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Saturday, February 29, 2020

CONGRESS TOOK AWAY OUR RIGHT TO KNOW AND WE LET THEM


The Congress Fails At Life | The Sietch Blog

OUR HIRELINGS HAVE TURNED ON US.
In December, 2015, Congress repealed the country-of-origin-labeling rule (COOL) on beef and pork after the World Trade Organization (WTO) imposed $1 billion in retaliatory import tariffs against United States if the rule was not overturned.

Congress allowed the WTO (World Trade Organization) to overturn a common sense label supported by a majority of Americans and then, against the wished of the vast majority of those who elected them, they simply traded OUR best interest and our health and right to know where our foods come from for PROFIT.

90% of those surveyed in 2013 favored country-of-origin-labeling for fresh meat sold in stores.

“Congress willingly kowtowed to international trade tribunals to gut COOL and even tossed out the labels for ground meats that the WTO ruled were totally trade-legal—a holiday gift to the meatpacking industry from Congress,said Food & Water Watch Executive Director Wenonah Hauter.

Representative Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) lamented that “Americans will no longer know where their meat is born, raised, and slaughtered.This is bad public policy and bad for food safety," she continued. "We should not let trade agreements change our rigorous standards. Informed choice is a bedrock principle of the free market. This type of corporate roll-back of consumer protections will only become more commonplace under the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership.”

Dr. Ron Prestage, president of the National Pork Producer’s Council, released a statement expressing gratitude to Congress for repealing COOL. “I know tariffs on U.S. pork would have been devastating to me and other pork producers,” he said.           

OUR CONGRESS FAILS TO PROTECT US AND SO DO THEIR AGENCIES. 




DO YOU CARE WHERE THE THINGS YOU CONSUME COME FROM?

WOULD YOU LIKE TO KNOW IF YOUR SALAD INGREDIENTS WERE GROWN IN FIELDS FLOODED WITH LIQUEFIED HUMAN WASTE, OR IF YOUR BEEF COMES FROM A NATION WHERE MAGGOTS IN THE PROCESSING AND PACKAGING PLANTS IS ALLOWED, HANDLED BY WORKERS WHO DON'T HAVE TO WEAR GLOVES OR EVEN WASH THEIR HANDS?

DO YOU CARE IF A NATION THAT SHIPS FOOD PRODUCTS TO THE U.S. ALLOWS MELAMINE, A PLASTIC-LIKE WHITE SOLID THAT IS A TRIMER OF CYANAMIDE, TO BE USED AS A "FILLER"?

WOULD YOU LIKE TO KNOW IF YOUR FOOD COMES FROM HIGHLY RADIOACTIVE SOIL LIKE IN THE AREAS HARDEST HIT BY THE CHERNOBYL AND FUKUSHIMA NUCLEAR PLANT EXPLOSIONS?

HOW ABOUT SOME FRESH FISH FROM FISH FARMS THAT FEED EXCREMENT TO THEIR FISH?
From Forbes, Dec 21,2015:

"Quashing Consumers' Right-To-Know, Congress Repeals Country-Of-Origin-Labeling For Beef And Pork"

On Friday, Congress repealed the country-of-origin-labeling rule (COOL) on beef and pork after the World Trade Organization (WTO) imposed $1 billion in retaliatory import tariffs against United States if the rule was not overturned. The repeal was part of the omnibus spending bill signed by President Obama

Meat-packers complained that the cost of complying with the COOL program was too burdensome. The United States has lost two rulings and two appeals with the WTO regarding COOL since 2011. The import tariffs were authorized by the WTO on December 7th.

After the repeal, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in a statement: "Effective immediately, USDA is not enforcing the COOL requirements for muscle cut and ground beef and pork." He reassured consumers that “all imported and domestic meat will continue to be subject to rigorous inspections by USDA to ensure food safety.”

HE LIED!

The USDA recently began allowing Brazilian beef back into our market after a long ban because of abscesses and toxins found in the meat, and after unsanitary conditions were discovered from the 'farms' to the packing plants that endangered humans who consumed it.
The Brazilian beef really wasn't "fit for a dog". 

Consumer groups and a very few politicians complained, a petition was signed by thousands in 2017 and, yesterday, USDA announced its reply to those who know the truth about Brazil. 

'TOUGH! We're allowing it in anyway.' 
The petition took USDA to task over failure to inspect the Brazilian beef;

(ii) The legal authority for the system and the regulations thereunder shall impose requirements equivalent to those governing the system of meat inspection organized and maintained in the United States with respect to:
A) Ante-mortem inspection of animals for slaughter and inspection of methods of slaughtering and handling in connection with slaughtering which shall be performed by veterinarians or by other employees or licensees of the system under the direct supervision of the veterinarians;

(B) Post-mortem inspection of carcasses and parts thereof at time of slaughter, performed by veterinarians or other employees or licensees of the system under the direct supervision of veterinarians;

(C) Official controls by the national government over establishment construction, facilities, and equipment;

(D) Direct and continuous official supervision of slaughtering and preparation of product, by the assignment of inspectors to establishments certified under paragraph (a)(3) of this section, to assure that adulterated or misbranded product is not prepared for export to the United States;

(E) Complete separation of establishments certified under subparagraph (3) of this paragraph from establishments not certified and the maintenance of a single standard of inspection and sanitation throughout all certified establishments;

(F) Requirements for sanitation at certified establishments and for sanitary handling of product;

(G) Official controls over condemned material until destroyed or removed and thereafter excluded from the establishment;

(H) A Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) system, as set forth in part 417 of this chapter. (I) Other matters for which requirements are contained in the Act or regulations in this subchapter.

(iv) The foreign inspection system must maintain a program to assure that the requirements referred to in this section, equivalent to those of the Federal system of meat inspection in the United States, are being met."

"The Brazilian Track Record – It’s A Broken Record"
FOR 19 YEARS, FROM 2000 UNTIL 2019, BRAZIL FAILED EACH "AUDIT."

"On May 14, 2010, FSIS announced that Sampco, Inc recalled 84,000 pounds of corned beef products imported from Brazil due to the presence of the excessive levels of the animal drug ivermectin in the meat. 
That recall was later expanded to cover another 61,000 pounds of product on June 24, 2010.

It remains a mystery why those were the only two recalls since, at the time, there were millions of cans of imported corned beef products from Brazil in commerce in the United States.

In March 2010, the USDA Office of Inspector General (OIG) issued an audit report in which it was critical of the FSIS National Residue Program for beef cattle. In that report, the OIG specifically identified ivermectin as an animal drug of concern to human health.

THREE YEARS LATER, SAME STORY:
"The 2013 Audit

This audit was conducted between February 18 and March 16, 2013. Five meat establishments were visited with a special focus on swine slaughter facilities.

In addition, Brazil reported in 2012 that it had experienced its first case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy in 2010 that it had kept secret for two years which led many countries to stop beef imports from Brazil.

The audit revealed the following deficiencies:
- the Brazilian meat inspection authority did not provide a standard guideline to its inspection personnel concerning the definition of SRM in cattle in accordance with FSIS' requirements cited in 9 CFR 310.22, resulting in inconsistent implementation of the SRM requirements throughout the system (this is a repeat deficiency from previous audits);

- the inspection authority’s ready-to-eat verification sampling program did not include on-going verification sampling of food contact surfaces and environmental (non-food contact) surfaces in accordance with FSIS' equivalence criteria for listeria monocytogenes control in ready-to-eat products;

- the inspection authority’s inspection personnel did not fully enforce its basic and ongoing HACCP requirements concerning the contents of HACCP plan and recordkeeping requirements in the five audited establishments (this is a repeat deficiency from previous audits);

- the inspection authority’s inspection personnel conducted periodic supervisory reviews at a lower than intended bimonthly frequency in two swine establishments audited; and the inspection authority’s inspection personnel did not fully enforce sanitation requirements to prevent cross-contamination of bovine carcasses in one slaughter establishment (this is a repeat deficiency from previous audits)."

SAME THINGS, BUT SOMETIMES WORSE, YEAR AFTER YEAR AFTER YEAR. 

"Conclusion:
 
FSIS has continued to permit Brazil to export pork products and thermally processed beef products to the United States although those products are subject to 100 percent re-inspection at the ports-of-entry.

Essentially, FSIS still does not trust the competence of the Brazilian meat inspection system even for those products.

This subverts the purpose of equivalency.

FSIS is still waiting for the Brazilian meat inspection authority to address the concerns raised during the 2015 and 2017 audits before it will permit Brazil to resume fresh beef exports to the United States.

The question is why?
One definition of insanity is trying the same thing over and over. 


USDA should not let trade considerations supplant the welfare of U.S. consumers by permitting a weak and corrupt food safety inspection system to continue to export unsafe products to the U.S.
The Brazilian meat inspection system is not equivalent to that of the United States and immediate action should be taken to remove Brazil from 9 CFR 327.2(b)."


