Drugmakers Have Paid $8 Billion in Fraud Fines

The nation's largest drugmakers have paid at least $8 billion in fines for repeatedly defrauding Medicare and Medicaid over the past decade, but they remain in business with the federal government because they are often the sole suppliers of critical products, records show.

 Pfizer, the maker of drugs that help alleviate arthritis and other ailments, has paid almost $3 billion in fines since 2002 and entered into three corporate integrity agreements with the Department of Health and Human Services aimed at preventing future fraud. It and other companies are fighting attempts by Congress to exclude them from government business because of their history of fraud.

Merck, another pharmaceutical giant, paid $1.6 billion in fines since 2008, Medicare and Justice Department records show, to resolve claims it was not paying proper rebates to the government.

Pfizer's 2009 settlement was for improperly promoting the use of drugs for purposes other than those for which they were approved by the government. Merck's 2008 settlement involved claims the company paid illegal kickbacks to health care providers in exchange for prescribing its drugs.

Trident bases to be run by private companies

MoD signs contracts putting companies in charge of 'day-to-day running' of nuclear missile submarine bases

The ministry has signed a 15-year contract with AWE, the consortium which already operates the Atomic Weapons Establishment at Aldermaston in Berkshire, where nuclear warheads are designed and maintained. Additional contracts have been signed with Babcock and Lockheed Martin, part of a new consortium to be known as the ABL Alliance.

"History is littered with outsourcing deals that either or both parties eventually find constraining and/or, in practice, more expensive," said the Royal United Services Institute report. "After the G4S and Olympics episode, the privatisation of the railways is the most obvious example of this, but there are many others."

It said the outsourcing plan suffered "from an inherent weakness, since it appears to rest on an argument that, because the government is not very good at negotiating and managing contracts with the private sector, it is going to negotiate an even bigger contract with a private-sector entity to undertake the entire task on its behalf. Persuasive arguments against this logic need to be marshalled."

American Autumn

Bradley Manning's lawyers seek to show torturous holding conditions

Manning's lawyers move to have the 22 charges against him dismissed due to treatment during his detention likened to torture

After his arrest in May 2010 at a military base near Baghdad, the young soldier was held at the Quantico marine base in Virginia.

For a period of about eight months at Quantico, Manning was subjected to extraordinarily harsh conditions. This was done, the military claimed, for his own protection under a so-called "prevention of injury" order or POI.

The unidentified witnesses that Coombs wants to call include a military psychiatrist who consistently recommended to Manning's captors at the brig at Quantico that the prisoner should be removed from restrictive conditions. But his advice was ignored and Manning continued to be subjected to solitary confinement, being stripped naked, held in a bare cell and made to wear a rough smock at night.

Witnesses will testify, the defence motion states, that when the psychiatrists objected to the conditions, they were told by the military chiefs in the brig: "We will do whatever we want to do."

FBI Says Activists Who Investigate Factory Farms Can Be Prosecuted as Terrorists

The FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force has kept files on activists who expose animal welfare abuses on factory farms and recommended prosecuting them as terrorists, according to a new document uncovered through the Freedom of Information Act.

The animal activists caused “economic loss” to businesses, the FBI says. And they also openly rescued several animals from the abusive conditions. This was not done covertly in the style of underground groups like the Animal Liberation Front — it was an act of non-violent civil disobedience and, as the FBI agent notes, the activists distributed press releases and conducted media interviews taking responsibility for their actions.

Based on these acts — trespassing in order to photograph and videotape abuses on factory farms — the agent concludes there “is a reasonable indication” that the activists “have violated the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act, 18 USC Section 43 (a).”

Free Bradley Manning

WikiLeaks immediately upended journalism as we knew it, filling newspapers with more revelations than editors knew what to do with, more scoops in a year than most journalists get in a lifetime, and more source documents than American journalists had ever had access to before. 

 
WikiLeaks blew holes in the wall of U.S. secrecy, and the world is better for it. As Julian Assange turns 41 in political limbo in Europe, and as Bradley Manning nears 800 days in jail without a court martial, we remember how much good WikiLeaks’ releases have done.

It’s important to note, as we review the many benefits WikiLeaks provided us, that this type of positive change, if we’re to believe the chat logs, is what Bradley Manning desperately hoped for. He said he witnessed “crazy, almost criminal political backdealings” by “a plethora of states acting in self interest.” He hoped exposing them would compel “debate, discussion, and reforms,” and he was right.

The release of these documents has demonstrably improved the world, in the short term by inspiring these democratic uprisings and in the long run with a new perspective on massive secrecy and covert diplomacy. And yet, as it works to send him to life in jail, the military is attempting to paint Bradley as a traitor who didn’t care for his country. But it’s clear that the opposite is true:

Bradley cared deeply enough for his fellow Americans that he believed they deserved to know what their government was doing in secret. Bradley said, “Information should be free…It belongs in the public domain.” If Bradley did what he’s accused of, he put this invaluable information in the public domain for the world to see. We continue to feel the positive effects to this day.

