New Calif law requires vaccine for grades 7-12

Only smiling vaccination pictures
available on the web.

California health officials want parents of teens to get up to date on their whooping cough vaccine to get into compliance with a new law for 2011.

A new law requires all middle and high school students to be vaccinated against the highly infectious disease also known as pertussis prior to the 2011 school year this fall.

State public health medical officer Dr. Eileen Yamada says students in public and private schools will need to show proof of a TDAP booster shot before starting school.


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Europe to ban hundreds of herbal remedies

This will kill a lot of people. -Ed.

Safety concerns sparked drive to outlaw products

The Independent
By Jeremy Laurance, Health Editor
Thursday, 30 December 2010

Hundreds of herbal medicinal products will be banned from sale in Britain next year under what campaigners say is a "discriminatory and disproportionate" European law.

With four months to go before the EU-wide ban is implemented, thousands of patients face the loss of herbal remedies that have been used in the UK for decades.

From 1 May 2011, traditional herbal medicinal products must be licensed or prescribed by a registered herbal practitioner to comply with an EU directive passed in 2004. The directive was introduced in response to rising concern over adverse effects caused by herbal medicines...

...According to the Alliance for Natural Health (ANH), which represents herbal practitioners, not a single product used in traditional Chinese medicine or ayurvedic medicine has been licensed. In Europe, around 200 products from 27 plant species have been licensed but there are 300 plant species in use in the UK alone.

The ANH estimates the cost of obtaining a licence at between £80,000 and £120,000 per herb. They say this is affordable for single herbal products with big markets, such as echinacea, a remedy for colds and flu, but will drive small producers of medicines containing multiple herbs out of business.

Polar Bears Full of More Toxins Than Any Other Creature

Treehugger, Dec. 30, 2010

As their native habitat melts, polar bears have been forced into close contact with grizzly bears and humans—both of which have limited the iconic carnivore's ability to obtain food. This, however, is not the only problem the bears face.

New research has shown that, even in their relatively remote arctic homes, exposure to toxins and chemicals have compounded to make polar bears the most contaminated creatures on the planet.

The problem begins in Europe, Asia, and North America, where industrial and agricultural pollutants are released into the air and water. Ocean and atmospheric currents carry these pollutants north and they eventually settle in the Arctic.

Researchers have found elevated levels of PCBs, brominated flame retardants, and mercury in polar bears.

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US threatened ‘retaliation’ to bully EU into accepting biotech crops, cable shows

Raw Story, Dec. 20, 2010

Reacting to a French pledge to represent the "common interest" in considering biotech foods, a former US ambassador recommended publishing a "retaliation list" of European locations where genetically modified organisms (GMOs) were being grown in hopes that activists would destroy them and "cause some pain" for officials, a leaked diplomatic cable shows.

In a confidential communication dated Dec. 14, 2007 and released by WikiLeaks on Sunday, then-US Ambassador to France Craig Roberts Stapleton recommended creating the list if France and the EU continued to ban biotech seeds.

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Top Food Additives You Really Need to Avoid

Technorati.com, Dec. 27, 2010

The vast majorities of processed foods are packed with calories and have been stripped of any nutrients that we require to maintain optimal health. Over the course of years and decades, the lack of vitamins and minerals from natural foods slowly leads to chronic disease conditions such as diabetes, cancer, dementia and heart disease.

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Monsanto is the real food terror threat

CAIndependentVoterNetwork, Dec. 24 2010

Mary Nash Stoddard of the Aspartame Consumer Safety Network informs us: “In 1998, Monsanto applied for FDA approval for a monster molecule, “based on the aspartame formula” with one critical addition: 3-dimethylbutyl [listed on EPA's most hazardous chemical list]. Neotame is touted as being 13,000 times sweeter than sugar.

On July 5 2002, Monsanto’s Neotame molecule was approved by the US FDA over formally registered objections of the Aspartame Consumer Safety Network and others. Long term effects on humans are unknown.

The food labeling requirements for aspartame have now been dropped for Neotame, and no one is clear why this was allowed to happen.

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Eco-bulbs ‘a health hazard for babies and pregnant women due to mercury inside'

Dprogram.net, Dec. 23, 2010

Energy-saving light bulbs were at the centre of a fresh health scare last night after researchers claimed they can release potentially harmful amounts of mercury if broken. Levels of toxic vapour around smashed eco-bulbs were up to 20 times higher than the safe guideline limit for an indoor area, the study said.

It added that broken bulbs posed a potential health risk to pregnant women, babies and small children.

The European Union is phasing out the traditional ‘incandescent bulbs’ used for more than 120 years and is forcing people to switch to low-energy alternatives to meet its climate change targets.

The Daily Mail reports that during the tests, the German government agency's researchers were alarmed to discover that some bulbs had no protective cover and broke when hot.