To which USDA, after 2 years and 2 months, pointed to ONE day in March that they inspected Brazil's imported beef as evidence it DID inspect the garbage.

"The USDA food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has completed its review of your petition dated December 6, 2017.

From June IO to 28, 2019, FSlS conducted an in-country audit to determine if appropriate food safety controls had been put in in [sic] place that would support lifting the suspension ofraw [sic] beef imports from Brazil. FS]S [sic] auditors discovered some systemic deficiencies during the audit. In response, Brazil provided FSlS with documented corrective actions and assurances concerning the 2019 audit findings.

The 2020 fSJS [sic] audit identified no deficiencies and confirmed that Brazil had implemented the necessary corrective actions. Consequently, as of February 2 1. [sic] 2020, FSlS has  reinstated Brazil's.eligibility to export raw intact beef products to the United States. Therefore, as stated above, we are denying your petition.

On March 18, 2017, FSIS instituted 100 percent product examination ofall [sic] shipments of Brazilian meat products imported into the United States, regardless ofcontents [sic]; condition of containet [sic] examination for 100 percent ofthermally [sic] processed products; and I 00 [sic] percent testing ofready.[sic] to-eat products for Salmonella and Listeria monocytogenes.

Since August 2018, FSIS has reduced product examinations for raw pork and meat extracts from 50 percent to routine levels and has reduced to 50 percent condition ofcontainer [sic] and product examinations for thermally processed/commercially sterile products. These reductions in the number of intensified product examinations resulted from PSI S's review ofcorrective [sic] actions provided by Brazil, as well as FSIS' re-inspection data." 

USDA, IN ITS TYPO-RICH REPLY, ADMITS IT TESTED ALL RAW MEAT JUST ONE DAY IN 2017, A YEAR OF ANOTHER FAILED AUDIT, BUT THEN REDUCED THAT TESTING IN 2018.
BUT IT STILL ALLOWS THAT INTO THE U.S.BASED ON BRAZIL'S WORD THAT IT HAS IMPROVED?
THAT'S JUST CRAZY! 



Brazilian Meat Scandal: Is our Beef Safe?
4 April 2017

At the beginning of March, an investigation was under way in Brazil that resulted in Brazil’s federal police charging 21 meatpacking plants with violations that included bribing health inspectors for certificates and shipping contaminated meat products. The aptly named 'Weak Flesh investigation' caused a widespread temporary ban of exports from Brazil to its major markets which included China, Egypt, and the European Union.

One of the Brazilian meatpacking plant owners involved in the investigation, JBS Sao Palo, has meatpacking plants located in the United States. JBS is the second largest meatpacker in the U.S. This raised concerns that the U.S. had possibly received contaminated meat.

This also opens up previous issues and concerns with U.S. ranchers and producers regarding Congress’ removal of the country of origin labeling (COOL) requirement in 2015. With the removal of the country of origin labels, the consumer would never know where their beef or poultry was raised. Even though the meatpacking facilities involved in the Weak Flesh investigation have said that the possibly contaminated meat products were not sent to the U.S. As a precaution, the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) have already started testing all beef from Brazil for any contamination. There is still that lingering question of if the U.S. had the COOL requirements would that have at least given the U.S. a safety net for consumers and producers.

According to the USDA, after testing 174 samples of meat in 22 states, there is no evidence of contamination that would be harmful for human consumption. Now that the meat is declared safe in Brazil, attention is focused back onto the investigation of how this all started now that two dozen arrests have been made relating to the scandal.

Some U.S. law makers are already requesting that the USDA block the importing of Brazil’s beef but such a blow could damage the reputation of its meat even though the U.S. is not a major buyer. U.S. Senators Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota and Jon Tester of Montana, and U.S. Representative Rosa DeLauro, a Connecticut Democrat have already called for a ban of the Brazilian beef. In a letter to President Donald Trump, Heitkamp says that allowing unsafe beef into the country endangers consumers and “the reputation of U.S. beef producers whose meat is sold next to imported meat- now without mandatory country or origin labeling”.

Last year the U.S. started allowing shipments of fresh beef from Brazil after banning them due to worries about foot and mouth disease in cattle. Now with this scandal, other global buyers may question Brazil’s overall food security system and turn to other suppliers. The timing of the scandal is bad for Brazil who is still trying to recover from the worst recession in the country’s history.

Nearly 1,900 politicians received bribes to the tune of $186 million over the course of a few years, including former presidents Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Dilma Rousseff.

Dozens of federal food inspectors were placed under arrest, and J&F Investimentos, the holding company of JBS SA, one of Brazil’s largest meatpackers and a prime suspect in the corruption investigation, agreed to pay $3.2 billion in fines.

WHEN EVEN CHINA BANS A FOOD, IT HAS TO BE VERY BAD
Reuters, Mar. 20, 2017


China, whose beef cattle industry is still dominated by small backyard farms, has not bought beef from the United States since a scare over mad cow disease in 2003.

China suspended imports of all meat products from Brazil, the world’s top beef exporter, as a precautionary measure after inspectors there were accused of taking bribes to allow sales of tainted food. South Korea, the EU and Chile also curtailed meat imports from Brazil.

Brazilian police on Friday named BRF SA (BRFS3.SA) and JBS SA (JBSS3.SA), along with dozens of smaller rivals, in a two-year probe into how meat packers allegedly paid off the inspectors and politicians to overlook improper practices.

China, which the U.S. Department of Agriculture calls the world’s fastest growing market for beef, accounted for nearly one-third of the Brazilian meat packing industry’s $13.9 billion in exports last year.

Australia, Argentina and Canada could fill in the gap during the ban, said Mike Zuzolo, president of U.S. brokerage Global Commodity Analytics. However, each shipper faces its own challenges in the market.

Tyson Foods Inc (TSN.N) declined to comment.


June 22, 2017, the U.S. suspended imports of fresh beef from Brazil, the fifth largest beef exporter to the U.S.
In October 2019, the U.S. informed Brazil it will continue to maintain the ban

WRONG! THE BAN WAS LIFTED, EVEN AFTER PETITIONS FROM CONSUMER GROUPS AND THE FDA's ADMISSION THAT IT TESTED 100% OF IMPORTED BRAZILIAN BEEF ONLY ON ONE DAY IN 2017!

The USDA began inspecting 100% of Brazilian meat imports in March 2017. Among the problems discovered were abscesses in the meat, which Brazilian deputy agriculture minister Eumar Novacki CLAIMED were 'rare adverse reactions to vaccines that prevent foot-and-mouth disease'.

James Roth, director of the Center for Food Security and Public Health at Iowa State University said ‘any injection into an animal might rarely produce an abscess’ if the needle is dirty. However, ‘]I]f abscesses are showing up in the meat, there has to be a failure in the slaughter plant because those should be caught and removed’

The USDA allows multinational meat-packers to label imported beef as “Product of USA” as long as it has undergone processing in the U.S., even if minimal. This misrepresentation has significant ramifications for American farmers, who have to compete with lower-priced imports.

While the Tariff Act of 1930 requires imported beef to be labeled with its country-of-origin “unless the beef undergoes substantial transformation” in the U.S., the U.S. Department of Agriculture has argued that imported beef can be treated as U.S. beef if it comes from a country with food safety standards that are equivalent to those in the U.S.

So, as long as it’s processed in a U.S. facility, it can be labeled “Product of USA”15 — even if that processing involves nothing more than unwrapping and rewrapping the package, or cutting a piece of meat into smaller pieces.

Contamination with pathogens and drugs is another widespread problem plaguing the conventional meat industry. Contaminants are also found in nonorganic collagen products, which makes sense since they’re a byproduct of the meat industry.

The ramifications are keenly evident in the beef industry, where tainted beef is being exported around the globe while local ranchers struggle to compete with bottom-priced imports.

While several countries banned Brazilian meat in March 2017, the U.S. didn’t suspend imports until June 22 that year, after meat inspections resulted in 11% of Brazilian meat imports being sent back.
Normally, the rejection rate is around 1%.


Considering the steady growth of grass fed ranching in the U.S., why are we still importing the vast majority of it?

One of the main reasons is because Australia can produce it at a lower cost, as their climate allows for year-round grazing. In fact, in Australia, grass fed is the norm; 70% of the cattle there are raised on open pasture.

Raising grass fed beef in Australia costs 59 cents per pound. In the U.S., that cost is around $1.55 per pound for large-scale producers, and may go as high as $4.26 per pound for a small producer.

U.S. REGULATIONS DO NOT APPLY IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES

Contamination with pathogens and drugs is another widespread problem plaguing the conventional meat industry.

As reported in “Majority of Supermarket Meats Are Still Riddled With Superbugs,” 8 in 10 supermarket meats are contaminated with fecal bacteria, many of which are resistant to antibiotics, and factory farmed meats are three times more likely to contain drug-resistant bacteria than grass fed beef.

