Tag Archives: safety

Despite massive protests, US Senate passes S 510 Food Safety Bill

(NaturalNews) The new Food Tyranny Act — called the “Food Safety Modernization Act” in the U.S. Senate — has been passed by the senate today. It would give the FDA vast new powers to criminalize and imprison farmers and food producers while doing absolutely nothing to address to real root of the food contamination problem: Factory animal farm operations (which are regulated under the USDA, not the FDA). The bill passed 73 to 25, with Sen Tom Coburn (R-Oklahoma) emerging as the greatest “voice of reason” in the debate. His last-ditch amendment to reduce the scale of the bill was defeated this morning. Here's the official vote record:http://www.senate.gov/legislative/L… Notably,there wasn't a single Democrat who opposed the bill. This bill, as originally written, would have outlawed most nutritional supplements through “harmonization” with European laws. It also would have authorized ten-year prison sentences for farmers sellingraw milkto their neighbors. Both of those provisions were eventually stripped out of the bill thanks to some last-minute amendments, but it gives you an idea of the outright police state mentality of the original bill authors who attempted to put in place completegovernmentcontrol over food, gardens, rawmilkand more. To give you an idea ofhow cluelessU.S. Senators are aboutfood, the New York Times is reporting that whenSenatestaff members met to discuss this bill, they would eat Starburst candies and jellybeans. As the NYT reports, “In the midst of negotiations, the negotiators — nearly allwomen– took a field trip to a nearby food market so that a Republican staff member could teach theDemocratshow to buy high-quality steaks.” So what we have here is a new foodtyrannylaw that was essentially negotiated by a group of women who eatdeadfoods, animals products and candy. No wonder they still don't get it. Thecontaminationof lettuce and other fresh produce is caused byfactory animals farms, not by produce farms. (E.coli can only thrive in the digestive tracts of animals, not plants.) The “small farms” exclusion will soon be meaningless The Tester Amendment of the bill did manage to excludesomesmallerfarmersfrom the more tyrannical provisions of the bill. As currently stated, this would exclude small farms that sell less than $500,000 worth of food and which sell most of their food locally. However, Senators failed to consider what's going to happen when theFederal Reservekeeps printing counterfeitmoney, devaluing the dollar and causing massive food price inflation. A farm that right now produces merely $100,000 worth of food (which could be a small, two-person farm) will soon find itself producing $500,000 worth of food (or more) due to the rapidly falling value of the U.S. dollar. This is how the Federal Reserve's money counterfeiting actions will further destroyAmericaand place small family farms under the tyranny ofthe FDA. What's next: Defeat the bill in committee The Senate version of the bill must now be reconciled with the House version that was passed last year. This reconciliation committee must hammer out the differences between the two bills. Democrats are urgently rushing to do this during their “lame duck” session in order to avoid moreRepublicansgetting involved who would seek to scale back thepowerand size of the federal government. Some House Democrats are even suggesting they would support passing the Senate version of the bill as it is written, without requiring any changes whatsoever, just to rush it through before the end of the year.NaturalNewsand other health freedom organizations intend to fight this effort, hoping to stall the bill until the newCongresscan enter the picture and hopefully interject some common sense into the negotiations. Please don't feed the monster If signed into law by the President (who is sure to sign it), this Food Safety Bill would provide yet more power and funding to one of the most dangerous monsters our nation has ever known: TheFDA. This is the agency responsible for the death of more Americans than all the wars our nation has ever been involved with — combined! ( http://www.naturalnews.com/030461_S…) The idea that we're going to save a few lives from food poisoning while subjectingeveryoneto yet another layer ofBig Governmenttyranny is so abhorrent and downright evil that if our country's founding fathers saw all this going on, they would be stunned into silence that it's happening in “the land of the free.” Fresh milk being criminalized? You've got to be kidding… Only they're not kidding. The FDA is the agency that has raided vitamin companies ( http://www.naturalnews.com/021791.html ), arrestednutritional supplementmanufacturers and ordered the destruction of books containing stevia recipes. This is the agency that censors the scientific truth aboutnaturalfoods like cherries and walnuts ( http://www.naturalnews.com/029698_c…) while promoting the outright fraud and quackery of the pharmaceutical industry. And now the FDA is to be rewarded for its malfeasance with yet MORE power andauthority? This is how Washington works, folks. The government always thinks it's here to save you, and the Democrats want Big Government to be your nanny and “take care of you.” (The Republicans, for their part, just want to bail out the wealthy banksters with your money.) And yet, when it all comes down to it, these people are justtyrantswho have forgotten American history and abandoned the Constitution and its founding principles. Mark my words: Five years down the road, when the FDA's armed “food police” are running rampant across America, arresting farmers and imprisoning lettuce growers, people will be appalled, and they'll wonder, “How could we have let this happen!?” The answer is right here: You let it happen because you allowed Big Government to rule overthe food supply. And if there's one thing we know about Big Government, it's thatit always wants to get bigger. It always wants more power. More authority. More funding. And more excuses to function as a dictatorship that rules over the American people. The Food Safety Modernization Act is to thefood supplywhat the Patriot Act is to the Bill of Rights. We must make every effort to prevent this from becoming law, lest we find ourselves living under afood dictatorshipwhere only dead, fumigated or irradiated food will be allowed to be sold to the public. The “food irradiation plot” has been the plan from the very beginning of all this ( http://www.naturalnews.com/023015_f…) . Of course, once the real food is all criminalized and outlawed, there's alwayssoylent green. That might not be too far off, come to think of it. Learn more:http://www.naturalnews.com/030576_Food_Safety_S_510.html#ixzz16nMK85q5 ARTICLES RELATED TO THIS ARTICLE: •The Honest Food Guide empowers consumers with independent information about foods and health •Interview with “Kevala” Karen Parker, master raw foods chef •Cigarettes, Lies, and Pet Food Advertising •The true horrors of pet food revealed: Prepare to be shocked by what goes into dog food and cat food •Interview: Raw food guru David Wolfe explores the healing energy of living foods •Boku Super Food: An Astonishing New Premium Superfood Product Reviewed by the Health Ranger Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/030576_Food_Safety_S_510.html#ixzz16nNAqgn4 added by: GLOBALPOLITICAL

