Sunday, 26 September 2010
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At a rally Sunday, September 18, 2010, outside of the gates of Quantico Marine Base in Virginia, Iraq veterans spoke on behalf of a soldier imprisoned inside, Pfc. Bradley Manning. Manning has been held in solitary confinement at Quantico for almost three months now, accused of being the source of the "Collateral Murder" video which was released in April by the online whistleblower web site WikiLeaks. The video shows US forces firing 30 mm cannons from helicopter gunships into a crowd in Baghdad, killing over a dozen Iraqis, including two Reuters journalists, and seriously wounding two children. A former soldier from the ground unit that responded to the helicopter shooting seen in the now-infamous video described the incident as a typical moment in his 2007 deployment to Baghdad as part of the Surge. "It was by no means abnormal," said the former soldier, Josh Stieber, who served 14 months in the New Baghdad neighborhood. Jac ob George, a three-tour Afghanistan veteran who served with the Army Special Operations Command's 528th Special Operations Support Battalion, has been publicly supporting Manning as well. He too calls the accused a hero, if indeed he is the WikiLeaks source. "He's doing this country a favor," he states bluntly. "I think whistle blowing is the only way to challenge the narrative of war that we have right now. The media and our government, which closely controls the media, doesn't allow transparency and cultivating transparency is the thing that [the WikiLeaks source] did. It is a heroic act."
Ryan Harvey, Truthout Report
Press Release, PR Web
Marjorie Cohn, Truthout News Analysis
US military video depicting the indiscriminate slaying of over a dozen people in the Iraqi suburb of New Baghdad -- including two Reuters news staff
Information Release, WikiLeaks
BERLIN (Rixstep) — Daniel Domscheit-Berg, aka Daniel Schmitt, thought to be a member of the Chaos Computer Club and associate of Julian Assange, is leaving the WikiLeaks organisation. Schmitt says this is his decision; WikiLeaks Twitter says he was suspended a month ago. Dissension can happen. Especially in times of war. And don't look now but WikiLeaks is in the midst of a huge war. Julian Assange hasn't mentioned anything about dissension even though he's had ample opportunity. Those covered wagons are supposed to form a circle when the natives attack. If Schmitt feels loyalty to the cause of WikiLeaks above and beyond any loyalty and friendship to Julian Assange, and if he's not been compromised, then he'd be keeping his priorities straight and his mouth shut - at least for now. Schmitt gains nothing (at least for the WikiLeaks cause) by 'going public' with this story. All he does is gain a bit of notoriety for himself. As with Bir gitta Jónsdóttir (Iceland MP) earlier, you're supposed to have the basic perspicacity to know you don't hang your laundry out in public and you never ever talk to one another through the media. There are more people involved besides Schmitt. One must not forget the whistleblowers. The welfare and the lives of the whistleblowers - the true heroes here - are at stake with any publicly disclosed dissension in the ranks at WikiLeaks. There are also the lives of countless civilians and others that can be saved if pressure can be brought to end wars. This WikiLeaks thing is not a hackers' game - it's deadly serious. Lives can already be at stake. So it doesn't matter who's right and who's wrong in the current debacle - it might very well be Julian Assange! But what matters is you don't go public. All of which Daniel Schmitt must fully understand. Are we watching a puppet on a string?
Information Release, Rixstep
Gregory A Poland MD, many vested interests mistakes
(Caption & Pic Courtesy Of One Click)
Although CDC said it would not support mandatory flu vaccinations for healthcare workers (imagine the lawsuits if this were a federal government mandate), various organizations have recently published policy statements in favor of such mandatory inoculations for all workers in healthcare facilities. What is truly strange about this effort is that you cannot find convincing medical studies that show that vaccinating healthcare workers for flu actually decreases cases, on a statistical basis. No one has shown that vaccinating workers leads to healthier patients or fewer deaths, and the lack of convincing evidence undercuts the scientific and legal basis for mandating healthcare worker vaccinations. Gregory A Poland, MD has authored a large number of papers pushing mandatory flu vaccinations, and has been the prime mover for this initiative since the 1990s. Dr. Greg has been a CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices member, and done vaccine st udies for many pharmaceutical firms at Mayo Clinic, where he heads the vaccine research group. He also was hired by the Defense Department in 1999 to go to military bases and promote anthrax vaccinations. After I noted about 20 misstatements in his presentation on anthrax and anthrax vaccine on my website, the talks abruptly ceased. There will always be people who think they know what is best for the rest of us, evidence be damned, and will do their best to coerce us to comply. Most of the know-it-alls in this case have been shown to be compromised by their income from the vaccine industry, and it appears their input was critical in creating the swine flu boondoggle last year. Funny how failure doesn't stop them.
