June 22nd, 2008 cate
From Paul Craig Roberts at Counterpunch:
A Totally Lawless Regime
Think about this question: In the 21st century what regime is more lawless than the Bush Regime?
Everyone is entitled to his own answer. The only answer I can come up with is the Zimbabwe regime of Robert Mugabe. Voted out of power in the last election, the great man hasn’t left. Zimbabweans are going to have to vote again, and the great man has said that any vote that is not for him will be cancelled by a bullet.
Does anyone remember how determined the British and the Americans and everyone else was to turn Rhodesia over to Mugabe in order to save Rhodesia from the evil Ian Smith? What a fool everyone was.
But before we laugh at those fools, we had best laugh at ourselves, or cry.
It is now an incontrovertible fact, known all over the world, that George W. Bush and his regime lied through their teeth in order to launch wars of aggression against Afghanistan and Iraq, and that the Bush regime is doing the same thing again in hopes of launching an attack on Iran.
There have been a number of memoirs from high ranking Bush appointees who cannot stand all the lies. Bush’s first Secretary of the Treasury, Paul O’Neill, told us that an invasion of Iraq was on the agenda prior to 9/11. There is the leaked Downing Street Memo in which the head of British Intelligence told the British Prime Minister and his cabinet that the Americans have decided to attack Iraq and are creating the “intelligence” to justify the attack.
And now we have the White House’s own spokesman from 2003-2006, Scot McClellen, ratifying what we all already knew, that President Bush deceived us and led us into war based entirely on lies and fabrications, and that he, Scott McClellen, was deceived into issuing a false public denial that top Cheney aide Scooter Libby and White House operative Karl Rove were involved in committing a felony under US law by revealing the identity of a covert CIA operative, Valerie Plame.
As a consequence of Bush’s lies, there are a million dead Iraqis, mostly women and children, and four million displaced Iraqis, 4,100 dead American soldiers and tens of thousands of seriously wounded. No one knows how many dead in Afghanistan. And there is the ongoing Israeli slaughter of Palestinians and Lebanese that has fallen under the rubric of the “war on terror.”
The only ones pleased with these wars are the American neoconservatives, the Israeli right-wing, the US corporate military-security complex, and Osama bin Laden.
The Bush regime has created enormous hatred and disrespect for the United States. A recent world wide poll found that George W. Bush ranks at the bottom of world leaders as one of the least trusted along with US Pakistani puppet Musharraf and the Iranian president, Ahmadinejad, who has the disadvantage of being the victim of demonization by the US and European corporate-controlled media, which serves as ministries of propaganda for the governments that control their broadcast licenses. The American and European media lie for their living.
The two leaders with the highest approval rating are UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
So, the old adversary, Russia, now has a more respected leader than the “leader” of the Great Free Nation, a Great Free Nation that has sat on its hands while its “leader” destroyed America’s civil liberties, America’s reputation, the jobs of Americans, and committed the US to a course of war crimes punishable by the International Criminal Court at the Hague.
A number of readers took issue with my recent column, “Elect Obama or Fall Into Tyranny.” Echoing former Alabama Governor George Wallace, readers said Obama would make no difference. But that is what I wrote.
My point was not that Obama would make any difference, as he has put himself and his administration into the hands of Wall Street and the Israel Lobby. I said that the American people could make a difference by rejecting the Republicans, as it was the only accountability that the Republicans were likely to suffer.
If Americans return a Republican regime, Americans will validate the right of the president to violate with impunity US and international law. Americans will validate the use by the president of the United States of deception and lies in order to initiate wars of aggression, aggression that is a war crime under the Nuremburg standard established by the US. Americans will validate the infringement of US civil liberties in the name of “safety” and “national security.” Americans will disembowel the US Constitution and leave themselves at the total mercy of the government.
Reelecting Republicans means the end of the United States as a land of liberty.
I am sympathetic to the argument that we, as a country of liberty, are near our end regardless. Look at the Democrats. Today, June 20, the House of Representatives, which the voters gave to the Democrats in the 2006 congressional elections in order to end the pointless barbarity that the US has brought to Iraq, voted the largest war-spending bill ever. The “antiwar” Democrats completely collapsed, giving the warmonger Brownshirt Republican regime everything it wanted.
