Whole Truth Coalition

Every secondary school is to get a Holocaust specialist to ensure that the subject is taught comprehensively and sensitively.

One teacher from every school will be offered a place on a Holocaust education training course to combat racism and intolerance.

One in ten of those who take the course will also be able to take a master’s degree module in Holocaust education, as part of a £1.5 million scheme run by the Institute of Education.

Teachers will discuss parts of the subject that they find difficult to teach and work on lesson plans with experts on how to broach the issue.

Stuart Foster, director of the project, said: “There are increasing concerns in society about intolerance and racism. The BNP is coming to the forefront, and there’s increased anti-Semitism.”

The initiative is designed to maintain awareness of the Nazi’s systematic massacre of the Jews during the Second World War as survivor numbers dwindle, Times Educational Supplement reports

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Such shocking brutality is, of course, well known in Spain’s bullrings. But what is not known is that our money is being used to finance this ritual slaughter. For I can reveal that the European Union is spending £30million a year to support Spanish bullfights, which this year will kill at least 40,000 bulls.

The EU has even renovated bullrings and is being pressured by the Spanish into recognising bullfighting as representing Europe’s cultural heritage. Such a move would make it virtually impossible to outlaw and indeed would lend it a veneer of respectability in the eyes of the world. 

‘We have been trying to stop the EU from subsidising Spanish bullfights, but so far without success,’ says Neil Parish, Conservative MEP and chairman of the European Parliament’s Agriculture Committee. 

‘British taxpayers’ money should not be used to support bullfighting. It’s an abhorrent spectacle. I would like to see it banned but if we can’t do that then the least the EU should do is stop subsidising it.’

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Jeanette Atkinson is surprisingly relaxed about the time she died and went to the edge of heaven.

“I do not want to die again in the near future because I still have too much to do,” she says. “But I have no fear of death.

“People see the pain and suffering of dying and equate that with death - but they’re not the same. Death is the progression of life.”

Jeanette, a 43-year-old student nurse from Eastbourne, had a near-death experience in 1979 when she was just 18-years-old. It was triggered when a blood clot in her leg broke up into seven pieces and clogged the main vessels in her lungs, starving her body of oxygen. The doctors were certain that she would die. She did – but then returned to tell the tale.

“The first thing I noticed was that the world changed,” says Jeanette. “The light became softer but clearer. Suddenly there was no pain. All I could see was my body from the chest downwards and I noticed that the time was 9:00pm.

“In an instant I found myself looking at the ceiling. It was only a few inches away. I remember thinking it was about time they cleaned the dust from the striplights!

“I then went on a little journey around the ward and along the corridor to see what the nurses were up to. One was writing on a notepad. It never occurred to me that I was dying. It was a lovely experience and very, very serene.”

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Every person has a unique fragrance, similar to a fingerprint or DNA sample, which could be used to create a database of human scents, scientists said.

Eating powerful foods such as chili or garlic may change how we smell, but it does disguise our underlying genetically-determined aroma, tests on mice have shown. Creatures who were given strong-smelling foods were still recognised by their peers.

The signature smells may have evolved to help in choosing mates and marking out territories.

Jae Kwak, lead author of the study at Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia, said that the research suggested that “odourprinting” could soon have a practical use.

“These findings indicate that biologically based odourprints, like fingerprints, could be a reliable way to identify individuals,” he said.

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Britain’s security agencies and police would be given unprecedented and legally binding powers to ban the media from reporting matters of national security, under proposals being discussed in Whitehall. 

The Intelligence and Security Committee, the parliamentary watchdog of the intelligence and security agencies which has a cross-party membership from both Houses, wants to press ministers to introduce legislation that would prevent news outlets from reporting stories deemed by the Government to be against the interests of national security.

The committee also wants to censor reporting of police operations that are deemed to have implications for national security. The ISC is to recommend in its next report, out at the end of the year, that a commission be set up to look into its plans, according to senior Whitehall sources.

The ISC holds huge clout within Whitehall. It receives secret briefings from MI5, MI6 and GCHQ and is highly influential in forming government policy. Kim Howells, a respected former Foreign Office minister, was recently appointed its chairman. Under the existing voluntary code of conduct, known as the DA-Notice system, the Government can request that the media does not report a story. However, the committee’s members are particularly worried about leaks, which, they believe, could derail investigations and the reporting of which needs to be banned by legislation.

Civil liberties groups say these restrictions would be “very dangerous” and “damaging for public accountability”. They also point out that censoring journalists when the leaks come from officials is unjustified.

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‘Council house tenancies for life are likely to be scrapped under radical Government plans to ease the chronic housing shortage. Tenants would instead be given fixed-term contracts with regular reviews to ensure their circumstances entitle them to subsidised housing, it was reported last night. Those whose financial situation improves will be forced to move into the private sector, purchase part-ownership of their home or face higher rents. The right to a council house could also be made conditional on tenants having or actively looking for a job.’

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Grand Rapids, Mich. has become the most recent city to question the practice of fluoridating public water, as part of a growing tendency for local governments to question the use of many chemicals that formerly been taken for granted.

“I think this pattern has been growing because there is better environmental health research that draws connections between low levels of chemical exposure and changes in our bodies,” said Dr. Howard Hu of the University of Michigan. “As the research has become more sophisticated, it shows that environmental toxicants can do other things beyond just kill you: they can stunt your growth, change behavior and increase the risk of cardiovascular disease.”

Grand Rapids was the first city in the world to fluoride its public water supply, based on assurances from the government that the chemical reduces the risk of tooth decay while posing no serious risks. But based on a number of studies linking fluoride to problems with the thyroid, kidneys, central nervous system and skeletal system - including cancers - the city’s director of environmental sustainability, Corky Overmyer, has ordered a new review of the scientific evidence concerning the risks and benefits of the chemical.

“This has been on my radar screen for a while,” Overmyer said.

Overmyer says that while he has not drawn any conclusions about the safety fluoride, the scientific evidence gave him reason enough for concern. Having already gotten chlorine removed from the city’s water supply several years ago, Overmyer did not expect the vicious backlash that developed to his questioning of fluoride. From large medical associations to the mayor and even his own dentist, Overmyer’s decision has drawn fierce criticism.

“I had no idea [fluoride] was that sensitive an issue,” Overymyer said.

Fluoridation opponents have cheered the news, however, confident that the scientific evidence will speak for itself.

“If Grand Rapids falls, that could be the beginning of the end of fluoride,” said Paul Connett, director of the Fluoride Action Network.

Natural News

Unauthorised patrols of several northern Italian cities have been underway for the last year and authorities have turned a blind eye to them as concerned locals fight back against rising crime rates.

Under the proposals by the anti-immigration Northern League, the vigilante patrols would have the backing of the local police. The plan is now to be considered by the Italian Upper House.

Another controversial proposal by the Northern League the introduction of a referendum before a mosque or other place of worship is built.

The League is part of centre right Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s coalition. Mr Berlusconi was elected on a tough law and order campaign.

Northern League MP Mario Borghezio said: “Thanks to the initiatives of the Northern League these ronde (vigilante) patrols will soon be working with the forces of law and order.

“Now all honest citizens will no longer feel that they have to hand over the areas where they live to criminals, drug dealers and prostitutes. It’s a very proud day.”

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