Daily Archives: January 8, 2010

Mind-reading systems could change air security

In this Dec. 30, 2009 file photo, Tanner Suttles, left, a Transportation Security Administration employee is screened by a TSA officer during a demonstration of passenger screening technology at the TSA Systems Integration Facility in Arlington, Va. Security experts have floated several new ideas to enhance airport security in the weeks since authorities say a Nigerian man on a Detroit-bound jetliner tried to ignite explosives hidden in his crotch. Some ideas are being tested, others are far from proven, some aren’t being seriously considered. Many raise questions about civil liberties and all are costly. (AP Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari)

Associated Press | Jan 8, 2010

by Michael Tarm

CHICAGO – A would-be terrorist tries to board a plane, bent on mass murder. As he walks through a security checkpoint, fidgeting and glancing around, a network of high-tech machines analyzes his body language and reads his mind.

Screeners pull him aside.

Tragedy is averted.

As far-fetched as that sounds, systems that aim to get inside an evildoer’s head are among the proposals floated by security experts thinking beyond the X-ray machines and metal detectors used on millions of passengers and bags each year.

On Thursday, in the wake of the Christmas Day bombing attempt over Detroit, President Barack Obama called on Homeland Security and the Energy Department to develop better screening technology, warning: “In the never-ending race to protect our country, we have to stay one step ahead of a nimble adversary.”

The ideas that have been offered by security experts for staying one step ahead include highly sophisticated sensors, more intensive interrogations of travelers by screeners trained in human behavior, and a lifting of the U.S. prohibitions against profiling.

Some of the more unusual ideas are already being tested. Some aren’t being given any serious consideration. Many raise troubling questions about civil liberties. All are costly.

“Regulators need to accept that the current approach is outdated,” said Philip Baum, editor of the London-based magazine Aviation Security International. “It may have responded to the threats of the 1960s, but it doesn’t respond to the threats of the 21st century.”

Here’s a look at some of the ideas that could shape the future of airline security:

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MIND READERS

The aim of one company that blends high technology and behavioral psychology is hinted at in its name, WeCU — as in “We See You.”

The system that Israeli-based WeCU Technologies has devised and is testing in Israel projects images onto airport screens, such as symbols associated with a certain terrorist group or some other image only a would-be terrorist would recognize, said company CEO Ehud Givon.

The logic is that people can’t help reacting, even if only subtly, to familiar images that suddenly appear in unfamiliar places. If you strolled through an airport and saw a picture of your mother, Givon explained, you couldn’t help but respond.

The reaction could be a darting of the eyes, an increased heartbeat, a nervous twitch or faster breathing, he said.

The WeCU system would use humans to do some of the observing but would rely mostly on hidden cameras or sensors that can detect a slight rise in body temperature and heart rate. Far more sensitive devices under development that can take such measurements from a distance would be incorporated later.

If the sensors picked up a suspicious reaction, the traveler could be pulled out of line for further screening.

“One by one, you can screen out from the flow of people those with specific malicious intent,” Givon said.

Some critics have expressed horror at the approach, calling it Orwellian and akin to “brain fingerprinting.”

For civil libertarians, attempting to read a person’s thoughts comes uncomfortably close to the future world depicted in the movie “Minority Report,” where a policeman played by Tom Cruise targets people for “pre-crimes,” or merely thinking about breaking the law.

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LIE DETECTORS

One system being studied by Homeland Security is called the Future Attribute Screening Technology, or FAST, and works like a souped-up polygraph.

It would subject people pulled aside for additional screening to a battery of tests, including scans of facial movements and pupil dilation, for signs of deception. Small platforms similar to the balancing boards used in the Nintendo Wii would help detect fidgeting.

At a public demonstration of the system in Boston last year, project manager Robert Burns explained that people who harbor ill will display involuntary physiological reactions that others — such as those who are stressed out for ordinary reasons, such as being late for a plane — don’t.

The system could be made to work passively, scanning people as they walk through a security line, according to Burns.

Field testing of the system, which will cost around $20 million to develop, could begin in 2011, The Boston Globe said in a story about the demonstration. Addressing one concern of civil libertarians, Burns said the technology would delete data after each screening.

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THE ISRAELI MODEL

Some say the U.S. should take a page from Israel’s book on security.