This really is no surprise, since overuse of antibiotics in livestock is the primary driver of antibiotic resistance, and concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) routinely use antibiotics. They also use a number of other drugs, and they too can end up contaminating the meat.

As reported by Consumer Reports in August 2018, drugs such as ketamine (a hallucinogenic anesthetic), phenylbutazone (an anti-inflammatory pain reliever known to cause blood disorders and cancer), nitroimidazole (an antifungal drug with suspected carcinogenic activity) and chloramphenicol (an antibiotic associated with toxic effects in humans) are all found in the U.S. meat supply.

“The data — as well as Consumer Reports’ review of other government documents and interviews with farmers, industry experts, government officials and medical professionals — raise serious concerns about the safeguards put in place to protect the U.S. meat supply,” Consumer Reports states.

As for how are these drugs enter the meat supply, Consumer Reports lists a number of possible routes, including improper use (such as giving too high a dose or administering too close to slaughter), counterfeit drugs, contaminated feed and intentional misuse.

The factory farm system is indeed a breeding ground for intentional misuse, as profits are tied to the weight of each animal.
For example, Consumer Reports notes that:

“… cattle that can’t stand on their own are not allowed to be used for meat.
So … lame cattle are sometimes given phenylbutazone — a painkiller — shortly before slaughter, so they can ‘get the animal through the slaughterhouse gates without anybody looking closer.’”

Other studies have shown CAFO animal bones and hides can also be a source of heavy metals such as lead, which is another potential concern when buying nonorganic animal products.

Grass-grazed, free-range food animals are far healthier and therefore better for human consumption than feedlot animals or those packed in like sardines as many hogs, all poultry and calves raised for veal are.

Free-range improves animal welfare — Grass fed cattle are healthier and require few if any drug treatments.

Free-range is better for human environment — Regenerative grazing systems help restore grasslands, build soil and protect water supplies, whereas the concentration of manure in and around feedlots pollute air, soil and water

The only way to be sure you’re buying American-raised grass fed beef is to look for the AGA grass fed label.

aga grassfed

No other grass fed certification offers the same comprehensive assurances as the AGA, and no other grass fed program ensures compliance using third-party audits.

Unless the beef has an AGA grass fed label, you really won’t know what you’re getting.
Chances are, its imported.         

In China, the adulteration and contamination of several food and feed ingredients with inexpensive melamine and other compounds, such as cyanuric acid, ammeline and ammelide, are common practice.

These adulterants can be used to inflate the apparent protein content of products, so that inexpensive ingredients can pass for more expensive, concentrated proteins.

Reports of widespread adulteration of Chinese animal feed and even infant formulas (The Chinese Milk Scandal) with melamine have raised the issue of melamine contamination in the human food supply both in China and abroad.

On 1 December, 2008, Xinhua reported that the Ministry of Health revised the number of victims to more than 290,000 with 51,900 hospitalized; authorities acknowledged receiving reports of 11 suspected deaths from melamine contaminated powdered milk and, globally, an unknown number of family pets died from kidney stones and kidney failure due to the plastic.
[Source: Chow Chung-yan (2 December 2008). "Number of melamine-sickened children revised up five-fold". South China Morning Post. Hong Kong. pp. A9.]

Because of the many months before the scandal was exposed, the media suggest the official figures are likely to be understated.

In June 2008, Jiangsu media reported a two-month surge in the number of babies diagnosed with kidney disease; in July, a parent of a sick baby in Hunan questioned Sanlu's powdered milk and complained to the AQSIQ. Gansu Province sent a report to the Ministry of Health on 16 July to alert that one local hospital had identified an increase in the incidence of kidney ailments among babies in the months earlier, and that most victims had consumed Sanlu's baby formula.

In late October 2008, similar adulteration with melamine was discovered in eggs and other food.

The World Health Organization in 2009 called the incident one of the largest food safety events the UN health agency had needed to deal with.

A spokesman said the scale of the problem proved it was "clearly not an isolated accident, [but] a large-scale intentional activity to deceive consumers for simple, basic, short-term profits."

In the United States, the U.S. distributor of White Rabbit candies recalled the product when samples found in Hartford, Connecticut showed traces of melamine.

On 12 November 2008, the FDA issued a general alert against all finished food products from China, saying that information received from government sources in a number of countries indicated a wide range and variety of products from a variety of producers had been manufactured using melamine-contaminated milk.

THE FDA AND USDA ARE TOO LENIENT AND LAX

China has played an increasingly important role in supplying food to the United States. Between 1999 and 2008, China went from the eleventh largest supplier of U.S. food imports to the third largest.

Despite this increased presence, FDA only conducted a limited number of food facility inspections in China, as well as all other countries.

Only intense congressional and public scrutiny caused FDA to increase the number of food facility inspections in foreign countries.

In fiscal year 2009, FDA only conducted three food facility inspections in China.

FDA did not conduct any food facility inspections in Japan during fiscal year 2009, but conducted twenty-eight in 2010.

In Spain, FDA conducted three food facility inspections in 2009 and fifteen in 2010.

DOES ANYONE AGREE THAT THAT IS SUFFICIENT? 

A final note of caution; an FDA food facility inspection is not optional if the facility desires to export its products to the United States.

According to FSMA, FDA must refuse entry into the United States of any food from a facility that refused an FDA inspection.

THIS DOES NOT ALWAYS HAPPEN. 
THERE ARE TOO MANY LOOPHOLES AND TOO MUCH EXCUSE-MAKING. 


The Food Safety Modernization Act
On January 4, 2011, President Barak Obama signed the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) into law amending the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA).

The FSMA is an attempt to increase food safety in the U.S.A.; specifically imported food safety. 

Before the  FSMA, the FDA had NO AUTHORITY to require a food company to recall unsafe food.
However, even this new authority requires FDA to establish some new procedures for holding hearings so a person subject to a “cease distribution” order has the opportunity to argue why the order should be modified or vacated.

FDA currently does not have procedures for holding this type of hearing (or to issue this type of order). Therefore, contrary to many opinions out there, even this important new recall authority is just about useless.


Large trade organizations joined public health advocates in supporting the bill, while groups aligned with individuals and small farms generally opposed it.

However, after Senate adoption of Jon Tester's amendment, which allows for the possible exemption of producers that sell less than $500,000 a year, many large food companies objected, arguing that the exemption puts consumers at risk.

THAT PROVIDES A HUGE LOOPHOLE FOR NATIONS LIKE CHINA.
The mega-companies can simply create multiple small companies and avoid any of the new regulations by this exemption for small companies. 


A year after enactment the FDA had fallen behind on expected progress.

It has yet to implement "a specific timetable for issuing" a process to create rule for science-based produce standards, has not completed rules for foreign supplier verification, and must still create a guidance that will help schools and childcare programs lessen allergy risks for school-age children.

As an example of the allergen problem, imagine a child with severe allergies to palm oil or anything derived from peanuts consuming a food product that contains such things but is allowed to slide through FDA approval because those products are concealed by terminology that groups ingredients like "natural vegetable oils/proteins" or "natural extracts/flavorings".
A child could die!

FDA was instructed to immediately increase the frequency of food inspections and can immediately require import certification of certain foods – but FDA received no new money with these amendments (thus it cannot inspect more than it already is, presumably) and it must establish certification requirements and standards before it can require import certifications.


The FDA's Inspection Problem: One Reason Our Food Supply Isn't Safe

The Office of Inspector General (OIG) of the Department of Health and Human Services, FDA's parent agency, has just issued a report sharply criticizing FDA's oversight of state food inspections.

This report is one more piece of evidence for how FDA's lack of resources makes our food supply less safe.

Because it does not have the personnel to do its own inspections, FDA increasingly delegates them to state agencies.
The salmonella outbreak from peanuts in 2009 is a prime example of why the state system is too diffuse to work.

The peanut processing plant responsible for a 2009 salmonella outbreak was inspected multiple times by a state agency working on behalf of FDA. This outbreak resulted in one of the largest food recalls in U.S. history and has led to serious questions about the effectiveness of state food facility inspections.

FDA has long been unable to inspect more than a tiny fraction of food processing facilities and the situation is getting worse, not better: The overall number of facilities inspected decreased from just over 17,000 facilities in 2004 to about 15,900 in 2009. 
In 2009, it contracted with 41 states to conduct inspections, and these conducted 59 percent percent of FDA's food inspections.

ISN'T THAT LIKE ALLOWING A BURGLAR TO INSPECT THE LOCKS ON YOUR HOUSE FOR SAFETY? 

At great risk to the public, FDA gets its funding from congressional agriculture appropriations committees, not health committees.

In this era of cost cutting, FDA was lucky to get a $50 million increase in funding, or so everyone says.

But this is nowhere near enough to hire and train enough inspectors to do the job right.

The dispersion of authority leaves much room for flexibility in interpretation and lack of accountability, as the OIG reports consistently show.

