Yearly Archives: 2012

New Solar Archipelago Flare

Posted on by

SOLAR ARCHIPELAGO: Sunspots are magnetic islands on the sun. Sunspot AR1520 is a complete archipelago. Scroll down to scan more than 200,000 miles of island chain:

Amateur astronomer Alan Friedman took the picture on July 10th from his backyard observatory in Buffalo, New York. “AR1520 is a tremendous archipelago and a wonderful target for backyard solar telescopes,” he says.

The tangled magnetic canopy of the sunspot group, shown here in an extreme UV image from NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory, harbors energy for strong solar flares. NOAA forecasters estimate an 80% chance of M-class flares and a 15% chance of X-class flares during the next 24 hours.

from:    spaceweather.com

Afghanistan Earthquake

Posted on by

Strong but luckily deep earthquake in Afghanistan

Last update: July 12, 2012 at 2:22 pm by By

Afghanistan-tajikistan Border Region Jul 12 14:44 PM 5.0 138.0

At the current reported depth, we do not think that this earthquake will be damaging.
This earthquake has been felt in Afghanistan, India, Pakistan, Tajikistan, etc.
All the reporting and to be trusted seismological agencies are reporting depths of +150 km.
The risk on landslides will however be present in this high mountain area.
Closest city to the epicenter : Fayzabad, Afghanistan.

from:    http://earthquake-report.com/2012/07/11/major-earthquakes-list-july-12-2012/

Monsanto & the EU

Posted on by

Monsanto Promises Pain to EU, Assault Underway

July 10 2012

Story at-a-glance

  • The European Commission has issued a proposal to drop the policy of zero tolerance for unapproved and untested GMOs in food; the proposal suggests setting a threshold below which contaminated imports could enter Europe’s food chain
  • In 2011, the EU decided to allow contamination with up to 0.1 percent of unapproved and untested GMOs in animal feed, which was previously not allowed
  • France recently asked the European Commission to suspend Monsanto’s authorization to plant genetically modified MON 810 corn, but the EU stepped in and blocked the ban
  • GM opponents are urging the EU to reject the proposals, noting the pressure to drop their zero tolerance policy regarding GM contamination is coming from the U.S. government, the WTO (World Trade Organization) and the biotech industry

By Dr. Mercola

The European Union (EU) has historically taken a strict, cautious stance regarding genetically modified (GM) crops, much to the chagrin of Monsanto and in stark contract to the United States.

For instance, while GM crops are banned in several European countries, and all genetically modified foods and ingredients have to be labeled, this is in stark contrast to the U.S., where Monsanto has effectively restricted any unfavorable legal actions because of the massive conflict they have with federal regulatory agencies.

Recently Connecticut and Vermont where ready to pass statewide GMO labeling requirements but backed out at the last minute when biotech giant Monsanto threatened to sue them if it was passed.

As a result, the U.S. has only recently begun passing legislation that protects the use of GM seeds and allows for unabated expansion, in addition to the fact that GM ingredients do not have to be labeled.

It’s quite clear that the U.S. government, which is closely tied to Monsanto, has been aiding and abetting Monsanto’s tireless and often ruthless quest to control the world’s food crops.

U.S. diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks, showed the government even conspired to find ways to retaliate against Europe for refusing to use GM seeds, mainly by engaging in aggressive trade wars against reluctant nations.i As you might suspect, the EU has been under heavy pressure to add some slack to their GM regulations – and it seems they are about to cave …

EU Proposes to Drop Zero Tolerance Policy

The European Commission has issued a proposal to drop the policy of zero tolerance for unapproved and untested GMOs in food. The proposal suggests setting a threshold below which contaminated imports could enter Europe’s food chain.

This is similar to the EU’s move in 2011 … they once had a zero tolerance policy regarding GM contamination from unapproved GMOs in animal feed, but last year decided to allow contamination with up to 0.1 percent of such materials. At the time, Greenpeace EU agriculture policy adviser Stefanie Hundsdorfer said:ii

“If the safety of a GM crop has not been tested in Europe, it should not be allowed. Setting a tolerance threshold, however low, is a sign that Europe is losing control over its own food production to please American exporters. The danger now is that EU countries come under pressure from the pro-GM lobby to also allow GM contamination in food products for direct human consumption.”

And, alas, that moment has come, just over one year later. Several GM opponents are urging the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Secretary of State Caroline Spelman to reject the proposals, noting:iii

“Pressure to drop the zero tolerance policy comes from the US government, the WTO and the biotech industry.”

