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I'll certainly try!! She's due on March 27, so got a little while before the pups and the havoc begins.
Try the glass and surface cleaner from Ecover or Seventh Generation. They are natural products and work much better than Windex without the chemicals.
We've been using their products for years and they work great. The Ecover liquid laundry detergent is plant based and cleans much better than the 'normal' brands. Also no yucky artificial smell to your clothes.
Oh I will for sure. It's funny when they are born because they look like Jack Russels instead of Blue Heelers.
They are born all white except for the colored masks or any one or two spots that they may have on their backs. Their bodies don't start to color for several weeks.
They are adorable!!
Sadly not me at this point in time. Waaay too much stuff going on here and lots of traveling. Plus we have puppies on the way 3/27. 5 of them are already sold and I hope she doesn't have many more than that.
Ours will, on occasion. I'll check next time I'm in there and let you know. Could be an option.
Ah, the pitter patter of little feet!! LOL All 72 of them!!
Hmm, how about a pet store near you. The one close to us here sometimes gets owner turn in's. Rather than be snake food....
Oh, but think how cute little Petey's would be!
I'm guessing that it's not really feasible to spay a female rat. Could be an option though.
Ohhhh, poor Peter. Made my eyes well up. Crap.
Don't you think he'd be OK with another rat?
Pandemic has not yet peaked, WHO experts advise
5 hours ago
{Why? Because they haven't sold all the garbage vaccine yet??}
WASHINGTON — The pandemic of H1N1 swine flu has not yet peaked, a committee of experts advised the World Health Organization on Tuesday.
"The committee advised that it was premature to conclude that all parts of the world have experienced peak transmission of the H1N1 pandemic influenza and that additional time and information was needed to provide expert advice on the status of the pandemic," WHO spokesman Gregory Hartl said by e-mail.
WHO planned a news conference for Wednesday.
The United Nations agency declared last June that the new virus was causing the first influenza pandemic in more than 40 years after it spread around the world from Mexico and the United States in just six weeks.
Under WHO rules the emergency committee, composed of 15 experts and headed by Australian John MacKenzie, makes confidential recommendations to WHO director-general Dr. Margaret Chan.
She is then required to inform the health ministries of WHO's 192 member states and the Vatican of her decision. The WHO's decision will be announced formally by the WHO's top flu expert Dr. Keiji Fukuda on Wednesday at 1000 GMT.
WHO has confirmed the virus has killed 16,000 people but notes this is a gross underestimate, as hardly any patients are diagnosed or tested. It will take a year or two after the pandemic ends to establish the true death toll, the WHO says.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention does projections based on testing and patterns of disease reports and projects that H1N1 has killed up to 17,000 people in the United States alone, and put as many as 370,000 into the hospital with serious illness.
In contrast, seasonal influenza kills 250,000 to 500,000 people globally but most are frail and elderly. H1N1 has attacked young adults and children.
SUBSTANTIAL OUTBREAKS
The pandemic sparked a race to develop new vaccines by drug makers including GlaxoSmithKline and Sanofi-Aventis but has proved to be of moderate severity, and many people failed to take the new vaccine.
Previous influenza pandemics have had waves of disease activity spread over months, meaning the post-peak period could last quite a while, according to the WHO.
The final stage, called the post-pandemic period, is when disease activity returns to levels normally seen for seasonal influenza, it says.
"There is no on and off switch for a pandemic. It's not a single event. What we have to see is that the behavior of the H1N1 virus becomes like the behavior of other seasonal viruses," Hartl said earlier on Tuesday.
"At the moment, it is still causing substantial outbreaks of disease outside the normal influenza seasons and affecting groups who are not normally affected by seasonal influenza. So as long as that continues, it does not behave like seasonal influenza."
Younger people, especially those with chronic medical conditions, and pregnant women continue to be at a higher risk of infection and viral pneumonia from the H1N1 virus, Fukuda told reporters last week.
The WHO has cautioned that the H1N1 virus could still mutate or mix with the more deadly bird flu virus, which remains endemic in poultry in many Asian countries.
(Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay in Geneva and Maggie Fox in Washington; editing by Paul Simao)
OY! That picture scared me for a second! I thought he had a mustache! lol
I'm sure he's lonely without Nicky, but he gets to spend more time with you!
Now that I look at the picture again, he does look sad. Ugh, poor Peter.
Yes, the ground is really cold and I suppose that's helped to keep the snow around. Even with all the rain today, we still have snow left.
How is Peter doing?
True about the under estimation, we got a couple of feet here last time. Was great fun though. Built snowmen and 'snow-skied' behind the quad in the fields!
The rain today is causing flooding all over here, yuck. The sump pump is working overtime and the rain is washing away the last 8" or so of the snow that we still had on the ground.
Looks like it won't be too much, drat!
Issued by The National Weather Service
Philadelphia, PA
8 pm EST, Tue., Feb. 23, 2010
... WINTER STORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM LATE WEDNESDAY NIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY MORNING...
A WINTER STORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM LATE WEDNESDAY NIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY MORNING.
YET ANOTHER COASTAL STORM IS FORECAST TO AFFECT OUR AREA LATER WEDNESDAY NIGHT AND INTO FRIDAY... WITH THURSDAY AND THURSDAY NIGHT THE PRIME TIMES FOR ACCUMULATING SNOW. AT THIS TIME SNOW AMOUNTS MAY AVERAGE AT LEAST 4 INCHES OVER THE NORTHEAST MARYLAND SHORE... DELAWARE... SOUTHERN NEW JERSEY... AND EXTREME SOUTHEAST PENNSYLVANIA... AND 6 INCHES OVER EASTERN PENNSYLVANIA AND CENTRAL NEW JERSEY... BUT SIMILAR PREVIOUS STORMS HAVE DEPOSITED HEAVIER SNOW AMOUNTS. STRONG WINDS ARE ALSO POSSIBLE WITH THIS POTENTIAL STORM... SO DRIFTING AND BLOWING SNOW ARE POSSIBLE AS WELL.
That was a great idea for a bridge! Got me thinking....
LOL!
More and more ugliness everyday. Sigh.
Marijuana use by seniors goes up as boomers age
http://rawstory.com/2010/02/pot-seniors-rises-baby-boomers-age/
MATT SEDENSKY
AP Features
Feb 22, 2010 06:53 EST
In her 88 years, Florence Siegel has learned how to relax: A glass of red wine. A crisp copy of The New York Times, if she can wrest it from her husband. Some classical music, preferably Bach. And every night like clockwork, she lifts a pipe to her lips and smokes marijuana.
Long a fixture among young people, use of the country's most popular illicit drug is now growing among the AARP set, as the massive generation of baby boomers who came of age in the 1960s and '70s grows older.
The number of people aged 50 and older reporting marijuana use in the prior year went up from 1.9 percent to 2.9 percent from 2002 to 2008, according to surveys from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
The rise was most dramatic among 55- to 59-year-olds, whose reported marijuana use more than tripled from 1.6 percent in 2002 to 5.1 percent.
Observers expect further increases as 78 million boomers born between 1945 and 1964 age. For many boomers, the drug never held the stigma it did for previous generations, and they tried it decades ago.
Some have used it ever since, while others are revisiting the habit in retirement, either for recreation or as a way to cope with the aches and pains of aging.
Siegel walks with a cane and has arthritis in her back and legs. She finds marijuana has helped her sleep better than pills ever did. And she can't figure out why everyone her age isn't sharing a joint, too.
