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Freedom or Totalitarianism, the Choice is Yours
The apathetic American public needs to pull their heads out of the comfortable little hole in the sand where it has been for far too long and do something about the way our country is being stolen from us by an administration that has its well-being and only its well- being in mind. Our congressional representatives have no spine when it comes to doing what needs to be done to stop the war that the Project for the New American Century has pushed down the throats of the American public. This group has hi-jacked the country out from under us and we are standing by and letting them get away with it.

Bush Gets 6 Months Big Brother Dictator Powers
Not content with now being lawfully allowed to force ISP's and cell phone companies to turn over data about customers without a warrant, the Bush administration is pushing for even more authority to spy on American citizens, and has already been handed a 6 month window within which to impose any surveillance policy it likes, and for that program to remain legal in perpetuity. Legislation signed Sunday gives the government the green light to install permanent backdoors in communications systems that allow warrantless wiretapping of American citizens, a blatant violation of the 4th amendment.

House Approves Wiretap Measure
The Democratic-controlled House last night approved and sent to President Bush for his signature legislation written by his intelligence advisers to enhance their ability to intercept the electronic communications of foreigners without a court order. The 227 to 183 House vote capped a high-pressure campaign by the White House to change the nation's wiretap law, in which the administration capitalized on Democrats' fears of being branded weak on terrorism and on a general congressional desire to act on the measure before an August recess.

The New York Times Publishes article on the Miami Five
The New York Times newspaper published an article on the case of the Cuban Five, anti-terrorists imprisoned in the United States, who were sentenced to long jail terms after a shady legal process in the city of Miami. The newspaper highlights relevant aspects of the case, including their sentencing, their appeals and an upcoming hearing on August 20, and notes the prestige of the Five in Cuba, where they are recognized as Heroes of the Republic of Cuba. Since September 12, 1998, they have been held in U.S. prisons solely for having informed their country about terrorist actions planned in Florida.

28 killed in Iraq suicide truck bomb blast
At least 28 people were killed when a suicide bomber drove his truck into a densely populated residential area in the northern Iraqi city of Tal Afar today. The attack occurred in a crowded Shia neighbourhood of the mixed city, about 260 miles north-west of Baghdad. At least 40 others were wounded in the attack, said Brigadier General Rahim al-Jibouri, commander of Tal Afar police. The death toll was expected to rise, he said. The attacker drove a dump truck filled with explosives and covered with a thin layer of construction materials, al-Jibouri said.

Now Is the time to learn about the SPP. A tutorial
Despite the deafening silence in the US and Canadian media the purpose of the upcoming conference to be held in Montebello, Quebec is to ratify the Security and Prosperity Protocol (SPP) of North America, which was initiated by Bush, Martin and Fox in 2005. This so-called ‘partnership’ will result in what the politicians refer to as ‘continental integration’-newspeak for a North American Union- and basically are a harmonization of 100’s of regulations, policies and laws. What we have here, really, is the plan to highjack the North American continent by a very small contingent of industrialists, government cronies and thinktanks, following the clampdown after the 9/11 synthetic terror event.

Chávez seeks changes allowing indefinite rule
The Venezuelan president, Hugo Chávez, has announced his intention to change the country's constitution, allowing him to rule indefinitely. The socialist leader used his weekly television programme, Hello President, to confirm widely anticipated plans to scrap the limits on presidential terms. Mr Chávez said the expected change - which must be agreed by parliament and approved by voters in a referendum - would enhance democracy. However, critics of his leadership will see it as an attempt to tighten his grip on Venezuela and cement his self-styled "revolution", which has sharply divided opinion at home and abroad.

Mining giant faces tribal protest
Until he came to London Kumti Majhi had never worn shoes before - he had never needed to. A member of the Dongria Kondh, one of India's most traditional tribes from the forested hills in the state of Orissa, he had never had any need to put any protection on his feet. But the tribal leader knew shoes would be needed if he was to try to halt the construction of a £400m bauxite mine on the Niyamgiri Mountain, the Dongria Kondh's homeland and a hill they worship as their god.