The House Democrats, led by “impeachment-is-off-the-table” Nancy Pelosi, added to the Democratic Party’s shame by passing today, June 20, a bill that shields from punishment the criminal Bush regime and the telecommunications corporations that the Bush regime coerced into committing felonies under US law by cooperating in Bush’s illegal spying on American citizens.
The great hope of the Founding Fathers, the people’s house, the House of Representatives, has passed an illegal and unconstitutional retroactive law making acts legal which were illegal when they were committed.
If a Democratic House of Representatives will pass a retroactive law in order to legalize the criminal violations of a Republican regime, the same House will pass a retroactive law making illegal what you did legally yesterday. No one is any longer safe in America. By abandoning the US Constitution, Republicans and Democrats have made America as potentially unsafe as Zimbabwe for anyone who takes exception to the government.
The total collapse of the Democratic Party and the House of Representatives signals the end of liberty and democracy in America. Henceforth, led by the Republican Federalist Society, we will gravitate toward the beautiful regime of “energy in the executive” that has been achieved in Zimbabwe by Robert Mugabe.
Paul Craig Roberts was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury in the Reagan administration. He was Associate Editor of the Wall Street Journal editorial page and Contributing Editor of National Review. He is coauthor of The Tyranny of Good Intentions.He can be reached at: paulcraigroberts@yahoo.com
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February 26th, 2008 cate
I personally would like to stay away from engineered foods but it’s so hard to do that if you live in the U.S. Many people don’t believe it does any harm but I do. Why take the chance on your health and the health of your own kids? Find out what scientists have discovered about GMO foods. Here are some books that will shed some much needed light about the topic. Remember, the researchers that have deemed GMO foods safe, WORK for the GMO industry. Lots of negative data will be left out but the general public rarely hears about that. Read these books and find out more, so you can make an educated decision about whether it’s safe to eat food that has been genetically modified.
Genetic Roulette: The Documented Health Risks of Genetically Engineered Foods
– “When I worked at Monsanto, I warned both scientists and executives that our GM foods may cause disease, but no one was even willing to listen, let alone investigate the unpredicted side effects. For them, it was all about profit. Now our whole population is threatened by the serious dangers described in Genetic Roulette.” —Kirk J. Azevedo, DC
The Gmo Trilogy And Seeds of Deception Set – DVD 1: Unnatural Selection: This stunning, award-winning documentary by Bertram Verhaag and Gabriele Kröber reveals harsh consequences of genetic engineering on three continents. Vandana Shiva, Andrew Kimbrell, Percy Schmeiser and others, describe uncontrollable, self-replicating GM contamination, failed crops, farmer suicides, and new GM animals that threaten natural populations. DVD 2: Hidden Dangers in Kids’ Meals: Genetically Engineered Foods: Shocking research results, inadequate regulations and warnings from eminent scientists explain why GM foods are dangerous and should be removed from kids’ meals.
Seeds of Deception: Exposing Industry and Government Lies About the Safety of the Genetically Engineered Foods You’re Eating – Recent news headlines have focused on the disagreement between the U.S. and Europe over genetically modified foods: the U.S. exports them, but the European Union doesn’t want to import them, believing their safety remains unproven. Are genetically modified foods safe? Longtime anti-GM foods campaigner Smith presents the “opposing” case. He offers cases where GM produced results that were at best unexpected (increased starch content in potatoes), at worst grotesque (pigs without genitals). He describes how one corporation reportedly tried to bribe Canadian government scientists into approving genetically engineered bovine growth hormones they deemed unsafe; how some scientists have reported their careers were threatened as a result of their refusal to approve certain GM products in the U.S.; and how “conflicts of interest, sloppy science, and industry influence” can distort the approval process. The cases Smith presents are scary and timely, but he explores only one side of the story. Readers looking for a balance consideration of genetically modified foods will want to look elsewhere.
Beware of the Coming Food Apocalypse! GMOs – GMOs – Beware Of The Coming Food Apocalypse! — is such a warning. Our food supply is being threatened by a new and highly controversial technology that is being unleashed upon us whether we like it or not. Unless a massive protest against this radical new science arises from the people, it may very well be too late for the human race. This book will make you angry; this book will get you mad, but it is a story that must be told. Please share it with everyone you love.
