Statins appear to harm about as many people as they help

When I was at medical school I remember being lectured on the wonders of hormone replacement therapy (HRT). I was distinctly taught, and without reservation, that women taking HRT had a lower risk of heart disease compared to women ‘going without’. This ‘fact’ turned out to be complete rubbish. Subsequent evidence revealed that HRT actually has the capacity to increase risk of heart disease.
How could we have got it so wrong?
The initial ‘evidence’ on HRT was epidemiological in nature, which meant that it looked at the relationship between HRT/non-HRT use in a population and risk of cardiovascular disease. One fundamental potential problem with these studies relates to what is known as the ‘healthy user’ effect. In short, what this means is that healthier individuals are more likely to be prescribed a drug than sicker people who may already be on multiple medications and prone to side-effects and interactions. So, any ‘benefit’ seen to be associated with a drug may have nothing to do with the drug, and everything to do with the fact that people taking it are inherently healthier.
To untangle all of this, what we need is randomised controlled trials. These trials give essentially equivalent groups the treatment or placebo to assess any potential benefits or harms of the treatment. It’s when these studies were done that we realised that HRT actually increased the risk of heart disease.
The healthy-user effect, though, has not gone away, and is still alive and well in medical research. Here’s another apparent example that concerns cholesterol-reducing drugs known as statins…
In the past, statins have said to help prevent pneumonia (infection in the lung) on the basis of epidemiological studies. However, it is generally the case that frail, elderly individuals, with perhaps complicated health histories are less likely to be prescribed or take statins than healthier individuals. Because of this, when we see lower incidence of infection in those taking statins, we have no idea if it’s the statins, or the fact that these people are generally healthier, or both, that accounts for the reduced infection risk.
One way to get clarity here is to attempt to take into account health status of individuals when performing this sort of analysis. That’s exactly what a team of doctors based in the US did when analysing the relationship between statin use and risk of pneumonia in a study published in 2009 [1]. This more careful analysis revealed that statin use was actually associated with a 26 per cent increased risk of pneumonia. For pneumonia severe enough to require hospitalisation, statin use was associated with a 61 per cent increased risk.
Now, we should not forget that these studies are epidemiological in nature, and cannot be used to prove that statins cause enhanced susceptibility to pneumonia. However, the evidence as it stands is incriminating nonetheless. Further suspicion is raised in the form of evidence which shows that statins have the ability to directly impair the immune system and its ability to resist bacteria [2].
The most comprehensive account of statin side-effects I can find was published last year in the British Medical Journal [3]. Known side-effects of statins include muscle weakness and/or pain (myopathy), liver damage , kidney failure and cataracts. Here, in summary, are the findings of this review:
For every 10,000 women at high risk of CVD [cardiovascular disease] treated with statins, we would expect approximately 271 fewer cases of cardiovascular disease, 8 fewer cases of oesophageal cancer, 23 extra patients with kidney failure, 307 extra patients with cataracts; 74 extra patients with liver dysfunction; and 39 extra patients with myopathy.
For every 10,000 men at high risk of CVD treated with statins, we would expect approximately 301 fewer cases of cardiovascular disease, 9 fewer cases of oesophageal cancer, 29 extra patients with kidney failure, 191 extra patients with cataracts; 71 extra patients with liver dysfunction; and 110 extra patients with myopathy.
This study focused specifically on data relating to individuals deemed to be at high risk of cardiovascular disease. Many individuals who take statins are actually not at high risk of cardiovascular disease. For these, benefits are likely to be significantly lower than those elucidated in this study (while risks are likely to be about the same).
But look at those figures for a moment. Two things jump out to me:
Of 10,000 high-risk individuals, only about 300 will benefit – that’s 3 per cent. That means, of course, 97 per cent will not benefit. The number of people who benefit is roughly matched by those who will get a serious adverse effect. Hands up who wants to take a statin now?

References:1. Dublin S, et al. Statin use and risk of community acquired pneumonia in older people: population based case-control study. BMJ 2009;338:b2137
2. Benati D, et al. Opposite effects of simvastatin on the bactericidal and inflammatory response of macrophages to opsonized S. aureus. J Leukoc Biol. 2010;87(3):433-42
3. Hippisley-Cox J, et al. Unintended effects of statins in men and women in England and Wales: population based cohort study using the QResearch database BMJ 2010;340:c2197
by Dr. John Briffa
Statins appear to harm about as many people as they help

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Thinking About PSA and the Latest News

Men's Health

I live where it is a good 90 minute drive to any city of real size.  When I moved to this area almost ten years ago I was trying to teach the communities about the fact that the PSA test was ineffective.  Of course the closed minds so common in small towns ruled and no one would even try to listen.  Now we know that even the medical profession has decided that PSA can be a real issue leading to over treatment to many who do not even need it.

One forward thinking doctor told me years ago that the acid fast bacteria lab test was much more effective in screening for real cancer cases in men when it came to prostate care.

Like the story my long time colleague tells below, I lost a friend to this dis-ease because of a doctor who always said he would use natural care but it took too much time to tell his patients.

What cost health?

PSA test DOA
by David Christopher, M.H.


You have probably read the news about prostate screening for cancer, which appeared on the front page of many newspapers across the country. On Thursday October 13, 2011 an Associated Press article by Marilynn Marchione basically blasted PSA tests. It related that this test is only a measure of inflammation which can be elevated for many reasons including bike riding, recent sex, or normal enlargement of the prostate due to age. She also debunks the claims that the screening saves lives. She makes these claims by drawing from a very large, well done American study, that\ showed that annual screening did not lower the chances of dying from prostate cancer. Many men believe the screening saved their lives because their urologist erroneously told them it did. These men and urologists become very vocal in promoting prostate cancer screening.


Less visible are the unfortunate men who test high for PSA and are then subjected to invasive testing that can harm or spread cancer. One such case as reported in the article is, "... Donald Weaver who was a healthy 74 year old Kansas farmer until doctors went looking for prostate cancer. A PSA test led to a biopsy and surgery, then a heart attack, organ failure and a coma. His grief stricken wife took him off life support. 'He died of unnecessary preventive medicine,' said his nephew, Dr. Jay Siwek, vice chairman of family medicine at Georgetown University. Blood tests can kill you ..."


The United States Preventive Task Force does not recommend the use of this test, and doctors have been warned by the AMA to leave slow-growing prostate cancer alone; that interference may spread the cancer.


What should we do to prevent prostate cancer? Well first, grow up and eat like an adult. Stop eating those sugary breakfast cereals. Stop drinking milk, it contains hormones that stimulate growth of prostate tissue. The hormones found in meat can also negatively effect prostate health. Do eat plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables, sprouted grains and legumes, and include nuts and seeds in your diet. This program is preventive for not just prostate cancer, but all cancers. If prevention is too late, then do the extended herbal cleanse as explained in the Dr. Christopher Three Day Cleanse booklet.


Next eat the seeds highest in cancer preventing nitrilosides; which are apricot seeds. They are extremely bitter, but buck up and eat six seeds a day to start and work up to as many as 30 per day. These simple seeds are natures' chemo therapy.


