Amy de Miceli
noonehastodietomorrow.com
Friday, June 5, 2009
There has been and continues to be an effort by some of the worlds most elite families to establish a global community, with a global government, some call it the new world order.The plan always benefits them at our expense, and they beleive as long as we show no opposition they can retain control. The massive goal is to bring the global populace into harm-ony, but it is an impossibility unless family loyalty is dissolved and individuality is eradicated.
Psychological force has been introduced to achieve their world domination, and it is our children’s minds that are being attacked most viciously. The crux of which is being done at school, through both passive and aggressive formulas.
Our enemy is ruthless, picking us off one community at a time, using a multi prong approach inside American schools, Pavlovian behavioral techniques, coupled with soviet brainwashing and scariest of all, trauma based mind control (which also sheds light on a disgusting display of the most power hungry men and women in uniform).
Soviet brainwashing techniques have been a part of the overall agenda of mass education for well over a hundred years, but today the globalists are flaunting their agenda. As recently as April of 2009 UNESCO announced its plan to promote their Earth Charter to encourage all children to become responsible, “global citizens in the 21st century”. The charter is a loaded document that also promotes, redistribution of wealth, “among nations” (communism).
One system already promoting that exact agenda is the International Bacceulette (IB) Program, which claims to be an ‘elite’ international education, and it is being implemented in 2,591 schools in 134 countries.
Miami Beach Florida has been the most recent community to adopt the IB Program, and it will be the only curriculum used throughout the entire city for all grade levels. The announcement was made shortly after the IB council met in Miami in March 2009.
The IB was founded in 1968 in Switzerland, and was an offshoot of the International School of Geneva, which was founded in part by the League of Nations, and it is where IB’s founding Director, John Goormaghtigh, served as chairman of the Board prior to IB. Goormaghtigh also served as the director of the European Centre of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, whose nefarious goal of ‘controlling the education in the united states’ had been previously revealed by the Reece commission in the early 1950’s.
“In order to raise children with equality, we must take them away from families and communally raise them.” - Dr. Mary Jo Bane
This is how the ruling class does it, when they are exposed they merely change a few things and have another go at us. They believe that the key to controlling our minds as adults is to dominate us as children, when we are impressionable. They get us all inside our schools away from the influence (and loving care) of our parents, and sadly it does get worse.
“It would have been impossible for us to develop our plan for the world if we had been subject to the bright lights of publicity…. But, the work is now much more sophisticated and prepared to march towards a world government.” -David Rockefeller
Since Columbine, and 9/11 the ante has been upped, trauma based mind control has been added to their arsenal. Using terrorism drills, not to capture terrorists but to define them. The most terrifying drills are taking place inside public schools, usually without warning for the parents, or teachers and worst of all, the unsuspecting children who will see little difference between a real terrorist or a masked man acting like one.
“The children were in that room …begging for their lives, because they thought there was someone with a gun after them,” -Mother of mock victim
Some drills are terrorizing children as young as five years old. A stranger comes plowing through a classroom door, wielding a gun shouting at everyone splattered in fake blood. Children are screaming and crying and wetting their pants. The conditions are torturous, no food or water for hours, no access to restrooms, and no way of knowing when it will end, some drills have gone past normal school hours. This is known as trauma based mind control, and it would be called abuse if it wasn’t being promoted by the Department of Homeland Security and acted out inside our public schools.
Their drills are specific, the mock terrorists are homeschoolers, angry parents, and Christians, they tote guns and bombs, leaving the mock victims wondering who the “terrorists” really are. Imposing the idea that people we are familiar with (a father, classmate, or neighbor) could be terrorists, (and they may not even know it) leaves a suspicious paranoid population.
It is plain to see that they are the terrorists, no matter what or who they dress up as, the “authorities” are the ones terrorizing us and these scenarios are not preparing our children for anything other than how to be afraid, and how to be a slave, condition them now, control them later.
“The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people but the silence over that by the good people.” -Martin Luther King, Jr
The elite families running the world that exists behind your television, just out of view, will never quit, they are committed to their goal of global dominance. They won’t just go away they have to be fought off, constantly, continuously - intergenerationally. We can not just work to be free and go along to get along, instead restore your families and pass knowledge along, this is a fight our children will face. The elite do not have broken families like many of us, they work together to hold their place at the controls.
“In this new world system international education will become more indispensable than ever, but also more possible.” - John Goormaghtigh
“the real goal of the earth charter is that it will in fact become like the ten commandments.” — Maurice Strong
Source: noonehastodietomorrow.com
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Obama’s First Act: Taxpayer Money To Fund Abortions Of Black Babies
Executive order reverses ban on aid to international “family planning” groups
Paul Joseph Watson
Prison Planet.com
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
The sickest irony amidst the euphoria of the inauguration of America’s first black President is that one of Obama’s very first actions in office will be to ensure that millions more black babies are aborted in third world countries, with American taxpayers picking up the tab.
President Obama’s first act of “change” will be to issue an executive order that will lift a ban on using taxpayer money to fund international “family planning” groups who counsel women and perform abortions around the world, but mainly in Africa.
Fresh from his complete disregard of Israel’s barbarian bombardment of Gaza, an onslaught that has killed around 400 children, Obama will ensure that potentially millions more never even get the chance of life in the first place.
Obama will reverse the so-called Mexico City policy, the federal rule prohibiting aid to family planning groups which was instituted by Ronald Reagan in 1984. The policy does not apply to abortions carried out in cases of rape, incest, or life-threatening conditions. Obama’s executive order will pass almost exactly 36 years to the day since the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision which legalized abortion.
Abortion groups that will enjoy a fresh injection of American taxpayers’ money will include the Family Guidance Association of Ethiopia and the Planned Parenthood Association of Zambia.
The executive order will also precede a likely decison by Obama to once again release funds for the UNFPA, a United Nations organization that supports China’s policy of forced abortion.
“Obama’s repeal of the abortion aid policy is one of several executive actions that he will take soon after his inauguration today, according to several Obama transition aides. He is also considering lifting Bush administration restrictions on federally funded stem cell research,” reports the Hartford Courant.
Stem cell research has attracted vociferous opposition from anti-abortion groups because many of the treatments in the field use cells from aborted babies. The Catholic Church in Scotland this week called the procedure “immoral and unethical,” especially in light of the fact that stem cells from adult donations can be used instead.
Federally funded global abortions as a method of population control has been an obsession of elites and eugenicists throughout history.
One of the pioneers of family planning and the woman who opened the first birth control clinic in Britain, Marie Stopes, was a racist and an anti-Semite who campaigned for selective breeding to achieve racial purity, a passion she shared with Adolf Hitler in adoring letters and poems that she sent the leader of the Third Reich.
The feminist also attended the Nazi congress on population science in Berlin in 1935, while calling for the “compulsory sterilisation of the diseased, drunkards, or simply those of bad character.” Stopes acted on her appalling theories by concentrating her abortion clinics in poor areas so as to reduce the birth rate of the lower classes.
Stopes left most of her estate to the Eugenics Society, an organization that shared her passion for racial purity and still exists today under the new name The Galton Institute. The society has included members such as Charles Galton Darwin (grandson of the evolutionist) , Julian Huxley and Margaret Sanger.
Ominously, The Galton Institute website promotes its support and funding initiative for “the practical delivery of family planning facilities, especially in developing countries.” In other words, the same organization that once advocated sterilizing black people to achieve racial purity in the same vein as the Nazis is now bankrolling abortions of black babies in the third world.
With Obama’s executive order to release taxpayer money to fund abortions of black babies in Africa, he is signaling his firm intention to act in the interests of the ancestors of the Hitlerian eugenicist movement who now control the family planning groups.
A lot has been made of the ideals of Martin Luther King in light of the inauguration of the first black President. What would the legendary civil rights campaigner have thought of Obama’s action to ensure funding for the abortion of black babies? Here’s what his niece, Dr. Alveda King had to say about the matter at a conference last August.
“The great irony,” she said, “is that abortion has done what the Klan only dreamed of.”
King stated that the killing of a quarter of the black population of the US has not been from the lynch mobs of her childhood days, but from abortionists, “who plant their killing centers in minority neighborhoods and prey upon women who think they have no hope.”
Obama’s first action as President will ensure that those “killing centers” across the world will now be empowered with fresh capital to abort more black babies while the new President grandstands as a messiah for the poor and oppressed black race
Source: PrisonPlanet.com
Paul Joseph Watson
Prison Planet.com
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
The sickest irony amidst the euphoria of the inauguration of America’s first black President is that one of Obama’s very first actions in office will be to ensure that millions more black babies are aborted in third world countries, with American taxpayers picking up the tab.
President Obama’s first act of “change” will be to issue an executive order that will lift a ban on using taxpayer money to fund international “family planning” groups who counsel women and perform abortions around the world, but mainly in Africa.
Fresh from his complete disregard of Israel’s barbarian bombardment of Gaza, an onslaught that has killed around 400 children, Obama will ensure that potentially millions more never even get the chance of life in the first place.
Obama will reverse the so-called Mexico City policy, the federal rule prohibiting aid to family planning groups which was instituted by Ronald Reagan in 1984. The policy does not apply to abortions carried out in cases of rape, incest, or life-threatening conditions. Obama’s executive order will pass almost exactly 36 years to the day since the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision which legalized abortion.
Abortion groups that will enjoy a fresh injection of American taxpayers’ money will include the Family Guidance Association of Ethiopia and the Planned Parenthood Association of Zambia.
The executive order will also precede a likely decison by Obama to once again release funds for the UNFPA, a United Nations organization that supports China’s policy of forced abortion.
“Obama’s repeal of the abortion aid policy is one of several executive actions that he will take soon after his inauguration today, according to several Obama transition aides. He is also considering lifting Bush administration restrictions on federally funded stem cell research,” reports the Hartford Courant.
Stem cell research has attracted vociferous opposition from anti-abortion groups because many of the treatments in the field use cells from aborted babies. The Catholic Church in Scotland this week called the procedure “immoral and unethical,” especially in light of the fact that stem cells from adult donations can be used instead.
Federally funded global abortions as a method of population control has been an obsession of elites and eugenicists throughout history.
One of the pioneers of family planning and the woman who opened the first birth control clinic in Britain, Marie Stopes, was a racist and an anti-Semite who campaigned for selective breeding to achieve racial purity, a passion she shared with Adolf Hitler in adoring letters and poems that she sent the leader of the Third Reich.
The feminist also attended the Nazi congress on population science in Berlin in 1935, while calling for the “compulsory sterilisation of the diseased, drunkards, or simply those of bad character.” Stopes acted on her appalling theories by concentrating her abortion clinics in poor areas so as to reduce the birth rate of the lower classes.
Stopes left most of her estate to the Eugenics Society, an organization that shared her passion for racial purity and still exists today under the new name The Galton Institute. The society has included members such as Charles Galton Darwin (grandson of the evolutionist) , Julian Huxley and Margaret Sanger.
Ominously, The Galton Institute website promotes its support and funding initiative for “the practical delivery of family planning facilities, especially in developing countries.” In other words, the same organization that once advocated sterilizing black people to achieve racial purity in the same vein as the Nazis is now bankrolling abortions of black babies in the third world.
With Obama’s executive order to release taxpayer money to fund abortions of black babies in Africa, he is signaling his firm intention to act in the interests of the ancestors of the Hitlerian eugenicist movement who now control the family planning groups.
A lot has been made of the ideals of Martin Luther King in light of the inauguration of the first black President. What would the legendary civil rights campaigner have thought of Obama’s action to ensure funding for the abortion of black babies? Here’s what his niece, Dr. Alveda King had to say about the matter at a conference last August.
“The great irony,” she said, “is that abortion has done what the Klan only dreamed of.”
King stated that the killing of a quarter of the black population of the US has not been from the lynch mobs of her childhood days, but from abortionists, “who plant their killing centers in minority neighborhoods and prey upon women who think they have no hope.”
Obama’s first action as President will ensure that those “killing centers” across the world will now be empowered with fresh capital to abort more black babies while the new President grandstands as a messiah for the poor and oppressed black race
Source: PrisonPlanet.com
FDA weighs risk of antipsychotic drugs for kids
Posted by sakerfa on June 5, 2009
(Reuters) – Three antipsychotic drugs appear to work in children and teens but their risks must be weighed as the makers aim to promote the medicines for youth, U.S. drug reviewers said in documents released on Friday.The Food and Drug Administration is considering whether to approve AstraZeneca’s Seroquel, Pfizer’s Geodon and Eli Lilly and Co’s Zyprexa for children and teens with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. All three are blockbuster medicines already sold for adults.
An FDA panel meets next week to make recommendations on the companies’ bids to promote the drugs for children and teens.
Doctors can already prescribe them for children, but FDA approval would allow companies to promote the drugs, with combined sales of over $10 billion a year, more widely.
“We generally are in agreement that the sponsors have provided adequate support to suggest effectiveness,” Dr. Thomas Laughren, director of the FDA’s psychiatry drugs division, wrote in a May 8 memo prepared for the advisory panel.
The risks for children appeared “to be qualitatively similar to those observed” with adults, he added.
Still, all of the medicines “have significant risks that must be considered,” Laughren said.
Two similar medicines, Johnson & Johnson’s Risperdal and Bristol-Myers Squibb Co’s Abilify, are already approved to treat the diseases in younger patients.
The drugs, called atypical antipsychotics, are widely used for various mental illnesses but have drawn scrutiny for complications including weight gain and blood sugar increases, prompting concern about diabetes.
Risks from the three drugs under review “are of particular concern in pediatric patients because of the life-long nature of these disorders and the fact that these patients are considered particularly vulnerable, in part because they may be exposed for many decades,” Laughren said.
Schizophrenia causes hallucinations, delusions and disorganized thoughts while bipolar disorder causes dramatic mood swings from manic episodes to depression. Laughren noted both are serious illnesses that place “a substantial burden for both patients and their families.”
Pfizer has applied for approval of Geodon for acute treatment of bipolar disorder in 10- to 17-year-olds. Geodon’s sales topped $1 billion in 2008.
Some FDA reviewers urged an extension of a current heart-related warning for adults taking Geodon to children.
Geodon’s labeling should note that children also risk QT prolongation, a type of irregular heartbeat that in rare cases increases the chance of sudden death, FDA clinical reviewer Mark Ritter wrote in another memo released on Friday.
He said data suggest children are “at least as sensitive” to QT prolongation from Geodon “and may potentially be at greater risk” for serious irregular heartbeats.
Pfizer said Geodon was well-tolerated overall and the risks for children were similar to adults, except that sedation and sleepiness were higher in kids. A study of children with bipolar disorder showed a “low propensity” for weight gain, the company said.
Lilly is asking to sell Zyprexa, its top drug, for bipolar episodes or schizophrenia in patients ages 13 to 17 after other treatments are tried first. FDA staff backed the drug as a second-choice treatment, saying it had a higher risk for weight gain and other problems compared with Risperdal and Abilify.
Lilly, in a separate summary released by the FDA, said Zyprexa’s potential side effects were similar with children and adults and its current label “clearly communicates the risks.” Zyprexa had 2008 sales of $4.7 billion.
AstraZeneca is seeking approval of Seroquel for acute treatment of schizophrenia in teens, and for acute treatment of bipolar mania in ages 10 to 17. Seroquel is the second-best-selling product for AstraZeneca with 2008 sales of $4.5 billion.
Company spokeswoman Kirsten Evraire said there was “an unmet medical need” for treating children with the conditions despite the approved therapies. Seroquel offers a “positive benefit-risk profile” for youth with the disorders, she said.
The FDA staff documents and company statements can be found on the FDA’s website at:here s/Drugs/PsychopharmacologicDrugsAdvisoryCommittee/ucm164276.htm
Source: Reuters
(Reuters) – Three antipsychotic drugs appear to work in children and teens but their risks must be weighed as the makers aim to promote the medicines for youth, U.S. drug reviewers said in documents released on Friday.The Food and Drug Administration is considering whether to approve AstraZeneca’s Seroquel, Pfizer’s Geodon and Eli Lilly and Co’s Zyprexa for children and teens with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. All three are blockbuster medicines already sold for adults.
An FDA panel meets next week to make recommendations on the companies’ bids to promote the drugs for children and teens.
Doctors can already prescribe them for children, but FDA approval would allow companies to promote the drugs, with combined sales of over $10 billion a year, more widely.
“We generally are in agreement that the sponsors have provided adequate support to suggest effectiveness,” Dr. Thomas Laughren, director of the FDA’s psychiatry drugs division, wrote in a May 8 memo prepared for the advisory panel.
The risks for children appeared “to be qualitatively similar to those observed” with adults, he added.
Still, all of the medicines “have significant risks that must be considered,” Laughren said.
Two similar medicines, Johnson & Johnson’s Risperdal and Bristol-Myers Squibb Co’s Abilify, are already approved to treat the diseases in younger patients.
The drugs, called atypical antipsychotics, are widely used for various mental illnesses but have drawn scrutiny for complications including weight gain and blood sugar increases, prompting concern about diabetes.
Risks from the three drugs under review “are of particular concern in pediatric patients because of the life-long nature of these disorders and the fact that these patients are considered particularly vulnerable, in part because they may be exposed for many decades,” Laughren said.
Schizophrenia causes hallucinations, delusions and disorganized thoughts while bipolar disorder causes dramatic mood swings from manic episodes to depression. Laughren noted both are serious illnesses that place “a substantial burden for both patients and their families.”
Pfizer has applied for approval of Geodon for acute treatment of bipolar disorder in 10- to 17-year-olds. Geodon’s sales topped $1 billion in 2008.
Some FDA reviewers urged an extension of a current heart-related warning for adults taking Geodon to children.
Geodon’s labeling should note that children also risk QT prolongation, a type of irregular heartbeat that in rare cases increases the chance of sudden death, FDA clinical reviewer Mark Ritter wrote in another memo released on Friday.
He said data suggest children are “at least as sensitive” to QT prolongation from Geodon “and may potentially be at greater risk” for serious irregular heartbeats.
Pfizer said Geodon was well-tolerated overall and the risks for children were similar to adults, except that sedation and sleepiness were higher in kids. A study of children with bipolar disorder showed a “low propensity” for weight gain, the company said.
Lilly is asking to sell Zyprexa, its top drug, for bipolar episodes or schizophrenia in patients ages 13 to 17 after other treatments are tried first. FDA staff backed the drug as a second-choice treatment, saying it had a higher risk for weight gain and other problems compared with Risperdal and Abilify.
Lilly, in a separate summary released by the FDA, said Zyprexa’s potential side effects were similar with children and adults and its current label “clearly communicates the risks.” Zyprexa had 2008 sales of $4.7 billion.
AstraZeneca is seeking approval of Seroquel for acute treatment of schizophrenia in teens, and for acute treatment of bipolar mania in ages 10 to 17. Seroquel is the second-best-selling product for AstraZeneca with 2008 sales of $4.5 billion.
Company spokeswoman Kirsten Evraire said there was “an unmet medical need” for treating children with the conditions despite the approved therapies. Seroquel offers a “positive benefit-risk profile” for youth with the disorders, she said.
