WASHINGTON, USA (AFP) – The Supreme Court lifted Monday a four-year ban on the sale in the United States of genetically modified alfalfa, which farmers fear contaminates others crops.
A district court judge in California in May 2007 blocked the US biotech giant Monsanto from selling alfalfa seeds that it had genetically modified to resist its Roundup weed killer.
The ruling was upheld on appeal in 2009, but Monsanto went to the Supreme Court arguing that any decision should have awaited the findings of a study by the Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS).
"Until APHIS seeks to effect a partial deregulation, any judicial review of such a decision is premature," the Supreme Court said.
Source
Monday, June 21, 2010
FAKE TERROR - THE ROAD TO WAR AND DICTATORSHIP
Michael Rivero
It's the oldest trick in the book, dating back to Roman times; creating the enemies you need.
In 70 BC, an ambitious minor politician and extremely wealthy man, Marcus Licinius Crassus, wanted to rule Rome. Just to give you an idea of what sort of man Crassus really was, he is credited with invention of the fire brigade. But in Crassus' version, his fire-fighting slaves would race to the scene of a burning building whereupon Crassus would offer to buy it on the spot for a tiny fraction of its worth. If the owner sold, Crassus' slaves would put out the fire. If the owner refused to sell, Crassus allowed the building to burn to the ground. By means of this device, Crassus eventually came to be the largest single private land holder in Rome, and used some of his wealth to help back Julius Caesar against Cicero.
In 70 BC Rome was still a Republic, which placed very strict limits on what Rulers could do, and more importantly NOT do. But Crassus had no intentions of enduring such limits to his personal power, and contrived a plan.
Crassus seized upon the slave revolt led by Spartacus in order to strike terror into the hearts of Rome, whose garrison Spartacus had already defeated in battle. But Spartacus had no intention of marching on Rome itself, a move he knew to be suicidal. Spartacus and his band wanted nothing to do with the Roman empire and had planned from the start merely to loot enough money from their former owners in the Italian countryside to hire a mercenary fleet in which to sail to freedom.
Sailing away was the last thing Crassus wanted Spartacus to do. He needed a convenient enemy with which to terrorize Rome itself for his personal political gain. So Crassus bribed the mercenary fleet to sail without Spartacus, then positioned two Roman legions in such a way that Spartacus had no choice but to march on Rome.
Terrified of the impending arrival of the much-feared army of gladiators, Rome declared Crassus Praetor. Crassus then crushed Spartacus' army and even though Pompey took the credit, Crassus was elected Consul of Rome the following year.
With this maneuver, the Romans surrendered their Republican form of government. Soon would follow the first Triumvirate, consisting of Crassus, Pompeii, and Julius Caesar, followed by the reign of the god-like Emperors of Rome.
The Romans were hoaxed into surrendering their Republic, and accepting the rule of Emperors.
Julius Caesar's political opponent, Cicero, for all his literary accomplishments, played the same games in his campaign against Julius Caesar, claiming that Rome was falling victim to an internal "vast right wing" conspiracy in which any expressed desire for legislative limits on government was treated as suspicious behavior. Cicero, in order to demonstrate to the Romans just how unsafe Rome has become hired thugs to cause as much disturbance as possible, and campaigned on a promise to end the internal strife if elected and granted extraordinary powers.
What Cicero only dreamed of, Adolph Hitler succeeded in doing. Elected Chancellor of Germany, Hitler, like Crassus, had no intention of living with the strict limits to his power imposed by German law. Unlike Cicero, Hitler's thugs were easy to recognize; they all wore the same brown shirts. But their actions were no different than those of their Roman predecessors. They staged beatings, set fires, caused as much trouble as they could, while Hitler made speeches promising that he could end the crime wave of subversives and terrorism if he was granted extraordinary powers.
Then the Reichstag burned down; a staged terrorist attack.
The Germans were hoaxed into surrendering their Republic, and accepting the total rule of Der Fuehrer. Hitler had German troops dressed in Polish uniforms attack the radio station at Gleiwitz, then lied to the Germans, telling them Poland had invaded, and marched Germany off into World War Two
The state-sponsored schools will never tell you this, but governments routinely rely on hoaxes to sell their agendas to an otherwise reluctant public. The Romans accepted the Emperors and the Germans accepted Hitler not because they wanted to, but because the carefully crafted illusions of threat appeared to leave no other choice.
Our government too uses hoaxes to create the illusion that We The People have no choice but the direction the government wishes us to go in.
Read More...
It's the oldest trick in the book, dating back to Roman times; creating the enemies you need.
In 70 BC, an ambitious minor politician and extremely wealthy man, Marcus Licinius Crassus, wanted to rule Rome. Just to give you an idea of what sort of man Crassus really was, he is credited with invention of the fire brigade. But in Crassus' version, his fire-fighting slaves would race to the scene of a burning building whereupon Crassus would offer to buy it on the spot for a tiny fraction of its worth. If the owner sold, Crassus' slaves would put out the fire. If the owner refused to sell, Crassus allowed the building to burn to the ground. By means of this device, Crassus eventually came to be the largest single private land holder in Rome, and used some of his wealth to help back Julius Caesar against Cicero.
In 70 BC Rome was still a Republic, which placed very strict limits on what Rulers could do, and more importantly NOT do. But Crassus had no intentions of enduring such limits to his personal power, and contrived a plan.
