Secret Hours

President Barack Obama’s claim to czarlike powers in a perpetual global war against international terrorism has been blunted by a judicial appointee of former President George W. Bush. Last week, in the case Fadi al Maqaleh, United States District Judge John D. Bates denied that President Obama could make suspected “enemy combatants” disappear into the Bagram Theater Internment Facility at Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan without an opportunity for exoneration.

About 80 percent of adults suffer from some form of periodontal, or gum disease, which can result in not just tooth loss, but has also been linked to heart disease, diabetes, blood infection, low birth-weight babies, cancer and most recently, obesity.

Screening for the disease is often costly, time-consuming and sometimes painful for the patient. But researchers at Temple University have found that a simple color-changing oral strip can help detect gum disease in a patient more quickly and easily than traditional screening methods.

Research and industry are increasingly exploiting the potential of aptamers. As well as their application in research, medical diagnosis and treatment, aptamers are also interesting as a basis for biosensors for use in environmental analysis because their characteristics enable them to identify and bind target molecules as surely as a key fits a lock. In a new book, researchers at the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) describe the methods used to obtain aptamers.

On Wednesday 11th Feb the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) will announce the outcome of its review of the classification of ecstasy, and in all likelihood will recommend it be downgraded from Class A to Class B.

A Transform spokesperson said:

“Parliament is reveling in moral grandstanding and populist posturing by eschewing the science on ecstasy. Truth is always the first casualty in any war, including the war on drugs. Given that the Government overruled the ACMD on cannabis classification, and has made it clear that whatever the evidence ecstasy’s classification won’t change, this entire exercise was doomed before it began.

“Drug prohibition is unique in the public health field in using criminal sanctions to reduce social and health harms. It is also uniquely ineffective. There is no evidence that punitive law and its enforcement has more than a marginal impact on levels of drug use or misuse.

“The Advisory Council's job is to reduce the health and social harms associated with the misuse of drugs, so it is a real concern that it is still using a system of classification that was derided comprehensively by the Science and Technology Select Committee less than two years ago. The ACMD’s time would have been far better spent conducting a fundamental review of the evidence underlying the classification system and distinguishing drug harms from harms caused by criminalisation. “

“From Transform’s perspective any reduction in unjust criminal penalties for consenting drug users would have been a positive step. But we remain deeply concerned that regardless of alphabetic classification, ecstasy will remain illegal, its users will still be subject to serious criminal sanctions, and the control of its production and supply will remain in the hands of unregulated criminal profiteers supplying pills and powders of unknown strength made with unknown ingredients.”

“Telling the truth about the harms associated with drug use compared to those caused by prohibition will remain taboo whilst the overarching commitment is to scare the public into supporting an unwinnable war on drugs.”

Thailand has revoked the passport of ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra in connection with protests that have plunged the country deeper into a political crisis.

A government spokesman, Panitan Wattanayagorn, says the Foreign Ministry has revoked Mr. Thaksin’s passport for inciting his supporters to storm last week’s Asian summit in the coastal resort of Pattaya, forcing its cancellation.

Arrest warrants have been issued for Mr. Thaksin and 14 opposition leaders on charges of illegal assembly and inciting criminal acts.  The former prime minister, who was overthrown in a 2006 military coup, spoke to the protesters every night via video and telephone, calling for revolution.  

Mr. Thaksin has been living in voluntary exile to avoid a two-year jail sentence on corruption charges.  He is believed to be living mainly in Dubai.  

A state of emergency imposed after the Pattaya summit was canceled remains in effect in Thailand, as authorities continue to search for the leaders of the three-week old anti-government protests.  Mr. Thaksin’s supporters had been camped in an area outside Government House in Bangkok, demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva.  The siege escalated into violence, with street clashes in Bangkok Monday that left two people dead and more than 100 wounded.

The demonstrations ended Tuesday after protest leaders called for a peaceful end to the demonstrations and four of them surrendered to police.  

As many as 2,000 demonstrators boarded buses to return home as authorities cleared roadblocks and burning tires from Bangkok’s streets.

Newspapers in Bangkok denounced Mr. Thaksin and the protest leaders for inciting unrest, but also called for national reconciliation to end the political upheaval that has plagued Thailand since Mr. Thaksin’s ouster.

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