Taking multi-vitamin pills 'does nothing for our health'

The vitamin supplement industry is one of the big racket. And they are allowed to rip-off the public by a government that is unwilling to regulate them. Who knows how many people are poisoned each year by using what is essentially over the counter drugs. The only time you use supplements is by direction of a doctor:

They  are a daily essential for millions of Britons hoping to ward off ill-health.

But despite the millions of pounds spent on vitamin pills, they do nothing for our health, according to a major study.

Researchers spent more than six years following 8,000 people and found that those taking supplements were just as likely to  have developed cancer or heart disease as those who took an identical-looking dummy pill.

And when they were questioned on how healthy they felt, there was hardly any difference between the two groups.

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Gun sales at record levels, according to FBI background checks

At least the killing business is doing well:g ranges, sportsmen organizations and publishers, has offered a glimpse into the economic impact of the industry.

Firearms industry has returned robust results in the midst of recession.

A recent report by the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), a trade association for the firearms industry which boasts membership of more than 5,500 manufacturers, distributors, firearms retailers, shooting ranges, sportsmen organizations and publishers, has offered a glimpse into the economic impact of the industry.

But a little reminder of what guns do for us:

1. Of all firearm-related crime, 86 percent involved handguns.5
   
   Only one in six Americans own handguns.6
   
   Unlike manufacturers of other consumer products, the industry that makes handguns is unregulated for health and safety. 
2. <sup>Since 1962, more than one million Americans have died in firearm homicides, suicides, and unintentional shootings. Handguns were used in more than 650,000 of these fatal shootings.7
   
   In 1997�the most recent year available�there were 89 firearm deaths per day, or a firearm death every 16 minutes.8
   
   In homes with guns, a member of the household is almost three times as likely to be the victim of a homicide compared to gun-free homes.9</sup>
3. The largest category of firearms fatality is suicide, not homicide. In 1997, 54 percent of all gun deaths were suicides, and 42 percent were homicides.16
   
   About six out of 10 suicides are committed with firearms.
4. For every time a gun in the home is used in a self-defense homicide, a gun will be used in�
   
       1.3 unintentional deaths
   
       4.6 criminal homicides
   
       37 suicides22
   
   In 1997 there were 15,690 homicides.
   
       Of these, 8,503 were committed with handguns.
   
       Among handgun homicides, only 193 (2.3 percent) were classified as justifiable homicides by civilians.23
   
   For every time in 1997 that a civilian used a handgun to kill in self-defense, 43 people lost their lives in handgun homicides alone.

The numbers might have changed since 1997 the fundamentals haven't. Guns are not used for the good of this country but cause terrible harm.

Geologists map ocean floor to study fault near nuclear plant

Geologists map ocean floor to study fault near nuclear plant: Today a research vessel will finish mapping more than four square miles of ocean floor off Avila Beach so geologists can better understand an earthquake fault near Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant.
The marine research vessel Bluefin of Seattle has spent nearly most of December towing a sophisticated array of instruments in a grid pattern through the waters of San Luis Obispo Bay.
The result will be a detailed map of the southern end of the Shoreline Fault, which runs northwest from the bay, brushing the coastline just off Diablo Canyon.

Sexual assault reports up at U.S. military academies: report

Sexual assault reports up at U.S. military academies: report: (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Defense said on Tuesday that there was a rise in reports of sexual assault at the nation's military academies in the most recent school year and announced

The Obama Administration Declines to Cite China as a Currency Manipulator

Barack will do what is good for his corporate handlers:

The Obama administration has declined to label China a currency manipulator after seeing recent increases in the value of the yuan compared to the dollar.

The decision will likely anger unions and Democratic lawmakers, who have accused Beijing of artificially holdings down the value of its currency to gain trade advantages. A cheaper yuan makes Chinese goods less expensive when they are shipped to the United States. It also makes U.S. goods more expensive in China.

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SOPA is the End of Us, say Bloggers

This is only the latest attack on our freedoms. It is a war we must win. If it succeeds we will have greater concentration of information by a handful of corporations. Less voices means less democracy or none at all. It is the Internet that has been responsible for many of the revolutions breaking throughout the World. The ruling classes want to put an end to that freedom of expression. Stop SOPA:

The conservative and liberal blogospheres are unifying behind opposition to Congress’s Stop Online Piracy Act, with right-leaning bloggers aruging their very existence could be wiped out if the anti-piracy bill passes.