Crassus seized upon the slave revolt led by Spartacus in order to strike terror into the hearts of Rome, whose garrison Spartacus had already defeated in battle. But Spartacus had no intention of marching on Rome itself, a move he knew to be suicidal. Spartacus and his band wanted nothing to do with the Roman empire and had planned from the start merely to loot enough money from their former owners in the Italian countryside to hire a mercenary fleet in which to sail to freedom.
Sailing away was the last thing Crassus wanted Spartacus to do. He needed a convenient enemy with which to terrorize Rome itself for his personal political gain. So Crassus bribed the mercenary fleet to sail without Spartacus, then positioned two Roman legions in such a way that Spartacus had no choice but to march on Rome.
Terrified of the impending arrival of the much-feared army of gladiators, Rome declared Crassus Praetor. Crassus then crushed Spartacus' army and even though Pompey took the credit, Crassus was elected Consul of Rome the following year.
With this maneuver, the Romans surrendered their Republican form of government. Soon would follow the first Triumvirate, consisting of Crassus, Pompeii, and Julius Caesar, followed by the reign of the god-like Emperors of Rome.
The Romans were hoaxed into surrendering their Republic, and accepting the rule of Emperors.
Julius Caesar's political opponent, Cicero, for all his literary accomplishments, played the same games in his campaign against Julius Caesar, claiming that Rome was falling victim to an internal "vast right wing" conspiracy in which any expressed desire for legislative limits on government was treated as suspicious behavior. Cicero, in order to demonstrate to the Romans just how unsafe Rome has become hired thugs to cause as much disturbance as possible, and campaigned on a promise to end the internal strife if elected and granted extraordinary powers.
What Cicero only dreamed of, Adolph Hitler succeeded in doing. Elected Chancellor of Germany, Hitler, like Crassus, had no intention of living with the strict limits to his power imposed by German law. Unlike Cicero, Hitler's thugs were easy to recognize; they all wore the same brown shirts. But their actions were no different than those of their Roman predecessors. They staged beatings, set fires, caused as much trouble as they could, while Hitler made speeches promising that he could end the crime wave of subversives and terrorism if he was granted extraordinary powers.
Then the Reichstag burned down; a staged terrorist attack.
The Germans were hoaxed into surrendering their Republic, and accepting the total rule of Der Fuehrer. Hitler had German troops dressed in Polish uniforms attack the radio station at Gleiwitz, then lied to the Germans, telling them Poland had invaded, and marched Germany off into World War Two
The state-sponsored schools will never tell you this, but governments routinely rely on hoaxes to sell their agendas to an otherwise reluctant public. The Romans accepted the Emperors and the Germans accepted Hitler not because they wanted to, but because the carefully crafted illusions of threat appeared to leave no other choice.
Our government too uses hoaxes to create the illusion that We The People have no choice but the direction the government wishes us to go in.
Read More...
Historic Victory at Oakland Port – Israeli Ship Blocked from Unloading
In a historic action and unprecedented action today, over 800 labor and community activists blocked the gates of the Oakland docks in the early morning hours, prompting longshore workers to refuse to cross the picketlines where they were scheduled to unload an Israeli ship.
From 5:30 am to 9:30 am, a militant and spirited protest was held in front of four gates of the Stevedore Services of America, with people chanting non-stop, “Free, Free Palestine, Don’t Cross the Picket Line,” and “An injury to one is an injury to all, bring down the apartheid wall.”
Citing the health and safety provisions of their contract, the International Longshore and Warehouse Union workers refused to cross the picketline to report for duty.
Between 8:30 and 9:00 am, an emergency arbitration was conducted at the Maersk parking lot nearby, with an “instant” arbitrator called to the site to rule on whether the workers could refuse to cross the picketline without disciplinary measure.
At 9:15 a.m, after again reviewing the protests of hundreds at each gate, the arbitrator ruled in favor of the union that it was indeed unsafe for the workers to enter the docks.
To loud cheers of “Long Live Palestine!” Jess Ghannam of Free Palestine Alliance and Richard Becker of the ANSWER Coalition announced the victory. Ghannam said, “This is truly historic, never before has an Israeli ship been blocked in the United States!”
The news that a container ship from the Zim Israeli shipping line was scheduled to arrive in the Bay Area today has sparked a tremendous outpouring of solidarity for Palestine, especially in the aftermath of the Israeli massacre of volunteers bringing humanitarian aid to Gaza on May 31.
With 10 days advance notice of the ship’s arrival, the emergency “Labor/Community Committee in Solidarity with the Palestinian People” was set up. On Wednesday, some 110 people from unions and community came to help organize logistics, outreach and community support. Initiating organizations included the Al-Awda Palestine Right to Return Coalition, the ANSWER Coalition, the Bay Area Labor Chapter of USLAW and the Bay Area Labor Committee for Peace & Justice.
This week the San Francisco Labor Council and Alameda Labor Council passed resounding resolutions denouncing Israel’s blockade of Gaza. Both councils sent out public notices of the dock action.
The ILWU has a proud history of extending its solidarity to struggling peoples the world over. In 1984, as the Black masses of South Africa were engaged in an intense struggle against South African apartheid, the ILWU refused for a record-setting 10 days to unload cargo from the South African “Ned Lloyd” ship. Despite million-dollar fines imposed on the union, the longshore workers held strong, providing a tremendous boost to the anti-apartheid movement.
