Iris Scanners

Your Local Cops Now Use Iraq’s Iris Scanners

In Iraq and Afghanistan, U.S. troops use handheld devices to take iris scans and thumb prints off of detainees and put them in vast databases to distinguish insurgents from civilians. Now your local cops are getting in on the action.

L-1 Identity Solutions, a four-year-old company, makes the Handheld Interagency Identity Detection System (HIIDE), a mobile device that digitally records someone’s iris, fingerprint and facial characteristics “to create a comprehensive database on the enrolled subject.” The tool, which has earned high marks in Iraq and Afghanistan, is marketed to cops, as a way to avoid taking suspects to booking stations, “where waiting time for results could be anywhere from three hours to three days” for a positive ID on warrant-jumpers.
Military technology has a tendency to trickle down to civilian applications, as evidenced by the fact that you’re reading this story on the internet that Darpa helped create. Usually that takes time, but police departments across the country are fielding tools that the military developed to keep tabs on insurgents are now in place to see if you’ve got any outstanding arrest warrants. That’s what the Washington Post found for the latest installment of its series on the expanding surveillance state: Arizona’s Maricopa County, for instance, keeps a database sized at “9,000 biometric digital mug shots a month.”


Here’s how the proliferation of biometrics works, as the Post discovers. The Department of Homeland Security wants more data points on potential homegrown terrorists. Through Federal-state law enforcement “fusion centers,” federal grants help finance law enforcement’s acquisition of ID tools like HIIDE, as well as powerful surveillance cameras and sensors. Police incorporate them into their regular law-enforcement duties, picking up information on suspects and using them to cut down on the time it takes to figure out who’s evading arrest.

As the military learned, positive identification depends on having a large data set of known insurgents. Cops and the feds are going just as broad. Fingerprint information from crime records gets sent to a  FBI datafarm in West Virginia, where they “mingle” with prints from detainees in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere. Military and Homeland Security officials can search through the FBI database for possible connections to terrorists.
It’s unclear if there are minimization procedures in place to void someone’s fingerprints in the datafarm after a distinct period of time, or how serious a crime has to be to merit a bioscan getting sent to West Virginia. And in many cases, the technology at use here just accelerates the speed at which, say, prints from a police station get sent to the FBI, rather than making the difference between inclusion at the datafarm and remaining at the police station. But it certainly looks like there’s not such a lag time between tech developed for a complex insurgency finding applications for crime-fighting at home.

Photo: U.S. Army

Goodbye paper money; Hello Gold

Or, we could say  “Goodbye Paper Money  – Hello Real Money”.

All currencies are hopelessly declining in value against gold and this trend will accelerate in the next few months and years, starting now.

Voltaire’s statement from 1729 that “All paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value – ZERO” is now ringing as true as ever. The graph below shows the decline of major currencies against gold since 1900.The US dollar,  Euro (DM),  Pound and Yen have all declined between 93% and 99% against gold in the last 109 years. 

Part of gold's allure is its traditional status as a safe haven. It is seen as a store of value when everything else seems risky.

A better way to think of gold may be as central bankers used to before America dropped the gold standard: not as a commodity, but as another currency. As long as the dollar stays weak, gold's bull run will last.

The US Federal Reserve's aggressive, rate-cutting response to the credit squeeze has created a risk of a sharp rise in American inflation. That in turn creates the risk of a precipitous fall in the dollar and so makes gold more attractive as a hedge.

The world's major economies have experienced rapid money supply growth of 10 per cent plus per annum in recent years. The Fed remains the world's biggest holder of gold, yet supplies of the metal are no longer growing annually. If gold is a finite currency, its value against not just the dollar, but sterling and the euro too should rise.

Moreover, a sharp decline in US real interest rates -- financial markets expect another half percentage point cut this month -- means that the low yield on gold matters less. It may have been a poor hedge against inflation in the past but the combination of rising consumer prices and economic stagnation may make it a better store of value.