China cancels project after protests

Officials buckle under pressure from protest against industrial waste pipeline project in Qidong province.

Hundreds of demonstrators protesting against alleged pollution from a paper factory in eastern China's Jiangsu province have clashed with police, forcing authorities to drop plans for a water-discharge project. 

The Qidong government announced on its website on Saturday that plans to build the water-discharge project had been scrapped. The official Xinhua News Agency said thousands of residents took to the streets but dispersed after the government announcement.

The demonstration was the latest in a string of protests sparked by fears of environmental degradation and highlights the social tensions the government in Beijing faces as it approaches a leadership transition this year.

About 1,000 protesters marched through the coastal city, shouting slogans against the planned pipeline that would have emptied waste from a paper factory in a nearby town into the sea.

"The government says the waste will not pollute the sea, but if that's true, then why don't they dump it into Yangtze River?" said Lu Shuai, a 25-year-old protester who works in logistics.

The Total Policing of Critical Mass – An Eye Witness Report

Commentary, videos and photos on #criticalmass

4 Critical Mass cyclists charged by London Metropolitan police.  More here

 And here.

Occupy Tokyo Night Protest Action July 27th 2012

Occupy Tokyo can get lively after dark. After the weekly protest in front of the Japanese PM office, a crowd gathered at the O.T. camp for some protest action directed toward M.E.T.I.

China cancels waste project after protests turn violent

QIDONG, China (Reuters) - Chinese officials canceled an industrial waste pipeline project on Saturday after anti-pollution demonstrators occupied a government office in eastern China, destroying computers and overturning cars.

Zhang Guohua, city mayor of the eastern China city of Nantong, said in a statement the city would terminate the planned pipeline that would have emptied waste water from a Japanese-owned paper factory into the sea near Qidong.

 The decision came hours after about 1,000 protesters marched through the city of Qidong, about one hour north of Shanghai, shouting slogans against the pipeline.

 "The government says the waste will not pollute the sea, but if that's true, then why don't they dump it into Yangtze River?" Lu Shuai, a 25-year-old protester who works in logistics, said while marching.

 "It is because if they dump it into the river, it will have an impact on people in Shanghai and people in Shanghai will oppose it."

The outpouring of public anger is emblematic of the rising discontent facing Chinese leaders, who are obsessed with maintaining stability and struggling to balance growth with rising public anger over environmental threats.

 Such protests "suggest that the middle class, whose members seemed willing to accept in the 1990s that being able to buy more things equaled having a better life, is now wondering whether one's quality of life has improved, if you have to worry about breathing the air, drinking the water, and whether the food you're eating is safe," said Jeffrey Wasserstrom, of the University of California Irvine.

Bradley Manning to Testify on ‘Unlawful Pretrial Punishment’ He Endured

A comprehensive motion containing allegations and evidence from the defense for Pfc. Bradley Manning, the soldier accused of releasing classified information to WikiLeaks, was filed on July 27.

The defense’s motion was not approved for publishing; however, two other motions involving the defense’s request for witnesses to appear during argument on “unlawful pretrial punishment” were posted to the defense’s website.

One of the motions reveals Manning will likely take the stand to give testimony on how he was subjected to “unlawful pretrial punishment”—what many have called cruel and inhuman treatment or even torture. 

His testimony may include what he knows about a video of his interrogation at Quantico, which the government claims does not exist.

FBI Raid Show Feds are Targeting Anarchists

The FBI search warrant states that they are looking to seize items which may be evidence regarding the crimes of conspiracy to destroy government property, interstate travel with intent to riot, and conspiracy to travel interstate with intent to riot.

 
Those items include: Clothing and related items work during commission of offenses; paint; sticks and flags similar to those used or carried during the commission of the offenses, and material for making flags; anti-government or anarchist literature, documentation or communications related to the offenses, flares, computers or electronic storage media of any kind.

‘Whose Games? Whose City?‘ London Olympics

Today (Saturday) Occupy London will join more than 40 groups protesting against the Olympics for the ‘Whose Games? Whose City?‘ demonstration, organised by the Counter Olympics Network. 

Assembling in Mile End Park in East London at noon, there will be a march to Wennington Green for a family friendly event including speeches, entertainment, alternative games and children’s events.

There is no intention to cause disruption to the games. We hope that the police and other interested parties including LOCOG, the ODA, the IOC likewise respect people’s sacrosanct right to assemble, travel and protest peacefully.