For reasons of politics, this may not be the time to demand a stronger food safety system. But if not now, when?

A PDF ON CONTINUED DANGEROUS FOOD IMPORTS FROM CHINA IS VERY MUCH WORTH A READ. 

"There is no indication that China’s food safety situation is improving.
Melamine continues to appear in food inside China despite a spate of new food safety legislation.


A new direction would include:
• Revisiting the current trade agenda to make public health, environmental standards and consumer safety the highest priorities.

• Removing agriculture from the WTO. The WTO has been a failure for U.S. farmers and has encouraged companies to offshore food manufacturing to places like China with low wages and weak regulatory standards, putting consumers around the world at risk.

• Restarting the assessment of China’s poultry inspection system before considering allowing Chinese poultry products to be exported to the United States.
 
[NOTE: TOO LATE; WE NOW ALLOW IMPORT OF CHINESE CHICKENS, UNLABELED, AND U.S. POULTRY GROWERS ARE SHIPPING THEIR POULTRY TO CHINA FOR PROCESSING AND TRUST CHINA TO SHIP BACK WHAT THEY RECEIVED, WHICH WILL BE LABELED "PRODUCT OF THE U.S.A.".]

• Significantly increasing FDA and USDA funding to increase inspections of the growing volume of food imports from China and other countries. The FDA also needs the resources to conduct inspections in food facilities in China.

Closing the loopholes in the current country-of-origin labeling rules on meats, seafood, fruits and vegetables, and expanding the labeling requirements to cover processed food.

Industrial pollution has fouled China’s water with more than 30 million tons of chemical discharges. 

China is the world’s biggest polluter, and the number of environmental 'accidents' in the country doubled between 2009 and 2010.

Industrial pollution further compromises food safety because effluent-tainted waterways irrigate crops and contaminate fish farms.

Unsurprisingly, China’s slipshod industrial model churns out dangerous food and consumer products.

One provincial government survey found that less than half of food and consumer goods met basic hygiene standards, meaning more than half could be dangerous to consumers.

When China joined the World Trade Organization (WTO) in December 2001, these unsafe products began to circulate more widely in the global marketplace.

In addition to driving U.S. family farmers off the land, Chinese imports have sent some American consumers to the hospital.

Imports from China have escalated despite repeated discoveries of deadly contamination, intentional product adulteration and food-borne illness in Chinese products. Headlines of melamine-laced baby formula, salmonella-tainted seafood, carcinogenic honey, deadly blood-thinning drugs and poisonous food packaging from China appear almost daily in media outlets around the world.

China’s farmers and fish farmers often use dangerous levels of pesticides, herbicides and fungicides — including banned chemicals. These chemicals remain on foods long after harvesting and processing.

In 2009, China’s Ministry of Health reported that the number of food poisoning cases from pesticides and food-borne illnesses rose steeply in the second quarter of 2009 — up 40 percent from the previous year.

This cutthroat food-processing industry encourages manufacturers to cut costs and corners.
The FDA reported in 2009 that a leading problem with Chinese imports is contamination with chemicals, dyes and poisonous ingredients.

In 2007, China demolished nearly 3,000 food-processing plants after a nationwide inspection found widespread use of illegal industrial chemical ingredients such as dyes, mineral oils and formaldehyde in foods including flour, candy, crackers and seafood.

Commercial and international trade interests deter U.S. leaders from being tough on imported food standards.
The billions of dollars of U.S.-China trade can apparently outweigh sound public health safeguards.

As one former U.S. trade official noted, the extensive corporate relationships and investment in China have created business pressure to “allow imports to come in as quickly and as smoothly as possible.” 

Both Democrats and Republicans in the White House have been reluctant to compromise potential exports by laying down the law on food or product safety issues.

Corporate-driven trade deals under the WTO prioritize investments and commerce above all other goals, including consumer health.
This model threatens consumers who could be sickened or killed by unsafe food.

Meanwhile, U.S. employers are offshoring American jobs and U.S. farmers are losing their land and livelihoods to benefit corporate-controlled food manufacturers.

Antifreeze in Toothpaste: In 2006 and 2007, 365 Panamanians died after using cold medicine and toothpaste from China containing the chemical adulterant diethylene glycol used in antifreeze.

 The FDA has repeatedly found poisonous Chinese toothpaste entering the United States and has issued bans on several, but not all, importers.  

Between 2002 and 2010, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission recalled more than 1,500 Chinese products, representing 40 percent of all recalls. Some of the recalled products caused death and injury to children.

During 2007, the United States recalled 45 million lead-tainted toys, mostly made in China, including 9 million from Mattel alone.

Toxic Drywall:
Millions of sheets of Chinese drywall were installed during the recent U.S. housing boom and in the reconstruction after hurricane Katrina.
This drywall contained high levels of hydrogen sulfide that caused illnesses in thousands of unsuspecting homeowners and causing enormous corrosion-related property damage to tens of thousands of homes.
Owners gutted thousands of homes after discovering the toxic emissions and filed lawsuits against the construction companies and drywall manufacturers.


NEW FDA REGULATIONS AND AUTHORITY HAVE DONE LITTLE TO STOP FOOD HAZARDS.

2019 AND FDA IS STILL MERELY 'SUGGESTING'. 

"FDA’s guidance documents, including this guidance, do not establish legally enforceable responsibilities. Instead, guidances describe our current thinking on a topic and should be viewed only as recommendations, unless specific regulatory or statutory requirements are cited.

The use of the word should in FDA guidances means that something is suggested or recommended, but not required."


At least some of the food-borne outbreaks from romaine lettuce spinach, avocados, watermelons, cantaloupes, etc, occurring in 2017, 2018 and 2019 were the result of bacterial contamination originating from E. coli-contaminated manure.

Some came from Mexico, some from China, some from the USA.

But, as of 2019, the FDA was still "seeking input" on the use of raw manure on crop lands. 

WE ARE ON OUR OWN, AMERICA.
THE FDA, USDA AND EPA ARE NOT GOING TO HELP US.

THEY'RE THERE FOR BIG AG, FOR MEGA-CORPORATIONS AND NATIONS WITH WHICH WE HAVE TRADE AGREEMENTS. 


Again, we can't avoid foods from known violator nation because Congress, in the name of Big Agriculture, profits and "trade agreements", bowing to the World Trade Organization, the U.N.'s Codex Alimentarius which the Obama administration signed us onto in 2011, Big Ag, and Congress' incessant feeding at the Pork Barrel Trough, each Congressman giving priority to his/her own states, robbed us of the right to know where our food comes from. 

NINETY PERCENT of Americans want to know where all our food comes from.
We have an inherent right to know the sources of our food, all of our food, and to decide for ourselves what we wish to consume and what we deem too dangerous for human consumption

We can allow Congress to continue to deny us that right, or we can demand they give it back.

We should not rest until they listen to 'WE, THE PEOPLE', and capitulate to OUR wishes, not Wall Street's and not to some ignorant, profit-oriented trade agreement. 






________________________

SEE ALSO: 

-- The F.D.A.'s Blatant Failure on Food



-- FDA’s Drug Safety System Fails to Protect Public


-- FDA must start enforcing the law and return to a culture that places public health concerns ahead of industry profits.





//WW

Friday, February 28, 2020

YOU CAN BE REINFECTED BY CORONAVIRUS AND PETS MAY BE INFECTED, TOO. COVID-19 UPDATES 02/28/2020

Biotron (ASX:BIT) on watch as coronavirus spreads - The Market Herald

More than 83,000 cases of the COVID-19 disease have now been confirmed in 53 countries.

A tour guide in Japan who was recently released from hospital after recovering from the coronavirus has tested positive again. 


The Osaka woman, in her 40s, was working on a bus with tourists from the Chinese epicenter city of Wuhan when she was confirmed to be infected with the illness on Jan. 29, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).
The bus driver also was diagnosed with the deadly disease.

The woman was discharged from the hospital on Feb. 1 and tested negative for the virus five days later, though she still had a cough that went away a week later.
But on Feb. 21, she returned to the doctor because of a sore throat and chest pain — and tested positive again on Wednesday, according to AFP.

An official in Osaka said the case is the first of a person testing positive for COVID-19 in Japan after apparently being cleared of it.

Cases of second positive tests have already been reported in China, according to Reuters.

“Once you have the infection, it could remain dormant and with minimal symptoms, and then you can get an exacerbation if it finds its way into the lungs,” Professor Philip Tierno of the New York University School of Medicine told Reuters.

He said much remains unknown about COVID-19.

“I’m not certain that this is not bi-phasic, like anthrax,” he said, meaning the illness might recur after appearing to go away.


A DOG OWNED BY A COVID-19 PATIENT IN HONG KONG HAS TESTED 'LOW-POSITIVE' FOR THE VIRUS.