EU Blocks France’s Ban on GM Corn

France recently asked the European Commission to suspend Monsanto’s authorization to plant genetically modified MON 810 corn, citing “significant risks for the environment” shown in recent scientific studies (Germany has also banned the cultivation of MON 810 corn).

The EU stepped in and blocked the ban, which was an unsettling move to put it mildly, considering that in a leaked cable from 2007, Craig Stapleton, who was the U.S. ambassador to France at the time, commented on France’s plan to ban the cultivation of GM corn, and stated that retaliation would occur:

“Europe is moving backwards not forwards on this issue with France playing a leading role, along with Austria, Italy and even the [European] Commission… Moving to retaliation will make clear that the current path has real costs to EU interests and could help strengthen European pro-biotech voice.

… Country team Paris recommends that we calibrate a target retaliation list that causes some pain across the EU since this is a collective responsibility, but that also focuses in part on the worst culprits. The list should be measured rather than vicious and must be sustainable over the long term, since we should not expect an early victory.”

UK Also Moving Full Steam Ahead with GMOs

to read more, go to:    http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2012/07/10/drop-gmo-zero-tolerance-policy.aspx?e_cid=20120710_DNL_artNew_2

Merck & MMR Vaccine

Posted on by

Merck Accused of Lying about Vaccine Effectiveness

July 10 2012

Story at-a-glance

  • Two virologists have filed a federal lawsuit against Merck, their former employer, alleging the vaccine maker overstated the effectiveness of their mumps vaccine, which may have cost the US government hundreds of millions of dollars over the past decade. They claim they “witnessed firsthand the improper testing and data falsification in which Merck engaged to artificially inflate the vaccine’s efficacy findings”
  • Chatom Primary Care has also filed a federal antitrust class action lawsuit against Merck, alleging Merck went to great lengths to manipulate test procedures and falsifying results to prop up fraudulent efficacy claims, thereby maintaining its monopoly on the MMR vaccine
  • These two lawsuits couldn’t come at a more precarious time for Merck, as the Italian Health Ministry recently conceded the MMR vaccine caused autism in a now nine-year old boy—albeit this news has been effectively censored in the US
  • A recent review of the varicella (chickenpox) vaccination program in the U.S. concluded that the vaccine has not proven to be cost-effective; increased the incidence of shingles; failed to provide long-term protection from the disease it targets―chicken pox―and; is less effective than the natural immunity that existed in the general population before the vaccine. Vaccine efficacy was found to have declined well below 80 percent by of 2002

By Dr. Mercola

Things aren’t going so well lately in the litigation department for Merck, which stands accused of lying according to not just one, but two class-action lawsuits.

In the first case, two former Merck virologists accuse their former employer of overstating the effectiveness of the mumps vaccine in Merck’s combination MMR shot, which may have cost the US government hundreds of millions of dollars over the past decadei.

Merck’s mumps vaccine was originally licensed 45 years ago. Since the 1970s, it’s been part of the trivalent measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine, which is part of the recommended childhood vaccination schedule. The case, which was initially filed in 2010, was unsealed late last month. As reported by the Courthouse News Serviceii:

“… Stephen Krahling and Joan Wlochowski were Merck virologists who claim in their unsealed complaint that they “witnessed firsthand the improper testing and data falsification in which Merck engaged to artificially inflate the vaccine’s efficacy findings.”

… As the largest single purchaser of childhood vaccines (accounting for more than 50 percent of all vaccine purchases), the United States is by far the largest financial victim of Merck’s fraud,” according to the 2010 False Claims Act complaint.”

According to Nasdaq.comiii:

“Merck–which stressed that none of these allegations relate to the safety of its product–said the lawsuit is “completely without merit”, and that it plans to “vigorously defend itself.”

It’s quite interesting to note the chosen language in Merck’s rebuttal. It in no way addresses the issue of the vaccine’s effectiveness, which is the core issue of the lawsuit and the allegation by the two former Merck employees that the drug company purposefully used improper testing methods and falsified data to make the mumps vaccine appear highly effective when the opposite was true. Instead, Merck responds by saying that none of the lawsuit’s allegations relate to the safety of its products. Such evasive maneuvering certainly gives the appearance of an admission of guilt.

