Stuart Jeanne Bramhall's Blog: The Most Revolutionary Act , page 381
August 13, 2023
The Role of Gandhi in India’s Independence Movement
Episode 28 Mahatma Gandhi
A History of India
Michael Fisher (2016)
Film Review
Gandhi was born 1869 in Porbander, a small kingdom of 70,000 in Gujarat that came under indirect British rule during his father’s lifetime.* Born into the Vaishya varna, Ghandi was descended from three generations of Gujarati prime ministers. Historically his family were grocers (the meaning of the name Gandhi).
After entering into an arranged marriage at 13, Gandhi had his first son (who died) at 16. After having two more sons, he left his family at 18 to study in the UK. In addition to qualifying as a barrister, he also studied dancing, violin and French to increase his acceptance in British society. He also concealed hi marriage in order to meet British women.
Returning to India at 21, he had to abandon his law practice when he couldn’t attract any clients. At 24, he again left his family to join the Indian diaspora in South Africa. At the time, South Africa consisted of the Dutch colonies of Transvaal and the Orange Free State and the British colonies of Cape Colony and Natal. Gandhi would spend the next 20 years in Natal, the capitol of Durban.
Following the abolition of slavery, Natal replaced their slaves with Indian indentured servants. When Gandhi arrived, there were 40,000 Indians in Natal, which was roughly equal to the white population.
After the British government arbitrarily increased the term of indenture from five to ten years, as well as adding a special tax on Indian immigrants, Gandhi organized a successful campaign to repeal the tax. Forming the Natal Indian Congress, he went to lead nonviolent protests against the first anti-Apartheid laws. As he and his supporters filled up the jails, the British authorities had no choice but to start releasing them.
He returned to India at age 46. One of the first campaigns he engaged in was in Chamaran in Behar to support striking indigo farmers. Following his arrest, Gandhi used his own trial to force the police spies who were surveilling him to testify.
He subsequently went to Ahmedabad to support textile workers striking against Indian factory owners.** During a a plague outbreak, they increased wages due to a shortage of workers and then decreased them after the epidemic passed. Gandhi used his first hunger strike (threatening to fast until death) to force the factory owners to restore the wage cut. This led to the formation of one of India’s first labor unions.
Gandhi openly oppose militant nationalist groups who used assassinations and bombings to pressure Britain to grant India independence. Asserting that Indians weren’t morally ready for independence, he called off a national strike when militants burned down a police station with the British officers inside.
Despite reaching out to untouchables, he was unsuccessful in enlisting them in his Quit India movement because he opposed the special constituencies they sought (where only untouchables could run for office or vote). He was equally unsuccessful in recruiting Muslims to his independence movement (despite his ultimate assassination by a Hindu nationalist for being too sympathetic to Muslims).
*Britain had granted nominal sovereignty to all the princely states that didn’t rebel in 1857. See India’s 1857 Peoples Rebellion
**India’s textile industry was in the process of being killed off by cheap textile imports from Britain.
Film can be viewed free with a library card on Kanopy.
Pharmaceutical drugs becoming so tainted Defense Department calls for outside testing
Dr Eddy Betterman
The world’s pharmaceutical drug factories have become so filthy that the United States Department of Defense (DoD) is intervening to try to clean things up by bringing in an outside testing service to spot contamination.
Valisure, an independent testing laboratory that deals with this kind of thing, was brought in by the DoD to test a slew of medications amid growing concerns about pharmaceutical drug contamination and other quality and supply issues.
Under a multi-year agreement, Valisure will test dozens of popularly used drugs for dangerous chemicals. The lab will also rate manufacturers’ quality to help the DoD weed out those that produce substandard products.
Because the cooperative agreement has been designated as a “research and development” operation to exchange information, the Pentagon will not be paying Valisure for these testing services.
(Related: Guess what kills more American children than guns do? Wuhan coronavirus [Covid-19] “vaccines.”)
Some generic drugs contain cancer-causing contaminantsThe U.S. government is primarily focused on generic drugs made by foreign companies usually based in either China or India. Because of domestic shortages, increasingly more Americans are relying on foreign drugs to get their fix, and the DoD says it is worried that consumers are taking tainted products.
The covid “pandemic” shined a really bright light on America’s growing dependence on foreign drugs, so much so that Congress ordered the DoD to take this next step in confirming their safety.
“Drug shortages are at a nine-year high as manufacturers deal with quality issues, difficulty getting supplies and rising demand for certain drugs,” reports Bloomberg about the matter.
In speaking about the new partnership, Valisure CEO David Light told the media that this is a critical next step to ensure that Americans are receiving the safe, high-quality products they think they are.
“Beyond the importance this holds for national security, the Department of Defense is also a large health system with millions of patients,” Light said. “This DoD initiative can be a powerful model for improving the generic drug market.”