BAA wins Heathrow protest injunction
The airports operator BAA today won its high court bid for an injunction to prevent environmental activists from protesting at Heathrow. BAA had said the week-long Camp for Climate Action demonstration, planned for later this month, would have disrupted London's busiest airport during the peak holiday season. The injunction - covering some local roads and the Piccadilly underground line - was brought against the anti-aviation group Plane Stupid.

Riots hit Papua New Guinea
Police in Papua New Guinea have fired shots and tear gas to disperse a rioting crowd in the Pacific Island nation's capital of Port Moresby. The firing took place on Monday after hundreds of people took to the streets after a fatal stabbing over the weekend fuelled tribal tensions. The crowds of rival Wanigela and Goilala clans blocked roads, burned tyres and hurled rocks at the seaside Koki market. Unconfirmed reports said that a man died from a gunshot wound and several others were injured.

'JFK plot' extraditions approved
A judge in Trinidad has ordered the extradition of three men to the US on charges they plotted to attack New York's John F Kennedy airport. The three men, who are from Trinidad and Guyana, are charged with conspiring to cause death, serious bodily injury and extensive destruction. The judge ruled there was enough evidence to justify extraditing Kareem Ibrahim, Abdul Nur and Abdul Kadir.

Fresh cull in foot-and-mouth zone
A fresh case of foot-and-mouth disease is suspected in Surrey, the chief veterinary officer has confirmed. Cattle, within the 3km protection zone set up around the farm where the first outbreak occurred, are being culled as a precaution. Chief veterinary officer Debby Reynolds said they had detected 'suspect' signs and the cows were being culled to 'minimise any chance of spread'. Test results, due on Tuesday, will establish if it is another outbreak.

MIT professor faces charge he staged own shooting
A former professor at the elite Massachusetts Institute of Technology, one of the leading U.S. science universities, went on trial on Monday in a case that hinges on whether he shot himself and attempted to frame his son in a long-running family feud. The case of John J. Donovan, who taught business at MIT for three decades until leaving in 1997 to found a consulting firm, has attracted attention because of his connection to the prestigious school and his prominence as an expert on business and technology.

Children find food wrapped in McDonald's packaging 'six times tastier'
Children find food in McDonald's packaging up to six times more appetising than the identical snacks in plain wrappers, research shows. The study, designed to gauge the power of advertising, revealed that boys and girls as young as three found food tastier when they thought it was made by a big brand. The phenomenon is not just restricted to fast foods, with youngsters finding that milk and carrots tastier when they believed they had been bought at McDonald's. The research, carried at Stanford University in the US, comes amid growing concern about the influence of advertising on children's health.

Ancient glacier creatures brought back to life
Creatures that once lived eight million years ago have been successfully thawed from the ice of an Antarctic glacier, in an experiment that sounds like a scene from a science fiction film. The feat of revival was managed with as yet unidentified single-celled microbes and should pose no health issues, say the scientists. However, it does show that evolution of simpler organisms is complicated by thawing glaciers which allow ancient bugs to contribute their old genes to modern populations.

Calls for clampdown on swan-eating river bandits from eastern Europe
There are few sights so serene as a swan sailing majestically along the Grand Union Canal. Except, that is, when it is being chased by a gang of hungry, knife-wielding Eastern Europeans. Polish and Lithuanian immigrants have been seen trying to drag the 20lb birds away, while the remains of some have been found butchered on the towpath near Leighton Buzzard in Bedfordshire. Hundreds are believed to have disappeared from the area.

Mysterious water mammoths inhabit Siberian lakes
The Russian media has recently reported on a huge monster with the head of a serpent and the body of a crocodile lurking at the bottom of a lake near the village of Somin in Western Ukraine. The lake is 56 meters deep. A number of underwater karst caves stretch its bottom. That is where the mysterious monster lies in wait, according to locals. As a rule, locals steer clear of the lake because they are said to have been terrified by the hideous creature hiding underwater. It reportedly attacked domestic animals in the past. Some 30 years ago a local groom fell prey to the monster, according to one of the stories circulating through the village.