Today’s Oakland action, in the sixth largest port in the United States, is the first of several protests and work stoppages planned around the world, including Norway, Sweden and South Africa. It is sure to inspire others to do the same.
The goal is for a 24-hour shutdown of the docks where the Israeli ship is docked, so the protest is planned again for 4:30 p.m. Click here for details of the 4:30 p.m. protest.
ISRAEL'S BIG LIE: GAZA NOT SUFFERING
By Rev. Ted Pike
21 June 10
With incredible audacity, the government of Israel (as well as the hugely popular “We Con the World” video) claims there is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza. This falsehood, promoted worldwide by Israel’s PR arm, the Anti-Defamation League, is obediently repeated by Christian conservative media and leadership.Yet over the past several weeks, three human rights organizations—Amnesty International, the International Red Cross, and Israel’s B’Tselem—have released reports rebutting Israel.
Amnesty International, the world's preeminent human rights advocacy group says:
- “From 27 December 2008 to 18 January 2009, Gaza was subjected to a devastating Israeli military offensive—Operation ‘Cast Lead’…More than 1,380 Palestinians were killed, including more than 300 children and other civilians and thousands were injured. Many thousands of homes were destroyed or severely damaged, as were the electricity and water systems. Civilian buildings, including hospitals and schools, were also damaged or destroyed by Israeli attacks. Operation "Cast Lead" pushed the humanitarian crisis in Gaza to catastrophic levels. Since it concluded, the blockade has severely hampered or prevented reconstruction efforts. With many construction materials barred or limited by Israel, Gaza’s inhabitants are unable to rebuild their shattered lives.”
- “Mass unemployment, extreme poverty and food price rises caused by shortages have left four in five Gazans dependent on humanitarian aid. As a form of collective punishment, Israel’s continuing blockade of Gaza is a flagrant violation of international law.”
- “Rather than targeting armed groups, the blockade mainly hits the most vulnerable, such as children (who make up more than half of the population in Gaza), the elderly, the sick and the Gaza Strip's large refugee population. According to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, the number of refugees living in abject poverty in the Gaza Strip has tripled since the blockade began. These families lack the means to purchase even the most basic items, including soap, school materials and clean drinking water. According to the UN, more than 60 per cent of households are currently "food insecure."
- “Gaza's health sector has been plagued by shortages in equipment and medical supplies during the blockade. Following the Israeli closure of crossings, people with medical conditions that cannot be treated in Gaza have been required to apply for permits to leave the territory to receive treatment…The Israeli authorities frequently delay or refuse these permits; some Gazans have died while waiting to obtain permits to leave the territory for medical treatment elsewhere. World Health Organization (WHO) trucks of medical equipment bound for Gazan hospitals have repeatedly been turned away, without explanation, by Israeli border officials.”
- “Israeli soldiers also continue to shoot at Palestinian farmers, fishermen and other civilians when they venture near Gaza’s perimeter or approach the three nautical mile limit that Israel imposes on Gaza’s coastline causing deaths and injuries. The Israeli authorities have put forth a range of justifications for the blockade… But whatever its stated justification, the blockade is collectively punishing the entire population of Gaza, the majority of whom are children, rather than targeting the Hamas administration or armed groups.” ("Suffocating Gaza- The Israeli Blockade's Effects on Palestinians," Amnesty.org, June 1, 2010)
- “The hardship faced by Gaza’s 1.5 million people cannot be addressed by providing humanitarian aid. The only sustainable solution is to lift the closure.”
- “ The closure imposed on the Gaza Strip is about to enter its fourth year, choking off any real possibility of economic development. Gazans continue to suffer from unemployment, poverty and warfare… The whole of Gaza's civilian population is being punished for acts for which they bear no responsibility. The closure therefore constitutes a collective punishment imposed in clear violation of Israel's obligations under international humanitarian law.”
- “Fertile farmland [comprising nearly a third of Gaza’s farmland and sustaining a large share of its livestock]…has been turned into a wasteland… nearly 90% of Gaza's 4000 fishermen are now considered either poor (with a monthly income of between 100 and 190 US dollars) or very poor (earning less than 100 dollars a month ), up from 50% in 2008. In their struggle to survive, the fishermen have little choice but to sail into no-go zones, at the risk of being shot by the Israeli navy.”
- “Gaza is suffering from an acute electricity crisis. The power supply in Gaza is interrupted for seven hours a day on average. The consequences for public services, especially the primary health-care system, are devastating…fuel reserves for hospital generators keep drying up.”
- “Stocks of essential medical supplies have reached an all-time low…"The state of the health-care system has never been worse."”
- “The lack of proper sanitation and certain agricultural practices are polluting Gaza’s aquifer. Only about 60% of the territory’s 1.4 million inhabitants are connected to a sewage collection system…. Because the aquifer is over-exploited, drinking water in most of Gaza contains high levels of nitrate, chloride and salt. The water is unfit for consumption and the risk of contracting an infectious disease is high.”
