Loss of Freedom in the U.S.?

Spices: A Wealth of Health Benefits that Make Food Taste Great

NaturalNews.com

by Barbara L. Milton

Spices that stand out for their health benefits

All spices confer a list of health benefits. The addition of any of them to a prepared dish, drink, or in a supplement form will help to reduce free radical damage and combat the effects of aging. Here are a few spices that offer outstanding benefits.

Cinnamon – Three key proteins are highly important in insulin signaling, glucose transport and inflammatory response, according to Richard Anderson, researcher with the U.S.D.A. Cinnamon has insulin-like qualities that come from the release of these proteins. His and other studies have shown that just 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon a day can help lower the risk of the constellation of factors associated with metabolic syndrome – high blood cholesterol, triglyceride and glucose levels – by as much as 10 to 30 percent.

A study in Hormone Metabolism Research found that cinnamon prevents insulin resistance even in animals eating a high-fructose diet.

Cinnamon is anti-microbial and can stop the growth of bacteria, fungi and yeast. A study in the International Journal of Food Microbiology found that a few drops of cinnamon essential oil added to carrot broth were able to preserve it and fight pathogens.

Cinnamon has anti-clotting and anti-inflammatory properties, which reduce clumping of blood platelets. It is suspected that cinnamon boosts brain function. Of all the spices, cinnamon is one of the richest sources of antioxidants.

Ginger – Gingerol, the active ingredient in ginger, has been shown to significantly help with nausea, vomiting, and morning sickness. It was found to be as twice as effective as Dramamine in preventing motion sickness. It is a powerful antioxidant, and is thought to relax blood vessels, stimulate blood flow and relieve pain. It is a common digestive aid and useful for people suffering the side effects of chemotherapy. Its anti-inflammatory abilities make it useful in fighting heart disease, cancer, Alzheimer's disease, and arthritis.

Oregano – Thymol and carvacrol are two of oregano's potent antibacterial properties. A study in Mexico found oregano to be more effective against an amoeba than a common prescription drug called tinidazol. Oregano works in the intestinal tract to kill unfriendly bacteria without damage to the friendly bacteria. It is effective against candida albicans overgrowth throughout the body, and particularly in the sinus cavities. It has 4 times the antioxidant activity of blueberries.

Rosemary – In winter, a rosemary bush inside the house acts as a natural air cleaner and freshener, along with being a source for the herb to use in cooking. Rosemary stops gene mutations that could lead to cancer, and may help prevent damage to the blood vessels, thereby reducing heart attack risk.

Turmeric – This bright yellow spice of Indian cuisine is one of nature's most powerful healers. It is a potent anti-inflammatory that acts as effectively as drugs like hydrocortisone, phenylbutazone and Motrin. It is helpful with inflammatory bowel diseases, Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, rheumatoid arthritis, cystic fibrosis, cancer and Alzheimer's disease. Recent research shows it as positive for cardiovascular and liver protection.

When combined with cruciferous vegetables, turmeric has shown to prevent prostate cancer and stop the growth of existing prostate tumors. It prevented breast cancer from spreading to the lungs in mice. It may prevent melanoma and cause existing melanoma cells to die. Turmeric may also prevent metastasis from occurring in many different forms of cancer.

Turmeric has been shown to reduce the risk of childhood leukemia, and shows promise in slowing the progression of multiple sclerosis. It is a natural liver detoxifier and one of nature's most effective pain relievers through inhibition of COX-2.

Garlic – This wonder drug of nature destroys cancer cells and may disrupt the metabolism of tumor cells. Studies show that two cloves of garlic weekly provide cancer-protective benefits. A recent study showed that eating garlic boosts the body's supply of hydrogen sulfide, which acts as an antioxidant and transmits cellular signals that relax blood vessels and increase blood flow.

In another recent study, researchers extracted juice from supermarket garlic and added small amounts to human red blood cells. The cells immediately began emitting hydrogen sulfide. This ability to increase hydrogen sulfide production may explain why a garlic rich diet is so protective against various cancers, including breast, prostate and colon cancer. It may also explain why garlic appears to protect the heart. A recent study found that injecting hydrogen sulfide into mice almost completely prevented the damage to heart muscle caused by a heart attack.

Garlic has a reputation as preventative and treatment for the common cold. It's used to treat the symptoms of acne and there is evidence that it can assist in managing high cholesterol levels. It even appears to be a natural mosquito repellent.

