Wednesday 27 July 2011

27/7/11 - 6 Ways Food is Being Used as a Weapon



Dees Illustration
Hungry people will do anything for food, which means that those who have control over food can use it as leverage. In 1974, Henry Kissinger suggested using food as a weapon to induce targeted population reduction in a previously classified 200-page reportNational Security Study Memorandum 200: Implications of Worldwide Population Growth for U.S. Security and Overseas Interests.  The primary tactic to be applied is that food aid would be withheld from developing nations until they submitted to birth control policies:
There is also some established precedent for taking account of family planning performance in appraisal of assistance requirements by AID [U.S. Agency for International Development] and consultative groups. Since population growth is a major determinant of increases in food demand, allocation of scarce PL 480 resources should take account of what steps a country is taking in population control as well as food production. In these sensitive relations, however, it is important in style as well as substance to avoid the appearance of coercion.
So, food was to be used as just another method of imperial colonization to force countries to conform their policies to those desired by the controllers. Notably, this tactic only works as a blunt weapon on territories enduring a severe economic collapse and with little resources for food production. Today, however, it appears that the entire globe is receiving an arsenal of food bombs as there appears to be a multifaceted attack on people's access to food.  In other words, what has been an admitted tactic for nearly 40 years of controlling food aid for regional population reduction has now grown more complex and expansive.


Because of massive corporate consolidation of agriculture, centrally coordinated global regulations, a devalued commodity-dollar and unrestrained commodity speculation, chemical and genetic modification, and real or manipulated food shortages; there is indeed a war being waged -- with food as the primary weapon.  Understand, this is a not purely a war on food, but rather a war on the general population. Therefore, it is crucial to understand these tactics in order to defend against them.

Here are six ways food is being used to wage war against the population:

1. Food inflation: Crippling food inflation is now affecting every corner of the world with the poorest feeling the worst pangs.  The U.N.  Food and Agriculture Organization's (FAO) food price index increased by 3 points to 234 points in June – a 39% increase on the year. These increases are causing mass starvation and rioting in many poor regions of the world, but they are also beginning to punish the middle-class in the Industrialized nations.  The price of food is inflating primarily because of a devalued commodity-dollar from excessive money printing and Wall Street commodity speculation.  Perhaps it's more appropriate to call it commodity manipulation, not speculation.  As William Engdahl recently pointed out: "The ability to manipulate the price of essential foods worldwide at will -- almost irrespective of today’s physical supply and demand for grains -- is quite recent....Up until the grain crisis of the mid-1970s there was no single 'world price' for grain, the benchmark for the price of all foods and food products."

What fuels commodity speculation is not just the obvious decline of the dollar and a flight to something tangible, but also genuine supply concerns based on a variety of factors that cause crop shortages like extreme weather or disease. Regardless of real or manipulated food shortages, food prices will continue to rise because of increased demand and an incrementally weaker dollar. Luckily, there are many ways to protect yourself from food inflation and the food war in general.

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2. Shortages: Through supply controls, food shortages have been used as a weapon to create regional conflicts, to encourage peacekeeping missions, and as a foreign policy carrot -- as clearly outlined in Kissinger's 1974, Memorandum 200. The most recent examples can be found with the current and ongoing negotiations with North Korea who perpetually holds a nuclear gun to the West's head in exchange for food. Somalia, who was food self-sufficient until the 1970s, has become a "failed state" because of food shortages.  Significantly, the situation inSomalia and other large-scale famine are usually caused by a manipulated economic collapse.  In fact, many have reported that the lack of food was an underlying factor of the Egyptian revolution.

Because of corporate consolidation of staple crops such as corn, soybeans, and wheat -- and the central control of food aid -- it is now easy to manipulate food shortages. But, clearly, there are also catastrophic weather events that destroy production in entire regions such as the heat wave in Russia last summer that caused them to restrict wheat exports in what some referred to as food wars. Many countries who had contracts with Russia were not happy, and their protectionist move had global effects on the food prices.  In other words, imminent food shortages are typically a localized problem, but because the food system is so interconnected, local problems now affect the global community.