Second Lawsuit Filed

A mere week after the first case was unsealed, a federal antitrust class action lawsuit was filed by Chatom Primary Care. According to Courthouse News Serviceiv:

“Merck has known for a decade that its mumps vaccine is “far less effective” than it tells the government, and it falsified test results and sold millions of doses of “questionable efficacy,” flooding and monopolizing the market, a primary caregiver claims in a federal antitrust class action.

… Chatom says in its antitrust complaint that Merck falsely claims its mumps vaccine is 95 percent effective. That claim “deterred and excluded competing manufacturers,” who would enter the risky and expensive vaccine market only if they believed they could craft a better product…

Merck is the only manufacturer licensed by the FDA to sell the mumps vaccine in United States, and if it could not show that the vaccine was 95 percent effective, it risked losing its lucrative monopoly… That’s why Merck found it critically important to keep claiming such a high efficacy rate, the complaint states. And, Chatom claims, that’s why Merck went to great lengths, including “manipulating its test procedures and falsifying the test results,” to prop up the bogus figure, though it knew that the attenuated virus from which it created the vaccine had been altered over the years during the manufacturing process, and that the quality of the vaccine had degraded as a result.”

According to these two lawsuits, Merck began a sham testing program in the late 1990’s to hide the declining efficacy of the vaccine. The objective of the fraudulent trials was to “report efficacy of 95 percent or higher regardless of the vaccine’s true efficacy.” This program was initially referred to as “Protocol 007,” the Chatom claim states, and instead of testing the vaccine’s efficacy against a wild mumps virus, as is the norm, Merck used its own attenuated strain of the virus—the identical strain with which the children were being vaccinated!

That’s as brilliant as it is devious, and a perfect example of how medical research can be manipulated to achieve desired results. Suzanne Humphries recently wrote an excellent summary for GreenMedInfo.com, explaining in layman’s terms how the tests were manipulated (see Sources). The two virologists bringing the lawsuit against Merck claim they witnessed firsthand this deception and were asked to directly participate in it.

As reported by the Courthouse News Servicev:

“That “subverted” the purpose of the testing regime, “which was to measure the vaccine’s ability to provide protection against a disease-causing mumps virus that a child would actually face in real life. The end result of this deviation … was that Merck’s test overstated the vaccine’s effectiveness,” Chatom claims.

Merck also added animal antibodies to blood samples to achieve more favorable test results, though it knew that the human immune system would never produce such antibodies, and that the antibodies created a laboratory testing scenario that “did not in any way correspond to, correlate with, or represent real life … virus neutralization in vaccinated people,” according to the complaint.

Chatom claims that the falsification of test results occurred “with the knowledge, authority and approval of Merck’s senior management.”

Health versus Profits

Considering the extent of the allegations here, it is really shocking that the conventional media has not picked up on this story. About the only major media source reporting on it was Forbes Magazinevi

to read more and see the video, go to:    http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2012/07/10/merck-lying-about-vaccine-effectiveness.aspx?e_cid=20120710_DNL_artNew_1

Thinking About Celebrex? Check this out.

Posted on by

(Comment:    How about Zyflamend instead)

Pfizer ‘Cherry-Picked’ Celebrex Data, Memos Say

July 09 2012
  • New evidence in a lawsuit against Pfizer alleges that the drug company cherry-picked data on its drug Celebrex in a scheme to make the drug appear safer and more effective than it really is
  • Pfizer withheld critical data needed to assess the drug’s effectiveness, and newly unsealed documents showed this was all what appeared to be part of a carefully calculated plan by Pfizer execs
  • On a regular basis new studies appear that show the real risks of many medications, including popular varieties that are used by millions of people
  • The number of lawsuits that Big Pharma is settling―many of them out of court without going to trial―are rising, with settlement amounts in the billions
  • If you are still under the impression that drugs are the “answer” to your health complaints, you are likely being misled … and may be worsening your health by the day

By Dr. Mercola

Celebrex is a type of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) known as a COX-2 inhibitor.

Basically, it works by blocking COX-2 enzymes, which become overly active in your body when it becomes inflamed, and is widely used as a form of pain relief; in 2011, 2.4 million Americans received prescriptions for this drug.i

They may have thought twice, however, if they knew the truth behind how this drug came to be … a story that involves cherry-picking of data in attempts to make the drug seem superior to others on the market, when in fact it was not.

