Nearly seven years after extensive “lay downs” of lingering and spreading white plumes were first reported smearing skies over across North America, Europe is in an uproar and Washington could be close to coming clean about chemtrails.

At least the Bush White house will soon have a legitimate weather control agency to finally “launder” one of the biggest cons ever perpetrated.

Introduced in the US Senate on March 1, 2005, Bill S517 calls for a US “Weather Modification Advisory and Research Board” to officially commence operations in October 2005. When passed as expected, this law will make large-scale chemical alteration of the atmosphere legal across a formerly free and beautiful land called America.

It’s already happening. Less than two weeks before the bill was introduced, Linda wrote from “up here in the mountains of northeast Georgia” of the worst spray day she had ever seen. “Not one day in the past two months have we had a blue sky with normal clouds,” Linda wrote. Even normal clouds “are ‘laced’ with whatever the hell is coming out of those white planes that have no engine sounds, even when they fly low enough to see there is no printing anywhere on the planes.”

Several years ago the US Air Force stated that it was repainting its silver aircraft white, and retrofitting its jet tanker fleet with “hush kits” to silence their engines.

DOING SOMETHING ABOUT THE WEATHER

Whatever fresh environmental disaster Bill S517 accomplishes, this bill will ease the way for admission of a project suspected by many and confirmed by air traffic controllers at America’s biggest airports. When and if the US public demands that their government “do something” about the extreme weather pummeling their neighborhoods, Washington will be able to officially reply, “We are.”

Intended to “develop and implement a comprehensive and coordinated national weather modification policy,” the board is tasked with coordinating state and federal weather modification efforts. It’s direct mandate is stepped-up research and development aimed at developing experimental “models, devices, equipment, materials, and processes” to change or control, “by artificial methods” the development of clouds and/or precipitation in the troposphere. This weather-forming region of the atmosphere lies between Earth’s surface and the stratosphere, starting around 35,000 feet.

The federal weather modifiers will now directly oversee the cloud-seeding operations currently being carried out over dozens of states to increase rain and snowfall for irrigation, electrical power and winter recreation purposes. As droughts intensify under an onslaught of moisture-absorbing chemicals dispensed behind ozone-destroying jet tankers, and future towns wash away in sudden flash floods triggered by rain-inducing atmospheric tinkering, these unnatural disasters and other “inadvertent” effects of weather modification will be closely “studied” by the newly created board.

But no studies have been released on the implications of wide-scale alteration of regional atmospheric heat balances.
rense.com

Now that the US president has announced that he has not ruled out an attack on Iran, if it does not abandon its nuclear programme, the Middle East faces a crisis that could dwarf even the dangers arising from the war in Iraq.

Even a conventional weapon fired at a nuclear research centre – whether or not a bomb was being made there – would almost certainly release radioactivity into the atmosphere, with consequences seen worldwide as a mini-Hiroshima.

We would be told that it had been done to uphold the principles of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT) – an argument that does not stand up to a moment’s examination.

The moral and legal basis of the NPT convention, which the International Atomic Energy Agency is there to uphold, was based on the agreement of non-nuclear nations not to acquire nuclear weapons if nuclear powers undertook not to extend nuclear arsenals and negotiate to secure their abolition.

Since then, the Americans have launched a programme that would allow them to use nuclear weapons in space, nuclear bunker-busting bombs are being developed, and depleted uranium has been used in Iraq – all of which are clear breaches of the NPT. Israel, which has a massive nuclear weapons programme, is accepted as a close ally of the US, which still arms and funds it.

Even those who are opposed, as I am, to nuclear weapons in every country including Iran, North Korea, Britain and the US, accept that nuclear power for electricity generation need not necessarily lead to the acquisition of the bomb.

Indeed, many years ago, when the shah – who had been put on the throne by the US – was in power in Iran, enormous pressure was put on me, as secretary of state for energy, to agree to sell nuclear power stations to him. That pressure came from the Atomic Energy Authority, in conjunction with Westinghouse, who were anxious to promote their own design of reactor.