Cyanide and benzaldehyde are the chemicals in the seed that destroy cancer cells. These two chemicals are bound to two glucose molecules and are inert until activated at the actual cancer site. This is accomplished enzymatically. The chemicals are released with beta-glucosidase which is found at cancer sites. Healthy cells are surrounded by the enzyme rhodanese, which in the presence of sulfur, converts the cyanide into thiocyanate, which then converts to cyanocobalamin (vitamin B12). The Benzaldehyde, in the presence of oxygen is converted to benzoic acid, an analgesic.


In conclusion, I ask "Why would anyone want to go through risky medical procedures to look for possible prostate cancer, when nature provides a safe and natural chemotherapy, specific to cancer cells and at the same time is nutritive to healthy cells?"


NOTICE: All information in this newsletter is given out as information only and is not intended to diagnose or prescribe. For our official Disclaimer, Biological Individuality, Important Notice-Terms of Use please see: http://www.herballegacy.com/Disclaimer.html


Selections from Natural Health News

Natural Health News: Vitamin E

Oct 12, 2011

Specifically in regards to prostate cancer, new research published in the International Journal of Cancer has shown that gamma-tocotrienol, a cofactor found in natural vitamin E preparations, actually kills prostate ...

http://naturalhealthnews.blogspot.com/

Natural Health News: Propecia and PSA

Feb 08, 2009

The prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test measures an enzyme produced almost exclusively by the glandular cells of the prostate. It is secreted during ejaculation into the prostatic ducts that empty into the urethra. PSA liquefies ...

http://naturalhealthnews.blogspot.com/

Natural Health News: Heady Hops helps in men's health

Dec 10, 2009

For this study, Gerhauser's team started with hormone-dependent prostate cancer cells and stimulated them with testosterone, which led to a massive secretion of prostate specific antigen (PSA). "When we treated the cells ...

http://naturalhealthnews.blogspot.com/

Natural Health News: Estrogen in moisturizers may worsen breast ...

Dec 16, 2008

On the contrary, high levels of 2-hydroxy estrogens—or “good estrogens” as they're sometimes called—have quite the opposite effect, serving to lower telltale PSA levels and protect vulnerable tissue in the prostate, cervix, ...

http://naturalhealthnews.blogspot.com/

Natural Health News: Better to Screen You with Thermography, My ...

Oct 23, 2009

Mammography and prostate-specific antigen (PSA) testing, although having "some effect," have led to the well-documented overdiagnosis and overtreatment of breast and prostate cancers, they note. ...

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Fukushima Update: Japanese Facing Severe Personal Health Problems

The one and continuing underlying factor in this mega disaster, and the two featured stories, has to be the woefully inadequate, if not criminally complicit performance of the Japanese Government.

What should be noted in the report from Fairewinds Associates, is that the data published was as a result of samples collected and submitted by ordinary citizens.

Arnie Gunderson: The data in Mr. Kaltofen's paper came from citizens. It came from farmers. It came from scientists. It came from bloggers. It was an effort by individuals and not government. I think if we had relied on the government to get us this information, we never would have gotten it. So it is an important achievement for all of us, to recognize that together, using the internet, we can all provide information for scientists to use, to come to rational decisions on public policy.

Staying with government and seemingly its willingness to accept whatever it is told by the nuclear industry, this from the second article, Women Fight to Save Fukushima's Children.

The announcement followed approvals from the government given on the basis that the company had taken sufficient measures after the reactor automatically shut down on Oct. 4, due to procedural errors in repair work.

And I have to make mention, this is the same government that has allocated twenty seven million dollars extra, to assist the Japanese whaling fleet in its endeavour to slaughter whales this coming season in the South Atlantic. 4 min video


The meat from which, they can't sell because nobody wants the wretched stuff. The only reason for this is that the Japanese government doesn't want to loose face by conceding defeat to Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.

One might have thought the government had more urgent priorities, starting with doing everything imaginable to safeguard the most vulnerable, the next generation, today's children.

Scientist Marco Kaltofen Presents Data Confirming Hot Particles from Fairewinds Associates on Vimeo.

Washington, DC - October 31, 2011 – Today Scientist Marco Kaltofen of Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) presented his analysis of radioactive isotopic releases from the Fukushima accidents at the annual meeting of the American Public Health Association (APHA). Mr. Kaltofen’s analysis confirms the detection of hot particles in the US and the extensive airborne and ground contamination in northern Japan due to the four nuclear power plant accidents at TEPCO’s Fukushima reactors. Fairewinds believes that this is a personal health issue in Japan and a public health issue in the United States and Canada.

Transcript:

Hi, I'm Arnie Gundersen from Fairewinds.

It is October 31st, 2011. This is a video that contains scientific information that we have been wanting to share with you for a long time. Today, in Washington D.C. at 8:30 in the morning, scientist Marco Kaltofen gave a presentation to some doctors who are part of the American Public Health Association. The paper is now on our website, next to this video.

To summarize the paper, citizens, some doctors and scientists, some bloggers, some farmers, around the world provided samples to Mr. Kaltofen who analyzed them for Fukushima radiation. An example of what he found is a slide that contains air filters from cars in Japan and in the United States. Cars in the United States hardly have any radiation in their air filters. Cars in Tokyo had quite a lot, way too much. Cars in Fukushima Prefecture were incredibly radioactive.

Now I think it is important because the nuclear industry will say, well everything is radioactive and therefore we should not worry. Well, the Seattle data shows that not everything is radioactive. And it shows that the people in Japan received enormous exposures of particles into their lungs and into their digestive systems, during the course of the accident.

Another piece of information is that Fairewinds viewers were able to send in children's shoes from Japan. Mr. Kaltofen has data that clearly show that the concentration of cesium on the kid's shoelaces was astronomically high, around 80 disintegrations per second. What does that mean? Kids tie their shoes, their hands get radioactive and it goes into their G.I. tract. If it is on the ground, it is in the dust in the playground and it is in their lungs. I think that between the two, the air filters and the children's shoes, it shows that there is a severe personal health problem in Japan that will manifest itself in cancers over the next 10 or 20 years.

Now Mr. Kaltofen did not just look at Japan. He set up monitoring stations in the United States as well. Two of the three monitoring stations in the United States did show hot particles in the air in April. Since then, there have not been any hot particles. But in April, it is clear that, at the worst of the accident, hot particles were wafted across the Pacific and deposited in Seattle and in Boston at least. There is also data that indicates contamination on the ground in the Cascades, which are a mountain range right up against the Pacific Ocean.

So I think we have two problems here. In Japan, there is a personal health issue and what that means is that individuals have received enough radiation that there is going to be a statistically meaningful increase in cancers in Tokyo and especially in Fukushima Prefecture.

In the United States, it is a different story. It is a public health issue and not a personal health issue. What that means is that we will never know who is the individual who got cancer from Fukushima. But we can be sure that the radiation did reach here and that there will be an increase in cancers, especially on the West Coast where the Rocky Mountains stopped most of the radiation and deposited it on the ground.

