Lord Goldsmith told Tony Blair war to topple Saddam would be illegal

From The Guardian:

Tony Blair was told by his government's most senior legal adviser that an invasion of Iraq to topple Saddam Hussein would be a serious breach of international law and the UN charter.

Lord Goldsmith, then attorney general, issued the warning in an uncompromising letter in July 2002, eight months before the invasion. It was becoming clear in government circles that Blair had had secret meetings with George Bush at which the US president was pressing Britain hard to join him in a war to change the regime in Baghdad.

Blair not only ignored Goldsmith's letter, he banned the attorney from attending cabinet meetings. Goldsmith was so angry that he threatened to resign – and lost three stone in weight as Blair and his closest advisers gagged him, according to the Mail on Sunday. A spokesman for Goldsmith told the paper: "His focus is on the legality of the war, its morality is for others."

Hmmm

"Safe" Deposit Box, my arse...

Some great advice from CosmicDramaQueen. A must watch of you happen to have a safety deposit box (which i don't):

Richard F. Daines + Goldman Sachs = Mandatory Flu Shots?

Global Non Compliance Day

GLOBAL NON-COMPLIANCE DAY!!!

Spread the word!!!!

Tuesday August 25th 2009

Facebook Group description:

On August 25th 2009, we invite YOU, and all of humanity to participate in a Global Independence Day where we will celebrate the freedom and creativity of the human spirit as we completely disengage for an entire day from all monetary transactions, thereby declaring a complete disengagement from the established Politico-Economic Matrix that enslaves us. We invite you to for an entire day celebrate the human family, the Earth, Nature, and the freedom and creativity of the human spirit and relinquish the malign viral instrument of money which only serves to enslave. We wish for this to be a global event so please tell as many people as you can. We look forward to your participation in this celebration and wish you all well. Thank you for your love and support for truth and freedom and thank you most of all for your humanity.

And HERE

And HERE

And HERE

Easy peasy... send a message by saying nothing... doing nothing... and not spending a penny for a whole day!!!

What could be easier???

The family of Ian Tomlinson, who collapsed after being hit by an officer at the G20 protests in London, have accused the police of engaging in a cover-up to stop them finding out the truth.

In an interview with The Guardian, (view here) they said they felt they had been pressured by the City of London police, Scotland Yard and the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) not to speak out, as it could jeopardise their case- but could no longer keep quiet.

Not only were the family prevented them from viewing Tomlinson's body for six days after his death, police initially tried to persuade them that there was nothing suspicious about his death, provided them with only an edited version of the Post Mortem which detailed none of the injuries he had sustained from police to cause internal bleeding.

Mass Vaccination Program in Planning for UK schools

An article in The Guardian draws much attention to the question whether Baxter and GSK can get their vaccines for H1N1 ready in time for schools recommencing in September, and not quite as much attention to the fact that they seem to be rushing them through clinical trials in order to be ready 'in time'.

"The manufacturers have told us that we can expect the first supplies of the vaccine from Baxter in August and from GlaxoSmithKline later in September. This is not the DH's schedule – it is led by the manufacturers." But GSK admitted that it has yet to start clinical trials on people. "We are still at the discussion stage and are not putting a date on when clinical tests will start," a spokesman said.

Quote: "The general principle of schools being the ideal, logical place to do this is well established. They have captive audiences," said one senior source involved in Whitehall planning.
Meaning they can't run away?

Quote: "High demand is expected, as long as the vaccine has been declared to be safe".

There is a profound difference between declaring something safe and it actually being safe. Once upon a time Thalidomide was declared to be safe, as was smoking?
Given the track record of both Baxter and GSK, its clear theyput profits ahead of people.
Anyone who is in doubt, I beg them to read a small amount of research on 'squalene' one of the ingredients of the vaccine, and why a large portion of the scientific community are concerned about its serious adverse effects. Then follow the money and understand why those invested in it have too much to lose from not pushing it on an unsuspecting public.

This mass vaccination program is frankly disgusting!

Humanity's Playground

This made me cry tears of joy!!!!
:-D

NEWS: Canada, Corn, Canola and CODEX!!!!

Well, it seems Canada is of heavy importance to Monsanto at the moment… there’s a storm brewing between the Canadian Biotechnology Action Network (CBAN - an umbrella organisation of 18 environmental and geneticly engineered food opposition groups) and Canada Health and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) - who are are responsible for approving new food products coming to market in Canada.
They have individually approved Monsanto’s latest Corn hybrid, a SmartStax Gentically Engineered Corn.
So called Smart Stax because it ‘stacks’ 8 different genetically modified gene traits in one crop. (6 insect resistant genes and 2 with resistence to weedkillers).
Up until now Monsanto have been selling products that have 3 genetic traits so 8 is quite a leap for them, and one they are excited about!

In Bloomberg:

“This is a big deal for Monsanto and Dow,” said Mark Gulley, a New York-based analyst for Soleil Securities. “They’re at least two years
ahead of Pioneer,” the agriculture unit of Wilmington, Delaware-based DuPont
Co.

