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SUMMARY

* Peering Into The Fog Of War

WikiLeaks Manuscript. The Geography of the WikiLeaks Afghanistan War Logs, 2004-2009. A team of U.S. political geographers analyzes the secret Afghanistan war logs released by WikiLeaks.org. They offer the chance to examine in detail the dynamics of the conflict in that country. Doing so in a spatial framework is possible because each of the 77,000 events has geographic coordinates and dates. Using cartographic and geostatistical tools, the authors map the changing distribution of the events and compare them to the well-known violent-events ACLED database (see O’Loughlin et al., 2010 in this issue). They conclude that ACLED comprises a representative set of the more comprehensive data in the released files. The released war logs show that the Afghan insurgency spread rapidly in 2008–2009, that the insurgency is moving out of its traditional Pashtun heartlands, and remains mostly rural in location. Hotspot and cluster analysis identifies the key locations of the current war, which indicate that it is relocating to new provinces in Afghanistan while intensifying in the eastern border regions and in the south.
John O’Loughlin, Frank D. W. Witmer, Andrew M. Linke & Nancy Thorwardson, Eurasian Geography and Economics, 2010, 51 No.4, pp.472-95.

* Assangegate - The Insanity Of Swedish Rape Politics

WikiLeaks Editor Julian Assange
Believe it or not, they are actually charging Julian Assange with rape and other sex crimes again! Will we see an even bigger media circus now? Something clearly is wrong with the Swedish justice system. From  ”guilty with a warrant for arrest” – to ”no wait, innocent”, – to ”no wait, we changed our mind, guilty again!” How many chances do the Swedish prosecutors need to get it right? Now regardless of what happens serious errors have been made. No existing law in Sweden, or anywhere I know in the western world, force men to tell women what other women they sleep with and certainly no law in existence makes it illegal for a woman to sleep with two men at the same time while not telling them. "I'm losing confidence in the Swedish justice system," said WikiLeaks editor, Julian Assange. Watch the video and read the commentary.
Erik, Aktivarum

* Spy Satellites To Be Used To Monitor U.S. Civilians

A terrifying video clip courtesy of CNN in America is published. "The Director of National Intelligence has given the go ahead for the nation's spy satellites to be used regularly by civilian agencies and law enforcement... This is a development all Americans should have great pride in,"  Department for Homeland Security Assistant Secretary, Charlie Allen. How far away are we from having this in Britain? Probably not that far...
Dylan Sharpe, Big Brother Watch
Related Links:
* Unmanned Airborne CCTV Set To Monitor The British From On High
Dylan Sharpe, Big Brother Watch

* Vested Interest Drug Authors Insist On Mandated Flu Vaccine

Healthcare professionals should be required to get vaccinated against seasonal influenza or else lose their jobs and professional privileges, the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA) says in a position paper released today. The position paper, which updates a SHEA statement issued in 2005, recommends mandatory vaccination of all HCP working in all healthcare settings, regardless of whether they come into contact with patients and whether they are directly employed by the facility. The recommendation extends to students, volunteers, and contract workers. "One hopes that, in the interests of protecting both patients and their members, these organizations will not oppose mandatory programs that are developed in collaboration with employees,"  the position paper states. One author of the position paper reports that he is a consultant for Joint Commission Resources. He and some other authors report various financial relationships with Avianax, BD Diagnostics, Care Fusions, CSL, Cubist, EMD Serono, Emergent BioSolutions, GlaxoSmithKline, Human Genome Sciences, Liquidia Technologies, MedImmune, Merck, Novartis Vaccines and Therapeutics, Novavax, OrthoMcNeil, PaxVax, Pfizer, Rymed Technology, Sage, Sanofi Pasteur, Theraclone Sciences (formally Spaltudaq Corporation), Vaxxinate, and/or Wyeth. Mandated vaccination has been met with resistance.
Robert Lowes, Medscape Today
Related Links:
* Flu Vaccine Pronounced Not Only Deadly But Useless Too
Eben Harrell, TIME Magazine
* New Research Shows Annual Flu Vaccine Complete Waste Of Money
Jenny Hope, Daily Mail
* Influenza Vaccines: Poor Evidence for Effectiveness in Elderly
Press Release, Science Daily

* Committees Shaping USA Vaccine Policy

NVIC Requests Additional Safety & Monitoring of the Influenza Vaccine by the National Vaccine Advisory Committee. On Aug. 25, the National Vaccine Advisory Committee (NVAC), a public oversight committee created by Congress under the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986, whose members are appointed by the National Vaccine Program Office (NVPO) under the US Department of Health & Human Services, held a public teleconference and discussed how best to monitor the safety of the 2010/2011 influenza vaccine, as well as target groups identified for the vaccine. NVPO staff and advisors strongly promoted the vaccination of pregnant women and supported the American Medical Association (AMA) and American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommendation that healthcare workers should receive influenza vaccines. NVIC's Executive Director, Theresa Wrangham made public comments  encouraging the NVAC to step-up the safety monitoring of this year's vaccine to match the monitoring efforts during 2009/2010 pandemic H1N1 season. The committee voted to accept interim recommendations to pursue safety monitoring of this season's trivalent influenza vaccine as an inter-agency effort only. It did not recommend convening an independent and external committee to review vaccine safety data as was done to monitor the 2009/2010 monovalent pandemic H1N1 vaccine through the specially appointed Vaccine Safety Risk Assessment Working Group (VSRAWG). Unfortunately, at this time, NVAC has no plans to extend the life of the VSRAWG or to create another independent, external working group to rapidly review safety and monitoring data of the 2010/2011 trivalent influenza vaccine that contains the 2009/2010 monovalent pandemic H1N1 strain.
Information Release, National Vaccine Information Center

* AstraZeneca's Seroquel Drug Killing War Veterans

WASHINGTON — Andrew White returned from a nine-month tour in Iraq beset with signs of post-traumatic stress disorder: insomnia, nightmares, constant restlessness. Doctors tried to ease his symptoms using three psychiatric drugs, including a potent anti-psychotic called Seroquel, produced by AstraZeneca PLC. Thousands of soldiers suffering from PTSD have received the same medication over the last nine years, helping to make Seroquel one of the Veteran Affairs Department's top drug expenditures and the No. 5 best-selling drug in the nation. Several soldiers and veterans have died while taking the pills, raising concerns among some military families that the government is not being up front about the drug's risks. They want Congress to investigate. Andrew White's father, Stan White, a retired high school principal, has confirmed at least a half-dozen deaths among soldiers on Seroquel, and he believes there may be many others. The drug's side effects, including diabetes, weight gain and uncontrollable muscle spasms, have resulted in thousands of lawsuits. Last year, researchers at Vanderbilt University published a study suggesting a new risk: sudden heart failure. Spending on Seroquel by the Department of Defense, has increased nearly 700 percent since 2001, to $8.6 million last year, according to purchase records. Since White died, his family has been searching for an explanation — and for a way to prevent other deaths.
Matthew Perone, Associated Press

* 'Homeopathic' Signals from DNA

Luc Montagnier, the French virologist who won a Nobel Prize in 2008 for linking HIV with AIDS, last week made controversial claims that highly dilute solutions of harmful viruses and bacteria emit low-frequency radio waves, allegedly from watery nanostructures formed around the pathogens. Similar claims have been made for homeopathic remedies. Homeopathy has been subject to periodic attacks from the mainstream medical and scientific community aided and abetted by uninformed journalist in the mainstream press eager to create a good impression with the scientific establishment. The most difficult hurdle in getting general acceptance for homeopathy is without doubt the lack of an explanation, based on contemporary science, on why it would work. In my view, that is more important than getting double-blind, placebo-controlled data on efficacy. Such an explanation is beginning to emerge, and Luc Montagnier’s research team may have provided some key observations. Montagnier’s recent work, summarily dismissed in the New Scientist [1] and elsewhere, has been published in two papers in 2009, and the evidence presented is clear and informative. The first paper reports the capacity of some bacterial DNA sequences to induce electromagnetic waves at high dilutions in water [5], and appears to be a “resonance phenomenon” triggered by the ambient electromagnetic background of very low frequency waves. Interestingly, genomic DNA of most pathogenic bacteria contain sequences that are able to generate such signals, suggesting that highly sensitive detection system might be developed for chronic bacterial infections in human and animal diseases. The second paper follows up this suggestion, showing that it is indeed possible to detect the presence of HIV DNA even when the RNA of the virus has disappeared from the blood of people infected with HIV and undergoing antiviral therapy.
Dr Mae-Wan Ho, Institute of Science in Society
Related Links:
* New Study Proves Homeopathy Prevents Japanese Encephalitis Killer
Sanchita Sharma, Hindustan Times

