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1. Rap News: WkiLeaks Vs. The Pentagon - The Internet Wars

Rap News resumes its lyrical forays into the world of rhyme and reason, exploring what's been happening on the Internets in 2010. Robert Foster takes a look at Senator Joe LIEberman's proposed bill to grant the Prez the power to shut down the web in case of [quotation mark] an emergency [/quotation mark]. But - most importantly - we discuss something else which has been leaking even more profusely than a BP oil well. An organisation of ultra-inspiring infectively-courageous cybernauts - aka WikiLeaks - has been taking on the Fistagon and giving that slumbering Fourth Estate a much-needed kick in the arse, reminding us how important the internet can be as a channel of information.
Rap News
Related Links:
* Update - WikiLeaks Afghan War Diary Repercussions
Information Release, The One Click Group / WikiLeaks
* Courage Is Contagious - How To Whistleblow Safely
Julian Assange, WikiLeaks
* Why The World Needs Free Speech WikiLeaks
Chris Anderson, TED / Julian Assange, WikiLeaks
* Collateral Murder
US military video depicting the indiscriminate slaying of over a dozen people in the Iraqi suburb of New Baghdad -- including two Reuters news staff
WikiLeaks

2. UK Health Service Whistleblowers Paid To Keep Mouth Shut

Channel 4 News reveals whistleblowing doctors are being gagged as NHS managers attempt to divert attention away from complaints - as the Patients Association tells us the scale of the problem is "deeply worrying". Whether it is a complaint about a fellow surgeon botching operations or over a manager distorting waiting times, NHS whistleblowers are meant to be protected by law. They are not allowed to be gagged. But in a joint investigation with the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, Channel 4 News can reveal that doctors are being gagged after they have blown the whistle. And in a number of cases their reputations are shredded as NHS managers apparently attempt to divert attention from the problem raised in the first place. In a number of requests made under the Freedom of Information Act we discovered that over the past decade 170 doctors signed a settlement, or compromise, agreement with their trust. We were given 64 heavily redacted contrac ts to review. Of those 55 - that is nearly 90 per cent - contained gagging clauses. There is a Public Interest Disclosure Act (PIDA) that is meant to be the government's guarantee to the whistleblower that he or she will not be sacked. Yet all the evidence we have seen is that trusts have been simply ignoring the rules - devastating the careers of doctors, costing the NHS millions. And putting unknown numbers of patients lives at risk.
Victoria Macdonald, Channel 4 News
Related Links:
* Courage Is Contagious - How To Whistleblow Safely
Julian Assange, WikiLeaks

3. Hollywood Star Sues Roche Over Acne Drug That Wrecked His Career

James Marshall, who played a US Marine in the 1992 hit film ‘A Few Good Men,’ claims his acting career was derailed after he used the Accutane acne pill and developed inflammatory bowel disease. His colon was subsequently removed and he is suing the drugmaker for $11 million. His trial starts this week in a New Jersey courtroom and the spectacle is likely to cause a side effect of its own - attention on product liability litigation in ways that previous lawsuits have not generated. How so? For all of the thousands of such lawsuits filed against drugmakers in recent years, the featured plaintiffs were, basically, John Doe or Jane Doe - ordinary people whose ordinary lives were allegedly disrupted by the use of a medication. Rarely were their trials covered in the media. Marshall, however, was a star. And reports say the New Jersey-bred pretty boy will rely on testimony from even bigger names - Martin Sheen, Brian Dennehy and Rob Reiner. His Hol lywood pals are expected to testify that Marshall, 43, was headed for stardom before his ailments upended his career. “The jury will hear that James Marshall had the potential to be the next James Dean-like star,” Marshall’s lawyer, Michael Hook, tells Bloomberg News. “That dream is gone because he took something to treat acne.” The prospect of one Hollywood headliner after another taking the stand in Atlantic City, New Jersey, may just attract television cameras, celebrity bloggers and countless Tweeters - further underscoring the contentious debate over side effects and proper disclosure just as several other large drugmakers are scampering to settle thousands of lawsuits as quickly as possible.
Ed Silverman, Pharmalot

4. Are Prescription Drugs Behind Troop Suicides?

Why are troops killing themselves? The long awaited Army report, "Health Promotion, Risk Reduction, Suicide Prevention" considers the economy, the stress of nine years of war, family dislocations, repeated moves, repeated deployments, troops' risk-taking personalities, waived entrance standards and many aspects of Army culture. What it barely considers are the suicide-inked antidepressants, antipsychotics and antiseizure drugs whose use exactly parallels the increase in US troop suicides since 2005. In June, Marine Times reported 32 deaths on prescription drugs in Warrior Transition Units (WTUs) since 2007 and said an internal review "found the biggest risk factor may be putting a soldier on numerous drugs simultaneously, a practice known as polypharmacy." The team of mental health and corrections professionals mentions youths who fail to "follow the medication orders" and revert to street drugs but nowhere in the 146-page report are the health and mental health effects of psychoactive drugs mentioned. Even though 98 percent of youth at one facility are on them, according to the report! Denial is not just the name of a river in Egypt. Like the Army report, the Juvenile Justice report ignores the pharmaceutical elephant in the room and the tax dollars and human costs of feeding it.
Martha Rosenberg, News Blaze

5. Mumps Vaccine Useless

SAN ANTONIO - Local health officials said the mumps outbreak at the Bexar County Jail appears to be contained, but many are still scratching their heads over where it all started. The Metro Health Department confirmed 10 cases of mumps -- nine of them at the county jail. After reviewing the medical history of the infected inmates, health officials discovered some of the inmates had been vaccinated for the mumps, and others even had the disease before and yet they came down with it again.
Brian New, KENS 5