Sage – This herb contains flavonoids, phenolic acids and oxygen handling enzymes. This results in its ability to prevent oxygen-based damage to cells. Sage may fight rheumatoid arthritis, bronchial asthma and atherosclerosis. It appears to promote better brain function. A study showed that people given sage essential oil had significantly improved recall abilities compared to those given a placebo.

Red chili peppers – These peppers contain capsaicin, a powerful anti-inflammatory compound that helps relieve pain. They ease congestion and clear mucus from the lungs and nose, boost immunity, prevent stomach ulcers by killing bacteria, assist in weight loss, reduce blood cholesterol, manage triglyceride levels, and prevent cancer including stomach cancer.

Coriander – This herb is effective against swelling, high cholesterol levels, diarrhea, mouth ulcers, anemia, digestion, menstrual disorders, conjunctivitis, and skin disorders. It is antioxidant rich and contains vitamins A and C, and minerals. It is protective of the eye by preventing macular degeneration and soothing the eye against stress. It has a stimulating effect on the endocrine system which in turn stimulates the production of insulin, resulting in increased insulin in the blood to aid in proper assimilation and absorption of sugar and lower the sugar level in the blood.

Parsley – Chief among the abilities of parsley is cancer fighting. Animal studies have shown that parsley inhibits tumor formation, particularly in the lungs. It neutralizes carcinogens including those found in cigarette smoke. It is a good source of antioxidants and heart-healthy nutrients such as beta-carotene, folic acid, and vitamins A and C.

Sources:

"Health Benefits of Coriander," Organic Facts.

"Spice of Life: Health Benefits of Spices and Herbs," Mind, Body and Spirit Fitness.

Howard Dratch, "Spice Up Your Life: The Health Benefits of Spices," BC Sci/Tech.

"20 Health Benefits of Turmeric," Eat This.

Tara Parker-Pope, "Unlocking the Benefits of Garlic," The New York Times, October 15, 2007.


Click here for complete article

FDA Running Extortion Racket: Natural Supplement Companies Threatened with Arrest if They Don't Pay Up

NaturalNews.com

by Mike Adams

NaturalNews has learned the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is running a criminal extortion racket designed to drain cash from health supplement companies and shift it into the pockets of top FDA contractors. This organized crime operation has been running for years, and it has operated with impunity because each company targeted by the scam feels isolated and alone, unable to face the astronomical legal bills of going to court and battling the FDA. So one by one, they agree to "settle" with the FDA for crimes they never committed. Part of the settlement, of course, involves the payment of FDA employees or contractors who pocket the money extorted from health companies.

NaturalNews has interviewed executives from three different companies who have been targeted for extortion by U.S. Food and Drug Administration employees. At their request, the names of those companies are being kept confidential until legal action being taken against them is resolved. Interviews have been recorded, with permission, with two of those companies and will be released to the public at a later date. Documents proving this FDA extortion racket are included here.

How the FDA extorts money from nutritional supplement companies

The FDA extortion racket works like this: FDA employees use keyword-scanning software to scan the web pages of natural health product and supplement companies, searching for terms like cancer, cures, treatment, remedies and other "forbidden" words. FDA employees then review the discovered pages to determine if they contain any words that might inform consumers of the health benefits of the nutritional products. FDA employees also look for links that might point web users to scientific articles from peer-reviewed medical journals that further explain the health benefits of specific foods, supplements or nutrients.

When offending words or links are found by the FDA, their extortion team goes into full swing. First, they contact the company and warn them to remove all information and links from their websites. This is the most important step from the FDA's standpoint, because by doing this, they can keep the health-conscious public in a state of nutritional ignorance about the scientifically-supported healing properties of natural supplements. Cherry products, for example, cannot link to scientific articles explaining the simple biological fact that cherries ease inflammation in human beings. Such links are considered "drug claims" by the FDA.

NaturalNews has even learned that companies are now being targeted for simply posting customer testimonials, even when those testimonials make absolutely no health claims. FDA and FTC agents are now threatening the owners of such companies with imprisonment if they do not immediately remove all customer testimonials from their websites and marketing materials.

If the company being targeted for extortion refuses to fully comply with the FDA's requests to remove all educational information from their website, the FDA then escalates the extortion tactics by threatening the company principals with arrest and seizure unless they agree to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to top FDA contractors and sign a "consent decree" where the company "admits" to committing various crimes (see below). This consent decree is a blatant violation of the Constitutional rights of U.S. citizens, of course, and it violates numerous sections of the Bill of Rights (Amendments #1 and #5, at the very least).

