war, take your pick, and that the populations will have to be heavily controlled. These control measures are being put into place as we speak. Dissidence in the US will soon be a crime. Will Europe be far behind?

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Cuba Captive Tells of Guantanamo 'Torture'

By Vik Iyer, Caroline Gammell and Owen Fairclough PA News
The Scotsman
Fri 12 Mar 2004

A Briton detained at Guantanamo Bay spoke for the first time today about his ordeal, accusing the US military of punishment beatings and psychological torture.

Father-of-three Jamal al Harith, 37, from Manchester, was one of five Britons released from the camp in Cuba after being incarcerated for more than two years. [...]

The website designer said he accidentally strayed into Afghanistan, believing he was being driven to Turkey. He was arrested there on allegations of spying. [...]

Speaking to reporters outside the family’s terrace home in Bath Road, Tipton, Dr Mohammed Naseem, chairman of Birmingham Central Mosque and a well-known Muslim figure in the region, condemned the treatment of the detainees.

He said: “I think back to the times of Stalin and Hitler when people were being taken away somewhere where no one knew where they were.” [...]

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Pin Heads

If enacted, the Constitution Restoration Act will effectively transform the United States into a theocracy, where the arbitrary dictates of a "higher power" can override law.

By Chris Floyd

One of the sticking points in crafting the just-signed "interim constitution" of the Pentagon cash cow formerly known as Iraq was the question of acknowledging Islam as the fundamental source of law. After much wrangling, a fudge was worked out that cites the Koran as a fundamental source of legal authority, with the proviso that no law can be passed that conflicts with Islam.

We in the enlightened West smile at such theocratic quibbling, of course: Imagine, national leaders insisting that a modern state be governed solely by divine authority! Governments guaranteeing the right of religious extremists to impose their views on society! What next -- debates about how many angels can dance on the head of a pin? Oh, those poor, ignorant barbarians in Babylon!

Well, wipe that smile off your face. For even now, the ignorant barbarians in Washington are pushing a law through Congress that would "acknowledge God as the sovereign source of law, liberty [and] government" in the United States. What's more, it would forbid all legal challenges to government officials who use the power of the state to enforce their own view of "God's sovereign authority." Any judge who dared even hear such a challenge could be removed from office.

The "Constitution Restoration Act of 2004" is no joke; it was introduced last month by some of the Bush Regime's most powerful Congressional sycophants. If enacted, it will effectively transform the American republic into a theocracy, where the arbitrary dictates of a "higher power" -- as interpreted by a judge, policeman, bureaucrat or president -- can override the rule of law.

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Pentagon awards 1.1 billion dollars in Iraq contracts to US, UK firms

Fri Mar 12, 6:57 AM ET

BAGHDAD (AFP) - US and UK firms have won two contracts worth 1.1 billion dollars to help rebuild Iraq, and Washington will award a final eight major deals to companies from countries that supported the war effort in the coming days, a spokesman said. [...]

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Saddam had WMDs destroyed in 91, claim scientists

THE row over whether Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction was reignited yesterday, after the former head of the country’s nuclear programme said Saddam Hussein ordered the destruction of the arms and the means to produce them in 1991.

Comment: 10,000 Iraqi innocents dead, blown to bits with American ordnance and apathy, their torn limbs littering the streets of their home towns, and for what? So that a small group of men could satisfy their lust for power, while at the same time satisfying American citizens' desire to maintain the illusion that they really do live in "the land of the free and home of the brave".

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Purported Qaeda letter says U.S. attack nearly ready

Thursday March 11, 08:46 PM

DUBAI (Reuters) - A letter purporting to come from Osama bin Laden's militant Islamist al Qaeda network says a big attack on the United States is in the final stages of preparation, a London-based Arabic newspaper says.

"We bring the good news to Muslims of the world that the expected 'Winds of Black Death' strike against America is now in its final stage...90 percent (ready) and God willing near," the letter said.

