The UK Government's chief drugs advisor, Professor David Nutt, has said ecstasy, LSD and cannabis are safer than alcohol and cigarettes.
The Home Office, trying to distance themselves from his remarks, said the following in response: "Prof Nutt's views are his own and do not reflect the views of Government."
ttp://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23762192-drugs-chief-under-fire-for-saying-cannabis-is-safer-than-alcohol.doThe UK Government's chief drugs advisor, Professor David Nutt, has said ecstasy, LSD... more
Scientists are dismayed and outraged at a new project by the UK border agency to test DNA, hair, and nails to determine the nationality of asylum seekers and help decide if they can enter the UK. 'Horrifying,' 'naive,' and 'flawed' are among the words geneticists and isotope specialists have used to describe the 'Human Provenance pilot project.' The methods being used to determine ancestry include fingerprinting of mitochondrial DNA and isotope analysis of hair and nails. ScienceInsider blog notes that it is 'not clear who is conducting the DNA and isotope analyses for the Border Agency,' and that the agency has not 'cited any scientific papers that validate its DNA and isotope methods.'
As Barack Obama and members of Congress spend the August recess discussing America's healthcare system in town hall meetings, Fox News and a group called Conservatives for Patients Rights (CPR) are comparing the president's reform plan - unfavourably - to the British NHS. Both Fox and CPR have invited UK doctors, politicians and patients to voice their concerns and frustrations on the air.
Take a look and tell us what you think: fair criticisms or overstated hype?
Here, Fox News presenter Glenn Beck interviews Tory MEP Daniel Hannan, focusing on the wait times for treatment in the UK.
They reported, you decide: Is this Fox News segment a good representation of the NHS? British cancer specialist Karol Sikora and UK health policy analyst Roy Lilley are among the experts assembled for the segment.
CPR has been producing ads like this one, referenced in the Fox clip above, that criticise Britain's NHS.
Kate Spall, Katie Brickell and Angela French further detail their personal experiences with the NHS in this CPR video. Spall says: "If you have cancer in the UK you are going to die quicker than any other country in Europe." Dr Sikora makes another appearance as well.
French, a cancer patient from Yardley Gobion, talks about the difficulties she had obtaining high-end drugs through the NHS.As Barack Obama and members of Congress spend the August recess discussing America's... more
Downing Street, Stephen Fry and others have added their voice to the twitter campaign defending the NHS from being untruthfully smeared and targeted in the debate over healthcare raging in the United States.Downing Street, Stephen Fry and others have added their voice to the twitter campaign... more
The UK Pirate Party has been officially registered at the Electoral Commission and is hoping to follow in the footsteps of its successful counterpart in Sweden. With all the recent controversy surrounding anti-piracy legislation and lawyers going after alleged file-sharers, the party has become necessity.The UK Pirate Party has been officially registered at the Electoral Commission and is... more
Almost a quarter of school children are leaving primary school unable to read, write and do basic arithmetic properly according to figures released today.
The number of 11-year-olds in England who leave primary school unable to write a proper sentence has risen for the first time in 15 years.
A fifth of 11 year olds did not reach the most basic standards in English tests according to SAT test results.
Teachers today described the tests as "meaningless nonsense" and renewed calls to boycott them next year.Almost a quarter of school children are leaving primary school unable to read, write... more
Flawed US plans were rubberstamped by Blair. Brown blocked vital funding for five months.
A secret report by Army bosses to be presented to the Iraq war inquiry blames Tony Blair and Gordon Brown for the botched occupation of the country.
The dossier - prepared for ex-military chief General Sir Mike Jackson - criticises then Chancellor Mr Brown for withholding funds to rebuild Basra for FIVE months after our troops went in. And the 100-page document attacks Mr Blair for "uncritically" accepting flawed US plans for the March 2003 invasion, which led to tens of thousands of deaths, including those of 179 British troops.
The report - Stability Operations in Iraq - will not be officially made public because the inquiry's head, Sir John Chilcot, ruled all documents will remain secret.
