Thursday, October 15, 2026
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Beat gallstones naturally

by Dr. David Jockers

Gallstones are crystalline formations of cholesterol and calcium formed within the gallbladder and biliary tracts. These stones can vary widely in size from as small as a grain of salt to nearly the size of a golf ball. Gallstones are a sign of incomplete liver detoxification and pose a significant threat to the body. Beat gallstones naturally with an anti-inflammatory diet and cleansing cycle.

The gallbladder serves as a reservoir for the bile that is produced by the liver. Bile is necessary to digest and metabolize fatty acids. The extra bile storage allows the body to effectively metabolize fat-rich foods such as steak and eggs. When the liver and gallbladder get congested with toxins they are not able to secrete bile effectively. This can cause bile material imbalances that lead to gallstone formation.

Gallstones are typically a combination of cholesterol and calcium. Most individuals do not experience any outward signs or symptoms.

As the stones get larger they hamper digestion and can cause mild to severe pain in the upper right abdomen area. These painful episodes usually occur at night after eating a fatty meal. Other symptoms include abdominal bloating, belching, gas, fatty stools, low energy after eating and diarrhea.

GallBladder infections Gallstones can also lodge infectious organisms such as E Coli and Bacteroids and cause further inflammatory stress to the liver and gallbladder. These infections can create life threatening issues and must be addressed. Fermented foods and probiotics work to both inhibit these infectious bacteria and reduce the severity of any infection.

An anti-inflammatory diet and lifestyle is necessary to inhibit gallstone formation.

This diet consists of phytonutrient rich organic fruits & vegetables, grassfed animal products and healthy fat sources such as avocados, coconut & olive oil. Raw cheese from grassfed cows and goats is an important food due to its rich content of omega 3 fatty acids, vitamin K2 & D3. The synergy between vitamin K2 & D3 helps regulate calcium metabolism to inhibit the formation of gallstones.

Foods that are rich in organic acids and natural enzymes are especially important for the entire digestive system including the liver and gall bladder.

These foods include apple cider vinegar (ACV), fresh squeezed lemon/lime, kombucha, kimchi and red cabbage sauerkraut. Probiotic enriched, raw dairy products such fermented whey, kefir & amasai are extremely beneficial.

Liver health is dependent upon a regular fasting cycle to effectively cleanse and detoxify. A 12-hour fast between dinner and breakfast is a great daily habit. If one were to finish their final solid food meal at 8 p.m. they should not attempt another solid food meal until at least 8 a.m. This gives the body four hours to digest and metabolize the food and then 8 hours for the liver to cleanse.

Once you incorporate this 12-hour daily detox cycle into your lifestyle you can choose to increase this period of time.

Two to three 16-hour liquid fasts each week and/or a 24 hour liquid fast will keep the liver well flushed.

These fasting periods are much easier than most people believe. Many individuals will drink fresh vegetable juices, functional beverages made with fermented whey, kombucha and water with lemon. The fluid and nutrients supply the body with very clean energy that enhances the liver’s ability to purge toxins and facilitate bowel movements.

Anyone with pronounced and symptomatic gallstones should go on a liquid diet with lots of water & lemon, ACV, fermented whey, coconut kefir and fresh organic vegetable juices. Try to limit solid food to one meal per day with very moderate portions of anti-inflammatory foods.

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Venezuela violence is key campaign issue

by Latin News and Prensa Latina

Néstor ReverolNéstor Reverol

Report by Latin News – Venezuela’s interior and justice minister, Néstor Reverol, admitted this week that homicides increased by 14 pecent in 2012 to 16,072 compared with a year earlier. The murder rate has increased from 48 per 100,000 inhabitants in 2011, Reverol said, to 54.

This is more than twice the murder rate in Peru where the government, under heavy public and media pressure, this week announced the creation of an elite police intelligence team to crack down on criminal gangs to try and combat.

Venezuela’s acting president, Nicolás Maduro, said that ending violence in the country required “an integral and Socialist vision”, and appealed to artists and sportsmen to assist in developing a plan to tackle it.

Creator of free software Richard Stallman in Bolivia

Richard Stallman, the creator of computer free software, assured that his visit to La Paz, capital of Bolivia, has the intention to supervise the implementation of this technology in the South American country.

According to a note from the Bolivian Free Software Community in La Paz, Stallman will supervise the Bolivian government in adopting this kind of computer system, a year after the promulgation of the Law of Telecommunications, which includes a specific Stock Exchange, sometimes known as the “Big Board”, that is located at 11 Wall Street, Lower Manhattan, New York City.

In 1985, Stallman created the Free Software Foundation with the objective to defend the fundamental rights of the free software users.

Now, this institution extends on a world wide net to promote and spread the technology. Some South American countries such as Brazil and Ecuador have already adopted this technology.

Free software is a different way to adopt the computer system technology, thanks to a base of licenses to share creations, and information in general.

Anti-hunger campaign begins in Mexico

The National Anti-Hunger Campaign, which includes the 400 poorest Mexican municipalities in this first year, is beginning here today.

This is a comprehensive program that will target 7,400,000 people, with federal, state, and municipal entities taking part through agricultural, health, and educational projects, among others.

According to reports, a total of 11,000 people died in Mexico in 2011 due to malnutrition related problems.

The current Mexican government which took power last December, has set among its priorities the fight against hunger, extreme poverty, and social inequality.

Honduras debts are around six thousand 500 million dollars

The external and internal debts of Honduras are around six thousand 500 million dollars, which represents 38 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) of the Central American nation, officials said.

Currently debt is estimated in approximately $3.7 million dollars and $2,800 (internal) million, said the head of the Ministry of Finance Wilfredo Cerrato, quoted by the newspaper La Tribuna.