The FDA staff documents and company statements can be found on the FDA’s website at:here s/Drugs/PsychopharmacologicDrugsAdvisoryCommittee/ucm164276.htm
Source: Reuters
The Genius of George Orwell
Posted by sakerfa on June 5, 2009
(Telegraph) – Next week marks the 60th anniversary of the publication of George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four. Jeremy Paxman pays tribute to one of England’s greatest writers. If you want to learn how to write non-fiction, Orwell is your man. He may be known worldwide for his last two novels, Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four. But, for me, his best work is his essays.
Who would have imagined that sixteen hundred words in praise of the Common Toad, knocked out to fill a newspaper column in April 1946, would be worth reprinting sixty years later? But here it is, with many of the characteristic Orwell delights, the unglamorous subject matter, the unnoticed detail (”a toad has about the most beautiful eye of any living creature”) the baleful glare, the profound belief in humanity. Because what the piece is really about, of course, is not the toad itself, but the thrill of that most promising time of year, the spring, even as seen from Orwell’s dingy Islington flat.
When he produced articles like this, hair-shirted fellow socialists got cross. Why wasn’t he spending his time promoting discontent, denouncing the establishment, glorifying the machine-driven future? It is a mark of his greatness that Orwell didn’t care. They – whoever they might be – cannot stop you enjoying spring. The essay ends: “The atom bombs are piling up in the factories, the police are prowling through the cities, the lies are streaming from the loudspeakers, but the earth is still going round the sun, and neither the dictators nor the bureaucrats, deeply as they disapprove of the process, are able to prevent it.”
It all reads so effortlessly. And yet it cannot have been produced without toil. He tells us in Why I Write that he found writing a book ”a horrible, exhausting struggle, like a long bout of some painful illness” and even the shorter pieces, knocked out for magazines or newspapers, must often have been a chore. There is the research, for one thing. His generous, insightful analysis of Charles Dickens shows not merely a close familiarity with 13 of his novels, but also with those of Trollope, Thackeray and a host of long-forgotten writers, too. For his caustic piece on Boys’ Weeklies he evidently immersed himself in mountains of the things.
The result is a piece so deft and witty that it has you laughing out loud. Here, for example, is his list of the national characteristics of the foreigners who make occasional appearances in this bizarre genre:
Frenchman: Excitable. Wears beard, gesticulates wildly.
Spaniard, Mexican, etc.: Sinister, treacherous.
Arab, Afghan, etc.: Sinister, treacherous.
Chinese: Sinister, treacherous. Wears pigtail.
Italian: Excitable. Grinds barrel-organ or carries stiletto.
Swede, Dane, etc.: Kind-hearted, stupid.
Negro: Comic, very faithful.
How one longs for him to have lived long enough to be let loose on the lads’ mags culture of the early twenty-first century.
Because something paradoxical has happened to us. The abundance of the mass media offers a greater choice than ever. We are adrift in a sea of newspapers, magazines, radio, television and limitless cyberspace. It is not merely that the more there is, the less any individual part of it matters. It is that so little seems intended to have any meaning.
You will find nothing much here about fashion, Westminster politics, gossip, relationships, must-have gadgets and holidays, not a mention of the hints dropped by payroll propagandists, nor a word from anonymous ‘’sources close to” some soon-to-be forgotten minister, and nothing about television, pop music, or most of the other subjects which enable our increasingly feeble newspapers to trail their ink across page after page.
What you will find, instead, is an abundance of everything from the life of a book reviewer to how it is to watch a man hanged. The impeccable style is one thing. But if I had to sum up what makes Orwell’s essays so remarkable it is that they always surprise you. Sometimes it is the choice of subject matter: how many journalists can write with any authority on what is like to queue to be let into an overnight shelter for the homeless?
More often, it’s the unexpected insight. He can write a 60-page essay on Charles Dickens which frequently seems to be tending to a conclusion that he was a sentimental old fool, but then come to an unexpectedly affectionate final judgment. You have travelled with him on his journey and are rather startled, and pleased, to discover where you have ended up.
The Dickens essay was an attempt to worry away at why he was such a successful writer and is the longest in this collection. But it is infused with the same spirit of personal engagement as everything else. It is that amazing ability to make you believe that you would have felt as he felt that is his genius.
Take Shooting an Elephant, which recounts an incident during his time as a policeman in Burma. It is a remarkable piece. There is, firstly, the language. When he first sees the elephant, which is said to have run amok, it is standing, beating a bunch of grass against its knees, ”with that preoccupied grandmotherly air that elephants have”. In the seconds after pulling the trigger the beast remains standing, but ”a mysterious, terrible change had come over the elephant… every line of his body altered… He looked suddenly stricken, shrunken, immensely old”. Then the elephant sags to its knees, its mouth slobbering. And, the utterly perfect sentence: ”An enormous senility seemed to have settled upon him.”
Being Orwell, of course, the event is put to political purpose, demonstrating the futility of the imperial project. He has already told us that ”every white man’s life in the East was one long struggle not to be laughed at”. Then he reveals in the last sentence that he had killed the elephant ‘’solely to avoid looking a fool”. Yes, you think, that makes perfect sense.
It is hard to imagine many people less suited to the job of an imperial policeman than Orwell. Yet, while he hated imperialism, he could still remark that the British empire was ”a great deal better than the younger empires that are going to supplant it”. In another essay, My Country Right or Left, he admits to finding it childish that he feels it faintly sacrilegious not to stand to attention during ”God Save the King”, but that he would sooner have that instinct “than be like the left-wing intellectuals who are so ‘enlightened’ that they cannot understand the most ordinary emotions”.
There is something very striking about his patriotism. It was laid out most obviously in his manifesto for a post-war revolution, The Lion and The Unicorn, but his love of England informs just about everything he wrote. It is there like a defiant bugle call rallying us to appreciate kippers, crumpets, marmalade and stilton cheese in In Defence of English Cooking. It is there like a comforting cup of tea in Decline of the English Murder. Both belong to a time when – seen from this distance – English life appears to have been more settled, less commercial, more neighbourly and less racked by uncertainty of purpose. You cannot read a piece like Bookshop Memories without immediately conjuring up the bad suits and rank smell of dead cigarettes. They could not have been written about any other country on earth.
It is, of course, as a ”political” writer that he is now best-known. Sixty years after publication, Nineteen Eighty-Four remains the greatest fictional demolition of totalitarianism, and any decently educated 12-year-old can explain what Animal Farm is about. But, in truth, there is almost none of his successful work, either fiction or non-fiction, that is not political. His work is always about that basic question – why do we live like this?
What marks it out from other political writing is not merely the quality of the prose, but its moral authority. Where does this come from? Would he have produced such luminescent work had he not had his first unsuitable job? If he had not suffered at the hands of oafs at his ghastly prep school? If he had not had the years of failure? I think the answer to all these questions is ”no”.
But he also had the paradoxical good fortune to live in evil times. There could be no accommodation with fascism – it was either resistance or capitulation, and everything he wrote from the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War until his death was infused with the same urgent imperative to resist totalitarianism. Of course, some of it is absurdly overstated. Can he really have believed that “only revolution can save England, that has been obvious for years… I dare say the London gutters will have to run with blood,” in 1940? But evil times force harsh judgments.
Orwell could toss off sentences like that with greater authority than most because of the quality not merely of his writing but of his experience. When he spoke of life at the bottom of the heap he did so as someone who had lived as a scullion and a tramp. When he talked of war and death he did so as someone who had fought in war and seen people die. The experiences had translated a natural hatred of authority into a political manifesto of sorts.
What Orwell’s experiences – both as figure of authority and as scullion – had given him was a lived understanding of the human condition. It was this grounding in reality that bestowed a more profound political instinct than would be available to some sloganeering zealot. He had acquired a capacity to empathise with the foot-soldiers of history, the put-upon people generally taken for granted, ignored or squashed by the great isms of one sort or another. It conferred upon him the remarkable ability to achieve what every journalist and essayist seeks.
He could tell the truth.
Source: Telegraph Co UK
(Telegraph) – Next week marks the 60th anniversary of the publication of George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four. Jeremy Paxman pays tribute to one of England’s greatest writers. If you want to learn how to write non-fiction, Orwell is your man. He may be known worldwide for his last two novels, Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four. But, for me, his best work is his essays.
Who would have imagined that sixteen hundred words in praise of the Common Toad, knocked out to fill a newspaper column in April 1946, would be worth reprinting sixty years later? But here it is, with many of the characteristic Orwell delights, the unglamorous subject matter, the unnoticed detail (”a toad has about the most beautiful eye of any living creature”) the baleful glare, the profound belief in humanity. Because what the piece is really about, of course, is not the toad itself, but the thrill of that most promising time of year, the spring, even as seen from Orwell’s dingy Islington flat.
When he produced articles like this, hair-shirted fellow socialists got cross. Why wasn’t he spending his time promoting discontent, denouncing the establishment, glorifying the machine-driven future? It is a mark of his greatness that Orwell didn’t care. They – whoever they might be – cannot stop you enjoying spring. The essay ends: “The atom bombs are piling up in the factories, the police are prowling through the cities, the lies are streaming from the loudspeakers, but the earth is still going round the sun, and neither the dictators nor the bureaucrats, deeply as they disapprove of the process, are able to prevent it.”
It all reads so effortlessly. And yet it cannot have been produced without toil. He tells us in Why I Write that he found writing a book ”a horrible, exhausting struggle, like a long bout of some painful illness” and even the shorter pieces, knocked out for magazines or newspapers, must often have been a chore. There is the research, for one thing. His generous, insightful analysis of Charles Dickens shows not merely a close familiarity with 13 of his novels, but also with those of Trollope, Thackeray and a host of long-forgotten writers, too. For his caustic piece on Boys’ Weeklies he evidently immersed himself in mountains of the things.
The result is a piece so deft and witty that it has you laughing out loud. Here, for example, is his list of the national characteristics of the foreigners who make occasional appearances in this bizarre genre:
Frenchman: Excitable. Wears beard, gesticulates wildly.
Spaniard, Mexican, etc.: Sinister, treacherous.
Arab, Afghan, etc.: Sinister, treacherous.
Chinese: Sinister, treacherous. Wears pigtail.
Italian: Excitable. Grinds barrel-organ or carries stiletto.
Swede, Dane, etc.: Kind-hearted, stupid.
Negro: Comic, very faithful.
How one longs for him to have lived long enough to be let loose on the lads’ mags culture of the early twenty-first century.
Because something paradoxical has happened to us. The abundance of the mass media offers a greater choice than ever. We are adrift in a sea of newspapers, magazines, radio, television and limitless cyberspace. It is not merely that the more there is, the less any individual part of it matters. It is that so little seems intended to have any meaning.
You will find nothing much here about fashion, Westminster politics, gossip, relationships, must-have gadgets and holidays, not a mention of the hints dropped by payroll propagandists, nor a word from anonymous ‘’sources close to” some soon-to-be forgotten minister, and nothing about television, pop music, or most of the other subjects which enable our increasingly feeble newspapers to trail their ink across page after page.
What you will find, instead, is an abundance of everything from the life of a book reviewer to how it is to watch a man hanged. The impeccable style is one thing. But if I had to sum up what makes Orwell’s essays so remarkable it is that they always surprise you. Sometimes it is the choice of subject matter: how many journalists can write with any authority on what is like to queue to be let into an overnight shelter for the homeless?
More often, it’s the unexpected insight. He can write a 60-page essay on Charles Dickens which frequently seems to be tending to a conclusion that he was a sentimental old fool, but then come to an unexpectedly affectionate final judgment. You have travelled with him on his journey and are rather startled, and pleased, to discover where you have ended up.
The Dickens essay was an attempt to worry away at why he was such a successful writer and is the longest in this collection. But it is infused with the same spirit of personal engagement as everything else. It is that amazing ability to make you believe that you would have felt as he felt that is his genius.
Take Shooting an Elephant, which recounts an incident during his time as a policeman in Burma. It is a remarkable piece. There is, firstly, the language. When he first sees the elephant, which is said to have run amok, it is standing, beating a bunch of grass against its knees, ”with that preoccupied grandmotherly air that elephants have”. In the seconds after pulling the trigger the beast remains standing, but ”a mysterious, terrible change had come over the elephant… every line of his body altered… He looked suddenly stricken, shrunken, immensely old”. Then the elephant sags to its knees, its mouth slobbering. And, the utterly perfect sentence: ”An enormous senility seemed to have settled upon him.”
Being Orwell, of course, the event is put to political purpose, demonstrating the futility of the imperial project. He has already told us that ”every white man’s life in the East was one long struggle not to be laughed at”. Then he reveals in the last sentence that he had killed the elephant ‘’solely to avoid looking a fool”. Yes, you think, that makes perfect sense.
It is hard to imagine many people less suited to the job of an imperial policeman than Orwell. Yet, while he hated imperialism, he could still remark that the British empire was ”a great deal better than the younger empires that are going to supplant it”. In another essay, My Country Right or Left, he admits to finding it childish that he feels it faintly sacrilegious not to stand to attention during ”God Save the King”, but that he would sooner have that instinct “than be like the left-wing intellectuals who are so ‘enlightened’ that they cannot understand the most ordinary emotions”.
There is something very striking about his patriotism. It was laid out most obviously in his manifesto for a post-war revolution, The Lion and The Unicorn, but his love of England informs just about everything he wrote. It is there like a defiant bugle call rallying us to appreciate kippers, crumpets, marmalade and stilton cheese in In Defence of English Cooking. It is there like a comforting cup of tea in Decline of the English Murder. Both belong to a time when – seen from this distance – English life appears to have been more settled, less commercial, more neighbourly and less racked by uncertainty of purpose. You cannot read a piece like Bookshop Memories without immediately conjuring up the bad suits and rank smell of dead cigarettes. They could not have been written about any other country on earth.
It is, of course, as a ”political” writer that he is now best-known. Sixty years after publication, Nineteen Eighty-Four remains the greatest fictional demolition of totalitarianism, and any decently educated 12-year-old can explain what Animal Farm is about. But, in truth, there is almost none of his successful work, either fiction or non-fiction, that is not political. His work is always about that basic question – why do we live like this?
What marks it out from other political writing is not merely the quality of the prose, but its moral authority. Where does this come from? Would he have produced such luminescent work had he not had his first unsuitable job? If he had not suffered at the hands of oafs at his ghastly prep school? If he had not had the years of failure? I think the answer to all these questions is ”no”.
But he also had the paradoxical good fortune to live in evil times. There could be no accommodation with fascism – it was either resistance or capitulation, and everything he wrote from the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War until his death was infused with the same urgent imperative to resist totalitarianism. Of course, some of it is absurdly overstated. Can he really have believed that “only revolution can save England, that has been obvious for years… I dare say the London gutters will have to run with blood,” in 1940? But evil times force harsh judgments.
Orwell could toss off sentences like that with greater authority than most because of the quality not merely of his writing but of his experience. When he spoke of life at the bottom of the heap he did so as someone who had lived as a scullion and a tramp. When he talked of war and death he did so as someone who had fought in war and seen people die. The experiences had translated a natural hatred of authority into a political manifesto of sorts.
What Orwell’s experiences – both as figure of authority and as scullion – had given him was a lived understanding of the human condition. It was this grounding in reality that bestowed a more profound political instinct than would be available to some sloganeering zealot. He had acquired a capacity to empathise with the foot-soldiers of history, the put-upon people generally taken for granted, ignored or squashed by the great isms of one sort or another. It conferred upon him the remarkable ability to achieve what every journalist and essayist seeks.
He could tell the truth.
Source: Telegraph Co UK
DHS Takes Claim Militias May Collaborate with al-Qaeda on Bio Attack Seriously
Posted by sakerfa on June 4, 2009
According to The Washington Times, U.S. counterterrorism officials have “authenticated” a video by a supposed al-Qaeda recruiter who claims he has the ability to smuggle a biological weapon into the United States via tunnels under the Mexico border. In the video, Abdullah al-Nafisi also suggests that al-Qaeda might want to collaborate with “members of native U.S. white supremacist militias who hate the federal government.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSMbTiOlqK4&feature=player_embedded
The Department of Homeland Security’s “Right-wing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment” document conflates “white supremacists” with the militia movement, advocates of the Second Amendment, activists opposed to illegal immigration, and other loosely defined “antigovernment” groups. The Strategic Analysis Group, Homeland Environment and Threat Analysis Division of the DHS created the document during the Bush administration and it was revived by the incoming the Obama administration. Veterans in particular took exception to the report because it claims “returning military veterans from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have joined extremist groups.”
The Abdullah al-Nafisi “recruitment” video first surfaced on the Arabic news network Al Jazeera in February and was later posted on several web sites. It was translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), the notorious disinformation outfit linked to Israeli intelligence. Mossad and the IDF are infamous for planting stories in the media and engaging in psychological warfare.
MEMRI concentrates primarily on discrediting Palestinian and Arab nationalists and was co-founded by the neocon Meyrav Wurmser (married to David Wurmser, Cheney’s Principal Deputy Assistant for National Security Affairs) and Colonel Yigal Carmon, formerly of Israeli military intelligence. “Besides Carmon, several MEMRI staffers are former Israeli intelligence specialists. Especially troubling are suspected links between MEMRI and the current Israeli intelligence establishment,” Lawrence Swaim of InFocus wrote in 2007.
“MEMRI is a main arm of Israeli propaganda,” explains professor Norman G. Finkelstein, a well-known scholar on Israel and Palestine. It is “a Mossad operation pretending to be a media translation service.” Vince Cannistraro, a former CIA case officer, says “they (MEMRI) are selective and act as propagandists for their political point of view, which is the extreme-right of Likud.”
The group receives funding from the usual neocon suspects, including the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, the Randolph Foundation, and the John M. Olin Foundation. In addition to the MEMRI propaganda effort, these foundations also fund the American Enterprise Institute, the Project for the New American Century, and importantly the Council on Foreign Relations. MEMRI has threatened to use “SLAPP” (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation) against critics, most notably the journalist Juan Cole.
Sean Smith, a spokesman for Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, said the U.S. takes the Abdullah al-Nafisi “recruitment” video seriously. “We can never stop being vigilant while there are individuals who seek to do harm on the American people,” he said.
“In the US, there are more than 300,000 white militia members, who are calling to attack the federal government in Washington, and to banish the Arabs, the Jews, and the negroes [sic] from the US. These are racist people. They are called ‘rednecks.’ The Ku Klux Klan. They are racists,” al-Nafisi declares in a MEMRI translation. “These militias even think about bombing nuclear plants within the US. May Allah grant them success, even though we are not white, or even close to it, right? They have plans to bomb the nuclear plant at Lake Michigan. This plant is very important. It supplies electricity to all of North Africa [sic]. May Allah grant success to one of these militia leaders, who is thinking about bombing this plant. I believe that we should devote part of our prayers to him. We should pray that Allah grants him success, so he can complete this mission, and we will be able to visit him and congratulate him, Allah willing.”
