Daily Archives: June 12, 2007

FDA links obesity drug to suicides

Star-Ledger | Jun 12, 2007

Sanofi-Aventis studies reveal psychiatric events

BY MATTHEW PERRONE

WASHINGTON — Drug regulators said yesterday Sanofi-Aventis’ obesity treatment Acomplia may trigger suicidal behavior and other psychological side effects in some patients. It was the latest setback for an experimental medicine that has had a troubled regulatory history.

The Food and Drug Administration posted online its review of the drug — deemed effective for losing weight — ahead of a meeting tomorrow at which outside experts will vote on whether it should be approved. The agency does not have to follow the experts’ vote, though it often does.

The FDA is scheduled to issue its final decision on the drug July 27.

Based on clinical studies from the French drugmaker, whose U.S. operations are based in Bridgewa ter, N.J., the FDA said patients tak ing Acomplia daily showed significant weight loss after two years.

However, agency staffers raised concerns about an increased rate of psychiatric adverse events among patients taking Acomplia, including depression, anxiety and insomnia. About 26 percent of patients on Acomplia reported such events, compared with 14 percent of patients on placebo.

The FDA also drew attention to a possible link between Acomplia and suicidal behavior. In studies of the drug, Sanofi reported one patient committing suicide and eight having suicidal thoughts. Among patients taking a fake pill, Sanofi reported two suicide attempts and five instances of suicidal thoughts.

Regulators also noted a slightly higher rate of dizziness and headache among Acomplia patients, at 27.4 percent, compared with 24.4 percent patients on placebo.

Wall Street considers Acomplia a potential blockbuster, but the drug has hit several regulatory snags since Sanofi submitted it for approval in 2005. The company originally touted Acomplia as both an anti-obesity pill and an anti- smoking treatment.

Last February, however, the FDA rejected the company’s appli cation for the anti-smoking use and said it needed more information on Acomplia’s psychiatric side effects before approving the drug to fight obesity.

The drug gained approval in the European Union soon after, but regulators there also did not approve the smoking use and limited approval to overweight patients who suffer additional health problems, including abnormal cholesterol and diabetes.

If approved by the FDA, Sanofi said it would market the drug under the name Zimulti, because FDA reviewers felt the name Acomplia could potentially mislead consumers.

Call for Scotland to try Blair as ‘war criminal’

Scotsman | Jun 11, 2007

SCOTLAND’S Lord Advocate was today urged to prosecute Tony Blair as a war criminal for the invasion of Iraq.

By IAN SWANSON

Former MP Jim Sillars said he had written to Elish Angiolini with a 10,000-word document setting out a formal complaint against the Prime Minister.

And he said Scots law allowed Mr Blair to be put on trial despite such a move being ruled out south of the Border.

The move came as Westminster Tories called for an immediate inquiry into the war in Iraq in a move expected to cause a Labour backbench rebellion. Shadow foreign secretary William Hague was using a Commons debate to call for a hearing by senior politicians with powers to summon officials and military commanders.

Mr Sillars, who is married to independent Lothians MSP Margo MacDonald, claimed Mr Blair was guilty of conspiracy with others to wage aggressive war, and waging aggressive war against the state of Iraq in March 2003, contrary to international law and the law of Scotland.

In his letter to the Lord Advocate, he said: “I am requesting you to investigate this complaint and prosecute in a Scottish court.”

Mr Sillars emphasised that despite his political past – first as a Labour MP and then as SNP MP and deputy leader – the complaint against Mr Blair was based on legal principles and case law and was not a political initiative.

He told Ms Angiolini in the letter: “You will find that the research is sound, and that the case against Tony Blair is a strong one. You, of course, will be able to dig wider and deeper than I can as an ordinary citizen, and I am sure that when you do you will reach the same conclusion as contained in the complaint.”

Mr Sillars said it was generally believed that Mr Blair could not be indicted for war crimes over Iraq.

But Mr Sillars claimed Scotland’s High Court had “declaratory powers” which enabled it to embrace international crimes in Scots law.

He said: “I have spent since January of this year, with a break for the election, researching the case against Blair and whether he could be indicted through the Scottish criminal justice system. The complaint lodged with the Lord Advocate shows the conclusion to that effort. Blair can, in my opinion, be tried in a Scottish court; and the evidence of his conspiracy through deception, lies and misinformation, and his intention of committing the illegal act of regime change through aggressive war, is quite clear. ”

Mr Sillars said the Prime Minister had carried on because he felt immune from prosecution.

