News (Page 2) -- December 18, 2006

Iran within four years of nuclear bomb: Israel spy chief - "Iran will have its first atomic bomb within three or four years if its nuclear weapons programme continues to develop at the current pace, Israel's spy chief Meir Dagan has said."

Blood and Money - "In what might be called the mother of all surprises, Iraq's economy is growing strong, even booming in places."

Revisiting The Horrors Of The Holocaust - ""I’m curious. Why did the Nazis keep all these records? If they were gonna murder these people anyway, why keep the paperwork?" Pelley asks. "Because they wanted to show they were getting the job done. So, in terms of people whose destiny was to be murdered, recording how well that was being done was very important," Shapiro explains."

THE UNITED STATES IS INSOLVENT - "The US is insolvent. There is simply no way for our national bills to be paid under current levels of taxation and promised benefits. Our federal deficits alone now total more than 400% of GDP."

U.S. violent crimes jump in first half of 2006: FBI - "Murders, robberies and other violent crimes reported in the United States jumped 3.7 percent in the first half of the year, continuing a troubling upswing that began in 2005, the FBI said on Monday."

Four teenagers jailed for torture - "Four teenagers who burned, beat and abused a girl with learning difficulties have been jailed. The four from Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, ignited aerosol sprays to burn Katy James, 17, during four-hours of torture. ... She was forced to drink a glass containing urine and cigarette butts and made to eat chilli powder. Her hair and head were burnt when two aerosols were converted into "flame-throwers"."

Rapist Preys on Men in Houston Area - "A rapist who preys on young men has struck five times in the Houston area since mid-September, and police said Monday there may be even more victims, but they are too ashamed to come forward. The rapist typically stalks, robs and sexually assaults his victims at gunpoint, apparently choosing them at random and attacking them near or inside their homes, police said."

Hey Everyone, Come See How Good I Look - "That's right. In the lamest of the lame move, Time's Person of the Year is "you". Isn't that just special?"

Last Warning! Three-Pronged Collapse ... Stocks, Bonds and Real Estate - "Today I want to give you one final warning on the crisis I see coming. I've told you some of this before, but I feel it's so important that it needs to be repeated one last time. Gold's rally back over $600, and recently to more than $640 an ounce, is telling us — in no uncertain terms — that a financial crisis of major proportions is about to strike."

Glitzy Las Vegas Battles Over Homeless - "This is a boomtown, but it is also scattered with signs of bust - namely, homeless people. And the city is taking a hard line against them."

Welcome to the world of nano foods - "Far-fetched? The processed-food giant Kraft and a group of research laboratories are busy working towards 'programmable food'. One product they are working on is a colourless, tasteless drink that you, the consumer, will design after you've bought it. You'll decide what colour and flavour you'd like the drink to be, and what nutrients it will have in it, once you get home. You'll zap the product with a correctly-tuned microwave transmitter - presumably Kraft will sell you that, too. This will activate nano-capsules - each one about 2,000 times smaller than the width of a hair - containing the necessary chemicals for your choice of drink: green-hued, blackcurrant-flavoured with a touch of caffeine and omega-3 oil, say. They will dissolve while all the other possible ingredients will pass unused through your body, in their nano-capsules. ... You may not want it, but the food industry does. Every major food corporation is investing in nano-tech - government in Europe has pumped £1.7 billion in research money into the field over the past eight years. Nano-food and nano-food packaging are on their way because the food industry has spotted the chance for huge profi ts: by 2010, the business, according to analysts, will be worth $20 billion annually. And there is already a prototype of a Wonka-esque chewing gum that, using nano-capsules, promises the sensation of eating real chocolate."

Vatican mulls fielding football team - " The Vatican may one day field a football team that could rival the top formations in Italy's powerful Serie A, the Holy See's Secretary of State, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, said Sunday."

Vapour trails? That's what THEY want you to think - "There is growing speculation that the chemtrails are deposited by unmarked planes flying from the USA, seeding the sky with chemicals - possibly in a bid to supress global warming, to trap pollution or for some sinister military purpose."

Universe's First Objects Possibly Seen - "Astronomers might have seen the very first stars in the universe. If so, these are incredible stars, some 1,000 times as massive as the Sun. The alternative is just as interesting: The objects might be early black holes consuming gas voraciously and spitting out radiation like crazy as nascent galaxies form."