Just how deep does the rabbit hole go?
Posts tagged EPA
NSA Spying on Americans Now Explained and Justified (Well almost)
11 week ago
NSA Spying on Americans Now Explained and Justified (Well, almost)
As most Americans are taking in the deluge of stories regarding the NSA wiretapping, spying and data mining through all the major internet and phone providers plus the social media organizations, one must think that George Orwell was right, just 30 or so years off on his pick for the title for his novel 1984, as was predicted. Although it would appear many in government consider this book a very useful training manual, that is not the case. In fact, it should have been a warning to the citizens, but they seemed to have missed this point while religiously worshiping such mind opening sagas as Dancing With The Stars and a slew of reality shows.
This afternoon I read a post that shed light regarding the spying inside America on Americans, and I now see how this action may truly be used against the war on terror as we have been told time and again.
This post by Weasel Zippers of an interview on NBC News Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent Andrea Mitchell and Director of National Intelligence James Clapper opened my eyes. I now have a better understanding of the true “War on Terror” that the internal spying is all about.
As posted by Weasel Zippers:
NBC: “Why Do You Need Every Telephone Number?” – DNI Chief Clapper: “Well, You Have To Start Someplace”…
Image from: Weasel Zippers
Really? — That’s where you need to start?
JUNE 9, 2013 — NBC News Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent Andrea Mitchell sat down with Director of National Intelligence James Clapper yesterday for an exclusive wide-ranging interview to discuss recent revelations about government surveillance programs and the impact of leaks on national security. [...]
ANDREA MITCHELL: Why do you need every telephone number? Why is it such a broad vacuum cleaner approach?
JAMES CLAPPER: Well, you have to start someplace. If– and over the years that this program has operated, we have refined it and tried to– to make it ever more precise and more disciplined as to which– which things we take out of the library. But you have to be in the– in the– in the chamber in order to be able to pick and choose those things that we need in the interest of protecting the country and gleaning information on terrorists who are plotting to kill Americans, to destroy our economy, and destroy our way of life.
HT: Justin Brookman
Now I understand, and hope you do also. We agree, I hope, that the government’s two main jobs should be to protect the freedom and liberty of it’s people and protect the people’s property and way of life from undue and unwanted influence. Still not sure? Let us look at this justification for government surveillance, as mentioned in the interview, one point at a time.
Actions of terrorist that the surveillance is in place for:
- Plotting to kill Americans, we should all agree, no matter where it comes from, such as drone strikes or even FBI plots foiled by the FBI .
- To destroy our economy, I think we all agree, so surveillance on the Federal Reserve banks are justified.
- Destroy our way of life, which I think we will also agree, so surveillance on the TSA is also justified.
Now, I do not agree on the spying, data mining, surveillance and intrusion taking place on all Americans old enough to walk and talk, but I can now understand that there is truly a need for NSA surveillance inside our shores, not even going to bring up the State Department or indiscretions in the past. Cheering on and fully supporting the NSA mission as it eliminates the drone warfare and any possibility of use on Americans, ends the FED with the BIS control and abolishes the TSA! What is next for the NSA? I might suggest expanding the targets that destroy our way of life, such as the IRS :) After that we can toast a cheer, say a legitimate “Mission Accomplished” and move on to the rest of the list, such as possibly the EPA, Department of Education, and stopping China from taking over our communities one at a time. Just a thought. Perhaps it all about the good will? Actually, the “good will” link explains it best in my opinion, along with the need for some parody during these Stasi times we find ourselves in.
Your thoughts? Feel free to enter them below.
Costco Employee Shot to Death by Police
01 week ago
in Police State, Scandal
Costco Employee Shot to Death by Police
Posted by 
NextNewsNetwork
Stream: http://NextNewsNetwork.com
Facebook: http://Facebook.com/NextNewsNet
Twitter: http://Twitter.com/NextNewsNet
Published on Jun 10, 2013
LOUDON COUNTY, Virginia — Mhai Scott, a Costco employee, began behaving oddly while handing out pizza samples at the store in Loudon County, Virginia on May 29. Two Loudon County deputies were sent to investigate the disturbance.
One of them shot her with a Taser, which failed to subdue her. The other deputy fired five shots with his sidearm, fatally wounding the woman.