* Elder Care Protest Over GMC Sanctioned Killer Doctor Jane Barton

The daughter of a woman who died in a hospital investigated over the deaths of elderly patients led a protest march to Downing Street. An inquest jury found that Dr Jane Barton prescribed drugs which contributed to the deaths of five patients, including Mrs Devine, at the hospital during that time. Earlier this year, the General Medical Council (GMC) also ruled that Dr Barton  was guilty of multiple instances of professional misconduct relating to 12 patients who died at the hospital. The panel found she made a catalogue of failings in her treatment of the patients, who later died, including issuing drugs which were "excessive, inappropriate and potentially hazardous". The doctor's series of failings included making inadequate examinations of patients, failing to consult colleagues and poor note-keeping. But instead of being struck off she was given a list of 11 conditions relating to her practice. Last month, the Crown Prosecution Service, which reviewed the case for the third time, said that there was "insufficient evidence to prosecute" Dr Barton following a review of the evidence from the GMC hearing.
Press Association
Related Links:
* Outrage As Disgraced CPS Refuses To Charge Killer Doctor Jane Barton
Michael Powell, Portsmouth News
* General Medical Council Killer Doctor Nepotism Puts Lives At Risk
BBC News / The One Click Group
* GMC Infuriates Families As Guilty Dr Jane Barton Keeps Her Job
Press Association

* One Click Stats - August 2010

We provide our readers with the top fifteen documents and articles read/downloaded by thousands of people from all over the globe during August 2010. The News Archives are the most regularly accessed item on this site. This website not only contains the News Archives that carry the topical published items of the day, it also carries many, many documents. From academic papers, articles, case histories, legal issues, government documents, video links and more besides, we carry a great deal of information that grows every day. Although only just  very recently published, two articles that appear to  have particularly caught vivid public interest are Finland: Justice Chancellor Conducting Bribery Investigation Into Narcolepsy-Suspect GSK Swine Flu Vaccine Trade and Abusive UK MPs Brand Expenses Staff As Fucking Idiots & Monkeys. Happy reading to all.
Information Release, The One Click Group  

* CIA Officer - Use WikiLeaks Information To Stop Afghan War

The Australian government should use the intelligence exposed on the whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks to confront the US over its war plans in Afghanistan, before even more Australians soldiers are killed, a visiting former CIA officer has warned. Robert Baer, a former CIA field officer in the Middle East turned author and intelligence commentator, said Australia needs to question the US about the poor intelligence it appears to be relying on to run its military campaign in Afghanistan. "The Australians should take the WikiLeaks information to the US [administration] and say: please tell us you have better information than this. There are going to be a lot more dead Australians the longer we stay in Afghanistan."  Mr Baer said. Speaking in Sydney yesterday, he said WikiLeaks was playing a crucial role in the world because it was laying out for everyone to see "the pretensions and the lies" that are being told about the war in Afghanistan. He believes the US and its allies should pull out of Afghanistan as fast as possible.
Natalie O'Brien, Sydney Morning Herald
Related Links:
* Afghan War Diary - Multiple Atrocities Exposed
Information Release, WikiLeaks
* WikiLeaks Wins Credibility War
Jane Bryant, The One Click Group
* Pentagon & US State Department Launch Unhinged War On WikiLeaks
Maximillian C. Forte, Counterpunch

* Analyses - The Julian Assange Case From The Swedish Perspective Et Al

Nicholas John Mead Blog / Aktivarum Blog
Would you like to peruse the back story and analyses of what has been going down with the Swedish Prosecutor's charges against WikiLeaks editor Julian Assange? How this story has changed from rape, to sexual molestation to  harassment?  If so, read two excellent blogs: Aktivarum that analyses the case from the Swedish perspective and How To Smear A Hero from freelance journalist Nicholas John Mead. This is the internet at its best with (mostly) perceptive comment from Swedish nationals, journalists et al. Nicholas John Mead writes: "The fact is that WikiLeaks is bigger than Assange as he I’m sure would be the first to admit. It, and other projects like it, cannot be stopped. It’s like Chavez in Venezuela – even if the CIA assassinated him now, it’s too late to stop the popular revolution he’s unleashed and the same goes for the spirit of exposing abuses of power that WikiLeaks has ushered in since the corporate mainstream media are utterly impotent and unwilling to do so. Unfortunately for the powerful, dirty tricks, black-ops and even assassinations simply can’t stop the tide of change and revolutions once they’ve begun in an inter-connected globalized age."
Information Release, The One Click Group

* Brain Damage - Payout For MMR Vaccine Disaster

A mother whose son suffered severe brain damage after he was given the controversial MMR vaccine as a baby has been awarded £90,000 compensation. The judgment is the first of its kind to be revealed since concerns were raised about the safety of the triple jab. The Government refuses to say how many awards have been directly attributed to this jab rather than other inoculations against illnesses such as diphtheria or whooping cough. Details of successful claims involving vaccine-damaged children are seldom publicised because the Department of Health is thought to be anxious not to encourage a rush of applications. Figures released in 2005 under the Freedom of Information Act revealed that tribunals had paid out £3.5 million over the previous eight years. Tory MP Nadine Dorries, a member of the powerful Commons Health Committee, said: ‘If an independent panel has reached the conclusion that there has been a link between the MMR vaccine and the brain damage suffered by this boy in this case, then it is fair to assume that there could be as many as thousands of children and parents in the same position.'
Martin Delgado, Daily Mail
Related Links:
* Four Babies Killed By Measles Vaccine
NDTV Coresspondent, NDTV

* Changes Needed For Vaccine Trade Rules - GlaxoSmithKline Swine Flu Vaccine Scandal

Legislation on grants from the pharmaceutical industry to state research institutes might require some fine-tuning. Chancellor of Justice Jaakko Jonkka has started to investigate if the current law contains a structural risk of bribery. The Chancellor of Justice, whose job is to rule on allegations of wrongdoing by state officials, has received a number of complaints concerning the process in which the H1N1 or swine flu vaccine was administered to the public. Some of the complaints focused on a perceived conflict of interest, as the National Institute for Health and Welfare - THL, which ordered the vaccine, had previously received a sizeable grant from the manufacturer for pharmaceutical research.
YLE.fi News
Related LInks:
* Finland: Justice Chancellor Conducting Bribery Investigation Into Narcolepsy-Suspect GSK Swine Flu Vaccine Trade
Information Release,  Rokotusinfo ry
* Finland Suspends Swine Flu Vaccine As Children Struck Down With Narcolepsy
Helsingin Sanomat

* Will The NEJM Address Profound Lack Of Research Integrity?

An editorial in The New England Journal of Medicine, by its editor Jeffrey M. Drazen, M.D., and Alastair J.J. Wood, M.D. calls attention to the fact that pharmaceutical companies have tampered with the independent function of the DSMB (data safety monitoring board), and have planted promotional reports in The NEJM--and other scientific journals-- thereby undermining the integrity of "the whole clinical-trial enterprise."  Drs. Drazen and Wood cite two cases of commercial sponsor manipulation which undermined the integrity of the reports published by NEJM in 2007 and 2008:  GlaxoSmithKline and Merck and Schering-Plough (details published). The authors acknowledge: "These and other episodes have undermined public confidence in the ability of trials to operate independently of the sponsor. The current way that DSMBs are constituted and report has resulted in a loss of faith." Surely, the editor of the NEJM could not have been ignorant until now about corporate-manipulated reports that have been published by the NEJM.  May we expect a clinical trial report review followed by a list of tainted retracted reports?
Vera Hassner Sharav, AHRP

* Canadian Researchers Seek Participants To Prove Viral Cause Of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS)