"They're missing a lot of fun and a lot of relief," she said.
Politically, advocates for legalizing marijuana say the number of older users could represent an important shift in their decades-long push to change the laws.
"For the longest time, our political opponents were older Americans who were not familiar with marijuana and had lived through the 'Reefer Madness' mentality and they considered marijuana a very dangerous drug," said Keith Stroup, the founder and lawyer of NORML, a marijuana advocacy group.
"Now, whether they resume the habit of smoking or whether they simply understand that it's no big deal and that it shouldn't be a crime, in large numbers they're on our side of the issue."
Each night, 66-year-old Stroup says he sits down to the evening news, pours himself a glass of wine and rolls a joint. He's used the drug since he was a freshman at Georgetown, but many older adults are revisiting marijuana after years away.
"The kids are grown, they're out of school, you've got time on your hands and frankly it's a time when you can really enjoy marijuana," Stroup said. "Food tastes better, music sounds better, sex is more enjoyable."
The drug is credited with relieving many problems of aging: aches and pains, glaucoma, macular degeneration, and so on. Patients in 14 states enjoy medical marijuana laws, but those elsewhere buy or grow the drug illegally to ease their conditions.
Among them is Perry Parks, 67, of Rockingham, N.C., a retired Army pilot who suffered crippling pain from degenerative disc disease and arthritis. He had tried all sorts of drugs, from Vioxx to epidural steroids, but found little success. About two years ago he turned to marijuana, which he first had tried in college, and was amazed how well it worked for the pain.
"I realized I could get by without the narcotics," Parks said, referring to prescription painkillers. "I am essentially pain free."
But there's also the risk that health problems already faced by older people can be exacerbated by regular marijuana use.
Older users could be at risk for falls if they become dizzy, smoking it increases the risk of heart disease and it can cause congnitive impairment, said Dr. William Dale, chief of geriatrics and palliative medicine at the University of Chicago Medical Center.
He said he'd caution against using it even if a patient cites benefits.
"There are other better ways to achieve the same effects," he said.
Pete Delany, director of applied studies at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, said boomers' drug use defied stereotypes, but is important to address.
"When you think about people who are 50 and older you don't generally think of them as using illicit drugs — the occasional Hunter Thompson or the kind of hippie dippie guy that gets a lot of press maybe," he said. "As a nation, it's important to us to say, 'It's not just young people using drugs it's older people using drugs.'"
In conversations, older marijuana users often say they smoke in less social settings than when they were younger, frequently preferring to enjoy the drug privately. They say the quality (and price) of the drug has increased substantially since their youth and they aren't as paranoid about using it.
Dennis Day, a 61-year-old attorney in Columbus, Ohio, said when he used to get high, he wore dark glasses to disguise his red eyes, feared talking to people on the street and worried about encountering police. With age, he says, any drawbacks to the drug have disappeared.
"My eyes no longer turn red, I no longer get the munchies," Day said. "The primary drawbacks to me now are legal."
Siegel bucks the trend as someone who was well into her 50s before she tried pot for the first time. She can muster only one frustration with the drug.
"I never learned how to roll a joint," she said. "It's just a big nuisance. It's much easier to fill a pipe."
Citigroup Warns Customers It May Refuse To Allow Withdrawals
http://www.businessinsider.com/citigroup-warns-customers-it-may-refuse-to-allow-withdrawals-2010-2
John Carney | Feb. 19, 2010, 2:57 PM | 49,773 | 41
PrintTags: Financial Services, Banks, Wall Street, Citi
The image of banks locking their doors to keep customers from making withdrawals during a bank run is what immediately came to mind when we heard that Citigroup was telling customers it has the right to prevent any withdrawals from checking accounts for seven days.
"Effective April 1, 2010, we reserve the right to require (7) days advance notice before permitting a withdrawal from all checking accounts. While we do not currently exercise this right and have not exercised it in the past, we are required by law to notify you of this change," Citigroup said on statements received by customers all over the country.
What's going on? It seems that this is something of an error. The seven day notice policy only applies to customers in Texas, Ira Stoll reports at The Future of Capitalism. It was accidentally included on customer statements nationwide.
"Whatever the explanation, it doesn't exactly inspire confidence in Citi," Stoll writes. "But it's hard to believe a bank would be sending out a notice like that on its statements."
UPDATE: According to Stoll, Citi issued a statement saying that it has been required to make this change by Federal regulations--and it no longer sounds like it's limited to Texas:
Update: Citibank has now released the following statement by way of explanation: "When Citibank moved to unlimited FDIC coverage in 2009, we had to reclassify many checking accounts to allow for immediate withdrawals in order to ensure all customers qualified for the additional coverage. When we moved back to standard FDIC coverage with most major banks in 2010, Citibank decided to reclassify those accounts back to make them eligible again for promotional incentives. To do so, Federal Reserve Reg D requires these accounts, called NOW accounts, to reserve the right to require a 7-day notice of withdrawal. We recently communicated this technical requirement to our customers. However, we have never exercised this right and have no plans to do so in the future."
Bonus: 10 Ways Your Credit Card Company Can Still Screw You >
Gonorrhea Lectim
Beware of your friends that may be infected with this disease
Gonorrhea Lectim
The Center for Disease Control has issued a warning about a new virulent strain of this old disease.
The disease is called Gonorrhea Lectim. It's pronounced "Gonna re-elect 'I'm."
The deadly disease is contracted through dangerous and high risk behavior involving putting your cranium up your rectum.
Many victims contracted it in 2008 ..... But now most people after having been infected for the past year are starting to realize how destructive this sickness is. It's sad because it is so easily cured with a new procedure just coming on the market called Votemout (Vo-tem-out)!
You take the first dose/step in 2010 and the second dosage in
2012 and simply don't engage in such behavior again, otherwise it could become permanent and eventually wipe out all life as we know it in this Country.
Several states are already on top of this like Virginia and New Jersey, and now Massachusetts with many more seeing the writing on the wall and recognizing the extreme risk of this thoughtless behavior.
Gonorrhea Lectim
Beware of your friends that may be infected with this disease
Gonorrhea Lectim
The Center for Disease Control has issued a warning about a new virulent strain of this old disease.
The disease is called Gonorrhea Lectim. It's pronounced "Gonna re-elect 'I'm."
The deadly disease is contracted through dangerous and high risk behavior involving putting your cranium up your rectum.
Many victims contracted it in 2008 ..... But now most people after having been infected for the past year are starting to realize how destructive this sickness is. It's sad because it is so easily cured with a new procedure just coming on the market called Votemout (Vo-tem-out)!
You take the first dose/step in 2010 and the second dosage in
2012 and simply don't engage in such behavior again, otherwise it could become permanent and eventually wipe out all life as we know it in this Country.
Several states are already on top of this like Virginia and New Jersey, and now Massachusetts with many more seeing the writing on the wall and recognizing the extreme risk of this thoughtless behavior.
Food Stamps Create Jobs… in India
Several States With High Unemployment Are Outsourcing Food Stamp Services
By SCOTT MAYEROWITZ
ABC NEWS Business Unit
April 29, 2009
Michele Brown has seen Americans' struggles with jobs first hand. She lives in hard-hit Florida, spent 20 years in the real estate business and recently had her days as a nanny cut back after her boss had his own hours reduced.
