Disease Outbreaks Tied to Imported Foods Increasing according to the CDC
By Dr. Mercola
The more steps your food goes through before it reaches your plate, the greater your chances of contamination becomes.
If you are able to get your food locally, directly from the field or after harvest, such as directly from a farmer or farmer’s market, you knock out numerous routes that could expose your food to contamination.
So it is not surprising that new research released by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows that foodborne disease outbreaks linked to imported foods are on the rise.
As Food Imports Rise, so do Foodborne Disease Outbreaks
Foodborne disease outbreaks linked to imported foods rose in both 2009 and 2010 (data for 2011 is still being analyzed).
In all, 39 outbreaks and 2,348 illnesses were linked to imported foods from 15 countries.
However, nearly half of the outbreaks occurred in 2009 and 2010 …
Most of the outbreaks were due to fish (17 outbreaks) and spices (particularly fresh or dried peppers), which are also among the most commonly imported foods.
For instance, data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) Economic Research Service (ERS) reveals that 85 percent of seafood eaten by Americans is imported! As rates of food imports rise (ERS data shows that U.S. food import has nearly doubled from 1998 to 2007), it’s likely that disease outbreaks will become increasingly common. As it is, the numbers are thought to be a serious underestimate, as food-borne disease outbreaks are commonly under-reported.
IOM: FDA’s Inspection Approach to Imports is ‘Impractical’
by Helena Bottemiller
An increasing portion of the food on our plate is coming from beyond our borders, but how do we know that it’s safe? A new study by the Institute of Medicine looks at the “daunting” task of ensuring safe food across the globe and comes to the conclusion that it’s going to take lot more than random, infrequent inspections.
The flood of imported food and drugs is putting a lot of stress on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the agency charged with overseeing the safety of food, drugs, cosmetics and medical devices. The volume of imported FDA-regulated products has tripled over the last decade, increasing by 13 percent each year since 2002. Now an estimated 40 percent of fruits and nuts and 85 percent of seafood consumed in the United States is imported.
The IOM suggests that FDA’s traditional method of trying to keep a handle on food and product safety by making periodic inspections is impractical because 20 million types of FDA-regulated foods arrive from more than 300,000 factories in 150 different countries.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is warning the public not to consume Ayyam Zaman brand Extra Fine Tahina it may be contaminated with Salmonella.There have been no reported illnesses.The affected product, Ayyam Zaman brand Extra Fine Tahina, is sold…
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is warning the public not to consume Boskovich brand fresh parsley imported from the U.S. because it may contain Cryptosporidium.There have been no reported illnesses.The affected product was sold only on March 19, 2012…
Fung Shing International Corp. of Maspeth, NY, is recalling Star Light Coconut Candy because it contains milk not declared on the label.People who have an allergy or severe sensitivity to milk run the risk of serious or life-threatening allergic reactions…
Tiny Turtles Poison 72 in 17 States With Salmonella
By Mary Rothschild
Drop that tiny turtle. Now please wash your hands.The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is reporting more cases of vomiting and diarrhea from a multistate outbreak of Salmonella poisoning caused by handling small pet turtles.In three overlapping outbreaks, at…
Pitcher Strains Oblique Muscle From Severe Vomiting
By News Desk
Food poisoning is bad when it causes vomiting so severe that it strains an oblique muscle.The Colorado Rockies say that is why 28-year old Josh Outman has been placed on the 15-day disabled list (DL), meaning he will not join…
Researchers Find Banned Antibiotics in Feather Meal
Study finds flouroquinolones, raising questions about illegal usage
by Helena Bottemiller
New research raises questions about whether poultry producers might still be using an antibiotic that was banned in 2005 after being linked to increasing antibiotic resistance.
Researchers at Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future (CLF) and Arizona State University tested feather meal — a byproduct made of ground-up poultry feathers commonly added to chicken, swine, cattle and fish feed — and found a surprising variety of drug residues, including fluoroquinolones, a class of antibiotics critical for fighting infections in humans.
The findings surprised scientists because the U.S. Food and Drug Administration banned the class of drugs, which includes cipro, in poultry production in 2005 in response to rising fluoroquinolone resistance among Campylobacter bacteria, a leading cause of foodborne illness.
[In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit, for research and/or educational purposes. This constitutes 'FAIR USE' of any such copyrighted material.]
The Heart Disease Scam That Generates Billions Every Year… And May Cost You Your Life
By Dr. Mercola
More than half a million Americans received an angioplasty in 2007 (the most recent year for which data is available).i
This invasive procedure involves inflating a thin balloon in a narrowed artery to crush deposits; a stent (a wire mesh tube) is often then left behind to keep the vessel open.
When used during a heart attack, an angioplasty can quickly open a blocked artery to lessen the damage to your heart, and when used in this way can be lifesaving.
However, oftentimes heart disease patients receive angioplasties even though they have not had a heart attack — a decision that goes against the latest medical guidelines and the suggestion of a new study, which found people treated using other less-invasive methods fared just as well as those who also underwent angioplasty with stents.
Angioplasty Offers “No Evidence of Benefit” Compared to Less Invasive Treatment….
Could this Simple Vitamin Help Treat Psychotic Disorders Better than Drugs?