This report also includes…
WILLARD, Utah — The fatal shooting of 49-year-old Willard, Utah resident Cody John Ramseyer by Willard Police Chief Nate Thompson was found “justified” by Box Elder County Attorney Stephen Hadfield — despite the fact that Ramseyer was unarmed and outnumbered.
WASHINGTON — Former EPA head Lisa Jackson, who is now an environmental adviser to Apple, employed the alias “Richard Windsor” in her correspondence with other Obama administration officials and environmental activists.
EDMONDS, Washington — Several schoolchildren in Edmonds, Washington were suspended for a day after bringing Nerf guns to their sixth grade class at Chase Lake Elementary School on May 31.
OWINGS, Maryland — Bruce Henkelman of Huntington, Maryland told WMAL radio that his son, a sixth grade student at Northern Middle School in Ownings, received a ten day suspension after a bus driver overheard the child talking about the Sandy Hook massacre.
GM’s $9,800 Car . . . The One We’re Not Allowed To Buy
01 week ago
Source: http://libertycalling.net
Posted by Judy Morris
GM’s $9,800 Car . . . The One We’re Not Allowed To Buy
How much is the EPA and DOT costing you?
One way to quantify this is to consider a car GM builds – but which you can’t buy. Well, not unless you move outside the United States – and beyond the diktats and fatwas of the EPA and DOT.
It is called the Sail – and GM makes it in China. It retails for 60,000 yuan – equivalent to about $9,800 in “federal” reserve notes.
Read the rest at Daily Paul, here.
Ambulance in DC stalls because its emissions are too high, Patient dies because of EPA regs?
02 weeks ago
Source: http://www.againstcronycapitalism.org
Ambulance in DC stalls because its emissions are too high, Patient dies because of EPA regs?
I heard this story on the way home from Washington DC yesterday. What is unclear is whether the engine died because of actual failure or whether the engine was programmed to die because it reached a certain level of emissions as determined by the EPA. Sadly it sounds like the latter.
This simply can not happen. What if the patient who passed in the back of that ambulance was your son or daughter? That they may have died because of such an asinine regulation is outrageous.
*Apparently because of complaints in other jurisdictions due similar situations the EPA recently issued a pass for EMS vehicles on the emissions regulation. The DC fire chief said he was unaware of this exception.
(From FoxDC.com)
When the D.C. fire department began buying these diesel engine ambulances a few years ago, officials knew they would have to manage them with a new emission control system that would automatically shut the engine down if it wasn’t allowed to what’s called “regenerate.”
It was a mandate from the Environmental Protection Agency.
Insanity: US Approves Bee Death Pesticide as EU Bans It
01 month ago
Source: http://naturalsociety.com
Credit: naturalsociety.com
Corporate politics is business as usual inside the United States, as I am once again shocked to report the EPA has sided with industry lobbyists over public health in approving a highly dangerous pesticide that the European Union recently decided to ban over fears of environmental devastation. Not only have neonicotinoid pesticides been linked repeatedly to mass bee deaths, also known as Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), but the continued use of such pesticides threatens other aspects of nature (and humans) as well.
What’s even more amazing is that the decision not only comes after the EU publicly discussed the major dangers surrounding the use of the pesticides, but after the USDA released a report surrounding the continued honeybee deaths and the related effects — a report in which they detailed pesticides to be a contributing factor. Just the impact on the honeybees alone, and we now know that these pesticides are killing aquatic life and subsequently the birds that feed upon them, amounts to a potential $200 billion in global damages per year. We’re talking about the devastation of over 100 crops, from apples to avocados and plums.
And there’s countless scientists and a large number of environmental science groups speaking out on this. The EPA has no lack of information the subject. And sure, there are other contributing factors to bee deaths, there’s no question about that. We have an environment right now being hit with Monsanto’s Roundup even in residential areas, we have chemical rain, we have insane amounts of EMF — but it’s pretty clear that neonicotinoid pesticides are at least a major contributing factor. And beyond that, they have no place in the food supply to begin with.