Also concerning: Celebrex is the only selective COX-2 inhibitor left on the market, as its close “cousins” were all pulled due to either their killing tens of thousands of people or to their unacceptably high heart risks …

Internal Memos Reveal Deception Surrounding Celebrex Data

New evidence in a lawsuit against Pfizer alleges that the drug company cherry-picked data on its drug Celebrex. Its claim to fame when it came on the market in 1998 was that it relieved pain without causing the gastrointestinal side effects common to other pain-relief drugs like ibuprofen.

Studies showed it didn’t necessarily relieve pain any better than the other drugs on the market, so Pfizer was counting on the gastrointestinal “ticket” to propel the drug into blockbuster status, and, in fact, used its easiness on your stomach as its primary selling point.

The problem was, Celebrex only appeared to be easier on the stomach because Pfizer, and its partner Pharmacia, only released the first six months of data from a year-long study. When the entire data set was looked at, the stomach “benefit” disappeared.

Folks this is what is called a blatant lie of omission and these companies do it on a regular basis. The system even encourages it. Contrary to what many people believe the FDA does no testing of drugs that are to be approved. Nor is there an objective third party that does tests. Rather the system the FDA employs has the drug company pay for and do the studies, and they only submit the studies that support the release of their drug. They are not required to submit failed ones.

That Pfizer withheld the critical data has been known for years, but newly unsealed documents showed this was all part of a carefully calculated plan by Pfizer and Pharmacia execs. While medical directors and scientists at the company expressed feeling uncomfortable with the “data massaging” and “cherry picking” of data, the powers that be moved full steam ahead with their deceptive marketing blitz.

Another reason that you might not be surprised about this report is that Pfizer purchased Monsanto and spun it off as subsidiary called Pharmacia in 1997.ii Most readers of this newsletter will instantly recognize that the bastion of evil, Monsanto, would not be out of place with this type of behavior.

The New York Times reported:iii

“The documents suggest that officials made a strategic decision during the early trial to be less than forthcoming about the drug’s safety. They show that executives considered attacking the trial’s design before they even knew the results and disregarded the advice of an employee and an outside consultant who had argued the companies should disclose the fact that they were using incomplete data.

… The documents show that in February 2000, Pharmacia employees came up with a game plan on how they might present the findings once they were available … Another document, a slide, proposed explaining poor results through “statistical glitches.””

Do You Still Trust Celebrex?

Celebrex is still being widely used, often by arthritis patients who are desperate for pain relief. But even if you overlook the fact that it’s made by a company that clearly puts profits ahead of patients, it’s much harder to shrug off the very real risks it poses to your heart.

Remember, Celebrex is in the same class of drugs as Vioxx and Bextra, both of which were pulled from the market because of serious heart risks or killing tens of thousands of people. Celebrex may still be on the market, but it is not immune to these risks!

In 2006, the New England Journal of Medicine released a study that discussed “a significant increase in adjudicated serious cardiovascular events with the use of celecoxib [Celebrex] … an increase in risk by a factor of two or three for … myocardial infarction, stroke, congestive heart failure, or cardiovascular-related death.” The risk was so severe that it “prompted suspension of the administration of celecoxib …”iv

Pfizer actually has a trial that’s ongoing right now that’s supposed to compare the heart risks of Celebrex to those of ibuprofen (Advil/Motrin) and naproxen (Aleve). But though it was started in 2005, it’s not slated to be completed until 2014 … the same year the Celebrex patent expires (at which point the company’s profits for the drug will dwindle … making negative study results far less impacting).

It’s widely known, however, that this painkiller has been linked to increased risks of stomach bleeding, kidney trouble, and liver damage – along with other adverse reactions that can range from mild to deadly. And it’s not at all unusual for a drug company to play up the “fabulous benefits” of their products while conveniently glossing over the fatalities they’ve caused … what would be unusual is if they didn’t.

Common Diabetes Drugs Associated with Increased Risk of Death

New studies regularly reveal the true risks of many medications, including popular varieties that are used by millions of people. For example, an analysis of nearly 24,000 patients with type 2 diabetes found that three diabetes drugs — glipizide, glyburide, and glimepiride – caused a more than 50 percent greater risk of death compared to another diabetes drug, Metformin.v The three drugs are known as sulfonylureas, which work by spurring your body to produce more insulin.

The drugs not only increased the risk of death among all patients, but among those with heart disease (which is common among those with diabetes), glipizide increased the risk of death by 41 percent, and glyburide by 38 percent compared to Metformin.