3. Chemical Additives:  Chemical additives, from pesticides to preservatives, can only be viewed as a weapon in the depopulation agenda. Clearly, laboratory-concocted chemicals were never meant for human consumption.  Therefore, they can only be attributed to an effort to deliberately and slowly poison the population. Many food and drink toxins like fluoride, aspartame, or monosodium glutamate (MSG) are now well-known to have negative health effects. Other lab creations like high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) are also beginning to prove very unhealthy with tests showing mercury in corn syrup.  Incidentally, we dare you to find any sweet food that doesn't contain either aspartame or HFCS.  Even wholesome Campbell's Tomato soup has HFCS, as does Heinz ketchup -- while nearly every candy or gum contains aspartame.  It's estimated that the average American consumes 12 teaspoons of HFCS per day, while the younger population consumes nearly double that. "Mercury is toxic in all its forms. Given how much high-fructose corn syrup is consumed by children, it could be a significant additional source of mercury never before considered," said Dr. David Wallinga of the Agriculture and Trade Policy whose study found about a third of brand-name foods with HFCS had measurable amounts of mercury.

Pesticides fall into the chemical additive category -- GM pesticides especially (called Bt toxins).  They are found in the blood stream of nearly all North Americans, and even in 80% of their unborn babies. It is presumed these toxins are acquired by eating genetically modified corn or soy, and from the livestock that feed on it.  A recent study proved that the chemical found in best-selling pesticides, glyphosate, causes birth defects among other ailments.  We must understand that although all of these toxins, and a host of others, are approved for consumption by the FDA, it doesn't make them safe.  And even the ones that have exotic names but have yet to be proven to have ill effects surely have a cumulative impact on human health.  They're so pervasive that it seems impossible to evade them, but there are still ways to eat like a human.

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4. Regulations:  By restricting food freedom, regulatory agencies purposely increase dependence on the Big Ag monopoly cartel that fully controls the basic building blocks of food. Simply put, those who control the corn, wheat, soybeans and rice, control all food, since all livestock and all processed foods are dependent on those food sources.  In America, and increasingly around the world, this cartel places their cronies in government regulatory agencies like the USDA to weed out their competition through excessive regulation.  Furthermore, this restriction of food freedom is happening in concert across the globe, precisely because it is a top-down globalist initiative driven by international regulatory agencies such as the World Trade Organization and the United Nations. It is a complex, interwoven agenda that takes into account everything from health safety to land use rights in order to force independent food producers to conform in ways that only benefit a global corporate structure.  Regulatory agencies are one of the primary weapons deployed against independent living.

5. Genetic Modification:  There are many reasons to avoid eating genetically modified food,from health concerns to supporting a fundamentally evil food cartel.  Genetically modified foods are the path to monopolies over human life through patented technology and environmental destruction by chemical-heavy monoculture practices.  GMOs are so pervasive in the United States that it is estimated that 70% of the average American diet contains them.  Many European countries, and other regions, have rejected GMOs.  Hungary recently destroyed illegal GM corn crops and plans to make distributing seeds a felony offense. However, because of corporate/political pressure, most resistant countries are being forced to adopt them.  All of this despite the fact that environmental infection and contamination are proven effects of transgenic plants.  Meanwhile, the control is being implemented under convoluted patent laws, where the mutation itself signifies originality and control over the natural organism it imitates.

