Stuart Jeanne Bramhall's Blog: The Most Revolutionary Act , page 1190
April 25, 2017
Oil and Gas Mining: The Devastating Effect on Communities
Sustainable Deception (Deception Durable)
Directed by Michelle Moore and William Ray (2017)
Film Review
Sustainable Deception is a bilingual documentary about the devastating effects of oil and gas mining at opposite ends of Canada. What I found most interesting about the film were the uncanny similarities with our experience with fracking here in Taranaki.
The French segments of the film cover the town of Sept Iles in Quebec and the English segments the massive tar sands project in Alberta. French and English segments are placed back to pack to highlight the parallels between the two regions:
Despite constant promises of jobs and prosperity, all the oil and gas revenue exits local communities, leaving them with a net decrease in income and struggling to pay for increased infrastructure costs.
Environmental destruction from oil and gas mining converts pristine forest landscapes into industrial brown sites, pollutes waterways and destroys organic farms, fishing and other local businesses. It also increases local cancer rates.
Fluctuating global commodity prices lead to boom and bust cycles, fueling higher rates of homelessness, hunger, domestic violence and alcohol and drug abuse.
Oil and gas companies subsidize a succession of corrupt right wing governments who systematically deny local residents any input into planning decisions around oil and gas and other mining.
Despite treaty obligations, indigenous communities are never consulting regarding decisions to allow mining (likewise there is no consultation with local Maori here in Taranaki.
For me, one of the most interesting parts of the film was a commentary by an Alberta activist about the need to transition from “extractive economies” that only benefit a handful of people to “value added” economies that rely on a diversity of businesses. Here in New Zealand, the Green Party is calling for a transition from an extractive economy – based on dairy, oil and gas – to a value added economy based on a renewable energy and information technology.
The most concerning part of the film was at the end, where one of the anti-mining activists is elected mayor of Sept Iles and talks openly about the enormous pressure the oil and gas industry (and the banks that finance them) put on elected officials. When they don’t get their way, these economic powerhouses have the capacity to generate economic instability that can bankrupt a small community.
April 24, 2017
NYC, MA And Shareholders Holding Exxon Accountable For Past Climate Change Denials
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Even shareholders are suing Exxon executives, contending their failure to disclose their research on climate change artificially inflated the price of their stock.
The fossil fuel industry is facing having its executives’ efforts exposed as to how there was an orchestrated movement over the years to provide cover for many on the right to challenge the science behind climate change. There are several lawsuits instituted for exposing its efforts to mislead the public and its shareholders about any foreseeable consequences due to climate change. One major NY lawsuit was filed late 2015 which means that the case against ExxonMobile could be coming to fruition in 2017. The State of Massachusetts, other states and the shareholders have joined in the fray.
The reality is that it would not be seemly for the republican President Donald Trump to be pulling out of the Paris climate change agreement just when this negative news is forthcoming.
Here is the rest of the story…
As per 1/12/17 CNN Money News item by Matt Eagan, “ExxonMobil has lost a key battle…
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No Joke: U.N. Elects Saudi Arabia to Women’s Rights Commission
By UN Watch Global Research, April 24, 2017
The Geneva-based human rights group UN Watch condemned the U.N.’s election of Saudi Arabia, “the world’s most misogynistic regime,” to a 2018-2022 term on its Commission on the Status of Women, the U.N. agency “exclusively dedicated to the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women.
“Electing Saudi Arabia to protect women’s rights is like making an arsonist into the town fire chief,” said Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch. “It’s absurd.”
“Every Saudi woman,” said Neuer, “must have a male guardian who makes all critical decisions on her behalf, controlling a woman’s life from her birth until death. Saudi Arabia also bans women from driving cars.”
“I wish I could find the words to express how I feel right know. I’m ‘Saudi’ and this feels like betrayal,” tweeted a self-described Saudi woman pursuing a doctorate in international human rights law in Australia.
Record 8,640 Retail Stores Are Closing In 2017
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“Barely a quarter into 2017, year-to-date retail store closings have already surpassed those of 2008.”
(Zero Hedge) “Thousands of new doors opened and rents soared. This created a bubble, and like housing, that bubble has now burst.”
– Richard Hayne, Urban Outfitters CEO, March 2017
Photo by Phillip Pessar (CC)
The devastation in the US retail sector is accelerating in 2017, and in addition to the surging number of brick and mortar retail bankruptcies, it is perhaps nowhere more obvious than in the soaring number of store closures.
While the shuttering of retail stores has been a frequent topic on this website, most recently in the context of the next “big short”, namely the ongoing deterioration in the mall REITs and associated Commercial Mortgage-Backed Securities and CDS, here is a stunning fact from Credit Suisse:“Barely a quarter into 2017, year-to-date retail store closings have already surpassed those of 2008.”