But simply switching to metformin, a drug that makes your body’s tissues more sensitive to insulin, is not the answer here, as type 2 diabetes can be effectively treated without medications in the vast majority of cases. In fact, drugs can’t cure diabetes, as they do nothing to address the underlying cause. To learn about the drug-free methods that can prevent, and reverse, diabetes, we published a report on this last month.

to read more, go to:    http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2012/07/09/lawsuit-against-pfizer-celebrex.aspx?e_cid=20120709_DNL_artNew_2

Voter Fraud vs. UFO Sightings

Posted on by

UFO Sightings Are 3,615 Times More Common than Voter Fraud

By: Life’s Little Mysteries Staff
Date: 06 July 2012
A UFO, or flying saucer, above a dark city and under a full moon.
A UFO, or flying saucer, above a dark city and under a full moon.
CREDIT: oorka | Shutterstock

People are 3,615 times more likely to report a UFO sighting than they are to commit in-person voter impersonation, according to national data.

The striking statistic has surfaced at the same time as the news that a new voter ID law in Pennsylvania could render nearly 10 percent of the state’s residents ineligible to vote in the presidential election this fall.

National UFO Reporting Center records show there were 47,000 reports of UFO sightings between 2000 and 2010. During the same period, just 13 people were convicted of impersonating someone else in order to vote in their name, according to research by Justin Levitt, associate professor of law at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles. [UFO Quiz: What’s Really Out There]

Mother Jones assembled the numbers in order to fact-check claims by many Republican lawmakers that their states are facing rampant voter fraud.

Since 2011, 24 voting restrictions have passed in 17 states. This fall, new laws could affect more than 5 million voters in states representing 179 of the 270 electoral votes needed to win the presidency, Mother Jones reports. Studies indicate low-income and minority voters are most often disenfranchised by laws requiring voters to have government-issued photo IDs. For example, 25 percent of voting-age African-Americans don’t have valid IDs.

Following Mother Jones’ lead, Comedy Central’s Indecision blog rounded up a few more national statistics to help put the 13 confirmed cases of voter impersonation into perspective:

Each year, 15 Americans are crushed to death by their furniture or televisions. Fourteen are injured by exploding toilets, and 100 are accidentally set on fire by their doctors during surgery. And Americans are 3 million times more likely to have a favorable view of North Korea than to commit voter fraud.

from:    http://www.lifeslittlemysteries.com/2656-ufo-sightings-3-615-times-common-voter-fraud.html

Nessie Exists, QED Evolution Does Not, at least at Some US Schools

Posted on by

Loch Ness monster cited by US schools as evidence that evolution is myth

The Loch Ness monster: Used as evidence that evolution is mythThe Loch Ness monster: Used as evidence that evolution is myth

By CLAIRE MCKIN
Published on Monday 25 June 2012 14:05

THOUSANDS of American school pupils are to be taught that the Loch Ness monster is real – in an attempt by religious teachers to disprove Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution.

Pupils attending privately-run Christian schools in the southern state of Louisiana will learn from textbooks next year, which claim Scotland’s most famous mythological beast is a living creature.

Thousands of children are to receive publicly-funded vouchers enabling them to attend the schools – which follow a strict fundamentalist curriculum.

The Accelerated Christian Education (ACE) programme teaches controversial religious beliefs, aimed at disproving evolution and proving creationism.

Youngsters will be told that if it can be proved that dinosaurs walked the earth at the same time as man, then Darwinism is fatally flawed.

Critics have slammed the content of the religious course books, labelling them “bizarre” and accusing them of promoting radical religious and political ideas.

One ACE textbook called Biology 1099, Accelerated Christian Education Inc reads: “Are dinosaurs alive today? Scientists are becoming more convinced of their existence.

“Have you heard of the Loch Ness Monster in Scotland? ‘Nessie’ for short has been recorded on sonar from a small submarine, described by eyewitnesses, and photographed by others. Nessie appears to be a plesiosaur.”

Another claim taught is that a Japanese whaling boat once caught a dinosaur.

One former pupil, Jonny Scaramanga, 27, who went through the ACE programme as a child, but now campaigns against Christian fundamentalism, said the Nessie claim was presented as “evidence” that evolution could not have happened.

He added: “The reason for that is they’re saying if Noah’s flood only happened 4,000 years ago, which they believe literally happened, then possibly a sea monster survived.

