H1N1 flu: UK to vaccinate 30 people an hour in 'military-style operation' --Swine flu vaccine to be cleared after five-day trial 12 Jul 2009 When the new vaccine for swine flu arrives in Britain, regulators said this weekend, it could be approved for use in just five days. Regulators at the European Medicines Agency (EMEA) said the fast-tracked procedure has involved clinical trials of a "mock-up" vaccine similar to the one that will be used for the biggest mass vaccination programme in generations. It will be introduced into the general population while regulators continue to carry out simultaneous clinical trials. The first patients in the queue for the jab - being supplied to the UK by GSK and Baxter Healthcare - may understandably be a little nervous at any possible side effects. A mass vaccination campaign against swine flu in America was halted in the 1970s after some people suffered Guillain-Barré syndrome, a disorder of the nervous system.
Swine flu vaccine to be given to entire population --The NHS is preparing to vaccinate the entire population against swine flu. 12 Jul 2009 It comes after an Essex man was confirmed on Friday as the first person without underlying health problems to have died from the virus. Ministers have secured up to 90 million doses of the vaccine, which is expected to arrive in Britain in the next few weeks, and the rest of the population is likely to be offered vaccinations next year.
Feinstein suggests CIA concealment broke law 12 Jul 2009 Barack Obama's Democratic allies are pushing for twin investigations into Bush-era torture and anti-terrorism policies. Two senators, including the head of the intelligence committee [Dianne Feinstein and Dick Durbin], suggested Sunday that the prior administration broke the law by concealing a CIA counterterrorism program from Congress. The assertion that Vice President [sic] Dick Cheney ordered the concealment came amid word that Attorney General Eric Holder is contemplating opening a criminal probe of possible CIA torture.
Durbin: Probe possible Cheney concealment 12 Jul 2009 Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin says Congress should investigate whether former Vice President [sic] Dick Cheney and others in the Bush administration ordered the CIA to conceal the existence of a counterterrorism program [aka executive assassination ring]. Speaking on ABC's "This Week," Durbin says it may have been an illegal act if such a program was hidden from Congress.
Cheney accused of secret dealings 12 Jul 2009 American media has reported that former vice-president [sic], Dick Cheney, has been accused of ordering the CIA to keep secret from US legislators certain counter-terrorism programs that began after the September 11th attacks in New York and on the Pentagon. The New York Times and CNN have reported that new CIA chief, Leon Panetta, ended the secret program in June.
Cheney Ordered C.I.A. Concealment of Terror Program 12 Jul 2009 The Central Intelligence Agency withheld information about a secret counterterrorism program from Congress for eight years on direct orders from former Vice President [sic] Dick Cheney, the agency’s director, Leon E. Panetta, has told the Senate and House intelligence committees, two people with direct knowledge of the matter said Saturday. The report that Mr. Cheney was behind the decision to conceal the still-unidentified program [Cheney's 'executive assassination ring,' revealed by Seymour Hersh?] from Congress deepened the mystery surrounding it, suggesting that the Bush regime had put a high priority on the program and its secrecy.
Probe of Alleged Torture Weighed --White House Has Resisted Inquiry 12 Jul 2009 Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. is leaning toward appointing a criminal prosecutor to investigate whether CIA personnel tortured terrorism suspects after Sept. 11, 2001, setting the stage for a conflict with administration officials who would prefer the issues remain in the past, according to three sources familiar with his thinking. The White House successfully resisted efforts by congressional Democrats to establish a "truth and reconciliation" panel.
Attorney General may probe Bush-era torture 11 Jul 2009 Four knowledgeable sources tell NEWSWEEK that Attorney General Eric Holder Jr. is now leaning toward appointing a prosecutor to investigate the Bush administration's brutal interrogation practices, something the president has been reluctant to do. While no final decision has been made, an announcement could come in a matter of weeks, say these sources, who decline to be identified discussing a sensitive law-enforcement matter.
Vietnamization we can believe in: McChrystal: Afghan strategy needs huge increase in funding, troops --U.S. General Sees Afghan Army, Police Insufficient 11 Jul 2009 Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, the newly arrived top commander in Afghanistan, has concluded that the Afghan security forces will have to be far larger than currently planned if President Obama's strategy for 'winning' the war is to succeed, according to senior military officials. Such an expansion would require spending billions more than the $7.5 billion the administration has budgeted annually to build up the Afghan army and police over the next several years, and the likely deployment of thousands more U.S. troops as trainers and advisers, officials said.
Afghanistan Blast Kills 2 Marines 13 Jul 2009 Two United States Marines were killed in a roadside explosion in the southern province of Helmand, a United States forces spokeswoman said Sunday. A third American service member died of wounds Friday back home. The explosion, which occurred Saturday, was caused by a homemade bomb, the spokeswoman, Lt. Cmdr Christine Sidenstricker, said.
