August 31st Quote

What a tangled web we weave when first we practice to believe.

CAT 4

PUERTO VALLARTA, Mexico (AP) -- Hurricane John became a dangerous, Category 4 storm Wednesday and forecasters predicted its center would come closer to land during its march up Mexico's Pacific coast, where its outer bands already were lashing tourist resorts with heavy winds and rain.
The hurricane had maximum sustained winds of 135 mph, and stronger gusts capable of ripping roofs off buildings and causing storm surges of up to 18 feet above normal.
John was not expected to affect the United States, but a hurricane warning covered a more than 300-mile stretch of the Mexican coastline from Lazaro Cardenas to Cabo Corrientes, the southwestern tip of the bay that holds Puerto Vallarta.
The area south of Lazaro Cardenas to Acapulco was under a tropical storm warning, including the resort of Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo. Lazaro Cardenas already was being hit with tropical storm-force winds.

The National Hurricane Center in Miami said John's hurricane-force winds were likely to begin raking beaches south of Puerto Vallarta late Wednesday, then come close to hitting land early Thursday. The storm would then nick Los Cabos at the tip of the Baja California Peninsula on Friday before heading out to sea.

Fueling The Flames

Here you can clearly see a heated example of a growing trend. Not only are Mexican Flags inter-mixed with American ones at private businesses everywhere across the country, but now a Mexican flag is posted over a federal institution.
In a demonstration last Saturday, August 26, 2006, Mexican protesters pulled down the American flag and raised a Mexican flag over a Los Angeles Post Office. Counter-protesters against the flag raising point out that the Hispanic organization La Raza is racist and that the California economy simply cannot sustain any further illegals. A diverse crowd of protesters chanted "Save Our State" and "U.S.A."
The U.S. government has facilitated, encouraged and allowed this infiltration and cultural take-over to break us into the American Union.
Main stream media has begun to cover the NAFTA superhighway brought in not by an act of Congress or a vote by U.S. citizens, but rather through the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America, an agreement between Canada, the United States and Mexico that was officially announced March 23, 2005.
The official agenda is discussed on the White House website.
But that's all behind the scenes. On the streets, the reconquista is the cultural battle for Hispanic dominance in the southwest U.S. and much of the rest of the country.
Illegal immigration is at an all-time high, and Bush's recently announced non-amnesty program will actually be the biggest amnesty ever. The answer to illegal immigration, apparently, is to merge North American nations together so that there is no "immigration" to be considered illegal.
Make no mistake, United States sovereignty as we know it is over. America is effectively merged into a pan-region and will move towards a unified currency. Don't forget, George W. Bush was waving a Mexican flag during his campaign for re-election in 2004 (at 4:28 into campaign video, posted below). His true loyalties and the extent of his agenda is just under the surface. Bush says in the second minute,"If the United States Hispanic population were a Latin American country, it would be the third largest. It would also be the richest."
http://www.jonesreport.com/articles/300806_mexican_flag.html

August 30th Quote

We're not lost. We're locationally challenged.

Poison In Your Water

Fluoride Deception = Poison in Your Water
Check out this interesting new video about flouride poisoning.