Abdallah al-Nafisi’s ludicrous assertion that militia members plan to bomb U.S. nuclear plants echoes the DHS claim that the militias are dangerous and recruiting returning Iraq and Afghanistan veterans to engage in “antigovernment” violence by playing on “several emergent issues,” including a racist hatred of “the first African American president” and a faltering economy.
A Google search of al-Nafisi’s claim that “white supremacists” allegedly aligned with the militia movement plan to blow up U.S. nuclear plants does not return any results.
The Arab newspaper Al-Ahram has connected al-Nafisi to the Muslim Brotherhood. The “Muslim Brotherhood was created, infiltrated, or at least promoted by British Intelligence,” writes Peter D. Goodgame (The Globalists and the Islamists: Fomenting the “Clash of Civilizations” for a New World Order). In addition, the CIA funded the Muslim Brotherhood as a wedge against Arab nationalism, specifically against Gamal Abddul Nasser’s nationalist policies in Egypt (see Robert Baer, Sleeping with the Devil: How Washington Sold Our Soul for Saudi Crude, and Robert Dreyfuss, Devil’s Game: How the United States Helped Unleash Fundamentalist Islam).
It is now a well-documented fact that al-Qaeda is a western intelligence operation. For a detailed explanation on how the CIA, in collaboration with Pakistan’s ISI, created the al-Qaeda myth, see Norm Dixon’s How the CIA created Osama bin Laden. The current president of Pakistan, Asif Ali Zardari, told NBC’s David Gregory last month that Osama bin Laden was an “operator” for the United States. Zardari’s claim was all but ignored by the corporate media.
“The truth is, there is no Islamic army or terrorist group called Al Qaida,” said British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook. “And any informed intelligence officer knows this. But there is a propaganda campaign to make the public believe in the presence of an identified entity representing the ‘devil’ only in order to drive the TV watcher to accept a unified international leadership for a war against terrorism. The country behind this propaganda is the US.”
In January of 2008, the al-Qaeda myth expanded to include the cooked up specter of a “white al-Qaeda.” According to the Scotsman, al-Qaeda, Lashkar-e-Taiba and Harkat-ul-Mujahideen have converted white non-Muslims. “The trend is well established in the United States. American-born Adam Gadahn is one of the FBI’s top 10 most-wanted terrorists after converting to Islam and rising through al-Qaeda’s ranks to become a prominent spokesman.” Fox News amplified this phony threat. “If they can recruit a Scandinavian, that’s the holy grail for them.” Mike Baker, a former CIA agent and professional counter-terrorism expert, told Fox. “They need people who can move around freely and do their bidding.”
Now we are told al-Qaeda may collaborate with “white supremacists” and unleash an anthrax attack on the White House lawn. It remains to be seen if the lunatic ravings of Abdullah al-Nafisi — a probable intelligence asset — will be incorporated in the emerging DHS fairy tale designed to discredit and criminalize legitimate activism in the United States.
Fox has launched a propaganda campaign on the phony threat (see video above). Glenn Beck says he has talked about the “threat” supposedly posed by “white supremacist militias” for some time. In late 2007, Beck and guest David Horowitz — a virulent Muslim hater and Zionist shill — characterized “Ron Paul supporters, libertarians and the anti-war left as terrorist sympathizers and inferred that the U.S. military should be used to silence them, parroting a talking point that traces back to a September 2006 White House directive,” according to Paul Joseph Watson. “I think it’s very significant he (Ron Paul) chose Guy Fawkes as an image,” said Horowitz. Ron Paul never made the comparison.
If the comments of DHS spokesman Sean Smith are to be taken at face value, the government is already in the process of rolling MEMRI’s blatant propaganda into the effort to characterize activism as a dire threat to the homeland.
Source: InfoWars
According to The Washington Times, U.S. counterterrorism officials have “authenticated” a video by a supposed al-Qaeda recruiter who claims he has the ability to smuggle a biological weapon into the United States via tunnels under the Mexico border. In the video, Abdullah al-Nafisi also suggests that al-Qaeda might want to collaborate with “members of native U.S. white supremacist militias who hate the federal government.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSMbTiOlqK4&feature=player_embedded
The Department of Homeland Security’s “Right-wing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment” document conflates “white supremacists” with the militia movement, advocates of the Second Amendment, activists opposed to illegal immigration, and other loosely defined “antigovernment” groups. The Strategic Analysis Group, Homeland Environment and Threat Analysis Division of the DHS created the document during the Bush administration and it was revived by the incoming the Obama administration. Veterans in particular took exception to the report because it claims “returning military veterans from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have joined extremist groups.”
The Abdullah al-Nafisi “recruitment” video first surfaced on the Arabic news network Al Jazeera in February and was later posted on several web sites. It was translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), the notorious disinformation outfit linked to Israeli intelligence. Mossad and the IDF are infamous for planting stories in the media and engaging in psychological warfare.
MEMRI concentrates primarily on discrediting Palestinian and Arab nationalists and was co-founded by the neocon Meyrav Wurmser (married to David Wurmser, Cheney’s Principal Deputy Assistant for National Security Affairs) and Colonel Yigal Carmon, formerly of Israeli military intelligence. “Besides Carmon, several MEMRI staffers are former Israeli intelligence specialists. Especially troubling are suspected links between MEMRI and the current Israeli intelligence establishment,” Lawrence Swaim of InFocus wrote in 2007.
“MEMRI is a main arm of Israeli propaganda,” explains professor Norman G. Finkelstein, a well-known scholar on Israel and Palestine. It is “a Mossad operation pretending to be a media translation service.” Vince Cannistraro, a former CIA case officer, says “they (MEMRI) are selective and act as propagandists for their political point of view, which is the extreme-right of Likud.”
The group receives funding from the usual neocon suspects, including the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, the Randolph Foundation, and the John M. Olin Foundation. In addition to the MEMRI propaganda effort, these foundations also fund the American Enterprise Institute, the Project for the New American Century, and importantly the Council on Foreign Relations. MEMRI has threatened to use “SLAPP” (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation) against critics, most notably the journalist Juan Cole.
Sean Smith, a spokesman for Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, said the U.S. takes the Abdullah al-Nafisi “recruitment” video seriously. “We can never stop being vigilant while there are individuals who seek to do harm on the American people,” he said.
“In the US, there are more than 300,000 white militia members, who are calling to attack the federal government in Washington, and to banish the Arabs, the Jews, and the negroes [sic] from the US. These are racist people. They are called ‘rednecks.’ The Ku Klux Klan. They are racists,” al-Nafisi declares in a MEMRI translation. “These militias even think about bombing nuclear plants within the US. May Allah grant them success, even though we are not white, or even close to it, right? They have plans to bomb the nuclear plant at Lake Michigan. This plant is very important. It supplies electricity to all of North Africa [sic]. May Allah grant success to one of these militia leaders, who is thinking about bombing this plant. I believe that we should devote part of our prayers to him. We should pray that Allah grants him success, so he can complete this mission, and we will be able to visit him and congratulate him, Allah willing.”
Abdallah al-Nafisi’s ludicrous assertion that militia members plan to bomb U.S. nuclear plants echoes the DHS claim that the militias are dangerous and recruiting returning Iraq and Afghanistan veterans to engage in “antigovernment” violence by playing on “several emergent issues,” including a racist hatred of “the first African American president” and a faltering economy.
A Google search of al-Nafisi’s claim that “white supremacists” allegedly aligned with the militia movement plan to blow up U.S. nuclear plants does not return any results.
The Arab newspaper Al-Ahram has connected al-Nafisi to the Muslim Brotherhood. The “Muslim Brotherhood was created, infiltrated, or at least promoted by British Intelligence,” writes Peter D. Goodgame (The Globalists and the Islamists: Fomenting the “Clash of Civilizations” for a New World Order). In addition, the CIA funded the Muslim Brotherhood as a wedge against Arab nationalism, specifically against Gamal Abddul Nasser’s nationalist policies in Egypt (see Robert Baer, Sleeping with the Devil: How Washington Sold Our Soul for Saudi Crude, and Robert Dreyfuss, Devil’s Game: How the United States Helped Unleash Fundamentalist Islam).
It is now a well-documented fact that al-Qaeda is a western intelligence operation. For a detailed explanation on how the CIA, in collaboration with Pakistan’s ISI, created the al-Qaeda myth, see Norm Dixon’s How the CIA created Osama bin Laden. The current president of Pakistan, Asif Ali Zardari, told NBC’s David Gregory last month that Osama bin Laden was an “operator” for the United States. Zardari’s claim was all but ignored by the corporate media.
“The truth is, there is no Islamic army or terrorist group called Al Qaida,” said British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook. “And any informed intelligence officer knows this. But there is a propaganda campaign to make the public believe in the presence of an identified entity representing the ‘devil’ only in order to drive the TV watcher to accept a unified international leadership for a war against terrorism. The country behind this propaganda is the US.”
In January of 2008, the al-Qaeda myth expanded to include the cooked up specter of a “white al-Qaeda.” According to the Scotsman, al-Qaeda, Lashkar-e-Taiba and Harkat-ul-Mujahideen have converted white non-Muslims. “The trend is well established in the United States. American-born Adam Gadahn is one of the FBI’s top 10 most-wanted terrorists after converting to Islam and rising through al-Qaeda’s ranks to become a prominent spokesman.” Fox News amplified this phony threat. “If they can recruit a Scandinavian, that’s the holy grail for them.” Mike Baker, a former CIA agent and professional counter-terrorism expert, told Fox. “They need people who can move around freely and do their bidding.”
Now we are told al-Qaeda may collaborate with “white supremacists” and unleash an anthrax attack on the White House lawn. It remains to be seen if the lunatic ravings of Abdullah al-Nafisi — a probable intelligence asset — will be incorporated in the emerging DHS fairy tale designed to discredit and criminalize legitimate activism in the United States.
Fox has launched a propaganda campaign on the phony threat (see video above). Glenn Beck says he has talked about the “threat” supposedly posed by “white supremacist militias” for some time. In late 2007, Beck and guest David Horowitz — a virulent Muslim hater and Zionist shill — characterized “Ron Paul supporters, libertarians and the anti-war left as terrorist sympathizers and inferred that the U.S. military should be used to silence them, parroting a talking point that traces back to a September 2006 White House directive,” according to Paul Joseph Watson. “I think it’s very significant he (Ron Paul) chose Guy Fawkes as an image,” said Horowitz. Ron Paul never made the comparison.
If the comments of DHS spokesman Sean Smith are to be taken at face value, the government is already in the process of rolling MEMRI’s blatant propaganda into the effort to characterize activism as a dire threat to the homeland.
Source: InfoWars
Taser Torture as Summary Punishment for “Non-Compliance”
William Grigg
The LRC Blog
June 3, 2009
The official rationale for issuing Tasers to police officers is that the electro-shock devices represent a “non-lethal” alternative to the use of a firearm in dealing with situations that threaten the life or safety of an officer or innocent bystanders.
In practical terms, however, the Taser — which is proving to be a reliably lethal weapon — has become an instrument of “pain compliance.” In unadorned terms, this is summary punishment through torture for those who pose no threat to anyone, but who refuse to cooperate instantly with orders issued to them by police officers.
The recent arrest of 72-year-old Austin grandmother Kathryn Winkfein, who was assaulted with a Taser during a traffic stop, illustrates this perfectly.
After a police officer stopped Mrs. Winkfein for allegedly driving 60 in a 45 MPH zone, the grandmother refused to sign the ticket stub. Under Texas “law,” motorists are required to sign traffic tickets under threat of arrest.
According to the police officer, Mrs. Winkfein not only refused to comply, but she “swore” and became “violent” with him. Palsied with terror over the threat posed by a frail septuagenarian woman, the officer hit her with a blast from his Taser. Mrs. Winkfein disputes every element of the official account, and intends to file a lawsuit.
Mrs. Winkfein might be encouraged by the $40,000 settlement reached between the State of Utah and Jared Massey, who suffered a Taser assault at the hands of Utah Highway Patrolman Jon Gardner during a 2007 traffic stop.
Massey refused to accept the traffic ticket. Under Utah law, he didn’t have to; Trooper Gardner could simply have shrugged his shoulders and mailed it to Massey. But following that approach would mean that Gardner had failed to compel a “mundane” to submit to his Authoritah:
In his dashcam recording taken from Gardner’s cruiser, it’s important to note how — beginning at roughly 11 seconds into the video — we see Gardner pull over to the side of the road, thereby obstructing Massey’s view of the sign announcing the speed limit of 40 MPH. After Massey passed, Gardner pulls him over almost instantaneously.
At that time Gardner pulled over, Massey was not speeding, and Gardner had no reason to pull over — unless he wanted to manufacture a traffic stop by preventing the motorist from seeing the speed limit sign.
Massey, who didn’t see the sign, was understandably outraged by Gardner’s asinine stunt, and his mood didn’t improve when the tax-feeder threatened his pregnant wife.
Predictably enough, the UHP ruled that Gardner’s unnecessary use of the reliably lethal Taser against Massey was “justified” — despite the fact that Massey was merely uncooperative, not “threatening,” and despite the fact that Massey had no legal obligation to accept the ticket from Gardner.
In a tacit admission that Gardner acted improperly by needlessly escalating the confrontation, the Utah state police did place him on administrative leave and ordered him to undergo anger management training.
Of particular interest in the Massey case was the reaction of the Provo Daily Herald newspaper, for which I wrote a weekly (then bi-weekly) column a couple of decades ago, long before its descent into unalloyed statism.
“Here’s a tip: when a uniformed man with a badge and a gun tells you to do something, shut up and do exactly what he says,” opined the Herald, which serves the reddest community in “Red-State” America. A more suitable example of the martial law mind-set would be difficult to find.
Source: William Grigg
The LRC Blog
June 3, 2009
The official rationale for issuing Tasers to police officers is that the electro-shock devices represent a “non-lethal” alternative to the use of a firearm in dealing with situations that threaten the life or safety of an officer or innocent bystanders.
In practical terms, however, the Taser — which is proving to be a reliably lethal weapon — has become an instrument of “pain compliance.” In unadorned terms, this is summary punishment through torture for those who pose no threat to anyone, but who refuse to cooperate instantly with orders issued to them by police officers.
The recent arrest of 72-year-old Austin grandmother Kathryn Winkfein, who was assaulted with a Taser during a traffic stop, illustrates this perfectly.
After a police officer stopped Mrs. Winkfein for allegedly driving 60 in a 45 MPH zone, the grandmother refused to sign the ticket stub. Under Texas “law,” motorists are required to sign traffic tickets under threat of arrest.
According to the police officer, Mrs. Winkfein not only refused to comply, but she “swore” and became “violent” with him. Palsied with terror over the threat posed by a frail septuagenarian woman, the officer hit her with a blast from his Taser. Mrs. Winkfein disputes every element of the official account, and intends to file a lawsuit.
Mrs. Winkfein might be encouraged by the $40,000 settlement reached between the State of Utah and Jared Massey, who suffered a Taser assault at the hands of Utah Highway Patrolman Jon Gardner during a 2007 traffic stop.
Massey refused to accept the traffic ticket. Under Utah law, he didn’t have to; Trooper Gardner could simply have shrugged his shoulders and mailed it to Massey. But following that approach would mean that Gardner had failed to compel a “mundane” to submit to his Authoritah:
In his dashcam recording taken from Gardner’s cruiser, it’s important to note how — beginning at roughly 11 seconds into the video — we see Gardner pull over to the side of the road, thereby obstructing Massey’s view of the sign announcing the speed limit of 40 MPH. After Massey passed, Gardner pulls him over almost instantaneously.
At that time Gardner pulled over, Massey was not speeding, and Gardner had no reason to pull over — unless he wanted to manufacture a traffic stop by preventing the motorist from seeing the speed limit sign.
Massey, who didn’t see the sign, was understandably outraged by Gardner’s asinine stunt, and his mood didn’t improve when the tax-feeder threatened his pregnant wife.
Predictably enough, the UHP ruled that Gardner’s unnecessary use of the reliably lethal Taser against Massey was “justified” — despite the fact that Massey was merely uncooperative, not “threatening,” and despite the fact that Massey had no legal obligation to accept the ticket from Gardner.
In a tacit admission that Gardner acted improperly by needlessly escalating the confrontation, the Utah state police did place him on administrative leave and ordered him to undergo anger management training.
Of particular interest in the Massey case was the reaction of the Provo Daily Herald newspaper, for which I wrote a weekly (then bi-weekly) column a couple of decades ago, long before its descent into unalloyed statism.
“Here’s a tip: when a uniformed man with a badge and a gun tells you to do something, shut up and do exactly what he says,” opined the Herald, which serves the reddest community in “Red-State” America. A more suitable example of the martial law mind-set would be difficult to find.
Source: William Grigg
Friday, March 19, 2010
Exposing the Southern Poverty Law Center… Now It’s Personal!
Debbie Morgan
Take Back Washington
March 19, 2010
After recovering from the “news” that the new film Camp FEMA is somehow racist, I thought it might behoove me to take another look. Maybe the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) knows something I don’t about “racism.” After exploring their interesting site, it has become even more clear that they are not on the side of We-the-People. In fact, they may have been founded on some very sound principles, but their present-day agenda is profoundly more nefarious.
Indulge me for a minute please…my family has fought racism throughout our generations. My grandfather preached equality for ALL in churches in the South. How easy do you think that was to do? My parents did not allow us to use derogatory words, even going so far as to not allow us to use a person’s skin color to describe them. I am still scarred from a battle I had at a United Methodist church in Louisiana, as a seventeen-year old girl, trying to fight racism and politics. Did the Southern Poverty Law Center bother to ask me any questions? No, they didn’t. Believe me, growing up in the South in the ‘60’s and ‘70’s, I know a thing or two about racism!
Many news outlets use the Southern Poverty Law Center to comment on racial issues. There are several; CBS, FoxNews, CNN, the New York Times, Newsweek, the Washington Post, the Associated Press, and more. A group that focuses on hate, The SPLC issues quarterly “reports” about hate…groups, actions, people. In its Spring 2010 Intelligence Report, they claim to have identified 512 “Patriot” groups in the US. (What is wrong with a “Patriot” group?) In their defense, the SPLC does say that being categorized as a “patriot group” does not mean these “groups” advocate violence or hate. Why, then, list them at all? Are they trying to put something in the public’s mind about these “groups?”
The SPLC, the MIAC Report and the Federal government have perverted the true definition of patriot. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines a “patriot” as someone “who loves his or her country and supports its authority and interests.” The SPLC says that these groups “define themselves” as “opposed to the ‘New World Order,’ engage in groundless conspiracy theorizing, or advocate or adhere to extreme antigovernment doctrines.”
Shouldn’t Americans be opposed to a “New World Order”? A “New World Order” would be against our sovereignty as both a free country and free individuals. It has also been presented time and again by US officials, as well as foreign leaders, including Gordon Brown of England, who alluded to, and outright commented on, the New World Order many times. In 1991, Former President Bush, Sr. gave a speech in which we would be “forging for ourselves and others a New World Order,” where, oddly enough, he says the “rule of law” will govern. He further talks about the United Nations. The United States has a great “Rule of Law,” the Constitution, yet our elected officials ignore, circumvent, and issue “Presidential Signing Statements” to avoid that law, and have, since the beginning of our country. This idea is not as far-fetched as the SPLC would have you believe and the SPLC would have you look the other way while they defame the true defenders of the “Rule of Law”.
