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Thursday, August 25, 2011

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"There's Justice In The Universe"


Whistle-blowing Site Ordered Offline In USA By Court:  Whistle-blowers in the U.S. will no longer be able to post corporate and government documents online anonymously at Wikileaks.org because a California district court has shut down a controversial Web site.  The order came after a Swiss bank filed a complaint against the site for posting several hundred of the bank's documents.  Some of those documents reveal that Julius Baer was involved in offshore money laundering and tax evasion in the Cayman Islands for customers in several countries.
Note: The purpose of Wikileaks, founded in 2006, is to develop an uncensorable system for untraceable mass document leaking and public analysis.  Wikileaks has been plagued by controversy since its inception, coming under fire from institutions whose confidential documents have been posted on the site and from critics who have questioned the motives of the site's founders. Still, others have praised the site for supporting the free dissemination of information.
http://www.dissidentvoice.org/2008/02/wikileaks-under-attack-california-court-wipes-wikileaksorg-out-of-existence/
http://www.infoworld.com/article/08/02/19/Court-orders-whistle-blower-site-offline-in-US_1.html
To read more:
http://news.google.com/news?q=wikileaks&scoring=d
To visit Wikileaks via IP (p.s.- Bookmark this so you can find it again):
http://88.80.13.160/wiki/Wikileaks

Whistle-blowing At Work Now More Dangerous:  In recent years, we have learned about a number of corporate horror stories. A major toy company had sold and widely distributed toys manufactured in China with lead-tainted paint.  A pharmaceutical company had manufactured a vaccine for babies with a compromised quality assurance program.  Government contractors employed in Iraq to provide infrastructure were instead padding their profits and cutting corners while the buildings they constructed crumbled.  Slaughterhouse workers in California knew that cattle demonstrating obvious signs of weakness were supposed to be tested BUT did not report abuses to FDA.
>In each instance, scores of employees knew about the problems but for whatever reason did nothing to help end the faulty practices…
>It’s no wonder that so many of those ‘in-the-know’ about wrongdoings chose job security over courage. No one can rely on public anti-corruption assurances until effective systems are in place so that everyday workers who spot potential disasters in the making will report them – putting public health and other significant concerns above corporate profits.  Sadly, this right to blow the whistle, free of retaliation and harassment, has steadily eroded over the last five years of GOP leadership. 
>Indeed, it’s remniscent of when a British admiral hanged a sailor in 1707 after the sailor suggested —
rightly, as it disastrously turned out — that the fleet had wandered off course.
http://www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200771001027
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1692384,00.html
Take Action:
Tell your Congressman –
“Vote for H.R. 4047 in support of streamlining the administration of whistleblower protections for private sector employees.”
http://www.congress.org/congressorg/home/
Simply enter your zip code & click on your representative’s name…click send message…. click ‘compose your own letter at bottom’… and proceed.
Blowing the Whistle: Twelve Survival Strategies
http://www.whistleblower.org/content/press_detail.cfm?press_id=59
http://www.whistleblower.org/template/index.cfm

GoogleNews ‘Buries’ Whistle-blower Site:  Anyone on the U.N. corruption beat in the past couple years has likely come across Inner City Press, a no-frills United Nations-focused news site that happens to be the most effective and important media organization for U.N. whistleblowers, according to the Government Accountability Project (GAP).  Inner City Press has filled an important niche because current whistleblower protections at the U.N. are grossly inadequate.  With would-be whistleblowers vulnerable to retaliation, the news site has reported the arcane tactics of silencing the free speech of employees in the U.N. system.  Now, it looks like Inner City Press itself is the subject of retaliation -- and not, at first glance, by the U.N.  Instead, the site has been buried by the very search engine that has driven traffic to it for more than two years: Google News.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,331106,00.html
http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/02/19/7153/
Visit the ‘Inner City Press’ site & Bookmark it so you can find it again:
http://www.innercitypress.com/

Corporate Crime “Is” Violent Crime:  The FBI estimates that, 16,000 Americans are murdered every year.  Compare this to the 56,000 Americans who die every year on the job or from occupational diseases such as black lung and asbestosis and the tens of thousands of other Americans who fall victim to the ‘silent violence’ of pollution, contaminated foods, hazardous consumer products, and hospital malpractice.  These deaths are often the result of criminal recklessness. Yet, they are rarely prosecuted as homicides or as criminal violations of federal laws.
Also, the FBI estimates, for example, that burglary and robbery -- street crimes -- costs the nation $3.8 billion a year.
The losses from a handful of major corporate frauds -- Tyco, Adelphia, Worldcom, Enron -- swamp the losses from all street robberies and burglaries combined.  Health care fraud alone costs Americans $100 billion to $400 billion a year.  The savings and loan fraud -- which former Attorney General Dick Thornburgh called "the biggest white collar swindle in history" -- cost us anywhere from $300 billion to $500 billion.  And then you have your lesser frauds: auto repair fraud, $40 billion a year, securities fraud, $15 billion a year -- and on down the list. 
Read more:
http://www.alternet.org/story/54093/

Inhumane Greed Led To Largest Beef Recall:  "Downed" animals—those too sick or injured to stand or walk on their own—are often kicked, dragged with chains, prodded with electric shocks, or hauled by forklift in an effort to move them to slaughter.  Downed animals are at a higher risk of carrying harmful diseases, such as ‘mad cow’, E. coli, and Salmonella.  At least ‘12 of the 15’ cases of mad cow disease identified in North America have reportedly involved downed animals -- a big reason for the largest beef recall in U.S. history.  Although the USDA established a temporary ban on the slaughter of downed cattle in 2004 following the discovery of mad cow disease in the U.S., the agency has never finalized the policy nor enforced it comprehensively, & has been pressured by industry to weaken it.
Note: TheDowned Animal and Food Safety Protection Act” (H.R. 661/S. 394) would ban USDA inspectors at slaughterhouses from approving meat from downed cattle, sheep, pigs, goats, and equines.  The Act also requires immediate humane euthanasia for any animal that goes down.
Take Action: 
https://community.hsus.org/campaign/2007_downed_animals3
Learn more:
http://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/food/foodsafety/meat-inspection-1/letter-to-secretary-of-agriculture-ed-schafer
http://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/food/foodsafety/meat-inspection-1/video-reveals-big-problems-at-meat-plant

Thefts of construction materials and large appliances… cost the U.S. residential building industry $5 billion annually.  So, of course, the builders must pass the cost along to the homebuyers.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/14/AR2007081401863.html

Retail Theft:  Losses from employee theft have reached record levels of more than $14 billion.  While shoplifting is a bit less @$10 billion annually.  The costs of which are passed along directly & indirectly to you and me. 
[ My Comment: Employee theft put my grandparents literally ‘out-of-business’ many years ago.  When I taught school, one of the things I always taught my students was that “all thieves are liars”.]
http://retailindustry.about.com/od/statistics_loss_prevention/l/aa011124a.htm

Clueless Pentagon Ripped Off:  The owner of C&D Distributors scammed the government out of $20.5 million by charging ludicrous amounts for shipping.  Defense contractor, Charlene Corley, who is the co-owner C&D Distributors, charged the Pentagon hundreds of thousands of dollars to ship simple things like metal washers and lamps to military facilities. In one case, C&D was paid $998,798 in transportation costs for shipping two 19-cent washers. Note: Darlene Wooten, Corley's twin and co-owner of C&D Distributors, committed suicide.
http://www.politicalgateway.com/news/read/96708

Obscenely Decadent War Profiteer Arrested:  America's most ostentatious war profiteer is no longer a free man.  FBI agents arrested bulletproof vest maker David H. Brooks for shameless war profiteering.  He first drew attention when he blew some $10 million in profits from military contracts on a celebrity-studded party for his daughter. While Brooks was chief executive of DHB Industries, a leading provider of military body armor, he pocketed more than $185 million from insider trading, fraud and tax evasion. He is also charged with using millions of dollars in DHB funds for personal expenses.  What makes Brooks' greed particularly obscene is that the bulletproof vests that boosted his fortunes in the first place turned out to be not so bulletproof after all. In May 2005, the U.S. Marines recalled more than 5,000 DHB armored vests after they failed ballistics tests for stopping 9 mm bullets.
http://www.alternet.org/workplace/66182/

~The poor have ‘sometimes’ objected to being governed badly; the rich have ‘always’ objected to being governed at all.~  G.K. Chesterton




Huckabee Facilitating Mormon Prophecy:  Despite what he’s mouthing, Huckabee is pro-immigration.  Believing that our country’s economy depends on the 40+ million resident foreign workers and their dependents, he supports policies that translate into the Latin Americanization of the USA (which, not incidentally, is a major tenet of Mormon theology.  If Huckabee had read The Book Of Mormon (or at least the Wikipedia version), he’d have realized that the ‘indianismo’ immigrants from ‘south of the border’ are the Lamanites in the predictions for North America. 
Note: What’s supremely ironic is the fact that Romney (who’s not from Utah) is the only ‘major’ candidate that supported tight immigration policies.  It’s the Fundamentalist Huckabee’s long-term political record & the ‘pro-amnesty’ measures of McCain and Ted Kennedy that demonstrates support of Mormon prophesy.
[My Comment: It doesn’t get any more hilarious than this.  Politically illiterate, ultra-conservatives voting for a Bible-thumping ‘good-old-boy’ who acts as though he’s a covert Mormon / while it’s the clean-cut Mormon businessman who defends conservatism and “The American Way”.   Will Rogers was right when he said that he didn’t have to make anything up to be funny / all he had to do was report his direct observations.]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lamanite
http://www.betterimmigration.com/candidates/2006/RomneyPres08.html
http://www.alipac.us/article2920.html

McCain’s Suddenly A “Born-again” Border Protector?:  In his quest to win the conservative primary votes that eluded him in his previous bid for the Republican presidential nomination, the four-term Arizona senator is ‘now’ presenting himself as a “born-again border protector”.  The defeat of McCain’s “comprehensive” immigration legislation—painstakingly crafted with Ted Kennedy—is central to his conversion experience. “I got the message,” McCain vowed repeatedly on the campaign trail in South Carolina. “We will secure the borders first.”
[My Comment: If you believe that, then there’s a bridge in Brooklyn I’d like to sell to you.  He and his compatriots are steadily pushing for immigration friendly measures & chipping away at defunding measures that would 'otherwise' slow down the flood of illegals.  Read my blog from last week for more…]
http://americanchaos.wordpress.com/2008/02/02/presidential-pardon/