At least 378 Die in Stampede at Cambodia Water Festival

Cambodia has declared Thursday a national day of mourning after at least 378 people were killed in a stampede in the capital, Phnom Penh. Hundreds more were injured when people were crushed on a small island on the final day of the Water Festival. The stampede took place on a bridge, which eyewitnesses said had become overcrowded. Prime Minister Hun Sen ordered an investigation into the cause of the disaster. *Note above update added by Current.com staff 180 die in stampede at Cambodia festival http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2010/11/22/more-than-100-killed-in-cambodia-festival-s… November 22nd, 2010 02:23 PM ET Cambodian prime minister: 339 dead in stampede A stampede occurred during a water festival in Phnom Pehn, Cambodia. [Updated at 2:26 p.m.] Ambulances appeared to be making runs back and forth between the scene of the stampede and the hospital – dropping off the injured and then speeding away again, video on state-run Bayon Television showed. Doctors stood outside a hospital, trying to direct traffic, between ambulances and vehicles of regular citizens bringing in the injured. Friends and family clutched some the injured already in the hospital while others raced from the streets clutching the injured in the arms. [Updated at 2:23 p.m.] Video from state-run Bayon Television in Cambodia showed panic in the streets and outside local hospitals. Dozens of injured people appeared to be laying on what appeared to be the waiting room floor of a hospital with IV lines hooked up to them that were strung across benches. [Updated at 2:04 p.m.] Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said Monday on state-run Bayon Television that 180 people have died in the water festival stampede. More than 4 million people were attending the Water Festival when the stampede occurred, said Visalsok Nou, a Cambodian Embassy official in Washington. [Posted at 1:55 p.m.] More than 100 people were killed Monday in a stampede that occurred during a festival near Cambodia's royal palace in Phnom Penh, a Cambodian Embassy official in Washington said. This story is developing. We'll bring you the latest information as soon as we get it. _____________________________ NEW PHOTOS JUST IN FROM BBC NEWS: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-11814045 _____________________________ (CNN) — A stampede that occurred during a festival in Cambodia's capital city of Phnom Penh has killed 339 people, officials said Monday. Another 329 people were injured in the crush, said Philip Bader, a news editor with the Phnom Penh Post, citing information given by Prime Minister Hun Sen in a televised address. Visalsok Nou, a Cambodian Embassy official in Washington, said more than 4 million people were attending the Water Festival when the stampede occurred. But other reports put the number at 2 million., said Steve Finch, a journalist with the Phnom Penh Post. The municipal police chief said that the stampede, which began around 10 p.m. (10 a.m. ET), likely occurred because a suspension bridge packed with people began to sway, creating panic, said Bader, who cited reports of people jumping from the bridge into the river below. Finch said police began firing water cannon onto a bridge to an island in the center of a river in an effort to get them to continue moving across the bridge. “That just caused complete and utter panic,” he told CNN in a telephone interview. He said a number of people lost consciousness and fell into the water; some may have been electrocuted, he said. Finch cited witnesses as saying that the bridge was festooned with electric lights, which may have played a role in the electrocutions. The government denied anyone was electrocuted. But a doctor who declined to be identified publicly said the main cause of death was suffocation and electrocution. Police were among the dead, Finch said. Officers with the prime minister's security unit stood outside a hospital trying to help those arriving with injured people and to control the scene of chaos. In one case at a hospital, relatives of a woman who had been confirmed dead discovered she still had a pulse and she was taken into the emergency room. It was not clear whether she survived, Finch said. Video of the scene showed hundreds of shoes, clothing and other personal items littering the streets, the bridge and the underlying water near where the festival took place. Ambulances dropped off the injured at area hospitals and then sped away, video on Bayon Television showed. Outside one hospital, doctors stood trying to direct traffic so that ambulances and vehicles carrying injured were able to get through. Dozens of people could be seen laying on what appeared to be the waiting-room floor of a hospital. They were attached to intravenous lines connected to bags strung along wires suspended in the air. The prime minister ordered an inquiry into the cause of the day's events and declared Wednesday a day of mourning. The three-day festival, which began Saturday, is held each November near the palace to honor a victory by Cambodian naval forces during the 12th century reign of King Jayvarman VII, according to the country's tourism website. During the festival, which includes boat races, participants pray for a good rice harvest, enough rain and to celebrate the full moon, the site says. added by: EthicalVegan

