‘For years Americans have been told that marijuana should remain illegal because it is the ultimate “gateway” drug - that is, the drug that most often leads to the abuse of other, more potent drugs.

Not so, according to a new study which says alcohol - not marijuana - is the true gateway drug.

Of three drugs or drug-containing substances - alcohol, tobacco and marijuana - the study found that the former, not the latter, led to more drug use.

In examining a nationally representative sample obtained from the University of Michigan’s Monitoring the Future survey, the study concluded: “Results from the Guttman scale indicated that alcohol represented the ‘gateway’ drug, leading to the use of tobacco, marijuana, and other illicit substances. Moreover, students who used alcohol exhibited a significantly greater likelihood of using both licit and illicit drugs.”

That said, the study concluded “that alcohol should receive primary attention in school-based substance abuse prevention programming, as the use of other substances could be impacted by delaying or preventing alcohol use.’

‘PC Simon Harwood has been found not guilty of the manslaughter of Ian Tomlinson at the 2009 G20 protest. As Tomlinson walked home from work, hands in his pockets, Harwood hit him with a baton and shoved him to the ground. The court has seen footage of Harwood’s attack on Tomlinson, who is seen walking away from the police line. As a female officer steps forward to talk to Tomlinson, Harwood passes two police dogs in order to hit and push Tomlinson to the ground. Tomlinson barely has enough time to take his hands out of his pockets to protect himself as he falls. He died shortly afterwards.

Harwood told the court that his actions were justifiable within the context of the widespread disorder of that day, and the jury heard conflicting medical evidence on whether Harwood’s attack had caused Tomlinson’s death.

The Human Rights Act guarantees everyone the right to life. In practice, this has been interpreted as requiring the state to investigate deaths linked to the authorities and hold accountable those responsible for unlawful killings. In spite of this guarantee, in reality, it has proved well nigh impossible to hold anyone accountable for deaths in which police officers may be implicated. No police officer has been convicted of manslaughter for a crime committed while on duty since 1986, though since then hundreds have died in police custody or after contact with the police.

Time and again, the CPS has proved unwilling to prosecute police officers. More than 1,000 people have died in police custody since the 1960s (more than 300 between 1999 and 2010) and in only one case, in 1969, has a police officer been convicted. Instead, the families of those killed are forced to take on the state. It is only as a result of the pressure his family put on the government that an inquest into the death of Ian Tomlinson took place.’

‘Osama bin Laden died a natural death nearly 5 years before it was announced that he was eliminated by the American commandos. This sensational statement was made by a Turkish politician, and a former U.S. intelligence agent. In an interview with Russia’s Channel One, he said that the Americans simply found and opened the tomb of the leader of al-Qaeda.’

‘While the medical, pharmaceutical, and vaccine industries are busy pushing new vaccines for practically every condition under the sun, a new study published in the journal Immunity completely deconstructs the entire vaccination theory. It turns out that the body’s natural immune systems, comprised of both innate and adaptive components, work together to ward off disease without the need for antibody-producing vaccines.’

‘The body of Al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden was not buried at sea, according to leaked emails of intelligence firm Stratfor, as revealed by WikiLeaks.

Stratfor’s vice-president for intelligence, Fred Burton, believes the body was “bound for Dover, [Delaware] on [a] CIA plane” and then “onward to the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology in Bethesda [Maryland],” an email says.

The official version is that the body of Al-Qaeda’s top man, who was killed by a US raid in Pakistan on May 2, 2011, was buried at an undisclosed location at sea in a proper Muslim ceremony.

“If body dumped at sea, which I doubt, the touch is very Adolph Eichman like. The Tribe did the same thing with the Nazi’s ashes,” Burton commented in another email. Eichman was one of the masterminds of the Holocaust by Nazi Germany. He was captured by Mossad agents in Argentina and, tried in Israel, found guilty and executed in 1962. His body was cremated and his ashes were scattered at sea over the Mediterranean.

“Eichmann was seen alive for many months on trial before being sentenced to death and executed. No one wanted a monument to him so they cremated him. But i dont know anyone who claimed he wasnt eicjhman [sic]. No comparison with suddenly burying him at sea without any chance to view him which i doubt happened [sic],” Stratfor CEO George Friedman replied.

“The US Govt needs to make body pics available like the MX’s do, with OBL’s pants pulled down, to shout down the lunatics like Alex Jones and Glenn Beck,” Burton says in another message.

In another missive Burton says Osama’s body “is a crime scene and I don’t see the FBI nor DOJ letting that happen.”

WikiLeaks began publishing Stratfor emails in late February. The archive was obtained by the hacker group Anonymous, which successfully attacked one of the firm’s servers. More than 5 million emails were apparently stolen.

Stratfor is a US-based intelligence firm called the “shadow CIA” by some media. Among its clients are several US agencies and many big companies. The company relies on paid tips from informants placed in high circles of business, government and security all around the world.’

