"AND YOU SHALL CRY OUT IN THAT DAY BECAUSE OF THE KING THAT YOU HAVE CHOSEN FOR YOURSELVES AND THE LORD WILL NOT HEAR YOU IN THAT DAY" 1ST SAMUEL 8:18
POSTED SEPTEMBER 2, 2010
MISSION ACCOMPLISHED -------AGAIN!!!!!!
When you tell so many lies that you can't think of any more, find some old ones and tell them again. This was the case when President Obama , in his 1263rd speech, declared that the the military conflict in Iraq was over.
I know, there is still 50,000 troops in Iraq. I know there are now 75,000 contractors in Iraq. And I know there are well over 125,000 troops next door in Afghanistan, but combat is over. Yes, they still have rifles. Yes, there are still tanks and fighter jets and combat helicopters and, let's see, EVERYTHING, but the conflict is over. It reminds us all of the stunt by the last liar and chief when he had a Navy pilot land him on an aircraft carrier and wearing a jump suit, he made it look like he was the pilot. He then declared "Mission Accomplished". The last time king George was an air force pilot, he was too drugged up to even take his physical.
So here we are. We might as well be back in Vietnam. We can't justify any of the wars. The government comes up with a variety of reasons to fight these wars and they're all lies. So I guess the next step is to jump into the world of 1984 by denying the war exists. That should make loved ones feel good when their soldier comes home in a box.
Bruce New World Order News
Published on Thursday, August 19, 2010 by CODEPINK
The Iraq Debacle: The Legacy of Seven Years of War
by Iraq Debacle Coalition
We, the undersigned organizations and individuals, mark the August 31st partial withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq with the following evaluation and recommendations:
The U.S. occupation of Iraq continues and the reduction of U.S. troops in Iraq can at best be called only a rebranded occupation. While the number of U.S. troops in Iraq will be reduced from a high of 165,000, there will still be 50,000 troops left behind, some 75,000 contractors, five huge "enduring bases" and an Embassy the size of Vatican City.
The U.S. military's overthrow of the brutal dictatorship of Saddam Hussein did not lead to a better life for Iraqis-just the opposite. It resulted in the further destruction of basic infrastructure-electricity, water, sewage-that continues to this day. The U.S. dropped more tons of bombs on Iraq than in all of WWII, destroying Iraq's electrical, water and sewage systems. Iraq's health care and higher education systems, once the best in the entire region, have been decimated. The U.S. war on Iraq unleashed a wave of violence that has left over one million Iraqis dead and four million displaced, as well as ethnic rivalries that continue to plague the nation. We have seriously wounded millions of Iraqis, creating a lifetime of suffering and economic hardship for them, their communities and the entire nation as it struggles to rebuild. Life expectancy for Iraqis fell from 71 years in 1996 to 67 years in 2007 due to the war and destruction of the healthcare system. The U.S. use of weapons such as depleted uranium and white phosphorous has taken a severe toll, with the cancer rate in Fallujah, for example, now worse than that of Hiroshima.
The majority of the refugees and internally displaced persons created by the US intervention have been abandoned. Of the nearly 4 million refugees, many are now living in increasingly desperate circumstances in Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and around the world. As undocumented refugees, most are not allowed to work and are forced to take extremely low paying, illegal jobs ($3/day) or rely on the UN and charity to survive. The United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) has documented a spike in the sex trafficking of Iraqi women.
Iraq still does not have a functioning government. Many months after the March 7 elections, there is still a political vacuum and violence that is killing roughly 300 civilians a month. There is no functioning democracy in place and little sign there will be one in the near future.
The Iraq War has left a terrible toll on the U.S. troops. More than one million American service members have deployed in the Iraq War effort. Over 4,400 U.S. troops have been killed and tens of thousands severely injured. More than one in four U.S. troops have come home from the Iraq war with health problems that require medical or mental health treatment. PTSD rates in the military have skyrocketed. In 2009, a record number of 245 soldiers committed suicide.
The war has drained our treasury. As of August 2010, U.S. taxpayers have spent over $750 billion on the Iraq War effort. Counting the cost of lifetime care of wounded vets and the interest payments on the money we borrowed to pay for this war, the real cost will be in the trillions. This misappropriation of funds has contributed to the economic crises we are experiencing, including the lack of funds for our schools, healthcare, infrastructure and investments in clean, green jobs.
The U.S. officials who got us into this disastrous war on the basis of lies have not been held accountable. Not George Bush, Dick Cheney, Condoleezza Rice, Colin Powell, Karl Rove, Donald Rumsfeld. No one. Neither have the Bush administration lawyers who authorized torture, including Jay Bybee and John Yoo. The "think tanks," journalists and pundits who perpetuated the lies have not been fired-most are today cheerleading for the war in Afghanistan.
The war has led to the pillaging of Iraqi resources and institutionalization of corruption. The U.S. Department of Defense has been unable to account for $8.7 billion of Iraqi oil and gas money meant for humanitarian needs and reconstruction after the 2003 invasion. The invasion has also led to the erosion of Iraqi government control over the nation's oil. In 2001, Vice President Dick Cheney's energy task force, which included executives of America's largest energy companies, recommended opening up areas of their energy sectors to foreign investment. The resulting draft Iraq Oil Law threatens global grab for Iraq's resources as the international oil cartel seeks to reestablish its control. Adoption of the oil law, however, has been stymied by stiff popular resistance, foremost by the oil workers and their union.
The war has not made us more secure. The US policy of torture, extraordinary rendition, indefinite detention, violent and deadly raids on civilian homes, gunning down innocent civilians in the streets and absence of habeas corpus has fueled the fires of hatred and extremism toward Americans. The very presence of our troops in Iraq and other Muslim nations has become a recruiting tool.
Given the above, we, the undersigned individuals and organizations, mark the occasion of this troop withdrawal by calling on the Administration and Congress to take the following actions:
Withdrawal of all U.S. troops and military contractors from Iraq and the closing of all U.S. bases;
Reparations to help the Iraqis repair their basic infrastructure and increased funds for the millions of internally and externally displaced Iraqis;
Full support for the U.S. troops who suffer from the internal and external wounds of war;
Prosecution of those officials responsible for dragging our country into this disaster;
Transfer of funds from war into resources to rebuild America, with a focus on green jobs.
The lessons of this disastrous intervention should also be an impetus for Congress and the administration to end the war in Afghanistan. It's time to focus on creating real security here at home and rebuilding America.
POSTED SEPTEMBER 1, 2010
VACCINE MYTHS FINALLY EXPOSED
We are the most vaccinated people in history. Our generation is also the most unhealthy in 100 years. Millions of fat kids, disabled middle aged people and a nation dependent on prescription drugs. Don't feel well? We have a pill for you. Don't want the flu or mumps? Just take this vaccine, but what are the results?
Measles, mumps and chicken pox are still around. Most of those getting these diseases have been vaccinated, but worse than the mumps or flu are the long term side effects. Contained within the vaccines are ingredients like Thimerisol (Mercury). Squalene, Aluminum, Propylene Glycol (Anti Freeze) and aborted fetus's. Studies from around the world are showing life threatening reactions to these miracle preventatives. Some of this is covered below in the video.
Many in the Medical community credit the vaccines for the reduction in communicable diseases. If that were so, what about the reduction in diseases that have no vaccine such as Tuberculosis. The common denominator is better sanitation and water treatment. This brings us to the reason the pharmaceutical industry has turned vaccination into a religion ---Yeah, you know. It's the money.
Bruce New World Order News
Vaccine Death Coverup Implodes Worldwide
Infowars.com
September 1, 2010
Once again the government wants to push it’s mercury filled vaccines on everyone, especially children. Alex Jones breaks down swine-flu fraud hoax which was proven last year and the new developments that are happening this flu season. He also exposes the Rockfeller plan to lower the global population by sterilizing people with vaccines. Forward these articles and and this video to your friends and loved ones.
http://www.infowars.com/eugenics-aler…
http://www.infowars.com/unesco-chair-…
http://www.infowars.com/conclusive-gl…
http://www.prisonplanet.com/washingto…
POSTED SEPTEMBER 1, 2010
VACCINE MYTHS FINALLY EXPOSED
We are the most vaccinated people in history. Our generation is also the most unhealthy in 100 years. Millions of fat kids, disabled middle aged people and a nation dependent on prescription drugs. Don't feel well? We have a pill for you. Don't want the flu or mumps? Just take this vaccine, but what are the results?
Measles, mumps and chicken pox are still around. Most of those getting these diseases have been vaccinated, but worse than the mumps or flu are the long term side effects. Contained within the vaccines are ingredients like Thimerisol (Mercury). Squalene, Aluminum, Propylene Glycol (Anti Freeze) and aborted fetus's. Studies from around the world are showing life threatening reactions to these miracle preventatives. Some of this is covered below in the video.
Many in the Medical community credit the vaccines for the reduction in communicable diseases. If that were so, what about the reduction in diseases that have no vaccine such as Tuberculosis. The common denominator is better sanitation and water treatment. This brings us to the reason the pharmaceutical industry has turned vaccination into a religion ---Yeah, you know. It's the money.
Once again the government wants to push it’s mercury filled vaccines on everyone, especially children. Alex Jones breaks down swine-flu fraud hoax which was proven last year and the new developments that are happening this flu season. He also exposes the Rockfeller plan to lower the global population by sterilizing people with vaccines. Forward these articles and and this video to your friends and loved ones.
MOODY'S GETS AWAY WITH FRAUD. LET'S GET CLEMENS!
Another victory for the "New American Royalty" today as the SEC declines to prosecute the crooks at Moody's for misleading millions of investors with fraudulent ratings on a variety of investment tools.
Those of us who are active investors remember the Enron's, MCI's, Fannie Maes, Freddie Macs, Kmarts and so on. Many have relied on the so called ratings given by the crooks at Moodys. Despite overwhelming evidence that many of the investment vehicles were greatly overvalued. Moodys continued to give the highest ratings to them. Now that the truth is evident, some people should go to jail right? Not if you're a member of the "New American Royalty". You can lie, cheat or steal and absolutely nothing happens to you.
So where are our government masters? They are now trying to convict former baseball pitcher, Roger Clemens of lying to Congress. If that's not irony, nothing is. Some of the biggest liars that ever walked the face of the earth are trying to convict someone else of lying. Clemens played a child's game for a living. He may or may not have used supplements that are forbidden by Major league baseball, but are otherwise legal. Congress then decided to waste taxpayer money asking him questions about this. Here's the question --- Who in the Hell cares. If all liars went to jail, we wouldn't have a government.
---On second thought-------
Bruce New World Order News
August 31, 2010, 4:06 PM ET
Moody’s Spikes, Drops As SEC Declines to Pursue Fraud Charges
By Tiernan Ray
Shares of credit rating agency Moody’s (MCO) are down 13 cents, or 0.6%, at $21.05, after the Securities & Exchange Commission issued a statement this afternoon saying it would not pursue a fraud enforcement against Moody’s.
The stock spiked briefly around 3:30 pm, Eastern, as the news hit, rising to $22.26, but quickly sank.
The SEC investigation in response to Moody’s decision in 2007 decided not to correct an error it discovered in the credit rating it had given to what are called “constant proportion debt obligations.”
Moody’s didn’t correct the error because it thought changing the debt rating would hurt its its European business.
The SEC said it won’t take action on this apparent violation of federal securities laws, because of uncertainty about who has jurisdiction.
But today’s report also says that going forward, the Dodd-Frank financial reforms passed earlier this year will facilitate the Commission’s taking action, even when violations happen outside the U.S.
POSTED AUGUST 30, 2010
Man Arrested at Alaska State Fair for Impeach Obama Sign
Below is still another video showing abuse of power on the part of private security police as well as government police. This type of thing is happening at an ever increasing rate all over the nation. Just look at You Tube for videos showing police brutality. And the alarming thing is nothing ever happens to the perpetrators.
If any in authority has ever read a history book, they would know where this is headed. They either don't know or think they are exempt from history. Reading the comments on the blogs after every one of these incidents, it is clear that a pressure cooker is building up. Despite repeated pleas from citizens all over America, there is little indication of wide spread resistance on the part of individual law enforcement officers to intervene against the "bad apples" and clean this crap up.
I feel bad for the vast majority of law enforcement personnel. (I have a couple in my own family.) It is possible they will suffer for the sins of others. During the Hungarian uprising in 1955 as well as the Iran revolution in 1979, those in uniforms were target practice as well as their families. This was not because of anything those individuals had done, but because of the atrocities committed by others wearing the same uniform. I pray for peace. We don't have much time left.
This first day of the 2010 Alaska State Fair starts with sunny skies and a brutal assault by security personnel on a LaRouche supporter.
At about 5pm Alaska Time, Thursday, August 26, 2010, security personnel approach a lone man peacefully displaying an impeach Obama sign near Pioneer Plaza on the Alaska State Fairgrounds in Palmer. Minutes later, a crowd assembles, additional security forces arrive, and they physically assault the man holding the sign. He’s taken to the ground with force and detained.
An unidentified Alaska State Trooper arrives to physically disperse the crowd, and at several points during the conflict, crowd members yell in support of the demonstrator’s right to speak his message. The demonstrator is held captive until Palmer police arrive to escort the man away in cuffs.
Assault at 3:30
Gun in security guard’s left hand at 4:41
POSTED AUGUST 27, 2010
CHAMPAGNE FLOWS IN JACKSON HOLE
And you're paying for it. Don't know hat I'm writing about? Earlier today Federal Reserve Chairman, Ben Bernanke made a speech about the Federal Reserve's position on on the economy and their prospective actions. Anyway, that's what the media reported. The real story is the same old story.
A bunch of rich bankers and some of their friends traveled to a lavish resort in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. They eat in 5 star restaurants and stay in luxury suites. All of this is at taxpayer expense or Federal Reserve expense which they extort from the American people. In order to justify this latest junket they have their underlings issue press releases on the economy and make speeches. This latest speech is like so many others in that it says virtually nothing. Whatever it is, it certainly didn't require a trip to Jackson Hole.
So here we are. Most in America are just trying to survive. Earlier this year, the world elite bankers went on a junket to Switzerland. This month many of our government and corporate masters are taking a month long vacation in the Hamptons and still others are in Jackson Hole. Yeah, they have our best interests at heart. Enjoy your cake.
Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke said Friday that the Fed has tools to get the economy on track.
New York (CNNMoney.com) - Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke bluntly acknowledged that the U.S. economic recovery has lost considerable steam, but said the central bank has the necessary policy tools to support continued growth.
"The issue at this stage is not whether we have the tools to help support economic activity and guard against inflation," Bernanke said at the Fed annual symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyo. "We do."
Making his first public comments since the central bank announced it would buy additional long-term Treasurys to boost the recovery, Bernanke said that the pace of economic growth is "less vigorous" than expected, but the preconditions for a pickup in 2011 remain in place.
POSTED AUGUST 26, 2010
SURVIVING THE COMING COLLAPSE
As I have mentioned many times, all nations, all empires, all societies, collapse sooner or later. It would be funny, if it weren't tragic when media whores wave the flag and say the United States will always be there just because it's the United States. If that turns out to be true, we'll be the first. All of the past great nations said they would be there forever. None of them are there today.
So whether it's tomorrow or 100 years from tomorrow, it is smart to prepare. The whole reason we buy insurance is to prepare for the unlikely while hoping for the best. Below is an article that outlines some of the insurmountable problems we, in this nation, face. Of course we could all raise up our hands and go screaming in panic into the streets, but there are other ways.
One other thing is common to all of the previous fallen nations. There are always survivors. Even after the dropping of atomic bombs on Japan, there were those who dug shelters into the side of mountains and survived. We, too, can survive. The article gives 10 good suggestions for survival and the best part is, if we are all wrong and nothing happens, you will still be better off by putting these into practice.
Most Americans are still operating under the delusion that this “recession” will end and that the “good times” will return soon, but a growing minority of Americans are starting to realize that things are fundamentally changing and that they better start preparing for what is ahead. These “preppers” come from all over the political spectrum and from every age group. More than at any other time in modern history, the American people lack faith in the U.S. economic system. In dozens of previous columns, I have detailed the horrific economic problems that we are now facing in excruciating detail. Many readers have started to complain that all I do is “scare” people and that I don’t provide any practical solutions. Well, not everyone can move to Montana and start a llama farm, but hopefully this article will give people some practical steps that they can take to insulate themselves (at least to an extent) from the coming economic collapse.
But before I get into what people need to do, let’s take a minute to understand just how bad things are getting out there. The economic numbers in the headlines go up and down and it can all be very confusing to most Americans.
However, there are two long-term trends that are very clear and that anyone can understand….
#1) The United States is getting poorer and is bleeding jobs every single month.
#2) The United States is getting into more debt every single month.
When you mention the trade deficit, most Americans roll their eyes and stop listening. But that is a huge mistake, because the trade deficit is absolutely central to our problems.
Every single month, Americans buy far, far more from the rest of the world than they buy from us. Every single month tens of billions of dollars more goes out of the country than comes into it.
That means that every single month the United States is getting poorer.
The excess goods and services that we buy from the rest of the world get “consumed” and the rest of the world ends up with more money than when they started.
Each year, hundreds of billions of dollars leave the United States and don’t return. The transfer of wealth that this represents is astounding.
But not only are we bleeding wealth, we are also bleeding jobs every single month.
The millions of jobs that the U.S. economy is losing to China, India and dozens of third world nations are not going to come back. Middle class Americans have been placed in direct competition for jobs with workers on the other side of the world who are more than happy to work for little more than slave labor wages. Until this changes the U.S. economy is going to continue to hemorrhage jobs.
The U.S. government has helped to mask much of this economic bleeding by unprecedented amounts of government spending and debt, but now the U.S. national debt exceeds 13 trillion dollars and is getting worse every single month. Not only that, but state and local governments all over America are getting into ridiculous amounts of debt.
So, what we have got is a country that gets poorer every single month and loses jobs to other countries every single month and that has accumulated the biggest mountain of debt in the history of the world which also gets worse every single month.
Needless to say, this cannot last indefinitely. Eventually the whole thing is just going to collapse like a house of cards.
So what can we each individually do to somewhat insulate ourselves from the economic problems that are coming?….
1 - Get Out Of Debt: The old saying, “the borrower is the servant of the lender”, is so incredibly true. The key to insulating yourself from an economic meltdown is to become as independent as possible, and as long as you are in debt, you simply are not independent. You don’t want a horde of creditors chasing after you when things really start to get bad out there.
2 - Find New Sources Of Income: In 2010, there simply is not such a thing as job security. If you are dependent on a job (“just over broke”) for 100% of your income, you are in a very bad position. There are thousands of different ways to make extra money. What you don’t want to do is to have all of your eggs in one basket. One day when the economy melts down and you are out of a job are you going to be destitute or are you going to be okay?
3 – Reduce Your Expenses: Many Americans have left the rat race and have found ways to live on half or even on a quarter of what they were making previously. It is possible – if you are willing to reduce your expenses. In the future times are going to be tougher, so learn to start living with less today.
4 – Learn To Grow Your Own Food: Today the vast majority of Americans are completely dependent on being able to run down to the supermarket or to the local Wal-Mart to buy food. But what happens when the U.S. dollar declines dramatically in value and it costs ten bucks to buy a loaf of bread? If you learn to grow your own food (even if is just a small garden) you will be insulating yourself against rising food prices.
5 – Make Sure You Have A Reliable Water Supply: Water shortages are popping up all over the globe. Water is quickly becoming one of the “hottest” commodities out there. Even in the United States, water shortages have been making headline news recently. As we move into the future, it will be imperative for you and your family to have a reliable source of water. Some Americans have learned to collect rainwater and many others are using advanced technology such as atmospheric water generators to provide water for their families. But whatever you do, make sure that you are not caught without a decent source of water in the years ahead.
6 – Buy Land: This is a tough one, because prices are still quite high. However, as we have written previously, home prices are going to be declining over the coming months, and eventually there are going to be some really great deals out there. The truth is that you don’t want to wait too long either, because once Helicopter Ben Bernanke’s inflationary policies totally tank the value of the U.S. dollar, the price of everything (including land) is going to go sky high. If you are able to buy land when prices are low, that is going to insulate you a great deal from the rising housing costs that will occur when the U.S dollar does totally go into the tank.
7 – Get Off The Grid: An increasing number of Americans are going “off the grid”. Essentially what that means is that they are attempting to operate independently of the utility companies. In particular, going “off the grid” will enable you to insulate yourself from the rapidly rising energy prices that we are going to see in the future. If you are able to produce energy for your own home, you won’t be freaking out like your neighbors are when electricity prices triple someday.
8 – Store Non-Perishable Supplies: Non-perishable supplies are one investment that is sure to go up in value. Not that you would resell them. You store up non-perishable supplies because you are going to need them someday. So why not stock up on the things that you are going to need now before they double or triple in price in the future? Your money is not ever going to stretch any farther than it does right now.
9 – Develop Stronger Relationships: Americans have become very insular creatures. We act like we don’t need anyone or anything. But the truth is that as the economy melts down we are going to need each other. It is those that are developing strong relationships with family and friends right now that will be able to depend on them when times get hard.
10 – Get Educated And Stay Flexible: When times are stable, it is not that important to be informed because things pretty much stay the same. However, when things are rapidly changing it is imperative to get educated and to stay informed so that you will know what to do. The times ahead are going to require us all to be very flexible, and it is those who are willing to adapt that will do the best when things get tough.
POSTED AUGUST 25, 2010
NAKED BODY SCANNERS GO MOBILE ON U.S. STREETS
If you do a search on the new Backscatter Van, you will get numerous hits on how wonderful it is to have our government masters spray Xray type radiation at random vehicles. They can see through walls. They can see through the metal in your cars. They can see through your clothes if they want. No warrant. No court order. No nothing. They just do it because they want to.
Many of the articles write about how the "bad guys" can't hide. I guess that might be true. What is also true is the "good guys" also can't hide. It is also true that they may be bad guys and they do hide. It is also true that some of these unnamed individuals may be perverts and can put their perversion into practice by viewing anyone they want --- naked.
We are truly turning into a sick society when people are willing to defend the spending of millions of dollars empowering the violation of the right to privacy. Ask yourself what Hitler, Stalin or Mao would have done with a Backscatter Van. EXACTLY!
NEW CATEGORY ADDED TO BLOG – New World Order Exposed
Before I get to the content of this post I want to let you know that I have added a new category to my blog: “New World Order Exposed” . I should have done it a long time ago. If you want to see previous NWO scams that I have exposed, just click go to the Scam category. You will get other non-NWO Scams but you will find what you seek.
BACK SCATTER VAN – an airport body scanner on wheels
Here is the latest in how the NWO is invading your privacy, violating your rights, and poisoning you with radiation. Coming to a neighborhood near you…
So if airport body scanners were not bad enough, ladies and gentlemen I present to you an airport body scanner on wheels. If this gizmo is running while going by you, not only will your rights be violated, you will be reeving a dose of cancer-causing radiation.
There are over 500 of these on the road right now. You will have a hard time recognizing because disguise is part of the game. Although I have not confirmed it yet, it is rumored that these were used at the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics.
Have a nice day Sheeple. Again you are asleep at the wheel of freedom. Go back to sleep. Nothing to see here. The government is taking care of you. Everything is OK.
UPDATE: THIS IS BEING DISCUSSED ON THE ALEX JONES RADIO SHOW AS I TYPE. I WILL PROVIDE THAT VIDEO WHEN IT IS UPLOADED TO YOUTUBE
This is a van that drives around and using x-ray technology, can see inside of all sorts of things — cargo, cars, etc. Video Rating: 4 / 5
POSTED AUGUST 24, 2010
HOME SALES PLUNGE AS RECOVERY CONTINUES
It has been almost 1 year and a half since our government masters and their willing accomplices in the mainstream media have been trumpeting the word "recovery" concerning our economy. I have never wavered in declaring that this was a lie. Of course that is what they do and they do it continually.
Today, even with total control over the gathering and reporting of statistics, they had to admit home sales are in the toilet. Factor in the distressed sales and home sales are at a modern day low. Now they are using the words "double dip" in reference to a double dip recession.
Let's get something straight. There never was any recovery, therefore there cannot be a double dip. Our government masters have presided over the economic destruction of this country and they have been doing it for many years. We are not coming back to where we were and they know it. Furthermore,that's exactly what they want. Those who have presided over this collapse are traitors. This is why I get so angry when those same people wave our flag and send our children off to fight the wars that they start. I wish I had some clever conclusion to give us all hope, but I can't think of any today.