6. The Weather:  Weather undeniably affects food access and food costs.  One glance at maps across the globe reveals that food production areas are being especially hard hit, and we are seeing prices rise accordingly.  These natural events can be exploited both by speculators and governments. However, with the introduction of weather modification, invested in by those such as Bill Gates and openly promoted by elite globalist think tanks, concerns have been raised over the possibility that governments could use weather as a deliberate weapon to create food wars.  Accusations have already been leveled charging exactly that.  While some might dismiss the various possibilities of "steering the weather" for malevolent purposes as conspiracy, it is much more difficult to ignore the 1996 document presented to the Air Force titled Owning the Weather 2025 (PDF), which explicitly states as a heading on page 10: Applying Weather-modification to Military Operations.  One key section states that weather control could be virtual, as well as literal:
Offensive abilities could provide spoofing options to create virtual weather in the enemy's sensory and information systems, making it more likely for them to make decisions producing results of our choosing rather than theirs. It would also allow for the capability to mask or disguise our weather-modification activities.
[...]
Also key to the feasibility of such a system is the ability to model the extremely complex nonlinear system of global weather in ways that can accurately predict the outcome of changes in the influencing variables.
[...]
Conceivably, with enough lead time and the right conditions, you could get “made-to-order” weather.
This would certainly be the ultimate endgame for anyone wishing to use food as a weapon of control and profit.  This possibility should not be easily dismissed, but rather it warrants open-minded investigation and research. 

As we can see, food control is full spectrum, with wars being declared on the individual, states, and sovereign nations simultaneously.  Food controllers utilize health, politics, and economics to integrate their agenda.  Only full spectrum solutions can be employed as protection.  There is much hope to be offered through alternative markets, barter systems, and local co-ops.  We welcome your thoughts in the comments section below about other creative ideas we can implement to preserve our independence.

"True individual freedom cannot exist without economic security and independence. People who are hungry and out of a job are the stuff of which dictatorships are made." -- Franklin Roosevelt

Please visit Food Freedom for Rady Ananda's contributions to this article, as well as for the latest information about health news, original commentary, and activism.

Friday 22 July 2011

22/7/11 - SEVEN dead in double terrorist attack in Norway as car bomb blast hits government office block and man opens fire at children's summer camp



At least two people have been killed in a massive explosion in Oslo and four are killed in a shooting at a youth meeting 500 miles from Oslo.Police in Norway say the blast - which happened just after 2.30pm today GMT - was caused by a bomb.
There are now reports of a shooting on a children's summer camp in Utoya Island, 500 miles north of Oslo. Up to 1,000 children are believed to be in attendance.
Early reports indicate the camp is a meeting of the youth group of the Labour party and Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg was in attendance at the time of the attack, when a man disguised as a police officer allegedly opened fire.
People are now reportedly trying to escape by swimming away from the island and locking themselves in buildings.
Speaking on the phone to Norwegian TV station TV2 Mr Stoltenberg said: 'There is a critical situation at Utøya and several ongoing ops as we speak.'
Police are also saying this afternoon the office of broadcaster TV2 has been sealed off because of a suspicious package.
The tangled wreckage of a car was seen outside one Government building leading to suggestions it could be have been a car bomb. Officers are investigating whether it was a fertiliser nitrate device.
The Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg was not in the city at the time and is unharmed, it has been reported.
Norwegian broadcasters have confirmed one death just before 4pm however early pictures show at least two dead bodies.
At least fifteen people have been injured from flying glass and seven are being treated at Oslo University Hospital. Read More

Wednesday 20 July 2011

20/7/11 - Palestinians using statehood push at UN to set stage for war with Israel


JERUSALEM — The Palestinian Authority plans to use international backing to legitimize a new conflict with Israel, a report said.


The Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs asserted that the PA, in cooperation with Hamas, hopes that a United Nations resolution for a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip would set the stage for war with Israel in late 2011. The report, authored by leading Israeli analyst Pinhas Inbari, envisioned what Palestinian leaders have termed a "third intifada," or revolt.
"What the Palestinians really envisage after September is to exploit a UN endorsement of statehood to legitimize an escalation of the conflict," the report, titled "What Are the Palestinians Planning after September?" said. "After having the 1967 lines recognized so as to negate the results of the Six-Day War, they plan to seek recognition of the 1947 partition lines."

