Cancer breakthrough: New drug shown to prevent cancer growth ready for human testing (in The Toronto Star)

"Two of the world’s foremost cancer researchers announced Tuesday the creation of a new drug aimed at preventing the growth of an array of cancers.

"Tak Mak, director of the Campbell Family Institute for Breast Cancer Research at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, and Dr. Dennis Slamon, of the University of California, Los Angeles, are part of the 100-person team that developed the drug, which has been tested on human ovarian, breast, pancreas, lung and colon cancer in mice."

Full article: Cancer breakthrough: New drug shown to prevent cancer growth ready for human testing.

Democracy Now!: Breast Cancer Patients Declare Victory as Supreme Court Bars Patenting of Human Genes

"In a major victory for women’s health, the [US] Supreme Court has ruled 9-0 that isolated human genes may not be patented. The case concerned the firm Myriad Genetics’ patent on genes linked to higher risks of hereditary breast and ovarian cancer. The firm claimed it had the authority to stop all research on genes it owned patents to..."

Full article: Breast Cancer Patients Declare Victory as Supreme Court Bars Patenting of Human Genes.

Rick Salutin: In praise of Bradley Manning and Edward Snowden (in The Toronto Star)

"They weren’t motivated to release secret material by any ideology or mentor. Their motives were naive, moral and direct. ...

"[Quoting Manning] “For me it’s all a big mess, and I am left wondering what these things mean . . . I hoped that the public would be as alarmed as me . . . to know that not everyone in Iraq and Afghanistan are targets that needed to be neutralized, but rather people who were struggling to live . . . As I hoped, others were just as troubled — if not more. . .”

"This isn’t a traitor or ideologue, his simple good citizen quality couldn’t be starker. He also used his own judgment on the risks of releasing the material. That’s extraordinary in the sense that he just thought for himself, as a citizen in a truly democratic society would; he didn’t want to do damage but felt he could make those difficult choices based on his own good sense and intentions."

Full article: In praise of Bradley Manning and Edward Snowden.

Canadians not safe from U.S. online surveillance, expert says (in The Toronto Star)

"At least 90 per cent of Canada’s digital activity, from Facebook to Foursquare to basic email and beyond, is routed through exchange points in the United States, says Ronald Deibert, director of University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab....

"Obama’s assurances do not extend to Canadians, Deibert said, because they simply hold the wrong passports.

"“Let’s not forget, Canadians are ‘foreign citizens’ by the American definition. So we’re fair game when it comes to eavesdropping, should they want to do so,” he said."

Full article:
Canadians not safe from U.S. online surveillance, expert says.

Trevor Greene: Prime Minister Harper ignores link between climate change and conflict (in The Toronto Star)

"At this point in history, our prime minister is not only ignoring the security risks posed by climate change, but he is actively making them worse by promoting the spewing of ever more carbon in our atmosphere.

"A strong leader today is a climate hawk, one who embraces the challenge of dramatically reducing fossil fuel use and aggressively shifting to renewable energy sources.

"A climate dove may be popular in the backrooms of Calgary, but he does our children no favours."

Full article: Prime Minister Harper ignores link between climate change and conflict.

Captain Trevor Greene (retired) is a real, bona fide, Canadian hero - and war hawk Harper would do well to listen to this sound advice about security from someone who nearly lost his life in Afghanistan while doing what he believed in.

Thomas Walkom: Why Stephen Harper should appoint Mike Duffy to cabinet (in The Toronto Star)

"...he [Duffy] appears to be a firm believer in the principles of Adam Smith — particularly the principle which holds that an individual’s single-minded pursuit of personal gain is the best way to benefit society."

Full article: Why Stephen Harper should appoint Mike Duffy to cabinet.

Didn't know Walkom was such a master of sarcasm - very funny!