December 4&11, 2006
Whole Body Health
December 18, 2006
December 25, 2006
American Free Press has learned that a group of foreign companies, which currently lease a toll road in Indiana and are looking at buying up other highways across the country, has its eyes on the Trans-Texas Corridor, or TTC. The TTC is a planned toll road system through the Lone Star State that will largely be used for trucking foreign merchandise into the United States on the wings of the North American Free Trade Agreement.
It will be a major leg of the so-called "NAFTA Superhighway," and, according to watchdog groups, it will lead to more cheap goods flooding the country and will be devastating to the U.S.-based trucking industry.
In the April 17, 2006 edition, AFP reported that ITR Concessions LLC, a partnership of Cintra of Spain and the McQuarie Bank of Australia, spent $3.85 billion to lease the Indiana Toll Road from the state for 75 years.
Now that same coalition is branching out into Texas. On Nov. 21, the Internet version of The Lone Star Iconoclast, a Crawford, Tex.-based publication, reported that Todd Spencer, the executive vice president of the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, or OOIDA, "is asking truckers to bypass the Indiana Toll Road that has been leased to the Spanish consortium, Cintra, the same outfit that Gov. [Rick] Perry and TXDOT (The Texas Department of Transportation) contracted with to operate the hated Trans Texas Corridor."
According to Spencer, McQuarie will also be involved in the TTC. Steve Bonney, a Lafayette, Ind., farmer who helped fight this arrangement in Indiana courts, revealed then that some of that money would be used to extend Interstate 69 from Indianapolis to the Kentucky border. From there I-69 would proceed into south Texas by the Mexican border, eventually becoming yet another conduit in the vast network of "NAFTA tollways" being envisioned. Interstate 69 ends to the north in Port Huron, Mich., at the Canadian border.
An Oct. 26 OOIDA pre-election news bulletin noted, "Texas lawmakers made a very big mistake when they overwhelmingly voted in 2003 to move forward with Gov. Rick Perry's plan for the Trans-Texas Corridor—they did it despite overwhelming public sentiment against the effort. The corridor is an intermodal route that would cut across Texas from the Mexican border to Oklahoma and include toll lanes."
Cintra is teaming up with Zachry, a San Antonio firm, for the project's planning phase.
"The Associated Press released an analysis of a campaign ad . . . erroneously stating that Spain-based Cintra holds a 65% equity position in Cintra Zachry LP. That's wrong. The correct equity position is 85% with Zachry Construction holding the small 15% equity balance, noted a report on Corridorwatch.org, a web site that is monitoring the growth of the NAFTA Superhighway.
Corridorwatch.org features a map on its web site that reveals various TTC segments that crisscross Texas.
Activist Sal Costello of People for Efficient Transportation, based in Austin, Tex., told AFP that while much of the Texas public is perhaps dimly aware of the TTC, the concept behind the TTC is becoming better known and opposition to it is increasing, especially since the Nov. 7 gubernatorial race.
In the lead-up to the election, three of the four candidates, particularly Independent Carol Strayhorn, opposed the TTC and made it one of their top campaign issues. Not surprisingly, incumbent Perry, who was reelected, did not mention the TTC. Despite this, the mainstream media throughout Texas largely ignored the issue.
Costello told AFP that officials would like Americans to believe that work has not commenced on the TTC. However, he said ground has actually been broken on the TTC. He pointed out that highway 130, a north-south segment that will stretch 49 miles when completed sometime in 2007, is already partially finished.
Costello also said that while some TTC sections represent new tollway construction, existing freeways already paid for with tax dollars are being converted into tollways. "It's a combination of a land grab, which is the TTC, and a road grab, which is the conversion of our freeways," he said.
Traditionally, motorists use tollways as an alternative to other taxpayer-financed interstates. However, if these Texas developments continue, Costello said, most drivers there will be forced to use tollways. Furthermore, voter-approved bond dollars for more traditional Texas transportation needs are being diverted into toll road plans.
The TTC is one of many planned routes for which land will have to be gobbled up to lay pavement, to run utility lines and to construct new railroad routes on the way to Kansas City, Mo., a major hub for these free trade conduits.
Even though Kansas City is some 1,000 miles away from the Southern border, it will function as a U.S. Customs inspection point. Activists believe it is likely that eminent domain land grabs will soar in the coming years as the project steams on. Texas was not among the states with eminent domain restrictions on the ballot Nov. 7.
Spencer noted the TTC will largely be used by truckers from Mexico, who will be transporting goods from Mexico, China and other nations where people work for slave wages.
"The Bush Administration is bending over backwards to accommodate Mexican trucks coming into the United States," said Spencer. "Worldwide, trucks are the weapons of choice of terrorists. Nobody is going to check what is really in that truck . We evidently have a lot of people in the U.S. who have lost their minds."
Spencer said Mexican truckers will be able to go anywhere once they cross the border. Since Mexico does not have stringent safety regulations, there is no way to verify the safety of Mexican trucks or drivers. He doubts that anyone will do background checks on drivers before they can enter the United States.
Spencer said the TTC will be devastating to domestic truckers and freight companies.
TXDOT wants to charge truckers 40 cents a mile to travel the TTC. "This is the equivalent of about $2.40 (per gallon) in just new fuel taxes," said Spencer. "If gas were $2.60 a gallon, that would be equivalent to gas at $5 a gallon."
Furthermore, an anti-competition clause in the Cintra contract reportedly prohibits Texas from making improvements to parallel routes. Therefore, highway users "will be forced to use the TTC toll roads even if Texas has to close down lanes on existing highways," said Spencer.
Some whopper TTC routes may be one-quarter-mile wide, with up to six lanes, in each direction and room for utility lines and rail lines.
Spencer told AFP that international investors are drooling at the prospects of acquiring U.S. toll roads in 35 states, including in Pennsylvania where State Rep. Rick Geist of the House Transportation Committee plans early in 2007 to introduce House Bill 1 to sell or lease the Pennsylvania Turnpike to the highest bidder. Spencer said the terms "sell" and "lease" are synonymous when it comes to toll road deals, since many agreements last for 75 years or longer.
"This is the latest Wall Street craze," Spencer said. In Illinois, elected officials have been resisting a proposed toll bridge, largely funded by foreign investors, over the Mississippi River from Illinois to St. Louis, Mo. Spencer thinks Illinois officials will be lobbied hard to change their minds.
"Goldman Sachs made more than $20 million on the Indiana Toll Road deal," Spencer told AFP. "This is U.S. transportation policy coming right from the White House—sell our roads."
American Free Press reporter Mark Anderson can be reached at truthhound2@yahoo.com Watch future AFP issues for more on America's welcome acceptance of biofuels and other energy alternatives, helping end our gluttonous addiction to foreign petroleum.
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The respected military publication Jane's Defense Weekly reports that the Chinese have been using powerful lasers to blind U.S. reconnaissance satellites as they pass over the Chinese mainland.
This presents a serious problem as the U.S. military attempts to monitor the Chinese military's efforts to expand its ground, naval and air forces, which are transforming the once primitive nation into a powerful state capable of challenging America's super-power status.
Says Jane's, the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) has used high-energy lasers "to interfere with U.S. satellites, according to a U.S. Army space-warfare specialist." Chinese laser testing has been previously reported but it is now confirmed that the laser attacks are effective.
At the Strategic Space and Defense Conference in Omaha on Oct. 12, U.S. Army Command Sgt. Major David Lady of the Joint Functional Combat Command for Integrated Missile Defense reported that attacks have been detected after U.S. satellite operators made some alarming discoveries.
They found that U.S. spy satellites, which can monitor minute details of ground military activity, have occasionally failed to perform over Chinese territory.
"There had been times when we wondered at the sudden decline in effectiveness as the satellites passed over China," Lady told Jane's.
The satellites were being tracked at the Reagan Test Site on Kwajalein Atoll in the South Pacific and were tasked with observing any unusual phenomena.
"We sensed the projection of beams against the spacecraft and could identify the streams of photons [the laser beams]," Lady said.
These revelations come on the heels of a report in Defense News that the Chinese had used a ground-based laser to "paint" (render ineffective) an American satellite.
Gen. James Cartwright, head of the U.S. Strategic Command, disagrees, claiming "we really haven't seen any interference with U.S. satellites." However, Donald Kerr, director of the National Reconnaissance Office, confirmed that it has "happened at least once."
U.S. SPACE DOMINANCE
Whether or not the Chinese were countering U.S. spy satellites with high-energy laser beams became a moot point, however, with the revelations by Lady at the later Omaha conference.