Valisure has a solid track record in identifying carcinogenic (cancer-causing) chemicals in not just pharmaceutical drugs but also personal care products like sunscreen, hand sanitizer, and dry shampoo.
You may recall that back in 2019, the heartburn pill Zantac was taken off the market. Valisure’s identification of a carcinogen in those pills is what led to that drug no longer being available to consumers.
Kaiser Permanente, a California-based sick care system, is also working with Valisure to conduct drug checks on products used at its hospitals.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is none too happy about this, though. The federal agency does not like anyone using Valisure, and especially the DoD, because it claims that independent drug testing labs are “untrustworthy” and their actions could lead to unwanted shortages.
The FDA does admit, however, that 62 percent of drug shortages in the U.S. are caused by quality issues stemming from poor manufacturing practices. Carboplatin and cisplatin, two popular cancer drugs, are both prominent examples of this as they are currently in short supply due to their manufacturer, based out of India, running a dirty operation that prompted a regulatory shutdown.
“Our country’s reliance on active pharmaceutical ingredients and medicines manufactured abroad in China and India has come at significant cost of safety,” warned Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Ct.) about the matter.
Those interested in learning more about Valisure’s scoring system, developed by Light, can check out this study published in the Journal of the American Pharmacists Association, which unpacks the details further.
[…]
Via https://dreddymd.com/2023/08/13/pharmaceutical-drugs-tainted-dod-for-outside-testing/
Regulatory Science as Propaganda
J R Bruning
Brownstone Institute
For many, the nagging inkling that the state of policy-relevant and regulatory science was less robust and trustworthy than official sources claimed came roaring into focus with COVID-19. For those that had a nose for contradictions and inconsistency, the perpetual urgencies to believe the scientific claims of a handful of special scientists on the telly fell rather flat.
The global population was required to acquiesce to a brand-new technology, a gene therapy unaccompanied by genotoxicity or carcinogenicity studies, nor completed trials for pregnant mothers. A technology where heart risk was known from the get-go. Unbelievably, the endpoint in the clinical trials was never prevention of transmission, nor prevention of hospitalisation and death.
In a pattern akin to the respect demanded of high priests, the only purveyors of God’s message; special scientists were the Final Word when it came to The Science and health-based risk throughout COVID-19. Like high priests, their scientific claims could not be questioned. If we didn’t acquiesce to the technology, we were not only anti-science and anti-vax. We would be anti-health.
How has The Science come to be the Final Word in modern societies? At its core, powerful institutions have exploited public confidence and trust that science is produced in a neutral and impartial manner. Governments and powerful institutions have taken this trust that science is objective, and capitalized. Because of the opportunity this presents, ‘objectivity is a priceless adjunct to governmental power.’
Sociologist and lawyer Sheila Jasanoff has theorised that objectivity has the tool-like qualities of a talisman – one that would ward off the appearance of political bias. For Jasanoff, impartiality through the use of science and evidence acts to ‘erase the stamps of agency and subjectivity.’
Yet policy-relevant science is a different beast from basic or research science. It does double duty. It must be acceptable scientifically and politically. The effect is that any claimed objectivity is subjective. It depends on what science is used, who the experts are, and how this science is valued, and this depends on political cultures and priorities. Such science is therefore ‘contingent, vulnerable to criticism and tends to unravel under adversarial challenge.’
But there’s more. Powerful shifts in the past 50 years have weakened the threads between the public and regulators, while more closely binding regulators to the industries that they are charged with regulating. Like sliding dials on an amplifier, the power of corporations has increased as they have consolidated and became more powerful. The capacity for public sector and regulatory scientists to broadly research risk has declined.
Globally basic science and interdisciplinary funding has shrunk dramatically, while the problems that these types of research could shine a light on have asymmetrically expanded.
Public-sector funding scopes direct science and research funding away from research that might untangle the relationships between biology, social life, and environmental emissions and exposures. Lawyers who seek to undertake interdisciplinary research also find themselves stymied. The consequence is that autonomous interdisciplinary experts that can inform government officials and challenge their decisions are scarce.
This long-read is drawn from a recent paper by New Zealand charity PSGR.
Regulation of technologies favour the interests of the regulated industries at every turnKnowledge is the currency of private industry, and regulators come to depend on industry expertise. Regulatory capture can happen from the get-go. If regulators are neither required nor funded to pursue inquiry outside regulator-industry relations, they are unlikely to.
Government agencies can engage in practices of public engagement that resemble consultation. In practice, the substituted activities fail to address the core issues that the public wants discussed. The substituted activities in effect perform transparency, accountability, and debate. Seasoned public interest advocates will back up this claim.
