Security Advantage - National Child Safety Council Knowledge Base

National Child Safety Council Knowledge Base

a few facts November Daily Observances all true believe it or not? All Saints' Day: 1 National Authors' Day: 1 National Family Literacy Day: 1 National Men Make Dinner Day: 1 National Traffic Directors Day: 2 Plan Your Epitaph Day: 2 Cliché Day: 3 Fala Day: 3 International Tongue Twister Day: 3 Sadie Hawkins Day: 3,can also be 9th for dances, but Al Capp's Sadie Hawkins was 15th Sandwich Day: 3 Link Daylight Savings Ends: 4 National Chicken Lady Day: 4 Use Your Common Sense Day: 4 Zero Tasking Day: 4 International Day for Preventing the Exploitation of the Environment in War and Armed Conflict: 6 Election Day: 6 Saxophone Day: 6 National Bittersweet Chocolate with Almonds Day: 7 Link Abet and Aid Punsters Day: 8 Cook Something Bold and Pungent Day: 8 National Parents As Teachers Day: 8 Diwali: 9 Link (This varies every year. See link.) Guiness World Record Day: 9 Kristallnacht: 9-10 National Child Safety Council: 9 Vietnam Veterans Memorial Day: 9 National Donor Sabbath Days: 9-11 Area Code Day: 10 Marine Corp Birthday: 10 Death/Duty Day: 11 Veterans Day: 11(Actual) & 12 (Observed) Birth of Baha'U'Llah: 12 I Need A Patch for That Day: 12 World Orphan Day: 12 National Young Readers Day: 13 World Kindness Day: 13 Link Loosen Up, Lighten Up Day: 14 National American Teddy Bear Day: 14 National Educational Support Professionals Day: 14 America Recycles Day: 15 Great American Smokeout: 15 I Love to Write Day: 15 National Bundt (Pan) Day: 15 International Day for Tolerance: 16 Homemade Bread Day: 17 National Family Volunteer Day: 17 National Survivors of Suicide Day (Saturday before Thanksgiving): 17 Link Remembrance Day: 17 Married To A Scorpio Support Day: 18 Mickey Mouse Day: 18 Push-button Phone Day: 18 Have A Bad Day Day: 19 African Industrialization Day: 20 Name Your PC Day: 20 National Adoption Day: 20 Link Transgender Day of Remembrance: 20 Link Universal Children's Day: 20 Pumpkin Pie Day: 21 World Hello Day: 21 World Television Day: 21 What Do You Love About America? Day: 21 Humane Society Anniversary Day: 22 Thanksgiving Day: 22 Turkey-Free Thanksgiving Day: 22 Black Friday: 23 Buy Nothing Day: 23 Flossing Day: 23 Link National Salesperson's Day: 23 Sinkie Day: 23 (Some call it "The Sink Day" when you eat over the sink all the Thanksgiving leftovers. The definition says "It's the day after thanksgiving." ) You're Welcomegiving Day: 23 D.B. Cooper Day: 24 Link International Aura Awareness Day: 24 Alascattalo Day (About Alaska): 25 Blasé Day: 25 International Day For the Elimination of Violence Against Women Day: 25 Shopping Reminder Day: 25 Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree Lighting Day: 27 Electronic Greetings Day: 29 International Day of Solidarity With The Palestinian People: 29 Computer Security Day: 30 National Meth Awareness Day: 30 Link Stay Home Because You're Well Day: 30

My mom is 5 ft. tall and I am 4 ft. 8 in. and 14 years old.? The National Safety Council says I have to ride in a child seat until I am 4 ft. 9 in. tall. If I am don't grow any more will I still be able to get my driver's license when I'm 16?

odds of dying in bike accident - 1 in 4919? national safety council says your odds, in a lifetime, of dying in a bicycle accident, are 1 in 4919 what does that really mean [don;t just guess, find out]? out of every 4919 deaths in the USA, 1 is a bike accident? this probably includes children though [but find that out too] is there any real data for adult cyclists? what about this statistic? number of deaths per mile among adult cyclists? wle.

National American Miss Pageant; Please Read My Activities and Interests and Critique It!!! Please!!!? I like being involved in school and communtity activities, especially when it is for a good cause and when I get to make a difference. My school activities include being the Junior class president of student council, mainly because I want to represent my class as a whole. I am also a peer helper in my school. This is something I really love because I can connect with my peers and help them through their situations, because I have been through many myself. I am also a teen spirit advisor for the Missouri Department of Transportation. I attended my first teen spirit conference last year. There, I learned leadership skills, met members of MADD, and I learned to promote important issues like seatbelt safety in my school. I was also a part of the "Arrive Alive, Buckle" campaign. Another thing I love to do is be in Drama productions in my school. My first big role was in the student directed one-acts, a show for students who haven't had much expirience with acting. We did a skit from Visitors From Forest Hills. I was so nervous at the begining, but when the curtain opened, I didn't even feel like myself, but a whole new charecter. Ever since then, I've been addicted to acting. I hope to be inducted in my schools' thespian society next year. I am also a memer of my schools math team. I love going to math competions and improving my math skills. It has to be one of my favorite subjects in school. I also like to try my knowledge at Scholar Quiz. Its really fun, but difficult because I can never manage to think of the answer quickly in order to hit the buzzard before the other person. One of my interest also includes reading and writing. I always keep a journal with me and I write in it throughout the day. My friends always tease me about it. I also love reading books that take me into a new place, mainly books by J.R.R Tolkien. I hope to persue a career in journalism one day. One community event I participate in is Relay for Life. I have helped organize four events, and in that time, I met so many people and heard their survivor stories. This inspired me to raise money on my own for the National Children's Cancer Society. I am also a volunteer at the St. Joesphs Hospital and the Ronald Mcdonald House in St. Louis. I love challanging myself in school and I try to get the most of my education. All three of my core classes are in honors and I am in the top 10 percent of my class. It says to list the Activities and Interests, Honors or Awards. So I don't think I was bragging, and sorry about the spelling and grammer errors, I was going to fix them when I typed my final draft.

I am a bit confused as to why some want to take the Tax exempt status away from LDS? but nothing has been mentioned about the Churches within the California Council of Churches. The California Council of Churches took out ads such as this in newspapers, in opposition of Prop 8. http://samesexmarriage.typepad.com/weblog/2008/10/ca-council-of-c.html Did this go unnoticed or is this a double standard? Section 501(c)(3) of US Code Title 26, which governs tax-exempt organizations, reads (emphasis added): (3) Corporations, and any community chest, fund, or foundation, organized and operated exclusively for religious, charitable, scientific, testing for public safety, literary, or educational purposes, or to foster national or international amateur sports competition (but only if no part of its activities involve the provision of athletic facilities or equipment), or for the prevention of cruelty to children or animals, no part of the net earnings of which inures to the benefit of any private shareholder or individual, no substantial part of the activities of which is carrying on propaganda, or otherwise attempting, to influence legislation (except as otherwise provided in subsection (h)), and which does not participate in, or intervene in (including the publishing or distributing of statements), any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for public office. Can someone explain the difference here? And don't tell me difference in amount spent because both sides seem to have broken the code. *and so you know I support gay marriage...I just don't understand this and am truly just curious. Thanks

Have you wondered what the "Earmarks" mean that are in the $410 BILLION Omnibus Bill that O is likely signing? Well, part of it is about tatto removal....and the Ted Kennedy Institute for the Senate; promoting astronmy in Hawaii; handling pig odor and management.... (and I'm not kidding) .... read on.... you need to know this stuff because you are paying for it.... The spending has just begun and THE REASON GIVEN BY THE DEMS IS THAT GEORGE BUSH TIGHTENED THE BUDGET TOO MUCH ----- House Approves $410 Billion ‘Omnibus’ Spending Bill (Update2) Feb. 25 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. House voted to 1)boost spending on domestic programs by 8 %, 2)2) ease restrictions on travel to Cuba, 3) and kill a school voucher program in Washington, D.C., (Personal comment:which, by the way keeps DC poor children from getting a scholarship to go to a PRIVATE SCHOOL and mingle with O's princesses'). The “omnibus” bill is supposed to fund federal government for the next 7 MONTHS. Democrats said the spending increase, on top of a $787 billion economic stimulus package signed last week, WAS NEEDED TO MAKE UP FOR TIGHTER BUDGES DURING THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION. “Republicans criticized the spending increase as unaffordable while the government is projected to run a deficit topping $1.2 trillion. They also said the bill contradicted President Barack Obama’s pledge to rein in the federal defic The Consumer Product Safety Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission would get 31 % funding increases, while the Food and Drug Administration’s budget would grow by 19 % The budget for the House of Representatives itself would increase by 10 percent while funding for Senate operations would grow by 8 percent. Out of that 410 BILLION, the legislation also includes almost $8 BILLION for 8,500 CONGRESSIONAL PET PROJECTS also known as EARMARKS, according to the Washington-based Taxpayers for Common Sense. Among the earmarks are $200,000 for “Tattoo Removal Violence Prevention Outreach Program,” pg. 283; *Maine lobster earmark in the omnibus, pg. 173; *$5.8 million earmark for the “Ted Kennedy Institute for the Senate…for the planning and design of a building & an endowment,” pg. 232; National Council of La Raza, $473,000 earmark from Sens. Bingaman and Menendez, $1.8 million for swine odor and manure management research in Iowa, $2 million to promote astronomy in Hawaii and $381,000 for music programs at New York City’s Lincoln Center. The bill is H.R. 1105. The above information was taken from: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aGcZFK6kDeQo&refer=us and http://michellemalkin.com/2009/02/23/9000-earmarks-in-the-410-billion-omnibus-spending-bill-gang-tattoo-removal-maine-lobster-la-raza-more/ NOTE: nothingC obviously, you haven't read the Bloomberg article. The only part that came from Michele was the tattoo and Ted Kennedy information. ALL ELSE was from Bloomberg, and hey girl, I don't call you names.. NOte:obamaBot: I listed only a few of the really outrageous, thinking you could read the original site if you wanted more.. the ones I didn't list are just as bad if not worse.

Should the government legislate the size and shape of a hot dog? Yes this is a serious question believe it or not. ****************************************************************** Pediatricians call for a choke-proof hot dog Nutritionists have long warned of the perils of hot dogs: fat, sodium and preservatives to name a few. Now, the American Academy of Pediatrics wants foods like hot dogs to come with a warning label — not because of their nutritional risks but because they pose a choking hazard to babies and children. Better yet, the academy would like to see foods such as hot dogs "redesigned" so their size, shape and texture make them less likely to lodge in a youngster's throat. More than 10,000 children under 14 go to the emergency room each year after choking on food, and up to 77 die, says the new policy statement, published online today in Pediatrics. About 17% of food-related asphyxiations are caused by hot dogs. "If you were to take the best engineers in the world and try to design the perfect plug for a child's airway, it would be a hot dog," says statement author Gary Smith, director of the Center for Injury Research and Policy at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio. "I'm a pediatric emergency doctor, and to try to get them out once they're wedged in, it's almost impossible." The Consumer Product Safety Commission requires labels on toys with small parts alerting people not to give them to kids under 3. Yet there are no required warnings on food, though more than half of non-fatal choking episodes involve food, Smith says. "No parents can watch all of their kids 100% of the time," Smith says. "The best way to protect kids is to design these risks out of existence." Though Smith says he doesn't know exactly how someone would redesign a hot dog, he's certain that some savvy inventor will find a way. Janet Riley, president of the National Hot Dog & Sausage Council, supports the academy's call to better educate parents and caregivers about choking prevention. "Ensuring the safety of the foods we service to children is critically important for us," Riley says. But Riley questions whether warning labels are needed. She notes that more than half of hot dogs sold in stores already have choking-prevention tips on their packages, advising parents to cut them into small pieces. "As a mother who has fed toddlers cylindrical foods like grapes, bananas, hot dogs and carrots, I 'redesigned' them in my kitchen by cutting them with a paring knife until my children were old enough to manage on their own," Riley says. The Food and Drug Administration, which has authority to recall products it considers "unfit for food," plans to review the new statement, spokeswoman Rita Chappelle says. Given the health risks of obesity, pediatrician Alan Greene, author of Feeding Baby Green, says, "The last thing we need is to redesign candy and junk food with cool shapes, so we can give them to kids even younger." http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2010-02-22-1Achoke22_ST_N.htm

Did you see this article about baby bottles? A Little Scary!? What do you think? Will you be buying glass baby bottles or bottles free of the chemical? Here's the Article: Plastic bottle chemical may be harmful: agency By Will Dunham Posted Tue Apr 15, 2008 2:42pm PDT A boy carries used plastic bottles in a shop which will be sent to recycling plants in Dhaka January 29, 2007. (Rafiqur Rahman./Reuters) WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A chemical in some plastic food and drink packaging including baby bottles may be tied to early puberty and prostate and breast cancer, the U.S. government said on Tuesday. Based on draft findings by the National Toxicology Program, part of the U.S. National Institutes of Health, senior congressional Democrats asked the Food and Drug Administration to reconsider its view that the chemical bisphenol A is safe in products for use by infants and children. The chemical, also called BPA, is used in many baby bottles and the plastic lining of cans of infant formula. The National Toxicology Program went further than previous U.S. government statements on possible health risks from BPA. It said: "There is some concern for neural and behavioral effects in fetuses, infants and children at current human exposures." The findings expressed concern about exposure in these populations, "based on effects in the prostate gland, mammary gland, and an earlier age for puberty in females." Rep. John Dingell, a Michigan Democrat and chairman of the House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee, said the draft cast doubt on the FDA's position that BPA was safe. "I hope the FDA is willing to reconsider their position on BPA for the safety of our infants and children," he said. The National Toxicology Program said laboratory rodents exposed to BPA levels similar to human exposures developed precancerous lesions in the prostate and mammary glands, among other things. "The possibility that bisphenol A may impact human development cannot be dismissed. More research is needed," the agency said. Bisphenol A is used in the production of polycarbonate plastics and epoxy resins and can be found in food and drink packaging as well as compact discs and some medical devices. Some dental sealants or composites contain it as well. The National Toxicology Program expressed "negligible concern" that exposure of pregnant women to BPA causes fetal or neonatal death, birth defects or reduced birth weight and growth in babies. It also had "negligible concern" that exposure causes reproductive problems in adults. The American Chemistry Council industry group said the conclusions confirmed that human exposure to bisphenol A is extremely low and noted no direct evidence that exposure adversely affects reproduction or development in humans. In Canada, the Globe and Mail newspaper said the Canadian health ministry was ready to declare BPA a dangerous substance, making it the first regulatory body in the world to reach such a determination. The newspaper said the ministry could announce the decision as soon as Wednesday. Environmental activists long have warned about health concerns regarding the chemical. They praised the draft findings of the National Toxicology Program, which cited more potential worries about the chemical than did a panel of experts that advised the program last year. "NTP's decision corrects the scientific record. It reflects a significant body of science showing that BPA may play a larger role than previously thought in a host of common health problems," Anila Jacob of the Environmental Working Group said in a statement.