6. Czechs Decision Not To Vaccinate No Longer Punishable

The Czech state must not any longer fine the parents who will refuse compulsory vaccination of their children, daily Lidove noviny (LN) writes Friday, referring to a verdict of the Supreme Administrative Court (NSS) that decided on a case of parents from Moravia last week. The NSS ruled that the state has no right to punish them as the duty to vaccinate is only set down in detail by a decree of the Health Ministry, LN writes. The NSS said this was too little for the state being allowed to punish for its violation. Some civic groups are against compulsory vaccination, LN writes. "If the state wants to enforce the duty, this must be regulated by a law," Jaroslav Vlasin, chairman of the panel in charge of the case, told the paper. The judges decided so in the case of a marital couple that defended itself against fines from a sanitary office imposed on them as they refused to have their children vaccinated, LN writes.
Prague Daily Monitor

7. Professor Ends Hunger Strike - Viva Servando! Battle Continues...

Professor Servando Pérez, President of Mercuriados (Spain) and Vice President of the World Alliance for Mercury-Free Dentistry, for health reasons has put an end to his hunger strike which he was carrying out in the Hospital Universitario de Santiago de Compostela, Spain, in order to demand to be treated for chronic mercury intoxication. After Professor Pérez refused to leave the hospital for a month and was on a hunger strike for a week demanding to be treated (as it was ordered by a judge when he was diagnosed), the hospital has finally come to an agreement to refer him to a toxicologist in Valencia. Yet this toxicologist has already stated that in Spain there are not any hospitals which can treat chronic mercury intoxication, so the solution to Servando's situation and for thousands of people in his situation in Spain is still up in the air and we are now entering into a second phase of this fight. This second phase involves meeting with the Spanish Ministry of Health. We want to thank Servando Pérez for his bravery, his coherence and for being an example for all of us. We know that during his stay in the hospital he was pressured and harassed by doctors and administration, including very agressive behaviour on the part of the psychiatrists who wanted to diagnose him as having a psychiatric disorder. We also want to thank all the scientists, doctors, asociations and individuals who, all over the world, have, during Servandos lock-in and hunger strike, have contacted the Spanish and the Galician authorities to protest for Servando's situation and who have shown support for our fight. We hope to continue to count on your support.
Clara Valverde, President, Liga SFC (CFS/ME League, Spain)
Related Links:
* Spanish Patient With Chronic Mercury Intoxication Goes On Hunger Strike
Clara Valverde, President, Liga SFC (CFS/ME League, Spain)

8. Pirate Party Fires Back At Ofcom On The Digital Economy Act

Digital Freedom Advocates, The Pirate Party, which probably knows more about copyright and digital restrictions management than the entire UK government, has responded to Ofcom's Digital Economy Act (DEA) consultation, which ended last Friday. It's old news that when out of power the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats said they would repeal the Act, and slightly newer news that they did not when they got into power, but the consultation is new, and so is The Pirate Party's response. The Pirate Party accepts that Ofcom's involvement might stem the flow of ill-targeted and threatening legal letters sent to Internet users, but added that an "alarming number of elements" are lacking from the document. In the face of this fact it suggested that Ofcom fling the Code draft back at the government and wait for it to sort it all out. The Pirate Party added that the document is lacking in balance, and is "clearly set up to aid only the more powerful businesses, not small, independent companies or individuals who will not have the legal or financial resources to use the measures included in the Code." The government might respond to these criticisms by email or, potentially, by flying pig sent out from the ice-rimmed maw of Hell. But most likely, it will just ignore them, and then wonder why it loses the next election.
David Neal, The Inquirer
Related Links:
* Judicial Review Of Digital Economy Act Sought
BBC News
* Early Day Motion To Repeal Digital Economy Act Failing Electorate
John Hunt, thinkbroadband
* Journalists' Union To Support Court Challenges Against Digital Economy Act
Judith Townend, journalism.co.uk
* UK Digital Economy Coalition Government Mocks Democracy - Next Please
Ben Camm-Jones, Webuser
* Digital Economy Bill Threatens One Click
Jane Bryant, The One Click Group

9. Big Society Watches Alcohol Subsidised MPs

Dave took the time to launch his vision of the ‘Big Society’ just ahead of the parliamentary recess. Beneath the Obama-lite rhetoric and calls for a legion of volunteers to run services was a message: it’s time to cut back the state and let individuals take control of their own lives. So far, so good. But can the Tories resist the urge to centralise and regulate now that they are in power? Behind the paywall at The Times, Deputy Mayor of London Kit Malthouse has been expounding on the ‘need’ for state intervention to combat alcohol consumption. The chief of the Met Police authority suggests twice daily alcohol testing for problem drinkers with “intensive monitoring and enforcement to ensure compliance”. He gleefully explains what happens to those who dare breach a prohibition order in a similar scheme run in the backwoods of South Dakota: “The sanction is immediate and certain &n dash; straight into the cells, no argument, no court, no lawyers.” Very ominous. If Malthouse persists with his plan then Guido knows just the location to try out the new policy: a little upstream from City Hall, at a place where subsidised booze flows freely, disorder is common and employees are regularly drunk while at work. It’s hard to imagine that heavy-drinking MP’s would take kindly to being breathalysed.
Guido Fawkes
Related Links:
* British Taxpayer Subsidising MPs Mass Drunkenness
Guido Fawkes

READ THE NEWS ON ONE CLICK
http://www.theoneclickgroup.co.uk