[…]
In modern academic and public research environments controversial information that contradicts government policy or industry partners (or potential partners) is politically and professionally unwelcome. Funding for expensive research is extraordinarily difficult to secure, and most institutions have private industry partners to help drive research income.
If scientists aren’t funded to consider difficult issues, that work won’t happen. They won’t review relevant science findings, provide context for issues that are ambiguous and complex, and help society navigate them. The work certainly won’t happen if it contradicts the interests of big business.
As with captured regulators, these research environments then pivot to reflect the aims and priorities of industry partners, and the funding scopes set by central government agencies.
The effect is that policy-makers accept and defend the private industry claims, instead of challenging them.
There’s no feedback loop where basic science and interdisciplinary teams are encouraged to critically review and triangulate the claims of corporations. Institutional knowledge and peer networks with expertise to pick apart complex issues have been eroded. Without the feedback into official and regulatory environments, raw data is not scrutinised, models reign supreme, and real-world data is neglected.
[…]
When citizens protest, and provide scientific studies they’re dismissed, because, well, they’re not scientists.
The effect is a fundamental democratic rift. It is the decoupling of nation states from independent information streams and meaningful critical enquiry.
What is the term for information that is strategically managed and selectively presented to encourage a particular synthesis or perception? Propaganda.
This is a massive issue, because in the 21st century scientific and technical information is fundamental to policy. As a political priority, the rails for science that tracks to safety claims are greased – in policy and in law. Feedback loops into legacy media then reflect these political positions.
[…]
Pick your technology, your medical solution, your emission, your digital solutionMost are aware that chemical regulation is subpar, with chemicals used in the industrial, agrichemical, pharmaceutical, household, and personal care sectors underregulated. However, the democratic deficits, the captured regulatory processes, occur across a wide range of technologies including nanotechnology, biotechnology, geoengineering, and radiofrequency radiation.
[…]
Regulators often rely on very old science and unpublished studies to claim a particular level of exposure is safe. For example, the World Health Organization (WHO) safe drinking levels for pesticides often rely on levels that are derived from unpublished industry studies which are several decades old. It’s uncomfortable to think that the WHO’s safe level for glyphosate in drinking water is derived from an unpublished 1981 Monsanto study. Somewhat contradictorily, old authoritative data isn’t subject to the same high standards that regulators apply when they turn to decide which studies fit their guidelines for risk assessment.
No matter the burgeoning literature, nor court cases which uncover boatloads of studies which suggest risk at much lower levels than a 1981 Monsanto study. That old study remains in place, ruling the roost.
Hormone level risks are only vaguely considered by regulators. One or two studies might be provided by industry, but the broader scientific literature is largely ignored. Toxicologists might be employed by regulatory authorities, but not endocrinologists. Conventional toxicology dose-response rules don’t apply when it comes to hormone level risk. Hormone-level effects and epidemiological studies can signal harm long before it is seen in toxicological studies.
Narrow regulatory reasoning doesn’t just apply to chemicals and biotechnologies. New Zealand’s standards for radiofrequency fields are over two decades old. No reviews have been undertaken to identify new pathways of risk, such as what the pulsing effect of radiofrequencies may do at the cellular level.
[…]
When private industry information is not subject to robust debate and challenge, it’s propagandaThe information is produced for the purpose of permitting an activity to occur. The information has a tangible effect; it is to assure society that the activity is perfectly acceptable, and that society will not be adversely harmed. However, that information cannot be contested, and is asymmetrically weighted to favour powerful institutions. Corporations and government work closely to ensure that the information is acceptable, and the rules and guidelines are often light years behind the scientific literature. Conversely, the technologies used by the industry scientists are leading edge. Over and over again, it can be demonstrated that the rules and guidelines are so inadequate and archaic that it is likely that society might be misled and deceived by the assurances of safety.
[…]
Via https://brownstone.org/articles/regulatory-science-as-propaganda/
Florida Republican introduces impeachment articles against Joe Biden
House Republicans call for Biden impeachment inquiry after release of bank recordsFox News’ Chad Pergram reports on the GOP’s investigation into the Biden family money tree.
Rep. Greg Steube, R-Fla., jumped ahead of his Republican colleagues on Friday and introduced articles of impeachment against President Biden.
While several congressional committees are building a multipronged case to remove Biden from office, Steube said it was past time to take action. He filed articles of impeachment against Biden charging that the president had been complicit in his son Hunter’s alleged crimes and had worked to shield him from justice.
“It’s long past time to impeach Joe Biden,” Steube said in a statement. “He has undermined the integrity of his office, brought disrepute on the Presidency, betrayed his trust as President, and acted in a manner subversive of the rule of law and justice at the expense of America’s citizens.”
Steube filed four articles alleging high crimes and misdemeanors by Biden.