According to the Swiss bank’s calculations, on a unit basis, approximately 2,880 store…
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April 23, 2017
For Democrats, even a rampaging megalomaniac like Trump won’t bring them together
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Two-thirds of Americans think the Democrats are out of touch — including nearly half of Democrats themselves.
By Robert A. Vella
The news just keeps getting worse for the Democratic Party. Not only have they suffered the landslide defeats of the 2010 and 2014 midterms, their humiliating loss in the 2016 presidential election, and the severe ass-kicking Republicans have dealt them in state and local elections all across the country, new polling results show that the once-mighty political party of the center-left to be in the death-throes of an existential crisis.
Normally in America’s two-party system, the opposing party benefits – through increasing popular support – when the party in power goes off the rails of moderation by enacting extremist policies. In theory, then, Democrats should be unifying as well as drawing support from independents and even some Republicans right now considering that the rampaging megalomaniac Donald Trump is leading the nation from the White House. However, that expected trend doesn’t appear to be happening. A new…
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ANOTHER Fox News Lawsuit Grows – Racial Harassment of Black Employees
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Next week, according to sources, seven black Fox News employees plan to join a racial discrimination suit filed last month by two colleagues. The original lawsuit alleged that Fox News’s longtime comptroller, Judy Slater, subjected members of Fox’s payroll staff to racial insults for years.
What has been obvious to a lot of observers for a long time, with the Faux News Network constant stream of on-air racism and vitriol is that it had serious problems, Not just with its on-air personalities, buy down in the very structure of the company.
Bigots hire bigots…and sexual molester stick together.
Bill O’Reilly Is Gone, But Fox News’s Legal Nightmare Continues
The Murdochs hoped firing Bill O’Reilly would signal a changing culture at Fox News. “We want to underscore our consistent commitment to fostering a work environment built on the values of trust and respect,” Rupert and his sons, James and Lachlan, wrote in a memo to Fox News employees on Wednesday. But the dismissal of Fox News’s highest rated host isn’t going to end the crisis at the network. The toxic culture, fostered for 20 years by former CEO Roger Ailes, is proving far more difficult to…
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The Historical Roots of Patriarchy
Patriarchy, Civilization, Militarism and Democracy
Gwynne Dyer (1994)
This documentary traces the development of patriarchy around 5,000 years ago, which Dyer links to the consolidation of agricultural villages into empires. Simultaneously in Mesopotamia, Central and South America and China, hierarchical political systems formed under a single male dictator who controlled their subjects via absolute terror.
This transition from autonomous villages into heavily militarized states was always accompanied by strict control of women’s behavior. Dyer maintains the ultimate goal of controlling women was to increase the birth rate and produce more male subjects for the rulers’ armies. In Mesopotamia, the formation of new religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam) glorifying a single male god was the crowning achievement of patriarchy.
According to Dyer, Egypt was the last ancient empire to fully adopt patriarchy. Owing to natural barriers (the Sinai desert and the Mediterranean) that protected it from foreign invasion, it was the last ancient empire to militarize and adopt strict laws restricting women’s freedom.
The 40 minute film is divided into four parts. Parts 2-4 start automatically when the prior part concludes.
April 22, 2017
RFK Jr Questions Vaccine Safety on Fox News
Personally, I thought I’d never live to see the day this happened! One of the top news networks having an intelligent news anchor discuss vaccine issues and not pejoratizing the messenger! Kudos and hats off to Fox News Network and Tucker Carlson, in particular, for your willingness to break the Pharma stranglehold on not discussing valid vaccine issues on network media. I for one, salute you!
Here’s the 5 minute vaccine discussion Tucker Carlson had with Robert F Kennedy Jr., which I hope can become a routine media.
via Kudos To Fox News For Addressing Vaccine Questioning —
Kindergarten Geography Skills Hinder US Ability to Bomb People
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“Everyone agrees that US bombs must be dropped on far-away people, but correctly placing these bombs is a bit of a nuisance. Isn’t there a Google App for this? There definitely should be.”
Kindergarten Geography Skills Continue to Hinder America’s Ability to Bomb People
Bombing people is easy and fun. But finding where they live, on a map? This requires difficult book-learning. Major bummer
Riley Waggaman
Bombs away!
Donald Trump’s fake “show of force” against North Korea has resurrected an ancient question that many wise philosophers have pondered for thousands of years: Can Americans actually locate on a map the countries that they so desperately wish to bomb?
We apologize for the rhetorical question.
Of course, the North Korea “incident” was not due to poor navigational skills; it was nothing more than a fear-mongering distraction to boost television and approval ratings.
But it does beg the question: Can Rachel Maddow and her army of lobotomized potatoes actually find Moscow on Google Maps? Because that is the first step, at least in theory, if you want to bomb it.According to science, the answer is a resounding “no”.