“If either the U.S. Senate’s Protect IP Act (PIPA) & the U.S. House’s Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) become law, political blogs such as Red Mass Group [conservative] & Blue Mass Group [liberal] will cease to exist,” wrote a blogger at Red Mass Group.

[...]In particular, GoDaddy, a domain registration firm, suffered a spectacularly bad round of PR when it came out in support of the measures. But after a grass-roots campaign to boycott the firm, driven by Reddit, an online community, and others, GoDaddy reversed course and renounced its support.

“Some good news on the SOPA front: Its corporate base of supporters is starting to crumble,” David Dayden wrote at Firedoglake. “GoDaddy is not alone. Scores of law firms are requesting their names be removed from the Judiciary Committee’s official list of SOPA supporters.”

In the blogosphere, the trajectory of the bill seemed set — that it is destined for failure if the pressure of the online community is kept up.

Full article

"Occupy Rigged Elections: A Call for the Second American Revolution in 2012"

Either we fight today for our country or lose it tomorrow. The rulers of America are taking away everything we have. And if we don't fight for what is ours before too long we won't have anything left, including our freedoms:

A great battle is coming. The 2012 elections are our chance to turn the tide back toward real democracy, but we must begin immediately. Only by organizing for a democratic revolution now can we break the hold of corporate criminals over our elections and take real power in 2012, legitimately and nonviolently.

Thanks to Occupy Wall Street and the 99 percent movement, millions of Americans are finally shaking off the depression and torpor of the past decade, heeding the mass-consciousness call to reclaim power from corporatist forces that have hijacked our country, our planet, and our future. We may not all have taken to the streets yet, but we will. Or we'll contribute in other creative, personally liberating ways, pitching in with prison-break fervor to unblock the channels of revolutionary energy.

Despite the jeering of the corporate media, the Occupy movement is not going to fade away, burn out or be crushed like the radical movements of the 60s and 70s. The Occupy movement is going to change the world, because the world itself has arrived at a momentous crossroads where change is inevitable. Occupy is part of an unstoppable transformation - the contractions of a new world desperate to be born, based on a renewal of community, tolerance, justice and deep respect for all life. A sane, resilient world capable of withstanding the ecological, climatic and economic upheavals we can no longer avoid.

Read the rest of this important article from Truthout.org

Andrew Wilkes: OccupytheDream: Why We Must Organize

Great ideas as long as they are not used by Democratic Party for political purposes. The greatest obstacle to building a movement has been the continued naive belief that Barack Obama is going to accomplish all this on his own. Presumably he'll do it in his second term since he hasn't done a damn thing in his first. We'll begin to solve our problems the day we begin to recognize Obama is just politician out for himself:

At this inflection point within American political culture, the people-powered organizing of Occupy Wall Street and related efforts may represent the best chance of making living-wage jobs possible, housing affordable and decent education accessible. Last Thursday, a coalition of Christian clergy joined the effort. Reverends Jamal Bryant and Ben Chavis, along with the Progressive National Baptist Convention, unveiled the #OccupytheDream campaign at the National Press Club. Their aims are straightforward: $100 billion for community investment from Wall Street banks; a moratorium on new foreclosures; and substantially increased investment in Pell Grants. Starting on Martin Luther King day -- Jan. 16, 2012 -- they plan to galvanize faith communities through coordinated actions at regional Federal Reserve Banks. The actions involve bringing crutches, casts and prosthetic devices to the banks, symbolizing how the excess of the financial sector is crippling the fragile recovery of our economy.

Full article

US: Outraged Popular Movement Occupies Iowa Caucus

What we should do is present our people's platform and then demand the politicians/candidates abide by these principles or keep them from getting (re)elected to office:

 The Occupy Wall Street (OWS) movement on Tuesday will begin in Iowa a popular election assembly, a week before the first GOP primaries.

  The Occupy Iowa Caucus planned a meeting on Tuesday night in Des Moines, the state capital, some days ahead of the Republican party which on January 3 will hold its primaries, the group said on its website.

