While notorious con man Bernie Madoff spends the rest of his days pondering his Ponzi scheme in a federal prison, DoTellAll pondered some of the other fraudsters that you probably never heard about. Here’s a list of the top 10.While notorious con man Bernie Madoff spends the rest of his days pondering his Ponzi... more
Indigenous people from south-east Peru are suing Repsol-YPF and US company Hunt Oil over their plans to explore for oil on their land.
Local indigenous organisation FENAMAD has filed a lawsuit asking for an injunction to be placed on both the companies’ activities. The suit argues that the government did not consult with local people before giving the companies permission to work there, as is required under international law, and oil exploration would violate local peoples’ fundamental human rights to ‘enjoy a balanced environment’.
Hunt and Repsol-YPF own the rights to explore in an area known as ‘Lot 76’, which includes land belonging to the Yine, Matsigenka and Harakmbut tribes. At the heart of the Lot is the Amarakaeri Communal Reserve, used by many villages in the region and the source of six rivers that are the only fresh water supply for an estimated ten thousand people.
‘FENAMAD hopes that this legal action will paralyze any activity inside the Amarakaeri Communal Reserve, as otherwise the very existence of Madre de Dios’s indigenous peoples would be put at risk,’ said FENAMAD spokesperson Jaime Corisepa.
Watch a film of the meeting with Hunt http://fenamad-indigenas.blogspot.com/ (in Spanish), entitled ‘See how the Peruvian Amazon’s indigenous peoples say ‘NO’ to Hunt Oil company’.Survival International
Indigenous people from south-east Peru are suing Repsol-YPF... more
To: Sen. John McCain AZ, Sen. Michael Bennet CO and Sen. Tom Coburn OK, see more...Sen. Roland Burris IL, Sen. Bob Bennett UT, Sen. Danny Akaka HI, Sen. Mark Pryor AR, Sen. John Ensign NV, Sen. George Voinovich OH, Sen. Joe Lieberman CT, Sen. Jon Tester MT, Sen. Lindsey Graham SC, Sen. Susan Collins ME, Sen. Mary Landrieu LA, Sen. Tom Carper DE, Sen. Claire McCaskill MO, Sen. John McCain AZ, Sen. Michael Bennet CO and Sen. Tom Coburn OK
Started by: Aaron Norcia
As you may know contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan make up 57% of the DOD work force at last census in Sep. 2009. Furthermore, recently there has been a flux of discreditable actions against what the DOD refers to as "Private Security Firms" or in other words Hired Mercenaries. Recently a story was uncovered thanks in large part to company whistle blowers for one of those hired "security firms" known as ArmorGroup. ArmorGroup video was uncovered showing members of this private security firm engaging in acts of blatant licentious behavior. Also a company hired for private security formally known as Blackwater, now known as "XE". Six of their former contracted employees were indicted for the murder of 17 unarmed Iraqi civilians in 2007. Blackwater's contract expired in September and the U.S. still decided to extend the contract, giving the tainted company over 1 billion dollars under the Bush administration alone. These companies among many others are currently being paid with U.S. tax dollars appropriated by Congress with little to no restrictions placed on the actions of their employees. Though these companies don't "officially" represent the United States, to millions of citizens in these inhabited regions, it's the common belief that these are in fact representatives of the U.S. Signing this petition will demand that Congress create exploratory committee's to investigate the inhumane and unjust actions at the expense of the American tax dollar.To: Sen. John McCain AZ, Sen. Michael Bennet CO and Sen. Tom Coburn OK, see... more
It's amazing. When you are in the military, you are sworn to defend the Constitution. And at the same time, the government curtails all your rights. Your butt is theirs!Free will is out the door with your Constitution.
It's amazing. When you are in... more
Senate Republicans are mailing out a "survey" insinuating that the president's health care reform agenda includes the creation of a lottery system to determine who gets medical treatment and a quota system that based on race and age.