In May Pioneer were sued by Monsanto what it calls “unlawful use” of Monsanto's herbicide-tolerant technologies in soybeans and corn. DuPont subsidiary, Pioneer Hi-Bred International Inc., isn’t allowed to combine, or stack, its technology with any soybeans already containing Monsanto’s Roundup Ready technology, Monsanto said.
DuPont countersued Monsanto in June, alleging that that Monsanto engages in “anti-competitive” conduct and that stacking is well within its rights under an existing license agreement with Monsanto.

The Organization for Competitive Markets (OCM) plans to hold its annual conference Aug. 7 in St. Louis. They are holding it in St Louis because ‘the city is central to its membership, it’s a “good media market” and it’s the home of Monsanto’!
This year’s theme is “Confronting the Threats to Market Competition.”

So where do CBAN and CODEX come in?
Well, interestingly, CBAN says that the authorization of SmartStax seeds is against CODEX guidelines. And that while Canada Health and CFIA tests traits individually for approval, they do not see the need to test them in accumulation with each other, which is contrary to CODEX guidelines.

Lucy Sharrat from CBAN had the following to say:
Sharratt said the organization, which Canada chairs, has pointed to unintended affects from stacked organisms. Such affects can include new allergies or toxins, according to Dr. Michael Hansen with the Consumers Union in the United States."This GE crop should have gone through a new safety assessment, as recommended by Codex in its 'Guidelines for the Conduct of Food Safety Assessment of Foods Derived from Recombinant-DNA Plants' adopted in 2003,” said Dr. Hansen in a press release.“Codex standards and guidelines are used to settle trade disputes and the lack of a new safety assessment for this GE corn means that other countries could reject 'SmartStax' without running afoul of WTO rules.”Sharratt said the divergence in Canada's regulations from those of Codex reveal a major regulatory omission.

From AsianTimes:
Combining many GE traits together can give rise to unintended effects which could adversely affect health, such as creating new allergies or toxins, or exacerbating existing allergies," said Michael Hansen of the Consumers Union, a US-based NGO and leading global expert on the potential health risks of GE. "This GE crop should have gone through a new safety assessment, as recommended by Codex," Hansen said in an interview. However, US regulations do not require any health and safety assessments because GE crops are considered the same as regular crops, even when novel traits are combined, he said. "The Food and Drug Administration didn't even take the slightest look at SmartStax," Hansen said.

Meanwhile, Monsanto has announced it will spend $15 million over the next two years on infrastructure projects in Manitoba and Saskatchewan.
The agricultural biotechnology corporation unveiled plans to construct a new, state-of-the-art Monsanto breeding centre to be located adjacent to the current site of Monsanto's corporate Canadian head office.
Many of the canola hybrids developed by the breeding group will be tested and advanced at this facility, according to a Monsanto press release. As well, all canola trait development and field testing will be managed out of the CTRC.
"Canola is a key strategic commercial imperative for Monsanto's Canadian business and a significant crop for Western Canadian farmers," said spokesperson Ryan Baldwin.


Hmmmmm...

Thinking of my Canadian friends.... perhaps time to lend your support to CBAN?
Who'd have thought that the CODEX guidelines could come in useful in getting in the WAY of these Biotech giants? Not a reason for me to like 'em though!

Ad Astra per Aspera

NEWS: FSA Devalue Benefits of Organic Food

The Food Standards Agency have just come out with a report telling consumers that Organically produced food does not offer ay important nutritional benefits over non-organic.

From the FSA website:

The study, which took the form of a ‘systematic review of literature’, was carried out by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM).
LSHTM’s team of researchers, led by Alan Dangour, reviewed all papers published over the past 50 years that related to the nutrient content and health differences between organic and conventional food.

However, the report seems to entirely ignore the negative impacts of having increased amounts of chemicals in the form of herbicides and pesticides in non-organic foods.

Peter Melchett, policy director at the Soil Association in the UK, said:

"We are disappointed in the conclusions the researchers have reached. “The review rejected almost all of the existing studies of comparisons between organic and non-organic nutritional differences.“This was because these studies did not meet particular criteria fixed by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, which carried out the review.“Although the researchers say that the differences between organic and non-organic food are not ’important’, due to the relatively few studies, they report in their analysis that there are higher levels of beneficial nutrients in organic compared to non-organic foods.”
He also expressed the Soil Association’s disappointment that results of a European Union-funded study were not included.“There are limited studies available on the health benefits of organic versus non-organic food,” he added.

"The review identified 162 articles published between January 1958 and February 2008 and found a third met its quality criteria."

So the FSA have given us this recommendation based upon less than 60 articles that have been carried out since 1958? That's not much more than one article per annum?

The EU have been funding a new study on Organic Food which is due to have it's results released in the next few weeks. It appears that this FSA report has been wrapped up nicely before it could be influenced by any new info. A previous EU study carried out in 2007 clearly states the higher nutritional value of Organically produced food, and the coming study is expected to echo this.

In the wake of all the developments globally with crop failure, Monsanto's henchmen getting into positions of influence in the Obama Administration and the FDA... it appears the PR wheels of the FSA are now getting in quick with some propaganda of their own.
I'm sure the Bio-tech giants are rubbing their greedy hands together! The MSM are running away with this story and taking it everywhere without ANY proper analytical thought or balance.. just "parroting" to the people what the FSA have said!!!!