And so the hot dog shape debate rages on...what is your take on it? Apparently, despite warning labels on roughly half of hot dog packages, some 13 children a year die from choking on hot dogs. Janet Riley, experienced mom and president of the National Hot Dog & Sausage Council (sic), has already come up with an ingenious way of serving food to toddlers. She uses a tool called a "paring knife" to chop cylindrical food into safer shapes. But the American Association of Pediatricians would like the shape and texture shaped for better safety. What is your opinion, do hot dogs need a new image or leave well enough alone? http://ca.lifestyle.yahoo.com/family-relationships/blog/lifestylists/6316/this-week-s-medical-crisis-hot-dogs

Comparison of Palin and Obama, what do you think? 1=Sarah Palin 2=Barack Obama Office being sought 1 Vice President 2 President of the United States and Leader of the Free World Full name 1 Sarah Louise Heath Palin 2 Barack Hussein Obama II Nickname 1 Sarah Barracuda 2 Barry Obama; 'The One' Religion/Church attendance 1 Evangelical Christian; attends Juneau Christian Center when in Juneau and grew up attending Wasilla Assembly of God 2 Attended Trinity United Church of Christ for 20 years, a 'black liberation theology' church formerly led by Rev. Jeremiah Wright and governed according to the Black Value System Current Job 1 Governor of Alaska 2 Junior Senator from Illinois Previous Public Jobs 1 Mayor of Wasilla, AK (1996-2002); President of Alaska Conference of Mayors; City Council member (1992-1996) 2 State Senator (1997-2004); Community Organizer Executive Experience 1 Governor for 2 years; Mayor for 10 years 2 None Foreign Relations experience 1 Governor of state that borders two foreign countries (Canada and Russia) 2 Chaired Senate subcommittee on Europe but never called it into session; once gave a speech to 200,000 screaming Germans Military Affairs experience 1 Commander in Chief of Alaska National Guard; Son is enlisted Infantryman in U.S. Army 2 None Speaking ability 1 Beautifully executed initial stump speech in Dayton, OH hockey arena without a teleprompter 2 An enter...wait--did you say without a teleprompter?? Spouse's occupation 1 Salmon fisherman; Former North Slope production supervisor for BP Oil 2 Vice President for Community and External Affairs at University of Chicago Hospitals; former Associate Dean of Student Services at the University of Chicago; former Executive Director for the Chicago office of Public Allies; former Assistant to the Mayor of Chicago; former associate at Sidley Austin law firm Reaction to spouse's political success 1 Quit 17-year BP oil job when BP became involved in natural gas pipeline negotiations with wife's administration 2 Promoted and given 160% pay raise by UofC hospitals within months of husband's election to U.S. Senate; Employer received $1,000,000.00 federal earmark, requested by husband, after her promotion Most Courageous Moment in Public Service 1 Resigned in protest from position of Ethics Commissioner of Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission in order to expose legal violations and conflicts of interest of Alaska Republican leaders, including the former state Attorney General and the State GOP Chairman (who was also an Oil & Gas Commissioner), who was doing work for the party on public time and supplying a lobbyist with a sensitive e-mail. 2 Gave an anti-Iraq war speech to a crowd of anti-Iraq war demonstrators in Hyde Park in 2002 In Current Office Because... 1 Upset sitting Governor in GOP primary due to public support for her efforts to clean up corrupt government establishment 2 Republican opponent, who was leading in the polls, was forced to leave race after unsealing of divorce records exposed a sex scandal Theme: 1 Change and Clean Government 2 Hope and Change; 'Bringing Change from Outside Washington' What they've done to live that theme: 1 Replaced entire Board of Agriculture and Conservation because of conflict of interest; Resigned from position of Ethics Commissioner of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission in order to expose corruption among members of own party 2 Selected 36-year incumbent Senator as running mate Family Affairs 1 May have removed State Public Safety Commissioner as part of effort to protect sister in messy divorce and child custody battle 2 Often says, 'I am my brother's keeper'; Brother lives in a hut in Nairobi on $12 per year Iraq and Troop Support 1 Formerly (pre-surge) critical of apparent lack of long-term strategy for Iraq; Visited wounded U.S. soldiers in Germany; visited AK National Guard soldiers deployed to Kuwait; Son deploying to Iraq on 9/11/08 as Army infantryman 2 Gave an anti-Iraq war speech to a crowd of anti-Iraq war demonstrators; almost visited wounded troops in Germany, but decided to go shopping in Berlin instead Bipartisan/'maverick' credentials 1 Married to a non-Republican; Exposed corruption within own party; Campaigned for Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell against corrupt GOP congressman Don Young; Called out Sen Ted Stevens (R-AK) to 'come clean' about financial dealings that are under fed investigation 2 Talks about bipartisanship Legislative Record 1 Passed a landmark ethics reform bill; Used veto to cut budgetary spending; Prevented 'bridge to nowhere' that would have cost taxpayers $400 million dollars. 2 Voted 'present' over 100 times as IL state senator (impressive!) How they dealt with corrupt individuals in home city/state 1 Exposed legal violations and conflicts of interest of Alaska Republican leaders; Campaigned against corrupt GOP Representative; Ran against and defeated corrupt incumbent governor in GOP primary 2 Launched political career in home of unrepentant domestic terrorist Bill Ayers (and still refers to him as a part of 'mainstream Democratic Chicago'; Purchased home with help of convicted felon Tony Rezko Guns 1 Lifetime member of NRA and avid hunter; video can be found on YouTube of Palin firing an M4 at a military firing range 2 Worked to pass legislation in Illinois that would prevent all law-abiding citizens from owning firearms Earmarks 1 Opposed 'Bridge to Nowhere' project; Said Alaska should avoid relying on federal money for projects; Campaigned against porker Don Young (R-AK) in 2008 primary 2 Secured federal earmarks for wife's employer and for campaign bundlers Abortion 1 Pro life; gave birth to 5th child knowing that he would have Down's syndrome 2 Pro-choice; only IL state sen. to speak against the BAIPA (Born Alive Infant's Protection Act), which required medical care to be given to live infants who survived abortions Energy 1 Believes energy independence is a matter of national security; For drilling in ANWR, which is in her state 2 Says Americans should 'get tune-ups' and 'check tire pressure'; Says 'we can't expect the world to be okay with' our use of heating and air conditioning Environment 1 Chair of Alaska Conservation Commission (2003-4); Announced plans to create sub-cabinet group of advisors to address climate change and reduce greenhouse gas emissions in AK 2 Talks about the environment a lot

Why does the Media promote a pro-liberal view? they are union? The National Writers Union is the trade union for freelance and contract writers: journalists, book authors, business and technical writers, web content providers, and poets. With the combined strength of nearly 2,000 members in 16 chapters nationwide, and with the support of the United Automobile Workers (UAW), the Union works to defend the rights and improve the economic and working conditions of all writers. War Will Hit Working People February, 2003 By a vote of 55 to 16 (with 4 abstentions) the NWU's national governing body, the Delegates Assembly, adopted the following resolution opposing a war against Iraq: ________________________________________ WHEREAS, over 100 trade unionists from 76 local, regional and national unions, central labor councils and other labor organizations (see details below) representing over 2 million members gathered in Chicago for an unprecedented meeting to discuss our concerns about the Bush administration's threat of war; and WHEREAS, union members and leaders have the responsibility to inform all working people about issues that affect their lives, jobs and families, and to be heard in the national debate on these issues; and WHEREAS, the principal victims of any military action in Iraq will be the sons and daughters of working class families serving in the military who will be put in harm's way, and innocent Iraqi civilians who have already suffered so much; and WHEREAS, we have no quarrel with the ordinary working class men, women and children of Iraq, or any other country; and WHEREAS, the billions of dollars spent to stage and execute this war are being taken away from our schools, hospitals, housing and Social Security; and WHEREAS, the war is a pretext for attacks on labor, civil, immigrant and human rights at home; and WHEREAS, Bush's drive for war serves as a cover and distraction for the sinking economy, corporate corruption and layoffs; and WHEREAS, such military action is predicted actually to increase the likelihood of retaliatory terrorist acts; and WHEREAS, there is no convincing link between Iraq and Al Qaeda or the attacks on Sept. 11, and neither the Bush administration nor the UN inspections have demonstrated that Iraq poses a real threat to Americans; and WHEREAS, U.S. military action against Iraq threatens the peaceful resolution of disputes among states, jeopardizing the safety and security of the entire world, including Americans; and WHEREAS, labor has had an historic role in fighting for justice; therefore We hereby establish the "U.S. Labor Against the War" (USLAW); and Resolve that U.S. Labor Against the War stands firmly against Bush's war drive; and Further resolve that U.S. Labor Against the War will publicize this statement, and promote union, labor and community antiwar activity.

I think Ralph Nader deserves a vote? Ralph Nader has done more for public safety than all those characters in the white house put together. The 1966 National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act alone has save 250,000 American lives since, making safety belts and nonmetal steering wheels mandatory for new car productions in the 1970's. Prior to that, metal steering wheels used to cut into people's skin and bones during accidents causing pain and sometimes instant death. That's unbeatable! Name one accomplishment that Obama or McCain did that is greater than that?! With Nader we wouldn't be putting up with lead in paint on children's toys, poisoned peppers, tomatoes, or whatever. The man has been right on every single issue since the 1960's. I happen to believe that voting for your conscience is not a wasted vote. Every single vote for Ralph Nader will reverberate around the country and warn the dangers of two party politics George Washington so warned us against the party system and I quote "It serves to distract the Public Councils, and enfeeble the Public Administration....agitates the Community with ill-founded jealousies and false alarms; kindles the animosity of one....against another....it opens the door to foreign influence and corruption...thus the policy and the will of one country are subjected to the policy and will of another." Why would you not vote for Ralph Nader? From someone who rattles the cages.

Ralph Nader deserves a vote? Ralph Nader has done more for public safety than all those characters in the white house put together. The 1966 National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act alone has save 250,000 American lives since, making safety belts and nonmetal steering wheels mandatory for new car productions in the 1970's. Prior to that, metal steering wheels used to cut into people's skin and bones during accidents causing pain and sometimes instant death. That's unbeatable! Name one accomplishment that Obama or McCain did that is greater than that?! With Nader we wouldn't be putting up with lead in paint on children's toys, poisoned peppers, tomatoes, or whatever. The man has been right on every single issue since the 1960's. I happen to believe that voting for your conscience is not a wasted vote. Every single vote for Ralph Nader will reverberate around the country and warn the dangers of two party politics George Washington so warned us against the party system and I quote "It serves to distract the Public Councils, and enfeeble the Public Administration....agitates the Community with ill-founded jealousies and false alarms; kindles the animosity of one....against another....it opens the door to foreign influence and corruption...thus the policy and the will of one country are subjected to the policy and will of another." Why would you not vote for Ralph Nader? From someone who rattles the cages.

Ralph Nader Deserves a Vote? Ralph Nader has done more for public safety than all those characters in the white house put together. The 1966 National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act alone has save 250,000 American lives since, making safety belts and nonmetal steering wheels mandatory for new car productions in the 1970's. Prior to that, metal steering wheels used to cut into people's skin and bones during accidents causing pain and sometimes instant death. That's unbeatable! Name one accomplishment that Obama or McCain did that is greater than that?! With Nader we wouldn't be putting up with lead in paint on children's toys, poisoned peppers, tomatoes, or whatever. The man has been right on every single issue since the 1960's. I happen to believe that voting for your conscience is not a wasted vote. Every single vote for Ralph Nader will reverberate around the country and warn the dangers of two party politics George Washington so warned us against the party system and I quote "It serves to distract the Public Councils, and enfeeble the Public Administration....agitates the Community with ill-founded jealousies and false alarms; kindles the animosity of one....against another....it opens the door to foreign influence and corruption...thus the policy and the will of one country are subjected to the policy and will of another." Why would you not vote for Ralph Nader? From someone who rattles the cages.

Ralph Nader 08' A Good Choice? Ralph Nader has done more for public safety than all those characters in the white house put together. The 1966 National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act alone has save 250,000 American lives since, making safety belts and nonmetal steering wheels mandatory for new car productions in the 1970's. Prior to that, metal steering wheels used to cut into people's skin and bones during accidents causing pain and sometimes instant death. That's unbeatable! Name one accomplishment that Obama or McCain did that is greater than that?! With Nader we wouldn't be putting up with lead in paint on children's toys, poisoned peppers, tomatoes, or whatever. The man has been right on every single issue since the 1960's. I happen to believe that voting for your conscience is not a wasted vote. Every single vote for Ralph Nader will reverberate around the country and warn the dangers of two party politics George Washington so warned us against the party system and I quote "It serves to distract the Public Councils, and enfeeble the Public Administration....agitates the Community with ill-founded jealousies and false alarms; kindles the animosity of one....against another....it opens the door to foreign influence and corruption...thus the policy and the will of one country are subjected to the policy and will of another." Why would you not vote for Ralph Nader? From someone who rattles the cages.

Why is SANTA CRUZ proclaiming sanctuary city means police cannot arrest illegals even with stabbing death? SANTA CRUZ -- In the wake of a stabbing death with possible gang ties last month -- and a suspect here illegally who police believe has fled to Mexico -- city leaders are fighting criticism of their "sanctuary city" policy and say that even without it, Santa Cruz could do little more to crack down on illegal immigrants than it does now. Immigration enforcement "is not part of the Police Department's scope. It's not part of the job. We don't have the resources to do it and it's not practical," said Deputy City Manager Martin Bernal. "I think what people don't understand is that the Police Department needs the cooperation of the community to carry on its work," said Councilman Mike Rotkin. If residents are afraid of immigration raids, he said, police "are unlikely to get the cooperation of the community, of the neighborhood that they need." Instead, Bernal said, immigration enforcement is the responsibility of the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement, while police are responsible for public safety. The questions arose after a 16-year-old high school student was stabbed to death in an alleged gang fight last month. One suspect is in custody while another is believed to have fled to Mexico. The second suspect was detained at the border before being released south, and border patrol agents said he had been in the U.S. illegally.At last week's City Council meeting, longtime immigration critic Pat Kittle said he felt that he couldn't discuss unsustainable immigration" without being looked down upon. He and others said it does need to be discussed in context with local crime. Police and city leaders, however, have long had a different take. Santa Cruz first came out against immigration raids in the early 1980s, Rotkin said, after about 20 federal agents raided Beach Flats at once. "After that the city passed a resolution that said we encourage the immigration agents to stay out of Santa Cruz, we don't appreciate the role that they play in terrorizing the Latino neighborhood," Rotkin said. The City Council in 2007 reaffirmed that position after immigration officers arrested 107 people in Santa Cruz, Watsonville and Hollister the previous year. Santa Cruz police do not keep statistics on the number of illegal residents in the city, or if those they arrest are here legally, said department spokesman Zach Friend. Watsonville has a similar policy for similar reasons. There, where thousands of Mexican nationals and their American-born children reside, City Manager Carlos Palacios said becoming a sanctuary city in May 2007 was "largely symbolic." Police Chief Terry Medina has for years taken the position that it's not in the best interest of police to enforce federal immigration law because otherwise law-abiding undocumented immigrants might fear reporting crimes in their neighborhoods. But the department will help federal authorities enforcing criminal warrants, Deputy Chief Manny Solano said. "We limit our assistance to federal immigration agents to calls for help," he said. "We don't of course help with indiscriminate searches for people." http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/ci_13804980 Why are illegals allowed to break every law in the nation with little Consequences ?

my college application list - advice and suggestions? here's a little about what my application may look like: female. NJ. rising senior 3.79 GPA UW. 1950 SATs (taking again). math 2 and US history SAT2s (620 and 600 respectibly) - taking again. 4 AP's in total. (though i got two 3's in the tests i've taken so far). about 10 honor classes. JV Cheeleader 9-11th grade for all seasons. Captain in 11th grade when we won 2 local competitions. Won best captain plaque. Won a 'National Cheerleading Association' award for jumps and attitude, nominationg me to become an 'All American Cheerleader', which is professional cheerleading. Class Council. 10-12th grade. in charge of Homecoming committee 10th and 11th. Elected president of Prom Committee 12th grade. 'Natural Helper'. 11-12th Admission by peer-nomination only. Piano lessons. since i was 10. for my own enjoyment, not to perform. Italian Club Active Member 10-12th grade. Advertisement/Fundraising Manager in 12th grade. SEPTA. 11-12th grade. Community service where I baby-sit and tutor special needs children for 2 hours twice a month. CCD teachers aid. 10-12th grade. Community service where i assist leading class discussions in roman catholic religious education. Youth Council. 9-12th grade. Various community service activities around town. Acme Markets Front End employee. 9th-12th grade. about 12-16 hrs/ week all year long. Cashier, Self-Checkout, Seatles best coffee barista and checker, and Front end Manager. Saved my money from working at Acme to afford two trips to Italy with my Italian Teacher. (Summer 08 and 09 - 12 days each). Toured/explored Rome, Naples, Pompeii, Pisa, Florence, Verona and Venice. --------------- okay so that is me -- here is my list of colleges. Brown University Boston College Tufts Boston University Northeastern University the college of new jersey (TCNJ) University of Maryland I plan on visting Vassar Lehigh and Mt Holyoke Do you think this is a balanced list for me? I am geniunely interested in each school mentioned. Is there any school i should add/drop? What would be my reach, match and safeties? My interests vary from environment, italian studies, philosophy, creative writing and music. i am very undecided =/ i know this is a lot, answer it all or a little of it. every comment is appreciated. thanks!

Ralph Nader Deserves a Vote? Ralph Nader has done more for public safety than all those characters in the white house put together. The 1966 National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act alone has save 250,000 American lives since, making safety belts and nonmetal steering wheels mandatory for new car productions in the 1970's. Prior to that, metal steering wheels used to cut into people's skin and bones during accidents causing pain and sometimes instant death. That's unbeatable! Name one accomplishment that Obama or McCain did that is greater than that?! With Nader we wouldn't be putting up with lead in paint on children's toys, poisoned peppers, tomatoes, or whatever. The man has been right on every single issue since the 1960's. I happen to believe that voting for your conscience is not a wasted vote. Every single vote for Ralph Nader will reverberate around the country and warn the dangers of two party politics George Washington so warned us against the party system and I quote ""It serves to distract the Public Councils, and enfeeble the Public Administration....agitates the Community with ill-founded jealousies and false alarms; kindles the animosity of one....against another....it opens the door to foreign influence and corruption...thus the policy and the will of one country are subjected to the policy and will of another." Why would you not vote for Ralph Nader? From someone who rattles the cages.