What Are You Eating Aug. 30th

Monsanto Buys ‘Terminator’ Seeds Company
GlobalResearch.ca August 27, 2006by F. William Engdahl
The United States Government has been financing research on a genetic engineering technology which, when commercialized, will give its owners the power to control the food seed of entire nations or regions. The Government has been working quietly on this technology since 1983. Now, the little-known company that has been working in this genetic research with the Government’s US Department of Agriculture-- Delta & Pine Land-- is about to become part of the world’s largest supplier of patented genetically-modified seeds (GMO), Monsanto Corporation of St. Louis, Missouri.
Relations between Monsanto, Delta & Pine Land and the USDA, on closer scrutiny, show the deep and dark side of the much-heralded genetic revolution in agriculture. It proves deep-held suspicions that the Gene Revolution is not about ‘solving the world hunger problem’ as its advocates claim. It’s about handing over control of the seeds for mankind’s basic food supply—rice, corn, soybeans, wheat, even fruit, vegetables and cotton—to privately owned corporations. Once the seeds and their use are patented and controlled by one or several private agribusiness multinationals, it will be they who can decide whether or not a particular customer—let’s say for argument, China or Brazil or India or Japan—whether they will or won’t get the patented seeds from Monsanto, or from one of its licensee GMO partners like Bayer Crop Sciences, Syngenta or DuPont’s Pioneer Hi-Bred International.
While most of us don’t bother to reflect on where the corn in the box of Kellogg’s Corn Flakes or the rice in a box of Uncle Ben’s Converted Rice come from, when we grab it from the supermarket shelf, they all must originate with seeds. Seeds can either be taken by a farmer from the previous season’ seeds, and planted to produce the next harvest. Or, seeds can be bought new each harvest season, from the companies which sell their seeds.
The advent of commercial GMO seeds in the early 1990’s allowed companies like Monsanto, DuPont or Dow Chemicals to go from supplying agriculture chemical herbicides like Roundup, to patenting genetically altered seeds for basic farm crops like corn, rice, soybeans or wheat. For almost a quarter century, since 1983, the US Government has quietly been working to perfect a genetically engineered technique whereby farmers would be forced to turn to their seed supplier each harvest to get new seeds. The seeds would only produce one harvest. After that the seeds from that harvest would commit ‘suicide’ and be unusable.
There has been much hue and cry, correctly so, that this process, patented ‘suicide’ seeds, officially termed GURTs (Genetic Use Restriction Technologies), is a threat to poor farmers in developing countries like India or Brazil, who traditionally save their own seeds for the next planting. In fact, GURTs, more popularly referred to as Terminator seeds for the brutal manner in which they kill off plant reproduction possibilities, is a threat to the food security as well of North America, Western Europe, Japan and anywhere Monsanto and its elite cartel of GMO agribusiness partners enters a market.
The Curious History of Delta & Pine Land
Delta & Pine Land is a company that, despite the pine in its name, has deep roots. Founded in 1888, it has its headquarters at One Cotton Row in Scott, Mississippi, nestled between Goat Island and Choktaw Bar Island on the Mississippi River, near the Arkansas border. However, the people running things at Delta Pine are anything but your typical Mississippi black-dirt cotton farmers.
In 1983, Delta & Pine Land (D&PL) joined with the US Department of Agriculture in a project to develop Terminator seeds. It was one of the earliest experiments with GMO. It was a long-term project. The US Government has been serious about Terminator beginning more than two decades ago.
In March 1998 the US Patent Office granted Patent No. 5,723,765 to Delta & Pine Land for a patent titled, Control of Plant Gene _Expression. The patent is owned jointly, according to Delta & Pine’s Security & Exchange Commission 10K filing, ‘by D&PL and the United States of America, as represented by the Secretary of Agriculture.’
The patent has global coverage. To quote further from the official D&PL SEC filing, ‘The patent broadly covers all species of plant and seed, both transgenic (GMO-ed) and conventional, for a system designed to allow control of progeny seed viability without harming the crop’(sic).
Then, in a manner reminiscent of Big Brother in George Orwell’s novel, 1984, D&PL claims, ‘One application of the technology could be to control unauthorized planting of seed of proprietary varieties…by making such a practice non-economic since non-authorized saved seed will not germinate, and, therefore, would be useless for planting.’ D&PL calls the thousand-year-old tradition of farmer-saved seed by the pejorative term, ‘brown bagging’ as though it is something dirty and corrupt.
Translated into lay language, D&PL officially declares the purpose of its Patent No. 5,723,765, Control of Plant Gene _Expression, is to prevent farmers who once get trapped into buying transgenic or GMO seeds from a company such as Monsanto or Syngenta, from ‘brown bagging’ or being able to break free of control of their future crops by Monsanto and friends. As D&PL puts it, their patent gives them ‘the prospect of opening significant worldwide seed markets to the sale of transgenic technology in varietal crops in which crop seed currently is saved and used in subsequent seasons as planting seed.’
Instead, the farmer or the country whose farmers depend on Monsanto patented GMO seeds must pay a license fee to Monsanto each year to get new seeds. ‘No tickee, no laundy,’ as the old Brooklyn poet would say.
Terminator is the answer to the agribusiness dream of controlling world food production. No longer would they need to hire expensive detectives to spy on whether farmers were re-using Monsanto or other GMO patented seed. Terminator corn or soybeans or cotton seeds could be genetically modified to ‘commit suicide’ after one harvest season. That would automatically prevent farmers from saving and re-using the seed for the next harvest. The technology would be a means of enforcing Monsanto or other GMO patent rights, and forcing payment of farmer use fees not only in developing economies, where patent rights were, understandably, little respected, but also in industrial OECD countries.
With Terminator patent rights, once a country such as Argentina or Brazil or Iraq or the USA or Canada opened its doors to the spread of GMO patented seeds among its farmers, their food security would be potentially hostage to a private multinational company, a company which, for whatever reasons, especially given its intimate ties to the US Government, might decide to use ‘food as a weapon’ to compel a US-friendly policy from that country or group of countries.
Sound far-fetched? Go back to what then-Secretary of State Henry Kissinger did in countries like Allende’s Chile to force a regime change to a ‘US-friendly’ Pinochet dictatorship by withholding USAID and private food exports to Chile. Kissinger dubbed it ‘food as a weapon.’ Terminator is merely the logical next step in food weapon technology.
The role of the US Government in backing and financing Delta & Pine Land’s decades of Terminator research is even more revealing. As Kissinger said back in the 1970’s, ‘Control the oil and you can control entire Continents. Control food and you control people…’
In a June 1998 interview, USDA spokesman, Willard Phelps, defined the US Government policy on Terminator seeds. He explained that USDA wanted the technology to be ‘widely licensed and made expeditiously available to many seed companies.’ He meant agribusiness GMO giants like Monsanto, DuPont or Dow. The USDA was open about their reasons: They wanted to get Terminator seeds into the developing world where the Rockefeller Foundation had made eventual proliferation of genetically engineered crops the heart of its GMO strategy from the beginnings of its rice genome project in 1984.
USDA’s Phelps stated that the US Government’s goal in fostering the widest possible development of Terminator technology was ‘to increase the value of proprietary seed owned by US seed companies and to open up new markets in Second and Third World countries.’
Under WTO rules on free trade in agriculture, countries are forbidden to impose their own national health restrictions on GMO imports if it is deemed to be an ‘unfair trade barrier.’ It begins to become clear why it was the US Government and US agribusiness which during the late 1980’s pushed at the GATT Uruguay Round for creation of a World Trade Organization, with its supranational arbitrary powers over world agriculture trade. It all fits into a neat picture of patented seeds, forced on reluctant WTO member nations, under threat of WTO sanctions, and now of Terminator or suicide seeds.
A closer look at who runs and owns Delta & Pine Land is instructive.
Arkansas Politics and D&PL
The largest shareholder in D&PL is the Stephens Group of Little Rock, Arkansas. Here is where things become interesting indeed.
The man who is Chairman of the Board of DP&L is Jon E.M. Jacoby, who came to DP&L as representative of the Stephens Group. Jacoby is a Director and Vice Chairman of The Stephens Group LLC, the Arkansas-based private equity firm owned by the Stephens family.
The Stephens Group prides itself on being the nation's largest investment bank outside Wall Street, based, of all places, in little ol' Little Rock, in hillbilly land, Arkansas, one of the poorest states in the United States. Stephens Inc. is also one of the biggest institutional shareholders in 30 large multinationals including the Arkansas based firms Tyson Food, the world’s largest chicken industrial factory operation and the infamous Arkansas giant, Wal-Mart.
Jackson Stephens, who founded the group with his brother, Witt, were more than just lucky Arkansas bankers and billionaires. Stephens evidently built his career and fortune by being connected to the ‘right’ people. He was a US Naval Academy classmate of Jimmy Carter and during the Georgia bank scandals of President Carter’s Office of Management & Budget chief, Bert Lance, it was Jack Stephens who stepped in to bail Lance out of an extremely embarrassing financial debacle with Lance’s old bank, National Bank of Georgia.
How Stephens helped Jimmy Carter’s fellow Georgia buddy, Lance, is the interesting part. Stephens introduced Lance to a Pakistani businessman, Agha Hasan Abedi. Abedi was the founder of a curious Luxembourg-registered, London-based bank called BCCI.
In 1990, BCCI was convicted of money laundering for the Columbian Cocaine Cartels in Miami.
In October, 1992, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee released an 800-page report on the BCCI collapse. They called the BCCI scandal, ‘the largest case of organized crime in history, spanning over some 72 nations,’ adding that it represented an ‘international financial crime on a massive and global scale,’ and that the bank ‘systematically bribed world leaders and political figures throughout the world.’
The Senate report concluded that among the provable charges against BCCI were ‘BCCI's criminality, including fraud…involving billions of dollars; money laundering in Europe, Africa, Asia, and the America; BCCI's bribery of officials in most of those locations; its support of terrorism, arms trafficking, and the sale of nuclear technologies; its management of prostitution; its commission and facilitation of income tax evasion, smuggling, and illegal immigration; its illicit purchases of banks and real estate; and a panoply of financial crimes limited only by the imagination of its officers and customers.’
Jackson Stephens was no casual business acquaintance of BCCI’s Agha Hasan Abedi. In response to the concerns over Jackson Stephens' involvement in BCCI, the Ohio Attorney General noted in a 1993 report, ‘Stephens' name has been linked to securities violations that allegedly occurred when the Bank of Commerce and Credit International (BCCI), a foreign bank dominated by Pakistani financier Agha Hasan Abedi, acquired stock and control over the Washington-based First American Bank.’ In 1991, Stephens joined BCCI investor Mochtar Riady in buying BCCI's former Hong Kong subsidiary from its liquidators.
The Stephens Group was well-connected to another interesting Asian banking group, the billionaire Indonesian Riady family of Moktar and his son James Riady, who own the Lippo Bank in Indonesia. The Riadys are Chinese-Indonesian businessmen who, of all places, moved to Arkansas in the 1970’s, despite holding billions of assets in Asia. Stephens and Riady hit it off and soon Stephens and Riady bought a bank in Hong Kong. Stephens then invited Riady to invest in a Little Rock, Arkansas bank called Worthen.
BCCI and Jackson Stephens, chairman of the Stephens Group of Arkansas were well known to one another. Stephens Group board member, Jon E.M. Jacoby, today Chairman of Delta & Pine Land, and still a Vice Director of The Stephens Group, was a very senior, trusted member of the Stephens’ inside circle for more than 35 years.
Jackson Stephens’ Stephens Group financially staked Sam Walton when he started Wal-Mart in 1970. Stephens also financed Tyson Foods to become the agribusiness global giant it is today. Jon Jacoby, as senior executive of the Stephens Group, had arranged the 1970 Wal-Mart deal. Jon E.M. Jacoby and Jackson Stephens went way back.
Jacoby was Vice President of Stephens Inc. in the early 1990’s, shortly after the BCCI scandals and early into the Presidency of another Jackson Stephens protégé, former Arkansas Governor and recipient of Stephens’ political largess, William Jefferson Clinton.
When an Arkansas reporter questioned Jacoby on allegations of Clinton’s alleged corruption as Governor of Arkansas, Jacoby quipped, “You see a girl walking down the street. You can say, ‘There goes a beautiful girl’ or "There goes a whore.’ What the hell's the difference? They've both got legs.”