Bruce New World Order News
U.S. Existing Home Sales in Record Plunge
By Courtney Schlisserman - Aug 24, 2010 4:38 PM ET
A pre-owned single family home stands for sale in Fort Collins, Colorado. Photographer: Matthew Staver/Bloomberg
Aug. 24 (Bloomberg) -- Jeffrey Rosen, an economist at Briefing.com, talks with Bloomberg's Melissa Long about the U.S. housing market. Sales of existing homes dropped a record 27 percent in July to a 3.83 million annual pace, the lowest in a decade of record keeping and worse than the most pessimistic forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News, according to figures released today by the National Association of Realtors. (Source: Bloomberg)
Aug. 24 (Bloomberg) -- Robert Dye, senior economist at PNC Financial Services Group Inc., talks with Bloomberg's Mark Crumpton about July U.S. existing home sales and the outlook for the housing market. Sales of previously owned homes plunged 27 percent in last month, twice as much as forecast, to a 3.83 million annual pace, figures from the National Association of Realtors showed today. (Source: Bloomberg)
Sales of existing houses plunged by a record 27 percent in July as the effects of a government tax credit waned, showing a lack of jobs threatens to undermine the U.S. economic recovery.
Purchases plummeted to a 3.83 million annual pace, the lowest in a decade of record keeping and worse than the most pessimistic forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News, figures from the National Association of Realtors showed today in Washington. Demand for single-family houses dropped to a 15- year low and the number of homes on the market swelled.
Stocks tumbled and Treasury securities rallied, sending yields on 10-year notes to the lowest in 17 months, on concern the industry at the heart of the financial crisis will lead the nation back into a recession. Recent reports on jobless claims and manufacturing point to a slowdown in growth that may prompt the Federal Reserve to consider additional moves to boost the economy.
“Today’s data do not bode well for home prices,” said Michelle Meyer, a senior economist at BofA Merrill Lynch Global Research in New York. “There is a decent chance we reach a new bottom for home prices. There’s going to be a prolonged, painful drop.”
The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index fell 1.5 percent to 1,051.87 at 4 p.m. in New York, the lowest close since July 6. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note dropped to 2.49 percent, while the two-year note yield touched a record-low 0.4542 percent.
Record Low
The pace of existing home sales is the slowest since comparable records began in 1999. The agents’ group revised the June sales figure down to 5.26 million from a previously reported 5.37 million.
Economists projected sales would fall 13 percent. Estimates in the Bloomberg survey of 74 economists ranged from 3.96 million to 5.3 million. Previously owned homes make up about 90 percent of the market.
Purchases of single-family homes also dropped 27 percent, the biggest one-month decrease in data going back to 1968. July’s 3.37 million annual rate was the lowest since May 1995.
Compared with a year earlier, existing home sales fell 26 percent before adjusting for seasonal patterns.
The median price increased 0.7 percent to $182,600 last month from July 2009.
Fed Bank of Chicago President Charles Evans today said that while the housing market and U.S. economy have shown signs of improvement, recovery isn’t yet assured.
Fed Action
“Although there are some signs of general economic recovery and some evidence of home-price stabilization, we are certainly not out of the woods,” Evans said in a speech in Indianapolis before the housing report. The recovery “seems to be extremely modest” and the central bank’s “accommodative policy is appropriate,” he said in reply to an audience question.
The number of previously owned homes on the market rose 2.5 percent to 3.98 million. At the current sales pace, it would take 12.5 months to sell those houses, the highest since at least 1999 and compared with 8.9 months in June. The months’ supply of single-family homes at 11.9 months was the highest since 1983, the NAR said.
“The problem with housing is there’s actually a lot of shadow inventory,” said Constance Hunter, chief economist at Aladdin Capital Management LLP in Stamford, Connecticut. “The Fed must enact a second quantitative easing strategy,” Hunter said, referring to additional central bank purchases of assets like Treasury securities to pump up the money supply and ease credit.
Broad-based Drop
Sales last month fell in all four U.S. regions, today’s report showed. Foreclosures accounted for 22 percent of total purchases in July, while short sales, where banks agree to take less than the value of the mortgage, made up another 10 percent, the NAR said.
Purchases will be “soft for at least two more months as the housing market works through the effects of the end of the tax credit,” Lawrence Yun, the group’s chief economist, told reporters at a press conference.
A government incentive of up to $8,000 boosted sales earlier in the year, pulling forward demand. Housing’s inability to build on the temporary boost generated by government assistance is one reason the economy is having trouble strengthening.
“Demand is low across the country,” Richard Dugas, chief executive officer at Pulte Group Inc., said in an Aug. 20 interview with Bloomberg Television. “You have record-low interest rates and excellent pricing, but consumer confidence eased. We really need the economy to improve and job creation to take hold before people feel comfortable stepping into a home.”
Pulte is the largest U.S. homebuilder by revenue.
Administration’s Plans
To help prop up the market, the Obama administration will offer $1 billion in zero-interest loans to help homeowners who’ve lost income avoid foreclosure as part of $3 billion in additional aid targeting economically distressed areas.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development plans to make loans of as much as $50,000 for borrowers “in hard hit local areas” to make mortgage, tax and insurance payments for as long as two years, according to an Aug. 11 statement. The Treasury Department will also provide as much as $2 billion in aid under an existing program for 17 states and the District of Columbia, according to the statement.
POSTED AUGUST 23, 2010
MEXICAN POLICE TO PROTECT ILLEGALS IN NEW YORK
You can't make this stuff up. As this nation continues on its' road to self destruction, the stories get more and more crazy. For over 30 years Americans have stood by helpless as their government masters have deliberately opened the southern border resulting in around 30 million people coming and living here illegally.
We have also watched many of our border States degenerate economically while free services for medical, social and education have been overused past the breaking point by many of these same 30 million illegals. Crime in those areas has exploded and statistics show most of the increase can be directly attributed to the illegal immigration. Any attempt on the part of citizens or local authorities to get control of the open border has been met with fierce opposition by our government masters.
Now the government of Mexico has pushed these outrages even further. As is contained in the article below, the Mexican government is going to deploy their police to patrol the streets of New York in order to serve the needs and complaints of the Mexican nationals living there illegally. If we had a President with the rare combination of morals and guts, he would order all of them out of OUR country----to dream the impossible dream.
NEW YORK, New York — In a series of events which has caused wide notice and a storm of protests, the government of Mexico, through its consulate in New York in the United Nations, has announced it will begin patrolling the New York City borough of Staten Island to “safeguard” its nationals there.
The actions of Mexico come after a series of incidents the Mexican government terms “bias attacks.”
Ironically, these so-called “hate crimes” have been perpetrated by blacks and Asians, indicative of rising tensions between various ethnic groups in the U.S. The Catholic Examiner and NBC New York both reported the Mexican government’s intention to mount surveillance, patrol and police in and around the Staten Island community of Port Richmond, which in recent years has seen a large influx of Mexican illegal immigrants.
Since the Examiner’s coverage, however, councilor officials, city hall and the local press have begun to carefully de-emphasize any possible role of Mexican law enforcement or military in efforts to secure the neighborhood.
Mexican officials have set up a neighborhood office and a local phone hot line for their nationals to report “bias incidents”—regardless as to whether they are in the United States legally.
New York City police had been monitoring the situation and investigating the reported assaults as local crimes. The actions of the Mexican government have caused Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly to order what many observers say is the most concentrated police mobilization since the World Trade Center disaster.
The main street of Port Richmond was swiftly transformed into what the New York Times described as a war zone like atmosphere with over 120 newly assigned officers, high-intensity night lighting, two huge “sky tower” police observation posts, frequent helicopter overflights and 20 police cars to watch the center of the relatively small neighborhood. Several long-term residents described it as a constant hornet’s nest of activity.
Both published reports and residents say that reports of fights between Mexicans and other groups began years ago, in the late 1990s or early 2000s. Many charge the present round of incidents started in 2003 with one loss of life in 2006, which might not even be connected to the present series of events.
At a major community gathering held at the historic St. Phillips Baptist Church, speakers addressed the current situation in the neighborhood and the borough, while Mexican councilor officials looked on.
But while the Richmond anti-violence organization and assorted left-leaning journalists who attended may have been expecting a mea culpa from local residents, what they got instead was a blast of community push-back. Speaker after speaker from the black community told of horrendous conditions the largely illegal immigrants had brought to their community. Speakers described the pattern in communities affected by an influx of illegals.
Community residents, many of whom are black first-time homeowners, told of constant disputes, alcohol and drug sales, late night disruptions, trespassing and public urination.
Others in the audience, who declined to testify, spoke of men wearing clothes bearing symbols of La Raza, Aztlan and other militant pro-Mexican groups.
They also spoke of repeated attempts to summon the state liquor authority’s enforcement agency to deal with the surging illegal liquor sales in the area, with little in the way of a response
POSTED AUGUST 20, 2010
USE WRONG TRASH CAN? $100 FINE.
And it gets worse. The trash collecting, government run monopoly in Cleveland, Ohio is coming up with a new idea to shake down the residents of that city. Contained in the trash cans will be RFID readers that will scan everything going into the cans. If anything improper, non recyclable or whatever finds its' way into one of these cans, a signal goes out and authorities pay you a visit. You then may be assessed a fine of $100.
So, once again, our government masters are busy, busy, busy. If the Sheriff of Nottingham were alive today, he would be proud of Cleveland. He might be the only one.
Bruce New World Order News
High-tech carts will tell on Cleveland residents who don't recycle ... and they face $100 fine
Published: Friday, August 20, 2010, 8:00 AM Updated: Friday, August 20, 2010, 8:09 AM
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- It would be a stretch to say that Big Brother will hang out in Clevelanders' trash cans, but the city plans to sort through curbside trash to make sure residents are recycling -- and fine them $100 if they don't.
The move is part of a high-tech collection system the city will roll out next year with new trash and recycling carts embedded with radio frequency identification chips and bar codes.
The chips will allow city workers to monitor how often residents roll carts to the curb for collection. If a chip show a recyclable cart hasn't been brought to the curb in weeks, a trash supervisor will sort through the trash for recyclables.
Trash carts containing more than 10 percent recyclable material could lead to a $100 fine, according to Waste Collection Commissioner Ronnie Owens. Recyclables include glass, metal cans, plastic bottles, paper and cardboard.
City Council on Wednesday approved spending $2.5 million on high-tech carts for 25,000 households across the city, expanding a pilot program that began in 2007 with 15,000 households.
The expansion will continue at 25,000 households a year until nearly all of the city's 150,000 residences are included. Existing carts might be retrofitted with the microchips.
"We're trying to automate our system to be a more efficient operation," Owens said. "This chip will assist us in doing our job better."
The chip-embedded carts are just starting to catch on elsewhere. The Washington, D.C. suburb of Alexandria, Va., earlier this year announced it would issue carts to check whether people are recycling.
Some cities in England have used the high-tech trash carts for several years to weigh how much garbage people throw out. People are charged extra for exceeding allotted limits.
Cleveland officials want to automate nearly all residential waste collection under a program being financed in part by a new fee that went into effect earlier this year.
The automated trucks allow drivers to remain in the cab and empty carts using a remote-control arm. Cleveland owns three of these trucks and plans to buy nine more.
Recycling is good for the environment and the city's bottom line, officials said. Cleveland pays $30 a ton to dump garbage in landfills, but earns $26 a ton for recyclables.
The city last year sent 220,000 tons of garbage to landfills and collected 5,800 tons of recyclables.
City Council approved updated trash collection ordinances last month to include a section on automated waste collection and curbside recycling. The new law changes infractions of the law from a minor misdemeanor to a civil penalty. The recycling law only applies to residents who have been issued the carts.
The new law also prohibits people from setting out excessive amounts of trash on tree lawns, which officials say has been an ongoing problem. Fines for excessive trash will range from $250 to $500 depending on the amount.
In either case, the property owner receives the citation. Landlords are responsible for making sure their tenants follow the law.
Owens said Cleveland will conduct a public-service campaign to educate residents about the new collection system and recycling program.
The city stepped up enforcement of ordinances governing trash collection last year by issuing 2,900 tickets, nearly five times more tickets than in 2008. Those infractions include citations for people who put out their trash too early or fail to bring in their garbage cans from the curb in a timely manner.
The Division of Waste Collection is on track to meet its goal of issuing 4,000 citations this year, Owens said.
"We're trying to make sure Cleveland stays clean and residents are properly informed on how these things should be set out," he said. "By issuing these tickets, it's helping us change the attitude or perception on how things should be set out."
Councilman Martin Keane, who represents the West Park neighborhood, said he would prefer that the Division of Waste Collection use more discretion when deciding whether to issue a ticket. A warning in many instances would suffice, he said.
"Everybody knows the ones who blatantly disregards the law," Keane said. "Those are the people we should hit with a $100 ticket."
POSTED AUGUST 19, 2010
DENVER COPS BEAT, CHOKE DOG WALKER
I really hate this. I have a son in law who is a police officer and know he is not like the cops in the story below, but the story has to be exposed. As described below a man who was walking his dog was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
According to the story Denver police officers were attempting to ticket a motorist who failed to stop at a stop sign. The dog walker told the motorist that he saw him stop and would testify to that. That's all the police needed. After confronting the man they escalated their attack on him. They would not let him leave and when he attempted to take their picture they attacked and choked him. There is a video below. Of course the Police department conducted one of their famous "investigations" and nothing has been done.
As I have said before, police departments need to start policing themselves. If they don't, there are long term consequences for law enforcement officers everywhere. Maybe a good law would be, those who cover up a crime committed by police officers would be guilty as an accomplice.
DENVER - Coloradans are outraged and demanding action from city leaders after seeing our investigative report about a dog owner beaten by two Denver Police officers.
Now the Denver police independent monitor says he's responding to the public outcry and reviewing the video to see if a larger investigation is warranted.
Mark Ashford was walking his dogs near 20th and Little Raven, when he witnessed police pull over a driver for failing to stop at a stop sign. He told the driver he saw him stop and would be willing to testify in court.
His attorney, Will Hart, said the police officers overheard Ashford's comment and "weren't happy about it."
Hart said the officers demanded Ashford's I.D. and wouldn't let him leave. "They had no reason to stop him or detain him, that's a violation of his fourth amendment rights," said Hart.
Ashford then tried to take a picture of the officers to document the incident, but both the officers pulled his hand behind his back and attempted to arrest him. Ashford appeared to struggle before he was slammed into a railing, punched repeatedly in the face and wrestled to the ground.
Ashford was charged with interference and resisting arrest, but the charges were later dropped, "because the city attorney agreed his fourth amendment rights were violated," said Hart.
Excessive force complaints were filed against the officers.
A Denver police department spokesperson said the internal affairs investigation is closed, but the independent police monitor says he is reviewing the surveillance video to determine if the police officers used excessive force.
Richard Rosenthal said it is likely he will recommend a more thorough investigation.
Ironically, it's the police department's own surveillance camera that may provide the proof.
Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper was notified about the alleged beating caught on tape. A spokesperson tells FOX 31 the mayor is aware of the latest video.
POSTED AUGUST 18, 2010
MEDIA WHORES WILL DO ANYTHING FOR A BUCK.
Has anyone out there wondered when they have gotten an honest story for our mainstream media whores? If one would take the opposite views from theirs, you would be right most of the time. Lenin once said the capitalists will sell their enemies the rope on which they will be hung.
That brings me to the story below. There is overwhelming evidence of the harmful effects of fluoride, but no matter. Water systems throughout the United States insist on dumping it into the water supply. Don't want it? Well, they're going to dump it in anyway. Want to debate it? No, you must be a conspiracy theorist. Submit documentation of the poisonous effects? No, we won't read it. You must be a nut. Get interviewed by mainstream media? Sure, why not. They'll tell everyone how nuts you are and report NONE of the evidence.
I often wonder where the "fire" is. We have just become so passive that we will literally put up with anything. Lying, cheating, stealing, poisoning of our food and water, censoring our speech, beating innocent people, fighting wars based on lies ---- anything goes and we just take it. I keep waiting and there are good people fighting back, just not enough of them. I also wonder if it was like that in other empires of the past. What were the Romans, Greeks, Egyptians, Persians etc. like in the last days? Are we like them?
Have you ever wondered why it’s so difficult to convey all the important issues to your fellow humans, why so few seem to really listen, why so few even seem capable of getting upset over anything that truly matters to the human species? Why so many have lost the fire in their eyes and just cannot seem to grasp horrible crimes against their person, taking place right under their noses, hidden in plain sight? Why are we truly so apathetic to the reality around us?
Sodium fluoride and other poisons are being deliberately introduced into the public water supplies in order to dull the ‘teeth’ of the freedom movement in this nation (pun intended), make populations more docile overall and to promote sterility.
On August 5th, Infowars put out a call for action to launch a new campaign, to inform the public about the toxic chemical sodium fluoride that’s being added to tap water across the country. When Infowars first made the original poster available online, we immediately saw the opportunity to convey a uniform and provocative, yet blatantly truthful message to the public. Something a child could understand – There is Poison in the Tap Water. That is of course, if that child was not subjected to forced-medication from the day he or she was born…
These are the times we live in. This is the time for direct action. No longer can we operate exclusively on their time, on their terms, or in their forums – like so many great activists that have stood before their city council’s and other officials, being condescended and subject to the usual ridicule and other clichés, while the public servants pretend to hear our pleas, pretend to take an honest assessment and cease. Ultimately, to see them continuing this practice – due in part to financial kickbacks and other incentives given to them by the puppet federal government, so that they can have a convenient means of disposal of this toxic chemical – with the added bonus for them of promoting sterility and administering a low-dosage chemical lobotomy for everyone, over the course of years.
Just hours after the poster was made available and just prior to Alex Jones making this call for action on the air – we were getting busy. The purpose of this campaign is not raise hell for the sake of, but to incite public inquiry and to prod the general public into investigating for themselves. Nor is it to pose as experts, ourselves. Common-sense is all that we require. This campaign has been aggressively promoted online by myself and others, and has now expanded to our friends across the pond and elsewhere overseas.
On August 13th, local media quickly picked up on the Infowars story concerning my open-letter to city officials and the anti-fluoride campaign in Wichita, and then contacted myself and associate James Gragg for interviews via telephone. KWCH was the first to inquire about the story. Contact with us was initially made by reporter Rebecca Gannon of KWCH News Channel 12, who conducted a telephone interview with me while I submitted information to her via e-mail. The story was later re-assigned to reporter Kim Wilhelm, who did the following hit-piece on our local movement, the first local story to appear which aired at 5 o’clock PM. KWCH failed to represent our key points with the exception of Mr. Gragg’s video testimony, as well as the supporting information I provided KWCH in the form of official documentation – as well as the City of Wichita’s own Water Poisoning Report which directly conflicts with the City’s verbal statements. Ms. Wilhelm largely regurgitates the city’s repeated statements:
Fluoride used as a singular term is deceptive by design. There are chemicals known as calcium fluoride and sodium fluoride –the former actually being a pervasive, naturally occurring substance andthe latter delivering a devastating chemical attack to the human body in low-dosages over long period of time. Paul Fassa of Natural News has written an excellent piece on How to Detox Fluorides from Your Body.
One cannot argue with a ‘skull and crossbones’, yet those defending this practice continue to argue in favor of its use in water supplies across the nation, and in promoting commercial products loaded with it – most commonly in commercial toothpastes, but also in hundreds of other products we use every day without knowing because they’re not required to disclose its existence in many foods and beverages. The average person is either completely unaware of the danger, willfully ignorant in their chemical bliss (unknowing it’s source, I might add), or just so psychologically invested in this proven fraud that they cannot let go on their own without a shove. Or all of the above… Some people will believe almost anything that comes from a suit or otherwise ‘official’ sounding figure.
Efforts to stop the force-medication of our citizens has largely fallen on deaf ears insofar as public servants and city officials are concerned, because of a decades-long campaign by the establishment to deceive people into believing this additive is for the sake of healthy teeth, while playing on the ignorance of the general public. Nothing could be further from the truth. That is, except for just about anything else that comes from the mouthpieces in this tyrannical government.
As the story aired by KWCH on August 13th was concluding, I was contacted by Craig Andres of KSN News Channel 3 and we conducted a brief interview via telephone with him – also forwarding our entire dialog with KWCH news reporters which included the above documentation, background information on sodium fluoride, the distinct differences between calcium and sodium fluoride, etc and finally the deceptive use of the singular term ‘fluoride’, coupled with their written admission of, “Water additive which promotes strong teeth.” I urged him to pay close attention to the discrepancy between the City’s verbal statements, and the Water Poisoning Report made available to the public.
KSN aired their initial segment on the story later that evening, at 10 o’clock PM:
City of Wichita Public Works/Water Director Chris Carrier states, “I think we’re real proud of the quality of water that we have, that water is tested several times a day.” He goes on to state that, “We don’t put any fluoride in the water at all in Wichita, we never have and we never will.”
Well, Mr. Carrier – we plan to hold you to that statement, as well as your successor… The City of Wichita’s Water and Sewer Department website states that, “On March 11th, 2010, Christopher M. Carrier was appointed by City Manager Robert Layton to act as Interim Director of Water Utilities.”
In true investigative fashion, reporter Craig Andres draws attention to the City’s own Water Poisoning Report that directly conflicts with Mr. Carrier’s own statements to the contrary, on behalf of the city. Craig Andres also emphasizes that this a national campaign to rid the nation’s water supply of sodium fluoride and uses this term accurately, as opposed to the misleading term of ‘fluoride’ by itself – which does not exist. In conclusion, KSN also re-iterates our assertion; that the majority of cities surrounding Wichita are admittingly force-medicating their citizens and that we urge the public to investigate and inform themselves as to the danger.
Do we have a closet-truther in Mr. Craig Andres?
Cities in the state of Kansas which are confirmed to be adding sodium fluoride are listed in the following 17 page document:
This is low-effort/high-impact activism. Thanks to the Infowars crew for providing the original design; I have produced a double-sided version of this poster which is designed to be to be taken down and read by an unsuspecting sheeple – to take them further down the rabbit hole.
The black and white version of this poster works very well laser-printed on either yellow cardstock, or yellow paper. Using cardstock, you can avoid having to ‘wrap’ your posters around telephone poles by simply tacking two staples at the top and bottom. And remember – don’t make them difficult to take down – they’re designed to be!
Then wash, rinse and repeat as desired. Litter your cities with the truth. Put yourself on the right side of history and feel good about fighting evil.
The reverse side bears a stern warning as to the true purpose of sodium fluoride, including color images and our own city’s Water Poisoning Reports. The Microsoft Publisher document for the reverse side is available here so that other activists may easily edit it to fit their needs, replacing the water report images with those of your own region, for example – particularly if they illustrate the same deception we observe, here in central Kansas:
--
POSTED AUGUST 17, 2010
FIRST IT'S GONE, THEN IT'S BACK----OIL
Well, you've got to hand it to them! Our government masters lie, lie and lie some more. And no matter how many times they are caught, they just move on to the next lie. The article below covers university scientists taking issue with our government liars in that most of the oil leaked in the Gulf has disappeared. Even a magician puts on a better show than that.
So, the government and their willing accomplices in the main stream media have been trumpeting the idea that the oil has just disappeared, even though we all know it hasn't. In fact the scientists reviewing this has stated that around 80% of the leaked oil is still there. There is also evidence that the oil is still leaking in other areas around the well, but the government says it has all stopped.
Isn't it interesting that one the one hand the government says the oil crisis is over in the Gulf, but if you go to the infected areas and attempt to research this, you are met by security and threatened with arrest. We are always told by them, "if you don't have anything to hide, why not let us search?", but I guess that only applies to us. Don't believe these people---EVER! Don't eat the shrimp. Don't swim in the water. Trust your own instincts. Don't trust them.
Bruce New World Order News
Top Scientists vs. Feds: Up to 80 PERCENT of BP’s crude remains in Gulf — Submerged oil can’t evaporate
August 17th, 2010 at 04:42 AM
The major media outlets are reporting today that a group University of Georgia scientists, which includes Dr. Samantha Joye, says around 3/4 of BP’s oil is still in the Gulf of Mexico. Five days ago we reported on similar findings by a Florida university, “150 million gallons remain”; USF professor says 75 percent of oil has yet to be found. Thankfully, today’s news appears it will have a greater impact.
The Associated Press reports, “Five Georgia scientists who reviewed the data said Monday that instead of only 26 percent of the oil remaining, as a federal report said earlier this month, it’s actually closer to 80 percent.”
University of Georgia marine scientist Chuck Hopkinson, head of the program analyzing the data, said, “Where has all the oil gone? It hasn’t gone anywhere. It still lurks in the deep,” according to the AP.
The Wall Street Journal adds, “The group said it was impossible for all the dissolved oil to have evaporated because only oil at the surface of the ocean can evaporate into the atmosphere and large plumes of oil are trapped in deep water.”
Bloomberg reports on statements by a program manager at Sarasota’s Mote Marine Laboratory, Chemist Dana Wetzel, who said the government’s conclusion felt like the “closing credits of a movie.” “It’s like they were saying ‘the end’… I’d say we have just gotten through setting up the plot.”
“The scientists who said that as much a 79 percent of the oil is still in the Gulf of Mexico said their estimates don’t include oil known to have washed into coastal wetlands because such crude is too difficult to measure,” Bloomberg adds.
POSTED AUGUST 16, 2010
HAS AMERICA ENTERED THE 3RD WORLD?
The article below lists 10 signs of a nation in, or going into, the 3rd world. It is hard for those of us in the U.S. to think in those terms. You hear over and over again about how America is the greatest and will always be the greatest. Certainly it would benefit all of us if that would be true.