Mr Hague said today that the presence of UK soldiers in Iraq could not be used as an excuse to “indefinitely postpone” the inquiry. He wants an investigation along the lines of the wide-ranging inquiry into the Falklands War chaired by philosopher Oliver Franks.

Downing Street has said it will hold a probe into the war and the faulty intelligence about Saddam Hussein’s Weapons of Mass Destruction, but not while UK troops are in the country.

And Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett is expected to dismiss the call, arguing there have already been four inquiries into various aspects of the war and that another one would distract from the efforts of troops on the ground.

Youngster to become voice of Big Brother talking cameras

BBC | Jun 10, 2007

A council is looking for a youngster to be the voice of a new “talking CCTV” scheme which is being trialled.

Reading is one of 20 places in the UK which will use the special cameras that tell off people dropping litter or committing anti-social behaviour.

People seen misbehaving can be told to stop via a loudspeaker, operated by control centre staff.

Reading Borough Council is running a contest giving young people the chance to be the voice of the talking cameras. Hopefuls have to compose rap lyrics of four lines before 22 June.

Tony Page, lead councillor for community action, said: “This will be an exciting addition to the CCTV unit in Reading.

“Talking CCTV will bring us right up to date. I would urge Reading’s young people to enter this competition, and I look forward to the results.”

Bush Amnesty to Pardon Illegal Alien Child Molesters, Gang Members & Tax Evaders

Prison Planet | Jun 11, 2007

Bush “sure” immigration reform bill will pass, tax amnesty provision remains

By Steve Watson

President Bush has announced that he is sure that the amnesty immigration bill is going to pass when he returns from a European tour despite the Senate having voted twice within nine hours last week not to move it towards a final vote.

“I’m going to work with those who are focused on getting an immigration bill done and start taking some steps forward again. I believe we can get it done. I’ll see you at the bill signing.” Bush insisted.

Bush intends to personally visit to the Capitol next week to revive the plan for legalizing millions of unlawful immigrants.

The White House insisted on Sunday that the bill is not dead , despite media reports suggesting the fate of the bill is in severe doubt. Fox News even ran a piece by Bill O’Reilly which catagorically stated that the deal has “collapsed into chaos” and “gone down”.

Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez, who championed the legislation, insisted on CNN on Sunday however: “This bill is alive and well, and we are more determined than ever to get it through.”

He then said two or three more days are needed to “wrap it up” with some commentators predicting the bill could pass before Independence Day on July 4.

One part of the bill that has also been overlooked is the fact that it not only provides total amnesty for those who have illegally entered the country and those who have employed them, but also it provides total tax amnesty for illegal aliens.

The Boston Globe reported that the Bush administration insisted on the removal of a provision in the initial version of the bill, proposed by Kennedy (D-Mass.), requiring payment of back taxes and any related fines to the Internal Revenue Service as part of the road to citizenship.

“It is important that the reformed immigration system is workable and cost efficient,” spokesman Scott Stanzel said. “Determining the past tax liability would have been very difficult and costly and extremely time consuming.”

Illegals applying for a green card to become a legal U.S. resident would have to pay a $5,000 fine, noted Stenzel, but it had nothing to do with taxes owed .

According to Kennedy’s office, Homeland Security Chief Michael Chertoff had also called for the tax provision to be removed, saying it would be “too challenging to accurately determine the amount of an applicant’s back taxes” because many do not receive paychecks, making an accurate audit difficult.

While Proud US citizens and New Hampshire residents Ed and Elaine Brown, who have refused to pay unlawful incomes taxes, currently have federal SWAT teams hiding in the woods around their property with armored vehicles and helicopters ready to conduct a military style raid on them, 12 million illegal aliens who have already violated the law are set to be given a total tax amnesty.

If US citizens do not pay taxes, which are unlawful anyway, an amnesty might enable them to avoid penalties and interest. However, they still have to pay any amount due in back taxes. By contrast, the immigration reform bill rewards each and every illegal alien with permanent US residence and totally erases any back payments.

The Feds can use guns, tanks, planes and drones against a peaceful, self-sustaining elderly couple who simply want to be left alone but they can’t manage to protect the borders and are getting ready to grant tax amnesty to millions of illegal aliens.