The FDA employees or contractors receiving the extorted money, it is claimed, are being paid to "review web pages" to make sure they don't contain anything that might inform consumers about the scientifically-validated benefits of the health products being sold. FDA extortion agreements specify that FDA employees should be paid the rate of $100 per hour, with no limit on the number of hours they may bill the company for. The extortion agreement also requires companies to pay for all the following:

• $100 per hour for the travel time of FDA employees.
• Hotel rooms for FDA employees.
• Storage fees for all products seized by the FDA.

The same agreement also requires the company to comply with FDA demands by never placing any links or "illegal" information on its website, where "illegal" means anything that offers an accurate description of the health benefits offered by natural health products.

The Consent Decree

Part of the FDA's strategy for oppression and control is to force targeted companies to sign a "consent decree" where they admit to crimes they never committed. NaturalNews obtained a copy of a public court document the FruitFast company was forced to sign due to FDA threats and extortion tactics.

You can view this document yourself at:
http://www.naturalnews.com/investigations/FruitFastConsentDecree.pdf

This document requires the FruitFast company to admit to crimes it did not commit; namely:

"Violating the Act, by introducing or delivering for introduction, or causing to be introduced or delivered for introduction, into interstate commerce articles of drug that are misbranded within the meaning of 21 U.S.C. SS 352(f)(1)."

What "drugs" did the FruitFast company introduce that were "misbranded?" Cherries, it turns out. Cherry juice concentrate was being sold with the accurate statement that it helped eliminate gout (which it does). This, according to the FDA, was enough to magically transform cherry juice into an "unapproved drug" and cause it to be "misbranded."

It also requires targeted companies to contractually agree that they have:

"...removed all claims from Defendants' product labels, labeling, promotional materials, websites owned or controlled by Defendants, and in any other media that cause that product to be a drug and/or contain unapproved or unauthorized health claims within the meaning of the Act; and

(ii) removed, from their product labels, labeling, promotional materials, and websites owned or controlled by Defendants, references to or endorsements of any other website that conveys information about Defendants' products that cause those products to be a drug and/or contain unapproved or unauthorized health claims within the meaning of the Act."

This means, of course, that these companies can no longer even LINK to other websites, including websites of scientific journals that discuss the proven health benefits of such natural products (foods, herbs, etc.)

The truth is now subject to FDA approval

Once a company removes all educational information and links from their website, they are then required to submit to draconian measures of "censorship enforcement" by the FDA. This is fully explained in this section of the FDA's Consent Decree: (bolding added for emphasis)

Within ten (10) calendar days of FDA's request for any labels, labeling, promotional materials, and/or downloaded copies (on CD-Rom) of any internet websites owned or controlled by Defendants or websites referenced by, endorsed, or adopted directly or indirectly by Defendants, Defendants shall submit a copy of the requested materials to FDA at the address specified in paragraph 19.

Within twenty (20) calendar days of entry of this Decree, Defendants shall submit to FDA a certification of compliance, signed by each of the individually-named Defendants in this matter, each Defendant stating that he: (a) has personally reviewed all of Defendants' product labels, labeling, promotional materials, and the internet websites referred to in paragraph 8 above; and (b) personally certifies that the product labels, labeling, promotional materials, and internet websites strictly comply with the requirements of the Act and its regulations and do not include unapproved or unauthorized claims that the products cure, mitigate, treat, prevent and/or reduce the risk of disease. Thereafter, Defendants shall submit certifications of compliance every three (3) months for a period of two (2) years.

Furthermore, the FDA then requires that the company being targeted by the extortion racket hire a person (called the "expert") to enforce all this censorship the company has agreed to.

As you'll note in the language below, this "expert" must be paid $100 an hour, for an unlimited number of hours, to conduct surprise inspections of the company's administrative offices, warehouses and fulfillment centers:

Within fourteen (14) calendar days of entry of this Decree, Defendants shall retain an independent person or persons (the "expert")... who by reason of background, experience, education, and training is qualified to assess Defendants' compliance with the Act, to review the claims Defendants make for all of their products on their product labels, labeling, promotional material, any internet websites owned or controlled by Defendants, including, but not limited to, the websites referred to in paragraph 8 above. At the conclusion of the expert's review, the expert shall prepare a written report analyzing whether Defendants are operating in compliance with the Act and in particular, certify whether Defendants have omitted all claims from their product labels, labeling, promotional materials, websites owned or controlled by Defendants, and in any other media, that make any of their products drugs and/or constitute unapproved or unauthorized health claims within the meaning of the Act. The expert shall also review Defendants' product labels, labeling, promotional materials, and websites owned or controlled by Defendants to determine whether these include any references to or endorsements of any other websites that convey information about Defendants' products that cause those products to be a drug and/or contain unapproved or unauthorized health claims within the meaning of the Act, and certify in the written report whether Defendants have omitted any such references or endorsements. The expert shall submit this report to FDA and Defendants within thirty-five (35) calendar days of the entry of this Decree. If the expert reports any violations of the Act, Defendants shall, within seven (7) calendar days of receipt of the report, correct those deviations, unless FDA notifies Defendants that a shorter time period is necessary.