It is easy to understand why president Bush might see the bombing of Iran as a way to regain some of the political credibility he has lost as a result of the growing hostility in America to the Iraq war due to the heavy casualties suffered by US forces there .

It is inconceivable that the White House can be contemplating an invasion of Iran, and what must be intended is a US airstrike, or airstrikes, on Iranian nuclear installations, comparable to Israel’s bombing of Iraq in 1981. Israel has publicly hinted that it might do the same again to prevent Iran developing nuclear nuclear weapons.

Such an attack, whether by the US or Israel, would be in breach of the UN Charter, as was the invasion of Iraq. But neither Bush, Sharon nor Blair would take any notice of that.

Some influential Americans appear to be convinced that the US will attack Iran. Whether they are right or not, the build-up to a new war is taking exactly the same form as it did in 2002. First we are being told that Iran poses a military threat, because it may be developing nuclear weapons. We are assured that the President is hoping that diplomacy might succeed through the European negotiations which have been in progress for some months.

This is just what we were told when Hans Blix was in Baghdad talking to Saddam on behalf of the UN, but we now know, from a Downing Street memorandum leaked some months ago, that the decision to invade had been taken long before that.
informationclearinghouse.info

It’s time for white Americans to fully acknowledge that in the racial arena, they are the problem.

Editor’s Note: This essay is excerpted from The Heart of Whiteness: Confronting Race, Racism and White Privilege, forthcoming from City Lights, September 2005.

The United States is a white country. By that I don’t just mean that the majority of its citizens are white, though they are (for now but not forever). What makes the United States white is not the fact that most Americans are white but the assumption — especially by people with power — that American equals white. Those people don’t say it outright. It comes out in subtle ways. Or, sometimes, in ways not so subtle.
alternet.org

New Orleans is Sinking, But… “Hey, Shoot that Black Guy Running Off with the Bottled Water from Wal-Mart!”

WASHINGTON – From Navy ships and Army helicopters to the USNS Comfort hospital ship, the Pentagon is mobilizing possibly an unprecedented U.S. rescue-and-relief mission for areas devastated by Hurricane Katrina.

…Largely coordinated by a newly created military Joint Task Force Katrina, based at Camp Shelby in Mississippi, all of the armed services are participating in what many say is the largest domestic disaster relief effort in years. The military is mainly providing search and rescue, medical help and sending in supplies in support of the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Gulf Coast states of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.

…National Guard troops from at least eight states are going into the region to provide law enforcement support, communications, medical help, debris removal and other assistance.
news.yahoo.com

The Prospect of Martial Law: “Transformation” and the Beginning of Global Resistance
The changes that are taking place within the military under the deceptive name of “transformation” have nothing to do with national defense or preparedness for terrorist attack. Rather, the military is being converted into a taxpayer subsidized security apparatus for multinational corporations that will seize foreign resources through force of arms and then crush the indigenous elements that resist US aggression. On the home front, the changes are equally dramatic. “Transformation” is a conspicuous attempt to weaken traditional defenses provided by the National Guard so that the Pentagon can insert itself into domestic affairs and establish an ongoing military presence within the United States. Donald Rumsfeld has already suggested that the military will play a greater role in dealing with the aftereffects of any future attack. There’s no doubt that he will honor that commitment.

The media has predictably echoed the government line that transformation is simply intended to revamp the military for the wars of the next century. They have highlighted the effects of base closures on local economies and unemployment. They have also emphasized the Pentagon’s intention to create smaller, more agile military units that can be quickly deployed anywhere around the world in less than 48 hours. But, the media have scrupulously avoided any analysis of the objectives in these changes or discussion of Rumsfeld’s attacks on homeland security. Rumsfeld has already savaged the National Guard; 40% of who are now serving in Iraq. That means, that the American people are 40% “less safe” in the event of terrorist attack no matter how one chooses to look at it. Instead of strengthening the damaged Guard, Rumsfeld is executing a plan that will wreak havoc on domestic preparedness and expose the American public to even greater risk. For example, “Rumsfeld called for 30 Air Guard units scattered around many states to lose their aircraft and flying missions.” (Liz Sidot; Ass Press 8-27-05) How can the states be expected to conduct routine patrols or reconnaissance missions if their planes have been seized by Washington?