- The Red Cross concludes, “The closure must be lifted so that the 4.5 billion U.S. dollars pledged by donor countries over a year ago can be put to use.” ("Red Cross: Israel's Blockade of Gaza is Illegal," Israel-palestinenews.org, June 14, 2010)
- “ The almost total prohibition on the import of raw materials and on exports has led to the collapse of the economy and the closing of most of the factories in Gaza. The restrictions on import of building materials have prevented the reconstruction of buildings that Israel destroyed during Operation Cast Lead. Poverty and deprivation, which were widespread before the operation, have worsened still further. Absurdly, Israel’s decision to prevent imports and exports has encouraged the development of the tunnels economy between the Gaza Strip and Egypt, which is controlled by Hamas and increases its power."
- “The siege thus constitutes collective punishment of the civilian population, and as such it is unlawful… The quantity of goods that Israel allows into the area is less than one quarter of what entered before the siege, and far below the amount required for the population’s needs. The range of goods that Israel allows is limited: some 150 products compared with 4,000 before the siege. Israel refuses to publish the list of products permitted into the Gaza Strip, or the rules used in determining the list. Israel prohibits the importing of building materials, including iron and cement. The prohibition has remained in place even after Operation Cast Lead, during which 3,500 houses were completely destroyed…”
- “Israel has reduced the supply of industrial fuel, which is needed to operate the power station in Gaza… As a result of Israel’s policy, 98 percent of Gaza residents suffer from planned blackouts lasting up to ten hours a day. The other two percent of the population do not receive any electricity at all…The frequent power cuts and shortage of spare parts prevent the proper operation of wells and desalination plants.”
- “Waste treatment has also been affected: every day, some 100,000 cubic meters of untreated, or partially untreated, wastewater flow into the sea.”
- “Prior to the siege, seventy trucks with goods intended for export, such as furniture, clothes, and agricultural produce, left the Gaza Strip daily. Israel currently prohibits almost all exports… Agriculture has been hit hard by the siege and thousands of persons have lost their source of livelihood. This is due, in part, to the prohibition on the entry of basic items such as pesticides and spare parts for irrigation systems, as well as the prohibition on exports. In addition, farmers in areas near the Israeli border are unable to reach their land because Israel has declared extensive sections of land a “security strip” to which access is forbidden or restricted. Moreover, Israel has adopted open fire regulations that permit the shooting of any person who enters these areas, even if the person does not pose any danger."
- "Israel’s policy has led to economic collapse in Gaza. The prohibition on bringing in raw material and on exports has led to the closing of 95 percent of the factories and workshops. Tens of thousands of persons have lost their livelihood, and unemployment now exceeds 40 percent. As a result, over 70 percent of the population depends on aid from international organizations."
- Speaking generally about conditions in the occupied territories, B’Tselem comments: "Over the years, B'Tselem and other human rights organizations have documented hundreds of cases in which soldiers and police have slapped and kicked Palestinians, insulted and degraded them, and delayed them at checkpoints for no reason. On occasion, more serious violence has also been exposed. Israeli officials evade responsibility for these cases by condemning these incidents and claiming that the perpetrators are “a few rotten apples” that do not reflect military policy… The implicit message to security forces is that even if the system does not support or accept these acts, offenders will not be held accountable(pg 19).… accountability for harming Palestinian citizens is the exception rather than the rule. (pg 4)” ("Human Rights Review" 1 January 2009 - 30 April 2010, Btselem.org)
Bringing Justice to the Mideast
Israel (and most evangelicals) now asserts that efforts by nearly 700 activists aboard the Free Gaza flotilla to deliver much needed supplies to the Gazans, primarily concrete, building materials and medical supplies banned by Israel, constituted an act of “provocation.” The activists, they say, knew very well there was no crisis in Gaza and were only making use of such imaginary suffering to further their real goal — destruction of the state of Israel. Israel, they contend, was justified in violently assaulting their sham “humanitarian” mission.
Evangelicals, will you continue to believe ADL/Israel or accept the extensive, on-the-scene recent testimony of these reputable human rights groups? Acknowledgment of the fact that Israel is lying does not mean, of course, that you are now pro-Hamas. Amnesty International has also produced a blistering report on the many human rights violations by Hamas. They disapprove (as I do) of its terroristic, self-defeating record.
What is so wrong about the forces that trouble the Middle East?
Answer: Both Talmudic Judaism and Islam are darkened "hit back" religions. Israel is proud that it never forgets the wrongs of past centuries against Jews; claiming forgetfulness of past atrocities ensures they will happen again. Hamas not only hits back against Israel but also against the Muslim factions in Gaza which vie for control. This struggle for dominance of Jihad exists in Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon, and Pakistan. The history of Islam, as clearly revealed in the centuries of bloody Shiite/Sunni rivalry as well as the interminably violent and vindictive Iraq/Iran war, suggests that perhaps no religion equals Islam for strife and cruelty within its ranks.
What evangelicals must consider is the big picture of what primarily motivates the Turkish militants to launch their flotillas by sea, or their Gaza-bound compatriots their offensives by land. It is a fact that Israel in 1948 violently drove half of their Palestinian brethren from their lands and businesses, herding them into concentration camps, and continues to treat them despicably (as in Gaza) to this very moment. (See, "To Gaza, World More Merciful than Church") (Watch the NPN Video "Gaza Made Simple for Christians" '09)
Will ending the embargo allow Israel's enemies to smuggle arms into Israel? Of course. Should Israel's chokehold on the Gazan people be continued perpetually so that such cannot happen? No. Israel has created Arab rage by its historic magnitude-10 mistreatment of the Palestinians. It must reap what it has sown.
