Is Western Democracy Real Or A Facade?

February 14, 2012

Info Wars

By Paul Craig Roberts

The United States government and its NATO puppets have been killing Muslim men, women and children for a decade in the name of bringing them democracy. But is the West itself a democracy?

Skeptics point out that President George W. Bush was put in office by the Supreme Court and that a number of other elections have been decided by electronic voting machines that leave no paper trail. Others note that elected officials represent the special interests that fund their campaigns and not the voters. The bailout of the banks arranged by Bush’s Treasury Secretary and former Goldman Sachs chairman, Henry Paulson, and Washington’s failure to indict any banksters for the fraud that contributed to the financial crisis, are evidence in support of the view that the US government represents money and not the voters.

Recent events in Greece and Italy have created more skepticism of the West’s claim to be democratic. Two elected European prime ministers, George Papandreou of Greece and Silvio Berlusconi of Italy, were forced to resign over the sovereign debt issue. Not even Berlusconi, a billionaire who continues to lead the largest Italian political party, could stand up to the pressure brought by private bankers and unelected European Union officials.

Papandreou lasted only 10 days after announcing on October 31, 2011, that he would let the Greek voters decide in a referendum whether or not to accept the austerity being imposed on the Greek people from the outside. Austerity is the price charged by the EU for lending the Greek government the money to pay to the banks. In other words, the question was austerity or default. However, the question was decided without the participation of the Greek people.

Consequently, Greeks have taken to the streets. The conditions accompanying the latest tranche of the bailout have again brought large numbers of Greeks into the streets of Athens and other cities. Citizens are protesting a 20% cut both in the minimum wage and in pensions larger than 12,000 euros ($15,800) annually and more cuts in public sector jobs. Greek taxes were raised 2.3 billion euros last year and are scheduled to rise another 3.4 billion euros in 2013. The austerity is being imposed despite Greece’s unemployment rate of 21% overall and 48% for those under the age of 25.

One interpretation is that the banks, which were careless in their loans to governments, are forcing the people to save the banks from the consequences of their bad decisions.

Another interpretation is that the European Union is using the sovereign debt crisis to extend its power and control over the individual member states of the EU.

Click here for the full report from Info Wars

Gut Germs May Underlie Western Allergies

August 13th, 2010

Yahoo! News

By: Maggie Fox

Germs living in the gut may cause higher rates of allergies, chronic stomach upsets and even obesity among children living in rich industrialized countries, researchers reported on Monday.

They compared intestinal bacteria between European Union children and young villagers in remote Burkina Faso, and found enough differences to help explain disparities in chronic disease and obesity.

The findings, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, may support the development of probiotic products to help restore the ancient balance and keep humans leaner and healthier, the researchers said.

“Our results suggest that diet has a dominant role over other possible variables such as ethnicity, sanitation, hygiene, geography, and climate, in shaping the gut microbiota,” Paolo Lionetti of the University of Florence in Italy and colleagues wrote.

“We can hypothesize that the reduction in richness we observe in EU compared with Burkina Faso children, could indicate how the consumption of sugar, animal fat, and calorie-dense foods in industrialized countries is rapidly limiting the adaptive potential of the microbiota.”

The study builds on a body of evidence that human health relies heavily on the trillions of microorganisms living in and on our bodies. Only a fraction cause disease directly — many more help digest food, affect other bacteria and may influence hundreds of biological functions.

Several recent studies have found that certain bacteria cause inflammation that can affect appetite as well as inflammatory bowel conditions like Crohn’s disease and colitis, including a study published in Science in March.

TRADING ONE DISEASE FOR ANOTHER

“Western developed countries successfully controlled infectious diseases during the second half of the last century, by improving sanitation and using antibiotics and vaccines,” the researchers wrote.

“At the same time, a rise in new diseases such as allergic, autoimmune disorders, and inflammatory bowel disease both in adults and in children has been observed,” they added

Lionetti’s team studied the DNA of the gut bacteria of children in Burkina Faso, who are breast-fed up to age two and eat a diet likely similar to stone-age humans, rich in whole grains such as millet, legumes such as black-eyed peas, and vegetables. They eat very little meat.

The Western diet, in contrast, is heavy in meat, processed grains, sugar and fat.

The Italian team found the African children had many bacteria that help break down fiber, but the European children were lacking these microbes. The ratios were similar to studies comparing the gut bacteria of lean people to obese people.

This bacterial balance could even be causing obesity, the researchers said. It may also be useful to test children for these bacteria to see if they are at high risk of becoming obese, they said.

“Reduction in microbial richness is possibly one of the undesirable effects of globalization and of eating generic, nutrient-rich, uncontaminated foods,” Lionetti’s team wrote in the study.

Click Here For The Full Article

Gold Rises To $1,250 Per Ounce

June 8, 2010

Telegraph

By Richard Evans

At about 09.25 GMT on the London Bullion Market, gold hit a record $1,251.85 an ounce.

“Gold rallied to a new all-time high this morning as worried investors continue to pile in to the precious metal,” said Rajesh Patel, head trader at financial betting firm Spread Co. “We are seeing continued signs of stress in the financial markets and investors, novice to expert are looking at gold now as a hedge against further turmoil.” Gold is viewed as a safe-haven investment in times of economic trouble.

US gold futures for August delivery hit a record high $1,254.50, and were later up $10 at $1,250.80. The precious metal also hit record highs in euro, sterling and Swiss franc terms.

Investors’ concern that loose monetary policy will unleash inflation is among the factors prompting interest in tangible assets such as gold.

Jeremy Charlesworth, manager of the Moonraker Commodities fund, said: “If you mass produce something then it will lose value at some stage. Quantitative easing is undermining the value of Western currencies and assets.

Click here for the full report.

Western Diet Causes Severe Depression

June 8, 2010

Natural News

By David Gutierrez

(NaturalNews) Women who eat a typical Western diet high in junk food may increase their risk of suffering from mood disorders such as depression, according to a study conducted by researchers from the University of Melbourne and published in the American Journal of Psychiatry.

Researchers gathered psychiatric evaluations of 925 women between the ages of 20 to 93 over the course of ten years, then compared them to data collected on the participants’ diets. They found that women who ate a diet high in white bread, hamburgers, pizza, chips, beer, flavored dairy beverages and sugary foods were 50 percent more likely to suffer from depression or anxiety than women who did not eat such a diet.

In contrast, women who ate what the researchers classified as a traditional Australian diet, high in vegetables, fruit, beef, lamb, fish and whole grains, were 30 percent less likely to suffer from mood disorders than women who did not follow the Australian diet.

Click here for the full report.