HARTFORD, Conn. — A man alleges that police entered his home illegally and ripped a catheter from his body during a child pornography investigation that led to the arrest of two neighbors.

Andrew Glover, 60, of New Britain filed a notice with the city Thursday that he intends to pursue a federal civil rights lawsuit. He accused the officers of inflicting severe injuries as he was recovering from intestinal surgery in February.

Glover’s lawyer, Paul Spinella, said police entered Glover’s apartment Jan. 30 and Feb. 28. Glover wasn’t involved in child pornography, has not been charged and has no criminal record, Spinella said.

“The poor guy,” Spinella said. “They ripped the catheter off his person. They assaulted the guy. He’s got major problems as a result of this. He’s a mess now.”

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The five companies that make flu vaccine for the U.S. market plan to make at least 143 million doses for the 2008-09 season. They made 140 million doses for the current season, the worst in four years for adult deaths from flu and pneumonia.

Part of the problem was that the vaccine didn’t work well against the viruses that ended up circulating.

Each year, health officials essentially make an educated guess and formulate a vaccine against three viruses. Their guess usually works well.

But two of the three strains for the current season were not good matches, and the vaccine was only 44 percent effective overall, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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NEW YORK (AP) — Conservative legal advocates are recruiting pastors across the U.S. to defy an Internal Revenue Service ban on preaching about politicians, in a challenge they hope will abolish the restriction.

The Alliance Defense Fund, based in Scottsdale, Arizona, will ask the clergy to deliver a sermon about specific candidates Sept. 28. If the action triggers an investigation by the government tax collection agency, the legal group will sue to overturn the federal rules, which were enacted in 1954.

Under the IRS code, churches can distribute voter guides, run voter registration drives, hold forums on public policy and invite politicians to speak at their congregations.

However, they cannot endorse a candidate, and their political activity cannot be biased for or against a candidate, directly or indirectly.

The Alliance Defense Fund said Friday that the regulations amount to an unconstitutional limit on free speech and government intrusion into religion.

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Speaking with the Alex Jones Show, actor Tommy Chong, whose offices were subject of a raid this week by the FBI who seized 10,000 political DVD’s, said he "absolutely" doubted the official story of 9/11 and compared it to the JFK assassination in that the truth will take many years to finally come out.

"The biggest inconsistency is the fact that who was allowed to fly after everything was shut down - it was the Bin Ladens - it would have been great to ask them some questions," said Chong.

Chong also spoke about prior knowledge concerning Pearl Harbor, noting, "They needed Pearl Harbor to launch a bigger war and that was the same with 9/11."

"You could speculate, but you don’t have to speculate with facts," said Chong, "These are cold hard facts, the fact that the Bin Laden family was allowed to escape America, that’s a fact, the fact that certain people weren’t in the buildings that kind of knew the buildings were gonna go down, that’s a fact."

As Haaretz reported on September 26, 2001, Odigo, the instant messaging service, indicated “two of its workers received messages two hours before the Twin Towers attack on September 11 predicting the attack would happen."

Alex Jones asked Chong if he was familiar with Building 7. Although Tommy admitted he is not familiar with Building 7, he said he is not surprised the building was brought down by demolition.

Chong added that another false flag event on the scale of 9/11 will likely not work, as a new attack would be “like telling the same joke twice,” in other words, many people would not buy into it like they did in the months and years following the attacks of September 11, 2001. Chong added that more people in government would "blow the whistle" if another attack was launched.

The actor agreed that the massing of U.S. troops of the borders of Uzbekistan and Tajikistan in the months before the invasion of Afghanistan was another smoking gun.

Click here to listen to a clip of the MP3 interview with Tommy Chong.

Chong made the statements amidst his involvement in a separate controversy after FBI agents raided two offices Wednesday night in in Newport and Clermont County’s Union Township.

According to Chong, agents confiscated 10,000 copies of his DVD, The United States of America Vs. Tommy Chong, which is a documentary about his 2003 federal prosecution for selling bong pipes on the Internet.

"They apparently confiscated 10,000 copies of the movie, "a/k/a Tommy Chong," said Chong.