The Pesticide Action Network (PAN) details the EU ban that came right before the EPA acceptance of the death-linked pesticide:
“The EU vote comes after significant findings by the European Food Safety Agency that these pesticides pose an unacceptable risk to bees and their use should be restricted. Along with habitat loss and pathogens, a growing body of science points to neonicotinoid pesticides as a key factor in drastically declining bee populations.”
So why are they approving this pesticide to now pollute the United States in what potentially amounts to an even larger capacity than the EU? A move that will ultimately escalate the price of food worldwide due to the likely nature of continued bee deaths and subsequent crop impact? That’s the power of phony corporate science.
About Anthony Gucciardi: Google Plus Profile Anthony is the Editor of NaturalSociety, producer, consultant, and seeker of truth. Anthony’s work has been read by millions worldwide and is routinely featured on major alternative and mainstream news website alike, like the powerful Drudge Report, NaturalNews, Infowars, and many others. Anthony has appeared, oftentimes routinely, on programs like Russia Today (RT), The Alex Jones Show, Coast to Coast AM, and others. Anthony is also a founding member of Natural Attitude and the creator of the independent political website Storyleak
So Why Are We Still Drinking Fluoride, Again?
1Source: http://naturalsociety.com
Image Credit: http://naturalsociety.com
We know that over 20 studies, many of which come from prestigious organizations like Harvard and are published in federal government journals, have told us how sodium fluoride is crushing our IQ. We know that a major head at the National Cancer Institute revealed decades ago that fluoride was causing ‘cancer waves’ in the United States.
So, remind me again, why are we still drinking fluoride in our ‘clean’ tap water around the entire world?
As it turns out, it’s because Harvard and federal government journalists must all be wackjob conspiracy theorists! The peer-reviewed research warning that fluoride can cause permanent damage to unborn babies by affecting their neurological development is all a big conspiracy theory to the mainstream media. The sodium fluoride that is literally assaulting the brain in mega-high doses of 5,000 PPM in ‘prescription fluoride’ toothpaste being dished out by dentists who say their childhood patients are ‘deficient’ in the IQ-destroyer is perfectly safe in their eyes.
When analyzing the Harvard research, published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, a component of the United States National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, we find quite a few concerning details. The study makes it explicitly clear how damaging sodium fluoride can be, with writers explaining:
“The children in high fluoride areas had significantly lower IQ than those who lived in low fluoride areas.”
The EPA had similar statements, demonstrating how fluoride displays ”evidence of developmental neurotoxicity” and can damage unborn babies. We read:
”Fluoride readily crosses the placenta. Fluoride exposure to the developing brain, which is much more susceptible to injury caused by toxicants than is the mature brain, may possibly lead to damage of a permanent nature.”
Let’s go even further back to the research of Dr. Dean Burke, head scientist at the National Cancer Institute and author of over 250 scientific articles. Back in 1977, the decorated scientist spoke out against fluoride and brought it to the attention of the National Cancer Institute. At that time, Burke found that sodium fluoride was fueling the development of cancer cells and tumor growth — at the average level of 1 PPM. He estimated that around 10,000 had died from the fluoride-induced cancer from that level.
As I detail in the video below, now we see levels as high as 5,000 PPM in toothpaste, 500,000% higher than the water fluoridation levels Burke was examining:
I guess no one told the media that even the United States government called for lower fluoride levels after a mountain of research accumulated regarding these links. They must be conspiracy theorists too.
The fact is that the fluoride debate hits a brick wall thanks to the rhetoric the mainstream media and laughable ‘skeptics’ use by throwing around terms like ‘conspiracy theory’ to discredit any real debate. In fact, it’s actually working against them. Right now we have so many conscious citizens realizing that they don’t want to consume the tainted tap that it’s really considered outlandish in many areas to drink from the tap without at least a fluoride-removing filter of some kind. A lot has changed as more information comes out.
We’ve seen a push for fluoride bans around the world, from Australia’s Queensland to regions within Florida. And the movement has been heating up.
But still, how could we possibly allow this fluoridation to go on for as long as it has? Even if there was only some research indicating an issue, isn’t it enough to begin withdrawing it from the water — or at least enough to conduct more independent research? I think any reasonable person would agree the answer is yes.
It’s time to accelerate this issue from a tired debate of ‘conspiracy’ theory name-calling to a topical issue we can generate a victory for. We’ve done it for GMOs; we’ve done it for high-fructose corn syrup; we’ve done it for BPA. It’s time to blast this information into the stratosphere and demand action.