The first accuses the president of abusing the power of his office by allegedly accepting bribes, committing Hobbs Act extortion and honest services fraud related to use of his official position. These charges arise from Biden’s alleged involvement with his family’s business dealings, including Hunter and James Biden’s (the president’s brother) alleged effort to sell access to then-Vice President Biden between 2009 and 2017 in exchange for “payments and business opportunities from foreign and domestic business partners.”
House Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. James Comer, R-Ky, on Wednesday released a memo purporting to show that foreign payments to the Biden family totaled more than $20 million — though Democrats say none of the evidence shows that President Biden accepted any payments or committed misconduct.
The second article charges that President Biden obstructed justice, citing IRS whistleblower testimony that “members of the Biden campaign improperly colluded with Justice Department (DOJ) officials to improperly interfere with investigations into tax crimes alleged to have been committed by Hunter Biden.” Both the Justice Department and special counsel David Weiss, the U.S. attorney appointed to investigate Hunter Biden, have denied that the Biden administration impeded Weiss’ work.
The third and fourth articles accuse Biden of “fraud” and paying for Hunter Biden’s illegal drugs and trysts with prostitutes, respectively.
“The evidence continues to mount by the day – the Biden Crime Family has personally profited off Joe’s government positions through bribery, threats, and fraud. Joe Biden must not be allowed to continue to sit in the White House, selling out our country,” Steube said.
On the same day, Steube introduced legislation to require the Secret Service chief to write a report on the illicit use of controlled substances in the White House. The move comes after the Secret Service closed its investigation into cocaine found at the White House last month without identifying a person of interest. Steube named the bill the “Helping Understand Narcotics Traces at the Executive Residence (HUNTER) Act.”
“The United States Secret Service (USSS) refers to themselves as one of the most elite law enforcement agencies in the world. It’s completely unacceptable that the USSS has failed to find who is responsible for bringing cocaine into one of the most secure buildings in the world,” he said. “The American people deserve answers. My legislation demands information on the closed investigation into the cocaine found at the White House in July and focuses on how Congress can provide oversight to prevent future illicit usage of controlled substances in the White House.”
Steube’s articles of impeachment have jumped ahead of at least four GOP-led committee investigations pursuing avenues to impeach Biden or his top officials. The White House has ridiculed suggestions that Biden should be removed from office.
“We’re not going to get into what House Republicans want to do or may not do — hypotheticals. That’s on them. That’s for them to speak to. What I can speak to is exactly what we’re doing today.” press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in July.
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August 12, 2023
US Democratic lawmakers tell corrupt judge to resign from Supreme Court
Justice Clarence Thomas (2nd person from left to right in the front row) in this picture which shows all nine current members of the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS), the highest court in the federal judiciary of the US as composed on June 30, 2022. (Photo by SCOTUS)
US Democratic lawmakers have called on Justice Clarence Thomas to resign from his post as a Supreme Court justice.
A new report by ProPublica news organization revealed on Thursday that Thomas had received far more undeclared gifts and vacations from rich donors than previously reported.
At least 38 destination vacations, including a previously unreported voyage on a yacht around the Bahamas; 26 private jet flights, plus an additional eight by helicopter; a dozen VIP passes to professional and college sporting events, typically perched in the skybox; two stays at luxury resorts in Florida and Jamaica; and one standing invitation to an uber-exclusive golf club overlooking the Atlantic coast are just a few of the stream of luxury gifts he received during his three decades on the Supreme Court, the recent ProPublica report revealed.
It added that Thomas had happily accepted—and did not disclose— the many luxury vacations he went on from four different billionaires: Harlan Crow, David Sokol, H. Wayne Huizenga, and Paul Novelly.
Earlier, ProPublica reported in April 2023 that Thomas had “accepted luxury trips virtually every year.”
In return for the gifts he had received from the donors, Thomas hosted an annual fundraiser at the Supreme Court for an exclusive society to which they all belong.
While some of the hospitality Thomas received, such as stays in personal homes, may not have required legal disclosure, the Supreme Court Justice appears to have violated the law by failing to disclose flights, yacht cruises and expensive sports tickets, according to experts.
The total value of the undisclosed gifts received by Thomas since 1991, the year he was appointed to the Supreme Court, is difficult to measure, but it is easily likely to be in the millions.
Ethics experts described Thomas’ conduct as an “abuse of office” and “the height of hypocrisy.”
Democratic lawmakers are calling for Thomas to resign after it was revealed that he has accepted gifts from billionaires for decades in exchange for access to the Supreme Court.
“Justice Thomas’ alleged actions don’t just appear corrupt, they are corrupt,” said Congressman Ted W. Lieu (D-Los Angeles County).