Death toll of troops keeps rising but Britain's strategy in Afghanistan IS working, Gordon Brown insists 11 Jul 2009 Gordon Brown today insisted Britain's strategy in Afghanistan was succeeding, despite the bloody fighting which has seen the loss of eight soldiers in 24 hours. The Prime Minister acknowledged said that the past ten days had been 'extraordinarily difficult' for British forces with the deaths of 15 troops since the start of the month. But in a letter to the senior MPs on the Commons Liaison Committee, he said the Operation Panther's Claw offensive to clear the Taliban from central Helmand was succeeding.
Afghanistan: a war we cannot win --The threat posed by al-Qaeda is exaggerated; the West's vision of a rebuilt Afghanistan ultimately flawed, says former soldier, diplomat and academic Rory Stewart 10 Jul 2009 It is impossible for Britain and its allies to build an Afghan state. They have no clear picture of this promised "state", and such a thing could come only from an Afghan national movement, not as a gift from foreigners. Is a centralised state, in any case, an appropriate model for a mountainous country, with strong traditions of local self-government and autonomy, significant ethnic differences, but strong shared moral values?
Roadside bomb explodes near U.S. ambassador's vehicle 12 Jul 2009 A small roadside bomb narrowly missed a vehicle carrying the U.S. ambassador to Iraq on Sunday. Ambassador Christopher Hill was traveling in a U.S. State Department convoy in southern Iraq when the bomb exploded, causing minor damage to another vehicle in the group of armored sport-utility vehicles. No one was injured.
Israeli Military Official Threatens Lebanon War 12 Jul 2009 Israel will wage war against Lebanon, its infrastructure and all those who support Hizbullah, if the new Lebanese cabinet legitimizes the terrorist group, former head of the Israeli National Security Council Giora Eiland said on Sunday. Hizbullah’s political wing, closely tied with its military division, may gain a strengthened position in the parliament during attempts to form a government following the recent elections.
Iran threatens legal action over kidnapped diplomats 12 Jul 2009 Following the release of the five Iranian diplomats, who were abducted in Iraq by US forces over two years ago, Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki threatens Washington with possible legal action. "We reserve the right to legally pursue ... this action taken by the (George W.) Bush government," Mottaki said on Sunday as the freed Iranian officials received a hero's welcome upon arriving in Tehran.
Ex KBR Iraq worker held on sexual assault charge 10 Jul 2009 A former employee of military contractor KBR Inc has been arrested in Texas and charged with sexually assaulting a woman at an airbase in Iraq, federal prosecutors said on Friday. According to a now-unsealed indictment from Oct. 8, 2008, David Charles Breda Jr. is charged with assaulting the woman at Camp Al Asad while working as a civilian defense contractor for a subsidiary of Houston-based KBR, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Texas said in a statement.
Evacuation slide on Barack Obama's campaign plane brought it 'close to disaster' --An emergency aboard Barack Obama's campaign plane last July nearly had catastrophic effects after an evacuation slide inflated in mid flight, it has emerged. 11 Jul 2009 It was just over a year ago that the pilot of "Obama One", as the presidential candidate's aircraft was dubbed, went through an extraordinary drama high above the clouds shortly after takeoff. After leaving Chicago, an evacuation slide mysteriously inflated in the plane's tail section, preventing the flaps that controlled the aircraft's pitch from functioning properly. As he struggled with the controls of the elderly McDonnell Douglas, the pilot ordered an emergency landing.
U.S. to spend another $1 billion for flu vaccine 12 Jul 2009 The United States will spend another $1 billion for ingredients for an H1N1 vaccine, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said on Sunday. "There'll be another $1 billion worth of orders placed to get the bulk ingredients [Thimerosal (mercury), formaldehyde, detergent, MF-59, and other toxins] for an H1N1 vaccination.
Homeless people die after bird flu vaccine trial in Poland --Three Polish doctors and six nurses are facing criminal prosecution after a number of homeless people died following medical trials for a vaccine to the H5N1 bird-flu virus. 02 Jul 2008 The medical staff, from the northern town of Grudziadz, are being investigated over medical trials on as many as 350 homeless and poor people last year, which prosecutors say involved an untried vaccine to the highly-contagious virus. Authorities claim that the alleged victims received £1-2 to be tested with what they thought was a conventional flu vaccine but, according to investigators, was actually an anti bird-flu drug.
The Truth about the Flu Shot By Infowars 10 Jul 2009 If the government mandates a series of flu shots this fall -- so far they are only "recommending” the shots -- you can expect to get a dose of thimerosal (mercury), formaldehyde, detergent, MF-59 (an oil-based adjuvant), and other toxins. Incidentally, if you believe the government will not kidnap you at gunpoint and lock you in a concentration camp and possibly force you to take these toxins, check out Executive Order 13295 of April 4, 2003. It states that the government has the authority to establish "regulations providing for the apprehension, detention, or conditional release of individuals to prevent the introduction, transmission, or spread of suspected communicable diseases," including diseases at that time "not yet isolated or named." Of course, the government will decide if you have a deadly disease or not.
