Tuesday, 11 October 2011
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#OccupyBoston
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Boston Police arrest Peace Veterans. Shame!
Tensions boiled over in the early hours of Tuesday in downtown Boston, where police arrested about 100 protesters after the Occupy Boston group expanded its footprint and was told by authorities to backtrack. Boston earlier saw one of its biggest rallies so far in a movement that began in New York last month to protest against perceived Wall Street excesses and other social issues and has spread to cities across the nation. Hundreds of protesters, including many college students, marched in support of Occupy Boston. Protests across the country have objected to what they see as an unacceptable income gap between rich and poor. They also have complained about the Wall Street bailout in 2008, which they say aided banks while average Americans suffered under high unemployment and job insecurity.
Ros Krasny, Reuters
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Sarah Birch & Nicholas Allen, University of Essex
Gmail users got a hefty dose of reality today when it was revealed that Google handed over one user's private data to the U.S. government, who requested it without a search warrant. According to the company's own Transparency Report, Google received 4,601 user data requests from the U.S. government in the second half of 2010, and it complied with 94% of them. Those requests include warrantless inquiries as well as those accompanied by a search warrant. The idea of an ISP handing over user data to governments without the aid of a search warrant has some troubling implications for privacy advocates and civil liberties proponents. In the WikiLeaks case, the line between advocates and participants in the transfer of data can sometimes be blurry. If in its ongoing investigation into WikiLeaks the U.S. Department of Justice is free to ask Google, Twitter or Facebook for private data without users' knowledge, who's to say they can't access private information ab out people who have merely expressed sympathy for the organization? Tech companies haven't necessarily rolled over and played dead on the issue. When the DoJ made a similar WikiLeaks-related request of Twitter in December, the company succeeded in having the order unsealed, meaning it was able to notify users about the request.
John Paul Titlow, ReadWriteWeb
What next for Amanda Knox? A series of lucrative TV interviews, surely, followed by an even more well-paid publishing deal to write her memoirs, which, almost inevitably, will been optioned as a big-screen parable of courage amid adversity and the importance of knowing yourself. Emma Stone as Foxy Knoxy, perhaps? Or maybe Rooney Mara? Meanwhile, the awkward post-mortem is just beginning for the Italian law enforcement officials – from the cops to the prosecutors – whose shambolic investigation has further sullied the reputation of the country’s dubiously regarded justice system. The temptation to lambast the Italians is powerful, but it’s worth noting that more heinous miscarriages of justice have occurred elsewhere. David Bain, New Zealand, Stefan Kiszko - United Kingdom, David Milgaard - Canada, Lindy Chamberlain - Australia, West Memphis Three - United States, Guildford Four - United Kingdom, et al.
TNT Admin, TNT
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Jonathan Martin, The Seattle Times
The One Click Group
Every day we read and hear about the horrors of the failed drug war in newspapers and on TV. There is the tragic bloodbath in Mexico where more than 50,000 people have been killed since President Calderon launched his "surge" against the drug traffickers 5 years ago. We see our state and local governments struggling to pay teachers while our prisons are exploding with people with nonviolent drug offenses at a price tag of $50,000 per person. We hear about the overdose crisis where more people are now dying from preventable overdoses than from car accidents. That's the bad news. The good news is that there is a growing movement bubbling up across the country that will help us find an exit strategy to this unwinnable war. Do you want to feel the momentum for change and be a part of the solution? Join the more than 1,000 people from around the world who will come together in Los Angeles at the International Drug Policy Reform conference on No vember 2nd - 5th. For the first time at the Reform Conference, we are staging a mass public protest acknowledging President Nixon's declaration of the drug war 40 years ago this year, demanding health-centered alternatives and celebrating this incredible, diverse movement.
Tony Newman, AlterNet
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Tom Barry, CounterPunch
Norm Stamper, The Seattle Times
Mark Perry, Daily Markets
E.D. Kain, Forbes
Report of the Global Commission on Drug Policy
More than one-quarter of Americans are concerned about the value and safety of vaccines and 21.4 percent believe vaccines can cause autism, according to the Thomson Reuters-NPR Health Poll. Thomson Reuters and NPR conduct the monthly poll to gauge attitudes and opinions on a wide range of health issues. In the latest survey in the series, 26.6 percent of respondents expressed concern over the safety of vaccines. Households with children under the age of 18 demonstrated the greatest level of concern (30.8%). Among those with concerns, 47.3 percent attributed their fear of vaccines to future long-term impact on health and 46.0 percent said they were worried about side effects. Nearly one in five said they have questioned or refused a vaccine for themselves or their children -- with a higher rate among those under 35 (28.1 percent) and a lower rate among those 65 and older (12.7 percent). Overall, 24 percent of respondents said their opinions of vaccines hav e changed in the past five years. Of those, 59 percent say their views on vaccines have become less favorable.
