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Marijuana Fights Cancer and Helps Manage Side Effects, Researchers Find

"Cristina Sanchez, a young biologist at Complutense University in Madrid, was studying cell metabolism when she noticed something peculiar. She had been screening brain cancer cells because they grow faster than normal cell lines and thus are useful for research purposes. But the cancer cells died each time they were exposed to tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the principal psychoactive ingredient of marijuana. Instead of gaining insight into how cells function, Sanchez had stumbled upon the anti-cancer properties of THC." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMarijuana Fights Cancer and Helps Manage Side Effects, Researchers Find

Genetically engineered virus kills cancer

"A genetically-engineered virus tested in 30 terminally-ill liver cancer patients significantly prolonged their lives, killing tumours and inhibiting the growth of new ones, scientists reported on Sunday. Sixteen patients given a high dose of the therapy survived for 14.1 months on average, compared to 6.7 months for the 14 who got the low dose. Pexa-Vec has been engineered from the vaccinia virus, which has been used as a vaccine for decades, including in the eradication of smallpox." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGenetically engineered virus kills cancer

The secret history of drones

"The drones now snooping over Afghanistan have a longer history than you might think. In 1916, a military scientist conceived of an 'aerial torpedo' designed to be loaded with explosives and steered into the deadly Zeppelins on their bombing raids over southern England. In a lecture to the Royal Aeronautical Society on Monday evening Michael Draper, author of Sitting Ducks & Peeping Toms, will lift the wraps off the secret century of unmanned air vehicles, starting with the prototype referred to by the innocuous initials 'AT'." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThe secret history of drones

Ex-Hillsboro cop who shot at police surrendered with wife, daughter at his side

"Timothy Cannon surrendered after a gun fight with 10 Washington County cops, descending the stairs of his two-story Forest Grove home, his arms linked with those of his wife and daughter, according to court records. Timothy Cannon had been drinking off and on throughout the week, Lisa Cannon told a dispatcher during the incident. On Saturday, Jan. 19, he drank all day, she said. According to court records, a detective observed medications in the home prescribed for Timothy Cannon, including drugs treating pain, anxiety, panic attacks and depression. The medications have side effects that can result in 'altered mental status.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingEx-Hillsboro cop who shot at police surrendered with wife, daughter at his side

The Strange Moral Compass of Christopher Dorner

"Amid all the endless yabbering about 'gun culture' in the wake of Sandy Hook, little attention is paid to the idea that military and police institutions often create, or at least enable, psychopaths who really know how to use guns. Why should we trust our government with guns when they churn out people like this nutjob? The most poetic ending possible would be for a well-armed civilian to take Dorner out cold." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThe Strange Moral Compass of Christopher Dorner

Barack Obama is pushing gun control at home, but he’s a killer abroad

"His justification for targeted killings and drone strikes in foreign parts, prompted by his nomination of a CIA director, has coincided with his advocacy for stiffer gun control and appeals to respect human life following mass shootings. The result is an administration raising life and death issues in its actions and pronouncements but being unable to talk with any moral authority or ethical consistency on either. The credibility of a president in challenging lawless social violence in US cities is fundamentally undermined when he has his own personal kill list in violation of international law to terminate enemies elsewhere." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBarack Obama is pushing gun control at home, but he’s a killer abroad

Brussels fights US data privacy push

"Europe’s most senior justice official is adamant she will fight US attempts to water down a proposed EU data protection and privacy law that would force global technology companies to obey European standards across the world. Viviane Reding, EU commissioner for justice, said that the EU was determined to respond decisively to any attempts by US lobbyists to curb the EU data protection law. Ms Reding’s firm approach is likely to spark a diplomatic battle between Brussels and Washington, which has actively been trying to water down the EU’s tough new privacy legislation by handing US companies a de facto exemption from it." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBrussels fights US data privacy push

Lithuania turns Google Street View on tax cheats

"Lithuanian tax authorities said Thursday they would use the Baltic state’s recently launched Google Street View platform to track tax cheats by identifying the real value of property holdings. 'It will help ascertain which property is ‘hiding’ under the entry recorded in the real-estate register and provide a preliminary assessment of whether the value corresponds to the declared value,' Lithuanian deputy state tax inspector Arturas Klerauskas told AFP. Google Street View was launched in Lithuania a week ago, after Google overcame initial reluctance on the part of the authorities that stemmed from privacy and security concerns." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingLithuania turns Google Street View on tax cheats

Pakistan hatches biometric ID scheme to claw back unpaid taxes

"Pakistan's National Data Base and Registration Authority (NADRA) aims to put every Pakistani adult into one of the world's largest multi-biometric databases. 'We have 452 static centers where people are coming and giving this data, we have 250 mobile vans, we have a motorcycle service, and we (even) have people up in the mountains -- skiers and mountaineers with man-pack units,' says chairman Tariq Malik whose mission it is to log every potential taxpayer in Pakistan. 'We are going to block their ID cards, and we are going to block their bank accounts, and we are going to block their foreign travels until the either pay or file an appeal,' says Hakeem." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPakistan hatches biometric ID scheme to claw back unpaid taxes