In other words, this section requires the company being targeted to pay the "Expert" huge fees to make sure it doesn't "illegally" link to other websites that might tell the truth about the health products in question.

FDA tyranny unleashed

So what happens if the company slips up and does something illegal like, let's say, posting a clickable link to a science journal that discusses research citing the health benefits of cherries? As you'll see below, there are no limits to the action the FDA can take in retribution, including the seizure of all company assets and the arrest of its principals.

Specifically, the Consent Decree forces company owners to agree to the following:

If, at any time after this Decree has been entered, FDA determines, based on the results of an inspection, the analyses of Defendants' product labels, labeling, promotional materials, websites owned or controlled by Defendants, or websites referenced by, endorsed, or adopted directly or indirectly by Defendants that convey information about Defendants' products, a report prepared by Defendants' expert, or any other information, that additional corrective actions are necessary to achieve compliance with the Act, applicable regulations, or this Decree, FDA may, as and when it deems necessary, direct Defendants, in writing, to take one or more of the actions:

A. Cease manufacturing, processing, packing, labeling, holding, and/or distributing any article(s);

B. Submit additional reports or information to FDA;

C. Recall any article(s) at Defendants' expense; or

D. Take any other reasonable corrective action(s) as FDA, in its discretion, deems necessary to bring Defendants and their products into compliance with the Act, applicable regulations, and this Decree.

Surprise inspections, secret police and non-stop persecution

Just to keep the targeted company in a state of constant fear (which is why I have labeled the FDA a terrorist organization), the FDA forces it to agree to surprise inspections where it must pay FDA "compliance officers" to rummage through their product shelves and paperwork, looking for evidence of non-compliance:

Duly authorized representatives of FDA shall be permitted, without prior notice and as and when FDA deems necessary, to make [surprise] inspections of Defendants' facilities and, without prior notice, take any other measures necessary to monitor and ensure continuing compliance with the terms of this Decree. During such inspections, FDA representatives shall be permitted prompt access to buildings, equipment, in-process and finished materials, containers, labeling and other materials therein; to take photographs and make video recordings; to take samples of Defendants' finished and unfinished materials and products, containers, labels, labeling, and other promotional materials; and to examine and copy all records relating to the receipt, manufacture, processing, packing, labeling, promoting, holding, and distribution of any and all Defendants' products in order to ensure continuing compliance with the terms of this Decree. The inspections shall be permitted upon presentation of a copy of this Decree and appropriate credentials. The inspection authority granted by this Decree is separate from, and in addition to, the authority to conduct inspections under the Act, 21 U.S.C. §374.

And just to make sure the company is further driven into bankruptcy, the FDA requires them to PAY for all these surprise "compliance" investigations! As stated in the Consent Decree:

Defendants shall reimburse FDA for the costs of all FDA inspections, investigations, supervision, reviews, examinations, and analyses specified in this Decree or that FDA deems necessary to evaluate Defendants' compliance with this Decree. The costs of such inspections shall be borne by Defendants at the prevailing rates in effect at the time the costs are incurred. As of the date that this Decree is signed by the parties, these rates are: $78.09 per hour and fraction thereof per representative for inspection work; $93.61 per hour or fraction thereof per representative for analytical or review work; $0.485 per mile for travel expenses by automobile; government rate or the equivalent for travel by air or other means; and the published government per diem rate or the equivalent for the areas in which the inspections are performed per-day, per-representative for subsistence expenses, where necessary. In the event that the standard rates applicable to FDA supervision of court-ordered compliance are modified, these rates shall be increased or decreased without further order of the Court."

Are you getting the picture here? The FDA can simply show up on a "surprise" inspection, bring ten FDA agents, bill the company for thousands of hours, and bankrupt the company while padding its own pockets.

Doesn't this sound a lot like the King's Consent Decree against the American colonies? The FDA's agreement reads amazingly like a document a King might force his subjects to sign as he's taking over their land and gold, imprisoning them in his kingdom.