I was happy at least, to see that the BBC Breakfast tv show had someone with some ability to debate intelligently on their coverage of this story this morning. It made me REALLY swear into my coffee though to hear the moronic side-stepping of the FSA idiot who had been selected to be condescending to the masses on live television.
I don't know how she managed to avoid boxing the gormless twerp.

:-(

Monsanto has their fox guarding the chickens!

Well, much to my dismay, the FDA have appointed Michael Taylor as Senior Adviser to their commisioner Margaret Hamburg!
Michael has been recently a research professor from George Washington University but is no stranger to the FDA.

He previously began working as a litigating attorney for the FDA in 1976, serving as deputy commissioner for policy from 1991 to 1994 and as administrator of the Food Safety and Inspection Service of the Department of Agriculture from 1994 to
1996.

This was the period during which the FDA were constructing their GM policy (1991-1992) and GM foods were allowed onto the market without any required safety studies, despite warnings from scientists!!
While Taylor was at the FDA in the early 90's, he also oversaw the policy regarding Monsanto's genetically engineered bovine growth hormone (rbGH/rbST) -- injected into cows to increase milk supply.

• Taylor also determined that milk from injected cows did not require any special labeling.
• And as a gift to his future employer Monsanto, he wrote a white paper suggesting that if companies ever had the audacity to label their products as not using rbGH, they should also include a disclaimer stating that according to the FDA, there is no difference between milk from treated and untreated cows.
  Taylor's disclaimer was also a lie. Monsanto's own studies and FDA scientists officially acknowledged differences in the drugged milk. No matter. Monsanto used Taylor's white paper as the basis to successfully sue dairies that labeled their products as rbGH-free.

So WHY does Michael Taylor seem to have been so Pro-Monsanto?

He had been Monsanto's attorney before becoming policy chief at the FDA. Soon after, he became Monsanto's vice president and chief lobbyist.

WE really MUST get researching these and other articles and make some noise about this.

From an article on appomattoxnews.com, (Linked here):

The Organic Consumers Association is urging its members to contact President Obama, USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack, and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius (oversees FDA) to demand Michael Taylor’s resignation, and express their opposition to Dennis Wolff’s appointment.

Now, if you remember Tom Vilsack background in supporting GM crops... (here) and my old vlog here has more links on Mr Vilsack....
Well, I'm not sure how much interest he'll have in any petitions, but this only emphasises how tighter the situation is becoming. TIME TO ACT FAST!!!!

Since Agri-Pulse first reported in March 2009 that Michael Taylor was the leading candidate to staff the White House Food Safety Working Group, Organic Consumers Association members have sent 17,380 letters to the Obama Administration asking that the working group be kept free of former industry lobbyists and supporters of
genetically engineered foods.

Bad bad bad news indeed!
:-(

The Future of Food

StarrJaded uploaded this video on her YouTube channel, "The Future of Food"

It's a must watch film, please help to make it viral.

The entire film can be viewed and downloaded from here:

http://www.thefutureoffood.com/

Sign up for the 30 day challenge to avoid eating GMO foods, learn how to get GM free:

http://www.responsibletechnology.org/GMFree/Home/index.cfm

Can Someone Please Explain....

....please explain to me the meaning of the phrase "to resist arrest"?
What exactly does that ACTUALLY imply?
Does it involve 'violent resistence'- or does 'curling up in a ball to protect yourself' describe it better?
And what exactly is the alternative to resisting arrest?
"Oh ok officer, I completely agree... can you wait a second while I get my coat and turn the iron off? Fancy a cuppa while you're here?"

Ok, where am I going with this?
Well, looking this morning at an article and video in the Guardian, it seems that the implication is; that "resisting" can involve very little indeed... and by the same token; "very little indeed" can mean the police in the UK think it's perfectly alright to shoot 50,000 volts through you.

"The video appears to show four officers converging on a man outside the
city's Theatre Royal in an attempt to arrest him. When he resists, one of
them tells the others to stand back and fires a Taser at him as he lies on
the pavement. As the man continues to resist arrest, one of the officers
punches the man in the head repeatedly."

Is there something here I am just not getting?
Are the police in the UK really so unaware of the public mood?
Sure, I'm all for protecting those who need protecting but surely there's an easier way to 'arrest' someone who is lying prone on the ground. I don't observe any struggle here that four officers cannot surpass?

ho hum

Shiver me Timbers

Ahoy! Pirate Party gets berth in European Parliament

In the European Parliament Elections, Sweden's "Pirate Party" have secured a seat in Brussels!

They gained 7% of Swedish votes and will have at least one of the 18 seats allotted to Sweden.

 

The Pirate Party is focused on three main goals: "to fundamentally reform copyright law, get rid of the patent system, and ensure that citizens' rights to privacy are respected."

It is now the third biggest party by membership in Sweden, and have only been going since 2006.

Gives hope to anyone thinking of getting involved in politics :-)

Jacqui Smith wants to know.... everything?

She does doesn't she? She wants a database to store us all in.
Found a rather charming Facebook group who are trying to help her out in compiling that database.. I think it's quite a thoughtful sentiment to want to help her so thought I'd share the link for all you Facebook users.....