In Pennsylvania Rumsfeld tried to “dissolve the Pennsylvania Air National Guard division without the Governor’s authority”. (Ass Press) The move was a conspicuous attempt to undermine homeland defenses and put more power under the direct control of the Defense Dept. Rumsfeld also tried to “transfer” all 15 “Pacific Northwest and Oregon National Guard fighter jets that patrolled Seattle’s skies after 9-11″; leaving the region with no protection from aerial assault. (Northwest’s F-15’s Should Stay Put” Seattle PI staff, 8-27-05) Consider the risk to a “target-rich” area like the Pacific Northwest, with its industry, harbors and nuclear power plants, if it was stripped of its first line of defense? Rumsfeld’s behavior has been the same everywhere across the country. He is determined to undermine the National Guard and limit the states’ ability to protect themselves against attack. His intention is to smash America’s internal defenses, which are under control of the states’ governors, and introduce the military into homeland security. It is a clear attempt to centralize authority and further militarize the country. By weakening America’s defenses, Rumsfeld has paved the way for deploying troops and aircraft within the country and setting the precedent for a permanent military presence within the nation. It is one giant step towards direct military rule.

Secret, judge-only courts where the accused has no access to the ‘evidence’? Changes to the law will include making it illegal to advocate violence to further a person’s belief, justifying or validating such violence, or fostering hatred.

Under the Lords Chancellor Cardinal Wolsey and Archbishop Cranmer (1515-1529), the Court of Star Chamber became a political weapon for bringing actions against opponents to the policies of Henry VIII, his Ministers and his Parliament. Then, under James the 1st and Charles the 1st, the Star Chamber Court sessions were held in secret, with no indictments, no right of appeal, no juries, and no witnesses. Evidence was presented in writing. On October 17, 1632, the Court of Star Chamber banned all “news books”.[1] Sound familiar?

This is a moment to seize. The Kaleidoscope has been shaken. The pieces are in flux. Soon they will settle again. Before they do, let us re-order this world around us.”
Tony Blair @ the Labour Party Conference, October 1st 2001

Tony Blair tells us that “Let no one be in any doubt. The rules of the game are changing”, but whose changing them and whose ‘game’ is it? [2]

The cry of ‘Treason’, is after all, the logical conclusion to a policy based upon demonisation of the ‘other’ and the latest sign of a ruling class in desperate need to justify not only its onslaught on the people of Iraq but the attacks on our rights and liberties. Not surprisingly, the bombings of July 7 and the ‘topping up’ of July 21 came in very handy in the run-up to the cry of ‘treason!’

The terrible irony of our current situation is that although the state is undergoing an unprecedented crisis of credibility because of its policy of allying itself with the US imperium, there is no real domestic opposition. So what is it that the state is allegedly so afraid of?

What should not be let out of our sight is the fact that unless the domestic population is presented with a ‘clear and present danger’, the state faces the real possibility of a genuine opposition developing to its policies. This is the real danger. For the reality is that it is precisely the policies of Blair’s government along with that of the US that is the cause of the current situation.
globalresearch.ca

The first detailed genetic comparison between humans and chimpanzees shows that 96 per cent of the DNA sequence is identical in the two species. But there are significant differences, particularly in genes relating to sexual reproduction, brain development, immunity and the sense of smell.

An international scientific consortium publishes the genome of the chimpanzee, the animal most closely related to homo sapiens on Thursday in the journal Nature. It is the fourth mammal to have its full genome sequenced, after the mouse, rat and human being.

Some of the scientific analysis of the 3bn chemical “letters” of the chimp’s genetic code focused on its remarkable closeness to the human genome. After 6m years of separate evolution, the differences between chimp and human are just 10 times greater than those between two unrelated people and 10 times less than those between rats and mice.

