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Freedom Watch February 22, 2011 edition - Judge Nap starts by making the libertarian argument debating a democrat on the union issue. Charlie Rangel, Steven Malanga, Ernest Istook, Tom Palmer, more..
Does Gates funding of media taint objectivity?
Snippet: "The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, a health-care think tank, has received nearly $20 million from Gates to provide global health information and analysis"
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2014280379_gatesmedia.html
Rahm Emanuel wins Chicago mayor race
(There goes the neighborhood)
Rahm Emanuel won the Chicago mayor's race Tuesday night, gaining well over the 50% he needed to avoid a runoff, according to unofficial returns.
With 87% of the precincts counted, Emanuel held just under 55% of the vote. His nearest competitor, Gery Chico, had 24%. Both CNN and the Associated Press called the election for Emanuel, who was President Obama's chief of staff until he resigned to run for mayor after Richard M. Daley announced he would not seek reelection.
Daley wasn't on the ballot for the first time since 1989. He'll leave office May 16 when Emanuel is sworn in.
If Emanuel had failed to win a majority, he would have faced a runoff in April.
Turnout hovered beneath 40%, according to Chicago's Board of Election Commissioners. A low turnout favored highly an organized, well-financed campaign like Emanuel's.
http://www.latimes.com/news/custom/la-naw-chicago-election-20110223,0,6238685.story
http://www.corbettreport.com/mp3/episode172_meet_rahm_emanuel.mp3
Tool - Aenema
(explicit)
Hopefully all this attention will wake more people up to how bad the entire system is.
"The Democrats are the party that says government will make you smarter, taller, richer, and remove the crabgrass on your lawn. The Republicans are the party that says government doesn't work and then they get elected and prove it."
- P.J. O'Rourke
The White Hat Report #12
We again feel it's very important to post an internal updated report. We are spending a lot of time collecting intelligence and what follows is an outline of what we know so far.
Josef Ackermann, Bush Senior and Deutsche Bank in collusion with Egypt's Mubarak, illegally sent Mubarak's substantial funds into Israel. The funds were moved into numbered accounts in Bank Leumi, Tel Aviv. Part of this money is EU funding from the G20 World Bank Aid Program allocated for Egypt to aid its economy. Since a lot of gold was stolen, the total figure of funds is estimated to be as high as $70B. The G20 and Egypt are victims of fraud, stolen funds and money laundering.
Christine Legard, the French Finance Minister, has asked Interpol to investigate Deutsche Bank’s involvement in the movement of Mubarak's funds, set up by James Baker, John Podesta and Josef Ackermann, acting for Bush Senior who each got large kickbacks. Other parties associated includes President Obama, Hillary Clinton, Bush Junior, Jeb Bush, Josef Ackermann, and Benjamin Netinyahu.
Some of Mubarak's funds were originally in Deutsche Bank and others. Also, major funds were represented in Property Trusts fronted by his son and nominees in London. Swiss Bank funds, planes loaded with cash and Gold, have been identified by the Egyptian authorities. All are now under investigation and will be frozen as confirmed.
Josef Ackermann, the Bushs (Senior, Junior, Jeb ...) and Deutsche Bank in collusion with President Obama, moved Obama's $1,000,000,000 Dollars, reported previously in Santander Bank, Spain, in one tranche into Deutsche Bank and then again in conjunction with HSBC and Barclays Bank Europe. Obama's corrupt use of his share of the stolen Falcone funds is now being lined up for a new Bank Trading Platform being set up with HSBC, Deutsche and Barclays Bank. Bush Senior will take the major profit share along with Josef Ackermann, for which Obama will be left in place until 2012. Is this Obama's golden parachute?
Except for the Clintons, all the funds previously reported and again listed below have been moved out of the Vatican Bank. At this time the Clintons have moved half of their funds out of the Vatican Bank.
List of Government Officials sent to the Supreme Court benefiting in the blocking of Falcone's Funds;
President Obama:Vatican Bank:One Billion
President Obama:Bank of Santander:One Billion
Vice President Joseph Biden Vatican Bank $100 Million
Tim Geithner:Vatican Bank:$700 Million
George Bush, Sr.:Vatican Bank:$700 Million
George Bush, Jr.:Vatican Bank:$200 Million
Alan Greenspan:Vatican Bank:$500 Million
Mitt Romney:Vatican Bank:$400 Million
Paul Guennette (associate of Bush, Sr.):Vatican Bank:$700 Million
Michael Herzog:Vatican Bank:$500 Million
Bill & Hillary Clinton:Vatican Bank:$400 Million
* Tropo USA is now approaching the Bank of Taiwan and China to cross investigate the stolen $700B of ACAT funds.
We are tracking this information with a lot of Global support from varying Intel Agencies and low profile US agency staff, along with Patriots who are sick of these Political and Banking criminals conspiring and looting with impunity. We know the holding banks and trading banks. Soon we expect the names of the Traders involved, who will then be exposed, investigated and arrested. Mass litigation will erupt against the Trading Banks involved and money laundering charges will be brought. The Bush's, Obama, Ackermann, Herzog, Baker and others are all now on a serious Watch List. We are building a full Global corruption list to expose them all, reaching back again to Geithner, Biden, the Bush's, Romney, Clinton, Emanuel, Herzog, Ackermann, and so many others.
The Arab world is bringing down their tyrants and crooks. Bush Senior, his entire crooked network of Government officials, Bankers, and Politicians is coming down next.
At this time we have collected approximately 60% of the information on where these corrupt individuals and government officials have moved their funds from the Vatican Bank. In the next few days, we will continue to report the location of these illegal and stolen funds. When confirmed, this information is supplied to the proper authorities.
The core objective of the White Hats is to inform and advise America’s population, and Global associates, of the transgressions being perpetrated by our governing entities, and their criminal Banking Cabal. Naming, shaming, outing and exposing them as the only voice of the people. Doing the job of our corrupt and shamefully sold out mainstream media. The US economy and World recovery is delayed while this corrupt President, controlled by the Bushes, dithers and obfuscates on redeeming the long overdue Settlements and Primary Investors funds, while filling his own pockets with Billions of dollars. The silence of the Supreme Court says it all. Truth they dare not declare. The world sees and knows. Truth will break free, and then watch the consequences.
http://tdarkcabal.blogspot.com/2011/02/white-hat-report-12-february-22-2011.html
I run into the same thing, particularly with older people, like not believing what's going on will somehow buy them time.
Fallacy: Appeal to Consequences of a Belief
Includes: Wishful Thinking
Description of Appeal to Consequences of a Belief
The Appeal to the Consequences of a Belief is a fallacy that comes in the following patterns:
1. X is true because if people did not accept X as being true then there would be negative consequences.
2. X is false because if people did not accept X as being false, then there would be negative consequences.
3. X is true because accepting that X is true has positive consequences.
4. X is false because accepting that X is false has positive consequences.
5. I wish that X were true, therefore X is true. This is known as Wishful Thinking.
6. I wish that X were false, therefore X is false. This is known as Wishful Thinking.
This line of "reasoning" is fallacious because the consequences of a belief have no bearing on whether the belief is true or false. For example, if someone were to say "If sixteen-headed purple unicorns don't exist, then I would be miserable, so they must exist" it would be clear that this would not be a good line of reasoning. It is important to note that the consequences in question are the consequences that stem from the belief. It is important to distinguish between a rational reason to believe (RRB) (evidence) and a prudential reason to believe (PRB) (motivation). A RRB is evidence that objectively and logically supports the claim. A PRB is a reason to accept the belief because of some external factor (such as fear, a threat, or a benefit or harm that may stem from the belief) that is relevant to what a person values but is not relevant to the truth or falsity of the claim.