Written under the vague and non-partisan title of "U.S. Senate Health Care Task Force," the mailing, which includes a fundraising letter, was commissioned by the National Republican Senatorial Committee and passed to the Huffington Post by a Democratic source. It asks recipients to respond to several misleading questions, including:
Are you concerned that health care rationing could lead to:
23. Denial of treatment in cases where the patient's prospects are deemed not good?
24. A "lottery" system of determining who will get priority treatment?
25. A "quota" system which would determine who would determine who would get treatment on the basis of race or age?
The mailer also suggests that the legislative proposals being considered by Congress would give the federal government the power to:
• Pick who is "eligible" for certain medical procedures? • Pick your doctor for you? • Restrict certain medical procedures on the basis of age? • Put strict price controls on medicine and drugs? • Penalize you for choosing to see a private doctor • Seriously undermine private health care insurers who currently serve tens of millions of Americans?Senate Republicans are mailing out a "survey" insinuating that the president's health... more
For Companion Animals Caretakers: An Important Consumer Update
"Discount pet drugs—no prescription required" may appeal to pet owners surfing the Web, but FDA experts say it can be risky to buy drugs online from sites that tout this message and others like it.
Some of the Internet sites that sell pet drugs represent legitimate, reputable pharmacies, says Martine Hartogensis, D.V.M., deputy director of the Office of Surveillance and Compliance in FDA's Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM). But others are fronts for unscrupulous businesses operating against the law.
FDA has found companies that sell unapproved pet drugs and counterfeit pet products, make fraudulent claims, dispense prescription drugs without requiring a prescription, and sell expired drugs.
Pet owners who purchase drugs from these companies may think they are saving money, says Hartogensis, but in reality, they may be short-changing their pet's health and putting its life at risk.
ALWAYS PURCHASE PRESCRIPTION MEDS FROM YOUR VETERINARIAN FOR YOUR COMPANION ANIMAL.
THIS WILL HELP ENSURE THE QUALITY AND CONTENT.
EXAMPLE - IF THE DRUG FAILS (IE HEARTWORMS), THE PHARMACEUDICAL COMPANY PAYS FOR ANY COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH TREATMENT.For Companion Animals Caretakers: An Important Consumer Update
"Discount pet... more
Groups Ask That Verizon Wireless Withdraw Support of Controversial,
Climate-change Denying Labor Day Event
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz.— Today a coalition of groups led by the Center for Biological Diversity sent a letter to Verizon Wireless asking the corporation to withdraw its sponsorship of a Labor Day rally being held in West Virginia to support mountaintop removal coal mining and oppose climate legislation. The groups represent millions of members and include Natural Resources Defense Council, Defenders of Wildlife, Rainforest Action Network, Greenpeace USA, Friends of the Earth, Appalachian Voices, Christians Caring for Creation, and many others.
“Verizon Wireless may say they’re an environmentally friendly company http://aboutus.vzw.com/Green_Initiative/overview.html but their mouth isn’t where their money is. Verizon Wireless is now aware that they paid money to sponsor an event that celebrates mountaintop removal coal mining, and they have not withdrawn their sponsorship. They can keep saying they’re a friend to the environment until they’re green in the face, but there’s just no environmentally friendly way to blow up mountains and dump them into streams,” said Tierra Curry, a biologist at the Center for Biological Diversity.
More groups are expected to sign on to the letter, which will be updated on Monday. As of Friday morning, nearly 80,000 concerned citizens had submitted letters to Verizon Wireless through CREDO Action and the Center asking the company to withdraw its sponsorship of the event. Other groups have also launched action alerts to their membership.
As current customers of Verizon Wireless, several of the groups have expressed their concern to the company about its support for the mountaintop removal rally, including the Center for Biological Diversity, Defenders of Wildlife, Natural Resources Defense Council, Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition, and Grand Canyon Wildlands Council, and intend to reevaluate their relationship with Verizon Wireless.