Lieu insisted that the senior US judge “has brought shame upon himself and the United States Supreme Court” and ought to “immediately” resign.
He called on Thomas to resign over his “stunning” corruption.
“In my career I don’t remember ever seeing this degree of largesse given to anybody,” said Jeremy Fogel, a former federal judge who served for years on the judicial committee that reviews judges’ financial disclosures. “I think it’s unprecedented.”
Thomas, however, denies any wrongdoings.
Supreme Court Justices, who are nominally subject to ethics rules for federal judges, are in practice governed by themselves.
Thomas claims never to have discussed with his donors politics or business before the court, and to have been wrongly advised about disclosure requirements.
South Africa Supports Iran’s Entry Into BRICS
Tehran has the “full support of Pretoria Africa” to join the BRICS group, said South African President Cyril Ramaphosa. Aug. 11, 2023. | Photo: Twitter/@PressTV
Newsletter
Iran is one of more than 20 countries formally seeking to join the economic bloc currently comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said Friday that Pretoria fully supports Iran’s membership in the BRICS group.
In a meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian, Ramaphosa said “South Africa is interested in Iran being accepted as a friendly country by the BRICS,” Iran’s Mehr news agency reported.Ramaphosa told the 15th meeting of the Islamic Republic of Iran-South Africa Joint Commission in Pretoria that Tehran has the “full support of Pretoria Africa in this regard.”Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi will pay an official visit to the African country in which several documents on cooperation between the two countries will be signed, Ramaphosa said.
Le président sud-africain a soutenu l'entrée de l'#Iran dans les #BRICS .
"L'Afrique du Sud souhaite que l'Iran soit accepté dans les BRICS en tant que pays ami", a déclaré le président sud-africain Cyril Ramaphosa lors d'une rencontre avec le ministre iranien Hossein Amir. pic.twitter.com/NdDwMVjG5w
— Patrie Daily (@patriedail36231) August 11, 2023
The tweet reads, “South African president supports Iran’s entry into BRICS. “South Africa wants Iran to be accepted into BRICS as a friendly country,” said South African President Cyril Ramaphosa during a meeting with Iranian Minister Hossein Amir.”
For his part, the Iranian foreign minister said that the president of the Islamic Republic is scheduled to pay two visits to South Africa, the current BRICS chair. Raisi will attend the Friends of BRICS summit to be held August 22-24 in Johannesburg and in the fall he will travel to the African country to discuss bilateral relations.
Iran is one of more than 20 countries formally aspiring to join the economic bloc currently comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
South African Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Naledi Pandor recently confirmed that 23 countries, including Iran, have submitted formal applications to join the association. According to the minister, further expanding BRICS membership would be one of the items on the agenda of the upcoming summit.
Via https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/South-Africa-Supports-Irans-Entry-Into-BRICS-20230811-0021.html
Senator Ron Johnson Drops Truth Bomb on Fox News
By Zach Heilman
Red Voice Media
“This was all pre-planned by an elite group of people… Event 201…”
In a recent exchange on Fox News with host Maria Bartiromo, Senator Ron Johnson from Wisconsin addressed concerns regarding the apparent coordination between the government and social media platforms to control the narrative around the COVID-19 pandemic and related topics.
Based Ron Johnson!
On Covid: “This was all pre-planned by an elite group of people… Event 201… This is very concerning in terms of… what continues to be planned for our loss of freedom… We’re up against a very powerful group of people.”
TRUTH Bombs from a US Senator
pic.twitter.com/qeB9hBzP5x
— TheStormHasArrived (@TheStormRedux) August 11, 2023
Bartiromo began the conversation, highlighting her astonishment at the lengths the government seemingly went to in “amplifying lies and suppressing the truth”. She posed the question, “Why couldn’t the American people know that there were other alternatives to treat COVID? Why can’t the American people know that there were side effects with the vaccine?”
Senator Johnson flat out stated that Event 201, a simulation exercise conducted in 2019 that envisioned a global pandemic caused by a novel Coronavirus was a group of so-called elites planning all that we’ve gone through in recent years.
“This was all pre-planned by an elite group of people… Event 201… This is very concerning in terms of… what continues to be planned for our loss of freedom… We’re up against a very powerful group of people.” – Senator Ron Johnson
“It’s all pre-planned by an elite group of people,” Johnson asserted, emphasizing his concerns over what he sees as a premeditated erosion of freedom. The senator expressed his frustration with the reluctance in Congress to delve into these issues, accusing many of refusing to admit potential mistakes, especially related to vaccine endorsements.
Highlighting the uphill battle faced by those who dissent from mainstream narratives, Johnson said, “We’re pressed against a very powerful group of people here, Maria.” He went on to applaud reporters like Bartiromo and John Solomon, who he believes are courageous enough to report the truth in the face of substantial opposition.