The nature of the fallacy is especially clear in the case of Wishful thinking. Obviously, merely wishing that something is true does not make it true. This fallacy differs from the Appeal to Belief fallacy in that the Appeal to Belief involves taking a claim that most people believe that X is true to be evidence for X being true.
http://www.nizkor.org/features/fallacies/appeal-to-consequences.html
Why Nobody Trusts the Mainstream Media
Parents can't sue drug firms when vaccines cause harm, Supreme Court says
A federal law grants drug companies immunity from certain lawsuits from injuries or deaths tied to vaccines, the US Supreme Court affirmed Tuesday.
Washington
The family of an infant who allegedly suffered a severe reaction to a vaccine may not sue the drugmaker for failing to update the vaccine with a newer, safer version, the US Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday.
In a 6-to-2 decision, the high court said Russell and Robalee Bruesewitz’s lawsuit was preempted under the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986. The law grants drug companies immunity from certain lawsuits from injuries or deaths tied to vaccinations.
“We hold that the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act preempts all design-defect claims against vaccine manufacturers brought by plaintiffs who seek compensation for injury or death caused by vaccine side effects,” wrote Justice Antonin Scalia in the majority decision.
In a dissent, Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg said that, by preempting all design defect lawsuits by vaccine victims, the high court was imposing “its own bare policy preference over the considered judgment of Congress.”
The decision “leaves a regulatory vacuum in which no one ensures that vaccine manufacturers adequately take account of scientific and technological advancements when designing and distributing their products,” Justice Sotomayor wrote.
Millions of infant vaccines are safely administered each year throughout the United States. But government officials acknowledge that a small percentage of infants experience a severe negative reaction from a vaccine. In some cases the reaction can be fatal.
Faced with open-ended damages from lawsuits filed on behalf of those who suffer severe reactions from vaccines, drug manufacturers considered avoiding the vaccine market altogether.
In passing the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act, Congress sought to strike a balance that would protect vaccine manufacturers from open-ended liability from private lawsuits while also creating a special fund to compensate those who suffer side effects from vaccines.
Roughly 100 to 200 claims for compensation are submitted each year to a special vaccine court. To date, the compensation fund has paid out $1.8 billion to 2,500 petitioners. The average award is about $750,000.
But compensation is only part of the Vaccine Injury Act’s purpose. Congress also sought to preempt lawsuits seeking open-ended money damages against vaccine manufacturers.
The problem with the law is that Congress did not specifically spell out which lawsuits may move forward in the courts against vaccinemakers and which must be dismissed.
The law says in part that no vaccine manufacturer shall be held liable for a vaccine-related injury or death “if the injury or death resulted from side effects that were unavoidable even though the vaccine was properly prepared and was accompanied by proper directions and warnings.”
Products liability law establishes three grounds for potential liability – if there is a defect in the manufacture, if there were inadequate warnings, or if there is a defective design.
The key issue in the case was why Congress did not mention “defective design” as preempted from potential lawsuits.
The majority justices read the law to sweep broadly, preempting any and all design defect claims provided that the manufacturing process did not create a defect and that warnings and directions were adequate.
“If a manufacturer could be held liable for failure to use a different design, the word ‘unavoidable’ would do not work,” Justice Scalia wrote. “A side effect of a vaccine could always have been avoidable by use of a differently designed vaccine not containing the harmful element.”
He added: “The language of the provision thus suggests that the design of the vaccine is a given, not subject to question in the tort action.” The design itself may not be the subject of a vaccine lawsuit, the court ruled.
In their dissent, Justices Sotomayor and Ginsburg adopted a narrow reading of the statute’s preemption provision. They said Congress intended that vaccinemakers would continue to face the prospect of design-defect lawsuits filed by victims.
In rejecting broad preemption for design defects, the dissenters said, Congress intended for drugmakers to face a continuing “legal duty” to improve the designs of their vaccines in light of advances in science and technology. The high court action on Tuesday eliminated that duty, they said.
“Manufacturers, given the lack of robust competition in the vaccine market, will often have little or no incentive to improve the designs of vaccines that are already generating significant profit margins,” Sotomayor wrote. “Nothing in the text, structure, or legislative history remotely suggests that Congress intended that result.”
The high court decision stems from the April 1992 administration of a vaccine to the Bruesewitzes' then-infant daughter, Hannah. After being injected with the diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (DTP) vaccine, Hannah suffered a series of seizures that left her developmentally disabled. Lawyers for the family say she will require medical care and supervision throughout her life.
The Bruesewitzes took their claim to the special Vaccine Court, but a month before they filed their petition, Hannah’s seizure disorder was dropped from a listing of injuries covered under the Vaccine Injury Act. The Vaccine Court ruled that the family would receive no compensation.
The family then filed suit in state court alleging that Wyeth Inc., the vaccine manufacturer, was negligent because it could have produced a safer version of the vaccine, but failed to do so. Lawyers for the family argued that the company should have upgraded its vaccine with a less dangerous version.
Wyeth lawyers countered that the federal Vaccine Injury Act preempts such claims made in state court.
The case was moved to federal court, where a judge agreed with Wyeth and ruled that the state lawsuit was preempted by federal law. The Third US Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed. In its ruling on Tuesday, the high court upheld the Third Circuit decision.
Justice Elena Kagan took no part in the case.
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/2011/0222/Parents-can-t-sue-drug-firms-when-vaccines-cause-harm-Supreme-Court-says/%28page%29/2
Eye opening & sad
OSUR 7.39 OraSure - Nice way to start the trading Week! More info:
The OraQuick(R) HCV Rapid Antibody Test is the only rapid, point-of-care test for the detection of antibodies to the hepatitis C virus that is approved by the FDA. The test, which utilizes the OraQuick(R) technology platform, provides results in 20 minutes.
"Receiving FDA approval to test individuals at risk using a fingerstick whole blood sample significantly expands the flexibility and versatility of our OraQuick(R) Rapid HCV Antibody Test," said Douglas A. Michels, President and Chief Executive Officer of OraSure Technologies. "By eliminating the need for a blood draw, healthcare providers will be able to identify more individuals infected with hepatitis C and get them into care."
There are an estimated 4.1 million Americans, or 1.6 percent of the U.S. population, that are or have been infected with HCV. New infections in the U.S. are estimated at approximately 20,000 per year. On a worldwide basis, there are an estimated 180 million people who are chronically infected with HCV, with an estimated 3 to 4 million individuals newly infected each year.
The Company previously received approval to affix the CE mark to its OraQuick HCV test in December 2009 for use with oral fluid, fingerstick whole blood, venous whole blood, serum and plasma. The CE Mark was required in order to sell the product in the European Union.
As previously announced, OraSure has entered into agreements with Merck & Co. (NYSE:MRK - News), through its predecessor Schering Plough Corp., to collaborate on the development and promotion of the OraQuick HCV test. Under these agreements, Merck will provide detailing and other promotional support for the test in the physicians' office markets in the United States and internationally.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/OraSure-Technologies-Receives-pz-2388214664.html?x=0&.v=1
Nearly all drug trials scientifically invalid due to influence of the mind; Big Pharma science dissolves into wishful thinking
A new study in Science Translational Medicine has cast doubt over the scientific validity of nearly all randomized, double-blind placebo controlled studies involving pharmaceuticals used on human beings. It turns out that many pharmaceuticals only work because people expect them to, not because they have any "real" chemical effect on the body. As you'll see here, when test subjects were told that they were not receiving painkiller medications -- even though they were -- the medication proved to be completely worthless.
This particular experiment involved applying heat to the legs of test subjects in order to cause pain, then adding a painkiller medication to an IV drip while assessing the subjects' pain levels. When the painkiller drug was present, the test subjects were told about it, and just as expected their pain scores significantly dropped. But when test subjects were told the pain medication had been stopped, their pain levels returned back to the original, non-medicated levels even though the pain medication was secretly still being dripped into their IVs.
The mind of the patient, in other words, is what actually determines the "effectiveness" of the pain drug, not the chemical effect of the drug itself.
Talking to the BBC, Professor Irene Tracey from Oxford University said, "It's phenomenal, it's really cool. It's one of the best analgesics we have and the brain's influence can either vastly increase its effect, or completely remove it."
