Ron Paul’s C4L, ACLU Sue TSA Over ‘Illegal’ Detention
June 19, 2009 by mike
Filed under Government
June 18, 2009
Raw Story
Stephen C. Webster
The American Civil Liberties Union may have just earned itself a few more Republican admirers.
Announcing a lawsuit against the Transportation Security Administration for the “illegal” detention of the Campaign for Liberty’s treasurer in April at a St. Louis airport, the ACLU damned what it called a “troubling pattern” of aggressive invasions of privacy by the TSA.
Steve Bierfeldt, the man at the center of the controversy, recorded his confrontation with the airport security agents on his phone. The audio caused waves of indignation across the Internet, as he was seemingly harassed merely for carrying cash and Ron Paul campaign material.
In it, he is clearly wary of the security agents and takes steps to ensure he says nothing to incriminate himself under questioning by the agents. He told journalists later that he was also fearful of the agents because of the so-called “Missouri memo” that, while retracted, branded Ron Paul supporters as potential “militia.”
The Campaign for Liberty was founded by Texas Republican Congressman Ron Paul, who attracted a groundswell of support during his failed bid for the GOP presidential nomination. Many of the group’s members were in St. Louis in early April for a major rally.
“Due to the current economical [sic] and political situation, a lush environment for militia activity has been created,” the retracted memo reads. It goes on to cite possible militia members as people who talk about the New World Order conspiracy, express anger with the Federal Reserve banking system, resist paying taxes, warn other citizens about the perceived dangers of radio frequency identification (RFID) or lobby for a return to strict constitutionalism as possible threats to law enforcement.
More than half of the U.S. House of Representatives have co-sponsored Congressman Ron Paul’s proposed legislation to audit the Federal Reserve. Hearings and debate on the bill by the full House are expected next month.
Along with specifically highlighting former presidential candidates Ron Paul, Chuck Baldwin and Bob Barr as icons of the militia movement, it also cautioned police to be on the lookout for bumper stickers advertising third party candidates, or people with copies of the United States Constitution. The Missouri Department of Public Safety later apologized profusely after the three men signed a letter demanding a retraction, and the state’s Lt. governor promised to look into the memo’s origins.
“Mr. Bierfeldt’s experience represents a troubling pattern of TSA attempting to transform its valid but limited search authority into a license to invade people’s privacy in a manner that would never be accepted outside the airport context,” said ACLU attorney Larry Schwartztol in a Thursday media advisory. “Just as the Constitution prevents the police on the street from conducting freewheeling searches in the hopes of uncovering wrongdoing, it protects travelers from the kind of treatment Mr. Bierfeldt suffered.”
The release adds: “TSA officials have the authority to conduct safety-related searches for weapons and explosives. According to the ACLU’s lawsuit, TSA agents are using heightened security measures after 9/11 as an excuse to exceed their search authority and engage in unlawful searches that violate the privacy rights of passengers. The lawsuit also charges that unconstitutional searches and detention by TSA agents have become the norm.”
CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL RAW STORY ARTICLE
Japan Looking at ‘Sci-Fi’ Solution to Fight Deflation: Abolish Cash
June 19, 2009
The Times of London
by
Unorthodox, untried and, said one Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi strategist, “in the realms of economic science fiction”, the recommendation has nevertheless begun floating around Tokyo’s corridors of power and economists have described Japan as particularly suitable as a testing ground.
The search for more outré economic policies continues, despite the recent surge in the Nikkei 225 index.The market may be reflecting soaring Chinese investment, rising consumer confidence and other cheerful data but economists see few long-term beacons of hope for Japan.
Other extreme ideas mooted by the financial authorities include a tax on physical currency or introducing one to operate alongside the yen.
All three ideas are based on a theory concerning interest rates and the concept that a nominal rate of zero — as Japan has now lived with for much of the past decade — may be too high. In Japan’s case, the theory would suggest that nominal rates of -4 per cent might be closer to what is required to rescue the economy from another deflationary spiral. Having agreed that this might be necessary, the next question is how it could be imposed.