By Dr. Mercola
A growing trend of drug misuse is alarming medical experts, policymakers, and patient advocates.
In recent years, there has been a massive increase in off-label use of a class of drugs called “atypical niacantipsychotics.”
These drugs, which include Seroquel, Zyprexa, Risperdal and Abilify, are only approved to treat disabling mental illnesses, but they’re being prescribed by psychiatrists and primary-care doctors to treat conditions they were never approved for, such as:
Anxiety
Attention-deficit disorder
Insomnia
Behavioral problems in toddlers, and
Dementia
The Vitamin You Need for a Sharp Brain as You Age – Yet 1 in 4 are Deficient
By Dr. Mercola
Vitamin B12, or rather a lack thereof, has been called the “canary in the coalmine” for your future brain health, and recent research has bolstered the importance of this vitamin in keeping your mind sharp as you age.
According to the latest research, people with high levels of markers for vitamin B12 deficiency were more likely to score lower on cognitive tests, as well as have a smaller total brain volume, which suggests a lack of the vitamin may lead to brain shrinkage.
This issue is of paramount importance for many of you reading this for two reasons:
Vitamin B12 deficiency is very widespread
Your blood level of vitamin B12 is not an adequate marker of whether or not you’re deficient, making vitamin B12 deficiency easy to miss
What is Vitamin B12?
Vitamin B12 is a powerhouse micronutrient often known as the “energy vitamin” because it assists in energy production.
Your body relies on the efficient conversion of carbohydrates to glucose — your body’s source of fuel — to run smoothly, and vitamin B12 plays a major role in that conversion. B12 also enables your body to convert fatty acids into energy. Further, your B12 level impacts a number of very important functions in your body, including:….
“Whole Egg Waste” – Unfit for Humans, But Fine for Dogs and Cats?
By Dr. Becker
Last year, an economic development program in Canada awarded a large grant to help a former egg processing plant re-open as a business that converts egg waste into pet food ingredients.
The plant, which had been closed for four years, now processes whole egg waste from egg grading plants to produce powdered pet food ingredients.
It also extracts egg whites from discarded egg shells and produces liquid egg white that is used as a binding agent in pet food.
According to the company, the powdered egg product has up to 50 percent protein, and the egg white binding agent is 80 percent protein.
Government officials feel the grant is helping to turn “… something that was considered waste unto a usable product.”
They also hope the re-opening of the plant will benefit the community and create jobs.
I’m all for finding ways to make use of food waste products, for example, as an energy source or as fertilizer.
But I’m certainly not in favor of repurposing waste as nutrition for dogs and cats.
In the U.K., egg and egg products not fit or intended for human consumption are considered animal by-products.
They fall into the same category as manure and digestive tract content, hides and skins, wool, feathers, semen, ova and embryos, shellfish shells and “other products of animal origin.”
Many pet owners don’t think about animal chiropractic when their beloved dog or cat is injured, in pain, or becomes ill.
And that’s really unfortunate, because often a visit to a small animal chiropractor can put your pet on the road to recovery much more quickly and safely than other alternatives.
Chiropractic adjustments can often take the place of surgery.
They can reduce or eliminate the need for veterinary drugs that carry side effects.
They can also address chronic health problems that don’t get better or keep coming back.
Organic Food Industry Bought Up by Corporations Like Coca-Cola
Anthony Gucciardi
BlacklistedNews.com
You may be wondering why some supposedly ‘healthy’ and ‘environmentally conscious’ companies deceive unknowing consumers into purchasing products with hidden additives and fillers. Perhaps one of the main reasons is that a large number of these pseudo-organic brands are owned by their very unhealthy ‘competitors’, such as Coca-Cola and General Mills. In fact, some of your favorite “All Natural” and organic companies may be owned by a corporate giant.
Companies like Honest Tea and Odwalla may appeal to health conscious shoppers, but they are actually owned by Coca-Cola — the very same company that is currently fuming over the requirement to change their recipes in order to avoid a cancer warning label. Another popular ‘health’ brand is Kashi, owned by the Kellogg corporation. It should come as no surprise that Kashi cereals have been found to contain a copious amount of GMOs and pesticides, according to an explosive report from the Cornucopia Institute. Kashi’s ’Heart to Heart Blueberry cereal’ was found to contain grains coated in the residue of many pesticides such as phosmet, carbaryl, azinphos methyl, malathion, chlorpyrifos methyl, chlorpyrifos. What’s more, the company’s products were found to oftentimes contain 100% genetically modified ingredients.
This information has been known for quite some time. Here’s a really revealing image from Michigan State University that reveals who really owns your favorite company. See if yours is owned by a corporate giant
[In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit, for research and/or educational purposes. This constitutes 'FAIR USE' of any such copyrighted material.]