As pointed out by George Lewith, a professor of health research at the University of Southampton, these findings call into question the scientific validity of many randomized clinical trials. He said, "It completely blows cold randomized clinical trials, which don't take into account expectation."
Many pharmaceuticals only work if you believe they do
What the research really means, you see, is that the mind is the main determiner of the effectiveness of many drugs, not the so-called chemical profile of the drugs themselves. This has been proven out again and again with not just painkiller drugs, but also with antidepressant drugs which have consistently failed to out-perform placebo.
But it all brings up a question: If many pharmaceuticals only work because the mind makes them real, then why do some drugs appear to out-perform placebo in clinical trials?
The answer to that will probably surprise you: It's because when people are in randomized, placebo-controlled studies, they're usually hoping to get the real drugs, not the placebo. And how do they determine whether they're getting the "real" drugs? By the presence of negative side effects! As those side effects begin to appear -- constipation, sexual disorders, nausea, headaches, etc -- then those participants convince themselves that they received the "real" drugs! And from that point, their mind makes it real! So the blood pressure actually then starts to go down, or their cholesterol numbers drop, and so on.
The patients make real whatever expectation they were given when they were recruited for the drug trial in the first place. Even the act of recruiting people for drug trials sets an expectation in their minds. Patients, after all, are recruited for a "cancer drug trial" or a "blood pressure drug trial" or some other trial in which the expected outcome is made evident during the recruitment phase.
This is all really important to understand so I'm going to break it down step by step:
Why pharmaceutical "positive" effects are actually generated by the minds of the clinical trial participants:
Step 1: Clinical trial participants are recruited through a trial that is advertised as testing a drug for a particular outcome such as lowering blood pressure, halting cancer, normalizing blood sugar, etc. This sets the expectation of the drug effects in the minds of the patients even before the trial begins.
Step 2: When the trial begins, the clinical trial participants are told that half will be given the "real" drug, and the other half will be given a placebo, but it's a blind study, so no one knows whether they're receiving the drug or the placebo.
Step 3: Study participants begin to take the pills, but they don't know whether they're getting drugs or placebo.
Step 4: Those participants who are receiving the real drugs begin to show toxic side effects (because most pharmaceuticals are toxic to the body). This excites them because they conclude that they are on the "real" drugs!
Step 5: Those participants who conclude they are on the "real" drugs then, through the power of their minds, cause their bodies to make real the physiological effects that were imprinted in their minds in step one! Whatever drug expectation was explained to them before the trial, in other words, is suddenly made real by the patient's mind.
Step 6: Meanwhile, those patients receiving the placebo pills and having no side effects convince themselves that they aren't receiving the "real" drugs and therefore they should experience no positive physiological effects. So their mind makes that real, too, and they get no benefit from the whole experience.
Step 7: After the end of the clinical trial, the researchers compare the results of the placebo group against the results of the drug group, and guess what? The drug looks like it performed better! But was the drug the actual cause of that? Not at all: It was the expectations of the study subjects that made the effects real. The drugs, in other words, only look good as a result of wishful thinking.
As you can see here, this calls into question the scientific validity of every randomized, double-blind placebo-controlled drug study that has ever been conducted. The critical scientific failure they all share, you see, is that as part of the clinical trial, the researchers set the expectations of the drug's results in the minds of the patients. It is those minds that then made the effects real, not necessarily the drugs.
This leads to the fascinating conclusion that in today's medical system, many drugs may only work when patients expect them to because it is the patient's mind creating the physiological effects, not the drug itself.
So how do you get around this and design a truly scientific trial that eliminates the effect of the mind?
How to design a truly scientific clinical trial using drugs
The answer to that is simpler than you think: In humans, you must eliminate the trial subjects from learning of any expectation of the drug's effects. In other words, you can't sign patients up for a "blood pressure drug trial" because right there you've set the expectation that the drug will lower blood pressure.
You essentially have to sign people up for a trial of a "mystery drug" with no expectation of any effects whatsoever. That way, the mind of the study participants is no longer a variable in the outcome of the drug trial. From there, all the various physiological effects of the patients must be tracked. With the patients' minds now out of the picture, you can get an honest assessment of the genuine chemical action of the drug itself.
Why most clinical trials are scientifically invalid
It is fascinating, of course, that virtually no clinical trials are ever conducted in this way. Today's drug trials are almost universally described to patients along with the expectations of the outcome. This has been done for decades under the false belief that the mind somehow played no role whatsoever in the physiology of the body. Conventional medical researchers and scientists incorrectly believed that chemistry alone would dictate the outcome of the trial. The mind had nothing to do with it, they claimed.
They were wrong. The mind has everything to do with it. In fact, the mind can make a placebo "real" and render a drug useless. The mind has near total control over the outcome of the trial. Because this has almost never been taken into account, all those clinical trials that ignored the influence variable of intention are, technically speaking, scientifically invalid. There's no way to know whether the outcome of the trial was due to the drug or the mind.
And that makes the mind a variable in the scientific question of what is at work in a clinical trial. When the mind is at work, you cannot scientifically claim the achieved results were simply due to the drug itself. Unless, of course, you disavow the influence of the mind. And that is precisely the mistake that has been made since the dawn of modern medical science.
The pharmaceutical industry's "science" falls apart in the presence of the mind
Once you understand the power of the mind to either create real physiological effects in the body or nullify the chemicals being administered to the body, you immediately grasp the stunning conclusion: Big Pharma's "science" is not scientific!
Virtually all the results from the tens of thousands of clinical trials that have been conducted over the last several decades must now be called into question. In which trials did patients produce their own positive results simply through the power of their minds after believing that negative side effects meant they were taking the "real" drugs?
It is not a question to be taken lightly. This question, in fact, will demolish modern pharmaceutical "science" once it is fully understood. The pharmaceutical industry, you see, needs the power of the mind to make its drugs appear to work! Without the "wishful thinking" factor engaged, it is altogether likely that most pharmaceuticals simply don't work at all.
The truth is that virtually all the effects of the most commonly prescribed pharmaceuticals -- diabetes drugs, blood pressure drugs, painkillers, statin drugs and so on -- can be achieved without using any drugs whatsoever. The only cause required to produce the positive effects is the expectation of positive results in the minds of the patients.
There are certainly exceptions to this, of course. Anesthesia drugs do not appear to require the active mental participation of patients in order to function as expected. Likewise, there are certainly nutrients such as vitamin D that function in a certain way in the human body regardless of whether a person "believes" in vitamin D.
The real question, you see, is what happens at the intersection of molecular biology and the expectation of the mind? Modern medical science has near-zero knowledge on that subject because it has denied the existence of the mind. Most so-called "skeptics," for example, do not believe there is such a thing as the mind. Humans are merely biological robots, they say, and brains are mere molecular machines that carry out deterministic actions based purely on the laws of chemistry and physics. The mind, they insist, does not exist.
No wonder their clinical trials fail to take the mind into account. And that is why their clinical trials are now revealed as medical self delusion. They thought their drugs were working, but it turns out it was the patients' minds that delivered the results.
The great censorship of the power of the mind
But don't expect the conventional medical industry to acknowledge any of this. In order to continue its charade of "scientifically validated pharmaceuticals," the industry must desperately seek to pretend that the mind has nothing whatsoever to do with clinical trials.
That is why the pharmaceutical industry is trying to deny the existence of the mind. It's why medical journals are reluctant to publish studies that invoke the power of the mind, and it's why medical schools refuse to teach medical students about mind-body medicine.
The placebo effect -- perhaps the single most powerful tool for healing -- is utterly discarded as worthless by the entire medical profession!
The mind is so powerful that it can render drugs obsolete. When doctors truly understand and are able to harness the power of the mind, they won't need routine pharmaceuticals. They will only need to empower patients with the factually correct belief that they have the power to heal within them, and chemical drugs have only been symbolic metaphorical chemicals that allowed the mind to believe healing was taking place.
This is a cultural issue, of course. The culture of our modern world is one of reductionism. Western science refutes the power of the mind and denies individuals the power to heal. Healing must come from external intervention, we are taught: through chemicals, radiation or surgery.