But it gets better: The FDA also requires the Defendants to reveal all sorts of details about their business operations:

"Within ten (10) calendar days of entry of this Decree, Defendants shall provide FDA a list of all domain names and IP addresses they use to market or describe any product, regardless of whether such sites mention specific products Defendants sell.

Defendants shall notify the District Director, FDA Detroit District Office, in writing at least fifteen (15) calendar days before any change in ownership, character, or name of its business.

If Defendants fail to comply with any of the provisions of this Decree, including any time frame imposed by this Decree, then, on motion of the United States in this proceeding, Defendants Brownwood Acres and/or Cherry Capital shall pay to the United States of America the sum of one thousand dollars ($1,000) in liquidated damages per violation per day so long as such violation continues.

Should the United States bring, and prevail in, a contempt action to enforce the terms of this Decree, Defendants shall, in addition to other remedies, reimburse the United States for its attorneys* fees, investigational expenses, expert witness fees, travel expenses incurred by attorneys and witnesses, and administrative court costs relating to such contempt proceedings.

And finally, just to make sure everybody knows who's in charge, here's what the agreement says about final judgment:

All decisions specified in this Decree shall be vested in the discretion of FDA and shall be final.

In other words, the FDA is the King. It is above the law. It answers to no one but itself.

Welcome to the United States of Tyranny, FDA style.

The full text of the FDA's agreement, including the names of the top FDA criminals who signed it, is included at the end of this article.

This brand of tyranny is reserved for health supplement companies

While the FDA gives drug companies a free pass of easy approval for dangerous drugs, this Consent Decree is the kind of treatment it slams down upon health product companies. As you can see from the text in the decree, above, this is a document of outright tyranny and oppression.

Any company signing this document gives the FDA all the tools it needs to drive that company completely out of business. Sadly, dozens of companies have signed this in just the last year. The FDA's reign of terror is working. It's putting health companies out of business and forcing them to censor themselves. It even forces them to remove all web links to information sources like NaturalNews.com or peer-reviewed science journals.

This is all part of the FDA's campaign of health illiteracy -- a war of disinformation being waged against the American people. It is a secret war being fought out of the view of the mainstream media (which refuses to report this story) and far from the scrutiny of the U.S. Dept. of Justice (which doesn't care about the real tyrants running loose in this country).

As I have often stated here on NaturalNews.com, the FDA is an out-of-control, rogue agency engaged in acts of terrorism against the American people. By itself, it is negligent in the deaths of tens of millions of Americans, and it has taken it upon itself to increase the body count by making sure consumers have zero access to honest, truthful, scientifically-validated information about the healing properties of health supplements.

The FDA, by any account, is a much greater threat to the security and safety of the American people than any terrorist group, and if the U.S. really wanted to fight terror and tyranny, it would start by arresting top FDA officials at gunpoint. Those targeted for arrest and prosecution should also include the lawyers and paper pushers involved in this very agreement (see their names on the legal documents at the end of this article).

In my view, these people are the real criminals at work here. They are the masterminds of this campaign of extortion and terror being leveled against health companies by the rogue U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Much like Hitler's top generals, they play an important role in the mass disinformation that's resulting in the needless death of millions of people. By any account, they are all guilty of crimes against humanity and should be arrested and prosecuted as such. We should all be so fortunate to live to the day where we can see these white-collar criminals behind bars, perhaps sharing their jail cells with other war criminals from the Bush Administration.

Sign this or you'll be arrested

What you haven't yet seen in all this is the barrage of threats leveled against companies if they don't sign this Consent Decree! Company executives receive both written and verbal threats from top FDA "enforcement officers" who claim they will "throw you in prison" if you don't sign the agreement.

Every major health trade show hosts an FDA compliance officer (much like a Nazi Gestapo officer) whose job it is to walk the show floor and threaten companies into compliance. This includes shows like Expo West and Expo East, where show organizers also serve as de facto FDA agents themselves, barring the participation of exhibitors who dare to tell the truth about their natural products. This smacks of KGB secret police operations in the former Soviet Union. But secret FDA police are now a reality in the United States of America.

NaturalNews has learned of numerous verbal threats from FDA compliance officers directed at health supplement companies during trade shows, including threats to "put you out of business," "throw you in prison" or "take every last dollar you've ever earned."

FDA compliance officers are the foot soldiers of the agency's war against the truth. They seek out any health claim that might inform consumers about the properties of nutritional supplements, then they work to squash such statements before they become too well known. In essence, they are censorship officers who enforce nutritional illiteracy and prevent knowledge from being shared.

