Category Archives: politics

Dennis Banks on DN

by

DN! has a clip up of Dennis Banks on Columbus Day, or Indigenous Peoples Day.  

I never learned about how Columbus and the Spaniards treated the Native peoples until college.  They would  sharpen their knives and then cut the Natives to see if they were sharp enough, they raped the women, and worked the men, women, and children until they literally dropped dead mining gold.   There are horror stories of babies being pulled from their mothers’ arms and being fed to dogs.  And then there was the religious bullying of converting them to Catholicism because their spirituality intimidated the Spaniards.

Paradise lost…

 

Are you optimistic…

by

Chicago the band has posted this up.  Wow.

The pictures of New Orleans after Katrina really cause you to draw in a breath…how little things have changed, eh?

Limbaugh has been harping on how the Koch Conservatives are not racists, and how President Obama brought up how the Stafford Act was not enforced for the restoration effort after 9/11 in New York City nor for the other hurricane (the name escapes me at the moment) in Florida….but it was enforced for the victims of Katrina…

They state there was no racism involved in the non-effort of Bush.

My experience was different.

In my hometown (I should probably say the place I grew up in, because “home” has a warm, fuzzy feeling, and this was a cold, dark negative place) had a radio station that had changed ownership and was airing Limbaugh on the AM side.  When Katrina hit, they were asking for donations.  They specifically stated that the money would go to a certain county in Mississippi.  I asked someone with knowledge about demographics if this particular county voted Repub or Dem.  The answer:  Repub.

They were only going to send money to this county.  What a disgusting display of coldness towards human beings.

Holy Crap

by

Secret Cold War tests in St. Louis…

From the story:

But in 1994, the government said the tests were part of a biological weapons program and St. Louis was chosen because it bore some resemblance to Russian cities that the U.S. might attack. The material being sprayed was zinc cadmium sulfide, a fine fluorescent powder.

Now, new research is raising greater concern about the implications of those tests. St. Louis Community College-Meramec sociology professor Lisa Martino-Taylor’s research has raised the possibility that the Army performed radiation testing by mixing radioactive particles with the zinc cadmium sulfide, though she concedes there is no direct proof.

…makes you wonder what they’re doing now, in unsuspecting neighborhoods, for the war on terrorism?

My thoughts went to the chemtrails and how much they affect me and others.  I’ve definitely noticed a correlation between behavior and continuous (daily) spraying of trails.  When I had this last migraine, they had been spraying five or six trails at a time, all day,  every day, for three weeks.  (And I noticed that just before the elections in 2008, they were spraying the hell out of the skies for the four days prior to election day–keep your eyes on the skies before this election, folks, and see if you see the same phenomenon.)

Here’s a report on a news station:

I’ve read this this website before, but I can’t remember if I posted it.  A little dramatic, but I think there is cause for concern.

I went to the Environmental Working Group website, and could find nothing on the chemtrails.  Nothing on the Union for Concerned Scientists, either.

Joe Marmon has sued California authorities for contaminating the air.

Here’s a European take on the chemtrails phenomenon.

Czech Republic:

Women of Togo March

by

…I guess the go-for-a-week-without-sex-thing didn’t work out so well.  No mention of it, anyway.

In other news, Koch Conservatives are urging women to keep their clothes on for other reasons….

You know, I’m almost disappointed that the election is coming up so soon…things are just starting to get interesting…

…chastity belts will be the next thing advocated by these groups…

Slooooow Food

by

…versus Fast Food.  Here’s a link to the Slow Food website.  As the website states, Slow Food is a way of life–a sustainable way of feeding ourselves without destroying the environment (and ourselves) in the process.

Carlo Petrini founded the Slow Food movement after the first McDonald’s opened its doors in Italy.

The National Heirloom Expo is held annually to draw attention to what’s happening with the GMO seeds and to promote heirloom seeds (non-GMO).

Seed Savers website here.   Another website here.

Finally, here’s Treehugger.com, where those dirty effing hippies must hang out.  🙂

Note that in the comments, the readers state there is a controversy with Seed Savers being stacked with corporate toadies….intrigue among the seeds. <sigh>

A rather depressing article here. 

Bill and Melinda Gates controlling the world food supply along with Monsanto is a scary thought.  It’s apparently not enough for them (Gates)  foisting “education reform” on the children of the United States…

…and his comments on environmentalists being against GMO’s speak of his true intent…

As the Grist article states, organic farming has proven to be effective during times of drought, more so than chemical-based farming.  And it goes on to remark about organic/sustainable farming being ideal for the poor communities.  It’s a no-brainer to me:  you put food scraps in a compost pile that turns into a rich soil that you put back into the ground.  This rich compost returns nutrients and beneficial microbes back to the soil.  One of the problems with chemical farming is that it strips the land of nutrients and the soil deteriorates, requiring more water than compost-rich soil.  Any poor person could do that–returning food scraps back to the soil is free.

An interesting article here.