Engaged in “groundless conspiracy theories” is the SPLC’s opinion and lacks the journalistic integrity to be included in an “intelligence report”. Plus, exactly to which “conspiracy theories” do they refer…or are they referring to ANY questioning of the Federal Government as conspiracy theories? I hate to point it out, but in the United States, we are governed by the consent of the people, so the people are supposed to be in charge, and it is our duty to question what we 1) think does not add up, 2) do not understand, and 3) anything else that threatens our inherent rights granted to us by our Creator.
Of course, one of the “theories” to which they refer has to be the questions surrounding September 11, 2001. There are legitimate questions surrounding that particular event, and if the government wanted to shut up these particular “conspiracies,” all they would have to do is provide answers. In a BBC production from several years ago, Former Florida Senator Bob Graham (who co-chaired the Congressional Inquiry into 9/11) said, “I can just state that within 9/11 there are too many secrets, that is information that has not been made available to the public for which there are specific, tangible, credible answers and that withholding of those secrets has eroded public confidence in their government as it relates to their own security.” Graham was/is right, of course, as the numbers of those who have honest questions about 9/11 are still growing.
Another “groundless conspiracy theory” is that surrounding the afore-mentioned New World Order. At the Spring 2009 G20 Summit, England’s Brown pushed the global community into a New World Order. The discussion of our financial system coming under the regulation of the International Monetary Fund had Dick Morris and Sean Hannity realizing that one of the concerns of the “New World Order conspiracy theorists” was actually happening. In affect, these “theorists” had been “right” all along.
Yet another “conspiracy theory” was “Gulf War Illness.” Since the first Gulf War, veterans have been extremely ill and the government steadily denied “gulf war syndrome,” favoring to diagnosing these extremely ill men and women with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). But the government could no longer deny the existence of “Gulf War Illness,” almost 20 years later, when a federal report published in December 2008 acknowledged that there was, indeed, an actual illness related to the 1990/91 Gulf War. From an article revealing the report: “The 452-page report states that ‘scientific evidence leaves no question that Gulf War illness is a real condition with real causes and serious consequences for affected veterans.’”
Let’s move on to the SPLC’s claim of “antigovernment” extremism. One of the things that those so-called “antigovernment” agendas have in common is their love for country, love for freedom and love for our “Founding Documents,” which includes the Constitution. One must wonder how the SPLC can possibly think these groups are antigovernment when they hold so dearly to the Constitution! What these groups are against is an over-reaching, power-grabbing, intrusive government, a government that will not uphold the “rule of law!” What these groups are looking for is the government as defined in the Constitution of the United States of America. What is so wrong with that? It’s what our Founding Fathers fought and died for! Isn’t that the government that spurred the forging and forming of our country?
It is worth mentioning that maybe the SPLC got its definition of “antigovernment” or better yet, “patriot” from the government itself. In 2001, a pamphlet originating from the Phoenix FBI Office shocked people everywhere. This pamphlet tries to make us think that those who “defend the US Constitution” or those who “make numerous references to the US Constitution” are potentially dangerous. Even so, can’t an organization that is looked to for information make an educated decision about who could be dangerous without relying on an out-of-control government?
This brings me to what happened last summer. While the SPLC was investigating organizations like the Oath Keepers, the Liberty Restoration Project and We are Change, or people like Alex Jones, Gary Franchi and others, why wasn’t the SPLC “investigating” the FBI? Did they forget about radio host Hal Turner? Turner was a white supremacist that happened to be an asset to the federal government. When is the SPLC planning to investigate Federal government? If there is one “Hal Turner,” there must be others. Who are they? How many more “Hal Turners” are inciting hate and violence at the Government’s direction? Does the SPLC know the answer? Are they “investigating” that?
Recent comments made by Dr Heidi Beirich lead me to now ask, is the SPLC going to investigate one of their own? Dr. Beirich took the “opportunity” to call Gary Franchi “insane” and Alex Jones a “lunatic” and accuse Jones of “inspiring” the murder of three police officers in Pittsburgh last year. In response, Franchi says, “It is irrational to assume that because you are unhappy with the government you encourage people to become violent towards individual government employees.” When did questioning the government make you racist or a promoter of hate, and, now, someone who inspires murder? AND, what did Turner inspire, BACKED BY the government?
What is SPLC’s real agenda? They obviously do not promote freedom of speech unless you agree with their rhetoric. Maybe I will borrow words from readers of SPLC’s Spring article slamming Camp FEMA and Colorado’s KBDI: “How does wanting a new 9/11 investigation equate to hate speech?” or “What does Camp FEMA have to do with hate? It actually exposes hate” or “Those who feel this is hatred must also feel our founding fathers were bigots” or better yet, if you “don’t like programs that edge towards the truth keep listening to your elected officials and the mainstream media!” (Remembering that the approval rating for both is EXTREMELY low!) People should demand that the Southern Poverty Law Center come clean with their new agenda of pushing hate, because it is clear the SPLC has strayed far from the sound principles of their founding.
Endnotes:
Take Back Washington
www.TakeBackWashington.com
Camp FEMA
www.CampFEMA.com
Active ‘Patriot’ Groups in the United States in 2009
Link
Merriam-Webster Online: Define Patriot
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/patriot
Gordon Brown at the G20 Summit Early 2009
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-f9jcX9ao4 at about 1:00
Former President George H. W. Bush’s 1991 Speech
“The Conspiracy Files: 911” BBC Sunday, 18 Feb, 9pm on BBC Two
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/6160775.stm
Hannity, Morris agree with Conspiracy People
Gulf War illness is real, new federal report say
http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/11/17/gulf.war.illness.study/
FBI, Phoenix Office, Joint Terrorism Task Force Pamphlet
Front: Link
Back: Link
White supremacist radio host Hal Turner was an FBI informant,
as hackers claimed a year ago
Link
Special Reality Report: Caught on Tape Dr. Heidi Beirich
Link
Congress Job Rating
http://www.pollingreport.com/CongJob.htm
Trust in News Media Falls to New Low in Pew Survey
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/14/business/media/14survey.html?_r=1
Source: Take Back Washington
Take Back Washington
March 19, 2010
After recovering from the “news” that the new film Camp FEMA is somehow racist, I thought it might behoove me to take another look. Maybe the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) knows something I don’t about “racism.” After exploring their interesting site, it has become even more clear that they are not on the side of We-the-People. In fact, they may have been founded on some very sound principles, but their present-day agenda is profoundly more nefarious.
Indulge me for a minute please…my family has fought racism throughout our generations. My grandfather preached equality for ALL in churches in the South. How easy do you think that was to do? My parents did not allow us to use derogatory words, even going so far as to not allow us to use a person’s skin color to describe them. I am still scarred from a battle I had at a United Methodist church in Louisiana, as a seventeen-year old girl, trying to fight racism and politics. Did the Southern Poverty Law Center bother to ask me any questions? No, they didn’t. Believe me, growing up in the South in the ‘60’s and ‘70’s, I know a thing or two about racism!
Many news outlets use the Southern Poverty Law Center to comment on racial issues. There are several; CBS, FoxNews, CNN, the New York Times, Newsweek, the Washington Post, the Associated Press, and more. A group that focuses on hate, The SPLC issues quarterly “reports” about hate…groups, actions, people. In its Spring 2010 Intelligence Report, they claim to have identified 512 “Patriot” groups in the US. (What is wrong with a “Patriot” group?) In their defense, the SPLC does say that being categorized as a “patriot group” does not mean these “groups” advocate violence or hate. Why, then, list them at all? Are they trying to put something in the public’s mind about these “groups?”
The SPLC, the MIAC Report and the Federal government have perverted the true definition of patriot. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines a “patriot” as someone “who loves his or her country and supports its authority and interests.” The SPLC says that these groups “define themselves” as “opposed to the ‘New World Order,’ engage in groundless conspiracy theorizing, or advocate or adhere to extreme antigovernment doctrines.”
Shouldn’t Americans be opposed to a “New World Order”? A “New World Order” would be against our sovereignty as both a free country and free individuals. It has also been presented time and again by US officials, as well as foreign leaders, including Gordon Brown of England, who alluded to, and outright commented on, the New World Order many times. In 1991, Former President Bush, Sr. gave a speech in which we would be “forging for ourselves and others a New World Order,” where, oddly enough, he says the “rule of law” will govern. He further talks about the United Nations. The United States has a great “Rule of Law,” the Constitution, yet our elected officials ignore, circumvent, and issue “Presidential Signing Statements” to avoid that law, and have, since the beginning of our country. This idea is not as far-fetched as the SPLC would have you believe and the SPLC would have you look the other way while they defame the true defenders of the “Rule of Law”.
Engaged in “groundless conspiracy theories” is the SPLC’s opinion and lacks the journalistic integrity to be included in an “intelligence report”. Plus, exactly to which “conspiracy theories” do they refer…or are they referring to ANY questioning of the Federal Government as conspiracy theories? I hate to point it out, but in the United States, we are governed by the consent of the people, so the people are supposed to be in charge, and it is our duty to question what we 1) think does not add up, 2) do not understand, and 3) anything else that threatens our inherent rights granted to us by our Creator.
Of course, one of the “theories” to which they refer has to be the questions surrounding September 11, 2001. There are legitimate questions surrounding that particular event, and if the government wanted to shut up these particular “conspiracies,” all they would have to do is provide answers. In a BBC production from several years ago, Former Florida Senator Bob Graham (who co-chaired the Congressional Inquiry into 9/11) said, “I can just state that within 9/11 there are too many secrets, that is information that has not been made available to the public for which there are specific, tangible, credible answers and that withholding of those secrets has eroded public confidence in their government as it relates to their own security.” Graham was/is right, of course, as the numbers of those who have honest questions about 9/11 are still growing.
Another “groundless conspiracy theory” is that surrounding the afore-mentioned New World Order. At the Spring 2009 G20 Summit, England’s Brown pushed the global community into a New World Order. The discussion of our financial system coming under the regulation of the International Monetary Fund had Dick Morris and Sean Hannity realizing that one of the concerns of the “New World Order conspiracy theorists” was actually happening. In affect, these “theorists” had been “right” all along.
Yet another “conspiracy theory” was “Gulf War Illness.” Since the first Gulf War, veterans have been extremely ill and the government steadily denied “gulf war syndrome,” favoring to diagnosing these extremely ill men and women with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). But the government could no longer deny the existence of “Gulf War Illness,” almost 20 years later, when a federal report published in December 2008 acknowledged that there was, indeed, an actual illness related to the 1990/91 Gulf War. From an article revealing the report: “The 452-page report states that ‘scientific evidence leaves no question that Gulf War illness is a real condition with real causes and serious consequences for affected veterans.’”
Let’s move on to the SPLC’s claim of “antigovernment” extremism. One of the things that those so-called “antigovernment” agendas have in common is their love for country, love for freedom and love for our “Founding Documents,” which includes the Constitution. One must wonder how the SPLC can possibly think these groups are antigovernment when they hold so dearly to the Constitution! What these groups are against is an over-reaching, power-grabbing, intrusive government, a government that will not uphold the “rule of law!” What these groups are looking for is the government as defined in the Constitution of the United States of America. What is so wrong with that? It’s what our Founding Fathers fought and died for! Isn’t that the government that spurred the forging and forming of our country?
It is worth mentioning that maybe the SPLC got its definition of “antigovernment” or better yet, “patriot” from the government itself. In 2001, a pamphlet originating from the Phoenix FBI Office shocked people everywhere. This pamphlet tries to make us think that those who “defend the US Constitution” or those who “make numerous references to the US Constitution” are potentially dangerous. Even so, can’t an organization that is looked to for information make an educated decision about who could be dangerous without relying on an out-of-control government?
This brings me to what happened last summer. While the SPLC was investigating organizations like the Oath Keepers, the Liberty Restoration Project and We are Change, or people like Alex Jones, Gary Franchi and others, why wasn’t the SPLC “investigating” the FBI? Did they forget about radio host Hal Turner? Turner was a white supremacist that happened to be an asset to the federal government. When is the SPLC planning to investigate Federal government? If there is one “Hal Turner,” there must be others. Who are they? How many more “Hal Turners” are inciting hate and violence at the Government’s direction? Does the SPLC know the answer? Are they “investigating” that?
Recent comments made by Dr Heidi Beirich lead me to now ask, is the SPLC going to investigate one of their own? Dr. Beirich took the “opportunity” to call Gary Franchi “insane” and Alex Jones a “lunatic” and accuse Jones of “inspiring” the murder of three police officers in Pittsburgh last year. In response, Franchi says, “It is irrational to assume that because you are unhappy with the government you encourage people to become violent towards individual government employees.” When did questioning the government make you racist or a promoter of hate, and, now, someone who inspires murder? AND, what did Turner inspire, BACKED BY the government?
What is SPLC’s real agenda? They obviously do not promote freedom of speech unless you agree with their rhetoric. Maybe I will borrow words from readers of SPLC’s Spring article slamming Camp FEMA and Colorado’s KBDI: “How does wanting a new 9/11 investigation equate to hate speech?” or “What does Camp FEMA have to do with hate? It actually exposes hate” or “Those who feel this is hatred must also feel our founding fathers were bigots” or better yet, if you “don’t like programs that edge towards the truth keep listening to your elected officials and the mainstream media!” (Remembering that the approval rating for both is EXTREMELY low!) People should demand that the Southern Poverty Law Center come clean with their new agenda of pushing hate, because it is clear the SPLC has strayed far from the sound principles of their founding.
Endnotes:
Take Back Washington
www.TakeBackWashington.com
Camp FEMA
www.CampFEMA.com
Active ‘Patriot’ Groups in the United States in 2009
Link
Merriam-Webster Online: Define Patriot
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/patriot
Gordon Brown at the G20 Summit Early 2009
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-f9jcX9ao4 at about 1:00
Former President George H. W. Bush’s 1991 Speech
“The Conspiracy Files: 911” BBC Sunday, 18 Feb, 9pm on BBC Two
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/6160775.stm
Hannity, Morris agree with Conspiracy People
Gulf War illness is real, new federal report say
http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/11/17/gulf.war.illness.study/
FBI, Phoenix Office, Joint Terrorism Task Force Pamphlet
Front: Link
Back: Link
White supremacist radio host Hal Turner was an FBI informant,
as hackers claimed a year ago
Link
Special Reality Report: Caught on Tape Dr. Heidi Beirich
Link
Congress Job Rating
http://www.pollingreport.com/CongJob.htm
Trust in News Media Falls to New Low in Pew Survey
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/14/business/media/14survey.html?_r=1
Source: Take Back Washington
Obama, Congress, and Treason Against the Constitution
Kurt Nimmo
Infowars.com
March 19, 2010
On Thursday, Robert Gibbs, Obama’s press secretary, responded to a question about the so-called “Slaughter Rule” (named after Rep. Slaughter, who sits on the rules committee) that will be used by Democrats to force through Obama’s totalitarian care bill, probably over the weekend.
Gibbs’ answer was deliberately opaque. By not addressing the question, he essentially said “deem and pass” will be used in the future to enact unpopular legislation, including a bill that will legalize millions of illegal immigrants.
It is now official — the Constitution is dead. It may as well be used to wrap fish.
Article 1, Section 7 of the Constitution requires that both houses of Congress hold recorded yea-or-nay votes on a bill before it can be presented to the president for his signature and before it can become law.
Obama approves of sabotaging the Constitution. He said he does not “spend a lot of time worrying about what the procedural rules are,” in other words violating the spirit and law of the Constitution is not a biggie for him. “What I can tell you is that the vote that’s taken in the House will be a vote for health care reform. And if people vote yes, whatever form that takes, that is going to be a vote for health care reform,” he told Bret Baier of Fox News.
“These constitutional rules set forth in Article I are not mere exercises in formalism,” former federal appeals court judge Michael McConnell told the Wall Street Journal earlier in the week. “They ensure the democratic accountability of our representatives.”
Author and talk show host Mark Levin’s Landmark Legal Foundation plans to file an immediate lawsuit if House Democratic leaders try to use the unconstitutional maneuver to pass the Senate version of Obama’s totalitarian care.
Good for Levin. However, according to constitutional experts, the underhanded procedure is unlikely to be reversed by the courts.
In short, Obama and Congress will not be called to task. The Constitution is now about as relevant as the Sunday funnies.
Source: infowars.com
Infowars.com
March 19, 2010
On Thursday, Robert Gibbs, Obama’s press secretary, responded to a question about the so-called “Slaughter Rule” (named after Rep. Slaughter, who sits on the rules committee) that will be used by Democrats to force through Obama’s totalitarian care bill, probably over the weekend.
Gibbs’ answer was deliberately opaque. By not addressing the question, he essentially said “deem and pass” will be used in the future to enact unpopular legislation, including a bill that will legalize millions of illegal immigrants.
It is now official — the Constitution is dead. It may as well be used to wrap fish.
Article 1, Section 7 of the Constitution requires that both houses of Congress hold recorded yea-or-nay votes on a bill before it can be presented to the president for his signature and before it can become law.
Obama approves of sabotaging the Constitution. He said he does not “spend a lot of time worrying about what the procedural rules are,” in other words violating the spirit and law of the Constitution is not a biggie for him. “What I can tell you is that the vote that’s taken in the House will be a vote for health care reform. And if people vote yes, whatever form that takes, that is going to be a vote for health care reform,” he told Bret Baier of Fox News.
“These constitutional rules set forth in Article I are not mere exercises in formalism,” former federal appeals court judge Michael McConnell told the Wall Street Journal earlier in the week. “They ensure the democratic accountability of our representatives.”
Author and talk show host Mark Levin’s Landmark Legal Foundation plans to file an immediate lawsuit if House Democratic leaders try to use the unconstitutional maneuver to pass the Senate version of Obama’s totalitarian care.
Good for Levin. However, according to constitutional experts, the underhanded procedure is unlikely to be reversed by the courts.
In short, Obama and Congress will not be called to task. The Constitution is now about as relevant as the Sunday funnies.
Source: infowars.com
Buying Votes for Health Care Bill With Amnesty for Illegal Aliens
PRNewswire-USNewswire
March 19, 2010
President Obama, yesterday, succeeded in winning the Congressional Hispanic Caucus’s endorsement of his health care reform legislation by pledging to push an overwhelmingly unpopular amnesty plan for millions of illegal aliens. In this apparent quid pro quo, the president’s promise to push amnesty in 2010 came just hours after members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus promised their support for the health care reform bill. The announcement also coincided with the release of an outline for amnesty legislation authored by Senators Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.).