Occupy London @OccupyLondon
Whose games? Whose City? March just beginning. By mile end station

Occupy London @OccupyLondon
On bow road

Occupy London @OccupyLondon
Keep capitalism out of sport placard at Roman Road

Occupy London @OccupyLondon
Counter corporate Olympics demo on roman road

GlaxoSmithKline to pay $3 billion healthcare fraud settlement, U.S. says

Pharmaceutical drug maker GlaxoSmithKline will pay $3 billion and plead guilty to federal charges to resolve a slew of criminal and civil issues stemming from its use of kickbacks, mis-branding and other misconduct to market drugs such as Paxil, Wellbutrin and Advair, the U.S. government announced.

The agreement is the largest healthcare fraud settlement in history, spanning nearly every state, according to the Justice Department. It’s also the largest payment ever by a drug company. The settlement is “unprecedented in both size and scope,” said James M. Cole, deputy attorney general, in a statement.

The British company illegally marketed depression drug Paxil to children and teens, even sponsoring dinners and spa programs in the drug’s name, prosecutors said.

Glaxo also used sham advisory boards and speakers at lavish resorts to promote depression drug Wellbutrin as an option for weight loss and a remedy for sexual dysfunction and substance addiction, according to the government. Customers were urged to use higher-than-approved dosages, the government said.

The healthcare giant was also accused by prosecutors of advertising off-label uses for asthma drug Advair, seizure medication Lamictal and nausea treatment Zofran while also making false claims about the safety and usefulness of such drugs.

The government also accused Glaxo of offering kickbacks to medical professionals, dangling cash, trips to Florida and tickets to basketball games as an incentive to promote and prescribe its drugs.

Wal-Mart Officials Sued Over Mexican Bribery Allegations

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) officials were sued by a group of New York pension funds for alleged mismanagement in failing to prevent bribery as the world’s largest retailer expanded operations in Mexico.

Investors including the New York City Employees’ Retirement System, Police Pension Fund, Fire Department Pension Fund and Board of Education Retirement System contend that company officials were duty bound to control alleged “widespread corruption” and a subsequent cover-up at Wal-Mart de Mexico, according to a complaint filed today in Delaware Chancery Court.

The U.S. government investigation into $24 million in alleged Mexican bribes might cost Wal-Mart hundreds of millions of dollars, former federal prosecutors have said.

Police protest tactics 'give officers excessive and disproportionate control'

Study by network of police monitoring groups says use of pre-emptive arrests and kettling are unjustified curbs on liberty

Pre-emptive arrests, confinement by kettling and the gathering of personal data give police officers "excessive and disproportionate" control over public protests, a report by a coalition of police monitoring groups has warned.

The study by the Network for Police Monitoring (Netpol) is highly critical of tactics used by forces across the country to clamp down on what it says are freedoms of assembly and expression.

Based on evidence from court cases and eyewitness reports of police operations in 2010 and 2011, the study calls for a more tolerant approach towards processions and protests.

Netpol consists of an alliance of well-established activist groups, including Aldermaston Women's Peace Camp, the Campaign Against Criminalising Communities, Climate Camp Legal Team, FITwatch, Green & Black Cross, Legal Defence and Monitoring Group and the Newham Monitoring Project.

"The use of pre-emptive arrests is one of the most disturbing aspects of the policing of protest during [this] period," the report states. "The mere possibility of disruption to the royal wedding triggered the arrest of groups of prospective protesters who had committed no criminal acts.

"We believe that this power is frequently misused to obtain intelligence about individuals who have done nothing unlawful. Protest should not be equated with anti-social behaviour, and the use of such powers on political demonstrations should end."

Used together, the Netpol report concludes, the powers and strategies adopted by the police have allowed them "to exercise an excessive and disproportionate level of control over protest assemblies and processions".

Low Wage Workers Day of Action

 In one of the wealthiest cities in the world, four out of 10 households in New York City are forced to live on minimum or near-minimum wages.

Meanwhile minimum wage jobs are the fastest growing sector in the state growing ten-fold over the past five years.

A minimum wage earner employed full time makes just of $15,000/ year. That's hardly enough to get by in New York. And many low-wage workers have tips and wages stolen by employers, forcing them to survive on even less.

Full-time work shouldn't keep you in poverty. It's time for workers to band together and demand respect in our work places. It is time to tell our elected officials that New York needs a raise. It's time for broader prosperity across the country.

#Occupy Critical Mass - Olympics

A peaceful good natured mass cycle that has happened on the last Friday of every month for the past eighteen years was met with police aggression, pepper spray, violence with truncheons used, kettling and multiple arrests.  From Occupy London


Red London buses full of confiscated bicycles present a very different image of what this city means to the people who live in it in 2012.