As such, they are acting not merely as secret police on a mission to destroy small American businesses; they are actually agents of disinformation, bent on destroying knowledge and enforcing a system of mandatory ignorance. This is entirely consistent with the FDA's history of ordering the destruction of recipe books that promoted the use of the natural herb stevia, among many other examples of information suppression.

The FDA's campaign of health illiteracy and enforced ignorance

It is the FDA's position that there is no such thing as any food, beverage, supplement or herb that has any health benefit whatsoever. Merely making such a claim instantly qualifies your product as a "new and unapproved drug," according to the FDA.

Officially, the FDA claims all health products are inert and have no properties other than their macronutrients (fiber, carbohydrates, protein, etc.).

There is only one class of substances that have any biological effect on the human body, the FDA claims: Pharmaceuticals. Only those patented, synthetic chemicals are allowed to be described as having benefits to human health.

This convenient position is entirely consistent with the protection of the profits of drug companies. It's no coincidence that the drug companies fund the FDA through "user fees," and most FDA employees are dependent on drug company money... except, of course, those FDA people earning their living by extorting millions of dollars from health product companies.

The upshot of the FDA's campaign against health supplements is that most of the American people remain nutritionally illiterate, oblivious to the scientifically-validated health benefits offered by tens of thousands of different nutrients, plants, supplements and products. To say that zinc speeds healing, or that vitamin D prevents cancer, or that resveratrol lowers high cholesterol is common sense in the scientific community, but it's a crime in the eyes of the FDA.

It's time to stop the FDA's reign of terror over health supplements

It is time to end the FDA's extortion racket, restore Free Speech rights to health supplements, and bring the organized crime kingpins at the FDA to justice.

NaturalNews is organizing a list of companies who wish to help fund legal action against the FDA. We intend to take part in a lawsuit against the FDA that would reign in the FDA's control over nutritional supplements and defend health freedoms for American consumers.

To do this, we need to gather information from those companies who are willing to help fund this legal action, which may cost several hundred thousand dollars. If you represent a company willing to take part in this legal action against the FDA, contact us now at StopTheFDA@naturalnews.com

Simply email us your name and contact phone number. We'll contact you to continue the conversation. Any information sent to us is kept strictly confidential. We will refuse to turn over such information even with a court order.

With enough support from the natural products community, we will take part in the reporting and grassroots organization of this legal action.

We must stop the FDA now

It is the belief of NaturalNews that the FDA is being run as a system of organized crime, using the exact same extortion tactics as the Mob. Through intimidation, censorship and threats of imprisonment, the FDA is right now extorting tens of millions of dollars from the very same health supplement companies you depend on to bring you lifesaving, disease-reversing products.

Even worse, the FDA is getting away with it. Backed by the threat of imprisonment and the ability to conduct armed raids against health product companies (see the history of armed FDA raids against vitamin companies here: http://www.naturalnews.com/021791.html ), the FDA is able to overpower health product companies when they stand alone.

The industry must band together if it hopes to defend itself against this tyranny. A lone villager cannot defend himself against a band of marauders, but an organized and well-defended band of villagers can fight off attackers many times their size. If it wishes to survive, the natural products industry must band together and defend itself against the FDA. It must take back its right to tell the truth about health supplements, and it must forever banish censorship and ignorance from the health products marketplace.

The FDA will not stop its reign of terror, you see, until every health supplement companies is silenced, every company founder is imprisoned and every consumer is enslaved in a state of outright nutritional illiteracy. They will seize products and let them rot in warehouses; they'll recruit armed law enforcement personnel to conduct SWAT-style raids on vitamin shops; they'll extort millions of dollars from health companies and pocket the profits; and they'll do it all while burning taxpayer dollars and claiming they're working to "protect" consumers from natural health products like cherry juice concentrate, which is of course so incredibly dangerous that we need an entire government agency just to make sure we don't find out it might ease arthritis inflammation.

What you can do right now to help halt the FDA's reign of terror

As a consumer, you can use your voice to help stop the FDA from destroying the natural products marketplace. Simply go to www.ReformFDA.org and sign the petition there.

It's sponsored by the American Association for Health Freedom (AAHF), an organization fighting to end the FDA's tyrannical rule over the health of the American people.

Sign that petition and spread the word: NaturalNews and the AAHF are working together to bring back honesty, freedom and free speech to the health supplements industry, and we need your help to get it done.