Alberta researchers hoping to prove once and for all a debilitating syndrome is viral in origin are launching an ambitious study in Calgary and Edmonton. Outbreaks of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) have been documented since 1930, but have no known cause or accepted diagnostic tests. Dr. Eleanor Stein, a Calgary ME/CFS specialist and researcher, said a study launching in Calgary will look to confirm if the syndrome is in fact linked with the retrovirus, which is tricky to find and treat. There is no known treatment for ME/CFS and it is estimated more than 300,000 Canadians may be affected. Stein will be joined by Dr. Lorne Tyrrell, founding director of the Li Ka Shing Institute of Virology in Edmonton, and Dr. Michael Houghton of the University of Alberta, who holds the Canada Excellence Research Chair in Virology, for a preliminary study next month. Approximately 100 participants — 50 diagnosed with ME/CFS and 50 healthy —are needed between Calgary and Edmonton. Patients severely affected by ME/CFS are invited to join the study as well, as the team can draw blood at their residences. Interested Calgarians are asked to call 403-287-9941 and Edmontonians 780-492-8415.
Jenna McMurray, Calgary Sun
Related Links:
* Presence Of Murine Leukemia Virus Found In Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Patients
FDA Press Release
* Detection of MLV-related virus gene sequences in blood of patients with chronic fatigue syndrome and healthy blood donors (FULL TEXT)
Shyh-Ching Lo, Harvey J. Alter et al PNAS
* Detection of an Infectious Retrovirus, XMRV, in Blood Cells of Patients with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
Judy A. Mikovits et al, 10.1126/science.1179052, Science Express

* Pirate Party’s Guide To The Digital Economy Act

A lot has been written about the UK’s controversial Digital Economy Act, which passed in April in the last days of Gordon Brown’s government. What there has been a lack of, however, is facts and guides about the Act, an omission which the UK Pirate Party has attempted to solve. When the Digital Economy Bill was going through stages, it was rushed through the House of Commons – the elected half of the UK’s Parliament – in a period known as washup, with the only debate session being poorly attended and full of completely inaccurate pro-Bill statements. It eventually passed with most MP’s not voting, despite a 3-line whip on the topic for the then-ruling Labour Party MPs. The Bill passed to become the Digital Economy Act with a narrower margin than many expected given the voting instructions from the party – some had stood up for their conscience and for the facts, risking sanctions from their party. On this topic, governments around the world have been increasingly disinterested in listening to the concerns of the citizens affected by the Act, while making policy based on the wishes of a few dozen large companies, and their anecdotal ‘evidence‘.
Ben Jones, TorrentFreak
Related Links:
* Judicial Review Of Digital Economy Act Sought
BBC News
* Journalists' Union To Support Court Challenges Against Digital Economy Act
Judith Townend, journalism.co.uk
* UK Digital Economy Coalition Government Mocks Democracy - Next Please
Ben Camm-Jones, Webuser
* Digital Economy Bill Threatens One Click
Jane Bryant, The One Click Group

* UK Law Society Commences Judicial Review Proceedings Against Useless Legal Services Commission (Legal Aid)

The Law Society has formally commenced judicial review proceedings of the Legal Services Commission's recent family tender exercise, which cut the number of firms able to do family law work from 2,400 to 1,300 and, in the view of the Law Society, threatens access to justice. The Society is seeking a declaration that the LSC acted unlawfully in relation to the tender and, before considering other relief, the Society intends to invite the court to adjourn for a short period in order that the LSC and the Society might work together to find a satisfactory solution. The Law Society's President, Linda Lee, said: "The future of legal aid provision and therefore genuine access to justice for all is in danger. The LSC should have stopped to consider the consequences of their actions, before pushing ahead and cutting vital services that clients need and that a civilised society expects to be provided."
Family Law Week

* Finland: Justice Chancellor Conducting Bribery Investigation Into Narcolepsy-Suspect GSK Swine Flu Vaccine Trade

Finland: Chancellor of Justice is investigating if bribery was used in narcolepsy-suspect Pandemrix vaccine trade. According to Nelonen (Channel 4) news, the investigation has begun because two individuals have reported their suspicions to the Chancellor.  The investigation targets the Ministry of Health and THL, National Institute for Health and Welfare. THL has received more than six million euros last year from GlaxoSmithKline which manufactures Pandemrix. THL has also had a key role in the decision to order Pandemrix for every Finnish inhabitant. To worries that there's a conflict of interest with THL investigating whether narcolepsy is caused by Pandemrix, the Ministry of Health has taken the position that it trusts THL and sees no problem with the issue. Ministry of Health made the final decision of ordering Pandemrix. That GlaxoSmithKline has funded THL's activities with millions of euros and THL buys vaccines from GSK is, generally speaking, a risky situation, since the seller funds the buyer. As the old saying goes, "There's no such thing as a free lunch".
Information Release, Rokotusinfo ry
Related Links:
* Finland Suspends Swine Flu Vaccine As Children Struck Down With Narcolepsy
Helsingin Sanomat
* Sweden: GSK's Swine Flu Vaccine Suspected Of Causing Narcolepsy In Children
AFP

* International Days Of Action Announced To Support Whistleblower Bradley Manning

Date: September 16-19. Location: Everywhere. Individuals and activists will take to the streets to show support for accused WikiLeaks whistleblower. On September 16-19, groups and individuals will call on the United States government to drop the charges against Army Private First Class Bradley Manning. Twenty-two year old Manning, held in solitary confinement since May, has been charged with releasing classified documents including a video that shows American troops shooting and killing Reuters journalists in 2007. Manning’s imprisonment has resulted in an international outcry, with groups and activists throughout the US and abroad demanding his release and calling for transparency in America’s war policies. Famed Pentagon Papers whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg has called Mr. Manning, “A new hero of mine.”  Activists should work within their communities to organize events locally during the International Days of Action. If you aren’t involved with a local group, contact your local affiliate of Veterans for Peace, Iraq Veterans Against the War or Code Pink, or look for activist groups in your area.
Information Release, Bradley Manning Support Network
Related Links:
* Antiwar Activists Rally To Support Suspected Leaker Bradley Manning
David Dishneau, Associated Press
* Collateral Murder
US military video depicting the indiscriminate slaying of over a dozen people in the Iraqi suburb of New Baghdad -- including two Reuters news staff
WikiLeaks

* Trying To Exclude WikiLeaks From Shield Law Stinks

One of the odors emanating from Washington, D.C., these days is from journalists marking their territory. Whatever awkwardness previously existed as journalists desiring a federal shield law wooed the legislators they’re supposed to be watching, it’s now worse. In recent weeks, the two groups have publicly joined forces to exclude WikiLeaks from possible protection under the bill. In doing so, journalists have managed both to look territorial and to endanger the independence they’re striving to create. It doesn’t seem all that long ago that representatives of the newspaper industry would have recoiled from working with Congress to deny legal protection to anyone who leaked confidential or classified documents. Today, however, they seem happy to be doing so. It would be most unfortunate if journalism organizations, in their zeal to see a federal shield law finally pass, encouraged Congress to restrict the act’s protection to those who practiced journalism only in a particular way.
Douglas Lee, First Amendment Center
Related Links:
* How WikiLeaks Is Changing The Face Of  Journalism
Jane Bryant, The One Click Group
* Pentagon & US State Department Launch Unhinged War On WikiLeaks
Maximillian C. Forte, Counterpunch

* Abusive UK MPs Brand Expenses Staff As Fucking Idiots & Monkeys

MPs subjected staff at Westminster’s new expenses watchdog to a string of astonishing foul-mouthed tirades, it was revealed last night. Workers were repeatedly sworn at and branded “idiots” and “monkeys” in furious outbursts against the overhauled claims system for taxpayer-funded House of Commons allowances. One MP shouted at staff: “this system is a ******* abortion” while another said: “I am going to murder someone today.” Several members of staff were reported to be left in tears by MPs’ “intimidating” and “bullying” behaviour. Details of 10 of the worst incidents were revealed yesterday in a document released by the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority following a Freedom of Information request. The clashes followed widespread unhappiness among MPs about the new authority, which was set up in the wake of the huge scandal over abuses of Parliamentary expenses last year. The names of MPs guilty of shouting or threatening at IPSA staff were blanked out of the document.
Macer Hall, Daily Express
Related Links:
* Regressive UK Coalition Government Hits Poor & Disabled Hardest
BBC News