EMSC Hokkaido, Japan Region
Apr 06 04:48 AM
4.1 317.0 MAP
USGS Hokkaido, Japan Region
Apr 06 04:48 AM
4.1 301.4 MAP
EMSC Georgia (sak’art’velo)
Apr 06 03:43 AM
3.2 2.0 MAP
USGS Central California
Apr 06 03:25 AM
2.6 5.0 MAP
USGS Central California
Apr 06 03:16 AM
3.7 6.2 MAP
EMSC Oaxaca, Mexico
Apr 06 01:31 AM
4.4 20.0 MAP
USGS Oaxaca, Mexico
Apr 06 01:31 AM
4.4 20.1 MAP
EMSC Western Iran
Apr 06 01:14 AM
3.6 5.0 MAP
EMSC Eastern Turkey
Apr 06 00:37 AM
2.4 5.0 MAP
USGS Southern Alaska
Apr 06 00:26 AM
3.2 127.3 MAP
EMSC Romania
Apr 06 00:24 AM
3.2 127.0 MAP
6.2-magnitude quake hits Papua New Guinea: USGS
SYDNEY: A 6.2-magnitude quake struck off Papua New Guinea early Saturday, the US Geological Survey said, but there were no immediate reports of damage and no tsunami warning was issued.
The quake hit at 02:15 am (16:15 GMT) 150 kilometres (93 miles) east of Rabaul, in Papua New Guinea’s East New Britain province and 885 kilometres northeast of the capital Port Moresby at a depth of 85 kilometres.
FAIRBANKS, Alaska – Alaska’s Cleveland volcano in the Aleutian Islands is continuing to erupt.
The Alaska Volcano Observatory said Friday that low-level eruptions continue to occur inside the volcano located on a remote, uninhabited island 940 miles southwest of Anchorage.
The volcano’s lava dome in the summit crater was destroyed during a short explosive eruption on Wednesday. The resulting ash cloud reached about 15,000 feet above sea level.
It was the third lava dome that has been destroyed by explosive events since the eruptions began in July 2011.
On the Tuesday broadcast of “CNN Newsroom,” CNN meteorologist Alexandra Steele declared that tornadoes plowing through the Dallas-Fort Worth area were brought on by climate change.
Steele, formerly of The Weather Channel, also predicted that more extreme weather is on its way.
“It really is [such a strange spring],” Steele said. “That’s kind of the climate change we are seeing. You know, extremes are kind of ruling the roost and really what we are seeing, more become the norm.”
“CNN Newsroom” host Carol Costello said it made her “afraid” about what is in store for next spring.
“It might be unnaturally cold,” said Costello. Steele agreed that future weather would be less predictable.
“This global warming is really kind of a misnomer,” Steele said. “It’s global climate change. So the colds are colder and warms are warmer and severe is more severe.
At least 14 people died overnight into Thursday in Argentina following storms that saw strong winds cause damage across the capital region.
“Seven people died — six were crushed and one was electrocuted,” near Buenos Aires, local emergency coordinator Luciano Timerman told reporters.
Police also said three other people died in a neighborhood to the south of Buenos Aires when an illegally built home collapsed.
In the capital, a man died when the walls of his home collapsed, authorities also said in an initial report.
They later reported the death of another man crushed by the wall of a gas station abandoned in Florencio Varela to the south of Buenos Aires. A woman was killed after another wall fell on her.
In central-eastern Santa Fe province, a high tension cable snapped by the high winds killed a man, Timerman said.
Fukushima Daiichi Site: Cesium-137 is 85 times greater than at Chernobyl Accident
….In recent times, more information about the spent fuel situation at the Fukushima-Dai-Ichi site has become known. It is my understanding that of the 1,532 spent fuel assemblies in reactor No. 304 assemblies are fresh and unirradiated. This then leaves 1,231 irradiated spent fuel rods in pool No. 4, which contain roughly 37 million curies (~1.4E+18 Becquerel) of long-lived radioactivity. The No. 4 pool is about 100 feet above ground, is structurally damaged and is exposed to the open elements. If an earthquake or other event were to cause this pool to drain this could result in a catastrophic radiological fire involving nearly 10 times the amount of Cs-137 released by the Chernobyl accident.
The infrastructure to safely remove this material was destroyed as it was at the other three reactors. Spent reactor fuel cannot be simply lifted into the air by a crane as if it were routine cargo. In order to prevent severe radiation exposures, fires and possible explosions, it must be transferred at all times in water and heavily shielded structures into dry casks.. As this has never been done before, the removal of the spent fuel from the pools at the damaged Fukushima-Dai-Ichi reactors will require a major and time-consuming re-construction effort and will be charting in unknown waters. Despite the enormous destruction cased at the Da–Ichi site, dry casks holding a smaller amount of spent fuel appear to be unscathed.
Based on U.S. Energy Department data, assuming a total of 11,138 spent fuel assemblies are being stored at the Dai-Ichi site, nearly all, which is in pools. They contain roughly 336 million curies (~1.2 E+19 Bq) of long-lived radioactivity. About 134 million curies is Cesium-137 — roughly 85 times the amount of Cs-137 released at the Chernobyl accident as estimated by the U.S. National Council on Radiation Protection (NCRP). The total spent reactor fuel inventory at the Fukushima-Daichi site contains nearly half of the total amount of Cs-137 estimated by the NCRP to have been released by all atmospheric nuclear weapons testing, Chernobyl, and world-wide reprocessing plants (~270 million curies or ~9.9 E+18 Becquerel).
It is important for the public to understand that reactors that have been operating for decades, such as those at the Fukushima-Dai-Ichi site have generated some of the largest concentrations of radioactivity on the planet…..
“SAN ANTONIO – We’ve received a bunch of phone calls Monday about a ball of fire in the sky.