Asked by Local 12 News if federal prosecutors may be targeting Chong for trying to profit off his prosecution, Chong responded, "I’m not profiting off the story of my first amendment violation at all," adding that any profits from DVD sales were going straight to charity.

The criminals in the federal government are now trying to legalize the seizure of computers and other property under the guise of strengthening intellectual property laws. HR 4279 or the Prioritizing Resources and Organization for Intellectual Property Act of 2008 which was recently passed by the U.S. House of Representatives, will give the government draconian powers to do just this. This legislation gives the government the power to seize property that facilitates the violation of intellectual property laws. The legislation also mandates the formation of a formal Intellectual Property Enforcement Division within the office of the Deputy Attorney General to enforce this madness. In addition, a new office called the Office of the United States Intellectual Property Enforcement Representative is created within the Executive Office of the President. If you boil it down to brass tax, this legislation allows the U.S. government to lawfully seize your computer if it has one unauthorized mp3 file on its hard drive. It also provides the authorization for the creation of offices within the executive branch to enforce a law that is impossible to enforce.

Below is taken from section 202 of HR 4279 that gives the federal government the authorization to seize property that may have been used to facilitate an intellectual property violation. The language in this section indicates that a violation would include downloading a single unauthorized mp3 file on to a computer.

d) Unauthorized Recording of Motion Pictures- Section 2319B(b) of title 18, United States Code, is amended to read as follows:

`(b) Forfeiture and Destruction; Restitution-

`(1) CIVIL FORFEITURE PROCEEDINGS- (A) The following property is subject to forfeiture to the United States:

`(i) Any copies of a motion picture or other audiovisual work protected under title 17 that are made without the authorization of the copyright owner.

`(ii) Any property constituting or derived from any proceeds obtained directly or indirectly as a result of a violation of subsection (a).

`(iii) Any property used, or intended to be used, to commit or facilitate the commission of a violation of subsection (a) that is owned or predominantly controlled by the violator or by a person conspiring with or aiding and abetting the violator in committing the violation, except that property is subject to forfeiture under this clause only if the Government establishes that there was a substantial connection between the property and the violation of subsection (a).

This is the 1980s equivalent of the government being given the legal authority to seize cassette recorders if they were used in recording a song off of the radio. Under this legislation, downloading even a single mp3 file unauthorized by the copyright owner will give the federal government the power to take your computer. There is no way that the federal government can enforce this. In fact, it is insane that the U.S. House of Representatives is more concerned about keeping the record and movie industry happy by passing this legislation than they are with real issues. Incredibly, this bill was passed by a vote of 410-11. Two of the dissenting voters included Dennis Kucinich and Ron Paul.

John Conyers a fascist and anti-Constitutionalist member of the U.S. House of Representatives who originally introduced this bill made the following statements describing the purpose of the legislation. His statements were republished in a Billboard Magazine report.

(1) prioritize intellectual property protection to the highest level of our government;

(2) make changes to IP law to enhance the ability of IP owners to effectively enforce their rights;

(3) make it easier to criminally prosecute repeat offenders;

(4) increase penalties for IP violations that endanger public health and safety.

Basically speaking, Conyers believes that downloading illegal mp3 and movie files endanger public health and safety. Conyers is either an insane individual that belongs in a mental institution for making such a ridiculous statement or he and everybody else who voted for this bill is in the back pockets of the RIAA, the MPAA and the rest of the music and movie industry. Common sense would dictate that such a law is unenforceable and should have not been seriously entertained. This is just another sign that this country is run by a bunch of fascists who are trying to find as many ways to undermine civil liberties under the guise of enforcing the law. What is really ridiculous about this, is the fact that the Constitution which is the supreme law of the land is violated by these fascist tyrants in Congress every single day of the week. If they were actually serious about enforcing the law, why are they not following the Constitution? Why do they reject it?

Maybe if the movie and music industry stopped putting out horrible content, their sales would be a little better. It seems as if they are trying to blame people who download unauthorized mp3 and movie files for their shortcomings in business. Perhaps they should do what smaller independent music and film production companies have done and embrace the technological revolution instead of stifling it by trying to push this anti-American legislation down our throats.

