Anne Gordon - Morgellons Disease, The Mysterious Skin Disease

Why would tens of thousands suffer from odd symptoms of fibers, and worm like debris sprouting from skin sores, and other symptoms, without knowing the cause? Unexplained constellations of symptoms from general fatigue, concentration difficulties, fibromyalgia, neurocognitive disorders, and skin lesions seem are continuously reported. This disturbing trend prompted a research project.

Researchers, from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in combination with Kaiser Permanente Health System in Northern California studied the accelerating numbers of cases between 2006 and 2008. After $360,000, and 115 people studied, Morgellons is still described as ‘unexplained dermopathy’.

It is also strange that the largest clusters of cases appear to be in regions of California, Texas, and Florida, although all 50 states have experienced complaints, according to: (http://www.healthsciences.okstate.edu/morgellons/index.cfm)

Read More:

http://www.greenmedinfo.com/blog/morgellons-disease-mysterious-skin-disease?utm_source=www.GreenMedInfo.com&utm_campaign=380abfb4cd-Greenmedinfo&utm_medium=email

Pharma Execs Admit: ‘Our Model Is Broken’

As if we didn’t already know this, yes? Still, a new survey finds that 68 percent of pharma execs agree that Humpty Dumpty has fallen off the wall. To be specific, 44 percent agree that the pharma industry model is broken and 24 percent strongly agree with this statement. Another 22 percent are neutral and 6 percent disagree. We wonder where this 28 percent is working right now…

And over the next two years, 76 percent believe the healthcare system pricing and budget pressures will be the biggest challenge; followed by 70 percent who believe they will have to demonstrate cost effectiveness; 69 percent who cite more restrictive market access; 60 percent who fear generic competition; 53 percent who worry about less access to docs and 50 percent who are concerned about the ability of patients to pay for their meds.

The survey canvassed 156 pharma execs who either influence or have responsibility for sales and marketing at big drugmakers in the US and Europe. On average, they have held their jobs for five years and 52 percent are directors, with 15 percent say they are vp’s and 20 percent identifying as managers. Most are responsible for a product portfolio, 46 percent, or a specific brand, 33 percent.

Read More:

http://www.pharmalot.com/2012/03/pharma-execs-admit-our-model-is-broken/

Tara Lohan - 5 Deadly Threats to Our Precious Drinking Water Supply

If you brushed your teeth this morning or flushed the toilet or had a cup of coffee, consider yourself lucky. Actually, if you turned on your tap and potable water freely came out, consider yourself truly blessed. Because so many of us in the United States are in this situation it can be easy to forget that nearly 900 million other people aren't so lucky. It can be easy to forget that globally we face a frightening water crisis. And it can be hard to notice that even here in the US there are dire threats to our water supply right now.

Read More:

http://www.alternet.org/story/154648/5_deadly_threats_to_our_precious_drinking_water_supply

American Veterans: Discarded and Forgotten

You can now purchase the film athttp://www.gnhealthyliving.com/Scripts/prodView.asp?idproduct=1087

Award-winning filmmaker, Gary Null PhD exposes the American government's legacy of abuse and neglect of its soldiers and veterans. Dr. Null explores the truth about Gulf War Syndrome - a horrific condition affecting thousands of soldiers and their families and the disturbing secrets that the government is hiding from the public. You'll learn how the deadly and toxic effects of armor-piercing radioactive depleted uranium, the use of experimental vaccines on over 1.1 million soldiers and chemical and germ warfare contributed to this debilitating, deadly condition. You'll see how our brave soldiers were sent into war with ineffective protective equipment and were lied to at every step. You'll hear the truth from doctors, scientists, military analysts and the veterans who are still suffering from the effects of their tours of duty while the government denies any accountability for this illness with thousands of veterans still not receiving the medical care or support that they desperately need.

Dr. Null also reveals the epidemic of homelessness affecting our American veterans today. Shockingly, thousands of veterans are mired in poverty, suffering with physical and psychological illnesses and are living on the streets and in the woods throughout America. See the tragic story of these forgotten men and women and the few dedicated people who are committed to helping them in their plight. 

Senior Executive Producer/Writer/Director: Gary Null PhD
Executive Producer/Co-Director: Richard Polonetsky
Producer: Shannon Burnett
Editor: Michael Palmerio
Camera: Florian Boehm
Graphic Design: Jay Graygor

Daniele Scalea - Beyond “Kony 2012”. What is Happening in Uganda? America's "Invisible" Military Agenda

Kony 2012 is the title of a campaign launched by the organization Invisible Children Inc., focused for now on the half hour video of the same name, which has had a viral diffusion on the internet reaching in a few days almost one hundred million views (it was published only on the 5^th March). The campaign aims at supporting the arrest of Joseph Kony, an Ugandan guerrilla leader accused of “crimes against humanity” by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague.

The campaign’s stated purpose is to encourage international efforts to arrest Kony, by making his case as widely known as possible. Nothing original here, but it’s interesting that Invisible Children Inc. is trying to rally volunteers on the one hand to lobby dozens of famous people (politicians and show business personalities) to convince them to be spokespeople for the campaign, and on the other hand to buy a kit complete with posters, bracelets and other propaganda material.

Read More:

http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=29871

Robert Scheer - Voters Have Two Candidates, No Choice

With Mitt Romney’s super-PAC limo now on cruise control to victory at the GOP convention, voters are left with only two reasons to vote against Barack Obama: Either they are desperate to return a white man to the White House or they feel strongly that it is time to break the glass ceiling denying Mormons the presidency.