Is it good to drink milk? The text is too long but worthwhile read....? "MILK" Just the word itself sounds comforting! "How about a nice cup of hot milk?" The last time you heard that question it was from someone who cared for you--and you appreciated their effort. The entire matter of food and especially that of milk is surrounded with emotional and cultural importance. Milk was our very first food. If we were fortunate it was our mother's milk. A loving link, given and taken. It was the only path to survival. If not mother's milk it was cow's milk or soy milk "formula"--rarely it was goat, camel or water buffalo milk. Now, we are a nation of milk drinkers. Nearly all of us. Infants, the young, adolescents, adults and even the aged. We drink dozens or even several hundred gallons a year and add to that many pounds of "dairy products" such as cheese, butter, and yogurt. Can there be anything wrong with this? We see reassuring images of healthy, beautiful people on our television screens and hear messages that assure us that, "Milk is good for your body." Our dieticians insist that: "You've got to have milk, or where will you get your calcium?" School lunches always include milk and nearly every hospital meal will have milk added. And if that isn't enough, our nutritionists told us for years that dairy products make up an "essential food group." Industry spokesmen made sure that colourful charts proclaiming the necessity of milk and other essential nutrients were made available at no cost for schools. Cow's milk became "normal." You may be surprised to learn that most of the human beings that live on planet Earth today do not drink or use cow's milk. Further, most of them can't drink milk because it makes them ill. There are students of human nutrition who are not supportive of milk use for adults. Here is a quotation from the March/April 1991 Utne Reader: If you really want to play it safe, you may decide to join the growing number of Americans who are eliminating dairy products from their diets altogether. Although this sounds radical to those of us weaned on milk and the five basic food groups, it is eminently viable. Indeed, of all the mammals, only humans--and then only a minority, principally Caucasians--continue to drink milk beyond babyhood. Who is right? Why the confusion? Where best to get our answers? Can we trust milk industry spokesmen? Can you trust any industry spokesmen? Are nutritionists up to date or are they simply repeating what their professors learned years ago? What about the new voices urging caution? I believe that there are three reliable sources of information. The first, and probably the best, is a study of nature. The second is to study the history of our own species. Finally we need to look at the world's scientific literature on the subject of milk. Let's look at the scientific literature first. From 1988 to 1993 there were over 2,700 articles dealing with milk recorded in the 'Medicine' archives. Fifteen hundred of theses had milk as the main focus of the article. There is no lack of scientific information on this subject. I reviewed over 500 of the 1,500 articles, discarding articles that dealt exclusively with animals, esoteric research and inconclusive studies. How would I summarize the articles? They were only slightly less than horrifying. First of all, none of the authors spoke of cow's milk as an excellent food, free of side effects and the 'perfect food' as we have been led to believe by the industry. The main focus of the published reports seems to be on intestinal colic, intestinal irritation, intestinal bleeding, anemia, allergic reactions in infants and children as well as infections such as salmonella. More ominous is the fear of viral infection with bovine leukemia virus or an AIDS-like virus as well as concern for childhood diabetes. Contamination of milk by blood and white (pus) cells as well as a variety of chemicals and insecticides was also discussed. Among children the problems were allergy, ear and tonsillar infections, bedwetting, asthma, intestinal bleeding, colic and childhood diabetes. In adults the problems seemed centered more around heart disease and arthritis, allergy, sinusitis, and the more serious questions of leukemia, lymphoma and cancer. I think that an answer can also be found in a consideration of what occurs in nature & what happens with free living mammals and what happens with human groups living in close to a natural state as 'hunter-gatherers'. Our paleolithic ancestors are another crucial and interesting group to study. Here we are limited to speculation and indirect evidences, but the bony remains available for our study are remarkable. There is no doubt whatever that these skeletal remains reflect great strength, muscularity (the size of the muscular insertions show this), and total absence of advanced osteoporosis. And if you feel that these people are not important for us to study, consider that today our genes are programming our bodies in almost exactly the same way as our ancestors of 50,000 to 100,000 years ago. WHAT IS MILK? Milk is a maternal lactating secretion, a short term nutrient for new-borns. Nothing more, nothing less. Invariably, the mother of any mammal will provide her milk for a short period of time immediately after birth. When the time comes for 'weaning', the young offspring is introduced to the proper food for that species of mammal. A familiar example is that of a puppy. The mother nurses the pup for just a few weeks and then rejects the young animal and teaches it to eat solid food. Nursing is provided by nature only for the very youngest of mammals. Of course, it is not possible for animals living in a natural state to continue with the drinking of milk after weaning. IS ALL MILK THE SAME? Then there is the matter of where we get our milk. We have settled on the cow because of its docile nature, its size, and its abundant milk supply. Somehow this choice seems 'normal' and blessed by nature, our culture, and our customs. But is it natural? Is it wise to drink the milk of another species of mammal? Consider for a moment, if it was possible, to drink the milk of a mammal other than a cow, let's say a rat. Or perhaps the milk of a dog would be more to your liking. Possibly some horse milk or cat milk. Do you get the idea? Well, I'm not serious about this, except to suggest that human milk is for human infants, dogs' milk is for pups, cows' milk is for calves, cats' milk is for kittens, and so forth. Clearly, this is the way nature intends it. Just use your own good judgement on this one. Milk is not just milk. The milk of every species of mammal is unique and specifically tailored to the requirements of that animal. For example, cows' milk is very much richer in protein than human milk. Three to four times as much. It has five to seven times the mineral content. However, it is markedly deficient in essential fatty acids when compared to human mothers' milk. Mothers' milk has six to ten times as much of the essential fatty acids, especially linoleic acid. (Incidentally, skimmed cow's milk has no linoleic acid). It simply is not designed for humans. Food is not just food, and milk is not just milk. It is not only the proper amount of food but the proper qualitative composition that is critical for the very best in health and growth. Biochemists and physiologists -and rarely medical doctors - are gradually learning that foods contain the crucial elements that allow a particular species to develop its unique specializations. Clearly, our specialization is for advanced neurological development and delicate neuromuscular control. We do not have much need of massive skeletal growth or huge muscle groups as does a calf. Think of the difference between the demands make on the human hand and the demands on a cow's hoof. Human new-borns specifically need critical material for their brains, spinal cord and nerves. Can mother's milk increase intelligence? It seems that it can. In a remarkable study published in Lancet during 1992 (Vol. 339, p. 261-4), a group of British workers randomly placed premature infants into two groups. One group received a proper formula, the other group received human breast milk. Both fluids were given by stomach tube. These children were followed up for over 10 years. In intelligence testing, the human milk children averaged 10 IQ points higher! Well, why not? Why wouldn't the correct building blocks for the rapidly maturing and growing brain have a positive effect? In the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (1982) Ralph Holman described an infant who developed profound neurological disease while being nourished by intravenous fluids only. The fluids used contained only linoleic acid - just one of the essential fatty acids. When the other, alpha linoleic acid, was added to the intravenous fluids the neurological disorders cleared. In the same journal five years later Bjerve, Mostad and Thoresen, working in Norway found exactly the same problem in adult patients on long term gastric tube feeding. In 1930 Dr. G.O. Burr in Minnesota working with rats found that linoleic acid deficiencies created a deficiency syndrome. Why is this mentioned? In the early 1960s pediatricians found skin lesions in children fed formulas without the same linoleic acid. Remembering the research, the addition of the acid to the formula cured the problem. Essential fatty acids are just that and cows' milk is markedly deficient in these when compared to human milk. WELL, AT LEAST COW'S MILK IS PURE Or is it? Fifty years ago an average cow produced 2,000 pounds of milk per year. Today the top producers give 50,000 pounds! How was this accomplished? Drugs, antibiotics, hormones, forced feeding plans and specialized breeding; that's how. The latest high-tech onslaught on the poor cow is bovine growth hormone or BGH. This genetically engineered drug is supposed to stimulate milk production but, according to Monsanto, the hormone's manufacturer, does not affect the milk or meat. There are three other manufacturers: Upjohn, Eli Lilly, and American Cyanamid Company. Obviously, there have been no long-term studies on the hormone's effect on the humans drinking the milk. Other countries have banned BGH because of safety concerns. One of the problems with adding molecules to a milk cows' body is that the molecules usually come out in the milk. I don't know how you feel, but I don't want to experiment with the ingestion of a growth hormone. A related problem is that it causes a marked increase (50 to 70 per cent) in mastitis. This, then, requires antibiotic therapy, and the residues of the antibiotics appear in the milk. It seems that the public is uneasy about this product and in one survey 43 per cent felt that growth hormone treated milk represented a health risk. A vice president for public policy at Monsanto was opposed to labelling for that reason, and because the labelling would create an 'artificial distinction'. The country is awash with milk as it is, we produce more milk than we can consume. Let's not create storage costs and further taxpayer burdens, because the law requires the USDA to buy any surplus of butter, cheese, or non-fat dry milk at a support price set by Congress! In fiscal 1991, the USDA spent $757 million on surplus butter, and one billion dollars a year on average for price supports during the 1980s (Consumer Reports, May 1992: 330-32). Any lactating mammal excretes toxins through her milk. This includes antibiotics, pesticides, chemicals and hormones. Also, all cows' milk contains blood! The inspectors are simply asked to keep it under certain limits. You may be horrified to learn that the USDA allows milk to contain from one to one and a half million white blood cells per millilitre. (That's only 1/30 of an ounce). If you don't already know this, I'm sorry to tell you that another way to describe white cells where they don't belong would be to call them pus cells. To get to the point, is milk pure or is it a chemical, biological, and bacterial cocktail? Finally, will the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) protect you? The United States General Accounting Office (GAO) tells us that the FDA and the individual States are failing to protect the public from drug residues in milk. Authorities test for only 4 of the 82 drugs in dairy cows. As you can imagine, the Milk Industry Foundation's spokesman claims it's perfectly safe. Jerome Kozak says, "I still think that milk is the safest product we have." Other, perhaps less biased observers, have found the following: 38% of milk samples in 10 cities were contaminated with sulfa drugs or other antibiotics. (This from the Centre for Science in the Public Interest and The Wall Street Journal, Dec. 29, 1989).. A similar study in Washington, DC found a 20 percent contamination rate (Nutrition Action Healthletter, April 1990). What's going on here? When the FDA tested milk, they found few problems. However, they used very lax standards. When they used the same criteria, the FDA data showed 51 percent of the milk samples showed drug traces. Let's focus in on this because itÂ’s critical to our understanding of the apparent discrepancies. The FDA uses a disk-assay method that can detect only 2 of the 30 or so drugs found in milk. Also, the test detects only at the relatively high level. A more powerful test called the 'Charm II test' can detect drugs down to 5 parts per billion. One nasty subject must be discussed. It seems that cows are forever getting infections around the udder that require ointments and antibiotics. An article from France tells us that when a cow receives penicillin, that penicillin appears in the milk for from 4 to 7 milkings. Another study from the University of Nevada, Reno tells of cells in 'mastic milk', milk from cows with infected udders. An elaborate analysis of the cell fragments, employing cell cultures, flow cytometric analysis , and a great deal of high tech stuff. Do you know what the conclusion was? If the cow has mastitis, there is pus in the milk. Sorry, itÂ’s in the study, all concealed with language such as "macrophages containing many vacuoles and phagocytosed particles," etc. IT GETS WORSE Well, at least human mothers' milk is pure! Sorry. A huge study showed that human breast milk in over 14,000 women had contamination by pesticides! Further, it seems that the sources of the pesticides are meat and--you guessed it-- dairy products. Well, why not? These pesticides are concentrated in fat and that's what's in these products. (Of interest, a subgroup of lactating vegetarian mothers had only half the levels of contamination). A recent report showed an increased concentration of pesticides in the breast tissue of women with breast cancer when compared to the tissue of women with fibrocystic disease. Other articles in the standard medical literature describe problems. Just scan these titles: 1.Cow's Milk as a Cause of Infantile Colic Breast-Fed Infants. Lancet 2 (1978): 437 2.Dietary Protein-Induced Colitis in Breast- Fed Infants, J. Pediatr. I01 (1982): 906 3.The Question of the Elimination of Foreign Protein in Women's Milk, J. Immunology 19 (1930): 15 There are many others. There are dozens of studies describing the prompt appearance of cows' milk allergy in children being exclusively breast-fed! The cows' milk allergens simply appear in the mother's milk and are transmitted to the infant. A committee on nutrition of the American Academy of Pediatrics reported on the use of whole cows' milk in infancy (Pediatrics 1983: 72-253). They were unable to provide any cogent reason why bovine milk should be used before the first birthday yet continued to recommend its use! Doctor Frank Oski from the Upstate Medical Centre Department of Pediatrics, commenting on the recommendation, cited the problems of acute gastrointestinal blood loss in infants, the lack of iron, recurrent abdominal pain, milk- borne infections and contaminants, and said: Why give it at all - then or ever? In the face of uncertainty about many of the potential dangers of whole bovine milk, it would seem prudent to recommend that whole milk not be started until the answers are available. Isn't it time for these uncontrolled experiments on human nutrition to come to an end? In the same issue of Pediatrics he further commented: It is my thesis that whole milk should not be fed to the infant in the first year of life because of its association with iron deficiency anemia (milk is so deficient in iron that an infant would have to drink an impossible 31 quarts a day to get the RDA of 15 mg), acute gastrointiestinal bleeding, and various manifestations of food allergy. I suggest that unmodified whole bovine milk should not be consumed after infancy because of the problems of lactose intolerance, its contribution to the genesis of atherosclerosis, and its possible link to other diseases. In late 1992 Dr. Benjamin Spock, possibly the best known pediatrician in history, shocked the country when he articulated the same thoughts and specified avoidance for the first two years of life. Here is his quotation: I want to pass on the word to parents that cows' milk from the carton has definite faults for some babies. Human milk is the right one for babies. A study comparing the incidence of allergy and colic in the breast-fed infants of omnivorous and vegan mothers would be important. I haven't found such a study; it would be both important and inexpensive. And it will probably never be done. There is simply no academic or economic profit involved. OTHER PROBLEMS Let's just mention the problems of bacterial contamination. Salmonella, E. coli, and staphylococcal infections can be traced to milk. In the old days tuberculosis was a major problem and some folks want to go back to those times by insisting on raw milk on the basis that it's "natural." This is insanity! A study from UCLA showed that over a third of all cases of salmonella infection in California, 1980-1983 were traced to raw milk. That'll be a way to revive good old brucellosis again and I would fear leukemia, too. (More about that later). In England, and Wales where raw milk is still consumed there have been outbreaks of milk-borne diseases. The Journal of the American Medical Association (251: 483, 1984) reported a multi-state series of infections caused by Yersinia enterocolitica in pasteurised whole milk. This is despite safety precautions. All parents dread juvenile diabetes for their children. A Canadian study reported in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Mar. 1990, describes a "...significant positive correlation between consumption of unfermented milk protein and incidence of insulin dependent diabetes mellitus in data from various countries. Conversely a possible negative relationship is observed between breast-feeding at age 3 months and diabetes risk.". Another study from Finland found that diabetic children had higher levels of serum antibodies to cowsÂ’ milk (Diabetes Research 7(3): 137-140 March 1988). Here is a quotation from this study: We infer that either the pattern of cows' milk consumption is altered in children who will have insulin dependent diabetes mellitus or, their immunological reactivity to proteins in cows' milk is enhanced, or the permeability of their intestines to cows' milk protein is higher than normal. The April 18, 1992 British Medical Journal has a fascinating study contrasting the difference in incidence of juvenile insulin dependent diabetes in Pakistani children who have migrated to England. The incidence is roughly 10 times greater in the English group compared to children remaining in Pakistan! What caused this highly significant increase? The authors said that "the diet was unchanged in Great Britain." Do you believe that? Do you think that the availability of milk, sugar and fat is the same in Pakistan as it is in England? That a grocery store in England has the same products as food sources in Pakistan? I don't believe that for a minute. Remember, we're not talking here about adult onset, type II diabetes which all workers agree is strongly linked to diet as well as to a genetic predisposition. This study is a major blow to the "it's all in your genes" crowd. Type I diabetes was always considered to be genetic or possibly viral, but now this? So resistant are we to consider diet as causation that the authors of the last article concluded that the cooler climate in England altered viruses and caused the very real increase in diabetes! The first two authors had the same reluctance top admit the obvious. The milk just may have had something to do with the disease. The latest in this remarkable list of reports, a New England Journal of Medicine article (July 30, 1992), also reported in the Los Angeles Times. This study comes from the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto and from Finnish researchers. In Finland there is "...the world's highest rate of dairy product consumption and the world's highest rate of insulin dependent diabetes. The disease strikes about 40 children out of every 1,000 there contrasted with six to eight per 1,000 in the United States.... Antibodies produced against the milk protein during the first year of life, the researchers speculate, also attack and destroy the pancreas in a so-called auto-immune reaction, producing diabetes in people whose genetic makeup leaves them vulnerable." "...142 Finnish children with newly diagnosed diabetes. They found that every one had at least eight times as many antibodies against the milk protein as did healthy children, clear evidence that the children had a raging auto immune disorder." The team has now expanded the study to 400 children and is starting a trial where 3,000 children will receive no dairy products during the first nine months of life. "The study may take 10 years, but we'll get a definitive answer one way or the other," according to one of the researchers. I would caution them to be certain that the breast feeding mothers use on cows' milk in their diets or the results will be confounded by the transmission of the cows' milk protein in the mother's breast milk.... Now what was the reaction from the diabetes association? This is very interesting! Dr. F. Xavier Pi-Sunyer, the president of the association says: "It does not mean that children should stop drinking milk or that parents of diabetics should withdraw dairy products. These are rich sources of good protein." (Emphasis added) My God, it's the "good protein" that causes the problem! Do you suspect that the dairy industry may have helped the American Diabetes Association in the past? LEUKEMIA? LYMPHOMA? THIS MAY BE THE WORST--BRACE YOURSELF! I hate to tell you this, but the bovine leukemia virus is found in more than three of five dairy cows in the United States! This involves about 80% of dairy herds. Unfortunately, when the milk is pooled, a very large percentage of all milk produced is contaminated (90 to 95 per cent). Of course the virus is killed in pasteurisation-- if the pasteurisation was done correctly. What if the milk is raw? In a study of randomly collected raw milk samples the bovine leukemia virus was recovered from two-thirds. I sincerely hope that the raw milk dairy herds are carefully monitored when compared to the regular herds. (Science 1981; 213:1014). This is a world-wide problem. One lengthy study from Germany deplored the problem and admitted the impossibility of keeping the virus from infected cows' milk from the rest of the milk. Several European countries, including Germany and Switzerland, have attempted to "cull" the infected cows from their herds. Certainly the United States must be the leader in the fight against leukemic dairy cows, right? Wrong! We are the worst in the world with the former exception of Venezuela according to Virgil Hulse MD, a milk specialist who also has a B.S. in Dairy Manufacturing as well as a Master's degree in Public Health. As mentioned, the leukemia virus is rendered inactive by pasteurisation. Of course. However, there can be Chernobyl like accidents. One of these occurred in the Chicago area in April, 1985. At a modern, large, milk processing plant an accidental "cross connection" between raw and pasteurized milk occurred. A violent salmonella outbreak followed, killing 4 and making an estimated 150,000 ill. Now the question I would pose to the dairy industry people is this: "How can you assure the people who drank this milk that they were not exposed to the ingestion of raw, unkilled, bully active bovine leukemia viruses?" Further, it would be fascinating to know if a "cluster" of leukemia cases blossoms in that area in 1 to 3 decades. There are reports of "leukemia clusters" elsewhere, one of them mentioned in the June 10, 1990 San Francisco Chronicle involving Northern California. What happens to other species of mammals when they are exposed to the bovine leukemia virus? It's a fair question and the answer is not reassuring. Virtually all animals exposed to the virus develop leukemia. This includes sheep, goats, and even primates such as rhesus monkeys and chimpanzees. The route of transmission includes ingestion (both intravenous and intramuscular) and cells present in milk. There are obviously no instances of transfer attempts to human beings, but we know that the virus can infect human cells in vitro. There is evidence of human antibody formation to the bovine leukemia virus; this is disturbing. How did the bovine leukemia virus particles gain access to humans and become antigens? Was it as small, denatured particles? If the bovine leukemia viruses causes human leukemia, we could expect the dairy states with known leukemic herds to have a higher incidence of human leukemia. Is this so? Unfortunately, it seems to be the case! Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota, Minnesota and Wisconsin have statistically higher incidence of leukemia than the national average. In Russia and in Sweden, areas with uncontrolled bovine leukemia virus have been linked with increases in human leukemia. I am also told that veterinarians have higher rates of leukemia than the general public. Dairy farmers have significantly elevated leukemia rates. Recent research shows lymphocytes from milk fed to neonatal mammals gains access to bodily tissues by passing directly through the intestinal wall. An optimistic note from the University of Illinois, Ubana from the Department of Animal Sciences shows the importance of one's perspective. Since they are concerned with the economics of milk and not primarily the health aspects, they noted that the production of milk was greater in the cows with the bovine leukemia virus. However when the leukemia produced a persistent and significant lymphocytosis (increased white blood cell count), the production fell off. They suggested "a need to re-evaluate the economic impact of bovine leukemia virus infection on the dairy industry". Does this mean that leukemia is good for profits only if we can keep it under control? You can get the details on this business concern from Proc. Nat. Acad. Sciences, U.S. Feb. 1989. I added emphasis and am insulted that a university department feels that this is an economic and not a human health issue. Do not expect help from the Department of Agriculture or the universities. The money stakes and the political pressures are too great. You're on you own. What does this all mean? We know that virus is capable of producing leukemia in other animals. Is it proven that it can contribute to human leukemia (or lymphoma, a related cancer)? Several articles tackle this one: 1.Epidemiologic Relationships of the Bovine Population and Human Leukemia in Iowa. Am Journal of Epidemiology 112 (1980):80 2.Milk of Dairy Cows Frequently Contains a Leukemogenic Virus. Science 213 (1981): 1014 3.Beware of the Cow. (Editorial) Lancet 2 (1974):30 4.Is Bovine Milk A Health Hazard?. Pediatrics; Suppl. Feeding the Normal Infant. 75:182-186; 1985 In Norway, 1422 individuals were followed for 11 and a half years. Those drinking 2 or more glasses of milk per day had 3.5 times the incidence of cancer of the lymphatic organs. British Med. Journal 61:456-9, March 1990. One of the more thoughtful articles on this subject is from Allan S. Cunningham of Cooperstown, New York. Writing in the Lancet, November 27, 1976 (page 1184), his article is entitled, "Lymphomas and Animal-Protein Consumption". Many people think of milk as Â“liquid meatÂ” and Dr. Cunningham agrees with this. He tracked the beef and dairy consumption in terms of grams per day for a one year period, 1955-1956., in 15 countries . New Zealand, United States and Canada were highest in that order. The lowest was Japan followed by Yugoslavia and France. The difference between the highest and lowest was quite pronounced: 43.8 grams/day for New Zealanders versus 1.5 for Japan. Nearly a 30-fold difference! (Parenthetically, the last 36 years have seen a startling increase in the amount of beef and milk used in Japan and their disease patterns are reflecting this, confirming the lack of 'genetic protection' seen in migration studies. Formerly the increase in frequency of lymphomas in Japanese people was only in those who moved to the USA)! An interesting bit of trivia is to note the memorial built at the Gyokusenji Temple in Shimoda, Japan. This marked the spot where the first cow was killed in Japan for human consumption! The chains around this memorial were a gift from the US Navy. Where do you suppose the Japanese got the idea to eat beef? The year? 1930. Cunningham found a highly significant positive correlation between deaths from lymphomas and beef and dairy ingestion in the 15 countries analysed. A few quotations from his article follow: The average intake of protein in many countries is far in excess of the recommended requirements. Excessive consumption of animal protein may be one co-factor in the causation of lymphomas by acting in the following manner. Ingestion of certain proteins results in the adsorption of antigenic fragments through the gastrointestinal mucous membrane. This results in chronic stimulation of lymphoid tissue to which these fragments gain access "Chronic immunological stimulation causes lymphomas in laboratory animals and is believed to cause lymphoid cancers in men." The gastrointestinal mucous membrane is only a partial barrier to the absorption of food antigens, and circulating antibodies to food protein is commonplace especially potent lymphoid stimulants. Ingestion of cows' milk can produce generalized lymphadenopathy, hepatosplenomegaly, and profound adenoid hypertrophy. It has been conservatively estimated that more than 100 distinct antigens are released by the normal digestion of cows' milk which evoke production of all antibody classes [This may explain why pasteurized, killed viruses are still antigenic and can still cause disease. Here's more. A large prospective study from Norway was reported in the British Journal of Cancer 61 (3):456-9, March 1990. (Almost 16,000 individuals were followed for 11 and a half years). For most cancers there was no association between the tumour and milk ingestion. However, in lymphoma, there was a strong positive association. If one drank two glasses or more daily (or the equivalent in dairy products), the odds were 3.4 times greater than in persons drinking less than one glass of developing a lymphoma. There are two other cow-related diseases that you should be aware of. At this time they are not known to be spread by the use of dairy products and are not known to involve man. The first is bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), and the second is the bovine immunodeficiency virus (BIV). The first of these diseases, we hope, is confined to England and causes cavities in the animal's brain. Sheep have long been known to suffer from a disease called scrapie. It seems to have been started by the feeding of contaminated sheep parts, especially brains, to the British cows. Now, use your good sense. Do cows seem like carnivores? Should they eat meat? This profit-motivated practice backfired and bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or Mad Cow Disease, swept Britain. The disease literally causes dementia in the unfortunate animal and is 100 per cent incurable. To date, over 100,000 cows have been incinerated in England in keeping with British law. Four hundred to 500 cows are reported as infected each month. The British public is concerned and has dropped its beef consumption by 25 per cent, while some 2,000 schools have stopped serving beef to children. Several farmers have developed a fatal disease syndrome that resembles both BSE and CJD (Creutzfeldt-Jakob- Disease). But the British Veterinary Association says that transmission of BSE to humans is "remote." The USDA agrees that the British epidemic was due to the feeding of cattle with bonemeal or animal protein produced at rendering plants from the carcasses of scrapie-infected sheep. The have prohibited the importation of live cattle and zoo ruminants from Great Britain and claim that the disease does not exist in the United States. However, there may be a problem. "Downer cows" are animals who arrive at auction yards or slaughter houses dead, trampled, lacerated, dehydrated, or too ill from viral or bacterial diseases to walk. Thus they are "down." If they cannot respond to electrical shocks by walking, they are dragged by chains to dumpsters and transported to rendering plants where, if they are not already dead, they are killed. Even a "humane" death is usually denied them. They are then turned into protein food for animals as well as other preparations. Minks that have been fed this protein have developed a fatal encephalopathy that has some resemblance to BSE. Entire colonies of minks have been lost in this manner, particularly in Wisconsin. It is feared that the infective agent is a prion or slow virus possible obtained from the ill "downer cows." The British Medical Journal in an editorial whimsically entitled "How Now Mad Cow?" (BMJ vol. 304, 11 Apr. 1992:929- 30) describes cases of BSE in species not previously known to be affected, such as cats. They admit that produce contaminated with bovine spongiform encephalopathy entered the human food chain in England between 1986 and 1989. They say. "The result of this experiment is awaited." As the incubation period can be up to three decades, wait we must. The immunodeficency virus is seen in cattle in the United States and is more worrisome. Its structure is closely related to that of the human AIDS virus. At this time we do not know if exposure to the raw BIV proteins can cause the sera of humans to become positive for HIV. The extent of the virus among American herds is said to be "widespread". (The USDA refuses to inspect the meat and milk to see if antibodies to this retrovirus is present). It also has no plans to quarantine the infected animals. As in the case of humans with AIDS, there is no cure for BIV in cows. Each day we consume beef and diary products from cows infected with these viruses and no scientific assurance exists that the products are safe. Eating raw beef (as in steak Tartare) strikes me as being very risky, especially after the Seattle E. coli deaths of 1993. A report in the Canadian Journal of Veterinary Research, October 1992, Vol. 56 pp.353-359 and another from the Russian literature, tell of a horrifying development. They report the first detection in human serum of the antibody to a bovine immunodeficiency virus protein. In addition to this disturbing report, is another from Russia telling us of the presence of virus proteins related to the bovine leukemia virus in 5 of 89 women with breast disease (Acta Virologica Feb. 1990 34(1): 19-26). The implications of these developments are unknown at present. However, it is safe to assume that these animal viruses are unlikely to "stay" in the animal kingdom. OTHER CANCERS--DOES IT GET WORSE? Unfortunately it does. Ovarian cancer--a particularly nasty tumour--was associated with milk consumption by workers at Roswell Park Memorial Institute in Buffalo, New York. Drinking more than one glass of whole milk or equivalent daily gave a woman a 3.1 times risk over non-milk users. They felt that the reduced fat milk products helped reduce the risk. This association has been made repeatedly by numerous investigators. Another important study, this from the Harvard Medical School, analyzed data from 27 countries mainly from the 1970s. Again a significant positive correlation is revealed between ovarian cancer and per capita milk consumption. These investigators feel that the lactose component of milk is the responsible fraction, and the digestion of this is facilitated by the persistence of the ability to digest the lactose (lactose persistence) - a little different emphasis, but the same conclusion. This study was reported in the American Journal of Epidemiology 130 (5): 904-10 Nov. 1989. These articles come from two of the country's leading institutions, not the Rodale Press or Prevention Magazine. Even lung cancer has been associated with milk ingestion? The beverage habits of 569 lung cancer patients and 569 controls again at Roswell Park were studied in the International Journal of Cancer, April 15, 1989. Persons drinking whole milk 3 or more times daily had a 2-fold increase in lung cancer risk when compared to those never drinking whole milk. For many years we have been watching the lung cancer rates for Japanese men who smoke far more than American or European men but who develop fewer lung cancers. Workers in this research area feel that the total fat intake is the difference. There are not many reports studying an association between milk ingestion and prostate cancer. One such report though was of great interest. This is from the Roswell Park Memorial Institute and is found in Cancer 64 (3): 605-12, 1989. They analyzed the diets of 371 prostate cancer patients and comparable control subjects: Men who reported drinking three or more glasses of whole milk daily had a relative risk of 2.49 compared with men who reported never drinking whole milk the weight of the evidence appears to favour the hypothesis that animal fat is related to increased risk of prostate cancer. Prostate cancer is now the most common cancer diagnosed in US men and is the second leading cause of cancer mortality. WELL, WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS? Is there any health reason at all for an adult human to drink cows' milk? It's hard for me to come up with even one good reason other than simple preference. But if you try hard, in my opinion, these would be the best two: milk is a source of calcium and it's a source of amino acids (proteins). Let's look at the calcium first. Why are we concerned at all about calcium? Obviously, we intend it to build strong bones and protect us against osteoporosis. And no doubt about it, milk is loaded with calcium. But is it a good calcium source for humans? I think not. These are the reasons. Excessive amounts of dairy products actually interfere with calcium absorption. Secondly, the excess of protein that the milk provides is a major cause of the osteoporosis problem. Dr. H egsted in England has been writing for years about the geographical distribution of osteoporosis. It seems that the countries with the highest intake of dairy products are invariably the countries with the most osteoporosis. He feels that milk is a cause of osteoporosis. Reasons to be given below. Numerous studies have shown that the level of calcium ingestion and especially calcium supplementation has no effect whatever on the development of osteoporosis. The most important such article appeared recently in the British Journal of Medicine where the long arm of our dairy industry can't reach. Another study in the United States actually showed a worsening in calcium balance in post-menopausal women given three 8-ounce glasses of cows' milk per day. (Am. Journal of Clin. Nutrition, 1985). The effects of hormone, gender, weight bearing on the axial bones, and in particular protein intake, are critically important. Another observation that may be helpful to our analysis is to note the absence of any recorded dietary deficiencies of calcium among people living on a natural diet without milk. For the key to the osteoporosis riddle, donÂ’t look at calcium, look at protein. Consider these two contrasting groups. Eskimos have an exceptionally high protein intake estimated at 25 percent of total calories. They also have a high calcium intake at 2,500 mg/day. Their osteoporosis is among the worst in the world. The other instructive group are the Bantus of South Africa. They have a 12 percent protein diet, mostly p lant protein, and only 200 to 350 mg/day of calcium, about half our women's intake. The women have virtually no osteoporosis despite bearing six or more children and nursing them for prolonged periods! When African women immigrate to the United States, do they develop osteoporosis? The answer is yes, but not quite are much as Caucasian or Asian women. Thus, there is a genetic difference that is modified by diet. To answer the obvious question, "Well, where do you get your calcium?" The answer is: "From exactly the same place the cow gets the calcium, from green things that grow in the ground," mainly from leafy vegetables. After all, elephants and rhinos develop their huge bones (after being weaned) by eating green leafy plants, so do horses. Carnivorous animals also do quite nicely without leafy plants. It seems that all of earth's mammals do well if they live in harmony with their genetic programming and natural food. Only humans living an affluent life style have rampant osteoporosis. If animal references do not convince you, think of the several billion humans on this earth who have never seen cows' milk. Wouldn't you think osteoporosis would be prevalent in this huge group? The dairy people would suggest this but the truth is exactly the opposite. They have far less than that seen in the countries where dairy products are commonly consumed. It is the subject of another paper, but the truly significant determinants of osteoporosis are grossly excessive protein intakes and lack of weight bearing on long bones, both taking place over decades. Hormones play a secondary, but not trivial role in women. Milk is a deterrent to good bone health. THE PROTEIN MYTH Remember when you were a kid and the adults all told you to "make sure you get plenty of good protein". Protein was the nutritional "good guyÂ”" when I was young. And of course milk is fitted right in. As regards protein, milk is indeed a rich source of protein- -"liquid meat," remember? However that isn't necessarily what we need. In actual fact it is a source of difficulty. Nearly all Americans eat too much protein. For this information we rely on the most authoritative source that I am aware of. This is the latest edition (1oth, 1989: 4th printing, Jan. 1992) of the Recommended Dietary Allowances produced by the National Research Council. Of interest, the current editor of this important work is Dr. Richard Havel of the University of California in San Francisco. First to be noted is that the recommended protein has been steadily revised downward in successive editions. The current recommendation is 0.75 g/kilo/day for adults 19 through 51 years. This, of course, is only 45 grams per day for the mythical 60 kilogram adult. You should also know that the WHO estimated the need for protein in adults to by .6g/kilo per day. (All RDA's are calculated with large safety allowances in case you're the type that wants to add some more to "be sure.") You can "get by" on 28 to 30 grams a day if necessary! Now 45 grams a day is a tiny amount of protein. That's an ounce and a half! Consider too, that the protein does not have to be animal protein. Vegetable protein is identical for all practical purposes and has no cholesterol and vastly less saturated fat. (Do not be misled by the antiquated belief that plant proteins must be carefully balanced to avoid deficiencies. This is not a realistic concern.) Therefore virtually all Americans, Canadians, British and European people are in a protein overloaded state. This has serious consequences when maintained over decades. The problems are the already mentioned osteoporosis, atherosclerosis and kidney damage. There is good evidence that certain malignancies, chiefly colon and rectal, are related to excessive meat intake. Barry Brenner, an eminent renal physiologist was the first to fully point out the dangers of excess protein for the kidney tubule. The dangers of the fat and cholesterol are known to all. Finally, you should know that the protein content of human milk is amount the lowest (0.9%) in mammals. IS THAT ALL OF THE TROUBLE? Sorry, there's more. Remember lactose? This is the principal carbohydrate of milk. It seems that nature provides new- borns with the enzymatic equipment to metabolize lactose, but this ability often extinguishes by age 4 or 5 years. What is the problem with lactose or milk sugar? It seems that it is a disaccharide which is too large to be absorbed into the blood stream without first being broken down into monosaccharides, namely galactose and glucose. This requires the presence of an enzyme, lactase plus additional enzymes to break down the galactose into glucose. Let's think about his for a moment. Nature gives us the ability to metabolize lactose for a few years and then shuts off the mechanism. Is Mother Nature trying to tell us something? Clearly all infants must drink milk. The fact that so many adults cannot seems to be related to the tendency for nature to abandon mechanisms that are not needed. At least half of the adult humans on this earth are lactose intolerant. It was not until the relatively recent introduction of dairy herding and the ability to "borrow" milk from another group of mammals that the survival advantage of preserving lactase (the enzyme that allows us to digest lactose) became evident. But why would it be advantageous to drink cows' milk? After all, most of the human beings in the history of the world did. And further, why was it just the white or light skinned humans who retained this knack while the pigmented people tended to lose it? Some students of evolution feel that white skin is a fairly recent innovation, perhaps not more than 20,000 or 30,000 years old. It clearly has to do with the Northward migration of early man to cold and relatively sunless areas when skins and clothing became available. Fair skin allows the production of Vitamin D from sunlight more readily than does dark skin. However, when only the face was exposed to sunlight that area of fair skin was insufficient to provide the vitamin D from sunlight. If dietary and sunlight sources were poorly available, the ability to use the abundant calcium in cows' milk would give a survival advantage to humans who could digest that milk. This seems to be the only logical explanation for fair skinned humans having a high degree of lactose tolerance when compared to dark skinned people. How does this break down? Certain racial groups, namely blacks are up to 90% lactose intolerant as adults. Caucasians are 20 to 40% lactose intolerant. Orientals are midway between the above two groups. Diarrhea, gas and abdominal cramps are the results of substantial milk intake in such persons. Most American Indians cannot tolerate milk. The milk industry admits that lactose intolerance plays intestinal havoc with as many as 50 million Americans. A lactose-intolerance industry has sprung up and had sales of $117 million in 1992 (Time May 17, 1993.) What if you are lactose-intolerant and lust after dairy products? Is all lost? Not at all. It seems that lactose is largely digested by bacteria and you will be able to enjoy your cheese despite lactose intolerance. Yogurt is similar in this respect. Finally, and I could never have dreamed this up, geneticists want to splice genes to alter the composition of milk (Am J Clin Nutr 1993 Suppl 302s). One could quibble and say that milk is totally devoid of fiber content and that its habitual use will predispose to constipation and bowel disorders. The association with anemia and occult intestinal bleeding in infants is known to all physicians. This is chiefly from its lack of iron and its irritating qualities for the intestinal mucosa. The pediatric literature abounds with articles describing irritated intestinal lining, bleeding, increased permeability as well as colic, diarrhea and vomiting in cows'milk-sensitive babies. The anemia gets a double push by loss of blood and iron as well as deficiency of iron in the cows' milk. Milk is also the leading cause of childhood allergy. LOW FAT One additional topic: the matter of "low fat" milk. A common and sincere question is: "Well, low fat milk is OK, isn't it?" The answer to this question is that low fat milk isn't low fat. The term "low fat" is a marketing term used to gull the public. Low fat milk contains from 24 to 33% fat as calories! The 2% figure is also misleading. This refers to weight. They don't tell you that, by weight, the milk is 87% water! "Well, then, kill-joy surely you must approve of non-fat milk!" I hear this quite a bit. (Another constant concern is: "What do you put on your cereal?") True, there is little or no fat, but now you have a relative overburden of protein and lactose. It there is something that we do not need more of it is another simple sugar-lactose, composed of galactose and glucose. Millions of Americans are lactose intolerant to boot, as noted. As for protein, as stated earlier, we live in a society that routinely ingests far more protein than we need. It is a burden for our bodies, especially the kidneys, and a prominent cause of osteoporosis. Concerning the dry cereal issue, I would suggest soy milk, rice milk or almond milk as a healthy substitute. If you're still concerned about calcium, "Westsoy" is formulated to have the same calcium concentration as milk. SUMMARY To my thinking, there is only one valid reason to drink milk or use milk products. That is just because we simply want to. Because we like it and because it has become a part of our culture. Because we have become accustomed to its taste and texture. Because we like the way it slides down our throat. Because our parents did the very best they could for us and provided milk in our earliest training and conditioning. They taught us to like it. And then probably the very best reason is ice cream! I've heard it described "to die for". I had one patient who did exactly that. He had no obvious vices. He didn't smoke or drink, he didnÂ’t eat meat, his diet and lifestyle was nearly a perfectly health promoting one; but he had a passion. You guessed it, he loved rich ice cream. A pint of the richest would be a lean day's ration for him. On many occasions he would eat an entire quart - and yes there were some cookies and other pastries. Good ice cream deserves this after all. He seemed to be in good health despite some expected "middle age spread" when he had a devastating stroke which left him paralyzed, miserable and helpless, and he had additional strokes and d ied several years later never having left a hospital or rehabilitation unit. Was he old? I don't think so. He was in his 50s. So don't drink milk for health. I am convinced on the weight of the scientific evidence that it does not "do a body good." Inclusion of milk will only reduce your diet's nutritional value and safety. Most of the people on this planet live very healthfully without cows' milk. You can too. It will be difficult to change; we've been conditioned since childhood to think of milk as "nature's most perfect food." I'll guarantee you that it will be safe, improve your health and it won't cost anything. What can you lose? es esta pagina link http://notmilk.com/kradjian.html The most important information dissemination my. Not that, but I can make your text too long jajaja. If I write bad is that I am leading a translator jaja