At Israeli airports, widely considered the most secure in the world, travelers are subjected to probing personal questions as screeners look them straight in the eye for signs of deception. Searches are meticulous, with screeners often scrutinizing every item in a bag, unfolding socks, squeezing toothpaste and flipping through books.

“All must look to Israel and learn from them. This is not a post-911 thing for them. They’ve been doing this since 1956,” said Michael Goldberg, president of New York-based IDO Security Inc., which developed a device that can scan shoes while they are still on people’s feet.

Israel also employs profiling: At Ben-Gurion Airport, Jewish Israelis typically pass through smoothly, while others may be taken aside for closer interrogation or even strip searches. Another distinquishing feature of Israeli airports is that they rely on concentric security rings that start miles from terminal buildings.

Rafi Ron, the former security director at Israel’s famously tight Ben Gurion International Airport who now is a consultant for Boston’s Logan International Airport, says U.S. airports also need to be careful not to overcommit to securing passenger entry points at airports, forgetting about the rest of the field.

“Don’t invest all your efforts on the front door and leave the back door open,” said Ron.

While many experts agree the United States could adopt some Israeli methods, few believe the overall model would work here, in part because of the sheer number of U.S. airports — more than 400, versus half a dozen in Israel.

Also, the painstaking searches and interrogations would create delays that could bring U.S. air traffic to a standstill. And many Americans would find the often intrusive and intimidating Israeli approach repugnant.

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PROFILING

Some argue that policies against profiling undermine security.

Baum, who is also managing director of Green Light Limited, a London-based aviation security company, agrees profiling based on race and religion is counterproductive and should be avoided. But he argues that a reluctance to distinguish travelers on other grounds — such as their general appearance or their mannerisms — is not only foolhardy but dangerous.

“When you see a typical family — dressed like a family, acts like a family, interacts with each other like a family … when their passport details match — then let’s get them through,” he said. “Stop wasting time that would be much better spent screening the people that we’ve get more concerns about.”

U.S. authorities prohibit profiling of passengers based on ethnicity, religion or national origin. Current procedures call for travelers to be randomly pulled out of line for further screening.

Scrutinizing 80-year-old grandmothers or students because they might be carrying school scissors can defy common sense, Baum said.

“We need to use the human brain — which is the best technology of them all,” he said.

But any move to relax prohibitions against profiling in the U.S. would surely trigger fierce resistance, including legal challenges by privacy advocates.

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PRIVATIZATION

What if security were left to somebody other than the federal government?

Jim Harper, director of information policy studies at the Washington-based Cato Institute, a free-market-oriented think tank, says airlines should be allowed take charge of security at airports.

Especially since 9/11, the trend has been toward standardizing security procedures to ensure all airports follow the best practices. But Harper argues that decentralizing the responsibility would result in a mix of approaches — thereby making it harder for terrorists to use a single template in planning attacks.

“Passengers, too, prefer a uniform experience,” he said. “But that’s not necessarily the best security. It’s better if sometimes we take your laptop out, sometimes we’ll pat you down. Those are things that will really drive a terrorist batty — as if they’re not batty already.”

Harper concedes that privatizing airport security is probably wishful thinking, and the idea has not gotten any traction. He acknowledges it would be difficult to allay fears of gaping security holes if it were left to each airline or airport owner to decide its own approach.

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AP writers Glen Johnson in Boston and Josef Federman in Jerusalem also contributed to this report.

From Russia with love? Arctic front unleashed from Siberia

star-telegram.com | Jan 6, 2010

By BILL MILLER

When National Weather Service officials said Tuesday that air “of a Siberian origin” would smack North Texas this week, they meant exactly that.

They started watching the cold air system more than a week ago as it developed over Russia, then tracked it as it dashed over the North Pole, Canada, and then plunged into the Great Plains of the United States.

“We kind of noticed it a week to 10 days ago,” said Dan Shoemaker, a weather service meteorologist in Fort Worth. “We have polar projections, and you could see that stuff over in Siberia.

“(Computer) models said it would be coming our way, but that many days out, you can’t trust them. It has definitely modified since then.

“Now it’s more than probable.”

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The air mass, driven by fierce winds, is expected to send temperatures into the teens at night and to hold daytime temperatures in the 20s for almost 2? days, through Saturday afternoon.

The last time such an extended hard freeze occurred in Fort Worth was Dec. 8-9, 2005, the weather service said.