Talking CCTV – ignore at your peril

Evening Star | Jun 9, 2007

Anti social behaviour officers today issued a warning to others that they too faced being nabbed by the hi-tech crime fighting devices if they didn’t behave.
 
RED-faced and out of pocket, this is the first lout captured by Ipswich’s new talking CCTV cameras.

Without a care for anyone around him, the 21-year-old drops his fast food packaging, then – despite warnings from CCTV operators – he positions himself up against a nightclub doorway and prepares to relieve himself.

And when another warning booms from the speakers attached to the cameras in Dog’s Head Street, rather than sheepishly admitting his error and walking away, he makes a gesture with his backside toward the camera.

The man’s acts were caught on camera and led to him being arrested and hauled to Ipswich police station where he was slapped with an £80 fixed penalty notice.

The incident, which happened at about 2.35am on Tuesday, sparked the first use of the new “talking cameras” which have been installed in four locations in the town centre as part of a £500,000 Home Office scheme.

Anti social behaviour officers today issued a warning to others that they too faced being nabbed by the hi-tech crime fighting devices if they didn’t behave.

Andy Solomon, the borough’s anti social behaviour network coordinator, said: “The CCTV operators were doing their normal monitoring of cameras. He was seen to deposit his chip wrapper on the floor and the officer told him to pick it up but he didn’t.

“He then was given a second piece of advice but he then went to relieve himself so the police were duly informed and he found himself being arrested and being brought to the police station.

“It cost him a very uncomfortable stay in the police station and £80 out of his wallet.”

The new talking cameras are located in Dog’s Head Street near Pals nightclub, underneath the Lloyd’s Avenue arch at the Cornhill, in Old Foundry Road and in Tower Street.

Mr Solomon today urged people to heed the warnings issued over the speakers by officers monitoring CCTV but warned they would not always be given warnings before police were called.

He said: “What people have to realise is the use of the voice facility is at the discretion of the operators and they could have informed the police directly but they felt this man should have the opportunity to pick the paper up but he chose to ignore it.

“The message would be ignore it at your peril.”

Do you think talking CCTV is a good idea? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN, or e-mail eveningstarletters@eveningstar.co.uk.

A DRUNK man who urinated in the street is today £155 worse off.

Mark Robinson admitted he had too much to drink on May 5 this year when police officers spotted him at 1.40am relieving himself in Ipswich town centre.

The officers attempted to give him a fixed penalty notice but when the man refused to take it they gave him a court summons.

Robinson, 36, of Carlton Road, Kesgrave, said: “I had too much to drink and it affected my judgement on taking the fixed penalty notice. I can’t remember much about the night.”

Robinson was fined £80, made to pay £60 court costs and a £15 victim surcharge.

Creation of cyborg computer chips now closer to reality

Malaysia Sun | Jun 9, 2007 

London, June 9 : Scientists have for the first time stored information in live neurons, bringing closer to reality, the creation of “cyborg” computer chips that combine electronic circuits with human cells.

Networks of cultured neurons are known to spontaneously fire in specific patterns.

Researchers have previously attempted to program these neural networks with new patterns, representing bits of information, by electrically stimulating individual cells.

However, such zapping disrupts their spontaneous firing patterns, and for a network to successfully store information, new firing patterns must be imprinted without erasing the old.

Now, Itay Baruchi and Eshel Ben-Jacob of Tel Aviv University in Israel have taught new firing patterns to a network of neurons by targeting specific points of the network with a chemical called picrotoxin.

The new patterns lasts for up to two days without harming the pre-existing firing patterns.

“You can think of it like a Christmas tree with lights that flicker. We imprinted another pattern of lights on top of the original,” said Ben-Jacob.

The two believe since complex patterns of neuronal firing are templates for memory, which the brain uses when storing information, imprinting such “memories” on artificial neural networks could provide a potential way towards developing cyborg chips.

These would be useful for monitoring biological systems like the brain and blood since, being human, they would respond to the same chemicals, Ben-Jacob added.

The research appears in the journal Physical Review Letters, reports New Scientist.

