Unceremonious end to Army career:
Outspoken general fights demotion
May 29, 2005, Baltimore Sun
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bal-te.riggs29may29,1,2860514.story

John Riggs spent 39 years in the Army, earning a Distinguished Flying Cross for bravery during the Vietnam War and working his way up to become a three-star general. Last year, Riggs was told by senior Army officials that he would be retired at a reduced rank, losing one of his stars because of infractions considered so minor that they were not placed in his official record. He was given 24 hours to leave the Army. A senior officer's loss of a star is a punishment seldom used, and then usually for the most serious offenses, such as dereliction of duty or command failures. So what cost Riggs his star? His Pentagon superiors said he allowed outside contractors to perform work they were not supposed to do. But some of the general's supporters believe the motivation behind his demotion was politics. Riggs was blunt and outspoken on a number of issues and publicly contradicted Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld by arguing that the Army was overstretched in Iraq and Afghanistan and needed more troops.

CIA war game simulates major Internet attack
May 26, 2005, Washington Post/Reuters
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/26/AR2005052600950.html

The CIA is conducting a cyber-war game this week geared to simulate a major Internet attack by enemy computer hackers, an intelligence official said Thursday. Dubbed "Silent Horizon," the three-day unclassified exercise is based on a scenario set five years in the future and involves participants from government and the private sector. Online crime has exploded in recent years, a result of organized crime groups based in Eastern Europe. But investigators so far have uncovered few links to Islamic extremists.

Note: Do you think it is the terrorists who want to shut down the Internet, or might there be political elites who don't want their hidden agendas exposed?

Lawmaker Challenges U.S. Case for War
May 18, 2005, Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/video/2005/05/17/VI2005051700710.html
[The above link gives a five-minute video clip of George Galloway's Congressional testimony]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/17/AR2005051701358.html

A British lawmaker forcefully denied allegations in a Senate hearing yesterday that he received rights to purchase millions of barrels of Iraqi oil at a discount from Saddam Hussein's government, and he delivered a fiery attack on three decades of U.S. policy toward Iraq. George Galloway, a formidable debater recently ousted from the British Labor Party after attacking Prime Minister Tony Blair for supporting the war in Iraq, used his appearance before the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations as a forum to challenge the veracity of the Bush administration's case for going to war. He also unleashed a personal attack against panel Chairman Norm Coleman (R-Minn.), calling his investigation the "mother of all smoke screens" designed to "divert attention from the crimes that you supported" by endorsing President Bush's decision to invade Iraq.

Important Note: Mr. Galloway's statement was not posted on the website of the Senate Committee tasked with posting these matters. Whereas testimony of all other panel members is provided, for Mr. Galloway, the website states "Mr. Galloway did not submit a written statement." Mr. Galloway did submit a statement, and it has been posted many places on the Internet, and published widely in articles like that above. See the relevant Senate Committee webpage at:
http://hsgac.senate.gov/index.cfm?Fuseaction=Hearings.Detail&HearingID=232

Advanced vehicles demonstrate zero oil-consumption,
reduced emissions
May 18, 2005, Boston Globe
http://www.boston.com/cars/news/2005/may/0518_tourdesol.html

Carmakers such as Toyota and Honda can't seem to make hybrid vehicles fast enough to keep up with public interest. Interest in this new technology is growing, and one group is highlighting these technical marvels in a yearly event called the Tour de Sol. Top prize for the Monte-Carlo Rally went to a modified Honda Insight driven by Brian Hardegen, of Pepperell, who broke the 100-mile-per-gallon barrier over a 150-mile range. The car actually got 107 miles-per gallon. St. Mark's High School in Southboro, and North Haven Community School, North Haven, ME, demonstrated true zero-oil consumption and true zero climate-change emissions with their modified electric Ford pick-up and Volkswagen bus. More than 60 hybrid, electric and biofueled vehicles from throughout the US and Canada demonstrated that we have the technology today to power our transportation system with zero-oil consumption and zero climate-change emissions.

Note: If high school students can do it, why aren't the car companies seriously developing these technologies? And why is it that car manufacturers are not able to keep up with demand on hybrid vehicles? For more, click here.

Rats fed GM corn due for sale in Britain developed abnormalities in blood and kidneys
May 22, 2005, The Independent (One of the UK's top newspapers)
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/science_technology/story.jsp?story=640430

Rats fed on a diet rich in genetically modified corn developed abnormalities to internal organs and changes to their blood, raising fears that human health could be affected by eating GM food. Details of secret research carried out by Monsanto, the GM food giant...shows that rats fed the modified corn had smaller kidneys and variations in the composition of their blood. According to the confidential 1,139-page report, these health problems were absent from another batch of rodents fed non-GM food. Although Monsanto last night dismissed the abnormalities in rats as meaningless and due to chance,...a senior British government source said ministers were so worried by the findings that they had called for further information. The full details of the rat research are included in the main report, which Monsanto refuses to release on the grounds that "it contains confidential business information which could be of commercial use to our competitors".