John Haley says that’s exactly what it looked like.
“It was like a fireball falling right out of the sky,” Haley told News 4 WOAI. “It was so bright! It was like a little piece of the sun falling with a big torch behind it.”
I spoke to our astronomer expert Bob Kelley with the Scobee Planetarium, and he explained that it was a phenomenon called “April Fireballs.”
Chunks of meteors enter and burn up in our atmosphere. The fireballs are brighter than a shooting star and can happen at any time of the day. For reasons astronomers don’t fully understand, they occur in early April.
San Antonians weren’t the only ones who saw the April Fireball Monday morning. Sightings were reported in New Braunfels, Kerrville, Floresville and other cities nearby.
“I can chalk that up on the old bucket list — I saw a meteorite during the day,” laughed Haley.”
NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter captured imagery of a Red Planet dust devil on March 14, 2012. Different from a tornado, this phenomena sometimes occurs on clear days when the heated surface interacts with pockets of cool air above it.
Mexican plan for Gulf deepwater wells sparks new worries
Tim Johnson
MEXICO CITY — Two years after the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history, Mexico’s state oil company is about to test its hand at drilling at extraordinary depths in the Gulf of Mexico.
If all goes as planned, Petroleos de Mexico, known as Pemex, will deploy two state-of-the-art drilling platforms in May to an area just south of the maritime boundary with the United States. One rig will sink a well in 9,514 feet of water, while another will drill in 8,316 feet of water, then deeper into the substrata.
Pemex has no experience drilling at such depths. Mexico’s oil regulator is sounding alarm bells, saying the huge state oil concern is unprepared for a serious deepwater accident or spill. Critics say the company has sharply cut corners on insurance, remiss over potential sky-high liability.
Mexico’s plans come two years after the Deepwater Horizon catastrophe, the worst oil spill in U.S. history. On April 20, 2010, a semi-submersible rig that the British oil firm BP had contracted to drill a well known as Macondo exploded off the Louisiana coast, killing 11 workers and spewing 4.9 million barrels of oil in the nearly three months it took engineers to stop the spill.
BP has said the tab for the spill — including government fines, cleanup costs and compensation — could climb to $42 billion for the company and its contractors.
Pemex’s plans to sink even deeper offshore wells underscore Mexico’s pressing need to maintain sagging oil production — exports pay for one-third of government operating expenses — along with oil companies’ desire to leverage technology and drill at ever more challenging depths.
Carlos A. Morales, the chief of the Pemex exploration and production arm, which employs 50,000 people, voiced confidence that his company has to the ability to sink wells in ultra-deep water.
“Pemex is ready to undertake the challenge and to do it safely,” Morales said in an interview in his 41st-floor office at Pemex headquarters in this capital city.
“You have to bear one thing in mind,” he said. “Pemex is the biggest operator in the Gulf — including everyone — both in production and in the number of rigs we operate. We are operating more than 80 rigs offshore.”
Drug-Resistant Malaria Is Spreading, and It Could Be a Public Health Disaster
Artemisinin-resistant malaria parasites first emerged in Cambodia in 2006. Now researchers say the deadly bugs are quickly spreading.
Malaria remains one of the world’s great unnecessary killers. More than 650,000 people succumb to the disease each year — that’s more than one per minute — mostly in the poor nations of sub-Saharan Africa, but as deadly as malaria is, it doesn’t have to kill. Prevention and better treatment can stop the progression of the disease, and death tends to be a matter of extreme poverty.
Indeed, in recent years great progress has been made in controlling malaria, with deaths down 30% over the past decade. That’s thanks largely to more effective treatment regimens that make use of artemisinin, a plant-derived antimalarial drug originally developed in China. Artemisinin is the closest thing we have to a miracle drug for malaria.
That’s what makes the results of two studies out this week in the Lancet and Science so disturbing. Health officials have known for a while that some malaria parasites in the Southeast Asian nation of Cambodia have begun to develop resistance to artemisinin, but they hoped the resistance wasn’t spreading. Now researchers in the region have shown that artemisinin is becoming dramatically less potent in malaria cases in western Thailand, and they know it’s due to growing drug resistance in the malaria parasites themselves. If resistance to artemisinin were to spread to sub-Saharan Africa, the result could be a “public health disaster,” in the words of lead Lancet author Standwell Nkhoma of the Texas Biomedical Research Institute.
[In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit, for research and/or educational purposes. This constitutes 'FAIR USE' of any such copyrighted material.]
Mexican plan for Gulf deepwater wells sparks new worries
Tim Johnson
MEXICO CITY — Two years after the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history, Mexico’s state oil company is about to test its hand at drilling at extraordinary depths in the Gulf of Mexico.
If all goes as planned, Petroleos de Mexico, known as Pemex, will deploy two state-of-the-art drilling platforms in May to an area just south of the maritime boundary with the United States. One rig will sink a well in 9,514 feet of water, while another will drill in 8,316 feet of water, then deeper into the substrata.
Pemex has no experience drilling at such depths. Mexico’s oil regulator is sounding alarm bells, saying the huge state oil concern is unprepared for a serious deepwater accident or spill. Critics say the company has sharply cut corners on insurance, remiss over potential sky-high liability.