According to the outline, illegal aliens would be required to admit that they broke the law, pay an unspecified fine for having settled illegally in the U.S., pay back taxes (which should have been paid anyway), and fulfill some minor civic requirements. In addition, the outline calls for increases in future immigration to the United States. The concrete benefits for the people who violated U.S. immigration laws are offset by vague promises of future immigration enforcement.
“The Schumer-Graham plan appears to be a near carbon copy of the McCain-Kennedy-Bush amnesty legislation that was resoundingly rejected by the American people in 2007,” said Dan Stein, president of the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR). “The public believed amnesty was fundamentally unfair, harmful to the interests of law-abiding citizens and legal immigrants, and prohibitively expensive to American taxpayers. Since the last attempt to pass amnesty, U.S. unemployment has more than doubled, the size of the federal deficit has grown tenfold, and nearly every state government is facing a fiscal crisis.”
The release of the Schumer-Graham outline is timed to appease the thousands of illegal aliens and their supporters who are expected to gather on the National Mall this Sunday. “While Congress and the Obama administration ignore the concerns of millions of American families who are struggling through the worst economic crisis in 75 years, they appear remarkably responsive to the demands of people who are in the country illegally,” Stein said.
In 2006 and 2007, FAIR led the national opposition to efforts to enact amnesty for illegal aliens. Based on the general outline of the legislation being proposed by Senators Schumer and Graham, FAIR believes that this latest attempt sells out the interests of American citizens and taxpayers and will be similarly rejected by the American people.
Source: PRNewswire-USNewswire
March 19, 2010
President Obama, yesterday, succeeded in winning the Congressional Hispanic Caucus’s endorsement of his health care reform legislation by pledging to push an overwhelmingly unpopular amnesty plan for millions of illegal aliens. In this apparent quid pro quo, the president’s promise to push amnesty in 2010 came just hours after members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus promised their support for the health care reform bill. The announcement also coincided with the release of an outline for amnesty legislation authored by Senators Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.).
According to the outline, illegal aliens would be required to admit that they broke the law, pay an unspecified fine for having settled illegally in the U.S., pay back taxes (which should have been paid anyway), and fulfill some minor civic requirements. In addition, the outline calls for increases in future immigration to the United States. The concrete benefits for the people who violated U.S. immigration laws are offset by vague promises of future immigration enforcement.
“The Schumer-Graham plan appears to be a near carbon copy of the McCain-Kennedy-Bush amnesty legislation that was resoundingly rejected by the American people in 2007,” said Dan Stein, president of the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR). “The public believed amnesty was fundamentally unfair, harmful to the interests of law-abiding citizens and legal immigrants, and prohibitively expensive to American taxpayers. Since the last attempt to pass amnesty, U.S. unemployment has more than doubled, the size of the federal deficit has grown tenfold, and nearly every state government is facing a fiscal crisis.”
The release of the Schumer-Graham outline is timed to appease the thousands of illegal aliens and their supporters who are expected to gather on the National Mall this Sunday. “While Congress and the Obama administration ignore the concerns of millions of American families who are struggling through the worst economic crisis in 75 years, they appear remarkably responsive to the demands of people who are in the country illegally,” Stein said.
In 2006 and 2007, FAIR led the national opposition to efforts to enact amnesty for illegal aliens. Based on the general outline of the legislation being proposed by Senators Schumer and Graham, FAIR believes that this latest attempt sells out the interests of American citizens and taxpayers and will be similarly rejected by the American people.
Source: PRNewswire-USNewswire
9 major changes in new health care bill
Julie Appleby and Mary Agnes Carey
MSNBC
March 19, 2010
In their attempt to pass a sweeping health care overhaul this weekend, House Democrats are pushing a package of legislative fixes to lure undecided or opposed members of their party to the “yes” category.
Proposed changes to the Senate-passed health care bill include a scaled-back tax on high-cost health insurance plans – a provision that is widely unpopular with House Democrats – and more money to help states pay for an expansion of Medicaid, the state-federal health program for the poor and disabled. The new measure, called a reconciliation bill, also would take additional steps to close a gap in Medicare prescription drug coverage and to help low- and middle-income Americans purchase health insurance through new insurance exchanges.
If approved by the House, which is scheduled to vote Sunday, the package would be considered in the Senate under a process that would require just 51 votes for passage rather than the 60-vote threshold to break a filibuster. President Barack Obama has postponed a scheduled trip to Asia to be in town to help persuade wavering Democrats to vote for the bill.
Source: MSNBC
MSNBC
March 19, 2010
In their attempt to pass a sweeping health care overhaul this weekend, House Democrats are pushing a package of legislative fixes to lure undecided or opposed members of their party to the “yes” category.
Proposed changes to the Senate-passed health care bill include a scaled-back tax on high-cost health insurance plans – a provision that is widely unpopular with House Democrats – and more money to help states pay for an expansion of Medicaid, the state-federal health program for the poor and disabled. The new measure, called a reconciliation bill, also would take additional steps to close a gap in Medicare prescription drug coverage and to help low- and middle-income Americans purchase health insurance through new insurance exchanges.
If approved by the House, which is scheduled to vote Sunday, the package would be considered in the Senate under a process that would require just 51 votes for passage rather than the 60-vote threshold to break a filibuster. President Barack Obama has postponed a scheduled trip to Asia to be in town to help persuade wavering Democrats to vote for the bill.
Source: MSNBC
Nothing Outside the State
Robert Higgs
LewRockwell.com
March 19, 2010
A popular slogan of the Italian Fascists under Mussolini was, “Tutto nello Stato, niente al di fuori dello Stato, nulla contro lo Stato” (everything for the state, nothing outside the state, nothing against the state). I recall this expression frequently as I observe the state’s far-reaching penetration of my own society.
What of any consequence remains beyond the state’s reach in the United States today? Not wages, working conditions, or labor-management relations; not health care; not money, banking, or financial services; not personal privacy; not transportation or communication; not education or scientific research; not farming or food supply; not nutrition or food quality; not marriage or divorce; not child care; not provision for retirement; not recreation; not insurance of any kind; not smoking or drinking; not gambling; not political campaign funding or publicity; not real estate development, house construction, or housing finance; not international travel, trade, or finance; not a thousand other areas and aspects of social life.
One might affirm that the state still keeps its hands off religion, but it actually does not. It certifies certain religious organizations as legitimate and condemns others, as many young men discovered to their sorrow when they attempted to claim the status of conscientious objector during the Vietnam War. It assigns members of certain religions, but not members of others, as chaplains in its armed services.
Source: LewRockwell.com
LewRockwell.com
March 19, 2010
A popular slogan of the Italian Fascists under Mussolini was, “Tutto nello Stato, niente al di fuori dello Stato, nulla contro lo Stato” (everything for the state, nothing outside the state, nothing against the state). I recall this expression frequently as I observe the state’s far-reaching penetration of my own society.
What of any consequence remains beyond the state’s reach in the United States today? Not wages, working conditions, or labor-management relations; not health care; not money, banking, or financial services; not personal privacy; not transportation or communication; not education or scientific research; not farming or food supply; not nutrition or food quality; not marriage or divorce; not child care; not provision for retirement; not recreation; not insurance of any kind; not smoking or drinking; not gambling; not political campaign funding or publicity; not real estate development, house construction, or housing finance; not international travel, trade, or finance; not a thousand other areas and aspects of social life.
One might affirm that the state still keeps its hands off religion, but it actually does not. It certifies certain religious organizations as legitimate and condemns others, as many young men discovered to their sorrow when they attempted to claim the status of conscientious objector during the Vietnam War. It assigns members of certain religions, but not members of others, as chaplains in its armed services.
Source: LewRockwell.com
Should Conspiratorial Thinking Be The Default Position?
Paul Joseph Watson
Prison Planet.com
Friday, March 19, 2010
Considering the number of times governments have been caught lying over the last few decades, we have to ask the question, should the belief that major world events and political developments happen as a result of a conspiracy of some form or other be the default position in contemporary thinking, or should we continue to blindly trust government and afford it the credibility it plainly doesn’t deserve in order to maintain a perceived sense of order?
Knowing their track record, trusting governments has become the height of foolishness. It would be like betting your mortgage on a horse that has lost every race it ever ran to win the Kentucky Derby.
And yet under the Obama administration, Americans are not only being told to trust government but to serve government, a complete reversal of the role of the state as laid down by the founders.
Would society really collapse if the vast majority of Americans distrusted government and authority figures as a reflex response, or would such a prevalent attitude lead to the most rapid restoration of freedom ever witnessed?
With corruption and injustice so virulently entwined in just about every sector of the federal government, a vacuum of power would inevitably ensue, leading potentially to a temporary state of anarchy. However, the common need for limited government would create fertile soil for the organic growth of more representative bodies.
The only way for the conspiratorial view of history to be dislodged from the prominent position in the body politic it has come to occupy would be for governments to start telling the truth again and stop lying to the public on an almost habitual basis. This is why reflex distrust of government is inherently healthy for a free and prosperous society.
However, since this is far too inconvenient for them, the establishment has decided instead to make their propaganda more sophisticated and more believable, in the hope that the public will grow tired of asking questions and reluctantly accept a contrived substitute for reality.
The establishment’s war on “conspiracy theories,” illustrated by White House regulatory czar Cass Sunstein’s attempt to ban or tax them, is almost completely focused around creating a misconception of why conspiracy theories attract prominence, advocacy, and credibility. They do so not as a result of some mass mental illness on behalf of the population, but as a natural reaction to endless government corruption, cover-ups and misdeeds.
The increasing conspicuity of the conspiratorial view of history is merely a symptom of growing distrust in government. Widespread distrust in government does not pose a threat to the public nor to their freedoms, it only poses a threat to tyrants and monopoly men who want to maintain their oppressive power over others.
Distrust in government is not extremist, unstable or psychotic as the military-industrial complex owned media would have it, it’s necessary, healthy and the most patriotic expression of freedom imaginable.
America was founded on distrust of government, and so long as that remains the case the fires of liberty will burn bright, even in times of mass deception and authoritarian brainwashing.
Source: PrisonPlanet.com
Prison Planet.com
Friday, March 19, 2010
Considering the number of times governments have been caught lying over the last few decades, we have to ask the question, should the belief that major world events and political developments happen as a result of a conspiracy of some form or other be the default position in contemporary thinking, or should we continue to blindly trust government and afford it the credibility it plainly doesn’t deserve in order to maintain a perceived sense of order?
Knowing their track record, trusting governments has become the height of foolishness. It would be like betting your mortgage on a horse that has lost every race it ever ran to win the Kentucky Derby.
And yet under the Obama administration, Americans are not only being told to trust government but to serve government, a complete reversal of the role of the state as laid down by the founders.
Would society really collapse if the vast majority of Americans distrusted government and authority figures as a reflex response, or would such a prevalent attitude lead to the most rapid restoration of freedom ever witnessed?
With corruption and injustice so virulently entwined in just about every sector of the federal government, a vacuum of power would inevitably ensue, leading potentially to a temporary state of anarchy. However, the common need for limited government would create fertile soil for the organic growth of more representative bodies.
The only way for the conspiratorial view of history to be dislodged from the prominent position in the body politic it has come to occupy would be for governments to start telling the truth again and stop lying to the public on an almost habitual basis. This is why reflex distrust of government is inherently healthy for a free and prosperous society.
However, since this is far too inconvenient for them, the establishment has decided instead to make their propaganda more sophisticated and more believable, in the hope that the public will grow tired of asking questions and reluctantly accept a contrived substitute for reality.
The establishment’s war on “conspiracy theories,” illustrated by White House regulatory czar Cass Sunstein’s attempt to ban or tax them, is almost completely focused around creating a misconception of why conspiracy theories attract prominence, advocacy, and credibility. They do so not as a result of some mass mental illness on behalf of the population, but as a natural reaction to endless government corruption, cover-ups and misdeeds.
The increasing conspicuity of the conspiratorial view of history is merely a symptom of growing distrust in government. Widespread distrust in government does not pose a threat to the public nor to their freedoms, it only poses a threat to tyrants and monopoly men who want to maintain their oppressive power over others.
Distrust in government is not extremist, unstable or psychotic as the military-industrial complex owned media would have it, it’s necessary, healthy and the most patriotic expression of freedom imaginable.
America was founded on distrust of government, and so long as that remains the case the fires of liberty will burn bright, even in times of mass deception and authoritarian brainwashing.
Source: PrisonPlanet.com
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Why Did Kucinich Cave In To Obama?
FreeSociety
Docudharma
March 18, 2020
I am totally shocked by what has happened.
It had appeared that Dennis Kucinich had Obama worried, rather than the other way around.
It appeared with Obama and Kucinich “discussing” Health Care on Air Force 1 no less, that the opportunity existed where Obama might possibly consider making a concession or two, just to secure Kucinich’s vote.
Suddenly, and sadly, Kucinich just gave in, and got absolutely nothing back in return.
While DKos, MoveOn.bored, and mainstream Democrats all publically threatened to oppose Kucinich and get their pay back and revenge on him, it is pretty well established that Kucinich is in a district which knows him well, and that re-elects him every two years — whether or not he faces a Primary challenge. I can’t see Kucinich caving just on something like empty “reelection” bluffs, hot air, and threats of this nature. Kucinich has been through all of that many times before and won the War.
Remember Dennis Kucinich is a guy who stared down the Bank Monopoly in Ohio before and won. He even faced an assassination attempt before and won. This is a man not easily shaken. So why would Kucinich suddenly be so easily intimidated now?
What threat did Obama issue? Black Ops? Did his unconstitutional wiretapping program create or fabricate some embarrassing family story or personal smear? Did Obama threaten Elizabeth Kucinich? Did Obama and Pelosi move to take away Kucinich’s SubCommittee Chair (something they’d never do to Joe Lieberman)? Was Dennis Kucinich’s life directly threatened?
In his announcement today, Kucinich said absolutely nothing to endorse the bill on any its so-called “merits”. He even condemned the bill, even as he stated simultaneously that he must submit a yes vote. This makes no sense. Clearly, some unusual, and possibly criminal personal threat was made here.
Dennis Kucinich never just backs down and says “oh well, never mind“…
It is also clear that the U.S. Senate had, and still has, 50 Senators willing to vote in favor of a public option, if the House sends it to them (which Nancy Pelosi has assured they won’t at Obama’s own request).
If the resistence and pressure from the Left had refused to back down, perhaps some improvements could’ve been made to an otherwise terribly bad, awful bill.
But nothing has changed. As Michael Moore pointed out, there is no true “ban on preexisting conditions“. That talking-point is a complete falsehood. First of all, the clause does not even kick in for 4 whole years, so the Insurance Companies can deny care and eligibility all that they want to for the next 4 whole years. Secondly, when the clause does kick in, it only imposes just a very small penalty (a fine) if they reject people. So for an Insurance Company, it is going to be much cheaper for them to pay a simple $5000 fine, then it would ever be to cover a citizen with a health problem of any consequence (especially someone with a past cancer diagnosis). So, this is all just a big lie. There is no “ban on pre-existing conditions”.
The other completely false talking point is that” “the bill will get 30 million new people covered.” It does nothing of the kind. All the bill does is to mandate that people write horribly expensive checks to the Insurance Monopolies, and become their victims and slaves — with no choices and no options. But no actual “care” is ever assured. The Insurance Companies set all the rules, and can continue to deny treatments, deny surgeries, deny tests, and even terminate your entire policy (for a small fine) if you get too expensive.
So the entire rationale for this bill that is being made by Obama, the Democrats in Congress, and even so-called “progressive” groups like MoveOn.dog is a lie.
It’s a LIE folks. But, unlike others who don’t even bother to read the fine print, Dennis Kucinich knows all of this.
So why did he cave?
Source: FreeSociety
Docudharma
March 18, 2020
I am totally shocked by what has happened.
It had appeared that Dennis Kucinich had Obama worried, rather than the other way around.
It appeared with Obama and Kucinich “discussing” Health Care on Air Force 1 no less, that the opportunity existed where Obama might possibly consider making a concession or two, just to secure Kucinich’s vote.
Suddenly, and sadly, Kucinich just gave in, and got absolutely nothing back in return.
While DKos, MoveOn.bored, and mainstream Democrats all publically threatened to oppose Kucinich and get their pay back and revenge on him, it is pretty well established that Kucinich is in a district which knows him well, and that re-elects him every two years — whether or not he faces a Primary challenge. I can’t see Kucinich caving just on something like empty “reelection” bluffs, hot air, and threats of this nature. Kucinich has been through all of that many times before and won the War.
Remember Dennis Kucinich is a guy who stared down the Bank Monopoly in Ohio before and won. He even faced an assassination attempt before and won. This is a man not easily shaken. So why would Kucinich suddenly be so easily intimidated now?
What threat did Obama issue? Black Ops? Did his unconstitutional wiretapping program create or fabricate some embarrassing family story or personal smear? Did Obama threaten Elizabeth Kucinich? Did Obama and Pelosi move to take away Kucinich’s SubCommittee Chair (something they’d never do to Joe Lieberman)? Was Dennis Kucinich’s life directly threatened?
In his announcement today, Kucinich said absolutely nothing to endorse the bill on any its so-called “merits”. He even condemned the bill, even as he stated simultaneously that he must submit a yes vote. This makes no sense. Clearly, some unusual, and possibly criminal personal threat was made here.
Dennis Kucinich never just backs down and says “oh well, never mind“…
It is also clear that the U.S. Senate had, and still has, 50 Senators willing to vote in favor of a public option, if the House sends it to them (which Nancy Pelosi has assured they won’t at Obama’s own request).
If the resistence and pressure from the Left had refused to back down, perhaps some improvements could’ve been made to an otherwise terribly bad, awful bill.
But nothing has changed. As Michael Moore pointed out, there is no true “ban on preexisting conditions“. That talking-point is a complete falsehood. First of all, the clause does not even kick in for 4 whole years, so the Insurance Companies can deny care and eligibility all that they want to for the next 4 whole years. Secondly, when the clause does kick in, it only imposes just a very small penalty (a fine) if they reject people. So for an Insurance Company, it is going to be much cheaper for them to pay a simple $5000 fine, then it would ever be to cover a citizen with a health problem of any consequence (especially someone with a past cancer diagnosis). So, this is all just a big lie. There is no “ban on pre-existing conditions”.
The other completely false talking point is that” “the bill will get 30 million new people covered.” It does nothing of the kind. All the bill does is to mandate that people write horribly expensive checks to the Insurance Monopolies, and become their victims and slaves — with no choices and no options. But no actual “care” is ever assured. The Insurance Companies set all the rules, and can continue to deny treatments, deny surgeries, deny tests, and even terminate your entire policy (for a small fine) if you get too expensive.
So the entire rationale for this bill that is being made by Obama, the Democrats in Congress, and even so-called “progressive” groups like MoveOn.dog is a lie.
It’s a LIE folks. But, unlike others who don’t even bother to read the fine print, Dennis Kucinich knows all of this.
So why did he cave?