The letter, signed by the Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigades which said it is part of al Qaeda, was sent to the London-based al-Quds al-Arabi newspaper on Thursday. A copy of the letter was faxed to Reuters in Dubai.

It was not possible to independently authenticate the letter. [...]

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US issues security alert to American citizens in Jordan

Thu Mar 11, 2:09 PM ET

AMMAN (AFP) - The United States has urged its citizens in Jordan to be vigilant, warning that terrorists could be planning attacks on hotels in the kingdom, a message posted on the American embassy's website said.

"We are sending this message to you at this time because the embassy has become aware of information that in mid-January 2004, unidentified terrorists were possibly planning attacks against hotels in Jordan," the statement said.

"We have no information that US-owned hotels were being targeted specifically ... (nor) further information on the timing, method or participants in this possible threat," it added. [...]

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Philippines fears major terror attack, seeks neighbors' help

President Gloria Arroyo fears a major terrorist attack may be imminent in the Philippines and has asked neighbors for information to help her fight the threat, a top security adviser said.

National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales said the attack would likely come from Muslim militants, blamed for bombings at an airport and a port in the southern Philippines city of Davao early last year that killed 38 people.

There have been no other major terrorist actions in the country since then, but Gonzales said a fresh wave of deadly attacks in other countries suggest that "we have to be far more vigilant." [...]

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Zimbabwe to charge 'mercenaries'

Zimbabwe is to charge more than 60 men said to be mercenaries with plotting to "destabilise a sovereign government," Home Minister Kembo Mohadi has said.

The men were detained after their plane was impounded in Harare on Sunday.

Zimbabwe has accused the group of planning a coup in oil-rich Equatorial Guinea. A government minister has said the men could face the death penalty.

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French diplomat is Georgia minister

A French diplomat is about to start a new life - as foreign minister for the former Soviet republic of Georgia.

Salome Zurabishvili, 51, was born in France to Georgian parents, but won a posting back to Georgia as the French ambassador. She will now be granted Georgian citizenship in addition to her French passport.

Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili said it had been "his dream" to appoint to the post since he met her in 1996.

"She made a brilliant career in France but she stayed a Georgian at heart and a true patriot," he told reporters. Mr Saakashvili said he believed such an appointment was "unprecedented in the history of diplomacy".

He said he had cleared the move with French President Jacques Chirac during a visit to Paris. "It is a very important gesture on the part of the French government, a very significant gesture on the part of the French president."

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Tour Will Probe Holy Grail Mystery in Britain

The Holy Grail, according to a legend hundreds of years old, was taken to England by Joseph of Arimathea, who buried it in Glastonbury. Researcher and author Mark Amaru Pinkham, however, has uncovered evidence that shows the Grail resides in Scotland’s mysterious Rosslyn Chapel, a stronghold of the controversial Knights Templar. Pinkham is the author of The Guardians of the Holy Grail:

The Knights Templar, John the Baptist, and the Water of Life, a book that exposes hidden secrets Templar Knights brought to Europe from the Middle East, and tells why those secrets could not be revealed until now. [...]

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Russian presidential race seen as preordained

Like the hints of the spring that frigid Russia always yearns for at this time of year, signs of the presidential election that will be held Sunday can be deceptive. To say Sunday's election holds little suspense is to vastly understate the case. Putin's five challengers are together expected to earn less than 10% of the vote. Given the state's control of all major television stations, Putin's opponents are virtually invisible on TV [...]

Comment: Exactly the same can be said of the US government. US citizens however, deeply immersed in the illusions that their own government have foisted upon them, and which they willingly embrace, will at every turn reject they idea that theirs is not "the greatest democracy on earth". Do the words "hoodwinked on a massive scale" mean anything to anyone? "Not I!", we hear you say. Sure. Wishful thinking will get ya every time.

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Chaos as S Korea president impeached

Friday 12 March 2004, 11:37 Makka Time, 8:37 GMT

South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun has been impeached for violating elections laws.

