Web Update

Jane Affleck

Lobster Issue #32 (December 1996)

Web Update

Here are a few more web sites that may be of interest. Thanks for contributions to David Guyatt, Terry Hanstock, Daniel Brandt, Chris Atton and Tony Hollick.

Further contributions and comments are welcome: my e-mail is

Politics and government

USA

DoE Office of Human Radiation Experiments http://www.ohre.doe.gov/: ‘OHRE, established in March 1994, leads the DoE’s efforts to tell the agency’s cold war story of radiation research using human subjects…….internet access to these resources is a key part of making DoE more open and responsive to the American public. Includes recently declassified documents, current reports and press releases, and the Advisory Committee on Human Radiation Experiments’ final report and related documents.’
National Archives and Records Administration http://www.nara.gov/: ‘NARA is the government agency responsible for overseeing the management of the records of the federal government’. It publishes the Federal Register (the daily official record of the federal government), and the US Government Manual (directory of US Government agencies, their purpose, authority and senior officials) Includes the Government Information Locator Service: a searchable database of information about NARA information resources with links to other sources of US Government information.
JFK Assassination Records Collection http://www.nara.gov/nara/jfk/jfk.html: Material relating to the assassination of JFK, including searchable electronic index to the records collection.
Project on Government Oversight (POGO) http://www.mnsinc.com/pogo/: ‘Since 1981 POGO has investigated abuse of power, mismanagement and acquiescence to corporate interests by the federal government. A new project, the Military-Industrial Complex Initiative, will focus on investigating and exposing abuses within the defense budget, and aim to stop these abuses….’ Since 1990 it has expanded to investigate all federal agencies and questions of government accountability. Includes POGO’S methods, goals, publications and resources, and information on blowing the whistle.
National Security Archive http://www.seas.gwu.edu/nsarchive: An independent research institute and library in Washington DC, the archive collects and publishes declassified documents acquired through the Freedom of Information Act. First menu includes: The Archive. An overview of the archive (over 90,000 records of released documents). Archive publications. Includes NSA index on CD Rom, Nicaragua 1978-90, South Africa 1962-89, US Intelligence Community 1947-89, Military Uses of Space 1945-91, Nuclear non-proliferation 1945-90, Iran-contra, Presidential directives on national security. Collections Database. Searchable database. Freedom of Information Archive. Full text and how to use FOIA. Nuclear History: includes the Cuban Missile Crisis, Berlin Crisis, Nuclear non-proliferation, Soviet Estimate (US analysis of Soviet Union 1947-91), US nuclear weapons policies 1955 to date, US Advisory Committee on Human Radiation Experiments (data, sources and reports).
Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency http://www.arpa.mil/: Includes mission statement, organisation, news, budget, what’s new. Also defence science and technology homepage: science and technology planning documents and reports.
Chris Hinds Intelligence Agencies Homepage http://sparky.cis.smu.edu/hinds/intel.html: Huge number of links to US intelligence agencies, departments etc. E.g. links to US Intelligence Community site, NRO, FBI, Depts. of State, Treasury, Defense, Fedworld, NSA, US Border Patrol, Ocean Surveillance.
MILNET: Intelligence Agencies http://www.onestep.com/milnet/intell.htm: ‘A compilation of information on the worlds’s intelligence agencies’. In practice, only US and Soviet, and links include to US Intelligence Community, DCIA report.
Intelligence Watch Report http://www.awpi.com/IntelWeb/index.html: ‘IntelWeb is the premier online resource covering public and private intelligence agencies and organisations from around the world. Currently access to text, image and audio files…. to assist in the serious study of intelligence agencies’. Menu includes Intelligence Communities worldwide, Intelligence Watch Report, IWR Calendar (conferences etc). Also books and links to zines (intelligence-related electronic magazines including the Journal of Electronic Defense).
THOMAS: Legislative Information on the Internet http://thomas.loc.gov/: ‘In the spirit of Thomas Jefferson, a service of the US Congress, through its library.’ Includes nominees for 105th Congress, this week’s Congress activities, Bills, major legislation this Congress, Congressional Record text and index (can search text), Committee Information (reports, homepages), historical documents, Legislative Process, US Government internet resources and Library of Congress Web Links .