Saturday 16 July 2011

16/7/11 - Israel aircraft raid Gaza for fourth day in row

Israeli aircraft struck Gaza overnight for the fourth time in as many days, wounding a militant who was about to fire a rocket, Palestinian security sources said on Saturday
Israeli aircraft struck Gaza overnight for the fourth time in as many days, wounding …



Israeli aircraft struck Gaza overnight for the fourth time in as many days, wounding a militant who was about to fire a rocket, Palestinian security sources said on Saturday.
The Palestinian was admitted to hospital but his injuries were not life-threatening, the sources said.
An Israeli military spokeswoman confirmed that an air strike had targeted a Palestinian.
The raid was followed by the firing of two rockets from Gaza into Israel, neither of which caused casualties or damage, she added.
There has been a sharp increase in rocket fire by Gaza militants in recent days, ending two months of relative calm in which just two rockets were fired into Israel in two months.
Armed forces chief of staff Lieutenant General Benny Gantz convened a meeting on Friday with regional commander for GazaBrigadier General Tal Russo, air force chief Major General Ido Nehustan and military intelligence chief Major General Aviv Kochavi to discuss a response, Israeli media reported.
Israel has launched a series of air strikes in retaliation for the rocket fire.
On Thursday night, Israeli jets struck three targets in Gaza, moderately wounding four Palestinians, security and medical officials said.
On Wednesday night, Israeli aircraft targeted three tunnels, two used for smuggling in southern Gaza and one "used for terrorist activity" in the north of the Palestinian territory.
Two Palestinians were listed as missing after one of the tunnels collapsed in the raid, and the body of one of them has been recovered, medics said. The fate of the other man is still unknown.
On Tuesday, Israeli air raids hit what the military called two "weapons manufacturing sites" in northern Gaza. Palestinian medical sources said one woman was moderately injured.
In April, tensions rose after an anti-tank missile fired from Gaza hit an Israeli school bus, killing a teenager.
Israel responded with a series of air strikes that killed at least 19 Palestinians in the deadliest violence since Israel's devastating 22-day assault on Gaza in 2008-2009.
The violence raised fears of another similar offensive, but on April 10 Gaza's Hamas rulers declared a return to the truce that ended Israel's Operation Cast Lead in January 2009.

16/7/11 - Ex-CIA officer: Israel likely to attack Iran in September

Natanz nuclear facility, 300 km south of Tehran. Photo by: STR New / Reuters


Monday 11 July 2011

12/7/11 - Iran: Israel Planning to Kill Nasrallah (which, if true, would spark a war of unimaginable proportions)



An Iranian radio station has accused Israel of planning to kill Hizbullah terrorist chief Hassan Nasrallah. The report, broadcast on the Hebrew-language station “Kol David,” claimed to be based on a report in the Lebanese paper Al-Deir.

The Mossad has a plan to kill Nasrallah, Kol David claimed. “[The report] was approved in 2006 but has been shelved due to American and European pressure to maintain the ceasefire with Lebanon,” according to the report.

However, the station said, “European diplomats' reports based on sources in Tel Aviv determined that the Israeli occupation officials are still determined to murder the head of Hizbullah.”

“The Mossad is trying to prevent any evidence or sign of Israeli involvement in the murder,” the report went on to claim.

Iran is a major financial and political supporter of Hizbullah in Lebanon. Iranian and Hizbullah troops have joined forces to help fight protesters in Syria, and there is concern that both may be planning to use incitement against Israel to ease pressure on Syrian President Bashar Assad.