* Sleazy UK Government Sells Access To Ministers For £1,000 A Head

Executives who buy £1,000-a-plate tickets to a fund-raising dinner at the Conservative Party conference will get to sit with ministers. Despite David Cameron's pledges to bring transparency to party funding, the identities of the businessmen will be kept secret. The Conservative fund-raising operation has led to accusations of cash for access, and drawn comparisons with controversial fund-raising methods employed by Labour under Tony Blair. The platinum tables are guaranteed to be "prominently positioned" near the top table, where Mr Osborne is expected to sit, and the diners will also get access to the VIP Lounge at the party conference and reserved seats in the main hall for Mr Cameron's speech. Because the fee for a seat is below the legal limit for declaring donations, the identity of guests does not have to be made public. Michael Dugher, a Labour MP, said the business dinner showed that the Conservatives were offering access to ministers in exchange for money. "This is cash-for-access, plain and simple,"  he said. "For all the Conservative talk of new politics, this is the same old Tory sleaze. Selling access to government ministers at £1,000 a head is just grubby."
James Kirkup, Daily Telegraph
Related Links:
* Britain's MPs Continue To Break Big Business Lobby Rules
Guido Fawkes
* Lobbygate Britain Rules OK
Jane Bryant, The One Click Group
* Two More MP Rent Boys For Sale - Lobbygate Britain Steams On
Insight, The Sunday Times

* Keeping Our UK Taxes In The MP Family - Nepotism Rules OK

One of the rules MPs managed to block when it was proposed by Sir Christopher Kelly’s Committee on Standards in Public Life was the ban on employing family as staff members. Nepotism being the oldest and most basic form of petty corruption. See the published list. MPs will protest that they pay their spouse / son / daughter / sibling a pittance and they work extra long hours and suchlike. The truth is they deny someone more competent the chance of a job won in open competition. Many MPs really use the staff allowance as a subsidy to family members. Who can forget Derek Conway’s lavish family staffing arrangements, with payments to offspring at university? Peter Hain’s employment of his octogenarian mother despite having a staff of civil servants, special advisers, private secretaries, secretaries and case workers.  Bob Spink famously employed his former wife, his lover and her daughter. Many MPs now employ their wives / partners in their maiden names to disguise the dodge. No doubt some on the list will have innocent explanations for why – against best private sector practise – they issue staff passes to family members. They shouldn’t do it, it is nepotism.
Guido Fawkes

* LEAK: CIA Red Cell Memorandum On United States As 'Exporter of Terrorism'

This CIA "Red Cell" report from February 2, 2010, looks at what will happen if it is internationally understood that the United States is an exporter of terrorism; 'Contrary to common belief, the American export of terrorism or terrorists is not a recent phenomenon, nor has it been associated only with Islamic radicals or people of Middle Eastern, African or South Asian ethnic origin. This dynamic belies the American belief that our free, open and integrated multicultural society lessens the allure of radicalism and terrorism for US citizens.' The report looks at a number of cases of US exported terrorism, including attacks by US based or financed Jewish, Muslim and Irish-nationalism terrorists. It concludes that foreign perceptions of the US as an "Exporter of Terrorism" together with US double standards in international law, may lead to noncooperation in renditions (including the arrest of CIA officers) and the decision to not share terrorism related intelligence with the United States.
Information Release, WikiLeaks
Related Links:
* Afghan War Diary - Multiple Atrocities Exposed
Information Release, WikiLeaks
* Collateral Murder
US military video depicting the indiscriminate slaying of over a dozen people in the Iraqi suburb of New Baghdad -- including two Reuters news staff
Information Release, WikiLeaks

* Finland Suspends Swine Flu Vaccine As Children Struck Down With Narcolepsy

The National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) decided on Tuesday to recommend that vaccinations against swine flu with the Pandemix  vaccine should be suspended. By Tuesday, 15 new cases of the disease, which causes the sufferer to suddenly fall asleep without warning, had been diagnosed among children aged 5 to 16 since December. There is a clear time correlation between the cases and the swine flu vaccinations. In addition to the confirmed cases, there are some where the disease is suspected are being studied. Marjo Renko, chairwoman of the national group of experts on vaccines, said in a television news interview on Tuesday that the a substance contained in the vaccine is suspected as a possible cause of the narcolepsy. The possibility of compensations for children and young people diagnosed with narcolepsy is being evaluated.
Helsingin Sanomat
Related Links:
* Sweden: GSK's Swine Flu Vaccine Suspected Of Causing Narcolepsy In Children
AFP

* Two More Kids Die After Vaccination

Lucknow. While the officials were mulling over what may have caused the death of four kids during immunisation in Lucknow, the vaccination drive continued in other parts of the state and two more infants died after being vaccinated in Allahabad and Fatehpur. In Allahabad and Fatehpur, two infants died within 48 hours of being administered DPT (diphtheria, pertussis and tetanus) and polio vaccine. One girl died on Monday morning, while the other had died on August 21. As per report, Archana (2) daughter of Mannegar of Bhagautipur village in Dhanupur block died this morning. She was administered DPT and polio vaccine, along with 13 other kids in the village, by female health worker Anita, on August 21. About 12 hours later, Archana suffered from high fever and other complications. This morning her condition deteriorated and she succumbed before she could be taken to the hospital for treatment. A three-day-old girl, who was administered polio drops, died in Bairagipur village, in Khaga, Fatehpur district, on August 21.
HT Correspondent, Hindustan Times
Related Links:
* Four Babies Killed By Measles Vaccine
NDTV Correspondent, NDT

* Takeda's Actos & Glaxo's Avandia Are Both Equal Killers, Researchers Find

Takeda Pharmaceutical Co.’s diabetes drug Actos causes as many heart problems as Avandia, the GlaxoSmithKline Plc pill that had a decline in sales after being linked to higher heart-disease rates, a study found. Patients taking Avandia or Actos were 4 percent more likely to experience heart attacks, heart failure or die, according to the study published yesterday in the American Heart Association journal, Circulation. “It just maybe increases the worry of using either of the drugs,” Jenny Gunton, a diabetes researcher at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research who wasn’t involved in the study, said in a telephone interview from Sydney. A rate of 4 percent is “pretty high” given the short study period, she said. Among the patients, 602 who took Avandia and 599 Actos users suffered either a heart attack, heart failure, or both, or died, the study showed. There were 217 deaths in each group. Glaxo fell 2.2 percent to 1,200 pence in London trading yesterday. Takeda lost 2.3 percent to 3,825 yen as of the 3 p.m. close in Tokyo trading today, the biggest drop since May 21.
Kanoko Matsuyama, Bloomberg
Related Links:
* After Avandia: Does The FDA Have A Drug Problem?
Massimo Calabresi with Alice Park, TIME Magazine

* Review Of FDA Drug Trials Shows Antidepressants Jaw Droppingly Useless

A new review of 4 meta-analyses of efficacy trials submitted to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) suggests that antidepressants are only "marginally efficacious" compared with placebo and "document profound publication bias that inflates their apparent efficacy." In addition, when the researchers also analyzed the Sequenced Treatment Alternatives to Relieve Depression (STAR*D) trial, "the largest antidepressant effectiveness trial ever conducted," they found that "the effectiveness of antidepressant therapies was probably even lower than the modest one reported...with an apparent progressively increasing dropout rate across each study phase." Lead study author Ed Pigott, PhD, a psychologist with NeuroAdvantage LLC in Clarksville, Maryland, said: "...if you're trying to look at sustained benefit, you're only looking at 2.7%, which is a pretty jaw-dropping number." Overall, "the reviewed findings argue for a reappraisal of the current recommended standard of care of depression," write the study authors.
Deborah Brauser, Medscape Today

END SUMMARY

Scroll down the website to read much more news on One Click or go to the News Archives.

Afghanistan & Pakistan Violent Event Analysis using ACLED and WikiLeaks Data

ACLED Manuscript

The Afghanistan-Pakistan Wars 2008–2009: Micro-geographies, Conflict Diffusion, and Clusters of Violence

John O'Loughlin, Frank Witmer, and Andrew Linke
Eurasian Geography and Economics, 2010, 51 No.4, pp.437-71. Abstract: A team of political geographers analyzes over 5,000 violent events collected from media reports for the Afghanistan and Pakistan conflicts during 2008 and 2009. The violent events are geocoded to precise locations and the authors employ an exploratory spatial data analysis approach to examine the recent dynamics of the wars. By mapping the violence and examining its temporal dimensions, the authors explain its diffusion from traditional foci along the border between the two countries. While violence is still overwhelmingly concentrated in the Pashtun regions in both countries, recent policy shifts by the American and Pakistani governments in the conduct of the war are reflected in a sizeable increase in overall violence and its geographic spread to key cities. The authors identify and map the clusters (hotspots) of conflict where the violence is significantly higher than expected and examine their shifts over the two-year period. Special attention is paid to the targeting strategy of drone missile strikes and the increase in their number and geographic extent by the Obama administration.