Source: FreeSociety
Standing Your Ground Against Police
Copblock
March 18, 2010
This is as good of an example as you can get of asserting your rights. Pete is no stranger to filming police and this is the second video of his used by Cop Block. The first was confronting Arlington police officers about parking their cruiser illegally, which Cop Block is still waiting to hear the outcome of that investigation. Pete’s decisions to go to his girlfriends aid, film the police, open carry a firearm, refuse to produce ID and to walk away from the police,without satisfying their request, were all perfectly legal acts.
Though you don’t ever have to talk to the police, Pete has a background in Law Enforcement along with a great knowledge of open carry laws. Therefore, while he still talked to the police and provided them with information, above and beyond what’s legally required, he did so with caution. Stating things like, “yes, I have an ID but am I legally required to show you?” When told he was legally required to (a lie) Pete would ask if the officers could show him that statue which states such? Pete does this because the police are legally allowed to lie to you, which they did several times in this video, but Pete counters that by asking questions to the officers which would force them to back up their lies. As you can see they were unable to do that. After talking with them for a few minutes Pete stated he was going to leave and why, then slowly backed away.
They didn’t follow him after that and he never had to produce his government issued ID. There really was no wrong doings by the police officers in this video (other than the harassment and lying) as they seemed to be stumped by Pete’s actions. Though they have typical cop syndrome of ‘if you have nothing to hide why don’t you just give us what we ask for and/or do what we say.’ You’d think that with all the police training and on the job experiences they would of quickly came to the conclusion that felons don’t walk up to cops openly displaying not only a firearm but a camera too. Do these cops think that Pete is going to film his last five minutes of freedom, if he were a felon? I highly doubt it and I’m speaking from the perspective of a felon (as I’m a victim of the drug war).
So what can be learned from this video? A lot, but the two biggest things to me are how Pete always keeps his cool and doesn’t get in a shouting match with the officers. He doesn’t try to impress them with a bunch of legal rambling that would make him seem like ‘a know it all.’ He lets the officers speak and then replies giving as little information as possible in a calm cool collected manner. The second is how Pete counters questions with questions. In most cases, unless driving or suspected of criminal activity, you’re not required legally to produce ID when asked to by an officer. Cops phrase it as a request, may I see your ID? Which isn’t them telling you to produced it but merely a request to. Sometimes when asked if you legally have to show them they lie and say yes because they can lie. Therefore instead of just handing it over ask them, ‘Am I legally required to do so?” If they say yes then ask to see the law. If you start to feel uncomfortable remember at any point you can simply stop talking to them. State that unless you’re under arrest you’re just going to go on your way, like Pete does here. Leaving the cops dumbfounded.
Cop Block is hoping to get more videos like this. So the next time you see a cop stopping somebody outside your home or down the street grab your camera. Film them, even if there seems to be nothing going on. Most likely the cop will ask you why you were filming the stop? I tell the police that I’m filming to hold everyone (including myself) accountable. We need to make this the norm as it’s a crucial method to holding officers accountable for their actions.
If you can’t film the police sharing Cop Block’s website and social networks is just as helpful.
Source: Copblock
March 18, 2010
This is as good of an example as you can get of asserting your rights. Pete is no stranger to filming police and this is the second video of his used by Cop Block. The first was confronting Arlington police officers about parking their cruiser illegally, which Cop Block is still waiting to hear the outcome of that investigation. Pete’s decisions to go to his girlfriends aid, film the police, open carry a firearm, refuse to produce ID and to walk away from the police,without satisfying their request, were all perfectly legal acts.
Though you don’t ever have to talk to the police, Pete has a background in Law Enforcement along with a great knowledge of open carry laws. Therefore, while he still talked to the police and provided them with information, above and beyond what’s legally required, he did so with caution. Stating things like, “yes, I have an ID but am I legally required to show you?” When told he was legally required to (a lie) Pete would ask if the officers could show him that statue which states such? Pete does this because the police are legally allowed to lie to you, which they did several times in this video, but Pete counters that by asking questions to the officers which would force them to back up their lies. As you can see they were unable to do that. After talking with them for a few minutes Pete stated he was going to leave and why, then slowly backed away.
They didn’t follow him after that and he never had to produce his government issued ID. There really was no wrong doings by the police officers in this video (other than the harassment and lying) as they seemed to be stumped by Pete’s actions. Though they have typical cop syndrome of ‘if you have nothing to hide why don’t you just give us what we ask for and/or do what we say.’ You’d think that with all the police training and on the job experiences they would of quickly came to the conclusion that felons don’t walk up to cops openly displaying not only a firearm but a camera too. Do these cops think that Pete is going to film his last five minutes of freedom, if he were a felon? I highly doubt it and I’m speaking from the perspective of a felon (as I’m a victim of the drug war).
So what can be learned from this video? A lot, but the two biggest things to me are how Pete always keeps his cool and doesn’t get in a shouting match with the officers. He doesn’t try to impress them with a bunch of legal rambling that would make him seem like ‘a know it all.’ He lets the officers speak and then replies giving as little information as possible in a calm cool collected manner. The second is how Pete counters questions with questions. In most cases, unless driving or suspected of criminal activity, you’re not required legally to produce ID when asked to by an officer. Cops phrase it as a request, may I see your ID? Which isn’t them telling you to produced it but merely a request to. Sometimes when asked if you legally have to show them they lie and say yes because they can lie. Therefore instead of just handing it over ask them, ‘Am I legally required to do so?” If they say yes then ask to see the law. If you start to feel uncomfortable remember at any point you can simply stop talking to them. State that unless you’re under arrest you’re just going to go on your way, like Pete does here. Leaving the cops dumbfounded.
Cop Block is hoping to get more videos like this. So the next time you see a cop stopping somebody outside your home or down the street grab your camera. Film them, even if there seems to be nothing going on. Most likely the cop will ask you why you were filming the stop? I tell the police that I’m filming to hold everyone (including myself) accountable. We need to make this the norm as it’s a crucial method to holding officers accountable for their actions.
If you can’t film the police sharing Cop Block’s website and social networks is just as helpful.
Source: Copblock
Green Police: Trash Inspectors To Fine Families For Compost Infractions
Satirical Audi commercial is no joke in police state Britain
Paul Joseph Watson
Prison Planet.com
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Audi’s “green police” super bowl commercial was lauded by many as a tongue-in-cheek stab at the increasing threat of police state control measures being introduced under the guise of environmentalism, but for others it hit too close to home, with the very same examples satirized in the ad now being introduced in Britain.
The commercial features enviro-cops rifling through people’s refuse in an attempt to discover if anyone has put the wrong item in the wrong trash can. When they find a battery, the goons immediately storm the house. Shortly after, a man is shown peeling an orange only to be hit by a dazzling beam and the words, “Sir, put the rind down, that’s a compost infraction!”
In another offshoot green police You Tube clip, viewers are challenged to answer which colored bin a banana peel should go in, black, blue or green.
Unfortunately for people living across the Atlantic, the green police are not confined to joke car commercials, they’re about to be given powers to impose fines on already struggling families who commit the eco-crime of putting tea bags in the wrong dustbin.
“Householders could be fined up to £1,000 if they fail to comply with complex new rules on refuse sorting. Food scraps, tea bags and vegetable peelings thrown into the wrong dustbin could land them with hefty penalties under government plans to be unveiled today,” reports the Daily Mail.
“Families could end up with five different bins and receptacles – including compulsory slop buckets for food waste – and be forced to sift through rubbish for anything that can be recycled, reused or converted into electricity.”
As Matthew Elliott, chief executive of the Taxpayers’ Alliance pointed out, the only way such a law can be enforced is if gangs of waste inspectors are hired to accompany trash collectors and given the authority to rifle through our refuse right outside our homes.
“Taxpayers will be angry at the prospect of bin and kitchen inspectors checking up on them. Without these inspectors, the rules will be unenforceable, but with them they are unacceptable and mean added costs,” said Elliott.
“People already pay huge sums in council tax and now face the threat of extra fines if they throw out the wrong things.”
Despite the fact that council tax, the British equivalent of property tax, has doubled in the last ten years, the government is still attempting to find new ways to financially castrate Brits as a new wave of fascist “austerity” measures are planned in order to make taxpayers cough up for the billions handed over to banks following the 2008 bailout.
Another tax the government is getting ready to enforce will be measured by the weight of rubbish people throw away, which is why the state has already secretly fitted spychips to 2.5 million dustbins to weigh their contents.
What’s next? Perhaps the government will seek to offset the cost of hiring an army of green police by merely brainwashing the public to spy on the contents of each other’s trash cans, just as they have with terrorism by encouraging citizens to report people who use cash or close their curtains as suspicious individuals.
How long before we see environmental denunciations whereby offenders are snitched on for “compost infractions” and informants are graciously rewarded with green points on their national ID/credit card for the civic duty of reporting enviro-miscreants?
Better yet, since the government is brainwashing kids in public schools to keep dossiers on their parents to monitor their consumption and travel habits in order to “re-educate” them for the green dictatorship, maybe the children can be covertly recruited to report Mom and Dad to the local green commissar if they commit the shameful offense of throwing a used tea bag into the black bin instead of the yellow bin.
Energy giant NPower also lavished huge sums in advertising expenses to drive its “Climate Cops” campaign, in which children are encouraged to sign up as “climate cops” and keep “climate crime case files” on their families, friends and neighbors.
Of course, the fact that every wicked dictatorship in history has exploited the malleable minds of young children to use them as informants on their own parents and neighbors shouldn’t worry us at all. After all, it’s for the earth.
Source: PrisonPlanet.com
Paul Joseph Watson
Prison Planet.com
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Audi’s “green police” super bowl commercial was lauded by many as a tongue-in-cheek stab at the increasing threat of police state control measures being introduced under the guise of environmentalism, but for others it hit too close to home, with the very same examples satirized in the ad now being introduced in Britain.
The commercial features enviro-cops rifling through people’s refuse in an attempt to discover if anyone has put the wrong item in the wrong trash can. When they find a battery, the goons immediately storm the house. Shortly after, a man is shown peeling an orange only to be hit by a dazzling beam and the words, “Sir, put the rind down, that’s a compost infraction!”
In another offshoot green police You Tube clip, viewers are challenged to answer which colored bin a banana peel should go in, black, blue or green.
Unfortunately for people living across the Atlantic, the green police are not confined to joke car commercials, they’re about to be given powers to impose fines on already struggling families who commit the eco-crime of putting tea bags in the wrong dustbin.
“Householders could be fined up to £1,000 if they fail to comply with complex new rules on refuse sorting. Food scraps, tea bags and vegetable peelings thrown into the wrong dustbin could land them with hefty penalties under government plans to be unveiled today,” reports the Daily Mail.
“Families could end up with five different bins and receptacles – including compulsory slop buckets for food waste – and be forced to sift through rubbish for anything that can be recycled, reused or converted into electricity.”
As Matthew Elliott, chief executive of the Taxpayers’ Alliance pointed out, the only way such a law can be enforced is if gangs of waste inspectors are hired to accompany trash collectors and given the authority to rifle through our refuse right outside our homes.
“Taxpayers will be angry at the prospect of bin and kitchen inspectors checking up on them. Without these inspectors, the rules will be unenforceable, but with them they are unacceptable and mean added costs,” said Elliott.
“People already pay huge sums in council tax and now face the threat of extra fines if they throw out the wrong things.”
Despite the fact that council tax, the British equivalent of property tax, has doubled in the last ten years, the government is still attempting to find new ways to financially castrate Brits as a new wave of fascist “austerity” measures are planned in order to make taxpayers cough up for the billions handed over to banks following the 2008 bailout.
Another tax the government is getting ready to enforce will be measured by the weight of rubbish people throw away, which is why the state has already secretly fitted spychips to 2.5 million dustbins to weigh their contents.
What’s next? Perhaps the government will seek to offset the cost of hiring an army of green police by merely brainwashing the public to spy on the contents of each other’s trash cans, just as they have with terrorism by encouraging citizens to report people who use cash or close their curtains as suspicious individuals.
How long before we see environmental denunciations whereby offenders are snitched on for “compost infractions” and informants are graciously rewarded with green points on their national ID/credit card for the civic duty of reporting enviro-miscreants?
Better yet, since the government is brainwashing kids in public schools to keep dossiers on their parents to monitor their consumption and travel habits in order to “re-educate” them for the green dictatorship, maybe the children can be covertly recruited to report Mom and Dad to the local green commissar if they commit the shameful offense of throwing a used tea bag into the black bin instead of the yellow bin.
Energy giant NPower also lavished huge sums in advertising expenses to drive its “Climate Cops” campaign, in which children are encouraged to sign up as “climate cops” and keep “climate crime case files” on their families, friends and neighbors.
Of course, the fact that every wicked dictatorship in history has exploited the malleable minds of young children to use them as informants on their own parents and neighbors shouldn’t worry us at all. After all, it’s for the earth.
Source: PrisonPlanet.com
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Fluoride’s effect on the brain
Posted on March 16th, 2010 qbit 1 comment
Fluoride’s Neurological Effects: studies show there may be grave implications for Alzheimers, Dementia, Attention Deficit Disorder, reduced IQ in children
Neurotoxicity of fluoride, Fluoride, 1996, 29:2, 57-58 (Editorial by AWB and JC)
The August 1995 issue of this journal contained an abstract (pages 151-152) of an interesting paper by Dr Phyllis Mullenix and her collaborators.1 They recorded behavioral changes in rats after ingestion of fluoride, and found that the severity of the effect on behavior increased directly with plasma fluoride levels and fluoride concentration in specific brain regions. A reading of the full paper is well worthwhile. In their Introduction, after referring to the increase in dental fluorosis in humans after decades of water fluoridation, the authors comment:
“One concern that has not been fully investigated is the link between fluoride and effects an the central nervous system (CNS)…. Many years of ubiquitous fluoride exposure have not resulted in obvious CNS problems such as seizures, lethargy, salivation, tremors, paralysis, or sensory deficits. Still unexplored, however, is the possibility that fluoride exposure is linked with subtle brain dysfunction.”
The carefully designed animal experiment which they report revealed subtle but very real changes in behavior patterns following fluoride ingestion: hyperactivity after prenatal exposure, and cognitive deficits after weanling and adult exposure. Fluoride accumulation in important regions of the rat brain, especially the hippocampus, was found to increase as the drinking water fluoride levels increased. These effects, and the sex differences observed, corresponded to those observed in other studies of hippocampal brain damage.
The authors point out that the plasma fluoride levels recorded in the rats were the same as those sometimes recorded in humans – for example, in children one hour after receiving topical fluoride treatment of their teeth. In their conclusion calling for further rat and human studies they state:
“Experience with other developmental neurotoxicants prompt expectations that changes in behavioral function will be comparable across species, especially humans and rats. Of course behaviors per se do not extrapolate, but a generic behavioral pattern disruption as found in this rat study can be indicative of a potential for motor dysfunction, IQ deficits and/or learning disabilities in humans.”
The authors draw attention to reports from Chinese investigators that high levels of fluoride in drinking water (3-11 ppm) affect the central nervous system directly without first causing the physical deformations of skeletal fluorosis.2-4 Readers of Fluoride will recall the recent (November 1995) research report from China indicating adverse neurological effects on the brain from fluoride exposure.5 This work also suggested that children with dental fluorosis are at greater risk of decreased mental acuity. One can only wonder whether the effects of fluoridated water might extend beyond the appearance of the teeth and include neurotoxicity among children afflicted with dental fluorosis.
Some of our readers may recall also pertinent early clinical findings reported by our founding editor, Dr G L Waldbott, of which Dr Mullenix and her co-workers do not appear to have been aware. These involved a wide range of reversible toxic effects of fluoridated drinking water, including diminished mental acuity and impairment of memory.6-8 In a separate report, Dr Waldbott even gave an account, supported by laboratory data, of a case of tetaniform convulsions induced by drinking fluoridated drinking water.9 For decades proponents of water fluoridation have questioned the validity of these reports without, however, offering objective evidence to refute them. But in the light of the human research in China and now the animal research in the United States, these clinical observations by Dr Waldbott on the neurotoxicity of fluoride in drinking water clearly deserve greater attention and credence. [references not scanned]
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Jaqueline Calderon, Machado Blenda, Navarro Marielena, Carrizales Leticia, Ortiz Maria Deogracias, Diaz-Barriga F. Influence of Fluoride Exposure on Reaction Time and Visuospatial Organization in Children, Epidemiology July 2000, Volume 11, Number 4 Supplement S153.
Fluoride exposure is an important public health problem in several Mexican states. In the city of San Luis Potosi, Mexico, above 90% of the children have some degree of dental fluorosis. The main source of exposure to fluoride is tap water. The objective of the study was to evaluate the influence of chronic exposure to fluoride on neuropsychological development in children. Sixty-one children aged 6 to 8 years were included. Fluoride concentration in tap water ranged from 1.2 to 3 mg/L. Fluoride exposure was measured in urine samples by electrothermal ion selective method. Blood lead (PbB) was measured as indicator of lead exposure by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Height for age index (HAI) was calculated as indicator of past nutritional status. Three tests were used to evaluate the neuropsychological development: (1) Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children Revisited version for Mexico (WISC-RM), (2) Rey Osterrelth-Complex Figure test and (3) Continuos Performance Test (CPT). Mean value of fluoride in urine was 4.3 mgF/g creatinine (1.6-10.8). Mean PhB value was 6.2 ug/dl (2.0-15.6). After controlling by significant confounders, urinary fluoride correlated positively with reaction time and inversely with the scores in visuospatial organization. IQ scores were not influenced by fluoride exposure. An increase in reaction time could affect the attention process, also the low scores in visuospatial organization could be affecting the reading and writing abilities in these children.
University of North Caroline. Email: Jaqueline.Calderon@sph-unc.edu
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Guan ZZ, Wang YN, Xiao KQ, Dai DY, Chen YH, Liu JL, Sindelar P, Dallner G, Influence of chronic fluorosis on membrane lipids in rat brain. Neurotoxicol Teratol 1998 Sep-Oct;20(5):537-42
Brain membrane lipid in rats were analyzed after being fed either 30 or 100 ppm fluoride for 3, 5, and 7 months. The protein content of brain with fluorosis decreased, whereas the DNA content remained stable during the entire period of investigation. After 7 months of fluoride treatment, the total brain phospholipid content decreased by 10% and 20% in the 30 and 100 ppm fluoride groups, respectively. The main species of phospholipid influenced by fluorosis were phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylcholine, and phosphatidylserine. The fatty acid and aldehyde compositions of individual phospholipid classes were unchanged. No modifications could be detected in the amounts of cholesterol and dolichol. After 3 months of fluoride treatment, ubiquinone contents in brain were lower; however, at 7 months they were obviously increased in both groups of fluoride treatment. The results demonstrate that the contents of phospholipid and ubiquinone are modified in brains affected by chronic fluorosis and these changes of membrane lipids could be involved in the pathogenesis of this disease.