Thomson Reuters
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Thomson Reuters
Lindsey Tanner, AP, seattle pi
Andreas Bachmair, VaccineInjury.info
Raymond Obomsawin Ph.D
THE GREATER GOOD looks behind the fear, hype and politics that have polarized the vaccine debate in America today. The film re-frames the emotionally charged issue and offers, for the first time, the opportunity for a rational and scientific discussion on how to create a safer and more effective vaccine program. THE GREATER GOOD is a character-driven documentary that explores the cultural intersections where parenting meets modern medicine and individual rights collide with politics. The film offers parents, doctors and policy makers a safe space to speak openly, actively listen and to learn from one another. Mixing verité footage, intimate interviews, 1950s-era government-produced movies and up-to-date TV news reporting, THE GREATER GOOD weaves together the stories of families whose lives have been forever changed by vaccination. "A new documentary about childhood immunizations, The Greater Good could intensify debate around the potentia l dangers of vaccines." - The Wall Street Journal. See venues and screening times listed, USA.
Chris Pilaro, Director/Producer, BNP Pictures
A company accused of “smearing” thousands of disabled Britons by declaring them fit for work is sponsoring next year’s London Paralympics. French firm Atos Healthcare assessed 1.3million people on incapacity benefit for the Tory-led Coalition, ruling 150,000 should get a job. But the decision was overturned and a Commons select committee said Atos’s “unacceptable” blunders cost the taxpayer £30million a year. Campaigner John McArdle called Atos’s involvement an “insult”. He added: “Because of them, many disabled people will have to wait months to get their benefits back. Their sponsorship is unacceptable.” Atos Healthcare was unavailable for comment.
Tom Parry, Daily Mirror
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Jon Dean, Islington Gazette
Disability Alliance
Information Release, Black Triangle Campaign
Al Jazeera, The Stream
IndyMedia UK
Paul Smith, Atos Register of Shame
Will Stone, Morning Star
Justice minister Jonathan Djanogly is introducing changes that are
expected to benefit the insurance industry to the tune of hundreds of millions
The justice minister Jonathan Djanogly has been forced to publicly declare in the parliamentary register that his controversial stakes in the insurance industry have been placed in a "blind trust", after a Guardian investigation revealed that he could personally profit from legislation he is piloting in the Commons. The minister's declaration of interests, released last week, shows that Djanogly registered his insurance industry investments in the trust seven days after the Guardian exposed how he potentially stood to gain from a bill he was pushing through the house. Djanogly has at least £250,000 in shares in companies with insurance subsidiaries and is a member of his family's Lloyds underwriting partnership that deals in accident, health and motor claims. He has been entitled to a £41,000 a year from that partnership. The insurance industry stands to be benefit by "hundreds of millions of pounds" from the changes Djanog ly is pushing. The latest admission comes at a crucial time for the 46-year-old former City solicitor. The cabinet secretary, Gus O'Donnell, is considering a complaint from Labour's justice spokesman, Andy Slaughter, that Djanogly faces a slew of conflict-of-interest claims over plans to cut legal aid budgets and curb payments.
Randeep Ramesh, The Guardian
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Randeep Ramesh, The Guardian
Randeep Ramesh, The Guardian
Randeep Ramesh, The Guardian
Information Release, Black Triangle Campaign
Voices from the Shadows is a breakthrough event. In a compelling and intensely moving one hour feature documentary these hidden voices can at last be heard. It is an act of witness, supported by concerned professionals who illuminate an injustice hidden in our midst. We see for ourselves the love, integrity, determination and courage of the contributors as they bravely share their stories. These are stories of life and death and although difficult to believe in this day and age, they are true: they happened. There are many, many others that remain untold. The film was born of desperation, made by the mother and brother of a severe ME patient. It is an independent and self funded project. Click on Screenings link for details.
Information Release, Voices from the Shadows
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Dr Bruce M Carruthers MD et al, Journal of Internal Medicine doi: 10.1111/j.1365 2796.2011.02428.x
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