Johnson warned of a “very dangerous path” that the country is on, suggesting that there’s a deliberate effort by a powerful elite group of people to assert more control over the lives of ordinary Americans. He cited concerns over expanding government influence, rising government spending, and potential amendments in the World Health Organization that could jeopardize national sovereignty.
Closing the segment, Johnson urged the American people to “wake up” and recognize the potential dangers facing the nation, emphasizing the need for vigilance and awareness in these unprecedented times.
Sen. Ron Johnson Drops A Truth Bomb We’d Never Thought We’d Hear On Fox News [VIDEO]
The Indian Diaspora
Episode 27 India and Indians in the World
A History of India
Michael Fisher (2016)
Film Review
The first out-migration from India occurred around 60,000-70,000 BC when early human traveled from Africa via India to South East Asia and Australia.
Beginning in 3300 BC, members of the Indus Valley civilization used the seasonal monsoon winds to travel west to East Africa, Arabia and Iran and east to China and South East Asia. Many Indian merchants eventually settled along the east African coast, while ancient Africans settled along the east coat of India.
During the first millennium BC, India dispatched Hindu and Buddhist missionaries via Sri Lanka to much of Southeast Asia. Following Alexander the Great’s retreat from the Indus Valley in 325 BC, a number of Indus Valley natives returned to Greece with him.
Centuries later Mughal traders would spread Islam as far east as the Philippines, ultimately making Indonesia the largest Muslim country in the world.
The Roma, aka Gypsies or Travellers, migrated out of northwest India into Central Asia in the 5th century AD. This has been document both by DNA studies and linguistic analysis revealing their language is derived from Punjabi. Initially settling in Iran, Armenia and North Africa, some eventually migrated westward to the Atlantic coast (most likely due to persecution). At present there are 11 million Roman in Europe, mostly in Romania and Bulgaria.
Following colonization by the British East India Company, many emigres hitched a ride with the cotton export vessels to become seamen, dockworkers, street entertainers and merchants. Before the discovery that citrus fruit prevented scurvy, many English sailors died on the India-bound voyage. The Company paid phenomenal wages to native Indians to replace them (as “lascars) on the return voyage. When steam replaced sail power, native Indians signed on as stokers or servants.
There was also a small trade in Indian slaves until the early 19th century, when the British parliament outlawed slavery. Subsequently many planters recruited Indian laborers as indentured servants for sugar plantations in Sri Lanka, south and east Africa, British Guyana, Southeast Asia, Fiji and the Caribbean. Two-thirds of those recruited to the Caribbean remained. In modern day British Guyana and Fiji, the majority of the population is descended from Indian immigrants.
The Indians who immigrated to Britain in the 19th century experienced much less racial discrimination. In fact, several were elected to Parliament.
India’s first prime minister Jawaharial Nehru graduated from Cambridge in 1910.
Film can be viewed free with a library card on Kanopy.
https://www.kanopy.com/en/pukeariki/watch/video/366254/366225
August 11, 2023
‘Remembering Nearfield’: Short Film About EMR Sickness Wins Prestigious Cannes Film Award
By Suzanne Burdick, Ph.D. “Remembering Nearfield” is a 9-minute animated film portraying the “cautionary true story” of its narrator, Corriëlle van Vuuren, who suffered for years with undiagnosed electrohypersensitivity.
A short animated film about electromagnetic hypersensitivity (EHS) that last month won the “Best Health Film” award at the Cannes World Film Festival continues to gain steam, with showings lined up at upcoming international film festivals this fall and throughout 2024.In just over three months since its release, “Remembering Nearfield” has received 10 awards from international film festivals — in Sicily, Veneto, Brussels, Singapore, Gangtok and Cannes, among others.
“Nearfield” refers to the area close to a source of electromagnetic radiation (EMR) — such as cellphones and wifi transmitters — where there are “strong inductive and capacitive effects” that can harm the human body.
EHS, sometimes called electromagnetic sensitivity (EMS) or microwave syndrome, refers to a “clinical syndrome characterized by the presence of a wide spectrum of non-specific multiple organ symptoms — typically including central nervous system symptoms — that occur following the patient’s acute or chronic exposure to electromagnetic fields [EMFs].”
Miriam Eckenfels-Garcia is director of the Children’s Health Defense (CHD) electromagnetic radiation efforts. She commented on why CHD advocates on behalf of the EMS-disabled:
“We are very concerned about the growing number of people and particularly children suffering from some form of EHS/EMS and have sought recognition of the EHS/EMS-disabled’s rights and interests in several legal matters before agencies and the courts.”
CHD.TV aired the film and interviewed its producer, U.K. filmmaker Sean Carney.