Despite the Honduran debit said Cerrato, the fiscal deficit will remain at 4.5 percent of GDP as planned in the Budget of Revenues and Expenditures 2013.

Regarding inflation, expected to close this year at 5.5 to six percent of GDP, due mainly to foreign exchange outflow by rising oil prices in the international market.

He noted that the reserves increased by almost 20 percent by dollar inflows from sovereign bonds, which have been used to pay for government vendors.

In February Honduran administration managed to sell $500 million in sovereign bonds in foreign markets, to 7.5 by the way of interest and payable within 11 years.

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Poll: Almost one third of Americans believe the New World Order exists

by Paul Joseph Watson
Infowars.com

Almost one third of Americans believe that a secretive power elite is conspiring to rule the world via an authoritarian global government, according to a new national poll.

A survey conducted by Public Policy Polling, labeled by many as a pro-Obama outfit, seems to be aimed at ascribing belief in “crazy conspiracy theories” to Republicans by mixing in real cover-ups and conspiracies with outlandish ideas.

However, despite the constant media drumbeat about the clear move towards centralization of power being a baseless conspiracy theory, the poll reveals that 28 per cent of Americans believe that “a secretive power elite with a globalist agenda is conspiring to eventually rule the world through an authoritarian world government, or New World Order.”

46 per cent of respondents do not believe this notion, while 25 per cent are not sure.

The poll asks a number of obviously far out questions that only people with fringe beliefs would ascribe to, such as, “Do you believe that shape-shifting reptilian people control our world by taking on human form and gaining political power to manipulate our societies, or not?” and, “Do you believe Paul McCartney actually died in a car crash in 1966 and was secretly replaced by a lookalike so The Beatles could continue, or not?”

Serious issues that should not even be considered “conspiracy theories” and have largely come to be accepted as fact are then mixed in such as, “Do you believe the Bush administration intentionally misled the public about the possibility of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq to promote the Iraq War, or not?”

Shockingly, a majority of 45 percent to 44 percent do not believe that the Bush administration intentionally lied about WMD, despite the fact that the Downing Street memo revealed that Bush was intent on invading Iraq and that “the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy.”

Another widely documented fact, that the CIA was instrumental in distributing crack cocaine into America’s inner cities in the 80s to help finance CIA-backed Contras in Nicaragua, is also only accepted by 14 per cent of Americans.

Polls taken in the years after 9/11 which showed that a huge majority of Americans had questions about the 9/11 attacks now appear to be contradicted by the PPP poll, which asks, “Do you believe the United States government knowingly allowed the attacks on September 11th, 2001, to happen, or not?,” to which just 11 per cent of respondents said they did believe this notion, with 78 per cent disbelieving it.

Despite the vastness of the universe, a clear majority of Americans (47 percent to 29 percent) also do not believe that alien life exists.

A majority of 51 per cent believe that there was a wider conspiracy involved in the assassination of JFK, while 25 percent believe that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone.

A jaw-dropping 28 per cent of Americans still believe that Saddam Hussein was involved in 9/11, despite this idea being overwhelmingly debunked and even admitted to be nonsense by Dick Cheney, one of the first individuals to circulate the idea.

A small minority, 5 per cent 9 per cent respectively, believe that chemtrails are being sprayed in the skies and that sodium fluoride is being added to drinking water for sinister purposes.

If anything, this poll merely underscores the fact that a majority of Americans are not well read and have little grasp of recent history.

The agency responsible for the survey, Public Policy Polling, has close links to the Democratic Party establishment and its neutrality has been questioned on numerous occasions in the past.
Indeed, when Infowars agreed a deal with PPP to conduct a poll on the Transportation Security Administration, the agency backed out at the last minute, citing how it was “uncomfortable with a lot of the content that appears on Infowars.com,” which clearly suggests that the organization allows political bias to skew its work.

The poll was subsequently accepted and conduct by Harris Interactive, which is widely renowned as one of the top polling agencies.

Paul Joseph Watson is the editor and writer for Infowars.com and PrisonPlanet.com. He is the author of Order Out Of Chaos. Watson is also a host for Infowars Nightly News.

In other related news:

Poll: Majority of young Americans against banning ‘assault weapons’

by Celia Bigelow

You know President Obama and his allies are losing the gun argument when his greatest supporters are against him: Reason/Rupe released a scientific poll which found the majority of Americans–particularly young Americans–support the right of people to own so-called “assault weapons.”

Of the 1,000 adults surveyed, 51 percent of respondents support the private ownership of “assault weapons,” while 44 percent were opposed. It may come as a shock to the public that the strongest advocates for private ownership are young Americans, the same age demographic that overwhelmingly supported the President in his reelection.

The poll found that 70 percent of young Americans ages 18-24 agree that Americans “should be allowed” to own “assault weapons,” while only 27 percent believe they should be prohibited. A recent study conducted by American University also showed that 60 percent of young Americans either already plan to or are considering purchasing a firearm for their home in the future.

The Reason/Rupe poll showed that the majority of respondents under the age of 54 believe that Americans should be able to own “assault weapons,” while older Americans believe they should be prohibited (58-36 percent).

The results of this poll were significantly different from those reported by the mainstream media; Reason/Rupe attributes the divergent results to the wording of the question in each poll.
Reason/Rupe asked a straightforward question, “Do you think people should be prohibited from owning assault weapons, or should people be allowed to own them?”; other outlets, however, muddled the issue with misleading information, such as a CNN poll that used an AK-47 as an example of a “semi-automatic” weapon and an AP poll that asked if “military-style, rapid-fire guns” should be banned.