Gold's rise shows investors are nervous. That is an important message for central banks contemplating interest rate cuts. The Fed must show it is not prepared to allow inflation to take off. Keynes called gold a barbarous relic. It has life left in it. But it is in the interests of business and consumers that its most bullish fans are proved wrong.

Vaccines- The Hidden Truth

It is common modern practice to vaccinate children beginning in infancy, supposedly to protect them against a variety of diseases which "threaten" mankind. In truth, however, it is these very vaccines that are threatening the health and genetic integrity of the human race. Before the advent of vaccines, many childhood diseases such as measles, mumps and whooping cough were adequately handled by the immune systems of children raised in a drugless society. It was not until the beginning of mass immunization of children in the 1950’s that these same diseases appeared to cause grave injury or death. In fact, in 1950, before routine vaccinations became a reality, the United States had the third lowest infant mortality rate in the world. By 1986, the U.S. infant mortality rate dropped to 17^th place and by 1995 the U.S. had fallen further to 24^th place.

There is a vast difference between natural immunity acquired as nature intended it and the invasive immunization practice derived from vaccination. Immediately after birth, newborn infants who are breast fed, receive antibodies through their mother’s milk. When a child or adult gets a disease naturally, the virus or bacteria travels through the nose or mouth into the lungs and into the circulatory and lymphatic systems, providing antibody and cellular protection. In contrast, when concentrated pathogenic microorganisms are injected directly into the body, they bypass the natural defense system and disease sets in. This challenges the immune system, and immunity is often short-lived.

When one understands what exactly is in these vaccines and how they are made, one would wonder how vaccines could possibly be of any benefit to health. Vaccines are produced from either dead or live attenuated (weakened) disease microorganisms. In the dead vaccines, viruses or bacteria have been have been inactivated by heat, radiation or poisonous chemicals. However, there is no guarantee that all of the microorganisms have been killed. If just one microbe survives it can multiply very rapidly and actually create the disease. This has been known to happen. In fact, every case of polio during the 1980’s was caused by the polio vaccine.

Vaccines created from live attenuated viruses and bacteria are made from the pus of animals that have been infected with disease and then butchered. In these vaccines, the live virus must be weakened by passing the virus through animal tissue several times to reduce its potency for human use. The measles virus is passed through chick embryos, the polio virus through monkey kidneys, and the rubella virus through the dissected organs of an aborted human (yes human!) fetus. The weakened germ is then stabilized by adding drugs, antibiotics, and toxic disinfectants such as neomycin, streptomycin, aluminum hydroxide, formaldehyde, and thimerosal (a mercury derivative). Studies have shown that even microscopic dosages of some of these substances can lead to cancer, neurological damage, and death.

Because of the way vaccines are prepared, additional contaminants may pose more serious concerns. During the serial passage of viruses through the animal cells, foreign genetic material (animal RNA and DNA) is transferred from one host to another. This biological matter is then injected directly into the human body. According to some researchers, this could change our genetic makeup.

The vaccine development process also allows undetected animal viruses to jump the species barrier. This actually happened during the 1950’s and 1960’s when millions of people were infected with polio vaccines that were contaminated with Simian Virus #40 contracted from the monkey organs used to prepare the vaccines. This virus is a powerful immunosuppressor and trigger for the HIV virus. It is said to cause a condition similar to AIDS, and has been found in brain tumors, leukemia and other forms of human cancer.

Are vaccines effective in preventing disease? The evidence proves that they are not. According to the international mortality statistics, there was at least a 95% decline in the incidence and severity of these diseases before the introduction of their vaccines. Measles has apparently returned, with a death rate twenty times higher than before the measles vaccine became available. Before England passed a mandatory vaccination law in 1853, the highest death rate from smallpox in any two-year period was 2,000 cases. However between 1870 and 1872 alone, 45,000 people died from smallpox. Not surprisingly, deaths from smallpox fell dramatically after people began refusing the shots.