Complicating the situation is a 40 percent chance of a wintry mix of snow and rain arriving overnight, and brisk winds that could drive the wind-chill values to zero or below.

Thursday morning’s commute could be slippery for a couple hours on small, isolated patches — like on bridges or elevated surfaces.

“We’ll still be above freezing at midnight, but then we’ll see freezing drizzle coming out of the fog,” Shoemaker said. “Early morning commuters may encounter some slick spots (but) the moisture is going to get scoured out so fast, there will only be a small window of that in the early-morning hours, before sunup.

“Still, caution is urged any time it’s freezing around here.”

The weather service reported Wednesday that the wind-chill values Friday morning will be at or below zero north of a line stretching from Stephenville, through Fort Worth, northern Dallas County, and northeast from there to the Red River.

Government and nonprofit officials continued efforts Wednesday to be ready for midnight, which was the estimated arrival time for the arctic onslaught.

Red Cross chapters in Tarrant and Dallas counties put volunteers on standby and loaded trucks with blankets, cots and other supplies.

“We haven’t mobilized yet,” said Alison Venhuizen, spokeswoman for the Chisholm Trail Chapter of the Red Cross in Fort Worth. “But we’ve got all the materials needed to set up a shelter.

“We have branch offices in Abilene and San Angelo, as well as Parker County and Johnson County. We’ve been working with emergency managers in each city.”

No sleeping outdoors

Several area homeless shelters, including Tarrant County’s largest, are already at capacity, even before the extreme cold drives more people inside.

“We pretty much have people sleeping on the floor and underneath tables,” said Becky Orander, executive director of the Arlington Life Shelter.

Arlington’s lack of public transportation makes it hard for homeless people to get to another shelter when one is full, said Orander, who said the shelter is already about 15 people over its capacity of 85. Shelter volunteers are willing to drive them to shelters in Fort Worth if there is room there.

At -20c UK is as cold as the South Pole: Biggest freeze for 30 years wreaks havoc (and there are 10 more days to come)

White-out: A Nasa satellite image shows there was no escape from the snow in the UK yesterday

Daily Mail | Jan 8, 2010

By Beth Hale

Deep freeze Britain was as cold as the South Pole last night as temperatures plummeted to a staggering minus 20c.

Amid increasing fears of an energy crisis, the country is locked in the biggest chill for nearly 30 years.

Temperatures dropped before dawn yesterday to -18c in Benson, Oxfordshire, colder than a domestic freezer, and were forecast to reach a low of -20c (-4f) early today.

Last night forecasters gave a grim warning of worse to come, with strong winds blowing in to add wind chill to already below-zero temperatures which could continue for at least ten more days.

The prediction came as the worst cold spell since the winter of 1981-82 continued to cause chaos.

Last night dwindling gritting stocks reached crisis point after a series of accidents on major routes added to difficulties for millions of drivers.

At least five people have been killed, including a 16-year-old boy, after the car he was travelling in crashed on the A1 near Richmond, North Yorkshire.

Supermarkets have seen a surge in sales of table salt and cat litter as householders try to clear their driveways and the pavements outside their homes.

Cheshire’s Winsford salt mine said it has only a few days’ supply of surface salt left. After that it will be dependent on salt from deep underground.

There were added fears last night because salt is said to be ineffective against ice below -8c (18f).

Insurance companies are already reporting a huge surge in claims as a result of the freezing weather, relating to both on the roads and at home.

Full Story

Cold snap: Temperatures plummet worldwide

ITN | Jan 7, 2010

Nantes, France Cities and towns across the world are experiencing record snow fall and plummeting temperatures.

Worker’s in China have been clearing snow after 18 centimetres feel overnight. China’s state media declared it the highest snowfall in the capital in a single day in January since 1951.

Low temperatures in the Midwest and southern United States have led to several deaths. Overnight temperatures are predicted to hit minus 18 degrees Celsius in South Carolina and Louisiana.

The lowest recorded temperature on Wednesday in the US was minus 30 degrees Celsius at Crane Lake, Minnesota.

In Norway, temperatures dropped so low that conventional de-icers were ineffective. Roros Airport recorded record lows of minus 41 degrees Celsius, the coldest reading in mainland Norway since 1987.

Snows in northern Denmark have hit road, rail, and air traffic, and the Danish army has mobilised to help emergency vehicles cut their way through drifts.