 “Tonight, the police criminalised cycling – cyclists were assaulted and arrested by the bus load. Early into Critical Mass, David Beckham was the first car behind a police blockade. When interest stirred about his presence, the police violently shoved cyclists to the floor and Beckham’s vehicle was the only one that was let through the road block,” commented Steve Rushton, Occupy London supporter and member of the Counter Olympic Network.

“The authorities’ response – both earlier and later during the arrests – contradicts the idea the games would encourage people to participate in sport or that these are the greenest games ever. It’s ironic that cyclists featured so heavily in the actual ceremony too, while their real-life counterparts were being arrested just nearby.” 

The Olympics has started and it seems cycling has become a criminal offence, worthy of police brutality.  From Occupy News Network.

The picture above has the caption, “A cyclist scuffles with police officers outside the Olympic Stadium.” Judging by the cyclists foot and the body angle, and the way the bike is off the ground; it looks more accurate to describe the scene as “Policeman dangerously lunges at cyclist, with support from three other officers as he cycles through a green light without any other cyclists anywhere near him.” You would think that if parts of the media were going to create such pro establishment propaganda – they could at least put some effort in.

Critical mass met as it does on a monthly basis to cycle as a swarm, for community reclaiming of streets in London. It met near Waterloo Bridge, at the Southbank Centre. From regulars’ accounts, as it is not a “protest”, this is normally free from police suppression and it follows the whims of the mass, with no clear direction ending its route on the Royal Mall.

On this gathering, the police were there on mass too: an authoritarian mass. They announced that under a section 12 no cyclists were allowed to cross the rivers and go to any of North London.

The over a thousand people assembled, did not move for a while. Then we set off first trying to cross Waterloo Bridge. The police blocked this route.I moved with the mass and we had similar problems at Blackfriars, our way blocked by a police line, which was also blocking the traffic. Then we headed to try Southwark Bridge, again this was blocked.

 David Beckham was stuck the other side of the roadblock in a dark SUV heading south.

 I saw cyclists thrown off their bikes, hit and manhandled for standing still. If the police had not blocked the road, this would not have happened.

And this is just the start, innocent cyclists arrested for  ....  cycling!!  Watch as new laws are quickly brought in to save us from  ... innocent cyclists who could be terrorists in disguise.

Unofficial Opening Ceremony Live Blog Olympics

Welcome to the Shit London unofficial Olympic opening ceremony commentary. 

I'll be blogging live during throughout the ceremony and offering you inane observations alongside poorly researched, possibly made-up information. 

I'll also be posting some of the best reader reactions to events as well. You can follow updates here or on my Twitter feed @shitlondon. Let's see what £27 million looks like. Here we go....

Mass arrests as London police attack 'Critical Mass' cycle ride during Olympic ceremony

London police have used pepper spray against “critical mass” cycle ride as the British capital holds the opening ceremony of the 2012 Summer Games. “Large number of people” arrested said a police tweet.

Some witnesses said police pushed the cyclists aside to get David Beckham through traffic.

Critical Mass is a cycling event typically held on the last Friday of every month all around the world. 

From the BBC 

People taking part in a monthly mass bike ride held in London say they are being "kettled" near the stadium. 

Kerry-Anne Mendoza, 31, who describes herself as a campaigner and writer, said: "We were cycling down the Bow Road [in Stratford] and the police directed us down a cul-de-sac.

"Then they kettled us in there. There is a line of police cars and vans behind that."

She added: "They have not communicated with us or told us why we are being held here or when they will let us out."

The regular Critical Mass ride is a pro-cycling event.

A spokesman for Scotland Yard said: "A number of people in breach of regulations imposed on a monthly cycling event have been arrested."

The arrested cyclists have been detained under Section 12 of the Public Order Act. 

Moving Calculator of Money Spent at Olympics

Click this link to see a moving second by second score of the amount of money spent and what else we could have spent it on. 

Chevron ordered to pay $19 billion in environment damages

Chevron has been ordered to pay more than $19 billion in environmental damages, $1 billion more than originally decided, after an Ecuadoran court adjusted the amount on appeal, a source said.

“Due to an involuntary calculation error, the reparations now amount to $19,021,552,000,” said a court source in the northeastern Amazonian province of Sucumbios.

Some 30,000 indigenous people and local farmers say the US oil firm Texaco contaminated large areas of Ecuador’s Amazon Jungle when it operated in the region from 1964 to 1990, roughly a decade before Chevron acquired the company.

After years of litigation, an Ecuadoran court in February 2011 ordered the company to pay $18 billion in damages.

