Tuesday, 23 March 2010

The Guardian: Newspapers Are the Biggest Threat to the Nation's Mental Wellbeing

'In summary: if I've learned anything, it's that I don't much care for mood-altering substances. But I'm not afraid of them either. With one exception.

It's perhaps the biggest threat to the nation's mental wellbeing, yet it's freely available on every street – for pennies. The dealers claim it expands the mind and bolsters the intellect: users experience an initial rush of emotion (often euphoria or rage), followed by what they believe is a state of enhanced awareness. Tragically this "awareness" is a delusion. As they grow increasingly detached from reality, heavy users often exhibit impaired decision-making abilities, becoming paranoid, agitated and quick to anger. In extreme cases they've even been known to form mobs and attack people. Technically it's called "a newspaper", although it's better known by one of its many "street names", such as "The Currant Bun" or "The Mail" or "The Grauniad".'

Read more: Newspapers Are the Biggest Threat to the Nation's Mental Wellbeing

 

The New Intolerable Act

'To all free Americans who still hold dear the Founders' vision of a constitutional Republic and who wish to remain free -- 
  
Nancy Pelosi's Intolerable Act has been given passage by means so corrupt and twisted that even members of her own party recoil in disgust. 
  
This act orders all of us to play or pay, and if we do not wish to, we will be fined. If we refuse to pay the fine bout of principle, we will be jailed. If we resist arrest, we will be killed. 
  
They will send the Internal Revenue Service and other federal police to do this in thousands of small Wacos, if that is what it takes to force us to submit.'

Read more: The New Intolerable Act

 

How Sovereign is Europe? Washington has Murdered Privacy Rights at Home And Abroad

'In the Swiss newspaper Zeit Fragen, Professor Dr. Eberhard Hamer from Germany asks, "How Sovereign is Europe?" He examines the issue and concludes that Europe has little, if any, sovereignty.

Professor Hamer writes that the sovereign rights of Europeans as citizens of nation states were dissolved with the coming into force of the Lisbon Treaty on Dec. 1, 2009. The rights of the people have been conveyed to a political commissariat in Brussels. The French, Germans, Belgians, Spanish, British, Irish, Italians, Greeks, and so forth, now have "European citizenship whatever this may be."

The result of aggregating nations is to reduce the political participation of people. The authority of parliaments and local councils has been impaired. Power is now concentrated in new hierarchical structures within the European Union. European citizenship means indirect and weak participation by people. Self-rule has given way to authoritarian rule from top to bottom.

Professor Hamer then examines the EU commissariat and concludes that it, too, lacks sovereignty, having submitted to the will of the United States. The problem is not only that Europeans are waging an unconstitutional war ordered by the U.S. in a region of the world where Europe has no interests. Europe’s puppet state existence goes far beyond its mercenary service to the American Empire.'

Read more: How Sovereign is Europe? Washington has Murdered Privacy Rights at Home And Abroad

 

Mainstream Media Whores Itself Out to Big Pharma in the UK by Publishing Fraudulent 'Protest Letter'

'Last month the government proposed allowing pharmacists to substitute prescriptions for branded medicines with generic alternatives. A letter of protest appeared in the Times, signed by various patient groups and experts, with positive coverage in the broadsheets. "Plan to switch to cheaper medicines will harm patients, say experts," reported the Times. They even had a case study: "Patient given Seroxat substitute felt unwell within two days."

But Margaret McCartney GP, writing in the British Medical Journal, has been digging: in fact the letter was coordinated and written by the PR company Burson-Marsteller, paid by the drug company Norgine. Norgine's chief operating officer, Peter Martin, , despite being the major influence behind the campaign, did not sign the letter himself. Asked why not, he said: "There was no conspiracy. The frank truth, the honest truth, is that I thought that having a pharmaceutical company in there would sully the message somewhat".'

Read more: Mainstream Media Whores Itself Out to Big Pharma in the UK by Publishing Fraudulent 'Protest Letter'

 

US May Try Sheehan For Anti-War Campaign

'US authorities have arrested a number of anti-war protesters, including high-profile activist Cindy Sheehan, during a demonstration in Washington DC.

Eight peace activists were detained after laying coffins near a fence outside the White House during a Saturday rally in which thousands of anti-war protesters gathered at a park in the area to mark the seventh anniversary of the US-led invasion of Iraq .

They were demanding the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq and Afghanistan.'

Read more: US May Try Sheehan For Anti-War Campaign

 

In US, Netanyahu Backs Settlement Activity

'Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that Jerusalem (al-Quds) is not a settlement, but Israel's capital, defying the international community over the thorny issue of settlement activities.

Netanyahu told participants of the annual conference of American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) — the main pro-Israel lobby in the US — that “Jerusalem is not a settlement. It is our capital.”

He pointed out in Washington on Monday night that all Israeli administrations have built in Jerusalem (al-Quds).'

Read more: In US, Netanyahu Backs Settlement Activity