Activists Pressure Verizon Wireless to Hang Up on Bad Coal Connection
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz.— The Center for Biological Diversity is ramping up pressure on Verizon Wireless to withdraw its sponsorship of a coal-industry rally http://friendsofamericarally.com/ in West Virginia that is being held on Labor Day to promote mountaintop-removal coal mining and to oppose climate change legislation. In just two days, supporters from the Center and ally CREDO Action have sent more than 66,000 letters to Verizon asking the company to withdraw their sponsorship of the event. The Center anticipates that more than 100,000 letters will be submitted by concerned citizens by the end of the week.
As of this release, the Center for Biological Diversity had not received any response to its written request or phone calls for an explanation from Verizon Wireless for its sponsorship of the Labor Day pro-coal rally.
“Verizon Wireless is really bad at communication if they can’t hear the tens of thousands of activists who are demanding that they drop this call and withdraw sponsorship of an event denying the reality of climate change and celebrating the destruction of one of the most biodiverse areas on earth,” said Tierra Curry, biologist at the Center.
The Center and allies plan to continue to pressure Verizon Wireless to withdraw their sponsorship of the event.
“Verizon Wireless made a bad connection by teaming up with Massey Energy, one of the worst polluters in America,” said Curry, “If they’re serious about ‘going green’ http://aboutus.vzw.com/Green_Initiative/overview.html, they need to admit they made a mistake and hang up on this Big Coal party.”
Other local and national groups, including CREDO Action, Rainforest Action Network, and Grand Canyon Wildlands Council, are joining the call to Verizon Wireless to withdraw support for the rally.Activists Pressure Verizon Wireless to Hang Up on Bad Coal Connection
FLAGSTAFF,... more
As long as they've made movies, animals have been killed or injured to do it.
The controversial shot of lemmings leaping to their death from the Disney film, 'White Wilderness'. In reality, they were flung from a turntable (not seen) into a river.
In a landmark investigation twenty-five years ago, called "Cruel Camera", the fifth estate's Bob McKeown uncovered an uncomfortable, even shocking, reality about moviemaking: animals, intentionally put in harm's way, abused, often killed to create the kind of cinematic excitement that draws a crowd.
As well, the fifth estate found that in wildlife documentaries, the casualties are often the truth. Nature films, including award-winning documentaries made by esteemed studio such as DISNEY, sometimes used fakery in their shots.
Twenty-five years later: Animals still abused in films -
Now, twenty-five years on, the fifth estate thought it was time for Mckeown to take another look through the 'Cruel Camera' to see how things have changed. His findings show that although much has changed in the TV and movie business, many of the damning findings of the original investigation haven't changed much at all.
Trainers lost control of the animals doing a rodeo scene in 'Flicka'. One horse died. For instance, it's true that a venerable animal welfare organization, American Humane, is now mandated to monitor film sets to ensure that animal actors are treated well.
Los Angeles, the home of American moviemaking, employs an attorney responsible for animal cruelty cases. But, that attorney, Robert Ferber, says that AMERICAN HUMANE REFUSED TO COOPERATE with his investigation into the death of a horse during the filming of the 2005 family film 'Flicka'.
Fakery in wildlife documentaries -
McKeown also takes you behind the scenes to show how some wildlife documentaries are really made. Viewers will be surprised to learn that some of the most poignant moments in acclaimed wildlife documentaries were staged or faked on film. Tricks of the trade are demonstrated, including how captive, even tame, animals are often portrayed as wild, existing in their natural environment.
Among those giving his insights into this secret part of nature filming is Sir David Attenborough, the most world's most renowned wildlife filmmaker.
"You could lie in print, you can lie on film, you can lie on radio. The ability to tell untruths in huge, of course," Attenborough told McKeown. "But reputable natural history filmmakers do not lie. They tell the truth…but telling the truth is a simplification. It's often very difficult to tell the truth, but that's what we try to do." Yet, even Attenborough, has been accused of manipulating situations to make a point.
Sad fate of show business chimps -
Once their career in show business is over chimps are left to live out their lives in horrible conditions.McKeown also looks at the sad state of chimps in show business, including the often-brutal world of obtaining and training chimps for entertainment.
The fate of chimps who have grown too big and uncontrollable to work in front of the camera is also explored. Viewers will be taken to some of the grim roadside zoos where former show business chimpanzees live out the last, desperate decades of their lives.