#critical mass #Olympics Protests

Laura Tannenbaum @IamLauraT

 Chaos on East London roads as cyclists take over the 'games lanes' from which they're apparently banned. #criticalmass pic.twitter.com/UdA86mhq

brixton hatter @BrixtonHatter

#London #CriticalMass kettled outside #olympic park. Peaceful protest is dead. Its a bike ride FFS yfrog.com/hsmqzvgj

OurOlympics @OurOlympics

 View from inside @MetPoliceEvents kettle of #criticalmass. At least a 2:1 ratio cops to cyclists.

Cyclists bring part of central London grinding to a halt #criticalmass #Olympics

Hundreds of cyclists have brought part of central London to a standstill. It's part of a procession of cyclists called 'critical mass'. This image was taken by one cyclist taking part, Rory Anderson.

Cyclists on Waterloo Bridge in Central London Credit: Twitter/@RoryAnderson_

ARTIST TAXI DRIVER @chunkymark

 Met police punched cyclists to get David Beckham through traffic. That should be the defining image for the opening ceremony #CriticalMass

Jonnie Marbles @JonnieMarbLes

 It would be good to have a live split screen of the opening ceremony and the #criticalmass protesters being beaten up right now #london2012

OurOlympics @OurOlympics

 We are kettled and arrests being made at Bow Road. Ppl dragged off bikes. Hit. Awful. #criticalmass

Just a few comments from twitter.

Policeman assaulting a disabled man on tricycle #criticalmass Olympics

27 July 2012


During monthly critical mass ride policeman has assaulted a disabled man, who was stationary on his motorized tricycle.

Later police arrested this man despite the presence more than a dozen witnesses that testified in his defence.

O2 Olympic venue in row over security against legal photography

Arena hosting Games events in Greenwich defends security guards' attempt to stop filming from public land



Media and civil liberties groups have expressed alarm after the managers of an Olympic venue pledged to intercept and question anyone seen photographing or filming the site, even from public land, and defended security guards who wrongly tried to invoke terrorist laws to prevent footage being shot of the arena.

As an experiment, the Guardian attempted to shoot video footage of the O2 arena from a public road on its southern edge, only a few minutes' walk from the main entrance.

Very quickly the reporter was challenged by O2 security guards, who made a series of demands with no basis in law. They ordered that the filming stop – "We've requested you to not do it because we don't like it" – and that they be shown any existing footage. Asked on what basis they could demand this, one replied: "It's under the terrorist law. We are an Olympic venue." Another added: "You have, for want of a better word, breached our security by videoing it [the O2]."

At one point they refused to allow the reporter to leave. One said: "It's gone too far for that."

 

Stop paying taxes!

Uploaded by RTAmerica on Apr 5, 2010

 

Should the people stop paying taxes and start their own government? David Degraw says that the government has become an organized criminal that has seized control of the economy and is bent on destroying the middle class of America.

Mexican official: CIA 'manages' drug trade

Juarez, Mexico - The US Central Intelligence Agency and other international security forces "don't fight drug traffickers", a spokesman for the Chihuahua state government in northern Mexico has told Al Jazeera, instead "they try to manage the drug trade".

 Allegations about official complicity in the drug business are nothing new when they come from activists, professors, campaigners or even former officials. However, an official spokesman for the authorities in one of Mexico's most violent states - one which directly borders Texas - going on the record with such accusations is unique.

"It's like pest control companies, they only control," Guillermo Terrazas Villanueva, the Chihuahua spokesman, told Al Jazeera last month at his office in Juarez. "If you finish off the pests, you are out of a job. If they finish the drug business, they finish their jobs.

Occupy Protesters' Rights Must Be Protected, U.N. Says; U.S. Says Nothing

Federal officials have yet to respond to two United Nations human rights envoys who formally requested that the U.S. government protect Occupy protesters against excessive force by law enforcement officials.  From Huffington Post

 NYPD 'violated rights' of Occupy protesters from aljazeera

New York police officers employed excessive force which escalated tensions, unjustified arrests and pervasive surveillance in violation of the rights of Occupy Wall Street protesters, a report from a group of human rights lawyers said on Wednesday.

US/NATO/Israel attack on Iran would be a catastrophe for everyone - Bill Ayers

US wars of “invasion, aggression and occupation” are no longer sustainable economically and socially, veteran war critic and US scholar Professor Bill Ayers told RT.

He adds that if NATO, the US or Israel attack Iran, it would lead to a catastrophe.

­The activist says America has an old colonial mentality and grotesque double standards. Washington is frantic about the possibility that Iran might have a nuclear warhead someday – but not frantic about the fact that Israel, as Ayers says, is the third-largest nuclear power in the world.

And it is not part of nuclear non-proliferation treaty, or even admits to having the weapons.


Ayers is part of the Occupy Wall Street movement, which he says has a growing “anti-war energy.”

