Iran: Says United States, United Kingdom, Canada Assist Afghan Drug Trade

Posted on 18 January 2010. Tags: 2001, Afghanistan, britain, Canada, Drug Control Headquarters, drug trade, General Hamid Reza Hossein-Abadi, Iran, Taha Taheri, Tehran, United Kingdom, United States

A senior Iranian anti-drug official has accused the US, Britain and Canada of playing a major role in Afghanistan’s lucrative drug trade.

On the sidelines of an anti-drug conference in Tehran, deputy head of Iran’s Drug Control Headquarters Taha Taheri said that Western powers are aiding the drug trade in Afghanistan.

“According to our indisputable information, the presence of the United States, Britain and Canada has not reduced the drug trade and the three countries have had major roles in the distribution of drugs,” IRIB quoted Taheri as saying on Thursday. Read the full story

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Cosmic Explosion: Among the Brightest in Recorded History

Posted on 12 January 2010. Tags: 2004, American Association of Variable Star Observers, Austin, australia, Australia Telescope Compact Array, Brian Cameron, Bryan Gaensler, Cambridge, Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics, Dick Hunstead, Dr. Bryan Gaensler, Dr. Christopher Thompson, Dr. Chryssa Kouveliotou, Dr. David Palmer, Dr. Robert Duncan, Earth, exotic neutron star, galaxy, gamma ray flare, Greenbank Radio Telescope, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager, India, ionosphere, Los Alamos National Laboratory, magnetar, Magnetic field, Maura McLaughlin, Mike Garrett, Milky Way, Molonglo Observatory Synthesis Telescope, moon, NASA, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Neil Gehrels, Netherlands, New Mexico, Parkes radio telescope, Ralph Wijers, Rob Fender, Sagittarius, scientists, Shri Kulkarni, Socorro, solar system, United Kingdom, United States, University of Hawaii, University of Texas, University of Toronto, West Virginia, Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope

Scientists have detected a flash of light from across the Galaxy so powerful that it bounced off the Moon and lit up the Earth’s upper atmosphere. The flash was brighter than anything ever detected from beyond our Solar System and lasted over a tenth of a second. NASA and European satellites and many radio telescopes detected the flash and its aftermath on December 27, 2004. Two science teams report about this event at a special press event today at NASA headquarters. A multitude of papers are planned for publication.

Artist conception of the December 27, 2004 gamma ray flare expanding from SGR 1806 20. Read the full story

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Roche: Maker of Swine Flu Drug Accused of Suppressing Evidence It May Not Work

Posted on 08 December 2009. Tags: anti-flu drug, australia, Birmingham University, Bond University, British Medical Journal, Channel 4 News, Dr Fiona Godlee, Dr Melanie Calvert, government, major review, pneumonia, Professor Chris Del Mar, Professor Mike Clarke, Professor Nick Freemantle, Roche, Tamiflu, UK Cochrane Centre, United Kingdom

Roche, the manufacturer of Tamiflu, has made it impossible for scientists to assess how well the anti-flu drug stockpiled around the globe works by withholding the evidence the company has gained from trials, doctors alleged today .

A major review of what data there is in the public domain has found no evidence Tamiflu can prevent healthy people with flu from suffering complications such as pneumonia.

Tamiflu may shorten the bout of illness by a day or so, the investigators say, but it is impossible to know whether it prevents severe disease because the published data is insufficient. Roche has failed to make some of the studies carried out on the drug publicly available, the scientists say. Read the full story

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United Kingdom: Ministry of Defence Quietly Cut Their UFO Hotline

Posted on 04 December 2009. Tags: 1950, britain, Ministry of Defence, UFO, UFO Hotline, United Kingdom

It is a disappearance almost worthy of Mulder and Scully. After almost 60 years investigating the UFO threat over Britain – the MoD ‘X Files’ bureau has been axed.

Earlier this week the UK Ministry of Defence quietly cut their hotline for members of the public to report UFO sightings.

And it wasn’t because no-one was calling – the line has received more than 12,000 UFO and alien reports since it was launched in 1950, including 135 last year. Read the full story

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Mind Your Tweets: The CIA Social Networking Surveillance System

Posted on 26 November 2009. Tags: 2008, 9/11, Austria, Bath University, Bluetooth, Booz Allen Hamilton, Bulgaria, Cheltenham, Chris Williams, Cityware, COINTELPRO, counterterrorism investigations, Cryptographic and Electronic Analysis Unit, Czech Republic, Ericsson, Facebook, Fachhochschule Technikum, FBI, Federal Contractor Misconduct Database, france, Germany, Government Communications Headquarters, Great Britain, INDECT Consortium, intelligence in a box, Intelligence Information System Supporting Observation, Ionnis Klapaftis, iraq, Ireland, Lockheed Martin, New York Times, Nokia Siemens, NSA, Operation CHAOS, Pentagon, Poland, Privacy International, Quintessenz, Security of Citizens in Urban Environment, securocrats, Shailesh Pandey, Slovakia, social networks, Suresh Manadhar, Technical University of Kosice, Technical University of Ostrava, Technical University of Sofia, Terrorist Attacks, The Guardian, The Register, Twitter, United Kingdom, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, University of Technology, University of Wuppertal, University of York, Verint, Washington Technology, whistleblowing, Wikileaks

That social networking sites and applications such as Facebook, Twitter and their competitors can facilitate communication and information sharing amongst diverse groups and individuals is by now a cliché.