Several states with high unemployment rates are outsourcing their food stamp services to call centers in India, angering many residents. Michele Brown learned about Florida's outsourcing when she called regarding a problem with her benefits.
(ABC News Photo Illustration)But nothing prepared her for what happened one day when she called a toll-free line to inquire about her food stamps.
"The woman who answered the phone -- it's not like she wasn't nice or anything -- but it was kind of evident that she wasn't in the States," Brown said.
It turns out the woman was at a JP Morgan Chase call center in India.
"That really put me over the edge," said Brown, 52, of Jupiter, Fla. "It's not right because we need the work here. People are in a bad way here."
Americans have never liked the idea of jobs going overseas. But for many, it's more offensive when taxpayer dollars -- including those in the federal stimulus plan -- go to create those jobs. And when those jobs deal with food stamps, unemployment insurance and other public benefits, well forgot irony, to many it's just downright plain insulting.
Unemployment in Florida is now 9.7 percent.
"Why is the state of Florida sending these jobs away?" Brown asked. "The thing that really iced it for me, I knew that JP Morgan had gotten bailout funds."
So she called her local politicians and then she reached out to her local newspaper, the Palm Beach Post. The paper did a story two weeks ago about the $50 million Florida paid JP Morgan in the last three years to administer the food stamps distribution.
Those services include 24-hour customer-service call centers. Some of those calls were answered in Bangalore and Gurgaon, India. Others were taken at two U.S. call centers.
The next day the head of the state's Department of Children and Families said something needed to change.
"I don't want any calls going to India," he said. "We need to take care of this."
Click Here for the Latest Business Stories From ABC News
The state now has a commitment from JP Morgan to move all of its calls to the United States, according to Judi Spann, a spokeswoman for the Department of Children and Families.
Florida isn't alone in sending its customer service calls overseas.
There are three major companies that provide debit cards to food stamp recipients: JP Morgan Chase; eFunds, which is now part of Fidelity National Information Services; and Affiliated Computer Services or ACS.
read the rest here...
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/Economy/story?id=7452561
Food Stamps Create Jobs… in India
Several States With High Unemployment Are Outsourcing Food Stamp Services
By SCOTT MAYEROWITZ
ABC NEWS Business Unit
April 29, 2009
Michele Brown has seen Americans' struggles with jobs first hand. She lives in hard-hit Florida, spent 20 years in the real estate business and recently had her days as a nanny cut back after her boss had his own hours reduced.
Several states with high unemployment rates are outsourcing their food stamp services to call centers in India, angering many residents. Michele Brown learned about Florida's outsourcing when she called regarding a problem with her benefits.
(ABC News Photo Illustration)But nothing prepared her for what happened one day when she called a toll-free line to inquire about her food stamps.
"The woman who answered the phone -- it's not like she wasn't nice or anything -- but it was kind of evident that she wasn't in the States," Brown said.
It turns out the woman was at a JP Morgan Chase call center in India.
"That really put me over the edge," said Brown, 52, of Jupiter, Fla. "It's not right because we need the work here. People are in a bad way here."
Americans have never liked the idea of jobs going overseas. But for many, it's more offensive when taxpayer dollars -- including those in the federal stimulus plan -- go to create those jobs. And when those jobs deal with food stamps, unemployment insurance and other public benefits, well forgot irony, to many it's just downright plain insulting.
Unemployment in Florida is now 9.7 percent.
"Why is the state of Florida sending these jobs away?" Brown asked. "The thing that really iced it for me, I knew that JP Morgan had gotten bailout funds."
So she called her local politicians and then she reached out to her local newspaper, the Palm Beach Post. The paper did a story two weeks ago about the $50 million Florida paid JP Morgan in the last three years to administer the food stamps distribution.
Those services include 24-hour customer-service call centers. Some of those calls were answered in Bangalore and Gurgaon, India. Others were taken at two U.S. call centers.
The next day the head of the state's Department of Children and Families said something needed to change.
"I don't want any calls going to India," he said. "We need to take care of this."
Click Here for the Latest Business Stories From ABC News
The state now has a commitment from JP Morgan to move all of its calls to the United States, according to Judi Spann, a spokeswoman for the Department of Children and Families.
Florida isn't alone in sending its customer service calls overseas.
There are three major companies that provide debit cards to food stamp recipients: JP Morgan Chase; eFunds, which is now part of Fidelity National Information Services; and Affiliated Computer Services or ACS.
read the rest here...
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/Economy/story?id=7452561
South Carolina Lawmaker Seeks to Ban Federal Currency
Posted by Brian Montopoli 375 comments Share3326
(scstatehouse.gov)South Carolina Rep. Mike Pitts has introduced legislation that would mandate that gold and silver coins replace federal currency as legal tender in his state.
As the Palmetto Scoop first reported, Pitts, a Republican, introduced legislation this month banning "the unconstitutional substitution of Federal Reserve Notes for silver and gold coin" in South Carolina.
In an interview, Pitts told Hotsheet that he believes that "if the federal government continues to spend money at the rate it's spending money, and if it continues to print money at the rate it's printing money, our economic system is going to collapse."
"The Germans felt their system wouldn't collapse, but it took a wheelbarrow of money to buy a loaf of bread in the 1930s," he said. "The Soviet Union didn't think their system would collapse, but it did. Ours is capable of collapsing also."
The lawmaker believes that a shift to an economy based on gold and silver coins would give the state a "base of currency" should that collapse come. As one expert told the Scoop, however, his bill would likely be ruled unconstitutional because it "violates a perfectly legal and Constitutional federal law, enacted pursuant to the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution, that federal reserve notes are legal tender for all debts public and private."
In addition, since gold and silver regularly fluctuate in value, they could not easily function as stable currency.
But Pitts maintains that his state is better off with something he can hold in his hand and barter with as opposed to federal currency, which he described to the Scoop as "paper with ink on it." He says he resents what he considers the federal government's intrusions on states' rights.
Though he did not offer a timeframe, Pitts told Hotsheet that he anticipates a nationwide economic collapse "if our federal government continues the course it's been traveling under the previous administration and this administration."
http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2010/02/17/politics/politicalhotsheet/entry6217403.shtml
South Carolina Lawmaker Seeks to Ban Federal Currency
Posted by Brian Montopoli 375 comments Share3326
(scstatehouse.gov)South Carolina Rep. Mike Pitts has introduced legislation that would mandate that gold and silver coins replace federal currency as legal tender in his state.
As the Palmetto Scoop first reported, Pitts, a Republican, introduced legislation this month banning "the unconstitutional substitution of Federal Reserve Notes for silver and gold coin" in South Carolina.
In an interview, Pitts told Hotsheet that he believes that "if the federal government continues to spend money at the rate it's spending money, and if it continues to print money at the rate it's printing money, our economic system is going to collapse."
"The Germans felt their system wouldn't collapse, but it took a wheelbarrow of money to buy a loaf of bread in the 1930s," he said. "The Soviet Union didn't think their system would collapse, but it did. Ours is capable of collapsing also."
The lawmaker believes that a shift to an economy based on gold and silver coins would give the state a "base of currency" should that collapse come. As one expert told the Scoop, however, his bill would likely be ruled unconstitutional because it "violates a perfectly legal and Constitutional federal law, enacted pursuant to the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution, that federal reserve notes are legal tender for all debts public and private."
In addition, since gold and silver regularly fluctuate in value, they could not easily function as stable currency.