In a crisis, denial is the first reaction. We, here, are in a crisis and the crisis worsens by the day. At my age, the last thing in the world I need is to enter the final years of my life living in a nation that is collapsing. We need our prosperity. We need to go out to dinner, follow our sports teams, go on trips and watch our lcd TVs. We don't need to scratch for food, lose our housing, find someone to help with medical care and just try to get through today. That is not the American dream.
Nevertheless, we must face reality. If it is hot out today, it doesn't matter that we want it to be cold and act if it were so. These 10 indicators listed below tell the truth. I suspect that deep down we all know that. Can this be reversed? Absolutely, but not by the current government masters. And that's the rub. One way or another they have to go in order for the rest of us to have a chance. The question is, will we all do what is necessary to get them out of there? They won't go willingly. Success or failure depends upon who is more dedicated to their purpose---them or us. I hope it will be us.
The United States by every measure is hanging on by a thread to its First World status. Saddled by debt, engaged in wars on multiple fronts with a rising police state at home, declining economic productivity, and wild currency fluctuations all threaten America’s future.
The general designations of the ranking system for world status date back to the 1950s, and have included countries at various stages of economic development. Since the Cold War, the definition has come to be synonymous with repressive countries where a wealthy class of ruling elites segment society into the haves and have-nots, many times capitalizing on the conditions that follow an economic crisis or war.
While much of the world is still mired in poverty, the reduced cost of innovative tools such as computing and connectivity ironically puts traditional Third World countries at the forefront of a new lean-and-mean economy that is based on ideas of empowerment for the disenfranchised. For better or worse, the world is leveling due to Globalism. However, America and other over-leveraged countries face this re-balancing of the globe at a time when they have dwindling resources. We can speculate about who and what is to blame for America’s fantastic fall, but for the purposes of this article we shall focus on the obvious signs that the United States is beginning to resemble a Third World country.
1. Rising unemployment and poverty: Unemployment numbers, food stamps, and home foreclosures continue to reach new record highs. The ugly reality of those numbers was recently on display when 30,000 people showed up to apply for public housing in East Point, GA for 455 available vouchers. Fights broke out, people were fainting from the heat while in line, and riot police showed up to handle the angry poor.
2. Economic dependence: The United States finished 2009 with a debt-to-GDP ratio of 85%, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The current trend projects the United States to finish 2010 at 94% and 2011 at 98%. The 90% level has become the IMF’s make-or-break point for countries hoping to grow their way out of debt. If the government debt load climbs above 90% of GDP, economic growth slows so much that growth is no longer a viable solution for reducing that debt, and the IMF insists on austerity measures. Surpassing this debt threshold has also caused China’s lead credit rating agency to cut America’s credit rating.
3. Declining civil rights: Everyday freedoms are often a casualty of a society in collapse. As the anger of the populace mounts in response to declining economic conditions and political corruption, the government counters by increasing draconian measures that restrict the political rights and civil liberties of its citizens.
America is becoming a country like China, which has one of the lowest scores according to Freedom House. In America, private discussions and movements are monitored, free speech is corralled, the freedom to assemble for protest is by government decree, and independent thought that questions the political system is increasingly looked upon with suspicion. A final indicator is when the government insists upon secrecy for its own actions, while new laws and systems are created to put the individual under nearly constant surveillance.
4. Increasing political corruption: When political corruption becomes the accepted norm, as opposed to the exception, then there’s a good bet your country resembles the Third World. Congress and all major institutions face a growing crisis in confidence, where a record-low 11% of the population believe Congress is doing a good job. It now seems obvious to all observers that big corporations directly control the agenda in Washington — much like typically corrupt Third World countries.
5. Military patrolling the streets: The rise of a militarized police state is a hallmark of most Third World countries, particularly in times of rapid economic collapse. America’s declaration of the War on Terror has created a constant threat to National Security that has allowed for the military to be deployed on American soil. Building upon the War on Drugs, this has created a fusion between the military and local police, where military-grade weapons and tactics are being used against American citizens in a cascade of violent confrontations over non-violent offenses. Military checkpoints are moving farther inland, away from meaningful border control functions, and a full-blown military presence in American cities has been planned by the U.S. Army War College.
6. Failing infrastructure: As 46 of 50 states are on the verge of bankruptcy, cities are going dark, asphalt roads are returning to the stone age, and nationwide budget cuts are leaving students without teachers, supplies, or a full-time education. These are common features one will see as they travel through the poorest of Third World countries.
7. Disappearing middle class: During the last presidential debate season, they argued that a family income of $250K was solidly middle-class. Well, Census data shows less than 15% of families make over $100K, and only 1.5% of families make over $250K. The income gap between the rich and poor has increased at a staggering pace, while many more middle-class folks join the ranks of the poor every day. Cavernous income gaps may be what Third-World nations are best known for.
8. Devalued currency: The value of the Federal Reserve Note (U.S. dollar) has declined 96% since the inception of the Federal Reserve in 1913. The value of the dollar is based on its supply in circulation and, to a lesser extent, the demand for those dollars. For the last three years, the money supply has spiked literally off the charts. It can be argued that the dollar has become America’s top export as the world’s reserve currency, and if the volatile dollar is scrapped, which the U.N. and IMF now suggest, then demand will plummet, killing the currency.
9. Controlling the media: A government-influenced media that censors information is a key component of Third World countries. In some countries it is openly owned by the State. In America, privately-owned major media is not as balanced or as diverse as it seems; the concentration of ownership has led to censorship when national and corporate interests have sometimes overlapped. The persecution of high-profile investigative journalists such as WikiLeaks is set amid a backdrop of the proposed Internet censorship of bloggers who wish to remain anonymous. The end of net neutrality creates a pay-to-play system that can lead to further corporate and government control of information and opinion. Cybersecurity initiatives are the final nail in the coffin, as the entire free flow of information can be vetted in a China-style system of “identity management.” On the street, the police state and media control have converged in the recent rise of arrests for those who videotape the police. This is a huge blow to First Amendment rights and the role of photojournalists who wish to document public police behavior.
10. Capital Controls: Many nations have enforced capital controls as their economies collapse. It most recently happened in Argentina and Venezuela as they sought to keep the remaining wealth within their borders. The SEC already has adopted policies to allow money market funds to suspend withdrawals during a financial crisis, while the recent HIRE bill (HR 2487) puts restrictions on Americans moving capital to foreign countries. Some economists suggest that the national debt has gotten so high that the government must now force investment of private capital into U.S. Treasury debt.
Key economic indicators point to a situation potentially worse than the Great Depression. The land of opportunity for so many is devolving into a system of government corruption, corporate looting, and military rule that threatens to sink the American Dream. The capital flight from America has left a dwindling middle class holding an empty bag. This style of underinvestment in the foundation of society is similar to what already has led to the exodus from the rural Midwest. Now, there are ominous signs of a silent exodus of young, intelligent professionals seeking opportunities to realize their dreams outside of America; they are becoming known as Generation Xpat. Lastly, many skilled immigrants have returned to their home countries to seek a better quality of life, which might be the scariest indicator of all.
POSTED AUGUST 13, 2010
GROW YOUR OWN FOOD? YOU MUST BE A TERRORIST Yes, our government masters are busy, busy, busy. In a proposed bill submitted in the Senate, growing your own food will make you a criminal. Not only that, but selling or transporting food will also be a crime.
I have repeatedly asked, "where is your line in the sand"? Maybe after our masters outlaw breathing without a license, will the average American say they have had enough. Should this bill pass or any other like it, it is my hope that Americans will just defy the law.
It's time for all of us to say that our masters can pass any law that they want, but we reserve the right not to obey. That's how this nation started in the first place. You know they won't stop. This kind never does. Sooner or later we will all have to decide.
Since the story first broke, a lot has happened. One reason for this could be that food is being poisoned. Collecting rainwater is now illegal in many states. Your intake is being controlled. For more information, visit the following articles as well:
S 510, the Food Safety Modernization Act of 2010, may be the most dangerous bill in the history of the US. It is to our food what the bailout was to our economy, only we can live without money.
“If accepted [S 510] would preclude the public’s right to grow, own, trade, transport, share, feed and eat each and every food that nature makes. It will become the most offensive authority against the cultivation, trade and consumption of food and agricultural products of one’s choice. It will be unconstitutional and contrary to natural law or, if you like, the will of God.” ~Dr. Shiv Chopra, Canada Health whistleblower
It is similar to what India faced with imposition of the salt tax during British rule, only S 510 extends control over all food in the US, violating the fundamental human right to food.
Monsanto says it has no interest in the bill and would not benefit from it, but Monsanto’s Michael Taylor who gave us rBGH and unregulated genetically modified (GM) organisms, appears to have designed it and is waiting as an appointed Food Czar to the FDA (a position unapproved by Congress) to administer the agency it would create — without judicial review — if it passes. S 510 would give Monsanto unlimited power over all US seed, food supplements, food and farming.
History
In the 1990s, Bill Clinton introduced HACCP (Hazardous Analysis Critical Control Points) purportedly to deal with contamination in the meat industry. Clinton’s HACCP delighted the offending corporate (World Trade Organization “WTO”) meat packers since it allowed them to inspect themselves, eliminated thousands of local food processors (with no history of contamination), and centralized meat into their control. Monsanto promoted HACCP.
In 2008, Hillary Clinton, urged a powerful centralized food safety agency as part of her campaign for president. Her advisor was Mark Penn, CEO of Burson Marsteller*, a giant PR firm representing Monsanto. Clinton lost, but Clinton friends such as Rosa DeLauro, whose husband’s firm lists Monsanto as a progressive client and globalization as an area of expertise, introduced early versions of S 510.
S 510 fails on moral, social, economic, political, constitutional, and human survival grounds.
1. It puts all US food and all US farms under Homeland Security and the Department of Defense, in the event of contamination or an ill-defined emergency. It resembles the Kissinger Plan.
2. It would end US sovereignty over its own food supply by insisting on compliance with the WTO, thus threatening national security. It would end the Uruguay Round Agreement Act of 1994, which put US sovereignty and US law under perfect protection. Instead, S 510 says:
COMPLIANCE WITH INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS.
Nothing in this Act (or an amendment made by this Act) shall be construed in a manner inconsistent with the agreement establishing the World Trade Organization or any other treaty or international agreement to which the United States is a party.
3. It would allow the government, under Maritime Law, to define the introduction of any food into commerce (even direct sales between individuals) as smuggling into “the United States.” Since under that law, the US is a corporate entity and not a location, “entry of food into the US” covers food produced anywhere within the land mass of this country and “entering into” it by virtue of being produced.
4. It imposes Codex Alimentarius on the US, a global system of control over food. It allows the United Nations (UN), World Health Organization (WHO), UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and the WTO to take control of every food on earth and remove access to natural food supplements. Its bizarre history and its expected impact in limiting access to adequate nutrition (while mandating GM food, GM animals, pesticides, hormones, irradiation of food, etc.) threatens all safe and organic food and health itself, since the world knows now it needs vitamins to survive, not just to treat illnesses.
5. It would remove the right to clean, store and thus own seed in the US, putting control of seeds in the hands of Monsanto and other multinationals, threatening US security. See Seeds – How to criminalize them, for more details.
6. It includes NAIS, an animal traceability program that threatens all small farmers and ranchers raising animals. The UN is participating through the WHO, FAO, WTO, and World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) in allowing mass slaughter of even heritage breeds of animals and without proof of disease. Biodiversity in farm animals is being wiped out to substitute genetically engineered animals on which corporations hold patents. Animal diseases can be falsely declared. S 510 includes the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), despite its corrupt involvement in the H1N1 scandal, which is now said to have been concocted by the corporations.
7. It extends a failed and destructive HACCP to all food, thus threatening to do to all local food production and farming what HACCP did to meat production – put it in corporate hands and worsen food safety.
8. It deconstructs what is left of the American economy. It takes agriculture and food, which are the cornerstone of all economies, out of the hands of the citizenry, and puts them under the total control of multinational corporations influencing the UN, WHO, FAO and WTO, with HHS, and CDC, acting as agents, with Homeland Security as the enforcer. The chance to rebuild the economy based on farming, ranching, gardens, food production, natural health, and all the jobs, tools and connected occupations would be eliminated.
9. It would allow the government to mandate antibiotics, hormones, slaughterhouse waste, pesticides and GMOs. This would industrialize every farm in the US, eliminate local organic farming, greatly increase global warming from increased use of oil-based products and long-distance delivery of foods, and make food even more unsafe. The five items listed — the Five Pillars of Food Safety — are precisely the items in the food supply which are the primary source of its danger.
10. It uses food crimes as the entry into police state power and control. The bill postpones defining all the regulations to be imposed; postpones defining crimes to be punished, postpones defining penalties to be applied. It removes fundamental constitutional protections from all citizens in the country, making them subject to a corporate tribunal with unlimited power and penalties, and without judicial review. It is (similar to C-6 in Canada) the end of Rule of Law in the US.
COP RUNS DOWN 17 YEAR OLD ON BICYCLE. 2 WEEKS WITHOUT PAY
I really am not trying to find these stories, but there are so many of them, I just can't ignore all of them. The story below and accompanying video crosses the line into new lows on police brutality.
The following is verified: A police officer in the West Pensacola area was chasing a 17 year old boy who was riding his bicycle. The officer attempted to shoot the boy with a taser while pursuing in the car. The officer then lost control of the vehicle and ran the boy over dragging his body while almost severing his body in half. After the obligatory "cover up hearing", it was determined that everything the officer did was wonderful and it was the boy's fault that the officer ran him down. There was also evidence that the officer planted on gun on the dead body, but the officer denied it, so I guess that's good enough. Anyway, you can read the account for yourselves.
The point is this has to stop. I'm not speaking to those criminals who happened to obtain a badge and a whistle and a taser. They are lost causes. I am speaking to the many many officers who are not psychopaths. What is wrong with you? Is there no moral bone in your body? If you don't stand up for the innocent and disadvantaged, you are worse than the criminals from which you claim to protect us. As is the case with all tyranny and abuse of power, there will be a day of reckoning. On which side of that do you want to be? We, the decent law abiding citizens are appealing to you. This cannot go on forever.
Ard had endangered other drivers and pedestrians as he veered into the wrong lane and even drove onto a sidewalk in pursuit of Victor, repeatedly attempting to shoot the teenager with a lethal weapon. After he ran down the youngster, Ard tried to cover up his crime by planting a gun on the victim.
“Mr. Steen desired to avoid apprehension on October 3, 2009. That desire led to Mr. Steen’s ill-advised decision to ignore a lawful command.”
What about Ard’s reckless driving? According to former police officer Dave Klinger, a use-of-force expert who examined the case, Ard was driving with “one hand on the steering wheel and looking out the window when he [fired] the Taser, which [meant he didn't] have complete control over the car.” This not only led to Victor’s death, but placed other lives at risk.
Judge Simon says that “Officer Ard violated no traffic laws in light of the fact that he was actively pursuing Mr. Steen.”
All of this depends, of course, on the assumption that Ard had just cause to be pursuing the 17-year-old — and he’s never told a straight story about his reasons for doing so. He initially claimed to have seen the young man at a construction site and suspected that he may have stolen something. After an eyewitness testified that Victor had passed the site without stopping, Ard changed his story, claiming that there was no reflector or light on the bike Victor was riding.
Given Ard’s equivocal description of his reasons for pursuing Victor, he clearly had no “lawful” right to detain the young man, let alone assault him with a Taser — thereby directly precipitating the victim’s violent death when he lost control of his bike.
Dashcam video recorded by one of the police cars that arrived on the scene showed Ard unlocking the passenger side of his cruiser and retrieving an object, then crawling under the car. He stayed there for more than a half-minute. When paramedics arrived two minutes later, they found a silver-and-black 9mm semiautomatic handguns in one of the victim’s pockets.
“Lab tests showed the gun had been wiped clean,” reports the St. Petersburg Times. “No fingerprints were on it — not Victor’s, not anyone’s.” Either the mortally wounded teenager — despite being nearly cut in half by Ard’s cruiser — managed to wipe the gun clean in the seconds before he died, or Ard planted a “drop gun” to provide a retroactive pretext for his pursuit of the teenager.
After seeing the video, an investigator for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement asked Ard if he had planted the gun. The subject was promptly dropped when Ard denied that he had done so.
According to Klinger, Ard’s use of a Taser in these circumstances was impermissible: “You don’t Taser people in circumstances that increase the likelihood of injury unless they’re a suspect for something like rape or murder.”
Assuming that Ard’s second story is correct, Victor Steen was suspected of what Judge Simon called a “non-criminal” infraction — hardly the kind of thing that justifies the use of lethal force. However, Judge Simon placed his imprimatur on Ard’s lethal actions by insisting that Steen precipitated the chase by engaging in “unprovoked flight” from Ard, which created a “reasonable suspicion of criminal activity.”
This neatly closes the circular argument: Ard didn’t commit a crime by murdering Victor Steen, because the young man — a mere Mundane, after all — made a criminal of himself by fleeing the armed stranger who eventually killed him for no reason.
POSTED AUGUST 11, 2010
ARMY HERO LT. COL. TERRENCE LAKIN JUST SAYS NO
I little over a month ago I wrote about an issue in my church. A soldier who just returned from Afghanistan was given a standing ovation. I also mentioned I did not stand as I do not feel some one who was "just following orders" is no hero ----quite the contrary. Had more of my generation "just followed orders" we would still be in Vietnam.
Today, we are still in Iraq. We are still in Afghanistan. We are regularly attacking Pakistan and are planning a war with Iran. All of these are based on easily provable lies and totally illegal. I have asked "where are the heros"? Where are those who refuse to follow a rogue government drunk with power and grabbing more?
No sooner said than done! Lieutenant Colonel Terrence Lakin an 18 year veteran, has done just that. He has pledged his life, his fortune and his sacred honor to refuse to follow these illegal orders to fight an illegal war. That's the only way it will end. These people will not stop on their own. They never do, but they will stop if more of those who believe as Colonel Lakin does, put their money where their mouth is. This nation was not built on cowardice. I know it's not easy, but this kind never gives a choice.
A highly decorated 18-year Army veteran was officially charged with disobeying orders and dereliction of duty after refusing to be deployed to Afghanistan because he questions whether Barack Obama is eligible to be president.
Lieutenant Colonel Terrence Lakin, a senior physician with the United States Army, said that his deployment orders were invalid because the nation’s commander-in-chief has failed to prove that he was born in this country, CNN reports. Individuals who were not born in the U.S. cannot be elected president.
“I am not guilty of these charges, and will plead ‘not guilty’ to them because of my conviction that our commander-in-chief may be ineligible under the United States Constitution to serve in that highest of all offices,” said Lakin.
“If President Obama is a natural-born citizen, then the American people deserve to see proof, and if he is not, then I believe the orders in this case were illegal,” he added.
Lakin, who entered a deferred plea at his court martial arraignment last week, is not alone in his skepticism as to whether Obama was born in Hawaii, as he and the state have claimed. The news source reports that as many as 25 percent of Americans question whether Obama was born in the U.S.
Linda Lingle, the Republican governor of Hawaii, has reiterated several times that Obama’s birth certificate is authentic.
POSTED AUGUST 10, 2010
60 MINUTES SAYS, LOWER HEALTHCARE COSTS-----DIE!
As the healthcare bill was passed early this year, I said it would only be a matter of time before those of us who are getting older and those of us who are chronically ill, would not be treated and be left to die.
The shining star of media whores, 60 minutes, always parrots the party line on a wide variety of issues. This past Sunday, 60 minutes gave a forum for the new "death culture" on their prime time show. They showed old sickly people on life support with their sobbing relatives agreeing "grandma would be better off dead". The interviewers emphasized the cost of intensive care treatment and gave the impression that almost everyone receiving this treatment dies anyway. So let's save the money and let them die before we spend all that money.
What was missing from this report was good journalism, but that's nothing new for 60 minutes. Think about it! How many healthy people go to intensive care? If you answered none, you win the prize. The whole purpose of intensive care is to save lives that would otherwise be lost and yes, it's expensive. There are many who die after receiving intensive care, but most do not. Many many older people recover and live healthy productive lives for many more years.
So I have a suggestion for these eugenicists who are so anxious for us to die. The next time you have any medical need whatsoever, don't get any care. Just think of all the money we will all save. With any luck one of those illnesses will kill you and you will no longer be a drain on society.
Bruce New World Order News
Aug. 8, 2010
The Cost of Dying: End-of-Life Care
Patients' Last Two Months of Life Cost Medicare $50 Billion Last Year; Is There a Better Way?
Many Americans spend their last days in an intensive care unit, subjected to uncomfortable machines or surgeries to prolong their lives at enormous cost. Steve Kroft reports.
According to oncologist Letha Mills, whose 70-year-old husband Dr. Herb Maurer is terminally ill with cancer, helping people die at home might increase their comfort and create savings in our healthcare system.
Dr. Herb Maurer has made a decision about where he will spend his final days. (Additional footage courtesy of Adam Maurer and Chautauqua Films.)
(CBS) This story was originally published on Nov. 22, 2009. It was updated on Aug. 6, 2010.
Every medical study ever conducted has concluded that 100 percent of all Americans will eventually die. This comes as no great surprise, but the amount of money being spent at the very end of people's lives probably will.
Last year, Medicare paid $55 billion just for doctor and hospital bills during the last two months of patients' lives. That's more than the budget for the Department of Homeland Security, or the Department of Education. And it has been estimated that 20 to 30 percent of these medical expenses may have had no meaningful impact. Most of the bills are paid for by the federal government with few or no questions asked.
Now you might think this would have been an obvious thing for Congress to address when it passed health care reform, but as we reported last November in the midst of the debate, what use to be a bipartisan issue has become a politically explosive one - a perfect example of the rising costs that threaten to bankrupt the country and how hard it is to rein them in.
Marcia Klish is either being saved by medical technology or being prevented from dying a natural death.
She is 71 years old and suffering from the complications of colon surgery and a hospital-acquired infection. She has been unconscious in the intensive care unit at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, N.H., for the better part of a week.
One of her doctors, Ira Byock, told "60 Minutes" correspondent Steve Kroft it costs up to $10,000 a day to maintain someone in the intensive care unit. Some patients remain here for weeks or even months; one has been there for six months.
"This is the way so many Americans die. Something like 18 to 20 percent of Americans spend their last days in an ICU," Byock told Kroft. "And, you know, it's extremely expensive. It's uncomfortable. Many times they have to be sedated so that they don't reflexively pull out a tube, or sometimes their hands are restrained. This is not the way most people would want to spend their last days of life. And yet this has become almost the medical last rites for people as they die."
Dr. Byock leads a team that treats and counsels patients with advanced illnesses.
He says modern medicine has become so good at keeping the terminally ill alive by treating the complications of underlying disease that the inevitable process of dying has become much harder and is often prolonged unnecessarily.
"Families cannot imagine there could be anything worse than their loved one dying. But in fact, there are things worse. Most generally, it's having someone you love die badly," Byock said.
Asked what he means by "die badly," Byock told Kroft, "Dying suffering. Dying connected to machines. I mean, denial of death at some point becomes a delusion, and we start acting in ways that make no sense whatsoever. And I think that's collectively what we're doing."
A vast majority of Americans say they want to die at home, but 75 percent die in a hospital or a nursing home.
"How do so many people end up in the hospital?" Kroft asked Dr. Elliott Fisher, a researcher at the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy.
"It's the path of least resistance," Fisher said.
The institute did a detailed analysis of Medicare records for patients in the last two years of their lives. Fisher says it is more efficient for doctors to manage patients who are seriously ill in a hospital situation, and there are other incentives that affect the cost and the care patients receive. Among them: the fact that most doctors get paid based on the number of patients that they see, and most hospitals get paid for the patients they admit.
"The way we set up the system right now, primary care physicians don't have time to spend an hour with you, see how you respond, if they wanted to adjust your medication," Fisher said. "So, the easiest thing for everybody up the stream is to admit you to the hospital. I think 30 percent of hospital stays in the United States are probably unnecessary given what our research looks like." And once someone is admitted to the hospital, Fisher says, they're likely to be seen by a dozen or more specialists who will conduct all kinds of tests, whether they're absolutely essential or not.
Meredith Snedeker's 85-year-old mother spent her last two months shuttling between a nursing home and community hospital in New Jersey, suffering from advanced heart and liver disease.
Dorothy Glas was a former nurse who had signed a living will expressing her wishes that no extraordinary measures be taken to keep her alive. But that didn't stop a legion of doctors from conducting batteries of tests.
"I can't tell you all the tests they took. But I do know that she saw over 13 specialists," Snedeker told Kroft.
Asked what kind of specialists, Snedeker said, "Neurological, gastroenterologists. She even saw a psychiatrist because they said she was depressed. And she told the psychiatrist, 'Of course, I'm depressed. I'm dying.'"
When we reviewed the medical records, we discovered that there weren't 13 specialists who attended to her mother: there were 25, each of whom billed Medicare separately.
The hospital told 60 Minutes that all the tests were appropriate, and an independent physician said this case was fairly typical.