It should come as no surprise then, that the secret state and the capitalist grifters whom they serve, have zeroed-in on the explosive growth of these technologies. One can be certain however, securocrats aren’t tweeting their restaurant preferences or finalizing plans for after work drinks. Read the full story

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Wide Awake: Patient Trapped In A 23-Year ‘Coma’ Was Conscious All Along

Posted on 22 November 2009. Tags: assisted suicide, Belgium, books, Brain, car crash, Carrie Coons, case, coma, Coma Science Group, coma tests, computer, conscious, consciousness, Department of Neurology at Liege University Hospital, Doctors, Dr. Steven Laureys, euthanasia, experts, eye responses, false comas, family, friends, Germany, Glasgow Coma Scale, hi-tech scans, Hillsborough disaster, life support, medical advances, misdiagnosed, motor responses, neurological expert, New York, paralyzed, Patient, re-evaluation, right-to-die debate, Rom Houben, scientific paper, severe traumatic brain injury, therapy, Tony Bland, UK, United Kingdom, University of Liege, vegatative state, verbal responses, Zolder

Patient trapped in a 23-year ‘coma’ was conscious all along

A man thought by doctors to be in a vegetative state for 23 years was actually conscious the whole time, it was revealed last night.

Student Rom Houben was misdiagnosed after a car crash left him totally paralysed.

He had no way of letting experts, family or friends know he could hear every word they said. Read the full story

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United Kingdom: Terrifying Anti-Piracy Plans Leak

Posted on 20 November 2009. Tags: copyright, Cory Doctorow, Digital Economy Bill, file-sharing, government, internet, Labour government, legislation, Lord Mandelson, Parliamentary, Secretary of State, United Kingdom

Tomorrow morning Lord Mandelson will present the Digital Economy Bill to the public, which among other things is aimed at reducing illicit file-sharing. According to parts of the bill that leaked today, the legislation could lead to jail terms for file-sharers and unprecedented power for the entertainment industries.

Over the past months the UK government has tried to tackle the issue of online piracy. This has resulted in a proposal from Lord Mandelson, who plans to disconnect alleged file sharers without any judicial process. Read the full story

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Afghanistan: President Barack Obama’s advisers prepare three options while public questions continuing war

Posted on 08 November 2009. Tags: Afghan President Hamid Karzai, Afghanistan, aides, analyst, assessment team, Barack Obama, coalition, commanders, europe, ICG, indigenous security force, insurgents, International Crisis Group, Islamic government, John Kerry, Kabul, Mark Schneider, military officers, mujaheddin rebels, Mujda, NATO, Pentagon, reinforcements, security force, senior lieutenants, soldiers, Soviet Union, Stanley McChrystal, Stephen Biddle, Taliban, Taliban leader Mullah Brader Akhund, The New Republic journal, the Senate, The Senate's Foreign Relations Committee, think tank, troops, U.S. general, U.S. Senate, United Kingdom, United States, vice president of the ICG, Waheed Mujda, war, war strategy

No easy options as Obama agonises over Afghan war

By Chris Otton (AFP)

KABUL — With Hamid Karzai confirmed as Afghan president for another five years, the pressure is on Barack Obama to declare his plans for winning a war which commanders say is in danger of being lost. Read the full story

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UK: Guardian (UK newspaper) Gagged from reporting parliament, Twitter reveals details on suppressed story

Posted on 13 October 2009. Tags: 1688 Bill of Rights, 18th century, africa, Alan Rusbridger, blogosphere, British parliament, Censored, Colonel B, Commons order papers, constitutional right, Cover-Up, DPP, free speech, gag order, Geoffrey Robertson QC, John Wilkes, law firm, Lord Denning, media, Minister, MP, parliament, Robert Hargreaves, scandal, social media, Spectator, The Guardian, toxic waste, Trafigura, Twitter, United Kingdom, Wikileaks

UK Gags Guardian, but Twitter Airs Suppressed Story

Social media site explodes with toxic waste scandal

(Newser) – The Guardian has been slapped with an unprecedented gag order forbidding it from reporting on a question in the British parliament, as well as who asked the question and why it’s being gagged. The paper says constitutional rights are being infringed upon and it’s already suing—but meanwhile, the suppressed story is already the talk of Twitter. Three of this morning’s top trending topics relate to the energy company Trafigura allegedly dumping toxic waste in Africa, which the Guardian revealed last month. Read the full story