Arkansas politics is known for its colorful metaphors and its colorful politicians like William Jefferson Clinton. It’s good to get a little of the flavor of this Arkansas colorfulness to get a better picture of Delta & Pine Land.
Stephens Group, Tyson Farms and Other Arkansas Fairy Tales
A tangled web of relations links the Stephens Group and Delta & Pine Land of Scott, Mississippi with another satellite in the agribusiness orbit of the influential Stephens Group. The Stephens Group is also linked intimately with Arkansas-based Tyson Foods, the US’ largest agribusiness processor of industrialized chicken meat, and arguably one of its most unsanitary ones.
Tyson Foods curiously emerged from the recent Avian Flu (H5N1) virus scare as a winner, using the lie that their factory farm mass-bred assembly-line chickens were more ‘sanitary’ than free-roaming small farm chickens of Asia.
Washington Administrations, at least since the Presidency of Bill Clinton, seem to have a love affair of some sort with Tyson Foods.
It began when Clinton sought to name an Arkansas crony, Mike Espy, to be his Secretary of Agriculture. Before Clinton could submit Espy’s name to the Senate for confirmation, however, Espy was sent to Arkansas for a meeting that would decide if Espy had the right stuff. The meeting was with Don Tyson, head of Tyson Foods.
Tyson apparently concluded that Espy indeed had the right stuff, at least as far as Tyson was concerned. Soon after being named head of USDA, Espy enacted measures significantly weakening Federal chicken waste and contamination standards. That opened the floodgates for expansion of Tyson Foods chicken factory farms into the huge concentrations of chicken waste and rivers overflowing with toxic pollution in Arkansas and beyond.
The Wall Street Journal on May 28, 2003 reviewed the allegations surrounding then-President Clinton and his wife, Hillary. They detailed some relevant points from the Clintons’ Arkansas days:
1977
Hillary Rodham Clinton joins the Rose Law Firm. Jackson Stephens joins with former Carter administration budget director Bert Lance and a group of Mideast investors--later identified as key figures in the corrupt Bank of Credit & Commerce International--in an unsuccessful attempt to acquire Financial General Bankshares in Washington, D.C
1978
October: Mrs. Clinton, now a partner at the Rose Firm, begins a series of commodities trades under the guidance of Tyson Foods executive Jim Blair, earning nearly $100,000. (author’s emphasis). The trades are not revealed until March 1994.
November: Bill Clinton is elected Governor of Arkansas.
The Rose law firm was the house law firm of Jackson Stephens’ Stephens Group investment bank in Little Rock. To be the corporate law firm of the Stephens Group was no casual affair. It implied a deep trust relationship and perhaps more. As one crony of Jackson Stephens put it at that time, ‘Jackson Stephens? He’s the man who owns Arkansas.’
The head of the prestigious Rose law firm in Little Rock in those days was C. Joseph Giroir jr. In 1977 Giroir hired a young lawyer named Hillary Clinton to work for Rose. It was all one cozy Arkansas-Indonesia family back then.
The Wall Street Journal commentary on the Clinton years had the following entry for 1987, as Clinton was still Arkansas Governor:
1987:
Officials at investment giant Stephens Inc., including longtime Clinton friend, David Edwards, take steps to rescue Harken Energy, a struggling Texas oil company with George W. Bush on its board. Over the next three years, Mr. Edwards brings BCCI-linked investors and advisers into Harken deals. One of them, Abdullah Bakhsh, purchases $10 million in shares of Stephens-dominated Worthen Bank. (author’s emphasis).
Jackson Stephens’ political largesse was non-partisan: Democrats Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, and then Republican George W. Bush, the man now in the White House as Monsanto seeks approval to take over the Stephens Group’s Delta & pine land.
In December 1992, just after Clinton had been elected President in a campaign financed at critical points by Jackson Stephens and friends, including the Indonesian-American Riady family, Vince Foster, an Arkansas friend of the Clinton’s, and a law partner at Hillary’s Rose law firm, met James McDougal. Foster arranged for McDougal to buy the Clintons' remaining shares in Whitewater Development Co. That land deal was focus of Congressional investigation of the Clintons. McDougal was loaned the money for the purchase by Tyson Foods counsel Jim Blair, the long-time Clinton friend and commodities adviser who in 1978 had ‘tutored’ Hillary in her fabulously successful commodities speculation. The loan by Tyson’s Jim Blair to McDougal was never repaid.
No sooner did Bill and Hillary Clinton move into the White House, and the Tyson Foods-approved Mike Espy took over as US Secretary of Agriculture, than Hillary’s former law partner, Joseph Giroir, set up a corporation. It was called Arkansas International Development Corporation (AIDC). In fact, it appears that the AIDC was set up to do joint ventures with the Indonesian Lippo Group of the business partners of Jackson Stephens, Mokhtar and James Riady.
The Arkansas International Development Corporation brokered a deal between Indonesia’s Lippo Group and Arkansas’ Tyson Foods that opened Indonesia to import Tyson Foods industrially-produced Arkansas factory farm chickens. One food Indonesia does not need to import is certainly chickens. The cheap Arkansas imports destroyed the fragile economy of domestic Indonesian small family chicken farmers.
Another project of AIDC was to issue bonds to build an airport in the Arkansas backwoods for the sole purpose of shipping Tyson Farms chickens to Indonesia. Recall that Clinton’s wife had been profiting from the trading advice of Tyson Foods since October 1978, a month before her husband became Governor.
Under the Clinton Presidency, agribusiness, especially agribusiness tied to the Stephens’ interests, made huge advances.
Agriculture Secretary Espy was forced to resign in October 1994, and was indicted on charges of accepting bribes and other gratuities. Among the charges against him were making false statements, concealing money from prohibited sources, illegal gratuities, illegal contributions, falsifying records, interstate transportation of stolen property, money laundering, and illegal dispersal of USDA subsidies. The largest corporate offender was Tyson Foods. Tyson had illegally offered Espy $12,000 in airplane rides, football tickets and other payoffs. Espy got off because the law makes it easier to convict a briber than a bribee. Tyson paid the government $6 million to close its case.
Tyson had been enthusiastic supporters of the Clinton family for years. In 1994, Time reported that a senior pilot for Tyson, Joe Henrickson, had been grilled for three days by the Espy Independent Prosecutor, Dan Smaltz, and FBI agents. They grilled the Tyson pilot about earlier transfers of cash to the (Arkansas) Governor's (Bill Clinton) mansion. According to Time, Henrickson claimed to have carried white envelopes containing a quarter-inch stack of $100 bills on six occasions.
Time magazine reported that, ‘In one case, [Henrickson claimed] a Tyson executive handed him an envelope of cash in the company's aircraft hanger in Fayetteville and said, 'This is for Governor Clinton.’ Arkansas has its political traditions and the Stephens and Tyson families are evidently skilled practitioners of that art.
The real interest in Jacoby’s Delta & Pine Land
By now the question comes, what is so attractive about the Stephens Group’s Delta & Pine Land that Monsanto makes its second bid to add it to its global genetically-engineered seeds empire?
It’s the patent Delta & Pine Land, together with the US Government, holds--Patent No. 5,723,765, titled, Control of Plant Gene _Expression. The USDA through its Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS) in Lubbock, Texas, as already noted, has worked with Delta & Pine Land since 1983 to perfect Terminator GMO technology. Patent No. 5,723,765 is the patent for Terminator technology.
One year later, in early 1999 Monsanto, the largest producer of GMO seeds and related agri-chemicals, announced it was acquiring Delta & Pine Land along with Delta’s Terminator patents.
In October 1999, however, following a worldwide storm of protest against Terminator seeds that threatened the very future of the Rockefeller Foundation’s ‘Gene Revolution’ Dr. Gordon Conway, President of the prestigious Rockefeller Foundation, met privately with the Board of Directors of Monsanto. Conway convinced Monsantom that for the long-term future of their GMO Project, they must go public to indicate to a worried world that it would not ‘commercialize’ Terminator. Development of the genetic revolution and genetic engineering as a research area had been the project of the Rockefeller Foundation over decades, along with researchers in the family’s Rockefeller University.
The Anglo-Swiss Syngenta joined with Monsanto in declaring solemnly that they would also not commercialize their work on GURTS or Terminator suicide seed technology.
That 1999 announcement took enormous pressure off of Monsanto and the agribusiness GMO giants, allowing them to advance the proliferation of their patented GMO seeds globally. Terminator could come later, once farmers and entire national agriculture areas like North America or Argentina or India had been taken over by GMO crops. Then, of course, it would be too late. The Rockefeller-Monsanto 1999 press conference was clearly application of classic Lenin Bolshevik tactics—Two Steps Forward, One Step Back…
Despite the Monsanto declaration of a moratorium on Terminator development, the US Government and the again independent Delta & Pine Land refused to drop their Terminator development.
In 2000, a year after the Monsanto Terminator moratorium announcement, the Clinton Administration’s USDA Secretary, Dan Glickman, refused repeated efforts by various agriculture and NGO organizations to drop the Government’s support for Terminator or GURTs. His Department’s feeble excuse for not dropping support for the work with Delta & Pine Land was that it allowed the US Government to put ‘leverage’ on D&PL to ‘protect the public interest.’ Six years later it became clear: the only leverage the US Government had put on D&PL’s commercialization efforts on GURTs had been to lever it into commercial reality.
Delta Vice President, Harry Collins, declared at the time in a press interview in the Agra/Industrial Biotechnology Legal Letter, ‘We’ve continued right on with work on the Technology Protection System (TPS or Terminator). We never really slowed down. We’re on target, moving ahead to commercialize it. We never really backed off.’
Nor did their partner, the United States Department of Agriculture, back down on Terminator after 1999. In 2001 the USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS) website announced: ‘USDA has no plans to introduce TPS into any germplasm…Our involvement has been to help develop the technology, not to assist companies to use it.’ As if to say, ‘see, our hands are clean.’ Then they went on to say the USDA was, ‘committed to making the [Terminator] technology as widely available as possible, so that its benefits will accrue to all segments of society (sic)…ARS intends to do research on other applications of this unique gene control discovery…When new applications are at the appropriate stage of development, this technology will also be transferred to the private sector for commercial application.’ Terminator was alive and well inside the Washington bureaucracy.
In 2001, the USDA and Delta & Pine executed a Commercialization Agreement for Terminator, its infamous Patent No. 5,723,765. The Government and Delta & Pine Land were not at all concerned about worldwide outcry against Terminator.
That announcement came two years after Monsanto had dropped its planned takeover of D&PL, with its Terminator patents.
The world was left with the (misleading) impression that Terminator was dead. Reality was it was anything but dead. Seven years later, long after public outcry against Terminator technology had died down, Monsanto re-entered and bought Delta & Pine Land and its Terminator patents.
Delta & Pine Land’s global net
The key scientific member of the Delta & Pine Land board since 1993 has been Dr. Nam-Hai Chua. Chua, 62, is also head of the Rockefeller University Plant Molecular Biology Laboratory in New York, and has been for over 25 years, the labs which are at the heart of the Rockefeller Foundation’s decades-long development, and spending of more than $100 millions of its own research grants to create their Gene Revolution. Until 1995, Chua was also a scientific consultant to Monsanto Corporation, as well as to DuPont’s Pioneer Hi-Bred International. Chua is at the heart of Rockefeller’s Gene Revolution. And, clearly, Delta & Pine Land and their research on Terminator have been in the center of that work.
Delta & Pine Land is well-placed globally to proliferate its suicide seeds now, with the corporate and financial clout of the giant Monsanto company. Delta & Pine already has subsidiaries including D&PL Argentina, D&PL China, D&PL China PTE in Singapore, Deltapine Paraguay, Delta Pine de Mexico, Deltapine Australia, Hebei Ji Dai Cottonseed Technology Company in China, CDM Mandiyu in Argentina, Delta and Pine Land Hellas in Greece, D&M Brazil Algodao of Brazil, D&PL India, D&PL Mauritius Ltd.
This vast global network combined with Monsanto’s dominant position in the GMO seeds and agri-chemicals market along with the unique DP&L Patent No. 5,723,765, Control of Plant Gene _Expression, now give Monsanto and its close friends in Washington an enormous advance in their plans to dominate world food and plant seed use.
F. William Engdahl is Contributing Editor of Global Research and author of the soon-to-be-released book, Seeds of Destruction: theDark Side of Genetically-engineeredFood. He also authored ‘ A Century of War: Anglo-American Oil Politics,’ Pluto Press, He may be contacted at his website, www.engdahl.oilgeopolitics.net