"cc all your emails to Jacqui Smith" Day

Quite thoughtful eh?
And here's a website website
"No government of any colour is to be trusted with such a roadmap to our souls": Ken McDonald, former head of the CPS.

The date has been set for 15th June... why not put it in your calendar? It's a Monday, so I'm sure Jacqui will appreciate you setting her up for the week with lots of content!!!
Here's the rules:
1. Use only the Home Office email address, not Ms Smith's personal address.
2. Please do not send them any abusive or pornographic material.
3. Do not send excessive amounts of email, and do not send mails with large attachments. We are NOT trying to break the Home Office email servers, we are just trying to make a protest.
4. Further to that, don't use this day to suddenly decide to email everyone you know. Just cc the emails you would be sending anyway.
5. Bear in mind that the recipient will see that you have cc'd the email to the Home Office. Don't blame me if they object to this - or if your work objects! It may be best if you limit the project to your personal email

There seems to be two email address that are being recommended, I think I shall CC in both?: public.enquiries@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk.
communicationsdataconsultation@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk

Ahhhh, it's nice to be kind and helpful isn't it?
mwahahaha

Myanmar's Suu Kyi charged over US visitor

Myanmar's military junta have taken pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi to prison, and charged her today over an  incident where an American man swam across a lake in order to visit her.The 63 year old has spent 13 of the past 19 years in imposed isolation at her home since the junta refused to recognise the NLD's landslide victory in the country's last elections in 1990. 

It is only about two weeks before the Nobel Laureate's latest period of detention at home is due to expire, and critics said it was a way for the ruling generals to keep her locked up ahead of elections due in 2010.

And from Bloomberg: 
Today she was charged with breaching the conditions of her house arrest. Her trial begins 18th May, and the Nobel Prize winner faces a maximum sentence of 5 years in prison if found guilty. 

This is the cunning plan of the regime to put Aung San Suu Kyi in continuous detention beyond the six years allowed by the law they used to justify the detention of her," Aung Din, executive director of the Washington-based US Campaign for Burma, said in a statement.

Suu Kyi has been detained since May 2003 under a law that allows someone deemed a threat to national security to be held without charge, according to Genser, president of the U.S.-based Freedom Now group.

The junta says it can detain her under the law for six years, or until May 27, and is now looking for another means to deny Suu Kyi her freedom, he added.

Damien Rice and Lisa Hannigan: "Unplayed Piano", a song written for the Nobel Laureate:

Heartbreaking... 

Unplayed pianos 

Are often by a window 

In a room where nobody loved goes 
She sits alone with her silent song 
Somebody bring her home...

Chrysler to Cut 800 Dealers

Pretty grim figures.... JakLuk4's video really puts it into perspective what the collapse of the Auto Industry means.

Monsanto gets slap down

Hamburg, May 5 (Reuters) - A German court rejected Monsanto's urgent application to overturn Germany's ban on the cultivation and commercial sale of MON810, which was imposed on April 14.

(yesssss!!!)

Monsanto now has the option of taking normal legal action against the decision, the court said. But there was no indication of when a decision on such action could be made.

Worldwide Quantum Security? Hmmm

Found this article today on an Optics website: 

Thought it interesting on a day where a rocket is launched into space, and in an age where security is ever more penetrable, including our own:

A team of physicists from Austria has sent pairs of entangled photons, which can be used to encrypt messages with complete security, between telescopes spaced 144 km apart in the Canary Islands. The researchers say that preserving entanglement over this distance shows the feasibility of carrying out quantum cryptography using a worldwide network of satellites.

What is Quantum Entanglement? Well, this video explains it:

"If you want to do worldwide quantum cryptography then you need to go to space. This is the final proof of principle demonstration," says Ursin, who adds that fibre-optic cable is not a viable alternative to this free-space communication because entangled-particle beams are completely attenuated after passing through anything more than about 100 km of cable.

The next frontier in remote access wars, plagues, and pandemonium?

Or the future of smart metering?

Or a nice timely reminder to be aware of our enchanted life between infinity and the stars?

Heaven Knows!

Ad astra per aspera, friends!

NEWS: What a PORKER!!

So, the current swine flu genetic medley that had "Never been seen before", has apparently been the subject of a study commenced in December 2005.

According to Medical News Today, 11 sporadic human infections by triple-reassortant swine influenza A (H1) viruses were studied, that occurred in the three or so years leading up to the current swine flu epidemic.

Before the current epidemic of swine-originating flu, there were sporadic infections of triple-reassortant swine influenza A (H1) viruses among humans in the US.

"Although all the patients recovered, severe illness of the lower respiratory tract and unusual influenza signs such as diarrhea were observed in some patients, including those who had been previously healthy," they added.

Panic, Pandemics, Pandemonium and Pandas

Ok, there's lots i could put up in this blog, none of it great news, so feck it, I won't!!

Here's some pandas instead...

....and some more pandas... (panda CUBS!!!! : )

And a Panda Video

Whatever Pandas do, they do very well. :-)

So... if you popped onto this page looking for Pandemics, Pandemonium, Panic and a Pandora's box of sadness....

... Well I'm giving you a Panglossian Panda Panacea instead!!!

Feeling better?

Thought so! 

