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An Iowa State University professor has resigned after admitting that he falsified AIDS research. The academic claimed he had discovered that rabbit blood could be used as a vaccine for the virus.(something about him choosing to blame rabbits is funny..)

Dr. Dong-Pyou Han was an assistant professor in biomedical sciences at ISU when he spiked rabbit blood with human blood to make it appear as if an AIDS vaccine was working better than it truly was. Those results helped Han’s research team, and ISU, earn $19 million in research grants from the National Institutes of Health, officials told the Des Moines Register.

Dr. James Bradac, one of the heads of the AIDS vaccine grants at the National Institutes of Health, said the human blood came from donors whose bodies had produced antibodies to HIV, the virus that can cause AIDS.

“This positive result was striking, and it caught everybody’s attention,” Bradac said. “It’s difficult to pull something like this off and not be detected. This went on for several years and wasn’t detected until January 2013.”

Han’s boss, Dr. Michael Cho, a biomedical professor who serves as head of the ISU team, told investigators that the team received approximately $10 million of the $19 million prize after announcing the “exciting results,” which turned out to be falsified. Approximately $4 million of the grant money has yet to be paid out, and officials said they had not made a decision as to whether it would be.(???????)

Dr. Han, who is thought to have hid his deception from the rest of the team, was identified as the suspect in August and resigned in October.

“A large amount of what they were focusing on was flushed down the toilet because of this one guy,” Bradac told the Des Moines Register. He added that it would be unusual for a university to refund grant money, though he refused to speculate on this particular case.

Han’s findings were first questioned when other universities discovered they were unable to replicate his results when conducting the experiment in the same way.

“At Iowa state’s request, the research samples in question were examined by researchers at another university; they confirmed samples had been spiked,” said ISU spokesman John McCarroll.

The government announced its findings in a Federal Register report on Monday. The conclusion indicates that investigators found out the results were forged based on an inquiry by the university and a “detailed admission” from Dr. Han earlier this year. Han has agreed to avoid any contracting or subcontracting work with a government agency for three years, and has promised not to serve in any type of “advisory capacity” to the US Public Health Service.(that's it?)

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The Los Angeles Police Department has announced plans to ramp up use of a portable tool that checks for drug use, beginning with a New Year’s Eve crackdown on intoxicated drivers. Officials cited increased medical marijuana use as a main justification. (Do they have high numbers showing that persons arrested for suspected DUI tested positive for marijuana use?>Also>shouldn't all cops be tested for alcohol and drug use regularly?>damn right, they should..)

A state grant supplied the LAPD with a swab testing tool that will be employed at DUI (driving under the influence) checkpoints and jails, Los Angeles officials said at a Friday press conference.(a grant?>because some corporation is looking forward to a massive payday?)

The conference(what conference?) was held to highlight use of the tool alongside breathalyzers - which check for blood-alcohol content - at sobriety checkpoints during the New Year’s holiday.

LAPD officers can ask a driver to consent to a voluntary portable oral fluids test of their gum line and cheeks. The tip of the tool is then put into a portable machine for immediate testing rather than requiring a blood test. Such blood tests have previously been necessary to verify an arrest made on the suspicion of drugged driving.(this also allows them to record DNA signatures)

Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer pointed to the increased use of medical marijuana and the prevalence of dispensaries in the city as reason to step up enforcement of DUI policing.

“There’s a growing recognition(among the Gestapo) that driving under the influence of drugs is something we need to be clamping down on more effectively,” Feuer said at the press conference.(oh..that conference)

The swabbing test is not completely untested, though it was only used 50 times in Los Angeles ahead of Friday’s announcement. City prosecutors said they have not used results from the test as evidence in any case thus far.

The portable oral fluids test screens for amphetamines, cocaine, benzodiazepine (Xanax), methadone, methamphetamine, narcotic analgesics, and THC – which indicates that marijuana has been used in the past several hours.

“Traditionally, our office has focused on drunken driving cases,” Feuer said. “We’re expanding drug collection and aggressively enforcing all impaired-driving laws.”

The city attorney’s office filed 598 DUI cases in the past year that involved drugs. In comparison, the city filed 577 drunken driving cases during the 2012 winter holiday alone.