High-resolution pdf (17 MB).
Low-resolution pdf (3 MB).

WikiLeaks Manuscript

Peering into the Fog of War: The Geography of the WikiLeaks Afghanistan War Logs 2004-2009

John O'Loughlin, Frank Witmer, Andrew Linke, and Nancy Thorwardson
Eurasian Geography and Economics, 2010, 51 No.4, pp.472-95. Abstract: A team of U.S. political geographers analyzes the secret Afghanistan war logs released by WikiLeaks.org. They offer the chance to examine in detail the dynamics of the conflict in that country. Doing so in a spatial framework is possible because each of the 77,000 events has geographic coordinates and dates. Using cartographic and geostatistical tools, the authors map the changing distribution of the events and compare them to the well-known violent-events ACLED database (see O’Loughlin et al., 2010 in this issue). They conclude that ACLED comprises a representative set of the more comprehensive data in the released files. The released war logs show that the Afghan insurgency spread rapidly in 2008–2009, that the insurgency is moving out of its traditional Pashtun heartlands, and remains mostly rural in location. Hotspot and cluster analysis identifies the key locations of the current war, which indicate that it is relocating to new provinces in Afghanistan while intensifying in the eastern border regions and in the south.

High-resolution pdf (14 MB).
Low-resolution pdf (1 MB).

Fig. 4. Monthly deaths by victim type, Afghanistan 2004–2009, as reported in WikiLeaks data.

Aktivarum

Going after Assange again! The insanity of rape-politics

09/01/2010

'Spy satellites' to be used to monitor civilians in U.S.

This is a terrifying clip courtesy of CNN in America.

"The Director of National Intelligence has given the go ahead for the nation's spy satellites to be used regularly by civilian agencies and law enforcement...

"...spy satellites have primarily been used overseas to monitor things like war zones and terrorist training camps...

...(Department for Homeland Security Assistant Secretary, Charlie Allen) "This is a development all Americans should have great pride in"

How far away are we from having this in Britain? Probably not that far...

By Dylan Sharpe

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Related Links:
* Unmanned Airborne CCTV Set To Monitor The British From On High
Dylan Sharpe, Big Brother Watch
**********

Mandate Flu Vaccination for Healthcare Workers, Say Infectious Disease Experts

Robert Lowes

August 31, 2010 — Healthcare professionals should be required to get vaccinated against seasonal influenza or else lose their jobs and professional privileges, the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA) says in a position paper released today.

The paper, endorsed by the Infectious Diseases Society of America, argues that allowing healthcare workers to go unvaccinated except for recognized medical contraindications is just as unacceptable as allowing physicians and nurses to forgo scrubbing before a surgical procedure.

"SHEA views influenza vaccination of HCP [healthcare personnel] as a core patient and HCP safety practice with which non-compliance should not be tolerated," according to the position paper, published in this month's Infection Control and Healthcare Epidemiology. "SHEA endorses a policy in which annual influenza vaccination is a condition of both initial and continued HCP employment and/or professional privileges."

The goal of HCP vaccination is not only preventing virus transmission to patients, but also reducing the risk for infection of HCPs, which in turn preserves an adequate healthcare workforce, the position paper notes. At the same time, HCPs who get vaccinated contribute to "herd immunity" and set a good example.

The position paper, which updates a SHEA statement issued in 2005, recommends mandatory vaccination of all HCP working in all healthcare settings, regardless of whether they come into contact with patients and whether they are directly employed by the facility. The recommendation extends to students, volunteers, and contract workers.

Mandated Vaccination Has Met Resistance

The recommendations from SHEA come on the verge of the 2010-2011 influenza season and follow a previous season in which seasonal influenza vaccination among HCP reached an all-time high of 62% as of mid-January 2010, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Physicians, physician' assistants, nurse practitioners, and dentists posted the highest immunization rate as a group among HCP — 77%. In contrast, the immunization rate among all HCP against the H1N1 influenza virus stood at 37%.

SHEA believes a voluntary approach will not dramatically increase HCP immunization rates. Its position paper points to several healthcare organizations such as Virginia Mason Medical Center (VMMC) in Seattle, Washington, and BJC Healthcare in St. Louis, Missouri, that have achieved immunizations rates surpassing 98% by mandating vaccination of HCPs.

The success of institutions like VMMC and BJC notwithstanding, some HCP have not taken kindly to vaccine mandates.

During the H1N1 influenza pandemic of 2009-2010, for example, the state of New York ordered its healthcare workers to get vaccinated against both seasonal and pandemic influenza only to rescind the requirement several months later. At the time, New York Gov. David Patterson said the mandate turned out to be impractical in light of a shortage of pandemic influenza vaccine, but the state also had encountered several lawsuits and opposition from a large healthcare union.

Noting the possibility of continued resistance by labor unions to vaccine mandates, the SHEA position paper states that requiring HCPs to get immunized is just as reasonable as requiring them to wear appropriate attire in the operating room or to care for patients "regardless of underlying disease, even when they have disease that might place the HCP at some risk."

"One hopes that, in the interests of protecting both patients and their members, these organizations will not oppose mandatory programs that are developed in collaboration with employees," the position paper states.

One author reports that he is a consultant for Joint Commission Resources. He and some other authors report various financial relationships with Avianax, BD Diagnostics, Care Fusions, CSL, Cubist, EMD Serono, Emergent BioSolutions, GlaxoSmithKline, Human Genome Sciences, Liquidia Technologies, MedImmune, Merck, Novartis Vaccines and Therapeutics, Novavax, OrthoMcNeil, PaxVax, Pfizer, Rymed Technology, Sage, Sanofi Pasteur, Theraclone Sciences (formally Spaltudaq Corporation), Vaxxinate, and/or Wyeth. All other authors have disclosed no relevant financial relationships.

Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol. Published online August 31, 2010.

**********
Related Links:
* Flu Vaccine Pronounced Not Only Deadly But Useless Too
Eben Harrell, TIME Magazine
* New Research Shows Annual Flu Vaccine Complete Waste Of Money
Jenny Hope, Daily Mail
* Influenza Vaccines: Poor Evidence for Effectiveness in Elderly
Press Release, Science Daily
**********

August 31, 2010 Issue

On Aug. 25, the National Vaccine Advisory Committee (NVAC), a public oversight committee created by Congress under the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986, whose members are appointed by the National Vaccine Program Office (NVPO) under the US Department of Health & Human Services, held a public teleconference and discussed how best to monitor the safety of the 2010/2011 influenza vaccine, as well as target groups identified for the vaccine. NVPO staff and advisors strongly promoted the vaccination of pregnant women and supported the American Medical Association (AMA) and American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommendation that healthcare workers should receive influenza vaccines.

NVIC Calls For External Safety Oversight

NVIC's Executive Director, Theresa Wrangham made public comments encouraging the NVAC to step-up the safety monitoring of this year's vaccine to match the monitoring efforts during 2009/2010 pandemic H1N1 season. During the meeting, the committee voted to accept interim recommendations to pursue safety monitoring of this season's trivalent influenza vaccine as an inter-agency effort only. It did not recommend convening an independent and external committee to review vaccine safety data as was done to monitor the 2009/2010 monovalent pandemic H1N1 vaccine through the specially appointed Vaccine Safety Risk Assessment Working Group (VSRAWG).

Unfortunately, at this time, NVAC has no plans to extend the life of the VSRAWG or to create another independent, external working group to rapidly review safety and monitoring data of the 2010/2011 trivalent influenza vaccine that contains the 2009/2010 monovalent pandemic H1N1 strain. READ MORE...