Obama: We Knew Enough to Stop Terror Attack

Following the president’s comments, CBS News correspondent Bob Orr said “screening is going to be more invasive

CBS | Jan 5, 2010

by Brian Montopoli

President Obama said this afternoon that government officials “had sufficient information to have uncovered this plot and potentially disrupt” the Christmas Day terror plot but “failed to connect [the] dots” that would have allowed them to do so.

“This was not a failure to collect intelligence, it was a failure to integrate and understand the intelligence that we already had,” he said.

Following a 90-minute meeting with officials investigating how a Nigerian national with possible al Qaeda links was able to board a Detroit-bound airliner with an explosive device, Mr. Obama said “it is increasingly clear that intelligence was not fully analyzed or fully leveraged.”

Mr. Obama said the intelligence community knew al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula wanted to strike the United States and that they were working with the individual who turned out to be the Christmas Day bomber.

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He called the performance by the intelligence community “not acceptable.”

“I will not tolerate it,” said the president.

“When a suspected terrorist is able to board a plane with explosives on Christmas Day, the system has failed in a potentially disastrous way,” said the president. “And it is my responsibility to find out why, and to correct that failure so that we can prevent such attacks in the future.”

Mr. Obama also discussed steps already taken to improve security, including updating terror watch list system, adding more air marshals, and giving full-body searches to U.S.-bound travelers from certain countries.

He said that “while our review has found that our watch-listing system is not broken, the failure to add Abdulmutallab to the no-fly list shows that this system needs to be strengthened.”

The president had already blamed “systematic failures” for allowing 23-year-old Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab to board the airliner with the explosive device, which failed to fully detonate.

Abdulmutallab was on a federal list of more than 500,000 suspected terrorists, but he was not on no-fly or additional screening watch list despite numerous red flags having been raised about him.

Following the president’s comments, CBS News correspondent Bob Orr said “screening is going to be more invasive, it’s going to be more expensive, and travelers should get used to the idea that the system will be slower.”

Chief scientist says GM and nanotechnology should be part of modern agriculture

Genetically modified (GM) crops and nanotechnology will have to be used in British agriculture to avoid food shortages, the Government’s chief scientist has warned.

Guardian | Jan 6, 2010

By Louise Gray, Environment Correspondent

Speaking at the Oxford Farming Conference (OFC), Professor John Beddington said the world will have to produce 50 per cent more food by 2030 in order to feed the growing population.

He said the only way to do this is to grow more crops on less land by using the latest scientific innovation, including GM and nanotechnology.

“We need a greener revolution, improving production and efficiency through the food chain within environmental and other constraints. Techniques and technologies from many disciplines, ranging from biotechnology and engineering to newer fields such as nanotechnology, will be needed,” he said.

Environmentalists, including the Prince of Wales, have warned against using both GM and nanotechnology because of the risk of upsetting delicate ecosystems in nature.

But Prof Beddington insisted that the UK must at least research the new technology to ensure agriculture can cope with population growth in the future.

The Government is supportive of research into GM and farmers want more funding to go into developing new crop breeds.

Caroline Boin, Environment Programme Director at International Policy Network, said the public will have to accept GM eventually.

“Modern agricultural technologies will be even more important going forward in the 21st Century, to increase food production while making agriculture more sustainable. Manure and back-breaking manual labour are not the answer to attaining food security in the UK or the rest of the world,” she said.

But speaking at the “Oxford Real Farming Conference”, arranged by campaigners to coincide with the OFC, Colin Tudge, the science writer, said natural methods could feed the growing population.

“For decades politicians have starved agriculture of resources on the mistaken notion that the market would deliver a secure food supply,” he said. “As a result tens of thousands of farmers have gone to the wall and Britain has been robbed of the skills it needs to feed the people.

“Finally the Government has recognised that we’re now in trouble and are desperately pinning their hopes on untried GM technology to save us. But scientists who truly understand agriculture know that this can’t solve our food supply problems.

“The real answer is to redesign agriculture from first principles. But this time our prime objective must be feeding people, not making profits for large business corporations as now.”

‘Grey goo’ food laced with nanoparticles could swamp Britain

Daily Mail | Jan 8, 2010

By Fiona Macrae

Britain is on the brink of a massive expansion in foods containing controversial ‘grey goo’ nanoparticles, according to the former head of the Food Standards Agency.

Low-calorie chocolate and beer that doesn’t go flat could be on sale within just five years, Lord Krebs said last night.