Why are people so focused on partisan junk? When this is what is happening. "The issue today is the same as it has been throughout all history, whether man shall be allowed to govern himself or be ruled by a small elite." -Thomas Jefferson "History records that the money changers have used every form of abuse, intrigue, deceit, and violent means possible to maintain their control over governments by controlling the money and its issuance." -James Madison "The means of defense against foreign danger historically have become the instruments of tyranny at home." -James Madison "If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation and then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around them will deprive the people of all property until their children wake up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered." -Thomas Jefferson 1816 "I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me and causes me to tremble for the safety of my country. As a result of the war, corporations have been enthroned and an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the people until all wealth is aggregated in a few hands, and the Republic is destroyed." -Abraham Lincoln "The real menace of our Republic is the invisible government which like a giant octopus sprawls its slimy legs over our cities, states and nation." - John F. Hylan, Mayor of New York, Mayor, 1918-1925 "I am a most unhappy man. I have unwittingly ruined my country. A great industrial nation is controlled by its system of credit. Our system of credit is concentrated. The growth of the nation, therefore, and all our activities are in the hands of a few men. We have come to be one of the worst ruled, one of the most completely controlled and dominated governments in the civilized world. No longer a government by free opinion, no longer a government by conviction and the vote of the majority, but a government by the opinion and duress of a small group of dominant men." - Woodrow Wilson after signing the Federal Reserve Act. "Since I entered politics, I have chiefly had men's views confided to me privately. Some of the biggest men in the United States, in the field of commerce and manufacture, are afraid of something. They know that there is a power somewhere so organized, so subtle, so watchful, so interlocked, so complete, so pervasive, that they better not speak above their breath when they speak in condemnation of it." - Woodrow Wilson, The New Freedom (1913) "This Act (the Federal Reserve Act, Dec. 23rd 1913) establishes the most gigantic trust on earth. When the President (Woodrow Wilson) signs the Bill, the invisible government of the Monetary Power will be legalised... The worst legislative crime of the ages is perpetrated by this banking and currency Bill." -Charles A. Lindbergh, Sr. , His Book Banking currency and the money trust 1913 "When the President signs this act [Federal Reserve Act of 1913], the invisible government by the money power -- proven to exist by the Monetary Trust Investigation -- will be legalized. The new law will create inflation whenever the trusts want inflation. From now on, depressions will be scientifically created." -Charles A. Lindbergh, Sr. "If, as it appears, the experiment that was called 'America' is at an end... then perhaps a fitting epitaph would be ... 'here lies America the greatest nation that might have been had it not been for the Edomite bankers who first stole their money, used their stolen money to buy their politicians and press and lastly deprived them of their constitutional freedom by the most evil device yet created --- The Federal Reserve Banking System.' " -G. D. McDaniel In March, 1915, the J.P. Morgan interests, the steel, shipbuilding, and powder interest, and their subsidiary organizations, got together 12 men high up in the newspaper world and employed them to select the most influential newspapers in the United States and sufficient number of them to control generally the policy of the daily press. … They found it was only necessary to purchase the control of 25 of the greatest papers. An agreement was reached; the policy of the papers was bought, to be paid for by the month; an editor was furnished for each paper to properly supervise and edit information regarding the questions of preparedness, militarism, financial policies, and other things of national and international nature considered vital to the interests of the purchasers. -Oscar Callaway Congressional Record of February 9, 1917, page 2947 (This is The Council on Foreign Relations) "The real truth of the matter is, as you and I know, that a financial element in the large centers has owned the government of the U.S. since the days of Andrew Jackson." - U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt in a letter written Nov. 21, 1933 to Colonel E. Mandell I wouldn't go to war again, as I have done to protect some lousy investment of the bankers. There are only two things we should fight for. One is the defense of our homes, and the other is the Bill of Rights. War for any other reason is simply a racket. -Major General Smedley Darlington Butler 1933 "National Socialism will use its own revolution for establishing a New World Order." -Adolph Hitler "What is needed here is a return to the Constitution of the United States. We need to have a complete divorce of Bank and State. The old struggle that was fought out here in Jackson's day must be fought over again... The Federal Reserve Act should be repealed and the Federal Reserve Banks, having violated their charters, should be liquidated immediately. Faithless Government officers who have violated their oaths of office should be impeached and brought to trial. Unless this is done by us, I predict that the American people, outraged, robbed, pillaged, insulted, and betrayed as they are in their own land, will rise in their wrath and send a President here who will sweep the money changers out of the temple." -Louis McFadden US Congressman (R-PA) (1915-1935), Chairman of House Banking and Currency Committee. Poisoned in 1936. "It is the system of nationalist individualism that has to go....We are living in the end of the sovereign states....In the great struggle to evoke a Westernized World Socialism, contemporary governments may vanish....Countless people...will hate the New World Order....and will die protesting against it." - H.G. Wells, in his book, The New World Order, 1940 "I am concerned for the security of our great nation; not so much because of any threat from without, but because of the insidious forces working from within." - General Douglas MacArthur "Our government has kept us in a perpetual state of fear -kept us in a continuous stampede of patriotic fervour -with the cry of grave national emergency. Always, there has been some terrible evil at home,or some monstrous foreign power that was going to gobble us up if we did not blindly rally behind it." -General Douglas Mac Arthur "We have what is known as the Federal Reserve Bank System. That system is not owned by the Government. Many people think that it is because it says “Federal Reserve.” It belongs to private banks, private corporations. So we have farmed out to the Federal Reserve Banking System that which is owned exclusively, wholly, one hundred percent to the private banks—we have farmed out to them the privilege of issuing the Government’s money!" - John William Wright Patman, Congressional Record (29 Sep. 1941) "We shall have world government whether or not you like it, by conquest or consent." -James Warburg, In the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Feb 17, 1950. "I want to make one thing clear. This war against our constitution is not being fought way off in Madagascar or in Mandalay. It is being fought here—in our schools, our colleges, our churches, our women’s clubs. It is being fought with our money, channeled through the State Department. It is being fought twenty-four hours a day—while we remain asleep. How many of you Senators know what the UN is doing to change the teaching of the children in your own home town? The UN is at work there, every day and night, changing the teachers, changing the teaching materials, changing the very words and tones—changing all the essential ideas which we imagine our schools are teaching to our young folks. How in the name of Heaven are we to sit here, approve these programs, appropriate our own people’s money—for such outrageous “orientation” of our own children, and of the men and women who teach our children, in this Nation’s schools?" -William Jenner U.S. Senator 1952 "We must now face the harsh truth that the objectives of communism are being steadily advanced because many of us do not recognize the means used to advance them. ... The individual is handicapped by coming face to face with a Conspiracy so monstrous he cannot believe it exists. The American mind simply has not come to a realization of the evil which has been introduced into our midst." -J. Edgar Hoover, Elks Magazine 1956 "There is no doubt that America is now the prime target of international communism." -J. Edgar Hoover, Masters of Deceit (1958) "The invisible Money Power is working to control and enslave mankind. It financed Communism, Fascism, Marxism, Zionism, Socialism. All of these are directed to making the United States a member of a World Government." - American Mercury Magazine, December 1957, (p. 92) "I believe that if the people of this nation fully understood what Congress has done to them over the last 49 years, they would move on Washington; they would not wait for an election....It adds up to a preconceived plan to destroy the economic and social independence of the United States!" - George W. Malone, U.S. Senator (Nevada), speaking before Congress, 1957 "I never would have agreed to the formulation of the Central Intelligence Agency back in forty-seven, if I had known it would become the American Gestapo." -Harry S. Truman 1961 "The high office of the President has been used to foment a plot to destroy the American's freedom and before I leave office, I must inform the citizen of this plight." John F Kennedy Columbia University on Nov. 12, 1963, 10 days before his assassination! "The Trilateral Commission is intended to be the vehicle for multinational consolidation of the commercial and banking interests by seizing control of the political government of the United States. The Trilateral Commission represents a skillful, coordinated effort to seize control and consolidate the four centers of power--Political, Monetary, Intellectual, and Ecclesiastical." - U.S. Senator Barry Goldwater, his book No Apologies, 1964 "All of us will ultimately be judged on the effort we have contributed to building a new world order." -Robert Kennedy "Most Americans have no real understanding of the operation of the international money lenders. The accounts of the Federal Reserve System have never been audited. It operates outside of the control of Congress and manipulates the credit of the United States." -Barry GoldWater "The time has come to recognize the United Nations for the anti-American, anti-freedom organization that it has become. The time has come for us to cut off all financial help, withdraw as a member, and ask the United Nations to find headquarters location outside the United States that is more in keeping with the philosophy of the majority of voting members, someplace like Moscow or Peking." -Barry Goldwater, Congressional Record (1971) "The drive of the Rockefellers and their allies is to create a One-World Government combining supercapitalism and Communism under the same tent, all under their control.... Do I mean conspiracy? Yes I do. I am convinced there is such a plot, international in scope, generations old in planning, and incredibly evil in intent." - Congressman Larry P. McDonald, 1976, killed in the Korean Airlines 747 that was shot down by the Soviets. "The threat of environmental crisis will be the 'international disaster key' that will unlock the New World Order." -Mikhail Gorbachev "The main purpose of the Council on Foreign Relations is promoting the disarmament of U.S. sovereignty and national independence and submergence into an all powerful, One World Government." - Admiral Chester Ward, former CFR member and Judge Advocate General of the U.S. Navy "Let us face reality. The framers have simply been too shrewd for us. They have outwitted us. They designed separate institutions that cannot be unified by mechanical linkages, frail bridges, or tinkering. If we are to turn the founders upside down. we must directly confront the Constitutional structure they erected." - James MacGregor Burns, Council on Foreign Relations member, 1984 "A careful examination of what is happening behind the scenes reveals that all of these interests are working in concert with the masters of the Kremlin in order to create what some refer to as a “New World Order.” Private organizations such as the Council on Foreign Relations, the Royal Institute of International Affairs, the Trilateral Commission, the Dartmouth Conference, the Aspen Institute for Humanistic Studies, the Atlantic Institute, and the Bilderberg Group serve to disseminate and to coordinate the plans for this so-called new world order in powerful business, financial, academic, and official circles." -Jesse Helms, Senate 1987 "It is the sacred principles enshrined in the United Nations charter to which the American people will henceforth pledge their allegiance." -George HW Bush (The War in Iraq) A rare opportunity to move toward an historic period of cooperation. Out of these troubled times... ...a new world order can emerge. -George HW Bush "... what is at stake, is more than one small country. It is a big idea. A New World Order where diverse nations are drawn together in common cause to achieve the universal aspirations of mankind: peace, and security, freedom, and the rule of law ... [The war in Iraq is] a rare opportunity to move toward an historic period of cooperation. Out of these troubled times, ... our fifth objective, - a New World Order, can emerge: a new era, freer from the threat of terror, stronger in the pursuit of justice, and more secure in the quest for peace ... Now we can see a new world coming into view, a world in which there is a very real prospect of a New World Order. ... We are now in sight of a United Nations that performs as envisioned by its founders." -George HW Bush "Today, America would be outraged if UN troops entered Los Angeles to restore order. Tomorrow they will be grateful! This is especially true if they were told that there were an outside threat from beyond, whether real or promulgated, that threatened our very existence. It is then that all peoples of the world will plead to deliver them from this evil. The one thing every man fears is the unknown. When presented with this scenario, individual rights will be willingly relinquished for the guarantee of their well-being granted to them by the World Government." - Henry Kissinger, Bilderberger Conference in Evians, France, 1991 his speech was taped by a Swiss delegate to the meeting. "It cannot happen without U.S. participation, as we are the most significant single component. Yes, there will be a New World Order, and it will force the United States to change its perceptions." -Henry Kissinger World Affairs Council Press Conference, Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel, 19 April 1994 "We are grateful to the Washington Post, the New York Times, Time Magazine and other great publications whose directors have attended our meetings and respected their promises of discretion for almost forty years. It would have been impossible for us to develop our plan for the world if we had been subjected to the lights of publicity during those years. But, the world is more sophisticated and prepared to march towards a world government. The supranational sovereignty of an intellectual elite and world bankers is surely preferable to the national autodetermination practiced in past." -David Rockefeller. "For more than a century, ideological extremists at either end of the political spectrum have seized upon well-publicized incidents to attack the Rockefeller family for the inordinate influence they claim we wield over American political and economic institutions. Some even believe we are part of a secret cabal working against the best interests of the United States, characterizing my family and me as "internationalists" and of conspiring with others around the world to build a more integrated global political and economic structure - one world, if you will. If that's the charge, I stand guilty, and I am proud of it." -David Rockefeller "We are on the verge of a global transformation. All we need is the right major crisis and the nations will except the New World Order." -David Rockefeller "In the next century, nations as we know them will be obsolete; all states will recognize a single, Global Authority. National sovereignty wasn't such a great idea after all." - Strobe Talbot, President Clinton's Deputy Secretary of State, Time Magazine, July 20th, l992 "We can't be so fixated on our desire to preserve the rights of ordinary Americans..." -Bill Clinton 1993 "If the personal freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution inhibit the government's ability to govern the people, we should look to limit those guarantees." -Bill Clinton "You know, by the time you become the leader of a country, someone else makes all the decisions. … You may find you can get away with virtual presidents, virtual prime ministers, virtual everything." -Bill Clinton "The Final Act of the Uruguay Round, marking the conclusion of the most ambitious trade negotiation of our century, will give birth - in Morocco - to the World Trade Organization, the third pillar of the New World Order, along with the United Nations and the International Monetary Fund." -Government of Morocco, April 1994 New York Times "If the political-correctness fascists get their way, we can safely assume it will be correct-thinking, "political cleansing" squads deciding what we can or cannot say on the Intenet. These people fear public debate and demand homogenization of "acceptable" attitudes compatible with their emotional, utopian idealism." -Charles W. Moore "The interests behind the Bush Administration, such as the CFR, The Trilateral Commission -- founded by Brzezinski for David Rockefeller -- and the Bilderberger Group, have prepared for and are now moving to implement open world dictatorship within the next five years. They are not fighting against terrorists. They are fighting against citizens." - Dr. Johannes B. Koeppl, PhD former German defense ministry official and advisor to former NATO Secretary General Manfred Werne "If the New World Order agenda is not realized by the terrorist attacks on America and if Americans don’t agree to give up their weapons and relinquish their sovereignty to the New World Order, the next attack will be the use of chemical, biological and/or atomic warfare against the American people. The architects of the New World Order will not hesitate to use as a last resort an atomic or hydrogen bomb in a major American city." -New York Times, 24 Sept. 2001 "A secret blueprint for US global domination reveals that President Bush and his cabinet were planning a premeditated attack on Iraq to secure regime change even before he took power in January 2001… It has been called a secret blueprint for US global domination. … A small group of people with a plan to remove Saddam Hussein long before George W. Bush was elected president. … And 9/11 provided the opportunity to set it in motion. Not since Mein Kampf has a geopolitical punch been so blatantly telegraphed years ahead of the blow." -Ted Koppel Nightline, 5 March 2003, quoting the Glasgow Sunday Herald (Sept. 15, 2002) I don't give a goddamn. I'm president and the Commander-in-Chief. Do it my way. Stop throwing the constitution in my face. It's just a goddamned piece of paper! -George W Bush "The system will be made up of a single currency, single centrally financed government, single tax system, single language, single political system, single world court of justice, single head (one individual leader), single state religion. ...Each person will have a registered number, withoutwhich he will not be allowed to buy or sell; and there will be one universal world church. Anyone who refuses to take part in this universal system will have no right to exist." -Dr. Kurt E. Koch Professor, Lectured at 100 Universities in 65 countries on 5 continents. Subjects of expertise: New World Order, Occultism, Extreme Movements, Parapsychology. His assessment of the coming N.W.O. under the United Nations is that it will reduce everything to one common denominator "Is there a number or mark planned for the hand or forehead in a new cashless society? YES, and I have seen the machines that are now ready to put it into operation." -Ralph Nader "When they took the 4th Amendment, I was quiet because I didn't deal drugs. When they took the 6th Amendment, I was quiet because I am innocent. When they took the 2nd Amendment, I was quiet because I don't own a gun. Now they have taken the 1st Amendment, and I can only be quiet." -Lyle Myhr More to come... .. From Barrack Obama??? "In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act." George Orwell Who is ignorant? The Democrats or Republicans? Answer is Both. Get a clue or America is screwed! Good night and good luck! God help America. My own personal Diatribe? You have got to be kidding me.