But the contents have been leaked to the Sunday Mirror.
We can reveal that a lack of cash for the operation meant British troops sent to fight in Iraq:
Used mobile phones to communicate in combat because radios did not work.
Were forced to leave wounded soldiers on the battlefield for an average of two-and-half hours before getting them to a field hospital.Flawed US plans were rubberstamped by Blair. Brown blocked vital funding for five... more
History repeats itself. In the early fifties it happened before......when Prime Minister Mossadeq got wind of their planned coup, he threw out all the British Embassy staff leaving them with no agents in Iran to carry out the coup. In that time they approached the American who carried out the coup in return for 40% of the oil revenue...............and that is how Americans became involved in OIL in Iran.
It has happed again .....Iranian security officials have arrested eight local staff members of the British embassy for inflaming post-election tensions in the country.History repeats itself. In the early fifties it happened before......when Prime... more
"Conservative members of parliament were apoplectic last night as Conservative MP John Bercow was elected Speaker of the House of Commons. Senior Tories have accused the government of 'dirty tricks' by installing a Tory into the job."
The dumbing down of politics and public life should probably look something like this:
"A new primetime show called I'm an MP......get me in the Chair! will be aired on ITV1 on Sunday and Monday with the candidates for the job put through various tests at a camp in the New Forest. The public will vote off one MP every few hours by phone. Presented by Ant and Dec, the tasks will include drinking steaming hot bowls of horseshit, climbing up trees to get food rations, and eating animal genitals in an attempt to prove they are the best person for the job."
Probably no more silly than the current system for electing the speaker.
AMARU - a green ethical business based around hemp, with a truly sustainable vision for community hemp. AMARU is conceived and designed to both fund the research of Hemp Global Solutions, and to establish regional markets for new hemp communities to sell into.
Products are designed to have an overall positive effect on the global environment while reversing the negative trends of wealth moving away from the people who generate it!. Our sustainable community hemp model, will empower communities, creating wealth and resources while bio-remediating environmentsThe Hempire Strikes back
AMARU - a green ethical business based around hemp, with a... more
UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown and his supporters are today getting down on their knees, rolling up their sleeves, and trying to extract a glossy shine from sh*t.
One can only react with horror. Contained in the stories and images of the torture of defenseless prisoners, some of them boys and women, is the true face of US imperialism, which finds no crime beneath its dignity in its effort to subjugate Iraq and Afghanistan.
White House takes swipe at British press over Daily Telegraph report
White House takes swipe at British press over Daily Telegraph report
Daniel Nasaw in Washington
guardian.co.uk,
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Gibbs twice more criticised the British press. "I think if you do an even moderate Google search, you're not going to find many of these newspapers and truth within, say, 25 words of each other," he said, adding, "I hate to lend any more credibility to nonfactual reports."
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The White House has taken a swipe at the British press in an effort to fend off questions about photographs that reportedly show US soldiers in Iraq raping and sexually abusing prisoners.
At the daily White House press briefing, spokesman Robert Gibbs was asked to comment on a report in yesterday's Telegraph that quoted a retired American general describing shocking details of photographs from US detention facilities in Iraq, which President Barack Obama has declined to release to the public.
"If I wanted to read a write-up today of how Manchester United fared last night in the Champions League cup, I might open up a British newspaper," Gibbs said. "If I was looking for something that bordered on truthful news, I'm not sure it would be the first stack of clips I picked up."
The Telegraph quoted retired Major General Antonio Taguba, who investigated abuses at Abu Ghraib prison, as saying that the unreleased photos "show torture, abuse, rape and every indecency" committed on prisoners in US custody.
Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said the Telegraph "completely mischaracterised the images", and said "none of the photos in question depict the images that are described in that article".