"Better to be euthanized. It's a horrible life," world-famous primatologist Jane Goodall told McKeown. "It's a horrible life and why they cling to life as they do, I don't know. Gorillas tend to die but chimpanzees just have this – same as us – people are like that. Think of how the people survived concentration camps."
Looking to be a more environmentally conscious shopper? You've probably heard about bamboo. Bamboo stands out for its ability to grow quickly with little or no need for pesticides, and it is used in a variety of products, from flooring to furniture. But when it comes to soft bamboo textiles, like shirts or sheets, there's a catch: they're actually rayon.
The Federal Trade Commission, the nation's consumer protection agency, wants you to know that the soft "bamboo" fabrics on the market today are rayon. They are made using toxic chemicals in a process that releases pollutants into the air. Extracting bamboo fibers is expensive and time-consuming, and textiles made just from bamboo fiber don't feel silky smooth.
There's also no evidence that rayon made from bamboo retains the antimicrobial properties of the bamboo plant, as some sellers and manufacturers claim. Even when bamboo is the "plant source" used to create rayon, no traits of the original plant are left in the finished product.
Companies that claim a product is "bamboo" should have reliable evidence, like scientific tests and analyses, to show that it's made of actual bamboo fiber.
The FTC works for the consumer to prevent fraudulent, deceptive, and unfair business practices in the marketplace and to provide information to help consumers spot, stop, and avoid them. To file a complaint or to get free information on consumer issues, visit ftc.gov or call toll-free, 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357); TTY: 1-866-653-4261. The FTC enters consumer complaints into the Consumer Sentinel Network, a secure online database and investigative tool used by hundreds of civil and criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad.Federal Trade Commission, August 2009
Looking to be a more environmentally... more
I am sorry to report that the not-for-profit environmental education foundation has been the subject of a elaborate fraud over many months.
The Earth Matters Radio Show was an elaborated fraud carried out by Randell T. Byrd of Independence Virginia.
With the full authority of the US Virginia State Police and Commonwealth Attorney General of Virginia we release the Media Statement detailing the fraud that the Greenhouse Neutral Foundation and others have been the victims of.
Donna Quinter, 54, and wife of Monkee's star Mickey Dolenz pleaded guilty Friday to charges that she defrauded a public housing program in New York City.
She illegally received $136,866 in government rental subsidies for an apartment on Manhattan's Upper East Side.
The subsidies that she received are alllocated to middle-income families in danger of being forced out of a rent-regulated apartment building that was being converted into luxury condominiums.Donna Quinter, 54, and wife of Monkee's star Mickey Dolenz pleaded guilty Friday to... more
Help Get IDA's Undercover TV On The Air In Your Town!
Undercover TV is an innovative television series that exposes the extreme animal cruelty deliberately hidden from the American public.
This revolutionary new half-hour television program produced by IDA takes viewers where other shows won't - inside of factory farms, vivisection laboratories, fur operations, puppy mills, and other exploitive industries to show people the truth about the suffering of animals behind the scenes.
Most Americans have never seen how animals used for food, clothing or scientific experiements are treated because those who profit from their suffering keep them hidden behind locked and guarded doors. By showing happy animated animals on TV commercials, they depict the treatment of these animal inaccurately.
If your city doesn't yet air Undercover TV, take action by volunteering for our nationwide video distribution network. As a resident of any city, you can submit episodes of Undercover TV to your community public access station.
This simple form of activism is extremely powerful because each episode of Undercover TV that is aired can potentially wake thousands of people up to the reality of animal exploitation - something most television viewers would otherwise never see.
If you would like to bring Undercover TV to your area, contact info@undercovertv.org and we'll show you how.Help Get IDA's Undercover TV On The Air In Your Town!
Undercover TV is an... more
Chinese media reported that the Urumchi riots were sparked by a clash between migrant workers in a Hong Kong-owned toy factory in southern China. But other evidence indicates the incident was merely a convenient pretext for a premeditated plan to destabilize Xinjiang province, the center of China's oil and gas industry. NAM contributor Yoichi Shimatsu is an environmental consultant for agricultural businesses in western China's arid regions and former editor of the Japan Time Weekly.