Previously it appeared that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was attempting to goad Israel into war with the increasingly politically powerful Hizbullah terrorist group in order to deflect attention from his own lack of popularity. (read more)

11/7/11 - Energy War? Lebanon Warns Israel ‘Playing with Fire’ Offshore

by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
Lebanon has warned Israel it is “playing with fire” by staking out energy claims in the Mediterranean Sea, where Beirut says Israel’s discoveries are in its territory.
The Tamar natural gas reservoir is located 90
The Tamar natural gas reservoir is located 90
Israel news photo: courtesy of Technology.com


The Israeli Cabinet, heading off another dispute similar to the Sheba Farms land dispute at the northern border, approved a “marine economic zone proposal” Sunday after Lebanon presented maps to the United Nations, marking maritime borders that would include part of the giantLeviathan and Tamarfields. The United Nations previously has refused to take repsonsiblity for marking the maritime borders.
The Lebanese daily As-Safir,
in an article under the headline “War of Oil: Another Phase of Israeli Offense,” reported that Lebanese Minister of Energy and Water Joubran Bassil said Israel “isplaying with fire “by violating Lebanon’s maritime border and oil rights.”  
He added, “Obviously we will prevent any violation. However, in case of violation, Israel will not be the only damaged part, but also large companies that cooperate with it. We, in Lebanon, respect the rights of others, and we don’t want to violate the rights of others, but at the same time, we do not want someone to attack us. Lebanon will not give up its rights or its borders”
Israeli firms discovered the gas fields, which also are believed to hold large commercially viable oil deposits, two years ago. Afterwards, Lebanon said the discoveries are in its territory, and it recently has announced that a Norwegian company will start a seismic research offshore.
Hizbullah, with its eyes on the rich reserves
, previously has threatened that Israel is risking war by planning to “steal” its offshore energy reserves.


Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon Sunday morning denied a report n theHaaretz newspaper that the United States already has backed the Lebaneseposition.
"The dispute over the border with Lebanon was created by the Lebanese,” he said on Army Radio. “It is incorrect that the Americans sided with Lebanon in this dispute. There are very objective and organized rules, and I think that Israel will have no problem proving its ownership of the maritime areas that are ostensibly in dispute."
He also said that Israel has unsuccessfully tried to talk with Lebanese officials about maritime borders, despite the countries' officially being enemy states. "We've been in contact with Lebanon for a very long time," he explained. "We have an interest in demarcating and setting all the borders, but they refuse."
“Even the current land border, which is recognized by the United Nations, [was demarcated] without Lebanese involvement or recognition,” Ayalon said. “After the huge gas reserves were discovered, they suddenly woke up. Now that they've suddenly sent maps, we have no choice but to set the borders ourselves."
Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman charged that Lebanon is “under pressure from Hizbullah” and “is looking for friction.” He added that there are "very strong arguments under international law" that back Israel’s claims.





Friday 8 July 2011

8/7/11 - US Congress: Libyan War Unconstitutional, About Oil



8/7/11 - With eye on South China Sea, U.S. might place troops in Australia



American troops might soon find themselves serving in Australia as the United States looks for better access to the South China Sea, the source of much friction between China and many other Pacific nations.

During testimony on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, Adm. Robert Willard, the commander of the U.S. Pacific Command, said Australians would like to see an increase of U.S. military activities Down Under.

"The Australians have been extremely forward-leaning in their overtures to the United States government, and to the Department of Defense, to consider whether or not increasing our level of involvement with their armed forces," Willard told the House Armed Service Committee.

One of the goals would be improving Pacific Command's presence in that part of the world.

"Taking advantage of some of the existing capacities in Australia would lend to an improved Pacific Command posture in accessing Southeast Asia and the South China Sea region. And we have taken a hard look at that."

In recent years, China has been building up its military, including its navy, and has staked claims on sovereignty in the South China Sea that many nations, including the United States, have disputed.

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has said he has a group studying the idea of U.S. troops rotating through existing Australian bases, but he doesn't want to create any new permanent bases in the Pacific. And he remained diplomatic when asked whether such a plan would be about keeping China in check.