Mexico’s plans come two years after the Deepwater Horizon catastrophe, the worst oil spill in U.S. history. On April 20, 2010, a semi-submersible rig that the British oil firm BP had contracted to drill a well known as Macondo exploded off the Louisiana coast, killing 11 workers and spewing 4.9 million barrels of oil in the nearly three months it took engineers to stop the spill.
BP has said the tab for the spill — including government fines, cleanup costs and compensation — could climb to $42 billion for the company and its contractors.
Pemex’s plans to sink even deeper offshore wells underscore Mexico’s pressing need to maintain sagging oil production — exports pay for one-third of government operating expenses — along with oil companies’ desire to leverage technology and drill at ever more challenging depths.
Carlos A. Morales, the chief of the Pemex exploration and production arm, which employs 50,000 people, voiced confidence that his company has to the ability to sink wells in ultra-deep water.
“Pemex is ready to undertake the challenge and to do it safely,” Morales said in an interview in his 41st-floor office at Pemex headquarters in this capital city.
“You have to bear one thing in mind,” he said. “Pemex is the biggest operator in the Gulf — including everyone — both in production and in the number of rigs we operate. We are operating more than 80 rigs offshore.”…..
Millions of Pounds of Toxic Poison to Flood US Farmland
By Cassandra Anderson
The EPA announced that it has completed the first part of its study on dioxin, after more than 25 years of stonewalling.
Dioxin is the most caustic man-made chemical known. Dioxin is a general term for hundreds of chemicals that are produced in industrial processes that use chlorine and burning. Disturbingly, it has a half-life of 100+ years when it is leached into soil or embedded in water systems. Dioxin was the most harmful component in Agent Orange (the recipe for Agent Orange is 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T herbicides).
The EPA says that air emissions of dioxin have decreased by 90% since the 1980′s, but dioxin is dangerous at any level. The study appears to omit any analysis of dioxin transmission in water and land. The danger is growing because Dow AgroScience has received preliminary USDA approval for its 2,4-D herbicide resistant GMO corn. This means that dioxin contaminated 2,4-D herbicide will drench US farm land and pollute water supplies if the crops are widely planted.
EPA Dioxin Assessment Report
The EPA’s press release on dioxin’s health effects trumpeted the lie that current exposure rates “don’t pose significant health risks”. But the EPA does admit that there is a cancer risk, although they are not releasing their study on cancer at this time. Perhaps the delay is due to the fact that 95% of Americans have measurable levels of dioxin in their bodies.
The EPA’s claim that current levels are not a health risk is contradicted by another webpage on the EPA’s own site says that dioxin accumulates over a lifetime, persists for years, is likely to lead to an increased risk of cancer, and that the current exposure levels are “uncomfortably” close to levels that can cause “subtle” non-cancer effects. These so-called subtle effects may include birth defects, reproductive problems and immuno-suppression.
There were 500,000 victims of birth defects in Vietnam that can hardly be considered subtle. Dioxin is bad at any level especially since it accumulates in the body.
Humans are exposed to dioxin primarily through food sources. The EPA’s press release fails to mention that people who eat animal based foods like meat, dairy and eggs will continually increase their dioxin levels.
If dioxin is so safe, why does the Veterans Administration make automatic payments for a wide range of claims that include several types of cancers and leukemia, liver disease, heart disease, Parkinson’s disease and diabetes? American taxpayers are footing the bill for veterans’ Agent Orange dioxin injuries that are estimated to cost $42 billion over the next 10 years! Monsanto and Dow, the top 2 Agent Orange producers, should pay for all damages — not taxpayers.
While the EPA’s press release does acknowledge “certain industrial activities” as a cause of dioxin pollution, they omit any reference to chemical herbicides and pesticides. The EPA doesn’t mention that herbicide 2,4-D (half of the Agent Orange recipe) is the seventh largest source of dioxin in the US. Dow Chemical is the biggest 2,4-D manufacturer, and Dow is also listed as the #2 and #3 biggest industrial dioxin dumper in the US. Herbicide 2,4-D is polluting groundwater.
Shocking EPA Omission
The most disturbing omission by the EPA is its complete lack of oversight of a specific type of dioxin, 2,7-DCDD, that is one of the most potent kinds of dioxin. It is reported that DCDD is an inevitable by-product of 2,4-D herbicide manufacturing. The EPA doesn’t even regulate or monitor DCDD!
Therefore, the EPA’s report is incomplete and the true levels of dioxin are unknown.
DHS Looks to Spy on Video Game Consoles in Search of Pedophiles, Terrorists
Tiffany Kaiser
The government is more concerned with the platforms rather than the games themselves, mainly because newer systems like Xbox 360, Wii and PlayStation 3 allow users to communicate with one another via messaging and chat systems
Gamers may want to be careful about what they say when jumping onto their consoles for an innocent bout of slaying dragons or killing zombies — the government will be watching.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the U.S. Navy have launched a new research initiative that will explore ways of allowing the government to hack into gaming consoles like the Xbox 360, Wii, or PlayStation 3 to obtain information on gamers.