It is understandable to go after people who are illegally profiting off of selling material that isn’t their own but there really isn’t a need for government involvement. The record industry should sue those people if they believe that there are groups or individuals who are unfairly profiting off of their work. A court can decide if the claims they present are valid. However, to give powers to an already corrupt government to seize private property from people who are violating copyright laws by merely having downloaded mp3 files or movie files on their computer is unenforceable and beyond the scope of government. Section 301 of the bill establishes the Office of the United States Intellectual Property Enforcement Representative and section 501 of the bill establishes the Intellectual Property Enforcement Division within the Department of Justice under the office of the Deputy Attorney General. These particular offices will be established to serve as the enforcement arm for this legislation.

How many more powers is this corrupt legislature going to give to a renegade executive branch that is already engaging in perpetual war, setting up a police state, authorizing torture, destroying national sovereignty and other horrors? The federal government is full of petty bureaucrats and tyrants that can’t do anything right to begin with, and the U.S. House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly to expand government again through this legislation. With 410 of these tyrants voting for this legislation, it is doubtful that we will be successful in defeating this bill in the U.S Senate or if it goes to the dictator in chief.

A newly proposed law in Canada, Bill C-51, just may outlaw up to 60 percent of natural health products currently sold in Canada — and criminalize people who use them. Bill C-51 which makes significant changes to Canada’s Food and Drugs Act, was introduced into the House of Commons by the Canadian Minister of Health. The first reading on April 8 was followed by it’s second reading on April 28, barely time for consumers, trade groups, and elected representatives to examine, debate, or compose official positions.

Acts in Canada must pass three readings in both legislative houses before becoming law. This is supposed to give representatives and the general public time to become aware of any proposed changes, have them debated, and give their consent. On the other hand, Regulations are published in the newspaper twice and can then be signed into law. Parliament does not vote on Regulations. (Keep this bit in mind for later.)

The text of the lengthy bill describes many changes to be made to Canada’s Food and Drugs Act and seems to have left no stone unturned. The sweeping changes are couched in the increasingly broad language we have come to expect from bureaucratic governments. The language leaves the door wide open for extreme governmental regulation, licensing, and enforcement that would have devastating consequences on an entire industry and millions of consumers.

One of the radical changes the proposed bill offers is in terminology. The word "drug" will be replaced with the term "therapeutic product." This one change alone could effectively put all vitamins, herbs, supplements, and even some foods under the complete control of the government. The term "sell" would now include anyone who sells, buys, or uses "therapeutic products," and anyone who administers those products.

It will be the government’s delegates who will decide on the regulation, licensing, marketing, inspecting, and enforcing of all changes listed in the new bill. So it’s interesting to note that the inspection and seizure powers in Bill C-51 are greatly expanded from the original Food and Drugs Act that is presently enforced by Health Canada. Attorney Shawn Buckley has done an excellent job dissecting and analyzing C-51 (click on “Legal Review”) and has this to say about the newly proposed inspection and seizure powers:

The inspecting and seizure powers found in s. 23 of the Act are increased to:

• give inspectors authority to enter private property to prevent non-compliance with the Act or Regulations;
• enter conveyances for the purposes of inspections;
• enter places where even a document relating to the Act and Regulations may be located… Note that document is defined in Bill C-51 to include information that can be read by a computer or device so if your blackberry is in your car, the car can be searched;
• take samples free of charge… There is no limit to the value of the samples;
• seize and detain for any time anything connected to the Act and Regulations such as products and equipment;
• enter on and pass through or over private property without any liability and without the owner of the property having the right to object;
• charge the owner for storage of seized property;
• if inspectors believe on reasonable grounds the seized property could be injurious to human health they can dispose of it at the expense of the owner or direct the owner to dispose of it;

The inspectors are given apparently unlimited powers to enforce the Act and Regulations. They can order a Canadian citizen to stop doing anything that they deem is a contravention of the Act. Section 31 is amended to make it an offense not to do something the Minister or an inspector directs person to do or not do.

And the new penalties for indictable and summary infractions of the Act or Regulations increase by 1,000 times. A first offense results in a $250,000 fine and/or imprisonment of up to 6 months; subsequent offences will run $500,000 and/or up to 18 months in prison; and indictable offences $5,000,000 (six zeros are correct) and/or imprisonment of up to 2 years. Willful and/or reckless violations, or not listening to the Minister or an inspector are just as extreme.