Swine Flu Outbreak at Air Force Base 11 Jul 2009 The Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado is dealing with the state's largest outbreak of the H1N1 virus, or swine flu. The Academy says initial tests show 15 cadets with the virus. Nearly 90 cadets have been isolated because of flu-like symptoms. The Academy says most of the sick cadets are members of the incoming freshman class.
Swine flu deaths in UK double as country now has third highest number of cases in the world 10 Jul 2009 The number of Britons who have died after contracting swine flu has almost doubled in two days to 14, officials said yesterday. London is days away from an epidemic with the West Midlands not far behind. Britain has the third highest number of confirmed cases of the virus in the world, just behind Mexico - where the outbreak began.
Frustrated, Palin to quit oil panel job 17 Jan 2004 Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission Chairwoman Sarah Palin said Friday she is resigning amid frustration that she is being forced to keep silent about ethics allegations against Republican Party of Alaska chairman Randy Ruedrich. "I'm forced to withhold information from Alaskans, and that goes against what I believe in as a public servant," Palin said in a Friday interview. Ruedrich, reached on his cell phone, wouldn't discuss Palin's resignation.
A $30,000 an hour attorney? Palin report overstates inquiries' costs 10 Jul 2009 There's some double counting and other problems with a spreadsheet outlining $1.9 million in state costs for ethics complaints, public records requests and lawsuits directed at Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. The administrative director in the governor's office, Linda Perez, conceded that some costs were counted twice and said "the total cost is overstated by $26,849." She said she missed that the Department of Law's updated numbers included costs that were already counted.
Police face inquiry into media payouts --MPs want to be sure the Met is not trying to hide embarrassing payments to officers by reporters 12 Jul 2009 The Metropolitan Police could face a new House of Commons inquiry into whether officers are routinely paid by journalists to obtain confidential information about celebrities and suspects, in a fresh twist to the tabloid phone-hacking scandal. The home affairs select committee will meet on Tuesday to decide whether to launch a full inquiry into how private information such as criminal and DVLA records have been obtained by private investigators, who have then sold them on to journalists.
Troubled prison firm's deal for new psychiatric hospital raises questions 11 Jul 2009 A private prison company's history of filthy conditions, sexual abuse, suicides and riots in some of its Texas lockups isn't stopping the state from paying it $7.5 million to run a new psychiatric hospital near Houston. Lawmakers inserted an earmark into the state budget to fund the future Montgomery County facility starting in 2011. But they said they didn't know until this week that the county had selected the GEO Group to operate it, although GEO lobbyists were pushing for it as early as February.
The planet's future: Climate change 'will cause civilisation to collapse' --Authoritative new study sets out a grim vision of shortages and violence – but amid all the gloom, there is some hope too 12 Jul 2009 An effort on the scale of the Apollo mission... is needed if humanity is to have a fighting chance of surviving the ravages of climate change. The stakes are high, as, without sustainable growth, "billions of people will be condemned to poverty and much of civilisation will collapse". This is the stark warning from the biggest single report to look at the future of the planet – obtained by The Independent on Sunday ahead of its official publication next month.
Polar bear populations shrinking with sea ice: report 06 Jul 2009 A major international report says the increasingly rapid loss of Arctic sea ice is already taking a toll on polar bears and Canada should reconsider its decision not to include the mighty predators on its list of endangered species. The Polar Bear Specialist Group, which met over the weekend in Copenhagen, Denmark, has concluded that the overall condition of the world's 19 polar bear populations is deteriorating.
Previous lead stories: Report: Bush program extended beyond wiretapping --The "President's Surveillance Program" 10 Jul 2009 The Bush regime authorized secret surveillance activities that still have not been made public, according to a new government report that questions the legal basis for the unprecedented anti-terrorism program. It's unclear how much valuable intelligence was yielded by the surveillance program started after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, according to the unclassified summary of reports by five inspectors general. The reports mandated by Congress last year were delivered to lawmakers Friday. President [sic] George W. Bush authorized other secret intelligence activities -- which have yet to become public -- even as he was launching the massive warrantless wiretapping program, the summary said. It describes the entire program as the "President's Surveillance Program."
Bush Personally Ordered Visit to Ashcroft's Hospital Bed By Spencer Ackerman 10 Jul 2009 One warrantless surveillance mystery solved. My friend Marcy Wheeler beat me to this: George W. Bush personally ordered White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales and Chief of Staff Andy Card to visit an ailing Attorney General John Ashcroft in the hospital in March 2004 after Ashcroft’s deputy Jim Comey refused to certify the warrantless surveillance program.
US Said to Have Averted Inquiry Into '01 Afghan Mass Killings --Prisoners brought from Afghanistan reported that they had been "stacked like cordwood" in shipping containers and had to lick the perspiration off one another to survive. 11 Jul 2009 After a mass killing of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of Taliban prisoners of war by the forces of an American-backed warlord during the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan, Bush regime officials repeatedly discouraged efforts to investigate the episode, according to government officials and human rights organizations. American officials had been reluctant to pursue an investigation because the warlord, Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum, was on the payroll of the Central Intelligence Agency and his militia worked closely with United States Special Forces in 2001.