Department of Pathology, Guiyang Medical College, Guizhou, China. jialiul@public.gy.gz.cn
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Jope RS, Modulation of phosphoinositide hydrolysis by NaF and aluminum in rat cortical slices. J Neurochem 1988 Dec;51(6):1731-6
NaF stimulated phosphoinositide hydrolysis in rat cortical slices. The production of [3H]inositol monophosphate was rapid for the first 15 min of incubation with NaF, followed by a plateau. The major product detected was [3H]inositol monophosphate, although significant amounts of [3H]inositol bisphosphate and [3H]inositol trisphosphate were also produced. The stimulation of [3H]inositol monophosphate production by NaF was concentration dependent between 2 and 20 mM NaF. Addition of 10 or 100 microM AlCl3 or aluminum maltol did not alter the effect of NaF, whereas at 500 microM, these aluminum preparations resulted in significant inhibition. Increasing the concentration of K+ from 5 to 20 mM potentiated [3H]inositol monophosphate production induced by carbachol but not by NaF. Incubation with 1 microM phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate, a phorbol ester, inhibited carbachol-induced, but not NaF-induced, [3H]inositol monophosphate production. These results further support the hypothesis that a guanine nucleotide binding protein that can be activated by NaF is involved in phosphoinositide hydrolysis in brain. The use of NaF provides a means to bypass receptors to study intracellular regulatory sites of phosphoinositide metabolism without disrupting cells.
Department of Pharmacology and Neuropsychiatry Research Program, University of Alabama, Birmingham.
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Kay AR, Miles R, Wong RK, Intracellular fluoride alters the kinetic properties of calcium currents facilitating the investigation of synaptic events in hippocampal neurons. J Neurosci 1986 Oct;6(10):2915-20
We have attempted to suppress voltage-dependent conductances in hippocampal neurons by introducing various intracellular agents. Voltage-clamp studies were carried out using acutely dissociated hippocampal neurons from adult guinea pigs. Synaptic events were examined using intracellular recordings in the slice preparation. Sodium conductance was suppressed when the quaternary lidocaine derivative QX 314 was introduced intracellularly. Potassium conductances were blocked by intracellular cesium or Tris. We also found that the anion fluoride could affect calcium conductance by an intracellular action. When anions other than fluoride were used for intracellular recordings, the voltage-dependent calcium current inactivated slowly and showed persistent activation at membrane potentials between -40 and -10 mV. In contrast, when fluoride was present intracellularly, the inactivation kinetics of the calcium current were accelerated and the persistent component of the current was largely suppressed. Intracellular recordings in the hippocampal slice showed that when electrodes contained cesium, QX 314, and fluoride, the spiking and nonlinear responses of the neuronal membrane to depolarization were blocked. In these conditions the time course and voltage-dependence of EPSPs could be examined in detail without complications due to voltage-dependent currents of the postsynaptic cell.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Li Y, Li X, Wei S, Effect of excessive fluoride intake on mental work capacity of children and a preliminary study of its mechanism, Hua Hsi I Ko Ta Hsueh Hsueh Pao,1994 Jun, 25 :2, 188-191 (Translated from Chinese)
We made an investigation in 157 children, aged 12-13, born and grew up in a coal burning pattern endemic fluorosis area and an experiment on excessive fluoride intake in rat. The results showed: (1) Excessive fluoride intake since early childhood would reduce mental work capacity (MWC) and hair zinc content: (2) The effect on zinc metabolism was a mechanism of influence on MWC by excessive fluoride intake; (3) Excessive fluoride intake decreased 5-hydroxy indole acetic acid and increased norepinephrine in rat brain; whether this is also a mechanism of the influence on MWC awaits confirmation.
Li XS, Zhi JL, Gao RO, Effect of Fluoride Exposure on Intelligence in Children, Fluoride, 1995 Nov, 28:4, pp 189-192
The intelligence was measured of 907 children aged 8-13 years living in areas which differed in the amount of fluoride present in the environment. The Intelligence Quotient (IQ) of children living in areas with a medium or severe prevalence of fluorosis was lower than that of children living in areas with only a slight fluorosis or no fluorosis. The development of intelligence appeared to be adversely affected by fluoride in the areas with a medium or severe prevalence of fluorosis but to a minor extent only in areas with only a slight prevalence of fluorosis. A high fluoride intake was associated with a lower intelligence. No correlation was found between age and intelligence in the areas with a medium and severe prevalence of fluorosis. The effect of exposure to a high level of fluoride on intelligence may occur at an early stage of development of the embryo and infant when the differentiation of brain nerve cells is occurring and development is most rapid.
Liu WX, Experimental study of behavior and cerebral morphology of rat pups generated by fluorotic female rat, Chung-hua Ping Li Hsueh Tsa Chih, 1989 Dec, 18:4, 290-292 (Article in Chinese)
In order to study the effects of fluoride on the central nervous system, 33-42-day old rat pups generated by three groups of female Wistar rats, which were given distilled water containing 0, 30 and 60 ppm NaF respectively beforehand as drinking water for 85 days, were used for behavior test and cerebral morphological examination. The results of behavior test showed that the latent period of pain reaction and that of conditioned reflex in the 30 ppm F and 60 ppm F groups were longer than that in the control group (P less than 0.05 or P less than 0.01). morphological examination of the pup brains showed that the nerve cell density of the 60 ppm F group was higher than that of the control group (P less than 0.05). Electronmicroscopically, mild degeneration of organelles of the nerve cells was observed in those brains of the 60 ppm F group.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Masters RD and Coplan M, Study finds correlation between fluorides in water and lead levels, Dartmouth College News Release, and Poisoning the Well: Neurotoxic Metals, Water Treatment, and Human Behavior – Plenary Address to the Annual Conference of the Association for Politics and the Life Sciences
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mattsson JL, Albee RR, Eisenbrandt DL Chang LW, Subchronic neurotoxicity in rats of the structural fumigant, sulfuryl fluoride, Neurotoxicol-Teratol, 1988 Mar-Apr, 10:2, 127-133
Inhalation exposure of male and female Fischer 344 rats to sulfuryl fluoride [Vikane (Dow Chemical Company) gas fumigant] at 300 ppm for 6 hr/day, 5 days week, for 13 weeks caused diminished wight gain, dental fluorosis, a slight decrease in grooming, decreased flicker fusion threshold, slowing of flash, auditory and somatosensory evoked potentials, mild nasal and pulmonary inflammation, mild kidney effects, and mild vacuolation in the brain. Auditory brainstem responses (ABRs) and brain histology were evaluated two months postexposure in 2 male and 2 female rats. Both the ABRs and brain histology were within normal limits at this time, indicating that these treatment effects were, to at least a great extent, reversible. Exposure to 100 ppm resulted in dental fluorosis and very minor slowing of some evoked responses; all other measures, including brain histology, were normal. No treatment effects were noted at 30 ppm.
Mullenix PJ, Denbesten PK, Schunior A, Kernan WJ, Neurotoxicity of sodium fluoride in rats, Neurotoxicology Teratology, 1995 March,17(2):169-177.
Fluoride (F) is known to affect mineralizing tissues, but effects upon the developing brain have not been previously considered. This study in Sprague-Dawley rats compares behavior, body weight, plasma and brain F levels after sodium fluoride (NaF) exposures during late gestation, at weaning or in adults. For prenatal exposures, dams received injections (SC) of 0.13 mg/kg NaF or saline on gestational days 14-18 or 17-19. Weanlings received drinking water containing 0, 75, 100, or 125 ppm F for 6 or 20 weeks, and 3 month-old adults received water containing 100 ppm F for 6 weeks. Behavior was tested in a computer pattern recognition system that classified acts in a novel environment and quantified act initiations, total times and time structures. Fluoride exposures caused sex- and dose-specific behavioral deficits with a common pattern. Males were most sensitive to prenatal day 17-19 exposure, whereas females were more sensitive to weanling and adult exposures. After fluoride ingestion, the severity of the effect on behavior increased directly with plasma F levels and F concentrations in specific brain regions. Such association is important considering that plasma levels in this rat model (0.059 to 0.640 ppm F) are similar to those reported in humans exposed to high levels of fluoride. [emphasis added]
See also brain2.htm by Dr. P.J. Mullenix
Spittle B, Psychopharmacology of fluoride: a review, Int Clin Psychopharmacol, 9:2, 1994 Summer, 79-82
Although the blood-brain barrier is relatively impermeable to fluoride, it does not pose an absolute barrier and fluoride has the ability to enter the brain. The literature was examined to assess the quality of the evidence for cerebral impairment occurring due to exposure to fluoride from therapeutic or environmental sources. Several surveys of persons chronically exposed to industrial fluoride pollution reported symptoms related to impaired central nervous system functioning with impaired cognition and memory. Examination of individual case reports showed the evidence for aetiological relationships between symptoms and fluoride exposure to be of variable quality. The evidence was seen as being suggestive of a relationship rather than being definitive. The difficulties with concentration and memory described in relation to exposure to fluoride did not occur in isolation but were accompanied by other symptoms of which general malaise and fatigue were central. Possible mechanisms whereby fluoride could affect brain function include influencing calcium currents, altering enzyme configuration by forming strong hydrogen bonds with amide groups, inhibiting cortical adenylyl cyclase activity and increasing phosphoinositide hydrolysis.
[editor's note: this review was published before Mullenix et al., completed their ground-breaking study. The blood-brain barrier is penetrated by fluoride]
Strunecká A, Patoèka J, Pharmacological implications of aluminofluoride complexes, a review of the evidence for pathophysiological effects of aluminium and fluoride on living organism
Varner JA, Jensen KF, Horvath W, Isaacson RL, Chronic administration of aluminum-fluoride or sodium-fluoride to rats in drinking water: alterations in neuronal and cerebrovascular integrity. Brain Res 1998 Feb 16;784(1-2):284-98
This study describes alterations in the nervous system resulting from chronic administration of the fluoroaluminum complex (AlF3) or equivalent levels of fluoride (F) in the form of sodium-fluoride (NaF). Twenty seven adult male Long-Evans rats were administered one of three treatments for 52 weeks: the control group was administered double distilled deionized drinking water (ddw). The aluminum-treated group received ddw with 0.5 ppm AlF3 and the NaF group received ddw with 2.1 ppm NaF containing the equivalent amount of F as in the AlF3 ddw. Tissue aluminum (Al) levels of brain, liver and kidney were assessed with the Direct Current Plasma (DCP) technique and its distribution assessed with Morin histochemistry. Histological sections of brain were stained with hematoxylin & eosin (H&E), Cresyl violet, Bielschowsky silver stain, or immunohistochemically for beta-amyloid, amyloid A, and IgM. No differences were found between the body weights of rats in the different treatment groups although more rats died in the AlF3 group than in the control group. The Al levels in samples of brain and kidney were higher in both the AlF3 and NaF groups relative to controls. The effects of the two treatments on cerebrovascular and neuronal integrity were qualitatively and quantitatively different. These alterations were greater in animals in the AlF3 group than in the NaF group and greater in the NaF group than in controls. Copyright 1998 Elsevier Science B.V.
Psychology Department, Binghamton University, Binghamton, NY, USA.
Varner JA, Jensen KF, Horvath W, Issacson RL, The Neurotoxicological Evaluation Of The Chronic Administration Of Aluminum-Fluoride and Sodium-Fluoride, Society for Neuroscience Annual Meeting; San Diego, CA, 1995 Nov, abstract.
This study examined the neurotoxic consequences of the chronic ingestion of AlF3 and the equivalent fluoride concentration given as low doses of NaF in drinking water. Twenty seven male LE rats, 3.5 – 4.5 months of age, were studied. The animals were divided into 3 groups based on the contents of the drinking water: control, NaF, or AlF3. Water was available ad libium for 52 weeks. Significantly more rats died in the AlF3 group than the control group during the study. Histological examinations involved the following stains: Cresy Violet, Bielschowsky silver, H&E, Morin Aluminum fluorescence, Beta Amyloid, Amyloid A, and IgM. Overall, neuronal loss was more prominent in the AlF3 group than the NaF and control groups in the left hemisphere and in the dentate gyrus of both hemispheres. Toxin-induced abnormalities in the AlF3 group were more apparent in the left hemisphere cortex but changes were found in the right hemisphere hippocampus. Hippocampal argentophillic reactions were common in both treated groups. Beta amyloid reaction product was enhanced in the thalamus in both toxin groups. More IgM antibody reaction product was found in the right hemisphere cortices of rats in both treated groups. Overall brain and kidney Al content was higher in both toxin groups relative to controls. Indications of glomerular disease were found in both treated groups. This reduction and/or abnormal appearance of cells, the presence of beta-amyloid, IgM, and Al indicate that AlF3 is neurotoxic when chronically administered in the drinking water of rats. The abnormal appearance of cells and the presence of beta-amyloid, IgM, and Al suggest that NaF also induces neurotoxicity, although somewhat different than that found after AlF3.
Varner JA, Huie C, Horvath W, Jensen KF, Issacson RL, Chronic AlF3 Administration: II. Selected Histological Observations, Neuroscience Research Communications, 1993, 13:2, 99-104.
[editor's note: this study shows that the bioavailability of Al from drinking water is increased in the presence of fluoride. The Al content in the brain doubled in treated animals. According to an October 28, 1992 Wall Street Journal Article: "Rats fed the highest doses developed irregular mincing steps characteristic of senile animals.... Post mortem examination of the rat brains disclosed 'substantial cell loss in structures associated with dementia -- the neo-cortex and hippocampus'."]
Yang Y, Wang X, Guo X, Effects of high iodine and high fluorine on children’s intelligence and the metabolism of iodine and fluorine, Chung Hua Liu Hsing Ping Hsueh Tsa Chih, 1994 Oct, 15 (5), 296-298 (Translated from Chinese).
An investigation on children’s intelligence and the metabolism of iodine and fluorine in high iodine and fluorine regions was carried out. The results were as follows. In high iodine and high fluorine areas, the thyroid enlargement prevalence rate among inhabitants and that among children were 3.8% and 29.8%, respectively. The dental fluorosis prevalence rate among inhabitants and that among children was 35.48% and 72.9%, respectively. The pupils’ average intelligence quotient (IQ) was 76.67 ± 7.75, slightly lower than the control point, but that of low intelligent pupils was 16.7%. The urinary iodine and urinary fluoride were 816.25 ± 1.80 micrograms/L and 2.08 ± 1.03 mg/L, respectively, markedly higher than the control point. The thyroid iodine-131 (131I) uptake rate was markedly lower than the control point. The values at 3 h and 24 h were 9.36 ± 1.55% and 9.26 ± 4.63%, respectively. The serum TSH was obviously higher than the control point. These results indicate that high iodine and high fluorine exert severe damage to human body.
Zhao LB, Liang GH, Zhang DN, Wu XR, Effect of a high fluoride water supply on children’s intelligence, Fluoride, 1996, 29:4, 190-192
Abstract: In Shanxi Province, China, children living in the endemic fluoride village of Sima (water supply F=4.12 mg/L) located near Xiaoyi City had average IQ (97.69) significantly lower (p <0.02) mg/L; average IQ = 105.21). These differences were not associated with gender, but the IQ scores were directly related to educational level of the parents.
Introduction: It has been reported that fluoride can penetrate the fetal blood-brain barrier and accumulate in cerebral tissue before birth,1 thereby apparently affecting children’s intelligence.2 In the present study, conducted in April 1993, this hypothesis was further investigated by comparing the performance on IQ tests administered to 320 randomly selected children, age 7 to 14, residing in central Shanxi Province, China, in two suburban villages with significantly different fluoride content in drinking water. [...]
Discussion: The results of this study indicated that intake of high-fluoride drinking water from before birth has a significant deleterious influence on children’s IQ in on of two similar villages. No real differences were found for gender. In the high-fluoride village of Sima the number of children with IQ of 69 or below was six times that in the healthier low-fluoride village of Xinghua. There were also fewer children (20) in Sima with superior IQ scores of 120 or higher than the number (27) in Xinghua. Moreover, the fact that the IQ scores increased more slowly with age in Sima than in Xinghua supports the view that exposure to high levels of fluoride in utero exerts a cumulative adverse effect that is not overcome with increasing age in a high-fluoride community.
Source: Rense
Fluoride’s Neurological Effects: studies show there may be grave implications for Alzheimers, Dementia, Attention Deficit Disorder, reduced IQ in children
Neurotoxicity of fluoride, Fluoride, 1996, 29:2, 57-58 (Editorial by AWB and JC)
The August 1995 issue of this journal contained an abstract (pages 151-152) of an interesting paper by Dr Phyllis Mullenix and her collaborators.1 They recorded behavioral changes in rats after ingestion of fluoride, and found that the severity of the effect on behavior increased directly with plasma fluoride levels and fluoride concentration in specific brain regions. A reading of the full paper is well worthwhile. In their Introduction, after referring to the increase in dental fluorosis in humans after decades of water fluoridation, the authors comment:
“One concern that has not been fully investigated is the link between fluoride and effects an the central nervous system (CNS)…. Many years of ubiquitous fluoride exposure have not resulted in obvious CNS problems such as seizures, lethargy, salivation, tremors, paralysis, or sensory deficits. Still unexplored, however, is the possibility that fluoride exposure is linked with subtle brain dysfunction.”
The carefully designed animal experiment which they report revealed subtle but very real changes in behavior patterns following fluoride ingestion: hyperactivity after prenatal exposure, and cognitive deficits after weanling and adult exposure. Fluoride accumulation in important regions of the rat brain, especially the hippocampus, was found to increase as the drinking water fluoride levels increased. These effects, and the sex differences observed, corresponded to those observed in other studies of hippocampal brain damage.
The authors point out that the plasma fluoride levels recorded in the rats were the same as those sometimes recorded in humans – for example, in children one hour after receiving topical fluoride treatment of their teeth. In their conclusion calling for further rat and human studies they state:
“Experience with other developmental neurotoxicants prompt expectations that changes in behavioral function will be comparable across species, especially humans and rats. Of course behaviors per se do not extrapolate, but a generic behavioral pattern disruption as found in this rat study can be indicative of a potential for motor dysfunction, IQ deficits and/or learning disabilities in humans.”
The authors draw attention to reports from Chinese investigators that high levels of fluoride in drinking water (3-11 ppm) affect the central nervous system directly without first causing the physical deformations of skeletal fluorosis.2-4 Readers of Fluoride will recall the recent (November 1995) research report from China indicating adverse neurological effects on the brain from fluoride exposure.5 This work also suggested that children with dental fluorosis are at greater risk of decreased mental acuity. One can only wonder whether the effects of fluoridated water might extend beyond the appearance of the teeth and include neurotoxicity among children afflicted with dental fluorosis.
Some of our readers may recall also pertinent early clinical findings reported by our founding editor, Dr G L Waldbott, of which Dr Mullenix and her co-workers do not appear to have been aware. These involved a wide range of reversible toxic effects of fluoridated drinking water, including diminished mental acuity and impairment of memory.6-8 In a separate report, Dr Waldbott even gave an account, supported by laboratory data, of a case of tetaniform convulsions induced by drinking fluoridated drinking water.9 For decades proponents of water fluoridation have questioned the validity of these reports without, however, offering objective evidence to refute them. But in the light of the human research in China and now the animal research in the United States, these clinical observations by Dr Waldbott on the neurotoxicity of fluoride in drinking water clearly deserve greater attention and credence. [references not scanned]
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Jaqueline Calderon, Machado Blenda, Navarro Marielena, Carrizales Leticia, Ortiz Maria Deogracias, Diaz-Barriga F. Influence of Fluoride Exposure on Reaction Time and Visuospatial Organization in Children, Epidemiology July 2000, Volume 11, Number 4 Supplement S153.
