Freedomshift

Rail cops go great guns LACHLAN CARTWRIGHT, MURRAY WEISS and LEONARD GREENE NY Post Stand clear of the submachine guns. Bleary-eyed New Yorkers began their work weeks with a morning rush hour that featured city cops in full military gear, including helmets, goggles, body armor, sidearms and M16 assault rifles. The underground arsenal startled sleepy strap hangers, many of whom wondered whether the extra security was overkill. “I think it’s excessive,” said Holly Celentang, 26, a rider from Queens. “It’s Easter this week, and you have families with young kids on the subway, and I’m sure cops with machine guns would scare them. Read More: Here

WASHINGTON — A former Food and Drug Administration scientist said Tuesday his job was eliminated after he raised concerns about the risks of radiation exposure from high-grade medical scanning. Dr. Julian Nicholas said at a public hearing that he and other FDA staffers "were pressured to change their scientific opinion," after they opposed the approval of a CT scanner for routine colon cancer screening. Nicholas said that he objected to exposing otherwise healthy patients to the cancer risks of radiation. After FDA officials pushed ahead with plans to clear the device, Nicholas, now a physician at the Scripps Clinic in San Diego, said he and eight other staffers raised their concerns with the division's top director Dr. Jeffrey Shuren last September. The device apparently is still under review. "Scientific and regulatory review process for medical devices was being distorted by managers who were not following the laws," Nicholas said. A month later Nichola...