:-)

NEWS: Last Gasp for GM

US government may take controlling share of General Motors

GM have offered the US government a controlling stake of more than 50% in efforts to stave off bankruptcy. Re-financing it's $62 billion in debts in a massive "debt for equity" swap is the only measure left before calling in the courts to intercede.

Under the deal, the government and unions would get a combined stake of 89% in the company through an issuance of new stock, with bondholders taking a further 10%. Existing shareholders would end up with ownership of just 1%.

The future of GM looks far from secure- for the deal to go ahead, the offer must be accepted by 90% of bondholders – an extreme test of GMs persuasive skills, and even then, would not avoid for the company the mass closures, slashing of jobs and the demise of its Pontiac model , which the company inevitably faces.
Chief Executive Fritz Henderson admitted the chances of success are far from guaranteed and he conceded bankruptcy had become "more likely" in recent weeks.

Another article on Bloomberg paints an even more pessimistic picture, "according to a person familiar with the committee representing creditors."

“This is an offer that’s designed to fail,” said Kip Penniman, an analyst at fixed-income research firm KDP Investment Advisors in Montpelier, Vermont. “To get 90 percent of them to agree to such a deal where there’s no cash, no other debt and pure equity while leaving the union VEBA arrangement unchanged from previous considerations is absurd.”

Plan to monitor all internet use

On the BBC website; Home Secretary Jacqui Smith has backed down from plans to compile a single government run internet database but instead, Communications firms are being asked to record all internet contacts between people as part of a modernisation in UK police surveillance tactics.

The new system would track all e-mails, phone calls and internet use, including visits to social network sites.

Communication service providers (CSPs) will be asked to record internet contacts between people, but not the content, similar to the existing arrangements to log telephone contacts.

The security services already deploy advanced techniques to monitor telephone conversations or intercept other communications, but this is not used in criminal trials.
Ms Smith said that while the new system could record a visit to a social network, it would not record personal and private information such as photos or messages posted to a page.
"What we are talking about is who is at one end [of a communication] and who is at the other - and how they are communicating," she said.

MUSIC: Saul Williams - Act III Scene 2 (Shakespeare) feat. Zack de la Rocha

Footage edited and put together by CorruptMedia.
Lyrics by Saul Williams, a poet, musician, actor, artist, who has collaborated with "Zack from Rage Against the Machine, Serj from System of a Down, Ikey from The Mars Volta, KRS-One, DJ Krust, De La Soul, Erykah Badu, Allen Ginsbourg, Trent Reznor of NIN, and many more"

NEWS: Tax rise as UK debt hits record

Alistair Darling has said the UK will have to borrow a record £175bn as he admitted the economy faces its worst year since the Second World War.

The chancellor tore up a key New Labour election pledge by unveiling a new 50p tax rate for earnings over £150,000.

Total government debt will double to 79% of GDP by 2013 - the highest level since the Second World War. The annual budget deficit will rise sharply to £175bn for the next two years.

Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg said the government "have condemned us to years of unemployment and decades of debt" and claimed Labour had been "desperately rushing around picking up half-baked ideas to save the skin of this failing government".

In his speech, Mr Darling confirmed the economy would shrink by 3.5% in 2009 - far worse than his pre-Budget forecasts.

At-a-glance: Budget 2009

NEWS: US Freddie Mac chief found dead

The acting chief financial officer of struggling US mortgage giant Freddie Mac has been found dead after apparently killing himself, police say.

Fairfax County Police said there was no foul play suspected in the death of David Kellermann, found in his home 20km (13 miles) west of Washington DC.

The 41-year-old had worked for the company for 16 years and became chief financial officer in September.

Freddie Mac was bailed out by the US government last year.

Police were investigating the death after being called to the house just before 0500 local time by Mr Kellermann's wife.

"We were called from inside the house to come investigate an apparent suicide," a Fairfax police spokeswoman told local media, according to AFP news agency.

US media reports said Mr Kellermann was found hanging in the basement of the house

RANDOM... Hubble Pictures of Space

I've spent half the morning looking at these, they're absolutely amazing!!!!
The science and technology pictures from the Telegraph of photographs taken of space by the Hubble Space Telescope... Better than the rest of today's news!

NEWS: Secret police intelligence was given to E.ON before planned demo

From todays Guardian Paper:
Government officials handed confidential police intelligence about environmental activists to the energy giant E.ON before a planned peaceful demonstration, according to private emails seen by the Guardian.

Intelligence passed to the energy firm by officials from the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) included detailed information about the movements of protesters and their meetings. E.ON was also given a secret strategy document written by environmental campaigners and information from the Police National Information and Coordination Centre (PNICC), which gathers national and international intelligence for emergency planning.

Last night the disclosures were criticised by environmentalists, MPs and civil liberty groups, adding to the growing controversy over the policing of protests.

David Howarth MP, who obtained the emails, said they suggested BERR had attempted to politicise the police, using their intelligence to attempt to disrupt a peaceful protest. "It is as though BERR was treating the police as an extension of E.ON's private security operation," he said. "The question is how did that [police] intelligence get to BERR? Did it come via the Home Office or straight from police? And once they'd got this intelligence, what did they do with it?"