You can also protest the FDA with your Congressperson or Senator. Contact them and insist that they support efforts to end the reign of FDA tyranny and reestablish Free Speech rights for nutritional supplement companies.

Notably, Rep. Ron Paul has sponsored the Health Freedom Protection Act, which you can read here: http://www.StopFDACensorship.org

Grab your cameras, folks

Finally, NaturalNews urges those in the natural health community to go out and buy video cameras and still cameras and start snapping photos of rogue FDA agents arresting people, seizing products, accepting bribes or other outrageous acts. We cannot simply lie down and let the FDA march in to our company warehouses and seize products. One video can change the world. It's up to you to get that video recorded and get it to us here at NaturalNews. Use our feedback form to contact us: www.NaturalNews.com/feedback.html

We've also opened up an audio tips line, where FDA employees who wish to leak information to NaturalNews can anonymously call us and leave a message: (323) 924-1664

With your help, we will soon start publishing videos and photos showing FDA agents directly engaged in acts of tyranny against health companies. And for those who'd like to earn some extra money snapping photos, we're willing to pay you for photos of FDA "compliance officers" walking trade show floors where they threaten companies in person. Contact us for details if you're a photographer with a long lens who would like to start earning money snapping photos of FDA agents engaged in their dirty work.

It's time to shed light on the real actions of the FDA. We can no longer sit back and allow this criminal organization to operate in secret. But grabbing the public's attention all comes down to getting this on video. This is the YouTube era. If it's not on video, it doesn't exist. But if it's on video, we can likely get it on mainstream news. (I can see it now: the FDA raids a warehouse and handcuffs the screaming, crying business owner. And why? Because their bottle said, "Eases inflammation." The public won't stand for it.)

The FDA, of course, will have its own people doing the same thing to people like me. They're trying to catch us eating at McDonald's or going through the local pharmacy drive-thru. All I can say about that is they'll be waiting a long, long time to see that day!

Please forward this story to everyone you know. We the People must either prevail in this fight for our freedom, or we will all end up illiterate, imprisoned or silenced. The FDA will take away your rights, your speech and your health, and it will laugh all the way to the bank while it steals your hard-earned money. It will break every law, ignore every court order and commit every crime necessary to bring health companies into line... UNLESS we fight back and do our part to end this grave threat to our health, safety and freedoms.

The FDA is the enemy of the People. It is a criminal organization bent on destroying American freedoms and consumer health. It operates with impunity, using its own secret compliance officers, wreaking death and destruction across our nation like a dark plague unleashed. If we hope to ever regain our health, our freedoms and the basic human right to tell the truth about the healing properties of simple foods, then we must bring this agency to justice and prosecute its mob bosses for their many crimes against the People.

It is time to stand up for your health freedoms, or lose them forever. Please join me in this courageous stand against tyranny and oppression.

- Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, editor of NaturalNews.com


Click here for the complete report including The Full Consent Decree of Permanent Injunction

The financial meltdown has arrived

by Ron Paul

The financial meltdown the economists of the Austrian School predicted has arrived

We are in this crisis because of an excess of artificially created credit at the hands of the Federal Reserve System. The solution being proposed? More artificial credit by the Federal Reserve. No liquidation of bad debt and mal-investment is to be allowed. By doing more of the same, we will only continue and intensify the distortions in our economy - all the capital misallocation, all the mal-investment - and prevent the market's attempt to re-establish rational pricing of houses and other assets.

The other night the president addressed the nation about the financial crisis. There is no point in going through his remarks line by line, since I'd only be repeating what I've been saying over and over - not just for the past several days, but for years and even decades.

Still, at least a few observations are necessary.

The president assures us that his administration "is working with Congress to address the root cause behind much of the instability in our markets." Care to take a guess at whether the Federal Reserve and its money creation spree were even mentioned?

We are told that "low interest rates" led to excessive borrowing, but we are not told how these low interest rates came about. They were a deliberate policy of the Federal Reserve. As always, artificially low interest rates distort the market. Entrepreneurs engage in malinvestments - investments that do not make sense in light of current resource availability, that occur in more temporally remote stages of the capital structure than the pattern of consumer demand can support, and that would not have been made at all if the interest rate had been permitted to tell the truth instead of being toyed with by the Fed.

Not a word about any of that, of course, because Americans might then discover how the great wise men in Washington caused this great debacle. Better to keep scapegoating the mortgage industry or "wildcat capitalism" (as if we actually have a pure free market!).