DUNHUANG, China -- Along the Silk Road super-highway, olive-green truck convoys of the People's Armed Police, China's internal security force, roll past sand dunes and crumbling fire-signal towers toward riot-hit Urumchi. The absence of army vehicles on the morning after indicated the situation in neighboring Xinjiang province was under control.
On the previous day, just hours before the Urumchi eruption, tension was palpable in this gateway to Xinjiang. The residents of this historic caravanserai, once the last fortress of the Chinese Empire in Central Asia, were not donning their customary white caps, and none offered a smile of welcome. Residents avoided eye contact; the sun-toasted plazas crackled with tension.
That evening, as angry mobs knifed passersby, torched shops and stoned buses, a longtime friend in Urumchi, who is an Uyghur scientist, sent me a curt message: "My heart is crying." The sight of screaming children and blood-gushing wounds was a scene from hell -- a long stretch from Urumchi's image as a prosperous oasis of gleaming towers at the foot of the snowcapped Tianshan mountains. By Friday prayers, Muslims across the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region asserted that the riots had nothing to do with religion or ethnicity, and that the violence and looting were simply criminal acts of a hate-demented mob.
The Chinese media reported that the Urumchi riots were sparked by a clash between migrant workers in a Hong Kong-owned toy factory in faraway southern China. When Han Chinese workers accused several Uighurs of raping two coworkers, a bout of shouting and scuffling ended with the death of an alleged rapist.
Yet other strands of evidence indicate that the toy factory incident was merely a convenient pretext for a premeditated plan to destabilize Xinjiang province, the center of China's oil and gas industry. An uneasy coalition of exiled Uighurs has been riven with personal rivalries between the veteran Munich-based separatists and the newcomers in the United States led by Rebiya Kadeer, an Urumchi businesswoman and former member of China's parliament. The distrust between old-timers and newcomers was heightened by Washington's drive to install Kadeer as the leader of the World Uighur Congress, usurping Germany-based figures like Isa Dolkun and members of the Alptekin family. Kadeer's husband was promoted to head Radio Liberty's Uighur section, making him the boss of the Munich staff. As tensions smoldered among the exiles, action was clearly needed to unite the separatists.
Enter the Grey Wolves, one of the world's most notorious terrorist organizations. Founded in the 1960s, the Wolves are a pan-Turkic paramilitary group with 1 million followers across the Near East, Central Asia and inside Xinjiang. During the decade of political violence in Turkey in the 1980s, the military-backed activists launched a wave of assassinations, massacres of ethnic minorities, and extortions of businesses. By official count, the Turkish government holds the Wolves responsible for more than 600 murders, while leftists estimate the victims numbered in the many thousands.
*************************CONTINUES**************************Chinese media reported that the Urumchi riots were sparked by a clash between migrant... more
It may not to late to save more than 90,000 Namibian seals from cruel clubbing.
Namibian govt officials say the annual seal hunt is on with over 90,000 seals expected to be clubbed to death.
African seals have been a UN listed endangered species since 1977, with 23 former island colonies extinct. The government has even confirmed that 44% - 62% of pups do not make it their first year.
In a recent Seal Alert-SA press release Hugo explained the front and back door negotiations in play. http://sealalertsa.wordpress.com/
The Seal 'business' in Namibia is dead. World economic slump, bans in the US and EU, poor demand for luxury fur fashion goods, no fur buyers, surplus of unsold seal skins, a declining seal population - and a sealing industry that wants to sell-out for $14 million. Something the Namibian govt must now come to terms with, and now look at alternative economic solutions.
Clubbing cruelly these seal pups is senseless and idiotic, as Namibia's last fur buyer, still has 20 000 skins from the 23 000 he bought in 2008, and cannot even sell these, and has placed no orders for 2009.