John Ikerd is a retired professor out of the U of Missouri.  He’s an advocate of sustainable farming and has written extensively about it. Link here.

The problem that most folks are unaware there is a problem.  They go to their grocers, see rows of fresh food and shelves stocked to the hilt, and think everything is great….

…and the only thing left will be GMO food that makes them ill…

Fighting the Good fight

by

Turtle Talk has a link up to this story.  I’m glad that the judge gave a nod that the lawsuit has merit–I hope that they pursue it at the state level.

Along those lines, I’ve posted before, but it bears repeating, that I don’t believe that it is a character issue, but that alcoholism is a chemical imbalance of some sort.

In the great book, Potatoes Not Prozac, Kathleen Desmaisons wrote about her experience in counseling alcoholics.  (It’s been awhile since I read the book, so I’m going on memory)  In it, she describes counseling people who really wanted to quit drinking, but were unable to.  She began asking them about diet, and discovered that they reacted to sugar much more so than the average person.  They would get spikes in their blood levels after eating sugar–a high with it. That is, when they saw a plate of cookies warm out of the oven, they wanted to devour the entire plate, whereas most folks would be able to stop at a few.   When she developed a diet that was low glycemic (slow rises in blood sugar levels), her patients began to get their drinking under control–they no longer had the sugar highs that made it difficult to give up the drink highs, too.
Additionally, I wonder about the connection with zinc.  I first read about the connection between zinc and anorexia in the book Food, Mood, Body Connection by Gary Null.  He quotes a doctor who was treating anorexic patients and discovered that those that took liquid zinc were helped in an amazing four days’ time.  They characteristically had difficulty digesting zinc in any other form.  The disgusting part was when this doctor made a presentation to hospital staff about his findings, the bean counters let the person (who invited him) know that this would cut into their profits.  The hospital had a clinic for eating disorders…and the ole’ morality versus profits question came up….and you can guess what happened—morality lost.  The information was withheld from patients so they could profit off of their condition.

I’ve wondered about this and cravings–whether it be alcohol, chocolate, cigarettes, etc.–because of my own experience of having the chocolate cravings go down when I started taking a supplement with zinc glycinate.

I found this link on how alcoholics are low in zinc–just as anorexics and mercury poisoned folks are—so now it seems there would be a connection?  Hmmm…

The First Amendment in action….

by

Yes, sir!

From Cornell University’s website here.

First Amendment

First amendment: an overview

The First Amendment of the United States Constitution protects the right to freedom of religion and freedom of expression from government interference. See U.S. Const. amend. I. Freedom of expression consists of the rights to freedom of speech, press, assembly and to petition the government for a redress of grievances, and the implied rights of association and belief. The Supreme Court interprets the extent of the protection afforded to these rights. The First Amendment has been interpreted by the Court as applying to the entire federal government even though it is only expressly applicable to Congress. Furthermore, the Court has interpreted, the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment as protecting the rights in the First Amendment from interference by state governments. See U.S. Const. amend. XIV.

Two clauses in the First Amendment guarantee freedom of religion. The establishment clause prohibits the government from passing legislation to establish an official religion or preferring one religion over another. It enforces the “separation of church and state.” Some governmental activity related to religion has been declared constitutional by the Supreme Court. For example, providing bus transportation for parochial school students and the enforcement of “blue laws” is not prohibited. The free exercise clause prohibits the government, in most instances, from interfering with a person’s practice of their religion.

The most basic component of freedom of expression is the right of freedom of speech. The right to freedom of speech allows individuals to express themselves without interference or constraint by the government. The Supreme Court requires the government to provide substantial justification for the interference with the right of free speech where it attempts to regulate the content of the speech. A less stringent test is applied for content-neutral legislation. The Supreme Court has also recognized that the government may prohibit some speech that may cause a breach of the peace or cause violence. For more on unprotected and less protected categories of speech see advocacy of illegal action, fighting words, commercial speech and obscenity. The right to free speech includes other mediums of expression that communicate a message.  The level of protection speech receives also depends on the forum in which it takes place.

Despite popular misunderstanding the right to freedom of the press guaranteed by the first amendment is not very different from the right to freedom of speech. It allows an individual to express themselves through publication and dissemination. It is part of the constitutional protection of freedom of expression. It does not afford members of the media any special rights or privileges not afforded to citizens in general.

The right to assemble allows people to gather for peaceful and lawful purposes. Implicit within this right is the right to association and belief. The Supreme Court has expressly recognized that a right to freedom of association and belief is implicit in the First, Fifth, and Fourteenth Amendments. This implicit right is limited to the right to associate for First Amendment purposes. It does not include a right of social association. The government may prohibit people from knowingly associating in groups that engage and promote illegal activities. The right to associate also prohibits the government from requiring a group to register or disclose its members or from denying government benefits on the basis of an individual’s current or past membership in a particular group. There are exceptions to this rule where the Court finds that governmental interests in disclosure/registration outweigh interference with first amendment rights. The government may also, generally, not compel individuals to express themselves, hold certain beliefs, or belong to particular associations or groups.

