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Canada: Vancouver Health Authority Begins its Free Crack Pipe Program for Addicts

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© Jenelle Schneider / Postmedia NewsHugh Lampkin, president of the Vancouver Area of Network Drug Users, shows one of 60,000 crack smoking kits that will be distributed at five sites throughout Vancouver's Downtown Eastside to help reduce the spread of disease.
Crack addicts in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside have started receiving free crack pipes as part of a Vancouver Coastal Health Authority harm reduction strategy aimed at curbing the spread of disease.

Part of a $60,000 trial project first announced in August, the pipes are just one piece of drug paraphernalia found inside kits that have been distributed to users in the area since the beginning of the month. The glass pipes are heat-resistant and shatterproof, which experts say should reduce injury to the users' lips and mouth - wounds that can make them more susceptible to diseases such as HIV and Hepatitis B and C.

Also included are mouthpieces, filters, alcohol swabs, screens and push sticks.

While harm-reduction tools such as these have been made available to addicts in the past, this marks the first time they have been combined in a single kit, explained Trudi Beutel, a spokesperson for the health authority.

In total, 60,000 kits are expected to be distributed through five different Downtown Eastside harm reduction centres over the duration of the eight-month trial period.

Nuke

New Year Despair for Japan's Nuclear Refugees

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As most of Japan prepares to ring in the New Year at the end of a traumatic 2011, refugees from the country's nuclear crisis relocated far from home say they have nothing to celebrate.

All over the country families will gather for a midnight trip to a shrine, many donning traditional kimono for the centrepiece of several days of celebration during one of Japan's most important festivals.

But for the many tens of thousands of people forced to flee when reactors at Fukushima Daiichi began spewing radiation, festivities are a long way from their thoughts.

Many of the 1,000 or so refugees holed-up in a 36-storey Tokyo tower block say their mood will be altogether downbeat, after a devastating year which saw their hometowns engulfed by the worst nuclear crisis in a generation.

Dollar

Best of the Web: The Number One Catastrophic Event That Americans Worry About: Economic Collapse

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Can you guess what the number one catastrophic event that Americans worry about is? There are certainly many to choose from. Many Americans are deathly afraid of a major terrorist attack. Others live in constant fear of natural disasters such as earthquakes, volcanoes and hurricanes. Still others are incredibly concerned that a massive pandemic will break out at any time or that World War III will erupt in the Middle East.

Yes, there are certainly a lot of potential catastrophic events that one can worry about in the times in which we live, but the number one catastrophic event that Americans worry about is actually "economic collapse". At least that is what a recent survey conducted by Leiflin Inc. for the EcoHealth Alliance found. But this goes along with what so many other polls have found over the past few years.

Over and over again, opinion polls have found that the number one issue that American voters are concerned about is the economy. The truth is that average Americans are deeply, deeply concerned about unemployment, debt, the housing crash and the steady decline in the standard of living. It has been years since the U.S. economy has operated at a "normal" level, and many Americans are afraid that things could soon get a whole lot worse.

In the new survey mentioned above, those contacted were asked to select the top three potential catastrophes that worry them the most.

V

US, Iowa: Des Moines Police Arrest 12 Protesters at Democratic Headquarters


Twelve protesters have been arrested at the Iowa Democratic headquarters this afternoon, as they protested that Guantanamo remained open and corporate donations to campaigns.

As arrests were going on, other protesters with the Occupy the Caucuses movement chanted, "Hey, hey, ho, ho, Obama close Guantanamo."

Among those arrested was Frankie Hughes, 14, who earlier today told a Register reporter that she gets good grades.

Heart - Black

US: Michigan man may have intentionally infected hundreds with HIV

A Michigan man has been charged with felony sex offenses after he told police he was HIV-positive and had set out to intentionally infect as many people as he could. Health officials have issued an alert warning that "possibly hundreds of people have been exposed to HIV."


The man, identified as David Dean Smith, 51, of Comstock Park, north of Grand Rapids, was arraigned Wednesday on a second count of "AIDS-sexual penetration with an uninformed partner" after police said they had identified a second possible victim.

Smith was initially charged with one count after he went to Grand Rapids police last week and told them he had intentionally had unprotected sex with as many people as he could over the last three years.

According to documents on file with Grand Rapids 61st District Court, Smith claimed to have had sex with "thousands" of partners, intending to kill them by infecting them with HIV. Some of those people are from outside the Grand Rapids area, including people Smith met over the Internet, he told police, according to documents.

Eye 1

US Federal court revives government wiretapping suit

A federal appeals court has revived two lawsuits challenging the highly secretive National Security Administration's warrantless monitoring of Americans' communications since 9/11.