But most scientists are concentrating on the differences. The vast majority of these probably have little biological significance, said Simon Fisher of the Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics at Oxford: “The big challenge for the future is to pinpoint the tiny subset of differences that account for the origins of unusual human traits, such as complex language.”

The preliminary evidence suggests that the outstanding size and complexity of the human brain owes less to the evolution of new human genes than to the different way existing genes produce proteins as the human brain grows in the foetus and during infancy. Genes for transcription factors – molecules that regulate the activity of other genes and play a vital role in embryonic development – are evolving more quickly in humans than in chimps.

Three key genes involved in the human inflammatory response to disease are missing in chimps, which may explain some of the differences between the two immune systems. On the other hand humans have lost a gene for an enzyme that may protect other animals against Alzheimer’s disease.

The clearest differences to emerge from the analysis are in the Y (male) sex chromosome. While the human Y chromosome has maintained its count of 27 active gene families over 6m years, some have mutated and become inactive on its chimp counterpart.

This finding contradicts the popular view that the human Y chromosome is withering away because it has no genetic “mate” with which to swap genes – a process that repairs damaged DNA on other chromosomes. Presumably an alternative repair mechanism has evolved in humans but not in chimps.

David Page of the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research suggested that mating habits in the two species might explain the difference. Because male and female chimps mate with multiple partners there is stronger selective pressure on sperm-producing genes and conversely less pressure on evolution to preserve other genes on the Y chromosome in the apes than in largely monogamous humans.
news.ft.com

WASHINGTON – Chief executives at U.S. defense contractors have seen a 200-percent pay raise since the Sep. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, widening the chasm between compensation in the corner office and wages on the factory floor, a new report said Tuesday.

Average CEO pay–$11.8 million in salary, stock options, bonuses, and incentives–rose last year to 431 times what the average worker earned, $27,460, according to the report from the Washington, D.C.-based Institute for Policy Studies and Boston-based United for a Fair Economy. In 2003, CEOs had made 301 times their average employees’ pay.

The ratio had peaked at 525-to-1 in 2001.

”If the minimum wage had risen as fast as CEO pay since 1990, the lowest paid workers in the U.S. would be earning $23.03 an hour today, not $5.15 an hour,” the research and advocacy groups said.

The report charged that individual CEOs have profited from the Iraq War, with huge average raises at the biggest defense contractors. To arrive at this conclusion, it looked at 34 of the top 100 defense contractors of 2004. While most firms in the larger group were privately held, the 34 included in the report were publicly traded, meaning that their financial results were easier to research.

The 34 companies covered by the report–firms including United Technologies, Textron, and General Dynamics–made at least 10 percent of their revenues from defense contracts.

At these firms, average CEO pay rose 200 percent from 2001 to 2004–as compared to seven percent for all CEOs.

Examples cited in the report include that of David Brooks, CEO of bulletproof vest maker DHB Industries, who earned $70 million in 2004, up 3,349 percent from his 2001 compensation of $525,000.
commondreams.org

The latest entrants in the saga of Cindy Sheehan vs. the White House are white supremacists, as they plan to rally against the Iraq War this weekend in Crawford, Texas.

Members of Stormfront.org are tossing their figurative hoods into the mix, as they invite supporters to come to Camp Casey to “let the world know that white patriots were first and loudest to protest this war for Israel.”
worldnetdaily.com

IS “STORMFRONT” A HOAX?
As Cindy Sheehan renews her vigil outside the Bush ranch, a group of “White Supremacists” have shown up just in time for the mainstream media to proclaim that the peace movement harbors racists and (shudder) anti-Semites!

The timing is just too cute to be believed, and in an age where Karl Rove has redefined political dirty tricks to a degree that even Dick Nixon would admire, one has good reason to be skeptical who the “White Supremacists” are and more to the point, who they work for.

So, a Whatreallyhappened reader did a DNS search on stormfront.org, the supposed top of the heap in anti-Semitic groups, whose existence is cited as grounds for continued funding of various holocaust museums and the passage of draconian “hate” laws used to silence criticism of Israel.