"This is really more about continuing U.S. presence and building these relationships, and it's more about our relationships with the rest of Asia than it is about China." (read more)

8/7/11 - "All signs say Iran is racing toward a nuclear bomb"



The procession of cars carrying Fereidoun Abbasi Davani sped down Vienna's Wagramer Strasse this Monday and into the underground car park of the International Atomic Energy Agency. Outside the building, on the bank of the Danube River, some 30 protesters from the Stop the Bomb movement demonstrated, waving signs denouncing the Iranian nuclear scientist. But Iranian security officers seemed more concerned about the prospect of someone trying to exploit Abbasi Davani's controversial visit to finish the job.

On November 29, 2010, anonymous assailants tried to assassinate Abbasi Davani as he emerged from his home in Tehran. He and his wife, seated next to him in the car, were hit by gunfire, but survived the assassination attempt. Iran blamed the Mossad for the failed operation.

The assassins were more successful in a different attack launched that same day, which killed another nuclear scientist - Majid Shahriari.
The Iranians claimed that Abbasi Davani was nothing but an innocent physics professor. Intelligence sources countered that his university position was just a cover for his secret activity as one of the leading experts in Iran's weaponization, which is working on the final and decisive stage of developing a nuclear weapon under the auspices of the Revolutionary Guards. His name appears on the UN Security Council's blacklist, compiled after the council voted in March 2007 to impose sanctions on companies, organizations and individuals involved in Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile programs. It also appears on similar lists compiled by the United States and the European Union, which ordered that his assets be frozen. (read more)

Thursday 7 July 2011

8/7/11 - “US Has No Intentions Of Ever Leaving Iraq”

Fri Jul 08 2011 03:40


Power brokers at 2011 St. Moritz conference agreed US “has no intentions of ever leaving Iraq”
Paul Joseph Watson
Prison Planet.com

Thursday, July 7, 2011
Last month we reported that the occupation of Iraq would be “prolonged indefinitely” and that a substantial number of U.S. troops would remain in the country beyond the December 31 deadline, which is precisely what transpired yesterday when the Obama administration announced its intention to abandon the original withdrawal plan.

“The Obama administration has been debating how large a force to propose leaving in Iraq. It made its proposal now in hopes of spurring a request from Prime Minister Nouri Maliki’s government, and to give the Pentagon time to plan, the officials said,” reports the L.A. Times, confirming that plans for a full withdrawal by the end of the year have been all but scrapped.
Senator John McCain has also called for 10-13,000 US troops to remain in the country for for “intelligence capabilities”.

Of course, these troops will be supplemented by security guards, mercenaries and innumerable other assets, swelling that figure by tens of thousands.

How were we able to forecast that efforts would be made to prolong the occupation beyond the set deadline? We didn’t have to rely on any crystal balls – we were merely going on leaked information from the 2011 Bilderberg Group meeting – a conference of global power brokers that the establishment media still claims has no influence on world affairs.

While the mainstream press was busy obsessing about Weiner’s Weiner and claiming Bilderbergers were merely gathering to play golf and idly stroll through the mountains of St. Moritz, Bilderberg members themselves were busy forming the consensus on the big issues, namely Iraq.
As we first reported last month, in looking to exploit some form of “squatter’s rights” in Iraq, the US “has no intentions of ever leaving Iraq,” according to leaked information from moles inside the conference which has proven routinely accurate in the past.
“When you think of Iraq, think big,” one US Bilderberger remarked during the discussion, suggesting that the country will merely be used as a launch pad for a wider regional war that will “include every nation in the Middle East except for Israel.”

We reported these leaks more than two weeks before the Obama administration announced its intention to scrap the withdrawal plan which mandated that the US presence end on December 31.
This is yet another example of how the consensus that is set at the annual Bilderberg meetings has an almost immediate impact on world affairs, just as it has many times in the past, notably when Bilderbergers agreed that the initial invasion of Iraq was to be delayed until 2003 when most observers had fully expected it to take place in the autumn of 2002.