McCain Defeats Clean Energy By ‘NOT’ Voting:  A version of the ‘economic stimulus bill’ that did NOT include ‘clean energy incentives’ is what McCain voted FOR…  AFTER he first ‘chose’ to NOT vote in the first version that did include ‘clean energy incentives’ (which lost by just one vote).  McCain was indeed in Washington & all of the other 99 Senators did show up to vote… BUT McCain ‘chose’ to miss the crucial vote that would have kept the clean energy provisions in the bill.  If McCain had voted “yes”, America would have an economic stimulus package that saved jobs and our environment at the same time.
This vote ‘against’ clean energy came at a time when McCain's speeches were full of promises to increase America's use of clean energy and calls to his fellow Senators to pass the stimulus package "to get some people back to work, and get our economy going, and get some investment in our economy."
http://sierra.convio.net/site/MessageViewer?em_id=41321.0&dlv_id=39522
http://www.suntimes.com/news/politics/740313,mccain011408.article
http://gristmill.grist.org/story/2008/2/2/13125/84179
And How He Tried To Lie About It:
http://sierraclub.typepad.com/carlpope/2008/02/the-not-so-stra.html
Take Action (for a ‘stand-alone’ bill supporting renewable energy sources):
https://secure2.convio.net/sierra/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=577

Democrats’ Superdelegates Receive $890,000 From Obama & Clinton:  At this summer's Democratic National Convention, nearly 800 members of Congress, state governors and Democratic Party leaders could be the tiebreakers in the intense contest between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. These are the "superdelegates" -- the candidates' friends, colleagues and even financial beneficiaries. Both contenders will be calling in favors.  And while it would be unseemly for the candidates to hand out thousands of dollars to primary voters, or to the delegates pledged to represent the will of those voters, elected officials who are superdelegates have received at least $890,000 from Obama and Clinton in the form of campaign contributions over the last three years, according to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics.
Read more-
http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/1203067931137860.xml&coll=2
http://www.capitaleye.org/inside.asp?ID=336
http://www.alternet.org/election08/77106/

Texas Legislators ‘Ghost Voting’:  An investigation by CBS 42’s Nanci Wilson has led to fevered discussion on the Internet on the conduct of the Texas House of Representatives.  Wilson reported on the ‘ghost voting’ that was occurring in the House – where members would cast the votes of other non-present members electronically.  A video shows multiple lawmakers clearly pressing buttons at absent members’ desks.  Now, many Texans are upset and want to see changes in the house, and some lawmakers agree with them.
http://www.keyetv.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=8A34DE61-3078-442D-961E-74F7BDDCA43E&gsa=true
(03:55) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eG6X-xtVask

Why Vote In The Primary:  Very few people vote in primaries (or caucuses) compared to general elections. Therefore, each individual primary vote is worth many times what it is in the general election.  If you have to join a party that you don't support in order to vote in a primary, you can always ‘unjoin’ again after the primary.  In the meantime, maybe you'll have helped to create a party you can support.  You can even vote in a primary without planning to vote in the general election.  If even a small fraction of Americans who don’t usually vote would vote in primaries, they would help determine the candidates in the general elections (in which they might then choose to vote as well).
http://www.alternet.org/stories/70200/

Interactive Online E-Voting ‘Practice’:  For those who are not yet comfortable with electronic voting booths, here’s an interactive website to use in order to engage in limited practice before actually going to the voting booth.
http://www.hartintercivic.com/files/eSlate.swf

2008 Presidential Primary Calendar:  As it stands right now 34 states will have held presidential primaries or caucuses on or before February 5, with 24 of these contests to have been held on February 5.  The following list presents candidate selection process in date order.  A list in state order is also available.  All dates are subject to change, and a handful of states, including Michigan and New Hampshire, are virtually certain to change their dates.
http://www.ncsl.org/programs/legismgt/elect/2008_Pres_Primary_Calendar.htm

Establish A National Primary?:  The heavy focus on “early primary states” is probably ‘not good’ for democracy -- we could establish a national primary by allowing early voting and making the results public in live time…. after all, not all voters are alike.  The only solution that treats every voter equally would be to establish a true national primary. 
Perhaps one way to establish a national primary and yet still allow ‘retail politicking’ to meaningfully affect the course of the campaign over several months would be to set a national primary date of June 30 and create a window for early voting that opens in January.  The early votes would be counted and reported at the end of each month….
Read more:
http://www.alternet.org/stories/67457/



1st Ever “National Presidential Caucus” Announces Results:
On December 7, 2007 in cities and small towns across the country, Democrat, Republican and "Open" Caucus groups formed independently online and Caucused face-to-face on National Caucus Day. The first-ever National Presidential Caucus is now history and the results are in.
                        Barack Obama Wins Democrat Caucuses- Obama wins over Democrat voters generating 40% of Democrat Caucus voter preferences. Obama was followed by a three-way tie for second, with John Edwards, Bill Richardson and "Undecided" each generating 20% of Democratic Caucus preferences.
                       Ron Paul Dominates Both “GOP” & "Open" Caucuses-
>On the Republican side, Ron Paul obliterated the field for the GOP generating the preference of 50% of GOP Caucuses. Mike Huckabee and Fred Thompson follow, generating 33% and 16% of Republican Caucus preferences, respectively.
/>Among votes in Open Caucuses, Ron Paul wins with 62% of Open Caucus votes, followed by Barack Obama (18%), Fred Thompson (12%), and Hilary Clinton (6%).

http://www.nationalcaucus.com/120707_results_announcement
www.NationalCaucus.com -- The National Presidential Caucus is a consortium of partisan, bi-partisan and non-partisan interests working together to facilitate the National Presidential Caucus -- helping the country be better prepared to select its next president, not in haste, but through thousands of informed face to face discussions and thoughtful deliberations.
Video (02:54)--
http://www.youtube.com/NationalCaucus




Study Each Politician & Every Political Issue:
http://www.ontheissues.org/default.htm


Voter’s Guide To The Issues:
http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1708514_1708493,00.html

The National Popular Vote bill would guarantee that the presidential candidate who receives the most votes in all 50 states will win the Presidency.  Under the U.S. Constitution, the states have exclusive power to allocate their electoral votes, and may change their state laws concerning the awarding of their electoral votes at any time. The bill would take effect only when enacted, in identical form, by states possessing a majority of the electoral votes.  Texas Senator Rodney Ellis has introduced the National Popular Vote bill (SB 520) (Status of SB 520) in the Texas legislature. The National Popular Vote bill has now passed in 13 states.
http://www.nationalpopularvote.com/pages/faq.php
http://www.nationalpopularvote.com/pages/states.php?s=TX

Media Ignoring Global Warming Questions With Candidates:  The climate crisis will be the biggest challenge facing the next president.  But the top Sunday hosts don't seem to think so.  Since January of 2007, they have asked  2679 Questions & only 3 mentioned global warming. 
>Watch the video, learn the facts, sign the petition and tell the reporters to focus on the human race, not the ‘horse race’:
Video (01:44) http://ga3.org/campaign/media_alert
Petition: http://ga3.org/campaign/media_alert

~Americans always try to do the right thing / after they’ve tried everything else.~  Winston Churchill




Border Fencing Proven Effective:  With border-security attention riveted in Arizona (ironically, the home state of McCain aka The Amnesty King), federal authorities responded with a spree of fence building and high-tech surveillance.  The construction included both old-fashioned fences and the new high-tech virtual variety, plus vehicle barriers and remote-controlled aircraft equipped with eyes in the sky.  And there are signs that the buildup is having an impact.  In the Border Patrol's Yuma Sector, which roughly covers Arizona's westernmost 110 miles of border, apprehensions of illegal entrants plunged dramatically. They were down about 68 percent during fiscal 2007 compared with the previous year — from more than 118,000 to about 38,000. [This is NOT true where ‘border fencing’ is not completely in place.]
http://www.azstarnet.com/metro/218497

Change In Nature Of Illegals Concerns South Texas Ranchers:  Things have changed in South Texas between the ranchers and the illegal aliens. Not too long ago most of the immigrants traveling through were respectful of property and had a good relationship with the landowners, but that isn’t always the case today. There is an increasingly brazen criminal sort that is keeping South Texans on edge. 
[My Comment: Thirty years ago, I lived on a ranch in South Texas. That is, until the 'illegal aliens' that came through our area started burglarizing everyone (previously, you’d leave some food and water out and those walking across your land would be grateful and pass peaceably on) & then the drug runners increased in numbers so dramatically (one of my neighbors was shot off of his horse / killed by a ‘stray’ Uzi round) that I had to move my family into town.  We sold off our cattle and soon moved to Austin when we realized that the entire Valley we knew was changing forever due to the increasingly large influx of people from Mexico (people who were unlike those who had preceded them).
http://www.livestockweekly.com/papers/08/01/10/whl10bradshawdurham.asp
My Other Related Blogs:
#65 - 
http://asiseeit.statesmanblogs.com/Default.aspx?page=5

#59, 60 - http://asiseeit.statesmanblogs.com/Default.aspx?page=6
#54         http://asiseeit.statesmanblogs.com/Default.aspx?page=7
#48         http://asiseeit.statesmanblogs.com/Default.aspx?page=8
#45, 52    http://asiseeit.statesmanblogs.com/Default.aspx?page=9

Border Fence In The Rio Grande Valley:  About 70 miles of fence is to be built in the Rio Grande Valley.  Government documents show that the fence in this region will be placed about two miles north of the Rio Grande River, the traditional border between the U.S. and Mexico.  That would leave parts of several communities in a no-man’s land between the fence and the river.  The fence would actually cut through the campus of the University of Texas at Brownsville and leave some local landmarks and the district office of a state representative on the “Mexican side” of the barrier.  Some stretches would cut farmers off from prime farmland near the water.
http://www.theweekdaily.com/news_opinion/briefing/29919/walling_off_the_southern_border.html
http://www.kveo.com/news/local/15310496.html

Hutchinson Guts Border Fence (but Cornyn’s “in-on-it”, too):  In a quiet act of defiance, the Senate removed legal requirements mandating the federal government fund 854 miles of a double layer border fence spanning America's southwestern border.   When the spending bill, which combines appropriations for a number of federal agencies, reached the Senate, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Tex.) attached S.Amdt. 2466 to the measure in order to silently gut the Secure Fence Act's spending requirement.  The Hutchison amendment reads, "Nothing in this paragraph shall require the secretary of homeland security to install fencing, physical barriers, roads, lighting, cameras and sensors in a particular location along an international border of the United States…"  thus resulting in a ‘de facto’ repeal.
[My Comment: Cornyn can’t afford to play the heavy in this round since he’s up for re-election (but Hutchinson can, since she’s just newly re-elected).   Don’t forget though that less than a year ago Cornyn stated publicly (just after he voted for 700 miles of fencing to be built along the border as a “good faith start on establishing control over our nation’s southern boundary”) that “it’s one thing to authorize a border fence; but, it’s quite another thing to actually appropriate money and do it.”
http://www.thebulletin.us/site/news.cfm?newsid=19161424&BRD=2737&PAG=461&dept_id=618959&rfi=6
http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Top_News/2008/01/11/border_fence_proponents_slam_hutchison/8261/
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5448261.html
Note: While telling the American people they would build a border fence… our ‘elected representatives’  entered into their own secret agreements… and now, the previously-given funding, via the Secure Fence Act, will now be reallocated to Senators’ and Representatives’ pet projects.
http://www.numbersusa.com/interests/illegalimm.html