Meanwhile, the 1.5 million people of Gaza must be given an opportunity to experience normal existence - something Israel has denied them out of its own desire to guarantee normalcy to its own 5 million citizens.
Both the evangelical church and the international community have tried over the decades to save Israel from the retributive consequences of what it has sown. The world has tried peace arbitration. The church has spiritualized away Israel's wrongdoing. But only Israel can pacify those it has offended.
If Israel had stolen the lands, businesses, orchards, and farms of 800,000 Palestinians yet treated them kindly, compensating and favoring them culturally and economically in the occupied territories, Israel could have allayed 90% of present Arab rage. Instead, for more than 60 years, Israel has persisted in mistreating and collectively punishing them. The result is Arab anger that will continue to marshal Jihadist flotillas and anti-Semitic vituperation against Israel. Having been the victim of centuries of oppression under the Ottoman Turks, followed by much worse oppression and dispossession by the Jews, they will never rest until Israel is pushed back and the lands which their forefathers nurtured for more than a millennium are again in their possession. Israel describes as "terrorism" this desire to regain what Israel stole in 1948. It says those who understand the Palestinian perspective and sympathize with it are “terrorist-sympathizers.”
Yet, despite the injustices and even terrorist outrages which Palestinian radicals have perpetrated, of the two adversaries in this conflict, it is the Palestinian people who have been most wronged, by far.
Source
Corporate atrocities against nature may ultimately destroy human civilization
(NaturalNews) What's most striking about the present BP oil catastrophe is not that it is an aberration but rather part of a dangerous pattern of mankind's propensity to destroy nature. To destroy life in a large region of an ocean isn't even new: The world already has over two hundred "dead zones" where fish can't live because the ocean water has no more oxygen left thanks to the runoff effects of man-made chemicals.
Not content with mere deforestation and the vast destruction of biodiversity on land, Man has now expanded to destroy the oceans through overfishing, ocean acidification from CO2 emissions, agricultural runoff, flushing pharmaceuticals down the drain and unleashing crude oil directly into the ocean waters. It almost seems as if mankind were somehow bent on destroying itself by first destroying everything else on the planet just to see what happens.
Human beings, by any honest accounting, are repeat offenders engaged in crimes against nature. This article, by the way, isn't some clever way to try to push us all toward a U.N.-controlled world government where every human action is regulated by environmental cops; it's merely an observation of what's really happening right now on our planet. I'm a Constitutionalist and remain strongly opposed to UN control as much as any properly-informed American. In no way do I support suppressing our individual freedoms or liberties. In fact, the problems here are not with the People but rather with the corporations.
The criminal corporations
It is the corporations that are committing these crimes against nature: Big Pharma's mass poisoning of the waters, BP's oil catastrophe crime against the planet in the Gulf Coast, the manufacture of Depleted Uranium shells by wealthy "defense" contractors, factory farming by meat producers, the poisoning of our farms by Monsanto and its campaign to dominate nature with genetically modified seeds... you get the picture. If you really look hard at the issues, it's the corporations who are destroying our planet and thereby destroying future survivability for the rest of us.
It is the corporations, in essence, that are the criminals who are now destroying the very world around us, and if We the People continue to let these corporations engage in such actions, it won't be long before we wake up and find ourselves enslaved in a Corporatocracy that has stolen from us the very world in which we had hoped to raise our children.
What is abundantly clear now is that corporations will do anything to make money, from the cruel and inhumane factory farming of cows to dumping millions of gallons of toxic chemicals in the ocean to try to sink the dead sea animals in the Gulf. Corporations would set fire to the entire planet if that act could somehow boost profits by 50% next quarter.
The unbridled greed that drives these corporations is simply incompatible with sustainable life on our planet. Through their careless, greed-driven actions, corporations are threatening YOUR life and the lives of your children.
I say enough is enough.
Read More...
Not content with mere deforestation and the vast destruction of biodiversity on land, Man has now expanded to destroy the oceans through overfishing, ocean acidification from CO2 emissions, agricultural runoff, flushing pharmaceuticals down the drain and unleashing crude oil directly into the ocean waters. It almost seems as if mankind were somehow bent on destroying itself by first destroying everything else on the planet just to see what happens.
Human beings, by any honest accounting, are repeat offenders engaged in crimes against nature. This article, by the way, isn't some clever way to try to push us all toward a U.N.-controlled world government where every human action is regulated by environmental cops; it's merely an observation of what's really happening right now on our planet. I'm a Constitutionalist and remain strongly opposed to UN control as much as any properly-informed American. In no way do I support suppressing our individual freedoms or liberties. In fact, the problems here are not with the People but rather with the corporations.
The criminal corporations
It is the corporations that are committing these crimes against nature: Big Pharma's mass poisoning of the waters, BP's oil catastrophe crime against the planet in the Gulf Coast, the manufacture of Depleted Uranium shells by wealthy "defense" contractors, factory farming by meat producers, the poisoning of our farms by Monsanto and its campaign to dominate nature with genetically modified seeds... you get the picture. If you really look hard at the issues, it's the corporations who are destroying our planet and thereby destroying future survivability for the rest of us.