New Orleans officer accused in videotaped beating commits suicide

ASSOCIATED PRESS | Jun 11, 2007

Former New Orleans officer accused in videotaped beating dies of gunshot – Was set for trial

By Cain Burdeau

NEW ORLEANS – A former New Orleans police officer charged in the videotaped beating of a man after Hurricane Katrina apparently shot himself to death about a month before his trial, authorities said Monday. The body of Lance Schilling, 30, was found Sunday in a suburban Metairie home. An autopsy showed he died of a gunshot wound to the roof of the mouth, Jefferson Parish coroner’s office said.

Schilling and another former officer were accused of beating Robert Davis, 64, a retired school teacher who had returned to New Orleans to check on his property several weeks after the storm. An Associated Press Television News team recorded Davis being kneed and struck at least four times on the head by two police officers the night of October 8, 2005.

Davis was booked on municipal charges of public intoxication, resisting arrest, battery on a police officer and public intimidation. All charges were later dropped.

Schilling’s attorney, Franz Zibilich, said he was saddened by his client’s death. He believed the suspected suicide had no connection to the pending trial, which had been set for June 29. The former officer faced five years behind bars if convicted of second-degree battery charge.

“The truth be known, he was looking forward to having this matter tried and heard,” Zibilich said.

New Orleans police spokesman Marlon Defillo said Schilling had not been with the department since December 2005.

In a related matter, charges against a third officer accused of a misdemeanor charge of simple battery against APTN producer Richard Matthews were dismissed on June 1, according to Eric Hessler, the officer’s lawyer. Stuart Smith was suspended for 120 days and remains on the police force. He had been accused of roughing up Matthews at the Bourbon Street scene in October 2005 after Matthews identified himself as working for the AP.

State District Judge Frank Marullo threw out the charge against Smith because prosecutors improperly used a statement Smith made to the police department, Hessler said.

“The police department asks him to come in, and compels him to give a statement and promises him that it will not be used in a criminal proceeding, and then turns around and gives it to the DA’s office,” Hessler said. “This Bourbon Street case was not handled properly from day one.”

Hessler said the district attorney’s office has filed notice it intends to appeal. A district attorney’s spokesman did not immediately return a telephone call seeking comment Monday.

NY electronic tagging device bill — An Orwellian measure

Enter Stage Right | Jun 11, 2007

By Jeffery M. Leving and Glenn Sacks

Assembly Bill 5424, recently introduced by New York State Assemblyman Felix Ortiz (D-Brooklyn), is a draconian measure which will victimize many innocent New York men and fathers. The bill requires “any person against whom an order of protection is issued…to wear an electronic monitoring device.” The device will allow pinpoint tracking of the wearer, and tampering with the device will be a felony.

Perhaps such a drastic, Orwellian measure would be warranted if the men forced to wear the devices had had meaningful and fair trials, and were found to be violent or dangerous. With orders of protection, however, this often is far from the case.

Beginning in the 1970s, orders of protection (also commonly referred to as “restraining orders”) became a tool to help protect battered women. However, in the rush to protect the abused, the rights of the accused have been violated on a large scale.

According to the Justice Department, two million restraining orders are issued each year in the United States. The vast majority of these are related to domestic violence allegations, yet research shows that these orders often do not even involve an accusation of actual violence. Usually all that’s needed to obtain an order is a claim that the person to be restrained “acted in a way that scared me” or was “verbally abusive”—what’s known as “shout at your spouse, lose your house.”

Such orders are generally done ex parte, without the accused’s knowledge and with no opportunity afforded for him to defend himself. When an order is issued, the man is booted out of his own home and can even be jailed if he tries to contact his own children. In this way divorcing women get their husbands out of their houses, and position themselves as their children’s sole caretakers, which helps them win custody.

A restrained person does have the opportunity to contest the orders at a later hearing. However, these proceedings are often just a formality for which little time is generally allotted, and the evidence standard is low. New York Final Orders of Protection are usually granted for one or two years, and may last up to five years.

Nationally, many family law experts are raising concerns about this violation of civil liberties. A recent article by two leaders of the State Bar of California’s Family Law Section asserts that “protective orders are increasingly being used in family law cases to help one side jockey for an advantage in child custody…[the orders are] almost routinely issued by the court in family law proceedings even when there is relatively meager evidence.”

Such orders have become so commonplace that the Illinois Bar Journal calls them “part of the gamesmanship of divorce.”

An excellent example of the assembly line manner in which orders of protection are issued is the case of TV host David Letterman. In December 2005, a judge granted a temporary restraining order against Letterman to a woman who had never met Letterman, but who claimed that he had mentally harassed her through his TV broadcasts.