UK

UK Public Record Office http://www.open.gov.uk/pro/prohome.htm

First menu includes: general information about PRO, information for readers, information for archivists, PRO publications (e.g. readers guides), and electronic publication of Public Records (discussion of this and details of CD Roms of contemporary British History, such as cabinet minutes, Prime Ministers’ and Foreign Office files).

Parliament and Hansard http://www.parliament.uk

This site has expanded and now includes a lot of new information. First menu includes House of Commons and House of Lords. Commons site includes: Alphabetical list of MPs and constituencies; Sessional Information Digest; Select Committees (listed alphabetically; each committee has a homepage which lists members and clerks, committee phone, fax, e-mail and address). Committee reports, legislation, Green and White papers and other documents (not a great deal so far). Today’s Meetings of Select Committees, weekly agenda, Order Paper. Hansard, starting from 24/10/96. Includes search facility if unsure of date.

Direct address: http://www.parliament.the-stationeryoffice-.co.uk/pa/cm/cmhansrd.htm.

Military/Secrecy

US Center for Defense Information http://www.cdi.org: Founded in 1972 as an independent monitor of the military. Site provides links to a large number of other websites on military, defence, peace, human rights etc.
McGuinness Secrecy site http://www.portal.com/~trader/secrecy.html: Reforming US military secrecy; ‘Site presents information about excessive secrecy in the US national security system.’ Documents include President Clinton’s recent Executive Order 12958 on secrecy, Daniel Ellsberg on current secrecy, NSA employee handbook, classified programs list, links between Groom Lake and Air Force Plant 42 (secret defence sites), national security airstrips in the California desert. Links to other secrecy-related websites, eg Federation of American Scientists’ secrecy and government project, Dept of Energy, including Opennet database of declassified documents, CIA, NSA, NRO and other US intelligence agencies.
Project Black Homepage http://users.arn.net/~webbfeat/PROJECT%20BLACK/: Menu includes stealth technology, Military radio monitoring, Interceptor’s tales (stealth watching/monitoring).
Blue Fire Military Page http://www.serve.com/mahood/bluefire.htm: Includes info on Area 51, high energy weapons archive, nuclear weapons. Links to Government secrecy website etc
High Energy Weapons Archive http://www.pal.xgw.fi/hew/: A lot of material on all aspects of nuclear weapons, including plutonium smuggling, nuclear testing, EMP effects. Many links, e.g. to government nuclear sites and worldwide nuclear related sites and commercial sources.

Papers, Journals and Magazines

Electronic Telegraph http://www.telegraph.co.uk: Have to register, but no charge.The Daily Telegraph on-line, provides links to relevant web sites for each news item, and can search archive of material published in the ET since it went online in November 1994.
Defense News http://www.defensenews.com: Need to register, but no charge. ‘The independent, authoritative newsweekly on the international defense community’. Includes current and next weeks’ issue of Defense News, library (including reports, budgets, newslinks – webpages relevant to current news, photos), Army Times, Space News, and other publications including Defenselink News (current defense Public Affairs press releases, plus searchable historical database of previous press releases, which can be reached directly on http://www.dtic.dla.mil/defenselink/news/).
Journal of Electronic Defense http://www.jedefense.com/jed.html: Have to register, but no charge. Highly technical. Articles in October issue included Directed Energy Weapons ‘laser guns, heat rays, RF disrupters – no longer sci-fi, they’re just a few R and D steps away from reality’. Includes reports from Washington, Europe, Asia and Middle East, and new products.
Covert Action Quarterly Homepage http://mediafilter.org/caq: Investigative journal, formerly specialising in exposing covert operations, now with wider agenda. Selection of articles from past issues, e.g. Agee and Chomsky and brief details of back issues.
Secrecy and Government Bulletin http://www.awpi.com/IntelWeb/US/S-GB/index.html: Published by the Federation of American Scientists. Aims to ‘challenge excessive government secrecy and to promote public oversight and free exchange in science, technology, defense and intelligence’. Reports monthly on national security classification and declassification activity, intelligence budget and policy issues, and efforts to increase government openness and accountability. Can look at past issues, e.g. June 1996, satellite imagery, US concealment of documentation concerning funds stolen by Nazis and deposited in Swiss banks, US declassification programme.
Z Magazine http://www.lbbs.org/zmag/index.htm: ‘Z is an independent political magazine of critical thinking on political, cultural, social and economic life in the US’. Includes table of contents of some recent issues, with a few samples of articles, a chat forum, details of contributors and how to subscribe.
The Consortium http://www.delve.com/consort.html: The internet’s first investigative ‘zine published by award-winning journalist Robert Parry, it focuses on national politics and international affairs. Current issues of the Consortium are available free on the web, but there is a charge to enter the archive of investigative stories and editorials that have appeared to date. October 1996 issue included: The US Army’s School of the Americas, murder and coercion for political ends, and Colin Powell’s military history. Archive includes: Infowar – how the Pentagon uses ‘hi-tech’ to hack into computer systems and plant false information; how the Republicans unsuccessfully used dirty tricks to block Clinton’s election in 1992, and how allegations that the 1980 Presidential election was fixed were whitewashed and key documents hidden.
Steamshovel Press http://www.umsl.edu/~skthoma: US conspiracy ‘zine. Gives contents pages of back issues plus sample article.
Microwave News http://www.microwavenews.com/: ‘The worlds’ most authoritative source on EMF health risks’ Covers civil and military EMF risks. Can get free sample issue by completing on-screen form, key documents such as the recent NCRP draft EMF report and 1990 EPA draft report, publications and other net resources.