Among the tests conducted was a pap smear, which is generally only recommended for much younger women, not an octogenarian who was already dying of liver and heart disease.
"In medicine we have turned the laws of supply and demand upside down," Elliot Fisher said. "Supply drives its own demand. If you're running a hospital, you have to keep that hospital full of paying patients. In order to, you know, to meet your payroll. In order to pay off your bonds."
"So, the more M.R.I. machines you have, the more people are gonna get M.R.I. tests?" Kroft asked.
"Absolutely," Fisher said.
"There are people that would argue this is great medicine. You get tested for every conceivable, possible malady you might have," Kroft pointed out.
"Often the best care is saying 'Let's see how you do on this particular treatment for a couple of days. And see if you respond.' Not necessarily doing a lot of tests," Fisher said. "The best care may well be staying home with a trial of a new medication, rather than being admitted to a hospital where you can be exposed to a hospital-acquired infection. We have a system that rewards much, much more care."
In almost every business, cost-conscious customers and consumers help keep prices down. But not with health care. That's because the customers and consumers who are receiving the care aren't the ones paying the bill.
"The perverse incentives that exist in our system are magnified at end of life," David Walker, who used to be the government's former top accountant, told Kroft.
Walker used to be the head of the Government Accountability Office. He now heads the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, which is a strong advocate for reducing government debt. He says that 85 percent of the health care bills are paid by the government or private insurers, not by patients themselves. In fact most patients don't even look at the bills.
"Does that make any sense to have, I mean, most things you buy, the customer has some impact," Kroft remarked.
"We have a system where everybody wants as much as they can get, and they don't understand the true cost of what they're getting. The one thing that could bankrupt America is out of control health care costs. And if we don't get them under control, that's where we're headed," Walker said.
With end-of-life care, there are also delicate cultural and political considerations.
Patients, with their families' support, want to cling to life, and it is often easier to hope for a medical miracle than to discuss how they want to die.
When we met Charlie Haggart, he was 68 years old and suffering from liver and kidney failure. He wanted a double transplant, which would cost about $450,000. But doctors have told him he's currently too weak to be a candidate for the procedure.
At a meeting with Haggart's family and his doctors, Dr. Byock raised the awkward question of what should be done if he got worse and his heart or lungs failed.
Byock told him that resuscitation rarely works on someone in Haggart's condition, and that it could lead to a drawn out death in the ICU.
"Either way you decide, we will honor your choice, and that's the truth," Byock reassured Haggart. "Should we do CPR if your heart were to suddenly stop?"
"Yes," he replied.
"You'd be okay with being in the ICU again?" Byock asked.
"Yes," Haggart said.
"I know it's an awkward conversation," Byock said.
"It beats second place," Haggart joked, laughing.
"You don't think it makes any sense?" Kroft asked the doctor.
"It wouldn't be my choice. It's not what I advise people. At the present time, it's their right to request it. And Medicare pays for it," Byock said.
Haggart died a few months later. A family member told us that his condition deteriorated so much they decided to let him go peacefully.
But when it comes to expensive, hi-tech treatments with some potential to extend life, there are few restrictions.
By law, Medicare cannot reject any treatment based upon cost. It will pay $55,000 for patients with advanced breast cancer to receive the chemotherapy drug Avastin, even though it extends life only an average of a month and a half; it will pay $40,000 for a 93-year-old man with terminal cancer to get a surgically implanted defibrillator if he happens to have heart problems too.
"I think you cannot make these decisions on a case-by-case basis," Byock said. "It would be much easier for us to say 'We simply do not put defibrillators into people in this condition.' Meaning your age, your functional status, the ability to make full benefit of the defibrillator. Now that's going to outrage a lot of people."
"But you think that should happen?" Kroft asked.
"I think at some point it has to happen," Byock said.
"Well, this is a version then of pulling Grandma off the machine?" Kroft asked.
"You know, I have to say, I think that's offensive. I spend my life in the service of affirming life. I really do. To say we're gonna pull Grandma off the machine by not offering her liver transplant or her fourth cardiac bypass surgery or something is really just scurrilous. And it's certainly scurrilous when we have 46 million Americans who are uninsured," Byock said."Every other major industrialized nation but the United States has a budget for how much taxpayer funds are allocated to health care, because they've all recognized that you could bankrupt your country without it," David Walker told Kroft.
Asked if he is talking about rationing, Walker said, "Listen, we ration now. We just don't ration rationally. There's no question that there's gonna have to be some form of rationing. Let me be clear: Individuals and employers ought to be able to spend as much money as they want to have things done. But when you're talking about taxpayer resources, there's a limit as to how much resources we have."
But if recent history is any guide, rationing has become the third rail of American politics, even though Elliot Fisher says we already limit health care based on income and whether people have insurance.
After analyzing Medicare records for end-of-life treatment, Fisher is convinced that there is so much waste in the present system that if it were eliminated there would be no need to ration beneficial care to anyone.
Multiple studies have concluded that most patients and their families are not even familiar with end-of-life options and things like living wills, home hospice and pain management.
"The real problem is that many of the patients that are being treated aggressively, if you ask them, they would prefer less aggressive care. They would prefer to be cared for at home. They'd prefer to go to hospice. If they were given a choice. But we don't adequately give them a choice," Fisher said.
"At some point, most doctors know that a patient's not likely to get better," Kroft remarked.
"Absolutely," Fisher agreed. "Sometimes there's a good conversation. Often there's not. You know, patients are left alone to sort of figure it out themselves."
That's what Meredith Snedeker says happened to her mother. Though she received $40,000 worth of care in her last two months of life, not one of her 25 doctors sat down with Dorothy Glas and her family and discussed how she wanted to die.
Marcia Klish might have lingered for quite some time in the intensive care unit at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center. But Dr. Byock and his team had a number of meetings with her closest friend, Barbara Menchin. She said Klish would not want to be kept alive on machines if there was no meaningful hope of recovery.
It was decided the doctors would not try to resuscitate her if her condition worsened, which it soon did.
"Her heart has just flipped into a rhythm that doesn't allow it to beat effectively," Byock told Menchin.
Klish died a few moments later.
"This is a hard time in human life. But it's just a part of life," Byock said.
"Collectively, as a culture, we really have to acknowledge that we're mortal," he said. "Get over it. And start looking at what a healthy, morally robust way for people to die looks like."
If you are wondering whether the health care reform legislation passed in March addressed any of the end-of-life issues raised in our story, the short answer is no.
The new law is designed to slow the growth of Medicare expenses, and includes a pilot program to reward doctors for the quality of care they provide rather than the quantity. But it also reduces Medicare payments for hospice programs that studies have shown to be very cost efficient.
POSTED AUGUST 9, 2010
HFCS -THE POISON THAT PROMOTES OBESITY & LIVER DAMAGE
I am speaking of high fructose corn syrup. Researchers have long suspected that this common sweetener is a main cause of the sky rocketing incidents of diabetes.
When I was a kid ( about a thousand years ago) I did not know anyone with diabetes. I know there were some, but I didn't know any of them. Today, many of the people I know have diabetes. Many others are borderline and have other types of blood sugar problems. Not coincidentally, all of the junk food back then was sweetened by common cane sugar. That included Coca Cola and other sodas. About 40 years ago many large corporations involved in candy, confectionaries and soft drinks found that they could save a lot of money by switching to corn syrup.
Now, here we are. Those involved in the production of the things we eat and drink couldn't care less that they're killing us slowly. MSG, Fluoride, food dyes, artificial sweeteners, corn syrup, gluten and hundreds of other additives are destroying the health of Americans. Adding to this is the fact that even as bad as corn syrup is, there is now evidence that much of it is contaminated with pesticides, mercury and other hazardous materials.
So if you are sick with one or more conditions and the only thing your doctor says is "take this pill", you may want to first stop eating yourself to death. There is no pill for that.
Bruce New World Order News
HFCS - the poison that promotes obesity and liver damage
Saturday, August 07, 2010 by: David Gutierrez, staff writer (NaturalNews) Two new studies have added more reason for concern that high-fructose corn syrup causes significantly more harm to the body than its mere sugar content would suggest.
High-fructose corn syrup contains 55 percent fructose and 45 percent glucose. In contrast, table sugar (also known as sucrose) contains a 50-50 split.
In the first study, published in the journal Pharmacology, Biochemistry and Behavior, researchers from Princeton University found that rats consuming high fructose corn syrup gained more weight and developed more cardiovascular risk factors than rats consuming equivalent amounts of sucrose.
"Some people have claimed that high-fructose corn syrup is no different than other sweeteners when it comes to weight gain and obesity, but our results make it clear that this just isn't true, " researcher Bart Hoebel said.
Hoebel and colleagues fed two groups of rats an identical diet, supplemented with one of two sweetened beverages. One beverage consisted of a sucrose solution in concentrations similar to those found in many sweetened beverages. The other consisted of a high-fructose corn syrup solution at roughly half the concentration of a typical soda. The researchers found that the rats consuming the corn syrup solution gained significantly more weight than the rats consuming the sucrose solution.
In a followup experiment, the researchers compared metabolic changes in rats fed only rat chow with rats fed chow plus a high-fructose corn syrup solution. All the rats consumed the same amount of calories.
After six months, the rats in the corn syrup group had gained 48 percent more weight. They also underwent an increase in fat deposition (especially in the abdomen) and a drop in circulating triglycerides. These changes are consistent with metabolic syndrome, a cluster of symptoms that predispose humans to cardiovascular disease and diabetes.
Every rat consuming high-fructose corn syrup became obese. In contrast, rats fed a high-fat diet did not become obese in all cases.
Another study, conducted by Duke University researchers, once again implicates high-fructose corn syrup in a heightened risk of liver damage.
Previous research has suggested that large amounts of fructose liver in the same way as excessive alcohol consumption. Another study linked high-fructose corn syrup specifically with a form of liver scarring known as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).
The new study, published in the Journal of Hepatology, found that high-fructose corn syrup worsened the effects of NAFLD.
"We found that increased consumption of high fructose corn syrup was associated with scarring in the liver ... among patients with NAFLD," researcher Manal Abdelmalek said.
The researchers analyzed the diets and livers of 427 adults with NAFLD, and found that only 19 percent of them never consumed fructose-containing beverages. In contrast, 52 percent of participants had between one and six servings of a fructose-containing beverage per week, while another 29 percent had at least one serving per day. The higher patients' fructose intake, the worse the scarring of their livers.
"We have identified an environmental risk factor that may contribute to the metabolic syndrome of insulin resistance and the complications of the metabolic syndrome, including liver injury," Abdelmalek said.
Abdelmalek noted that NAFLD is a severe problem that cannot be treated and may lead in some cases to liver cancer, liver failure and a need for liver transplant.
Researchers are still unsure why high-fructose corn syrup appears to damage the body more than its extra 5 percent fructose content would suggest. Some have hypothesized that the negative effects come from the massive quantities in which it is consumed -- high-fructose corn syrup is found in nearly all processed foods.
Other researchers have observed that beverages made with high-fructose corn syrup contain high levels of reactive carbonyls, which can damage cells. Still others have noted that the fructose in high-fructose corn syrup is chemically unbonded and thus spreads through the body more freely than the fructose in table sugar.
POSTED AUGUST 6, 2010
QUEEN MICHELLE NEEDS TO "RELAX AND UNWIND"
The question most of us are asking is "relax and unwind" from what? She has no job. She does no work. I'm sure the fry cook at Denny's is shedding no tears for her. The article below expands on the article we covered yesterday on our modern day "Michelle Antoinette". Spending hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars on her latest junket, having a public beach in Spain closed so she and her daughter can take a dip, sends my blood pressure through the roof.
What has happened to The United States of America? Since when did we go back to a government by royalty? Since when is someone who is married to a government employee entitled to an unlimited expense account? ---The arrogance and hubris is almost too much to tolerate.
One historical example of public outrage concerned the former Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife. They were dragged from the Presidential palace in December of 1989 and shot. His wife was forced to wear one of her mink coats.
One constant throughout the history of the world is public rage when the leaders of their country shower themselves with unlimited wealth extorted from their citizens while they go hungry. This latest example of Queen Michelle stealing millions of public dollars for her own personal use is no better than any other government thief hiding behind the illusion of royal entitlement.
Bruce New World Order News
Spanish police close public beach for Michelle Obama's £250,000 Spanish holiday
Michelle Obama today faced a fresh wave of attacks over her lavish break in Spain with 40 friends, which could easily cost U.S. taxpayers a staggering £50,000 a day.
The First Lady has been lambasted for her extravagance at a time when the economy is still struggling. One blogger went so far as to brand her a modern-day Marie Antoinette.
And her critics will be further annoyed when they learn that the president's wife had a Spanish beach closed off today so that she, her daughter and their entourage could go for a swim.
Spanish police cleared off a stretch of beach at the Villa Padierna Hotel in Marbella after the Obamas had finished a busy day of sightseeing.
Cordoned off: Police officers keep onlookers away today from the site where U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama and daughter Sasha are staying at the Beach Club of Villa Padierna Hotel in Marbella
Police used palm trees and police tape to mark off the boundaries of a 100-yard expanse for the American delegation. On either side, onlookers gawked - and police occasionally stopped and searched sun lovers if they strayed too close to the private party.
It is unclear whether the police presence was paid for by Spain - or whether a nasty invoice could be landing in the lap of the American taxpayer.
The exact cost of the trip is unclear as Mrs Obama, 46, and her friends are footing personal expenses themselves - which is just as well.
For a start, they will be paying for the 60 rooms booked at the 129-room Hotel Villa Padierna. With basic rooms starting around £380 each, the nightly bill will be no less than £22,800.
Sun, sea and search: A Spanish police officer inspects the bag of a local bather. Anyone who strayed too close to the Obama party were stopped
Meals will also be picked up by the Obamas and friends.
Spanish newspaper El Mundo detailed the Obamas' dinner on their first night in Spain. The tapas menu for the delegation included sea bass tartare, strawberry gazpacho and sardines, followed by a main course of lobster with seaweed risotto.
The meal cost about £40 a head, according to El Mundo - which means a bill topping £1,600 would have hit the table if all 40 friends dined together.
Stretched over five nights that's £8,000 for dinner alone.
Whether or not the taxpaying American will be paying for meals, they will definitely be footing the bill for the First Lady's 68-strong security detail, her personal staff - and the use of presidential jet Air Force Two.
The per diems for the secret service team runs at around £172 each, which amounts to nearly £60,000 for the length of the summer break.
Use of Air Force Two, the Air Force version of a 757, comes in at £91,900 for the round trip. This does not include time on the ground.
Mrs Obama's personal staff, of which there are an unknown amount and who might cost considerably more per day, also have to be taken into account.
The American public will also cover the cost of the only official part of the holiday, a visit to the Spanish royal family on the island of Majorca.
This will involve transport there and back for the entourage - as well as travel, accommodation, food and expenses for all while on the island.
Conservative estimates already put the total cost at £150,000. With Majorca to come, the bill will be more like £250,000.
Back in the U.S., anger was mounting - especially as it has emerged the First Lady will have enjoyed eight holidays by the end of the summer.
No ordinary holidaymaker: Michelle Obama (in bright top with dark belt) is surrounded by a substantial security detail (wearing sunglasses) in the city of Granada, Spain
These include a trip to Los Angeles in June, a visit to the Florida's oil-hit Gulf Coast next weekend and a ten-day trip to Martha's Vineyard later this month.
White House press secretary Robin Gibbs was asked at a briefing if there were any concerns about how the visit was being viewed by the public.
'The First Lady is on a private trip,' he said. 'She is a private citizen and is the mother of a daughter on a private trip. I think I'd leave it at that.'
Quiet moment: Michelle (left) and her younger daughter Sasha toured the stunning Alhambra Palace as part of their visit to Granada
Criticism: The First Lady has been attacked for taking such a lavish and high profile trip at a time of economic difficulty
Yesterday New York Daily News columnist and blogger Andrea Tantaros likened the President’s wife to French queen Marie Antoinette, who was famously extravagant with her spending.
Tantaros wrote: ‘To be clear, what the Obamas do with their money is one thing; what they do with ours is another. Transporting and housing the estimated 70 Secret Service agents who will flank the material girl will cost the taxpayers a pretty penny.’
She accused the Obamas of hypocrisy for preaching the values of sacrifice and austerity to Americans while seemingly refusing to heed their own advice.
She said: ‘Instead, Michelle Obama seems more like a modern-day Marie Antoinette… than an average mother of two.’
She added: ‘I don't begrudge anyone rest and relaxation when they work hard. We all need downtime - the First Family included.
Fan club: Granada residents hold signs in the street supporting Mrs Obama and welcoming her to their city
People had turned out in their hundreds to welcome the American First Lady and her daughter
‘It's the extravagance of Michelle Obama's trip and glitzy destination contrasted with President Obama's demonisation of the rich that smacks of hypocrisy and perpetuates a disconnect between the country and its leaders'
Mrs Obama, who has been accompanied by her youngest daughter, Saha, nine, spent yesterday in the historic city of Granada.
She visited the spectacular Alhambra Palace, the 16th century cathedral and the pretty Albaicin neighbourhood, famous for its narrow winding streets and small squares
A crowd of several hundred people shouted 'Obama!' and 'guapa!' (beautiful) as the Obamas entered the cathedral with a large security detail in tow.
The party also had time for ice cream in the main street Gran Via.
Mrs Obama later attended a flamenco performance by Juan Andres Maya where other members of the audience were delighted when she tried out some dance moves at the end.
Private citizen: Mrs Obama (seen here in Granada) is paying all personal expenses herself. Her security detail and transport are paid for by the U.S. taxpayer
Earlier in the week, Mrs Obama had strolled around the shop's of Marbella's old town with daughter Sasha in tow.
The First Lady was surrounded by burly Secret Service agents as hundreds of locals sought to catch a glimpse of her in the Costa del Sol resort.
Wearing black trousers, a black and white top and dark sunglasses, the 46-year-old walked through Marbella's cobbled streets, nipping into a number of shops before having dinner in an Andalusian restaurant.
Mrs Obama arrived by plane at Malaga airport yesterday/on Wednesday morning and was driven in a 14-car convoy to the five star Hotel Villa Padierna, where her entourage has reserved 60 of the 129 rooms.
She told owner Ricardo Arranz she had come to 'relax and unwind'.
Presence: Mrs Obama and her entourage go walkabout in Marbella on Wednesday
The hotel is nestled in the hills overlooking Marbella, and at 6.30pm she and nine-year-old Sasha were driven to the historic centre for their shopping trip.
Locals and British expats and holidaymakers crammed the streets or leaned out from balconies to get the best shot of the First Lady on their cameras. Some even climbed orange trees to get a better look.
Mrs Obama bought two white Egyptian cotton dresses for 84 euros (70 pounds) from a shop called Blanc du Nil after asking shopkeeper Irene Aivar for advice on styles and sizes.
She then took a business card from another shop called Samira, which sells silverware and crafts, before heading to a restaurant for dinner at 8pm.
They had a reservation for 14 people at the Buenaventura Plaza restaurant, reportedly eating lobster with rice and oysters followed by a Spanish bread pudding called torrijas.
President Barack Obama, who turned 49 on Wednesday, is not expected to join them in Spain, and oldest daughter Malia, 12, is at a summer camp in the US.
Reports in Spain said Mr Obama telephoned his wife at the restaurant, and she sang him Happy Birthday down the phone.
The party enjoyed red wine with the main course and a local sweet white wine with dessert before retiring to the hotel at 10pm.
Luxurious: The Obamas and their party are staying at the Villa Padierna in Marbella, which is rated as one of the top hotels in the world
Calvacade: The First Lady's convoy arriving in Marbella on Tuesday after she travelled from the States on Air Force Two
POSTED AUGUST 5, 2010
QUEEN MICHELLE SPENDS YOUR MONEY LIKE DRUNKEN SAILOR
She was elected to nothing. She accomplishes nothing. She has 2 dozen taxpayer paid personal assistants. Yet she spends millions of taxpayer's money as she turns into an international jet setter.
The article below covers her latest junket to Spain. No hotel is too lavish. No meal is too expensive. The whole U.S. economy is at her disposal --- and dispose she does. Shortly after her husband was elected to office, Michelle decided she needed a couple hundred new pairs of shoes. So off she went to England. She traveled on a government jet with some of her cronies and security force. In fact, Michelle has been all over the world. Every time she gets the "shopping " urge, millions more of U.S. dollars leave the wallets and purses of hard working Americans. Even her dog gets his own plane, all at our expense.
None of this should surprise anyone. What should surprise and disgust all of us is the extent of corruption in our government and the lack of ANY outrage on the part of the media whores or general public for that matter. While 40 million Americans are now on food stamps and while millions of Americans are being thrown out of their homes, you can count on anger building. The article below refers to Michelle as a modern day Marie Antoinette. If that comparison is true then the end of that story can't be far behind. I'm sure millions in the U.S. would love to see how Michelle would look in orange.
Bruce New World Order News
Material girl Michelle Obama is a modern-day Marie Antoinette on a glitzy Spanish vacation
First Lady Michelle Obama smiles while she visits Marbella, southern Spain.
Rich Girl, Poor Country
Do you think Michelle Obama should ditch high life for more down-to-Earth image?
Sacrifice is something that many Americans are becoming all too familiar with during this economic downturn. It was a key theme in President Obama's inaugural address to the nation, and he's referenced it numerous times when lecturing the country on how to get back on its feet.
But while most of the country is pinching pennies and downsizing summer sojourns - or forgoing them altogether - the Obamas don't seem to be heeding their own advice. While many of us are struggling, the First Lady is spending the next few days in a five-star hotel on the chic Costa del Sol in southern Spain with 40 of her "closest friends." According to CNN, the group is expected to occupy 60 to 70 rooms, more than a third of the lodgings at the 160-room resort. Not exactly what one would call cutting back in troubled times.
Reports are calling the lodgings of Obama's Spanish fiesta, the Hotel Villa Padierna in Marbella, "luxurious," "posh" and "a millionaires' playground." Estimated room rate per night? Up to a staggering $2,500. Method of transportation? Air Force Two.
To be clear, what the Obamas do with their money is one thing; what they do with ours is another. Transporting and housing the estimated 70 Secret Service agents who will flank the material girl will cost the taxpayers a pretty penny.
Perhaps it could be that the Obamas, who seem to fancy themselves more along the lines of international celebrities than actual leaders, espouse a different view of sacrifice. When Michelle Obama accompanied her husband to Copenhagen along with best buddy Oprah Winfrey, she billed the trip - an ultimately unsuccessful bid to bring the Olympics to Chicago - as follows: "As much of a sacrifice as people say this is for me or Oprah or the President to come for these few days, so many of you in this room have been working for years to bring this bid home."
A quick jaunt to Denmark is a sacrifice? What portraits in courage!
The Obama modus operandi is becoming clear. From lavish trips to Spain to reportedly flying Bo, the President's Portuguese water dog, on a separate aircraft to vacation with them in Maine, to a date night in New York City that perhaps cost nearly $100,000, their idea of austerity is really just the lap of luxury, at least for ordinary folks.
Incredibly, the Obamas have long portrayed themselves as precisely such commoners. Just this month, Obama told ABC the First Couple is "not that far removed from what most Americans are going through." And that "it was just a few years ago that we had high credit card balances, we had two kids, thinking about college. We had our own retirement accounts, wondering if we were going to be able to get enough assets in there."
If that's true, why not select a more appropriate destination like the California coast? The scenery is just as gorgeous as that of Spain, and instead of patronizing a foreign country they would be pumping money into an American economy that desperately needs it. Camp David wouldn't exactly be slumming it, either. A long weekend there would really send a message of responsibility, leadership and compassion. For a couple that has sharply criticized former President George W. Bush so widely, they could stand to follow his example for once and select a more low-key locale, as Bush regularly did in his Texas vacations.
Instead, Michelle Obama seems more like a modern-day Marie Antoinette - the French queen who spent extravagantly on clothes and jewels without a thought for her subjects' plight - than an average mother of two. While she's spent her time in the White House telling parents they should relieve their chubby kids' dependency on sugar and stressing the importance of an organic veggie garden, hopping a jet to Europe to meet with Spanish royalty isn't the visual the White House probably wants to project. Perhaps they've forgotten the damning image of John Kerry, on the eve of the 2004 election, windsurfing off the coast of Nantucket?
I don't begrudge anyone rest and relaxation when they work hard. We all need downtime - the First Family included. It's the extravagance of Michelle Obama's trip and glitzy destination contrasted with President Obama's demonization of the rich that smacks of hypocrisy and perpetuates a disconnect between the country and its leaders. Toning down the flash would humanize the Obamas and signify that they sympathize with the setbacks of the people they were elected to serve.
In January, President Obama insisted that "everybody in the country is going to have to sacrifice something, accept change for the greater good. Everybody is going to have to give. Everybody is going to have to have some skin in the game."
If sacrifice is the precursor to change, what will the family that ran on change offer up? Elitist doublespeak won't cut it.