New House Bill Would Mandate Border Security!  Rep. Jones (R-NC) has introduced HR 4987, the Fence by Date Certain Act, legislation that would require construction of a double-layered fence along the U.S.-Mexico border by June 30, 2009.  HR 4987 would largely reinstate language that was included in the Secure Fence Act that became law in October 2006.
Take Action:
http://capwiz.com/caps/issues/alert/?alertid=10948601

McCain ‘The Amnesty King’:  In the Florida primary, polls showed most voters were NOT aware that Senator McCain has been an ‘open-borders’ champion.  In fact, many voters supported McCain because they ‘actually believed’ that he would solve the problem of porous borders and illegal immigration.  It would be tragic if millions of voters who oppose amnesty were to mistakenly cast their votes for The Amnesty King.  Nearly every time there is a choice, McCain favors business lobbyists’ desires for foreign workers vs. protecting American workers’ wages and jobs.  McCain has taken the pro-amnesty position in nearly two dozen votes and co-sponsorships. He claims it is not amnesty to give illegal aliens U.S. citizenship if they have to pay a fine and learn English. Whatever he chooses to call it, allowing illegal aliens to keep the very things they broke the law to obtain – U.S. residency and an American job – is an incredibly generous reward for violating the "rule of law".
http://www.numbersusa.com/index

Immigration Report Card For Presidential Candidates:
http://www.betterimmigration.com/reportcardintro.html

Bill O’Reilly Interviews Michael Chertoff… on the state of the border fence and where it’s going in this current year. Some good information for those that care about the fence. Chertoff has explanations and excuses galore…
Video (06:33):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLCJohGfFno

ImmigrationCounters.com supports legal immigration and respect for all humanity, yet highlights the significant weight of illegal immigration as a result of poor governmental controls and unscrupulous employers. The illegal immigration crisis is now impacting all aspects of society and is unprecedented in American history.
http://immigrationcounters.com/
Data sources:
http://immigrationcounters.com/datasource.html

New policy toward immigrants???

[Guess! Which country's laws?]

>There will be no special bilingual programs in the schools, no special ballots for elections, and all government business will be conducted in our language. 
>Foreigners will NOT have the right to vote, no matter how long they are here.
>Foreigners will NEVER be able to hold political office.
>Foreigners will not be a burden to the taxpayers. No welfare, no food stamps, no health care, nor any other government assistance programs.
>Foreigners can invest in this country, but it must be an amount equal to 40,000 times the daily minimum wage.
  >If foreigners do come and want to buy land that will be okay, BUT options will be restricted. You are not allowed to own water front property. That property is reserved for citizens naturally born into this country.
>Foreigners may not protest; no demonstrations, no waving a foreign flag, no political organizing, no bad-mouthing our president or his policies. If you do, you will be sent home.
>If you do come to this country illegally, you will be hunted down and sent straight to jail.

Harsh, you say?…The laws above happen to be the immigration laws of Mexico

http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/immigration/entries/2008/01/07/a_week_ago_most_mexicans.html

Immigration could turn into the wedge issue of the 2008 presidential campaign… if Republicans nominate a hard-liner, and a recession magnifies fears of job losses.  Republicans in the past two years have made themselves the restrictionist party on immigration, yet the leading GOP presidential candidates were not immigration hawks before they sought their party's nomination.  Democrats tend to be the party of legalization and are now well positioned to recapture pivotal Latino voters… but they also fear strong public antipathy toward increasing overall immigration levels.
Read about individual candidates’ positions:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/01/27/IN48UKBI3.DTL

Questions To Ask Candidates About Illegal Immigration:
http://mickmck707.wordpress.com/2008/02/01/secure-the-border/

NAFTA / CAFTA / Etc. Stimulate Migration:North America & Central America Free Trade Agreements, etcetera”  all have the farmers in the countries of our trading partners at a disadvantage due to our Farm Bill providing subsidies to our ‘agribiz’ farmers.  Then we complain if other countries subsidize their domestic special interests.  One big difference is that their subsidizations don’t cause an ‘illegal alien’ invasion into the USA.  [Like the European Union, our ‘leaders’ see this as merely a population shift within an ‘economic unit’ aka ‘North American Union’.]
Read more:
http://www.sierraclub.org/trade/faces/porfirio.asp
http://www.sierraclub.org/trade/faces/

USA Farm Bill Unfair To Both Citizens Of Mexico And U.S.?:  Farmers and activists in Mexico are planning a series of protests as NAFTA enters its final stage (when the last tariffs and quotas on corn, beans, milk and sugar will melt away).  Opponents of the “free trade” agreement warn that the final lifting of trade barriers could spark more migration from Mexico's devastated countryside and leave the country dependent on the United States for corn and beans, Mexicans' staple dishes since the age of the Aztecs. 
[My Comment: Can NAFTA be considered fair if we heavily subsidize corn and then ship it into Mexico?  Free trade agreements that remove tariffs leave producers of products that are not so subsidized at a disadvantage.  It’s estimated that 80% of Mexican immigrants are those forced off their rural land as a result of the USA Farm Bills past and present. The problems of excessive fertilizer usage and problems with runoff and soil erosion in the USA’s agribiz production methods are also a factor to be considered when debating this issue in Congress. Typical Midwestern soil depths decrease a bit each year while soil depths increase on farms that use kinder methodology.]
http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/world/12/25/1225mexiconafta.html

Although Corn Prices… are at record highs, corn growers will collect $1.5 billion in federal subsidies over the next 5 years.   Washington Post 

Burger King Is #2 For A Reason:  Farm workers (read ‘illegals’ since ‘legals’ & citizens can do better) who pick tomatoes for Burger King earn 40 to 50 cents for every 32-pound bucket of tomatoes they pick, a rate that has not risen significantly in nearly 30 years. Workers who labor from dawn to dusk must pick two tons of tomatoes to earn $50 in one day. McDonald's and others have agreed to raise wages for these workers, but Burger King has not.
Take Action:
http://act.oxfamamerica.org/campaign/burgerking?rk=x7%5f1oC41ybiHE

MS13 Gang & New Haven:  The Mara Salvatrucha 13 (MS-13) gang, which is a main importer of illegal aliens, meth, and cocaine into the United States is suspected of vandalizing a veteran's memorial in New Haven, CT.  You may remember that New Haven, CT has given illegal immigrants ID cards.  It appears that MS13 has set up shop in New Haven, to import illegal aliens and service them with documents, drugs, prostitutes, etcetera.  This act of vandalism is the kind of thing you can expect more of when your Mayor and City Council foster illegal immigration… and the gangs that make it all happen.
View:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=1U854PyaQS0

~What this country needs is more unemployed politicians.~  Edward Langley




Antarctic Ice Sheet Growing? Nope!:  Although the Antarctic ice sheet is growing in height in the central region, the most precise data on the mass of the ice sheets, from the gravity satellite, show that, overall, Antarctica is losing mass… the increased melting being a larger effect than increased snowfall.  The reason that the North Pole is melting so much faster than the South Pole is that the ice in the north is an average of only 6 -12 feet thick and is being warmed from beneath as well as above, while the South Polar Ice Sheet is two miles thick ( in some places, 3 miles).  That means that the ice is at an altitude of over ten thousand feet where the temperature is much colder.   This makes it impossible for the slight rise in global mean temperature to have any affect at all in the south except around the edges of the continent (for now). 
Note: The weight of the ice in Antarctica is so great that it depresses the Earth’s crust by 3,000+ feet.
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2008/01/07/18470816.php

Antarctica Ice Loss Increasing:  The western part of Antarctica is shedding ice much faster today than it was just ten years ago, according to new satellite measurements.  The measurements, which surveyed the coasts of nearly the entire continent, suggest that climate models underestimate how quickly Antarctica responds to ongoing global warming.  They found that for Antarctica overall, the ice loss increased about 75% over the ten-year period, from 112 gigatons of ice per year in 1996 to 196 gigatons of ice per year in 2006.  As the rivers of ice flow into the ocean, they cause global sea levels to rise higher and faster than scientists had previously predicted.  Satellite images of more than 300 glaciers on the Antarctic Peninsula showed that they were flowing some 12 percent faster in 2003 than they were in 1993.  Note: Ice covers 98% of Antarctica.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/01/080114-antarctica-melting.html
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/06/070606-antarctica-melt.html
See interactive map of Antarctica>>
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/antarctica/

Satellites Provide Data Regarding Bottom Side Of Antarctic Ice:  NASA satellites have shown scientists an extensive network of waterways beneath a fast-moving Antarctic ice stream that provide clues as to how "leaks" in the system impact sea level and the world's largest ice sheet. Antarctica holds about 90% of the world's ice and 70% of the world's reservoir of fresh water… data shows, for the first time, the subtle rise and fall of the surface of fast-moving ice streams as the lakes and channels nearly a half-mile of solid ice below filled and emptied…. this exciting discovery of large lakes exchanging water under the ice sheet surface has radically altered our view of what is happening at the base of the ice sheet and how ice moves in that environment.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/02/070215143707.htm
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080123181952.htm

Some Ice Might Survive In Central Antarctica Even In Worst Case Scenarios:  Oddly, glaciers might have existed in the Antarctic during a very warm super-greenhouse era more than 90 million years ago.  Crocodiles roamed the Arctic & sea surface temperatures in the western tropical Atlantic Ocean reached 98 degrees Fahrenheit.  Researchers had generally assumed that these high temperatures would have kept Earth ice-free.  But a new analysis of fossilized plankton hints that glaciers might have covered portions of Antarctica.  While other continents have moved significantly since Turonian times, Antarctica was roughly in its current polar position and has widespread areas of elevated terrain — two things that could have created relative cold conditions…. warmer air temperatures could have held more water and accelerated the water cycle, causing more precipitation to fall at the poles… at high elevations, it would have been cold enough for snow to accumulate.
http://www.livescience.com/environment/080110-greenhouse-glaciers.html
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080110144824.htm