But Pitts maintains that his state is better off with something he can hold in his hand and barter with as opposed to federal currency, which he described to the Scoop as "paper with ink on it." He says he resents what he considers the federal government's intrusions on states' rights.
Though he did not offer a timeframe, Pitts told Hotsheet that he anticipates a nationwide economic collapse "if our federal government continues the course it's been traveling under the previous administration and this administration."
http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2010/02/17/politics/politicalhotsheet/entry6217403.shtml
Exactly!! I got a case of nausea reading that report. This directly affects me and will destroy a lot of livelihoods, not to mention the destruction of animals in the food chain.
Ugh, will it never end????
Abrupt Change 2012: Problems with the Sun
February 16, 2010
By Ervin Laszlo
Physical changes in the intensity of solar radiation conspire with human impacts to stress the world system. Astronomers have noted that since the 1940s, and particularly since 2003, the Sun has become remarkably turbulent, with the exception of the last year or so. Solar activity is predicted to peak around 2012, creating storms of intensity unprecedented since the 1859 “Carrington event,” when a large solar flare accompanied by a coronal mass ejection flung billions of tons of solar plasma into the Earth’s magnetosphere.
Solar storms, capable of traveling at speeds up to 5 million miles per hour, could knock-out virtually every major technological infrastructure on the planet: transportation, security and emergency response systems, electricity grids, finance, telecommunications, including satellite and other wireless networks, and even household electronic equipment.
The solar storm of 1859 was the most powerful event of its kind in recorded history. On the 1st of September of that year the Sun expelled huge quantities of high-energy protons in a large flare that traveled directly toward the Earth, taking eighteen hours instead of the usual three or four days to reach our planet. It disrupted telegraph systems all over Europe and North America. Fires erupted in telegraph stations due to power surges in the wires; and the northern lights (aurorae borealis) were seen as far south as Florida.
The next solar storm on record, in March of 1989, melted the transformers of the HydroQuebec Power Grid, causing a nine-hour blackout that affected six million people in Canada. And the solar storms that reached the Earth between October 19th and November 7th 2003 disrupted satellites and global communications, air travel, navigation systems, and power grids all over the world. It also affected systems on the International Space Station.
The solar maximum forecast for 2012 could do greater harm than any before, since human life has become much more dependent on the global energy grid. According to “Severe Space Weather Events: Understanding Economic and Societal Impacts,” a National Research Council report issued in the spring of 2009 by the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, another Carrington event would induce ground currents that knock out 300 key transformers within 90 seconds and cut off power for more than 130 million people in the U.S. alone. Its cost could be as high as 2 trillion dollars, and recovery time would be four to ten years. An even worse impact would be felt in China, where the electrical grid is more vulnerable than in the West.
A major solar storm would cause the failure of electric power in most parts of the world. The above cited report of the National Academy of Science claims that this would have catastrophic consequences. People in high-rise apartments, where water has to be pumped up, would be cut off immediately. For most others drinking water would come through the taps for about half a day, but the flow would then cease without electricity to pump it from reservoirs. Transportation systems directly or indirectly dependent on electric power (which means practically all systems) would come to a standstill. Back-up generators would operate at some sites until their fuel ran out. For hospitals that would mean about 72 hours of essential care only services. Without power for heating, cooling and refrigeration, and with a breakdown in the distribution of medicines and pharmaceuticals, urban population would begin to die back within days.
Scientists forecast yet another disruptive event for the end of 2012: breaches in the Earth’s magnetic field. In the past this field protected living systems from the effects of solar storms and coronal mass ejections. Lately the magnetic field has diminished in intensity and holes and gaps have appeared. Scientists in South Africa measured cracks in the magnetic field the size of California, and in December of 2008 NASA announced that its Themis Project had found a massive breach that would allow a devastating amounts of solar plasma to enter the Earth’s magnetosphere.
The fluctuation of the magnetic field could also lead to the reversal of the planet’s magnetic poles. During the course of reversal the magnetic field would become still weaker, and the danger to life from solar and stellar radiation would greatly increase.
Another scientific report of relevance concerns the entry of our solar system into a highly energized region of space. This turbulent region is making the Sun hotter and stormier and has already caused climate change on other planets. According to Russian scientists the effects on Earth will include an acceleration of the magnetic pole shift, the vertical and horizontal distribution of ozone, and an increase in the frequency and magnitude of extreme climate events.
There is solid scientific evidence backing up the prophecy that the end of 2012 will be a turbulent epoch. Will we be ready for the abrupt shifts and disruptions it will bring, and ready to seize the opportunities that will open in their wake? We must now face this question. The answer to it is not yet in, but one thing is certain: we must wake up to both to the dangers and to the opportunities of the “WorldShift 2012” awaiting us.
http://ervinlaszlo.com/?p=151
Abrupt Change 2012: Problems with the Sun
February 16, 2010
By Ervin Laszlo
Physical changes in the intensity of solar radiation conspire with human impacts to stress the world system. Astronomers have noted that since the 1940s, and particularly since 2003, the Sun has become remarkably turbulent, with the exception of the last year or so. Solar activity is predicted to peak around 2012, creating storms of intensity unprecedented since the 1859 “Carrington event,” when a large solar flare accompanied by a coronal mass ejection flung billions of tons of solar plasma into the Earth’s magnetosphere.
Solar storms, capable of traveling at speeds up to 5 million miles per hour, could knock-out virtually every major technological infrastructure on the planet: transportation, security and emergency response systems, electricity grids, finance, telecommunications, including satellite and other wireless networks, and even household electronic equipment.
The solar storm of 1859 was the most powerful event of its kind in recorded history. On the 1st of September of that year the Sun expelled huge quantities of high-energy protons in a large flare that traveled directly toward the Earth, taking eighteen hours instead of the usual three or four days to reach our planet. It disrupted telegraph systems all over Europe and North America. Fires erupted in telegraph stations due to power surges in the wires; and the northern lights (aurorae borealis) were seen as far south as Florida.
The next solar storm on record, in March of 1989, melted the transformers of the HydroQuebec Power Grid, causing a nine-hour blackout that affected six million people in Canada. And the solar storms that reached the Earth between October 19th and November 7th 2003 disrupted satellites and global communications, air travel, navigation systems, and power grids all over the world. It also affected systems on the International Space Station.
The solar maximum forecast for 2012 could do greater harm than any before, since human life has become much more dependent on the global energy grid. According to “Severe Space Weather Events: Understanding Economic and Societal Impacts,” a National Research Council report issued in the spring of 2009 by the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, another Carrington event would induce ground currents that knock out 300 key transformers within 90 seconds and cut off power for more than 130 million people in the U.S. alone. Its cost could be as high as 2 trillion dollars, and recovery time would be four to ten years. An even worse impact would be felt in China, where the electrical grid is more vulnerable than in the West.
A major solar storm would cause the failure of electric power in most parts of the world. The above cited report of the National Academy of Science claims that this would have catastrophic consequences. People in high-rise apartments, where water has to be pumped up, would be cut off immediately. For most others drinking water would come through the taps for about half a day, but the flow would then cease without electricity to pump it from reservoirs. Transportation systems directly or indirectly dependent on electric power (which means practically all systems) would come to a standstill. Back-up generators would operate at some sites until their fuel ran out. For hospitals that would mean about 72 hours of essential care only services. Without power for heating, cooling and refrigeration, and with a breakdown in the distribution of medicines and pharmaceuticals, urban population would begin to die back within days.