Reflecting the mentality of too many judges, the judge who issued the order explained, “If [applicants] make a proper pleading, then I grant it.” Thus what matters is not the accused’s guilt or innocence, but instead whether the accuser knows how to fill out a form properly. (Letterman’s attorneys were later able to get the order dropped).

Another problem with restraining orders is that it is common for men to violate them through no fault of their own. A man can accidentally be in the same park or mall as his ex-wife, and the electronic monitoring device could lead to his arrest even if he never actually saw her. Some men have even been tricked into violating the orders by former spouses. The device will make this easier–a woman could call her estranged husband, tell him he needs her to come to her house because of a crisis with their children, and then have an electronic record of his violation.

Electronic tagging devices can be appropriate as a condition of parole or bail. A5424 goes way beyond this, placing long-term electronic tags on men who’ve never been found culpable of any crime.

Big Brother targets smokers after ban

Daily Mail | Jun 2007

The Big Brother tactics are exposed as it is revealed that expensive NHS stop-smoking services have no effect on helping people quit, according to public health experts.

Big Brother is watching you when the smoking ban comes into force next month by forcing bosses to spy on staff caught lighting up.

According to reports, company bosses could be fined £1,000 if they do not help investigators.

They must follow government guidance which states: “It is recommended that persons in control of smoke-free premises…keep a written record of any incident where an individual smokes on the premises in contravention of the legislation.”

The guidance also states: “Businesses should be encouraged to contact their council after any incident.”

All firms have been sent Smoking Incident Forms which record the date, name, offence and action taken.

When the new legislations comes in on July 1, anyone caught smoking in a smoke-free area will face a £50 on-the-spot fine, which could rise to £200 if the case goes to court.

Companies which flout the ban will be fined £2,500.

A Department of Health spokesman said: “If an employee is smoking, the employer would have to remind them of the new law.”

The Big Brother tactics are exposed as it is revealed that expensive NHS stop-smoking services have no effect on helping people quit, according to public health experts.

Research has found the Government’s flagship £24 million support system makes no difference to smokers trying to give up.

With less than three weeks to the England-wide ban on smoking in public places, doctors said the findings raise serious questions about Britain’s anti-smoking strategy.

Professor Robert West, an architect of the Government’s original stop-smoking plans, said: “We have lost our way. Primary care trusts are more interested in getting the numbers through the system than providing a high quality service.

“It is all about getting bums on seats. Trusts are told to use a combination of drugs and behavioural support to help smokers quit.”

Face-to-face interviews and telephone back-up, combined with medication, are supposed to increase the chances of giving up by four times.

But researchers found that more than 900 people on anti-smoking drugs who took part in a trial saw no benefit from either basic or intensive support.

Instead, the figures were the same as for smokers who had been prescribed medication without support.

Dr Paul Aveyard, senior lecturer in primary care at the University of Birmingham, will tell the National Smoking Cessation Conference on Thursday that the support services are simply not effective.

His research, among 26 practices, followed 925 people who were given interviews and telephone calls before and after they tried to quit.

Half the group received extra visits and telephone calls within four weeks – the deadline for quitting. Just over 100 people in each group had given up after a month.

He concludes: “The absolute quit rates achieved are those expected from nicotine replacement alone, implying that neither basic nor weekly support was effective.”

The study says that GPs should refer people to specialist counsellors rather than offer the service themselves.

Professor West, professor of health psychology at University College London, said: “We know that proper behavioural support does work but for some reason when you roll it out across primary care… the effectiveness is lost.

“It calls into question the government strategy of pushing as many people through the service as possible.”

He said the system was not working partly because trusts are forced to “drag in” as many people to the stop-smoking clinics as possible, even if they are not motivated.

This means they are far less likely to benefit from the expensive face-to-face support, he said.

About one in four British adults smoke and half tried to stop last year. But only 2.5 per cent will end up quitting permanently, and only 0.2 per cent of them will be because of NHS stop-smoking services, Professor West said.

Primary care trusts – the bodies that commission services locally – are awarded £55 million a year for stop-smoking services, at least half of which is believed to go on nonspecialised clinics.

A Department of Health spokesman said: “Helping people to stop smoking is a priority for the DoH. Health professionals in the primary care setting are ideally placed to provide brief interventions (as recommended by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence) and to refer smokers to their local NHS stop-smoking service.”