Note: For lots more reliable, verifiable information on this topic, see our summary of Seeds of Deception.

FBI surprise on top domestic terror threat
May 19, 2005, MSNBC/Associated Press
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/7908466/

Environmental and animal rights extremists who have turned to arson and explosives are the nation’s top domestic terrorism threat, the FBI has told lawmakers. Groups such as the Animal Liberation Front, the Earth Liberation Front and the Britain-based SHAC, or Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty, are “way out in front” in terms of damage and number of crimes, John Lewis, the FBI’s deputy assistant director for counterterrorism, told a Senate hearing Wednesday. “Just like al-Qaida or any other terrorist organization, ELF and ALF cannot accomplish their goals without money, membership and the media,” Inhofe said. The FBI said 35 of its offices have 150 open investigations, and activists are claiming responsibility for 1,200 crimes between 1990 and mid-2004.

Wave and Pay With a Wireless Credit Card
May 20, 2005, ABC
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/Cybershake/story?id=771889&page=1

Chase announced a new payment system called "blink" that the company believes could offer the speed of paper with the convenience of plastic. The new technology is essentially a credit card embedded with a radio-frequency ID microchip that contains encoded data. To pay for a purchase, consumers merely wave the card at the store's register and an RFID terminal wirelessly reads the card's data to process the payment. Thomas O'Donnell, senior vice president of Chase card services, says that since consumers don't have to hand over their cards to store employees, "We think we have found a way, with blink, to make that checkout faster."

For more on current usage of RFID chips implanted in humans reported by CNN and CBS, click here.

What drives support for this torturer
May 16, 2005, The Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,3604,1484631,00.html

Oil and gas ensure that the US backs the Uzbek dictator to the hilt. The bodies of hundreds of pro-democracy protesters in Uzbekistan are scarcely cold, and already the White House is looking for ways to dismiss them. The conviction rate in criminal and political trials in Uzbekistan is over 99% - in President Karimov's torture chambers, everyone confesses. Karimov is very much George Bush's man in central Asia. There is not a senior member of the US administration who is not on record saying warm words about Karimov. There is not a single word recorded by any of them calling for free elections in Uzbekistan.

Note: The above article is particularly revealing in that it is written by the UK's former ambassador to Uzbekistan.

Revealed: Israel plans strike on Iranian nuclear plant
March 13, 2005, London Times
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2089-1522978,00.html

ISRAEL has drawn up secret plans for a combined air and ground attack on targets in Iran if diplomacy fails to halt the Iranian nuclear programme. The inner cabinet of Ariel Sharon, the Israeli prime minister, gave “initial authorisation” for an attack at a private meeting last month on his ranch in the Negev desert. The plans have been discussed with American officials who are said to have indicated provisionally that they would not stand in Israel’s way if all international efforts to halt Iranian nuclear projects failed.

Maker of drug admits hiding its risks
July 24, 2004, The Miami Herald
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/front/9231611.htm - free membership required
http://www.paxilprogress.org/forums/archive/index.php/t-7011.html - no requirements

The maker of a billion-dollar antipsychotic medication has acknowledged misleading doctors and other healthcare providers about the safety of its product, minimizing potentially deadly side effects. On Wednesday, drug maker Janssen Pharmaceutica wrote a two-page letter to doctors, warning them that the company, in promotional material, had ''minimized potentially fatal risks, and made misleading claims'' that the medication was more safe in treating mental illness than other drugs in the same category. Risperdal is the leading drug used to combat schizophrenia and other types of psychotic disorders, earning Janssen about $2.1 billion in annual sales. The drug was first marketed about eight years ago, and is prescribed to more than 10 million people worldwide. The ''important correction of drug information'' came shortly after federal regulators had accused Janssen of ''disseminating'' advertising and marketing material that was ``false or misleading.''

Don't miss the highly revealing article on this vital topic by the New England Journal of Medicine's former editor in chief Marica Angell. Click here

Final Note: WantToKnow.info believes it is important to balance disturbing cover-up information with inspirational writings which call us to be all that we can be and to work together for positive change. Please visit our Inspiration Center at http://www.WantToKnow.info/inspirational for an abundance of uplifting material.