It is the corporations, in essence, that are the criminals who are now destroying the very world around us, and if We the People continue to let these corporations engage in such actions, it won't be long before we wake up and find ourselves enslaved in a Corporatocracy that has stolen from us the very world in which we had hoped to raise our children.
What is abundantly clear now is that corporations will do anything to make money, from the cruel and inhumane factory farming of cows to dumping millions of gallons of toxic chemicals in the ocean to try to sink the dead sea animals in the Gulf. Corporations would set fire to the entire planet if that act could somehow boost profits by 50% next quarter.
The unbridled greed that drives these corporations is simply incompatible with sustainable life on our planet. Through their careless, greed-driven actions, corporations are threatening YOUR life and the lives of your children.
I say enough is enough.
Read More...
U.S. govt. poisoned its own citizens during Prohibition
(NaturalNews) In a dark but little-known chapter of U.S. history, the federal government ordered the poisoning of alcohol supplies to deter and punish those who sought to flout Prohibition-era bans.
Starting in 1906, the United States began requiring manufacturers of industrial ethanol to put the chemical through a process to distinguish it from the identical substance found in alcoholic beverages. After the manufacture, sale and transportation of alcohol was banned by the 18th Amendment and the government cracked down on smuggling operations, bootleggers turned to chemistry to keep their customers supplied. A simple process was used to extract toxic chemicals from the industrial alcohol used in paints, solvents, fuels and medicine, and this relatively clean alcohol was then used to make beverages. By the mid-1920s, an estimated 60 million gallons of industrial alcohol were being stolen per year.
In response, the administration of President Calvin Coolidge ordered industry to add higher levels of more difficult-to-remove poisons to their alcohol, including acetone, benzene, cadmium, camphor, carbolic acid, chloroform, ether, formaldehyde, gasoline, iodine, kerosene, methyl alcohol, mercury salts, nicotine, quinine and zinc. Shortly after the institution of this campaign, 31 people were poisoned to death over the course of the Christmas holiday in New York City alone. Historians estimate that a total of 10,000 people were killed by the program before Prohibition ended in 1933.
The poisoning program was no secret, as the government hoped that knowledge of it would deter people from drinking -- although consumption of alcohol was not itself illegal.
"The government knows it is not stopping drinking by putting poison in alcohol," said New York City medical examiner Charles Norris. "[Y]et it continues its poisoning processes, heedless of the fact that people determined to drink are daily absorbing that poison. Knowing this to be true, the United States government must be charged with the moral responsibility for the deaths that poisoned liquor causes."
Source
Starting in 1906, the United States began requiring manufacturers of industrial ethanol to put the chemical through a process to distinguish it from the identical substance found in alcoholic beverages. After the manufacture, sale and transportation of alcohol was banned by the 18th Amendment and the government cracked down on smuggling operations, bootleggers turned to chemistry to keep their customers supplied. A simple process was used to extract toxic chemicals from the industrial alcohol used in paints, solvents, fuels and medicine, and this relatively clean alcohol was then used to make beverages. By the mid-1920s, an estimated 60 million gallons of industrial alcohol were being stolen per year.
In response, the administration of President Calvin Coolidge ordered industry to add higher levels of more difficult-to-remove poisons to their alcohol, including acetone, benzene, cadmium, camphor, carbolic acid, chloroform, ether, formaldehyde, gasoline, iodine, kerosene, methyl alcohol, mercury salts, nicotine, quinine and zinc. Shortly after the institution of this campaign, 31 people were poisoned to death over the course of the Christmas holiday in New York City alone. Historians estimate that a total of 10,000 people were killed by the program before Prohibition ended in 1933.
The poisoning program was no secret, as the government hoped that knowledge of it would deter people from drinking -- although consumption of alcohol was not itself illegal.
"The government knows it is not stopping drinking by putting poison in alcohol," said New York City medical examiner Charles Norris. "[Y]et it continues its poisoning processes, heedless of the fact that people determined to drink are daily absorbing that poison. Knowing this to be true, the United States government must be charged with the moral responsibility for the deaths that poisoned liquor causes."
Source
BP Executives And US Regulators Bushwhacked All Forms Of Life
By J Speer Williams
6-20-10
By injecting over a million gallons of their deadly, neuro-toxic Corexit into our Gulf waters, British Petroleum (BP) executives and US government regulators bushwhacked marine, plant, animal, and human life. (Ref: The official website of the Deepwater Horizon Unified Command)
Instead of vacuuming up the floating Gulf oil with the super tankers at BP's disposal, then using safe oil dispersants, with bacteria to bio-degrade the remaining oil, BP executives, with US government approval, dumped over a million gallons of the neuro-toxic pesticide Corexit at the damaged well head (256,000 gallons) and on the surface waters above (765,000 gallons).
Immediately, this release of so much Corexit resulted in two irreversible catastrophes: It caused all floating oil to submerge and disperse into gigantic plumes, each about ten times more poisonous than crude oil without the Corexit neuro-toxin.
According to Pulitzer-prize winning science writer Professor Deborah Blum, Corexit, itself is about four times more toxic than crude oil, but when Corexit is mixed with crude oil the mixture's toxicity grows exponentially to about ten times the toxicity of crude oil alone.
As these monstrously large and lethal plumes can now never be cleaned up, we are left to contend with the Corexit/crude oil mixture as it comes ashore and its poisons carry across our lands.