In a parallel world, with the exact same biology, consciousness and environment, another race of human-like creatures might have chosen a different path -- the path of patient empowerment where doctors are mere guides who teach patients how to heal themselves. Healing is a personal art, done from the inside out, not through dangerous chemical interventions. All that is necessary for this parallel world to become a reality is a shift in the beliefs of the people. When society accepts as real the power of the mind, it suddenly becomes believable to the weak-minded masses who always look to figures of authority to tell them what's real.
But the deeper truth of the matter is that what's real is what you make real. Your mind, all by itself, can alter your physiology, neutralize toxic drugs, halt pain and probably even achieve other seemingly miraculous feats such as re-growing lost limbs. What's necessary to get there isn't technology but rather belief in the ability of the mind to shape the outcome of the body.
It is especially fascinating that this is no longer merely new age talk: It is the scientifically validated conclusion of rigorous studies involving patient expectations. Now, the interaction of the body and the mind IS the new science!
http://www.naturalnews.com/031451_drug_trials_placebo_effect.html
Thousands of ducks and geese found dead along Lake Erie and Maumee River
Wildlife officials say they have no idea what is killing thousands of ducks and geese along Lake Erie and the Maumee River. Infected birds simply throw their heads back and lose their motor skills before they die. No one knows how far it could spread. “This may be something that’s not at all going to affect people, but it may be, and we need to figure it out to know what’s going on,” said Nature’s Nursery’s Laura Zitzelberger. So far, labs tests confirm that the birds did not die of the avian flu.
The number of dead geese appears to be smaller than the massive bird die-offs that have gained attention elsewhere around the country. Those deaths in Arkansas — where officials believe the birds were spooked by “fireworks” — and subsequent ones in Tennessee, Kentucky and Louisiana aren’t believed to be connected or a sign of widespread contagion.
In Ohio, wildlife officials first noticed that mallard ducks were showing signs of an illness a few weeks ago, but now it’s mostly Canada geese. State wildlife officer Cody Klima told that he picked up about two dozen dead geese in the last few weeks. He said thin ice on the lake is preventing them from reaching more geese.
“I’m guessing some of them are drowning,” Klima said. “They lose their coordination and flip upside down.”
Some of the sick geese have been dropped off at a nonprofit wildlife rehabilitation center in Castalia — 18 of 23 geese have died, said Sarah Langdon, a supervisor at Back to the Wild. The five others are acting normal again and may be released soon, she said.
http://thewatchers.adorraeli.com/2011/02/22/thousands-of-ducks-and-geese-found-dead-along-lake-erie-and-maumee-river/
RUN FROM THE CURE - Rick Simpson
Weather experts predict major flooding in Midwest
Millions of people in the Midwest are at risk from major flooding this spring, according to a forecast being released Friday by the National Weather Service.
A huge part of the north-central USA, including the cities of Minneapolis-St. Paul, St. Louis, Sioux Falls, S.D.; and Fargo and Grand Forks, N.D., could see “significant” flooding.
“Excessive precipitation, mainly in the form of snow, coupled with continuously frigid temperatures, has yielded a thick snowpack in much of the upper Midwest,” says Lynn Maximuk, central region director of the National Weather Service in Kansas City, Mo. “We expect significant flooding when this snow begins to melt.”
Forecasters say the flooding could start as early as mid-March and last well into April.
For the third straight year, experts are warning of “moderate” to “major” flooding along the Red River of the North, which would again swamp the flood-plagued city of Fargo, N.D., and its neighbor across the river, Moorhead, Minn.
In Cass County, N.D., which includes Fargo, Sheriff Paul Laney described the latest flooding predictions as “concerning” and “spooky.”
“We’ve always been able to win, we’ve always been able to fight it,” Laney said. “We’ll continue to fight it, but every spring brings out its own new set of rules to the game.”
Spring flooding risk
Fargo has received almost 5 feet of snow this winter — nearly 2 feet above its average for an entire winter season, the weather service reported. That comes on top of summer and fall rain that was 50% above average.
Forecasts for much of the region continue to call for a cold and snowy remainder of February, which will cause the snowpack to grow. In March and April, as temperatures rise and the snow melts, frozen ground and saturated soil will enhance runoff, causing streams and rivers to swell.
So, with floods in three straight years and four of the last six across the region, what’s going on?
“Part of the problem is that it’s been so wet for several years,” says weather service hydrologist Noreen Schwein. “The moisture in the soil going into the fall has been wetter every year. There hasn’t been a good chance to dry out.”
In northeastern North Dakota, near Devils Lake, Schwein said there has been a decades-long trend of unusually wet weather that has lasted since 1990.
Some of the spring forecast lowlights include:
•Fargo has about a 95% chance of exceeding major flood stage of 30 feet — and a greater than 20% chance of reaching or exceeding the 40.84 -foot record set in 2009.
•St. Paul has about a 95% chance of exceeding major flood stage of 17 feet.
•Grand Forks, N.D., has a greater than 95% chance of exceeding major flood stage of 46 feet.
•Devils Lake at Minnewaukan, N.D., has about a 40% chance of exceeding 1,455 feet, which could partially inundate portions of the town.
The weather service will release an updated national spring flood outlook on March 17.
http://thewatchers.adorraeli.com/2011/02/21/weather-experts-predict-major-flooding-in-midwest/
Mt. Bulusan spews ash – evacuation in progress
The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said the volcano emitted ash as high as two kilometres (1.2 miles) on Sunday and have recorded at least twenty-eight (28) volcanic earthquakes were recorded by Bulusan Volcano’s (12°46.2’N, 124°03’E) seismic network since 6AM today. One of which was an explosion type earthquake that ejected a grayish volcanic ash, 2km high and drifted to southwest direction.
Bulusan is the highest peak in Sorsogon, covering a land area of 3,672 hectares.
Bulusan Volcano’s status remains at Alert Level 1. This means that the source of activity is hydrothermal and shallow. Entry to the 4-kilometer radius Permanent Danger Zone (PDZ) is strictly prohibited, since the area is at risk to sudden steam and ash explosions. Due to the prevailing wind direction, residents in the northwest and southwest sectors of the volcano are reminded to take precautions against ashfalls. Civil aviation authorities must also warn pilots to avoid flying close to the volcano’s summit as ejected ash and volcanic fragments from sudden explosions may be hazardous to aircraft. Furthermore, people living near valleys and river/stream channels should be vigilant against sediment-laden stream flows and lahars in the event of heavy and prolonged rainfall. DOST-PHIVOLCS is closely monitoring Bulusan Volcano’s activity and any new significant development will be immediately relayed to all concerned.
http://thewatchers.adorraeli.com/2011/02/21/mt-bulusan-spews-ash-evacuation-in-progress/
5 million aquatic animals die at Mara river in Kenya
The National Environmental Management Authority (Nema), Public Health Ministry and Kenya Wildlife Service are investigating the deaths of fish in Mara River. Conservationists suspect the deaths that started last week might have been caused by agro chemicals from farms, that drain into the river. Hoteliers in Masai Mara Game Reserve are now expressing fear that the chemicals might kill animals that depend on the river.
“The deaths could have been caused by agro chemicals from large scale farms on the upper side of the river. The chemicals might also kill hippos, crocodiles and other animals that drink water from the river,” said Ben Kipeno, a conservationist from the northern side of the reserve. Mr Kipeno said on Wednesday there were unconfirmed reports that apart from fish, a crocodile and a hippo have already succumbed to effects of the chemicals. He urged the Government to rein in farmers along the river who use potent chemicals and claimed that despite several complaints to Nema no action has been taken. Officials from KWS who were dispatched from Nairobi took samples of the fish to the Government Chemist for further tests to ascertain the cause of the deaths. When The Standard visited the river, dead fish were floating with scavengers, including the Marabou stork, feeding on them. The Narok South Nema officer in charge Gabriel Tambushi said initial reports had indicated that more than five million fish were killed at the confluence of the seasonal Moyan River in Transmara with the Mara following a heavy flood.