However, he and other peers believe there will be no requirement for the hi-tech products to be labelled as containing nanoparticles – microscopic compounds that can worm their way into the brain, liver and kidneys with unknown consequences.

But critics said the public have the right to know what they are putting into their bodies, and point out that new legislation will mean that cosmetics that contain nanoparticles will have to be clearly labelled.

Once derided by Prince Charles as ‘grey goo’, nanoparticles are tiny particles – 300 million would fit in a pinhead – with powerful properties that make them of interest to food companies.

Although they are small, they have a large surface area at which key chemical reactions can take place. This means that relatively low numbers of sugar nanoparticles can have the same effect as a large amount of normal sugar, creating tasty chocolate or cakes with a fraction of the calories.

The same principle could be applied to fat, allowing the creation of low-fat icecreams and mayonnaise that taste like the real thing.

Nanotechnology-inspired packaging promises to improve food shelf-life, and in the U.S. plastic beer bottles have been lined with ‘nanoclay’ to stop the brew from going flat.

Lord Krebs chaired an inquiry by the House of Lords science and technology committee into the safety of nanotechnology in food, which found that although there is no evidence that the tiny particles are harmful, there are ‘large gaps’ on our knowledge.

The committee called for the Food Standards-Agency to compile a database of nanoproducts that can be accessed by the public. The FSA is not in favour of nanoparticles being declared on food labels, saying they are cluttered enough already.

The inquiry also criticised the food industry for being unnecessarily ‘ secretive’ about the products it has in the pipeline. It said this seemed mainly to be because it was concerned about the public’s reaction.

Julian Hunt of the Food and Drink Federation said: ‘Given that nanotechnology is in its infancy in the food and drink sector, and that bringing innovations to market is a long and complex process, we are surprised that the report seems to criticise the food industry for an apparent reluctance to communicate extensively on this subject.

‘There are many questions and unknowns about the potential future uses of nanotechnologies in our sector, and there is much work still to be done by scientists, governments and regulators, as well as the food and drink industry.’

Peers criticise food industry secrecy on nanotechnology

Lord committee calls for more checks on use of nanomaterials in food and the dangers posed to the human body

guardian.co.uk | Jan 8, 2010

by Rebecca Smithers

The UK food industry comes under attack from peers today for being secretive over its development of nanotechnology in food and drink.

The Lords science and technology committee is urging the government and research councils to carry out more checks into the use of nanomaterials in food and in particular the dangers for the human body.

Nanotechnology involves whittling common materials down to the size of microscopic particles, allowing them to acquire unusual properties.

Nanoparticles have been used in cosmetics and sun-cream products. They can help create foods which taste the same as conventional alternatives but have lower fat, salt or sugar levels, or enrich foods with supplements, or even be used in packaging to extend products’ shelf-life.

Nanotechnology is also being seen as a successor to genetically modified (GM) techniques. This week Professor John Beddington, the government’s chief scientist, said GM crops and developments such as nanotechnology must be embraced to avoid catastrophic food shortages and future climate change.

But today’s warning from eminent scientists including Lord Krebs – the former chairman of the Food Standards Agency – is the third in two years, after calls from the Royal Society and the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution for more stringent safety checks.

Research has shown that nanoparticles can penetrate into places larger particles cannot go, such as through the “blood-brain barrier”, which stops toxic molecules passing from the blood into the brain. They find their way into vital organs including the kidneys and liver, but precisely what they do in them has yet to be fully investigated.

In a 112-page report, Nanotechnologies and Food, the Lords committee says transparency is key to ensuring public trust in food safety but warns that the food companies’ failure to publish details of their research in this area is “unhelpful”.

It warns the industry that appearing to be secretive about its research “is the type of behaviour which may bring about the public reaction it is trying to avert”.

The report recommends that the Food Standards Agency watchdog should keep a public register of food and food packaging containing nanomaterials.

But Julian Hunt, of the Food and Drink Federation, said: “Given that nanotechnology is in its infancy in the food and drink sector and that bringing new innovations to market is a long and complex process, we are surprised that the report seems to criticise the food industry for an apparent reluctance to communicate extensively on this subject.”

Which? chief policy adviser Sue Davies said: “We must fill in the significant gaps in our knowledge about how nanomaterials behave in the human body to ensure that there are no safety concerns in this rapidly developing area.”