Conspiracy

Conspiracy Central http://www.paranoia.com/~fraterk/conspire.html: Covert government operations, cover-ups, secret societies, ufos etc. Includes links to pages on freemasonry, UFO archives, Area 51, Gemstone. >From Gemstone, for example, there are links to pages on plutonium economy, executive orders, John Stockwell: the secret wars of the CIA, Waco history, JFK etc. Also links to many conspiracy-related newsgroups.
Conspiracy Nation Archives http://www.europa.com/~johnlf/cn.html: Politics (US and other), conspiracy and health. Site broken up into 1995 and 1996, and gives monthly list of items published. 1996 includes Oklahoma City bombings, Waco, Ron Brown, Nazi gold, Marilyn, Kennedy and the Mob, the buying of the President, bovine growth hormone, Gulf War syndrome and aspartame (widely used artificial sweetener thought to be associated with migraines and other problems). Can be sent to your e-mail address.
ConspiracyWeb http://www.awpi.com/ConspiracyWeb/index.html: ‘The web site for paranoids’. Links to other related web sites, including many on ufos, Roswell, etc, ‘Fifty Greatest Conspiracies of all Time’, and online newsletters such as Groom Lake Desert Rat and Paranoid News. Also gopher links to ufo sites and links to related newsgroups (ufos, alien research, abduction, paranormal).
IUFOG ufo hyperliinks http://www.schmitzware.com/IUFOG/iufog-links.shtml: Huge number of links on ufo-related issues, eg Area 51, DoE declassified information, ufo organisations in US and other countries, Fortean Times; also links to related newsgroups.
Area 51 http://www.ufomind.com/area51/: Critical assessment of Area 51 and the conspiracy theories surrounding it. Includes FAQs, articles, maps, photos, latest news, testimonials, UFO claims, articles from national and other newspapers, and the claims of Bob Lazar. Lazar’s site is at http://www.ufomind.com/area51/people/lazar/