POSTED AUGUST 4, 2010
YOUR NAKED BODY IMAGE STORED ON GOV'T COMPUTER
That is if you have gone through one of the "naked body scanners" popping up in our airports, courthouses and other government buildings. A little more than a year ago one of the contrived false flag events on a domestic flight gave our government masters the incident they so badly needed. If only they could scan every single person flying on commercial flights, we could get the terrorists.
The question should be, "How can we stop our government masters from terrorizing us"? It was interesting that within hours after this so-called terrorist event, they already had plans to put hundreds of these naked body scanners in service. It is also interesting that the former head of Homeland Security is heavily invested in the company that produces these devices. We were then told that scanning would be voluntary ---a lie. We were also told that the devices were not dangerous---another lie. We were also told that the images would not and could not be saved---lie number three.
Refer back to their stories on the events of 911, the shoe bomber, the underwear bomber and the various audios and videos of Osama Bin Laden. Now refer back to the 3 statements in the paragraph above. What do all of these statements have in common? That's right! They are all lies. Don't believe anything these people say. Do not submit to their terroristic methods including the dangerous naked body scanners. As for me, I'm not flying anymore if I can help it. If I ever do, I'm not allowing them to scan my body -----period----end of story.
TSA's X-ray backscatter scanning with "privacy filter"
(Credit: TSA.gov)
For the last few years, federal agencies have defended body scanning by insisting that all images will be discarded as soon as they're viewed. The Transportation Security Administration claimed last summer, for instance, that "scanned images cannot be stored or recorded."
Now it turns out that some police agencies are storing the controversial images after all. The U.S. Marshals Service admitted this week that it had surreptitiously saved tens of thousands of images recorded with a millimeter wave system at the security checkpoint of a single Florida courthouse.
This follows an earlier disclosure (PDF) by the TSA that it requires all airport body scanners it purchases to be able to store and transmit images for "testing, training, and evaluation purposes." The agency says, however, that those capabilities are not normally activated when the devices are installed at airports.
Body scanners penetrate clothing to provide a highly detailed image so accurate that critics have likened it to a virtual strip search. Technologies vary, with millimeter wave systems capturing fuzzier images, and backscatter X-ray machines able to show precise anatomical detail. The U.S. government likes the idea because body scanners can detect concealed weapons better than traditional magnetometers.
This privacy debate, which has been simmering since the days of the Bush administration, came to a boil two weeks ago when Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announced that scanners would soon appear at virtually every major airport. The updated list includes airports in New York City, Dallas, Washington, Miami, San Francisco, Seattle, and Philadelphia.
The Electronic Privacy Information Center, a Washington, D.C.-based advocacy group, has filed a lawsuit asking a federal judge to grant an immediate injunction pulling the plug on TSA's body scanning program. In a separate lawsuit, EPIC obtained a letter (PDF) from the Marshals Service, part of the Justice Department, and released it on Tuesday afternoon.
These "devices are designed and deployed in a way that allows the images to be routinely stored and recorded, which is exactly what the Marshals Service is doing," EPIC executive director Marc Rotenberg told CNET. "We think it's significant."
William Bordley, an associate general counsel with the Marshals Service, acknowledged in the letter that "approximately 35,314 images...have been stored on the Brijot Gen2 machine" used in the Orlando, Fla. federal courthouse. In addition, Bordley wrote, a Millivision machine was tested in the Washington, D.C. federal courthouse but it was sent back to the manufacturer, which now apparently possesses the image database.
The Gen 2 machine, manufactured by Brijot of Lake Mary, Fla., uses a millimeter wave radiometer and accompanying video camera to store up to 40,000 images and records. Brijot boasts that it can even be operated remotely: "The Gen 2 detection engine capability eliminates the need for constant user observation and local operation for effective monitoring. Using our APIs, instantly connect to your units from a remote location via the Brijot Client interface."
TSA's millimeter wave body scan
(Credit: TSA.gov)
This trickle of disclosures about the true capabilities of body scanners--and how they're being used in practice--is probably what alarms privacy advocates more than anything else.
A 70-page document (PDF) showing the TSA's procurement specifications, classified as "sensitive security information," says that in some modes the scanner must "allow exporting of image data in real time" and provide a mechanism for "high-speed transfer of image data" over the network. (It also says that image filters will "protect the identity, modesty, and privacy of the passenger.")
"TSA is not being straightforward with the public about the capabilities of these devices," Rotenberg said. "This is the Department of Homeland Security subjecting every U.S. traveler to an intrusive search that can be recorded without any suspicion--I think it's outrageous." EPIC's lawsuit says that the TSA should have announced formal regulations, and argues that the body scanners violate the Fourth Amendment, which prohibits "unreasonable" searches.
For its part, the TSA says that body scanning is perfectly constitutional: "The program is designed to respect individual sensibilities regarding privacy, modesty and personal autonomy to the maximum extent possible, while still performing its crucial function of protecting all members of the public from potentially catastrophic events."
POSTED AUGUST 3, 2010
OBAMA CITIZENSHIP PROOF LOST OR DESTROYED.
This is an issue that will not go away despite the best efforts of the main stream media whores. We have all heard the phrase "where there's smoke there's fire". The issue of the Obama citizenship has plenty of "smoke".
In the article below, several key documents providing information as to the whereabouts of Obama's mother at the time of his birth, as well as her travels to Kenya and Indonesia, are conveniently missing. Also missing is Barrack Obama's long form birth certificate from Hawaii. Also missing are any records or eye witness testimony of his attendance at New York University. Also missing are any eyewitness reports testifying to his birth in Hawaii.
What is not missing is his maternal grandmother's testimony that she witnessed his birth in Kenya. What is not missing is the extraordinary means that those around Obama are going to stop any investigation of this issue. What is not missing is federal courts' refusals to even hear evidence in the various lawsuits.
You can apply the reactions to this case to the government reactions to all of the coverups. First, they call those who question them, names. Second, they never address the issues. Third, they refer to the issue as something that has been discussed and dispensed with before. Any police detective will tell you that anyone who tries to stop or mislead an investigation moves right to the top of being a suspect. If Obama were truly an American citizen, it would be very easy to prove. If he is not, his supporters would do exactly as they are doing.
Bruce New World Order News
BORN IN THE USA?
Oops! Obama mama passport 'destroyed'
State Dept. claims records gone for Stanley Ann Dunham prior to 1968
Photo from Stanley Ann Dunham Soetoro's 1972 passportrecords
Responding to a Freedom of Information Act request, the State Department has released passport records of Stanley Ann Dunham, President Obama's mother – but records for the years surrounding Obama's 1961 birth are missing.
The State Department claims a 1980s General Services Administration directive resulted in the destruction of many passport applications and other "non-vital" passport records, including Dunham's 1965 passport application and any other passports she may have applied for or held prior to 1965.
Destroyed, then, would also be any records shedding light on whether Dunham did or did not travel out of the country around the time of Barack Obama's birth.
The claim made in the FOIA response letter that many passport records were destroyed during the 1980s comes despite a statement on the State Department website that Passport Services maintains U.S. passport records for passports issued from 1925 to the present.
The records released, however, contain interesting tidbits of new information about Obama's mother, including the odd listing of two different dates and locations for her marriage to Obama's Indonesian stepfather, Lolo Soetoro.
In the released documents Dunham listed both March 15, 1965, in Molokai, Hawaii, and March 5, 1964, in Maui, Hawaii, as the dates and places of her marriage.
Dunham later divorced Lolo Soetoro in Hawaii. The divorce decree took effect Nov. 5, 1980, but the divorce papers do not list the date of the marriage.
No marriage certificate between Dunham and Soetoro has yet publicly surfaced, but a released application to amend Dunham's 1965 passport to her married name Stanley Ann Soetoro includes a checked box indicating a passport officer had seen the marriage certificate.
The released records also document that on Aug. 13, 1968, Dunham applied to have her 1965-issued passport renewed for two years, until July 18, 1970.
Under 22 USC Sec. 217a, from 1959 through 1968, passports were initially issued for three years, but they could be renewed for an additional two years.
Obama, by any other name
Also revealed by the released records is a heretofore unknown, alternative name for Barack Obama.
In the 1968 application to renew her 1965 passport, Dunham listed as her son Barack Hussein Obama, including in parenthesis below the name, "Saebarkah," in what appears to be a variation of an Indonesian surname not previously associated in the public record with the president.
For some unexplained reason, the designation of "Barack Hussein Obama (Saebarkah)" is crossed off the 1968 application by five handwritten, diagonal hash marks.
S. Ann Dunham in Indonesia
Dunham also appears to have used two different variations of her name in obtaining and amending passports while married to Lolo Soetoro: Stanley Ann Dunham Soetoro and, without her maiden name, Stanley Ann Soetoro.
On April 27, 1981, Dunham applied from Jakarta, Indonesia, for a U.S. passport, indicating that she was in Indonesia working on a two-year contract from the Ford Foundation, from January 1981 through December 1982.
At that time, Dunham was working on a microfinance program for the Ford Foundation, which was overseen by Peter Geithner, the father of Timothy Geithner, the current U.S. secretary of the treasury.
Ann Dunham's occupation in the 1981 passport application was listed as "Program Officer, Ford Foundation."
No passport records subsequent to 1986 for Ann Dunham were released, though presumably a passport was issued following her 1986 application, such that the 10-year period prior to expiration would have extended one year past her death.
Dunham died Nov. 7, 1995, and was known to have been in Indonesia in 1994 when an Indonesian doctor first misdiagnosed as indigestion the first signs of the ovarian cancer that was the cause of her death the following year.
The released documents shed no light on proving or disproving whether Dunham might have held a passport prior to Barack Obama's birth that she could have used to travel to Kenya for his birth, as has been speculated in the absence of the release of Obama's long-form birth certificate from Hawaii..
The State Department released the Dunham passport documents July 29, responding to a FOIA request submitted by Christopher Strunk, a New York resident who has actively pursued obtaining documents regarding Obama's birth and his eligibility to be president under the "natural born citizen" requirement of Section 1, Article Two of the United States Constitution.
A prominent array of commentators, including Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Michael Savage, Mark Levin, Lou Dobbs, Peter Boyles and WND's Chuck Norris and Pat Boone have all said unequivocally and publicly that the Obama eligibility issue continues to be legitimate and worthy.
Longtime New York radio talker Lynn Samuels did the same.
"We don't even know where he was born," she said. "I absolutely believe he was not born in this country."
WND has reported on multiple legal challenges to Obama's status as a "natural born citizen." The Constitution, Article 2, Section 1, states, "No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President."
Some of the lawsuits question whether Obama was actually born in Hawaii, as he insists. If he was born out of the country, Obama's American mother, the suits contend, was too young at the time of his birth to confer American citizenship to her son under the law at the time.
Other challenges have focused on Obama's citizenship through his father, a Kenyan subject to the jurisdiction of the United Kingdom at the time of his birth, thus making him a dual citizen. The cases contend the framers of the Constitution excluded dual citizens from qualifying as natural born.
Further, others question his citizenship by virtue of his attendance in Indonesian schools during his childhood and question on what passport did he travel to Pakistan three decades ago.
Adding fuel to the fire is Obama's persistent refusal to release documents that could provide answers and his appointment of lawyers to defend against all requests for his documentation.
While his supporters cite an online version of a "Certification of Live Birth" from Hawaii as his birth verification, critics point out such documents actually were issued for children not born in the state
POSTED AUGUST 2, 2010
CONGRESSMAN SAYS: FEDS CAN DO WHAT THEY WANT.
Our old friend Congressman Stark is at it again. Contained in the videos below, he says that our federal government masters can do whatever they want. It would be nice if he was the only one that thinks that, but more and more it seems that most of our government masters agree with that statement.
Also in the videos Stark is being confronted by angry constituents. He couldn't care less! He has his big salary. He has his separate pension plan. He has his special health care. He has his extra home in Washington. He gets to travel the world at your expense. He and all the other representatives get to eat discount meals prepared by gourmet chefs at the Congressional dining room. Yes, he is one of the "New American Royalty" and the rest of us can go to hell.
More and more it seems like this is not going to end well, but make no mistake it will end. History shows that all empires, all nations and all kingdoms fall sooner or later. In most of those cases many of those who participated in the shakedown of their own people are not happy with the inevitable reaction of their victims. So, drink up, Congressman Stark. Let the good times roll ----as long as they last.
Paul Joseph Watson Infowars.com Monday, August 2, 2010
Congressman tacitly admits that United States is run by federal dictatorship, Constitution is worthless
Pro-Obamacare Congressman Pete Stark outraged attendees at a town hall meeting in Hayward California recently when he responded to criticism surrounding the constitutional basis of government run health care by claiming that the federal government had the power to do anything.
An attendee asked Stark to explain his claim that health care was now a right rather than a privilege in light of the fact that government imposed Obamacare “infringes the inalienable rights of other people” under the Constitution. The attendee pointed out that to mandate others to provide a service was a form of slavery and therefore violated the 13th amendment to the Constitution.
Watch the clip.
If Obamacare was constitutional, added the attendee, then there was no foreseeable limit on what the federal government could do to dictate to Americans how to run their private lives.
Stark responded by claiming the Constitution didn’t stop the federal government from creating “rules” that could affect the private lives of Americans, despite the fact that this is explicitly what the Constitution was created to restrict.
The Constitution, “specifically prohibits slavery and when you tell somebody you have a right to get a service from another that’s essentially saying you get to make that person do something for you and that is a form of slavery,” stated the attendee, adding that if the feds could do this then they could do anything.
“The federal government – yes – can do most anything in this country,” responded Stark, a statement that prompted a loud chorus of dissent from the crowd.
“You sir and people that think like you are destroying this nation,” responded the attendee, to which Stark reacted by nonchalantly nodding his head.
This is not the first time that Stark’s behavior at a town hall meeting has caused controversy. The Congressman displayed similar contempt for his constituents during a June 26 town hall meeting in Freemont California, when he insinuated that people concerned about border security wanted to murder illegal immigrants.
Stark taunted a member of the Minutemen organization when he asked, “Who’re you going to kill today?”
Throughout his political career, Stark has been an enthusiastic advocate of government run health care, causing controversy over the issue as far back as 1990 when he called then Health and Human Services Secretary Louis Wade Sullivan, an African American, “a disgrace to his race” for opposing Stark’s national health insurance proposal.
For a sitting member of Congress to openly declare that the Constitution is virtually null and void, and that the federal government has a stranglehold on power in the United States, is another startling indication of how the majority of so-called Representatives on Capitol Hill are complicit in the overthrow of the country as a Constitutional Republic.
POSTED JULY 30, 2010
ARE SOME FOODS TOXIC?
In the article and 15 minute video below, Alex Jones covers some misconceptions about the safety of our food. Many ingredients put into foods are actually harmful for the average person. Nutrasweet, food dyes, genetically modified organisms, fluoride, among others can cause long term health problems.
It has become obvious even to the most casual observer that we not as healthy as we were a generation or 2 ago. This in spite of great technological advances in health care. Diabetes, asthma, kidney disease, cancer, along with many immune deficiency diseases are common place today. Almost everyone is on some type of medication, but the problems continue to worsen. Take the 15 minutes and watch the video. Alex does an excellent job and this could help you or a loved one turn their condition from sickness to health. What have you got to lose?
Alex Jones & Aaron Dykes Infowars.com
July 29, 2010
The grocery store, along with your kitchen sink, are two of the most dangerous places in the world.
In a special video, Alex Jones addresses one of the darkest modes of power the globalists have used to control the population– food. The adulteration of the planet’s staple crops, genetically-altered species and intentionally-altered water, food and air all amount to a Eugenics operation to weaken the masses and achieve full spectrum domination.
PARTT 1/2
People the world over, but especially in the United States are under chemical attack. Deadly and dangerous toxins ranging from Aspartame to Fluoride, GMO, Mercury-tainting, pesticides, cross-species chimeras, plastic compounds in chicken, high fructose corn syrup, cloned meat, rBGH and new aggressive GM species of salmon have all entered into our diets and environments– whether we want it or not.
PART 2/2
Many of these substances knowingly cause or are linked with sterility, low birth weight, miscarriages, smaller or deformed offspring, as well as organ failure, cancer, brain tumors and Death itself, what you DON’T know about on your grocery shelves can hurt you. Further, Alex demonstrates that a pattern of buried studies, fraudulent statistics and a will reduce global population all point to the deliberate criminal poisoning of the food and water supply.
POSTED JULY 29, 2010
INS CO'S SCREW DEAD SOLDIER'S FAMILIES
We do a lot in this nation to celebrate the military. We sing patriotic songs. We have parades. We put ribbons on our cars. We give medals to soldiers. What we don't do is anything real for those who have chosen to put on the uniform of the United States.
Those in the military have been subjected to medical experiments. They have been abandoned in foreign concentration camps. They have been lied to about their enlistments. They have been forced to return again and again to Iraq and Afghanistan. They have been screwed out of medical and pension benefits. No! No songs or parades for those things.
Now, in the article below, our corporate controllers have hit a new low. Life Insurance benefits due to the beneficiaries of military service personnel are now being put into non insured accounts without the permission of the beneficiaries. Yes, they just take the money and keep it. Give some worthless checks to the families and when they try to cash them, they bounce. It's time for our military personnel to figure it out. There is no war for freedom. It's for them and their profits. Those in the military are treated no better than human toilet paper, to be used and disposed of by our government masters and their financiers. Do we really want to die for them?
Bruce New World Order News
Fallen Soldiers' Families Denied Cash as Insurers Profit
By David Evans - Jul 28, 2010 10:00 AM EDTWed Jul 28 14:00:00 UTC 2010
Cindy Lohman holds a photo of her late son, Ryan, on the grounds of Monocacy National Battlefield in Frederick, Maryland, on July 9, 2010. Photographer: Bill Cramer/Bloomberg Markets via Bloomberg
The package arrived at Cindy Lohman’s home in Great Mills, Maryland, just two weeks after she learned that her son, Ryan, a 24-year-old Army sergeant, had been killed by a bomb in Afghanistan. It was a thick, 9-inch-by- 12-inch envelope from Prudential Financial Inc., which handles life insurance for the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Inside was a letter from Prudential about Ryan’s $400,000 policy. And there was something else, which looked like a checkbook. The letter told Lohman that the full amount of her payout would be placed in a convenient interest-bearing account, allowing her time to decide how to use the benefit.
“You can hold the money in the account for safekeeping for as long as you like,” the letter said. In tiny print, in a disclaimer that Lohman says she didn’t notice, Prudential disclosed that what it called its Alliance Account was not guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., Bloomberg Markets magazine reports in its September issue.
Lohman, 52, left the money untouched for six months after her son’s August 2008 death.
“It’s like you’re paying me off because my child was killed,” she says. “It was a consolation prize that I didn’t want.”
As time went on, she says, she tried to use one of the “checks” to buy a bed, and the salesman rejected it. That happened again this year, she says, when she went to a Target store to purchase a camera on Armed Forces Day, May 15.
‘I’m Shocked’
Lohman, a public health nurse who helps special-needs children, says she had always believed that her son’s life insurance funds were in a bank insured by the FDIC. That money -- like $28 billion in 1 million death-benefit accounts managed by insurers -- wasn’t actually sitting in a bank.
It was being held in Prudential’s general corporate account, earning investment income for the insurer. Prudential paid survivors like Lohman 1 percent interest in 2008 on their Alliance Accounts, while it earned a 4.8 percent return on its corporate funds, according to regulatory filings.
“I’m shocked,” says Lohman, breaking into tears as she learns how the Alliance Account works. “It’s a betrayal. It saddens me as an American that a company would stoop so low as to make a profit on the death of a soldier. Is there anything lower than that?”
Millions of bereaved Americans have unwittingly been placed in the same position by their insurance companies. The practice of issuing what they call “checkbooks” to survivors, instead of paying them lump sums, extends well beyond the military.
Touching Americans
In the past decade, these so-called retained-asset accounts have become standard operating procedure in an industry that touches virtually every American: There are more than 300 million active life insurance policies in the U.S., and the industry holds $4.6 trillion in assets, according to the American Council of Life Insurers.
Insurance companies tell survivors that their money is put in a secure account. Neither Prudential nor MetLife Inc., the largest life insurer in the U.S., segregates death benefits into a separate fund.
Newark, New Jersey-based Prudential, the second-largest life insurer, holds payouts in its own general account, according to regulatory filings.
New York-based MetLife has told survivors in a standard letter: “To help you through what can be a very difficult, emotional and confusing time, we created a settlement option, the Total Control Account Money Market Option. It is guaranteed by MetLife.”
No FDIC Insurance
The company’s letter omits that the money is in MetLife’s corporate investment account, isn’t in a bank and has no FDIC insurance.
“All guarantees are subject to the financial strength and claims-paying ability of MetLife,” it says.
Both MetLife, which handles insurance for nonmilitary federal employees, and Prudential paid 0.5 percent interest in July to survivors of government workers and soldiers. That’s less than half of the rate available at some banks with accounts insured by the FDIC up to $250,000.
Bank of New York Mellon Corp. handles the paperwork and monthly statements for customers with MetLife “checking accounts.” The insurance company, not the bank, most recently reported holding about $10 billion in death benefits, in 2008.
The “checkbook” system cheats the families of those who die, says Jeffrey Stempel, an insurance law professor at the William S. Boyd School of Law at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, who wrote ‘Stempel on Insurance Contracts’ (Aspen Publishers, 2009).
‘Bad Faith’
“It’s institutionalized bad faith,” he says. “In my view, this is a scheme to defraud by inducing the policyholder’s beneficiary to let the life insurance company retain assets they’re not entitled to. It’s turning death claims into a profit center.”
Prudential’s Alliance Account is helpful to families of soldiers, says company spokesman Bob DeFillippo.
“For some families, the account is the difference between earning interest on a large amount of money and letting it sit idle,” he says. Prudential follows the law, he says.
“We fully and regularly disclose the nature and terms of the account to account holders,” DeFillippo says. “We make it clear that the money can be withdrawn at any time by simply writing a draft.”
Metlife spokesman Joseph Madden says his company’s customers are very happy with the Total Control Account.
‘Overwhelmingly Positive’
“The feedback from TCA customers has been overwhelmingly positive,” he says. “The TCA affords beneficiaries security, peace of mind and time to make an informed decision -- while earning interest in the interim.”
Madden says the company was paying some survivors 0.5 percent in July while some others got 1.5 percent or 3 percent, depending on the age and origin of insurance accounts. The accounts don’t violate any laws, Madden says, and are authorized by New York state insurance law.
Insurers are holding onto at least $28 billion owed to survivors, according to three firms that handle retained-asset accounts for about 130 life insurance companies. There are no public records showing how much companies are holding in these accounts.
The “checks” that Cindy Lohman wrote, the ones rejected by retailers, were actually drafts, or IOUs, issued by Prudential. Even though the “checks” had the name of JPMorgan Chase & Co. on them, Lohman’s funds weren’t in that bank; they were held by Prudential.
Federal Bank Law
Before a check could clear, Prudential would have to send money to JPMorgan, bank spokesman John Murray says.
Insurance companies -- in addition to holding onto the money of survivors, paying them uncompetitive interest rates and giving them misleading guarantees -- may be violating a federal bank law. A 1933 statute makes it a felony for any company to accept deposits without state or federal authorization.
That means only banks or credit unions can accept deposits, says Arthur Wilmarth, a professor at George Washington University Law School in Washington who has testified before Congress about banking regulations.
If a prosecutor pressed an insurance company, retained- asset accounts could be outlawed because insurers say they deposit money into these accounts and don’t have bank charters or banking regulation, Wilmarth says. MetLife also offers its own version of certificates of deposit.
“If it swims, quacks and flies like a duck, the court could decide that it is indeed a duck,” he says. “You then potentially could have a criminal violation.”
Potential Bank Run
This unregulated quasi-banking system operated by insurers has none of the protections of the actual banking system. Lawrence Baxter, a professor at Duke University School of Law in Durham, North Carolina, says the potential exists for a catastrophe.
If one insurer is unable to meet its obligations on retained-asset accounts, people could lose faith in other companies and demand immediate payment, triggering a panic, says Baxter, who has consulted with federal agencies on financial regulation.
The government established the FDIC in 1933 after frantic depositors tried to pull their money from banks. The federal government has no such program for death-benefit accounts.
“There’s more than $25 billion out there in these accounts,” Baxter says. “A run could be triggered immediately by one insurance company not being able to honor its payout. The whole point of creating the FDIC was to put an end to bank runs.”
No Federal Regulation
The sweeping financial regulatory legislation signed by President Barack Obama on July 21 doesn’t address retained-asset accounts. It creates a new federal insurance office, which won’t be a regulator. It will collect information, monitor the industry for systemic risk and consult with state insurance regulators.
An industry with $19.1 trillion in potential liabilities will remain unregulated by the federal government. In 2008, insurers approved claims totaling $60 billion in death benefits, according to the life insurance council.
The federal government doesn’t even regulate the life insurance it supplies, via MetLife, to its own employees in a program called Federal Employees’ Group Life Insurance. As the VA does for soldiers, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management sends handbook to nonmilitary government workers -- some 4 million active employees and retirees.