Several MPs in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party believe the abolition of cash, though politically radioactive, might be technically feasible. Richard Jerram, a senior economist with Macquarie bank, told investors that “the proposal has become practical with the broad penetration of electronic money and credit cards in Japan”.
He said that all the proposals were radical but worth consideration for Japan. Without physical cash, a central bank can set rates exactly where it likes, runs the argument. Mr Jerram said: “At the heart of the problem of achieving negative nominal interest rates is the idea that physical currency is an anonymous bearer bond with a nominal interest rate of zero.” While a central bank can impose positive or negative rates on non-physical assets, transmitting those rates to physical currency is a huge challenge. By permanently removing cash from a system, he added, policymakers are robbed of the excuse that zero is the lowest that nominal rates can go as a deflation-fighting tool.
In theory, many Japanese could easily make the leap into a cashless world. The country has six main competing cashless payment systems, many of them embedded into mobile phones. Including Oyster-type cards issued by public transport companies, industry sources estimate that there are about 120 million cashless payment chips sitting in Japan’s wallets and handbags, waiting to be swiped.
Nevertheless, the country remains a wholeheartedly cash-based consumer society. Currency in circulation is about 16 per cent of its GDP, compared with the levels of 2 to 3 per cent in most developed countries. Reducing that 16 per cent to zero would be a wrench but would come with considerable benefits, Mr Jerram said.
But just as Japan’s cultural attachment to cash may prove hard to dislodge, some economists believe that the same may be true of deflation. The country’s growing population of elderly people mainly hold cash or cash equivalents and, compared with its US and European counterparts, the Bank of Japan has come under virtually no political pressure to be more belligerent in its war on deflation. It is unlikely, added Mr Jerram, to brook anything as radical as abolishing cash.
CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE TIMES ARTICLE
Medtronic paid $850,000 to author of bogus bone growth implant studies
June 18, 2009
AP
by Matthew Perrone
Medical device maker Medtronic paid about $850,000 over nearly 10 years to a former Army surgeon accused of forging signatures and falsifying data for a study touting the benefits of one of the company’s implants.
Medtronic, the world’s largest device firm, previously declined to release details of its financial arrangements with Dr. Timothy Kuklo, who authored a paper on Medtronic’s Infuse implant that later had to be retracted from publication.
The Army found that Kuklo, now a university professor, forged the signatures of four colleagues and made up data overstating the benefits of Medtronic’s implant on leg injuries of soldiers at Walter Reed Medical Center.
Medtronic reiterated on Thursday that it had no involvement with Kuklo’s discredited medical journal article.
The Minneapolis-based company said it paid Kuklo $850,000 in direct and indirect payments between 2001 and May 2009, when it placed the surgeon’s consulting arrangements on hold. Most of that amount was for training activities or consulting, though he was also reimbursed for airfare and other travel expenses.
The company’s disclosure comes after a series of probing letters from Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, a longtime critic of the drug and device industry’s influence over physicians.
“We are making Dr. Kuklo’s compensation information public on a one-time basis in the interest of transparency in this unique case,” said Marybeth Thorsgard, a company spokeswoman.
The company said Kuklo worked for the company training other physicians to use Medtronic’s products between 2000 and 2006. In August 2006 he became a consultant for the company on product development issues.
The Department of Defense permits military physicians to receive payments for training and consulting, provided they disclose the information on conflict of interest forms.
Kuklo retired from the Army in 2007 and is now a professor of orthopedic surgery at Washington University in St. Louis. He is currently on a leave of absence, according to university officials.
Last November the Department of Justice subpoenaed documents from Medtronic as part of a probe into whether the company encouraged doctors to use the Infuse spinal graft for unapproved purposes. Grassley is conducting a similar inquiry.