The ability of lasers to interfere with the operation of reconnaissance satellites was confirmed as long ago as October 1997 when a laser was tested by the United States against a U.S. satellite at an altitude of 350 miles. It was determined that the spacecraft was in fact vulnerable to such attacks.
According to the Center for Nonproliferation Studies, "In recent years, some U.S. politicians and analysts have claimed that China's reported efforts to develop anti-satellite (ASAT) weapons pose a direct threat to U.S. space assets [and thus U.S. space dominance]."
Some reports further indicate that the Center for Nonproliferation Studies believes that Russia is providing laser and missile interceptor technology that could be incorporated into Chinese ASAT programs.
Development of high-powered lasers has been a priority in China.
Extensive work is being done on high-powered ground-based lasers,
including specific links to ASAT applications.
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The following letter was written by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and released on Nov. 29 for the American people to consider
Noble Americans,
Were we not faced with the activities of the U.S. administration in this part of the world and the negative ramification of those activities on the daily lives of our peoples, coupled with the many wars and calamities caused by the U.S. administration as well as the tragic consequences of U.S. interference in other countries.
Were the American people not God-fearing truth-loving and justice-seeking, while the U.S. administration actively conceals the truth and impedes any objective portrayal of current realities;
And if we did not share a common responsibility to promote and protect freedom and human dignity and integrity;
Then, there would be little urgency to have a dialogue with you.
While Divine providence has placed Iran and the United States geographically far apart, we should be cognizant that human values and our common human spirit, which proclaim the dignity and exalted worth of all human beings, have brought our two great nations of Iran and the United States closer together.
Both our nations are God-fearing, truth-loving and justice-seeking, and both seek dignity, respect and perfection.
Both greatly value and readily embrace the promotion of human ideals such as compassion, empathy, respect for the rights of human beings, securing justice and equity, and defending the innocent and the weak against oppressors and bullies.
We are all inclined toward the good and toward extending a helping hand to one another, particularly to those in need.
We all deplore injustice, the trampling of people's rights and the intimidation and humiliation of human beings.
We all detest darkness, deceit, lies and distortion, and seek and admire salvation, enlightenment, sincerity and honesty.
The pure human essence of the two great nations of Iran and the United States testifies to the veracity of these statements.
Noble Americans,
Our nation has always extened its hand of friendship to all other nations of the world.
Hundreds of thousands of my Iranian compatriots are living amongst you in friendship and peace, and are contributing positively to your society. Our people have been in contact with you over the past many years and have maintained these contacts despite the unnecessary restrictions of U.S. authorities.
As mentioned, we have common concerns, face similar challenges and are pained by the sufferings and afflictions in the world.
We, like you, are aggrieved by the ever-worsening pain and misery of the Palestinian people. Persistent aggressions by the Zionists are making life more and more difficult for the rightful owners of the land of Palestine. In broad daylight, in front of cameras and before the eyes of the world, they are bombarding innocent defenseless civilians, bulldozing houses, firing machine guns at students in the streets and alley, and subjecting their families to endless grief.
No day goes by without a new crime.
Palestinian mothers, just like Iranian and American mothers, love their children, and are painfully bereaved by the imprisonment, wounding and murder of their children. What mother wouldn't be?
For 60 years, the Zionist regime has driven millions of the inhabitants of Palestine out of their homes. Many of these refugees have died in the Diaspora and in refugee camps. Their children have spent their youth in these camps and are aging while still in the hope of returning to their homeland.
You know well that the U.S. administration has persistently provided blind and blanket support to the Zionist regime, has emboldened it to continue its crimes, and has prevented the UN Security Council from condemning it.
Who can deny such broken promises and gave injustices toward humanity by the U.S. Administration?
Governments are there to serve their own people. No people wants to side with or support any oppressors. But regrettably, the U.S. administration disregards even its own public opinion and remains in the forefront of supporting the trampling of the rights of the Palestinian people.
Let's take a look at Iraq. Since the commencement of the U.S. military presence in Iraq, hundreds of thousands of Iraqis have been killed, maimed or displaced. Terrorism in Iraq has grown exponentially. With the presence of the U.S. military in Iraq, nothing has been done to rebuild the ruins, to restore the infrastructure or to alleviate poverty. The U.S. government used the pretext of the existence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, but later it became clear that that was just a lie.
Although Saddam Hussein was overthrown and people are happy about his departure, the pain and suffering of the Iraqi people has persisted and has even been aggravated.
In Iraq, about 150,000 American soldiers, separated from their families and loved ones, are operating under the command of the current U.S. administration. A substantial number of them have been killed or wounded and their presence in Iraq has tarnished the image of the American people and government.
Their mothers and relatives have, on numerous occasions, displayed their discontent with the presence of their sons and daughters in a land thousands of miles away from U.S. shores. American soldiers often wonder why they have been sent to Iraq.
I consider it extremely unlikely that you, the American people, consent to the billions of dollars of annual expenditure from your treasury for this military misadventure.
Noble Americans,
You have heard that the U.S. administration is kidnapping its presumed opponents from across the globe and arbitrarily holding them without trial or any international supervision in horrendous prisons that it has established in various parts of the world. God knows who these detainees actually are, and what terrible fate awaits them.
You have certainly heard the sad stories of the Guantanamo and Abu Graib prisons. The U.S. administration attempts to justify them through its proclaimed "war on terror." But everyone knows that such behavior, in fact, offends global public opinion, exacerbates resentment and thereby spreads terrorism, and tarnishes the U.S. image and its credibility among nations.
The U.S. administration's illegal and immoral behavior is not even confined to outside its borders. You are witnessing daily that under the pretext of "the war on terror," civil liberties in the United States are being increasingly curtailed. Even the privacy of individuals is fast losing its meaning, judicial due process and fundamental rights are trampled upon. Private phones are tapped, suspects are arbitrarily arrested, sometimes beaten in the streets, or even shot to death.
I have no doubt that the American people do not approve of this behavior and indeed deplore it.
The U.S. administration does not accept accountability before any organization, institution or council. The U.S. Administration has undermined the credibility of international organizations, particularly the United Nations and its Security Council. But, I do not intend to address all the challenges and calamities in this message.
The legitimacy, Power and influence of a government do not emanate from its arsenals of tanks, fighter aircrafts missiles or nuclear weapons. Legitimacy and influence reside in sound logic, quest for justice and compassion and empathy for all humanity. The global position of the United states is in all probability weakened because the administration has continued to resort to force, to conceal the truth and to mislead the American people about its policies and practices.
Undoubtedly, the American people are not satisfied with this behavior and they showed their discontent in the recent elections. I hope that in the wake of the midterm elections, the administration of President bush will have heard and will heed the message of the American people.
My questions are the following:
Is it not possible to put wealth and power in the service of peace, stability, prosperity and the happiness of all peoples through a commitment to justice and respect for the rights of all nations instead of aggression and war?
We all condemn terrorism, because its victims are the innocent.
But, can terrorism be contained and eradicated through war, destruction and the killing of hundreds of thousands of innocents?
If that were possible, then why has the problem not been resolved?
The sad experience of invading Iraq is before us all.
What has blind support for the Zionists by the U.S. administration brought for the American people? It is regrettable that for the U.S. administration, the interests of these occupiers supersedes the interests of the American people and of the other nations of the world.
What have the Zionist done for the American people that the U.S. administration considers itself obliged to blindly support these infamous aggressors? Is it not because they have imposed themselves on a substantial portion of the banking, financial, cultural and media sectors?
I recommend that in a demonstration of respect for the American people and for humanity, the right of Palestinians to live in their own homeland should be recognized so that millions of Palestinian refugees can return to their homes and the future of all of Palestine and its form of government can be determined in a referendum. This will benefit everyone.
Now that Iraq has a Constitution and an independent assembly and government, would it not be more beneficial to bring the U.S. military expenditures in Iraq for the welfare and prosperity of the American people? As you know very well, many victims of Katrina continue to suffer, and countless Americans continue to live in poverty and homelessness.
I'd also like to say a word to the winners of the recent elections in the United States.
The United States has had many administrations, some who have left a positive legacy and others that are remembered fondly neither by the American people nor by other nations.
Now that you control an important branch of the U.S. government, you will also be held to account by the people and by history.
If the U.S. government meets the current domestic and external challenges with an approach based on truth and justice, it can remedy some of the past afflictions and alleviate some of the global resentment and hatred of America. But if the approach remains the same, it would be expected that the American people would similarly reject the new electoral winners, although the recent elections, rather than reflecting a victory, in reality points to the failure of the current administration's policies. These issues had been extensively dealt within my letter to President Bush earlier this year.