Are any of you aware of what is going on and how your lives may soon be effected by Feb. 10, 2009? Please read this blog as well as visit http://www.worldmag.com/articles/14953 this website has another article that shows the potential threats to crafters, small business', charites, liability to resalers, E-bay sales, and on and on the list goes in some twisted reponse by our legislatures to response to toys with lead in them from China!!!! Consumer Products Safety Improvement Act of 2008 Earlier this week, news reports began circulating about the Consumer Products Safety Improvement Act of 2008 which would require third-party testing on consumer goods (including apparel) used by children. The purpose of the act is to keep lead-filled products away from children. It is directed at lead-based paint and phthalates (chemicals used to keep plastics pliable) in products that children might chew, suck on, or otherwise ingest. Beginning February 10, 2009 (the date the law goes into effect) clothing retailers and thrift stores will be throwing out children's clothing because they do not meet new federal regulations. This is the Consumer Product Safety Council web page that links to the actual legislation and their legal counsel's interpretation on how the law should be applied http://www.cpsc.gov/ABOUT/Cpsia/cpsia.HTML According to some reports, testing for lead and phthalates could cost as much as $30,000 per tested sample. We contacted the office of more than one U.S. Representative and were told that the law has been enacted, but the regulations have not yet been released. There is a chance the law would apply only to producers and importers, not retailers (including thrift stores). The law could also affect initial retailers, but not resellers. These are some of the details that are yet to be determined. Since we don't know exactly who will be affected by the new law, and to what extent the law will impact our ministries, here are some things that missions can do: Contact the Consumer Products Safety Commission at 800-638-2772. This is the agency that is writing the regulations. Ask them for a clarification on what types of outlets will be impacted by the regulations. Voice your concern as to how this will impact services for people in need. Call your member of Congress or Senator. Explain how their constituents might be impacted if the product testing is extended to thrift stores and free clothing distribution. Low income families who currently receive free donated clothing, or purchase them at a thrift store, will be forced to pay retail in a tough economic market. Social services to the poor will be reduced as income from clothing sales at the mission thrift store will decline, resulting in the inability to fund much needed assistance. It will cost jobs. Thrift stores provide employment to individuals; lower revenue means cutbacks. It will have a negative environmental impact as tons of serviceable clothing goes into landfills, rather than aiding needy families. The legislation dramatically impacts helping agencies (rescue missions, Salvation Army, Goodwill, Volunteers of America, churches and other community organizations with clothes closets) during a slow economy, when their assistance is most needed by the community. Ask your legislators for help in exempting missions and other non-profits that serve people in need. Write letters to the editor; include the amount of free clothing given to the community and the numbers of families served. Ask for support in seeing that the regulations not impact the most vulnerable members of the community (you may use many of the points from item #2 above). Voice your concern about lead and phthalates, but ask that the new legislation not place additional hardships on the youngest and poorest citizens. Remember that legislation can be changed and improved. Keep the lines of communication open with members of Congress and Senators for input into future laws of this sort. Don't panic, let the legislative process run its course, then be ready to respond when the full details are known. If you want more information regarding the act, these sites have a lot of good information. http://www.fashion-incubator.com/archive/new-product-safety-regulations-that-affect-all-manufacturers/ http://www.fashion-incubator.com/archive/national-bankruptcy-day/ Ronald K. Fox, Executive Director Rochester, NY, United States