The country's opposition-dominated parliament voted 193 to 2 on Friday to strip the president of his position after a last ditch attempt by Roh to avert the vote by issuing a public apology failed.

"I hereby declare that the motion to impeach President Roh Moo-Hyun has been approved," Speaker Park Kwan-Yong announced.

But chaos erupted inside the parliament as Roh supporters and opposition members hurled punches and threw their shoes at each other.

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US breaks deficit records

Thursday 11 March 2004, 8:09 Makka Time, 5:09 GMT

The US trade deficit has hit an all-time high of $43.1 billion, disproving forecasts that a recent fall in the dollar would help exports.

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Egypt pledges to ensure border security if Israel withdraws from Gaza

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Dollar Slumps on Qaeda Threat

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Mortgage Rates Fall to Near Record Lows

By Cyrille Cartier
Thu Mar 11, 4:17 PM ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. 30-year and 15-year fixed mortgage rates dropped sharply to near last year's record lows, mortgage finance giant Freddie Mac said on Thursday. [...]

"The economy is clearly much weaker than we had anticipated," Nothaft said. "There is no pressure on inflation to increase and that means the Fed is going to keep an accommodative monetary policy at least through the third quarter of this year and perhaps to the end of the year." [...]

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MetLife to Sell Sears Tower

AP
Thu Mar 11, 5:05 PM ET

NEW YORK - Insurance giant MetLife Inc. said Thursday it has agreed to sell the Sears Tower in Chicago to an unspecified buyer, ending the company's long-standing investment in the nation's tallest skyscraper.

MetLife, which is based in New York, expects to close the deal in the second quarter and take a $90 million gain. The company said the sale won't have a material impact on operating earnings.

MetLife spokesman John Calagna said the company entered into a confidentiality agreement with the buyer and won't disclose the price or the name of the acquiring company. [...]

The Sears Tower, which is 88 percent occupied, has struggled with sagging demand for office space and tenants' lack of enthusiasm for high-profile buildings after the terror attacks of 2001. [...]

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Marine Corps Plane Crashes in San Diego

Thu Mar 11, 5:26 PM ET

SAN DIEGO - A Marine Corps jet on a training mission crashed during an attempted landing at the Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, killing all four people on board. [...]

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Report: Israel to train Indian security forces

By Haaretz Service

An Israeli security team will visit India shortly to train its security forces and intelligence teams for "anti-insurgency operations" in Kashmir...

The Israeli-Indian deal is reported to include agreement on an intelligence-sharing arrangement between the two countries.

Comment: India is being played for a sucker. Israel does not share intelligence data. Reports like this will surely work to keep the Muslim population continually agitated though.

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Rwandan flight recorder found in UN filing cabinet

United Nations -- Red-faced, the world body acknowledged yesterday that a flight recorder that may be linked to the crash that triggered the 1994 Rwandan genocide has turned up in a United Nations filing cabinet. The Paris daily Le Monde reported this week that a so-called black box from the plane, which was shot down by rockets, was sent to UN headquarters in New York and never seen again. [...]

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Donated bodies blown up by Army

Tulane suspends deal with cadaver broker

Wednesday March 10, 2004
By Stewart Yerton
Business writer

When Tulane University found itself with a temporary oversupply of cadavers that had been donated to science a few years ago, the school did what it usually does: It called a cadaver broker.

Tulane said it assumed the broker would ship the bodies to other universities, where medical students would dissect them.

Instead, the broker sold the bodies to the Army, and the Army blew them up in land-mine experiments.

The Army says it did nothing wrong and has a legitimate need to study whether special boots can prevent land-mine injuries. The broker said he only did what brokers do: link up buyers with sellers.

But others say that blowing up bodies is not what donors have in mind when they turn over the remains of loved ones "to science." And Tulane said it, too, was surprised.

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What Types of Cyborg Implants Are Available Now?