To sum up:
It is possible to govern based on an approach that is distinctly different from one of coercion, force and injustice.
It is possible to sincerely serve and promote common human values, and honestly and compassion.
It is possible to provide welfare and prosperity without tension, threats, imposition or war.
It is possible to lead the world toward the aspired perfection by adhering to unity, monotheism, morality and spirituality and drawing upon the teachings of the Divine prophets.
Then, the American people, who are God-hearing and followers of Divine religions, will overcome every difficulty.
What I stated represents some of my anxieties and concerns.
I am confident that you, the American people, will play an instrumental role in the establishment of justice and spirituality throughout the world. The promises of the Almighty and His prophets will certainly be realized justice and truth will prevail and all nations will live a true life in a climate replete with love, compassion and fraternity.
The U.S. governing establishment, the authorities and the powerful should not choose irreversible paths. As all prophets have taught us, injustice and transgression will eventually bring about decline and demise. Today, the path of return to faith and spirituality is open and unimpeded.
We should all heed the Divine Word of the Holy Qur'an:
"But those who repent, have faith and do good may receive Salvation. Your Lord, alone, creates and chooses as He will, and others have no part in His choice; Glorified is God and Exalted above any partners they ascribe to Him." (28:67-68)
I pray to the Almighty to bless the Iranian and American nations and indeed all nations of the world with dignity and success.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
President of the Islamic Republic of Iran
29 November 2006
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Those who are attempting to eliminate effective competition to the medical establishment pursue this goal for beneath the level of perception of most Americans. They have two ongoing initiatives. One of them, functioning through the influence of the World Trade Organization, has as its objective limiting our access to dietary supplements. The other, functioning through state medical boards, has as its objective the inactivation of medical doctors and other medical practitioners who provide alternative therapies not coveted by the standards of care.
If these two initiatives are successful there will be little hope of stemming the continuing carnate which has made iatrogenic or medically caused, disease a leading cause of death - 100,000 deaths yearly from prescribed FDA-approved drugs alone according to the medical journals - or the continuing escalation of medical care expenditures which is adversely affecting families, businesses and government.
Rep. Ron Paul (R-Tex), himself an M.D., has been consistently in favor of freedom of choice in health care and has introduced bills to make this freedom part of the law of the land. But the majority of his colleagues haven't evinced much interest in this initiative. It could be that they are more interested in campaign contributions from the medical establishment than the welfare of the voters who put them in office.
Jonathon Wright, M.D. recently disclosed the plight of physicians offering alternative medical procedures in Washington. The Washington State Quality Assurance Commission (WSQAC) is spearheading an attack on approximately 33% of physicians practicing alternative medicine in that state. In one case a Dr. Geoff Ames was charged with moral turpitude because, according to the WSQAC, his offer of electro-acupuncture supplemented with dietary changes to correct a patient's food allergies, which the patient refused, was "ineffectual" and potentially harmful.
The charge of moral turpitude for suggesting a treatment with a high probability of providing the patient with a solution to his problem seems bizarre. The so-called "Nambudripad treatment" for food allergies, which is named after Dr. Devi S. Nambudripad and involves acupuncture, has been reported to eliminate food allergies and it is not far removed from electro-acupuncture in practice. I have experienced the Nambudripad technique. It quickly eliminated my allergic reaction to oak pollen.
Dr. Ames fought the charges and the 5 year suspension of license
unsuccessfully and had to mortgages his home in order to pay for
legal services - a tribute to the high costs of "justice."
The medical establishment is fond of bankrupting its adversaries.
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I remember vividly when they first started pushing the flu shot. It was originally marketed to the elderly and those with weakened immunity. Long gone are those days. There wasn't enough money to be made - or enough people to poison - by selling to this select market. Now the shot is being promoted to virtually everyone as some sort of flu panacea. North American parents are the target of most of the propaganda. For example, they are told that their children could die if they are not vaccinated. How so many can throw common sense out the window and buy into this scam is very disturbing.
Before you, your friends, or anyone in your family are conned into taking the flu shot, there are some of the risks you need to know about.
Like sheep being led to slaughter, people are following the advice of medical pundits as though they are gods with divine intellect. Why is it that so few dare even question what's in the flu shot, or all other vaccines for that matter, before allowing a doctor to jab you with a needle?
Did you know that the flu shot could contain anything from aluminum, formaldehyde, dangerous microorganisms, thimerosal (mercury), ethylene glycol and other toxic additives? In addition to these substances, the flu vaccine is prepared from the fluids of chicken embryos inoculated with the specific type or types of influenza virus that supposedly protect against the strains federal health officials believe are most likely to be prevalent during the flu season. The effectiveness in preventing influenza often ranges from 30% to 40%. Not very encouraging considering the potential health dangers you may be opening yourself up to down the road from the toxic agents in the vaccine.
How is the human body supposed to build immunity by being exposed to neuro-toxic poisons like mercury and formaldehyde?
Mercury is a highly toxic substance. To make thimerosal, scientists start with elemental mercury. Then, they hop it up 1,000 times by converting it to ethyl mercury. Then, they add aluminum to the vaccine that has a synergistic effect with the mercury, causing it to be 10,000 times more toxic than elemental mercury. Mercury is used to sterilize the flu vaccine. Consider this insanity: Researchers tell us that it's unsafe to touch or swallow the mercury from a broken thermometer yet it's perfectly acceptable to inject the same poison directly into your body through a vaccine. But don't worry. Your doctor knows what's best for you.
Now let's look at formaldehyde. Formaldehyde is classified as a toxic, colorless, water-soluble gas, which has a suffocating odor. It's used predominantly in embalming fluid and vaccines as a disinfectant and preservative.
If the public were fully informed of all the ingredients that go into flu shots, there would be a mass exodus away from them. Unfortunately, your doctor will not tell you anything about this. The news media will not report the truth about these contaminants. The Centers for Disease Control is concealing data. Pharmaceutical companies don't properly warn consumers. Mass retailers pushing the shots don't seem to care even after being warmed about the potential dangers of administering vaccines. Churches across America think they are doing a service for the Lord by telling their congregants to go out and get a shot and have their churches being used as distribution outlets.
It's ironic that what the flu shot is supposed to prevent actually seems to have an opposite effect on the population. In recent years, flu season seems to be programmed into society. When November rolls around, all of the sudden there's a massive outbreak of the cold and flu. Is it just coincidence that this happens to coincide with the exact time that millions of people receive the flu shot? Health officials would like us to believe that this is why we should all be vaccinated.
Another deception perpetuated by the vaccine cartel is that the flu shot contains inactive or dead viruses. If these viruses were completely inactive, then the shot would never stimulate an immune response. The flu shot contains "attenuated" virus. In the book, The Sanctity of Human Blood: Vaccination Is Not Immunization, Tim O'Shea, a highly recognized authority on the dangers of vaccines sums up what attenuated really means:
"Attenuated means half-killed. The infectious agent is weakened so that it is just below the threshold of being able to trigger an inflammatory response in 99% of people. By allowing the implantation of an attenuated virus or bacteria into the body, we have done something nature would never permit. We have violated the sanctity of the bloodstream. We have tricked the immune system into not mounting in an all-out response to a foreign agent. If the vaccine's microorganisms were not attenuated, the powers of the natural immune system would join together to repel and attack the invader."
Recent evidence suggests that those who receive the flu shot could be contagious for weeks and spread germs to the general public. For example, it's rather interesting to see how unvaccinated people exposed to those recently given the flu shot tend to be much more susceptible to getting the flue. Not only does the shot manipulate the immune system, it contains foreign microorganisms that have the potential to breed in the body. It is ridiculous for the CDC to say that none of these germs can be contagious. These are many well-respected health experts who believe that the number of people coming down with the flu would be drastically reduced if flu shots weren't administered. One of the best ways to avoid the flu is to stay away from people who have it. This includes staying away from those who have recently received a shot.
Doctors and pharmaceutical companies ignore the statistics of those who get the flu shot and still get the flu. Instead, we're bombarded with propaganda about how the shot helps prevent the flu. Numerous news reports during the summer of 2004 reported that the flu shots administered during 2003 were not even capable of protecting people against the influenza strains that we were around last year. In good faith, millions of people took the shot thinking that it would buy them immunity when in reality all it bought them was a vial of toxins to suppress their immune system.
Many of you may have heard stories similar to this one: In 2003, a Canadian nursing home sent out a memo that stated all employees had to take the flu shot. Those that refused would be put on a leave of absence and possibly face theloss of their job. Not believing the hype, one employee, a personal friend of this writer, stood on her princi;les and refused the shot while her entire staff went along with the order. Much to her amazement, everyone who took the shot came down with the flu except for her.