In the "Definitions Et Interpretation" section of C-51, the term "government" will now mean any of the following "or their institutions, as applicable:"

a) the federal government;
b) a corporation named in Schedule III to 10 of the Financial Administration Act,
c) a provincial government or a public body established under an Act of the legislature of a province,
d) an aboriginal government as defined in subsection 13(3) of the Access to Information Act,
e) a government of a foreign state or of a subdivision of a foreign state, or
f) an international organization of states. [Emphasis added.]

Defining "government" to include foreign states and/or international organizations is a segue into section 30 which states:

A regulation may incorporate by reference documents produced by a person or body other than the Minister of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency including:

a) an organization established for the purpose of writing standards, including an organization accredited by the Standards Council of Canada;
b) an industrial or trade organization; or
c) a government

This clever little addition apears to allow the Canadian government to make documents prepared by foreign "governments" the law in Canada simply by passing a regulation incorporating the documents as regulations. The UN’s infamous CODEX Alimentarius, Latin for “food code,” could become law without Parliamentary approval if it’s referred to as a regulation.

The text of C-51 states directly that the changes to Canada’s Food and Drug Acts are for "the purpose of implementing, in relation to drugs, Article 1711 of the North American Free Trade Agreement on paragraph 3 of Article 39 of the Agreement on Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights set out in Annex 1C to the WTO Agreement."

So there is a method and a purpose to this madness, and it’s not about public health safety. This should serve as yet another warning and reason for the U.S. to withdraw from NAFTA.

And this brings us to the crux of the matter for Americans.

The FDA is presently conferencing with its regulatory counterparts in Canada and Mexico to draft one set of food and drug standards for all three countries. Besides the FDA, Health Canada and Mexico’s Secretaria de Salud are committed to harmonizing regulations for all three countries without any legislative oversight or public input under the Trilateral Cooperation Charter. The TCC has as one of their principles, "The use of problem-solving techniques and consensual decision-making processes," in the area of health and safety issues. They expect their members to abide by the TCC’s Steering Committee decisions and "assist in their implementation."

But what effect will this have on the United States if the TCC decides to use Canada’s newly overhauled Food and Drug Acts as the standard by which all three countries will now regulate and license foods and drugs? Will the United States’ Food and Drug act be coopted by the implementation of the TCC’s decisions? Certainly, if a convergence or integration takes place via the North American Union, chances of implementation of the TCC’s decisions would be far easier and more probable.

New York State health officials have released statistics indicating that 360 9/11 rescue workers have since died, but have also admitted that there is an overall undercount.

The New York Daily News reports that of those deaths 154 have been explained and 80 have died of various forms of cancer, mostly impacting the lungs and digestive system while others were related to blood cancers and heart and circulatory diseases.

"It’s the tip of the iceberg," said David Worby, who is representing 10,000 workers - 600 with cancer - who say they got sick after working on rescue and recovery efforts.

"These statistics bear out how toxic that site was," Worby said.

The Statistics were released by the World Trade Center Responder Fatality Investigation Program.

While insisting the state is "not making judgment" on whether all the deaths were related to the toxic air around ground zero, which was filled with asbestos, mercury, lead and other contaminants, official Kitty Gelberg did say that she believes there to be an overall undercount of rescuers and workers who have died since 9/11.

In spite of the state’s refusal to be drawn on whether there has been an elevation in deaths due to 9/11, it was revealed back In 2006, almost five years on from the disaster, that there has been a startling increase in cases of a particular lung scarring disease, known as sarcoidosis, among firefighters, which rose to five times the expected rate in the two years after the attacks.

At the time the New York Times reported:

"The most worrisome to medical experts are granulomatous pulmonary diseases, which show a particular type of swirling marks left on the lungs by foreign matter like dust. Doctors say the severity of the disease is often dictated by a patient’s genetic makeup. The diseases include pulmonary fibrosis and sarcoidosis, a sometimes fatal disorder that can be set off when exposure to dust causes the body’s immune system to attack itself. "

Medical experts have stated that it still may be at least another decade before the full effects of the attacks are witnessed as diseases may take longer to develop in some people than others. It is estimated that around 40,000 people were involved in rescue work around the World Trade Center site and the Fresh Kills landfill where debris was taken immediately following the attacks.

