Cholesterol Lowering Drugs (Statins) 2-28-2008

28, February 2008                 Cholesterol Lowering Drugs (Statins)             

Our airwaves, print media and medical doctors are constantly bombarding us with the need to aggressively lower blood cholesterol. While there can be no doubt of the wisdom of healthy eating and exercise to achieve these goals what seems to be suspect is the increasing pressure from pharmaceutical companies to establish new lower targets which are virtually impossible to achieve through diet alone. Thus, more and more people are taking cholesterol lowering drugs (CLD’s or statins). It would be interesting to follow the money trail of studies claiming such benefits. Remember how Vioxx was touted as the miracle ‘one pill a day’ arthritis drug? The drug was eventually withdrawn after patients experienced serious adverse events, a fact the company withheld from the public, profits taking precedence over safety concerns. Women, were similarly advised to take estrogen only to learn many years later of serious side effects.

Focus, Harvard’s news bulletin, reported pioneering research conducted on muscle weakness caused by CLD’s. They discovered a gene called atrogen-1 which causes a breakdown of proteins in muscle tissue. The Harvard bulletin reported the personal experience of one of its own doctors, Dr. Ikas Sukhatme, who experienced severe muscle weakness after taking a statin. It took nine months for Dr. Sukhatme to recover. Dr. Jim Wright, director of a British Colombia drug watchdog group commented that CLD’s may be doing more harm than good.

Water Fluoridation 2-27-2008

27, February 2008                  Water Fluoridation              

It seems that we may be over-medicating ourselves in pursuit of nebulous goals rooted in questionable science. Local utilities have deemed it desirable to fluoridate our water to reduce tooth decay, a decision vigorously supported by local dentists. A far more compelling, contrary conclusion was published by the prestigious British Medical Journal in 2000 (more commonly referred to as the York Study) following a long term study of water fluoridation. The results of this study found that only one in six individuals benefited from water fluoridation compared to approximately 50% who suffered from dental fluorosis or mottling and discoloration of the teeth. This alarming statistic offers serious doubt on the overall benefits of water fluoridation. 

Furthermore, fluoride is potentially toxic to our bones, brain and endocrine (hormonal) system. More information can be found in the Fluoride Action Network Web site. Is it not time we demand more a more rigorous scientific study to justify this potentially harmful practice?

Military Commissions Trials Rigged 2-23-2008

23, February 2008 Military Commissions Trials Rigged                    
The long term incarceration of six Guantanamo prisoners charged with conspiracy to commit war crimes has come to haunt the Pentagon. According to the Nation magazine, the trial might be rigged from the start to save the Pentagon the embarrassment of possible acquittals. The Nation reported a revealing comment made by the administration-appointed Pentagon General Counsel, William Haynes, to Colonel Davis, the former chief prosecutor for Guantanamo’s military commissions. Haynes admitted that , “we can’t have acquittals. If we’ve been holding these guys for so long, how can we explain letting them get off? We can’t have acquittals, we’ve got to have convictions.” 

It speaks volumes that Colonel Davis resigned from the military commissions in October 2007, decrying the system had become “politicized” and ineffective. Davis’s comments cast a pall on military commission’s clear bias and claims of ensuring fair trails. In view of Hayne’s comments, the military commissions have been badly tainted and smacks too much of ‘kangaroo court proceedings’, rather than a system based on fairness and true justice. What is also most troubling is Hayes was an early advocate of using torture techniques and insisted statements made under extreme coercion could be used as evidence of guilt. Is it any surprise that the administration has been so reluctant to denounce the grotesque practice of water-boarding as torture?

Arun Gandhi forced to resign 2-15-2008

 February 15, 2008 Arun Gandhi forced to resign
           
The right wing supporters of apartheid Israel can chalk up another victory. The American Jewish Committee, ADL, in concert with right-wing Indian American groups, such as the Hindu American Foundation, effectively forced the resignation of Arun Gandhi (grandson of Mahatma Gandhi) as the director of the Institute for Nonviolence at the University of Rochester. It is tragic that great humanitarians like Gandhi can be effectively silenced by these radical groups. Gandhi merits vigorous support for his commendable role in promoting non-violence and religious tolerance. 

The American Jewish Lobby has been responsible for tilting US support for Israel which has received hundreds of billions of dollars in military and economic aid. This aid has been used to subjugate the Palestinians who have had their land stolen and thousands of their people killed in a systematic effort to ethnically cleanse them from their ancestral lands. Palestinians refugees are imprisoned in ghettoes and are subjected to daily harassment by IDF (Israeli Defense Forces) who make their lives a living hell. A growing number of IDF soldiers have been so appalled by the utter brutality inflicted on the hapless Palestinians that they have gone public to expose the dark deeds of the Israeli military. Google to ‘IDF soldiers breaking the silence’, to learn more about this growing movement. Also, to gain a sense of the terror inflicted on young Palestinians, Google to ‘If Americans Knew’. Arun Gandhi’s ‘crime’ was to urge Israel to make peace with its neighbors and not resort to ‘weapons and bombs’. It is ironic that the US remains silent on Israel’s huge stockpile of WMD’s and continues to fund its war machine. This has fueled much of the rage in the Arab world and compromised the security of both the US and Israel.  