So, this paper was given to the American Public Health Association. And here it is a public health issue. We cannot run and we cannot hide. But the radiation is up and down the West Coast and then also scattered about the rest of the United States.

In Japan, it is a different story. They need to aggressively go after the contamination that has been discovered. It is so obvious on these air filters and on children's shoes. It takes a concerted national effort, not a haphazard effort of chasing hot spots, in order to reduce the amount of radioactivity that is on the soil and in the air in Japan right now.

And the last thing the paper shows is that it is wrong to have a 10 mile evacuation planning zone. Clearly, the damage can extend out as far as Tokyo. We need to look at emergency planning and evacuations well beyond the 10 miles that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission uses here and the 12 miles that the Japanese used during the accident. You may recall that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said that Americans needed to evacuate 50 miles from Fukushima at the peak of the accident. Well, if it is good enough for Americans living in Japan, that same criteria should be good enough for Americans living in the United States.

The data in Mr. Kaltofen's paper came from citizens. It came from farmers. It came from scientists. It came from bloggers. It was an effort by individuals and not government. I think if we had relied on the government to get us this information, we never would have gotten it. So it is an important achievement for all of us, to recognize that together, using the internet, we can all provide information for scientists to use, to come to rational decisions on public policy.

This November we are asking for your support so we can continue our scientific analysis and these educational videos. There is a donate button on the Fairewinds site and we would appreciate it if you considered a financial contribution.

Thank you very much. We will keep you informed. Fairewinds

- - -

Women Fight to Save Fukushima's Children
By Suvendrini Kakuchi
06 November 2011

Tokyo - Hundreds of Japanese women have been converging on the Japanese capital demanding better relief for some 30,000 children exposed to nuclear radiation by the Fukushima meltdown.

"Official recovery policy focuses on decontamination rather than protecting the health of those most vulnerable - children and pregnant women," activist Aileen Mioko Smith told IPS.

"Our meetings with officials to force faster evacuation programmes for high-risk groups are only met with promises to clear radioactive waste. This is totally irresponsible," said Smith, who leads the non-government organisation (NGO) Green Action Japan.

Smith criticised the government and the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), operator of the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant, for focusing energies on defusing public tension by promising to reduce exposure in affected areas to below one millisieverts (a measure of radiation) per year.

On Wednesday, TEPCO admitted that one of the Fukushima reactors showed presence of radioactive material from a burst of nuclear fission, indicating fresh leakage.

After the meltdown - caused by an earthquake and tsunami on Mar. 11 - the acceptable radiation standard for Fukushima residents was lowered to 20 millisieverts per year, and activists like Smith allege that this was done to minimise the number of evacuees.

Smith said the new standards should, in any case, not have been applied to vulnerable sections such as children and pregnant women.

Some 36,000 people have been evacuated from a 22-km radius of the plant while many more of Fukushima’s two million people may be affected, Smith said.

"We will not give up till the government changes its callous attitude," vowed Smith, participant in a women’s sit-in and protest before the ministry of economic trade and industry that determines Japan’s nuclear policy.

The core of the protestors was made of about 200 women from Fukushima who sat on a three-day sit-in outside the Tokyo office of Japan’s ministry of economy. When that ended on Oct. 30, they appealed to women from all over Japan to join them for week-long protests until Sunday.

Women from 47 prefectures have collected more than 6,000 signatures to support their demands. They have been handing out fliers to passers-by that contain detailed information on the dangers faced by the residents of Fukushima.

Rika Mashiko, an evacuee from Fukushima, explained that she joined the protests along with her seven-year-old daughter to show solidarity and to express her disappointment with the government. Her husband continues working in Fukushima to maintain financial stability.

Mashiko left her organic farm in Miharumachi, 50 km from the damaged nuclear reactor, six months ago. She resides in Tama, a Tokyo suburb and works part-time to support herself and her daughter.

"I receive no financial support from the government because officially I left voluntarily - though I am a nuclear refugee. I do not trust the newly established standards for radioactive exposure in Fukushima and cannot risk the health of my young child," she told IPS..

The women have linked post-disaster recovery with achieving stronger protection measures against radiation, transparency and honesty from government officials. They are pushing for a national pledge to end nuclear power generation in Japan.

Ayako Ooga, a representative of the NGO ‘Fukushima Mothers Against Radiation,’ said the success of the government’s recovery programme is under test.

"The way they are going about dealing with the nuclear crisis is not the recovery we envisage," she said. "The policy is to placate the people, but what we want is honest facts from the government."

Ooga fled on Mar. 11 from her home that fell within 10 km of the accident site. She explained to IPS that the high levels of radiation being reported from her area made it impossible for her to return.

"We want an assurance that a similar accident will never happen again in Japan and that the government will do more to protect our friends and relatives from radiation," she said.

The women know they have a long battle ahead. A rude shock came on Nov. 1 when the Kyushu Electric Power Company announced that it would restart a faulty reactor at the Genkai nuclear power station in Saga prefecture, southwestern Japan.

The announcement followed approvals from the government given on the basis that the company had taken sufficient measures after the reactor automatically shut down on Oct. 4, due to procedural errors in repair work.

The plant is at the heart of a scandal following allegations that the utility had manipulated public opinion and pressurised employees to approve restart of the plant.

Hatsumi Ishimaru, a farmer from Genkai who headed a campaign against the restarting of the plant, is among those who have came to Tokyo to join the women's protest.

Ishimaru, who is party to a lawsuit filed by the locals against the Genkai plant, told IPS that she will not rest until her farming village of 3,000 people is rid of the nuclear power generator.

"Women are, today, at the forefront of the anti-nuclear campaign. We value life more than economic returns," she said. ipsnews

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Voyager 2 Good For Another Ten years?

It's the last paragraph that causes me to post this.

Right now, Voyager 2 is located around 14 billion kilometres from Earth in the heliosheath* – "the outermost layer of the heliosphere where the solar wind, which streams out from the sun, is slowed by the pressure of interstellar gas",

I know there isn't much to inhibit the solar wind, but 14 billion kilometres is no mean distance and does beg the question, what price our (earth's) magnetic field?

It's no misnomer that Earth is referred to as the Goldilocks planet, everything, everything just right, all the prerequisites that have to be present in order that life can even begin, let alone evolve into the wonder that we see around us today.

Agency wants ship to explore the outer limits for 10 more years
By Brid-Aine Parnell
7th November 2011

Voyager 2 is conserving energy by using its back-up thrusters as it continues to boldly go where no spaceship has gone before.

The second of NASA's explorers of the space beyond our solar system has accepted commands from the space agency's Deep Space Network personnel to switch to the back-up thrusters that control the roll of the spacecraft.

The ship is already using its sets of back-up thrusters that control pitch and yaw, and turning on the last set, which control its roll, will allow engineers to turn off the heater that keeps the fuel line to the primary thruster warm, NASA said.

The switch will save about 12 watts of power, helping the ship to keep on flying for another 10 years, gathering scientific data at the heliopause boundary and hopefully beyond.

