It is said that politics makes strange bedfellows, but there are arguably few stranger than the emerging alliance between two of California's most powerful political players: the police-industrial complex and Big Alcohol. Campaign finance reports from the Golden State disclose that the California Beer and Beverage Distributors -- a trade organization that represents over 100 beer distributors statewide -- is one of the primary backers of the lobby group Public Safety First, sponsors of the No on Prop. 19 campaign.
OUTRAGE OF MAN FORCED TO DROP HIS TROUSERS IN AIRPORT CHECKS
A PASSENGER with a metal plate in his leg has told how he was forced to drop his trousers at one of Britain’s busiest airports to reveal his surgical scars to security staff.
The “humiliating and embarrassing” episode was part of a new security drive, guards said.
Anyone who refuses to remove their clothes for the intimate examination is told they will be barred from flying.
Karzai's Brother Is Subject of Wiretapping
The National Security Agency has been conducting electronic surveillance of a brother of the Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, as part of a corruption investigation into his business dealings in Afghanistan, according to United States officials.
The National Security Agency’s wiretapping of Mahmoud Karzai, an older brother of President Karzai, appears to be part of a larger criminal investigation now under way by federal prosecutors in New York, according to the officials, who declined to be identified by name discussing a criminal inquiry.
Palestinians give US mission a week to save peace talks as settlement building resumes
A fresh US-led diplomatic effort was under way yesterday to rescue Israeli-Palestinian negotiations as construction resumed in some Jewish West Bank settlements after Israel's decision to end a 10-month moratorium on building.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas effectively gave US mediators at least a week to resolve the crisis by confirming that he would hold a series of consultations, culminating in an Arab League meeting called for next Monday, before deciding whether to pull out of the negotiations.
Painless laser device could spot early signs of disease
Portable devices with painless laser beams could soon replace X-rays as a non-invasive way to diagnose disease. Researchers say that the technique could become widely available in about five years. The method, called Raman spectroscopy, could help spot the early signs of breast cancer, tooth decay and osteoporosis.
Scientists believe that the technology would make the diagnosis of illnesses faster, cheaper and more accurate. Raman spectroscopy is the measurement of the intensity and wavelength of scattered light from molecules.
After 10 years in US, abortion pill still divisive
Ten years ago, after long and bitter debate, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved use of the abortion pill by American women. It is hailed as safe and effective, but new turmoil may lie ahead as the pill's proponents consider using telemedicine to make it more available.
Already, a pioneering telemedicine program in Iowa has provided the pill to about 1,900 women - with a doctor able to consult with a faraway patient in a video teleconference, then unlock a container by remote control to release the pill. To the alarm of anti-abortion activists, abortion providers in other states are pondering whether similar programs would enable them to serve more women, especially in rural areas.
Diesel Dangers: Mining Companies Get First Look at Government Cancer Study
A long-delayed government epidemiological study of possible ties between diesel exhaust and lung cancer in miners may finally be published this fall -- but only after a mining industry group, represented by the Washington lobbying powerhouse Patton Boggs, finishes a pre-publication review of the study's drafts.
Eighteen years in the making and eagerly awaited by public health officials, the cancer study evaluates more than 12,000 current and former workers from eight mines that produce commodities other than coal. Its goal is to determine whether ultrafine diesel particulate matter -- a component of exhaust from diesel-powered machinery -- poses a serious hazard to miners in confined spaces.
Confession Video: US Soldier Describes Thrill Kill of Innocent Afghans
Dressed in a t-shirt and Army shorts, a 22-year-old corporal from Wasilla, Alaska casually describes on a video tape made by military investigators how his unit's "crazy" sergeant randomly chose three unarmed, innocent victims to be murdered in Afghanistan.
Corporal Jeremy N. Morlock is one of five GI's charged with pre-meditated murder in a case that includes allegations of widespread drug use, the collection of body parts and photos of the U.S. soldiers holding the Afghan bodies like hunter's trophies.
Segway company owner dies riding Segway off cliff
The multi-millionaire owner of Segway was killed Sunday after driving one of the company's popular two-wheeled vehicles off a cliff, British newspapers reported.
Heselden, 62, made millions after inventing a bullet-proof defense shield that became standard equipment for NATO, as well as for British and U.S. troops.
Segway was bought by a British company backed by Heselden.
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