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Feds order farmer to destroy his own wheat crops: The shocking revelations of Wickard vs Filburn

Natural News, Dec. 21, 2010

In arguing for S.501, the "Food Safety Modernization Act," there are all sorts of attorneys, legislators and internet commentators who keep claiming, "The government won't try to control the food production of small farms." They say, "Your backyard garden is safe" and that the feds won't come knocking on your door to control your seeds or foods.

As usual, these pushers of Big Government are utterly ignorant of the history in their own country. Because as you'll learn right here, not only CAN the U.S. government control and dictate to single-family farms what they can grow in their own backyards; the government has already blatantly done so!

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Study: Tap Water Still Has Toxins Found Nearly 20 Years Ago

MyFox Houston, Dec. 20, 2010

Drinking water in millions of U.S. homes is highly contaminated with cancer-causing hexavalent chromium, according to an environmental group study released Monday.

Almost 20 years after the hazardous chemical was made infamous by Erin Brockovich, the Environmental Working Group claims it is present in the tap water of 31 out of 35 U.S. cities it tested.

“Millions of Americans are drinking water contaminated with the carcinogenic chemical ... despite mounting evidence of the contaminant’s toxic effects,” the report concluded.

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Big Pharma now tops list of government defrauders, group finds

Milwaukee Wisconsin Journal Sentinel, Dec. 16, 2010

The pharmaceutical industry has zoomed by the defense industry to become the biggest defrauder of the federal governement based on payments obtained under the federal False Claims Act, according to an analysis by the group Public Citizen.

Since 1991, there have been 165 major settlements of civil and criminal cases resulting in fines and payments totaling nearly $20 billion, the organization reported.

"Desperate to maintain their high margin of profit in the face of a dwindling number of important new drugs, these figures show that the industry has engaged in such activities as dangerous, illegal promotion for unapproved uses of drugs and deliberately overcharging vital government health programs, such as Medicare and Medicaid," said Sidney Wolfe, director of the Health Research Group at Public Citizen.

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Thimerosal in Vaccines

AllVoices, Dec 19, 2010

Dr. Mark R. Geirer, MD, PhD and David A. Geier had conducted a study which had evaluated doses of thimerosal in childhood vaccines. Their examination had shown there is an increased risk between the mercury levels and neurodevelopmental disorders and heart disease. The study was published in the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons.

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Who Needs A Flu Vaccination? Everyone! No Excuses!

The Daily Planet Dispatch, Dec. 18, 2010

Note: Heed our government's deadly propaganda at your own risk. Do you really think Mr. Obama is getting an armful of the same poison they give to the rest of us? -Ed.

Who needs a flu vaccination? The answer is, everyone needs to get a shot of the flu vaccine. The new guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now say everyone over the age of six months needs to get an influenza vaccination, including the so called, low risk demographic, those in good health between 19 and 49 years old.

And now there’s even a safe way to give the influenza vaccine to newborn infants and those still in the womb. Not only has the medical community recommended for years that pregnant women and older infants be given flu vaccines, but Yale University has just finished a three year study that demonstrates that giving the injections to pregnant women prevents 90% of influenza in infants under six months old.

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Something's in the air: BPA found around the world.

Environmental Health News, Sept. 30, 2010

Add air to the growing list of places where bisphenol A (BPA) is found, say a pair of Japanese researchers who have measured and reported levels of the chemical in the world's atmosphere. They discovered BPA in air samples from all over the world at widely varied levels – from almost nothing in remote areas near the poles to 10,000 times more than that in India and other heavily populated regions of Asia.

The results show the far reaching extent of BPA contamination and identify yet another likely source of exposure for people. Exposure is possible because researchers found that BPA floats in the air attached to particles that can infiltrate lungs. Still, the amounts of this exposure and any potential health risks from breathing the contaminated air are not known.

Researchers believe that BPA enters the air when plastics, electronics and other waste are burned, since the highest concentrations were measured near populated areas and coincided with high levels of other chemicals that are associated with burning plastics.

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See also: Controversial chemical BPA found on paper money, SFGate, Dec. 8, 2010

RED ALERT: S.510 is alive and funded by the House!

Farm Wars, Dec. 8, 2010

Just when you thought it was safe to relax a bit about S.510, here it is, alive and rolling through Congress like a fast-pitched baseball. It seems that nothing short of an act of God will stop this bill.

Sources on the Hill have informed us the Food Safety Bill was folded into the House Continuing Resolution, which authorizes the funding of government into 2011. As you may remember, the Food Safety Act was “blue slipped” by the House Democrats, after the Senate passed it, because Harry Reid included a section that raised taxes (which the Constitution requires to begin in the House). (Truth Farmer)

Since it is quite possible that the text of this amendment will disappear from the Internet once people get wind of it, here is the full text of the amendment in PDF format taken from the following link: http://www.rules.house.gov/bills_details.aspx?NewsID=4787

S.510 can be stopped right at your state governor’s door. Unless our governors give permission and designate one or more agencies inside your state to contract with USDA/FDA, they cannot implement, enforce or otherwise criminalize agriculture in your state. Because agriculture is outside the enumerated powers of the Constitution, your governor has to give permission to USDA/FDA or any of these other corporate government agencies to come into your state and set up shop. (PPJ Gazette)

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If you want a look at the future for farmer's markets under an implemented S.510, take a look at this security video of the recent armed raid on Rawsome Foods, a collective selling raw milk and dairy products to its members:

ANH-USA Action Alert: Is the Institute of Medicine in Bed with Big Pharma?