‘We’ve seen in recent articles (What Happened to Whitney Houston? and Whitney Houston and the 2012 Grammy Awards Mega-Ritual) that the death of Whitney Houston had the hallmarks of a celebrity ritual killing. Today, Leolah Brown, the sister of Bobby Brown, told Access Hollywood that she did not believe Whitney’s death was an accident. Her attorney however advised not to say who or what she believes killed the singer. Leolah is also extremely concerned for Whitney’s daughter Bobbi Kristina, claiming that “she is not safe right now”.

Those are extremely heavy statements but not surprising for those who know about the dark side of the music industry. She is basically saying: “The shady people who got Whitney are now after Bobbi Kristina”. Here’s an article about Leolah’s interview.

Bobby Brown’s Sister Leolah: Bobbi Kristina ‘Is Not Safe Right Now’

Bobby Brown’s sister, Leolah Brown, is speaking out for the first time since Whitney Houston’s death, defending her brother and sending a warning to Bobby & Whitney’s daughter — Bobbi Kristina.

“I am concerned about my niece Bobbi Kristina, yes,” Leolah told Access Hollywood of her 18-year-old niece, who she refers to as “Krissy.” “Krissy is not safe right now. I want to say to Krissy that it’s very, very, very important that she does not trust anybody at this time. Anybody except her father, her grandmother Cissy and myself. And I mean that.

“Right now is the time to just really shut the door,” she continued.

Leolah and her attorney, Reginald Mason, remained unspecific about who may try to harm Krissy.

“There are persons that possibly would want to take advantage of Bobbi Kristina’s fragile state of mind,” Mason claimed.

Leolah claims her brother Bobby is not doing well, but says he is not to blame for Whitney’s demise.

“Bobby has nothing, nothing at all to do with Whitney’s death,” she told Access.

While awaiting toxicology results to determine what killed the singer, Leolah told Access that she has reached out to the Beverly Hills Police Department to make sure they do a thorough investigation.

“I believe Whitney’s death was not accidental. No,” she claimed.’

‘In my article entitled Amy Winehouse and 27 Club, I mentioned that the circumstances surrounding Winehouse’s death are rather “suspicious” and that “suspicious” celebrity deaths are often followed by vague explanations, botched investigations and all kinds of shady business. After months of strange flip-flopping regarding the cause of Winehouse’s death, the coroner that was looking into the singer’s case, Suzanne Greenaway , has resigned because she “did not have the correct qualifications”. Even odder, she was appointed to this particular position by her husband, coroner Dr. Andrew Scott Reid. These events will probably cause the entire investigation to be held again.

Yup, that’s the typical blur of confusion, contradictions and all-around crap that usually surrounds celebrity sacrifices. Here’s an article on Suzanne Greenway’s resignation.

Family of Amy Winehouse considering legal action after coroner at her inquest resigns because she did not have the correct qualifications

Amy Winehouse’s family says it is seeking legal advice after the coroner who oversaw the singer’s inquest resigned because she did not have the required qualifications for the job – raising the possibility the investigation may have to be held again.In October, Suzanne Greenaway ruled that the soul singer had died from accidental alcohol poisoning.

Greenaway had been appointed an assistant deputy coroner in London by her husband, Inner North London Coroner Andrew Reid.

But she resigned in November after authorities learned she had not been a registered U.K. lawyer for five years as required.

She had practised law for a decade in her native Australia.

Her resignation was not made public until today.

The Office for Judicial Complaints has now launched an investigation into Dr Reid’s conduct.’

‘Here’s some depressing recent medical news: Antidepressants don’t work. What’s even more depressing is that the pharmaceutical industry and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have deliberately deceived us into believing that they DO work. As a physician, this is frightening to me. Depression is among the most common problems seen in primary-care medicine and soon will be the second leading cause of disability in this country.

The study I’m talking about was published in The New England Journal of Medicine. It found that drug companies selectively publish studies on antidepressants. They have published nearly all the studies that show benefit — but almost none of the studies that show these drugs are ineffective. (1)

That warps our view of antidepressants, leading us to think that they do work. And it has fueled the tremendous growth in the use of psychiatric medications, which are now the second leading class of drugs sold, after cholesterol-lowering drugs.

The problem is even worse than it sounds, because the positive studies hardly showed benefit in the first place. For example, 40 percent of people taking a placebo (sugar pill) got better, while only 60 percent taking the actual drug had improvement in their symptoms. Looking at it another way, 80 percent of people get better with just a placebo.’

‘The best way you can help your baby or toddler learn and develop a healthy brain is to unplug the TV and other media screens, and play with them, says the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) whose new policy reiterates, in the light of newer data, their previous recommendation that parents and carers keep children under 2 years of age as “screen-free” as possible.

The AAP released their report and policy statement, “Media Use by Children Younger Than Two Years”, on Tuesday at the AAP National Conference & Exhibition in Boston. It also appears online ahead of print in the journal Pediatrics.

The new report and policy confirms the guidance the AAP provided in 1999 for children under 2: that there are more negative than positive effects from exposing this age group to TV and media screens. That policy came more from belief than hard evidence says the AAP, but the new policy, which has the same message, is based on evidence that has since emerged about children’s early brain development and how different types of stimulation and activity influence their early learning processes.’