What Really Happened To The Mammoths?  Some 13,000 years ago, the Clovis people wandered North America, hunting ground sloths, mammoths, and other creatures—until hunters and prey both vanished.  What happened?  A team of scientists now think they know: a miles-wide comet exploded just north of the Great Lakes, triggering a 1,000-year cold spell that helped bring on the extinction of the Clovis and the animals… a thin layer of black soil is found at more than 50 North American sites.  In it are magnetic grains containing iridium, an element thought to indicate extraterrestrial origins.  The sediments also contain metallic and carbon spherules, as well as melted charcoal, likely the result of forest fires that swept the continent after the impact.
http://tinyurl.com/2ux9aw

Top 100 Science Stories Of 2007:
http://tinyurl.com/2px8yf

Top Quality Science Articles & Audio:
http://science.nasa.gov/default.htm

Is A New Solar Cycle Beginning?  The source of the excitement is a modest knot of magnetism that popped up on Dec. 11th.  It may not look like much, but this patch of magnetism could be a sign of the next solar cycle.  For more than a year, the sun has been experiencing a lull in activity, marking the end of Solar Cycle 23, which peaked with many furious storms in 2000--2003.  A ‘solar minimum’ is currently upon us.  The big question now is, when will the next solar cycle begin?  It could be starting now. New solar cycles always begin with a high-latitude, reversed polarity sunspot (has opposite magnetic polarity compared to sunspots from the previous solar cycle).  ‘High-latitude’ refers to the sun's grid of latitude and longitude. The region that appeared on Dec. 11th fits both these criteria.  Just one problem: There is no sunspot.  So far the region is just a bright knot of magnetic fields.  If, however, these fields coalesce into a dark sunspot, scientists are ready to announce that Solar Cycle 24 has officially begun.  Solar Cycle 24 will likely be big and intense.  Peaking in 2011 or 2012, the cycle to come could have significant impacts on telecommunications, air traffic, power grids and GPS systems.
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2007/14dec_excitement.htm

Asteroid 2007 TU24 passed by the Earth Jan.28th… the space rock (classified by NASA as a Near Earth Object), estimated to be about 250 meters across, coasted by just outside the orbit of Earth's Moon.  It was discovered only 3 months ago.  [My Comment: How is it that the media doesn’t properly cover these ‘interesting’ events.  I’ve noted more than one Near Earth Object not being reported "until after-the-fact" during the past several years.]
View trajectory:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2hKPY1jJwM
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/science/article3270532.ece
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap080130.html

Astronomy Picture Of The Day Archive:
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html

Partisan Rhetoric Distorting Scientific Truth:  Partisan rhetoric is clouding debates on global warming, birth control, stem cell research, and evolution.  The role of science has only diminished since 1995, when a new budget-cutting Republican majority eliminated the Office of Technology Assessment, which prepared nonpartisan and highly detailed scientific reports for Congress upon request. Today, distorting or omitting inconvenient truths is endemic…  the current administration is far worse than any other in terms of distorting science for political ends.
http://www.usnews.com/articles/news/politics/2007/12/06/wanted-on-the-hill-a-few-good-scientists.html
Note: The misuse of science won’t end unless the next administration understands the importance of independent science to informed decisions about our health, safety, and environment.
Take Action:
http://ucsaction.org/campaign/Science_Idol_Call_to_Action?rk=A1s8h0F1BAgfE

CO2 Reduction Legislation Needed Now That Congress Is Back In Session:  Scientists tell us that even if we cut global warming emissions to zero tomorrow, there is enough carbon dioxide pollution already accumulated in the atmosphere to increase global temperatures for decades to come. Every additional ton of carbon we emit accelerates this warming trend. To stave off runaway, catastrophic global warming, scientists tell us that we must stabilize the concentration of carbon dioxide pollution in the earth's atmosphere at 450 parts per million.  To reach this target, America needs to cut its CO2 pollution by 80% by 2050… an average of 2% reductions per year if we start now.  The U.S. House is back from its holiday recess. Help put global warming at the top of their agenda.
Note: It’s going to be an uphill battle with dinosaurs like Congressmen like Joe Barton (R-TX), former Chairman and current Ranking Member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee / is a vocal global warming skeptic, having said "I cannot imagine any objective finding that CO2 is a pollutant” & he has pledged to lead the fight in the House to stop global warming legislation.
http://www.environmentaldefense.org/article.cfm?contentID=7563
http://action.environmentaldefense.org/campaign/climatevote07_house/explanation
Take Action:
http://action.environmentaldefense.org/campaign/climatevote08_house


~ Government is the great fiction, through which everybody endeavors to live at the expense of everybody else.~  Frederic Bastiat, French Economist (1801-1850)






Because of two Social Security provisions, the GPO & the WEP
 (Government Pension Offset &  Windfall Elimination Provision),

many retired teachers who’ve earned SS benefits from other jobs get to keep only a small portion of their pensions.   Unless such a teacher has taught for at least ten years in one of the very few Texas school districts (e.g., Austin I.S.D.) that pay into the SS system, then these two SS laws reduce (sometimes eliminating) their SS benefits based on the amount of TRS benefits received. Thus, anytime TRS increases the amount of their pension, their already reduced SS check is decreased even further.


Please contact your representative and senators in Congress to support proposed Social Security Fairness legislation (H.R. 82/S. 206) to repeal these unfair provisions…. and forward this to those who might do likewise:

http://tx.aft.org/?action=article&articleid=0556c200-9453-4962-8693-223e1be6d02c
Take ‘Social Security Fairness’ Action (by clicking on the green arrow after entering your zip code in the following link):

http://www.nea.org/lac/socsec/index.html

Protect Public Employee Retirement Funds:  More than a million ‘public service workers’ (teachers, police, firemen, etcetera) across the nation have for years been shortchanged by the GPO / Government Pension Offset (basically eliminates their Social Security benefits from a deceased spouse) & the WEP / Windfall Elimination Provision (greatly reduces their EARNED Social Security from previous employment).  These provisions often force them into poverty.  Public employees should not suffer a penalty for dedicating their lives to public services.  The GPO and WEP discourage talented people from entering these professions.  Now, two bills before the U.S. House and Senate have been introduced that would repeal these two provisions.  The Social Security Fairness Act (H.R. 82/ S. 206) would eliminate the GPO and WEP and would ensure that the workers who provide the U.S. with quality public services are given full access to the Social Security dollars that they and their spouses have paid into during their careers.
http://www.unionvoice.org/campaign/socialsecurity12



GPO / WEP Provisions Not Understood Well Enough:  These Social Security “benefit reductions” that apply to workers whose employers do not participate in Social Security usually come as a surprise to hardworking public servants who are about to retire.  Moreover, the GPO and the WEP are widely acknowledged to be 'blunt instruments.'  That is, they can produce undesirable, unpredictable, and inequitable results that vary based on the individual circumstances of workers and their families.  Finally, they often leave workers with less than they had anticipated in retirement--and can even leave people with too little to make ends meet.  The issue is particularly salient now as many more of these affected employees are reaching retirement age without having been aware of the impact on their potential Social Security benefits of being employed by an entity which does not participate in Social Security.  Note: These provisions are only applicable to 13 states, including Texas, California, Massachusetts, Illinois, New York…
http://www.nea.org/socialsecurity/nonssstates.html
http://www.grandlodgefop.org/legislative/issues/social/index.shtml
http://www.asha.org/about/publications/leader-online/archives/2007/070529/070529e.htm
http://seiuaction.org/seiu/alert-description.html?alert_id=4855000
http://tinyurl.com/3aj9ne
http://www.ssa.gov/gpo-wep/

How can anyone take the position that a citizen's Social Security should be penalized solely because they happen to qualify for a pension from a state retirement system?  No federal or state government penalty is imposed on retirees when their retirement system is sponsored by Exxon, or GM, or some other corporate entity.  Under current law, retirees in 13 states (e.g., Texas) have their Social Security benefits proportionately reduced if they take up a second career in teaching or public service.  People who paid into the system in good faith should not be penalized for seeking a second career.  Forcing such people to lose some part of 15 or 20 years’ worth of benefits is not only unfair, it is self-destructive.

Points To Be Aware Of:
>The offsets hit especially hard here in Texas, where 90%+ of school employees are vulnerable to the impact of these Social Security benefit cuts imposed on anyone who receives a public pension from a job that is not covered by Social Security.  These offsets cut fully EARNED benefits--either earned by an employee's own work in other jobs covered by Social Security or earned by a spouse who was in covered employment. 

>An example is a teacher Julie W., who worked in jobs covered by Social Security for 20 years, then at age 49 went to college to become a teacher and taught for 15 years, until age 68. She was subject to the Windfall Elimination Provision, depriving her of much of her earned Social Security pension because she also gets a public pension for serving as a teacher. The bottom line is that she receives less than $160 from Social Security each month, her total retirement income is $800 a month--and she can't live on that, so at age 78 she is still working part-time as a substitute teacher.

>Another example is a paraprofessional who retired after 25 years and qualified for a monthly pension of $1,103 from the state.  Because her spouse receives Social Security, the GPO provision would totally eliminate the $540 Social Security benefit she should would have received as part of her spousal benefit.  It is ironic that spouses who never work a day receive the full benefit, while hard-working public employees lose any spousal benefits… $540 a month makes a significant difference in the life of a retiree.

>These offsets penalize people who are making decisions about how to retire decently in this country, and that's getting harder to do.  Members of Congress are pretty good at taking care of their own health care, pensions, and benefits… they ought to be bending over backward to empower ordinary people to secure a decent retirement income, through a combination of Social Security and a pension from public employment, instead of punishing them for doing so.

>Most Texas educational employees are women--and many take time out during their careers to raise children.  The average TRS employee retires with 25 years of service and receives only about 58% of the final average salary…. which is then deducted from earned SS benefits.

>The math is irrefutable.  The spousal offset becomes a virtual guarantee that Texas educational employees will not receive any spousal benefit.  Why?  Two-thirds of the TRS pension--the GPO penalty--almost always exceeds the dollar amount of the spousal benefit from Social Security.... while the Windfall Elimination Provision is a virtual guarantee that education employees will suffer the full 50 percent lifetime penalty, currently a $355.50 per month reduction in any earned Social Security benefit for life.  I do not have to tell you that workers who have taken two jobs, and paid in Social Security taxes in one of them, are outraged by this situation.