Debunking the God Energy Connection

Note: I think maybe these scientists need to go back and study the Kundalini and the mystics instead of doing a controled study on nuns.

The human brain does not contain a single "God spot" responsible for mystical and religious experiences, a new study finds.
Instead, the sense of union with God or something greater than the self often described by those who have undergone such experiences involves the recruitment and activation of a variety brain regions normally implicated in different functions such as self-consciousness, emotion and body representation.
The finding, detailed in the current issue of Neuroscience Letters, contradicts previous suggestions by other researchers that the there might be a specific region in the brain designed for communication with God.
What it means
"The main goal of the study was to identify the neural correlates of a mystical experience," said study leader Mario Beauregard of the University of Montreal in Canada. "This does not diminish the meaning and value of such an experience, and neither does it confirm or disconfirm the existence of God."
In the study, 15 cloistered Carmelite nuns, ranging in age from 23 to 64, had their brains scanned while asked to relive the most intense mystical experience they had ever had as members of the religious order.
The nuns were not asked to try and actually achieve a state of spiritual union with God during the experiment because, as the nuns put it, "God cannot be summoned at will."
Joy and love
Nevertheless, the researchers believe their method was justified because previous studies have shown that actors asked to enter a particular state activated the same brain regions as people actually experiencing those emotions.
As a control, the nuns were instructed to relive the most intense state of union with another human ever felt in their lives while in the Carmelite order.
The study found that mystical experiences activate more than a dozen different areas of the brain at once. One of the regions, called the caudate nucleus, has been implicated in positive emotions such as happiness, romantic love and maternal love.
The researchers speculate that activation of this brain region during mystical experiences is related to the feelings of joy and unconditional love the nuns described.
http://www.livescience.com/humanbiology/060829_god_spot.html

Mystery Boom

Mystery Boom that shook several homes in Nixa, MO. Tuesday night prompted several 911 calls.
Nixa is also where a huge sink hole has swollowed up a car and part of a house this month. There is no quake activity yet reported for this area and the sourch of the boom is still a mystery.
Residents in Nixa say it felt like an earthquake and some report more than one instance of shaking.

Health News Aug. 30th

You may have noticed more and more people, especially kids, complaining about allergies, sore throats, even mild fevers. Some moms are calling it the mystery bug.

So KXAN talked with Central Texas doctors to find out What's Going Around.

The mystery bug is "mycoplasma pneumonia," and it's contagious, according to Dr. Wendy Lankford at Austin Regional Clinic. It's different from full-blown pneumonia.

It's a milder germ that spreads quickly through a family or other close-knit groups, especially at school or work.

You'll notice a mild fever, scratchy throat and usually, a worsening cough. It can last up to six weeks, and the best way to avoid it is to sanitize everything and wash hands like crazy.

Lankford says those symptoms are a lot like the summertime virus, which starts with fever and then a cough. But it won't last as long, and the virus runs its course in about five to 10 days.

From Seton Healthcare Network, pediatrician Dr. Suzanne Rogers says a stomach bug that causes vomiting and diarrhea is a virus plaguing a lot of her patients in North Austin.

She's also treating plenty of upper respiratory infections, colds and strep throat.

And Rogers said this is the perfect time to remind your kids about germs at school. Explain how interacting and touching can spread those germs.

Coughing or sneezing into a tissue and washing hands before they eat lunch will help.

And Rogers says it's true: 24 hours is the wait-time if your child runs a fever higher than 100.4 degrees.




http://www.kxan.com/Global/story.asp?s=5322781

August 29th Quote

The real voyage of discovery consists not seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.

Eye's on the Skies Aug. 29th

JUPITER & ZUBENELGENUBI: When the sun goes down tonight, step outside and look southwest. The first thing you'll notice is Jupiter and the crescent Moon side-by-side--very pretty. Now look more carefully at Jupiter. See the dim star right beside it? That's Zubenelgenubi. Keep an eye on Zubenelgenubi during the nights ahead. It's making a beeline for Jupiter. The star and the planet are converging for a super-close encounter on Sept. 12th. [sky map]

Strange Pulsing Star Puzzles Astronomers

Odd flashing pulses coming from a super-magnetic star called a magnetar have astronomers glued to telescopes across the globe.
Magnetars are particularly energetic versions of neutron stars, which are the burned out remnants of regular stars.
In March, astronomers detected a magnetar approximately 10,000 light-years from Earth in the direction of the constellation Sagittarius, emitting regularly timed radio pulses. Theory had predicted that due to their high magnetic fields—100 to 1,000 times stronger than typical radio pulsars—magnetars would be unlikely to send out radio waves.
The recent sighting, which relied on the Parkes radio telescope in Australia, is causing them to rethink fundamental theories about these extreme stars.
“Previous to our detection there were some theories that explained why you could not get radio emission from magnetars; obviously those are now incorrect,” said Fernando Camilo of the Columbia Astrophysics Laboratory at Columbia University in New York.
The findings were detailed in the Aug. 24 issue of the scientific journal Nature.
Referred to as XTE J1810-197, the magnetar was first spotted by NASA’s Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer in 2003 when the object abruptly ‘came to life’ with a strong burst of X-rays. Then, in 2004, astronomers using the National Science Foundation’s Very Large Array radio telescope found the object was emitting radio waves.
To explain the anomaly, the scientists presumed the radio waves were emitted from a cloud of particles flung from the neutron star at the time of the X-ray burst. This theory was soon proved wrong when Camilo and his colleagues discovered that XTE J1810-197 was emitting strong radio pulsations every 5.5 seconds, which corresponds to the estimated rotation rate of this magnetar.
The research team suspects that the magnetar’s mega magnetic field is twisting, causing the electric currents flowing along its magnetic field lines to change locations. These currents, they think, are fueling the detected radio pulses.
Beacons of light
Like their galactic cousins radio pulsars, magnetars are a type of spinning neutron star thought to result from the explosive death, or supernova, of a massive star. These spinning neutron stars emit a constant stream of electromagnetic particles from their magnetic poles. As the star whips around on its axis, the particles traveling at near-light-speed sweep out into space. When they shine toward Earth, astronomers pick up the ejections as pulses with radio and X-ray telescopes.
A magnetar’s powerful magnetic field means that as the field decays, the star emits high-energy radiation in the form of X-rays. “The magnetic field from a magnetar would make an aircraft carrier spin around and point north quicker than a compass needle on Earth," said David Helfand of Columbia University.
More dazzling finds
With further probing, the researchers are finding even more bizarre traits of this celestial lighthouse.
http://space.com/scienceastronomy/060828_mystery_monday.html

Tonights Reminder

VERY SPECIAL BROADCAST :: 08-28-06 :: John Major Jenkins ::
11:00 pm - 2:00 am. CST
PLEASE NOTE...radiOrbit is now available LIVE ON THE NET via the COSMIC WAVES RADIO NETWORK. Access the LIVE GLOBAL BROADCAST by clicking HERE

Crossing of Species

In lab rats, "Who's your daddy?" can now yield a surprising answer. Scientists have generated rats from mice that developed rat sperm.
The breakthrough marks the first time researchers produced healthy offspring [Photo] from sperm cells fostered in a different species.
Reproductive biologist Takashi Shinohara at Kyoto University in Japan and his colleagues first began with rats genetically engineered to produce a green fluorescent protein. Their cells and progeny would thus prove easy to recognize. Shinohara and his colleagues then removed the stem cells that sperm arise from in the rats and implanted them into testicles of mice.
The scientists collected fluorescent green rat sperm from the mice and injected them into rat eggs. Successfully fertilized eggs were transferred into surrogate rat mothers.
None of the fluorescent green rat pups born—yes, they are really green—displayed any abnormalities, genetic or otherwise. Moreover, they grew up to become fertile adults.
Human applications
The capability this opens up to study human sperm generated using this method could lead to novel contraceptives, Shinohara added, or in studying what contaminants are toxic to male reproduction.
While this breakthrough raises the possibility of growing human sperm in other animals to generate viable human offspring, "it is not a good idea," Shinohara said. Besides the ethical issues, he noted there are viruses present in animals that could write themselves into genetic codes of the human sperm.
Shinohara and his colleagues reported their findings online Aug. 28 via the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
http://www.livescience.com/othernews/060828_surrogate_rats.html

August 28th Quote

A finished person is a boring person!

Christian zealots destroy ancient Arctic petroglyphs

Canada's only major Arctic petroglyph site -- a 1,500-year-old gallery of mysterious faces carved into a soapstone ridge on a tiny island off of Quebec's northern coast -- has been ransacked by vandals in what the region's top archeologist suspects was a religiously motivated attack by devout Christians from a nearby Inuit community.
For years, heritage advocates have sought special protection for the ancient etchings at Qajartalik Island, located about one hour by boat from the 500-resident village of Kangiqsujuaq. Experts believe they were created by the extinct Dorset culture, an artistically advanced civilization that occupied much of the eastern Arctic before they were killed or driven away by the Thule ancestors of modern Inuit.
More than 170 mask-like images, animal shapes and other symbols have been recorded on the island since the 1960s. Studies suggest Qajartalik was a sacred place, used for Dorset spiritual ceremonies and coming-of-age rituals.
But the site has been dubbed "the Island of the Stone Devils" because some of the faces -- possibly depicting a Dorset shaman in religious costume -- appear to be adorned with horns. In the past, crosses have been scratched on the "pagan" petroglyphs and some area residents have told researchers they believe the site is infested with evil spirits.
http://www.canada.com/reginaleaderpost/news/story.html?id=8abe338f-f3f6-4a2e-a701-082e61411817