22 Incredibly Revealing Quotes About Enhanced Pat Downs And TSA Groping

At what point will Americans finally stop losing more liberty and freedom? With each passing year, the iron grip of the government gets even tighter, and each time it does we are told that it is either for “our safety” or for “national security”. One can only imagine what is going to happen the next time there is any kind of “terror incident” on an airplane. They are going to point to all those Americans who are complaining about “enhanced pat downs” and TSA groping as the reason why security is not tough enough. So where does all this end? Will we eventually all have to go through a body cavity search just to get on an airplane? Will they start groping us at school, at work and at sporting events? Are we going to have to “lock down” America from coast to coast to ensure that no terrorist ever is able to harm any American? added by: Revelation1217

Emergency at ‘Dancing’ Over Powder Substance

Filed under: Bristol Palin , Sarah Palin , Celebrity Justice , Dancing with the Stars UPDATE #2 8:27 PM PT — A rep for ABC tells TMZ the substance was determined to be talcum powder by the LAFD and adds, “Measures were taken to secure the area and ensure the safety of personnel.” UPDATE #1 8:20 PM PT —

Daniel Radcliffe Felt ‘Great Responsibility’ During ‘Deathly Hallows’

‘We’re not in school … so we automatically feel more adult,’ he tells MTV News of the three leads. By Eric Ditzian, with reporting by Josh Horowitz Daniel Radcliffe Photo: MTV News Remember those long-ago days in “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” when the young boy wizard first entered the hallowed halls of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry? The time Harry and Ron became best buds on the train out of King’s Cross? How Harry and Hermione first clashed as Gryffindor housemates before eventually bonding? What a difference a decade makes. The first part of “Deathly Hallows,” based on J.K. Rowling’s seventh book in the series, finds the three friends far from the safety and supervision of Hogwarts, fitfully bidding goodbye to their adolescent lives and embracing adulthood. Portraying that tricky transition, Daniel Radcliffe told MTV News, is exactly what makes this film “very special,” setting it apart from previous installments.

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Daniel Radcliffe Felt ‘Great Responsibility’ During ‘Deathly Hallows’

GLOBAL POLITICAL AWAKENING: BREAKING: Senate votes cloture on S 510 – must now be voted on in 60 days

By a vote of 74 to 25, at noon today, the U.S. Senate voted for cloture on S 510, the Food Safety Modernization Act, which means it must now be voted on in the full Senate within 60 days. All amendments to the controversial food control bill must be completed by that time. One of S 510′s supporters, Saxby Chambliss of Georgia, opposed cloture because modifications to the bill do not reflect its original intent, he said on C-SPAN. Chambliss fully supports giving the FDA more power over the US food supply, but is unhappy with the Manager’s Amendment submitted in August. He objects to the small farm exclusion on the grounds that the $500,000 annual gross revenue limit is an arbitrary number that is too quickly reached by small farms. He called for numerous amendments to the bill as it appears today. Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio supports S 510, and called out the statistics by the Centers for Disease Control that report there are 76 million foodborne illnesses a year, with 5,000 resulting in death. What Brown did not say was that the FDA — the very agency further empowered by S 510 — is responsible for the approval of pharmaceutical drugs that results in 100,000 deaths a year. None of the supporters of S 510 will acknowledge the corrupt nature of the Food and Drug Administration. Monsanto executives now work at the FDA or on President’s Obama’s Food Safety Task Force. What legislators continue to ignore from the public is that we do not support giving federal agencies even more power — especially over something as inherently private as food choices. None of the legislators will discuss the FDA raids on natural food operations which sickened no one, while it allowed Wright County Egg to sicken people for decades before finally taking action. Yesterday, Senator Bob Casey informed his Pennsylvania constituents that the$1.6 billion price tag for S 510 will stop food smuggling in the United States. I kid you not: “These provisions add personnel to detect, track and remove smuggled food and call for the development and implementation of strategies to stop food from being smuggled into the United States.” Is food smuggling a problem in the United States? Well, the “biggest food smuggling case in the history of the U.S.” busted wide open in September. Eleven Chinese and German executives were indicted for bringing in $40 million worth of commercial grade honey over a five year period, reportedly to avoid paying $80 million in import fees. (No wonder they tried smuggling.) That amounts to 3 percent of the 1.35 billion-dollar honey market over a five-year period. Since that was the biggest food smuggling bust, food smuggling is not the problem. Clearly. It hardly seems worth it for the US taxpayer to cough up $1.6 billion so the FDA can stop such illegal activities, especially in our current economic recession. Blogger Steve Green interprets the S 510 smuggling language to mean: “It would allow the government, under Maritime Law, to define the introduction of any food into commerce (even direct sales between individuals) as smuggling into “the United States.” Since under that law, the US is a corporate entity and not a location, “entry of food into the US” covers food produced anywhere within the land mass of this country and “entering into” it by virtue of being produced.”