About Anthony Gucciardi:
Google Plus Profile Anthony is an accomplished investigative journalist whose articles have appeared on top news sites and have been read by millions worldwide. Anthony’s articles have been featured on top health & political websites such as Reuters, Yahoo News, MSNBC, and Bloomberg. Anthony is also a founding member of Natural Attitude, a leading developer of super high quality spagyric formulations.
Scientist: Top Selling Weed Killer – Monsanto’s Roundup – Linked to Infertility
0Source: http://naturalsociety.com
By Lisa Garber
Monsanto has made a pretty penny over the last several decades thanks to its top-selling herbicide, Roundup, and cash crops genetically modified to withstand heavy doses of the chemical, such as Roundup Ready corn, soy, and cotton. Meanwhile, Roundup’s key ingredient glyphosate has ravaged the earth, our food chain, and our bodies, and is even causing infertility among the masses. Its effects haven’t gone unnoticed.
Purdue University professor emeritus Dr. Don Huber addressed the dangers of glyphosate to American and European officials in 2011. His concerns centered on an electron microscopic pathogen which “appears to significantly impact the health of plants, animals, and probably human beings.” In a letter to US Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, Huber added that preliminary experiments have reproduced the pathogen’s link to miscarriages.
Vilsack purportedly received Huber’s letter and, despite the available mountain of evidence just one click away, encouraged of Huber “submission of any data or studies in support of his concerns.” Apparently, none of the scientific, published evidence of glyphosate-induced infertility, sterility, birth defects, Parkinson’s, obesity, superweeds, and water pollution were convincing enough to keep the USDA from snuggling down next to Monsanto on a bed of dirty money just 11 days later. Despite Huber’s explicit pleas to delay deregulation of Roundup Ready crops—which would be, in his words, “a calamity”—the USDA went through with deregulation.
This was neither the first nor would it be the last hand members of the government would join with dirty industries to the detriment of their own citizenry. Reuters reports on the myriad concerns raised by numerous members of the scientific and medical community, yet it is only in 2015 that the Environmental Protection Agency promises results for their research into the possible dangers of glyphosate and what, if any, role government should play in it.
Seeing as the government has been front and center in support of Monsanto’s environmentally disastrous antics, we hope to see matched enthusiasm in remedial measures for the environment and its people.
Additional Source:
Biofuel credits behind mystery cross-border train shipments
06 months ago
Source: http://www.cbc.ca
By John Nicol and Dave Seglins, CBC News
Back and forth shipments prompt accusation of fraud, EPA and CBSA probes
The mystery behind a CN train that hauled biodiesel back and forth over the border numerous times in 2010 has been solved. It turns out the shipments were part of a deal by a Toronto-based company that made several million dollars importing and exporting the fuel to exploit a loophole in a U.S. green energy program. (Dave Seglins/CBC)
The mystery of the trainload of biodiesel that crossed back and forth across the Sarnia-Port Huron border without ever unloading its cargo, as reported by CBC News, has been solved.
CBC News received several tips after a recent story about a company shipping the same load of biodiesel back and forth by CN Rail at a cost of $2.6 million in the summer of 2010. It turns out the shipments were part of a deal by a Toronto-based company, which made several million dollars importing and exporting the fuel to exploit a loophole in a U.S. green energy program.
The entire U.S. biodiesel market has been the centre of controversy and even legislative hearings this summer over problems with the regulatory program administered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The fallout and distrust of a market-based biodiesel credit system has had several repercussions for the industry, particularly for fledgling biodiesel companies trying to produce environmentally friendly fuel. The recent CBC reports on that train to nowhere have prompted an investigation by the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), as well as a further investigation by the EPA.
The company that organized the train shipment was Bioversel Trading Inc. of Toronto. Its principal, Arie Mazur, gave CBC a detailed explanation this week explaining that the trip was all about RINs — renewable identification numbers — the credits set up by the EPA to promote and track production and importation of renewable fuels such as ethanol and biodiesel.
The complicated deal unfolded in the final two weeks of June 2010.