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El Quimbo hydroelectric project in Colombia will cause a human tragedy

Farm workers march against hydroelectric project.

by Orsetta Bellani

Moises Sanchez is a farmer in the Huila Department in Southern Colombia. On January 13, 2013, the Esmad (anti-riot police) dragged him out of his house, and broke it down before his eyes. “They told me they did for my safety, because my farm will be flooded by the reservoir,” he says. “For more than a year now, Emgesa has promised me a land as compensation, but I have received nothing. The police still have my things; I didn’t claim them because I don’t know where to take them.”
Moises Sanchez is one of thousands affected by the El Quimbo hydroelectric project, which Emgesa (a Colombian company that is actually controlled by the Italian-Spanish Endesa-Enel) is building on the Magdalena River.
Because of the dam, six municipalities of the Department of Huila will be flooded. “Asoquimbo (Association of People Affected by the El Quimbo Hydroelectric) was born in 2009 to defend the rights of the people living within the area of influence of the project,” says Jennifer Chavarro, student and member of Asoquimbo.

The story of El Quimbo is full of contradictions. In 1997, the Ministry of Environment decided not to grant the environmental impact license to the project, considering that it was not feasible because of the damage it would create to “the best lands with agricultural potential of the region.” In 2007, Emgesa requested the license again to the Ministry of Environment. The document was approved on May 15, 2009 based on a concept of the Ministry of Agriculture which overturned the previous verdict: without specifying which conditions had changed, the ministry stated that El Quimbo wouldn’t jeopardize the food security of the region. In addition, the environmental permit has been approved without the Environmental Assessment of Alternatives, a test to assess the options for development of a project, and without taking into account the decision of the Attorney General’s Office, which six days before the granting of the license, requested the Ministry of Environment to refrain from doing it. “The environmental permit in 2009 has been amended three times to support the interests of Emgesa”, complains Miller Dussán Calderon, Surcolombiana University professor and member of Asoquimbo.

Eight months before the approval of the environmental license, the Ministry of Mines and Energy ratified Resolution 321, declaring the 8586 acres needed to build the Quimbo of public utility and social interest. “The disappearance of an area of 8586 hectares cannot be considered a low-impact entity, as the company claims,” writes the Ministry of Environment in the Environmental License.

The damages caused by El Quimbo have been investigated by the Comptroller General of the Republic, which estimates a potential financial loss of 350.644 million pesos (about 200 million dollars). The preliminary investigation led to a referral to the Attorney General’s Office and the application for the initiation of a process of fiscal responsibility against the ANLA (National Environmental Licensing Authority).

In addition, the Colombian Institute of Anthropology and History (ICANH) found that Emgesa affected archaeological heritage and would have to pay between 200 and 300 million pesos (between 110 and 170 thousand dollars).

“According to the license, Emgesa would need to compensate smallholders restoring the properties, so they can settle elsewhere,” says Jesus Elias Benavides, a farmer in La Honda community. However, until today they did not buy even one inch of land and the only compensation that some families received was in cash.

In Colombia, there is a legal vacuum on the displacement caused by the megaprojects, which multinationals can easily exploit. “Eighty percent of foreign direct investment in Colombia is represented by energy-mining projects. This generates a humanitarian tragedy in a country where there already are millions of people displaced by the conflict,” complains Daniel Bookshelves from the National University of Colombia. “The state would have to provide standards for these investments, there is no minimum profile matrix displaced by dams and so each company is doing a review on a whim”.

Emgesa has characterized the people affected by the project of El Quimbo as “direct,” which are those who will lose their homes and their lands, and “indirect”, a definition that includes all the people whose work will be affected, such as day laborers and fishermen. In fact, the local fishermen saw 7.95 tons of fish affected in the period 2009-2011 alone, according to a research by Incoder (Colombian Institute for Rural Development).

However, Emgesa censed a minimal portion of the actual affected people. “Asoquimbo legally should not do the census, but we made a hit record and found that 1,400 people were surveyed,” says Professor Miller Dussán Calderón. We deliver our research to the Comptroller General of the Republic, who proved that effectively Emgesa census methodology was seriously flawed. Then another phenomenon happened, due to the fact that when you stop the production of a land, it affects all the production chains. So traders also wanted to be counted, and now our record gives 9111 people and more are waiting to be registered.

“On January 28, 2013, the Comptroller General’s Office summoned us to a meeting where we deliver the signatures of these people who call themselves affected, requesting a decision on the case.” However, the ANLA announced it has no intention of reopening the census.

 

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Corporate education reform hits SF Community College

A protest against the privatization and closure of City College of SF. (PHOTO BY DAVID BACON)

by David Bacon
Truthout Report

On March 14, the day before the Trustees at San Francisco Community College District handed in the report that may decide the life or death of California’s largest community college, student and faculty marchers headed downtown to City Hall. Hundreds of chanting, banner-waving people stopped traffic on Mission Street. Their mood combined desperation at the prospect of the closure of the school, and anger and defiance at the kinds of changes that authorities are demanding to keep it open.
Shanell Williams, urban studies major and president of the Associated Students at SFCC, said that the required changes are part of a larger effort to turn students into commodities, and move towards the privatization of education. “Next year students will be affected by the Student Success Act,” she warned. “Every student will have to have an education plan, there will be repeat limits, and a 90-credit cap on the Board of Governors fee waiver [that allows poor and working class students to petition to waive tuition fees]”.

Over the past three years of the state’s fiscal crisis San Francisco has endured a $53 million loss in revenue. Despite it, teachers and previous chancellors worked to maintain an adequate class level, and avoided layoffs through temporary cuts and concessions. But commissioners found there had not been enough cuts or cancelled classes, that too much (92 percent) of the budget was spent on personnel, and that too few administrators were on staff.

Many faculty and students believe that California’s economic crisis is being used to enforce a series of changes intended to move the community college system towards privatization, and to attack unions. Alisa Messer, president of the faculty union at SFCC, Local 2121 of the American Federation of Teachers, says that education reformers “See community colleges as a means to turn out hirable people, or students for four-year institutions. We see them as institutions serving the broader community.”