Having already added huge dead zones to the Gulf of Mexico, these ghastly Corexit and oil plumes will continue making their way into the Atlantic Ocean for even more killing. This Corexit and Louisiana crude oil monstrosity, however, will not contain its ecocide to oceans, its murder of our environments will surely continue many miles inland.
This wickedly contrived Corexit/Louisiana crude oil concoction will move into our atmosphere and travel across North America, eventually falling as precipitations of death in rain and snow, perhaps killing everything it touches for years to come.
And while BP executives and US regulators can plead "unintended consequences" for their Gulf well explosion, and maybe for a tsunami from a volcanic eruption, they are all manifestly guilty of poisoning the Gulf and Atlantic Oceans and killing untold amounts of life.
Those who are addicted to the propaganda of the major corporate media, might think Corexit was used merely to hide the extent of the escaping oil, in order to reduce BP's ultimate financial liability.
But if that were true BP could have used anyone one of a dozen dispersants that would have better hidden the oil. Instead, BP chose the most lethal dispersants in existence, Corexit 9500 and 9527.
Where are the indictments for international crimes against humanity and our environment?
But then again, criminals in governments do not indict corporate criminals, outside of carefully planned set-ups and double crosses; public and private criminals are known to consort with each other, at the expense of the rest of us.
But in the bigger picture there is a war being waged - by the owners of governments and mega-corporations - for far more than money, natural resources, drugs, power, or sex; it's a war for our eternal souls, which has long been conducted by systematically killing Mother Earth and the life she sustains.
Earthlings are in the thrall of dark diabolic forces, who have direct control of all central banks, multi- national corporations, and national governments.
But by invoking divine grace, we the people can counter the dark with love, light, and prayer; thus returning to our world more balance. The darkly inclined are powerless against the love and light of universal prayer.
Louisiana state senators have designed a day of prayer to deal with the Gulf catastrophes and have urged other state leaders to do the same.
"Thus far efforts made by morals to try to solve the crises has been to no avail," state Sen. Robert Adley said in a statement released after the chamber's unanimous vote for the day of prayer. "It's clearly time for a miracle for us."
Source
6-20-10
By injecting over a million gallons of their deadly, neuro-toxic Corexit into our Gulf waters, British Petroleum (BP) executives and US government regulators bushwhacked marine, plant, animal, and human life. (Ref: The official website of the Deepwater Horizon Unified Command)
Instead of vacuuming up the floating Gulf oil with the super tankers at BP's disposal, then using safe oil dispersants, with bacteria to bio-degrade the remaining oil, BP executives, with US government approval, dumped over a million gallons of the neuro-toxic pesticide Corexit at the damaged well head (256,000 gallons) and on the surface waters above (765,000 gallons).
Immediately, this release of so much Corexit resulted in two irreversible catastrophes: It caused all floating oil to submerge and disperse into gigantic plumes, each about ten times more poisonous than crude oil without the Corexit neuro-toxin.
According to Pulitzer-prize winning science writer Professor Deborah Blum, Corexit, itself is about four times more toxic than crude oil, but when Corexit is mixed with crude oil the mixture's toxicity grows exponentially to about ten times the toxicity of crude oil alone.
As these monstrously large and lethal plumes can now never be cleaned up, we are left to contend with the Corexit/crude oil mixture as it comes ashore and its poisons carry across our lands.
Having already added huge dead zones to the Gulf of Mexico, these ghastly Corexit and oil plumes will continue making their way into the Atlantic Ocean for even more killing. This Corexit and Louisiana crude oil monstrosity, however, will not contain its ecocide to oceans, its murder of our environments will surely continue many miles inland.
This wickedly contrived Corexit/Louisiana crude oil concoction will move into our atmosphere and travel across North America, eventually falling as precipitations of death in rain and snow, perhaps killing everything it touches for years to come.
And while BP executives and US regulators can plead "unintended consequences" for their Gulf well explosion, and maybe for a tsunami from a volcanic eruption, they are all manifestly guilty of poisoning the Gulf and Atlantic Oceans and killing untold amounts of life.
Those who are addicted to the propaganda of the major corporate media, might think Corexit was used merely to hide the extent of the escaping oil, in order to reduce BP's ultimate financial liability.
But if that were true BP could have used anyone one of a dozen dispersants that would have better hidden the oil. Instead, BP chose the most lethal dispersants in existence, Corexit 9500 and 9527.
Where are the indictments for international crimes against humanity and our environment?
But then again, criminals in governments do not indict corporate criminals, outside of carefully planned set-ups and double crosses; public and private criminals are known to consort with each other, at the expense of the rest of us.
But in the bigger picture there is a war being waged - by the owners of governments and mega-corporations - for far more than money, natural resources, drugs, power, or sex; it's a war for our eternal souls, which has long been conducted by systematically killing Mother Earth and the life she sustains.
Earthlings are in the thrall of dark diabolic forces, who have direct control of all central banks, multi- national corporations, and national governments.
But by invoking divine grace, we the people can counter the dark with love, light, and prayer; thus returning to our world more balance. The darkly inclined are powerless against the love and light of universal prayer.
Louisiana state senators have designed a day of prayer to deal with the Gulf catastrophes and have urged other state leaders to do the same.
"Thus far efforts made by morals to try to solve the crises has been to no avail," state Sen. Robert Adley said in a statement released after the chamber's unanimous vote for the day of prayer. "It's clearly time for a miracle for us."