The handbook says their life insurance policies automatically pay out death benefits in the form of a “money- market-account checkbook.” The 217-page handbook omits that the money isn’t FDIC insured and will stay with MetLife until someone writes a “check.”
‘Unfair Advantage’
This lack of disclosure is unconscionable, says Harvey Goldschmid, a commissioner of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission from 2002 to 2005.
“I can’t imagine why bank regulators haven’t been requiring a prominent ‘no FDIC insurance’ disclosure,” says Goldschmid, who’s now a law professor at Columbia University in New York. “This system works very badly for the bereaved. It takes unfair advantage of people at their time of weakness.”
The closest relative to retained-asset accounts may be money-market mutual funds, which are pools of cash invested in short-term debt securities.
Money Market Rules
The SEC requires fund companies to warn investors that money market funds don’t have FDIC insurance. It also mandates that fund managers provide a prospectus, that they invest in specific types of safe debt and that they post a detailed schedule of their investments monthly on their websites.
Insurers’ retained-asset accounts have none of those regulatory protections.
A June 2009 MetLife standard condolence letter to survivors leaves out that accounts aren’t in a bank and aren’t federally insured. In June 2010, 25 years after MetLife invented retained- asset accounts, the company released a customer agreement that does disclose that retained assets aren’t in a money market account nor in a bank and that they have no FDIC insurance.
“The assets backing the Total Control Accounts are maintained in MetLife’s general account and are subject to MetLife’s creditors,” the agreement says. That language contradicts the federal employee handbook, which says survivors get a money market account.
Gerry Goldsholle, the man who invented retained-asset accounts, says MetLife makes $100 million to $300 million a year from investment returns on the death benefits it holds. A former president of MetLife Marketing Corp., Goldsholle, 69, devised the accounts in 1984. He’s now a lawyer in private practice in Sausalito, California.
‘This Is Crazy’
Goldsholle says he pondered the billions of dollars of death-benefit proceeds the company paid out each year.
“I looked at this and said this is crazy,” says Goldsholle, who left the firm in 1991. “What are we doing to retain some of this money? It’s very expensive to bring money in the front door of an insurance company. You’re paying very large commissions and sales expenses.”
So he came up with a way for MetLife to hold onto death benefits.
“The company would win because we would make a nice spread on the money,” Goldsholle says, while customers would earn interest on their accounts. MetLife, he says, can earn 1 to 3 percentage points more from its investment income -- mostly from bonds -- than it pays out to survivors.
Misconceptions
The accounts Goldsholle invented have spread much faster than the ability of state regulators to track them -- or even to understand how they work. Ted Hamby, North Carolina’s deputy insurance commissioner for life and health, says he believes retained-asset accounts have FDIC protection.
“Whatever money is on deposit in that checking account will be insured, up to the limits of the FDIC,” he says. He’s wrong. No retained-asset accounts have FDIC coverage.
In Connecticut, where 106 insurance companies are based, state insurance department manager for market conduct Kurt Swan also says that retained-asset accounts are kept in banks, with FDIC coverage.
“I think they’re just trying to offer some flexibility to the beneficiary,” he says. Swan and his colleague, William Arfanis, the department’s principal financial examiner, both say the insurers don’t profit from the retained-asset accounts. That too is wrong. The companies do earn investment gains on death benefits.
Some Rules
Just six states had any rules for retained-asset accounts as of July 2009, according to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas, Nevada, North Carolina and North Dakota require insurers to disclose fees and interest rates and to tell survivors they may withdraw all of the money by writing a single check.
Maryland, which isn’t on the NAIC list, also has rules.
Pennsylvania Insurance Commissioner Joel Ario, whose state has no rules for retained-asset accounts, says he has asked his staff to prepare a regulation forbidding insurance companies from using such accounts as the default method of paying a death claim.
“I haven’t heard a plausible argument about why these accounts are better for the consumer,” Ario says.
If state insurance regulators have paid scant attention to retained-asset accounts, state bank regulators have taken an even more hands-off approach.
‘Not Drawn Attention’
“Quite honestly, we deal with issues that our members want us to deal with,” says Michael Stevens, senior vice president for regulatory policy at the Washington-based Conference of State Bank Supervisors. “This is not one that has drawn their attention.”
Three companies have not only noticed but have also profited by handling retained-asset accounts for insurers. Open Solutions Inc., based in Glastonbury, Connecticut, oversees 400,000 accounts for 67 insurance companies.
Open Solutions sends out “checkbooks,” prints periodic statements and computes accrued interest for accounts with total deposits of $10 billion, says Jay Woldar, director of sales and account management at Open Solutions.
One of its competitors, Bank of New York Mellon, administers more than 500,000 retained-asset accounts holding a total of $14 billion, including MetLife’s retained assets. Chicago-based Northern Trust Corp. handles about $4 billion in 125,000 accounts, spokesman John O’Connell says.
Survivors generally don’t touch these accounts immediately.
Accounts Stay Opened
“About 40 percent of the money stays in for more than a year,” Woldar says. Insurers can have use of survivors’ money for years, even decades, says Randi Lichtenstein, a product line manager at Bank of New York.
“They can stick around for quite a while,” she says. “There are accounts that all insurance companies have on these platforms that go back 10, 15, 20 years.”
MetLife’s Madden says most of its customers’ retained-asset accounts are closed within one year. About 28 percent of survivors of soldiers and veterans keep their retained-asset accounts open for more than two years, the VA says.
During a routine audit completed in 2004, the New York State Insurance Department found that 1,476 retained-asset accounts, worth a total of $33.5 million, at Hartford, Connecticut-based Phoenix Life Insurance Co., had been dormant for more than three years.
In New York, funds in an account that remains dormant for more than three years may be turned over to the state. Phoenix spokeswoman Alice Ericson says the company now has a policy of sending letters to people whose accounts have been inactive for two years.
Inactive Accounts
Almost one-third of the 6,890 retained-asset accounts run by Mony Life Insurance Co. were inactive for more than three years, New York auditors found in 2002. Mony is now owned by Axa SA, Europe’s second-largest insurer by market value.
A few people have sued insurers over the use of retained- asset accounts. Prudential won a lawsuit in 2009 in which a survivor complained about the Alliance Account. MetLife has a case pending in which a survivor says that she was cheated by the retained-asset account. In court-filed papers, MetLife denies any wrongdoing.
There has been only one ruling by a federal appellate court on the substance of such accounts -- and it went against an insurance company.
After a federal judge in Boston dismissed a policyholder suit claiming that Chattanooga, Tennessee-based insurer Unum Group was stealing account earnings from survivors, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit overruled the lower court in 2008. It reinstated the case.
‘Euphemistically Named’
“The euphemistically named ‘Security Account,’ accompanied with a checkbook, was no more than an IOU which did not transfer the funds to which the beneficiaries were entitled out of the plan assets,” the three-judge panel wrote.
Unum spokeswoman Mary Clarke Guenther says retained-asset accounts are a commonly accepted practice in the industry. The case is pending.
Absent regulatory or legal intervention, bereaved family members like Cindy Lohman will continue to find death benefits going into retained-asset accounts. Her son, Ryan, posthumously received a Purple Heart and Bronze Star Medal for sacrificing his life to save fellow soldiers in Afghanistan in August 2008.
He had ordered a Humvee to swerve to avoid an explosive device, exposing himself to its deadly blast.
‘Accept The Reality’
Three days after learning of her son’s death, Lohman says, an Army casualty assistance officer came to her home, explaining that Ryan had a life insurance policy and that her signature was needed to release the money.
“By signing that, it forced me to accept the reality that he was dead and not coming back,” she says.
Since 1999, the VA has allowed Prudential to send survivors “checkbooks” tied to its Alliance Account. In 2009 alone, the families of U.S. soldiers and veterans were supposed to be paid death benefits totaling $1 billion immediately, according to their insurance policies. They weren’t.
Prudential’s VA policies promise either a lump sum payout or 36 monthly payments. About 90 percent of survivors, including Lohman, choose to receive the full amount upfront. When they do, they don’t get a check; they get a “checkbook.”
Under a 2008 law, survivors covered by Prudential’s VA policy are allowed one year to put death benefits into a Roth IRA, allowing them to earn investment gains for the rest of their lives tax-free. Prudential never informed Lohman, she says.
‘If They Had Told Me’
“I definitely would have done that if they had told me,” Lohman says.
Even Stephen Wurtz, deputy assistant director for insurance at the VA, who has overseen the insurance program for 25 years, has been kept in the dark by Prudential.
“Prudential runs the program on a cost-reimbursement basis only,” he initially said, referring to the $4.2 million in fees the VA paid Prudential in 2009. “They’re really good guys. They do it patriotically. They don’t make any money from the Alliance Account.”
Wurtz, 62, said he had believed that the Alliance Account money went into a bank. After he learned that the payouts actually stayed in Prudential’s general fund, Wurtz says, he asked Prudential how much money the insurance company made from these accounts and how many dollars it held in retained assets.
Prudential declined to answer, saying that information was proprietary, Wurtz says.
‘Maybe I Didn’t’
Prudential, which has had the insurance contract with the VA since 1965, pitched the checkbook payout to the VA in 1999 as an added benefit to survivors, Wurtz says. The government agency accepted Prudential’s offer, he says.
“Maybe I didn’t ask enough questions,” he says.
Printed on each “check,” next to “Prudential’s Alliance Account” is the name of JPMorgan, the second-biggest U.S. bank by assets. JPMorgan spokesman Murray declined to say how much the bank is paid for its role with Prudential.
The way Prudential has set up the “checks” implies that JPMorgan stands behind the accounts and that they are thus backed by the FDIC, Duke’s Baxter says.
“That’s misleading the beneficiaries,” he says.
“We disclose the roles of all companies involved in administering these accounts,” Prudential’s DeFillippo says. JPMorgan’s Murray declined to comment.
Prudential’s general account earned 4.4 percent in 2009, mostly from bond investments, according to SEC filings. The company has paid survivors 0.5 percent in 2010.
‘It’s Shameful’
“It’s shameful that an insurance company is stealing money from the families of our fallen servicemen,” says Paul Sullivan, who served in the 1991 Gulf War as an Army cavalry scout and is now executive director of Veterans for Common Sense, a nonprofit advocacy group based in Washington. “I’m outraged.”
Sullivan, a project manager at the VA’s benefits unit from 2000 to 2006, says he was never told Prudential kept money and earned investment gains from soldiers’ insurance payouts instead of sending it to survivors.
“There shouldn’t be secret profits,” he says. “This should be transparent. The lack of oversight is appalling.”
It’s not much different for the 4 million nonmilitary U.S. government employees and retirees -- including staff of the FDIC -- covered by MetLife policies. That program, begun in 1965, averages more than $2 billion in death benefits claimed every year, the government says.
Payouts are handled by the Office of Federal Employees’ Group Life Insurance. That makes it look like the government is taking care of its employees’ insurance coverage. It isn’t. That “office” is a unit of MetLife.
MetLife Holds the Money
Edmund Byrnes, a spokesman for the Office of Personnel Management, which oversees MetLife’s federal employee contract, says MetLife segregates death benefits into beneficiary accounts after it approves death claims.
“Once MetLife transfers the funds to the Total Control Account, the monies are no longer under MetLife’s control,” Byrnes says.
“The assets that back the liabilities on all the TCAs are placed in MetLife’s general account,” he says.
Back at the Veterans Affairs office, Deputy Assistant Director Wurtz, who’s a civilian employee, says he now understands for the first time that since he’s covered by the federal insurance program, his own wife could receive a MetLife “checkbook” someday.
‘Ripping Off Their Own’
“Uncle Sam is ripping off their own,” Wurtz says. “My wife would get the money, and they would blood-suck some of it out of her.”
It took Wurtz, who’s been working with insurers for most of his career, more than a decade to understand how retained-asset accounts work. Companies like MetLife and Prudential have never told millions of Americans with insurance policies that when they die, the insurer plans to hold their family’s money in its own account to make investment gains from the death benefit.
“It’s outrageous that somebody’s profiting off other people’s grief,” says Mark Umbrell of Doylestown, Pennsylvania. His 26-year-old son, Colby, an Army Airborne Ranger who earned a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart, was killed in Iraq in May 2007. Umbrell was among those who got a “checkbook” account.
“I think we’re being taken,” he says.
The question for Umbrell, Lohman and a million others with these accounts is whether anything will change. State bank regulators say if there are to be any reforms, they should be made by insurance departments. Officials at those state agencies often say they don’t even understand what a retained-asset account is.
“It’s flown under the radar,” professor Stempel says. “Regulators have not done their job.”
Until public officials wake up, the bereaved will remain a secret profit center for the life insurance industry.
POSTED JULY 28, 2010
PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANIES TRY TO FORCE VACCINES
Yes, our government masters are busy, busy, busy. At this time every year, school districts all around the nation join together to promote the lie that all children must be vaccinated in order to enter school. There is no law anywhere, that requires children to be vaccinated. All schools are required to provide parents who wish to opt out, with a waiver form.
There is a video below covering just some of the facts concerning DPT vaccines. As bad as whooping cough is, the vaccine is worse. Our children are the most vaccinated generation in history. They are also the most unhealthy generation in at least 100 years. The fact remains that the 3rd largest killer in the U.S. today, is legally prescribed drugs. Vaccines contain many dangerous chemicals. Ingredients like, Aluminum, Propylene Glycol, Squalene, Thimerisol (Mercury) and other cancer causing agents are frequently included. On top of this many of the vaccines are made from aborted fetuses.
We need to ask, "Whom do we trust"? Do we believe our central government and the pharmaceutical companies are truthful? Are we willing to put our lives and health as well as that of our children in their hands without question? We wouldn't trust known criminals with our children and these people are no better. Just say no.
Bruce New World Order News
Video Commentary
POSTED JULY 27, 2010
ARMED POLICE THUGS ATTACK RAW FOOD STORE
Yes, our government masters are busy, busy, busy. Now that they have many convinced evil demons are out to get us, they have been speeding towards total control in a police state. Forget about Bin Laden and the Taliban, they are too busy shaking down old ladies at the airport and attacking the vitamin and natural food businesses.
Yes, we all need to surrender to total police control so they can keep us safe from consuming harmful foods and supplements. No, they don't have time to remove toxic fluoride from our water. No, they don't have time to outlaw genetically modified foods that kill laboratory animals and are wiping out honey bees. No, they don't have time to remove the aspartame that causes tumors, headaches and blindness, from thousands of foods. And no, they can't be bothered with chemically added virus's that now are in millions of school lunches throughout the nation. And, of course , the fact that the third largest killer in the U.S. is "legally" prescribed drugs is totally lost on them.
No, put on your ski mask, (so no one knows you are a Nazi thug), cover up your badge, get your taser out and fight for freedom by attacking your friends and neighbors selling healthy foods. Unless our friends in the police forces throughout the nation start refusing these orders, America will descend into bedlam and the natural food stores will be the least of their problems.
Bruce New World Order News
Raw-food raid highlights a hunger
By P.J. Huffstutter, Los Angeles Times
July 25, 2010
With no warning one weekday morning, investigators entered an organic grocery with a search warrant and ordered the hemp-clad workers to put down their buckets of mashed coconut cream and to step away from the nuts.
Then, guns drawn, four officers fanned out across Rawesome Foods in Venice. Skirting past the arugula and peering under crates of zucchini, they found the raid's target inside a walk-in refrigerator: unmarked jugs of raw milk.
"I still can't believe they took our yogurt," said Rawesome volunteer Sea J. Jones, a few days after the raid. "There's a medical marijuana shop a couple miles away, and they're raiding us because we're selling raw dairy products?" Cartons of raw goat and cow milk and blocks of unpasteurized goat cheese were among the groceries seized in the June 30 raid by federal, state and local authorities — the latest salvo in the heated food fight over what people can put in their mouths.
On one side are government regulators, who say they are enforcing rules designed to protect consumers from unsafe foods and to provide a level playing field for producers. On the other side are " healthy food" consumers — a faction of foodies who challenge government science and seek food in its most pure form.
They want almonds cracked fresh from the shell, not those run through a federally mandated pasteurization process that uses either heat or a chemical to kill off salmonella and other possible contaminants. They hunger for meat slaughtered on the farm. And they're willing to pay a premium — $6, $8 or more — for a gallon of milk straight from the cow.
So despite research outlining the dangers of consuming raw milk and other unprocessed foods, they're finding ways to circumnavigate federal, state and local laws that seek to control what they can serve at the dinner table. Such defiance, they said, comes from growing distrust of a food sector that has become more industrialized and consolidated — and whose products have been at the root of some of the country's deadliest food contamination cases.
"This is about control and profit, not our health," said Aajonus Vonderplanitz, co-founder of Rawesome Foods. "How can we not have the freedom to choose what we eat?"
Scientists and regulators point to epidemiological evidence linking disease outbreaks to raw milk: The milk can transmit bacteria such as E. coli O157:H7, salmonella, campylobacter and listeria, which can result in diarrhea, kidney failure or death.
"This is not about restricting the public's rights," said Nicole Neeser, program manager for dairy, meat and poultry inspection at the Minnesota Department of Agriculture. "This is about making sure people are safe."
Demand for all manner of raw foods — including honey, nuts and meat — has been growing, spurred by heightened interest in the way food is produced. But raw milk in particular has drawn a lot of regulatory scrutiny, largely because the politically powerful dairy industry has pressed the government to act.
It is legal for licensed dairies to sell raw milk at retail outlets in California and 10 other states, according to research by the National Conference of State Legislatures. Twenty states allow people to buy unpasteurized milk directly from farms, or take part in a "cow sharing" program (in which a person buys part ownership of an animal and gets some of its milk).
But in the case of Rawesome, regulators allege that the group broke the law by failing to have the proper permits to sell food to the public. While the raid was happening at Rawesome, another went down at one of its suppliers, Healthy Family Farms in Ventura County. California agriculture officials said farm owner Sharon Palmer's processing plant had not met standards to obtain a license. Palmer could not be reached for comment.
Rawesome's fans, though, shrugged off such concerns.
"I always had problems with my stomach and digestion with normal milk," said Darin Nellis, 41, who runs a nonprofit production company in Culver City and has been a member of Rawesome for three months. "I like how raw goat milk tastes, and I feel better."
Such sentiments exasperate officials at the Food and Drug Administration, which bans interstate sales of raw milk and advises that both milk and honey should be pasteurized.
The debate has boiled at the state level for years. Alta Dena Dairy founder Harold J.J. Stueve fought for decades to help keep raw milk sales legal in California. This year, Wisconsin legislators approved a bill aimed largely at allowing the state's struggling small farmers to sell more raw milk products. But Gov. Jim Doyle vetoed that bill under pressure from large producers. In neighboring Minnesota, whose official state drink is milk, authorities recently raided a private club similar to Rawesome in south Minneapolis.
Such battles have had a chilling effect on some retailers. Whole Foods Market used to carry raw milk and raw milk products in California and three other states. But in March, the chain pulled all but a few cheeses off its shelves. Part of the reason, it said in a statement, was "the realities of the very high additional costs for liability insurance … because of the potential risks from selling unpasteurized milk and milk products."
Rawesome was born of consumer frustration. In 1998, James Stewart — a vegetarian who drank raw milk — couldn't find the stuff in Southern California grocery stores. So he started making road trips to dairies in northern California and to Whole Foods in San Jose, which at the time carried raw milk. Word spread. Family and friends wanted it too.
Some people balk at restrictions on selling unprocessed milk and other foods. 'How can we not have the freedom to choose what we eat?' one says. Regulators say the rules exist for safety and fairness.
So Stewart and Vonderplanitz created a private food club where, for a $25 annual fee, members "lease" the land and livestock directly from a farmer. Then, members pay an additional service fee attached to each grocery item, which they say covers the cost of transporting each food item from the farm to Venice.
The pair reasoned that they didn't need to obtain a license from state or local agencies because they weren't technically retailers. In 2004, Rawesome opened on Rose Avenue in Venice. "We're just a place where people come to pick up the products they already own," Vonderplanitz said.
The L.A. County Public Health Department didn't see it that way. Vonderplanitz said that in 2005 the agency told Rawesome staff they needed a food-business license. Vonderplanitz said that he objected in a letter, and that the county never replied or followed up. (County officials declined to Five years passed. Rawesome now boasts 1,600 members, who battle for street parking every Wednesday and Saturday when the club is open.
Squeezed between a coffee shop and a vintage guitar store, Rawesome looks from the outside like a forgotten storage unit. A tiny club sign hangs on the 10-foot-tall corrugated fence that hides the windowless storefront.
But inside, the shop is bright and airy, a bohemian farmers market surrounded by burnt-orange walls and a white tarp roof to keep out the rain. Boxes of coconuts and ginger from Hawaii sit nestled next to crates of California squash. Labels identify where each bite of produce was grown: onions from the Viva Tierra farm in Harlingen, Texas, and King's Crown Organic farm in King Hill, Idaho.
The members — a mix of tattooed young people and middle-aged executives in Italian shoes — chat as they head to the walk-in cooler in the back. It is jam-packed with meat and dairy. Ziploc bags are filled with chicken, beef and pork. Many don't have an expiration date. The other side is stocked with Amish buttermilk ($7.95 a quart), Amish cream cheese ($12.75 a pound) and whole milk ($8.59 per half-gallon).
Agencies that participated in the raid on Rawesome included the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, the Los Angeles County district attorney's office, the California Department of Food and Agriculture, the FDA and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Investigators confiscated the club's computer and 17 coolers packed with, among other things, 24 bottles of organic honey, 10 gallons of raw whole milk and two bottles of raw cane syrup. Stewart said the health department slapped a closure notice on the club's front door that said it was "operating a food facility without a valid public health permit."
The health department, district attorney's office and the FDA declined to comment, citing the pending investigation. The state Department of Food and Agriculture, which was the agency of record on the search warrant, said it continues to work with the district attorney's office.
Co-op members are undeterred. Four days after the raid, Rawesome reopened its doors. The shelves were restocked. They have remained so ever since.
On a recent Wednesday afternoon, the line stretched halfway down the block. A stern young man in baggy cargo pants and sunglasses guarded the entrance, checking drivers' licenses. Lela Buttery, a Rawesome volunteer and professional biologist, handed out legal waivers to sign.
One woman, digging into her green grocery bag for a pen, asked, "You guys got shut down last week?"
"Yes," Buttery said.
"That's nuts," the woman replied. "You're not going to stop, right?"
Buttery grinned. "Can I see your membership card?"
In the article below and accompanying video links, it is becoming apparent that the effects from the Gulf oil leak are getting out of hand. Some of the dispersant chemicals along with byproducts from the oil itself are finding their way into the clouds coming from Gulf evaporation.
The disturbing thing about this is the problem with our society in general. The problem comes from multi-national corporations controlling a large, out of control central government. Everything they do is for the corporations and themselves. Everything that comes out of their mouths are lies. No one trusts our government masters anymore. Their response has been to start a phony war on terror which has taken direct aim on the citizens of the country.
It's getting so people are afraid to call the authorities anymore fearing unwanted attention. Are the police our friends? Want to call the FBI? How about Homeland Security, the IRS? No, most do not want anything to do with any of them. Now, in the Gulf, we are supposed to trust them to protect us. Who believes that? So, what is the truth there? I imagine we will soon find out, but not from them. Would they really allow major environmental damage in the Gulf? Judging from what we have witnessed in recent years, I would not put it past them.
A toxic black rain is now falling in the Gulf and the EPA and BP are doing everything to deny its existence but the truth is slowly emerging as millions of Gulf Coast residents are now becoming sick because of the lethal effects of oil and dispersants: Allen L Roland
It's day 96 of the toxic Gulf deep water oil gusher ( not spill ). The huge toxic slow-moving plumes beneath the surface have finally been confirmed but the toxic air plumes are still being denied by the Government and BP ~ but there is plenty of evidence that they are not only there but causing significant health and environmental damage.