The Fiscal Crisis & Management Assistance Team (FCMAT) told the district that subsidies for some education programs needed by students should be cut and that one important goal was to “reduce the number of full-time faculty.” For teachers, it suggested negotiating contract provisions that provide benefits and compensation “that may not be sustainable in the current economic environment.”

The district responded that it would demand “rolling back pay schedules, reducing the cost of health benefits, reducing the cost per hour for part time faculty, and/or reducing or eliminating the cost of part-time faculty health benefits.”

For the janitors, instructional aides, food service workers and other non-teachers, FCMAT told SFCC to eliminate contract provisions, including wellness payments, substantial paid time off, a 37.5 hour workweek, and high levels of vacation and compensatory time.

Last July Local 2121 and the district agreed to emergency measures to meet the fiscal crisis caused by the loss of state funding, including a 2.85 percent wage cut for the 2012-2013 school year. Afterwards faculty and students hit the road to campaign for state Proposition 30, to prevent further funding cuts, and citywide Proposition A, intended to plug the hole in the district budget.

The political leaders who placed the measure on the ballot, including district trustee Anne Grier, said in their ballot argument that funds from Proposition A would be used to maintain core academic courses; provide workforce training; provide an education that prepares students for four-year universities; keep City College libraries and student support services open; keep technology and instructional support up to date, and offset State budget cuts.

In November voters passed Prop. 30 and Prop. A. In December, however, district negotiators announced that the administration would impose a 4.4 percent “annualized” wage cut on faculty, retroactive to July. Together they would effectively cut salaries by 8.8 percent through next July. The district refused to bargain, and when union negotiators persisted in demanding explanations, a new budget projection was produced.

After further prodding, the district announced that all Proposition A money would be used to increase the district’s reserves, and better fund pension liabilities. The administration claimed this was a mandate from the ACCJC, and what voters thought they were voting for was irrelevant.

Student enrollment has been falling as a result of the economic crisis, but began falling much faster when class cuts and a possible closure made them extremely insecure. That in turn caused the district’s income to fall as well.

In an effort to show its willingness to obey the accreditation commission and FCMAT dictates, in October the board hired a “special trustee” with the power to veto decisions he feels jeopardize the school’s response, much as appointed “special managers” in Michigan today overrule decisions made by elected city councils. The board chose Bob Agrella, past president of Santa Rosa City College, who promptly blamed the union for opposing the cuts and concessions. Its objections were keeping the college from meeting ACCJC recommendations, he claimed, and accused it and students of trying to protect the system’s nine campuses from closure.

When students and teachers marched through the city on March 14, they were protesting the way the fear of closure has been used to force through the ACCJC and FCMAT demands. Shanell Williams angrily denounced the tactic saying, “We need to have confidence that the administration will do what it takes to keep the college open, without squeezing out the most at-risk students or forcing extreme cuts on the faculty.”

Sanctioning community colleges is growing beyond San Francisco, however – 27 districts in California are currently on the list. Two have “Show Cause” orders that threaten closure, in addition to SFCC. The accreditation commission is not a public agency, but a self-perpetuating private one, overseen by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, funded by educational institutions.

What gives its recommendations power is the U.S. Department of Education, which will only fund financial aid at accredited institutions. Particularly for community colleges, whose student body is drawn overwhelmingly from working class communities, accreditation therefore becomes a life or death issue.

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DHS excuses for buying so much ammo don’t add up

by J. D. Heyes
Natural News

Just move along, folks. There’s nothing to see here.

That’s the attitude of the Department of Homeland Security chief Janet Napolitano when it comes to scrutiny of her agency’s massive purchase requests for billions – that’s right, billions – of rounds of ammunition, along with 7,000 “personal defense weapons” (they would be called assault weapons if owned by private citizens), and 2,700 mine-resistant, ambush-protected (MRAP) armored vehicles of the type used to protect troops in Iraq and Afghanistan from improvised explosive devices (IEDs).

These concerns are “unfounded,” according to low-level DHS officials – the only ones addressing the questions, since DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano thinks she is above doing so. All part of the department’s normal logistical needs. This kind of purchase is normal and should be viewed as such. Calm down.

From The Associated Press, which is merely regurgitating DHS’ talking points:

“Federal solicitations to buy the bullets are known as “strategic sourcing contracts,” which help the government get a low price for a big purchase, says Peggy Dixon, spokeswoman for the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Glynco, Ga . The training center and others like it run by the Homeland Security Department use as many as 15 million rounds every year, mostly on shooting ranges and in training exercises.”

The purchases are to be spread out over five years, the government says. Counting the most recent solicitation, which is viewable on the Federal Business Opportunities (FBO) website, DHS, in sum, is now looking to purchase nearly two billion rounds of ammunition. Even spread out over five years that is a staggering amount: 400 million rounds per year. The Defense Department doesn’t even use that much.

Okay, the math just doesn’t add up

If you take Dixon’s estimate of 15 million rounds used by various federal agents per year and then even double it for additional training and uses, it becomes obvious the federal government is stockpiling ammunition, pure and simple. The question is, why?

Talk show host Mark Levin, a lawyer who served in several posts during the Reagan administration and who is no conspiracy theorist, had this to say about DHS’ extraordinary purchases:

“To provide some perspective, experts estimate that at the peak of the Iraq war American troops were firing around 5.5 million rounds per month. At that rate, the [Department of Homeland Security] is armed now for a 24-year Iraq war. … I’m going to tell you what I think is going on. I don’t think domestic insurrection. Law enforcement and national security agencies, they play out multiple scenarios. … I’ll tell you what I think they’re simulating: the collapse of our financial system, the collapse of our society and the potential for widespread violence, looting, killing in the streets, because that’s what happens when an economy collapses. I suspect that just in case our fiscal situation, our monetary situation, collapses, and following it the civil society collapses, that is the rule of law, they want to be prepared. I know why the government’s arming up: It’s not because there’s going to be an insurrection; it’s because our society is unraveling.”