The pet dog of a coronavirus patient in Hong Kong was found to have a “low level” of the deadly virus, the autonomous region’s government said Friday.

The dog’s oral and nasal cavities were tested Wednesday, with the results showing a “weak positive” to the new coronavirus, known as COVID-19.

Health officials are not sure if the dog, which is not exhibiting any symptoms, is actually infected or just carrying the virus in its mouth and nose from “environmental contamination.”

The dog has been quarantined in an animal shelter that is holding no other animals.

More tests will be administered on the dog, which will remain in quarantine until the results come back negative.

Dogs, cats and other mammals owned as pets by confirmed COVID-19 patients in Hong Kong must now undergo a mandatory 14-day quarantine.


STILL SPREADING   

Nine new countries announced their first cases of COVID-19 yesterday, which has increased the total number of countries infected to 48.

[NOTE: ADD FIVE MORE: THE NETHERLANDS, LITHUANIA, ALGERIA AND NIGERIA EACH REPORTED ONE CASE YESTERDAY. MEXICO ANNOUNCED FIRST CASE THERE TODAY. THERE ARE NOW 53 COUNTRIES INVOLVED.] 

Eight of the nine countries—Norway, Georgia, Denmark, North Macedonia, Brazil, Romania, Estonia and Greece—reported one confirmed case, while Pakistan reported two.

Kuwait reported 43 new cases, all of them tied to Iran.

Seyyed Hadi Khosroshahi, a prominent Iranian cleric and the Islamic Republic's first ambassador to Vatican City, died Thursday of the novel coronavirus at the age of 81.

Masoumeh Ebtekar, Vice President of Iran for Women and Family Affairs, announced Thursday that she has contracted the virus. 

Dozens of cases involving people who recently visited Iran have popped up in recent days in Bahrain, Lebanon, Afghanistan, Oman, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Pakistan, Georgia and Kuwait.

Even more troubling, infections were found in patients in Germany and the United States who had no known risk factors, like having traveled to an affected area, suggesting that the virus could be spreading undetected in communities. 
The first U.S. case of coronavirus infection in a patient with no known risk factors — travel to a hot zone or contact with another person known to be infected — emerged this week near Travis Air Force Base in Texas.

That would suggest there are other undetected cases out there, and we have already started some low-grade transmission,” said Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease specialist at Vanderbilt University.

In the United States, thousands of people who had been at risk of exposure to the virus were under quarantine — most voluntary — and federal officials issued new warnings about the potential spread of the disease, including the possibility that schools here in the U.S.could be forced to close.

U.S. federal officials warned this week that a coronavirus outbreak could force schools to close for a long period. 

The U.S. announcement caught educators and parents off guard, leaving them asking how to manage such a crisis.

Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, suggested that a temporary system of “internet-based tele-schooling” could replace traditional schools.

But most schools have no experience in providing online instruction on a large scale, and American families have uneven access to computers and broadband internet.

Parents would be forced to juggle their own work responsibilities with what could amount to “a vast, unplanned experiment in mass home-schooling,” said Kevin Carey, vice president for education policy at 'New America'.

Would confirmed cases in workplaces also close businesses? 

China, Mongolia and Japan have closed their schools for at least a month.

Iran canceled Friday prayers in major cities and ordered schools and universities closed until March 21.

Saudi Arabia barred pilgrims from its holiest sites.

Wall Street recorded a record one-day fall as U.S. officials called for more people to be tested and suggested closing schools.

The largest study of the virus to date, published by China’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention, concluded that 81 percent of the 44,000 cases confirmed in China by mid-February were mild — defined by the study’s author’s as involving little or no pneumonia.

However, by Thursday, of the 78,487 confirmed cases in China, 32,495, or 41 percent, had been discharged from the hospital, according to China’s National Health Commission.

About 8,300 patients were in serious condition. More than 2,700 people had died, giving an overall mortality rate of 2.3 percent, far higher than the seasonal flu’s rate of about 0.1 percent.

The number of mild cases creates its own complications.

Those with few or no symptoms may not know they have contracted the virus, or may misidentify it as a cold.

They may then continue their daily lives, coming into close contact with others and spreading the virus without anyone knowing.

U.S. RESPONDERS NOT PROPERLY TRAINED

A whistleblower who works for HHS (Health and Human Services) has stated that HHS workers sent to receive the first U.S. citizens evacuated from Wuhan, China were "not properly trained or equipped to operate in a public health emergency situation," adding that they were "improperly deployed."

Because of this, the whistleblower alleges that the staffers could have been exposed to the coronavirus as they had face-to-face contact with the passengers in an airplane hangar and adequate steps had not been taken to ensure their safety.

"Appropriate steps were not taken to quarantine, monitor, or test [the workers] during their deployment and upon their return home,"reads a redacted 24-page copy of the complaint provided to the Washington Post. The complaint was filed on Wednesday with the Office of the Special Counsel, an independent federal watchdog agency.

Her complaint said that roughly 14 employees from her ACF (Administration for Children and Families) department were sent to receive passengers arriving into the March Air Force base and an additional 13 to the Travis Air Force base, both in California. Those American Wuhan evacuees, who were deemed at high risk to contract the disease, were then quarantined on California and Texas military bases.


ONE GOOD THING MAY COME OF THE OUTBREAK IN CHINA: THEY'RE TAKING DOGS AND CATS OFF THE MENUS. 

The Yulin Dog Meat Festival sees organizers routinely skin, boil, hang, and cut the limbs off of dogs while they are still alive.

Yulin Dog Meat Festival, China


The "festival" began in 2010 and occurs every year on the first day of the summer solstice. Those who partake believe that eating dog meat cools the body in the summer months.

Each year in China, over 10 million dogs and four million cats are reportedly killed for their meat. Most of these dogs are domestic pets, stolen from families, or strays taken from the streets and sent to notorious slaughter houses.
Yulin Dog Meat Festival, China

Most slaughter operations have closed in the past two months because of restrictions on moving dogs across provincial borders.

China’s top legislative committee on Monday also passed new legislation to ban all trade and consumption of wild animals.

Beijing is yet to revise its wild animal protection law, but the passage of the proposal was “essential” and “urgent” in helping the country win its war against the epidemic, wrote state newspaper People’s Daily.

The exact source of the novel coronavirus, known as COVID-19, remains unconfirmed.

Scientists speculate that it originated in bats, snakes, pangolins, or some other animal.

WHEN THIS NEWS OF THE VIRUS BEGINNING IN ANIMALS CONSUMED IN CHINA FIRST MADE HEADLINES, SOME THREW THEIR PETS FROM HIGH-RISE TOWERS AND WINDOWS TO THEIR DEATH.

THE GOVERNMENT BEGAN BEATING STRAYS TO DEATH ON THE STREETS AND BURYING ROUNDED-UP STRAYS ALIVE, SAYS A PETITION TO END THE KILLINGS.

MAYBE THE INHUMANITY OF SO MANY IN CHINA (JAPAN AND MANY MIDDLE EASTERN AND AFRICAN NATIONS) WHO "RITUALLY" TORTURE, MAIM, BLIND, DRAIN OF BLOOD WHILE ALIVECRUSH WHILE ALIVE, DISMEMBER AND EAT ALIVE  OR COOK ALIVE SO MANY ANIMALS SENSELESSLY HAS CAUGHT UP TO THOSE WHO ARE INHUMANE?

THAT THEIR UNFOUNDED SUPERSTITIONS AND ABJECT, UNBRIDLED CRUELTY MAY HAVE CAUSED THE REST OF THE WORLD TO ENDURE A PANDEMIC SHOULD BE PUNISHABLE BY INTERNATIONAL LAW.

NO NATION'S FOOD FETISHES SHOULD ENDANGER THE ENTIRE PLANET!

ALL LIFE HAS VALUE FAR BEYOND ANY CULTURE'S SADISTIC FOOD CRAVINGS. 









//WW

Saturday, February 22, 2020

OBAMA WHISTLE-BLOWER PHIL HANEY HAS BEEN MURDERED


DHS Whistleblower Phil Haney exposes Obama administration during Press Conference, June 14, 2016, after the deletion of the terrorist watch list. 



U.S. Government Infiltrated by Muslim Brotherhood





Above: Phil Haney - Former Homeland Security - Gives Perspective on FISA Warrant Info Released. 


The story of his death has still not hit the mainstream media.


Haney had been missing since Wednesday.

RIP, Mr. Haney.
You tried and will not be forgotten.

Alas, the deep state does not forget.

Now where is the media outrage over a real whistle-blower being murdered?

Haney is the man who revealed why the sudden outcry about "White supremacy" had become the battle cry of the far Left.

“Focus on white supremacy” as a smokescreen to spread Islamic supremacy. 
IN 2015, according to Congressional testimony from the FBI, there were over a thousand investigations of possible U.S./'domestic' Muslim terrorists under way.

WHAT HAPPENED TO ALL THOSE  CASES? 