“The sudden change of weather that resulted into heavy mist covering the water surface, inhibiting fish and other animals that depend on the river from breathing might have been the cause of the deaths,” said Tambushi. He did not rule out poisonous agro chemicals from farms, which depended on Mara River for irrigation.
http://thewatchers.adorraeli.com/2011/02/20/5-million-aquatic-animals-die-at-mara-river-in-kenya/
Prisons for Profit
"private prison companies lobby for harsher and longer sentencing guidelines that would help to keep prisons filled"
http://www.pbs.org/now/shows/419/
South Korea Holds A Massive Meeting, As The U.S. Navy Warns Of A Growing Threat In The North
Tensions are building on the Korean Peninsula again. In the months since the North's last attack, peace talks have collapsed, missile sites were discovered along with preparations for a nuclear test, and more signs of economic stress were revealed in the rogue nation.
Now people are starting to worry.
President Lee Myung-bak called a massive meeting this weekend about the militarization threat:
The meeting, attended by 220 senior members of the central and local governments and the military, came after the two deadly attacks by North Korea last year. The participants discussed the country’s defense posture in the radically changed security environment of the peninsula following the attacks, along with the latest concerns on Pyongyang’s military brinkmanship using its nuclear and missile programs. “Taking into consideration the situation North Korea is in now, there is a possibility for more armed provocations by the North, so we must be perfectly prepared,” said Prime Minister Kim Hwang-sik at the beginning of the meeting. “Only solidified security can guarantee survival and a prosperous future.”
U.S. Navy Admiral Robert Willard tells Joongang Daily an attack could come soon:
“This is a major concern of ours. When you package that together with the provocative actions that we saw in 2010, and the complexities of succession that are currently ongoing in North Korea, we may very well be facing the next provocation in months and not years."
Meanwhile, JoongAng Daily recently uncovered U.S. military plans for a possible preemptive strike:
The Obama administration has drafted an operation plan that states it would hit North Korea’s weapons of mass destruction using nuclear or conventional weapons, according to documents obtained by the JoongAng Ilbo yesterday. Oplan 8010-08, drafted by the United States Strategic Command (Stracom) in January 2009, deserves attention in South Korea because it is linked with a nuclear umbrella the U.S. has promised to provide to South Korea.
http://www.businessinsider.com/south-korea-massive-meeting-2011-2
ALL HELL BREAKS LOOSE IN LIBYA AS JETS BOMB PROTESTERS
According to Al Jazeera, military jets have bombed protesters in Tripoli.
Other military jets have reportedly refused orders to bomb protesters and have instead flown to Malta.
"Senior colonels" in the Libyan military have reportedly fled to Malta.
The US and Europe have warned Gaddafi that the violence must stop.
Brent Crude (oil) has soared above $105 a barrel.
Egypt is telling Egyptians to leave Libya. Italy is telling Italians to leave.
Ongoing shooting is preventing relatives of dead protesters from retrieving their bodies in the streets. "Whoever is in the streets, they are getting killed." "People are grabbing whatever they can from their houses."
Events are happening so quickly that they're hard to keep up with.
http://www.businessinsider.com/libya-jets-bomb-protesters-2011-2#ixzz1Ecr0Eo2V
Libyan Protesters Take Control Of Several Cities, Oil Companies Remove Workers, And Gaddafi Faces Mass Defections
The latest from Libya isn't pretty for Gaddafi:
According to GulfNews editor Abdul Hamid Ahmad, Libyan protesters have now taken control of several Libyan cities, thanks to defections by by the military.
Clearly, if you thought Mubarak had a loyalty problem, Gaddafi's is much worse. There are reports of defections not just at the military, but among various government workers, including diplomats at the embassy level.
Meanwhile, international oil companies are jetting out of town. BP has stopped exploration and ENI has pulled familiy members of workers.
Brent crude in London has hit $105.
We appear to be in the last days of the Gaddafi regime.
http://www.businessinsider.com/libya-defections-2011-2
Bob Dylan - Ballad of a thin man
"where has the money gone?......to the top 10%, which include some of the most unproductive members of our society......bankers and Wall St., while the CEO's of large companies, run them for their own short term gain regardless of the long term disaster to follow.
It's a scam....utter bullshit....and just one more way they have found to divide us. It's class warfare, plain and simple"
---
This hits the nail right on the head. They have the people fighting over crumbs.
Divide and Conquer.
I give credit to the Wisconsinites standing up for themselves in Madison, although I disagree with labor unions & entitlements for specific professions, at least they got off their asses to make their voice heard.
Sadly, This pic seems to ring true for too many people..
Tens of thousands march peacefully for reforms in Morocco
The mass rallies in Rabat and other cities are aimed at expanding democratic rights under the monarchy, which at times has been oppressive.
Reporting from Rabat, Morocco —
In what is being called an unprecedented show of political unity and strength, tens of thousands of protesters from various political strains marched peacefully in cities and towns across the country Sunday demanding rapid political reform.
The rallies, marchers said, were aimed at gaining democratic rights in a nation that has long been a hereditary monarchy and at times as oppressive as its autocratic North African neighbors.
"We no longer want to be subjects," said Abdelilah Benabdeslam, a leader of the Moroccan Organization for Human Rights. "We want to be citizens."
Even state television, derided by one former associate as similar to North Korea's in its restrictions, reported on the protests, though it also gave equal coverage to tiny bands of pro-government demonstrators praising King Mohammed VI.
The protests closely followed the successful uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt and amid calls for change in other authoritarian states across the Middle East and North Africa. Demonstrations broke out in Rabat, the capital, as well as the business hub of Casablanca, the cities of Marrakech, Tangiers, Fez, Agadir and smaller towns and villages, according to activists and photographs and video posted to social media websites.
Human rights groups, various leftist and Islamist factions, trade unionists and advocates for the rights of those speaking the Berber language took part in the rallies. But they were led by the same type of youthful tech-savvy activist who helped spark the toppling of longtime Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.
Calling themselves the Feb. 20 Youth, they began using online social media less than a month ago to urge people to take to the streets. In Rabat, they could easily be spotted in the rally, urging fellow protesters to remain orderly. They said they weren't worried about the possibility of the kind of violence that has shaken Bahrain or nearby Libya, where security forces have opened fire on peaceful protesters.
"The big risk is staying at home and doing nothing against the dictatorship," said Montasser Drissi, a 19-year-old student who was one of the rally organizers.
"The government doesn't really represent the people," said Myriam Harnafi, a 15-year-old holding a Tunisian flag who attended the protest with her mother and father.
"I see myself in the young people," said Naima Boulal, a 54-year-old longtime trade unionist at the rally. "We have dreamed of this day for a long time. With this Facebook generation, I feel hope."
Almost all protesters interviewed said they wanted profound political change but not a revolution. "The people want a new constitution," they chanted, waving banners and holding Egyptian and Tunisian flags. "This is a new Morocco."
The main rally in Rabat drew a massive tide of protesters that flooded the main streets and wound up before the parliament building. Unlike in Yemen, Bahrain and Libya, official permission was granted for the rally. No riot police were present, and the few uniformed security forces hung back, directed traffic or chatted amicably with demonstrators. As the protest ended, a group of plainclothes security officials pounced on a protester who was banging storefronts. There were also reports of injuries in small confrontations between security forces and protesters in other cities.
The North African nation of 32 million is a major U.S. ally in the fight against Al Qaeda as well as an economic partner of the West, especially France, which has invested heavily in its former colony. A free trade agreement with the U.S. took effect in 2006.
Under the rule of Mohammed VI, who ascended the throne in 1999, Morocco expanded political freedoms and even began examining the allegations of torture and disappearances during the previous era. But critics and watchdog groups contend that it has regressed on human rights and press freedoms in recent years. Many also complain of corruption at the highest levels of government, uneven economic development and persistent illiteracy among the poor.