Dr Meryl Nass, MD
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Dr Meryl Nass MD, reporting on Medscape & PLOS
Officials with the Food and Drug Administration said study results involving GlaxoSmithKline's Rotarix vaccine showed a possible increased risk of serious bowel problems. FDA officials said the study showed an increased risk of intussusception - a twisting or obstruction of the intestine is sometimes fatal - in the 31 day period following the first dose. The vaccine is typically given to babies at two and four months of age. The safety of Rotarix and RotaTeq, which is manufactured by Merck & co., have carefully been tracked by regulators since another vaccine by then drug-maker Wyeth was pulled off the market in 1999. It was pulled because it was linked to an increased rate of intussusception.
Ashton Daigle, Vaccine News Daily
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Barbara Loe Fisher, National Vaccine Information Center
Added to the high risk of drug-induced metabolic syndrome, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, stroke, sudden death... A large UK study by two statisticians and a professor of clinical epidemiology published in the BMJ online ("Antipsychotic Drugs and Risk of Venous Thromboembolism: Nested Case-Control Study") found that users of atypical antipsychotics were significantly more likely to develop dangerous potentially lethal blood clots compared to patients who did not take antipsychotics! The study revealed that use of antipsychotic drugs posed a significant increased risk of potentially lethal blood clot: * Use of antipsychotics during the previous two years was associated with a 32% increased risk. * Use of antipsychotics over the previous three months was associated with a 56% increased risk. * Starting antipsychotic drugs within the past three months was associated with a twofold increased risk. The combination of multiple, potentially lethal r isks that these drugs pose, suggests that atypical antipsychotics are unsuitable for human consumption. So why are they still allowed on the market?
Vera Hassner Sharav, AHRP
DNA samples of thousands of Wakefield children are being stored indefinitely on a database in Leeds. Civil rights groups say it’s an invasion of privacy and are calling or a review of the DNA storage. Ana Humberstone, 36, claims she was unaware the DNA of her two-year-old daughter Jasmine would be stored with thousands of other babies from Wakefield on NHS records in Leeds. Mrs Humberstone of Grove Park, Calder Grove, said: “I have never been told about a DNA database. This is very concerning. Why they want to keep it, I just can’t understand. I think parents should be made aware of this. It should be made clear.” Parents and civil liberties groups have called for a review of neonatal procedures after learning that the permanent storage of blood samples dates back to 1994. The samples, which can be accessed by the police in some circumstances, are taken from heel-prick tests. Shami Chakrabarti, director of civi l rights charity Liberty, said: “As someone who gave consent for my own baby to be tested, I’m horrified that anyone would breach my trust, keep my child’s sample for years on end and use it for all sorts of extraneous purposes. If they think that thrusting a leaflet in an exhausted new mother’s hand creates informed consent, they can look forward to a flurry of claims under article eight of the Human Rights Act.”
Wakefield Express
Last week the High Court postponed the hearing of the Law Society's expedited judicial review application by two days. The hearing had been due to take place today and tomorrow, but instead took place on Thursday 23 and Friday 24 September. Judgment is now expected to be delivered early in the week beginning 27 September. The reason for the postponement arose out of a last minute decision by the court that a two judge Divisional Court should hear the case. Lord Justice Munby joined Mr Justice Beatson in court but then had to recuse himself because of a personal reference he had given to a partner in one of the intervening firms. Lord Justice Moses was appointed to take his place but could only be made available from Thursday. In the absence of any significant movement by the Legal Services Commission on the access to justice issue, the relief sought by the Law Society includes quashing the family law tender round and an extension of the current family law contracts.
Family Law Week
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The Queen On The Application Of The Law Society Of England & Wales
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