Speaking about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the president said: "Because these companies were chartered by Congress, many believed they were guaranteed by the federal government. This allowed them to borrow enormous sums of money, fuel the market for questionable investments, and put our financial system at risk."

Doesn't that prove the foolishness of chartering Fannie and Freddie in the first place? Doesn't that suggest that maybe, just maybe, government may have contributed to this mess? And of course, by bailing out Fannie and Freddie, hasn't the federal government shown that the "many" who "believed they were guaranteed by the federal government" were in fact correct?

Then come the scare tactics. If we don't give dictatorial powers to the Treasury Secretary "the stock market would drop even more, which would reduce the value of your retirement account. The value of your home could plummet." Left unsaid, naturally, is that with the bailout and all the money and credit that must be produced out of thin air to fund it, the value of your retirement account will drop anyway, because the value of the dollar will suffer a precipitous decline. As for home prices, they are obviously much too high, and supply and demand cannot equilibrate if government insists on propping them up.

It's the same destructive strategy that government tried during the Great Depression: prop up prices at all costs. The Depression went on for over a decade. On the other hand, when liquidation was allowed to occur in the equally devastating downturn of 1921, the economy recovered within less than a year.

The president also tells us that Senators McCain and Obama will join him at the White House in order to figure out how to get the bipartisan bailout passed. The two senators would do their country much more good if they stayed on the campaign trail debating who the bigger celebrity is, or whatever it is that occupies their attention these days.

F.A. Hayek won the Nobel Prize for showing how central banks' manipulation of interest rates creates the boom-bust cycle with which we are sadly familiar. In 1932, in the depths of the Great Depression, he described the foolish policies being pursued in his day - and which are being proposed, just as destructively, in our own:

Instead of furthering the inevitable liquidation of the maladjustments brought about by the boom during the last three years, all conceivable means have been used to prevent that readjustment from taking place; and one of these means, which has been repeatedly tried though without success, from the earliest to the most recent stages of depression, has been this deliberate policy of credit expansion.

To combat the depression by a forced credit expansion is to attempt to cure the evil by the very means which brought it about; because we are suffering from a misdirection of production, we want to create further misdirection - a procedure that can only lead to a much more severe crisis as soon as the credit expansion comes to an end... It is probably to this experiment, together with the attempts to prevent liquidation once the crisis had come, that we owe the exceptional severity and duration of the depression.

The only thing we learn from history, I am afraid, is that we do not learn from history.

The very people who have spent the past several years assuring us that the economy is fundamentally sound, and who themselves foolishly cheered the extension of all these novel kinds of mortgages, are the ones who now claim to be the experts who will restore prosperity! Just how spectacularly wrong, how utterly without a clue, does someone have to be before his expert status is called into question?

Oh, and did you notice that the bailout is now being called a "rescue plan"? I guess "bailout" wasn't sitting too well with the American people.

The very people who with somber faces tell us of their deep concern for the spread of democracy around the world are the ones most insistent on forcing a bill through Congress that the American people overwhelmingly oppose. The very fact that some of you seem to think you're supposed to have a voice in all this actually seems to annoy them.

I continue to urge you to contact your representatives and give them a piece of your mind. I myself am doing everything I can to promote the correct point of view on the crisis. Be sure also to educate yourselves on these subjects - the Campaign for Liberty blog is an excellent place to start. Read the posts, ask questions in the comment section, and learn.

H.G. Wells once said that civilization was in a race between education and catastrophe. Let us learn the truth and spread it as far and wide as our circumstances allow. For the truth is the greatest weapon we have.

In liberty, Ron Paul

Big Pharma Ties Want to Shut Down Vaccine 'Conspiracy Theories'

Mercola.com

A foundation populated by the giants of business, banking, government and military wants to “vet” websites and limit the spread of information that it says creates “conspiracy theories”.

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) says it is worried about the way the web has been “used to spread disinformation”. They want to introduce a new system that would give websites a label for trustworthiness or unreliability.

One “damaging conspiracy theory” they want to shut down is the notion that MMR vaccines are harmful. Of course, this “conspiracy theory” stems not from paranoid forum postings and misquoted blog entries, but from scientific research into the mercury based preservative thimerosal.

Thimerosal was developed by Eli Lilly, and Merck is the world’s largest supplier of the MMR triple jab -- and it is little wonder W3C considers such information to be “damaging” given that Eli Lilly and Merck are both paid up and approved members of the Consortium! If anyone should be labeled with an “unreliable” rating, it is the W3C.


Sources:

Prison Planet September 15, 2008
BBC News September 15, 2008