Hear Gary Null every day at Noon (ET) on
Progressive Radio Network!
Or listen on the go with the brand new PRN mobile app!
Click to download!
Forging his way through the predictable UK media censorship: Dr Andrew Wakefield Responds to Measles Outbreak in Swansea
October 6, 2011 Our life experiences – the ups and downs, and everything in between – shape us, stay with us and influence our emotional set point as adults, according to a new study led by Virginia Commonwealth University researchers. The study suggests that, in addition to our genes, our life experiences are important influences on our levels of anxiety and depression.
October 6, 2011 By Robert Reich
Today Ben Bernanke added his voice to those who are worried about Europe’s debt crisis.
But why exactly should America be so concerned? Yes, we export to Europe – but those exports aren’t going to dry up. And in any event, they’re tiny compared to the size of the U.S. economy.
If you want the real reason, follow the money. A Greek (or Irish or Spanish or Italian or Portugese) default would have roughly the same effect on our financial system as the implosion of Lehman Brothers in 2008.
Financial chaos.
Investors are already getting the scent. Stocks slumped to 13-month low on Monday as investors dumped Wall Street bank shares.
The Street has lent only about $7 billion to Greece, as of the end of last year, according to the Bank for International Settlements. That’s no big deal.
But a default by Greece or any other of Europe’s debt-burdened nations could easily pummel German and French banks, which have lent Greece (and the other wobbly European countries) far more.
That’s where Wall Street comes in. Big Wall Street banks have lent German and French banks a bundle.
The Street’s total exposure to the euro zone totals about $2.7 trillion. Its exposure to to France and Germany accounts for nearly half the total.
October 6, 2011 Terra Daily
Tokyo (AFP) Oct 5, 2011
http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Nuclear_contamination_found_beyond_Japan_no-go_zone_999.html
High levels of radioactive contamination have been found in soil in the capital of Japan's Fukushima prefecture, a study showed Wednesday, prompting calls to make the area a voluntary evacuation zone.
Some 307,000 becquerels of caesium per kilogramme (2.2 pounds) of soil was detected in an independent survey conducted on September 14 by a radiological engineering expert and citizens' groups.
The Japanese government's legal limit is 10,000 becquerels per kilogramme.
The contamination is believed to have been caused by radiation that has leaked from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, which was crippled by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.
The development comes days after Japan lifted evacuation advisories for five areas between 20-30 kilometres from the nuclear plant and as it looks to convince tens of thousands of people that it is safe to return home.
The groups tested soil samples from several areas near central Fukushima some 60 kilometres (35 miles) away from the plant.
"We are urging the central and local governments to have children and expecting mothers evacuated from the areas," said Takeshi Sakagami, a member of Citizens Against Fukushima Aging Nuclear Power Plants.
Sakagami said his group was calling on authorities to at least designate the area as a non-mandatory evacuation zone due to the level of contamination.
A 9.0-magnitude quake on March 11 triggered a monster tsunami that left 20,000 dead or missing and crippled cooling systems at the Fukushima plant, northeast of Tokyo, causing reactor meltdowns.
Radiation leaks forced the evacuation of tens of thousands of people from a 20-kilometre radius around the troubled plant, and in some pockets beyond.
On Friday the government said it would lift five "evacuation preparation" zones between 20 and 30 kilometres from the plant, where residents were not forced to evacuate but were told to be ready to do so in the event of further setbacks at the crippled plant.
Public confidence in the safety of Japan's nuclear plants has plummeted in the wake of the disaster, with only 10 of the nation's 54 reactors currently online.
Reactors will be required to undergo stress-testing and need the approval of local authorities before restarting.
On Tuesday a nuclear reactor in southwestern Japan was automatically shut down due to a problem with its cooling system, but operator Kyushu Electric said no abnormalities had been detected.
October 6, 2011 Terra Daily
Helsinki (AFP) Oct 5, 2011
The Finnish government and major insurance companies announced Wednesday they will pay for lifetime medical care for children diagnosed with narcolepsy after receiving the swine flu vaccine.
"The compensation will provide much-needed financial assistance for the families, although it cannot take away the emotional distress caused by this condition," Social Services and Health Minister Paula Risikko said in a statement.
Finnish and international researchers recently found a conclusive link between the Pandemrix swine flu vaccine and new cases of narcolepsy, a chronic nervous system disorder which causes people to often uncontrollably fall asleep.
The Finnish Pharmaceutical Insurance Pool (LVP), which represents insurance companies, said Wednesday it would honour all insurance claims in this category.