Protests outside Olympic stadium against chemical sponsor

Activists are protesting outside the Olympic Stadium against Dow Chemical, one of the sponsors of the games. The protesters staged a "die-in" demanding compensation for those affected by the Bhopal disaster in 1984.

Five Olympic-sized gaffes ahead of London 2012

The games haven’t even officially started, but already we’ve seen a North Korea football team walk off a field before an early game because someone embarrassingly introduced the squad with the wrong flag.

With billions of people expected to watch London 2012 at some point during the 17-day event, organizers will hope many of the major troubles are behind them by the time Friday’s opening ceremony begins.

Here are five ways the run-up to these games wasn’t as smooth as organizers would have hoped:

1. Security contractor thousands of guards short 

2. Snubbed by a long-lost rock star 

 It’s embarrassing enough for Olympics organizers that The Who’s famed former drummer Keith Moon didn’t accept their invitation to play at the Games. Even worse is that the regrets had to come from the band’s manager. Because, you know, Moon has been dead for 34 years.

3. Tickets, please

4. That’s not our flag
The North Korean women’s football coach wasn’t impressed when he looked at the scoreboard and saw South Korea’s flag instead of his own country’s before the North’s first match Wednesday.

5. Disaster survivors, advocates protest Dow sponsorship

Advocates for victims of a fatal 1984 gas leak in India have criticized London 2012 officials for accepting Dow Chemicals as a major sponsor.

BP or not BP? Reclaiming Shakespeare from the sponsors

It was Sunday afternoon at the British Museum, and things seemed pretty normal. The new BP-sponsored Shakespeare exhibition had a steady flow of visitors, browsing through a series of artefacts linked to the Bard’s life and works. 

A few security guards kept an idle eye on the proceedings, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

Then the chanting began.

Double double, oil and trouble Tar sands burn and greenwash bubble 

 It started as a single, quiet voice, echoing around the final room in the exhibition – a brightly lit area dotted with display cabinets. Then more voices joined in, and more, until it became a rousing chorus, emanating from perhaps a dozen people scattered through the space.

As suddenly as it had begun, the chanting ceased – and three smartly dressed figures leapt, cackling, into the centre of the room, each wearing a cap with a bright green BP logo.

7-19-2012 COPWATCH Films NYPD Transit Cop Assaulting Youth Sunset Park

Catherine Brogan - Whose Games?

Auditors say billions likely wasted in Iraq work

Washington — After years of following the paper trail of $51 billion in U.S. taxpayer dollars provided to rebuild a broken Iraq, the U.S. government can say with certainty that too much was wasted. But it can’t say how much.

In what it called its final audit report, this week the Office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction Funds  spelled out a range of accounting weaknesses that put “billions of American taxpayer dollars at risk of waste and misappropriation” in the largest reconstruction project of its kind in U.S. history.

 “The precise amount lost to fraud and waste can never be known,” the report said.

 The auditors found huge problems accounting for the huge sums, but one small example of failure stood out: A contractor got away with charging $80 for a pipe fitting that its competitor was selling for $1.41. Why? The company’s billing documents were reviewed sloppily by U.S. contracting officers or were not reviewed at all.

See video here, interview with Paul Sheldon Foote, professor at California State University.

Toxic legacy of US assault on Fallujah 'worse than Hiroshima'

Dramatic increases in infant mortality, cancer and leukaemia in the Iraqi city of Fallujah, which was bombarded by US Marines in 2004, exceed those reported by survivors of the atomic bombs that were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, according to a new study.

US forces later admitted that they had employed white phosphorus as well as other munitions.

In the assault US commanders largely treated Fallujah as a free-fire zone to try to reduce casualties among their own troops. 

Dr Busby says that while he cannot identify the type of armaments used by the Marines, the extent of genetic damage suffered by inhabitants suggests the use of uranium in some form. He said: "My guess is that they used a new weapon against buildings to break through walls and kill those inside."

Guerilla Group Hijacks 30 UK Billboards, Pre-Olympics

Six artists, including Banksy collaborator Paul Insect, have postered their own work over existing outdoor campaigns to “challenge the destructive impacts of the advertising industry.”

The famous Wayne Rooney Nike ad gets nicely busted by Bill Posters with the addition of a Foot Locker shopping bag and a new tagline.
In Birmingham.

The group, Brandalism, says the strict enforcement of branding regulations for the London 2012 Olympics has been a strong part of provoking their reaction.

From the Brandalism website:

Installed over five days in one continuous road trip that has covered the length of the country, the Brandalism crew have hit 33 spots in 5 cities. Edited and developed on the fly, this project sees the culmination of 8 months work and we will be adding more content to the site after we get some serious sleep, updates will follow daily… 

 

US receives bids to drill in Gulf of Mexico - BP

The US government has offered up new areas of the central Gulf of Mexico for drilling for the first time since the 2010 BP oil disaster in the area and received $1.7bn in winning bids, officials have said.