Tablighi Jamaat members under the organization structure of the Deoband movement – a Salafi Islamic group – were coming to America, going to mosques all over the country, at the invitation of imams and leaders who where already known to be linked to terrorism,” said Haney, succinctly stating the situation that led to the investigation he believes might have picked up on Syed Farook and Tashfeen Malik before they opened fire in San Bernardino.

Haney’s initiative to monitor the Tablighi Jamaat network on a global scale had the support of his superiors at DHS, after a bit of initial resistance because it cast doubt on the politically untouchable visa waiver program.

How did so many members of this disturbing radical network waltz past U.S. screening so easily?
Simple: they had British passports, allowing them to obtain visa waiver consideration by doing little more than filling out an online form.

“This case actually took six years to develop,” he said. “It started in 2006, and it gradually gained momentum over time. By 2008, I was interviewing twenty, thirty people a month sometimes.”

Once the Advanced Targeting Team at the NTC became involved, the initiative broadened until it encompassed over 1,200 law-enforcement actions related to the case – including revocations of visas and visa waivers, preventing individuals from entering the country, and deportations. Haney described it as an “unprecedented” and “high-powered case,” the law-enforcement equivalent of slamming a sledgehammer down on a Test Your Strength game at a carnival and ringing the bell.

“It was exactly what DHS was created to do,” he said. “We were doing what we took our oath of office to do. We were well-trained, capable subject matter experts, focused like a laser beam on a trend that was putting our country at threat. We had the full endorsement of the entire management structure of our agency. We were given ‘Go, do it,’ and that’s what we did.”

Haney and his fellow investigators found links from the Tablighi Jamaat network to “Hamas, al-Qaeda, global terrorist funding… I mean, every version of however you define terrorism was included in the initiative. Financial, direct support, overseas affiliation… you know, every color of the spectrum was in the case. It wasn’t just focusing on people coming on airplanes into a port in America. It was the whole complex, from A to Z, top to bottom.”

This complex included “a global network of schools, meaning madrassas, where people learn, study Koran, study Islamic law… memorize the Koran, study what are called hadiths, the sayings and the teachings of Mohammed… they’re like colleges, and they’re all over the world,” Haney noted.

SUDDENLY, Haney wasn’t on the case any more… because his initiative was deemed politically incorrect and shut down by the Department of Homeland Security’s Civil Rights and Civil Liberties division.

“They came into the National Targeting Center, either physically or through emails and correspondence, and said that we could not develop cases based on association with Tablighi Jamaat, and/or any Islamic group,” Haney revealed.

He charged this decision, which runs counter to the very purpose of the Department of Homeland Security and its charter to demolish the wall of separation between law enforcement agencies, was made because “this Administration is more concerned about the civil rights and civil liberties of foreign Islamic groups and foreign nationals than securing the freedom and security of the American public.”

He pointed to documents uncovered by a Judicial Watch Freedom of Information Act request tied to his whistleblower case as further support. “NTC was getting ‘pushback’ from CRCL, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, and DOS [the State Department] because of our focus on this group called Tablighi Jamaat,” he repeated, inviting listeners to study the nature of this Islamist group and understand why the Administration might feel pursuing it aggressively was unacceptably insensitive to Muslims.

Haney said his superiors actually erased some of his files pertinent to the case, because they insisted the initiative had “gone in a different direction” and he was no longer authorized to add his data.

He concluded by saying his purpose in coming forward was to fix a broken intelligence system. “This isn’t about hurting anybody. This is about fixing it. We could fix it. We can fix it. That’s my focus.”   



HE TRIED, HE DID ALL HE COULD DO AND BY TRYING TO STOP THIS, HE BECAME A TARGET.
NOW, HE'S DEAD, MURDERED. 


Haney told Sean Hannity in 2016 that he was ordered during the Obama administration to scrub the record of Muslims in the U.S. with terrorist ties. 

Phil Haney spoke out against CAIR, which is an offshoot of the Muslim Brothrhood, which is has very close ties to freshman congresswoman Ilhan Omar, in an interview in October with Barry Nussbaum on American Truth Project.

Philip Haney spoke out against the Muslim Brotherhood’s infiltration of the US government back in October.

Haney was also an outspoken critic of CAIR (the Council for American-Islamic Relations).

Philip Haney: CAIR is the acronym for the Council on American Islamic Relations. It’s probably the best known Muslim organization in the country, but unfortunately, it’s also connected, irrefutably proven to be connected to the Muslim Brotherhood. Now, the Muslim Brotherhood has been already designated in several countries around the world, including Middle Eastern countries, and they should know as a terrorist organization, as a front group up to and including Hamas, which we know as a designated terrorist group itself. Now, the Muslim Brotherhood was founded in 1928 as an Islamic revival organization, and its goal is to implement a caliphate, a Sharia-based form of government around the whole world. They’re not shy about saying so, and we’re not immune to it, which brings us to where we are today. We’ve been continuing to track this group and other ones that are part of the Muslim Brotherhood. And I have to say with great distress that if anything, they’re more woven into the fabric of different branches of our government today, 2019 October than they were when I was still active duty within DHS. And yeah, that does seem like a bold statement. It seems like it ought to be impossible, but I think that’s what we’re going to go over today.

Barry Nussbaum: So I get it. And let’s talk specifics. So why in the world Phil with the FBI, the premier law enforcement agency in the world, and certainly our number one national police force whose mission it is to protect us internally within the boundaries of the United States what the heck is the FBI doing in bed with CAIR?

Philip Haney: Well, first of all, let’s make sure to make the point that they are. This isn’t something that started years ago and was taken care of. I’m talking just in the last week or two. CAIR and other Muslim Brotherhood front groups have been meeting by invitation from the Department of Homeland Security and/or branches within the U.S. State Department to help implement and develop policy here in the United States. And before I forget it, I should mention that the new focus of the Department of Homeland Security has just released in their new twenty nineteen strategic documents, about 20 to 40 pages, is a focus on white supremacy, not so much Islamic terrorism. Now a new shift into a new arena, white supremacy. And that brings us to the relationship with CAIR. They have now asked groups like CAIR and the Muslim Public Affairs Council and the U.S. Council of Muslim Organizations all part of the Muslim Brotherhood to come and help them implement this new policy of focus on white supremacy.

CONSIDERED AN EXPERT AT DHS

Haney was a founding member of the Passenger Analysis Unit, or PAU, under Customs and Border Protection. Established as a stand-alone agency in 2003, the PAU is charged with “vetting, investigating, finding addresses, making connections, and putting the dots together” on persons entering the United States who might be security threats.
“We cross-checked all kinds of information. You name it. Visas, passports, travel patterns, family connections… anything to do within the universe of individuals coming in,” said Haney. Any information suggesting possible terrorist activity was entered into a sophisticated database, for real-time reference by DHS personnel across the country.
The high quality of Haney’s work brought him to the National Targeting Center, which he described as “a place where all the different agencies in the United States that have to do with law enforcement – related to travel, possible terrorism, and those kind of things – consolidate in one agency. It’s just like in the movies. There are big screens, 24/7 news, each of us sit at a kiosk with four large monitors, running maybe 15 programs at once.”
At the NTC, Haney’s experience at the PAU, his time in the Middle East, his understanding of the Koran and Islamic culture, his training in Islamist terrorist strategy, and even his background in entymology – the study of insects and their hives – made him a “subject matter expert.” He compared the position to being a specialized mechanic or technician, or a place kicker on a football team, using his particular skills to analyze one specific aspect of America’s national security threat.
The picture taking shape as Haney assembled these dots was very politically incorrect… and he says he paid a price for it.


WHAT WE WERE TOLD WAS A LIE PROPGATED BY THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION

Haney noted that people with a superficial knowledge of Islam think “Salafi” Islam is synonymous with “radical,” but that’s not true. “It means ‘original,'” he said. “They’re going back to the original version of Islam, that existed in the time of Mohammed. They are not ‘radicals,’ they are going back to the original. That is what ‘Salafi’ means. Wahhabi Islam, the Saudi Arabian version with the women in black – that is a Salafi movement.”

He suggested envisioning the Tablighi Jamaat as the Eastern Division of the Salafist National Football League, which is more properly known as the Deoband, named after a city in north-central India where a Muslim pushback against Hinduism began in British Imperial times. Finding themselves compatible with the Wahhabi Islam of Saudi Arabia, they formed an alliance, which is why so much Saudi money goes into building fundamentalist mosques and Deobandi schools.


Department of Homeland Security whistleblower Philip Haney gave an extensive interview to Breitbart News Daily on Dec. 11, 2015, in which he discussed an investigation that might have stopped the San Bernardino jihad attack… but was scuttled by Homeland Security brass for politically-correct reasons.

“Civil Rights and Civil Liberties shut the case down because we were focusing on individuals who belong to Tablighi Jamaat,” Haney says, well-aware of how explosive this charge is.