Shami Chakrabarti, the director of Liberty, said the sharing of police intelligence between BERR and E.ON was a serious abuse of power. "The government is in danger of turning police constables into little more than bouncers and private security guards for big business. Police should be used to protect potential victims but also to facilitate people's right to protest," she said.

MUSIC... The Weepies

Just discovered this band a couple of weeks ago and i can't stop going back to them.

Sublime... Simple... Perfect for a Sunday...

NEWS Round up on Monsanto Part 2 - April

Jury Clears Monsanto in PCB trial of allegations that it's Anniston Alabama plant sickened 5 people with exposure to PCB's

The five former residents of Anniston said the Monsanto plant dumped polychlorinated biphenyls into waterways and onto land for years, giving them diabetes and arthritis. The U.S. banned PCB production in 1979, and Monsanto stopped making PCBs in Anniston eight years earlier.

Aside from having been having the ban on MON810 being enacted in Germany this week, Monsanto had an extra set back from the Union of Concerned Scientists (USC), who released a report: "Failure to Yield" - that says that 13 years of commercialisation of GM crops have failed to deliver on industry promises to significantly increase, and calling for public money to go towards more results orientated science!

Speaking of results; think i should draw attention to the failure of Monsanto corn crops in South Africa :

"South African farmers suffered millions of dollars in lost income when 82,000 hectares of genetically-manipulated corn (maize) failed to produce hardly any seeds.The plants look lush and healthy from the outside. Monsanto has offered compensation.Monsanto blames the failure of the three varieties of corn planted on these farms, in three South African provinces,on alleged 'underfertilisation processes in the laboratory". Some 280 of the 1,000 farmers who planted the three varieties of Monsanto corn this year, have reported extensive seedless corn problems." 

There's a bit of debate about how badly the crops failed, Monsanto have moved pretty quickly with an offer to compensate the farmers.

Environmental activitist Marian Mayet, director of the Africa-centre for biosecurity in Johannesburg, demands an urgent government investigation and an immediate ban on all GM-foods, blaming the crop failure on Monsanto's genetically-manipulated technology. 

Willem Pelser, journalist of the Afrikaans Sunday paper Rapport, writes from Nelspruit that Monsanto has immediately offered the farmers compensation in three provinces - North West, Free State and Mpumalanga. The damage-estimates are being undertaken right now by the local farmers' cooperative, Grain-SA. Monsanto claims that 'less than 25%' of three different corn varieties were 'insufficiently fertilised in the laboratory'. 

80% crop failure 
However Mayet says Monsanto was grossly understating the problem.According to her own information, some farms have suffered up to 80% crop failures. The centre is strongly opposed to GM-food and biologically-manipulated technology in general. 

SO, what does a company under fire for the efficacy of their product do? Well, I had a quick browse of the Monsanto Press Release  section of their website and was rather appalled by their aggressive tying in with various Universities and Research Institutions:They have, in the past MONTH:

1. Added David L. Chicoine to Board of Directors... Dr. Chicoine is currently president of South Dakota State University (SDSU) 

2. Entered into a research collaboration to source novel genes for crop improvement with Hunan University in China, one of the oldest institutions of higher education in the world. 

3. Committed $10 million to Rice and Wheat research program, to identify and support yound scientists interested in improving research into rice and wheat. The program will be administered by Texas AgriLife Research, an agency of the Texas A&M University System.

4. Committed $1million to sponsor plant breeding fellowships at South Dakota State University, where agriculture is South Dakota's number one industry.

On a slightly cheerier(ish) note, here's an article that outlines the experience of Canadian farmer Percy Schmeiser and his wide Louise who ended up spending the past 12 years in court battling with Monsanto. Its quite an insight into Monsanto's litigious aggression, but the tale has a rather interesting end to it in terms of Corporate Liability for contamination and clean up costs:

Who Owns Life, Not Monsanto

Collateral Damage

I do so so love TexanCyclist.
It's such an honour he asked me to work on this with him, and much pleasure in the undertaking. I fell in love with his song on first listen.... the man has real insight and a beautiful soul.
A pleasure to know, his words really touch me.
Peace and Love
x

Statistics come in part via: 

http://www.fcnl.org/weapons/index.htm
& http://www.iraqbodycount.org/

THOUGHTS.... on Phorm

The 'Phorm' Storm in a teacup continues and the debate rages on about their trials, in which they compile information on the internet habits and interests of individual web users in order to target them with advertising specific to their interests.

It's a subject getting a lot of air time in the media at the moment. For the most part, they're focusing on the benefits of creating revenue from advertising space that directly hits it's target market versus the argument that this is a cynical infringement of the right to privacy- with databases of information being stored on people feeling more and more like Big Brother looming down over us.

However, I am wondering how long before people really start to see the problems of the practicalities of it, and the potential law suits that can emerge....

What about the many situations where this 'targeted advertising' may cause problems in scenarios where it is a SHARED computer.... Lets face it, there's a lot of family computers out there, and in todays financial climate, not many can afford to splash out on a personal computer for every member of a household.

Forget about shopping online for a 'secret' birthday present.