Jeff Knox, director of The Firearms Coalition, notes that there are currently between 135,000 and 145,000 armed federal law enforcement officers. If you divide up the ammunition DHS is purchasing among all of them, that comes to nearly 14,000 rounds each.

Are you getting an idea now how implausible the department’s explanations are regarding plans for massive ammunition purchases in the coming years? And what about the assault rifles and MRAPs?

DHS has no history of purchasing this much ammunition – ever

For now, let’s just focus on the ammo issue. The excuses given by DHS officials for such a large purchase are 1) fed training facilities burn through a lot of ammo every year so the government needs these rounds; and 2) the government is merely taking advantage of bulk purchase pricing, like you and I would if we shopped at Sam’s Club or a similar bulk-savings retailer.

A Natural News examination of the FBO website; however, found that the government’s bulk ammo purchases are fairly recent, dating back to this solicitation to purchase 1,000 rounds of .40 cal. “frangible” ammo in 2008. Frangible bullets are designed to break apart when they strike a hard object, like a wall.

Government ammunition solicitations began to increase dramatically with this request for 50-75 million rounds in December 2010, eventually culminating in the billions of rounds now solicited, on order or set for delivery.

Ironically, the pace with which the government began purchasing so much ammunition, weapons and other military gear coincide with events here and abroad that do not bode well for the long-term economic health of our nation. So does that mean Levin, a seasoned political observer and former federal government insider who was once chief of staff to Attorney General Edwin Meese, completely off the mark? Remember, this is a man who doesn’t subscribe to conspiracy theories.

Some questions that need to be answered

We have additional questions too, that no one in the mainstream media is asking:

– Why does the Department of Homeland Security need more ammunition than the Pentagon, which is actively fighting wars?

– If the department has ever purchased this much ammunition before, during what period of time did these purchases occur? Were these purchases requested over a similarly short period of time (a couple of fiscal years)? What calibers were purchased and in what amounts?

– Given that hollow points are not generally used for target practice because they are much more expensive, what is the purpose of ordering so many of this type of round?

– If such quantities of ammunition have been purchased by government law enforcement entities in the past, are those agencies ready to make public those purchase documents, along with sworn affidavits from the companies from which said ammunition was purchased?

– Why, in a time of budget austerity (the government is closing airport control towers and the White House to tours, for Pete’s sake), is DHS spending so much on dubious equipment?

– How does Napolitano explain the disparity between ammunition that is admittedly used every year with the actual amount ordered or requested? And why does every federal agent need nearly 14,000 rounds of ammunition?

– What does any department within DHS need MRAPs? What is their intended use?

Like an increasing number of lawmakers, we are also waiting for answers.

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Study finds that turmeric prevents diabetes

by David Gutiérrez

Turmeric has a long history of use in a variety of traditional Asian medical systems for treating a wide variety of ailments. Now, Western scientists are increasingly finding that this culinary root and its active ingredients may be potent weapons in the fight against diabetes. Indeed, it has been shown to be effective at nearly every stage of diabetes and pre-diabetes.

Biochemical activity

One of the earlier studies on turmeric’s effectiveness in diabetes prevention was conducted by researchers from the National Centre for Cell Science in India and published in the European Journal of Pharmacology in 2007. Researchers exposed pancreatic cells from mice to a stressor after first incubating some of them in a solution of curcumin for 24 hours.

Curcumin is the active ingredient that gives turmeric its orange-yellow color. Along with related chemicals, it comprises the family of curcuminoids.

The researchers found that curcumin-treated cells were significantly less damaged by free radicals and suffered significantly less damage than untreated cells. This has implications for diabetes because damage to the pancreas can interfere with its ability to produce healthy levels of insulin.

“We show here for the first time, that prophylactic use of curcumin may effectively rescue islets from damage without affecting the normal function of these cellular structures,” the researchers wrote.

Another study, published in the journal Nutrition in 2011, found that when people ate a meal high in turmeric and other spices, their blood levels of triglycerides and insulin decreased significantly, even when that meal was high in fat. Antioxidant activity in the body was also increased.

Diabetes prevention and treatment

It’s not just in the short-term that turmeric provides protection against diabetes. A study published in the journal Diabetes Care in July 2012 found that it may actually prevent prediabetes from developing into diabetes.

The researchers assigned prediabetic participants to take either a 250 mg curcuminoid supplement or a placebo every day for nine months. By the end of the study, not a single person in the curcuminoid group had developed diabetes, compared with 16.4 percent of the participants in the placebo group.

But even if you have already been diagnosed with diabetes, it’s not too late for turmeric to provide real benefits. A 2012 study from Harbin Medical University and the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention found that people with Type II diabetes who were given 300 mg of curcuminoids each day for three months dramatically lowered their glucose levels and insulin resistance, as well as their levels of hemoglobin A1c and free fatty acids.

“This is the first study to show that curcuminoids may have an anti-diabetic effect by decreasing serum fatty acid possibly through the promotion of fatty acid oxidation and utilization,” the researchers wrote.

Turmeric has also been linked to a number of other health benefits, including reducing the inflammation and oxidation damage that can produce chronic diseases including diabetes, heart disease and cancer; promoting healthy fat loss; promoting liver health; and reducing the risk of heart disease. Turmeric is also one of the most effective cancer-fighting foods.