>Many Republicans (e.g., Hutchinson) will try to reach a damaging “compromise” by eliminating only the WEP (not GPO).  They’ll try to defend such an stance because of the expected ‘lost’ government revenue from the current rip-off / which is hypocritical when you consider that these are the very same politicians that have granted a lopsided ‘Totalization agreement’ to Mexico… in support of an ‘international labor force’… that GPO/ WEP helps fund.  [ The Mexican Totalization agreement vastly underestimated the costs to U.S. taxpayers. Other U.S. Totalization agreements with developed countries involve relatively few workers, but due to the large number of foreign workers (many illegal) involved, the Totalization agreement with Mexico will exasperate our Social Security crisis and place an unfunded liability on U.S. taxpayers.]

>Until Congress removes these penalties, public servants who have paid into Social Security via time spent in “private sector” employment will not receive benefits they have earned.  For example, educators who either entered the teaching profession as a “second career” or who worked a second job will not receive their deserved Social Security benefits.  How can it be argued that it’s fair for anyone to pay at least the required 40 units into the Social Security system yet not receive benefits to which they are entitled?  These provisions adversely affect our nation’s ability to recruit second-career professionals into public service.

Read more:
http://www.nea.org/socialsecurity/examples.html
http://www.nea.org/socialsecurity/stories.html

Urge Congress to pass the Social Security Fairness Act… which would repeal two harmful benefit cuts to hundreds of thousands of Texans. The vast majority of Texas teachers and other school employees work in school districts that do not participate in the Social Security system.  A nasty surprise awaits many of these teachers and other education employees when they retire.  These education employees may think that they have qualified for full Social Security benefits, based on their own work for other employers who did take part in Social Security, or based on their spouse's work at a job covered by Social Security.  However, when they retire these educators find out that their Social Security benefits are cut--in some cases even eliminated--because federal law deems their TRS pension a ‘windfall’ that justifies cutting their Social Security benefits. 
Currently, 35 members of the U.S. Senate of both parties--more than one-third of the membership--have signed on as co-sponsors of the Fairness Act, S. 206 Note that neither of the two U.S. senators from Texas--Republicans Kay Bailey Hutchison and John Cornyn--has co-sponsored the bill.  In the U.S. House, the Fairness Act  has 337 co-sponsors--more than three-quarters of the House membership.


Take Action:
1) http://capwiz.com/nea/issues/bills/?bill=9226246&size=full
2) http://capwiz.com/nea/issues/bills/?bill=9229091&size=full

~ A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul. ~ 
   George Bernard Shaw


Audio Clips Of Hearings In D.C.:


One unintended consequence of the GPO/WEP is its adverse affect on veterans who want to become teachers. Many of our men and women in uniform wish to make the transition to the classroom, but the GPO/WEP can exact a heavy financial penalty on top of the sacrifices they have already made for our country.
http://www.house.gov/doggett/Hearings/01-16-2008Troops_to_Teachers.wmv

The hearing discussed various ways to address the GPO and WEP. One solution, which has found favor with some Republicans, would be to cover only six percent of the offsets that these retirees are entitled to. I criticized this so called "Six Percent Solution" during the hearing.
http://www.house.gov/doggett/Hearings/01-16-2008_Six_Percent_Solution.wmv

No one goes into the public service expecting a windfall. Furthermore, many of those who enter teaching are later confronted with an unwelcome surprise that becoming a teacher has a harmful impact on their retirement security. I raised these issues with Meg Cagle, a teacher from Los Angeles.
http://www.house.gov/doggett/Hearings/01-16-2008Unwelcome_Surprise.wmv

Closer to home, the GPO/WEP offsets are preventing mid-career professionals - particularly those from Austin's technology sector - from sharing their expertise in the classroom. I raised this issue with John O'Sullivan of the Texas American Federation of Teachers.
http://www.house.gov/doggett/Hearings/01-16-2008Midcareer_Teachers.wmv





Over-vaccination Causes Cancer In Cats…
  ‘blood tittering’ (checking to see if there are acceptable levels of antibodies in the body) will probably limit vaccinations to once every few years.  And since cancer is excess growth, avoid a straight meat diet of fish and chicken (which promotes growth)… it’s better to alternate between the different sources of protein.  And food should be free of preservatives, synthetic substances, GMOs, radiation (used to kill bacteria), and sewage sludge (used as fertilizer).  Energy Times


Protect Pets In New Farm Bill:  Several measures to protect pets are being considered for inclusion in the final Farm Bill: measures that would stop the use in research of random source dogs and cats obtained through "Class B dealers," stop the importation of puppies from foreign puppy mills for commercial sale, strengthen the federal law against dogfighting, increase the maximum penalties for Animal Welfare Act (AWA) violations, and require the U.S. Department of Agriculture to resume providing annual reports on its AWA enforcement efforts.
https://community.hsus.org/humane/notice-description.tcl?newsletter_id=18443471
Take Action:
https://community.hsus.org/campaign/FED_2008_farmbill_amendments?rk=T7MXzn4qfPy%2dE

MRSA In Pets:  Veterinarians are documenting more and more cases of MRSA drug-resistant staph infections in dogs and cats as well as the human members of the family in recent months, but say there is no reason for alarm among pet owners if they follow measures of simple hygiene.  Treatment is usually simple, but it can sometimes prove so difficult that pets have to be hospitalized, occasionally for weeks, and infused with intravenous antibiotics, which carry side effects. 
http://www.newsday.com/news/health/ny-hspets295437222oct29,0,7605571.story

MRSA’s Roots In Our Industrialized Food Production System:  The methicillin-resistant staph is now killing young and otherwise healthy people. No one is yet sure how or where this strain evolved, but it is sufficiently different from the hospital-bred strains to have some researchers looking elsewhere for its origin, to another environment where the heavy use of antibiotics is selecting for the evolution of a lethal new microbe: the concentrated animal feeding operation.  The Union of Concerned Scientists estimates that at least 70% of the antibiotics used in America are fed to animals living on factory farms.  Raising vast numbers of pigs or chickens or cattle in close and filthy confinement simply would not be possible without the routine feeding of antibiotics to keep the animals from dying of infectious diseases. That the antibiotics speed up the animals’ growth also commends their use to industrial agriculture, but the crucial fact is that without these pharmaceuticals, meat production practiced on the scale and with the intensity we practice it could not be sustained for months, let alone decades. [This is defined as ‘unsustainable’ agriculture.]
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/16/magazine/16wwln-lede-t.html?_r=2&ref=magazine%3E&oref=slogin&oref=slogin



Illegally Imported Bush Meat Is An Ecological Threat & Health Concern:  Recent reports have shown that hundreds & thousands of pounds of bush meat are coming into the United States illegally every day.  In Africa, the unsustainable bush meat trade is wiping out wildlife including gorillas, chimpanzees, and many other endangered wildlife species.  More than one million tons of bush meat is taken from Central Africa each year - that's the equivalent of more than 9 BILLION quarter pound hamburgers!
In addition to the threat that the bushmeat crisis poses to wildlife, it also provides a way for diseases to hitchhike around the world. Diseases that jump from wildlife to humans account for 3/4 of all emerging infections diseases, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. These include SARS, Ebola, hantavirus and many others.

READ MORE >>
http://tinyurl.com/27tydf


PUT THE NATURAL BACK IN MEATS LABELED AS "NATURALLY RAISED":  Polls indicate that the average consumer believes meat labeled "Naturally Raised" comes from animals that have spent their drug-free lives freely roaming the pastures of a family farm, eating grass and hay, and being (at least somewhat) humanely slaughtered.  83% of consumers assume a "naturally raised" label means it came from an animal raised in a natural environment.   In stark contrast, the USDA, bowing, as usual, to pressure from corporate agribusiness, has released a standard for "Naturally Raised" meats that is so weak and misleading it would apply to a cloned animal, weaned on pig or cow blood plasma, raised in the confines of a factory farm, and fed a steady diet of genetically engineered grains.
Take Action:

http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/organizationsORG/oca/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=22287



Sonar Testing and Whales:  Since the late 1990s, the use of military sonar has been associated with whale strandings.  We have already seen its tragic consequences in Hawaii, Greece, the Bahamas, the Canary Islands, the northwest coast of the U.S., and Spain.  Experts agree that there's no doubt that exposure to sonar blasts can cause serious injury or death to whales, caused by hemorrhages or other tissue trauma. Necropsies performed on whales stranded in the Bahamas and the Canary Islands revealed hemorrhaging around the brain and in other organs, most likely due to acoustic trauma from the use of high intensity sonar.  For their Hawaii exercises, the Navy itself has acknowledged that its sonar will reach whales at levels up to 235 dB -- that's a hundred thousand times more intense than the levels at which the whales stranded in the Bahamas.  http://www.nrdc.org/wildlife/marine/sonar.asp
Watch this video to see how sonar testing affects marine mammals:
http://www.earthjustice.org/news/multimedia/video1/navy-sonar-whales.html
Note:  A federal judge had issued a preliminary injunction earlier this month requiring the Navy to create a 12-nautical-mile, no-sonar zone along the California coast and to post trained lookouts to watch for marine mammals before and during exercises. But, President Bush exempted the Navy from environmental law so it can continue using sonar in its anti-submarine warfare training off the California coast.
Take Action:
http://www.nrdconline.org/campaign/nrdcaction_092506_a
http://www.nrdc.org/action/

Dirty Fish Farms In The Gulf Of Mexico:  Farmed fish often carry diseases due to being raised in crowded cages, and can have genetic mutations. When large storms, hungry predators or human error cause damages to the fish pens, farmed fish escape and breed with wild populations, changing the genetic makeup of the natural fish and the environment.  Also, the concentrations of antibiotics, chemicals, fish feed, and fish excrement in the aquaculture areas end up polluting the surrounding environment, which can be devastating to essential fish habitat and other sensitive areas. Catching food to fatten farm-raised fish depletes the forage fish available to wild fish, and less wild food could mean less wild fish.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/editorial/5448353.html
Take Action:
http://action.healthygulf.org/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=12203

Freshwater Dolphin Goes Extinct:  The Baiji is now extinct.  This is the first extinction of a large vertebrate in over 50 years. The species (Lipotes vexillifer) was the only remaining member of the Lipotidae, an ancient mammal family that is understood to have separated from other marine mammals, including whales, dolphins and porpoises, about 40-20 million years ago.  Unlike most historical-era extinctions of large bodied animals, the baiji was the victim not of active persecution but incidental mortality resulting from massive-scale human environmental impacts - primarily uncontrolled and unselective fishing.  [ This is a significant sign post.  An intelligent creature that had survived for 20+ million years is now gone because of thoughtless & greedy human activities.]
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6935343.stm

