‘We were handcuffed at gunpoint’ – flight engineer of Syria-bound plane [video]
Russia Today
October 11, 2012
Turkey says the Syria-bound passenger plane, that was forced to land in Turkey, was carrying Russian-made munitions. The Moscow airport that dispatched the flight insists there was no illegal cargo onboard. F-16 fighter jets intercepted the flight on its way from Moscow to Damascus, which was carrying 37 people. RT’s Tom Barton reports.
Also, RT talks to author and journalist Afhsin Rattansi
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[hat tip: Alexander Higgins]
Libyan Embassy London Demonstration 10 Oct 2012 – For Bani Walid [video]
108morris108
October 10, 2012
It was quite moving to be with these people – the mood while perhaps defiant was also somber.
All more dignified than what the paid rats were doing last year
New Border Regime is Taking the U.S.-Canada Partnership to the Next Level
by Dana Gabriel
BE YOUR OWN LEADER
October 9, 2012
The Beyond the Border deal announced in December 2011 represents the most significant step forward in U.S.-Canada cooperation since NAFTA. Dual action plans are further transforming trade, regulatory and security relations between both countries. Over the next few years, various cross-border initiatives will be rolled out, with some beginning as pilot programs. The U.S. and Canada have laid the framework for a new border regime which is taking their partnership to the next level and pushing the continent closer to a fully integrated North America security perimeter.
The Department of Homeland Security and Canada Border Services Agency recently announced the Phase I pilot of the Entry/Exit program which is part of the Beyond the Border action plan. It will include collecting and exchanging biographic information of third-country nationals, permanent residents of Canada, and lawful permanent residents of the U.S. at four selected land border ports of entry. A fact sheet stressed how this, “is an important step as both countries move towards a coordinated entry/exit system that will strengthen border and immigration programs, support law enforcement, and accelerate the legitimate flow of people and goods into Canada and the United States and across our common border.” The Canadian government is also advancing plans to use biometrics for immigration and border security that would bring them in line with the U.S. and other countries. The perimeter security agreement called for implementing, “systematic and automated biographic information-sharing capability by 2013 and biometric information-sharing capability by 2014.” A North American biometric identification system could be used to restrict, track and trace our movements.
On October 4, Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and Transport Canada officials announced the extension of the expedited screening initiative, TSA Pre✓™ which will now include lanes for Canadian NEXUS members at 27 participating U.S. airports. Canadian Minister of State For Transport Steven Fletcher explained that, “The Government of Canada and the United States are delivering on commitments to include Canadian NEXUS members in designated TSA Pre✓™ lanes as part of the Beyond the Border Action Plan.” He went on to say, “This will mean smarter and faster air travel for Canadian NEXUS members traveling within the U.S., while maintaining a high level of aviation security.” TSA Administrator John Pistole acknowledged that, “The inclusion of Canadian NEXUS members in TSA Pre✓™ is an important step in further harmonizing the security screening process between the U.S. and Canada.” Under NEXUS, pre-screened travelers are granted expedited access across the border, by air, land or sea. As part of the perimeter security deal, both countries are expanding and integrating trusted traveler programs.
The Next-Generation pilot project which would permit U.S. agents on Canadian soil is on hold while legal issues are being resolved. The security perimeter agreement stated that both countries would, “create integrated teams in areas such as intelligence and criminal investigations, and an intelligence-led uniformed presence between ports of entry.” The plan which is a land-based version of the Shiprider program was scheduled to be deployed this summer. Allowing U.S. agents to cross the border and pursue suspects into Canada poses a threat to sovereignty and could infringe on personal privacy laws. The pilot project is part of the process of acclimating U.S. policing activities in Canada and could later be expanded.
Last month, the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency established a pre-clearance initiative pilot project on import re-inspection activities for fresh meat. This is tied to the Beyond the Border deal and is aimed at streamlining meat inspections at the U.S.-Canada border. Just as the joint program was being rolled out, XL Foods in Alberta, Canada announced a massive recall of meat products due to E. coli contamination. This came on the heels of a letter from the Safe Food Coalition to the USDA citing concerns that food safety could be compromised and requesting that the border inspection pilot be halted. Some of the potential tainted meat could have been shipped to at least eight U.S. states. In a press statement, the Executive Director of Food & Water Watch, Wenonah Hauter pointed out that, “the Obama Administration and the Harper Government in Canada have been plotting to eliminate the very border inspection program that tipped off authorities that there was a major problem brewing with the products originating from the XL plant.” Plans to further deregulate food safety inspections could lead to more trouble in the future.
