We thank U.S. Representatives Mike Michaud and Chellie Pingree for their continued support of health insurance reform.
The House voted late Saturday evening to move the process of health insurance reform forward, a step President Obama called “courageous.”
The president also asked the Senate to “take up the baton and bring this effort to the finish line.”
Rep. Michaud issued a statement prior to Saturday’s vote, saying in part, “This work is too important to fail, and I could not in good conscience let the perfect be the enemy of the possible.” Speaking on the floor of the House of the Representatives, Saturday, Rep. Pingree made her feelings clear, saying, “There can be no more delay.”
I am black, arabian, and poor.
In this new saga, you will discover a science-fiction movie dealing with the disappearance of Dinosaurs and with worldwide nuclear power.
To listen to the trailer, surf on my site : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEttx9D2j7E
By Padmini Arhant
The Congress is engaged in the Medicare payments to doctors as part of the broader aspect of the health care legislation. Despite the opposition’s insinuations against the government run successful Medicare program, it’s imperative for the lawmakers to sustain the viability of the Medicare and the Medicaid by honoring the providers’ legitimate request for payments increase that would substantially reduce the health care costs currently incurred by the taxpayers through payments to private insurers.
As stated earlier, the conservative and the moderate Democrats’ unwillingness to support the public option is contributing to the stalemate in the health care legislation. Even though, the recent Washington Post/ABC Poll confirmed that an impressive 57 percent of the American population is overwhelmingly in favor of the ‘public option’ plan, some Democratic legislators’ reluctance to join the majority on this issue is disappointing and deserve a valid explanation for their position that is detrimental to the national interest.
Remaining content available@www.padminiarhant.com
Thank you.
Padmini Arhant
Mother Nature has never been more vulnerable than now with the human power in industries and government targeting every available land on planet earth for profits. With the active space exploration for possible inhabitation on Mars and the Moon, earth’s natural resources depleted to the ultimate under the guise of ‘Clean Energy Act,’ by the yet another indomitable force in the corporate world, the ‘Energy Cartel.’
Should they trail behind in the Herculean contest of crushing democracy and the people it represents?
‘Profit’ revered more than the “Prophet” spares none in its sinister cannibalism revealed in the legislative matters concerning health, housing, finance, wars and even the planet they exist. It is no longer the Darwinian ‘survival of the fittest’ with a subtle hope for efforts to survive if not thrive in the sharks-infested waters.
Please follow the rest @http://www.padminiarhant.com
Why America will not advance to the future because we need a new way of thinking and we need our President to change his agenda with the advisers who are not in his best interest. America has a history and its shortly going to damage and ruin it's self. Why war is not an answer and controlling other nations is a way to tear down the walls history and changing our way and your ways as well we all need some changes.
I am sure if you all of the people who work in the White House do not speak on certain subjects because they do not want to get in trouble. Its always secrets and this is what makes fear and when people fear you they react and it never turns to a positive out come.
Throw a treat to the man’s best friend and he/she will do any tricks for you.
Not quite true, contrarily some canines unlike the ‘few’ in their masters’ species resist being the “Pavlov’s dog.” Besides loyalty, the canines’ discriminative power is unparallel to the particular voices on the airwaves and cable news network ever willing to perform on the note – ‘show me the bait and leave the trashing to…’
Lately, with the relevant media on vacation, the field is wide open and vulnerable for dumping wastes of all kind. As usual, the specific network presenting ideas and style taken right out of their targets’ page yet choosing to remain oblivious to’ plagiarism,’ do not refrain from permanent attack politics.
Rest available @http://www.padminiarhant.com
Padmini
The Right Wingers are resulting to threats/violence and hate...We need to take charge and not stand there shocked....Take action....Yes, they are winning the attention war....We are losing the facts war because the legends that the RNC spins have become fact.....Thus, the myths become facts
Nazi Symbol AP News
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090811/ap_on_go_co/us_health_care_protests
Lou Dobbs threatens Dean:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/08/11/dobbs-apologizes-for-sayi_n_256728.html
I fear where this is going.....we need to stand up....National day of support....contact me people
varun22@yahoo.com
.NYT article LINK
The New York Times reported today that the White House is quietly conceding that they are losing control of the Health Care Reform debate. So......in response......? A march? Rapid Fire TV ads? Formal debates moderated by NPR, PBS, ABC, NBC? Nope....a website.........That's it....a website..