NASA wants to send the two voyagers out to the heliopause boundary – the outer limits of the Sun's magnetic field and outward flow of the solar wind – and then through in order to take measurements of interstellar fields, particles and waves unaffected by the solar wind.

Right now, Voyager 2 is located around 14 billion kilometres from Earth in the heliosheath* – "the outermost layer of the heliosphere where the solar wind, which streams out from the sun, is slowed by the pressure of interstellar gas", according to NASA. Register

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Ratzinger The Nasty Nazi A Brief History

According to some (apologist) Russian.

It's a read if nothing else.

Could Pope Benedict XVI be a Nazi?
by Arthur Priymak
08.11.2011

.....When Joseph and Georg Ratzinger were drafted into the Hitler Youth organization, they agreed because there was no other choice. Georg told reporters in 2008 that the refusal would lead to serious consequences for their family. As a member of Hitler organization, Josef did not attend the mandatory meetings of the organization, which resulted in lost opportunities to study for free. Brothers Ratzinger deemed conscription to the army as a duty to defend their motherland. The Italian newspaper Il Giornale quoted Georg Ratzinger saying that their goals and ideals were the opposite of what Hitler preached, but it was their civic duty and they did not know when the war would be over.


The words of Sarandon about the Pope and the facts of the youth of Benedict XVI make one think: "Could a German Catholic believer be a Nazi? What was the Nazi leadership's attitude towards the Catholic faith?"

Adolf Hitler was born into a Catholic family. After becoming the Fuhrer of the Nazi party, he continued to call himself "Christian." In his speech in 1928 in Lassana, Hitler called the Nazi Party a "Christian movement" that "will not tolerate anyone who attacks the ideas of Christianity." Indeed, at first to be a Catholic believer was considered a good practice in the Nazi Party since the word "Catholic" was synonymous with the word "loyal." The image of the Nazi believer was advantageous since it appealed to ordinary Germans, the old imperial elite, and German industrialists. In many ways, "Christian" image of the Nazi Party helped Hitler to take power.

 more Pravda

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Catholic church can be held responsible for wrongdoing by priests, court rules

High court ruling will make it easier for victims of clerical sex abuse to bring compensation claims against the church more

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Considering Homeopathy, Herbal Medicine for Problems from Prolapse

In Homeopathy selecting a remedy is based upon the individual, and determining the impact of their symptoms.  In this way recovering to a complete state of health can be achieved by relieving signs and symptoms. The aim of homeopathy is not only to treat uterine prolapse but to address its underlying cause and individual susceptibility.

Therapeutic remedies are available that have been used successfully in cases that deal with uterine prolapse.  The remediy (ies) are selected on the basis of cause, sensations and modalities of the complaints.

The following remedies may be helpful in the treatment of uterine prolapse: Sepia, Lilium Tig, Podophyllum, Belladonna, Nux Vom, Stannum Met, Senecio, Aloe, Staphysagria, Pulsatilla, Nux Mos, Phosphorous, Helonias, Aurum Met, Collinsonia, Conium Mac, Cimicifuga, Platina, Argentum Met, Bryonia.

For individualized remedy selection and treatment it is recommended that you consult a qualified homeopathic practitioner for a consultation in person.

A similar approach to delineating remedies made from herbs can be used.  Some may involve tissue strengthening, elimination of incontinence, eliminating pain or others depending on symptoms. One highly respected corrective formula used for over 60 years consists of golden seal root, blessed thistle, cayenne, cramp bark, false unicorn root, ginger, red raspberry leaves, squaw vine, and uva ursi.

Photo credit

http://naturalhealthnews.blogspot.com/2009/03/transvaginal-mesh-and-womens-health.html

http://naturalhealthnews.blogspot.com/2011/10/fda-slow-to-take-action-on-vaginal-mesh.html

http://naturalhealthnews.blogspot.com/p/womens-health-transvaginal-mesh.html

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Julian Assage You're On Your Own Old Lad

But of that, I'm sure you are well aware.

Government and Opposition throw Assange to the wolves
Scott Ludlam
2nd November 2011

The Labor Government and the Coalition today refused to back a call from the Australian Greens to ensure the legal rights of Julian Assange are protected and that the Australian citizen is not extradited to the United States.




Greens communications spokesperson Senator Scott Ludlam moved the motion in light of the pending decision on the WikiLeaks' editor's possible extradition to Sweden, and it was rejected by the Government and Opposition.

"If Mr Assange is sent to Sweden for questioning on alleged offences unrelated to the work of WikiLeaks, the Australian Government should ensure he is not then shuttled to the United States to face concocted political charges under the draconian, First World War-era Espionage Act, aimed at destroying the whistle-blowing website."

Senator Ludlam's motion also called on the government to ensure that the consular and legal rights of all Australian citizens overseas are fully protected.
"The US Government has been embarrassed by a number of revelations made public by WikiLeaks - including evidence of American soldiers in Iraq deliberately targeting civilians and journalists. Washington has successfully pressured companies including Visa, Mastercard, PayPal and Western Union to block donations to WikiLeaks to strangle the site - despite the donations funding perfectly legal activity. As editor-in-chief of the site, Mr Assange is clearly a target.

"The Australian Federal Police have investigated WikiLeaks and found Mr Assange has broken no Australian laws, and he has yet to be charged with an offence in Sweden or the USA. The Government owes him every effort to ensure his rights as a citizen of this country are protected." Scott Ludlam

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Police State in Oakland? First Hand Report From Arrested Female Journo

I think the header should read Police State America, sans question mark.

The worrying thing about, not just Oakland, but demonstrations anywhere in the world, will be the readiness of states to put their agent provocateurs in place. No police force in the world is going to stand by when stuff starts going up in flames. It's all too easy and all too predictable.

But the story isn't all about what went down on the streets, the account by this female journo, one of twenty five women arrested, highlights the tactics of the cops, as they systematically belittle and humiliate the women in their charge.

It also mentions, although only briefly, something far more sinister, the issuing of press passes and the embedding of local journo's with the cops. And that is something to really worry about.

Police State in Oakland? One Reporter's Arrest Contradicts Official Story

Oakland has spent more than $1 million on Occupy policing, but nearly all of that overwhelming force has been used against innocent people.
By Susie Cagle
November 6, 2011

"Everybody on the ground, you're under arrest! Everybody on the ground, you're under arrest!" the officer yelled through his gas mask, gesturing with his baton.

As I slipped my camera in my pocket and dropped to the ground, I couldn't help but think: This wasn't part of the plan.

At least not my plan.

A series of escalations at Occupy Oakland following Wednesday, November 2nd's General Strike culminated in 101 arrests between 1 and 2 am on Thursday morning -- including my own.

Interim Oakland Police Chief Howard Jordan called the arrestees "generally anarchists and provocateurs" in a statement later Thursday. Despite Oakland Mayor Jean Quan's claims that the city would not be calling for mutual aid--a call for supporting forces from surrounding police agencies to reinforce OPD--in future engagements with Occupy Oakland demonstrators, Jordan called in the order around 4 p.m., following the vandalizing of several large banks, a Whole Foods and a few smaller businesses in the downtown area.

