LARS SCHALL, - Asia Times (Hong Kong)
Stephan:
s there any truth in the allegations that informed circles made substantial profits in the financial markets in connection to the terror attacks of September 11, 2001, on the United States?
Arguably, the best place to start is by examining put options, which occurred around Tuesday, September 11, 2001, to an abnormal extent, and at the beginning via software that played a key role: the Prosecutor’s Management Information System, abbreviated as PROMIS. [i]
PROMIS is a software program that seems to be fitted with almost ‘magical’ abilities. Furthermore, it is the subject of a decades-long dispute between its inventor, Bill Hamilton, and various people/institutions associated with intelligence agencies, military and security consultancy firms. [1]
One of the ‘magical’ capabilities of PROMIS, one has to assume, is that it is equipped with artificial intelligence and was apparently from the outset ‘able to simultaneously read and integrate any number of different computer programs or databases, regardless of the language in which the original programs had been written or the operating systems and platforms on which that database was then currently installed.’ [2]
And then it becomes really interesting:
What would you do if you possessed software that could think, understand every major […]
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RONNIE CUMMINS, - AlterNet
Stephan: These attempts to commandeer education to serve the special interests of a few corporations, or theological groups, are having deep and pernicious effects. When facts are not the basis of education, willful ignorance is the result, and the breakdown of democracy is inevitable.
Ronnie Cummins is founder and director of the Organic Consumers Association. Cummins is author of numerous articles and books, including 'Genetically Engineered Food: A Self-Defense Guide for Consumers' (Second Revised Edition Marlowe & Company 2004)
It’s not enough that the biotech industry — led by multinational corporations such as Monsanto, Dow, Syngenta, BAS, and Dupont — is poisoning our food and our planet. It’s also poisoning young minds.
In a blatant attempt at brainwashing, the Council for Biotechnology Information (CBI) has widely circulated what it calls a Biotechnology Basics Activity Book for kids, to be used by ‘Agriculture and Science Teachers.’ The book — called Look Closer at Biotechnology — looks like a science workbook, but reads more like a fairy tale. Available on the council’s Web site, its colorful pages are full of friendly cartoon faces, puzzles, helpful hints for teachers — and a heavy dose of outright lies about the likely effects of genetic engineering on health, the environment, world hunger and the future of farming.
CBI’s lies are designed specifically for children, and intended for use in classrooms.
At a critical time in history when our planet is veering toward a meltdown, when our youth are suffering the health consequences (obesity, diabetes, allergies) of Big Ag and Food Inc.’s over-processed, fat-and sugar-laden, chemical-, and GMO-tainted foods, a time when we should be educating tomorrow’s adults about how to reverse climate change, how to create sustainable […]
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JOHN GEVER, Senior Editor - MedPage Today
Stephan: More good news. A court has finally done what the debased regulatory agencies failed to do. We will all be the healthier for this decision, and so will the chickens.
A federal judge in New York City has ordered the FDA to start proceedings to revoke approvals for the use of antibiotics in livestock, a practice blamed for the spread of antibiotic-resistant ‘superbug’ bacteria.
In a case brought by five environmental and consumer advocacy groups, Judge Theodore Katz of the Southern District of New York ruled that the FDA had violated its own regulations when, in 1977, it identified risks to human health from widespread antibiotic treatment of livestock but then failed for nearly 35 years to take action.
The lead plaintiff, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), applauded the ruling. ‘Today, we take a long overdue step toward ensuring that we preserve these life-saving medicines for those who need them most – people,’ said the group’s health attorney, Avinash Kar, in a statement.
In 1977, the FDA officially concluded that low doses of penicillin and tetracycline antibiotics — commonly used to promote weight gain in chickens, hogs, and other livestock, rather than to treat infections — may foster emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacterial strains.
The agency issued notices at that time that it intended to withdraw approvals of the agents for this purpose. But, said Judge Katz in an opinion released late Thursday, ‘[a]lthough […]
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PETER BEAUMONT, - The Guardian (U.K.)
Stephan: There seems to be no limit to the hypocrisy of the aristocracy of the Fundamentalist movement. Remember Jimmy Swigart? Or how about Jim and Tammie Faye Baker, or.... These scandals just keep coming as regular as the seasons. If it isn't sex it's money or, as in this case, both. When you juxtapose what they say, and what they do, it is almost cartoonish.
The world’s largest Christian TV channel, the California-based Trinity Broadcasting Network, has become embroiled in a multimillion-dollar financial scandal after members of the family that founded it alleged widespread embezzlement.
The claims – by Brittany Koper, whose grandfather Paul Crouch founded TBN, and by Joseph McVeigh, another family member – describe exorbitant spending on mansions in California, Tennessee and Florida, private jets and even a $100,000 (£63,000) mobile home to house the dogs of Crouch’s flamboyant wife, Janice.
The network, which claims to broadcast in every continent except the Antarctic and has 18,000 affiliates, was set up by Crouch in the 1970s and preaches a ‘prosperity gospel’ which promises material rewards to those who give generously.
Two years ago it declared a net worth of more than $800m, although in recent years it has faced increasing financial problems. Details of the claims are contained in cases filed with the California courts by McVeigh, who says he was targeted by the network, and 26-year-old Koper, who was fired in September.
According to the lawsuit, reported in US newspapers, Paul Crouch Sr obtained a $50m luxury jet for his personal use through a ‘sham loan’, while church funds – many of which come from donations during […]
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MICHAEL REID, - The Economist (U.K.)
Stephan: Cuba, which for several decades was at the center of America's interests, has faded from popular awareness. Yet it endures as a social model, is extraordinary to watch, and has much to teach us. Like North Korea it is a family fief, indeed by system they are first cousins -- if as different as first cousins can be. I think it is important to understand Cuba, and what is happening both there, and in the U.S., where Cuba was once the key to Florida politics. To that end: this is a very intelligent assessment of what is going on today, on this island outlier nation.
When on July 31st 2006 Cuban state television broadcast a terse statement from Fidel Castro to say that he had to undergo emergency surgery and was temporarily handing over to his brother, Raúl (pictured with Fidel, left), it felt like the end of an era. The man who had dominated every aspect of life on the island for almost half a century seemed to be on his way out. In the event Fidel survived, and nothing appeared to change. Even so, that July evening marked the start of a slow but irreversible dismantling of communism (officially, ‘socialism
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