Two groups of telecom customers had sued the federal government for violating their privacy in the surveillance program authorized by President George W. Bush. Government lawyers have moved to stop such cases, arguing that defending the program in court would jeopardize national security.

In 2009, a San Francisco-based federal judge dismissed the lawsuits. He said the plaintiffs could not sue because they didn't have enough evidence linking the telecom companies to the NSA program.

But the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Thursday that the plaintiffs are eligible to sue.

Handcuffs

US, Maryland: Abortion Doctors Charged with Murder

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© Chip Somodevilla/Getty ImagesMaryland is one of 38 states with a law that allows murder charges against someone accused of killing a viable foetus.
Two out-of-state doctors who traveled to Maryland to perform late-term abortions have been arrested and charged with multiple counts of murder under the state's viable fetus law, authorities said.

Dr. Steven Brigham, of Voorhees, N.J., was taken into custody Wednesday night and is being held in the Camden County jail, according to police in Elkton, Md. Authorities also arrested Dr. Nicola Riley in Salt Lake City and she is in jail in Utah. Each is awaiting an extradition hearing.

The two doctors were indicted by a grand jury after a 16-month investigation, police said.

The investigation began in August 2010 after a botched procedure at Brigham's Elkton clinic. An 18-year-old woman who was 21 weeks pregnant had her uterus ruptured and her bowel injured, and rather than call 911, Brigham and Riley drove her to a nearby hospital, where both were uncooperative and Brigham refused to give his name, authorities said.

A search of the clinic after the botched abortion revealed a freezer with 35 late-term fetuses inside, including one believed to have been aborted at 36 weeks, authorities said.

Ambulance

US: 2 Dead, 61 Hurt in 40-Vehicle New Orleans Pileup



Two men died and 61 other people were injured Thursday in a pre-dawn pileup involving about 40 cars, vans and other vehicles on a busy interstate that crosses New Orleans, closing the route for hours both ways, police said.

Drivers said they drove into thick smoke or fog that abruptly limited visibility on westbound lanes of Interstate 10 heading across eastern New Orleans. Those who came upon the scene said they heard injured motorists pleading for assistance.

"You just hear all kinds of calls and people screaming for help," tow truck driver Wesley Ratcliff told local broadcaster WWL-TV. In 13 years responding to wrecks, he added, "this is the worst I've ever seen it."

Officer Garry Flot, a police spokesman, would not talk about possible causes, including whether those may have included smoke or fog.

All lanes were reopened late Thursday afternoon as the investigation continued, letting commuters head home at rush hour.

Handcuffs

US: Facebook Photos Lead to Child Abuse Arrests in Arizona



Two Arizona parents were arrested by sheriff's deputies after apparently posting pictures on Facebook that showed their children, an infant and a toddler, bound with duct tape, authorities said on Thursday.

Coconino County deputies arrested Frankie Almuina, 20, and Kayla Almuina, 19, on suspicion of two counts of child abuse on Wednesday at their northern Arizona home after being alerted to the photos by an anonymous tip.

The children, a 2-year-old toddler and a 10-month-old infant, were seen online bound with duct tape on their wrists and ankles with their mouths taped shut, Commander Rex Gilliland told Reuters. One of the children was shown hanging upside down on an exercise machine.

Handcuffs

Best of the Web: The Return Of Debtor's Prisons: Thousands Of Americans Jailed For Not Paying Their Bills

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Federal imprisonment for unpaid debt has been illegal in the U.S. since 1833. It's a practice people associate more with the age of Dickens than modern-day America. But as more Americans struggle to pay their bills in the wake of the recession, collection agencies are using harsher methods to get their money, ushering in the return of debtor's prisons.

NPR reports that it's becoming increasingly common for people to serve jail time as a result of their debt. Because of "sloppy, incomplete or even false documentation," many borrowers facing jail time don't even know they're being sued by creditors:
Take, for example, what happened to Robin Sanders in Illinois. She was driving home when an officer pulled her over for having a loud muffler. But instead of sending her off with a warning, the officer arrested Sanders, and she was taken right to jail.

"That's when I found out [that] I had a warrant for failure to appear in Macoupin County. And I didn't know what it was about." Sanders owed $730 on a medical bill. She says she didn't even know a collection agency had filed a lawsuit against her. [...]

A company will often sell off its debt to a collection agency, generally called a creditor. That creditor files a lawsuit against the debtor requiring a court appearance. A notice to appear in court is supposed to be given to the debtor. If they fail to show up, a warrant is issued for their arrest.