Alliance for Natural Health, Dec. 7, 2010

As we reported last week, the Institute of Medicine’s (IOM) new and absurdly low vitamin D recommendation flies in the face of scientific evidence. Now we need your help to get Congress to launch an investigation.

Some may ask, “Why are you treating this report as such a big deal? I’ll take however many vitamins I wish, and the government has no say in the matter.” But unless these findings are challenged, the public will accept it as true. Doctors, medical institutions, the media, and governmental agencies will all parrot these ultra-low recommendations on vitamin D dosage, pooh-poohing its important therapeutic benefits, and keeping the American public dangerously deficient in the vitamin. This will mean more colds, more flu, greater dependence on dangerous flu shots and antibiotics, more illness in general, more weak bones, more cancer, and many more deaths. Some experts calculate that proper vitamin D supplementation could save Americans $4.4 trillion over a decade—about $1,346 per person every year.

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Sesame Street “Superfood” Muppets Backed by Big Pharma

Eco Child's Play, Dec. 7, 2010

What do you think of when you hear superfoods? I think of foods high in phytonutrients and/or antioxidants like spirulina, broccoli, and blueberries known to “lower your cholesterol, reduce your risk of heart disease and cancer”.

The term superfoods has been accused of becoming a marketing term, and it appears Sesame Street has jumped on the bandwagon with their new Superfood Muppets.

The fact that Merck is a partner in this new endeavor just reeks of suspicion. Pharmaceuticals make money off of sickness, and by promoting non-superfoods as such, it appears Big Pharma is behind duping parents and children about health and nutrition. It is not that bananas, whole wheat buns, and cheese are not healthy (although buns and cheese can be processed and contain additives), it’s simply misleading.The term superfoods has been accused of becoming a marketing term, and it appears Sesame Street has jumped on the bandwagon with their new Superfood Muppets.

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Mobiles warning for mums-to-be: Using phone while pregnant 'can lead to behavioural problems in children'

Daily Mail, Dec. 6, 2010

Pregnant women who regularly use mobile phones could increase the risk of their children behaving badly, claims a startling survey.

If their offspring then start using the devices at an early age, the chance of problems climbs to 50 per cent, according to researchers. They found those exposed to mobile phones in the womb had a 30 per cent rise in behavioural difficulties at the age of seven. But those exposed before birth and in their childhood, were 50 per cent more likely to have behavioural problems than those exposed to neither.

Children who used mobiles, but were not exposed in the womb, were 20 per cent more likely to display abnormal behaviour. The findings by researchers in California are likely to reinforce warnings that children should not use mobile phones.

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15 Die From Mass Food Poisoning

Peace FM, Dec. 6, 2010

As Ghana marked the 26th National Farmers’ Day with a holiday last Friday, disturbing reports from the Upper East Region indicated that 15 persons had died from eating food poisoned with insecticides.

The Upper East Regional Coordinating Council claimed later at a news conference that only 12 persons had died as a result of what they described as “misapplication of agro-chemicals or the use of fake agro-chemicals by some farmers to fertilise their crops in these areas.”

Farmers were advised to read or seek information from any extension worker on the methods of applying agro-chemicals, especially when they were in doubt or dealing with agro-chemicals containing Endo-Sulphar.

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New Scientist plants false story that Pope approves GM crops

Infowars Ireland, Dec. 4, 2010

Talk about psyops. If you can’t get the people to eat your dangerous, unwanted frankenfoods, just lie and say the Pope approves it. On November 30, the magazine, New Scientist, published “Vatican scientists urge support for engineered crops,” which the Vatican immediately denied.

“The Vatican did not endorse an 11-page final statement in favor of easing restrictions on and allowing more widespread use of genetically modified crops, especially in poorer nations,” a Vatican official said in a statement published by Catholic News Service.

In fact, “the Vatican has never taken a formal position supporting or opposing genetically modified foods,” reported CNS.

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S.510 and Codex Link: Tracking, Tracing, and Monitoring Independent Food Production

Regulated Out of Existence by S.510

Brandon Turbeville
Activist Post, Dec. 4, 2010

 Being honest, I must confess some slight personal agitation at the thought of writing another article on yet another “food safety” bill making its way through congress with the words “tyranny” and “Codex” written all over it. It seems that every legislative session, we are faced with the prospect of the same food bill cloaked in a different name. Invariably, this bill seeks to corral all food production into the hands of a few major corporations and essentially destroy the ability of the population to feed themselves. Here in late 2010, we have the new version of food imperialism known as S.510, the Food Safety Modernization Act.