Update on the Lunatic Fringe

Hidden U.S. Plans for War on Iran:Imminent Danger...and Strategic Stakes
People close to Bush are telling you—if you listen to what they are saying—that the Bush regime is undertaking serious preparations for a war on Iran in 2007. A U.S. attack on Iran may very well involve nuclear weapons, and in any event would take the initial form of a massive bombing attack, with terrible human consequences, and terrible political consequences.
The horrible destruction in Lebanon, the murder of a thousand people and the displacement of a quarter of the population of the country, has been described by Condoleezza Rice as “the birth pangs of a new Middle East.” And an attack—again, very possibly a nuclear attack—on Iran would be of far greater magnitude, with the prospect of much greater suffering and death.
The Threat of War on Iran in 2007
In the August 21 issue of The New Yorker magazine, investigative journalist Seymour Hersh revealed information leaked anonymously by people close to, or formerly close to, the Bush administration. Hersh's piece exposed the role of the Bush administration in planning Israel's invasion of Lebanon, and that the war in Lebanon was viewed by the Bush administration as preparation, and a trial run, for a U.S. attack on Iran. Speaking of the Israeli attack on Lebanon, a U.S. government consultant with close ties to Israel told Hersh. “Why oppose it? We'll be able to hunt down and bomb missiles, tunnels, and bunkers from the air. It would be a demo for Iran.” (our emphasis)
The Nuclear Terror Nightmare—a U.S. Nuclear Attack on Iran
Basic facts: Iran doesn't have nuclear weapons, and is not threatening to use nuclear weapons against the United States. The United States does have nuclear weapons, and is not only threatening their use, but a nuclear attack appears to be a significant element of current U.S. war planning against Iran.
Who's NOT Gonna Stop This War…
There is a logic to an attack on Iran not only from the standpoint of the neocons and Bush, but for the “opposition” Democratic Party as well. For the neocons, a U.S. dominated Iran is key to radically reshaping the Middle East, come what may. It is a critical part of their articulated vision of the U.S. as the world's new Roman Empire—a sole, unchallengeable superpower. For the Democrats, who may have had reservations about embarking on this adventure in Iraq, or may have regrets about how it worked out, they are—in the words of Al Gore—“lashed to the mast of our ship of state.” Like it or not, they are along for the ride because to bail now would—judged by the interests of U.S. imperialism —represent a major and destabilizing setback for U.S. imperialism.
Read Full Up Coming September 3rd Article at the following:
http://www.revcom.us/a/059/iran-editorial-en.html

Cola Company Update

Coca-Cola Co. Sued As Part of Effort to Force Soft Drink Makers to Eliminate Ingredients That Can Form Cancer-Causing Benzene -- In the latest round, Coca-Cola Co. was sued Friday as part of an effort to force soft drink makers to get rid of ingredients in their drinks that can form this cancer-causing benzene.

What are you eating Aug. 28th Part 1

Coca-Cola Co. Sued As Part of Effort to Force Soft Drink Makers to Eliminate Ingredients That Can Form Cancer-Causing Benzene

For those of you behind on the news, sugar isn't the only ingredient that makes soda dangerous these days. There's a new concern percolating bigtime, and it's called benzene. And this substance -- as you can learn here -- can be quite dangerous. In fact, benzene is linked to leukemia and other forms of cancer.
In the latest round, Coca-Cola Co. was sued Friday as part of an effort to force soft drink makers to get rid of ingredients in their drinks that can form this cancer-causing benzene, the AP's prolific writer Libby Quaid reported.
Interestingly, the action against soft drink giant Coke comes as two smaller companies settled a lawsuit over benzene, which can form in soft drinks containing vitamin C (also called ascorbic acid), and either sodium benzoate or potassium benzoate. In fact, scientists heat or light exposure or other factors can actually trigger a reaction that forms benzene in beverages.
"The companies that settled, Atlanta-based In Zone Brands Inc., maker of BellyWashers, and Preston, Wash.-based TalkingRain Beverage Co., denied that their products caused any harm," Quaid reported. Despite their claims, both companies agreed to change their ingredients and to refund or replace drinks made before a switch in ingredients. According to the lawsuits, independent lab tests found benzene levels in the drinks to be above the federal limit for benzene in drinking water.
It'll be very interesting to see what Coke does, given that these smaller companies have settled and agreed to product changes. Obviously, it would make sense for the soft drink giant to do some quick formulation changing, too. And, gee, wouldn't it be nice if, at the same time, they cut back on sugar content but left out artificial sweeteners? Yeah, I know, it's a pipe dream.
By the way, here's what the EPA has to say about this substance:
"Benzene is found in the air from emissions from burning coal and oil, gasoline service stations, and motor vehicle exhaust. Acute (short-term) inhalation exposure of humans to benzene may cause drowsiness, dizziness, headaches, as well as eye, skin, and respiratory tract irritation, and, at high levels, unconsciousness. Chronic (long-term) inhalation exposure has caused various disorders in the blood, including reduced numbers of red blood cells and aplastic anemia, in occupational settings. Reproductive effects have been reported for women exposed by inhalation to high levels, and adverse effects on the developing fetus have been observed in animal tests. Increased incidence of leukemia (cancer of the tissues that form white blood cells) have been observed in humans occupationally exposed to benzene. EPA has classified benzene as a Group A, human carcinogen."
Excuse my naivete, but how could soda companies create beverages that cause benzene to be formed? Isn't that horribly irresponsible?
http://www.commonvoice.com/article.asp?colid=5723

What Are You Eating August 28th

MONSANTO WHISTLEBLOWER: GENETICALLY ENGINEERED CROPS MAY CAUSE DISEASE
By Jeffrey SmithAugust 28, 2006NewsWithViews.com
Monsanto was quite happy to recruit young Kirk Azevedo to sell their genetically engineered cotton. Kirk had grown up on a California farm and had worked in several jobs monitoring and testing pesticides and herbicides. Kirk was bright, ambitious, handsome and idealistic—the perfect candidate to project the company’s “Save the world through genetic engineering” image.
It was that image, in fact, that convinced Kirk to take the job in 1996. “When I was contacted by the headhunter from Monsanto, I began to study the company, namely the work of their CEO, Robert Shapiro.” Kirk was thoroughly impressed with Shapiro’s promise of a golden future through genetically modified (GM) crops. “He described how we would reduce the in-process waste from manufacturing, turn our fields into factories and produce anything from lifesaving drugs to insect-resistant plants. It was fascinating to me.” Kirk thought, “Here we go. I can do something to help the world and make it a better place.”
He left his job and accepted a position at Monsanto, rising quickly to become the facilitator for GM cotton sales in California and Arizona. He would often repeat Shapiro’s vision to customers, researchers, even fellow employees. After about three months, he visited Monsanto’s St. Louis headquarters for the first time for new employee training. There too, he took the opportunity to let his colleagues know how enthusiastic he was about Monsanto’s technology that was going to reduce waste, decrease poverty and help the world. Soon after the meeting, however, his world was shaken.
“A vice president pulled me aside,” recalled Kirk. “He told me something like, ‘Wait a second. What Robert Shapiro says is one thing. But what we do is something else. We are here to make money. He is the front man who tells a story. We don’t even understand what he is saying.’”
Kirk felt let down. “I went in there with the idea of helping and healing and came out with ‘Oh, I guess it is just another profit-oriented company.’” He returned to California, still holding out hopes that the new technology could make a difference.
Possible Toxins in GM Plants
Kirk was developing the market in the West for two types of GM cotton. Bt cotton was engineered with a gene from a soil bacterium, Bacillus thuringiensis. Organic farmers use the natural form of the bacterium as an insecticide, spraying it occasionally during times of high pest infestation. Monsanto engineers, however, isolated and then altered the gene that produces the Bt-toxin, and inserted it into the DNA of the cotton plant. Now every cell of their Bt cotton produces a toxic protein. The other variety was Roundup Ready® cotton. It contains another bacterial gene that enables the plant to survive an otherwise toxic dose of Monsanto’s Roundup® herbicide. Since the patent on Roundup’s main active ingredient, glyphosate, was due to expire in 2000, the company was planning to sell Roundup Ready seeds that were bundled with their Roundup herbicide, effectively extending their brand’s dominance in the herbicide market.
In the summer of 1997, Kirk spoke with a Monsanto scientist who was doing some tests on Roundup Ready cotton. Using a “Western blot” analysis, the scientist was able to identify different proteins by their molecular weight. He told Kirk that the GM cotton not only contained the intended protein produced by the Roundup Ready gene, but also extra proteins that were not normally produced in the plant. These unknown proteins had been created during the gene insertion process.
Gene insertion was done using a gene gun (particle bombardment). Kirk, who has an undergraduate degree in biochemistry, understood this to be “a kind of barbaric and messy method of genetic engineering, where you use a gun-like apparatus to bombard the plant tissue with genes that are wrapped around tiny gold particles.” He knew that particle bombardment can cause unpredictable changes and mutations in the DNA, which might result in new types of proteins.
The scientist dismissed these newly created proteins in the cotton plant as unimportant background noise, but Kirk wasn’t convinced. Proteins can have allergenic or toxic properties, but no one at Monsanto had done a safety assessment on them. “I was afraid at that time that some of these proteins may be toxic.” He was particularly concerned that the rogue proteins “might possibly lead to mad cow or some other prion-type diseases.”
Kirk had just been studying mad cow disease (bovine spongiform encephalopathy) and its human counterpart, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD). These fatal diseases had been tracked to a class of proteins called prions. Short for “proteinaceous infectious particles,” prions are improperly folded proteins, which cause other healthy proteins to also become misfolded. Over time, they cause holes in the brain, severe dysfunction and death. Prions survive cooking and are believed to be transmittable to humans who eat meat from infected “mad” cows. The disease may incubate undetected for about 2 to 8 years in cows and up to 30 years in humans.
When Kirk tried to share his concerns with the scientist, he realized, “He had no idea what I was talking about; he had not even heard of prions. And this was at a time when Europe had a great concern about mad cow disease and it was just before the noble prize was won by Stanley Prusiner for his discovery of prion proteins.” Kirk said “These Monsanto scientists are very knowledge about traditional products, like chemicals, herbicides and pesticides, but they don’t understand the possible harmful outcomes of genetic engineering, such as pathophysiology or prion proteins. So I am explaining to him about the potential untoward effects of these foreign proteins, but he just did not understand.”