The number effected may be significantly more than that however given that a recent study by Mount Sinai Medical Center revealed that out of 70,000 participants, 85 percent are suffering some kind of respiratory problem.

A previous study in 2006 by the medical center also found that of of 9,442 workers, 70% suffer breathing problems. This was also the figure gleened from a further study in 2007.

Though the center’s figures have been criticized and questioned by some, they are the only real source to go on given that the city, state and federal governments did not engage in any form of research into or treatment of 9/11 related illnesses for some time after the attacks, and still have not set about a truly committed program to do so.

Dr. Robin Herbert, Co-director of the World Trade Center Medical Monitoring Program at Mount Sinai has indicated that there may be three "waves" of illnesses experienced by ground zero workers. The first wave refers to coughing and respiratory problems, the second wave includes severe chronic lung diseases and the third wave could be fatal cancers.

Dr. Michael Baden, chief forensic pathologist for the New York State Police and the former chief medical examiner of New York City, has reviewed several ground zero-related autopsies, and has commented "Three thousand people may have died, but 100,000 others may have been exposed".

We have extensively reported on the fact that the EPA knowingly gave misleading information to residents and workers regarding the air quality in the aftermath of the attacks and how a cover up, which leads to officials at the very top, has ensued.

The heroes of 9/11 have been shunned by a government that still refuses cover the costs of healthcare for the vast majority of the stricken because to do so would be an admission of culpability.

Last month it was reported that some of the heroes who have since succumbed to dust-related illnesses will be memorialized on the NYPD’s "Wall of Heroes" for officers killed in the line of duty.

Sadly, more space will be needed on that wall in the months and years to come as the officials ultimately responsible for this continuing tragedy remain unpunished.

Those predicting war with Iran or some Bush-Cheney October surprise attack on Tehran are constantly looking for signs of military preparations: a B-52 bomber that mistakenly takes off from North Dakota with nuclear-armed cruise missiles; a second or third aircraft carrier entering the Persian Gulf; a B-1 crashing in Qatar.

Since the most likely path to war with Iran is not Marines storming the beach but a strike on nuclear facilities and “regime” targets, signs such as these can often just be mirages. The true strike is not necessarily going to come with any warning, and the U.S. military has developed an entire system called “global strike” to implement such a preemptive strike.

A secret mission conducted last August over Afghanistan caught my eye because it tells us everything we need to know about the ability of the U.S. military to conduct a bolt-out-of-the-blue attack in Iran. It also tells us how useless such a strike might be.

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A woman has died and 10 other passengers are in hospital after a flu-like outbreak on board a Via Rail train. The train, travelling from Vancouver to Toronto, is now under quarantine near Timmins.

Marc Depatie of the Foleyet OPP said that the female passenger was picked up in Jasper, Alberta with a tour group and appears to be in her 60s. It’s not known if she was travelling with family.

There were 260 passengers and 30 crewmembers on board the train when it stopped in Foleyet. It’s now quarantined at a CN Rail station.

Emergency crews in full protective gear searched the affected cars. It’s believed, but not certain, that the outbreak is confined to only two cars. No one except emergency personnel is allowed on or off the trains. There is a doctor on board.

Sgt Laura Nichols, OPP said that she was called by CN at 8:35am Friday. “There was one person who had vital signs absent and five other people that were sick with flu-like symptoms,” she reported.

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MCARTHUR, Ohio — A southern Ohio man has dodged what could have been another nine months in jail for sharing a Little Debbie snack cake with a fellow inmate.

The case involves 21-year-old Timothy Caudill, who last year was held in a residential community corrections program in Nelsonville for breaking into a bar. While there, prosecutors say he bought an oatmeal cream pie from a vending machine and shared it with a fellow inmate who wasn’t allowed to eat the snack.

Prosecutors in Vinton County asked Common Pleas Judge Jeffrey Simmons to revoke Caudill’s probation and put him in prison for nine months.

Instead, Simmons says Caudill will spend 30 days behind bars and pay $1,500 for the jail stay.

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