Vaccine victory: Widespread resistance from parents to HPV jab for daughters shows truth is spreading far and wide Parents with young daughters are increasingly wising up to the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine scam, according to a new study published in the journal Pediatrics. Based on the latest figures, more than 16 percent of parents in 2010 rejected popular HPV vaccines like Gardasil and Cervarix for their daughters citing major safety concerns, this compared to just 4.5 percent of parents in 2008.

The study, which was put together by a team of researchers from major institutions across the U.S., evaluates current vaccination trends with regards to the various reasons why some parents do not vaccinate their children. After carefully evaluating data compiled as part of the 2010 National Immunization Survey of Teens, the research team learned that parents are increasingly rejecting the HPV vaccine, and specifically for reasons of safety more than anything else.

“Despite doctors increasingly recommending adolescent vaccines, parents increasingly intend not to vaccinate female teens with HPV,” explains the study’s conclusion. “The concern about safety of HPV grew with each year.”

In years past, many parents who objected to HPV vaccines for their daughters cited various other reasons  such as a lack of need due to their daughters not being sexually active, or just a lack of need for no particular reason at all. But over the course of just two years, the number of parents who objected due to safety concerns jumped by nearly 400 percent, illustrating that parents are catching on to the truth about this deadly vaccine. (by Natural News)

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Latin America strengthens offensive for the Falkland at UN

by the El Reportero’s wire services

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The support to Argentina, regarding its sovereignty claim over the Falklands, summons since today ministries from several countries, representing key Latin American mechanisms of integration and Caribbean.

The new regional offensive that confronts the British most recent maneuvers which tries to consolidate that southern archipelago occupation, is led by Argentinian Minister of Foreign Relations, Hector Timerman.

With that objective, the Foreign Minister from Cuba, Bruno Rodriguez and from Uruguay, Luis Almagro, traveled to New York, together with the Peruvian Foreign vice-Minister, Jose Beraun Aranibar.

The three of them represent, in the same order, the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), the Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR) and the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR).

The group will be received tomorrow by the General Secretary of United Nations, Ban Ki-moon, who has repeatedly expressed his will to mediate the negotiations between Argentina and United Kingdom about the Falklands.

El Salvador marks anniversary of killing of Monsignor Romero

People’s and religious organizations in El Salvador mark today the 33th anniversary of the assassination of Bishop and martyr Oscar Arnulfo Romero, who always protected the poor and persecuted.

He was shot by a hired gunman while celebrating holy mass at the chapel of the Divine Providence Cancer Hospital of San Salvador. His killer has never been found.

The UN Truth Commission that investigated human rights violations during armed conflict (1980-1992) concluded in 1993 that the crime was planned by founder of the Nationalist Republican Alliance (Arena), Maj. Roberto d Aubisson.

In a ceremony to pay tribute to Romero yesterday, President Mauricio Funes said that “we are still waiting justice to get to the bottom of the case and reveal the truth, not only owed to Monsignior’s relatives, but also to the Catholic Church and all the Salvadorian people.”

Russia Is Launching Mexico’s Communication Satellite

A Proton-M rocket is scheduled to put Mexico’s Satmex-8 communications satellite into orbit on Tuesday, Russia’s Roscosmos space agency said.

The rocket is to lift off at 11:07 p.m. Moscow time from the Baikonur space complex in Kazakhstan, the Interfax news agency reported.

This will be the first launch of a Proton-M since one of the rockets failed to put a Russian Yamal series satellite into orbit in December.

Roscosmos experts determined that the rocket’s failure was caused by a problem with a turbopump.

Satmex-8 was originally scheduled to be put into orbit on Dec. 27, but its launch was postponed until the cause of the Proton-M’s failure was determined.

The satellite, which was manufactured by U.S.-based Space Systems/Loral, belongs to Satelites Mexicanos, or Satmex.

Venezuelan violence is key campaign issue

Venezuela’s interior and justice minister, Néstor Reverol, admitted this week that homicides increased by 14 percent in 2012 to 16,072 compared with a year earlier.

The murder rate has increased from 48 per 100,000 inhabitants in 2011, Reverol said, to 54. This is more than twice the murder rate in Peru where the government, under heavy public and media pressure, this week announced the creation of an elite police intelligence team to crack down on criminal gangs to try and combat.

Venezuela’s acting president, Nicolás Maduro, said that ending violence in the country required “an integral and Socialist vision”, and appealed to artists and sportsmen to assist in developing a plan to tackle it.

Ecuador rejects preventive measures imposed by IACHR

Ecuadorian President, Rafael Correa, announced that Ecuador will not accept the preventive measures imposed by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) since that organization does not have authority for such an action.

We will not accept those measures because they are illegal, he said.

(LatinNews and Prensa Latina contributed to this report).

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The great Cyprus bank robbery shows that there is no bank account that is safe – Part 2

by Marvin J. Ramirez

Marvin J. Ramirez

NOTE FROM THE EDITOR: (Last week’s editorial we missed pointing out that it was Part 1 – this is Part 2 and last).

Most of you might think that the US government would never touch your bank savings, that the dollar would never collapse, or that the US would never let the economic system to breakdown.

Well, as many might have seen just this week, the small nation, Cyprus, has become the latest experiment of nationalization of its own people bank accounts, the beginning of a domino reaction that could come anytime – after rolling over the European Union – to America. The famous bailout just recently in the US was just a small show of what it can be done without the people’s consent, and which is expected to hit home in a near future.

The guest article below for this week is Michael Snyder’s, The great Cyprus Bank robber shows that no bank account is safe,” explains in very much detail, what we, as Americans, should expect and be ready for when this same medicine is applied in home.

The great Cyprus Bank robbery shows that no bank account is safe – Part 2 and last

by Michael Snyder
Economic Collapse

It would be hard to over-emphasize how significant the Cyprus situation is. The EU demonstrated under no uncertain circumstances that they will destroy the rule of law to maintain their own power. It was a recognition of tyranny that many of us have always assumed was the case but yesterday became reality.