Endangering the Food Supply
At this time, Roundup Ready cotton varieties were just being introduced into other regions but were still being field-tested in California. California varieties had not yet been commercialized. But Kirk came to find out that Monsanto was feeding the cotton plants used in its test plots to cattle.
“I had great issue with this,” he said. “I had worked for Abbot Laboratories doing research, doing test plots using Bt sprays from bacteria. We would never take a test plot and put into the food supply, even with somewhat benign chemistries. We would always destroy the test plot material and not let anything into the food supply. Now we entered into a new era of genetic engineering. The standard was not the same as with pesticides. It was much lower, even though it probably should have been much higher.”
Kirk complained to the Ph.D. in charge of the test plot about feeding the experimental plants to cows. He explained that unknown proteins, including prions, might even effect humans who consume the cow’s milk and meat. The scientist replied, “Well that’s what we’re doing everywhere else and that’s what we’re doing here.” He refused to destroy the plants.
Kirk got a bit frantic. He started talking to others in the company. “I approached pretty much everyone on my team in Monsanto.” He was unable to get anyone interested. In fact, he said, “Once they understood my perspective, I was somewhat ostracized. It seemed as if once I started questioning things, people wanted to keep their distance from me. I lost the cooperation with other team members. Anything that interfered with advancing the commercialization of this technology was going to be pushed aside.”
He then approached California Agriculture Commissioners. “These local Ag commissioners are traditionally responsible for test plots and to make sure test plot designs protect people and the environment.” But Kirk got nowhere. “Once again, even at the Ag commissioner level, they were dealing with a new technology that was beyond their comprehension. They did not really grasp what untoward effects might be created by the genetic engineering process itself.”
Kirk continued to try to blow the whistle on what he thought could be devastating to the health of consumers. “I spoke to many Ag commissioners. I spoke to people at the University of California. I found no one who would even get it, or even get the connection that proteins might be pathogenic, or that there might be untoward effects associated with these foreign proteins that we knew we were producing. They didn’t even want to talk about it really. You’d kind of see a blank stare when speaking to them on this level. That led me to say I am not going to be part of this company anymore. I’m not going to be part of this disaster, from a moral perspective.”
Kirk gave his two-week notice. In early January 1998, he finished his last day of work in the morning and in the afternoon started his first day at chiropractic college. He was still determined to make a positive difference for the world, but with a radically changed approach.
While in school, he continued to research prion disease and its possible connection with GM crops. What he read them and what is known now about prions has not alleviated his concerns. He says, “The protein that manifests as mad cow disease takes about five years. With humans, however, that time line is anywhere from 10-30 years. We were talking about 1997 and today is 2006. We still don’t know if there is anything going to happen to us from our being used as test subjects.”
Update
It turns out that the damage done to DNA due to the process of creating a genetically modified organism is far more extensive than previously thought.[1] GM crops routinely create unintended proteins, alter existing protein levels or even change the components and shape of the protein that is created by the inserted gene. Kirk’s concerns about a GM crop producing a harmful misfolded protein remain well-founded, and have been echoed by scientists as one of the many possible dangers that are not being evaluated by the biotech industry’s superficial safety assessments.
GM cotton has provided ample reports of unpredicted side-effects. In April 2006, more than 70 Indian shepherds reported that 25% of their herds died within 5-7 days of continuous grazing on Bt cotton plants.[2] Hundreds of Indian agricultural laborers reported allergic reactions from Bt cotton. Some cotton harvesters have been hospitalized and many laborers in cotton gin factories take antihistamines each day before work.[3]
The cotton’s agronomic performance is also erratic. When Monsanto’s GM cotton varieties were first introduced in the US, tens of thousands of acres suffered deformed roots and other unexpected problems. Monsanto paid out millions in settlements.[4] When Bt cotton was tested in Indonesia, widespread pest infestation and drought damage forced withdrawal of the crop, despite the fact that Monsanto had been bribing at least 140 individuals for years, trying to gain approval.[5] In India, inconsistent performance has resulted in more than $80 million dollars in losses in each of two states.[6] Thousands of indebted Bt cotton farmers have committed suicide. In Vidarbha, in north east Maharashtra, from June through August 2006, farmers committed suicide at a rate of about one every eight hours.[7] (The list of adverse reactions reported from other GM crops, in lab animals, livestock and humans, is considerably longer.)
Kirk’s concern about GM crop test plots also continues to remain valid. The industry has been consistently inept at controlling the spread of unapproved varieties. On August 18, 2006, for example, the USDA announced that unapproved GM long grain rice, which was last field tested by Bayer CropScience in 2001, had contaminated the US rice crop[8] (probably for the past 5 years). Japan responded by suspending long grain rice imports and the EU will now only accept shipments that are tested and certified GM-free. Similarly, in March 2005, the US government admitted that an unapproved corn variety had escaped from Syngenta’s field trials four years earlier and had contaminated US corn.[9] By year’s end, Japan had rejected at least 14 shipments containing the illegal corn. Other field trialed crops have been mixed with commercial varieties, consumed by farmers, stolen, even given away by government agencies and universities who had accidentally mixed seed varieties.
Some contamination from field trials may last for centuries. That may be the fate of a variety of unapproved Roundup Ready grass which, according to reports made public in August 2006, had escaped into the wild from an Oregon test plot years earlier. Pollen had crossed with other varieties and wind had dispersed seeds. Scientists believe that the variety will cross pollinate with other grass varieties and may contaminate the commercial grass seed supply—70 percent of which is grown in Oregon.
Even GM crops with known poisons are being grown outdoors without adequate safeguards for health and the environment. A corn engineered to produce pharmaceutical medicines, for example, contaminated corn and soybean fields in Iowa and Nebraska in 2002.[10] On August 10, 2006, a federal judge ruled that the drug-producing GM crops grown in Hawaii violated both the Endangered Species Act and the National Environmental Policy Act.[11]
A December 29, 2005 report by the USDA office of Inspector General, blasted the agriculture department for its abysmal oversight of GM field trials, particularly for the high risk drug producing crops.[12] And a January 2004 report by the National Research Council also called upon the government to strengthen its oversight, but acknowledged that there is no way to guarantee that field trialed crops will not pollute the environment.[13]
With the US government failing to prevent GM contamination, and with state governments and agriculture commissioners unwilling to challenge the dictates of the biotech industry, some California counties decided to enact regulations of their own. California’s diverse agriculture is particularly vulnerable and thousands of field trials on not-yet-approved GM crops have already taken place there. If contamination were discovered, it could easily devastate an industry. Four counties have enacted moratoria or bans on the planting of GM crops, including both approved and unapproved varieties. This follows the actions of more than 4500 jurisdictions in Europe and dozens of nations, states and regions on all continents, which have sought to restrict planting of GM crops to protect their health, environment and agriculture.
Ironically, California’s assembly, which has done nothing to protect the state from possible losses due to GM crop contamination, passed a bill on August 24, 2006 that prohibits other counties and cities from creating GM free zones. The senate is expected to vote on the issue by the end of their session on August 31st. [Read]. It is yet another example of how the biotech industry has been able to push their agenda onto US consumers, without regard to health and environmental safeguards. No doubt that their lobbyists, anxious to have this bill pass, told legislators that GM crops are needed to stop poverty and feed a hungry world.
Jeffrey Smith’s forthcoming book, Genetic Roulette, documents more than 60 health risks of GM foods in easy-to-read two-page spreads, and demonstrates how current safety assessments are not competent to protect consumers from the dangers. His previous book, Seeds of Deception (www.seedsofdeception.com), is the world’s bestselling book on the subject. He is available for media at info@seedsofdeception.com. Dr. Kirk Azevedo has a chiropractic office in Cambria, California. Press may reach him at (805) 927-1055 or at drkirk(at)charter.net.
Spilling the Beans is a monthly column available at www.responsibletechnology.org.
Footnotes:
1, JR Latham et al., "The Mutational Consequences of Plant Transformation," The Journal of Biomedicine and Biotechnology, Vol 2006 Article ID 25376 Pages 1-7, DOI 10.1155/JBB/2006/25376; for a more in-depth discussion, see also Allison Wilson et al., "Genome Scrambling -Myth or Reality? Transformation-Induced Mutations in Transgenic Crop Plants, Technical Report - October 20042, Mortality in Sheep Flocks after Grazing on Bt Cotton Fields - Warangal District, Andhra Pradesh. Report of the Preliminary Assessment April 20063, Ashish Gupta, et. al., Impact of Bt Cotton on Farmers' Health (in Barwani and Dhar District of Madhya Pradesh), Investigation Report, Oct - Dec 20054, See for example, Monsanto Cited In Crop Losses New York Times, June 16, 1998, and Greenpeace5, Antje Lorch, Monsanto Bribes in Indonesia, Monsanto Fined For Bribing Indonesian Officials to Avoid Environmental Studies for Bt Cotton, ifrik 1sep20056, Bt Cotton - No Respite for Andhra Pradesh Farmers More than 400 crores' worth losses for Bt Cotton farmers in Kharif 2005 Centre for Sustainable Agriculture: Press Release, March 29, 2006, see also November 14, 2005 article in regarding Madhya Pradesh.7, Jaideep Hardikar, One suicide every 8 hours, Daily News & Analysis (India), August 26, 2006 8, Rick Weiss, U.S. Rice Supply Contaminated, Genetically Altered Variety Is Found in Long-Grain Rice, Washington Post, August 19, 2006;9, Jeffrey Smith, US Government and Biotech Firm Deceive Public on GM Corn Mix-up, Spilling the Beans, April 200510, See for example, Christopher Doering, ProdiGene to spend millions on bio-corn tainting, Reuters News Service, USA: December 9, 200211, See www.centerforfoodsafety.org12, Office of Inspector General, USDA, Audit Report Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service Controls Over Issuance of Genetically Engineered Organism Release Permits, December 2005 13, Justin Gillis, Genetically Modified Organisms Not Easily Contained; National Research Council Panel Urges More Work to Protect Against Contamination of Food Supply, Washington Post, Jan 21, 2004
http://www.newswithviews.com/Smith/jeffrey14.htm

