Senate Hearing Headlines: The Media Gets It Wrong Again. Here Is Some Of What You Need To Know About Supplement Safety.

live link:    Alliance for natural health

June 1, 2010

“Here is an example of what would have been a truthful headline: Trace Amounts Of Lead, Arsenic, And Other Metals, Naturally Found In Air, Water, Soil, And Consequently Food, Were Found In A Limited Sample of Herbal Supplements Derived From Plants, But At Levels Generally Considered Safe. That headline would not of course have run. It would have made it clear that there wasn’t much of a story.”

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In last week’s newsletter, we reported that the staff of the Senate Committee on Aging, led by Senator Kohl (D-WI), was preparing a surprise ambush of dietary supplements in a Senate hearing held last Wednesday. We were right. But we didn’t anticipate how seriously distorted the major media news stories would be.

The centerpiece of the hearing was a report by the GAO (Government Accounting Office) of the testing they had done on 40 herbal supplement bottles at the Committee’s request. An incomplete account of the GAO report was leaked to major media, probably by committee staff, the night before the hearing and produced dramatic headlines. The trouble is that all these headlines were seriously misleading. Here are a few examples:

New York Times: “Study Finds Supplements Contain Contaminants”
CBS News: “Many Supplements Contain Lead, Arsenic”
AOL News: “Herbal Supplements May Pose Health Risk”

CORPORATIONS AND INVESTORS BUYING UP CANADIAN FARMLAND:NFU RELEASES REPORT ON LAND GRABBING

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                     JUNE 7, 2010

 

CORPORATIONS AND INVESTORS BUYING UP CANADIAN FARMLAND:

NFU RELEASES REPORT ON LAND GRABBING

“In addition to the transfer of land from farm families to corporations and investors, the NFU report looks at two additional ways in which farmers’ autonomy, security, and control are being undermined: massive and rising farm debt and corporate financing of farm input sales.

“Moreover, these same governments are acting to facilitate and promote purchases of farmland by non-farmers.  ” ——–

SASKATOON, Sask.—In countries around the world, including Canada, corporations, investors, and foreign interests are buying up farmland.  The National Farmers Union (NFU) today released the first report of its kind documenting Canadian developments in a global land grab.

S.J. Res. 26. Passage of this resolution would overrule the EPA’s self-proclaimed power to regulate Greenhouse Gases.

A note: To those of you wishing to take action on this or any other matter concerning contact of congress or agencies:   If you use a “form” letter, no matter how many they receive….they only count it as (1).  So ten thousand could send the same letter and 9,999 are discarded and not counted if they are deemed “identical”.   Always  write your own comments and send a fax (must be kept on record for 7 years) aside from joining in these efforts.  PPJ

____________________________________________

The Senate will vote TODAY on resolution S.J. Res. 26. Passage of this resolution would overrule the EPA’s self-proclaimed power to regulate Greenhouse Gases.

You can find background on this issue in these Downsizer-Dispatches:

* http://www.downsizedc.org/blog/write-the-laws-act-does-the-clean-air-act-cover-greenhouse-gases
* http://www.downsizedc.org/blog/climate-change-amp-write-the-laws-act-do-you-want-bureaucrats-to-rewrite-laws

And you can read the one-paragraph resolution here.

Keep in mind that we’re not taking a position on climate science. We simply believe the EPA has no constitutional authority to regulate greenhouse gases without specific legislation from Congress. In addition, the EPA’s proposed regulations violate the intent of the Clean Air Act at the cost of harming the economy. Finally, as the letter below shows, CO2 emissions are already falling, without government involvement!

DownsizeDC.org proposed the Write the Laws Act to prevent this kind of bureaucratic mischief.

American Politics with John Wallace: open mic Friday!

AMERICAN POLITICS RADIO SHOW – SHOW REMINDER:    NEXT SHOW – (THIS FRIDAY) at 5:00PM  EST (JUNE 11TH) TOPIC: OPEN MIC FRIDAY    Every once in awhile, I host an “Open Mic Friday” where I open the telephone lines so people can call in and talk to me and the listeners about what’s on their mind. I will also discuss some topics like the: Tea Party’s effect on the recent primary victories, the bailout of Greece with your money, Israel’s right to defend itself using a blockade of Gaza, the danger Electromagnetic Pulse Weapons pose to America, the effect of the Arizona Immigration Law on Illegal Aliens who seem to be fleeing the state and a host of  other issues. As always, listeners are encouraged to call in, ask questions and speak their mind.    If you have specific questions, on this or any other subject, please call the show while it is on the air (646-200-0326) and or email your questions or opinions to me and I will read them on the air. Click on the link below for more information about the show and or to listen to the show. www.blogtalkradio.com/john-wallace If you, or a member of your organization, would like to be on the show, or you would like us to dedicate a show to a specific topic of interest, please email me at: John@TeaPartyRep.com   For Liberty, John ______________________________ John Wallace American Politics with John Wallace Chatham, New York 12037 www.JohnWallaceRadio.com www.blogtalkradio.com/john-wallace Newspaper: www.LibertyNewsOnLine.com Email: john@TeaPartyRep.com