While police from around the Bay Area geared up for a confrontation, Occupy Oakland was shifting strategies. Shortly after 10 p.m., occupiers descended upon the foreclosed Traveler's Aid Society building at 520 16th Street. It was a calculated escalation, at least in theory: forcing the police to defend the rights of the property owners or the people, effectively choosing loyalty to the 1 or the 99 percent. The scene was joyous but chaotic, a dance party punctuated by calls to "reinforce the perimeters." Just before 11 p.m., as local agencies led by the Oakland Police Department drove south toward the plaza, a banner was unfurled from the top of the building, declaring it a community center and free school.

At the same time, barricades were built up at either end of 16th street. Garbage cans, tires, wooden palettes and furniture were piled in a vain but aggressive attempt to protect the occupied building. A police helicopter circled lower and lower overhead, drowning out the arguments between peaceful protestors and those looking for confrontation. At 11:33 p.m., I tweeted, "nearly run over by black bloc pushing dumpster into growing barricade."

At some point over the 15 minutes it took me to make my way north to document the police mobilization, those barricades were lit on fire. As I stood at 17th and Telegraph looking south from behind the police line -- first held by Oakland police, then less hardcore troops from San Leandro -- a column of black smoke snaked up between the office buildings. 12:01 a.m.: "three minutes to leave, police: 'mask up!!'"

As police blocked streets leading to the plaza and began firing tear gas down Telegraph, I was not the only one tweeting with urgency. Mayor Quan was also on the soapbox, urging protestors to get in touch in the midst of the melee.




12:06 a.m. Reports that tires are burning and barricades set up on 16th. Protestors need to call my office now.

12:09 a.m. OPD has not taken action. Smoke is from burning barricade. I'll say it again, protestors need to call now.

She hasn't updated since.

At 12:25 a.m., as the flames continued to grow, a dispersal order was made from an LRAD (long range acoustic device) at 17th and Telegraph calling for demonstrators to "disperse down Broadway and Telegraph" directly to the south.

The skirmish line one block to the west at 16th and San Pablo seemed comparatively peaceful. At 12:45 a.m., reporters were clustered behind two lines of police at the intersection, just north of the entrance to Frank Ogawa/Oscar Grant Plaza.

On the other side of the line, occupier Scott Campbell was filming the police just a few minutes later when one of them shot him in the thigh with a "less lethal" projectile. "The dispersal order I heard said, go south down Broadway," Campbell told me later. Go to page two

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Only The Walking Dead (Or Liars) Need Apply

Sounds like a fun place.

With the potential for a Jimmy Swaggart or two I shouldn't wonder. Here and here, a must watch if you haven't previously.

Religious University Employees Should Know What They're In For at Work
by Maressa Brown
November 1, 2011

Shorter University, a small, extremely conservative private Christian Baptist school in Georgia, is under fire today for demanding its employees sign a "Personal Lifestyle Statement." If it sounds discriminatory already, that's because it really, really is. Basically, the statement would require employees to pledge that they reject homosexuality, adultery, and premarital sex. They would also be vowing to go to be active in local churches and to not take part in drug use or drinking alcohol in the presence of students (probably not a wise idea anyway). (Wow, they should just add dancing to this while they're at it, so the employees can rebel by grinding in a barn.) As for anyone who doesn't sign the statement? They're at risk of gettin' the ol' pink slip!


Yeah, the school's president himself, Don Dowless, says, "Anybody that adheres to a lifestyle outside of what the biblical mandate is would not be allowed to continue [at Shorter]." Gotta love tolerant people!

But the fact of the matter is that people who have been hired to work at this university can't exactly be surprised by this. The school is known to be uber-conservative, and it's private, so that pretty much means they can hire and fire whomever they please, based on whatever criteria they choose, right? As long as their criteria doesn't break a discrimination law -- which it very well could -- they can probably get away with it. If anything, a case would probably go to trial for a long time anyway.

Sure, it sounds like a "witch hunt," as some worried employees have described it. One anonymous employee told an LGBT-oriented paper in Atlanta:

We now will live in fear that someone who doesn't like us personally or someone who has had a bad day will report that we've been drinking or that we are suspected of being gay.

It really stinks to have been hired under the assumption that you could be who you are -- gay, horny, a cheater, a drinker, an atheist -- without it being an issue. But oops, oh well, rules have changed! Now it is apparently a problem at Shorter, and if I were someone who was worried about being canned because of this statement, I'd high-tail it out of there, jobless status be damned! Who would want to feel like they had to hide or walk on eggshells just to fit in at some holier-than-thou place of employment? Screw that! Should these people be driven from their jobs for who they are? NO way! But it doesn't seem like, at least in this case, there's much they can do to avoid it. cafemom

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Milliband Speaks Out (in Favour) Of Occupy

Ed Miliband: politicians must listen to the St Paul's Cathedral protesters

Labour leader says only 'most reckless' will ignore danger signals from Occupy London protest
Daniel Boffey and Mark Townsend
Saturday 5 November 2011

Ed Miliband says the protesters camped outside St Paul's Cathedral present a stark warning to the political classes and reflect a wider national crisis in confidence about the values of those in business and politics.

The Labour leader says that, while some have dismissed the cause of the protesters, they present a wake-up call, though they should not be allowed to dictate the terms of such a critical debate.

Writing in the Observer, Miliband describes the Occupy London protest and others around the world as "danger signals" that only the "most reckless will ignore". He says: "The challenge is that they reflect a crisis of concern for millions of people about the biggest issue of our time: the gap between their values and the way our country is run."

He adds: "I am determined that mainstream politics, and the Labour party in particular, speaks to that crisis and rises to the challenge". The Labour leader has until now made no comment on the furore around the protests, which have led to a debate about whether the camp should be forcibly removed.

His intervention will be regarded as a risky manoeuvre designed to hit home the theme of his party conference speech of a need to rid the country of "irresponsible, predatory capitalism". Miliband was widely praised after risking the wrath of some in the media by calling for Rebekah Brooks's resignation early on in the phone-hacking scandal at the News of the World and he will be hoping his comments today will chime with the wider electorate who he believes share some of the anger of those at St Paul's.

Miliband is careful to avoid endorsing the "long list of diverse and often impractical proposals" of the protesters. But he says their activities are a symptom of a wider crisis caused by record unemployment, rising inflation, squeezed living standards and turmoil in the eurozone which, he says, adds to the "sense that the economy is on the brink".

He says: "Certainly, few people struggling to makes ends meet and worried about what the future holds for their children will have either the time or the inclination to camp outside a cathedral. And many people will not agree with the demands or like the methods of the protesters. But they still present a challenge: to the church and to business – and also to politics."

The protesters settled on their current site three weeks ago yesterday after an initial plan to base themselves at nearby Paternoster Square, the private business and retail development housing the London Stock Exchange, was thwarted by an injunction. Since then the canon, chaplain and dean of St Paul's have all resigned amid confusion and indecision over whether the church should welcome the protesters or move them on.

