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July 25, 2011

Prescriptions For Health – 07/25/11

Podcast Powered By Podbean Download this episode (right click and save Fallout from 3/11/11 Fukishima Nuclear Disaster Tired Medical Residents Kill Patients What’s More Important? People Skills or a 4 point grade average for Medical School Applicants? Headache Relief Including Spinal Manipulation with a Chiropractor Can an Osteoporosis Drug Kill …

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Wake-Up Call – 07/25/11

Podcast Powered By Podbean Download this episode (right click and save) Default! Ignore the political infighting. It is nothing more than a meaningless display of egos. The U.S. has defaulted already four times in its (short) history. It will default again. Life will go on. Why financial analysts and economists …

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ENewspf.com: White House Pact with Industry to Push Genetically Engineered Plants

ENewspf.com
Thursday, 21 July 2011
http://www.enewspf.com/latest-news/science-a-environmental/25563-white-house-pactwith-industry-

In an effort to boost exports, the Obama White House has entered into a joint venture with the agricultural biotechnology industry to remove barriers to the spread of genetically engineered (GE) crops, even on national wildlife refuges, according to documents posted today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER).  Today, PEER sued the White House Trade Representative, Office of Management & Budget (OMB) and the State Department to force release of documents detailing their partnership with industry.

Recent successful lawsuits brought by PEER with the Center for Food Safety have underlined the incompatibility of GE crops with refuge habitats, which has strengthened objections from GE-averse nations. The Biotechnology Industry Association (BIO), whose most prominent member is Monsanto, the world’s biggest source of GE crops, approached the Obama White House for assistance. In late 2010, the White House formed an interagency “Agriculture Biotech Working Group” consisting of more than 35 officials from ten agencies to promote GE agriculture.  This Working Group includes officials from the White House and its OMB, Office of Science & Technology Policy (OSTP), Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) and the Trade Rep.  It also has officials from State, Justice, Agriculture, EPA and FDA.

The Gary Null Show – 07/25/11

Podcast Powered By Podbean Download this episode (right click and save) Guest: Dr. Michael Hudson Dr. Michael Hudson is one of our nation’s important economists and Wall Street financial analysts. He is currently the President of The Institution for the Study of Long-Term Economic Trends and was the Chief Economic …

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“JESSE McKINLEY” – Farm Thieves Target Grapes, and Even Bees

New York Times,  July 21, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/22/us/22crime.html?_r=1
By 

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — Sgt. Walt Reed said he could tell right away that the grapes were stolen. They looked like an ordinary bunch. Except, he said, for the way they were dressed.

“Usually grapes are put into plastic bags,” said Sergeant Reed, a 28-year veteran of the Kern County Sheriff’s Office. “But these grapes were just thrown in a Styrofoam box.”

Sergeant Reed — who eventually arrested a suspect after staking out a Kern County vineyard — is just one of dozens of deputies on the front lines of agricultural crime in California, home to the nation’s most productive farms and the people who prey on them. While thievery has long been a fact of life in the country, such crimes are on the rise and fighting them has become harder in many parts of California as many grants for rural law enforcement have withered on the vine.

“J. D. Heyes” – Gardening activities reduce lung cancer risk by 50%

by J. D. Heyes 

http://www.naturalnews.com/033121_gardening_lung_cancer.html

(NaturalNews) Not only is having a green thumb a great way to stay healthier and happier, but new research shows it can actually protect you from cancer.

Noted cancer treatment and research center M.D. Anderson, at the University of Texas, found in a study that time spent gardening once or twice a week can reduce the risk of cancer by 50 percent in lifelong nonsmokers. Moreover, researchers found, the same level of gardening activity by former smokers can reduce cancer risk by as much as 40 percent.

And while researchers said they weren’t exactly sure if gardening reduced the incidence of cancer more than other physical activities, they did find that it was the most commonly shared trait among the study’s participants.

The cancer-prevention benefits of gardening are also echoed by the American Institute of Cancer Research, which said that gardening is a physical activity that not only helps prevent cancer but also contributes to overall health and endurance.

Kevin Kamps: Atomic Power in a Destabilized Climate

By KEVIN KAMPS

http://counterpunch.org/kamps07222011.html

The nuclear power industry has spent a lot of money on public relations and national advertizing campaigns aimed at convincing the public and decision makers that atomic energy is a solution to the worsening climate crisis. But extreme weather, likely made more frequent and intense by the growing concentration of heat-trapping greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, means that nuclear power is too risky to operate amidst the climate chaos. Current historic floods on the Missouri River, threatening the Fort Calhoun and Cooper (of the same design as Fukushima) atomic reactors in Nebraska, have underscored the point. So has a historic wildfire that recently came dangerously close to tens of thousands of 55 gallon barrels of plutonium-contaminated wastes at the Los Alamos nuclear weapons lab in New Mexico.