Organisations and Campaigns

Federation of American Scientists http://www.fas.org/: FAS conducts analysis and advocacy on science, technology and public policy, including nuclear weapons, arms sales, biological hazards, secrecy and space policy. For example, arms sales monitoring project, military analysis network, nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament, climate change, project for monitoring emerging diseases, cyberstrategy project, government secrecy project (challenges govt. secrecy, promotes public oversight, supports journalists; includes links to other secrecy sites.) Working Groups include arms transfer, good government, information systems, media strategy, military spending, NPT, US nuclear weapons cost study, campaign to stop Star Wars.
Namebase http://www.pir.org: Telnet: pir.org (no login) www.blythe.org (login: namebase) Provided by Public Information Research. Citations cover individual and organisational names from approximately 500 investigative books published since 1962, and thousands of periodicals since 1973, concerned with the international intelligence community, US foreign policy, crime and business. Web site provides namesearch capability and country search, but is more accessible. Book reviews cover a wide range of subjects, including business, political, terrorism, UFOs. Telnet site provides more options, including source list and Namebase Newslines and includes essays and reviews.
SIPRI (Stockholm International Peace Research Institute) http://www.sipri.se/: Menu includes: history and activities of the Institute, Publications and Research Reports, Research Areas (Arms transfer and production, military expenditure and technology, chemical and biological weapons, European Security and other projects). E.g. CBW page includes research, Chemical Weapons Convention, destruction of chemical weapons, proliferation, Biological Weapons Convention and links to related sites. Also Library, including article references database, other related links, and a search facility. Project Censored http://www.cs.sonoma.edu/ProjectCensored/ PC aims to explore and publicise the extent of censorship in our society by locating stories about significant issues of which the public should be aware. Can access annual press releases of censored stories; asks for contributions.
Powerwatch http://www.powerwatch.org.uk/: Electromagnetic fields and health, also military use. Includes text of ‘Living with Electricity’, a very useful guide to the health effects of EMFs.

Human rights and civil liberties

American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) http://www.aclu.org

Info about ACLU includes: In the courts, In Congress, News and Events, library (includes Bill of Rights and Constitution, and facility to search ACLU database). ACLU issues including Criminal Justice, Cyberliberties, Death Penalty, Free Speech, HIV/AIDS, Lesbian and Gay Rights, National Security. Links to other sites including:

Index on Censorship
(http://www.oneworld.org/index_oc/index.html)
Declan McCullagh’s Global Freedom and Privacy Page -censorship of the net in different countries. (http://www.eff.org/~declan/global/)
European Cryptography Resources. Links on European encryption and privacy, Also links to related newsgroups and relevant extracts from these newsgroups. (http://www.modeemi.cs.tut.fi/~aus/eu-crypto.html)

Global Internet Liberty Campaign http://www.privacy.org/gilc/

Coalition including ACLU, Electronic Privacy Info Center, Human Rights Watch, Privacy International. Provides links to these and other organisations. Concerned with freedom of expression and freedom from censorship online. A lot of info, including e.g. EU Directive on data protection; OECD guidelines on privacy; Schengen agreement of 1985 on abolition of border checks; Universal Declaration of Human Rights, International Covenants on Civil and Political Rights and Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; UN Conventions including UN Charter, Convention against Torture, Statute of the International Court of Justice.

Human Rights Watch http://www.hrw.org/

Menu includes: info about HRW (HRW conducts regular investigations of human rights abuses in about 70 countries.), HRW Research and Campaigns, How You Can Help.

Human Rights Web Homepage http://www.traveller.com/~hrweb/hrweb.html

Includes short history of the human rights movement, biographies of Prisoners of Conscience, debates, primer for activists and human rights resources.

PeaceNet Home Page http://www.peacenet.apc.org/peacenet/

‘PeaceNet is a worldwide computer network dedicated to peace, social and economic justice, human rights, and the struggle against racism’. Web page provides sample of information available to PeaceNet subscribers, including directory of member organisations – links to sites concerned with the issues.

Miscellaneous

Noam Chomsky Archive http://www.worldmedia.com/archive/index.html: Summaries and extracts from Chomsky’s books. Also articles, talks, interviews.
Wiretap Electronic Text Archive http://wiretap.spies.com/: Main features include: White House Press Releases (updated daily), Wiretap Online Library (useful/interesting information arranged by subject, e.g. under ‘techdoc’, then ‘security’, information on electronic eavesdropping and interception of information from computer terminals) Government and Civics Archives (laws, treaties and other legal and historical documents, eg NATO, some US Govt Acts, Treaties, GAO reports, FOIA, Privacy Act, NSA Charter). Electronic Books on Wiretap: index of electronic books. Wiretap has a lot of information, some very useful, but it can be time consuming to use, and rather hit-and-miss, unless you know exactly where to find the information you require.
Controlled Remote Viewing Homepage http://www.ameritel.net/lusers/rviewer/: Lots of information on CRV, including many papers and mini-essays by Ingo Schwann, also abstract by H. E. Puthoff on a CIA-initiated Remote Viewing programme at SRI.