There are reports like this all over North America but there's a virtual media blackout on this truth because there's an agenda behind the promotion of the flu shot.
Trying to predict what influenza strains will be most prevalent during flu season is a craps shoot. The flu shot does not protect against all throat, respiratory, gastrointestinal and ear infections. It does not protect you against severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS. The flu vaccine only gives temporary immunity at best.
What we're not told, however, is that the flu shot actually weakens the immune system in the long run. Nobody knows for sure what negative effects the mercury, aluminum, formaldehyde, and other additives, also known as "adjuvants," will have on the immune system. Some of these agents are known to interfere with your DNA. How do we know that the DNA won't miscode genetic information to the cells?
And even if you don't come down with the flu after getting a shot, your body may be much more susceptible to getting sick from other viruses and bacteria that it would normally be able to fend off. Is it all worth the risk? That's the decision you have to make.
Author O'Shea made some very noteworthy statements in his book regarding the flu shot:
A vaccine supposedly contains come version of the causative agent, in a weakened form. With influenza, by the time the virus is isolated, cultured for manufacture and distributed to the population, the virus that is causing the current incidence of influenza has usually changed to a form completely unaffected by the vaccine. Michael Decker, MD of Aventis, the flu vaccine manufacturer admits: "By the time you know what's the right strain, you can't do anything about it."
This doesn't even take into account the unique form influenza virus takes within each person. Yet with flu shots, it's one size fits all - everyone gets the same vaccine. If it really worked, you wouldn't have to come back next year. Natural immunity is for life.
Ever notice that people who get flu shots all the time keep getting the flu? Think that could have anything to do with not giving the body a chance to put immunity together itself?
Greg Ciola is the driving force behind Health Crusador,
a grassroots organization that supports a coalition of activists
around the world who are deeply concerned about important health
issues. For mor information, write Greg at P.O. Box 618205, Orlando,
Fla. 32861, or call 1-800-593-6273. For more information, visit
the web site, healthliesexposed.com.
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There are many very effective, natural products available to help boost your immune system and keep you well during flu season without needing to inject neuro-toxic poisons and blood contaminants into your body. Your immune system is the only thing that prevents you from being riddled with opportunistic infections and a host of other chronic illnesses. You can't build immunity and shield the immune system with vaccines and poisonous pharmaceutical drugs. You can only modulate the immune system through natural methods.
Enhancing the immune system means you don't just boost one or two components. There are 22 different instruments or components to the immune system including T-cells, B-cells, Natural Killer cells (NK cells), macrophages, lymphocytes, leukocytes, monocytes, interferon, gamma globulin, interleukin 1,2,3,4, and other white blood cells. All 22 components must be orchestrated simultaneously like a symphony, in order to maintain optimum immunity.
While there are no extensive number of natural alternatives to help boost your immune system here is a list of some of the most powerful and effective immune enhancers being used in alternative medicine:
• Oregano oil: this natural wonder has been used for thousands
of years as an antibacterial, antiviral, antifungal and antiseptic
agent. Many people have regular use of this product during the
cold and flu season has prevented them from getting sick.
• Colostrum: This is the first fluid secreted by the mammary
glands of mammalian mother in the first days after giving birth.
Colostrum contains high levels of protein and growth factors,
as well as immune factors. It's used around the world as one of
the most powerful immune boosters known to man. The best colostrum
on the market comes from New Zealand cows. Outside of New Zealand
it's very hard to guarantee that the cows were grass fed and free
of antibiotics, growth hormones and steroids.
• Olive leaf extract: Fights all types of bacteria, viruses
fungi and parasites and is good for virtually any infectious disease.
Dome religious scholars, theorize that it is olive leaves that
are being referred to in Revelation 22:2 that are used for the
healing of the nations.
• Propolis: Resinous substance that bees derive from trees
and mix with beeswax. Used as a health shield for the beehive,
propolis has antibacterial, antiviral, antifungal and antiseptic
properties. Propolis has been used for thousands of years as an
immune system booster.
• Grapefruit seed extract: Contains citricidal, a natural
compound synthesized from the seed and pulp of grapefruit. The
manufacturing process converts grapefruit bioflavonoid (polyphenolics)
into an extremely potent compound that has been proven highly
effective in protecting the body during the cold and flu season.
• Colloidal Silver: This wonder product has been around for
centuries and is reported to be one of the few things that helped
protect people during the height of Bubonic plague.
• Royal jelly: Plant pollen that bees harvest and predigest.
Excellent for people with allergies and also strengthens the immune
system.
• Aloe vera: Contains high amounts of mucopolysaccharides
which kick in the immune modulators to fight off disease.
• Homeopathic remedies: there are some excellent homeopathic
remedies that help build immunity and ward off the cold and flu.
You can find many good homeopathic formulas at your local health
food store or you can seek out a homeopathic specialist in your
area who can custom blend formulas specifically targeted for your
immune system.
• Mushroom extracts (shatake, reishi, D-fraction maitake):
Have excellent immune-boosting properties. Shiitake increases
T-helper cells or CD4 cells.
• Echinacea: Excellent herb for the immune system and thelymphatic
system. Echinacea has been shown to be very effective when it
is cycled for one to two week periods throughout the cold and
flu season. Early use of echinacea at the onset of a cold or flu
could help drastically diminish the duration and severity of illness.
• Vitamin C: Helps prevent free radical damage and has antifungal
and astringent properties. High doses of vitam C throughout the
cold and flu season can help tremendously to ward off infection.
• garlic: Has antibacterial, antiviral, antifungal, and antiseptic
properties and has long been used to fight off and prevent colds
and infections. Use three to four cloves on salad or crushed onto
bread when your immune system is in a weakened state.
• Cayenne pepper: Is used for a litany of health problems.
Cayenne pepper heats the body up, improves circulation and helps
ward off colds, sinus infections, and sore throats. This magical
substance should be used on a daily basis during the cold and
flu season.
• Probiotics: Help to maintain and rebuild intestinal flora.
Flora plays a key role in keeping the immune system functioning
optimally.
• Essential fatty acids: Good fats like omega-3s and omega-6s
play a major role in cellular health. Good fats also help to bring
nutrients into the cell and discard waste. EFA's also contain
high amounts of antioxidants which help to protect your immune
system.
• Oxygen supplements: Virtually all microorganisms are anaerobic,
meaning they survive predominantly in the absence of oxygen. When
the body's oxygen is normal and the cells have adequate oxygen,
it's nearly impossible to get sick. There are many good products
to choose from that can be added as drops to your water.
• Essential oils: There are many essential oils like frankincense,
myrrh, spikenard, rose oil, Thieves™, and others that provide
tremendous immune system protection. Essential oils have been
used for thousands of years and have much Biblical support to
back up their use. They can be diffused through aromatherapy or
applied to your skin and feet.
• Zinc: An essential mineral that promotes a healthy immune
system and fights free radicals. Zinc lozenges have been reported
to be effective in relieving symptoms of the common cold and reducing
the duration of colds.
• Water: It's very important to keep our body properly hydrated.
Make sure you consume significant amounts of water to adequately
flush out toxins and hydrate your cells.
• Rest: It's especially important during the cold and flu
season to keep from getting rundown. Make sure you get at least
six to eight hours of quality sleep a night.
While all of these natural immune boosters can help you tremendously, nothing can replace what a good diet and exercise can do for you. You can't feed your body garbage and turn to these natural alternatives as a last resort. Keep in mind that it costs nothing to remove all processed food from the diet. Processed foods can diminish your immune system. The more man touches a food, the less you should consume it. Replacing processed foods with whole foods will also boost your immune system. Sugar and sweets should also be avoided at all costs, especially during the cold and flu season. Sugar severely weakens the immune system and is the fuel that foreign invaders feed on.
Greg Ciola is the driving force behind Health Crusador,
a grassroots organization that supports a coalition of activists
around the world who are deeply concerned about important health
issues. For mor information, write Greg at P.O. Box 618205, Orlando,
Fla. 32861, or call 1-800-593-6273. For more information, visit
the web site, healthliesexposed.com.
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A new Tufts University study published in the November issue of the journal Archives of Neurology has found that people with diets high in fatty fish run a significantly lower risk of developing dementia and Alzheimer's disease.
The study examined the diets and dementia levels of nearly 900 men and women who participated in the Framingham Heart Study Researchers followed the participants in the Framingham Hear Study. Researchers, followed the participants for none years, and found that 99 people developed dementia, including 71 who developed Alzheimer's disease.