HE RISKED HIS LIFE TO EXPOSE THE TRUTH AND SOMEONE STOLE THAT LIFE FROM HIM, JUST LIKE THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION STOLE THE TRUTH FROM AMERICA.


WHERE IS JUSTICE? 

WHEN WILL WE SEE JUSTICE AGAIN?


The Supreme Court is Dead | The Pima Liberator



Justice Quotes - BrainyQuote






//WW

CORONAVIRUS STILL SPREADING AROUND THE GLOBE-- 02/22/2020



THE ABOVE MAP WAS POSTED 21 DAYS AGO.

JANUARY 31, 2020--More than 130 cases reported in at least 25 other countries and regions, with Russia, Britain, Sweden and Italy all reporting their first cases on Thursday or Friday.

SINCE THEN, LEBANON, ISRAEL, IRAN AND IRELAND HAVE BEEN ADDED.
The first case of the COV-19, also known as Corona-virus, was recorded in Egypt last week, making it the first in Africa. 
 SO THERE ARE NOW 27 NATIONS REPORTING CASES OF THE VIRUS.

In total, as of Feb. 21, 2020, China has reported 75,569 cases to the WHO, and 2,239 deaths.

The virus has been fatal in 2% of reported cases.  


Japan confirmed 14 new cases on Saturday.

Factbox: Global efforts to develop vaccines, drugs to fight the coronavirus | News | WTAQ

Coronavirus incubation could be as long as 27 days.


A 70-year-old man in China’s Hubei Province was infected with coronavirus but did not show symptoms until 27 days later, the local government said on Saturday, meaning the virus’ incubation period could be much longer than the presumed 14 days.

A longer incubation period could complicate efforts to contain spread of the epidemic that has so far killed more than 2,000 people and spread outside China.

A 20-year-old Chinese woman from Wuhan, the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak, traveled 400 miles(675 km) north to Anyang where she infected five relatives, without ever
showing signs of infection.


As of Feb. 11, the young woman still had not developed any symptoms, her chest CT remained normal and she had no fever, stomach or respiratory symptoms, such as cough or sore throat.

Scientists have been asking if you can have this infection and not be ill? The answer is apparently, yes,” said Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease expert at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

Jan. 30, 2020---World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the WHO was concerned over the number of coronavirus cases with no clear epidemiological link to China, meaning that patients had neither traveled there or come in contact with any confirmed cases. He also voiced concern about the potential spread of the virus in China's Shandong province, near Hubei, the epicenter of the outbreak.

Cases have now been reported in 18 countries, including at least 10 cases in Europe.

[NOTE: Since this article was written, the first confirmed coronavirus case was reported in Lebanon on Feb. 21.
A woman who had traveled to Lebanon from Iran tested positive for COVID-19, the health ministry said, adding that there were two other suspected cases, according to the Reuters news agency.
The woman had arrived in Lebanon from the Iranian city of Qom. Iran verified 13 new cases in addition to 2 new fatalities, bringing the overall casualties to 4, the highest beyond China.]

Three Irish citizens [were] evacuated out of Wuhan early on Friday on a flight arranged by the British government for its nationals.

[NOTE: Two Irish citizens who were on board the quarantined Diamond Princess cruise ship have tested positive for the coronavirus.
The 621 cases confirmed among the Diamond Princess’s original 3,711 people on board are the most anywhere outside China. Japan has more than 700 confirmed cases, including the country’s first death.]

Ireland and many other countries have advised their citizens to avoid non-essential travel to mainland China, and more than 30 airlines, include British Airways and Lufthansa, have suspended or cut back flight services.

From next week, testing facilities for the new virus will be available in Dublin.


JAPAN'S QUARANTINE OF CRUISE SHIP FAILED.
QUARANTINES SHOULD BE EXTENDED BEYOND 2 WEEKS. 
FEBRUARY 21, 2020


Israel says cruise passenger flown home from Japan has virus.

One of the 11 Israelis who were flown home after being quarantined on a cruise ship in Japan has tested positive for the new virus.

The Israeli cruise ship passengers, who had all initially tested negative for the new coronavirus.
About 440 passengers had left the ship by Wednesday evening, and Japanese officials said more than 1,000 others will be gone by Friday.

The Diamond Princess was quarantined after one passenger who left the ship earlier in Hong Kong was found to have the virus.

Two elderly passengers taken off the Diamond Princess cruise ship because they were infected with coronavirus have died, Japan’s Health Ministry said.

They are the first fatalities from the virus-stricken boat, and Japan now has three deaths linked to the Covid-19 illness.

More than 500 cases of the new coronavirus have been detected in prisons across China, authorities said Friday, prompting the sacking of a slew of officials.

A 29-year-old doctor who had delayed his wedding to help treat coronavirus patients in Wuhan, China, has died, according to Britain's Guardian newspaper.

Peng Yinhua contracted the disease working on the "front line" in critical and respiratory care at Jiangxia district's First People's Hospital, according to Wuhan health authorities, the Guardian reported.

Cases of the corinavirus have soared in South Korea

Jan 31, 2020--South Korea confirmed 11 cases of the coronavirus, and is reporting its first case of tertiary transmission.
North Korea has reported NO cases.

UPDATE:
South Korea, authorities said on Saturday the number of new infections had doubled to 433, and suggested the tally could rise significantly as more than 1,000 people who attended a church at the center of the outbreak reported flu-like symptoms.

ITALY sees virus cases quadruple in emerging cluster.

Italian authorities say the number of people infected with the new virus from China has more than quadrupled due to an emerging cluster of cases in the country's north. Many of the new cases represented the first infections in Italy acquired through secondary contagion and brought the country's total to 17 on Friday.

Residents of three towns in Italy's northern Lombardy region were told to stay at home as doctors tested hundreds of people who may have come in contact with the six patients, none of whom were believed to have traveled to China.

TWO ITALIANS HAVE NOW DIED FROM THE VIRUS.
51 Iralians are known to be ill from COV-19.



IN AMERICA

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the U.S. is at 34, health officials said Friday. Most of the 34 cases are people who were evacuated by the U.S. from a cruise ship in Japan over the weekend.

The United States declared a public health emergency and President Donald Trump signed an order barring entry to foreign nationals, other than immediate family of American citizens and permanent residents, who visited China within the last 14 days,

People in California who have recently returned from visiting China are being asked to stay home for the rest of the month to help stop the spread of the new coronavirus, CBS Los Angeles reports. The California Department of Public Health said Friday that 7,600 people have been urged to self-quarantine: stay home, monitor their health and limit interaction with other people.

At the same time all commercial flights from China would be restricted to international U.S. airports in one of seven cities - New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle and Honolulu.

An average of more than 14,000 people traveled by air to the United States from China each day last year.

The World Health Organization has warned that the window of opportunity to contain the international spread of the epidemic that has killed more than 2,200 people was closing.

Only three U.S. states currently have the capacity to run tests for the virus locally,
the Association of Public Health Laboratories (APHL) told Reuters.

CBS is doing a fairly good job of posting updates on COV-19 and can be accessed <HERE>.

WHAT BOTHERS ME MOST ABOUT COV-19 IS THAT WE DON'T YET KNOW HOW LONG IT CAN LIE DORMANT WITHOUT EXHIBITING SIGNS OF INFECTION.

IS IT LIKE HIV, WHICH CAN LIE DORMANT FOR POSSIBLY YEARS? 


WE LEARNED IN 2013 THAT HIV CAN BE DORMANT LONGER THAN WE INITIALLY THOUGHT. 



The actual reservoir size of HIV that, while dormant, could cause disease later on might be up to 60 times greater than previous estimates.
So even if patients respond to anti-retroviral drugs that stop active HIV replication and drop viral load to below detectable levels, the inactive viruses could serve as a new source of infection, even during or after treatment.

The results also confirm the new push among AIDS experts to begin combination drug therapy as soon as possible after infection, in order to discourage these HIV reservoirs from forming.

“It doesn’t mean that it’s hopeless, but it does mean we need to focus on getting an even clearer idea of the scope of the problem,” said Robert Siliciano, an HHMI investigator at the Johns Hopkins University.

And use the knowledge to develop the next generation of anti-HIV drugs, which might be targeted at the dormant population of viruses as well.

HIV belongs to a group of pathogens known as retroviruses.

It makes about 10 billion copies of itself every single day.

More than 25 million HIV-infected people have died since HIV was first recognized in 1981. More than 40 million have been infected. Some experts predict that by 2020, AIDS could prove to be the most destructive pandemic in history.

WHY DO THE WORLD 'POWERS' KEEP PLAYING WITH BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS LIKE VIRUSES?

WHY DO LEADING NATIONS SEND TEAMS TO SCOUR THE EARTH FOR NEW VIRUSES EVERY SINGLE DAY?