Another Army Corps Of Engineering Boondoggle:  Described as "a boondoggle of the greatest magnitude," the Yazoo Pumps project is once again moving forward.   According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the Yazoo Pumps would drain over 200,000 acres of wetlands in Mississippi - more than nine times the amount of wetlands destroyed by private developers in an entire year nationwide.  The pumps would also harm two National Wildlife Refuges and important black bear habitat.  If approved the Yazoo Pumps would be the world's largest pumping system, and would cost federal taxpayers over $211 million.  In a throwback to another era - and contrary to federal wetland policy - the Pumps would be used to drain wetlands to allow more intensive agricultural production in floodplains.
Take Action:
http://action.healthygulf.org/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=21839



Bush’s Loyal EPA Administrator Steve Johnson:  Under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TOSCA), passed thirty years ago, EPA was supposed to test and remove from commerce dangerous chemicals.  Instead, Johnson is putting his agency's resources into helping chemical plants ‘conceal’ their use of toxic chemicals such as Tris [a mutagent fire retardant banned from children's pajamas back in the 1970's… this time as the second most widely used fire retardant in furniture foam, whence it can easily migrate into the bodies of children (and adults) who sit on furniture containing the substance].  Another dangerous neurotoxin and carcinogen, methyl iodide, is also being introduced into use as a fumigant on strawberries despite significant protests.
http://www.sierraclub.org/carlpope/2007/12/quiet-menace.asp
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2003929068_pesticide06.html


Arsenic & Lead Don't Belong In Our Water:  Coal ash, the toxic byproduct of coal-fired power plants, makes up the nation's second largest industrial waste stream, with more than 129 million tons generated each year.   It's loaded with arsenic, lead, and other toxins. Unsafe disposal methods of coal ash have poisoned water supplies across the country.  A common industry practice is to mix the pollutant-laden ash with water and dump the toxic brew into unlined or inadequately lined ponds, allowing pollutants to seep into drinking water supplies.  In other instances, the ash is dumped back into coalmines, another dubious disposal method.  A recent report by the EPA found the cancer risk posed by common types of coal ash disposal sites is 900 times above what is defined as "acceptable."  EPA promised in 2000 to regulate coal ash disposal.  But eight years have passed and officials have yet to act.
Note: 1/3 of USA CO2 emissions come from coal-fired electric power plants.
http://action.earthjustice.org/campaign/CoalAsh_011508?rk=s1ANu3p1KDZSE
Take Action:
http://action.earthjustice.org/campaign/CoalAsh_011508?rk=s1ANu3p1KDZSE
http://lungaction.org/campaign/EPA_lead?rk=ydsTGyYqmzNvE

~Man's heart away from nature becomes hard.~  Standing Bear





My Sister’s Weight Loss Plan:  She writes,"If you have tried everything and are still carrying a few extra pounds around, here is something that might work for you. You no longer need to buy the expensive formulas that don't always work.   I was skeptical since I was one that had used the more expensive formulas.  I'm so glad I gave this a try: 
“One thing I had noticed while using the more expensive formulas.  I lost the weight.  But as I got older I noticed fat increasing in certain areas.  I was still being careful with my diet so this was very discouraging.  After researching the issue I learned that as we age our muscle mass decreases and fat increases.  So this is where
Yerba Mate and CLA are very helpful.  Yerba Mate is a great and safe way to increase your metabolism.  Either by drinking the tea or by capsules.  I use both.  It has caffeine but not a large amount. 
Read the link I've supplied here:
http://www.rain-tree.com/yerbamate.htm 
“Another great supplement is CLA / Conjugated Linoleic Acid.  We used to get CLA in our meat, not so much any longer.  The cattle are not being fed the same way anymore.  We no longer have the CLA amounts needed in beef like we once had.  Because of this our bodies are not burning the fat properly.  It's being stored, adding unsightly fat to our bodies.  I myself am using CLA.  What a difference!  I noticed results within two weeks.  It is a slow but sure process.  I have been using it now for almost four months and I am still noticing positive changes.  I have not noticed a change in the scales.  More importantly, my pants are looser.”
Here is another link.
http://www.clamorweightloss.com/
http://www.mercola.com/beef/cla.htm

If you'd like to e-mail my sister with questions, use this address:

leekelly@q.com
Note: She's not selling anything... just trying to be helpful.



Why We Have The Health Care System That We Do:  During World War II, employers started giving workers health benefits to get around wartime wage controls. Since then, the government has continued to give a tax break for employer-provided health insurance; it isn't taxed, the way wages are.  That's how we ended up with the health-insurance system we have now, based on employers. You get a tax break if you get your insurance through your job. If you get a raise and use it to buy your own insurance instead, you have to pay taxes on that money. (Ditto if you use your raise to pay doctors directly.) Almost everyone takes the tax break. The market for insurance bought by individuals is, as a result, small and stunted, which is all the more reason to stay in the employer system… President Bush proposed letting people who buy insurance for themselves qualify for the break, too.
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1682269,00.html

If Auto Industry Operated Like Big Pharma: Things you might notice--  Your average car would cost $4.5 million, representing a 30,000% markup over cost, which is typical for prescription drugs.  Automakers would justify this price by saying they needed the money to fund research and development, but in reality, most of their research would be funded by taxpayer dollars through government grants and university research centers.  That exact same car could be purchased in Mexico or Canada for under $5,000.  Plus, automakers would lobby Congress to outlaw or regulate alternative forms of transportation such as bicycles and airplanes, forcing Americans to rely exclusively on cars.  Explanation: the drug industry works hard to discredit alternative medicine, herbs and nutritional supplements, hoping to force consumers to rely on drugs alone.
http://www.newstarget.com/009844.html

There are two drug-industry lobbyists…  for every member of Congress.  Business Week

Canada’s Single Payer Health Care System Causes Unnecessary Suffering:  It’s a ‘sick’ bureaucratic system.
(05:35) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_Rf42zNl9U

Green Tea Helps Moderate Diabetics:  A compound in green tea, EGCG (epigallocatechin gallate), works as well in moderately diabetic mice as GlaxoSmithKline’s diabetes drug Avandia.  In the study, 5-week-old moderately diabetic and severely diabetic mice were fed EGCG or given Avandia.  After five and 10 weeks of treatment, the blood sugar and insulin levels of the mice were tested.  Moderately diabetic mice did just as well on the green tea extract as they did on Avandia. Severely diabetic mice did not benefit as much from EGCG.  Researchers said the EGCG, though less potent than Avandia, “exerted changes that were similarly beneficial.”  Upon examining the mice’s pancreases at the end of the study, the researchers found that EGCG preserved insulin-producing tissue and limited damage that could worsen diabetes.
http://tinyurl.com/2x7yat

High Blood Sugar Kills Sex Life:  High levels of sugar in your bloodstream can turn off the gene that controls your sex hormones.   The simple sugars, glucose and fructose, are metabolized in your liver, with the excess stored as fat lipids.  Excess fat synthesis deactivates your SHBG (sex hormone binding globulin) gene, causing your levels of SHBG protein to drop dramatically, and it is this SHBG protein that controls your testosterone and estrogen levels.  Too little SHBG protein means your body will produce too much testosterone and estrogen, which increases your chances of acne, infertility, polycystic ovaries, uterine cancer, and heart disease…  low levels of SHBG in a person’s blood means the liver’s metabolic rate is out of whack… it’s actually the liver’s metabolism of sugar that counts.
http://www.physorg.com/news113902673.html
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2007/12/01/too-much-sugar-kills-your-sex-life.aspx

GENETICALLY ENGINEERED SUGAR TO HIT STORES IN 2008:  American Crystal and several other leading U.S. sugar providers will be sourcing their sugar from genetically engineered (GE) sugar beets beginning this year.  Like GE corn and GE soy, products containing GE sugar will not be labeled as such.  Since half of the granulated sugar in the U.S. comes from sugar beets, a move towards biotech beets marks a dramatic alteration of the U.S. food supply. These sugars, along with GE corn and soy, are found in many conventional food products, so consumers will be exposed to genetically engineered ingredients in just about every non-organic multiple-ingredient product they purchase.  The GE sugar beet is designed to withstand strong doses of Monsanto's controversial broad spectrum Roundup herbicide. Studies indicate farmers planting "Roundup Ready" corn and soy spray large amounts of the herbicide, contaminating both soil and water. Farmers planting GE sugar beets are told they may be able to apply the herbicide up to five times per year. 
Take Action: 11/29/07 “Stop GE Sugar”
http://www.organicconsumers.org/gelink.cfm

Transfats & Saturated Fats Disrupt Heart’s Electricity Flow:  Most people know that eating the wrong kind of fat can cause a heart attack…but even worse news is attributable to ‘trans fats’ and ‘saturated fats’ -- they can also wreak havoc with the electricity in your heart, worsening the severity of heart attacks and increasing the risk of death.  They discovered that in addition to affecting the heart vessels, “bad” fats also affect the cells of the heart, causing an excessive build-up of calcium within the cells, and disrupting the rhythm of electricity flow in your heart.
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2007/08/06/trans-fats-disrupt-electricity-in-the-heart.aspx
http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=0d076ecb-9d31-44b7-8cbd-e48b9c3e98e2

Electromagnetic Fields (EMF) Debate Continues:  Researchers looked at a database of 850 patients diagnosed with lymphatic and bone marrow cancers between 1972 and 1980, and found that living for a prolonged period near high-voltage power lines may increase the risk of leukemia, lymphoma and related conditions later in life.  Those who lived within 328 yards of a power line up to age 5 were five times more likely to develop cancer, while those who lived that close to a power line at any point during their first 15 years were three times more likely to develop cancer as an adult, the newspaper said.
http://physorg.com/news107180850.html

Deadly Cell Phone Incident:  A Korean man was found dead, killed by a cell phone battery explosion.  The cell phone was made by LG Electronics.  The man was found dead by his co-workers at a quarry in North Chungcheong Province where he was employed as a shovel operator. According to the co-worker who found him, "He had a mobile phone with a melted battery in his left shirt pocket. His shirt had soot on it in the shape of the phone."  Professor Kim Hoon at Chungbuk National University, who examined the body, attributed the death to a phone battery explosion.  He was injured on the left side of his chest. His ribs and spine were broken. The explosion punctured his heart and lungs, leading to his death,
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2007/12/20/cell-phones-can-literally-kill-you.aspx

Top-of-the-line Running Shoes Can Be Hazardous:  The most expensive athletic shoes can be the worst shock absorbers.  Overall, the cheapest shoes provide the best shock absorption.  Indeed, some of the extra features on expensive shoes often impair the shoes’ ability to cushion shock.  Research shows that running with the most expensive shoes can increase shin splints and joint pain by 123%  The New Scientist