In September, Transport Canada and the United States Coast Guard launched a pilot project that will include joint Port State Control inspections of non-Canadian and non-U.S. flagged vessels in the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway. Rear Adm. Mike Parks, Commander of the U.S. Coast Guard Ninth District described how, “This initiative is in keeping with President Obama’s and Prime Minister Harper’s Beyond the Border Perimeter Security Initiative protecting the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway region, which provides common access to the heart of North America. Our goal is to make vessel inspections more efficient and facilitate American and Canadian business on both sides of our shared border.” The program is outlined in the Regulatory Cooperation Council action plan and establishes a, “safety and security framework for the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway that will align the two countries’ regulatory requirements. This pilot project will look for efficiencies in order to reduce duplicate inspections and impediments to trade.” When completed, recommendations will be made on whether to form a permanent binational foreign vessel inspection program.
NAFTA partners, in conjunction with multinational corporations and influential think tanks are pushing for deeper North American integration. As far as the upcoming U.S. election goes, Barack Obama and Mitt Romney are both committed globalists and have no intentions of upholding the constitution or protecting what is left of American sovereignty. The notion of real choice is now even more of an illusion. Minus the Democrat and Republican rhetoric, it’s essentially the same policies, same agenda, and the same team. It doesn’t matter who wins the presidency, the path towards a North American Union will continue.
Related articles by Dana Gabriel
Paving the Way for a U.S.-Canada Economic and Security Perimeter
Laying the Foundation for a North American Security Perimeter
Implementing Beyond the Border Perimeter Security Initiatives
A Perimeter Approach to Security and the Transformation of the U.S.-Canada Border
Dana Gabriel is an activist and independent researcher. He writes about trade, globalization, sovereignty, security, as well as other issues. Contact: beyourownleader@hotmail.com Visit his blog at Be Your Own Leader
U.S. Military to Police Football Game [video included]
P.A.N.D.A. People Against The NDAA
October 5, 2012
Putting another stake in the coffin of Posse Comitatus, Military Police will be used for crowd control in the United States. At the Georgia-South Carolina game, Fort Jackson’s MP’s will assist with crowd control:
http://www.wistv.com/story/19723876/columbia-police-prepare-for-post-game-crowd?clienttype=printable
War Crimes in Bani Walid 10 Oct – Military Explained – a little Graphic [video]
108morris108
October 10, 2012
With the Misrata militia 40 Kilometers away – their firing is pretty inaccurate – and the ability to hit them – when you cannot even see them is difficult – if not impossible.
The last 30 seconds of the video has graphic images.
Bani Walid Council Member Explains – Historical & Foreign Players Make the conflict [video]
108morris108
October 10, 2012
Voice recorded on 10th Oct. Video from the 7th of Oct when Bani Walid was hit by Grad rockets, like most days.
ADHD drugs suspected of hurting Canadian kids
by David Bruser, Andrew Bailey
Staff Reporter, Data Analyst
thestar.com
September 26, 2012
Adverse Reaction Report No. 324764
Submitted by: Health Professional
Date: 2009
Location: Canada
Patient: Male
Age: 15 years old
Suspect Drug: Strattera
Side Effect: Completed Suicide
This is just one of nearly 600 cases of Canadian kids suffering serious, sometimes fatal side effects suspected to have been caused by ADHD medications in the past 10 years.
A Toronto Star investigation has found a growing number of doctors, nurses, pharmacists and parents are reporting that they believe attention deficit drugs are causing major health problems in patients, many as young as 6 and 7 years old.
The federal government is not listening.
Health Canada, which collects these adverse reaction reports, does not alert the public to the magnitude of these side effects. This is because the regulator has not analyzed the data it collects. It has allowed the industry to largely police itself.
“It is primarily the (drug company’s) responsibility to monitor the safe use of their products,” Health Canada told the Star.
The regulator says the benefits of the drugs, when properly prescribed and used, outweigh the risks. Health Canada and the drug companies also say the side-effect reports show only a suspected connection between the drug and side effect but no medical proof that one caused the other.
Though ADHD doctors and experts worry the Star’s investigation will scare parents from medicating kids in need, they say Health Canada should consider the reports a “red flag” and move quickly to find out if doctors and patients know enough about the drugs’ risks.