The WH released a myth busters website.......What Obama should do is concede he needs a little help from his friends.....Bill Clinton, Al Gore, Howard Dean, Mike Bloomberg, Warren Buffet and other Business Leaders and even the Kennedys to get the word out and deal with the fires.
Guns at rallies, Attacks, Using the N word, calling Obama a Nazi, chanting Nazi slogans and even attempting to attack elected officials as they try to moderate the Health Care town halls, it seems the press is moving very slowly to understand who the FEW, the Minority, screamers, racists and right wing nut job, home grown terrorists really are.
Just reported: the SEIU obtained a Tea Party startegy via a Right Wing mobilization conf call.
The summary: Just destroy Obama's plan at any cost....No reasons....just be the party of NO
http://theplumline.whorunsgov.com/seius-notes-on-a-tea-party-strategy-conference-call/
A Mandate for them.......not for change
What if I told you that we have government funded healthcare/insurance for some key Americans who love and even utilize such a benefit, but don’t want you to have it? Would you be shocked? Would you be confused? Would you respond by asking me if I was talking about Medicare? No, though Medicare is a successful form of government funded and run care-coverage, I’m not talking about it. I’m not even talking about Vet Care….I’m talking about a health plan/benefit plan that’s complete with great coverage, coverage that covers all Federal workers, including US Senators, members of the House, etc. It’s a plan that even includes pensions and other benefits. Read a summary here: http://usgovinfo.about.com/od/uscongress/a/congresspay.htm
Thus, I’ve never heard Mitch McConnell or the so called “Blue Dog” Democrats, or the usual talking head RNC mouthpieces in the Congress ever, ever, turn to the camera and say, “I will pay back what I took in health benefits...
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 11, 2009NOMINATION SENT TO THE SENATE:Daniel M. Rooney of Pennsylvania, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to Ireland.
Last night, I missed catching the complete coverage of the Radio and Television Correspondent's Association dinner and only saw clips chosen by CNN and MSNBC. So, today I went to good old C-SPAN to see if they had a video of the whole program and of course, they did.
I already knew that President Obama's and John Hodgman's speeches were worth watching in their entirety. What I didn't know was the program included some well-staged videos produced for the event by Onion and Jib Jab. Even more entertaining to me was the performance by Sweet Honey in the Rock of Bernice Johnson Reagon's "Ella's Song, " (We Who Believe in Freedom Can Not Rest) It was evident that Obama was taken with it, too.
On C-SPAN, I also watched several video's of Obama's activities related to Fathers Day. Whether it was about his visiting and speaking to a DC Youth Center, conducting a White House town hall on fatherhood, or entertaining fathers and potential fathers with a barbecue out on the lawn, he was never boring. He charms us with his humor and personality and inspires us with his wisdom and eloquence, no matter what the setting, wearing a tux or an apron!
I especially enjoyed his answers to two town hall questions about how he felt when he first became a father and the question from a very young attendee as to whether it was more fun to be president or to be a father.
I hope you get a chance to watch these videos while they are still on C-SPAN's website. Here are the links:http://www.cspan.org/Watch/Program/2009/06/19/HP/A/42689/Pres+Obama+Fathers+Day+Events.aspAND http://www.c-span.org/Watch/Media/2009/06/19/HP/R/20034/65th+RTCA+Dinner.aspx
There are two very lucky girls to have this man as their father. I suspect that Malia and Sasha have a surprise cooked up for him and can hardly wait for Sunday to give it to him.
Happy Father's Day, Mr. President!