In 2008, a project called “Gaming Systems Monitoring and Analysis Project” was executed when law enforcement became worried about pedophiles using game consoles to talk to children. Later, law enforcement authorities went to DHS’ Science and Technology Directorate in search of help on an instrument that could observe game console data. DHS then went to the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) to find Simson Garfinkel, a NPS computer science professor, to offer a contract to a company that could conduct the research and offer a product.
The U.S. Navy ended up recently awarding the $177,237 contract to Obscure Technologies, which is a computer forensics company based in San Francisco, California. Obscure Technologies will be expected to create new hardware and software capable of extracting data from video game consoles. DHS wants to be able to extract data from both new and used games systems bought on the secondary market as well.
The Department of Defense has long had its eyes on emerging neuroscience technologies. Should we be worried?
By Azeen Ghorayshi
April 04, 2012 “Information Clearing House” — Science and the military have historically made creepy bedfellows, with military curiosity about neuroscience leading the pack. Yet it’s no secret that since the early 1950s, the US military has had a vested interest in harnessing cutting-edge developments in neuroscience to get a leg up on national defense (a la well-publicized failures like Project MK-ULTRA [1]). In 2011, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the Pentagon’s research arm credited with, among other things, spearheading the invention of the internet [2], had a budget of over $240 million [3] devoted to cognitive neuroscience research alone. From brain-scan-based lie detection to memory-erasure pills, some of the technologies are, at first glance, simply the stuff of sci-fi. But an essay published in the March issue of PLoS Biology [3] tells a cautionary tale of high-tech neuroscience developments on the horizon that “could be deployed before sufficiently validated.”
The two authors, Michael Tennison and Jonathan Moreno, are no strangers to the broader implications of science; both are bioethicists, and Moreno, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, has been a part of multiple government advisory bodies, including President Obama’s bioethics commission. “They see me as an honest broker,” says Moreno. “I worry about the ethical questions behind a lot of these technologies, I’m left-leaning, but I’m no pacifist—I have kids, and I think we do have to worry about national security.”
A lot gets said about scientific research that’s so-called “dual-use [4],” e.g., its potential for good is matched or outmatched by its potential to do harm. Case in point: the recent H5N1 hubbub [5], where Dutch and American scientists made a potentially dangerous airborne strain of the already-dangerous bird flu virus, but only in the interest of “preventing a pandemic [6].” Similarly, Moreno runs through recent developments in neuroscience, connecting them to their well-funded, though still highly speculative, DoD research goals—as well as the knotty legal and ethical questions these experimental technologies suggest. “Neuroscientists haven’t had the atom bomb moment that Einstein and Oppenheimer had, they haven’t even had the bird flu moment; but that time is fast-approaching,” Moreno says. Here are some of the top neuroscience developments that Moreno, and DoD, is keeping an eye on—and why he thinks we should care.
Shady Companies With Ties to Israel Wiretap the U.S. for the NSA
By James Bamford
Army General Keith Alexander, the director of the NSA, is having a busy year — hopping around the country, cutting ribbons at secret bases and bringing to life the agency’s greatly expanded eavesdropping network.
In January he dedicated the new $358 million CAPT Joseph J. Rochefort Building at NSA Hawaii, and in March he unveiled the 604,000-square-foot John Whitelaw Building at NSA Georgia.
Designed to house about 4,000 earphone-clad intercept operators, analysts and other specialists, many of them employed by private contractors, it will have a 2,800-square-foot fitness center open 24/7, 47 conference rooms and VTCs, and “22 caves,” according to an NSA brochure from the event. No television news cameras were allowed within two miles of the ceremony.
Overseas, Menwith Hill, the NSA’s giant satellite listening post in Yorkshire, England that sports 33 giant dome-covered eavesdropping dishes, is also undergoing a multi-million-dollar expansion, with $68 million alone being spent on a generator plant to provide power for new supercomputers. And the number of people employed on the base, many of them employees of Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman, is due to increase from 1,800 to 2,500 in 2015, according to a study done in Britain. Closer to home, in May, Fort Meade will close its 27-hole golf course to make room for a massive $2 billion, 1.8-million-square-foot expansion of the NSA’s headquarters, including a cybercommand complex and a new supercomputer center expected to cost nearly $1 billion.
This is an unbelieveable resource on the power that Monsanto holds over the world and everything in it. An unprecedented look its web of power over you and me. An absolute gem of a resource I bring to you via its author Kelly Dericks whom I applaud to no end for her dedication and bravery in making this interactive map. spread the word!!
[In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit, for research and/or educational purposes. This constitutes 'FAIR USE' of any such copyrighted material.]
Obama campaign website yanks BET videos following TheDC’s reporting
President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign website has removed several videos that pitched alarmist messages to African-American voters, following reporting by The Daily Caller and the Fox News Channel.
In one video that the campaign yanked from the “African-Americans for Obama” section of its website Tuesday, actress Tatyana Ali seemed to predict that a second Obama term would bring a host of benefits to African-Americans once the president no longer had to concern himself with campaigning.
“What really excites me … is that a U.S. president has only two terms,” a laughing Ali said in the footage that the Obama campaign scrubbed from its website Tuesday. “In the second term, ‘it’s on,’ because we don’t have to worry about re-election.”
President Barack Obama’s labor secretary, Hilda Solis, has authorized new posters in elevators throughout the Department of Labor’s Washington, D.C. headquarters building. The posters feature a photo of her marching in protest alongside the Rev. Jesse Jackson and MSNBC television host Rev. Al Sharpton, among others.