In the News

Flu Death Estimate Lowered - "The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) substantially lowered its often-quoted estimate of how many people die in a typical flu season, to 24,000 from 36,000. The previous estimate, the agency said, was based on a study of the years 1990 to 1999, during which the H3N2 strain of flu predominated, and H3N2 is far more deadly to the elderly than the other two common seasonal strains, H1N1 and B. The new estimate is based on a re-evaluation of the years 1976 to 2007. Deaths attributed to flu fluctuated widely, from a low of 3,349 in the winter of 1986-7 to a high of 48,614 in 2003-4."
New York Times, Aug. 28, 2010.

H1N1 Vaccine (Pandemrix) Link to Narcolepsy Under Investigation - "Sweden's Medical Products Agency (MPA) has started to investigate H1N1 vaccine Pandemrix, which has been linked to narcolepsy in children and adolescents, on the request of the European Commission. So far, 12 confirmed cases of narcolepsy have been reported after patients received the Pandemrix vaccine. Apart from Sweden and Finland, where most of the cases were reported, there have also been cases reported in France, Germany, and Norway... On Tuesday (Aug. 24), the Finnish National Institute of Health (THL) proposed suspending Pandemrix until the investigation is completed."
The Epoch Times, Aug, 28, 2010.

2009 Pandemic Flu & 2010 Flu Vaccine - "The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the swine flu pandemic officially over on Aug. 9," said Dr. Joe Mercola. "The swine flu, which we were warned would kill millions, if not tens of millions of people, turned out to be a complete 'dud' as far as pandemics go, but health agencies and governments around the world still managed to create massive fear of this hybrid flu virus. And, of course, vaccine makers made millions off their novel H1N1 vaccines." Audio & Video Interview featuring Dr. Joe Mercola and NVIC co-founder & president Barbara Loe Fisher discussing the outcome of last year's swine flu debacle and this year's flu vaccine.

Freedom for Family Wellness Conference: Celebrating the Shift to Conscious Choice - This Washington, D.C. conference Oct. 21-24, 2010 is gathering together top speakers presenting information about family wellness, vitalism and making informed, conscious health choices. Speakers include Bruce Lipton, PhD; Joe Mercola, DO; Joe Dispenza, DC; Joseph Chilton Pearce; Barbara Loe Fisher; Larry Palevsky, MD, Peggy O'Mara; Ina May Gaskin; Guy Reikeman, DC and more. Early Bird registration ends Sept. 9.

"At this Summit, we will have the opportunity to reinforce our vitalistic philosophy with new science and practical implementation of these principles for our personal and professional growth," said conference organizer Jeanne Ohm, DC, of the International Chiropractic Pediatric Association. "The physical, emotional, mental and spiritual well being of our children is at stake and so is the future of our planet. It will take the united efforts of practitioners, parents and community leaders to contribute and create the "tipping point."

Questions loom over drug given to sleepless vets

By MATTHEW PERRONE (AP) – 31 August 2010

WASHINGTON — Andrew White returned from a nine-month tour in Iraq beset with signs of post-traumatic stress disorder: insomnia, nightmares, constant restlessness. Doctors tried to ease his symptoms using three psychiatric drugs, including a potent anti-psychotic called Seroquel.

Thousands of soldiers suffering from PTSD have received the same medication over the last nine years, helping to make Seroquel one of the Veteran Affairs Department's top drug expenditures and the No. 5 best-selling drug in the nation.

Several soldiers and veterans have died while taking the pills, raising concerns among some military families that the government is not being up front about the drug's risks. They want Congress to investigate.

In White's case, the nightmares persisted. So doctors recommended progressively larger doses of Seroquel. At one point, the 23-year-old Marine corporal was prescribed more than 1,600 milligrams per day — more than double the maximum dose recommended for schizophrenia patients.

A short time later, White died in his sleep.

"He was told if he had trouble sleeping he could take another (Seroquel) pill," said his father, Stan White, a retired high school principal.

An investigation by the Veterans Affairs Department concluded that White died from a rare drug interaction. He was also taking an antidepressant and an anti-anxiety pill, as well as a painkiller for which he did not have a prescription. Inspectors concluded he received the "standard of care" for his condition.

It's unclear how many soldiers have died while taking Seroquel, or if the drug definitely contributed to the deaths. White has confirmed at least a half-dozen deaths among soldiers on Seroquel, and he believes there may be many others.

Spending for Seroquel by the government's military medical systems has increased more than sevenfold since the start of the war in Afghanistan in 2001, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press under the Freedom of Information Act. That by far outpaces the growth in personnel who have gone through the system in that time.

Seroquel is approved to treat schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and depression, but it has not been endorsed by the Food and Drug Administration as a treatment for insomnia. However, psychiatrists are permitted to prescribe approved drugs for other uses in a common practice known as "off-label" prescribing.

But the drug's potential side effects, including diabetes, weight gain and uncontrollable muscle spasms, have resulted in thousands of lawsuits. While on Seroquel, White gained 40 pounds and experienced slurred speech, disorientation and tremors — all known side effects.

Last year, researchers at Vanderbilt University published a study suggesting a new risk: sudden heart failure.

The study in the January 2009 edition of the New England Journal of Medicine found that there were three cardiac deaths per year for every 1,000 patients taking anti-psychotic drugs like Seroquel. Seroquel's unique sedative effect sets it apart from others in its class as the top choice for treating insomnia and anxiety.

AstraZeneca PLC, maker of the drug, said it is reviewing the study. The FDA is conducting its own review, citing the limited scope of the Vanderbilt study.

According to the Veterans Affairs Department, Seroquel is only prescribed as a third or fourth option for patients with difficult-to-treat insomnia stemming from PTSD.

Marine Cpl. Chad Oligschlaeger, 21, was being treated for PTSD when he died in his sleep at Camp Pendleton, Calif., in May 2008. Oligschlaeger was taking six types of medication, including Seroquel, to deal with anxiety and nightmares that followed two tours of duty in Iraq.

The military medical examiner attributed the death to "multiple drug toxicity," indicating that Oligschlaeger, too, died from a drug interaction. Because of the complex reactions between various drugs, medical examiners do not attribute such deaths to any one medication.

After consulting with physicians, parents Eric and Julie Oligschlaeger now believe their son died of sudden cardiac arrest caused by Seroquel.

"Right now, I'm so angry, and I believe someone needs to be held accountable," said Julie Oligschlaeger, of Austin, Texas. "The protocol absolutely has to change."

The Defense Department's deputy director for force health protection, Dr. Michael Kilpatrick, said the government has not seen any increase in dangerous side effects from Seroquel and other drugs.

Physicians interviewed by the AP said they began prescribing Seroquel because it was the only drug that offered relief from the nightmares and anxiety of PTSD.

"By accident, some people were giving them Seroquel for anxiety or depression, and the veterans said, 'This is the first time I have slept six or seven hours straight all night. Please give me more of that.' And the word spread," said Dr. Henry Nasrallah of the University of Cincinnati, who has treated PTSD patients for more than 25 years.

Most of the soldiers and veterans seeking treatment for PTSD do so at hospitals run by the VA or the Defense Department.

The VA's spending on Seroquel has increased more than 770 percent since 2001. In that same time frame, the number of patients covered by the VA increased just 34 percent.

Seroquel has been the VA's second-biggest prescription drug expenditure since 2007, behind the blood-thinner Plavix. The agency spent $125.4 million last fiscal year on Seroquel, up from $14.4 million in 2001.

Spending on Seroquel by the Department of Defense, has increased nearly 700 percent since 2001, to $8.6 million last year, according to purchase records.

Nasrallah and others said they use drugs like Seroquel off-label because so few treatments are approved for PTSD. The FDA has only cleared two drugs for the condition, the antidepressants Paxil and Zoloft, and they do not always work.

The only published study on use of Seroquel for PTSD-related insomnia involved just 20 patients who were followed for six weeks at a VA medical center in South Carolina. The study, which showed moderate improvement in sleep, was funded by AstraZeneca at the request of VA psychiatrist Dr. Mark Hamner, who has studied the use of Seroquel for PTSD.

In his written conclusion, published in 2003, Hamner urged caution in interpreting the results because of the study's small size and short duration.

Hamner is working on larger, federally funded studies of Seroquel. For now, he acknowledges, there is little published research on the use of the drug for PTSD.

"Clinical judgment is really the best we can use at this time because there isn't really a good database to facilitate decision-making," said Hamner, who works at the Ralph H. Johnson Medical Center in Charleston, S.C.

He stressed that VA guidelines require doctors to monitor patients for dangerous side effects with drugs like Seroquel.

