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Donna Smith - Fighting the Real Enemy: Cancer in America

For the second time in my life, I find myself in need of cancer care.  Somehow it seems the universe conspires to put me in settings where I observe and can report on the on-going insanity of the dysfunctional U.S. healthcare system.  Such was the case this week as I sat in the oncology infusion center near a prestigious medical center.

The need for a progressively financed, single standard of high quality care for all under a social insurance model – like Medicare for all for life – has never been clearer to me than it was this week.  The enemy faced in cancer treatment is not the cancer itself. 

Every patient is different in terms of how he or she handles cancer diagnosis and treatment.  While we have built such a culture of terror around the word and the disease, having cancer does not necessarily mean one will die from cancer.  It is a serious thing, but in many cases early detection and treatment means being a cancer survivor is a more likely outcome than being a cancer casualty.  I like to face most of my tests and appointments alone.  So for this week’s visit to the infusion center, I was on my own while my husband went to his usual Friday golf play.  That seems so good and normal to me in the face of something sort of lousy overall.  And I like the feeling of that illusion of normalcy.  Other patients bring friends or family along for support. 

Read More:

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/05/28-1

Rev. Dan Vojir - The Vatican's Fake Occupy Implodes: Documents Evoke A History Of Money Laundering, Sexual Terrorism, And Even ... Murder

THE BUTLER DID NOT DO IT

A tell-all book, leaked documents, billions in favorable contracts, money laundering, sexual terrorism ... and possibly murder. With St. Peter's in the background, it all sounds like a Dan Brown thriller. But in this mystery, the butler did not do it. At least not to the extent that a papal investigation would have it. 

Paolo Gabriele, 46, who has worked as Benedict's butler since 2006, was reportedly taken into custody after investigators found a mass of documents in the Vatican apartment he shares with his wife and three children.
The arrest comes a month after the Vatican gave an investigative team led by Cardinal Julian Herranz, a member of Opus dei, a full "pontifical mandate" to join Vatican police in rooting out the perpetrators of what has been dubbed Vatileaks.

Gabriele is now languishing in a Vatican prison cell (yes, the Vatican does have a prison) and for now it seems that his only crime was the same as that of Pvt. Bradley Manning (wikileaks) - leaking the juiciest anti-Vatican documents in history. 

Sources close to Gabriele, however, say that he would not have masterminded a leak and that his possession of the documents proves very little: no motive has been proffered and apparently no money was offered for the documents.

Read More:

http://www.opednews.com/articles/The-Vatican-s-Fake-Occupy-by-Rev-Dan-Vojir-120527-850.html

Soil Bacteria Work In Similar Way To Antidepressants

UK scientists suggest that a type of friendly bacteria found in soil may affect the brain in a similar way to antidepressants.

Their findings are published in the early online edition of the journal Neuroscience.

Researchers from Bristol University and University College London discovered using laboratory mice, that a "friendly" bacteria commonly found in soil activated brain cells to produce the brain chemical serotonin and altered the mice's behaviour in a similar way to antidepressants.

They are suggesting this could explain why immune system imbalance could make some people vulnerable to mood disorders like depression.

Lead author, Dr Chris Lowry from Bristol University said, "These studies help us understand how the body communicates with the brain and why a healthy immune system is important for maintaining mental health". 

"They also leave us wondering if we shouldn't all be spending more time playing in the dirt," he added.

Read More:

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/66840.php

Valerie Tarico - 8 Ways Christian Fundamentalists Make People Convert -- to Agnosticism or Atheism

If the Catholic bishops, their conservative Protestant allies, and other right-wing fundamentalists had the sole objective of decimating religious belief, they couldn’t be doing a better job of it. 

Testimonials at sites like ExChristian.net show that people leave religion for a number of reasons, many of which religious leaders have very little control over.  Sometimes, for example, people take one too many science classes. Sometimes they find their faith shattered by the suffering in the world – either because of a devastating injury or loss in their own lives or because they experience the realities of another person’s pain in a new way. Sometimes a believer gets intrigued by archaeology or symbology or the study of religion itself. Sometimes a believer simply picks up a copy of the Bible or the Koran and discovers faith-shaking contradictions or immoralities there.   

But if you read ExChristian testimonials you will notice that quite often church leaders or members do things that either trigger the deconversion process or help it along. They may turn a doubter into a skeptic or a quiet skeptic into an outspoken anti-theist, or as one former Christian calls himself, a "devangelist."

Here are some top ways Christians push people out the church door or shove secret skeptics out of the closet. Looking at the list, you can’t help but wonder if the Catholic bishops, Rick Santorum, Michele Bachmann and their fundamentalist allies are working for the devil.

Read More:

http://www.alternet.org/story/155553/8_ways_christian_fundamentalists_make_people_convert_--_to_agnosticism_or_atheism

Manissa McCleave Maharawal and Zoltán Glück - How students are painting Montreal red

On Wednesday night in Montreal, we shared a long dinner with student organizers, discussing everything from police tactics in Montreal and New York to the necessity of an anti-racist and anti-colonial framework for our movements. Our hosts noticed that, around the time that the nightly 8:30 p.m. march was supposed to begin, we were getting nervous about missing it. They laughed and said, “Don’t worry, it will go on until 2 a.m.” Or at least they normally do.

By midnight, after peacefully and joyfully marching through the city for hours, the police charged our march of about 4,000 people with batons and pepper spray. In a moment the scene became one of chaos and confusion. Many in the crowd turned around and ran, but there were police behind us, too, coming straight at us with their batons out as people were pepper sprayed and thrown to the ground. Eventually, we found our way out of the melée and asked our Canadian comrade what had happened to provoke the police. “Nothing,” she answered. “They just got tired of us.”