Barack Obama swept to power on the promise that he would “immediately” withdraw troops from Iraq.
In reality, even before the August 2010 “withdrawal” of U.S. troops, the New York Times reported that, “Mr. Obama plans to leave behind a “residual force” of tens of thousands of troops to continue training Iraqi security forces, hunt down foreign terrorist cells and guard American institutions.”
When the supposed August 2010 “withdrawal” was announced, a senior military officer spelled it out more plainly to the Los Angeles Times, “‘When President Obama said we were going to get out within 16 months, some people heard, ‘get out,’ and everyone’s gone. But that is not going to happen,’ the officer said.”

While telling the American people one thing publicly, the Obama administration has fallen in line with the carefully contrived consensus of the global elite in ensuring the U.S. occupation of Iraq becomes a permanent fixture for many years and even decades to come.

8/7/11 - US warns airlines of threat of 'implanted bombs'


Airport body scanner (file)Plastic explosives under the skin might not be detected by existing methods such as body scans

Related Stories

The US has warned airlines of a potential threat from militants surgically implanting explosives.
It came after the Department of Homeland Security issued a memo to security officials and foreign counterparts alerting them to the threat of "body packing".
No specific plot has been identified but an anonymous official said new intelligence highlighted the threat.
Air passengers could now face even tougher screening measures.
In a statement, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) said that due to "significant advances in global aviation security in recent years, terrorist groups have repeatedly and publicly indicated interest in pursuing ways to further conceal explosives.
"As a precaution, passengers flying from international locations to US destinations may notice additional security measures in place.
"These measures are designed to be unpredictable, so passengers should not expect to see the same activity at every international airport.
"Measures may include interaction with passengers, in addition to the use of other screening methods such as pat-downs and the use of enhanced tools and technologies."
Existing airport screening methods cannot detect plastic explosives under the skin, TSA spokesman Nicholas Kimball told the Los Angeles Times.
'Implausible'
The memo sent to security officials was obtained by the Associated Press, which quoted it as saying that "body packing" was a "criminal tactic with possible terrorist application".
Some militant organisations seeking to mount an attack on aviation have used increasingly creative methods in their efforts to evade detection in recent years.
Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) has been linked to the attempt by a Nigerian man to bring down a plane over Detroit using a bomb concealed in his underpants in 2009.
The group was also thought to be behind an attempt in 2010 to bomb cargo planes using printer cartridges sent by post.
But experts are divided over the feasibility of mounting an attack using implanted explosives.
Chris Ronay, a former chief of the FBI explosives unit, told AP it would be "rather easy" once a willing would-be suicide bomber was found, the explosives secured and the bomb made.
Dr John Clifford Jones, an explosives expert at the University of Aberdeen, said the quantity of explosives that could be surgically implanted would not be enough to blow up a plane but might be enough to break open the fuselage.
"Energy to initiate the action of the explosive, making it detonate," he told the BBC, "could be provided by something incorporating a 9-volt battery," which the bomber might have to carry along with them, disguised as something like a mobile phone.
"Yet my intuition is that, all things considered, concealment followed by 'successful' operation of the device seems quite implausible."

Tuesday 5 July 2011

5/7/11 - South Korea on guard following North Korean threats



South Korea is closely watching North Korea's military after it warned of "merciless" retaliation for anti-Pyongyang slogans displayed by Seoul's frontline troops, the defence ministry said Thursday.

The North's government and military this week lambasted the South's troops for displaying slogans heaping "malignant slanders and calumnies at the army, system and dignity" of the communist state.

Pyongyang late Wednesday revealed details of a warning message it tried to send to the South's presidential Blue House through Panmunjom, the cross-border contact venue, after Seoul refused to accept it.

According to local news media, some frontline military units were displaying harshly worded slogans calling for death to the North's leader Kim Jong-Il and his youngest son and heir apparent, Jong-Un.

Defaming the Kims, the object of a Stalinist-style personality cult, is considered blasphemy in the isolated communist state. (read more)