"The government is gambling with the Gulf by encouraging even more offshore drilling in the same exceedingly deep waters that have already proven to be treacherous, rather than investing in safer clean energy that creates jobs without risking lives and livelihoods," said Jacqueline Savitz, vice president for North America at Oceana, one of five groups filing the suit.

"This move sets us up for another disastrous oil spill, threatening more human lives, livelihoods, industries and marine life, including endangered species, in the greedy rush to expand offshore drilling."

This is what happened before, see map linked here.

An explosion on the BP operated Deepwater Horizon oil rig killed eleven crew members on April 20, 2010, sparking the greatest environmental disaster in United States history.

In combination with the Texas City Refinery Explosion and the Prudohoe Bay Oil Spill, this marked the third serious incident involving BP in the United States in five years. 

Scientific estimates put the amount of oil that was being discharged from the broken well at above 1,470,000 US gallons per day! 

There are over 400 different species of animals living in the area affected by the spill. 464 sea turtles and 60 dolphins were found dead within the spill area (NOAA). 

BP operated oil skimmers and other cleanup tools to try to remove oil from the water and Louisiana began building oil containment berms to halt the spread of oil.

On July 15, 2010 BP sucesfully stopped the flow of oil from the wellhead, after spilling 190 million gallons of oil into the gulf over a period of 3 months.

MPs tell Barclays to stop fundraising for Mitt Romney

Barclays has privately distanced itself from its bankers' donations to Mitt Romney, the US Republican presidential candidate, after its executives were accused in parliament of fundraising for political candidates instead of working to rebuild the public's trust in the wake of the Libor-setting scandal.

Executives at Barclays have donated over $1m to Romney's presidential campaign and will hand over more money on Thursday night at an exclusive fundraising dinner in a secret Mayfair location, where tickets cost between $50,000 and $75,000.

A National Call to Shut Down Bain Capital on the Day Mitt Romney Accepts the Nomination

Mitt Romney co-founded Bain Capital. The corporation took part in many “hostile takeovers,” a practice that involves buying a company in order to simply lay off the workers, close the company and sell it for spare parts.

Bain Capital Companies:

 Outback Steakhouse
 Carrabba’s Italian Grill
 Bonefish Grill
 Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar
 Roy’s Hawaiian Fusion Cuisine
 Burlington Coat Factory
 Clear Channel Communications
 Dunkin’ Donuts
 Baskin Robbins
 Gymboree
 Hospital Corporation of America
 Michael’s Craft Store
 Toys’R’Us
 Staples
 The Princeton Review
 Work ‘N Gear

InterOccupy Calls for coordination of this action begin August 12th!

Breaking news - Irelands Bankers being Arrested and Charged!

The former Chief Executive and Chairman of Anglo Irish Bank has appeared in court in Dublin charged in connection with financial irregularities at the bank.

Seán FitzPatrick was charged with 16 offences under Section 60 of the Companies Act.

He is accused of permitting Anglo Irish Bank to give financial assistance to Patricia Quinn, her five children and ten senior clients of the bank who became known as the 'Maple 10', to enable the 16 to buy shares in the bank.

He was granted bail to appear in court again on 8 October for service of the book of evidence.
Mr FitzPatrick was arrested by arrangement at 5.37am this morning after getting off a flight at Dublin Airport.

Raise the Minimum Wage

Tuesday, July 24th, marks the three-year anniversary of the last increase in the federal minimum wage.  

Since that last increase, prices of basic goods such as milk, gas, and college tuition have climbed steadily, but the federal minimum wage remains stuck at $7.25 an hour -- just over $15,000 a year for a full-time worker.

It’s time for Congress to act: Working families and our economy as a whole cannot afford another year of stagnant wages.  Let's raise the federal minimum wage and give workers and the economy the boost they need!


Sign the petition and know the facts.

New York police violated rights of Occupy protesters: report

(Reuters) - New York police officers employed excessive force, unjustified arrests and pervasive surveillance in violation of the rights of Occupy Wall Street protesters, a report from a group of human rights lawyers said on Wednesday.

 

The report documents 130 incidents of alleged abuse by law enforcement authorities and calls for the creation of an independent inspector general to monitor the New York Police Department.

"Many of the reported allegations individually indicate clear violations of the government's obligation to uphold assembly and expression rights," said the report by the Global Justice Clinic at New York University's School of Law and the Walter Leitner International Human Rights Clinic at Fordham Law School.

"When considered together, a complex mapping of protest suppression emerges."

Constant police surveillance of Occupy events in some cases appears to violate legal restrictions on police monitoring of protests, known as the "Handschu Guidelines" after the landmark case that led to their creation, the report said.