The protests took place even though leaders of some established Islamic and socialist political parties, who have been in and out of the opposition over the last decade, called on their supporters not to take part. A whisper campaign painted the rallies as pursuing an anti-monarchy agenda, a taboo in Morocco.
A cold drizzle fell as several hundred protesters began to gather at the brick walls of the Bab El-Had gate next to Rabat's ancient medina. Cellphone and text-messaging services became spotty. Many voiced frustration, disappointed by the low numbers that showed up early.
But as noon approached and the crowd swelled, protesters were heartened. As they began to march toward the parliament, the sun broke through the clouds to reveal a massive gathering. Some even defied their political organizations to take part.
"Morocco deserves better institutions," said Mustapha Ramid, who resigned from his post as a leader of the mainstream Justice and Development Party after it refused to endorse the rally. "I hope the king will greatly reform the country in order to satisfy the demands of the Moroccan people."
http://www.wdbj7.com/la-fg-morocco-unrest-20110221,0,921828.story
WI Gov. Scott Walker on Fox News Sunday
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOBq-jE1xqo
Norman Dodd On Tax Exempt Foundations
Here I Stand
by Erica Goldson
There is a story of a young, but earnest Zen student who approached his teacher, and asked the Master, "If I work very hard and diligently, how long will it take for me to find Zen? The Master thought about this, then replied, "Ten years . ." ?The student then said, "But what if I work very, very hard and really apply myself to learn fast -- How long then?" Replied the Master, "Well, twenty years." "But, if I really, really work at it, how long then?" asked the student. "Thirty years," replied the Master. "But, I do not understand," said the disappointed student. "At each time that I say I will work harder, you say it will take me longer. Why do you say that?" ?Replied the Master, "When you have one eye on the goal, you only have one eye on the path."
This is the dilemma I've faced within the American education system. We are so focused on a goal, whether it be passing a test, or graduating as first in the class. However, in this way, we do not really learn. We do whatever it takes to achieve our original objective.
Some of you may be thinking, “Well, if you pass a test, or become valedictorian, didn't you learn something? Well, yes, you learned something, but not all that you could have. Perhaps, you only learned how to memorize names, places, and dates to later on forget in order to clear your mind for the next test. School is not all that it can be. Right now, it is a place for most people to determine that their goal is to get out as soon as possible.
I am now accomplishing that goal. I am graduating. I should look at this as a positive experience, especially being at the top of my class. However, in retrospect, I cannot say that I am any more intelligent than my peers. I can attest that I am only the best at doing what I am told and working the system. Yet, here I stand, and I am supposed to be proud that I have completed this period of indoctrination. I will leave in the fall to go on to the next phase expected of me, in order to receive a paper document that certifies that I am capable of work. But I contest that I am a human being, a thinker, an adventurer – not a worker. A worker is someone who is trapped within repetition – a slave of the system set up before him. But now, I have successfully shown that I was the best slave. I did what I was told to the extreme. While others sat in class and doodled to later become great artists, I sat in class to take notes and become a great test-taker. While others would come to class without their homework done because they were reading about an interest of theirs, I never missed an assignment. While others were creating music and writing lyrics, I decided to do extra credit, even though I never needed it. So, I wonder, why did I even want this position? Sure, I earned it, but what will come of it? When I leave educational institutionalism, will I be successful or forever lost? I have no clue about what I want to do with my life; I have no interests because I saw every subject of study as work, and I excelled at every subject just for the purpose of excelling, not learning. And quite frankly, now I'm scared.
John Taylor Gatto, a retired school teacher and activist critical of compulsory schooling, asserts, “We could encourage the best qualities of youthfulness – curiosity, adventure, resilience, the capacity for surprising insight simply by being more flexible about time, texts, and tests, by introducing kids into truly competent adults, and by giving each student what autonomy he or she needs in order to take a risk every now and then. But we don't do that.” Between these cinderblock walls, we are all expected to be the same. We are trained to ace every standardized test, and those who deviate and see light through a different lens are worthless to the scheme of public education, and therefore viewed with contempt.
H. L. Mencken wrote in The American Mercury for April 1924 that the aim of public education is not to fill the young of the species with knowledge and awaken their intelligence. ... Nothing could be further from the truth. The aim ... is simply to reduce as many individuals as possible to the same safe level, to breed and train a standardized citizenry, to put down dissent and originality. That is its aim in the United States. (Gatto)
To illustrate this idea, doesn't it perturb you to learn about the idea of “critical thinking.” Is there really such a thing as “uncritically thinking?” To think is to process information in order to form an opinion. But if we are not critical when processing this information, are we really thinking? Or are we mindlessly accepting other opinions as truth?
This was happening to me, and if it wasn't for the rare occurrence of an avant-garde tenth grade English teacher, Donna Bryan, who allowed me to open my mind and ask questions before accepting textbook doctrine, I would have been doomed. I am now enlightened, but my mind still feels disabled. I must retrain myself and constantly remember how insane this ostensibly sane place really is.
And now here I am in a world guided by fear, a world suppressing the uniqueness that lies inside each of us, a world where we can either acquiesce to the inhuman nonsense of corporatism and materialism or insist on change. We are not enlivened by an educational system that clandestinely sets us up for jobs that could be automated, for work that need not be done, for enslavement without fervency for meaningful achievement. We have no choices in life when money is our motivational force. Our motivational force ought to be passion, but this is lost from the moment we step into a system that trains us, rather than inspires us.
We are more than robotic bookshelves, conditioned to blurt out facts we were taught in school. We are all very special, every human on this planet is so special, so aren't we all deserving of something better, of using our minds for innovation, rather than memorization, for creativity, rather than futile activity, for rumination rather than stagnation? We are not here to get a degree, to then get a job, so we can consume industry-approved placation after placation. There is more, and more still.
The saddest part is that the majority of students don't have the opportunity to reflect as I did. The majority of students are put through the same brainwashing techniques in order to create a complacent labor force working in the interests of large corporations and secretive government, and worst of all, they are completely unaware of it. I will never be able to turn back these 18 years. I can't run away to another country with an education system meant to enlighten rather than condition. This part of my life is over, and I want to make sure that no other child will have his or her potential suppressed by powers meant to exploit and control. We are human beings. We are thinkers, dreamers, explorers, artists, writers, engineers. We are anything we want to be - but only if we have an educational system that supports us rather than holds us down. A tree can grow, but only if its roots are given a healthy foundation.
For those of you out there that must continue to sit in desks and yield to the authoritarian ideologies of instructors, do not be disheartened. You still have the opportunity to stand up, ask questions, be critical, and create your own perspective. Demand a setting that will provide you with intellectual capabilities that allow you to expand your mind instead of directing it. Demand that you be interested in class. Demand that the excuse, “You have to learn this for the test” is not good enough for you. Education is an excellent tool, if used properly, but focus more on learning rather than getting good grades.
For those of you that work within the system that I am condemning, I do not mean to insult; I intend to motivate. You have the power to change the incompetencies of this system. I know that you did not become a teacher or administrator to see your students bored. You cannot accept the authority of the governing bodies that tell you what to teach, how to teach it, and that you will be punished if you do not comply. Our potential is at stake.
For those of you that are now leaving this establishment, I say, do not forget what went on in these classrooms. Do not abandon those that come after you. We are the new future and we are not going to let tradition stand. We will break down the walls of corruption to let a garden of knowledge grow throughout America. Once educated properly, we will have the power to do anything, and best of all, we will only use that power for good, for we will be cultivated and wise. We will not accept anything at face value. We will ask questions, and we will demand truth.
So, here I stand. I am not standing here as valedictorian by myself. I was molded by my environment, by all of my peers who are sitting here watching me. I couldn't have accomplished this without all of you. It was all of you who truly made me the person I am today. It was all of you who were my competition, yet my backbone. In that way, we are all valedictorians.
I am now supposed to say farewell to this institution, those who maintain it, and those who stand with me and behind me, but I hope this farewell is more of a “see you later” when we are all working together to rear a pedagogic movement. But first, let's go get those pieces of paper that tell us that we're smart enough to do so!
