Police threaten Aboriginal protester with a tear gas cannister on 40th anniversary of Aboriginal Tent Embassy

See photos number 5 and 11 in this interesting gallery of press photos.

"A policeman threatens protesters with a tear gas cannister in Canberra. Picture: Lukas Coch / AAP".

Notice how the older Aboriginal-looking man in photo number 15 was shoved aside on a stairway by the cops and security people rushing the PM away from the restaurant? PM's welfare is more important I guess.

This whole debacle was sparked by stupid and ignorant comments about the Aboriginal Tent Embassy made by Tony Abbott. Nice work, Tony! Abbott is clearly a man who cares about nothing and no-one except himself and his own career. He has proven himself over and over again to lack anything like the character that is required to be the leader of any organization, let alone the leader of a nation.

Note to the Prime Minister - Prince Charming does not have your lost shoe, but nevertheless I'm sure it has gone to a nice home.

Protesters trap PM, Tony Abbott.
The Australian.
January 26th 2012.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/in-depth/australia-day/gallery-e6frgdbo-1226254476537?page=14

Why behind a paywall?

It's such a pity that this old British Medical Journal paper is now hidden behind a paywall, because it was one of the few journal papers by Prof. Patrick McGorry, psychiatrist and former Australian of the Year, in which he disclosed much at all in the section found in most journal papers in which conflicting or competing interests are supposed to be disclosed by the author of the paper. This BMJ paper had an uncharacteristically long disclosure by McGorry. Now you readers will have to just go by what I've written about the disclosure, try to access the paper thru a library or pay to read the paper yourself. So much for freedom of information!

Is early intervention in the major psychiatric disorders justified? Yes.
British Medical Journal. 2008;337doi: 10.1136/bmj.a695
August 4th 2008.
http://www.bmj.com/content/337/bmj.a695?tab=full

You know things aren't going well in your medical practice when....

....a shitload of disgruntled ex-patients get together to form themselves into a support group, and a class action lawsuit looks probable. It looks like the misdeeds of the Australian psychiatrist Professor Graham Burrows are finally catching up with him. Why has it taken so long?

I find it rather interesting that Australia has two controversial psychiatrist professors, Dr Graham Burrows and Prof. Patrick McGorry, who have both been the subject of serious ethical objections to their trials of the same drug - Seroquel, which has the proper chemical name of Quetiapine and also goes by other brand names, and is manufactured by the drug company AstraZeneca. According to the Seven News report Burrows was being funded by the manufacturer of Seroquel to trial the drug on eating disorder patients, and Prof. McGorry tried to get a trial of Seroquel as a treatment to prevent the onset of psychosis happening in Australia, but that trial was closed down on ethical grounds after an international collection of health professionals and researchers lodged a formal objection to the trial, known as the NEUROPRO-Q study. Like Burrows McGorry has been the beneficiary of funding or assistance from AstraZeneca, which he has disclosed at least once in a medical journal paper. Another thing the two profs have in common - both Burrows and McGorry have been accused of practicing psychiatry in a way that results in or probably would result in patients being incorrectly diagnosed as schizophrenic. McGorry should take a tip - looking this similar to Dr Graham Burrows is not a good look, and this is true now more than ever!

Class action against Burrows.
reporter Louise Milligan
7News (Melbourne)
January 15th 2012
http://au.news.yahoo.com/video/vic/-/watch/27901358/class-action-against-burrows/
http://au.news.yahoo.com/video/vic/watch/27901358/

Seroquel XR: 0:28 of advert, 1:02 of horrible side effects!
YouTube
http://youtu.be/vUBjO7J_UpM
[This is an unintentionally hilarious and scary advertisement for the drug Seroquel from the US, in which the disclaimer about serious side effects (which presumably must be added by law) takes up most of the time of the advert.]

Wikipedia contributors (accessed 2012) Quetiapine. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Quetiapine&oldid=471222206

I can't understand why Dr/Prof Graham Burrows is still practising medicine

A quote from today's shocking 7News report about the controversial Australian psychiatrist/professor Graham Burrows:

"I can't describe it as anything other than disgusting."

I agree.

Burrows patient used as "guinea pig".
Milligan, Louise
7News.
January 12th 2012
http://au.news.yahoo.com/video/sa/watch/27859872/248154/

http://news.yahoo.com/video/world-15749633/burrows-patient-used-as-guinea-pig-27859874.html#crsl=%252Fvideo%252Fworld-15749633%252Fburrows-patient-used-as-guinea-pig-27859874.html


and from late last year this report of an incredible bit of conduct:


Mental health charity probe.
McArthur, Grant
Herald Sun.
December 23rd 2011
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/more-news/mental-health-charity-probe/story-fn7x8me2-1226228855616


another damning report from 2011:

7News exposes medical scandal

https://au.news.yahoo.com/vic/a/9690341/7news-exposes-medical-scandal/

Serco Ruins Christmas for Children in Detention

What kind of miserable f***s would prevent children from being given gifts at Christmas-time? What kind of power-crazed c*** would forbid children from having coloured crayons or coloured pencils outside of formal classes?

DASSAN Press Release: Serco Ruins Christmas for Children in Detention
Refugee Rights Action Network
5 January 2012.
http://rran.org/blog/2012/01/dassan-press-release-serco-ruins-christmas-for-children-in-detention/

Serco drops ban on coloured pencils and crayons for asylum-seeker children
by Kirsty Needham
Sydney Morning Herald.
January 7, 2012.
http://www.smh.com.au/national/serco-drops-ban-on-coloured-pencils-and-crayons-for-asylumseeker-children-20120106-1pogh.html#ixzz1ilC5Sacc

Serco drops ban on coloured pencils and crayons for asylum-seeker children
Refugee Rights Action Network
7 January 2012.
http://rran.org/blog/2012/01/serco-drops-ban-on-coloured-pencils-and-crayons-for-asylum-seeker-children/