“If it was millions of years ago then that would be ridiculous. That’s their logic. It’s a common thing among creationists to believe in sea monsters.”

Private religious schools, including the Eternity Christian Academy in Westlake, Louisiana, which follows the ACE curriculum, have already been cleared to receive the state voucher money transferred from public school funding, thanks to a bill pushed through by Republican state governor Bobby Jindal, a Hindu convert to Catholicism.

Boston-based researcher and writer Bruce Wilson, who specialises in the American political religious right, said: “One of these texts from Bob Jones University Press claims that dinosaurs were fire-breathing dragons. It has little to do with science as we currently understand. It’s more like medieval scholasticism.”

Mr Wilson believes that such fundamentalist Christian teaching is going on in at least 13 American states.

He added: “There’s a lot of public funding going to private schools, probably around 200,000 pupils are receiving this education.

“The majority of parents now home schooling their kids are Christian fundamentalists too. I don’t believe they should be publicly funded, I don’t believe the schools who use these texts should be publicly funded.”

from:http://www.scotsman.com/news/odd/loch-ness-monster-cited-by-us-schools-as-evidence-that-evolution-is-myth-1-2373903

Red Rain in India

Posted on by

Morning shower paints rural Kannur red

TNN Jun 29, 2012, 02.02AM IST

KANNUR: Though not for first time in the state, red rain in parts of Kannur on Thursday did create some panic and curiosity among the residents in the district. The strange phenomenon happened around 6:50am and lasted for 15 minutes. People in the 1km area in and around Edachery in Puzhati panchayat panicked as their courtyards turned blood red after rain.

Kannur block panchayat president Shaija M, who collected the sample of the rainwater, said the water was as dark as black coffee and had the smell of raw beetroot. “I thought someone killed some animal and its blood got mixed with water on the courtyard,” she said. Akshay Sajeevan, another resident in the locality, said in his compound the colour of rainwater was a bit lighter. According to meteorological department, though red rain is a rare phenomenon, but it is no way harmful. “I assume this is due to atmospheric pollution. The pollutants in the air get dissolved in rainwater resulting in red rain,” said M Santhosh, director of meteorological department, Thiruvananthapuram.

from:   http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-06-29/kozhikode/32472196_1_kannur-red-rain-rainwater

July 8-14

Posted on by

It is important now to look into things that are happening around you with the true eyes of the heart.  Things are beginning to unravel as other things show themselves for what they truly are.  This is a week for knowing, discovering, and deciding.  There is no judgment in your choices as long as they are guided by your inner wisdom.  You might feel yourself tired, even overwhelmed, as the week progresses.  You are responding to the energetic shifts and changes.  There are vortexes opening up.  While the energy of the vortex can bring cleansing, it can also be somewhat unsettling.  This week you might just find out some things about people that will surprise you and revise your opinions. Changes are in the air.  Take time with what you do this week.  Trust your intuition.  Emotions can be close to the surface.  It is best to let them out when they come.

On a larger scale, the Sun will be active this week.  There can be interesting reverberations and effects in the Earth’s atmosphere.  Back up your electronics.

The heat may be subsiding, but tempers and emotions are high in the political and social arenas.  This can lead to some crazy outbursts in various countries among the citizenry as they start reacting to what is going on financially and as more information is leaked about behind the scenes activities.  There is a sorrow in the energies of the week.  There can be losses in all areas, personal, global, and universal.  Storms are taking strange turns and volcanic activity is on the rise.  There is something beneath the oceans that will be affecting the Earth and its gravity.  Polarities are shifting also as the tug from that Extra-Galactic energy begins to be felt on the Earth.  Stay cool grounded, and centered.  You will need this as things begin to look as though they are about to blow.

Sunday, July 8:

This is a good day to watch what you wish for.  Things will start out on an even keel, but fall apart as the day moves on.  Be ready for glitches in your plans, Freudian Slips, some of them your own, and general klutziness.  So, what to do?  Do not take things too seriously.  Use your sense of humor as your best defense as well as the proper response.  This is not a time for clarity, so if you are insisting on that, you can find yourself being frustrated.  The best option it to take things as they come today.  Notice them for what they are.  And file them away for future reference.  Themes are out there and as the month progresses, you will recognize them for what they are.

