| February 2, 2007 | - The U.S. director of national intelligence released a declassified version of a new National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq; the report found that “the term 'civil war' accurately describes key elements of the Iraqi conflict” and that “widespread fighting could produce de facto partition.”
| Source:
Office of the Director of National Intelligence
|
| April 21, 2006 | - National Intelligence Director John Negroponte said that almost 100,000 people were working for the U.S. intelligence services.
| Source:
Capitol Hill Blue
|
| March 7, 2006 | - The House voted to renew the Patriot Act.
| Source:
CNN.com
|
| March 2, 2006 | - The Senate renewed the Patriot Act and sent it to the House; the House is expected to pass the legislation soon.
| Source:
MSNBC
|
| February 8, 2006 | -
Karl Rove was threatening to cut off White House support for Republican Senate Judiciary members who criticize the Bush Administration's
warrantless-wiretapping program. "It's hardball," said a Republican aide, "all the way."
| Source:
Democracy Now!
|
| February 7, 2006 | - U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said that the wiretapping was legal and necessary. "The short answer," he said when asked why the Administration did not seek Congressional approval for the program, "is that we didn't think we needed to. Quite frankly."
| Source:
Democracy Now!
|
| February 7, 2006 | -
Jimmy Carter said that warrantless wiretapping was "disgraceful and illegal."
| Source:
Democracy Now!
|
| February 3, 2006 | - Professor Philippe Sands of University College, London, said he had seen a secret memo that details a January 2003 meeting between British Prime Minister Tony Blair and U.S. President George W. Bush. According to Sands' account of the memo, Blair offered Bush full British support for an invasion of Iraq regardless of whether U.N. inspectors found evidence of weapons of mass destruction. Bush also told Blair that he was thinking of having U-2 reconnaissance planes painted with U.N. colors and then flown over Iraq in order to provoke Saddam Hussein into firing upon the planes.
| Source:
The Guardian
|
| February 3, 2006 | - In Detroit the Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Seattle Seahawks in the Super Bowl. The Department of Homeland Security monitored the event using holograms.
| Source:
CNET News.com
|
| February 3, 2006 | -
New York City police officers were suing the New York Police Department for videotaping them during a rally. "That's Big Brother watching you," said an officer.
| Source:
The New York Times
|
| February 3, 2006 | -
Donald Rumsfeld gave a speech to the National Press Club and said that "counter-surveillance" of U.S. civilians is a "perfectly understandable thing." "In short," he explained, "it's no big deal." During the speech, Rumsfeld was heckled by activist Heather Hurwitz. "You are torturing people," yelled Hurwitz. "You are a war criminal." "Well," said Rumsfeld, "we'll count her as undecided."
| Source 1:
News.com.au
Source 2:
Democracy Now
|
| January 28, 2006 | -
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez vowed to jail anyone who spies for the United States.
| Source:
BBC News
|
| January 3, 2006 | - A former NSA agent named Russell Tice claimed that the NSA had repeatedly spied on American citizens. “I believe I have seen some things that are illegal,” he said.
| Source:
Democracy Now!
|
| December 15, 2005 | - Leaked Pentagon documents showed that the U.S. military was routinely collecting intelligence on antiwar groups and putting it into a database. The Pentagon also launched 1-800-CALL-SPY, a hotline that allows U.S. citizens to report suspicious activity directly to the military.
| Source:
Democracy Now!
|
| October 14, 2005 | - A CIA manager known only as “Jose” was named to oversee the entire U.S. spy community.
| Source:
AP
|
| November 19, 2004 | - A new poll showed that nearly one half of the U.S. population believes that human beings did not evolve, but instead were created by God within the last 10,000 years, while only one third believe that the theory of evolution is accurate.
| Source:
Gallup
|
| December 31, 2003 | - Large shipments of frozen french fries, which were pre-fried in beef tallow, were in limbo because Japan and other Asian countries were refusing to accept them.
| Source:
Tri-City Herald
|
| October 28, 2003 | - Neuroscientists determined that motherhood makes female rats
smarter, calmer, and more courageous.
| Source:
Reuters
|
| July 11, 2003 | - A giant flyborg, an artificially intelligent robot balloon, escaped from the Magna Science Adventure Centre in Britain.
| Source:
BBC
|
| June 12, 2003 | - British scientists were developing "smart" airline seats that will detect potential terrorists by measuring airline passengers' anxiety levels.
| Source:
New Scientist
|
| November 19, 2002 | -
American television producers were reportedly increasing the rate at which actors deliver their lines on the theory that viewers will find the characters more intelligent.
| |
| September 11, 2001 | - Physicist Stephen Hawking recommended that humans modify their genome to speed up evolution and prevent intelligent computers from taking over the world.
| |
| June 19, 2001 | - Women are more caring than men, scientists discovered, and old women are smarter than old men.
| |