On day 49 ~ the Gates of Hell in the Gulf were obviously opening for this disaster had the potential of effecting the entire planet and here was the latest update, at that time, confirmed by Matt Simmons on MSNBC ~ but note the mention of the gaping hole on the ocean floor several miles away from the televised leak that was never mentioned by BP. (Six minutes / Video) http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/37560013#37560013
As to the likelihood of a toxic air plume of Gulf oil and dispersants being breathed by human beings ~ Scientific American explained on July 15, 2010: "Of course, sea spray and evaporating water will carry the oil and any chemical dispersants with them… And this polluted air and water vapor certainly will be carried to the near shore and left as an oily residue on everything from trees to electrical transformers… “If there’s oil in the water, it will be coming along with it to some extent,” says marine physicist Rick Luettich of the University of North Carolina. “I don’t know how significant the impact will be.” http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=how-will-a-hurricane-affect-gulf-of-mexico-oil-spill And now we have Mark Kaufman, EPA whistleblower being interviewed on July 20th by Amy Goodman on Democracy Now and saying"..we have dolphins that are hemorrhaging. People who work near it are hemorrhaging internally. And that’s what dispersants are supposed to do... many lawmakers and advocacy groups say the Obama administration is not being candid about the lethal effects of dispersants," http://www.examiner.com/x-10438-Human-Rights-Examiner~y2010m7d21-Censored-Gulf-news-Whistleblower-EPA-hiding-gassed-people-bleeding-internally
Obviously there appears to be a massive cover up of the toxic air quality in the gulf ~ but here's the visible truth as seen by this Gulf pilot who flew his aircraft over ground zero and then back to the gulf coast and found a sheen of oil over his whole aircraft . He also reports toxic Acid rain reported in Tuscaloosa, Alabama that day ~ which stemmed from clouds over the Gulf the day before. ( Six minute must see video ) http://www.rumormillnews.com/cgi-bin/forum.cgi?read=179134
So there you have it, that toxic orange oil and dispersant film over the leading edge of that aircraft is not only being breathed by millions of Gulf Coast residents but is also falling as a toxic black rain when storm clouds roll in from the Gulf and spread throughout the region and eventually the globe. Appropriately, here's Black Rain by Mob Rules ~ (5 minute Video) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkQLJCggRLQ&feature=related
Freelance Alternative Press Online columnist and psychotherapist Allen L Roland is available for comments, interviews, speaking engagements and private consultations ( allen@allenroland.com )
Allen L Roland is a practicing psychotherapist, author and lecturer who also shares a daily political and social commentary on his weblogand website allenroland.com He also guest hosts a monthly national radio show TRUTHTALK on www.conscioustalk.net
POSTED JULY 23, 2010
WHO ARE AMERICA'S HERO'S?
When I was a young boy, we celebrated heros both real and fictitious. Our real heros were George Washington, Andrew Jackson, Davy Crockett, those who raised the American Flag on Iwo Jima, and the like. Fictitious heros were generally on television. They included Zorro, Batman, The Green Hornet, Superman and so on.
Today, we no longer celebrate those with real accomplishments and real moral character. Today we have Madonna, Kobe Bryant, Lebron James, Alex Rodriguez, Matthew Mcconaughey and others in entertainment and sports. Many of our streets, cities and monuments are named after politicians. The common denominator for almost all of our contemporary heros is that they have done nothing of real value for our society. They are famous for being famous. If there is moral character, it is not a requirement, but strictly coincidental. A couple of weeks ago I had to endure a standing ovation in my church for a soldier who had recently returned from Iraq, having accomplished nothing other than going there and coming back.
This leads me to the article below. In it the author speaks of how our government masters and their willing accomplices in the main stream media have infected our psyche with the assumption that all military are heros. Yes, I guess if you are "just following orders" you are now a hero. Funny! 60 years ago the allied command, led by this nation, tried and convicted military personnel from Germany and Japan for doing the exact same thing. I guess if you win the war, you are a hero. If you lose, you are a criminal. I'll tell who should be a hero, Michael New. He was a soldier who refused to accept emblems of the United Nations as well as submit to foreign officers. That my friend, is courage and heroism, not somebody who bounces a ball for a living.
Bruce New World Order News
Stop Calling Them Heroes
William J. Astore and Tom Engelhardt, July 23, 2010
Consider a strange aspect of our wars since October 2001: they have yet to establish a bona fide American hero, a national household name. Two were actually "nominated" early by the Bush administration — Jessica Lynch, a 19-year-old private and clerk captured by the Iraqis in the early days of the American invasion and later "rescued" by Army Rangers and Navy Seals, and Pat Tillman, the former NFL safety who volunteered for service in the Army Rangers eight months after 9/11 and died under "enemy" gunfire in Afghanistan.
Both stories were later revealed to be put-up jobs, pure Bush-era propaganda and deceit. In Lynch’s case, almost every element in the instant patriotic myth about her rescue proved either phony or highly exaggerated; in Tillman’s, it turned out that he had been killed by friendly fire, but — thanks to a military cover-up (that involved General Stanley McChrystal, later to become Afghan war commander) — was still given a Silver Star and a posthumous promotion. Members of his unit were even ordered by the military to lie at his funeral, and he was made into a convenient "hero" and recruitment poster boy for the Afghan War. Both were shameful episodes, involving administration manipulation and media gullibility. Since then, as TomDispatch regular and retired lieutenant colonel William Astore points out, U.S. troops as a whole have been labeled "our heroes," but individual heroes have been in vanishingly short supply.
In fact, the only specific figures who get the heroic treatment these days are our military commanders. They tend to be written about like so many demi-gods (until they fall). General McChrystal, before his ignominious nosedive, was presented in the press (with the Tillman incident all but forgotten) as a cross between a Spartan ascetic and a strategic genius (with the brain of a military Stephen Hawking). Present war commander General David Petraeus regularly receives even more fawning media treatment and seems to be worshipped in Washington these days as if he were not only "an American hero," but a genuine military god (as well as a future presidential candidate). Yet, in the way they’ve been treated, both of these figures seem closer to celebrities than heroes in any traditional sense.
Perhaps this catches something essential about America’s unending wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, and also what used to be called the Global War on Terror but now has no name. Like the drone pilots who sit at Creech Air Force Base in Nevada, killing peasants and terrorists 7,000 miles away and to whom new standards of "valor" are now being applied, most Americans are remarkably detached from the wars our "all volunteer" military force (and its vast contingent of for-profit mercenary warriors) fight in distant lands. Our forces have become generically heroic, but no one cares to look too closely at the specifics of these bloody, dirty wars that will never end in victory, not close enough to end up with actual heroes. Our "heroic" troops have no real names, any more than the wars they fight, and so individual heroics are perhaps beside the point. (Check out the latest TomCast audio interview in which William Astore discusses heroism and the military by clicking here, or to download to your iPod, here.) Tom
"Our American Heroes"
Why It’s Wrong to Equate Military Service with Heroism
By William J. Astore
When I was a kid in the 1970s, I loved reading accounts of American heroism from World War II. I remember being riveted by a book about the staunch Marine defenders of Wake Island and inspired by John F. Kennedy’s exploits saving the sailors he commanded on PT-109. Closer to home, I had an uncle — like so many vets of that war, relatively silent on his own experiences — who had been at Pearl Harbor when the Japanese attacked on December 7, 1941, and then fought them in a brutal campaign on Guadalcanal, where he earned a Bronze Star. Such men seemed like heroes to me, so it came as something of a shock when, in 1980, I first heard Yoda’s summary of war in The Empire Strikes Back. Luke Skywalker, if you remember, tells the wizened Jedi master that he seeks "a great warrior." "Wars not make one great," Yoda replies.
Okay, it was George Lucas talking, I suppose, but I was struck by the truth of that statement. Of course, my little epiphany didn’t come just because of Yoda or Lucas. By my late teens, even as I was gearing up for a career in the military, I had already begun to wonder about the common ethos that linked heroism to military service and war. Certainly, military service (especially the life-and-death struggles of combat) provides an occasion for the exercise of heroism, but even then I instinctively knew that it didn’t constitute heroism.
Ever since the events of 9/11, there’s been an almost religious veneration of U.S. service members as "Our American Heroes" (as a well-intentioned sign puts it at my local post office). That a snappy uniform or even intense combat in far-off countries don’t magically transform troops into heroes seems a simple point to make, but it’s one worth making again and again, and not only to impressionable, military-worshipping teenagers.
Here, then, is what I mean by "hero": someone who behaves selflessly, usually at considerable personal risk and sacrifice, to comfort or empower others and to make the world a better place. Heroes, of course, come in all sizes, shapes, ages, and colors, most of them looking nothing like John Wayne or John Rambo or GI Joe (or Jane).
"Hero," sadly, is now used far too cavalierly. Sportscasters, for example, routinely refer to highly paid jocks who hit walk-off home runs or score game-winning touchdowns as heroes. Even though I come from a family of firefighters (and one police officer), the most heroic person I’ve ever known was neither a firefighter nor a cop nor a jock: She was my mother, a homemaker who raised five kids and endured without complaint the ravages of cancer in the 1970s, with its then crude chemotherapy regimen, its painful cobalt treatments, the collateral damage of loss of hair, vitality, and lucidity. In refusing to rail against her fate or to take her pain out on others, she set an example of selfless courage and heroism I’ll never forget.
Hometown Heroes in Uniform
In local post offices, as well as on local city streets here in central Pennsylvania, I see many reminders that our troops are "hometown heroes." Official military photos of these young enlistees catch my eye, a few smiling, most looking into the camera with faces of grim resolve tinged with pride at having completed basic training. Once upon a time, as the military dean of students at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, California, I looked into such faces in the flesh, congratulating young service members for their effort and spirit.
I was proud of them then; I still am. But here’s a fact I suspect our troops might be among the first to embrace: the act of joining the military does not make you a hero, nor does the act of serving in combat. Whether in the military or in civilian life, heroes are rare — indeed, all-too-rare. Heck, that’s the reason we celebrate them. They’re the very best of us, which means they can’t be all of us.
Still, even if elevating our troops to hero status has become something of a national mania, is there really any harm done? What’s wrong with praising our troops to the rafters? What’s wrong with adding them to our pantheon of heroes?
The short answer is: There’s a good deal wrong, and a good deal of harm done, not so much to them as to us.
To wit:
*By making our military a league of heroes, we ensure that the brutalizing aspects and effects of war will be played down. In celebrating isolated heroic feats, we often forget that war is guaranteed to degrade humanity. "War," as writer and cultural historian Louis Menand noted, "is specially terrible not because it destroys human beings, who can be destroyed in plenty of other ways, but because it turns human beings into destroyers."
When we create a legion of heroes in our minds, we blind ourselves to evidence of their destructive, sometimes atrocious, behavior. Heroes, after all, don’t commit atrocities. They don’t, for instance, dig bullets out of pregnant women’s bodies in an attempt to cover up deadly mistakes. They don’t fire on a good Samaritan and his two children as he attempts to aid a grievously wounded civilian. Such atrocities and murderous blunders, so common to war’s brutal chaos, produce cognitive dissonance in the minds of many Americans who simply can’t imagine their "heroes" killing innocents. How much easier it is to see the acts of violence of our troops as necessary, admirable, even noble.
*By making our military generically heroic, we act to prolong our wars. By seeing war as essentially heroic theater, we esteem it even as we excuse it. Consider, for example, Germany during World War I, a subject I’ve studied and written about. Now, as then, and here, as there, the notion of war as heroic theater became common. And when that happens, war’s worst excesses are conveniently softened on the "home front," which only contributes to more war-making. As the historian Robert Weldon Whalen noted of those German soldiers of nearly a century ago, "The young men in field-grey were, first of all, not just soldiers, but young heroes, Junge Helden. They fought in the heroes’ zone, Heldenzone, and performed heroic deeds, Heldentaten. Wounded, they shed hero’s blood, Heldenblut, and if they died, they suffered a hero’s death, Heldentod, and were buried in a hero’s grave, Heldengrab." The overuse of helden as a modifier to ennoble German militarism during World War I may prove grating to our ears today, but honestly, is it that much different from America’s own celebration of our troops as young heroes (with all the attendant rites)?
*By insisting programmatically on American military heroism, we also lay a firm foundation for potentially dangerous post-war myths, especially of the blame-mongering "stab-in-the-back" variety. After all, once you have a league of heroes, how can you assign responsibility for costly, debilitating, perhaps even lost wars to them? It’s just a fact that heroes don’t lose. And if they’re not responsible, and their brilliant, super-competent leaders (General "King David" Petraeus springs to mind) aren’t responsible — then it’s only a small step to assigning blame to weak-willed civilians and so-called unpatriotic elements on the "home front," especially since we’re not likely to credit our enemies for much. By definition, cravenly hiding among civilians as they do, our enemies are just about incapable of behaving heroically.
Of Young Heroes and Front Pigs
In rejecting the "heroic" label, don’t think we’d be insulting our troops. Quite the opposite: we’d be making common cause with them, for most of our troops undoubtedly already reject the "hero" label, just as the young "heroes" of Germany did in 1917-18. With the typical sardonic humor of front-line soldiers, they preferred the less comforting, if far more realistically descriptive label (given their grim situation in the trenches) of "front pigs."
Whatever nationality they may be, troops at the front know the score. Even as our media and our culture seek to elevate our troops into the pantheon of demi-gods, our "front pigs" carry on, plying an ancient and brutal trade. Most simply want to survive and come home with their bodies, their minds, and their buddies intact. Part of the world’s deadliest war machine, they are naturally concerned first about saving their own skins, and only secondarily worried about the lives of others. This is not beastliness. Nor is it heroism. It’s simply a front pig’s nature.
So, next time you talk to our soldiers, Marines, sailors, or airmen, do them (and your country) a small favor. Thank them for their service. Let them know that you appreciate them. Just don’t call them heroes.
William J. Astore, a retired lieutenant colonel (USAF) and TomDispatch regular, teaches History at the Pennsylvania College of Technology. He welcomes reader feedback at wjastore@gmail.com. Check out the latest TomCast audio interview in which Astore discusses heroism and the military by clicking here, or to download to your iPod, here.
Copyright 2010 William J. Astore
POSTED JULY 22, 2010
WHAT ABOUT THE REAL STORY OF IRAQ WAR?
In past articles I have repeatedly criticized the organized ignorance of many in our Christian community regarding the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. In many individual discussions with some of these people I find we are playing one game of tennis and another of baseball. Translated that means I try to give facts about the war while the others give slogans and cliche's more suited for cheer leading than factual discussions.
The article below covers one of these atrocities. Many years ago the U.S. and Israeli military began to include depleted uranium in many of their munitions. These are radioactive materials when exploded into dust are highly toxic and carcinogenic. The half life of DU is over 2 billion years. As of 2003 U.S. forces have dumped over 4000 tons of this material on Iraq. (Well, that ought to keep them free) Cancer and birth defects are epidemic in Iraq and the surrounding areas. These materials transported through prevailing winds are dramatically increasing lung cancer rates throughout the Northern hemisphere.
Let me speak one more time to my Christian brothers and sisters. We just can't keep singing "God Bless America" every time the subject of these wars come up. As Christians we have a higher duty to show the world that we serve our God and not the god of a nation. Look at these pictures below. This is a very, very small part of the reality we have supported. Our nation continues to decimate millions of people in our name. If we REALLY believe in God, then we will either take responsibility or become responsible. I have often said you are either a Christian or you're not. You can't have one foot in the church and the other in these wars based on lies.
Bruce New World Order News
New World Order Statistic In September 2009, Fallujah General Hospital, Iraq, had 170 new born babies, 24% of whom were dead within the first seven days, a staggering 75% of the dead babies were classified as deformed. This can be compared with data from the month of August in 2002 where there were 530 new born babies of whom six were dead within the first seven days and only one birth defect was reported. Doctors in Fallujah have specifically pointed out that not only are they witnessing unprecedented numbers of birth defects but what is more alarming is: "a significant number of babies that do survive begin to develop severe disabilities at a later stage."
Fatima Ahmed was born in Fallujah with deformities that include two heads
Depleted Uranium: A War Crime Within a War Crime Destroying Iraq's Future, Its Children As if destroying a country and its culture ain't bad enough, how about destroying its future, its children? I want to scream it from the rooftops! We are complicit in crimes of such enormity that I find it difficult to find the words to describe how I feel about this crime committed in my name! In the name of the 'civilized' world?
"Forget about oil, occupation, terrorism or even Al-Qaeda. The real hazard for Iraqis these days is cancer. Cancer is spreading like wildfire in Iraq. Thousands of infants are being born with deformities. Doctors say they are struggling to cope with the rise of cancer and birth defects, especially in cities subjected to heavy American and British bombardment." — Jalal Ghazi, for New America Media
Welcome to Iraq Solidarity News, the online magazine of the Iraq Solidarity Campaign UK.
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 02, 2006
Depleted Uranium Weapons — an investigation
Angus Stickler, BBC
A BBC investigation can reveal that the US and UK military have continued to use depleted uranium weapons despite warnings from scientists that it poses a potential long-term cancer risk to civilians. A former senior scientist with the United Nations has told the BBC that studies showing that it was carcinogenic were suppressed from a seminal World Health Organisation report. The US has refused to fund major research and has been criticised for failing to cooperate with UN attempts to conduct a post conflict assessment in Iraq. Angus Stickler reports:
When depleted uranium bullets are fired, the rounds can rip through the tank armour. And once inside — on contact with air they combust exploding into a 10,000 degrees centigrade ball of fire. Both the US and UK used depleted uranium in Iraq. The US fired 320 tons in Gulf War I — and possibly as much as 2,000 tonnes in Gulf War II. But its use is highly controversial — blamed as one of the possible causes of cancer and birth defects. It’s this that prompted the Untied Nations’ World Health Organisation to conduct a major assessment of the post conflict hazards. The findings were published in 2001. Dr Mike Repacholi retired as the Coordinator of the W.H.O. Radiation and Environmental Health Unit in June of this year. He oversaw the project.
He says, “Depleted uranium is basically safe — you can touch depleted uranium for hours and not cause and radiation damage you can ingest it and it’s excreted through the body — 99 per cent of it goes within about a day — you would have to ingest a huge amount of depleted uranium dust to cause any adverse health effect.” The W.H.O. assessment warns that children should be restricted from going into post conflict areas. The monograph — as it is called — is now used by some as the definitive document on the potential health hazards of depleted uranium. But now this BBC investigation has been told — its findings may skewed. Dr Keith Baverstock — now retired — was a senior radiation advisor with 12 years experience at the W.H.O — part of Dr Repacholi's editorial team at the time. He came across research indicating that depleted uranium is a potentially dangerous carcinogen: “When you breathe in the dust the deeper it goes into the lung the more difficult it is to clear. The particles that dissolve pose a risk — part radioactive — and part from the chemical toxicity in the lung — and then later as that material diffuses into the rest of the body, and into the blood stream a potential risk at sites like the bone marrow for leukaemia, the lymphatic system and the kidney” according to Dr Baverstock.
Health warnings suppressed This is called genotoxicicty says Dr Baverstock, it could take decades before evidence of cancer starts to emerge. As part of the W.H.O. team he submitted these findings — based on peer reviewed research conducted by the United States Department of Defense — for inclusion into the monograph. It received short shrift. Dr Repacholi says this was with good reason. It was the committee's general conclusion that this data did not substantiate that there was a health effect at this stage. Was the science that was in that report — which was research that came effectively from the US Department of Defense — was it wrong? DR REPACHOLI: We want a comprehensive report — we want to include everything that we can — but we don't want fairytale stuff — it wasn't collaborated by other reports — that was felt to the level that science would say this was established. ANGUS STICKLER: My understanding is that at the time that there were eight published peer reviewed research studies — attesting to the genotoxic nature of uranium — all of which could have been included in the monograph? REPACHOLI: Yep — these — er — papers were speculative at the time and W.H.O. will only publish data that they know is established.
STICKLER: Shouldn't the World Health Organisation err on the side of caution? REPACHOLI: W.H.O is a conservative organisation there's no doubt — it's not a leader in this sort of thing — it's not out there saying wow we should be concerned about this, this and this — it's not there to do that. Dr Baverstock disagrees. He says the W.H.O stance that this is inconclusive science is not safe science. He attempted to take the issue further. DR BAVERSTOCK: When it wasn't included in the monograph — I with two other colleagues prepared a paper for the open literature and the W.H.O did not permit me to submit that paper for publication. ANGUS STICKLER: Why not — what reasons were you given?
BAVERSTOCK: Well ha — I still have not had a reason as to why that paper was not allowed to be published. STICKLER: Could it be the case that the science you're talking about is unsafe — in that you're — as a scientist — a bit miffed that they didn't include what you wanted them to include? BAVERSTOCK: No I'm not miffed about it at all — we use this kind of laboratory testing in many systems to screen chemicals and to know whether things are going to be dangerous or not. STICKLER: Why do you think your study was — as you say — suppressed? BAVERSTOCK: It is naive to think that in institutions like the United Nations one is free from political influences — the member states have their own agendas. STICKLER: What you seem to be saying there is that the W.H.O. was pressurised by the likes of the United States to come to the right conclusion?
BAVERSTOCK: I think that could be the case — yes. It’s ironic that the major player that Dr Baverstock believes was behind the decision block publication of his study — was the nation state that conducted the research he was citing: The United States' Department of Defence Armed Forces Radiobiological Research Institute: a credible State laboratory. A point I put to Dr Repacholi. DR REPACHOLI: The problem that W.H.O had and it went right up to the Director General's office that it was finally disapproved at that level was that on the basis of the evidence that we have — we can't conclude that it is harmful — and to have a paper from another W.H.O staff member that says we absolutely think it's harmful — makes W.H.O look a bit odd. STICKLER: With the greatest respect — that's going to have very little truck with someone who may get seriously ill because of depleted uranium the fact that the W.H.O. may look a bit odd?
Wounded child US and UK bombing of Iraq, March 2003.
Photo: www.robert-fisk.com/
The Silence Of Horror
While the so-called Hippies were dropping drugs in the Sixties, The United States Government was dropping Napalm on innocent civilians in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos. It was a, " Scorched-Earth Policy." The U.S. Government was a marching plague of firepower across Southeast Asia. Southeast Asia is the most bombed area in the world. And, the vast number of Americans do not have a clue that this horror ever happened. Geneva convention rules are for fools, who think there is fair play in war. War is barbaric, and the American people have paid taxes to hide the corpses, and the truth. Now, lets fast forward 30 years, and the same thing is happening in the Middle East. In a simple statement, George W. Bush, 43rd president of the United States, is barbaric. It is a very simple truth. But, the vast majority of the American people will never hear this truth. Why? Because the truth would napalm their soul.
Photo and words: Mike Hastie
U.S. Army Medic
Vietnam 1970-71
He who does not know history,
is destined to remain a child.
Marcus Cicero
Roman Statesman
REPACHOLI: No the odd part is that it looks like W.H.O. is not in control of its shop. There is undoubtedly a massive gulf between the views of these two scientists. Dr Repacholi — however — denies that pressure was brought to bear on the W.H.O. The findings of the US Department of Defense research — are now in the public domain: depleted uranium is genotoxic — it chemically alters DNA and could be a precursor to tumour growth. Since 2001, there have been numerous studies supporting the findings. We asked for an interview with the scientist who conducted these studies — Dr Alexandra Miller — the US Department of Defense refused. The BBC has been told that she applied to the US Army Research Programme to do further work on the effects of depleted uranium in 2004, five and six. All the applications were turned down.
Iraqi cancer increase This is the Isotope Geo-science laboratory at the British Geological Survey. Its equipment has been used by the British Government to conduct the most extensive research so far — into depleted uranium contamination of UK troops. Professor Randall Parrish says there are worrying signals coming from Iraq — from civilian populations. “I’ve been to several international conferences where I’ve heard Iraqi medical physicians summarise health statistics on the occurrence of birth defects and non Hodgkin’s Lymphomas and the rise in incidents in these kind of effects especially in the area of southern Iraq and the Basra area appears quite alarming on the basis of the figures that I’ve seen — significant data — that would suggest that we should be erring on the side of caution here — and it ought to be investigated” Professor Parrish told us. Professor Parrish has recently completed another research study — as yet unpublished — but it shows that if inhaled — depleted uranium remains in high concentrations in the body — a potential hazard — for decades. The priority now, he says, is to ascertain whether it poses a real risk to humans — the people of Iraq. PROFESSOR PARRISH: If we want to get to bottom of this issue as to whether populations and people are really suffering — we have to conduct environmental and health assessments — in places where people are exposed and we can I think solve this problem if sufficient resources and the will is there to actually address the problem. ANGUS STICKLER: Do you think the will is there on the part of the politicians?
PARRISH: Unless we can conduct additional work — this issue of DU and the politics of it will continue to hang over many governments for years and years and years to come. Professor Parrish is prepared to undertake research on behalf of any member state that wishes to fund him. In the meantime the United Nations Environment Programme UNEP has trained a team of Iraqi scientists ready to carry out a detailed assessment. But despite having political allies in Washington Henrik Slotte chief of the UNEP post conflict branch — says his work can’t progress further without co-operation from the US. HENRIK SLOTTE: Without the coordinates and clear information about what was used and when — it is impossible to start working on depleted uranium in the field — it's like looking for a needle in the haystack. ANGUS STICKLER: Are they providing you with all the information you've requested? SLOTTE: In the case of Iraq we have requested and the reply has been that this is an issue that concerns many parts of that administration and it will take some time for them to come back in writing. STICKLER: You do now have a team of Iraqis now ready to go in — wouldn't it be helpful for them to have this information now?
SLOTTE: Yes it would. STICKLER: Are there any indications that they are going to get this information shortly? SLOTTE: There are no indications. Depleted Uranium according to a growing body of scientists is carcinogenic — a health hazard not just to Saddam Husain’s republican guard — but Iraqi civilians for generations to come. It’s been used in other theatres of conflict too — Afghanistan and Lebanon — and calls for action are now gaining ground. Not just with fervent campaigners — but eminent scientists, academics, and lawyers too — depleted uranium munitions they say should be banned under international law as potential weapons of indiscriminate effect. You can listen to the report by clicking on the following link "LISTEN"
140,000 cases of cancerClose to a million dead4 million plus people displaced
23 July, 2007 Iraqis blame U.S. depleted uranium for surge in cancer CAIRO, July 23 (RIA Novosti) — Iraq's environment minister blamed Monday the use of depleted uranium weapons by U.S. forces during the 2003 Operation Shock and Awe for the current surge in cancer cases across the country.