Mystery Crop Damage Threatens Hundreds Of Acres

White dots appeared over all plants in a wide area of Tennessee….and baby birds were dead in their nests…..what could have done this??? Can you say CHEMTRAILS?  How else can this be accounted for?  Even the woman being interviewed alludes to the idea that it had to be “something in the air”. 

From:  WREG.com Channel 3 Memphis

• Small dots appear to “burn” through leaves
• Area affected is along Tipton and Shelby County line
• Farmers afraid they may lose their entire crop

(Memphis 6/1/2010) A mystery is unfolding across MidSouth farms.

Something is killing crops, trees, even weeds and nobody can explain why.

Farmers are scratching their heads and some are worried their crops may be lost to the mysterious plague.

http://www.wreg.com/news/wreg-mystery-crop-damage,0,187535.story

Codex Serves Up A Hearty Helping of Melamine!

Live Link:  MERCOLA.com

Also view the video by Dr. Mercola about these issues with Codex.

The main issue at a recent Codex Committee on Contaminants in Foods (CCCF) meeting was the Committee’s general desire to adopt a standard of acceptable levels for the contaminant melamine in foods.

However, melamine is not naturally found in soil, water, or air — it is completely man-made.  The acceptable level should be zero.

But according to the National Health Federation:

“The CCCF party line, espoused most vocally by the European Union (EU), was to establish an acceptable contamination level for melamine at 1.0 part per million (ppm, equal to 1 milligram per kilogram of food) for infant formulas and 2.5 ppm for adults.”

The meeting ended having adopted standards of melamine contamination that will pointlessly harm humans and animals all over the world. 

Many are still blissfully unaware of the Codex Committee,conceived by the United Nations all the way back in 1962.

Before I get into their latest recommendation to allow melamine contamination in food, including baby food and infant formulas, let’s review what Codex is.

What is Codex?

BP Was Asleep At the Wheel – But Politicians Gave Them the Keys.

by: Lynn Swearingen (c) copyright 2o10 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Gulf Coast Walrus?

Alrighty folks. We can bash BP all we want, but lets face facts. As clearly pointed out today in this clever little piece, BP  had the gonads to toss together a “response plan” (including saving the non-exsistant Gulf Walrus population) dealing with oil spill issues.

However the current Administration approved the plan.

So before we go looking to “kick some gluteus maximus” overseas and tame the British Empire to our demands, we better start with our own internal issues.

Three Presidential Administrations share the blame for the current spill. In a quick little synopsis we can see:

A regional shallow hazards survey and study was carried out at the project area by KC Offshore in 1998 (Clinton). High resolution, 2D seismic data along with 3D exploration seismic data of the MC 252 was collected by Fugro Geoservices in 2003 (Bush). The prospect was initially acquired by BP at MMS Lease Sale #206 in March 2008 (Bush).

Mapping of the block was carried out by BP America in 2008 and 2009 (Bush % Obama). BP secured approval to drill the Prospect from MMS in March 2009 (Obama) without MMS requiring use of an acoustic blowout preventer actuation alternative. An exploration well was scheduled to be spudded in 2009.

On 7 October 2009 the Transocean Marianas semi-submersible rig commenced drilling, but operations were halted at 4,023 feet (1,226 m) below the sea floor on 29 November 2009, when the rig was damaged by Hurricane Ida. The Transocean’s Deepwater Horizon rig resumed drilling operations in February 2010.

In September 2009, the rig drilled the deepest oil well in history at a vertical depth of 35,050 feet (10,683 m) and measured depth of 35,055 feet (10,685 m).

At the time of the accident, Deepwater Horizon was working on BP’s Mississippi Canyon Block 252, referred to as the Macondo Prospect. The rig was last located 50 miles (80 km) off the southeast coast of Louisiana. In October 2009, BP extended the contract for Deepwater Horizon by three years, to begin in September 2010. The lease contract was worth US$544 million, a rate of $496,800 per day.

Ultimately we know the “Buck stops here” means the current Energy Secretary could have, and should have, reviewed this process before awarding BP the opportunity to continue the drilling process.

The BP incident is indicative of what we all know. The corruption, arrogance and “business as usual” attitude in our Government is unchecked.

We the people have an opportunity to fix this. The adage “there is no use crying over spilt milk” (or in this case Oil) is applicable.