2 million Egyptians in Tahrir Square
Doctors engaged in widespread medical fraud at Madison protests with fake doctor's notes
If you're an eighth grader and you show up to school with a fake doctor's note excusing your suspicious absence the day before, you would probably face detention or some other punishment, including a possible investigation for truancy. But if you're a teacher and you call in "sick" with a fake doctor's note handed to you at a protest in Madison, Wisconsin, then that's apparently okay... because that's what countless public school teachers have been doing the past week.
Masterminding the effort are rogue medical doctors committing medical fraud by carrying out obviously contrived conversations with protestors then writing them doctors' notes to excuse them from work for such things as "fatigue" or "emotional stress."
What we have, then, is a tag team of fraud: The teachers who have abandoned their public duties and abandoned their students by calling in "sick," and the medical doctors who are promoting the whole charade by pretending to diagnose these teachers with some sort of ailment that gets them off the hook.
This sends a really powerful message back home to all the students in the Madison public school system: "Do as we say, not as we do."
Revoke the medical licenses of these fraudulent doctors
It's really just a bunch of adults acting like children, of course. Madison public system schoolteachers are already among the best paid in the country, taking home an average of $56,000 a year in salary, plus other benefits that bring the total to over $100,000 in compensation.
http://maciverinstitute.com/2010/03/average-mps-teacher-compensation-tops-100kyear/
That's a pretty lucrative deal for schoolteachers. You'd think that for a six-figure compensation, they might have some loyalty to actually showing up at work and teaching the schoolchildren. There's a lesson in social studies for ya.
For the doctors, there should obviously be an investigation and an effort to strip their medical licenses for practicing what can only be called "quack medicine." Can you imagine the outcry if a bunch of herbalists or alternative medicine practitioners showed up and started writing excuse notes for these protestors? That would be rightly called "quackery." But somehow it seems to be okay when medical doctors engage in that same quackery.
One YouTube video features an especially arrogant medical doctor claiming he is engaging in "private conversations" with patients and that his conversations are protected by state law. Of course, he fails to mention he is engaging in these conversations in a public place, in the context of what is essentially a political protest, absent any context of a hospital, clinic or emergency room.
Chris Hedges on Inverted Totalitarianism
Chinese authorities foil a call for mass protests
BEIJING -- It was, as one China observer called it, the revolution that wasn't.
On Saturday, websites run by overseas Chinese began circulating a mysterious call for a Jasmine Revolution, apparently taking the lead from the wave of mass demonstrations across the Middle East and North Africa. The Chinese campaign urged people to gather on Sunday afternoon in thirteen cities across the country, including Beijing and Shanghai, whereupon participants would shout:
"We want to eat. We want to work. We want houses. We want fairness. We want justice. Protect private property. Maintain independent justice. Start political reform. Finish one party rule. Finish media censorship. Freedom of news. Long live freedom. Long live democracy."
The hashtag #CN220, named after Sunday’s date, also began making an appearance on Twitter.
On Sunday, large crowds of people could be seen at the designated Beijing location -- a popular and heavily-congested shopping thoroughfare called Wangfujing, only blocks away from the site of Beijing’s last convulsion, the 1989 student-led demonstrations in Tiananmen Square -- but it was hard to tell how many were protesters. Many were clearly journalists, carrying cameras and the like. And this being China, where it doesn't take much to attract a crowd, onlookers or passersby stopped to gawk, thinking there might be a celebrity in attendance.
A man is arrested by police after calls on social networks for a "Jasmine Revolution" protest in front of the Peace Cinema in downtown Shanghai on Sunday.
But the biggest indicator something was amiss were the ranks of uniformed and plainclothes Chinese police. Some scuffling and pushing ensued, and at least one man carrying jasmine flowers was reported to have been taken away. However, it didn't take long for everything to return to normal outside the McDonald’s restaurant.
Journalists in Shanghai reported similar scenes in their own city whilst no notable gatherings could be confirmed in the rest of the locations.
It would seem, however, the real action had been taking place offline.
A crackdown on activists was already in force across several cities by Sunday. In Beijing, for example, dissidents confirmed they have been under surveillance or house arrest. When we tried to reach one veteran of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests, he sent a text message saying, "Not convenient" to speak. And one of the authors of Charter 08, a manifesto calling for democratic reforms and greater human rights (its most famous signatory is Liu Xiaobo, last year’s Nobel Peace Prizewinner), said he was instructed by Chinese police not to leave his home.
Senior leaders were busy all weekend, exhorting for tighter social controls. On Saturday, President Hu Jintao called for stricter oversight of the "virtual society." This was echoed at another meeting of government leaders on Sunday, in which provincial and ministerial-level government officials were urged to step up “social management.”
The virtual controls were also in place. A mass text messaging service on China Mobile was not available in Beijing on Sunday, according to one report. And all day Sunday, users of Weibo, China’s biggest microblog, complained of hiccups, and searches on Weibo and elsewhere online for the word "jasmine" were blocked or did not go through.
Police officers urge people to leave as they gather in front of a cinema that was a planned protest site in Shanghai on Sunday.
Heavy-handed it may all be given that no one seemed to heed the call for action, but these measures are all part and parcel of Beijing's predictable handling, too, of the coverage of tumult in Tunisia, Egypt, Bahrain, and elsewhere in the region.
Thus far, the Chinese government has been adept, wily, fast, and far tech savvier than their Middle Eastern and North African counterparts appear to have been when it comes to controlling the information flow on the Internet. As writer Evgeny Morozov put it, protesters in Egypt "were blessed with a government that didn't know a tweet from a poke."
China, on the other hand, is believed to have the most sophisticated and wide-ranging Internet filtering system known as the Great Firewall.
Not coincidentally, only days after U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton unveiled a new plan to finance programs to help Internet users around the world, a rare interview with the father of China’s Great Firewall was published in a state-run Chinese newspaper.
Although Fang Binxing refused to divulge how the firewall works, there were notable tidbits – including the revelation that he uses no fewer than six VPNs (virtual private networks), “but only to test which side wins.”
http://behindthewall.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/02/20/6094717-chinese-authorities-foil-a-call-for-mass-protests
Happy Revolution Baby! - FKN Newz
(explicit)
Dementia 'not normal part of aging' say scientists
Dementia is not a normal part of growing old, scientists have insisted as they step up calls for more investment in research.
Contrary to popular belief, dementia is not a normal part of the aging process. The condition, which most often plays itself out in the form of Alzheimer's disease, is an abnormal neurological condition that is likely caused by a combination of factors, including but not limited to things like fluoride in the water, artificial chemicals in food, and mercury and aluminum in vaccines -- but the establishment medical and scientific community will never admit this.
"Dementia is not a normal part of aging -- it is caused by brain diseases that we can beat," said Prof. Kevin Morgan from the University of Nottingham recently, a Scientific Adviser for Alzheimer's Research U.K. But what is his solution? "More investment in research," he told reporters, which is the usual tactic used to address diseases of this nature.
The fact that so-called experts are now actually starting to admit that Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia are preventable is surprising. It represents a one-eighty degree turn from their previous position that the condition is genetic or a completely normal effect of growing old, and that it cannot be avoided in any way. But now, they say that it can be prevented, and insist that more money is needed -- lots more money -- in order to figure out exactly how.
But many studies have already linked numerous environmental and other contaminants as contributors, so why not just start there? Aluminum, for instance, is a known neurotoxin and studies have identified the presence of aluminum in the brains of patients with Alzheimer's. Aluminum is present in most conventional antiperspirant deodorants, and can also be found in vaccines, pharmaceutical drugs, soft drink cans, and cookware -- all things that people are exposed to regularly
Toxic fluoride is also linked to Alzheimer's disease and other brain diseases. The chemical, which is artificially added to most municipal water supplies in the U.S., has also been found to accumulate in brain tissue, as well as in cells throughout the body, which makes it a very viable suspect.