Fluoride exposure is an important public health problem in several Mexican states. In the city of San Luis Potosi, Mexico, above 90% of the children have some degree of dental fluorosis. The main source of exposure to fluoride is tap water. The objective of the study was to evaluate the influence of chronic exposure to fluoride on neuropsychological development in children. Sixty-one children aged 6 to 8 years were included. Fluoride concentration in tap water ranged from 1.2 to 3 mg/L. Fluoride exposure was measured in urine samples by electrothermal ion selective method. Blood lead (PbB) was measured as indicator of lead exposure by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Height for age index (HAI) was calculated as indicator of past nutritional status. Three tests were used to evaluate the neuropsychological development: (1) Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children Revisited version for Mexico (WISC-RM), (2) Rey Osterrelth-Complex Figure test and (3) Continuos Performance Test (CPT). Mean value of fluoride in urine was 4.3 mgF/g creatinine (1.6-10.8). Mean PhB value was 6.2 ug/dl (2.0-15.6). After controlling by significant confounders, urinary fluoride correlated positively with reaction time and inversely with the scores in visuospatial organization. IQ scores were not influenced by fluoride exposure. An increase in reaction time could affect the attention process, also the low scores in visuospatial organization could be affecting the reading and writing abilities in these children.
University of North Caroline. Email: Jaqueline.Calderon@sph-unc.edu
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Guan ZZ, Wang YN, Xiao KQ, Dai DY, Chen YH, Liu JL, Sindelar P, Dallner G, Influence of chronic fluorosis on membrane lipids in rat brain. Neurotoxicol Teratol 1998 Sep-Oct;20(5):537-42
Brain membrane lipid in rats were analyzed after being fed either 30 or 100 ppm fluoride for 3, 5, and 7 months. The protein content of brain with fluorosis decreased, whereas the DNA content remained stable during the entire period of investigation. After 7 months of fluoride treatment, the total brain phospholipid content decreased by 10% and 20% in the 30 and 100 ppm fluoride groups, respectively. The main species of phospholipid influenced by fluorosis were phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylcholine, and phosphatidylserine. The fatty acid and aldehyde compositions of individual phospholipid classes were unchanged. No modifications could be detected in the amounts of cholesterol and dolichol. After 3 months of fluoride treatment, ubiquinone contents in brain were lower; however, at 7 months they were obviously increased in both groups of fluoride treatment. The results demonstrate that the contents of phospholipid and ubiquinone are modified in brains affected by chronic fluorosis and these changes of membrane lipids could be involved in the pathogenesis of this disease.
Department of Pathology, Guiyang Medical College, Guizhou, China. jialiul@public.gy.gz.cn
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Jope RS, Modulation of phosphoinositide hydrolysis by NaF and aluminum in rat cortical slices. J Neurochem 1988 Dec;51(6):1731-6
NaF stimulated phosphoinositide hydrolysis in rat cortical slices. The production of [3H]inositol monophosphate was rapid for the first 15 min of incubation with NaF, followed by a plateau. The major product detected was [3H]inositol monophosphate, although significant amounts of [3H]inositol bisphosphate and [3H]inositol trisphosphate were also produced. The stimulation of [3H]inositol monophosphate production by NaF was concentration dependent between 2 and 20 mM NaF. Addition of 10 or 100 microM AlCl3 or aluminum maltol did not alter the effect of NaF, whereas at 500 microM, these aluminum preparations resulted in significant inhibition. Increasing the concentration of K+ from 5 to 20 mM potentiated [3H]inositol monophosphate production induced by carbachol but not by NaF. Incubation with 1 microM phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate, a phorbol ester, inhibited carbachol-induced, but not NaF-induced, [3H]inositol monophosphate production. These results further support the hypothesis that a guanine nucleotide binding protein that can be activated by NaF is involved in phosphoinositide hydrolysis in brain. The use of NaF provides a means to bypass receptors to study intracellular regulatory sites of phosphoinositide metabolism without disrupting cells.
Department of Pharmacology and Neuropsychiatry Research Program, University of Alabama, Birmingham.
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Kay AR, Miles R, Wong RK, Intracellular fluoride alters the kinetic properties of calcium currents facilitating the investigation of synaptic events in hippocampal neurons. J Neurosci 1986 Oct;6(10):2915-20
We have attempted to suppress voltage-dependent conductances in hippocampal neurons by introducing various intracellular agents. Voltage-clamp studies were carried out using acutely dissociated hippocampal neurons from adult guinea pigs. Synaptic events were examined using intracellular recordings in the slice preparation. Sodium conductance was suppressed when the quaternary lidocaine derivative QX 314 was introduced intracellularly. Potassium conductances were blocked by intracellular cesium or Tris. We also found that the anion fluoride could affect calcium conductance by an intracellular action. When anions other than fluoride were used for intracellular recordings, the voltage-dependent calcium current inactivated slowly and showed persistent activation at membrane potentials between -40 and -10 mV. In contrast, when fluoride was present intracellularly, the inactivation kinetics of the calcium current were accelerated and the persistent component of the current was largely suppressed. Intracellular recordings in the hippocampal slice showed that when electrodes contained cesium, QX 314, and fluoride, the spiking and nonlinear responses of the neuronal membrane to depolarization were blocked. In these conditions the time course and voltage-dependence of EPSPs could be examined in detail without complications due to voltage-dependent currents of the postsynaptic cell.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Li Y, Li X, Wei S, Effect of excessive fluoride intake on mental work capacity of children and a preliminary study of its mechanism, Hua Hsi I Ko Ta Hsueh Hsueh Pao,1994 Jun, 25 :2, 188-191 (Translated from Chinese)
We made an investigation in 157 children, aged 12-13, born and grew up in a coal burning pattern endemic fluorosis area and an experiment on excessive fluoride intake in rat. The results showed: (1) Excessive fluoride intake since early childhood would reduce mental work capacity (MWC) and hair zinc content: (2) The effect on zinc metabolism was a mechanism of influence on MWC by excessive fluoride intake; (3) Excessive fluoride intake decreased 5-hydroxy indole acetic acid and increased norepinephrine in rat brain; whether this is also a mechanism of the influence on MWC awaits confirmation.
Li XS, Zhi JL, Gao RO, Effect of Fluoride Exposure on Intelligence in Children, Fluoride, 1995 Nov, 28:4, pp 189-192
The intelligence was measured of 907 children aged 8-13 years living in areas which differed in the amount of fluoride present in the environment. The Intelligence Quotient (IQ) of children living in areas with a medium or severe prevalence of fluorosis was lower than that of children living in areas with only a slight fluorosis or no fluorosis. The development of intelligence appeared to be adversely affected by fluoride in the areas with a medium or severe prevalence of fluorosis but to a minor extent only in areas with only a slight prevalence of fluorosis. A high fluoride intake was associated with a lower intelligence. No correlation was found between age and intelligence in the areas with a medium and severe prevalence of fluorosis. The effect of exposure to a high level of fluoride on intelligence may occur at an early stage of development of the embryo and infant when the differentiation of brain nerve cells is occurring and development is most rapid.
Liu WX, Experimental study of behavior and cerebral morphology of rat pups generated by fluorotic female rat, Chung-hua Ping Li Hsueh Tsa Chih, 1989 Dec, 18:4, 290-292 (Article in Chinese)
In order to study the effects of fluoride on the central nervous system, 33-42-day old rat pups generated by three groups of female Wistar rats, which were given distilled water containing 0, 30 and 60 ppm NaF respectively beforehand as drinking water for 85 days, were used for behavior test and cerebral morphological examination. The results of behavior test showed that the latent period of pain reaction and that of conditioned reflex in the 30 ppm F and 60 ppm F groups were longer than that in the control group (P less than 0.05 or P less than 0.01). morphological examination of the pup brains showed that the nerve cell density of the 60 ppm F group was higher than that of the control group (P less than 0.05). Electronmicroscopically, mild degeneration of organelles of the nerve cells was observed in those brains of the 60 ppm F group.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Masters RD and Coplan M, Study finds correlation between fluorides in water and lead levels, Dartmouth College News Release, and Poisoning the Well: Neurotoxic Metals, Water Treatment, and Human Behavior – Plenary Address to the Annual Conference of the Association for Politics and the Life Sciences
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mattsson JL, Albee RR, Eisenbrandt DL Chang LW, Subchronic neurotoxicity in rats of the structural fumigant, sulfuryl fluoride, Neurotoxicol-Teratol, 1988 Mar-Apr, 10:2, 127-133
Inhalation exposure of male and female Fischer 344 rats to sulfuryl fluoride [Vikane (Dow Chemical Company) gas fumigant] at 300 ppm for 6 hr/day, 5 days week, for 13 weeks caused diminished wight gain, dental fluorosis, a slight decrease in grooming, decreased flicker fusion threshold, slowing of flash, auditory and somatosensory evoked potentials, mild nasal and pulmonary inflammation, mild kidney effects, and mild vacuolation in the brain. Auditory brainstem responses (ABRs) and brain histology were evaluated two months postexposure in 2 male and 2 female rats. Both the ABRs and brain histology were within normal limits at this time, indicating that these treatment effects were, to at least a great extent, reversible. Exposure to 100 ppm resulted in dental fluorosis and very minor slowing of some evoked responses; all other measures, including brain histology, were normal. No treatment effects were noted at 30 ppm.
Mullenix PJ, Denbesten PK, Schunior A, Kernan WJ, Neurotoxicity of sodium fluoride in rats, Neurotoxicology Teratology, 1995 March,17(2):169-177.
Fluoride (F) is known to affect mineralizing tissues, but effects upon the developing brain have not been previously considered. This study in Sprague-Dawley rats compares behavior, body weight, plasma and brain F levels after sodium fluoride (NaF) exposures during late gestation, at weaning or in adults. For prenatal exposures, dams received injections (SC) of 0.13 mg/kg NaF or saline on gestational days 14-18 or 17-19. Weanlings received drinking water containing 0, 75, 100, or 125 ppm F for 6 or 20 weeks, and 3 month-old adults received water containing 100 ppm F for 6 weeks. Behavior was tested in a computer pattern recognition system that classified acts in a novel environment and quantified act initiations, total times and time structures. Fluoride exposures caused sex- and dose-specific behavioral deficits with a common pattern. Males were most sensitive to prenatal day 17-19 exposure, whereas females were more sensitive to weanling and adult exposures. After fluoride ingestion, the severity of the effect on behavior increased directly with plasma F levels and F concentrations in specific brain regions. Such association is important considering that plasma levels in this rat model (0.059 to 0.640 ppm F) are similar to those reported in humans exposed to high levels of fluoride. [emphasis added]
See also brain2.htm by Dr. P.J. Mullenix
Spittle B, Psychopharmacology of fluoride: a review, Int Clin Psychopharmacol, 9:2, 1994 Summer, 79-82
Although the blood-brain barrier is relatively impermeable to fluoride, it does not pose an absolute barrier and fluoride has the ability to enter the brain. The literature was examined to assess the quality of the evidence for cerebral impairment occurring due to exposure to fluoride from therapeutic or environmental sources. Several surveys of persons chronically exposed to industrial fluoride pollution reported symptoms related to impaired central nervous system functioning with impaired cognition and memory. Examination of individual case reports showed the evidence for aetiological relationships between symptoms and fluoride exposure to be of variable quality. The evidence was seen as being suggestive of a relationship rather than being definitive. The difficulties with concentration and memory described in relation to exposure to fluoride did not occur in isolation but were accompanied by other symptoms of which general malaise and fatigue were central. Possible mechanisms whereby fluoride could affect brain function include influencing calcium currents, altering enzyme configuration by forming strong hydrogen bonds with amide groups, inhibiting cortical adenylyl cyclase activity and increasing phosphoinositide hydrolysis.
[editor's note: this review was published before Mullenix et al., completed their ground-breaking study. The blood-brain barrier is penetrated by fluoride]
Strunecká A, Patoèka J, Pharmacological implications of aluminofluoride complexes, a review of the evidence for pathophysiological effects of aluminium and fluoride on living organism
Varner JA, Jensen KF, Horvath W, Isaacson RL, Chronic administration of aluminum-fluoride or sodium-fluoride to rats in drinking water: alterations in neuronal and cerebrovascular integrity. Brain Res 1998 Feb 16;784(1-2):284-98
This study describes alterations in the nervous system resulting from chronic administration of the fluoroaluminum complex (AlF3) or equivalent levels of fluoride (F) in the form of sodium-fluoride (NaF). Twenty seven adult male Long-Evans rats were administered one of three treatments for 52 weeks: the control group was administered double distilled deionized drinking water (ddw). The aluminum-treated group received ddw with 0.5 ppm AlF3 and the NaF group received ddw with 2.1 ppm NaF containing the equivalent amount of F as in the AlF3 ddw. Tissue aluminum (Al) levels of brain, liver and kidney were assessed with the Direct Current Plasma (DCP) technique and its distribution assessed with Morin histochemistry. Histological sections of brain were stained with hematoxylin & eosin (H&E), Cresyl violet, Bielschowsky silver stain, or immunohistochemically for beta-amyloid, amyloid A, and IgM. No differences were found between the body weights of rats in the different treatment groups although more rats died in the AlF3 group than in the control group. The Al levels in samples of brain and kidney were higher in both the AlF3 and NaF groups relative to controls. The effects of the two treatments on cerebrovascular and neuronal integrity were qualitatively and quantitatively different. These alterations were greater in animals in the AlF3 group than in the NaF group and greater in the NaF group than in controls. Copyright 1998 Elsevier Science B.V.
Psychology Department, Binghamton University, Binghamton, NY, USA.
Varner JA, Jensen KF, Horvath W, Issacson RL, The Neurotoxicological Evaluation Of The Chronic Administration Of Aluminum-Fluoride and Sodium-Fluoride, Society for Neuroscience Annual Meeting; San Diego, CA, 1995 Nov, abstract.
This study examined the neurotoxic consequences of the chronic ingestion of AlF3 and the equivalent fluoride concentration given as low doses of NaF in drinking water. Twenty seven male LE rats, 3.5 – 4.5 months of age, were studied. The animals were divided into 3 groups based on the contents of the drinking water: control, NaF, or AlF3. Water was available ad libium for 52 weeks. Significantly more rats died in the AlF3 group than the control group during the study. Histological examinations involved the following stains: Cresy Violet, Bielschowsky silver, H&E, Morin Aluminum fluorescence, Beta Amyloid, Amyloid A, and IgM. Overall, neuronal loss was more prominent in the AlF3 group than the NaF and control groups in the left hemisphere and in the dentate gyrus of both hemispheres. Toxin-induced abnormalities in the AlF3 group were more apparent in the left hemisphere cortex but changes were found in the right hemisphere hippocampus. Hippocampal argentophillic reactions were common in both treated groups. Beta amyloid reaction product was enhanced in the thalamus in both toxin groups. More IgM antibody reaction product was found in the right hemisphere cortices of rats in both treated groups. Overall brain and kidney Al content was higher in both toxin groups relative to controls. Indications of glomerular disease were found in both treated groups. This reduction and/or abnormal appearance of cells, the presence of beta-amyloid, IgM, and Al indicate that AlF3 is neurotoxic when chronically administered in the drinking water of rats. The abnormal appearance of cells and the presence of beta-amyloid, IgM, and Al suggest that NaF also induces neurotoxicity, although somewhat different than that found after AlF3.
Varner JA, Huie C, Horvath W, Jensen KF, Issacson RL, Chronic AlF3 Administration: II. Selected Histological Observations, Neuroscience Research Communications, 1993, 13:2, 99-104.
[editor's note: this study shows that the bioavailability of Al from drinking water is increased in the presence of fluoride. The Al content in the brain doubled in treated animals. According to an October 28, 1992 Wall Street Journal Article: "Rats fed the highest doses developed irregular mincing steps characteristic of senile animals.... Post mortem examination of the rat brains disclosed 'substantial cell loss in structures associated with dementia -- the neo-cortex and hippocampus'."]
Yang Y, Wang X, Guo X, Effects of high iodine and high fluorine on children’s intelligence and the metabolism of iodine and fluorine, Chung Hua Liu Hsing Ping Hsueh Tsa Chih, 1994 Oct, 15 (5), 296-298 (Translated from Chinese).
An investigation on children’s intelligence and the metabolism of iodine and fluorine in high iodine and fluorine regions was carried out. The results were as follows. In high iodine and high fluorine areas, the thyroid enlargement prevalence rate among inhabitants and that among children were 3.8% and 29.8%, respectively. The dental fluorosis prevalence rate among inhabitants and that among children was 35.48% and 72.9%, respectively. The pupils’ average intelligence quotient (IQ) was 76.67 ± 7.75, slightly lower than the control point, but that of low intelligent pupils was 16.7%. The urinary iodine and urinary fluoride were 816.25 ± 1.80 micrograms/L and 2.08 ± 1.03 mg/L, respectively, markedly higher than the control point. The thyroid iodine-131 (131I) uptake rate was markedly lower than the control point. The values at 3 h and 24 h were 9.36 ± 1.55% and 9.26 ± 4.63%, respectively. The serum TSH was obviously higher than the control point. These results indicate that high iodine and high fluorine exert severe damage to human body.
Zhao LB, Liang GH, Zhang DN, Wu XR, Effect of a high fluoride water supply on children’s intelligence, Fluoride, 1996, 29:4, 190-192
Abstract: In Shanxi Province, China, children living in the endemic fluoride village of Sima (water supply F=4.12 mg/L) located near Xiaoyi City had average IQ (97.69) significantly lower (p <0.02) mg/L; average IQ = 105.21). These differences were not associated with gender, but the IQ scores were directly related to educational level of the parents.
Introduction: It has been reported that fluoride can penetrate the fetal blood-brain barrier and accumulate in cerebral tissue before birth,1 thereby apparently affecting children’s intelligence.2 In the present study, conducted in April 1993, this hypothesis was further investigated by comparing the performance on IQ tests administered to 320 randomly selected children, age 7 to 14, residing in central Shanxi Province, China, in two suburban villages with significantly different fluoride content in drinking water. [...]
Discussion: The results of this study indicated that intake of high-fluoride drinking water from before birth has a significant deleterious influence on children’s IQ in on of two similar villages. No real differences were found for gender. In the high-fluoride village of Sima the number of children with IQ of 69 or below was six times that in the healthier low-fluoride village of Xinghua. There were also fewer children (20) in Sima with superior IQ scores of 120 or higher than the number (27) in Xinghua. Moreover, the fact that the IQ scores increased more slowly with age in Sima than in Xinghua supports the view that exposure to high levels of fluoride in utero exerts a cumulative adverse effect that is not overcome with increasing age in a high-fluoride community.
Source: Rense
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