Helping Women In Poverty Drove The Development of Oral Contraceptives?:   When the birth control pill was first approved by the FDA in 1957, it was as a treatment for menstrual disorders.  It’s not as though women were clamoring for a new form of birth control…. but at least one woman was clamoring / Activist Margaret Sanger, the founder of Planned Parenthood, had made headlines in the early 1900s with her efforts to educate women about contraceptives like condoms and the diaphragms & to make them available to women living in poverty. U.S. News & World Report

Healthy Fasting:  People who skip meals once a month are 40% less likely to have clogged arteries as those who do not fast regularly.   Researchers suggest that periodic fasting forces your body to burn fat and also gives it a break from making insulin to metabolize sugar.   Fasting may therefore help to resensitize insulin-producing cells and make them work better.  Taking food away for 24 hours may help by removing the body's exposure to glucose and giving the heart's arteries a rest, allowing them to re-set.  Note: Diabetics, however, are never encouraged to skip meals.
http://tinyurl.com/ytm65u

~If your dog is fat, you're not getting enough exercise. ~  Anonymous

Where Will Santa Claus Live?:  After the Arctic is ice-free, what will we tell the youngsters about Santa’s domicile?  The North Pole will become free of year round ice in the next decade or two.  Probably the best choice is to ship him off to the South Pole (with Superman's Fortress of Solitude).  Indeed, the fact that Santa lives at the North Pole is no doubt a residue of our general Northern-hemisphere-centric worldview.  How ironic would it be to outsource Santa to the Southern hemisphere?  Not the Antarctic Peninsula or West Antarctic ice sheet, of course, since those may not last the century -- we don't want to keep moving him! -- but much of the East Antarctic ice sheet will probably hopefully be around for centuries, and, in any case, Antarctica is a real continent, so even when the ice is gone, Santa can still have his whole operation above water.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/huffpost/20071224/cm_huffpost/078149

Undeniable ‘Inconvenient Truths’:  Despite the fact that the sun’s output is somewhat slightly variable, scientific proof of Earth’s rapid atmospheric temperature increase during the past few decades is inescapable.  Temperature records since 1880 showing that the ten hottest years ever measured in this atmospheric record have all occurred in the last fourteen years… and CO2 levels have been dramatically skyrocketing since 1960. 
[NOTE: Methane hydrates in the melting permafrost are just now starting to slowly be released into the air & methane is 20+ times more of a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide is.  As the Earth’s atmospheric temperatures increase, the oceans’ also slowly increase.  At some point in time, the massive volumes of methane hydrate in the ocean floors  (more than twice the continental reserves of all fossil fuels combines) will begin to be released.  Not only will Global Warming become a climatic nightmare, the fact that methane interacts with oxygen molecules and binds them will reduce the levels of free oxygen.  The last time this occurred was during the Permian Extinction when oceanic methane hydrates were released and oxygen levels were dramatically reduced.  Gore may eventually wind up  looking like he was a naive optimist to my great-grandkids. Our next evolutionary stage of development will set in… perhaps those that may survive this might become ‘Homo sapiens supernus’.]
http://www.domain-b.com/environment/20071210_global_warming_part2.ht

BP Doesn’t Mean ‘Beyond Petroleum’:  The multinational oil and gas producer, BP, is facing a head-on confrontation with Greenpeace after it announced its decision to invest heavily in extracting so-called "oil sands" that lie beneath the Canadian province of Alberta and form the world's second-largest proven oil reserves after Saudi Arabia.  Producing crude oil from the tar sands  generates four times more carbon dioxide than conventional drilling. The booming oil sands industry will produce 100 million tons of CO2 a year, ensuring that Canada will miss its emission targets under the Kyoto treaty.  The oil rush is also scarring a wilderness landscape: millions of tons of plant life and top soil is scooped away in vast open-pit mines and millions of liters of water are diverted from rivers and the process requires huge amounts of natural gas.
http://www.alternet.org/environment/70299/

Big Oil Emasculates Renewable Energy:  The Senate voted by an overwhelming margin of 86-8 to approve the first increase in fuel economy standards in more than three decades. Unfortunately, provisions to require renewable electricity production and a plan to shift billions in giveaways away from Big Oil's bottom line to renewable energy were left on the cutting room floor thanks to the efforts of one man: Senator Pete Domenici of New Mexico. 
http://sierra.convio.net/site/MessageViewer?em_id=37721.0&dlv_id=36661
http://www.sierraclub.org/domenici/

5,000 Mile Supergrid Of Wind Generators Proposed For Europe:  A proposal to build a 5,000-mile electricity Supergrid, stretching from Siberia to Morocco and Egypt to Iceland, would slash Europe's CO2 emissions by a quarter say…  would make the use of renewable energy, particularly wind power, so reliable and cheap that it would replace fossil fuels on an unprecedented scale, serving 1.1 billion people in 50 countries. Europe's 1.25bn tons of annual CO2 output from electricity generation would be wiped out.  Building the Supergrid would require an investment of $80bn, plus the cost of the wind turbines -- a fraction of the €1 trillion the EU expects to pay for a 20 percent reduction of its carbon footprint by 2020. The average price of the electricity generated would be just 4.6 euro cents per kWh, competitive with today's rates, which are likely to rise as fossil fuels run out.
[My Comment: To people like me that signed on for Austin’s Green Power option (wind generated electricity) years ago, we can see that this is going to be a significant energy cost savings.  So, even if one doesn’t believe in man influenced global warming, one should at least be able to see the advantages in cost reduction and pollution/health hazard reductions from renewable energy production.  Hydrocarbons and nuclear energy sources will eventually become outmoded… and nuclear fussion is too far distant to do us any good.]
http://www.alternet.org/environment/69888/

Petrocracy – Connection between petroleum and autocracy:  From Russia under Vladimir Putin to Muammar Qadhafi's Libya to Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez to Iran’s Mullahs and many more, oil is a pillar of autocracy.  The great democratic wave of the last quarter century has bypassed the oil lands. The oil lands are ‘distributive’ states.  Wealth comes to the rulers, they dispose of it, they distribute it to cronies, they punish and overwhelm their would-be challengers at home, and they use it abroad way beyond the limits of their societies.  With oil wealth, the tiny principality of Qatar has launched and sustained a television channel, Al Jazeera, that gives this small land a voice way beyond its demography and weight in the balance of nations. Right next door is Saudi Arabia, an antimodernist cultural with rigid restrictions (e.g., a religious ban on women driving cars) that persist because, at the very least, oil grants that society waiver from the imperatives of economic rationality.
http://www.usnews.com/articles/opinion/fajami/2007/12/19/the-powers-of-petrocracy.html

Advanced Countries To Take Lead In Curbing Global Warming:  Carbon dioxide accounts for two-thirds of global warming caused by human activity.  Carbon dioxide concentrations are now at the highest level in at least 650,000 years, based on evidence from air preserved in Antarctic ice cores, but many scientists believe current readings are unprecedented for hundreds of millions of years. The United States and China are the biggest CO2 emitters.  75% of the greenhouse gases released as a result of human activity are from advanced countries… ‘reversing deforestation’ and ‘increasing energy efficiency’ of world economies must occur if we have any hope of beginning a turn around on global warming.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20071203.wbalicarbon03/BNStory/International/home

What’s Your Connection To Mountaintop Removal?:  Mountaintop removal is a radical form of coal mining where entire mountains are literally blown up -- devastating communities throughout Appalachia, polluting drinking water and destroying rivers. And the worst part is, you're paying for it…  you are on the electric grid and are connected to mountaintop removal in the Appalachian Mountains. 
Click on the link below and find out how -- and then find out what you can do about it.
http://www.ilovemountains.org/myconnection/

Googling For Renewable Energy:  Google is again at the forefront of technology - but this time not about one of its own latest creations. Google "plans to spend hundreds of millions of dollars in coming years to promote a new push to encourage cheap renewable electricity."  They're calling it their "Renewable Energy Cheaper than Coal"  goal and Google co-founder Larry Page said they want to produce one gigawatt of renewable energy that's cheaper than coal. A gigawatt can power a city the size of San Francisco.  "We are optimistic this can be done in years, not decades," Page said.
http://sierraclub.typepad.com/cleanenergywatch/

First Hybrid Built 100 Years Ago:  The first hybrid car is a 100-year-old Porsche! The car had in-wheel electric motors and an onboard gas engine to recharge the batteries.  Unfortunately, Porsche didn't see any reason to continue development of these hybrid vehicles, as gasoline became exceptionally cheap, and the extra electric motors were prohibitively expensive.  And now, 100 years later, the last thing Porsche is concerned with is efficiency. Porsche will have one of their antique electric cars on display at this week's Los Angeles Auto Show. They're using it to promote their new green initiative. Unfortunately, there's no real story there, as Porsche seems to be more interested in luxury SUVs…. GM has though, by producing the Chevy Volt.
http://www.ecogeek.org/content/view/1131/

Easy Tips For A ‘Greener’ Life’ Saves Money:  Turn off your computer and monitor when not in use… this is not bad for your computer and hasn’t been since the days of mainframe computing.   On average, idle machines use 11% of a home’s electricity… so ‘turn them off’!!! & plug electronics into power strips and turn the power strips off when the equipment is not in use.   Lower the thermostat on your hot water heater to 120° F.   Use compact fluorescent light bulbs… they produce 75% less heat (i.e. energy) than regular light bulbs and can last up to 10 times longer. 
More tips:
http://tinyurl.com/2ep3a7

~ In life, you’re first given an opportunity to make things right.  If you don’t, it becomes a challenge; and, then it finally it becomes a crisis.  We’re now coming upon an energy crisis.~  Everyman




Japanese Pool Championships (Must be seen to be believed):
http://youtube.com/watch?v=t0aCJs_vxUE

“Dancing In Paris” Isuzu Gemini Ad Is An Upbeat Classic (03:36):
Is packed with stunt scenes and has a cool music beat.
http://www.vidly.net/video-isuzu-gemini-dancing-in-paris.html

Black & White TV Shows (Nostalgia):
http://objflicks.com/WhenLifewasInBlack&White.htm

Music & Cars - Nostalgia Of 50s and 60s:
http://thefiftiesandsixties.com/CarsWeDrove.htm

For Vintage Car Enthusiasts:
http://www.greatdanepro.com/Classic%20Cars/classic%20cars.htm

Ads From Yesteryear: To view closeups, click on the icon in the lower right hand corner of each ad:
http://adholes.com/postings/131350779274ab6c4b643d781cf6e0e9

For Texas Natives & Those Applying For Texas Citizenship:
04:28  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGukLuXzH1E

Einstein The Gray Parrot Delights:
http://www.upchucky.net/flash-fun/smart-bird.html