While doctors are allowed to use drugs and devices for nonapproved uses, companies are not allowed to market the techniques.
Infuse is a man-made version of a human protein that spurs bone growth. The Food and Drug Administration approved the system to fuse parts of the spine together during lower-back surgery as well as for oral and dental procedures.
However, serious complications have been reported when doctors use the graft for alternate uses, such as neck surgeries. The FDA has said that use can lead to problems swallowing, breathing and speaking, which in some cases required additional surgeries.
CLICK HERE FOR THE ORIGINAL AP STORY
Brazilian President: Time For ‘New World Order’
June 18, 2009 by mike
Filed under Government
June 17, 2009
Breitbart.com
The global financial crisis has reduced the differences between nations and created the opportunity to form a new world order, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said Wednesday.Speaking after a meeting with Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev in the Kazakh capital Astana, Lula called on the global community to seize on the crisis to create a fairer world for developing nations.
“I want to say that before the crisis, there were many countries which had greater significance than others, and some countries which had no significance at all,” he said through a translator.
“After the crisis, everyone has become similar. We have the possibility to create a new world order and together we should improve our relations.”
Lula arrived in Kazakhstan Wednesday following the first-ever summit between fellow developing economic powerhouses Russia, India and China — together with Brazil dubbed the BRIC nations — in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg.
Nazarbayev, head of Central Asia’s largest economy, is keen to secure a larger role for his government in world affairs.
Following up on Lula’s call, the pair said in a statement following their meeting that the United Nations should open up the UN Security Council to developing nations in an effort to bolster global security.
They said that opening the organisation, which only has five permanent members, to wider membership was the only way to make the often-criticised body “more legitimate and effective.”
CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THE STORY AT BREITBART.COM
Not Everyone Is Cheering Fed’s Potential New Role
June 18, 2009 by mike
Filed under Government, Wealth
June 18, 2009
Wall Street Journal
by Sudeep Reddy
A proposal that would make the Federal Reserve would become the nation’s most powerful financial overseer is becoming a flashpoint as lawmakers and consumer groups attack the central bank for its role in creating and handling the financial crisis.
If passed into law, it would represent one of the biggest changes ever in the Fed’s role. The central bank would win power to monitor risks across the financial system, and sweeping authority to examine any firm that could threaten financial stability, even if the Fed wouldn’t normally supervise the institution. The nation’s biggest and most interconnected firms would be subject to heightened oversight by the central bank.
President Obama said the plan would ensure “that lines of responsibility and accountability are clear” by placing authority in the Fed’s hands.
Critics who wonder about the wisdom of the move say the Fed failed to use its authority to address loose lending practices and the housing bubble that pushed the U.S. into a recession. The Fed responded aggressively after the crisis began, but some argue those actions were overly secretive.
A movement is spreading in Congress to force the Fed to disclose the identity of institutions that borrow from the bank, a move officials say would discourage firms from seeking needed emergency funds. A large group of House members is pushing to audit the Fed.
“I don’t have a lot of faith in the Fed being able to handle that big a universe,” said John Taylor, president of the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, a group of 600 community organizations.
Senate Banking Chairman Christopher Dodd (D., Conn.) and House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank (D., Mass.) both said Wednesday the Fed’s role is the biggest potential source of friction in the plan.
Mr. Dodd said there is well-founded concern the Fed’s responsibility for monetary policy, including setting interest rates, could conflict with its role monitoring systemic risk. Fed officials have said they can handle multiple responsibilities. “There’s not a lot of confidence in the Fed at this point, and I’m stating the obvious,” Mr. Dodd said.
Mr. Frank said most of Mr. Obama’s proposals reflect a broad consensus on Capitol Hill. But “the interplay between the Fed and the rest of the regulators on systemic risk” will be a thorny issue.
“How much power the Fed is going to have is going to be probably one of the most controversial issues about this plan,” said Robert Litan, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. He said he thinks the Fed’s role in the new regulatory framework is likely to be changed by lawmakers.