Out of a sense of tolerance I could cotton to the latter—heck, why should the bizarre beliefs of Romney’s church be a deal breaker? I’m hoping for a strong Jewish contender someday and wouldn’t like her burdened with defending Old Testament claptrap.

The problem in this mind-numbing Republican primary season is that the campaign has exposed Romney as not just another white male Mormon like some of the fairly reasonable senators who have represented Utah. Or like Romney’s own father, George, at one time the governor of Michigan. No, this Romney is now widely regarded as the vulture capitalist he is, a politician who is a say-and-do-anything opportunist with no moral limits on his outsized ambitions.

Read More:

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/voters_have_two_candidates_no_choice_20120322/

Consumers Ingesting Mystery Meat Treated with Poisonous Gas

As a method of passing off decayed meat as fresh, meat industries in many countries are treating meat with highly toxic gas. In fact, 70 percent of all beef and chicken within the United States and Canada are subject to the treatment of the poisonous gas known as carbon monoxide. Add this knowledge to the recently exposed ammonia-tainted ‘pink slime’ used in meat being served to millions of people and schoolchildren, and you may be reluctant to ever eat meat again.

Carbon monoxide (CO) is a toxic colorless, odorless, and tasteless gas which essentially replaces oxygen in the blood. When individuals are exposed to higher levels of CO, it begins to cause detrimental effects after binding to a molecule in the blood that normally carries oxygen, known as hemoglobin. Lower levels of exposure results in headaches, confusion, fatigue, and nausea, while higher levels of exposure could result in unconsciousness, death, or long-term negative neurological effects.

In order for meat to stay fresh, it must be below a certain temperature before being consumed. Even a few degrees above the recommended temperature can result in bacterial growth and hastened spoilage. In addition, grocery retailers face a challenge in knowing the actual temperature of the meat since UV radiation from the display case penetrates the packaging. As a solution, the meat industry decided to use utilize carbon monoxide for atmospheric packaging to extend shelf life. It is also for this reason that meat exhibits a bright red color, even when it has spoiled.

Read More:

http://naturalsociety.com/consumers-ingesting-mystery-meat-treated-with-poisonous-gas/#ixzz1pqcvnQvL

Luis Hernandez Navarro - Bolivia has transformed itself by ignoring the Washington Consensus

Gabriela Oviedo is a fashion model and TV personality. She is a 28-year-old brunette, almost six feet tall. Born in the Bolivian province of Santa Cruz, she was elected as the national beauty queen in 2003. In 2004, Gabriela took part in the Miss Universe pageant. There she was asked to name one of the biggest misconceptions about her country. In awkward English, she answered: "Um … unfortunately, people that don't know Bolivia very much think that we are all just Indian people from the west side of the country. It's La Paz, all the image that we reflect, is that poor people and very short people and Indian people ... I'm from the other side of the country, the east side, and it's not cold, it's very hot and we are tall and we are white people and we know English."

Gabriela's answer, heavy with racism, raised such a wave of outrage in her country that she was forced to give up the contest. Two in every three Bolivians are indigenous people. Her answer, however, was not an isolated occurrence. It reflects the persistence of a white, deeply anti-indigenous Bolivia, which survives today even though deep changes have been introduced, including the approval of anti-racist legislation.

Read More:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2012/mar/21/bolivia-washington-consensus

Anthony Gucciardi - Monsanto’s Roundup is Killing Human Kidney Cells

Monsanto’s ‘biopesticide’ known as Bt is not only developing mutated insects and requiring excessive pesticide use, but new findings show that it is also killing human kidney cells — even in low doses. Amazingly, Monsanto’s superweed-breeding Roundup also has the same effect. Scientists have demonstrated in new research that the Bt pesticide, in addition to Monsanto’s best-selling herbicide Roundup, exhibit direct toxicity to human cells. The findings add to the long list of hazardous effects presented by Monsanto’s genetically modifiedcreations.

These dangerous Bt crops currently engulf 39% of globally cultivated GMO crops, and Monsanto does not seem to be slowing down on their campaign to expand usage. Led by Gilles-Eric Séralini, a French scientist from the University of Caen, Séralini and his team are no strangers to the toxic effects of both Bt and glyphosate — the main component used in Roundup. Previously, Séralini and a group of other scientists found that Roundup is linked to infertility, killing testicular cells in rats. The report stated that within 1 to 48 hours of exposure, testicular cells of the mature rats were either damaged or killed.

Read More:

http://naturalsociety.com/monsantos-roundup-biopesticide-is-killing-human-kidney-cells/#ixzz1pqdWmdFD

Robert Reich - The Republican’s Social-Darwinist Budget Plan

In announcing the Republicans’ new budget and tax plan Tuesday, House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan said “We are sharpening the contrast between the path that we’re proposing and the path of debt and decline the president has placed us upon.”

Ryan is right about sharpening the contrast. But the plan doesn’t do much to reduce the debt. Even by its own estimate the deficit would drop to $166 billion in 2018 and then begin growing again.

The real contrast is over what the plan does for the rich and what it does to everyone else. It reduces the top individual and corporate tax rates to 25 percent. This would give the wealthiest Americans an average tax cut of at least $150,000 a year.

The money would come out of programs for the elderly, lower-middle families, and the poor.

Seniors would get subsidies to buy private health insurance or Medicare – but the subsidies would be capped. So as medical costs increased, seniors would fall further and further behind.

Read More:

http://www.nationofchange.org/republican-s-social-darwinist-budget-plan-1332336007