Monday, July 9:   Blue Diffusion

So, it seems that confusion continues.  This time it has to do with saying what you feel.  Always a tough one.  This energy is also precautionary.  Things are not settled, and to decide, judge, take action precipitously can lead to stuff that will need to be dealt with later.  What to do?  Step back.  Take a second look.  Wait for tomorrow.  Let today be what it will.  See yourself as the observer.  You see it.  You take it in, but that is okay.  Pieces are falling into place.  Watch.  See what is going on.  There is enough time to take action.  And this is not the time.

Tuesday, July 10:     Apricot

This is a day for getting to the root of things.  There are changes going on all around you and within you.  Some, you have been aware of, others have happened while your attention was focused elsewhere.  So, take the time to see what is going on around you.  Pay attention to yourself.  To the clues and the the interests and the distractions.  There are messages in each and every one of these.  Energetic shifts have caused a lot of the predictable to tear, rip, and become ragged in the wind.  See things for what they are.  Start within your core.  Open your eyes to the truth of what is around you and allow the knowing that comes from being part of Universal Consciousness to whisper what is true.

Wednesday, July 11:    Medium Pink

All that great stuff you were hoping for is not going to happen today.  Rather, you will find yourself faced with issues and decisions that have been hiding in the wings, which you thought would never come out again.  Curses!  So, this is an interesting energy and it offers opportunities, but no judgments.  What will you do.  Stand firm in knowing WHO you are because when the unexpected crosses your path today, you are going to have to make decisions and interpretations based on the knowledge you have. By being within your core and connected, you will be able to see the larger picture.  Good luck, pilgrim.

Thursday, July 12:     Green Diffusion

Things might look fine this morning, but there is a good chance they can fall apart as the day progresses.  This is a day on which it is important not to take on too much.  If you over-fill your schedule, you can find yourself, anxious, reactive, even angry.  Take time to prioritize before starting out on stuff.  Know what it is that you really want to get done today, and let the other stuff be.  If some of it happens, hurray!  If not, oh well.  It is time to realize that not everything has to be done all at once.  Sit back, take time out.  Breathe.  Observe.  The important thing is to feel good about what you are doing.

Friday, July 13:    Dark Silky Blue

Everything old is new again and vice versa.  There is surprise and unpredictability in the air, so be ready for anything.  This is a day on which much can come to the surface in odd and unusual ways, but there is a pattern and a kind of resolution behind it all.  Be alert, be aware, and be compassionate towards yourself and others.  There are many energetic pressures on everyone right now as this day represents a kind of tipping point within the year.  Stay centered and grounded.  Be the observer.  You can feel much about what is going on.  It is also a good day for making changes, so if you have been wanting to do something different in your life, today the energies will assist you in taking that first step.

Saturday, July 14:     Violet Blue

Bastille Day:   The energy of the day is all about dreams, both good and bad.  Dreams as illusion and dreams coming true.  Take time to see where you stand in relation to your dreams and what it is that you are trying to make real in your life.  Then see things for what they are.  They exist on many levels.  Things have meanings, and meanings belong to other things.  So, what is it that you are looking for?  Have you dreamed it?  Are you ready to follow it down the rabbit hole?  Today is about play, illusion, creation, manifestation, and what is truly real.  Your place in it all is what you choose.

Oh, No, Bono!

Posted on by

Doomsday Bloody Doomsday: Why Is Bono Supporting the G8’s GMO Initiative That Will F#&% Africa?

bono.jpg
Claiming that the continent of Africa is to this century what North America was to the 19th, U2 frontman Bono has become one of the biggest supporters of the recently announced G8 initiative that’s sending $22 billion dollars in aid, supplied mostly by multi-national corporate conglomerates, to “lift Africa out of poverty” over the next ten years. One of the biggest tools being leveraged in this plan will be the use of controversial agricultural practices-mainly non-native genetically modified crops and the accompanying fertilizers and pesticides-under the moniker The New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition. Companies that have pledged their dollars and support through NAFSN include: DuPont, Monsanto, Cargill, Syngenta, Kraft, and Unilever.

According to the White House, the G8’s announcement of NAFSN represents the “next phase of our shared commitment to achieving global food security.” Under the guise of working with Africa’s leaders to develop transparent “country-regulated” policies for food security, in his G8 speech, his ONE organization’s blog, his interview with MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell, and in an article he wrote for TIME magazine aptly titled “The Resource Miracle,” Bono repeatedly and not-so-subtly hints to the wealth of minerals laying just underneath the feet of Africans.