The researchers examined the participants' blood levels of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) - a polyunsaturated omega-3 fatty acid - and found that those with the highest DHA levels had a 47% lower risk of developing dementia and a 39% lower risk of developing Alzheimer's compared to participants with lower blood DHA levels.
"If you have a high level of DHA, a fatty acid found in fish, it reduced your risk of dementia by about half," said the study's lead researchers, Dr. Ernst J. Schaefer, a senior scientist and director of the Lipid Metabolism Laboratory at the Jean Mayer U.S. Department of Agriculture Human Nutrition Research center on Aging at Tufts University.
Omega-03s have long been lauded as beneficial to cardiovascular and circulatory system health.
"Just as fish is good for your heart, it's probably food for your brain as well," Schaefer said.
Schaefer's study found that blood levels of DHA can differ depending on the liver's ability to convert ALA (alpha-linolenic acid, another fatty acid) into DHA. However, the greatest influence on blood DHA levels was the amount of fish consumed. The Framingham participants who ate the most fish per week had the highest blood levels of DHA, while those who ate the least fish had much lower levels.
Though Schaefer believes supplementing the diet with fish oil capsules would be as effective as eating faty fish - such as mackerel, herring, lake trout, sardines, salmon and albacore tuna - some experts believe more study is needed to determine the link between fish oil supplements and prevention of dementia.
According to consumer health advocate Mike Adams, author of The Seven Laws of Nutrition, Schaefer's study shows that the oils found in fatty fish can protect the nervous system from degenerative damage.
"But what most people don't know is that those same healthy oils can also be found in many plants, including chia seeds, flaxseed, avocados and macadamia nuts," Adams said.
Jessica Fraser writes for New Target, an alternative news and
health web site. For more information, visit the web site newstarget.com.
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On Nov. 9, the American Dental association released an alert to its members warning that Fluoridated water should not be mixed into formula or foods in tended for babies younger than one year old.
Currently two-thirds of the U.S. public water supply has fluoride chemicals added, a move centered on a now-disproved theory that fluoride ingestion prevents cavities. Research by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has shown that fluoride absorbs into tooth enamel topically, but ingestion of chemical causes adverse reactions. Also, the CDC admitted that enamel fluoride concentration was not inversely related to cavities.
Fluoridated bottled water is available in stores across the U.S. along with instructions to mix into formula, which is what prompted the ADA to warn its members.
"Infants could receive a greater than optimal amount of fluoride through liquid concentrate or powdered baby formula that has been mixed with water containing fluoride during a time that their developing teeth may be susceptible to enamel fluorosis," stated the ADA report describing the condition marked by pitting and white spotting as well as yellow and or brown teeth.
Paul Beeber, lawyer and president of New York State Coalition Opposed to Fluoridation (NYSCOF), noted that news releases from the NYSCOF in 2000 and 2004 cited studies that linked fluorosis to infant foods mixed with fluoridated water. However, Beeber remarked, it took the ADA until 2006 to release its alert, right after the FDA disapproved of marketing fluoridated water to babies in October and the National /Research Council (NRC) reported that babies are fluoride overdosed from "optimally" fluoridated water supplies
"The ADA claims the NRC report didn't question the safety of fluoridation but it did, as the ADA now admits," Beeber said. "The NRC also revealed fluoridation's adverse effects to the thyroid gland, diabetics, kidney patients, high water drinkers and others.
He added that the ADA warning had only gone out to its members, and asked, "Who will alert parents?"
The Environmental Protection Agency, which sets fluoride levels in water, is required to consider the most vulnerable members of a population, so allowable fluoride levels should be near zero to protect infants.
"This should end water fluoridation." Beeber said,
"Fluoridation is a failed concept that must be abandoned
before more Americans are harmed."
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An investigation by a government oversight agency recently revealed that in 2005 U.S. immigration authorities either "lost" or could not account for an estimated 111,000 files on immigrants to the United States, resulting in tens of thousands gaining citizenship without any indication as to whether authorities had checked to see if any of them had a criminal history.
The shocking loss was discovered in a study by the Government Accounting Office (GAO) sought by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa). As many as 30,000 immigrants obtained citizenship with limited scrutiny as a result.
"In 2002, we had a person who was a threat to the United States that got citizenship and the file wasn't even reviewed," Grassley said on the Lou Dobbs TV show Dec. 4.
"How can this happen? Basic incompetence of paperwork or the fact that even paperwork exists as opposed to having this stuff on computer where it can be saved."
There only has to be "one mistake" and the United States could again become a victim of terrorism, Grassley said, "A terrorist has to be right once," he said. "We have to be right every time."
Grassley was referring to an individual who received his U.S. citizenship and was a known supporter of the Lebanese militia group, Hezbollah, which the United States considers a terrorist organization. Australia, the United Kingdom, Canada, the Netherlands and Israel also consider Hezbollah a terrorist organization. The rest of the world considers it a legitimate resistance organization that defends southern Lebanon from Israeli incursions.
"If they can't handle legal immigration, how are they going to give amnesty to 12 million people that are here illegally?" Dobbs asked.
"A test on that will come next year when we have a debate on an amendment that there can't be any guest worker programs or even any consideration of legalizing illegality if we don't control the borders in the first place," Grassley responded. "In other words, control the borders in the first place and then look at all these other issues as a next step."
In a prepared statement issued earlier, Grassley said "It takes one missing file of somebody with links to a terrorist organization to become an American citizen. A terrorist can be unsuccessful thousands of times, but we have to be perfect all the time. We can't afford to be handing out citizenship with blinders on."
The 30,000 missing files represent about 4% of the 715,000 total applications handled by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in 2005. The CIS is an agency within the Department of Homeland Security. The files, known as "A files," contain information such as arrest warrants and the results of immigration proceedings. The losses can be attributed to "poor training" and "a lack of emphasis by managers," the report said.
Sen. Susan Collins (R-Me.), who also called for the investigation, observed that some of the 9-11 hijackers entered the country legally, disappearing until the terrorist attacks.
She called it "unthinkable" that the U.S. immigration system could still grant citizenship to a potential terrorist "simply because they can't find a person's file."
CIS officials told auditors that case adjudicators are not required to document whether they use A files. This means some of the 30,000 could have been reviewed but they don't know. Auditors recommended CIS tell employees to note whether an A file was used to adjudicate an application—something any clerk-typist would recommend.
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Kansas City, Missouri - On March 15, 2006, officials from Kansas City and Lázaro Cárdenas, Mexico, signed what they called an "historic cooperative agreement to establish a new trans-Pacific trade corridor that will alleviate delays and congestion at west Coast ports," as noted in a press release from Kansas City SmartPort Inc., an economic development entity in Kansas City that is promoting the city as a major hub for trade due to tis unique location, its extensive infrastructure and other assets.
That month, a delegation comprised of seven Mexican officials, including Eloy Vargas Arreola, the secretary of economic development for the state of Michoacan, spent three days in Kansas city finalizing and signing the agreement. Organizers of the trade agreement include the private company KC SmartPort, in cooperation with its partners the Greater Kansas City Foreign Trade Zone, Inc.; the State of Missouri-Mexico Trade and Agricultural Office; The Kansas City, Missouri-Mexico Trade and Business Initiatives Corporation and the international Office of Trade and Affairs of Kansas City, Mo.
"This signing is an exciting and historic moment for the international trade in the Kansas City region," Chris Gutierrez, president of Kansas City SmartPort, told AFP on Dec. 6 in an exclusive interview.
Gutierrez told AFP that a major thrust for the SmartPort organization is to register American exports with the Mexican government so U.S. goods flow to Mexico, the other way around.
This will be done by utilizing a proposed KC Customs Port - a customs clearance facility - on five acres of land owned by Kansas City, adjacent to the Kemper Arena.
Kansas city tax dollars to the tune of $2.5 million would help build the 20,000 square foot facility, in the form of a loan to the KC SmartPort organization. SmartPort would then lease it to the Mexican government or enter into a use agreement with that government, Gutierrez told AFP.
Gutierrez added that Kansas City is an ideal NAFTA trade hub due to its central location in the nation. Interstate 35 goes from the Canadian border through Kansas City to Lorado, Tex., by the Mexican border, he said. The KC southern Railway also extends south, via various links, deep into Mexico to the growing Pacific seaport of Lazaro Gardenas and Gulf Coast seaport Vera Cruz.
This proposed customs facility on city land hinges on negotiations between U.S. and Mexican officials, who are now discussing whether it should be built, and, if so, how, and what the regulations might be, according to Gutierrez. He said he does not know how long the negotiations will take, given the change in leadership since Mexico's recent elections and the change in the congressional make-up since America's November elections.