While it is true that S.510 contains new and improved tyrannical sections that are unique specifically to it, the truth is that it is merely a repackaging of past bills (See here and here ) and attempts to control people through food. It is also yet another attempt to implement Codex Alimentarius guidelines under the guise of domestic legislation.

One example of hidden Codex guidelines in the Food Safety Modernization Act are the overly broad provisions regarding “traceability.” The desire for enhanced traceability of food products is sold to the public as a desire to better respond to food-borne illnesses and follow them back to their source. However, as with almost anything that comes out of the mouth of government, there is a more sinister role that traceability programs have to play.

Essentially, traceability has little to do with food safety in this context. While no one could argue being able to trace food contamination back to the source is a bad thing, the fact is that these mechanisms already exist. Unfortunately, they are generally ignored and unused when it comes to adverse health effects related to food produced by multinational food corporations. While there is always an exception to the rule, it is a fact that international corporations are by far the source of food adulteration more often than small independent farms.

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Adventures in Ghostwriting: Big Pharma’s Very Own Textbook

FairWarning.org, Nov. 30, 2010

A major drug maker and its consultants provided substantial content for a medical text that was later credited to a pair of prominent physicians, The New York Times reports.

The book–”Recognition and Treatment of Psychiatric Disorders: A Psychopharmacology Handbook for Primary Care”– was published in 1999, and ostensibly co-authored by Dr. Charles B. Nemeroff, currently chairman of psychiatry at the University of Miami medical school, and Dr. Alan F. Schatzberg, who until last year was chairman of psychiatry at the Stanford University School of Medicine. Its purpose was to advise family doctors on the treatment of psychiatric disorders.

“To ghostwrite an entire textbook is a new level of chutzpah,” Dr. David A. Kessler, former commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, told the Times. “I’ve never heard of that before. It takes your breath away.”

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Big Pharma Is Watching You

MoneyWatch.com, Dec. 2, 2010

The way things stand now, consumers’ personal information — often sensitive stuff about our health — is being sold without our knowledge or consent to on-line marketers; they then use it to bombard us with sales pitches for expensive drugs, medical devices and even surgical procedures.

How does this happen? Let’s say that you’ve had a pain in your chest for the past two days. If you’re anything like me, you can’t wait to see a doctor. Instead you rush to your trusty computer and google “heart attack” or “chest pain” and try to figure out by wading through scores of websites, blogs, scholarly medical journals and interactive quizzes, whether you should call 911 immediately or stop snacking on Jalapeno peppers.

But when you make such a query, according to a 144-page complaint filed last week with the FTC by several consumer groups (the Center for Digital Democracy, the U.S. Public Interest Research Group, Consumer Watchdog and the World Privacy Forum), mechanisms designed to pick up your medical information are lurking everywhere. “Consumers now confront a sophisticated and largely stealth interactive medical marketing apparatus that has unleashed an arsenal of techniques designed to promote the use of specific brand drugs and influence consumers about treatment for health conditions,” states the complaint.

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“Unconstitutional” food bill driven by Big Food lobby dollars

Global Research, Dec. 4, 2010

While over 200 organizations lobbied on the Food Safety Modernization Act (S.510), no one seemed to notice an unconstitutional section in the bill until after it passed on Tuesday. That day, Roll Call advised that the bill contained a provision, Sec. 107, allowing the Senate to raise revenues. This violates Article I, Section 7, of the U.S. Constitution, granting that power exclusively to the House. S.510 opponents now celebrate the House’s use of the “blue slip process” to return the bill to the Senate.

After S.510 passed, President Obama issued a statement: “I urge the House — which has previously passed legislation demonstrating its strong commitment to making our food supply safer — to act quickly on this critical bill, and I applaud the work that was done to ensure its broad bipartisan passage in the Senate.”

Apparently, the Senate moved too quickly. Their overreach only supports the natural foods movement assertion that the entire bill is over-reaching as the federal government seeks complete control over local foods.

In an email, Canada Health whistleblower Shiv Chopra noted, “It is all about corporate control of food and public health.” He’s not alone in believing that a ‘hidden corporate agenda’ is driving the federal government to impose itself on local food production and distribution.

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Calif approves use of pesticide linked to cancer

Yahoo News

FRESNO, Calif. – California regulators approved a pesticide Wednesday for use by fruit and vegetable growers despite heavy opposition from environmental and farmworker groups that cited its links to cancer.

The state Department of Pesticide Regulation will register methyl iodide as a substitute for the pesticide methyl bromide, which is being phased out by international treaty because it depletes the Earth's protective ozone layer.

California's $1.6 billion strawberry industry will undoubtedly provide one of the biggest markets for the chemical, as will the Central Valley's nut orchards and the fresh flower nurseries dotting the coast in Ventura and San Diego counties.
Full Article

RED ALERT: Senate passed S510 Food Safety Modernization Act

Strategy Page, Nov. 30, 2010

This is a sad day for America. The Senate just passed S510, the so-called 'Food Safety Modernization Act', which, as with so many Orwellian-titled pieces of legislation, does not improve food safety, but rather it marks the beginning of food tyranny in America by adopting Codex Alimentarius. This draconian bill fails on moral, social, economic, political, constitutional, and human survival grounds. Here is what it will do:

1. It puts all US food and all US farms under Homeland Security and the Department of Defense.

2. It would end US sovereignty over its own food supply by insisting on compliance with the WTO.

3. It would allow the government, under Maritime Law, to define the introduction of any food into commerce (even direct sales between individuals) as smuggling.