Sounds Of The Sea:  Here's a taste of what's going on down there:
http://dsc.discovery.com/convergence/blueplanet/sounds/sounds.html

Still Image Shows Nicotine Stimulates Pleasure Center Of Brain:  Use this as ‘portal’ to many other fantastic photographs.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/09/photogalleries/science-pictures/photo4.html

Enjoy Over 3,000 Pictures Of Clouds: 
http://www.cloudappreciationsociety.org/gallery/index.php?showimage=3182

~If you're yearning for the good old days, just turn off the air conditioning.~ Griff Niblack


Sufism -- Antidote To Islamic Extremism:  Sufism has appealed to seekers attracted by its disciplined spiritual practices as well as its respect for all faiths and emphasis on universal love.  Across the Muslim world, Sufism has been an influential force throughout Islamic history, though it has frequently come under attack by more “orthodox” Muslims.  Some consider it an Islamic heresy because Sufis go beyond the faith's basic tenets and pursue a direct union with God.  Many Muslims today, however, see the spiritual tradition as the potential answer to the extremism that has hijacked the faith and misrepresented it to the world.  In the Islamic world, Sufism is the most powerful antidote to the religious radicalism called fundamentalism as well as the most important source for responding to the challenges posed by modernism. 
[My Comment: Islamic fundamentalists (indeed fundamentalists of any religion) mistake religious dogma for spiritual tenets.  Such that, if belief in God is dependent on ‘literally’ believing that the Earth was created in 6+1 solar days, then faith is built on shaky ground.  Science does not threaten genuine faith / it reinforces (that is, if one has higher order thinking skills).  Modernity threatens fundamentalists because they feel lost & afraid in a world that’s become increasingly beyond their ‘basic’ understanding…. hence their overreactionary behavior.]
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/1205/p13s02-lire.html
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071217/ap_on_re_mi_ea/hajj_reporter_s_notebook

Matchmaking In Mecca:  Modernization is occurring all over the world, even Mecca.  In the Muslim world, it’s increasingly difficult for practicing Muslims to find suitable mates.  And what better place to find a devote Muslim than one at Mecca on his/her ‘hajj’ (Islamic pilgrimage).  3 million+ pilgrims will visit Mecca.. and the numbers are increasing.. which requires increased infrastructure being built to handle the physical needs of this many people – which lessens that feeling of ol’ time religion in the holy land for Ishmael’s descendants.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/1205/p01s01-wome.html

Mecca Before Muhammed:  While Mecca today is the holiest city to Muslims, it was an oasis town and major crossroads on Arab trade routes long before Muhammad's birth in the year 570.  Governed by merchants, it witnessed constant blood feuding among nomadic, kinship-based tribes that roamed the surrounding desert.   But for a month every year, desert clans declared a moratorium on fighting and embarked on a pilgrimage, descending on Mecca to trade and worship at the shrines of ‘360 polytheistic idols’. The city's religious focal point was a hollow stone temple, the Kaaba, surrounded by effigies but devoted to the powerful pre-Islamic god Allah (which in Arabic means "the god").
http://www.usnews.com/articles/news/sacred-places/2007/11/16/the-enduring-call-of-islams-holiest-city.html

Mecca’s Biblical Roots:  Mecca’s beginnings lie in the ancient story of Abraham and his first son, Ishmael.  Banished by Abraham's jealous wife, Sarah, Ishmael and his mother, Hagar, wandered the desert in exile, searching for water. Eventually, God commanded a spring to appear, saving the two from death. According to Islamic tradition, Abraham later visited the spot and erected a temple to serve as God's house on Earth: the Kaaba. Today, the Kaaba stands empty, save for lamps to illuminate its interior. The modern-day ‘hajj’ consists of rituals re-enacting the stories of Ishmael, Hagar, and Abraham… to commemorate Ishmael and Hagar's wandering… and the holy spring.  At one corner of the Kaaba is the revered Black Stone, said to be from God (some say it is a meteorite).
[Note: There’s a lot of controversy and conjecture surrounding the story of Abraham and his two sons, Ishmael and Isaac, and the promises God made to each.  Suffice it to say that, true to biblical form, the descendants of these two siblings (Muslims and Jews/ hence Christians?) are acting out a sibling rivalry encouraged by the jealousy of rival mothers.  One of the things that these groups agree on is ‘circumcision’ (a sign of keeping their covenant with God).]
http://www.usnews.com/articles/news/sacred-places/2007/11/16/the-enduring-call-of-islams-holiest-city.html

Islamic Do-gooder Is Jailed:  A Nigerian convert to Islam was jailed for helping his elderly female neighbor when he found her sick and took her to the hospital.  He was arrested and charged with being alone with a woman not of his family.  Riyadh Arab News  [This is what happens when dogma overrides common sense.]

Nouveau Christians:  People of the postmodern mindset (neotraditionalists) question the hyperindividualism of modern culture. They search for new forms of community but tend to be wary of authority figures and particularly of leaders who take divisive liberal or conservative social-political positions—one reason why the emergent groups tend to be antipastoral…. the young neotraditionalists also have an almost intuitive attraction to liturgy, ritual, and symbol as forms of knowledge that complement the dominant rational, scientific one… such leaves behind the fundamentalists’ need to make all religious propositions into ‘pseudoscientific statements (e.g., turn Genesis into a geology textbook).
[My Comment: A religion that is not steadily evolving is probably slowly stagnating / solidifying / petrifying.  It may still serve the needs of some people who are raising their levels of consciousness to the level that it’s at, but it cannot be considered suitable indefinitely for mankind’s’ future.  If and when there’s an eventual Second Coming Of Christ, the message He brings will not be simply a restatement of the first, it’ll be expressed in much higher terms than it was the first time around.  And the Fundamentalists’ church hierarchy is not likely to recognize Him or accept His message & will most likely play the role the Sanhedrin did. ]
http://www.usnews.com/articles/news/national/2007/12/13/a-return-to-tradition.html

Why Celebrate Christmas In The Winter When Christ Was Born In the Spring?:  Early Christians celebrated the festival alongside Pagans and church leaders, seeing these practices under way, simply appropriated the date for the birth of Jesus as Christianity grew and became the dominant religion of the empire throughout the fourth and fifth centuries…  Dec. 25 was a bequest of the solar cult to Christianity, converted into Christmas Day. Legal codes laid down by the emperors Theodosius I and later Justinian made Christianity the state religion and banned Paganism.  Church leaders were generally tolerant of people taking old practices and adding a Christian gloss to them.  Overt worship of Pagan gods disappeared but the Dec.25 date - and many residual practices associated with the old festival - remained.
http://www.alternet.org/stories/69928/

Kentucky Museum Depicts Creationism:  With exhibits depicting Adam and Eve living with dinosaurs 6,000 years ago & T.rex surviving the Great Flood aboard the Noah’s ark, this museum is tailored to swaying schoolchildren towards Christian fundamentalistic views.  There are 52 videos in the museum, one showing how the transformations wrought by the eruption of Mount St. Helens in 1980 reveal how plausible it is that the waters of Noah’s flood could have carved out the Grand Canyon within days. There is a special-effects theater complete with vibrating seats meant to evoke the flood, and a planetarium paying tribute to God’s glory while exploring the nature of galaxies.  Its 60,000 square feet of exhibits are often stunningly designed by Patrick Marsh, who designed the “Jaws” and “King Kong” attractions at Universal Studios in Florida.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/24/arts/24crea.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
http://www.creationmuseum.org/about

Noah’s Flood Dated?:  Almost every culture has a legend about a great flood, and many of them mention something like a comet on a collision course with Earth just before the disaster. The Bible describes a deluge for 40 days and 40 nights. In the Gilgamesh Epic, the hero of Mesopotamia saw a pillar of black smoke on the horizon before the sky went dark for a week. Afterward, a cyclone pummeled the Fertile Crescent and caused a massive flood. Myths recounted in indigenous South American cultures also tell of a great flood.  Among 175 flood myths, two are of great interest: a Hindu myth describes an alignment of the five bright planets that has happened only once in the last 5,000 years, according to computer simulations, and a Chinese story mentions that the great flood occurred at the end of the reign of Empress Nu Wa. Cross-checking historical records with astronomical data, Masse came up with a date for his event: May 10, 2807 B.C.
http://tinyurl.com/2xn97s

‘Easy-to-read’ Geologic Ages Of Earth History: 
http://dinosauria.com/dml/dmlf.htm

Mormon Fundamentalist Beliefs:
06:15 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5dscqcNOGM

Holy Bible vs. Book of Mormon-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1mFdO1wB08
[My Comment: It should be noted that not many of your average Mormons take the Book of Mormon literally… nor do they believe the extreme ideas of the Mormon elitists.  Just as your average Protestant and Catholic does not take every biblical story literally & do not subscribe to the extreme apocalyptic views of evangelicals.]

My Editorial: 
Fundamentalists aka Literalists:  The Old Testament bears witness to the rise of ‘monotheism’ in Western Culture.  Its description of Jehovah is more a projection of its peoples’ conception of Him than it is of God.  Those who take the Old Testament too literally are themselves overtly struggling with the same things that the Old Testament portrays.  It requires a more enlightened outlook to assimilate the message that Christ brought --  thus, the ‘literal minded’ fail to grasp much of what He really said.  The parables given in the New Testament were not only for Christ’s protection against the ‘literal minded’ and dogmatic of his own time, but also for requiring us to reach for the higher branches in the Tree of Knowledge.

The Original Sin:  My view is that, sinfulness is “a condition of Man apart from God”.  After Earth was created by heavenly forces and life evolved to the point of being able to sustain “Consciousness”, it became necessary for Adam and Eve to eat from the Tree-of-Knowledge-of-Good-and-Evil.  This describes the internalization of information (consciousness) & awareness of right and wrong (conscienceness).  [ Also pertinent in this is the tree' s name, for "knowledge" in Hebrew is also a euphemism for sexuality. Our awareness of our sexuality means that we’re not merely ‘naked apes’.  We are sentient creatures.]

Karma & The ‘Eleven’ Commandments:  Karma is the “Absolute Law of Cause and Effect”…. it is a “spiritual law”  that has direct physical manifestations.  When we apply the right cause, we can enjoy the right benefit.  We were given the Ten Commandments so we could demonstrate love toward God and love toward our neighbor.  The first four commandments show us how to love Him and the last six how to love our neighbor.  Christ admonished us to love thy neighbor as thyself.  All religions have The Golden Rule at their core… but most do stray from this primary  tenet.

~May God grant me the serenity to accept the people I cannot change, the courage to change the one I can, and the wisdom to know it’s me.~  John G. Miller