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner reiterated the administration’s determination to make the Fed the systemic regulator. “I do not believe there is a plausible alternative,” he told reporters.
Fed officials said they took action throughout the financial crisis because the central bank was often the only institution with the power to prevent turmoil.
The regulatory overhaul proposed by the Bush administration last year also would have given the Fed responsibility for financial stability. But that plan would have removed its role of supervising banks. Fed officials quietly objected, saying it would be hard to guard against systemic risks without also performing routine bank examinations. The proposal gained little traction amid an escalating financial crisis.
The Obama proposal would require the central bank to seek approval from the Treasury secretary before invoking emergency lending powers. It also calls for the Fed to work with the Treasury and outside experts to review the Fed’s structure and governance, including the role of the regional Fed banks. A report due by Oct. 1 would be used to propose changes to the Fed’s structure “to improve its accountability and its capacity to achieve its statutory responsibilities.”
CLICK HERE TO READ THE WSJ STORY
Ease Excruciating Earaches Naturally With Garlic, Other Options
June 16, 2009
NaturalNews.com
by Sheryl Walters
An earache is an awful thing to experience. Everyone has experienced one at some time of his/her life. It was probably an event so traumatic, that s/he is bound to remember. An earache can be caused by a number of things. These could include infections, allergies, or even situations with your teeth. Although much more common in children, the many adults that have experienced an earache, say it was the worst pain they have ever experienced. While looking for natural remedies to help ease the pain naturally, consider these.
Use garlic. Garlic has been known to help a painful earache. Try taking two 500 mg. of natural garlic capsules a day. Do this for seven consecutive days. Or if you would rather not swallow the capsules, they may be opened and the garlic oil may be squeezed into your ear canal. Place a cotton ball inside your ear to hold the oil inside. Do this several days, both day and night. You’ll soon be experiencing relief. Garlic is a natural disinfectant and will clean the bacteria from within your ear. If you would like to increase the natural properties of garlic, add mullein oil. This may be purchased from your health food store. This oil is known for its anti-inflammatory attributes and may be poured directly into the ear every three or four hours.
Use olive oil. This remedy has been around for centuries. Warm a little olive oil on a teaspoon and pour it slowly into your ear. (Test it first to make sure it is not too hot.) The warmth will feel wonderful in a throbbing ear. Place a cotton ball inside your ear to prevent the liquid from escaping. This process may be repeated every hour as necessary.
Take vitamins. Vitamins to take which help prevent and treat earaches are zinc, vitamin E, and vitamin B. Ask your natural health expert the amounts to take. Taking these supplements every day help treat earaches as well as prevent them.
Give yourself a Qigong massage. If unsure how to do this, here are the instructions. Place your middle finger in front of your ear and your index finger behind the ear. Your fingers will form a V-shape. Starting at the base of the ear, begin moving your fingers in an upward motion. Press firmly but not too hard. Release the pressure, as you move your fingers downward. Do this a repeated amount of times. Not only will this massage help increase the circulation in and around your ear, it will also allow the fluid to move more freely from the cells reducing the pain in your ear.
Use a heating pad. Placing a heating pad or hot water bottle on the side of your face will help lessen the pain, as will the use of a hair dryer. Be careful not to burn your skin.
Sometimes, you can’t do anything to prevent something like an earache, but being sure you are in good health and daily doing what you can, to have a strong immune system, is wonderful for you in general. Have a diet consisting of fruits and vegetables. Sleep well. Get plenty of exercise. Take time to play. Studies have shown that people, who do all these things, have a better outlook on life and stay healthier.