If the media is not liberal then why are they not reporting the progress in Iraq? Evidence of improvement in Iraq. By Bill Crawford An important step in stemming the violence in Iraq is to find a formula to share the country’s oil revenues fairly between the three main groups: Shiite, Sunnis, and Kurds. Iraq is preparing to take a step in the right direction by providing opportunities for foreign oil firms to invest in the country, thereby increasing its output and revenues: The production-sharing agreements (PSAs) would allow oil giants to sign 30-year contracts for extracting Iraqi oil. Under PSAs, the state retains legal ownership of its oil but gives a share of the profits to companies that invest in infrastructure and in operating the wells, pipelines and refineries. The newspaper [the Independent] said that under the draft law, oil companies could recoup 60 to 70 per cent of revenue until initial costs had been recovered, which compares to around 40pc usually. Along the same lines, Lt. General Graeme Lamb, Deputy Commander of Multinational Forces-Iraq, sees 2007 as the year that Iraq moves forward, and says he sees plenty of progress to base his optimism on: Let me give you an example. I was out at Hit the other day, Ramadi. The battalion commander out there, young battalion commander — actually, I suppose he's not that young; he just looks it — had been in Ramadi two years before, had done a full year's tour. As far as he was concerned, he always just seemed to be going backwards. When I saw him the other day, as far as he was concerned, they were making huge progress. Ramadi. Four months ago I don't think there was any policemen in the town. Seven hundred and ninety-one now. They were shot at from a building. Two hundred policemen drawn together surrounded the building, cleared it. Now, that's just an example of some progress. I then look at some of the economic issues. I look at the megawatts of power that are coming on line. I see some of the reconstruction programs that are going out. Now, that gives me a degree of optimism. I see this prime minister. I see this government. I see the challenges they face, and I'm not trying to dismiss the difficulties or trying to give you some sort of political upbeat spin. I don't do optimism. I don't do pessimism. I just do realism as I see it. And I do spend a lot of time out here. I spend a lot of time out here. I got a feel for the Arabs. So it's just the way I see it, and it's not sort of in effect trying to — I don't know — make something out of nothing. I think the situation here — you know, as someone once said — I think it was a field marshal of ours said things are never as good or as bad as you think they are. I just see these in fact at a point in turning. Mosul and al Qaim are other areas where significant progress has been made over the past year. In Mosul, Iraqi police and army forces have brought law and order to a historically violent area: “Yes, there is violence in this city. But, there is violence in American cities that have nearly two million people in their population as well,” said [Maj. Gen. Benjamin R.] Mixon. Recognizing the similar levels of violence in a comparable city in America, Twitty paints an optimistic picture of the current state of Mosul and Ninewa Province. “Amidst the turmoil and issues that persist in Iraq, there is a semblance of peace and normalcy in the north. Ninewa’s leadership works hard to provide its citizens security, build its economy, and implement programs that will continue to keep sectarian violence from the province,” said Twitty. “One thing we cannot do is attempt to put an American standard on any Iraqi city,” said Twitty. “We have to remember that this country lived under a dictator for more than 30 years. The major and significant difference between U.S. cities and Mosul is the use of improvised explosive devices, rocket-propelled grenades, and other military - grade weapons. Anti-Iraqi forces persist in their attacks, but the Iraqi security forces, consisting of the Iraqi Army, border patrol and police, continue to quell those attacks daily,” Twitty continued. Al Qaim was frequently called the “Wild West,” but the Marines cleaned the area up in 2005, and the situation is improving daily: Two years ago, the same streets were fraught with roadside bombs and snipers, and sellers and buyers stayed away. The area was considered too dangerous even for a quick tour by a U.S. general in his armored Humvee. The Al Qaim region routinely was described as an out-of-control "wild west" where the Marines were fighting, with only limited success, to control the smuggling of insurgent fighters and weapons from Syria. Today, Marines walk the downtown beat, chatting with residents, fielding their complaints, encouraging them to contact the Iraqi police if they suspect insurgent activity. In a country studded with areas where the United States either has failed or had only limited progress toward stabilization, Husaybah and the surrounding Al Qaim region stand out as a success, officials said. Unfortunately, the American people aren’t hearing about this, as Army medic Corporal Ignacio Garza observes: Based on his experiences in Iraq, events there are not as bad as the news media make it seem, an Army medic from Adrian said. Cpl. Ignacio Garza, a medic in the 1st Armored Division home on leave after serving in Iraq for six months, said the troops don’t watch television news for war updates because they think none of the networks show an accurate depiction of what’s happening. He said they ignore large parts of the country, including the Kurd-dominated north, that are stable. In fact, if the mainstream media isn’t ignoring a story in Iraq they could just as easily be making one up. For the second time in six weeks, the Associated Press has put out a story from Iraq that isn’t backed by the facts: The Associated Press has again put out an Iraq story detailing events that did not happen. This time, it involves an airstrike that, " killed a family of four during a firefight." However, according to the press desk of Multi-National Forces-Iraq, no air strike happened during that firefight, and MNF-I also reported that which six insurgents were killed by American troops in Baghdad on January 1. This is the second time in roughly six weeks that the AP has been caught fabricating events. Iraqi Security Forces In an operation on January 7, members of the 6th Iraqi army division captured the leader of a cell responsible for kidnappings, murder, IED attacks, and car bombings. Near Baqubah, soldiers of the 5th Iraqi army killed three insurgents during an operation to capture a cell leader. The Iraqi patrol came under fire from men exiting a mosque. They returned fire, killing three. The 1st Iraqi army division assumed tactical command of the 2nd Brigade on January 9. The brigade will operate within Fallujah: “We will be loyal soldiers to defend our precious country and to implement security and stability,” said Brig. Gen. Khalid Juad Khadum, the commanding general of 2nd Brigade. “And this will hit the pages of history in godly words, and we promise Allah that we will take care of this handover and to protect it, God willing, until the last drop of our blood, and Allah is a witness of what we say.” The Iraqi police enlisted 301 recruits during a recent recruiting drive in Fallujah and Habbaniyah. The new recruits will undergo six-week basic training in Jordan. Another 400 were enlisted during a recruiting drive in Ramadi. The situation was far different last year: One year ago a murderous intimidation campaign prevented local Iraqis from enlisting in Ramadi. Recruiting numbers for police were insignificant. More than 1,000 enlisted in the police force last month. Over 800 are expected to enlist in Anbar Province this month. “The local tribes stood up to the intimidation campaign and are taking back their city from the terrorists,” said the Coalition spokesman in Ramadi Marine Maj. Riccoh Player. “Hundreds of Iraqi Police are holding areas cleared by Iraqi and American forces in recent operation in the worst neighborhoods of Ramadi,” said Player. “Building and manning a police station in Ramadi is what progress looks like in a counterinsurgency.” Based on tips from Iraqi civilians, the Iraqi national police, with Coalition forces, detained ten and uncovered several weapons caches during an operation in Baghdad: The operation was the result of tips from local citizens of possible insurgents and weapons caches in the neighborhood. The national police seized three large weapons caches containing one rifle fitted with a silencer, one machine gun, one sniper rifle, assorted small arms ammunition and bomb-making materials. In Fallujah, Iraqi police and army troops captured 47 insurgents during Operation Ar Bead. The operation was planned and executed by Iraqi troops, who have tamed the once restless city: “The district police chief – this was his idea,” said Lt. Col. Race Roberson, the RCT-5 police implementation officer. “It was (an Iraqi Security Forces) operation; they were the owners of it.” ”The police are a strong force, and they will go anywhere at anytime in the city of Fallujah,” Roberson said. The Iraqi army has begun a major operation in Baghdad. Thirty terrorists were reported killed on the first day, including five from Sudan. The 2nd Division of the Iraq army is now operating independently of Coalition forces. In Qasaiba, soldiers of the 5th Iraqi Army Division captured the leader of an insurgent cell operating in the area: The insurgent cell leader is suspected of limiting the travel of Iraqi civilians in the area through intimidation and violent criminal activities. It is also believed the cell leader coordinates and conducts kidnapping, torture and murders of Iraqi civilians and security forces in the area. On January 10, Iraqi soldiers rescued a kidnapping victim: Working on a tip, Iraqi troops from the 1st Battalion, 2nd Brigade, 9th Iraqi Army Division (Mechanized) searched for the kidnapping victim’s vehicle. They discovered it on a farm. Upon conducting a cordon and search of the farm, the soldiers found the kidnapped Iraqi in a farmhouse unharmed, with his hands tied. Iraqi Special Security Forces captured two leaders of an insurgent cell during an operation in Al Doura. The cell is responsible for car bombings against civilians in Sadr City and IED attacks against Iraqi security forces. In Tal Afar, Iraqi police killed four insurgents after they came under attack while on patrol. A later search of the area found a weapons cache consisting of 12 RPGs and two mortar shells. Iraqi army special forces captured 19 during an operation targeting the leader of an insurgent cell responsible for attacks against Iraqi civilians and Coalition forces. During two operations in Fallujah, Iraqi soldiers captured six members of al Qaeda. The men are suspected of involvement with IED attacks against Coalition troops and weapons trafficking. Iraqi security forces joined Marines and U.S. soldiers in conducting a successful operation to clean up Ramadi: Iraqi Army, police and Coalition forces seized hundreds of weapons and explosives during the operation, including three mortar systems, 101 mortar rounds, 90 pounds of explosives, eight rocket-propelled grenade launchers, 47 AK-47s, five Dragonov sniper rifles, 26 grenades, 26 mines, 34 artillery rounds, 12 rockets and other items used to attack Ramadi’s security forces and civilians. During the operation 44 enemy combatants were killed and 172 suspected insurgents were detained. The Iraqi army captured a high-level insurgent leader during a raid in Hajjan: The suspect is allegedly an experienced IED builder and an illegal armed group member. He was believed to be training other illegal armed group members how to construct and employ IEDs. Prime Minister al-Maliki has finally been convinced to drop his protection of the Mahdi army. The move came after U.S. officials convinced al-Maliki that the militia was infiltrated by Shiite death squads. In related news, Sadr’s political block is ending its two month boycott of parliament. Two tips led Iraqi national police to a kidnapping victim and a sizeable weapons cache in Baghdad: “This raid was planned and executed entirely by the Iraqi national police,” said Maj. Blaine Wales, the team chief for the 1st Battalion, 7th Brigade, 2nd Iraqi National Police Transition Team. The weapons cache consisted of 31 mortar and artillery rounds, 12 rolls of detonation cord, one can of ball bearings, three blocks of C4 explosive, 100 blasting caps and fuses, two completed improvised explosive devices, multiple batteries of all types, four handheld radios, nine cellular phones and seven completed electronic circuit boards similar to those found in roadside bombs. In eastern Baghdad, an Iraqi patrol found an IED before it could be detonated. In Baghdad, an Iraqi army patrol successfully fought its way out of an ambush: While conducting a routine patrol in Baghdad’s Fahhama neighborhood, an element of the 1st Battalion, 1st Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army was ambushed by a group of insurgents armed with pistols and AK-47s. The patrol immediately returned fire on the men attacking them. Two insurgents were killed and four others wounded in the fire fight. Tips from citizens led Iraqi police to two large weapons caches: The first cache included fifteen 9mm TNT rounds, a dozen 90mm Composition A3 rounds, five 155mm High Explosive rounds, four artillery fuses, six 20mm rockets, and nine RPG rounds among other items. The second cache included two 105mm rounds rigged as improvised explosive devices. Iraqi Police captured the leader of al Qaeda in Iraq’s cell in Samarra during an operation on January 18. Iraqi forces captured two high-level insurgent commanders in separate raids: Special Iraqi army forces, with coalition advisors, captured a high-level terrorist leader today during operations in eastern Baghdad, military officials said. The suspect is allegedly affiliated with Abu Dura and other Baghdad death squad commanders, and is responsible for assassinating numerous Iraqi security forces members and government officials. Military officials said he has also organized kidnappings, torture and murder of Iraqi civilians. During operations in Samarra yesterday, Iraqi police forces with coalition advisors captured the suspected leader of several al Qaeda in Iraq terror cells. The suspect is responsible for directing several IED and small arms attacks against Iraqi security forces, coalition forces and Iraqi civilians. During the operation, combined forces captured an additional insurgent and confiscated IED components, assault rifles and ammunition. In Morocco, security forces have disrupted a cell responsible for recruiting terrorists to fight in Iraq: Moroccan security forces have dismantled a radical cell recruiting volunteers to fight in Iraq and arrested 26 people, the government said on Thursday. In Tal Afar, Iraq forces discovered a tunnel leading below a house where they found a weapons cache consisting of 200 pounds of explosives, more than 125 rockets, and 2,500 rounds of ammunition. Over at the Department of Defense website, a map of Iraq shows the progress made by Iraq’s army over the last year. “Green areas” indicate areas under control of Iraqi forces. The “green areas” increase significantly as the year progresses. Check it out. Security Operations Raids across Iraq targeting al Qaeda resulted in the capture of 25 suspected terrorists. Nine terrorists were killed in a series of raids in Baghdad over the weekend: Nine terrorists, including an al-Qaeda leader, were killed during raids conducted by coalition forces in Baghdad today and yesterday. Also, one terrorist was wounded, and three were detained during the raids. A known al-Qaeda weapons dealer was among those killed during today's Baghdad raid, according to officials. Another terrorist was wounded in the action, while two more were detained. The wounded terrorist was provided first aid and transported to a nearby medical facility. Coalition forces had targeted the weapons dealer, whose body was identified by his wife. In other news, coalition troops killed six terrorists and detained one suspect during a fierce morning firefight in Baghdad yesterday, officials reported. Intelligence reports indicated the targeted location was used as a possible al Qaeda in Iraq safe house for terrorists to conduct operational planning. Another 90 al Qaeda terrorists were killed by American and Iraqi forces during a ten-day operation near Baghdad. A patrol consisting of troops from the 1st Cavalry Division uncovered seven weapons caches in the village of Arab Salman Salman: …uncovered the caches, which included 51 rocket-propelled grenade rounds; 11 RPG launchers; two assault rifles with 13,000 rounds of ammunition; six 57mm rockets; eight plastic explosives; two 120mm artillery shells; two 137mm missiles; 225 pounds of explosives; and other IED-making materials. Iraqi and Coalition troops discovered a weapons cache in Yusufiyah consisting of materials used in the manufacture of IEDs: The cache, which contained a variety of improvised explosive device making items and weapons included six 120mm mortar rounds, a directional charge, five rocket propelled grenade launchers, seven RPG charges, nine RPG rockets, 150 small metal cylinders filled with plastic explosives, 1000 7.62mm rounds, 200 ft. of detonation cord, seven hand grenade fuses, five hand grenade shells, five long-range antennae, 22 transformers, four cordless phones, two cordless phone base stations, two cell phones, 12 cell phone cases with assorted parts and 12 60mm mortar round casings. Twenty-eight suspected terrorists were captured during raids across Iraq which targeted the safe houses of foreign terrorists. Over the past month, paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne have found more than 500 artillery rounds that could have been used to make IEDs or VBEIDs. Reconstruction & Economy If it were any other country, the reconstruction of Iraq would be a huge story. As of December 31, 2006, there are 658 projects underway at a cost of $2.67 billion, 3,026 projects have been completed at a cost of $7.11 billion, and 94 more projects are planned. A $43 million upgrade to the Al Basrah oil terminal is expected to be completed by April. The upgrade includes an emergency shutdown system, control valves, metering system, and fire protection. The upgraded terminal will meet all international safety and metering standards. Twenty hospitals throughout Iraq are currently undergoing $103 million in renovations. A small water project was completed in Dahuk Province. The new water storage tank and pipeline serves more than 1,000 residents of Dahuk. An $8.6 million renovation to the Samawah Railroad Maintenance Center has been completed. The Samawah site is one of two railway maintenance centers in Iraq, and employs more than 250 Iraqis. Iraq’s power grid is now being monitored by a central control system, called SCADA: “The main function of SCADA is to create and maintain a digital connection in order to check the provinces’ power loads and control them easily by connecting them to the central power distribution points,” Perry said. The SCADA system includes input and output signal hardware, controller networks, and communications software. There are 47 primary health-care centers under construction in northern Iraq. The first completed center recently opened in Salah Al Den Province: More than 112,000 people in the Salah Al Den Province are receiving healthcare from the first completed Primary Healthcare Center (PHC) in the north. Built by local construction companies with quality assurance managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, this $3.35 million dollar facility provides routine and initial emergency care to patients including X-ray, laboratories and dentistry. Medical supplies and laboratory equipment were included in the contract to make this facility complete and operational. On January 15, three new schools were opened in Mushahidah: an elementary school for girls, a secondary school for girls, and an elementary school for boys: “This is a great example for the projects in this area,” said Shiek Naif Moutlak, the chief of the city council. “We thank the coalition for all they have done and hope for other projects in the area to help the people.” The Pentagon is helping fight unemployment in Iraq by reopening factories that were once owned by Saddam Hussein: Under a new program, the U.S. Defense Department is already helping reopen factories that were owned by Saddam Hussein's government and abandoned by occupation authorities shortly after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion. The Pentagon may also start providing them with contracts to support U.S. troops. One factory restarted operations in the past two weeks, and nine more are to open by the end of this month, adding some 11,000 Iraqis to employment rolls, a Pentagon official said Wednesday. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the information had not been released yet. The president’s speech this week put Iran on notice that the U.S. was going to work to prevent its interference in Iraq. Iraqi forces took the first step in confronting Iran when they raided Iran’s diplomatic mission in Irbil: Iraqi officials said today that multinational forces detained as many as six Iranians in an overnight raid on Tehran's diplomatic mission in the northern city of Irbil just hours after President Bush gave details about his new military plan for Iraq. The forces stormed the Iranian mission at about 3 a.m., detaining the five staffers and confiscating computers and documents, two senior local Kurdish officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the information. Irbil is a city in the Kurdish-controlled north, 220 miles from Baghdad. Japan is preparing to loan Iraq $3.5 billion for reconstruction. In the city of Al Qosh, Medics from the 1st Cavalry Division treated more than 80 people during a humanitarian mission to the city: During the mission, one female physician’s assistant and one female pediatrician medically examined over 80 people; 65 percent children, and 35 percent women. Three dozen soccer balls were distributed to the children of the town, courtesy of a donation from a radio station in the United States, as well as clothing, toys, shoes, and school supplies.