Gibbs twice more criticised the British press. "I think if you do an even moderate Google search, you're not going to find many of these newspapers and truth within, say, 25 words of each other," he said, adding, "I hate to lend any more credibility to nonfactual reports."White House takes swipe at British press over Daily Telegraph report... more
A test done in the UK examines one man's driving ability after smoking cannabis.
Driving drunk is dangerous, irresponsible, and a major cause of traffic fatalities. But what about cannabis intoxication? Does it affect motor skills as severely as alcohol?
“Cannabis leads to a more cautious style of driving, [but] it has a negative impact on decision time and trajectory. [However,] this in itself does not mean that drivers under the influence of cannabis represent a traffic safety risk. … Cannabis alone, particularly in low doses, has little effect on the skills involved in automobile driving.”
REFERENCE: Canadian Senate Special Committee on Illegal Drugs. 2002. Cannabis: Summary Report: Our Position for a Canadian Public Policy. Ottawa. Chapter 8: Driving Under the Influence of Cannabis.
"Evidence from the present and previous studies strongly suggests that alcohol encourages risky driving whereas THC encourages greater caution, at least in experiments. Another way THC seems to differ qualitatively from many other drugs is that the formers users seem better able to compensate for its adverse effects while driving under the influence.”
REFERENCE: H. Robbe. 1995. Marijuana’s effects on actual driving performance. In: C. Kloeden and A. McLean (Eds) Alcohol, Drugs and Traffic Safety T-95. Adelaide: Australia: HHMRC Road Research Unit, University of Adelaide. Pp. 11-20.
A video to show one reason why the BNP is different from the other parties.
Here is a short excerpt of their constitution you can d/l from their web site which is the basis for the statements in the video:
CONSTITUTION OF THE BRITISH NATIONAL PARTY
Ninth Edition, published September 2005
Printed and published by British National Party
PO Box 287, Waltham Cross, Hertfordshire EN8 8ZU
SECTION 1: POLITICAL OBJECTIVES
...
2) The political objectives of the party are set out in the following Statement of
Principles:-
...
(b) The British National Party stands for the preservation of the national and ethnic
character of the British people and is wholly opposed to any form of racial
integration between British and non-European peoples. It is therefore committed
to stemming and reversing the tide of non-white immigration and to restoring, by
legal changes, negotiation and consent, the overwhelmingly white makeup of the
British population that existed in Britain prior to 1948A video to show one reason why the BNP is different from the other parties.
Here is... more
After several days of intense pressure, Michael Martin had been holding firm in his intention to remain in office. But early on Tuesday he heard that Esther Rantzen, a faded TV personality and general sanctimonious pain in the arse, is planning on standing for parliament.
There is a new freedom pamphlet sweeping across America.
It has been featured by Ron Paul’s Campaign for Liberty, Restore the Republic and Republic Magazine, Freedom Law School, and many other liberty organizations. I am pleased to announce my support for this new pamphlet and wish to share it with you.There is a new freedom pamphlet sweeping across America.
It has been featured by... more
A neat flowered pound sign in the lawn, a money tree and a chest full of taxpayers' money in Tory MP Alan Duncan's garden.A neat flowered pound sign in the lawn, a money tree and a chest full of taxpayers'... more
Mark Thomas, political activist, commentator, performer, writer and comedian has instructed his lawyers, Leigh Day & Co to write to the Speaker of the House of Commons threatening legal action unless a full transparent review is urgently ordered into the scandal of MPs expenses.
The Speaker has been given 14 days to respond, failing which Judicial Review proceedings may follow.Mark Thomas, political activist, commentator, performer, writer and comedian has... more
A report into the actions of four Labour peers alleged to have been willing to change laws in exchange for cash is to be published by the House of Lords.
Lord Truscott, Lord Snape, Lord Moonie and Lord Taylor all deny the claim made by the Sunday Times following an undercover investigation.
If found guilty of misconduct, the four men could face sanctions including suspension from Parliament for a year but the police has decided not to proceed with a criminal investigation into the case.A report into the actions of four Labour peers alleged to have been willing to change... more