He said Kc SmartPort is "aggressively" pursuing a $1.5 million grant from the taxpayer-funded U.S. Economic development Administration for high-tech gamma ray screening machines for the above-noted KC Customs Port which are similar to screening devices used for checking carry-on bags at airports, he said.
As trade flows among the three NAFTA nations - Canada, the United States and Mexico - "we're right in the middle," Gutierrez told AFP.
He claimed that KC SmartPort's central task is to boost the manufacturing and distribution sectors of the greater Kansas City economy. He said two area automotive plants are receiving substantial investments by Ford and General Motors without job cuts. And Harley Davidson is doing well, he added claiming that Kansas City is not seeing the job losses that have hit other parts of the country.
Area citizens who look at the big picture with skepticism, however, wonder what the overall operation will involve given their concerns that imported merchandise will still outpace exports and increase the already high U.S. trade deficit.
Skeptics point to the following from SmartPort's news release:
"In terms of opening the Midwest to Asian trade through Mexican ports [the March meeting and agreement] signifies substantial completion of the extensive efforts over the past sever years devoted to establishing the political, economic and cultural foundation enabling this trade rout to work.
...It also marks the beginning of the implementation phase
that involves the perfection of trade protocols and logistics,
which will result in the movement of goods between the port of
Kansas City and Lázaro Cardinas."
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The financial press reported last week that the value of the U.S. dollar plummeted to a 14-year low against the British pound, and weakened against the euro and yen. Many financial analysts predict continued rough times for the dollar in 2007, given reduced expectations for economic growth at home and less enthusiasm among foreign central banks for holding U.S. debt.
This decline in the value of the dollar is simple to explain. The dollar loses value as the direct result of the Federal Reserve and U.S. Treasury increasing the money supply. Inflation, as the late Milton Friedman explained, is always a monetary phenomenon. The federal government consistently wants to spend more than it can tax and borrow, so Congress turns to the Fed for help in covering the difference. The result is more dollars, both real and electronic - which means the value of every existing dollar goes down.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke faces two basic ongoing choices: raise interest rates to prop up the dollar, but risk pushing the economy into a recession; or lower interest rates to stimulate the economy, but risk further declines in the dollar. This unfortunate dilemma is inherent with a fiat currency, however.
Of course Mr. Bernanke inherited this tightrope act from his predecessor Alan Greenspan. The Federal Reserve did two things to artificially expand the economy during the Greenspan era. First, it relentlessly lowered interest rates whenever growth slowed. Interest rates should be set by the free market, with the availability of savings determining the cost of borrowing money. In a healthy market economy, more savings equals lower interest rates. When saving rates are low, capital dries up and the cost of borrowing increases.
However, when the Fed sets interest rates artificially low, the cost of borrowing becomes cheap. Individuals incur greater amounts of debt, while businesses overextend themselves and grow without real gains in productivity. The bubble bursts quickly once the credit dries up, and the bills cannot be paid.
Second, the Fed steadily increased the monetary supply throughout the 1990s by printing money. Recent Fed numbers show double-digit annual increases in the M2 money supply. These new dollars may make Americans feel richer, but the net result of monetary inflation has to be the devaluation of savings and purchasing power.
The precipitous drop in the dollar shows how investors around the globe are very concerned about American deficits and debt. When government policies in a fiat system are the sole measure of a currency's worth, the currency markets act as a reliable barometer of how those policies are viewed around the world.
Politicians often manage to fool voters and the media, but
they rarely fool the financial markets over time. When investors
lack faith in the U.S. dollar, they really lack faith in the economic
policies of the U.S. government.
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Fifty-one members of Congress on Dec. 11 sent a letter to President Bush asking that he commute the sentences of or pardon two U.S. Border Patrol officers sentenced to a combined 20 years for shooting a fleeing illegal alien drug trafficker they had caught smuggling 80 pounds of marijuana and 20 pounds of cocaine across the border from Mexico.
Presidential press secretary Tony Snow has called the pardon issue "nonsensical." But the appeal to the president, headed by Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.), urges Bush to issue "Christmas pardons."
Agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean encountered Osbaldo Aldrete-Davilla on Feb. 17, 2005, in a van containing drugs near a levee road along the Rio Grande River, near the Texas town of Febens.
Compean scuffled briefly with the drug trafficker and some shots were fired as the illegal alien headed back across the border. Ramos gave chase and when he saw Aldrete-Davilla brandishing an object the border patrolman believed to be a gun, he fired his handgun and struck the drug smuggler in a buttock. The man continued his flight and was picked up by another vehicle on the other side of the river.
An agent of the Office of Homeland Security was told by a Border Patrol agent in Arizona that Aldrete-Davila "had told (Border Patrol agent) Rene Sanchez that his friends had told him they should put together a hunting party and go shoot some BP agents in revenge for them shooting Osbaldo."
This is according to a memo written by Christopher Sanchez, an investigator with Homeland Security's Office of Inspector General.
Sanchez's memo indicated further that Aldrete-Davila told him, "he had told his friends he was not interested in going after the BP agents and getting in more trouble."
Nevertheless, Aldrete-Davila in December 2005 was caught trying to smuggle a half-ton of marijuana into the United States, at the border 40 miles from El Paso. In spite of this, the illegal alien drug trafficker was given immunity from prosecution for his drug smuggling in exchange for agreeing to appear in district court in El Paso to give testimony about his wounding. However, he did not appear to give his testimony, and his whereabouts are unknown.
The two agents were found guilty of shooting the man and other associated crimes. Ramos and Compean were then sentenced to 11 and 12 years in prison, respectively. Unless President Bush commutes their sentences or pardons them, they will have to begin serving their sentences on Jan. 17.
Incredibly, the government bases a major part of its case on the regulation that Border Patrol officers are not supposed to pursue fleeing suspects.
"How are we supposed to follow the Border Patrol strategy of apprehending terrorists or drug smugglers if we are not supposed to pursue fleeing people?" Ramos asked. He said he only did what he has done for the previous 10 years as a Border Patrolman. "Everybody who's breaking the law flees from us. What are we supposed to do? Do they want us to catch them or not?"
"This sentence is a travesty of justice," the congressmen have written in their letter to the president. "We can think of nothing more immoral than to allow the lives and families of those who protect us to be destroyed by an overly aggressive and questionable prosecution by the U.S. attorney's office. The severity of the charges brought against these men, and the harshness of the punishment is totally disproportionate to the violation in question.
"This episode sends the wrong message to those who defend America at our border, to the American people, and especially to the criminals who operate at our southern border. How can anyone believe we are serious about border security when the lives of two agents sworn to protect those very borders are torn apart, but a vicious drug smuggler is given medical care [at a U.S. military hospital in Texas] and allowed to walk free? It is inhumane and a betrayal of the American people's trust to allow the sentences of Agents Ramos and Compean to be carried out.
"At this time, the only just course of action is to commute the sentences of Agents Ramos and Compean. We implore you to become personally involved in this case, and bring a holiday miracle to these agents and their families."
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After French troops in southern Lebanon almost shot down an Israeli fighter jet that was diving toward them on Nov. 17, France warned the Israeli ambassador that Israel was constantly breaking the UN-brokered cease-fire by operating over-flights in the south and in other regions.
The Israelis at first claimed the incident had not happened and pointed out they did not have a policy of authorizing flyovers. Later, under pressure from the French, who are leading the UN mission (UNIFIL) in Lebanon, an Israeli government spokesman admitted there had been an incident but downplayed it, saying it was misunderstood.
The French government was unhappy with the way Israel dismissed the episode and summoned the Israeli ambassador in France, Daniel Shek, to a meeting at the French Foreign Ministry in Paris. Once there, he was told by the French foreign minister, Michele Aliot-Marie, that French troops in Lebanon were within seconds of firing an anti-aircraft missile at an Israeli jet that dived at them in a simulated attack.
French troops held their fire, said Aliot-Marie, but it could occur again if Israel did not stop breaking Security Council Resolution 1701, which not only led to the cease-fire in Lebanon but also gave UN troops the authority to deal with any aggressor, whether it was Hezbollah, or the Israeli military.
In effect, French troops have the right to defend themselves and to use whatever force necessary to ensure the integrity of the cease-fire agreement.
Officially, the Israeli ambassador responded that the over-flight in question was non-aggressive and misunderstood. However, the French were so dismayed with that response they deployed UAVs, or unmanned aerial vehicles, similar to the CIA's Predator drones. They will be used to gather intelligence and to keep watch on southern Lebanon, in particular the Syrian-Lebanese border.
Israel has frequently argued that Hezbollah has been moving arms across the border to restock weapons dumps lost during the war. Those were some of the claims the Israeli military made to publicly defend its air and ground incursions when it launched its brutal offensive against the Lebanese.