The damage done here is not related to the size of the haircut – currently discussed between 3 and 13 percent – but rather that the legal language which each and every investor on the planet must rely on in order to maintain confidence in the system has been subordinated to the needs of the powerful elite. To the power elite making the major decisions in DC, London, Berlin, France, Brussels, et. al., laws are like ice cream, easily melted.

Which begs the question, who is next? Will it be Portugal? Greece? Spain? Italy? France???

Will they impose a “one-time” tax on your bank account? Your house? Your stocks and bonds? Retirement accounts?

The global elite have declared open season on all large piles of money, and now many people all over the world will consider taking money out of the bank to be the rational thing to do. This will especially be true in countries in southern Europe since they would probably be the next to have wealth confiscated.

This is so abundantly clear that even Paul Krugman of the New York Times understands this…

It’s as if the Europeans are holding up a neon sign, written in Greek and Italian, saying “time to stage a run on your banks!”

Tomorrow and the days immediately following should be very interesting.

The global elite have truly “crossed the Rubicon” by going after private bank accounts. It is almost as if they purposely chose the most damaging solution possible to the financial crisis in Cyprus.

Many in the financial world are absolutely stunned by all of this. For example, David Zervos is describing this move as a “nuclear war on savings and wealth“…

All of us should really take a moment to consider what the governments of Europe have done. To be clear, they initiated a surprise assault on the precautionary savings of their own people.

Such a move should send shock waves across the entire population of the developed world. This was not a Bernanke style slow moving financial repression against risk free savings that is meant to stir up animal spirits and force risk taking.

This is a nuclear war on savings and wealth – something that will likely crush animal spirits. This is a policy move you expect from a dictatorial regime in Sub-Saharan Africa, not in an EMU member state. If the European governments can clandestinely expropriate 7 to 10 percent of their hard working citizen’s precautionary savings after the close of business on a Friday night, what else are they capable of doing? Why even hold money in a bank account? Are they trying to start a bank run?

So what motivated the global elite to do this?

According to CNBC, one of the motivations was to go after the Russians that had been using the banking system of Cyprus to launder money…

Indeed, the IMF is reported to have been keen on the levy as a way to stem the flood of Russian money into the island over the last few years which has promptedconcerns over money laundering.

Russian money accounts for about 25 percent of all money in the banking system of Cyprus, and obviously the Russians are quite upsetby what the IMF and the EU have decided to do. Even Vladimir Putin is loudly denouncing this move…

Russian President Vladimir Putin called the tax “unfair, unprofessional and dangerous,” according to a statement posted on the Kremlin website. Russian companies and individuals have $31 billion of deposits in Cyprus, according to Moody’s.

And you haven’t heard a lot about this in the western media, but the Russians have actually stepped forward and have offered to help Cyprus out of this jam. For example, there are reports that Russian investorsare interested in buying the two banks that were the primary cause of this bailout…

Officials have also said Russian investors are interested in buying a majority stake in Cyprus Popular Bank and increasing their holdings in Bank of Cyprus – the two biggest banks on the Mediterranean island.

And according to Sky News, Gazprom has offered Cyprus a very large sum of money for the right to explore their offshore gas reserves that have not been developed yet…

The uncertainty comes as Russia’s finance minister said his country would consider restructuring its loans to Cyprus.

Russian energy giant Gazprom has also reportedly offered financial assistance to Cyprus in exchange for access to the island’s gas reserves.

So far the government of Cyprus has rejected the help of the Russians, but could they change their mind at some point? Apparently the Russians are offering enough money to completely fund the bank bailout…

According Greek Reporter, Gazprom made an offer over the weekend to the Cypriot government to fund the bank restructuring planned under the Cypriot bailout (which is set to cost up to €10bn) in exchange for exclusive exploration rights for Cypriot territorial waters. How reliable this story is remains to be seen, but it does hint at the geopolitical tension which we have been warning about.

Gazprom is known to be very close to the Russian government and despite Russian President Vladimir 3Putin overtly slamming the deposit tax – calling it “unfair, unprofessional and dangerous” – it is unlikely that they would let this opportunity pass untouched. Fortunately, the Cypriot government is said to have rejected the deal off the bat, but if displeasure towards the eurozone and the EU grows, the Russian option may become increasingly appealing.

It will be very interesting to see what happens.

Meanwhile, some European officials are already suggesting that other nations in southern Europe should have a “wealth tax” imposed upon them. The following comes from an article by Paul Joseph Watson…

Joerg Kraemer, chief economist of the German Commerzbank, has called for private savings accounts in Italy to be similarly plundered. “A tax rate of 15 percent on financial assets would probably be enough to push the Italian government debt to below the critical level of 100 percent of gross domestic product,” he told Handelsblatt.

A “tax” of 15 percent on all financial assets?

Could you imagine if you woke up one morning and the government had decided to suddenly steal 15 percent of all the money that you had in bank accounts, retirement funds and stock portfolios?

If I had a bank account in Italy I would be very nervous right about now.

Under normal circumstances these kinds of things don’t happen, but governments will use an “emergency” to justify all kinds of things. I recently came across an article that included a great quote by Herbert Hoover that put this beautifully…

“Every collectivist revolution rides in on a Trojan horse of ‘emergency’. It was the tactic of Lenin, Hitler, and Mussolini. In the collectivist sweep over a dozen minor countries of Europe, it was the cry of men striving to get on horseback. And ‘emergency’ became the justification of the subsequent steps. This technique of creating emergency is the greatest achievement that demagoguery attains.”

This is what the elite love to do.

They love to create order out of chaos.

