Adrian Salbuchi - Obama's Total War Doctrine: Intense and Constant Psychological Warfare. "Total War" against All Countries

President Obama promised change, but there's little of it in his war policies, which are harsher than those of George W. Bush. US drone bombings often target not just "terrorists" but all "military-age males in a strike zone as combatants." "Unless there is explicit posthumous intelligence proving otherwise", that is. As an extensive recent report in The New York Times explains, for all practical purposes Obama is applying what can best be described as a Total War Doctrine, bringing government, military and media propaganda PsyWar under one strategy.

The concept of "Total War" - war involving not just the military but all civilians irrespective of age or sex, together with the entire infrastructure of a country - became a horrible reality during the 20th century, driven for the most part by steering scientific discoveries and technological progress towards unlimited use in warfare. Total War is very much alive today and is being spearheaded by the United States and its Allies. This is being abetted on all fronts by US, European and global mainstream media that willingly oblige. 

Read More:

http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=31265

Ed Silverman - FDA Does A Poor Job Of Communicating Recalls

The FDA has two systems for alerting physicians to product recalls, yet 20 percent of recalls for Class I products – which are the likeliest to cause patient harm – were not communicated through either system between 2004 and 2011, according to an analysis published in the Archives of Internal Medicine. The upshot? Health care providers may not be aware of recalls that threaten patient safety, despite FDA efforts to upgrade its alerts.

“Drug recalls in the United States are common and often involve serious defects that pose health risks to patients. Given the large number of affected units per recall and the widespread distribution of these units, solutions are needed to minimize patient harm when recalls occur,” the researchers write. They note that recalls take place nearly once a month in the US and usually involve thousands of units of products distributed nationwide and beyond. Overall, the most common reason for the recalls were contamination and a wrong dose or release mechanism.

They researchers reached this conclusion after examining 1,734 recall entries in the FDA Enforcement Reports, of which 91, or 5 percent, were Class I recalls. During the same period, the FDA issued 2,912 Recall Alert System announcements, of which 166 were major human drug recalls for 126 unique products. Only 55, or 47 percent, were Class I recalls, but the agency did not a Recall Alert System notice for 36 of those, or 40 percent. Yet half of that group, or 18, were communicated through the Medwatch program, including all five recalls sent due to adverse events. However, 18 of the 91 Class I recalls, or 20 percent, were not communicated through either system (here is the paper).

Read More:

http://www.pharmalot.com/2012/06/fda-does-a-poor-job-of-communicating-recalls/

Tom Philpott - Are Our Oceans on a Collision Course?

Back in 2006, a team of scientists from Canada, the United States, Sweden, and Panama published a landmark report [1]in the prestigious journal Science on the state of the oceans. The researchers highlighted what they called an "ongoing erosion of diversity" in sea-life that, if left unchecked, would lead to the "collapse of all taxa currently being fished by the mid-21st century."

Stripped of scientese, what the report described was the real possibility of the ocean as a vast, fetid grey zone, not quite dead but no longer able to provide a significant amount of food to humanity. And not in some unimaginably distant future, but rather in just four short decades, around the time when your aughts-era infant will reach middle age.

When the report dropped, it grabbed attention in the eco-foodie world like a great white shark sunning its dorsal fin in the shallows of a crowded beach. I was just beginning to write about food politics at the time, and the Science study jolted me from my land-locked fixations and opened the ocean as a rich and urgent topic.

Not only do the oceans cover more than two-thirds of the planet, but they're also home to 90 percent of the planet's living biomass. [2] Snuffing out their astonishing biodiversity would have unpredictable consequences for we creatures who dwell on the earth's relatively rare swaths of dry land. Surely, I thought at the time, the Science paper would spark a global push to heal what ails that murky, saline region that surrounds us.

Read More:

http://www.motherjones.com/tom-philpott/2012/06/oceans-still-headed-disaster

High and Dry: Why Genetic Engineering Is Not Solving Agriculture's Drought Problem in a Thirsty World (2012)

High and Dry is the third in a series of reports highlighting genetic engineering’s limitations and demonstrating the importance of increasing public investment in more effective—but often neglected—agricultural technologies. The first two reports in the series are Failure to Yield and No Sure Fix.