Breeze Bryson
6/20/09
Did You Cry To See That Fly Die
Dastardly act PETA say
Immoral show of humane decay
Destroying any life, how could he
You saw it, they showed it on TV
Outrageous and shameful
Uncaring and disgraceful
Catching the fly could’ve been done humanely
Rush! He could have shouted to his security
You didn’t have to see the cruelness
They could’ve stopped to get rid of the pest
Oops! Did I say pest when I should have said fly
Some didn’t think this harmless insect should die
Even though he tried to chase it away
Even though we all could hear him say
Things like, get of here! before he raise his hand
Hit it with precision like he was always in command
And with respect he took a tissue to remove the bug
Took it up before it dirtied the rug
Flying Little Insect Exterminated Swiftly
Like this President does all things accurately
Yet PETA finds something to say, why
I wonder what if it were a tick, mosquito, a louse or a flea
Even these are animals too, so would PETA have screamed cruelty?
In this excellent op-ed piece, super-economist Christina Romer (one of President Obama's most trusted advisors) makes an impassionate plea for health care reform. She expalins the different options that could lead to the President's goal of universal health care, and helps the reader get a really goodunderstanding of what is really at stake. Too often, we hear that universal health care would be too costly and force the economy to suffer. That is a far right Republican talking point which has been discredited several times over, but which still survives and lives on because of the ignorance of many. This piece by Prof. Romer dispels all misunderstandings and makes the choice clear: health care reform would strengthen America's economy for the future, not hurt it...
Last night on Comedy Central, Jon Stewart's brilliant mockery of genetically engineered wheat puts the only humorous twist on an otherwise serious health risk that now concerns the American Academy of Environmental Medicine: genetically modified foods.
On May 8th, the American Academy of Environmental Medicine (AAEM) called on “Physicians to educate their patients, the medical community, and the public to avoid GM (genetically modified) foods when possible and provide educational materials concerning GM foods and health risks.” Their position paper stated, “Several animal studies indicate serious health risks associated with GM food,” including infertility, immune problems, accelerated aging, insulin regulation, and changes in major organs and the gastrointestinal system. AAEM states, “GM foods have not been properly tested” and “pose a serious health risk.” They conclude, “There is more than a casual association between GM foods and adverse health effects. There is causation,” as defined by recognized scientific criteria. “The strength of association and consistency between GM foods and disease is confirmed in several animal studies.” AAEM called for a moratorium, long-term independent studies, and labeling.
A second US medical association is currently drafting a similar resolution, and more and more doctors are already prescribing GM-free diets. “I strongly recommend patients eat strictly non-genetically modified foods,” says Dr. Amy Dean, a Michigan internal medicine specialist. Ohio allergist John Boyles says “I used to test for soy allergies all the time, but now that soy is genetically engineered, it is so dangerous that I tell people never to eat it.”
According to AAEM, “There is more than a casual association between GM foods and adverse health effects. There is causation” as defined by recognized scientific criteria. “The strength of association and consistency between GM foods and disease is confirmed in several animal studies.” Some experts go a step further. After reviewing more than 600 scientific journals, world renowned biologist Pushpa. M. Bhargava concluded that genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are a major contributor to the sharply deteriorating health of Americans.
Pregnant women and babies at great risk
Among the population, biologist David Schubert of the Salk Institute warns that “children are the most likely to be adversely effected by toxins and other dietary problems” related to GM foods. Similarly, the UK Royal Society recommends that GM foods be rigorously researched before being fed to pregnant or breast-feeding women and babies. Tragically, not a single human clinical trial has been published. Dr. Schubert says without adequate studies, the children become “the experimental animals.”
The experience of actual GM-fed experimental animals is scary. When GM soy was fed to female rats, most of their babies died within three weeks—compared to a 10% death rate among the control group fed natural soy. The GM-fed babies were also smaller, and later had problems getting pregnant.
When male rats were fed GM soy, their testicles actually changed color—from the normal pink to dark blue. Mice fed GM soy altered young sperm. Even the embryos of GM fed parent mice had significant changes in their DNA. Mice fed GM corn in an Austrian government study had fewer babies, which were also smaller normal.