The intimidation and use of force served to escalate tensions while having a chilling effect on the right to free speech and assembly, the authors concluded.

London Olympics - The Other Side of the Story

Anaheim - Police Brutality - Gun Crime

Witnesses to the fatal police shooting of an unarmed man in Anaheim, California say officers offered to buy up cell phone footage of the brutality that followed. The circumstances of the shooting are currently under investigation.­

The mayor of Anaheim, California is asking for federal assistance in an investigation of the local police department after law enforcement officers shot and killed two men in separate incidents over the weekend.

Anaheim police have shot dead yet another man just a day after killing 24-year old Manuel Diaz. The previous day's shooting sparked a protest against police brutality that was violently broken up by authorities.

(Reuters) - Protesters broke windows of least a half-dozen storefronts in Anaheim on Tuesday and five people were arrested in the second major clash between police and demonstrators since an officer shot dead an apparently unarmed man.

 SANTA ANA (CBS) — Hundreds of police officers dressed in riot gear tried to control a large group of demonstrators outside Anaheim City Hall Tuesday evening.

Scattered crowds of protesters in Anaheim continued to roam the streets late Tuesday after violence erupted earlier around City Hall even as officials voted to ask federal authorities to investigate two deadly police shootings that have rocked the community.

 

 Shortly before 9 p.m. Tuesday, law enforcement officers in Anaheim issued a dispersal order to protesters at the intersection of Anaheim and Broadway.

Human fetuses dumped in forest aged at 5-6 months - Russia

Investigators say all 248 fetuses discovered in a Urals forest were likely intended for use in scientific research. Most were terminated after the fifth month of pregnancy.

According to police, forensic examinations showed most of the fetuses were terminated at 22-26 weeks of pregnancy. Initially, it was thought they were 12-16 weeks.

All the fetuses were mummified. Investigators continue to probe the origin of the fetuses, which were sealed in plastic containers and discarded in a remote location in the Sverdlovsk Region.

The prevailing theory is that the remains were being used in scientific research, but police emphasize that it is just one of several leads they are working around.

The late stage at which all 248 fetuses were terminated has forced some to believe they are dealing with a coordinated crime.

 Elena Mizulina, head of the State Duma Committee on issues of Family, Women and Children, believes this incident is a case of mass illegal abortions, which she says are rife in the country.

Sorry, it's not Occupy related but worth further coverage, please share.  These poor babies!!

15 Deadliest Corporations

These corporations, if they were individual human beings, would be locked up for life. Instead, they continue raking in the big bucks. 

Human rights abuses, murder, war, eco disasters, and animal exploitation keep these evil companies raking in the green.

Prepare to be disgusted. 

1. Chevron
2. DeBeers
3. Tyson

4. Smith and Wesson
5. Phillip Morris
6. Haliburton
7. Coca Cola
8. Pfizer
9. ExxonMobil
10. Caterpillar Company
11. Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey
12. Monsanto
13. Nestle
14. British Petroleum
15. Dyncorp

US burning money in Afghanistan

Video and transcript here.

The US government office of SIGIR has stated that much of the 20 billion dollars of US taxpayer money provided to rebuild Iraq is wasted through corruption and fraud.


SIGIR is the acronym for the Office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq reconstruction. Set up in 2004, 51 billion US dollars was approved by Congress and this includes 20 billion US dollars allocated to building Iraqi Security Forces and about 20 billion US dollars also allocated for rebuilding basic infrastructure.

The POLL TAX is back from the dead – it's Cameron localism

 By Polly Toynbee

Here's the background: on average, households pay £1,000 a year in council tax. Until now, households on low incomes were exempt or paid only according to their means, so 5.9m households received council tax benefit. 

From next April, the benefit is cut by 10%, which is bad enough; but then insanity takes over.

Each local authority will be given the sum that was handed out in benefit in their area (less 10%) to disperse as they please.

They must keep paying the full benefit to pensioners and "the vulnerable". Each council must choose who is "vulnerable", as the government refuses to provide its own definition.

Half of the recipients are pensioners, so protecting them means all other low-income households bear the whole cut, averaging 20%.

People who live in areas with a lot of pensioners or a lot of the "vulnerable" will suffer the biggest cuts, as much as 30% or more. The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) says low-income households in Haringey, north London, lose £38 a year.

300 councils must each devise their own criteria. 

Each becomes a mini DWP, establishing its own means test without having access to people's earnings. Each must divide its benefit pot between varying numbers of claimants each year. 

Miserly authorities can keep much of it for other purposes. 

Each decides who is "vulnerable" or whether to include disability living allowance, child benefit or personal savings in declaring who is eligible for how much.