Whilst Seal Alert-SA bangs on the back-door to end the cull and continues its efforts to publicly raise $14 million US dollars to buyout the industry, it has now asked the World Society for Protection of Animals (WSPA) and the Humane Society International (HSI) to politely knock on the front-door of the Namibian Govt, and make it an offer nobody can refuse.
Namibia has started clubbing and stabbing 80 000 baby seals on Sunday, July 1, 2007. It is now the 2nd week into Namibia's baby seal cull. In an effort to halt the cull of 80 000 baby seals (right now), please tell everyone you know about this.
Baby Cape fur seals in Namibia desperately appeal for your help and protection - right Now ! Distribute this movie clip freely worldwide. Boycott Namibian Tourism and anything Namibian, until this stops.WARNING: GRAPHIC VIDEO
It may not to late to save more than 90,000 Namibian seals... more
-- 2006 Compromise Betrayed as Oil Rigs Allowed as Close as 45 Miles --
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee voted today to remove Florida’s unique and critical protections against offshore oil and gas drilling. The amendment, offered by Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND), revokes long-term protections against Eastern Gulf drilling within 125 miles of Pensacola and 250 miles from Tampa Bay and replaces it with a buffer just 45 miles from Florida’s coastline, effective immediately.
“We’re deeply disappointed that the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee broke its promise to Florida,” said Environment Florida Advocate Adam Rivera. “This is a cautionary tale not to compromise with oil companies and their allies in Congress, since such compromises will not be upheld for long.”
The 2006 Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act put in place current protections for Florida’s federal waters, which last until 2022. The Dorgan Amendment, which was adopted by a margin of 13-10, also opens the “Destin Dome,” long sought after by oil and gas interests, a mere 25 miles from the coast of Pensacola.
Florida would bear huge risk from increased drilling, while receiving a negligible reward. Based on the experience of other Gulf drilling operations, small spills—like the 500 gallon spill off a Louisiana rig in June 2006 that killed hundreds of endangered pelicans in a National Wildlife Refuge—would be common if Florida’s coastal and marine waters were opened to drilling. A catastrophic spill, one that could spoil the ecology and economic value of Florida beaches for generations, would be a real possibility.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration found that the impact on gasoline prices in both the near and long terms from offshore drilling in the Eastern Gulf is “insignificant”—a mere fraction of the savings America could achieve from a slight increase in automobile fuel economy standards or smart investments in urban planning and better public transit.
“Environment Florida thanks Senator Bill Nelson for fighting for our coastal environment and economy. We urge all U.S. Senators to join him in focusing on creating a clean energy economy and stopping global warming, rather than pursuing false solutions that jeopardize our natural heritage,” said Rivera.-- 2006 Compromise Betrayed as Oil Rigs Allowed as Close as 45 Miles --
WASHINGTON... more
Chevron (formorly 'Texaco') deliberately dumped more than 18 billion gallons of toxin-laden water of formation into Amazon waterways.
For over three decades, Chevron chose profit over people in the Ecuadorian Amazon.
The cold and calculated decision to save $3 per barrel and yet poison entire communities is compounded daily as Chevron continues its PR campaign to suppress the truth and barrage the media with lies about its actions and responsibility.
This blog is part of an ever-growing campaign to counter Chevron's misinformation tactics and speak frankly about their attempts to hide their role in the world's worst oil-related disaster.
This is the first in a series of reports from the field in Ecuador's northern rainforests, site of perhaps the largest oil related disaster in the world and ground zero of Chevron's $27 billion liability in the ongoing Aguinda v. Chevron lawsuit.Chevron (formorly 'Texaco') deliberately dumped more than 18 billion gallons of... more
In June of 2000, the Center for Disease Control, the World Wealth Organization, the FDA, "leading" scientists and representatives of the pharmaceutical industry got together for a secret meeting.
Their focus was the growing public and scientific awareness that mercury used as a preservative in vaccines for children had unleashed an epidemic of autism.
The participants came to three conclusions:
1. They acknowledged the autism/mercury connection was true (or at least highly plausible)
2. They conspired to create a statistical smokescreen to obscure the science
3. They agreed not to disclose anything that took place at the meeting