Reproductive problems also plague livestock. Most of the Indian buffalos that ate GM cottonseed had complications such as premature deliveries, abortions, infertility, and prolapsed uteruses. Many calves died. In the US, about two dozen farmers reported thousands of pigs became sterile after consuming certain GM corn varieties. Some had false pregnancies; others gave birth to bags of water. Cows and bulls also became infertile when fed the same corn.
In the US population, the incidence of low birth weight babies, infertility, and infant mortality are all escalating.
Food designed to produce poison
GM corn and cotton are engineered to produce their own built-in pesticide in every cell. When bugs bite the plant, the poison splits open their stomach and kills them. Biotech companies claim that the pesticide, called Bt—produced from soil bacteria Bacillus thuringiensis—has a history of safe use, since organic farmers and others use Bt bacteria spray for natural insect control. Genetic engineers insert Bt genes into corn and cotton, so the plants do the killing.
The Bt-toxin produced in GM plants, however, is thousands of times more concentrated than natural Bt spray, is designed to be more toxic, has properties of an allergen, and unlike the spray, cannot be washed off the plant.
Moreover, studies confirm that even the less toxic natural bacterial spray is harmful. When dispersed by plane to kill gypsy moths in the Pacific Northwest, about 500 people reported allergy or flu-like symptoms. Some had to go to the emergency room.
The exact same symptoms are now being reported by farm workers throughout India, from handling Bt cotton. In 2008, based on medical records, the Sunday India reported, “Victims of itching have increased massively this year . . . related to BT cotton farming.”
GMOs provoke immune reactions
AAEM states, “Multiple animal studies show significant immune dysregulation,” including increase in cytokines, which are “associated with asthma, allergy, and inflammation”—all on the rise in the US.
According to GM food safety expert Dr. Arpad Pusztai, changes in the immune status of GM animals are “a consistent feature of all the studies.” Even Monsanto’s own research showed significant immune system changes in rats fed Bt corn. A November 2008 by the Italian government also found that mice have an immune reaction to Bt corn.GM soy and corn each contain two new proteins with allergenic properties, GM soy has up to seven times more trypsin inhibitor—a known soy allergen, and skin prick tests show some people react to GM, but not to non-GM soy. Soon after GM soy was introduced to the UK, soy allergies skyrocketed by 50%. Perhaps the US epidemic of food allergies and asthma is a casualty of genetic manipulation.
Animals dying in large numbers
In India, animals graze on cotton plants after harvest. But when shepherds let sheep graze on Bt cotton plants, thousands died. Post mortems showed severe irritation and black patches in both intestines and liver (as well as enlarged bile ducts). Investigators said preliminary evidence “strongly suggests that the sheep mortality was due to a toxin. . . . most probably Bt-toxin.” In a small follow-up feeding study, all sheep fed Bt cotton plants died within 30 days; those that grazed on natural cotton plants remained healthy.
In a small village in Andhra Pradesh, buffalo grazed on cotton plants for eight years without incident. On January 3rd, 2008, the buffalo grazed on Bt cotton plants for the first time. All 13 were sick the next day; all died within 3 days.
Bt corn was also implicated in the deaths of cows in Germany, and horses, water buffaloes, and chickens in The Philippines.
In lab studies, twice the number of chickens fed Liberty Link corn died; 7 of 20 rats fed a GM tomato developed bleeding stomachs; another 7 of 40 died within two weeks. Monsanto’s own study showed evidence of poisoning in major organs of rats fed Bt corn, according to top French toxicologist, G. E. Seralini.
Worst finding of all—GMOs remain inside of us
The only published human feeding study revealed what may be the most dangerous problem from GM foods. The gene inserted into GM soy transfers into the DNA of bacteria living inside our intestines and continues to function. This means that long after we stop eating GMOs, we may still have potentially harmful GM proteins produced continuously inside of us. Put more plainly, eating a corn chip produced from Bt corn might transform our intestinal bacteria into living pesticide factories, possibly for the rest of our lives.
