"From 1950 to 1962, the C.I.A. ran a massive research project, a veritable Manhattan Project of the mind, spending over $1 billion a year to crack the code of human consciousness, from both mass persuasion and the use of coercion in individual interrogation." - Professor Alfred McCoy, author of A Question of Torture: CIA Interrogation, from the Cold War to the War on Terror. This quote is from Prof. McCoy's interview with Democracy Now on February 17, 2006.

"Our brain is domineering when it comes to coping with reality. We sometimes see things not as they really are, sometimes invent categories that do not exist and sometimes fail to see things that are really there. There are people who have never seen or heard of an aircraft and will not be able to imagine it and a real airplane overhead will be distorted in their minds, creating alternative realities.

To recognize that what we call reality is only a consensus reality (only what we have agreed to call reality) is to recognize that we can perceive only what we can conceive. Captain Cook's ship was invisible to the Tahitians because they could not conceive of such a vessel. Joseph Pearce explains this best: "Man's mind mirrors a universe that mirrors man's mind."" - Bharati Sarkar, "Consciousness - Our third eye."

"Remember: those who are at the top of the heap will always take whatever steps are necessary to maintain the status quo. It is obvious that they cannot completely control the propagation of the information. So, how do they "keep secrets?" They don't. Everything is right out there in the public domain. Anybody who wants to can do the research we have done and come to the realizations we have in this process. BUT, not everyone is able to withstand the OTHER weapon of Mass Control: the fear of being labeled a "suspected or potential supporter" in a world where the Grand Inquisitor has total control over life and death." - Laura Knight-Jadczyk, "Mass Mind Control?"

Before the CIA and NSA decided it was a good idea to invade your home without your knowledge to spy on you with advanced appliances, smart phones, computers, and other electronics, they invaded your mind to manipulate your understanding of reality and history, especially of epochal events like the JFK assassination and the 9/11 attacks.

It is disturbing to know that the CIA has been inside the public mind for half a century, and is now using its unthinkable technological capabilities to invade private homes to document and categorize each individual's behavioural patterns, lifestyle choices, information preferences, and daily habits.

Of course, state surveillance spooks cannot track and data-mine every space of information in this vast social ocean that we call the virtual world. But, that problem can be managed because the sharks of the state don't need to be aware of the entire environment to strike fear in the fishes and other creatures. Just the fact that sharks are buzzing around is enough to make any thinking fish freeze and adapt his thoughts, views, opinions, and patterns in order to placate the sharks' appetite for domination and total control.

Creve Coeur, Mo - The Lorax has infiltrated the lives of most Americans by way of movie trailers and over 70 promotional partnerships with everything from the Mazda CX-5 to disposable diapers. Now add Monsanto to the list. Friday afternoon the chemical giant announced the affiliation with the Universal Films animated star and further stated the Dr. Seuss icon would soon become its spokesperson in an upcoming image campaign.

Monsanto has been victim of negative image problems for many years. Environmentalists have long claimed Monsanto is poisoning our planet. Corporate response has labeled them

"troublemaking hippies who screwed over Chinese restaurateurs with their protests about monosodium glutamate decades ago".

The Lorax, who proclaims "I speak for the trees, for the trees have no tongues." will now speak for Monsanto. Environmentalists love the Lorax, so Monsanto hopes in addition to hugging trees, these eco-warriors will give their frankencorn an embrace as well. No word if the Lorax will also stump for Dow's agent-orange corn.

Frontline's Lowell Bergman appeared on The Takeaway this morning to reflect on the news that James Murdoch, son of media titan Rupert, stepped down from his role as CEO of News International, the British press arm of News Corporation. The younger Murdoch has slowly been transitioning to the company's New York offices.

"I don't think it's really that significant a move, he's been back in the United States for quite a while," says Bergman. "He's never really expressed, apparently, that much interest in the newspaper business. His real interest is in BSkyB TV and other broadcasting ... aspects of News Corporation."

Paedophiles, violent thugs and drug dealers were among more than 4,000 offenders who applied to become teachers last year despite having almost 10,000 criminal convictions between them, figures showed today.

Criminal records checks even revealed four previous convictions for child sex offences, including one for a sex attack on a girl under 13, as well as three convictions for assaulting or neglecting a child.

The Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) said that to date checks had helped stop more than 130,000 unsuitable people from working with children and many of the offences would lead to an automatic ban on the offenders becoming teachers.

Michel Collon, investigative reporter, in Libya shows what "collateral damage". really means...

Once more VFC is able to bring its readers/viewers another, what we are told is, a world exclusive.

With the assistance of Former Senior Investigating Officer of the Jersey Child Abuse Investigation, and Former Deputy Chief Police Officer Mr. Lenny Harper, we are able to bring you exclusive video footage of arguably the world's most renowned Cadaver Dog "Eddie" not only working at the crime scene of the Former Jersey Children's Home, Haute de la Garenne, but alerting to the scent of human death.

Not a great deal of these Cadaver dogs work has been reported in the State Media, other than to discredit them, so we asked Mr. Harper to document for us just exactly what is happening in the video below, what does a Cadaver dog do? How significant to the investigation the dog was? What, if anything did he (the dog) find?The results, it has to be said were astounding. Mr. Harper agreed to our request and once again we thank him for his commitment to the truth and justice.

Kabul - A man wearing an Afghan army uniform killed two NATO troops in southern Afghanistan on Monday, military officials said, the latest in a string of shootings that have undermined trust between allies.

The gunman was killed by NATO troops shortly after he opened fire on a group of foreign troops, the military said in a statement. A military spokesman said officials were investigating whether the man was an Afghan soldier or an infiltrator wearing the uniform. No other details were released.

So-called "green on blue" shootings have become a rising threat this year, following a series of incidents that have created distrust between Afghan forces and their international coalition partners. The most significant was last month's burning of Korans by U.S. troops. The episode sparked violent riots and prompted the Taliban to call on Afghan security forces to open fire on foreign troops.

The French government will deny entry to Sheik Yusuf al-Qaradawi, an influential Egyptian preacher, if he accepts an invitation from the Union of French Islamic Organizations (UOIF) to visit France next month, a close aide to President Nicolas Sarkozy said Sunday.

Al-Qaradawi is one of the most widely respected Sunni Muslim clerics in the Arab world and a household name in the Middle East.

A former member of Egypt's Islamist Muslim Brotherhood, he is independent of the group today but remains close to it.

The UOIF, one of three Muslim federations in France, is also close to the Muslim Brotherhood.

Source: Reuters

Turkey on Monday closed its embassy in Damascus and called back its ambassador to Syria, citing a worsening security situation in the country.

Activities at the embassy in the Syrian capital are being "temporarily suspended," but Turkey's consulate in Aleppo will remain operational, a brief statement posted on the embassy's website said Sunday night.

The embassy is being closed because of the poor security situation in Syria, a ministry official said on condition of anonymity in line with ministry regulations. The Turkish ambassador and other diplomats will be returning to Turkey, he said.

The move comes two days after Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey was on the brink of breaking diplomatic ties with Syria and withdrawing its ambassador.

The U.N. says more than 8,000 people, many of them civilian protesters, have been killed since Syria's President Bashar Assad launched a crackdown on the opposition a year ago.

Kabul, Afghanistan - The families of 16 Afghan villagers who were killed this month by a rampaging American soldier were given $50,000 by the United States for each of their relatives who died, Afghan and American officials said.

The payments were made on Saturday by American military officers at the office of the governor of Kandahar Province, where the killings took place. The people wounded in the attacks were each given $11,000, said Hajji Agha Lalai, a member of the Kandahar provincial council.

Hajji Jan Agha, who lost cousins in the killings, said he and other relatives were invited to the governor's office by foreign and Afghan officials, according to Reuters. "They said this money is an assistance from Obama," Mr. Agha was quoted as saying.

Mr. Lalai described the payments as "assistance" to the wounded and the families of the dead, but not as the kind of traditional compensation that would absolve the accused of responsibility for the crimes.

"We are grateful to the United States government for its help with the grieved families. But this cannot be counted as compensation for the deaths," he said.

In discussions before the payments were made, American officials were also careful to draw a similar distinction, saying that any eventual payments would be out of compassion for the victims, and that Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, the soldier accused of killing the villagers, would still face trial.

An American official confirmed on Sunday that payments had been made to victims but refused to discuss specifics. Compensation payments are kept private as a matter of American policy, the official said, adding that it was up the recipients to decide whether to talk about what they were given.