Last Tuesday morning the Corporation of London was preparing to hand the camp a 48-hour eviction notice, but was forced to change its policy after the cathedral publicly backed the protesters. They have since been told that they will be allowed to continue to camp outside St Paul's until the new year.

While distancing himself from the methods and goals of the protesters, Miliband says this moment in time is similar to 1945, 1979 and 1997 in that a point has come where "business as usual is not an option". He says: "This is another of those moments because the deeper issues raised by the current crisis are too important to be left shivering on the steps of St Paul's."

The archbishop of York also criticised excessive salaries for top City executives, saying that large differences in income between rich and poor "weaken community life and make societies less cohesive". Dr John Sentamu said that excesses in the financial sector had helped to create big inequalities, "demonstrating how scandalously unfair our society is". He said: "If they [FTSE 100 chief executives] have a responsibility to their staff, it is hard to imagine a more powerful way of telling someone that they are of little value than to pay them one-third of 1% of your salary.

"Top pay has been found to bear little or no relation to company performance, but even if it did, isn't the performance of a company dependent on the work and wellbeing of all its staff?

"Among the ill effects of very large income differences between rich and poor are that they weaken community life and make societies less cohesive." gruniad

h/t Weissnicht

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The Guardian J'accuse

Not me personally, but the writer.

And it does no harm to remember, for all its recent self righteous smugness, the Guardian is no different to all the other rags that litter this country.

The Guardian of Israel
By Gilad Atzmon
November 05, 2011

Israeli hasbara insists that an attack on Iran is compatible with both Western interests and NATO strategy. For example, this week Israel released information about an IAF exercise in NATO’s bases in Italy. The statement was made to create the impression that any future Israeli aggression against Iran enjoys Western backing. NATO however was quick to disassociate itself from any such attack. NATO leader Fogh Rasmussen confirmed in a press conference that the alliance has no intention whatsoever of intervening in Iran.

To date, we’ve not seen any British public official statement that would suggest that Britain is ready to back either the US or Israel in any possible strike on Iran.

Yet, it seems as if the Guardian, once a respected British newspaper, has already become fully integrated in the Israeli psychological war machine.

Yesterday the Guardian joined the hasbara chorus and informed us that the UK military has ‘amid fresh nuclear fears’ stepped up plans for an attack on Iran.

The Guardian didn’t even try to substantiate its claim. Instead, it produced a gossipy news story that didn’t adhere to the most minimal journalistic standards.

The Guardian reported that “British officials say that if Washington presses ahead it will seek, and receive, UK military help for any mission, despite some deep reservations within the coalition government.” This is a somewhat bizarre statement considering the complete silence of the Government and the MOD on the matter. Could Britain launch another criminal war, (this time, potentially a nuclear world war), with no public discussion or even a single official government comment on the subject? I don’t think so.

Did the Guardian make it up? I doubt it – it’s just suspiciously too damn similar to the official Israeli hasbara line. On the face of it, it looks as if the Guardian has, quite simply, joined the Israeli war machine.

Interestingly enough, the JC, Britain largest Jewish weekly was a bit more reliable than the Guardian. The JC wrote that, “the talks (between British and Israeli military leaders) took place as reports suggested that Britain was ready to back the US in a possible strike on Iran.” Yet the JC ended its report suggesting that at least “privately, senior MoD officials flatly refuted suggestions that Britain was ready to be part of a US-led attack on Iran.”

While the JC still seems to maintain some journalistic integrity, this week the Guardian failed miserably. It was caught, whether consciously or unconsciously, disseminating Israeli propaganda. But this shouldn’t take us by complete surprise. As we know, this same ‘progressive’ paper also censored Wikileaks concerning Israel and Palestine.

Like 80% of our ruling party MPs, who just happen to be CFI members (Conservative Friends of Israel), the Guardian also seems to be in open alliance with the Jewish State. I guess that friendship with Israel must really pay.

Gilad Atzmon is a musician-composer. He is particularly well-known his political analysis which is widely published. His website Gilad.co.uk

Previous: John Pilger on The 'Getting' of Assange The Guardian and The US Justice System

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Honey Selected for Health and Healing

Honey for Health and Healing


Organic Raw Honey - 17.6 oz. glass jar

As a highly respected and internationally renown expert in natural health I have been using, recommending and selling only the finest honey products for many decades.

I've always used raw honey and for the most part that raw honey is organic.

I've also put together a very in depth report about the medicinal uses of honey and been products built on information I have gathered since the mid 1950s. About that time my father, a skilled and highly respected physician and surgeon, began using bee stings to keep his hands and fingers limber for the complicated surgeries he performed.

I have always liked the dark honey such as that from buckwheat because of the high amounts of antioxidants it contains. I often suggest pollen if a person has no history of bee sting reactions. These busy workers are one of the main pollinators that we depend on for our food supply. They are also being decimated by the advent of cell phones, WIFI, and digital TV microwave towers. It is a reason I have written several articles about planting for bees.

In the early 1990s I came into contact with a fellow who was a magic bee keeper and honey producer. His honey was gathered in the Cascade foothills well away from pollution and EMF. He did not filter it either so it was a rich and amazing product. And highly sought after by makers of mead.

Sometime after that I found a honey product from Alaska that was also not filtered and the producer always sent me the pollen he collected when adding screens on the hives.

Then there was a raw, certified organic honey that crossed my path, that later became questionable as to source. Sometime later this honey became a product of South America, but the organic certification was now lacking.

Shortly after coming into contact with the great folks at Tropical Traditions and their Virgin Coconut Oil, I received a bottle of the certified organic raw and unfiltered honey from Canada.

In order for honey to be certified as organic the hives have to be located far from population and industrial centers where pollution will not affect the end product. Since bees have about a four mile flight area from their home hives this are has to be assured as clean too. Tropical Traditions sources its honey from hives in the wild frontier areas of Canada.

This honey is harvested during a limited six week period of time during the summer. It is not subjected to high heat in processing so it retains all of the beneficial nutrients and enzymes. The end result is an unfiltered, very smooth and creamy textured honey. You get all the benefits of the pollen too.

"This honey is GREAT! I really savor my heaping teaspoon from time to time."

The less intrusive filtering process provides for finely textured crystals in TT raw, organic honey, preserving all the natural health benefits honey offers. And as the purveyors of this fine honey say, “Truly raw honeys do not deteriorate with age, but like fine wines, continue to age and develop into more complex tastes.”

Try some, you will love the taste.

More about honey

Selected from Natural Health News

Honey Adds Health Benefits

EPA Laxity Puts Bees at Risk

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Jimmy Savile Glad You're Dead

Fucking wanker.



The Hypocrisy Of Esther Rantzen

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Occupy and the Militarisation of Policing Protest

I don't really know if this is worth posting, it's not as though it's previously unknown. But no matter, if nothing else, I shall go with it if for only this. The people have become the enemy.

USA Patriot Act. Section 802 expanded the definition of domestic terrorism to include persons who engage in acts of civil disobedience to coerce or affect the conduct of government by intimidation of the civilian population.

And it's not as though we don't have some of the things mentioned in the article, happening here in Britain. Nothing on the scale of America of course; not yet.