When evidence of gene transfer is reported at medical conferences around the US, doctors often respond by citing the huge increase of gastrointestinal problems among their patients over the last decade. GM foods might be colonizing the gut flora of North Americans.
Denials, attacks, and hijacked regulators
Scientists at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had warned about all these problems even in the early 1990s. According to documents released from a lawsuit, the scientific consensus at the agency was that GM foods were inherently dangerous, and might create hard-to-detect allergies, poisons, gene transfer to gut bacteria, new diseases, and nutritional problems. They urged their superiors to require rigorous long-term tests. But the White House had ordered the agency to promote biotechnology and the FDA responded by recruiting Michael Taylor, Monsanto’s former attorney, to head up the formation of GMO policy. That policy, which is in effect today, denies knowledge of scientists’ concerns and declares that no safety studies on GMOs are required. It is up to Monsanto and the other biotech companies to determine if their foods are safe. Mr. Taylor later became Monsanto’s vice president.
Dangerously few studies, untraceable diseases
A 2007 review of published scientific literature on the “potential toxic effects/health risks of GM plants” revealed “that experimental data are very scarce.” The author concludes his review by asking, “Where is the scientific evidence showing that GM plants/food are toxicologically safe, as assumed by the biotechnology companies?”
Famed Canadian geneticist David Suzuki answers, “The experiments simply haven’t been done and we now have become the guinea pigs.” He adds, “Anyone that says, ‘Oh, we know that this is perfectly safe,’ I say is either unbelievably stupid or deliberately lying.”
Dr. Schubert points out, “If there are problems, we will probably never know because the cause will not be traceable and many diseases take a very long time to develop.” If GMOs happen to cause immediate and acute symptoms with a unique signature, perhaps then we might have a chance to trace the cause.
This is precisely what happened during an epidemic in the US in the late 1980s. The disease was fast acting, deadly, and caused a unique measurable change in the blood—but it still took more than four years to identify that an epidemic was even occurring. By then it had killed about 100 Americans and caused 5,000-10,000 people to fall sick or become permanently disabled. It was caused by a genetically engineered brand of a food supplement called L-tryptophan.
If other GM foods are contributing to the rise of autism, obesity, diabetes, asthma, cancer, heart disease, allergies, reproductive problems, or any other common health problem now plaguing Americans, we may never know. In fact, since animals fed GMOs had such a wide variety of problems, susceptible people may react to GM food with multiple symptoms. It is therefore telling that in the first nine years after the largescale introduction of GM crops, the incidence of people with three or more chronic diseases nearly doubled, from 7% to 13%.
To help identify if GMOs are causing harm, the AAEM asks their “members, the medical community, and the independent scientific community to gather case studies potentially related to GM food consumption and health effects, begin epidemiological research to investigate the role of GM foods on human health, and conduct safe methods of determining the effect of GM foods on human health.”
Citizens shouldn’t wait for the results before acting responsibly. It’s time to take the doctors advice: Avoid GM foods. That principally means staying away from anything with soy or corn derivatives, cottonseed and canola oil, and sugar from GM sugar beets—unless it says organic or “non-GMO.” There is a pocket Non-GMO Shopping Guide, co-produced by the Institute for Responsible Technology and the Center for Food Safety, which is available as a download, in natural food stores, and in many doctors’ offices.
When even a small percentage of people conscientiously choose healthier non-GMO brands, the food industry will respond as they did in Europe—by removing all GM ingredients. Consumers are at the top of the food chain, and we can join the doctors by writing a prescription for change.
International bestselling author and independent filmmaker Jeffrey M. Smith is the Executive Director of the Institute for Responsible Technology and the leading spokesperson on the health dangers of GMOs. His first book, Seeds of Deception is the world’s bestselling book on the subject. His second, Genetic Roulette: The Documented Health Risks of Genetically Engineered Foods, identifies 65 risks of GMOs and demonstrates how superficial government approvals are not competent to find most of them. He invited the biotech industry to respond in writing with evidence to counter each risk, but correctly predicted that they would refuse, since they don’t have the data to show their products are safe.