IMAGINE HOW VERY SIMPLE, HOW EASY IT WOULD BE FOR ANY OF THOSE NATIONS TO UNLEASH A "SUPER-VIRUS" INTO OUR GLOBAL SOCIETY THAT WOULD ERADICATE MILLIONS IN A SHORT PERIOD OF TIME.

IT'S THOSE CRIES FOR "POPULATION REDUCTION" THAT TROUBLE ME WHEN WE SEE A "NEW" VIRUS COME ON THE SCENE THAT SPREADS THIS QUICKLY. 

CALL ME PARANOID, BUT SINCE 1959 I'VE HEARD TOO MANY SCIENTISTS AND OTHER EXPERTS SAY IT WOULD BE THE CHEAPEST, EASIEST WAY TO REDUCE GLOBAL POPULATIONS, SUCH AS THE SPANISH FLU DID IN 1918.

I HOPE EVERYONE IS AWARE THAT THE U.S. RECOVERED A SAMPLE OF THAT 1918 FLU VIRUS FROM THE REMAINS OF AN INUIT WOMAN AND REVIVED IT.

[NOTE: The ACTUAL number killed by Spanish Flu is given in many other places as at least 50 million. Even that number is 'iffy' because all this happened during a time of war. The fatalities are most likely more.]

WHY REVIVE IT?
WHY IS THE QUESTION.




_________________


SEE:
The 9 deadliest viruses on Earth
THAT WE ARE AWARE OF, THAT IS.


28 devastating infectious diseases
USED AS WEAPONS.


What Is the History of Biological Warfare?
A SHORT LIST OF KNOWN BIOLGICAL AGENTS WE'VE USED AS WEAPONS, SO FAR.


Uncovering Earth's virome.

"Here we analysed over 5 TERABYTES of metagenomic sequence data from 3,042 geographically diverse samples to assess the global distribution, phylogenetic diversity, and host specificity of viruses. We discovered over 125,000 partial DNA viral genomes, including the largest phage yet identified, and increased the number of known viral genes by 16-fold. Half of the predicted partial viral genomes were clustered into genetically distinct groups, most of which included genes unrelated to those in known viruses. Using CRISPR spacers and transfer RNA matches to link viral groups to microbial host(s), we doubled the number of microbial phyla known to be infected by viruses, and identified viruses that can infect organisms from different phyla."





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BERNIE SANDERS BRIEFED BY U.S. INTEL THAT RUSSIA IS AIDING HIS CAMPAIGN

Is Bernie Sanders a communist? - WND

I SAID IT IN 2016 AND REPEAT IT NOW; RUSSIA WANTS COMRADE BERNIE TO BE KING.
A WIN FOR BERN IS A WIN FOR COMMUNISM.

Trump Says Bernie's a Communist … We Have the Answer Here | The Liberty Beacon

Sanders acknowledged he was briefed "about a month ago" about Russia's efforts, telling reporters Friday that he was "told Russia and other countries" were interfering in the elections.

"It was not clear what role they were going to play," he explained. "We were told that Russia and maybe other countries were going to get involved in this campaign."

When asked why this news was just coming out after he was briefed a month ago, Sanders said, "I'll let you guess, one day before the Nevada caucus.

Sanders in a statement disavowed any alleged assistance from Russia President Vladimir Putin.

"I don't care, frankly, who Putin wants to be president. My message to Putin is clear: stay out of American elections, and as president I will make sure that you do."

The warning about the Russia effort to help Sanders, which was first reported by The Washington Post, was also information given to Trump and lawmakers on Capitol Hill.

Sanders was criticized last week after some of his supporters reportedly threatened members of Nevada's Culinary Workers Union for criticizing the senator's' Medicare for All plan.

PRESIDENT TRUMP'S RESPONSE?

"Doesn't [PUTIN] want to see who the Democrat is going to be? Wouldn't he rather have, let's say, Bernie? Wouldn't he rather have Bernie, who honeymooned in Moscow?"

The trip took place while Sanders was mayor of Burlington, Vt., from 1981 to 1989.

Sanders and his wife, as members of a 12-person delegation from Burlington, paid their Soviet counterparts a visit in 1988.

The timing of the trip was unusual. Bernie and Jane were married May 28, 1988. The delegation left Burlington the next day.

"Trust me," Sanders writes in his book. "It was a very strange honeymoon."

A June 2015 profile in The Guardian described the former mayor’s meeting with Yaroslavl city officials.

Gulags still existed and political prisoners were still held in 1988, said Ariel Cohen, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council.

Russian pranksters claim they called U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders in December, 2019, pretending to be climate activist Greta Thunberg.

Vladimir Kuznetsov and Alexey Stolyarov, who have fooled many high-profile victims around the world, posted a recording of the phone call on YouTube.

“Greta” tells Sanders that he was recruited by the KGB in 1988 when he visited Russia and has since been a “sleeper agent.”

Stolyarov insisted the pranksters didn’t want to influence the presidential race in the U.S. in any way. In previous years, the two have been accused of having ties to the Kremlin — a notion they have repeatedly denied.

Kuznetsov said they didn’t expect any repercussions for the prank. “It’s not illegal, and we’re well known in the U.S.,” he said.

How did they get his private number?

Sanders is a communist.

1964, While attending the University of Chicago, Sanders joined the Young People’s Socialist League, the youth wing of the Socialist Party USA. He also organized for a communist front, the United Packinghouse Workers Union, which at the time was under investigation by the House Committee on Un-American Activities.

After graduating with a political science degree, Sanders moved to Vermont, where he headed the American People’s History Society, an organ for Marxist propaganda. There, he produced a glowing documentary on the life of socialist revolutionary Eugene Debs, who was jailed for espionage during the Red Scare and hailed by the Bolsheviks as “America’s greatest Marxist.”

This subversive hero of Sanders, denounced even by liberal Democrats as a “traitor,” bashed “the barons of Wall Street” and hailed the “triumphant” Bolshevik revolution in Russia.

“Those Russian comrades of ours have made greater sacrifices, have suffered more, and have shed more heroic blood than any like number of men and women anywhere on Earth,” Debs proclaimed. “They have laid the foundation of the first real democracy that ever drew the breath of life in this world.”

In a 1918 speech in Canton, Ohio, Debs reaffirmed his solidarity with Lenin and Trotsky, despite clear evidence of their violent plunder and treachery.

Sanders still hangs a portrait of Debs on the wall in his Senate office.

His radical activities didn’t stop at the ­water’s edge.

Sanders took several “goodwill” trips not only to the USSR, but also to Cuba and Nicaragua, where the Soviets were trying to expand their influence in our hemisphere.

In 1985, he traveled to Managua to celebrate the rise to power of the Marxist-Leninist Sandinista government. He called it a “heroic revolution.” Undermining anti-communist US policy, Sanders denounced the Reagan administration’s backing of the Contra rebels in a letter to the Sandinistas.

His betrayal did not end there. Sanders lobbied the White House to stop the proxy war and even tried to broker a peace deal. He adopted Managua as a sister city and invited Sandinista leader Daniel Ortega to visit the US. He exalted Ortega as “an impressive guy,” while attacking President Reagan.

In 1989, as the West was on the verge of winning the Cold War, Sanders addressed the national conference of the US Peace Council — a known front for the Communist Party USA, whose members swore an oath not only to the Soviet Union but to “the triumph of Soviet power in the US.”

Today, Sanders wants to bring what he admired in the USSR, Cuba, Nicaragua and other communist states to America.


Revolution, by stealth, using the Democrats, Working Families Party and Vermont Progressive Party to promote communist programs, is the modern face of U.S. Marxism-Leninism. 

THAT FACE BELONGS TO SANDERS. 



IF RUSSIA EVER TRIED TO "HELP" A CANDIDATE WIN, IT WOULD BE SANDERS.

NO ONE HAS YET BEEN ABLE TO TELL ME HOW THE HELL RUSSIA CAN GET CONTROL OF A MIND AND CAUSE A PERSON TO MARK A NAME ON A BALLOT.

THAT RUSSIA OR ANYONE BESIDES THE ABOMINATIONS WE CALL 'POLITICAL PARTIES' CAN INFLUENCE VOTERS IS BULLS**T.

PEOPLES' MINDS ARE MADE UP WHEN THEIR PARTY PICKS THEIR CANDIDATE.

HALF OF AMERICA VOTES LEFT, THE OTHER HALF VOTES RIGHT AND NO FORCE ON EARTH CHANGES THAT, DECADE AFTER DECADE AFTER DECADE.

AMERICAN VOTERS BECAME SHEEP 200 YEARS AGO WHEN 'PARTIES' FORMED.

NEXT UP IS CIVIL WAR...BY PARTY.

LOOKS LIKE THIS YEAR THE LEFT GOES FULL-COMMIE.

GOOD LUCK IN THAT, 'COMRADES.'




Democratic Socialist FDR served 4 terms! | Socialism, Politics, Political views





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