The photo depicts Solis acting as an emissary of the Obama administration protesting against Alabama’s strict new law combating illegal immigration. Solis has her arms locked with Sharpton, and Jackson is a few feet away. The poster also carries a message for federal government employees — who are traditionally expected to be apolitical in the performance of their duties.
“Whether we take to the streets or simply do our work with integrity and commitment here at the U.S. Department of Labor,” the poster reads, above Solis’ signature, “We are all marching toward the same goals: safer workplaces, fair pay, dignity on the job, secure retirement and opportunities to make a better life. I believe in the power of collective action.”
Stanford’s Lazear: US Suffering Worst Economic Recovery in History
By Forrest Jones
The United States is experiencing its worst recovery in U.S. history thanks to excessive regulations and punitive taxes, writes Edward Lazear, a former economic adviser to President George W. Bush and Stanford professor.
Economies normally snap back when recovering from recessions, but that hasn’t been the case this time around.
From 1947 to 2007, the average annual growth rate for the U.S. was 3.4 percent, Lazear writes in a Wall Street Journal opinion piece.
Since the recovery began from the Great Recession, growth has averaged 2.4 percent, Lazear adds, citing National Bureau of Economic Research data.
While many argue the financial nature of the recent recession means recovery should be slow, other recoveries stemming from similar downturns in the past didn’t go as tepidly as today.
Even the Great Depression saw stronger snapbacks between downturns.
“Threats of higher taxes, the constantly increasing regulatory burden, the failure to pursue an aggressive trade policy that will open markets to U.S. exports, and the enormous increase in government spending all are growth impediments,” writes Lazear, who was chairman of the President’s Council of Economic Advisers from 2006-2009.
Iran, Oil Prices and Gambling with the World Economy
By Daniel J. Graeber
The White House last week acknowledged problems in the global oil market but said the situation was secure enough to move ahead with tighter sanctions against Iran. President Obama said he was confident about the current state of the global economy and had assurances there was enough spare capacity to buffer against a severe shock to energy markets. The measure is meant to ensure Tehran doesn’t have the finances to back what’s seen as a nuclear weapons program. It might be something of a political and economic gamble, however.
Obama had until Friday to decide on pushing ahead with sanctions that would bar financial institutions from the U.S. economy if they don’t substantially cut their oil transactions with Iran. Some countries have already decided to back away from Iranian crude and others received some concessions from Washington for at least cutting back.
Concerns over Iran helped push oil prices up, however. The International Energy Agency said from Paris last week that oil prices are “very high again.” IEA Executive Director Maria van der Hoeven said the agency was keeping a close eye on oil markets, noting concern because of lingering fragility in the global economy. And she’s right to be concerned because last week, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development warned the British economy was at risk of sinking back into recession.
President Barak Obama gave a speech to newspaper executives about the recently passed Republican budget in the House of Representatives. It proposes to cut spending by more than $5 trillion over the next ten years. Yesterday’s speech was, basically, a declaration of war against the GOP and its vision of the government’s budget. The President said, “This Congressional Republican budget is something different altogether. It is a Trojan horse disguised as deficit reduction plans. It is really an attempt to impose a radical vision on our country. It is thinly veiled social Darwinism. It is antithetical to our entire history as a land of opportunity and upward mobility for everybody who is willing to work for it. A place where prosperity doesn’t trickle down from the top but grows outward from the heart of middle class.”
Folks, it is officially “game on,” and every American should be scared speechless about this budget showdown. It is unlike any the nation has ever faced.
The country has never been more in debt, and this comes at a time when countries like China are shunning U.S. Treasuries. There are more than 12 million “officially unemployed.” (The unofficial is 22 million.) Home prices are falling despite near record low mortgage rates. The BRICS nations are actively seeking an alternative to the U.S dollar for settlement of trade, which could threaten the dollar’s reserve currency status. We are threatening financial war with any country that trades with Iran, and the nation is facing yet another shooting war in the Middle East. The only question is will it come before or after the election.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned Tuesday that a nuclear-armed Iran or a conflict over its ambitions would both destabilize the region as she pressed Tehran to make progress in key talks.
As Israel voices growing impatience over Iran, Clinton credited US sanctions with inflicting pressure on the Islamic republic but warned of the “very difficult situation that the world faces” moving forward.
“There is no clear path. We know that a nuclear-armed Iran would be incredibly destabilizing to the region and beyond. A conflict arising out of their program would also be very destabilizing,” Clinton said.
“There is no way to balance this. You have two very difficult paths here,” Clinton told a dinner in Norfolk, Virginia, on a day trip to visit the only NATO command in the United States.
Clinton, who traveled over the weekend to Turkey and Saudi Arabia, voiced concern that a nuclear Iran would trigger an arms race in the region….
USDA Orders 326,000 Rounds of Ammunition As Homeland Security Stays Quiet Over 450 Million Round Order
What exactly are the preparing for ??????
Apparently Homeland Security is not the only domestic government agency that has bought a large amount of ammunition in the last 7 months.