The drug, approved in 1997, is AstraZeneca's second-best-selling product, with U.S. sales of $4.2 billion last year. But that success has been marred by allegations that the company illegally marketed the drug and minimized its risks. AstraZeneca agreed to pay $520 million in April to settle federal allegations that its salespeople pitched Seroquel for numerous off-label uses, including insomnia.

Pharmaceutical companies are prohibited from marketing drugs for unapproved uses. AstraZeneca also faces an estimated 10,000 product liability lawsuits, most alleging that Seroquel caused diabetes.

Since White died, his family has been searching for an explanation — and for a way to prevent other deaths.

"We trusted the knowledge of the physicians, that they weren't going to do any harm," White's father said. "And we also trusted the drug companies because that's who provides the research for the physicians. That's what our battle is now: trying to get changes made."

'Homeopathic' Signals from DNA

Nobel Laureate who discovered the HIV presents controversial but well-documented findings that electromagnetic signals can be detected from highly diluted solutions of DNA. Dr. Mae-Wan Ho

A fully referenced and illustrated version of this paper is posted on ISIS members website and can be downloaded here

“Luc Montagnier, the French virologist who won a Nobel prize in 2008 for linking HIV with AIDS, last week made controversial claims that highly dilute solutions of harmful viruses and bacteria emit low-frequency radio waves, allegedly from watery nanostructures formed around the pathogens. Similar claims have been made for homeopathic remedies.” New Scientist [1]

Latest round of attack on homeopathy

Homeopathy has been subject to periodic attacks from the mainstream medical and scientific community aided and abetted by uninformed journalist in the mainstream press eager to create a good impression with the scientific establishment.

The latest round was initiated by a damning report from the UK Parliament Science and Technology Committee released in February 2010, Evidence Check 2: Homeopathy [2], which concludes that the existing scientific literature shows no evidence that that homeopathy is efficacious beyond the placebo effect, and that “explanations for why homeopathy would work are scientifically implausible.” Therefore, the National Health Service should stop funding homeopathy and the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency should not allow homeopathic product labels to make medical claims without evidence of efficacy.

In July, the British Medical Association passed a resolution to stop homeopathy being made available on the National Health Service (NHS), and to have all homeopathic remedies to be placed in a special area marked ‘Placebos’ in health shops and pharmacies. However, the UK government is not taking action to ban homeopathy from the NHS [3], which has funded homeopathy from its inception in 1948. So homeopathy is safe, at least for now.  

Lack of plausible explanation the major hurdle in gaining public acceptance

The most difficult hurdle in getting general acceptance for homeopathy is without doubt the lack of an explanation, based on contemporary science, on why it would work. In my view, that is more important than getting double-blind, placebo-controlled data on efficacy. Such an explanation is beginning to emerge, and Luc Montagnier’s research team may have provided some key observations.

The Nobel Laureate has entered the fray, bravely picking up on work done by his fellow countryman, the recently deceased immunologist Jacques Benveniste, who became the centre of a major international controversy in 1988, when Benveniste and his research team published a paper in the journal Nature describing the apparent homeopathic action of very high dilutions of anti-IgE antibody on the human blood cells basophils. As condition for publishing the paper, the then journal editor John Maddox organised and subjected Benveniste and his team to a farcical and damaging public trial [4] that included illusionist and well-known sceptic James Randi and fraud expert Walter Stewart .

Montagnier’s recent work, summarily dismissed in the New Scientist [1] and elsewhere, has been published in two papers in 2009, and the evidence presented is clear and informative.

“A novel property of DNA”

The first paper reports the capacity of some bacterial DNA sequences to induce electromagnetic waves at high dilutions in water [5], and appears to be a “resonance phenomenon” triggered by the ambient electromagnetic background of very low frequency waves. Interestingly, genomic DNA of most pathogenic bacteria contain sequences that are able to generate such signals, suggesting that highly sensitive detection system might be developed for chronic bacterial infections in human and animal diseases. The second paper follows up this suggestion, showing that it is indeed possible to detect the presence of HIV DNA even when the RNA of the virus has disappeared from the blood of people infected with HIV and undergoing antiviral therapy (see [6] Electromagnetic Signals from HIV, Prospects for a Science of Homeopathy, SiS 48).

Montagnier and his colleague Claude Lavallee initially observed that filtering a culture supernatant of human lymphocytes infected with the bacterium Mycoplasma pirum (about 300 nm in diameter) through filters with pore size of 100 nm or 20 nm gave apparently sterile fluid. However, the sterile fluid was able to regenerate the original mycoplasma when incubated with a mycoplasma-negative culture of human lymphocytes within 2 to 3 weeks. Similarly, filtering an infective fraction of HIV particles (120 nm) through 20 nm filter failed to retain the infective agent.

Furthermore, the infectious filtrate produced electromagnetic waves of low frequency in a reproducible manner after appropriate dilutions in water. They suspected a “resonance phenomenon” depending on excitation by the ambient electromagnetic fields such as the 50/60 Hz signals from the mains. The infectious signal appeared associated with “polymeric nanostructures of defined size” present in the diluted filtrate. The supernatant of uninfected eukaryotic cells used as controls did not have those infectious effects.

EM signals associated with nanostructures

Given the initial clues, the researcher team set out to investigate the phenomenon more thoroughly, to characterize the electromagnetic (EM) signals and the nanostructures produced by the purified bacteria.

In addition to M. pirum, they looked at E. coli. The supernatants of deliberately infected human lymphocytes containing 10⁶ or 10⁷ infectious units per ml were filtered twice first through 450 nm Millipore filters to remove debris, and then 100 or 20 nm filters to remove mycoplasma cells. The filtrates were confirmed sterile by incubation for several weeks in enriched growth medium. Repeated search for traces of mycoplasma DNA by polymerase chain reactions (PCR) was also consistently negative.

However, when the filtrates were incubated for two weeks or three weeks with a culture of human activated T lymphocytes, the mycoplasma was recovered in the medium with all its original characteristics.

The filtrates were analysed just after filtration for production of EM waves of low frequency. For this purpose, a devise previously designed by Benveniste and Coll was used for the detection of signals produced (see Figure 1).

Figure 1  Detecting EM signals with Benveniste and Coll’s device

The filtrates were serially diluted 1 in 10, after each dilution, the tube is tightly stopped and strongly agitated on a Vortex apparatus for 15 seconds. This step, which is equivalent to homeopathic ‘succussion’, has been found critical for the generation of signals.

After all dilutions have been made (15 to 20), the stopped tubes were read one by one on an electromagnetic coil (copper wire on a bobbin, impedance 300 Ohms), connected to a Sound Blaster Card, itself connected to a laptop computer powered by its 12 volt battery. Each emission is recorded twice for 6 seconds, amplified 500 times and processed with different softwares to visualise the signals on the computer screen. The main harmonics of the complex signals were analysed by softwares for Fourier transformations. In each experiment, the internal noise generated by the different pieces of the reading system was first recorded (coil alone, coil with a tube filled with ordinary water). Fourier analysis shows that the noise was predominantly very low frequencies probably generated at least in part by the 50/60 Hz ambient electric current. Using the 12 volt battery to power the computer reduced the noise, but did not abolish it altogether; as the noise was found to be necessary for the induction of the resonance signals from the specific nanostructure.

EM signals did not decrease with dilution

When the EM signals from serial dilutions of the M. pirum filtrate were recorded, the first obvious change was an increase in the overall amplitude of the signals at certain dilutions over the background noise, and also higher frequencies. This change was abolished if the tube analysed was placed inside a box shielded with sheets of copper and mumetal, which also shields static magnetic field as well as low frequency EM fields.

Fourier analysis of the M. pirum signals confirmed a shift towards higher frequencies close to 1 000 Hz and multiples thereof. The profiles were identical and highly reproducible for all the dilutions showing an increase in amplitude.

The first low dilutions were usually negative, showing the background noise only, positive signals were typically obtained at dilutions ranging from 10^-5 to 10^-8 up to 10^-12, at which the signal was greatest before it became negative at 10^-13.

The positive dilutions varied according to the type of filtration; the 20 nm filtrate being generally positive at dilutions higher than those of the 100 nm. The original unfiltered suspension was negative at all dilutions, a phenomenon observed for all the microorganisms studied.