Health News Aug. 28th

Childhood Allergies Have Increased Globally Since 1991
Childhood allergies have become more widespread around the globe since 1991, according to a large study. The most common allergies are hayfever, asthma and eczema. In the UK, a study of 1,700 children found asthma prevalence went up from 18.4% in 1991 to 20.9% in 2003 - for the same period hayfever prevalence went up from 9.8% to 10.1% and eczema rose from 13% to 16%.
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/healthnews.php?newsid=50592
Study links chemical used in plastics to breast cancer
A CHEMICAL used in plastic bottles and other household products may be linked to the development of breast cancer, researchers said yesterday.
US scientists showed that high concentrations of Bisphenol A (BPA), an oestrogen-like chemical which mimics female hormones, can stimulate cancer cells.
Experts had previously suggested that natural changes to the chemical when it enters the human body rendered the oestrogen-like chemical harmless.
But a US study found that the common chemical keeps its cancer-causing properties even after being modified by processes in the body.
http://news.scotsman.com/health.cfm?id=1258322006

Multi Drug Resistant Bacteria Most Common Cause of Skin Infections
A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine finds that skin infections resistant to drugs are more common than ever before. Lead author Gregory Moran with Olive View-UCLA Medical Center says
MSRA-Back Abscess- or MRSA - has become the leading cause of such
infections seen in hospital emergency rooms. "It now accounts for 59% overall of skin infections," he says, pointing out that the statistic represents a fairly remarkable change. "Five or six years ago, it would have been almost [unheard of] to find MRSA among these types of patients."
Moran says this so-called community-associated MRSA strain is not related to the hospital infections. "They are different strains genetically. The community strains fortunately are more susceptible to antibiotics. So we do have a few more options in terms of treating the community MRSA strains compared to the hospital ones." However, the community strain appears to be more aggressive and more likely to cause infection.
Moran says MRSA spreads rapidly from person to person and recommends good hygiene as a preventive measure. "Frequent hand washing, cleaning all shared equipment, trying to avoid sharing towels, razors, sports equipment those things whenever possible. Anybody who does have a skin infection should keep it covered so that they are not exposing other people."
Moran says further studies are necessary to determine which antibiotics are most effective against community-associated MRSA and to track over time whether resistance to antibiotics changes within the strain.
http://www.voanews.com/english/AmericanLife/2006-08-25-voa51.cfm

What is Benzene?
Benzene is an organic compound frequently used in the manufacturing of rubber, paint, plastics, resins, drugs, pesticides, synthetics, and other products. Benzene is a colorless and highly flammable liquid with a sweet odor. Benzene can also be present in organic solvents, gasoline, and tobacco smoke.
Exposure to benzene is most likely to occur among workers in facilities that use the chemical in their products. Benzene exposure can cause acute myelogenous leukemia (AML), as well as other forms of leukemia and cancer. In addition, benzene can enter the environment through spills, accidental releases, volcanic eruptions, and forest fires.Benzene Health EffectsContact with low to moderate levels of benzene for a short time can cause headaches, vomiting, disorientation, shakiness, elevated heart rate, and loss of consciousness. Very high levels of exposure can be fatal. People who work with high levels of benzene or who are exposed to it over a long period of time are at the highest risk for developing benzene-related illnesses, such as acute myelogenous leukemia, acute lyphocytic leukemia, Hodgkin’s disease, hairy cell leukemia, aplastic anemia, and myelodysplastic syndrome. Under the law, victims of benzene-related health effects may be eligible for compensation. If you have been harmed by benzene exposure, you may want to consider seeking consultation to learn more about your options.
http://www.benzene411.org/?src=googlead

People identification - ALERT -- CDC Plans NPIS - In recent email dispatch it was announced that the Center for Disease Control has discovered 13 cases of human plague in four states leading to the proposal for a new National People Identification System (NPIS) to use implantable, satellite GPS based, active RFID for tracking the movements and interactions of all humans to control the spread of disease.

August 27th Weekend Update

The New American Dream: Dumpster Diving To Survive
Free2Think August 23, 2006
Are you concerned about the path our nation is on? Worried about the future of our already crumbling economy? Fear of losing your job? Perhaps you have recently lost your job and are wondering what you are going to do next? Have you kept your eye on the paper hoping for a career change? What opportunities do you see?
Over the road truck driver, where the only way to make a decent living is to stay gone for 3 to 4 weeks every month. Retail, department stores, Wal Mart, McDonnalds. All of these jobs that pay barely above minimum wage, which does not intend to go up anytime soon. Meanwhile the cost of fuel is outrages and the only time it goes down a few cents is when it's watered down so bad that you don't get any milage from it. Combine the situation in the middle east along with BP's slick problem in Alaska, it is easy to see fuel prices rise to 4 or more dollars per gallon before the end of the year. With that comes the price hike of everything else. While looking through your local paper and browsing all of the promissing job leads, did you happen to skim through the list of forclosures?
It becomes easy to understand why you might be worried about the future, especially if you fear losing your possible "good job". Where will you go, what would you do? How are you going to pay your bills after paying for the gas to get to work? Will the new 7 to 8 dollar an hour jobs that Bush speaks of be enough for you to make an honest living? There are always "get rich quick" programs, but those never seem to work. How will you ever achive your share of the American dream?
Fear not, we live in the days of change. We live in a new age now, an age where you lie to make yourself believe everything is ok. An age where we pretend life is perfect. If telling yourself lies does not work, there is always an unlimited supply of leagally prescribed drugs known as antidepressants. This is the age where we change our beliefs and goals and modify them in order to believe we have what we want. This is the age of the New American Dream.
There are many tips available for cutting cost and saving money in your home, and if the job ax happens to get passed down to your employer, Northwest Airlines Corp. has a few suggestions you might think about. Don't feel so bad about losing your job, while the boss is getting rich, there is always a trash can near by. You could do things like dig in the trash for your needs, or take your date for a walk in the woods!
How does that make you feel? What nerve the big wigs must have. "Thanks for making us rich with your hard work and dedication but we no longer have a job for you. By the way, I left half a sandwich in the trash for you. Pick it up on the way out. Have a nice day."
Oh, but you say you have a good job and you are a good worker, you don't need to worry about losing your job. Yea right! Look around you it is happening every day, everywhere. What do we Americans do about it? Nothing! We just simply kiss "the man's" ass and allow him to give us a good screwing minus the lube. While we are busy buying into this world trade garbage we are losing our jobs. Don't worry about it, I am sure you can get a job at Wal Mart for 8 bucks an hour. The fast food industry is growing out of control, they always have openings and the freshest trash you have ever tasted. If nothing else, you can get a job with a temp service and let them pay you half of what the job actually pays. The oportunities are endless.
This is what our nation has come to, and it's just the beginning. Don't even think you are going to get some kind of government assistance either. Sure you might meet the requirements for 75 dollars per month in food stamps, and 40 dollars per month in cash assistance, but that stuff is not reserved for you. Our government needs those funds to pay illegals to come into our country and do our jobs for a sizeable cut. Thats right, your "welfare" program that you might be forced to fall back on is going to good use. While your hard earned taxed dollars went to pay for these programs, our government, (the same government that is sending the good jobs out of our country) is giving the assistance to illegals to work at American jobs and for schooling.
Don't think you are going to be on easy street when you switch careers from an Auto worker to being homeless either. They are already forclosing on cardboard boxes, that stuff is recycle material! Many states are passing laws making it illegal to be homeless. Las Vegas now has a law making it illegal to help the homeless, which could soon be you or me. If you are caught giving food to the homeless in public there, you could face fines and even jail time. "Please do not feed the homeless, they are there for your amusement only!"
Welcome to the new American way. This is the way things are here, you can chose to ignore it all you want, but thats not going to make it go away. It is only getting worse, that is fact, not opinion. Everyday, every situation gets worse. The good jobs are going away. The rich are not just getting richer, they are getting insanely filthy rich, wile the general public is getting raped. What once was good money has become enough to barely pay the bills.
While the people wait to see if this is just the result of one criminal administration, hoping it will end, the government is passing new laws against us all. Our lack of action has enabled them to make new laws preventing you from taking action later. If you form a group to protest the price of fuel, you and your group could be put on the terror watch list. Lets not lie to ourselves either, we all know that things here are getting out of hand. Jobs are just one simple example. We all know that the current administration and the last one also, has made it possible for the good jobs to pack up and leave. What have we done about it? Nothing! We feel content to watch them go, but what happens when they are all finally gone? We will be stuck asking ourselves what happened.
We can sit here praising one side or the other. We can pretend that the Democrats will fix the situation, just like we thought the Republicans would. Wake up already, it is not going to happen. Both sides are in bed together, they all enjoy the same benefits and riches while you sink to the bottom.
In the end we will be angry, we might possibly rise against those who led us here, we will want answers. There is only one problem, the answer is already in front of us. In fact, the answer has been in our faces for generations. If we wait, we will have nobody to blame but ourselves. You can not blame government officials for doing what you have allowed them to do, it is that simple. Our lack of action allows our government to do as they please, and what they are pleased to do is get rich with oil, war, and big corporations. From the birth of this great nation it was known that it is the responsibility to keep the government in line. We the people are failing our responsibility.
Welcome to the new American dream.