In a post published on the now infamous Fbo.gov website, the US Forest Service (USDA) solicited and secured a bid for over 300,000 rounds of ammunition (scary raw milk farmers beware) including:
Added: Sep 28, 2011 5:15 pm
(1) 40 caliber, 180 grain, 120,000 rounds or equivalent,
(2) 9 mm, 124 grain, 50,000 rounds or equivalent,
(3) .38 caliber, 135 grain, 10,000 rounds or equivalent,
(4) .380 caliber, 90 grain, 6,000 rounds or equivalent,
(5) .223 caliber, 64 grain, 87,500 rounds or equivalent,
(6) 12 gauge 00 buck, 15,000 rounds or equivalent,
(7) 40 caliber frangible, 10,000 rounds or equivalent,
(8) 9 caliber frangible, 10,000 rounds or equivalent,
(9) .223 caliber frangible, 10,000 rounds or equivalent,
(10) 12 gauge 1 oz slug, 7,500 rounds or equivalent
The cartridges shall be delivered to Albuquerque, NM.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services require the following items, Exact Match Only, to the following:
2. Remington .40 Caliber Pistol Ammunition (180 grain) Full Metal Jacket – 6,000 rounds
3. Remington .223 Caliber Rifle Ammunition (62 grain) Full Metal Jacket – 3,000 rounds
4. Remington FX Marking Cartridges (9 mm) – 2,000 rounds
These requirements seem normal considering the possibility of running into grizzly bears and wolverines. These, to me, are acceptable quantities to order.
And of course the FBI needs about 100,000,000 rounds of .40 caliber ammunition for law enforcement needs. It posted the request November 15, 2011 and the order will be awarded this week. Oddly, it states a fixed price indefinite-delivery indefinite-quantity type contract; however the pricing requirements go up to 100,000,000 rounds.
Ex-New Orleans officers sentenced to decades in jail for Katrina bridge killings, coverup
Cain Burdeau, Michael Kunzelman
Ex-New Orleans officers sentenced to decades in jail for Katrina bridge killings, coverup
NEW ORLEANS – Five former New Orleans police officers were sentenced Wednesday to prison terms ranging from six to 65 years for their roles in deadly shootings of unarmed residents in the chaotic days after Hurricane Katrina, with the judge lashing out at prosecutors for two hours on their handling of the case.
Police shot six people at a bridge on Sept. 4, 2005, killing two, less than a week after Katrina made landfall. To make the shootings appear justified, officers conspired to plant a gun, fabricate witnesses and falsify reports. The case became the centerpiece of the Justice Department’s push to clean up the troubled New Orleans Police Department.
Kenneth Bowen, Robert Gisevius, Anthony Villavaso and Robert Faulcon were convicted of federal firearms charges that carried mandatory minimum prison sentences of at least 35 years. Retired Sgt. Arthur “Archie” Kaufman, who was assigned to investigate the shootings, was convicted of helping orchestrate the coverup.
Faulcon, who was convicted on charges in both fatal shootings, faces the stiffest sentence of 65 years. Bowen and Gisevius each face 40 years, while Villavaso was sentenced to 38. Kaufman received the lightest sentence at six years.
Afterward, U.S. District Judge Kurt Engelhardt accused prosecutors of cutting overly lenient plea deals with five other officers who co-operated with the civil rights investigation. The former officers pleaded guilty to helping cover up the shooting and are already serving prison terms ranging from three to eight years.
“These through-the-looking-glass plea deals that tied the hands of this court … are an affront to the court and a disservice to the community,” Engelhardt said.
The judge also questioned the credibility of the officers who pleaded guilty and testified against those who went to trial.
Read it on Global News: Global Edmonton | Ex-New Orleans officers sentenced to decades in jail for Katrina bridge killings, coverup
The US Department of Homeland Security and the Immigrations and Customs Enforcement Office have placed an order for 450 million rounds of .40 caliber bullets. The amount of ammo exceeds the amount of people that live in the US and many wonder the motives behind the vast purchase. The contractor Alliant Techsystems is the company supplying the ammunition to DHS and ICE and although the agencies claim these bullets are to be used for target practice many believe they have something else in mind. Jason Bermas, radio host and Filmmaker, joins us for more on the questionable purchase.
Senators Who Voted To Protect Oil Tax Breaks Received $23,582,500 From Big Oil
By Rebecca Leber
In a 51-47 vote, 43 Senate Republicans and four Democrats filibustered to protect $24 billion in tax breaks for Big Oil. Although a majority voted for Sen. Robert Menendez’s (D-NJ) bill, it fell short of the 60 needed. The only two Republicans to break rank were Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) and retiring Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME).
A Think Progress Green analysis shows how oil and gas companies have funneled cash to the same senators who protected its handouts:
– The 47 senators voting against the bill have received $23,582,500 in career contributions from oil and gas. The 51 senators voting to repeal oil tax breaks have received $5,873,600.
– The senators who voted for Big Oil’s handouts received on average over four times as much career oil cash as those who voted to end them.
– Overall, Senate Republicans have taken $23.2 million in oil and gas contributions. Democrats received $6.66 million.
– Since 2011, Senate Republicans have voted seven times for pro-Big Oil interests and against clean energy three times.
[In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit, for research and/or educational purposes. This constitutes 'FAIR USE' of any such copyrighted material.]