Scientists forecast yet another disruptive event for the end of 2012: breaches in the Earth’s magnetic field. In the past this field protected living systems from the effects of solar storms and coronal mass ejections. Lately the magnetic field has diminished in intensity and holes and gaps have appeared. Scientists in South Africa measured cracks in the magnetic field the size of California, and in December of 2008 NASA announced that its Themis Project had found a massive breach that would allow a devastating amounts of solar plasma to enter the Earth’s magnetosphere.
The fluctuation of the magnetic field could also lead to the reversal of the planet’s magnetic poles. During the course of reversal the magnetic field would become still weaker, and the danger to life from solar and stellar radiation would greatly increase.
Another scientific report of relevance concerns the entry of our solar system into a highly energized region of space. This turbulent region is making the Sun hotter and stormier and has already caused climate change on other planets. According to Russian scientists the effects on Earth will include an acceleration of the magnetic pole shift, the vertical and horizontal distribution of ozone, and an increase in the frequency and magnitude of extreme climate events.
There is solid scientific evidence backing up the prophecy that the end of 2012 will be a turbulent epoch. Will we be ready for the abrupt shifts and disruptions it will bring, and ready to seize the opportunities that will open in their wake? We must now face this question. The answer to it is not yet in, but one thing is certain: we must wake up to both to the dangers and to the opportunities of the “WorldShift 2012” awaiting us.
http://ervinlaszlo.com/?p=151
Help Now and Say No to Genetically Modified Alfalfa
Tuesday, February 16, 2010 by: Ethan Huff, citizen journalist
http://www.naturalnews.com/028173_GM_foods_alfalfa.html
(NaturalNews) In 2006, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) approved Monsanto's genetically modified (GM), "Roundup Ready" alfalfa without conducting a proper Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). The Center for Food Safety (CFS) and The Cornucopia Institute jointly filed a lawsuit against the USDA decision, requesting that GE alfalfa be prohibited until an EIS was conducted. The lawsuit was won and the USDA eventually produced the report; however, the agency seems to be ignoring all the potential risks and is set to approve GE alfalfa anyway.
Alfalfa is a fundamental source of feed for both organic and non-organic livestock. It is also the fourth most widely grown crop in the U.S. It is concentrated primarily in the Pacific Northwest and Canada where it grows best.
Alfalfa is also a perennial crop and, if approved for genetic modification and release, would be the first in its category. Perennial plants grow continually, lasting throughout the year and persisting indefinitely depending on weather conditions. The negative impact of releasing GE perennials is speculated to be severe due to their natural growth tendencies.
If planted, fragments of GE alfalfa will eventually escape and contaminate nearby fields with pollen, spawning a host of new GE alfalfa plants all over the place where they should not be. Since alfalfa is open-pollinated by bees, which can travel upwards of six miles from their home, widespread biological contamination is sure to take place.
Controlling the growth, pollination, and proliferation patterns of GE crops is simply impossible; there is no way to protect non-GE plants and fields from being contaminated with patented DNA by natural forces and insect life.
GE crops are also known to foster pesticide-induced bacteria and "superweeds" that end up plaguing fields. Each year, superweeds become more virulent as they grow increasingly resistant to pesticides and herbicides that are designed to protect GE crops from infestation. Harmful bacteria colonies also infiltrate the root systems of GE plants, disrupting delicate soil compositions and wreaking havoc within the natural ecosystem.
According to experts, the entire $25 billion organic industry is at risk from GE alfalfa. If not stopped, the entire alfalfa industry will take a huge hit in and of itself. Because farmers will no longer be able to ensure the integrity of their alfalfa crops, they could potentially lose all export contracts with countries that oppose genetic modification. In time, all alfalfa besides Monsanto's GE variety could become extinct.
The USDA is receiving public comments concerning Monsanto's GE alfalfa until February 16. Comments can be submitted online at the U.S. Government Regulations input page.
Written correspondence can be submitted to:
Docket No. APHIS-2007-0044
Regulatory Analysis and Development, PPD
APHIS, Station 3A-03.8
4700 River Road Unit 118
Riverdale, MD 20737-1238
Please be sure to include Docket No. APHIS-2007-0044 at the top of all written or electronic comments so the agency will know to which issue they apply.
Sources:
ACTION ALERT: Genetically Modified Alfalfa Threatens Organic Agriculture - The Cornucopia Institute
Speak Out on Genetically Engineered Alfalfa - Organic Valley Cooperative
Glyphosate-Tolerant Alfalfa Events J101 and J163: Request for Nonregulated Status - USDA
Help Now and Say No to Genetically Modified Alfalfa
Tuesday, February 16, 2010 by: Ethan Huff, citizen journalist
http://www.naturalnews.com/028173_GM_foods_alfalfa.html
(NaturalNews) In 2006, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) approved Monsanto's genetically modified (GM), "Roundup Ready" alfalfa without conducting a proper Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). The Center for Food Safety (CFS) and The Cornucopia Institute jointly filed a lawsuit against the USDA decision, requesting that GE alfalfa be prohibited until an EIS was conducted. The lawsuit was won and the USDA eventually produced the report; however, the agency seems to be ignoring all the potential risks and is set to approve GE alfalfa anyway.
Alfalfa is a fundamental source of feed for both organic and non-organic livestock. It is also the fourth most widely grown crop in the U.S. It is concentrated primarily in the Pacific Northwest and Canada where it grows best.
Alfalfa is also a perennial crop and, if approved for genetic modification and release, would be the first in its category. Perennial plants grow continually, lasting throughout the year and persisting indefinitely depending on weather conditions. The negative impact of releasing GE perennials is speculated to be severe due to their natural growth tendencies.
If planted, fragments of GE alfalfa will eventually escape and contaminate nearby fields with pollen, spawning a host of new GE alfalfa plants all over the place where they should not be. Since alfalfa is open-pollinated by bees, which can travel upwards of six miles from their home, widespread biological contamination is sure to take place.
Controlling the growth, pollination, and proliferation patterns of GE crops is simply impossible; there is no way to protect non-GE plants and fields from being contaminated with patented DNA by natural forces and insect life.
GE crops are also known to foster pesticide-induced bacteria and "superweeds" that end up plaguing fields. Each year, superweeds become more virulent as they grow increasingly resistant to pesticides and herbicides that are designed to protect GE crops from infestation. Harmful bacteria colonies also infiltrate the root systems of GE plants, disrupting delicate soil compositions and wreaking havoc within the natural ecosystem.
According to experts, the entire $25 billion organic industry is at risk from GE alfalfa. If not stopped, the entire alfalfa industry will take a huge hit in and of itself. Because farmers will no longer be able to ensure the integrity of their alfalfa crops, they could potentially lose all export contracts with countries that oppose genetic modification. In time, all alfalfa besides Monsanto's GE variety could become extinct.
The USDA is receiving public comments concerning Monsanto's GE alfalfa until February 16. Comments can be submitted online at the U.S. Government Regulations input page.
Written correspondence can be submitted to:
Docket No. APHIS-2007-0044
Regulatory Analysis and Development, PPD
APHIS, Station 3A-03.8
4700 River Road Unit 118
Riverdale, MD 20737-1238
Please be sure to include Docket No. APHIS-2007-0044 at the top of all written or electronic comments so the agency will know to which issue they apply.