"In humans, fluoride has been found to cause arthritis, osteoporosis, hip fractures, cancer, infertility, Alzheimer's disease, and brain damage," says Andreas Mortiz in his book The Amazing Liver & Gallbladder Flush: A Powerful Do-It-Yourself Tool to Optimize Your Health and Wellbeing.
Rather than address these issues, however, mainstream researchers have decided instead to just grovel for more money to conduct "research." Rather than acknowledge the fact that chemicals, toxins, and other harmful substances that plague our food, water, and environment are contributing to dementia, and work to get rid of them, these researchers are simply appeasing the status quo and continuing with business as usual.
http://www.naturalnews.com/031417_dementia_aging.html
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/8313778/Dementia-not-normal-part-of-ageing-say-scientists.html
California School District Uses GPS to Track Truant Students
Not even Ferris Bueller himself could have gotten around this one: A six-week pilot program by California's Anaheim Union High School District is testing the use of technology to combat tardiness amongst the district's seventh- and eighth-grade population.
How it works is fairly simple. Students with four or more unexcused absences in a year—approximately 75 are enrolled in the Anaheim test--are given handheld GPS devices instead of detentions or prosecutions. To make sure that said students are in school when they should be, the students are required to check in using the devices during five preset intervals: When they leave for school in the morning, when they arrive at school, lunchtime, when they leave school, and at 8 p.m. each day.
And if that's not enough, students in the program also receive a phone call each and every day to tell them that it's time to get up and get to school. An adult coach also calls the students three times per week to check up and discuss different methods the students can employ to ensure that they're where they should be at any given point during the day.
"The idea is for this not to feel like a punishment, but an intervention to help them develop better habits and get to school," said Miller Sylvan, regional director for AIM Truancy Solutions, in an interview with The Orange County Register.
As one would expect, the GPS devices themselves don't come cheap. They cost around $300 to $400 per device, and the entire six-week program itself would set the district back $18,000—or $8 per day, per affected student. In this case, however, a state grant is paying for the program.
In addition, an absent student sets the district back approximately $35 per day—meaning that the GPS program will save the school district money if it can achieve the same success rate that the program has seen in similar pilots for other districts. Attendance rates, in total, allegedly jumped from an average of 77 percent to 95 percent during these six-week trials in other districts, with only slight dips in attendance following the programs' conclusions.
Truant students in the Anaheim Union High School District can face time in juvenile hall if prosecuted, and their parents can face fines of up to $2,000 for their children's' absences.
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2380640,00.asp
Dementia 'not normal part of aging' say scientists
Dementia is not a normal part of growing old, scientists have insisted as they step up calls for more investment in research.
Contrary to popular belief, dementia is not a normal part of the aging process. The condition, which most often plays itself out in the form of Alzheimer's disease, is an abnormal neurological condition that is likely caused by a combination of factors, including but not limited to things like fluoride in the water, artificial chemicals in food, and mercury and aluminum in vaccines -- but the establishment medical and scientific community will never admit this.
"Dementia is not a normal part of aging -- it is caused by brain diseases that we can beat," said Prof. Kevin Morgan from the University of Nottingham recently, a Scientific Adviser for Alzheimer's Research U.K. But what is his solution? "More investment in research," he told reporters, which is the usual tactic used to address diseases of this nature.
The fact that so-called experts are now actually starting to admit that Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia are preventable is surprising. It represents a one-eighty degree turn from their previous position that the condition is genetic or a completely normal effect of growing old, and that it cannot be avoided in any way. But now, they say that it can be prevented, and insist that more money is needed -- lots more money -- in order to figure out exactly how.
But many studies have already linked numerous environmental and other contaminants as contributors, so why not just start there? Aluminum, for instance, is a known neurotoxin and studies have identified the presence of aluminum in the brains of patients with Alzheimer's. Aluminum is present in most conventional antiperspirant deodorants, and can also be found in vaccines, pharmaceutical drugs, soft drink cans, and cookware -- all things that people are exposed to regularly
Toxic fluoride is also linked to Alzheimer's disease and other brain diseases. The chemical, which is artificially added to most municipal water supplies in the U.S., has also been found to accumulate in brain tissue, as well as in cells throughout the body, which makes it a very viable suspect.
"In humans, fluoride has been found to cause arthritis, osteoporosis, hip fractures, cancer, infertility, Alzheimer's disease, and brain damage," says Andreas Mortiz in his book The Amazing Liver & Gallbladder Flush: A Powerful Do-It-Yourself Tool to Optimize Your Health and Wellbeing.
Rather than address these issues, however, mainstream researchers have decided instead to just grovel for more money to conduct "research." Rather than acknowledge the fact that chemicals, toxins, and other harmful substances that plague our food, water, and environment are contributing to dementia, and work to get rid of them, these researchers are simply appeasing the status quo and continuing with business as usual.
http://www.naturalnews.com/031417_dementia_aging.html
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/8313778/Dementia-not-normal-part-of-ageing-say-scientists.html
Spiral Galaxy NGC 2841
A mere 46 million light-years distant, spiral galaxy NGC 2841 can be found in the northern constellation of Ursa Major. This sharp view of the gorgeous island universe shows off a striking yellow nucleus and galactic disk. Dust lanes, small, pink star-forming regions, and young blue star clusters are embedded in the patchy, tightly wound spiral arms. In contrast, many other spirals exhibit grand, sweeping arms with large star-forming regions. NGC 2841 has a diameter of over 150,000 light-years, even larger than our own Milky Way, but this close-up Hubble image spans about 34,000 light-years along the galaxy's inner region.
Yeah, America is sadly a place of double standards, but that's probably true most everywhere.
Are Cameras the New Guns?
The move to stop recording of police misconduct.
Snippet: "In at least three states (Illinois, Massachusetts, and Maryland), it is now illegal to record an on-duty police officer even if the encounter involves you and may be necessary to your defense, and even if the recording is on a public street where no expectation of privacy exists."
http://www.thefreemanonline.org/headline/are-cameras-the-new-guns/
also, from 2001; "Privacy International predicts there will be as many as 6 million surveillance cameras across the USA in 5-7 years", It's prob more than this already.
Houston Police Chief Charles McClelland is worried, very worried. People are using "anti-police" rhetoric and are actually daring to criticize the criminal actions of cops. People are recording their actions with video cameras and attempting to hold them accountable. Clearly, this is a sign they're preparing to mass murder police.
Thank god we have our wonderful Chief of Police Charles McClelland on the job, he's ferreted out the real meaning behind this "anti-police sentiment," and he's here to let everyone know he's not going to stand for it.
From the Houston Chronicle's 'Residents videotaping officers worries HPD's chief':
Houston Police Chief Charles McClelland went on the defensive Thursday during a meeting with local journalists, saying officers have made recent traffic stops in which residents leave their vehicles to take pictures or shoot video — encounters he says could endanger officers and that have increased following the release of the Chad Holley beating footage.
"Officers are telling me that they're being provoked," the chief said. "Even when they try to write a simple traffic ticket, people are jumping out with cell phone cameras scanning their badge numbers and their nametags. And I've asked them to remain calm and treat people with respect and dignity."
McClelland said he is concerned that an intensifying anti-police sentiment in the community could increase negative interactions between Houston Police Department officers and residents.
"This rhetoric can give someone a free pass to try to assault a police officer or kill a police officer, and I'm not going to allow that," he said. "My officers should be able to go out here and work in the neighborhoods and keep this city safe without fear and without hesitation."
And, the chief implored the community - naming himself, activists and journalists - to "lower the rhetoric."
In other words, criticizing the police for violently assaulting and killing strangers is clearly a sign you may be secretly plotting to kill cops! So put down your camera citizen, return to your normal position as hapless subject under our dominion!
Clearly, these buffoons don't like the scrutiny they're getting as a result of your average Joe being able to videotape their abuses and put them on YouTube. I guess, like any thug, their only reaction is to resort to intimidation.
http://www.informationliberation.com/?id=34442