RFK Jr./Hooker NEW book: Vax-Unvax. Order Now!Medical establishment ‘ill-equipped to discern’ electromagnetic hypersensitivity
Carney’s 9-minute film is a cautionary true story narrated by Corriëlle van Vuuren — a successful entrepreneur — who tells how she tragically lost everything as her health mysteriously declined and she was eventually diagnosed with EHS.
Carney, whose animation accompanies van Vuuren’s testimony throughout the film, told The Defender, “No public health policy on EHS has yet been formulated and the mainstream medical establishment is still in the dark about it.”
His film reveals how “the medical establishment is inclined to seek other causes rather than electromagnetically induced harm and is ill-equipped to discern whether someone has electromagnetic hypersensitivity,” he said.
“It took years to discover that the protagonist’s health problem was related to electricity and electromagnetic fields, after years of protracted puzzlement and misguided medical advice,” he said. “This highlights a big reason why education and awareness about electromagnetic radiation and EHS matters.”
Although estimates vary, a 2019 analysis suggested that 1.5% of the population experience severe EHS/EMS symptoms, 5% have moderate symptoms and 30% have mild symptoms. That means roughly 2.16 million to 99.7 million Americans are likely affected by EHS/EMS.
Groups for the electrosensitive have “spontaneously formed” in at least 18 countries as of January 2023, said scientists with the International Commission on the Biological Effects of Electromagnetic Fields (ICBE-EMF) in an April peer-reviewed report.
A report from the European Economic and Social Committee, referenced in the ICBE-EMF’s report, states:
“According to new estimates, between 3% and 5% of the population are electro-sensitive …
“Exposure to electromagnetic fields has been increasing in recent years, following the expansion of technologies. …
“People [with EHS/EMS] may sometimes suffer the incomprehension and scepticism of doctors who do not deal with this syndrome professionally and therefore fail to offer proper diagnosis and treatment.”
The ICBE-EMF report outlines a number of sensible EMR mitigation measures, including recommending the widespread adoption of fiber optic networks.
We need a ‘global conversation’ about electromagnetic radiation disability
Dariusz Leszczynski, Ph.D., adjunct professor of biochemistry at the University of Helsinki, Finland, in December 2022 called for a consensus debate on whether current global wireless radiation guidelines are sufficiently protecting people’s health.
Carney agreed. Society needs to recognize the problem of electromagnetic pollution’s potential to harm people, especially more vulnerable citizens, such as children and people with elevated sensitivity, he said.
“A lack of education has been an issue,” Carney said. “I believe society is open to learning about these problems and film can play an important role in the process.”
“‘Remembering Nearfield’’s testimony-driven animation powerfully informs on many levels and has real potential to catalyse positive social changes,” he added.
For Carney, a global conversation on EHS/EMS is “long overdue” and would be valuable for changing peoples’ views and behaviors.
“I hope my film can help this to happen,” he said, because “EHS/EMS is a debilitating condition that robs a person of their freedom, limits their mobility, brings on unpleasant symptoms and impairment and reduces employment opportunities and scope for societal participation.”
Since winning the Cannes World Film Festival award, “Remembering Nearfield” has garnered screenings at the Barcelona Indie Awards and the Film Collective Short Film Festival in the U.S., with additional screenings at other international film festivals throughout the fall.
Public screenings of the film will continue into 2024, Carney added.
Watch the film here:
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Maine Hospital Fired Nurses for Refusing COVID Shots — Now It’s Begging Them to Come Back
By Steve RobinsonMaineGeneral Health, which fired hundreds of healthcare workers in 2021 for refusing to take the COVID-19 vaccine, is now reaching out to former employees — who were denied unemployment benefits — and asking them to come back, but many say they are reluctant to return.
Nurses and other healthcare workers at MaineGeneral Health, one of Maine’s largest healthcare providers, were unceremoniously fired two years ago if they refused to take the experimental mRNA injections touted as COVID-19 preventatives.Some of those workers were even slapped with misconduct charges for refusing to comply with the mandate, many were later denied unemployment benefits and no requests for religious exemptions were honored.
Now, one of the nonprofit hospitals that left some employees jobless and without recourse to Maine’s unemployment insurance benefits is sending text messages to the same employees it cast aside practically begging them to come back to work.
“MaineGeneral has eliminated the COVID-19 vaccination as an employment condition,” MaineGeneral said.
Poland, who lives in Augusta, had worked as a registered nurse for 33 years. Her career included employment with MaineGeneral, Central Maine Medical Center, Pen Bay Medical Center and the Aroostook Medical Center.
She couldn’t believe that the hospital would contact her in such a manner after casting her life into chaos for nearly two years.
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A source told the Maine Wire that about 15 former MaineGeneral Health employees received similar text messages.