What do you know about the Media and Abu Ghraib?? MASS MEDIA : ABU GHRAIB INTRODUCTION Although in recent months, Abu Ghraib has not been making front page news, it is still an issue at large in the United States and the world. Millions around the globe witnessed shocking images of tortured Iraqis at Abu Ghraib at the hands of their American captors; the reaction was anger and outrage. The constant bombardment of shocking photos and articles made sure that everyone knew about the problem at hand. And that something needed to happen to resolve this issue. In this paper I will be exploring the mass media coverage of the Abu Ghraib Prison scandal. I will examine a few different media outlets such as the New York Times and the Washington Times. I will also attempt to compare the amount of coverage given to Abu Ghraib by the two newspapers as well as the underlying motives of the liberal New York Times and the conservative Washington Times. Also, I will be examining the Abu Ghraib coverage broadcasted on national television in the United States. CNN, a known liberal news station and The Fox News Channel a known conservative news station will be my mediums. I will be examining them to see if I can find distortions in the coverage, the amount of coverage, bias in the coverage, and more importantly the repercussions of the said statements from the newspaper and television. I chose these particular news mediums because they are all well known, trusted institutions of news. Also it is important to understand that each carry their own political views, whether they are Republican or Democratic. That being said, I believe we will find many differences in the coverage of the Abu Ghraib Prison scandal between the news agencies METHODS To acquire data for my analysis of Abu Ghraib media coverage I turned to the primary sources themselves. By using the internet to review old articles and the fact that I constantly watch cable news, I was able to review a fair amount of data. Some of which is stuff I remember from watching CNN and FNC during the height of the Abu Ghraib pandemic. By contacting staff writers at the Washington Times and using microfiche to review articles posted by the New York Times, I was able to see many differences in the media coverage. However, the internet proved to be my most valuable player in helping me compile my research. Depending on the key words used to research Abu Ghraib in the media I would get many different results. By typing in “Abu Ghraib” I would get websites that were mostly focused on the cold hard facts of the case without the left or right wing bias. However, when I typed in words like distortions, propaganda, and sensationalism attached with Abu Ghraib I found that the websites information changed dramatically. I noticed a great deal of what I would call finger pointing, people playing the blame game, and the attempted defamation of character was always popular. The three search engines used where; Yahoo, Google, and Ask.com. For the most part the three search engines returned most of the same information but it’s always nice to mix it up a little. It was difficult to sift through what I considered to be accurate coverage and what I will call uneducated coverage of the issue. Everyone’s got an opinion but I think it’s best to just stick to the facts of the cases and use the comments and statements of accredited news agencies In order to discuss differences in media coverage of Abu Ghraib I needed to first understand what actually happened at Abu Ghraib. To complete this task I used a number of internet sites describing the events that took place. Wikipedia on the web proved to be the most complete, unbiased information on the actual facts and timelines of the case. BACKGROUND In the early months of 2003, various abuses and torture tactics were being used on inmates at the Abu Ghraib Prison. Private contractors, CIA officers, and U.S. armed forces were among the many individuals who would ultimately be charged with cruel and unusual treatment of prisoners. On April 28th, 2004, the emergence of various reports of abuse and graphic pictures of Americans abusing POW’s appeared in the international media. CBS aired an episode of 60 minutes 2 that went into graphic detail of the events at Abu Ghraib. The New York Times published an article on the abuse just 2 days later. I will go into greater details of this story later in this report. The damage of this scandal to the U.S.’s credibility was tremendous. The news of the abuse reverberated throughout the entire Arab world, leading millions to believe that these instances represented a “broader American attitude of disrespect and violence towards Arabs.”(CNN) The U.S. countered by saying that the abuses were committed by a handful of low-ranking personnel, and that their individual actions did not represent the U.S. armed forces as a whole. In response to the scandal the removal of 17 officers from duty, the arrest 7 soldiers for dereliction of duty, maltreatment, aggravated assault, and battery, for which they were sent to prison, as well as 2 officers who spent 10 year prison terms. Ironically, the Abu Ghraib Prison scandal, led by the U.S. coalition, was not the first account of torture that the walls of the prison had seen. In fact, thousands of political prisoners held by Saddam Hussein were believed to have been tortured and murdered. “Up to 4 thousand prisoners are thought to have been executed there in 1984 alone. Prisoners are routinely executed, guards fed prisoners into plastic shredders, and there are even allegations that some of these detainees were subjected to experiments as part of Iraq’s chemical and biological weapons program.”(Wikipedia 2004) After Baghdad was invaded and the government was overthrown, the U.S. took over the prison where it would eventually come to hold over 5 thousand prisoners. Washington Times The Washington Times is a D.C. newspaper that reaches about 103,017 readers on a daily basis. It was created by the Rev. Sun Myung Moon to be the conservative counterpoint to the liberal Washington post. Both papers claimed to print neutral news coverage but reserve the right to print conservative and liberal opinions in the respective papers. The Washington times is known and is seen as a conservative newspaper. By conservative, I mean that their political views are in support of traditional values and the “existing social order.” The support of republicans in times of political discussions and events is also common place. This is precisely why we have seen a difference in the amount of coverage in Abu Ghraib by the New York Times versus the Washington Times. According to Jennifer Harper, of the Washington Times,” positive images and accounts of the U.S. armed forces is rare.”(Harper 2005) She goes on to give an example, “30 U.S. airmen and soldiers delivered school supplies and toys - gifts from American children - to an Iraqi village.” “Yesterday air force medical teams airlifted a critically ill infant and mother to an Ohio hospital for treatment.”(Harper 2005) The question is why are these stories being overshadowed by all the bad images of the war? The Washington Times claims it does an excellent job at staying neutral. The Washington times, as well as other agencies such as the Media Research Center, are very suspicious of the fact that there are broadcasters in news companies using their influence to build a case against the war in Iraq, as well as the Bush administration. Abu Ghraib proved to be the catalyst for many to turn away from the war on terror and question the legitimacy of the war in Iraq. For this reason, the Washington Times opted out of sensationalistic media coverage of the Abu Ghraib incident. The Washington Times was not one to publish a ridiculous amount of shock articles along with anger incising photographs to amplify the severity of the events. The liberal media has had no such qualms doing so; as the Washington Times has gone on to say in many of their articles. Why would the Washington Times shy away from an obscene amount of coverage of Abu Ghraib? Why would they retaliate and say that the liberal media is using the scandal to undermine Bush’s war efforts. The answer is simple. We have a Conservative in office. The Washington Times and any conservative media for that matter do not want to see their poster boy’s image tarnished. It is in the Washington Times best interest to keep a republican in office and writing stories that discredit Bush’s control on the situation at hand would have a negative effect… As we have seen from the “bombardment of Abu Ghraib images from CBS, CNN, Washington Post, and especially the New York Times.”(O’Reilly, 2004) Fox News Channel Another entity with similar conservative ideology is the Fox News Channel, with their “hardballer” Bill O’Reilly. Fox News Channel was founded by Rupert Murdoch in an attempt to combat the liberal media. They operate under the slogans “Fair and Balanced”, “We report you decide”, and as Bill O’Reilly says, “your now entering a no spin zone.” Although Fox News Channel was criticized in the 2000 election for being, “the last to retract the call of Florida for Gore and first to call Florida for Bush, their record of being unbiased is pretty good.”(Wikipedia 2003) Perhaps the most well known and noteworthy television personality on the Fox News Channel is Bill O’Reilly. He is known for his conservative political views, unorthodox methods of interviewing guests on his show, and sensational commentary. As someone who watches the O’Reilly Factor, it was not hard to compile the feelings and articles from O’Reilly on the Abu Ghraib Prison scandal. On a side note, O’Reilly does not believe he is either a conservative or a liberal. As he has stated time and time again. In response to the Abu Ghraib scandal, O’Reilly was forthcoming to say that the photos did show abuse but was reluctant to admit that the photos showed what the New York Times Dubbed as torture. O’Reilly’s focus was more turned toward what he perceived as sensational coverage of Abu Ghraib by the leftist media and the consequences of their journalism. O’Reilly goes on to say that “the New York Times, of course is using the prisoner story to hammer the Bush administration and continue to do so, but here’s the unintended consequence of that. By creating hysteria over Abu Ghraib, the much more important war on terror story has vanished from the newspapers. Last weeks dog and pony show by Senators Kennedy and Bidden once again placed blame on the Bush Administration. And the senators did everything they could to mandate no coercive interrogations of suspected terrorists. Meantime foreign governments are encouraging suicide killers and we are the targets. Yet it’s all Abu Ghraib, all the time in much of the media, politics once again trumping your safety.”(O’Reilly 2004) He also states that the New York Times ran with 43 front page stories on Abu Ghraib in 47 days. An incredible amount of coverage. New York Times The New York Times is published in New York City but is an international newspaper. “It is owned by the New York Times Co. which also publishes some 40 other newspapers including the international Herald Tribune and the Boston Globe.” We will return to the Globe later in the essay. The New York Times is viewed by many to be a liberal newspaper. By liberal I mean that they are concerned with individual rights, civil liberties and the redistribution of wealth from rich to poor. Tax breaks for the poor are generally favored over tax breaks for the rich. The New York Times is usually thought of as supporting the Democratic Party. It has been suggested that “during presidential campaigns the paper systematically gives more coverage to democratic topics, but only when the incumbent president is a republican.”(FNC 2005) Based on these facts some might assume that the New York Times would have much to gain from extensive coverage of Abu Ghraib. Much like their opponent conservative paper, the New York Times has a stake in the reactions of their readers. For the liberal side of the news Abu Ghraib was the Holly Grail of leverage points. There is no doubt that the New York Times covered the Abu Ghraib prison scandal extensively. In fact from April 29, 2004 to may 31, 2004 the Abu Ghraib scandal was on the front page of the New York Times in full color. A few of the 32 headlines read,” Iraqi recounts hours of abuse by U.S. troops. The solider; from picture of pride to symbol of abuse, and abuse; afghan deaths linked to a unit in Iraq.” (NYT 2004) All articles painted vivid images of the tortured and mutilated Iraqis in the minds of Americans and the world. Many of the articles also attempted to illustrate the incompetence followed by the underhand ness of the bush administration and the U.S. armed forces as a whole. One article in particular, Abu Ghraib, Stonewashed, published by the New York Times read, “while piously declaring its determination to unearth the truth about Abu Ghraib, the Bush Administration has spent nearly 2 months obstructing investigations by the army and members of congress. It has dragged out the Armies inquiry, withheld crucial government documents from a senate committee and stonewalled senators over dozens of Red Cross reports that document the horrible treatment of Iraqis at American military prisons.”(NYT 6/30/04). This seems to be one of the running themes in the liberal media. As mentioned before the New York Times publishes the Boston Globe. Like the New York Times the Globe is also thought of as having liberal bias toward political issues. Apparently this bias carried over into the Abu Ghraib Prison scandal. “On May 11, 2004 after the Abu Ghraib photos were released, Boston City Council Chuck Turner called a news conference with activist Sadiki Kambo. At the conference Turner and Kambo claimed to have pictures of American soldiers raping Iraqi women which Kambo said he got from the Nation of Islam. The Americans have a right and responsibility to see the pictures, Turner said standing beside a poster showing some of these graphic photos.’(Zinsmeister, 8/4/04) After three days it was found that the photos were blatant fakes and the Globe was forced to publicly apologize for reporting the case of abuse when the photos were nothing more the commercially produced pornography.”(Wikipedia, 04)Let’s hope the Iraqis got that omission. CNN Created by Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld, CNN has been dubbed “the most watched 24 hour news network in the world.”(CNN) It is available to 1.5 billion people in over 212 countries. Also being dubbed as the Clinton news network, CNN has come under scrutiny by conservatives for the practice of liberal bias in their reporting. CNN has been known to be a mouth piece for the New York Times and the Washington Post. All three cover stories with the same slant and Abu Ghraib is really no different. CNN’s coverage of Abu Ghraib was also extensive and made a habit of plastering shocking photos on T.V. of tortured and tormented Iraqis at the hands of Americans. I also watch CNN. It’s not to say that the coverage was inaccurate or untrue but the constant harping on the issue six months after the fact led many to believe that CNN had a greater hidden agenda in the reporting of the abuse case. Perhaps to discredit the Bush administration and make themselves look right righteous crusaders trying to uncover the truth, increasing the credibility of the left wing. Discussion In order to best understand the juxtaposition of the conservative and liberal media outlets we must first understand the broader situation going on. I will attempt to give you a condensed background of the political forces at work when dealing with Abu Ghraib and the media in general. Currently we have a Republican president in office and have had one in office since 2000. This has not set well with the Democrats very well. As we have seen in the 2000 election with the Florida recall and again in 2004 when the Democrats tried to get the votes of soldiers in Iraq disqualified from the count. A noteworthy side note, most US soldiers are supporters of Bush and his administration. Perhaps the most talked about aspect in the media has been the American led war in Iraq. Since the beginning of the war, liberals have tried to slam Bush and the American people, as I see it, for going to war with the country that supposedly has nothing to do with terrorism. This is false. On the 16th of March, 1988 Saddam and his followers used chemical weapons on the Kurdish people in the town of Halabjah. “Around 5000 people were murdered, mostly civilians.”(CBS 2004) The fact that the United States was unable to find weapons of mass destruction has been a staging point for much of the liberal criticism. Perhaps someone should tell them that Iraq does have weapons of mass destruction and the United States has the receipt to prove it. A mistake made by the Reagan administration. However, since the weapons of mass destruction debacle has gone away the Liberal media has been starving for a new media headline to discredit the Bush administration. Abu Ghraib would come to be the headline. There is no doubt in my mind that what happen at Abu Ghraib was a horrible thing and those responsible should have been punished, but was the constant streaming of torture photos really necessary. The unfortunate aspect for all the coverage of Abu Ghraib is that the problem had been uncovered and fixed by the military six months before the media ever caught wind of it. The way the media portrayed the issue was that the supposed tortures were going on, on a daily basis when in fact the abuse had stopped. It wasn’t as if the media had uncovered the evil Americans torturing inmates, it was the military that discovered it and dealt with in accordingly. So I ask, if the Bush administration is so incompetent and don’t have a handle on the war and all its aspects, (AG), then why were they the ones to uncover the problem and fix it. Another problem I have with the coverage of Abu Ghraib was that of the photographs alone. When the Liberal media showed these pictures they never gave timelines of when the pictures were taken. They just showed pictures and led people to believe that these photos were taken over the course of weeks and even months when they were actually taken on the same day. Probably within hours of each other. But that’s not what the Liberal media would have you know. They attempted to make it look like the torture was an ongoing and everyday practice. Tim Graham of the Media Research Center noted that “this abuse story is just not going away” it is still the topic on most network news. And there strong focus of the court martial, on the bad apples-it’s as if those troops represent the military at large as far as the media is concerned. The center has been following the bias problem among broadcasters who use the abuse story to build a case against the war in Iraq and the Bush administration. As a sample the group tracked abuse stories from April 29th to May 11th on NBC and found that the network aired 58 stories on abuse in that period. In the past year NBC only aired 5 stories on mass graves found in Iraq from the Saddam Hussein era.”(Graham 2004) From this information it is easy to see where NBC, a known Liberal station, is focused. Another aspect of the Abu Ghraib case that needs to be addressed is the flagrant use of the word torture. I believe that the word torture really needed to be evaluated and defined before the media as a whole began tossing it around. The context the word carries with it is very different from country to country, culture to culture. To a great deal of Americans the photos were disturbing but were not viewed as torture. To me most of the” photos showed nothing more than you would expect to see at a fraternity hazing.”(Tim 5/3/2004) The others clearly showed textbook procedures in dealing with a person you were interrogating. Although I do admit some of the marine’s actions went too far and deserved to be punished. The media loved to show the image of an Army ranger restraining a snarling dog from ripping into an Iraqi they were interrogating. Using dogs and other “high stress” tactics to get information out of detainees is completely legal. Though I think the public could have gone without seeing that image. If you were to ask Iraqis who lived under the murderous Saddam Hussein, the Vietnamese and Bosnians if they thought the pictures showed torture, they would probably disagree. Overall, I would have to say that both the conservative and liberal media’s did a good job of covering the topic. However, Fox and the Washington Times may have been a little to relaxed about the whole issue but did cover all of the main focal points of the scandal. CNN and the New York Times on the other hand may have gone a little overboard on the Abu Ghraib coverage but were well within their rights to do so. I think all agencies had accurate coverage of the issue and presented their slants on the issue very well. It is my contention that a cross between the two media circles would be able to produce better and possibly fairer coverage in the future.