While today's implants are pretty basic, several hold promise for linking the brain to a computer

I was wondering if you would be able to tell me a little more about the types of implants that we have available at the moment. I also am curious about what kinds of possibilities there are for neural networks such as the ability to create a human who has remote access to the Web without need of a computer.

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George W. Bush Is Getting Brain-jacked

Despite the president's best efforts to stop human enhancement, the spirit of Vannevar Bush is rising to smite him

So it was very significant when Roco decided in 2001 to create a special NNI program with sociologist and National Science foundation official William Sims Bainbridge [TOP GOVT SOCIAL ENGINEER] to explore the rapid convergence of nanotechnology, biotechnology, information science and cognitive science (NBIC) toward the goal of "improving human performance."

In the past three years, the NBIC program has convened hundreds of researchers, entrepreneurs and policy wonks from academia, business, federal agencies and the military to brainstorm what will happen when petaflop chips running expert systems, back-engineered from the hippocampus, can be stuck into the brain as an internal modem using nanowires that are spit out by gene-tweaked extremophile bacteria. The NBIC's initial report stunned even the most optimistic techno-utopians with its predictions of rapid human enhancement [...]

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Identix buys skin recognition technology company

Identix Inc. has expanded its offering of electronic identification technology by buying a company that provides a system to recognize the unique characteristics of a person's skin. Identix said the new technology takes "skin prints" from parts of a face or hand. These "prints" are as unique for each person as fingerprints. Using an algorithm it developed, Delean claims it can identify people with a mistake probability of less than one trillionth.

Comment: The robotisation of humanity. Your humanity will be defined by how efficient a machine you are. Let's face it though, most people are already half way there. Like good little robots, your every move will be monitored...

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Russian Government to Install Cameras in Every Moscow Apartment Building

Moscow is planning to install surveillance (or should we say spy?) cameras at the entrance (padyest) of every apartment building in Moscow during the next 3-4 years. This news follows a recent idea to take the fingerprints of all visitors to Moscow and gives us a good idea of the governments desire to have control over the people. [...]

Comment: Even in your rental car...

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GPS Keeping Tabs On Car Rentals

Pay Less says it discloses that vehicles may be equipped with a tracking device. The car rental company would not give an interview on camera but the branch manager showed CBS News the contract that advises customers they may be followed by satellite. Altogether the contract is three pages long, with so much fine print that it’s best to have a pair of glasses and plenty of time.

Undoubtedly, many renters are never that careful. Lee claims he had no idea he couldn't leave California and never imagined he was being tracked. “It does feel as though you’ve been spied on,” he says. [...]

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U.S. Military Verges upon Domestic Law Enforcement

"In a little-noticed side effect of the war on terrorism, the military is edging toward a sensitive area that has been off-limits to it historically: domestic intelligence gathering and law enforcement," according to The Wall Street Journal.

"Historically, Americans haven't trusted the military to do domestic police work. The 1878 Posse Comitatus Act, passed in response to abuses by federal troops in the South after the Civil War, prohibits the use of the military 'to execute the laws' of the U.S."

In "Deployed in the U.S.A.: The Creeping Militarization of the Home Front," Cato Senior Editor Gene Healy writes: "Deploying troops on the home front is very different from waging war abroad. Soldiers are trained to kill, whereas civilian peace officers are trained to respect constitutional rights and to use force only as a last resort. That fundamental distinction explains why Americans have long resisted the use of standing armies to keep the domestic peace." He goes on to say: "The Posse Comitatus Act is, unfortunately, a weak and porous barrier to military involvement in domestic law enforcement, but it is designed to protect both our liberty and our safety. [...]

Comment: Martial law, troops on the streets, curfew, mass encarcerations. "But they wouldn't do that!" Dream on, the choice is yours.

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Elk Leave Area Plagued by Mystery Deaths

AP
March 12, 2004

RAWLINS, Wyo. - Elk are starting to move out of an area where nearly 300 have died from mysterious causes in the past month.