According to the Occupy Des Moines call, in the celebration also known as the People's Caucus, the organizers will present and discuss complaints made for months by the OWS movement and for 99 percent of the population, said a spokesperson.

Then, instead of indicating a preference for a possible presidential candidate, the participants will declare their support for the group that plans to occupy the venue for the next three days, in a peaceful action.

Full article

Gingrich Supported Romney Health Care Plan in 2006 Newsletter

Gingrich gives Romney a run for his money when it comes to flip-flops:

Newt Gingrich voiced enthusiasm for Mitt Romney's Massachusetts health care law when it was passed five years ago, the same plan he has been denouncing over the past few months as he campaigned for the Republican presidential nomination.

"The health bill that Governor Romney signed into law this month has tremendous potential to effect major change in the American health system," said an April 2006 newsletter published by Gingrich's former consulting company, the Center for Health Transformation.

The two-page "Newt Notes" analysis, found online by The Wall Street Journal even though it no longer appears on the center's website, continued, "We agree entirely with Governor Romney and Massachusetts legislators that our goal should be 100 percent insurance coverage for all Americans."

Full article from FOXNews

Report: "Wealth Gap between" Members of Congress and Americans "Growing Quickly"

Congress might not be solving the nation's problems but at least they are using their time to enrich themselves at our expense. So it isn't just greedy Wall St. bankers and CEOs that are seeing their wealth skyrocket, so are politicians. Which makes since they are all tied together. We think that we are electing leaders to serve us but they are in fact looking out for themselves. Public service has become a country club. And it ain't limited to Congress, Presidents are using their positions to become millionaires. The Clintons and Barack Obama have become millionaires after occupying the White House. The reason they can get away with it is because money rules politics, not ideas or ability. Additionally, someone elected to Congress is essentially in office for life. They are almost guaranteed re-election. So, in other words, they don't give a damn about what you and I think. The politicians know they can get away with it because we don't do anything about it:

Capitol Hill millionaires. That group has grown in recent years to include nearly half of all members of Congress — 250 in all — and the wealth gap between lawmakers and their constituents appears to be growing quickly, even as Congress debates unemployment benefits, possible cuts in food stamps and a “millionaire’s tax.”

[...]Largely insulated from the country’s economic downturn since 2008, members of Congress — many of them among the “1 percenters” denounced by Occupy Wall Street protesters — have gotten much richer even as most of the country has become much poorer in the last six years, according to an analysis by The New York Times based on data from the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonprofit research group.

[...]What is clear is that members of Congress are getting richer compared not only with the average American worker, but also with other very rich Americans.

While the median net worth of members of Congress jumped 15 percent from 2004 to 2010, the net worth of the richest 10 percent of Americans remained essentially flat. For all Americans, median net worth dropped 8 percent during that period, based on inflation-adjusted data from Moody’s Analytics.

Going back further, the median wealth of House members grew some two and a half times between 1984 and 2009 in inflation-adjusted dollars, while the wealth of the average American family has actually declined slightly in that same time period, according to data cited by The Washington Post in an article published Monday on its Web site.

Full article

Obama NDAA OK Draws OccupyMN Protest At Obama Reelection HQ

Obama NDAA OK Draws OccupyMN Protest At Obama Reelection HQ | Occupy Cyberspace – American Autumn

Gingrich: First Wife Not "Young and Pretty Enough" to Be First Lady

Gingrich is a pig.

Gingrich: First Wife Not "Young and Pretty Enough" to Be First Lady - Forbes

Report: 11 Mass. Convicts Serving Life Sentences To Be Paroled

The criminal justice system in America is farce. Life should mean life.
Report: 11 Mass. Convicts Serving Life Sentences To Be Paroled « CBS Boston

NYPD Blocks Food for Occupy Christmas Celebration

It is fitting. The NYPD has been behaving like scrooges for the last 3 months:

Occupy Wall Street protesters convened for a Christmas celebration in Zuccotti Park in Manhattan yesterday, but when volunteers showed up with bags of cookies and food, New York City police officers prevented them from entering.

An NYPD spokesperson offered no comment on why the volunteers, who instead distributed the food along the sidewalk outside the park, were not allowed in.

Full article