4. It imposes Codex Alimentarius on the US, a global system of control over food.

5. It would remove the right to clean, store and thus own seeds in the US.

6. It includes NAIS, an animal traceability program that threatens all small farmers and ranchers raising animals.

7. It extends a failed and destructive HACCP to all food, thus threatening to do to all local food production and farming what HACCP did to meat production

8. It deconstructs what is left of the American economy.

9. It would allow the government to mandate antibiotics, hormones, slaughterhouse waste, pesticides and GMOs.

10. It uses food crimes as the entry into police state power and control. The bill postpones defining all the regulations to be imposed; postpones defining crimes to be punished, postpones defining penalties to be applied. It removes fundamental constitutional protections from all citizens in the country, making them subject to a corporate tribunal with unlimited power and penalties, and without judicial review.

Do you have a condition or disease that you treat with alternative medicine such as herbs or homeopathic solutions? Under this legislation, your medicines can, and no doubt will, be banned. Good luck.

Propaganda: IOM Report Sets New Dietary Intake Levels for Calcium and Vitamin D

National Academy of Sciences Press Release, Nov. 30, 2010

Low levels of vitamin D have have been correlated with the development of cancer and other diseases in humans. Despite innumerable reports and studies confirming that most Americans are vitamin D deficient, the Institute of Medicine today released it's recommendation for lowered dietary intake levels of vitamin D and calcium. The upshot: "600 IUs daily meets the needs of almost everyone in the United States and Canada" and a review of studies on the health effects of vitamin D, such as protection against cancer, heart disease, autoimmune diseases, and diabetes "do not offer the evidence needed to confirm that vitamin D has these effects."

Then why is it, you ask, that your blood test came back showing your vitamin D level at a fraction of what it should be? The IOM has an answer for that: "The measurements of sufficiency and deficiency - the cutpoints - that clinical laboratories use to report test results have not been based on rigorous scientific studies and are not standardized." Oh snap. It's impressive what science can infer from a review of the literature rather than from actual research studies.

Once the new reduced dietary guidelines for D are established, it will become more difficult for ordinary people to get enough vitamin D to fend off cancer and other diseases. This is welcome news for the soft eugenicists who guide national policy.

by Liss
IOM Press Release

Doctors sound TSA germ alert: Dangers include syphilis, lice, viruses, ringworm

poorrichard's blog, Nov. 27, 2010

Syphilis, lice, gonorrhea, ringworm, chlamydia, staph, strep, noro and papilloma viruses all are part of the possible fringe benefits when airline passengers next go through a full hands-on pat-down by agents of the federal government's Transportation Security Administration, according to doctors. WND reported two days ago on alarmed passengers who noted that TSA agents doing the pat-downs that have been described by critics as molestation since they include touching private body parts were not changing gloves between passengers.

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Patriot Act for Food: A close look at bizarre propaganda for S.510

thepeoplesvoice.org, Nov. 27, 2010

Need a good laugh? Check out the bizarre reasoning offered in support of the Patriot Act for Food (S. 510, the Food Safety Modernization Act), which the U.S. Senate will vote on shortly. From a need to stop food smuggling, to the law is too old, to the terrorists are gonna get us, elites sure are shy of brains when it comes to credible propaganda. They must be drinking the fluoridated water and smoking Monsanto marijuana, or hoping you are.

A couple weeks ago, we reported that Senator Bob Casey informed his Pennsylvania constituents that S.510 will stop food smuggling in the United States. Never heard of the problem? That might be because the “biggest food smuggling case in the history of the U.S.” amounted to $40 million worth of commercial grade honey over a five-year period...

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Soda companies pushed pop as beneficial beverage for infants

Natural News, Nov. 26, 2010

For over a hundred years, soda companies been selling products with ingredients that we now know are linked to diabetes, obesity, gout and kidney stones. Those are some of the effects of the High Fructose Corn Syrup and phosphoric acid found in conventional sodas, and we haven't even mentioned the health problems caused by aspartame.

And yet, despite the fact that these soda products are demonstrably harmful to human health, the soda industry has been working hard for many decades to convince parents to feed their infants and children more soda.

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Heal your brain to recover from chronic fatigue syndrome

Planetthrive, Nov. 27, 2010

But what is behind illness related to toxins? Toxins affect and damage the brain. Today we’re seeing an explosion of neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and Lou Gehrig’s disease that are occurring at much earlier ages than previously. Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) also has neurophysiological symptoms and brain imaging studies showed that CFS patients are dysfunctional in their ventral anterior cingulate cortex function, and other brain abnormalities. CFS has much in common with the neurodegenerative diseases.