Arun Gandhi is but the latest victim of pro-Israeli right wing groups. Earlier, President Carter encountered viscous attacks in response to the publication of his book ‘Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid’. Carter was accused of anti-Semitism and being a “Jew-hater” because he likened Israel’s polices in the Occupied Territories to South Africa’s apartheid regime. Another recent victim is Professor Finkelstein (son of holocaust survivors) and a vigorous critic of Israel’s apartheid policies. Finkelstein was denied tenure because of his outspoken views. To learn more about the sinister impact of the powerful Israeli lobby, I urge readers to obtain a copy The Israel Lobby, by Stephen Walt (Harvard) and John Mearsheimer (University of Chicago). Finally, the father of our nation, Mahatma Gandhi, had it exactly right when he stated in 1946 that Jewish settlers "have erred grievously in seeking to impose themselves on Palestine with the aid of America and Britain and now with the aid of naked terrorism.”

LIES told by Bush administration 2-15-2008

15, February 2008 LIES told by Bush administration
Now, two highly respected organizations have officially exposed the blatant falsehoods of the Bush administration in the lead up to the Iraq war. What is even more telling is the corporate media’s eager willingness to echo these lies and serve as cheerleaders for the Bush propaganda machine. The Center for Public Integrity, working alongside the Fund for Independence in Journalism, tallied 260 lies told by Bush himself, including 231 statements claiming that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction and 28 that Saddam Hussein had close ties to al-Qaida. Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neill admitted that the Bush administration began plotting the invasion right after Sept. 11, 2001. The, then Secretary of State Colin Powell, clocked 254 lies and was the only administration figure to be publicly embarrassed.  He paid the ultimate price destroying his career and integrity. The influential New York Times and the Washington Post have admitted their role as ‘in-bed’ journalists but tragically continue to propagandize the administration in its highly dubious rhetoric of claiming the “surge” to be a success and amplifying the danger of Iran. Largely ignored by the media is the corresponding increase in aerial bombardment which is killing and maiming more Iraqi civilians and destroying their homes. 

Narendra Modi 2-2-2008

February 2, 2008 Narendra Modi
It is extremely puzzling why so many letter writers have heaped such accolades on the Hindu nationalist politician Narendra Modi of Gujarat in view of his active role in the massacre of 2,500 Muslims. An explosive expose in the Indian magazine Tehelka’s revealed that in 2002, Modi gave Hindu rightwing activists three days to attack Muslims with impunity. A reporter for Tehelka, Tarun Tejpal, infiltrated a right-wing Hindu organization for six months and gathered damning evidence that anti-Muslim violence, led by Modi, was highly organized and premeditated.  The mainstream Indian media incorrectly reported that the attack on Muslims was a “spontaneous” reaction to an attack by Muslims on a train carrying rightwing Hindu activists when the train stopped in the town of the Godhra. 

The evidence gathered by Tejpal included a spycam video footage of Hindu activists bragging about killing Muslims and directly implicating Modi and other high officials of the Gujarat government. Most troubling is Modi’s BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) party’s link to a network of right wing Hindu organizations. Haresh Bhatt, a  BJP member of the Gujarat state assembly from Godhra confirmed that  Narendra Modi gave Hindu rightwing activists three days to act with impunity to systematically slaughter Muslims. According to Tejpal, what happened in 2002 was probably the most outrageous planned act of religious violence aided and abetted by the state paralleling the slaughter of Sikhs in Delhi in 1984.

It is truly tragic that following this orgy of violence, there has been no effort to bring the guilty to justice and no statement of remorse from the guilty, in spite of Tejpal’s courageous efforts. Police collusion had been well established by the Tehelka investigation. One of the most grotesque incidents of the mayhem was revealed by Babu Patel, leader of the extreme militant youth wing Bajrang Dal, who boasted of slitting open the womb of a pregnant Muslim woman and pulling out the fetus. Subsequently, Patel was fully protected by the state and escaped imprisonment and the gallows for his hideous crime. Most of those arrested were released on bail. Such is the state of justice in India. It is unconscionable that the architect of the massacre, Narendra Modi, should now be re-elected as Chief Minister. According to the Indian media, a large number of NRI’s offered financial support to Modi’s re-election. Modi may have escaped justice but will surely pay the ultimate price when he departs from this world. All those who supported this monster to escape justice and re-elect him to high office should bow their heads in shame. 
Related Links
Tehelka's Report: "The Truth in the Words of the Men Who Did It: Gujarat 2002"