Occupy and the Militarisation of Policing Protest

Why, when protesters are peaceably exercising first amendment rights, is the machinery of counter-terrorism being mobilised?

By Ayesha Kazmi
November 03, 2011
The Guardian

In our not-so-distant history, protest in the United States was handled by local law enforcement that treated demonstrations and marches as mere nuisance, mediating and directing as needed. Today, observing the interaction between Occupy movements and law enforcement suggests something different is afoot. Present Occupy protests are now being defined by a bewildering set of law enforcement strategies – and current practices display a worrying new trend.

While riot police are not necessarily an everyday feature at any given protest, the sheer frequency with which we are witnessing their presence on city streets throughout the United States is enough to give average citizens cause for concern; the excessive force being routinely deployed is alarming.

Within the first few days of Occupy Wall Street, protesters began to notice the presence of the NYPD's Counter Terrorism Unit at Liberty Plaza. Joanne Stocker, who has become a fixture since day one at Wall Street, recalls within the first few days waking up to a Counter Terrorism Unit van, parked on the fringes of Liberty Plaza, which was taking video of her and her friends while they slept.

Protesters at other Occupy encampments give similar accounts. Robin Jacks, a member of Occupy Boston's media team, relates being photographed multiple times by police. Dustin Slaughter, who has spent time both at Occupy Wall Street and Occupy Philadelphia, attests to the presence of the NYPD Counter Terrorism Unit at Liberty Plaza, saying that the Counter Terrorism Unit have been at Liberty Plaza filming on a regular basis. Slaughter also comments: "Philadelphia Police Homeland Security Units have had a regular presence at the Occupy Philadelphia encampment."

Protesters are indeed correct to view the law enforcement they encounter at Occupy with a critical eye. The USA Patriot Act, which had its 10-year anniversary last week, gave the US government virtually unchecked powers to spy and track the activity of ordinary Americans without probable cause right after the 9/11 attacks. For that reason, it should come as no surprise that law enforcement agencies – thus empowered – have shown up at various Occupy protests armed with cameras, most certainly, to keep surveillance on protesters who are merely exercising their first amendment rights.

Reports of targeted arrests of informal "leaders" at Wall Street, Chicago and Boston indicate surveillance measures are operating. In Boston and Chicago, reports of extended and humiliating detentions of targeted occupy "leaders", typically from Direct Action, media, legal and medics groups, are disturbing. Dan Massoglia of the Occupy Chicago media team further reports that arrested individuals were deprived of their phone call, food and water, and that mattresses were removed from cells, while one woman was placed in solitary confinement.

Curfews placed on occupied city parks are equally perplexing. Legislative Plaza, the site for Occupy Nashville, was ordered to be shut down between 10pm and 6am, rendering its occupation impossible. The orders, however, did not follow standard procedure. Instead of being issued by Nashville municipality, the order came from the state of Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security.

Nancy Murray, director of education at the Massachusetts chapter of the ACLU, views the various signs of Department of Homeland Security involvement as important indicators that the federal government is orchestrating the policing of Occupy protests throughout the country.

"This would be a big concern because it would show that the federal government is possibly playing an active role in opposing people's rights to free speech and to peaceably assemble," says Murray.

Does this mean that protesters are being treated as terrorists? "It's too early to tell," says Murray. "But it's obvious the feds are watching and observing to get more information … It is possible that the Joint Terrorism Task Force is calling the shots."

"At the beginning of this movement, I could understand why there might have been a presence of Counter Terrorism Units operating at Liberty Plaza – because nobody knew who we were and what we represented," states Stocker. "Now, their presence is just overkill and antagonistic. What we stand for is clear and it is clear we are not terrorists."

Occupy protesters should make themselves familiar with the USA Patriot Act. Section 802 expanded the definition of domestic terrorism to include persons who engage in acts of civil disobedience to coerce or affect the conduct of government by intimidation of the civilian population. Furthermore, the US Department of Defence training manuals, until an amendment in 2009, equated protest with "low-level terrorism". Although the DoD changed the wording two years ago, human rights lawyers and activists have lingering concerns about whether the sentiment and intent has caught up with the change.

Finally, there is the disquieting issue of excessive force at Occupy. In the autumn of 2008, the Army Times reported that for the first time, the US Army planned to station an active unit under the control of Northern Command serving as an on-call federal response in times of both natural and man-made emergencies, including terrorist attacks. Training included a non-lethal package, elements of which the US Army has been using in Iraq, designed to subdue unruly individuals. "The package includes equipment to stand up a hasty road block; spike strips for slowing, stopping or controlling traffic; shields and batons; and, beanbag bullets."

Despite the existence of the National Guard, whose raison d'etre is to augment civilian law enforcement when its capabilities are exceeded, this additional unit, according to the Army Times, may be called upon to help with civil unrest and crowd control. The excessive force exhibited at some Occupy locations – the use of tear gas; alleged use of rubber bullets and reported presence of sonic weapons – is becoming a pattern. A protester in California, who wished to remain anonymous, recalls experience of a long range acoustic device (LRAD) in Oakland last week:

"I had been tear gassed three times, so when I first saw the sound cannon, I panicked. When the cannon went off, I felt it pulse through me and I instantly felt dizzy and nauseated. At one point, I fell over. I noticed others around me had fallen over as well and some vomited."

Such anti-riot technologies were characterised as inhumane by human rights observers when they were used to subdue unarmed, peaceful protesters during civil unrest in Tbilisi, Georgia, in 2007. They have no place in a democratic country. They may be characterised by authorities as "non-lethal", but they can all too easily become lethal if misused by reckless law enforcement agents. The Occupy movement is explicitly a nonviolent exercise of first amendment rights, yet its policing bears all the hallmarks of a chilling militarisation of law enforcement in the United States. Guardian

Photo by Marc Vallée/marcvallee.co.uk

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Paul Craig Roberts On a Roll: Western Democracy: A Farce And A Sham

Not to detract from the seriousness all the rest of what Craig Roberts has to say, but the: you can bomb a country back to the stone age, kill who and where you want, to the point of genocide and never have to face the music, that's fine. But get your dick out of your pants and you're toast. That particular philosophy has always been an intrinsic part of this blog. (See, Sex Prudery tag.)

Perhaps on this occasion, Roberts deliberately left Jesus out of the equation. Because again, crimes against humanity are fine and dandy, just as long as you love Jesus. It's the American way.

Western Democracy: A Farce And A Sham
By Paul Craig Roberts
November 03, 2011
Updated Below

Every day that passes adds to the fraudulent image of what is called Western democracy.

Consider that the entire Western world is outraged that the Greek prime minister announced that he is going to permit the Greek people to decide their own fate instead of having it decided for them by a handful of banksters, politicians, and bureaucrats living it up at taxpayer expense at “talks” in the French resort of Cannes on the Mediterranean.