While the French command in the UN peacekeeping force intends to use the UAVs to watch Hezbollah, it has pointed out to Tel Aviv that they will also register any Israeli incursions, which will be reported to the UN Security Council. From the perspective of the UN peacekeeping force, Israel has no grounds for justifying surveillance flights or for sending covert units into parts of Lebanon, which it is reportedly doing in violation of the cease-fire.
The Israeli military, which believes French UAVs are no match for its aerial surveillance capability, has complained about the UN surveillance plan. Senior Israeli military figures were recently dispatched to Paris to make that point but their arguments fell on deaf ears.
Since their return to Israel, they leaked to journalists that the French deployment of drones has nothing to do with the UN mandate and more to do with business. A number of militant newspapers, like The Jerusalem Post, immediately parroted this claim.
According to the Israelis, the French defense industry, with a keen eye on the global security market, intends to use the situation in Lebanon to show that its UAVs are as good, if not better, than the high-tech surveillance equipment Israel makes itself, or gets from the United States.
Unfortunately, many observers predict that the monitoring effort by the UN will have little impact on Israel's incursions into Lebanon, and things are not expected to change much when Italians take command of UN peacekeeping in February.
Israel has made it clear that the UN mandate is not binding on it because Hezbollah still holds two captured Israeli soldiers and continues to bring weapons and supplies into the country from Syria.
On the other hand, Hezbollah believes Israel suffered such a crushing defeat during the recent conflict that is will have to invade again in order to save face.
Most military experts agree that Israel arrogantly believed the destruction of Hezbollah could be achieved within days rather than weeks. When it was clear the enemy was no pushover, the United States and Britain encouraged Israel to launch a major ground assault and a "shock and awe" air campaign.
But far from crushing Hezbollah, the Israeli infantry became bogged down by dug-in Hezbollah units. Likewise, the Israeli air force, with its high-tech U.S. planes, bombs and missiles, proved no match for Hezbollah's guerrilla forces and could not locate or decapitate the organization's command and control structure.
The only thing crushed by Israel was Lebanon's infrastructure, which was subjected to a massive bombing campaign that angered the international community. Even the puppet political leadership in Iraq condemned U.S. support for the bombing. In the end, it was international pressure that forced Israel to agree to a ceasefire.
The Israeli public regards the failure to defeat Hezbollah as the worst humiliation suffered in decades. For that reason, some analysts believe Israel sees Lebanon and Hezbollah as unfinished business and is even now planning for the next war in Lebanon.
In the meantime, Israel's image globally has suffered because of the actions of its military at the end of the war. In the final days leading to the cease-fire, artillery shells loaded with cluster bombs were fired into large areas of Lebanon, including towns and villages. As a result, at least one million cluster bomb droplets were scattered across large swathes of the countryside. While UN teams have been attempting to find and neutralize them, many innocent people, especially women and children, have been killed or injured.
Since the cluster weapons had no obvious military objective it was alleged the Israeli high command fired them as an act of revenge, knowing they would make parts of the landscape uninhabitable and prevent refugees from returning to their homes, especially in the Hezbollah dominated south of the country.
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Kansas City, Missouri - The death toll is still mounting from the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, due to the toxic substances that many ground zero workers were exposed to in the aftermath of an attack that killed some 3,000 people on that day alone. The finely pulverized material that rained down when the twin towers of the World Trade Center collapsed top-down in a bizarre "pancake" pattern contained toxins that are wreaking havoc on the health of these former workers, several of whom have died of, or are suffering from, rare cancers and other serious maladies.
And, so far, those in various levels of government have not provided these brave men and women with disability assistance or any other meaningful redress of grievances. Due to this apparent foot-dragging, a national support group, 911 CARE, is now being formed.
This message was brought to Kansas City Dec. 7 at the historic Uptown Theater where a former New York National Guardsman, a former New York police officer and a film-maker/activist laid bare the painful reality being faced by former workers at "the pile," the name given to the smoldering heap of human and structural remains formed from the towers' collapse. And lest anyone think that the environmental and physical effects of the attack have largely faded, thing again. There are grim realities that still haunt former pile workers, and Manhattan itself, to this day.
Former New York National guardsman David Miller, 39, who's suffering from respiratory cancer and other health problems, joined film-maker Rebecca Cerese and the former New York police officer, who prefers to remain anonymous, at the program, symbolically presented on Pearl Harbor Day.
Cerese noted that the fallen towers' powdered cement, lead, PCBs, asbestos, dacmium, mercury, along with tiny glass shards and various fibers, were "aerosolized," meaning that "it was like breathing liquid Drano" for the pile workers, many of whom - in the highly emotional moments just after 9-11 - did not have, much less think about, special suits to guard against exposure to hazardous materials. Except for the esteemed Environmental Protection Agency workers who showed up in fully protective hazardous material suits to work on what really was a environmentally dangerous site, few of the 47,000 rescue personnel, Red Cross representatives and others from all over the nation who worked the pile were so well protected.
A little more than five years later, there are lingering health effects, legal ramifications and other outcomes as a result of the abrupt collapse of the massive skyscrapers.
Here are the highlights,according to those at the Kansas City program:
* The Mount Sinai Hospital's 2002-2004 study, The World trade Center Disaster and the Health of Workers: Five Year Assessment of a Unique Medical Screening Program, examined some 16,000 former pile workers. Cerese said 70% of these workers have ill health effects from the WTC cleanup, which took a considerable period of time to complete. But Cerese noted that, oddly, the dated hospital study does no mention the rare cancers affecting former pile workers.
* Many of the former pile workers, some of whom are gravely ill, are compelled to keep their jobs. Many are not trying to get disability because they feel they will be rejected if they apply. A number of workers too sick to work steadily, if at all, are losing their homes. The New York Police Department is said to be spending $43 million fighting disability claims from sickened officers, according to speakers.
* In light of these developments, a New York attorney, David Worby, has filed a class action lawsuit against New York city on behalf of 8,550 former pile workers including first responders, who are sick. About 400 developed cancer: 80 have died.
* The 911 CARE group was formed by Cerese and other concerned citizens to provide moral, financial and emotional support to former ground zero workers need.
* the individual costs associated with treating the myriad illnesses that have killed or sickened former rescue and cleanup workers are very high. Miller, as he noted at the KC program, lost considerable lung capacity and has to tote around a rather cumbersome "Inogen I" breathing apparatus from which tubes are run to his nose. The machine costs $5,600, plus a sizable fee for the service plan.
From the perspective of these KC speakers, one of the most maddening aspects of the whole 9-11 event was a statement by Christine Todd Whitman, who, as head of the EPA at the time, announced around Sept. 18-19 2001 that it was safe to breathe the air and drink the water in New York and in Washington around the Pentagon. Cerese, flabbergasted while recalling Whitman's announcement, begged to differ.
"The horrors of 9-11 are not over. More people are being forgotten. More people are being murdered," Cerese said.
She added that Whitman somehow missed the fact that the fine dust from the collapsed towers that got into the lings of so many workers was everywhere on 9-11 and is still wafting around New York to this day - on rooftops, in subways, etc. One rough estimate is that 400,000 tons of concrete was pulverized in the attack.
"Call your congressman. Why hasn't Whitman been indicted?" Miller remarked.
The former NYPD officer at the Kansas city presentation recalled that right after the towers collapsed, the resulting powder was all over - in the air and even in pile workers' food and drink. This officer did not even work the pile. His police work was often a considerable distance away. Nevertheless, he said he is suffering from pulmonary fibrosis, with a "micro-collapsed lung."
And a macabre finding pops up now and then - femurs and other human body parts believed to be 9-11 remains are found in sewers, on building tops and elsewhere. Recently, more human remains were found near ground zero. Cerese said that, as she understands it, airborne traces of human remains were even found in the vomit of a sickened man working the file right after the attack. Amazingly, through CNA analysis of the vomit, "They were able to find out who it was," she said.
Miller recalled the grueling, hazardous rescue and cleanup operation. "Many of the guys from my unit stayed on the pile for weeks," he said. "On the pile, I started having nose bleeds that would not stop." He recalled that many first responders initially had incessant coughs, and skin and eye irritations. Laying it on the line, Miller reflected on the plight of former ground zero workers: "We're desperate and dying and have very little hope and very little to lose." He urged those in the Kansas City audience to call their representatives in Congress, irrespective of location, since sickened rescue workers came from countless small towns and cities across the nation to selflessly lend a hand on the pile.