Say for example you live in a University flat share and you suddenly notice ads for treatment creams for STD's popping up around your Facebook page.... is sensitive information like that really information you want to know about your flatmate? Would you be looking at a live-in partner with suspicion? What about the poor unwitting person who had been looking into their health on the internet?

Or what about the wife who sees there's an increase in the amount of ads for 'Singles' and 'Dating' websites and she gets to wonder what sites her husband frequents when she's not around?

Or what about the employee that gets exposed for looking at job websites while at work, because his manager walked past his desk in time to see a huge job advert banner float across the top of the innocent page he had open?

Or what about situations where someones safety is at risk? A woman looking for advice on domestic abuse, ends up alerting her abusive partner to the fact that she has been seeking advice, in the form of some cynical ads in the sidebar?

Just a thought.... :-/

RANDOM/ NEWS: Labour's smear scandal and the President

I just had a very random email from popbitch land in my inbox... thought i'd share as it made me grin:

The News of the World landed the McBride-
Draper Tory smear email story so it was weird to
see on Sunday they didn't run with it on the 
front page. Instead the tabloid had a 
bizarre headline, "Obama's brother in sex quiz",
which sounds like something Jacqui Smith's
husband would watch on TV, but was in reality
a random story about Obama's half-brother being
refused a visa to enter Britain.

Even more weirdly, the story was not written 
by a NOTW journalist but bylined Gloria De Piero, 
GMTV's Political Editor. De Piero is a close
friend of Derek Draper, a colleague of his 
wife Kate Garraway, and an ex-flatmate of Damien 
McBride's then-boss Tom Watson.

So, surely a coincidence that this was the front page
story? Otherwise I guess we'd have to assume that
the uncalled for and unnecessary smearing of the
family and reputation of the world's most popular
politician is acceptable to the Labour Party now?

Also sent a random link to Julian Cope's experience of the G20 protests in London, in his own words, made me laugh. World shut yer mouth, eh?

HULU TUBE - PHASING YOU OUT OF YOUTUBE

comment, rate, favourite, mirror, reupload, dominate, yell your head off, make a cup of tea, repeat process, and don't forget to reupload in random categories to get it EVERYWHERE!!!

NEWS: Mothers Act...

CV1122 on YouTube highlighted what's being dubbed as the Mothers Act, or the Melanie Blocker Stokes Mothers Act on a recent vlog, with some excellent links to reasons why it's bad news.

To follow that up, i found this article on a website called Lawyers and Settlements from last December which has an interesting take on it, i strongly recommend you read it

Mother's Act Promotes Pregnancy as New Cottage Industry

FOLLOW THE MONEY!!!

Some of the drug manufacturers set to benefit from the perinatal women "market" include Eli Lilly, who are the manufacturers of some of the markets best known anti-depressants, such as Prozac and Zyprexa, and also Thimerosol, a very controversial vaccine preservative. They've recently added Posilac, a bovine growth hormone bought from Monsanto, to the list of their interests.

Zyprexa (also known as Olanzapine) has had its controversies in the past, over its off-label use

To understand the history of Zyprexa and Eli Lilly in terms of their marketing history and their company practices; in January of this year, they were fined nearly $1.5 billion for marketing Zyprexa for uses not approved by the FDA.

"The sum includes a criminal fine of $515 million, which the Justice Department called "largest criminal fine for an individual corporation ever imposed in a United States criminal prosecution."

The company will also pay up to $800 million in a civil settlement with the federal government and the states, and forfeit $100 million in assets, the Justice Department said in its statement, for total penalties of $1.415 billion."

A federal court district judge ordered the opening of confidential files which highlighted that the company withheld information regarding the drugs side effects

while marketing it for off-label use. 

Bear in mind please, that this drug, approved to treat various conditions related to psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorders, was being given to CHILDREN to treat aggression, elderly patients (despite the fact it has been proven to increase risk of death) and even in some treatment clinics for drug dependancy, where it was being used as a sedative, to help people SLEEP!

They had been hoping to bring a longer acting version of Zyprexa to the market but those plans have been 'delayed', read about it here

A long acting version of Zyprexa is seriously bad news. Put it into context of the example of Amy, which CV1122 has linked in her sidebar, and also outlined in the article Mother's Act Promotes Pregnancy as New Cottage Industry

it takes a persons control of their own mental health out of their hands. Amy was able to get off the drugs she was being prescribed, by lying her way out of the hospital, and her innate understanding that the drugs were not what she needed. Amy was right, her doctor, and psychiatrist who had never even met her were wrong. Imagine if a long acting version of Zyprexa had been administered? Imagine the abuse of this with already vulnerable women.

Here's CV1122's vlog:

NEWS: Phorm in a teacup

Britain has 2 months to prove that UK laws on information gathering on web users 'protects customers personal data, or face legal action' from the EU.

The Government has backed the covert testing of secret advertising trials using software from  'Phorm' an Aim-listed company, which gathers information from web users in order to actively target them with advertising that is specific to their interests. Phorm actions were exempted from privacy laws, meaning the UK has failed to implement the EU laws which would give authorities the power to act on Phorm's alleged breaches of user privacy.

Sending marketing or advertising material without an individual's 'prior consent' is banned under a 2002 EU computer privacy directive, which the Government signed up to.