Watch The Vampire Diaries Season 2 Episode 6 – Plan B

Watch The Vampire Diaries S2E6: Plan B The latest installment of our favorite teen vampires in The Vampire Diaries, which is entitled “Plan B” is the sci-fi drama hit TV show’s 6th episode of the 2nd season that aired last 10/21/2010 Thursday 8:00 PM on CW.

Full Frontal Nudity Doesn’t Make Us Safer: Abolish the TSA

In the spirit of bipartisanship and sanity, I propose that the first thing on the chopping block should be an ineffective organization that wastes money, violates our rights, and encourages us to make decisions that imperil our safety. I’m talking about the Transportation Security Administration. Bipartisan support should be immediate. For privacy advocates, eliminating an organization that requires you to choose between a nude body scan or genital groping in order to board a plane should be a no-brainer. The odds of dying from a terrorist attack are much lower than the odds of dying from doing any of a number of incredibly mundane things we do every day. You are almost certainly more likely to die or be injured driving to the airport than you are to be injured by a terrorist once you’re in the air, even without a TSA. Indeed, once you have successfully made it to the airport, the most dangerous part of your trip is over. Until it’s time to drive home, that is. added by: maasanova

We Want to Wake Everyone Up

Image: Still from teaser for Eco-Volunteering Documentary: “Volunteer” When was the last time you drank Kava with a group of Fijians in their remote village? Or gathered in fear with a community under the threat of a tsunami warning? Played with a 15-foot python? Tickled a chimpanzee? And, anecdotes aside, when was the last time you opened yourself to a challenging, broadening experience beyond the safety of your usual horizons? When was the last time you served as ambassador from your culture to learn, share, and teach among peop… Read the full story on TreeHugger

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We Want to Wake Everyone Up

Don’t Be A Hater, It’s Making You Sad

Watch out, what you say about others may actually be like holding a mirror to yourself. A recent study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology examined “perceiver effects,” a tendency for people to view others as having the same personality and motives as they do. Your IQ, your gender, and your attitude may reveal more about your own personality than you think. Three separate studies were conducted on college undergraduates to determine the extent that personal characteristics affect a person’s perception of other people. Research participants with positive perceptions of others were more likely to be satisfied with their own life. They were less likely to be depressed. Plus, the study participants who liked people, had a greater sense of fitting in. Interestingly, the “positive perceivers” had a lower desire to have power over others, less fear of being in a position of power, and lower sense of misusing power or being socially dominant. When it comes to viewing themselves, the positive people typically described themselves as happy too. On the flip side, those with negative perceptions of others were more likely to judge others as more extraverted, less agreeable, and less emotionally stable. The researchers found “negative perceivers” were also more likely to experience bouts of the “blues.” It gets more interesting. Those with higher GPA, SAT scores and IQ scores view others as “less open to experience” and less conscientiousness. Brainiacs, however, did tend to rate other people as more agreeable. Additionally, the women in the study, more so than men, were more likely to rate others positively. Women also had a tendency to judge others as more extraverted, conscientious, and open to experience. The findings aren’t conclusive or definitive, but they are intriguing. Yes, the “perceiver effects” study was small and not the best reflection of every day society. Nor does it fully support the idea that a person’s perception is only related to their personality or disposition. Perceiver effects may in fact be self-perpetuated. Viewing others positively allows a person to become friendlier to others, and other people respond in kind. It’s also very likely that the opposite true: perceiving others negatively may initiate a vicious cycle for others to behave negatively, which in turn leads to a confirmation of a person’s original perception. Think about that the next time you perceive others. Happy Perceiving! added by: singrrr