Free Internet Press Newsletter - Monday April 9 2007 - (813)

Monday April 9 2007 edition
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Britain's Defense Ministry Sees Grim Future Of Brain Chips, Revolution, EMP Weapons and Neutron Bombs 2007-04-09 01:33:08 Information chips implanted in the brain. Electromagnetic pulse weapons. The middle classes becoming revolutionary, taking on the role of Marx's proletariat. The population of countries in the Middle East increasing by 132%, while Europe's drops as fertility falls. "Flashmobs" - groups rapidly mobilized by criminal gangs or terrorists groups. This is the world in 30 years' time envisaged by a British Ministry of Defense (MoD) team responsible for painting a picture of the "future strategic context" likely to face Britain's armed forces. It includes an "analysis of the key risks and shocks". Rear Admiral Chris Parry, head of the MoD's Development, Concepts & Doctrine Center which drew up the report, describes the assessments as "probability-based, rather than predictive". The 90-page report comments on widely discussed issues such as the growing economic importance of India and China, the militarization of space, and even what it calls "declining news quality" with the rise of "internet-enabled, citizen-journalists" and pressure to release stories "at the expense of facts". It includes other, some frightening, some reassuring, potential developments that are not so often discussed. New Weapons An electromagnetic pulse will probably become operational by 2035 able to destroy all communications systems in a selected area or be used against a "world city" such as an international business service hub. The development of neutron weapons which destroy living organs but not buildings "might make a weapon of choice for extreme ethnic cleansing in an increasingly populated world". The use of unmanned weapons platforms would enable the "application of lethal force without human intervention, raising consequential legal and ethical issues". The "explicit use" of chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear weapons and devices delivered by unmanned vehicles or missiles. Read The Full Story Iraqi Foreign Minister: Keep Your Quarrels Out Of Iraq Talks 2007-04-09 01:32:07 Iraq must not become a crucible for confrontation between the U.S. and its regional foes Iran and Syria, the foreign minister Hoshyar Zebari warned Sunday, adding that Iraq's security should be the "only issue on the agenda" of a major international conference aimed at finding ways to stabilize the strife-torn country. "We are saying keep your quarrels and fights away; we have enough on our plate," Zebari said in an interview with the Guardian. "We are getting caught in the middle and the tensions are affecting us immediately and directly." The foreign minister announced over the weekend that Iraq's neighbors, the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council and the G8 group of industrialized countries would meet in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh on May 3 to discuss the security situation in Iraq. U.S. officials have said that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will attend. Read The Full Story Democrats Hope To Lead The Way On Tax Overhaul 2007-04-09 01:31:32 House Democratic leaders, in an effort to upstage Republicans on the issue of tax cuts, are preparing legislation that would permanently shield all but the very richest taxpayers from the alternative minimum tax, which is likely to affect tens of millions of families as early as next year if it is left unchanged. The effort, which lawmakers emphasize is still in its early stages, would exempt millions of people from the tax but would have to come up with a way to offset an enormous loss of revenue in the next decade. Measured in dollars, it would be far bigger than Democratic initiatives to provide money for children’s health care, education or any other spending program. The alternative minimum tax was created in 1969 to prevent millionaires from using loopholes to avoid all federal income taxes. Under it, affected taxpayers have to do a second tax calculation without claiming popular deductions like those for state and local taxes that they have come to rely on. It is akin to a flat tax of 26 to 28 percent. But the tax is expanding at a rapid pace, partly because it is not adjusted for inflation. It can hit people with incomes as low as $50,000 and if left unchecked is expected to affect 23 million households during the 2007 tax year - up from 3.4 million last year. Read The Full Story	Moqtada al-Sadr Blames 'Evil' U.S. For Violence 2007-04-09 01:32:27 Calling the United States the "great evil," radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr on Sunday accused U.S. forces of dividing Iraqby stoking violence. He also urged his Mahdi Army militiamen and Iraqi security forces to stop fighting each other in Diwaniyah, a southern city where clashes erupted late last week. The influential cleric's verbal assault came as the U.S. military announced that 10 American soldiers were killed over the weekend, including six who died Sunday in attacks north and south of Baghdad. At least 69 Iraqis were also killed or found dead across Iraq. Sadr, a fierce nationalist who has long called for a U.S. withdrawal, stopped short of telling his fighters to rise up against the American troops, a move that would severely complicate an ongoing security offensive underway in Iraq. Instead, he ordered his followers to remain united and to "demonstrate" to "end the occupation." Read The Full Story Bush Renewing Efforts On Immigration 2007-04-09 01:31:51 President Bush will relaunch his push for an overhaul of the nation's immigration laws Monday in Arizona, with a fresh speech on the border and a new congressional leadership that is friendlier to his views, but with the same dynamics that scuttled his last attempt: a cooperative Senate but bipartisan opposition in the House. In contrast to her approach to other controversial issues, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California) has told the White House that she cannot pass a bill with Democratic votes alone, nor will she seek to enforce party discipline on the issue. Bush will have to produce at least 70 Republican votes before she considers a vote on comprehensive immigration legislation, a task that may be very difficult for a president saddled with low approval ratings. Democratic conservatives, particularly freshmen who seized their seats from Republicans, weathered a barrage of attacks on the issue before their victories in November and are not anxious to relive the experience, aides and lawmakers say. Some of those lawmakers, such as Reps. Nancy Boyda (Kansas), Brad Ellsworth (Indiana), Nick Lampson (Texas) and Heath Shuler (North Carolina), are implacably opposed to a bill that would grant any of the nation's estimated 12 million illegal immigrants legal residence or citizenship, at least until new border controls are implemented and working. Read The Full Story
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