Your Right to Know: Genetic Engineering and the Secret Changes in Your Food – More than half of America’s processed grocery products — from corn flakes to granola bars to diet drinks — contain genetically altered ingredients. They are unlabeled and untested, and we are eating them. Your Right to Know is a complete, full-color reference guide outlining how unmarked genetically modified foods go from the factory to the family dining table, and what consumers can do about the health risks they present. This accessible guide is for concerned parents — as well as anyone concerned about genetically altered foods — who want to know more about the potential health risks, the organic alternatives, and the methods available to counter the corporate takeover of the food we eat
Genetically Engineered Food: A Self-Defense Guide for Consumers – The 1995 outbreak of “mad cow” disease in Europe provoked public attention to genetically engineered or modified food, a concern that has spread to the U.S. Cummins and Lilliston, food safety advocates, examine the scientific, political, economic, and health issues. With billions of dollars in profits at stake, the biotech food industry promises that new technology will end world hunger and improve public health and the environment. Cummins and Lilliston weigh those promises against the unpredictability of the new technology, and the fact that much of it hasn’t been adequately tested for safety and that its products are being distributed without labeling. Genetically modified organisms are so common that they are part of the average consumer’s daily intake in food from breakfast cereals to infant formula to margarine. The authors include information on what consumers can do, from smart shopping to grassroots lobbying, to reduce the threat of genetically engineered food. This is a thorough and well-researched look at an issue of growing public concern.
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February 22nd, 2008 cate
From adage:
“College students, increasingly concerned about the source and quality of food they’re eating, are demanding that schools purchase regional produce. That’s forced major food-service companies to scramble for grass-roots alternatives — and allowed some nimble regional rivals with good local connections to elbow their way into the $5 billion on-campus-dining market…”
continue reading
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December 10th, 2007 cate
NOT bliss. Remember that.
Sure, watching the news can be extraordinarily upsetting and you might’ve been a million times better had you not seen it, in general, it’s a good thing to know what’s going on in the world, the environment and your health. More specifically, you have to know that it is, in fact, essential to know what you’re doing to your body: what are you eating? Is that low-fat product good for you? How is it good for you? They are saying that obesity is going to shorten the lifespan of the next generation and beyond. Is it really OBESITY or is the real reason in the actual food they are eating. Do you know what’s in mac n cheese (the box version)? A bunch of chemicals, that’s what. And what about all the junkfood? You know, as time goes on, there are more and more toxic, and detrimentally hazardous ingredients in food that is making everyone fat and prone to disease, including your kids (and if you don’t have kids, other people’s kids, you know, the future) The food industry is the real culprit in the obesity issue that is plaguing the U.S. To eat more healthfully consult other sources like books. Learn how to read between the lines on the ingredient lists. If you can’t monitor the dangerous elements your kids are eating, who is going to do that for them? No one. Teach them what is good and bad. Sometimes it’s hard to know, but you have to find out.
Keep yourself informed; learn which companies are unethical and downright evil in the name of money. You really must know what’s going on: it’s your life at stake and it’s the future at stake.
Check out these sources:
The Ominvore’s Dilemma
Food for Profit: How the food industry undermines our health
Real Food
What to Eat
Monsanto
The End of Food: How the Food Industry is Destroying Our Food Supply
The Untold Story of Milk
Nutrition and Physical Degeneration
The Story of Corn
In Defense of Food
The Crazy Makers: How the Food Industry Is Destroying Our Brains and Harming Our Children
An Unnatural Order: Roots of Our Destruction of Nature
Mad Cowboy: Plain Truth from the Cattle Rancher Who Won’t Eat Meat
Prisoned Chickens Poisoned Eggs: An Inside Look at the Modern Poultry Industry
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December 7th, 2007 cate
I’ve been hearing so many great things about the new book, Eat, Pray, Love and thought it would be a good opportunity to share it with you. It could make a nice gift for someone close to you or a gift for yourself! Yes, you deserve a gift, too, you know.
About Eat, Pray, Love:
At the age of thirty-one, Gilbert moved with her husband to the suburbs of New York and began trying to get pregnant, only to realize that she wanted neither a child nor a husband. Three years later, after a protracted divorce, she embarked on a yearlong trip of recovery, with three main stops: Rome, for pleasure (mostly gustatory, with a special emphasis on gelato); an ashram outside of Mumbai, for spiritual searching; and Bali, for “balancing.” These destinations are all on the beaten track, but Gilbert’s exuberance and her self-deprecating humor enliven the proceedings: recalling the first time she attempted to speak directly to God, she says, “It was all I could do to stop myself from saying, ‘I’ve always been a big fan of your work.’”
Click here: Eat, Pray, Love
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