All incumbents out in November and in 2012.

I’m sure they could easily find employment in the Gulf Region and maybe even the Eastern Seaboard for the next decade or so.

The Case Against Fluoride. How Hazardous Waste Ended Up in Our Drinking Water

 live link:      FLUORIDE ACTION NETWORK   

FAN Bulletin 2016:  Organizing to win and more tools with which to do it.

June 9, 2010
 
 
The Carol Patton Fluoride Fighting Memorial Fund
Carol Patton having spent over 30 years of her life fighting fluoridation continues to fight the battle from the heavens. In her will she left money to the Fluoride Action Network to do just that. FAN’s Board of Directors has decided to use these funds in three ways:

I have co-authored a new book with James Beck, MD, PhD and Spedding Micklem, DPhil, entitled:

The Case Against Fluoride.
How Hazardous Waste Ended Up in Our Drinking Water
and the Bad Science and Powerful Politics That Keep It There.

Chelsea Green is the publisher and this is their online description: 

Poultry growers air complaints

Food & Water Watch 

Daryll E. Ray

“Tom Terry, a former grower from Tennessee, told us a similar story. He said that after loading up the chickens from one of his barns he followed the company trucks to the plant so he could watch them being weighed on the scales at the processing plant. He was prevented from doing so.”

June 4, 2010

This year, the Obama administration is holding a series of five hearings across the nation to explore competition issues affecting the agricultural sector in the 21st century and the appropriate role for antitrust and regulatory enforcement in that industry. The second of these workshops, conducted jointly by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Department of Justice (DOJ), was held at Alabama A&M University in Normal, Alabama.

The May 21, 2010 workshop was led by Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and US Attorney General Eric Holder. The hearing focused on issues in the poultry industry, and featured panel discussions on poultry grower issues and trends in poultry production. And, it also included opportunities for public comments.

“All players in the poultry industry deserve an honest chance at success, and that requires a fair, viable, and competitive marketplace,” said Vilsack. “Today’s conversation helped bring a better understanding of the issues impacting growers on a daily basis and provided an opportunity to openly discuss some of the ideas that have been raised to address these concerns.”

Worker Health and Safety During the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Cleanup in Alaska in 1989

Here’s what is already known about the dangers of cleaning up an oil spill…especially when those responsible for the spill fail or refuse to provide proper equipment and clothing, including respirators.  ______

This cleanup was the first done under OSHA’s then recent Hazwoper regulation and maybe the first time an OSHA program went into voluntary compliance mode (like the agency later did during the World Trade Center cleanup and Katrina). Contact me for more information on worker health and safety issues during this spill. I was living in Alaska at the time and worked with the Alaska Laborers Union on occupational health and safety concerns during the cleanup.

My email is mdcatlin@earthlink.net .

For a detailed federal government review of worker health and safety issues, read the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) report, Alaska Oil Spill Health Hazard Evaluation (HETA 89-200 & 89-273-2111), published in May 1991 and available on the NIOSH website at http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/hhe/reports/pdfs/1989-0200-2111.pdf

For more information on the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill go to the Website – Sound Truth and Corporate Myths: The Legacy of the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill

This website is from Riki Ott, PhD, a marine oil pollution expert and former commercial fisherman in Alaska’s Prince William Sound. She was on the scene before, during, and after the Exxon Valdez oil spill and experienced firsthand the spill’s effects, including environmental devastation, economic losses to the fishing industry, and psychosocial trauma to the close-knit community

Will Gulf coast workers suffer the same fate as those who cleaned up after the Valdez?

live Link: Silence in the Sound

MERLE SAVAGE:

My name is Merle Savage, and I worked extensively as a female general foreman in Task Force One, during the oil recovery project in Prince William Sound, Alaska in 1989. My name during that summer was Bailey; however, in 1994 I obtained a divorce and retained my former name of Savage. This is why any one that worked the cleanup was unable to locate me until now.

Between May 5-September 15, 1989 I worked for Veco which was the company that was contracted by Exxon to supply boats, equipment, and personnel for the oil cleanup. The first weeks I cleaned the beaches with a 5 inch hose on my shoulder spraying hot water onto oily rocks. The spray mixed with crude oil was always coming up into our faces. Respirators were not available only paper masks. We were always covered with crude oil. On the beaches there was no way to wash our hands before eating and it was impossible not to get the crude oil on our food. The work day was anywhere from 12-16 hours a day, 7 days a week. We faced each day suffering from the Valdez Crud, which was like an extreme flu, with chills, fever, vomiting, headaches, and respiratory infections with chronic coughing that lingered throughout the 4 months.    READ  MORE

 http://www.silenceinthesound.com/stories.shtml