And this is just the beginning. The Great Cyprus Bank Robbery was just a beta test for what is coming next.

As the global financial system crumbles, the global elite are going to target our bank accounts, our retirement funds and our stock portfolios. You might want to start thinking about how you will protect yourself.

So what are your thoughts on all of this? Please feel free to post a comment with your thoughts below…

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Debate on gun control should ask whether Congress has power to regulate

President Obama called for more gun control in his State of the Union address. The effectiveness of his proposals have been the subject of heated debate. But both sides are missing the larger question: Does Congress even have the right to regulate or ban guns?

by William J. Watkins

Gun control has become one of the preeminent battles of 2013. During a press conference last month, in which he was surrounded by children, President Obama urged Congress to ban “assault” (semiautomatic) weapons, limit magazines to 10 bullets, and introduce universal background checks for all firearm buyers. And last night, Mr. Obama again called for this regulation in his State of the Union address. Naming those affected by gun violence, he asserted to a cheering, standing crowd: “They deserve a vote.”

Across the country, Americans are debating the effectiveness of Obama’s gun-control proposals. Commentators on the left argue that semiautomatic weapons and high-capacity magazines aren’t necessary for home defense or hunting. On the right, the president’s critics say limiting guns won’t end violence and point out that no matter what laws Congress passes, criminals will still find ways to be well armed. The proposed legislation, they contend, simply would put law-abiding citizens at a disadvantage.

Both sides are missing the larger question in this debate: Does Congress even have the right to regulate or ban guns? Where does Congress derive the power to prohibit ownership or manufacture of certain weapons or magazines? It seems that many gun-rights advocates and opponents have forgotten their basic civics in assuming that Congress can act as long as 51 percent of the members agree.

The Second Amendment of the Constitution clearly states: “A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.” And as James Madison wrote in Federalist Paper No. 45, “The powers delegated…to the Federal Government are few and defined.” Those essays were written to promote ratification of the Constitution and assure states of its limits on federal power.

Madison further explained that these powers would “be exercised principally on external objects such as war, peace, negotiation, and foreign comregularmerce.” The states, he assured his readers, retained “numerous and indefinite” powers extending to “the lives, liberties, and properties of the people,” including “internal order.” The Supreme Court has consistently upheld the individual’s right to bear arms over several decades and court cases.

Such history lessons are usually dismissed by modern politicians.

Of course, Congress has passed laws that ban guns in the past, and many experts feel the courts have upheld the legality of some regulation and restriction of gun ownership. The 1994 “assault weapon ban,” which expired in 2004, is a prime example. But the fact that the federal government has taken an action in the past does not itself answer the question about the authority for, or legitimacy of, the action. In 1942, more than 100,000 Japanese Americans were placed in internment camps. Few would argue that this was constitutional or sets a valid precedent for a similar measure today.

In the landmark case District of Columbia v. Heller (2008), the Supreme Court recognized an individual right to bear arms, but also opined in dicta that certain “longstanding prohibitions” and regulations remained good law. The Court specifically mentioned laws prohibiting felons or the mentally ill from carrying weapons.

The Heller majority, however, failed to explain the fount of federal authority for these prohibitions. Undoubtedly, the common law as received from Britain at the time of the ratification of the US Constitution recognized and permitted such reasonable restrictions on the right to bear arms. Such a historical understanding could support some modern circumscribing of the right to bear arms as constitutionally valid.

But nothing in the common law of the time supports an outright ban on certain weapons possessed by sane, law-abiding citizens as urged by Obama.

If anyone were asking, Congress and the president would likely point to the Commerce Clause as the source of constitutional authority for the current gun-control proposals. But the original purpose of the Commerce Clause is far removed from the sale and purchase of guns – and has little to do with today’s debate over gun control.

Under the Constitution, Congress may “regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States.” Dictionaries in use during the Founding period defined commerce as “intercourse, exchange of one thing for another, interchange of anything; trade; traffick.”

From the ratification debates on the Constitution, we further glean that the Founders wanted the states to be united in the face of European protectionism. Britain, France, and other countries placed many restrictions on American trade, depriving the newly independent United States of America of lucrative markets. Because Congress did not have a commerce power under the Articles of Confederation, it could not effectively negotiate trade pacts or retaliate when European countries restricted American trade.

Moreover, states without deep-water ports were forced to import through states that had such ports. New York, for instance, placed high duties on items that consumers elsewhere ultimately would be forced to pay. This caused tension between the states. The Framers believed that a uniform system of commercial regulation would create a national free trade zone and remove the ability for certain states to exploit their neighbors.

With the Commerce Clause, Congress was given the power to make trade (i.e., trafficking) regular among the states and with foreign powers.

It’s hard to find anything in the record that indicates anyone ever contemplated that the Commerce Clause would encompass national laws that regulate manufacturing or ownership of guns – or anything else.

How the commerce power has been transformed is a long story. But in essence, Congress now claims the power to regulate any matter that affects the national economy. Such a reading of the Commerce Clause swallows up the Framers’ careful enumeration of powers, making the federal government omnipotent.

OPINION: Curbing gun violence after Newtown: Let’s arm teachers.

Unfortunately, many lawmakers are now bent on enacting national guncontrol laws, and too many of their opponents are debating the merits of these laws when they should be questioning their constitutionality.

They will continue to do so unless the American public asks them the fundamental questions about the source of their authority and demand a reasoned response

William J. Watkins, Jr. is a research fellow with The Independent Institute and author of the book, “Reclaiming the American Revolution.”

ALSO BY THIS WRITER: Obamacare, the Constitution, and the original meaning of the Commerce Clause

[Editor’s Note: The original version of this piece misidentified the kind of firearm covered in the 1994 “assault weapons ban” and in current proposals to reinstate it.]

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