Source
Rahm Emanuel expected to quit White House
Washington insiders say he will quit within six to eight months in frustration at their unwillingness to "bang heads together" to get policy pushed through.
Mr Emanuel, 50, enjoys a good working relationship with Mr Obama but they are understood to have reached an understanding that differences over style mean he will serve only half the full four-year term.
Friends say he is also worried about burnout and losing touch with his young family due to the pressure of one of most high profile jobs in US politics.
"I would bet he will go after the midterms," said a leading Democratic consultant in Washington. "Nobody thinks it's working but they can't get rid of him – that would look awful. He needs the right sort of job to go to but the consensus is he'll go."
An official from the Bill Clinton era said that "no one will be surprised" if Mr Emanuel left after the midterm elections in November, when the Democratic party will battle to save its majorities in the house of representatives and the senate.
It is well known in Washington that arguments have developed between pragmatic Mr Emanuel, a veteran in Congress where he was known for driving through compromises, and the idealistic inner circle who followed Mr Obama to the White House.
His abrasive style has rubbed some people the wrong way, while there has been frustration among Mr Obama's closest advisers that he failed to deliver a smooth ride for the president's legislative programme that his background promised.
"It might not be his fault, but the perception is there," said the consultant, who asked not to be named. "Every vote has been tough, from health care to energy to financial reform.
"Democrats have not stood behind the president in the way Republicans did for George W Bush, and that was meant to be Rahm's job."
There were sharp differences over health care reform, with Mr Emanuel arguing that public hostility about cost should have forced them into producing a scaled down package. Mr Obama and advisers including David Axelrod, the chief strategist, and Valerie Jarrett, a businesswoman and mentor from Chicago, decided to push through with grander legislation anyway.
Mr Emanuel has reportedly told friends that his role as White House chief of staff was "only an eighteen month job" because of its intensity.
Regarded as the most demanding after president, it involves controlling the president's agenda, enforcing White House message discipline as well as liaising with Congress.
His departure would regarded as another sign of how Mr Obama's presidency has been far more troubled than expected.
Mr Emanuel has privately expressed a readiness to run for mayor of Chicago, which is also his home town though he was never part of the Obama set and did not endorse the then senator in the Democratic primary in 2008.
That would however depend on Mayor Richard Daley stepping down when he is up for re-election in 2011.
The chief obstacle to taking the White House job originally was doubts about moving his three children from Chicago. According to another former Clinton official, he has let friends know that he is "very sensitive to the idea that he is not a good father for having done this".
One of Washington's more colourful characters, Mr Emanuel is the son of Jewish immigrants and was an accomplished ballet dancer at school. He served as a civilian volunteer with the Israeli Defence Force in the 1991 Gulf War.
The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
Source
Mr Emanuel, 50, enjoys a good working relationship with Mr Obama but they are understood to have reached an understanding that differences over style mean he will serve only half the full four-year term.
Friends say he is also worried about burnout and losing touch with his young family due to the pressure of one of most high profile jobs in US politics.
"I would bet he will go after the midterms," said a leading Democratic consultant in Washington. "Nobody thinks it's working but they can't get rid of him – that would look awful. He needs the right sort of job to go to but the consensus is he'll go."
An official from the Bill Clinton era said that "no one will be surprised" if Mr Emanuel left after the midterm elections in November, when the Democratic party will battle to save its majorities in the house of representatives and the senate.
It is well known in Washington that arguments have developed between pragmatic Mr Emanuel, a veteran in Congress where he was known for driving through compromises, and the idealistic inner circle who followed Mr Obama to the White House.
His abrasive style has rubbed some people the wrong way, while there has been frustration among Mr Obama's closest advisers that he failed to deliver a smooth ride for the president's legislative programme that his background promised.
"It might not be his fault, but the perception is there," said the consultant, who asked not to be named. "Every vote has been tough, from health care to energy to financial reform.
"Democrats have not stood behind the president in the way Republicans did for George W Bush, and that was meant to be Rahm's job."
There were sharp differences over health care reform, with Mr Emanuel arguing that public hostility about cost should have forced them into producing a scaled down package. Mr Obama and advisers including David Axelrod, the chief strategist, and Valerie Jarrett, a businesswoman and mentor from Chicago, decided to push through with grander legislation anyway.
Mr Emanuel has reportedly told friends that his role as White House chief of staff was "only an eighteen month job" because of its intensity.
Regarded as the most demanding after president, it involves controlling the president's agenda, enforcing White House message discipline as well as liaising with Congress.
His departure would regarded as another sign of how Mr Obama's presidency has been far more troubled than expected.
Mr Emanuel has privately expressed a readiness to run for mayor of Chicago, which is also his home town though he was never part of the Obama set and did not endorse the then senator in the Democratic primary in 2008.
That would however depend on Mayor Richard Daley stepping down when he is up for re-election in 2011.
The chief obstacle to taking the White House job originally was doubts about moving his three children from Chicago. According to another former Clinton official, he has let friends know that he is "very sensitive to the idea that he is not a good father for having done this".
One of Washington's more colourful characters, Mr Emanuel is the son of Jewish immigrants and was an accomplished ballet dancer at school. He served as a civilian volunteer with the Israeli Defence Force in the 1991 Gulf War.
The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
Source
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