We had been lucky. Moments after the police charged us, they surrounded a group of 506 protesters and arrested everyone in what became the largest single mass arrest since the indefinite student strike began here in Quebec 103 days ago.

Read More:

http://wagingnonviolence.org/2012/05/how-students-are-painting-montreal-red/

Congress to Re-legalize War Propaganda

Just in time for Memorial Day (the day set aside to remember those brutally killed in the racket that is war) the Congress has voted to once again allow the federal government the ability to domestically distribute propaganda.

Michael Hastings of BuzzFeed.com reports, “The new law would give sweeping powers to the government to push television, radio, newspaper, and social media onto the U.S. public. 'It removes the protection for Americans,' says a Pentagon official who is concerned about the law. 'It removes oversight from the people who want to put out this information. There are no checks and balances. No one knows if the information is accurate, partially accurate, or entirely false.'”

It's not enough that the National Guard pays $26.5 million per year to sponsor Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s #88 race car ($136 million over the past 5 years, making him the highest-paid military contractor that has nothing to do with the military). That represents a small fraction of the roughly $667 million spent per year by the military on advertising. Now that the prohibition on domestic propaganda has been repealed, instead of seeing ads where the Marine climbs the mountain and grabs the sword, you could see an ad where the Marine tells you all the reasons to invade Iran, or some other country that is not a threat to your safety.

Read More:

http://www.freepatriot-press.com/2012/05/congress-to-re-legalize-war-propaganda.html

Elizabeth Rose - The Pentagon’s Spending Spree

Are you wondering where your tax dollars are going? Then take a look at the $642.5 billion stuffed into the National Defense Authorization Act, which the House of Representatives recently approved.

House Republicans may spout plenty of concern about the nation's budget deficit, but their version of the Pentagon's budget tops the spending levels they had agreed to a few months ago by $8 billion. It's also $4 billion above the total that President Barack Obama and the Pentagon requested.

These politicians are trying to fund Cold War-era weapons that our military doesn't want and that have been dismissed as outdated and unnecessary by the top brass — leaders like Gen. James Cartwright, the retired vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and a former commander of the country's nuclear forces.

The U.S. military budget is six times that of China, and tops the next 17 highest-spending countries combined.

Military spending has played a significant role in increasing the national debt. Over the last decade, the Pentagon's budget has nearly doubled.

The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have also contributed to this soaring increase in defense spending and to record deficits.

The drawdown of troops from Afghanistan and Iraq should mean the Pentagon will spend less. But giant military contractors have dumped a fortune into campaign contributions and lobbying, making sure that any and all anticipated savings are going to expensive weapons systems — all paid for by you through your taxes.

Read More:

http://www.nationofchange.org/pentagon-s-spending-spree-1338198664 

Kelley B. Vlahos - War Inc. Shifts Homeward

It’s been said many times that the war is a self-sustaining industry that requires a constant threat overseas to keep the machine thriving at home. Looking at the millions if not billions of dollars spent on securing “national special security events” against its own citizens, it’s clear that protesters have become the threat that has allowed, in part, the warfare state to flourish on American soil.

Sound dramatic? One need only to look at the lockdown of our cities during these “events” — whether it be the NATO Summit in Chicago today, or preparations to militarize the cities of Tampa and Charlotte for the Democratic and Republican conventions this summer — to see that the constitutionally protected, American tradition of protest has become a reason for law enforcement to spend their quickly evaporating budgets each year on new toys and overtime — including the latest in surveillance, crowd control gear and communications equipment, not to mention the helicopters overhead and armed vehicles on the ground.

Just as important, this threat allows the federal government to extend its own powers under the Patriot Act onto Main Street, all in the order of counterterrorism and national security.

Read More:

http://www.opednews.com/populum/linkframe.php?linkid=150891

Judicial Watch Obtains DOD and CIA Records Detailing Meetings with bin Laden Raid Filmmakers

Judicial Watch, the organization that investigates and fights government corruption, announced today that it has obtained records from the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) regarding meetings and communications between government agencies and Kathryn Bigelow, Academy Award-winning director of The Hurt Locker, and screenwriter Mark Boal.  According to the records, the Obama Defense Department granted Bigelow and Boal access to a “planner, Operator and Commander of SEAL Team Six,” which was responsible for the capture and killing of Osama bin Laden, to assist Bigelow prepare her upcoming feature film.

 The records, obtained pursuant to court order in a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed on January 21, 2012, include 153 pages of records from the DOD and 113 pages of records from the CIA (Judicial Watch v. U.S. Department of Defense (No. 1:12-cv-00049)).  The documents were delivered to Judicial Watch late last Friday (May 18). The following are the highlights from the records, which include internal Defense Department email correspondence as well as a transcript from a key July 14, 2011, meeting between DOD officials, Bigelow and Boal:

• A transcript of a July 14, 2011, meeting between DOD officials, including Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence Michael Vickers, Bigelow and Boal indicates that Boal met directly with White House officials on at least two occasions regarding the film: “I took your guidance and spoke to the WH and had a good meeting with Brennan and McDonough and I plan to follow up with them; and they were forward leaning and interested in sharing their point of view; command and control; so that was great, thank you,” Boal said according to the transcript. Vickers asks if the meeting was a follow-up, to which Boal responds, “Yes correct; this was a follow-up.”  The documents seemingly reference John O. Brennan, Chief Counterterrorism Advisor to President Obama and Denis McDonough, who serves as President Obama’s Deputy National Security Advisor.

Read More:

http://www.judicialwatch.org/press-room/press-releases/13421/