The 20 nm filtrate was centrifuged through a density gradient to separate components with different densities that were tested for electromagnetic emissions. The emitting structures were distributed in a large range of densities from 1.15 to 1.25 gm per ml.

In the experiment with E. coli, supernatants of cultures containing 10⁹ units/ml were used.  No signal appeared after filtration through 20nm filters, suggesting that the structures associated with the signals were retained by those filtered, and therefore had a size greater than 20 nm and lower than 100 nm.

The final filtrate was sterile. Signal producing dilutions again range form 10^-8 to 10^-11, with profiles on Fourier transformation similar to, yet distinct from those of M. Pirum. In one experiment, some very high dilutions were found to be positive, ranging from 10^-9 to 10^-18.

In contrast, the unfiltered supernatant did not show any signal above background up to 10^-38 dilution. This suggests that the low dilutions are self-inhibitory, probably by interference of the multiple sources emitting in the same wave length, slightly out of phase, like radio jamming. Alternatively, the abundance of nanostructures can form a gel in water and therefore inhibited from vibrating (more later).

EM signal can be transferred

The researchers wondered whether or not it was possible to generate new signal-emitting structures from tube to tube by wave-transfer. The answer was yes.

A donor tube of a low “silent” dilution of E. coli (10^-3) was placed side by side close to a receiver tube of the positive “loud” highest dilution of the same preparation (10^-9). Both tubes were placed together in a mumetal box for 24 hours at room temperature, so the tubes were not exposed to external electromagnetic noise and only exposed to the signals generated by the structures present in the tubes themselves. When tested after that, the donor tube was still silent, and the receiver tube too, became silent.

But when further dilutions were made from the receiver tube, they became positive again. These results suggest that the receiver tube was made silent by the formation of an excess of new nanostructures, which could emit signals again upon further dilution. The effect was suppressed by putting a sheet of mumetal between the two tubes during the 24 h contact period, pointing to a role of low frequency waves in the phenomenon.

EM signals from all pathogenic bacteria

Emission of similar EM signals was found with other bacteria such as Streptococcus B, Staphylococcus aueus, Pseudomonas aerogniosa, Proteus mirabilis, Bacillus subtilis, Salmonella, Clostridium perfringens, all in the same range of dilutions as for E. coli, and only after filtrating at 100 nm,  not 20 nm. Importantly, the transfer effect between the two tubes, one silent, one loud, was only observed if both contained dilutions of the same bacterial species. These results indicate that the signal transfer is species-specific.

Does the signal depend on the initial number of cells? To investigate that, a stationary culture of E. coli was counted and adjusted to 10⁹ cells/ml and serially dilution 1 in 100 down to 1 cell/ml. Each dilution was filtered through 100 nm, then analyzed for signal emission. Surprisingly, the range of positive dilutions were not strictly dependent on the initial concentration of E. coli cells, being roughly the same from 10⁹ down to 10 cells, suggesting that the same final number of nanostructures was reached at all concentrations.

Was the effect dependent on the operator? No. Two operators measuring independently the same dilutions of E. coli produced exactly the same results. The results were also independent of the order in which the samples were read, whether in descending dilutions from the lowest to the highest or vice versa. And even in random order. That was achieved by letting another lab worker place the diluted samples in random order, the labels being unknown to the person reading the samples. Again the same results were obtained, provided each tube was well separated from the others to avoid cross-talk between them. Finally, the results were independent of the reading site. They were the same in France (Paris), Canada (Montreal) and Cameroun (Yaoundé), even though the background noise at each place was distinct. The positive signal is always clearly differentiated by the same higher frequency peaks.

A non-exhaustive survey of the bacterial species displaying EM signals suggests that most of the bacteria pathogenic for humans are in this category. In contrast, probiotic non-pathogenic bacteria such as Lactobacillus and their DNA are negative for EM signal emission.

What is the nature of the EM signal emitting nanostructures?

The nanostructures were not destroyed by treatments with enzymes that destroy RNA, DNA or protein (RNAse A, DNAse 1, proteinase K); only by heating at 70 °C for 30 minutes, or freezing for 1 hour at -20 °C or -60 °C. Treatment with lithium cations, known to affect H-bonding of water molecules, reduced the intensity of the signals, while the range of the positive dilution remained unchanged.

EM signals traced to specific pathogenic DNA sequences

In preliminary experiments, the researchers found that treating a suspension of E. coli with formaldehyde, which killed the bacteria, did not alter the capacity to induce the EM signals. This treatment denatured the surface proteins of the bacteria but did not change their genetic material - the double-helical DNA - and suggests that the source of the signals may be the DNA itself.

Indeed, DNA extracted from the bacterial suspension by the usual method, after filtering and appropriate dilutions in water, was able to emit EM signals similar to those produced by intact bacteria under the same conditions. DNAse treatment of the extracted DNA solution abolishes its capacity to emit signals, so long as the nanostructures previously induced by the DNA are destroyed.

The same as for the intact microorganisms, the isolated DNA must be filtered before the EM signals can be detected in the diluted solutions. This suggested to the researchers that filtering is necessary to break up a “network of nanostructures organized in a gel at high concentrations in water,” allowing them to be dispersed in further dilutions. One complication is that the filtration through 100 nm pore size filter did not retain the DNA. The dilutions positive the EMS were in the same range as those for the intact bacteria, generally between 10^-7 to 10^-13.

At the high dilution of 10^-13, calculations indicate that there is no DNA molecule larger than 10⁵ Da in the solution; making it unlikely that the EM signals are produced directly by the DNA itself, but rather by the “self-sustained nanostructures induced by the DNA.” Generally, all the bacterial species shown to be positive for EM signals yielded also DNA preparations positive for EM signals, and they were all pathogens.

In the case of E. coli, some non-pathogenic strains used for gene cloning were negative. This suggests that only some sequences of DNA are the source of the EMS.

The signal is linked to the ability of the bacteria to cause diseases, which in turn depends on the capacity of the microorganism to bind to eukaryotic cells. They looked in M. prium DNA, where a single gene – adhesion coding for a 126 kDa protein – is responsible for the adhesion of the mycoplasma to human cells. The gene was cloned previously in Montagnier’s laboratory, and they had it as two fragments: 1.5 kbp N terminal part and 5 kbp C terminal part of the protein in two different plasmids. The two plasmids containing the fragments were amplified in the E. coli strain that did not produce EM signals. 

But when the E.coli strain (XL1blue) was transformed with either plasmids carrying an adhesion gene fragment, EM signals were produced.

The two adhesion DNA fragments were then cut out by specific restriction enzymes and isolated by agarose electrophoresis. Each DNA fragment was able to induce the EM signal. To confirm the result, they purified a large fraction of the adhesion DNA from the whole mycoplasma genome using specific primers and amplication by PCR, and found that this fragment induced EM signals.

The researchers have discovered a novel property of DNA, the capacity of some sequences to emit electromagnetic waves in resonance after excitation by the ambient electromagnetic background. They speculated that all DNA may be capable of emitting EM signals, but “in our conditions of detection, it seems to be associated with only certain bacterial sequences.”

They detected similar EM signals in the plasma and in DNA extracted from the plasma of patients suffering from Alzheimer, Parkinson disease, multiple sclerosis, and rheumatoid arthritis, suggesting that bacterial infections are present in those diseases. They require 20 nM filtrations suggesting that the nanostructures produced are smaller than those produced b y bacterial DNA.

Moreover, EM signals can be detected also from RNA viruses, such as HIV, influenza virus A, Hepatitis C virus, In patients infected with HIV, EM signals can be detected mostly in patients treated by antiretroviral therapy and having a very low viral load in their plasma. Such nanostructures persisting in the plasma may contribute to the viral reservoir which escapes the antiviral treatment, assuming that they carry genetic information of the virus.

It is known from the very early X-ray diffraction studies of DNA that water molecules are tightly associated with the double helix, and DNA in water solution forms gels associating a large number of water molecules.

The capacity of diluted solutions to emit EMS after they have been isolated in mumetal boxes last up to 48 hours, indicating the relative stability of the nanostructures.

What exactly are these nanostructures and why do they emit electromagnetic waves? Mantagnier and his team are not very explicit on this. But we shall examine this more carefully at the end of the next article in this series [6].

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Sanchita Sharma, Hindustan Times
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