Sources:
ACTION ALERT: Genetically Modified Alfalfa Threatens Organic Agriculture - The Cornucopia Institute
Speak Out on Genetically Engineered Alfalfa - Organic Valley Cooperative
Glyphosate-Tolerant Alfalfa Events J101 and J163: Request for Nonregulated Status - USDA
Congrats!! Let the countdown begin!
Arizona Sheriff, U.S. in Standoff Over Immigration Enforcement
By MIRIAM JORDAN
An Arizona sheriff said he planned to defy Washington's attempts to roll back his staunch enforcement of federal immigration law, a move that could put him on a collision course with the U.S. government.
Late last year, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the largest arm of the Department of Homeland Security, stripped Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio of the authority to use 100 of his deputies to enforce federal immigration in his jurisdiction, which includes Phoenix. The customs agency took the action because Mr. Arpaio's aggressive immigration crackdowns had drawn criticism from human-rights groups and had run afoul of the U.S. Justice Department, which is investigating whether he has used racial profiling and abused his authority.
In an interview this week, Mr. Arpaio said he would ignore Washington's effort to clip his powers and would train all of his 881 deputies to enforce federal immigration law on the streets.
"We have the inherent right to enforce federal immigration law," Mr. Arpaio said. "If Washington doesn't like it, I recommend they change the laws."
Asked about Mr. Arpaio's plans for reinstating street-level immigration enforcement, an ICE spokesman in Arizona said: "Sheriff Arpaio's efforts to conduct immigration-enforcement actions do not derive from any ICE-delegated federal authority."
The dispute stems from a provision called 287g, a federal program that enlists and trains local police to identify suspected illegal-immigrant criminals in jails and on the streets. The program was intended to target serious criminals. However, it was criticized for promoting racial profiling and serving as an excuse for local law-enforcement officers to hunt down illegal immigrants.(What?????) Mr. Arpaio gained notoriety for his tactics.
The Obama administration sought to rein in the 287g program as part of a broader effort to retool the ICE, which became known in recent years for raiding companies and rounding up illegal workers. The administration has been taking steps to tone down the agency's image as a hard-edged enforcer.
When it attempted to curtail Mr. Arpaio's authority, Washington limited his deputies' ability to verify the immigration status of people in the streets during the course of duty. The deputies still retain the authority to check the status of people booked into Maricopa County jails.
"Since the Department of Homeland Security took away 100 of our federally trained deputies…we are going to train every sworn deputy to teach them how to enforce state and federal immigration laws," the sheriff said in a telephone interview.
The course, which will mainly be taught via computer, will equip deputy sheriffs to "recognize…immigration violations" in the course of duty, Mr. Arpaio said.
Mr. Arpaio has partnered with Kris Kobach, a law professor who has gained prominence as a national advocate for stricter measures against illegal immigrants.
Mr. Arpaio said "we don't engage in racial profiling." He noted that the training for his deputies would include a lesson on how to avoid the practice.
Write to Miriam Jordan at Miriam.Jordan@wsj.com
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703455804575057650062572536.html?mod=WSJ_WSJ_US_News_5
Beware - Aspartame Has Been Renamed 'AminoSweet' and Is Being Marketed as a 'Natural' Sweetener!
{OT, but not really OT, because if you're not aware of this garbage you should be. No sense growing your own healthy food and then sweetening it with poison...)
February 12, 2010
By Ethan Huff, citizen journalist
NaturalNews
In response to growing awareness about the dangers of artificial sweeteners, what does the manufacturer of one of the world's most notable artificial sweeteners do? Why, rename it and begin marketing it as natural, of course. This is precisely the strategy of Ajinomoto, maker of aspartame, which hopes to pull the wool over the eyes of the public with its rebranded version of aspartame, called "AminoSweet".
Photo: Just some of the thousands of products containing the artificial sweetener aspartame. The UK's The Food Standards Agency is calling for volunteers to help test claims that the artificial sweetener aspartame, used in more than 4,000 products, causes illnesses (Graham Turner/Guardian)
Over 25 years ago, aspartame was first introduced into the European food supply. Today, it is an everyday component of most diet beverages, sugar-free desserts, and chewing gums in countries worldwide. But the tides have been turning as the general public is waking up to the truth about artificial sweeteners like aspartame and the harm they cause to health. The latest aspartame marketing scheme is a desperate effort to indoctrinate the public into accepting the chemical sweetener as natural and safe, despite evidence to the contrary.
Aspartame was an accidental discovery by James Schlatter, a chemist who had been trying to produce an anti-ulcer pharmaceutical drug for G.D. Searle & Company back in 1965. Upon mixing aspartic acid and phenylalanine, two naturally-occurring amino acids, he discovered that the new compound had a sweet taste. The company merely changed its FDA approval application from drug to food additive and, voila, aspartame was born.
G.D. Searle & Company first patented aspartame in 1970. An internal memo released in the same year urged company executives to work on getting the FDA into the "habit of saying yes" and of encouraging a "subconscious spirit of participation" in getting the chemical approved.
G.D. Searle & Company submitted its first petition to the FDA in 1973 and fought for years to gain FDA approval, submitting its own safety studies that many believed were inadequate and deceptive. Despite numerous objections, including one from its own scientists, the company was able to convince the FDA to approve aspartame for commercial use in a few products in 1974, igniting a blaze of controversy.
In 1976, then FDA Commissioner Alexander Schmidt wrote a letter to Sen. Ted Kennedy expressing concern over the "questionable integrity of the basic safety data submitted for aspartame safety". FDA Chief Counsel Richard Merrill believed that a grand jury should investigate G.D. Searle & Company for lying about the safety of aspartame in its reports and for concealing evidence proving the chemical is unsafe for consumption.
Despite the myriad of evidence gained over the years showing that aspartame is a dangerous toxin, it has remained on the global market with the exception of a few countries that have banned it. In fact, it continued to gain approval for use in new types of food despite evidence showing that it causes neurological brain damage, cancerous tumors, and endocrine disruption, among other things.
The details of aspartame's history are lengthy, but the point remains that the carcinogen was illegitimately approved as a food additive through heavy-handed prodding by a powerful corporation with its own interests in mind. Practically all drugs and food additives are approved by the FDA not because science shows they are safe but because companies essentially lobby the FDA with monetary payoffs and complete the agency's multi-million dollar approval process.
Changing aspartame's name to something that is "appealing and memorable", in Ajinomoto's own words, may hoodwink some but hopefully most will reject this clever marketing tactic as nothing more than a desperate attempt to preserve the company's multi-billion dollar cash cow. Do not be deceived.
Sources
Ajinomoto brands aspartame 'AminoSweet' - http://www.foodbev.com/news/ajinomoto-brands-aspartame-aminosweet
Aspartame History Highlights - Janet Starr Hull http://www.sweetpoison.com/articles/0908/aspartame_history.html
FDA's approval of aspartame under scrutiny - The Globe and Mail (Canada) http://www.wnho.net/fdas_approval_of_aspartame_under_scrutiny.pdf
An Overdue Ban On A Dangerous Sweetener - Huffington Post
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/samuel-s-epstein/an-overdue-ban-on-a-dange_b_250249.html
http://www.naturalnews.com/028151_aspartame_sweeteners.html
Beware - Aspartame Has Been Renamed 'AminoSweet' and Is Being Marketed as a 'Natural' Sweetener!