BILDERBERG 2007 REPORT: ELITE MEET BEHIND STIFF SECURITY

American Free Press | Jun 9, 2007
 
Secret Cabal Roosts at Ritz-Carlton; Riot Police Keep All But Invited Out

BILDERBERG 2007 REPORT

AFP’s Jim Tucker is back in the United States after discovering Bilderberg right in the middle of Istanbul, and not at the Klassis Country Club, 40 miles outside Istanbul as he first believed. What follows is Jim’s first on-the-spot report, filed before leaving Istanbul.

By James P. Tucker Jr.

ISTANBUL, Turkey—Bilderberg celebrated President Bush’s “surrender” on two major issues while showing distress over continuing setbacks to its goal of establishing a world government under the United Nations.

Bush’s surrender came on two fronts: The environment and the sovereignty-surrendering Law of the Sea Treaty (LOST). As recently as May 25, Bush administration officials reiterated his long-standing opposition to European demands on the environment, especially the Kyoto Treaty, which would impose heavy economic burdens on the United States while exempting Mexico and other smoke-belching nations. His reversal on LOST is now under the radar of the mainstream media but will eventually have to emerge.

Bilderberg was among the first to discover the environment as an issue years ago. But these sons of smokestack millionaires were motivated by the potential for immense profits in cleaning up the environment, not by foul air and dirty water. Thus Bilderberg’s pressure on the European Union to require heavy taxpayer investments for clean-up and former President Bill Clinton, himself a Bilderberger, to advocate ratification of the Kyoto Treaty.
But in Washington on May 31, even as Bilderberg luminaries were arriving at the posh Ritz-Carlton for their annual secret meeting, Bush called for 15 major nations to agree on a goal for global emissions limits by the end of next year.

 “The United States takes this seriously,” Bush said.

But while gloating over this “surrender,” Bilderberg members denounced his efforts as “too little and too late” because the Kyoto Treaty expires in 2012. The Europeans agreed that more must be demanded at the Group of 8 summit now taking place, but Bush must not be “embarrassed.” The new environmental buzzword is to be “sustainable growth.”

Among new climate related demands by Bilderberg is for the United State to increase gasoline taxes so the price will rise “significantly” to more than $6 a gallon. The argument is that this will reduce driving and thus emissions. They argued, with little or no dissent from Americans, that Europeans already pay that much or more. Unsaid was the fact that many more Americans have to drive long distances to work. Many Europeans live so close to their jobs they walk or ride bikes.

Lest this be shrugged off as politically impossible, with voters already outraged at record-high prices, there is a precedent. Years ago, during another period of record gas prices, Bilderberg’s junior varsity, the Trilateral Commission (TC), met in San Francisco. TC and Bilderberg have an interlocking leadership and common agenda. TC was founded by David Rockefeller. Henry Kissinger and Peter Sutherland sit on the boards of both groups. TC demanded that the federal government increase gas taxes by 10 cents a gallon.

The meeting ended on a Sunday and on the following Tuesday, The Washington Post called for a 10-cent tax hike. It passed. You paid. Bush’s about-face on the sea treaty is astounding. It will further alienate his base of conservatives, already angry over high taxes, high deficits and foolish spending.

Only Bilderberg, as its members boasted, could pressure Bush into such an irrational act. This demonstrates the raw power of Bilderberg.

President Ronald Reagan rejected LOST in 1982. President Bush the Elder let the issue lie fallow. Bilderberger Clinton signed the treaty and wanted to submit it to the Senate for ratification. He pulled back when a test vote showed a 95-0 opposition to the LOST.

For Bush to anger his already antagonized Republican base by this about-face is incredible.

Bilderberg participants said “pressure has been applied,” and Bush is expected to announce support of the LOST “soon.” Bush’s national security adviser, Stephen Hadley, has asked the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Joe Biden (D-Del.), to secure ratification “soon.”

The LOST took effect in 1994 and has been ratified by 153 countries. If ratified, the United States would yield sovereignty over all the world’s seas and oceans to a UN bureaucracy. Americans could be ordered by the UN to stop fishing or digging for clams on either coast. The LOST created the International Seabed Authority (ISA) with full jurisdiction over more than 70% of the world: the oceans and everything in them.