Thus far in the 2013 holiday season, over 1,500 people have been arrested in Los Angeles County on suspicion of DUI, according to the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department.

It is yet unknown what other capabilities the testing method has, or how the LAPD will use biometric data gleaned from the swabbing results.

In June, the US Supreme Court ruled to affirm law enforcement’s right to legally take DNA samples from those who are arrested – even if they have not been convicted for a crime or gone to trial.

Los Angeles County has held the distinction of possessing one of the largest DNA-sample backlogs in the US, including an especially high number of unprocessed rape kits.(because>as long as they remain unprocessed, their results cannot serve to exculpate wrongfully incarcerated individuals)

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About 150 U.S. Marines are poised to enter turbulent South Sudan to help evacuate Americans and provide security for the U.S. Embassy, two U.S. military officials said Monday.

The troops are moving from Spain to Africa, probably to the nation of Djibouti, the officials told CNN’s Barbara Starr on Monday.

An estimated 100 U.S. citizens are believed to be in the country, where steady violence is stoking fears of an all-out civil war in the world’s newest country.

Up to 40,000 civilians have taken refuge in U.N. bases in the country, the world body says. It estimates some 62,000 people have been displaced in total, with five of South Sudan’s 10 states affected by the violence.

Deployment here has escalated from the original 45 US troops on last Thursday, to an additional complement of 65 just yesterday, and now an additional 150 troops being deployed to South Sudan as of today: so from last Thursday to today, the US will have a total troop compliment of 260.

Look for these numbers to potentially escalate dramatically in the next week, between Christmas and New Year’s day, when the US government thinks no one is paying any attention.

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A bill to require all public elementary school children in Oklahoma to recite the Pledge of Allegiance each day and for every public school in the state to own and display a U.S. flag is among education proposals filed in advance of the 2014 legislative session.

Will they do it the way it was originally done in the 1930s?

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http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/60129

The Logan Act (1 Stat. 613, 30 January 1799, currently codified at 18 U.S.C. § 953) is a United States federal law that forbids unauthorized citizens from negotiating with foreign governments. It was passed in 1799 and last amended in 1994. Violation of the Logan Act is a felony, punishable under federal law with imprisonment of up to three years.

The text of the Act is broad and is addressed at any attempt of a US citizen to conduct foreign relations without authority.

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See Ethanol Damage UP CLOSE!

Posted August 12, 2013 by Turner Anderson 43 Comments All this talk about ethanol and bad gas leaves many homeowners and landscapers constantly worried about refueling their power equipment. Repair shops know it all too well, how ethanol and stale gas affects your equipment. They’re seeing the damage every day. But for those who want to see it to believe it, here’s your chance. Check out the effects of ethanol up close! Step into the shoes of a power equipment repair technician as we dissect a lawn mower and generator carburetor. You’ll see with your very own eyes how ethanol and stale gas can clog and corrode the carburetor and fuel system components. Crusty Deposits – Deterioration Ethanol has a tendency to absorb water. The water moisture, along with ethanol, slowly deteriorates the metal parts of the fuel tank and carburetor. The white crusty deposits you see collecting on this generator carburetor are the deteriorated metal particles. Corrosion Buildup and Water in the Carburetor Bowl As ethanol eats away at the metal parts, as well as the rubber and plastic parts of the fuel system and carburetor, it leaves those corroded particles in the carburetor bowl. These particles can clog the carburetor jets, causing extremely poor engine performance. The particles can even enter your engine’s cylinder! Gummy Varnish Deposits Old, stale gas degrades and breaks down over time, forming gummy varnish deposits that eventually harden and clog the carburetor jets too. Notice the black varnish deposits forming on this lawn mower carburetor. *If your fuel smells sour or smells like nail polish, it’s stale! Don’t use it. So there you have it, ethanol damage up close and personal. Keeping your gas fresh, properly treating it with a fuel stabilizer, or buying strictly ethanol-free fuel, is as important as that regular oil change every year. Hopefully these images weren’t too disturbing for you. But at the very least, you’ll think twice about refueling with stale gas. Right? Watch this video on how to use ethanol fuel in power equipment. - See more at: http://blog.jackssmallengines.com/2013/08/see-ethanol-damage-up-close/#more-316

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