LVP said it would review each claim individually to calculate the scope of the payout.
The Finnish government meanwhile agreed to cover any medical costs exceeding the insurance claims.
In Finland, 79 children between the ages of four and 19 developed narcolepsy after receiving the Pandemrix vaccine in 2009 and 2010.
Of these cases, an unusually high number, 76, also suffered from bouts of cataplexy, suffering hallucinations or paralysing physical collapses, according to Finnish research.
October 6, 2011 We have learned nothing since Katrina. Our decrepit water and gas systems have been around for sixty to eighty years. Our roads, bridges and tunnels and levees are in a state of abject disrepair. We have not taken the crucial step of constructing emergency facilities in our cities and towns. Besides putting many people to work, building these facilities would provide some semblance of civility during a time of crisis. People would be able to take refuge and have access to medical clinics and food banks. The current response network that relies on the Red Cross, FEMA and the National Guard during times of crisis is dangerously inadequate. Now imagine that something could dwarf all of this; something that could kill tens of millions of Americans and cause at least half of America to experience life as if they were living in a Mad Max film. Imagine that a gigantic mass of plasma is released from the sun and heads directly for the Earth. Even though we have been assured that we can withstand such an event, the power of this coronal mass ejection overwhelms our electric grids and fries our power substations rendering them beyond repair. Our communications satellites are also severely damaged during the solar event and are unable to function. We are not told what has happened. When we pick up our phones, there is no dial tone. When we turn on the radio, we hear nothing. We head out to the street to ask our neighbors what has happened but nobody seems to know. The first inconvenience we notice is that our air conditioning is not working during the stifling heat of a warm summer day. Or worse still, our heat has been cut off as temperatures dip below thirty degrees.
October 6, 2011 To paraphrase one of Bob Dylan's songs of youthful protest, "Something's happening here, and you don't know what it is, do you Ms. Bellafante?" A New York Times writer, Ginia Bellafante, is but one of many establishment reporters and pundits who've been covering the fledgling "Occupy Wall Street " movement — but completely missing the story. Instead of really digging into what's "happening here," they've resorted to fuddy-duddy mockery of an important populist protest that has sprouted right in Wall Street's own neighborhood. In a September article, Bellafante dismissed the young people's effort as "fractured and airy," calling it a "carnival" in an "intellectual vacuum." Their cause is so "diffuse and leaderless," she wrote, that its purpose is "virtually impossible to decipher." No wonder, she concluded, that participation in the movement is "dwindling."
October 6, 2011 Bob Dylan might not have had that idea exactly when he wrote his folk song that described a movement kicked up in the famous '60's but in effect, he did. British biologist Rupert Sheldrake hadn't yet updated his version of the concept by then, but the notion still existed. And now, as when Dylan was most vocal, there is much afoot. It doesn't always look so pretty, in fact, it rarely does--what with wars raging sponsored by the USA, Big Pharma doing all it can with its government agents, the FDA, to squash our access to nutritional supplements or Monsanto's attempt to control all seed and food production across the globe with governmental cooperation, nation-to-nation. Yes, things don't look good when you see it only through these lenses.
October 6, 2011 In the European Union, only eight countries (out of 27) commercially grow GMOs. Cultivations, however, decreased steadily since 2009, except in Spain and Portugal this year, where there is a slight increase. A brief overview of the different official data is collected below [1] In Spain and Portugal, plantings of genetically modified Bt maize has increased slightly between 2010 and 2011. These two countries grow over 90% of transgenic crops in the European Union. In other countries, the trend is consistent with what was found in February 2011 — that of a significant reduction of land devoted to transgenic crops, either Monsanto’s Bt Mon810 corn, or BASF’s Amflora potato.
October 6, 2011 Crops are wilting, schools have shut their toilets and government officials are bathing in lagoons because of a severe shortage of fresh water in a swath of the south Pacific. The island groups of Tuvalu and Tokelau have declared emergencies, relying on bottled water and seeking more desalination machines. Parts ofSamoa are starting to ration water.
October 6, 2011 Occupy Wall Street has already weathered the usual early storms. The kept media ignored the protest, but that failed to end it. The partisans of inequality mocked it, but that failed to end it. The police servants of the status quo over-reacted and that failed to end it – indeed, it fueled the fire. And millions looking on said, "Wow!" And now, ever more people are organising local, parallel demonstrations – from Boston to San Francisco and many places between.