All parties involved agree that because doctors and nurses are not required by law to report adverse effects the regulator only learns of a minority of cases.
“It boils down to a simple thing: we need good safety monitoring for medication,” said Dr. Kenny Handelman, an ADHD specialist in Oakville. “That will help us be safer in prescribing medicines to people.”
The Star’s data analysis revealed 7-year-olds were most likely to suffer a serious side effect.
Ten per cent, or nearly 60 cases, of the nearly 600 reviewed involved boys and girls 7 years old.
A nurse said a boy suffered amnesia, mania and psychotic disorder while on Concerta. A 7-year-old girl on the same drug developed Stevens-Johnson syndrome, a potentially life-threatening skin disorder, as well as 13 other side effects, a doctor reported. A boy the same age and on Strattera thought about killing himself.
Twenty-two youths aged 8 to 18 tried to kill themselves and two demonstrated suicidal behaviour. Seven completed the attempt. All boys. An 11-year-old, one 14-year-old, two 13-year-olds and three 15-year-olds. One of the 15-year-olds who ended his life was on an antipsychotic that the reporting nurse believed was partly to blame.
The reports of the 11- and 14-year-old Canadian boys were found in the U.S. government side-effect database. Tuesday, Health Canada contested the accuracy of those reports and was continuing to look into the issue.
The Star also found four deaths that were not suicides, including an 18-year-old girl who died after a cerebral hemorrhage in 2011.
“This is ugly. This is really ugly,” said a concerned Conservative MP Terence Young, when presented with the Star’s findings. Young has been pushing for stricter regulation of the drug industry since his 15-year-old daughter Vanessa died while taking Prepulsid, a digestion aid, in 2000. Health Canada pulled the drug from shelves a few months after her death.
“Every parent who makes a decision about one of these ADHD drugs for their child should be given this information that the Star found on the adverse drug reactions that other children have suffered,” Young said.
Each of the nearly 600 adverse reaction reports reviewed by the Star is the opinion of the doctor, pharmacist or parent that a particular drug has caused a side effect. Anyone can make a report but most of the time it is doctors who do so. Patients’ names are taken out of the reports to protect their privacy.
The drugs in the Star study are commonly prescribed to help manage attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, a term used to describe people with poor focus, impulsivity and hyperactivity.
Though the number of Canadian kids with the disorder is unclear — one estimate puts it at one in 20 children — parents are increasingly turning to these drugs to deal with the diagnosis.
In the 10 years reviewed by the Star, 76 kids on ADHD medications thought about killing themselves. One-third of these were children younger than 10, some as young as 6.
When presented with this number, Dr. Sohail Khattak, a behavioural pediatrician and ADHD expert in Whitby, shook his head and said: “This is an important number. I think (this) information should be available to everyone. If I am going to be on the front line of prescribing the medication, I need to know.”
In 52 of these suicidal ideation reports, the attention deficit drug Strattera is listed as the suspected cause of the side effect. In 12 of the reports, Concerta is listed as the suspected cause. It is also listed as the suspected cause of one completed suicide.
Canadian doctors also prescribe Adderall XR (an extended-release formula), Ritalin, Vyvanse, Biphentin and generic versions to treat ADHD. Unlike other ADHD medications, Strattera is not a stimulant.
“Additional scientific investigations are needed to establish a cause and effect relationship between a medication and an adverse reaction,” said a spokesperson for Eli Lilly Canada, maker of Strattera.
The reports are supposed to play a crucial role in regulating the drug companies.
After a controlled-setting clinical trial involving thousands of participants, if a drug is approved for sale, the reports are often the only way a government can monitor how a drug performs in the much-larger general population. (A clinical trial may not reveal serious drug reactions that occur infrequently or take a long time to materialize.)
The Star found the reports are piling up in Ottawa at an increasing clip: more than one-third of the 600 serious ADHD medication side-effect reports were filed in the past two years alone.
While the reports accumulate, the Canadian regulator says on its website it does not have the expertise to analyze the information for trends and is relying on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for help. When asked about this in late August, the regulator told the Star that the plan to partner with the FDA had been dropped and another strategy would be launched this month.
In the meantime, the drug companies note that they are required by law to forward adverse reaction reports they receive to Health Canada, and say they closely monitor these reports and consider patient safety a priority.
[hat tip: LittleSisMedia]
PN 