February 12, 2010
By Ethan Huff, citizen journalist
NaturalNews
In response to growing awareness about the dangers of artificial sweeteners, what does the manufacturer of one of the world's most notable artificial sweeteners do? Why, rename it and begin marketing it as natural, of course. This is precisely the strategy of Ajinomoto, maker of aspartame, which hopes to pull the wool over the eyes of the public with its rebranded version of aspartame, called "AminoSweet".
Photo: Just some of the thousands of products containing the artificial sweetener aspartame. The UK's The Food Standards Agency is calling for volunteers to help test claims that the artificial sweetener aspartame, used in more than 4,000 products, causes illnesses (Graham Turner/Guardian)
Over 25 years ago, aspartame was first introduced into the European food supply. Today, it is an everyday component of most diet beverages, sugar-free desserts, and chewing gums in countries worldwide. But the tides have been turning as the general public is waking up to the truth about artificial sweeteners like aspartame and the harm they cause to health. The latest aspartame marketing scheme is a desperate effort to indoctrinate the public into accepting the chemical sweetener as natural and safe, despite evidence to the contrary.
Aspartame was an accidental discovery by James Schlatter, a chemist who had been trying to produce an anti-ulcer pharmaceutical drug for G.D. Searle & Company back in 1965. Upon mixing aspartic acid and phenylalanine, two naturally-occurring amino acids, he discovered that the new compound had a sweet taste. The company merely changed its FDA approval application from drug to food additive and, voila, aspartame was born.
G.D. Searle & Company first patented aspartame in 1970. An internal memo released in the same year urged company executives to work on getting the FDA into the "habit of saying yes" and of encouraging a "subconscious spirit of participation" in getting the chemical approved.
G.D. Searle & Company submitted its first petition to the FDA in 1973 and fought for years to gain FDA approval, submitting its own safety studies that many believed were inadequate and deceptive. Despite numerous objections, including one from its own scientists, the company was able to convince the FDA to approve aspartame for commercial use in a few products in 1974, igniting a blaze of controversy.
In 1976, then FDA Commissioner Alexander Schmidt wrote a letter to Sen. Ted Kennedy expressing concern over the "questionable integrity of the basic safety data submitted for aspartame safety". FDA Chief Counsel Richard Merrill believed that a grand jury should investigate G.D. Searle & Company for lying about the safety of aspartame in its reports and for concealing evidence proving the chemical is unsafe for consumption.
Despite the myriad of evidence gained over the years showing that aspartame is a dangerous toxin, it has remained on the global market with the exception of a few countries that have banned it. In fact, it continued to gain approval for use in new types of food despite evidence showing that it causes neurological brain damage, cancerous tumors, and endocrine disruption, among other things.
The details of aspartame's history are lengthy, but the point remains that the carcinogen was illegitimately approved as a food additive through heavy-handed prodding by a powerful corporation with its own interests in mind. Practically all drugs and food additives are approved by the FDA not because science shows they are safe but because companies essentially lobby the FDA with monetary payoffs and complete the agency's multi-million dollar approval process.
Changing aspartame's name to something that is "appealing and memorable", in Ajinomoto's own words, may hoodwink some but hopefully most will reject this clever marketing tactic as nothing more than a desperate attempt to preserve the company's multi-billion dollar cash cow. Do not be deceived.
Sources
Ajinomoto brands aspartame 'AminoSweet' - http://www.foodbev.com/news/ajinomoto-brands-aspartame-aminosweet
Aspartame History Highlights - Janet Starr Hull http://www.sweetpoison.com/articles/0908/aspartame_history.html
FDA's approval of aspartame under scrutiny - The Globe and Mail (Canada) http://www.wnho.net/fdas_approval_of_aspartame_under_scrutiny.pdf
An Overdue Ban On A Dangerous Sweetener - Huffington Post
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/samuel-s-epstein/an-overdue-ban-on-a-dange_b_250249.html
http://www.naturalnews.com/028151_aspartame_sweeteners.html
Beware - Aspartame Has Been Renamed 'AminoSweet' and Is Being Marketed as a 'Natural' Sweetener!
February 12, 2010
By Ethan Huff, citizen journalist
NaturalNews
In response to growing awareness about the dangers of artificial sweeteners, what does the manufacturer of one of the world's most notable artificial sweeteners do? Why, rename it and begin marketing it as natural, of course. This is precisely the strategy of Ajinomoto, maker of aspartame, which hopes to pull the wool over the eyes of the public with its rebranded version of aspartame, called "AminoSweet".
Photo: Just some of the thousands of products containing the artificial sweetener aspartame. The UK's The Food Standards Agency is calling for volunteers to help test claims that the artificial sweetener aspartame, used in more than 4,000 products, causes illnesses (Graham Turner/Guardian)
Over 25 years ago, aspartame was first introduced into the European food supply. Today, it is an everyday component of most diet beverages, sugar-free desserts, and chewing gums in countries worldwide. But the tides have been turning as the general public is waking up to the truth about artificial sweeteners like aspartame and the harm they cause to health. The latest aspartame marketing scheme is a desperate effort to indoctrinate the public into accepting the chemical sweetener as natural and safe, despite evidence to the contrary.
Aspartame was an accidental discovery by James Schlatter, a chemist who had been trying to produce an anti-ulcer pharmaceutical drug for G.D. Searle & Company back in 1965. Upon mixing aspartic acid and phenylalanine, two naturally-occurring amino acids, he discovered that the new compound had a sweet taste. The company merely changed its FDA approval application from drug to food additive and, voila, aspartame was born.
G.D. Searle & Company first patented aspartame in 1970. An internal memo released in the same year urged company executives to work on getting the FDA into the "habit of saying yes" and of encouraging a "subconscious spirit of participation" in getting the chemical approved.
G.D. Searle & Company submitted its first petition to the FDA in 1973 and fought for years to gain FDA approval, submitting its own safety studies that many believed were inadequate and deceptive. Despite numerous objections, including one from its own scientists, the company was able to convince the FDA to approve aspartame for commercial use in a few products in 1974, igniting a blaze of controversy.
In 1976, then FDA Commissioner Alexander Schmidt wrote a letter to Sen. Ted Kennedy expressing concern over the "questionable integrity of the basic safety data submitted for aspartame safety". FDA Chief Counsel Richard Merrill believed that a grand jury should investigate G.D. Searle & Company for lying about the safety of aspartame in its reports and for concealing evidence proving the chemical is unsafe for consumption.
Despite the myriad of evidence gained over the years showing that aspartame is a dangerous toxin, it has remained on the global market with the exception of a few countries that have banned it. In fact, it continued to gain approval for use in new types of food despite evidence showing that it causes neurological brain damage, cancerous tumors, and endocrine disruption, among other things.
The details of aspartame's history are lengthy, but the point remains that the carcinogen was illegitimately approved as a food additive through heavy-handed prodding by a powerful corporation with its own interests in mind. Practically all drugs and food additives are approved by the FDA not because science shows they are safe but because companies essentially lobby the FDA with monetary payoffs and complete the agency's multi-million dollar approval process.
Changing aspartame's name to something that is "appealing and memorable", in Ajinomoto's own words, may hoodwink some but hopefully most will reject this clever marketing tactic as nothing more than a desperate attempt to preserve the company's multi-billion dollar cash cow. Do not be deceived.