Here is the DNS record whois returns on stormfront.org. Better verify it yourselves, because as soon as this article hits the net count on it to be changed.

DAMU SMITH: Well, between Baton Rouge, which is north of Louisiana — north of New Orleans, and New Orleans itself, there are scores of polluting facilities lining the Mississippi River on both sides of the river. You’re talking about numerous petrochemical plants, plastic production facilities and other heavy industries that are contributing to the pollution flowing into the Mississippi River. Now, near these facilities, in the shadow of these plants, are scores of African American communities, mostly African American impoverished communities. People, black and white and Latino, who live in these areas, are exposed to a toxic soup of chemicals regularly released into the air, into the soil, into the water.

Now, one of the things I want to add to this discussion, Amy, is that within New Orleans itself, there are a number of superfund toxic sites in neighborhoods. The Agricultural Street Landfill superfund site has been one of the most controversial sites in the city of New Orleans. We have been working with Elodia Blanco and her group, Concerned Citizens of Agriculture Street. I spoke to Ms. Blanco as she was hurriedly trying to get her invalid father and her daughter out of the house on Sunday in preparation for the hit by the storm. It’s impossible to reach any of them now because the phone services are down. But I’m just imagining the water, if the water is flooding her neighborhood, and I’m imagining that it is, all of those toxic chemicals below their homes have come up. And the water that we see in the footage coming through the television footage contains all of these toxic chemicals. So we’re not just talking about fireflies and ants that we’re hearing in the major media. We’re talking about serious chemicals that are a threat to human health. And now all of this is in the water and being washed into people’s homes and is contaminating the water.

St. Charles parish, just north of New Orleans, has the Shell Norco chemical plant and numerous other polluting facilities. It’s not clear what’s happening in that parish but I would imagine that St. Charles parish has also been hit. East New Orleans has been hard hit. I’ve been to East New Orleans, there are a number of toxic sites in that area right near poor and African American communities. So this is a disaster, not only in terms of the flooding that’s going on, the long-term economic consequences, but it is also an environmental disaster.

One more thing I would like to add, Amy, is that this issue of climate change is very, very serious, as our other guest has stated. The Gulf waters have been very warm, and the warming of the waters contributes to the power and the force of these hurricanes. So while we know hurricanes are indeed a natural disaster, manmade industrial processes are contributing to the enhancement of the power and destruction of hurricanes because of global warming. So this is a critical issue that we have to face as we move into this century. But we also have to face the fact that the infrastructure deficit in New Orleans has also contributed to this disaster. I believe that had — we’re not just talking about poor planning. We’re not just talking about the issues of planning, but we’re talking about issues of investment in the infrastructure necessity that are needed to protect the people of New Orleans from this kind of disaster. And that obviously did not occur.
democracynow.org

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) — At least 640 Shiite pilgrims were killed Wednesday when a railing on a bridge collapsed during a religious procession, sending scores into the Tigris River, Iraqi Deputy Interior Minister Hussein Ali Kamal said.

There was confusion over what caused the railing to collapse on the bridge to the city’s heavily Shiite Kazamiyah district, but police also said there were unconfirmed reports that the stampede may have been caused when someone in the crowd shouted there was a suicide bomber among them.

After the collapse, thousands of people rushed to both banks of the river to search for survivors. Hundreds of men stripped down and waded into the muddy water downstream from the bridge, trying to extract bodies floating in the water.
Tensions had been running high after a mortar and rocket attack some two hours earlier killed at least seven people and injured at least 40 near the Imam Mousa al-Kadim shrine, the destination of the worshippers. The shrine is about a mile from the bridge. U.S. Apache helicopters fired on the attackers, a U.S. statement said.
A medical worker told Associated Press Television News that he rushed in to help those hurt in the attack.

“We saw the dead scattered on the ground and the injured were taken to al-Kadimiyah hospital for treatment. There are more injured children than the men and women,” the medical worker said.
nytimes.com