The DPT (Diphtheria, Pertussis, Tetanus) vaccine is perhaps the most controversial childhood vaccine. According to pediatrician Dr. Lendon Smith, nearly all doctors have seen whooping cough (pertussis) in children who have been fully vaccinated with this shot. Side effects for the DPT shot range from high fever, continuous high-pitched screaming, severe rashes, diarrhea, choking, apnea, seizures, mental and physical retardation, and in many cases, death. A study done by Dr. Michel Odent found that children receiving the pertussis vaccine were more than six times more likely to develop asthma than children not receiving the vaccine. Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) was virtually unheard of until this vaccine was routinely given. The Japanese noticed this relationship and began delaying DPT vaccination until two years of age at which time SIDS disappeared. In the U.S., SIDS deaths average 8,000 per year. American babies still receive their first DPT shot at two months of age.

Other known vaccine-related side effects are attention deficit disorder and hyperactivity, arthritis, hydroencephalopy (fluid buildup on the brain), multiple sclerosis, meningitis, ulcerative colitis, crohn’s disease and chronic fatigue syndrome. Some of these diseases may not surface for up to forty years. The Gulf War Syndrome has also been linked to vaccinations and drug experimentation done on soldiers. It is interesting to note that, while military personnel from several countries participated in this war, only the U.S. military suffers from this syndrome.

Authorities will often warn of dangerous epidemics pending in a fear-based campaign to get parents to vaccinate their children. In 1991, newspapers in Placitas, New Mexico warned of a dangerous whooping cough epidemic, but only three cases of whooping cough were discovered, all in children who were vaccinated.

Because of the extensive cases of vaccine-induced injury and death, and related lawsuits against the companies who produced the vaccines, The National Childhood Injury Act was created in 1986 to compensate families whose children had been injured or died from vaccines. From July, 1990 to March, 1994 more than 34,000 cases of injury were reported, including hundreds of cases of brain damage and over 700 deaths. These numbers represent only 10% of actual cases, since according to the FDA, 90% of doctors do not report vaccine reactions. Compensation comes from a federal fund, not from the vaccine manufacturers. It is funded by a percentage of the cost of each vaccine, paid for by the patient at the time the vaccine is given. This practice effectively exempts both the government and vaccine manufacturers from taking responsibility for vaccine damage.

In spite of all the evidence against the efficacy and safety of vaccines plans are in the works for a "super vaccine" or "magic bullet" vaccine containing raw DNA from forty different kinds of bacteria and viruses. This vaccine would be given to all newborn infants and time-released in the body throughout life.

By now, it should be clear that vaccination is not an effective form of immunization. Only nature is capable of immunizing the body. Injecting vibrant healthy bodies with virulent microorganisms is an assault to the immune system. In countries such as Sweden and Australia where vaccination is not mandatory, parents are free to make the choice to vaccinate their children without hassle. In the U.S., where most people are not told that they have a choice, it is possible to refuse immunization based on religious exemptions or personal convictions. Each state has its own policy for waiving vaccinations. For children and even adults who have been vaccinated, there are natural therapies that can build the immune system and, in many cases, reverse the damage done by vaccines.

For a simply presented, yet highly informative book on vaccines, I highly recommend Immunization, Theory vs. Reality, by Neil Z. Miller. As more people realize the truth about vaccines, perhaps we can eradicate this practice altogether, and ensure a safe, healthy future for our children.

Terri L. Saunders is an Herbalist and Certified Natural Health Professional in Charlottesville, Virginia, where she does private consultations, telephone consultations, and classes on natural healing. She can be reached at Sunrise Herb Shoppe, a unique holistic resource center for cutting edge natural health products and books. For information call 434-984-2665, or visit our web site at www.sunriseherbshop.com , or e-mail at sunherb@mindspring.com .