The multiplying of toxicity is called “synergism.” All the pesticides, herbicides and chemicals exposure that you have daily is what is causing this enormous burst of cases of neurodegenerative disease. I talk about the cumulative effect of stressors over time leading to damage of the nervous system, the adrenals, and the immune system.

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Happy Thanksgiving: Food "Safety" Modernization Act Passes During Lame Duck Session

Activist Post, Nov. 25, 2010

When most of us think about "lame duck" Congressional sessions we think of a "do-nothing" government. However, this so-called lame duck session appears to be a time where legislation that has the most restrictions to individual rights is being rammed through.

It seems the members of government who have been recently voted out of office are vying for corporate jobs by pushing such legislation as the Food Safety Modernization Act...

This Act has the backing of establishment liberals who think more big government regulation will protect us from food-borne diseases derived from factory farming.  Their heart seems to be in the right place, but placing trust in this horribly corrupt government to "protect" us makes them utterly gullible. The vote of 74-25 in the Senate proves the bill was more broadly supported than just with progressives, indicating strong corporate support from the Big-Agri lobby that wrote the bill.

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Biotechnology Industry Spends Over Half a Billion Pushing Controversial Projects like Genetically Engineered (GE) Food Animals

Food&WaterWatch.org, Nov. 17, 2010

Food & Water Watch Analysis Exposes Government Connections to Biotech Lobbyists; Despite Widespread Opposition, FDA may Approve First GE Food Animal on Nov. 23

Washington, DC – Over the last decade, top food and agriculture biotechnology firms and trade associations spent over half a billion dollars – $572 million – in campaign contributions and lobbying Congress in support of controversial industry projects like genetically engineered (GE) food animals, according to a new analysis by national consumer advocacy group Food & Water Watch. Political Action Committee (PAC) contributions and lobbying expenditures by biotechnology interests more than doubled during this time.

“The public needs to know that despite their concerns with eating genetically engineered (GE) foods, there’s a powerful industry spending hundreds of millions to promote products like GE salmon,” said Wenonah Hauter, executive director of Food & Water Watch.

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FDA Hides Evidence That GMO Salmon Threaten Wild Salmon

EatDrinkBetter, Nov. 12, 2010

When the FDA held hearings on AquaBounty’s AquAdvantage GMO salmon earlier this year, they neglected to include a statement by other federal agencies indicating that raising the GMO salmon in open-ocean pens would violate the U.S. Endangered Species Act.

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Household Chemicals Linked to Early Puberty, Infertility

MedicineNet.com, Nov. 18, 2010

A growing list of common household chemicals may be linked to reproductive health problems, including early puberty and infertility.

The list includes phthalates, the plastics chemical bisphenol A (BPA), perfluorinated compounds found in nonstick cookware, flame retardants, the antibacterial agent triclosan, and mercury, according to experts speaking at a news conference sponsored by Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families, a coalition seeking to overhaul the 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).

There is a lack of data on many of the chemicals used today. "The absence of data does not mean they are safe." One of the group's issues with the TSCA is that it "grandfathered" in 62,000 chemicals without testing.

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Wendell Potter: "My Apologies to Michael Moore and the Health Insurance Industry"

PR Watch

In advance of my appearance with Michael Moore on Countdown with Keith Olbermann tonight on MSNBC (8 and 11 p.m. ET), I would like to offer an apology to both Moore and his arch enemy, the health insurance industry, which spent a lot of policyholder premiums in 2007 to attack his movie, Sicko.

I need to apologize to Moore for the role I played in the insurance industry's public relations attack campaign again him and Sicko, which was about the increasingly unfair and dysfunctional U.S. health care system. (I was head of corporate communications at one of the country's biggest insurance companies when I left my job in May 2008.) And I need to apologize to health insurers for failing to note in my new book, Deadly Spin, that the front group they used to attack Moore and Sicko -- Health Care America -- was originally a front group for drug companies. APCO Worldwide, the PR firm that operated the front group for insurers during the summer of 2007, was outraged -- outraged, I tell you -- that I wrote in the book that the raison d'être for Health Care America was to disseminate the insurance industry's talking points as part of a multi-pronged, fear-mongering campaign against Moore and his movie. An APCO executive told a reporter who had reviewed the book that I was guilty of one of the deceptive PR tactics I condemned: the selective disclosure of information to manipulate public opinion.

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Obesity in America: Are Factory Farms, Big Pharma and Big Food to Blame?

Huffington Post, Oct. 25, 2010

One third of our economy thrives on making people sick and fat. Big Farming grows 500 more calories per person per day than 25 years ago because they get paid to grow extra food even when it is not needed. The extra corn (sugar) and soy (fat) are turned into industrial processed food and sugar-sweetened beverages -- combinations of fat, sugar and salt that are proven to be addictive. These subsidized ($288 billion) cheap, low-quality foods are heavily marketed ($30 billion) and consumed by our ever-widening population with an obesity rate approaching three out of four Americans. The more they eat, the fatter they become. The fatter they become the more they develop heart disease, diabetes, cancer and a myriad of other chronic ailments.