Droughts can be devastating to farmers and to the people who depend on the food those farmers produce. The historic Texas drought of 2011 caused a record $5.2 billion in agricultural losses, making it the most costly drought on record.

While extreme droughts capture the most attention, mild and moderate droughts are more common and collectively cause extensive damage. Climate scientists expect the frequency and severity of such droughts to increase as the global climate heats up.

Furthermore, agriculture accounts for the lion's share of water extracted from rivers and wells, setting up conflicts between food production and other uses. Other important organisms, such as fish, also compete with humans for fresh water. So there is a vital need for crop improvements that will increase drought tolerance and water use efficiency (WUE).

Biotechnology companies such as Monsanto have held out the promise that genetic engineering can accomplish these goals, creating new crop varieties that can thrive under drought conditions and reduce water demand even under normal conditions. High and Dry offers an analysis of the prospects for delivering on that promise.

Read More:

http://www.ucsusa.org/food_and_agriculture/science_and_impacts/science/high-and-dry.html

Anthony Gucciardi - 5 Million Farmers Sue Monsanto for $7.7 Billion

Launching a lawsuit against the very company that is responsible for a farmer suicide every 30 minutes, 5 million farmers are now suing Monsanto for as much as 6.2 billion euros (around 7.7 billion US dollars). The reason? As with many other cases, such as the ones that led certain farming regions to be known as the ‘suicide belt’, Monsanto has been reportedly taxing the farmers to financial shambles with ridiculous royalty charges. The farmers state that Monsanto has been unfairly gathering exorbitant profits each year on a global scale from “renewal” seed harvests, which are crops planted using seed from the previous year’s harvest.

The practice of using renewal seeds dates back to ancient times, but Monsanto seeks to collect massive royalties and put an end to the practice. Why? Because Monsanto owns the very patent to the genetically modified seed, and is charging the farmers not only for the original crops, but the later harvests as well. Eventually, the royalties compound and many farmers begin to struggle with even keeping their farm afloat. It is for this reason that India slammed Monsanto with groundbreaking ‘biopiracy’ charges in an effort to stop Monsanto from ‘patenting life’

Read More:

http://www.nationofchange.org/5-million-farmers-sue-monsanto-77-billion-1338912068

Jim Hightower - What's Really in Your Expensive Steak? You'd Be Surprised

Attention foodies: Let's chow down!

Forget organic, locavore, omega3, umami, artisanal and all the other signposts of the healthy, ethical and refined "good food" movement, there are important advances in CuisineWorld that are going 180 degrees in the opposite direction -- advances that literally are reshaping what we eat (while also reshaping us).

Let's start with red meat. Perhaps you're one who enjoys a steak dinner now and again. If so, let me ask this question: Do you prefer it with a nice Bernaise sauce, a side of garlicky spinach -- or maybe some transglutaminase?

Trans-what-did-he-say?

Transglutaminase is an enzyme made by the fermentation of bacteria and added to meat pieces to make them stick together. Yes, "meat glue" -- it's what's for dinner!
This is yet another dandy product from industrialized food purveyors that keep inventing new ways to mess with our dinner for their own fun and profit. Right about now, you're probably asking yourself, "Why do they need to glue meat together?"

Read More:

http://www.alternet.org/story/155742/what%27s_really_in_your_expensive_steak_you%27d_be_surprised