As a result of "at least 350 sites in Iraq being contaminated during bombing" with depleted uranium (DU) weapons, Nermin Othman said, the nation is facing about 140,000 cases of cancer, with 7,000 to 8,000 new ones registered each year. Speaking at a ministerial meeting of the Arab League, she also complained that many chemical plants and oil facilities had been destroyed during the two military campaigns since the 1990s, but the ecological consequences remain unclear. "Our ministry is fledgling, and we need international support; notably, we need laboratories to better monitor air and water contamination," she said. The first major UN research on the consequences of the use of DU on the battlefield was conducted in 2003 in the wake of NATO operations in Kosovo, Bosnia, and Montenegro. The UN Environment Program (UNEP) said in its report after the research that DU poses little threat if spent munitions are cleared from the ground. "Health risks primarily depend on the awareness of people coming into contact with DU," UNEP writes in its 2004 brochure "Depleted Uranium Awareness." No major clean-up or public awareness campaigns have been reported in Iraq.
...I suddenly had a flashback. A dream I had about 6 months prior to the second Gulf War. I dreamt of a young Iraqi boy, being held by two american GI's and uplifted to be crucified on a cross. They nailed him to the cross and walked away. I woke up choking. I said to myself, they tortured the children of Iraq now they will crucify them. The boy is now resurrected and is guiding my pen. He is asking me to draw him crucified on a old rotting wooden cross. He tells me that he wants the background to be filled with a half million skeletons of dead babies with Ms.Albright smiling on top of them. He is asking me to draw newborns with grosteque deformities due to depleted uranium. He is urging me not to forget the starving looking babies due to malnutrition. He is making sure I paint the children who have cancer because of american chemical weapons, queuing up in desolate hospitals. And he has not forgotten the children who survived in tattered clothes with their tattered textbooks walking barefoot to school. Oh wait, he is also telling me to draw in the corner, a picture of the orphanage bombed during the war of liberation and he is making sure that I show the kids running in the streets desperate with nowhere to go — some kidnapped, some sold whilst others raped. I asked him if he wanted me to add anything. He said the picture is almost complete. "What shall I call it?" I asked. He replied: "The World as I see it".
Terry Jemison of the Department of Veterans Affairs reported this week to the American Free Press that “Gulf-era veterans” now on medical disability since 1991 number 518,739, with only 7,035 reported wounded in Iraq in that same 14-year period. Soldiers developing malignancies so quickly since 2003 can be expected to develop multiple cancers from independent causes. This phenomenon has been reported by doctors in hospitals treating civilians following NATO bombing with DU in Yugoslavia in 1998-1999 and the U.S. military invasion of Iraq using DU for the first time in 1991. Medical experts report that this phenomenon of multiple malignancies from unrelated causes has been unknown until now and is a new syndrome associated with internal DU exposure. Just 467 U.S. personnel were wounded in the three-week Persian Gulf War in 1990-1991. Out of 580,400 soldiers who served in Gulf War I, 11,000 are dead, and by 2000 there were 325,000 on permanent medical disability. This astounding number of disabled vets means that a decade later, 56 percent of those soldiers who served now have medical problems. The number of disabled vets reported up to 2000 has been increasing by 43,000 every year. Brad Flohr of the Department of Veterans Affairs told American Free Press that he believes there are more disabled vets now than even after World War II.
Depleted Uranium — its use in Afghanistan and Iraq.
“We are not talking about a few tens to a few hundreds of pounds of material. We are talking about tons and tons of it.”
(left)
A little Iraqi boy rescued from under the rubble of his home, which was destroyed during a US air strike on Falluja yesterday, October 2, 2004, warplane overnight. Iraqis condemn U.S. appointed, CIA tainted Prime Minister, Allawi, after the US air aaid on Falluja that killed 9 Iraqis and injured eleven, many of them children.
(right)
A wounded Iraqi boy cries in a hospital October 2, 2004 in the rebel-held city of Falluja, after an attack by a U.S. warplane overnight. Dr. Mohammad al-Dulaimi said at Falluja's main hospital that a woman, a child and an elderly man were killed and 12 others wounded in the raid.
Photos: Mohammed Khodor/Reuters
These bombs came down, very big explosions, deep into the earth, threw a lot of material up into the air as a smoke plume flashed odd colors. Then a smoke plume full of dust, dirt and debris — and of course we found out later was uranium particles — came across their village
(upper left)
Child lying dead in makeshift coffin, result of US bombing attack on Iraq.
(upper right)
Small Child and children lying dead in makeshift coffin, result of US bombing attack on Iraq.
(lower left)
Two small injured children, young boys, result of US bombing attack on Iraq.
(lower right)
Young girl, blood on her face, arm and body serverly shredded, lying dead in makeshift coffin, result of US bombing and cluster bomb attack on Iraq. Invasion of Baghdad, Mosul and other cities, Iraq, April 2003.
Photos: MarchforJustice.com
Study suggests cancer risk from depleted uraniumJames Randerson
Tuesday May 8, 2007 Depleted uranium, which is used in armour-piercing ammunition, causes widespread damage to DNA which could lead to lung cancer, according to a study of the metal's effects on human lung cells. The study adds to growing evidence that DU causes health problems on battlefields long after hostilities have ceased. DU is a byproduct of uranium refinement for nuclear power. It is much less radioactive than other uranium isotopes, and its high density - twice that of lead - makes it useful for armour and armour piercing shells.
It has been used in conflicts including Bosnia, Kosovo and Iraq and there have been increasing concerns about the health effects of DU dust left on the battlefield. In November, the Ministry of Defence was forced to counteract claims that apparent increases in cancers and birth defects among Iraqis in southern Iraq were due to DU in weapons. Now researchers at the University of Southern Maine have shown that DU damages DNA in human lung cells. The team, led by John Pierce Wise, exposed cultures of the cells to uranium compounds at different concentrations. The compounds caused breaks in the chromosomes within cells and stopped them from growing and dividing healthily. "These data suggest that exposure to particulate DU may pose a significant [DNA damage] risk and could possibly result in lung cancer," the team wrote in the journal Chemical Research in Toxicology. Previous studies have shown that uranium miners are at higher risk of lung cancer, but this has often been put down to the fact that miners are also exposed to radon, another cancer-causing chemical. Prof Wise said it is too early to say whether DU causes lung cancer in people exposed on the battlefield because the disease takes several decades to develop. "Our data suggest that it should be monitored as the potential risk is there," he said. Prof Wise and his team believe that microscopic particles of dust created during the explosion of a DU weapon stay on the battlefield and can be breathed in by soldiers and people returning after the conflict. Once they are lodged in the lung even low levels of radioactivity would damage DNA in cells close by. "The real question is whether the level of exposure is sufficient to cause health effects.
The answer to that question is still unclear," he said, adding that there has as yet been little research on the effects of DU on civilians in combat zones. "Funding for DU studies is very sparse and so defining the disadvantages is hard," he added.
BETWEEN THE LINES October 2004High Levels of Uranium found in troops or civilians. Two of five articles cited under this heading were written by Tedd Weyman, deputy director of the Uranium Medical Research Centre, based in Toronto, Canada, and Washington, D.C. Weyman was honored for reports he wrote about the use of uranium weapons used by the U.S. in the war in Afghanistan. These conventional weapons contain uranium, classified as depleted uranium or DU. Despite the label, these weapons are still radioactive. Uranium is considered an ideal weapons material due to its density and ability to penetrate its target. Weyman has conducted health studies in both Iraq, where DU weapons were deployed, and also in Afghanistan, where weapons containing non-depleted uranium were used. Between The Lines' Melinda Tuhus spoke to Weyman about his research. Tedd Weyman's reports have been honored by Project Censored. For more information, call the Research Centre at (416) 465-1341 or visit the group's website at www.umrc.net Tedd Weyman Afghanistan was an extremely traumatic personal experience for me. I was shaken right to my core because over there the uranium was used in experimental bombs. That was the days when the name Bunker Buster became well known. Those cave-penetrating weapons were even called seismic-shock bombs. So these were very large bombs in the neighborhood of two to five thousand pounds. I found my first day in Afghanistan a village in which the entire village was no more than a kilometer away from where a bombing sortie had occurred on a quasi-military outpost in the Jalalabad area, which is near the Pakistan border. All the people in the village were standing watching the bombers fire their bombs. These bombs came down, very big explosions, deep into the earth, threw a lot of material up into the air as a smoke plume, flashed odd colors, then a smoke plume full of dust, dirt and debris — and of course we found out later was uranium particles — came across their village. All these people were covered in it, like the dust you could wipe off your skin, off your clothes, off your window ledge because it was such a quantity. Within a few minutes of exposure people started to feel funny.
US air strike kills 17 Civilians < The air strike by US forces in eastern Afghanistan last week killed 17 civilians including women and children, a provincial governor has said. US planes had bombed Chechal village as part of a search for four missing US special forces servicemen. Assadullah Wafa, governor of Konar province, said the bombing was a "mistake" and called for a US inquiry.
To rebel is right, to disobey is a duty, to act is necessary !
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Depleted Uranium
Monday 30th May 2005 Depleted Uranium: A Scientific Perspective
An Iraqi child
An Interview With LEUREN MORET, Geoscientist Interview Conducted By W. Leon Smith and Nathan Diebenow Leuren Moret is a geoscientist who works almost around the clock educating citizens, the media, members of parliaments and Congress and other officials on radiation issues. She became a whistleblower in 1991 at the Livermore Nuclear Weapons Lab after witnessing fraud on the Yucca Mountain Project. She is currently working as an independent citizen scientist and radiation specialist in communities around the world, and contributed to the U.N. subcommission investigating depleted uranium. According to Wikipedia online encyclopedia, Moret testified at the International Criminal Tribunal for Afghanistan in Japan in 2003, presented at the World Depleted Uranium Weapons Conference in Hamburg, Germany, and spoke at the World Court of Women at the World Social Forum in Bombay, India, in January 2004. THE INTERVIEWICONOCLAST: What are the latest developments with reducing depleted uranium exposures on U.S. troops?
An Iraqi child
MORET: A young veteran named Melissa Sterry of Connecticut has introduced a bill into the Connecticut Legislature requiring independent testing of returning Afghan and Gulf War veterans going back to 2001. She said that she did it because she’s sick, and her friends are dead, and that’s from serving in the 2003 conflict. I have been following the bill and talking to her. Yesterday, she testified twice at the United Nations. I said, "Why don’t we get this bill all over the U.S. in state legislatures because it informs the public and get the local media to cover it." The U.S. has blocked any accountability at international and national levels. There’s a total cover-up just like with Agent Orange, the atomic veterans, MKULTRA, the mind control experiments the CIA did. This is more of the same, but the issue is much, much worse because the genetic future of all those contaminated is effected. Now vast regions around our world, as well as our atmosphere, are contaminated with the depleted uranium. They’ve used so much.
An Iraqi child
400,000 Nagasaki bombs It’s the equivalent number of atoms, as the Japanese professor calculated it, to over 400,000 Nagasaki bombs that has been released into the atmosphere. That’s really an underestimate. I went to Louisiana in April. I was invited to speak at the University of New Orleans for three days. One of the veterans asked me to be in their April 19 protest and rally through the City of New Orleans. He took the Connecticut bill straight to the Legislature, and he got two legislators to sponsor it, and he said, "Just whiteout the name ‘Connecticut’ and write in ‘Louisiana’ on the bill." You’re not going to believe it. It passed 101 to 0 yesterday in the Louisiana House. I want you to write about it because we want it (the DU testing bill) in Texas. Nevada is going to introduce it. Congressman Jim McDermott is going to put it into the Washington legislature. We want to get the governor of Montana to do it because he’s the first governor to demand his National Guard be returned. I think half of them are back. He said, "I need them in the state."
An Iraqi child
DU issue is awful The DU issue is just really, really, really, really so awful. I don’t think there’s any greater tragedy in the history of the world in what they’ve done. ICONOCLAST: Is there a danger of depleted uranium, being used in weaponry over there, spreading by air over here? MORET: The atmosphere globally is contaminated with it. It’s completely mixed in one year. I’m an expert on atmospheric dust. I’m a geoscientist, a geologist, and that’s what I studied and did my research on. It’s really a fascinating subject. We have huge dust storms that are a million square miles and transport millions of tons of dust and sand every year around the world. The main centers of these dust storms are the Gobi Desert in China, which is where the Chinese did atmospheric testing, so that’s all contaminated with radiation, and it gets transported right over Japan, and it comes straight across the Pacific and dumps all its sand and dust on the U.S., North America. It’s loaded with radioactive isotopes, soot, pesticides, chemicals, pollution — everything is in it — fungi, bacteria, viruses.
An Iraqi child
The Sahara Desert is another huge dust center, and it goes up all over Europe and straight across the Atlantic, to the Caribbean, and up the East Coast. Of course, you get it in Texas with those hurricanes. They all originate in the Sahara Desert. The third region is the Western United States, which is where the Nevada test site is located. We did 1,200 nuclear weapons tests there, so all this radiation that is already there, which is bad enough, has caused a global cancer epidemic since 1945. All of that radiation was the equivalent of 40,000 Nagasaki bombs. We’re talking about 10 times more. In April of 2003, the World Health Organization said they expect global cancer rates to increase 50 percent by the year 2020. Infant mortality is going up again all over the world. This is an indicator of the level of radioactive pollution. When the U.S. and Russia signed the partial test ban treaty in 1963, the infant mortality rate started dropping again, which is normal. Now they are going up again. It’s the global pollution with this radiation. ICONOCLAST: I had one of our correspondents send me a series of photographs of the Al-Asad dust storm in Iraq on April 28.
An Iraqi child
MORET: That dust is what I’m talking about. ICONOCLAST: In the picture you can see a gigantic wall of sand. MORET: I have 16 pictures of that storm. They’re posted with photos from Iraqi doctors of the children of people with cancer and leukemia. So what did you think of that dust storm? ICONOCLAST: I thought it was really dramatic. MORET: It remobilizes all the radiation, but those are the larger chunks. The DU burns at such high temperatures. It’s a pyroforic metal which means it burns. The bullets and big caliber shells are actually on fire when they come out of the gun barrel because they are ignited by the friction in the gun barrel. Seventy percent of the DU metal becomes a metal vapor. Radioactive gas weapon It’s actually a radioactive gas weapon and a terrain contaminant. I’ll email you the URL of the 1943 memo to General Leslie Grove under the Manhattan Project. It’s the blueprint for depleted uranium. They dropped the atomic bombs, but they did not use the DU weapons because they thought they were too horrific. I’ve toured and gone all over Japan with a pediatrician in Basra and an oncologist, a cancer specialist. These poor doctors — their whole families are dying of cancer. He has 10 members of his family with cancer now that he’s treating, and this is just from Gulf War I. They’ve used much, much, much more in 2003. All over the whole country. ICONOCLAST: What can soldiers expect when they come home?
Dr. Jonymous HanonThe family
MORET: If they were in Bradley Fighting Vehicles, they’re coming home with rectal cancer from sitting on ammunition boxes. The young women are reporting terrible problems with endometriosis. That’s the lining of the uterus malfunctioning, and they just bleed and bleed and bleed. Some of them have uterine cancer — 18 and 19 and 20 year olds. The Army will not even diagnose it. They send them back to the battlefields. They won’t treat them or diagnose them. A group of 20 soldiers pushed from Kuwait to Baghdad in 2003 in all the fighting. Eight of those 20 soldiers have malignancies. ICONOCLAST: Does exposure to depleted uranium effect their psychological background when they come home?
An Iraqi dead child
MORET: Depleted uranium are these particles that form at very high temperatures. They are uranium oxides that are insoluble. They are at least 100 times smaller than a white blood cell, so when the soldiers breathe, they inhale them. The particles go through the nose, go through the olfactory and into the brain, and it messes up their cognitive abilities, thought processes. It damages their mood-control mechanism in the brain. Four soldiers at Fort Bragg came back from Afghanistan, and within two months, those four had murdered their wives. This is part of the damage to the brain from the radiation and the particles. The soldiers from Gulf War I in a group of 67 soldiers who came back, they had DU in their equipment, in their clothes, in their bodies, in their semen, and they had normal babies before they went over there to war. They came back, and the VA did a study. Of 251 Gulf War I veterans in Mississippi, in 67 percent of them, their babies born after the war were deemed to have severe birth defects. They had brains missing, arms and legs missing, organs missing. They were born without eyes. They had horrible blood diseases. It’s horrific.
An Iraqi child
If you want to look at something, Life magazine did a photo essay which is still on the Internet. It’s called "The Tiny Victims of Desert Storm." You should look at that — oh, my God, the post-Gulf War babies playing with their brothers and sisters who are normal. Basically, it’s like smoking crack, only you’re smoking radioactive crack. It goes straight into the blood stream. It’s carried all throughout the body into the bones, the bone marrow, the brain. It goes into the fetus. It’s a systemic poison and a radiological poison. ICONOCLAST: What about the people in the United States that are here? You say that DU is being mixed and spread globally? MORET: Yes, it’s being mixed globally. We’re getting secondary smoke. It’s the secondary smoke effect. You know the people who inhabit a room with smokers? They are getting that secondary smoke, and so are we. ICONOCLAST: Is that secondary smoke getting thicker as we speak? MORET: Yeah, the concentration of the depleted uranium particles in the atmosphere all around the globe is increasing. There are indications that the U.S. will go in June and bomb the heck out of Iran. We’re monitoring the U.S. Army ammunition factories. They have very large orders for those huge bunker buster bombs that have 5,000 lbs. of DU in the warhead.
An Iraqi dead child
ICONOCLAST: So the prognosis for America isn’t really good? MORET: No, it’s really bad. ICONOCLAST: And if this continues then? MORET: It’s going to kill off the world’s population. It already is, and it doesn’t just effect people. It effects all living systems. The plants, the animals, the bacteria. It effects everything. ICONOCLAST: So the things that we eat for instance, if they have DU in them, then we’ll just get it in our systems, and so we’re polluting the oceans, so that could effect all marine life? MORET: Yes, it’s in the air, water, and soil. The half-life of DU, Uranium 238, is 4.5 billion years the age of the Earth.
Wednesday, 1 November 2006
Depleted uranium risk 'ignored'
Both British and US troops have used depleted uranium in Iraq
UK and US forces have continued to use depleted uranium weapons despite warnings they pose a cancer risk, a BBC investigation has found. Scientists have pointed to health statistics in Iraq, where the weapons were used in the 1991 and 2003 wars. A report by the World Health Organisation (WHO) in 2001 said they posed only a small contamination risk. But a senior UN scientist said research showing how depleted uranium could cause cancer was withheld. The UK Ministry of Defence said that there was no evidence linking depleted uranium use to ill health. Depleted uranium is extremely dense and hard, and is used for armour-piercing bullets or shells. Fears over health implications led to a study by the WHO in 2001.
There is no scientific or medical evidence to link depleted uranium with the ill health of people living in the Gulf region
UK Ministry of Defence
Dr Mike Repacholi, who oversaw work on the report, told Angus Stickler of BBC Radio Four's Today programme that depleted uranium was "basically safe". "You would have to ingest a huge amount of depleted uranium dust to cause any adverse health effect," he said. 'Risk from particles' But Dr Keith Baverstock, who worked on the project, said research conducted by the US Department of Defense suggested otherwise.
DEPLETED URANIUM
Has a reduced proportion of isotope Uranium-235
Less radioactive than natural uranium and very dense
Military uses include defensive armour plating, armour-penetrating ordnance
Can be inhaled as dust or ingested in contaminated food and water near impact sites
Used in Iraq, the former Yugoslavia
He described a process known as genotoxicity, which begins when depleted uranium dust is inhaled. "The particles that dissolve pose a risk - part radioactive - and part from the chemical toxicity in the lung," he said. Later, he said, the material enters the body and the blood stream, potentially affecting bone marrow, the lymphatic system and the kidneys. The research was not included in the WHO report, and Dr Baverstock believes it was blocked. Mr Repacholi said the findings were not corroborated by other reports and it was not WHO policy to publish "speculative" data. He denied any pressure was brought to bear. But other senior scientists have pointed to worrying health statistics in Iraq, which show a rise in cancer and birth defects. Prof Randy Parrish of the Isotope Geosciences Laboratory in the UK said environmental and health assessments were needed in Iraq to establish the facts. Iraqi scientists trained by the UN are seeking to carry out such an assessment, but Henrik Slotte of the United Nations Environmental Programme said without clear information from the US on what was used and where, it was "like looking for a needle in a haystack". He said there was "no indication" this information was forthcoming from the US. A spokesman for the UK's Ministry of Defence, meanwhile, told the BBC that there was "no scientific or medical evidence" to link depleted uranium use to sickness in Iraq. He said the MOD was aware of recent research into the effects of depleted uranium at cellular level, but that it had to be guided by "the professional advice of the Health Protection Agency and the International Commission on Radiological Protection".
ICONOCLAST: With the damage that’s been done to this point, can we turn back? We can’t clean it up? MORET: There’s no way to clean it up. What happens is these tiny particles float around the Earth. There are still plutonium and uranium floating around the Earth from bomb testing. These particles are so tiny that molecules bumping into them keep them lofted in the air, and so the only way for them to get out of the atmosphere is rain, snow, fog, pollution, which will clear them out of the air and deposit them in the environment. What happens is the surface of these particles gets wetted by the moisture in the air. They come down and land on stuff and stick to it like a glue. You can’t ever get the particles off whatever they’re sticking to because have you ever put a drop of water on a microscope slide and then put another one on top of it? Can you pull those apart?
An Iraqi dead child
ICONOCLAST: No. MORET: Okay, that’s the same effect that happens to radioactive particles. Once they are removed from the atmosphere, they stick to any surfaces they land on. In a way they are removed from circulation from the atmosphere. You can’t wash them off. If it keeps raining or they’re in a creek, you know, if they’re on rocks or stones or something in a creek, they won’t even wash off. You didn’t know it was this bad, did you? ICONOCLAST: No, I knew it was bad, but I thought it was fairly isolated. MORET: No. What is over there (in Iraq) is over here in about four days. I don’t know if you followed Chernobyl. That big bubble of radiation went around and around the world, but this is dust. It becomes a part of atmospheric dust. Like the dust storm you saw in that photo, it goes everywhere. ICONOCLAST: Is it in the upper levels of the atmosphere or the lower levels? MORET: It’s in lower orbital space. They brought the Mir spacecraft back down to Earth when they got done using it, and there was something called a space midge which covered the electronics on the outside of the spacecraft and protected it from radiation that comes from the sun because electronics are real vulnerable to radiation. They analyzed the surface of that space net and found uranium and uranium decayed products which they said came from atmospheric testing or burned up spacecraft with nuclear materials or nuclear reactors on board. Uranium can also come from supernovas, but they thought that the most likely sources were atmospheric testing and the nuclear materials we put in space. ICONOCLAST: Essentially then, you’re saying that we’re conducting a nuclear war.
An Iraqi dead child
MORET: Yes, and that’s exactly what it is. We’ve conducted four nuclear wars since 1991. Yeah, these are nuclear wars. DU is a nuclear weapon. ICONOCLAST: From the point of view of a scientist, what needs to happen to correct this? MORET: Well, we need to stop the use of it. We’ve built an international movement to stop the use, the manufacture, the storage, the sales, and the deployment of depleted uranium weapons. ICONOCLAST: Are the munitions we sell to other countries contained with depleted uranium? MORET: We have. In 1968 the first depleted uranium weapons systems that we found a patent for suddenly appeared in the U.S. patent office. It was for the Navy. It was sort of a Gatling gun style weapon system that you mounted on ships. It rapidly fires like 2,500 bullets a minute. It’s over 3,000 now. They’ve improved the design. Then in 1973, we gave depleted uranium weapons systems to the Israelis and supervised their use. They used them in the Arab-Israeli war and completely wiped out the Arabs in five days. Then the show was on the road. That was the first actual battlefield demonstration of this new weapon system. Hughes Aircraft developed the full-length system which is for the Navy. That’s the Gatling gun system. They still use it. That was produced in 1974 and tested. Within six months the U.S. government had sold the DU weapons system to 12 entities which included many branches of the U.S. military and other counties. We’ve sold DU weapons systems to about — we don’t know exactly for sure — it’s been about 12 or 17 countries. The good news is that normally such a weapons system that effective would have been sold to 80, 100, or 120 countries by now. But because of the radiological, biological, and environmental hazard, countries were not only afraid to buy it, the ones who did buy it are afraid to use it.
Given the above, we, the undersigned individuals and organizations, mark the occasion of this troop withdrawal by calling on the Administration and Congress to take the following actions:
There is no scientific or medical evidence to link depleted uranium with the ill health of people living in the Gulf region 