Sources
Ajinomoto brands aspartame 'AminoSweet' - http://www.foodbev.com/news/ajinomoto-brands-aspartame-aminosweet
Aspartame History Highlights - Janet Starr Hull http://www.sweetpoison.com/articles/0908/aspartame_history.html
FDA's approval of aspartame under scrutiny - The Globe and Mail (Canada) http://www.wnho.net/fdas_approval_of_aspartame_under_scrutiny.pdf
An Overdue Ban On A Dangerous Sweetener - Huffington Post
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/samuel-s-epstein/an-overdue-ban-on-a-dange_b_250249.html
http://www.naturalnews.com/028151_aspartame_sweeteners.html
Meteorite Hits Mexico Leaving 30 Meter Crater
February 11, 2010
By Newsolio Editor
A meteorite has smashed into the ground in Mexico, leaving a 30 meter (100 feet) wide crater, reports said.
The meteorite impact was in the Ahuazotepec Municipality in Central Mexico between the cities of Puebla and Hidalgo.
The precise impact area of the meteorite was in a relatively unpopulated area and hit around 6.30pm local time, Mexican media said.
The Ahuazotepec, Mexico meteorite impact was so massive it broke windows in homes many kilometers from the epicenter and people reported buildings swaying and mass confusion. Other reports said the Mexico meteorite impact partially damaged a road and a bridge.
The Mexican military was called in to lock down the area where the apparent space rock slammed into the ground.
Initial fears where that the impact was a aircraft crashing to the ground, but that report was later dismissed.
The Central Mexico meteorite event was witnessed by countless people in the region of the impact, with people as far away as Mexico City saying they saw the burning object enter the atmosphere.
Article © Crazy News Media – All Rights Reserved.
http://newsolio.com/meteor-hits-mexico-leaving-30-meter-crater-in-ahuazotepec-municipality,5224
I've posted reports about this before. Just wasn't aware of how widespread the practice was.
Click on the link and view the stats for each state. Nauseating.
The government has your baby's DNA
By Elizabeth Cohen, CNN Senior Medical Correspondent
February 4, 2010 -- Updated 1411 GMT (2211 HKT)
http://edition.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/02/04/baby.dna.government/index.html?hpt=C2
Anne Brown worries that someone could gain access to the DNA sample from her daughter Isabel with Isabel's name attached.STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Genetic testing for newborns started in the 1960s
Specimens are often given to outside researchers
Scientists have said the collection of DNA samples is a "gold mine" for doing research
(CNN) -- When Annie Brown's daughter, Isabel, was a month old, her pediatrician asked Brown and her husband to sit down because he had some bad news to tell them: Isabel carried a gene that put her at risk for cystic fibrosis.
While grateful to have the information -- Isabel received further testing and she doesn't have the disease -- the Mankato, Minnesota, couple wondered how the doctor knew about Isabel's genes in the first place. After all, they'd never consented to genetic testing.
It's simple, the pediatrician answered: Newborn babies in the United States are routinely screened for a panel of genetic diseases. Since the testing is mandated by the government, it's often done without the parents' consent, according to Brad Therrell, director of the National Newborn Screening & Genetics Resource Center.
In many states, such as Florida, where Isabel was born, babies' DNA is stored indefinitely, according to the resource center.
Many parents don't realize their baby's DNA is being stored in a government lab, but sometimes when they find out, as the Browns did, they take action. Parents in Texas, and Minnesota have filed lawsuits, and these parents' concerns are sparking a new debate about whether it's appropriate for a baby's genetic blueprint to be in the government's possession.
"We were appalled when we found out," says Brown, who's a registered nurse. "Why do they need to store my baby's DNA indefinitely? Something on there could affect her ability to get a job later on, or get health insurance."
According to the state of Minnesota's Web site, samples are kept so that tests can be repeated, if necessary, and in case the DNA is ever need to help parents identify a missing or deceased child. The samples are also used for medical research.
Video: Government has your baby's DNA Art Caplan, a bioethicist at the University of Pennsylvania, says he understands why states don't first ask permission to screen babies for genetic diseases. "It's paternalistic, but the state has an overriding interest in protecting these babies," he says.
However, he added that storage of DNA for long periods of time is a different matter.
"I don't see any reason to do that kind of storage," Caplan says. "If it's anonymous, then I don't care. I don't have an issue with that. But if you keep names attached to those samples, that makes me nervous."
DNA given to outside researchers
Genetic testing for newborns started in the 1960s with testing for diseases and conditions that, if undetected, could kill a child or cause severe problems, such as mental retardation. Since then, the screening has helped save countless newborns.
Over the years, many other tests were added to the list. Now, states mandate that newborns be tested for anywhere between 28 and 54 different conditions, and the DNA samples are stored in state labs for anywhere from three months to indefinitely, depending on the state. (To find out how long your baby's DNA is stored, see this state-by-state list.)
Brad Therrell, who runs the federally funded genetic resource consortium, says parents don't need to worry about the privacy of their babies' DNA.
"The states have in place very rigid controls on those specimens," Therrell says. "If my children's DNA were in one of these state labs, I wouldn't be worried a bit."
The specimens don't always stay in the state labs. They're often given to outside researchers -- sometimes with the baby's name attached.
According to a study done by the state of Minnesota, more than 20 scientific papers have been published in the United States since 2000 using newborn blood samples.
The researchers do not have to have parental consent to obtain samples as long as the baby's name is not attached, according to Amy Gaviglio, one of the authors of the Minnesota report. However, she says it's her understanding that if a researcher wants a sample with a baby's name attached, consent first must be obtained from the parents.
More Empowered Patient news and advice
Scientists have heralded this enormous collection of DNA samples as a "gold mine" for doing research, according to Gaviglio.
"This sample population would be virtually impossible to get otherwise," says Gaviglio, a genetic counselor for the Minnesota Department of Health. "Researchers go through a very stringent process to obtain the samples. States certainly don't provide samples to just anyone."
Brown says that even with these assurances, she still worries whether someone could gain access to her baby's DNA sample with Isabel's name attached.
"I know the government says my baby's data will be kept private, but I'm not so sure. I feel like my trust has been taken," she says.
Parents don't give consent to screening
Brown says she first lost trust when she learned that Isabel had received genetic testing in the first place without consent from her or her husband.
"I don't have a problem with the testing, but I wish they'd asked us first," she says.
Since health insurance paid for Isabel's genetic screening, her positive test for a cystic fibrosis gene is now on the record with her insurance company, and the Browns are concerned this could hurt her in the future.
"It's really a black mark against her, and there's nothing we can do to get it off there," Brown says. "And let's say in the future they can test for a gene for schizophrenia or manic-depression and your baby tests positive -- that would be on there, too."
Brown says if the hospital had first asked her permission to test Isabel, now 10 months old, she might have chosen to pay for it out of pocket so the results wouldn't be known to the insurance company.
Caplan says taking DNA samples without asking permission and then storing them "veers from the norm."
"In the military, for instance, they take and store DNA samples, but they tell you they're doing it, and you can choose not to join if you don't like it," he says.
What can parents do
In some states, including Minnesota and Texas, the states are required to destroy a baby's DNA sample if a parent requests it. Parents who want their baby's DNA destroyed are asked to fill out this form in Minnesota and this form in Texas.
Parents in other states have less recourse, says Therrell, who runs the genetic testing group. "You'd probably have to write a letter to the state saying, 'Please destroy my sample,'" he says.
He adds, however, that it's not clear whether a state would necessarily obey your wishes. "I suspect it would be very difficult to get those states to destroy your baby's sample," he says.