Sources:
www.massageenvy.com
www.seekwellness.com
www.naturalhealers.com
CLICK HERE FOR THE NATURAL NEWS STORY
Your Guide to Foods with HFCS
May 2009
Sheer Balance
by Brett Blumenthal
There is a ton of debate that warrants avoiding the High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS). Many nutritionists blame HFCS as a major reason for the rise in our nation’s obesity rates. Further, there is a theory that the body processes fructose in high fructose corn syrup differently than cane or beet sugar, which has an effect on how our metabolic-regulating hormones function and can cause our liver to release more fat into our bloodstream. This can result in our bodies wanting to eat more, while potentially storing more fat.
HFCS is a cheap ingredient and as a result, creeps into many foods that seem otherwise healthy. Whether or not you believe HFCS is bad, it is good to at least understand what kinds of foods actually contain HFCS, so that if you do want to avoid the controversial ingredient, you can do so. Here are some highly popular foods that contain HFCS, and ways you can circumvent consumption:
Juice Cocktails: If a juice drink is not made with 100% juice, it generally contains a large amount of HFCS, along with other artificial and natural ingredients and flavors. Some examples include: Ocean Spray Cranberry Juice, Capri-Sun Juices and Tropicana OrangeAde.
Non-HFCS Solution : Opt for buying drinks that are 100% pure juice. Even better, eat the fruit. This will give you the fiber benefits as well.
Soda: Believe it or not, even sodas containing some juice have HFCS. This includes Orangina, a seemingly healthy soda.
Non-HFCS Solution: Try mixing 100% juices with seltzer for a sweeter, more natural alternative. Also, San Pellegrino soda flavors uses all cane sugar and no HFCS.
Breakfast Cereal: Even seemingly healthy breakfast cereals contain HFCS. For instance: Kellogg’s Raisin Bran Crunch, Special K and Smart Start Healthy Heart.
Non-HFCS Solution: Read nutrition labels carefully when in doubt. However, some good brands to try include: Kashi and Nature’s Path.
Yogurt: Once again, seemingly healthy foods like yogurt often contain HFCS. Often, it is found in those that contain ‘fruit’ and other sweetened varieties, such as Dannon and Yoplait.
Non-HFCS Solution: Opt for plain varieties, which often don’t contain HFCS (always check to be sure). Mix fresh or frozen berries or fruit into your plain yogurt to add some natural sweetness. You’ll also benefit from some natural fiber as well!
Salad Dressings: Believe it or not, HFCS is often added into seemingly un-sweet items like salad dressings.
Non-HFCS Solution: Make your own dressings when possible because you’ll know what ingredients are being used. Find high quality oils and vinegars, even those that are infused with spices, to create yummy salad toppers.
Breads and Baked Goods: Wonderbread, as well as other ‘healthier’ bread products, such as Pepperidge Farm’s line of 100% whole grain breads and Sara Lee Heart Healthy Whole Grain Bread are guilty of HFCS use. This is a classic case of ‘HFCS hiding behind whole grain marketing’.
Non-HFCS Solution: Once again, read your labels. Sticking with whole grain baked items are often a good choice, but find those that don’t contain HFCS. A favorite of mine is Arnold’s Natural Fiber and Flax bread.
Candy and Candy Bars: Many name brand candy, such as Hershey’s Watchamacallet and Lifesavers, contain HFCS.
Non-HFCS Solution: Buy higher quality candy and/or chocolate bars, such as Equal Exchange and Endangered Species Chocolates. Being of higher quality, even a small piece of these chocolates can be more rewarding than a whole Watchamacallit.
Nutrition Bars: Don’t let the word ‘nutrition’ fool you. Many nutrition bars, such as Power Bars, Balance Bars and Zone Perfect Bars contain HFCS.
Non-HFCS Solution: Be scrupulous in reading your labels. Good brands to try: Odwalla and Kashi Go Lean Bars.
In short, it is always best to read the ingredient lists on products. This is the best way to tell if high fructose corn syrup has infiltrated your chosen product. Lastly, try to make things yourself and eat whole foods. If the food isn’t processed, you can be sure there is no nasty HFCS in it!
CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THE SHEER BALANCE ARTICLE
Sebelius: Kids May Get Mass Swine Flu Shots First
HHS Secretary doesn’t want vaccine to” cause more damage than the flu”
June 17, 2009
AP
by Lauran Neergaard
Schoolchildren could be first in line for swine flu vaccine this fall — and schools are being put on notice that they might even be turned into shot clinics.
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said Tuesday she is urging school superintendents around the country to spend the summer preparing for that possibility, if the government goes ahead with mass vaccinations.
“If you think about vaccinating kids, schools are the logical place,” Sebelius told The Associated Press.
No decision has been made yet on whether and how to vaccinate millions of Americans against the new flu strain that the World Health Organization last week formally dubbed a pandemic, meaning it now is circulating the globe unchecked. But the U.S. is pouring money into development of a vaccine in anticipation of giving at least some people the shots.
While swine flu doesn’t yet seem any more lethal than the regular flu that each winter kills 36,000 people in the U.S. alone, scientists fear it may morph into a more dangerous type. Even in its current form, the WHO says about half of the more than 160 people worldwide killed by swine flu so far were previously young and healthy.
If that trend continues, “the target may be school-age children as a first priority” for vaccination, Sebelius said Tuesday. “That’s being watched carefully.”
Schools do occasionally team up with local health officials for special flu vaccination clinics but it’s not common. More than 140 schools around the country scheduled flu vaccination days last fall, some providing free vaccine. Some vaccinated only students bearing parent consent forms; others opened their doors to entire families.
Sebelius faces the looming question of whether to push forward with swine flu vaccinations this fall, on top of the regular winter flu vaccine that will be distributed as usual. A key challenge would be making people understand who needs which, or both, vaccines, decisions that will be made in part based on how swine flu behaves in the Southern Hemisphere this summer, where flu season is just beginning.
Sebelius soon will call together the nation’s governors to be sure “these months between now and the fall aren’t used as vacation months” but in getting ready.
“We can always sort of back off” if the new flu fades away, she said, “but we can’t wait til October hits and say, ‘Oh my heavens, what are we going to do?’”
Companies are on track to provide pilot doses for testing later this summer, Sebelius said. Those government-led studies will check if the vaccine seems to work, if one dose or two will be needed, and most important if it’s safe. The last mass vaccination against a different swine flu, in the U.S. in 1976, was marred by reports of a paralyzing side effect — for a feared outbreak that never happened.
So the Food and Drug Administration will closely track vaccine safety, Sebelius said.
The secretary said: “The worst of all worlds is to have the vaccine cause more damage than the flu potential.”
CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL ARTICLE FROM THE AP
Kevin’s FULL interview with Jesse Ventura
Kevin spoke with former MN Governor and Navy SEAL Jesse Ventura. Find out why this two-party system in America is as real as a wrestling match. Hear Jesse’s firsthand knowledge of media censorship and the CIA being embedded in his state government. And how three cross-continent road trips from the Baja Peninsula in Mexico to the northern US inspired him to write Don’t Start the Revolution Without Me. Plus what WE can do to change this path toward self-destruction. Click HERE to download the full chat from iTunes.
The Kevin Trudeau Show: 06-17-09
What are the potential consequences of the WHO announcing a level 6 flu pandemic? Why does the FDA go after homeopathic medicines while letting big pharma run amok? How is it possible that YOUR DOG can now be prescribed antidepressants? Kevin discusses these things in depth AND talks for a full hour with former MN Governor Jesse Ventura. Plus:
A deadlier flu strain detected in Brazil this week
Why flu shots are worthless ‘protection’ and can cause you to catch the flu
PROOF that public schools are readying for mass vaccinations
How to incite true change in your own life
Zicam being unfairly targeted
Take Trudeau on the Go! Click here to download this show to your ipod, mp3 player, or PC at Itunes! Don’t forget to subscribe to the RSS feed to get The Kevin Trudeau Show automatically sent to your player of choice and never miss a must-hear Kevin Trudeau Show!
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