The herds recently began migrating south from the Red Rim Wildlife Habitat Management Area near Rawlins toward Atlantic Rim and their spring and summer ranges, said pilot Dwight France, who has been monitoring the elk for the Wyoming Game and Fish Department.

During a recent flight, dozens of elk carcasses could be seen from the air. At least 289 elk have died or been euthanized since early last month as the result of an ailment that left many unable to get up, Game and Fish spokesman Tom Reed said. [...]

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Police hunt dinosaur-like creature on island

Sapa-AFP

Port Moresby - Authorities in Papua New Guinea ordered police to search part of a remote island after locals told of seeing a giant dinosaur-like creature roaming the area, local media reported Friday.

Villagers on the island of New Britain this week reported seeing a three-metre tall, grey-coloured beast with a head like a dog and a tail like a crocodile, The National newspaper recounted.

Christine Samei told reporters she saw the "dinosaur" early on Wednesday in a marsh just outside the provincial capital Kokopo on the eastern end of New Britain.

"I heard the people talking about it and went there to see for myself. Its very huge and ugly looking animal," Samei said.

A local ward councillor, Michael Tarawana, told the newspaper that villagers said the creature had been sighted by women on several occasions and had reportedly eaten three dogs.

On Thursday, six police officers armed with M-16 assault rifles and villagers carrying bush knives searched the marsh new Tinganavudu village but found no trace of the creature, The National said. The search was confirmed by government officials in the capital, Port Moresby. [...]

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A million Europeans enslaved

REUTERS

An American historian says that more than a million Europeans were enslaved by North African slave traders between 1530 and 1780, a time of vigorous Mediterranean and Atlantic coastal piracy.

The number of white European slaves is only a fraction of the trade that brought 10 million to 12 million black African slaves to the Americas over a 400-year period, historian Robert Davis says, but his research shows the slave trade was more widespread than commonly assumed. The impact on Europe's white population was significant.     

"One of the things that both the public and many scholars have tended to take as given is that slavery was always racial in nature — that only blacks have been slaves. But that is not true," said Mr. Davis, an Ohio State University professor.

"Enslavement was a very real possibility for anyone who traveled in the Mediterranean, or who lived along the shores in places like Italy, France, Spain and Portugal, and even as far north as England and Iceland." [...]

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It's a Bird, It's a Plane, It's a... Spacecraft?

Observing the sky with the green filter of it panoramic camera, the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit came across a surprise: a streak across the sky. The streak, seen in the middle of this mosaic of images taken by the navigation and panoramic cameras, was probably the brightest object in the sky at the time. [...]

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Inventor patents device for ads in space

Global advertising could take on a whole new meaning.

MOSCOW, Russia (AP) -- Orion, the Big Dipper and Andromeda could be joined in the heavens by ads for soft drinks and cigarettes if a Russian inventor's device catches on. [...]

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Cult dance banned by Indian court

By Jyotsna Singh
BBC

The Indian supreme court has banned a Hindu religious cult, the Anand Marg, from staging a dance ritual in public. [...]

The cult maintains the Anger Dance - or Tandav - involving daggers, snakes and human bones is part of their religion. [...]

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CAN'T GET IT OUT OF MY HEAD

BRAIN DISORDER CAUSES MYSTERIOUS MUSIC HALLUCINATIONS

The Sunday Telegraph Magazine

Janet Dilbeck clearly remembers the moment the music started. Two years ago she was lying in bed on the California ranch where she and her husband were caretakers. A mild earthquake woke her up. To Californians, a mild earthquake is about as unusual as a hailstorm, so Dilbeck tried to go back to sleep once it ended. But just then she heard a melody playing on an organ, "very loud, but not deafening," as she recalls. Dilbeck recognized the tune, a sad old song called When You and I Were Young, Maggie. [...]

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Rock's gator shape makes owner doubt nature created it

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