What's your opinion of these comparison's of Obama and Palin? What do you think about this comparison of Palin/Obama? 1=Sarah Palin 2=Barack Obama Office being sought 1 Vice President 2 President of the United States and Leader of the Free World Full name 1 Sarah Louise Heath Palin 2 Barack Hussein Obama II Nickname 1 Sarah Barracuda 2 Barry Obama; 'The One' Public opinion 1 Smoking hot in a 'naughty librarian' sort of way 2 May be The Messiah Age 1 44 2 48 Children 1 5: two sons, three daughters 2 2: two daughters Religion/Church attendance 1 Evangelical Christian; attends Juneau Christian Center when in Juneau and grew up attending Wasilla Assembly of God 2 Attended Trinity United Church of Christ for 20 years, a 'black liberation theology' church formerly led by Rev. Jeremiah Wright and governed according to the Black Value System Current Job 1 Governor of Alaska 2 Junior Senator from Illinois Previous Public Jobs 1 Mayor of Wasilla, AK (1996-2002); President of Alaska Conference of Mayors; City Council member (1992-1996) 2 State Senator (1997-2004); Community Organizer Executive Experience 1 Governor for 2 years; Mayor for 10 years 2 None Foreign Relations experience 1 Governor of state that borders two foreign countries (Canada and Russia) 2 Chaired Senate subcommittee on Europe but never called it into session; once gave a speech to 200,000 screaming Germans Military Affairs experience 1 Commander in Chief of Alaska National Guard; Son is enlisted Infantryman in U.S. Army 2 None Private Sector Experience 1 Sports reporter; Salmon fisherman 2 Associate at civil rights law firm Speaking ability 1 Beautifully executed initial stump speech in Dayton, OH hockey arena without a teleprompter 2 An enter...wait--did you say without a teleprompter?? Spouse's name 1 Todd Mitchell Palin 2 Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama Spouse's occupation 1 Salmon fisherman; Former North Slope production supervisor for BP Oil 2 Vice President for Community and External Affairs at University of Chicago Hospitals; former Associate Dean of Student Services at the University of Chicago; former Executive Director for the Chicago office of Public Allies; former Assistant to the Mayor of Chicago; former associate at Sidley Austin law firm Reaction to spouse's political success 1 Quit 17-year BP oil job when BP became involved in natural gas pipeline negotiations with wife's administration 2 Promoted and given 160% pay raise by UofC hospitals within months of husband's election to U.S. Senate; Employer received $1,000,000.00 federal earmark, requested by husband, after her promotion Coolest thing about Spouse 1 Tesoro Iron Dog Snowmobile race champion (longest snowmobile race in the world); In 2008, while defending his championship, was injured when he was thrown 70 feet from his machine. He was sent to the hospital but still finished in fourth place 2 Sister of Oregon State University head basketball coach Craig Robinson Most Courageous Moment in Public Service 1 Resigned in protest from position of Ethics Commissioner of Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission in order to expose legal violations and conflicts of interest of Alaska Republican leaders, including the former state Attorney General and the State GOP Chairman (who was also an Oil & Gas Commissioner), who was doing work for the party on public time and supplying a lobbyist with a sensitive e-mail. 2 Gave an anti-Iraq war speech to a crowd of anti-Iraq war demonstrators in Hyde Park in 2002 In Current Office Because... 1 Upset sitting Governor in GOP primary due to public support for her efforts to clean up corrupt government establishment 2 Republican opponent, who was leading in the polls, was forced to leave race after unsealing of divorce records exposed a sex scandal Theme: 1 Change and Clean Government 2 Hope and Change; 'Bringing Change from Outside Washington' What they've done to live that theme: 1 Replaced entire Board of Agriculture and Conservation because of conflict of interest; Resigned from position of Ethics Commissioner of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission in order to expose corruption among members of own party 2 Selected 36-year incumbent Senator as running mate Family Affairs 1 May have removed State Public Safety Commissioner as part of effort to protect sister in messy divorce and child custody battle 2 Often says, 'I am my brother's keeper'; Brother lives in a hut in Nairobi on $12 per year Union affiliation 1 Union member, married to Union member 2 Endorsed by a union Iraq and Troop Support 1 Formerly (pre-surge) critical of apparent lack of long-term strategy for Iraq; Visited wounded U.S. soldiers in Germany; visited AK National Guard soldiers deployed to Kuwait; Son deploying to Iraq on 9/11/08 as Army infantryman 2 Gave an anti-Iraq war speech to of anti-Iraq war demonstrators; almost visited wounded troops in Germany, but decided to go shopping in Berlin instead Bipartisan/'maverick' credentials 1 Married to a non-Republican; Exposed corruption within own party; Campaigned for Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell against corrupt GOP congressman Don Young; Called out Sen Ted Stevens (R-AK) to 'come clean' about financial dealings that are under fed investigation 2 Talks about bipartisanship Legislative Record 1 Passed a landmark ethics reform bill; Used veto to cut budgetary spending; Prevented 'bridge to nowhere' that would have cost taxpayers $400 million dollars. 2 Voted 'present' over 100 times as IL state senator How they dealt with corrupt individuals in home city/state 1 Exposed legal violations and conflicts of interest of Alaska Republican leaders; Campaigned against corrupt GOP Representative; Ran against and defeated corrupt incumbent governor in GOP primary 4 hours ago 2 Launched political career 2 Launched political career in home of unrepentant domestic terrorist Bill Ayers (and still refers to him as a part of 'mainstream Democratic Chicago'; Purchased home with help of convicted felon Tony Rezko Guns 1 Lifetime member of NRA and avid hunter; video can be found on YouTube of Palin firing an M4 at a military firing range 2 Worked to pass legislation in Illinois that would prevent all law-abiding citizens from owning firearms Earmarks 1 Opposed 'Bridge to Nowhere' project; Said Alaska should avoid relying on federal money for projects; Campaigned against porker Don Young (R-AK) in 2008 primary 2 Secured federal earmarks for wife's employer and for campaign bundlers Abortion 1 Pro life; gave birth to 5th child knowing that he would have Down's syndrome 2 Pro-choice; only IL state sen. to speak against the BAIPA (Born Alive Infant's Protection Act), which required medical care to be given to live infants who survived abortions Energy 1 Believes energy independence is a matter of national security; For drilling in ANWR, which is in her state 2 Says Americans should 'get tune-ups' and 'check tire pressure'; Says 'we can't expect the world to be okay with' our use of heating and air conditioning Environment 1 Chair of Alaska Conservation Commission (2003-4); Announced plans to create sub-cabinet group of advisors to address climate change and reduce greenhouse gas emissions in AK 2 Talks about the environment a lot Athletic prowess 1 Runs marathons 2 Has reporters tailing him to the gym