Poland refused to take the experimental COVID-19 shots after Gov. Janet Mills decreed on Aug. 12, 2021, that healthcare workers would be forced to receive the shots as a condition of working in healthcare by Oct. 1, 2021.
Documents reviewed by the Maine Wire show that MaineGeneral established a speedier timeline of Sept. 17 for compliance.
Eventually, the state pushed back the deadline to the end of October.
As a result of her choice, Poland faced not only termination but also an allegation of misconduct from her former employer.
When she applied for unemployment benefits, she was rejected because of the misconduct allegation.
When she appealed, she was turned away.
Documents reviewed by the Maine Wire show that the Maine Department of Labor determined that MaineGeneral Health “discharged” her; however, the agency concluded that Poland’s refusal to get the injections was a violation that constituted a “culpable breach of obligations to the employer.”
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“Since Monday, we are only aware of a few people who have indicated that they are interested in having a conversation about applying for an open position,” she said. “We currently have 453 open positions, which is similar to our pre-COVID open position count.
[…]A healthcare worker crisis caused by authoritarian policies
Thousands of former healthcare workers in Maine are currently unemployed or working in other fields because they refused to comply with Mills’ order that they receive injections.
Some refused because they were skeptical of all vaccines or because of religious beliefs concerning the ethical problems with vaccine research that uses fetal tissue.
Others were fearful that the long-term consequences of the experimental products were unknown, unknowable and potentially harmful.
But in every case, the substantial drop in employment in Maine’s healthcare sector because of the mandate has severely exacerbated a workforce shortage that threatens to undermine healthcare quality in the state.
Text messages like the one Poland received will hardly fix the problem.
It’s virtually impossible to determine how much of the sharp drop in healthcare employment has been caused by Mills’ order, how much of it was caused by COVID-19 and how much of it was caused by lockdown policies generally.
Regardless, labor statistics show Maine is in the middle of the steepest decline in healthcare jobs. Ever.
According to stats from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, those losses have been particularly acute in Maine’s nursing homes and assisted living facilities, like the facility where Poland worked.
In 2019, Maine had more than 22,600 individuals employed at nursing homes.
That number hit 19,800 in 2022.
At skilled nursing facilities, employment dropped from 8,426 in 2019 to 6,907 in 2022, according to Maine Department of Labor statistics.
The shortage of long-term care workers is all the more severe in Maine since the state consistently ranks as the oldest in the nation. As demand for nursing home beds increases, the number of workers available to provide that care has plummeted.
In home healthcare, total employment has declined from 4,401 workers in 2019 to 4,054 in 2022.
The same shortage can be seen in employment figures for hospitals in Maine. Mainers working in Maine hospitals declined from 33,000 in 2019 to 30,900 in 2021, according to federal statistics.
Even as Maine’s opioid epidemic has continued to break records for overdoses and deaths, the number of people employed in the health sector that includes substance abuse facilities has declined from 7,509 workers in 2019 to 7,149 in 2022, according to the Maine Department of Labor numbers.
One healthcare area that hasn’t seen such sharp declines is ambulatory healthcare, which includes facilities that are out-patient only, such as urgent care clinics and dentists’ offices.
At the same time the medical field is suffering from a lack of employees, Mainers have never spent more money on their healthcare.
Personal consumption of outpatient and in-home care topped $11,897,000,000 in 2021, according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. That’s a massive increase over the $11.2 billion reported for 2019.
At least some of that money is making its way into the pockets of Maine’s remaining healthcare workers. According to federal stats, Mainers who work in healthcare or social assistance made a record $7,028,362,000 in collective wages — the highest ever in Maine history.
Vaccine mandate victims seek discrimination case
Mills’ mandate was based on the theory that the pharmaceutical products being touted as “vaccines” or “immunizations” would prevent healthcare workers from contracting the virus or transmitting it to patients.
It’s now generally understood that the vaccine never inhibited transmission of the virus.
Mills, who has followed the recommended injection schedule, has herself caught COVID-19 twice despite getting the jabs.
The Aug. 3 decision by the Mills administration to rescind the mandate after nearly two years following on the heels of an embarrassing legal defeat in a case challenging the constitutionality of Mills’ decision to eliminate religious and philosophical exemptions from the mandate.
That court case hinges on the fact that Mills continued to allow medical exemptions while denying a comparable exemption for medical reasons.
Although the plaintiffs in that case, several healthcare workers who lost their jobs over the mandate, initially lost in Maine District Court, an appeals court panel has determined that the lower court erred when it rejected their claim of religious discrimination.
In May, when that decision came down, Matt Staver, who represents the plaintiffs via Liberty Counsel, said he was looking forward to discovery.
[…]
Via https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/maine-general-hospital-nurses-covid-shots/
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