Breaking New MFA Investigation Leads to 21 Criminal Animal Cruelty Charges

A breaking new Mercy For Animals undercover investigation has resulted in unprecedented legal action on behalf of farmed animals. Hidden-camera video footage secretly recorded by an MFA investigator has led to 21 criminal cruelty-to-animals charges against the owner, two managers and five employees at Ontario Livestock Sales, one of the oldest and largest livestock auctions in southern California. The shocking video footage shows: "downed" animals—those too sick or injured to even stand or walk on their own—being left to slowly suffer and die without food, water or veterinary care; sick, injured and dying animals being kicked, pushed and dragged into transport trucks to be sold and slaughtered for human consumption; workers throwing, beating, stomping on and kicking animals in the face and body; baby goats being carelessly picked up by their necks and then kicked or tossed around; workers grabbing, dragging and throwing animals by their heads, necks, ears, horns, tails, and legs; and birds stuffed into bags and goats, sheep and other animals overcrowded into small pens, forcing animals to stand on and even trample each other. Upon reviewing the undercover footage, Temple Grandin, PhD, animal welfare advisor to the USDA, wrote: “The handling was very rough and kicking animals is not acceptable. If this auction had been a federally inspected meat packing plant, they would have suspended inspection and shut them down.” As MFA continues to expose the unconscionable cruelties inherent in animal agriculture, and to diligently pursue justice by aiding prosecutions of animal abusers, consumers still hold the greatest power of all to end the needless suffering and death of farmed animals by adopting a compassionate, vegetarian diet. Click here to read the Associated Press article about the investigation, which broke this morning. Click here to make a donation to support MFA’s lifesaving work.

Expert Panel Reports False Accounts of US Political and Military Leaders on 9/11

New evidence shows that the September 11th activities of former President George W. Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld were falsely reported by official sources.

The 20-member 9/11 Consensus Panel analyzed evidence from press reports, FOIA requests, and archived 9/11 Commission file documents to produce eight new studies, released today.

The international Panel also discovered that four massive aerial practice exercises traditionally held in October were in full operation on 9/11. The largest, Global Guardian, held annually by NORAD and the US Strategic and Space Commands, had originally been scheduled for October 22-31but was moved, along with Vigilant Guardian, to early September.

Although senior officials claimed  no one could have predicted using hijacked planes as weapons, the military had been practicing similar exercises on 9/11 itself -- and for years before it.

The Panel, discovering widespread reports of confusion and delays in the defense response, looked into who was overseeing the air defenses after the second Tower was hit at 9:03 AM.

Read More:

http://uspolitics.einnews.com/pr_news/99336647/expert-panel-reports-false-accounts-of-u-s-political-and-military-leaders-on-9-11

Tom Engelhardt - Praying at the Church of St. Drone

Be assured of one thing: whichever candidate you choose at the polls in November, you aren’t just electing a president of the United States; you are also electing an assassin-in-chief.  The last two presidents may not have been emperors or kings, but they -- and the vast national-security structure that continues to be built-up and institutionalized around the presidential self -- are certainly one of the nightmares the founding fathers of this country warned us against.  They are one of the reasons those founders put significant war powers in the hands of Congress, which they knew would be a slow, recalcitrant, deliberative body.

Thanks to a long New York Times piece by Jo Becker and Scott Shane, “Secret ‘Kill List’ Proves a Test of Obama’s Principles and Will,” we now know that the president has spent startling amounts of time overseeing the “nomination” of terrorist suspects for assassination via the remotely piloted drone program he inherited from President George W. Bush and which he has expanded exponentially.  Moreover, that article was based largely on interviews with “three dozen of his current and former advisers.”  In other words, it was essentially an administration-inspired piece -- columnist Robert Scheer calls it “planted” -- on a “secret” program the president and those closest to him are quite proud of and want to brag about in an election year.

Read More:

http://www.tomdispatch.com/blog/175551/

Anne Gordon - A New Allergy, Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity

Imagine if you lived inside your microwave and could see the ubiquitous frequencies bombarding you several times per minute 24/7. You might be horrified. Some people are now claiming that they are getting sick from it. A condition referred to as  'electromagnetic hypersensitivity,’ is a new form of 'environmental allergy.’ This sort of multi-frequency barrage of radiation to living beings, is unprecedented ....and rapidly increasing. Welcome, 'smart’ grid.

The clever marketing word, 'smart’ (meaning digital) may not be smart for health… although it’s making companies very rich.  Cell towers, smart phones, smart appliances, smart cars, may soon be linked to the 'smart’ grid. And, the smart grids, will be linked to mesh networks in neighborhoods.

Smart Grids sound 'green’ promising to save energy, creating new power line corridors that run on wind and solar, etc.  But, before the glory of smart grids can be realized there are unintended health consequences. These complaints are just beginning to manifest world wide.

Read More:

http://www.greenmedinfo.com/blog/new-allergy-electromagnetic-hypersensitivity-info