The right to petition the government for a redress of grievances guarantees people the right to ask the government to provide relief for a wrong through the courts (litigation) or other governmental action. It works with the right of assembly by allowing people to join together and seek change from the government.

 

Definition from Nolo’s Plain-English Law Dictionary

The amendment to the U.S. Constitution that guarantees freedom of religion, freedom of expression (including speech, press, assembly, association, and belief), and freedom to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

Definition provided by Nolo’s Plain-English Law Dictionary.

~~~~~~

And to the First Amendment, goes the Fourth Amendment, which I came up against recently:

Amendment IV

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

~~~~~~~

 

 

The coal debate

by

I about fell off my chair when I heard the radio ad that Barack Obama “approves this message”.  I thought it sounded too much like an Onion spoof…but, alas…

The message?  He approves of coal…and fracking as viable energy sources.  Well, not that it’s a surprise that he *still* supports “clean coal”…but I thought that he at least had sense not to endorse fracking…I was apparently wrong.

Story here:  http://www.cleveland.com/open/index.ssf/2012/09/obama_campaign_says_romney_not.html

Look at the faces of the miners–blackened with coal dust that contains mercury, lead, arsenic, and on...

91% of those children had respiratory problems–what more does it take?!  A 100%??

From the article:

But according to Stephen Lester, science director of the Virginia-based Center for Health, Environment, and Justice, the air quality tests done at Marsh Fork were “extremely limited” and “provide meaningless information” since they did not test specifically for heavy metals like nickel, lead, arsenic, and mercury found in coal dust.  Rather, they conducted standard state tests for mold, air flow, and air filter upkeep

What a joke.  See, if you don’t acknowledge there’s a problem…then they don’t have to do something about it.  And the chemical industry/coal industry/nuclear industry…and on…can continue doing what they do without being held accountable.

A miner’s viewpoint here.

Environmental Working group has this from 2004.  And this from 2001:  the revolving door phenomenon.

This woman is a walking toxic dump.   Good Grief.  This a testament to our body’s ability to withstand a toxic beating and still try to correct the situation…but even the miracle of one’s body has its limits.

The problem with the situation is that as the above article states, scientists are testing folks for toxins in their systems, but they don’t know what it means–it doesn’t mean the presence of disease, but also doesn’t mean there’s no damage done.

From the article:

“Just because it’s there doesn’t mean it’s going to hurt you,” says Bruce Caswell, senior manager of environmental health and safety with the Canadian Chemical Producers Association. But it doesn’t mean it’s not hurting you either. We experience a constant barrage of synthetic stuff, even in the womb. Doses differ as do genetic and physiological vulnerabilities. “None of this belongs in our bodies. Period,” says Riina Bray, a family physician at Women’s College Hospital’s Environmental Health Clinic. Researchers suspect these toxic chemicals have links to a number of cancers, including breast, testicular and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, not to mention reproductive disorders and learning disabilities.

I wonder about the toxin drift as highlighted in this article with David Masty testing positive.  I think the bizarre actions of folks in the last decade or so are related to how toxic our environment is–that we’ve reached our limits of how much our bodies can take before we crash–and the result isn’t always physical, but mental.  This was one of the most surprising aspects of toxic poisoning that I’ve learned on this odyssey I’m on–I had no idea that toxins affected one’s mental abilities.  The medical profession has always treated mental issues as if they were exclusively a problem with the brain–not a likely result of toxic exposure.

And the children being born polluted…it should be enough to make every adult sit up and take notice….

Related to this is the EWG filing suit after Cuomo refuses to release all requested documents.

In my case, although there are numerous red flags, the FDA refuses to recognize that dental amalgams poison people–even though most folks on the mercury support group became sick within a year of amalgam placement.  And I know that living near a coal-burning power plant in the 70s also contributed to my mercury/lead/arsenic load.  Truly, it was when I first had mercury symptoms–only they were minor annoyances that would be misdiagnosed or ignored.

And the USDA is still recommending a diet that is heavily grain based, even though this may mean it is opening the door for mercury/heavy metal poisoning for Celiacs.

…and then the poor sap that falls ill will be met with the “you don’t have a right to food or shelter…”

Aung San Suu Kyi

by

…is coming to Fort Wayne tomorrow. She is giving a speech in her native tongue at the Memorial Coliseum free of charge.

For those that don’t know, Fort Wayne is home to the largest Burmese population in the United States.

Story here:  http://www.wane.com/dpp/news/local/ipfw-screens-movie-before-a-nobel-peace-prize-winner-visits-fort-wayne(of course, there are the prejudiced ones who put their stupid comments in the comments section….<sigh> and the rightwing radio station has said little, if anything, about the trip.

I want to go, but my car is having issues and I might not get it repaired in time to drive out there.

Anyway, it’s a historical event for this town and I’m happy that she is able to make the trip.

If you wish, you may listen to the speech on the local public radio station:  WBOI Link here:  http://nipr.fm/