Viviane Reding, EU Commissioner for Information Society and Media, said: "Do you want to turn the internet into a jungle? This could happen if we cannot control the use of our information online," she said. "There is an undeniable risk that privacy is being lost to the brave new world of intrusive technologies."

Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the British computer scientist generally credited with inventing the web, said recently that the technology threatened 'the integrity of the internet as a communications medium'.

The Commission said that it decided to take action in the case after receiving complaints from UK consumers and officials over the government's handling of Phorm. The EU said that the UK has had since July 2008 to explain its position.

RANDOM: Raaaaargh! :-)

Woman Lives With Lions

NEWS: Round Up on Monsanto - April 14th

Not a GREAT week for Monsanto.... :-)

Germany Bans Monsanto's GM Maize!!!! BBC Article

Germany is to ban the cultivation of genetically modified maize. The decision was announced by the German Agricultural Minister Ilse Aigner, to be purely scientific, not political. She also said it was "a specific case, and not a fundamental decision against all GM crops".

She adds that there is "a justifiable reason to believe that .... MON810 presents a danger to the environment."

Countries such as Hungary and Austria have been defying pressure from the European Commision to lift their bans on MON810, which is the only GM crop widely cultivated in Europe.

Germany is bound to be felt as a thorn in their side!!!

In BizJournals, i found a quote from Brad Mitchell, a Monsanto spokesman:

"We are disappointed and frankly, we don't believe that they have justification to warrant this. They have cited unconvincing evidence that it is unsafe for aquatic organisms. But a scientific commitee of the European Union approved it"

(for some reason i keep imagining him having a really whiny voice saying that)

Monsanto are exploring options, not ruling out an injunction to stop the ban. 

(of course!!!)

Other Random Monsanto News... a small electrical fire broke out at 5am Tuesday at Monsanto's headquarters in Maryland Heights... no-one was hurt, but 500 employees were instructed to work from home.

MUSIC: Well call me a Skyclad Hippy and paint me purple, but this sounds like rain to me...

Jack Haas plays a wonderful contraption called an OMstrument

NEWS: The surveillance state turned a blind eye on Ian Tomlinson

Really liked this article by Michael Deacon in the Telegraph over the weekend, on the surveillance state and the idiocy of the Counter Terrorism laws.
The surveillance state turned a blind eye on Ian Tomlinson
He calmly asks the question why, in todays surveilled society, with CCTV everywhere, the only footage that has come forward of the police treatment of Ian Tomlinson has come from bystanders filming the scene.
Counter-productively, the Counter Terrorism laws introduced in the UK in February actually make it illegal for a bystander to film the police, in case it 'aids' terrorism... maximum penalty is 10 years!!! The wooliness of the law is such that we should be worried... but nice to see the Telegraph pointing out the utter absurdity of the situation!

HOWEVER>>>
A rather distrubing video of more of more police brutality at the London G20 protests... if blogging on this is against the law, then "BITE ME"

Watch from 3.30 onwards... its really shocking :-(

Indymedia are asking for anyone with more footage or evidence to get in touch.

Also, theres ANOTHER protest planned for THIS SATURDAY APRIL 18th in London to protest the police behaviour.... their facebook group and all the details are here
While the intention of the protest is most definitely peaceful, if you're going to it, be aware that a protest against police policy may attract some slightly more anarchic individuals... the facebook invite i got said:

come down , peacefull is the answer! bring food , drinks and music.
hopefully the weather will be nice and we can spread the love
it is our right to demonstrate , and so we shall !
we come in peace ! this is not a riot , this is just a gathering of folk who like to exercise their freedom of speech (a basic human right along with freedom of movement)
spread the word

The petition to Number 10 to remove the idiot counter-terrorism laws on taking photographs in public places is HERE

UPDATE: The BBC catches up with the circulation of this video and the officer is suspended...  I'm not particularly happy about the language the commentator uses in the video to describe the woman as 'provoking' the officer. His actions were completely inexusable.

NEWS: Power station protesters released on bail

Saw in the Guardian today....
Protests seem to be all the rage and police are clamping down pre-emptively!!
In the wake of all the attention being placed on the police handling of protest groups for the G20, it's clear that new police energy is being placed in preventing more of the same. The article is incredibly vague of course... (ever seen Minority Report?)

Power station protesters released on bail
114 people arrested for allegedly planning to target a power station were released on bail, police said today.

Scores of officers swooped on a school in Sneinton, Nottingham, yesterday, saying the suspects posed "a serious threat" to the safe running of the nearby Ratcliffe-on-Soar plant.
From a spokeperson:
"Police have gathered a large amount of evidence which they are now reviewing.

"From the information gathered, police believe that those arrested were planning a period of prolonged disruption to the safe running of Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station.

The spokesman added: "Information received during the operation indicates that a number of those arrested may be linked to a group of climate change protesters who have set up climate camps."

A spokesman for Camp for Climate Action, which has protested at both power stations, Heathrow airport and the G20 summit in London earlier this month, refused to comment last night.

.... And yet, with all that hardcore use of "allegedly, believe and may be" .... still no hardcore charges made against any of them. Hmmmmmm


Another article in the Independent really sums it up for me:
Leading article: Mass arrests have no place in a democratic country