Earth on It's Side

Earth might have spun on its side to keep its balance in the distant past, and could do so again, scientists reported today.
Alaska was suddenly at the equator, the thinking goes. [Graphic]
Scientists already know that the North Pole wanders over time. But a theory known as true polar wander suggests that if a very heavy object, like an oversized volcano forms far from the equator, the force of the planet's rotation would pull the object away from the axis the Earth spins around.
Should a mass such as the very heavy volcano become unbalanced, Earth would tilt and rotate itself until the extra weight moves somewhere near the equator.
Analyzed samples of ancient sediments found in the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard show that such an event may have indeed happened in the past.
"The sediments we have recovered from Norway offer the first good evidence that a true polar wander event happened about 800 million years ago," said Adam Maloof, an assistant professor of geosciences at Princeton University. "If we can find good corroborating evidence from other parts of the world as well, we will have a very good idea that our planet is capable of this sort of dramatic change."
http://www.livescience.com/forcesofnature/060825_earth_tilt.html

Ernesto Update Aug. 27th

IT SHOULD BE NOTED THAT THE OFFICIAL FORECAST INTENSITYAT 96 HOURS ASSUMES SOME WEAKENING DUE TO INTERACTION WITH LAND. HOWEVER....ERNESTO COULD APPROACH CATEGORY 3 STATUS PRIOR TO THEPROJECTED LANDFALL IN WESTERN FLORIDA. INITIAL MOTION IS ESTIMATED AT 310/8. A CONTINUED NORTHWESTWARDTRACK IS INDICATED BY MOST OF THE NUMERICAL GUIDANCE OVER THE NEXTCOUPLE OF DAYS. THIS WOULD TAKE ERNESTO OVER A SIGNIFICANT PORTIONOF CUBA. A MID-TROPOSPHERIC ANTICYCLONE OVER THE SOUTHEASTERNUNITED STATES IS EXPECTED TO SHIFT EASTWARD AS A SHORTWAVE TROUGHDROPS INTO THE LOWER MISSISSIPPI IN 3-5 DAYS. THIS SHOULD CAUSE AMORE NORTHWARD HEADING LATER IN THE FORECAST PERIOD. THE 0600 UTCRUNS OF THE GFS HAS SHIFTED A LITTLE TO THE WEST OF THE PREVIOUSRUN BUT THE 0600 UTC NOGAPS HAS SHIFTED TO THE EAST. THE OFFICIALFORECAST TRACK IS NUDGED SLIGHTLY MORE TO THE RIGHT TO BE CLOSER TOTHE MODEL CONSENSUS. THIS IS EAST OF THE LATEST GFDL MODEL TRACK.A TROPICAL STORM OR HURRICANE WATCH MAY BE REQUIRED FOR THE FLORIDAKEYS AS EARLY AS 2100 UTC TODAY.
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/text/refresh/MIATCDAT5+shtml/271459.shtml?

Response Letter

Response Letter from the Dept. of the Navy concerning the News Release NAZI SWASTIKA COMPLEX AT CORONADO NAVAL BASE SENDS THE WORLD A MESSAGE!

To View Letter:

http://www.thepowerhour.com/news2/navy_response_letter.htm

Eye's on the skies Aug. 27th

A solar wind stream is buffeting Earth's magnetic field, and this could cause a mild geomagnetic storm. Sky watchers in Scandinavia, Canada and Alaska should be alert for auroras tonight.

August 27th Quote

May I never miss a sunset or a rainbow because I was looking down.

Up Coming Monday Night Program 08/28/06

VERY SPECIAL BROADCAST :: 08-28-06 :: John Major Jenkins
John Major Jenkins is an independent researcher who has devoted himself to reconstructing ancient Mayan cosmology and philosophy. Since 1986, John has traveled to Mexico and Central America seven times. In 1990 he helped build a school in San Pedro, near Lake Atitlan in Guatemala. In 1994 he delivered relief supplies to a Quiché Maya community in the Western highlands of Guatemala. Since beginning his odyssey of research and discovery with the Maya, John has authored dozens of articles and many books.
Over 2,000 years ago the early Maya formulated a profound galactic cosmology. They saw that the sun, on the winter solstice, was slowly moving toward the heart of the galaxy. Naturally enough, with their uncorrupted intelligence intact, they suspected that the world would go through a transformation when the solar and the galactic planes aligned. They devised their Long Count calendar to target when the cosmic alignment would maximize, and that time is AD 2012. We are lucky that the brilliant skywatchers who devised the 2012 calendar left carved monuments for us to decode, and that they have survived the decay of centuries, so that we can know exactly what they prophesied and believed about 2012.
Incredibly, at the early Maya site of Izapa in southern Mexico, the galactic cosmology and a profound spiritual teaching are preserved. Izapa speaks to us of the Galactic Alignment in 2012 as a transformative nexus in time, a still-point turnabout, inviting us to reconnect with our cosmic heart and eternal source. With the Divine Wisdom. But how can that be achieved? What is the original, undiluted, prophecy for 2012, divined by those ancient mystics and stargazers who invented the 2012 calendar?
Izapa's carved monuments provide the answers—now, for the first time in two millennia, the secrets of Mayan sacred science have been decoded. Now, we can directly read the 2012 revelation right at its source.
PLEASE NOTE...radiOrbit is now available LIVE ON THE NET via the COSMIC WAVES RADIO NETWORK. Access the LIVE GLOBAL BROADCAST by clicking HERE

California Senate Approves Hemp Farming

Sacramento, Calif. (AP) -- California farmers could legally grow industrial hemp under a bill approved by the state Senate that distinguishes it from a widely grown distant cousin: marijuana.
Full Story:
http://www.organicconsumers.org/2006/article_1568.cfm

Sky Watcher

FALSE DAWN: A few nights ago, photographer Rob Ratkowski stood atop the summit of the Haleakala volcano in Maui under a velvety, star-strewn sky. Daybreak was was only moments away when a pale glow lanced up from the eastern horizon--but it wasn't the sunrise, it was the Zodiacal Light:
Zodiacal light is sunlight reflected from countless tiny grains of space dust orbiting the sun. These grains are sprinkled among the orbits of the planets, making a vast dusty pancake as big as the Solar System itself. For people in the Northern Hemisphere, the next two months are a great time to see Zodiacal light because the dust band is oriented nearly vertical at sunrise. Says, Ratkowski, "I was amazed how bright it really is, washing out the stars within its glow."
Photo:
http://www.spaceweather.com/swpod2006/26aug06/Ratkowski.jpg

Chinese Storms Leave 15 Million Homeless

SHANGHAI, China (AP) -- Communities in southeastern China are straining to resettle more than 15 million people left homeless by four devastating typhoons in recent months, the official Xinhua News Agency reported Friday.
The storms caused $3.6 billion in direct damage, Xinhua said, citing provincial officials in Fujian, the province worst hit by the disasters. The most costly damage was to businesses, farms, communications networks and water conservation projects.
The most recent storm, Saomai, hit Fujian in mid-August, killing 441 people. It was the worst storm since record-keeping began in 1949, according to the government.

Each summer brings catastrophic weather to China, usually in the form of torrential rains and tropical storms. But this year, while coastal regions are rebuilding from floods and typhoons, many inland areas are enduring their worst drought in decades.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/C/CHINA_TYPHOON?SITE=7219&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2006-08-25-08-04-55

August 26th Quote

Don't spend time beating on a wall, hoping to transform it into a door.

Crop circles appear in soybean field

MOLINE, Ill., Aug. 25 (UPI) -- Scientists are scratching their heads over five unusual crop circles that mysteriously appeared in a soybean field in Geneseo, Ill.
What is most puzzling about farmer Jim Stahl's crop circles are the red streaks that can be seen on the soybeans, the Moline (Ill.) Dispatch reported.
Lisa Kull, a plant pathologist from the University of Illinois who viewed pictures of the field online, says she has never seen a plant disease lay out plants like that.
The red streaks are also a first for phenomena investigation expert and retired neurochemist JoAnne Scarpellini.
"We've never seen those red streaks on soybeans before," Scarpellini told the Dispatch. "This has never been reported anywhere in the world."
Scarpellini took plant and soil samples for Massachusetts-based BLT Research Inc. and said she would return for further tests.
http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/view.php?StoryID=20060825-030749-9044r

Plant Chemical Release

By RANDALL CHASEAssociated Press Writer
DOVER, Del.
A chemical released into the air from an industrial plant Friday sent 23 people to the hospital and closed some roads, officials said.
The release of the chemical at Dow Reichhold Specialty Latex was visible around a railroad tanker car parked on the plant site, state police spokesman Cpl. Jeffrey Whitmarsh said.
The rail car contained styrene, which is potentially flammable and can cause irritation if inhaled, Whitmarsh said.
Pam Chase told The (Wilmington) News Journal that she could see a "mist across the ground" and a "steam or fog along the tracks."
"It was a real strong smell of burning plastic," she said.
John Hughes, Secretary of the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control, said first responders reported that the leak was a result of a defective valve on a railroad tanker car carrying 20,000 pounds of styrene. Officials believed the cause was a buildup of pressure in the tanker, he said.
"I've been told it's stopped leaking, but it's not capped," Hughes said late Friday. "It's not safe at this point."
Darrel Cole, spokesman for the Delaware Department of Transportation, said much of Route 13 was closed and traffic was being diverted to Route 1, where tolls were being waived.
Although residents were not ordered to evacuate, those who wished to leave were directed to Dover High School. No one was at the school late Friday.
Twenty-three people went to Kent General Hospital for treatment of nausea and headaches, said Pamela Marechi, a hospital spokeswoman. Twenty-one were released.
Residents within five miles of the plant were urged to stay indoors, turn off air conditioning and close vents into their houses, Whitmarsh said.
Reichhold site manager Michael Galbus said the company would not make a statement until Saturday.
Styrene is used by chemical companies that make plastics, synthetic rubber, resins and insulators, according to the Environmental Protection Agency's Web site. Styrene vapor irritates the eyes, the nose, and the throat and can adversely affect the human nervous system.
http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/08/26/D8JNTJ400.html