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... GLPBAL NEWS. ... NEWS ... in full-scale battle in Najaf, with the com- pany flying its own helicopters amidst an intense firefight to resupply its own com- mandos. The Washington Post reports that these security firms are networking for- mally, "organizing what may effectively be the largest private army in the world, with its own rescue teams and pooled, sen- sitive intelligence". Making the problem still worse is that the monster feeds on itself. The larger the military contractors become, the more influence they have in Congress and the Pentagon and the more they are able to shape policy, immunise themselves from proper oversight and expand their reach. These private firms are led by ex-generals, the most effective possible lobbyists of their former colleagues—and frequently, former subordinates—at the Pentagon. (Source: by Russell Mokhiber and Robert Weissman, 23 April 2004, http://ists.essen - tial.org/pipermail/corp-focus/2004/ 000178.html) Not only that, but after examining 12,000 studies conducted from 1990 to 2003 around the world and winnowing the number down to the most sound 250, the researchers said there is no evidence that some pesticides are less dangerous than others—just that they have different effects on health that take different periods of time to show up. The massive scientific literature review comes as many cities across Canada are trying to ban the use of pesticides. Toronto's law came into effect in April, complete with posters showing a dandelion and the caption, "Relax. It's just a weed." Quebec is banning the most common lawn and garden pesticides across the province starting next year. The Canadian Cancer Society, the Learning Disabilities Association of Canada, the Registered Nurses Association of Canada and the Ontario Public Health Association have also called for the bans. (Source: The Globe and Mail, Toronto, 24 April 2004) threw them away in multiple trash cans, the report said. "We were told that nobody ever listened to, transcribed or duplicated the tape," Transportation Department Inspector General Kenneth Mead said in the report sent to Senator John McCain. The September 11 commission learned of the tape's existence during interviews with New York air traffic control centre personnel between September and October. The report said the controllers who made the tape had either talked to the hijacked planes that crashed into the World Trade Center or were working radar posi- tions that intersected with the jetliners' flight paths. (Source: Guardian Unlimited, 7 May 2004, http://www. guardian.co.uk) PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY MANIPULATES DRUG TRIALS lhe multibillion-pound global pharma- ceutical industry is accused of manipu- lating the results of drug trials for financial gain and withholding information that could expose patients to the risk of harm. The stranglehold that the industry exerts over research is causing increasing alarm in medical circles as evidence emerges of biased results, underreporting and selective publication driven by a market worth more than £10 billion a year in the UK alone. In cancer, heart disease, mental health and related fields, the industry has spon- sored trials of new drugs which have held great promise for patients. However, when the same drugs were tested in independent CANADIAN STUDY CONFIRMS HARMFUL EFFECT OF PESTICIDES lhe link between common household pesticides and foetal defects, neurolog- ical damage and the most deadly cancers is strong enough that family doctors in Ontario are urging citizens to avoid the chemicals in any form. The frightening message came recently when the Ontario College of Family Physicians released the most comprehen- sive study ever done in Canada on the chronic effects of pesticide exposure at ome, in the garden and at work. "The review found consistent evidence of the health risks to patients with expo- sure to pesticides," the study said, naming rain cancer, prostate cancer, kidney can- cer, pancreatic cancer and leukaemia among many other acute illnesses. As well, the college found consistent inks between parents' exposure to certain agricultural pesticides at their jobs and effects on a growing foetus ranging from damage to death. The risks can come even from residues on food, ant spray and the tick collar on the family cat. The researchers also found that children are far more vulnerable to the effects of esticides than are adults because their odies are growing, they have a greater skin surface in proportion to their size than adults, they ingest more food for their size than adults and often have less-developed systems for excreting chemicals. AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLERS’ 9/11 TAPE DESTROYED A traffic controllers who handled two of the hijacked flights on September 11, 2001, and recorded their experiences shortly after the planes crashed into the World Trade Center, have noted in a report that the tape was secretly destroyed. Some time between December 2001 and February 2002, an unidentified Federal Aviation Administration quality assurance manager crushed the cassette case in his hand, cut the tape into small pieces and JUNE — JULY 2004 NEXUS +7 www.nexusmagazine.com