Train records used to generate millions in RIN credits
Bioversel Trading hired CN Rail to import tanker loads of biodiesel to the U.S. to generate RINs, which are valuable in the U.S. because of a “greening” policy regulating the petroleum industry. The EPA’s “Renewable Fuel Standard” mandate that oil companies bring a certain amount of renewable fuel to market, quotas they can achieve through blending biofuel with fossil fuel or by purchasing RINs as offsets.
A CN freight train is shown leaving Sarnia for Port Huron in Michigan. (Dave Seglins/CBC)
Because RINs can be generated through import, the 12 trainloads that crossed into Michigan would have contained enough biodiesel to create close to 12 million RINs. In the summer of 2010, biodiesel RINs were selling for 50 cents each, but the price soon fluctuated to more than $1 per credit.
Once “imported” to a company capable of generating RINs, ownership of the biodiesel was transferred to Bioversel’s American partner company, Verdeo, and then exported back to Canada. RINs must be “retired” once the fuel is exported from the U.S., but Bioversel says Verdeo retired ethanol RINs, worth pennies, instead of the more valuable biodiesel RINs. Bioversel claims this was all perfectly legal.
However, one of the companies Bioversel approached to be the ‘importer of record’—Northern Biodiesel Inc. of Ontario, N.Y. — discovered that the same fuel was going back and forth across the border and the same gallons were being used to repeatedly generate new RINs under their company’s name. The company called the EPA and also sent a letter that would become an open letter to the biodiesel industry, accusing Bioversel of “trying to perpetrate a fraud against NBI and the Renewable Fuel Standard program.”
The EPA, which has a buyer beware policy for oil companies that buy RINs, did not act immediately, and the industry has been begging for it to play the role of sheriff on this case and others. The EPA won’t comment on continuing investigations, but insiders said the case is still under investigation.
Trust in US biodiesel credits shaken
Many observers of the Bioversel deal of 2010 doubt the RINs repeatedly generated on the same gallons of fuel are legal.
“If the facts in your story bear out, there needs to be some people go to prison,” said Joe Jobe, CEO of the U.S. National Biodiesel Board. “It’s not a victimless crime. [RIN fraud] has impacted the livelihoods and jobs of absolutely everybody in this industry, and it has cost the folks in the petroleum industry who have to comply with this, millions and millions of dollars and it has put small- and medium-sized biodiesel producers completely out of business.
“We’ve taken this very seriously. I testified before the House energy oversight committee this summer. Congress has been whopping mad about [RIN fraud] as well.”
CBC has contacted the EPA repeatedly is recent days asking for an opinion on whether the Bioversel imports were legal. The agency has refused to comment.
Northern Biodiesel owner Bob Bechtold says his company’s role in the deal made it a victim. His firm agreed to act as importer to generate the RINs, but when the paperwork wasn’t forthcoming from Bioversel, one of his employees called CN Rail to find out what was happening at the border.
“All we got from [CN Rail] was that there was a curious thing happening, that there were a number of cars that just kept going back and forth across the Canadian border,” he told CBC News. “When we started smelling something that was weird, we called the EPA, and notified them that this was happening, and then we called the company that we were doing this transaction with and said we’re not doing any more business with you.”
Bechtold said Bioversel had a “fit.”
“First they threatened us that we were breaking the contract,” he said. “One person came here and tried to insist that I would be in a lot of trouble because of breaking the contract, and I assured him that I thought he would be in a lot more trouble if this continued. Then they offered to buy our company, which we thought was pretty absurd, and I basically sent him on his way.”
In its letter to the EPA, Northern Biodiesel cautioned its RIN company codes had been compromised, alleging that Bioversel’s partner company, Verdeo, took its numbers and made up new RINs “as if the biodiesel has been blended into the U.S. transportation fuel stream and separated from the renewable fuel. Then they were illegally sold by Verdeo to parties obligated to acquire RINs by the Renewable Fuel Standard.”
Northern Biodiesel insisted the RINs issued were not valid because it had never received any bills of lading or chemical analysis reports from Verdeo, and thus Northern Biodiesel never reported/certified them with the EPA. However, millions of these RINs were sold in its name.
As a result, Northern Biodiesel RINs became tainted within the industry and Bechtold said that put him out of business.