Fortunately, a record number of tornadoes, some of record size, this spring across the Midwest, South, and Southeast, did not strike atomic reactors, although some were forced to shut down as a safety precaution when primary electric grids failed. Previous direct hits by tornadoes at atomic reactors, such as Davis-Besse, Ohio, in June 1998, came close to causing a catastrophic radioactivity release, as did Hurricane Andrew at Turkey Point nuclear power plant near Miami in 1992.

Given their vulnerable locations, on sea coasts, rivers, the Great Lakes, etc., atomic reactors grow more risky with the worsening climate crisis. In fact, the 104 operating reactors at 65 sites in 30 states across the U.S. are almost all vulnerable to extreme weather events.

Bob Burnett: How Obama Squandered the High Hopes of Those Who Elected Him

By Bob Burnett, AlterNet
Posted on July 24, 2011, Printed on July 25, 2011
http://www.alternet.org/story/151757/how_obama_squandered_the_high_hopes_of_those_who_elected_him

As he heads for the debt-limit showdown with Republicans, President Obama cannot be comforted by the latest Gallup Poll that shows him trailing the generic Republican presidential candidate by five percentage points. Republicans won’t vote for him; Obama has lost support among Independents and has alienated many Democrats. What happened?

Fortunately for Obama, there is no “generic” Republican presidential candidate; the GOP isn’t offering vanilla but instead varieties of tutti-frutti. Head to head the president leads each of the announced candidates including Romney and Bachmann. But that shouldn’t cause observers to discount his drooping poll numbers. The president has a problem that may thwart his reelection bid.

The Guardian/UK: Melting Arctic Ice Releasing Banned Toxins, Warn Scientists

Published on Monday, July 25, 2011 by The Guardian/UK
 

Unknown amount of trapped persistent organic pollutants poses threat to marine life and humans as temperatures rise

The warming of the Arctic is releasing toxic chemicals that had been trapped in the ice and cold water, scientists have discovered.

The researchers warn that the amount of the poisons in the polar region is unknown and their release could “undermine global efforts to reduce environmental and human exposure to them”.

The chemicals seeping out as temperatures rise include the pesticides DDT, lindane and chlordane as well as the industrial chemicals PCBs and the fungicide hexachlorobenzene (HCB). All of these are know as persistent organic pollutants (Pops), and are banned under the 2004 Stockholm convention.

“Captain America” – 9/11 — Who Really Benefited?

Fact and Not Fiction…

By Captain America

Global Research, July 24, 2011

http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=25762

Global Research Editor’s Note

We bring to the attention of our readers this provocative review of the strategic and corporate interests behind 9/11 including Wall Street, the Texas oil companies and the defense contractors. 

The statements in this article are corroborated by numerous studies, books, news articles and research reports published since September 2001. 

In the course of almost ten years, Global Research has conducted a detailed review and analysis of the 9/11 attacks, focussing on their broad implications as well as their historical significance. See our 9/11 and the War on Terrorism Dossier

Michel Chossudovsky, July 24, 2011

Forget so-called conspiracy theories. Instead look at reality. Dare ask yourself who actually seems to have benefited from the 9-11 calamity. In light of the debt ceiling debates and the continuous corrupt politics as usual of Washington D.C., it is time for the American people, and individual states of this federation, to look at a troubling set of facts. It seems there were “several” beneficiaries of 9-11 that don’t exactly fit the story line we were constantly fed by the propaganda machine and mainstream media as to how to connect the dots (which we were rhetorically asked to do).

Here is a list of peoples that benefited. Most of this list is factual. Some are more opinion but with strong support in reality-based argument:

Sue Sturgis: Startling Revelations about Three Mile Island Disaster Raise Doubts Over Nuke Safety

By Sue Sturgis

Global Research, July 24, 2011

http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=25757

This article originally appeared on Facing South, online magazine of the  Institute for Southern Studies . also posted on Alternet, July 22, 2011

It was April Fool’s Day, 1979 — 30 years ago this week — when Randall Thompson first set foot inside the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant near Middletown, Pa. Just four days earlier, in the early morning hours of March 28, a relatively minor problem in the plant’s Unit 2 reactor sparked a series of mishaps that led to the meltdown of almost half the uranium fuel and uncontrolled releases of radiation into the air and surrounding Susquehanna River.

It was the single worst disaster ever to befall the U.S. nuclear power industry, and Thompson was hired as a health physics technician to go inside the plant and find out how dangerous the situation was. He spent 28 days monitoring radiation releases. 

Today, his story about what he witnessed at Three Mile Island is being brought to the public in detail for the first time — and his version of what happened during that time, supported by a growing body of other scientific evidence, contradicts the official U.S. government story that the Three Mile Island accident posed no threat to the public. 