Today, one in 10 Americans have diabetes. By 2050 one in three Americans will have diabetes. The sicker our population, the more medications are sold for high cholesterol, diabetes, high blood pressure, depression, and many other lifestyle-driven diseases. The Toxic Triad of Big Farming, Big Food, and Big Pharma profits from creating a nation of sick and fat citizens.

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Scan, Pat Down Or Scam?

OpEdNews, Nov. 20, 2010

The American people have become willing cattle by refusing to stand up for their rights and allowing themselves to be bamboozled by the financial elite ~ who use fear and greed to humiliate them and lead them to financial slaughter.

No where is this more evident than the TSA Scan or Pat Down outrage where Former Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff ordered the full body x-ray scanners before the so-called "underwear bomber" scare. The House actually voted down the use of body scanners, but the TSA ignored the will of Congress and bought the machines anyway ~ wasting $25 million in stimulus funds.

TSA's (Janet Napolitano says) that the backscatter X-ray machines in the Airports are safe: The reality is that according to doctors at Columbia and Johns Hopkins "the radiation at airports is twenty times what you would get from an x-ray in your doctor's office."

Now Chertoff personally profits from selling them to the Department of Homeland Security he used to head.

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WHICH SENATORS GOT PAID OFF TO SUPPORT S.510 - THE 'FOOD SAFETY MODERNIZATION ACT'?

Liberty News, Nov. 18, 2010

The following is a list of U.S Senators and the Bribes (I mean campaign contributions) that these Senators received from Special Interest Groups to either support or oppose S.510 - The FDA Food Safety and Modernization Act. I have listed the names of the Senators, the Party and State, and the amount of Special Interest Bribes (I mean campaign contributions) that they received:

[some choice excerpts]
John McCain - R AZ - Bribe For: $118,070 - Against: $21,525
Mark Begich - D AK - Bribe For: $23,050 - Against: $2,000
Harry Reid - D NV - Bribe For: $133,985 - Against: $10,000
Pat Roberts - R KS - Bribe For: $167,294 - Against: $65,186
Arlen Specter - D PA - Bribe For: $209,124 - Against: $9,400
Ron Wyden - D OR - Bribe For: $58,700 - Against: $4,900

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Related story? Bribery wins in fat-cat fantasy game

GM mosquito wild release takes campaigners by surprise

poorrichard's blog, Nov. 19, 2010

Experts in the safety of genetically modified (GM) organisms have expressed concern over the release of GM mosquitoes into the wild on the Cayman Islands, which was publicised internationally only last month — a year after their initial release.

The trial of the OX513A strain of the dengue-carrying mosquito, developed by UK biotechnology company Oxitec, was carried out on Grand Cayman island by the Cayman Islands' Mosquito Research and Control Unit. Together they represent the first known release of GM mosquitoes anywhere in the world.

Unpublished results of the trials, showing that the GM male mosquitoes competed with wild males, were presented at the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene annual meeting in the United States, last week (4 November).

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Chips ahoy: Big pharma to put computers in pills

People's World, Nov. 16, 2010

According to some recent news stories we all may be swallowing computer chips in the near future. Some big drug companies are planning to put micro-chips in the pills we take in order to make sure we take our meds (and of course use up those pills so we have to buy more).

Science fiction? Not in the least. Reuters reported on November 8, in a story by Ben Hirschler, that Novartis AG is hoping to get regulators to approve its new "smart pill" by 2012. Here is how it works. A microchip goes into the pill along with meds, it transmits its information to a skin patch which in turn can relay the information over the internet or to a smartphone.

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India's PIB Press Release: Population Control

PIB, Friday, Nov. 19, 2010

The Government envisages strengthening Family Planning Services through the following broad strategies:-

1. Increasing basket of choice by systematically and carefully introducing new and effective contraceptives in the programme. ...

3. Promotion of IUD 380A intensively as a spacing method because of its longevity of 10 years and advantages over other IUDs.

4. Promotion of No Scalpel Vasectomy to ensure male participation.

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Sperm Wars: Exposure to Toxins Harms a Man's Future Offspring for Generations

examiner.com, Nov. 18, 2010

“By altering sperm in an enduring way, an environmental exposure can leave its mark on at least four subsequent generations.” - Newsweek.com

It’s the stuff of 'mad science,' if you will: several research teams have demonstrated that a male’s experiences and exposure to toxic compounds alters his sperm, so much so that the nasty effects are passed on in his DNA. Not only is this seen in animal studies, but human investigations are showing comparable sperm wars too.

In one study, breathing in a pesticide tweaked male rats spunk, and their sons and daughters, grandkids and their offspring too, were born with permanent kidney and reproductive birth defects.