The Greek economy is facing its fourth year of decline and lacks the revenues to service its national debt held by private European banks. The banks don’t want to lose any money, so a handful of power brokers reached an agreement with representatives of the Greek government to write off some of the debt in exchange for EU capital subsidies to be financed by inflicting severe austerity on the Greek population. Wages, salaries, pensions and medical care are being cut while the rate of unemployment rises to depression levels. Government employees are laid off. Valuable public properties are to be sold to private parties for pennies on the dollar. In short, Greece is to be looted.

Large numbers of Greeks have been in the streets protesting the austerity policy and have reached the point of anger of throwing Molotov cocktails at the police. Greece is disintegrating politically. The Greek people sense that the EU “bailout” is not bailing out Greece. It is bailing out the French, Dutch, and German banks at the expense of the Greek people.

The Greek prime minister, watching his party’s support and power crumble, announced that he would let the people decide in a referendum. After all, allegedly that’s what democracies do. But it turns out that “we have freedom and democracy” is not supposed to be taken literally. It is merely a propagandistic slogan behind which people are ruled through back-room deals decided by powerful private interests.

The Greek prime minister’s announcement that he would put the back-room bailout deal to a referendum shocked the EU hierarchy, Washington, and investors. Who does this Greek guy think he is permitting the people, who bear the cost of the deal, to have a say in it? Who let this Greek guy out of his cage? This is not the way democracies are ruled.

The EU power brokers are outraged over the Greek prime minister’s departure from normal procedure. But the Greek PM is relying on the Greek people to approve the deal, and not without reason.

The Greek people have been brainwashed for decades as to the importance of “being part of Europe.” That means being a member of the European Union. When the Greeks realize that voting down the bailout of the banksters means being thrown out of the European Union, which is what they will learn between now and the referendum, they will vote for the back room deal.

Polls already indicate this. A poll for a Greek newspaper indicates that whereas 46% oppose the bailout, 70% favor staying in the EU, which the Greeks see as a life or death issue.

If this poll is a reliable indicator, the Greek PM has made a brilliant political decision. The Greek people will vote in favor of what they have been protesting violently in the streets. As the Greek people will do themselves in, the politicians are off the hook. This is the bet that the Greek PM has placed.

Whatever the outcome, keep in mind that the entire Western political and investor world was shocked that a politician, instead of simply imposing a back room deal, said he would let the people decide. Letting the people decide is a no-no in Western democracies.

If you need more evidence of this mythical creature called “Western democracy,” consider that Western governments are no longer accountable to law. Contrast, for example, the sexual harassment charges that are plaguing US presidential candidate Herman Cain’s campaign with the pass given to high government officials who clearly violated statutory law.

What follows is not a defense of Cain. I take no position on the charges. The real point is different. In America the only thing that can ruin a politician is his interest in sex. A politician, for example, George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, B. Omama, cannot be ruined by violating United States and international law or by treating the US Constitution as a “mere scrap of paper.” Bush and Cheney can take America to wars based entirely on lies and orchestrated deceptions. They can commit war crimes, murdering large numbers of civilians in the cause of “the war on terror,” itself a hoax. They can violate US and international laws against torture simply “because the president said so.” They
can throw away habeas corpus, the constitutional requirement that a person cannot be imprisoned without evidence presented to a court. They can deny the right to an attorney. They can violate the law and spy on Americans without obtaining warrants. They can send due process to hell. In fact, they can do whatever they want just like Hitler’s Gestapo and Stalin’s secret police. But if they show undue interest in a woman or proposition a woman, they are dead meat.

Very few commentators have said a word about this. The House of Representatives did not impeach President Bill Clinton for his war crimes against Serbia. They impeached him for lying about a sexual affair with a White House intern. The US Senate, which had too many sexual affairs of its own to defend, didn’t bother to try to convict.

This is Amerika today. A president without any authority whatsoever, not in law and certainly not in the Constitution, can assassinate US citizens based on nothing except an assertion that they are a “threat.” No evidence is required. No conviction. No presentation of evidence in any court. Just a murder. That is now permissible to the Amerikan president. But let him try to get a woman who is not his wife into bed, and he is a cooked goose.

In Amerika there is no such thing any longer as torture; there is only “enhanced interrogation.” A mere word change has eliminated the crime. So torture is permissible.

In Amerika today, or in the UK and the EU, anyone who tells the truth is a “threat.” Julian Assange of Wikileaks, who made public information leaked to him by US government sources horrified by the criminal actions of the United States government, is now, as a result of Amerikan pressure on UK courts, being turned over to Sweden, which, for favors from the “world’s only superpower,” will turn him over to the US regardless of law to be prosecuted on trumped-up charges.

Western “civilization” is totally corrupted by American money. There is no integrity anywhere. For a decade Washington has been murdering women, children, village elders, and journalists in the name of the hoax “war on terror.”

What terror does the world actually see? The world sees the terror that Israel, protected by Washington, inflicts on the Palestinians. The world sees the terror that the US inflicts on Serbia, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, Libya, Latin America and now Africa, with Syria, Lebanon, and Iran waiting in the wings. The “war on terror” is nothing but an orchestrated invented excuse for Amerika-Israel to achieve hegemony while enriching their armaments industries.

In Greece, at least the PM committed to giving the people a say in their fate. In America the people have no voice whatsoever. The sheeple are content to be protected by “security,” porno-scanners, warrantless wiretapping, indefinite detention, and sexual groping. To carry on the hoax “war on terror,” the US government has elevated itself above the law.

The American effort to achieve accountability to law, the Occupy Wall Street (OWS) movement, if not shut down by cold weather, ice, and snow, is likely to be shut down by police violence. One riot begun by provocateurs is all it takes to transform protesters into “domestic extremists,” the number one concern of Homeland Security. The presstitute media will make the case against the rioters, and the sheeple will buy it.

The police have been militarized by Washington. Community police forces no
longer represent the local public that pays their salaries. Local police represent Washington’s war against America.

American citizens are all suspects. Anyone who goes through airport security knows this. The only law that the US government obeys is not even a law. It is a bureaucratic regulation that prevents, even in dire wartime, any profiling of suspects by
ethnicity or country of origin.

Consequently, all native born, flag-waving, American super-patriots are suspects when they board commercial airliners. Americans who have a life time of security clearances are subject to being porno-scanned or sexually groped. Airport Security cannot tell a “terrorist” from a CIA analyst, a Marine general or a US Senator.

Well-connected members of the ruling elite, such as Michael Chertoff, can become rich from selling the porno-scanners to taxpayers in order “to protect the public from terrorists.”

The only terrorists Americans will ever experience are those funded by their own tax dollars within their “own” government. A people incapable of perceiving its real peril has no chance of surviving. America might be a military superpower, but it no longer exists as a free country with accountable government and a rule of law. ICH

November 04, 2011 - Addendum: The Greek prime minister has been forced to withdraw the referendum on the bailout that he promised the Greek people. Europe’s rulers made it clear to the Greek PM that democracy has no role to play in the decision. Greece was told to vote the deal that was handed to you or Greece is out of the EU. The chastened PM warned the Greek parliament that the only way to remain in the EU is to submit to the dictate.

Paul Craig Roberts was an editor of the Wall Street Journal and an Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Treasury. He can be reached at: PaulCraigRoberts@yahoo.com

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