“That was about the dumbest thing we ever did,” said Bechtold about the letter and coming forward to the EPA. “We thought we were saving the industry, doing good to protect the industry, but it ended up being the kiss of death for us, because we are no longer able to participate in the field.”
Beyond this case, the entire U.S. biodiesel RIN system has been plagued by problems, loopholes and even outright frauds. It has all undermined efforts to get U.S. industry to use more renewable fuels and has left big oil companies and other major fuel purchasers wary of smaller producers.
Biodiesel plant set for Welland, Ont.
Bioversel Trading told CBC News this week that everything it did was legal and insisted they never directly generated or sold RINS. The company also distanced itself from its partner Verdeo, even though one of Verdeo’s former names was Bioversel Trading (US), and Arie Mazur of Bioversel Trading (Canada) was a former director and executive of the US company.
Bioversel Trading of Toronto is at the centre of a probe by the European Union and the CBSA, which claims in search warrant documents (executed on their Toronto office last spring) that the firm is suspected of exporting American biodiesel to Romania and Italy while saying it was Canadian, to avoid huge duties. That would amount to violations of the Customs Act – but have never been proven. Bioversel Trading flatly rejects the CBSA allegations.
The Bioversel family of companies has changed its names in Canada and the U.S., and has also been embroiled in several lawsuits in the U.S. over its trading in biodiesel fuel.
One of the companies that shares the same Toronto office space, once known as Bioversel Sarnia Inc., is now known as Great Lakes Biodiesel (GLB), which is planning to open a biodiesel plant in Welland, Ont. Mazur’s lawyer said Mazur is no longer a director of Great Lakes, but confirms a Mazur’s involved in, Einer Canada, is a shareholder of GLB.
If it opens in early 2013 and meets its production targets, Great Lakes Biodiesel is eligible for $65 million in Canadian government subsidies over the next five years under the federal eco energy biofuels incentive program.
Send tips to dave.seglins@cbc.ca and john.nicol@cbc.ca
###
[CIM]
Republished with permission.
Related post:
CN mystery train crosses border 24 times, never unloads
Deepwater Horizon oil spill ‘cleanup’ made toxicity worse, study finds
06 months ago
Source: http://www.naturalnews.com
By David Gutierrez
(NaturalNews) The cleanup technique used by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) following the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico actually made the spilled oil more than 50 times more toxic than doing nothing, according to a study conducted by researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology and the Universidad Autonoma de Aguascalientes (UAA), Mexico. The findings were published in the journal Environmental Pollution.
Over the course of three months, 4.9 million barrels of oil spilled into the Gulf of Mexico (although some scientists believe that the spill is likely ongoing to this day). To aid in the cleanup, the EPA ordered another two million gallons of a chemical “dispersant” known as Corexit poured into the Gulf.
“There is a synergistic interaction between crude oil and the dispersant that makes it more toxic,” study co-author Terry Snell said.
The idea behind dispersants such as Corexit is that they break apart large masses of oil into tiny droplets, that then spread out over a wider area and have less of an impact in any one place. However, oil actually becomes more toxic in smaller droplets, because it is more easily absorbed into cells (bioavailable).
U.S. bans BP from new government contracts after oil spill deal
06 months ago
Source: freedomsphoenix.com
U.S. bans BP from new government contracts after oil spill deal
11-28-2012 • Reuters
The suspension, announced by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, comes on the heels of BP’s November 15 agreement with the U.S. government to plead guilty to criminal misconduct in the Gulf of Mexico disaster, the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history. BP agreed to pay $4.5 billion in penalties, including a record $1.256 billion criminal fine.
BP and its affiliates are barred from new federal contracts until they demonstrate they can meet federal business standards, the EPA said. The suspension is “standard practice” and BP’s existing U.S. government contracts are not affected, it said.
This is a work in progess, a self learning tool and fun little project. Please excuse the slow development as it seems the needed proper time is always lacking. It is my hope that the combination of content and links to other sources of information in this simple blog may help awaken a few of the sleeping masses and encourage and inspire others to initiate their own research, ultimately for each person to be a light to help awaken others. Opinions expressed belong to me, myself and I. Also, a big thank you to all that take the time to visit, it is appreciated :)