Sen. Bernie Sanders: The Fed Audit — “U.S. provided a whopping $16 trillion in secret loans to bail out US and foreign banks”

By Senator Bernie Sanders

Global Research, July 23, 2011

http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=25750

The first top-to-bottom audit of the Federal Reserve uncovered eye-popping new details about how the U.S. provided a whopping $16 trillion in secret loans to bail out American and foreign banks and businesses during the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. An amendment by Sen. Bernie Sanders to the Wall Street reform law passed one year ago this week directed the Government Accountability Office to conduct the study. “As a result of this audit, we now know that the Federal Reserve provided more than $16 trillion in total financial assistance to some of the largest financial institutions and corporations in the United States and throughout the world,” said Sanders. “This is a clear case of socialism for the rich and rugged, you’re-on-your-own individualism for everyone else.”

Among the investigation’s key findings is that the Fed unilaterally provided trillions of dollars in financial assistance to foreign banks and corporations from South Korea to Scotland, according to the GAO report. “No agency of the United States government should be allowed to bailout a foreign bank or corporation without the direct approval of Congress and the president,” Sanders said.

Brian Moench: It’s the Empathy Crisis, Stupid

Published on Sunday, July 24, 2011 by CommonDreams.org

I’m sure everyone reading this already knows that our “debt crisis” is a mirage, a canard manipulated by the radical right wing who are theologically devoted to allowing society’s rich to become even more so. Our supposed spending problem is nothing more than a “We won’t tax the rich no matter what” problem. The media has played along; Pres. Obama and many of the Democrats are also playing along. And the political barometer has taken yet another sharp lurch to the right. But while we don’t really have a debt crisis, we do have an empathy crisis and it’s the empathy ceiling that has come crashing down on us and desperately needs to be raised.

Recall that in campaigning for the presidency in 2000, George W. Bush actually advertised himself as a different breed of conservative, a “compassionate conservative”. I’m under no illusion that this was anything other than Karl Rove branding “W” solely for the purpose of electability. (I went to high school with Karl Rove. There’s never been a stray, compassionate bone in the man’s entire marshmellow, conniving body). But the fact that compassion was touted as a desirable trait in a politician in 2000 illustrates how far we have degenerated into a truly brutal society, a modern day Mordor. The only difference I can see is the Orcs in Lord of the Rings had better costumes than the Tea Partiers.

Global Research: Who Rules America? An Investment Manager Breaks Down the Economic Top 1%, Says 0.1% Controls Political and Legislative Process

Global Research, July 24, 2011

http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=25759

 

Article Sent in by G. William Domhoff, author of  Who Rules America?  [3]

This article was written by an investment manager who works with very wealthy clients. I knew him from decades ago, but he recently e-mailed me with some concerns he had about what was happening with the economy. What he had to say was informative enough that I asked if he might fashion what he had told me into a document for the Who Rules America Web site. He agreed to do so, but only on the condition that the document be anonymous, because he does not want to jeopardize his relationships with his clients or other investment professionals .

G. William Domhoff

I sit in an interesting chair in the financial services industry. Our clients largely fall into the top 1%, have a net worth of $5,000,000 or above, and if working make over $300,000 per year. My observations on the sources of their wealth and concerns come from my professional and social activities within this group.

Work by various economists and tax experts make it indisputable that the top 1% controls a widely disproportionate share of the income and wealth in the United States. When does one enter that top 1%? (I’ll use “k” for 1,000 and “M” for 1,000,000 as we usually do when communicating with clients or discussing money; thousands and millions take too much time to say.) Available data isn’t exact. but a family enters the top 1% or so today with somewhere around $300k to $400k in pre-tax income and over $1.2M in net worth. Compared to the average American family with a pre-tax income in the mid-$50k range and net worth around $120k, this probably seems like a lot of money. But, there are big differences within that top 1%, with the wealth distribution highly skewed towards the top 0.1%.

James Ridgeway: Mass Psychosis in the US

How Big Pharma got Americans hooked on anti-psychotic drugs

By James Ridgeway

AL JAZEERA, July 22, 2011

http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/opinion/2011/07/20117313948379987.html

Drug companies like Pfizer are accused of pressuring doctors into over-prescribing medications to patients in order to increase profits [GALLO/GETTY]

Has America become a nation of psychotics? You would certainly think so, based on the explosion in the use of antipsychotic medications. In 2008, with over $14 billion in sales, antipsychotics became the single top-selling therapeutic class of prescription drugs in the United States, surpassing drugs used to treat high cholesterol and acid reflux.

Once upon a time, antipsychotics were reserved for a relatively small number of patients with hard-core psychiatric diagnoses – primarily schizophrenia and bipolar disorder – to treat such symptoms as delusions, hallucinations, or formal thought disorder. Today, it seems, everyone is taking antipsychotics. Parents are told that their unruly kids are in fact bipolar, and in need of anti-psychotics, while old people with dementia are dosed, in large numbers, with drugs once reserved largely for schizophrenics. Americans with symptoms ranging from chronic depression to anxiety to insomnia are now being prescribed anti-psychotics at rates that seem to indicate a national mass psychosis.