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See also: Genetically modified foods, infertility and your sexual health

This Year's Flu Vaccine Losing Popularity

AllVoices.com, Nov. 18, 2010

More Americans Opting Out on the Flu Vaccine

The flu vaccine is not a popular choice to receive. According to Consumers Reports, a new study has shown that fewer people this year are going to get the shot. Among those who responded 31% are uncertain if they will get the new three-in one vaccine. The reason mainly is due to raising concerns about the safety and the effectiveness.

Canada has just released its report from their statistics showing that 60% of Canadians and 80% of Americans simply refused to get the H1N1 vaccine last year despite the coverage of media and government advocating for months to get the shot. This year, regardless of their massive advocating for the shot most people are still against to receiving any type of influenza shots.

Currently there is no evidence to support any sound reasons on getting the vaccine. No evidence so far has been given to prove that these vaccines are even effective. They only aide to guard against certain flu strains, they have no effect on the bird flu...

Full story

Also check out:
EMA: Unexpected Viral DNA In Vaccines Doesn't Raise Health Concerns (WSJ, Nov. 18, 2010)

Illness Plagues Gulf Residents in BP's Aftermath

by Dahr Jamail
Global Research, November 16, 2010

ORANGE BEACH, Alabama, Nov 15, 2010 (IPS) - Increasing numbers of U.S. Gulf Coast residents attribute ongoing sicknesses to BP's oil disaster and use of toxic dispersants.

"Now I have a bruising rash all around my stomach," Denise Rednour of Long Beach, Mississippi told IPS. "This looks like bleeding under the skin."

Rednour lives near the coast and has been walking on the beach nearly every day since a BP oil rig exploded on Apr. 20. She has noticed a dramatically lower number of wildlife, and said that many days the smell of chemicals from what she believes are BP's toxic dispersants fill the air.

Full story

A Common Sense Response To A GMO Shill

Update: My comment was blocked on the LakeNewsOnline.com site. They also blocked my link to this site. Some folks just can't handle the truth.

By Liss - comment in response to Nutrition TIp: What are genetically modified foods?

You are not telling the whole story. There are numerous pitfalls to GMO and GM crops. Foods that are genetically altered can involve risks of unknown toxins and allergens never before seen in humans. Food crops grown from genetically modified seeds can affect the weeds that grow in the same area. Weeds can access the modified genes which make the crops resistant, and after some years the weeds themselves can become resistant.

A personal example - in Tucson I found a huge pigweed growing in front of my house that was impossible to pull out and I had to use a saw to cut through the stalk. Thanks to Monsanto, there are now a lot of monster weeds invading other farmer's fields and urban areas.

Glyphosate, which is applied to make crops resistant to weeds, causes higher plant estrogen levels. Estrogen affects all mammals, including humans, and children are very susceptible to higher estrogen levels, which can be dangerous and pose long term health risks.

With genetically modified foods, there is always a risk of interactions or reactions that have never been seen. This can be an interaction between two different foods with modified genes or between the genes in the food and certain medications. There is not enough evidence because these crops and foods have not been in use long enough, and new varieties are frequently being produced.

Finally, there is no way to tell if genetically modified foods can have an effect on human genetics. At first it was believed by scientists and researchers that the modified genes were destroyed during the digestion process, but recently modified food genes have been found in the brains of some infant mice. This can be very dangerous in infants and children, and poses unknown risks for anyone who eats these foods.

I urge you to do some real research instead of parroting the 'party line'. Do you really think Monsanto or other companies vested in GMO give a sh*t about food safety? A Monsanto official told the New York Times, October 25, 1998, that the corporation should not have to take responsibility for the safety of its food products. 'Monsanto should not have to vouchsafe the safety of biotech food,' said Phil Angell, Monsanto's director of corporate communications. 'Our interest is in selling as much of it as possible. Assuring its safety is the FDA's job.'

Please do your homework. Don't be a shill. More info is available at http://www.sweetremedyfilm.blogspot.com

McDonald's and PepsiCo to help write UK health policy

Guardian

 

The Department of Health is putting the fast food companies McDonald's and KFC and processed food and drink manufacturers such as PepsiCo, Kellogg's, Unilever, Mars and Diageo at the heart of writing government policy on obesity, alcohol and diet-related disease, the Guardian has learned. In an overhaul of public health, said by campaign groups to be the equivalent of handing smoking policy over to the tobacco industry, health secretary Andrew Lansley has set up five "responsibility deal" networks with business, co-chaired by ministers, to come up with policies. Some of these are expected to be used in the public health white paper due in the next month.

Exclusive: Multiple independent lab tests confirm oil in Gulf shrimp

Raw Story, November 10th, 2010

Experts operating states apart confirm toxic content in not just shrimp, but crab and fish too

The federal government is going out of its way to assure the public that seafood pulled from recently reopened Gulf of Mexico waters is safe to consume, in spite of the largest accidental release of crude oil in America's history.

However, testing methodologies used by the government to deem areas of water safe for commercial fishing are woefully inadequate and permit high levels of toxic compounds to slip into the human food chain, according to a series of scientific and medical professionals interviewed by Raw Story.

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