Several years…
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1000s Sue Merck for Shingles Vaccine “Causing What It’s Supposed to Prevent”
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Source: Annabelle Bamforth
Attorney Troy Bouk was recently interviewed by Ring of Fire’s Farron Cousins to discuss the shingles vaccine Zostavax, the issues related to its effectiveness and the problems that are associated with the product, including the fact that the drugmaker’s vaccine seems to cause the very affliction that it seeks to prevent — and, according to a massive lawsuit, thousands of victims agree.
While we have everyone from attorneys to biologists, to political scientists who contribute to the Free Thought Project, none of us are doctors, so we do not make recommendations about what you and your family should do in regards to vaccination. That being said, the drug makers have an incentive for you not to see this information which means it will not be reported on in the mainstream media as their advertising dollars are tied directly to these companies. So, we find that it is our duty to spread this information and with your help sharing it, we can have a massive effect.
In the interview with Cousins, Bouk explained that Zostavax is made with a live strain of the shingles virus and described the complications that are associated with shingles. Shingles is caused by the varicella-zoster virus, which is the same virus that causes chicken pox. The varicella-zoster virus lies dormant in people who have had chicken pox, but sometimes the virus reawakens and produces shingles.
The virus often manifests as a painful rash, and can also lead to encephalitis, vision loss and postherpetic neuralgia. Bouk said that the virus sometimes “tends to get into your central nervous system, and then, once in there, it wreaks some havoc by usually causing swelling which ends up with these other medical problems. That’s the situation with the vaccine itself, is that Merck hasn’t warned anyone about those indications.”
Cousins asked Bouk about the effectiveness of Zostavax, to which Bouk replied:
“The FDA has approved the vaccine for people 50 years of age and older, whereas the CDC only recommends that those individuals 60 years of age and older get it. The reason is that once you have had the Zostavax shot, the FDA says it only lasts for about four years. It’s not proven to last any longer than that. Let’s say you’re 55 years old. It may stay in your system till you’re 60, but you actually are at the greatest risk of getting shingles when you’re in your 60s. That’s why the CDC recommends that you really don’t get it until you’re in your 60s, because that’s probably when you’re going to need it the most.”
Book’s claim regarding the CDC’s recommendation is indeed correct. According to the CDC’s website, the agency specifically advises Zostavax to be given to people aged 60 and older and does not provide a recommendation for people between the ages of 50 and 59. The CDC warns that people in the 50-59 age group who receive the Zostavax shot may lose the vaccine’s protection benefits by the time they reach age 60, stating that “adults vaccinated before age 60 years might not be protected later in life when the risk for shingles and its complications are greatest.”
Despite the CDC’s caution against administering Zostavax to people under 60, the FDA approves the vaccine for people age 50 and older, and Merck uses the FDA’s approval to market the vaccine to that age group. Zostamax sales reached $749 million in 2015.
The true efficacy of Zostavax is unclear. The CDC states that the drug “reduced the risk of shingles by 51%” based on a study of 38,000 people age 60 and up. Reuters reported that Zostavax’s effectiveness “varies between 18 and 70 percent, and it declines noticeably in older people.”
A second shingles vaccine from drug manufacturer GlaxoSmithKline, Shingrix, may be available if the FDA approves their filing. Shingrix, a two-dose vaccine, distinguishes itself from Zostavax because it’s derived from a protein of the virus rather than a live strain. The efficacy of Shingrix is more impressive, as Reuters noted that “in clinical trials, GSK’s vaccine remained 90 percent effective in people over age 70, even four years after injections.”
Merck has explicitly stated that those who receive the Zostavax vaccine “may still get shingles.” However, Bouk argued that some people may be contracting shingles as a side effect of the vaccine itself due to the live virus strain in the vaccine, not because people are experiencing shingles despite the vaccine.
Bouk went on to say that “there is a study out there that shows that in 50% of the patients that actually get the vaccine, that sometimes they don’t get shingles — the virus goes straight to manifesting in the central nervous system. It’s possible that you could get the vaccine and get meningitis or encephalitis without ever actually exhibiting shingles.” Bouk advises that patients weigh the risks of Zostavax before receiving the vaccine.
While GSK seeks approval of Shingrix, which could lead to their product edging out Zostavax, a large number of claims have been filed against Merck. The Mark J. Bern Partners law firm “is currently representing nearly 5000 claimants and has thousands more filings to follow.”
Marc J. Bern said that his firm has been “investigating this drug for quite some time. We steadfastly believe in the merits of this litigation. This vaccination is at best 50 percent effective. Either it is not effective or it causes shingles or a host of other side effects.” Bern added that “what is most troubling is that Merck had a better alternative on hand when this product was released.”
Source: Thousands Sue Merck for Shingles Vaccine Zostavax “Causing What It’s Supposed to Prevent”
photo credit: Radio Alfa Vaccino influenzale via photopin (license)
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