Mk..df remarked that while residue from the towers' collapse still taints parts of the city - including tons of asbestos on rooftops in Chinatown and Little Italy - City Hall received a prompt, expensive cleanup. A full-fledged cleanup of New York City has yet to take place.
The former NYPD officer said to the KC audience. "We want your anger, not your prayers or your sympathy," with that anger channeled into constructive political action.
Cerese told AFP that working with the new Democratic Congress is important. Sen Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.), with likely support from Sen. Barbara boxer (D-Calif.), may reintroduce the Remember 9-11 Health Act when the next Congress convenes. That act called for $2 billion for medical treatment and financial help for ill workers, Cerese said.
Miller and the others, who have visited Washington several times at their own expense, believe this issue cries out for broader recognition and justice. He said he has two poiunds of "micronized concrete" in his lungs, which hardens into "gum" and stretches his lungs.
"Yeah, avenge us," said Miller. "We went into those buildings. Now those building are in us."
For more information, visit the 911 CARE web site at myspace.come/911care or write the group in care of American Free Press in Washington, D.C.
American Free Press reporter Mark Anderson can be reached at
thruthhound2@yahoo.com.
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the Iraq Study group released its report Dec. 6, giving the president several recommendations to consider in prosecuting the war. Similarly, the incoming democratic leaders in congress promise to urge the president to take a new course in Iraq. Meanwhile, one newly elected member of Congress was asked on national television about the Iraq war. She responded by saying she had no real opinion, and that foreign policy was "up to the president."
In each instance it is assumed that the president will make Iraq policy. I'm not talking about the details of actual military operations in Iraq; I'm talking about the broader policy questions of how long our troops will stay, how many will stay and how victory will be defined.
The media, Congress and the American public all seem to have accepted something that is patently untrue: namely, that foreign policy is the domain of the president and not Congress. This is absolutely not the case and directly contrary to what our Founding fathers wanted.
The role of the resident as commander in chief is to direct our armed forces in carrying out policies established by the American people through their representatives in Congress. He is not authorized to make those policies. He is an administrator, not a policy maker. Foreign policy, like all federal policy, must be made by Congress. To allow otherwise is to act in contravention of the Constitution.
PRESIDENTIAL WAR POWER
Library of congress scholar Louis fisher, writing in The Oxford Companion to American Military History, summarizes presidential war power:
The president's authority was carefully constrained. The power to repel sudden attacks represented an emergency measure that allowed the president, when Congress was not in session, to take actions necessary to repel sudden attacks either against the mainland of the United states or against American troops abroad. It did not authorize the resident to take the country into full-scale war or mount an offensive attack against another nation.
But it's not simply the decision to wage war that is left to Congress. Consider also the words of James Madison:
Those who are to conduct a war cannot in the nature of things, be proper or safe judges, whether a war ought to be commenced, continued or concluded. They are barred from the latter functions by a great principle in free government, analogous to that which separates the sword from the purse, or the power of executing from the power of enacting laws.
PROPERLY DECLARED WARS
So Congress is charged not only with deciding when to go to war, but also how to conduct - and bring to a conclusion - properly declared wars. Of course the administration has some role to play in making treaties, and the State Department should pursue beneficial diplomacy. But the notion that presidents should establish our broader foreign policy is dangerous and wrong. No Single individual should be entrusted with the awesome responsibility of deciding when to sen our troops abroad, how to employ them once abroad and when to bring them home. This is why the founders wanted congress, the body mot directly accountable to the public, to make critical decisions about war and peace.
It is shameful that Congress ceded so much of its proper authority over foreign policy to successive presidents during the 20th century, especially when it failed to declare war in Korea, Vietnam, Kosovo and Iraq.
It's puzzling that Congress is so willing to give away one
of its most important powers, when most members from both parties
work incessantly to expand the role of Congress in domestic matters.
By transferring its role in foreign policy to the president, congress
not only violates the Constitution, but also disenfranchises the
American electorate.
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After French troops in souther Lebanon almost shot down an Israeli fighter jet that was diving toward them on Nov. 17, France warned the Israeli ambassador that Israel was constantly breaking the UN-brokered cease-fire by operating over-flights in the south and in other regions.
The Israelis at first claimed the incident had not happened and pointed out they did not have a policy of authorizing flyovers. Later under pressure from the French, who are leading the UN mission (UNFIL) in Lebanon, an Israeli government spokesman admitted there had been an incident but downplayed it, saying it was misunderstood.
The french government was unhappy with the way Israel dismissed the episode and summoned the Israeli ambassador in France, Daniel Shek, to a meeting at the French Foreign Ministry, Michele Aliot-Marie, that French troops in Lebanon were within seconds of firing an anti-aircraft missile at an Israeli jet that dived at them in a simulated attack French troops held their fire, said Aliot-Marie, but it could occur again if Israel did not stop breaking Security Council Resolution 1701, which not only led to the cease-fire in Lebanon but also gave UN troops the authority to deal with any aggressor, whether it was Hezbollah, or the Israeli military.
In effect, French troops have the right to defend themselves and to use whatever force necessary to ensure the integrity of the ceasefire agreement.
Officially, the Israeli ambassador responded that the over-flight in question was non-aggressive and misunderstood.
However, the French were so dismayed with that response they deployed UAVs, or unmanned aerial vehicles, similar to the CIA's Predator drones. They will be used to gather intelligence and to keep watch on southern Lebanon, in particular the Syrian-Lebanese border.
Israel has frequently argued that Hezbollah has been moving arms across the border to restock weapons dumps lost during the war. Those were some of the claims the Israeli military made to publicly defend its air and ground incursions when it launched its brutal offensive against the Lebanese.
While the French command in the UN peace keeping force intends to use the UAVs to watch Hezbollah, it has pointed out to Tel Aviv that they will also register any Israeli incursions, which will be reported to the UN Security council. From the perspective of the UN peace keeping force, Israel has no grounds for justifying surveillance flights or for sending covert units into parts of Lebanon, which it is reportedly doing in violation of the ceasefire.
The Israeli military, which believes French UAVs are no match for its aerial surveillance capability, has complained about the UN surveillance plan. Senior Israeli military figures were recently dispatched to Paris to make that point but their arguments fell on deaf ears.
Since their return to Israel, they leaked to journalists that the French deployment of drones has nothing to do with the UN mandate and more to do with business. A number of militant newspapers, like The Jerusalem Post, immediately parroted this claim.
According to the Israelis, the French defense industry, with a keen eye on the global security market, intends to use the situation in Lebanon to show that its UAVs are as good, if not better, than the high-tech surveillance equipment Israel makes itself, or gets from the United States.
Unfortunately, many observers predict that the monitoring effort by the UN will have little impact on Israel's incursions into Lebanon, and things are not expected to change mush when Italians take command of UN peacekeeping in February.
Israel has made it clear that the UN mandate is not binding on it because Hezbollah still holds two captured Israeli soldiers and continues to bring weapons and supplies into the country from Syria.
On the other hand, Hezbollah believes Israel suffered such a crushing defeat during the recent conflict that it will have to invade again in order to save face.
Most military experts agree that Israel arrogantly believed the destruction of Hezbollah could be achieved within days rather than weeks. When it was clear the enemy was no pushover, the United States and britain encouraged Israel to launch a major ground assault and a "shock and awe" air compaign. But far from crushing Hezbollah, the Israeli infantry became bogged down by dug-in Hezbollah units. Likewise, the Israeli air force, with in high-tech U.S. planes, bombs and missiles proved no match for Hezbollah's guerrilla forces and could not locate or decapitate the organization's command and control structure.
The only thing crushed by Israel was Lebanon's infrastructure, which was subjected to a massive bombing campaign that angered the international community. Even the puppet political leadership in Iraq condemned U.S. support for the bombing. In the end, it was international pressure that forced Israel to agree to a ceasefire.
The Israeli public regards the failure to defeat Hezbollah as the worst humiliation suffered in decades. For that reason, some analysts believe Israel sees Lebanon and Hezbollah as unfinished business and is even now planning for the next war in Lebanon.
In the meantime, Israel's image globally has suffered because
of the actions of its military at the end of the war. In the final
days leading to the ceasefire, artillery shells loaded with cluster
bombs were fired into large areas of Lebanon, including towns
and villages. As a result, at least one million cluster bomb droplets
were scattered across large swathes of the countryside. While
UN teams have been attempting to find and neutralize them, many
innocent people, especially women and children, have been killed
or injured. Since the cluster weapons had no obvious military
objective it was alleged the Israeli high command fired them as
an act of revenge, knowing they would make parts of the landscape
uninhabitable and prevent refugees from returning to their homes,
especially in the Hezbollah dominated south of the country.
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