In his speech at the G8 summit held in May in Chicago, Bono jokingly refers to the African continent as “richer than rich; like 19th century America with elephants,” adding that “the continent that contains the most poverty also contains the most wealth.” Be that precious metals, gems or even (god help us) more oil-the message is a simple one to decode: Feed Africans and they will make you lots of money. (Besides, the Chinese are already over there doing it.)

Wal-mart, says Bono, has already invested more than $2 billion in development in Africa. And while he consistently avoids talking specifically about the plans NAFSN has to tackle the poverty issue, he does say the efforts are “way, way smarter” due to “the advances in science and technology.” One only need to look at the companies funding the plan to read between the lines.

African countries have slowly begun opening the door to genetic modification in recent years. Just 40 years ago, African nations exported more than 1 million tons of food, but now, due to drought, war and famine, the continent must import more than 25 percent of its food supplies. And once staunchly resistant to the technology, countries including Kenya and South Africa now permit GMOs to help tackle their poverty and starvation issues. The multinational biotech companies, of course, see dollar signs all over the continent-not just in being able to sell peasant farmers patented gene technology and companion products-but also in the many resources Bono speaks to: Sixty percent of Africa is arable land, which could make it one of the premier biotech testing grounds in the world. What lies underneath the soil-the metals, minerals and oil-all have uses for the industry as well, from petroleum-based fertilizers to pesticide development and fuel for the trucks that transport and spray them.

If history is any indicator, what has happened to other areas of the developing world when genetically modified organisms are introduced as a means to sidestepping poverty, malnutrition and disease is no miracle. Hundreds of thousands of Indian cotton farmers have (and continue to) commit suicide because of failure to meet crop yield expectations and therefore failing to pay Monsanto and Bayer CropScience for what is, effectively, a highly faulty product.

More than 5 million Brazilian farmers are currently in the midst of a lawsuit tangle with Monsanto over unrealistic royalty expectations on crops, including genetically modified soy and corn, which have quickly outpaced the growth of non-GMO crops in the South American country, but at a cost the farmers claim was misrepresented and unrealistic. Not to mention that the rapid growth of GMOs in Brazil have been intrinsically linked with irreparable destruction of the Amazon rainforest and the vital species and cultures that have thrived in the world’s most important ecosystem since it first sprouted eons ago.

Hybrid Monsanto seeds given to post-earthquake Haiti failed to produce crops and led to uprisings in the streets with protestors burning the faulty Monsanto seeds. Even here on American soil, farmers repeatedly find themselves struggling to meet yield expectations, battling Monsanto lawsuits over seed-saving or patent infringement if crops drift from neighboring farms, all while pests and weeds become more and more resistant to the harmful pesticides that the farmers were told they’d be able to decrease use of over time.

Over the last three decades, Bono has built a reputation as a humanitarian, an environmentalist, and a responsible artist. He helped build the ONE organization, which according to their website, is “a grassroots advocacy and campaigning organization that fights extreme poverty and preventable disease, particularly in Africa.” He and his wife were pioneers in environmentally-friendly clothing (Edun) that encourages ethical trade in Africa, and even his band’s music has come to overtly encourage listeners to live compassionate, authentic, and joyful lives-overcoming personal and global transgressions together.

Intending to combat the extreme conditions in Africa-drought, blights, poor soil quality, etc-the NAFSN roster of corporations continually make claims that GMO crops can handle these very issues, when similar circumstances repeatedly prove otherwise. This is why it’s most confusing that Bono would be so vocal about supporting such controversial agricultural methods. When the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation announced support of biotechnology, it was disheartening, yes, but almost expected. The Microsoft guru is known for glitchy software and a generally geeky level of oversight.

But Bono was once the voice for the counterculture. He encouraged rising against the forces-political or corporate-that won’t ever really take anyone’s best interest to heart, no matter what kind of pandering they do. So why isn’t he supporting organic farming and the further development of empowering community models like Fair Trade-both of which have shown tremendously effective and long-lasting results-instead of faulty, toxic and greedy mechanisms like genetically modified crops?

In his TIME article, Bono writes, “If I’ve learned anything in more than 25 years of making noise about this stuff, it’s that partnership trumps paternalism,” but that’s exactly what he’s supporting: a paternalistic corporate-political blunderbuss of misinformation and misguided intentions. Bono once asked the anthemic question, “How long must we sing this song?” Longer still, it seems…longer still.

from:    http://www.realitysandwich.com/why_bono_supporting_gmo_initiative