Category Archives: All show-no go – spin

EU report declares glyphosate herbicides safe despite UN results | News | DW.COM | 13.11.2015 {The “fix” is in – follow the money!}

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) said glyphosate, a key ingredient in the Monsanto-made herbicide Roundup, is unlikely to cause cancer in humans through a report on Thursday.The agency advises the European Commission and its report could lead the 28-member European Union to renew approval of the herbicide. Back in March, the UN’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) had classified products containing glyphosate as “probably” carcinogenic.The EFSA is proposing to set a higher safe limit of human exposure to glyphosate, at 0.5 milligrams per kilogram of bodyweight. The previous EU evaluation had set an acceptable daily intake of 0.3 milligrams per kg of body weight.

Source: EU report declares glyphosate herbicides safe despite UN results | News | DW.COM | 13.11.2015

Robert Reich: The Rigging of the American Market – Guernica / A Magazine of Art & Politics

The only way to stop them is to prevent big corporations and Wall Street banks from rigging the market.For example, Americans pay more for pharmaceuticals than do the citizens of any other developed nation.That’s partly because it’s perfectly legal in the US (but not in most other nations) for the makers of branded drugs to pay the makers of generic drugs to delay introducing cheaper unbranded equivalents, after patents on the brands have expired.This costs you and me an estimated $3.5 billion a year–a hidden upward redistribution of our incomes to Pfizer, Merck, and other big proprietary drug companies, their executives, and major shareholders.We also pay more for Internet service than do the inhabitants of any other developed nation.

Source: Robert Reich: The Rigging of the American Market – Guernica / A Magazine of Art & Politics

Starbucks Got Served a Tempest in a Go Cup | Dame Magazine

The miracle of Christ’s birth occurred in a manger, not a strip mall. The three wise men began their desert trudge bearing gifts to greet him with little to go on but their own faith. It wasn’t reflected back to them as they walked all that way, they had nothing to guide them but the glow from the Star of Bethlehem overhead. We must ask ourselves: Which star do we follow, Christ or consumer culture? Maybe the onus for the CupGate folly lies just not with a Media Hysteria Complex forever on the lookout for the next click-worthy story of Christian wackadoos doing weird stuff in a store, but also with Christians offering baseline fodder for the stereotype. We can insist that our faith be shone back at us everywhere we go, or we can assume, per the Bible’s teachings, that God is with us, no matter what or where, in church or during coffee to-go.No one likes to be God-splained, to have their interpretation of belief called out as unworthy or frivolous, but there is so much genuine religious persecution and oppression in this world. Is it a good use of our energy to wage a campaign over pizza, cake, or a disposable cup that’s ombre red rather than decorated with candy canes and faux flurries? I suggest, in the spirit of loving Christian fellowship and conscientious American citizenry, that we choose our battles more carefully and stop acting like special snowflakes.

Source: Starbucks Got Served a Tempest in a Go Cup | Dame Magazine

The snooper’s charter: one misspelled Google search for ‘bong-making’ and you’ll be in an orange jumpsuit | Frankie Boyle | Comment is free | The Guardian

Soon our government will know everything we are thinking, and in that moment, we will stop thinking.

{but they – the snoopers – will be sound asleep by then cause what’s in most people’s heads is “what’s for supper” and that’s booooooring!}

Source: The snooper’s charter: one misspelled Google search for ‘bong-making’ and you’ll be in an orange jumpsuit | Frankie Boyle | Comment is free | The Guardian

UK surveillance bill could bring ‘very dire consequences’, warns Apple chief | World news | The Guardian

‘Any back door is a back door for everyone,’ says Tim Cook of proposals to allow authorities to track citizens’ internet use without requiring warrant

Source: UK surveillance bill could bring ‘very dire consequences’, warns Apple chief | World news | The Guardian

Cuban Peers Dispute Ted Cruz’s Father’s Story of Fighting for Castro – The New York Times

Told that País had been executed the next year, in a different place, and that this had been amply documented, Rafael Cruz brushed off the mistake: “I don’t remember where País was killed,” he said.In his book “A Time for Truth,” published in June, Ted Cruz writes that the rebels who attacked the Santiago Police Headquarters met devastating resistance, and “All of the students were killed, as was their leader, Frank País.”But of the scores of rebels who participated in the attack, only a few actually were killed, according to eyewitness accounts and historical documents.Mr. Cruz did not defend his exaggeration of the number of rebels killed in the Nov. 30 uprising. “I mean, I left within a couple of days of that,” he said. “We left town.”Conflicting AccountsAll of the unrest in Santiago de Cuba led the Batista regime to close down the university there, and Mr. Cruz returned to Matanzas, on the north coast, where he says he began leading his old cell and running weapons. In Ted Cruz’s book, he graduated to saboteur, disrupting transportation and communications infrastructure throughout the province.“Yes, I know him,” said Liborio Vera Andreu, 79, a schoolmate and leader in the youth brigades in Matanzas. But he said Mr. Cruz’s involvement had been limited to participating “in strikes and in protests.”

Source: Cuban Peers Dispute Ted Cruz’s Father’s Story of Fighting for Castro – The New York Times

German BND Intelligence Spied on Friends and Vatican – SPIEGEL ONLINE

Three weeks ago, news emerged that Germany’s foreign intelligence service, the Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND), had systematically spied on friends and allies around the world. In many of those instances, the BND had been doing so of its own accord and not at the request of the NSA. The BND came under heavy criticism earlier this year after news emerged that it had assisted the NSA in spying on European institutions, companies and even Germans using dubious selector data.

Source: German BND Intelligence Spied on Friends and Vatican – SPIEGEL ONLINE

US presidential candidate Ben Carson says key detail of life story untrue, report | News | DW.COM | 06.11.2015

Ben Carson has conceded his story regarding a scholarship to an elite military academy is untrue, according to a report. The admission comes as the Republican candidate sees his popularity in the polls start to rise.

Source: US presidential candidate Ben Carson says key detail of life story untrue, report | News | DW.COM | 06.11.2015

Ben Carson Says He Was Never Accepted to West Point – First Draft. Political News, Now. – The New York Times

“It was, you know, an informal ‘with a record like yours we could easily get you a scholarship to West Point.’”(Technically, West Point does not offer scholarships; it is free to attend.)

Source: Ben Carson Says He Was Never Accepted to West Point – First Draft. Political News, Now. – The New York Times

US slams ′offensive′ comments by Netanyahu′s new spokesman | News | DW.COM | 05.11.2015

Netanyahu’s newly appointed spokesman Ran Baratz has apologized for private comments about top US officials. Baratz had accused Obama of anti-Semitism and suggested that John Kerry has a mind of a 12-year-old.

Source: US slams ′offensive′ comments by Netanyahu′s new spokesman | News | DW.COM | 05.11.2015