This includes the ocean floors and all the wealth they contain: “solid, liquid, or gaseous mineral resources” and the power to regulate them. The ISA, headquartered in Jamaica, has an assembly, a council and numerous commissions in a typically bloated bureaucracy, all paid tax-free salaries. If ratified, the United States would have one in 154 votes, and with envy and hatred of our country so widespread, this nation would lose every appeal of every decision.

These bureaucrats would have the power to levy international taxes, something Bilderberg has wanted for many years. Bilderberg prefers, as members have said many times at their meetings over many years, a UN tax on oil at the wellhead. Starting at perhaps 10 cents a barrel, Americans would be unaware they are paying a direct tax to the UN when buying gas. But, like the income tax, it would grow to usurious levels. But the principle is important to Bilderberg: a direct tax on people of the world would be a major step toward global government. Such a tax has been pending before the UN for years but unreported in the mainstream media.

The LOST taxes would be disguised as assessments, fees, permits or payments. But they will cost you money.

But the good news is, Bilderberg is upset that, as public knowledge and indignation rises, the plan for global government is years behind schedule. In the 1990s, Bilderberg was confident that, by 2000, the merging of Europe into a single superstate would be completed and the “American Union” would be well on the way to completion. But two nations failed to ratify the EU constitution, keeping it from taking effect. And outraged Americans have prevented NAFTA from evolving into the “American Union.”

Peter Sutherland, chairman of British Petroleum and Goldman Sachs International, among others, said it was a mistake for the Netherlands and France to kill the EU constitution by putting it to a popular vote so the public could reject it.

“You knew there was a rise in nationalism; you should have let your parliaments ratify the treaty, and it should be done with,” Sutherland fumed. His views were applauded with no apparent dissent.

The term “nationalism” is an obscenity to Bilderberg, being equated with patriotism.

A German said a new draft of the treaty will be shorter and more easily understood.

“Tell your people you fixed the treaty to meet their complaints, and let your parliaments ratify without a popular vote,” he said.

Then the problem of the failure of the “American Union” was addressed. “We must help the enlightened media, as opposed to small journals obsessed with national sovereignty, understand that it is the patriotic duty of the people to support the North American zone [U.S. Mexico and Canada] because it will bring prosperity to the poor and put food in the mouths of hungry babies,” Henry Kissinger said. “Then it can expand, as NAFTA was intended, to all the Western Hemisphere and evolve into the ‘American Union.’ ”

Yet, despite the pep talk, Bilderberg was gloomy, seeing the spectre of nationalism. Was not NAFTA expected to similarly succeed?

“Many congressmen who voted for NAFTA lost their seats and survivors are scared to death,” an American said. “We tried to explain that, ultimately, more and better jobs would be generated by NAFTA. But the man who lost a high-paying manufacturing job to Mexico and is now flipping burgers for minimum wage votes, too.”

There was some discussion about how to make Joe Sixpack understand. “He should have understood,” one said. “There was much in the newspapers and on TV and radio.”

Kissinger, arguing for Turkey’s immediate admission to the European Union, said European nations willingly “gave up their sovereignty, to a certain extent,” after World War II in exchange for security. Persisting loyalty to the “nation-state” creates structural barriers to the EU, he said. Turkey is of “extraordinary strategic and political importance” for the EU, Kissinger said, but stressed that membership would require European intervention in domestic affairs—an idea resented by many Turks.

A Turkish member said that many of his countrymen resent appearing to “beg” for EU membership, and many want to remain outside and retain their national sovereignty. France strongly opposes admitting Turkey to the EU. Officially, Turkey wants admission.

Despite screaming headlines and chilling newspaper stories, Turkish members denied there is a military buildup on the border with Iraq and said there would be no attack on Kurds living there. (Despite denials by the Turkish government, it has been reported that several thousand Turkish troops have now invaded Iraq.)

European members remain opposed to the U.S. invasion of Iraq but more friendly toward the attack on Afghanistan. Afghanistan is a “more logical target” resulting in “less dead.” At the time of these comments, on June 1, 3,473 Americans had been killed in Iraq and 390 in Afghanistan.

Bilderberg is troubled about Iran’s nuclear ambitions but more concerned about its oil. Any U.S. military action must be limited to strategic airstrikes and no attacks by land, or “boots on the ground,” several Europeans said. But Americans must remain in Iraq, Kissinger said.