Peter Melchett, the policy director of the Soil Association, added: “The report is good in drawing attention to the huge risks and uncertainties of nanotechnology. This is a ticking time-bomb.”

Ahmadinejad: Iran and Syria will create a “New World Order”

Haaretz | Jan 7, 2010

Iran and Syria plan to create a new world order, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Thursday.

“Iran and Syria have a joint mission to create a new world order on the basis of justice, humanity and belief in God,” Ahmadinejad told visiting Syrian Parliament Speaker Mahmoud al-Abrash.

Syria is Iran’s main ally in the Middle East and both countries consider Israel to be their political arch-foe.

“At the current juncture, the role of Iran and Syria is historic and therefore bilateral cooperation should be increased,” Mehr news agency quoted Ahmadinejad as saying.

The semi-official FARS news agency reported that Ahmadinejad said that “the resistance of nations including Iran and Syria has caused a deadlock in policies of Arrogant System in economic, political and military sections.”

He also turned to presence of bulling powers’ forces in Iraq, Afghanistan and Yemen and said, “The enemies’ plots will harm themselves.”

Iran’s president added that he felt that the United States would eventually be forced by the two states to stop interference in the region and withdraw its military personnel.

Mehr quoted the Syrian speaker as saying that Iran and Syria would side by side move towards continued resistance and fight against world imperialism.

Also on Thursday, Syria’s state-run news agency reported that Syria’s president Bashar Assad is urging the United States to play a stronger role in Mideast peacemaking.

Assad appealed to the U.S. on Thursday during a meeting with U.S. congressman Alcee Hastings in Damascus.

President Barack Obama has stepped up diplomatic efforts to improve ties with Syria and push the country away from its alliance with Iran and its support of militants like Lebanon’s Hezbollah and the Palestinian Hamas.

Damascus wants to end its international isolation and hopes the U.S. can help boost its weak economy and mediate peace talks with Israel.

Assad also lashed out at Israel saying it was not ready for peace. The last round of Syria-Israel peace talks collapsed in 2000

EU to probe pharma over “false pandemic”

Pharma Times | Jan 4, 2010

By Lynne Taylor

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) is to hold an emergency debate and inquiry this month into the “influence” exerted by drugmakers on the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) global H1N1 flu campaign.

The text of the resolution approved by the Assembly calling for the debate and inquiry states that: “in order to promote their patented drugs and vaccines against flu, pharmaceutical companies influenced scientists and official agencies responsible for public health standards to alarm governments worldwide and make them squander tight health resources for inefficient vaccine strategies, and needlessly expose millions of healthy people to the risk of an unknown amount of side-effects of insufficiently tested vaccines.”

The WHO’s “false pandemic” flu campaign is “one of the greatest medicine scandals of the century,” according to Dr Wolfgang Wodarg, chairman the PACE Health Committee, who introduced the parliamentary motion. “The definition of an alarming pandemic must not be under the influence of drug-sellers,” he adds.

Dr Wodarg, a doctor and former SPD member of the German Bundestag, says that the “false pandemic” campaign began last May in Mexico City, when a hundred or so “normal” reported influenza cases were declared to be the beginning of a threatening new pandemic, although there was little scientific evidence for this. Nevertheless the WHO, “in cooperation with some big pharmaceutical companies and their scientists, re-defined pandemics,” removing the statement that “an enormous amount of people have contracted the illness or died” from its existing definition and replacing it by stating simply that there has to be a virus, spreading beyond borders and to which people have no immunity.

These new standards forced politicians in most states to react immediately and sign marketing commitments for additional and new vaccines against swine flu, through “sealed contracts” under which orders are secured in advance and governments take almost all responsibility. “In this way, the producers of vaccines are sure of enormous gains without having any financial risks. So they just wait until WHO says ‘pandemic’ and activate the contracts,” says Dr Wodarg.

“In January, we will arrange an emergency debate about the influence of the pharmaceutical industry on the WHO, and 47 parliaments all over Europe are going to be informed. Following this, we will initiate an investigation and hearings involving those responsible for the pandemic emergency. The aim is that none of the pharmaceutical companies under any circumstances must be allowed to make their influence felt on pandemic emergencies,” he went on.

“The victims among millions of needlessly vaccinated people must be protected by their states, and independent scientific clarification should provide evidence and transparency for national and, if necessary, European courts,” added Dr Wodarg.